News for May 1-5, 2000

5 May, 2000

The Score

Stax has a few thoughts on the script The Score by Kario Salem. The movie will star Ed Norton, Robert DeNiro and Marlon Brando with Frank Oz directing. It follows a master thief (DeNiro) who is talked into doing one last job by Norton's character.

The first thing that troubled me about THE SCORE was its dialogue. The dialogue in Act One of this draft was at times atrocious; nothing but cliché line lobbed upon cliché line. Nick actually says with a perfectly straight face, "I'm too old for this ****." Must we really hear that line again? It's neither funny nor effective anymore. That tired expression should be banned from ever being used in films again. Later in that same scene, Nick and Max are discussing karma when Nick says, "I believe if you're a two-by-four, sooner or later you're gonna run into a buzz saw. If you're a tomato, you're gonna get sliced." Max's eloquent reply? "Well, you're neither a two-by-four or a tomato, so you have nothing to worry about." And when not using the F-word more times than Eddie Murphy in RAW, Jackie utters dozens more of these cliché throwaway lines. Granted, three professional Method actors like DeNiro, Norton, and Brando may very well improvise new material so perhaps the dialogue will be more palpable in the finished film but that still can't disguise the fact that their characters and the plot are predictable and uninspired.

To read the entire review, head over to Stax's new home at FilmForce.

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4 May, 2000

How The Grinch Stole Christmas

I'm still not sold that this movie is a good idea. I'll spare you another rant on the subject though. The news here is that the trailer for the movie is going to debut on the movie's official website on May 10. That means it will be viewable over two weeks before it shows in front of movies in theaters. The trailer will really give a taste of the movie and possibly elminate some of my (and probably your) fears.

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Tomb Raider

FX house named for movie

Godzilla vs Megaguiras

All the details on the next Japanese Godzilla movie

3 May, 2000

Exit Wounds

Rapper DMX has decided to join Steven Seagal in a leading role in the action movie Exit Wounds. Shooting should begin this summer. The movie is based on a novel by John Westermann about a cop working in the inner city who discovers corruption. Wow, didn't see that plot twist coming, did you?

Producer Joel Silver is using this movie as a showcase to reintroduce a supposedly slimmer Seagal and DMX to audiences. Speaking of DMX Silver said, "We loved working with him on 'Romeo [Must Die],' and audiences loved him too." That may be overstating things just a hair as his part in Romeo Must Die was extremely brief.

This project is going to be treated with extreme skepticism. Seagal has been on a horrific losing streak and needs to prove himself all over again.

2 May, 2000

Godzilla vs Megaguiras

The picture to the left is a piece of concept art from Toho's latest entry in their long running series of Godzilla movies. This newest one won't be a sequel to Godzilla 2000, which will be released in US theaters this August. This film actually takes place in a separate universe from the previous film. Here Godzilla has only appeared in 1954, 1966 and 1995, destroying the cities of Osaka and Tokyo in the process. Not only will he be battling Megaguiras but the Anti-Godzilla Batallion which is trying to invent an Artificial Black Hole weapon to wipe out the big guy.

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Herbie and Millie

I was hoping this was just a bad rumor but it appears that a new Herbie the Love Bug movie is heading towards production. J. Max Burnett (Possums) is set to write and direct the movie. The story is about a teenager who receives Herbie as a birthday present. The boy and car don't initially get along (Hey! This sounds like one of my first cars). Eventually though they set aside their differences to become good friends.

Josann McGibbon and Sara Parriott, the writing duo behind such great movies as Runaway Bride and 3 Men and a Little Lady will assist Burnett with the script.

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Deep Blue Sea 2

I admit that I loved Deep Blue Sea. It was dumb but it was a hell of a lot of fun. So you might think I would be happty to see a sequel made. You would be wrong. The movie worked for me because of an attitude. The chances of a sequel capturing the same spirit is pretty piss poor.

Upcoming Horror Movies is reporting that Warner Bros. is seriously considering a sequel. The report below apparently came from someone working a mailroom.

I work in the mail room at Warner Bros., and last week one of the friendlier suits asked if I had seen last year's "Deep Blue Sea." I told him I had, and thought it rocked. Apparently the flick did well enough internationally and on video that they've been having meetings about a sequel, with the proposed title "Deep Red Sea."

The script takes places months after the events of the original. Turns out there had been a dozen of of the genetically engineered "super sharks" in the Aquatica facility, meaning nine are still out there. In the opening scenes, a shady fisherman named Vinny Sparks (a potential role for Bruce Campbell) sets out to catch one of the suckers and collect what is certain to be a hefty reward. He succeeds, but not before his shipmates are snacked on. Losing blood and low on fuel, Vinny heads for the shore as fast the creature's weight on his rickety ship will allow. Little does he know, the other eight sharks are tagging along underwater. He arrives to the shore of a lavish beach resort called Atlantis, which attracts tourists from all over the globe.

Vacationing there is Preacher (LL Cool J's character from the first movie), with his wife. The shark carrrying boat leads the sharks to the shore, and all hell breaks loose, with the mass of swimmers getting chomped in half. The resort is in its busy season, hopping with both college kids and families. The simple solution to the shark attack seems easy- stay the hell out of the water. Well, turns out the skyscraping hotel was built right on a fault line, and an earthquake sends the structure toppling into the ocean. The building is on its side half underwater, and in come the hungry sharks. Some sort of rescue team is sent in, armed to the teeth, to rescue as many survivors as possible, and blast away every time a fin is sighted.

Patrick Warburton, who played Puddy on "Seinfeld", has been mentioned as a possibility to play the team's musclebound leader. Besides from he and LL's return, the lead cast of characters include a bellboy (Paul Giamatti maybe), a female member of the rescue team, and the resort's owner (heard they want Terrence Stamp). Its been joked that this one has the original's mix of "Jaws" and "Aliens", only with "The Towering Inferno" and "The Poseidon Adventure" added this time. Hopefully, "Deep Red Sea" will be greenlighted and live up to its potential, and not be mentioned in the same sentence as "Speed 2."

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Charlie's Angels

Producer Leonard Goldberg addresses rumors

1 May, 2000

Juwanna Mann

Here's a concept that just makes me shake my head in amazement. Juwanna Mann follows an NBA player thrown out of the league for his on-court behavior. He then decides to pose as a woman and try out for the WNBA. He makes it in and then has to figure out how not to get caught. Is it just me or does this sound like a bad 80s comedy?

Miguel Nunez plays the lead and singer Ginuwine has been cast as a singer who suspects something isn't quite right about Nunez's character. Jesse Vaughan will direct from a script by Bradley Allenstein and Mark Brown. Shooting should start this July.

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Marion and Robin

Hollywood loves to take a good story and put a new spin on it. Such is the case with Marion and Robin. It will be about the Robin Hood cast of characters but this one portrays them as childhood friends who grow up into the familiar positions we know. In this version, Maid Marion is actually the brains behind Robin Hood's stealing from the rich and giving to the poor scheme.

If you want to know what Disney is really looking for here you need only know that they want a film that will attract both young male and female audiences by portraying a strong woman and lots of swordfighting. There's nothing wrong with portraying a strong female character but this just smells of making a movie as a marketing effort rather than trying to tell a strong story. Not that Disney ever gives any thought to how a movie is marketed...

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