Horror Remake Sequel News!

Yeah, these don't happen too often, I think. Last remake sequel I remember is Halloween 2. Didn't see it though. But Platinum Dunes producer Brad Fuller spilled his guts about what's happening with the sequels to the Friday the 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street reboots.

About Friday, he said "[Damian] Shannon and [Mark] Swift wrote a great script. We are ready to go, when New Line is ready. But as of yet, they are not ready."

So that's good news. I really enjoyed the Friday remake and I thought this project was dead in the water. At least there's some life in there, though who knows when it'll see the day of light. Interesting trivia note is that this would be the 13th Friday the 13th movie. Can't wait for it.

Then from Crystal Lake to Elm Street, Fuller says: "As for Freddy, as far as I know, there isn't even talk of writing another script." So no more Jackie Earle Haley as the dream demon.

It all makes sense as well. Friday made 65 million on a 19 million budget, where Nightmare on Elm Street only made 63 million on a 35 million budget, so it seems Friday the 13th-series is the more lucrative one at the moment. We'll see what happens in the future, I don't think either one will be buried for too long.

Superman's Got A New Face

Over the weekend, it was announced that Henry Cavill will be Superman/Clark Kent in Zack Snyder's Superman movie Man of Steel. While I like a new fresh face for the role (I only know him from Stardust), I can't help but feel a bit sorry for Brandon Routh.

Routh was one of the best things in Bryan Singer's Superman Returns and was let down by a boring script and totally miscast Lois Lane. And while Superman is probably the least interesting A-list superhero, I'm quite optimistic about Man of Steel. I'm a fan of Snyder's work and he has Nolan producing, so maybe they're actually able to get some life into the movie.

I just hope all those rumours about Lex Luthor and Zod are false. It's time to get some new villains in there.

Top 5 Friday #2: Favourite Movie Scores 2010

For this week, Top 5 Friday will give you my favourite scores of 2010. Or rather, Pieces of Scores From 2010 That I've listened to More Than Any Other, but that title was a bit long. So yeah, I'm not listing the whole score, just the one item on the score.

5. Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World - Bass Battle

Sure, this movie is mostly remembered by it's great great songs(Why weren't these nominated for Oscars, guys?), but I always loved this one.

4. Tron: Legacy - Derezzed

Haven't seen the actual movie yet, but this score kicks ass. Never before have I wanted to see a movie mostly because of it's score.

3. Social Network - In Motion

I have to admit I was a bit reprehensive of Trent Reznor scoring a movie like The Social Network, but it works beautifully in the movie. The other choice was In The Hall Of The Mountain King, but since that's not original for the score, I went for this one.

2. Inception - Dream is Collapsing

Brilliant score for a brilliant movie. Usually plays when I'm writing something, makes it all feel more epic. Even if it is just for a blog.

1. Test Drive - How to Train Your Dragon

Best score of the year for me, hands down. Everything about this is just gold. Especially this track, which always gives you an extra boost when you're running or whatnot. I really want John Powell to win the Best Score for this one.

And I'll see you again for another Top 5 Friday next week!

Friday Fun: Big Trouble in Little China

We're at the end of January, which means payday is close, but not quite there yet. To some of us this means we can't really go out to party, have fun with friends, etc. So we stay home, sulk a little bit and then realize "But I can watch movies! Movies can get me out of this funk and I'll be happy again!" This brings on another problem though. What movie to watch? Surely watching Requiem for a Dream or Schindler's List isn't going to help lift your spirits. So what to do?


Don't worry, little one! I have the solution to all of your problems! Well not all, you still need to see a doctor about that one. Sorry.

Big Trouble in Little China is one of the most fun movies I've ever seen. Kurt Russell plays Jack Burton, a truck driver who gets involved into some weird Chinese stuff. Russell did Escape from New York before this one with John Carpenter, the director of this movie as well, and here he's pretty much the total opposite of the badass anti-hero Snake Plissken. Jack Burton doesn't think anything through, he just goes and does. Well, tries to do anyway. Imagine Big Trouble in Little China being like The Green Hornet, where Britt Reid is the sidekick and Kato is actually the protagonist.

Dennis Dun's Wang Chi is the one whose girlfriend is kidnapped and who needs to stop the evil spirit David Lo Pan to save her, Jack Burton just wants his truck back. The movie is a blast from start to the end. The movie didn't do too well at the box office, I suppose the audiences weren't ready for an east-west movie like this one. But with the later successes of Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon and Rush Hour, it seems that Carpenter was just ahead of his time. My rating 10/10 for Friday fun.

Here's the trailer:

and here's the very 80's music video. Yes, the lead singer is indeed the director John Carpenter himself. Hmmm...enjoy might not be the proper word, but it'll do.

Howard's Dark Tower Starting to See Light

A few months ago, it was announced that Ron Howard (The Da Vinci Code, A Beautiful Mind) will be doing an adaptation of Stephen King's The Dark Tower book series. Since there were seven books in the series, there's no way Howard is able to do it in one movie, so they've thought of this new interesting approach to it. To do one movie first, then a season on TV, followed by another movie, etc. Which I think will be cool, if it works.

And right now, it seems they've managed to cast their Roland. Or at least very close to it. With names like Viggo Mortensen and Christian Bale popping up, it seems the role has been offered to Oscar-winner (and current nominee) Javier Bardem, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily.

I think Bardem would be good choice for the role. Perfect world would have Clint Eastwood in his 40's in the role, but without CGI that's not going to work and with CGI, it would just be distracting. Bardem has never been bad in anything I've seen him in, and his performance in No Country For Old Men was brilliant.

Other than that, this project is something I'm looking forward to a lot, not only as a Dark Tower fan(still need to read books 6 and 7 though) but also to see if this Movie-TV-Movie-TV thing actually will work. I'm intrigued. If it only wasn't Howard behind it, I would be even more excited.

Oh, and when I was reading these books as kid, I always imagined Roland as Bruce Campbell, probably thanks to The Adventures of Brisco County Jr. What a show.

Oscar Nominations 2011!

Best Picture

Black Swan
The Fighter
Inception
The Kids are All Right
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Who will win: The Social Network
Who I'd like to win: The Social Network
Surprises in this category: None, Glad to see Toy Story 3 there.

Best Director

Darren Aronofsky, Black Swan
David O. Russell, The Fighter
Tom Hooper, The King’s Speech
David Fincher, The Social Network
Joel & Ethan Coen, True Grit

Who will win: David Fincher
Who I'd like to win: David Fincher
Surprises in this category: The lack of Christopher Nolan.


Best Actor in a Leading Role

Javier Bardem, Biutiful
Jeff Bridges, True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg, The Social Network
Colin Firth, The King’s Speech
James Franco, 127 Hours

Who will win: Colin Firth.
Who I'd like to win: Colin Firth.
Surprises in this category: Yes, wasn't expecting Javier Bardem, especially as his role is completely in Spanish. Surprising lack of Mark Wahlberg, as well.

Best Actor in a Supporting Role

Christian Bale, The Fighter
John Hawkes, Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner, The Town
Mark Ruffalo, The Kids are All Right
Geoffrey Rush, The King’s Speech

Who will win: Christian Bale
Who I'd like to win: Jeremy Renner
Surprises in this category: Yes, a pleasant one, with John Hawkes getting nominated.

Best Actress in a Leading Role

Annette Bening, The Kids are All Right
Nicole Kidman, Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence, Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Michelle Williams, Blue Valentine

Who will win: Natalie Portman
Who I'd like to win: Natalie Portman
Surprises in this category: None.

Best Actress in a Supporting Role

Amy Adams, The Fighter
Helena Bonham-Carter, The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Hailee Stansfield, True Grit
Jackie Weaver, Animal Kingdom

Who will win: Melissa Leo
Who I'd like to win: Hailee Stansfield
Surprises in this category: I certainly wasn't expecting Hailee to get nominated, as she is so young. Good on her though!

Best Adapted Screenplay

127 Hours
The Social Network
Toy Story 3
True Grit
Winter’s Bone

Who will win: The Social Network
Who I'd like to win: The Social Network
Surprises in this category: None

Best Animated Feature

How to Train Your Dragon
The Illusionist
Toy Story 3

Who will win: Toy Story 3
Who I'd like to win: How to Train Your Dragon
Surprises in this category: The Illusionist. Happy to see it's not all dominated by CG animation.

Best Animated Short Film

Day & Night
The Gruffalo
Let’s Pollute
The Lost Thing
Madagascar, carnet de voyage

Can't say anything about this category. Day & Night was interesting, but Oscar-worthy?

Best Art Direction

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit

Who will win: The King's Speech
Who I'd like to win: Inception
Surprises in this category: The birth of the term "Oscar-nominated Alice in Wonderland"

Best Cinematography

Black Swan, Matthew Libatique
Inception, Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech, Danny Cohen
The Social Network, Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit, Roger Deakins

Who will win: The Social Network
Who I'd like to win: Inception
Surprises in this category: I would've thought 127 Hours got nominated here as well.

Best Costume Design

Alice in Wonderland
I Am Love
The King’s Speech
The Tempest
True Grit

Who will win: The King's Speech
Who I'd like to win: The King's Speech
Surprises in this category: None

Best Documentary Feature

Exit Through the Gift Shop
Gasland
Inside Job
Restrepo
Waste Land

Can't say much here, other than I'm happy to see Exit Through the Gift Shop nominated.

Best Documentary Short Subject

Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

Can't say anything here either.

Best Film Editing

Black Swan (Fox Searchlight) Andrew Weisblum
The Fighter (Paramount) Pamela Martin
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Tariq Anwar
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) Jon Harris
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Angus Wall and Kirk Baxter

Who will win: The Social Network
Who I'd like to win: The Social Network
Surprises in this category: Not really a surprise, but I think Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World definitely deserved to get nominated.

Best Foreign Language Film

Biutiful Mexico
Dogtooth Greece
In a Better World Denmark
Incendies Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi) Algeria

Glad to see Dogtooth nominated, think Biutiful will win this one though. And Nordic Love for Denmark, Yay!

Best Makeup

The Way Back
The Wolf Man
Barney’s Version

Who will win: The Wolf Man
Who I'd like to win: The Wolf Man
Surprises in this category: I'm just happy for Rick Baker. Though he's had his share, he's got at least 6 Oscars so far.


Best Original Score

How to Train Your Dragon (Paramount) John Powell
Inception (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech (The Weinstein Company) Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours (Fox Searchlight) A.R. Rahman
The Social Network (Sony Pictures Releasing) Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

Who will win: The Social Network
Who I'd like to win: How to Train Your Dragon, my favourite score of the year.
Surprises in this category: Really wasn't expecting How to Train Your Dragon to get nominated, very happy about that.

Best Visual Effects

Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Hereafter
Inception
Iron Man 2

Who will win: Inception
Who I'd like to win: Inception
Surprises in this category: Hereafter? Academy really loves Clint Eastwood.

Best Original Screenplay

Another Year, Written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson. Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception, Written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right, Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

Who will win: The King's Speech
Who I'd like to win: Inception
Surprises in this category: None, happy to see Mike Leigh nominated though.

Best Original Song

‘Coming Home’ from Country Strong
‘I See the Light’ from Tangled
‘If I Rise’ from 127 Hours
‘We Belong Together’ from Toy Story 3

Who will win: Tangled
Who I'd like to win: Tangled, because why not?
Surprises in this category: None.

Best Sound Editing

Inception
Toy Story 3
Tron: Legacy
True Grit
Unstoppable

Inception was brilliant with this. Surprised for Unstoppable.

Best Sound Mixing

Inception
The King’s Speech
Salt
The Social Network
True Grit

Inception here as well. And surprise of this category is definitely Salt.

Live Action Short Film

The Confession
The Crush
God of Love
Na Wewe
Wish 143

No comments on these.

IMDb Top 250: Million Dollar Baby

My first movie from the IMDb's Top 250 unseen movies was Clint Eastwood's Million Dollar Baby, winner of Best Picture and several other Oscars. Starring Hilary Swank and Eastwood himself, it's a small intimate story of a female boxer and her mentor.It's a very well made movie. A movie that I wanted to like more than I ended up doing.

Hilary Swank's strong and effective performance was well worth the Oscar win (though I wish Kate Winslet would've won that year). Clint Eastwood does his usual grumpy old man role, though a bit more warmhearted this time and if I'm not mistaken, it's the first time you see him cry on screen, which was a brave choice on his part. Morgan Freeman's performance is nothing he can't do in his sleep, so I'm wagering that the Oscar he got for this one was more of a "It's about time" award.

Eastwood's direction is beautifully understated and the lighting in the movie was nothing short of brilliant. The gym especially was done gorgeously and having people wrapped in shadows occasionally worked very well in the movie.

But where the movie falls apart for me is the screenplay. Hard as they try, Eastwood, Swank and Freeman can't save the movie from a cliched script from Paul Haggis. Aside from the three main characters, all the other people in the movie are extremely one-dimensional, especially Swank's character's family, who might as well have dressed as vampires and gone "MWAHAHAHAHA" through their scenes. Also, I must've missed the point of the subplot with Jay Baruchel's Danger as it doesn't seem to amount to anything.

The movie's passion to explain everything to the viewer felt very weird as well. Obviously a movie like this is geared more for the mature audiences, but there's nothing left for the viewer to figure out and even if you have something that bothers you, don't worry, Morgan Freeman's narration will tell you everything. And I mean, everything. At times it felt like watching an audiobook.

I love Clint Eastwood's movies. Unforgiven is one of the greatest movies ever made and Mystic River and Gran Torino get a thumbs up from me. This one left me a little cold though, mainly because of the weak script. I can understand why it won Best Picture though, stories like these thriumph very well at the Oscars, and it wasn't a very big year movie-wise anyway. Though why Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind wasn't even nominated for Best Picture baffles me. But that's a story for another time.  My rating for Million Dollar Baby: 6/10.

One down, 81 to go!