Retraction: Babylon A.D.

Remember a couple of weeks ago when I wrote a post extolling the awesomeness of the Babylon A.D. trailer? Well, I want to retract any excitement I had for this movie. Right now, Babylon A.D. is has a 5% over at RottenTomatoes, not to mention the fact that the director actually released a public statement saying that the movie was really horrible, just a few days before its release. Apparently, The director, Mathieu Kassovitz, wanted to make a full-fledged R-rated action movie, but the people at Fox wanted to make it a PG-13, so they sidestepped Kassovitz and cut the movie down. Apparently, a lot of the plot fell on the cutting room floor, and Kassovitz was pretty pissed off. (Click here to read his reaction).

In sum, don’t judge a movie by its trailer.

Facebook:The Movie, and Other Product Placement Movies

Yes, read the headline again. It says what you think it says. Apparently, (as reported by multiple websites including /film and Yahoo Movies) Facebook: The Movie is coming. Not only that, but Alan Sorkin (Charlie Wilson’s War, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip) is penning the script. It seems that there is nothing so popular that movie executives can’t try and make a buck off it.

Just a few months ago I heard about a deal Milton Bradley made with a major studio to develop movies based on its most popular games, like Monopoly, Life, and Boggle (seriously, Boggle? Yes, Boggle was specifically mentioned.)

Also, news comes today that Bret Ratner (Rush Hour, X-Men 3) is trying to make a Guitar Hero movie (/film). Why do people feel the need to make anything that is even remotely successful into a movie? How did the movie become the greatest measure of success in this country? You’re not important until someone has made a movie about you, your book, or your “What I Did Last Summer” essay from 5th grade.

I am at a loss. Facebook: The Movie, Guitar Hero: The Movie, Boggle: The Movie? I’m not sure I have heard of a dumber ideas since … my goodness, I’m not sure I have heard of a dumber ideas for movies.

Are you holding your breath for Sorry: The Movie? Leave a comment and let me know.

See Films Differently

This is just a quick one, but I stumbled across a great set of promo-type commercials made by VW to promote independent film. They are hilarious; a man reducing Die Hard to a movie about fashion, a woman interpreting Toy Story as an expression of adolescent sexuality, Mary Poppins is really the Exorcist with songs, and more. I've posted two of my favorites below and to the right, and posted a link to others on YouTube. If you love movies, you'll love these short videos. And if you don't love movies, you'll probably think they're stupid.

See Films Differently YouTube Channel: Here

Theaters without Movies: The Wave of the Future

A couple of news stories this week have caught my attention because of they indicate that that old media is finally giving in to new media. First off, Warner Brothers has announced that it is launching a Hulu-like site for its properties like Veronica Mars, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, One Tree Hill, The OC, etc. (/film). The site will be ad-supported like many of the network sites, but it is also providing a way to search shows not only by title and season but by theme and keyword. For example, you could search for the word “Spike” within Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and it will bring up all the episodes that deal with the character Spike. This new service will also provide mashable downloads that you can post on your own site (or YouTube?).

Second of all, the makers of No End in Sight (an Iraq war documentary) are releasing the Sundance award-winning film on YouTube between Sept. 1 and Nov. 4th for free. Between those dates, all you have to do is logon to YouTube and you can watch the entire documentary for free (Hollywood Reporter).

Let the Internet revolution begin! Personally, I prefer watching TV online, when I don’t have to pay attention to time slots, or if I’m going to be home on time. And, to boot, there are less commercials, so you spend less time watching Ronald McDonald and the Geico Gecko and more time with Buffy and Veronica. And if you don’t like sitting at your desk to watch, nowadays it’s super easy to hook your computer up to your TV.

Of course, there is no word as to whether WB will offer movies on its site, but the makers of No End in Sight have offered their movie up for free. Which is probably easier to do for documentary features than fiction because of lower costs, etc. But it shows a willingness on the part of moviemakers to get their work out to the people without having to filter it through multiplexes and PBS.

Taken to its extreme, eventually there might not be any need for movie theaters. Just logon to Marvel.com to watch Iron Man 4 on the day of its release. Some might say this would be sad, and I grant that the theater experience can’t really be duplicated with a TV and a couch. But drive-ins still operate, right? Old media doesn’t die; it just becomes nostalgia.

Check out my love for cheap late-night cinema at Adventures @ the Dollar Theater. Do you want to watch movie theaters go extinct? Leave a comment below.

Veronica Mars: The Movie?

I know I haven’t made a post in almost a week, but honestly, there wasn’t much news to talk about; however, I came across a tidbit that is interesting, and I’m not sure how I feel about it: Entertainment Weekly, and a handful of websites are reporting that Kristen Bell and Rob Thomas (not the guy from Matchbox 20, the producer/writer) have been in some preliminary talks about a possible Veronica Mars movie.

On the one hand, I loved the short-lived Veronica Mars. It only ran two full seasons, and the last season was kind of scattered and wasn’t tied up when the show was canceled. But it had great writing and acting, critical acclaim, and was just a joy to watch. And, honestly, I think the show should have gone on (as Rob Thomas pitched to WB execs) as Veronica Mars in the FBI, which would have been a natural continuation of her story and character. But making a movie doesn’t seem like the right move.

A TV series with Veronica in the FBI would have been great because the show would have time to develop over a season—building characters and transitioning from the previous seasons—but throwing Veronica into the FBI for a movie with no time to transition her from a college freshman would seem to alienate fans and the VM mythos. I would hate for it to turn out like other TV-shows-turned-movies like Mission: Impossible (where the entire premise of the show as basically thrown out the window to make an action movie) or the new X-Files: I Want to Believe (that, as a stand-alone storyline, doesn’t really satisfy the mythos of the original show).

I’m just trying to say that it would be hard for Thomas to reign in all the VM history and make it relevant in a new storyline that also works as a stand-alone movie. Serentiy turned out well, but Joss Whedon was only working with half a season’s worth of shows. In any case, I hope all things turn out for the best. And in the mean time I’ll be watching Kristen Bell electrocute people on Heroes.

Are you a VM fan? What do you think about a possible movie? Leave a comment below and let me know.

EW source article: Here.

Babylon A.D.: Totally Sweet Trailer

I just saw the trailer for Babylon A.D. yesterday and I was blown away. I'd heard about this movie and seen a short behind-the-scenes featurette a few months ago, but the full trailer took my breath away. I have to tell you, I'm not a big Vin Diesel fan, but this movie turns out half as good as the trailer, I might become one.

Quick synopsis: Vin Diesel is a hired to transport a mysterious girl from a futuristic, war-torn Eastern Europe to the future megalopolis of New York.

If Blade Runner and Children of Men are two of your favorite movies, you'll probably get all giddy watching this trailer like I did. Of course, there is always the chance that this movie will completely suck (there are plenty of good trailers for bad movies), but at least the trailer makes me want to go see it, which is what a good trailer should do.

I suggest going to the Apple Movie Trailers website here and clicking the Babylon A.D. poster to view the trailer. If you don't have Quicktime, you can watch here on YouTube, but it's not very high quality.

If this trailer excites you too, let me know; leave a comment below.

Let the Boycotts Begin: Disability Groups Rage Against Tropic Thunder

Yesterday, The New York Times reported that Timothy Shriver, Chairman of the Special Olympics, is calling for a boycott of the upcoming movie Tropic Thunder, opening this Friday. Apparently, Ben Stiller plays an actor who makes a film called “Simple Jack,” about a mentally disabled boy, in an attempt to win an Oscar and, in this context, the word “retard” is used several times. However, this is only a sub-plot—an appendage to a movie who’s main focus is to skewer the excesses of Hollywood and degrade the cult of celebrity.

Now, I am not going to say that these guys should just “cool it,” or “can’t they take a joke?” Admittedly, “retard” is offensive to the mentally handicapped community. But what most boycott groups often forget is the context within which these things are spoken. The word “retard” is not used in this movie to degrade the mentally challenged; it is used to degrade those people who use that language. There is a supreme difference between glorifying offensive language and writing a character who uses offensive language to illustrate the fact that that character is an idiot. In fact, DreamWorks spokesman Chip Sullivan has said of the controversy that “‘Tropic Thunder' is an R-rated comedy that satirizes Hollywood and its excesses and makes its point by featuring inappropriate and over-the-top characters in ridiculous situations. The film is in no way meant to disparage or harm the image of individuals with disabilities”(The New York Times).

Satire is about offending people with extreme negative stereotypes in order to get people to think about the way that those stereotypes actually affect them. It makes fun of those people who are offensive, rude, and stupid, by showing them for what they really are. If anything, I would think that the writers, actors, and directors of this movie are trying to illustrate the idiocy and bigotry of those who actively use offensive language without regard to those whom it actually affects.

For heaven’s sake, Robert Downey, Jr., dons blackface to illustrate the excesses of self-absorbed actors. Do you think the character he plays is supposed to be a positive role model of cultural sensitivity? No. Because this is a satirical comedy, I would suggest that the use of offensive language and images is not aimed at degrading the subjects themselves (be they disabled or African-American), but rather aimed at mocking the peddlers and sellers of such ignorant stereotypes.

Am I wrong? Leave a comment and let me know.

A Sneek Peek at The Road

I have to tell you. I’m not usually the type to get all weak in the knees at the prospect of looking at stills of a movie in production. When I see that Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince pictures have been released on the web, I shrug my shoulders while other salivate, or do an in-depth analysis of a the new trailer (I’m looking at you RottenTomatoes). So, I would not in good conscience subject you all to my inner fanboy, but this one is special.

USA Today has posted the first look at The Road, based on the Cormac McCarthy’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel. It stars Viggo Mortensen, Charlize Theron, and 11 year-old Kodi Smit-McPhee.

I bring you this news simply because I am excited about it. It is a movie based on a book by my favorite author, in my favorite genre (sci-fi), and starts one of my favorite actors (Viggo Mortensen, although Charlize Theron is no slouch). A trifecta for me. Anyway, I hope you are as excited as I am (and praying that it doesn’t turn out really badly). Read the article, including some insights from Mortensen, and check out the pictures here.

What do you think about The Road? Leave a comment below.

Lock, Stock, and One Intelligent Gentleman Smoking a Pipe?

A couple of weeks ago, I heard that Robert Downey, Jr., has just been cast in a new Sherlock Holmes movie, which wasn’t much news. But today IESB is reporting that not only is Downey, Jr., playing Sherlock Holmes, but that Guy Ritchie (Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, Snatch) is directing and promising an “action packed” Sherlock Holmes, where Holmes is not only good at “deduction and all that stuff” but is also a skilled martial artist. He promises that the newer, updated version (presumably present day?) has all the elements of the original, Watson included.

I agree, updating the character for the 21st century might be kind of cool, but I’m not sure “action packed” and “martial arts” are exactly what Holmes is all about. And if Ritchie’s previous movies are any indication of what to expect from the Holmes update, we might see Holmes hanging out in a strip club with gangsters, beating the pulp out of a stooge, all the while spewing obscenities that would make Dick Cheney blush.

What do you think? Leave a comment and let me know.

Source: http://www.iesb.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=5292&Itemid=99