The UBS Evening Movie News 09.04.08
Posted by George H. Sirois on 09.04.2008
The “In a world where legendary voices are silenced…” Edition…
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the UBS Evening Movie News! I'm George H. Sirois, and I'm sorry to say that this week, there will be no Mad Prophet of the Airwaves rant. I had something in mind, but I just couldn't drag the right words out, so I'll hold off on it until next week.
In the meantime, more sad proof that deaths come in threes. On September 1, the entertainment industry lost one of the greatest voices of all time, Don LaFontaine. If you don't recognize the name, he was responsible for thousands of different movie trailers, commercials and other voiceover work. Stand-up comic Pablo Francisco does the best imitation of him in his act, and LaFontaine had never been one to shy away from poking fun of himself. Here's a video clip of him in action with several other voiceover artists…
We also lost Jerry Reed, co-star of the Smokey & The Bandit trilogy and famed country music writer and performer. He also passed away on September 1, at the age of 71, due to complications from emphysema.
If you've been to the Coyote Ugly, you've likely heard Reed's "East Bound and Down" since that's one of the dozen signature songs that the bartenders have choreographed. Ladies, when the song comes on, make sure to dance a little harder for Jerry. I'm sure he'd like that…
And finally, the world of comedy lost another heavyweight, as Sheldon Keller has joined fellow Sid Caesar writers Mel Tolkin and Danny Simon, passing away on September 1 due to complications with Alzheimer's Disease. He was 85. Keller was a songwriter and author, with his main claim to fame being part of the Murderer's Row of Comedy, the writers for Sid Caesar. He was also the inspiration for the character Milton in Neil Simon's play, "Laughter on the 23rd Floor."
Sheldon was the second one from the left.
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
Bangkok Dangerous: A hitman (Nicolas Cage) who's in Bangkok to pull off a series of jobs falls for a local woman and bonds with his errand boy.
I am so sick of hearing about this movie already. In only a few weeks that this has been hyped, it seems that every other commercial starts with, "My name's Joe. This is what I do." Enough, Nic! And the fact that this is, once again, a remake doesn't warm my heart all that much either.
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
DVD NEWS
Pink Panther fans are gonna want to hear this. MGM Home Entertainment has just announced The Pink Panther Ultimate Collection. This set will include not only the nine feature films, but also nine cartoons and the encyclopedia, "Pink Panther, The Ultimate Guide to the Coolest Cat in Town!" written by Jerry Beck.
Included as a special treat in the set is the new collector's edition of the Oscar-nominated 1964 film The Pink Panther, starring Peter Sellers and David Niven. Also included are A Shot In The Dark, Inspector Clouseau, The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Revenge Of The Pink Panther, Trail of the Pink Panther, Curse Of The Pink Panther, Son Of The Pink Panther and the 2006 version starring Steve Martin, The Pink Panther.
You will also find "Pink Panther Cartoon Collection" Vol. 1 - 9.
The Pink Panther Ultimate Collection comes to stores on November 25 with a $199.98 sticker price.
Credit: DVDReview.com
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Twilight
I have a feeling that I already played this, but my wife is almost finished with this book, so she wanted me to post the trailer. So here ya go...
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT
If they can make it there…: New Regency has hired former Paramount Vantage executive Amy Israel as exec VP of production At the same time, chairmen Robert Harper and Hutch Parker have established a New York office and hired Michelle Kroes to mine the literary community for movie projects.
The goal is to elevate the quality level of material and filmmakers, aspirations that hark back to a Regency heyday when it made "L.A. Confidential" and "JFK," along with John Grisham adaptations "The Client" and "A Time to Kill."
Harper and Parker said that while they're still re-evaluating existing development, the emphasis will be on acquiring books and scripts that fit New Regency's mandate.
"We are going through a fairly significant shift toward more global event-caliber films driven by high-end filmmakers," Parker said. "We haven't done a lot of buying lately, because Bob and I have been solidifying our creative and business strategy. With our team set, we expect to be aggressive on the acquisition front. We want New Regency to be a first stop for top-flight filmmakers."
The chairmen said they're under no budget restrictions and hope for an annual output of six to eight films, which will be handled theatrically by Fox. Some will be developed by Regency, which will either fully finance or co-finance with Fox. The rest will be Fox-developed fare co-financed by Regency.
Israel, who headed production and acquisitions for Paramount Vantage since its formation in 2006, left in July. She oversaw films including "There Will Be Blood," "No Country for Old Men," "Into the Wild," the upcoming Ed Zwick-directed Daniel Craig starrer "Defiance," the Keira Knightley starrer "The Duchess" and the Will Ferrell/Adam McKay-produced comedy "The Goods." She also acquired the Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth."
She previously had an eight-year run with Harvey Weinstein at Miramax Films.
While Harper and Parker said they aren't looking to play in the art-house sandbox, each felt that Israel was a strong match for New Regency.
"We wanted to draw on her experience and her relationships with filmmakers, and she wanted to step onto a bigger, broader commercial stage," Harper said.
Thank you once again, Mayor Bloomberg, for welcoming the film industry here! I've always had a soft spot for New Regency since they were responsible for LA Confidential, one of my favorite films. And the fact that they want to remind themselves that they had something that good in their pipeline, that's a very good thing and hopefully a proper confidence booster. So what that it didn't strike gold at the box office, it was still nominated for several Oscars – including Best Picture – and won two of them.
Israel seems to make a great fit over there, considering her recent track record. She knows a viable film project when she sees one, and the fact that they're bringing their offices to New York – where there's definitely some top-level talent as well as hungry up-and-coming filmmakers – I'm looking forward to seeing how this pans out.
Just keep Tom Rothman away from the films, if Fox is going to distribute them!
But will it be in Phil Collins' heart again?: Stephen Sommers is in negotiations to direct a big-screen version of "Tarzan" for Warner Bros. and producer Jerry Weintraub.
Sommers will also co-write the "Tarzan" script with Stuart Beattie. Sommers directed the recently wrapped "G.I. Joe" for Paramount, with Beattie penning the final draft of the screenplay.
Warner Bros. and Weintraub have been developing "Tarzan" since 2003, when John August was hired to pen a new take on the Edgar Rice Burroughs-created character. Two years ago, the studio was negotiating with Guillermo del Toro to direct.
Burroughs' "Tarzan of the Apes" was written in 1912. Onscreen, the ape-man character became strongly identified with Johnny Weismuller during the 1930s in MGM's series of features.
Warner Bros. put the character back on the big-screen with its 1984 pic Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes, starring Christopher Lambert. Warner Bros. and Village Roadshow also made 1998's Tarzan and the Lost City, starring Casper Van Dien. In 2003, Warner Bros. TV produced a short-lived "Tarzan" skein for the WB Network.
Beattie's other credits include Collateral, the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and Baz Luhrmann's upcoming Australia.
Really, guys? Tarzan again? I know Greystoke wound up being a modest success and even got some notice from the Academy Awards, but there was no need to even mention Tarzan and the Lost City since that came and went with barely a blip on the radar. If anything, all that showed was how more recent movies involving this character (with the exception of the Disney film) failed to find an audience.
I don't doubt the talent of the people involved… well, I don't doubt Stuart Beattie, but I do doubt that this is a project worth taking on.
Kudos to the American people for not paying enough attention to the latest shit-fest by Friedberg & Seltzer and keeping it out of the Top 5. Of course, it still made it to the Top 10, but hopefully after this weekend, we'll never hear from it again…
1. Tropic Thunder: $14,602,121
Total: $86,935,945
2. Babylon A.D.: $11,541,571
Total: $11,541,571
3. The Dark Knight: $11,127,290
Total: $504,798,337
4. The House Bunny: $10,177,701
Total: $29,728,944
5. Traitor: $10,006,327
Total: $11,507,654
6. Death Race: $7,889,755
Total: $24,739,285
7. Disaster Movie: $6,945,535
Total: $6,945,535
8. Mamma Mia!: $5,421,815
Total: $132,512,495
9. Pineapple Express: $4,448,782
Total: $80,832,163
10. Star Wars: The Clone Wars: $3,764,410
Total: $30,672,432
Credit: BoxOfficeGuru.com
KNIGHT WATCH
$500 million and counting! Does it have enough left in it to earn ANOTHER $100 million before it is eventually pulled from theaters? Difficult, as I said before. Not impossible… but doubtful…
1. Titanic (1997): $600,788,188 2. The Dark Knight (2008): $505,417,800
3. Star Wars (1977 & 1997): $460,998,007
4. Shrek 2 (2004): $441,226,247
5. E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial (1982 & 2002): $435,110,554
6. Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999): $431,088,301
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006): $423,315,812
8. Spider-Man (2002): $403,706,375
9. Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005): $380,270,577
10. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003): $377,027,325
THE INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
This week, I thought I would do something a little different. I received a hot tip about a young woman that I should check out on MySpace. I did and even though it seems she is a fan of the Red Sawx and the Patriots, I found her to be super attractive and worthy of adding to the Interactive Babe Photo News Brief. Anyway, meet Valerie from New Hampshire. She is 27 and, according to her MySpace page, her interests are modeling, traveling, motorcycles, and - of course - shopping. From her lovely pictures, she enjoys Las Vegas and the Playboy mansion. Hey, so do I! What a coincidence!
She also apparently has a super long tongue and she says that girls kiss better.
Just in case you weren't in love yet, here are a few of the many pictures on her Myspace page:
Not too shabby huh? Chalk up another reason why I'm your hero. If you want to give Valerie a shout and let her know how I made you a fan, you can get to her HERE!
Let me know if you enjoyed this edition in the comments section below, and if enough people ask for it, I will feature more "real girls" as opposed to the celebrities that I usually showcase.
And if you are a gal who wants to be on the Interactive Babe Photo News Brief, just email me at ascrit@myway.com and I'll see about getting you published.
This week's babe is attractive and all, but there's no way she's 27.
Posted By: DK (Guest) on September 04, 2008 at 04:22 AM
Twilight trailer...I'm not impressed!
Posted By: Flex (Guest) on September 04, 2008 at 07:13 AM
Critchell you dog! Did you just try to use this column to get chicks to email you? I do like the idea of featuring real girls, instead of celebrities on occasion, nice to mix things up
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on September 04, 2008 at 10:03 AM
