the flock Tagged Articles at Cinematical
James Robert Smith's 'The Flock' Takes Flight
Filed under: Action », Sci-Fi & Fantasy », Thrillers », Deals », Celebrities and Controversy », Fandom », Scripts », DIY/Filmmaking », Newsstand »
I believe what you are about to read might be the first movie deal to spring out of an online flame war. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Don Murphy and John Wells are teaming up to produce James Robert Smith's debut novel, The Flock ... but how they found the novel might just be worth a movie on its own.You see, Murphy -- who's always been a huge fan of Cinematical -- was alerted to a mean comment on Eddie Campbell's blog. Alan Moore fans know Campbell as the artist on Moore's Jack the Ripper epic, From Hell. Smith was posting comments that were critical of the film adaptation, and Murphy tracked him down and discovered he had written a book called The Flock. He ordered a copy, expecting to hate it and trash it, and decided to buy its rights instead. That's the Internet for you, people. A very thin line between love, hate, and stalking. (Campbell has the story up on his blog, too, if you're interested. Also, there's beautiful art!)
The Flock could actually be this generation's Jurassic Park, though. (Lord knows they need one.) It's all about a group of super intelligent prehistoric birds who are roaming a last scrap of wilderness in the Florida Everglades. Naturally, once discovered, everyone wants to exploit them or their land, and its up to a young Fish and Wildlife officer and his girlfriend to save them. Or be mauled to death by the cunning, vicious birds. Either way, it'll be interesting. If it's not, maybe it'll cause a flame war that will see another thriller optioned!
Indies on DVD: 'Meeting Resistance,' 'Beyond Hatred,' 'The Flock'
Filed under: Documentary », Foreign Language », Independent », Thrillers », New on DVD », The Weinstein Co. », Home Entertainment », Cinematical Indie »
Quick hits on three titles of interest: As I wrote last November, Meeting Resistance "is not the end-all, be-all of Iraq War documentaries, nor does it pretend to be. Filmmakers Steve Connors and Molly Bingham stay tightly focused on their subjects -- members of the resistance movement in Iraq -- and get them to open up about their motivations. In doing so, they provide an invaluable window into a world that remains unknown to most foreigners." The DVD from First Run Features includes an audio commentary, filmmaker Q&A, biographies, and a photo gallery.Olivier Meyrou's documentary Beyond Hatred examines the aftermath of the brutal murder of a young gay man by a gang of skinheads. Ed Gonzalez in Slant Magazine felt it "arrives at essential truths about suffering and loss through abstract means." The DVD from First Run Features appears to be a bare-bones edition; no extras are listed at the official site.
I'm waiting for my rental copy of The Flock to arrive in the mail, but I don't have high hopes for this psychological drama, even though it stars Richard Gere and Claire Danes. Hong Kong director Andrew Lau can be hit (Internal Affairs) or miss (Confession of Pain), and the long delay between production (late 2004) and release doesn't bode well. The DVD from The Weinstein Co. has no extras, according to this review by Brian Orndorf at DVD Talk, who felt the movie looked too much like a bad TV show.
'Disturbia' Screenwriter Sells "New" Thriller to Warners
Filed under: Horror », Deals », Warner Independent Pictures », Scripts », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels »
Christopher B. Landon, the screenwriter who just got done making big money by According to Variety, Landon (who apparently never met a movie he wouldn't unofficially re-make) just sold a script called The Flock to Warners. (Never mind the fact that there's a Richard Gere movie called The Flock that's hitting theaters this summer.) The synopsis goes like this: "Set in contemporary times, story revolves around three teens accused of practicing witchcraft. Girls endure terrifying consequences as a result of the ensuing hysteria and scapegoating." Maybe they'll get Fairuza Balk and Robin Tunney to star.
Coming soon from Christopher Landon: An original screenplay about a town overtaken by birds. After that, a flick about a young girl possessed by the devil. (Obviously I'm being a bit over-snippy here, but I'm just amazed at how much money Disturbia brought in, despite the fact that the movie's been made several times before.) Obviously there's something to be said for giving people the same old leftovers. I think what irks me most is not that Disturbia is a bald-faced Rear Window retread, but mainly that Mr. Landon took a "story by" credit on the flick. That's just tacky.
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