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Cinematical Seven: My Favorite Screen Presidents

Filed under: Casting », New Releases », Politics », Cinematical Seven »



We've got two portrayals of U.S. Presidents vying for Oscars this year: Josh Brolin as W in W. and Frank Langella as Richard Nixon in Frost/Nixon. I've yet to see either one, though I did see Langella in the Broadway play, which I hear the movie faithfully replicates. On the eve of W.'s release, it seemed like a good time to get a discussion going on Best Screen Presidents, real or fictional. Here's my list, which is surely missing some obvious choices -- but that's part of the fun.

1. President Jackson Evans (Jeff Bridges) - The Contender
For the past couple of elections, pollsters have asked people which of the two presidential candidates they would rather "have a beer with." Inevitably it is pointed out that the person you would rather have a beer with is frequently not the person you would want to run the country. Jeff Bridges's President Jackson Evans, though, wins at life: he's the guy I'd want to have a beer with, and the guy I'd want running the country. Seriously, I would vote for Jackson Evans over either John McCain or Barack Obama. He's charming, and funny, and a bit of a jerk when called for, but he stands up for what's right and gives the best Rod Lurie Speech to date. My favorite movie president -- though for the record, I think The Contender is only pretty good.

Feature-Length '24' Movie Coming to DVD ... Sorta

Filed under: Action », Home Entertainment »

Oh, 24 ... the show that maniacally glued many people to their television sets through real-time terror. Jack's done a lot since protecting Senator David Palmer in the first season. Aside from saving the world from evil threats over and over, he was supposed to jump into a big-screen flick nestled between the sixth and seventh seasons. That never surfaced, so instead, DVD Active reports that fans are getting a straight-to-DVD pseudo-feature called 24: Exile.

Looking like more of a feature-length episode prequel, Exile will be released on the 25th of November. Acting as a bridge between the seasons, the prequel follows Bauer as he works as a missionary in Africa. The US government is after him, and he's also been tapped to stop a warlord from drafting innocent children. "But first, Bauer must confront his own torturous past and face an impossible decision that will change his life forever." That man has a rough life. Will it ever end?

Maybe when it does, we'll get the feature film, but for now, there is just this 2-hour DVD prequel. Oh, and for you uber impatient fans out there -- one of the many special features of the disc will be the first 16 minutes of the new season, set to air in 2009.

Presidential Candidates in Rewind: John McCain in 'Wedding Crashers'

Filed under: Politics », Stars in Rewind »




What with the firestorm over John McCain's ad calling Barack Obama a hollow celebrity akin to Paris Hilton and Britney Spears, you'd think someone would have pointed out that McCain actually has Obama beat in the "number of Hollywood movies appeared in" category. Here's a video -- unearthed by Movie Moron via SlashFilm -- of John McCain's amusing cameo in Wedding Crashers, shaking hands with Christopher Walken's remarkably well-connected Secretary Cleary at his daughter's wedding. And yes, that's James Carville next to him, but Carville shows up in everything.

Just a bit of harmless fun for McCain or despicable participation in a BOOB RAUNCH FEST? You be the judge.

Also: Number of cameos on 24: John McCain: 1; Barack Obama: 0. You can check that video out over here. What's that old saw about glass houses?

'24' Creators Enlist Martin Campbell and Migrate to the Big Screen

Filed under: Action », Thrillers », Deals », Fandom »

24 is ridiculous, repetitive, and morally suspect -- and I love it with all my heart. I'm a card-carrying liberal, but I've offered to surrender my card if it means that I can jump up and down with glee as Jack Bauer yells "There's no time!" and shoots another terrorist in the kneecap. Close friend of Rush Limbaugh or not, then, co-creator Joel Surnow is one of my favorite people in Hollywood (he left the show earlier this year). And that means I'm excited about this announcement that Surnow and 24 co-producer Michael Loceff are collaborating to write and produce a new "contemporary spy thriller" for United Artists.

Surnow and UA have enlisted Casino Royale's Martin Campbell to direct the movie after he finishes the newly announced Mel Gibson thriller Edge of Darkness. The Hollywood Reporter speculates that this project might constitute an attempt by UA to find a viable franchise for part-owner Tom Cruise, though there's no official word that Cruise is going to star in the film.

The bad news, I guess, is that this probably means it'll be a while before we see that 24 movie that's been rumored for years now. (I still fantasize about it being called 2.) But maybe that's an opportunity for the show to get back into everyone's good graces after an unpopular sixth season and a writer's-strike-related delay of season 7. Meanwhile, as Jack Bauer would say, "tell me where the bomb is or I will kill your son." Wait, what? Never mind.

Review: Taxi to the Dark Side

Filed under: Documentary », ThinkFilm », Theatrical Reviews », Politics », Oscar Watch », Cinematical Indie »



You're probably thinking you don't need another documentary about the Iraq War. But you're wrong, because Alex Gibney's Taxi to the Dark Side is finally being released, and the film is one of three necessary docs dealing with Iraq. The triad, which would make a great box set if only the same company distributed all three films, also includes Charles Ferguson's very highly acclaimed Sundance jury-award-winner No End in Sight (on which Gibney was a producer) and Patricia Foulkrod's under-appreciated 2006 work The Ground Truth: After the Killing Ends.

What do they have in common? Well, if you put them together and watch them all, you'll feel like an expert on three important aspects of the war and its most significant repercussions. They may not tell you everything there is to know about the Iraq War, but they're more thorough and informative than most. No End in Sight is the most directly involved with the actual conflict, from its causes to its effects (read Kim's review here). The Ground Truth more specifically deals with the American soldiers, but in an all-encompassing, training-to-homecoming portrait of modern combat and its consequences (see my review here). Taxi to the Dark Side is sort of like a flip side to that film, though it doesn't necessarily focus on the enemy combatants. Instead it deals with suspected enemies, soldiers or otherwise, who are held and oftentimes tortured in prisons such as Iraq's Abu Ghraib.

Taxi to the Dark Side somewhat falls outside the box (set), though, in that it really isn't about Iraq. In fact, Gibney insists that his documentary is not an 'Iraq film.' Yes, it does feature a lot of details about, and footage of, Iraq's Abu Ghraib, which is probably the best-known prison of its kind, but it also prominently features Bagram, in Afghanistan, and Guantanamo Bay, the two other facilities used in the detention and interrogation of individuals presumed to be involved with Al-Qaeda, the Iraqi insurgency or any other enemy of the U.S. in its "War on Terror."

Paramount Picks Up Nostradamus Comic Book

Filed under: Comic/Superhero/Geek »

I used to be into in the prophesies of Nostradamus, but for some reason I lost interest in the 16th century seer after watching that boring biopic where he's played by Tchéky Karyo. Anyway, I thought most of the prophesy appeal died out with the event-less turn of the millennium. Seven years later, after the devastation of 9/11, Katrina, the tsunami and other disasters, maybe it is time to check back on Nostradamus' quatrains to see if there's any other upcoming tragedies we might be able to avert.

This idea of making sure Nostradamus's' predictions don't come true is already on the way to comic book racks and movie theaters. Boom Studios' comic The Foundation is about a secret organization, originally set up by Nostradamus himself, which deciphers and investigates the quatrains in order to change the future. That would certainly explain why so many of Nostradamus' prophesies seem to be false. Seeing as how The Foundation sounds like a perfect mix of Quantum Leap, Men in Black and (as Boom's website mentions) The X-Files and 24, it makes sense that Hollywood would be interested before the first issue even hits stores. Paramount has locked the rights to the comic and they've got Boom founders Andrew Cosby and Ross Richie producing.

Cosby and Richie had previously sold the movie rights to two of Boom's other titles, both to Universal. Talent is like the television series Lost except that it deals with only one sole plane crash survivor who seems to suddenly possess the talents of the 148 passengers who perished. Tag is described by Boom as, "spine-snapping horror in the tradition of the movie The Ring!" Boom has only been around for about two years now, but if Cosby and Richie keep developing comics they can compare to TV shows and movies, then I predict the company will have a long life and a lasting relationship with Hollywood.

New Poster For Elisha Cuthbert's 'Captivity' Up

Filed under: Horror », Thrillers », Fandom », Movie Marketing »

Either someone at After Dark Pictures can't make up their mind, or the marketing machine is in full throttle for the Elisha Cuthbert (24) film Captivity. Bloody-Disgusting has a look at the third poster for the horror flick, along with a detailed set visit and some behind the scenes photos of blood stained baby dolls and mattresses -- don't ask. Roland Joffe directs the horror about two people that are abducted and tortured by the usual "madman with ulterior motives". Bloody-Disgusting also reported that Courtney Solomon (American Haunting) had joined the production and that a new ending and four more "torture scenes" had been added, including what they describe as "a brain bashing scene". The film is shooting the added material in California with sets based on the original Russian locations.

Even though the last poster wasn't exactly being targeted at my demographic -- consisting of Cuthbert in a tank-top pressed against glass, I think it was a much creepier image than what they have come up with for the new one-sheet -- which unfortunately kind of looks like an ad for no-run mascara. So I would not count on this being the final poster for the film, if they have not even finished shooting, who knows how many more ideas they might come up with.

One-Sheet For Elisha Cuthbert's 'Captivity' Released

Filed under: Horror », Romance », Thrillers », Lionsgate Films », Fandom », Movie Marketing »

Ranked as one of the Top Ten Fantasy Girlfriends by Askmen.com, Elisha Cuthbert has managed to build a fairly respectable resume from her turn as Jack Bauer's estranged daughter on 24, to the porn star with the heart of gold in the comedy The Girl Next Door. One of her latest upcoming roles is the horror flick Captivity (the other is the remake of the South Korean flick My Sassy Girl), and Bloody-disgusting has an early look at the new one-sheet for the horror film.

The movie is the story of a model and her chauffeur who are kidnapped and held in a cellar by a serial killer. In the midst of the torturing and terrorizing, the two find time to fall in love! Roland Joffé is directing his own script and Daniel Gillies co-stars with Cuthbert, along with Pruitt Taylor Vince. The new poster is definitely an improvement over the last poster I came across. It's creepy enough, but predictably still aims for the jiggle-factor, as you can't help but notice Cuthbert's more obvious "assets" are on full display. Although, I guess compared to the latest poster for Hostel II, this one looks down right tame. Captivity was initially scheduled for a late-winter release, but has now been re-penciled for release in May.

Jack Bauer Finally Heading For the Big Screen

Filed under: Action », Thrillers », Deals », 20th Century Fox », Remakes and Sequels »

We're reported a lot on the drips and drabs that have come out over the past few months about the 24 movie and it's now really true -- like, on contracts! -- that Kiefer Sutherland will get the chance to showcase super-duper, nearly indestructible, anti-terrorist badass Jack Bauer on the big screen. According to Variety (and if you can't trust them, who can you trust?) 20th Century Fox has reportedly inked a deal with the show's creators for a film about Bauer having yet another really, really bad day. As rumors previously suggested, they intend to dump the constraints of the 24-hour gimmick for the film, which will free up the writers to just really focus on the story and on Bauer.

Sutherland has not yet officially signed a deal to star in the film, but, c'mon -- you can't have 24 without Sutherland as Bauer, no way. Man, I hope they don't screw this up. 24 is one of my guiltiest pleasures, and I will be mightily pissed if the film sucks.

Even More on '24'

Filed under: Action », Thrillers », RumorMonger », Fandom », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels »

As Erik reported earlier this month, 24 (The Movie) is really, truly happening. According to Kiefer Sutherland, however, the time-line situation is going to be handled slightly differently than the "little chunks of real time but with gaps for fun trips to faraway lands" approach that the show's creator/executive producer Joel Surrow laid out for Rush Limbaugh less than two weeks ago. Talking to MTV (More reliable source: MTV or Rush? You decide.), Sutherland said that in fact the movie(s) will totally dispense with the show's real-time gimmick, and instead cover a full day over the course of the film. So, the day-length story element will be maintained, but that's it -- beyond that, it's going to be a normal action movie, except with Jack Bauer saving the world. Again.

Other details Sutherland offered were confirmation that the movie will be shot during the show's summer break in 2007 (the script is currently "in development"), and the fact that he thinks the movie(s) and TV show can successfully pursue two totally different story lines and still be successful. Hmm. Me, I wonder about that one -- if in the movie, Jack accidentally, say, tears his ACL, but is running around on the TV with no limping or surgery? That'd be sort of hard to accept. Or, sports injuries aside, what if someone DIES (I know it's a long shot, since things are usually so safe on 24, but just go with it) in the movie? Are we supposed to just accept them wandering by on TV? Or am I overthinking this?
 
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