Neil Duerden’s Illustrations
May 13th, 2007Review – 28 Weeks Later (2007)
May 13th, 2007
Zombie movies are a funny thing. Since their inception at the hands of George A (Zombie God) Romero, the large majority of modern living dead flicks have been predictable takes on a tried and tested formula. The dead rise/a virus is released/a spell is cast, then the plague spreads and soon there’s a mass of slow-moving rotting corpses that the B-list cast must deal with.
Getting Turned On at Offf Barcelona
May 13th, 2007So I just got back from an amazing experience: my first Offf conference in Barcelona. Offf’s founder and captain, Hector Ayuso Ros, has been bringing creative people together from around the world for seven years now, and the eclectic mix of audio-visual stimuli in Barcelona this year was a testament to his skills as a curator and community-builder. Speakers included people like John Maeda, Joshua Davis, Neville Brody, Graffiti Research Lab and a slew of other rockstars from all sorts of design and music-related fields.
I did a panel with Orion Tait of Buck, Carlos El Asmar of ABC News and Hector Ayuso. I was truly humbled to share the stage with all of them, and I think my presentation went pretty well. Orion totally slam-dunked his portion by showing off some of Buck’s recent work and talking about the studio’s ethos. It was my first time to meet Orion, and his presentation proved what I already assumed about Buck: they have brains and they’re not afraid to use them.
The highlight of the panel for me, though, was the unveiling of the Offf title sequence at the end of our discussion. Federico Reano and Tomás Peña worked their asses off to create a clever and compelling trip through design history, from Mucha’s elaborate compositions in the late 19th century all the way up to the 3D-dominated glossiness of the present day. (Speaking of 3D, the piece is intended to be viewed with 3D glasses, which were handed out to the audience prior to the screening.)
Oh, and Eduardo Larez nailed the audio for the piece, which I’m sure was no easy task given the stylistic diversity that Tomás and Federico’s concept called for. Full credits on the Sintevision site.
Special thanks to Carlos El Asmar.
The Hoax (2006)
May 13th, 2007
In the late ‘80s and early ‘90s, director of Swedish descent Lasse Hallström, proved he was capable of more than just directing a bunch of ABBA music videos, when he delivered some successful Swedish dramas and the intense What’s Eating Gilbert Grape. His 1999 film, The Cider House Rules, based on a John Irving novel was a decent drama with similar acting performances. However, the film starring Tobey Maguire, Charlize Theron and Michael Caine, also set in motion Hallström’s newly found tendency to direct tame and prudent dramas, usually based on novels akin. His An Unfinished Life was kept on the shelves for over two years (usually the best thing to do with a film starring J-Lo anyway) and Hallströms previous endeavour, Casanova, was just not enticing and funny enough to really enthral an audience. (more…)
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Spider-Man 3 drops precipitous 60% in second weekend
May 13th, 2007
Spider-Man 3, which shattered box office records last weekend with over $150 million in weekend sales over three days, almost broke another, far-less-honorable box office record this weekend: the biggest drop-off of any blockbuster. The other two Spider-Man films have been especially good with weekend holdover, but both those films had excellent word-of-mouth and repeat viewing capabilities. Spider-Man 3, which a sluggish pace and a mess of a screenplay, does not have the luxury of the same glowing reviews and the potential for fan boys to run back to the theater to watch it a second or third time.
Spider-Man 3 made $60 million over the weekend, a great take for most films. Just not the Spider-Man franchise. From $150 to $60 million is a 60% drop, a nasty number by anyone's imagination. It beat out previous weekend box office record holder Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (54%) and luckily for it avoided the crushing defeat another Marvel master franchise took at the hands of X-Men United, which fell 67% in its second weekend after an amazing opening.
So we are starting to see a trend here... Studios have long ignored critical demands for good films during the summer months, but with openings getting bigger and bigger, blockbusters are getting more and more front loaded. If a studio can make $150 million in a weekend based on marketing efforts alone, then there's no need to make a good movie, right? WRONG! Had Spider-Man 3 been as good as Spider-Man 2, we'd probably be looking at $20 million more in the bank right now for the film, on the weekend alone - not to mention the day-by-day numbers during the week. The fumbling of Spider-Man 3 will cost its studio and Marvel tens of millions of dollars, which is a lot of zeros that add up quickly.
And looking at the previously mentioned films in this article, neither X-Men United nor Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest were especially good (though sadly I must say X-Men United was the most entertaining of the three). Had X-Men United been as good of a film as X-Men 2, it wouldn't have suffered bad word-of-mouth and bad reviews. Dead Man's Chest was just the same.
Bottom line: In the summer, movie reviews may not matter much on opening weekend, but all of those people who didn't want to see the movie enough to see the film on opening weekend are listening, both to movie reviews and, more importantly, word-of-mouth. Studios, get a clue! Warner Bros. Puts Up Teaser Page for ‘The Dark Knight’
May 12th, 2007Filed under: Action & Adventure, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
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There's not a whole lot to see, but Warner Bros. has thrown up a teaser page for next summer's The Dark Knight; a sequel to Christopher Nolan's very awesome Batman Begins. So far, all we're getting is what looks to be the Batman symbol going through warp speed; it's a cool image -- one that's definitely a tease -- and you can't help but wish they gave us a little bit more. A release date, perhaps? Or how about a nifty tagline that went something like, "Bats eat spiders for breakfast?"
Thankfully, it appears all that commotion surrounding The Dark Knight's Chicago production has calmed down; there was a time not long ago when every day brought new spy photos from the set -- some of which (like those pics of Heath Ledger as Joker) were fake. Since then, however, things have remained fairly quiet. A little too quiet if you know what I mean. Some reports claim Warner Bros. will release their own photo of Ledger as Joker at some point this summer in order to beat out the eventual set leaks. Since The Dark Knight is set to be released on July 18, 2008, maybe they'll give us something on July 18th of this year? Who knows. But anyway, this time around Batman (Christian Bale) helps LT. Gordon (Gary Oldman) and newly appointed DA Harvey Dent (Aaron Eckhart) track down a crazed killer who goes by the name of Joker (Ledger). Meanwhile, the very cute Rachel Dawes (Maggie Gyllenhaal) is lingering around, while Lucius Fox (Morgan Freeman) returns to help Bruce Wayne collect cool gadgets and, of course, Alfred (Michael Caine) will be there to put him to bed each night.
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Michael Moore Hits Back At Bush Administration’s Investigation of ‘Sicko’
May 12th, 2007Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Independent, Celebrities and Controversy, The Weinstein Co., Movie Marketing, Politics, Michael Moore
Following Thursday's seemingly impulsive, and rather premature response from Sicko producer Meghan O'Hara, I was hoping that Michael Moore himself would issue a more intelligent statement regarding his being investigated by the U.S. Treasury Department because of a controversial trip he took to Cuba in March. Nope. After at least a day to think about it, he has written an open letter that is pretty much as unrestrained and immature as O'Hara's, but it is much longer. And it is addressed to (and probably already sent to) Secretary Henry Paulson of the Treasury Dept. Oops.
In the letter, Moore accuses the investigation of being a personal attack from the Bush Administration, and basically the document is just a long rant against the President, his ties to the health care industry, his abuse of the government and his mistreatment of 9/11 heroes. He also mentions Presidential candidate Fred Thompson and the New York Post as having triggered the investigation with their misleading information regarding the Cuba trip. He does use the opportunity to defend his case a little, though, and he has a few childish points. One is that the Administration knew of his plans to go to Cuba, but waited until a time nearer to SiCKO's release date to begin the investigation. Another is that he has broken no laws and has nothing to hide because it is not illegal to help your fellow man.
Well, I think he might be wrong about that last statement, especially if helping your fellow man includes supplying him with goods or services from Cuba. But, whatever, this is a movie blog, so I'll let the political sites discuss his guilt or innocence. I just find it interesting how Moore can be so public with his business, especially as it regards one of his films. Considering most movie companies have legal teams to protect them from such controversy, it is always a wonder if Moore really thinks this kind of move is a good marketing strategy. After all, didn't The Weinstein Co. just hire him two spin doctors for this sort of ordeal? Or is this incident more personally related to Moore than the film, so they won't be coming to his defense. Somebody needs to rescue Moore from himself sometimes.
For more on Sicko, check out some recently released art and photos.
Nicolas Cage doing Snakes Eyes 2… okay, not really
May 11th, 2007
Nicolas Cage is reuniting with his Snake Eyes director, Brian DePalma, for The Untouchables: Capone Rising, where he will play a younger version of the character made famous by Robert DeNiro. Capone Rising is a prequel to DePalma's 1987 classic The Untouchables, and will revolve around the early dealings between Capone and Irish cop Jimmy Malone, a role that garnered an Oscar for Sean Connery.
Principal photography on the high-profile flick will begin in October, some 21 years after its predecessor was filmed. No word yet on whether the temporary Capone Rising title will be scrapped, following the chilly response audiences gave to February's Hannibal Rising prequel.
Based on the classic 50's/60's TV drama, The Untouchables was a box-office and critical smash that announced Kevin Costner as a leading man, re-launched the career of Connery, and solidified DeNiro's on-screen tough-guy persona.
According to MTV, rumors continue to swirl that Sean Penn or Colin Farrell will be cast as the younger Connery.
So... DePalma is doing a film that will have no satisfying ending? Leave The Untouchables alone! And can Nicolas Cage match Robert DeNiro? Hell no. Linda Cardellini finds a dead guy to fall in love with
May 11th, 2007
Linda Cardellini, best known for a starring role on "E.R." and as Velma in Scooby Doo, will star opposite Paul Walker in Heaven Project, an indie drama being directed by John Glenn (assuming The Hollywood Reporter can be trusted).
The story follows an ex-con who is sentenced to death and wakes up from his lethal injection in a small Oregon town. Working as a groundskeeper for a mental hospital, he is told he was given a second chance by God but questions whether he ever really died. Cardellini will play the hospital's administrator and Walker's love interest. 
