They are something of a cliche, and generally don't attempt to create much new in terms of cinema, but people like feel-good sports stories. Knowing this, the producing team of Howard and Karen Baldwin alongside David E. Kelley and with the aide of hockey great Gordie Howe will bring to you the story of the World Hockey Association. If you don't know Howe, I suggest you look the man up -- his story is quite entertaining. He spent a number of highly successful years with the NHL, and later came back from an injury-aided retirement to become one of the most valuable players in the short-lived WHA, playing with his two sons.
This exhausts my full knowledge on Gordie Howe, and nearly all of my knowledge on professional hockey. Variety tells me Howard Baldwin owned and operated the Hartford Whalers for a while (a team on which Howe played), and Kelley's father was the GM during his tenure, thus their connection to Howe and the hockey world. Will the movie be full of standard sports-movie shtick and swells of inspiring music? You bet. Will it be family friendly and have a heartfelt, "never give up" message? Oh yeah. Will it, in fact, feature at least 3-5 slow motion scenes of hockey players skating dramatically in moments of very high tension? No question about it. And I, personally, cannot wait.
One of the fascinating aspects of attending aGLIFF was the "I" in the festival name: International. The festival showed a number of foreign-language films this year, which provided Austin (and American) audiences with the opportunity to see how gay and gender issues are addressed in other countries. Eleven Men Out provides a glimpse into gay culture and its acceptance (or rejection) in Reykjavik, Iceland.
Eleven Men Out begins and ends in a sports arena. Ottar Thor (Björn Hlynur Haraldsson) is a professional soccer star who decides, after scoring an amazing kick to win a championship game, to come out of the closet. He's essentially kicked off the team, and his father, one of the managers, keeps trying to convince Ottar to change his mind. Ottar's teenage son Magnus (Arnaldur Ernst) is disgusted and convinced that Ottar doesn't care about him and the effect his coming-out has on his own life. Ottar's ex-wife Gugga (Lilja Nótt Þórarinsdóttir), an alcoholic former Miss Iceland, is only concerned because Ottar won't sleep with her anymore. Ottar's friend Pétur gets him involved with an amateur soccer team with a few gay men on it, which suddenly becomes labeled "the gay team," causing all kinds of trouble. Other teams in the league forfeit games rather than have to play with gay men, but the team itself becomes stronger and more confident as more gay teammates join.
Are you ready for MORE football? 20th Century Fox thinks you are, as they've gone and snatched up the rights to Michael Lewis' (Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game) latest book, The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game. Released yesterday, the book garnered interest from a few other players including New Line and Mandalay. In the end, Fox won out with a deal for $200,000 against $1.5 million.
Blind Side, which revolves around the growing race for bigger (and when I say bigger, I mean BIGGER) football players, is one of several Lewis books that have been optioned over the years, with none of them moving ahead to production. However, with football as popular as it is right now on the big screen, Lewis feels this one definitely has a shot. The main plot focuses on a 16-year-old African American whose father was murdered and whose mother turned to crack. Though, at 344 pounds, the boy knew how to move and, thus, was taken in by a wealthy white couple who groomed him to be one of the top high school football prospects in the country.
Lewis notes, "Of all the books I've written, this is by far the most likely to be made into a movie." Whaddya say folks, how about we throw Eddie Murphy in a fat suit and watch this sucker fly?
Despite the fact that Jackass Number Two is the most popular movie in America this week, some people around the country aren't all that happy to be showing the crude new release. Over the weekend, I told you how a theater owner in Hoopeston, Illinois closed his cinema for two weeks because he didn't want to book the movie (or anything else), and now comes this photo from a fourplex in Orange City, Iowa. Apparently the people running the theater aren't familiar with a certain four-legged animal let alone the watering-down of its impact as a curse word.
On November 14th, 1970, West Virginia's Marshall University lost 75 student athletes, faculty members and friends in a horrific plane crash. The tragedy still stands as the worst loss of life in the history of college athletics. And now they've made a movie about it. Frankly I'm stunned it took 36 years for this story to hit the screens.
I'm not necessarily averse to touchy-feely and mega-inspirational sport-centric melodramas -- but damn if all these football flicks (Rudy, Remember the Titans, Radio, Gridiron Gang, Invincible, etc.) don't feel like the exact same movie with a (slightly) different coat of paint.
Or perhaps I'm being a little too cynical here. Maybe We Are Marshall will be this generation's Bang the Drum Slowly or Brian's Song. Then again, it could also be this generation's Necessary Roughness. The pigskin weeper was directed by McG, and based on his work in Charlie's Angels and Charlie's Angels 2, I'm betting he chose to go extra-sappy to avoid being accidentally campy. (Plus it's really hard to buy drama from a vendor called McG.)
Ah well, I do like a good cry mixed in with my football. (It happens whenever the Eagles lose.) We Are Marshall opens on December 22nd ... or just check out the trailer for a very handy 2-minute recap of the ENTIRE FILM!
Hey, we might not be the biggest film snobs here at Cinematical, but when it comes to Jackass Number Two, we seem to be above it. Erik was surprised and a little bit scared to see it rise to the top of last weekend's box office. James, also shocked, suggested a reason for its successful opening. Even I thought it was too stupid to bother with, and had even planned to avoid phone calls from those friends who might attempt to peer pressure me into seeing it with them. Alas, I'm an easy one to break, and on Saturday night we got boozed up with Texas-size margaritas at Dallas BBQ, headed to the theater with the liveliest crowds in Brooklyn, and watched Jackass Number Two. And, of course, I laughed my ass off. Why? Because I'm a normal human being with a sense of humor. And no attempts at being cynical, snobbish or above it could keep me from splitting my sides for almost 90 minutes straight.
I won't go so far as to say Jackass Number Two is the funniest movie of the year; I'm still sure that I'll laugh more during Borat, but it is at least the funniest thing I've seen this year. And let me point out that without the tequila and the rowdy audience, I would probably have laughed just as much. It isn't simply the ridiculous stunts and pranks and gross-out gags that makes the film so funny, either. It is the wonderful group of guys, who are constantly as curious, afraid, amazed and yes, even above the bits as their audience is. The fact that some of them occasionally show disdain for the whole project and swear off even thinking of doing a third film shows that these aren't just a bunch of idiots who like playing with fire (and snakes, sharks, terrorism, riot weapons, horse excrement and semen and, best of all, Busby Berkeley musical routines); they are witty entertainers who can take a lot of pain and suffering for the enjoyment of the viewer.
Besides, if Murderball'sMark Zupan can allow himself to be shot off a pier into a lake, then surely we can all sit through a silly film like Jackass Number Two for an hour and a half.
Here's a big question: Does Jackass Number Two attract vandals or make them? Now that I've seen my first article about theater vandalism and its link to the release of the Jackass sequel -- reports of vandalism came from all over the U.S. when the original opened -- I have to wonder if people are insinuating one or the other. Does the theater manager dislike the film because it brings riff-raff in, or does he dislike the film because of its influence on the audience? According to this news, the Tinseltown theater in Medford, Oregon had to evacuate 500 people over the weekend because somebody lit toilet paper on fire in the men's room, and the manager suspects that it was not an exiting moviegoer all hopped up on sugar and reckless stunts, but was instead some teens who were denied entry into the R-rated movie.
I would never have imagined such good news in all my life -- for once it is not the entertainment being blamed for violent behavior. This time it's the MPAA! Take that, Dan Glickman. Okay, so the politicians could certainly spin it the other way; the fire would have never happened if it weren't for Jackass, and the rating has now actually protected more people by prohibiting those kids from being exposed to even more dangerous ideas. So, what really came first? The jackass or the Jackass?
Those of you interested in buying The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, which goes on sale today, have an interesting option. Instead of purchasing the DVD, which Best Buy has for $14.99 (other chains may sell the DVD at the MSR price of $29.99), you can download the movie from CinemaNow for only $9.99. This may not sound like an especially novel idea, with movie downloads having been available for some time, but the deal here is in the price. Typically CinemaNow offers new releases for about twice as much, a factor that has been the cause of most consumers' disinterest with the site. Even with their announcement over the summer that their downloads can be burned to disc (Chris told us about some problems there, though), a perk that puts the service ahead of iTunes and other download shops as far as viewing options go.
But is $5 off a good enough deal, really? Maybe for those of us who don't usually bother with the featurettes, deleted scenes and commentaries (the DVD has one with director Justin Lin), but in a culture that likes to own and collect things, near-ten-bucks sounds a bit much for a burned DVD. I still see shops like CinemaNow being good for renters, the audience that doesn't care about possessing the copy, and since The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift isn't available to rent on the site yet, Netflix still sounds like the better idea.
Remakes are always defended in ways that make the general public appear as idiots. Old films are remade because people don't remember, foreign films are remade because people don't like to read subtitles and documentaries are remade because they teach us stuff. But any documentary that can be remade as a dramatic feature is different from docs that just teach us stuff. They already have an engaging narrative and interesting characters -- otherwise producers wouldn't see the remake potential. Rather than finding new ways to market enjoyable docs to moviegoers, I guess it's easier to do the remake, so filmmakers have an easy movie to make and sell, therefore providing two films to be profited on.
I guess the reason that I'm even more angry this time is because Murderball, which has inspired an upcoming project for director James Mangold, is probably the most entertaining, most easily accessible documentary that has ever existed. Sure it teaches us stuff, but it's also hilarious, action-packed and feel-good. Besides, nobody could play lead murderball (aka wheelchair rugby) player Mark Zupan in a way that would better his own appearance in the Oscar-nominated, Sundance-winning doc. Certainly not Eminem, who expressed an interest last year.
Being both far too old and nowhere near hip enough to do things like attending midnight screenings and go to cool parties, I arrived home from Toronto last night in much better physical shape than my hipper, younger (at heart) colleagues. Mentally, though, I'm pretty drained -- clearly I'm soft in more ways than one. I did, however, have a great time at the festival -- despite the daily grind of screenings, the little thrill of WAITING IN LINES to see obscure films from Eastern Europe never wore off. I mean, who are these people? Not only do they get excited about the debut feature from some Romanian guy no one has heard of, but they actually take time off from work, buy passes, and see four and five movies a day, aided by intricate, color-coded schedules that let them know what each friend is seeing at every minute. I can't tell you how many women in their 60s I saw taking sandwiches out of their purses and eating in line, because those were their only free minutes for the next 12 hours -- if I'm doing that when I'm 65, my grandkids damn well better realize how kickass their grandma is.
Despite persistent, jaded mutterings that TIFF 2006 wasn't as good as the festival has been in the past, I was really impressed by the quality of the slate, at least as far as it was reflected in the 20-something films I saw. As the designated viewer of foreign movies no one has ever heard of, I was privileged to see some amazing films -- most of which, sadly, are highly unlikely to ever be released on these shores (What distributor is going to buy the rights to a movie about a talk show in Romania?). In addition, though, I also saw a handful of big(ish)-name releases, only one of which managed to meet and surpass my (obviously too high) expectations. Anyway, what follows is a loose, how-I-feel-today list of my five favorite films of the festival -- for the more obscure ones, just hope the programmers of your local festivals see fit to bring them to town. Otherwise, a region-free DVD player is probably your only hope.
No matter how much planning and money goes into them, wedding ceremonies are generally all the same. Sure, there are slight variations depending on religious denomination and little personal touches, but they basically lack any sort of originality due to their overall adherence to traditions, which keep them from breaking new ground. For those not involved in the actual wedding party, and even for some who are involved, the ceremony is just a boring obstacle that must be endured before getting to the fun part, the reception. Yet, weddings continue to be, for the most part, under the guise of entertainment, as they typically have an audience.
Therein lays the basis for Confetti, a comic mockumentary that tries to spice up the idea of weddings as enjoyment for all in attendance. It follows three engaged couples as they compete in a contest for most original wedding, sponsored by a wedding magazine that's tired of showcasing, "just another woman in a white dress," on its cover. The contest seems like a great concept at first, but as the magazine's publisher (Jimmy Carr) and editor-in-chief (Felicity Montagu) discover, there is a reason why ceremonies don't often open up to new ideas.
There is a majesty to soccer that fans of the sport can find in all but the most pedestrian games; a grace and dignity to the flow and shape of the game, the discovery of which can spark a life-long obsession. Within the sport itself, there are certain players who embody those traits, through their styles of play and the way they carry themselves. These are not necessarily the greatest players -- as great as they are, Luis Figo, Andrei Shevchenko and Ronaldinho don't have the presence I'm talking about -- but when you see them play, you recognize the spark immediately. Italian icon Paolo Maldini has it. And, French god Zinédine Zidane, despite -- or maybe because of -- his ever-present temper -- has it too. There's an economy to his movements and an easy, natural poise to the way he watches the pitch that sets him apart from others, and makes it impossible to keep your eyes off him, despite his deceptively simple style of play.
In April, 2005, video artists Douglas Gordon and Philippe Parreno went a step further, training 17 cameras on Zidane for the length of a single La Liga game. The cameras were scattered all over the stadium, and recorded images ranging from intimate close-ups to beautiful long shots that take in the whole pitch; from unfocused collections of colors to more traditional, television-style action shots. Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait is the 90-minute compilation of those images and, for lovers of the game, it's awe-inspiring. More an art film that a sports documentary, Zidane is something that must be experienced on the big screen.
With only $9 million, The Covenant took top spot at the box office this weekend, marking the lowest opening for a number one film in three years. Seriously, $9 million? Man, did anyone go to the movies this weekend? With its PG-13 rating, pic chased after a younger, boy band-ish demographic, however, three-quarters of the audience was 18 or older.
Ben Affleck and the name 'Superman' was enough to boost Hollywoodland ($6 million) into the weekend's number two spot, even though it opened about $1 million shy of what studio execs were expecting. After finishing first two weeks in a row, Disney's Invincible failed to stay ahead of the pack, falling to third place with $5.8 million. Tony Jaa's martial arts extravaganza, The Protector ($5 million), and Jason Statham'sCrank ($4.8 million) rounded out the top five.
Just in time for this year's anticipated return of Rocky Balboa to the big screen (in the simply titled Rocky Balboa), the iconic statue of the character (who is played by Sylvester Stallone) will be making a comeback as well. As Scott mentioned two weeks ago, deciding what to do with the statue (which is titled "Rocky" and depicts the fictional boxer with his arms raised in triumph) has been a topic of debate and controversy. Some see it as just an artless movie prop (commissioned for Rocky III, but also seen in Rocky V, Mannequin and Philadelphia), while others think of it as an important part of the city of Philadelphia. In the end, the movie fans and the proud citizens won out over the art snobs. On Wednesday, a vote in favor of returning the statue to the steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art was reached by the city's Art Commission, although its location will now be at the bottom of the steps, rather than its original placement at the top.
No offense to the Philadelphia Museum of Art, but they're likely going to see more tourism from having the Rocky statue in front than they would without it. I love going to art museums and yet, for some reason, I never went to Philly's in the whole three months I lived there, almost ten years ago. Probably because the statue wasn't there (though, also because it wasn't in a suitable location for my bike-riding self to get to; I lived there the summer that SEPTA, the public transportation system, was on strike, after all). As for those of you who can't get to Philly to see the museum or the statue, I hear one of the other three commissioned statues is occasionally up for auction on eBay.
*The jury, by the way, was headed by John Hurt, and included such luminaries of film and criticism as ... Chrissie Hynde. I just thought you should know.
They are something of a cliche, and generally don't attempt to create much new in terms of cinema, but people like feel-good sports stories. Knowing this, the producing team of Howard and Karen Baldwin alongside David E. Kelley and with the aide of hockey great Gordie Howe will bring to you the story of the World Hockey Association. If you don't know Howe, I suggest you look the man up -- his story is quite entertaining. He spent a number of highly successful years with the NHL, and later came back from an injury-aided retirement to become one of the most valuable players in the short-lived WHA, playing with his two sons. 
Are you ready for MORE football? 20th Century Fox thinks you are, 
Despite the fact that 
On November 14th, 1970, West Virginia's 
Hey, we might not be the biggest film snobs here at Cinematical, but when it comes to 
Those of you interested in buying 
Remakes are always defended in ways that make the general public appear as idiots. Old films are remade because people don't remember, foreign films are remade because people don't like to read subtitles and documentaries are remade because they teach us stuff. But any documentary that can be remade as a dramatic feature is different from docs that just teach us stuff. They already have an engaging narrative and interesting characters -- otherwise producers wouldn't see the remake potential. Rather than finding new ways to market enjoyable docs to moviegoers, I guess it's easier to do the remake, so filmmakers have an easy movie to make and sell, therefore providing two films to be profited on. 
With only $9 million, 
Just in time for this year's anticipated return of Rocky Balboa to the big screen (in the simply titled 
The 60th (!) 
