Category: Sci-Fi Movies (Page 29 of 93)

RIP Tom Mankiewicz

August 3, 2010 /

The son of the great writer-director Joseph L. Mankiewicz (“All About Eve”) and nephew of equally great screenwriter Herman Mankiewicz (“Citizen Kane,” “The Pride of the Yankees”), Tom Mankiewicz was by his own admission understandably intimidated by his relatives’ example. Still, he forged a reputation as a solid screenwriter and an ace script doctor, writing the final drafts of 1978’s “Superman” and 1980’s “Superman II” as well as “polishing” a number of scripts including “War Games,” “Gremlins” and Tim Burton’s “Batman.” He died today at age 68. According to his L.A. Times obituary, he had been undergoing treatment for pancreatic cancer.

I want to remember Mankiewicz with the fun, and only slightly silly, openings to two of the most underrated entries in the James Bond series. The deliriously brutal “Diamonds are Forever” from 1971 and probably my favorite Roger Moore Bond, 1974’s “The Man With the Golden Gun” (which I’m not sure if I’ve even seen as an adult).  Note how both openings cleverly break the mold of most of the pre-credit sequences in the series. A necessity in the first case because of Connery’s temporary replacement by George Lazenby on “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service” and the unusually dark ending of that film which sets Bond off on a deadly vendetta against Ernst Stavro Blofeld. The second doesn’t even include the live Roger Moore, but we do see quite a bit of the great Christopher Lee as perhaps Bond’s most skillfully deadly nemesis, and Hervé Villechaize in a role which no doubt inspired the creators of the humorously awful “Fantasy Island.”

It really has been a long time since I saw this. All I’d like to know is — what was the Tabasco for? I didn’t see any breakfast. Gratuitous early product placement? H/t Mubi – David Hudson

Action Movies, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies, TV

What am I going to miss next?

July 29, 2010 /

I missed yesterdays big geek news of the upcoming Guillermo del Toro doing his “one for me” project with a long delayed adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s “From the Mountains of Madness” with a little help from James Cameron. Bummer, but we’ll survive that tragedy together.

And then Mike Fleming, and every fanboy on earth it appears, found that the Comic-Con trailer for “Thor” had magically appeared on line, Wikileaks style. Anyhow, just as I had prepared this post, the folks at Marvel who apparently have a control issue with their marketing plan much as the U.S. government would rather you didn’t know too much about civilian casualties or the like, pulled it. I mean like seconds ago — it was there and I was ready to go and then it was gone. If you didn’t see it elsewhere, it was all Shakespearian and stuff and had more than a touch of “King Lear” to it, which makes sense as it’s directed by Kenneth Branagh.

So, since I don’t have the Thor trailer, here’s not one but two trailers. The first, a bit of Branagh directing actual Shakespeare and the probably never to be rivaled best ever quasi-Lear in cinema history. Enjoy, as you taste my bitter fanboy tears.

You know, I love Shakespeare and all, but his stuff is so full of cliches. Well, you’ll see none of that from Kurosawa-san.

Action Movies, Comic-Con, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

Post Comic-Con movie news

July 27, 2010 /

I’m still recuperating a bit from last weekend’s insanity at Comic-Con and a busy week looms ahead, but the recent film news is just a little too interesting to ignore/gloss over.

Mike Fleming broke the news this afternoon that Daniel Craig has signed on the line which is dotted to play the male lead in the upcoming American film version of “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo.” In case you never set foot in your local Barnes and Noble outlet, that’s the first novel in so-called Millennium Trilogy of mystery thrillers by the late Swedish author/political activist Steig Larsson. The series is becoming a sort of adult/non-geek HarryPotter for the Trader Joe’s set and the first U.S. film of it has attracted the powerhouse twosome of writer Steve Zallian and director David Fincher.

Judging from having seen the solid, but not excessively over-awesome, Swedish film version of the novel (which I’m really going to have to try and read at some point), Craig is probably a much better choice than the earlier floated Brad Pitt for the part. 007 or not, it’s just easier to see Craig as a down on his luck journo. Also, as Fleming points out, this puts Craig in the unique position of having at least two and, if you count a potentially huge “Cowboys and Aliens,” possibly three franchises to keep busy and well-compensated. Craig is not only an extremely good actor, he’s apparently got some very good agents.

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Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, Comic-Con, Documentaries, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

Comic-con — notes written with tired feet

July 24, 2010 /

Comic-Con has gotten so enormous and so unfriendly to writers (and, in different ways, other folks I’m sure also) that it even nearly did in a high end reporter with gazillions of studio contacts like Anne Thompson. I’ll save my no doubt semi-cynical reflections on the thing for later, but here are just a few movie stories from the con that I have time to write about it in a very brief window.

* You might consider going from Tolkien to a ride at Disneyland a major artistic comedown, but Guillermo del Toro obviously thinks otherwise and is a huge fan of what I admit is also my favorite ride at the park. The Wrap has more, oddly enough with no mention of the mansion. Was this another event? Still nice to see that the monster-loving del Toro’s uncensored speaking style hasn’t been cleaned up by PR standards and practices.

People Guillermo del Toro

Also from “The Wrap”: Dominic Patten writes that Zack Snyder’s “Sucker Punch” lived up to its name.

* I can’t watch the video here, but you can apparently see a now-bearded Joss Whedon personally confirm that Jeremy Renner will, indeed, play Hawkeye in “The Avengers.” Oh, and I guess that means that Whedon really is directing it, after all, official like.

* “The Green Hornet” is sounding a bit more fun to me.

* The perceptive and usually geek friendly Ms. Thompson was not personally wowed by “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World” but she reports the audience at the screening she attended was. She does however have a video interview with writer-director Edgar Wright, which I haven’t had time to watch yet.

* I just had a bit of snafu/disappointment in terms of getting some good stuff for later on “Green Lantern” but the folks in Hall H had their geek buttons well pushed, it appears. (Not among them, a friend of mine here, who waited 2.5 hours in line and didn’t make it in, six people from the front of the line. He should have made it three hours.)

* An item having nothing to do with Comic-Con. According to a sexual harrassment suit, Casey Affleck appears to have a problem. I hope it’s only a legal one.

* Meanwhile, back in the real world where people pay to see movies, “Inception” is ruling the roost but sharing some of the wealth with the Angelina Jolie action vehicle, “Salt.”

Angelina Jolie in an arresting moment in

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, Comic-Con, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

A quick note to mis Comic-Con compadres

July 22, 2010 /

Yes, I am now well ensconced here at Comic-Con, and I’m not breaking my planned semi-silence for some huge news scoop…well, it’s not a big scoop unless you happen to be down here and are a movie fan who enjoys freebies.  Okay, that’s everybody.

600px-MA-CAR-1

Apparently Fox really wants to promote the heck out of “Machete” — a movie which we’ve certainly covered here before (because we can hardly wait to see it). Anyhow, tonight (i.e., Thursday 7/22/10)  it’s certain to be a mob at the 5 Star Parking lot at the corner of 5th Avenue and J Street where they’ll be free tacos, yeah, you heard me free tacos, from 5-to-8 p.m. At 9:00, they’ll be showing “exclusive” footage from “Machete” on a giant screen. Then, supposedly DJs, dancers, graffiti artsits and, oh yeah, more tacos — presumably the real taqueria kind, not the Jack-in-the-Box variety — as well as “tequila and cerveza for all.” Yes,  you read that right and, of course, you have to be 21 to get into this one. The first 100 get a t-shirt, but they’re probably already there.

I was sent an official looking invite, but gmail appears to be down right at the moment, so if you feel the need to print something out, I’ll have to refer you over here.

SELF INDULGENT MOVIE/COMIC BOOK NEWS ITEM: Highly acclaimed comics creator Kurt Busiek has made a deal with Working Title films for a movie version of his award-winning, long-running series, “Astro-City.” Busiek actually stopped by the legendary booth K1 in the Small Press Area where I can sometimes be found last night to visit with my frequently plugged here Comic-Con buddy Randy Reynaldo. (He designed the logo for Randy’s Adventure Strip Digest pro-bono around the same time as “Astro-City” started I believe; he didn’t like the old one and Randy was smart enough to accept it.) As far as I noted, Busiek didn’t say a word about it. It’s always the quiet ones.

Also, some news clown/love child of Steve Doocy and Rod Burgundy on the local Fox affiliate was telling Comic-Con guests that “Ghostbusters 3” is a done deal and maybe even already in production. Well, this isn’t a case of rightwing bias leading to utterly false and defamatory news stories on the mother network. It’s just utterly false.

That’s it for now. I’ll see ya when I see ya…

Action Movies, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

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