News Chat - by Rodney - September 28, 2009 - 04:08 America/Montreal - 10 Comments
After last week when we heard some more news about Lost Boys 3, we got conflicting news about the title but heard confirmation that The Frog Brothers were both back and Corey Haim as well.
Now we hear right from the blog of Corey Feldman (the more vocal Frog Brother) and just how involved he will be, first confirming the title will be Lost Boys: The Thirst.
Shock til you Drop quotes Cory Feldman:
I am very excited to get started. The title of the film will be Lost Boys: The Thirst and I am excited to say it will be a full scale return of the Frog Brothers(that means Jamison Newlander). Not like the tease in the last film. I would say this will be much closer to the comic book series.I do not want to tell you too much about it other than I have been lucky enough to be asked to Executive Produce the film for Warners. What that means is that I will have more creative involvement than ever before. I promise to do my very best to give the fans what they want this time around.
I don’t know if I think it is a good thing that Feldman will be more in control of this third chapter or not. But at very least he is trying to gain favour saying the series will be more “what the fans want” which I have to assume there will be more that deals with the fate of the other Frog Brother as well as seeing Corey Haim facing off against Feldman.
What I do hope is that this doesn’t become a staring role for Feldman, and he lets the Frog Brothers be supporting cast like they were in the first film. They were backup to the stars, and the movie dealt more with Haim’s character tripping over their world.
News Chat - by Rodney - September 28, 2009 - 04:07 America/Montreal - 5 Comments
With an action flick like Surrogates and Bruce Willis for insurance, I was certain that it would hold the number one spot at the boxoffice this weekend. But it would seem the forecast is still showing those looming meatballs holding their own adding another $24million to the pot and taking the top spot.
Collider
1 - Cloudy w/a Chance of Meatballs $24,600,000 (Total:$60,036,000)
2 - Surrogates $15,000,000
3 - Fame $10,000,000
Third on the list is the remake of Fame, which although I was interested to see, I was not surprised to see it wasn’t on top.
I never underestimate a family film, but I did overestimate the broad appeal of a Willis’ action flick.
With The Invention of Lying, Zombieland and the re-release of Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D scheduled for this coming week, could Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs hold the pole position again?
News Chat - by Rodney - September 28, 2009 - 04:05 America/Montreal - 52 Comments
Because most people don’t really care, and this all took place over 30 years ago I simply find it interesting that they finally were able to arrest filmmaker Roman Polanski for charges set against him in 1977 that he fled to France to avoid.
FilmJunk reports:
Now, today, it appears that authorities have taken steps to resolve the case once and for all. After arriving in Zurich, Switzerland to attend the Zurich Film Festival, he was arrested. Festival organizers had planned to present Polanski with a lifetime achievement award, but now he is being detained with the possibility of extradition to the United States.
I do believe in innocent until proven guilty, but the fact that Polanski has dodged this legal issue by simply staying outside of the United States is suspicious at very least.
Polanski has not offered anything to my DVD collection, so he will hardly be missed while he serves his 83 minutes in jail. However he isn’t exactly as “influential” as some of those short lived criminal jail stays. I just hope that justice is met, and the punishment fits the crime.
News Chat - by Rodney - September 28, 2009 - 04:04 America/Montreal - 5 Comments
What we do know about the upcoming Predators project is that Robert Rodriguez will produce, Nimrod Antal will direct and Alex Litvak will be writing the script. But aside from that there are no other names attached short of a speculated cameo of Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Until now. It seems that the intimidating Danny Trejo will be facing off against some Preds!
/Film says:
Who will be making up the human contingent, the team of commandos facing off against a whole heap of crab-faced Predators? The first name has been revealed, and it’s not a surprisingly a member of the Rodriguez rep company, none other than Machete himself, Danny Trejo.
I like Trejo. He is by far the most intimidating face in Hollywood, yet somehow you see a kind gentle teddy bear quality to him too. If you need to kick some ass, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have Trejo on your side.
This being the first casting news, it is certainly headed in the right direction.
News Chat - by Rodney - September 28, 2009 - 04:03 America/Montreal - 8 Comments
A new poster for Jason Statham`s remake of the classic Charles Bronson film The Mechanic is circluating the net.
I use new as a loose term since its clearly made to emulate the era that the original film was released in. I love that.
Via
News Chat - by Rodney - September 28, 2009 - 04:02 America/Montreal - 6 Comments
Some new images have surfaced for Adam McKay’s The Other Guys, the cop comedy staring Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Sam Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Rob Riggle and Damon Wayans Jr. Word has it these are prematurely released promo shots from the studio.
/Film quotes McKay’s description.
“Basically the idea is that you have your star cops of New York City, picture like a Bruce Willis and Mel Gibson-type pair,” McKay explained. They’re the guys who get all the car chases, all the girls. But this is the story of the guys in the desk next to them, the other guys. …The premise is you have the stud cops in New York City, and the other cops are the wannabes who want to be the stud cops,” he explained. “So Ferrell and Wahlberg have another pair of cops who are competing with them to be the stars.
I am a big fan of Wahlberg, but I don’t know that will trump my general disatisfaction with Wayans, and my neutral approach to Will Ferrell (I’m tired of him despite being pleased with some of his less recent comedies) isn’t scoring me any points either.
We will have to wait and see.
News Chat - by John - September 28, 2009 - 00:26 America/Montreal - 12 Comments
A couple of weeks ago I asked a PR rep for “Pandorum” when the press screenings for the movie were. This strip is “based” on an actual email exchange I had with them.
News Chat, Reviews - by John - September 27, 2009 - 22:49 America/Montreal - 21 Comments
Thanks for checking out our Surrogates review. It sort of snuck up on the general public a few weeks ago like a Hollywood secret. As films started their marketing pushes for movies earlier and earlier, one just expects that a Sci-Fi Bruce Willis film would have a massive ad campaign well in advance of its release. But that’s not how the studio decided to handle Surrogates, and as a result, most people only first heard about Surrogates a few short weeks ago. Personally, I like that it did that… it made sure I wasn’t sick of the movie before even seeing it.
So off I went to see it. Was it good? Was it bad? Does Bruce still kick ass?
Yes actually
No
He sure does.
THE GENERAL IDEA
The synopsis for Surrogates reads something like this: “People are living their lives remotely from the safety of their own homes via robotic surrogates — sexy, physically perfect mechanical representations of themselves. It’s an ideal world where crime, pain, fear and consequences don’t exist. When the first murder in years jolts this utopia, FBI agent Greer (Willis) discovers a vast conspiracy behind the surrogate phenomenon and must abandon his own surrogate, risking his life to unravel the mystery.”
THE GOOD
As a Bruce Willis movie, the first thing an audience member will probably expect (rightly or wrongly) is some good action, and Surrogates delivers on that. No, this movie isn’t a wall to wall action film, nor does it want to be… nor SHOULD it be, but the action sequences that are in there are pulled off beautifully. Not only is it exciting stuff, but it all feels “real” and fits in with the context in which the film takes place… both in Bruce’s robotic form and in his human form.
The thing that surprised me the most about the movie was that it’s a good mystery. If you’ve seen the trailers, you know someone has figured out how to actually kill real people through their Surrogates (which was thought to be totally impossible). The story behind who is doing it all and why turns out to be quite compelling and has a terrific “reveal” moment in the film that I honestly never saw coming, yet made total and perfect sense within the context of the movie.
Although the film isn’t as cerebral as it could has tried to be, it ends up making some interesting observations about how things would be in an entirely artificial world. The disconnect we experience with the “real” world when we get too plugged in. There’s a scene where a woman stumbles onto the streets for the first time in a while and squints when she sees the sun… it reminded me of someone I know who spends too much time on World of Warcraft and Facebook (you know who you are).
The pace of the movie is wonderful. Always moving forward, moving from point A to point B and then on to point C once point B has ben adequately established. It never feels rushed, and never feels like it stalls or lingers on a point that’s already been made.
THE BAD
Although you know that the movie doesn’t aspire to be a 2001 or any deeper than it ends up being, one can’t help but get a sense that perhaps they should have delved a little bit deeper into the socio-consioucness of a society that becomes completely reliant on technology (which some could argue we already are). What questions does that raise? How does it effect our identity and how we interact and fit in with the world around us? Oh sure, a few passing comments are made here and there, but they only serve to make us wonder if they should have gone just a bit deeper.
Some of the visual effects were just dreadful. Granted, the budget for the movie was only about $80 million and thus one can only expect the effects to be so good… but if you can’t do the effect well, then work around it and don’t put something bad, or cheesy looking on the screen that pulls us out of the movie.
There is a side story to the film about Bruce Willis and his wife. I completely understand this side story was meant to serve as Bruce’s anchor to reality and real human contact… but it didn’t quite click for me and ultimately felt more like dead weight in the film. They either needed to better develop the side story, or let it go. They did neither and it hurt the film overall.
OVERALL
Overall, Surrogates ends up being a lighter sci-fi look into our future and our dependance on humanity that keeps its main identity as an 80’s style action film with more depth than you’d expect, but not quite as much as you’d hope for. No masterpiece, but by the time the end credits roll a movie that entertained. The biggest complaints ends up being that you know if could have been even better, but we’ll take what we can get. Overall I give Surrogates a 7 out of 10.
News Chat, Reviews - by John - September 27, 2009 - 22:48 America/Montreal - 22 Comments
Thanks for checking out our Pandorum review. I’m a sucker for just about anything with Dennis Quaid in it (he’s one of the only reasons I had any hope at all for G.I. Joe), and Ben Foster is evolving into one of the best actors working in Hollywood today (his performances in “30 Days of Night” and “3:10 To Yuma” were just absolutely mind blowing). Combine that with the fact that I get excited about almost any Sci-Fi movie and you end up with Pandorum being very high on my list of films I’ve wanted to see this year. It struck me as a sort of “Alien” type of movie (sci-fi/horror). So off I went to check it out this weekend. Did it disappoint? Yup… sure did.
THE GENERAL IDEA
The synopsis for Pandorum reads something like this: “Two crew members are stranded on a spacecraft and quickly - and horrifically - realize they are not alone. Two astronauts awaken in a hyper-sleep chamber aboard a seemingly abandoned spacecraft. It’s pitch black, they are disoriented, and the only sound is a low rumble and creak from the belly of the ship. They can’t remember anything: Who are they? What is their mission? With Lt. Payton staying behind to guide him via radio transmitter, Cpl. Bower ventures deep into the ship and begins to uncover a terrifying reality. Slowly the spacecraft’s shocking, deadly secrets are revealed…and the astronauts find their own survival is more important than they could ever have imagined.”
THE GOOD
As expected, the performance of Ben Foster as Bower was impeccable. The role was a challenging one. A role that called on the performer to convince an audience of complete bewilderment, confusion, fear, intensity, bravery, terror and excitement all at the same time without going overboard on any of them. When Foster’s character wakes up completely unaware of who he is or where he is, he conveys it perfectly, and continues to do so throughout the movie. I’ve got to confess that despite the fact that I still believe Dennis Quaid is a better actor than Foster, he stumbles a bit through the movie and doesn’t come across nearly as convincing as Foster does. Foster almost saves this movie… but doesn’t. Which leads us into….
THE BAD
First of all, the “mystery” of the monsters we see in the trailers was about as un-mysterious as you can get. “Oh no… what are these monsters… where did they come from… and what happened to all the passengers”? I bet if you didn’t even see the trailer and JUST read that line, you’d already guess what the monsters are, where they came from, and what happened to the passengers of the giant ship. Yes… the monsters are former passengers. There… I spoiled it for you. If you didn’t figure it out for yourself already, then you probably can’t read either, and thus I didn’t spoil anything for you at all.
Within the exposition of the story, you can clearly tell the director Christian Alvart was attempting to make observations on commentary on the condition of humanity and our base nature. These are great things to utilize when tapping into a story like this one… however you have to tap into them, or observe them, or comment on them WELL. To me they just came off as trite afterthoughts instead of existential dilemmas on the condition of man. What that leaves you with is nothing more than a monster horror movie in space, which feels quite hollow considering you KNOW they were going for much much much more.
But even then, “monster horror movies in space” CAN be a lot of fun. But even on that level Pandorum fails. The “monsters” have nothing interesting about them, nor do they really scare you at all (if they could have JUST pulled that off, it could have gone a long way to redeeming the film). Also… for those of you who have seen the movie… please tell me how on earth one of these borderline mindless monsters learned kung-fu?
The ultimate mystery of the film is essentially irrelevant. Where is the ship now and how did they get there SHOULD have been the ultimate questions throughout the film, but never does the audience care or are made to feel the need to care. By the time the “mystery” is revealed at the end it feels pointless. A big “reveal” in a movie should do something to alter how an audience perceived or increase their understanding of all that came before it (think of how the reveal in “The Sixth Sense” does that), but in Pandorum, it’s just another fact to end the movie that on a practical level changes or would have changed anything else in the movie up to that point, and thus felt like useless noise by the time they finally got to it.
OVERALL
Overall, Pandorum is an intelligent idea for a movie that isn’t executed intelligently. A mystery film with no mystery. A horror film with no horror. A monster movie with lame monsters… and although it clearly tries to be much more and much deeper than any of that, it falls well short and ultimately comes off as a movie that thinks it’s smarter than it is. A terrific performance by Ben Foster almost makes it watchable, but doesn’t get you there. Overall I give Pandorum a 2.5 out of 10.
News Chat - by Rodney - September 25, 2009 - 11:01 America/Montreal - 17 Comments
Short of the full on Trailer, this gameplay footage of the console game based on James Cameron’s Avatar is the closest peek we will get into the fantasy world of the alien conflict.
The game looks pretty much like any third person view first person shooter game I have seen, but it does give us a peek at the kind of action and fun tech we will see in the film. And the game looks to let you play both factions, so player vs player matches are a certainty!
I just hope the effects are better than a console game. Still looks fun.
Via
News Chat - by Rodney - September 25, 2009 - 10:42 America/Montreal - 7 Comments
This is a geek boner if I ever saw one. I just love the crap out of anything with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost in it, but mostly because up until now, Edgar Wright has been writing it. But I am still geeking out over “Paul” the movie the dorky duo have penned themselves.
JoBlo shares:
Trying to keep them in check for PAUL but it’s quite hard - the darn thing’s written by Simon Pegg AND Nick Frost, directed by SUPERBAD’s Greg Mottola and co-stars Kristen Wiig, Jeffrey Tambor and Sigourney Weaver. How can’t I geek out about that?
Now we get our first look at how these guys will appear from this teaser poster:
The film centers on two geeky friends on a roadtrip across the US when they meet an Alien named Paul.
I can’t wait!
News Chat - by Rodney - September 25, 2009 - 09:42 America/Montreal - 10 Comments
Michael “Michael Cera” Cera plays the same guy in every film he is in, so I was surprised to see him in this movie where he plays that same guy… paired off with an alter ego of NOT the same guy also played by Cera.
Youth in Revolt is a story of a young man attempting to win the girl and lose his virginity by creating his own alter ego to coach him in the ways of love. His “other self” is reminiscent of a Nutty Professor kind of thing, but more in his head like a Fight Club kind of thing.
I might actually be curious to see a Michael Cera film after all!
Via
News Chat - by Rodney - September 25, 2009 - 09:14 America/Montreal - 9 Comments
Remember back when we were just hearing bits about Iron Man, and every little shred of news was just made of the purest gold and made you more and more excited about seeing Iron Man come to life?
Well its happening again. And everything I am hearing sounds great. So for a first peek on set Entertainment Tonight sent Captian Jack Harkness to the set to check it out.
Scarlett looking sassy, Paltrow looking classy, Cheadle looking downright serious, and of course RDJ living the dream, loving this as much as we love seeing him in it. This video has me hyped already.
Cheadle says it: “Revered Silence” Nice.
Via
News Chat - by Rodney - September 25, 2009 - 08:48 America/Montreal - 6 Comments
Finding out that Scream 4 was going to film next spring with Courtney Cox and David Arquette just didn’t thrill me. The first one was great, the second ok, but the third made so little sense that I lost any interest in a fourth. But now it looks like they are trying to get Wes Craven to direct and while they are at it, they have confirmed that Neve Campbell will return to reprise her role as the tortured Sidney Prescott!
Dark Horizons shares:
Neve Campbell has signed on to return as Sidney Prescott while Wes Craven is in talks to direct “Scream 4″ for Dimension Films
I have said it before and I will say it again now: Sidney will be the Killer.
My theory went out the window when Campbell didn’t sign for Scream 4, but now thats just the only way I see this making sense. Her character suffered far more mental damage than any other scream queen. I predict that bringing Neve back for another chapter would only be so they can have Sidney crack under all the pressure. Everytime she thinks its over Ghostface comes back. That’s gotta wear on a girl.
The last one was a horrible film, but the one part of it I did like was showing Sidney as the broken, paranoid scared shell of a woman who lost any confidence in her life. There is no reason for her to think it would be over now. Make her go nutbars and throw that wide open.
News Chat - by Rodney - September 25, 2009 - 08:20 America/Montreal - 15 Comments
Just when all the news about The Hobbit put a shiny light on the progress, another dark shadow looms overhead. One even the Fellowship may not be able to rescue them from. Unless of course the Fellowship has a spare 3 billion dollars.
MGM appears to be on the brink of bankruptcy and recently begged their investors for a break so they could fund their upcoming films like the Hobbit.
Worst Previews
It turns out that the studio is on the verge of bankruptcy.
The call was to make a desperate plea for money in the amount of $20 million in short term and another $150 million to get through the rest of the year. One major project that MGM needs to fund is Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” prequel.
So what happens when MGM can’t get their own bailout.
Does this mean the end of films opening with a lion’s roar?
Does this mean doom for The Hobbit films? I am sure there will be other studios more than willing to pick up the rights to The Hobbit should MGM close doors, but this just means more delays.
News Chat - by Rodney - September 25, 2009 - 07:38 America/Montreal - 18 Comments
Paranormal Activity appears to be building popularity at a viral rate. I have to say I have never been creeped out about a trailer more than when I saw this one.
Well the film is on limited release based on demand and if this is any indication, then there is CLEARLY a demand.
Bloody Disgusting was host to an event that screened the film to a small group of RSVP’d fans. When 4500 people showed up, they knew they had some problems!
We were told to get to the theater around 10pm to start getting ready for the onslaught. Andrea and I park around 8:15pm to go walk to a local bar, grab a drink and some food. There’s already a line all the way around the front of the theater. By the time we returned around 10, the line was down the street!
It immediately washed over me that this was really happening.
Then there was midnight, don’t even get me started about midnight. Apparently, there were over 4,500 of you horror fiends in line. People who were in line three hours early were turned away. Some of you were in the lobby screaming, others freaking out. I got a kick out of the groups of people who showed up at 11:59 asking to “check in” like they were just going to waltz on in to the theater.
Paramount was pretty rad as instead of screening the film for one lucky group of individuals, they spooled up three prints and ran it in three separate theaters – all packed to the brim with screaming horror fans.
It was epic, and I have never seen anything like this… EVER.
This is pretty amazing. Everyone I know is talking about this film. People haven’t been this a buzz since Blair Witch. I can’t wait to see this!
If you missed our post about the Trailer or don’t know what this is about, here it is again:
Visit the Official Paranormal Activity website to demand it in your area!
News Chat, Reviews - by Rodney - September 25, 2009 - 06:44 America/Montreal - 9 Comments
Thanks for checking out our Forgotten Fridays feature. This is a feature to review some older films that maybe you have forgotten about or maybe never got around to seeing that we just want to share. They may not be old, maybe not forgotten, but they are not new. Just fun to share.
Today’s review is Johnny Dangerously
THE GENERAL IDEA
Set in the 1930’s, an honest, goodhearted man is forced to turn to a life of crime to finance his neurotic mother’s skyrocketing medical bills. Johnny Kelly is a family man, proud of his brother (the District Attourney) and takes on the street name Johnny Dangerously. He runs the show differently trying to make his life of crime as clean as it can be while hiding his double life from his Mother and Brother.
THE GOOD
The charm of Michael Keaton shines brightest in this lesser known film in his catalogue, which is saying a lot with the personality this guy hefts around. But that isn’t all. The film just oozes with some great depression era gangster campiness that refuses to let you take it seriously which keeps you rolling in the fun.
Johnny Dangerously breaks the fourth wall in a public service message condemning smoking and pulling a stick of bubblegum out of his silver cigarette case. He also forbids his gang members from using foul language immortalizing “Fragging Bastidges” among film geeks.
The supporting cast is inspired as well grabbing iconic ganster types like Danny Devito, Joe Piscopo and Dom Delouise. While Piscopop plays the rival badass who wants the gang for his own truely criminal ways, Delouise gets to play the Pope. Both comicly fitting in their roles. Marilu Henner seems to have been born for that era as the character she plays is perfect for her look and demeanor.
And its all suitably kicked off by Weird Al’s “This is the Life” for an opening credits theme song. Awesomeness.
THE BAD
The humour is a bit dated. If you watch old 80s sitcoms and wonder why anyone thought this was ever funny, then this might not appeal to you. There is a certain frame of mind when approaching this. Its an acquired taste but one easily swallowed.
OVERALL
The film isn’t brilliant, and its not perfect. But what it is, it does really well. Its a hell of a lot of fun, charming as all get out and a perfectly enjoyable comedy. I always enjoy Michael Keaton most in his comedies and I think in part it has much to do with his appearance in this film. This was one of his earlier films right off the set of Mr.Mom and after this came Gung Ho, Beetlejuice and Batman. But no one seems to remember this one.
I am going to introduce a new rating system for my Forgotten Fridays picks.
Since all of these Forgotten Friday reviews are going to be what I would already give a high rating to, I had a Tv, Rent or Buy scale going on, but it would seem that an overwhelming majority of my picks get a BUY rating.
So with every Forgotten Friday you see from now on, you get to rate your anticipation for yourself!
TV – If you are at least a little curious, catch it if it comes on TV.
Rent – If it is something you have heard of and forgotten, or just remember enjoying this as much as I did once upon a time, go rent it.
Buy – But if you are like me, and you agree with my review you should go buy it. If its featured here, I already have.
News Chat - by John - September 24, 2009 - 23:28 America/Montreal - 16 Comments
So as you know… they’re remaking “The Highlander”. I just put this together for fun:
News Chat - by Rodney - September 24, 2009 - 11:15 America/Montreal - 1 Comment
Burlesque is a fun racy style of stage performance that makes you think you are watching strippers, but without all the nakedness. I actually prefer burlesque to strippers as it is far more entertaining.
Now the headlining Cher and Aguilera film musical will be adding Stanley Tucci to its ranks.
Tucci will play the best friend of Cher’s character, an aging performer who takes Aguilera’s character under her wing when she arrives in town. Steve Antin, who has never directed a theatrical feature before, will be in charge of this potential mess, potential masterpiece.
I really like Stanley Tucci, and while his roles are not always legendary, he does his job well in anything he is in, so he is a solid veteran actor and a good fit for where this looks to be going.
And we already know Christina Aguilera can sing, and looks great in the flashy lingerie stage costumes of Burlesque. That alone would have me itching to see this. Or I can rewatch the Moulin Rouge video again too.
Now typically when I hear of a musical star getting a role in a movie there is a knee jerk reaction to say “WHY?” but in a case like this, we get Cher - no stranger to films and music - who will no doubt be just as much of an offscreen mentor to Aguilera as on screen. Besides, Aguilera will be playing a musical performer. There isn’t likely to be much that is acting for her in this.
News Chat - by Rodney - September 24, 2009 - 11:00 America/Montreal - 16 Comments
Ghost Rider is the spirit of Vengence, so when the first film was so terrible it only makes karmic sense that they make a sequel to make up for past wrongs. Someone has to pay. And part of that payment might come from David Goyer who is in talks to put pen to a sequel.
Dark Horizons says:
David Goyer is in early talks to create a story and supervise a script for a sequel to “Ghost Rider” for Sony Pictures
Plans are under way to base the sequel on a script written years ago by “Blade” and “Batman Begins” writer Goyer. There is no word on whether Goyer himself will direct.
I was never a Ghost Rider fan. I think the character is pretty two dimensional. But when I heard Cage was going to play Johnny Blaze, and Eva Mendez would be his love interest I was curious.
But not even Mendez strutting in a slinky dress could save that film.
Maybe they will learn from their mistakes and make a Ghost Rider worth watching.
