Compelled to clear Jackson from Hobbit

Whether or not you're a Lord of the Rings fan, you'll no doubt respect the fact that Peter Jackson did what other filmmakers couldn't: make 'fantasy' films mainstream. Earning a ridiculous number of Academy Awards and raking in box office dollars didn't hurt either.

That's why we have major studios cranking out crappy wannabes like Spiderwick Chronicles, Narnia Chronicles, and anything else with that might support 7 iterations of lame sequels.

Regardless of the imitations, there's been a lot of buzz around the movie production of Tolkien's 'The Hobbit'. I chatted about it back in 2006.

How much has changed since then. Now Jackson isn't doing the film, although he's rumored to be producing, and they're trying to secure a director, namely Guillermo del Toro. He's the powerhouse behind 'Hellboy', its sequel, and 'Pan's Labyrinth'. Then the film gets held up by a lawsuit filed by Tolkien's estate.

Lame.

I just felt compelled to make an update given that I could see folks checking out that article from 2006, and I just felt extremely irresponsible for letting myself lag on some sort of update.

007: Quantum of Solace

Sony Pictures accomplished one of the more successful reboots of a franchise with the recent 'Casino Royale'. It was the highest grossing James Bond film ever, and it took the character back to his roots, and shed the campy gadgets and *clever* one-liners (i.e. 'I thought Christmas only comes once a year'...ohhh Bond, you randy fellow).

Recently, the studio announced the new title, 'Quantum of Solace' (QoS), and released some *first look* footage.

'Casino Royale' was definitely different than its previous incarnations. Gone was the swagger and dumb eye candy. The characters were smart, deliberate, vulnerable, and introspective. The story required some mental activity from the audience. Let's face it...at the close of the film, you 'get' that Bond is kicking arse, but there were a lot of loose ends, which isn't a bad thing...leaves some room for interpretation. While there's some resolution, it wasn't the typical Hollywood style ending where Michael Bay blows hella shit up. It was refreshing stuff.

QoS picks up right after the end of the previous film and delves further into the criminal organization responsible for Vesper's betrayal.

SPOILER: Cheney has a cameo for the head of the evil organization.
Side note: want to see another good Daniel Craig film? Check out 'Layer Cake': one of the best crime dramas in years.

Spock reboots

J.J. Abrams is doing the franchise reboot for the next motion picture installment for Star Trek. I saw the trailer this past MLK Birthday when I saw Cloverfield, which was pretty good, save for the underlying plot involving a dude and a girl. C'mon, people....it's a creature film not a love story.

I know some people don't get 'it' with Star Trek. I got into it because my parents were into it. Other people I know who don't like it mentioned that their parents weren't into it. Maybe it's a generational thing, unless you're also prone to sf (sci-fi) tales, but there's something compelling about the Star Trek mythos.

Tons has been said about how Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future was a welcoming and refreshing optimistic view, as historically speaking I'd go so far to say that the sf genre leaned towards dystopic themes (think Philip K. Dick, Heinlein, Bradbury, Vonnegut). I think that's what makes this body of work so enduring. The audience wants to hope...dare I say...they have the 'audacity' to hope for a better future: one in which mistakes of the past are used as lessons and guidelines for building a brighter tomorrow.

Regardless, any TV show that spawns 11 movies, and generates enough inspiration to have an aircraft carrier and a Space Shuttle named after a fictional vehicle, is doing something right.
...digging the threads...ah...the 70s...I think they existed for the sole purpose to fuel Will Ferrell-driven movies.

Hoping for Hobbit not vomit

It took over a year to get all the litigation issues worked out, but Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh are again associated with Tolkien's, 'The Hobbit'...except he's not directing it would seem. He's in the Producer's seat...hmmm. This movie could very well sucketh...having Steven Spielberg produce this year's 'Transformers' helmed by Michael Bay's just barely made it better than his earlier flotsam, 'Pearl Harbor'.

Who knows. It could not suck. I'm betting on the Jackson for making it happen. Maybe they want him in the producer's seat since he made all three of the Lord of the Rings films in concurrent production, thereby saving buttloads of scrill. Who's going to direct? Hmm...there were some rumors that Sam Raimi would take the reigns. Could be good. Could be. Then again, it could stink like that pile of vomit I saw in the BART station last night.

No Ahhnold for Terminator 4 - is there anything Christian Bale can't do?

I was having a conversation with a friend about who today's current swiss army knife actor...the actor who seems to pop up in unrelated films and always nails the role regardless of how questionable the film may be. Such an actor usually makes the film more enjoyable.

Names were thrown around. Val Kilmer (we excused him for Thunderheart) was one...c'mon...you never saw his breakout role in 'Real Genius'? It even had the Tears for Fears hit, Everybody Wants to Rule the World, as the soundtrack's terminus; wrapping the ending up in a nice little package proving that brains can always overcome government stupidity assuming you know how to substitute a 'prom' with the 'reprom' (a little inside Real Genius humor).

Can't remember the others we discussed, probably because the crux of the matter revolved around one actor we both agreed displayed the requisite wicked thespian chops: Christian Bale.

He broke out in Steven Spielberg's 'Empire of the Sun' in 1987. I personally feel that it was his disturbing portrayal of the 'American Psycho' character Patrick Batemen conceived in Bret Easton's eponymous novel that put him on the map. From there he chose films that balanced box office appeal and roles that explored the shadowy facets of humanity without becoming overly saturated in maudlin themes...with 'The Prestige' probably being one of the more darker films of his films.

Needless to say I was thrilled to hear that he'd be picking up the Terminator franchise as John Connor, whom we all know as Sarah Connor's son, who saves humanity from the brink of extinction from the machines led by SkyNet's brutal self-aware AI. Producers are calling it a 'reboot' of the franchise, a term that's becoming more and more popular these days (think the J.J. Abrams 'Star Trek' project). No word yet on who'll be the antagonist, since the Governator has his own battles to field at present.

[sidenote: is this 'rebooting' another indication that Hollywood is running out of ideas, or that present-day themes are so fleeting or uncompelling that it keeps returning to topics it knows were once innovative, visionary, and thrilling...what is it about today's climate that's so less interesting? Are we being lulled deeper into a consumer oriented fugue? Facebooking our privacy away? Are we losing ourselves to our Second Lives, or are dynamic virtual communities making such static artifacts as lights projected on a screen passé?]

Bale is returning as Bruce Wayne/Batman in Christopher Nolan's 'rebooted' 'Batman' franchise, and recently appeared in '3:10 to Yuma' and is scheduled to headline in 2009's 'Killing Pablo', also starring one of the scariest villains ever to grace the screen in this year's 'No Country for Old Men'...Javier Bardem. Should be good stuff. They've even gotten out a trailer for the new Terminator film! Amazing! Didn't see Christian Bale though...

Let's talk about sequels

You may have heard, you may have not, but 3 big sequels are on the horizon.


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull opens on May 22, 2008. Wow. Karen Allen's back...and of course the Hollywood potato patch child, Shia Labeouf. He was constructed from body parts of lesser potato patch actors. In fact, both he and Dakota Fanning were constructed in the same manufacturing plant! Amazing! I'm just kidding...Fanning is a wonderful actor...I loved her in that one about the spider and the pig and the rat with the farm stuff...what was that movie...oh yeah, War of the Worlds.

The other 2 big ones are a Logan's Run remake, as well as a sequel for Tron...both to be headed by a new darling director, Joseph Kosinski. Apparently his awesome talent was recognized by David Fincher (Se7en, Alien³, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac, and the adaptation of Rendezvous with Rama [which hasn't happened yet]).

I guess I'm a nerd if I say that these were 2 of my favorite movies when I was a kid. I remember seeing the last part of Logan's Run in the theater when my folks took me to see some other more age-appropriate film. I had to settle for VHS to see the whole film. Later, I got the book and read it in one night. How does one describe Logan's Run? The book and movie are different to be sure, but common elements are: Lifeclocks, Carousel, Sanctuary, sex, drugs, youth, freedom, and death at 30 (or 21 if you subscribe to the premise of the novel). Michael York and Jenny Agutter starred in the film, with a smaller role played by Farrah Fawcett. If that doesn't date the movie, then I don't know what does.

Tron was one of the first movies to make extensive use of computer assisted graphics, and for its time, one of most creative and avant-garde films ever. In case you're one of the 5 people who haven't seen the movie, here's the premise in a sentence: a scorned programmer gets digitized and sucked into a huge computing system where he allies himself with rebel programs and defeats the evil Master Control Program thereby liberating information necessary to put him back in the driver seat, aka the big CEO office where he was formerly employed.
Oh yeah...and this was the film that had the scene everyone talked about...lightcycle deathmatch.

The film was recorded in black and white, then the negatives were hand-painted. Additional scenes utilized prenatal CGI technology that was bleeding edge at the time. The writer-director, Steven Lisberger, of the first film is a co-producer for the sequel.

These could be good people. Then again...we could find ourselves waiting for DVD or worse viewing a pirate copy on ssupload.