Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
It seems like everyweel one of the Hollywood studios announces a new board game or toy movie adaptation that pushes the limits on believability. Some nights while I’m writing up news, I wonder if I’m actually a minor character in one of those Hollywood satires that paints Hollywood executives as bumbling idiots, trying to suck onto any idea that might have audience recognition and franchise potential.
I would like to believe that the studio execs are much smarter than these type of films make them out to be. In fact, I know that, for the most part, they are much smarter than that. But every night a new new story hits my screen. Another news story that seems dumber than the one from the previous week, previous month. Stretch Armstrong, Candyland, Monopoly, Battleship, Asteroids, and now a movie based on the Viewmaster?
The full theatrical trailer for the animated 3D film Planet 51 has appeared at Yahoo. The film is about a human astronaut (voiced by Dwayne Johnson) who lands on an alien planet, only to discover that it looks exactly like Earth. Sure, the denizens are green aliens, but otherwise they’re just like us…and not too happy to have an alien invader in their midst. Gary Oldman, Jessica Biel, Justin Long and John Cleese are also in the voice cast. Joe Stillman (Shrek and Shrek 2, the upcoming Gulliver’s Travels) is credited with the script and Jorge Blanco, Javier Abad and Marcos Martinezare co-directed. See the trailer after the jump. Read More »
Another Vague Hint That The Goonies Sequel Might Not Be Dead
Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Do you want a sequel to The Goonies? Really? Well, you might be in luck. The original’s scriptwriter Chris Columbus has been speaking to Sci-Fi Wire about the possible new picture, revealing that Joe Pantoliano, who is starring in Columbus’ Percy Jackson and was Francis Fratelli in the original Goonies, has had some relevant chatter with Richard Donner. Quotes on that coming up after the break, as well as Columbus’ rather glib proposal on what adventure the next gen Goonies could face.
The legendary “white hat” singing screen cowboy Roy Rogers will make his way back to screens in a trilogy of new films, says Variety. Which is weird, because he’s dead. A Nashville company, working in concert with the Roy Rogers Family Entertainment Corp, plans to bring a new ‘King of Cowboys’ film series to audiences alongside all the other modern merchandising accouterments: TV, video games, Burger King glasses, etc. Read More »
Not familiar with George Hardy’s work as an actor? Click here to watch a packed audience reacting to him on screen . It’s totally worth it.
About a week ago, while drinking slushies on a beach, I attempted to brainstorm a hyperbolic-geek intro for this interview that was impossibly cheesy and awful, yet aptly expressed my sentiments about the subject. As follows: It would be very difficult indeed to find a dentist who has contributed to more smiles around the globe than would-be actor, Alabama dentist, and newly-championed cult icon George Hardy.
For those who don’t know, Hardy was one of the lead human stars of 1990’s Troll 2; over the last few years, the shittastic fantasy-horror movie has rocketed in cult status and is a viable contender for a next-gen Rocky Horror Picture Show. Made for MGM by a crew of non-English speaking Italians, Troll 2 ironically exists today as an innocent, warped time-capsule of 1980s’ American summers, American culture, and genre films. In the role of the movie’s aloof dad, Michael Waits, Hardy is renown for the silly parental anecdote, “You can’t piss on hospitality!!” His performance is regarded by a growing number of cult cineastes to be one of the worst and most cherished of all time. Patton Oswalt, the Alamo Drafthouse, and Edgar Wright are counted as huge fans. The basic storyline is that of a generic Vacation knockoff meets slime and plot holes worthy of a drug trip: Hardy hauls his family (and a grandfather’s ghost) in a van to spend a summer in a dusty, desolate town called Nilbog. Goblin spelled backwards, Nilbog is populated by devilish country-folk and vegan Druid non-Trolls. In the end, the Waits fam defeats them and their leader, an STD-plagued witch, using a mystical bologna sandwich. Or do they?
Best Worst Movie, the new documentary about the reunited cast of Troll 2 and its international fandom, is a 2009 favorite of the /Film and /Filmcast staff. Directed by Troll 2’s former “child star,” Michael Stephenson, much of Best Worst follows Hardy as he temporarily leaves his life as a small-town dentist to encounter the ups and downs of modern fame and his performance’s excavated notoriety. Thanks to a compelling story and the sharp twists and turns of real life, Best Worst can be enjoyed with or without having viewed the flick that spawned it. George called me from his lake house to discuss all of this while eating a sandwich. For our interview with Michael Stephenson, click here.
Amazon are now taking pre-orders for The Wild Things, Dave Eggers‘ novel “based loosely on the storybook by Maurice Sendak and the screenplay cowritten with Spike Jonze“. The hardback is set to street in October, just ahead of the Where the Wild Things Are movie. Jonze’ film must be one of my most anticipated pictures of the year, and to think… well, to think how close we were to losing it for a while.
You might want the standard edition
Warner Bros has released a new movie trailer and poster for Robert Rodriguez’s PG-rated kids film Shorts. I understand I’m not the target audience for this type of film but I can’t even imagine being interested in this if I were a 10-year-old. I mean, sure, the concept of wish fulfillment is fun, especially if you’re young… but the special effects seem extremely cheesy.
As I mentioned in the post for the previous trailer, I’m even bothered by the overly colorful miniature alien ships. They look like they were animated by someone at DreamWorks and composited into the scenes. What happened to the days when things looked fantastical but also realistic? The film Batteries Not Included comes to mind. Watch the trailer after the jump and tell me what you think in the comments below.
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Since Sam Raimi and Quentin Tarantino sky-rocketed Stephen Chow’s US reputation with their effusive praise of Shaolin Soccer, you’ll probably find that the least well received picture in Chow’s ouevre has been the sci-fi family film CJ7. Personally though, I absolutely love it, and this is in spite of its sometimes woeful CG work and the occasionally confusing slapstick non-sequiturs (see also: Drag Me to Hell). Despite the director’s long standing promise of a sequel to the masterful Kung Fu Hustle, it seems the first direct follow up to be spawned from one of Chow’s pictures will be a CJ7 continuation - CJ72, if you will. Instead of being live action like the first installment, however, this one is to be all-animated.
Essay: Is Kevin, the Tropical Bird in Pixar’s UP, a Nod to the LGBT Movement?
Posted on Tuesday, June 9th, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson
Yesterday, CBS News aired a segment on an “ongoing blogger debate” over the representation of black people and negative stereotypes in Disney’s The Princess and the Frog. Of course, after previous and longer segments on the failing economy and Air France, even the way in which Katie Couric mentioned “bloggers” carried a decidedly trivial tone connoting birds-on-a-wire. Snob. However, given that hardly anyone has seen a near-complete version of the fourth-quarter film, I have to agree that any “chirped” anger, feigned or genuine, is premature. Also: the world is mad, get over it.
But heated discussions about Disney’s movies, especially in this case, do have precedent: clips from the studio’s infamous 1946 film, Song of the South, are forever available to support and fan the issues of political correctness. Moreover, theories about sociological, hidden and subliminal messages in Disney films and characters are so prevailing that I have enjoyed intriguing classes on the very subject in junior high (for free) and at university (for a repossessed Porsche).
Which brings me to Disney’s Pixar, where animated films are made to awe kids and—and arguably more-so—adults. Feted, beloved, and at times “progressive” as it may be, Pixar is not immune to similarly “bloggy” issues regarding political correctness; a debate over the absence of female lead characters in their films began earlier this year and remains a valid and popular talking point.
Robert Rodriguez Getting Ready To Go Back To The Future, Twice
Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 by Brendon Connelly
Robert Rodriguez is about to go back to the future - or, to borrow the spin from the Grindhouse publicity, go “back to back” to the future. Quite obviously, he’s not preparing a remake of Robert Zemeckis’ unparalleled time travel trilogy but instead, prepping a pair of future-bound movies of his own. First up is Nerverackers, now in pre-production and then, confirmed to MTV as his next project, is the long brewing live-action adaptation of The Jetsons. Yet another delay for Sin City 2, the promised sequel that I’m personally most doubtful we’ll ever get to see. Details on Nerveracker and The Jetsons to follow.
Masi Oka Creates Massively Multiplayer Movie The Defenders
Posted on Monday, June 8th, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Masi Oka, Heroes star and big World of Warcraft fan, has come up with a story called The Defenders, about gamers who have to become real-world heroes, and Dreamworks has bought it. The project will be produced by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci, and DJ Caruso is in talks to direct. (He last directed the Kurtzman/Orci produced Eagle Eye.) How do you make a multiplayer game-inspired movie that isn’t just a vague rehash of The Last Starfighter and Ender’s Game? Answer after the jump.
Worst Idea Ever: John Stamos Is Developing Full House Movie
Posted on Friday, June 5th, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
John Stamos, who played Uncle Jesse on the 1980’s-1990’s television sitcom Full House, says he’s developing a possible concept for a big screen Full House movie. Stamos told the New York Daily News that he’s “working on a movie idea, but it wouldn’t be us playing us.”
So I guess the concept is more of a remake or contemporary reimagining than a sequel. Stamos said that his idea “would probably take place in the first few years [of the series].” I doubt this idea will ever come into fruition, unless it’s a television movie which acts as a backdoor pilot for a new series.
