Some might question whether Brideshead Revisited, the classic novel by Evelyn Waugh, needed to be revisited in a film adaptation; the novel, after all, has been adapted once before in a lengthy and well-beloved British television serial. Fortunately for fans of Waugh's work, this film version of Brideshead, directed by Julian Jarrold (Kinky Boots, Becoming Jane) off a screenplay written by Jeremy Brock and Andrew Davies, is beautifully shot, painstakingly directed, and well worth watching. For the most part, the filmmakers avoid mutilating Waugh's work, although the end result does place a greater emphasis on certain aspects (romance) and limit or eliminate others altogether (the brilliantly written discourses on religion and love that permeate the book).

The film is shot in Castle Howard, also the setting for the miniseries version, and Brideshead itself is a majestic, imposing character that looms over all who encounter it. The screenplay is rather a masterful adaptation; the film handles the compression of years through the storyline with a bit of book-ended time-jumping to both introduce us to the lead characters and close out the story, and Brock and Davies do an able job of whittling the story down to meet the needs of a cinematic experience without losing the feel of Waugh's novel in the process.

Continue reading Review: Brideshead Revisited

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• Hall H is absolutely bonkers right now; thousands of people have packed in for this one. Apparently you can win an X-Box 360 by texting the word 'Watchmen' to 58671.
• Zack Snider is present with his entire cast: Malin Akerman, Carla Gugino, Billy Crudup, Jackie Earle Haley, Matthew Goode, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Patrick Wilson and Dave Gibbons.
• A brief history on the project, last year's Con and the recently-released trailer. Dave Gibbons talks about what it was like to see their vision come to life. Impressed by the attention to detail throughout.
• Clip showing the non-PG aspect of the film; ridiculous extended trailer -- some of which included Dr. Manhattan kicking lots of ass in Vietnam. Elisabeth texts me to say, "Wow, that was awesome!"
  
• And now the fan questions have begun ...
• Who's your favorite Watchmen character to Snyder (surprise! he likes them all!), what's it like to play so and so, etc ...
• More questions on the mature tone and whether that's what we should expect from the future of comic book movies. Is the movie too dark? That's up to you ...
• Random Unrelated Update: Joss Whedon is in our hotel lobby right now -- Cinematical's Scott Weinberg introduces himself by saying, "Excuse me sir, I don't know if you know this, but you're Joss Whedon." Whedon replies, "That's right, I am!" Love it! Scott then asks for a photo with Joss fast, so Joss turns around and says, "Hey Nate, can you take this for us." Yup, it's Nathan Fillion. Weinberg just had his geek moment of the day.
• More Watchmen in a bit ... folks are still asking questions (what inspired that, how hard was it to do this, etc ...)
• Panel's over -- they showed the footage one more time -- and now Weinberg is heading over to the Watchmen interviews. Elisabeth will be back later with much more ...

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• Warner Bros. and Leonardo DiCaprio's production company are looking to bring us a feature-length Twilight Zone. This one, however, won't be episodic. Instead, they hope to stretch one out into a feature. THR
• Pretty, Baby, Machine is going to hit the big screen by Landscape Entertainment and bring Al Capone down. THR
• The MPAA goes viral. Variety
• Richard Dreyfuss is narrating a new doc called America Betrayed, which will be "a scathing look at the way out government contributes to and profits from disasters both here and abroad." Variety
• Harold and Kumar are coming back... again! John Cho and Kal Penn will reprise their roles; story is being kept under wraps. Variety
• Rupert Grint is bloody in Cherry Bomb. Just Jared
• New German doc -- Hitler on Trial. AP/Yahoo
• Trailer for The Brothers Bloom. Coming Soon
• More Repo! footage. MTV

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Continue reading Review: American Teen

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• The first trailer for Saw V was released in conjunction with that film's panel here last night. It's over at Yahoo!, but thanks to the magic that is embed players, you fine folks can see if after the jump. Yes, Jigsaw is back ... but this time something's gotta be done about his kids, Marty! Wait ... back up ... puzzles, traps, blood -- that's more like it.
• MGM has confirmed via press release that Darren Aronofsky will officially helm a Robocop remake. And, no, I looked out my window and pigs were not flying. Also, in the same press release, they noted that Brett Ratner will be directing God of War. There's a potential for awesomeness in either project, but it's still too early to tell.
  
• The two Red Sonja posters unveiled during the panel yesterday (see our report here) hit the Cinematical inbox this morning, and, yes, I believe it is true what they say about redheads: They like to lick blood off of swords. See both above.
• Wolverine footage screened yesterday during the Fox panel, and it was pretty awesome. Dynamite teaser moment: Wolverine telling Sabretooth: "I'm gonna cut your goddamn head off!" Everything I'm hearing about this flick is that it's dark, sadistic and wicked ... and I cannot flippin' wait.
• IGN has the Punisher: War Zone footage from last night's panel.
• I heard the Twilight panel was absolutely off the charts as far as tween female geekdom goes. Never have so many mothers and daughters gone so ballistic in one area at the same time -- I'm not sure if anyone called Guinness, but some sort of record was definitely broken.
• We missed the paltry G.I. Joe panel, but JoBlo has a pretty good rundown of it in case you're interested. No footage was shown, just a slideshow of stuff we've already seen and maybe one or two action shots.
• Last but not least, The Masters of the Web panel was a good time. This was my first ever Con panel (as a panelist) and luckily I didn't throw up or accidentally spit on AICN's Quint (who sat next to me).I'd call that a success.
  

Continue reading SDCC Bites: 'Robocop' Remake, 'Saw V' Trailer, 'Wolverine' Footage and More!

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The story behind my RocknRolla coverage could actually be a Guy Ritchie film -- you'd have to add a few car chases and shoot-outs, but I think the framework is there. Due to the insanity of Hall H, I decided I would sit through the next three panels in order to be guaranteed a seat at RocknRolla. My phone rings. "RocknRolla press. Here's the room. You've got five minutes." I grab my tape recorder, and phone, and I run. I run up the escalator, yoga and stomach crunches actually paying off as I arrive with only the minor warnings of a heart attack.

And once I get in, what befalls me? Only an entire slew of strange technical difficulties -- my tape recorder refused to record, as did my cell phone, and my cell phone camera decided to take half the photo in blinding white, half in black. Naturally, everything worked outside the room, so go figure, and thank goodness for good old fashioned pen and paper, eh? There must have been something on my face -- shock, fear, or the paleness of impending death / bad coverage because Gerard Butler took one look at me, and stuck his tongue out in a "Total insanity, right?!" face. (At least, that's how I interpreted it. I hope he wasn't commenting on my appearance or broken tape recorder.)

Continue reading SDCC 2008: Dark Castle Presents: RocknRolla

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Continue reading Review: The X-Files: I Want to Believe - Jeffrey's Take

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This was a real accidental panel for me to have attended. The lines proved impossible to navigate for Fox and Summit, and I lacked the studio credentials to bypass the Hall H morass -- so I ducked in as soon as it was quiet and prepared to relax to Disney. But the Race to Witch Mountain panel was anything but relaxing. It wasn't full, but those who were there were serious diehards of the original, so the questions thrown at director Andy Fickman, and stars Carla Gugino and Dwayne Johnson were a little intense. Here's the key points, gleaned from the Q&A:

-- Race is not a sequel or a remake, but a re-imagining. They went back to the original book for inspiration, and tried to incorporate everything, but while writing a new mythology.
-- All were huge fans of the original, which drew them to the project. Johnson is particularly fond of Disney projects due to his young daughter, Gugino jumped at the chance to do a departure from the original.
-- Delving deeply into the UFO movement, essentially a UFO story.
-- More action packed to keep with the book, and also to keep up with the likes of the Harry Potter movies. Fans of the original will find Winnebagos to delight them, new fans won't have to have seen the old ones to get the story.
-- Gugino plays a "discredited astrophysicist" and Johnson a cab driver. The kids are aliens. Much ass is kicked by all the characters.
-- The original kids, Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann, are in it. People went absolutely crazy at this, and it's hinted their part is large, but no other details were forthcoming.
-- Fickman said the closest comparison to the movie was 48 Hrs or the Bourne movies. Seriously.

Tron is back ... and after the jump ...

Continue reading SDCC Panel: Disney's 'Escape to Witch Mountain' and 'Tron 2'

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Continue reading SDCC: Fox Presents 'Max Payne' and 'The Day the Earth Stood Still'

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Gallery: Red Sonja Comic Con Panel

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Gallery: Con Costumes, Day 1

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• Jamie Kennedy is going to produce an indie called In Northwood, which stars Nick Stahl as a man condemned to a mental hospital after committing murder. THR
• Cocaine Cowboys has picked itself up a scribe -- gonzo journalist and screenwriter Evan Wright. THR
  
• Everyone's favorite pot-smoking Jay, aka Jason Mewes, has nabbed a starring role in the indie slasher flick Silent But Deadly, which shoots in Ontario next month. Variety
• Phillip Noyce, meanwhile, is going to hit the plank and write the remake of Captain Blood. THR
• Check out Jennifer's blood-dripping lips, which just so happens to look like a certain television poster that was released recently. JoBlo
  
• Get ready for Robot Chicken: Star Wars: Episode 2! Coming Soon
• Posters: The Day The Earth Stood Still and Max Payne

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Continue reading Review: The X-Files: I Want To Believe

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As pleasantly surprised as I was by last summer's musical remake of Hairspray, I can't say that the prospect of sequel potential ever once came to mind. Thankfully, that's why we have Hollywood bean counters and the like, who see the success of that film, Mamma Mia! and High School Musical (including a fair amount of CD and DVD sales for each) as reason enough to have John Waters -- who wrote the 1988 original -- whip up a treatment for a Hairspray sequel.

According to Variety, returning for the project is director Adam Shankman and ... um, no one else at the moment. There isn't a writer attached, nor are any of the original stars lined up to return, although I have little reason to think that most of the young cast wouldn't be down for another one (just what is Nikki Blonsky up to now, anyway?).

Warner Bros. hopes to have Hairspray 2 (Hairspray-ier?) in theaters by July of 2010.

Continue reading 'Hairspray' Sequel, 'Rocky Horror' Remake In The Works

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Anyone with more than a passing interest in Judd Apatow's career will note how there's a curious call-back to one of Apatow's earlier works in this most recent of his productions, with the credits for Step Brothers in the exact same scrawled, stretched-out font as his comedy Freaks and Geeks. Freaks and Geeks, though, featured teens who often spoke and acted like adults; Step Brothers features adults who constantly speak and act like children.

The credit-font's evocation of an earlier Apatow work is an omen for the rest of Step Brothers, in fact, with Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly recycling and amplifying their rivalry from Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby (also directed by Step Brothers helmer Adam McKay) but without that film's plot structure, surreal wit or inspired mockery (and celebration) of NASCAR culture; instead, Step Brothers seems constructed -- or, rather, contrived -- solely to create a circumstance where Ferrell and Reilly can act like idiot man-children and riff to their great amusement. That, however, is not the same thing as riffing to the amusement of the audience. ...

Continue reading Review: Step Brothers -- James's Take

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What a day! It's so awesome to be back in San Diego, quite possibly the prettiest city in the United States. The weather is perfect and breezy, the town bedecked with ComicCon banners, and even the light rail is decorated with the girls of The Spirit. It's mecca for geeks and movie lovers alike. I'm absolutely wiped, though. This is the first Preview Night I've ever attended and surprise, surprise, it's the craziest one on record! As always, the Exhibit Hall is a dizzying wonder.

I toured with two con newbies (one of whom is my fangirl mom) and their bewilderment is hilarious. "I just -- wow. I never thought it was this huge! And so many people!" The hall was already packed, some of whom are already in costume which is a dedication I can't even muster. Every booth had an enormous line and for nothing in particular -- when you ask those waiting so patiently, all you get is "NECA." "Mezco." "Mattel." When you ask what hot exclusive they're waiting for, they just shrug and say "Whatever they've got. It's exclusive." Ah, the collectibles market!

Continue reading Live From SDCC 2008 -- Preview Night Madness

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There are amazing feats, and then there are jaw-dropping, once-in-a-lifetime accomplishments that confirm mankind's remarkable physical and imaginative potential. Philippe Petit can lay claim to having pulled off one of the latter, as in the summer of 1974, the French tightrope walker did something no one had ever done before or will ever do again: he navigated, on foot, a single wire stretched between the World Trade Center's two towers.

As a kid, Petit was an incorrigible climber, and upon seeing a newspaper article that included a diagram of the as-yet-uncompleted Twin Towers, he immediately told himself that one day, he would cross the gulf between the enormous skyscrapers. That he had no formal wirewalk training and had never been to the United States didn't matter, nor did the nightmarish logistical hurdles that would obviously stand in his way. A dream was born, or rather something of an audacious obsession, leading him to hone his craft first through intense training sessions, then by traversing wires attached to the peaks of Notre Dame and Australia's Sydney Harbour Bridge, and finally by concocting an elaborate plot to infiltrate the still-under-construction WTC and pull off his unparalleled deed.

Continue reading Review: Man on Wire

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Gallery: 2008 Comic Con Preview Night

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