I think last week was one of the most passionate ones I've seen in my months of Geek Beatdom. We had competing frenzies, for one, as Twilightand Star Trekbattled for news supremacy all across the Internet. It was fandom at its most defining. If aliens came down tomorrow and said "What is this fandom of which you speak?" and I only had ten minutes to explain it before they blew up the Earth, I'd just pull up our archives for the week of November 17th, 2008.
First, I have to say ... way to go, Trek fans. Society has labeled Trekkers/Trekkies the worst and weirdest of the lot. From my own experience, that's never been true. I hope the critics were watching the reaction to Trek because honestly, I saw a lot of intelligent and rational discussion on both sides of the fence. I've written a lot of stories on a lot of geeky topics, I expect to be flamed about 99% of the time, and my Trek guide was one that saw me bracing myself as I handed it over to our editors. I hadn't slept the three days prior to writing it, so I'm surprised it was coherent at all – but I was even more surprised by the pleasant reaction it garnered. (It was a stark contrast to a Twilight piece I did for our Moviefone friends. Yikes.)
For all the passion flying around Trek, I find myself in the rare position of having no opinion whatsoever. It doesn't thrill me, but it doesn't bore me, and I had so little expectation that it didn't disappoint me. In theory, I liked the idea of rebooting Trek, but it's a different thing altogether to see it in action. It doesn't feel right – and that has nothing to do with J.J. Abrams and the Enterprise crew he's assembled. I'm just not sure it should have been done at all.
With Thanksgiving coming up, I thought I'd revisit Planes, Trains & Automobiles, one of the few movies directly connected to that holiday and a delightful comedy classic in its own right. It had been several years since I'd watched it, and I assumed that in the meantime it had been released on some kind of special edition DVD. Last year was its 20th anniversary, in fact -- a fine time to put out a handsome disc with lots of extras.
Or so you'd think! As it turns out, Planes, Trains & Automobiles has only legitimately been released on DVD once, way back in 2000, with a poor video transfer and no extras whatsoever. Not even a trailer. Not even the extra scenes that are commonly included when the film airs on television. Deepening this wound is the fact that, as severalreviewersnoted at the time, Paramount's announcement of the DVD had promised it would have deleted scenes. Why the studio changed its mind at the last minute no one knows, but it sure disappointed people in 2000 who had been looking forward to the DVD.
The film was released again this summer as part of VH1's "I Love the '80s" series, but it still didn't have any extras and was essentially a rip-off in new packaging. The only bonus was the incorporation of one additional scene, of Neal and Del eating food on the airplane, that's often shown in the TV version. That's hardly a good enough reason to re-buy the disc, though.
Why is there no special edition of this movie? It's a perennial favorite. It is beloved. It is oft-quoted ("Those aren't pillows!"). It frequently appears on polls of movie fans' favorite comedies. Its very title has become shorthand for any trip punctuated by mishaps and setbacks, as in, "Our vacation to Mexico was a disaster -- it was a total Planes, Trains & Automobiles situation." You would buy it, right?
So before anyone accuses me of pandering to celebrity by putting a picture of Brad Pitt on this news item, I want you to know that I tried to find a picture that was a little more 'newsworthy', but caved when I came up with nothing. So, it's Pitt you get. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Pitt's production company, Plan B, have purchased the rights to the true life tale of local journalist Linda Trest, and her take-down of a conman posing as a federal agent in Gerald, Missouri.
Anthony Walton and Andrew Dresher have already been tapped to write the story of a small town journalist by the name of Linda Trest who had been receiving complaints about drug searches that had been conducted by Bill A. Jakob (a new-to-town federal agent who had supposedly been sent to handle the town's Methamphetamine problem). After conducting her own investigation, Trest uncovered that Jakob was an unemployed former trucking company owner, a former security guard, a former wedding minister and a former small-town cop -- one thing he wasn't was a federal agent. Jakob eventually pleaded guilty to impersonating an officer, and is facing six years in prison.
Plan B has been snatching up new properties left and right lately, including Eat, Pray, Love, with Ryan Murphy directing, The Killer and Black Hole with David Fincher, and the just-announcedBattling Boy. Like with most Plan B projects, rumors are already brewing over whether or not Pitt will star (presumably as Jakob). But as we all know, Pitt has the bad habit of dropping out of movies even after signing on the dotted line, so we'll have to wait and see.
(Note: This evening, Cinematical screened a whole bunch of footage from J.J. Abrams' Star Trek in New York City. We'll have a breakdown of scenes screened, our thoughts and some words from Abrams himself real soon. In the meantime, here's a little Trek guide for you newbies out there.)
By now, you've probably seen the leaked trailer for J.J. Abrams' reinvention of Star Trek. Hopefully, as you're reading this, you will probably have seen a shiny official version. This is supposed to be Trek for a new generation, a movie that reintroduces the original characters of Kirk and Spock to people who have only seen Trek through watered down sequels and spin-offs. As impossible as it seems, there are people who find all things Trek a mystery -- and when our beloved editor, Erik Davis, asked me to put together a guide, I found myself in a bit of a panic. I began asking my Trekkie friends what they would tell a newbie -- and since we all arrived at roughly these same ten facts, I feel less silly sharing them. If you're new to the final frontier, read on. If you've been wearing your Spock ears since preschool, just go watch the trailer again.
Fact #1:Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry modeled the show on Gulliver's Travels, wanting each episode to be both an exciting adventure and a social parable. The show tackled all kinds of 60s social issues -- feminism, racism, ecology, religion, the Cold War, and Vietnam. Perhaps the biggest hurdle facing Abrams' film is whether or not it can attain that same level of social awareness. Will the new Trek film make a commentary on anything, or will it be nothing but empty action in the name of rebooting?
In the wake of White Chicks and Little Man, the Wayans Brothers return to grace the world with the presence of next February's Dance Flick, which lampoons last February's Step Up 2: The Streets, not to mention Save the Last Dance, You Got Served, How She Move, maybe Center Stage, possibly Robert Altman's The Company, and probably plenty of stuff that isn't related to actual dance flicks.
Having watched the initial Scary Movie last week for the first time since my formative teen years, their spoof efforts there still aren't on par with SM3 (which they didn't do), but remain above SM2 (which they did do). In short: humor that's dated and crude is right up their alley (I'm frankly impressed they remembered to work Flashdance in), and besides, you saw that break-dancing newborn, right? Call up Calista Flockhart, and count me out already.
Starring the usually amusing Amy Sedaris and the often less so Wayans clan, Dance Flick serves the last laugh to the streets on February 6, 2009.
One of my tiny, movie-related pet peeves is when literature (be it novel, comic, or graphic novel) gets optioned before any of us get to read it. I long to be part of that secret society that knows (and has already read) everything cool that will be published for the next ten years.
The latest to join the club is Paul Pope's Battling Boy, which Variety reports has been picked up by Brad Pitt's Plan B shingle. (Plan B is fond of the geeky properties -- between this, World War Z, and Black Hole, when is Pitt going to break down and play a superhero? Or at least start attending comic book conventions?) The kicker is that we won't get to read Battling until Spring 2010(!), when it will be published by First Second Books.
You can get a glimpse of the book on First Second's official site (which reveals the book was to be published in 2007!), or here on Pope's blog. It's a book geared to the younger set, though it sounds like there's enough mayhem to keep adults interested. It follows a young boy who's the son of a god/superhero at his father's. At his father's request, the boy descends to the city of Monstropolis, where he takes on a plague of monsters. And they're not funny monsters -- in Pope's words, they're "horrible, Grimm's fairytale, Beowulf-ish monsters, awful things. Child-stealers. Plus some of the vampires and mummies and wolfmen we remember from the old black and white Hollywood horror films."
No writer or director has been attached to the movie adaptation yet -- could it be that we'll see the movie before the book? Either way, it sounds like the perfect story for any monster loving kids (big and small) you might know.
You know, if I didn't know any better, I would say that Steven Soderbergh was having a bit of a 'creative crisis' lately (talk about a guy who is all over the map). But, it hasn't stopped him from taking on more 'traditional projects' like a good old-fashioned mob film. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Soderbergh is teaming with Paramount to produce an adaptation of Joaquin "Jack" Garcia's true-life mob story, Making Jack Falcone. According to THR, Soderbergh will not direct, but will be "on board to read drafts of the script and offer other guidance on the project."
Che collaborator Peter Buchman has already signed to adapt the story of an FBI agent sent to take down the infamous Gambino crime family. The book is based on Garcia's (also known as Jack Falcone) life undercover, and how he managed to climb through the ranks of the FBI to end up as one of one of the few undercover agents in history to almost become a 'made man'. Garcia's life is ready-made for big screen treatment; between his numerous aliases and the lure of a good underworld story, there is plenty to recommend this role to any Oscar-hungry actor.
It's a bit of a disappointment that Soderbergh will only be producing this time around, but when you take a look at the guy's schedule for the coming year, its not like you can blame him. No sooner had he finished his earnest political drama, Che, before he was off to work on the whistle-blowing thriller The Informant with Matt Damon. But, as if that wasn't enough for him, there is still the small matter of a 3D rock musical about Cleopatra, a Liberace biopic starring Michael Douglas and The Girlfriend Experience with porn star Sasha Grey. Like I said, the man likes to mix it up.
Who do you think should take over where Soderbergh is going to leave off? Sound off below...
You might remember that at the end of September, word came that Steven Spielberg was having trouble financing his Tintin trilogy. Universal Studios had passed on the film, leaving Spielberg and co-director Peter Jackson without a major backer. According to Variety, they've found one. Sony and Paramount Studios are in talks to co-finance the franchise, with Sony handling the foreign release, and Paramount overseeing the domestic. DreamWorks will have no association with the film whatsoever.
The news that Tintin will still go ahead is good for fans -- but as always, there's a catch. Under the deal currently being negotiated, it looks as though there will only be two Tintin films. Considering that a director was never assigned, or a script written, this may have been decided long before the financing fell through. Perhaps a third film hinges on the success of the first two installments, and its a project Spielberg and Jackson plan to return to. It's going to be a hard sell here in North America, where Tintin is largely unknown, and I wouldn't be surprised if Sony and Paramount are hedging their bets a little.
It's also unclear when this film will ever start shooting. When the deal fell apart with Universal, Spielberg lost the participation of his lead actor, Thomas Sangster. They're going to need another Tintin -- and fast, as the first film is still expected to make its 2010 release.
This is a passion project for Spielberg and Jackson -- and at this point, it's going to take every ounce of that enthusiasm to ever get a motion-capture Tintin on the big screen.
It's been a long, arduous trek for Paramount's planned pseudo-biopic of connoisseur of the bizarre Robert Ripley. The movie was supposed to start filming in 2007 with Tim Burton at the helm. Then Burton ran for the hills. Michel Gondry was briefly rumored to take over, but that notion faded into the ether. Now, Variety reports that Chris Columbus is in negotiations to take over the project, with the plot and screenplay to be reworked based on a new Columbus-authored pitch. Jim Carrey is still attached to play Ripley, but Columbus has another project ahead of this one: the family fantasy Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief.
Winding up in the hands of Chris Columbus -- one of the most stubbornly pedestrian of the studio directors -- would a bit of an anti-climactic ending for this project, which really had the potential to be something wonderful and strange. With Columbus, I fear it'll resemble the corporate mediocrity of the Ripley's Believe It or Not "museum" franchise. And if Columbus gets a story-by credit too, forget it. The man who wrote Gremlinsseems to be long gone.
But then I still haven't forgiven Columbus for the travesty that was Rent -- I know others liked it more. His Harry Potters actually weren't bad, though probably by virtue of the fact that he didn't mess with great material. He's just such a straightforward filmmaker. I don't think Ripley is for him.
Naturally, today's release of Saw V (read our review) brings with it numerous trailers for early '09 horror offerings. Earlier this week, we received the first trailer for that Friday the 13th remake (which you can see here), and now we have two others.
First up is My Bloody Valentine 3D, the crotch-targeting poster for which Scott made mention of earlier today. Lionsgate is going to have trouble actually marketing this in 3-D, as family-friendly fare continues to dominate that format; thus, we have this somewhat hokey green-band number courtesy of IGN. (For what it's worth, several little birdies who had the good fortune to see some footage recently -- in all its R-rated, three-dimensional glory -- were seriously impressed. Nothing sells quite the same as airborne eyeballs...)
Finally, there's Underworld: Rise of the Lycans: third in the franchise to date, but first in our hearts terms of story continuity. Since Rhona Mitra came to so very much resemble Kate Beckinsale in last spring's Doomsday, it only makes sense that she formally take up the mantle in the war between werewolves and vampires. Be sure to check out this recently released trailer if you also want to see what it looks like when Michael Sheen isn't feuding with the werewolf-like Nixon.
What's happening in Hollywood? Does no one have a day planner? Can nobody stick to a schedule? Pushing a film's release date back a week or two isn't a big deal, but when you move it to an entirely different calendar year, that changes everything -- especially its Oscar chances.
As we've already mentioned, rumors are swirling that the Weinsteins' The Road won't be done in time for its November release, and maybe not for December, either. Now we have three more titles on the move. Jeffrey Wells at Hollywood Elsewhere is reporting that the Weinsteins' Hurricane Season, an Inspiring Sports Drama® about a high school basketball team composed of displaced Katrina survivors, is "not ready" for its planned Christmas Day release and is being pushed back to March. And at Paramount, two Oscar hopefuls, Defiance and The Soloist, are being bumped to 2009, too, according to Variety.
The Soloist move is the one that should raise the most eyebrows. A true story starring Jamie Foxx and Robert Downey Jr. (pictured), it has all the hallmarks of a feel-good Oscar contender, and that's how Paramount and DreamWorks (which produced it) were positioning it. But now it's being moved from Thanksgiving to March, which is basically Paramount's way of saying they don't have much confidence in its Oscar potential after all. At the very least, it means they think its chances of making a lot of money (which are higher in March than in the crowded holiday season) are greater than its chances of winning awards. Which might actually be a very smart financial move, so good for them.
There's a lot of little stuff scattered online today, so I'm combining it all into one post for your easy reading. And the art above? A Halloween treat that's tastier than a mini-Snickers, longer lasting, and a lot less damaging to your waistline. (Substitute the mini-Snickers for your trick-or-treat of choice -- oh, those were the days!)
The news of a third Ghostbusters film has many (including myself) a little nervous. You want to see them return, but you don't want to see the Ghostbusters nuke the fridge alongside Indiana Jones, the Skywalker clan, and John McClane. But there's one way to get a fix without seeing your childhood heroes abused onscreen -- and that's in a comic book. And the Ghostbusters have one, a mini series courtesy of IDW. It hits shelves today, and MTV's Splash Page has a six page preview. It looks like a hell of a lot of fun -- and I really hope my shop has a copy left for me. My childhood obsession (and crush on Venkman) is flooding back already.
Now on to the rest of the news:
Varietyreports that Warner Bros has optioned Alexis Nolent's French series Headshot (Du plomb dans la tête) This is the third book of Nolent's (who publishes under the name Matz) to be optioned -- James Mangold has Cyclops in development with Warners, and David Fincher has The Killer over at Paramount. Headshot tells the story of an unlikely alliance between a hitman and a cop, after both men see their partner die. Seeking revenge, they discover they share an enemy, and have more in common than they realized. I hope they both have similar dorky hobbies and problematic children rather than some dark and twisted background, but it's probably the latter. It hasn't been published stateside, but if you're fluent in French, there's a preview here.
Despite the heavy hints in Iron Man that Jim Rhodes, best friend to Tony Stark, would come to play War Machine in a future film, it won't be Terrence Howard reprising his role as Rhodes in the forthcoming sequel, but rather Don Cheadle. According to the Hollywood Reporter, there hasn't been a formal announcement by Marvel Studios about it, but the casting swap appears to have come as a result of money matters (natch).
Returning still are stars Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow, in addition to director Jon Favreau, as Justin Theroux, fresh off the success of Tropic Thunder, currently tinkers away at the script. Last month, amidst the press blitz for the Iron Man DVD, Favreau confessed to wanting to incorporate both 3-D and IMAX technology in the making of the sequel (to which the world collectively replied "[BLEEP] yeah!").
Alas, it remains for the Paramount/Marvel number-crunchers to determine in which format exactly we'll see Downey Jr. and Cheadle team up come the summer of 2010.
I already smell Oscar nominations for this one. According to Variety, Martin Scorsese and Robert De Niro are re-teaming for I Heard You Paint Houses, based on Charles Brandt's book. And another Scorsese alumni is writing the script -- Steve Zaillian, who not only scripted Gangs of New York, but won an Oscar for Schindler's List. See what I mean? A contender for Best Picture, and it isn't even filmed yet.
The topic is familiar stomping ground for Scorsese and De Niro -- organized crime. De Niro will play the main man of Houses, Frank 'the Irishman' Sheeran, who reportedly committed more than 25 mob murders. One of these was supposedly Jimmy Hoffa, who he confessed to killing and dismembering on the orders of mob boss Russell Bufalino. And if you're wondering about the title, it has a wonderfully gruesome origin: it's mob slang for a contract killing, due to the mess left behind on walls and floors when you carry one out.
Sheeran confessed all to Brandt, who befriended him before his death in 2003. While this seemed to clear up the mystery surrounding Hoffa's disappearance, controversy still reigns. Other hitman have confessed to the crime since Sheeran, and lacking conclusive DNA evidence or a body, nothing can be proved or denied. The FBI stopped looking for Hoffa's body in 2006. But Hoffa's fate is like the identity of Jack the Ripper -- no one will ever stop confessing, wondering, or looking.
As I said at the start, this movie has a perfect pedigree. But for the sake of argument, do you think it's just too safe? We all realize Scorsese knows a mob thriller like the back of his hand, and we know De Niro can play a guy who, well, paints houses to chilling perfection. I'd love to see Scorsese court some of that Last Temptation of Christ controversy again, but perhaps that's just too cocky of me to question.
If you read my posts regularly, you might be under the impression that the only movies that make me truly weak in the knees are Marvel adaptations. But my heart belongs more to rogue cops than it does superheroes, and if I could have my film wish, it would be for a renaissance of the action/thriller. And you know, I think it might be on its way ...
First comes a story from The Hollywood Reporter that Paramount has hired Josh Olson to adapt Lee Child's novel One Shot. It's the ninth in Child's Jack Reacher series -- why they aren't adapting the first, I have no idea. Now, I haven't read the series, but from all accounts Reacher is the kind of man we haven't seen onscreen since Harry Callahan or Wendell "Bud" White. And that's why Olson (who was also behind the adaptation of A History of Violence) took the job: "I had just finished watching the first two Dirty Harry movies on Blu-ray. And I thought, 'No one's making movies like that anymore.' It coincided perfectly. It's just the kind of movie that I haven't seen in a while. It's a tough, smart, action-oriented thriller." (In a really funny twist, I was watching Dirty Harry last weekend and thinking the same thing -- and also how much I want to date Clint Eastwood circa 1971.)
Obviously, One Shot isn't enough to revive the genre, but Entertainment Weekly reports that rumors continue to gather around Lethal Weapon 5, particularly with Shane Black'sCold Warrior catching everyone's interest. Seems he's down for writing and directing the fifth installment, though all waits on the approval of Mel Gibson. I'm intrigued by the new story details, as it introduces a pair of young New York cops. Now, if Lethal Weapon 5 was more of a reboot/origin story for two new characters who could carry some films of their own, well, that would be pretty darn cool.
So before anyone accuses me of pandering to celebrity by putting a picture of 
One of my tiny, movie-related pet peeves is when literature (be it novel, comic, or graphic novel) gets optioned before any of us get to read it. I long to be part of that secret society that knows (and has already read) everything cool that will be published for the next ten years.
You know, if I didn't know any better, I would say that 
You might remember that at the end of September, word came that 
It's been a long, arduous trek for Paramount's planned pseudo-biopic of connoisseur of the bizarre Robert Ripley. The movie was supposed to start filming in 2007 with Tim Burton at the helm. Then Burton 
Naturally, today's release of Saw V (
What's happening in Hollywood? Does no one have a day planner? Can nobody stick to a schedule? Pushing a film's release date back a week or two isn't a big deal, but when you move it to an entirely different calendar year, that changes everything -- especially its Oscar chances.
Despite the heavy hints in 
I already smell Oscar nominations for this one. According to 
If you read my posts regularly, you might be under the impression that the only movies that make me truly weak in the knees are Marvel adaptations. But my heart belongs more to rogue cops than it does superheroes, and if I could have my film wish, it would be for a renaissance of the action/thriller. And you know, I think it might be on its way ...
