Save the Med Student, Save the World

The CW developing a new series for next fall isn’t exactly breaking news. Nor should be considered surprising or original the kind of show they’re aiming for. Yep, it’s another ensemble drama about pretty young people with problems. This latest example has them going through med school and all its hardships.

No, what’s interesting about this piece from THR is whose behind it. Hayden Panettiere (from Heroes) is a co-executive producer behind HMS. Granted such a title can be dubious. Sometimes it means nothing and others the person in question was actively involved. Considering this is her freshman attempt behind the camera, my guess is it’s the latter.

I say all power to her. Am I fan per say? That would be a big no. Sorry, but I don’t think she can act worth shit. But she’s smart to start stretching herself outside of Heroes (which will probably get canceled based on its horrid ratings and expensive production costs) and movies that people don’t care about like I Love You, Beth Cooper.

Frankly, don’t be surprised if she appears as a series regular, guest of the week or a recurring role (assuming it moves past the pilot stage).

Charlie and His Angels Return

The ever-growing trend of rebooting/reviving 80s era shows continue.

Variety reports ABC is a hair away from commissioning a pilot for a new Charlie’s Angels. Josh Friedman (behind the fan-favorite but not-watched Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles) will write and produce. Tagging along for the effort will be Drew Barrymore (who, of course, produced and starred in the two Angels movies) and Leonard Goldberg who produced the original ’76 series.

For all the shit people give McG about the films (not that it isn’t justified), Barrymore signed off on it as the producer. Thus the blame goes around and I don’t know if it’s the hottest idea to have her participation. To be fair, this will in all probability take a different stylistic approach (read: not look like an over-produced music video).

This is also strikes me as just plain stupid. How many more revival shows will it take for networks to figure out that viewers don’t care? For every Battlestar Galactica, there will be dozens of Knight Riders and Vs (which took a nosedive this week in the ratings – aka people are quickly losing interest). If the goal is to go for a more Alias approach, then this could work for ABC.

With Lost having its final curtain call this coming mid-season, they need a new genre-oriented show that appeals to both male and female viewers. Perhaps a new Charlie’s Angels could fill that slot.

Sly Takes His Sanity Pills - No More Sci-Fi In Rambo 5

Sylvester Stallone went against his promises that Rambo would bring an end to his psychologically disturbed ‘Nam vet-turned-killing machine action star series after it turned out to be profitable and not shit. Then he revealed the fifth installment would involve our hero fighting some sort of scientifically engineered monsters.

Much to the surprise of five people, fans thought he was joking at first. Once they realized he was for real, it didn’t go over as well as I’m sure Sly intended.

Now two months later, he tells the folks over at StalloneZone to forget about it:

I’m letting you know that Rambo has changed course and the story about hunting the man/beast will be done using another character in the lead. RAMBO himself will be heading over the border to a violent city where many young women have vanished .

There will be blood.

Best,
Sly Stallone

Good thinking, Sly! Why do the smart thing and kill the movie altogether when you can just change the name of your lead character for Savage Hunt and do an entirely different Rambo 5? With this new “Rambo vs. the Border” story-arc, I’m sure he has no intention of preaching to us movie-going idiots about his views on illegal immigration. What gave you that idea?

Harvey Keitel Says, "Fock It!"

You can’t seriously blame Harvey Keitel for this decision. It’s a good paycheck and gets his name out there to the masses that might be as familiar with his work as we’d like to think. So I won’t mention these two films in the same sentence because it would be unfair to the former.

Taxi Driver. *Pause* Little Fockers.

As everyone has already thought, this highly unanticipated threequel will reunite Keitel and Robert De Niro after Taxi Driver (one of the few films I’d personally label as being perfect) and Copland (which was a solid underrated little flick from ’97).

Also it’s not like this will be the worst thing the Pulp Fiction actor has been involved with. Do I need to remind you folks about Little Nicky?

New Avatar Extended TV Spot

Funny little story about this news-item. TMT big-cheese Peter and his girlfriend were watching Glee last night. When she saw that a “special sneak peek” for Avatar was about to start, she got up and left the room to get a cup of coffee. AKA she didn’t give a rat’s ass about the overly-hyped Cameron epic and didn't want to sit through it before her show came back on. Before anyone starts bitching about her taste, I’m talking about someone who loves popcorn pictures as much as your average film nerd (like me and you!) That is to say they'll be seeing Sherlock Holmes when it opens.

And the fact that this special extended trailer is pretty much the same as the second theatrical trailer from a week or two back doesn’t tell me Fox is confident they have a real winner. Why make a big deal about this when it only a few extra bits here and there? Seriously though, wasn’t this TV spot laughable enough?

Nonetheless, Coming Soon has the new trailer in question up for your viewing pleasure.

Zachary Quinto Chooses Next Role

Without question, Chris Pine got the most offers the Monday after Star Trek opened last summer. On the other hand, it’s weird that we haven’t heard much outta the other lead of that film Zachary Quinto since then. To be fair, he’s been busy doing Heroes which looks more and more like it will be canceled by the end of this television season.

He’s apparently been picky with his post-Trek offers. Fair enough. Playing a character as iconic as Spock certainly lends itself to type-casting as does Captain Kirk. Like Pine, the best thing for Quinto to do before wearing the pointy ears again is do something as far apart from the science fiction as possible.

According to Risky Business (a sub-section from THR), it appears the new Spock has found just that role. The actor is “loosely attached” to Whirligig. The film (being described as a “romantic dramedy”) concerns a man who becomes pals with the son of the older woman he unsuccessfully tried to bed.

Oh, I get it. This is bromantic comedy – minus Lou Ferrigno or Rush.

Is Alfred Without A Job?

The ever-growing “What’s up with Batman 3?” questions continue to plague anyone involved with the franchise. Doesn’t matter what they’re working on, there’s not a chance in Hell that question won’t be brought up.

Someone who never stops adding fuel to that fire is Sir Michael Caine (aka Alfred). I can’t count the many times he’s given crazy quotes saying that people like Johnny Depp or Phillip Seymour Hoffman could have a role in Batman III only to renege on said statement(s) a short time later.

God love him. I honestly think Caine is deliberately fucking with people with his remarks. If you ask me, that’s his subtle little way of saying, “Stop asking me about Batman, dammit!” Another example comes from the British magazine Shortlist (via IGN Movies) where the two time Oscar-winning actor voices his uncertainty of the franchise:

“As for the future… if they ever make another Batman I will be in, I will be the butler. But I don't know if they are ever going to make another Batman. If they do it won't be for quite a while.”

Ironically enough, my TMT partner and hetero lifemate Peter Georgiou and I were bullshitting on this topic earlier this morning. At this point, Christopher Nolan is going to do whatever the Hell he wants. His two Batman films made Warner Brothers a fortune and the fact that they handed him a blank $200 million+ check for Inception was their way of saying, “Thank you.”

It’s obvious they’re waiting on him to make his decision after his mind-centric science fiction epic opens next July. If not, they would have already hired some controllable director who would have followed their orders and delivered a less-than-subpar third Batman movie.

Welcome to Fright Night - Circa 2009

Fright Night was one of the better horror-gems of the 1980s. It was so successful it not only spawned a sequel (which I never watched although I heard plenty of bad things), but a Marvel Comics series (which I never read). Now THR reports it’s headed for the remake treatment.

Marti Noxon (a producer/writer for Mad Men) has been put in charge of writing this new incarnation. Unlike previously ill-fated attempts at redoing Fright, this will keep the original’s story (a teenager discovers his neighbors are vampires) in addition to its horror/comedy tone. I’m assuming this updated Charley Brewster will also be a horror movie-fanatic. I guess he'll be into torture-porn or remakes of better horror movies. Isn't that what teenage horror fans watch?

Now who should play Peter Vincent? My outside-the-box suggestion would be actor John Bloom...as his Joe Bob Briggs persona. I used to stay up all night to watch MonsterVision on TNT.

Shall We Stick A Fork In MGM?

This is just damn sad to hear. Variety reports that the once mighty MGM lion appears to have roared for the last time.

The trades reveal that despite initial optimism they would avoid bankruptcy filing, it is all for naught. Within the next couple of weeks, the studio (and their large equity) will be chipped away via auctioning. So there’s a very real chance the legendary lion logo, United Artists as a whole and the combined MGM/UA library could be the property of three different companies.

Times, they are a changing indeed. The knee-jerk question popping in everyone’s head is the fate of The Hobbit and the James Bond franchises. One shouldn’t give any serious concern for either. The former is being made in conjunction with Warner Brothers who will more than likely own the entire project to themselves when this is all settled out. The latter is in the middle of the popular and profitable Daniel Craig reign. Hell, remember our pals at We Are Movie Geeks reporting that 20^th Century Fox would be the once and future home of 007? That could up being the case.

Although with these circumstances, I’d bet on Sony (who put out Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace) end up getting it. And if Warner Brothers wounds up housing Bond, that would make them the king of the mountain in terms of franchise ownership. They already have The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, and the DC Comics catalog (most importantly Batman and Superman). Then there’s always the Mouse while we’re speculating.

Monopoly Movie Plot Details Revealed

Gotta hand it to Universal. I really wanna see Ridley Scott’s Monopoly movie now. Its producer Frank Beddor reveals to the Los Angeles Times his story pitch to the studio that got their approval and the interest of one Mr. Scott:

"I created a comedic, lovable loser who lives in Manhattan and works at a real estate company and he’s not very good at his job but he’s great at playing Monopoly. And the world record for playing is 70 straight days – over 1,600 hours – and he wanted to try to convince his friends to help him break that world record. They think he is crazy. They kid him about this girl and they're playing the game and there’s this big fight. And he’s holding a Chance card and after they’ve left he says, ‘Damn, I wanted to use that Chance card,’ and he throws it down. He falls asleep and then he wakes up in the morning and he’s holding the Chance card, and he thinks, ‘That’s odd.’

He’s all groggy and he goes down to buy some coffee and he reaches into his pocket and all he has is Monopoly money. All this Monopoly money pours out. He’s confused and embarrassed and the girl reaches across the counter and says, ‘That’s OK.’ And she gives him change in Monopoly money. He walks outside and he’s in this very vibrant place, Monopoly City, and he’s just come out of a Chance Shop. As it goes on, he takes on the evil Parker Brothers in the game of Monolopy.”

If all works out, Monopoly could be the biggest cinematic acid-trip since Speed Racer. Tell me you don’t want to see how the Hell Scott and his production team are going to visualize this world. That’s not to say this sounds like a good idea. No, actually this sounds like one horrible mess of a movie.

Now comes the biggest question of them all – who will play Uncle Moneybags? Russell Crowe? Jim Broadbent? Wilford Brimley?