Frickin' Eh Movie News 02.25.09: Razzed Edition

Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 02.25.2009

This week, check out who won the Oscars and, more importantly, the Razzies, the latest word on Iron Man 2, whether or not Linda Hamilton really is in Terminator Salvation, and more!



So I'm back to school this week, no longer moving this month, and am still in shock from the movie I watched in Film Studies on Monday night. I'm also quite addicted to Fallout 3. It's a damn good game. Also slightly movie-relevant, as it's based heavily off of The Road Warrior, which I am fairly proud of. But let's cut to the chase. Here's the news:


The Mid-Week Box Office Time Machine

Alright, last weekend saw Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail as the top movie, making $41 million. This is nearly a new low for filmgoers everywhere. You should be ashamed of yourselves. Second place went to Coraline, which climbed back up from fourth and made $11.4 million. Taken stayed put at number three with $11.3 million. He's Just Not That Into You dropped to fourth and made $8.6 million. Slumdog Millionaire rode its Oscar buzz up to fifth place and made $8.4 million. Friday the 13th dropped to sixth from first, only making $7.9 million. Paul Blart: Mall Cop dropped a spot while Confessions of a Shopaholic fell three spots to eight. Fired Up! opened at ninth spot with a paltry $5.5 million. The International rounded out the top ten.

This weekend we've only got two wide releases. Wow, the theatres have been crappy lately. To top off this recent trend, we have Jonas Brothers 3D Concert Experience. When this is the number one movie of the weekend (which I am fairly confident it will be, judging by my past shame in the human race) I will scratch out my eyes with a Powerfist hammer. Not literally, of course, but that's how ashamed I will be. The other movie opening this weekend is Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li, and this movie will desperately be trying to break free of the last time they tried to make a Street Fighter movie. While I'm not overly optimistic, judging from what I've seen so far, it can't be as bad as the Jonas Brothers. It just can't be.


Penn Playing a Fair Game?

Fair Game, the drama about the outing of CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson, has come together with Naomi Watts starring, Mrs. & Mrs. Smith helmer Doug Liman directing and William Pohlad's River Road financing, reports Variety.

The big question, however is whether Oscar-winning Milk star Sean Penn will close a deal to play Ambassador Joseph Wilson.

Wilson watched his wife's CIA status become compromised after he wrote op-ed columns that accused the Bush Administration of manipulating intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify the invasion of Iraq.

Plame Wilson left the CIA in 2005 and she and her husband filed a civil suit against Vice President Dick Cheney, Karl Rove and Cheney's ex-chief of staff, Lewis "Scooter" Libby. While Rove and Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage admitted they leaked her agency status to journalists, Libby was convicted of lying to a federal grand jury about his role in compromising her covert status.

I'm not very well-versed in a lot of American political fiascos, besides the really major ones, so I don't know the foundation for this story. I've heard only briefly about the whole thing, but this sounds like it's a strange movie to be cranking out now. Obviously with Bush no longer president there will likely be a flood of movies coming out against his years in power. Personally, I'm fine with Watts playing the lead, but I don't care how many Oscars Sean Penn wins, I will not like him. I don't think he's a particularly good actor and I couldn't care less whether he's in this or not.


Filming of Ghostbusters 3 in the Fall

Dan Aykroyd participated in a chat with The Boston Globe in celebration of a new House of Blues opening and was asked by someone about the status of Ghostbusters 3. Here's the opening bit from the chat:

[Comment From Tom] Dan, I'm extremely excited for the HOB to be back in its birth-city!! I will be attending many shows. On a side note, and I'm sure you get these questions a lot, so I apologize in advance...Ghostbusters 3? I've heard that the writers of the Office are currently penning a script? How is this coming along, and should we look forward to this movie seeing the light of day? Thanks Dan!

Dan Aykroyd: Script is commenced early summer. Hope to be in production by late fall 2009.

It was announced last September that "The Office" co-executive producers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky were going to write the script for the third film designed to bring back together the original cast of Harold Ramis, Bill Murray, Aykroyd and Ernie Hudson. It was reported then that the concept is that the old Ghostbusters would appear in the film in some mentor capacity.

I'd say this is probably a go for sure now, with all the talk around it. I'm still not particularly in favour of it, though. For starters, I am not a fan of The Office, so while having the writers of it in charge of this doesn't necessarily mean I'll be against it, it's definitely not helping things, either. Secondly, I'm still very unsure of the whole mentor story. It's obviously the way to revive the series and try to keep it going, but I'm still confident that the original's popularity was heavily dependent on the right cast in the right story, and I just can't see them doing it again on purpose. But we'll see in the fall, I guess.


Blunt Gone From Iron Man, Rourke Being Sought

The Playlist reports that Iron Man 2 director Jon Favreau was interviewed on Oscar night and he said that Fox exercised its option for Emily Blunt to star in Gulliver's Travels causing her to become unavailable for the sequel.

Favreau didn't say anything about Scarlett Johansson possibly taking over the role of Russian superspy Natasha Romanoff, who doubles as Black Widow.

The only thing he said about Mickey Rourke is that he "isn't officially cast but that he is a fan."

Meanwhile, Robert Downey Jr. said last night before the Oscars started that they are still trying to get Rourke to play a villain. He was quoted as saying that they are "slaving away on a hot script" for Iron Man 2.

This basically tells us nothing. Blunt was basically out the second they said she was in Gulliver's Travels. As much as everyone hoped it would work out, it was never going to. And obviously he wouldn't say who was replacing her because I'm sure they don't know yet. As for Rourke, that would be an interesting mix. A nice addition, but probably nothing more than rumour and pipe dreams at this point. It'll all depend on what they decide on for a script. If Rourke is tapped as a villain, though, the cast is starting to beef up, and hopefully that doesn't start to convolute and take down a potentially great sequel.


Oscar Winners!

Okay, going to be straight here. I did not watch the Academy Awards, partly due to the fact that I was working, but mostly because I have absolutely no interest in them. The movies are rarely ones I actually enjoy watching, it's all about art and style and stuff I can't stand, the whole ceremony is a bunch of self-important people talking about themselves for hours on end, and the jokes are usually fairly lame. That said, I've heard Hugh Jackman did a good job. Apparently Slumdog Millionaire won eight and topped the night. If you want to see the whole list check it out here. To sum up, Slumdog Millionaire took home best picture, best director, screenplay, etc. Sean Penn won best actor for Milk and Kate Winslet was best actress for The Reader. Heath Ledger took home best actor in a supporting role for The Dark Knight, which means I haven't lost complete faith in the Oscars quite yet. For the rest, check it out yourself. There aren't many surprises of any kind.


New Shrek Plot?

Alex Litel's Lackluster Emporium has come upon a copyright pre-registration for DreamWorks Animation's Shrek Goes Fourth which may give our first look where the studio is headed with the story:

After challenging an evil dragon, rescuing a beautiful princess and saving your in-laws' kingdom, what's an ogre to do? Well, if you're Shrek, you suddenly wind up a domesticated family man. Instead of scaring villagers away like he used to, a reluctant Shrek now agrees to autograph pitch forks. What's happened to this ogre's roar? Longing for the days when he felt like a "real ogre," Shrek is duped into signing a pact with the smooth-talking dealmaker, Rumplestiltskin. Shrek suddenly finds himself in a in a twisted, alternate version of Far Far Away, where ogres are hunted, Rumplestiltskin is king and Shrek and Fiona have never met. Now, it's up to Shrek to undo all he's done in the hopes of saving his friends, restoring his world and reclaiming his one True Love.

DreamWorks Animation is eyeing a May 21, 2010 release in conventional and IMAX theaters.

This is not necessarily what the movie will be but I wouldn't be surprised if it was. And actually, the story doesn't sound too bad. It sounds interesting, definitely in the vein of the movies, and might re-spark some enthusiasm for the movies all over again. I hope it works out. As much as I'm not one for many kids movies anymore, I've also respected Shrek and I'd like to see the movies return to their former glory.


The Razzies Are Here As Well

The "winners" of the 29th Annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie©) Awards were announced on Saturday and here's the press release:

At least someone loved THE LOVE GURU. Voters for The 29th Annual RAZZIE Awards spread the dis-honors around this year, but gave several of their berry biggest trophies to one of 2008's most notorious box office losers, Mike Myers' misbegotten, far-from-mystical "comedy" THE LOVE GURU. In addition to being named the year's Worst Picture, GURU also received spray-painted gold for its screenplay and Myers as Worst Actor, in intentionally tacky ceremonies held on "Oscar Eve" at the Barnsdall Theatre in Hollywood.

But the former SNL star wasn't the year's biggest RAZZIE winner/loser. That dis-stink-tion belongs to "sex-tape-celeb-utant" Paris Hilton, who tied Eddie Murphy's hat-trick from 2007, taking a record-tying 3 trophies in a single year. For her "starring" performance in Worst Picture nominee THE HOTTIE & THE NOTTIE (which Hilton herself executive-produced) the air-headed heiress was gonged for both Worst Actress and as part of the year's Worst Screen Couple (along with co-stars Christine Lakin and Joel David Moore). And for her mostly-left-on-the-cutting-room floor cameo in the "slasher musical" REPO: THE GENETIC OPERA, she was chosen Worst Supporting Actress.

Others roundly RAZZed in the 90-minute Oscar parody included Pierce Brosnan as Worst Supporting Actor for his tone-deaf turn in MAMMA MIA! The year's third-biggest grossing (and most disappointing) movie INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL "won" as Worst Prequel, Remake, Rip-Off or Sequel and world-class worst movie-maker Uwe Boll took both the 2008 Worst Director RAZZIE® (for 3 titles) and a well-deserved special Worst Career Achievement dis-honor.

Far more entertaining than the real Oscars, I guarantee you that. Picking the worst of the worst isn't as hard and always is much more interesting. As much as I like Brosnan I've heard he was just terrible in Mamma Mia! partly for his lack of singing ability. I'm not sure I'd go as far as saying Indiana Jones was the worst sequel, as I actually enjoyed the movie and think a lot of people are hating on the movie for all the wrong reasons (maybe I'll do a Rapid-Fire on that one day). As for the others, they all definitely had it coming.


The Dark Knight is Worth One Billion

The Dark Knight has become the fourth film to take in more than $1 billion in worldwide box office.

Warner Bros. Pictures made the announcement Friday afternoon, saying that the combined domestic and international gross had totaled $1,001,082,160 to date -- about $533 million domestically and $567 million overseas.

The Dark Knight had been about $4 million short of the 10-figure mark when Warner Bros. re-released it into IMAX screens on Jan. 23, the day after its eight Oscar nominations were announced. Grosses from Ecuador also helped nudge the film over the mark, a spokeswoman said.

Only Titanic ($1.842 billion), The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($1.119 billion) andPirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest ($1.066 billion) have topped the billion-dollar worldwide mark previously.

"Knight" also is the second-highest domestic grosser of all time, trailing only Titanic.

That's good to hear. This is definitely one of the best movies in a long, long time, and by far the best comic book movie, and hearing it join the elite ranks is nice. I still wish it had beaten Titanic, but I'll live with it. Let's hope the next one is just as good.


Hamilton Is Back for Terminator Salvation
Linda Hamilton has confirmed what Terminator Salvation director McG first hinted at last month - she'll be back to do a voiceover as Sarah Connor. Hamilton told MTV:

"We are talking"... "I haven't read it yet. I don't know what direction they will go in."

While she awaits the specifics in a script, Hamilton already knows what her role generally would be. "My contribution would be voiceover," she said. "I would probably be very happy to loan my voice depending on what the material is. Wait and see. They're already writing it. We've been negotiating it.

Terminator Salvation is coming to theaters on May 21.

That's good to hear. Hamilton has always been a big part of the Terminator universe and without her it just wouldn't be right. I was really worried they'd tap Lena Headey to do a voice-over – I've got nothing against her, it just wouldn't be right, I don't think. This is one I think I'll definitely be seeing in theatres.


Rapid-Fire: Tokyo Story (1953, directed by Yasujiri Ozu)

I went into this week's Film Studies movie with lower-than-average expectations: the movie had a relatively high rating on IMDB but several comments had laid out how slow and supposedly artsy this movie was, two things I cannot tolerate. Needless to say, I went in with low expectations, but here goes:

This movie is quite obviously not in English, it has subtitles, which I am usually highly annoyed with. However, due to the very slow pace of this movie, it was not the problem it usually is. As most of the conversations went slowly and the story relied only half on speaking, and the other half on expressions and actions on the screen, it was not nearly as bad. As always, it does detract slightly; when reading the dialogue it's impossible to tell at some points who is in fact speaking, especially with Ozu's style of not moving the camera and setting it very low, but this was really only a problem at the very start. As the movie progressed this problem disappeared.

The style is an odd one, as already alluded to. It makes use of two major elements. The first is the fact that the movie is almost exclusively shot from a very low shot – it's as if the camera is right on the ground. My professor said that was because Japanese culture is situated fairly low – they sit on the floor, sleep on the floor, and all of this becomes evident throughout the movie – and the difference is largely a cultural one. The second stylistic element is the camera movement, or rather, the lack thereof. The camera rarely moves, sometimes to frustration – people will walk off screen or talk from beyond the edge of the screen – but usually it's an interesting style. This slows down the pace of the movie; it's a very slow, quiet movie.

The story, unlike most of the movies we've watched in Film Studies, is surprisingly robust. It focuses on an old couple who go to visit their children in Tokyo, from their home in a small town far away. The story is one of family and children – how families grow apart, how children change, the duties between family members, and that. There is probably a huge cultural difference here, and I assume someone who grew up in Japan would be able to derive much more from it than me, but I found myself deeply touched by the story – how the parents are essentially tossed aside from the lives of the children, and the only person who seems to care about them is not even their own daughter.

I can't quite explain why I liked this movie as much as I did. Something struck an emotional chord with me; maybe it was the theme of family, or the comparison between the big city and the small town, the modern generation's differences to the older one – some part of this movie affected me greatly, and I felt intimately attached to the movie by the end. And believe me, I am not an emotional person. The last time something made me as teary-eyed as this movie did was the ending of Final Fantasy X, or the end of Big Fish. Feelings of sympathy for the grandparents, and a strong connection to Noriko, came forth.

This movie is almost inexplicable for me. I went in with admittedly low expectations and I was absolutely blown away. I don't know what it was about the movie that got me, but something hit home. This is a powerful film with a deeply emotional story and interesting style. If I ever recommend a foreign film to you, it's definitely going to be this one.


Closing Time . . .

Two more midterms – one this week, and one the next – and then I'm done for a while. Unfortunately I've got a couple essays fast approaching as well. The first essay I wrote for Scorpio Rising was bad, and the mark reflected that, but at least it wasn't a surprise. It's worse when it's a surprise. I knew this was coming, and now hopefully I can improve for next time. Maybe by choosing a movie I don't despise. We'll see. But until next week . . .


[All news, images, and other stuff from www.comingsoon.net, www.imdb.com, and www.youtube.com.]