Monday, December 7th, 2009

I was quite saddened a few months back when I read that Robert Luketic would be taking over the directorial position on the Barbarella remake, a project that had once been in the hands of someone more familiar with exploitation film, Robert Rodriguez. Trading Rodriguez for the guy most famous for directing Legally Blonde just doesn't really click for me. Anyhow, ever since Luketic's name became attached, it seems as if the project has took another dive into development hell, as no casting or production news has came forth. Despite the lack of news, a Cinematical article takes a look at this Absolut Vodka ad starring Zooey Deschanel as a blonde and noting the similarities to the erotic science fiction vixen. Would Deschanel take such a raunchy role? Despite looking the part, I can't really see Deschanel taking the role of a sexpot and leaving her (or our) comfort zone as the quirky girl. It would be like Janeane Garofalo taking the titular role in a reboot of Barb Wire. Sure, she could pull it off, but why?

In other kind of casting news, CinemaSpy reports that Tom Waits is in talks to join the cast for The Hobbit. The eccentric actor/singer whom last appeared in Terry Gilliam's soon-to-be-released The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, carries the right audience to fit in without too much argument from the hardcore Middle-earth-to-cinema fans. Still, who would Waits play? The consensus coming from the message boards I've been surfing through is the voice for Smaug. Although, this will cross another popular Internet rumor that Ron Perlman, a frequent collaborator with director Guillermo del Toro, will be taking up the voice acting duties for the dragon. Still, something to think about as we slowly trudge forward to the next piece of Hobbit news.

Shockingly, The Blind Side took the top spot at the box office in its third week of release, toppling the current reign of The Twilight Saga: New Moon... also in its third week. Is those top two in the runnings enough to make a cineaste slightly depressed? If so, maybe it is a bit of a spirit lift to note that per theater, nothing touches Disney's latest return to traditional animation with The Princess and the Frog and Jason Reitman's highly praised Up in the Air, which landed overall in the sixteenth and thirteenth positions respectively.

Friday, August 7th, 2009

Yesterday, in the midst of mourning over the loss of the 80's icon John Hughes, I mentioned the casting news for Robert Rodriguez' upcoming exploitation film Machete. Today, The Hollywood Reporter ran a story that the remake of the 60's science fiction sexploitation Barbarella is starting development back. At first read, this may seem that Rodriguez is single-handedly bringing back the beloved kitschy era of cinema, yet upon closer inspection of the THR article, Rodriguez is out as director (as rumored some time back), and now taking over is Robert Luketic, made famous by an IMDb resume of moderately watchable fare. Even more disheartening is the fact that the writer Joe Gazzam plans on keeping the sexuality and science fiction elements of the original, but trying to produce a film without the campy nature that the original was known and loved for. Almost every blog I've visited tonight is in agreement that this is a bad idea, and is alienating the built in fan base. I will link to Monika Bartyzel's article on Cinematical, which pretty much sums up the collective view from the blogsphere. I tend to think it will end up watching like a direct-to-DVD Species sequel myself. The only good news is that the original film's producer Dino De Laurentiis, along with his wife Martha, will be returning as producers in the reboot as well.

I reported that LatinoReview had announced Stephen Chow's replacement as Kato in The Green Hornet as Kwon Sang-woo. Today, MovieWeb released a conflicting article stating that Taiwanese actor Jay Chou will be the man stepping into the role. Chou may be a little more recognizable to American audiences, having starred in Curse of the Golden Flower, which saw a stateside release. Whatever the case, I'm still not really concerned. As long as the actor is somewhat talented, my unrelenting faith in the director-writer combination of Michel Gondry, Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, makes me think that it will turn out spectacular.

It's Friday, which means a batch of new films are being released, three of which will be in wide circulation. The big one, and sure box office winner will be Stephen Sommer's G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra. The mixed response (Rotten Tomatoes updated score for the film is at 38%) has me more curious than anything. I also have had the mental debate of how terrible the super suits make this thing seem, and how awesome Ray Park's Snake Eyes and Sienna Miller's Baroness make it appear to be a feasibly good popcorn summer flick. There is also Julie and Julia. I don't think it would be too much of a stretch to classify this as a chick flick, but the fact that Meryl Streep is almost always amazing, and even gives Dan Aykroyd a run for his money in her Julia Childs will definitely make it watchable. Finally, A Perfect Getaway, another horror film promising a plot twist, just two weeks after Orphan. I'm speculating that this will be terrible.

Buried beneath the wide releases this week are a few noteworthy films. First, Paper Heart, a self-proclaimed "hybrid documentary" starring the underrated Charlyne Yi along with Michael Cera. The film looks interesting, original, and most intriguing of all, being Yi's screenwriting debut, the film took home the coveted Waldo Salt Screenwriting Award at the Sundance Film Festival. Also, another horror/comedy film for the year, this time with a good bit of historical adventure thrown in, via the film I Sell the Dead. The film stars the appealing trio of Dominic Monaghan, Ron Perlman and Larry Fessenden (whom was mentioned in a recent blog as the director for the English speaking remake of The Orphanage). And finally, Cold Souls, which stars Paul Giamatti playing an actor of the same name, driving himself further and further to psychologically prepare for a role. The film looks to be a quirky comedy completely driven on the talent of Giamatti, which probably is a decent idea. So all in all, about five watchable films this week.

Finally, the trailer for Terry Gilliam's highly anticipated The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus was released today. It looks like vintage Gilliam, ala Time Bandits or Jabberwocky with an Oscar-worthy cast and a bit more budget. I don't really see how this can fail. Enjoy.