Eddie Murphy. Raw.

That really used to say it all. A comedian known for his brash wit and go-for-broke charm, Murphy used to be willing to say anything to get a laugh. Trading Places. Coming to America. Beverly Hills Cop. Now, he's clearly willing to do anything.

Somewhere along the way, "I believe that children are the future" became not so much a punchline as a personal career credo. He's fallen into the rut of safe family-friendly fare, led on by the likes of Steve "Cheaper by the Dozen 2" Martin and Tim "The Santa Clause 3" Allen, the success of both having come to suggest that the water's quite fine in the kiddie pool. Dreamgirls proved that this man still has a genuine something left in him, and yet, we the world are instead subjected to a little less of that and a little more of Shrek.

Safe. That's what Meet Dave is, and what Murphy never used to be.

The rule of thumb in this film blogging world of ours is, what goes up must come down. In other words, any trailer that finds itself premiering on YouTube can only find itself taken down from YouTube. So, for now, let us offer you what appears to be the teaser for this winter's big-budget remake of The Day The Earth Stood Still, in which an alien visitor (Keanu Reeves) gives us Earth denizens a hefty heads-up that if we don't straighten up our act, he and his giant robot friend will do it for us ...

Now, I may or may not be entering spoiler territory with this following paragraph, so feel free to skip it (in that case, long story short: also stars Jennifer Connelly and due in theaters on December 12th) -- BUT, from what I can recall reading at one point, our main man's angle this time around is not concerns of nuclear warfare (that's SO 1951!), but rather more environmentally-fixated priorities. Who knew that between this, WALL-E, and The Happening that the big H'wood cared so much about the state of our planet.

On the other hand, pitched properly, green can only equal more green in their eyes.

[thanks to Film Web]

(UPDATE: the Quicktime trailer appears to have gone up.)

(Dan Bush, AJ Bowen, Jacob Gentry, David Bruckner)

The very best part of my job (aside from all the sex with actresses, I mean) is when I get to see a small horror flick early and then spend 14 months reminding the genre fans that, yes, it's still on the way. (Like that freaky French one about the terrorized preggo woman. It's coming, trust me!) It was about 14 months ago when I first saw (and really enjoyed) an Atlanta-made indie genre flick called The Signal -- and then I ran into the Signal gang again a few months later at SXSW. The film was received quite enthusiastically at both festivals.

Directors Jacob Gentry, David Bruckner and Dan Bush were in Philadelphia recently as part of a promotional tour for the film. Along with head baddie AJ Bowen, I took the guys to have their very first Philly Cheese Steak, and then we headed back to the theater for a Q & A session with the audience -- but not before we stopped at the Philadelphia Art Museum and the knucklehead quartet did their Rocky Balboa sprint up the steps. (See photo!)

So yeah: I liked the flick long before I liked all the goofballs who made the movie, so I thought it would be nice to offer a quick little reminder: Magnolia Pictures is releasing The Signal tomorrow (at these theaters), so if you're a serious horror fan who likes to whine and moan at all the studio-backed PG-13 horror crap that hits the screens every month ... here's your chance to support a smaller flick. You'll have a good time and you'll feel good about it, too.

It's a sci-fi action flick starring Hayden Christensen, and it's called Jumper. Sound like something you'd want to see? Eh, maybe. But if I went on to explain that the flick comes from the director of Go, The Bourne Identity and Mr. & Mrs. Smith ... and all of a sudden the movie sounds just a little more intriguing. (To me, anyway. I'm a Doug Liman fan.) Based on the novel by Steven Gould -- and adapted for the screen by the eclectic team of David S. Goyer, Simon Kinberg and Jim Uhls -- Jumper is about a young adult who has the power of teleportation. Which leads to all sorts of espionage mayhem and chases and such.

Co-starring alongside the former Anakin Skywalker are Diane Lane, Jamie Bell, Rachel Bilson, Tom Hulce, Michael Rooker and Samuel L. Jackson in a wig that looks like white astroturf. Fox presently has Jumper scheduled for that coveted February 15 release date, but if you'd like to click through the newly-updated official site, please do so right here. The brand-new trailer is also included, so stop back and share your thoughts. I hate to sound so negative, but I'm getting a distinct Operation: Stormbreaker vibe on this flick. Either way, the teleporting stuff looks really cool.

Ridley Scott, or Sir Ridley Scott depending on how you feel like addressing him, made a fairly provocative comment at the Venice Film Festival on August 30th. The occasion was the 25th anniversary of the release of Blade Runner, in yet another director's cut, in anticipation of a 5 (five!) disc DVD release of the same this fall by Warner Brothers. (The previous link includes some reviews of the newest version at the Venice festival, including EW's Owen Gliberman's comment that Blade Runner is "the only science-fiction film that can be called transcendental." Hey, Owen, what about this Fritz Lang classic, or this Russian masterpiece, or even this small-scale but extremely effective version of the Ursula K. Leguin novel ... eh, what's the use.) To get back to the original point about sweeping generalizations, Scott was in a no doubt expansive mood, and started to discuss the great films of sci-fi.

Here's how it went down, according to The Times of London on-line. In Scott's opinion, science fiction films are not just dead, they're "as dead as westerns...there's nothing original. We've seen it all before. Been there. Done that." Scott celebrates 2001: A Space Odyssey as the pinnacle of sci-fi and says that "over-reliance on special effects" and weak story lines are the culprit. Responses from the blogosphere came fast and furious; one correspondent, Donald Smith, pointed out that Shane Carruth's small-scale film Primer had been "low-key and highly intelligent" while being completely without high-tech bloat. What I haven't been seeing is someone making the point that Blade Runner is film noir dressed in a sci-fi costume, just like Scott's other famous sci-fi film Alien, is a monster movie set in outer space. When it comes to the essential matter of sci-fi -- what humans are, where we are going, and when will we cease to exist -- Scott is only slightly interested ... especially when compared to the Philip K. Dick novel upon which Blade Runner is based. Watching it, you have to recall Pauline Kael's comment that almost everyone in the film would flunk the Voight-Kampff empathy test that ferrets out skin-jobs. As the director of such a high-tech, low-emotion film, is Scott really in a position to nail shut the coffin of an entire genre?

As Scott Weinberg has already noted elsewhere, Nathan Fillion just can't catch a break. His career is littered with cancelled TV series and movies few people have seen ... but that doesn't mean he doesn't have fans. Me, I love this guy and everything he does; in fact, when we named our celebrity crushes a while back, Nathan Fillion was mine. Who knows, maybe I like him because he hasn't hit it big yet -- and because his choices, while maybe not so commercial, are never less than interesting. (Also, I'm fascinated by his goofy hair.)

Serenity was the first thing I ever saw Fillion in. I went in knowing nothing about Firefly, the TV series on which it was based, except that it was the brainchild of Buffy creator Joss Whedon, upon whom many of my (straight) guy friends had developed crushes of their own. And I was delighted to discover a hidden gem of a film, a smart, funny, quirky sci-fi movie that sacrifices nothing to action, pace or intergalactic adventure. It's also a Western. Yes, just roll with it. Fillion plays Captain Malcolm "Mal" Reynolds, who leads a ragtag crew across the civil-wartorn universe as a freelance pilot and thief. (Sound like anyone else you know? Rhymes with "Dan Schmolo"?) Grand adventures ensue, which involve the crew's transport of brainwashed ninja chick River (Summer Glau), Mal's rescue of pseudo-girlfriend and courtesan Inara (Morena Baccarin), the discovery of a drug that wipes out civilizations, and some badass fight scenes. I was surprised to like a genre film quite so much, and I championed it as such ... that is, until six months later, when I found a new genre fave in Slither, which also starred Nathan Fillion. Coincidence? I don't think so.
Rent or buy the DVD | Watch the trailer

Bonus Points: This two-disc collector's edition isn't just some hastily glommed-together retread. There are over 60 minutes of new features (most of which were on an Australian edition of the DVD, now offered to U.S. fans in response to demand) including extended scenes; commentary by Whedon, Fillion, Glau, Adam Baldwin and Ron Glass; and various featurettes on the TV show, the ship and River's past. So you'll have plenty to occupy yourself -- if you're a sci-fan, until Battlestar Galactica starts, and if you're a fellow Fillion fanatic, until the Waitress DVD comes out (and don't get me started on how much I love that movie.)

Also Recommended:

The Lives of Others
Who says German spies aren't lovable? This drama justly won the 2007 Oscar for Best Foreign Film, despite how hard I was rooting for Pan's Labyrinth. (Check out the indie DVD post on Lives of Others.)

As much as I might not be a huge fan of the multitude of film festivals and awards shows where awards are seemingly given away for almost anything these days, some festivals do provide a valuable service to the filmmaking community. I'm specifically referring more to the ones that showcase independent and lower budget films or genres that traditionally don't fit easily into the mandate of the major awards shows or festivals. One of these gatherings is the Toronto After Dark Film Festival -- which is now gearing up for its 2nd go-around.

At this particular event, which bills itself as "Canada's premier showcase of thrilling international cinema," you'll be exposed to and have the chance to experience a diverse slate of horror, sci-fi, fantasy and thrilling films not just from Canada, but from around the world. Part of the mandate of the fest is to expose people to innovative and independent cinema they might not otherwise get to experience in a theater setting. The fest also helps to foster homegrown talent by offering a program featuring Canadian filmmakers who might not otherwise have their films exposed to a large audience (or, in some cases, any audience at all).

Of course, according to the fest's official site, even though they have a large selection of features, shorts and other film-related programming, its not all about the movies. During the event there will also be several parties hosted by the fest as well as, according to the site, a "hugely popular zombie walk" in downtown Toronto. Screenings of great films from undiscovered talent that helps promote independent filmmaking and zombies? What could be better than that? The fest runs from October 19-25.

I've put the question mark in the title to indicate this post is in more of the "wishful thinking" category than an expression of actual, confirmed fact. Still, its fun to speculate and wish for things to happen. Believe me, if wishing made it so (and I had my way) we would see a steady stream of Battlestar Galactica movies produced every couple years like Bond films. Although, its not like there haven't been rumors and reports about feature film versions of the series before. Still, nothing concrete or completely reliable has emerged and now, according to IESB, we might finally know one of the major reasons a Battlestar Galactica movie isn't going full speed ahead yet.

According to the site, TV series Exec. Producers Ron Moore and David Eick are excited about the prospect of a feature film version of their TV show and really want to make it happen. In fact, they've spoken about it on numerous occasions -- most recently at the big Battlestar event held last week in Los Angeles. So, if they want it to happen, what's standing in the way? Well, according to the article, one of the major hurdles, other than actual funding, is original Battlestar Galactica series creator Glen A. Larson who holds the feature film rights to the series.

Unfortunately for those of us who might wish for a feature film, Larson has made no secret that he's not a huge fan of the re-imagined series produced by Moore and Eick. Plus, Larson has always maintained that he would eventually produce a feature film based on his original series and its characters. So, if they want to bring a feature film version of their Battlestar series to the big screen, the first thing Moore and Eick are going to have to do is play nice with Larson and convince him its a good idea. Until then, we'll just have to be content with watching one of the best shows ever to appear on television. Which, if you think about it, really isn't all that bad.

Seems like someone is digging the whole sci-fi vibe -- Topher Grace, who will next be seen in Spider-Man 3 as the guy who ultimately becomes Venom, has signed on to play the leading man in a new sci-fi thriller picked up by Universal. Source Code (Matrix meets Office Space?) will be based off a spec script penned by Ben Ripley (yes, the dude who wrote both Species III and Species IV!), while Mark Gordon is producing.

All we know about the plot thus far is that it has something to do with time travel ... which leads us to believe Grace will play some sort of blogger who, while tinkering with the source code for a blog post about how much he hated working on That '70s Show, somehow stumbles upon the key to traveling through time. Finally! He's found a way to go back and make it so Ashton Kutcher doesn't become the overly-hyped doof he is today. Go Topher!

Personally, I really like Topher Grace -- he sort of reminds me of Tobey Maguire, it Tobey's voice wasn't perpetually going through puberty -- and at least he's attempting to spread out his roles across different genres. On top of this thriller, Grace will also star in a drama called The Crusaders, a coming-of-age dramedy called Kids in America and a comedy, Coxblocker (which obviously had to change its name from ... well, you know).

Since the last futuristic flick with Ewan McGregor I saw was The Island, you'll have to forgive me if I have some trouble raising the proper enthusiasm for this one: Variety has announced that McGregor has now officially signed to star in the futuristic drama Franklyn. The film is the brainchild of first time director Gerald McMorrow. No other casting announcements have been made, but Double Negative F/X, who have worked on Batman Begins and World Trade Center, have been hired for visual effects. So far, McMorrow has only directed a handful of music videos but has dabbled with sci-fi in the past with his short Thespian X snagging him a TCM Classic Shorts prize in 2002. The film would parallel story lines of present day London with a futuristic theocracy, including a tragic event that creates consequences in both the present and the future.

Ewan McGregor has always been one of those actors whose easy charm on screen has helped him through some great and some not-so great parts. So, for every Renton, there was an Obi-Wan. Although to be fair, he can hardly be blamed for the nightmare that was The Phantom Menace. For the sake of Franklyn though, I hope that charm of his will be in full effect.