MARCH, 5


UNCOMMON VALOUR: ONLY THE VALIANT

Adventure

The Cast: Pierce Brosnan, Keira Knightley, Johnny Depp, Jude Law, John Cleese, Olivia Wilde, Hayden Christensen, Judi Dench. Cameo by Sean Connery.

The Director: Ridley Scott
The Screenwriter: Jack Hammer
The Producer: Tony Scott

The Plot:
November 1782 – Rear Admiral Sinclair (P.Brosnan) is sent to the East Indies with a reinforced squadron of three 64-gun ships of the line (Fearless, Lion, and Avon), four frigates (Sapphire, Athena, Angelique, and Vanessa), two sloops (Firefly and Foxhound) and a brig (Dart). Lord St John (S.Connery) has learned that the French have sent a similar squadron into the area on a mission to the key islands that control the waters that the East Indiamen must travel with their rich cargoes of silk, tea and spices. Although the peace talks are ongoing in Paris, with every indication of a treaty being signed within a few months, St. John fears that French control of those waters will be disastrous for Britain. Sinclair’s job is to stop them.

As the squadron prepares to sail Will Mason (J.Law), now Captain of the 32-gun Athena, and his Jennifer (O.Wilde) share a sweet farewell and a last passionate night. He also bids goodbye to Stewart his former cox’n, who had helped raise him almost as a second father. Having been badly wounded at Dogger Bank last year, Stewart has been forced to retire from the sea and now runs Will’s estate of Birch Grove. Elijah Boyd’s nephew, Abraham, is now his new cox’n.

From the quarterdeck of HMS Fearless, Sinclair orders the squadron to sea, leaving his family behind. Ashore, Lady Tara (K.Knightley) watches as her husband’s ships slowly fade from sight on their voyage to the far side of the world. Until his return, the responsibility for the extended Sinclair and Mason families will rest upon her shoulders. Trouble soon rears its head as the MacKenzie family, now allied with the villainous Montaigne (J.Depp), begin a campaign to dishonor the family name by spreading rumors of treason and adultery by both John and Will. The later charge designed to ruin them socially, even if no criminal charges are brought.

But Lady Tara is no longer the innocent miss she was four years earlier. Like a chess grand-master she sends out pawns and agents alike to seek out and uncover the plot against them. Meanwhile Jennifer is more than a bit worried to find herself pregnant once more. Her first two pregnancies ended in miscarriage, the last one nearly killing her, as such she and Will have tried to avoid being intimate when she was most fertile. But it seems that nature had other plans. The news of the pregnancy crimps the adultery rumors, and as Tara continues to investigate, an uneasy stalemate settles in.

At sea, the French have taken advantage of a break in the monsoon season to once more lay siege to the key port of Madras in India, defended only by Commodore Bickerton’s squadron of four ships of the line and a single regiment while Admiral Sir Edward Hughes and the bulk of the British forces in India have been lured away by Admiral Suffren. The squadron arrives in time to tilt the balance and break the back of the siege, saving the vital port. As the monsoons once again rage, Sinclair is forced to remain at anchor until the weather moderates.

In England matters have come to a head as the relentless campaign of whispers continues to taint the family, turning public opinion against them. But like a bolt from the heavens the news of Sinclair’s victory at Madras stops the campaign in its tracks. At the same time Lady Tara’s agents have finally managed to ferret out the connections proving the involvement of Montaigne, well known as a French agent and enemy of the Sinclairs, and the MacKenzie family, who are also known to have an axe to grind, in the dastardly campaign against the Sinclairs. With the public having turned against them the MacKenzies are exposed as French agents and disgraced. In order to prevent their escape, Tara, with Lord St. John’s aid, is able to have their assets frozen.

That night at White Oaks, Tara is confronted by the son, Chauncey MacKenzie (H.Christensen). He intends to kill her and then flee the country with the famous diamond and sapphire necklace that John had given her four years earlier, to finance a new life in France. Although he succeeds in landing the first blow, he is no match for Tara’s superb swordplay and soon lies bleeding to death on the ground. When she hears the news of his death Gertrude MacKenzie (J.Dench) goes insane, when her husband, Frederick, tries to settle her down, she pushes him down a flight of stairs, breaking his neck. Seeing her father lying dead, Amelia, their daughter, begins to scream. Gertrude snaps at her to shut up, and when she doesn’t starts beating her with a fire poker, all the while yelling at her to shut up over and over. Gertrude finally stops when she realizes that Amelia too is dead, the girl’s head beaten into a barely recognizable mass of bloody tissue. In shock, Mrs MacKenzie then drops the bloody poker, then walks calmly into her husband’s study, draws a pistol from his desk, puts it to her head and pulls the trigger.

In India, after more than a month of forced inactivity, the squadron ups anchor and sets sail for their final destination – Pahrak Baruh in Malaya, where the French have established a base of operations. Attacking the base with a force of seamen and the squadron’s marines, Sinclair manages to destroy it. But in the commander’s office he discovers a dispatch from Admiral Suffren indicating that a large garrison of soldiers is on its way escorted by a equally large naval garrison of warships under Contre-Amiral Jean-Baptiste de Lavuer, a favorite of Suffren for his skill and professionalism.

Guessing that the French will pass through the Sombrero Channel, Sinclair sails to intercept them there. He has guessed correctly but the French force is far stronger than he had expected; five 74-gun ships of the line and an equal number of frigates, two of them 38-gunners and the rest 36s. Although heavily outgunned Sinclair, who has sailed in these waters before, uses the surrounding reefs to his benefit, luring one 74 onto the rocks and beaching two other ships on sand bars. Having temporarily separated the French force, he engages first one half and then there other, defeating them in a ferocious battle. But his own ships have been badly damaged as well. After making temporary repairs the squadron and its four prizes sail for Madras where they learn that the preliminary articles of the expected peace treaty had been signed in Paris since shortly after they left England. The war has been effectively over for six months.

The squadron returns home on 27 August where Will meets his daughter, little Susanne Mason, now one month old, for the first time. For his action saving Madras and the battle in the Sombrero Channel, Sinclair is created Viscount Thornbury. But as he looks down upon his niece he remarks that Will has gotten the far greater reward.

In Paris, Henri-Albere Montaigne broods over his second failure to destroy Sinclair. His superior, the Marquis de Vendee, tells him that it means nothing. They have lost nothing but a few disposable pawns that are easily replaced. Montaigne grudgingly admits that this is true, but he does not like to lose especially to Sinclair. The Marquis tells him that he will get over it, and leaves. Alone, Montaigne makes himself a promise:

“This is the third time Sinclair has bested me, but I swear before God and the Devil, that it will not happen again! Soon enough, I will have my revenge.”


Stark’s Comment:
Second main event of the Season after ‘The Forgotten’. Again, another pioneer CMP’s saga returns after so many Seasons. The ‘Uncommon Valour’ movies never were big box office hits (they made 36, 55 and 71 millions in box office) but they have gained prestige as time has passed as brilliant pieces of classic epic adventure productions. The first movie of the saga won 3 Golden Moon Awards, including Best Director and Best Picture back in Season 2.

Behind The Scenes:
-This movie means the second reunion of the Scott brothers in CMP. The previous one was ‘The Gunpowder Plot’, Best Picture GMA Winner back in Season 9. Pierce Brosnan also worked in that movie.
-Pierce Brosnan and Keira Knightley were nominated as Best Starring Couple for the first movie of this saga.
-Johnny Depp won his first GMA (Best Villain) also for his work in the first movie of the saga.
-Hayden Christensen has also worked in another famous Jack Hammer’s saga: ‘The Great War Series’.
-The first ‘Uncommon Valour’ movie was chosen as one of the best 10 movies ever produced by CMP.
-The ‘Uncommon Valour’ movies are based on John Stevens’ books available through Amazon.

ZOIDS: EVE

Action / Sci-Fi

The Cast: Jeremy Sumpter, Hayden Pannettiere, Jamie Bell, Jason Patric, Cole Hauser, Meagan Good, Jacob Kogan, Steve Buscemi

The Director: Alfonso Cuaron
The Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards

The Plot:
With Raven (J.Bell) seemingly defeated and killed by Van's (J.Sumpter) now damaged Shield Liger, he returns to the massive battlefield where Admiral Prozen (J.Patric) and his massive Imperial army is winning. He gets an incoming message from the very young Prince Rodolph (J.Kogan) who asks Van to return to his side, not wanting to risk another life. But its far too late for a retreat, this battle will decide the future of the Planet. Van and Zeke prepare to head into battle one final time, and is met with Irvine (C.Hauser) at his side. In a grand moment, the two set off into battle taking on the Empire with ease.

Once the Republic begins to shift the odds into their favor, Admiral Prozen reveals to Van, Irvine, and apparently his own men, that they've all been fighting a useless battle. He screams that the end is near, and that everyone will die by his Death Saurer Zoid's wrath. Death Saurer is a massive T-Rex like Zoid, very slow moving and essentially feeds on depleted zoid cores. Van and Irvine both rush towards Prozen's zoid only to realize at the last second its charging up for something. The two run back, but the Death Saurer blasts wrecks most of the battlefield including most the Imperial army.

With so much destruction, it takes a while for the Death Saurer to fire again. Fiona (H.Pannettiere) notices a gaping hole in the back of it, and suggests attacking there. Irvine takes command, and designates himself as a distraction so Van can finish the job. Irvine races off head on towards the Death Saurer and Van goes in the other direction, striking the final blow just before it can destroy Irvine. The battle is over.

3 years later, the Republican and Imperial Empires have come under one rule, that of King Rodolph who's father perished in the battle. Van is now the youngest General for the Guardian Force, which is the military of the New Republic. One day on an escort mission, Van reunites with Fiona who had gone her separate ways after the battle. The two hit it off just like old times, as she tells him of her life now. Fiona works with a man named Dr. D (S.Buscemi) with Moonbay (M.Good) as their carrier. Doctor D. is a self-confessed mad scientist once employed by the Republican Army as a Zoid researcher. He is considered the planet's foremost expert on anything Zoid or Organoid related. His attitude and demeanor irritate Van, but Doctor D.'s knowledge comes in handy. Fiona asks Van and Zeke if they are happy serving, and he replies that he hasn't been happy since he met her and Zeke. Van radios into his base, and resigns on the spot promising Fiona that he is all about finding Zoid EVE and being happy. The two kiss out of excitement, and passion.

The group heads off to the find the last ruins of what Dr. D believes was a part of Zoid EVE. They arrive at a swamp like terrain with similar ruins where Van found Zeke and his Liger. They soon encounter a group of bandits who attack immediately after seeing the doctor's technology. Van manages to take them down and they scatter. Over the horizon he notices a familiar person looking down on him and the swamp. Raven. Van dismisses the idea that Raven could even be alive, after their fight years ago.

The group start searching the ruins, and Fiona becomes frozen in place. Her eyes turn gray, Zeke is frozen as well. Van is shaking the Doctor begging him to save her. He tries translating the hieroglyphics, they say "Here Stands Zoid EVE. Our City, Our Home." He then touches a stone that shifts back into the wall, revealing a bright light. The ruins begin to shake, and they quickly realize that the place is sinking beneath the water. Moonbay and Van are panicking, but the Doctor reads more: "Our City, Our Home. The Water Will Protect Us." The shaking eventually comes to a stop, Fiona and Zeke snap out of their trances, and Van rushes over to her. Doctor D walks towards the bright light, that leads to a beautiful view of an underwater temple. The bright light is coming from the Zoid Core, says the Doctor. He's excited and begins taking as many recordings as possible. Fiona isn't celebrating, but tears fall down her face. "Tears of joy" she tells the worried Van, kissing him.

The group leaves the ruins ready to expose the EVE to the world. As Van and Zeke power up the Liger Zoid, Fiona screams his name. He turns to see Raven inside a new Genosaur(Raptor like) Zoid. Raven tells Van that he's been waiting a long time for the location of the Zoid EVE but killing Van here is going to make his night. The two battle it out, Raven with the clear advantage. Raven and his Genosaur plan on ending this quickly, and apparently the Genosaur is a miniature Death Saur. Raven charges up for a huge blast but is hit with a cannon from Irvine's Command Wolf. Moonbay screams in excitement, and Van asks Zeke to get ready to give it all he's got. Fiona puts her head down, and begins mumbling ancient words of the people of EVE. The light from the bottom of the swamp grows brighter, and brighter until a giant beam shoots from under and lands down on Van's Shield Liger. Raven begins to fire immediately, every weapon he has all at once towards the white beam covering Van. Emerging from the now disappearing light is a new Zoid, a Blade Liger. Van gives a cocky smile, and runs towards Raven. The headstrong Raven goes forward, head to head, when Van whips out new Blades and point them inward and cuts through the Genosaur. Raven manages to escape the damaged zoid before it explodes, and its core destroyed. However, while running away he runs into Irvine's fist.

The film ends with Van back at his village, looking outside his window at his Blade Liger. Fiona places a picture of Moonbay kissing a moody Irvine on the cheek with Dr. D holding a medal on the mantel. She taps Van on the shoulder, and tells him that Zeke's been waiting for hours for you. Van kisses her, and jumps out the window running towards the Organoid and Zoid.


Stark’s Comment:
‘Zoids’, based on a bestselling console game, was released in Season 9 making outstanding numbers: 147 millions in box office, 182 millions of net gains. That’s reason enough to produce this sequel. I expect it to become the first blockbuster of Season 13. Fingers crossed.

Behind The Scenes:
-When the pre-production of this movie begun, Jamie Bell expressed to Harry Stark his intention of not being in the movie. But he had already signed a sequel contract so he was obliged too.
-Jacon Kogan already played Prince Rondolph in the first movie. But his work was not seen on screens as it was cut during the editing of the movie.
-Steve Buscemi accepted to be in the movie once Christopher Walken refused the offer to play Doctor D.

OUT PARTYING

Comedy / Teen

The Cast: Dave Franco, Briana Evigan, Anthony Traina, Reece Thompson, Emma Stone, Lauren Storm, Jason Bateman

The Director and Screenwriter: Trent Nielsen

The Plot:
Late 90s. Millennium pop is blasting in almost every speaker in the country. People actually sing Britney Spears songs without any shame. Teenagers who likes to think that they are cool are sporting hairstyles that they copied from Jennifer Aniston and Leonardo DiCaprio. Every teenage girl is crying to Titanic. That's the late 90's.

Liam (D. Franco) is a honor student in his high school. He is trying to be cool by spending a lot of time in partying with people who wants to get rid of him. His only friends are Chase (R. Thompson), a boyishly handsome guy who is secretly gay and Frandsen (A. Traina), a geeky yet hormonal teenager who is actually a popular Vlogger in YouTube.

It was the first day of summer and Liam, Chase and Frandsen decided to hit streets with Chase’s new car, a second-hand (actually, it is seventh-hand but whatever) BMW M1 which had been made in circa 1978. The car‘s doors is jammed and you have to slip in through the window to get in but they all love the car since they are big fans of vintage sports cars.

While in a party, Liam meets a girl who likes him, Gretchen (B. Evigan). She says that her parents doesn't know that she's out partying. Suddenly, Gretchen’s dad who hates the idea of his daughter partying, appears at the party and searches the whole house just looking for Gretchen. Liam has one idea: That they should escape using Chase’s M1 just like the scenes he sees in different movies.

They escaped with two of Gretchen’s friends, Leah (E. Stone) and Annie (L. Storm). While on the road, they decided that they should do all the fun things that they wanted to do but could not do because of parents' restrictions. They bought a lot of beer and tons of snacks. When the darkness came, they stopped over and stayed over an abandoned mansion. The lights were all working and the appliances were all working. It was PARTY TIME!

Frandsen, being his hormonal teenage self, sleeps with both Leah and Annie. Chase admits to Liam that he’s gay and that he would love to sleep with him but Liam turns him down. Chase and Liam are still friends. Gretchen proposes that they should just spend the whole night watching movies since she found a room full of DVDs.

It turns out that the mansion was actually a safe house of a hired killer who is nicknamed Tank (J. Bateman). Pissed off after failing in killing his last assigned target, he gets more pissed off when he finds out that teenagers are having fun in his safe house. He open fires in the house and scares the shit out of the teens. Liam even plays like a hero when he tries to save a bullet for Gretchen but in the end, it turns out that the shot wasn't even aimed at them.

They all got to the car and drove away from the place. They all got home except for Gretchen who was afraid to go home since she knows that her dad is probably drunk again and capable of beating the hell out of her.

Since it was Chase who was driving, he decided to let Gretchen stay over his house. His parents are proud of this since they actually think that Chase is gay but now they have changed their mind about Chase’s sexuality because he brought home a girl.

Gretchen sleeps in the couch in Chase's room. In the end, we see Chase covering Gretchen with a blanket.



Stark’s Comment:
It is funny that after 13 Seasons, this is the first time that a CMP’s movie is defined as a ‘teen comedy’. As any new experience, I have no idea of how it will work in box office.

Behind The Scenes:
-Except for Emma Stone, all the talents in the cast are making their debut in CMP with this movie.
-This is the fifth story written by Trent Nielsen released by CMP but it is his first directional job.


THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY: Green light for the most ambitious screenplay ever written by Joey Stark. The movie adapts Pulitzer Prize Winner novel by Michael Chabon: the story of two young jewish comics authors during the Golden Age of Comics. Steven Spielberg is going to direct and produce this epic bigger-than-life story that covers not only an inside look to how the comics industry was born but also war, romance, Nazis and a detailed period recreation of America during the 30s, 40s and 50s. The stars chosen to play the two talented young men are Jamie Bell and Emile Hirsh. They both had signed the contract to be together in this movie before they already met past Season in ‘The Beatles’. Bell is releasing this week ‘Zoids: Eve’. Hirsh already worked with Joey Stark past Season in ‘The Impossible Dream’. A really big project here.

THE DARK TOWER: WOLVES OF THE CALLA: The regular group of talents already seen in the previous installments of this main CMP’s saga are back for this fourth episode. And that includes not only Russell Crowe but also Jake Gyllenhaal, William Moseley and Angela Bassett.

ASSASIN’S CREED: Steve Connors keeps focused on adapting his favorite console games lately. After ‘Gears Of War’ and ‘Uncharted’, now’s the turn for another bestselling game, the dark story of an assassin during the Crusades time mixed with a contemporary sci-fi plot. CMP has bet for this project approving a top budget for it and hiring big names. Peter Jackson, not seen in CMP since his enormous success with ‘The Land Of Nod’ (243 millions in box office) returns to the Studio also directing and producing this one. And the movie also means the return to CMP of a long time not seen major star, Colin Farrell, who has not worked for the Studio since the last movie of the famous Hitman franchise (Season 8, ‘Hitman: Shadow Of A Legend’). Farrell will play here two characters: an innocent man trapped in a strange complot and the 12th Century assassin.

COEN & WARSHINSKI: Kate Beckinsale returns to CMP after her acclaimed work - Best Actress and Best Starring Couple GMA nominations included - in ‘The Rock Star’. Here, she will play a nice Rolling Stone magazine reporter that writes an article about the peculiar couple formed by Ben Stiller and Will Farrell. Beckinsale already worked with Stiller in one of his previous hits, the comedy ‘The Lollipop Man’.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: Once known the superheroes joining the Justice League, now’s the turn to know who will be the villains they will have to face in their first adventure. And they are no other than GMA Winner Ron Perlman (yes, the inevitable presence in any big CMP’s sci-fi or action franchise) and Michael Ironside, whose only previous work for CMP was in another comic adaptation, Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Lobo’.

YOU CAN’T DO THAT IN THE MOVIES: Here is probably one of the strangest movies ever produced by CMP. ‘You Can’t Do That On Television’ was a silliest tv show from Canada that got a certain popularity in Nickleodeon channel. The show, following a sketch format, was based in a very primary sense of humor. Matt Kubrick has had this weird idea of adapting the tv show to the big screen with sketches that will laugh at CMP’s movies. The Farrelly Brothers (who already worked with Kubrick in Season 2’s ‘Dirty Sanchez’) will be directing this slapstick comedy and some CMP’s authors will make cameos in it. Also, some of the most popular young stars in CMP have accepted to join the game. No other than Dakota Fanning and Abigail Breslin have decided to reunite again after ‘The Fantastic Mansion’ just to mainly slap pies in somebody else’s faces. Yes, I know: it all sounds weird and strange. That’s supposed to be the fun of it.

BEDTIME STORIES 2: Some big names will be seen in this second installment of this short horror stories franchise. In the story directed by CMP’s debutante David Slade, we’ll have the chance to see popular CMP’s stars like the recent GMA Nominee Evan Rachel Wood (‘Edge Of Human’), the rising young star Kristen Stewart, seen past Season in ‘Riders On The Storm’ and ‘The Impossible Dream’, and Thomas Haden Church, not seen in CMP since the megahit ‘Devil Trigger’.

LA WOLF 2: Andy Garcia keeps working regularly for CMP lately. After his recent works in movies like ‘Gaspipe’ and ‘The Impossible Dream’, he will play again Wolf’s boss as he did in the first movie of this franchise.

NUDE!: Just finished his work in ‘The Lovers Stages’, Jena Malone is quickly back to work playing here Ellen Page’s best friend in this comedy written and directed by James Bradley. Another talent joining urgently this shootage has been Hayden Christensen, who can be seen this week in ‘Uncommon Valour’. And also in the movie we’ll see James Franco, whose younger brother Dave is releasing this week ‘Out Partying’.

MS. JORDON: Another busy star this Season is Tom Wilkinson. Right after playing a mafia boss in ‘The Forgotten’, he will be seen here playing a lawyer and the older brother of Tom Hanks, who you know is directing the movie. Dominic West, only seen before in CMP in ‘Aquaman’, and Luis Guzman, who could be seen past Season in ‘The Hellbowl’, also join the cast of this Dawson Edwards’ story.


JACK HAMMER
UNCOMMON VALOUR: ONLY THE VALIANT

This is a very special week for CMP. One of his more legendaries sagas, ‘Uncommon Valour’, returns to screens nine Seasons after its last installment was released. Besides nostalgia and sentimental factors, this new epic adventure is expected to become one of the big events of the Season. We have talked this week with Jack Hammer, the man behind the story.

1.After quite some time, you have decided to bring back this legendary CMP's franchise. What's new in this movie in relation with the three previous ones?

Well first of all, this one takes place more than two years after the close of the first trilogy. Some people have moved on and some new faces have taken their places. Tara has grown tremendously from the blushing young lady of 19 she was in the first movie, now she’s an extremely strong, confident mother of 4. When trouble rears its head in England Tara shows what a fantastic leader she has become. She’s definitely a woman to be reckoned with. But the biggest change has been that there’s much more action in this movie, both ashore and at sea than we saw in the last one.

2.Is this new adventure also based on a John Stevens' book or is it an original screenplay?

This is based on the 5th and 6th books in the series. The fourth book 'In The Cannon’s Mouth', took place almost entirely in the North Sea rather than the sort of exotic locales many of the other stories featured so we skipped that. The fifth book 'Treacherous Waters' took place mostly ashore, so we took the main plot of that one and inserted it into the sixth story which takes place mostly at sea in the Indies and Malaysia. Thus we have both sea and shore storylines playing out together.

3.What are your plans for this saga? Are there more movies to come?

As we saw with Nathan Zachary, that’s up to the box office. But based on the reception I’ve been getting around here I tend to doubt it. My impression is the studio is just waiting for my contract to expire before I’ll be shown the door. The young turks who are running things now don’t like the old timers. That said, I do own the screen rights to the whole saga, so I could shop it around to another studio once Crazy Moon kicks me the hell out.

4.Talking about sagas... You publicly stated that there won't be more movies of some of your sagas, like The Great War Series, The Last Lawman or Nathan Zachary. But will there ever be a fourth movie based on Brad Pitt's character in 'Hot Iron', 'The Law' and 'Deadly Force'?

There was talk of it at one time, but no contracts were ever signed so there are no obligations on either side. Now, I sincerely doubt it will ever happen.

5.What other stories are you currently working in?

Right now all I’m working on is the remake of 'To Catch a Thief' with Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and George Clooney. George is producing and playing a supporting role, Brad and Angie are starring and I’m directing. I also re-wrote it, but all I really did was close a couple of minor plot-holes. The script is pretty much the same one Hitchcock made 50 years ago. We’ll be shooting on location in France. As a matter of fact I’m leaving for Monaco in an hour. I wonder if I’ll still have an office when I get back.


JACK HAMMER’S SAGAS

Always loyal to a classic conception of the art of moviemaking, Jack Hammer used to be known in CMP as ‘Mr. Trilogy’, as he seemed to usually need three movies to develop his stories. With the release of ‘Uncommon Valour: Only The Valiant’, the adventures of Sir John Sinclair abandon the trilogy category and become, at least for the moment, a ‘tetralogy’. But, besides that, ‘Uncommon Valour’ remains as one of the most famous and iconic creations of a specialist in sagas that have provided CMP not only very nice profits but also a big portion of its prestige as Movie Studio. This week, we take a look at those famous Jack Hammer’s sagas:

UNCOMMON VALOUR
It tells…: The adventures of John Sinclair on board of a British Navy frigate during the 18th century and his romance with the beautiful Tara.
Movies: ‘The Frigate Captain’, ‘Broad Pendant’, ‘A Show Of Confidence’, ‘Only The Valiant’
Talents Involved: Ridley Scott has directed the four movies. The cast includes regularly Pierce Brosnan, Keira Knightley, Jude Law and John Cleese. Johnny Depp can be seen in the first and fourth movie of the saga and Leonardo DiCaprio showed up at the second and third episode.
Achivements: ‘The Frigate Captain’ got 4 GMA nominations and won 3: Picture, Director and Villain. ‘A Show Of Confidence’ was nominated for Best Cast. The three first movies are available on a DVD Box Set.
Coming Up?: It will probably depend on how ‘Only The Valiant’ works in box office. Hammer has publicly stated that new installments could be develop in the future if things go right.

THE GREAT WAR SERIES
It tells…: The story of all the members of the Armstrong family during World War I.
Movies: ‘Darkening Skies’, ‘Storm Breaks’, ‘Final Thunder’
Talents Involved: Peter Weir directed the three movies. The allstars cast included CMP’s popular stars like Colin Farrell, Christian Bale and Claire Danes.
Achivements: These war dramas became an unexpected and huge success at box office. ‘Darkening Skies’ was one of the first CMP’s movies to break the ‘200 millions’ barrier and ‘Storm Breaks’ made outstanding net gains of 205 millions. ‘Darkening Skies’ picked up 5 GMA nominations (Picture, Director, Screenplay, Supporting Actress and Most Wanted Sequel) but finally didn’t win any award. ‘Storm Breaks’ made it even better: the movie got 6 nominations and won Best Picture and Best Director. ‘Final Thunder’ won the GMA for Best Marketing.
Coming Up?: Hammer has said that he has no intention of making any sequel to this franchise. DVD Box Set available.

THE LAST LAWMAN
It tells…: The adventures of a lonely hero in a post-apocalyptic world with references to classic western.
Movies: ‘The Last Lawman’, ‘Return Of The Last Lawman’, ‘Legend Of The Last Lawman’
Talents Involved: Will Smith starred the trilogy and Robert Rodriguez directed the three movies. Stars like Christopher Lee, Gene Hackman, Nicholas Cage, Uma Thurman, Halle Berry or Kevin Costner were seen in the movies.
Achivements: The second and third movies made more than 100 millions in box office.
Coming Up?: Probably there won’t be no more movies for this franchise. DVD Box Set available.

THE LARRY GANON SAGA
It tells…: The story of a tough cop fighting against organized crime.
Movies: ‘Hot Iron’, ‘The Law’ and ‘Deadly Force’
Talents Involved: Brad Pitt plays Larry Gannon and big stars like Robert Downey Jr., Uma Thurman, Al Pacino, Andy Garcia, Eva Mendes or Ray Liotta have been part of the franchise.
Achivements: ‘Hot Iron’ was a tremendous flop but it surprisingly won the Most Wanted Sequel GMA. Al Pacino was nominated as Best Villain for ‘The Law’. ‘Deadly Force’ is the only movie of the saga to make more than 100 millions in box office and it got a GMA nod for ‘Best Original Concept’.
Coming Up?: Maybe, now that Hammer and Pitt are friends again.

NATHAN ZACHARY
It tells…: The adventures of an airplane pilot and his mates in an alternative reality.
Movies: ‘Nathan Zachary and Drake’s Gold’, ‘Nathan Zachary and the Pilfered Prototype’
Talents Involved: Jack Hammer not only wrote but also directed both movies. Thomas Jane played Nathan Zachary and stars like Milla Jovovich, Diane Kruger, Ian McKellen, Aaron Eckhart or Kevin Costner joined the franchise.
Achivements: The first movie made a decent box office of 72 millions but the sequel surprisingly flopped.
Coming Up?: The flop of the sequel has discouraged Jack Hammer to go on with the franchise although a total of five or six movies were originally planned.

THE LITTLE SISTER
It tells…: A classic detective story of Philip Marlowe, the legendary character created by writer Raymond Chandler.
Movies: Only ‘The Little Sister’.
Talents Involved: Jack Hammer directed the movie and George Clooney played Philip Marlowe leading an interesting cast including prestigious stars like Scarlett Johansson, Ray Liotta or Salma Hayek
Achivements: The movie only made 41 millions in box office but got very positive reviews.
Coming Up?: This movie is not really part of any saga but it has been included here cause Hammer has said some times that he might consider writing another Marlowe’s adaptation.


‘Uncommon Valour: Only The Valiant’ hits the screens this weekend. And its top-notch cast is undoubtedly one of the main appeals of this epic production. Here we have at the London’s world premiere of the movie three of the big stars to be seen in it: GMA Nominee Pierce Brosnan, two times GMA Winner Keira Knightley and three times GMA Winner Johnny Depp.



Crisis, what crisis? The answer is: financial crisis. And the victim is… Midnight Movies. Yes, according to my confidants, the independent production company affiliated to CMP and ruled by Matt Kubrick could be going through a serious economic crisis. The recent flop of ‘Lost At Sea’ has switched on the red alert. The reason is obvious: too many flops, not many incomes. Since it was created by Matt Kubrick, ‘Midnight Movies’ has specialized in producing horror movies, exploitation shows and gory functions. And not many of them have worked in box office. Recent releases from the company like ‘Raise Of The Darkman’, ‘The Hellbowl’ and past week’s ‘Lost At Sea’ have become consecutive financial failures. So I’ve got to know that Midnight Movies is close to bankruptcy. Upcoming productions like ‘Bedtime Stories 2’ will be deciding releases to see if the company is financially viable or not. Movie business is a tough industry after all and box office rules. I’ll be nice for once and wish Matt Kubrick’s company best luck for its next releases hoping they can save the company from ruin.

More problems… ‘Game Boy 3’ is not being an easy movie to produce. Remember that the two previous installments of this saga mixed one live action character (played by Daniel Radcliff) with digitally generated characters. Big stars put their voice to those characters, all of them coming from popular console games. Well, in this third installment, all those digital characters will become live action ones. And what Daws, Lucas and Zemeckis want is the same big stars that put their voice to them to play them live now. And the first problem has come with Christian Bale. Bale put his voice to Metal Gear Solid’s Solid Snake in ‘Game Boy 2’. But now he has refused the offer to play live that same character. Other stars who made a voice only work in ‘Game Boy 2’ like the recent Best Actress GMA Winner Keira Knightley or Orlando Bloom have asked for such a top salary that their presence in the movie cannot be confirmed yet either.

In fact, Christian Bale seems like a difficult star to cast lately. The very active talent – he has already worked in 12 CMP’s productions, being the last one the upcoming ‘Justice League’ – has stated that he is not interested at this point of his career in getting involved in more fantasy or sci-fi productions besides ‘Justice League’. He wants to mix his commitment with this saga with more demanding acting works. So he has not only refused the offer to be in ‘Game Boy 3’ but also in another upcoming top budget production, ‘Dragonlance’, being set up these days by Richard Franzwa. ‘I could get amazing salaries for being in those movies but they would not mean anything to me in terms of acting’, has stated Bale, who seems to be rich enough to reject such juicy offers.

And talking about rejections… Johnny Depp, who can be seen this week in ‘Uncommon Valour: Only The Valiant’, also got a peculiar offer recently. David Makalaster offered him to play Depp’s most famous creation, the pirate Jack Sparrow, in a big screen version of the classic pc game ‘The Secret Of Monkey Island’. The idea was that Depp would play a kind of parody of his already parodic character. But Depp has said no. Depp considered that playing such iconic character out of the ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean’ franchise would be a kind of betrayal to it. So now Makalaster has seen how one of the main appeals of his new movie is gone and nobody at CMP knows yet how that might affect to the project.

And more bad news this week (yes, I love them!). Have you read above the Jack Hammer’s interview? He sounds a bit angry with CMP’s people, doesn’t he? Well, according to my deep throats at the Studio, his tough words at the interview are nothing compared to what he said personally to Harry Stark during a recent meeting they had at the Big Boss’ office. Hammer claimed that he feels mistreated at CMP. In his opinion, his movies do not get enough attention and support from the Studio. Hammer told Stark that he feels discriminated by the young executives of CMP, who seem to be more interested in promoting and supporting console games adaptations and superheroes movies than his more classic-spirit productions. I’ve been told that Stark and Hammer’s voices could be easily heard outside of the office as the temperature of the conversation rose. Will this mean the second retirement of Hammer from CMP or will peace be signed between him and the people from CMP? I suspect that it might all depend on how ‘Uncommon Valour 4’ works in box office…

So, you see, tons of troubled waters flowing down CMP lately… And, boy, I have so much fun telling you all of them… *evil laugh*