Thursday, October 30, 2008

The Rant

Hey all, there has not been much happening lately in Hollywood, so I decided to just sit back and rant about random things, with no particular rhyme or reason, be it things I like or dislike, and in no particular order so here it goes.

Video game movies, they almost always suck, why is that? Because games are not supposed to be made into movies, they are supposed to be played.......Romantic comedies are always the same-boy meets girl, boy and girl fall in love, funny stuff happens, boy and girl break up for some stupid reason, they regret it, fix the problem then get back together, and that my friends is B O R I N G.......Why doesn't anyone realize that Clark Kent Is Superman? He parts his hair differently and wears glasses, THAT'S his disguise, he doesn't even change his voice, yet NOBODY makes the connection, oh and add to the fact that Clark is never around when Superman is, man the people of Metropolis are really stupid.......How many times are they going to remake "The Bad News Bears"??? They made 3 movies with the Bears, then proceeded to make "The Mighty Ducks", "Little Giants", "Ladybugs", "The Replacements", "Rebound", which were all good to mediocre movies, but the formula is exactly the same in every movie.......Do the people who make horror movies realize that making people jump is NOT scary, I have never walked away from a "slasher" movie scared, a horror movie has to induce fear, you have to walk away from it afraid, or at the very least mentally affected in some capacity, THAT'S what a horror movie should do.....I cannot remember a time in the last ten years that I saw a comedy that made me laugh so hard my stomach ached, there have been a lot of funny movies out, but none that made me laugh that hard, the last one I remember was in 1996, "The Nutty Professor".......I miss the days when visual effects were NOT done thru a PC, but with models, masks, costumes, spaceships looked way more real then they do with CGI, everything just looked better. CGI works some of the time and can do a lot that old school visual effects couldn't, but I am sick of CGI being used for EVERYTHING........Christian Bale is the best Batman that has graced the big screen, but he will most likely not be the last.......I will NEVER in my lifetime see "The Flintstones In Viva Rock Vegas" because they committed the ultimate sin in my eyes, they had the Great Gazoo in the movie and Harvey Korman DID NOT provide the voice which would be bad in any case, but is 100 times worse because Harvey Korman IS IN THE MOVIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whew, well I feel better now!!!! This might just become a regular thing here at Movie Talk, it was really fun to write and I hope you enjoy reading it, please feel free to leave comments on anything I ranted about, as always I welcome opinions.

Monday, October 27, 2008

Interview With Christopher Nolan

Christopher Nolan has made quite a name for himself in Hollywood. Of course, being director of the biggest movie to hit the big screen in quite some time helps, that movie of course is "The Dark Knight". Ever since it became a worldwide phenomenon, there has been talk about the next installment of the Batman series, where the story will go, will the Joker return, will there be new villians, who will play them, and of course, every bit of that talk has been just that, talk, nothing more. The LA Times Geoff Boucher sat down for an interview with the director, here is a snippet of it-

GB: "The Dark Knight" is closing in on $1 billion. How do you get your arms around that kind of success?

NOLAN: I can’t get my arms around it, to be quite frank. It’s mystifying. It’s terrific but at the same time it’s a little abstract, the numbers are so big. The biggest thrill for me would be, with the number of people who have gone to see the film, how "The Dark Knight" stood on the shoulders of the first film, how we were able to build the audience up and build the story up from the first film.
It's a really good interview, one I will be following, because it is in three parts. Nolan is a very good film maker. Aside from the Batman movies, he made the highly acclaimed "Memento", as well as 2006's "The Prestige" about rival magicians, and if you haven't seen either, I strongly suggest you give them a viewing, because the guy has talent that reaches beyond the Batman movies. It will be interesting to see the direction that the next Batman movie will take, assuming there will be one. Nolan seems to indicate that with the right story there will be another, but he doesn't exactly confirm there will be another. There is a part of me that cannot wait for another installment, but then there is a small part of me that says why try to top "The Dark Knight". Think about the pressure and expectations that Nolan and company will be under, how do you top the performance of Heath Ledger, and the overall accomplishment that "The Dark Knight " was? One answer is maybe you shouldn't try. I know most people would disagree with that, but when you try to top what is considered to be your best work, you run the risk of tainting that work. Not that I think Nolan would make a bad Batman movie, but I would totally understand if he wanted to walk away from Batman and do other things.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE INTERVIEW

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The New "Underworld" Movie

I am a big fan of both "Underworld" movies. Most of the time I am reading that a lot of people loved the first, not so much the second. I thought both of them were really good. I agree the first one is the better of the two, but the second is still solid and entertaining.

When I heard that Kate Beckinsdale was not reprising her role as Selene, I was a bit hesitant about a third installment. But after seeing the trailer for "Underworld:Rise Of The Lycans: I have to say that I am a bit more optimistic. It has the look and feel of both movies, and Rhona Mitra looks like she will fill in quite nicely as Selene. The always awesome Bill Nighy will be reprising his role as Viktor, which is awesome, he was great in both films. Well, he is pretty much great in whatever he does. Check out the trailer and see what you think, if you have any comments, as always, feel free to leave them.

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE TRAILER

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

The Hulk-Villain

Yep, that's what I said. The Hulk was always "misunderstood", but in the comic book series "Ultimate Avengers" he was the bad guy, the one the Avengers had to fight, as he was going on a rampage and had to be stopped. Well it seems that idea is being thrown around as a storyline for the 2011 "Avengers" movie. Read about it in an article over at MTV's Splashpage, in which the reporter is talking to Marvel studios President of Production Kevin Feige-
“Here’s the thing — it is all in the planning stages, but certainly if you look back to any number of ‘Hulk’ comics, or ‘Avengers’ comics, or ‘The Ultimates’ comics or the ‘Ultimate Avengers’ DVD that we released, it certainly makes a hell of a sequence,”
I saw "Ultimate Avengers" and it was extremely cool, in fact you should check it out, it may be an animated movie but it plays out like a regular film, one I would love to see come to the big screen in live action. It was really cool to see the different super heroes fighting the Hulk, and the outcome of it all was.....well I won't spoil it for you but it was very cool. Now, Edward Norton who played Bruce Banner in this years "The Incredible Hulk" has had his problems with the film, and the studios, taking his name off of the writing credit he had for the film and not doing much in the way of promotion when the film was being released. That would seem to be a problem, but in this case it really is not. In "Ultimate Avengers" when we even saw Bruce Banner, it was not for very long. So replacing Norton would not pose much of a problem, even though I thought he did a very good job in the movie. With the exception of a select few, every actor is replaceable. The "Batman" movies have done it 4 times, 007 has been played by 5 actors, and even the Hulk has been played by 2 actors in 2 movies. But "The Avengers" is a long way off so who knows what will happen in that time, we still have a few other movies to introduce us to the other Avengers, but as I have said in previous posts, "The Avengers" could wind up being the ultimate super hero movie, if everything leading up to it is handled right.

Monday, October 20, 2008

Sam Jackson & "Iron Man 2"

Read about this in an article over at Movieweb. Those of us who stayed until the end of the credits of "Iron Man" were fortunate enough to get a glimpse of Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, the man who puts together the super hero team the Avengers. It was a really cool, albeit short scene to introduce the character and give us a hint of what is to come, that of course being the scheduled 2011 release of "The Avengers". Well it seems that according to Jackson, Nick Fury will have even more screen time in "Iron Man 2". From the article:
"As a matter of fact, Iron Man director Jon Favreau spoke to me at the Scream Awards last night, and told me that Nick Fury would have a much more prominent role in the second one (Iron Man 2)"
That is great news. Jackson is perfect to play the part, as he was the model for the character in the "Ultimates" comic series anyways, so to have him play it is just what Marvel wants. We should see more information about the Avengers in "Iron Man 2". If Marvel studios does this right, "The Avengers" could turn out to be the ultimate super hero movie. There are two other movies about Marvel heroes in the works, "Thor" and "The First Avenger:Captain America", both of whom are members of the Avengers. So there will be 3 movies to build up to the Avengers movie. That's a lot of pressure on Marvel studios, but if they continue the trend they started with this years "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk", I don't think we will be disappointed.

Saturday, October 18, 2008

More on "Star Trek"

Well, recently I posted that a new trailer for 2009's "Star Trek" will be hitting theaters next month. Well, now Paramount has released some more stills from the movie, and so far I am pleased with what I am seeing. Keep in mind though, these are just images, I have no idea of the acting ability of the cast, nor do I know much about the story or anything else. But going just on the images, it's looking pretty good so far.

Click here to see the images from movieweb.com

Now, I will say that i was a bit skeptical about Karl Urban playing Dr. McCoy, because Urban is a buff muscular dude, and Bones was a normal skinny guy. But after seeing the pics, I have to say he has the look pretty down. Zachary Quinto, playing Spock, is pretty much dead on as far as looking the part. In fact, most of the cast look like the characters they are supposed to be playing. But that is not enough, I have said it a million times before, they have to act exactly like the characters, something more important than looking the part. I like the look of the uniforms, right out of the original series but with a slightly modern feel to them. The bridge of the Enterprise looks very different from the TV series, which I don't have too much of a problem with. I have said it before, the movie doesn't have to look EXACTLY like the old Star Trek, but it does have to FEEL like Star Trek. The look is important, but, in my opinion, not nearly as important as the feel of the movie. Hopefully more images from the film will start emerging, and I hope the new trailer will give us even more insight into this new vision of Star Trek.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Batman Rumors

Since the mega success of "The Dark Knight", there have been rumors floating around like crazy, making fans drool with anticipation. I, for one, have not believed one word of what I have heard, and for one simple reason. The movie was still in theaters, and already there were rumors about the next movie, it is extremely rare that casting for a future installment of a franchise takes place before the current film is out of the theaters. People got so excited at the thought of Johnny Depp as the Riddler, or Phillip Seymour Hoffman as the Penguin, Angelina Jolie as Catwoman, and rightfully so. But no matter how successful a movie is, the people involved usually want to take a break, or do something different before jumping right in and going ahead with the next installment. Reading an article over at MTV's splashpage, screenwriter David
Goyer talks about the rumors circulating about the next Batman movie-

“It’s all B.S.,” he said. “ALL of it.”

That means, no, Nolan has not signed on (yet). No, there is no casting, let alone TALK, of villains, and, no, nobody is certain to return.

“Chris and I haven’t even talked about it. He quite understandably is taking a long, long vacation and wants to purge himself,” Goyer said.
Exactly what I have said all along, it is way to early to start talking about the next movie when the last one is barely out of the theaters. I realize that people are chomping at the bit for another Batman movie, and will jump at any bit of information that starts to float around. But you need to be realistic, and those who have been drooling over all the rumors floating around, time to come back down to earth. When there is an announcement from Warner Brothers, or Christopher Nolan, then I will get excited. Until then, it's all pure speculation.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Hollywood News Beat

Here are some of the latest tidbits coming out of Tinseltown the past few days.

Recently, I talked about the go ahead given to "Lethal Weapon 5", well, sadly it seems that is not going to happen. The actor most needed for this project, Mel Gibson, has said he is not interested in doing another chapter of the long running franchise. This is really a shame, as all of the "Lethal Weapon" movies have been good fun, and another one would have no doubt been the same. Why Gibson turned it down is strange to me as his star has faded in the past few years, and a return to familiar territory may have been just what he needed to get back into the limelight (in a positive way). Oh well, here is to hoping that Mel made the right choice.

One of the great movies of the 80's was Oliver Stone's Wall Street, with Michael Douglas and Charlie Sheen. It earned Douglas an Best Actor Oscar, and deservingly so. I, for one, never envisioned a sequel to "Wall Street", but apparently the suits at 20th Century Fox have, as it seems that a sequel is in the works, tentatively titled "Money Never Sleeps". Michael Douglas is not officially on board yet, but has expressed interest in returning to the character of Gordon Gekko. Charlie Sheen's character, Bud Fox, will not be in this story, with the focus being on Gekko. This could be good, but it depends on the direction the story takes. Douglas is a great actor and it would be great to see him as Gekko again. I just don't understand this trend of making sequels to movies that were released a long time ago. I am not necessarily,against it, I just don't understand it. You take a big chance when you make a sequel to a movie that was released 20 plus years ago, because you not only have to attract the core fans of the movie, but new ones as well.

One of the actors from this years "Iron Man" will not be returning for the sequel. Actor Terrance Howard who played Tony Stark' best friend Rhodey, will not be reprising his role. Apparently, Howard was asking for too much money to return, and the studio decided to dump him, replacing him with the excellent Don Cheadle. Seeing as this was not a major role in the first movie, it really should have no effect on the sequel. Cheadle is a great actor, and will do just fine in the role. See what happens when you get greedy?

I am at a loss to understand all the hype surrounding "Twilight". I have seen the trailer, and was not terribly impressed. The whole good vampire thing has been done before. Personally I want vampires to BE vampires, I don't want to see a bloodsucker with a conscience, that is just not very interesting to me. But regardless, I will still see if just to see if all the hype surrounding it is justified. Apparently, the rabid following that "Twilight" has is apparently so huge, that a sequel has already been greenlit. That indicates that the studio is expecting huge returns on the first "Twilight" movie, being released at the end of next month. Seems that this decision was based on the huge amount of views the trailer has gotten and the fact that the soundtrack is already poised to sell huge numbers, based on pre-sale numbers from Amazon.com. All I can say is that this movie better be as huge, sometimes a movie can get weighed down by its hype, and considering the rabid following and the hype this movie is generating, it had better be everything its fans expect it to be.

Well, that's a wrap for now. As always, feel free to leave any opinions!

Monday, October 13, 2008

New "Star Trek" Trailer Next Month

There has been much secrecy concerning JJ Abrams "Star Trek" movie. The initial trailer was just a teaser of the Starship Enterprise being built, nothing more. There have been posters with the faces of the actors portraying Kirk, Spock, McCoy & Uhura. But that's it, nothing more. Seeing as the film is coming out next summer, that does not seem to be good marketing. The "Star Trek" franchise has not fared well in recent years, and the anticipation and excitement for this film needs to be high, but with nothing to see or get excited about, that cannot happen.

Well, according to an article I read over at screenrant.com, we will actually be seeing a trailer for the new movie in November. Word is the trailer will include both exterior and interior shots of the Enterprise, as well as dialogue from the film. The veil of secrecy is finally being lifted, and it's about time. There is huge risk attached to this film, because it re-casts the iconic roles from the original series with younger actors. The actors need to convince us that they are indeed these characters, there can be no doubt in our minds. On top of it all, the story needs to be rock solid as well. If successful, this could be the launching point for a whole new series of "Trek" films. Being a huge fan, I am skeptical, but I will be seeing it. The problem is not really even the Trekkies, it is convincing the average movie goer that this movie is worth seeing. Sometimes keeping a movie under secrecy is good, it worked with "Cloverfield", but with a property like "Star Trek", the more you see, the better, at least in my opinion. Only time will tell if the marketing strategy for this film will work, Paramount sure has a lot riding on it, so do all involved. The trailer coming out next month is the first step, hopefully it will work the way the producers want it to. I just want the movie to do justice to the Trek name. What are your thoughts?

Saturday, October 11, 2008

Movies That Bombed That Shouldn't Have #2

Director Brad Bird, best known for the huge hits "The Incredibles" and "Ratatouille" started directing feature films with his 1999 release, "The Iron Giant".

Set in the 1950's at the height of the paranoia of the cold war, it tells the story of a small boy named Hogarth who befriends a giant hulking robot, who we don't really know much about, except that he crash landed from space, but as the story moves along, we realize it doesn't really mater where he came from, he is here and that's all that matters. The two develop a close friendship, almost like a father son relationship, which makes sense seeing as Hogarth grew up without a father. They play together, Hogarth shows the giant comic books, and hides him in barn at his house, but moves him to a scrap metal yard when a snooping Federal agent rents a room at his house. I won't go any further into the story, but it is really great.

This film was grossly mis-marketed in 1999, and everyone involved knew it. It was incredibly well received by critics, and those who did see it highly praised it as well. unfortunately, critical raves and word of mouth was not enough for this film, and what a absolute shame that was. It is one of the most charming, fun and well made animated films, ever. Believable characters, a great story, and animation that is second to none. The relationship between Hogarth and the giant seems unbelievable at first, but it works on all levels. The story reflects the paranoid feeling of the cold war in the 50's, as did most of the science fiction of the time, dealing with themes of fear of the unknown and the fear of war. The film was heavily marketed for its video release, but it really never gained the popularity it so richly deserves. It is a movie that can be equally enjoyed by both kids and adults, and I have watched it with my kids many times. If you don't have kids, doesn't matter, get this movie and watch it anyway. If you do have kids, well of course, get it and watch it with them, either way you owe it you yourself to watch this masterpiece that should have fared wayyyyyy better than it did.

Thursday, October 9, 2008

"The Unborn" trailer

Saw this online and had to post it, looks really creepy. It was written by David S. Goyer, whose writing credits include- "Blade II","Batman Begins" & "The Dark Knight", and stars Gary Oldman.

Check it out:



Now I love horror films, but I am not easily scared by them. in fact, the last horror movie I saw that gave me a good scare was "The Grudge" and that was 4 yeas ago. But I have to say that "The Unborn" looks extremely creepy. I realize it is just a trailer, but it is definitely enough to make me want to go see it. Most horror films these days are only worth seeing on video, some are not worth seeing at all. I like the "Saw" films, but come on, "Saw V"??? Talk about milking an idea til there is nothing left. I haven't seen "Saw IV" but after "Saw III" it was starting to get repetitive, so I didn't bother, but I am sure I will see it sooner or later. I think Hollywood needs to start making good, ORIGINAL scary movies again. Enough with the remakes and sequels already, most of them suck anyways. Give us something new, something that will scare us, not shock us, but scare the crap out of us, PLEASE!!!!

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

Hollywood News Beat

Well there has been very little going on in Hollywood these days, as it is gearing up for the holiday movie season. Interesting news has been in short supply, so i will go over the most interesting things I have read about in the past few days.

Mel Gibson and Danny Glover look to be returning for a fifth installment of the "Lethal Weapon" series, even though the last film looked like it was the last in the series. I have always liked the Lethal Weapon movies and welcome another chance to see Riggs and Murtagh back in action. If Stallone and Willis can do it, so can these guys.

Anne Hathaway and Helena Bonham Carter have joined the cast of Tim Burton's "Alice In Wonderland". The two actresses join Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter, in this retelling of the classic children's story. Now I am a bit hesitant on this one. Johnny Depp is a great actor, but the last time he went this route with Burton we got "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory", and although it made a lot of money and people seemed to like it, I thought it sucked. Willy Wonka was made into a pretty mean despicable guy, and the annoying kids from the original were even more unbearable in the remake. Wonka's childhood was an unnecessary addition to the film, it took away from the character. I hope Burton does a better job with "Alice In Wonderland"

Read a really interesting interview with Jeff Bridges, where he talks about "Iron Man", and "Tron 2", among other things. A really great actor and a good interview, check it out. I thought he was great in "Iron Man", and have been aching for a second "Tron" movie for years. "Tron 2" would not be the same without Bridges, and I am very excited that he is doing it, I will definitely be there opening night!

The plot for the movie "The First Avenger:Captain America" was revealed, and it seems it will be taking place in the 1940's, exactly where it should. Cap was a product of WWII, and was frozen and revived many years later, becoming the leader of the Avengers. Taking liberties with comic book characters has always been done, and sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. But changing Captain America's origin, taking it into a modern day setting, would be wrong. The movie is coming out only a few months before the Avengers movie is scheduled to be released, so I am sure it will end with Cap being frozen and the Avengers movie will start with him being found years later. Marvel studios is on a roll, and let's hope they continue the standard of quality they have set with "Iron Man" and "The Incredible Hulk". Speaking of the big green guy, as well received as the new movie was, by both fans and critics, there doesn't seem to be a new Hulk movie on the horizon. Apparently Marvel was not happy with the returns on "The Incredible Hulk", as well as star Edward Norton's distancing himself from the promotion of the movie. Too bad because Norton was good in the role and the movie was great fun.

Well that's a wrap for now, any comments are, as always, welcome and encouraged.

Monday, October 6, 2008

Mr. 75 Million??

Ok, this is insanity, nothing but pure insanity. There are reports floating around that Johnny Depp will be getting the staggering sum of $75 million for starring in a fourth "Pirates Of The Caribbean" movie. Depp is, unquestionably, the face of the Pirates movies, and nobody could possibly replace him as Capt. Jack Sparrow. The three "Pirates" movies have made in excess $2.7 billion dollars worldwide, so it may seem like $75 million is small in comparison. Even if "Pirates 4" is a sub par movie, like "Pirates Of The Caribbean:At Worlds End" was it will still make a ton of money, just because of Depp's presence. But, is that really enough to justify such a enormous paycheck? Studios constantly complain of rising costs. bloated paychecks, and not enough returns. Granted, "Pirates" is a proven name, but I don't feel that anything justifies this ridiculous amount of money being paid to ONE actor for what would probably amount to about three months work. There are some movies whose entire budget is $75 million, and they want to give it to one guy. I will say that Depp is worthy of a large payday, but no one actor is worth this much. But if he gets this money, bravo to him, and I will not have one ounce of sympathy for the movie studios when actors start demanding ridiculous paydays like this one, because you know once Depp gets this, other actors will follow. You have to spend money to make money, but not like this.

Friday, October 3, 2008

Segal Talks "Under Siege 3"

Well, it seems action star Steven Segal wants to get back into the theaters. After spending many years in the direct to video market, in an interview with MTV, Segal says he is looking to go back to his "Under Siege" series. The direction he wants to take, is a bit, ummmm......stupid. You would think that he would want Casey Ryback to fight terrorists, crazed militants, but no, he wants to go the outer space route. Now I loved both "Under Siege" movies and have always thought there should be another. But aliens? I don't want to flat out say it cannot work, but I don't have great confidence that it would. Check out the video of the interview-



It doesn't seem like anything is set in stone here, but I really hope that the alien thing is avoided at all costs. I enjoy Segal's movies and love watching him beat the crap out of people. So the idea of him taking on aliens is not really appealing to me, and I am going to guess it would not be very popular with movie audiences either. Note to Steven-Stick to what you are best at, give us what we want to see and we may welcome you back to the theaters.

James Earl Jones To Be Honored By SAG

All I can say is it's about time! The great James Earl Jones will receive a lifetime achievement award this year from SAG. Jones, known throughout the world as the voice of iconic villain Darth Vader, has had a long and distinguished career. His voice is what instantly identifies him, as it is one of the most unique and recognizable voices in the world. Oddly, Jones spent much of his childhood as a mute as he had a terrible stutter that he was able to overcome, but not until he reached high school age. Aside from Darth Vader, Jones gave his voice to Mufasa, father of Simba in "The Lion King", played a boxer in "The Great White Hope", was the villainous Thulsa Doom in "Conan The Barbarian", Eddie Murphy's father in "Coming To America", Jim Greer, Jack Ryan's friend and mentor in "The Hunt For Red October", "Patriot Games", "Clear And Present Danger", and so many others. He is the voice of news network CNN. He is one of those actors that can brighten any role, any movie he is in, good or bad. His tiny role at the end of "Sneakers" was a highlight of that film.

I cannot think of an actor more deserving of this honor, it's about time he was recognized for his contributions to the entertainment world.