DAN’S MOVIE DIGEST 77

“As far as I’m concerned it’s absolutely possible to do it in one. I thinkit would be slightly embarrassing to do it in two. [The story is] a classicparanoid thriller in a way. I’ve spent Christmas watching things like TheParallax View and The Insider and Three Days Of The Condor.”

“What you have [with The Goblet Of Fire] is a story at the beginning ofwhich the powers of evil have a plan, which is absolutely not revealed toyour hero. The kid just wonders into another year at school, then this hugenotion of the competition surprises him.”

“But there is, of course, a malign intelligence which is manipulatingthings. And so he gets more and more suspicious until there is a shoot-outbetween him and the bad guy. That’s a really good, strong thriller shape.”

INDIANA JONES 4’Variety’ spoke to writer-director Frank Darabont about his recent decisionto sign a three-year first-look production deal with ‘Paramount Pictures’.

In the article, Darabont revealed that he’s (finally) completed writing thefourth Indiana Jones movie, adding: “I’ve finished my work, so now it’s inthe hands of God, or Spielberg and Lucas if you prefer.” The movie couldpotentially begin production this year.

Darabont is currently finishing the script for Fahrenheit 451 for ‘WarnerBrothers’; a contemporary adaptation of Ray Bradbury’s classic story.Darabont is also working on the 10th Anniversary of his movie The ShawshankRedemption, which has famously become a classic movie despiteunderperforming when it was released in 1994. A theatrical re-release of themovie is also planned for September.

KING KONGScreenwriter Philippa Boyens, who co-wrote The Lord Of The Rings trilogy,has spoken to the ‘Los Angeles Daily News’ about Peter Jackson’s upcomingKing Kong remake, to be directed by Jackson and starring star Naomi Watts(21 Grams) in the Fay Wray role.

Boyens confirms her involvement with the screenplay and that the movie couldstart shooting this August, adding: “we’re doing some work on it right now.”

STARSHIP TROOPERS 2The straight-to-video sequel is due for release soon, so for fans of PaulVerhoeven’s action-packed original splatathon – here’s a little picture tokeep you sated. MAD MAN’Moviehole’ interviewed filmmaker Robert Rodriguez (From Dusk Till Dawn)about the possibility of his next project being Mad Man. Rodriguez replied:“… we’re writing Mad Man right now. Yes, Mike Hollard’s going to comedown, he just finished moving, he’s coming in the next couple of weeks tocome go through what we’ve been working up and see what he thinks.”

Rodriguez also suggested that actors involved in his Spy Kids and Desperadomovies will feature in Mad Man, but who will take the lead? “I can say, but– I know who but I can’t say right now. We do have somebody.”

And the chances of a fourth Desperado movie? Rodriguez: “I don’t know. Hey,that’s always a possibility. But even if you never did, you would still –at least the audience could picture sequels. Where some movies are socomplete feeling, like The Faculty you don’t feel like – well they killedthe alien, that’s it, you don’t want to – it doesn’t feel like it would keepgoing, it feels like a complete story, that’s how it was written.”

And whatever happened to his Predator 3 script? Rodriguez: “Oh, Predators,yes we’re the Predator 3, its call Predators. It was back when I was doingDesperado. I wrote Desperado, it was going to get made like end ofSeptember, and then Last Action Hero bombed, so they said we’re not makingany movies for a year, like next year. So I was like what am I going to dountil then? So I took a writing assignment, and one of the writingassignments that was out was Predator sequel.”

“So I said, yes I’ll write a version of that. And it was just – it was justcrazy, it was huge, it was a big, big, big budget. Because I didn’t have todirect it, I just had to write it. So I didn’t really think about thebudget, I was just like wrote this, wrote that.”

“And it was really a cool script, it’s floating around somewhere. But it’shuge, and will never be made, the studio edited it and said there’s no waywe can make this, this would cost – even at that time – 150 million, and nowomen would ever go see this movie.”

SUPERMANRecent rumours attaching Beyonce Knowles to the part of Lois Lane have beenshot down by studio insiders, although the rumour that Johnny Depp will playLex Luthor have not been denied… yet. VAN HELSINGStephen Sommers (The Mummy) was interviewed by ‘SFX’ magazine recently abouthis upcoming Van Helsing:

“The key is to use the source material. I went back and watched all theoriginal Universal movies and I thought, ‘Why did I love these when I was akid? What was really great about each of these characters?'”

“I didn’t want this movie to be Mummy 3 with different monsters. I went intothis saying, ‘There are no monsters, just people with really bad problems!’They’re all human; they’re all people. Even Frankenstein is a man… well,he’s seven men… but he’s still human!”

“This film will still have a lot of fun, but it’ll be more dramatic. I tookDracula, the Wolf Man and Frankenstein seriously as characters. You can’t betongue-in-cheek and you can’t be winking. It’s got to be inherently moredramatic.”

ACTOR IN A LEADING ROLE

• Johnny Depp – PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
• Ben Kingsley – HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
• Jude Law – COLD MOUNTAIN
• Bill Murray – LOST IN TRANSLATION
• Sean Penn – MYSTIC RIVER

Dan’s Prediction: Sean Penn (left in picture)
Why? Well, Depp was great but the role is too comedic and exaggerated totruly wow the majority of people… Kingsley is always reliable, but alittle too obvious… Law was good, but nothing special… Murray was justhis usual self… so only Penn truly brought something special to hisportrayal.

ACTOR IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Alec Baldwin – THE COOLER
• Benicio Del Toro – 21 GRAMS
• Djimon Hounsou – IN AMERICA
• Tim Robbins – MYSTIC RIVER
• Ken Watanabe – THE LAST SAMURAI

Dan’s Prediction: Alec Baldwin
Why? Watanabe is an outside chance, too stereotyped… Robbins wasn’tanything special… Hounsou’s acting was great… Del Toro wasn’t anythingout-of-the-ordinary this time… so only Baldwin manages to surprise withhis fine turn.

ACTRESS IN A LEADING ROLE

• Keisha Castle-Hughes – WHALE RIDER
• Diane Keaton – SOMETHING’S GOTTA GIVE
• Samantha Morton – IN AMERICA
• Charlize Theron – MONSTER
• Naomi Watts – 21 GRAMS

Dan’s Prediction: Charlize Theron
Why? Have you seen her in Monster? Enough said. A total transformation bothphysically and psychologically – a fantastic performance.

ACTRESS IN A SUPPORTING ROLE

• Shohreh Aghdashloo – HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
• Patricia Clarkson – PIECES OF APRIL
• Marcia Gay Harden – MYSTIC RIVER
• Holly Hunter – THIRTEEN
• Renée Zellweger – COLD MOUNTAIN

Dan’s Prediction: Renée Zellweger
Why? She’s an Oscar darling now, and manages to provide Cold Mountain with amuch-needed acting punch.

ANIMATED FEATURE FILM

• BROTHER BEAR
• FINDING NEMO
• THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE

Dan’s Prediction: Finding Nemo
Why? It just has to be – perfect entertainment and those box-office figurescan’t lie.

ART DIRECTION

GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
• THE LAST SAMURAI
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• SEABISCUIT

Dan’s Prediction: The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King
Why? I predict overall that LOTR3 will sweep the board (snaffling awards forthe entire trilogy, really). More care and attention was given to LOTR’s artdirection than any of the other movies.

CINEMATOGRAPHY

• CITY OF GOD
• COLD MOUNTAIN
• GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• SEABISCUIT

Dan’s Prediction: Master & Commander – The Far Side Of The World
Why? A fantastic scope of sea-churning imagery, perfectly executed andrealized for audiences. This one will be very close, though…

COSTUME DESIGN

• GIRL WITH A PEARL EARRING
• THE LAST SAMURAI
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• SEABISCUIT

Dan’s Prediction: The Last Samurai
Why? Well, LOTR should win really, but I think Mr Oscar will concede one ofthe more minor awards to something else… just to balance things up alittle.

DIRECTING

• CITY OF GOD
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• LOST IN TRANSLATION
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• MYSTIC RIVER

Dan’s Prediction: The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King
Why? Peter Jackson just has to win this. It will be a travesty if a relativeunknown who directs THREE movies at once isn’t awarded for his achievement.

DOCUMENTARY FEATURE

• BALSEROS
• CAPTURING THE FRIEDMANS
• THE FOG OF WAR
• MY ARCHITECT
• THE WEATHER UNDERGROUND

DOCUMENTARY SHORT SUBJECT

• ASYLUM
• CHERNOBYL HEART
• FERRY TALES

FILM EDITING

• CITY OF GOD
• COLD MOUNTAIN
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• SEABISCUIT

Dan’s Prediction: City Of God (right)
Why? City Of God caused big rumbles around Hollywood. It’s a great movie,but is unfortunate to be released in a year when LOTR3 is set finally sweepthe board. But, it’s editing is indeed more eclectic and punchy.

FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM

• THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS
• EVIL
• THE TWILIGHT SAMURAI
• TWIN SISTERS
• ®ELARY

MAKEUP

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

Dan’s Prediction: The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King
Why? How many creatures did this film have? Thousands. Not to mention themore ethereally beautiful characters.

MUSIC (SCORE)

• BIG FISH
• COLD MOUNTAIN
• FINDING NEMO
• HOUSE OF SAND AND FOG
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING

Dan’s Prediction: The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King
Why? Howard Shore’s entire score for all three movies have been modernclassics – and certainly better than any of the other nominees.

“MUSIC (SONG)

• “Belleville Rendezvous” – THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE
• “Into the West” – THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• “A Kiss at the End of the Rainbow” – A MIGHTY WIND
• “Scarlet Tide” – COLD MOUNTAIN
• “You Will Be My Ain True Love” – COLD MOUNTAIN

Dan’s Prediction: The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King
Why? Well, to be honest it could go to Cold Mountain… but fingers crossedthey’ll want to end the show with a song from the dominant LOTR3.

BEST PICTURE

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• LOST IN TRANSLATION
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• MYSTIC RIVER
• SEABISCUIT

Dan’s Prediction: The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King
Why? Come on, one of the LOTR films has to win best picture, and ROTK is thelast chance Jackson has. The films have reshaped the movie world andcombined art-house aesthetics/style with big-budget effects. No film is moredeserving.

SHORT FILM (ANIMATED)

• BOUNDIN’
• DESTINO
• GONE NUTTY
• HARVIE KRUMPET
• NIBBLES

SHORT FILM (LIVE ACTION)

• DIE ROTE JACKE (The Red Jacket)
• MOST (The Bridge)
• SQUASH
• (A) TORZIJA ([A] Torsion)
• TWO SOLDIERS

SOUND EDITING

• FINDING NEMO
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

Dan’s Prediction: Master & Commander – The Far Side Of The World
Why? When compared to Nemo and Pirates, Master is indeed the master.

SOUND MIXING

• THE LAST SAMURAI
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL
• SEABISCUIT

Dan’s Prediction: Pirates Of The Caribbean – The Curse Of The Black Pearl
Why? I think the plucky Pirates will be given a nod for something in theshow, and sound mixing is another of those awards that often seem to begiven out as consolation prizes…

VISUAL EFFECTS

• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• MASTER AND COMMANDER: THE FAR SIDE OF THE WORLD
• PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: THE CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL

Dan’s Prediction: The Lord Of The Rings – The Return Of The King
Why? Did you see the Battle of Minas Tirith. Unparalleled cinema in terms ofeffects work – combining models, CGI, actors, and real landscapes. Takeheed, George “everything green-screen” Lucas!

WRITING (ADAPTED SCREENPLAY)

• AMERICAN SPLENDOR
• CITY OF GOD
• THE LORD OF THE RINGS: THE RETURN OF THE KING
• MYSTIC RIVER
• SEABISCUIT

Dan’s Prediction: City Of God
Why? As stated earlier, COG deserves some recognition and the screenplay isa fabulous interpretation of the source material.

WRITING (ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY)

• THE BARBARIAN INVASIONS
• DIRTY PRETTY THINGS
• FINDING NEMO
• IN AMERICA
• LOST IN TRANSLATION

Dan’s Prediction: Lost In Translation
Why? Sofia Coppolla will do big things in the future. But for now, bestoriginal screenplay will have to do, I think.

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

• 1. You Got Served ($16.1m)
• 2. The Butterfly Effect ($9.5m)
• 3. Along Came Polly ($9.3m)
• 4. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King ($5.3m)
• 5. The Perfect Score ($4.8m)
• 6. Big Fish ($4.5m)
• 7. Mystic River ($4.3m)
• 8. Cheaper by the Dozen ($4.2m)
• 9. Win a Date with Tad Hamilton! ($4.2m)
• 10. Cold Mountain ($4.0m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

• 1. Scary Movie 3 (£1.89m)
• 2. Big Fish (£1.64m)
• 3. The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (£1.17m)
• 4. Lost In Translation (£0.86m)
• 5. The Last Samurai (£0.85m)
• 6. Cold Mountain (£0.59m)
• 7. Peter Pan (2003) (£0.45m)
• 8. The Girl With A Pearl Earring (£0.32m)
• 9. Paycheck (£0.26m)
• 10. Love Actually (£0.23m)

Note that these are UK release dates.