This is just a quick post asking all the readers if there is any specific things they would like to see covered here on the blog? I read about 10-20+ websites with movie news every day and they often lead me to other sites. So far I’ve been keeping most movie posts fairly mainstream. Do we have any readers who are totally into the independent scene? How about news about DVDs in addition to just stuff that is going to be out in theaters? Or would you all like me to just continue posting about anything that catches my eye that I feel the general web going movie audience would like to know about?

I am generally going to only post movie related stuff here. I’ve got my own personal blog for rambling on about things non movie related and I’m sure most of you appreciate it. I am making an exception on this post though. I just finished watching the 2nd last episode in this years season of Heroes and I can’t help but talk about it. Througout the entire season Heroes has managed to tell an excellent story without going overboard on the melodrama (a weakness in my opinion of Battlestar Galactica). If you have not been watching it then I really, and I mean really suggest you check it out on DVD as soon as it is available.

While watching it I started thinking about how television has finally figured out that they have a great medium for telling long term stories. For the past few years we’ve been subjected to a lot of “reality tv” and I actually cut my cable. I can finally say that cable is once again worthwhile. Here are the shows that I am either currently or at least recently (since some have just ended) been watching:

• Rome (HBO)
• Sopranos (HBO)
• Heroes (NBC)
• Torchwood (BBC)
• Doctor Who (BBC)
• Kingdom (iTV1)
• Deadwood (HBO)
• Carnivale (HBO)
• Battlestar Galactica (SciFi)
  

Is there anything out there that I should be checking out?

     Any pre-thoughts on tonight’s topics?

28 Weeks Later
New Die Hard 4 trailer
DVD releases this Tuesday

Pan’s Lab
The Fountain
Stomp the Yard
Seraphim Falls
Creepshow 3

Check it out. I actually like it.

Source: Movies Online

     Maria Bello is set to play Evelyn Carnahan O’Connell in “The Mummy 3“. I thought she did a good job in A History of Violence. She is beautiful and can act. While I think the former is important for The Mummy series the latter doesn’t really matter too much. This is just going to be another big popcorn flick. I’ve seen the first two in theatre and will be there for the third but it really is just another medium budget summer blockbuster type movie. Her replacing Rachel Weisz neither really changes my opinion of what this movie will end up being.

Source: Variety.com

     It looks like we are all going to be subjected to DOAead Or Alive in theaters. DOA so looked like it was going to be another direct to DVD flick that we could all ignore. I hate to admit this but I have already seen it and to tell you the truth in a bizarre way I actually enjoyed it. It is no where near anything like a good movie but it has a certain camp value. I mean how often are you going to see Eric Roberts with long hair and in pajamas doing martial arts against 3 beautiful women. I kid you not, that is the final fight scene.

     The news over at Movies Online is that DOA is actually going to be released on June 22nd. I’m not recommending you run out in see it but it is fun in a very very bad way.

     One final side note. I linked the thumbnail of the poster up to a larger version of it. The guy on the left should actually have a green piece of hair sort of like the Alfalfa’s hair from the litte rascals but at the front of his bald head coming out of it. I’m wondering if the poster designers just felt that it would drive people away from seeing DOA so they removed it digitally.

     The Dark Knight website is now up. Currently it consists of only one picture. I’ll keep watch and let everyone know as soon as there is more actually there. You can check it out here: http://thedarkknight.warnerbros.com/

     I am trying to remember where I read the recent rumour that the Scarecrow was going to be back for The Dark Knight. Unfortunately I can not but that might be a mute point anyways. I did a bit of looking at the code for the site and the following keywords are used:

The Dark Knight, Batman, Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan, Christian Bale, Maggie Gyllenhall, Heath Ledger, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine

     It may just be me but when I see the majority of the main actors names but do not see Cillian Murphy I start to think that the Scarecrow rumour is false.

     Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels is one of my favorite Tarantino like movies. I thought Snatch was the more Hollywood version of the Lock, Stock and I thought that Revolver was somewhat of a failure of a movie that didn’t really know what it wanted to be. According to the Hollywood Reporter (via Yahoo News) Guy Ritchie is set to return with another gangster crime type flick called RocknRolla.

     While I did not mind Snatch I think Ritchie might actually be a one trick pony. I’m willing to give him the benefit of the doubt though and I’ll check out his new movie when it comes out but he seems to be getting worse with each movie and this might be the last chance I give his work.

     Andrew posted about James Doohan’s ashes being sent into space a while ago. E! Online (via Yahoo News) has the story about how his ashes went up as planned and then came back down also as planned. Unfortunately they didn’t land where they were supposed to. I know it is pretty morbid but I’m still laughing inside over several of the statements that have been made:

“It’s not like Mr. Doohan’s lost,” company rep Susan Schonfeld told E! Online. “The rocket did hit its landing target, but it’s in a very mountainous and rugged terrain. [The recovery team] can’t get to it by foot or by vehicle. They have to take a helicopter up there.”

“They know the general location, and we have twentysomething days to recover the rocket,” she said.

     The best part of this all is that they are going to do it again.

     And plans are underway to blast more ashes of Doohan and Cooper back into space in October, this time aboard an orbital craft.

All I really have to say is that human beings just look for dumb things to do.

     The VES, or Visual Effects Society has released its top 50 most influential films for visual effects of all time. Movieweb has the full story. Thanks to Simone via facebook for the heads up. Though I’d personally move “Metropolis” a bit higher up the list. I can’t argue with Star Wars in the #1 spot and think this is a pretty good list. Even if most of them are no-brainers to belong here.

     Eric Roth, Executie Director of VES says:

“We’re thrilled to present VES 50. These films have had a significant, lasting impact on the practice and appreciation of visual effects as an integral, artistic element of cinematic expression and the storytelling process.”

     Here are the top 10; to see the rest of the list, just click on the spoiler button to unwrap the enitre list (even though there aren’t any spoilers).

10. The Abyss (1989)
9. Alien (1979)
8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
7. King Kong (1933)
6. Tron (1982)
5. Jurassic Park (1993)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) (tie)
3. The Matrix (1999) (tie)
2. Blade Runner (1982)
1. Star Wars (1977)

UNWRAP TEXT or SHOW **SPOILER**

     Michelle Yeoh has been added to the cast of the upcoming Mummy sequel. Yeoh has always been great in action flicks and I think she will fit right in here. I’m not expecting a perfect movie or anything from this new Mummy movie. I’m simply expecting it to be a fun mindless action flick. The one thing I’ll give both Mummy movies is that they did not try to be more than they actually were. With both Jet Li and Michelle Yeoh I think we can expect another action filled popcorn flick.

It has been confirmed that Michelle Yeoh will star in the upcoming Mummy 3: Curse of the Dragon. You will recall the film also stars Brendan Fraser and Jet Li. Rachel Weisz was offered a role and reportedly turned it down. Jet li will play the first emporor of china, and when Father and Son team unearth him they must not only fight him, but also his entire army of mummified warriors. Filming begins July 27th.

(Source: Movies Online)

     Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End is not even out yet and the rumours are starting to fly about more Pirates of the Caribbean movies coming. While I might dread this actually happening I can’t blame Disney for wanting to make billions of dollars. Filmrot just posted a rumour that may or may not be true. It is way too early for anything to really be set in stone. Personally if they do go through with this I will be happy because the whole love triangle between Captain Jack and Elizabeth and Will won’t play a part. I’d also hope they go back to Jack Sparrow being a more loveable cad than the evil bastard he was in Dead Man’s Chest.

“… According to a source on the set of the new film, At World’s End, both Depp and Rush are in no hurry to abandon their characters and Bruckheimer is itching to work with them again in that capacity. The very people that aren’t figured in future plans for the franchise, Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley, are the very people claiming to be disinterested in reprising their characters. ‘What Johnny really wants,’ says our insider, ‘is for Disney to go with a prequel and deal with visualising all those little anecdotes we’ve seen get built up over the three movies. He wants to see Captain Jack make his deal with Davey Jones and lose his beloved ship to Barbosa and to have his run in with the EIT. Jerry and Gore are really excited by it too and want to make it a reality…”

     Clubland is set for a limited release on July 4th and it will widen up after that. I have this strange feeling that this will be another movie that I have to wait for the DVD. FirstShowing.Net provides a pretty good review of the movie. Here is the international trailer for it. Who knows maybe it will show up at my local art house theater.

     I don’t think anyone saw this bit of news coming, but it looks like Matt Stone and Trey Parker will be creating a G-rated monster movie for Nickelodeon. In an interview with the L.A. Times (via FirstShowing.Net) screen writer J.F. Lawton had this to say about the creators of South Park:

… they’re finally signed on to produce and direct that movie and are planning on making it a PG, or even G-rated, family film.

I’m not too sure what to think on this news. I’ve got a 4 year old son so it means I might get take him to something South Park related which is something I never thought I would say.

Topics for tonight’s show (5/9/07):

David Lynch’s Inland Empire reviewed
Spider-Man 3 is crap
Summer of trilogy finishers
Studios bullying web sites.

If you have any comments or thoughts on the above subjects (or anything else) you’d like mentioned on the show, post em in the comments section.

 Cinecast Episode 46 [82:28m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

These are the show notes for Cinecast Episode #46.
You can download or subscribe to the show HERE

In-House Announcements:

Join us on Facebook: Much cleaner and nicer than myspace and easy to keep in touch. A lot more fun too as more people join everyday. HERE’S the link to our group - NOTE: Facebook will ask you to login or start an account to use this feature.

You can post suggestions, comments, thoughts, even questions or topics you’d like discussed on the weekly Cinecast.

DVD Pick of the Week:
STILL Little Children (IMDb)
Andrew’s Review
Kurt’s Review
Quicktime Trailer - or see below…

Inland Empire:

Inland Empire Online - tour dates and locales for the film.

Spider-Man 3:

Studios Threaten Canada:

Andrew’s Blog Post

Homework:

We forgot to mention, but if you haven’t seen 28 DAYS LATER, get out and rent it now:
Blockbuster Online
Netflix

Get to the theater to see 28 Weeks Later

For extra credit, check out Jonathan Glazer’s Birth, starring Nicole Kidman.

Comments or questions?
feedback@moviepatron.com (general)
andrew@moviepatron.com
kurt@moviepatron.com
- - Kurt’s BLOG - this week: The King and the Clown

Just a quick post on my way out the door, Superhero Hype just posted the news that Tim Roth is going to be playing the Abomination. I’m pretty sure they will use some CGI effects to make him just a bit bigger as the Abomination is right around the same size as the Hulk.

The Incredible Hulk will be matched against the oversized adversary Abomination, and Tim Roth will play the villain’s alter ego, Emil Blonsky.

Blonsky is a KGB agent who deliberately exposes himself to the gamma rays that caused Bruce Banner to morph into the Hulk. Blonsky has upped the dosage, making him larger and stronger than the Hulk, but unable to change back to human form. He blames Banner for his problem, and makes his best efforts to destroy the Hulk.

I’m getting more and more impressed with some of the big Hollywood movies and the greater role character actors are playing. Between Norton and now Roth I’m starting to look forward to the new Hulk movie.

From the Fox news room, George Lucas announces that

“[Spider-Man 3] is a silly movie. … There just isn’t much there. Once you take it all apart, there’s not much story, is there?”

Funny, Spider-Man 3 is the only big budget, summer blockbuster that Lucas’ company, Industrial Light and Magic, didn’t do the effects for. Now, the first thing that pops into my mind is, well GL, that’s all well and good (and true); but isn’t Star Wars 1 fairly silly? And his retort?

“People thought Star Wars was silly, too, but it wasn’t.”

Then, the interview takes a Star Wars and Indiana Jones turn. Lucas says he will make two more live-action films based in the Star Wars era.

“But they won’t have members of the Skywalker family as characters,” he said. “They will be other people of that milieu.”

The two extra films will also be made for TV and probably be an hour long each. But, like the animated Star Wars show, “Clone Wars,” Lucas doesn’t know where on TV they will land. Maybe on cable pay channels like HBO or Showtime? Could be awesome. Could suck ass. Either way, I’ll be in front of my TV with a big bucket of popcorn, a catheter and the DVR on constant record the night those films air.

Regarding Indy IV, the interview with Roger Friedman goes this way:

Lucas is currently preparing Indiana Jones 4 with Harrison Ford, Cate Blanchett and Shia LaBoeuf. The latter plays Ford’s son, which means his mother was possibly Marion, the character Karen Allen played in Raiders of the Lost Ark.

“I can’t say,” Lucas said when I brought up Allen.

Lucas says that Sean Connery still hasn’t signed on, but his character, Indy’s dad, is in the script. Other than that, his lips are sealed.

“Steven thinks we can keep the whole thing a secret,” Lucas told me. “I explained to him that it’s impossible nowadays. We can’t live like that.”

So then, tell me more about “Indy 4,” I suggested.

“Oh no,” replied Lucas with a smile.

Tease.

     Don’t ask me why but Balls of Fury just looks over the top funny to me. Actually, I know why, Christopher Walken is playing the bad guy in it. I mean look at that picture how can you not be afraid of him as a ping pong player. I’ve probably mentioned it here already but I generally do not like most American slapstick comedy. I actually found Borat (yes I know he is British) to be boring. I usually like more sarcastic cynical humour. Given that, this is Christopher F’n Walken though as ping pong bad guy. I do not know if I can say that enough. This is the role he was meant for.

     Now for the news, MoviesOnline.ca just posted the following update on Balls of Fury:

Balls of Fury has been bumped back twice but now I have good news! this go around its been bumped up. It will now hit theatres August 31st!

     Perhaps there is hope that it will actually be good:

     Andrew has already written a review for Spiderman 3 and I can understand his feelings about the movie. Movies are subjective and sometimes they just strike a nerve that makes you hate the movie. I’m not going to write a review or anything about Spiderman 3 but I thought I’d just post about how I didn’t mind the movie and how I actually enjoyed it more than I thought I would going in.  I’ve read reviews where they called it the worst super hero movie they’ve ever seen. Apparently they have not seen the old Captain America movie or perhaps they are forgetting Elektra. I really hope that everyone can agree that it was better than Catwoman. I don’t think anyone could ever say it is as bad as Batman and Robin.

     The biggest problem with Spiderman 3 is that they wanted to do to much. There was not enough time to tell the story for all the characters that they included. They should have dropped Venom for another movie. I don’t say that because I believe Venom is that important. It just meant that time was taken away from both Sandman and the whole love triangle between MJ, Harry and Peter. These are the two places when they should have focused everything on. If they had done this then perhaps the whole crumbling relationship between MJ and Peter would have come out better.

     There was some great stuff in Spiderman 3. The creation scene for Sandman was one of the most dramatic out of any of the movies. Even though it was done totally in CGI it truly gave you a feeling for what was driving the Sandman.  I enjoyed the whole interplay between Harry and Peter, yes the butler was a weak point but it didn’t really matter. What mattered was how Peter and Harry saw each other and how they both came to terms with the original Goblin’s death.

     I am not going to say Spiderman 3 was a great movie but I am also not going to say it was a truly terrible one. It was a summer blockbuster that tried to do too much and failed a bit. Compared to a lot of the movies that are marketed to the mass public it was equal if not better. If anyone says otherwise I’m going to go get them a copy of Catwoman and make them watch it.