DECEMBER, 25


THE BEATLES

Biography / Musical

The Cast: Jaime Bell, Daniel Radcliff, Jim Sturgess, Emile Hirsh, Liam Neeson, Colin Hanks, Yoon-Jin Kim, Rachel McAdams, Shawn Ashmore, Diane Kruger.

The Director: Sam Mendes
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor

The Plot:

It is 2001. As the credits roll, the acoustic version of "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" slowly plays, and we fade into George Harrison's (L.Neeson) househould. He sits in an old wooden chair, staring out the window. Footsteps slowly creep up behind, and we see a nicely dressed man, who takes a seat on the sofa. "So tell me doc, how long do I have?" George says. "I can't be sure, George, maybe weeks, maybe a month. I'm sorry." The doctor replies. The song smoothly continues "I look at the world and I notice it's turning…while my guitar gently weeps." George glares through the glass window, at a young boy running in the courtyard. It's him.

It is 1960. George (now J.Bell) is a young boy in Hamburg back in the early 60s. Black hair, bushy eyebrows, leather jacket and a boyish grin, a trademark of his. He’s playing with the group: McCartney (J.Sturgess), Lennon (D.Radcliff), Stu Sutcliffe (S.Ashmore) and Pete Best. They are young and happy. A joy is in the air, we can tell, as they do what they love most, play music. They share a bond that no one could ever break. We see anecdotes of their life there: fights with the local guys, girls, joints… and finally Police discovering that George is not an adult yet and has to leave Germany. John jokingly suggests that they call the band "The Beatles", mixing Beat and Beetle. And so they keep it, a name that will stand out forever in history.

The band is back to Liverpool. The city they will always be associated with. They all deprived from this city, each following different paths. They are playing at The Cavern. They perform in front of a packed crowd, as usual. Stu’s health is steadily declining. In the back of the room, they spot a short, charismatic man, smiling. At the end of performance, the band hurried off stage, and in the crowd, the man pushed his way to make it to the boys. They meet Brian Epstein (C.Hanks), a local record store manager, who offers them to become their manager.

Stu, now deeply in love with Astrid (D.Kruger), a photographer he met while on tour. But he is experiencing fierce headaches and at time his eyes would be sensitive to light. He, the band, and Astrid all knew something was wrong. He tells George and the band that he is leaving them, as he is weakening. Meanwhile, as they get ready to leave for their next tour, Brian is becoming annoyed by Pete's drumming and suggests they drop him for Rory Storm and The Hurricanes' drummer, Richard Starkey. He joins for the tour and soon takes the name "Ringo Starr" (E.Hirsh). George notices that the four of them share nice chemistry. When the Beatles arrive at the Hamburg airport, Astrid is waiting for them. She informs them that Stu had died, days before. She describes how at one point, after walking by an undertaker's building and seeing a polished white coffin, he told his mother "Oh mum…buy it for me. I'd love to be buried in a white coffin." Tears flow down John's eyes, who was the closest to Stu.

Back to 2001.George enters into his music studio at home. He picks up a guitar and starts to play the opening lick of "Here Comes The Sun" The smile on his face slowly changes into a frown as we start to hear the voices of John and Paul. They are arguing about something. Not too clear.

It is 1969. The band is recording the ‘Let It Be’ album. We can tell they have moved with the generation, looking very hippy. Tensions are very high between the group. Yoko (Y-J. Kim) and Linda (R.McAdams) are around. They attempt to start recording a song, but talking is heard. And the voice is from none other than Ono's mouth. Paul is irade. "Did I hear someone fucking speak? George, did I hear you talk? I don't think you talked!" George stands awkwardly, as does Ringo. John stands up for Yoko, and informs the group that there is no longer a John Lennon or a Yoko Ono, as they are one now. George, nor anybody, is happy about this revelation. They discuss the possibility of a concert. Paul really wants to do it, but the rest of the group is on the fence. George never liked the idea of a live concert. But he knew that he could make no difference in the band's decision. He tells Paul he will let them deal with it. They agree to the idea, but not the details. Paul thinks they should go to the Cavern and give the home crowd a few shows. John thinks they should go to Africa and play. Unable to negotiate, Ringo finally comes up with the plan. Trying to overcome the fights, the band decides to perform at the roof of the Abbey Road Studio. They play the concert, featuring songs from their future album, looking out on the town. Although he at first rejected the idea, John is now enjoying it. Him and Paul stand in front, smiling, with their long hair flowing in the wind, as they sing "Get Back" The old magic is back.

It is 1964. The band arrives at JFK airport in NYC. Thousands of fans are waiting for them. They step off the plane, to a huge uproar, one big enough to make someone deaf. We see them at ‘The Ed Sullivan Show’. They perform 'I Want to Hold Your Hand' in front of the cheering live audience. At a press conference soon after arrival, John makes the following comments " Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right, and I will be proved right. We are more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first -- rock'n'roll or Christianity." To George, this was a brave statement, but virtually true. To the kids in Liverpool, The Beatles were everything.

We follow the golden days of the band, when they begin to change from young rockers to hippy stars. They slowly change from the pop scene to the rock scene with Rubber Soul and Revolver. John meets a woman named Yoko Ono, who seems to be special to him. He starts seeing her, while ignoring his wife Cynthia and his son Julian, at home. We see that he was depressed and being with Yoko is changing him. Cynthia decides to divorce him. At the same time, Paul meets Linda Eastman, a woman with a similar yet not as strong effect like Yoko. George meets his guru the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, a celebrity in India. This flashback wraps up with the Beatles talking to the Maharishi himself in Wales. They receive a phone call, telling them Brian is dead. He was their everything. He was George's best man, as well as John's, at their weddings. And now he was gone.

Back to 2001.George is not feeling well. He gets up and goes to his bedroom and lights up some incense bars, lies in the bed and tries to relax. A sitar music begins to be heard…

It is 1967. The band travels to India with Maharishi. Ringo becomes sick and wants to leave, and John dislikes the atmosphere and also wants to leave. They discuss heading back to London, with anger growing between the group. Back to the studio, where everyone seems mad at each other. John and George share mean remarks, and it comes to blows. George becomes fed up and walks out the door. As the door slowly shuts behind him, we hear John's voice suggesting they replace him with Eric Clapton. George maintains a straight face.

It is 1980.John is walking to his apartment when a heavy man with glasses, Mark David Chapman, walks out of the shadows. "Mr. Lennon…" he says, and John turns around. Chapman whips out a gun a shoots him multiple times. The scene fades to black, with the last sound being Yoko's high-pitched, gruesome scream.

Back to 2001.George suddenly wakes up in his bedroom. Sweat pours down his face. ‘John is dead’, he murmurs, ‘The dream…’

It is 1970. Paul announces the band has gone its separate ways. After that, Paul and George meet at their recording Studio in Abbey Road. George blames Paul for the band breaking up, although it is obvious that Paul was the one who cared most about the band staying together. George feared it happening. He just wanted to make music. They have a fight. George turns on the TV and sees images of John and Yoko in bed in an Amsterdam’s hotel claiming for peace in the world. It amazes him how this all has played out.

Back to 2001. George has a visit at home. It’s Paul. They talk as good old friends about the old times and how much they changed from the early 60s to the early 70s… They walk down George’s garden and talk about John and the death of Linda and George’s illness in a friendly way. Although to the public, John and Paul were always the most famous couple, it is Paul and George who shared the strongest friendship. When Paul leaves, George, ill-faced, looks back to the garden and sees again himself as a young boy running.

It is 1961. ‘Love Me Do’, their first single, has just been released. Brian announces the band they have the number one single. The guys, over-satisfied with the news, celebrate the success drinking beers and talking about what they will do when they become millionaires. Little do they know what's ahead.

It is 2002. A big concert takes place in memory of George Harrison. Paul and Ringo are there playing together on stage. They play George’s song ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’. Mid-song, Paul looks back at Ringo and they share a smile.


Stark’s Comment:
As an absolute beatlemaniac myself, I’m thrilled with this release. I just can’t wait for watching it on the big screen, no matter box office’s results. I think the complex structure of the screenplay, not following an ordinary timeline, is a great creative achievement by Taylor.

Behind The Scenes:
-So many stars were considered to play the Beatles. At some moment of the long pre-production process stars like Christian Bale, Orlando Bloom or Shia Labeouf were related to the project.
-Also, so many directors were taken into consideration: Alan Parker, Cameron Crowe, Danny Boyle or Guy Ritchie were some of them.
-Although not credited at the movie, Joey Stark collaborated closely with Chad Taylor during the complex process of writing the screenplay.
-Tom Hanks, father of Colin Hanks, was considered to play Brian Epstein, the character finally played by his own son. Hanks Senior was rejected not only for his age but also because he had already played a too similar character in ‘The Wonders’.
-In the first of the many drafts of the screenplay, the story wasn’t told from the perspective of George Harrison. That idea came up much later. The initial drafts didn’t use the back and forward jumps in time.
-Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr, the only living Beatles, met with Chad Taylor several times to read and give their opinions about the screenplay.

RUNNING ON EMPTY

Romantic Comedy

The Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Natalie Portman, Isla Fisher, Jason Biggs, Patrick Fugit

The Director: Anne Fletcher
The Screenwriter: Trent Nielsen

The Plot:

Late 90s. Tommy (J. Gordon-Levitt), a successful comedian, is living the American dream with his long time girlfriend, Natasha (I. Fisher), in an upper-class condo in San Francisco. In the outside, their lives seems perfect but in the inside, Natasha is inches close to leaving Tommy for a childhood best friend, the very witty and clever Alex (J. Biggs) who had already planned the next ten years of his life.

All of a sudden, Tommy and Natasha find themselves trusted into a pool of responsibilities and possibilities when Natasha gets pregnant. Excitement fills up Tommy’s mind thinking of the possibility of being a father. However, Alex’s plans for his future life are destroyed by this since he thinks it was him who impregnated Natasha.

A delighted Tommy took care of Natasha every day in her life, making sure that she would always take vitamins for the child. Unfortunately for him, during the first months of pregnancy, Natasha had a miscarriage and the baby is lost. Tommy gets depressed by this.

One day, after helping his younger brother, Damien (P. Fugit), in moving in to a dorm, Tommy discovers a letter left by Natasha in his condo. It said that Natasha quitted college to marry Alex who probably was the father of her miscarried child.

Tommy turns into drugs after Natasha had left him. He gets addicted to it and in no time, he finds himself selling his properties just to support his addiction. For months, Tommy had faded from the comedy scene and had become an addict. Before everything else is too late, Damien pushes Tommy into a rehab.

Tommy despised the rehab in his first days in there until he meets Mindy (N. Portman), another addict who has been on the rehab for months. There was a quick connection between the two of them and a solid and honest friendship was built in no time.

They talked about their past lovers and the quirks they had in their high school life. They talked about their job before they got addicted to the substance and jobs they want to have. In short, they talked about anything without feeling uncomfortable with each other.

Mindy soon got out of the rehab but Tommy still have two months to spend in the rehab before he can go. Time passes by and Tommy finally gets out of the rehab. He tried to ask for Mindy’s contact information in the rehab’s administration but the rehab won’t give it out because of confidentiality issues.

Damien helps Tommy in finding Mindy for a while but he gives up. He tells Tommy that he should just continue his life and if they are really for each other, they’ll meet in the right time at the right place.

Tommy receives an offer for a lead role in a film which he accepts since he thinks taking back his throne in the entertainment industry is continuing his life. After dozens of films made and TV show appearances, Tommy sees Mindy getting off the Metro. He runs after her and calls her name. She turns towards him and says, “It’s been long.”

THE END.

Stark’s Comment:
Everybody was curious about what would be Gordon-Levitt’s next step in his career after the great '(500) Days Of Summer' and his Best Actor GMA for ‘Weigh Anchor’. Well, here it is. A movie designed to reinforce him as the indisputable king of indie dramedies by the moment (forget ‘G.I. Joe’). I think he has now fans enough to make this movie work.

Behind The Scenes:
-Nielsen originally titled this movie ‘Dramedies Of Life’. Harry Stark simply hated that title. It was Stark himself who replaced it with the title of the classic Jackson Brown’s song that can be heard in the movie soundtrack.
-One of those amazing CMP’s coincidences: only a few days later after Nielsen sent this screenplay to CMP, James Bradley sent another one. It told the story of a young and cool couple in NYC, a brilliant uprising lawyer played by Gordon-Levitt and a talented fashion designer played by Jena Malone, who both fall in a self-destructive process of cocaine addiction. The story (besides the lead star) was so amazingly similar to this one that Harry Stark decided to reject Bradley’s screenplay.

STORM AT HOME

Drama

The Cast: Chiwetel Ejiofor, Derek Luke, Jeffrey Wright, Rosario Dawson, Idris Elba, Cicely Tyson, Ashanti, Seth Green, Rick Gonzalez

The Director: Michael Mann
The Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards

The Plot:

Anthony Jackson (C.Ejiofor) is a Sergeant in the United States Army, and right now he is leading his team of nine into the streets of Fallujah, Iraq. Unfortunately the team is ambushed by Iraqi insurgents and lives are loss on both sides. Sgt. Jackson is the lone American survivor after the battle. He eventually returns to base, battered and bruised, and his superior officer has no choice but to send him back to the states.

We see from above a beautiful and large city, then hear a terrible scream from a woman. Lorena Stevens (R. Dawson) is pregnant, and her baby is due any day now, and this is probably the worst news her husband Will (I. Elba) could possibly hear. The newlyweds live in New Orleans, Louisiana. And today is August 26th 2005, which means they have less than two days to leave the crowed city before the hurricane, known as Katrina, wrecks havoc. Will is urgently arguing with his wife that the hospital is no place for them now, and they need to go, but Lorena isn't hearing it. She refuses to leave the hospital. She'll go only as far as the SuperDome stadium downtown for protection.

As the National Guard directs citizens out of the state, one truck is dropping off Anthony back home in New Orleans. He can't find a cab, bus or even the local wagons to get home. He waves down a car doing about 3mph down the road. The passengers open the door for him and decide to drop him off where he needs to go. Anthony soon realizes that the two guys he's riding with are potheads. They introduce themselves as Jay (R.Gonzalez) and Trigger (S.Green). Jay tells Anthony that they'll be staying through the storm, "Enjoying the High", Trigger called it.

When Anthony reaches his home, he quickly runs inside, only to find it deserted. With the rush home, he wasn't able to contact his mother or his little brother. He rushes back outside to see Jay and Trigger still smoking by the car. Then a neighbor yells to him that Mrs. Jackson (C.Tyson) was taken to the hospital by Bryan (D.Luke). He thanks her and jumps into Jay's car and takes off. With little protest, Jay and Trigger shrug their shoulders and joke "Maybe we shouldv'e gone with him?"

At the hospital, we see the Mayor of New Orleans, Ray Nagin (J.Wright) frantically walking out of the door, bumping into a young man wheeling his mother into the building. He turns and yells at the man telling him that there is a mandatory evacuation of the city in order, and all patients are being moved into the Superdome. Bryan, hearing his mothers ill coughing again, decides to ask a nurse for her opinion. The nurse he approaches just happens to be a former childhood friend, Faith (Ashanti). She's happy to see him, and agrees that she should head for the dome. She also agrees to leave with them and assist any way she can. As they head out in Bryan's truck, we see Will and Lorena still arguing (and screaming) as he wheels her into a car.

Anthony arrives at the hospital shortly after their departure, and its almost a ghost town. He runs to the nurses desk and demands to know where his mother is, and he is told they have no record of a Mrs. Jackson. Anthony begins to yell at the receptionist out of frustration. The woman tells him that only the non movable patients are here and all others have either left the state or are at the stadium.

Bryan, Faith and Mrs. Jackson arrive at the more than crowded stadium. Mrs. Jackson has just coughed up blood. She's getting worse. Once inside, they are approached by a neighbor who asks if they ever talked to Anthony. Of course they are all confused, and Bryan turns to Faith and tells her to take care of his mom, he's going after Anthony. She gives him her cell phone, and they kiss saying "Take Care"

Anthony is speeding through the wet streets of N.O., as the storm is here. He speeds on his way towards the stadium, until he narrowly misses being hit by a car and skids into a nearby limo. The limo belongs to Mayor Ray Nagin, who stumbles out of the car and starts screaming "Do you know who I am? I run this city!", Anthony proceeds to get out his car, his head now cut open, and he punches the Mayor. Anthony tells him that if he doesn't move out of his way, he'll kill him before the storm does.

Katrina has hit. Destroying everything in its path. We see two guys sitting atop of a house, with smiles on their face, smoke out their mouths. A massive flood is headed for Anthony and Ray, fearing they have no chance for survival, and the look they give each other says so. The two jump inside the damaged limo and just as the water takes them away, life is born at the dome. Faith has helped an arguing couple deliver their new born son. And finally we see Bryan sitting in his truck crying, because he never got to say goodbye.


Stark’s Comment:
Edwards is back on drama with this intensely emotional story taking place during the devastating Katrina hurricane in New Orleans. I personally think this is a brilliant movie, but I am conscious that it may be hard to make it work in box office. We’ll see…

Behind The Scenes:
-This movie was planned to be released in Season 11 but it had to be postponed due to some casting problems. Mainly, Denzel Washington was going to play the lead character and Alfre Woodward was playing his mother. And Harry Stark considered that did not match well due to the short age difference between both stars.
-The delay made Washington abandon the project and Chiwetel Ejiofor replaced him. Alfre Woodward was also finally replaced by Cicely Tyson.
-Rosario Dawson took the job after Thandie Newton was originally considered for her character.
-Danny Boyle sounded at some moment during its long pre-production phase as a possible director for this movie.


WEST FLASHMAN: One of the most beloved characters in CMP is back with his fourth adventure. This time, the rogue Harry Flashman, played again by Rupert Everett, travels to the United States in their 1850’s. New Orleans, Missisipi River and Texas are some of the sites where his new adventures will take place. Frank Darabont, who has never directed a movie for CMP before, will take care of the direction of the movie. And a main character of the saga returns to it: GMA Winner Catherine Z. Jones will appear again in Flashy’s life playing his most desired and hated lover as she did in ‘The Misadventures Of Harry Flashman’ and ‘Flashman’s Travels’, the two first movies of the franchise.

THE AVENGERS 4: CIVIL WAR: As you all know by now, Edward Norton won’t return to this franchise playing Hulk. But Hulk will be seen in the movie – only in his ‘big green version’ -, being digitally generated. The rest of the regular crowd of the franchise will be back: Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man), Adam Baldwin (Captain America), Tobey Maguire (Spiderman), Rose McGowan (Valkyrie), Tyler Mane (Thor) and also Kurt Russell (Nick Fury), resurrected after apparently dying in ‘The Avengers 3’. Jon Favreau is directing this new episode said to be the most spectacular of the whole franchise.

COMEDY WARS: Well known CMP’s comedians reunite again in this Matt Kubrick’s comedy directed by Edgar Wright. Together with the already announced Will Ferrell, we’ll see old friends like Owen Wilson (who already worked with Ferrell in the first ‘Lieutenant USA’ movie); Seth Rogen (who worked with Ferrell in ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’ and ‘Borgel’); Vince Vaughn, still recent his work in ‘Being Ben Stiller’ and seen with Ferrell in 'Eureka!'; and Sasha Baron Cohen (who has worked with Ferrell before in ‘No More Bush!’ and also with Wilson in ‘The Metal’).

JOHN AND TOMMIE: Hugh Jackman refused the offer to play the Australian athlete that shared the podium with John and Tommie in the Mexico Olympic Games. To replace him, director Will Smith has cast another Australian talent, the younger Chris Hemsworth, who will make his debut in CMP.

A HARD PLACE: Green light for an interesting Richard Franzwa’s story. A courtroom and police procedural movie about how far can a police officer go to incriminate a murderer. Best Director GMA Winner Clint Eastwood directs his third movie for CMP after the awarded ‘Nagasaki Daydreams’ and the flopped ‘Dakota North’. The movie has an interesting starring couple: GMA Nominee John Cusack, returning to CMP after the acclaimed ‘The 6th Avenue Castaways’, and Renée Zellwegger, whose only previous works for the Studio were a voice only work in ‘Happy Hamsters’ and the comedy ‘Paternal Nightmare’.

THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME: Another interesting project green lighted. Josh Collins has adapted the best-selling book by Mark Haddon about a boy suffering the peculiar Asperger’s Syndrome, a disease that mixes extraordinary intelligence and difficulties to understand human behaviour. Danny Boyle (‘The Caves Of Steel’, ‘Daisy Lane’, ‘The Running Man’) will be directing a British cast leaded by Freddie Highmore, seen in CMP’s blockbusters like ‘The Land Of Nod’ or ‘The Green Children’.

BOOSTER GOLD: Nikki Reed, seen before in Kubrick’s horror flicks like ‘Vorhees: The Bloody Years’ and ‘Blood Beach’, will be Chad Michael Murray’s girl in this superhero movie directed by JJ Abrams. Jonathan Rhys-Meyers is going to make his debut in CMP with this movie. Kim Bassinger, seen before in ‘Dead Man’s Song’ and ‘The Sex Monster’ and also heard in the animated DVD release ‘Wild Cards: Origins’, makes a cameo as Booster Gold’s mother.

NATHAN ZACHARY AND THE PILFERED PROTOTYPE: Brent Spiner, best known from his work in the ‘Star Trek’ original series is going to make his debut in CMP with this adventure written and directed by Jack Hammer. Kevin Costner, specialized in playing supporting roles in CMP (usually villains) – remember ‘Maleficarum’, ‘Legend Of The Last Lawman’ or ‘MTG: Innocent White’ – will play a bad guy again in this one.

UNCHARTED: DRAKE’S FORTUNE: Two bad guys will work for Ed Harris, main villain of the function in this non-stop action console game adaptation being directed by Stephen Sommers with a screenplay by Steve Connors: the disturbing Michael Rooker and the muscular Mark Dacascos, both making their debut in CMP, will try to give a hard time to lead star Gerard Butler.

THE PITIFUL PLIGHT OF TOM COLLINS: After quite some Seasons away from CMP, Kathy Bates returns to the Studio playing the peculiar nurse that takes care of Alan Arkin in this acid dramedy written and directed by Josh Collins. Bates has been seen before in CMP in movies like ‘McMillan & Wife’ an its sequel, playing a funny medium in ‘T.Y.M.: The Second Chance’ and also in the multi-awarded musical ‘Carousel’.



CHAD TAYLOR – THE BEATLES

Chad Taylor releases this week one of his most beloved projects: a biopic of the most famous pop band ever, The Beatles. Taylor keeps showing his versatility as screenwriter after trying so many different genres, from epic adventure (‘Stanley & Livingstone’), animation (‘Yogi Bear’), comedy (‘Crime Stoppers’) or drama (‘Riders On The Storm’), not to mention his upcoming superhero movie ‘Booster Gold’ or the biopic ‘John and Tommie’.

1.Making a biopic of The Beatles is a pretty risky adventure. Fans of the band will be looking very close at your approach to their story waiting to jump on you...

I know, I know, there's a lot of pressure that comes with this job. And as a fan, myself, I am ready to take any criticism. I know I'm not the biggest Beatlemaniac on the face of the Earth, or even in my own city, but I do feel as if i know these guys good enough to be able to execute a project this big.

2.The structure of the screenplay is very creative. It must have been such a difficult writing process...

Oh yes, this script had many editing that came with it. We didn't want to make a normal biopic, that you'd regularly see. I've looked into the story so much, that once the final draft was in, it seemed to be perfect. I wanted to make a beautiful cinematic experience for all. I wanted to make it, where once you walk into the theater, you know you’re going to see something you've never seen before.

3.It is so difficult to choose the cast to play characters everybody know so well. Can you tell us something about the casting process?

Well as any case of casting big names, this one was tough. I mean sure, casting Sherlock Holmes, Don Quixote, Superman, etc. would be hard. But four main characters? I think my first cast was Christian Bale as John, Orlando Bloom as Paul, James McAvoy as George and Giovanni Ribisi as Ringo. What was I thinking? As the scripts/stories changed, I began to gain a sense of who I wanted. Harry pointed out to me the resemblance he had noticed between John and Daniel, and he was right on. Sturgess was in one of my favorite movies, the Beatles musical 'Across the Universe' and I knew he could pull it off. At the end of the day, someone will always like or dislike your decisions, so I just chose who I thought would do the best.

4.I presume you must have big expections about the next GMA Edition for this movie. Do you care about awards?

Well I've not been nominated for one yet, so I try to expect anything, so if it doesn't make it to the awards, I won't be mad or disappointed. That being said, I think this film exhibits some great performances that are deserving of a GMA. Jamie Bell really stepped up to such a big role, and I think he shows some great talent in this film. I chose Sam a while back, before the Rock Star was released, and now with his GMA, I'm sure people have big expectations for him. I'm gonna keep my mouth shut until it's that time of year. Anything is possible.

5.You have also written the very interesting 'John and Tommie'. Why did you decide to put your eye on this real life story?

I saw a documentary on it one time, and the images have stuck in my head since. I mean with their fists pumped in the air, John and Tommie showed me something I wasn't used to seeing. Not only pride, but also courage. And personally, I felt as if this story should be known by all, and what a better way to do that then make a film that is distributed worldwide?


BRITTANY MURPHY

Brittany Murphy passed away this week at the early age of 32. She made a promising career in CMP playing a variety of supporting roles mixing blockbuster productions and indie movies. She went away while waiting for the big role to make her a top CMP’s star. We pay tribute to her this week.


CMP’S FILMOGRAPHY

INDIGO PROPHECY
Season 2
Brian Kelley / Brian Kelley
B.O.: 45 mill. / N.G.: 12 mill.
Brittany made her debut in CMP in this videogame adaptation, an action thriller starred by Matt Damon and Kate Beckinsale. Brittany played Damon’s ex girlfriend.

POOR LITTLE RICH BOY
Season 3
Jay Roach / Joey Stark
B.O.: 4 mill. / N.L.: 33 mill.
Yes, Brittany was part of this tremendous box office’s disaster starred by Jason Biggs and Jessica Alba. She was here Jason Biggs’ girlfriend, an insolent rich girl.

LIFE AND FACTS OF A DIRTY MIND
Season 7
Bill Murray / Joey Stark
B.O.: 23 mill. / N.G.: 10 mill.
Joey Stark called her again to be part of this acclaimed acid comedy about a movie director obsessed with making a top budget porn movie, played by Jack Black. She played an ex prostitute and Jack Black’s lover in his last days. The movie was critically acclaimed and won 3 GMAs.

METAL GEAR SOLID
Season 9
John Woo / Dawson Edwards
B.O.: 26 mill. / N.L.: 21 mill.
Her second work in a top budget videogame adaptation and also the second big flop in Brittany’s CMP’s career. Again, Brittany was only playing a minor role in a movie starred by Eric Bana and Alicia Witt.

AFTER THE STORM
Season 9
Josh Collins / Josh Collins
B.O.: 21 mill. / N.L.: 10 mill.
The most interesting character played by Brittany in CMP. She was here the girlfriend of Ryan Gosling, an egoistic woman involved in a tragic car accident. Sadly, box office turned its back again to her new work for the Studio.

WEIGH ANCHOR
Season 10
Peter Weir / Josh Collins
B.O.: 38 mill. / N.G.: 28 mill.
Collins cast her again for this quality dramedy to play Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s sister, a wild girl now settling down. The movie was a critic success.


Here we have the new Fab Four – Daniel Radcliff, Jim Sturgess, Jamie Bell and Emile Hirsh - ready to twist and shout at the London’s premiere of ‘The Beatles'.




It is evident by now that Matt Kubrick has made a twist in his writing and directing career. It is like if after being a naughty boy now he has turned into a responsible adult. Kubrick has left behind lately his usual horror flicks and is focussing in comedy and drama. His Best Screenplay nomination for ‘Suspicious and Dishonors’ seemed to be the starting point in a new phase of his career as moviemaker. The funny thing is that, although they were terrible movies, I’m beginning to miss now one of those horrible but so entertaining horror shows he offered us from time to time like ‘Blood Beach’, ‘London Underground’ or ‘Sisters’.

While Kubrick changes, Josh Collins stays loyal to himself. ‘In Spirit’ was, after all, another variation of his usual ‘dramas-with-suffering-young-girl’. Staying faithful to that same theme, Collins has done the best (Velcro, Blink, Fairflies…) and the worst (After The Storm). But, besides the danger of becoming monotonous, Collins keeps providing interesting initiatives to CMP’s universe. The last one is the special release of ‘The Rock Star’ in DVD with three different endings. A don’t miss. You can find all the details at the Grand Island Movies’ blog.

Sequels denied. CMP has released two acclaimed movies lately, ‘Edge Of Human’ and ‘American Tabloid’. Box office for both releases has not been something remarkable. But movie critics have surrendered to the quality of the movies. The news now is that, although both of them might have interesting sequels, both Steve Connors and James Bradley have officially confirmed that none of them has no intention of developing a sequel for their movies.

Sequel confirmed. On the other side, Matt Kubrick has also officially confirmed that there will be a sequel to his Season 11’s fantasy adventure movie ‘Kingdom’. This luxurious production didn’t make it at box office the way it was expected, making only 55 millions. But it was profitable enough for CMP to accept a sequel. It is not known yet if Zack Snyder, director of the first movie, will take care of the sequel too or not.

According to their public statements at the CMP’s Forum, it seems like the Studio’s authors are all pretty impressed with James Cameron’s ‘Avatar’. And you know what that means… Expect in the near future an avalanche of projects about parallel worlds, third dimensions, exotic natives, colorfoul scenarios and all kind of references to the spectacular Cameron’s production…