New "OverThinker" at ScrewAttack

FYI guys, the new 30th episode of "Game OverThinker," a side-by-side of "Modern Warfare 2" and "New Super Mario Bros. Wii," is up NOW at ScrewAttack:
http://screwattack.com/videos/TGO-A-Tale-of-Two-Games

Sorceror's Apprentice

So, folks... what do we make of this trailer for Disney/Bruckheimer's new fantasy-actioner "The Sorceror's Apprentice," another of the growingly-common subset of genre films attaching a 'name title' to what appears to be an original story in order to look more like a franchise blockbuster?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h_fMAV7jXc

The basic idea seems to be a bare-outline "Harry Potter" reworked from a classical British "special boy" structure to an American one - i.e. instead of admittance to a prestigious elite academy being the seemingly-ordinary "Chosen One's" passage to skill-honing and higher destiny (the Dickensian/British model) he'll be schooled in badass-lonerhood by an older badass-loner, "Karate Kid"/"Rocky"-style. All told, doesn't look half-bad - gotta love the dragon and the animated Empire State eagle. Though, yes, the presence of Nicolas Cage means at least a 50/50 chance of otherworldly brilliance or out-of-place awkwardness.

Finally, GOOD NEWS about "The Wolf Man."

Universal's remake of "The Wolf Man," with Benicio Del Toro as the title monster, has had easily the most (publically) problematic production of any film in recent memory: The first director was fired/quit just as it was gearing up, there were public spats about practical-vs-CGI FX between creature-maker Rick Baker and the production, and recently new editors were hired to "punch up" the finished footage. All signs pointed to the usual trouble: A potentially-cool genre film getting watered-down by a studio afraid to make something awesome and maybe even a little dangerous. It also, even from it's trailers, looked A LOT "bigger" and thus more expensive than many might have been expecting, which could only ADD to the concern if you follow these things: Even if your movie is about a monster who's only real ability is tearing people limb-from-limb, a studio spending big money usually wants a "safe" PG13 rating to garauntee maximum profit.



So, then, it comes as not just good news but potentially SPECTACULAR news that "The Wolf Man" has been rated R for "bloody horror, violence and gore." Now, that DOESN'T necessarily mean all the problems haven't resulted in a less-than-great film, but it IS a strong indicator that things might be going in the right direction. An R-rating, at it's fundamental level, usually means that the film was made "uncompromised" to a certain degree; it also possibly tells us that Universal might think they have something pretty good on their hands, since a "bad" genre film would absolutely get saddled with a PG13 in order to increase it's earning capacity.

If it's "that" good, I'm interested to see what it's reception does for journeyman director Joe Johnston, who's been making solid films without becoming much of a "name" for DECADES now. If this works out, it could end up a big secondary buzz-point for the "Captain America" movie he's set to make for Marvel (if that's still happening, there hasn't been WORD ONE about it since they announced they were making it.)

Spider-Man 4 to get it half right?

File this under "probably strange enough to be semi-true," but Movieline says they know who the new people are in "Spider-Man 4": http://www.movieline.com/2009/12/exclusive-spider-man-4-circling-john-malkovich-anne-hathaway.php?page=1

Sez them, Sony Pictures vetoed "The Lizard" for being too strange; so the main enemy will be "The Vulture" - possibly to be played by John Malkovich. Sez them also: The story about Felicia Hardy ("The Black Cat") turning up is also true, as is rumored casting of Anne Hathaway, except instead of Cat she'll become a female counterpart to Vulture. (Vulture has wings, for the record. That's pretty much the whole idea.)

Some of this sounds like bullshit, some of it doesn't. Vulture is 100% plausible. He's part of the "main cast" of 60s Spider-Man enemies that Raimi prefers to draw from (Rhino, Mysterio, Shocker, Electro and Beetle are most of the others) and he fits in nicely with the general theme of main bad guys from the better-recieved (than #3) first films - i.e. an inventor using his technology to go on a crime/revenge spree. It's also true that Raimi has been trying like hell to get him into the series for a long time - he was supposed to be "co-baddie" in Part 3 before Marvel/Sony insisted on Venom. If you're wondering why Lizard is apparently too strange for the screen but alien-goo-monster Venom wasn't, simple: Money. Venom is one of Marvel's most consistently-marketable properties on the toy/shirt side (he's never been able to carry a book, though.)

The "made-up" part, if there is one, is probably Hathaway-as-Hardy-as-"Vulteress;" but not enough to be dissmissed outright. A recurring theme (THE recurring theme?) in Vulture stories is that he's an old man, and his flying-suit technology is always getting stolen by younger, more ambitious wannabes. If so, it's likely that this was in the script from the beginning and someone had the idea to borrow the name of an existing supporting-player for her civilian identity. Unfortunately for them, as always happens with these things, a casting sheet got to the fans before the announcement did, and now instead of going "heh, thats a reference" they'll be all bent out of shape at the character not being in it's original form (doubly true here, since let's face it - LOT'S of people wanted to see a flesh-and-blood actress in that outfit.)

Movieline isn't a "fanboy" site, so if this is either close to or very far away from truth, there'll be word from Sony soon enough.

NOW SHOWING AT A BLOG NEAR YOU

Ahhh, nothing like watching the Wolfman and Igor TCB and dig it to Amos Moses is there? It seems the upcoming review for Voyage Of The Rock Aliens has put us in the mood for some aural delights around here. Fortunately, there happens to be a few to be found out there in cyberspace which match up with our particular interests, and we thought we’d share them with the rest of you.

First up, we have renowned Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft’s self described three point sermon on screenwriting. This is a short 30 minute speech delivered to a roomful of film students given with the hopes of helping them to understand the role their religion can play in their chosen profession. He also gives them some pointers on writing good screenplays which I hope at least 90% of them follow. Why not 100%? Well, we have to keep some of them writing bad movies, otherwise we’d be out of business here.

Which isn’t to say we don’t appreciate good writing when we see it. Or hear it for that matter. Over at the Forgotten Classics podcast the Happy Catholic is smack dab in the middle of a reading of The Uninvited which, if you’re not familiar with the title, was made into an excellent movie back in 1944 with Ray Milland. There are differences between the book and the film adaptation, of course, but this is one of the few cases where both are worth the time spent with them.

I haven’t read the Twilight books or seen their adaptations, so I can’t say if the same holds true for those works. Luckily, Father Barron over at The Word On Fire has taken a peak at the films, and he’s put his brief opinion on the current vampire craze up on YouTube. Now all you fans of smooth skinned shirtless adolescents need not fret, the good father doesn’t take any potshots at the movie, but rather discusses some of the possible reasons a secular culture has become so entranced with nosferatu.

If you’re not among the cult of the modern day vampire, however, and would prefer something with a little more teeth to it, then you might try hopping over to the Catholic Under The Hood podcast where Father Seraphim takes a look at what Catholics have believed about werewolves over the centuries. Hair raising? Maybe. Interesting? Definitely.

And finally, I would be remiss if I did not point out that The Flicks That Church Forgot podcast is back up and running. Put together by Peter Laws, a Baptist minister across the pond, the show covers pretty much the same ground we do around here, just without the lengthy quotes from the Catholic Catechism. Hey, nobody’s perfect right? Still, the good minister is taking a shot at dragging Christian meaning out of the 1988 cheese fest Slugs this week, so I have to give him his due.

Well, that should be enough to give everybody’s Ipod a good work out for awhile. And be sure to stay tuned here over the next couple of weeks as the hits will just keep on coming.

Escape to the Movies: "Ninja Assassin"

http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/escape-to-the-movies/1155-Ninja-Assassin

And here's this week's "Intermission," which is about "Blind Side." Because why not?
http://www.escapistmagazine.com/articles/view/columns/moviebob/6858-The-Bland-Side

COMING ATTRACTIONS: VOYAGE OF THE ROCK ALIENS

Coming up next, our first ever musical! Why, oh why do I do these things to myself?