DECEMBER, 11


EDGE OF HUMAN

Sci-Fi / Action

The Cast: Ethan Hawke, Evan Rachel Wood, Ralph Fiennes, William H. Macy, Tyrese Gibson, Claire Forlani

The Director: Jonathan Kasdan
The Producer: Ridley Scott
The Screenwriter: Steve Connors

The Plot:

John Dryer (E.Hawke) is a blade runner, a member of the L.A.’s Blade Runner Unit whose main task is to control the replicants (humanoids created to serve the U.N., the Government of Planet Earth, as hard workers in the outer space colonies). Dryer is a honest and tough guy. He has joined the blade runner unit just a few weeks ago. He also has recently begun a passionate love affair with a mysterious woman he met in a bar, Ryan (E.R.Wood).

One day, Dryer is approached by a woman at the entrance of his apartment. To his surprise, the woman is identical to his new girlfriend Ryan. The woman explains she is Sarah Tyrell, niece of Eldon Tyrell, heiress to the entire Tyrell Corporation, the company that creates the replicants for the U.N. The woman tells him she needs his help. She does not trust the police authorities but has heard that he is a trustable blade runner. Dryer does not tell her that she is exactly like Ryan.

Sarah Tyrrell tells Dryer that she needs help to find a missing replicant. Tyrell Corporation was experimenting on a new version of replicants – Replicant V2 - to make them even more human. But, on the same time, a rebellion of replicants against the U.N. begun in one of the outer space colonies. A Replicant V2, a prototype of this new version of humanoids, disappeared from Tyrrell Corporation. And the U.N. has accused him of being the author of various brutal murders that have taken place lately in the city.

Sarah Tyrrell thinks that the U.N. took the Replicant V2 from Tyrrell Corporation and then accused him of the crimes cause they want to stop the program for creating the new replicants due to the rebellion. This way, they would sell to public opinion that Tyrrell’s replicants are violent and dangerous and that would justify the extermination of the rebel replicants. There’s a strong popular movement defending that human rights should also be guaranteed for replicants while the U.N. wants to prove they may become killing machines.

That night, when Dryer is making love with Ryan, he wonders if she is a replicant and even if she might be that missing murderous replicant.

Dryer visits Tyrrell Corporation. There, he is attacked by surprise by a female replicant, Idle (C.Forlani). Somebody stops Idle when she is close to kill Dryer. It’s an enigmatic man, the engineer J.R.Isidore (W.H.Macy). He is the designer of the new replicants. He begs Dryer to excuse Idle for the attack. Idle is a half-completed Replicant V2 and Isidore is still working on controlling her violent impulses. Isidore talks Dryer about the amazing intelligence of this new species of replicants. The only problem is their aggressiveness. For some unknown reason, the more intelligent they are, the more aggressive they are too. Isidore is working on controlling that.

Isiodre tells Dryer that he thinks somebody let free the missing replicant on purpose. Isidore accepts that the missing replicant can be scared out there alone and can be the author of the crimes as self-defense actions.

Although Sarah Tyrrell asked him not to, Dryer goes to see his boss at the blade runner unit, Holden (R.Fiennes). Dryer tells him about the missing replicant. Holden tells Dryer a secret: the Replicants V2 had been designed to control the rest of the replicants working in the space colonies. That’s why they are specially aggressive. Now, with the rebellion going on, the U.N. is worried of how dangerous this new species of replicants can be for humans if they should join the rebellion instead of fighting it. That’s why they want to stop the program. Holden thinks that the missing replicant was deliberately released by Sarah Tyrrell when the U.N. told her about the plan of cancelling the program. Holden tells Dryer that, in his very personal opinion, Sarah Tyrrell is crazy.

Holden also tells Dryer another secret: some blade runners are in fact replicants.

That night, Dryer can’t sleep. Not only her girlfriend might be a replicant. He himself could be a replicant too… Ryan, his girlfriend, leaves his apartment early only telling him that she has something to do that night…

He is thinking about that when he has a call from the office. Holden has been attacked. Dryer runs to the hospital. Holden suffered a violent attack from an unknown at his home. Now, he will need implant of human organs to survive. Dryer checks that the attack took place one hour after Ryan left…

Dryer visits again Tyrrell Corporation. He asks J.R.Isidore how is it possible that his girlfriend is identical to Sarah Tyrrell. Isidore refuses to answer. But Dryer takes his gun and tells Isidore that he will shoot him if he doesn’t. Then, Isidore admits that every replicant has a template, a human used as the model to create them. Sarah Tyrrell herself was used as a template to create replicants. So yes, Ryan is probably a replicant.

‘Is Ryan an ordinary replicant or a Replicant V2?’, asks Dryer. But, before Isidore answers, Dryer is attacked by surprise by Idle. Dryer claims Isidore to stop her. But Isidore tells him that he won’t. ‘You don’t like the V2, my masterpiece. So you must die.’, says Isidore.

But Idle is shot in the back before she kills Dryer. Idle dies with violent spasms. Sarah Tyrrell is there. She shot Idle to save Dryer.

Sarah faces Isidore. Sarah accuses him of liberating the missing replicant. According to Sarah, when Isidore knew that the U.N. was going to cancel the V2 Program, he got mad. His lifetime project was going to be cancelled. So, as a revenge against the U.N. for the cancellation, he let the missing replicant free.

Isidore denies it. And to Dryer’s surprise, Isidore turns to him and tells him: ‘You know the truth. Look inside of you. You are one of them. You are mine.’ After saying so, Isidore suicides jumping through a window. Dryer is shocked. Wha’s the meaning of Isidore’s last words? Is he a replicant?

While all these events take place inside the Tyrrell Corporation’s building, Holden – who has left the hospital too soon with his new implants – has stayed outside the building watching from his spinner (a hi-tech communication gadget). He saw Sarah entering the building. Then, having heard the gun shot and then watching Isidore’s body falling from the window, he reasons that Dryer may have killed him. Dryer might be the missing replicant being helped by Sarah Tyrrell, who Holden already thought was crazy.

Scared and with his organ implants failing, Holden contacts Coden (T.Gibson) to help him. Coden is a blade runner. And a replicant. He is one of those replicants designed to control replicants he mentioned to Dryer. Coden is a particularly tough and violent blade runner.

When Dryer returns to his apartment, he is attacked by Holden and Coden. As they are fighting, Ryan appears. To Dryer’s surprise, Ryan fights Holden and Coden with spectacular skills. Too perfect for a human. Ryan and Coden face each other and finally Ryan kills the tough Coden.

After knocking out Holden, Dryer and Ryan run away. Now they are fugitives. After all, they have killed a blade runner and knocked out the Blade Runners Unit’s chief.

Dryer asks Ryan if she is a replicant. Ryan admits she is. She run away from the colony she was working in. She wanted to live free although she knew that replicant’s life only last four years. But she promises Dryer she is not the missing replicant.

‘What about me?’, asks her Dryer. ‘Am I a replicant? All my memories, my feelings, my story… are just implants in my brain?’ Ryan tells him only the people from Tyrrell Corporation can answer that.

So Dryer leaves Ryan and decides that he has to return to Tyrrell Corporation to find out if he is filed in the company’s archives as being a replicant.

The next day, Dryer listens through his official spinner than Holden is back to the hospital cause his implant organs have collapsed due to last night’s fight. He also hears that all blade runners are ordered to capture him, as he is now officially considered the missing replicant after his fight with Holden and Coden.

Dryer disguises himself and goes to the hospital. He gets to Holden’s room. Holden is in bed full of tubes keeping him alive. He thinks that Dryer is going to kill him. But Dryer tells him he only wants to talk. His first question is: ‘Do you know if I am a replicant? Will I die in four years?’

Holden tells him he does not officially know. But the crimes of the missing replicant begun at the same time that he joined the blade runners unit. And why did he kill Isidore? Dryer tells him he didn’t do it and what happened there with Idle and Sarah Tyrrell shooting her and Isidore committing suicide.

Holden believes Dryer. And asks him to find Sarah Tyrrell. She probably knows the truth about the missing replicant.

So that night Dryer finally goes back to Tyrrell Corporation looking for answers about him and about the missing replicant.

The building seems to be empty. Dryer walks through different corridors until he reaches what seems to be a bedroom. There, he finds Sarah Tyrrell sleeping. He is about to wake her up when Sarah’s face appears on a video screen, telling him that the sleeping woman is not her but his girlfriend, Ryan. Sarah tells him that Ryan is in fact the missing replicant.

Sarah tells Dryer that Ryan came to see her that morning. She wanted to kill her. Ryan was so mad when she discovered that the U.N. was canceling the V2 program. She feared she might be destroyed. So she run away. Her natural aggressiveness increased due to fear and started to kill people randomly. She also met Dryer and became his lover so she could have first hand information about the blade runners chasing her.

Sarah also tells Dryer that she could inject a special narcotic in Ryan before she killed her. Now, Ryan is there. And Sarah is hiding scared. That’s why she is talking to him from a video screen. Sarah begs Dryer to shoot the sleeping Ryan and kill her to end up all this nightmare.

Dryer tells her he does not believe her. He thinks that she committed the crimes and not a missing replicant. He hated her uncle Eldon because first he created Ryan using her as a template but then he probably liked the nice Ryan better than her. Sarah was so jealous of Ryan that, when his uncle died, she sent Ryan to the outer colonies and begun her crimes to ruin Tyrrell Corporation’s prestige as a posthumous revenge against her uncle. She is a psychopath, says Dryer.

The image in the video screen laughs: ‘You are too intelligent to be only an ordinary replicant. Maybe you are human after all…’, she says. ‘Yes, there was no missing replicant killing people. It was me, Sarah Tyrrell. And yes, I hated Ryan and that’s why I met you, so I could get close to her. And yes, this morning Ryan came and we had a terrible fight. One of us died. The other is right there, sleeping in front of you. Maybe I am just a recording. Maybe it’s me the one sleeping in the bed. Or maybe it’s Ryan. I have sent Holden a signed confession of my crimes. I say in it that I am going to commit suicide. So, when that sleeping woman wakes up, she will say she is Ryan. But maybe it’s me pretending to be the nice and innocent Ryan. No-one will never know. Not even you.’

‘Just tell me one more thing’, says Dryer, ‘I need to know it. Am I a replicant or a human?’

But the video image disappears. A moment later, the sleeping woman wakes up.

‘Oh, Dryer…’, she says still half-conscious.
‘Ryan?’, says Dryer.

The woman looks at him with a sweet smile.


Stark’s Comment:
Making a sequel of a masterpiece like ‘Blade Runner’ is both a suggestive project and a risky one. Personally, I think Connors has made a great job bringing back the well known universe of the original movie so I hope that a wide audience will hook to this peculiar proposal. I consider this release one of the major events of this CMP’s Season.

Behind The Scenes:
-The original book in which this movie is based in told the story of the original Blade Runner’s characters played by Harrison Ford and Sean Young. Connors decided to change that and create new characters to lead the story.
-The producer of the movie, Ridley Scott, directed ‘Blade Runner’ 27 years ago.
-The director Jonathan Kasdan, son of the also director Lawrence Kasdan, was personally chosen by Scott. He said he wanted ‘somebody with no previous experience in sci-fi movies’. D.J. Caruso was considered at some moment during pre-production phase to direct the movie.
-The only character in this movie also seen in ‘Blade Runner’ is the police chief played by Ralph Fiennes. Of course, the character wasn’t played by him in the original movie.
-The genetic engineer played by William H. Macy wasn’t seen in ‘Blade Runner’ but he does appears in the book ‘Blade Runner’ was based in, written by Philip K. Dick.

BEING BEN STILLER

Comedy

The Cast: Ben Stiller, Jake T. Austin, Christine Taylor, Amy Adams, Vince Vaughn, Dane Cook, Hank Azaria, McKenzie Vega. Cameos by Steve Martin, Jennifer Aniston.

The Director: Shawn Levy
The Screenwriter: Matt Kubrick

The Plot:

Meet 14 year old Zack Gillan (J.T.Austin). He is unpopular in school, some of his schoolmates pick on him for his asthma, for wearing glasses. He has one close friend named Mike and a girl named Jody (M.Vega) he has a crush on and he cries to his parents when she turns him down and tells her friends about it. There is one thing Zack loves and that is comedies and his favorite actor of all time is Ben Stiller. He has watched Ben's latest movie Woodland Creatures at least 10 times since it came out.

Meet Ben Stiller a high powered actor and huge draw at the theater. He is married to loyal wife Christine Taylor and inbetween shooting movies he loves going on fancy dates. He has an agent named Rob Edwards (H.Azaria) who he is pretty good friends with. He is also shooting a new movie with director Steve Nichols (D.Cook), an up and coming comedy director. With a teaser trailer already out the film is expected to make millions at the box office.

One night Zack makes a wish, he wishes he were famous, he wishes he were ben Stiller. That morning when he wakes up, he looks in the mirror and realizes that his wish has come true! and he begins to whoop and yell in happiness. As the days pass his wife and everyone around him begin to witness changes, especially in his behavior. He becomes cranky at times and sometimes even throwin temper tantrums and kicking his feet on the ground when he can't have his own way. Sometimes he is seen playing with toys and acts like a child. Steve Nichols has problems with him especially when he won't kiss the leading lady named Alice Watson (J.Aniston) because he is afraid of getting cooties.

Meanwhile Zack's parents (A.Adams & V.Vaughn) are having the same problems. Zack locks himself in the bathroom afraid of what is going on. He believes this is some kind of governemnt program or some kind of strange hallucination. He refuses to come out of the bathroom unless he can talk with his lawyer or agent. He eventually decides to make the best of his situation at least for a little while and he uses circular logic on one of the bullies when the kid threatens him. Jody apologies to Zack about before and Ben doesn't know how to react. The teachers tell Zack's parents of strange new behavior, using circular logic, and sometimes acting like an adult and getting in trouble for drinking wine.

Eventually through a series of misadventures and coincidences Zack and Ben come face to face and they both go on an adventure to meet with a strange mystic man. But along the way they both fight with each other blaming each other for the current predicment. Sometimes it is hard to tell who is the real kid. Eventually they do meet the mystic man (S.Martin) and he puts them in their rightful bodies and they each can go on with their lives.


Stark’s Comment:
Ben Stiller has succeeded with all his latest comedies for CMP, like ‘The Shrinking Man’, ‘The Lollipop Man’ or ‘Woodland Creatures’. ‘Being Ben Stiller’ is an original twist of the well known concept of ‘exchanging bodies’ as it involves a real life movie star. That allows the story to make some laughs at the movie’s industry too. I expect this family comedy to be a smash hit.

Behind The Scenes:
-Shawn Levy and Ben Stiller have succeeded together before in and out of CMP with ‘The Lollipop Man’ and ‘Night At The Museum’.
-Although the Studio didn’t recognize Stiller a ‘cast approval’ right, he has personally chosen the cast among friends that have already worked with him before, mainly in CMP’s movies.
-Vince Vaughn, Amy Adams and McKenzie Vega already worked with Stiller in his latest CMP’s movie, ‘Woodland Creatures’.
-Steve Martin and Ben Stiller were nominated for Best Starring Couple at the first edition of the GMAs for ‘The Perfect Candidate’.
-Steve Martin appears almost unrecognizable in the movie under the make up and the costume of the mystic man.
-Jennifer Aniston had been away from CMP since Season 3. The two previous movies she made for CMP flopped at box office: the drama ‘The Clown Smile’ and the comedy ‘Styx And Stones’.

THE PRINCESS AND THE CAPTAIN

Romance

The Cast: Keira Knightley, Damian Lewis, Rachel Weisz, Ewan Mcgregor

The Director: Stephen Frears
The Screenwriter: Trent Nielsen

The Plot:

We see footages showing King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson. A V.O. of the narrator begins, “We all know about how King Edward VIII renounced his rights to marry Wallis Simpson. The same thing happened to Princess Margaret and Captain Peter Townsend. The only difference is that Princess Margaret was easily manipulated by other people.”

The 1940s. Buckingham Palace’s Princess Margaret (K. Knightley) was just a schoolgirl when the well-dressed Battle of Britain war hero Peter Townsend (D. Lewis) came to the palace as an Equerry to King George VI. The first time Margaret met Townsend, she was automatically drawn into the hero’s charisma. There was one problem, Townsend was 16 years older than Margaret and he was married to woman named Rosemary. For years, Princess Margaret often went to see Townsend for ‘fatherly’ advice.

The 1950s. Margaret and his sister, Princess Elizabeth (R. Weisz), soon went on to a tour of Southern Africa to test the love of Prince Philip of Greece (E. McGregor) for Princess Elizabeth. Elizabeth was sad about being away from Philip but Margaret was happy about this since it meant that the royal party would be accompanied by Group Capt. Peter Townsend and Rosemary stayed at England.

During the visit, Margaret stayed up listening to the clever views of Townsend. After they got back to England, Margaret avoided suitors who were attracted to her since she knew that someday, Townsend would love her. Soon enough, Rosemary and Peter’s marriage was put into an end. He claimed that they married in wartime and they weren’t meant for each other. While Margaret and Townsend was horseriding one day, she told him about her love for him. It was the start of their secret love.

Margaret and Peter would often drive away from the Palace and spend time together and friend’s houses. The new Queen Elizabeth’s husband, Prince Philip, doesn’t seem to like the connection between Margaret and Peter. He thought that a relationship between the Queen’s sister and a divorced employee of the Palace isn’t appropriate, yet, Margaret firmly believed that she would live a happy life with Peter in the future.

Within no time, the whole royal family knows about the affair between Margaret and Townsend. The couple considers marriage within the year and Margaret consulted the family’s advisor about it. During the Westminster Abbey Coronation ceremony for Queen Elizabeth, a reporter observed how Princess Margaret brushed a speck of dirt from Townsend’s Royal Air Force uniform. Soon, the picture of the event was all over newspapers along with sensationalized headlines about it.

Townsend is sent to Brussels as an air attaché by Winston Churchill and Margaret is sent to Rhodesia but Margaret tried to rebel by booking international calls to Townsend. Soon enough, Margaret and Townsend are united in England. Townsend believed the relationship is to be cut to an end but Margaret firmly argued that they could still try getting married.

The Royal Family gave Margaret the final ultimatum; either she chooses Townsend or she remains in the family. Unable to leave her family behind, she issued the famous statement in which she stated that she chose to end the affair between her and Townsend.


Stark’s Comment:
CMP has not a big experience releasing romantic movies so the future of this release is a mystery to me. Whatever happens, I like love stories so I am happy that Nielsen has decided to take the risk with this project. We’ll see…

Behind The Scenes:
-Back in 2006, Stephen Frears directed ‘The Queen’. Harry Stark recently admitted that, in some ways, this movie could be considered almost a prequel of that one.
-The first director considered for this movie was GMA Winner Cameron Crowe. But finally Frears took the job just because he had previously directed ‘The Queen’.
-It is the second time that Ewan McGregor and Rachel Weisz work together in CMP after James Cameron’s ‘Planetside’.


STORM AT HOME: As it could be predicted, Derek Luke will be seen again in this new Dawson Edwards’ drama. Together with him, the movie directed by Michael Mann will also mean the return to CMP of a group of well known stars: Jeffrey Wright (‘The Funeral Drum’, ‘Fireflies In The Jelly-Jars’); GMA Nominee Rosario Dawson, also seen in ‘The Funeral Drum’; and no other than Ashanti, seen before in ‘Little Tin Goddess’ and ‘Black Guys’.

JOHN AND TOMMIE: Green light for a highly interesting project written by Chad Taylor. The movie tells the story of the two black American Olympic athletes that provoked a major scandal in the 1968 Olympics when defending the Black Power movement. Together with this interesting premise, the other peculiar element of this production is the man directing it. Making a U-turn in his CMP’s career, as he promised he would do after the flop of ‘Gears Of War’, Will Smith will make his debut as movie director with this project. Smith will also play a minor character in the story.

THE BEATLES: Now that the four actors to play The Beatles are known, let’s go with the most important characters in their life. Colin Hanks will be playing Brian Epstein, the manager of the band and the man who took them to glory (and the funny thing is that his own father, Tom Hanks, was considered to play this character). Rachel McAdams, seen in the Dr. Jones’ movies, will be Linda Eastman, wife of Paul McArtney. And Yoon-Jin Kim, from the tv series ‘Lost’, has been chosen to play the always controversial Yoko Ono, wife of John Lennon.

TEENAGE WASTELAND: Announced the talents to play Logan Lerman’s parents in this Matt Kubrick’s teen drama. Toni Collette, only seen before in CMP in ‘A Man Called Dan’, will play the mum, while GMA Winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, whose last work for CMP was the acclaimed and awarded ‘Sherlock Holmes’ – also written by Kubrick -, will be his dad.

BOOSTER GOLD: Chad Michael Murray, only seen before in CMP in the old Friday, the 13th’s prequel ‘Vorhees: The Bloody Years’, has been the chosen one to play the new superhero joining the CMP’s Superheroes Club. Some casting problems with this movie are causing delays in its shooting. Due to it, CMP has not officially announced who is directing this Chad Taylor’s project as rumors say that there could be last minutes changes, although the shooting has already begun.

AMERICAN TABLOID: Another star playing a real life character in this Scorsese’s movie. David Strathairn makes his debut in CMP playing no other than the big man in the FBI, John Edgar Hoover.

RUNNING ON EMPTY: Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s heart will be split between two women in this dramedy written by Trent Nielsen and directed by Anne Fletcher. One of them will mean the return at last to CMP of a once very active star: Natalie Portman. GMA Winner Portman had been away from CMP since Season 5, when she worked in ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Shattered Orb’ and ‘Flashes Of Life’. The other woman will be Isla Fisher, seen in CMP’s movies like ‘If Tomorrow Never Comes’, ‘Super Bowl’ or ‘The Flash’.

THE PITIFUL PLIGHT OF TOM COLLINS: Usually, when CMP’s screenwriters tell us autobiographical stories they look at their teen years. But this time, Josh Collins has decided to tell us a story based on his own grandfather true story. This dramedy will tell us the peculiar relationship between an elder father and his three very different adult daughters. Alan Arkin, seen past Season in another Collins’ pitch, ‘Goldmine Killers’, will play the peculiar father. And Josh Collins will direct again his own screenplay with his company, Grand Island Movies, producing it.

UNCHARTED: DRAKE’S FORTUNE: All adventurers have to have a sexy woman on their side. And the chosen one to follow Gerard Butler’s adventures in this Stephen Sommers’ movie will be Jessica Biel. Biel worked past Season in the exploitation ‘Tracks Of Blood’ and has been seen before in CMP in movies like ‘Ace Banner’ and ‘The Towering Inferno’.


IN SPIRIT: Two women join the cast of this mystery Josh Collins’ story directed by John August. Kyra Sedgwick, who worked for Collins before in ‘After The Storm’, will play the newest Benicio Del Toro’s love interest. And the recent GMA Nominee also for another Collins’ story, ‘Fireflies In The Jelly-Jars’, Robin Wright-Penn, will play the dead Del Toro’s wife.


STEVE CONNORS – EDGE OF HUMAN

GMA Winner writer Steve Connors returns to CMP with what he is best known for: a sci-fi movie. After putting an end to his successful trilogy adapting the robots novels by Isaac Asimov, Connors has turned his eyes now to another popular source: ‘Blade Runner’. ‘Edge Of Human’ is based on a book by K.W. Jeter and recreates the futuristic scenario created by the original book by Philip K. Dick and by Ridley Scott’s classic movie.

1.Making a sequel of ‘Blade Runner’ is such a risky and daring challenge…

A big one! I consider ‘Blade Runner’ one of the best sci-fi movies ever, if not the absolute Number One. The movie was released back in 1982 and has become a cult movie for millions of people. Making a sequel of legendary movies is almost a suicidal task. But I don’t consider ‘Edge Of Human’ a sequel. I have turned the book into a completely new story with brand new characters taking place in the same universe than ‘Blade Runner’.

2.I understand that you have introduced lot of changes from the book it is based in.

Yes. I like to adapt books but I also like to change their plots to my own criteria. I already did that with the Isaac Asimov’s novels. The book by K.W. Jeter retakes the characters played in the original movie by Harrison Ford and Sean Young. I didn’t want to do that. In fact, to be honest, I must say I didn’t completely like the book. So I took the main lines of the book’s plot, changed it and created new characters. So I can say that this movie is only based a 50 or a 60 per cent in the book. Of course, it recovers the main elements of ‘Blade Runner’: the dark rainy and claustrophobic futuristic city, the replicants, Tyrrell Corporation, the philosophical doubts about the nature of the replicants… The movie has got all that. But it is also a new story with very few points in common with the original movie. I mean, the essential elements of the universe created in ‘Blade Runner’ are also here, of course. But the characters and the events are completely new.

3.What’s the difference between Asimov’s robots novels and this one? Cause I can see a lot of points in common between them.

Sure. Philip K. Dick was the original author of the book in which ‘Blade Runner’ was based, titled ‘Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep?’ Dick’s universe is strongly influenced by Asimov but, at the same time, it is much more darker, hopeless, crazed and disturbing. You can see those differences too in my movies. The Robots’ movies were in fact buddy movies about a human and an android trying to solve crimes. ‘Edge Of Human’ is much darker and has a bigger depth. The lead character, the blade runner, has to solve a crime too. But he also has to live with the doubt about his girlfriend and himself maybe being replicants…

4.Tell us about your plans of making a Star Wars’ movie.

Oh, my nightmare! As you all know, I’m a sci-fi junkie. And, step by step, I am trying to bring to CMP my favorite sci-fi’s stories, like Asimov’s books and now Blade Runner. Of course, Star Wars is also in my top sci-fi list. So I would love to do something about it. Marcus Trax did a great job in CMP recreating the Star Wars’ universe. I don’t want to do it if I cannot do something as good as he did. So I am carefully looking for the right story to develop. Be patient. It will come out at some moment in a far, very far future…

5.And what can you tell us about your new game adaptation, ‘Uncharted’?

I just keep my fingers crossed with that pitch after what happened with ‘Gears Of War’. The original game is almost a movie itself so it’s so easy to adapt it to a big screen live action feature. In fact, I have read at IMDB that somebody at Hollywood is already developing a movie based on the game too. But I didn’t want to know anything about that when working on my pitch. I have no idea of who is directing or starring it because I wanted to keep my mind free of any influence when putting up my own movie version of the game.


KEIRA KNIGHTLEY

Keira Knightley returns to CMP this week with her 13th work for the Studio, the love story ‘The Princess And The Captain’. Keira has always been one of CMP’s favorite and most active stars. She was considered for long the muse of screenwriter John Daws. Keira has been part of some of the most famous sagas of the Studio. Nominated four times at the Golden Moon Awards, she finally got the statue back in Season 6 as Best Starring Couple together with Leonardo DiCaprio for ‘Pompeii’. Let’s take a look at her CMP’s filmography.


UNCOMMON VALOUR (Seasons 2, 3, 4)
Ridley Scott / Jack Hammer
Keira played the lead female character of this classic saga, the sweet and elegant love of Pierce Brosnan. Both got a Best Starring Couple nomination in Season 2 for their work. The second episode of this franchise with slight net losses of 0.8 millions has been the only flop in Keira’s career in CMP.

HITMAN (Season 2, 3)
Tony Scott / John Daws
Simultaneously with her work in ‘Uncommon Valour’, Keira also joined another one of the top CMP’s franchises, ‘Hitman’. She played Colin Farrell’s love interest in the two first movies of this franchise. The sequence where Farrell kills her to avoid her more suffering after being tortured is still remembered as one of the most famous sequences in CMP’s history.

GAME BOY (Season 5, 6)
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
Daws called her back to be part of this record breaker franchise. Keira’s voice was heard in both episodes of it playing the digitally generated Princess Zelda (character later played live by Kate Bosworth in ‘The Legend Of Zelda’ franchise).

POMPEII (Season 6)
James Cameron / James Bradley
Keira kept as probably the most active actress in CMP. Now, she starred this top budget production. A period movie that recreated the eruption of the Vesuvius volcano and the destruction of the Roman city of Pompeii. The movie got 7 nominations at the GMA and finally won 4 statues. Keira won Best Starring Couple and was also nominated for Best Actress.

NO MORE BUSH! (Season 6)
Rob Reiner / John Daws
Season 6 was madness for Keira, as she worked in four different movies. In this peculiar mockumentary laughing at Bush, Blair and Bin Laden, Keira only played a minor character just for fun.

MISPLACED AFFECTION (Season 6)
Joe Wright / John Daws
Daws counted on her once more for this thriller about a tragic love triangle. She was the loving wife of James McAvoy. And ended murdered by the mean Kirsten Dunst. It was an interesting but minor production that got a discrete box office.

THE CRITIC (Season 8)
Rob Reiner / John Daws
After the nice box office of ‘No More Bush!’, Reiner and Daws teamed up again for another mockumentary, this time focused on the tormented life of a movie critic, played by old Keira’s cast mate in the Hitman movies, Patrick Stewart. Keira only made a brief cameo playing herself.

THE GUNPOWDER PLOT (Season 10)
Ridley Scott / John Daws
As Daws’ activity in CMP slowed down, same did the presence of his muse. Keira returned to CMP being directed again by Ridley Scott after the ‘Uncommon Valour’ movies. This historical movie was critically acclaimed and won the Best Picture GMA.

THE PRINCESS AND THE CAPTAIN (Season 12)
Stephen Frears / Trent Nielsen
Not as active as she used to be, Keira returns after so long playing at last a lead role in this recreation of the youth years of Princess Margaret, sister of Queen Elizabeth. CMP does not produce too many romantic movies so it’s uncertain how a movie like this will work at box office.


The prestigious magazine ‘Vanity Fair’ dedicates its latest cover to two of the CMP’s releases for this week, ‘The Princess And The Captain’ and ‘Edge Of Human’. You can find inside a photo session with Ethan Hawke, Evan Rachel Wood and Keira Knightley together with interviews and articles related to both releases. Here you have the cover of the magazine.



So the terrible ‘Daughters Of The Dragon’ finally became the expected box office’s success. And that means one thing: the trend of superheroines may go on. For what I know, the next one to put sexy girls in action won’t be again Joey Stark – once a serious writer who has now sold his soul to his greedy brother and his lousy blockbusters – but Jack Hammer. Yes, the rumor is that Jack Hammer is considering adapting the comic books series ‘Danger Girl’. ‘Danger Girl’ takes to the extreme the concept of ‘sexy superheroine’, making a kind of spoof of the classic Bond girls. Sounds hair-raising, doesn’t it?

And talking about superheroines… Bryan Singer has confirmed in a recent interview that there will be only one more Silver Sable’s movie. ‘Joey Stark and I do not won’t to go on with the series until it loses all its interest’, has said Singer (and I wonder: has it ever had ANY interest?). According to Singer, ‘the third movie will show the darkest side of Silver. The story will include some big surprises and will show the character from a completely different perspective’ (and I have to say here: oh, really? *big yawn*). CMP’s plan is to release this sequel of its most successful movie ever in Season 13. So probably Katherine Heigl is back on diet to fit in the tight Silver’s costume.

A question now. Who is the most active talent in CMP at the moment? Bruce Willis? Will Ferrell? Ben Stiller? No! I remember Patrick Stewart being for some time the most active star in CMP due to his constant presence in John Daws’ movies. Now, the title goes to another talent: Mr. Derek Luke! Yes, thanks to the constant support he gets from Dawson Edwards, Luke has surprisingly become the most hyperactive star in CMP. In fact, he is so busy working for Edwards that I’ve heard he might have to reject the offer made by another CMP’s screenwriter to star another important CMP’s production coming up due to agenda problems. Harry Stark is trying to arrange shooting schedules to allow Luke to respond to all his commitments.

And from a busy star to another one unemployed. Last week I wrote about the hard times of Cameron Crowe. This week, I have to mention a star that has moved from hyperactivity to oblivion in CMP. He starred two of the most famous CMP’s franchises, ‘The Great War Series’ and ‘Hitman’. He won the Best Actor GMA back in Season 3. But since those sagas ended, nobody has ever remembered him anymore. Yes, I am talking about Colin Farrel, not seen in CMP since the release of the last Hitman movie back in Season 8. Poor Colin, after all that success, what have you done to deserve this?

Harry Stark desperate? Oh, I love to know the man is suffering. Yes, CMP’s President is desperate cause all his dramas flop at box office. The box office’s disaster of the two latest ones, ‘Riders On The Storm’ and ’24 Hours To Live’, has taken him to cry for help to make his artsy movies work in box office. Sorry, Mr. Stark, you were born to produce silly blockbusters ala ‘Daughters Of The Dragon’, but posterity will never remember you as an artist if your beloved little dramas keep sinking at box office one after another. Hahaha… (evil laugh).