Author Topic: Resurrecting the Movies thread...  (Read 1022321 times)

Offline BelAir

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #660 on: January 21, 2008, 10:59:06 am »
I am one of those people who doesn't like 'historical' movies to be released in such closeness (at least temporally) to real events...

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Offline oilgun

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #661 on: January 21, 2008, 11:04:06 am »
I am not  quite sure what I think about this...



January 21, 2008

Oliver Stone to Make "Fair" Movie About George W. Bush


By REUTERS

Filed at 9:00 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director Oliver Stone, who has made movies about Presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, is developing a project about the current occupant of the White House, but promises it will not be a hatchet job, Daily Variety reported on Sunday.

Stone is in talks with Josh Brolin, who is starring in "No Country For Old Men," to play the title role in "Bush," the trade paper said.

He is shopping the script to financiers and hopes to start production by April, with a release date in time for the election in November, or the inauguration of Bush's successor in January.

Stone told Daily Variety that he planned to make "a fair, true portrait" of Bush, focusing on such areas as his relationship with his father, President George H.W. Bush, his wild youth, and his conversion to Christianity.

"It will contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors," said Stone.

He said Brolin was better looking than Bush, "but has the same drive and charisma that Americans identify with Bush, who has some of that old-time movie-star swagger."

A White House spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. Bush has acknowledged that he was a heavy drinker in his younger days, but has long been sober.

Stone, who has had his battles with drink and drugs, earned three Oscar nominations for his 1991 conspiracy film "JFK." In 1996, he also received a script nomination for "Nixon," which starred Anthony Hopkins. He won best directing Oscars for the Vietnam sagas "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July."

Other historical figures reinterpreted by Stone include dead rock star Jim Morrison in "The Doors," and Alexander the Great in "Alexander."

In 2002, he shot a flattering documentary about Cuban leader Fidel Castro for HBO, but the pay-cable network told him to balance it with more footage about political prisoners on the communist island.

Stone's efforts last year to film a documentary about another Bush nemesis, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also hit turbulence. His request for access was denied with an official reportedly dismissing the filmmaker as "part of the Great Satan."

(Reporting by Dean Goodman, editing by Philip Barbara)



He won't have to do a hatchet job, just depicting reality will be bad enough,  :laugh:

This reminds me, a friend at work who recently went to Vegas was unable to use her left-over American cash to pay for her lunch at the food court, nobody wanted to accept it (i'm in Canada).  She said people used to kill for American money so she's convinced the end of the world is near  ???

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #662 on: January 21, 2008, 11:04:25 am »
I am one of those people who doesn't like 'historical' movies to be released in such closeness (at least temporally) to real events...



Very good point. I agree and feel the same way.
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Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #663 on: January 21, 2008, 11:05:28 am »
He won't have to do a hatchet job, just depicting reality will be bad enough,  :laugh:

This reminds me, a friend at work who recently went to Vegas was unable to use her left-over American cash to pay for her lunch at the food court, nobody wanted to accept it (i'm in Canada).  She said people used to kill for American money so she's convinced the end of the world is near  ???

End of the world, huh? I guess I should just start going to the movies more often, then!
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Offline oilgun

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #664 on: January 21, 2008, 11:06:53 am »
End of the world, huh? I guess I should just start going to the movies more often, then!
Let's go ee Cloverfield!  :laugh:

According to the Mayan calendar we've got until 2012!

Offline MaineWriter

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #665 on: January 21, 2008, 12:12:50 pm »
Here are some movies NOT to see...



"I Know Who Killed Me" kills critics at Razzies


Mon Jan 21, 2008 6:32am EST

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two New York firemen posing as a gay couple, psychically linked identical twins and a mild-mannered man dominated by his latex-wearing obese wife are all contenders this year for the worst screen couples in Hollywood.

Among the nominations announced on Monday for the 28th annual Golden Raspberry awards, which celebrate the worst in filmmaking, are Adam Sandler, Lindsay Lohan and Eddie Murphy for their respective work in "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," "I Know Who Killed Me" and "Norbit."

It's a double-whammy for Lohan and Murphy, who play multiple roles in their cinematic fiascoes and were nominated opposite themselves in the worst screen couple category.

"I Know Who Killed Me," a teen thriller in which Lohan plays psychically connected twins, "is a Lindsay Lohan 'vehicle' that proved as dangerous for its star as any car she ever ran off the road," said John Wilson, who heads the group that spoofs the Oscars by celebrating the year's worst films.

"Norbit" garnered Murphy five nods for what Wilson described as a "latex-laden, nearly laugh-free 'comedy.'"

In that film, Murphy plays Norbit, as well as his adopted Asian father and hugely obese girlfriend.

Rounding out the list is "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," in which Sandler and co-star Kevin James claim to be domestic partners in order to receive medical benefits, a comedy Wilson describes as a "gag-inducing 'gay romp.'"

"I Know Who Killed Me" received a total of nine nominations by the Razzies -- worst screen couple, picture, horror movie, screenplay, director, remake/rip-off, supporting actress and two nods for actress -- trailed by "Norbit" and "I Now Pronounce You Chuck & Larry," which both received eight.

The worst film category also includes "Bratz," based on the popular toy dolls -- the four lead actresses were all named in the worst actress category in a "four-for-one deal" -- and "Daddy Day Camp," starring Oscar winner Cuba Gooding Jr.

The worst actor category also includes Nicolas Cage for his turns in "Ghost Rider," "National Treasure: Book of Secrets" and "Next" and Jim Carrey for "The Number 23."

Others nominated for worst actresses include Diane Keaton in "Because I Said So," Jessica Alba in "Awake," "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" and "Good Luck, Chuck."
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Offline Kd5000

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #666 on: January 21, 2008, 12:37:57 pm »
Let's go ee Cloverfield!  :laugh:

According to the Mayan calendar we've got until 2012!

I saw CLOVERFIELD over the weekend. Let's just say I'm glad it was a short film, I believe it was less then an 1:30 minutes.   I'm not a film snob, so I don't mind seeing films like this. Plus I had a busy weekend, so I couldn't squeeze in the time to see longer fare such as THERE WILL BE BLOOD.

CLOVERFIELD was an overblown chase film except they are being chased by a monster.  Like Spielberg's WAR OF THE WORLDS, the characters aren't given much information; where does the monster come from,  what is it,  etc etc.  The movie is shot via camcorder and some ppl might not like that as the picture doesn't stay steady for long. In that regards, it reminded me of the much lower budgeted BLAIR WITCH PROJECT.  Also, 95% of the film takes place at nighttime so we really don't get a "Godzilla" image of the monster.   It's hard to describe what it looks like.   

This is the second "disaster" movie I've recently seen that takes place in Manhattan.  I AM LEGEND was the other one. You'd think they'd be tired of seeing their city destroyed by plague or by monster.

Offline serious crayons

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #667 on: January 21, 2008, 12:52:43 pm »
This is the second "disaster" movie I've recently seen that takes place in Manhattan.  I AM LEGEND was the other one. You'd think they'd be tired of seeing their city destroyed by plague or by monster.

I saw a column on this very subject in The Guardian. It points out the movie's echoes of 9/11 and suggests that Americans are trying to process that event through movies.

Here's the link and an excerpt.

http://blogs.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/01/cinematic_take_on_911.html

Quote
Over a century of cinema , America has contemplated and iterated its origins in the movies, mostly through westerns. It's still doing so. Paul Thomas Anderson's superb There Will Be Blood is less a character-study than a thesis on the two opposing forces - entrepreneurial capitalism and evangelical Christianity - that have shaped the Midwest. But America also has its destruction myth, inevitably set in New York, whose reduction to rubble both confirms that city's pre-eminence and signals that the stakes are high. The spectacle of NY landmarks (the Brooklyn Bridge, the Flatiron Building) being totalled is as much a recurring obsession for American filmmakers as among the higher echelons of al-Qaida. I can't recall another culture - even the Sumerians, no strangers to fatalism - which has rehearsed its own extinction with such apparent relish.

... In the end much of the film's power resides not in its special effects but in the plausibility of its set-up: a surprise party in a downtown apartment is suddenly interrupted by an explosion outside. And just like that everything changes forever. It demonstrates one of the chief lessons of 9/11: vast, largely unguessed-at forces can abruptly irrupt into everyday life, shattering bourgeois self-absorption and upending supposed certainties. It's a chastening lesson, one that America is still learning how to tell.

BTW, I found that piece by reading a review of Cloverfield on Slate, which also addresses this topic:

Quote
I'm more interested in how Cloverfield plays on 9/11 anxieties—not in the way one "plays out" issues in therapy, but in the way one plays a video game. 2008 has already seen a notable uptick in America's historical eagerness to eradicate New York in our imagination. Besides Cloverfield and I Am Legend, there's the upcoming History Channel special Life After People, whose ubiquitous poster shows a crumbling Brooklyn Bridge overgrown with vines. As this fine piece in the Guardian points out, Americans seem almost soothed by replaying the fantasy of our flagship city in ruins. What's that about?

In a quote from the press notes, Abrams says, "We live in a time of great fear. Having a movie that is about something as outlandish as a massive creature attacking your city allows people to process and experience that fear in a way that is incredibly entertaining and incredibly safe." Cloverfield's entertainment value remains to be determined over its opening weekend. For viewers in the same demographic as Rob and his buddies, I suspect it will be a big hit. But maybe its re-imagining of 9/11 as the ultimate buzzkill is a little too safe. The movie may be the first to repackage the events of Sept. 11 as pure entertainment. It's certainly the first to use those events as part of a viral marketing hook, in a spooky untitled trailer that premiered before last summer's Transformers. Whoa, that would be intense, if lower Manhattan was suddenly destroyed by some terrible, faceless agent of evil. Oh, wait.



Offline Meryl

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #668 on: January 21, 2008, 02:05:53 pm »
It's interesting that you bring that topic up, Karl and Leslie.  I was just ruminating this morning on my underlying anxiety about being unexpectedly thrown out onto the street here in NYC. 

I often wonder what I would do if we had to evacuate suddenly.  I never forgot the images of those poor Bosnians, especially old people and children, who were made to trek miles and miles over the harsh countryside as part of Milosovic's ethnic cleansing policy.   It's not that far-fetched, unfortunately, given the scenario of a possible "dirty bomb" attack here that could spread radiation over many miles.  In fact, ever since 9/11, I have had a purse-size bag sitting in my closet with extra money, a transistor radio, energy bars, water and other portable necessities, ready to pick up and take with me.  Sounds paranoid, I know, but I'm not alone by a longshot.

Although a monster attack or a quick climatic disaster is really unlikely, I do think it's only a matter of time before New York and other coastal cities will have to be abandoned in the face of the rising sea levels brought on by global warming.  I'm just glad I can enjoy living here now.  It's a great city, full of beautiful and exciting things, a wonderful example of how millions of people can coexist together in relative harmony.  The disaster scenarios just make me appreciate it all the more on a daily basis.
Ich bin ein Brokie...

Offline Meryl

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Re: Resurrecting the Movies thread...
« Reply #669 on: January 21, 2008, 02:39:36 pm »
I am not  quite sure what I think about this...



January 21, 2008

Oliver Stone to Make "Fair" Movie About George W. Bush


By REUTERS

Filed at 9:00 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Director Oliver Stone, who has made movies about Presidents John F. Kennedy and Richard Nixon, is developing a project about the current occupant of the White House, but promises it will not be a hatchet job, Daily Variety reported on Sunday.

Stone is in talks with Josh Brolin, who is starring in "No Country For Old Men," to play the title role in "Bush," the trade paper said.

He is shopping the script to financiers and hopes to start production by April, with a release date in time for the election in November, or the inauguration of Bush's successor in January.

Stone told Daily Variety that he planned to make "a fair, true portrait" of Bush, focusing on such areas as his relationship with his father, President George H.W. Bush, his wild youth, and his conversion to Christianity.

"It will contain surprises for Bush supporters and his detractors," said Stone.

He said Brolin was better looking than Bush, "but has the same drive and charisma that Americans identify with Bush, who has some of that old-time movie-star swagger."

A White House spokesman could not immediately be reached for comment. Bush has acknowledged that he was a heavy drinker in his younger days, but has long been sober.

Stone, who has had his battles with drink and drugs, earned three Oscar nominations for his 1991 conspiracy film "JFK." In 1996, he also received a script nomination for "Nixon," which starred Anthony Hopkins. He won best directing Oscars for the Vietnam sagas "Platoon" and "Born on the Fourth of July."

Other historical figures reinterpreted by Stone include dead rock star Jim Morrison in "The Doors," and Alexander the Great in "Alexander."

In 2002, he shot a flattering documentary about Cuban leader Fidel Castro for HBO, but the pay-cable network told him to balance it with more footage about political prisoners on the communist island.

Stone's efforts last year to film a documentary about another Bush nemesis, Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, also hit turbulence. His request for access was denied with an official reportedly dismissing the filmmaker as "part of the Great Satan."

Has anyone else ever had the thought that Heath Ledger would make a convincing George W. Bush?  The voice might be a challenge, since Bush is a tenor and Heath a bass, but there are a number of moments in BBM where he reminds me of him, a few of which are below:





Ich bin ein Brokie...