Category: Movies

Time for a Little Payback

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I can’t wait to get my copy of “Payback – The Director’s Cut” when it goes on sale tomorrow. Although the theatrical version of “Payback” is one of my favorite Mel Gibson movies, I have a feeling that the Director’s Cut will be as well. I know what you’re thinking, how could it not be? It’s the same movie with just a few extra scenes that were cut out when the movie was originally released.

Not so, good buddy!

Paramount and star Mel Gibson originally felt that writer/director Brian [“LA Confidential”] Helgeland’s adaptation of Donald E. Westlake’s novel The Hunter was too dark. So they told Helgeland to do some reshoots. He refused. Surprisingly, he was fired and Mel Gibson took over the director’s chair. About a third of the movie was re-shot, new characters were added along with a happy ending.

There were always rumors that Helgeland’s version was better. Tomorrow we’ll be able to decide for ourselves. In the mean time, CHUD.com scored an exclusive interview with Brian Helgeland who talks about what happened to get him fired and why Mel Gibson helped to make it possible for the new version to be released. Click HERE for the interview.

As I said, “Payback” is one of my favorite Mel Gibson movies. My guess is that “Payback – The Director’s Cut” will be as well.

Grindhouse Fails to Score

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Weekend box office returns for “Grindhouse,” are in and they aren’t good. The Tarantino / Rodriguez double feature brought in only $11.6 million which puts it in fourth place for the weekend, and far below the mid-$20 million predicted.

In hindsight, we can all speculate on why the movie hasn’t, at least this far, lived up to it’s hype. When I told people that I planned to see “Grindhouse” this weekend, most hadn’t heard of it. A few vaguely remembered seeing some ads for it, but then asked, “So what’s it about?” That’s never good. Others wondered why they should go and see movies with “scratches, splices and scenes missing.” In other words they just didn’t get it. My son, Mike, before seeing the movie with me said, “I think ‘Grindhouse’ is going to be like ‘Black Snake Moan’ — everyone talked about it, but no one went to see it.”

Seems like Mike may have been on to something.

"28 weeks later"

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Here is the new trailer for “28 weeks later”. I really liked “28 days later” a lot. I plan to see “28 weeks later” but wonder if it will be as good… or at least nearly as good as the original. From the looks of the trailer it’s hard to tell.

Russell: “I am Snake Plissken!”

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The other day I mentioned that Gerard [“300”] Butler had signed on to play Snake Plissken in a new movie. My ZONE message board lit up with people [myself included] saying that Kurt Russell should be the one to play Snake.

Well, it seems Kurt Russell agrees. Entertainment Weekly posed the question, “What if they asked you to do a cameo in the new Escape from New York, or play the Ernest Borgnine role?” Here’s Kurt’s reply…
“F— that! I am Snake Plissken! It’s like Sean Connery always watching someone else do their version of Bond. I think one of the things, for instance, about Escape From New York that appealed to me was that it wasn’t a special effects extravaganza. It’s a quiet, dark world and it revolved around watching the behavior of this one guy. He’s a fascinating character. In fact, he’s the most complex character I’ve ever played.”
And if you wonder what Kurt thinks about Scottish actor Gerard Butler playing Snake, the EW interview clears it up when Kurt says, ”Oh, man!” [Russell winces]. I do think that character was quintessentially one thing. And that is, American.”
I have nothing against Gerard Butler. I think he was great in “300” and I expect him to do other cool projects. And, while the remake of Snake Plissken is definitely cool, Russell is still THE MAN to play him. For the whole EW interview, click HERE.

"300" Still #1

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“300” continues to rake in the dough at the box office. It was number one for the second-straight weekend bringing in $31.2 million. This shoots it past the $100 million mark [$127.5 million] after only a week in theaters.

“300” was also number one at the box office overseas, bringing in $15.6 million and topping the charts in thirteen countries. The overseas total so far is $24.6 million and has yet to open in Britain, France, Spain and Mexico!
 
If you’re a “300” fan, then be sure to keep an eye out for the March 23, 2007 issue of Entertainment Weekly which should hit the stands early this week.

There’s a New Snake in Town

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Variety announced yesterday that New Line won the bidding war to remake Escape From New York.  Gerard Butler [star of the fan favorite and record setting “300”] is set to take on the role of Snake Plissken which Kurt Russell made famous. Ken Nolan [Black Hawk Down] is on board to produce the screenplay which will update the 1981 John Carpenter script.

 

I have mixed feelings about this. One one hand, Kurt Russell is still around and in good enough shape to play Plissken again. I’ll miss his “Clint Eastwood” delivery as Plissken. On the other mitt, I’ve always thought a more realistic and gritty Snake Plissken would be very cool. It’ll be interesting to see what direction this updated Escape from New York  will take. The good news is that even if the new version bombs, it won’t change one frame of the original movie in my collection.

Must Love Jaws

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One of the cool things that you can find at Youtube.com is fan made trailers that have been edited to change the genre of the movie. I’ve seen The Shinning made to look like a romantic comedy, The 10 Commandments to look like a teen comedy [complete with a hip hop soundtrack] and many others.

Perhaps the best of all is Must Love Jaws.

If you know of any other good ones, please post the links!

"300" is 1

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It’s been announced that “300” made an estimated $70 million during its first three days of release. This not only catapults “300” to the coveted #1 spot in its opening weekend, but sets a new record for a March release. What makes this even more impressive is that the previous record-holder was the family-friendly “Ice Age 2: The Meltdown” that took in $68 million in March 2006. “The Matrix Reloaded” ($91 million) and “The Passion of the Christ” ($83 million) are the only R-rated movies to have bigger openings than “300.”

 

To add icing to the cake, most reviews have been positive and women are also giving the movie high marks [which is especially nice to hear since most critics felt that the movie would have very limited appeal to females].

 

I saw the movie in a packed theater at the first showing on opening day and loved it. In fact, I plan to see it again on the big screen… which is rare for me in this age of quick to dvd releases.

Which Bot is Best?

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I took the photo above at MegaCon on Sunday. There was a company there that had life-size recreations of famous robots.For my money, these three are probably the MOST famous robots in the world. There’s 3CPO from Star Wars, the robot from Lost in Space, and Robbie the Robot.

Given my pick, I’d take the Lost in Space robot. Of course, I grew up watching Lost in Space. If I was a child of the 70’s, I’d probably want 3CPO and someone a bit older than me would want Robbie.

Would a child of the 80’s want KITT?

Don’t Walk, Start Ronin

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It’s time for our hourly “300” update…

Newsarama is reporting that “300” producer Gianni Nunnari, was asked about other comic projects is working on and he responded by saying Frank Miller’s Ronin!

Ronin was a six issue miniseries published by DC after Frank’s initial run on Daredevil. It’s the story of a young Ronin in feudal Japan who seeks to avenge his master who was killed by a demon.

If the story pans out and the producer can get a director with the same passion that Zack Snyder has shown in translating “300” to the big screen, we could be in for another great ride. To check out “Ronin” click HERE.

Nobody Lasts an Hour

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I love a good scary movie. You know, the kind that’s seldom make anymore. I’m not talking about the slasher, teenager in danger, or poorly-translated-foreign-film-that-was-once-really-scary movie. So when a really good scary movie comes along, I’m in.

Looks like I’ll be checking into 1408. Will you?