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Interview: James McTeigue, 'Ninja Assassin' (Part 1)
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, Interviews
Director James McTeigue has been working on films since the late 1980s, back in his native Australia. He was second assistant director on Dark City and first assistant director on Star Wars: Attack of the Clones. He started working with Andy and Larry Wachowski as an assistant director on The Matrix, and they've been collaborating on projects together ever since. The Wachowskis wrote the first feature film helmed by McTeigue, V for Vendetta, and he provided second-unit direction on their most recent film, Speed Racer.
Ninja Assassin, which opened this week, is the latest movie McTeigue has directed, with the Wachowskis on board as producers. You can read William Goss's review for more details about the action/fantasy film. Cinematical sat down with the director in late September during Fantastic Fest, just after the movie played the festival. He was very pleased with the fest screening and happy to talk about the film.
Making The (Up) Grade: North By Northwest
Filed under: Warner Brothers, Fandom, Home Entertainment
Initially I planned to make North by Northwest a title revisited in my "Shelf Life" column, but I decided against it when I realized that most folks just love that movie to death, including myself, so seeing whether it's still good would be purely redundant. But the new Blu-ray released by Warner Brothers also didn't seem like it warranted a question of whether or not it was superior to its predecessors thanks to a wealth of bonus content – that is, until I discovered that in fact some of it was on previous versions, no doubt leaving longtime fans with a quandary whether or not to shell out a few more shekels to see one of their favorite Alfred Hitchcock films in high-definition.
As such, North by Northwest is the overdue subject of this week's "Making The (Up) Grade," and I spare no effort examining the past, present and future of this film's home video incarnations.
What's Already Available:
Gaze Upon 'The Losers' and 'Jonah Hex'!
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Images, Western
At last, some comic book news that isn't centered around Batman or Spider-Man! Omelete got their hands on some official images from two of Warner Bros' upcoming comic flicks, Jonah Hex and The Losers.
We've seen paparazzi glimpses from the Hex set of Megan Fox and Josh Brolin, but there's nothing like a well-lit and spooky shot, especially when your actor looks good enough to have walked off the page. If you're a fan of the haunted gunslinger and are unconvinced, you might be comforted by the sight of his Confederate gray and mangled lip. I can't say how excited I am for this film. Jonah Hex is a character who has more in common with High Plains Drifter than the capes and superpower crowd, and I think that will surprise and delight a lot of "newbies" who still equate DC Comics with Batman.
Next up, we have our first official look at The Losers! Aren't they a handsome bunch? This is based not on the DC war squad from the 1970s, but on the Vertigo spinoff by Andy Diggle. The Losers are a Special Forces team abandoned and left to die by their mysterious commander, Max. They regroup, vow revenge, and let the bullets fly. I have hopes that this one will be a solid action flick, the kind we all long for from the 1980s. The cast is certainly a lovely one: Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Zoe Saldana, Chris Evans, Columbus Short, Idris Elba, and Oscar Jaenada are our fine Losers, and Jason Patric will be the villainous Max. You can see the whole line-up of them here, along a very sexy shot of Saldana. Even I can appreciate a lovely lady when she's packing guns. Now, if they'll just release a photo of Morgan to match ...
The photos are below in our gallery. Spend your Turkey Day geeking out.
Review: The Blind Side
Filed under: Sports, New Releases, Warner Brothers, Theatrical Reviews, Family Films
The trailers for The Blind Side triggered my "oh geez, another sports-related Triumph of the Human Spirit" cynicism, and I might not have seen the film at all if I hadn't been assigned to review it. That would have been my loss, and I experienced the lovely surprise of having a movie turn out far more enjoyable than I expected. The Blind Side has no twists or gimmicks other than being a very good example of a sports-related family film, with quality performances and writing.
The movie's title is a football reference, which the voiceover of Leigh Anne Touhy (Sandra Bullock) explains at the beginning. Michael Oher (Quenton Aaron) is sweating out a tough but unspecified situation in an office, when we flash back a few years and meet him as Big Mike. An African-American staff member at a mostly white Christian private school is trying to get his athletic son into the school, and the school's coach also spots some athletic potential in Big Mike, granting him a scholarship. Big Mike has terrible trouble keeping up in school, and when his friend's family stops helping him out, he is virtually homeless -- sleeping in the school gym, eating popcorn left there after events, wearing the same thin clothes daily.
MGM Studios Officially For Sale
Filed under: Deals, Executive shifts, Lionsgate Films, MGM, Warner Brothers, RumorMonger, Distribution, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, James Bond
MGM Studios' financial troubles will soon be coming to a sad end. Back in September, it was reported that MGM was in such poor shape that they might be forced to auction off their assets, including James Bond and The Hobbit. That day has come to pass. Variety reports that MGM Studios is officially on the auction block.MGM has been given a month of breathing space from their interest payments, time they plan on using to begin "a process to explore various strategic alternatives including operating as a standalone entity, forming strategic partnerships and evaluating a potential sale of the company."
But all hopes of survival may rest on what they sell off from their glorious history, including a library of 4,000 titles, the logo, the United Artists company, James Bond, and half ownership in The Hobbit. Time Warner, News Corp, and Lionsgate are said to be interested in all of the above.
As their library scatters to the four winds, it'll be really interesting to see what remakes and reboots it spawns. Remember, Robocop was on the MGM remake slate, and surely some hungry studio will snap that up. The Cannon Films and ITV Global Entertainment collections are just ripe for harvesting. Perhaps you'll finally see a Lifeforce movie, or a remake of Capricorn One, or an aspiring Tarantino type will buy up all those American International Picture rights and revive motorcycle gang movies. Sure, we all want to know who will wind up with James Bond, but it'll be far more fascinating if someone tries to remake Psych-Out. *
*It's possible this is considered one of AIP's "early" films, though it's unclear where that cut off date is.
'Clash of the Titans' Trailer Now Online!
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Trailers and Clips
In a scant twelve years, Louis Leterrier has gone from being a production assistant on Alien: Resurrection to directing what has just, with a single trailer, become one of my most anticipated films of 2010: Warner Brothers' remake of Clash of the Titans. Sure, he has progressively proven himself a champion of the fantastic, evolving from The Transporter series to last year's The Incredible Hulk, but as much as I've been impressed by his eye for spectacle thus far, I wasn't ready for how fun his take on Titans looks. It's just our first look, but I couldn't stop smiling by the end of this teaser.
And yet, I don't know why I should be so surprised. The original is, after all, a landmark fantasy film packed with Ray Harryhausen's indelible stop-motion imagery. Add on Leterrier commanding a great cast ranging from Liam Neeson to Ralph Fiennes to Sam Worthington, and a script whose bones were written by Raiders of the Lost Ark screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan before WB brought in the duo of Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi to flesh things out. Perhaps the shock of seeing this trailer came from just how indelible Harryhausen's Titans actually were. I knew it would undergo an extreme visual overhaul, but in the back of my mind I was still expecting stop-motion giants, not Troy by way of God of War.
There's nothing stop-motion about this new re-envisioning of the wars between Gods and men. Purists will not be on board with the amount of digital wizardry, but any fan of seeing mythological worlds brought to life should be in love with the energy Leterrier has infused in his Clash of the Titans. You can see for yourself after the jump, then click over to Moviefone to grab it in a variety of HD flavors. Additionally, we've got some fantastic screenshots in the gallery below.
'Sgt. Rock' Looks to the Future with Francis Lawrence
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Warner Brothers, Scripts, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, War
Once upon a time, Sgt. Rock was in the hands of Guy Ritchie, and many an Easy Company fan was upset. But you'll undoubtedly wish that Ritchie and Joel Silver had made it to the finish line, because Sgt. Rock will not make it to the big screen in a form you'll recognize. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he has a new director in Francis Lawrence and a whole new space-time continuum. Joel Silver is still on board as producer, and he's bringing Akiva Goldsman on board to help. They've hired newcomer Chad St. John to pen the script. As you may or may not know, Sgt. Rock is a WWII soldier. He's always fought in WWII. The poor guy has never even gotten to leave the European theater. (It was rumored in Swamp Thing that he was transferred to the Pacific, but never confirmed.) Any attempt at a movie adaptation has always gone forward with this central idea of keeping him in his element. But budget, politics, and popularity has always been an issue, and no one believes you can make The Dirty Dozen in this day and age unless you're Quentin Tarantino. So Warner Bros has decided to bypass the drama, and put Sgt. Rock in the future. CG is cheaper than Nazis, and a nondescript soldier of the future is less problematic than an American fighting a good fight. (While no war is a good war, I do think we can all agree that fighting Nazis was a good thing.)
Nothing else is known about this storyline, so I hate to jump to a knee-jerk conclusion as to who or what Sgt. Rock will face there, or whether he will be transported to the future from WWII. But I think this is an unfortunate thing to do to a character who resides in WWII for a very specific and honorable reason. The last thing he should become is a Universal Soldier or Terminator ripoff.
Review: The Box
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, Warner Brothers, Theatrical Reviews
Richard Matheson's original short story, "Button, Button," was a nifty little morality tale about a couple faced with a peculiar opportunity -- if they push a button in a box, they'll get a sum of money but kill a stranger in doing so. That version of the story ended with the wife pushing the button and killing her husband, a man she didn't really know. As an episode of "The Twilight Zone" in 1986, the story ended with the couple paid off and assured that the device would then go to another couple to whom they qualify as strangers. Now, Richard Kelly's The Box takes that same basic premise and spins it into a mind-bender of the most baffling degree, starting out as another "Twilight Zone"-worthy variant but eventually reaching the outer limits of both patience and reason.
'Yogi Bear' Will Cry Me A River With Its Cast
Filed under: Animation, Comedy, Casting, Warner Brothers, Family Films, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
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Yogi Bear and Boo Boo are bringing sexy back -- and that image should make you ripe for nightmares tonight. If you doubt me, look to Variety, who reports that Dan Aykroyd, Anna Faris, and Justin Timberlake are set to go to Jellystone in Yogi Bear, which Eric Brevig is directing for Warner Bros. Aykroyd will be voicing Yogi, and he really is the most obvious choice to play the picnic basket thief. He's funny, he sounds gruff, and if it was live-action it would be a very terrifying thing to see. So thank goodness this is being done as a CG / live-action hybrid.
Timberlake will be voicing Boo Boo. Yep. The man who wants to love your mother, put his d*ck in a box, and who will cry you a river will lend his vocal talents to playing Yogi's diminutive sidekick. In this update of the Hanna-Barbera cartoon, expect Boo Boo to be a lot more of a smart aleck. (I was going to say "sassy," but I think that would be a far different Boo Boo.)
Though Faris has done voice work before, it sounds as though she might be one of the live action elements to this unholy hybrid. Variety says she's set to play a documentary filmmaker. Presumably she discovers the tourist robbing bears, and makes a film of them. Or she has to help them preserve Jellystone against evil developers. Either way, she'll have to talk to big rubbery CG bears, and it might be kind of weird. What would be even weirder is if one or both bears fell in love with her, so let's hope she falls into the arms of whoever plays Ranger Smith. Shooting is expected to start in New Zealand next month.
Making The (Up) Grade: Heat
Filed under: Warner Brothers, Fandom, Home Entertainment
Every few years, it seems necessary in the course of critiquing home video releases to clarify and designate the difference between all of those terms that distributors and producers come up with to describe films that arrive in stores in a version other than their theatrical iteration. For example, "unrated" no longer simply means that a film is too bawdy or offensive to garner a proper MPAA rating; rather, in many cases it means that the studio re-inserted footage, and didn't bother to screen it for the ratings board at all. "Director's cuts," meanwhile, sometimes really reflect the original vision of a filmmaker for his movie, and sometimes just qualify as an alternate version that was supervised or approved by the director. And most importantly, none of these changes are an automatic indication that the film will be superior to the one that you saw in theaters, even if there's a little more gore or nudity or (God forbid) character development.
Ironically, the new Blu-ray for Heat carries no such designation – to anyone buying it, this is the same film they saw in theaters and on standard-definition DVD. However, at the top of the list of the disc's special features, the topline attraction is "new content changes supervised by director Michael Mann." Even for someone who's seen more than his share of extended, alternate, unrated and director's cuts, this was particularly intriguing, which is why Heat is the subject of this week's "Making The (Up) Grade."
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
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