Thursday, July 31, 2008

Actors Are Passionate People Too...

The Passion of the Costner...

Ok, let's talk film. I like this article. I think it is great. I think this says a lot about the so called decision makers in Hollywood. The LA Times has an article today about A List actors putting their own money into projects. LA Times calls it the Passion of the A list which directly refers to Mel Gibson's self financing of the Passion Of The Christ. A move that was laughed at until Mel made all him money back and of course then some. It seems, Now here we go...I need to say this again I am just a blogger. I know this. I am not a reporter. I am not a journalist. I don't expect to be a journalist anytime soon. I just happen to have a knack for knowing what goes on the business. That's why I write this crap. Cause year after year I can predict how these Hollywood execs think. And I do it year after year. Every year at the Academy Awards time, I can predict what films will get nominated without even seeing one. I just know how these people think. I was, well let's just say away from access to films last holiday season and without seeing one film, predicted 4 out of the 5 nominees. Its documented, ask Kelli. I think she may be the only one who reads this anyway.

Had I seen all the films I would have picked Michael Clayton over Into The Wild. Michael Clayton is one of the best films I have ever seen. I can say that for sure. ANYWAY, enough babble. I think its better that no one reads this anyway, there is more freedom in my voice for such. So many A list actors have thrown their own money into films and/or taken a pay cut so that certain films can get made. Lets quote the article here so that I may save my delicate fingers.

"A-list actors are increasingly willing to defer their multimillion-dollar salaries to help get difficult movies made, usually taking a bigger cut of the film's profits in exchange. George Clooney slashed his fee for "Michael Clayton," Sean Penn worked below his normal rate for the upcoming “Milk” and Julia Roberts hardly got rich costarring in the new independent movie “Fireflies in the Garden.”

There's only a handful of top stars, though, who are willing to go beyond a salary deferral and actually place their own money at risk. Mel Gibson famously pulled $25 million out of his bank account to fund 2004's “The Passion of the Christ,” and Al Pacino spent some of his money to produce 1996's "Looking for Richard.""


Ok so there have you the details. Swing Vote is the catalyst for this article. Kevin Costner dropped 25 mil of his own cash for this film. And I do hope it pays off. I don't think it will do well in theaters. I think it will do well on dvd. It may have that Borne Identity effect. Borne did not get popular until dvd.
Back to actors and their works of passion. I think swing vote will be a late bloomer. I am pretty sure about that..Now what is wonderfully painful about this is that, there are indeed passion projects because these actors have found inspiration. How do execs greenlight projects? Its not passion I can tell you that. Execs that make decisions don't have passion. And this is entire point here I don't know how much I have to hammer this down. Execs look at numbers. They look at focus groups. They have no passion. I don't even know if studio execs have the capacity for passion. I have to totally hand it to the actors here. They are showing Hollywood that films are about the passion of one person.

Execs passionate side

That's what Frank Capra said so many years ago. He said that a film should be the passion and vision of one man. I am para phrasing here, sorry, but THAT IS the JIST. And the above examples show that there have been only a few film that have the passion of actors. Now writers and directors are passionate also. I mean Spielberg with ET, James Cameron with The Abyss, and Jon Favreau and Doug Liman had enormous passion for Swingers. And Kimberly Pierce for Boys Don't Cry. Speaking of her, if you haven't seen Stop-Loss, my gosh, by all means go see it. That is a great film. I will talk about that later.

But there are a couple passionate projects that get made every year. They are out there. But isn't it sad that Passion and Burning creativity is NOT a factor for films being greenlit? Its not even a concern. The factors for Greenlighing are based entirely on Super Heroes and looking for the next Lord of the Rings. This is all that factors greenlighting. It should not surprise any of us. But don't execs wish they had talent. They don't. They have money, but will never be truly original. I would rather be original and talented anyday. That is something money will NEVER buy. Until Tomorrow, let's talk film!

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Harry Potter By The Numbers

Why couldn't PJ have picked me instead of those freaking Hobbits!?


Ok, let's talk film. Well the new Harry Potter trailer is up and running. Its now the Half Blood Prince. I guess they are trying to finish this series before they all get married and have kids of their own. You have to wonder if the biggest thorn in the side of this Project is JK Rowling herself. I mean she stopped writing Harry Potter books. I am certian Warner Bros. would keep this going forever if it wasn't for Rowling stopping the series. Well execs wish they had the talent to come up with idea like this. They would write them forever. If a Warner exec wrote Harry Potter the books would go in indefinitely. Why not? Well that would be an example of the huge difference between creative people and Hollywood execs. Creative people know when the well is run dry. Execs don't know when to say when. That's why we have too many superhero movies now. They don't know when to quit.

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Harry Potter and The Half Blood Prince Trailer. On this site and every site in the world.

Well let's talk about these films. They are the most inconsistent film series ever. You can't do a marathon of these films without seeing that each one is a completely different film. I like these films. I know I am super critical about film. That's my job in my head. But I really do enjoy them. Yet I am going to tear a few things about them apart. First, yes, is the inconsistency of all the films. Well that one is easy to guess why. Different directors for almost each one. Chris Columbus brought us the first two. They were labors of length. They had a formula to them. Watching them was fun, yet it felt like an entire school year had gone by with the length of 2 and 1/2 hours for each. Wow that was tough at times. And still people complained that too much was left out of the book. How long do you want these films to be people! Goodness!

The third film was wonderful. It was directed by a super talented Alfonso Cuaron and it was the best one. It was the only Harry Potter film that had magic in it. None of the other films felt magical. The whole time travel thing felt very spirited and in the fashion of true wizardry. It was refreshing. I loved it. The whole time travel sequence was clever. I think that is the problem with the whole series. There is a lack of cleverness in every film execept the 3rd one. That is what is missing so that we as an audience can go WOW! That was clever.

Alfonso Cuaron, The only one with talent

The whole series wants to be so plot heavy that it doesn't allow itself clever moments. Every scene one after the other is laden with the contrived wizard sequences of the wand and a magic spell talk. That can get only quick. In the third one with the memory conjoration, I think (patronus spell) was clever. It was something that was unique. That idea carried itself over to the other films. But one clever moment does not make up for all the standard ones.

The director changed yet again as Alfonso Cuaron was still working on post production when The Goblet of Fire was ready for lensing. This prevented our talented directed to move on with that one. So they got a Britsh TV director David Yates to helm. Now, this is not a bad idea. If you can't find a visionary or don't want to roll the dice on one, like one studio rolled with Spike Jonze on Where the Wild Things are, then get someone who paints by numbers. Why not. There are directors out there that do everything textbook. They are usually TV directors like Mimi Leder, an ER director who went on to do features and Jeannot Szwarc who has done TV forever and stepped in to do Jaws 2 when Steven moved on. These directors are highly talented and efficent. They don't get stalled in creativity, they are professional and on time.

I prefer a creative director of course like Alfonso or Gulliermo, but these efficent directors like the one they hired, David Yates work beautifully cause they will get the job done. And this is what Yates did. The fifth Harry Potter was good. It wasn't wonderful and clever, but it was serviceable. And I am pretty sure Warner Bros liked him for the job. He gets the film done on time and doesn't exhaust too many creative juices. In fact he is slated to do the rest of the series.

The final film will be split into parts one and two, but don't expect that decision to be based on creativity. Its Warner doing a two for the price of one for sure. Why make one, when you can make two and double your money. Well, The Lord of the Rings has large fantasy ideas and it managed to get nominated will all its films. So why hasn't Harry gotten nominatied at all? Well the ingenuity is not there. The third film is the only one Oscar nominated for visual effects. The set decorators get Noms often for their work. But the only director that had potential for an Oscar was Cuaron. He could have or someone as creative could have propelled the films to Oscar status. But instead of searching for another visionary, they put their tail between their legs and opted for a paint by numbers director. Now there is no chance for a nomination for this direction. Not that its bad, it's just standard. It ordinary. And it may never be truly magical again.

Until Tomorrow. Let's talk film!

Tuesday, July 29, 2008

Un-American Hollywood



Ok, let's talk film. Let's start off with that. It's that kind of day. It's a beautiful day. Despite the earthquake. You want a standard late night joke? Ok fine. Huge earthquake today. Some damage. Amy Winehouse's bed collapsed. 15 people were injured. What? Come on! Aw I could do that all day. And I have made the top ten list twice in my life. Sound triumphant? NO! All I got was a T-shirt. No kidding. Anyway I am fired up today. Totally fired up anyway, God knows why. I want to talk about the new GI JOE film from every one's favorite billionaire extremist, Steven Sommers. He brought us the Mummy and The Mummy Returns, Van Helsing. And now he was hired on the spot for GI JOE. A Real American Hero! Well now GI JOE stands for Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity.

Take everything American out of this in case we offend someone in the WORLD!

How is that for reaching? And to top it all off GI JOE is not even American anymore. I think that is what affects me the most about this. They took the American aspect completely out of this new film. That's the basis of the whole idea. But somehow Hollywood does not care if you take the American-ness out of something. Because I don't think Hollywood wants to be American anyway. I mean Jolie had her kids in France. They are not even American. A great deal of our A list are not even American, Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Hugh Laurie, among others. So who really in Hollywood really cares about being American?

Way too American for an American movie...

No one that is right. Not even the Candidates this year have given a truly American pride speech. American-ism is being ripped out of Hollywood and here is the proof. They are taken a historically American Icon and stripping him, well its not even a him anymore. Its an entity. An entity is a separate thing. That's the definition. Melissa thinks its PC to not being American and I say what is PC about not being American. I mean what if Angelina's kid wants to run for president one day. What if one the twins is going to be a great Liberal president. But No they can't cause Jolie wanted them born in France. Thanks Mom for killing my dreams.

Well Hollywood wants it all to be separate entities. I love it when Liberals want to say that they are pro American. How can they be? They are too busy ripping out anything American in Movies. Anyway back to the Sommers film. So everything American is being ripped out. We have to deal with that. GI JOE is somehow now some UN organization that stops Internet terrorism. How is that for a contemporary take? I say if all of this is needed change, why bother in the first place? Why even bother with the GI JOE concept? Get another idea. I think this is just another example of false advertising. Its a MC Donalds Bag with the food of a new Chinese restaurant inside. It having something familiar given to you and then having something new in reality. It's lying. Its another example of what I talked about last week my blog entitled, "False Advertising in Hollywood". That's what it is. It is lying. Paramount is lying to us because there is no GI JOE in GI JOE. There is no MC Donalds in this new MC Donalds. That's the truth. Sure Paramount can tell us that this is a "re-imagining". But it's not. It's flat out lying. And I hate to be lied to. I am sure you do also. Leave it to Hollywood to live under our country's laws and be lying people who don't want to be American. Hollywood is telling is how they really are. This is who they are.

More news on the "Nottingham" front. A new article says just what I said yesterday about the delay. The article says, "So what are the reasons behind the delay? I've heard nothing but good things from people behind the scenes - they were very excited about how things were shaping up. Other rumors have also reached my ears and I have begun to wonder if it isn't 'script concerns' that are slowing things down but rather 'script changes.' I can't print what I've been told (yet), but there may be some changes to the concept that will set the whole film on its ear... in a very interesting way. This new take on the story would require a very large rewrite on the script, and thus the delay."

That's what I said. There is nothing new with this idea. It is boring it is drawn out. Some one somewhere, said how about this... And that probably shut down everything. I would consider it akin to Peter Jackson's experience when he decided to do motion capture instead of animation for Gollom. With that change they had to literally fire a lot of people and bring in a whole new crew to do Motion Capture on Andy Serkis. I think something like that happened here. There was a large and better idea. I hate to think they landed Christian Bale and are waiting for his schedule to open up. Wouldn't that be so Hollywood exec thinking? I actually would like to make that bet. Maybe I will go to Vegas on that one. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

Monday, July 28, 2008

No New Robin Hood and The Old School

Geek is the new cool

Ok, let's talk film. I don't know about this Comic Con thing. It's prett much turned into a circus. It is trying to be a good spring board event to launch projects and now, it appears to be out of control. There are tens of people who are there specifically trying to video tape trailers so that they can rush to put them on you tube. I say to all this, does it realy matter? Some of the film that is getting hyped at Comic Con will have a small shelf life as it is. I mean Pineapple Express? At Comic Con? The target audience for that film with most likely wait for DVD. Superman Returns was at Comic Con a while back, they released some secret footage for FANS ONLY. However now that film is all but forgotten. So I can say is that it is a way for Comic Book fans to indulge, but as a launching pad for other ideas, its a lot of fluff. I may be wrong, if so please comment. Whoever.

BBC We we we!

Here's a nice story. Ridley Scott, the really talented director of Alien and Gladiator has posponed his project Nottingham indefinitely. I am not suprised about this. I was surprised the thing got greenlighted in the first place. I mean this idea of another Robin Hood was a much needed as a new Paris Hilton film. Why are we wasting polyethelene for film on her anyway amazes me. Anyway, yet the studio and Scott blame other factors than the obvious factor of the script having problems. They say that is not green enough yet to film in the forest in England. Now since when has backround location ever been a problem for filmmakers? We can film space films with ease and yet Scott is worried about the greenery.

Well this too is fluff. This two is nonsense that is used to cover up what is really going on. Remember they will never tell us the truth in fear up us laughing at them. Yet we as Hollywood players know way better and we can read between the lines. Well the article does say that the script has problems. But they cover it up with these other excuses. I wish they would just say that they have a crappy script not because the writers suck, but because there is nothing new to say about this subject. Yes that BBC show is cool to watch, I have seen it and it is good. But the success of that is no reason to dip into a tired subject. It is just too painful for everyone involved.

This use of shadow is no accident

I saw a great show over the weekend on my new favorite channel, Ovation TV. The show was a special where Martin Scorsese talks about his favorite moments in film that have infulenced him. I don't remember the name, but he talks about film pre 70's. i don't really follow film pre 70's film so this was an education for even me. I know imagine that. Well there is a bunch of things to say about this. One, Scorsese mentions that film is just a manipulation of light. And it is. The first thing that comes to my mind about this is the use of shadow. Directors to now use shadow like they can. If you remember the teaser trailer for Indiana Jones 4, you see Spielberg use a shadow when he introduces Harrison Ford. Now this is no accident. This is careful directing. More directors need to use shadow.



One of the best directed films in my opinion ever, is Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds. This film is a marvel in directing. It is fiercely wonderful in its manipulation of the camera. These birds are not dangerous. They are just a lot of birds flying around making noise. Yet, due to the sound, camera and performances, we are made to believe that these birds are deadly. And man does this work. I am going to start to talk about pre 70 film. That is film before the revolution of the 70's where Jaws changed everthing. Film was an art form at one time. It took time, care and effort to produce a qualit work of art.



In the clip above Frank Capra, the lengendary director of It's a Wonderful Life and Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. He says that film should be the work of one man. Its should never involve a committee. This is the way it should be I think. Film should be one person's vision. Now we have focus groups and execs that direct the film more than the director does. Execs listen to the Miley generation before they listen to the director. And this happens all the time. As a filmmaker, you have to study the classics and learn to use your shadows and light. It may not make you rich, but it will make you better than them. Cause THEY are ruining the art of film. And I would like to believe it still exists. Until Tomorrow, Let's talk film!

Thursday, July 24, 2008

MTV Horror Reboot Show

Ok, let's talk film. It's a status thing. It is a prestige thing. It is a LOOK AT ME. LOOK AT ME thing. MTV has announced that they are rebooting Rocky Horror Picture show. Yes, the cult classic. Now the film itself was lightning in a bottle. And we all now that lightning in a bottle cannot be duplicated. Well MTV is brash enough to try. I am sure they will ask Johnny Depp and Christian Bale to star. I don't know any big name star who is going to dress as a tranny. It's probably beyond their reach. But, I am not upset as you may be (or maybe you don't care)for this rebooting news. Because that is not the news anyway.

You have to think of Hollywood studios as a little sub burb. Everyone is interested in everyone's business. And the bigger your business, the cooler you are. And MTV is the wanna be king of cool. So this is what this is. This is all that it is. It is look how cool we are! That's what it is. This has nothing to do actually with the quality of the film. They are trying to improve the first idea because the first idea is now a cult film that people have MEMORIZED. If MTV truly cared about the quality of the film, they would not even attempt this. Why bother? Film Fans out there have memorized this film, back wards and forwards. They only thing they could get away with diplomatically is a shot by shot replica of the film like Gus Van Sant did with Psycho. Because they will literally throw off the rhythm of the avid fans if they have to pause even for a second as the remake has a new or different scene.

So if they cared about the film itself, they would not even consider this. They are stepping on toes here. They are slapping fans in the face. That is why I say this reboot idea has nothing to do with the film itself. Nothing. This is for MTV's prestige. This is for MTV to walk into parties and premieres and get wild press people hounding them for a glimpse into the remake. This is all about the execs glory. That all it is.

Some of you don't believe me when I say that execs don't care about the audience or the quality of the film, well here is proof that they don't. This is a classic example of "Look at what we are doing" "isn't this cool". That is all this is. I think it is sad. The original fans will suffer in end for this.

Along with all the others...

We are very close to seeing a film released with the title, Not Another Superhero Movie. Remember the teen films of the 90's when we were tired of them. There was a limit to all that jazz about teen films that started with Clueless. Well everything is in cycles in Hollywood and there is a very good article in the NY Times that is predicting the end of the Superhero genre. I wrote an article last month about cycles in Hollywood. I now wonder what will be the next cycle. Well something new will have to come out that will have to launch the next cycle.

AO Scott has a great theory here about why this current cycle is boring. He says "But in both cases, as soon as the main character is suited up and ready to do battle, the originality drains out of the picture, and the commercial imperatives" That is very true. That is brilliant! Once the hero dons the costume and gets into the fights, its boring. Look at what happened to The Incredible Hulk, the first hour was great, then once the fights happened, it was awful.

So here is the main quote, "Still, I have a hunch, and perhaps a hope, that “Iron Man,” “Hancock” and “Dark Knight” together represent a peak, by which I mean not only a previously unattained level of quality and interest, but also the beginning of a decline. In their very different ways, these films discover the limits built into the superhero genre as it currently exists."

I mean that is right on the money. I don't even have to add to that. That says it all. This is the beginning of the end. What will be the next cycle? Well I am sure MTV will not find it, they are too busy patting themselves on the back for other people's ideas. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

Wednesday, July 23, 2008

Leisure Rules!!!



Ok, let's talk film. Taking the day off. Until tomorrow! Let's talk film!

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Shyamalan's ideas and The Dark Knight...Supersized Please!...

Taking a back seat...

Ok, let's talk film. There are very smart Hollywood players out there. Besides you, yes. Let's talk M. Night Shyamalan. Some execs out there put their thinking caps on and figured out what his problem is. Well I told you so again. I have said this before and it is repeated here in Variety.com. Media Rights entertainment is letting him come up with the ideas and let others write and direct. He is now forming Night Chronicles a production partnership that allows him to come up with a good idea like the Happening, but will not let him write or direct it. Thank God for this thinking. M. Night is not a good writer director. He is a great idealist. But in directing his ideas, something falls way short here. I a glad he is seceding his rights to his ideas. I would do that as painful as it may be.

I mean you have to consider how painful it must be for M. Night. People telling you that your ideas are good, but your execution sucks has got to tear you apart inside. I mean actors and directors kill themselves literally with drugs and alcohol when they are successful in the business. And here is guy who is failing at every idea he attempts and keeping his head up high. He is saying essentially, "you know, I just can't do this thing alone" and he is throwing in the towel. Granted no one will finance a solo effort again on his part, but it takes guts to do what he had now done.

He is just going to write the stories. How great was it when George Lucas did that? Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi were great because Lucas was forced to take a back seat. Lucas is the number one example of someone who has great ideas, yet no real talent to execute them. That's why Spielberg directed Raiders, that's why that worked. Lucas stubbornly helmed the first two Star Wars prequels and look what happened. It was like watching the history channel. Spielberg had to come in and Ghost direct Episode 3 for it to be any good. And it was.

So I have to say as painful as it may be for Shyamalan to give up his director's hat, how wonderful is it gonna be to get his great stories with someone who can translate them with style. Maybe he may find his directorial counterpart like Lucas did with Spielberg or Mike Nichols with Neil Simon scripts.

You have to look at it this way too. Shyamalan, though a troubled writer/director, still has good ideas and the execs want to milk that. They are not going to let him fully retire. They are still going to drain any creative juices flowing out of him. Well good luck Shyamalan, I am sure you will have more success doing this than that. So it will be nice to see this happen.

It was pretty unreal...

If you saw The Dark Knight in IMAX this weekend you were most likely totally blown away at the experience. It was a crystal clear picture. It was a huge screen. I mean you were in the film. There is not doubting that. Nolan filmed what seemed like more the half of the film in IMAX. The beginning scene with William Fichtner as the bank manager was unreal. Although I can think of a hundred other actors I would like to see in that much detail besides Fichtner. Jk, but you know. The truck being thrown on its end was unreal. And I jumped at that one part with the window. So in traditionally Hollywood form. It took The Dark Knight's 6.3 million in IMAX theaters to alert other film makers that this could be a trend.

Two for the Dark Knight? Would you like to Super Size that?

It's Super Sizing is what it is. Would you like your film super size? Well then IMAX it is. That is what this will turn into as if has not already. Yet filmmakers have a huge challenge on their hands. The cameras for IMAX are enormous, bulky, and really unfriendly. AND they are the f word, which is TOO EXPENSIVE! That's it! So how Hollywood will actually respond to this remains to be seen. The price tag for this format will throw this option right out the door. It's just gonna be up to the individual filmmakers to make the decision on this. And it will all depend on the weight of thier name. Only the popular ones will have this option. Bay should have thought about filming in IMAX for Transformers 2. Actually don't be surprised if he does. There is still time for him to do so. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

Monday, July 21, 2008

Legendary Ledger and more Bay bashing!!!

Call it...Friendo...

Ok, let's talk film. It was an amazing performance. It was a inspired performance. It was a nothing less than legendary performance by Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight. I was completely blown away. I honestly thought it was up there with Anthony Hopkins and Javier Bardem. I do think that. It was surprisingly chilling. When I walked in to see it, I expected a great, eclectic performance. What I got was an inside look at a mad man. It was bone chilling. I was actually afraid at the character on the screen. This is a villain that will stand out when lists of villains are made. Anthony Hopkins, Javier Bardem, James Earl Jones, Alan RIckman, Heath Ledger...He has added himself to the list of all time frightening villains.

It was an incredible performance in a film that was akin to Heat with Al Pachino. This was not a Batman film at all. I felt the weakest link here was actually Christian Bale as the Batman. He was completely upstaged by Aaron Ekhart also. How about that performance? That was breathtaking and heartbreaking to see a villain who was really a good guy. He was quite honestly turned to the dark side. I believed it. Well no spoilers here. I don't do that. I don't so spoilers, I don't do lists. None of that nonsense. But what an amazing film. I believe that Ledger already won the Oscar. In my humble opinion, he would have been nominated if he were alive anyway. It is that good of a performance. But now that he is no longer with us, I believe he will win. How about them political apples?

Well today, Robert Orci one of the writers of Transformers 2 said that Michael Bay did not write any of Transformers 2 as Bay as told everyone on the planet that he did have some part of. Well the record is straight today. I am actually glad that Robert got the guts to come forward and say that about Mr Bullhorn. Mr Bay is an infantile director who is no better than an extra on ER who rides past the camera in a stretcher bleeding from the forehead. Well enough Bay bashing. The record is straight Bay does not write scripts.

Finding the hindsight...

Vin Diesel, the huge action star who's career stalled like a broken down VW bug trying to get on the Autobahn. About ten years ago Vin vowed to never do sequels. He was totally against it. No sequels for me he said. That is why he passed up sequels to Fast and Furious and XXX. Well the market for those sequels was hot at the time so the studios still pressed on with lackluster results. Well now Vin says he is more mature to make better decisions and now he is doing another XXX. He already is in pre-production with Fast and Furious 4. And now he is trying to salvage his career with sequels to films he once snubbed.

Well I hate to say "I David Caruso you". But I will anyway. I mean as much as I bag on Execs, at least they have the good sense to follow the scent of success. I hate to maybe say it, but some actors are dumber than some execs. They turn away from the golden calf. Why Vin took such a ridiculous stance is very hard to say. But its nice to know he will be returning to to what he should have done a while ago. Then could have been spared Ice Cube and Tokyo Drift. Until Tomorrow, Let's talk film!

Friday, July 18, 2008

Heath Ledger's Final Bow

Always a Knight

Ok, let's talk film. Heath Ledger takes his final bow today. I have always been a huge fan of this actor. I was always so thrilled whenever he got a new role. It was always a pleasure to see him act. He was always so open and bright to watch. He was a future A Lister that would have been so after this weekend. His loss has been hard on me as a film fan. In many ways I have not even admitted to myself that he is gone. I don't want to write anything else today because ONE, yesterdays blog was pretty good, TWO there is nothing really to talk about and THREE I am now on my way to get my advance tix to the IMAX tomorrow night. Excited I am. But, I would like to dedicate this entire blog to Heath. I really loved him as an actor and his loss is felt within me. Goodbye Heath. It was always a total joy to watch you grow as an actor. God bless your family. Goodbye! We will miss the hell out you. Thank you for everything! Goodbye!

Thursday, July 17, 2008

False Advertising in Hollywood

The savior of rebooting

Ok, let's talk film. Terminator Salvation is the name of the new film that gets released next year, Summer 2009. Terminator Salvation-The Future Begins it is called. Whether it is beginning or ending who knows. Yet, they don't want to call it T4 because then we as an audience would just say, "another one? Come on!" But who is the real salvation here? The execs believe it's Christian Bale. They believe he is the new Savior of franchise reboot. You have to remember that Hollywood does what everyone else has proven successful already. That's no secret. So execs think that since Bale resurrected the Batman franchise to now masterpiece status, why can't he do the same for Terminator? Well two things about there here. Number one, Bale is not he savior of the Batman franchise, Christopher Nolan is. Nolan is the mastermind behind the success of Batman. That is the obvious thing that execs don't realize.

Prequel or sequel? Who knows!

Well I take that back, what I think is really happening here is that they are trying to look at the marketing of the new Terminator film from our point of view. We all now that whenever execs try to look at film from our point of view, nothing but chaos ensues. Well, they think we are stupid. They really do! They think we think that Bale is the savior. If you look at the new trailer for it, you will see that Bale's name is right there at the beginning. It is there in front because they are trying to get us excited at his name since we as an audience are already excited at this new Batman film. It's dirty trick! It is. I found myself excited also at Bale's credit with the Terminator music. But then I remembered I was being tricked.

Execs are using his name to build false excitement. Why is it false excitement? I am glad you asked. It is false because we as an audience and you as a savvy Hollywood player, know that Bale is not the genius at work here. He is just a name. The excitement here in the trailer is nothing less than a sugar rush. It will not last unless the film is decent. We know the name behind the movie products we like. James Cameron was behind the good Terminator movies. Christopher Nolan is behind the good Batman movies. So who are execs trying to fool? Seriously? Who is the marketing department of the Terminator franchise trying to fool. No one. That is correct. They are fooling no one. No one really cares about the Terminator anymore. No one really knows what the hell is going on with the timeline anyway. What future? What past? Ask the execs, I am sure they don't have an answer either. I guarantee it.

Are you having trouble marketing a film? Well just deny what it is? Paramount picked up the independent film American Teen at Sundance last year and since then they have been trying to find a market. It's a documentary about five separate kids during their last year of HS. Sound interesting? Eh, I personally could take it or leave it. But, apparently its brought the house down at Sundance. Now I have a separate theory about Sundance. Things look way better at Sundance then they do in a regular theater. Industry folks cheering for a film there, is different than it performing well out in the actual market.

Lame. Says reboot to us...

Well Paramount is now stuck with this documentary and no way to market it. Who wants to go see a documentary? Seriously?! Well their releasing it under the umbrella of Paramount Vantage which is to be expected. Saves them from taking full responsibility for it's failure. Well their new strategy for marking this according to the LA times in in the article here says that Paramount isn't even going to tell you it's a documentary. Heck, the first poster for this thing is a mock up of the first poster for The Breakfast Club 20 years ago. They are making you believe it's a Breakfast Club rehash. So not only does Paramount not want to tell you what the film is, they are tricking you into thinking its something else.

Whatever still

Where is the honest thinking behind this? There is none. They are trying to deceive you. Not only are they being dishonest with you, they are flat out lying. Because also, they don't even know if they want to market this to current high schoolers or to the nostalgia crowd. It's sad to see this. Sad to see Paramount trying to straight up lie to people to get them into theaters. But that is the strategy and thinking of Hollywood, they will lie to you to get your money. I am sure the film is great. But let us decide. Well they won't, they think we are stupid. This is already not good. And I don't think this film will float at all. Nothing good comes out of a lie.

Well Tonight at midnight starts the Batmania propelled by the death of Heath Ledger. Its gonna be a huge film for that reason and the positive reviews. The best thing about this marketing strategy, Warner Bros, doesn't have to lie. Well all know and feel the loss of that great actor deep in our hearts. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

A Great Writer and Guilty Pleasures...And Bay Bashing!

Miss Congeniality

Ok, let's talk film. Well Diablo Cody is living the dream. Living the dream baby! I guess that's what it's all about. Article here says that Cody is very busy at work. You know Tina Fey is jealous of her. Cody is hotter and more talented. Fey is spinning her head around like Linda Blair because she is not the favorite girl on the block anymore. But that is just me picking on Tina. But, one of my favorite subjects is Diablo. She is beautiful and talented. And apparently whatever comes out of her mouth turns into a project. Man would I like that to be me. Oh well, I think she deserves it. She didn't deserve an Oscar yet, but that's my humble opinion.

She met with Spielberg a while a ago and he told her to write one of his ideas. How insane is that! She also sold a pitch to Universal. A pitch! I don't think it was even a pitch. I think it was a conversation that now is getting labeled as a pitch. She is the golden child in Hollywood now. I am happy for her. Someone give her my number, tell her to call me between 7-9pm PST. Before CSI on Thursday. Not during Heroes either please. We can talk. Hang. Get coffee whatever. ANYWAY. I hope she stays strong in all her writings. Her scripts are all named with girls names, Juno. Jennifer's Body, Tara. Very cool. Go with what works. Pray that she doesn't go the way of the Do-Do (M Night Shaymalan).

Just here for the paycheck? I think not!

So let's talk about this Mamma Mia movie. How about that? This thing might have legs to it. I have seen the previews and it looks like a guilty pleasure. I would go see this film by myself and sit in the back and probably really enjoy it. Reviews say that this film is none less than a fun crowd pleaser. I can handle that. I may just be in the mood for that. Oh come on! You know deep down inside you want to see this too! It's a guilty pleasure. It is. I for one hate all ABBA songs. But aren't they catchy? Don't they get stuck in your head? This is the point here. I don't the story is going to be that interesting at all. A girl who doesn't know who her father is? Doesn't that happen every day anyway? Statistically that issue is a minority issue. No politics I am just stating fact here. Yet, this minority issue is being played by an all high class white cast. Well that's another blog. But just to throw that out there.

Sorry Miley, you weren't even considered...

I will not talk about that. I am sure everyone can draw their own conclusions on that one. And those offended please write Oprah about it. I am thrilled to see Meryl Streep remove the scowl and tears for once and let herself go. I totally love Colin Firth. And this is not the first time tough guys have sang. Don't forget Clint Eastwood in Paint Your Wagon. It's nice to see actors who normally play stoic faces sing and let go. Isn't this what performance is all about. Aren't movies and film make to made us feel ALIVE. Well, my film fans, this is going to be a guilty pleasure. Whether you admit to seeing it or not. Oh yeah, this article about the anticipation of Mamma Mia without my humble opinion is here.

I don't even know where to being with this next article. After I read it I had to pick myself up off of the floor. My jaw is still on the floor actually. This. Well the first line really made me faint actually. The title of this article is incredible and makes you want to invite all your friends over and read it aloud over and over again and laugh in hysterics. The title of the article is Michael Bay talks Transformers 2 and Friday the 13th remake. And it's by EW and it's beautiful. It's gorgeous. I want to put this up on my wall.

First quote the BayMeister himself when asked about Transformers 2, "When we were writing the script, I said to the writers, "I hate sequels that try to make it to the third movie. Pretend like we’re never having a third movie, so let’s go for broke on the second one. I hate those cliffhangers! Let’s just make this movie stand on its own." I really feel this movie is not a forced sequel. I think the script is really good, and I think it’s got a lot of new stuff in it. There are a lot of rumors out there, but we’ve released a lot of fake stuff. We’ve done a really good job of keeping things secret."

I'm David Hasslehoff...

When WE were writing Michael? You have never written a script ever! EVER! AND it's all about marketing for the third film. Any studio exec would tell you that. This is not a football game. This is the film industry. EMPIRE STRIKES BACK! Remember that cliffhanger that made everyone stand in line for days for Return of the Jedi? Apparently, Mike doesn't want that kind of grand anticipation or really long lines at his future films. Well at least we know what NOT to expect from Transformers 2. We can not look forward to a good cliffhanger to jump start excitement for a third film. Thanks Mike. We want to hear early on how lackluster it will be.

Next and final quote cause I have now gotten tired of his BS. When asked about the quality of the new Friday the 13th, "I haven’t seen the director's cut because he’s still cutting, but I know this one will really be scary; it’s also funny, as well. It’s a fun college adventure that goes awry. It’s not a movie I would ever show my mom! (Laughs) We don’t make these for our mothers; we make these for the fans out there."

He also made the Texas Chainsaw Massacre remake. Not scary. And like I always say with all this new backstory added in. It's even more not scary. NOT SCARY! He says its funny also...That I believe. He was also asked about a Nightmare On Elm Street remake. God help us all. I do vote for Ben Foster for Freddy though. THAT I would see. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Where the Bad Directors Are...

By the numbers is what Execs really want, don't let them fool you...

Ok, let's talk film. This is total comedy film fans. Total comedy. Where the Wild Things Are, the book by Maruice Sendak. The new film is By Spike Jonze. Yet, Partick Goldstein of the LA Times writes here that the film has been pushed back from an October 2008 release date to an indefinite release date. The reason? Well early test screening with kids have had them literally run out of the theater with frightened screaming. They think it is scary. What is Spike Jonze vision? Well it appears according to this article that he did not want to use CGI. He used people in Animal suits with animated faces. he also used puppets on strings. It turned out to be awful. Now let's take a look at a few quotes from the Warner's exec here first. I will show you how out of touch these execs are as if you didn't know already. Well, maybe it's just PR. Maybe I am being to harsh. I mean if a project fails, you have to expect execs out there covering their butt with PR. I understand that. Here is the PR.

"We've given him more money and, even more importantly, more time for him to work on the film," Horn said. "We'd like to find a common ground that represents Spike's vision but still offers a film that really delivers for a broad-based audience. We obviously still have a challenge on our hands. But I wouldn't call it a problem, simply a challenge. No one wants to turn this into a bland, sanitized studio movie. This is a very special piece of material and we're just trying to get it right."

"But I would not call it a problem", he says? Ok, you are all savvy Hollywood players. I think you can see through this like a newly cleaned, large window. When Horn says "Very special piece of material" and the word "Challenge" twice, this says to me the film is Handicapped. Something is very wrong. He said it. This is actually really bad PR. Horn is essentially calling this project "retarded". Look it's there. "Very special"..."Challenged"..Twice!

But like I said that is expected. PR is indispensable when you're going down in flames. Horn's project is in flames and he is calling it special. Fine. Save your butt Horn. You're not fooling anyone. The real problem I have with this article is Goldstein himself. He is stepping out in front of the material and saying that Warner Bros hires artistic directors to do big projects. Artistic directors? Aren't all directors artistic? Well according to Goldstein, no. He calls Chris Columbus a paint by numbers director in the same article. Here is the thing with this. Like any construction project, a studio goes with the lowest bidder.

It's not secret. A studio exec has an idea and whoever the lowest bidder is with the biggest name, they will hire. I have a problem with calling the Studios artistic. They are not where near artistic. Actually, I can tell you right now that Alan Horn here of Warner Bros. had no idea what he was getting into. He thought he was hiring a "quirky" director like Tim Burton. Did he even do research into Spike Jonze? I don't think so. If he has seen Being John Malkovich or Adaption, he would know he made a big mistake. Spike is a loon. He is a bad director. Those two films were bad. They were not good. They got labeled under the title of "quirky, independent film" but they in essence were bad. We know what Independent film is anyway. It is bad film that is given that title in order to be forgivable. What? It didn't appeal to all audiences? Well it's independent! That's what it is.

Well Goldstein is giving this Horn exec too much credit. He went with a big name and low bidder and he got stuck footing a bad film. Another quote here, by Horn, "We try to take a few shots," he said. "Sometimes they work and sometimes they don't. The jury is still out on this one. But we remain confident that Spike is going to figure things out and at the end of the day we'll have an artistically compelling movie."

"Artistically compelling"? It's a kid's movie Horn. It's Where the Wild Things Are. It's a kid's book. Since when is a kid's film compelling? It's absurd. Horn stepped in it here and he has taken the film off of the release schedule. He is using really bad PR to cover it up. AND Mr. Goldstein, please do not think these execs are thinking creatively. They are not. They are looking for fresh, big names with low salaries. This is the truth. And Goldstein here is saying that this is artistic. If Horn was thinking artistically, he would have story boarded the film himself and found a director that shares his vision. Execs are not artistic. They are number's people.

Moving on...So there are a few negative reviews for the Dark Knight. They are few and far between, but they are there. A few reviewers have said that the film is too overstuffed and too long. Well I think the same can be said with Braveheart or the Godfather. I cannot completely argue this cause I have not seen it. I am going Saturday night to see it in IMAX in Irvine. So after then I could comment. But I do know that a few reporters/reviewers like to say negative things just to say them. I have heard negative things about American Beauty and Toy Story two of the most loved movies ever. Reviewers say negative things just to hear themselves. Especially that New Yorker guy. My advice, don't listen to OVERSTUFFED or TOO LONG. That is total knit picking. Its gonna be an unbelievable piece and no one reporter will stop us from thinking that. I know film fans, a lot of senseless babbling, I will try to do better tomorrow. Until Tomorrow! Let's talk film!

Monday, July 14, 2008

The Calm Before the Storm

Silence before thunder...

Ok, let's talk film. Well its the calm before the storm. YES! Calm before the storm. Let's look at Iron Man, the film that kicked off the summer season. It grossed 98 million in its first weekend. It began the summer season with a bang. Boom! Or a boom! Yes! Well let's look at the weekend before Iron Man opened. Baby Momma, the "the let's look for another reason to pat Tina Fey on the back movie, only because she has a hot body, wears glasses and can write a sentance without backspacing", grossed 17 mil on it's opening weekend. The weekend before Iron Man. She scored a number one because of her ovaires and the fact that she wears smart glasses. I prefer Diablo anyday. My kind of woman. Even though she stole an Oscar from the super, super talented Tony Gilroy. Still my kind of woman. Just when you think I don't have a point, here goes...

It's all about quality...

Calm before the storm. So 17 million before Iron Man's 96 million. Let's also go back to last year. Shia, we all love Shia, his starring role in DJ Caruso's Disturbia spent three weeks at number one. It's box office tally 9 mil compared to Spider Man 3 a week after, to a tune of 151 million. So, my savvy Hollywood player, I note you detect a trend here. What is the trend? It is the calm before the storm. Hellboy only took in 35 mil. Compared to the recent openings of 55 mil or more with The Hulk, Indiana Jones, and even Caspian. I do not know why there is a lull like this, like the waning tide before a tsunami. All I can say is that it happens. The previous weekend before a blockbuster opens, the Box Office takes a lull. Well here we are in middle of summer and we are on the verge of the biggest film of the summer, heck, the biggest film in a long time.

I mean look at the reviews on this thing! Four separate reviews have said that this film is akin to Brian De Palma's The Untouchables. They say it is more like a crime drama than a comic book movie. This excites me! This is what I have been talking about. I have been asking the writers of these comic movies to make the super hero-ness incedental to a great story. Well, this film will happily set the bar for Comic Movies.

This poster is cool...

Don't think this doesn't scare Marvel Comics to death. I can tell you right now that Marvel, the supposed Comic Book movie giant, is quivering in their boots right now. They had their horn tooting for so long with Iron Man, Spider Man, and The Hulk for so long now. Well, they are about to get handed their lunch on a silver platter next week. They are looking at the directors of these films and wondering why their directors can't be like Christopher Nolan. "Why can't you be like Nolan", they are saying! I can bet the execs are furious!

I think it's hilarious to think of Marvel worrying this week. They are supposed to be the BIG GRAND DADDY of comic movies. Yet, they are worried cause of the quality of The Dark Knight. It's a masterpeice! The top reviewers are foaming at the mouth at this film. Marvel is furious. They are bewildered that a comic book movie has reached masterpiece status. That's why I wrote last week and the week before that Marvel is trying to be the big bully in this battle and DC is sitting back laughing. They allowed Marvel to have their fun in the beginning of summer. Because they knew they were gonna prevail. It's all comes down to quality. Quality is everything. I keep saying. We as audiences demand it. Marvel is getting its wake up call with it. Iron Man and Spider Man were good, but nothing like this. And Marvel is scared. I think also and I will say this again, DC has something up its sleeve in a way of cross pollination. Will we see Superman? I think there will be a hint.

News of a full digital Godfather restoration thanks to Coppola and Steven. Read that here. I am excited for this. I enjoy the Godfather. Sure there have been more restorations of this than Lucas's Star Wars thing. You can't really blame only Lucas for multiple restorations. A lot of director's do it. Coppola is saying that they really redid the whole film in essence. That would be exciting to watch. Maybe it will be like the restoration of the Sistine Chapel. That was cool.

Lots of other news, but nothing you smart players didn't see coming. Eddie Murphy dies at the Box Office with Meet Dave. Thank God he still has Shrek. Brendon Frasier has a great interview in the LA times. I can't wait for the Mummy 3. I just really want to get that Mamma Mia song out of my head. I never really liked Abba. It is contagous though. Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

Friday, July 11, 2008

It all begins next week...

Ok, let's talk film. Soooo many things to talk about today film fans I have no idea where to begin. Most of the news out in Hollywood, I have talked about. Here is a few things that written about today that I have covered and will briefly cover again. This article in THR.com talks about DC comics changing its strategy for upcoming films to rival Marvel comics and the money they have been making. Well, I don't think they have been making that much money. Iron Man was Lightning in a Bottle that caught everyone by surprise. DC holds the cards in the huge, blockbuster, comic book genre. They always will. They have always had Superman and Batman. Both films have broke 800 million worldwide. Marvel only had Spider Man and Iron Man right now. They only total over 800 million together. DC doesn't have to worry about competition for they have laid the ground work for great Super Hero film for decades. This is why there are not sweating it. I still say that we will probably see a surprise in the Dark Knight. We may even see a Superman appearance. We may not, but its a very good possibility that we may see a Clark Kent appearance. DC is not talking about its strategy because I think they already have one and are waiting for The Dark Knight to reveal it. That is my theory and I am going to bank on that.

Ok lets move on, I want to talk about Guillermo Del Toro and I have one more story to talk about again. Dan Fellman, a senior exec at Warner Bros. (haha I love it), is crying buckets of tears that theater owners are not complying with the flood of 3D movies that are going to flood multi plexes. Well, its getting infantile. That's a word to describe this yesterday. I knew it would be infantile and it has gotten this way. The execs and theater owners are squabbling like infants at this. I have to side with the execs for one because this new flood of the 3D movies I am comparing to Noah and the Great Flood.

King of the future 3D world, I am sure, is telling theater owners to get it together

When these films do hit the theater, they will be heavily advertised to be shown in 3D, but the number of theaters that can show this format appear to be limited. And from what theater owners are still saying, they will be unequipped for a while, at least until, they say, there is a demand for 3D film by the audience. SO! YET! I should say, there is going to be an influx of 3D film in 2009. It will happen. There is no getting around this. Advertising will be in 3D. This is not an Apple IPhone or Xbox or some product that you can just reorder over the weekend. If the theater owners miss a weekend, that's it. Films are made or broken in one single weekend. That is what Hollywood is all about. One weekend. So in short, well here is the quote from this article,

"John Fithian, president of the National Association of Theatre Owners, immediately responded, saying, "It is particularly ironic and frustrating that a senior executive from Warner Bros. would accuse exhibition of 'dragging its feet' on 3-D when Warners has been the absolutely slowest of all major studios to come to the table with support for the d-cinema rollout. If Warners believes there are an insufficient number of 3-D screens in the marketplace today, they have no one to blame but themselves, and they know it."

So this Fithian guy is crying and blaming Warner Bros for not previously releasing 3D films in the past to justify its demand for more projectors. But, this an industry that does not work like that. This industry dramatically changes every year. The genres change. People's appetites change. You can't release a film like Clueless now because we are in Sex and the City mode. You can't really release War Games, Iron Eagle or Platoon like films cause the market it not buying war films. Now audiences are not buying 3D, but they will. Sure are the summer day is long, next year they will be wanting to watch 3D. Sounds crazy now? Next year it won't. Trust me. You will be wanting to don a pair of glasses next year. Hehe.

Fithian knows this. He is not stupid. He knows the changing tide of the film industry. So what is the deal with this infantile response like he was just a manager at Spencer's gifts? I think these two super powers are just bickering like children. Both sides know the reality. It's a question of who wants to be prepared for the flood and who doesn't. Fithian will be in deep water in 2009.

Man of the Hour

So here is what I want to talk about, Guillermo Del Toro, the visionary, as they are saying. They are saying visionary. I think that's accurate. If you look at Pan's Labyrinth, its is a stunning visual film. Its is a very hard film to watch. If you haven't seen it, I recommend seeing it on TNT when it comes available if ever. Uncut is really brutal. The RT interview

He is gifted, I have to give him that. His concepts are total eye candy. If you look at the original Hellboy, you see traces of his upcoming style only in a darker light. Once he and found Robert Rodriguez's Director of Photography, Guillermo Navarro, for Hellboy, that's when it was a match made in heaven. I think it's often unfair that Guillermo del Toro gets all the credit for being a sole visionary when a director's cinematographer is like the WIFE of the director. So my fellow smart Hollywood players, when someone rightfully idolizes del Toro, don't forget to mention that Navarro has A LOT to do with this idolization.

In addition to Hellboy 2 The Golden Army, he is directing The Hobbit as many of you know of course. I am excited about this. Many Peter Jackson Lord of the Rings purists are not ready for this change, but I say to you this, The Hobbit is a different story than LOTR, it doesn't have huge battles and epic sequences. It is a smaller very visual story that Del Toro is soooo perfect for. I am excited to see this. With the material of the Hobbit, I prefer del Toro to Jackson any day. I know its sounds blasphemous, but logical. PJ has to move to bigger and better things. Anyway, in addition, Jackson is writing the thing, it's the best of both world here. And yes film fans, my opinion can be yours also, I won't tell anyone. Unless you are an exec. haha.

The Dark Knight

Well next week is Batman Mania. Let it begin. This is gonna be the most eagerly anticipated film in a looong time for it is propelled by the posthumous performance of Heath Ledger. It is an unspoken catalyst for the film, but this is true. And I have heard that Ledger's performance is legendary. Which I already knew. That made his Jan 22 death harder on me personally. There is early Oscar buzz AND the reviews that have been coming in have equated The Dark Knight to Brian de Palma's The Untouchables and Scarface AND Coppola's The Godfather. Three separate reviews have said that. It's exciting. It's amazing. It's gonna be crazy next week. GET YOUR TICKETS EARLY. It's gonna be a sold out weekend in the likes of 180 Mil. I can't wait. See Hellboy, try and get Mamma Mia song out of your head. Until Monday, let's talk film!

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Favreau is back and the Great Flood

They are back! Marvel has half a brain after all!

Ok, let's talk film. I have talked about this before. Yes I must say that most of the things that may or may not happen in Hollywood, I predict or talk about way before they happen. Why? Because I am in the KNOW, my film fans. I am in the know. I know how these execs think sometimes better than they do. They are easy to predict. SO Jon Favreau is officially signed on for Iron Man 2. Yay. But, we all know what Marvel was waiting for. They waited for The Incredible Hulk numbers to roll in before they made a decision on whether or not to do separate sequels of the Hulk and Iron man or to do one BIG INCLUSIVE sequel. If the Hulk made a lot of money it would be one big sequel. If the Hulk did not it would be separate sequels. It is simple. That's exactly what was going on. And if the sequel was inclusive Jon Favreau would be cut from the deal. He would not be rehired. They would have rehired the Hulk director or another huge action director like Jan De Bont.

It's simple. The execs thinking fits nicely into a little thought box. The above thought is exactly what the everyone at Marvel thought. Bank on it! SO, Jon Favreau knew this. But, he didn't want to take it lying down, so, as I wrote a month ago, (me and every other site for this particular fact) Jon wrote on his Myspace that Marvel was in essence messing with him. I mean they already put out a release date for 2010 for Iron Man 2 and refused to formally tell Jon about it. If your birthday party was announced and you weren't invited, and it's been a month, wouldn't you worry? So he wrote about how bitter he was about this. Well the fans in retort to this wrote Marvel and demanded they hire back Jon because he is responsible for the success of Iron Man. Why? Because he is a director that knows actors and story and Iron Man was latent with both. It was good. Very good.

The whole world knew that if you stick another director in there, you will miss the strength of acting and story that only a director like Favreau brings. That made Iron Man popular. Ok that's it, period. Simple. Yes? You would think. So Hulk underperformed and Marvel hires back Jon. They are repeating same formula since their Hulk/Iron Man idea didn't work. The numbers where not there! Simple still. Yes? You would think. Ok so there are many bloggers out there, including me, who are dumbfounded how this reporter could get this very simple story totally and completely wrong. Nikki Finke writes in Deadline Hollywood the following:

Nikki Finke = Lipstick Blogger

"It's not officially announced yet, but I'm told that Marvel Studios and Iron Man director Jon Favreau have reached a deal for him to helm the sequel, due out in 2010. (Robert Downey Jr had a sequel clause in his contract so of course he's on board...) Marvel Studios boss David Maisel was quick to put out a "definitely" richer offer to Favreau, but not quick enough for Jon -- who used the Internet to rile up the movie's many fans by spreading nonsense that Marvel was dragging its feet with an offer and then low balling him. Granted Maisel is no day at the beach himself, but, seriously, could Favreau have been more of an asshole"

Oh man. I don't even know where to begin with this. Or maybe I don't have to. If you have read this far you are probably laughing at this reporter. I am sure you are laughing hysterically as I am. It's out of touch. It's far fetched. It's like Nikki...I don't want to say anything to perpetuate this further. It is out of touch and unbelievable.

Moving on with things I have already talked about and need to talk about again. Well, I have figured that my blog will repeat itself with some choice information. I vow to repeat things if necessary until Hollywood "gets it". I will take that upon myself. But it doesn't bother me FilmFans for this is why I am here. I don't write a personal blog because I am still in therapy and I don't know if I am ready for that yet. And if I did personally blog, I would never give out the address anyway. So I write about the one subject I know through and through - films, execs, and well films. So I am here for you. To inform you what is really going on in Hollywood.

Well here is a Story in the LA Times. Let's begin with a quote, "We feel that 3-D films will continue, at least for the foreseeable future, to produce the revenues per film necessary to support the equipment and on-going operating costs of the 3-D theaters."

Theater owners and the great flood...

Ok, basically movie theatres are not equipping themselves for the inevitable 3-D revolution because they haven't produced the revenues enough to justify the buying of new projectors for the Movie Theaters. Again I am speechless to this news. Hollywood is putting out at least a DOZEN 3D films for next year. James Cameron's Avatar, Monster's vs Aliens, and a whole slew of others and the theaters themselves refuse to get on the band wagon! How infantile this response is by the theater owners!

It is the future!!!

Film makers are telling these theater owners what to expect and they are ignoring them. I can't help, my film fans and smart Hollywood players, to equate this to Noah and the Great Flood. This is exactly what it seems to me as relating to. There will be a flood of 3D films flooding multi plexes. Flooding! And the theater owners will not do anything about it. Audiences will want to see these upcoming films in 3D. Why not? Its new and we as audiences will demand it. But, they are worried about financial justification first. Well, I can say I understand the plain logic. I do. But, this is an inevitable situation. They have to look at that. A heck of a lot films will be in 3D very soon. There will be a new 3D revolution in Hollywood. It will happen. And only when it may be too late will theater owners react. What else is new?
Until tomorrow, let's talk film!

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

She's talented and beautiful
She just plays characters with a few issues...

Ok, let's talk film. I am very excited to see Jennifer Carpenter working and getting big roles out there. I was saddened to see her career stall for a while. Carpenter is the Emily Rose of the Exorcism of the same name film. I honestly thought she was brilliant in the film. I thought she was scary and believable. AND not to mentioned she was the hottest posessed girl I have ever seen. I would have dated her and Satan inside her. So, its really good to see her work. Her new film, Quarantine is up at yahoo. The film is using the documentary style to it. This style has always been used here and there in film and usually every time this style is used, it works. Even in Surf's Up, the Animated Film that I totally adore, it works very well.



The first film I can remember that had the documentary feel was This Is Spinal Tap, directed by Rob Reiner. That was described as a Rockumentary, if you will. Hehe. Mah I love that film. Progression of the now called Mockumentary proliferaed films as, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Cloverfield, the Blair Witch Project and Surf's Up. The point is of all the Genres I have seen this one is actually so far fool proof. Here is the reason why I think so. First thought is that we are a society that is reality TV based. That does not translate to film and Thank God that execs know that. But the mockumentary is a format that inspires real acting moments. And that is interesting.

See this if you haven't!

The original Rockumentary

It is very interesting to see real acting in what is made believed to be real time. So in such format, the acting has to be real and believable. If you have seen Surf's Up, which I highly recommend, it is better for its unscripted format because the improv of the actors working (Shia, Jeff Bridges, and Zooey Dashanel) work together very well. So, I think the main reason this format works is that the enslemble casts that Improv with these films preform beautifully together. So it is strange that Hollywood has not caught onto this fact that this format works well every time it's done. Every time! I really don't think we will see much of a surge in this format/genre because even though it does work, is is very risky for it relies on enselmble casts to work well together, no divas please. When it's done, it works well.

Chicken Joe! That's me!


Well in all, it's good to see Jennifer Carpenter work again, I hope she gets really high profile roles and becomes an A lister. I am sure she is equipped for better roles than horror, which as a horror film screamer, she is very believable.

Rachel Abramowitz of the LA Times, my favorite, wrote a very good article actually on the saftey of Hollywood sets. It seems a stunt man was killed during the filmings of Red Cliff (John Woo's new film)and The Dark Knight. No we're not talking about Ledger's death, that was outside a movie set. It seems that a Technitian was killed while testing the Batmobile. You can view the article here. She also talks about the curse of the Bond sets saying that there are many accidents that happen on the Bonds sets along with the current one that occoured recently on while filming the huge opening sequence of Quantum of Solace. Now, I have nothing to say about the article itself, it is well written, I recommend reading it. But you have to remember the most tragic accident that ever happend on a Hollywood set, In 1980, during the filming of the New Twilight Zone film Vic Morrow and a small child died by the blade of a Helicopter when it fell on them. From that tragedy, we got the child labor laws.

Until that accident happened, stunt were very lenient on sets. You have to remember that OSHA and all labor laws, as well as few others, regulate movie sets. That's why there are unions. It's really amazing to think in behind all the glamor, Hollywood works like a blue collar gig. Well it does! Accidents mostly happen when you directors do not rely on the expertise of the stunt workers who are far more experienced in safety. And this is important my Smart Hollywood Players, be very mindful of safety on a set. Let the ones who have done this for years make the decisions on that. And STILL if you feel that its not safe enough, say so. There will never be any fault with being over cautious. Once an accident happens, that's when the screws get tightened and people lose jobs. So its sounds corny, but safety first!

Ok COOPER ECHO here. Now if you read this blog of a thing here, the one person you are, you will know that when I talk about horror films one thing I have to say is that Horror movies have gotten less scary over the years because of the need for too much explanation. Now TODAY in Entertainment Weekly does no other than Stephen King himself write an article on the fact that there is too much explination in Horror films! I know! Thank you that someone with weight has said it. He didn't specifically mentioned Rob Zombie which he should have. He wins the huge award prize for taking one of the scariest films ever, Halloween, and make it totally NOT SCARY! That takes talent! I can't wait for this Friday the Thriteenth to come out. I am sure they will tell the epic story of Jason and his mother and how he was savagely and painfully driven to murder. Who cares. It's not scary. It will never be scary.
Scary John Carpenter Halloween...
Non Scary "rocker" Halloween...

No that's that. Here is Stephen King's article in EW and it strangely sounds like what I said. I am in the know my Film Fans and Hollywood players, you're in good company! Stick with me and we'll go places! Until tomorrow, let's talk film!