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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 49 A u g u s t 2 0 0 2
** MOVIE NEWS **
“FINAL DESTINATION 2” – You Can’t Cheat Fate… Twice!
Craig Perry, producer of “Final Destination 2” recently spilled thebeans on what fans can expect from the sequel to the original movie.
“We follow a totally different group of characters, which is something Ilike about it. We only verbally reference the first movie once in thefirst 30 minutes. There are certain things that I think an audience willrecognize and be aware of only because of their knowledge of the firstmovie – that makes the movie kind of fun.”
“And at about page 32 of the movie, wham! Ali Larter’s character enters.She becomes emblematic of everything the first movie had in it. All theinformation; all the characters; all the pathos – everything from thefirst movie is embodied in her character.”
“After the characters meet her, they spend time trying to figure out howthis story relates to the other story. What do they have to do with oneanother, outside of the fact that death seems to be chasing both ofthem? And that’s what’s really cool. The turning and twisting andsearching, and then they finally get the connection at the end of thesecond act, but is it in time to actually help them escape from death’sclutches?”
“Because two people survived at the end of the first movie, we decidedto kill one of them off during the time in between films for dramaticreasons. [Having] one of the characters die off screen is moreinteresting because these two characters were supposed to be watchingone another’s backs. Well, Death got to one of them and Ali is the onlyone left.”
“THE ANIMATRIX” – Anime Series Debut Online… Soon!
A series of anime short films – set in the universe of “The Matrix” -will make their worldwide debuts on the official “Matrix” website thisAutumn, ‘Warner Brothers’ have announced. The shorts are: “SecondRenaissance – Part I”, “Second Renaissance – Part II”, “Program”, “Kid’sStory”, “World Record”, “Beyond”, “Matriculated”, “Detective Story” and”The Final Flight Of The Osiris”.
Four of the films have even been especially written by “The Matrix”creators Larry and Andy Wachowski. The series will feature as part of”The Matrix Reloaded” DVD’s extra features, with the final shortpossibly shown as a precursor to “The Matrix Reloaded” in cinemas.
As for now, here are two images from the final episode of “TheAnimatrix” chronicles, which is, sadly, the only one created byphotorealistic CGI pioneers ‘Square’ – the company that made “FinalFantasy: The Spirits Within”.
For a preview, and more information on “The Animatrix”, head over toWhatIsTheMatrix.comtoday… and start salivating…
“AUSTIN POWERS 4” – The Past… Or The Future?
“Austin Powers” director Jay Roach has revealed that he and star MikeMyers were discussing ideas for a fourth movie while shooting”Goldmember”.
According to Roach: “Mike and I said, ‘Hmmm, what if Dr. Evil goes intothe future? I had ideas and Mike has a billion characters in his head.Suddenly, we were saying, ‘What about Austin Powers in space?’ I have anidea for a prequel. You’ll see Dr. Evil as the ultimate cold warrior guyand, meanwhile, Austin Powers launches the British invasion.”
“BALLISTIC: ECKS vs SERVER” – Chopsocky Espionage!
Directed by newcomer Kaos, “Ballistic: Ecks Vs Sever” is a high-octaneaction thriller starring Antonio Banderas (Ecks) and Lucy Liu (Sever) astwo rival agents out to seize the ultimate gadget in futuristicassassination. So there.
The Flash-intensive website can be seen (if you’re patient) here:www.ecksvssever.com. But one question, – just what is it with ‘versus’movies? “Freddy Vs Jason”, “Batman Vs Superman”, “Alien Vs Predator” andnow “Ecks Vs Sever”! Weird.
“BRUCE ALMIGHTY” – Carrey Is God!
Shooting has begun on elastic-limbed Jim Carrey‘s next comedy venture”Bruce Almighty”. Carrey plays titular everyman Bruce, who is given thepowers of God over mankind…
“BOND 20: DIE ANOTHER DAY” – Director Discusses 007!
Lee Tamahori, director of the latest Bond flick “Die Another Day”recently spoke about his feelings about the Bond franchise.
“I got tired of Bond during the Roger Moore years, as a lot of us did,when it got a bit hokey. Timothy Dalton was OK, but it was when PierceBrosnan came along that Bond got re-enlivened. “Goldeneye” revamped thecharacter in a really fantastic way. Instead of a smooth, suavesophisticate, this was now a new MI6, SAS assassin-type Bond.”
His response to people who fear Bond will be totally reinvented someday? “There is only one James Bond and he’s been going for 40 years.Let’s face it, he’s always been desirous of beautiful women! You cannotescape the fact Bond is about girls, gadgets and big action. It’s a kindof mantra. [But] if you only serve those things up, I think you do adisservice to the 40 years of the genre.”
“I grew up watching Bond as a Cold War spy thriller – “From Russia WithLove” was probably my favourite. Later, the series moved into theoutrageousness of “You Only Live Twice”, then into the high-camp RogerMoore years with big action and spectacular stunts. All the time, it’sbeen metamorphing. You can’t go back to Ian Fleming’s Bond now, becausethe 40 years and 19 past movies have changed people’s perceptions ofwhat this guy is.”
“He’s not Sean Connery anymore, and certain things do not hold true now.I find it very dull when Bond goes off to casinos or the opera – it’s soboring! Tuxedos and wandering ’round Monaco and chips and roulettewheels… you need some more juice these days.”
“Die Another Day” is due for release in November 2002.
“DUMB & DUMBER 2” – The Idiocy Continues!
‘New Line Cinema’ are mulling over shooting a prequel to the hit 1994comedy starring Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels, which started the 90’strend for bad taste comedy. It’s unlikely Carrey or Daniels will reprisetheir roles, or that the Farrelly brothers will resume directing duties.
“ESCAPE FROM…” – Snake Slithers Back…
‘The Hollywood Reporter’ has revealed that Snake Plissken – theanti-hero played by Kurt Russell in director John Carpenter’s “EscapeFrom New York” and its terrible sequel “Escape From L.A.” – will bemaking a comeback!
But not in movie form. Plans are afoot for Snake to appear in a seriesof comic book adventures, video games escapades, and anime featureswithin the next few years.
The ‘San Diego ComiCon’ recently premiered a sneak peak of the comic -entitled “John Carpenter’s Snake Plissken Chronicles”, which should bereleased to tie-in with the “Escape From New York” Special Edition DVDrelease.
Best of all, Snake’s forays into games and feature-length anime movieswill have voice-over from Kurt Russell himself! The woman chieflyresponsible for this resurrection of Snake is producer Deborah Hill (whoworked on both “Escape” movies).
On the anime films in particular Hill said: “We want to take Japanesesensibility and combine that with Western storytelling” Hill said. “Whenwe made the original film in 1981, there was no video or DVD or videogames. [We] want to relaunch Snake Plissken back into the vernacular ofpop culture.”
“We introduced a lot of legends in the first two films and with thecomics, novels, video games and anime, we’ll be able to explore some ofthese things. How did Snake lose his eye? What happened in the Battle ofCleveland or at the Battle of Leningrad? What is New Las Vegas? We’llexplore these stories as well as introduce new stories.”
It’s unknown what director John Carpenter has to say on the rejuvenationof the character he created – and has similarly tried to resurrect in aTV show interpretation. Whatever his feelings, Carpenter still stands tomake a lot of money in royalties from the new franchises!
“THE EXORCIST: DOMINION” – New Director!
It looks like director Paul Schrader will film the prequel to “TheExorcist”, starring Liam Neeson and Gabriel Mann. If true, the projectcould resume in November, for a mid-2003 release. Schrader haspreviously helmed the movies “Affliction” and “Cat People”.
“JEEPERS CREEPERS II” – Get The Creeps!
An unexpected (and pointless?) sequel to modest horror hit “JeepersCreepers” is being filmed. The story concerns a High School Basketballteam who find themselves stranded in their coach in the middle ofnowhere – with the villainous Creeper close by (see right).
“ALIEN vs PREDATOR” – In Hollywood, No-One Can Hear Us Scream!
It really is happening, everyone. British director Paul W.S Anderson iswriting and directing the “Alien Vs Predator” movie – very soon.Shudder.
“I’m just finishing the script for “Resident Evil: Nemesis” and as soonas that’s done, I’m gonna begin to work on AVP. I’ve been waiting to doa movie with aliens in it since I was at school, since the first “Alien”movie came out, since I fell in love with Sigourney Weaver and since theAlien scared the hell out of me.”
He continued to gush: “I’ve been obsessed with “Aliens” for a while,it’s the coolest cinema franchise out there and Predator is the baddesthunter in the universe, so the idea of combining the two of them is justphenomenal! It will be a stand-alone franchise. It will not be acontinuation of the “Alien” franchise.”
Hopes for “Alien 5” continue to fade faster than ever…
“HELLBOY” – Details Emerge!
Speaking from the San Diego Comic Convention, director Guillermo DelToro (“Blade 2”) spoke about his movie adaptation of “Hellboy” – basedon the comic-book by Mike Mignola, and starring the gravel-voiced RonPearlman (“Alien Resurrection”).
Del Toro stated that the movie will be based on the first mini-series ofthe comic, including elements from unpublished back-story details bycreator Mignola. Details about the “Hellboy” comics can be found at thecomic’s website www.hellboy.com
Fans are assured that the comic will be translated as faithfully aspossible to the big-screen, being dark and action-packed; with Hellboyfighting huge Lovecraftian monsters. But it isn’t gory, so willdefinitely aim for a PG-13 MPAA rating in the States. Quite a departurefor Del Toro after “Cronos”, “Mimic”, “The Devil’s Backbone” and “Blade2”!
“KILL BILL” – The Cast!
The eclectic cast for Quentin Tarantino’s latest movie, due out in 2003,is confirmed as follows:
“Pulp Fiction” starlet Uma Thurman (The Bride), “Kung Fu” TV star DavidCarradine (Bill), “Reservoir Dogs” badass Michael Madsen (Bud), SonnyChiba (Hattori Hanzo), “Independence Day” actress Vivica A. Fox (VernitaGreen), “Splash” babe Darryl Hannah (Elle Driver), “Charlie’s Angels”actress Lucy Liu (O-Ren Ishi), Quentin Tarantino himself (Pai Mei), and”Spawn” actor Michael Jai White (Alburt).
“INDIANA JONES 4” – Digital Danger!
Steven Spielberg may film “Indiana Jones 4” as a digital film, followingthe success of George Lucas’ “Star Wars Episode II” – which was thefirst film to use the technique, which replaces celluloid with a digitalmedium
Spielberg said: “I’d do anything for George and if George asked me toshoot “Indiana Jones 4″ on digital, I’d do it. But my duties will alwaysbe to shoot on film… I love shooting on film and I love editing onfilm. I know that digital will do the same thing film will do. It willstill use lenses. It will still capture the same images.”
“The difference is that digital is like acrylic paint. It’s sophoto-realistic that you don’t see any flaws. With traditional film,where you have it going through shutters in a film gate, it’s alive withgrain — compared to digital; it’s like an impressionist painting. Iwould still rather see a still life painted by an impressionist than astill life painted by Norman Rockwell.”
“KING KONG” – The Big Ape Returns!
Director Peter Jackson’s next project is increasingly likely to be aremake of 30s monster movie “King Kong”. Jackson has been a huge fan ofthe original film since he was a child – in fact, it was his soleinspiration to start directing!
He was previously expected to remake “King Kong” back 1997 – but abortedhis cherished project to work on the greater challenge of “The Lord OfThe Rings” trilogy.
Jackson has already penned the screenplay with partner Fran Walsh in1996 (which retains the 30s setting, unlike the terrible 70s remakewith Jeff Bridges!), and preliminary designs were completed for themovie back in 1997.
However, if the rumours of a “Kong” remake are true, it’s unlikely thefilm will begin shooting until after “The Lord Of The Rings: The ReturnOf The King” has had its DVD release in mid-2004. Therefore it’sestimated the remake of “King Kong” couldn’t possible be released untillate-2005 at the very earliest.
But – for those who can’t wait – the screenplay is availableHERE,albeit in a poorly-formatted state!
“THE LEAGUE OF EXTRAORDINARY GENTLEMEN” – Release Date!
The adaptation of Alan Moore’s celebrated graphic novel is currentlybeing filmed in Prague by Stephen Norrington (“Blade”). The $80 millionmovie should be released in the US on 6 June 2003.
The film is a fantasy adventure starring fictional characters from theVictorian era. Sean Connery leads the team as Professor Quatermain (aninspiration for Indiana Jones, allegedly). He is joined by “La FemmeNikita” TV babe Peta Wilson (Mina Harker from “Dracula”), StuartTownsend (Dorian Gray), Shane West (Tom Sawyer), Tony Curran (TheInvisible Man), Jason Flemyng (Jekyll & Hyde), Naseeruddin Shah (CaptainNemo) and Jason Isaacs (Campion Bond, a precursor to James Bondhimself!)
The film’s arch-villain is Professor Moriarty (the nemesis of SherlockHolmes) and not oriental opponent Fu Manchu (as in the graphic novel -which I heartily recommend you read!)
“THE LION, THE WITCH AND THE WARDROBE” – Book To The Big-Screen!
Children’s favourite “The Lion, The Witch And The Wardrobe”, written byC.S Lewis, is to be adapted into a big-budget movie – written by AnnPeacock (“A Lesson Before Dying”) and directed by Andrew Adamson(co-director of “Shrek”).
The story (last envisaged as a successful BBC TV series in theearly-90s) tells the story of a group of siblings who are evacuated toa relative’s house during World War II, and find the entrance to amagical world called Narnia through a wardrobe upstairs. As if youdidn’t know…
“LORD OF THE RINGS 2 & 3” – Jackson Throws Scraps!
Director Peter Jackson has spoken again about what fans can expect fromthe upcoming “Lord Of The Rings” movies “The Two Towers” (2003) and “TheReturn Of The King” (2004):
“What basically happens is [the films] become darker and theyemotionally go places, which is very interesting. As Frodo’s journeywith the Ring continues, the Ring starts to affect him more. There’s aninteresting dynamic that is going to happen in these films, where in thefirst movie, Frodo is the audience. He’s the Everyman character.”
“In the second film, “The Two Towers”, the Ring starts to act on him ina much stronger way. By the third film, Frodo has such a burden to carryand is starting to behave in such a strange way that I think the empathyof the audience will switch to Sam, who is accompanying Frodo on thisjourney.
“Frodo becomes so troubled by this Ring that we are now going to belooking at this story through Sam’s eyes by the time “The Return Of TheKing” comes out, because we can no longer really go there with Frodobecause he has his own tortuous journey that he takes on. It will bevery interesting to see the three films together because there’s goingto be this switch as each film becomes more intense.”
“LUCKY STAR” – Fake! Fake! Fake!
Seen the ultra-cool trailer for “Lucky Star”, directed by Michael Mann(“Ali”) and starring Benecio Del Toro? Looked cool, didn’t it!
Shame it won’t be in the cinemas anytime soon… or ever, actually. I’mafraid the trailer is a clever marketing ploy. A fake. The trailer isactually promoting Del Toro’s Mercedes-SL Class sports car! Not thatanyone watching could afford one!
Go toLuckyLuckyStar.comand shake your head in shame you were so damned gullible…
“THE MATRIX RELOADED” – SFX Report!
The ‘Mail On Sunday’ printed a report focusing on “The Matrix” sequels”Reloaded” and “Revolutions”. They spoke to some of the crew, as well aslead actors Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne about what fans canexpect from the new movies…
Keanu Reeves: “You must be kidding. All I can give you is an overview. Thefirst film was about birth, the second is about life and the third isabout death. The look of the sequels is more sophisticated anddemanding. Instead of one-on-one fighting, I fight one-against-many.There are some cool new weapons as well. I’ve been trained in newmartial-arts skills. I have surprised even myself in some of thescenes.”
“I don’t think people understand just how physically taxing this workis. I had to go on a very strict diet and endure vigorous, rigoroustraining. I started in October 2000 and have devoted my entire life tothese films ever since.”
And on the secrecy of the sequels, from a producer: “The scripts werewritten in a special ink that couldn’t be photocopied. The sets wereclosed. Nobody was allowed to bring in cameras and we all had specialpasses. They even hired a security firm to bring more minders andguards. It was like Fort Knox.”
Keanu Reeves continued: “We are all aware that we are involved in makinghistory. It’s a great honour to be involved in these films. None of uswants to ruin it for the fans by remaining so secretive but we don’tthink anyone will be disappointed.”
The article reveals why actor Marcus Chong will not be returning to playTank. Apparently, he fell out with the producers over a bizarre incidentin which he allegedly broke into the Matrix production offices! Hischaracter does feature in the sequels, but is played by a differentactor.
A producer also spoke about the use of ‘bullet time’ in the sequels -the acclaimed effects-technique that apparently slows time down:”Everyone was blown away when the first film had ‘bullet time’ in it.That was a composition of live and still photography, enhanced bycomputers to create this amazing, fluid-like effect. There is more ofthat in the sequels and a new technique that will blow everyone’s socksoff.”
Special effects supervisor John Gaeta added: “We’ve expanded on thebullet-time technique, although there has been a lot of pressure to dothe effects without spending military-size budgets.”
Actor Laurence Fishburne, who plays Morpheus, praised the effects work,saying that: “We are doing things with cameras and technology that willset the standard for the future”. Reeves enthused: “We have invented newtechnologies for this film. In the first one, we invented bullet time,but this will be an even wilder ride.”
Reeves finished the interview, saying: “I just hope the fans enjoy thefilms. Then I will have done my job.”
2003 can’t come soon enough!
“MONSTER’S, INC. 2” – Sequel Denial!
Peter Docter, director of CGI kid-flick “Monster’s, Inc.” has cast doubtover the likelihood of a sequel. “So far we’ve talked about it here andthere, but really what it comes down to is the same with “Toy Story 2”,is that we just had this great idea: ‘Oh, this has got to be done.’ Sofar we haven’t come up with that great idea for “Monsters”. We’rethinking about it, but it really won’t make any sort of headway until wecome up with the really killer idea. It’s idea driven.”
“SPIDER-MAN 2” – “Smallville” to “Spidey”…
It has been confirmed that “Smallville” creators/writers Miles Millerand Al Gough will pen the next instalment of “Spider-Man” for thebig-screen.
“We were brought [to] the project by (producer) Laura Zisken and(director) Sam Raimi back before the first movie came out. Then, afterthe first movie came out, David Koep approached the studio and said hehad an idea for the sequel that he wanted to write himself exclusively.”
“The studio felt that since he had written the first film they weregoing to let him do that and asked us to basically step aside for aperiod of six weeks. He [has] turned his script in on the project [and]we will use bits and pieces and ideas from his script.”
“We’ve been sitting down with Sam, Laura, and Avi Arad (“Spider-Man”executive producer) and working out basically what the script will be.We’re really happy to be on the project and so excited to be doing it.”
“SPY KIDS 3” – A Sequel Too Far?
Robert Rodriguez, director of “Desperado” and “From Dusk Till Dawn” isfinding that his most profitable films are for kids! His fans wereamazed when he released “Spy Kids” last year, and even more amazed whena sequel was fast-tracked for a 2002 release. But “Spy Kids 3” -already?!
“I’m still writing the script,” Rodriguez said while promoting “Spy Kids2”. “I mean, it just comes, because it’s… one of those big ideasthat… you don’t even have to write it. It just comes to you: ‘Ahh,that’s what happens next!’ I keep drawing it… I just… called thestudio back in March and said, ‘Guess what we’re making? “Spy Kids 3”![They said,] ‘I didn’t know there was going to be a 3.’ [I said,]’Neither did I, but I’ve got an idea, and I’m going to tell you rightnow.’ I told them the idea, and they said, ‘Oh my God, let’s make “SpyKids 3″.”
Scarily, the movie should begin filming this November! With thisturnaround, he should be doing the Harry Potter franchise!
“PITCH BLACK 2” – Riddick Relates…
Vin Diesel, moments away from hitting the Hollywood big-time with hismovie “xXx” has been teasing fans of “Pitch Black” with hints about thesequel.
“If you’re familiar with the [J.R.R.] Tolkien novels, in the same waythat “Hobbit” is a prequel to “The Lord Of The Rings”, “Pitch Black” isa prequel to “The Chronicles Of Riddick” [trilogy]” Vin Diesel said in arecent interview. He also denied that the next movie would be a directcontinuation of the events in “Pitch Black”.
“It’s got this extensive story that [writer/director] David Twohy’sputting together. He calls it the evil “Star Wars”.”
“TERMINATOR 3” – Big Budget & Biehn Out!
The second sequel in the “Terminator” franchise, now finishing its shootin Los Angeles, is expected to have cost the studio $200 million! “T3:Rise Of The Machines” is due for release on 2 July 2003.
In related news, Michael Biehn (who played Kyle Reese in the firstmovie) has confirmed that he doesn’t have a minor role in “T3”; “It’snot Jim Cameron, period”, he seethed.
“xXx” – Sequel Assured!
Vin Diesel, star of “xXx” – where he plays an extreme-sporting versionof James Bond – has confirmed that there will be a sequel. “xXx2” islikely to be filmed in Asia, at the behest of director Rob Cohen.
“X-MEN 2” – Wolverine’s Origin…
Producer of “X-Men 2”, Ralph Winter, recently spoke about the mutantsuperhero sequel due out next Summer.
“We’re going further and deeper about Wolverine. It’s an ensemble piece,no question about that, but Wolverine is the story that we’refollowing… You want to follow Wolverine, but you don’t want to neglectMagneto, Rogue or Charles Xavier. It’s a delicate balance to peruse onestory, but not at the expense of others.”
“There will be other villains, but I don’t want to spoil the role thatMagneto’s going to play in this movie. That’s going to be fun, and ithas interesting little curves down the road.”
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)
Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2002.
Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.