The UBS Evening Movie News 05.15.08
Posted by George H. Sirois on 05.15.2008
The “Everything Old is New Again” Edition…
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of The UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and before I begin, I have a small request. If anyone knows of the advertising exec that came up with the Subway "$5 Footlong" song, can you smack them in the back of the head for me? You know which song I'm talking about: "Five-Five Dollar-Five Dollar Footloooooong!" That one. Yeah, it's the most godawful campaign I've seen in a very long time, and I've seen the Head-On commercials. No matter what they may think, it's not "c-c-c-catching on."
Okay, enough anger. On with the news…
TOP STORY
For Michael Moore, it's no longer a story of "Harvey & Me."
The documentarian is making a sequel to Fahrenheit 9/11, but instead of turning to Harvey Weinstein for distribution, Moore will collaborate on the project with Overture Films and Paramount Vantage.
The companies will co-produce and co-finance the pic, with Overture releasing it in the U.S. on all platforms and Vantage handling international rights and release. The acquisition's price tag was not revealed.
Officially, the movie is untitled but will include the words "Fahrenheit 9/11 1/2" in its title. It is described as a "follow-up" to its predecessor, but unlike most sequels, Moore will not just pick up where the 2004 film left off. Instead, he will explore the role of the U.S. in the world, in areas ranging from foreign policy to industry, during the nearly eight years since President Bush took office.
"This is going to tackle what's going on in the world, and America's place in it," Par Vantage chief Nick Meyer said.
Fahrenheit 9/11 was really about one event -- what led up it and what the consequences were," Overture's Danny Rosett said. "This is much broader."
Moore is just beginning production, with shooting likely to take place both in the U.S. and abroad. The movie is expected to be released sometime between the second quarter and early fourth-quarter of 2009 and, unlike Fahrenheit 9/11, will not seek to influence the presidential contest. "Michael realizes this film is about a lot more than just one election," Rosett said.
While there's no footage available, Vantage execs will be discussing Moore's ideas for the pic with buyers in Cannes.
By joining forces with Overture and Vantage, Moore is, temporarily at least, parting company with Weinstein, who released Fahrenheit 9/11 theatrically in collaboration with Lionsgate and IFC. Weinstein and Moore were involved in a highly publicized skirmish with the Weinsteins' then-parent company Disney, which refused to release the movie. The doc went on to become the most lucrative documentary in history, grossing more than $220 million worldwide. It also was the first doc to win the Palme d'Or since 1956.
Sicko, which the Weinsteins released through Lionsgate last year, was a more modest success. The movie, which premiered at the Festival de Cannes a year ago, earned $24 million worldwide, much of it in the U.S. -- a high number for a doc but a figure far below "Fahrenheit's" high-water mark. Both Harvey and Bob Weinstein will, however, be given exec producer credits, and the Weinsteins will get an "in association with" credit on the new pic.
TWC and Moore had talked about the project in recent weeks but couldn't come to an agreement on elements like price or the timing of a post-election release.
The Moore film is separate from the overall Overture-Vantage pact, which gives Overture the option to employ Vantage for international sales representation.
Execs at Vantage and Overture stressed the history between some of the principals and Moore: Par topper John Lesher at one time repped the provocateur filmmaker, while Overture heads Chris McGurk and Rosett were execs at MGM/UA when UA released Bowling for Columbine.
"The Weinstein Co. was clearly instrumental with turning Michael and Fahrenheit 9/11 into a global brand," Meyer said. "(But) people decide to make movies at different places at different times in their career and at different moments. We're completely deferential to what they were able to do with '9/11.' "
It's difficult to say whether I really ENJOYED Fahrenheit 9/11, since so much of it prompts a feeling of anger rather than enjoyment. Plus, so much of the film is obviously manipulated by Moore that it's even difficult for me to call this a real documentary. I've never seen so much speculation in a documentary feature, and it's that element that really hurts the film in the long run. Plus, I also believe that it was that speculation that hurt Kerry's chances in 2004 (although he didn't do himself any favors either), since Moore's constant offensive attack on Bush almost turned him into a victim.
Thankfully, when Moore was making Sicko, he knew enough to get out of the way and created a much more powerful documentary that had me choked up on several occasions. The finished film, I thought, was scarier than 99% of the different horror films I've ever seen. Hopefully Moore will continue on this path with his Fahrenheit sequel, but I don't buy the statement that he's not looking to influence the upcoming election. He's no idiot, he knows full well that John McCain continues to allow himself to be associated with Bush. Therefore, what this film will likely be pushing is all of the negativity that has come at this country since 2000 and 2004. "Whatever happens here will continue to happen for the next four years if McCain wins the election" will be the expected message for this one.
Credit: HollywoodReporter.com
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING FILMS
The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian: The Pevensie siblings return to Narnia, where they are enlisted to once again help ward off an evil king and restore the rightful heir to the land's throne, Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes).
I wasn't the biggest fan of the first C.S. Lewis film. Since I was never a reader of the books, I was able to just judge that one film on its merits and I couldn't really get into it. After seeing the darker turn that Prince Caspian takes, I'm not only more interested in seeing this one than the previous one, but I'm also now interested in looking back at the first one and giving it a second chance. How much darker does this one look? Well, see for yourself…
Credit:TheMovieBox.net
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT
Now We're Getting 90's Remakes!: Nicolas Cage will star in an updated version of 1992's Bad Lieutenant with Werner Herzog directing, Edward R. Pressman producing and Avi Lerner's Nu Image/Millennium Films financing.
Project, also called Bad Lieutenant, is due to be announced at Cannes. Production will start in late summer.
The original pic, produced by Pressman, starred Harvey Keitel and was directed by Abel Ferrara from a screenplay by Ferrara and Zoe Lund.
Story followed the depraved New York police officer of the title, who was heavily involved in drugs, gambling, sex and stealing; the pic received an NC-17 rating.
The new script's penned by Billy Finkelstein, a TV writer with credits on "Murder One," "Law & Order" and "NYPD Blue." Stephen Belafonte, who brought Finkelstein to the project, is also producing, while development was financed by producers Alan and Gabe Polsky. Cage's Saturn Films also produces.
Along with Lerner, Nu Image/Millennium's Danny Dimbort, Trevor Short and Boaz Davidson will exec produce with Elliot Rosenblatt and Alessandro Camon. Randall Emmett and Cage's Saturn Films are also producing.
Cage is filming "Knowing" in Australia for director Alex Proyas. Herzog's expected to follow "Bad Lieutenant" with Focus' "The Piano Tuner" late this year.
Are you kidding me?! Have these guys ever seen Bad Lieutenant??? Is Nic Cage just aching to show off his unit and doesn't want to make a porno? This could wind up being one of the worst ideas I've heard all year.
And I'm sorry, Nic. I've always liked your work, (well, I'm not in a rush to see Ghost Rider, and coming from me, that's saying something) but the only reason why this film would be made is to see if you can out-badass Harvey Keitel. I don't see that happening. Hell, I don't think it's possible for anyone to do that.
Credit: Variety
Sex and Another City: Sex and the City: The Movie had its world premiere in London Monday night, and the reaction of the audience may have been a lot more enthusiastic than those of the critics. Will Pavia of the Times acknowledged as much. After outlining numerous complaints about the film ("It can feel like a never-ending dinner party: however pleasant the courses, after a while you can hardly eat another one")
Pavia remarked, "None of these problems seemed apparent to the women who sat around me ... laughing and weeping in quick succession. After a while I began to reason like one of the characters: maybe the problem was me." The Sun observed, "There were oohs and aahs, cheers, laughter -- and more than a few tissues dabbed on eyes. Sex and the City will give its legion of female fans what they want."
And Celia Walden in the Daily Telegraph concluded: "One thing's for sure: fans of the series will lap this film up. It was coarse, sentimental, and outrageously materialistic -- just as we hoped and expected it would be."
I consider myself something of an enigma. I'm a straight man who enjoyed "Sex and the City." I have my selection of favorite episodes, I made sure to watch the build-up all the way to the two-part finale, and I was pretty satisfied with the way everything fell into place when the series came to its end. I even have each season on DVD. (Thanks Pete.)
That being said, I'm not looking forward to this movie. First of all, it feels completely unnecessary since everyone had closure in the finale. Second, the early word is that Michael Patrick King is looking to set up a trilogy of films, which means that this isn't going to be the big finish that it originally looked like. Third, and this is a big one, looking at the commercials and reading some plot details (thanks to The Boss Ashish for providing the link), it sounds too much like a standard romantic comedy with the familiar "Sex and the City" characters shoe-horned in there.
The only time I'm going to be seeing this film will be during $4.00 Tuesday at my local theater. And if it's not there, there's always Netflix.
Credit: Studio Briefing
FILM MUSIC NEWS
In This Week's Film Music Weekly:
* Ableton Releases Orchestral Instruments
* EASTWEST Announces Urban Ammunition Sound Library
* Harry Fox Agency Signs Agreement With RightsFlow
* The Scoreboard: Hundreds of Composers and Their Projects
* Signings and Projects: Mark Mancina, Jeff Cardoni, Atli Orvarsson and More
* The Chart Doctor - by Ron Hess, "Conduct Yourself Accordingly, Part 5: Who's In Charge Here?"
* Music Technology and You - by Peter Lawrence Alexander, "Voices of Passion Part 1"
* Soundtrack Review - by Daniel Schweiger, "Scenes of the Crime" by Christopher Young
DivasRGr8 to the rescue once again! On Tuesday, he pointed me towards a site called… you ready for this? Chickipedia! You suppose Al Gore DID have Bill in mind when he created the Internet? Anyway, the girl that Divas showed me is a young model from Sweden by the name of Natacha Peyre. As far as non-biodegradable girls go, she's quite nice to look at. And while you're at it, go to chickipedia.com and find your own favorites.
See? Even in the Babe Photo News Brief, you can learn stuff!
Every now and then, you come across something on film or television that is such a throwback to a golden age that you have to let people know about it. That's what I'm doing here, thus the title of this edition of The UBS Evening Movie News: "Everything Old is New Again." (All respects to Peter Allen, and to my mother for playing his album constantly when I was a kid.)
If there are any fans of Saturday Night Live that have tuned out several years ago and never looked back to see if the show has improved, I have some good news for you. Not only has the show vastly improved since its lowest points in 2002 after Will Ferrell "graduated," but the cast has been whittled down enough so that everyone fits on the stage during the curtain call at the end. It seemed before that during its lower points, Lorne Michaels would cram as many main cast members and featured players as possible, resulting in too many people not getting enough to do.
There are still a few familiar faces in the cast, specifically Darrell Hammond, who has become this era's Phil Hartman with his plethora of impressions and his years of experience in Studio 8H. If I'm not mistaken, I believe he's got the longest tenure of any cast member in SNL history. Let me know if I'm wrong, I'm too busy to look it up myself.
In addition to Hammond, Amy Poehler, Seth Meyers and Kenan Thompson, who have all been there quite a few years now, there are my two favorite members of the cast. The first is Kristen Wiig, who found her niche with her Penelope character, someone who makes a point to one-up anyone and everyone around her, no matter how stupid she may sound. This past week, she brought out her Suze Orman impression, and I literally had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Hopefully Suze won't be in every episode since I can see it getting burned out like so many other SNL characters before her, but that sketch was just fantastic.
My other favorite is someone that I recently mentioned in my Scene Anatomy 101 column on Superbad, and that is Bill Hader. Not only is the guy a solid impressionist that can go toe to toe with Darrell Hammond, but he's also created his share of memorable characters. The one that I hold to the highest regards is an Italian talk show host named Vinny Vedecci.
The setup for the sketch is simple, but that's usually the case with the best ones. Vinny brings on the host of that week's show as his guest, and tries to interview him using nothing but very broken English and plenty of Italian double-talk. The host is bewildered and trying to catch up with the interview while Vinny constantly breaks away to argue with his backstage producers and stage managers.
Now, why is this sketch so great? What is it that works? Well, the main element that makes me love it so much is how it is such a perfect throwback to the golden age of television, when Sid Caesar ruled the same airwaves that Lorne Michaels now calls his own. Back in the 50s, both "The Sid Caesar Hour" and "Your Show of Shows" made a point to parody more highbrow material, with foreign films being a top target. Since both Sid and performer/writer Carl Reiner had experience with double-talk, they would effortlessly go into a conversation using French, German or Italian sounding gibberish, and yet the audience knew exactly what was going on in the sketches.
Here's a look at one of the all-time greatest sketches in television history, "The German Dresser" with Sid Caesar as the "General" and Howie Morris as his assistant. Howie was also excellent at double-talk so he and Sid pulled this sketch off flawlessly…
I first saw that sketch in 1996 before the "Caesar's Writers" symposium on PBS, and I immediately fell in love with their sketches. It's now been over fifty years since Sid & Co. graced the television screen, and the work that was done back then is still funny, and even more important, it is still relevant today. In case you doubt me, just take a look at the Vinny Vedecci sketch from last week's SNL…
This is why I love Hader's work on SNL. The man has mastered an art form that was a major part of the Golden Age of Television. He knows well enough, to paraphrase Peter Allen again, to not throw the past away since he might need it some rainy day. And he has shown us that what worked back then can still work today.
Good job, Bill. You too, Vinny.
And that's a wrap for Chapter 65 of The UBS Evening News. I'm George H. Sirois, and I'll see you next week!
A few more years and we'll have a remake coming out a week after the original. >_>
Posted By: PHOENIXZERO (Guest) on May 15, 2008 at 03:09 AM
how do you nottalk about andy samberg?next to hammond he's the funniest person on the show.
and all those digital shorts he does are alot of times the funniest skits on the show.
Posted By: david (Guest) on May 15, 2008 at 06:42 AM
Now thats a babe and a half right there!!
Posted By: SaveECW222 (Guest) on May 15, 2008 at 08:20 AM
hader is the only bright spot on SNL, i am not a samberg fan (i think he comes off like a cross between napolean dynamite and a bad adam sandler impression) and i think hammond needs to retire he's been on the show for what like 12 years?
Posted By: Guest#6965 (Guest) on May 15, 2008 at 02:02 PM
I like Andy, I have no problems with him at all. The only thing is that his biggest contributions are the un-live parts of Saturday Night Live...
Posted By: George H. Sirois (Registered) on May 15, 2008 at 02:50 PM
He reminds me of an ostrich.
Posted By: PHOENIXZERO (Guest) on May 15, 2008 at 03:43 PM
