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Awfully darned funny. I have to say, there were times in the movie where I felt the Joker's frustration...
Thanks, Rodger, for the tip.
Surfing about the interwebs tonight, I came across an article in which MGM plans to remake two bastions of 80s cinema: Robocop and Red Dawn. This baffles me. Truly.
Robocop, the first one, is an Academy Award winning film that was both an artistic and commercial success. The movie made more than $50 million during its original domestic run in 1987. It made buckets of money in VHS and DVD, cable and broadcast TV. And don't forget the funny books! And I know it seems strange to think of it as an artistic success, but it totally was! The violence and mayhem in addition to the portrayal of politics and media were cutting social commentary. And the public sopped it up with a biscuit.
Any way you slice it, Robocop was a success. Why then would you ever greenlight a remake? A sequel, yes. But a remake?!? I don't get it.
And Red Dawn...? Red Dawn was just bad. Oh, it had promise. Neck deep in the Cold War, the notion of a Soviet invasion of the American heartland was thrilling. Sadly, the movie just wound up being lame. But let's ponder a remake...
Who really wants to see the Soviets (which, y'know, don't exist anymore) invade anything now? We've got scarier bad guys these days. Ruskies and their conventional warfare? That's not nearly as bone chilling as dirty bombs and airplanes in skyscrapers. Those terrorist guys lose points for Richard Reid, though. Shoe Bomber? Really? You follow crashing a plane in the freaking Pentagon with a guy who can't light his shoe? Huge PR blunder.
Red Dawn?
Perhaps it's a Chinese invasion? That seems unlikely. We're their biggest customer. In 2006, the United States imported more than 162 billion dollars in Chinese goods. Who's gonna buy their crap if they invade? Going to war with your customers is spectacularly bad business.
So the Chinese are out.
I don't think the Cubans or the Venezuelans are up to it either.
Perhaps then it is a total reimagining of what Red Dawn means...?
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
Charlton Heston died yesterday. He was 84.
In my brain, there are two Charlton Hestons. There's the Charlton Heston who is Moses for generations of movie watchers. Academy Award winning Heston for his chariot driving role in Ben-Hur. Post-apocalypse Heston from Planet of the Apes. 60's Civil Rights activist Heston. The heroic Heston, y'know?
Then there's that other Charlton Heston. The Heston of the NRA. The Heston of the extreme, crazy-assed right wing. The Heston of Bowling for Columbine. Nut-Job Heston. Or perhaps, Bizarro Heston.
These two Hestons, I know, are the same man. But for my own peace of mind, I must split them and hold them apart from one another. That way I can laud the many admirable qualities of Heroic Heston while despising and, yes, pitying Bizarro Heston. That's something Heroic Heston and I can do together.
Oh, don't forget... Everybody be sure to look out for the special Heston varietal of Soylent Green due to hit shelves this week!
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
The Wife went to go see a movie this weekend with a couple of associates from work. One of the trailers she saw was for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, the fourth chapter in the Indiana Jones series which is due in theaters this summer.
"That looked cool!" She said, excited from what she saw. "I want to see that!"
This was music to my ears. Music which was almost as sweet as the "sure" I got last week when I suggested a lunch hour... encounter.
You see, Suzanne is not much on the sci-fi/fantasy/adventure stuff. She likes Harrison Ford in the Tom Clancy thrillers, but not so much in Star Wars. Certainly not in Bladerunner.
She's never seen an Indy movie.
"We have the other movies on DVD, right?" She asked.
"Oh yes," I nodded.
In the days to come, I will get to share with my lovely bride the wonder of Raiders of the Lost Ark. I believe we will skip Temple of Doom. I don't think she'll be much on the chilled monkey brains or all the bug eating. But certainly Last Crusade.
Good times will be had!
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
Well, the long awaited Incredible Hulk movie trailer made its world premier tonight on MTV and was immediately loaded to their website.
What'd you think?
I have to tell you, I was underwhelmed. Ed Norton's dialogue is all one, monotone downbeat. The action shown is all set in the dark - and I have to say that's a pet peeve of mine. Putting your CGI in dark settings is just a cheap way of hiding your crappy SFX.
One of the strength's of Ang Lee's Hulk was that there were these brilliant daylight shots of the Hulk beating the tar out of the army's tanks and aircraft. When I saw that trailer so many years ago, I was blown away.
While that movie didn't really measure up, the special effects were awesome. Not at all crappy.
And speaking of crappy SFX...
The Hulk and the Abomination look like action figures, rather than gamma irradiated monsters.
Yeah, I think there's a reason they've been putting this one off.
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
I was thinking today about last week's post concerning this summer's movie releases when it occured to me that I left one out - The Incredible Hulk. How could I have overlooked the gamma irradiated goliath? This distressed me. After all the second Hulk feature film is slated for June 13, 2008 release. It dawned on me that I have not seen a trailer for it.
In fact, I've seen virtually no promotion for it.
I went to the official site and found very little there. Just pics and a short description. No video... no wallpapers... no commentary... nothing at all fostering community or even interest.
Iron Man has had video available online in one form or another since the San Diego Comicon.
They did promote the Incredible Hulk toys at the recent Toy Fair.
Digging deeper, I found an article posted on Superhero Hype last week reporting that the trailer should be posted in early March.
Early March!?!
Doesn't that seem, I don't know, kind of late. The movie's just three month's away. A few years ago, I wouldn't have thought anything about it. Now though when movies are promoted a full year in advance (e.g. Star Trek)?
I have a sinking feeling.
Somebody, tell me it's gonna be okay.
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
Critical Hits had an entry yesterday about this summer's releases. I tell you, I am quite truly amazed at the wealth of wonderful popcorn movie goodness on its way to the multiplex this summer. Look at the list!
The fun starts on May 2nd with Marvel comics' first forray into the world of self-financed movie-making, Iron Man. Robert Downey, Jr was born to play this role. It just looks marvelous (pun intended).
I really didn't care for the first Chronicles of Narnia film, The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. But I have big hopes for the sequel, Prince Caspian, which opens May 16th. I have nothing to support my wishes here. No facts in evidence. It's just that I dearly love the works of C.S. Lewis. I pray they do this one up right.
The 900 pound gorilla of the summer box office has got to be Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The trailer for the movie is just amazing. You can't even 
see Harrison Ford's walker! It opens May 22nd.
I originally heard about Wanted when I was at Wizard World Texas this past fall. It was originally slated for a March release, but the studio realized what a strong property it had and decided to release it into the deep box office potention of the summer. Wanted is the film adaptation of Mark Millar's comic book. It opens June 27th.
The sequel to Batman Begins, The Dark Knight, opens July 18th.
I'm a huge fan of Mike Mignola's Hellboy comics and even The Wife liked the first Hellboy movie. That Guillermo Del Toro knows his way around a film. Hellboy II has the appearance of being awfully fun!
I cannot for the life of me think of a summer with better prospects for SF/Fantasy/Superhero films.
Up til now, I've held that the summer of 1984 was the finest movie summer ever. During those months, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Ghostbusters, and Prince's Purple Rain dominated cinema. I worked for a movie theater back in the day and got to see each of these at advance screenings the night before the official openings... and then all summer long.
That was a huge summer - not just in ticket sales, but in the quality on the screen.
2008 might actually beat it.
Can't wait to find out.
Aron Head
www.EvilBastard.net
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