Filed under: Literature, Preview | Tags: childrens book, fantasy, Preview, spike jonze, where the wild thing are
Max is the King
I’m sure lots of kids have read the wonderful book Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak. It’s a classic story of imagination and fantasy that has just been waiting to be made into a great film. Soon hopefully that great film will be hitting a theater nearby since it is now in post-production after filming started in 2005. Spike Jonze is directing this live action feature the screenplay of which he co-wrote with David Eggers. The basic storyline is as follows:
“One night Max dresses up in his wolf suit and does all kinds of things he shouldn’t, like chasing the dog with a fork. His mother scolds him and calls him a “WILD THING!” Max is so mad he shouts back, “I’LL EAT YOU UP!” As a result, his mother sends him to his bedroom without any supper. Max’s imagination transforms his bedroom into an extraordinary setting, with a forest and an ocean and a little boat that Max sails in until he comes to a land full of “wild things.” Although they look and sound very fierce, Max is able to tame them with a single glance. They all realize Max is “…The most wild thing of all” and make him their king. Max and the wild things have a fine time creating a rumpus until Max begins to want to be “…where someone loved him best of all.” Max’s fantasy ends when he smells his dinner. Despite the wild things’ protests, Max sails back to his own room where he finds his supper waiting for him. ” Via about.com
The images that have emerged of the film’s characters (some being up to 8 feet tall) are amazing and bring back warm memories of The Labyrinth and my love for Jim Henson. The Jim Henson Company who was also responsible for the Labyrinth’s creatures are responsible for the Wild Things and I cannot wait to see how the film turns out. I have a feeling it will be great, even without David Bowie in tight pants.
Beautiful Sunset
Filed under: hateraid, Preview | Tags: horror, john carpenter, Preview, Sci-Fi, the thing
So I have previously shared my objections to hearing that there is a remake of the classic horror Sci-Fi film The Thing (John Carpenter 1982) in the works. I have just learned a bit more about the production and I have to say I am still extremely skeptical about it. As I stated before, it’s going to be based on the Norwegian Research Team that first encounters the mutating alien being and meets their demise before Kurt Russell’s team gets introduced. Sure, that may have sounded like a decent idea over soy-decafe lattes but realistically is it really worth spending time and money on?
Classic to Craptastic
The writer of the film gives it a bit of a chance since Ronald D. Moore has signed on (New Battlestar Galactica Series) to the project. That might make it worth while but to counteract that goodness apparently a commercial director by the name of Matthijs Van Heijningen has gotten on board to direct this feature. Okay, so I know he’s also signed on to the new Army of the Dead project, but a commercial director? Really Hollywood? Well this is still in the early development stages so I will keep hoping that things start sounding better. Oh and by the way, would the film be in subtitles and if not then how would they get away with it?
Filed under: hateraid, Preview, remake | Tags: board games, candyland, clue, monopoly, movie news, previews, remake, Ridley Scott
With the recent (and not so recent) wave of Comic book movies that have been flooding theaters apparently Hollywood has decided to switch gears a little and start a new fad. Quite a few board game movies will soon be coming to a big screen near you and I can’t help but ask…why? Sure, most people have played some kind of board game in their lives; these games might even have been enjoyable as a kid but to really make them into a film seems a bit silly and ironic since most kid’s movies these days are made into board games.
Acclaimed director Ridley Scott is set to direct a film version of Monopoly, which seems like a waste to me. There are so many wonderful scripts and stories out there that would make for much better material but who knows, maybe Scott is just a really big fan of the game itself; I however tend to throw the tiny houses at people when I loose.
Board Game Movies: Who Really Wins?
Then there’s Candyland. With director Kevin Lima (Enchanted) and awesome writer Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder) getting the production started it might be interesting especially if they try to put Gloppy (evil chocolate monster thing) in the mix. It would make for an interesting 3D film too I think. Not necessarily for the adult crowd but kids would love it and of course so would any other person on hallucinogenics.
It's Rainbow-rific
Last and at the very least is Clue. I am a big fan f the original Clue film which was released in 1985 with Christopher Lloyd, Tim Curry and the hilariously wonderful Madeline Kahn. I don’t see any reason why this movie needs a remake but then again, with the swarm of remakes happening all over Hollywood, I’m not that surprised. Gore Verbinski is set to helm the project. The 1985 version had somewhat of a small following and didn’t do well in theaters so the chances of a revamp doing well are slim to none.
Filed under: Preview | Tags: 3D, graphic novel, horror, monster, Sci-Fi, supernatural, vampire
So it’s no big secret that I am a huge fan of the horror genre. Whether it be in film, game, or novel form I guess you could kind say I am a bit addicted. So here in this little post I will divulge some information on upcoming horror films that I have heard about and can’t wait to see. I haven’t gotten much information on most of these so far so this is just my preliminary estimate of each one:
The Haunting in Connecticut: I had previously reported on this one being on my Must See list and have just found out that the release date has been changed from much later in the summer to March 27, 2009. I am totally thrilled to find this out since the horror genre has been quite lack-luster lately (ahem…Friday the 13th/My Bloody Valentine). Now I don’t have to wait as long to check this supernatural thriller out.
A Sequel with Potential
Sequel – 30 Days of Night 2: I thought the first 30 Days of Night was great and am a big fan of the graphic novel’s by Steve Niles so when I heard that a sequel was in talks with Niles as the screenwriter I got really excited. The graphic novel’s second installment follows Stella as she continues to track down the vamps and destroy them. I will however be very disappointed if Melissa George doesn’t reprise her role as Stella. That would just make the film seem DVD-release worthy.
The Hole 3D – This film is set to be released in 2010 and will have Haley Bennett (Haunting of Molly Hartley) playing the female friend of a pair of brothers who stumble upon a mysterious hole in their basement that will take them to a nightmarish place where their fears supposedly come to life. Now, I hope this film isn’t one of those 3D movies that wouldn’t have even been distributable had it not been given the 3D edge. It sounds more interesting than say other 3D “horror” films like My Bloody Valentine so I will be keeping up with its progress.
After.Life: Releasing just in time for Halloween of this year, this film is a bit iffy to me. Not that I don’t think the cast is great, I mean with Liam Neeson, Justin Long and Christina Ricci it couldn’t really be all that bad I would think. It’s just that the story line is so overplayed that it might just fall flat. Plot-wise it’s about a woman who is stuck between life and death and has to convince the funeral director not to burry her alive. It was originally set to star Kate Bosworth but I am much happier to hear that Ricci has taken over the role. And maybe Justin Long will even throw a little humor into the film which never hurts honestly.
Sci-Fi-Creature-Feature
Splice– Set to release in 2009 (sometime in September) this sci-fi horror film revolves around two geneticists who while experimenting with DNA and gene-splicing decide to throw some human-DNA-goodness into the mix with who knows what other creatures. This of course isn’t the best idea and leads to some pretty horrific consequences. The images I have seen of the “creature” are pretty amazing and I am really looking forward to seeing it. It is starring Adrien Brody and Sara Polley with Vincenzo Natali directing (Cube) and non-other than the wonderful Guillermo del Toro as executive producer. I would rate this one as a can’t miss.
Sequel – The Host 2: The original of this film was a South Korean monster movie that reminded me of a B-Horror film with expensive special effects. It had humor and all the emotional elements to make it more than just a CGI monster movie. The sequel is a joint production with China and South Korea with Chinese director Ning Hao on board and a reported 12-million dollar budget. It will follow the river where the monster dwells and will have more than one monster making an appearance. Hopefully this one is be worth seeing and make it to the states.
Filed under: Preview, remake | Tags: birds, hitchcock, Preview, remake, suspense
Oh the Horror!
So apparently there are rumors going around that a remake ofAlfred Hitchcock’s (1963) “The Birds“ is coming to the big screen. Now this is simply a rumor of course but it’s been reported that this rumor has been confirmed by Naomi Watts who is set to star as Lydia which was previous played by actress Jessica Tandy. Now I am not a big fan of birds in general, all that freaking noise and the fact that they like to relieve themselves all over my car (which I am sure they laugh about amongst themselves) make them less than like-able so a thriller/suspense classic like this could produce a decent remake.
Of course it will be near impossible to really re-create the definition of suspense like Hitchcock did, I think that with a director like Martin Campbell on board (Casino Royale) it might not be half bad. Not to mention I am a big fan of Naomi Watts. I will be keeping up with where this goes for sure.
Deeper into Darkness
The Descent: Part 2
Staring: Shauna Macdonald (Most of Original Cast)
Rating: Not Yet Rated
Release Date: None Scheduled yet for the USAs a huge fan of the original Descent, it makes sense that I would be a bit apprehensive about this turning into a franchise that basically milks the basic plot for all it’s worth, but I have to say that from some of the photos I’ve seen it might not be so bad after all. With most of the original cast and a decent storyline it might have a chance at actually adding to the original rather than taking away.
The original followed a group of cave explorers into the Appalachian Mountains where they encounter a lot more than seriously old rocks. This one will pick up where that left off and Sara will be forced back into that cave system to help find her friends who didn’t make it out. I will be interested to see where this goes, if anywhere since a release date for the US hasn’t even been scheduled yet.
Love, Undying
Grace
Staring: Jordan Ladd, Gabrielle Rose. Stephen Park
Rating: R (Major Gore)
Release Date: 2009 US ReleasePremiering at Sundance, this movie is sure to cause some people a lot of distress with it’s subject matter alone not to mention from what I’ve read a tremendous amount of gore. It is a story about a woman who after trying for a while to get pregnant finally does. It sounds as if it starts off a bit like Rosemary’s Baby where other people are influencing the mother on how she should handle the pregnancy in possibly creepy ways but I will have to see it to really hold down a statement like that.
The baby is delivered as a stillborn but comes back to life a few seconds later. Obviously when things come back to life in a scary movie its bad news bears so you can imagine that it goes down hill from there. This is definitely a must see for me because any horror movie where people actually faint during the original screening has got to be worth $8 bucks.
The Good:
"Based" on True Story
Drag Me To Hell: May 29, 2009
Starring: Alison Lohman & Justin Long
I want to see this one simply because of Sam Rami. It looks pretty interesting besides that fact also but that is the main reason. Hopefully this won’t be another disaster like The Unborn. Basically it’s about a woman who gets a curse placed upon her and she has to frantically try to remove it before it’s too late. I am interested to see Justin Long in a more serious film too. He’s absolutely hilarous in what movie’s I have seen of his and I hope he call pull this one off well. I’d say it’s worth the $8.00.
The Haunting in Connecticut: June 19, 2009
Starring: Virginia Madsen & Kyle Gallener
I saw the original Discovery Channel “A Haunting” episode where this story first became known. Apparently the writers of the film saw it too, and liked it as much as I did. I remember thinking when I watched it that it would make a great movie. It centers around a family moving into a haunted house and the supernatural shenanigans focus themselves on one of the sons. It looks really great and I’m hoping for something similar to the classic Amityville Horror.
Orphan: July 24, 2009
Starring: Peter Sarsgaard, Vera Farmiga
With a simple premise and a creepy kid, this seems like it could be a bit predictable but I’m always up for the whole scary child idea. I guess this is because I loved The Ring so much and the idea of something that is supposed to be innocent actually being evil is a great recipe for a horror film. But in that same aspect, it’s been done before and could be a snorefest. We shall see.
Daybreakers: September 11, 2009
Starring: Ethan Hawke / Sam Neill / Willem Dafoe
This movie has a 50/50 shot for me. The Spierig brothers who directed a pretty decent zombie film (Undead) previously, should do a good job on this one I hope. It’s a futuristic vampire movie, which honestly sounds all too familiar with the recent release of I Am Legend, but this one is more along the lines of the novel by Richard Matheson instead of the Will Smith remake with the vampires being intelligent and organized instead of mindless CGI freaks. *crosses fingers*
The Bad:
The Box: November 6, 2009
Starring: Cameron Diaz & James Marsden
This one has a few good things going for it to start off, such as the fact that it is based on a short story by Richard Matheson & directed by Richard Kelly (Donnie Darko). But, that is where the good things end. It stars two people who obviously don’t belong in a horror movie. I mean, come on? Cameron-Blonde-Dummy-Diaz and All-American-Poster-Boy James Marsden in a scary movie is like casting Jessica Alba in anything. It makes no sense. I just can’t get past the cast I guess. But because of Matheson, I just might give it a try.
And the Stupid:
Why?
The Uninvited: January 30, 2009
Starring: Emily Browning & Elizabeth Banks
This is not something that should have ever even been made. The original Tale of Two Sisters or Janghwa, Hongryeon (Korean) was amazing and should have been left completely alone to begin with. It is one of my all time favorite movies and I was very upset to hear that it would be another in a long line of terrible Americanized remakes. I guarantee it will be nothing like the original because the writer/director will have changed something to make it more appealing to what they think American audiences will enjoy. That will make it suck. So I will go see it but I’m not happy about it.
(And also Elizabeth Banks+horror movie=Stupid)
- Benicio Del Toro
Release Date: (Changed) November 6, 2009
Starring:Benicio Del Toro/ Anthony Hopkins/ Emily Blunt
Rating: Not Yet Rated (post production)
I cannot wait to see this remake of one of the most classic horror films in cinema history. I have been following it from rumor to now post-production and just recently learned that it’s release date has been pushed back yet again from originally Feb 13 then April 2 to now November 6. The Wolfman (2009) is starring Benicio Del Torro who I think is going to be great in the role and has a great supporting cast.
The makeup in for Del Torro looks amazing. I am so happy to see a werewolf character that isn’t CGI! The makeup artist Rick Baker said that Del Torro’s artistry too 3 hours to apply and 1 hour to remove. Supposedly the original Wolfman movie in 1941 is the whole reason that Baker became a make-up artist in the first place. I just hope the release date isn’t pushed back again.
Whoa...Dude
So I have heard that the original “Dude” Keanu Reeves is going to be playing Spike in the the screen adaptation of Cowboy Bebop. From what I have seen of the anime it could be a good choice. I don’t think Reeves is limited to that one type of character due to a few other movies he’s been in that I enjoyed (i.e. Matrix, Constantine). My main question is who would play Faye? I have a few suggestions:
Belle
Camilla Bell would be a good choice I think. It would allow her to possibly show more acting maturity. But she’d have to drop that Jonas Brother boyfriend of hers first. He probably wouldn’t approve but then again who really cares what the Jonas brothers think about anything other than 13 year old girls and Clay Aiken?
Yustman
Then there’s Odette Yustman who recently starred in that lame-o horror flick The Unborn. Which I will review later. Although that particular choice wasn’t her best work, she still could pull of the role off Faye I think. Plus she is a bit more edgy than Belle even though the she resembles the character less.
Either way I think that the movie would be interesting to see. Plus I think after all the comic-book-movie-mania lately we need some film adaptations of anything but.
Don’t get me wrong, comic books are great but there is only so much one can take of it in theaters. I mean, there are so many wonderful books that would make great movies not to mention the fact that less and less screenwriters are coming up with original material. (i.e. The Unborn). Hollywood, where has the originality gone?
- Coming Soon???
It has been reported by those wonderful movie geeks over at latinoreview that a new adaptation of one of my all-time favorite books will soon be hitting the screen…again. This time around the new director of the latest Terminator movie yet to be released is said to be behind the wheel. The simply named McG is supposedly wanting to re-vamp the classic with a totally different twist. Not only does he want Captain Nemo to be more of a villain in this this remake-adaptation but he would like Will Smith to star.
I am a huge Will Smith fan but I have to say that whole idea is a bit of a stretch for me. However, I was skeptical when I heard he was going to be starring in I am Legend and was happily surprised by his performance there (although the movie itself still was overall a disappointment). I will be anxious to see where this goes because the book was probably one of the first novels to really make me love literature. I read the whole thing in a couple of days when I was younger and have yet to see an adaptation that I really thought did it justice.
Brite-Idea Blog 