steve miner Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Not yet, sweetheart. Variety tells us this morning that Steve Miner has been tapped by Millennium Films to direct Jessica Simpson in Major Movie Star, a film that will have her playing yet another dumb blonde. Are these the only roles she can get? Or is she specifically looking to play up the "I'm an idiot" angle just like she did on that reality television show? The production poster (which you can see to the right) had been floating around the Cannes Film Festival where, I imagine, one or all of the whopping 12 producers were trying to sell off international rights to a world that's probably just as sick of this girl as we are.

Essentially, we're looking at Private Benjamin 2 here ... except no one's going to come right out and say that Major Movie Star was "inspired" by the 1980 comedy starring Goldie Hawn. Simpson will play a pampered movie star who decides to enlist in the military in order to prove to a producer and a studio that she's the right gal for an upcoming military-themed picture. As previously mentioned, there are currently 12 producers circling the project, which has been in development for five years now. The original script was penned by April Blair (and I can see how 12 producers would probably equal five years worth of notes), and shooting is set to begin next month in Louisiana. Miner, who's known more for his horror flicks, just wrapped Day of the Dead for Millennium and, now, is probably gearing himself up to work with the worst zombie of them all.

At yesterday's Brooklyn Rules press junket, Mena Suvari, who plays the uptown girl who falls in love with Freddie Prinze Jr's Brooklyn tough guy in the film, was eager to talk up her upcoming projects, including Day of the Dead. I asked her if she gets to turn into a zombie in the film, to which she replied: "No, I play a corporal in the Army and I save the day!" She also said that she worked six day weeks on gun training and did all her own stunts. She also told me that she will be in director John Irvin's (Hamburger Hill, Next of Kin) upcoming adaptation of the Hemingway novel, The Garden of Eden. Set in Spain, the story is about an expat American and his wife who both fall in love with a beautiful young woman named Marita -- the part Suvari will presumably play. "It's very deep. It's a Hemingway story, it's one of his last stories and its a very complicated piece," Suvari said. "We're shooting in Spain and it takes place in Spain and the south of France. I'm very excited about that."

I also asked Suvari about her very, very brief part as Richie Berlin in Factory Girl, and whether it was all that was left of something more substantial: "They took a couple things out, but there were so many cameos in that movie that were taken fully out ... they weren't in the movie," Suvari said. "They had me come in and shoot some extra footage that didn't go in there. Richie Berlin wasn't a huge fan of Andy Warhol, so she wasn't so much in the Factory. And I didn't really know what they were doing with it and with the character. Richie never really wanted to talk to me ... I had to dig to do my research. But she talked about how she felt like she was the only one who really cared about Edie, so they tried to play that up in the film and add a couple of things, and then they did a different route with Edie, making it more of a narrative, like when she's talking about it in the hospital, all of that was added later. They just went a different route." Stay tuned for a full Brooklyn Rules report.

Another day, another Day of the Dead. There's no doubt Zombies are hot these days with the recent remake of Dawn of the Dead and films like 28 Days Later, Land of the Dead and the upcoming 28 Weeks Later. There's also another zombie film currently making the rounds on the test screening circuit -- a remake of George Romero's Day of the Dead, directed by Steve Miner. Over at Ain't it Cool News they've posted an early review of the film based on one of those recent test screenings.

At the site, the reviewer, who goes by the moniker The Helper Monkey, gives his much considered opinion regarding the film's plot, acting and the directing talents of Steve Miner. Now, before I go on, the review at the site contains spoilers and so will this post -- so if you want to stay in the dark and experience the film's glory for yourself, don't read any further. If you just can't wait for any details on the film and don't care about reviews or spoilers then by all means read on. Really, I can quickly and easily summarize his thoughts on the film for you using his own words: "This movie sucks." Granted, that's not the most eloquent sentence ever written but it certainly does succinctly convey his feelings about the film.

Among his many complaints and problems with the film are the ludicrous story elements including the setup and the use of a "magic shotgun" with which the good guys can kill the Zombies. He also doesn't care much for the film's stars; Nick Cannon, and his reason for not eating human flesh once he's zombified (he's a vegetarian) and Mena Suvari as a very unconvincing Army second in command. As THM puts it in his review: "Again this is more of a warning than anything else. They are going to try and trick you into seeing this flaming turd. The ads are going to try and make you think this is another Dawn of the Dead. It's not."

I wasn't all that thrilled when I first heard about this Day of the Dead remake; I wasn't exactly elated when Steve Miner (Friday the 13th 2, Halloween 7) was handed the director's chair; and now that I've seen the extended trailer for the new Day of the Dead -- I'm still not entriely convinced. But hey, I was wrong about the Dawn of the Dead remake. Happily wrong, I might add.

OK, so I'm being a little tough on Steve Miner. The second Friday was pretty solid, but then again, he also directed that 3-D one. Ugh. Other flicks in Miner's rather eclectic filmography include the amusing House, the uncomfortable Soul Man, the goofy Warlock, the painful Big Bully and the snarky Lake Placid. So at least the guy knows where to point a camera. The man adapting Romero's Day is Jeffrey Reddick, he of the original Final Destination and the not-so-original Tamara. Cast members include Ving Rhames, Mena Suvari, Nick Cannon and ... Ian McNeice? Interesting.

Bankrolled by Millennium Films, the new Day of the Dead looks to be shooting for an early 2007 release. No word yet on who'll be doing the distributin'.