Archive for November, 2009

News has leaked that Summit Entertainment, which owns the rights to and finances the Twilight films, is in the midst of deciding whether or not they’ll try to extend the series by splitting the fourth and final book in Stephenie Meyer’s saga into two movies. The company is supposedly leaning towards splitting the fourth movie into two (making 5 movies overall), but in order to make that plan a reality must first jump a few hurdles.

With New Moon making over $400 million worldwide in its first two weekends, the franchise has risen to a monumental status. This being the case, it then presents the option of extending the series more so than originally planned because box-office returns will have be extremely secure (barring catastrophes). But Summit would need to first get permission from Meyer, who holds vetoing power on almost everything related to the films. And because of New Moon’s success, Summit wants to resign the film’s director, Chris Weitz,  for the fourth and potentially fifth film. However, he had already made plans to direct another film to be produced by Summit, The Gardener, but no deal has officially been closed as of yet. The company has reportedly not ruled out the possibility of making Weitz put that film on hold until after completing the fourth and fifth films – if he signs on to direct.

With the money Summit has made and continues to make on New Moon, it will be able to as well as likely have to pay extra for Weitz services, not to mention also the services of the cast and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg, all of which were signed on for only four films.

Source: Variety

Quick Opinion: Extending a franchise by splitting its source material into parts by way of making a higher number of movies is a Hollywood money-making tactic that most seem to actually like. Many Harry Potter fans were upset with each additional film’s lack of detail, faithfulness, etc., saying that all of the films were far too condensed. With Warner Bros. splitting the last film in the series into two films, it has re-encouraged this particular crowd. This is not to necessarily say that the Twilight series has the same breadth as Harry Potter’s, but more movies means more attention to detail, which fans appreciate. So, studios get more money, fans get more material to watch, and everybody wins.

Area 51 - It doesn't say filming prohibited!

Oren Peli, director of the supernatural haunting hit Paranormal Activity, has just finished principle filming for his newest film Area 51, which Paramount Pictures has just bought the distribution rights for.

Paranormal Activity has become one of the most profitable films ever, costing just $11,000 to make and grossing over $100 million. Such success for the small independent film allowed Peli’s newest effort to garner much attention in the bidding for its distribution rights. How much Paramount paid for the rights is unknown.

Area 51 is said to be made in a similar style to Paranormal Activity in that it’s made up of “found footage.” Its story is reportedly about three teenagers who wander into the secretive Area 51 section of Nellis Air Force Base in Nevada, and then experience strange happenings.

“These films show that real franchises can be successfully launched from the independent side of the business — not something the marketplace necessarily believed five years ago,” said Adam Goodman of Paramount. – Variety

Paramount’s unique and successful promotion campaign for Paranormal Activity, as well as other efforts it made for the film, are exciting executives at the studio about creating more high-grossing franchises from small independent productions.

Source: Variety

Quick Opinion: It is the opinion of Movie-Thoughts that Oren Peli’s Paranormal Activity is a very notable effort that deserves the accolades it has so far received. Its “found footage” style fit well with the material and went a long way towards making said material very effective. To hear that Peli’s latest film is using the same style is – at this point – nothing more than intriguing. However, it is of note because if Area 51 enjoys box-office success (regardless if its the same level of success as Paranormal Activity or if Paramount launches another innovative promotion effort) I see the “found footage” style potentially becoming the next stylistic wave in the horror/thriller genre. Torture films have been on the decline both financially and in popularity (with slight exception to the Saw series), and being that other directors have proven to be able to use the “found footage’s” realistic style with success (unlike during the period immediately following 1999’s The Blair Witch Project, which was filled with mostly parodies), not to mention the style is perhaps the cheapest to finance, studios will be itching to get a piece of the pie (namely Lionsgate, Dark Castle, and that ilk).

Short Take: Uncomprimisingly harsh, which helps make it so inspirational

Director: Lee Daniels (Shadowboxer)

Screenwriters: Geoffrey Fletcher

Cast: Gabourey Sidibe (début), Mo’Nique (Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins; Phat Girlz)

Length: 1 hour 50 minutes

Synopsis: Clareece “Precious” Jones is a 16-year-old girl living in 1980’s Harlem.  Still in the eighth grade and pregnant with her second child by her father, she is sent to a special school where she finally learns to read and write and is given the support and confidence she needs to finally escape her physically and emotionally abusive mother.

Analysis: Judging from previews and advertisements for Precious, one would expect it to depict the story’s events with a startling realism.  However, director Lee Daniels takes a different approach.  Though Daniels certainly renders Precious’s life with horrifying detail, the film deals in fantasy as much as it does in realism.  For Precious, and for the film, fantasy is a means of escaping the brutal life she lives. Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Involving and touching, its message gets through

Director: John Lee Hancock (The Rookie)

Screenwriter: John Lee Hancock (The Alamo), Michael Lewis (book)

Cast: Sandra Bullock (Miss Congeniality), Tim McGraw, Quinton Aaron, Kathy Bates (Revolutionary Road)

Length: 2h 8m

Synopsis: As a young child Michael Oher (pronounced “or”) and his brother were taken from their drug-addicted mother by Child Services. Afterword, he frog-leaped to and from several foster homes only to wind up alone on the streets. One night while walking along one of those streets the Tuohy family pulled over to him and invited him to their home. The well to do Tennessee family ended up taking Michael in and raising him through his final years of high school, where he earned good enough grades and did well enough in football to merit a high-profile status with college football coaches and recruiters from across the country. Eventually choosing Ole Miss, Michael went on to have an exceptional college football career and was selected 23^rd overall in the 2009 NFL Draft by the Baltimore Ravens. Read the rest of this entry »

The world may have gone to hell, but at least you'll have something in common with Mel Gibson

With Viggo Mortensen’s The Road being released, IGN.com recently posted a post-apocalypse survival guide based on various films that take place during this futuristic time period.  Though it could have been far more in-depth, what with how many movies that take place in one post-apocalyptic world or another, the guide bases itself on Doomsday, the Mad Max films, and the videogame Fallout 3.

The guide stresses the correct clothes will make surviving A) more possible, and B) far easier. And who’s to argue. The correct shoes and all-weather duds should be picked to suit your environment, and one should have no gripes about stealing such items (that fit) from discarded corpses. When it comes to such basic essentials, be prepared to do what you have to do.

Also, choose your weapon of choice carefully, and do so by knowing well who your enemies are and what they want. “The Zombie Survival Guide” claims that a crowbar is one of the best weapon choices because of its functionality, but when dealing with humans guns and blades are your best bet. If cars are functional in your world, guns are better, but if not then you’d better be ready for some hand-to-hand combat.

The guide also goes over things such as what you should (or should not) eat and the idea that there is no grand destination that exists for you to make a pilgrimage towards. Don’t believe the stories you may hear. So, wandering aimlessly in search for bare essentials seems to be your permanent future.

The concept of this guide is very intriguing, especially for those who enjoy post-apocalyptic movies, but again it could have been far more thorough. In its defense, however, a thorough guide could possibly extend across several books let alone a single feature article. It’s definitely an interesting read.

Quick Thought: I can’t help but be intrigued by one post-apocalyptic trend that the guide leaves out. More than a fair share of such movies (or particularly comics) give the main male character a canine companion, and I didn’t understand why until now. Being on your own is indeed the best option, as you don’t have to worry about other people being a burden or threat to your survival. But being alone can get very depressing after a while, so what better companion to have than one that isn’t likely to kill you, eats less than you, is self-sufficient, and can be trained to help you in fights? An excellent example of such a relationship is between Don Johnson and his dog Blood in the post-apocalyptic A Boy and His Dog.

Director/Producer Peter Jackson spoke to the press recently at the London premiere of his newest film The Lovely Bones, where he gave away some new details about two of his other projects, The Hobbit (writing and producing) and the Steven Spielberg directed The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn (producing).

The news on both of these films is that Jackson and his writing team have completed the first script of the two-movie hobbit project. Jackson said that he had even more fun than he had anticipated writing the script, and that MGM has stamped it’s sign of approval as well. With Tintin, it appears that filming has completed and Spielberg now enters a two year long period of postproduction (with most of the time being reserved for including the film’s special effects).

Guillermo del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy) will direct The Hobbit, whom Jackson hand picked for the project. The two Hobbit films will release in the Decembers of 2011 and 2012, respectively. Tintin has a tentative release date of December 23, 2011.

Source: ComingSoon.net

Short Take: If your expectations are in line, expect to be satisfied

Director: Chris Weitz (The Golden Compass, About a Boy)

Screenwriter: Melissa Rosenberg (Twilight, Step Up), Stephenie Meyer (book)

Cast: Kristen Stewart (Adventureland, Twilight, Into the Wild), Robert Pattinson (Twilight, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire), Taylor Lautner (Twilight, The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl 3-D)

Length: 2 hours 10 minutes

Synopsis: Picking up where the last film left off, Bella Swan (Stewart) is still trying to convince her vampire boyfriend, Edward Cullen (Pattinson) to turn her into a vampire.  While celebrating her eighteenth birthday with his vampire family, an accident nearly leads the family to attack Bella.  Convinced that the only way to protect her is to leave, Edward and his family depart forever.  Bella slips into a depression only lessened when she spends time with her best friend Jacob Black (Lautner).  However Jacob, a werewolf, and Bella slowly cultivate a romance.  Just on the point of Jacob and Bella developing a full-fledged relationship, Bella must go to Italy to stop the vampire royalty, the Volturi, from killing Edward. Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: A comedy with layers, but none so interesting as the jokes within them

Director: Grant Heslov

Screenwriter: Peter Straughan, Jon Ronson (book)

Cast: George Clooney (Michael Clayton), Ewan McGregor (Angels and Demons), Jeff Bridges (Iron Man), Kevin Spacey (Superman Returns, Moon)

Length: 1h 34m

Synopsis: A journalist eager to gain entry into Iraq to cover the ongoing war on terror (McGregor), bumps into a man (Clooney) who can grant him his wish. On a secret mission of his own, it turns out this mysterious man was once part of the U.S. military. His job: to help build a superhero army equipped with psychological powers. This man’s story becomes the one really worth telling. Read the rest of this entry »

Pfeiffer, in possibly her most popular role as Catwoman in "Batman Returns"

A recent article on RottenTomatoes.com suggested Rachel McAdams might play Black Cat, a burglar/love interest for Peter Parker, in Spiderman 4.  The article got me thinking about the original sexy cat burglar of the Batman comic books, Catwoman.  The question of who would play the sultry seductress has plagued me for years.  Who could beat Eartha Kitt’s sultry purr from the original television series?  Who could look sexier than Michelle Pfeiffer in a leather body suit in Batman Returns?  And most importantly, who could erase the lingering sting Halle Berry’s portrayal left on Batman fans?

The role isn’t easy to fill.  The actress who plays Catwoman needs to have an obvious sexuality that a lecher like Bruce Wayne can barely resist.  But she also has to have a hint of class so she will not seem out of place in his high-powered world.  Finally, she needs to convincingly straddle the line between good guy and bad guy.  Sure she’s ultimately a self-serving burglar who uses her sexuality to stun the guards, but she’s got to be just moral enough for Batman to believe she could be on his side one day.

While McAdams certainly seems capable of delivering the character’s class and questionable morality, she, no offense, just doesn’t have that mildly trashy sex appeal.  Sex is really what Catwoman is about.  Which brings me to the question posed in the title of this piece: how about Megan Fox?  There is no question that she has the sex appeal, as Cliff said in his “What If…” on Fox, she has made her career out of it.  It’s the character’s other components that could be the issue.

Fox’s previous roles haven’t given her much room to show off her acting chops, but what better time than in a role where she can rely on her appearance to do most of the work?  Most comic book films are not noted for their acting, though director Christopher Nolan’s recent interpretations of Batman have certainly changed that, but Fox’s sexuality should at least make her somewhat capable of embodying the character.  The real challenge for her will be playing the normal, Selina Kyle part of the role.

Perhaps Fox’s biggest obstacle would be her age.  She is eight years younger than Christian Bale and still looks more like a juicy piece of jailbait than a mature, professional woman.  A few years ago, Angelina Jolie might have been a shoe-in for the role, but now that she seems determined to be a serious actress, that’s out of the question.  Still, with make-up and the right costuming, Fox could look like a woman in her late twenties.  After the crushing disappointment of loosing Rachel Dawes in the last film, Megan Fox as Selina Kyle may be just the hot young thing to bring Bruce out of his depression.

"Bright Star," which was critically acclaimed, hasn't yet earned half its budget due to limited exposure

One of the biggest gripes people have – especially when watching the Academy Awards every year – is that they aren’t able to see many of the limited release films, particularly the ones that get great critical buzz. Even critics get irked about this (as no critic sees every movie that comes out). So how do we go about addressing this issue? My thought is that films that can’t afford widespread distribution to exhibitors (i.e. theaters) might want to start looking at the internet as a solution.

A number of people download movies illegally all the time, which we here at Movie-Thoughts obviously can’t condone, and many people watch streaming movies on Netflix every day; the point being that plenty of people are acclimated to watching movies on their computer, and that number of people continues to grow every day. So, step one of making sure there’s an audience for independent studios on the internet is covered.

Step two is identifying the benefits. What’s in it for these independent studios? Well for starters (and this is huge), exposure. Read the rest of this entry »