[CinemaRatty] tag: adaptation

Gordon Tells His Side in Watchmen Controversy

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:49:53 +0000

At the center of the on-going “Watchmen” legal battle between Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox is Larry Gordon. According to the ruling issued on December 24, Gordon didn’t have full control of the “Watchmen” property to shop it around to studios other than 20th Century Fox.

U.S. District Court Judge Gary Feess’ decision found that Gordon, who is not a party to the case, did not secure proper rights to “Watchmen” from Fox before shopping the project and setting it up at Warner Bros. The judge also said Gordon had “refused to testify” to key questions during his deposition and, as punishment, would not be allowed to have his voice heard on “any aspect” of the case.

Now, after weeks of silence, Gordon has spoken up via a letter sent to Feess. The letter, sent Wednesday, offers Gordon’s version of events that led to the court’s ruling that Fox owns distribution rights to the Zack Snyder-helmed comic-book adaptation.

In the letter, Gordon defends his actions during the negotiations of two key agreements with Fox during the early 1990s and in the course of the litigation. He also lays out several pages of evidence showing his responses to deposition questions.

“Mr. Gordon clearly testified that he does not recall any conversations he had with representatives of Fox in or about 1994 relating to ‘Watchmen,’ ” the letter states.

Gordon is referring to a 1994 turnaround agreement signed by Gordon and Fox that allowed him to shop the project. During negotiations for that agreement, Gordon argues that he and apparently his attorneys were unaware of a 1991 quitclaim agreement that granted Fox distribution rights to the film and a share of profits if Gordon made it elsewhere.

Feess ruled that Gordon did not fully control “Watchmen” because he failed to reimburse Fox its development costs and to resubmit the project when key creative elements changed.

Gordon claims in his letter that during those negotiations, Fox sent his lawyer, Tom Hunter at the firm Bloom Dekom, a chain of title that did not include the 1991 quitclaim.

“It is Mr. Gordon’s position that the execution of the 1994 turnaround agreement was the result of either a mutual mistake by both parties or a unilateral mistake made by his counsel, on which Mr. Gordon relied,” the letter says.

Fox, Warner Bros. and Gordon’s attorneys declined comment Thursday.

Feess refused to read the letter, citing that it was improper contact, violating court rules.

Rethinking The Reader

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 10:25:29 +0000

‘Tis the season for surprises. Just as we’re getting comfy with our lists of “locks” and all neatly tucked in with our fave frontrunners, out of left field comes a Meryl Streep-Anne Hathaway tie or a stunning Happy-Go-Snub-Yourself from BAFTA. One of the nicest surprises at last night’s Critics Choice awards was the win many AD’ers have been waiting to see for weeks: Kate Winslet finally getting some recognition for The Reader. Along with The Reader’s USC Scripter nomination early this week, maybe it’s time to rethink The Reader? For those of us who are all thunk out on a Friday, Regina Weinreich at the Huffington Post helps prompt the rethinking:

The emotionally resonant The Reader lingers most, causing a delicious discomfort, a mix of fine acting and writing, the saucy conceit of the teenaged boy Michael (David Kross) and his affair with a mysterious and illiterate Hanna 20 years his senior, and an eternal craving: this movie is after all set in Germany and maybe what we want most is what we will never get (in some Frost/Nixon type logic): for someone to take responsibility for the past. Critics have been poo-pooing this movie for the love affair between a minor and older woman, and other reasons, but I say, look again. The authenticity of the film’s irresolution explains why the Holocaust is such an inexhaustible subject.

It’s a problem I’ll admit to having with the novel — much as I admired it already — and wished Schlink had been explored that issue more explicitly. Now this painful lack of closure is made even more acute in David Hare’s adroit adaptation to the screen:

Significantly, once in prison, Hanna… reads a survivor’s memoir. Instructed by director Stephen Daldry, playwright David Hare omitted that reading, substituting the classics, making even the suggestion of redemption impossible.

This is what makes The Reader so different from Holocaust films we’re used to seeing, and it could be the key to what differentiates its impact, raising its status in the recent surge of a very late release.

Marley & Me Review

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 04:34:54 +0000

The film adaptation of John Grogan’s best-selling memoir, Marley and Me, is a cute diversion for dog-lovers and old softies, but lacks the humor to compliment the depressing denouement. At the most it’s a decent romantic comedy, if only because it doesn’t dwell on a typical dating drama or a formulaic “will she or won’t she” ending.

John and Jennifer Grogan (Owen Wilson and Jennifer Aniston) are two newlyweds freshly relocated to South Florida to live out their dreams as newspaper contributors. Fearful of starting a family too soon, John decides a dog would be an easy step towards caring for a loved one. Until they brought home Marley, the out-of-control Labrador Retriever who terrorizes the neighborhood and destroys everything in sight.

Unfortunately, a lengthy montage of doggy disasters glosses over the years where the Grogans bonded with their animal. It might have been nice to know what separated Marley from all the other rambunctious puppies, aside from his maddening aversion to training.

The story skips right to the part where the title canine is less important, and Marley is reduced to comic relief during darker times. The once baby-frightened Grogans embrace parenthood, and Jennifer start birthing her own litter of messy family members. Meanwhile, John can’t decide whether he wants to be a successful columnist or a struggling reporter. In the background, Marley eats stuff. That is, until the plot takes the inevitable turn towards tearjerker and the filmmaker cranks the knob to “Full Weep Mode.” Grab your tissues on the way to the theater.

This movie is not “fun for the whole family.” Your kids might enjoy the wacky dog-jinx during the first half, but a more mature, duller story sets in when Marley loses his step, and children will whisper “Where’s the doggie?” I saw a parent briskly leading her two very young children from the theater during the holidays. I don’t blame her. No one likes Jennifer Aniston’s acting.

But don’t take my word for it. Let’s hear from NewsinFilm’s resident dog movie expert. I figure you’ve seen enough of what I have to say, let’s read another take on Marley and Me. Back by popular demand, after the positive reactions to his first review… Rowdy the Chihuahua:

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3 out of 5.

You never forget the truth; it just gets easier to lie

Fri, 09 Jan 2009 03:01:00 +0000

By Edward Copeland
No matter how well manicured the lawn, how well dressed and behaved the couple, you can never be certain what's going on once the front door is closed, especially in the 1950s suburbia of Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road, a film some are finding depressing beyond words but which I found riveting and remarkable. Kate Winslet has compiled an impressive body of work in nearly a decade and a half and she's only 33 and in my opinion Revolutionary Road may be the topper. As April Wheeler, the young '50s housewife whose life hasn't gone in any direction that she'd hoped for or enjoyed, Winslet is magnificent. When I mentioned on Facebook that Winslet has the Oscar in the bag, no matter what degree you like or dislike Revolutionary Road, someone wrote to the effect "unless the viewer had slit their throat first." While it's certainly true that the film is not a laugh riot, I had nowhere near that reaction and I still think even the film's biggest detractors have to recognize Winslet's brilliance here (plus if she's a double nominee this year bringing her career total to seven, will they want to make her the losingest actress of all time?). Revolutionary Road is not a film like The Hours, where after a screening a journalist asked, "Cyanide capsules for everyone?" Now, that was a film that made a viewer contemplate ending one's life. Unlike The Hours, Revolutionary Road is well acted, well written and well directed on every level. As much as I love Winslet, I don't want to leave the impression that she's the whole show because Leonardo DiCaprio gives one of his best performances as well as her husband Frank, similarly given to uncertainty about where he's going and where he wants to be. He's not a faithful husband, but the film doesn't make him guilty for the marital fissure. Alice is equally responsible, yet neither is to blame. In addition to the great work by the leads, there is solid support from Dylan Baker, Kathy Bates, David Barbour and Kathryn Hahn, among others. The prize among the supporting players though goes to Michael Shannon as Bates' unstable son. If Viola Davis deserves Oscar consideration for her single lengthy scene in Doubt, then Shannon is equally worthy for his two electric appearances in Revolutionary Road. Sam Mendes beautifully tells the tale through Justin Haythe's adaptation of Richard Yates' novel in his best film since his Oscar-winning debut with American Beauty. While Mendes is again dealing with suburbia, albeit period suburbia, it's not a satiric take and the time period almost is irrelevant because the sadness and truths are universal and heartbreaking. While I can see why the film would be a depressing time for some, for me Revolutionary Road is one of 2008's best films.

Review Catch-Up: Doubt, Slumdog Millionaire, Defiance, The Wrestler, The Reader

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 18:48:00 +0000

Doubt (John Patrick Shanley, 2008). If the term "lowbrow highbrow" doesn't yet exist within our collective critical vernacular, I'd like to officially coin it as this film's chief descriptor. Praise be to John Patrick Shanley for adapting his own work in a manner that can actually be classified as cinematic, but methinks it is really Meryl Streep that guides this film into the realm of the worthwhile. Script-wise, things are about as unambiguous as they come, and so Streep's turn as a nun convinced of her priest's inappropriate relationship with an alter boy becomes less of a "did he/did he not do it" escapade than a morality play in which evils are accepted in hope of a greater good. There's Oscar prestige gloss here for sure, but the cast seems to approach it as if it were pulp; their eagerly mucking about the film's thematic underbelly almost justifies the relative triteness with which the material is presented. Hoffman's persona finds one of its best outlets yet therein, Amy Adams continues to endear, and though Streep's excellence has been misused much of late, her fascinating facial concentrations are a tour-de-force unto themselves. B-

Slumdog Millionaire (Danny Boyle, 2008). I've seen this film twice to date, and both times I've noticed distinct whiffs of The Wizard of Oz amidst the film's superbly romanticized climax; not so much in shared filmic qualities than in how both sidestep customary storytelling pretenses to go for the emotional jugular. As regarding the lifetime of experiences that aid the most unlikely of gameshow candidates -- a young boy (Dev Patel) whose ghetto life has provided him with a most extensive and varied array of skills and ever-so-helpful factoids -- Slumdog is comparable to Uma Thurman's Pulp Fiction adrenaline shot, a kinetic fireball of a movie in which every vibrant image and titillating edit trigger vast networks of emotional response. Boyle's flashback device would appear to be a hindrance to the whole, but Slumdog is nothing if not more than the sum of its parts, its collection of instantly iconic pop experiences effortlessly translating across the boundaries of age and culture into a superbly humanized modern-day fairy tale. B+

Defiance (Edward Zwick, 2008). Normally, I'm all about Jews with guns, but Munich this ain't. For a while, the latest from the reliably boring Zwick would appear to be an act of creative growth of sorts, and though it is certainly an improvement over the career-low that was Blood Diamond, this tale of a Jewish community that survived for three years of WWII in the Belarussian forest remains as emotionally robotic and superficially deliberate in its storytelling as one would expect from such blatant paint-by-numbers filmmaking. C

The Wrestler (Darren Aronofsky, 2008). The extreme stylistic dissimilarity between this and Aronofsky's previous film (the out-there sci-fi fantasy existentialism of The Fountain) and this is just about surface deep; The Wrestler is a film as particularly embodied by its chosen style as its predecessor, and is just as eager to feel and be felt. Rourke is sensational as the washed-up former celebrity wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, but for me it's Aronofsky's handheld takes that steal the show: following Randy about his routines, achingly, effortlessly evoking the time that hangs on every choice and missed opportunity, all of it rather bittersweetly framed in the film's anti-romantic view of northwestern America. If certain passages feel more or less calculated, the overwhelming majority thrives on the film's lived-in sense of class consciousness; there may be no more heartbreaking scene of 2008 than the wallop-packing closer. B+

The Reader (Stephen Daldry, 2008). I'd written and editing a full-length review of this thing before Mozilla decided to crash and take with it my foolishly unsaved work; too bad, 'cuz I refuse to donate another hour of my life to reliving the unpleasantries of this unfortunately misguided adaptation. Never anything remotely close to condescending or evil, The Reader nevertheless suffers chiefly from a distasteful thematic overemphasis, though not far behind is the film's rather insistent self-flattery. As in Revolutionary Road, Winslet is good as a former SS agent who, while attempting to live a normal life in 1995 Berlin, has an affair with a 16-year-old literature enthusiast; after he sneaks a peek at her privates while she changes, it's only a matter of time before she's bawling her eyes out as he reads the climax of The Odyssey. Strangely dispassionate, there's never much morality to chew on for a film so purportedly serious. The banality of evil -- the means by which normal, moral people (i.e. the overwhelming majority of the German population) find themselves accepting and aiding something as overwhelmingly horrific as the Nazi holocaust -- goes relatively unexamined amidst all the futzy melodrama and faux-sensationalist sexcapades, the entirely of which enmesh in one of the most confused/confusing thematic wrap-ups I've ever seen in a film. In all ways, it's just about illiterate. C

Hicks Picks 57

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 16:00:37 +0000

The first two season of “Lost” are coming to Blu-Ray according to TV Shows on DVD. Disney announced that the first two seasons will hit the high-defintion format on Feburary 17 at this week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

In addition, Disney said that it will begin offering combo packs of DVD and Blu-Rays for certain theatrical disc releases and its platinum collection. Disney did this last year with the plantinum release of “Sleeping Beauty” and will offer “High School Musical 3,” “Pinocchio” and “Snow White and the Seven Dwarves” as combo DVD and Blu-Ray releases this year.

“These unique Combo Packs provide the opportunity for consumers around the world to take advantage of the quality of Blu-ray with the portability of a DVD disc in a single package,” comments Bob Chapek, President of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. “As always, we are committed to offering our consumers exceptional quality and value when purchasing our products.”

More classic “Doctor Who” is coming to the United States. On May 5, fans can pick up the Sylvester McCoy story, “Battlefield” as a two-disc special edition and the three-disc box-set “The E-Space Trilogy” starring Tom Baker.

“Battlefield” will see the complete separate release of a full-season of “Doctor Who” on DVD in the United States. The two-disc set includes the original broadcast version of the story and an extended, re-edited version of the story with enhanced visual effects. Also included are commentaries and documentaries on the story.

“The E-Space Trilogy” comes from Tom Baker’s last season as the Doctor and is made up for “Full Circle,” “State of Decay” and “Warriors’ Gate.” Included on the set are commentaries on all three stories, making of documentaries and a wealth of other extras relating to the stories.

Twelve-year old girls can swoon at home when “Twilight” comes to DVD on March 21.

Speaking of “Twilight,” rumors that actor Taylor Lautner would be replaced as Jacob Black for the upcoming sequel, “New Moon” appear to be false.

Author Stephenie Meyer posted that she’d talked to “New Moon” director Chris Weitz and that Lautner has been working to bulk up for his role in the second film.

Entertainment Weekly’s Michael Ausiello reports that Tom Welling is ready to sign on for a ninth season of “Smallville.” Apparently, the only issue left to work out is where Welling wants the Brinks truck full of cash to deliver the money….

And speaking of the Man of Steel, Latino Review reports that Warner Brothers is considering not including Lex Luthor in the next Superman movie. According to reports, WB is solicting scripts for a new “Superman” movie and they want a villian other than Lex for the Man of Steel to battle with on the big screen.

You may recall that after “Superman Returns” opened, actor Brandon Routh said he’d like to see Brainiac be the next villian Superman battles on-screen.

Just as long as they don’t make the whole Doomsday plotline into a movie, we should be good…

Ain’t It Cool News reports that Simon Pegg and Nick Frost will play Thompson and Thompson in the upcoming big-screen adaptation of “Tintin.”

The 25 Best High School Movies Of All Time

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:40:13 +0000

Love it or hate it, we all had our high school experiences – and lived to tell about it. Check out Movie Crunch’s list of the 25 Best High School Movies of All Time. Did we leave any of your favorites off the list?

25. Fame (1980)

Cast:
Irene Cara
Debbie Allen
Gene Anthony Ray
Lee Curreri
Paul McCrane

The School of the Performing Arts, where people break into song and spirited choreographed dance routines! It could happen… but probably doesn’t in real life. Coco, Bruno, Leroy and company have their fair share of real world troubles too though – it’s not all taxi top dance fun.

24. Lucas (1986)

Cast:
Corey Haim
Kerri Green
Charlie Sheen

First crushes aren’t easy when you’re a dorky, awkward teenager who gets teased endlessly at school. But you gotta give the kid credit for joining the football team to impress the girl he’s infatuated with. Plus, the nostalgia of a sweet, adorable Corey Haim versus his current washed up status lets us remember Haim in the happy 80s.

23. Carrie (1976)

Cast:
Sissy Spacek
Piper Laurie
Betty Buckley
Amy Irving

Oh shit, Carrie is all kinds of creepy, but her whack job mom doesn’t exactly help her fit in at school. And then that disgusting pig blood soaked prom scene. Kids can be so fuckin cruel, but don’t piss off a girl with telekinetic powers. Carrie exacts her revenge in the end. That’ll teach ‘em.

22. Friday Night Lights (2004)

Cast:
Billy Bob Thornton
Lucas Black
Garrett Hedlund
Derek Luke
Jay Hernandez

Friday Night Lights presents high school football as an obsession for the economically depressed town of Odessa, Texas. With little else going on in this small town, Friday night football is something to look forward to, but hopes of winning the championship is a lot of pressure for these players fighting for an escape from the same dead-end lives their parents endure.

21. Dead Poets Society (1989)

Cast:
Robin Williams
Robert Sean Leonard
Ethan Hawke
Josh Charles

Dramatic and truly inspiring, Dead Poets’ English professor John Keating (Robin Williams) teaches his students to seize the day by thinking outside the confines of their prep school. Make sure you have a box of tissues nearby for this high school tale – there wasn’t a dry eye in the theater when I saw it the first go-around.

20. Rushmore (1998)

Cast:
Jason Schwartzman
Bill Murray
Olivia Williams

From the quirky mind of Wes Anderson, we get our first look at Jason Schwartzman as the eccentric over-booked prep school student who finds a father figure and nemesis in Bill Murray - as student and rich dude vie for the affection and attention of elementary school teacher Miss Cross.

19. Donnie Darko (2001)

Cast:
Jake Gyllenhaal
Jena Malone
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Mary McDonnell

It’s a cult classic - cue “It’s the End of the World as We Know It” – well, at least as teenager Donnie Darko (Jake Gyllenhaal) knows, via a big burned bunny. All the sci fi coolness, while hitting the high school themes, Donnie Darko is an original, no doubt about it. We’re still scratching our head about a few things though.

18. Napoleon Dynamite (2004)

Cast:
Jon Heder
Efren Ramirez
Tina Majorino

Oh, awkward youth – Napoleon Dynamite has you rooting for this majorly uncool title character with Jon Heder’s brilliant performance. And we never see such energy from the low vibe Napoleon as when he performs his dance routine in front of the entire school. Vote for Pedro!

17. Risky Business (1983)

Cast:
Tom Cruise
Rebecca De Mornay
Curtis Armstrong

It launched Tom Cruise (for better or for worse) into the stratosphere of super stardom, gave us the memorable air guitar underwear scene – and oh, yeah… one of the hottest sex on a train scenes ever. This is one high school experience that takes Cruise’s straight-laced character, Joel, on a wild ride.

16. Say Anything (1989)

Cast:
John Cusack
Ione Skye
John Mahoney
Lili Taylor

He’s the loveable underachiever – she’s the class valedictorian. The star-crossed lovers in Say Anything are meant to be despite the odds. Check out Lloyd Dobler as he proves his love in that classic boom box scene. Sigh. A million John Cusack fans were born from this movie.

15. Sixteen Candles (1984)

Cast:
Molly Ringwald
Michael Schoeffling
Anthony Michael Hall

Sixteen Candles is when we fell in love with freckly Molly Ringwald – her family forgets her birthday, nerds want to see her panties, and her infatuation with Jake (ultimately) leads to a happy ending. Even nerdy Anthony Michael Hall finds love with the most popular girl in school. So, all’s well that ends well.

14. Hoop Dreams (1994)

Cast:
William Gates
Arthur Agee

The inspiring true story of two kids trying to make it out of the Chicago slums on a basketball dream, this documentary follows both the struggles and the joy, making it a must-watch on our high school film list. Hoop Dreams follows Arthur Agee and William Gates for five years, from high school to college recruitment.

13. Superbad (2007)

Cast:
Jonah Hill
Michael Cera
Christopher Mintz-Plasse

Raunchy and ridiculous, Superbad gave us so many things that were oh-so-wrong, yet oh-so-right. The comedy duo of Michael Cera and Jonah Hill combined with a script by Seth Rogan and his buddy struck a chord with audiences with this hilarious high school tale of two buddies. And c’mon… McLovin? It’s all good.

12. Clueless (1995)

Cast:
Alicia Silverstone
Paul Rudd
Stacey Dash
Brittany Murphy
Donald Faison

Alicia Silverstone is such a Betty in this movie! Plus Clueless put Paul Rudd on the map – so thank the heavens for that. An adaptation of Jane Austen’s Emma, director Amy Heckerling nailed this funny look at a rich girl who learns there’s more to her than just the superficial, shallow Cher.

11. Boyz n the Hood (1991)

Cast:
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Ice Cube
Morris Chestnut
Larry Fishburne
Angela Basset

Boyz n the Hood was a masterpiece for director John Singleton, capturing the gritty realities of high school life for three high school friends on different paths – one an athlete, one with college aspirations and one a drug dealer. Nothing is easy in this tale and Tre, played by Cuba Gooding Jr., learns hard life lessons when his friend is murdered. With guidance from his dad, he escapes the cycle of crime and violence and gets out of the hood.

10. Mean Girls (2004)

Cast:
Lindsay Lohan
Rachel McAdams
Lacey Chabert
Amanda Seyfried

Can Tina Fey do no wrong? Mean Girls was a killer script by Fey, featuring Lindsay Lohan before she had a party-girl reputation, and included turns by Rachel McAdams, Lizzy Caplan and Amanda Seyfried (Mamma Mia) before they were bigger names. Mean Girls confirmed that girls can be so bitchy – and cruel.

9. Grease (1978)

Cast:
John Travolta
Olivia Newton-John
Stockard Channing
Jeff Conaway

The original High School Musical… well, sorta. Singing and dancing was never so cool as in Grease, what with Sandy, Danny and the gang at 1950s Rydell High. Who doesn’t love the Goody Two Shoes/Bad Boy dynamic in Grease, but please answer this burning question – what the hell with Sandy and Danny flying off in the car at the end? Never got that one.

8. Hoosiers (1986)

Cast:
Gene Hackman
Barbara Hershey
Dennis Hopper

Everybody loves a story with heart – small-town Indiana high school basketball underdogs beat the odds and win the state championship in this early-50s tale of redemption. Gene Hackman gives a fantastic performance as a washed up former collegiate coach who has a lot to prove to the town – and himself.

7. Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (1986)

Cast:
Matthew Broderick
Alan Ruck
Mia Sara
Jeffrey Jones
Jennifer Grey

If you could have gotten away with the shit that Ferris Bueller did when he skipped school, wouldn’t you have done it? Matthew Broderick rocks this John Hughes classic, taking audiences along for one helluva ride – from Ferrari to Abe Froman (The Sausage King of Chicago), to riding atop a parade float. Ditching school has never been more fun.

6. Election (1999)

Cast:
Reese Witherspoon
Matthew Broderick
Chris Klein

Forget her Academy Award win for Walk the Line, Reese Witherspoon’s role as uber annoying overachiever Tracy Flick in Election was easily her best work. Ever. Throw in pathetic Matthew Broderick, his contempt for Tracy and his ill fortunes (that’s one mother of a bee sting reaction!), and you’ve got one darkly funny look at the politics of high school.

5. Heathers (1989)

Cast:
Winona Ryder
Christian Slater
Shannen Doherty

With lines like “Well, fuck me gently with a chainsaw,” Heathers takes high school bitches to a whole new level. Smarmy Christian Slater has never been better and hot fingers Winona Ryder plays bitchy with precision in this dark high school tale. Heathers was a stark contrast to the feel good high school flicks of the 80s, for sure.

4. Dazed and Confused (1993)

Cast:
Jason London
Rory Cochrane
Wiley Wiggins
Matthew McConaughey

This is familiar territory, given that Dazed and Confused topped our Stoner Movies list. Dazed captures the life of seventies high schoolers, as the upcoming seniors ceremoniously haze the incoming freshmen on the last day of school in 1976. Sex, drugs and music of the day comes into play and Matthew McConaughey gives one of the best performances ever with his classic line: “That’s what I love about these high school girls, man. I get older, they stay the same age.”

3. American Pie (1999)

Cast:
Jason Biggs
Seann William Scott
Shannon Elizabeth
Alyson Hannigan
Thomas Ian Nicholas
Tara Reid
Chris Klein

When American Pie hit theaters, no one could have guessed how an actual pie would be so affectionately regarded by a horny high schooler. Pie was like the Porky’s of the 90s, with four friends making a pact to lose their virginity by graduation. Plus, American Pie gave us classics like MILF and the ever popular “this one time?… at band camp?”

2. Fast Times At Ridgemont High (1982)

Cast:
Sean Penn
Jennifer Jason Leigh
Judge Reinhold
Phoebe Cates

Penned by Cameron Crowe and directed by Amy Heckerling, Fast Times introduced us to Sean Penn as ultimate stoner Spicoli and a host of other interesting characters, including Jennifer Jason Leigh and Phoebe Cates (which led to Judge Reinhold’s infamous bathroom scene – yikes). Fast Times was a coming-of-age story that hit all the right notes with audiences.

1. The Breakfast Club (1985)

Cast:
Judd Nelson
Molly Ringwald
Emilio Estevez
Anthony Michael Hall
Ally Sheedy

We’ve got the classic high school types (jock, princess, brain, basket case, criminal) locked together for Saturday detention in this John Hughes’ classic. They each learn that they’re not so different after all… and The Breakfast Club became the quintessential high school movie, but seriously? Saturday detention?

DiCaprio attached to star in 'Beat the Reaper'

Thu, 08 Jan 2009 03:51:50 +0000

New Regency has acquired the rights for the big-screen adaptation of Josh Bazell's novel "Beat the Reaper," which hit store shelves Wednesday.

The story focuses on an emergency room doctor who runs into trouble when a mobster recognizes him from his former life as a hitman. Although the doctor went into the witness protection program, his past is now catching up with him.

Variety says Julie Yorn and Jennifer Davisson will produce with Leonardo DiCaprio, who is also attached to star in the film.

DiCaprio can currently be seen in "Revolutionary Road," for which he snatched a Golden Globe nomination. He also recently completed filming for Martin Scorsese's "Shutter Island."

DiCaprio has had quite the career boost over the past years. Films such as "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond" really brought him back to the very top.

McG To Direct 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 16:25:46 +0000

McG is a hard guy to get a read on. I quite liked the first Charlie’s Angels movie, but the second one is one of the worst sequels in film history (not as bad as Highlander 2 mind you… but really quite bad). We are Marshall was ok too, but not good enough to erase the memory of Angels 2.

I wasn’t very happy to hear McG was going to helm the new Terminator movie, but I’m trying to keep an open mind about it. The trailers haven’t really thrilled me, but they haven’t turned me off either. So, for now my mild pessimism remains intact. So the news that McG is going to direct the upcoming McG 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo “remake”. Our freinds over at IESB give us this:

McG, who most recently helmed “Terminator: Salvation,” had multiple studios vying for his next slot. Sources said he will be paid $8 million against 7% of gross. Scripted by Bill Marsilli, the film is an origin story of Nemo as he creates his warship, the Nautilus. The characters come from the Jules Verne novel.

I LOVED Captain Nemo stories when I was a kid and have always thought a new big screen adaptation (that has nothing to do with the horrendous League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen movie) would be amazing… but with McG at the helm I’m not so excited at the moment.

Who knows… maybe the new Terminator flick will rule and my enthusiasm for a new 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea will spike up. Here’s hoping.

McG to Helm Nemo

Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:00:55 +0000

Disney has chosen a director for its upcoming “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo” project. According to Variety, “Terminator: Salvation” director McG will sit in the director’s chair for the fast-tracked project.

“Nemo” will be an origin story for the famous Captain Nemo, first introduced in the Jules Verne novel, “20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.” The script for the project comes from Bill Marsilli. The film will use characters from the original novel and the popular 1954 Disney adaptation.

Disney has put the movie on the fast track and expects to begin shooting on “Nemo” later this year.