Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Movie stuff


It's been nice scouring the trades lately and noticing a marked drop-off in politically themed stuff. A few of the more interesting bits of news lately...

-- Jackie Chan is reportedly being tapped to play Mr. Myagi in the Karate Kid remake. I'm just wondering, is the original's winning underdog formula enough to overcome the stink this project is projecting so far?

-- Also, I hope I didn't throw a monkey wrench into Liam Neeson's works with my comments to Steven Spielberg the other day. Because you know Stevie hangs on my every word.

-- Nor did I realize John Carter of Mars was being directed by Andrew Stanton. If you're not familiar, don't let the Molly Hatchet, 1970's van art throw you. The book was written in long forgotten days of yore by Edgar Rice Burroughs, so it could be fun.

-- I told you Tron 2 was going to be big. Looks like people are already trying to ride its wave.

-- Can't say I'm as confident knowing what to expect from Disney's prequel to "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea." I assumed this was based on Craig Titley's script, famous for landing on the 2007 Black List (the annual list of best unproduced screenplays as voted on by the industry).

But now I see that this is Disney's hurried move to beat another studio to the punch, which to my knowledge has never produced anything good in times past. (Witness the Robin Hood race in the early '90s, or the sucktastic Alexader the Great film secreted by Oliver Stone to beat Baz Luhrmann more recently.)

I have no idea, but since Nemo is to be a more sympathetic character, I fear his original mission to punish man's inhumanity to man might be justification enough to put a save-the-planet environmentalist spin to things.

-- Finally, just to slide back into the muck of politics, this one (Infiltrator) looks well worth tracking over the coming months. I never saw "House of Saddam" but neither that nor this one look at all incompatible with us movie fans who prefer to sit on the right side of the multiplex aisle -- except maybe the fact commie billionaire Mark Cuban is executive producing.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Remake of "Karate Kid?" What next? A remake of "Young Einstein" with Topher Grace taking over the role made famous by Yahoo Serious?

CI photog

Anonymous said...

Nor did I realize John Carter of Mars was being directed by Andrew Stanton.

Stanton digs inserting lefty politics into his films. Either greedy corporate monsters or mankind trashing the planet.

It will be interesting to see what he does with this, and if I'll be able to see it.

Splash said...

I'm sitting here trying to top your 'Young Einstein' line, and just can't do it, CI.

6gsjs5s4 said...

Iowahawk has a great list of upcoming movies for 2009.

I'll give you one to get you started:

Dark Spinach: Brooding, conflicted superhero sailor man (Matt Damon) must face his own inner demons and canned vegetable addiction to save his anorexic lover (Gwyneth Paltrow) in the violent screen adaptation of Frank Miller’s graphic novel. Featuring Mickey Rourke as Bluto.

Great stuff.

Splash said...

Thanks, Magoo. This is pure genius. Thanks. I saw the headline on Big Hollywood but didn't click on it at the time.

I think my favorite is "The Royal Fluffers."

Going to have to link to this one!

6gsjs5s4 said...

I saw the headline on Big Hollywood but didn't click on it at the time.

He tricked you. I saw it too and didn't realize what he was up to until I clicked the read more link. Tricky devils over at BH.

Thanks for the acknowledgement. My first! I like stopping here every day. You post one or two good threads that I enjoy reading.

Splash said...

Definitely glad to have you aboard, Magoo. Our stats say we've got great traffic, but while only a few of you leave comments, the comments are consistently excellent!