I love Venn diagrams and I like Denzel Washington so I can’t decide if I like or love this Denzel Washington Venn Diagram. (Nice job, Maxim.)
Category: External Movies (Page 167 of 336)
It’s been a weird day for me, and not only because I’m a politically junkie and my side sustained a bit of a loss today (if you don’t know what I’m talking, well, let’s just keep it that way). Still, the movie news beat never stops and there are certainly days when Hollywood makes a lot more sense than politics, relatively speaking.
* It’s official and Nikki Finke has claimed another “toldja.” Newcomer Marc Webb of “(500) Days of Summer” will, it appears, direct the 2012 Spiderman reboot that’s been bandied about since Sam Raimi stepped aside from the now never to be filmed “Spiderman IV.” Even though, as I’ve made clear here several times, I’m not a particular fan of Webb’s feature debut, I think Anne Thompson‘s analysis is probably correct:
Webb’s “(500) Days of Summer” is a deliciously commercial hit movie: witty, breezy, defying romantic comedy formula while not straying outside the realm of accessible entertainment. That’s what studios want: that sweet spot between “original and fresh” and “accessible and commercial.”… He will be eager to prove himself on a big-budget VFX franchise, so he’ll do what he is told.
All she left out is the gift they’ve given us pun-crazed headline writers and bloggers because of Webb’s spider-suggestive last name. I guess Eric Nid was too busy on other projects.
* You knew it had to happen: Here comes “Paranormal Activity II” — from the director of “Saw VI.” (Via Bad Guy Wins.)
* I don’t know why they waited until after Martin Luther King day to announce this, but a long-planned biopic on the single most effective civil rights leader in American history is underway, and veteran playwright and screenwriter Ronald Harwood is penning the screenplay with Steven Spielberg and Stacey Snider coproducing. The more recent films in Harwood’s long career include “The Diving Bell and the Butterfly” and “The Pianist.” His best known play, the semi-autobiographical “The Dresser,” was nicely filmed back in 1983. Harwood migrated to England from South Africa in 1951 and he’s proven himself a fairly able cultural chameleon over the years. I’m not sure it’s an inspired choice, but it’s not a a bad one. The tricky part now is choosing the director.
* Some time back, I was not thrilled to report that Danny Elfman’s orchestral score was being removed from “The Wolfman” and was being replaced by a not at all promising sounding, possibly synth-driven rock, score. Well, as I’m still kind of looking forward to the apparently trouble-plagued film, I’m happy to report that Elfman’s score is apparently back in. Yeah, I’m kind of a traditionalist about things like that. I don’t like to hear futuristic sounds with my 19th century gothic chillers anymore than I want chocolate syrup on my pizza.
* It’s probably not at all fair, but I can’t help but think of this concept as “Tim Burton’s ‘Wicked’.”
* The zombie-centric romantic comedy (“zom coms”) is a subgenre that threatens to take over the planet, devouring us all. Latest to be bitten: “The Wackness” writer-director Jonathan Levine, so says Devin of CHUD.
* In China, Chow Yun Fat and the nation’s most venerated philosopher push out the Na’vi, writes Krystal Clark.
* Today we also had a trio of sad deaths of important contributors primarily to other arts whose work also impacted the movies film, singer Kate McGarrigle, and novelist Erich Segal famously of “Love Story” and less famously of “Yellow Submarine,” and mystery writer Robert B. Parker of “Spencer for Hire.” RIP all.
Save for a few odd sketches and short films and the occasional Weekend Update zinger, I basically gave up on SNL years ago. It’s not that the performers aren’t good, it’s the quality of the writing that has pretty much gone into the toilet and I don’t think I’m alone in that perspective. As for the MacGruber character, I think Will Forte is an inherently funny guy — but to me the sketches were a moderately fun idea marred by poor follow-through.
Still, life can be full of surprises, and so I must agree with the assembled movie geeks at Christopher Campbell’s place (though not Campbell himself), that this red band trailer, which features some very silly rough language, for the upcoming cinematic spectacular, “MacGruber” is pretty funny stuff . I’ve had a rough day and a bit of harmless silliness like this was just what I needed, even though I’ve never watched a single episode of “MacGyver.” As usual, the trick is playing things as straight as possible and having both Kilmer and the great Powers Boothe in the ensemble seems to help.
It became fashionable for a while to downplay the contribution of Sidney Poitier to movies — the charge was that too many of his characters were overly schematic responses to racist caricatures of the past (in other words, they were too perfect). Still, his characters were never plaster saints, he was simply too good an actor to ever allow that even if some of his parts were written that way, and there’s never been any denying that he fought the civil rights battle on the cinematic front with as much grace and charisma as anyone could even ask for.
Here he is the gently humorous and moving final scene from the 1964 comedy-drama “Lillies of the Field,” in which he teaches some German nuns a little bit of soulful gospel.
One of the problems that people have with the adoption of a new format (most recently, Blu-ray) is that the format in question isn’t universal, sometimes even within a single household. For example, a family might have a Blu-ray player in the living room, but still have DVD players elsewhere in the house (or in the minivan). Universal Studios Home Entertainment has addressed this problem by releasing dual-format discs that have a Blu-ray version of the movie on one side and a DVD version on the other, allowing consumers to use the disc anywhere they can play Blu-ray or DVD. Consumers that haven’t yet adopted the Blu-ray format can buy these discs knowing that their collection will be ready when they eventually do. It’s an ingenious idea for those in the process of switching over to Blu-ray.
The so-called “flipper” discs debut with the Jason Bourne series: “The Bourne Identity,” “The Bourne Supremacy,” and (the not available for review) “The Bourne Ultimatum.” [Read the Bullz-Eye review of the trilogy.]
This should go without saying, but the picture quality of the Blu-ray version is unparalleled. When watched in 1080p, the films look about as good as they can possibly look, at least at this point in time. For example, in one of the Zurich scenes in “The Bourne Identity,” little details like falling snow really jump out.
“The Bourne Identity” features a load of special features, including U-Control (allowing the viewer to examine character dossiers, location analyses and spy gadgets while watching the movie), a Bourne card strategy game, BD-Live (allowing BR and PS3 users chat with friends and family while watching the film), deleted and extended scenes, an alternate opening and ending, along with a series of featurettes: “The Bourne Mastermind: Robert Ludlum,” an interview with Tony Gilroy about the challenges of adapting Ludlum’s book for the silver screen, interviews with Matt Damon and Franka Potente, an interview with a UCLA psychologist about the Bourne’s amnesia, an interview with CIA liaison officer Chase Brandon about the real-world making of a super spy, a look into the making of a fight sequence, and feature commentary with director Doug Liman.
“The Bourne Supremacy” bonus features include U-Control (picture in picture, Bourne dossier, Bourne orientation), BD-Live, deleted scenes (including an alternate ending), and featurettes about the casting of the principal characters, how Paul Greengrass was chosen as director, the demolition of a suburban home in Munich, on location in Berlin, Moscow and Goa (India), Damon’s fight training, the Moscow chase scene, the bridge chase scene, Josh Powell and the film’s score, a profile on Robert Ludlum, and a psychological diagnosis of Jason Bourne.
“The Bourne Ultimatum” bonus features also include U-Control, BD-Live and deleted scenes, as well as featurettes about the film’s exotic locations (Berlin, Paris, London, Madrid and Tangier), the Tangier rooftop chase scene, fight training with Matt Damon and co-star Joey Ansah, Damon’s training and the shooting of the New York chase scene, and feature commentary with director Paul Greengrass.
Click to buy “The Bourne Identity”
Click to buy “The Bourne Supremacy”
Click to buy “The Bourne Ultimatum”
FOLLOW US!
CATEGORIES
© 2026 Premium Hollywood
Theme by Anders Noren — Up ↑