When I heard that Universal was abandoning a film version of Hasbro’s ‘Ouija’ board game, I was glad because, while I have nothing against using a board game to inspire a movie, I definitely have a problem with a board game being the primary basis for a movie. This applies to Transformers as well, though to a lesser extent because as little as I think about those films, at least there’s a body of characters and stories revolving around them.
But ‘Battleship?’ Where’s the mythology? Where’s the story? This is a difficult question to ask because ‘Battleship’–the game–HAS NONE. It’s like Tic, Tac, Toe in that they both have a history, as in a length of time that they have existed, but there’s no story.
What the point, you may ask? It’s simply that why call a movie “Battleship,” based upon a game that many of today’s kids probably have no idea exists? Couldn’t Universal have saved perhaps millions in licensing fees to Hasbro by simply making a movie about a flotilla of ships fighting some aliens?
Aliens?! There are also no aliens in the game of ‘Battleship.’
But, as I have said, there’s also no story in Battleship either, so they had to add dramatic elements to make a movie worth seeing, and aliens are always popular.
That this film received a green light, while “At The Mountains Of Madness” didn’t is more than a little galling.
Man! Yesterday there was an earthquake in Washington, DC, and now Steve Jobs is no longer Apple’s CEO. Could this be a sign of the Apocalypse that the religious-minded have been talking about for so long?
I hope that his health wasn’t the primary motivator and that he continues to play a role at the company (though I suspect that wild horses couldn’t keep him away).
Here’s a link to his letter of resignation, courtesy of CNET.
For those of you, like me, that happen to think that Guillermo del Toro is the best thing to happen to American genre film since latex, Vulture has an interview.
According to Deadline, Marvel Studios’ Marketing department, essentially three people, has been released. I don’t know what this means–as in, was it an act of vindictiveness by Disney (the owners of Marvel) or is it simply that they were redundant, and it was decided that what they did would be better handled in-house.
While it hurts to hear about anyone rendered unemployed in the current brutal economic situation, I would at least hope that the latter is true (such a sentiment won’t put food on anyone’s table, but rampant corporate power and greed, seemingly unconcerned with the welfare of anyone, is primarily responsible for our current economic straits).
And while I don’t mean to sound like a selfish ass, the most important thing is that Disney’s action doesn’t hamstring Marvel’s attempts to get their product noticed. I don’t see this as an issue with the characters like Captain America or Thor, but what upcoming efforts to launch second, and even third, string characters?
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Here’s the latest trailer for “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark,” directed by Troy Nixey, and opening this Friday. As happy as I am to see a new horror film that seems to remember that the genre isn’t always how gorily you can dispose of someone, but can occasionally rise above such stereotypical trappings when it chooses to revel in the excesses of atmosphere and suspense.
And fear. Let’s not forget about that one.
And while “Don’t Be Afraid Of The Dark” is a remake, I am willing to restrain judgement till I see it (Yeah, I know. Not exactly typical).
Though it’s written by Guillermo del Toro and Matthew Robbins (who first worked together on 1997′s “Mimic,” which was such a dispiriting experience for Mr. del Toro that he left Hollywood for his native Mexico for a few years), so I am willing to give it the benefit of the doubt.
Milton’s Paradise Lost will be coming soon to a theater near you, by way of Alex Proyas (of “The Crow,” “Dark City,” “I, Robot,” etc), though my question is when did Alex Proyas–a very talented director, by the way–take the helm of this project?
That being said, I suspect that as long as he’s allowed to do things the way he thinks that they should done it should be fine, unlike in the case of “I, Robot,” which had a bit of studio interference.
The last I heard this project was being handled by Scott Derrickson (“The Exorcism of Emily Rose”), who’s also talented (though perhaps not yet in the league of Alex Proyas) though I thought that “The Day The Earth Stood Still” was somewhat underwhelming.
Here’s a video where Scott Derrickson mentions the project, albeit somewhat hesitantly, around 4:40 minutes in.
According to Deadline Noah Oppenheim has been chosen to write the reboot of John Badham’s 1983 film, “War Games.”
The movie revolves around a high school student that becomes a fan of a video game that’s actually a war games simulation for the computer (W.O.P.R) that’s tasked with defending the United States against nuclear attack from the Soviet Union (which no longer exists. I imagine that China, like in the Red Dawn reboot, will be the nemesis this time around).
The problem comes when the computer doesn’t recognize that it’s playing a game.
I have included a trailer of the original film below because it’s been awhile.
Here’s some footage from “The Avengers.” The angle isn’t great, but it gives you an idea of what you’d be seeing on screen.
The trailer for Neveldine/Taylor’s “Ghost Rider: Sprit of Vengence” is out, and if I do say so it looks pretty cool and builds up some serious good will for those of us that thought that the first film was pretty, and little else.
This time around, it feels more geared toward horror, which makes sense when you’re talking about the embodiment of a earth-bound demon who is little more than a flaming skeleton.
That being said, perhaps there’s such a thing as going too far, as the end of the trailer (painfully) illustrates.
‘Conan’ & ‘Fright Night’ Gutted By ‘The Help’
I would never have thought that a film about the lives of African-American domestics (which some believed was not a very accurate portrayal) would have the strength to hold off a box-office assault from not only the greatest barbarian in cinema, but also a vampire, but “The Help” has managed to overwhelm both “Conan, The Barbarian” and “Fright Night ” over the weekend.
Executives at Lionshead–the studio that released ‘Conan’ were left wondering what happened, and why their relaunch of the Robert E. Howard’s sword and sorcery saga displayed so little strength at the box office, though what’s even more shocking is that despite the weakness of ‘Conan,’ it still outperformed “Fright Night.”
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