Hello all and welcome back to yet another Weekly Movie Pulse, I’m writing this weeks column a little earlier than usual (or really late since I wasn’t around last week) so I have time to sneak out and catch an early screening of V for Vendetta.
So what happened in the past two weeks in the movie world? Well there was the Oscars that had people complaining about who brought home Best Picture. Like any other year is different. I’m happy for Crash, while The Best of Youth has cemented its place as my favorite film of last year Crash is still right there at number two. What really surprised me at the Oscars this year were two things; one, What the hell was with all of the montages? Not that I hated them or anything, in fact I loved them, but there were something like ten of them at the award show. The second thing that irritated me to no end was them trying to beat the message in to viewers to go see movies in the theater. I had a good two page rant written up after I watched the show it got me so angry with that message. Seriously, have any of them been to a public screening in the past few years? It’s madness between the prices and patrons. No wonder DVD sales keep going up. And don’t they realize that if it weren’t for DVD and the convenience of it Crash wouldn’t have had the following it did and probably wouldn’t have won Best Picture? But that’s all a rant for another day.
Now lets try and catch up on what I missed last week along with all of the new stuff… crap there’s a lot…
Columns
First up we get a double dose of R0BTRAIN’s Bad Ass Cinema, last week Rob took on Equilibrium which is one of my favorite films. This week it’s The Best of Norris. And you KNOW Chuck Norris wouldn’t take no shit in a futuristic fascist world. He wouldn’t even need that gun-fu like Bale needed, he’d just round house kick the lot of ’em and bring peace and culture to the masses.
ML Kennedy did an Oscar wrap-up of his own.
Mondo Culto went to the Fangoria Weekend of Horrors, I’m so damn jealous of Brad for this. I’m even more jealous that he got to catch The Monster Squad while he was there, a movie I haven’t seen in ages because I wore out the VHS tape I had growing up. Damn I want to watch that movie again!
Erik Schwob makes his return with the Weekend Box Office Report for the past weekend, and what do you know, another shitty, pointless, uninteresting, unintelligent, waste of time, money, and talent is the number one movie in America. I’m moving to Canada. No, wait, Campbell lives up there and there’s only so many Serenity or Firefly references one can take before a mental breakdown. I think I’ll move to the UK.
The Weekend Tease wraps up the columns portion with Travis giving us the low down on what’s coming out this last week. I can’t wait until The Libertine makes its way around here, it’s one I’ve been interested in checking out for quite some time now.
Movie Reviews
Scott remains the reviewing machine that he is with a look at both Dave Chappelle’s Block Party and Failure to Launch. Tom had the misfortune of watching Aquamarine. Rob viewed Ultraviolet. Matt Yeager saw The Hills Have Eyes over the weekend. And Travis reviews both Doogal and the remake of The Shaggy Dog.
DVD Reviews
Scott checked out two classics in their own rights, and those DVDs are Midnight Cowboy: Collector’s Edition and The Shaggy Dog: Wild & Wooly Edition. Kennedy reviewed Chicken Little and Yours, Mine & Ours. Travis spent some time reviewing Domino and Where the Truth Lies. Rob has reviews up for both The Cutter and 3… Extremes. McCullar checked out Roll Bounce and Take A Hard Ride. I reviewed the 2-Disc version of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire along with Crash. And Josh Clinton snuck away from the TV zone to put a review together for Through the Fire.
Features
Mike rounded us all up for an Oscar Roundtable. How did we do on our predictions? read the roundtable and then see the results of the award show here (since it’s been a while chances are you already know who won). I went about 10 of 14, not bad. I still think Huffman was robbed for Best Actress. That Oscar still doesn’t justify paying Witherspoon $29 million to star in a horror movie.
(Yeah, it was a cop out lumping everything together but if I did it all individually it’d take a week to write everything up and then I’d be right back where I started.)
News
Indiana Jones 4 Still “Starting Soon”
If there’s one project that’s been like a roller coaster it’s Indiana Jones 4. First it’s a go then stopped, then they needed to tweak the script then they needed approval from all three guys (which lead to countless new scripts and countless rewrites). Now it’s like they’re not even on the same planet anymore let alone the same page. First up Harrison Ford has “confirmed” that shooting will begin soon on the fourth instalment as he and Spielberg have approved the script. Which contradicts Spielberg saying in an interview that after War of the Worlds and Munich he’s taking a year off and then starting on his Abe Lincoln project once he returns. And has recently sent writer David Koepp to spear head a new draft of the script. It doesn’t end there though folks, Star Wars producer Rick McCallum “confirmed” that Lucas has approved a script and returned it to Spielberg for more polishing. Yeah and by the time this thing actually gets released I’ll be getting a senior citizens discount and Ford will go through the movie in a wheel chair. As you can tell, it’s no closer to being made than it was five years ago. And after that terrifying Cat in the Hat type commercial Ford had during the Super Bowl I’m kinda hoping that this thing never gets off the ground ever.
Mr. West Goes to Hollywood
New Line Cinema will be teaming up with Kanye West to produce a feature film inspired by his music.. West also will appear in the film, which will create a multiperspective portrait of the U.S. as seen through the eyes of West and several filmmakers. George C. Wolfe (“Lackawanna Blues”) will oversee the creative process with around six writers and 10-12 directors set to craft short stories, not music videos, that will be linked by a central narrative that will feature new and old music from West. Finally a rapper who’s not going to make a movie about themselves and stroke their own ego! It’s a miracle!
Why Even Bother Doing This?
Chow Yun Fat is going to star in a remake of the film that made him a star. That film is Hard Boiled. But he’s not the only person that film made a career for, it also was directed by John Woo. Woo has chosen to not direct the remake but he was offered the gig, in his place will be Johnny To. What’s the point? Why not a sequel? Why tarnish the original? There are far too many “Why’s” being thrown around here to make this not seem unnecessary. Has Chow hit rock bottom or something? If he needs money I’ll write him a check for 80 bucks to keep this from getting made if he’s that desperate.
Those Dirty Filthy Studio Executives…
Warner Brothers and Village Roadshow Pictures will co-finance a remake of the The Dirty Dozen. The studio has set Scott Rosenberg the fine writer of such modern day classics as Con Air, Gone in Sixty Seconds and Kangaroo Jack (note the sarcasm) to join Alias writer-producer duo Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum (who don’t seem to have much under their belts) on a script that will contemporize the story. Warner just went from my favorite studio to one I want to burn to the ground and piss all over the ashes. How can you not only remake a certifiable classic but have the gaul to “modernize” it? This is sacrilegious, how can a studio that honors and respects its classics on the DVD front care so little on the theatrical side? I hope this bombs worst than any film has ever bombed in the history of cinema. It’s things like this that make me avoid modern day cinema and just watch movies with meanings from the 70’s…
Hey, Mr. Kotter… Cube???
Dimension Films is starting up production on a theatrical version of the staple 70’s series “Welcome Back, Kotter”, Ice Cube will be producing and playing the title character. In the updated version of the film Cube will play a teacher who returns to his tough, inner-city alma mater, where he meets a new generation of underprivileged troublemakers who are as unmotivated as he used to be. Tom Brady who directed The Hot Chick is finalizing a deal to write the script and direct, with shooting to begin in the fall. I loved this show growing up, I don’t know why, it was just fun to watch and for the life of me I can’t really remember it much outside of the characters. So they go and retro fit the one thing I have left to connect with this thing. Wonderfull. What’s the deal with Cube and updating classics? Is he at the top of every studio’s wish list or something? If they do this shit with WKRP in Cincinnati I’ll be pissed.
Sin City 2 News…
Rosario Dawson, who will be returning to the upcoming sequel to Sin City, stated in an interview that director Robert Rodriguez wants Angelina Jolie to star in Sin City 2 and is delaying production to accommodate Jolie’s current pregnancy. “The film’s been kind of postponed because Robert has been interested in Angelina Jolie for the lead,” Dawson said in an interview. “But she’s very pregnant right now. So that’s putting an understandable hold on the film.” Sin City 2, which is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel stories “A Dame to Kill for” and “Lost, Lonely and Lethal.” will also include a new chapter to the Comics world revolving around Nancy. This rumor of Jolie joining the cast has been going around for some time now, I first read up on it over at The Digital Bits and it now seems like it’s all coming together as fact. I like the casting as it’s damn near perfect but the extended wait is going to kill me.
Dallas: The Movie Casting Rumors
Having not seen much of this show to really care about the news, I imagine that no matter what TV show turned in to a movie would be shitty with this casting line-up. Jennifer Lopez and Luke Wilson are in final negotiations for the big screen version of the cherished TV series. Wilson will play Patrick Duffy while Lopez will play Sue Ellen Ewing. John Travolta has been offered the role of J.R. Ewing while Shirley MacLaine has been offered the role of Miss Ellie Ewing. That’s just terrifying to look at, we get Lopez who hasn’t made a worthy movie since An Unfinished Life (which some don’t realize was shelved by Miramax for close to three years before it was released and since then she hasn’t made jack), the bad Wilson brother, crazy Scientologist Travolta, and then there’s Shirley MacLaine. Man, fans of this show must be pissed.
Top 10 at the Box Office
1. Failure to Launch Review Here
2. The Shaggy Dog Review Here
3. The Hills Have Eyes Review Here
4. 16 Blocks
5. Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Family Reunion Review Here
6. Eight Below Review Here
7. Aquamarine Review Here
8. Ultraviolet
9. The Pink Panther Review Here
10. Date Movie Review Here
New Releases in Theaters
– Don’t Tell (NY, LA)
– Find Me Guilty (limited)
– She’s the Man
– Thank You for Smoking (limited)
– V For Vendetta
On Store Shelves This Week
– Anastasia (Family Fun Edition)
– Basic Instinct: Ultimate Edition – Unrated Director’s Cut
– The Cutter
– Deuce Bigalow: Male Gigolo (The Little Black Book Edition)
– A Fish Called Wanda (Deluxe Edition)
– Good Night, And Good Luck.
– A History of Violence
– Ice Age (Super-Cool Edition)
– The Prize Winner of Defiance, Ohio
– Remember the Titans: Director’s Cut
– Spring Break Shark Attack
– Through the Fire
– The Year of the Yao
And that’s it for me this week, don’t forget to send those e-mails.
