disturbia Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The basic plot of Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window -- man believes he witnessed a murder, has to prove it really happened -- has been reused for so many films and TV shows that it's not that surprising when another homage or ripoff comes around. Yet last year's Disturbia, starring Shia LaBeouf as a guy under house arrest who thinks his neighbor is a serial killer, bore close enough resemblance to be labeled an update on Hitchcock's film. And now, not surprisingly, Dreamworks, its parent company Viacom and Universal Pictures, are being sued for creating an unauthorized remake.*

The defendant in the case is not exactly related to Hitchcock's film, though; the lawsuit was filed by Sheldon Abend Revocable Trust, which owns the rights to Cornell Woolrich's original short story "It Had to Be Murder" (called "Murder from a Fixed Viewpoint" in the article), upon which Rear Window is based. Film business followers may remember the name Sheldon Abend from the important Supreme Court copyright case of 1990, Stewart v. Abend, in which Abend sued James Stewart and the production company Patron Inc. after Rear Window was aired on television.

If you've seen both Disturbia and Rear Window do you think the case is valid? Is Disturbia really that much more of a ripoff than Manhattan Murder Mystery, Head Over Heels and most of Brian DePalma's early career? Even Antonioni's Blow Up and Coppola's The Conversation are fairly similar in concept. Obviously some works, such as the Simpsons episode in which Bart thinks Flanders murdered his wife, are okay because they fall under the permissions of parody.

*Note: We accidentally listed Steven Spielberg as an executive producer on Disturbia, though he was not. That information has been removed from the post. [ed]

Granted, it's not like Eagle Eye is the Shia LaBeouf flick that has the world on the edge of their seats (cough, Crystal Skull, cough) -- but, the luckiest guy in Hollywood has been busy bouncing between sets for a while now. Paramount and Dreamworks have released the first photo from LaBeouf's political thriller, Eagle Eye (you can see the hi-res version by clicking the image above).

Eagle Eye stars LaBeouf as a slacker type struggling with the mysterious death of his over-achieving brother. When he returns home, he discovers that he and a single mother (as played by Michelle Monaghan) have been framed as terrorists. When the two are forced to join a real terror cell bent on political assassination, they have to figure out a way to bring down the bad guys and get out alive. On a side note: does it make me a jaded moviegoer if I say that I can smell a twist coming involving the dead brother a mile off?

From what I understood, Shia LaBeouf was not like other young celebrities. He's even appeared on late night talk shows explaining how he's different. How he won't be caught out at the clubs, wasted and doing embarrassing things. But just as everybody is due 15 minutes of fame, everybody with more than that quarter hour is due at least one day of scandal. So, here's LaBeouf's moment of controversy, finally: the 21-year-old was arrested at a Chicago Walgreens, where he was allegedly drunk and refusing to leave. This was at 2:30 a.m. on Sunday morning; at first he was detained by a security guard, and then taken away by police, who booked him and released him on bond at 7 a.m. His official charge was misdemeanor criminal trespassing and he is due to appear in court November 28.

Man, I can't wait to hear Shia's side of the story. I mean, there has to be a good reason for what happened. And even if not, who hasn't been drunk at a Walgreens on a Saturday night once in their life? The thing is, the police didn't test LaBeouf's sobriety since he wasn't driving (how did he get there? who was he with? inquiring minds want to know details!), and so there's no proof that he was in fact drunk. Of course, it hardly matters if he was sober, because right now the whole world is reading about his drunkenness. At least this is the perfect time for a scandal, if he must have one. It's many months past his successes with Disturbia and Transformers and many months before he'll be seen in Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull -- not that people would not see that movie just because of this incident. I doubt Spielberg will even have to scold him at all.

No matter how many millions (over $100 worldwide) Disturbia made, I must say that I really, really wasn't happy with it. (You might remember my DVD review from August.) Why write about it, then? Well, the thing is, it's a disappointing movie that easily could've been so much more, which is what makes it so irk-worthy. It took the classic Rear Window set-up, shot it well, and had decent actors, but completely missed all the potential for jumps and feasibility. The movie failed to live up to its potential for tension, and had a protagonist who was smart enough to pull off intricate wiring, but didn't have the common sense to spy in the dark, or from an unseen vantage point.

Nevertheless, it got lots of love, and it's no surprise that Bloody-Disgusting is now reporting that the film is going to get a sequel. The movie is currently in the works, but they have heard nothing about who is attached to the project. My guess is that they'll take the same theme and go with a new person, and maybe one of the film's co-stars -- perhaps Ronnie in college? Or maybe they'll convince Shia LaBeouf to come back, and his adventures will have made him some sort of super-spy who moves around spying on dangerous wackos. Whatever the case, we'll revisit Disturbia once again, and hopefully this time around, it'll be free of the easy-to-fix weak points.

If there was only one man left on earth, would you want that man to be Shia LaBeouf? And I'm talking to all the women out there, because while there aren't any men left, there are loads and loads of women. Yup, I'm talking about the comic Y:The Last Man, which is set to become yet another comic-turned-movie -- and it will be directed by D.J. Caruso. The director, as you may or may not know, previously helmed Disturbia -- watched it rule at the box office -- and has since become the go-to guy for films that involve Shia LaBeouf. In fact, the two are teaming up once again on Eagle Eye, a thriller set to shoot once Shia is finished with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skulls. And after Eagle Eye is finished, Caruso will jump onto Y: The Last Man -- and right now it's looking like the lead role in that flick (a guy by the name of Yorick Brown) will most likely go to Shia ... well, if both Caruso and LaBeouf have their way.

See, LaBeouf has already gone on record saying how much he'd love to play the title character, but now Caruso is adding his two cents. While speaking to MTV, the director had this to say when asked about Shia's potential involvement: "This is funny, but unbeknownst to me: Shia was already chasing this part prior to anything. I haven't talked to him yet about it because he's off shooting 'Indiana Jones 4,' but Shia is the right type and the right personality because you want to have the humor, but you also want to have the seriousness. So we'll talk about it when we get there." Sounds to me like Shia is the top choice, although when MTV asked fans who they think should play the part, names like Mark Ruffalo, Tobey Maguire and Ryan Gosling spewed out. What, no love for The Shia? Originally created by Matthew Brian K. Vaughn, Y: The Last Man will be adapted for the screen by Disturbia writer Carl Ellsworth (with help from Caruso as well). Those interested in learning more about Y: The Last Man should definitely check out the rest of this MTV article; it's packed with all sorts of juicy info. So what do you fans think: Shia or no Shia?

The good kid Kale (Shia LaBeouf) loves his ma and pops. After a terrible, grisly tragedy, the kid becomes an unstable and volatile jerk -- punching teachers and being a spoiled brat to his struggling mom. He gets 3 months of house arrest for the teacher assault, and after ma (Carrie Anne Moss) gets tough, taking away all of his expensive toys, Kale starts spying on his neighbors. He falls for the cute, new neighbor Ashley (Sarah Roemer) -- who looks like Ellen Pompeo and spends much of the movie showing off her assets. But not all of Kale's window entertainment is fun. He starts to think that his other neighbor, Mr. Turner (David Morse), might be a serial killer on the loose. Getting the help of Ashley and his best friend, Ronnie (Aaron Yoo), Kale decides to spy.

While it all sounds like it could make for a fun flick, Disturbia is only disturbing in how not scary it is, and how many simple changes could've been made to make the thriller palatable. Sure, the film has good parts -- I particularly loved his party payback that involved reorganizing his stereo and turning up the iPod as a nice, romantic song played. But beyond that, the film is a sloppy movie trying to be Rear Window, Cherish and Say Anything.

I can suspend a lot of disbelief for a film, but sometimes, you just shouldn't have to. When watching a film about voyeurs, you should at least get the basics -- a kid who knows how to spy. Time after time, Kale and his friends spy during the evening, all the lights on and not one curtain drawn. He learns nothing each and every time someone catches him spying -- he doesn't pull the curtains; he doesn't turn off the lights. Instead, he stands in his window, illuminated by a number of lamps, openly spying on people. And this is the same kid who later re-wires a camcorder. Right.

Following the success of Disturbia, Dreamworks has decided not to let go of that film's director, D.J. Caruso (who's also one of the directors rumored to helm Wolverine), as well as its star Shia LaBeouf. According to Variety, both guys have hopped onboard a new thriller called Eagle Eye, with plans to shoot this fall (once LaBeouf has completed his work on Indiana Jones 4). Like with most of LaBeouf's projects as of late, Steven Spielberg is involved in more ways than one -- Eagle Eye is based on his original idea, although the script was actually penned by Dan McDermott. As with Disturbia (and LaBeouf's next film Transformers), Spielberg will most likely slide into the exec producer role once again. He was originally tapped to direct, although some guy in a fedora hat convinced him otherwise. Thus, he's handed over the reigns to his two apprentices -- Darth Caruso and Shia Skywalker.

They're labeling this one a thriller, although at first glance I thought it was a comedy. Basically, a young slacker (LaBeouf) and a single mother are framed as terrorists and forced to join a cell that has plans to assassinate a political figure. I imagine the film then follows the two as they look for a way out of this craptacular predicament. Transformers scribes Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (who are also the writers on Star Trek XI and practically every other big-budgeted blockbuster in recent years) will produce, having also just signed a deal to do the same on Cowboys & Aliens. Currently, there's no release date; expect LaBeouf's name to pop up once again when folks start talking up a Transformers sequel.

Christopher B. Landon, the screenwriter who just got done making big money by ripping off, er, remaking ... no, "re-imagining" Rear Window for 15-year-olds who can't be bothered with Alfred Hitchcock, is about to pen another script -- and it's another one that sounds more than a little familiar. The Disturbia scribe seems to be taking his inspiration from something a lot more modern this time around: He wants to do a movie about three teenage witches. And I highly doubt that Andrew Fleming's The Craft is going to earn a spot in the opening credits.

According to Variety, Landon (who apparently never met a movie he wouldn't unofficially re-make) just sold a script called The Flock to Warners. (Never mind the fact that there's a Richard Gere movie called The Flock that's hitting theaters this summer.) The synopsis goes like this: "Set in contemporary times, story revolves around three teens accused of practicing witchcraft. Girls endure terrifying consequences as a result of the ensuing hysteria and scapegoating." Maybe they'll get Fairuza Balk and Robin Tunney to star.

Coming soon from Christopher Landon: An original screenplay about a town overtaken by birds. After that, a flick about a young girl possessed by the devil. (Obviously I'm being a bit over-snippy here, but I'm just amazed at how much money Disturbia brought in, despite the fact that the movie's been made several times before.) Obviously there's something to be said for giving people the same old leftovers. I think what irks me most is not that Disturbia is a bald-faced Rear Window retread, but mainly that Mr. Landon took a "story by" credit on the flick. That's just tacky.

After taking a look at this weekend's box office numbers, I'm now convinced the rumor is indeed true -- Steven Spielberg can see into the future. Perhaps that's why he's been so hot on Shia LaBeouf, when the rest of us were all like, "Um, you mean that kid from The Battle of Shaker Heights? Really? You dig him?" Granted, if Disturbia opened up in the middle of January during what I like to call "Hollywood's version of spring training," then it's $23 million first place finish wouldn't have been such a big deal. However, Shia LaBeouf (whose last three films were Bobby, A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints and The Greatest Game Ever Played) won this weekend's top spot by defeating some serious competition.

Shall we run down the list of top-notch actors LaBeouf out-box officed? Let's see, there's Will Ferrell, John Heder, Bruce Willis, Halle Berry, Hilary Swank and Ice Cube -- not to mention filmmakers like Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez. I suppose one can make the argument that it wasn't so much Shia LaBeouf that attracted the crowds, but that Disturbia was the weekend's only new film geared toward the teenage audience. (Well, that's if you don't count the street-racing flick Redline which -- and I'm sure you'll agree -- didn't exactly shell out the dough when it came time for marketing. I'm sure most people showed up to the theater, saw the name 'Redline,' and thought it was some low-budget indie film about a red line.) Regardless, I think it's safe to say that Shia LaBeouf has officially arrived ... and just in time for a little film called Transformers, due out this July 4.

What do you think? Was Disturbia a fluke? Or does Shia really have a lot more fans than Catwoman, John McClane and that Pulp Fiction dude combined?

Well, I was a tad overly optimistic about Grindhouse last week, wasn't I? Turns out not that many people want to sit through three hours of zombie gore and vehicular manslaughter. Go figger. This week, just in time for Friday the 13th, we've got loads of movies opening, most of them thrillers. It's doubtful any of them will make a top-25 list of best thrillers, but they should provide for an entertaining weekend nonetheless.

Perfect Stranger
What It's About: A journalist (Halle Berry), suspecting a philandering businessman (Bruce Willis) of killing her friend, poses as an office temp and plays a seductive cat-and-mouse game with him to get at the truth.
Why It Might Do Well: Berry and Willis are big, big stars, each capable of headlining a hit movie on his/her own; and Sony has put some major marketing muscle behind this flick. Plus, Halle Berry is the most beautiful person on the planet. That isn't particularly relevant here, but I thought it needed to be said.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The reviews haven't been great, and it's rated R, which will limit its audience to adults and determined teens with cool parents and/or fake IDs.
Prediction: $15 million

Disturbia
What It's About: Shia LaBeouf stars as a troubled kid who's sentenced to house arrest for acting out in class. Having nothing better to do than spy on his neighbors, he and his friends start to think one of them may be a serial killer. It's kind of like Rear Window, except the protagonist's younger, not in a wheelchair, and, um, under arrest.
Why It Might Do Well: Going head-to-head with Perfect Stranger in the battle of the weekend thrillers, Disturbia has one crucial weapon in its corner: It's rated a teen-friendly PG-13. And LaBeouf's star is on the rise: Not only will he star in two big animated movies this year (Transformers and Surf's Up), but he's also just been tapped to co-star with Harrison Ford in the fourth Indiana Jones movie.
Why It Might Not Do Well: While he's certainly an up-and-comer, Shia's still no Bruce Willis. The biggest names besides LaBeouf are Carrie-Anne Moss (as his mom -- I don't know why this depresses me, but it does) and David Morse as the maybe-murderous neighbor.
Prediction: $15 million