Category: Movies

Animal Factory Quinella

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Ron Decker was on top of the world. Barely old enough to be considered an adult, yet he had it all — money, cars, a woman, and a thriving drug business. Thriving that it until he was busted. Suddenly it was all gone. What didn’t go to his lawyers was taken by his girl and soon enough she was gone too.

Decker ends up in San Quentin where he’s got a shot at getting out in two years if he can stay out of trouble. Trouble is, he’s young and not built for prison. Now he’s surrounded by hardened cons who can’t be trusted. A race war is brewing and Decker realizes that he’s in way over his head. When a powerful older con offers his friendship, Decker isn’t sure how to react. One wrong move and his two year stint will become a death sentence.

Animal Factory was written by real-life ex-con Eddie Bunker who not only wrote several critically acclaimed books [No Beast So Fierce and Education of a Felon, to name two], but also had a career as an actor.[probably best known for his role as Mr. Blue in Reservoir Dogs].

Interestingly enough, the book was also made into a movie starring Edward Furlong, Willem Dafoe, Danny Trejo, Mickey Rourke and Eddie Bunker and directed by Steve Buscemi.

Animal Factory the book rates a B
Animal Factory the movie rates a C+

"28 weeks later" Rates…

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I loved “28 days later.” So when “28 weeks later” was announced, along with the fact that the original writer [Alex Garland], the original director [Danny Boyle] and the original cast were not returning, I felt we might be in for a letdown.

“28 weeks later” has an ambitious screenplay by Rowan Joffe, Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, Jesus Olmo and Enrique Lopez Lavigne. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo takes the director’s chair and does an admirable job of retaining the feel and style of the original. Robert Carlyle [who is always good] is the biggest name actor in the new cast although many will recognize Harold Perrineau, from “Lost” in a small but important role.

Spoilers will follow…

The movie opens with perhaps the best scenes in the film. A band of survivors [including a husband and wife who hope that their children are still alive] have barricaded themselves in a remote farm house. As they settle down for dinner, it is obvious that their situation is wearing them down. When a child is heard yelling to be let in the house, the theme of the movie comes into play… who/how many will you sacrifice to save yourself? There’s hesitation, but they let the boy in and soon enough all of the “infected” that were chasing the boy, are breaking into the house. They succeed and the survivors run and fight for their lives. A horrible moment occurs when the husband makes it to the window and his wife hesitates so that she can bring along the boy. A group of infected get between them and the husband is faced with a choice: try to save his wife and the boy or himself. He chooses to save himself. The last image that he sees as he runs from the farm house is of his wife being pulled from the window.

The husband makes his way to safety and is part of a group brought in to repopulate London. The virus is gone, and the military are everywhere insuring a quick end should it return. And return return it does…

The Good: “28 weeks” retains much of the feel of “28 days.” Robert Carlyle. Jeremy Renner who almost steals the show in his role as Doyle. The way that the virus is brought back into play. The infection spreading through the crowded underground safe haven. No one is safe… no one! The potential for “28 months later!”

The Bad: The way that Robert Carlyle is always able to find the survivors who are on the run. The killing of Jeremy Renner’s character.

The Ugly: The helicopter taking out “the infected” with it’s blades and not crashing.

“28 weeks later”

Rating:

Statham & Some Sly Casting

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It looks like Jason Statham may take the starring role as “Frankenstein” in the remake of Roger Corman’s cult classic “Death Race 2000.” Paul W.S. Anderson has written and is set to direct the updated actioner.

Although the remake was originally planned as a [pardon the pun] vehicle for Tom Cruise. Cruise has decided to pass on the starring role, but instead stay on as a producer. The original “Death Race 2000” was released in 1975 and starred David Carradine and a pre-“Rocky” Sylvester Stallone. Word is that Anderson would like for Sly to reprise his role as “Machine Gun Joe.”
This could be fun… especially if Sly returns.

Mills Doubles Up

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I told you HERE just how excited I was about the release of “Payback – The Director’s Cut.”

Although I’ve got my copy, I won’t get a chance to view it until this weekend [at the earliest]. Still, thanks to Chris Mills’s review, I’m even more excited about the odds of me loving the new version.
Chris and I enjoy a lot of the same movies, authors, and comics. When Chris says, “This new edition does not replace the old one for me, but does improve upon it in most ways, and I’m grateful for it,” I feel that I will be as well. Of course, I’ll let you know for sure once I watch the new version. 

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.