In Contention

Tag: Total Recall

  • Another year, another Con…

    …and a thinner Con, at that.

    There was very little on the convention schedule that grabbed my attention when it was released last week. I’ll be on hand for the Fox panel tomorrow, hoping to get some good vibes from Ridley Scott’s “Prometheus.” I’ll be there for Paramount and Steven Spielberg on Friday when we all get a glimpse of “The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.” I’ll definitely be on hand for Francis Ford Coppola’s first appearance here on Saturday when he brings a slice of “Twixt,” and, of course, I’ll saddle up to the Entertainment Weekly “Visionaries” panel, this year featuring Jon Favreau and Guillermo Del Toro.

    Speaking of Del Toro, I’m intrigued by “Pacific Rim” enough to poke into the Legendary Pictures panel (which won’t be in Hall H, interestingly enough). I also feel the need to check out the “Beavis and Butt-Head” event (as the terrible twosome will be back on MTV later this year and I am, I must confess, a die-hard). Maybe I’ll make it to Relativity’s “Immortals” event, maybe I’ll head to the Hilton Bayfront tomorrow morning for a focus on makeup artist Rick Baker, but I’ve literally just given you my role call of interests this year, easily half the amount of events on my list in years past.

    (more…)

  • WEEKLY WRAP: ‘Invictus,’ ‘Bones’ and a billion remakes

    Matt Damon in InvictusSlipped my mind to do this on Friday, but better late…

    • We broke the news that Clint Eastwood’s upcoming Mandela film finally has a title: “Invictus.” (And if you’re wondering what it means, we explain that too.)

    • And with that, much “Invictus” talk ensued, as we learned that Eastwood directed the film at Morgan Freeman’s request, and that it’s going up against “The Lovely Bones” in December.

    • Speaking of “The Lovely Bones,” this week’s edition of Page to Screen put Alice Sebold’s bestselling novel under scrutiny.

    • Our slightly disappointing (to some, at least) poll of cinema’s most influential films entered its final stage.

    • With the news of a “Total Recall” remake the final straw, we got on Hollywood’s case for being so apparently allergic to original material.

    • This week’s list counted down the all-time greatest champs in the Best Foreign Language Film category. (Hint: The just-released “Departures” ain’t on it.)

    • We considered the wealth of female filmmakers in the mix for awards consideration this year.

    • A bit of respect for the great Elia Kazan.

    • “Up” stormed the box office, as we all knew it would.

    • Finally, in sadder, and much less expected, news, we said goodbye to actor David Carradine.

  • What the $%@& is up with all the rehashing, Tinseltown?

    Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total RecallDoesn’t it just feel like you’re Arnold over there lately, strapped into that chair and force-fed the disgusting mindwipe that is Hollywood product these days?

    Patrick Goldstein has written a piece that touches on something that has been digging further and further under my skin the last couple of weeks: Hollywood’s disgusting rehashing of previous material.

    It’s nothing new, of course,  Remakes and sequelitis have plagued the industry from its earliest days.  When it comes to economics and brass tacks, the fact is, these places are run by business-minded individuals who look to capitalize on public interest at every turn.  And in an economy such as this, it simply spells disaster for moviegoers who long for something new.  It doesn’t even have to be GOOD but FRESH would be appreciated.  But what’s rather sad is the fact that a number of the pipelined reboots, remakes and sequels have ties to projects that never lit up the box office to begin with, clearly lost touch with audiences over the years, or in some cases, never even found much interest on home video.  How does that math compute?

    For some, it might seem like the oldest complaint in the book, but have you taken a look at what we have in store lately?  Just in the past few weeks a slew of titles have popped up either as newly announced projects or projects landing writers, directors, etc.  Do we really need a remake of “Total Recall” 19 years later?  Is America so deprived of the “Short Circuit” franchise that it needs a reboot as well (no doubt some weird capitalization on “WALL-E”)?  And a new “Scream” trilogy?  Really?

    The “Alien” prequel and “Predators” project (a sequel) have glimmers of promise but they also represent franchises that need to die a quick and merciful death.  Ditto “Robocop,” also getting the reboot treatment.  Did the box office nose dive of “Terminator Salvation” not teach these people anything?  Fox needs to buy the “Terminator” rights (which will be on the market soon) and end it all for us with “Predaterminalien.”  Just get it over with.  Smothered in the night.  There are other stories, folks.

    (more…)