Give Joshua Seftel some credit; he didn't pull any punches on War, Inc.In his first feature film, written by star/producer John Cusack, Jeremy Pisker, and Mark Leyner, Seftel attempts to make a scathing commentary on the War on Terror, the privatization of the military, the commercialization of societies all over the world, and other shenanigans. In a former life, Seftel was a former network news producer, and became known around Hollywood circles for directing documentaries like Breaking the Mold: The Kee Malesky Story.
He was nice enough to speak to me about the experience from a very blue room at the Tribeca Film Festival press office. Text and video are after the jump.
What do you say when a film is so bad that you actually feel physical pain for everyone involved? You literally sit there for an hour-and-a-half and feel sorry for everyone who put such a hard effort into the making of the film, only to see it lay there like a lox when it's finally projected on the big screen. As a reviewer, there's not much more you can do than just endure it and hope to see a fleeting moment or two of quality, just so you don't think you've completely wasted your time.
That's all the thoughts that were going through my head as I watched War, Inc., an ambitious film that fails miserably at everything it attempts to be. As a comedy, it's not funny. As a satire, it's as subtle as a sledgehammer. And as a treatise on war, the corporatization of the military, and the horrors of pop stardom, it doesn't tell you anything that you don't already know if you just watch the 24-hour news channels or read the news online even a little bit.
Only the date of this convinces me I haven't written it up before, it seems so weirdly familiar. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Universal has optioned Oni Press' Resurrection, the third title the studio has snagged from the small publisher.
Penned by Marc Guggenheim, a Wolverine scribe and the writer behind the television series Eli Stone, Resurrection is the story of a post alien invasion Earth. It begins where most sci-fi movies end, with a group of survivors trying to retake and rebuild the planet.
There's an eleven page preview of issue #1 over on Oni's website, full of those usual issue-one hints -- apparently there was a human counterattack of some kind, and we're reduced to communicating via smoke signals. It looks like the series is going to end at six issues, which is like the magic number these days. Eleven pages is just not enough to go on for me -- I can't help but compare it to The Stand (which I caught again on that Sci-Fi Channel broadcast), and it doesn't hook me as well as eleven minutes of that, but that is hardly fair.
No word on director or release date. These post-apocalyptic stories are really the rage -- thank goodness for the cuddly comfort that is The Hobbit, or I am going to be having nightmares for weeks. Alien invasion movies and me are not a good mix.
A horror flick that takes place in Afghanistan in November of 2001? Intriguing, to be sure, but I'll admit to being more than a little skeptical as I walked in to check out Daniel Myrick's The Objective. I was half-expecting some sort of run-of-the-mill occult thriller that got mixed with modern warfare ... just because it's a topical thing to do. Happily, those assumptions turned out to be completely wrong. Since it works much better as a bleak adventure flick and a very sweaty psychological thriller, it'd probably be inaccurate to label The Objective as an out-and-out horror flick -- but I enjoyed it anyway, which means that most of the other genre fans probably will too. Heck, how often do you get to check out a movie described as a wartime horror thriller sci-fi adventure drama?
Without spoiling anything, here's the gist: On the hunt for a contact who will direct him toward some "WMDs," CIA agent Ben Keynes has returned to Afghanistain after a ten-year absence, and it's there that he takes charge of a gung-ho, no-nonsense, bad-ass military unit. Keynes has a very shady assignment, but his new charges are on a need-to-know basis ... and suffice it to say that the CIA guy's secret assignment is, well, it's pretty frickin' weird. On the surface, though, Keynes and his new troop must head out into the staggeringly unforgiving desert, and it's there that their mission goes from mysterious to bad to a whole hell of a lot worse. Suffice to say that something not human is definitely involved, but our heroes will have to make it through some perfectly mortal enemies before discovering any secrets.
There are two ways to watch Charlie Wilson's War. The first way is to watch it like we watch most movies -- go in to be entertained, to experience something outside of our scope of experience -- to leave our lives at the door and encounter something different. The other way is to be critical, having researched the situation upon which the film was based, to see how it diverges, and then decide whether the divergence is acceptable within the realm of what actually happened. One way will give you an entertaining experience. The other will probably result in the film getting under your skin.
I usually get pretty tense over large leaps in the truth. To this day, I grumble at the thought of Girl Interrupted, and the fact that they could insinuate that a character based on a real, live person could be indirectly involved in another's death when it simply isn't true. With Charlie Wilson's War, however, I wasn't completely weighed down by derailments from truth. Perhaps this is due to being warned after reading reviews like James' and Kim's, maybe it was due to the film more omitting facts than completely changing them, or perhaps it was the light delivery of the subject. Whatever the case, Charlie Wilson's War is an enjoyable film weighed down by its decisions of omission.
While this starts off like some old-school joke, I assure you -- this is nothing of the kind. Variety reports that producers Michel Shane and Anthony Romano are developing a World War II drama written by Michael Justiz and Steven Sikes called Lifeboat 13, and the inclusion of these religious figures is anything but funny.
The film will focus on the story of a rabbi, a Catholic priest, and two Protestant ministers (along with an African-American Coast Guardsman) who gave up their lives when the USAT Dorchester went down due to a U-boat torpedo in 1943. They had given away their life jackets as the ship sunk off the coast of Greenland in less-than-pleasant 36-degree waters.
You know, I am pretty happy to be me. But every once and awhile, I see something like this, and I am possessed with fury that I wasn't born Nicole Kidman -- or at least an Australian actress who could have stolen the part from her. Damn. That photo is just all kinds of sexy. And there's more gorgeous stills from Australia over on IESB.net as well as a few over on the film's official site.
ITunes and 20th Century Fox have also paired up to bring ten Set to Screen with Baz Luhurman podcasts, which document all aspects of the upcoming film. This actually debuted yesterday, but because I couldn't access the podcast, there wasn't any way to properly write about it. If you're as technologically ill-equipped as I, the podcasts have been put up on MovieWeb. There are two up now, and both are worth watching for the gorgeous scenery (no, I'm not talking about Jackman) and the glimpses of the film. The one on still photography is especially stunning -- pure art!
I do believe Ray Park is the first G.I. Joe actor to speak on the new movie -- which fits, as he's the first character the studio allowed us to see. Park gave a big interview to Geekscape! where he discussed Joe, Snake Eyes, Iron Fist, and the finer points of stunts and martial arts.
Park was determined to snag the role of Snake Eyes for himself. "One of the reasons I always wanted to play Snake Eyes is because I played as him when I was a kid. Star Wars fans and the fans I've met at conventions have said 'You'd be the best Snake Eyes ever if they did a GI Joe movie!' So when I heard they were actually going to do it I did everything possible to try and get in a meeting or try and get an audition cause I wanted to do it for myself, I wanted to do it for the fans and I wanted to do it for my cousins and all my nephews and my kids. It's great to be here and to be able to tell those stories."
While it may have had an all-star cast boasting the likes of Robert Redford, Meryl Streep, and Tom Cruise,Lions for Lambs appeared without a splash. In fact, it hit audiences with a dull and disappointing thud. Honestly, that partially surprises me, partially doesn't, and partially disappoints me. The film is by no means a masterpiece, nor is it a powerful and hard-hitting political thriller, action film, or drama. However, it does pack a punch against apathy and disinterest, and does so with a passionate and measured hand.
The film focuses on three main interactions – the journalist (Streep) and the politician (Cruise), the professor (Redford) and the student (Andrew Garfield), and the two soldiers and old friends (Michael Pena and Derek Luke), who are in Afghanistan. Each character provides a face to an aspect of today's current war-filled society -- one that brings it out of abstract thought and the printed word.
So we all know that Tom Cruise jokes are getting a little old, but you can't deny it's been fascinating to watch one of the most powerful guys in movies have a "freak out" and be forced to watch all his star-worship fade away. According to Fox News' Roger Friedman, it's not looking good for Bryan Singer's historical drama, Valkyrie. According to Friedman, "Valkyrie is a set up for not only failure, but ridicule." Friedman goes on to take shots at Cruise's attempts at a German accent and even Singer and Christopher McQuarrie's dialog gets a few (dis) honorable mentions. Although, to be fair, I wouldn't count on a gossip reporter from Fox to be the final word on film criticism.
Friedman joins the chorus of critics who think that Valkyrie will not only fail to improve Cruise's current Hollywood standing, but that it will further add another nail to his box office coffin. Cruise still has a few more chances to pull himself out of this mess: First up will be a cameo in Tropic Thunder, then it's on to a full-on attempt at comedy with director Todd Phillips (Old School) in Men, and finally Cruise is expected to star alongside Ben Stiller in the buddy comedy, The Hardy Men (which I personally think has some potential). Who knows? Maybe he will finally be making people laugh at him on purpose. Valkyrie arrives in theaters on October 3rd.
If there's one thing you can say, it's that Werner Herzog has diverse talents. He can not only eat a shoe, but now tune pianos! The Hollywood Reporter posts that he will write and direct a new film called The Piano Tuner for Focus Features. Based on a book by Daniel Mason, the script was first written by Peter Buchman, and is now being handed over to Herzog for a rewrite.
Centering on a piano tuner named Edgar Drake, the project is about much more than just music and tuning. Set in the late 19th-century, Drake is a quiet piano tuner living in London, who is commissioned by the British War Office to repair a piano housed in a remote village in Burma, which is owned by an eccentric colonel. He makes the long journey there and tunes the piano, but that's only the start. He gets brought in on a peace mission, and as THR describes it: "Drake falls in love with a Burmese woman and her country, but as the officer wins over locals through music and medicine, things grow treacherous when his troops begin to suspect him of treason."
When becoming an actress, I'm sure that there's a lot of potential roles that a woman dreams about playing. Perhaps she's a bit rough and rockery, and wants to be the ever-stunning Grace Slick. Or maybe she digs philosophy and feminism and wants to take on Simone de Beauvoir. Or maybe a fictional heroines from Wonder Woman to Jane Eyre. Or maybe the terribly scorned and tossed aside mistress of Benito Mussolini? Variety reports that Italian actress Giovanna Mezzogiorno, who most recently played Fermina Urbino in Love in the Time of Cholera, is going to play Ida Dalser in Marco Bellocchio's upcoming film, Vincere. (This is the film I told you about here and here.) The production follows Mussolini's Secret by Gianfranco Norelli and Fabrizio Laurenti, and to review, the film focuses on the struggles and abbreviated life of Mussolini's mistress, Dalser. You can't really call her "Mussolini's love," because the woman went through hell. As Benito rose to power, Fascist agents tried to remove all proof of the relationship and Benito's son, so both were sent to asylums where young Benito died from coma-inducing injections, and she died of a brain hemorrhage. Happy ending? Probably not.
Production is finally getting underway in Venice this May.
These days, the only thing keeping Katie Holmes in the spotlight is her marriage to Tom Cruise and vampy new look. It's a shame after the cool flicks that jump-started her career like The Ice Storm, Go, Wonder Boys, and The Gift. Nevertheless, she's become one of the queens of tabloid fodder, and turning downDark Knight for that stinker known as Mad Money didn't help things at all. Could Broadway save her?
The Daily Mail says that she's in final negotiations to make her Broadway debut in All My Sons, a post-WWII drama written by Arthur Miller (that also became a film in 1948). Should she sign on the dotted line (she's already committed to private workshops of the play), she'll join John Lithgow and Dianne Wiest in the production. Yes! At the very least, we've got a Footloose reunion to delight in.
Aside from the cast, this production should get a lot of buzz because it's the first major revival of Miller's work since his death a few years ago. Based on a true story, it follows a woman whose father sold faulty parts to the military during the war. It's no Mad Money, so this might just be Holmes' professional resurrection. Considering Cruise's waning roster lately, could she revive things and become the family bread winner?
The Seuss-abration continued as Horton Hears a Who held onto number one for the second consecutive week. Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns took second, but held the highest per screen average of the top five films ($10,011). The caveman spectacle 10,000 B.C. took fifth, clinging to the top five for the third week in a row. Here are the totals: 1. Dr. Seuss' Horton Hears a Who:$24.5 million 2. Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns: $20 million 3. Shutter: $10.4 million 4. Drillbit Taylor:$10.3 million 5. 10,000 B.C.: $8.9 million
Four new flicks going into wide release, with the movies being divided equally between comedy and drama.
21 What's It All About: A young man in dire need of money to pay for his education at M.I.T. takes part in a well-organized card counting ring with a fool-proof method for winning at blackjack. Based on a true story. Why It Might Do Well: The combined cool factor of having Kevin Spacey and Laurence Fishburne in the same movie may make some people curious. Why It Might Not Do Well: Rottentomatoes.com is giving this one a lackluster 54%, and personally watching people play cards bores me to tears. Number of Theaters: 2,500 Prediction: $17 million
Earlier today, we got a discussion post from Gene Novikov about Hollywood's obsession with Iraq war movies. They're coming out by the droves, yet they've been a crapshoot at the box office. But lo and behold, there's a bunch more on the way. Variety reports that there are three more deals in the works for films on the war.
Phoenix Pictures is looking to develop a movie based on The Long Road Home -- a book by ABC New's chief White House correspondent Martha Raddatz that should appease some complaints about the liberal slant in Iraq war movies. The book is about an Army platoon that was ambushed by insurgents in 2004 while patrolling Sadr City in Baghdad. Eight soldiers were killed and more than 70 others were injured in the attack. Phoenix exec says this is a great story that should make you cry, and he wants to "get it right and make sure that enough time has elapsed so that people will be receptive." I'm not so sure he's got the time angle down pat.
Only the date of this convinces me I haven't written it up before, it seems so weirdly familiar. According to 
While this starts off like some old-school joke, I assure you -- this is nothing of the kind. 
I do believe Ray Park is the first 
So we all know that 
If there's one thing you can say, it's that 
When becoming an actress, I'm sure that there's a lot of potential roles that a woman dreams about playing. Perhaps she's a bit rough and rockery, and wants to be the ever-stunning Grace Slick. Or maybe she digs philosophy and feminism and wants to take on Simone de Beauvoir. Or maybe a fictional heroines from Wonder Woman to Jane Eyre. Or maybe the terribly scorned and tossed aside mistress of Benito Mussolini?
These days, the only thing keeping 
21
Earlier today, we got a 
Insert Caption: Indiana Jones DVDs_thumbnail.jpg)
Cinematical Seven: When an Animated Series Goes Live Action ... and Gets it Right_thumbnail.jpg)
Full 'G.I. Joe' Cast Photos!
