Entertainment Today and Beyond

Never Met a Zombi I Didn’t Like…

Entertainment Today and Beyond THOUGHTS OF THE DAY

The RETURN of 24 – Judging by the first 4 hours it appears the show is back on track. It’s amazing how the Jack Bauer role has really defined Kiefer Sutherland as an actor as he continues to show a dynamic presence in the role. Let’s hope they can keep the quality of this show up for the entire season.

TV REMINDER – FRIDAY NIGHT LIGHTS returns to NBC this Friday for season 3. This is one of television’s best programs and I highly look forward to watching once again.

Sunday night’s Golden Globe awards pulled in a respectable 14.5 million viewers. As always the broadcast was the fastest moving and most entertaining of all awards shows. Some of the highlights included acceptance speeches by Mickey Rourke, Colin Farrell, and Chris Nolan who spoke on behalf of Heath Ledger, who won for his supporting performance as the Joker in The Dark Knight. While it was nice to see Kate Winslett win for both The Reader (supporting actress) and Revolutionary Road ( best actress), I thought her second acceptance speech where she practically imploded was embarrassing, and once again shows how isolated some stars are from the real world. When she kept saying “I can’t believe this”, “I can’t believe this”, while hyperventilating I thought maybe for a second she had found the cure for cancer! She did NOT. She merely won an acting award.  

One other BIG highlight for me was the appearance of Sacha Baron Cohen. While presenting an award, the Borat star unleashed three jokes that had the audience cringing, especially the last one were he took a shot at Madonna and Guy Ritchie. It was blisteringly funny, even if the crowd felt uncomfortable with his humor and held back from laughing. Cohen certainly didn’t hold anything back – a major, irreverent, talent! I could only imagine the possibilities if he were allowed to host the Oscars. It would probably be a night for the ages. Coming out of the Globes I would say it now appears that SLUMDOG MILLIONARE will be the favorite to win the Oscar for best picture.

GRAN TORINO’s 29.5 million box-office take over the weekend was MIGHTY impressive. What other 78 year old actor besides the living legend, Clint Eastwood, could attract this type of audience. The answer is NOBODY!

Radha Mitchell, who starred in the horror film SILENT HILL, has been signed to play the female lead in Overture film’s remake of George Romero 1970’s horror thriller THE CRAZIES. She will play the wife of the film’s star, Timothy Olyphant. The Crazies hits theaters Sept 25, 2009.

With Lionsgate’s stock price teetering at the $5.00 level, more than 50% from its 52 week high, MY BLOODY VALENTINE 3-D will be a pretty important film for them when it hits theatres on Friday. With current financial disasters like Punisher War Zone and The Spirit the independent badly needs this film to perform. If it bombs, their solvency could come into question. My gut feeling is the film will at least get out of the gate this weekend and have a respectable opening!

January 13, 2009 Posted by | Reviews | , , , , , | 1 Comment

THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT REMAKE TRAILER

lasthouse09sitenewpicsnews1The first trailer to the remake of Wes Craven’s 1972 Horror film The Last House on the Left is now online. Craven produced this version along with original producer Sean Cunningham. The footage here looks pretty compelling. Although it’s been a few decades since I saw the original, I remember it being a raw and disturbing film and not for the faint of heart. This new version stars Tony Goldwyn, Monica Potter and Sara Paxton.

January 12, 2009 Posted by | Reviews | Leave a Comment

GRAN TORINO REVIEW

gran-torino-51While my view might be skewed by my appreciation of Clint Eastwood both in front of and behind the camera, I feel Gran Torino is a very special film and one of the very best of 2008. There wasn’t a moment when I wasn’t completely absorbed in the story of Walt Kowalski, an angry, racist, ex-marine, recently widowed, living alone with his dog in his ever changing neighborhood now dominated by minorities and violent gangs.

When a Hmong youth next door named Theo (Bee Vang) tries to steal his prized Gran Torino car as part of a gang initiation, Walt strikes up an endearing friendship that eventually becomes father-like as it gradually changes both of them. As Theo and his sister Sue Lor (Ahney Her) are seriously threatened by these gang members Walt comes to their aid. Concerns about their safety reenergize him and he becomes determined to clean up the neighborhood. Even though the character of Walt has a lot of Archie Bunker in him, with racist jabs being part of his persona, he never seems without heart and the journey he takes from point A to Z is quite memorable as he transforms into a better person. This is a simple but very effective story and further proof that the best movies are ones with a character driven nature. I loved the experience. Director Eastwood once again uses a leisurely pace and is quite effective setting up the story’s more potent scenes of confrontation. One has to wonder if his “Get off my lawn” line will become part of our pop culture the way “Go ahead, make my day” did back in the 80’s. The film is also quite funny at times as Clint’s line delivery is dead on. It’s hard not to laugh when Walt calls Sue Lor a “zipperhead or Dragon Lady” as his attitude is so over the top it’s hard to take his personality seriously without finding humor in it.

Amazingly, Gran Torino was filmed in just six weeks. While some of the acting among the mostly inexperienced cast is suspect at times, the main supporting characters do respectable work. This, however, is Clint’s film. The Walt character is truly memorable and should go down in movie lore the way John Wayne’s John Bernard Books character is remembered for his last film, The Shootist. There is certainly one major similarity between the two characters. I give the film 4.5 out of 5 zombies.  A MUST see for Clint fans.

January 12, 2009 Posted by | Reviews | | 4 Comments

SWAYZE interview gets Ratings and NOLAN gets Directors Guild nomination

swayzeThe Patrick Swayze full hour interview with Barbara Walters on Wednesday night was television’s highest rated program of the night, attracting close to 13 million viewers. Even though it bothers me that the network sold commercial airtime off his misery, the interview was a moving piece of television. Bottom line – the guy’s got GUTS. It’s amazing that he was able to film the 13 episodes of his new A& E series THE BEAST while going through the agony of chemotherapy, battling incurable pancreatic cancer. It’s also hard to believe that Patrick’s plight is only 22 years removed from the year Dirty Dancing was released. Amazing what time can do to any of us! The Beast starts airing next week.

Directors Guild of America Nominations

David Fincher- The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Christopher Nolan- The Dark Knight
Ron Howard- Frost/Nixon
Gus Van Sant- Milk
Danny Boyle- Slumdog Millionaire

With the inclusion of Nolan here, it now appears The Dark Knight will get serious play come Oscar night. The film has already received both producer and writer Guild nominations – and now this. Nolan really deserves the recognition as much of his directing in The Dark Knight is tremendously skilled and, in many instances, quite amazing.

January 8, 2009 Posted by | Reviews | , | Leave a Comment

ROURKE joins THE EXPENDABLES crew and 20,000 LEAGUES get Remake treatment

According to Variety, actor Mickey Rourke, hot again off his performance in critically hailed “The Wrestler”, has joined the cast of the Sylvester Stallone directed action film “The Expendables”. Rourke will play an “unscrupulous arms dealer who becomes the go to guy for a bunch of mercenaries who plan to overthrow a South American dictator”. Starring Stallone, Jet Li, Jason Statham, Dolph Lungdren and Randy Couture, the film is shaping up to be a whopping full blown B-actioner of classic proportions. Personally, I’ve always felt that the Chuck Norris’ Delta Force was a really fun and highly underrated film if you like this sort of stuff. Over the top is what this genre should be all about so I’m hoping for something special. While they’re at it, I’d love to see Kurt Russell and Roddy Piper added to the cast. Filming begins in March.twenty

 

Another DAY, another REMAKE announcement… Disney has hired director McG (Terminator Salvation, Charlie’s Angels) to helm an updated version of its 1954 film, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. The original is remembered most for its giant squid scene and was the studio’s first ever live action movie. It starred Kirk Douglas and James Mason. This new version will reportedly follow Nemo’s origin and the creation of the Nautilus. McG getting this big vote of confidence with another big budget studio gig is a good sign that Terminator Salvation must be a really good film.   

January 8, 2009 Posted by | Reviews | , , | Leave a Comment

First Look TRAILER to George Romero’s new DEAD film

ofthedeadposterGeorge is at it again, currently in production on yet another ZOMBIE flick. This currently untitled effort, being shot on a very low budget, is the sixth time Romero has gone undead on moviegoers. There’s no doubt that Romero’s legacy of horror greatness has been solidified with his original trilogy, but is he going to the zombie well a few times two many? While I liked his last two efforts, Land of the Dead and Diary of the Dead, they weren’t in the same league as Night, Dawn or Day. After watching this trailer I wondered if George rounded up the cast at an old age home. The story takes place on an island off North America’s coast. 

Here’s my view on Romero’s legacy in this genre READ

January 6, 2009 Posted by | And Beyond - Trailers & News, Reviews | | Leave a Comment

GRAN TORINO tracking Well, Producers Guild announces Best picture nominations and an August release for Rob Zombie’s Halloween 2

 Clint Eastwood’s GRAN TORINO reportedly tracking very well and could open at the top spot when it goesgran-torino-5 into wide release this weekend. It will face competition from two new releases; BRIDE WARS (Kate Hudson and Anne Hathaway) and the heavily promoted horror film, THE UNBORN. While Gran Torino has done a solid $9.6 million in a very limited release so far, I don’t really understand Warner Bros strategy to platform its release. Clint fans will show up for this film. It’s everything they love about him and it should have just opened wide in December.

While there hasn’t been an advance review to be found anywhere for the comedy, Bride Wars, it’s pretty safe to say that Kate Hudson has gone down one of the worst career trajectories in recent memory – she can’t pick a winning script to save her life. I have a feeling she wasn’t thinking about re-inventing herself before the age of 30 when she hit big with her role in Almost Famous. Unfortunately that’s exactly what she will have to do. 

The Producers Guild has nominated their five films for best picture of 2008- these are the five finalists:

SLUMDOG MILLIONARE
THE CURIOUS CASE OF BENJAMIN BUTTON
MILK
FROST/NIXON
THE DARK KNIGHT

The PGA is typically a very reliable indicator of the five films that get nominated at the Oscars. Expect the biggest Oscar ratings in years if The Dark Knight gets a best picture nomination.

Dimension Films and director Rob Zombie have announced an August 28, 2009, release date for his HALLOWEEN sequel, simply titled H2. While this is NOT a film I’m looking forward to, I still don’t understand why the parties involved are so scared to put it out in late October. While Lionsgate has owned mid Oct with their SAW franchise, the series is clearly not as potent as it once was. Halloween is October not August. A pretty stupid marketing move if you ask me!

January 6, 2009 Posted by | And Beyond - Trailers & News | , | Leave a Comment

A LOOK at THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123

pelham1231Courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, here are the first two stills released from director Tony Scott’s remake of THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123.
While there’s certainly top notch talent involved with this new version, it will be hard to recapture the efficiency of Joseph Sergeant’s 1973 incarnation which captured everything that makes a pelham1232movie thriller great. I regard it as one of the 1970’s very best films. The new version stars Denzel Washington (looking less than trim) as the hero, NYC transit detective Lieutenant Zachary Garber, who battles the film’s villain John Travolta (Mr. Blue) who takes over a subway car and holds its passengers hostage for a large ransom. Pelham rides into theaters July 24, 2009.

January 5, 2009 Posted by | Reviews | , , | Leave a Comment

« Previous Entries     Next Entries »

Follow

Get every new post delivered to your Inbox.