Movie of the Day (5/5/2008)

Released on this day, the fifth of May, in 2000 was Ridley Scott’s most awarded film, and one of his all time best, Gladiator. Garnering five Oscars (Actor in a Leading Role, Costume Design, Visual Effects, Picture, Sound), Scott’s 11th movie struck a chord with most action lovers and was the breakout role for both Russell Crowe and Joaquin Phoenix. Both went on to make great films. One went on to wreck great hotel rooms.

The movie is available in a variety of DVD editions (Four to be exact), but the one to get is the latest “Extended Edition“, which includes 17 minutes of new footage on three discs, one with the film and two full of new extras. In fact, big fans of the movie could own both this DVD and the old Signature Edition and not get any recycled bonus features.

Basic information (IMDb Profile):

  • Director: Ridley Scott
  • Writers: David Franzoni, John Logan, and William Nicholson
  • Producers: Douglas Wick, David Franzoni, Branko Lustig
  • Cast: Russell Crowe, Joaquin Phoenix, Connie Nielsen, Oliver Reed, Richard Harris,
    Djimon Hounsou
  • Cinematographer: John Mathieson
  • Composers: Lisa Gerrard, Hans Zimmer

“Movie of the Day” highlights a specific film of importance with a release date that coincides with the current date.

Andrew Stanton Interview

Edward Lewine of the New York Times Magazine, a more comprehensive weekly version of the paper, interviewed Andrew Stanton, director of Finding Nemo and A Bug’s Life. It’s a short interview, and in a odd form, but it’s really interesting.

Some highlights:

  • “Disney turned me down three times for jobs before the animation studio Pixar hired me. Years later, Pixar got a deal with Disney. Six of us went down there to pitch an idea. I was the low man on our team, but Disney security had us down as “Stanton plus five.” That’s how I wanted to return to Disney.“
  • “I heard David Sedaris say he couldn’t write in the afternoons because he would spend hours looking in the mirror trying to find where his hair parts. Me? I troll I-Tunes. That’s a time sink.“
  • “At 42 I always make sure I have Advil with me. As I get older, one glass of wine gives me a hangover.“

New Dark Knight Trailer

With just two mind-numbing months left before the opening of The Dark Knight, Warner Bros. has revealed the new full-length trailer for the film at one of their virally market sites Why So Serious. That link will lead you to a flash version to view in your web browser, but for downloadable links, look below (Right-click and save):

Iron Man Destroys the Weekend

As expected, the number one film in the country is Iron Man, initiating a full summer of blockbusters with a $100 million pull for the opening weekend. With an estimated budget of $140 million, this will no doubt be a success for Marvel in their first attempt at a self-run production, as the following weeks should make up the $40 million difference. With this kind of opening success, expect to see a sequel or two in years to come.

Following Favreau’s comic adaptation is Made of Honor, starring Patrick Dempsey of Grey’s Anatomy, and Baby Mama, with Tiny Fey and Amy Poehler, in the third spot. In its fourth week, Forgetting Sarah Marshall remained in the fourth spot, with a meager $6 million haul, putting it $14 million over its budget of $30 million. It just beat the second Harold and Kumar comedy by just over $100,000.

Here’s a quick rundown of the top ten (For a full chart, visit Box Office Mojo):

  1. Iron Man – $100,750,000 (Week 1)
  2. Made of Honor – $15,500,000 (Week 1)
  3. Baby Mama – $10,332,000 (Week 2)
  4. Forgetting Sarah Marshall – $6,132,000 (Week 3)
  5. Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay – $6,015,000 (Week 2)
  6. The Forbidden Kingdom – $4,200,000 (Week 3)
  7. Nim’s Island – $2,750,000 (Week 5)
  8. Prom Night – $2,500,000 (Week 4)
  9. 21 – $2,100,000 (Week 6)
  10. 88 Minutes – $1,600,000 (Week 3)

10 Most Anticipated Films of the Summer

Probably the most puzzling adaptation to hit theaters in years, Speed Racer seems to have separated film fans into two distinct categories of love and hate. While some think the movie looks terrible, with stale acting and CG way too far over the top, others see it as a perfect adaptation of a cheesy dated anime classic into the modern form, with the emphasis on fun and exhilarating action. The Wachowski Brothers (The Matrix) were lauded with their last debut, V for Vendetta, and they should receive the same praise from their fans for this adaptation as well.

Directed by one of the most underrated talents in Hollywood today, Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Rundown), Hancock places Will Smith (Independence Day, The Pursuit of Happyness) into the driver’s seat of yet another summer blockbuster. While I Am Legend failed to captivate, thanks to its unbelievable CG (Not the good “unbelievable” that is) and poorly paced second half, Berg has the talent necessary to assemble a good supporting cast for Smith (Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron) and deliver with action, plot, and comedy.

Following his rehabilitation from all things illegal, Robert Downey Jr. has also gone through a cinematic revitalization as well. Exuding a bravado of class, style, and quick wit, Downey’s last few years have seen some great work: Zodiac, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang and A Scanner Darkly chief among them. Look for him to take the reigns of Iron Man’s first cinematic appearance and head it towards greatness. If this first take doesn’t quite work out, expect the rest of the trilogy which director Jon Favreau (Elf, Made) is planning, to up the ante even more.

Guillermo del Toro can do no wrong. From his entrance into the director’s seat with Cronos, del Toro has followed with a heaping of stylized efforts, including the incredible Pan’s Labyrinth (El Laberinto del Fauno) in 2006. The Golden Army picks up the story from the original Hellboy which has virtually every major cast member back for the second round. Considering the record of comic sequels, like X2: X-Men United and Spider-Man 2 which are both better than their predecessors, this should continue that phenomenal streak.

Andrew Adamson, who’s first directoral effort was the first in this series, surprised many with his talent for blending big effects, big story, and no-name actors into a timeless fantasy stand-out. He’s fortunate to have all four of the Pevensie kids back, along with the Oscar winning Tilda Swinton (Michael Clayton, Constantine) and the always solid James McAvoy (Atonement, The Last King of Scotland), in the second of Lewis’s classic series. If everyone stays on board, this could turn into one of the best and most consistent film sagas ever.

The trailer for this upcoming comedy completely sells what sounds like, on the surface, another low-budget, lowest common denominator comedy. Using MIA’s popular “Paper Planes”, the teaser features everything from James Franco (Spider-Man 2) hiding in a dumpster and kicking through a car window to Seth Rogen (Superbad, Knocked Up) jumping high from a overhang onto a cop to faking cocking a gun to the cue of the hip-hop rhythm. Don’t ask why, but this could follow Superbad as a comedy with an list of infinite rewatchable qualities.

Perhaps no movie studio in recent history has had the certain consistent quality of output like Pixar Animation Studios. Every single entry in their catalog, ifrom Toy Story to Ratatouille, features stories and animation ahead of any other studio on the planet and Wall-E, from the mind of Andrew Stanton (A Bug’s Life, Finding Nemo), could be their magnum opus. As a front-runner and probable winner of the Best Animated Feature award at next year’s Oscars, there should no reason to miss a ticket to see this on June 27th.

After the Star Wars trilogy took a long hiatus, the buildup for Episode I was unshakable. Fans lined up hours in advance to catch the first of the infamous prequel. Unlike Phantom Menance, the latest Indiana Jones entry, coming 24 years after Last Crusade, will deliver. George Lucas has been relegated to producer, where he shines, and Steven Spielberg, who rarely faulters, directs this new chapter. Along side Harrison Ford, who’s age will be hinted at in the plot (65 years young), will be the rising star Shia LeBeouf (Disturbia) and the incredible Cate Blanchett (Babel).

Batman Begins restarted the Dark Knight’s film franchise with one of the best comic book adaptations ever, rivaling Spider-Man 2. Using the talented Christian Bale (Rescue Dawn), Nolan was able to give a grounded voice to the popular character. With The Dark Knight, Chris Nolan (Insomnia) ventures past the origin story and into the mind of the Joker, Batman’s most alluring rival, played by Heath Ledger (Brokeback Mountain). His performance was grabbing attention before his death and now its hearing Oscar buzz. Mark it down: This will be one of the top ten best films of the year.

Boring yet Effective: The Movie Schedule

Just like a bad sports movie, the year of movies can be so predictable. The first four or so months are almost always dead, with a few surprises thrown in, followed by a summer of high-budgeted blockbusters, which happen to be more and more sequels and comic book stories over the past couple years, and wrapping up with a period, lasting usually from September to December and coinciding with the fall semester of school that’s chock full of Oscar bait with studios pushing star-studded dramas and foreign language films down everyone’s throat.

This year is no different.

The month is now April and the year is writing itself just like it always does. The Bank Job, Be Kind Rewind, and Forgetting Sarah Marshall have premiered to good reviews while everything else is not worth writing about. And what’s around the corner?

Sequels, high budgets, and comic book adaptations.

Iron Man. Speed Racer. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Get Smart, Wall-E, Wanted, Hancock, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, The Dark Knight. Step Brothers. Tropic Thunder. The Incredible Hulk.

Four are sequels. Six were previously comics. Almost all of them cost over $100 million.

What follows is a slim yet modest list of lower budget movies that practically no one will see, like last year’s Best Picture nominees (Only Juno made money essentially) yet everyone in the Academy will praise, like Burn After Reading, Revolution Road, Body of Lies, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, The International, Australia, and The Reader.

Of course there are couple of oddities in the schedule, with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince and Max Payne appearing later in the year then they should, but again the film lovers are presented with yet another cliched schedule of movies.

Does it make sense? Financially it does for studios to put their most costly films in a period where movies historically make money and for the viewers it also makes sense to have the most movies in the time when a large segment of the audience (Namely those in school) will have a chance to see them all.

That still doesn’t make it any less boring. I hope in the future more and more studios will try and get their heavy hitters out earlier, like in January and February so that the film fans have something to see early, and get some more out later, so more popular flicks make into Oscar talk.