Hey everyone! Just a heads up that tomorrow morning (Thursday, June 13th) at 11:45 AM ET / 8:45 AM PT, be sure to head over to Reddit’s very popular subreddit, IAmA (“ask me anything”) for a go between the three stars of Before Midnight and the fans. Signin and ask them anything! Hopefully you’ll get a response.
That is all. See you there!
Thanks to Mamo’s Matt Brown’s happy Tweet, I learned two things about Bond today that I wasn’t previously aware of. One, Sam Mendes is coming back for the next installment. This is news that has been out for some time apparently and I managed to miss it somehow. So, yay. Two, Queen Penélope will now be amongst the elite. She will join the club of a small but fortunate group of ladies known as “Bond girls.” Yes, Penélope Cruz has signed on to play 007′s (Daniel Craig) love interest in the follow-up to the most successful Bond film to date, Skyfall.
From “a source”:
“The producers have tried to get Penelope before, but she has never been available because of other commitments. The discussions have been going on for some time and they are working out the contract details now … She got back into shape fast after the first baby and will no doubt regain her figure quickly this time. She’ll be a great Bond girl. Bond girls are always brainy as well as sexy, and that’s totally Penelope.”
Turning 40 next year, this makes Cruz the oldest Bond girl to ever play the role. And I for one, couldn’t be happier about the news. I wouldn’t have thought Skyfall could be topped; one of my favorite films from last year. But this is one very large step in that direction.
1) As if the Oscars weren’t already meaningless enough, Oscar voters will now no longer have to actually watch movies in certain categories before voting. Now I actually thought that this is the way it whas been for years but apparently just yesterday The Academy announced it would now be sending Oscar Voters DVDs for the following categories: Foreign Language Film, Documentary Feature, Documentary Short Subject, Animated Short Film and Live Action Short Film.
So voters are no longer required to see the movies on the large screen and can now just ignore them from the comforot of their own home as the screening sit idly on a coffee table or kitchen counter before putting a check mark on their ballots. Perhaps I’m being cynical?
2) To the chagrin of many and the joy of many more, Seth McFarlane has reportedly been offered the Oscar hosting gig for 2014. Both The Academy and Seth’s people have remained silent on the issue, but this is the rumored news. Not to get into yet another debate about who an ideal Oscar host would be, but there you have it. Discuss.
We stopped doing news items, casting items and the like around Rowthree as just ‘extra content’ some time ago; instead favouring the more solid information and material regarding upcoming and in-release films – such as trailers, festival screenings and you know, actual reviews. All that being said, this is bit of news is too good to pass up, especially considering there are a number of us around here that consider The Master to be easily the best film to be made, acted, and discussed by film lovers last year. According to Cinemablend, P.T. Anderson’s adaptation of Thomas Pynchon’s Inherent Vice is set to start shooting, with Joaquin Phoenix in the lead and There Will Be Blood cinematographer Robert Elswit shooting on 35mm film with a Warner Brothers studio backing. God bless that someone out there is still enabling Anderson to be able to do thing things his way, that is to say: The Classic Cinema Way. Shooting is expected to start this month.
Part noir, part psychedelic romp, all Thomas Pynchon- private eye Doc Sportello surfaces, occasionally, out of a marijuana haze to watch the end of an era. It’s been a while since Doc Sportello has seen his ex-girlfriend. Suddenly she shows up with a story about a plot to kidnap a billionaire land developer whom she just happens to be in love with. It’s the tail end of the psychedelic sixties in L.A., and Doc knows that “love” is another of those words going around at the moment, like “trip” or “groovy,” except that this one usually leads to trouble.
Its no secret I’m a pretty big fan of Devlin/Emmerich’s Independence Day. I remember just a few days of seeing that film in the theater (was it three or four times?), there was talk of a sequel in the works. Well here we are, twenty years later and not much word on the sequel. Until recently.
Roland Emmerich is taking down the White House this summer, but apparently after that, ID Forever Part One and ID Forever Part Two will be on the way. The scripts are already in place and re-writes are happening as I type. The films will take place about twenty years after the original (so… now I guess) and though mostly a new cast, it will also include some of the original characters. Emmerich had this to say:
The humans knew that one day the aliens would come back. And they know that the only way you can really travel in space is through wormholes. So for the aliens, it could take two or three weeks, but for us that’s 20 or 25 years. It’s a changed world. It’s like parallel history. Humans have harnessed all this alien technology. We don’t know how to duplicate it because it’s organically-grown technology, but we know how to take an antigravity device and put it in a human airplane.
It’s still some of the same characters, but also new younger characters; it’s a little bit like the sons take over. The first one ends on a little success, but only enough to give the humans hope. And then in the second one they free themselves again..
Some of the early art direction and set design is also underway apparently, so I’m personally hoping for a 2015 release on this one. Possibly even late summer of 2014? I’m probably alone on the excitement for this one, but I can’t be alone. C’mon, how many alien invasion movies do we get anymore? Not many.
At last year’s Flyway Film Festival, Matt and I were honored to be among jury members for the fictional narrative feature category. While voting, it was a pleasure to award best director to Gary King for his musical, How Do You Write A Joe Schermann Song. Now, some may be screaming bias, but our jury is not alone in the festival world of awarding HDYWAJSS accolade after accolade. And now for the good news…
You can see HDYWAJSS starting Tuesday no matter where you are. You don’t have to wait for a festival screening to check it out as it will be available for download on several major platforms (Vudu, Hulu, iTunes, Amazon, etc.) and a DVD and Blu-ray will also be available on Tuesday. Here’s the OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE
As a side note, if you’re in the Minneapolis area, I’ll see you at the upcoming screening on April 11th because despite being able to see it at home starting Tuesday, quite honestly if you can get to a big screen to see this spectacle. It’s quite shiny! Sign up for the Tugg to ensure your spot today. It will be at the Southdale AMC. Probably see you before and after stumbling from bar to bar in the area.
Apparently Colin Trevorrow was high in the running for the Star Wars VII gig (as reported by the internet). I saw the new and thought, “who?” Looking him up on the ever faithful IMDb, it seems he’s done very little; the most visible part of the repertoire being the much underseen Safety Not Guaranteed. The short of the long of this is, I still think to myself, “who?”
Here’s what producer Frank Marshall (@LeDoctor) had to say via Twitter: “Thrilled to have director on JP4, Colin Trevorrow, an exciting young filmmaker who understands and respects the world that is Jurassic Park.”
Except that it will be in 3D. The original Jurassic Park is hitting theaters again in early April… also in retro-fitted 3D. Can you feel my excitement?
Full press release:
Long-awaited fourth installment of this groundbreaking film franchise from Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment to be shot in 3D
UNIVERSAL CITY, CA, March 14, 2013 — Colin Trevorrow has signed on to direct Jurassic Park 4, the highly-anticipated fourth installment of the blockbuster franchise that has grossed $1.9 billion at worldwide box office since the first film was released in 1993.
The Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment production will be produced by Frank Marshall and Patrick Crowley with Steven Spielberg as Executive Producer. The script was written by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (Rise of the Planet of the Apes).
Trevorrow directed Safety Not Guaranteed for FilmDistrict and Big Beach Films starring Aubrey Plaza, Mark Duplass and Jake Johnson. The critically-acclaimed film debuted at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival where screenwriter Derek Connolly won the prestigious Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award. The film also won Best First Screenplay at this year’s Independent Spirit Awards, where Trevorrow was nominated for Best First Feature.
Universal will release Jurassic Park in 3D on April 5. With his remastering of the epic into a state-of-the-art 3D format, Spielberg introduces the three-time Academy Award®-winning blockbuster to a new generation of moviegoers and allows longtime fans to experience the world he envisioned in a way that was unimaginable during the film’s original release.
Once or twice a year, something reminds me of that this movie happened. Today, I was reminded of it when I saw an original NES for sale on Craigslist.
I was only eight years old when I first saw the Super Mario Bros. movie. Imagine my excitement: not only were they making a movie about that awesome Mario game I spent so much time playing, the good guy from Roger Rabbit was playing Mario. As we first popped the movie into our VCR and the familiar NES music played over the opening credits, fading into whacky cartoon with talking dinosaurs narrated by Dan Castellaneta (aka Homer Simpson), I was immediately confused.
And that confusion never ceased during the entire 100 minute runtime.
I probably watched the film a dozen times as a kid. I never quite understood what it had to do with the video games that I loved so much, but I tolerated it – maybe even strangely enjoyed it. Now as an adult, I enjoy it for other reasons, mostly because I get a kick out of its campiness, how bizarre the entire script is, and the complete disaster that it turned out to be.
A meteorite somehow splitting the earth into two parallel universes. Dennis Hopper as an OCD, greasy-haired King Koopa. Giant “de-evolved” goombas. Fisher Stevens. The silly backstory for why Mario and Luigi were two Italian plumbers saving a princess.
Imagining the studio execs coming up with all of this as a means of capitalizing on Nintendo’s popularity is even more amusing.
Even more interesting are the almosts of this movie. Roland Joffé (The Mission, The Killing Fields) was the first to propose the film in a studio meeting. Danny DeVito and Harold Ramis were in talks to direct at one point. Tom Hanks was once on board to play Mario with Hoskins being brought on due to being a “more profitable” actor. Oh, the what-ifs.
As it would turn out, the film would bomb making less than $21 million back of its $45 million budget. Critics and gamers alike slammed it. And since then, Hoskins hasn’t spoke very kindly of it or its duo of directors. “The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers,” Hoskins said in a 2007 interview with Guardian. “It was a fuckin’ nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! Fuckin’ nightmare. Fuckin’ idiots.”
You know what, though? The movie is right here for you to watch in its entirety. See if you can resist.
The headline says it all. Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Han Solo for Star Wars: Episode VII. What say you about this… exciting(?) news?
After our small discussion about “House of Cards” on episode 290 of The Cinecast, there is/was much chatter in the comments about the future of release schedules when it comes to Netflix original content and their episodic entertainment. “House of Cards” full season was released in one fell swoop so that viewers could just enjoy the entire run from start to finish at their own pace rather than being forced to wait for the next episode on a week by week basis.
So this July, Dreamworks Animation is theatrically releasing their next potential franchise with Turbo; “a high velocity 3D comedy about an ordinary snail who dares to dream big – and fast.” Then in December, Dreamworks is collaborating with Netflix to release an animated series based on the movie specifically for the Netflix kids audience entitled “Turbo: F. A. S. T. (Fast Action Stunt Team)”.
So by going after the little ones, this is one more step in the direction of subscriber based television becoming the norm. Of course it likely won’t be the norm for many many years yet, but it’s headed that way. The story doesn’t say whether “Turbo: F. A. S. T.” will be released all at once, but my hunch is yes it will.
“Netflix boasts one of the largest and fastest-growing audiences in kids television. They pioneered a new model for TV dramas with House of Cards, and now together, we’re doing the same thing with kids’ programming,” said DreamWorks Animation’s Chief Executive Officer, Jeffrey Katzenberg . “DreamWorks is thrilled to be part of the television revolution.”
So your kids will now be begging you for Netflix so they can watch the new big thing (presumably similar to something like Shrek or Cars) and you’ll be able to plop them down in the rec room for 16 hours of straight animation while you get your house work done.
Those not familiar with the service should know that RedBox is basically a movie vending machine. You rent physical discs at $1 per day ($2 for Blu and games) using your credit card. I’ve used it a few times and since there are so many kiosks in my area, the catalog selection is pretty good (mostly if you’re looking for newer releases) and the discs are easy to return. It’s pretty slick actually.
Today on RedBox support site, there was a bit of a leak in which some images popped up of the company’s new streaming service designed to try and take on Netflix and Amazon.
Eric Dane will be putting down his stethoscope to captain “The Last Ship,” a potential season-long series on TNT. The pilot was picked up by the network and roles are quickly being filled. Michael Bay is the executive producer of the action drama that is based on a popular novel by William Brinkley.
The plot of the story puts the crew of a naval destroyer in a precarious situation after a global catastrophe destroys the majority of mankind. Deadline.com explains how the characters are forced to face the reality of a new existence. They will have to rely on each other in a lonely world that has been reduced to minimal survivors. With a lively cast, experienced writers, dynamic director and executive producer extraordinaire taking the reins, “The Last Ship” is on its maiden voyage into the sea of TV.
The major players behind the project include Michael Bay (“Transformers,” “Armageddon”), writers Hank Steinberg (“Without a Trace”) and Steven Kane (“The Closer”) and director Jonathan Mostow (“Terminator 3″). The nautical-themed action-adventure pilot is set in the Barents Sea, due north of Norway and Russia, where the missile destroyer, the USS Nathan James, is on patrol. If the show follows the 1988 novel, there will be a nuclear war between the United States and Soviet Union killing practically everything off. The ship survives and its crew members are in search of their families, a new home and other survivors, according to indiewire.com.
