addicted Tagged Articles at Cinematical

There are a lot of things that will make me want to see a movie. Maybe the effects look cool, it's based on a book I liked or the trailer made me laugh. The films we're talking about today are ones that caught my attention because of a name involved, someone whose presence in front of or behind the camera makes me think this flick might have something going for it. It's Star Power week on Trailer Park.

The Bucket List
Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman play terminal cancer patients who create a list of things they want to do in life before they kick the bucket (hence the title). Neither actor seems to be straying far from what we've come to expect of them. Nicholson is blustery but still kind of suave while Freeman is more thoughtful and fatherly, but these are roles they play well. Oddly enough, the dynamic between the two actors reminds me a bit of the one between Bruce Campbell and Ossie Davis in Bubba Ho-tep. Will and Grace's Sean Hayes is here too and Rob Reiner is directing, so I suspect this will be one worth catching. Martha Fischer first blogged about this on Cinematical here.

Finishing the Game
The star in question here is actually the star of the film being made within the film. At the time of Bruce Lee's sudden death in 1973 at the age of thirty-two, his film The Game of Death remained unfinished. Finishing the Game is a comedy about the completion of the film in the wake of Lee's death and finding an actor who can finish the late martial arts star's scenes. Several actors vie for the role, one of them hilariously Caucasian. The costumes and hair styles capture the 70s feel nicely, as do the clips of faux period martial arts flicks, which kind of remind me of the fake trailers in Grindhouse. This looks awesome.

Normally, the thought of an erotic thriller would make me roll my eyes. It's been done -- again and again. However, this one might have something going for it -- or at least enough to keep an eye on it for the next while. The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Lionsgate has grabbed Peter Medak to direct an upcoming erotic thriller called Addicted. Now Medak has been all over the place as a director. The same guy who directed Zorro, the Gay Blade with George Hamilton (something too priceless to be fake) is the one who directed one of my favorite films -- Gary Oldman's Romeo is Bleeding. Beyond that, he's done a ton of television from Faerie Tale Theatre to House M.D.

Addicted is based on a novel by Zane -- not Billy Zane, just "Zane." It's about an African-American professional named Zoe whose personal and professional life is in turmoil because she's got an obsessive addition to sex. Zoe finds a female therapist and tries to work through her story -- one that includes sexual forays with an artist and another with a violent, destructive man. On the path to destruction, she tries to uncover the source for her dysfunction, which leads to "a climax that can threaten her sanity, her marriage...and her life." So basically, it sounds like Bliss with more dysfunction and lots more cheating. Christina Welsh adapted the novel, which will go into production this fall in Atlanta. So far, there is no cast attached -- any ideas? I'm going to throw out a more obscure name -- Gloria Reuben, who previously worked with Medak on the Anne Rice adaptation Feast of All Saints.

Odds and ends from Monday:

• Hey, what's up with Sarah Michelle Gellar and her recent addiction to horror remakes? Seriously, did the Scooby Doo franchise run out of storylines or what? Not only do we know what she did last summer, but there's a good chance we already know what she'll be doing for the next five summers. Geez Sarah, how about we switch it up a bit? Anyway, Lee Pace has signed on to star opposite Gellar in Addicted, a film "loosely based" on the 2002 South Korean pic Jungdok. Story revolves around a wife (Gellar) whose husband and brother-in-law both end up in a coma. However, when the brother-in-law wakes up, he becomes convinced Gellar is his wife. While we're not sure which man Pace will play, I've already started a petition asking filmmakers not to cast Freddy Prinze Jr. as the other guy. Want in?
• Unlike Gellar, John Leguizamo is an actor who's constantly searching for different material. According to Production Weekly, Leguizamo is close to starring in The Ministers, a thriller to be directed by Franc. Reyes. (Dude, what's up with the period at the end of your first name? Strange? Sort of? Whaddya think?) The script (which was penned by Reyes) centers around a female NYPD detective whose father was killed by a mysterious religious group named "The Ministers." After the group begins killing again, our hero is ordered to stay away from the case ... although it may already be too late (read: she's sleeping with one of "The Ministers").
• Over the last few days, folks have been speculating as to who and how David Lynch's new film Inland Empire would be distributed. Well, according to Coming Soon, Lynch will -- drum roll please --distribute the film himself. That's right, Lynch has secured the US and Canadian rights to his film with plans to release Inland Empire on 6000 screens tomorrow. Okay, the last part was a joke, but since we're talking Lynch here, I imagine anything is possible. Says Empire producer Mary Sweeney, "David's decision to explore a new model of distribution is consistent with the fearless way in which he made Inland Empire." No word yet on when and where folks will be able to catch The Three-Hour Lynch Experience (yes, in a perfect world that would be the film's title and it would only play in IMAX theaters), though Cinematical will let you know as soon as more information is available.

If we've learned anything from the collected works of master thespianette Sarah Michelle Gellar, it's this: Gellar + Remake = Cinematic Bliss. Between her remakes and her horror films, Ms. Gellar has graced the universe with entertainments as dazzling as I Know What You Did Last Summer, Scream 2, Scooby-Doo, Scooby-Doo 2, The Grudge and the impending Grudge 2. (Hell, even Buffy was a remake, if you want to be anal about it.) She also has The Return coming soon, a project that looks as generic as its title.

Convinced she still has a whole lot left to offer the expansive genre of Horror/Remake, Ms. Gellar has signed on to star in Addicted, a "psychological thriller" (which nowadays means "a PG-13 horror film") that's based on a 2002 Korean film called Jungdok. (Screenplay by the man who penned Queen of the Damned.) The plot centers on a woman whose husband and brother-in-law go comatose, but when the latter guy wakes up ... he's convinced that HE is her husband! Dun-dun-dunnnnnnnn!

Not even remotely surprising is that fact that Addicted will come from Vertigo Entertainment, the outfit that jammed American actors and English dialogue in Grudge, Grudge 2, Ring and Ring 2. Because the production house would probably implode from the effort expended on writing an original screenplay. (Don't believe me? Vertigo Remake Inc. also did Dark Water, The Lake House and The Departed, plus they're also working on the remakes of The Eye, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Oldboy, Ikiru, The Entity and Creepshow.)

Back when Basic Instinct 2 was released, I wrote a post about a Hollywood Reporter article that blamed the decline of the erotic thriller in the US on politics, rather than the dismal quality of recent films in that genre, and asked readers for their thoughts on the subject. Most of the commenters said they'd love to see a good erotic thriller, but that most of Hollywood's attempts of late have failed on both counts, particularly the "thriller" angle. So, while Lionsgate's new deal for the rights to Zane's to-be-published Addicted won't do much for those in search of suspense with their erotica, it nevertheless is a sign that at least one (small, smart) studio isn't feeling political pressure to keep sex out of their films.

According to Variety, Addicted "revolves around a successful black woman who has a series of affairs, threatening her marriage and motherhood" and, like all of Zane's books, "takes an unflinching look at female sexuality." The funny thing about this project is that instead of emphasizing either the story's unusual (at least for Hollywood), female-centric take on sexuality or the erotic nature of Zane's work, Lionsgate is selling it as a logical successor to their successful Tyler Perry films. Say it with me now: HAAAA! Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't the Perry films admired for their strong family values? How, exactly, does that fit in with a hot movie about a married woman and her multiple affairs? Oh no. Please tell me she doesn't see the error of her ways, reform and return meekly to her husband at the end, or something. Zane readers, do her books usually end with a good, moral resolution? Help us out here.