OCTOBER, 27


EARTH 3K

Sci-Fi / Action
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Jennifer Garner, Willem Dafoe, Javier Bardem
Director: J.J.Abrams
Screenwriter: Josh Collins


Box Office: 93 mill.
Net Gains: 34 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: It seems like the CMP’s lucky strike has finally gone these past weeks. ‘Earth 3K’ was the typical movie to have made something around 200 millions in box office, as many other of our releases have been making lately. Anyway, a box office nice enough to go on with the announced sequels. Net Gains have not been too high due to the very high costs of this production. I don’t feel enthusiastic but at least satisfied with this final breakdown.

THE REVENGERS

Action / Superhero / Comedy
Cast: Eddie Murphy, Steve Carrell, Burt Reynolds, Debra Messing. Cameos by Tyler Mane, Bob Hoskins.
Director: Tim Story
Screenwriter: Steve Connors

Box Office: 130 mill.
Net Gains: 236 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Well, it has taken nine CMP’s Seasons and four movies since his first appearance on screen, but Ultraman has finally become a blockbuster character. Absolutely amazing net gains due to the unbelievable sales of DVDs in the American market. It seems as if each and every US citizen has bought the DVD. The funny thing is that this parody has worked even better than many of the superheroes movies it laughs at. It becomes the top 3 most profitable release of the Season and a nice and unexpected surprise.

ALTERED STATES

Sci-Fi / Drama
Cast: George Clooney, Julianne Moore, Bob Balaban
Director: Marc Forster
Screenwriter: Richard Franzwa



Box Office: 55 mill.
Net Gains: 20 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Richard Franzwa keeps being one of the very few real ‘auteurs’ in CMP. His movies rarely look for big box offices but respond to his personal creative challenges. But the truth is that his stories usually reach net gains. So I will keep fondly supporting his very peculiar works.


EARTH 3K

‘This movie could have been titled ‘Romeo and Juliet in District 9’. Jokes aside, it is an entertaining non-stop action movie. After the last box offices of Michael Bay’s movies in CMP, it looks as if J.J. Abrams may become the perfect new Michal Bay for the Studio. Abrams has a great instinct for quality entertainment and may mean for this decade what Bay meant for the 90s. His previous works for CMP, ‘Faction 12’ and ‘Netchasers’, proved his talent directing big budget popcorn shows and ‘Earth 3K’ confirms it again. Although box office has not been as spectacular as expected, this movie works as a breathtaking adventure with a quality coating that can satisfy a wide range of moviegoers.’
-Amy Ratched

‘I hate it when they do this. Ok, I can understand that Josh Collins and J.J.Abrams have conceived this movie as the beginning of a new saga. I can accept that. But I like to watch each movie of any saga independently. And what do we have here? A love story, an action adventure… and the bad guys winning at the end! Hey, I can even accept an ambiguous ending, setting everything for the inevitable sequel. But after nearly two hours watching McGregor and Garner running away for love, I just can’t be left with the starring couple dead and the villain taking their sweet baby. I don’t know what will happen in part two. Probably their kid will become a hero or something. But the only thing I know by now is that this poor loving couple died and lost their baby in the hands of the villain. A happy ending is almost obligatory in a movie like this. An ambiguous ending may be acceptable. What I can’t accept after two hours watching their adventure is such a tragic ending.’
-Jackie O’Callaghan

‘Josh Collins proved his skill writing original sci-fi stories with ‘Civilization M’. And he has done it again with ‘Earth 3K’. In this world of adaptations, his effort to write original stories has to be praised. ‘Earth 3K’ is not that original in the sense that a lot of references can be found in the storyline. But at least it is not just another comic adaptation or remake. The screenplay is solid enough to make the whole show believable and Abrams has turned it into images with his usual efficiency and his talented sense of epic. ‘Earth 3K’ won’t become a classic of science-fiction or an influential work for future movies. But it has to be applauded for what it is: an entertaining movie perfectly paced to keep your attention from its very first minute to its last.’
-Tim Reeve

THE REVENGERS

‘This is the kind of movie to love or hate without middle lands. You can find it funny or irritating. It all depends on your sense of humor and that’s something so personal that movie critics cannot influence our readers in any way here. Personally, I think this is the best Ultraman’s movie (which does not mean much) and gets close to the brilliant parody spirit of the first Lieutenant USA’s movie (let’s forget here its dispensable sequel). Connors’ screenplay has mixed correctly the doses of action, parody and pure spoof to please audiences. If you enjoy laughing at stereotypes and clichés, this is your movie. If you are one of those that consider superheroes a kind of sacred icons to be taken so seriously, you won’t find anything funny in it.’
-Chris Burgess

‘Murphy and Carrell are two of those kind of comedians that can do both the best and the worst. Murphy has made so many terrible movies during the last years that has made us forget that he can be very funny if he is offered the right material. And Carrell has recently shown us with ‘Crime Stoppers’ how lost he can look if he is not correctly directed. In ‘The Revengers’, both have felt comfortable resurrecting their characters and working together and you can feel that watching the movie. ‘The Revengers’ is a silly but enjoyable action comedy to watch without prejudices. Of course it is a bad movie. But, as his writer said recently, that’s exactly what is meant to be’.
-Vic Carter

‘I am one of those strange guys that liked ‘Ultraman: Afraid Of The Clones’. That ugly scientist that made a genetic self-manipulation to become Jessica Simpson was a great and weird creation. This time, the deliberately exaggerated work of Burt Reynolds – a great parody of all the wanna-rule-the-world comics villains – is almost as funny as Simpson’s character. But the best moments of this movie are the absolutely hilarious sequences where Ultraman talks with Tyler Mane and Bob Hoskins. Both sequences reach a top parody level, laughing wildly at both the iconic series The Avengers and Silver Sable. If only for those two sequences, this is a worthy movie.’
-Andrew Stampton

ALTERED STATES

‘The original ‘Altered States’ movie directed by Ken Russell is one of the strangest movies from the 80s. The psychedelic hallucinations of the character looked as a bad acid trip and some critics considered the movie a kind of apology of drugs. Well, that was Ken Russell’s style. Excessive and baroque to the limits. Marc Forster hasn’t gone so out of control here. In fact, this Richard Franzwa’s version made me remember more David Cronenberg’s ‘The Fly’ than the original ‘Altered States’. As it happened with ‘The Fly’, this is the story of a scientist decided to go as far as needed to experiment with himself. Forster has perfectly created the obsessive and claustrophobic atmosphere that surrounds Clooney’s character and the story becomes as disturbing as it pretends. Probably, as it happened with ‘The Fly’, the prestige and recognition of this movie will grow up with time’.
-Charlie Kiggs

‘These are not the perfect days to make this adult sci-fi story. No superheroes, no epic battle sequences, no spectacular digital effects… Just a man getting inside forbidden territories of his own mind. This is a movie oriented to elite and minority audiences. A rarity in nowadays movie industry’s trends. Richard Franzwa has made an interesting revisitation of the Ken Russell’s very personal movie. Marc Forster has proved again that he is a better director when making more independent and daring movies than when getting involved in James Bond’s big productions. And George Clooney and Julianne Moore have perfectly played their peculiar characters to make them believable. In conclusion, a solid movie not appreciable for all kind of audiences but only for fans of rarities.’
-Jack Willer

‘I like it when big stars accept to take risks. George Clooney has been moving across too comfortable territories lately in CMP. Comedies like ‘Night Cab’ or ‘Dirty Rotten Scoundrels’ were no particular challenge for him. So I am happy that he has decided to bet for this remake of a cursed movie from the now forgotten Ken Russell. Clooney has left aside his playboy attitude to build up an obsessive and maniac and even unpleasant character. And he has made us remember that there’s a great actor behind his pretty face. He has been supported by two great talents: Julianne Moore proves again she should deserve more attention in CMP and Bob Balaban is a nice surprise playing his disturbing character. It’s the three of them who make worthy what could have been without them an unnecessary remake.’
-Roy Winslow


EARTH 3K

CRITIQUE: I found the story to be a little more stronger and better thought out than Collins' previous Sci-Fi action film, 'Civilization M' You don't get very many original flicks like it these days. Sure it's kind of X-Men, but at least it's not based on something else. The ending made it obvious that there will be another. But at least it will be needed to tell the rest of the story, not just make money on itself.
ACTING/CAST: A-
DIRECTION: B
WRITING: B+
PLOT/CONCEPT: B+
PRODUCTION VALUES: A
ENTERTAINMENT: A it's got action, romance, storyline, good cast and great effects. People will find appeal out of at least something in this film. The perfect popcorn flick!
REWATCH VALUE: A
OVERALL: A

THE REVENGERS:

CRITIQUE: Last year, Hollywood tried to cash in on the spoofs of the obsessions with superhero films, but they just couldn't make it special enough. Now, The Revengers fixes the problems that 'Superhero Movie' made. Is it an award winner? no, but it is entertainingly funny, and we need something to help us kick back and laugh. USA and Ultraman was an excellent pairing and I wouldn't mind seeing them work together again if writer chooses to Steve Connors do so.
ACTING/CAST: C+
DIRECTION: C+
WRITING: B-
PLOT/CONCEPT: B-
PRODUCTION VALUES: B-
ENTERTAINMENT: B+
REWATCH VALUE: B+
OVERALL: B

ALTERED STATES

CRITIQUE: Richard Franzwa always impresses me with his writing, even if it's based on another medium. Every once in a few films George Clooney actually manages to not annoy me and this is a fine example. I like these kinds of peculiar films, reminds me of Hitchcock-types of characters and stories. It's worth a viewing, as are all of Franzwa's films.
ACTING/CAST: A
DIRECTION: B
WRITING: A
PLOT/CONCEPT: C+ would have been higher if it weren't based on a book or film.
PRODUCTION VALUES: B
ENTERTAINMENT: B the story and cast would be the most appealing. It also doesn't feel like the stories been beaten into our heads too much.
REWATCH VALUES: B
OVERALL: B

MR. THUMBS' CERTIFIED PICK OF THE WEEK:

ALTERED STATES