(from slashfilm.com)
Blogger's Note: Yessssss
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Bourne Again!
Producer Frank Marshall revealed to IESB plans to begin shooting a fourth Jason Bourne movie next Summer, for release in 2010. Universal announced the project back in February, with director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon set to return. Marshall also confirmed that they will probably be creating an original story for the fourth film, since author/creator Robert Ludlum wasn’t involved in the later books in the series.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Stay In The Lines!
What is the deal with guys who have to park their cars diagonally across two spaces? Is it that they think their ride is so "tricked out" that parking like an idiot is necessary to draw attention to it? The only thing it tells me is that they are exactly the kind of douche bag who puts $10,000 worth of accessories into a $6,000 Civic.
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Movies Of My Life
Entertainment Weekly recently chose their Top 25 New Movie Classics. These were picked from all movies released in the past 25 years.
25) Shrek (2001)
24) A Room With A View (1986)
23) Memento (2001)
22) Rushmore (1998)
21) Schindler's List (1993)
20) The Lion King (1994)
19) Casino Royale (2006)
18) Do The Right Thing (1989)
17) Jerry Maguire (1996)
16) Boogie Nights (1997)
15) Edward Scissorhands (1990)
14) Crumb (1995)
13) Goodfellas (1990)
12) The Matrix (1999)
11) This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
10) Moulin Rouge (2001)
09) Die Hard (1988)
08) The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
07) Hannah And Her Sisters (1986)
06) Saving Private Ryan (1998)
05) Toy Story (1995)
04) Blue Velvet (1986)
03) Titanic (1997)
02) The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (2001-03)
01) Pulp Fiction (1994)
Blogger's Note: This is a pretty solid list but I am flat-out shocked that American Beauty isn't included. And no Coen Bros. made the cut??
25) Shrek (2001)
24) A Room With A View (1986)
23) Memento (2001)
22) Rushmore (1998)
21) Schindler's List (1993)
20) The Lion King (1994)
19) Casino Royale (2006)
18) Do The Right Thing (1989)
17) Jerry Maguire (1996)
16) Boogie Nights (1997)
15) Edward Scissorhands (1990)
14) Crumb (1995)
13) Goodfellas (1990)
12) The Matrix (1999)
11) This Is Spinal Tap (1984)
10) Moulin Rouge (2001)
09) Die Hard (1988)
08) The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
07) Hannah And Her Sisters (1986)
06) Saving Private Ryan (1998)
05) Toy Story (1995)
04) Blue Velvet (1986)
03) Titanic (1997)
02) The Lord Of The Rings Trilogy (2001-03)
01) Pulp Fiction (1994)
Blogger's Note: This is a pretty solid list but I am flat-out shocked that American Beauty isn't included. And no Coen Bros. made the cut??
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
I'm Not Quite Ready To Let This Go [updated]
Greg pointed me to this today. It's from G4TV.com. If you didn't already know, Frank Darabont (the guy who gave us the film Shawshank Redeption) wrote a script for Indy 4 that both Spielberg and Ford loved, but Lucas decided didn't contain enough suck.
Frank Darabont's script for Indiana Jones IV, entitled Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods, is an archaeological wonder in its own right. However, we've received a bootleg copy of the script that's making its way around the internet, which is reported, but not confirmed, to be the real thing. We read it, and it seems pretty legit, or the person who is faking it is a terrific screenwriter. Either way, here's a review.
CAUTION: SPOILERS EVERYWHERE - IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN 'INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, READ THIS AT YOUR PERIL.
First off, the script is largely the same, storywise, focusing on the discovery of the crystal skull, as well as the lost city in Peru where the Gods were thought to live, only to discover that these "gods" were aliens with a culture advanced thousands of years beyond our own.
Also, Marion Ravenwood is in the script. In fact, she's featured even more prominently than in the actual film. And, yes, she and Indy end up married in the end. Oxley's there, as well as a double-crossing friend, and, to my surprise, the "nuking the fridge" sequence and the giant ants are there, as well.
However, also in this script are Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. and Sallah, making awesome cameo appearances that really help cement the whole history of Indiana Jones, and tie the whole saga together.
What's not in the script? Well, Shia LaBoeuf's character, Mutt, for one thing. There's no mention of a son and no appearance of one either. Now, while I didn't necessarily think that Mutt's character was one of the most egregiously awful things about the movie, his absence definitely makes room for more character development on Indy's part, and it allows the story to shine through, in opposition to the constant 'wink-wink-he's-his-son-but-neither-of-them-know-it-yet' portions of Crystal Skull that drove me nuts.
This script is awesome in exactly the places that Crystal Skull was lame. Just those few flips in the sequence removed all of the punch from this really excellent, well thought out, super exciting script, and rendered it vacuous and boring. In other words, Spielberg and Lucas chose the right story, but they neutered it to focus on the wrong things.
There are at least three awesome action sequences in this script, including a fighter plane chase that would have blown the doors off the theater had it actually happened on film. In addition, the double-crossing friend is a Russian, which makes the whole America vs. the Soviet Union thing work a lot better. Oxley's character isn't like a family pet, and there are some nods to the Indiana Jones mythology that really work well here.
Perhaps the biggest difference in the script is the treatment of Marion Ravenwood. First off, she doesn't spend the entirety of the story standing in the background grinning like she's happy to have a job. She's the Marion we came to know and love in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and her story arc is so much more believable in this script that it's a night-and-day experience.
Also, the aliens are mean. They're a legitimate threat, not fascinating, but terrifying, and there's an implication that they have been the reason that humans believe in God for the past several thousand years. The resolution of the plot is so much more satisfying here than in the actual film, and the script just shows that Lucas and Spielberg were too soft to make the choices that turned the plot a little dark and/or scary.
At the end of the day, Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods is 100% a better script than the one that was shot for the film. This would have been the right way to close out the series, and it would have been a return to form that no one could have expected, instead of a movie that everyone places just above the abysmal Temple of Doom in the Indy canon.
On a related note, do yourself a favor and give a listen to Patton Oswalt's hilarious bit called "I Will Kill George Lucas with a Shovel."
[update] I'm not done yet. Cookie also linked me to this "abridged script" which definitely doesn't pull any punches.
Frank Darabont's script for Indiana Jones IV, entitled Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods, is an archaeological wonder in its own right. However, we've received a bootleg copy of the script that's making its way around the internet, which is reported, but not confirmed, to be the real thing. We read it, and it seems pretty legit, or the person who is faking it is a terrific screenwriter. Either way, here's a review.
CAUTION: SPOILERS EVERYWHERE - IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN 'INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, READ THIS AT YOUR PERIL.
First off, the script is largely the same, storywise, focusing on the discovery of the crystal skull, as well as the lost city in Peru where the Gods were thought to live, only to discover that these "gods" were aliens with a culture advanced thousands of years beyond our own.
Also, Marion Ravenwood is in the script. In fact, she's featured even more prominently than in the actual film. And, yes, she and Indy end up married in the end. Oxley's there, as well as a double-crossing friend, and, to my surprise, the "nuking the fridge" sequence and the giant ants are there, as well.
However, also in this script are Dr. Henry Jones, Sr. and Sallah, making awesome cameo appearances that really help cement the whole history of Indiana Jones, and tie the whole saga together.
What's not in the script? Well, Shia LaBoeuf's character, Mutt, for one thing. There's no mention of a son and no appearance of one either. Now, while I didn't necessarily think that Mutt's character was one of the most egregiously awful things about the movie, his absence definitely makes room for more character development on Indy's part, and it allows the story to shine through, in opposition to the constant 'wink-wink-he's-his-son-but-neither-of-them-know-it-yet' portions of Crystal Skull that drove me nuts.
This script is awesome in exactly the places that Crystal Skull was lame. Just those few flips in the sequence removed all of the punch from this really excellent, well thought out, super exciting script, and rendered it vacuous and boring. In other words, Spielberg and Lucas chose the right story, but they neutered it to focus on the wrong things.
There are at least three awesome action sequences in this script, including a fighter plane chase that would have blown the doors off the theater had it actually happened on film. In addition, the double-crossing friend is a Russian, which makes the whole America vs. the Soviet Union thing work a lot better. Oxley's character isn't like a family pet, and there are some nods to the Indiana Jones mythology that really work well here.
Perhaps the biggest difference in the script is the treatment of Marion Ravenwood. First off, she doesn't spend the entirety of the story standing in the background grinning like she's happy to have a job. She's the Marion we came to know and love in Raiders of the Lost Ark, and her story arc is so much more believable in this script that it's a night-and-day experience.
Also, the aliens are mean. They're a legitimate threat, not fascinating, but terrifying, and there's an implication that they have been the reason that humans believe in God for the past several thousand years. The resolution of the plot is so much more satisfying here than in the actual film, and the script just shows that Lucas and Spielberg were too soft to make the choices that turned the plot a little dark and/or scary.
At the end of the day, Indiana Jones and the City of the Gods is 100% a better script than the one that was shot for the film. This would have been the right way to close out the series, and it would have been a return to form that no one could have expected, instead of a movie that everyone places just above the abysmal Temple of Doom in the Indy canon.
On a related note, do yourself a favor and give a listen to Patton Oswalt's hilarious bit called "I Will Kill George Lucas with a Shovel."
[update] I'm not done yet. Cookie also linked me to this "abridged script" which definitely doesn't pull any punches.
Monday, June 16, 2008
The Future Is Minority Report
Bryan linked me to this vid today. Pretty nifty technology on display here. Now where are the talking cereal boxes?
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Sunday, June 08, 2008
The Parody That Never Gets Old
Anyone playing GTA IV will surely get a kick out of this Naked Gun tribute.
Thursday, June 05, 2008
Wednesday, June 04, 2008
Quest For A Plot
Five Questions Not Answered In "Indiana Jones And The Kingdom Of The Crystal Skull"
- How did we get to a happy ending? I don’t understand how Indy not only gets his job back, but a promotion at the end of the film. He’s forced out of his job for suspicions about his loyalty because he’s been in contact with both Russian commandos and a Russian secret agent. He then shakes his FBI tail, leaves the country for South America, and meets up with both the Russians and the Russian agent. This is what the FBI might call “suspicious behavior.” When the city of Akator is finally destroyed, anyone/anything he might be able to bring back to placate the FBI (e.g., Irina Spalko or Mac McHale) is lost or killed. Does he return the alien body to the government or something? How does he prove his loyalty?
- Is Irina Spalko really psychic or merely crazy? At the start of the film, Irina Spalko seems to attempt to read Indy’s mind and apparently fails (with comment “Your will is very strong.”) Does she really have psychic abilities or not? We never see her attempt to do this again anywhere during the film. She babbles on a lot about how Oxley’s mind has been warped by the skull and is unreadable, but we never establish that she can successfully read another mind.
- Where did all the roads in the middle of the jungle come from? When Indy, Mac, and Mutt set off with the Russians through the un-mapped jungle, they are following what can only be called the “Model 37 ‘Josef Stalin’ Glorious People’s Jungle Road Maker and Farming Collective Grain Harvester.” This is making the road they are driving on. Indy destroys this vehicle with an anti-tank weapon (an always useful item to bring to the jungle). A protracted high-speed car chase follows where, a) cars and trucks are able to travel two abreast, and even along the edge of a cliff, and b) they are able to travel pretty much where they want to go. This makes less than no sense.
- Had anybody heard of the term “multi-dimensional beings” in 1957? Once Oxley regains his sanity in the temple of Akator, he says “they are multi-dimensional beings.” This is a pretty standard science fiction term in the 21st century, but the notion of parallel universes had just been proposed in quantum mechanics in 1957 by Hugh Everett. Fictional notions of parallel universes had been around since 1941, but were still only infrequently mentioned in sci-fi stories of the 1950s. The explanation sticks out like a sore thumb.
- Why bother with the Akator natives? They appear. They are afraid of the crystal skull. They get machine-gunned off screen by the Russians. Why bother? You might as well at least make a joke of it and give them all red shirts or something.
(from Geeks of Doom)
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