…and greedy movie studios? That seems to be the theme of this month with the re-release of Elvis Presely’s entire film catalog. But while Paramount’s lackluster “Lights! Camera! Elvis!” set failed in offering anything new for fans of the musician-turned-actor, Warner Bros. – who just so happened to produce a majority of his films – has digitally remastered Elvis’ most popular movies just in time for the 30th anniversary celebration.
While every film is available individually in stores, Warner Bros. has packaged some of the King’s less impressive roles in “The Hollywood Collection,” a six-disc box set designed to save purists a few bucks. Let’s face it: Elvis may have made a lot of movies in his short time on this Earth, but a lot of them were really bad. Movies like “Charro,” “Kissin’ Cousins,” “Tickle Me” and “Stay Away, Joe” don’t have a very big built-in audience outside of the diehard fanbase, so it makes sense that WB would try to move a few more units by forcing the consumer to by all six. The lone classic of the bunch – “Girl Happy” – also happens to be the only film that has received a new digital transfer and a previously cut musical number added to the DVD.
Not crappy enough to make the box set, the rest of Elvis’ Warner Bros. catalog has been released, including “Harum Scarum,” “It Happened at the World’s Fair,” “Spinout,” “Speedway,” and “Double Trouble,” as well as deluxe editions of “Jailhouse Rock” and “Viva Las Vegas.” I really don’t know what the difference is between the regular releases and the deluxe editions, but the “Viva Las Vegas” disc does include an audio commentary, a never-before-seen new documentary (“Kingdom: Elvis in Vegas”), and a Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack, and I can only imagine that “Jailhouse Rock” (the other major Elvis picture from Warner Bros.) features much of the same.
Rounding out the August cash grab is “This Is Elvis” and “That’s the Way It Is,” two more special edition DVDs that include multiple versions of the film, featurettes on the restoration process, and never-before-seen footage. If I had to choose between one or the other, though, I’d have to go with “That’s the Way It Is,” the King’s sold-out 1970 performance at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. We’ve all seen The Story of Elvis before, but you’re not an Elvis fan until you own this seminal concert film.
Since there wasn’t any footage to show (production began only two weeks), the panel jumped right into taking questions from the audience, and the first question was a little too obvious – “Why another big screen Hulk?” – to which producer Kevin Feige replied, “Because it’s the Hulk.” The panel when on to expose a few things people may not know about the new film:
* Norton was also adamant that the only reason he signed on board to play Bruce Banner is because new technology will allow him to contribute to the acting performance of the CG Hulk; much like Andy Serkis did with King Kong.
After Jon Favreau came on to stage to announce his cast (sadly, no Jeff Bridges), they jumped quickly into a screening of the exclusive Comic-Con trailer that some of us already saw on Thursday. Those looking for a detailed description of the footage can read about it 
Aside from that, the rest of cast seem really excited to be participating in the film. Robert Downey Jr. was so jazzed about wearing the suit that he told Jon Favreau to put him in it as much as possible, Gwyneth Paltrow was just happy to be working with Robert (who she calls “one of her favorite actors”), and Terrence Howard couldn’t stop talking about how cool it was to go up in an F-16 and vomit… seven or eight times.
“Iron Man” may have had the most exciting presentation, and “Midnight Meat Train” the most fucked up on, but it was the guys from “Balls of Fury” who provided the most entertaining panel of the weekend. Here to show off some footage from their new film were “Reno 911” and “The State” alum Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon (in full costume and makeup), and star Dan Fogler. But before I get to any specifics on the panel, it’s probably important to address the film’s constant rescheduling issues. Apparently, the CGI effects for the film took longer than anticipated (seven months), but now that they’ve finally finished, the movie is coming out… for real.
The Comic-Con attendees were treated to a clip from the film, and I have to say, this could surprise a lot of people when it’s released in theaters. The clip in question featured Dan Fogler’s character’s first competition in the tournament (against Freddy Fingers, played by Terry Crews), and between the taunting before the match, the over-the-top “Matrix”-style effects during the match and, well, Christopher Walken as the “Enter the Dragon”-esque villain of the film, I couldn’t stop laughing. Regrettably, I’ve been disappointed by both Garant and Lennon in the past, and so I don’t want to get my expectations too high until I see the completed project. Here are some other highlights from the panel:
* Lennon was the only of three panelists to appear on stage in costume, and later attacked Garant for tricking him into wearing it all day long on the showroom floor: “Dude, I was getting made fun of by a guy dressed like Daredevil. Some asswipe dressed like Daredevil – and I mean new Affleck Daredevil – was pointing at me like I was a douche. I’m sorry, this might be gay (pointing to costume), but it’s not new Affleck Daredevil.”
* Late into the presentation, “Big Trouble in Little China” baddie James Hong appeared on stage to fool around with the other panelists. It was a bit weird at moments – as he was literally stroking Dan Fogler’s hair – but there’s nothing cooler than seeing the dude flash the Lo Pan sign. I’m kinda mad about not thinking about it later in the day when I sat down to talk with “Iron Man” director Jon Favreau, but if a second film is ever greenlit, Hong would make the perfect Mandarin.
As I’ve mentioned here several times before, I’m not a really big fan of horror movies. Nevertheless, I’d like to say that I’m really looking forward to Brian Bertino’s “The Strangers.” Of course, the movie isn’t really horror in the conventional sense, but is rather more of a suspense movie about a newlywed couple who are stalked and terrorized by a trio of would-be killers. These are real people facing off against a very real threat. Stars Scott Speedman and Liv Tyler joined first-time writer/director Bertino on stage to show a few clips from the film (including a slick teaser trailer) and answer questions from the audience. The panel wasn’t quite as revealing as others – they just showed a few clips, answered a few questions (including the mandatory “Can you say something in Elvish, Liv?”) and left the stage – but it’s nice to see that every horror/suspense movie that comes out these days isn’t rooted in torture porn.
Director Neil Marshall has made some pretty unique movies over the last few years. “Dog Soldiers” is the ultimate in B-movie camp, while “The Descent” reinvented the horror/suspense genre from the days of “Alien.” His newest film, “Doomsday,” will be released sometime in the first half of 2008, and for fans of films like “Mad Max” and “The Warriors,” well, they’re in for one helluva treat. Marshall didn’t bring any footage with him other than a short teaser trailer (narrated by Malcom McDowell, no less), and though it certainly reeks of been-there-done-that material, the last time it was done was 20 years ago, and so, it’s just as good of time as any to bring it back.
EB: I thought it was a lukewarm reaction, honestly. But I’m not really the guy who, you know, we just had a little clip reel, I’ve never done a horror film or sci-fi, so, I don’t know how many “[Brothers] McMullen” fans were in the audience. They really weren’t giving it up for the Irish guys from Queens.
