peter hyams Tagged Articles at Cinematical
'Outland' Heads Back to the Final Frontier
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels », Western »
Allow my paranoia to run rampant for a second because I'm beginning to think the big movie studios are taking their remake ideas from my Netflix account. Languishing somewhere around #57on my queue is Peter Hyams' Outland, which means I'll probably get to it just as Warner Bros' remake of it hits theaters. Yes, that's right -- Warner Bros is remaking Outland. It isn't just an idle fancy either, as The Hollywood Reporter says that the studio is already well into production. Michael Davis is set to direct, and Chad St. John is penning the screenplay. As you might remember, the original starred Sean Connery as a marshall on one of Jupiter's moons. His one year tour of duty isn't exactly peaceful as several miners meet violent ends, and none of the other colonists are willing to assist in the pursuit of justice. Connery is forced to take on the colony's evil administators all by his lonesome. Yes, that is also the plot of High Noon if you hadn't noticed. (But you did. You read Cinematical!)
To be honest, it's not so much a remake as a complete rewrite. The new Outland will be stripped of its western influences, expanded into a bigger "tentpole" movie, and will take place on a city that orbits the Moon. Our hero is a cop who is only a week away from retirement when he stumbles on a murderous conspiracy that's endangering the entire Moon City. He must decide whether to walk away and retire to Earth with his wife, or face "taking on a private army with his overachieving ex-partner and wife's former boyfriend." I think we know which one he picks, or else there's not going to be much of a movie. But hey, even if you can follow the plot from here, at least they're trying something new, and drawing influence from the hardboiled detectives instead of Gary Cooper and Connery, right?
Michael Douglas & Amber Tamblyn -- 'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt' Trailer
Filed under: Independent », Noir », Mystery & Suspense », Newsstand », Movie Marketing », Remakes and Sequels », Trailers and Clips »
Last year, Michael Douglas boarded Peter Hyams' Beyond a Reasonable Doubt, a remake of the 1956 Fritz Lang classic. It's fallen off the radar a little bit, and taken some time to get a release date, but here it is. The trailer is online in glorious Quicktime over at Apple, and the film is set to hit theaters on September 11, 2009.
I'm ashamed to say I've never seen the original, and unfortunately it doesn't seem to be available on Netflix, so I'll have no basis for comparison for awhile. I'm not against a remake neccessarily, and the story lends itself to an update, particularly as fates can be sealed on a shred or two of DNA. (How you could fake that kind of thing though, that's tough to say.) But I'm afraid I'm not getting a very good feeling off the trailer. I want to say that it's purely because the trailer is cut as though it's an '80s action film rather than a tense courtroom thriller, an odd marketing choice considering they evoked Saul Bass with the poster design. I'll continue to hope it's a taunt thriller, and not just slick and youth driven. I can't help but think Jesse Metcalfe and Amber Tamblyn are just far too young to be a reporter and an assistant D.A., respectively.
Directors I Like: Peter Hyams
Filed under: Action », Animation », Comedy », Drama », Horror », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Noir », Remakes and Sequels »
So a few months ago I'm enjoying a stupid cigarette outside of my Park City (Sundance, woo) hotel, and I see my old friend Chris Hyams walking my way. Chris is one of the founders and wizards behind Bside.com, an outfit that does everything from mega-nifty festival schedules to full-bore film distribution. So because I am loud (and also a pathetic movie nerd), I say "Hey Chris! Wouldn't it be cool if your Dad was PETER Hyams?"Chris smiled and said "It sure would be. And he is my dad!" After about four minutes of Chris trying to convince me he was telling the truth, we quickly got rambling about the awesomeness of Outland, which is a film his dad made way back in 1981, and is still the finest "High Noon in space" movie that Sean Connery ever starred in. During my conversation with Chris, my brain kept screaming "Don't mention The Musketeer! You HATED that movie!" So I didn't.
But then Chris was off to see a movie and I was left thinking "I'm a moron. Been a Hyams fan since I was a kid and Outland is all I could come up with?" So in an effort to rectify my idiocy, I offer this (rather eclectic) list of Peter Hyams flicks that I sorta, really, or very much dig.
Capricorn One (1978) -- Elliot Gould and James Brolin star in this dated-yet-interesting sci-fi tale of a FAKED Mars landing. As he would later do (several times) in his career, Mr. Hyams wrote, directed, AND shot the movie.
Hanover Street (1979) -- Follow a sci-fi film with a wartime romantic drama? With Harrison Ford? Sure, why not?
Outland (1981) -- If you're going to do an unofficial semi-remake, you could at least do it with half the cleverness found here. It really IS High Noon in Space, and it works surprisingly well. Even holds up well today. Solid brawls, a nice percolation of tension, great character ensemble and a great performance by Frances Sternhagen.
Cinematical Seven: Terrific Turkeys of the Aughts
Filed under: Action », Drama », Horror », Thrillers », Mystery & Suspense », Sony », Sony Classics », Warner Brothers », 20th Century Fox », Cinematical Seven »
In honor of the Thanksgiving holiday that nears, it seemed only fitting that our minds turned to those films for which we are most unexpectedly grateful, those flops and duds, those bombs and turkeys rife with unintentional humor and renewed entertainment values. Now, we've pretty much stuck with the past decade or so with our picks; anything before that has either been done right by MST3K or is probably titled Showgirls.
With that said, please enjoy this Cinematical Seven responsibly, and do feel free to contribute your own personal favorite howlers of late in the comments below...
1. Twilight (2008)
Oh, dear God, I'm kidding. J/K!
Michael Douglas to Lead Remake of 'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt'
Filed under: Drama », Casting », Remakes and Sequels »
I've got to wonder... If there is an afterlife, can those who have died see what's happening on earth? Variety has just reported that Peter Hyams is going to helm a remake of Fritz Lang's last American film -- Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. What would Lang say if he heard this his film was going to be remade by the man who brought us Running Scared, Timecop, The Relic, and End of Days? That's not to say that the man can't do it, or that great directors can't fail (as Gus Van Sant's Psycho taught us), but his track record doesn't instill much confidence.The classic, which focuses on an ill-advised scheme to point out the flimsiness of circumstantial evidence, will get "a true 21st century spin for a new generation of cinema-goers," according to Foresight head Mark Damon. Yet again, I ask why it couldn't have just been "inspired by." The original plot: A publisher wants to make a point about how crappy circumstantial evidence is, so he talks his would-be son-in-law into planting clues suggesting he was behind a recent murder. At the last moment, they could bring out the truth and reveal the flaws in the system and death penalty. However, the guy holding that all-too-important information dies and mucks up the plan.
Anyhow, it's got an, um, interesting cast to boot -- Michael Douglas, Amber Tamblyn, and Jesse Metcalfe. They've certainly younged it up a bit -- the main players in the original, names like Dana Andrews and Joan Fontaine, were all at least in their mid-thirties. Whatever the case, we've got the King of California, plus a girl with a kick-arse 3D glasses-wearing dad and some traveling pants, and John Tucker all spun together for this century. I like most of the cast, and I still can't help but think: Why bother?
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
Directors We Love: Jim Jarmusch
Indie Roundup: 'Sweetgrass,' 'Clarkworld,' 'Broken Embraces'
Shelf Life: Fight Club_thumbnail.jpg)
Watch: Famous 'Matrix' Scene Re-Created with LEGOs
_thumbnail.jpg)
