Smith set to go on The City That Sailed

Will Smith is set to reteam with his I Am Legend director, Francis Lawrence, on The City That Sailed.

Thankfully there’ll be no appalling, movie-souring CG mutants this time, but as with their Richard Matheson adaptation, the island of Manhattan will play a major part: this time, by breaking away from the United States and floating away across the Atlantic.

No, it’s not a disaster movie (although we’re sure Roland Emmerich is kicking himself for not thinking of that first), but a whimsical fantasy about a New York street magician (Smith) whose daughter lives thousands of miles away, in England.

When she finds a room full of magic candles in a lighthouse (just go with it, it’s that kind of movie), the little girl wishes that her dad could be with her – and rather than stump up for a couple of plane tickets, or even a handy teleportation device for Smith, the candle’s magic power causes Manhattan to go on a little trip…

The film is written by Andrew Niccol, who has dabbled with the high-concept throughout his career (he wrote The Truman Show and S1m0ne), and had been kicking around at Fox since 2006 until Lawrence and Smith got their hands on it.

And it sounds promising. As flawed as the last half of I Am Legend was, the first part carried an emotional depth rare for a blockbuster, while his visuals are mightily impressive. And this should be the type of warm and fuzzy material that Smith can do in his sleep.

But don’t get too carried away: the project is merely in development for Lawrence to direct. It’s more likely that his next film will actually be either The World Without Us, or Water For Elephants. I’ll keep you posted. 

 

Blazin’ Trailer: Funny people (Red Band)

Judd Apatow’s Funny People boasts enough comic talent to organise its own Red Nose Day, but judging by the new and highly entertaining uncensored trailer, now up on Slashfilm, it’d be a joyously post-watershed affair with knob gags galore.

Whisper it quietly, but something serious is afoot in Apatown though: like the polite(r) version released back in February, the trailer’s rude bits are shot through with a lingering sense of regret, suggesting that this could be a more contemplative comedy than Apatow’s two previous directorial efforts, Knocked Up and The 40 Year Old Virgin. After all, Funny People sees Adam Sandler play movie star George Simmons who’s forced to re-evaluate his life when he’s diagnosed with a terminal illness.

Heavy stuff, but with Apatow cohorts Seth Rogen, Leslie Mann and Jonah Hill involved, as well as newcomers the RZA and Jason Schwartzman, Funny People looks like doing exactly what it says on the tin. And look out for Eric Bana stealing the show as the most awesomely bogan Aussie since Warney.

 

Superman might be on the horizon…

Warner Bros., DC Comics and Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel (technically, his estate) have been locked in a custody battle for Superman for some time now, and the latest stage in the case has gone Warner Bros.’ way – but the continuing suit could force Warners to put a Superman film in development by 2011 in order to hold onto the rights.

This is a bit dry, but stick with us. The contention of Siegel’s heirs was that DC Comics made a “sweetheart deal” with Warners, giving the latter the rights to film Superman Returns at a fraction of their market value. If proved, this would have allowed the Siegel estate to share in the movie profits as well as income from the comics.

U.S. Judge District Court Judge Stephen G. Larson rejected that argument on Wednesday. The Siegels’ attorney, Marc Toberoff, however, claimed that the judgment also noted that it was “inequitable” that there was no reversion clause in the Warners/DC agreement, which would allow the Superman film rights to revert back to DC (and the Siegels) if Warners did nothing with them for a certain length of time.

The Court ruled that if Warners did not put a Superman film in development by 2011, the Siegels could sue to recover damages as a result of the non-reversion. Given that part of the copyright in any case reverts back to the Siegel estate and that of co-creator Joe Shuster in 2013 anyway, there is now a definite timetable within which Warners will need to get a film moving if they’re to make another Man of Steel film.

So if in the next 18 months or so you hear word of a new Superman film in production, don’t say I didn’t warn you.

 

Moore leaves The Special Relationship

They’re dropping like flies over at The Special Relationship, the BBC/HBO film that tracks the Tony Blair/George W. Bush partnership.

A couple of weeks ago, Peter Morgan – who had been set to make his directorial debut from his own script – departed the project to be replaced by Richard Loncraine, and now Julianne Moore has had to pull out of playing Hillary Clinton, due to a prior commitment.

As with Morgan, a replacement has been found quickly, with the ever-excellent Hope Davis joining Michael Sheen, playing Blair for the third time, Dennis Quaid, playing Bush for the second time if you count American Dreamz (and not many people do), and Helen McCrory, playing Cherie Blair for the first time.

As much as I admire Moore, I can’t help but feel that Davis may be a better physical fit for the role – and, really, there’s a cigarette paper’s width between the two actresses in terms of their talent. The Special Relationship remains keenly anticipated.

Shooting starts on the film – the unofficial follow-up to The Deal and The Queen – in London on July 20.

 

Blazin’ Trailer: Jennifer’s Body

Gentlemen, prepare to be deeply, deeply confused. On one hand, Megan Fox looks fantastic in this red-band trailer for Jennifer’s Body on Shock Till You Drop and is a) dressed like a cheerleader and b) all wet. On the down side, if you watch it there’s a fair chance she’ll eviscerate you. Talk about a moral dilemna.

The film, from Juno screenwriter Diablo Cody and Girlfight director Karyn Kusama, sees cheerleader Jennifer (Fox) possessed by a demon. She starts to prey on her male classmates, leaving her best friend Needy (Amanda Seyfried) to attempt to raise the alarm.

Jennifer’s Body is out on October 9 here in the UK, and you should get a chance to see another (milder) trailer for this on the big screen this week, attached to Bruno.

 

George Clooney might just be the new Jack Ryan

Even though The Sum Of All Fears was a critical and commercial success back in 2002, Tom Clancy’s iconic hero, Jack Ryan, hasn’t been seen on the big screen since. Paramount has been trying to relaunch the character ever since, with all stories indicating that they were going for a Batman/Bond-style reboot with a younger actor taking on the role of the noble CIA analyst.

But, according to a throwaway sentence in an article by Kim Masters at The Daily Beast, the perfect Jack Ryan may have presented himself to them – and he’s at the other end of the age scale.

George Clooney is said to have declared an interest in taking on the role previously played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford and Ben Affleck, and it’s a fit so perfect we can’t imagine why Paramount hasn’t snapped his hand off and started work on a new Ryan movie immediately.

After all, at 50, Clooney is about the right age to play Ryan, if any new movie is geared to take place after Clear & Present Danger, and he’s got the right mixture of physicality, political acumen, intelligence and heart-on-his-sleeve emotion to play the character.

Several Clancy novels remain unfilmed – including Executive Orders, where Ryan becomes President of the United States following a hideous terrorist attack that wipes out virtually the entire government – but if Paramount went down that route, they’d have to seriously update the stories to reflect the ever-changing political landscape.

Of course, this is all rumour and hearsay, but Clooney as Ryan just feels right. Do you agree?

 

Blade prequel trilogy on the way..?

With Wesley Snipes facing a jail sentence due to his habit of sticking his fingers in his ears and going ‘la-la-la, I can’t hear you’ whenever the taxman turned up asking for his money, the future of the Blade franchise looked bleak. And that’s not even considering the awful last film, Blade: Trinity, which did plenty to hammer the final nails into the Daywalker’s coffin.

But you can’t keep a good bloodsucker down, it seems, for there may be another Blade trilogy coming our way. And, wouldn’t you know it, it’s a prequel trilogy.

The idea was first mooted by Stephen Dorff, who told the impeccably-credentialed Sunday Mail last year that he was chomping at the bit to play Blade’s arch-nemesis, Deacon Frost one more three last times.

But today, Comics2Film managed to get a quote from original Blade director Stephen Norrington which, given that he’s more elusive than a Wesley Snipes tax return, was one heck of an achievement. And Norrington confirms that Blade and Frost: The Early Years (Empire’s working title) is in the works, just as soon as he’s finished reworking The Crow.

Norrington told them that Dorff himself came up with the idea for the movie, which “has evolved into a very interesting story.” And, even though Snipes’ involvement is in doubt right now, Norrington is adamant that Blade will show up in a Blade movie. “The linkage to Blade is still big in the equation,” added the Brit director.

Hmm… intriguing. The first Blade is a landmark film in the comic book genre – it was a fairly big hit in 1998 and persuaded Marvel that there was a market out there for movies based on their properties. You could argue that without Blade, there’d be no X-Men, no Spider-Man, no Iron Man… at least, not in their current incarnations.

And, as good as Guillermo del Toro’s sequel is, the first Blade is by far the best of the trilogy, with Norrington’s hyper-stylised visuals mixing brilliantly with the action-packed heroics. Since then, Norrington’s career has taken a downturn, post-League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and he’s only just come back to directing. So a return to Blade makes sense, even if it isn’t the big box-office draw that it once was.

As for Dorff – while he shows up impressively in Public Enemies, it’s been a while since he co-toplined a big movie, so you can see why he would be drawn to this. And Snipes is almost certain to come on board, if it all works out. After all, he’s going to have a big tax bill to pay at some point.

But does the world really need another Blade movie? And if so, do we need a prequel that, by its very definition, should be devoid of tension? Why not just figure out a way to bring Frost back and make this Blade IV?

But hey, we don’t make the decisions around here. That’s why they pay someone else the big bucks.

But what do you think, readers? Hyped by the prospect of three more Blades, bringing the total to six (not even Gillette can manage that many blades)? Excited by the return of Norrington? Let me know, below…
 

 

Blazin’ Review: Sunshine Cleaning

Starring: Amy Adams, Emily Blunt, Alan Arkin, Steve Zahn, Clifton Collins Jr.

Director: Christine Jeffs

Writer(s): Megan Holley

Cinematography: John Toon

Original Score: Michael Penn

Running Time: 91 Mins.

It’s from the producers of Little Miss. Sunshine, it stars Alan Arkin, it’s an indie comedy, and it’s called SUNSHINE Cleaning. You would on thsi evidence be forgiven for thinking that Sunshine Cleaning is some kind of sequel to that Oscar nominated underdog, however the bulk of this film is very far removed from its partial namesake, so much so in fact that it very nearly betters that other Sunshine film altogether, nearly.

With a lead cast of two of Hollywoods biggest (and best) new actresses it really is a wonder that Sunshine Cleaning wasn’t picked up by a much bigger distributor, and marketed a little more keenly, instead it has been relegated to the doldrums of a very small scale release meaning that it’s one of many films that will be lost amongst the Summer behemoths, which is a great shame because, as is always the case, it’s a damn sight better than most of them.

Adams and Blunt are sisters Rose and Norah, chalk and cheese to boot  with one a fun loving hippy and the other a single mum striving for the “perfect life” and, key to this, the “perfect partner”, seemingly this is not Mac (Zahn) whom she meets on a regular basis to sleep with in a mote,l away from his happy home life, hardly the confidence boost Rose needs at this point in her down at heel life. Norah lives at home with their eccentric father (Arkin, more on him later!) eeking out a wage waitressing and spending her free time getting high and watching TV.

So far so cliched, but when is a character not a cliche of some sort? Well, when the actor playing said character can elevate it beyond the cliche, so to have Adam’s and Blunt’s star talent is something of a coup, especially when the script is this sharply observant, digging a little deeper into the characters psyche than we may be used too, even in the Indie spectrum of comedy/drama’s. ragile through the death of their mother both girls are lost in some way, and through their plight end up working as a clean up crew following deaths. Not the most upbeat setup, and admittedly some of the scenes have very macabre undertones, especially when they are called on to clear out houses of the deceased persons belongings. It’s in touches like this that the humanity of the stars shines through.

Aside from the main plot runs Alan Arkin’s (now) typically kooky turn of being paired up with a young child (in this case Rose’ “cute as can be” son) driving around hawking prawns and popcorn to all and sundry, whilst learning valuable lessons on life and more pertinantly, death, its perfectly enjoyable to watch and works on its own merits, the thing is it feels all too much like a subplot ripped liberally from Little Miss Sunshine “2″ rather than belonging here in this less eccentric and more heartlfelt film. It doesn’t tarnish the experience at all but simply feels disjointed and as a whole not quite as emotionally engaging.

VERDICT

Sunshine Cleaning has two of this generations best actressess and a fantastically nunaced script makes for a refreshing break in the Summer season, not the next Little Miss Sunshine, rather something altogether less quirky and more…real.

 

Blazin’ Review: Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Starring: Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Tyrese Gibson, Josh Duhamel, John Turturro

Director: Michael Bay

Writer(s): Ehren Krueger, Roberto Orci

Cinematography: Ben Seresin

Original Score: Steve Jablonsky

Running Time: 147 Mins.

Michael Bay is a director who will never gain the kudos he truly deserves, much like Scorcese, Tarantino and Eastwood he is an auteur, stamping his own distinct style on each film yet very rarely garnering anything but scorn from critics. There have been a couple of exceptions, The Rock for one, but his work is largely overlooked as bombastic and overblown with no substance behind the style. While this is true to an extent and he has had some major misfires, Pearl Harbor and The Island for example, he always brings the goods in the action department with an eye for on-screen destruction matched by no other. For this alone he deserves much more respect and recognition, for action is surely the most crucial thing to get right in an ACTION film.

In 2007’s Transformers Bay took a toy franchise and made it into one of the most visually spectacluar filmic experiences ever, the first time we saw Bumblebee change from car to robot, you couldn’t help but gasp in awe, and again and again throughout that first experience, if there was a flaw it was that there simply wasn’t enough robot on robot action. Roll forth two years and we have the inevitable sequel, there are now innumerable Transformers, good, bad and indifferent, and at least two thirds of the over-long running time is crammed full of robot on robot…(and often) on robot, action.

But what of plot and characterisation, well Sam (LaBeouf )and Michaela (Fox) are simply given the hook that they need to declare that they love one another, that’s it, that’s  their story this time round, but hey, when Fox looks this good, who cares! New characters are brought in, Sam’s room mate is as annoying a stock character as you can get, though thankfully he is teamed up with the returning Agent Simmons (Turturro) who gives the human’s a little personality. As with the Transformers themselves Duhamel and Gibson seem to have been brought back simply to make up numbers, in the creation of a force to seek and hunt down the remaining Decepticons on Earth (a plotline which would, incidentally, have made a much better film overall).

Plot though really is insignificant, as it pretty much covers the first film’s story albeit from a slightly different tac, extending it to breaking point in order to accomodate more and more of the titular robots. It may sound like I am knocking the film for making improvements but there is often just TOO much happening, theres no doubt this is action of the finest calibre, but the Transformers themselves have little to no character development meaning we lose any empathy we have for anyone, at least first time round the characters were recognisible.

There are exceptions however, and some are given more time to “shine” than others, Optimus makes the most of his bookending scenes, and in the climax particularly you will be cheering him on, even if it isn’t out loud! Given the most time seemingly is a defective Decepticon with the same teleportation powers as the Fallen himself, old and rusty he creaks and walks using a ”cane”, making him the most fun to watch and the most interesting, purely because the audience is given the time to get to know him, while favourite characters such as  Bumblebee (who inexplicably still has no voice) is paired with the two most annoying characters to grace celluloid since Jar Jar Binks! Mudflap and Skids, the goofy and most racially obnoxious robots ever, theirs is the biggest mis-step in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable, but shallow, romp.

I say mis-step because any other failings are a given, weak plotting, a lack of character development, the totally cheesy moments set against the usual Bay skylines, all something that Bay’s other films have in spades so to critisize for this is to thoroughly miss the point. Example, witness the Devastator sequence, 7 smaller “constructicons” combine to form the ultimate Transformer, the sand sucking behemoth seen in trailers, as he scales the pyramids we see the iron balls he has hanging down, funny, slightly, crass, almost certainly, Bay-esque…hell yes, and action film fans will love it! 

Which brings me full circle, is Bay an auteur? Yes, of the action genre. Is this one his best efforts? Not by a long shot, it is however as action packed a film as you will see all year, that I will guarantee, just don’t expect anything more. 

VERDICT

Love it or hate it this is “Total Bayhem” indeed, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is everything you would expect, with the action bigger and better and character development still absent in any form, with an extra slice of cheese for added measure… but come on, you already know what to expect when you buy the ticket!

 

Blazin’ Trailer: Zombieland

Zombieland, tipped as the American Shaun of the Dead, has arrived online in trailer form. Check it out here. The splatstick horror comedy stars Woody Harrelson, Jesse Eisenberg, and Bill Murray.

The gory story sees a group of lone survivors after a zombie holocaust, travelling coast to coast across the United States, and holing up in an amusement park. It looks a lot broader than Shaun, with more emphasis on action (lots of guns, no cricket bats) but it still looks a lot of fun, with Harrelson in particular on charismatic gung-ho form. Tantalisingly, Murray isn’t obviously featured in the preview clip, suggesting an attempt to keep his role as a surprise.

This is Eisenberg’s second Land of the year, after the very different Adventureland, and the second horror comedy of his career: he played a teenage werewolf in Wes Craven’s 2005 Cursed.

When 28 Days Later came out, writer Alex Garland talked about what he felt was the unacknowledged reaction of many viewers to zombie-armageddon films: the feeling that it would be brilliant to be practically alone in an empty world. That totally seems to be the vibe here, and we say bring it on!

Released in October, for that extra Hallowe’en frisson.