411 Movies Zone News Report 12.20.02
Posted by Lionel Bohbot on 12.20.2002
Lord of the Rings: the good, the bad and the plain weird. Plus, news on Gladiator 2, Mad Max 4 and Indiana Jones 4.
The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers
**Spoiler alert** You know the drill. If you don't want to read, skip to News, Rumors and Opinions.
The Good:
Gollum, Gollum and more Gollum: I couldn't get over how real he looked on screen. You know Gollum is cgi but he looks so real, even when fighting Frodo and Sam. His schizophrenic monologue is off the page and will make you laugh and pity him at the same time.
Gimli's humor: From the midget tossing to the killing contest with Legolas, Gimli lightens the mood during the monstrous Battle of Helm's Deep.
The Battle of Helm's Deep: Did you like Braveheart? You'll love this battle. 45 minutes of pure brutality. It was great but it could have been much better had there not been a few flaws.
The breakneck pace of the movie makes the three hours fly by.
The Bad:
Saruman vs. Gandalf doesn't happen. I'm sitting there realizing that Jackson is all over the map with this movie and then it hits me: there's not enough time for Gandalf vs. Saruman. I was reminded of all those RAW main events back in 1998 where the big Austin vs. Anyone matches would start at 10:59.
Faramir: I don't remember him being so mean in the book. If anything, he was the 'good brother'.
The Weird:
Why in the hell did Peter Jackson decide to include an Olympic torch runner/kamikaze orc? Who volunteers for that job?
The Ents were just Eh. Towards the end, I was getting tired of their constant interrupting of the Battle.
The teenage girls three rows in front of me who started giggling every time Legolas appeared. At least they kept their mouths shut when that other Elf got what was coming to him.
That Mordor door was pretty impressive. You won't find those at your local Home Depot.
I'll let the 411 crew handle the reviews but feel free to send along your thoughts on The Two Towers.
If you're curious to see how Peter Jackson's crew created Helm's Deep, click here. You can also make your own Helm's Deep composite. Pretty cool stuff.
NEWS, RUMORS AND OPINIONS
The Two Towers: The film opened up Wednesday with a whopping $26 million in domestic (U.S.) gross and $42 million internationally. Towers' Wednesday opening ranks second behind Star Wars: Episode 1 ($28.5 million). That record will probably fall when Return of the King opens up next year. Incidentally, Towers' opening day receipts were up 45% over Fellowship.
The Vega Boys: New details are coming out about Tarantino's Pulp Fiction/Reservoir Dogs prequel. Tarantino is hoping to finish the script early next year and aiming for a summer of 2003 shoot. Vincent Vega will be played by John Travolta (Pulp Fiction's hitman) while Michael Madsen (Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs) returns as Vic Vega. (Zap2It.com)
Gladiator 2: Apparently, Russell Crowe wants to return for Gladiator. His report does pose a problems seeing how Maximus died in the first movie. Walter Parkes had a few more details: "Maximus did die in the first 'Gladiator,' but the Romans had a great belief in the afterlife. Russell is exploring some ideas on how to come back."
Star Trek: Patrick Stewart has decided to quit Star Trek. We've seen the last of Captain Picard. "You never want to outstay your welcome. Just like an athlete, it's horrible to go on when the best is over. I could think of no better way to bow out." (Studio Briefing)
Indiana Jones 4:
Will Indy be fighting Nazis or Papa Shango?
Well maybe not the Nazis again seeing how the story takes place in the early 50's.
- Me, 411 Movies Zone News Report 12.18.02
Steven Spielberg recently talked about Indiana Jones going up against supernatural creatures. I guess the Nazis are officially out. As for the film taking place in the 50's, "You have to understand that [star] Harrison [Ford] is going to be 62 years old when the film [begins production in 2004], so we had to push the years into the 1950s."
In other Spielberg news, the director told Cinecon.com that his next project will most likely be about Abraham Lincoln. "I think history is important," he said. "I know that I want to make a movie about Abraham Lincoln and I have a script in development right now about the relationship between Abe Lincoln and Frederick Douglas, and John Logan's writing it, and that's a movie I'm probably going to make in the next 18 months or 2 years."
Mad Max 4: Reports indicate that Dimension has hired Kevin Smith (Clerks, Dogma) to direct the third Road Warrior movie. I will shoot myself if Ben Affleck shows up as some sort of Lord Master Blaster Turner. (E! Online)
T3: Rise of the Machines: New pictures have been posted at the official site.
