Posts Tagged ‘J. J. Abrams’

Short Take: Every bit as much fun as its predecessors

Director: Brad Bird

Screenwriters: Josh Appelbaum, André Nemec

Cast: Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, Michael Nyqvist, Paula Patton

Length: 2h 13m

Synopsis: After an IMF agent is killed in an effort to capture the launch codes for Russian nuclear warheads, Ethan Hunt (Cruise) and his crack team of agents are assigned to find out who took the codes and why. Their efforts, however, lead them to being framed for the destruction of the Moscow Kremlin, which makes Ethan Russia’s most wanted and forces IMF to disavow all of its agents. So with no help from IMF and a huge target on their backs, Ethan and Co. must prevent the stolen launch codes from getting into the wrong hands. Crazy and elaborate plans ensue, with stunts and chases aplenty. What we see may possibly be their biggest challenge yet.

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What exactly makes the summer movie season so alluring?

People go to the movies at all times during the course of the year, but summertime always seems to be the period when movies are most popular. It’s the time of year when we can usually look forward to a blockbuster or two, whether they be special effects extravaganzas or what have you, which attract massive crowds of patrons young and old to the local cinemas where they eat tubs of popcorn and drink frosty beverages. What is it exactly, though, that attracts, or even compels so many to see summer releases? Is there something special about the films themselves, or the audiences who watch them? The answers to these questions can be found by figuring out what all of these various audience members have in common, and how what that is relates to the movies they’re seeing.

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Short Take: A piquant serving of sentimentality that's sure to enthrall

Director: J.J. Abrams

Screenwriter: J.J. Abrams

Cast: Joel Courtney, Elle Fanning, Kyle Chandler, Ron Eldard, Noah Emmerich

Length: 1h 52m

Synopsis: One night during the summer of 1979 a small group of young filmmakers try to shoot part of their low budget horror movie at a humble little train station. Little did they know that while they would be filming a tremendous train wreck would occur just past that station, putting them in terrific peril. What was on that train, however, is the real danger. A creature of unknown size and ferocity escapes and hides about the nearby town, causing animals to flee and people to go missing. Amongst this mess the kids try to play it safe and not investigate, electing instead to just finish filming their movie. Trouble ends up finding them eventually however, and they must risk everything in a fight to keep their lives together and save the relationships that will define who they become – if they survive.

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Brad Bird is now being considered to direct the next "Mission: Impossible"

Star of the hit Mission: Impossible franchise Tom Cruise has pegged the series’ next installment as his next picture, which has meant that him and fellow producer J.J. Abrams (director of M:I 3) have been on the hunt for the fourth film’s director.

Candidates include but are not limited to Ruben Fleischer (Zombieland), Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), and now Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, Pixar’s The Incredibles, Ratatouille). What makes Bird an unorthodox candidate is the fact that he’s never directed a live-action film before, although his two Pixar films have both won Oscars for Best Animated Picture. For these movies Bird has been praised by critics for his storytelling skills and choreographing skills for stunts and chase sequences.

Details about M:I 4‘s story are being kept under wraps, but J.J. Abrams is said to have worked with writers Andre Nemec and Josh Appelbaum (who Abrams knows from working with them on TV’s Alias) to formulate the script.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

Quick Opinion: If Bird is hired to direct M:I 4 it would obviously mean that he would have the blessing of J.J. Abrams, which should be exciting news for fans of the series. Although M:I III didn’t do as well at the box office as Paramount would have liked (which many attribute to negative publicity regarding Tom Cruise’s television antics about his wife Katie Holmes and professed allegiance to Scientology), many fans (such as myself) regarded the film as the best yet in the series. If this is in fact the case, then J.J. Abrams’ involvement should only be considered positive, as well as the news about whoever is hired to direct the fourth film. As proficient as Bird might be at storytelling (I’m assuming this compliment is regarding his prowess with narrative construction, pacing, and emotional wherewithal) I would suggest there be concerns about his ability to direct the type of gritty project that M:I 4 is likely to be. Aside from having to be more hands-on with actors and the whole filming process (as opposed to primarily using computers and voice recordings), he’ll be tested to expand is aesthetic style into the realm of visceral violence and visual maturity. This isn’t all to say that Bird would be a poor choice, but because of these reasons he would definitely make an unusual one.

Writer/Director/Producer J. J. Abrams

HollywoodReporter.com has recently published an interview it conducted with director/writer/producer J. J. Abrams, the director of this year’s Star Trek remake. The film made almost $400 million worldwide, and has made Abrams’ name bigger than ever.

The interview itself is short and unfocused, which probably means that is was held over the phone when Abrams had some free time during his very busy schedule. Being that the movie was released May 8th the interview isn’t very timely, but with fans it is usually the case that good exposure is never too late.

The interviewer, Jay Fernandez, asks a short line of questions that don’t seem to be searching for elaborate answers. Being that there was a probable time-crunch this is somewhat understandable, however the simplicity of the questions (as is almost always the case) leads to answers that aren’t all that illuminating. One example is the very first question, “Was there any part of making Star Trek that felt personal?” The wording of this particular question asks for a very broad response because A) it’s relatively common knowledge that directors typically invest their personal feelings into a project at least somewhat (hopefully more than just a little), and B) because of this the general answer of “yes” is already known before the question was even asked. Abrams, as well as most interviewees, know all this at least subconsciously and respond accordingly by replying “yes,” followed by a short list of summarized examples. Knowing that Abrams was sure to say “yes,” the question should have been phrased in way that asked for particulars, such as “What facet of the film did you have the most personal connection with and why?”

I fault Fernandez only slightly, as a lack of time will always keep an interview and its questions from being as interesting as possible. However, that being the case it would behoove him to ask better questions so as to take better advantage of the short amount of time.

Just a thought.