Nolan to Help Superman Return (Again)?
As a child, my cape sometimes was replaced by a baseball bat to be He-Man, or a belt to be Batman, but by the time I was 25 I grew out of such childish things and just stuck with Superman. I currently have a Superman bed set. And not the one that I had as a kid.
So needless to say, I’m a big Superman fan. Never much of a comic book reader, but the cartoons, Lois and Clark, Smallville, Superman I-IV, and then…Superman Returns. What was supposed to be the beginning of a Superman reboot turned out to be a clunker with a metrosexual Superman who liked a cruddy Lois Lane and fathered an illegitimate child.
With such great superhero movies since X-Men, it was sad to see the one with the most potential ruined. Some might say it’s Batman, which to this point has been the best, but Batman has a rich set of villains and a dark side. Making Superman a 4-star affair like The Dark Knight would be a much more difficult accomplishment.
So the news today is that Dark Knight helmer (and all around genius filmmaker) Christopher Nolan will be guiding an all-new reboot of the Superman franchise. With a string of failures (Superman III, Superman IV, Superman Returns) and some ill-conceived reboots that never got off the ground in 1990s, this will be a monumental undertaking.
According to the article:
DC Comics stalwart Superman to soar again on the Big Screen, and the studio has turned to Chris Nolan to mentor development of the movie. Our insiders say that the brains behind rebooted Batman has been asked to play a “godfather” role and ensure The Man Of Steel gets off the ground after a 3 1/2-year hiatus.
So which direction will he take it? The Superman story is much trickier than Batman due to the different source material, as Deadline Hollywood (where the story originally broke on the new reboot) explains..
Batman was rebooted according to Frank Miller’s film noirish take on Batman. But there’s a big difference between Superman’s cinematic incarnations and comic book version. Warner Brothers and DC Comics for a long time weren’t sure which version they liked better. The cinematic version has been squeaky clean, occasionally campy, and has more-or-less unlimited power except when confronted with Kryptonite.
The comic book version has some limits on his powers, can be darker, and fights aliens a lot more. Shortly after Dark Knight hit it big, fans assumed that Superman would be taken to the “dark” side as well. That’s because Warner Bros mogul Jeff Robinov stressed post-Dark Knight that “we have to look at how to make these movies edgier”. One of our insiders interpreted this to say: “He meant more sophisticated.”
Doing something based on the comics is risky..it’s not the Superman of Christopher Reeve (the best to date) that we know. And then there’s the currently running Smallville. While mostly dumb, they have chosen the perfect actors for the roles of Clark Kent (Tom Welling), Lex Luthor (Michael Rosenbaum) and Lois Lane (Erica Durance) and even many of the supporting cast. With good writing and effects, they could easily lead the new franchise..just would have to drop the entire Smallville story.
For me it’s all something to look forward to, especially if Christopher Nolan does take the reins. You don’t even want to see what types of things Tim Burton had in mind with Nicholas Cage in the lead role.
Full story at Deadline Hollywood.
No thanks.
Better Avatar Review Than Mine
From the same guy who did the 70-minute Phantom Menace movie review that took me 3 weeks to finish (but pretty worth it) now attacks Avatar in much less time. He’s a little weird, but for those who weren’t enthralled by the movie’s plot of message beating, it’s worth a watch. Maybe skim through part 1, part 2 is actually good on its own as well.
Strong Content Warning.
Part 1
Part 2
Movie Review: (500) Days of Summer
(500) Days of Summer
Rated PG-13
Runtime: 95 minutes
Directed by Marc Webb
Starring Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Zooey Deschanel
Nominated for 2010 Golden Globe Best Picture – Comedy or Musical
This semi-indie romantic comedy starts right off with the narrator saying “This is a story of boy meets girl. But you should know up front, this is not a love story.” An interesting beginning as we generally assume a romantic comedy is about the events leading to the characters getting together. This one seems to be about the events that lead them apart.
From my perspective you will either really like this movie, or be really bored by it. My opinion is that it depends on what types of relationships you have been in in the past and your feeling on love and fate. For those who have had pretty stable relationships or married their high school sweet heart, there’s a good chance this movie is just about two obnoxious main characters.
But for the rest of us, who never can seem to figure out exactly what it is that makes a relationship work (if anything), this movie was written to speak to you. But then again, with the characters being so different, it may speak to guys and girls differently. It spoke to me and I identified with much of it.
The movie is slightly indie in that it tells the plot out of order. Sometimes this doesn’t work for me, but it works fairly well here. It doesn’t seem to tell it completely backwards, so it gets a bit confusing at a few parts. It also mixes a few random artistic choices, like inserting a singing scene, some hand-drawn art on the screen, and a mini-documentary in the middle of the movie. Again, normally I’m not a big fan of total randomness, but it wasn’t too distracting here.
The film also features a great soundtrack. I couldn’t figure out where to talk about it so I just put it here.
There is no plot per se, but more a series of events telling a simple story. The two main characters do a good job, and the supporting cast was great. I found the lead male to be a well written character who I empathized with, but I found his love interest to be a bit stereotypical and I really didn’t like her as a person. But, again, that’s sometimes how love blinds us and we only see the good but ignore the bad things in people.
If you’ve ever met someone and after one conversation like “I love hiking too!” and thought you were destined to be together forever. Or if you are the opposite, and believe that fate and love doesn’t really exist, and you just do your best with what you’ve got – then there’s something in this movie you can relate to and something you’ll learn.
It’s a romance with little romance, a comedy with little comedy, and an indie that isn’t too indie. Sounds like an underwhelming effort, but for me, it was a pretty good film and got me thinking much more than any romantic comedy I’ve ever seen. The irony is that in the film it discusses how mainstream greeting cards, pop songs, and movies have shaped our perception of love.
Maybe not the best date flick, but then again since most relationships aren’t like the movies, maybe it is the best kind of date flick.
* * * stars out of 4
An interesting news update, the director of this movie was recently chosen to direct the new Spider-Man reboot.
What others are saying
You’re going to hear a lot about 500 Days of Summer over the next few months. All of the good stuff is true. Any bad stuff you hear is not. – Film Threat
Visually witty, flawlessly played romantic comedy. – Chicago Reader
Something seldom seen: an original romantic comedy. – LA Times
For all its rhetorical whimsy and hipster dressings, (500) Days of Summer is a thoroughly conservative affair, as culturally and romantically status quo as any Jennifer Aniston vehicle. – NPR
Four Lions Jihadist Comedy at Sundance
I haven’t heard of this prior, but the short clip from the mockumentary Four Lions by Chris Morris, is surprising in both its topic and level of humor. It will be premiering at the Sundance Film Festival.
We unfortunately live in a world where humor about terrorists/Islam can get you murdered, so it’s nice to see Sundance’s proclivity to make fun of religion turn it sights on one that truly takes courage.
Jim Gaffigan: Beyond the Pale on Netflix
I thought I’d do some quick reviews of movies that are available on demand for Netflix. The pickins are a little slim, but if you’re like me you forget to mail back the movies you just watched for about 3 weeks. I think I just mailed back a movie that I had gotten when it was a new release – Ghostbusters II.
This week, I watched stand-up comedian Jim Gaffigan’s Beyond the Pale on Netflix instant watch. If you’re looking for some decent comedy, it’s solid the whole way through. You’ll recognize Gaffigan but you won’t be able to put your finger on where. He plays side roles in a lot of comedies, TV shows, and late night shows. He was also the guy in Super Troopers that was the recipient of the “meow” game.
Gaffigan’s style of humor is fairly dry, and is astonishingly “clean.” He mostly jokes about food and himself. In fact, about 80% of the routine is about food. Some great stuff, though, including his famous “Hot Pockets” sketch. You’ll be laughing out loud..especially if you’ve lived off Hot Pockets at some time in your life.
He also does this odd thing where he says what the audience is thinking in the middle of his bit and its pretty funny as well.
His routine is filmed in Chicago’s historic Vic Theater and runs a brisk 72 minutes. Though there are only a few true gut busters, there aren’t really any dull moments. There’s something in there for everyone, especially if you find it disturbing what, and how much, we eat as Americans.
If you’re looking for a good laugh any day of the week, you could definitely do worse.
* * * out of 4 stars
Check out a scene from the act below…one of the few not about food.
Netflix Streams A Punch in Face
Netflix, of which I’m a big fan, took another hit from the movie studios today. While it looked to be the reasonable answer to the digital age in movies as iTunes was to music, apparently they won’t be going about this without a fight.
You may recall recently, new releases are beginning to be removed from Netflix. Now, one of the cornerstones of their streaming business…Starz Play on Netflix (which allows you to see relatively new releases anytime via the internet for no extra charge) may be about to lose Disney and Dreamworks films.
Not that either of these is a death knell, but once studios realize they control the deal, the rest will follow suit and it’ll be no more new releases in the mail and no more decent streaming movies either. And we know what that means. Lonely Wednesday nights watching She’s All That for the eighth time.
Check out all the details at Gizmodo.com
Disney’s currently in negotiations with Starz for the rights to its movies over the next few years, and it wants a lot more money from people who watch Starz online—like through Netflix—and if things go badly, it could mean no more Disney or Dreamworks movies on Netflix streaming (full article link).
Stay Warm with the Cult Classic “Out Cold”
For almost every holiday or season, I have a movie tradition that sort of kicks it off. One of the few I hadn’t found one for was winter itself. This winter, in particular, I was needing some themed escapism while my face regained feeling. Christmas pretty much takes all the good movies for winter, so what was left?
Somehow I missed it at the time, but the 2001 flick “Out Cold” was the perfect answer.
Out Cold is a goof-ball comedy along the lines of American Pie (but PG-13 raunchy) that has reached cult status over the years (though did little in the theater). It is expected these movies will have no plot, or the same plot as 100 other throwaway comedies. I was happily proven wrong.
You’ll immediately recognize a lot of the cast from today, including the bearded guy from The Hangover, and Pam’s old fiance from The Office. The film, set in Alaska, starts off with a great snowboarding extravaganza and revolves around a small ski lodge getting taken over by an evil corporation. The plot of every movie since 1981, but they handle it nicely.
The rest of the film has a mix of subtle humor with insane antics, surrounded by mountains of snow the entire time. The characters are likable, and the handling of the “love story” is fairly surprising.
For anyone in their late 20s or early 30s, the soundtrack is a straight rip of your CD collection from 8 years ago, featuring Eve 6, Jack Johnson, Foo Fighters, Jimmy Eat World, Sum 41…and most importantly Wang Chung.
Be sure to check it out this winter, especially with a group of friends if it’s cold outside. Add some Winter Ale and you’re almost guaranteed to have a smashing winter solstice.
Be sure to see the outtakes after the credits, they are one of the best parts of the movie. You didn’t think they landed all those amazing snowboarding scenes on the first try did you?
3 out of 4 stars
New Trailer for the Un-Superhero
As a fan of superhero movies and a lifelong wearer of a towel as a cape, my interest had to be peaked by the upcoming movie “Kick Ass.” It’s about regular folks that decide to put on costumes and become superheroes..much like my entire life before I was 12. Ok before I was 27.
The first teaser trailer was interesting, the second red-band trailer showed the film will be pretty brutal in language and violence, and the newest third trailer brings back the promise. Check it out. In theaters in April 2010.
Netflix to Stop Renting New Releases?
Is Netflix really going to stop renting out new releases? Well…actually yes and no.
I’m a huge fan of Netflix..they’ve gotten their delivery system down to a science, and with their on-demand movies it really is a bargain at 14.99 (16.99 with BluRay) a month.
So why the heck would they stop renting new release movies? What does that even mean?
Apparently that ability to get a new release the day it comes out in your mailbox isn’t sitting too well with the studios who want you to buy their new DVDs. Warner Bros. is the first to officially put a 28 day delay on their new releases. Unfortunately, the gates are open and it is expected that the rest of the studios will be finalizing a similar agreement shortly.
Is there any bright side? Well, there’s this…
In return for the concession, Netflix will get a discount on Warner Bros. discs. And it’ll be able to offer more of the studio’s movies and TV shows for subscribers to watch over the Internet.
With Redbox and those other sketchy DVD rental kiosks dealing with the same problem..is this the beginning of the end of cheap movie rentals?
Or will people just go back to downloading them for free?
Movie Review: Avatar
Avatar (Rated PG-13)
Directed by James Cameron
Sam Worthington, Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez
Runtime – 2 hours 32 minutes
Now on its way past $1 billion dollars worldwide, I finally caught Avatar 3D in a nearly packed theater on a Wednesday night. This is one of the few films that, more than 3 weeks into it, has barely seen a drop in attendance. Which means it’s all word of mouth.
So how was it? Worth the hype? If you’ve waited this long to see it, here’s the key points:
* Yes, you should see it in the theater.
* Don’t even consider not seeing it in 3D or IMAX unless it is unavailable
* It’s long…the plot moves fairly slowly…but it doesn’t seem like a 2.5 hour movie.
* The visuals and special effects alone make whatever the ticket price is fully worth it.
* It’s much better than the trailer implies.
* It’s probably not as good as your friend described it to you that saw it opening weekend. But almost.
I am not really the target for this movie. I rarely see 2+ hour movies in the theater, I don’t like movies with weird alien creatures unless it is called Star Wars, I really hate movies that are mostly CGI, and I don’t really appreciate left-wing “preachy movies.” And I liked it. But how??
Visually speaking, the film must be seen to be believed. The visuals are so amazing that they proved me wrong that CGI mixing with real was the death of movies. But it was obvious that 5 years of intense, and artistically brilliant, work was put into this…something George Lucas has no idea about. CGI causes a wild imagination to destroy a film because there are no boundaries…from Star Wars Episode I to countless others, impossible worlds with clone-like animations of millions of onscreen characters don’t interact with the real people. When a CGI character is onscreen, you know it.
In Avatar, the lush world of Pandora where the movie takes place feels like a real world. You’re excited to see where they go next. The non-human characters (the Na’vi tribe), which are fully CGI, actually pop out of the environment. The strange animals on the planet move like real animals. When there are 10 on screen, each one has depth to it and unique movements that were carefully crated individually..from veins, to muscle, to lighting. It wasn’t a copy and paste job.
What really impressed me was how the film’s 3D wasn’t a gimmick…it was actually necessary to put you into the action and shouldn’t be seen without it. It’s also the first 3D film I’ve ever seen that doesn’t use the “popping out at you” gimmick. While most 3D movies abuse the area closest to your eyes, Avatar uses what’s furthest away to give it depth. When you are soaring hundreds of feet into the air…you feel like you’re going too high. Still images do not do it justice.
But enough of the visuals (which I’ll get back to later) what about that other little thing …characters and plot?
To be quite honest, this unoriginal plot was Dances With Wolves part II almost frame by frame. It also preaches to the audience in no subtle terms about war, colonialism against the indians, the environment, and the evil of capitalism. On top of it, the mediocre characters aren’t developed, written, or acted all that well, the leftist message is very clunky and un-nuanced with a plot moves along fairly slowly.
The basic plot is that the humans are out of gasoline on earth in 2054, so they go to this planet where there’s an endless supply of some new type of fuel. The tribes that live there won’t leave their land, so we set up a base and plan to take it over ourselves. This is accomplished by mentally inserting the humans into “avatars” that look like the tribes so they can live among the native people. They really don’t explain how any of the science works 
Though I swear I saw an Apple Tablet on the ship.
But the very simple message is pounded without much attention to the complexity of different kinds of war. Is the Iraq war the same as the war against the indians? What about WWII? Terrorism against the Jews? Are all military people that bloodthirsty (according to the film they are)? There is a scene in the movie reminiscent of 9/11….was that on purpose and what were they trying to say? ..and then there’s always the whiteman condescension take.
Fortunately the visuals and a few key scenes at the right times lift the movie past the message into levels of epic adventure, action, and drama. Can a man fall in love with a large blue woman? I now, in fact, believe he can.
Though I can’t properly describe it, the world created on Pandora with CGI takes you there, and by doing that it does something that no movie I’ve seen really has done. By going into that world, you accept that world for 2.5 hours and are fully into it….nonsensical plot points and all. You may find yourself crying frequently, as a matter of fact. It’s that powerful a visual combo.
Is it as good as Titanic? No. Is it as good as The Dark Knight? Also, no. But it IS an experience unlike any other I’ve had at the movies. In the past you go for the plot, special effects, to laugh, or whatever. You base your like of the movie on what it was trying to do. Avatar is trying to give you a new experience unlike anything you’ve had at a theater before…and in that, it does. And it will stick with you for a long time to come.
3 stars out of 4
3 Different Takes from around the web
if you only see one film in a 3-D cinema this year, make it Avatar. - The Sydney Morning Herald
The narrative would be ho-hum without the spectacle. But what spectacle! – New York Movies
A movie whose effects are clearly revolutionary, a spectacle that millions will find adventure in. But it nevertheless feels unsatisfying and somehow lacks the pulse of a truly alive film. – AP Review
