Academy Attempts To Block Sale Of Oscar Statuettes

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, the bestowers of the Academy Awards, is filing suit in Los Angeles Superior Court to block the sale of Oscar statuettes that originally belonged to silent film stars Mary Pickford and Charles "Buddy" Rogers.

According to a story in the Hollywood Reporter, the Academy has filed the injunction against the estate of Beverly Lorraine Rogers, the late wife of Buddy Rogers, to prevent its three co-executors from selling the statuettes to anyone. The Academy is also asking the court to grant them the right to repurchase them from the estate for the price of $10 per statuette.

According to a stipulation enacted by the Academy in 1950, Oscar winners and their heirs are prohibited from selling the famous gold awards without first selling them back to the Academy for the nominal sum of $1.00. This controversial rule does not apply to Academy Awards won before 1950, and several older Oscars have been sold at auction and by private dealers for sums in the six-figure range.

Rogers, who passed away in 1999, was previously married to Pickford for 41 years until her death in 1979. Rogers received the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award from the Academy in 1986. Pickford won a Best Actress Oscar in 1930 for work on Coquette. She was also given an honorary Oscar in 1976 for her entire body of silent film work.

It is unknown if the Academy is trying to include Pickford’s pre-1950 ban Oscar for Coquette in the injunction.

VINCE VAUGHN'S WILD WEST COMEDY SHOW Poster

Here's a little something lite to take you into the Labor Day weekend- the poster for Vince Vaughn's upcoming (deep breath now) Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland. Click on the poster to enlarge.

According to the press release from Picturehouse, the movie "follows Vaughn as he handpicks four up-and-coming comics and then leads them on a remarkable 30-city, 30-day, 30-show tour as tour creator and emcee. The film features footage from the tour’s performances, as well as behind-the-scenes and a host of surprise guests."

The trailer, which can be seen at the film's website, makes it look like the film could go either way. Some of the stuff looks funny while others, like Vaughn's adlib about being in a Girls Gone Wild video, just induce groans.

Vince Vaughn's Wild West Comedy Show: 30 Days & 30 Nights – Hollywood to the Heartland hits theaters (and clogs theater marquees) on February 8.

This Week's Theatrical Releases.

I. Balls of Fury (3,052 Theaters, Rated PG-13, Opened Wednesday): Ah, will Hollywood ever run out of sports to parody? I think ping pong falls somewhere between Ice Dancing (Blades of Glory) and Dodgeball (DodgeBall: A True Underdog Story) on the sport/not-a-sport scale.

This film also apes that Jean-Claude Van Dam classic Kickboxer in it's premise. Dan Fogler stars as Randy Daytona, a down and out ping pong player who must train with a mysterious Asian master so he can enter an illegal, underground table tennis tournament. Every win in the tournament brings him one step closer to Feng (Christopher Walken), the man who killed his father, and also, to vengeance.

If you are not familiar with Dan Fogler, you might think that he is just a "Jack Black-type" the producer got on the cheap. But Fogler is a TONY Award-winning actor, known most for his role as William Morris Barfee in Broadway's The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee. So, he got acting chops.

Another reason to see the film is the fact that it's written by Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, the creative minds behind Reno 911 and former members of The State, one of the best comedy troupes of the 1990s.

2. Halloween (3, 472 Theaters, Rated R): The original Halloween was one of the first slasher films, was one of the most well received of the genre, spawned numerous sequels and served as inspiration for the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises.

So, it was only a matter of time before it was remade. I'm not saying that it needed to be remade, only that it was bound to be remade, eventually.

If you believe that the Horror genre could be home to a distinct cinematic vision, then Rob Zombie is a director with one. His work on House of 1,000 Corpse and The Devil's Rejects were original takes on Horror and have acquired Zombie a fanbase.

So, we are almost guaranteed that Rob Zombie's take on Halloween will be unique. But we have to ask, as we do with all remakes, will it be better than the original. And will Zombie's unique take separate it enough from the John Carpenter version.

4, Death Sentence (1,822 Theaters, Rated R): A man sees his son killed by a gang. When the gang is put on trial, the prosecution gives them a plea deal of 6 months. This does not make the father happy and he decides to inflict his own punishment by tracking the gang members down and killing them.

A man disenchanted by the legal system taking the law into his own hands? That sounds a lot like Death Wish, doesn't it?

Well, it should. Death Sentence is loosely adapted from a 1975 novel by the same name from Death Wish author Brian Garfield.

How loose is the adaptation? Well, the novel was a more direct sequel to the Death Wish novel and followed the main character Paul Benjamin to Chicago. According to Wikipedia, it followed Benjamin as he continued his vigilantism. No family, no gang, no dead son.

This movie is also marks a departure for Saw director James Wan, moving from the horror genre to crime thrillers.

So, what about predictions, first let's take a look at what I predicted for last week:

1. Superbad
2. War
3. Nanny Diaries
4. Rush Hour 3
5. The Bourne Ultimatum.

And here's how it really was:

1. Superbad
2. The Bourne Ultimatum
3. Rush Hour 3
4. Mr. Bean's Holiday
5. War

A weak week, performance wise, from the new releases. Mr. Bean's Holiday did better than I expected, but nowhere near #1. This makes me 9 for 20 and an accuracy percentage of 45%.

What do I think of this week?

1. Halloween
2. Superbad
3. Balls of Fury
4. The Bourne Ultimatum
5. Rush Hour 3

I think Halloween might pull in enough for the top spot, but Superbad will be able to hold on to the second spot. What do you think?

Greed Is Good Again: WALL STREET Sequel In The Works

Gordon Gecko, the slick inside trader/anti-hero of Oliver Stone's Wall Street (1987) may be gracing cinema screens once again, according to an interview with the film's producer Ed Pressman in the West Australian.

Pressman has been working with screenwriter Stephen Schiff in developing a story that not only returns the character to the big screen, but reflects the changes in world business that have occurred over the last quarter century. He said-

Wall Street was New York-centric. Today the markets are much more global, hence the title of the new film, Money Never Sleeps… The new film will be based in New York, in London, in the United Arab Emirates and in an Asian country. We’ve pretty well worked out the inter-personal relationships between the characters. We’re now talking about the business events.

Portrayed by Michael Douglas, Gecko embodied all that director Oliver Stone saw as wrong in corporate America. Of course, Gecko’s over-the-top ambition and drive didn’t stop him from becoming a hero to many. As Pressman explains-

That’s his appeal. Gekko is larger than life. His appetites are large. The audience enjoys a vicarious pleasure of seeing a world they would never be part of. In a funny way Wall Street was like The Godfather in that the real mob began dressing and behaving like characters in the movie. After Wall Street people started wearing suspenders (braces) like Michael.

And what has happened to Gecko since audiences last saw him being betrayed by his protégé Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen) to rival Sir Larry Wildman (Terence Stamp)? Pressman reveals that much like real life trader Michael Milkin, whom the character of Gecko is partly based on, Gecko has done a stretch in prison for his illegal activities, but upon release has donated much time and money to charity work. Pressman hints, though, “a leopard doesn’t change its spots, despite appearances.”

Via Film Ick.

Synder And Darabont Team For ILLUSTRATED MAN

300 director Zack Snyder and producer Frank Darabont are teaming together at Warner Brothers to adapt writer Ray Bradbury's classic short story collection, The Illustrated Man.

Bradbury's book is a collection of unrelated short stories linked through the framing device of a tattooed storyteller whose tattoos come to life, telling each story. Published in 1951, the book had been previously adapted by director Jack Smight with Rod Steiger in the title role.

Snyder will direct while Darabont, Denise Di Novi and Snyder's wife Deborah will produce. Snyder will also receive a producer's credit. Alex Tse - who also scripted Snyder's next film, Watchmen, which is currently set to start filming later this fall – will be handling the screenplay.

The book contains several of Bradbury's most famous short stories including "The Veldt," "Marionettes Inc.," "Kaleidoscope" and "The Man." In fact, one of the failings of the first film adaptation was that it only adapted three of the 18 stories in the book- "The Veldt," "The Long Rain" and "The Last Night Of The World." It seems that Snyder and scripter Tse have a hard job ahead of themselves deciding which stories to adapt. Unless they are planning on a five hour movie, they will invariably leave out a few good ones. It seems to me that this material would be better suited to a made-for-television miniseries, but that was said about Watchmen as well and Snyder seems to have that project well in hand.

Miike's SUKIYAKI WESTERN DJANGO Gets Global Distribution Deal

Celluloid Dreams has snapped up the non-Asian distribution rights to iconic Japanese director Takashi Miike's highly anticipated Sukiyaki Western Django Variety reports.

Miike's tribute to the spaghetti westerns he used to watch with his father as a child, the story centers on a small mountain village where two rival clans are facing off over a hidden treasure when a mysterious gunman arrives.

Shot in English with a Japanese cast, the film is a crazy mixture of western and samurai film influences with characters dressing in samurai armor and ten-gallon hats and wield samurai swords and six shooters. Quentin Tarantino, a friend of Miike, makes a cameo.

The film is scheduled to screen at the Venice and Toronto film festivals before opening in Japan on September 15.

No US release date has been set.

The Rock Heads To WITCH MOUNTAIN

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is in negotiations to star in Witch Mountain for Walt Disney Pictures, a rehash of their 1975 family film Escape To Witch Mountain according to Variety.

Johnson will play a Las Vegas cab driver who picks up a pair of siblings with psychic powers on the run from those who would exploit their abilities. Johnson is essentially stepping into the role Eddie Albert played in the original.

The screenplay is by Matt Lopez while Andy Fickman is directing. Fickman and Johnson worked together on The Game Plan which is due out later this fall.

Casting Comics: IRON MAN

To commemorate the 90th birthday of pioneering comic book artist Jack "The King" Kirby, we've decided to premier our new, semi-regular feature, "Casting Comics," by taking a look at the casting for an upcoming adaptation of a character Kirby helped design, Iron Man.

First appearing in March 1963's Tales Of Suspense #39, Iron Man is in reality millionaire - and later, thanks to inflation, billionaire - industrialist Tony Stark. While on a business trip to Vietnam to see how a product of his Stark Industries was helping the war effort there, Stark is wounded and then captured by a Vietnamese warlord who demands that Stark build armaments for him. With the help of another captive, Yin Sen, Stark secretly builds a suit of mechanized armor that will not only help him escape, but which serves to keep his heart, in danger from a lodged piece of shrapnel, beating.

Cultivating a rich playboy public persona to hide his superhero activities, Tony Stark can be seen as publisher Marvel Comics variation on DC Comic's Bruce Wayne/ Batman secret identity. But instead of keeping his heroic duties hidden, Stark introduces Iron Man to the world as his personal bodyguard and corporate mascot. For the upcoming film, director John Favreau has scored a casting coup in having Robert Downey Jr. (left) playing Stark. Growing the facial hair to match the comic character's look isn't all that Downey brings to the role. During one of the character's periodic downturns, Stark took to drink, eventually becoming an alcoholic, though ultimately he would overcome his addiction. One doesn't have to be an avid follower of the tabloids to know that Downey himself has suffered through, and emerged from, his own addiction problems. If the film addresses this plot line or if it is being saved for a future installment, expect Downey to bring an honesty to the material that many other actors might not be able to bring.

Tony Stark's secretary and one-time love interest is Virginia "Pepper" Potts, a feisty red head. Plucked out of the anonymity of the Stark Industries secretarial pool after fixing an accounting mistake made by Stark himself, Pepper became Stark's invaluable aide, known for her competance in helping Stark run his business as well as speaking her mind when needed. Although blond, Gwyneth Paltrow (right) certainly sounds like a strong choice based on her work in such varied films such as Sliding Doors (1998), The Royal Tenebaums (2001) and Sky Captain And The World Of Tomorrow (2004). Comics fans obsessing over Paltrow’s hair color need not worry, some early spy photos from the set clearly show her sporting an appropriate dye job.

Rounding out Tony Stark's inner circle of friends in the film is Jim Rhodes, being played by Terence Howard (left). Rhodes is a helicopter pilot who Stark meets following his escape from Vietnam (updated recently in the comics to the First Gulf War). In the comics, Rhodes would become Stark's personal pilot and confidant, temporarily donning the Iron Man armor during Stark’s alcoholic period before getting his own armored identity of War Machine.

Every good hero needs a dastardly villain, and Tony Stark has Obadiah Stane, a rival businessman who ultimately builds his own weapons suit to attack Iron Man as Iron Monger. (And yes, a "monger" is generally defined as someone who sells something, but since Stane manufactures military weapons it sort of fits…) While Jeff Bridges (right) is known for his wavy coif, some recent paparazzi photos of Bridges show that he is sporting the same bald pate that Stane does in the comics.

Also joining in the cast will be Shaun Toub (left) as Stark's fellow imprisoned inventor, Yin-Sen.

More interesting is Samuel L. Jackson's appearance as Nick Fury (right), head of the secret spy organization SHIELD. As reimaged for Marvel Comics' Ultimates imprint, Fury was intentionally modeled on the actor, with his permission. Iron Man is the first production under Marvel Comics’ own Marvel Studios, with several of the publisher’s characters slated for film adaptations in the coming years including the Incredible Hulk, Captain America, Ant Man and Nick Fury himself. Speculation holds that some characters, such as Jackson's Fury will crossover between films, culminating in the superhero team-up film The Avengers, tentatively scheduled for 2011.

Perhaps the trickiest part of adapting Iron Man from the comics to the big screen is making the character's suit of armor look realistic and plausible. Director Favreau was faced with the question of which version of the Iron Man armor to go with. Over the nearly 45 years the character has been published the one constant has been change when it comes to Iron Man’s armor. In his first appearance, he sported a dull gray armor, reflective of the scrounged materials Stark had on hand. However, he soon built a second a similar suit but which was gold in color. Over the years, the gold look became the red and gold livery more familiar to comic readers today, with changes being made as dictated by the ever changing roster of artists working on the book and the influence of real world technological advancement. For a majority of the film, Favreau has decided to go with the most recent design of Iron Man’s armor, although for the origin sequence of a captive Stark building his first suit, he goes with a design that closely resembles the initial gray armor.

Interestingly, in this era of near photo-realistic computer generated imagery, director Favreau choose to use practical suits on set for as much of the film as he can. It is a strategy he also used on his previous film, the science-fantasy Zathura. At last month's San Diego Comic Con, Favreau unveiled a short montage of clips from the film, showing off both suits of armor in action. To an astonished audience, Favreau stated that with the exception of the closing shots of Iron Man in his red and gold armor flying past two Air Force jets, all the views of the hero were actual suits worn on set.

Iron Man is currently set for release on May 2, 2008.

Special thanks to staffer Bill Gatevackes for graphical assistance.

Bruce Campbell Out On BUBBA NOSFERATU, Plus Talks EVIL DEAD And More

"[Bubba Nosferatu] is dead to me," Bruce Campbell announced Friday night on Fangoria Magazine's Fangoria Radio Show on Sirius Satellite Radio.

The announcement comes as a disappointing surprise to fans of the actor and director Don Coscarelli's 2002 cult hit Bubba Ho-Tep, for which Bubba Nosferatu would serve as both a sequel and a prequel.

"It sleeps with the fishes," Campbell continued. "Don Coscarelli is a very passionate filmmaker. We got to a few points [in developing the screenplay] that we couldn't reconcile. I want to keep our friendship, so we parted ways. So I’m not part of that project."

Campbell impressed critics in Bubba Ho-Tep as an aging, nursing home-bound Elvis Presley fighting off an attack from an Egyptian mummy with the help of another of the home's residents who thinks he is John F. Kennedy (Ossie Davis). Although the film ended with a title card announcing Bubba Nesferatu, it was done as a joke by Coscarelli. It was only after intense fan reaction to the film that the director actually began developing the sequel, with screenwriter Stephen Romano.

According to reports, Bubba Nosferatu would have had Campbell as Elvis fighting a clan of Las Vegas vampires in both the past and the present while dealing with the machinations of his manager, Col. Tom Parker. Oscar-nominee Paul Giamatti, a professed fan of Bubba Ho-Tep, had already been lined up to play Parker.

Fangoria reports that Coscarelli plans on moving forward with the project anyway, though he admits that it will be hard to find an actor who can take over Campbell's role.

As far as a return to the role that launched his career, the hapless Ash of the Evil Dead franchise, Campbell doesn’t hold much immediate hope.

“[Evil Dead writer/director] Sam Raimi still talks about it, but he’s in no rush to do it with everything else he has going on,” Campbell stated. “Sam jokes, ‘Maybe we can do another Evil Dead when we’re 70.’ ”

In 2004, an attempt was made by New Line Pictures to merge the Evil Dead franchise with that of the Nightmare On Elm Street and Friday The 13th series for a picture to be called Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash. Campbell says that Raimi walked away from it due to lack of creative control. The pitch developed for the movie is now being adapted as a six-issue comic book miniseries.

Campbell also stated that the announced Evil Dead remake, featuring a new cast, was also a dead project.

"The feedback from the fans was 90 percent negative," Campbell said. "It's going nowhere. The remake has fizzled fast at Sam's [production] company."

On the positive side of things for his fans, Campbell did state that Burn Notice, the USA Network series on which he co-stars as a burned out ex-spy, has been picked up for a second season. He also stated that his agent and publisher are asking him to write a third book as follow-ups to his previous best sellers If Chins Could Kill: Confessions Of A B Movie Actor and Make Love! The Bruce Campbell Way.

"All I have is a title at this point," Campbell stated. "It's called Surrounded By Idiots: Why You Should be Glad I’m Not Emperor Of The World."

Via Bruce Campbell News Central.

Thumb Wrestling: Ebert Vs Disney

According to noted film critic Roger Ebert, some folks at Disney, much like their character of Pinocchio, should have noses that are magically growing for telling lies.

Ebert is currently in negotiations with the media giant over what he calls his “association with the show [At The Movies] that Gene Siskel and I started more than 30 years ago.” Part of those negotiations involve the continued use of the show’s iconic Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down ratings for films that Ebert and the family of his late partner Siskel own a trademark on.

On Friday, a Disney spokesperson told the Associated Press that Ebert had “exercised his right to withhold use of the `thumbs' until a new contract is signed.”

Ebert – whose health problems have kept him from appearing on the show for over a year, leaving current co-host Richard Roeper to pair up with numerous guest critics – issued his own statement later in the day, denying the Disney statement. In part is stated -

Contrary to Disney’s press release, I did not demand the removal of the Thumbs™. They made a first offer on Friday which I considered offensively low. I responded with a counter-offer. They did not reply to this, and on Monday ordered the Thumbs™ removed from the show. This is not something I expected after an association of over 22 years. I had made it clear the Thumbs™ could remain during good-faith negotiations.

Frankly, I’m more than a bit amazed that Disney would release such a statement, knowing that Ebert would immediately refute it. Is this a case where a publicist was misinformed? I tend to doubt it as it has been reported that the first two installments of At The Movie’s new season have already been shot, and they don’t have any Thumbs Up/Thumbs Down ratings in them.

If this is Disney just trying to play hardball with Ebert, well then, I guess I’d have to give them my own personal thumbs d---

Actually, I think I’ll give them The Finger.

DVD News: LOONEY TUNES VOL 5 Update

Over at his blog Cartoon Brew, animation historian Jerry Beck has a few corrections to the information (including ours) currently circulating about the upcoming Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Volume 5.

Disc 1 will include over a dozen primetime television commercials which ran on ABC’s primetime The Bugs Bunny Show in the early 60s featuring Bugs hawking various products from sponsor General Mills such as Tang and Post Cereals.

The Snafu and Hook cartoons that have been listed as a special feature of Disc 2 will actually appear n Disc 3, with the exception of "Take Head Mr. Tojo" and "Gas," which won’t be in the set at all.

Several of the cartoons will have their original title cards restored, removing the more generic ones used for theatrical reissue or television syndication.

Beck also includes a screen shot comparison of the restoration work done on the Daffy Duck short "A Pest In The House."

Beck further stated that there are yet more features which haven’t been announced yet.

Keanu as Klaatu: THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL Remake

Keanu Reeves closed a deal this weekend to play Klaatu, the alien who comes to Earth to warn its populace to change its war-like ways or face annihilation from a confederacy of alien races, in a remake of the 1951 classic The Day The Earth Stood Still, according to a story posted by Variety.

This new version will see Scott Derrickson (The Exorcism Of Emily Rose) taking the director’s chair. The screenplay will be by David Scarpa (The Last Castle).

Contrary to many film fans who outright loath it when films are remade, I think that remakes have a definite place in Hollywood’s output. People often forget that it was only on the third try that they got The Maltese Falcon right. Even a classic film like 1956‘s Invasion Of The Body Snatchers can be successfully updated as it was with the 1978 version. (A fact brought home more acutely in light of the new version of the story currently in theaters, which distressingly misses the mark.)

But a modern-day interpretation of The Day The Earth Stood Still seems like a trickier proposition. The original is a fairly contemplative piece, out of step with the more kinetic films of today. If Fox is looking at this picture as a possible summer tentpole release, will they feel compelled to insert action set pieces into the film to give it a fighting chance against all the other summer blockbuster fare? If so, will that overwhelm the original’s message, which is still just as valid today as it was in the 1950s? Will this new version cleave closer to Harry Bates’ original short story “Farewell To The Master” that the 1951 film was based on and reveal that Klaatu’s hulking robot companion Gort is actually the master and Klaatu is the servant?

Time will tell.

The new version of The Day The Earth Stood Still is tentatively scheduled to begin production later this fall or early 2008.

DVD News: Fox Continuing Noir Series

A purusal of Twentieth Century Fox's new Fox Studio Classics website reveals that their Film Noir series of releases may not be as dead as previously thought.

The last titles in the series - 1946's Shock and 1951's Fourteen Hours - hit shelves a year ago this week and as 2006 gave way to 2007 it looked as if the studio had quietly discontinued the line. This was especially maddening as Elia Kazan's Boomerang! (1947) was also included in the last batch of releases, but the title was yanked just days before they were supposed to go on sale. No reason was given for the recall. Copies still managed to get out and the disc has been available for rental on Netflix and for purchase through Amazon's second-hand sellers for anyone willing to spend between $35 and $90.

According to the website, Fox has not abandoned their plan to release Boomerang!, and are planning on adding three new titles to the series as well - Black Widow (1954), Daisy Kenyon (1947) and Dangerous Crossing (1953). Unfortunately, there are no concrete release dates on the site. Once they're announced, though, we'll have them for you here.

Trailer Park: SHINE A LIGHT

I have to wonder if it's more than just a coincidence that in the same week that the website for Martin Scorsese's documentary/concert film on the Rolling Stones Shine A Light goes live that rumors begin circulating that the current tour the band is on may well be their last. This wouldn't be the first time that Scorsese has given a band its cinematic farewell. His 1978 film The Last Waltz captured the final performance of The Band in such a way that it transcends being just a simple concert film.

The trailer for Shine A Light (below) shows that the Stones are probably as energetic as they have ever been (with the exception of drummer Charlie Watts who looks as catatonic as ever), even if they their age definitely shows on their faces.

But what's more interesting about the trailer is the glimpsesof what is going on behind the scenes. Scorsese looks at times bemused and at other times annoyed with what appears to be a lack of coperation he is getting from the band's organization. "Can we kind of know, if at all possible, what they're going to play?" he asks at one point. This certainly hints at a film about the backstage goings-on could be as at least interesting, if not possibly moreso, than a film that just captures the Stones in a smaller, more intimate venue than they are used to playing.



Shine A Light is scheduled to hit theaters next April.

This Week's Theatrical Releases.

1. The Nanny Diaries (2,629 Theaters, Rated PG-13): A movie featuring a spunky young woman in a demeaning job answering to a demanding boss adapted from a popular chick lit novel? It's no stretch of the imagination that the Weinstein Group is hoping that a little of last year's Devil Wears Prada audience show up with this one.

And who can blame them? Devil Wears Prada was a surprise hit, making over $124 Million domestically. This proves there is an audience for this type of story.

This is a pretty big theater pull for a movie of this type. Will the investment in screens be justified? Will the Prada audiences be more turned off than attracted to the similarities?

The cast is first rate. I am a big fan of Scarlett Johansson. I keep waiting for her to get that one really good role that her acting chops deserve. Laura Linney is also a good actress. She's no Meryl Streep, but she's good. And I consider Chris Evans, next to Michael Chiklis, the best part of the Fantastic Four movies.




2. War (2,277 Theaters, Rated R): Most TV ads for this movie tell us that it is about a law enforcement officer seeking vengeance against and assassin. Maybe it's just me, but I find it hard to tell which actor is playing which in those ads (although the trailer I'm including now makes it a little more clear.)

For the record, Jason Statham is playing an FBI agent and Jet Li is playing the assassin. I hope everyone can rest easier now. I know I will.

This movie seems to me to be like a glossy Grindhouse flick for the MTV generation. It's a simple premise, shouldn't be to hard to execute, and the final verdict on how good the movie is will be how awesome the inevitable final fight scene between Li and Statham is.

Both actors are skilled martial artists and it should take much effort to have the final confrontation be great. But it should last about 20 minutes, at least. Any less, and the movie is in trouble.

3. Mr. Bean's Holiday (1,713 Theaters, Rated G): Yes, that rating is right. The movie is rated G. You do not see that all that often nowadays.

Ah, Bean. What can I say about Bean.

Can I say that I don't like Bean?

Don't get me wrong. I wasn't the biggest Blackadder fan in the world but I did like what I saw of Rowan Atkinson in that. But there is just something about Bean that gives me a pain deep in the pit of my stomach.

And I realize that I am in the minority here. There are people out there who love, I mean looooove, Mr. Bean. They are treating this movie like Star Wars fans treated Episode One.

And I don't know exactly why I don't like Bean. I guess it's just the whole "stupidity piled on top of stupidity" thing that really gets on my nerves. It's funny up to a point, but, in my opinion, Bean goes well over that point. Well, different strokes for different folks.

4. Resurrecting the Champ (1,602 Theaters, Rated PG-13): This one is the tale of the two TV ads. I have seen two ads for this film on TV. One plays it as a tear-jerking, Oscar-caliber, life-reaffirming underdog story. The other, plays it as an Oscar-caliber, Shattered Glass-style tale of journalistic malfeasance, that what ever Samuel L. Jackson's story is, Josh Harnett's character made up to get ahead.

Which one is it? Well, it is based on a true story. If you want to spoil the movie, you could probably find out after about a half hour of googling.

Either way, it has the look of a movie that is shouting "Hey! Oscar voters! Look at me!" Not saying that's a bad thing. I think Samuel L. Jackson, when he's not making stupid decisions in choosing roles, can be a great actor. I still argue that he was robbed of an Oscar for his role in Pulp Fiction.

Another point about this movie, Cold Case's Kathryn Morris appears to be playing Josh Hartnett's wife or girlfriend in this one, even though, per IMDB.com, she is at least 9 years older than him. This is refreshing because most times in Hollywood, it's the other way around.

Now, on to the predictions.

This was what I predicted as last week's Top 5:

1. Superbad
2. Invasion
3. Rush Hour 3
4. The Bourne Ultimatum
5. The Simpsons Movie

And this is how it actually was:

1. Superbad
2. Rush Hour 3
3. The Bourne Ultimatum
4. The Simpsons Movie
5. Invasion.

1 for 4. I had all five right, I just made a mistake on how well Invasion would do. This makes me 8 for 15 after three weeks and brings my prediction percentage down to 53%.

It will probably go down even lower this week. Here are my picks.

1. Superbad
2. War
3. Nanny Diaries
4. Rush Hour 3
5. The Bourne Ultimatum.

It's a tricky week this week. Any of the movies could be in the top 5. And, while I personally don't think so, any of them could be number one. And it is quite possible none of them would make the top 5. So my prediction this week is just a stab in the dark.

What do you think?

FREDDY VS JASON VS ASH To See Life As Comic Book

The cross franchise melding of the A Nightmare On Elm Street, Friday The 13th and the Evil Dead series Freddy Vs Jason Vs Ash developed by New Line Cinema back in 2004 will see new life in a six-issue comic book miniseries from DC Comics and Dynamite Entertainment.

The comic will be written by James Kuhoric, who will be working from a treatment by Jeff Katz, the screenwriter who originally developed the film as a sequel to the surprise hit horror franchise match-up of Freddy Vs Jason (2003). The film project fell apart in March 2005 following Evil Dead creator Sam Raimi’s decision to pursue a remake of his film instead. Unfortunately, Raimi’s Evil Dead redux is currently trapped in its own development limbo.

For those who want a taste of what the story holds, the horror website Bloody Disgusting has a copy of Katz’s original script treatment here, while you can read an interview with Katz himself at Newsarama.

The announcement seems to be the latest in a recent series of film and television series creators turning to comic books as a way of continuing to give fans new stories in their franchise’s universes. The Adventures Of Buckaroo Banzai creator Earl Mac Rauch used his unproduced pilot script for a Buckaroo tv series developed for the FOX Network as the basis for a mini-series from publisher Moonstone last year. More recently, fan favorite Joss Whedon is overseeing additional “seasons” of his Buffy, The Vampire Slayer and Angel series in the four-color format as well.

Thanks to tipsters Paula B and Chris A.

DVD News: CASINO ROYALE 40th Anniversary Edition

MGM will be releasing a new DVD special edition of the 1967 version of Casino Royale in November to commemorate the film’s 40th anniversary reports James Bond fansite 007 Magazine.

The disc will sport a 2.35 anamorphic transfer and Dolby Digital 5.1 and the original mono audio tracks as well as an audio commentary from James Bond historians Steven Jay Reuben and John Cork. There will also be five featurettes examining the making of the film.

Released at the height of the 1960s Bond-mania, Casino Royale was more a satire on the spy movie craze, with a convoluted plot concerning a series of British spies who all operated under the codename of “James Bond”- from David Niven to Peter Sellers to Woody Allen! Saying that the film is based loosely on Bond creator Ian Fleming’s novel of the same name would be doing the film more of a service than it probably deserves. The screenplay, with uncredited work by the likes of Sellers, Allen, Ben Hect, Terry Southern and Billy Wilder, is a hodgepodge of good and bad ideas that not even the five directors credited could make any coherent sense out of and ultimately, the film is probably better remembered for its provocative poster art than for anything that happens in it. Still, there are a few moments that work, a George Raft cameo, future Darth Vader David Prowse’s first screen appearance (as Frankenstein’s monster, which he would play again in 1970’s The Horror Of Frankenstein and 1974’s Frankenstein And The Monster From Hell) and a great score featuring Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass and the Oscar-nominated Burt Bacharach hit “The Look Of Love.”

Via CommanderBond.net
Tipped by Bond fan extrodinaire Tom S.

GRAVEYARD OF THE FIREFLIES To Get Live Action Redo

Akiyuki Nosaka's semi-autobiographical novel Graveyard of the Fireflies, which was adapted by director Isao Takahata and Studio Ghibli into the classic anime feature, is set to be made as a live-action film by Tokyo-based Pal Entertainment. Taro Hyugaji, who previously directed Portrait Of The Wind (2005), is set to direct.

The film’s story follows a young brother and sister who are trying to survive on their own following the firebombing of Kobe City. Studio Ghibli’s adaptation is considered by many anime fans to be exceptionally well done and heartbreaking.

Originally set to be directed by Kazuo Kuroki, pre-production on the live-action adaptation was suspended when Kuroki died of stroke last April.

LOGAN'S RUN Finds New Director

Commercial director Joseph Kosinski has been signed to helm Warner Brothers' remake of the 1976 science-fiction picture Logan's Run according to a Hollywood Reporter article published today.

Although he was originally developing the film and had gotten as far as developing animated, pre-visualization storyboards, Bryan Singer left the project to shoot Superman Returns. Since then directors Robert Schwenke and James McTeigue had both been connected with the film, though more recently the film had been thought to be languishing in development.

The original, based on the novel by William F. Nolan and George Clayton Johnson, was set in a future where turning 30 years old was a death sentence in a bid to control overpopulation. Those who would try to avoid their death were known as ''runners'' and the film’s hero, Logan, played in the original by Michael York, was one of the special police charged with hunting runners down. That is, until Logan turns 30 himself and decides to flee to the safety of a rumored place called Sanctuary where one would be free to live past 30.

Kosinski reportedly won the job after a presentation to studio bosses which included graphic art and computer animated visuals highlighting a low-tech production design closer to original novel's intent than to the original film’s high-gloss futurism.

DVD News: ERIK THE CONQUEROR

Tim Lucas, the man who has literally written THE book on the films of Mario Bava*, has announced on his blog, Video WatchBlog, that in addition to contributing a full length commentary track to Anchor Bay’s forthcoming release of Bava’s Erik The Conqueror (1961), he has also contributed a 28-minute audio interview that Lucas did with the film’s star Cameron Mitchell in 1989. While unusre of how all the material will be presented, Lucas believes that the disc's producers will mix some of it into his audio commentary track but have the majority of it available as a separate feature.

Amazon lists a release date of August 28, but Lucas' post states an October release.

*Mario Bava: All The Colors Of The Dark runs an all-encompassing 1128 pages and weighs in at around 12 pounds! It can ordered here.

19 DARK KNIGHT Pics Hit Online

Well, these have been popping up all over the place and since we want to be like the popular kids, we're posting them as well. They seemed to appear nearly simultaneously on a bunch of sites over night, so it's hard to give credit to the original source. Anyway, enjoy these views of the upcoming Batman Begins sequel, The Dark Knight.

*Obviously, some spoilers are ahead.

KING OF KONG Clip

If you're a regular moviegoer like me, at this point in the summer you're probably suffering from a bit of what I like to call ''blockbuster bloat'' and are probably looking for something a little different. Normally, I'd recommend something like the documentary King Of Kong, which opens today. In fact, when I saw the film - which tells the struggle of a laid-off Boeing engineer attempting to break the world's Donkey Kong record high score and discovering himself suddenly entrenched in the surprisingly internecine world of competitive video gaming - this past spring at the Philadelphia International Film Festival, I gave the film a positive review.

Unfortunately, Picturehouse is only opening the film on a total of five screens, so unless you live in New York City, Seattle, Austin or Los Angeles, you're out of luck. However, according to the film's website, it will be making its way to at least 25 more markets within the next couple of weeks.

To whet your appetite, though, Picturehouse has supplied us with a clip from the movie featuring an explanation from some of the folks in the video game world about the degree of difficulty to be found in Donkey Kong-




And if that's not enough- here's the film's trailer-

Emmerich Signs On For FANTASTIC VOYAGE

Roland Emmerich has been signed to direct a remake of the 1966 science-fiction classic Fantastic Voyage, according to today's Variety. This is the second time that Emmerich has been attached to a remake of the film. He was interested a decade ago, but the project never got out of development.

The story centers on a crew of scientists and doctors who are miniaturized in a submarine and then injected into a dying man's bloodstream to remove an impossible-to-operate-on bloodclot. The original starred Donald Pleasance and Raquel Welch.

Michael Wilmer, Emmerich’s partner at the director's Centropolis Entertainment production house, will produce the film alongside James Cameron’s Lightstorm Entertainment. National Treasure screenwriters Marianne and Cormac Wibberley are in negations to script the update.

Emmerich’s 10,000 BC is set for release on March 7, 2008.