1. Oz the Great and Powerful (Disney, 3,912 Theaters, 130 Monutes, Rated PG): Way back in June of 2010, FilmBuffOnline Head Honcho ran down the nine Wizard of Oz themed films in production. It turns out that this film was second behind Witches of Oz/Dorothy and the Witches of Oz in making it to screen, which had life as a TV miniseries and was recut limited release feature film. Later this year, it will be followed the computer animated Dorothy of Oz. The status of the six remaining projects is still up in the air.

Why all the attention for the Emerald City? Why , because it is the perfect mix of being almost universally known from the yearly television airings of the 1939 The Wizard of Oz and also having the original novel–and the character’s and concepts held within–being in the public domain.No rights to pay for a property everyone on the planet has heard of makes and new adaptation of the story that much safer to make. (Note: Any elements introduced in that 1939 film, ranging from the ruby slippers to the Wicked Witch’s skin color is copyright protected. So, expect some changes from that film to this one).

This story follows Oz (James Franco, following Robert Downey Jr and Johnny Depp as the third actor attached to the role in this film), a magician who is transported to a magical land where he finds an assortment of strange and unusual creatures and a number of quite attractive women, one of who will become quite wicked. The magician becomes a wizard, one so great that they presumably will name the world after him.

Rich has already seen the film, and you can find his review right here.

2. Dead Man Down (FilmDistrict, 2,188 Theaters, 110 Minutes, Rated R): In case travelling to the fantasy world of Oz isn’t your thing, here’s a dual-layered revenge flick for you.

Victor (Colin Farrell) has infiltrated the crime empire of Alphonse (Terrence Howard) in order to get his revenge on the gangster. His revenge is complicated when his neighbor Beatrice (Noomi Rapace, reuniting with her The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo director Neils Arden Opley) witnesses him kill a man. She blackmails Victor to get some revenge for her as well. However, it might just turn out that he might be able to get his revenge and hers at the same time.

One fascinating fact about this film is that this film was partly produced by WWE Studios (formerly WWE Films). That’s WWE as in World Wrestling Entertainment. The company used to be nothing more than a means to an end to get some of their wrestlers feature films while still getting some money from the deal. It appears that they are branching out with this film and next week’s The Call, which do have WWE wrestlers in the cast, but in supporting roles and not as the headliners.

I’m also intrigued by Terrence Howard using the promotional tour for this film as a way to snipe about his experience with Marvel over the Iron Man franchise. I guess it’s only natural considering Iron Man 3 will be out in two months, although Howard really has no need to complain because this film will be out of theaters way before then.

The Total Recall films ask the audiences to suspend a lot of their disbelief. After all, the films are built on the concept that in the future you will be able to chemically alter the human brain to install new memories and personalities. That’s a lot of disbelief to suspend.

This remake figures that since you are suspending disbelief, why not ask you to suspend more. It asks you to believe that the  world’s surviving population (there has been a nasty World War. Lots of chemical warfare) now lives only in Europe (or maybe just England. Possibly only London. The movie can’t seem to decide) and Australia. It asks you to believe that the typical work day commute between the two (through the center of the Earth, no less) would only take just a little bit over 15 minutes (whenever I travel the 20 miles into New York City, it takes 40 minutes, and that doesn’t even involve going through the Earth’s core. Then again, more stops.). And it asks you to believe that 56-year-old Bryan Cranston, he who can convincingly play a cancer-stricken meth dealer, can beat the snot out of 36-year-old Colin Farrell, he who has abs that you could realistically open beer bottles with.

However, if you are able to overlook these incredible and unrealistic plot points, and a few others, you might find a pretty good movie.

Farrell plays Douglas Quaid, an assembly-line worker at a robotics plant who, like most of the rest of the working class in the world, lives in Australia (The Colony) and commutes to London (United Federation of Britain), the last two inhabitable societies left after years of devastating chemical warfare. He is in a dead-end job with crappy pay, albeit with an incredibly hot wife (Kate Beckinsale), who dreams of something more. What he usually dreams of, actually, is a life as a revolutionary, fighting for The Colony’s freedom beside Melina (Jessica Biel), a fellow revolutionary with benefits.

One trip to Rekall, a shady company that offers memory implants, to seek a release from his hum drum reality turns that particular dream into a reality for Quaid. He becomes a real revolutionary, going on the run from his “wife,” who was only a government employee assigned to keep an eye on him yet now wants to kill him. He reunites with Melina, who wants to keep him safe from harm. Along the way, he uncovers a shadowy conspiracy involving the UFB’s Chancellor Vilos Cohaagen (Cranston) that could endanger millions of lives.

As you can tell, the remake veers off in a different direction than the original. No, no travels to Mars in this one, although, in one of many “Easter Egg” style nods to the first film, Quaid does mention the idea to a co-worker. But while the story is different than the 1990 version, a lot of the plot points and story beats remain. This does lend an air of predictability, but usually there are subtle changes to make this film seem fresh. And Len Wiseman directs the action in such a way  that the film moves along at a brisk pace.

The biggest star of the film is the production design. They have created a stacked world with tier after tier of structures on top of one another. Apartments are created out of whatever space is available. And instead of a three-lane highway, we get a three-level highway. This is a somewhat believable future (outside, of course, of the tunnel through the Earth). The technology is a blend of what we have now and what might logically come along in the next few decades. Furniture and buildings feature design elements that mix the new with the classic, much like the world we see outside our windows today mixes the past with the present. For the most part, this creates an believable experience.

Overall, the acting is great. Farrell plays Quaid as a man outside of his element, trying to react as best he can to his constantly updating status quo. Biel does well as the earnest love interest/revolutionary. But the best performance comes from Kate Beckinsale. Beckinsale’s character in this film essentially is a blend of Sharon Stone’s and Michael Ironside’s from the first film. She play’s Lori with the determination of a bulldog and the personality of a alligator with a toothache. Watch her in the scene when Harry confronts Quaid in Quaid’s apartment building. It’s hard to figure out if her character is presenting genuine wifely concern of if she badly faking wifely concern. And, for this movie, that is the right note to play that character at that time.

If there’s a weak link in the actors, it’s Bryan Cranston. Granted, he isn’t given much of a character to work with. For most of the movie, he appears sporadically, and then only to snarl orders at Lori via a video screen or give a false-earnest address to his subjects on TV. But when does become a bigger part of the story, he plays Cohaagen with a hammy, mustache-twirling villainy to overcompensate. His performance is out of sync with the uber-serious tone the film is trying to create. and takes you out of the narrative.

That is, of course, of the plot holes don’t take out before Cranston arrives. In addition to what’s listed above, there are issues where the inhabitable zones begin and end (a map at the beginning of the film seems to show that the UFB is able to live in all of England and most of mainland Europe, yet a non-inhabitable zone is only a subway ride away), why Lori defies orders to keep Quaid alive and tries to kill him (Does she consider him too big of a threat? Professional jealousy? He leave the toilet seat up too many times?), and why a majority of the people in London and Australia speak with American accents when it has been established that the tunnel through the Earth had to be constructed because that is the only way people are able to travel.

So, your enjoyment of this film will depend on what kind of moviegoer you are. If you are the kind of person who analyzes the film they just saw, you’ll probably hate it. If you are the type who can overlook plot gaps if the action is good, then you might like it. If you fall somewhere in between, well, you’ll probably be frustrated.

Arthur & Lancelot, the revisionist King Arthur screenplay by writer/director David Dobkin, may be revived at Warner Brothers just two months after the studio killed the project over budgetary concerns. The key player in this resurrection appears to be Colin Farrell, who is in talks to take part in the project. Variety is reporting that it is unclear which role that Farrell is interested in though Deadline is citing anonymous sources that he is after the part of Lancelot.

Warners bought the script last summer for a reported $2 million. Game of Thrones’ Kit Harington was attached to play Arthur while The Killing‘s Joel Kinnaman landed the role of Lancelot. When the film’s initial budget estimates of $90 million began to creep north of $120 million, the studio put the brakes on the project, unsure that Harington and Kinnaman were big enough box office draws to justify the price tag.

Dobkin was free to shop the project around to other studios, but it looks as if instead he sought out someone with bigger star power in order to get Warners to take a second look. It is likely that Gary Oldman will be approached for the role of Merlin, even though he had turned it down previously.

The film will tell the story of the early days of the friendship between the future King and his most loyal knight but will leave the tragic end of their friendship for possible sequels. The woman who figures prominently in that tragedy, Guinevere, has a brief appearance in this script as set up for the later installments.

Warners has been rather interested in getting some form of the legend of King Arthur on to the screen over the past several years. They have also had a remake of John Boorman’s 1981 classic Excalibur in development with Bryan Singer as well as a version being written by Trainspotting scripter John Hodge for director Guy Ritchie.

Farrell will be seen later this year in the remake of Total Recall and the upcoming Seven Psychopaths (pictured above), which reteams hims with his In Bruges director Martin McDonagh.

Although its release is still ten months away, director Len Wiseman felt that at least one segment of his upcoming Total Recall remake was ready to preview to a New York Comic Con audience this past weekend.

The clip comes from early in the movie and opens with Colin Farrell as Doug Quaid chatting at bar with a friend. He asks the friend if he had ever heard of “this Rekall* place.” The friend advises him to stay away. “They’ll mess with your mind!”

We cut to Quaid arriving at the Rekall company. It is a scene that is similar to one in the original 1990 Paul Verhoeven film starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Quaid is ushered to a room where a device will implant false memories into his mind by a receptionist who cheerfully and ironically tells him to “Remember to have a good time!” A bleached-blonde John Cho extols the virtues of the process – “You’ll be a crime fighter or a world class athlete or a secret agent!” – before he advises Quaid about the potential dangers of the procedure. But just as they start, it seems that something has gone wrong. Cho’s character accuses Quaid of being a spy while a technician rushes to shut the machine down.

Suddenly, a group of white armor clad soldiers burst in and gun down everyone in the room except for Quaid. Quaid at first seems scared and states that there has to be some sort of mistake, but as soon as the soldiers advance to within arm’s reach, his demeanor changes and he launches into action, making short work of them. A second squad of soldiers arrives and finds the door to the room locked. The shoot a device through the door that embeds itself onto the wall and releases numerous sensors throughout the room. Back on the other side of the door, the sensors have relayed data that allows the soldiers to construct a small holographic view that shows Quaid as the only one standing inside. As they prepare to breach the locked door, Quaid gathers hand grenades from the fallen soldiers and places them in a pile. Dropping one activated grenade on top of the pile, he dives behind some equipment for cover. As the second squad of soldiers storm into the room, the grenades go off and allowing Quaid to make his escape to a waiting flying car.

The scene was followed by a quickly edited montage of shots that contained a lot of frenetic action, some more flying cars and a quick shot of a fight in a kitchen that looked as if it was a nod to a similar scene between Schwarzenegger and Sharon Stone in the original film. The décor throughout the Rekall office is very Asian influenced and a change from the techno-futurism of the original film while the visual pallet of the film was a move away from the monochromatic look of Wiseman’s Underworld films.

Even though some of the visuals looked unfinished, overall, I found the full scene that was presented encouraging. I am not the biggest fan of Wiseman as a director but the action here was edited fast enough to create visual energy but not so fast that it was difficult to follow. He primarily stays away from a lot of speed ramping and strobe effects though there is one moment where the action slows down and the camera weaves around the various soldiers as Quaid is making short work of them.

Of course, this is just a taste to get fans buzzing about the film and it would be ridiculous to try and extrapolate the end product from the five minutes screened. The script could be genius or it could be a pile of trite crap. The overall direction could be quite good or it could be a continuation of what we’ve already seen from Wiseman.

I don’t have a particular horse in this race. I liked the original Total Recall when I saw it when it first came out, but I don’t think I’ve gone back and rewatched it in over ten years. I’m always rooting for any movie to be good, so we’ll see if Wiseman manages it next August.

* I’m going with the spelling of the Rekall Corporation from the original film as I can’t find anything to contradict this.

1. Zookeeper (Sony/ Columbia, 3,482 Screens, 104 Minutes, Rated PG): We have two film comedies opening this week, both trying to put a new spin on dusty old concepts. We’ll tackle the more kid-friendly of the two first, since its in the most theaters.

This film stars Kevin James as a zookeeper who is terminally unlucky with the ladies. So unlucky that the animals he takes care of feel it’s necessary to break the illusion that they can’t hear, speak and understand English so they can give him advice in this area.

James has a certain amount of charm playing the nice guy who fumbles in the affairs of the heart, but he has played that type of role too often (Hitch, Paul Blart: Mall Cop, The Dilemma) and the whole “talk to the animals” business has been done so often that it doesn’t add anything new to James’ repertoire. I’m not saying it is doomed to be bad, but it’s nothing we’ve ever seen before.

2. Horrible Bosses (Warner Brothers, 3,040 Theaters, 100 Minutes, Rated R): This film isn’t all that much more original that Zookeeper. It’s basically a variation on the Strangers on a Train/Throw Momma from the Train type of film, only with bosses in place of wives or parents.

What this film does have going for it is three likable leads in Jason Bateman, Charlie Day and Jason Sudekis (which is always good when they are turning to homicide) and three intriguing actors as the horrible bosses. You have Kevin Spacey doing a smarmy evil character that he does best. You have Jennifer Aniston playing against type as a sexually charged harasser. And you have Colin Farrell supplementing his natural acting talent with an absolutely absurd comb over.

This could add up to a few laughs. But will either film stand up to the Transformers: Dark of the Moon juggernaut at the box office?

1.Daybreakers (Lionsgate, 2,523 Theaters, 98 Minutes, Rated R): Vampires are all the rage these days, but only the ones that sparkle and pitch woo to bad actresses. Let see how a more aggressive vampire does at the box office.

This film takes place in 2019 and vampires are the dominant species on Earth. The humans that remain are food. And food is getting scarce. Now, two sets of vampires aim to preserve the human race. One because it is the right thing to do, the other, to keep the food supply coming.

This film has the possibility to be satiric and biting (no pun intended). However, the trailers seem to indicate that they are going for more of a straightforward horror.  Satire would be fun to see, but hey, what do I know?

2.Leap Year (Universal, 2,511 Theaters, 97 Minutes, Rated PG): Wow. Great cast, goofy concept.

Frankly, this kind of wacky romantic travelogue comedy seems to be beneath a two-time Oscar-nominee such as Amy Adams.

She plays and American woman who flies to Ireland to propose to her boyfriend. Of course, getting to her boyfriend isn’t that easy as she experiences setbacks along the way. She is helped in her quest by an Irish man played by Matthew Goode, who tries to help her reunite with her boyfriend in order to propose. Naturally, they fall in love along the way, causing a dilemma for her when she finally meets up with her boyfriend.

Yeah, the “trying to get to my mate, paired with a complete opposite for the trip, finds more in common with travelling companion that mate” plot has been done before. The actors are good, so maybe they’ll rise above the material, but still. Shouldn’t they be holding out for something more?

3.Youth In Revolt (The Weinstein Company/Dimension Films, 1,873 Theaters, 90 Minutes, Rated R): I just want to point something out to everyone out there. Michael Cera is 21 years old. Which means that he is going on four years past his teenage years. Remember all the jokes they used to make about the cast of Beverly Hills 90210? I’m going to start making them about Cera very soon.

Cera plays a nerdy teen who falls in love with a free spirit. The only way he could ever compete for her affections is to develop a suave alter ego named Francois. Of course, doing this causes chaos and destruction in his small town

I do admire bring a dose of weirdness to the typical sex comedy, but this might be just a little bit too obscure. It might have worked in the original novel, but seems kind of cramped in a film format. 

4. The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus (Sony Pictures Classics, 400 Theaters, 122 Minutes, rated Pg-13): I usually only cover films that are in 1,000 theaters or more in this column, and this film is only expanding to 400, but it is one of my editor’s favorites. I wouldn’t dare cut the film from this week’s list. He knows where I live and knows how to get here.

Obviously, the biggest story about this film is that it is Heath Ledger’s last film role, as he died before shooting completed. It took three no-name actors—I think their names were Johnny Depp, Jude Law, and Colin Farrell. I’m not sure because their not, like, international superstars or anything—to replace him. Luckily, the plot allowed these actors to step in and it make sense.

The film involves a carnival owner making deals with the devil for immortality and youth. The deal made gives Mr. Nick his first born daughter on the the day she turns 16. He is trying to avoid this at all cost, but the only way to avoid condemning his daughter is to win one last wager with Mr. Nick.

Terry Gilliam is an acquired taste, but even those who don’t list him as a favorite must recognize that he does handle fantastic themes very well. This film appears to be right in his ball park. 

We’ve seen pictures. We’ve seen short clips. And now, here is the first trailer for Terry Gilliam’s highly anticipated next film, The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus.

It’s the international trailer, since no American studio has seen fit to pick the film up yet. (And the key word here is yet… I’ve been hearing some rumblings that a deal may be in the works.)

With this trailer, not only get a better look at the amazing world beyond the titular doctor’s magic mirror, we also get our first looks at Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell, who stepped in to complete the film in the wake of Heath Ledger’s passing in the middle of principal photography. The trailer is chockablock full of exciting images and it looks as if Gilliam has really let his imagination run riot with the use of computer generated imagery for the world inside Parnassus’s Imaginarium.

I can only hope that this gets picked up for the US soon.

It’s that time of year again. This Thursday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will announce the nominees for the 81st Annual Academy Awards.

Every year there are snubs and surprises, thrills and controversies. There is no way of knowing who will be nominated, but we here at FilmBuffOnLine, who believe the day nominations are announced should be a National holiday, are going to try and handicap the process for you.

We will try to tell you who we think are Almost Certain to get a nomination, who Definite May Be nominated, and whose nomination is a Outside Shot in the major categories (the four acting categories, Best Director, and Best Picture). We are trying to cover all bases, but don’t come to us if you lose money on your Oscar Nomination pool.

Best Actor:

Almost Certain:

Mickey Rourke, The Wrestler; Sean Penn, Milk

Definite Maybe:

Frank Langella, Frost/Nixon; Leonardo DiCaprio, Revolutionary Road; Brad Pitt, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

Outside Shot:

Colin Farrell, In Bruges; Clint Eastwood, Gran Torino

It seems that this year, if Mickey Rourke didn’t win a Best Actor award, Sean Penn won it. Both men seem to be all but a lock for a nomination. Benjamin Button seems to be role that screams “nominate me,” so Pitt has a good chance. Langella won a Tony for originating the role of Nixon on Broadway, so it seem logical that he’d at least get a nod. The Academy might have something against DiCaprio, since he has been snubbed more than once in the past. That could work against him here. Farrell won the Golden Globe for this role, which gives him a chance. And the Academy might want to reward Eastwood for what could be his last acting role with a nomination.

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1. High School Musical 3: Senior Year (3,623 Theaters, 112 Minutes, Rated G): You know, I almost feel sorry for the Saw franchise. They used to own the weeks around Halloween. They’d put out a film the same time each year, have little or no competition, and have the number one film for a couple weeks.

Not this year, however. This film will crush Saw V. If it doesn’t earn twice as much, I will be greatly surprised.

Do not think that it can’t happen. The High School Musical franchise is unbelievably popular. Ask any video store employee. The first two DVD’s go out as soon as they come in, and the sales copies barely get settled on store shelves before they are sold.

It’s so popular that the third film has made the unusual jump from being a made-for-TV film to the big screen.

Seriously, weep for Saw V.

2. Saw V (3,060 Theaters, 88 Minutes, Rated R): Could this be the beginning of the end of the Saw franchise?

No, not because HSM 3 will steal its audience. I doubt anyone would admit being a fan of both franchises. But rather, have these films run their course?

The torture porn trend has lost a lot of its favor with audiences and this series was the granddaddy of it. With each film the franchise moves further away from the original, both in the creative talent involved and in plotline.

I mean, we know there will be a Saw 6. Vh1 is running a reality program to win a role in it. But will there still be an audience there when it hits theaters?

3. Pride and Glory (2,585 Theaters, 125 Minutes, Rated R): If you’re like me, you might have remembered seeing the trailer for this months and months ago. The reason for that is that the film was originally supposed to come out in March and was pushed back.

That is never a good sign. And the fact that it’s opening on a weekend with two other big movies just makes it worse. It seems the studio is just releasing it to get rid of it.

But, really, how bad can any movie starring Edward Norton and Colin Farrell be? Sure the plot, involving a family of cops embroiled in a corruption scandal, is fairly common. But these are two actors that could make any movie worth watching.

 

Director Terry Gilliam has confirmed today what had been speculated for some time now- that Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farrell will be stepping into the shoes of Heath Ledger to complete the late actor’s work on The Imaginarium Of Dr. Parnassus.

According to a report from Reuters, production has resumed on the $30 million fantasy film in Vancouver. Ledger’s work was captured during the production’s location shooting in London late last year.

A statement merely attributed to the film’s producers seems to confirm the online speculation that the trio of actors would play various parts of Ledger’s character after he steps through a magical mirror. The statement also nixed rumors that a portion of Ledger’s role would be completed using computerized digital effects technology.

Since the format of the story allows for the preservation of his entire performance, at no point will Heath’s work be modified or altered through the use of digital technology. Each of the parts played by Johnny, Colin and Jude is representative of the many aspects of the character that Heath was playing.

The story also quotes Gilliam as saying that the production is continuing forward “with the blessing and support of Heath Ledger’s family”.

I am delighted that Heath’s brilliant performance can be shared with the world. We are looking forward to finishing the movie and, through the film, with a modicum of humility, being able to touch people’s hearts and souls as Heath was able to do.