Category: Movies

"Smokin’ Aces" and Frank Miller

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I loved “Narc” and was excited to hear that Joe Carnahan was coming back with a new movie called “Smokin’ Aces.” I must admit that when I first saw the trailer a couple of months ago, I wasn’t knocked out. I went back and watched it again tonight, and I’m definitely on board now. I wonder how I’ll feel after I see the movie.

On another note, there’ s nice little interview HERE with Frank Miller who talks about “300,” “Sin City 2” and “The Spirit.”

 

Root for the Bad Guy… Again

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“Payback” is one of my favorite Mel Gibson films. Based on the novel by Richard Stark, it’s a worthy adaptation of a crime classic. The story behind the making of the movie is almost as interesting.

Screenwriter, Brian Helgeland, hot of the success of “LA Confidential” wanted to direct. Pairing him with Mel Gibson on “Payback” seemed a natural. Things went well until late into filming when either Gibson, the studio or both decided that Gibson’s character needed to be more likeable and the film needed more action.

Helgeland disagreed. Guess who won out?

Yep, Gibson and the studio. So Mel went behind the camera and filmed some additional scenes and the tone of the movie changed.

As I said, “Payback” is one of my favorite Mel Gibson movies… but I always thought it would be cool to see Brian Helgeland’s vision. Perhaps, it too, would be one of my favorites.

According to Harry at Ain’t It Cool News, we’ll soon find out! “Payback: Straight Up – The Director’s Cut” is comming out in a few months. And unlike some “director’s cuts” where a few minutes of footage [that wasn’t good enough to make the original release!] is added, this is going to be a complete overhaul. It will be Helgeland’s vision .

And I can’t wait to see it!

Hellboy vs the Universal Monsters

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If this news comes to pass it would be the coolest…

Universal has acquired the rights to Hellboy. Guillermo del Toro [who co-wrote and directed the first Hellboy movie] and Mike Mignola [creator, writer and artist of Hellboy] are excited about the prospects of not only a sequel [or two] to the 2004 movie, but the fact that a Hellboy movie could now feature some of the classic Universal monsters! That’s right, Frankenstein, the Wolfman, Dracula, the Creature from the Black Lagoon and more!!

Mignola and del Toro have discussed the possibilities. Here’s a couple of quotes from del Toro: “I must say that I’m having a great experience right now at Universal, because I find that their understanding of Hellboy as a possibility is so great… My hope is that if everything goes well and we continue [the franchise], Hellboy can start fighting the Universal monsters! I would love to see that.”

So would I. For the full article, click HERE.

Gray, Brown and Gone

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Recently some pics turned up from three movies that I’m keeping an eye on.
The first is from “I am Legend” starring Wil Smith. JoBlow.com posted up a shot of Smith in character. Ain’t It Cool News also posted some location shots. I’ve got to say that I’m a bit surprised by Smith’s gray hair. Maybe his character is a bit older [nothing wrong with that] or maybe he’s just trying out the Tom Cruise “Collateral” look.

Meanwhile over at Ain’t It Cool News [again] they’ve posted some location shots of Kurt Russell on Tarantino’s “Death Proof.” Most of you remember [and now all of you know] “Death Proof” is Tarantino’s contribution to his GrindHouse double feature with Robert Rodriguez.

The Baltimore Sun recently posted some shots of Bruce Willis on location filming “Live Free or Die Hard.” I’ve enjoyed all of the “Die Hard” movies. The original even started a whole new sub-genre to the action picture. I hope that “Live Free” is a welcome addition to the others in the series. Willis has never hidden the fact that’s he’s bald and has appeared in movies without a hairpiece… so why do these pictures look so different?

Comments?

“A History of Violence” / Z-View

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I finally got around to seeing “A History of Violence” and it totally lived up to my high expectations. If you haven’t seen it yet, and plan to, then by all means avoid the rest of today’s post since it will contain spoilers.I was impressed with all aspects of the film. In fact, “A History of Violence” now ties “The Dead Zone” as my all time favorite David Cronenberg film. The cast was equally impressive [Viggo Mortensen, Maria Bella and the always excellent Ed Harris].

I’d also like to give special mention to William Hurt. Hurt is not one of my favorite actors, and since “Body Heat” I can’t think of any of his roles that I’ve really liked… that is until now. He was perfect as Richie Cusack. Absolutely perfect! [And if you happened to catch Hurt‘s role as the hitman in TNT‘s recent adaptation of Stephen King’s Nightmares and Dreamscapes, he was just as good, if not better!]

The thing that kept staying on my mind after watching “A History of Violence” was the dual nature in all of us. All of the major characters in the film displayed a duality that was interesting, but it was Viggo’s character that set everything in motion. So… was Viggo really Tom Stall or Joey Cusak? The things that Joey did made him a crazy killer, but the same actions made Tom Stall a hero.

Tom’s wife thought he was the greatest man in the world until she saw what he was capable of. Then she was repulsed and attracted to him. How does that work? And why?

“A History of Violence” works on so many levels. I guess even movies have a dual nature.

If you saw the movie, I’d love to hear your thoughts. “A History of Violence” rates an A+