Harry Potter Superbowl Spot (no, not the movie)

It seemed a little early for a Deathy Hallows commercial anyway, since most Superbowl ads are usually geared towards the upcoming summer movies, and the first part of the last part of the Harry Potter movie series won't be hitting theaters (in 3D, officially!) until November.  However, we will still be getting some Harry Potter goodness on Superbowl Sunday with a new preview for the Wizarding World of Harry Potter theme park set to open at Universal Orlando:

This looking-cooler-by the minute addition to Universal's Islands of Adventure park is set to open this spring.  No super-reveals about the park in this ad, other than a sweeping shot of the Hogsmeade 'main street' section and a quick glimpse at the Dragon Challenge roller coaster (which was a pretty wild ride in its first incarnation, Dueling Dragons).  There's also a tease at the top-secret Harry Potter & the Forbidden Journey ride, but I suspect details about what goes on in that Hogwarts castle dark ride will be kept secret as long as possible.  If the rumors floating around on theme park fansites are to be believed, it's going to blow away Universal's Spiderman ride.

I haven't been back to Universal since my friend's backpack was stolen from a locker near the Dudley Do-Right Ripshaw Falls ride in 2005, but everything I've seen so far including this even better preview) that was included on the Half-Blood Prince dvd) has really convinced me that it's time to finally let bygones be bygones and check this out the next time I'm in Orlando.  Can't wait to check it out. 

Captain America Finalist?

Captain America?One more for the rumor mill.  And, please, keep note of the use of the word rumor here.  I know my fanboy brethren can create a frenzy quicker than the Flash can tie his shoe laces.  Captain America is nearing a start date in June and we have known for awhile that auditions have been taking place.  Not long ago director Joe Johnston said we were a few weeks away from an announcement and that there was a "short list'.  Could that list be down to two already?  Could be according to a scooper over at Big Shiny Robot .  One of the two and perhaps the leading contender is Chad Michael Murray. 

A snippet from the scooper below:

So I work in a place outside of LA where some celebrities frequent. Chad Michael Murray is one of these people. He was in the other night and one of his friends with him told me that the casting for Cap is down to Chad and one other person. He didn’t tell more who the other person is perhaps he didn’t know, but I found it interesting.

The full could be scoop can be read in its entirety over at Big Shiny Robot which I highlighted above.  As for Chad Michael Murray in the part, he's not someone I'd ever considered, but wouldn't be the most horrendous of choices.  He's got a good Captain America look, is the right height, and a good age to carry the franchise, and most importantly is a decent actor.  He also has some name recognition that could be very helpful to his getting the part, but not so much so that him getting cast would ruin the illusion of Captain America.  It certainly wouldn't be like a Brad Pitt getting the role where the star power overwhelms the fantasy.

The nearing of Captain America filming, and the inevitable casting of the lead has me giddy as a school girl.  Got a problem with that?

Yep, Smallville: Absolute Crap

Everyone is now dumber for watching that. I award you no points. May God have mercy on your soul.

Before I get started, can anyone tell me who I can contact at WB to get that two hours of my life back? I feel like I was just mugged by Robin Hood and his oh so merry men...in costumes from the high school drama club. Was that mace made out of paper mache? 

Where do I start? Seriously. There are so many great points to touch on. No member of the cast or crew can possibly be happy with what was just aired, although I'm sure the ratings went up after all the internet hype this show got. On the flip side, I'm guessing that even some of the hardcore weekly viewers were put off by that catastrophe, which may aid the campaign to put this mangy beast out of our misery. I know WB has been draining every penny they could out of this, but hey, even Travis had to shoot Old Yeller in the end.

The show has always had that feel of an awkward reject that was stuck somewhere between day time soap operas and low budget, made for Lifetime movies, but at least, for the most part, the acting from the regular cast is passable. I won’t persecute the regulars, because we pretty much know what we’re getting from them week to week, but these guest stars…someone must be held accountable.

 Whether it was Michael Shanks’ pitiful attempt to blatantly copy Christian Bale’s Batman voice every time he donned that ridiculous Hawkman mask or Wesley Maclnnes’ over acting that would have made Jim Carey’s Riddler look like a Buddist monk, the performances were nothing more than atrocious.

 I suppose, though, that it must be hard to fully get into character when you can’t possibly connect with the script. The one scene where Clark was looking through the Hall of Justice and rummaging through the old super hero gear would have had potential had it not been surrounded by so much garbage.

 Oddly enough, that garbage mirrored a DC mini-series from 1986 entitled Legends, in which Icicle (yeah, he really is a DC character) joins with an ant-justice group at a time when America turned against its heroes and outlawed costumed crime fighters. So, I don’t know if I should give kudos for using a comic arc, or be even more disappointed that the writers were so unoriginal that they used a failed story line from 24 years ago.

 In any case, the show sadly fell even below my already rock bottom expectations. Its sad to see that a concept with such great potential has turned out nothing better than what it has.

 I always want to hear from the readers. And if you liked the episode, PLEASE comment. I’d love to hear an argument for it.

Memo To The Executives: The 'Battle Royale' Remake

Looks like the new kids on the block are putting me to shame with their awesome posts on the site but I'm still here folks and it's time for your regular Friday instalment of 'memo to the executives'.

To most of the people who read our site, the word 'remake' usually brings the immediate reaction of violent stomach cramp.  If we're talking about a remake of a popular Japanese film then add a bout of dysentery to that.  It's not an instinctive snobbish attitude as the results speak for themselves.  It's a genre (if it can be called such) that just doesn't have a good track record.

But there is one particular film, which was rumoured to be getting the American remake treatment, which actually sounded enticing.  A film whose story and premise is both distinctly Japanese but strong enough that it could easily be reconfigured into something more palatable for a Western audience.   A film which appears nothing more a typical slice of teenage slasher sadism on the surface but deals with such a potent and relatable subject matter that it stays with the viewer long after the film has ended. 

For those of you not familiar with it, 'Battle Royale' tells the story of a Japan of the not too distant future which has fallen into economic and social collapse.  Employment is at an all-time low and in relation to that, juvenile violence and delinquency is at an all-time high.  After all, why should the youth conform to the educational system if there is no point in working hard and no prospect of a future they can aspire to?  In order to quell the problem, the government puts a new system of control in places and established 'The BR Act' where by every year one class of school children is taken against their will to an isolated island location which, for the following three days, will be their battleground as they are charged with the task of killing each other.  They are given a random weapon, a map, and an explosive collar fitted to their necks which will explode after the three day time limit if the game has no winner.  The only way to win is to survive.  The only way to survive is to ensure that everyone else is dead.  The only prize is survival and the knowledge to take home of what a government is compelled to do to ensure control.

The story specifically focuses on a group of teenagers referred to only as 'class B', a typical band of truants who made life hell for their teacher Kitano (played by the legendary Beat Takeshi).  Compiling the shock of being kidnapped and chosen for the next 'Battle Royale', the class find that Kitano is the man in charge of the game and takes great pleasure from watching them destroy themselves (and even gets in on the action in two cases).  Providing a centre to all the mayhem as battle commences are two students who forge a deep bond and find the will to survive and protect each other, determined to escape before they will be forced to make the choice of killing the other to survive.  There are only about 40 other students in the way of making that happen so it shouldn't be too hard.

Huge fan as I am, I've never seen the film as particularly dense.  It isn't the kind of movie which throws allegory and subtext at you in every scene, or pretentiously pretends to be anything more than what it is; an extremely well made 'what if' comic book fantasy set in a dystopian fascist future not too far apart from our own world.  It focuses on a premise and situation which every school kid on the planet could imagine themselves in.  But it also, rather than just focusing on one or two protagonists and allowing the rest of the class to be hollow sacrificial lambs, cuts away to many other kids on the island and through wonderful writing creates plenty of engaging characters.  What makes this all the more impressive is that most of these characters only get one scene in the film.  In the space of a few minutes, the audience gets a complete character portrait allowing for a certain amount of emotional attachment before their inevitable grisly death.

That is what separates the film, and hopefully any remake, from standard slasher exploitation fare.  That is what has made 'Battle Royale' a classic in the ten years since its release and that is the heart of the piece, for me.  In those character/death sequences, we get to see almost every possible aspect of teen angst/school life represented.  We have the cheating girlfriend being hunted by the jealous ex.  We have the nerdy kid with glasses, always desperate to be better than everyone, immediately embracing the goal of the game.  The happy couples who are faced with the prospect of killing one another commit suicide.  The tech genius friends band together to try and hack the military network.  The flower power brigade tries to rally for a ceasefire (and get gunned down for their trouble).  The girl clique of the class ends up in a typical argument groups like that would have but with poison and machine guns thrown in.  And in the most powerful segment, a girl played by Chiaki Kuriyama (you may remember her as the evil Gogo Yubari from 'Kill Bill: Volume One') finally gets her revenge on a cowardly stalker-esque boy who made up stories about sleeping with her.  He finally gets penetration, but not the way he was hoping. 

You could say some of it leans heavily on cliché but it works in a film like this where we're really watching archetypes fighting to the death rather than specific characters.  If you give a remake the same treatment, but with American teenagers, every one who sees the film will find a particular character or situation to relate to; something out of their past.  It works exactly the same for the rest of us who have left our school days behind many years ago.  It's just fun spooling ideas of the different kinds of characters who could be dropped in this situation and how they would react to it or maybe even the people we remember from our own life at school.  For the purposes of the remake imagine:

* The teacher's pet, always determined to be better than everyone else, always thinking they ARE better than everyone else but now thrown into a situation where being in the teacher's good books isn't going to be enough to survive.  In fact, they'd probably be the first to get hunted down and lynched.

* The quiet nerd who goes it alone, methodically trying to figure out the best way to win making him one of the most feared opponents on the island.

* The psycho who uses their body to lure in prey of the opposite sex.

* The most popular girl in school and the groupies who surround her, even in the game but now all have their backs up wondering if she will play them off against each other and eliminate them.

* The anarchist usually holed up in their bedroom coming up with wild plots to bring down the government and now actually in the position of fighting back against them.

*Not to mention the teacher in charge of the 'Battle Royale'.  One thing that should be followed to the letter from the original is the genuine and understated performance of Beat Takeshi's Kitano.  It's all the more frightening when a seemingly sane minded person is putting his students in this situation because he genuinely feels it is the best way to deal with the youth, as opposed to a camp, eye bulging loon.

If the viewer wasn't thinking it before, once they have found someone in the film to connect with, they immediately begin thinking about what they would do in that extreme situation.  When all is said and done, it boils down to the question of whether you want to survive and what you are prepared to do for it versus rolling over and dying because of something you are not prepared to do.  I doubt there is a single kid growing up and being prepared for the world they will face after leaving the safety of education that hasn't been told about the dog eat dog order of things and how we all need to be aggressive and a little ruthless to get ahead.  'Battle Royale' speaks directly about the consequences of such a philosophy when teenagers are placed in the ultimate symbolic representation of the dog eat dog world.  It is quite literally, 'kill or be killed'.  And it is quite deliberate that the cast of the film are clearly in their last year or so of high school and on the precipice of making those choices which set the course of the rest of their lives.

In the original film, one of the more contentious plot points was that 'The BR Act' was not some secret government project but a widely know piece of legislation backed up during each year's game by enthusiastic media coverage.  The whole point of the film I suppose is to paint the picture of a future Japan where the youth are so feared that the rest of the population would have no moral issue in passing such a law to keep them in line.  But just for the sake of taking the core idea and presenting it differently, I would like to see the remake treat 'The BR Act' as a secret government initiative.  It just seems to make more sense in an American version of the story that the only members of the public would know about Battle Royale would be the kids who are kidnapped to be a part of it, with the rest of the country (including the kids parents) being given some convenient excuse as to their disappearance, although news and rumours travel in underground circles as to what really happens to them; an idea which sounds so ridiculous it is dismissed by most people outright.  This is not to say there should be any change in the dystopian situation of the country.  The idea of a country (especially America) being on the verge of economic collapse has more resonance today than the original film did back in 2000.  But having the 'Battle Royale' program be a covert operation slim lines the story and answers a lot of questions the audience would otherwise be asking themselves if everyone in the country were immediately accepting of the idea of kidnapping school children and forcing them to kill each other.  It adds some mystery and intrigue to the first act of the film as we discover what is going on through the kids’ eyes and solves the little problem of the necessary exposition required to explain the rules of the game.

Such a change in plotting necessitates a change in ending as well.  The original film climaxes with the two protagonists escaping the secret island, being branded as fugitive criminals by the government and going on the run.  Rather than defiance against a fascist regime, in the remake it would be interesting to see the exact opposite; the survivor embracing and conforming to it.  Let us say that the main protagonist starts the film as something of a wastrel.  They are completely disillusioned by the future they in, a country which is in such trouble that there is no chance, let alone guarantee, of a good career no matter how hard you work at school.  Initially, as the Battle Royale begins, it seems like the final straw and they contemplate suicide right then and there.  Then a close bond begins to form with one of the other students, with whom they battle the elements together, leading the audiences who have seen the original to assume the remake will end in exactly the same way.  Eventually, all the other students are dead and it comes down to the two of them.  Rather than just patiently waiting for the end of the game to run its course, the teacher pulls the final sleight of hand.  The prize for the sole survivor will be more than their life back, but an actual career in the government; a cushy government job if you will.  All of a sudden, all those fears of returning to the country they know with all its problems and uncertainty flood back.  They realize they were only fighting because they thought they were going to die and wanted to at least make it difficult for the others.  With that no longer being the case, our protagonist, almost instinctively and without hesitation, kills their best friend to take the prize.  The morals of friendship and loyalty are thrown out of the window in favour of the rules of dog eat dog. 

Alternatively, cruel on the audience as it may be, perhaps the film should end on the dilemma of the characters in their final moments of the game, both of them with a weapon in their hand, both of them weighing the two options presented.  Since this is the culmination of the film's message, maybe it is best not to present the answer but cut to black and leave the audience to ponder what they would do in that situation.  Then again, maybe it is dramatically unsatisfying.  Either way, the audience has something to take home and think about.  A remake that lingers long in the memory; you don't see too many of those.

You may actually remember rumours from a few years back when New Line Cinema (R.I.P.) acquired the rights to produce the 'Battle Royale' remake.  Apart from the absurd rumour that it may be aiming for a PG-13 rating, it practically vanished without trace, long in fact before New Line itself suffered the same fate.  I really do hope that someone else picks up the rights and gives this property a go.  We roll our eyes at the remakes which get made because there seems little point in shooting them.  They appear to be nothing more than shot for shot recreations (that 'Nightmare On Elm Street' remake, despite potential, looks like it has fallen into that very trap).  With 'Battle Royale' you at least start with a bloody good story which can be reconfigured into something else and still honour the original's spirit and tone.  Though the idea could be moved to a Western setting, the film is so distinctly Japanese that an American remake cannot help but be different.  And if it sucks, it's just another notch on the blackboard....

....and you can stick an explosive collar on me for my baseless enthusiasm.

Pitt and Reynolds May Have a Shootout

Gunsmoke, a radio serial that ran from 1952 to 1961, overlapped a television series by the same name that started in 1955. The popular gunslinger American western show ran for 20 years, ending in 1975 after producing 635 full episodes. The show's focus was on the adventures of Marshall Matt Dillon as he struggled to maintain order in a small Kansas town filled with vagrant misfits with the assistance of the town's physician Doc Adams and Miss Kitty Russell, the owner of the local tavern. 

The character of Dillon on the radio series was voiced by William Conrad, who was publicly shocked and, to a point, embittered by the fact that he was not invited to resume the role once it transition to the screen. Instead, the relatively unknown, but well publicized (introduced by John Wayne in a short trailer for the CBS TV series) James Arness, became the infamous lawman. History, as it seems, has a way of repeating itself.

Enter Brad Pitt and Ryan Reynolds. Both men are reportedly unholstering their guns to take a shot at leading role of a proposed Gunsmoke movie based on a draft by Gregory Poirier (National Treasure: Book of Secrets) which is said to be well received by studios. 

Pitt has already saddled up in western flicks like "The Assassination of Jesse james", which makes him the rumored favorite, but Reynolds has also done a great job reinventing himself from the quippy one-liner comedian to a rising action star. He's currently attached as the lead in Warner Bros. "Green Lantern" based on the DC  super hero.

 Its a toss up for me. I like them both. One thing's for sure, with a concept that ran for twenty years on television, we'll be hearing a lot more on this once a director is named. 

Are You Old Enough for Cop Out?

It looks like Kevin Smith, one of my personal favorites starting way back with Chasing Amy and Mallrats, may have done it again. Cop Out stars Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan as NYPD partners on the trail of a gangster, who has allegedly stolen a rare, mint-condition baseball card for his collection. Jimmy (Willis) sees the caper as his only opportunity to fund the upcoming wedding for his daughter, while Paul (Morgan) has trouble focusing on the task at hand when comedic rumors surface about his wife's supposed acts of infidelity. 

I was scared, at first, that this may parallel the likes of "Stop or My Mom Will Shoot", but realizing now that Smith is behind the lense, and with the Tag line "Rock out with your Glock out", this may prove to be a sharped tongue comedy to add to my collection. Check out the Restricted Trailer below. Adam Brody, Kevin Pollack, Guillmero Diaz, Sean William Scott, Jason Lee and Anna de la Reguera round out the cast. Cop Out opens in theaters February 26.

Robin Hood SuperBowl Spot

I really want to like this movie because I love the Robin Hood character and I'm a big fan of Crowe and Scott and their work together, however I am still not feeling it.

The spot gives us some dialog that sets up the heroes journey much like the Airbender spot, this is followed by some bow and arrow action and then a bunch of epic battle shots, that while looking faultlessly executed, feel like they come from an El Cid remake rather than a Robin Hood movie.

"Robin Hood" opens May 14th and you can check the spot out below.

McG goes to War!

No not with WB over not letting Terminator Salvation have an R rating, according to The Hollywood Reporter he's going to war in more of a comedic sense, check the blurb out below.

McG, heading into action-comedy territory, is in negotiations to direct "This Means War" for Fox.
Bradley Cooper and Reese Witherspoon are attached to star in the tale of best friends who are also spies and fall in love with the same woman (Witherspoon). The men's bond disintegrates, and their ensuing battle escalates.

Overbrook and Robert Simonds are producing. Timothy Dowling ("Role Models") wrote the most recent draft.
The move seems to get the long-gestating project on track. The studio picked up the script in 1998, with the project seeing its share of producers, directors (including Gore Verbinski) and stars (Martin Lawrence) come and go.

I think there is a decent director lurking inside McG and I like his enthusiasm, picking this project up with a hotshot actor like Bradley cooper attached is not a bad move although the concept sounds like it could turn into slapstick stupidity, still there is talk of New York being destroyed as the two friends battle so I am guessing it has pretty large action sequences for a rom com which plays in McG's favour.

The Last Airbender Super Bowl Spot HD

I don't know anything about this anime adaption in truth, well at least beyond the basics, and I am also not a big fan of M. Knight, but damn if this trailer doesn't make me want to see the movie.

There's an "epic and wise" voice over guy giving you the basic heroes journey info but since this is a spot to be shown amid the hype for 'America's game' and people will be buzzing on fizzy pop and chips, the most important thing is it packs a visual punch.

The visuals on show here a very impressive and their is a scope and energy to the action sequences that shows M might just have a knack for this type of movie, which is a big leap from his usual stuff, don't just take my word for it, check it out below!

This Week on DVD: Surrogates

This will be the first of a weekly article I'll be writing in which I review one new DVD release and either recommend it or rip on it. Remember, my opinion is just that, so don't allow my rants to dissuade you from any home entertainment. But, if you share the same views as I do on other articles I've written, obviously you're not an idiot, so you might want to listen up. I might save you four bucks that would have otherwise be wasted. 

Surrogates I didn't follow this one very closely when it was released in theaters. I do remember the TV spots being a little vague and ambiguous, but it stars Bruce Willis, one of my favorites, so I decided on it for this week's topic.

The basic synopsis of the film, without being spoiler heavy, is that, in an alternate present day, the best intentions of creating robotic driven bodies, similar to a Terminator, to replace the broken bodies of handicapped humans goes awry and presents the opportunity for any average Joe Schmo to purchase a machine version of him or herself, made to that person's exact specifications. Pray that, in a time when celebrity worship is at its worst, this never becomes a reality. I already see enough skin and bone versions of females walking around between purges. 

The machines work by way of a neural connection with the operator, who literally never has to leave their seat. The appeal is that, by cutting yourself off from the world, you eliminate, to a certain degree, the risk of disease or injury. You can also be anyone or anything you want. But don't we already have enough of that? I can sit in my chair in the sanctity of my own home and write whatever I want, whether its how I feel or not (which it always is) and you would never know the difference. The story touches on the importance of human interaction. You know, that face to face thing, where you can actually see a person laugh out loud instead of reading "LOL". 

Recommend Its definitely a sci-fi movie, which may be an initial turn off to the ladies, but guys, if you can get your sweetie to sit down and watch it with you, it might sway her into the mood for a little human interaction. And it may make you decide to limit your time on Facebook...for a couple of hours at least.