April 16th, 2008 11:02am
Will Pfeifer
INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL is set to debut at the upcoming Cannes film festival, and the reported length of the movie is a whopping 2 hours and 20 minutes. Now I’m a big believer in Roger Ebert’s axiom that “no good movie is too long, and no bad movie is too short,” but even so, this seems a tad on the lengthy side. Let’s compare to the other three Indy films:
RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK: 1 hour, 55 minutes
INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF DOOM: 1 hour, 58 minutes
INDIANA JONES AND THE LAST CRUSADE: 2 hours, 7 minutes.
Sure, there’s not much difference between CRUSADE’s running time and CRYSTAL SKULL’s, but these movies should be as tightly-paced as possible, and CRUSADE definitely had its slow spots. RAIDERS, on the other hand, remains one of the most perfectly paced action films ever made, jumping from thrill to thrill with barely a moment to breathe — and yet, somehow avoiding the exhaustion and overkill of many modern action movies.
What do you think? Is CRYSTAL SKULL going to suffer from the same sort of bloat that the recent STAR WARS movies succumbed to?
I guess we’ll find out soon enough.
April 16th, 2008 08:22am
Will Pfeifer
Apparently, they’re going to turn that popular IRON MAN trailer into a full-length movie. I’ll believe it when I see it.
Wildly Popular ‘Iron Man’ Trailer To Be Adapted Into Full-Length Film
April 14th, 2008 08:41am
Will Pfeifer
In the comments section of last week’s post about THE INCREDIBLE HULK, reader Brian put the upcoming SPEED RACER movie way at the bottom of the summer movie list, saying it would only appeal to “young kids and masochistic viewers.” You might be right, Brian — some of that dialogue is beyond lame, and I question the use of Matthew “I’m acting as woodenly as I can” Fox in the pivotal role of the ultra-cool Racer X.
But as a boy who spent his formative years watching the high speed thrills and crashing carnage of the original SPEED RACER cartoon, I have to admit I’m looking forward to this one, and not just out of some warped sense of nostalgia (though that’s part of it). Looking at the trailers, I see a very real possibility that — at least on a purely visual level –this could be a groundbreaking movie. I can’t think of a time that the bright, pop-off-the-screen, candy-colored punch of cartoons has been brought to live-action with such zip and zing. Just check out this trailer…
I think we’re looking at something new here, something that takes the comic book physics of THE MATRIX movies (the Wachowski brothers’ last cinematic effort) and throws it right out the window, replacing it with something even wilder (and a heck of a lot more colorful). The way those cars bounce around mirrors the original cartoon perfectly, and even the quiet scenes pop right off the screen. Personally, I can’t wait to see this one, and on the biggest screen possible.
It is interesting to see Emile Hirsch, who starred in the ultra-serious INTO THE WILD, take on the role of Speed, but he seems to have the right wide-eyed wonder to carry it off. (Something he had, in fact, during INTO THE WILD, too.) And speaking of wide-eyed, if there’s a better casting choice for Trixie (Speed’s girlfriend) than Christina Ricci, I can’t think of it. She’s practically an anime character come to life. Not since her early work as Wednesday Addams has a role fit her this well. Even Matthew Fox seems well-used, with a digital boost making his voice even more robotic — and more fitting for the mysterious Racer X.
And if you need one more reason to be hopeful, there’s this: With all the computer-generated imagery packed into every frame of this film, they used a real chimp to play Chim Chim. Now that’s entertainment.
April 10th, 2008 09:53am
Will Pfeifer
There’s trouble in Hulk-land, according to this article from the New York Times.
For one thing, the recently unveiled trailer got a decidedly mixed reaction from fans and critics. As the article says, “The look of the new Hulk — meaner and greener — won praise from some fans online, but several influential tastemakers held their noses. Entertainment Weekly pronounced the computer-generated effects ‘totally fake-looking,’ while obsessedwithfilm.com deemed the project ‘just hideous.’ “
To add to the troubles, the movie stars Edward Norton — a very talented actor, but apparently not the easiest guy to work with when the movie isn’t what he wants it to be. (See also AMERICAN HISTORY X and THE ITALIAN JOB). Asked to respond to reports of friction between the studio and Norton (who is also working on the script), the Times article quotes Marvel Studios chairman David Maisel, then offers a helpful explanantion of Hollywood-ese:
“When you get to this point in the process, there are always lots of passionate discussions,” he said. “Edward is very passionate. He is as passionate about the Hulk as we are.” (For those unaccustomed to Hollywood speak, “very passionate” roughly translates to a seven on the “he’s a difficult person” scale.)
THE INCREDIBLE HULK is set to open on June 13, and it’s far from the only game in town. THE DARK KNIGHT (the new Batman movie), IRON MAN (also based on a Marvel Comics character), SPEED RACER (from the Matrix boys, the Wachowski brothers), HANCOCK (Will Smith’s movie about a down-and-out superhero) and, of course, INDIANA JONES AND THE TEMPLE OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL will all be competing for the same audience, and bad word of mouth combined with the lackluster reception to Ang Lee’s 2003 HULK movie could spell Doom for this Marvel movie, and I’m not talking about Dr. Doom.
Here’s the trailer. What do you think?
April 8th, 2008 09:19am
Will Pfeifer
This week’s Movie Man column (which can be found by clicking here) is a review of the new BONNIE AND CLYDE DVD. It’s a truly great movie, one that sparked a revolution of sorts in Hollywood, and I highly recommend giving this remastered disc a look.
My column mostly focuses on the movie itself, but here are a few bits of making-of trivia I picked up, both from the documentary included on the disc and from Mark Harris’ excellent new book about the 1967 Oscar nominees, PICTURES AT A REVOLUTION: FIVE MOVIES AND THE BIRTH OF THE NEW HOLLYWOOD:
1. Originally, Warren Beatty only planned to produce the movie, not star in it. He thought Bob Dylan (yes, the Bob Dylan) would be good as Clyde, and as for Bonnie, he thought about casting Shirley MacLaine. Once he decided to play Clyde himself, he wisely stopped considering Shirley for the Bonnie role. (She’s Beatty’s sister, if you didn’t know.)
2. It’s Gene Wilder’s first film.
3. When Warren Beatty was arguing with Warner Bros. chief Jack Warner about making the movie (Warner did not want to make it), Warner told Beatty to look out the window and see who’s name was painted on the studio’s giant water tower. Beatty says he went to the window and said “I don’t know — all I see are my initials.”
April 6th, 2008 12:41pm
Will Pfeifer
When I posted that picture of Charlton Heston from SOYLENT GREEN a few days ago, I never would’ve thought I’d be writing about his death today. Heston was one of those actors who, love him or hate him, seemed like he’d be around forever. Even though he had Alzheimer’s and hadn’t appeared in a movie in half a decade, his death still doesn’t seem quite right.
I mean, if the total breakdown of society – in triplicate! — couldn’t bring him down, what could?
I realize Heston is best known for playing Moses in THE TEN COMMANDMENTS, and that he won his Best Actor Oscar for BEN HUR, but I’ve always liked him best in what I call his World Gone Wrong Trilogy: SOYLENT GREEN, THE OMEGA MAN and PLANET OF THE APES. In each movie, Heston played the last real man in a world gone mad, either thanks to overcrowding, a disastrous pandemic or highly evolved apes. Whatever the calamity, Heston faced it the only way he knew how: Fists and jaw clenched tightly, bravely (and sometimes recklessly) facing the enemy.
Oscar or not, Heston wasn’t exactly the greatest actor in the history of cinema — but he was a heck of a screen presence. His politics aside (and with Heston, the politics were part of the package), I always enjoyed watching him onscreen. Even when things had collapsed around him, he seemed to be enjoying himself on some level, and in all three movies in the World Gone Wrong Trilogy, he brings a sly sense of humor to the role, no matter how humorless it might have been written. The glee with which his detective loots a rich guy’s apartment in SOYLENT GREEN brings added dimension to a character that, in the script, barely had one.
And, let’s give the guy credit for one more thing: Back in 1958, when he was a major movie star (having played Moses two years earlier), he was cast as the hero in TOUCH OF EVIL. He asked who was going to direct, and the producers said they didn’t know yet, but Orson Welles was playing the villain. Heston, an obvious master of understatement, said “You know, Orson Welles is a pretty good director.” So they hired Welles to direct and TOUCH OF EVIL turned out to be one of his masterpieces. And Heston was delighted to work with him, seeing a genius in Welles that the rest of Hollywood had ignored for years.
Now that, my friends, is a movie star.
April 3rd, 2008 09:17am
Will Pfeifer
Last night’s episode of TOP CHEF (See? I do watch more than movies!) involved contestants picking a movie then cooking up a dish based on the film. Though some of them were imaginative (The A CHRISTMAS STORY course was surprisingly clever), some were just plain lame (GOOD MORNING, VIETNAM? Really?). So, in the interest of adding a bit of spice to the mix, here are my suggestions. I don’t know much about cooking, but I do know these movies would have inspired more memorable dishes. In some cases, much more memorable…
THERE WILL BE BLOOD — A milkshake, of course. And, midway through the judge’s tasting of it, the cook could whip out a giant straw, extend it across the room and take a sip, proudly proclaiming “I drink your milkshake!” ala Daniel Plainview.
GOODFELLAS — A delicious pasta dish, just like the wiseguys make during their prison stay. Make sure you slice the garlic with a razor blade, like Paulie does. It really is a very good system.
BABE — Any pork dish would suffice.
FIGHT CLUB — Clean food, please.
RATATOUILLE — The title food, of course, with bonus points awarded for the number of live rats incorporated into the dish.
AIRPLANE! — Chicken or fish. Or lasagna.
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD, DAWN OF THE DEAD, DAY OF THE DEAD, RAVENOUS, ALIVE and CANNIBAL THE MUSICAL — I’m sure you can guess what the main ingredient in this course would be. Sure, the degree of difficulty would be high, but think how impressive the victory would be if the judges actually liked it. Trouble is, this ingredient isn’t exactly sitting on the shelf of your local Whole Foods store.
SOYLENT GREEN — Obviously.
I’m sure I’m missing a few obvious choices, so share your suggestions in the comment field.
April 2nd, 2008 03:34pm
Will Pfeifer
Had a weird movie-related dream last night, so I thought I’d share it here.
I was in Hollywood (which I’ve never been to) back in either the late 1950s or early 1960s (and I’ve never been there, either, since I was born in 1967). I was walking through the hallway of a studio, when I almost bumped into James Dean. His height surprised me — he was over six feet tall, and I had always thought he was shorter. He looked like he was dressed for a Western (maybe GIANT, his last film) but before I had a chance to ask him, I found myself deep in coversation with Jerry Lewis. I was telling him how much I liked his movie, THE PATSY, especially the casting of CITIZEN KANE actor Everett Sloane in a key role. I said Sloane’s performance worked because he seemed to take the movie’s situations seriously, and Jerry agreed, saying that’s the key to comedy. “You have to take it seriously!” Then I woke up.
Three post-awakening observations:
1. Besides being just plain impossible, this dream is also chronologically impossible. Dean died in 1955, and THE PATSY didn’t hit theaters until 1964.
2. The idea that Jerry Lewis, of all people, would say the key to comedy is taking the situation seriously should’ve tipped me off right away that this was some kind of crazy dream. Lewis can’t be serious for more than 10 seconds in a row.
3. I really do like the movie THE PATSY, though I don’t think there’s anything that remarkable about Everett Sloane’s performance.
Any other movie-inspired dreams out there, the weirder the better? Let’s hear ‘em!
March 31st, 2008 04:49pm
Will Pfeifer
Yes, that’s Robert Downey Jr. between Ben Stiller and Jack Black.
Heard about TROPIC THUNDER, the upcoming movie written and directed (and starring) Ben Stiller? The plot has great potential — a group of self-obsessed actors filming an APOCALYPSE NOW-type war movie wind up in an actual war zone — but the most intriguing part of the movie is Robert Downey Jr.’s role: He plays a dedicated (white) method actor who undergoes an elaborate physical change to play a black character (in the movie within the movie). Here’s what Downey himself says about the role:
““At the end of the day, it’s always about how well you commit to the character,” he says. “I dove in with both feet. If I didn’t feel it was morally sound, or that it would be easily misinterpreted that I’m just C. Thomas Howell in SOUL MAN, I would’ve stayed home.”
Downey is, of course, referring to the awful 1986 “comedy” where Howell played a student who pretended to be black to get into college. The premise was offensive and, even worse, the movie wasn’t funny. TROPIC THUNDER looks like it’s going to be a lot funnier — and address the racial issue in an intelligent, amusing way. Here’s the trailer…
March 28th, 2008 11:47am
Will Pfeifer
John Cusack, Anthony Michael Hall and Darren Harris in SIXTEEN CANDLES.
If you went to high school in the 1980s (like me), there’s a good chance you were a fan of the films of John Hughes. SIXTEEN CANDLES, THE BREAKFAST CLUB and FERRIS BUELLER’S DAY OFF — what I like to think of as his High School Trilogy* — are comedies than manage to be serious, teen movies that manage to be grown up and artifacts of the 1980s that manage to look pretty good today.
If you’re wondering what ever happened to Hughes, The Los Angeles Times has your answer: He’s living just down the road in the suburbs north of Chicago, where most of his movies were set. He doesn’t talk to the press, he doesn’t hang out in Hollywood, and aside from coming up with the original premise for DRILLBIT TAYLOR years ago, he doesn’t make movies.
Of course, his movies are still a big influence today, mostly because the people making movies grew up on SIXTEEN CANDLES and other Hughes epics. As producer Judd Apatow says in the LA Times article, “You see Hughes’ influence on all TV comedy, especially the stylized single-camera comedy. His great film characters, starting with Anthony Michael Hall in ‘Sixteen Candles,’ were big inspirations. When we were growing up, we were all like Hall — the goofy skinny kid who thinks he’s cool, even if nobody else does. ‘Superbad’ has that same attitude, that mix of total cockiness and insecurity.”
Since those mid-80s high school glory days, Hughes wrote and/or directed at least one grown-up classic (PLANES, TRAINS AND AUTOMOBILES), two underrated gems (SHE’S HAVING A BABY and UNCLE BUCK) and a lot of crap (BEETHOVEN’S 4TH, CURLY SUE, MAID IN MANHATTAN and others). He also wrote HOME ALONE, which guaranteed he’d never have to worry about writing or directing anything again. Financially, the guy is set.
But it’s too bad he never returned to that high school setting. I’m as sick of sequels as the next guy, but I’d kill to see a follow-up to THE BREAKFAST CLUB with the same cast, set in the present and stuck in a single room — maybe even that same library. Or a FERRIS BUELLER sequel, with Ferris, Sloan and Cameron as world-weary adults spending the day in Chicago. (In a way, Alexander Payne’s ELECTION is a twisted sequel of FERRIS, with Broderick playing a version of the principal he tormented way back when.)
C’mon, John. It’s time for a reunion.
* No, I’m not counting Hughes’ 1985 movie WEIRD SCIENCE or 1986 movie PRETTY IN PINK. Sorry.
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