Furious on Film Movie News 05.28.08

Posted by Arnold Furious on 05.28.2008

The sad passing of Sydney Pollack, Watchmen subplot updates, Captain America news, Hugh Hefner biopic, latest from T-4, Charlton Heston remembered, Gwyneth Paltrow, plus reviews of Curse of the Golden Flower and Balls of Fury. One of them sucks, which one is it?

Furious on Film Movie News 05.28.08

The sad passing of Sydney Pollack, Watchmen subplot updates, Captain America news, Hugh Hefner biopic, latest from T-4, Charlton Heston remembered, Gwyneth Paltrow, plus reviews of Curse of the Golden Flower and Balls of Fury. One of them sucks, which one is it?

Issue 141

I went to the cinema for the second time in a month this week. That might seem normal to the average cinemagoer or not much at all to Chad Webb but I have no local cinema. The nearest one is heading towards the big city. So a trip to the cinema is quite rare. The last film I saw before this month at the cinema was the Simpsons Movie. This month I've seen both Ironman and Indy IV. For anyone looking for a recommendation I'd go for Ironman over Indy. It really is the better film. Although Indy is tremendous fun it's a little out there and I can see a lot of hardcore Indy fans finding flaws in it, which is easy because it's riddled with factual errors and horrible continuity. That said I rated it 7/10 or ***1/2 on IMDB. After all any movie that has a jeep chase through a jungle where two people have a sword fight from one jeep to the other is ok by me. That whole jeep chase segment must be 15 minutes long and I love a good car chase. Although the one at the end of Death Proof is better because it has no CGI.

HERE IS THE GNUS



Sydney Pollack (1934-2008) RIP



It's always sad to report the death of anyone but when a great director goes it's disappointing because you know you won't get to see anything else from them. Maybe that's just me being selfish. Pollack directed a string of classic films from the 1960's up until the present day. They include The Firm, Tootsie, Out of Africa, Three Days of the Condor and They Shoot Horses Don't They? Most recently he made a minor comeback with the Interpreter; his first film in six years. He won two Oscars for 1985's Out of Africa both best director and best picture. He also produced a slew of other films including Cold Mountain, Michael Clayton, the Talented Mr Ripley, Sliding Doors and Sense and Sensibility. An actor, director, producer, husband and father to three he'll be greatly missed. Sydney Pollack died of cancer in Los Angeles, California aged 73.

I (will) watch the Watchmen

Credit: New York Times.

Warner Bros. will release a straight-to-DVD spinoff of The Watchmen four days after the film hits theaters on May 10th, 2009. The DVD will be titled Tales of the Black Freighter.

In the comic, the 'Black Freighter' story strand - with a secondary character telling the story of a man trying to save his town from pirates - is interspersed throughout the central narrative. Director Snyder has filmed a separate animated version which will also include a documentary-style film called 'Under the Hood', which will investigate the characters' backstories.

Warner will apparently also eventually release Black Freighter along with The Watchmen as part of a DVD package.



SOLD! When I was thinking about how Watchmen potentially could work I figured the pirate sub-plot would probably have to go, even though it's integral to the plot if it's followed exactly. But it's also the most obviously superfluous thing about the entire book. All you need is to tweak it a little and it can go. Clearly Zach Snyder has gone this root, which could well see a definitive ‘director's cut' DVD release with it interwoven into the actual film. Where do I pay? Ok, I'm getting ahead of myself.

Firstly that poster is fake. The cast aren't quite so well known. In fact Billy Crudup and Carla Gugino are the only ones that jump out from the cast list. I'm also worried about the potentially awful looking aging techniques as the characters vary about 40 years in age depending on which part of the story we're in. But I do have a degree of trust for Snyder's handling of the project based on stills and his previous work. The desire to incorporate the Black Freighter in some form gives me a great deal of hope that Snyder can preserve the integrity of the graphic novel, which is one of the best books (of any kind) that I've read. Alan Moore won't be lending his support due to the poor handling of his previous work but Watchmen was always his masterpiece and if there's one book of his that deserved to become a great movie it was Watchmen. Of course I now have to wait 12 months for them to finish post-production. Damn it.

Captain America confirmed as WW2 movie

Credit: IESB.net

IESB asked Feige (Kevin, Marvel bigwig) if the Captain America film would be a period piece. He confirmed yes, the story will take place during World War II, just like the comic book origin story. He says they plan to remain very faithful to the source material and completely traditional.

Feige also confirmed that it was definitely the Captain America shield that was seen in IRON MAN on Tony Stark's work-station as he's removing his suit for the first time. It's just an Easter Egg and probably won't have anything to do with the Capt. America story.

What about that casting rumor making its way around the web that Matthew McConaughey would be taking on the role? Nope, Feige says that's absolutely false.



You either love him or you hate him. Captain America has been a fan favourite for a long time but many newer comic book fans tend to dislike his black & white ideals although those became a little greyer during Marvel's Civil War series when Cap and Ironman faced off over the Superhero Registration Act. I must admit I love Captain America and always have done. Which is odd because I don't like Superman for a lot of reasons other people don't like Cap. The ‘goody-two-shoes' element. I'm thrilled they've chosen to shoot the Cap movie as a period piece. Hopefully the ending will set up Cap being in the Avengers movie in 2011. After all a lot of early Avengers stuff was centred around them finding Captain America frozen in the ice. The fact they're both coming out the same year could lead to them being filmed back to back and whoever is Cap playing the same character struggling to adjust to modern times.

Kevin Feige btw is one of Marvel's movie producer types. His title at Marvel Studios is President of Production. He's worked as a producer on 19 Marvel movie projects including four currently in production. He's worked on the Spidey sequels, all the X-Men films, both Hulk films, Ironman and both Fantastic Four films. I think it's safe to say he's a reliable source.

Incidentally the same site, IESB.net, also mentions that the Wolverine origin movie has wrapped on principal photography and features "several legends of the X-Men universe" as surprise cameos. Interest…piqued!

From one mansion to another…

Credit: Chicago Sun-Times.

It's not a 100 percent done deal, but sources say Hefner has signed off on Robert Downey Jr to play him in an autobiographical movie, with the working title "Playboy."

He took a liking to the actor after seeing "Iron Man" and admiring his humor and skill in showing his vulnerability.



And there was me hoping for Stan Lee.

Seriously though Robert Downey Jr is a great choice for ANY guy who likes to party. He has so much partying experience he can relate to it all. He did a bang up and spot on job as Tony Stark. I can see him doing the same for Hugh Hefner. The great thing about Playboy, as a movie, is that you're pretty much guaranteed a lot of tits. Who doesn't like tits? Originally Brett Ratner was announced as director but he's now gone. It's gotten to the point where I actively worry when I hear Ratner will direct a movie because I lose all hope for it being good.

McG shares T-4 passion

Credit: Warnerbros Terminator: Salvation RSS blog

We've officially started principal photography on Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Like you guys, I've been a long-time fan of the series and I understand your passion for the Terminator movies -- and it's my full intention to deliver a film that lives up to the previous three instalments. I've spent time with James Cameron, spoken to Arnold Schwarzenegger, gone over the story with Jonah Nolan, and enlisted Stan Winston.

Everything we're shooting is designed to be tactile and real, you'll be seeing a whole set of inspired designs you've never seen before, and best of all you'll finally get to see some of the post-judgment day future that was only hinted at in the previous movies.

John Connor will be pushed to the brink. And for me, Christian Bale embodies Connor's strength and tenacity perfectly. And after visiting Sam Worthington on the set of Avatar, I know he's perfect for his role.

As you know, Anton Yelchin is playing Kyle Reese, and his prep has been unbelievable. The guy's been watching all three Terminators incessantly and he's definitely going to capture the essence of the character Michael Biehn created in Cameron's first film.



It still worries me they've let an inexperienced director like McG loose on Terminator: Salvation. But what can you do? They've already made the decision. I personally think it'll be visually stunning and they do have the benefit of Christian Bale on their side as well. Bale's John Connor could become the definitive version of the character. I still think you need a strong actor to play the Terminator. At least strong in the sense that they can do emotionless and scary. I think once we get close to the release I will start getting very excited about this movie. Despite Terminator 3, which I quite liked in the same way that I liked the new Indy film kinda way, Terminator: Salvation could get the series back on course. But of course how many more times can you go to that cash cow? That's a worrying aspect of all the sequels there are around these days. How fresh can the subject matter be after a third and fourth dip? After all AVP has all but sunk without a trace now taking two franchises with it.


What do you mean you've never seen…?

Remember in High Fidelity where the potential record buyer is confronted by Jack Black? "Don't tell anyone you don't own Blonde on Blonde?" Well, if you were to enter a serious film buff's rental place, which sadly doesn't exist nowadays thanks to Blockbuster and online rentals, and happened to make a comment about liking movies then I like to think somewhere out there that a clerk still exists who would chastise you for not having seen certain movies. Seeing as that place doesn't exist you'll just have to imagine you're walking into my rental place and happened to mention Charlton Heston. After all the great man passed away just a few weeks ago. But what's that? You've never seen…

#11 El Cid (1961)



Heston is probably better known for Planet of the Apes or Ben-Hur. But Ben-Hur wasn't the only epic he made. He also starred in the Ten Commandments in 1956 and spend his career playing larger than life roles. Considering he played a Mexican in Orson Welles' Touch of Evil, complete with ridiculous fake tan, who better to play Spanish legend El Cid aka Rodrigo Diaz. El Cid was a nobleman from Castile who, according to legend, was visited by an angel who promised him he'd never be defeated in battle. Despite a lot of problems with the royal family of the time El Cid was unequalled in battle and helped drive the Moors from Spain. He captured the city of Valencia despite being exiled by King Alfonso VI. The movie El Cid was helmed by Anthony Mann, the uncredited original director of Spartacus. Quite the stacked talent pool; the director of Spartacus and the star of Ben-Hur. It could only be an epic. El Cid runs at nearly 3 hours and rarely ever slows up. Heston's performance isn't one of his best but he's nevertheless commanding. You can see why Mann probably had a falling out with Kirk Douglas over Spartacus. The fight scenes don't really have the oomph they should have and people falling over of arrow injuries when there are no arrows visible is a little weak. El Cid also benefits from a quite excellent turn from Sophia Loren as Cid's wife Jimena. An early scene depicts El Cid killing Jimena's father, which creates more than a little tension between the two as the film develops. Also a wild-eyed Herbert Lom plays the evil Moor leader Ben Yussef. Ah, the days where Peter Ustinov played every nationality under the sun and no black actors were ever hired for African roles and no-one batted an eyelid. In retrospect El Cid is a little daft in that respect. But then Mann isn't aiming for historical accuracy but rather recording a modern myth. He even includes the angel as a leper begging for water in the desert. El Cid ends up as part myth and part historical document. The combination of which plays a little like Jason and the Argonauts meets Spartacus. The symbolism employed by Mann works a charm too. In the opening scene Heston carries a cross on his back to save it from a burning church. Biblical, much? Heston did after all play both Moses and John the Baptist. Criticism of his various stances, especially on gun control, there's no denying Heston's placing in history as a movie star. He's still big, it's the pictures that got small.

BEST BIT – The ending *SPOILERS AHOY* where a dead El Cid is strapped to his horse complete with flag strapped to his arm and his very presence on the battlefield after reports of his death scare the Moor Army into the sea.



THIS WEEK'S REVIEWS

Curse of the Golden Flower, Balls of Fury

Curse of the Golden Flower (2006)



EXPECTATIONS – Zhang Yimou's previous two films have been huge hits with the general public and highly rated by myself. Sadly because FR is down I can't link you to the review I did of Hero and my review of House of Flying Daggers that originally appeared in Furious on Film #9 is strangely missing from 411's archive. The column is there but it cuts off halfway through. I much preferred Yimou's style to the more cartoony and humorous Kung Fu Hustle. Yimou has a love of colour and beautiful movement that's unrivalled in the West.

TRAILER –



PLOT – On the Eve of the Chrysanthemum Festival the Tang Dynasty Emperor (Chow Yun Fat) returns home from battle with his second son Prince Jai (Jay Chou). He discovers many secrets have been hidden in the palace while he was gone but he has one of his own. He seeks to poison his cheating wife (Gong Li) against the wishes of all three of his sons including Crown Prince Wan (Liu Ye) with whom his wife is having an affair as he's the Emperor's son from his first marriage.

OPINION – The first hour of Curse of the Golden Flower is very melodramatic with people plotting and poisoning each other. Its all very Shakespearian. The main focus is on how good looking the sets and costumes are. Fair enough they're very beautiful but the opening hour has none of the majesty and moving beauty that Yimou usually brings to the screen. There's only one real moment of excitement as Jai duels with his cocky father who never stands us during the battle. Another issue with Curse of the Golden Flower is that because everyone is plotting and scheming it's almost impossible to find someone to root for. My personal preference being a character introduced later in the film that throws a spanner into everyone's plans because of who she is. The lack of sympathetic characters, perhaps Jai aside, makes Curse of the Golden Flower a hard sell. It only really gets exciting when the Emperor's Black Guard attack the provincial governor's house. The Emperor seeking to tie up a loose end sends out an assassination squad. It's a real moment that makes you go "wow" because all of a sudden there are wires everywhere and swords flashing. The battle scenes continue hard and fast from that point on from one on one duels to huge battles between armies. The whole thing is leading to tragedy or glory and as I alluded before this is very Shakespearian so you can probably guess which way the storyline goes. In fact if it weren't for the excellent performances from both Chow Yun Fat and Gong Li it might have been hard to swallow what Zhang Yimou wasn't feeding me. Not like his previous work where I felt the action just wash over my eyes. They were both very fluid films that got me excited at the drop of a hat. Curse of the Golden Flower just doesn't have enough of those moments. Its like Yimou was trying to prove there's more to his game as director. And while everything he does in Curse of the Golden Flower is very pretty looking that doesn't prevent it being the worse of his trio of wuxia movies. At least a trio in the sense that the West has picked up on them.

BEST BIT – The Black Guard's assault on the governor's house. I love grappling hooks.

RATING - ***. While the pace picks up in the second half there's a feeling that Yimou's first hour is like watching a really pretty soap opera. If it weren't for the Shakespearian overtones I'd have tuned out. But the fight scenes towards the end do redeem it to a degree and Gong Li is good enough at her role to keep the plot interesting.

Balls of Fury (2007)



EXPECTATIONS – Despite some rough reviews I like dumb comedies and Christopher Walken enough to give this a shot. Much like with Gigli I was hoping that a small Walken part is enough to save a film from being completely awful. Generally I consider his name on the marquee to be enough for me to see a movie (hell, I did watch Gigli) and that's the case again here.

TRAILER –



PLOT – Former child protégé ping pong star Randy Daytona (Dan Fogler) is brought out of retirement when he's contacted by FBI agent Rodriguez (George Lopez). He's then re-trained by blind ping pong master Wong (James Hong) and his hot daughter (Maggie Q) before being sent to take down gun runner Feng (Christopher Walken) who happens to have a thing for ping pong tournaments.

OPINION – Balls of Fury is immediately damaged because the set up is blatantly for a movie designed to appeal to fans of Will Ferrell. But Fogler comes off as a low-rent Jack Black. He doesn't have the star power or the level of wackiness to compete with funnier and more popular stars. Balls of Fury is like Enter the Dragon for retards. The plot is sloppy and rushed. The characters are underdeveloped and because the plot skips ahead so quickly none of the relationships between the characters make much sense. Especially not the exceptionally rushed love story between Randy & Maggie Q's character. Also the plot is ridiculous and nonsensical throughout as Randy somehow gets this invite to the big ping pong tournament by losing to a fat guy with asthma then beating a 10 year old girl. There's no training montage where he's shown making steady improvements. He just sucks…and then he's brilliant. The character arcs are all over the place. The film is just a mess, a big low-brow yet inoffensive mess but the worst part of it is the lack of jokes. I'm all for low-brow comedy. It has its place and I love watching Will Ferrell movies and early Jim Carrey stuff like Ace Ventura and Naked Gun, Blazing Saddles and Airplane and all that good stuff. But Balls of Fury just doesn't have enough laughs in it. Plus it struggles hard to make it to 90 minutes thanks to the director bizarrely throwing away a perfectly good ending to replace it with a big mess. I suppose it at least showed a degree of consistency. I'm sitting here trying to think of something nice to say about Balls of Fury but there really isn't anything. They couldn't even make Christopher Walken funny despite his over the top outfits. Walken himself provides the only gags with his patented delivery. "Can we get on with this? I'm missing Antiques Roadshow" or "I don't even know what pandas eat. I think it might be dead". Fogler's retorts involve him falling over stuff and getting hit in the crotch while James Hong walks into stuff because he's blind. Ah, the lowest common de-nominator. Can't think of any gags just have a blind guy for the easy laughs.

BEST BIT – The post-ending karaoke. There's nothing more satisfying than ending a film with Christopher Walken singing Def Leppard's "Pour Some Sugar on Me".

RATING - *. Highly disappointing, disjointed and unfunny. Christopher Walken provides the best moments by just being himself. Everyone else is probably quite ashamed of themselves. This movie made $32M, which shows John Q. Public never bothers listening to reviewers. Maybe he should start.

HOLLYWOOD WHORES

This week I had myself a famous whore all lined up and then I saw Paul Thomas Anderson's debut feature; Hard Eight. And low and behold I scored myself another one. So Miss X can wait until next week and instead witness the wonder of…Gwyneth Paltrow.



Note whore makeup and cleavage.

In Hard Eight she played a waitress at a casino who doubled as a prostitute in her spare time. Making a few bucks on the side. During such time she suffers the ignominy of being slapped by John C. Reilly before handcuffing a John to the bed in order to extort his wife of the money he owes her. As Philip Baker Hall so fantastically puts; "you should have paid attention at whore school. You always get the money up front".



So there she is, Gwyneth Paltrow.



Incidentally Hard Eight was released in 1996. In some places its known simply as Sydney. It was Paul Thomas Anderson's third film and his first feature length effort. It caught enough attention for him to get the cast together for Boogie Nights the following year. Interesting to note Phillip Seymour Hoffman's scene stealing turn where he probably gets 10 lines at the most. It took Hollywood far too long to figure out what he was capable of.



You stay classy…Planet Earth.