robert mark kamen Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'm not convinced that the Liam Neeson kidnapping thriller Taken, due during this year's annual September movie wasteland, is going to amount to much. I can't get too excited about the concept -- former superspy goes after his kidnapped daughter instead of paying ransom -- and I'm not nearly as enamored with director Pierre Morel's parkour-popularizing debut, District B13, as other folks are. But I'll say this: the speech that's the centerpiece of the film's new trailer, which you can see above, is kind of a tour de force. Casting Neeson was a masterstroke, and the fact that he took the role speaks well of him, I think.

By the way: that's a masterfully cut trailer, don't you think? Quick, exciting; maybe a bit too revealing for my tastes, but still vague enough that it doesn't (seem to) give away the whole thing. I love the way it's driven by the sound of Neeson's voice, using it to build momentum.

The movie was written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, who also collaborated on the Transporter films. Besson, of course, also produced, wrote, and brought to prominence District B13.

Here's something random: has anyone ever seen the movie Deadlock (a.k.a. Wedlock), with Rutger Hauer and Mimi Rogers? It was about a futuristic prison where the inmates don electronic collars that are wired to explode when they cross the prison's boundary. Eventually it turns out that, for some reason, a prisoner can escape without being decapitated if he escapes together with a certain other inmate to whom he's electronically connected. I first saw this when I was 9 or 10 and thought it was the neatest thing ever, but something tells me it wouldn't hold up if I watched it again.

Anyway, the point is, I thought of Deadlock when I saw this French teaser for Transporter 3, where Jason Statham's Frank Martin is outfitted with a bracelet that's wired to explode if... well, it's not clear what will make it explode, but something sure will. The movie looks as completely nuts as its predecessors; I was sold on the franchise when, in Transporter 2, Frank Martin drove a car off a roof, flipped it in the air to scrape an explosive device off the bottom, and landed on a middle floor of a parking garage. Not quite as cool as my memory of Deadlock, but pretty darn cool. Transporter 3, directed by a guy named (I kid you not) Olivier Megaton and written by franchise stalwarts Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, will be released here in November by Lionsgate.

The sex/slave trade continues to be on the minds of filmmakers. In the last year, we've had Transe screen at the likes of Cannes and TIFF, and Trade has been gearing up for its August 2007 release. With both films now wrapped, there's another on the horizon -- Taken. (Apparently movies with this theme need to have a one-word T-starting title in a fit of ultimate originality.) The screenplay comes from the "retired" Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen -- the man who not only brought us The Karate Kid, but has also collaborated with Besson on films like The Fifth Element and The Transporter. Similar to Trade, Taken revolves around a former spy who uses his professional skills to find his estranged daughter, who has been sold into slave trade.

Soon-to-be Lincoln actor Liam Neeson has already signed on to play the ex-spy and father, and now The Hollywood Reporter has announced that he has a daughter in Maggie Grace. If you're a fan of the show, Lost, you'll remember her as Shannon Rutherford. If not, she also starred in the recent remake of The Fog. She's also just wrapped two films that will undoubtedly push her a little further into the spotlight -- Suburban Girl with Sarah Michelle Gellar and Alec Baldwin, and The Jane Austen Book Club with Emily Blunt and Maria Bello. The film will begin shooting this month in Paris, under the eye of Pierre Morel, who is another Transporter collaborator.

While it might not be the most interesting of topics to some, two new films on the same subject are gearing up to battle it out Capote style for a chance to be the first in theaters. In one corner we have Intellectual Properties Worldwide and Zen Haze Prods. who have just tapped Randall Miller to direct Bottle Shock, based off Ross Schwartz's screenplay. Pic will focus on the 1976 Paris Tastings where California wines seemingly came out of nowhere to beat the French. No, we won't get an actual battle with thousands of troops running towards each other, bottles of red and white in hand. Instead, there's a good chance of seeing a crop full of snobbish snots, their noses stuck deep inside each glass, with lots of twirling and note taking. Killer! Casting will begin early next year with an eye to shoot over the summer.

In the other corner we have a little privately financed indie based off George M. Tabor's Judgement of Paris. Robert Mark Kamen has been hired to adapt, with Clark Peterson (Monster) and Elizabeth Fowler set to produce. And yes, this project also focuses on the 1976 Paris Tastings -- apparently, a critical event in the history of California wine. No word on how far along Judgement is, though there's a chance they'll both be filming at the same time. Having learned everything I know about wine from the film Sideways (yes, I'm that guy), all I want to know is whether or not Paul Giamatti will play a part. God, I loved him and his little Pinot Noir fetish in that film. "I am NOT drinking any f**king Merlot!" Classic stuff.

So, when you open up that bottle of wine that goes great with turkey this Thursday, take a moment to appreciate just how serious the wine business can be. In 1976, some of the top French judges attended a blind taste test between the best French wines and the best selections from California. They caused an uproar when they had managed to select the California wines as the winner -- sacre bleu! That moment was a blow to French national pride and helped open the market to wine that was being made all over the world. Variety announced that the George M. Tambor book Judgment of Paris: California vs. France and the Historic 1976 Paris Tasting That Revolutionized Wine, is being adapted for the screen by Robert Mark Kamen. Included in the deal, are the rights to the life story of Steven Spurrier, the man who organized that historic event back in '76.

Robert Mark Kamen has written for Luc Besson in the past, including The Fifth Element and The Transporter. Although, since Kamen owns a vineyard that might have had something to do with his latest choice of project. I guess the real trick will be making audiences care about a historic event that most of us have probably never heard of.

[via Dark Horizons]