DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 16

Dan Owen reviews

DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST
I s s u e # 1 60 1 N o v e m b e r 2 0 0 2

** MOVIE NEWS **

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CHARLIE’S ANGELS 2

Director McG was recently interviewed by ‘Coming Attractions’. Here iswhat he had to say about next year’s Summer release “Charlie’s Angels2′:

Q: Does this [sequel] have more adrenaline than the first one?

    McG: Yeah, you can see the whole idea with this is obviously all the funand the beauty and the sexiness is very much still intact which is whatyou see in the little short clips that come at the end of the piece, butwhat we all wanted to do when we got together was just make it decidedlymore muscular, more masculine and show that these are girls that canhang with the boys and do their thing, just play on that action levelthat anybody can play on. That’s what we’re trying to bring andrepresent.

Q: Do you explain how Bernie Mac is Bosley [and not Bill Murray]?

    McG: It’s handled subtly. I think that you’re in for a very interestingtreat in respect to the legacy of the Bosley’s so to speak. We addressthat, it’s fun and we have a little bit of fun with where everybody camefrom.

Q: Tell us about Pink’s involvement?

    McG: Yeah, she’s just someone who we’re all a fan of. The movie’spro-everybody. It’s pro-ethnicity; it’s pro-men, its pro-women. It’slike everybody just be the best you can be and do your thing. We alljust got together and creatively felt that Pink was someone whopersonified pulling yourself up by your bootstraps and getting out thereand doing your thing, and being as sexy as you want to be and as toughas you want to be and doing what you believe in.

    So, we were thrilled to have her as part of it and she’s a part of themotocross sequence. Her boyfriend’s one of the top freestyle guys in theworld who’s out there at the X-games, upside down and backwards, blowingup, walking with a limp and a broken collarbone but still going outthere and making it happen. So, she seemed right for the picture.

Q: And Demi Moore’s involvement?

    McG: We conceived that character from day one, I was working with NancyJuvonen, Leonard [Goldberg] and Drew and everybody, all the producersand we just felt like we wanted a very worthy adversary. Then we startedthinking about who these people could be and we started thinking aboutDemi Moore and how we were all sort of raised on her pictures.

    We conceived a character that from day one we all felt like it’s got tobe Demi, it’s got to be Demi and we sent our secret weapon in DrewBarrymore on her to start talking to her and see if she could resist thetemptation of Drew to come play with us and have a great time in amovie. Something where I think Demi’s kids were prompting her a littlebit about, ‘Come on, mom, we really like this picture. You should be apart of it.’ And as was the case with Cameron on the first picture andeverybody who gets involved, no one can resist Drew.

Q: How did you decide to do this sequel as opposed to other projects youwere offered, like ‘Superman’?

    McG: This was always my number one priority and I just made it clear tothe girls when we first did the first one, just sort of one of thosesacred conversations you have in the middle of the night when it’s justthe four of us sitting around a coffee table at Drew’s house in thoseintimate moments where we all sort of agreed that if it seems right forus all to come back, we made that blood oath that we were all going tocome back and honour the franchise and do what we could do to take it ashigh as we could take it. When that become the case, what, man, probablyat the end of the year, whenever we all decided let’s do it again, thenthe choices were all easy. In respect to ‘Superman’, that’s a projectthat I developed with J.J. Abrams. I was thrilled to be a part of it andsuch is the breaks in Hollywood. When they wanted to go on the picture,I was taking care of business here and they needed to move forward onthe picture. It’s all good for everybody.

Q: Where did you shoot the dam scene?

    McG: The dam location is the Hansen Dam out in the valley. Then we havethe benefit of having a guy named Mark Stetson as our visual effectssupervisor who is the Academy Award Winning visual effects supervisor of’Lord of the Rings’. So, he’s able to enhance our environments and makeeverything look pretty crazy. It’s sort of an amalgam of the Hoover Damand Glen Canyon Dam, plates that we took out there and the girls hangingfrom wires 150 feet off the ground, state of the art mechanicalmechanisms and everything going into it just to make you feel thatexcitement and that rush that we’re going for.

Q: What is it like being a guy in a girls’ world?

    McG: It’s insane. Here’s a studio that’s run by a woman. The producersof the film, with the exception of Leonard, are women. The stars of thefilm are women. We’ve added Demi. She’s a very strong, powerful woman.I’ve had to grow as an individual because I come from a very patriarchalfamily where my dad was the guy screaming and the whole thing, footballon Sundays and all that sort of male energy, and I really had to becomea better listener and become more compassionate. I had to grow. I had nochoice. I had to grow and it’s been fantastic but the joy is in what Ithink you see on the screen, that these girls aren’t fussy.

    The joy comes from it’s not like what you would imagine, like nobodygets their hair dirty. I mean, they get blown up, they get shot at, theyget caught on fire. They break their ribs, they pick them up and that’swhy I think you root for them. It’s always that sort of Rocky Balboaparadigm where you don’t want to see Rocky just win the fight from startto finish. You want to see him getting beat up by Apollo Creed and youwant to see him just barely pick himself up by his boots and make ithappen in the final moments of the final round.

    That’s the joy of the film and that’s what I think is making you soendeared to these three characters. They’re so tough and they’re sowilling to go for it, the point I’m making is when I hang out with themI feel like I’m hanging out with the guys. It’s just really cool andthat’s what the film is all about.

Q: Will the girls have any ‘Fastlane’ cameos?

    McG: No, there’s no ‘Fastlane’ component. It’s just I love televisionalso and I was delighted to be a part of creating a television show, butmy focus is certainly filmmaking. I’m trying to become the bestfilmmaker I can. I see great films, like this studio’s behind’Adaptation’ and I’m buddies with Spike Jonze and I’m excited to seethat. I mean, I just want to continue to grow as a filmmaker. With thatsaid, I’m trying to spread my wings and do great things like Ron Howarddoes with Brian Grazer when they’re making great films, Academy Awardwinning pictures and they’ve also got television shows and I just likespeaking to the demographic that I understand and that’s a demographicthat watched television and goes to the movies and eats chilidogs at7-11.

Q: What cameos do you have in the film?

    McG: There’s a lot of cameos and we’re going to hold onto those and keepthem secret for a while, but it’s really fun and there’s actually somereally touching cameos that I think are particularly poignantconsidering the state of affairs with the world and what’s going on witheverybody individually who’s in the picture. I think you’ll be verypleased when you see who we got to show up in the film and especiallyimpart some wisdom when it’s needed most. I think it’s going to be verysatisfying.

Q: You’re shooting with a complete script this time?

    McG: Yeah. We have the benefit of a much more resolved script this timearound but I don’t fight that either. There’s a lot of creative peopleinvolved in this picture and the one thing that’s helped me more thananything in directing pictures is just doing a lot of listening. I don’tever want to be a maniacal guy that just goes up and says, ‘It’s gottabe this way, it’s gotta be that way.’ I have a lot of respect for peoplelike Drew.

    It’s no accident Drew became Drew. She’s Drew because she’s fantasticand she’s smart and she takes chances and makes great choices andinspires all of us to keep reinventing ourselves and growing and doingour thing. I don’t ever want it to be that static and that planned outand that boring. It takes away from the artistry on the day to daystuff.

Q: Can you tell us a little more about the plot?

    McG: There’s a guy named Rodrigo Santoro. This guy’s so hot; he’s justthe toughest most beautiful just incredible screen presence. He’s in thepicture and the idea for that is that heroes are only as good as thevillains. It’s the great sort of John McClane/Hans Gruber making eachother great. When you see great villains and it’s not just people thatthe Angels can just go through like a hot knife through butter, it’sthat much more engaging. So, here’s this guy, he’s got real physicalpresence, he’s got a great look, he actually is a surfer, he actually isa motocross rider, he’s doing all his own stunts.

    He’s like the male composite of our three Angels and that’s what I want.So, I’m always looking for people that are going to take their gamehigher, because nobody likes a blow out. Everybody likes it when it goesdown to the bottom of the ninth inning and two heavyweights justslugging it out in the final round. That’s what we get out of that. Andwe’ve got John Cleese in the picture who’s a comedic genius, who we’reall thrilled to have him. He’s raising everybody’s comedic performancesto a whole nother place that we never anticipated.

    And we like to have fun and that said, we’ve got Luke Wilson back andMatt LeBlanc back, so we’re diving more deeply into the personal livesof these three ladies and just taking the picture further altogether.

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THE CAT IN THE HAT

The upcoming Mike Myers comedy adapted from the best-selling children’sbook. Producer Briaz Grazer recently told the press “there [was] onlyone actor I was willing to make ‘The Cat in the Hat’ with and that’sMike Myers because he is a genius as an artist and he has what the cathas, a certain playful anarchy about him!”

THE DAY AFTER TOMORROWDirector Roland Emmerich’s global warming disaster flick has changed ittitled to the much simpler “Tomorrow”. DIE HARD 4

Producer Joel Silver recently spoke to ‘CNN’ about the resurgence inrumours of a “Die Hard 4”, saying: “I think that we’ve kind of – they’verun their course, those movies.”

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THE FANTASTIC FOUR

Director Chris Columbus (“Harry Potter & The Chamber Of Secrets”) ishoping to produce the big-screen adaptation of “The Fantastic Four”comic-book.

He commented on the existing screenplay by Mike Frances, saying:“…Mike Frances’s version is a good script. That version unfortunatelycost around 700 million dollars! It’s difficult to get a studio backing.We’re working on it, we’re actually doing a rewrite… what makes the’Marvel’ series so wonderful, as Stan Lee used to say in the 60’s, theseare ‘heroes with hang-ups’.”

“And they were heroes with real problems, unlike Superman and Batman atthe time. These were real characters, or at least, soap opera charactersin comic books. People really related to that. So when you got thesecomic books, you got soap operas and superhero stories.”

“The Fantastic Four have the same sort of chemistry and charactersituations that Spider-Man had. And our scripts always reflected – thefirst 30-40 pages were always about their character interaction. Wedon’t want to come off as doing exactly what Spider-Man did, so we’reworking on the script right now”.

THE GODFATHER: PART IV

‘The Herald Sun’ reports that the fourth movie featuring the infamousCorleone family could be shot in Melbourne. It looks like “an Australianindustry insider said a big Hollywood studio had already had talks aboutshooting some of the film in Melbourne and Queensland” with shootingexpected to begin late 2003.

GRIMMTerry Gilliam (“12 Monkeys”) looks set to direct “Grimm”, a projectwhich has been stuck in development for almost two years at ‘MGM’.

The film is a fictional action-adventure about folklore collectorsiblings Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm. While travelling to various villagespretending to protect townsfolk from enchanted creatures, they encountera real sorceress with terrifying powers and are put to the test.

The project is described as a mix of ‘Indiana Jones’ adventure with thehumour of “Shrek”. Screenwriter Ehren Kruger (“The Ring”, “Scream 3”)wrote the script.

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HARRY POTTER 3Director Chris Columbus has speculated that the child actors of “HarryPotter” will likely bow out of the franchise after the third movie. Hesaid: “If I were a betting man I’d say they’ll probably stop afterthree.” This would inevitably lead to recasting as the franchisecontinues with “The Goblet Of Fire” and the delayed fifth book “TheOrder Of The Phoenix”.

However, star Rupert Grint stated otherwise at a London Press Conferencefor the new film: “I’d like to do more. Maybe up to number five. We havesuch a good time doing them.”

Star Daniel Radcliffe also assured us that: “I’m definitely doing thethird movie, we all are doing the third. After that, who knows? It’smore or less a year to film, so it’s quite a long time before we have toencounter that decision”

Emma Watson stated that: “I don’t even know if they’re even going tomake a fourth or a fifth or whatever, but it’s a really, really goodexperience, I’ve really enjoyed them.”

Producer David Heyman recently talked about the release date for thethird “Potter” film, saying: “The third film will come out sometime in2004. We haven’t yet determined if that will be the summer or fall.Other than that, I don’t know. My focus is with the release of thesecond film, and on the preproduction and production of the third”.

In other news, the death of Richard Harris (Professor Dumbledore) hasposed a problem for the production – who are already gearing up for“Harry Potter & The Prisoner Of Azkaban”. The latest rumour is thatscreen legend Christopher Lee(Star Wars Episode II)will assume the role.

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HELLBOYSelma Blair (“Legally Blonde”) has signed on to play Liz Sherman, apyrokineticist. She is Ron Perlman’s love-interest in the movie. THE HOBBIT

Will Peter Jackson be tempted to film the prequel to “The Lord Of TheRings” a few years after the last chapter of the trilogy is released?

If so, Ian McKellen (Gandalf) seems eager to return, saying: “Irecently asked about the film rights to ‘The Hobbit’, which seem to besomewhat controlled by Peter Jackson, as far as I can tell. I hopethat’s the case because obviously he should have first refusal attranslating the novel into a movie.”

“I should be intrigued to return to Middle-Earth, even though itinvolved putting on Gandalf’s nose, which is even more distinctive thanmy own, tell your wife. I thought it might be possible to make a reallylong screen version, probably for television, with every episode of thebook covered week by week in a multitude of episodes.”

“Ian Holm – who was proud to look so young as well as so old as Bilbo inThe Fellowship of the Ring – even he might think the young Bilbo of TheHobbit was unlikely casting for an actor of his age.”

(DVDfever Ed: “Will Thorin be occasionally sitting down andsinging about gold?”)

THE LAST SAMURAITom Cruise began work last week on “The Last Samurai”, written by JohnLogan (“Gladiator”). Cruise stars as Captain Algren of the US Army – whois hired to help Japan build a modern army to fight the Samurai. That isuntil he is captured by the samurai after a battle and learns more abouttheir sacred traditions…

The film should be released late-2003, which should make next year quitea feast for fans of martial-arts – what with two “Matrix” sequels andTarantino’s “Kill Bill” vying for space at the box-office.

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THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMENIt appears that Jason Isaacs (“The Patriot”) was never approached toplay Campion Bond (a precursor of James Bond) for Stephen Norrington’s”The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen”.

He said: “It’s a very weird thing with ‘Extraordinary Gentlemen’actually, and it’s all over the internet and it’s all over the pressthat I’m playing this part [Campion Bond] and I hope the checks arrivesoon cause I NEVER read the script and I’ve never been offered the partand I’m not doing it.

Some Isaacs somewhere is playing Campion Bond, it must be really pissinghim off. Because every time he opens the newspaper it talks about howmuch fun I’m having on the set and how I’ve been flooded off fromPrague.”

Regardless, here is a photograph that shows actress Peta Wilson in hercostume as Mina Murray (from “Dracula”) – which also hints at thepulp-comic style the film seems to have. (right)

LOONEY TUNES: BACK IN ACTIONDirector Joe Dante (“Gremlins”) has some surprises in store for genrefans with his new “Looney Tunes” feature. Robbie the Robot (“ForbiddenPlanet”) makes an appearance with “Tales from the Crypt” producer RobertParigi.

Various other creatures from B-movie sci-fi also appear in a sequenceset in Area 52; including the Daleks (“Doctor Who”), seed pods from theoriginal “Invasion of the Body Snatchers”, the Metaluna Mutant from”This Island Earth” and a triffid plant from “The Day of the Triffids”.

Also, zombie movie legend Roger Corman will cameo, playing the directorof a new “Batman” movie during a chase scene set on the ‘WarnerBrothers’ lot in Burbank!

PAYCHECKDirector John Woo (“Face/Off”) is in talks to direct “Paycheck” – afuturistic tale about a man who can’t remember the past two years, basedon a short-story by sci-fi author Philip K. Dick. In the film theprotagonist must seek clues to his whereabouts using common objects suchas a ticket stub and bus token to uncover a government secret.

Woo is said to want Matt Damon (“Ocean’s Eleven”) to star, although theamnesiac similarity to Damon’s recent film “The Bourne Identity” mayscupper those plans.

Director Brett Ratner (“Red Dragon”) had been in talks to direct beforecommitting to “Superman”, and Kathryn Bigelow (“K-19”) had alsoconsidered helming the project.

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THE PHANTOM’Variety’ reports that comic-book hero The Phantom will again be broughtto movie screens in a project written by Steven De Souza (“Die Hard”).It is said the new version will have more of a “Spider-Man”/”The Matrix”style in mind.

Executive Ashok Armitraj said: “The fact is this character is terrificand has been followed by people around the world. There is a greathistory there, the whole legend of the Phantom, how it was handed downfour centuries with the vow to take on piracy and bad guys, these peopleout to destroy the world… The major thing is to put him in acontemporary setting with the weapons and gizmos and ‘Matrix’-stylestuff which wasn’t done in the previous film”.

SKELETON KEYScreenwriter Ehren Kruger (“The Ring”) has signed a two-pictured dealwith ‘Universal’ for a seven figure sum.

Kruger’s spec script “Skeleton Key” is likely to form part of this deal,as will his adaptation of “The Talisman” for Steven Spielberg – based onthe epic novel by Stephen King and Peter Straub about a 12-year-old boywho travels between parallel universes to obtain a talisman that willsave the life of his ailing mother.

But for now “Skeleton Key” is on the horizon – which is described as agenre film similar to his recent “The Ring” – which Kruger adapted fromthe Japanese original.

Rumour has it that “K-Pax” director Iain Softley could be asked todirect “Skeleton Key”, which will be set in New Orleans.

SON OF THE MASK’New Line Cinema’ recently released a list of movies that should bearriving before late-2004, and “Son Of The Mask” (a sequel to Jim Carreycomedy “The Mask”) was on their list! Sadly Jim Carrey is not attached,but now we know the sequel is not just a pipe-dream… STUCK ON YOUWriter-Directors The Farrelly Brothers (“There’s Something About Mary”)will be directing “Stuck On You” next; a bad-taste comedy from ’20thCentury Fox’ about the adventures of conjoined twins!

The brothers have begun talks with Matt Damon to star and also hope tocast Greg Kinnear in the “joint-role” (ho, ho!) of the twins. Filmingshould begin in February 2003 with a late-Autumn release planned.

“Stuck On You” is a screenplay the brothers began thinking about 10years ago, from their discussion with “Dumb & Dumber” co-writers BennettYellin and Charlie Wessler. The plot has one of the conjoined twinsdeciding to follow his dreams of becoming a Hollywood superstar, andhaving to persuade his sibling to go along for the ride…

Next up for The Farrelly’s is a biopic of “Three Stooges” for ‘WarnerBrothers’ in 2004.

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WOLVERINEAccording to ‘Cinema Confidential’, who attended a recent “X-Men 2″press junket in Vancouver, studio execs for the film are apparently keento introduce a spin-off movie focusing more on Hugh Jackman’s characterWolverine! THUNDERBIRDSAccording to columnists Marilyn Beck and Stacy Jenel Smith, productionon the movie version of “Thunderbirds” should begin in February 2003 inthe UK under the direction of Jonathan Frakes (“Star Trek: FirstContact”). WAY OF THE RATWriter-Director Frank Darabont (“The Green Mile”) is hoping to produce”The Way Of The Rat” for ‘Darkwoods Productions’ and ‘Castle RockProductions’, with Chuck Russell (“The Scorpion King”) to direct.

‘Variety’ magazine says Russell is adapting the screenplay from thecomic-book source – a martial arts action-adventure set in Hong Kongthat involves an acrobatic hero, a wise-talking monkey and a princesswho’s handy with blades.


CoverUS TOP 10 (CINEMA)

  • 1. Jackass: The Movie ($22.7m)
  • 2. The Ring ($18.8m)
  • 3. Ghost Ship ($11.7m)
  • 4. Sweet Home Alabama ($6.4m)
  • 5. My Big Fat Greek Wedding ($6.3m)
  • 6. Red Dragon ($4.7m)
  • 7. Punch-Drunk Love ($3.5m)
  • 8. Jonah: A Veggie Tales Movie ($2.9m)
  • 9. The Transporter ($2.8m)
  • 10. Brown Sugar ($2.7m) UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

    Sadly, imdb.com haven’t updated their UK Top 10 list so this is the sameas last week’s, for the weekend of October 18th-20th 2002.

  • 1. xXx (£3.4m)
  • 2. Lilo & Stitch (£1.5m)
  • 3. Red Dragon (£1.4m)
  • 4. My Big Fat Greek Wedding (£0.8m)
  • 5. Signs (£0.44m)
  • 6. Road To Perdition (£0.43m)
  • 7. My Little Eye (£0.25m)
  • 8. Slap Her, She’s French! (£0.21m)
  • 9. One Hour Photo (£0.19m)
  • 10. All or Nothing (£0.16m)

    ** WEBSITES **

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    X-Men 2Bigger, better, with more mutants, a more involving storyline, and farmore CGI malarkey to pack in the punter next Summer. With Summer 2003already crammed full of huge titles (“T3”, “Matrix 2”, “Angels 2”, etc)will “X2” get lost in the crush? Don’t bet on it!
    CLICK HERE Charlie’s Angels 2: Full ThrottleCameron Diaz, Drew Barrymore, Lucy Liu, Drew Barrymore! What more do youwant? Director McG’s sequel promising more glitz, sassiness, sexiness,OTT kung-fu fights, eye-popping visuals, and ass-swirling music! One ofthe most enjoyably silly romps in recent years is back for seconds!
    CLICK HERE


    ** OBITUARIES **

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    Richard Harris: 1930 – 2002.

    Irish screen legend Richard Harris has died, aged 72.

    Harris passed away peacefully at University College Hospital, London,where he had been receiving treatment for Hodgkin’s Disease afterfalling ill in the summer.

    He had recently finished filming “Harry Potter And The Chamber OfSecrets”, but will be best remembered for his excellent performances in”A Man Called Horse”, “This Sporting Life”, “Camelot” and the recent”Gladiator”.

    ‘Warner Brothers’ issues this statement on the star of their “HarryPotter” movies: “‘Warner Brothers’ extends our deep and heartfeltcondolences to the family of Richard Harris, who has made so manyunforgettable contributions to the world of motion pictures, mostrecently in the role of Professor Dumbledore in the first two HarryPotter movies. We will miss his presence and will treasure our memoriesof him.”


    ** TRAILERS **

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    The Santa Clause 2

    Tim Allen returns to star in a sequel to about the only non-“Toy Story”movie he’s appeared in with any merit. Expect more middling comedy,although the make-up effects are much improved.
    CLICK HERE

    28 Days LaterDanny Boyle (“Trainspotting”) directs this zombie movie – bristling withraw energy and punchy visuals. Success beckons, and after the recent”Dog Soldiers” are we witnessing resurgence in UK horror…?
    CLICK HERE

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    Shanghai KnightsJackie Chan and Owen Wilson return for more 19th Century hijinks, nowwith the action taking place in Victorian England…
    CLICK HERE


    ** IN THE PIPELINE **

  • December 2002: The Lord Of The Rings: The Two Towers
  • January 2003: Gangs Of New York, Catch Me If You Can
  • February 2003: Daredevil, Solaris
  • April 2003: Timeline, Dreamcatcher
  • May 2003: X-Men 2, The Matrix Reloaded
  • June 2003: The Italian Job (2003), The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen
  • July 2003: Charlie’s Angels 2: Full Throttle, Lara Croft & The Cradle Of Life, The Hulk
  • August 2003: Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines, Bad Boys 2
  • September 2003: The Fast & The Furious 2, American Wedding
  • October 2003: Kill Bill
  • November 2003: The Matrix Revolutions, The Last Samurai
  • December 2003: The Lord Of The Rings: The Return Of The KingPage Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2002.

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