A Reel Opinion: Turtle Soup

FACT: Michael Bay’s Platinum Dunes company is well into pre-production for the upcoming live-action adaptation of the TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, which will serve as yet another reboot. This will be the third rendition of the mutated warrior turtles on the big screen, with the first being a live-action camp flick from the early 90’s (powered by Jim Henson’s puppet-wizardry) with two sequels, and then an animated film in 2007.

The Platinum Dunes production will be for Nickelodeon Movies and Paramount, and speaking at the Nickelodeon Upfront last week, Bay spoke about the direction the turtles will take this time around:

"When you see this movie, kids are going to believe one day these Turtles actually do exist when we are done with this movie. These turtles are from an alien race, and they are going to be tough, edgy, funny and completely loveable."

This approach is a departure from the “accepted” canon, in which the turtles are from Earth and mutate after encountering a radioactive toxic substance.

OPINION: As expected, bloggers and Bay-haters are already sharpening their pitchforks and spewing vile hate across the internet over this decision. For most, Bay and his company get automatic backlash no matter what they do, so the venom across the web thus far is not all unexpected. On the surface, the new idea seems a little hokey (although we are talking about talking turtles), but this Blogger can come up with a few good reasons why this deserves a fair shake, and why it can work:

1. It’s a new idea in an old world. Later this year, Spider-man gets a reboot in THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN, and fans are groaning over having to sit through another goddamn origin story all over again (here comes wimpy Peter, here comes the spider, etc…). The film is not tracking well because of this alone. Bay and co. are clearly looking to avoid this. Why bore audiences with the same old concept they’ve already seen a billion times before?

2. Aren’t we sick of the radioactive shit already? The concept of radioactive material effecting people (and animals) goes back to the 1950’s and the birth of the atomic age. Stan Lee used it to empower most of his comic heroes (coughspideycough), and the TMNT films, comics and cartoons used it over and over again. It’s an old concept that is as dull as a doorknob. Yawn.

3. Kids are a lot smarter these days. Tech-savy kids these days are not as easily fooled as they once were. They nearly demand sharper and smarter entertainment than this Blogger’s era of pre-CGI films. If Bay and co. are setting out to capture a new generation of kids, then they have to do things differently.

4. Screw the “accepted” canon. Diverting from the source material is a necessity in filmmaking. Literal adaptations simply do not work (example: RED TAILS). Bay and co. are under no obligations to the angry nerds out there who want the same stories they grew up with 20 years ago repeated word-for-word on the big screen. Besides, the original live-action film made quite a few deviations from the source material (how quickly we choose to forget), and through all the variations of TMNT, comics, cartoons, and films…there was always a heavy element of science fiction; space-travel, time-travel, mutations, laser-guns, etc., so this new concept is not that far off the mark. Besides, its science-fiction; which means the sky is the limit.

What say you?

A Reel 25

"I'm too old for this shit"

This month marks the 25th anniversary of LETHAL WEAPON.

Directed by Richard Donner, LETHAL WEAPON became a benchmark and a new beginning for “buddy cop” films. By pairing Mel Gibson’s troubled and suicidal cop character with Danny Glover’s grounded family-man, the film had instant chemistry. Donner wisely saw the magic between the two actors and let the personal stories take center-stage and the action serve as a secondary concern.

To counter the chemistry between Gibson and Glover, Donner cast Gary Busey as a villain. An established star since his Oscar-nominated performance in THE BUDDY HOLLY STORY (1978), this was the first time Busey had been cast to play a bad guy. The film is credited with reviving his acting career.

Released in March of 1987, the film remained at No.1 for three weeks before eventually grossing $120 million worldwide. It was nominated for two Oscars (Best Sound and Sound Effects Editing), and is considered to be the starting point for a long line of “buddy cop” film franchises that would follow for the next two decades; films like TANGO & CASH, BAD BOYS and RUSH HOUR can trace their roots back to LETHAL WEAPON. Mel Gibson’s performance inspired Franco Zeffirelli to cast him as the lead role in HAMLET (1990), and in 2007 Entertainment Weekly magazine ranked the film #24 on their list of the greatest action movies of all time.

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This Blogger missed the opportunity to see LETHAL WEAPON on the big screen (where’s that digital 2D, 4K release, dammit), and had to experience first-hand at home. But even on the small screen, the action was fun and the characters interesting. In viewing through older eyes it still holds up thanks to its timeless and important themes of friendship, family, old-age, and personal demons. Twenty-five years later, LETHAL WEAPON is not too old for this shit.

Reel Facts & Opinions: Movie Math

FACT: Neal Moritz, the producer of last year’s critically drubbed stinker THE GREEN HORNET, has stated that there won’t be a GREEN HORNET 2; not because the film stunk, but because it didn’t make back enough money to justify another film. What’s interesting is that THE GREEN HORNET was made for a reported $120 million (which includes $10 million for making it in goddamn 3D), and made back $228 million worldwide.

OPINION: If you’re good with math (you nerd), right away you can see that THE GREEN HORNET made back nearly twice as much as it was made for. On the surface, that seems like a great thing, right? But there are hidden costs thanks to marketing (posters, trailers, billboards, etc.) which can easily tally up another $100 million. Tack on that extra cost, and HORNET just about breaks even.

While it is probably a good thing that we won’t be subject to another shitty HORNET film with Seth Rogen and his endless fart jokes, this is a bad sign looking ahead. Studios seem to want not just a money maker, but a HUGE money-maker before forging ahead with a sequel. Sure, a crappy movie that makes no money doesn’t deserve a follow-up, but HORNET’s intake last year was one of the top money-makers of the year. If $228 million wasn’t good enough, then the studios were likely hoping for a $500-ish million draw. That makes them idiots, for that type of number belongs to the likes of AVATAR, TITANIC, and THE DARK KNIGHT. Seth Rogen will never compete with that.

The studio itself is to blame. Not only could have they made a better film, but in watching HORNET you have to wonder where all the money went to. Over the past five years or so, there have been better films with great visuals which were made for nearly peanuts; DISTRICT 9 (which was Oscar nominated) was made for $30mil, SOURCE CODE was made for $40mil, and MOON was made for $5mil. All made their money back and then some.

With money being the bottom line over anything else, Hollywood will likely veer more towards established properties (which means plenty of remakes), and away from original projects. Either that or they need to learn how to spend their money more wisely.

Of course, they could just start making better movies.

What say you?

Leonardo Cimino 1917 - 2012

“For Victory! Go tell your friends!”

Leonardo Cimino, veteran actor of the stage, TV, and the silver screen, has died at the age of 94.

Leonardo was probably best known for his role as “Scary German Guy” in the cult-classic MONSTER SQUAD (1987). Sci-fi fans likely relate to him as the Baron’s doctor in DUNE (1984), and the elder in WATERWORLD (1995) . He starred opposite Marlon Brando in THE FRESHMAN (1990), and also appeared in MOONSTRUCK (1987). He also had a fantastic TV career with notable appearances in LAW AND ORDER, ROUTE 66, and KOJAK.

And it was on the small screen where he likely made his lasting impression, with his role as Abraham Bernstein in the 1983 mini-series V. He was the one who helped ignite humanity’s fight for survival by teaching a child how to deface alien propaganda properly, and his “v for victory” line was the most memorable of the entire series.

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The infamous line delivered by Leonardo in V is this Blogger’s fondest memory of the man; not only because of the line, but because of the dead-on seriousness and weight that he put into the delivery. He made a simple line better, and that was probably his greatest gift; everything he appeared in immediately got better, more interesting, and more awesome.

A Reel Review: JOHN CARTER

There has always been a fine line between science fiction and fantasy, and Disney’s JOHN CARTER adaptation dances on both sides, with a few extra steps on the fantasy side. CARTER endears to the kid in all of us; the kid who once dreamed of travelling to another planet to battle aliens with a sword and rescue the (hot) princess. CARTER has plenty of that to keep the geeks happy, but is that enough to stay buoyant?

War-weary Civil War veteran John Carter (Taylor Kitsch) is battling his past and looking for meaning in his life when he is mysteriously transported to Mars. There, he becomes embroiled in another civil war of sorts amongst the planet’s inhabitants, including the neutral green-alien Thark race led by Tars Tarkas (voiced brilliantly by Willem Defoe), and the Princess Dejah (Lynn Collins).

CARTER is at its strongest when it focuses on its main character (and damn well it should) and his story. CARTER is a hurt and lost man, not even knowing if he wants to find his way back to his empty life on Earth. When the film drops him into situations where he has to make moral choices, things are really good and you can’t help but to root for Carter.

But where Carter gets a little lost is when the film needs to stop for a bit and does some heavy-lifting in the setup area. A lot of time is spent on explaining the world, its conflicts, and the solutions; so much time that the (awesome) action sequences, when they do roll around, are a huge welcome. By far, CARTER is not a mindless action flick as there is a lot of heart and meaning behind everything, but it is very thick on plot. The endgame is not A to Z and takes some attention to keep sorted. The various exposition scenes where things have to be fleshed out leads to an energy drain that is tough to deal with.

Still, there is a lot to love here. Andrew Stanton breathes a lot of life into a planet that is mostly desert. The design of the creatures, vehicles and weapons are great, and what he manages to do with them is even better. The action sequences are a lot of fun, and again, are far from brainless. As a graduate of Pixar, Stanton keeps things moving along, even when the pacing slows down a little too much.

Performances are very good. Kitsch seems to be directed to stay mostly gruff and tough, and he does that well enough. There was just never an opportunity for him to show any real emotion (heroes can cry, dammit). Lynn Collins does the most acting work, and certainly looks like a bona-fide Princess of Mars. The casting of Willem Dafoe as a green alien with four arms is a stroke of genius, and you can’t help but to smile every time you hear his voice.

True to his Pixar roots, Stanton edges the finale towards a heartbreaking Greek tragedy, only to change his mind and wrap things up happily and neatly. It’s a tad frustrating to see it veer away from the tragic ending, as the film would have felt a lot more serious; more adult. However, the way it eventually does wrap does manage to be clever and make you want more.

CARTER overall makes for a good time at the theatre. Aside from pacing issues and a plot thicker than a phone book, there is a lot more enjoyment than frustration, and everyone can connect to it. It’s difficult not to recommend CARTER for the big-screen; it’s made for it and belongs there.

BOTTOM LINE: See it

A Reel Opinion: Why JOHN CARTER Deserves a Fair Look

This weekend, Disney’s adaptation of Edgar Rice Burrough’s century-old novels involving a certain John Carter character and his adventures on Mars comes to life in JOHN CARTER.

The marketing up to this point for this science-fiction flick has been underwhelming; coming off as a mish-mash of AVATAR and ATTACK OF THE CLONES with tons of action and CGI-created characters. Some forgiveness can be extended to Disney, as their main goal (other than making a good movie) is to get people’s arses into the theatre seats. This is a business after all, and No Buck$ means No Buck Rogers.

So the marketing is mindless and looks like there is nothing being offered that we have never seen before. But there is a lot to be excited about. This Blogger can come up with three (3) good reasons why JOHN CARTER deserves a fair look:

1. This was once an impossible project

Fifty years ago, Francis Ford Coppola turned down the opportunity to direct THE LORD OF THE RINGS, calling the book “unfilmable”. It is fair to say that the book, JOHN CARTER AND THE PRINCESS OF MARS, with its vast alien landscapes, epic battles and fantasy characters, was also considered to be too big and too difficult to be put to screen. It took fifty years for technology to catch up with author J.R.R. Tolkien’s vision of Middle-Earth, and once it did, the triumph of THE LORD OF THE RINGS films is now a shining moment in movie history. Now, JOHN CARTER may not be the next LOTR, but for any fans of movies and/or fantasy/sci-fi in general should be excited for a once “unfilmable” book to be coming to life on the big screen.

2. Andrew Stanton is in charge

Andrew Stanton is the creative genius who has given us WALL*E and FINDING NEMO. He directed and wrote both of those flicks, and he has also written MONSTERS INC., A BUG’S LIFE and all three TOY STORY films. On the surface, he seems an odd choice for JOHN CARTER, as this huge spectacle is his very first live-action film. But considering his background in (Pixar) animation, he really is the perfect fit. An adaptation of this magnitude requires a vast amount of visual imagination, and Stanton has proven he can do that in every Pixar film he has directed and written. He wrote the screenplay for JOHN CARTER, which is a great sign; no one has brought better characters to life in the world of animation over the past 17 years.

3. This is really the beginning of it all

Dismissing JOHN CARTER as a rip-off of AVATAR and STAR WARS is a natural thing for today’s short attention-spanned YouTube generation who can’t watch anything longer than five minutes. Let’s remember that Burrough’s John Carter novels were first written in 1911. 1911!!! It is unfair to say JOHN CARTER is ripping off AVATAR and ATTACK OF THE CLONES when it is CARTER’s source material which has inspired modern science fiction in the first place. Maybe we are all desensitized to huge CGI spectacle in today’s movies (it’s everywhere every year), but it deserves to be given a fair look as the great-great-great-great-great-grandfather of sci-fi and fantasy films.

JOHN CARTER opens this Friday.

What say you?

Robert G. Sherman 1925-2012

“supercalifragilisticexpialidocious”

Robert B. Sherman, one half of the award-winning pair of brothers who wrote classic and memorable songs for MARY POPPINS, THE JUNGLE BOOK, and the classic tune “It’s a Small World (After All)", has died at the age of 86.
Sherman and his brother Richard won two Oscars in 1964 for Walt Disney’s MARY POPPINS, best score and best song, “Chim Chim Cher-ee”.

His long and amazing list of credits as joint lyricist and composer also includes the films WINNIE THE POOH, SNOOPY COME HOME, CHARLOTTE’S WEB and THE MAGIC OF LASSIE. The two brothers wrote over 150 songs for Disney, including soundtracks for THE SWORD AND THE STONE, BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS, THE TIGGER MOVIE, and THE ARISTOCRATS.

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This Blogger has never been a fan of musicals on film (with a few exceptions), but can understand its magic and charm in the right situations. This Blogger may have been the first to get up for a snack when the songs started, but be assured that the tunes wound up being hummed for days like it or not. In the early days of Disney’s outstanding run of live-action musicals, they were not only the best at the genre, they were nearly the only ones doing it. Disney’s days of live-action musicals may sadly be a lost art, and Robert B. Sherman was one of the very last from a very magical time. EVERYONE knows his songs.

"It's a world of laughter, a world or tears
its a world of hopes, its a world of fear
theres so much that we share
that its time we're aware
its a small world after all"

A Reel 30

1982 was a significant year in movie history, with many films and events causing ripple effects that are felt to this day. Reel Speak will mark each film and event in the order that it occurred throughout the course of this year, with the first being today.

Thirty years ago today, actor/comedian John Belushi died.

Born in 1949, John Adam Belushi already had a flourishing career in television before making his short, albeit long-lasting mark in the movies. In between TV seasons, he filmed one of his best-known movies, ANIMAL HOUSE (1978). The film not only launched his film career, but it also started a new genre in the form of gross-out films; a genre that continues today in several forms. ANIMAL HOUSE, which had a simple plot of fraternity members challenging the administrators of their university, was selected for preservation by the U.S. Library of Congress in the National Film Registry for being culturally significant in 2001.

Belushi would leave TV land in 1979 to pursue a full-time film career, but would only live long enough to make five more films; 1941, NEIGHBORS, GOIN’ SOUTH, CONTINENTAL DIVIDE, and THE BLUES BROTHERS.

And it was in THE BLUES BROTHERS where Belushi and his former TV co-star, Dan Aykroyd arguably made the biggest splash. Packed with an all-star cast and musical numbers by legendary voices in blues and rock, the film’s stars became cultural icons; instantly recognizable in their dark glasses and suits.

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Despite being drubbed by critics, this Blogger always had fun watching Steven Spielberg’s zany 1941 comedy, in which Belushi played drunken air force pilot Wild Bill Kelso. The character stole the show every time he was on screen, and every time his plane entered the picture, you knew something funny and crazy was about to happen. It’s a shame Wild Bill was never seen again on screen, but not nearly as regretful as Belushi himself being absent from the movies for the past 30 years. No one could do what he could do, and no one has since. What made him what he was remains a mystery, but maybe something can be hinted at in his Jake Blues character…


“Well me and the Lord, we have an understanding”

Ralph McQuarrie 1929-2012

Ralph McQuarrie, the visionary concept artist whose paintings were the basis for the STAR WARS landscape, has died at the age of 82.

McQuarrie had a storied career which included work at Boeing, and creating Apollo space flight animations for CBS News. He created the concept art which was crucial in winning 20th Century Fox’s approval to put George Lucas’ first STAR WARS film into production. He is widely credited as the man who designed the iconic Darth Vader.



The success of his work led to a marvelous film career that included designing such classics as ET: THE EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL, BACK TO THE FUTURE, COCOON, and RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK. That’s his drawing in Indiana Jones’ book in the first act of RAIDERS:



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The concept-design stage of a film is the most vital and often overlooked aspect of film production. It is not just the foundation of a film, it is the design of the foundation that everything is built upon. Movies give us worlds that we wish to live in, and those worlds have to be created first. In the last 40 years no one has done that better than Ralph McQuarrie.



Much of his artwork can be found at www.ralphmcquarrie.com

A Reel Opinion: Movies About Movies

In an age where Hollywood is stuck in a ditch knee-deep with remakes, adaptations, and the dreadful life-sucking farce that is (goddamn) 3D, true movie fans and film buffs have been desperate for a breath of fresh air; a light at the end of the tunnel that is not a hijacked freight train.

Such a light may be on the horizon. This week, Fox Searchlight announced an upcoming project entitled ALFRED HITCHCOCK AND THE MAKING OF PSYCHO; with James D’Arcy as Anthony Perkins, Scarlett Johansson as Janet Leigh, and Sir Anthony Hopkins as Hitchcock. Seemingly less of a biopic and more of a story about the making of Hitchcock’s classic PSYCHO, this will quite simply be a movie about a movie.

On the surface, it may seem a bit self-congratulatory for the industry to tell its own story, but such an approach has worked before. Tim Burton’s ED WOOD earned Oscar nominations for its revealing of what went into Wood’s PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE, and SHADOW OF THE VAMPIRE put together an excellent cast in its alternate-approach telling of the making of NOSFERATU. And in 2005, a independent short called COURAGE AND STUPIDITY told a clever story of the making of JAWS; young Steven Spielberg is panicked when his friend George (ahem) accidently breaks the mechanical shark. And on top of all that, the same theme was present in last year’s HUGO, THE ARTIST, and MY WEEK WITH MARILYN; three films which combined for 23 Oscar Nominations.

The concept can be fascinating. Fans of the PSYCHO film would have to be drooling over seeing their favorite settings (Bates motel, anyone?) in a new world. And that world of movies is loaded with so much lore; there is unlimited, untapped potential waiting to be sipped. What about a movie about the guys who had to make the rubber masks for the Mos Eisley Cantina? Or a film about the people who had to make the dresses for Scarlett O’Hara?

There is a story to be told behind every movie, and Hollywood would be foolish to forget that. Embrace your past, or suffer by forgetting.

What say you?