Fan Rants

Yeah…you read the headline right, of all the geeks in the world to cast as the voice of Brainy Smurf, why did it have to be Tarantino!? I am only guessing that he won a bet with the producer or something and wanted the job.

So far we have Jonathan Winters as Papa Smurf, Katy Perry as Smurfette and Neil Patrick Harris in an undisclosed role. This is really shaping up to be an all-star (if rather dysfunctional) cast.

Film to be released in 2011, surprised it’s not 2012 since that is when the world is supposed to end.

For those of you who have been living under a rock, a sequel to one of my childhood favorite films will be released this December, Tron Legacy. The studio has decided to keep things viral right now when it comes to information about the film. There was a scavenger hunt going on last month that encompassed 25 cities here in the USA. Its good to see them doing more interactive marketing campaigns, it should spell for good ratings when the film is released.

This is yet another film being released in 3D, but from the trailer (especially in HD) I think it will make a great 3D experience. But the big news is that someone has ‘found’ the HD Tron Legacy trailer for the film and posted it. So follow the link and watch it before the site gets taken down!

As  Joseph Kosinski wraps up production on “Tron Legacy”, he’s started talking about what he wants to do next, and apparently what he wants to do next is a reimaging of the 1979 Disney sci fi classic “The Black Hole”.  In an interview with MTV, he stated that he and screenwriter Travis Beacham (who wrote the upcoming “Clash of the Titans” movie) have “a really strong idea and concept for the film”.  There are a few elements that they want to keep, such as the design of the lost ship, the Cygnus, and the killer red robot named Maximilian, but it sounds like for the most part, they are going to tell a new story.  Kosinski explains, “”This one will be a reimagining. For me, it would be taking ideas and iconic elements that struck me as timeless and cool and preserving them while weaving a new story around them that’s a little more ‘2001.’”  Sounds more like a “reboot” to me, but that’s just splitting hairs.  He continues, “From a conceptual point of view, we know so much more about black holes now, the crazy things that go on as you approach them due to the intense gravitational pull and the effects on time and space. All that could provide us with some really cool film if we embrace it in a hard science way”.  I say go with it!  I like my science hard. 

If you’re not giggling right now, you’re reading the wrong blog.  In fact, if you haven’t been giggling since you first read “Black Hole”…

Anyway, the original 1979 story focused on a lost ship that is found by a deep space exploration vessel right on the even horizon of a massive black hole.  The ship, named the Cygnus, is inhabited by one man, a possibly crazy scientist bent on flying into the black hole, and his legion of robot slaves.  The story was one of “I’m gonna fly into this here black hole, ya see” “no you’re not, mister.  We’re gonna stop you!” “KILL KILL KILL”.  At least I think that’s how they talked back in the 70’s.

It looks like Fox, in an effort to not lose the Daredevil property to Disney, is looking to make another Daredevil movie.  The deal between Marvel and Disney continued any previous rights granted to movie makers as long as it was not an abandoned property (or a property no longer in production).  In other words, it looks like Fox is just trying to keep a hold of the rights.

Reinforcing this point is the fact that they’ve hired David Scarpa to write the script.  “Who?” you ask?  Well look him up on IMDB!  He wrote the screenplay for the 2008 movie “The Day the Earth Stood Still”!!  He also wrote “The Last Castle”!  Aaaand that’s all, at least according to IMDB.  Now I don’t want to be the one to say “oh, this guy is a sh*tty writer”.  Please don’t think that’s what I’m saying.  For all I know this guy might be the “next big thing”.  What I’m saying is that Fox went to what looks to be the least expensive guy they could so the movie could be considered “in production” and they could keep their rights without spending too much money.  I’m betting this movie never gets made, at least not in this current incarnation.  There’s no director attached, no actors, no nothing.  Way to go, Fox.

Here’s the trailer for the new movie “The People vs. George Lucas”, a story based on Mr. Lucas’ affinity for going back and changing what many people (myself included) consider to be a near masterpiece.  We’ve ranted more than once on the podcast about directors revisiting their moveis 20 years later to “make the movie closer to the intended vision” or some such bullcrap. It’s one thing to go back and lightly touch up the effects so they are cleaner. It’s a whole other thing to go back and add scenes and CHANGE scenes (HAN SHOT FIRST, DAMMIT). This movie looks like it’ll be a funny glimpse into that debate.

The movie was just picked to play at the South by Southwest Movie Festival (SXSW) sometime between March 12th and March 20th.  I’m hoping it gets a wider release than just the film festival circuit. I’m sure the creators are too. It sounds like the’ve put in a lot of work. “2 and 1/2 years…63,686 frequent flyer miles… 634 hours of footage…14 TB of drive space… 126 interviews… 719 fan submissions…” Sounds intense. Keep an eye on SXSW’s movie site (pops) for more info. The official site (pops) for the movie is a good source of information too.