The UBS Evening Movie News 10.09.08
Posted by George H. Sirois on 10.09.2008
The Contest Edition...
Welcome everyone to the latest edition of the UBS Evening Movie News. I'm George H. Sirois, and this should be a fun week since this is going to be Part 1 of a special contest that I have set up for all of you. Since this is October, it is horror movie-related, and since it's me, it's related to the Halloween movie franchise.
Before we get to the contest, I'll be telling you a bit about a synopsis I put together almost a decade ago, before there was even a thought of conceiving a scene like Busta Rhymes karate-chopping Michael Myers. I was planning on copying and pasting the whole thing in here, but unfortunately, I can't seem to find it, so I'll just have to tell you the gist of the storyline so you know what I had in mind.
Oh, one other thing, yesterday I was sent an e-mail from a YouTube user who was nice enough to tell me that one of my videos was stolen. I checked the URL that was given to me, and wouldn't you know it, some girl in Italy named JenWho2 stole my Darth Vader video, clipped off the first three seconds that gave credit to Disturbed for the song, and to me for editing the video together, then posted it on YouTube while taking credit for editing it.
So let me give a shout-out here, not to a third grade class that was given permission to stay up, but to the YouTube users known as the Thief Wall of Shame for posting this fake video up on their wall. I recommend all you guys check them out to see the good work they're doing. I understand that the videos I've made use video and audio whose copyrights are owned by others, and that there's not much that I can do with them, but I take a lot of pride in putting them together and it pisses me off to see someone else just snipping the first few seconds off her recording and posting it up as her own with a stupid logo on the bottom.
If you want to comment on her page on my behalf, feel free. As soon as she stole my video, she blocked me from commenting on any of her videos or on her main page, so I'm gonna need as many people as possible acting on my behalf.
This same girl from Italy did the same thing to another YouTube user who made a kickass video, so I'll give credit to user name "ticklesivory" for her video, "Weight of the World." Make sure you check that out and join in on the slamming of JenWho2 for stealing THAT video as well. There have been other writers on 411Mania that have had their hard work ripped off by lesser beings, and this is no different. To quote a friend of mine who recently heard of my plight, I have arrived!
And for the newer readers, here's the video I'm talking about. This one is MY version. If you want to see what she did, just type in her screen name JenWho2 and see the Darth Vader video she mentions...
Now with all that nastiness out of the way, time for some news!
SYBIL THE SOOTHSAYER
UPCOMING MOVIES
City of Ember: As an underground city's generator begins to fail, two children go on a mission to learn the secrets of the their civilization, and how to escape.
I never read the original books, but the premise alone has me very intrigued. It seems a lot like a film that all members of the family can get into, and most importantly, it doesn't feel too much like something based on a kid's book. Hell, looking at the main cast list and seeing Bill Murray and Tim Robbins there has me even more interested.
Body of Lies: CIA operative, Roger Ferris (Leonardo DiCaprio) uncovers a lead on a major terrorist leader suspected to be operating out of Jordan.
A cat-and-mouse thriller directed by Ridley Scott, with Leo and Russell as the leads? Uhhh, yeah, I think I'll be seeing this...
Credit: TheMovieBox.net
DVD NEWS
It's safe to say that Blu-Ray has now officially arrived. Why would we say that now? Because on December 2nd, the first ever Girls Gone Wild DVD will be released in the Blu-Ray format. If you were ever tempted to call up one of the 1-800 numbers to order one of their discs, but you knew that the camcorder footage of drunk girls flashing at Mardi Gras could be just a bit sharper, now is the time to put your order in.
The retail price is expected to be $24.95.
Last year, Anchor Bay Entertainment released a 20th Anniversary DVD of Clive Barker's Hellraiser. On December 30, they will follow suit with the 20th Anniversary DVD of Tony Randel's film Hellbound: Hellraiser II, which seems to have the same extras as the current version of the disc, plus a few more featurettes.
The commentary track with Randel, Ashley Laurence and writer Peter Atkins is there, and so is the featurette, "Lost in the Labyrinth." There are now all-new featurettes, including a new interview with Tony Randel. Considering that there are only a few new additions, I won't be getting this since I already got the limited edition tin that has both the first and second films. But if you haven't gotten the previous edition, make sure you get this since Anchor Bay produced another winning disc. The retail price is expected to be $24.99.
Credit: DVDReview.com
MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: W.
CLASSIC MOVIE TRAILER OF THE WEEK: Wes Craven's New Nightmare
Big fan of the movie and an even bigger fan of the trailer. You can tell this was going to be something innovative, something ahead of its time.
JIM WEBBING AND HIS IT'S-THE-HONEST-TRUTH-DEPARTMENT
I just wanted to add on to what Matthew said in yesterday's Frickin' Eh Movie News about Anne Hathaway coming aboard Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland.
You have to give her a lot of credit these days. Not only is Hathaway a classically beautiful actress, but she's shown her range in a lot of different films, especially when she went from The Princess Diaries to Havoc. If it was anyone else in The Devil Wears Prada, that film wouldn't have been half as good as it was. I haven't seen Get Smart yet, but a lot of the reviews focused on her and what she brought to Agent 99.
And then there's the upcoming Rachel Getting Married, which is getting her some Oscar buzz, and her appearance on Saturday Night Live last week which KILLED! The Mary Poppins sketch was classic. Just in case you missed it, here it is...
So yeah, having Anne Hathaway in a Tim Burton movie has me even more interested in seeing this than I was before. I'm really looking forward to seeing what she'll be bringing to this...
Can they make films as good as their DVD's?: Overture Films sister company Anchor Bay is expanding into the theatrical world, forming a label that will release movies in a limited number of theatrical venues.
The unit, dubbed Anchor Bay Films, will release films that essentially come between the core areas of the two companies -- titles smaller than Overture's theatricals but bigger than Anchor Bay's straight-to-DVD titles. Anchor Bay Entertainment president Bill Clark will run the division.
The movies will primarily be a niche theatrical play on fewer than 100 screens, with the possibility of breaking out the occasional film to a wider audience. About 8-10 titles per year are planned; the films will come in addition to Anchor Bay's existing DVD titles.
The distribution world has been consolidating, but execs said that could actually leave room for a new company since exhibitors now have fewer outfits to turn to.
"The market conditions are presenting us with an array of opportunities," Anchor Bay CEO Chris McGurk said.
The expansion also is a way to get broader exposure for Anchor Bay's DVD titles as well as fill the Anchor Bay DVD library and Starz television library more quickly. (Starz is another Overture sister company.)
The movies will come in a host of categories, including genre titles and comedies, Clark said.
Anchor Bay has released the occasional DVD title to theaters, as it did last year with Zak Penn's poker-comedy "The Grand."
Anchor Bay Films is expected to hire a distribution executive, an acquisitions exec and a marketing staffer. The operation will remain independent from Overture, with McGurk -- who is also CEO of Overture -- the lone connection between the companies.
I'm a big fan of what Anchor Bay has done in the DVD market, and there are a lot of other fans of the horror genre that have been pleased with what they've produced. Especially with the Halloween series. It's a shame that they don't have the rights to all of the films in the franchise, because I'm sure they can come up with much better discs than the barebones Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers and the practically barebones Halloween H20.
I haven't seen The Grand yet, but if Chad's review of it is any indication, then it looks like Anchor Bay's off to a good start in the theatrical field.
Credit: Hollywood Reporter
So this is the middleman: Warner Bros. and DC Comics are continuing their push into motion comics by putting into development "Batman: Black & White" and "Superman: Red Son."
Warner Premiere and Warner Bros. Digital Distribution will adapt the graphic album and graphic novel into digitally downloadable episodes that bring the comic to life by combining the artwork with subtle movement, voice-overs and musical scores.
The companies introduced their first motion comic at this year's Comic-Con with the initial chapter of "Watchmen," which adapted the first issue of the 1980s comic book miniseries into that format. Dave Gibbons, the original artist, was even tapped to redraw certain parts of the story.
The second chapter of "Watchmen" was just released with the rest of the story to be released every two weeks. The motion comics are available via iTunes, Amazon VOD, Xbox Live and the Sony PlayStation Store. The companies compiled "summary editions" for Verizon Wireless V Cast customers as well as Sprint TV customers via the DC Comics Channel.
"Black & White" was an award-winning four-issue miniseries originally published in the mid-1990s that featured eight-page Batman stories by such writers and artists as Neil Gaiman, Joe Kubert, Brian Bolland and Bill Sienkiewicz.
"Red Son" was a 2003 miniseries by Mark Millar ("Wanted") and artist Dave Johnson that featured Superman as a hero of the Soviet Union rather than America.
It is unclear at this time if the original artists will be involved.
I watched the previews of the first two episodes of Watchmen, and I wasn't all that impressed. It was basically the comic book's answer of a book on CD, an animatic storyboard that would help the animators put the finishing touches on the show or film.
I don't see why Warner Bros can't just go all the way with adapting the Batman & Superman stories and just have the two respective shows animated in the style that the graphic novels were drawn. That way, the fans really do get to see their favorite stories come to life. Just imagine if they went that way with other graphic novels. Remember how "Arkham Asylum" looked? That'd be pretty damn creepy.
Combining its domestic and international numbers, The Dark Knight stands at $988,004,670. It is now the 4th highest grossing film in the world, and still has to get another $70 million before it can take out Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest.
1. Titanic (1997): $600,788,188 2. The Dark Knight (2008): $525,904,670
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
ANDY CRITCHELL'S INTERACTIVE BABE PHOTO NEWS BRIEF WITH ANDY CRITCHELL
This week I'm going to shine my spotlight on Jennifer Finnigan. I know what you're asking, "who?" That's OK. I'm here to help you. Jennifer first came to my attention a couple of years ago when CBS was advertising for a new show called "Close to Home." It was some kind of court room show or something. Who knows? It's cancelled now and I barely watched it. I know that's not exactly a ringing endorsement for Jennifer, but stay with me here.
I remember seeing the previews and wondering who the attractive lead was. A quick IMDB search led me to Jennifer who, up to that point, had been most famous for appearing on the soap The Bold and the Beautiful. Still, the giant blue eyes, the freckles, and the cute body were more than enough to win me over. So I tried to watch "Closer to Home" a couple of times but frankly it wasn't very good. Thankfully, the deficiencies of the show didn't dull Jennifer's beauty in the least, take a look:
Pretty sexy right? Anyway Jennifer married Weekend at Bernie's actor Jonathan Silverman in 2007 so if you ever wondered why I consider him to be my nemesis, now you know.
Let me know if you enjoyed this edition in the comments section below and if enough people ask for it, I will feature more girls like Jennifer.
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.
The idea came to me just as I was putting the finishing touches on my rant last week. I gave it some thought and remembered the treatment I had written almost ten years ago and how posting that would be the perfect starting point to this contest. And then I went on both of my computers at home and work and looked for what I had written back then.
Damn. Lost the file.
What am I talking about? I'll tell you.
It didn't take too long before Moustapha Akaad and Dimension Films saw the returns that were coming in from the "final battle between Michael Myers and Laurie Strode" in Halloween H20: 20 Years Later, and then announced that there would eventually be a sequel. Never fails, right? It's like a Terry Funk retirement match. There's always the chance for another appearance by a horror icon right around the corner after making letting people know that they've just been put down for good.
Think about it. Halloween II was to be the final appearance of Michael Myers since he supposed to have died with Dr. Loomis in the burning hospital. That's why they moved on with Halloween III: Season of the Witch. When that didn't work, Akaad brought back Michael and Loomis, saying Michael was just in a coma and kept him going until the face-off with Laurie Strode. And of course, a few years later, he was able to cheat death again only to get a sneaker in the face courtesy of Busta Rhymes.
Just like Michael, Jason has had two occasions where audiences thought he was dead and gone, but he had the extra gall to be in two films with the word "Final" in their titles. And where is he now? Well, it depends on where you look. If you saw Jason X, then he's somewhere on Earth 2, waiting for a new crop of stupid teenagers to find him and see if he landed in one piece. And if you saw Freddy Vs. Jason, he's still walking around Crystal Lake holding Freddy's head. Oh wait, I forgot. He's in a time machine going back to the beginning in Platinum Dunes' remake of 1, 2 and 3 all squeezed into one movie.
Anyway, I'm getting beside the point. What my point is that, back when the announcement was first made that Michael was going to survive the swing of Laurie's axe, I thought about what would make a good enough sequel. Something had to be good enough that would make the audiences come back after they were brought in to watch the "final round" between Michael and his sister.
So I sat down at my desk and started putting together a treatment called "Halloween Millennium." (I thought it would be a bit better than the title they started floating around: Halloween H2K Evil Never Dies.) And after a few days, it came together pretty nicely since I took it upon myself to basically clean up the mess of continuity within the franchise. There are three directions that the movies had gone in as of 1998: 1, 2, 4, 5, 6 / 1, 2, H20 and then there's that flap of dead skin called Season of the Witch just hanging there, practically daring someone foolish enough to take that one on as well.
I considered myself that fool, writing a story that continued past H20, brought in the storyline that was left off with 6 and pulled Season of the Witch back in as well. Now, here was where I was going to copy and paste my full treatment, but I couldn't find it. So I'll have to just give you the gist of the synopsis here and tell you a little bit about how it all ties together.
Halloween Millennium takes place after Halloween H20, where Laurie realizes that she had just beheaded the wrong guy. (See the opening of Resurrection for how he escaped that fate; HalloweenMovies.com listed that as the only way he would have gotten away from Laurie.) Instead of her going into an insane asylum, Michael comes up behind her and stabs her, leaving her for dead. Whether she actually dies there is up to debate since finality isn't a good thing for the franchise.
Michael suddenly hears a voice, telling him to come home. He leaves only one page of the files about Laurie that he stole from Nurse Marion's home beside her body and walks off. He drives away in the ambulance that he had commandeered after killing the other paramedics, heading back to Haddonfield, Illinois.
John and Molly do their best to move on with their lives, and with the two of them now in college, Molly learns in one of her classes about a Druid named Conal Cochrane who tried to kill millions of children on Halloween 1982, in the name of his religion. Meanwhile, John gets a package in the mail. It's Laurie's old journal which tells of her first child, a daughter named Jamie, that has been left to the Carruthers family in Haddonfield. John tells Molly about the sister that he never knew he had and the two of them make the trip to Laurie's old hometown.
So that's John and Molly. What about the storyline in 4-6? That's where a reporter named Colin Murphy comes in. (He was named after the father of a friend of mine.) He's currently working on a book documenting the worst serial killers in the country, and the latest chapter is Michael Myers. He had been saving this for last since he and his family live in Haddonfield and he knew he had a chance to put the most effort into this section. Part of Colin's family is their adopted son Stephen, who is coming up on 4 years old and is the late Jamie Lloyd's child.
While John tries to get caught up on his very strange family's history, which includes going to Mr and Mrs Carruthers and learning more about Jamie, Colin is visiting with the new head of Smith's Grove Sanitarium, Jack Cochran, and learning more about Michael. Meanwhile, since everyone is active on the day of October 31, Michael is back to his old stalker ways, watching where both John and Stephen are since those two are the last members of his bloodline.
Now where does Jack Cochran come into play? Well, here's the tricky part. He's the one who sent Laurie's journal which Michael had gotten when he stole the files from Marion's house in H20 to John, knowing that this information would give him the idea to come to Haddonfield. He had also kept an eye on where Stephen would eventually end up, so he knew that he had a way to get all of Michael's missing targets together. But why is Jack assisting him?
Jack is Conal Cochrane's last living descendant, and he has one hell of a plan of revenge against the family of Dr. Dan Challis, the man who foiled Conal's Silver Shamrock scheme. Jack's wife a descendant of Dr. Challis - had given birth to a child recently, and Jack is plotting for Michael to kill off the last of his bloodline so the curse that has infected him can get passed on to the newborn baby, creating a monster that would seek out the Challis bloodline.
When the full treatment was finished, it came out... pretty good. It wasn't great. It definitely asked a LOT of the audience. They had spent over two decades under the belief that Season of the Witch didn't count, and here I was bringing it back into the fold. Michael definitely gets lost in the shuffle time and time again in the story. And it did turn out to be pretty plot-heavy, which doesn't work too well for slasher films in the eyes of producers. The way they see it, the simpler the better. Hence Busta Rhymes.
But in the end, I don't think it sucked. And I know there are a lot of Halloween fans out there that have come up with their own ideas for how the franchise could continue on. So here's where the contest idea comes up.
I want to hear from you guys out there. 411 readers and writers alike, I want you to send me by e-mail, not in the comments section your synopsis for a Halloween film. You can take this in any direction you want, since it is fan fiction. Do you want to pick up where 6 left off? Do you want to pick up where H20 or Resurrection left off? Whatever the case, I want to see how you would handle this franchise if you were given a chance.
You have ONE WEEK to send me your synopsis. Write up several paragraphs about the basic storyline and how it would end. Remember, the late Mr. Akaad was always against the idea of killing Michael for good, so keep that in mind as well. Finality is never a popular thing in the town of Haddonfield.
All of the entrants will be posted in next week's Mad Prophet rant. And the judges will be all of you, the readers. The prize will be something very special, and I will make sure that the winner gets it before this October 31 so they'll be able to enjoy it on Halloween night.
Send me your storylines! Trust me, it'll be worth it...
And that's a wrap for Chapter 81 of The UBS Evening News. For Andy Critchell, I'm George H. Sirois, and we'll see you next week!
Your contest is brilliant. I'll see what I can come up with.
Posted By: Jeremy Thomas (Registered) on October 09, 2008 at 12:25 AM
Would it be possible to report JenWho2 for editing the clip you made? It's the same thing frame for frame, with the exception of the start credits, and that shouldn't be allowed by Youtube.
Posted By: Lissa (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 02:35 AM
That W trailer made me want to see the movie. I've largely ignored this stuff up til now, but I must admit, that looks intriguing. Wonder if it'll turn Bush into an anti-hero?
Posted By: Jake (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 04:20 AM
Mary Poppins was my first crush.
Posted By: The Great Capt. Smooth (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 05:42 AM
Haven't seen season of the witch in a while but I thought that the hero didn't actually foil the plot to kill the kids. Something like he got one station to not air the thing but other stations did. Could be wrong though.
Posted By: Snake Plissken (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 08:17 AM
It appears that the youtube thief has disabled comments and ratings on "her" videos. What a slut!
Posted By: Mr. C. (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 10:30 AM
Interesting take on the series...
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 10:58 AM
And I have went to spam that JenWho2 girl, and she has blocked that particular video from recieving any comments at all. What a skank bag. So I flamed her on her profile page.
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 11:12 AM
Question-- these Watchmen comics (and the new Superman/Batman): are these being done in a style similar to that used when MTV made Sam Keith's THE MAXX into a series? Cause-- that actually was pretty cool.
Posted By: M:-X (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 01:10 PM
BIG UPDATE: The fraudulent videos have been removed, both mine and the one that "ticklesivory" did. Many thanks to everyone who lent a hand, and especially to the guys at ThiefWallofShame. So no more need to fire off any angry e-mails, the case is officially closed!
Snake, your memory is correct. Challis didn't succeed in shutting down the broadcast of the flashing pumpkin, but he did destroy Cochrane's lab, and Cochrane in the process.
Posted By: George H. Sirois (Registered) on October 09, 2008 at 02:51 PM
Pretty sure JenWho2 told me to go fuck myself.
Never underestimate the power of the 411 faithful!!
Posted By: Toddo (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 04:08 PM
George that is just an awesome idea for a contest.
Posted By: JM (Guest) on October 09, 2008 at 08:19 PM
