Everyone's Escaping From NEW YORK

It seems that everyone is trying to get away from New Line's planned remake of John Carpenter's '80s action classic Escape From New York.

Recently, it had been rumored that Brett Ratner, the director of the Rush Hour series, had been selected to fill the director's chair for a departing Len Wiseman. However, in a report late last week on AintItCool (who have never shown Ratner any love), the director stated that the rumors of his involvement with the remake are just that- rumors. Reportedly, Terminator 3 director Jonathan Mostow has now been brought in to rewrite Ken Nolan’s script, with an option to direct.

Now Variety is reporting that star Gerard Butler has left the project, citing the euphemistic “creative differences.” This amount of churn in the creative side of the production does not bode well, hinting at juicier stories behind the scene.

Personally, though, none of these choices have filled me with great confidence. I wasn’t a fan of Wiseman’s Underworld, Mostow’s Terminator 3 was entirely unnecessary given how James Cameron wrapped up the second film and Ratner is particularly inept when it comes to staging and shooting action scenes, dialogue and, well, just about anything else. Butler is a good actor, but I don’t think he’s right for the lead in this movie. His casting seems to be based more on the fact that he's weel built and looks menacing with facial hair than anything else.

New Line needs to let this project sit on the backburner for a while. Perhaps their energies would be better spent at smoothing things over with Peter Jackson so he can start on an adaptation of The Hobbit and developing some original film ideas that will knock our socks off the way Carpenter’s original Escape From New York did.

CRANK 2 Amping Up

Released last fall, Crank was one of those films that was completely unapologetic for what it was- a hyper bit of cinematic pulp with no pretensions of aspiring to be anything else.

Essentially a remake of the classic noir film DOA (1950) on steroids and perhaps an eight ball of cocaine, Jason Statham’s hitman character Chev Chelios had a limited amount of time to find out who injected him with a deadly poison whose effects can only be slowed down by raising his heart rate. Cue a nearly non-stop stream of adrenaline-pumping action sequences as Chelios tries numerous ways to keep his heart pumping fast enough to stay alive long enough to extract his revenge.

And the film’s writer/directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor have announced that they’re making a sequel- Crank 2: High Voltage.

Those of you who saw the film are probably wondering how a sequel, featuring the same character again played by Statham, could ever be made, especially considering that Slash Film reports that the new film will begin mere seconds after the close of the first. I think just seeing how the writers manage to work that trick alone will be worth the price of a ticket.

Kevin Smith Protests His Own Movie

It's been a story that writer/director Kevin Smith has told in his numerous speaking engagements and which has been captured on his first Evening With Kevin Smith DVD.

The weekend his controversial religious comedy Dogma opened, Smith was at home in New Jersey when he found out that the local cinema showing the film was going to be picketed by a religious group. At the suggestion of a friend, Smith made up some protest signs and went down and joined the group.

And then the television crews showed up to cover the protest.

You’ll have to check out Smith’s Evening With… DVD for the whole story, but you can check out the newsclip, as it ran on the local news that evening.

Toho Returns To Kurosawa's HIDDEN FORTRESS

Cameras start rolling later this week on a remake of Akira Kurosawa's classic film The Hidden Fortress, according to an announcement from in today's Variety from Japan's Toho Studios.

The remake's director, Shinji Higuchi, comes from a background in visual effects and has already the directed the hit films Lorelei (2005)and The Sinking Of Japan (2006). Taking over original star Toshiro Mifune's role of a general guiding a rescued princess through enemy territories is Hiroshi Abe, an actor who has been mostly known for roles in romantic comedies. Masami Nagasawa will be playing the princess, a role played by Misa Uehara in the original.

Of course, I could be snarky and say that Hidden Fortress has been remade once before- it was called Star Wars (1977). It's fairly well known that Lucas patterned his original film off of Kurosawa's story before filtering it through an odd combination of Joseph Campbell and Buck Rogers serials, causing such characters as the two bumbling peasants who accompany the general in Hidden Fortress to transform into Star Wars' robots R2-Ds and C-3P0. Interestingly, the two peasant characters will be merged into one character for this new version, who will be played by Jun Matsumoto, of the Japanese boy band Arashi.

The movie is scheduled for a May 10, 2008 release in Japan.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: Rumor Roundup, Part 3

Well, it's been a few days so it's time for another fresh batch of rumors related to Warner Brothers upcoming superhero team-up epic Justice League. It has been a while since I've last seen a project attract as much hub-bub, substantiated or otherwise, flying around it as this one. Warners is certainly taking its time in announcing any news of substance.

Late last week, Moviehole reported that in addition to preparing Justice League, director George Miller has re-opened up an office for his on-again off-again Mad Max: Fury Road. Their informant speculates that the Mad Max sequel, which Miller plans to recast as he wants a “younger face” in the role, may hit theaters before the Justice League film does. To do so, Miller would have to begin shooting Mad Max 4 almost immediately in order to have principal photography wrapped on Justice League before any potential Screen Actors Guild strike at the end of next May.


Rumors as to who will play Wonder Woman seem to be the most popular right now. Moviehole – those guys are located in Australia where Miller plans to direct the film, so they probably have some really good pipelines into Fox’s studio down there – has heard that Aussie actress Teresa Palmer (right) will be cast as the heroic Amazonian hero. Their source is an unnamed director who had recently worked with Palmer on another project. Meanwhile, the Australian Daily Telegraph is reporting that model Megan Gale is actually in contention for the role and that an announcement should be made this week. As for the long in development Wonder Woman stand alone film, producer Joel Silver told SciFi Wire that he’s putting the project on the backburner until after Justice League is released to see how it performs.

Two other League members who may or may not be getting their own spin-off films are The Flash and Green Lantern. Both projects have been development for a while – Remember back when comic fandom collectively freaked out, and not in a good way, after it was briefly reported that Jack Black was being considered for the lead in Green Lantern? – and both have had a bit of news released about them over the weekend.

MTV Movies Blog reported over the weekend that The Flash has changed directors, with Wedding Crashers helmer David Dobkin taking charge from a departing Shawn Levy. Dobkin told the site that his film is “designed to work as a spin-off from ['JLA'], so we’re honoring the story and we’re working in tandem with the storytelling.” Dobkin also stated that the version of The Flash that they’ll be using is that of Wally West, who had trained under the previous Flash, Barry Allen. However, Patrick Sauriol over at UGO reported that the Justice League Flash would definitely be Barry. Discrepancy? Spoiler? Misinformation? You decide.

Finally, Variety reported on Sunday that Greg Berlanti has been given the job of directing a Green Lantern feature. Berlanti’s background is mostly in television, having served as a writer and/or executive producer on such series as Dawson’s Creek, Everwood and Dirty Sexy Money, though he did direct the 2000 feature The Broken Hearts Club. Working on the script with Berlanti will be Marc Guggenheim, who wrote for several Marvel Comics series, and Michael Green, who is a co-executive producer on NBC’s superhero drama Heroes. While there is no official word if the film’s casting will be tied to Justice League or not, but I’d say that it’s a fair bet that it is.

Previously:
Justice League Rumor Roundup
Justice League: Rumor Roundup, Part 2

LUST, CAUTION Leads Golden Horse Nominations

Ang Lee's controversial drama Lust, Caution has topped the list of nominees for Tiawan's annual Golden Horse awards, earning 11 nods including those for best film, director, actor for Tony Leung and actress for newcomer Tang Wei.

Taiwanese pop star turned director Jay Chou's debut film Secret was nominated in five categories including Best Supporting Actress for Alice Tzeng and Best Visual Effects.

Lust, Caution will be squaring off against the political satire What On Earth Have I Done Wrong?!, the dramas The Home Song Stories, Tuya's Marriage and Getting Home for the best film trophy.

The Golden Horse Awards will be presented on December 8, 2007 in a ceremony held at Taipei Arena.

Full Nomination List for the 44th Golden Horse Awards:

Best Feature Film

• What on Earth have I Done Wrong?!
• Tuya’s Marriage
• The Home Song Stories
• Lust, Caution

Best Short Film

• Temptation
• Fly Out Blue
• Summer of Magic
• Father's Finger

Best Documentary

• Exotic Exoticism: Plant Wars
• Hollywood Chinese

Best Director

• Wang Quan An – Tuya’s Marriage
• Yau Nai Hoi – Eye In The Sky
• Ang Lee – Lust, Caution
• Li Yang – Blind Mountain

Best Actor

• Gurmit Singh – Just Follow Law
• Zhao Ben Shan – Getting Home
• Aaron Kwok – The Detective
• Tony Leung Chiu Wei – Lust, Caution

Best Actress

• Yu Nan – Tuya’s Marriage
• Joan Chen – The Home Song Stories
• Li Bing Bing – The Knot
• Tang Wei – Lust, Caution

Best Supporting Actor

• Wu Jing – Invisible Target
• Joel Lok – The Home Song Stories
• Tony Leung, Ka Fai – The Drummer
• Louis Koo – Protégé

Best Supporting Actress

• Chang Chun Ning - What on Earth have I Done Wrong?!
• Maggie Shiu – Eye In The Sky
• Fan Bing Bing – The Matrimony
• Alice Tzeng – Secret

Best New Performer

• Eddie Peng – My DNA Says I Love You
• Joel Lok – The Home Song Stories
• ENNO – Summer’s Tail
• Tang Wei – Lust, Caution

Best Original Screenplay

• Bon Sek Yieng, Tan Wei Lyn – Just Follow Law
• Lu Wei – Tuya’s Marriage
• Singing Chen, Lou Yi An – God Man Dog
• Tony Ayres – The Home Song Stories

Best Screenplay Adaptation

• Izo Hashimoto, Szeto Kam Yuen – Shamo
• Jacob Cheung – A Battle of Wits
• Shu Ping, Kiang Wen, Guo Shi Xing – The Sun Also Rises
• Hui Ling Wang, James Schamus – Lust, Caution

Best Cinematography

• Yang Wei Han – The Most Distant Course
• Fung Yuen Man – Shamo
• Mark Ping Bin Lee – The Matrimony
• Rodrigo Prieto – Lust, Caution

Best Visual Effects

• Michael Yeoh – Just Follow Law
• Stephen Ma – Twins Mission
• BULKY Animation Studio, Studio 2 – The Wall-Passer
• Wong Wang Tat, Wong Wang Hin, Cheung Yiu Ming, Donnie Lai – Secret

Best Art Direction

• Huang Mei Ching – God Man Dog
• Anuson Pinyopotjanee – The Detective
• Melinda Doring – The Home Song Stories
• Pan Lai – Lust, Caution

Best Makeup & Costume Design

• Doris Song – Road to Dawn
• Kirsten Veysey, Cappi Ireland – The Home Song Stories
• Moe Kasim, Dollei Seah – 881
• Pan Lai – Lust, Caution

Best Action Choreography

• Wong Wai Leung – Shamo
• Lee Chung Chi – Invisible Target
• Stephen Tung – A Battle of Wits
• Donnie Yen – Flash Point

Best Original Film Score

• Anthony Chue – Invisible Target
• Guy Zerafa – Eye In The Sky
• Terdsak Janpan, Jay Chou – Secret
• Alexandre Desplat – Lust, Caution

Best Original Film Song

• Jasmine - Spider Lilies
• Blood Brothers – Blood Brothers
• Secret – Secret
• Little Love Song - Exit No.6

Best Film Editing

• Singing Chen – God Man Dog
• David Richardson – Eye In The Sky
• Zhang Yi Fan, Jiang Wen – The Sun Also Rises
• Tim Squyres – Lust, Caution

Best Sound Effect

• Tu Duu Chih, Kuo Li Chi, Tang Xiang Zhu – The Most Distant Course
• Kinson Tseng – Confession of Pain
• Steve Burgess, He Wei – A Battle of Wits
• Soundfirm Beijing – Flash Point

Formoz Film Award

• What on Earth Have I Done Wrong?!
• The Drummer
• Secret

Formoz Filmmaker Award

• Ang Lee
• Jay Chou
• Niu Chen Zer

Lifetime Achievement Award

• Edward Yang
  

Via Variety Asia

Ritchie To Lead DIRTY DOZEN

Guy Ritchie has confirmed that he is set to helm a remake of the 1967 World War II adventure film The Dirty Dozen. The director announced the news last week to an IESB reporter during an interview to promote his latest film, Revolver, which opens on December 7.

However, before Ritchie mounts the film he is first scheduled to shoot an adaptation of the comic book miniseries Gamekeeper, a comic Ritchie helped to develop but is being written by Andy Diggle.

Travolta In Talks To Hijack PELHAM Remake

John Travolta is currently in talks to play the leader of a group of terrorists who hijack a Manhattan subway in the upcoming remake of The Taking Of Pelham 123. He'll be squaring off against Denzel Washington, who'll be playing the police detective placed in charge of stopping the terrorists. Travolta's role was played by Robert Shaw in the 1974 original, while Washington's detective character was portrayed by Walter Matthau.

The film is scheduled to begin production early next year with Tony Scott directing a script from David Koepp.

Via Variety

Craig Signed For Four More Bond Films

Daniel Craig, who made a splash in his debut performance as James Bond in last year's franchise reboot Casino Royale, has been signed to star in another four outings as the British spy.

The story was buried in a Hollywood Reporter story covering MGM Studios honcho Harry Sloan’s speech at Thursday’s Forbes MEET II met conference in Beverly Hills, a throw away reference in a paragraph were Sloan emphasizes the importance of franchise building in his strategy for the studio.

Craig’s original contract for the Bond franchise called for him to appear in three films, last year’s Casino Royale being the first. MGM has apparently renegotiated his original contract in the wake of the success of Casino Royale, for a total of five films.

Currently the untitled follow-up to Casino Royale is being prepared to go in front of the cameras next month for release in November 2008.

Via CommanderBond.net

This Week's Theatrical Releases.

1. Saw IV (3,183 Theaters, Rated R): If it’s Halloween, it must be time for another Saw film. Sarcastic yay from me. But will it be the last?

This franchise has been the father of the whole “torture porn” genre, a genre that at one time seemed to have a lot of legs. But the disappointing returns for Hostel 2 and Captivity might be signs that the public is getting sick of the sick genre.

Of course, the Saw films have been a bit different than the films they inspired. They mix a healthy dose of psychological torture to go with the physical kind. Killer Jigsaw devises sadistic tests for his victims in a sick means of teaching them the lesson that life should be appreciated.

Of course, the film does have to deal with the fact that both Jigsaw and his apprentice Amanda were killed at the end of the last movie. That is a hard thing for the franchise to try and get over.



2. Dan in Real Life (1,921 Theaters, Rated PG-13): This more than just a movie. This is a study in the interesting career paths of comedians Steve Carell and Dane Cook.

Both come from the world of comedy—Cook from stand-up, Carell from Second City and the Daily Show. But their film career took divergent paths.

Carell stayed mainly with comedy, making a name for himself with small roles in Bruce Almighty and Anchorman: The Ron Burgundy Story before breaking out with The 40-Year Old Virgin. Over the last two years, he has provide a voice in Over The Hedge, appeared in the Oscar nominated Little Miss Sunshine and took the lead in Evan Almighty. The comedy varied from wild and wacky to sweet and subtle.

Cook, on the other hand, has taken a different path in his movie career. He has appeared in action films (Torque), dramas (London), thrillers (Mr. Brooks) as well as comedies (Waiting, Employee of the Month, Good Luck Chuck). What’s more amazing is that he seems to fit in well in each.

And now, the two are in a romantic comedy, playing brothers with feelings for the same woman (Juliette Binoche, no less!). Just another entry in the diverse resume I’m sure both these men will have.



Now, the predictions.
This is what I predicted for last week:

1. 30 Days of Night
2. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married
3. The Game Plan
4. The Comebacks
5. Rendition

And this is how it turned out:

1. 30 Days of Night
2. Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married
3. The Game Plan
4. Michael Clayton
5. The Comebacks

Better than the last two weeks. This makes me 28 for 55 with an average of 50.9%, This week is risky and I might not score that highly. Here’s my guess:

1. Saw IV
2. 30 Days of Night
3. Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married
4. The Game Plan
5. Dan in Real Life.

Part of me thinks that Saw IV won’t be at number one and Dan in Real Life will be much higher, but this line up is more logical.

What do you think?

JUSTICE LEAGUE: Rumor Roundup, Part 2

Well, no sooner do we report on a rumor that it looks like British actor Rupert Evans will slipping into an American accent as well as red and blue spandex for the role of Superman in Warner Brothers upcoming Justice League superhero flick than someone goes and actually bothers to ask the actor’s agent if it’s true.

The folks over at IESB had the foresight to, and have posted the rep’s denial.

Never one to be twice shy after having been once bitten, AintItCool News is now reporting that it appears that Theresa Palmer may have aced out Mary Elizabeth Winstead for the role of Wonder Woman.

AintItCool is also featuring a report from someone who claims to have read the script. The report is in a question and answer format, with the answers hidden in invisotext (which you need to highlight to read) so as to hide potential spoilers, though the last question is worded in such a way as to be a huge spoiler. Proceed with caution.

LONE RANGER Getting Ready To Ride Range Again?

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy scripting duo of Terry Rossio and Ted Elliot are currently developing a new screenplay to bring iconic western hero The Lone Ranger back to the silver screen. Pirates producer Jerry Bruckheimer is reportedly the man in charge of the project.

The character originated on radio in the 1930s and made a successfully translation to television in the 1950s with Clayton Moore in the title role. Unfortunately, the last two attempts at reviving the character – 1981’s The Legend Of the Lone Ranger and the 2003 TV movie/series pilot The Lone Ranger featuring himbo Chad Michael Murray – flopped badly.

While trying to not don a tinfoil hat, I find the timing of this revival attempt a bit interesting. Created by Fran Striker, the Lone Ranger was later revealed to be the grand uncle of another Striker creation- the 1930s crimefighter The Green Hornet, a character who is currently being developed by actor/writer Seth Rogen for a big screen adventure for Summer 2009 for Columbia Pictures. Is Bruckheimer trying to create some cross-franchise synergy?

BLADE RUNNER: FINAL CUT Goes Wider

Impressed with the box office receipts it has earned on just two screens - a whopping $44,575 per screen its opening weekend as opposed to the $5,349 per screen the number one grossing movie, The Game Plan, earned - Warner Brothers has decided to expand the release of the restored classic Blade Runner: The Final Cut. You can read the FilmBuffOnLine review here.

Unfortunately, unlike the New York and Los Angeles dates, not all of the newly announced screenings will be digitally projected. On the schedule below, those cities receiving a standard 35mm print are noted with an asterix.

10/26
Seattle (Cinerama, Seattle)*
Washington D.C. (Uptown, D.C.)*
Portland (Cinema 21, Portland)*
Salt Lake (Gateway Megaplex, SLC)

11/2
Chicago (Music Box, Chicago)*
Santa Barbara (Arlington, Santa Barbara)
Baltimore (Landmark Harbor East, Baltimore)

11/9
Boston (Coolidge Corner, Brookline)*

11/16
Detroit (Main Art, Detroit)*

11/18
Austin (Paramount, Austin)*

11/30
San Francisco (Embarcadero, San Francisco)*
Dallas (The Inwood, Dallas)*
San Diego (Ken, San Diego)*
Minneapolis (Uptown, Minneapolis)*

12/7
Denver (The Landmark @ Greenwood Village)
Philadelphia (The Ritz 5, Philadelphia)*

12/25
Boston (The Brattle, Cambridge)*

1/2/08
Austin (The Paramount, Austin)*

1/4/08
Nashville (The Belcourt, Nashville)*

1/18/08
Durham (Carolina, Durham)*

2/1/08
Columbus (Drexel Gateway, Columbus)*

2/15/08
San Francisco (Castro, San Francisco)*

2/29/08
Sacramento (Crest, Sacramento)*


Via TheDigitalBits

JUSTICE LEAGUE: Rumor Rundown

Casting rumors are starting to fly fast and furious around Warner Brothers upcoming comic book hero team-up film Justice League, so we figured we would pull them all together into concentrated form for your perusal. Keep in mind that none of these stories have been confirmed by the studio, so take them with an appropriately-sized grain of salt.

Last week, a story hit AintItCool News listing names of numerous young actors who have reportedly tested for parts in the film- Adam Brody, Joseph Cross, Michael Angarano, Mary Elizabeth Winstead and Teresa Palmer. According to their source, all the actors were auditioning for one of two parts, the Flash or Wonder Woman.

One person who won’t be joining the cast is Jessica Biel. Although some early stories has linked her to the role of Wonder Woman, Variety reported yesterday that she has joined the cast of the noir To Die For, which will probably go into production around the same time League does.

But the question bigger than “Who will play the Flash?” that is on fans lips is “Which version of the Flash will they use?” The Flash is one DC Comics “legacy characters.” Whereas Superman has always been Clark Kent since his creation in 193-, the Flash was originally Jay Garrick, a radio station owner in Keystone City who had the ability to run really fast. Although popular through the 40s, by the mid-50s he had faded from the funny books. The character was revived a decade later as Barry Allen, a police scientist in Central City. Eventually, the two Flashes met and Garrick served as a friend and sometimes mentor to the younger Allen. When Barry Allen heroically gave his life in a huge, company-wide crossover story called Crisis On Infinite Earths, his sidekick Wally West shed his Kid Flash codename to take on the mantle of The Flash.

It is this sense of fictional history that many fans love, but has led to them questioning which version of the Flash will be in the film. According to a report at UGO by Patrick Sauriol, the script definitely states that the Flash will be the Barry Allen version. This is fitting as, even though Wally West is a currently a League member in the comics as was a member of Cartoon Network’s recent Justice League animated series, it was Barry who was a founding member of the League in the comics. If this is going to be a story of the League’s early days, Barry Allen is the proper character to have here.

Of course the question on everyone’s mind is who will be playing the league’s most recognizable members- Superman and Batman.

To date there has been no rumored word on who will be slipping on Batman’s cowl for the film, but it most certainly not be Christian Bale, the current star of Warner’s Batman franchise. Bale’s contract called for a three picture commitment and it is unlikely that he wishes one of those pictures to be done outside of his collaboration with director Chris Nolan.

As for Superman, the producers of both television’s Smallville and Bryan Singer’s Superman Returns (2006) have stated that their respective Clark Kents – Tom Welling and Brandon Routh – will not be stepping into Superman’s red and blue spandex. Speculation has been running wild as to whom will take on the role of the Man of Steel. Earlier today, Garth Franklin of Dark Horizons reported what he called an “unconfirmed rumor” that Rupert Evans has tested for and gotten the part. Says the anonymous source-

After going through a whole bunch of British actors, I heard today that one of them has been cast as Superman. Anyway, the guy everyone is talking about is called Rupert Evans.

If true, Evans is an interesting choice. I liked his role as a rookie agent in Guillermo Del Toro’s Hellboy (2004). Evans had reportedly auditioned and was one of the final contenders for the role for Singer’s Superman Returns, so presumably he has already done some character research.

Of course all this is speculation, in some cases well informed, in some cases perhaps not so much, and will remain such until as Warner Brothers makes some official announcements.

Who would you cast?

Comparing the Casts: Star Trek

The main casting of the new Star Trek film is finally complete and Trekkers all over the world are putting the cast under intense scrutiny. I wouldn't say that I was a hardcore Trekker, but I am a fan of the original Star Trek series. I have opinions on the cast, which I will share with you now.

Here you will get a side-by-side comparison of both cast and what I think of the new cast in regards to the old. This will not be fair or balanced. It will be based on what little I know of the new actor's career and appearance as it compares to the classic interpretation.

Captain James T. Kirk:

Mock all you want his macho swagger and "overly....nuanced...and staccatodelivery", William Shatner helped to create one of the most enduring icons of American pop culture. Anybody cast in the role of Captain James T. Kirk would have a strike against him. So a lot of people will judge Chris Pine unfairly right off the bat, saying that there would be no way to compare to the original. But really, no one ever could.

On an acting front, Pine's two major movie roles were as the likeable, if slightly nebbishy, romantic lead in the Lindsay Lohan vehicle, Just My Luck and as a skinhead, neo-Nazi assassin in Smokin' Aces. Kirk falls well in between those two extremes, so Pine should pull the role off.

However, that being said, judging general appearance, Shatner fills the roguish hero role better. His Kirk seems to be the kind of guy who would steal your girlfriend without even intending to but would have you back in any fight. Pine has a frat boy quality that lends itself to the fact that he would start the fight to keep you occupied while he plies your girlfriend with alcohol. At least, that's what I see.

Spock:

If there was a dead solid lock for looking like the original, Zachary Quinto is it. He is a squint and a thinning of the eyebrows away from Leonard Nimoy.

He also excels as the psychopathic mass murderer Sylar on the cult hit TV show Heroes. That role is a far cry from the cold, emotionless Spock we all know and love. But there is a certain aloofness in both roles that makes me think Quinto will do quite nicely as the Vulcan Science officer.

And the fact that Quinto is coming from one cultural phenomenon to another leads me to believe that he will avoid a pitfall that Nimoy suffered from--future typecasting.

Doctor Leonard McCoy:

I have to say, my favorite character in the original series was "Bones". This was mainly due to the performance of DeForest Kelley. His portrayal of the irascible doctor was, to me, pitch perfect. Every time he argued with Spock you could tell it wasn't out of hatred. And there is a reason why his trademark lines "It's worse than that, he's dead, Jim" and "I'm a doctor not a..." have been quoted so much. Karl Urban has big shoes to fill.

As for appearance, both actors have that weathered, world weary look, but Urban in a more "action hero" way.

Speaking of which, Urban's movie output (Pathfinder, Doom, Chronicles of Riddick) lead to an interesting pre-judgment--this ship's doctor might be tougher than the its captain. I mean, who would you rather beam down to a hostile planet with Romulans on your tail? Eomer from The Lord of the Rings or Lindsay Lohan's bad luck boyfriend?

Montgomery "Scotty" Scott:

Simply put, Simon Pegg rocks. If you haven't seen Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz yet, do so immediately. Not only are they two of the funniest movies of the past decade, they also show off Pegg's comedic acting chops in two very different roles. Scotty had his fair share or “comic relief” moments and also dead serious moments as well. Pegg could do that very well.

This might be the rare occasion where the new actor might slightly, slightly better than the original. Or at least as good yet in a different way. Don't get me wrong, James Doohan did a great job as Scotty. I’m just excited at what Pegg will bring to the role.

And besides, Pegg is from the United Kingdom. Sure, he hails from England and not Scotland, but that is closer to it than British Columbia (Doohan was born in that Canadian province, in Vancouver).

Nyota Uhura:

Everybody in the new cast has a hard time taking over characters that decades of fans have grown to love. But Zoe Saldana might have the toughest of all, because Uhura was one of the most socially important characters of the 1960’s.

Star Trek was supposedly Gene Roddenberry’s idyllic view of the future. At a time when civil rights were being fought for on the streets of America, his crew for the Enterprise came from diverse races, nationalities and countries and worked together as equals.

Nichelle Nichols played Uhura with intelligence, dignity and grace and served as a role model to both African-Americans and women. So much so that, as the story goes, when she was willing to quit the show she was talked out of it by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. himself. So Saldana isn’t just stepping into a role, she’s stepping into a legacy.

Hikaru Sulu:

Original Sulu George Takei is Japanese-American. John Cho was born in South Korea. It should be interesting to see what, if anything, the movie creators do with Sulu’s nationality, as the name “Hikaru”, which Sulu got in the Star Trek novels, not the TV series, is of Japanese origin. In the old days, this wouldn’t matter, as Japanese actors played Chinese played Korean and vice versa. Even today this practice continues. We’ll see what road the movie takes.

Another pitfall Cho has to overcome is his resume. Known primarily for comedies (American Pie, Harold and Kumar Go to White Castle), many Trekkers might have reservations about his being cast. Genre fans are insistent that the things they love be treated seriously (remember the Michael Keaton as Batman controversy?). And while Star Trek does have its share of comedic moments, it is not a comedy.

Pavel Chekov:

Chekov was created for the show as an attempt to appeal to a new demographic—the teenage market. He was supposed to bring in the fans of the Beatles and the Monkees’ Davy Jones to the show. However, Walter Koenig was on the cusp of 30 when he took the role, and that faux-Beatles wig they gave him didn’t really fool anybody into thinking he was a teenager.

The movie producers have gone one better. Their Chekov, Anton Yelchin will actually be a teenager (19) when the movie comes out. Actually, the producers have gone two better. Yelchin was born in Russia, in Leningrad as a matter of fact. He immigrated here when he was only 6 months old, but he should have an advantage on the Chicago born Koenig when it comes to Chekov’s Russian accent.

Trailer Park: I AM LEGEND

Will Smith is the last man on Earth, being stalked by creatures who were once the rest of the population but have been mutated by a strange virus. Sound familiar? It should as I Am Legend is a remake of not only The Omega Man (1971) with Charlton Heston, but The Last Man On Earth (1964) with Vincent Price. Both of those movies, as well as this new version, draw their inspiration from Richard Matheson’s novel I Am Legend.

This particular variation on a theme has been kicking around in Warner Brothers’ Development Hell.. err, Development Offices for quite a while. Ridley Scott was originally planning on doing it in conjunction with Arnold Schwarzenegger before an escalating budget killed the project. Rob Bowman also took a crack at the story, but it finally got into production under the aegis of director Francis Lawrence, after Michael Bay’s vision for the movie was passed on by the studio.
Two new trailers have been released for the film- One for US theaters and one for international audiences. Interestingly, they use primarily the same footage, but they create two differing moods. The International Trailer skews a bit more towards the horror elements of the story, while the US version subtly emphasizes the action elements.

The US Trailer-




The International Trailer-




I Am Legend opens December 14, 2007.

DARJEELING LIMITED Will Depart From HOTEL CHEVALIER

In a turnaround from what was being said back at the beginning of September, Wes Anderson's short film Hotel Chevalier will run in front of his new feature The Darjeeling Limited when the movie opens wider this Friday.

The 13 minute short centers on the character that Jason Schwartzman plays in Darjeeling Limited, filling in a portion of his backstory that is referenced in the feature. Although the incidences of the short – in which Schwartzman’s character has an unexpected reunion with a former lover played by Natalie Portman – are mentioned, one can see Darjeeling without having seen Chevalier. The two have screened together at various film festivals.

Although shot a year before the production of Darjeeling Limited, Anderson has been waffling about how to present Hotel Chevalier, unsure if he wanted to have the short run separately before Darjeeling or edited into the feature as a flashback. Finally, he decided to make Hotel Chevalier available for free via Apple iTunes and then include it on the DVD release of Darjeeling Limited.

During a publicity appearance at the Apple Store Soho in New York for Hotel Chevalier’s iTunes debut, Anderson hoped that people would see the short first and then watch the feature a few weeks later, mirroring the time that elapses between the two stories-

Ideally, I wanted someone to watch the short, take a break, think about it for a week and then watch the feature. That's kind of hard to organize at a multiplex.

FilmBuffOnLine Review

Previously: Hotel Chevalier Unreachable Via Darjeeling Limited

Via Hollywood Reporter

This Week's Theatrical Releases.

1. 30 Days of Night (2,855 Theaters, Rated R): For those of you not in the know, this film is a comic book adaptation. It is based on the 2002 IDW miniseries of the same name created by Steve Niles and Ben Templesmith.

I feel the need to mention this, for no matter how many movies like Road to Perdition, History of Violence, or 300 abound, people still equate "comic book movie' with capes and spandex. Comic books have gotten way more diverse since we were kids. It's about time people realized that.

The comic made names for Niles and Templesmith and caught the attention of movie producer Sam Raimi because it was based on a genius concept. Take a group of vampires, daylight averse blood sucking fiends, and put them in Barrow, Alaska, where night lasts a month. The result? The town becomes an all-you-can-eat buffet for the bad guys, and the good guys have to fight back against overwhelming odds.

If that was enough going for it, in addition to horror legend Sam Raimi as producer, it is directed by David Slade, whose previous film was the acclaimed Hard Candy, and cretor Steve Niles worked on the screenplay.

2. The Comebacks (2, 812 Theaters, Rated PG-13): I believe the is a mistaken assumption in Hollywood that making a parody movie is easy. Just put a bunch of look alike actors in situations that appeared in other movies, change the dialogue here and there, and voila, instant parody.

Unfortunately, as the horrible Date Movie and Epic Movie can attest, making a good parody film is not that simple. What made the Airplane, Hot Shots, Scary Movie and Naked Gun franchises so successful, besides the involvement of the Zucker brothers, is that they parodied not just individual scenes from a type of movie, but the genre itself. That, and they actually had a plot and a storyline.

Which category will The Comebacks fall into? Well, sports movies are ripe for parody. But, even still, the fact this film apes such obscure flicks as Radio and Necessary Roughness makes me believe it is stretching for content. Heck, it even spoofs a spoof in a scene inspired by Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story. That doesn't give me much hope.

3. Rendition (2,250 Theaters, Rated R): I spoke on this before, but there releases this time of year which fall under what I like to call a "For Your Consideration" umbrella. These are movies where the producers are aiming for an Oscar that it's almost painful.

This is the first movie released this week that falls into this category. It shares several qualities of movies of this type. It has no less than three Oscar winners in the cast (Reese Witherspoon, Alan Arkin and Meryl Streep) and at least one Oscar nominee (Jake Gyllenhaal).

It is also about an "important subject", which is also popular with Oscar voters. The plot deals with the US Government's war on terror, namely its policies regarding torture and suspension of civil rights. Definitely a hot button topic in today's day and age.

Don't get me wrong, just because a movie is a "For Your Consideration" film doesn't mean that it isn't good. This film does look better than the similarly theme Lions for Lambs which is scheduled to arrive in a few weeks, if only for the more personal approach to the subject matter.

4. Gone Baby Gone (1,713 Theaters, Rated R): There is something about this movie that you won't find out in ads for it that I think that everyone needs to know.

This movie is co-written and directed by Ben Affleck.

Has Mr. Affleck become such damage goods that even the slightest hint that he might have had something to do with this film needs to be squashed. Sure, he's made some bad decisions (that is, we can underplay his accepting a role in Gigli as simply being a bad decision), but he's also an Oscar winning screenwriter. He co-wrote Good Will Hunting, you know? That was a great movie.

Maybe the Ben Affleck-less advertising tact is a good thing. The trailers for the film seem to sell it pretty well all by themselves. Of course, they do mention this is adapted from a novel by Dennis Lehane of Mystic River fame. That's in the ads but Affleck's involvement isn't.

I might be alone in this, but I am rooting for at least an Oscar nomination for Ben. If only to give him a little more respect.

%. Things We Lost in the Fire (1, 142 Theaters, Rated R): Yet another "For Your Consideration" movie. It stars two Oscar winners in Hallie Berry and Benicio Del Toro. But, in my opinion, it is hampered by a lackluster plot.

On the surface, it seems Oscar worthy. Berry plays a woman dealing with the lost of her husband. Del Toro plays a friend of the husband who is trying to get his life back together. They both work together to help themselves in their time of need and come out better for it.

But it also the type of plot that is screaming for a parody trailer with "Solsbury Hill" playing in the background. What makes it different is that it appears there are scenes shoehorned in that will allow the actors to show their chops. The trailer already shows Berry doubled over in grief. I'm sure there will be a meaty scene of Del Toro wrestling with what ever demon he is wrestling with. Adding these scenes of pathos does not automatically give weight to the story. If not done right, it would seem jarring in comparison with it.

6. Sarah Landon and the Paranormal Hour (1,115 Theaters, Rated PG): This movie is being billed as "The First in a Series of Sarah Landon Mysteries". No, this does not mean that this is another in a line of adaptations of young adult novels. It's more cheery optimism on the part of the movie's producers.

This film is being released in over a 1,000 theaters, which is considered a wide release, but it seems more like a family project more than anything else. It appears that the director, the writers and quite a few of the actors are hail from the same family.

Outside of that, there is a lot of unknowns in the cast. No trailer exists on iFilm for the movie, and I as of yet have not seen any TV ads for the film. If it wasn't for IMDB, I would know nothing about this film.

All these ad up to it not being to positive that there will be a second in the series. Sure, if this is a grass roots effort at getting a movie produced, then the lack of advertising is understandable. But movies that exist in a vacuum don't usually do that well in the box office.

Now the predictions.
This is what I predicted for last week:

1. We Own the Night
2. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married
3. The Game Plan
4. The Heartbreak Kid
5. Elizabeth: The Golden Age

And this is how it turned out:

1. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married
2. The Game Plan
3. We Own the Night
4. Michael Clayton
5. The Heartbreak Kid

Thanks to my underestimating the power of Tyler Perry and overestimating the Wahlberg/Phoenix tandem, I laid a big, fat goose egg this week. This makes me 25 for 50, or an average of 50%.

Let's go to this week's predictions, knowing I can't get any worse.

1. 30 Days of Night
2. Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married
3. The Game Plan
4. The Comebacks
5. Rendition

What do you think?

Rodriguez's BARBARELLA Redo In Question

Sticking to his guns may have cost director Robert Rodriguez upwards of $40 million dollars and has placed the future of his remake of the campy 1960s science-fiction film Barbarella in jeopardy, according to a report in the New York Observer.

Rodriguez has been adamant that Rose McGowan, who starred in Rodriguez's Planet Terror segment of last spring's Grindhouse, is the gal to fill original star Jane Fonda's silver go-go boots for the 21st century update. However, Universal Pictures has balked at shelling out the reported $100 million that has been budgeted for the film, primarily on the basis that they don't feel that McGowan, whom just so happens to be engaged to Rodriguez, doesn't have enough star power to drive enough box office to make the film profitable.

The Observer's report has Rodriguez trying to spin the story away from his future bride and towards the film's escalating budget, saying that Universal became concerned when it began to escalate past the originally projected $60 million price tag. The report states that Rodriguez says that Universal will still fund the picture at $60 million but he is currently shopping the project around to other studios for more money.

Personally, if Universal is having doubts about McGowan in the film, than they're making a mistake. True, Grindhouse did not come close to making the box office that was hoped for, but the blame rests in places other than with Rodriguez or McGowan. McGowan has built a large fan following from her six years on the television series Charmed, a fanbase that tends to skew female, a demographic that might otherwise be a hard sale to get into the theater for a film like this.

Via Cinematical.

Welles's CITIZEN KANE Oscar Up For Auction

New York auction house Sotheby's has announced plans to auction the Academy Award that Orson Welles won for co-authoring the screenplay to Citizen Kane. Although it is a perennial topper of critics "Best" lists, Citizen Kane only won one of the nine Oscar statues it was nominated for in 1941. It is also the only Academy Award Welles would ever win over the course of his career.

The Oscar statue will go under the gavel on December 11, with Sotheby's expecting it to be sold for anywhere between $800,00.00 and $1.2 million.

Long thought lost, Welles's Oscar was revealed to be in the possession of cinematographer Gary Graver, who stated that the director had given him the statue as payment for working on Welles's unfinished 1974 film The Other Side Of The Wind. Graver tried to auction the Oscar through Sotheby's, but was sued by Welles' daughter Beatrice Welles, who was eventually awarded ownership of the Academy Award by a California court.

Beatrice Welles put the Oscar up for auction herself, but was sued by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts And Sciences. The Academy had enacted a stipulation that the Oscar statues could not be resold without first offering to sell them back to the Academy for the nominal sum of $1.00. However, a California court ruled that as this rule was enacted in 1950, the Citizen Kane Oscar was not covered by the policy. The auction went ahead in 2003, with the Oscar being acquired by the Dax Foundation, who has decided to resale the statue and use the proceeds to help fund the non-profit organization’s charitable works.

Several older Oscars have been sold at auction and by private dealers for sums in the six-figure range. The Best Picture Oscar for Gone With The Wind (1939) fetched $1.5 million at auction while its star Vivien Leigh’s Best Actress statue went for $550,000.00. Director Steven Spielberg has shelled out six-figure prices for pre-1950 Oscar statues awarded to Clark Gable and Bette Davis in order to donate them back to the Academy in perpetutity.

Previously: Academy Attempts To Block Sale Of Oscar

STAR TREK Casting Finalized?

It looks as if the last two pieces that make-up the J. J. Abrams Star Trek revamp cast puzzle have been revealed - Chris Pine as Captain Kirk and Karl Urban as Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy.

Pine had recently been rumored as a top contender for the role, even though he had already been offered a role in director Joe Carnahan’s White Jazz, an adaptation of the James Elroy novel. Even though there hasn’t been an official announcement from Trek studio Paramount, Carnahan has stated in his blog that Pines had passed on White Jazz for the role of a certain legendary starship captain-

The young man playing Junior Stemmons has opted to 'boldly go where no man has gone before' and thus, had to bow out of White Jazz. I've been talking to him this past week and knew how tough the decision had to be for him. I don't envy ever being in that spot but I gave him my full support, even if it meant he didn't do Jazz. I get it. You don't get opportunities like that often and I told him as long as he could control as much of that process as possible and not get sucked into doing lesser sequels as a result of taking this gig, then good luck and God bless.

Also awaiting an official announcement is that Karl Urban will taking the role of “Bones” McCoy. TrekMovieReport reported last week that an unnamed source had confirmed that the New Zealand-born Urban was in talks for the role of McCoy. And now earlier this evening, AintItCool is reporting that their own source has confirmed that Urban as Bones is “pretty much a done deal.”

With his cast apparently in place, Abrams is set to start filming next month for the film’s release next Christmas.

Previously: More Star Trek News: Cho added to cast as Sulu
Simon Pegg To Play Scotty In New Star Trek