Flags of Our Fathers, the newest film from Clint Eastwood, is a great demonstration of the fact that good intentions don't necessarily mean good moviemaking. James Bradley and Ron Powers' book told the story of the six men who made for one the most memorable human images of World War II -- the famous photo of the raising of the American flag at Iwo Jima -- and contrasted the battle for Mt. Suribachi with the hero-making that came after, as the three surviving soldiers were sent on a colossal bond drive to help finance the war effort. As John Slattery's natty, chatty Treasury man puts it to the servicemen, Marines Rene Gagnon (Jesse Bradford) and Ira Hayes (Adam Beach) and Navy Corpsman John 'Doc' Bradley (Ryan Phillippe), "You fought for a mountain in the Pacific; now you'll fight for a mountain of cash." War is hell, and so is selling it.
I'm as tired of "The Greatest Generation" hero worship as the next person who isn't Tom Brokaw, but that's not at the heart of why I was so unmoved by Flags of Our Fathers. The problem with this film is not the story of Iwo Jima; Bradley and Powers' book is fascinating and rich. It's not Eastwood's direction, which is as artistically stately and technically accomplished as you might hope. The problem with Flags of Our Fathers-- driven through every moment in the film as decisively and fatally as a stake through the heart -- is the scripting of Paul Haggis. Haggis adapted Million Dollar Baby for Eastwood and then went on to co-write and direct Crash. Haggis has never met a familiar cliché or a rousing 'big moment' he didn't like, and Flags of Our Fathers is dripping with them. As the three men appear at a bond rally in Chicago, flashbulbs lead to flashbacks; as the photo hits the press, newsboys sell papers that come hurled off the back of trucks in bundles; a mother, convinced that her son appears uncredited in the Iwo Jima photo, swats away the suggestion she's mistaken: "Oh, that's Harlon ... I changed his diapers. ..."
Yes, its true. One of my favorite movies of the last few years, Old School, finally seems to be moving forward with a sequel. The movie (which Erik wrote about before) has long been rumored, due in large part to the success of the original, and Dreamworks has always seemed committed to the idea, but for one reason or another, a sequel never seemed to get off the ground. The delays now seem to be over though, at least according to IGN, as Director Todd Phillips and co-writer Sean Armstrong, who both did the original, have started work on the script for the sequel called Old School Dos.
Maybe its because I was in a fraternity in college and I kinda miss those "good old days" so perfectly captured by the first film. Or, maybe its because the first film had such great comic performances by Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Will "Frank the Tank" Ferrell. Of course, it could also be that when I saw Old School for the first time (in a great theater in Portland where you can have a beer and watch movies at the same time) I laughed so hard I nearly choked on my frosty beverage.
It could be all of those reasons and any one of a dozen others, but no matter what it is, I am psyched about a sequel and look forward to seeing it when it comes out. But even though Phillips and Armstrong have started on a script, there's still no guarantee the film will get made -- or if it does, arrive at your local theater any time soon. There are many details still to be worked out, not the least of which are the schedules of Luke Wilson, Vince Vaughn and Will Ferrell and a finished script approved by the actors.
Still, if Phillips and Armstrong do manage to get a script together that entices the actors to return, and Dreamworks can manage the schedules and put the rest of the pieces together, we might just see this film after all. And after seeing the film, maybe we'll swing by Bed Bath and Beyond, but I'm not sure if we'll have enough time.
Have you noticed how many animated movies have been in the theater over the past few months? There have been Monster House, Open Season, The Wild, Over the Hedge, Barnyard, Cars, and The Ant Bullyto name a few, which doesn't even cover the glut of sequels and straight-to -video DVDs that have been released and re-released, including last week's The Little Mermaid: Ultimate Line Our Pockets Disney Adamantium Edition. Of those, only Monster House doesn't focus on talking animals, insects or vehicles. As a result, the novelty of both animated films, and the concepts they bring with them are making audiences weary, according toThe New York Times.
Popular animated movies used to belong only to Disney, and they released them sparingly, not wanting to step on the toes of their own product. However, once Disney/Pixar became a force to reckon with, Disney was releasing CGI films on top of its own traditionally animated films, and began crowding the schedule with more films each year. These days, animated films crowd theaters with offerings from Disney/Pixar, Sony Imageworks, Dreamworks Animation, Warner Bros., and Paramount/Nickelodeon. It's a jungle out there -- or a forest, or a farmyard, or ... well, you get the idea.
This is typical of the Hollywood "me too!" syndrome that hits when something works well and starts making tons of money for a studio. Everyone else wants in on it. Horror films started making money, so now everyone is putting out a lot of horror movies. The Lord of the Rings opened the door for more fantasy films like The Chronicles of Narnia, and Eragon, and the popularity of X-Men gave rise to a slew of comic book movies including Spider-Man, Superman Returns and the upcoming Ghost Rider.
Animated films have always been a treasure for younger and older audiences alike, and are part of a dwindling part of the theater experience that people can still enjoy as a family. Are you still going to see animated movies?
After winning an Oscar for her performance in Monster's Ball, Halle Berry went on to star in a slew of "major pay-day flicks," instead of taking her newfound attention and spinning it into an assortment of difficult, meaningful roles. I mean, Catwoman? Gothika? Die Another Day? Girl, you just won a freaking Oscar for Best Actress -- c'mon, show us you're not a one-hit wonder. Give us something juicy. Give us something controversial. Give us something, um, good.
Well, perhaps that time is upon us, as Berry is now attached to star in Class Act for Dreamworks. Based on real-life events, pic revolves around a teacher (Tierney Cahill) from Nevada who, when challenged by her sixth-grade students to run for Congress back in 2000, actually stepped up to the plate and gave it a shot. Though the single mother eventually lost, she did end up with 35% of the popular vote -- thanks, in part, to the students who helped run her campaign.
The casting choice here is a bit peculiar seeing as Cahill is white, not black. According to Variety, someone close to the film felt "it was more important to find the right actress to play the role rather than the right white actress." Hmm, I'm still not sold ... something feels shady here. Regardless, Doug Atchinson is set to write and direct the flick, which is eying a May/June production start.
Yes, Tony Goldwyn and Paul Haggis's The Last Kiss is about the 4000th remake of the past few years (listed just after The Lake House and Last Holiday, and just before The Longest Yard), but this one actually has a little something to say about the trend. Most remakes are based on the idea that juveniles buy the most tickets; since they're young, they theoretically don't know anything about older (or foreign) movies and hence we can sell them the same stories over and over again. The irony is that there are a bunch of grown men sitting in Hollywood boardrooms, paid to think like juveniles.
But The Last Kiss actually takes on juvenility as a subject. 31 year-old Zach Braff plays a character about his own age, an architect named Michael. Michael has dated Jenna (Jacinda Barrett) for years, and now she's pregnant, though they've never bothered to get married. Michael informs us that, although his life has gone as planned and he has no complaints, he has begun to feel trapped, as if there was no more excitement waiting for him.
Michael's lifelong pals are in much of the same boat. Chris (Casey Affleck) is married with a baby (that never seems to stop screaming). His wife Lisa (Lauren Lee Smith) never stops screaming at him, and he has taken to locking himself in the bathroom, desperately groping for a second's worth of peace and understanding. Izzy (Michael Weston) has just been dumped by his longtime girlfriend and can't quite come to terms with it. And, stud-muffin Kenny (Eric Christian Olsen) has just realized that his life of tending bar and sleeping with hot women isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Last time I reported on the confusing family known as Viacom, I mentioned that MTV Films and Nickelodeon Films were being adopted (consolidated) by Paramount Pictures. Well, I was sorta wrong. In continuing my allegory, let me just say that MTV and Nickelodeon are not being sheltered so much as they are growing up -- although like many young grown-ups these days, they will continue to live with their parents.
In case you ever paid attention to the corporate logos preceding an MTV or Nickelodeon movie, you likely noticed that in addition to the MTV or Nickelodeon logos, the Paramount Pictures logo also flashed on the screen. This is because Paramount distributed the films. But now MTV and Nickelodeon are adults and can distribute themselves, just like Paramount Vantage, Paramount Classics and Dreamworks. They're still part of the Paramount/Viacom family, of course, but they are trusted more than they were as children (er, production companies). Best of all, like the adultalescents they are, MTV and Nickelodeon get to retain their cool status as brands for teens and kids, respectively.
Producer Scott Aversano has been hired as president of both labels.
The time has come, I'm afraid, to just accept that there is no stopping a Wayans. No matter how much of a stinkirritatedmovie-goers and film critics put up, they will always be with us, making their movies and earning their money. Every last one of them. At this point, I think we just have to stop worrying about it, and give them credit for hanging around -- especially when they manage to keep getting studios to make movies that sounds so thunderingly moronic. Take, for example, Marlon's latest. Just reacquired by DreamWorks, it's called Pretty Ugly (Oh I get it -- an oxymoron! So clever!), and is "about a handsome lifestyle mogul who wakes up hideously ugly because of a curse. As a result he must discover his inner beauty to save his company and win over the woman he loves." Oh, look -- cliches! (And what the hell is a lifestyle mogul?) Needless to say, Marlon himself will be developing, producing and starring in the film, though there's no indication yet of DreamWorks' schedule for the project. Edit: The picture is now of the Wayans in question, not just a member of the clan. Thanks, Tanya.
The big screen, OMG Johnny Depp is So Hot! version of Stephen Sondheim's Sweeney Todd that we told you about way back in January (and again in June) is finally kicking into high gear, much to the glee of Depp-aholics everywhere (and, based on their comments, the dismay of fans of the show, who think Depp is all wrong for the lead role). Variety reported this morning that the movie, which will mark the sixth collaboration between Depp and director Tim Burton, will be jointly produced and financed by Warner Bros. -- with whom Burton has a strong relationship -- and DreamWorks, with Paramount (domestic) and WB (international) handling distribution.
The current schedule is to begin shooting next February at London's Pinewood Studios, but rehearsals are expected to kick off as early as November; a release in late 2007 is currently being targeted. (And no, there doesn't seem to be any truth to yesterday's reports that Sondheim was demanding vocal tests before allowing Depp to be cast.)
Ivan Reitman and producing partner Tom Pollock have managed to score co-financing -- to the tune of $200 million over five years -- for 10 new films from their Montecito Picture Company. Mmm ... lots and lots of comedies. The deal is sort of complicated -- for example, the funding body, Cold Spring Pictures, also has the option of financial involvement in Montecito properties that don't get picked up by partner DreamWorks -- but the point is that Reitman and Pollack are very happy men this morning. When taken in combination with their recently extended first-look deal with DreamWorks, this news means they can make what they want, and that what they make will get distribution without a struggle.
Obviously, packages this sweet don't just appear out of the blue: Pollack and Reitman make movies that make money men happy. As Pollack himself told Variety, "The kinds of movies we make are in an exceptionally sweet spot in the studio system; we tend to make comedies at a price. When they work, like with Old School and Road Trip, they make a lot of money. When they don't, like EuroTrip, they don't lose much. From a Wall Street standpoint, that's a good risk."
These are good times for comedian Demetri Martin. In just a few years, the Yale graduate and NYU law school dropout has won a comedy award at Edinburgh's Fringe Festival, scored a high-profile gig writing for Conan O'Brien, worked as a Daily Show correspondent and also starred in his own Comedy Central special. Oh, and he's sold two comedy pitches to major Hollywood studios -- I'd say that's a pretty good three-year run.
The first pitch, which sold to Dreamworks earlier this year, was entitled Will and will be executive-produced by Scot Armstrong, one of Old School's writers. Pitch number two, called Moon People, was just bought by Columbia and sounds potentially very cool, assuming it's been placed in the correct hands. The movie will detail the struggles of "a group of people who return to assimilate on Earth years after they were sent to colonize the moon." Nice, huh? Martin himself will write the screenplay and then hand it over to Ali G Show writer-director James Bobin to direct.
Surely you've heard of the dude who got rid of all his stuff -- apart from a single red paper clip -- and resolved, through the power of trade/finding really dumb people online, to turn it into a place to live. Things went frighteningly well for the gentleman, a Canadian named Kyle MacDonald. Though the last I heard he'd scored himself a car and then a place to sleep, Variety informed me this morning that MacDonald had, in fact, accomplished his goal: He turned a paper clip into a house. Though you'd think that would be more than enough of a reward, Dreamworks and Random House decided that MacDonald deserved more for his ingenuity, and they've added movie and books deals, respectively, to his haul.
There's no indication of how much MacDonald made from his transformation into media darling, but I think it's safe to say that the eventual appearance of his story on the big screen -- in a movie named after the website that started the whole scheme, One Red Paper Clip -- probably surpasses the thrill of meeting the great Corbin Bernsen, who took part in one of the trades. Fingers crossed that Bernsen plays himself in the movie.
Dreamworks has picked up the latest successful pitch from The Office staff writers (mark my words, those people are going to be ruling the comedy world soon); said pitch was brought to Dreamworks by Ivan Reitman and his Montecito Pictures, through which the film will be produced. This one was dreamed up by Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky, and is called The Intern, a title from which most of you can probably figure out the plot without any further help from me. The movie will tell the undoubtedly hilarious story of "a middle-age, stay-at-home dad who decides to return to the work force and is forced to start as an intern."
This is the point at which I almost write something like "Gee, a story about the humiliation of a sad-sack middle aged man? Why, that's a original idea." But then I remember that all Hollywood ever does is reuse old ideas, and that it's silly to put up a stink. Plus, every once in a while one of the retreads works, so I suppose there's a tiny glimmer of hope here.
In what's sure to be a powerful follow-up to 2004's Hotel Rwanda, director Terry George is set to take on the story of a different battle. This time, instead of traveling to war torn Rwanda, he's visiting any town USA. George has signed on to direct Reservation Road, an adaptation of Jonathan Burnham Schwartz's novel. Pic, which was also penned by Schwartz, surrounds two families who collide when one father accidentally kills the son of the other father in a horrible hit and run accident. While one father tries to hide from the event, afraid of facing the harsh consequences of his actions, the other makes it his mission to find the unknown man who killed his son.
Hey look, Ryan Reynolds is still acting! Shouldn't there be a petition online by now preventing him from scarring us any further? If not, can we start one? Universal Pictures have just picked up Adam Brooks' script Definitely, Maybe, lining up Reynolds, Derek Luke and Isla Fisher to star in the romantic comedy. Reynolds will play a soon-to-be divorced political consultant who struggles to answer some hard questions from his 11-year-old daughter about his past relationships. Politics and fatherhood? This one should be easy for Reynolds to screw up.
While doing press for the upcoming My Super Ex-Girlfriend, director Ivan Reitman talked a bit about his first directorial effort in five years, while also dishing out some info about the highly anticipated Old School 2. That's right, they're back ... and they're even older! While Reitman will once again be producing the sequel, he did say Scott Armstrong and director Todd Phillips were currently working on the script. However, since the three lead actors (Will Ferrell, Vince Vaughn and Luke Wilson) have come a long way since then, substantially increasing their price tag, Reitman said the whole thing comes down to whether Dreamworks can afford it. Personally, I see no need for an Old School 2. The first one was fine, leave it alone. Spend the money on something more original for once. Please. For the sake of comedy, I beg you.
After teaming up in 2004's Shark Tale, Dreamworks Animation announced today that Angelina Jolie will once again join forces with Jack Black in the upcoming computer-animated comedy Kung Fu Panda. Joining Jolie and Black will be a pretty impressive cast that includes Dustin Hoffman, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu and Ian McShane. Personally, I find Angelina Jolie to be at her sexiest when she's animated. But hey, those are issues I have to deal with, not you.
The best way to describe Kung Fu Panda would be that it's The Matrix meets the world of animated animals. Pic tells the story of a fat and lazy Panda (Black) who must suddenly whip himself into shape when a prophecy names him as "The Chosen One." Though he's already a big kung fu fanatic, Po the Panda will need help from a group of martial arts masters if he's going to somehow defeat the enemies. Angelina Jolie will play a character named Tigress, one of the masters brought on to assist our hero in his training. Kung Fu Panda hits theaters in May 2008.
If there's one thing Hollywood loves more than a good, triumph-over-adversity sports story, it's a little mental illness. Really, it's almost exactly the same thing (albeit without the balls). And it's even better when there's a real-life story on which to base the movie -- we need look no further than the success of, say, Shine and A Beautiful Mind to see that we love us some mental illness just as much as the studios. So, odds are that DreamWorks is looking at a mega-hit with the recently announcedImagining Beethoven, a film that will tell the story of "a homeless musician with schizophrenia who dreams of playing at Walt Disney Concert Hall." I don't know about you, but I feel my heartstrings being tugged just reading the summary.
The movie, to be penned by Erin Brockovich scribe Susannah Grant, is based on the true story (see?) of Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a musician and former Julliard student who ended up on the streets of LA. His story was told through a series of articles in the LA Times, over the course of which he moved "into an apartment, [was] offered private cello lessons and reconnect[ed] with his family on the East Coast." Man-- the fact that the real-life story is so fantastic makes this whole thing even more depressing. I mean, the Hollywood version of Ayer's life COULD be sensitive and effective but, honestly, what are the odds it's not going to just turn into a schmaltz-fest starring Chad Michael Murray?
Yes, its true. One of my favorite movies of the last few years, 
Have you noticed how many animated movies have been in the theater over the past few months? There have been 
After winning an Oscar for her performance in 
Last time I reported on the confusing family known as Viacom, I mentioned that 
The time has come, I'm afraid, to just accept that there is no stopping a 
The big screen, OMG 
These are good times for comedian 
Surely you've heard of the dude who got rid of all his stuff -- apart from a single red paper clip -- and resolved, through the power of trade/finding really dumb people online, to turn it into a place to live. Things went frighteningly well for the gentleman, a Canadian named 
Dreamworks has 
Odds and ends from Wednesday:
After teaming up in 2004's 
If there's one thing Hollywood loves more than a good, triumph-over-adversity sports story, it's a little mental illness. Really, it's almost exactly the same thing (albeit without the balls). And it's even better when there's a real-life story on which to base the movie -- we need look no further than the success of, say, 
