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Dan Owen reviews
I s s u e # 8 61 7 A p r i l 2 0 0 4
MOVIE NEWS ELEKTRA’USA Today’ reports that Terence Stamp (Superman II), right, has joined theDaredevil spin-off movie Elektra, starring Jennifer Garner. ’20th CenturyFox’ hope to release the movie on 18 February 2005. KILL BILL VOLUME IIIKill Bill Volume II has only just been released in the U.S, butwriter-director Quentin Tarantino is already talking about a third chapterto his revenge epic!Tarantino: “Oh yeah, initially I was thinking this would be my [Fistful Of]Dollars trilogy. I was going to do a new one every 10 years. But I need atleast 15 years before I do this again.”
“The star will be Vernita Green’s [Vivica A. Fox’s] daughter, Nikki[Ambrosia Kelley]. I’ve already got the whole mythology: Sofie Fatale [JulieDreyfus] will get all of Bill’s money. She’ll raise Nikki, who’ll take onThe Bride.”
“Nikki deserves her revenge every bit as much as The Bride deserved hers. Imight even shoot a couple of scenes for it now so I can get the actresseswhile they’re this age.”
THE FANTASTIC FOUR’Latino Review’ has given a very positive review of the latest FantasticFour screenplay. Check it out at:Latino Review.com
In related news, ‘Variety’ talked to director Tim Story, who is now attachedto helm Fantastic Four. Story: “What attracted me was that they are afamily. They might want to wring each others necks. They might storm out anddisappear for three days, but you also know they’ll be back. They don’talways get along.”
‘Marvel Enterprises’ CEO Avi Arad agreed, noting that because neither thecharacters’ powers nor their identities are concealed, Fantastic Four offersfar richer characters than the usual comic-book movies.
Arad: “Many times, you need a star to define the movie. That’s not the casehere. We can focus on getting the actors that are totally right for theroles.”
‘Variety’ also confirmed ‘Fox’ are still hoping TV star Michael Chiklis (TheShield) will be available to play Ben Grimm/The Thing.
THE HITCH-HIKER’S GUIDE TO THE GALAXYJohn Malkovich (Con Air), right, has been cast in the movie adaptation of DouglasAdams’ novel, says ‘The Hollywood Reporter’. The film begins shooting thismonth in London, with Garth Jennings directing.
Malkovich will play a religious cult leader called Humma Kavula, a charactercreated by the late author especially for the film.
THE WIND IN THE WILLOWSScreenwriter Mark Friedman has been asked to write an adaptation for’Disney’ of The Wind in the Willows, says ‘The Hollywood Reporter’.
The film is based on the classic Kenneth Grahame book about the adventuresof Mole, Badger, Ratty and Mr. Toad.
OBITUARY IN MEMORY OF CARON KEATING : 1962-2004
For anyone old enough to remember, Children’s television got a whole lotbrighter in 1986. Blue Peter, tea-time staple on BBC1 since the world began,brought in a pretty young Irish girl to replace the worthy-but-dull Sarah Greene.
You could hardly comprehend her thick brogue, but it mattered not; there was afreshness and vivacity to Caron Keating which left its mark on ageneration of impressionable boys. Those outlandish outfits, blinding in theirbrash colour schemes and patterns. Huge bows in her hair, brilliantly stripytights. The biggest smile on TV. Oh yes, we fell in love with her alright.
Caron hosted a range of entertainment shows after leaving Blue Peter: chatshows (including one with her mother Gloria Hunniford), travel shows, standingin many times for Judy Finnigan on Morning Television; you name it. By themid-1990s she was a permanent fixture on our screens, and hugely liked andrespected by those who worked with her.
Then, she retreated from the workload and glare of publicity to spend timewith her family and small children. Only those close to her knew of the breastcancer which she had suffered from since being diagnosed in 1997, and whichfinally took her life on the evening of April 13th 2004.
Already the tributes are pouring out from some of the biggest names in Showbusiness.For one of those impressionable young boys glued to the screen way back in1986, this news is both tragic and shocking.
Caron Keating was only 41. This just doesn’t happen to pretty young girls inbig dresses with polka-dot bows in their hair, so full of life and so willingto live (her passion for daring stunts on Blue Peter is well-documented). Shemay be gone before her time, but the memories will linger on.
US TOP 10 (CINEMA)All figures are weekend box-office gross.
- 1. The Passion of The Christ ($15.2m) (total to date: $353m)
- 2. Hellboy ($10.8m)
- 3. Jonson Family Vacation ($9.3m)
- 4. The Alamo (2004) ($9.1m)
- 5. Walking Tall ($8.4m)
- 6. Home on the Range ($8.1m)
- 7. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed ($8.0m)
- 8. The Whole Ten Yards ($6.6m)
- 9. Ella Enchanted ($6.1m)
- 10. The Girl Next Door ($6.0m)
UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)
- 1. Scooby-Doo 2: Monsters Unleashed (£2.03m)
- 2. 50 First Dates (£1.65m)
- 3. Shaun of the Dead (£1.60m)
- 4. The Passion of the Christ (£1.27m)
- 5. The Cat in the Hat (£0.88m)
- 6. Gothika (£0.84m)
- 7. Starsky & Hutch (2004) (£0.60m)
- 8. Dawn of the Dead (2004) (£0.42m)
- 9. Monster (£0.26m)
- 10. The Rundown (aka Welcome to the Jungle) (£0.15m)
** IN THE PIPELINE **All dates are U.K release dates, and are subject to change.
Email Dan Owen
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.