Am I the only one excited about this? Not only is Warner Bros. committed to investing $150 million in a live-auction "Green Lantern" movie, but they've hired a pretty good director for it, the site Cinemaspy reports.

"Director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) will be at the helm of the comic book's big-screen adaptation, working from a script by Greg Berlanti and Michael Green. Pre-production on Green Lantern is set to begin in July, and filming is scheduled to start in November. Warners is aiming to release the film in December 2010."

Seeing as how "Watchmen's" box office supposedly disappointed, and "Superman Returns" failed to resurrect a once-popular franchise, the only bankable DC Comics property out there has been Batman. Will Green Lantern (not pictured above) turn that around? Personally, I'm all for more movies based on DC heroes, especially with how many more Marvel Comics properties have been hitting the big screen, but I would prefer Warners maintain their current approach: line up A-list, visionary directors (Does anyone even remember who directed "Ghost Rider" or the last "Punisher" flick?) even if that means only one film a year.

Granted, I haven't liked everything Martin Campbell has done, but given that his resume boasts "The Mask of Zorro" and "Casino Royale," I think it's fine to expect great things.

If the rumors that Andrew Stanton ("Wall-E") wants to do a "John Carter of Mars" movie are true, then it's probably going to happen, for a 2012 release, no less. But who will be writing the screenplay? According to the site io9 it'll be Michael Chabon, the novelist behind "The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay."

I can't recall just how much pulpy sci-fi was in "K&C," but Chabon clearly showed a passion for icons of old-timey entertainment. According to io9, the author confirmed his involvement through a fansite. "I've been hired to do some revisions to an already strong script by Andrew Stanton and Mark Andrews," Chabon said. "I wrote my original screenplay The Martian Agent back in 1995 because I wished I could do [Edgar Rice] Burroughs's Barsoom. So this is pretty much a dream come true for me."

So Hugh Jackman has chimed in over the leaked copy of his upcoming "Wolverine" film and, not surprisingly, he's unhappy it got out.

“It’s a serious crime and there’s no doubt it’s very disappointing — I was heartbroken by it,” Jackman told a news conference widely reported by the Australian media, according to the ScreenIndia. “Obviously people are seeing an unfinished film. It’s like a Ferrari without a paint job.”

Personally, I've only seen one film in "unfinished" form ever, and admittedly, I didn't rewatch it when it inevitably came out in theatres. So I can understand 20th Century Fox and Jackman's concerns: even if the pirated "Wolverine" looks cruddy, audiences will have gotten the plot and performances. Is it really worth $10-$12 to see the film a second time, especially if only some superficial things are different?

Of course, the argument has been made online that the movie's core fanbase -- those who would plunk down the cash to watch "Wolverine" on opening weekend -- may have refused to watch the pirated, incomplete version. Unfortunately, the box office for "Watchmen" shows a comic book-based movie can't just rely on hardcore comics fans.

It appears that Turner Classic Movies (a division of Time Warner) has put out its own list of The 15 Most Influential Movies of All Time, CNN reports.

“The Birth of a Nation” (1915); “Battleship Potemkin” (1925); “Metropolis” (1927); “42nd Street” (1933); “It Happened One Night” (1934); “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs” (1937); “Gone With the Wind” (1939); “Stagecoach” (1939); “Citizen Kane” (1941); “Bicycle Thieves” (1947); “Rashomon” (1950); “The Searchers” (1956); “Breathless" (1959); “Psycho” (1960); and “Star Wars” (1977) all appeared on the list.

I've only seen about nine of the 15 films, but I can't argue about the greatness of any of them. "Pulp Fiction" was clearly influential on a lot of the movies that came out during my youth, so I'm a little surprised to not see it (I might have substituted it over "Breathless"). Also, the CNN writer cited "Star Wars" as the "Godfather" of the summer blockbuster, but I could have sworn "Jaws," which was also left off the list, was the first big summer movie.

It's not your parent's "French Connection," that's for sure.

NOWHERE TO HIDE (1999), dir. Myung-Se Lee
From the site "Look! A Bunch of Movie Reviews!"

Imagine “The French Connection” with Wong Kar-Wai and such luminaries of Japanese cinema as Seijun Suzuki and Shohei Imamura at the helm, and you’d end up with something like “Nowhere to Hide.” Although frequently over-the-top, this Korean-language thriller’s highly-stylized nature is what makes it so unique, even if one can never take it very seriously. Meanwhile, it features a terrific performance by Joong-Hoon Park as a violent slob of a cop in the Popeye Doyle tradition.( Read more... )

One of the inevitable mistakes any journalist will make is misspelling someone's name. For those who don't know, I spent about two years working as a newspaper reporter, and I did that a few times myself. Still, at least I had the excuse of not being able to easily look up every person whose name I needed to spell. Not so with the writer of the following NY Daily News article.

Writing about the suicide of a character played by Kal Penn in the TV show "House," political correspondent Michael Saul totally abused the first and last names of an actor friend of Penn's.

"On the campaign trail, Kumar helped get actor friend Brendan Rough, aka Superman in "Superman Returns," to stump for Obama. On occasion, they campaigned together."

The individual Saul is referring to is actor "Brandon Routh," not "Brendan Rough." Just to be on the safe side, I checked through imdb if a "Brendan Rough" ever played Superman (who incidentally, is not pictured above), and alas, no thespians with a male gay-porno star-sounding name ever took on the role. It should also be noted that Saul refers to Penn as "Kumar" in the same paragraph, and prefaces his article with, "Way to go, dude!" One wonders if Saul was being playful on purpose, or just a jackass. Admittedly, the "Rough" thing was a really small detail in the overall story (which isn't even about Routh), but it just seemed weird to me that the reporter couldn't bother spending 30 seconds looking up the name.

Then again, "Superman Returns" was considered a box office disappointment.

The article should still be located at http://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/2009/04/07/2009-04-07_actor_kal_penns_surprise_suicide_on_hous.html

It's like three-and-a-half minutes of bad haircuts, prosthetic teeth, and so-so CGI. They also overdo the fast-motion to slow-motion thing that's become all the rage in movie trailers.

"Kung Fu Cyborg," as the movie is apparently called, is the "Chinese equivalent to Hollywood special effects-laden extravaganzas such as 'Transformers,'" according to the site Far East Films, which hosts the trailer at http://www.fareastfilms.com/newsPage/Promo-Reel-For-Kung-Fu-Cyborg-718.htm. I don't recommend watching it unless you want to wait a really long time for anything remotely interesting to happen, but I always find it strangely reassuring to see other countries are capable of making crappy, commercial films like ours.

It's an example of life imitating art: a big-time Hong Kong movie star has a bunch of sexual trysts with other, beautiful actresses. Unfortunately, photos of these dalliances end up on the Internet. Worse, it appears every actor in Hong Kong is protected by the Triads, so now there's a $110,000 US bounty for this actor's right hand.

But Edison Chen's so brave, he said during a press conference that it won't stop him from promoting his new movie.

Am I just way too cynical, or does anyone else think this is a brilliant PR move? I kept waiting to read about his story being optioned into a movie starring him. Full story at http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jwCktciLd1YZ4bOWwUBpIBi65BKA

My God, when is the last time a John Woo-directed movie got released in the States? I remember the time when he was an A-list filmmaker who could get any project he wanted done. Has anyone out there even seen the two "Red Cliff" movies he made for the Chinese film industry?

According to this article, which can be found at http://www.asianpopcorn.com/default.asp?display=Woo_Pulls_Out_Of_Pacific_Steamer_-22713, Woo has dropped out of directing "Pacific Steamer," a Chinese-language romantic epic set between the final years of the Chinese Civil War and the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, due to the Taiwanese company behind the production going back on previous agreements.

Beats me how reliable Collider is, but in a recent interview with Sheila Roberts, Michael Caine speculated who the villain would be if a third Batman movie gets made.

Q: Do you think [Christopher Nolan will] come around to doing a third one?

MC: I would imagine so. That would be probably The Riddler.

Of course, even Caine is speculating at this point. It's a pretty neat interview overall, and includes an interesting anecdote about why the British actor never loses his cool on a set.

MC: I lost my temper on a movie years ago when I was doing a movie called The Last Valley. James Clavell was the director. I’m not a very good horseman and they put me on this horse that they knew was a killer and it ran away with me for two miles and I brought it back at a slow pace and then I got off and all the unit were laughing and then I started and I outdid Christian by about 30 minutes with more language than he knew. So James Clavell broke the crew for an hour and he said, “Let’s have a cup of tea.” And so we went and had a cup of tea. James Clavell was captured in Hong Kong when he was 14 by the Japanese and spent the first part of his life in a Japanese prison camp. He said to me, “The way I survived was I became a Japanese in mentality. So I knew where they were coming from in their treatment of us and I knew where I should be in everything.” He said, “The one thing that the Japanese never do is they never lose their temper because anger is an emotion that you should never show to strangers because you expose too much of yourself.” He said, “You must never expose yourself like that to strangers.” And he gave me this long lecture on the Japanese and anger and I have never lost my temper on a set since. I go home and I scream at the kids. (Laughs) But I have never lost my temper on a set since.

It sounds like the premise for a typical Jackie Chan vehicle: A mechanic (played by Chan) migrates to Japan to find his girlfriend. He discovers she has married a Japanese yakuza boss. Normally, that's where the kicking would begin.

Only this time, there will be no kicking. Instead, the character played by Chan goes to work for the yakuza leader in exchange for Japanese citizenship, and in the process, goes from rags to riches financially. Unfortunately, his morals also change, from simpler black-and-white to gray.

That's the plot of "The Shinjuku Incident," which Chan recently described as "a universal story about the struggles of migrant workers in the countries they choose to call home."

"Some thrive while others fail," he said. "In my case, I play a complex character who starts off timid but ends up ruthless."

Chan hinted there is a scene in which his character violently "chops" his enemy. The film has already been banned from China after failing that country's censorship test, but the 55-year-old actor expressed confidence the rest of Asia will enjoy it, although he confirmed "The Shinjuku Incident" will not feature his trademark martial arts or stuntwork.

The whole story can be found at http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Tuesday/NewsBreak/20090331194527/Article/index_html in a piece by Dennis Chua.

So did anyone go to see "Monsters vs. Aliens" this weekend? If so, did you see it in 3-D?

In a relatively-short interview published at http://www.courant.com/entertainment/sns-ap-as-dreamworks-animation-3-d-theaters,0,3004673.story, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Chief Executive of DreamWorks Animation, said theaters have been slow to upgrade to digital projectors and 3-D technology due to the high cost. He said it takes about $100,000 to upgrade traditional theaters with new digital and 3-D equipment.

Personally, the only 3-D film I ever recall seeing was "Captain E-O" at DisneyWorld (Yes, it starred Michael Jackson, but it was also directed by Francis Ford Coppolla. Bet you didn't know that!), and although it had its moments, it seemed more like an interesting novelty than a terrific way to watch movies. However, Katzenberg has said the new 3-D technology is far superior to its ancestors, a "Ferrari" compared to a "horse and buggy."

15 to 20 percent of theaters showed "Monsters vs. Aliens" in 3-D this past weekend. The film took in $58 million during its opening.

Anyway, to reiterate the question, what did people think of the "Monsters vs. Aliens" 3-D experience?

From Cinematical
Who Wants To Write for Marvel?

by Elisabeth Rappe


If you long to turn your keyboard to a Marvel movie script, you might actually get your chance. According to Variety, Marvel Entertainment is getting ready to assemble an army of screenwriters to be at their beck and call, and develop properties for their characters -- and with 5,000 in the stable, there will be no shortage of work.

While they'll be looking to their current comic staffers, Marvel also wants to bring on five new writers every year to develop whatever pitch the studio throws at them. They're particularly interested in finding people who can help them launch lesser known characters like Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Cable, Iron Fist, Nighthawk, and Vision.

As we speak, the first group is being recruited, and will be expected to tackle projects this year. Don't be surprised if it's one of the guys name-dropped above, as it wasn't that long ago that Kevin Feige was putting Doctor Strange on the to-do list.

Marvel is borrowing a page from the Disney model, but you can't blame them for getting an assembly line going, and striking while the iron is hot. If you're exhausted by it all, you can blame it on Iron Man, who rose from second-tier status to being everyone's favorite hero. (Seriously, if you can win my mom over, you've succeeded.*)

Now, I'm off to go churn out some writing samples of my own ... your loss, Simon Beaufoy, Wolverine 2 is mine!

(*As I headed off to write this, she was reading the latest issue of The Invincible Iron Man. She flung it down when Prince Namor showed up, and said she'd be embarrassed to claim me as her own if I wrote his movie.)

It could be good, or it could be terrible. A few months ago, there was a report the studio behind "Where the Wild Things Are" would be reshooting the entire film, due to parents at a preview complaining about it being too scary. Producer Gary Goetzman responded that they were only helping Spike Jonze "make the vision he wants to make."

I read Maurice Sendak's book as a child, but I'm too old now to remember anything beyond the monsters. The trailer seems to do a good job conjuring them up; they look like muppets, straddling a fine line between obviously fake and downright whimsical. The film itself looks dark and emotional, so maybe this won't be another "The Cat in the Hat."

If I have any qualms after seeing the trailer, it's that the music, and the fact it's a Spike Jonze film, make me worry this will be ultra-hip and clever at the cost of charming. Then again, I can't remember if the original book was charming.

In case you haven't read it yet, there's a transcript of conversation between Steve Daly and James Cameron over at Wired. It's here.

Understandably, there's a lot of speculation about "Terminator: Salvation," but I was more fascinated by what Cameron said about the original "Terminator," how he remembers finding a pamphlet for fallout shelters when he was a child, and how that shaped his worldview and the eventual script. I also liked his explanation of "The Terminator" as being about the fight against dehumanization (I didn't remember that myself, given that I haven't seen the film in over a decade).

"I don't think anything resembling The Terminator is really going to happen. There certainly aren't going to be genocidal wars waged by machines a few generations from now. The stories function more on a symbolic level, and that's why people key into them. They're about us fighting our own tendency toward dehumanization. When a cop has no compassion, when a shrink has no empathy, they've become machines in human form. Technology is changing the whole fabric of social interaction. We're absorbing our machines in a symbiotic way, evolving to become one with our own devices, and that's going to continue indefinitely."

I found that last sentence especially compelling, since the trailer for "Terminator: Salvation" reveals that's exactly what happens, although the "we" isn't exactly what Cameron thought (machines have evolved to think they're human). This gives me hope the movie could actually take the franchise in a bold, different, yet entirely relevant direction, and not just be "The Best of Terminator 1 & 2," which is what "T3" seemed like.

So IMDb recently put up a list of the Top 15 Independent Films according to users, and I must say, after looking at it, I need someone to clarify for me what constitutes an "independent film." The list can be found at http://www.imdb.com/features/poweroffilm/index7

Now, I can understand "Pulp Fiction" and "Memento" making the list. As far as I am aware, in those two cases a couple of guys working outside the studio system cobbled together what money they could, filmed their movie, screened it at the festival circuit, then sold the distribution rights to a major studio. To me, those seem like definitive "independent films." But in the case of something like "Apocalypse Now," Coppola may have fronted a lot of the cost via his own Zoetrope Studios, but United Artists did put up about $7.5 million. So half the money to make "Apocalypse Now" was put up by an American film studio. Yet it makes the list as an "independent."

I would like to point out that I don't think any of the movies on the list are particularly bad. However, I am disappointed "Halloween," "Blood Simple," "Do the Right Thing," and "Drugstore Cowboy" didn't make the cut.

The other day, I spent 15 minutes hiding in a men’s room stall sans pants. This happened because I rubbed the front of them against a sink counter without noticing how wet it was.

In turn, I hadn’t been paying attention because of the man inside the handicapped stall who was urinating, loudly and steadily. It was a process that had started before I entered the bathroom to relieve myself, and was still ongoing as I walked over to the sink to wash my hands.

At that point, he had been urinating an impressively long time, and I might have left it at that if he hadn’t started humming. I couldn’t tell you the exact tune, but I knew I had heard it before; specifically, it was used in Maxwell House coffee commercials during the 90’s.

Then the man in the handicapped stall – whose feet I could see through the bottom of the partition, and who was clearly not wheelchair-bound – suddenly reaching up for the metal bar stretched horizontally above the stall. This bar, ostensibly, was for handicapped individuals to raise themselves off the toilet, but he grabbed onto it with both hands as if to steady himself. Then he began tapping his thumbs against the metal, producing a solid drumbeat. His urine flow also paused and restarted occasionally, and the sound actually resembled, in my mind, the pouring of Maxwell House coffee into saucer cups.

The whole production was strangely entrancing, and I found myself watching the reflection of his hands through the mirror when a sensation like cool dampness seemed to invade the front of my trousers. Looking down, I realized the sink top had practically been flooded with water, which unfortunately, my pants had sopped up. What followed may have been the result of being in a bathroom, but I found myself immediately self-conscious of looking like I had just wet myself. It was then I heard the sound of someone clambering down the hallway outside.

Grabbing a handful of paper towels, I quickly threw myself into the nearest empty stall, shut the door behind myself, and started trying to dry my pants. The paper towels weren’t getting the job done, so I ended up taking off my damp trousers and hanging them up to dry. At some point, there was the sound of a toilet flushing, the conductor from the other stall having finished his, er, movement.

I lost track of how many times the men’s room door squealed open and slammed shut, whilst I remained there in my pants-less prison.

Later, I saw one of my co-workers moving several large boxes into the elevator. I didn’t recognize him at first; he was dressed in a heavy coat with a wool cap covering his head, and I initially mistook him for the delivery-person. But as I walked up behind him, I recognized THE HANDS, which weren’t fettered by gloves. Something about their shape, rings on fingers, and shady spots of short hair immediately jogged something akin to the tune from an old Maxwell House TV commercial.

Now whenever I see this co-worker, my immediate thought is going to be: You, sir, are some kind of musical genius in the handicapped stall.

I was shocked to discover this was an Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language Film in 2004.

EVIL (2003), dir. Mikael Hafstrom

What is “pure evil?” According to this searing Swedish drama, it’s causing pain to others simply because one is bigger, or has the protection of the authorities. It’s bullying, and it’s even worse when the bully is reasonably intelligent. Stand up to this kind and they may leave you alone temporarily, but all the while, they’ll be plotting any manner of alternative ways to get at you.

At the beginning of “Evil,” public school thug Erik Ponti (Andreas Wilson) is accused of being exactly this sort of psychopath. He scraps with his classmates, has been suspected of stealing, and despite what glimmer of academic ability he has shown, there is little chance he’ll be admitted to college. What Erik’s critics don’t know is the physical abuse he’s endured at the hands of his stepfather; only Erik’s mother knows, and in desperation, she sends him off to a private boarding school called Stjarnsberg, pleading with him to save what’s left of his future.

From the outside, Stjarnsberg looks like any other preparatory institution for sons of the rich and prominent. ( Read more... )

Here it is, folks, the last word on the last volume of "Junk," a series I managed to review the whole of for Pop Culture Shock!

Junk: Record of the Last Hero, Vol. 7
By Kia Asamiya
DrMaster, 192 pp.
Rating: Ages 15+

Now that I’ve read all of Junk, I think I see Asamiya’s series for what it is: a subversive take on the super-hero genre. Back in the first volume, teenager Hiro Yuki acquired super powers and suffered a familial loss on the same fateful night. However, since then he hasn’t done much heroic; rather, he spent six books living out power fantasies and bedding eager women. Actually, those Hiro cared the most about were the ones he was most likely to fail.

( Read more... )