Is it too early to reboot Transformers? And, you know, make it PROPERLY??

With all the reboots and remakes being churned out of Hollywood these days, it wouldn’t be too much to ask for a Transformers reboot, would it?  I’d love to see a decent take on the Transformers universe. You know, Cybertron and all that good stuff.

Instead, it seems Michael Bay and Steven Spielberg are getting together to discuss making TRANSFORMERS 3.

What we gained from TRANSFORMERS 2:
One of the worst films of 2009.

What THEY learned from TRANSFORMERS 2:
Made a fuck load of money and we’ll see anything.

I guess part 3 would come as no surprise.

Original story on Slahfilm.

The Arrested Development movie may not be dead but I sure wish it was

News about the Arrested Development movie is worse than a high school teen on-again off-again relationship. Tired of hearing about it. By the time they finally get around to shooting it we’ll all be way over the TV show and realize it actually wasn’t all that it was cracked up to be to begin with, and the film will bomb. What they are doing, with all this petty banter, is NOT striking while the iron is hot. If I were any studio/producer, I would have well and truly walked by now.

7 minutes of Tarantino heaven. The famous mixtape.

I have systematically watched every Tarantino film all over again, in chronological order, since the moment this video clip finished. Truly inspirational in so many accidental ways, this clip is a generous reminder of just how much fun Tarantino movies are.

Eclectic Method – The Tarantino Mixtape from Eclectic Method on Vimeo.

Any excuse to post a picture of Megan Fox – New TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN trailer.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – I’m totally prepared to check my brain in at the door and just let Michael Bay kick my ass for two and a half hours without me questioning a thing with this one. To sit in front of a movie like this and scrutinize too hard ruins the intention of a summer blockbuster. This ‘aint Kubrick, this ‘aint Coppola, and I’m aware of that going in. All I want is some high octane action, pointless, elaborate explosions and a pumping soundtrack laced with a sexy chick and some mediocre jokes, because all of that adds up to not thinking and just enjoying the thrills n spills. And people, sometimes that’s OK. Checkout the latest trailer for TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN below, and enjoy!

Anne Hathaway hopes to GET HAPPY playing Judy Garland

While the dust has long settled on the awards season, one lingering memory that will be sparked from the Oscars is that of Anne Hathaway joining host Hugh Jackman on stage to sing during the opening number.  Now, it all comes together: The Weinstein Company has announced that Anne Hathaway will star as Judy Garland in the company’s stage and film adaptations of Gerald Clarke’s biography GET HAPPY: THE LIFE OF JUDY GARLAND.

I can’t help but think this has to be a tough gig for Anne. Wonderful coup to get the role, by all means — but mess this one up and it has the potential to break a career, no matter how hot she is right now. No doubting she has talent (and two other really, really fantastic assets), but I have my doubts about Anne being able to pull this off.  Even after her Oscar nod for RACHEL GETTING MARRIED, even after the little cameo singing on stage (in which she clearly proves she was capable), they can’t seem to shake the little niggle of doubt that rattles in the back of my head whenever I picture her as Garland.  I honestly hope she can remove all doubt and absolutely deliver a wonderful performance.

At the very least, it is nice to see she isn’t playing safe by just taking the easy, obvious typecast roles.

Looking Forward To: WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE

It’s rare that I look forward to a trailer being released. It’s even more rare that I get excited over procduction photos either taken from set or lifted from an early cut of a film.  So I’m pretty humbled to admit that I am eagerly looking forward to Spike Jonze’s WHERE THE WILD THINGS ARE trailer based on these images alone – not to mention the film in its entirity, of course!  Fond memories of the book as a child, I never would have dreamed of it being transferred to film. Not adequetly, anyway – not without it looking like a Jim Henson cheap version witrh bumbling puppets and ridiculous songs.  But thinking back to those pages, and seeing these images… well, one can see where the anticipation has come from.  All we need now is a trailer to confirm the excitement.

Scarlett Johansson’s chunky rack will help sell IRON MAN 2

The majority of IRON MAN fans appear to be heartbroken over the confirmation that Scarlett Johansson has been cast in the upcoming sequel IRON MAN 2, and I can sort of understand why. They’re a bit cautions because, apparently, the actress can’t act… While that may be a bit too obnoxious to say, one has to concede that perhaps her role as Black Widow in an action-summer-blockbuster might just find her screen presence slightly out of place.

Let’s face facts here.  The first IRON MAN was entertaining – no denying that.  However, was it breaking ground with stellar performances by an elite cast?  Erm, no.  Not even a little bit.  Why anyone would get torn up over this casting from an acting perspective is beyond me.  She’s not in Iron Man 2 to win awards.  She has one job: Look Good.  And she will.  In the teaser.  In the trailers.  On the posters, DVD covers… her chunky rack is going to help sell the shit out of Iron Man 2.  Robert Downey Jr. and Mickey Rourke will take care of that ‘acting’ stuff.

In terms of marketability, this is brilliant ‘casting’.

Top 5 Adam Sandler movies that are actually tolerable

That movie BILLY MADISON was funny and quirky when you were 14. But as we grew older and witnessed Adam Sandler revive the same character in dismal movies like LITTLE NICKY and WATERBOY, we soon realised how shallow and pointless most of his movies were becoming. They even had the same character realising the same moral just with a different poster in the lobby. Subsequently, we started to avoid his junk (didn’t we…?) which is a shame because amongst the horrid films featuring cameos from that fuckwit Rob Schneider, there were some real gems people may have overlooked purely because they saw the name Adam Sandler and expected a cheap-laugh bore-fest. These are the Top 5 Adam Sandler movies that are actually tolerable:

5. AIRHEADS (1994)

Not exactly the highest regarded movie-about-music film out there, but this hidden comedy has still got some nostalgic cred. One of those films that feels like WAYNE’S WORLD, in that everything about it had a sense of ‘cool’ at the time but soon became very, very dated (references to Aerosmith as the greatest band on Earth, for example…). Also stars Brendan Frasier before he was a Mummy catcher (but still not funny) and Steve Buscemi (aka that guy from Reservoir Dogs).

4. CLICK (2006)

While the trailer and indeed the synopsis will have you believing this is just another Sandler gimmick movie (and it is…) the moral and human fabric behind this one actually lends some class to the final output. Not only is it rewarding, there are actually some genuine laughs to back it up. Plus Sandler doesn’t ever do that stupid mongoloid voice.

3. THE LONGEST YARD (2005)

The remake of the Burt Reynolds film was smart enough to bring Burt back for a second-billing role as Coach in this straight-forward comedy. It doesn’t take itself too seriously, it knows what it is and it doesn’t try to be anything more, which is what makes THE LONGEST YARD tolerable. When you’re just after a giggle, don’t want anything too profound to test your thought muscles and you don’t want to see Adam Sandler playing a dipshit, this one is a safe rental.

2. REIGN OVER ME (2007)

A wonderful portrait of friendship set against the loss and angst of September 11, this was a bold role for Sandler and brave casting by director Mike Binder. Thankfully it paid of and the result is a beautiful, heart-felt film. Don Cheadle has a lot to do with that pay off – but Sandler definitely holds his own.

1. PUNCH-DRUNK LOVE (2002)

Those who followed film closely knew this flick was arriving through the mind of Paul Thomas Anderson, the Director of  BOOGIE NIGHTS and MAGNOLIA.  We knew it was coming from a Director capable of telling a stylized story without pulling punches or falling back on traditional styles.  It was strange to see, then, how much of a bad wrap this film received through word-of-mouth.  Seems most punters were seeking another Adam Sandler wank-fest (it came out after THE WATERBOY, BIG DADDY & LITTLE NICKY, and was the same year as MR. DEEDS).  So while (most) critics were praising the film’s bold casting of Sandler in a surprisingly serious role in which he actually delivered a character with some depth, the main audience thought they were going to see another Happy Gilmore comedy set in a love story and thus came out bored and disappointed about the lack of obvious, slapstick, braindead humor (Punch-Drunk Love, of course, has a more dry approach to its humour).  The real shame is how many people missed out on a quality film because they also thought they would be seeing Happy Gilmore in a love story… The film was caught in a catch 22 from the start.  If this is you (as is the case with a good friend of mine) I urge you to give it a chance.  It is a brilliant film and as far as Adam Sandler goes, it is definitely the most tolerable of his library.

Final note: I’d like to think that, by the end of 2009, we’ll be able to add Judd Apatow’s FUNNY PEOPLE to this list.  I’ve only just seen the trailer and it appears more than bearable.  In fact, it actually looks like it has the potential to be the funniest movie starring Adam Sandler that doesn’t rely on his horrid style of comedy.  Imagine that.

When Fight Club inspires, how worried should we get?

Chuck Palahnuik – don’t try to pronounce it, just know that he is the guy that wrote FIGHT CLUB. Anyway, his official site, The Cult, just received word that an independent team of activists called UA Resistance followed in the footsteps of one Tyler Durden and (in a non-violent act) lit up the side of an apartment building with a huge smiley face. Apparently they were protesting the rising prices of apartment accommodation due to corruption in the country.

Being as savvy as they are, the resistance took the time to send the details to Chuck’s website so it could be admired accordingly; so I guess you’d better click here lest they find out.  There’s even a video of a local television stations report on the incident.

Captain Kirk is gonna get it his freak on in space

All that action; fiery explosions and tactical fighting. All those one liners full of impact. All that talk of making the right choices, capabilities, destiny, paths and determination… and they still find time to squeeze in a saucy shot from the sex scene that they know doesn’t belong but they insist on including anyway.

I will be popping my STAR TREK cherry when I go see this.  Sure, I’ve caught glimpses of it on TV in the past, but I never latched on and became a fan or anything.  If you are a Trekkie and you’re slightly agasp that anyone would open their Star Trek account with this remake/reboot film, then that says a great deal about it.

The darkness is not the problem with Harry Potter

Okay, alright – this trailer does look pretty impressive, but it’s a damn HARRY POTTER movie… I haven’t enjoyed one of them yet. Not to their full potential, anyway.

People keep trying to explain to me what I’m missing and all I hear is random babble about the book and how they will ‘keep getting darker’… I don’t think the darkness is the problem. Pacing, character development and ACTING all play a major part in what makes Harry Potter very borderline for me. Still cannot deny how impressively successful the films are, though. I DO understand that much. Just doesn’t jive with me for whatever reason.

Might have something to do with the fact that the first Harry Potter was the first ever movie I screened when I worked as a projectionist a few years ago… and then proceeded to scree it (and therefore be exposed to it) about three dozen times in a short period.  But I’m not reading too much into that.

How going to the movies helps re-build the economy

This video epitomizes everything positive we need during this apparent financial crisis. Also helps sink any guilt one might have for keeping the vice of visiting the cinema during such time. It’s all justified – check it out: