Is it possible that a comic book movie could be trying to stack the deck to win some Academy Awards?

As more news about the upcoming Marvel Entertainment Thor movie comes out, one has to wonder what exactly is going on.  Starring in a comic book movie was once akin to an actor saying, “I have a house payment due, and it was quick money”, but now not only are big names flocking to them, but the extremely well respected.

The whole ordeal with Thor started when Kenneth Branagh was announced as the director.  He is best known for his Shakespearean work, and while Thor is rife with mythology and odd speaking habits (it is based on Norse mythology after all), it still seemed like a rather odd “get” for a comic book film.

Then came news of Natalie Portman (yes, I still want her to shut up in her everyday life) joining the cast.  While V For Vendetta was her first comic book movie, it wasn’t quite as traditional as Thor may be.  True, we’re dealing with Norse Gods here, but there are still capes, tights and bulging muscles, something her last foray into comic book movies was missing.

The biggest “you have to be kidding me” moment came with the announcement that Sir Anthony Hopkins was joining the cast as Odin, the leader of the Norse Gods, and most specifically, Thor’s father. While Sir Hopkins has made some less than stellar films in his career, they are so rare, they are difficult to name.  He is an amazing actor, and to see him in a comic book movie is just not something I ever envisioned happening.

The actor cast as Thor, Chris Hemsworth, is still a relative unknown to the majority of the world, but with the talent surrounding him on this project, it would be difficult for him not to shoot for the stars with his performance.

So, what exactly is Marvel trying to pull off here?  Are they just trying to make the best movie possible, or are they aiming for a bigger prize?  Could we possibly be seeing the first planned attempt for a traditional comic book movie to make a run at some Oscar nominations? (Road to Perdition was based on a comic book, although that was severely underplayed at the time of its Oscar nominations)  There is no saying how this film will play, even with these very talented people involved, but it just seems like Marvel is throwing a lot of weight behind this movie, a lot more than it has behind some of their other projects.

This is all pure speculation on my part, but something sure feels different about this project.

EDITED TO ADD: Yes, I forgot about Heath Ledgers’ Oscar for the Joker in The Dark Knight.  So, yes, a caped hero movie has won an Oscar already, but this still feels like Marvel is gunning for one of their own, and is loading the deck in its favor.

I have no clue what it is, but this new Avatar film from James Cameron is just not capturing my interest in the least.

Perhaps it is the fact that Cameron, director of Titanic, has been working on it for nearly 10 years, or maybe it is the fact I think he is horribly over rated as a director, but something just isn’t clicking with me.  There was a day that I should have been bouncing off the walls for this new trailer, and instead I find myself going, “eh”.

I think if I was to nail it down to anything is that I am simply growing fatigued of CGI fests.  No matter how advanced the systems get, certain things still don’t look life like.  Sure the Na’vi are supposed to look alien, and they do, but at the base level they still look like a bunch of really pretty computer pixels.  When you add up the over the top environment of the planet, the rubbery look of the aliens, and I just walk away from this without feeling any emotional weight, any sense of true peril or threat … in short, I’m bored.

Maybe I’ll be proven wrong, but for now judge for yourself by watching the new 3 and 1/2 minute trailer below.

It isn’t normally newsworthy when someone decided to leave their religion, but when someone leaves the Church of Scientology, and airing its dirty laundry on the way out, that makes it newsworthy.

Paul Haggis wrote Crash (for which he won an Oscar for Original Screenplay), Million Dollar Baby, Casino Royale, Quantum of Solace and many other projects.  It also appears that Mr. Haggis has been a practicing member of the Church of Scientology for the past 35 years.

Long time readers of this blog will be well aware of my bottomless hated for this “Church”, so my extreme pleasure at seeing such a notable figure leaving the organization should come as a surprise to no one.  However, why did he leave?  Well, it seems that Mr. Haggis has become disenchanted with the “Church” over its support of Prop 8 in California, and also over the fact the Tommy Davis, the head of Scientology’s Celebrity Centre, has publicly stated that the “Church” no longer enforces the practice of “disconnection.”

For those unfamiliar with this term, disconnection is the polite term for cutting off all contact and dealings with someone who chooses to leave the “church”.  Mr. Haggis saw Mr. Davis deny that this policy was still enforced on a television interview, but Mr. haggis claims that a mere year and a half ago, he and his wife, actress  Deborah Rennard, were told told to cut off all contact with her parents as they had been kicked out of the “church” for an unknown infraction.  Apparently Ms. Rennard followed the orders, painfully, but Mr. Haggis refused to cut off her parents from their grandchild.  Mr. Davis has since been quoted as saying that Mr. Haggis is wrong about this.

The last straw for Mr. Haggis was that 10 months ago Mr. Davis promised him that something would be done about the “church” vocally supporting Prop 8, but as time dragged on, and nothing happened, Mr. Haggis chose to leave the “church.”

What  follows is Mr. Haggis’ letter to Mr. Davis, which is possibly one of the most embarrassing documents from a former member to ever come to light.  The original source of the letter is the blog, Moving On Up A Little Higher which has details of how they received the letter.  The letter has also been authenticated by Ziggy Kozlowski, a publicist for Haggis, who said the letter was originally intended to be private.

Tommy,

As you know, for ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego. Their public sponsorship of Proposition 8, a hate-filled legislation that succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California – rights that were granted them by the Supreme Court of our state – shames us.

I called and wrote and implored you, as the official spokesman of the church, to condemn their actions. I told you I could not, in good conscience, be a member of an organization where gay-bashing was tolerated.

In that first conversation, back at the end of October of last year, you told me you were horrified, that you would get to the bottom of it and “heads would roll.” You promised action. Ten months passed. No action was forthcoming. The best you offered was a weak and carefully worded press release, which praised the church’s human rights record and took no responsibility. Even that, you decided not to publish.

The church’s refusal to denounce the actions of these bigots, hypocrites and homophobes is cowardly. I can think of no other word.  Silence is consent, Tommy. I refuse to consent.

I joined the Church of Scientology thirty-five years ago. During my twenties and early thirties I studied and received a great deal of counseling. While I have not been an active member for many years, I found much of what I learned to be very helpful, and I still apply it in my daily life. I have never pretended to be the best Scientologist, but I openly and vigorously defended the church whenever it was criticized, as I railed against the kind of intolerance that I believed was directed against it. I had my disagreements, but I dealt with them internally. I saw the organization – with all its warts, growing pains and problems – as an underdog. And I have always had a thing for underdogs.

But I reached a point several weeks ago where I no longer knew what to think. You had allowed our name to be allied with the worst elements of the Christian Right. In order to contain a potential “PR flap” you allowed our sponsorship of Proposition 8 to stand. Despite all the church’s words about promoting freedom and human rights, its name is now in the public record alongside those who promote bigotry and intolerance, homophobia and fear.

The fact that the Mormon Church drew all the fire, that no one noticed, doesn’t matter. I noticed. And I felt sick. I wondered how the church could, in good conscience, through the action of a few and then the inaction of its leadership, support a bill that strips a group of its civil rights.

This was my state of mind when I was online doing research and chanced upon an interview clip with you on CNN. The interview lasted maybe ten minutes – it was just you and the newscaster. And in it I saw you deny the church’s policy of disconnection. You said straight-out there was no such policy, that it did not exist.

I was shocked. We all know this policy exists. I didn’t have to search for verification – I didn’t have to look any further than my own home.

You might recall that my wife was ordered to disconnect from her parents because of something absolutely trivial they supposedly did twenty-five years ago when they resigned from the church. This is a lovely retired couple, never said a negative word about Scientology to me or anyone else I know – hardly raving maniacs or enemies of the church. In fact it was they who introduced my wife to Scientology.

Although it caused her terrible personal pain, my wife broke off all contact with them. I refused to do so. I’ve never been good at following orders, especially when I find them morally reprehensible.

For a year and a half, despite her protestations, my wife did not speak to her parents and they had limited access to their grandchild. It was a terrible time.

That’s not ancient history, Tommy. It was a year ago.

And you could laugh at the question as if it was a joke? You could publicly state that it doesn’t exist?

To see you lie so easily, I am afraid I had to ask myself: what else are you lying about?

And that is when I read the recent articles in the St. Petersburg Times.  They left me dumbstruck and horrified.

These were not the claims made by “outsiders” looking to dig up dirt against us. These accusations were made by top international executives who had devoted most of their lives to the church. Say what you will about them now, these were staunch defenders of the church, including Mike Rinder, the church’s official spokesman for 20 years!

Tommy, if only a fraction of these accusations are true, we are talking about serious, indefensible human and civil rights violations. It is still hard for me to believe.  But given how many former top-level executives have said these things are true, it is hard to believe it is all lies.

And when I pictured you assuring me that it is all lies, that this is nothing but an unfounded and vicious attack by a group of disgruntled employees, I am afraid that I saw the same face that looked in the camera and denied the policy of disconnection. I heard the same voice that professed outrage at our support of Proposition 8, who promised to correct it, and did nothing.

I carefully read all of your rebuttals, I watched every video where you presented the church’s position, I listened to all your arguments – ever word. I wish I could tell you that they rang true. But they didn’t.

I was left feeling outraged, and frankly, more than a little stupid.

And though it may seem small by comparison, I was truly disturbed to see you provide private details from confessionals to the press in an attempt to embarrass and discredit the executives who spoke out. A priest would go to jail before revealing secrets from the confessional, no matter what the cost to himself or his church. That’s the kind of integrity I thought we had, but obviously the standard in this church is far lower – the public relations representative can reveal secrets to the press if the management feels justified. You even felt free to publish secrets from the confessional in Freedom Magazine – you just stopped short of labeling them as such, probably because you knew Scientologists would be horrified, knowing you so easily broke a sacred vow of trust with your parishioners.

How dare you use private information in order to label someone an “adulteress?” You took Amy Scobee’s most intimate admissions about her sexual life and passed them onto the press and then smeared them all over the pages your newsletter! I do not know the woman, but no matter what she said or did, this is the woman who joined the Sea Org at 16! She ran the entire celebrity center network, and was a loyal senior executive of the church for what, 20 years? You want to rebut her accusations, do it, and do it in the strongest terms possible – but that kind of character assassination is unconscionable.

So, I am now painfully aware that you might see this an attack and just as easily use things I have confessed over the years to smear my name. Well, luckily I have never held myself up to be anyone’s role model.

The great majority of Scientologists I know are good people who are genuinely interested in improving conditions on this planet and helping others. I have to believe that if they knew what I now know, they too would be horrified. But I know how easy it was for me to defend our organization and dismiss our critics, without ever truly looking at what was being said; I did it for thirty-five years. And so, after writing this letter, I am fully aware that some of my friends may choose to no longer associate with me, or in some cases work with me. I will always take their calls, as I always took yours. However, I have finally come to the conclusion that I can no longer be a part of this group. Frankly, I had to look no further than your refusal to denounce the church’s anti-gay stance, and the indefensible actions, and inactions, of those who condone this behavior within the organization. I am only ashamed that I waited this many months to act. I hereby resign my membership in the Church of Scientology.

Sincerely,

Paul Haggis

Ps. I’ve attached our email correspondence.  At some point it became evident that you did not value my concerns about the church’s tacit support of an amendment that violated the civil rights of so many of our citizens. Perhaps if you had done a little more research on me, the church’s senior management wouldn’t have dismissed those concerns quite so cavalierly. While I am no great believer in resumes and awards, this is what you would have discovered:

* Founder, Artists For Peace and Justice,
- sponsoring schools, an orphanage and a children’s hospital in the slums of Haiti
* Co-Founder, BrandAid Foundation and BrandAid Project
- marketing the work of artisans from the poorest countries in the world,
* Board Member, Office of The Americas
- supporting peace and justice initiatives around the world
* Board Member, Center For The Advancement of Non-Violence
* Member and active supporter, Amnesty International
* Member, President’s Council, Defenders of Wildlife
* Member and fundraiser, Environment California and CalPirg
* Member and Award Recipient, American Civil Liberties Union
* Member and supporter, Death Penalty Focus
* Member and supporter, Equality For All
* Fundraiser, NPH (Our Little Brothers) – for the children of the slums of Haiti
* Member, Citizens Commission on Human Rights
* Patron with Honors, IAS
And formerly:
* Trustee, Religious Freedom Trust
* Board Member and fundraiser, Hollywood Education and Literacy Project
* Board Member and fundraiser, For The Arts, For Every Child
– supporting art and music in public schools
* Board Member and fundraiser, The Christic Institute
- supporting Human Rights in Central America
* Founding Board Member, Earth Communication Office
* Working Board Member, Environmental Media Association
* Fundraiser, El Rescate – Human Rights for El Salvador
* Fundraiser, PAVA – Aid and Human Rights in Guatemala

Awards for outspoken support of Civil and Human Rights:

* Valentine Davies Award – Writers Guild of America
“for bringing honor and dignity to writers everywhere”
*Bill of Rights Award – American Civil Liberties Union
*Hubert H. Humphrey Civil Rights Award – Leadership Conference on Civil Rights
*Peace & Justice Award – Office of the Americas, presented by Daniel Ellsberg
*Signis Award, Venezia, World Catholic Association
*ALMA Award – National Council of Latino Civil Rights
*Ethel Levitt Award for Humanitarian Service – Levitt & Quinn
*Prism Award – Entertainment Industries Council
*Humanitas Prize (2) – Humanitas
*Legacy Award, for Artistic and Humanitarian Achievement
*Environmental Media Award – EMA
*EMA Green Seal Award – EMA
*Image Award – NAACP
*Creative Integrity Award – Multicultural Motion Picture Association
*EDGE Awards (2) – Entertainment Industries Council
*Artistic Freedom Award – City of West Hollywood
*Catholics in Media Award – Catholics in Media Associates

And many dozens of fundraisers and salons at our home on behalf of Human and Civil Rights, the Environment, the Peace Movement, Education, Justice and Equality.

My hat is off to Mr. Haggis as this is not an easy move to make in Hollywood circles.

I especially would like everyone to note the part of the letter where Mr. Haggis wonders what other lies have been told by the “church” … could this be a reference to the old policy of “the enemies list” wherein the “church” used to keep files and evidence on everyone identified as an enemy to them?  It’s a bit of a stretch, and the “church” claims that policy ended years ago,  you know … sort of like they claim they stopped disconnection.

Okay, its look is a bit cliché at this point after Sin City, 300 and The Spirit, but that doesn’t make this any less awesome.

Steven Hodson messaged me last night with a link to a movie called The Cup of Tears, and told me I had to check it out. Well, I did, and … wow. Visually it isn’t anything we haven’t seen before at this point, but that doesn’t change the fact that it was a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

Steven also sent me a link to an article about the film that made it just that much more fascinating.

… Gary Shore’s The Cup of Tears, a gorgeous CGI hybrid samurai sci-fi movie being made in Ireland. This was shot on the Red camera in Slovenia …

Okay, an Irish guy making a movie in Slovenia that is set in a futuristic Japan … you have to love a movie that needs a map just to figure out its production.

It totally looks like a Japanese Anime come to life, and while I don’t envision it doing huge box office, it still looks like it will be a lot of fun to see at least in the visual sense, although the story looks slightly odd (where in the world do the futuristic air ships come from at the end of the trailer?), but as is the way with these movies, they can easily become style over substance.

At least watch the trailer and enjoy the eye candy.

The Cup of Tears film trailer. Dir. Gary Shore from Gary Shore on Vimeo.

And once again Hollywood shows us that they have no original ideas left.

Now, I can understand another James Bond movie, the 23rd in the series, as that is the nature of the original novels and the films themselves.  There will always be new villains for James Bond to take on, so of all the news I’ve heard recently on sequels (filming begins in late 2010), that one I can give a pass to.

It’s the rest of them that makes me pound my head into the desk.

30 Days of Night: Dark Days

30 Days Of Night was a lackluster film at capturing a very stylized comic book.  Set in Barrow, Alaska, the concept was that a group of vampires descend on the city when the city begins 30 days without sunlight.  It was a great concept, but the film was very uninspired and way too formulaic.

Well, production has begun filming on a second film, 30 Days of Night: Dark Days, and it sounds pretty awful just in concept.  Dark Horizons has the best synopsis out there

The sequel takes place a year since the Alaskan town of Barrow’s population was decimated by vampires during its annual month long sunset. Riddled with grief over the death of her husband, bound by nightmares and void of all emotions beyond hate and sorrow, Stella (Sanchez) has spent the past months traveling the world, trying to convince others that vampires exist.

Met with skepticism and laughter, Stella is ready to throw in the towel when a group of lost souls (Coiro, Baird and Perrineau) offers an incredible opportunity: the chance to exact revenge upon Lilith (Kirshner), the vampire queen responsible for the assault on her sleepy Alaskan town.

With nothing remaining to live for, and nothing left to fear, Stella joins their mission and ventures into the uncharted underbelly of Los Angeles where she pushes herself to the most extreme limits to stop the evil from striking again.

Los Angeles?  ”Vampire Queen”?  This just sounds like bad idea after bad idea.  I admit I didn’t follow the comic after the first mini-series, and this may have been where the series went, but if it did, it also deserves mocking.

Mad Max 4:Fury Road

This movie has been rumored since shortly after Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome came out in 1985.  George Miller, creator of the series, is working on this film, but Mel Gibson will not be returning to the title role.  There will be a new Max (or possible Maxine, if some rumors are to be believed)

The first film in this series was a totally different film, and while I loved the second film, The Road Warrior, the third film does not stand the test of time.  I actually just caught it on cable not long ago, and I couldn’t believe how weak it really was seeing it again years later.  There is no need for a fourth film, especially 25 years later.  Pre-production begins next week, casting has yet to be completed and filming is slated for 30 weeks (extremely long for a film) beginning sometime in 2010.

Will audiences even care about the post apocalyptic world of this series at this point?

Mamma Mia 2

No … I’m not kidding.  This is in heavy development right now, and it will feature more music from Abba.

This isn’t the end of all the sequels that have been announced as of late: Blair Witch Project 3, Hitman 2,  Kill Bill Part 3 (to be fair, this was announced pretty much from day one, and where the story goes makes a lot of sense), Shrek 4, Spider-Man 4, Wolverine 2, X-Files 3 and on and on.

Hey, Hollywood, here’s an idea: How about you focus on quality as opposed to seeing what you can make that will turn into a “series”?  I know, I’m a radical.

Scripting for the Arrested Development has officially begun.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Arrested Development series creator Mitch Hurwitz and co-executive producer James Vallely havebegun writing the script for the long delayed movie.  Mr. Hurwitz has said in the past that this  wouldn’t happen until all of the main cast had agreed to return, so this seems to confirm that everyone is finally in place.

Jason Bateman, Michael Cera, David Cross, Will Arnett, Alia Shawkat, Portia de Rossi and Jeffrey Tambor all appear ready to return, and filming is expected to start in the spring of 2010.  Scheduling may be the only problem as Arnett is preparing a new series for Fox, Bateman is committed to Hancock 2 (blech … this sequel didn’t need to happen) and Cera has multiple upcoming projects.

No release date has been mentioned as of yet, but if the spring filming date does happen, a late 2010/early 2011 release date seems likely.

I leave you with one of my absolute favorite jokes from the series.

That cold shiver that went up your spine today was Michael Bay confirming work is beginning on Transformers 3.

Michael Bay today confirmed via his blog that pre-production has officially begun on the third film in the Transformers series.

Well its official: We have a great Transformers 3 story. The release date is now July 1st 2011. Not 2012.

Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I’m flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters.

P.S. Megan Fox, welcome back. I promise no alien robots will harm you in any way during the production of this motion picture. Please consult your Physician when working under my direction because some side effects can occur, such as mild dizziness, intense nausea, suicidal tendencies, depression, minor chest hair growth, random internal hemorrhaging and inability to sleep. As some directors may be hazardous to your health, please consult your Doctor to determine if this is right for you.

Pain and Gain is right after shooting of Trans 3.

Michael

There had been some debate if the film would be 2011 or 2012 as Michael Bay had said he wanted to take some time off from the franchise, but obviously some thing changed his mind.

I must admit I have not yet seen Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, but from what I’ve heard about it, it sounds like it was possibly more painful than the first one, which is hard to imagine.  The biggest complaint I heard was that again the action sequences were impossible to discern who was fighting who, so I imagine the ILM meeting this morning was just a joy to sit on.

ILM tech: Well, we have made some big advances in the technology we use, and every thing will be crystal clear.

Michael Bay: Damn, really?  Can you dial it back a bit, make it a giant mess of pieces just moving around so no one knows what the hell is going on?

ILM tech: er…

As for meeting with Hasbro about what new characters he can use, does it really matter? Bay just changes up the characters and motivations as he sees fit, the only thing that remains the same is their names, and even their vehicle modes get messed up, so does it really matter? All it really tells him is what characters he is going to make unrecognizable to the fans and anger those individual characters fan bases.

Oh well, t-minus 21 months to even more pain.

1,2, Freddy’s coming for you
3,4, Better lock your door
5,6, Grab your crucifix
7,8, Better stay up late
9,10, Never sleep again

I’m going into this A Nightmare on Elm Street “reboot” with mixed feelings.  The 1984 original is one of the creepiest movies I think I have ever seen, and I feel Heather Langenkamp as Nancy Thompson was one of the bar setters for the new generation of Scream Queens.

All that being said, I have to say the new trailer doesn’t look terrible, and Jackie Earle Haley (best known as Rorschach in the recent Watchmen movie) appears to make a decent Freddy Krueger, although he will have to fill the enormous shoes left by Robert Englund who originated the role.

The new Nancy is played by a relative unknown (thank goodness for that) named Rooney Mara.  Her list of credits is mostly as one episode stints on shows like ER, so at least we aren’t coming in with preconceived notions of how she’ll play the role.

While I can already see a few changes from the original (Freddy was burned in the boiler room of the school in the original), for the most part it looks spot on to the first film.  That’s even down to the glove showing up in the bathtub, so they seem to be staying fairly faithful to the source material.  And thank goodness they left the rhyme alone!  (see above) The iconic sweater, hat and glove also seem to have been left alone, so no huge “reimagining” there.

I have been pretty harsh on remakes as of late, like the upcoming Highlander remake, but so far I have to say this one doesn’t look too bad.  (Geek alert!  Clancy Brown, the Kurgan in the original Highlander is in this new Elm Street!)   I will actually probably see this one in the theater just because I am such a huge fan of the original series, but believe me, I will be watching it with a very critical eye.  The trailer is below for those that wish to check it out.

A Nightmare on Elm Street in HD

It seems that Hollywood truly can not leave well enough alone.

The original Highlander movie was released in 1986 and went on to spawn some very lackluster sequels and a passable television series, but there is no question of the undying love many people have for the original film.  Whether you were first exposed to the United States or European edit (the European edit is sometimes called “the directors cut” and features far more back story), there was something unique and different about this film.

If you aren’t familiar with it, well, shame on you, but we’ll catch you up.  There is a group of immortal beings hiding amongst us that are destined to fight until only one of them remains.  How can there be only one remaining if they are immortal?  Simple, they have to chop off each other’s heads.  Armed with swords, these people have fought through out history, waiting for the time of “the Gathering”: a time when they will all be drawn to a specific spot and the final few immortals will fight each other, and the last one standing will win the prize, which is infinite knowledge.

The original movie starred Christopher Lambert as Connor MacLeod, a man from the highlands of Scotland who became aware of his destiny in 1592 (if I remember correctly).  See, the immortals are not aware of their nature until they die for the very first time, and are thus resurrected.  So, Connor gets killed off by the film’s villain, the Kurgen, played by Clancy Brown, but he doesn’t get to finish the job due to a battle going on.  Connor is quickly taken under the wing of Juan Sanchez Villa-Lobos Ramirez played by Sean Connery, and thus a classic of 1980’s sci-fi/fantasy is born.

People don’t just love this movie, they LOVE this movie.  Good acting, great concept, wonderful action, it really was the complete package.

Well, leave it to Hollywood to want to taint our memories of it.

According to IO9, Summit Entertainment is planning to “reboot” the series with the help of Matt Holloway and Art Marcum, two of the writers for Iron Man.  The director is said to be Justin Lin who is best known for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift and Fast & Furious.  While the writers aren’t horrible, the choice of director makes me worry about how “flashy” this film will be.  The original was very subdued in its tones and color palette, which was perfect for the settings and story.

There was something very special about the original film, even down to the choice of rock super group Queen doing the entire soundtrack, and the likelihood of capturing the lightening in a bottle a second time is slim to none.  Just leave well enough alone, dammit, it was fine the way it was!

Are you ready for another outing with Captain Jack Sparrow?

Disney is currently hosting its first ever official convention in Anaheim, CA, the D23 convention. 5,000 lucky fans were surprised today by Johnny Depp being wheeled out on stage in full Jack sparrow costume, riding upon a replica of the Black Pearl. According to the Los Angeles Times, Mr. Depp stayed in character the entire time, and made jokes about eating Kermit the Frog, who had been on stage earlier, and how he imagines that he “tastes of chicken.”

The whole reason for his appearance was to announce that the fourth Pirates of the Caribbean film not only has a title now, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, but a release date which has been set for summer 2011.

According to The Geek Files, the title may give away the plot as there was a pirate story called On Stranger Tides that Disney bought the rights to.  The story deals with pirates arriving in the newly founded New Orleans and then looking for the legendary Fountain of Youth.  Rumors had been that the fourth movie would deal with Sparrow and Barbosa (Geoffrey Rush) following a similar story, so it looks like we know the plot.

Sadly, Gore Verbinksi, whom directed the first three films has been replaced by Rob Marshall.  I am not overly familiar with Mr. Marshall’s work, but hopefully he won’t change the over all look of the series that much, but I’m willing to give him a fair shake.

So, what say you, are you ready for another adventure with Jack Sparrow?

What happens when not-so-smart aliens end up on Earth with no way to leave? You get humans at their finest, of course.

District 9 is the story of an alien ship that arrived over Johannesburg, South Africa in 1982, and then went on to just hover over the city for three months with no indication of life on board.  Humans, being a curious lot, decided to finally fly up to the ship and cut their way in.  What they found was over 1 million aliens living in squalor, rife with malnutrition and slowly dying.  In short, they found a ship full of refugees.

The humans, so well known for being a caring group of souls, set up a camp for them named “District 9″.  As time progressed, and people grew more fearful of these visitors and their powerful weapons, the camp turned more into a prison with a shanty town interior.  Nigerian gangsters also moved in, taking advantage of the aliens by selling them over-priced cat food, their favorite snack, and setting up inter-species prostitution.

Now some 20 years have passed, and the MNU (Multinational United), a private military contractor, which has overseen District 9 from the start, has been told to relocate the aliens to an encampment some 240 kms outside of Johannesburg.  The citizens of the city are thrilled, but the aliens don’t seem to even understand what is being said to them.

Wikus van de Merwe (Sharlto Copley), an obviously not-so-intelligent worker for MNU, is put in charge of the operation due to his being married to the bosses daughter (daddy denies this, but it’s fairly clear), and on his first day he gets infected by an alien virus.

Beyond that story point you’ll have to watch the movie, but don’t be fooled, this movie isn’t about the science fiction as much as it is about themes: themes of segregation, xenophobia, the good will of humanity, treating those different than yourself as equals and so on.

This move is overflowing with themes, and it actually handles them all rather deftly, but then you get to the third act of the film, and it seems like the decision was made, “Okay, everyone learned their lessons about humanity, start blowing stuff up!”  While it was still enjoyable, the third act of the film is so different from the previous two that it is almost jarring.  There is still a little bit of closure to the story arc of van de Merwe, but it really is all about blowing stuff up and setting up a potential sequel.

Let me say there were two stand out things about this film beyond the story, and that was Sharlto Copley and the special effects.  Mr. Copley has been involved in the South African film industry for some time, but this is the first time he has ever gotten attention on a world wide scale.  His performance as the initially unlikable Wikus van de Merwe really carries you through this film.  There is one scene I don’t want to give to say too much about it and ruin it for you (it’s the scene with the “eggs”), that his performance is so believable, so filled with glee at what he is doing, that you feel like you are actually watching a documentary and you detest this man.

The second thing, the special effects, were phenomenal.  For a film with a $30 million budget, it looked as good as anything coming out of Hollywood in the $175 million budget range nowadays.  A lot of studios could take a lesson from this film and how to scale back on their budgets and still look utterly fantastic.

Lastly, director Neill Blomkamp is going to have a very long career in front of him judging by this project.  He has a fresh, gritty style that is engrossing and quickly transports you into the story.

Overall an entertaining film, even with the run-of-the-mill third act, that I will gladly watch again many times over the coming years.

Hot patootie, bless my soul, there will not be a remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show!

Last July I reported that MTV was planning to remake the schlock classic The Rocky Horror Picture Show.  As I said then, and I still believe:

I really don’t care who is involved, this is a monumentally bad idea.  No matter how much of the original you maintain, this was a horrible script at its core.  Now, you add in new actors who are conscience of the phenomenon, and they will never be able to pull this off without thinking things like, “did I pause long enough there for the audience to say their lines?”

Well, the good news is that we don’t have to worry about this any more for the time being.  For some unknown reason, MTV has put the project on indefinite hold.  Hopefully that will just turn into “nope, we’ll never do it.”

This is one of those situations where there is just no conceivable way this could have turned out well.  The original is a rare confluence of factors, and I am convinced you could never properly duplicate it.  Just leave us with the original, and let us sing along… to the late night… double feature… picture show…