planet of the apes Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Here's a confession appropriate for #fessupfriday: I've never seen the original 1968 Planet of the Apes nor any of its sequels. But I have seen Tim Burton's remake -- well, not the twenty or so minutes I dozed off through -- and personally, my favorite part was the end. Can I ruin it? Alex Trebek did so the other day in a Jeopardy category devoted to movie spoilers, so I figure readers of this site won't mind, especially since it's not a film considered worth seeing anyway. But just in case you don't want to know the twist ending, don't read any further.

Now I know, thanks to Elisabeth's post, that a PotA prequel is moving forward. And the idea behind it sounds great. But what I really want more of is that alternate world in which Abraham Lincoln was an ape (probably named Ape-raham Link-oln -- you know, because they're the missing link) yet still had the same kind of memorial in his honor in an ape-man-populated version of Washingon, D.C. I'm guilty of loving silly crap like this. I love The Flintstones (and similarly, Dinosaurs) and Howard the Duck for the punny parallels. And I'll watch any movies that are just basically like feature length episodes of Sliders (I guess that means I should finally see the original PotC films).

As usual, I'm probably in the minority here. But also as usual, this pitch is merely a prompt for you to sound off on how you'd like the franchise to go. I'd especially like to hear from those who, unlike me, are familiar with the damn dirty apes. And if anyone wants to humor me with gags for my idea for the franchise (the current president is their world is Barack Bonobama...his Secretary of State is Hillary Chimpton...), that's fine, too.

If there is one man who knows everything there is to know about damn, dirty apes, it's CHUD's Devin Faraci. He's been faithfully tracking Caesar, a POTA prequel that has been brewing for two years at 20th Century Fox. (You may have also heard about it under its other titles: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes and Genesis: Apes.) Faraci had the scoop of the storyline two years ago when Scott Frank was on board to write and direct, but Frank dropped out of the project in January. It was believed to be the death knell. Not so!

Now Deadline Hollywood Daily reports that Rupert Wyatt is set to direct from a script by by Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver. Naturally, Faraci has the scoop on the retitled Caesar: Rise of the Apes. Thankfully it's kept much of Frank's original storyline. Caesar is the highly intelligent result of one doctor's genetic research. Not only is he gifted, he continues to mutate and evolve into a new species that emerges as a threat to humanity. Faraci is full of praise for the script, not only because of how neatly it ties into the original 1968 Planet of the Apes (even Col. Taylor and the Icarus are mentioned in the background as having disappeared on a space mission), but because it's full of little trivia pieces for POTA buff. I wouldn't dream of lifting his work (just his photo), so ape buffs should visit CHUD for all the details.

I'm not a huge POTA fan, but I did like the story of Caesar, and the timing could not be better. Star Trek helped audiences accept reboots, and I think Avatar was a "My First Sci-Fi Social Commentary" experience for many moviegoers. (I don't mean to sound snooty. I think the smart Cinematical readers know the fearful types I'm describing.) Caesar could build on that trend and create its own franchise that's relevant for this day and age.

A few weeks ago, Peter took a look at the latest developments on the Weekend at Bernie's remake, and based on the amount of comments the post received, a lot of you seem to care one way or another about the 1989 original. Or, you at least have something to say about the concept of remakes. Either way, I'm sure you'd love to see what a Bernie's redo would look like if Tim Burton directed it with Johnny Depp in the titular role of the dead man. For better or worse, the guys at LandlineTV have made something to satisfy that curiosity.

I say for better or worse, because I honestly don't find their video to be all that humorous nor a worthy imitation of Burton's style. I hate to be so critical, as they seem to have put a lot of effort into this. I do love the concept, at least, but as I make a point to show with my Pitch of the Day posts, there are plenty of good ideas out there. But it's the execution that requires true effort and talent. For me, this clip goes along with other recent so-so attempts to understand specific auteur's aesthetics, such as the imagined Wes Anderson Spider-Man trailer and most of that hypothetical filmmaker-directed Super Bowl video.

That's right, the dreaded R-word is back, and this time it's aimed at a certain simian planet. A little over a year ago, there were rumblings that Fox was looking to reboot the Planet of The Apes franchise after the disastrous 2001 film by Tim Burton. But, before you could say 'damn you all to Hell,' the project was seemingly dead in the water. Well, it looks like we may have spoken too soon, because according to an exclusive in NY Magazine, the flick is alive and well at Fox. According to them, not only if Fox still keen on getting the film into production, they have handed the reigns to Peter Chernin (a former Fox News Corp head, who has made the leap to producer) in hopes of getting the flick into high gear.

Most of us had assumed that the project was headed for the scrap heap when Scott Frank (Minority Report) walked away from the production, but Vulture's sources are claiming that Fox has, "hired writer Jamie Moss (Street Kings) to rework Frank's version, and the original writers, Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver (The Relic, The Hand that Rocks the Cradle), were recently brought back to polish the dialog." According to Vulture, Frank walked away from the film when his original vision for a prequel on just how those apes got so crafty in the first place, was rejected by the studio. Frank's script centered on the genetic experiments that create a 'super-ape' by the name of Cesar who led his hairy brethren to rise up against their human captors, but now that some new writers are on the scene, I expect we'll see a few changes in Frank's original vision.

Remember, nothing is official yet, so stay tuned for any updates that come our way. But, what do you think, do those damn, dirty apes deserve one more shot at the big screen? Sound off in the comments...

Apocalypse you say? Then armageddon outta here. Whether it's war, pestilence or one of the other Four Horsemen, the end of civilization as we know it has been a recurring theme since the beginning of science fiction cinema. This Friday sees the release of Knowing, a film in which a looming global cataclysm plays a major role -- so let's take a look back at seven films with different versions of how it will all end.

I Am Legend (2007)
Let's start with one that's still fresh in everyone's mind. In this film based on the Richard Matheson novel, Will Smith plays Robert Neville who, at the start of the film anyway, appears to be the last man on Earth thanks to his immunity to the virus that has stricken everyone else. The majority of the population has died from the disease, while the remainder have been mutated into animalistic rage-driven creatures who fear the daylight. Neville is a virologist and spends his days looking for a cure and his nights locked away in the safety of his Manhattan home.

It's interesting that this is one of the few such films where the end of civilization is not brought on by an act of aggression, but by a noble cause: a man-made virus intended to cure cancer that goes horribly wrong. The film is entertaining, but personally I find the CGI Darkseekers distractingly unconvincing. They leap around as if they have no weight and when they shriek their jaws distend like an anaconda swallowing a pig. Also, the film's original ending, which you can see on the DVD, made a lot more sense to me. Of the previous adaptations of the novel, The Last Man on Earth with Vincent Price remains my favorite. Charlton Heston's The Omega Man has its moments but hasn't aged well and starts to run out of steam early on.

With this weekend's The Day the Earth Stood Still, Hollywood continues its attempt to remake every remotely viable classic property it can get its hands on. (It also conjures up the perfect role for Keanu Reeves, but that's another post.) The science-fiction genre has been a particularly inviting target, which makes sense since the ability to use modern effects makes filmmakers think that they are improving on their source material regardless of whether that's actually true. But it hasn't been all bad. Hollywood still churns out some good sci-fi from time to time, and some of the remakes have hit their mark. Here's a list of seven that worked for me -- though I warn you that my tastes in genre films are somewhat idiosyncratic. I'm fond of some black sheep.

1. War of the Worlds (2005) - Some of you may want to get off the train right here. But I saw Spielberg's War of the Worlds before the bad buzz, and I found the first ninety minutes just ridiculously intense -- the realest alien invasion ever put on screen. This was Spielberg the wizard, the technician, in top form. Sure, he chose to play out his daddy issues instead of giving us a believable ending; everyone is right about that. But to me, that's barely a smudge on this movie's accomplishments.

A few months back I was discussing Fantastic Fest with Sir Devin Faraci, and he professed to me that one of the films he was most looking forward to -- was something 25 years old! Yes, Devin is a HUGE Planet of the Apes fan, so he was elated to see the "unseen cut" of J. Lee Thompson's Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. Mega-geeked, in fact.

So when it comes to new info on this long-running franchise, I put much stock in Faraci's ravings. Here's the short version: It looks like there will be an Apes prequel that starts off before the original film. And by "original film," I assume they mean the 1968 one. And then we hear from Cinema Blend (who got it from Production Weekly) that not only is the prequel a go, but also that Fox has hired a director. Namely, Scott Frank, who wrote Get Shorty and Minority Report before hitting the director's chair on The Lookout. The movie will cover the pre-Apes tale of how the primates overtook the planet. So this isn't only a prequel, it's a sort of a Conquest remake, too. Geez, this is getting confusing.

More on this project as it arises, but please do share your thoughts. Like ... do we really NEED a new version of this oft-exhumed tale? Frankly no. But given Mr. Frank's track record, I find myself feeling a little more optimistic than usual.

UPDATE: Mr. Faraci has spoken with Scott Frank, who has cleared up the fact that he's not remaking Conquest. From CHUD: "[Frank's] film will not feature talking monkeys, and it will not end with chimpanzees running wild in the streets, taking over the world. But it isn't entirely divorced from the world of Planet of the Apes, either. In fact, Frank sees his movie as the opening chapter in a saga that could span the thousand years between today and a world where apes rule."

Clockwise from top left: Get Smart, Transsiberian, Kung Fu Panda, Budd Boetticher Box Set, Planet of the Apes 40th Anniversary Collection.

Welcome to this week's edition of Spin-ematical, chock full of alternatives to election coverage!

Kung Fu Panda
Though some of the celebrity voices were useless, Jack Black is great, and the film itself is pleasant, good-natured, and respectful of Asian culture. Available in at least seven editions, including widescreen, full-screen, Spanish, a Christmas gift set, with and without Secrets of the Furious Five (a 20-minute short), and on Blu-ray; oddly, this doesn't release until Sunday. Buy it.

Transsiberian
Traveling by train in the dead of winter from Beijing to Moscow should be much more restful than what happens to Woody Harrelson and Emily Mortimer in this adventure / suspense / thriller; Ben Kingsley plays a menacing Russian detective. I'm recommending this one sight unseen because Brad Anderson (Session 9, The Machinist) directed. Includes a 34-minute "making of"; also available on Blu-ray. Replays are inevitable. Buy it.

Get Smart
The bumbling Maxwell Smart as a generic action hero? (*sigh*) Steve Carell makes the character his own by repeating the old catchphrases without enthusiasm and proving to be far too adept for his own -- or the movie's -- good. Anne Hathaway is a very sexy spy, but Dwayne Johnson is miscast and even Alan Arkin struggles. The TV series never took itself too seriously; if only the movie had done the same. Available in widescreen and full-screen editions, as well as a two-disk version and on Blu-ray; a plethora of bonus scenes are included, notably a 5-minute "vomit reel." Ugh. Skip it.

After the jump ... Indies on DVD, more Blu-ray debuts, and Collector's Corner.

In a world where every franchise is getting "rebooted," it should come as no surprise that someone in Hollywood wants to revisit Planet of the Apes. After all, Tim Burton's attempt was unsatisfying, and what do you do when your remake failed to launch a franchise?

Devin Faraci of CHUD has the scoop on a Apes script that has been kicking around Fox for the last year. It's not a sequel of Burton's film, and it's not another remake of the original Planet, but it is a remake all the same: Conquest of the Planet of the Apes. It will, thankfully, have a smoother title: Genesis: Apes.

For those unfamiliar with the original, Conquest is a prequel. It's the story of Caesar,
the first talking ape, who led the revolution that caused apes to be the masters of human savages. And honestly, the new script is pretty intriguing and edgy. Set in modern day, Caesar is a genetic experiment gone cuddly. When the God-playing scientist discovers his intelligence and talent for speech, he takes him home to his wife, and they raise him as their child. Things go well until Caesar sees his mother attacked, and when he kills her attacker, he lands at an Ape Conservatory, where he's tortured by humans and rejected by his own kind. But he slowly wins over the latter, and you can guess where it goes from there. It's worth noting that Faraci really digs the politically-charged script, and argues that it's a perfect way to restart the series.

Frankly, Apes is a series I never warmed to -- and there's too many sci-fi stories I'd love to see on the big screen before bringing back an old one. But I don't want to be answering for the rest of you. Do you want an Apes origin story, and a whole new franchise?

Kids rule the multiplex. That's why they're the most targeted audience and the most targeted consumers as far as Hollywood and concession suppliers are respectively concerned. But where would the kids be without their parents? Perhaps they'd still be watching movies, but maybe not at the cinema. To see a movie at the multiplex, they need a ride from their mom, or they require the companionship of their blockbuster-loving dad. Sure, things may be a little different today, but my experience of being a moviegoing child entailed a lot of assistance and encouragement from my mom and dad.

It's hard to decide which parent had greater influence on my cinephilia, especially since I only recently recognized my mother's contributions. My father was the one who usually took my brothers and me to the movies every other weekend, and each time we stayed with him we seemed to rent more videos than could be watched in a 48-hour period. Meanwhile my mother let us watch cable, including as much R-rated fare as HBO would broadcast. At a very, very young age I was already familiar with a lot of horror, violence, swearing, nudity and other "restricted" content that the MPAA was only OK with me seeing if it was OK with my "accompanying parent or adult guardian."