JULY, 9
METROPOLIS
Sci-Fi / Drama
The Cast: Cillian Murphy, Natalie Portman, William Hurt, William H. Macy, Ian Holm, Peter Sarsgaard.
The Director and Producer: Steven Spielberg
The Screenwriter: Richard Franzwa
The Plot:
In the future the city of Metropolis, with its huge towers and vast wealth, is a playground to a ruling class living in luxury and decadence. They, and the city, are sustained by a much larger population of workers who labor as virtual slaves in the machine halls, moving from tenements which they call home to their back-breaking ten-hour shifts and back again. Freder (Cillian Murphy), the son of John Fredersen (William Hurt), the ruler of Metropolis, is oblivious to the plight of the workers until one day when a a beautiful subterranean dweller named Maria (Natalie Portman) visits the Eternal Gardens with a small group of children from the workers' city. They are sad and hungry and he is haunted by their needy eyes, something Freder has never seen among the elite of the city, and by this beautiful woman who tells all who will listen to her that they are all brothers. He follows her back down to the depths of the city and witnesses a horrible accident in the machine halls. Haunted by what he has seen, he tries to confront his father, only to find that the man he respects believes that it is right for the workers to live the way they do, while he and the elite live in luxury.
Freder decides to do something about it, but he must first learn more. With help from Josaphat (William H. Macy), Fredersen's recently dismissed office manager, he goes below again and takes over the job of one of the workers, in order to find Maria. Meanwhile, Fredersen is concerned about the rumblings of unrest among the workers, and his son's sudden interest in their plight. He assigns Slim (Peter Sarsgaard), his investigator, to follow Freder. Meanwhile, he goes for advice to an old acquaintance, the inventor C.A. Rotwang (Ian Holm). Rotwang once was a rival to Fredersen for the love of the woman Hel, who married Fredersen and died bearing his son, Freder. Rotwang still feels her loss and is willing to help his old friend, but not before showing off his latest creation, a robot that he has modeled in the image of Hel. Rotwang answers Fredersen's question by taking him to the catacombs below the modern city, where they see Maria preaching her gospel and counseling patience, in the hope that a "Mediator" , who will be able to reconcile the "head" and "hands" of society (that is the ruling and working classes), will come among them.
Fredersen will hear none of it, and sees the need to break the workers' resistance and destroy Maria's influence among them. He arranges with Rotwang to make his robot creation into a duplicate Maria (which requires kidnapping her), and to send the robot out among the workers to incite them to violence, so that Fredersen can use force against them. But he doesn't reckon with Rotwang, who despises Fredersen and his ruling class, and has commanded the robot to obey his orders and follow a plan that will destroy the city, both above and below ground. Fredersen also doesn't reckon with his own son Freder, who not only believes in what Maria is preaching but is beginning to see himself as the "Mediator," and is right in the midst of the conflagration when the workers' uprising starts. Soon, fires and floods spread, threatening to doom the children of the workers, abandoned in their parents' frenzied attack on the machines.
When the riot ends in the destruction of the workers homes, killing many of their children, Maria's evil robot twin is stalked by crowds of workers driven to a murderous rage blaming her for inciting the riot. They catch her and burn her at the stake discovering she is a robot. Rotwang, fearing the real Maria will expose his crime, decides to kill her. But Freder, having lived among the workers after the confrontation with his father, rescues Maria and kills Rotwang. In the end, Freder mediates between his father and the workers, bringing peace to Metropolis.
Stark’s Comment:
I honestly encourage all of you to go and watch this movie. It’s such a visual experience. Spielberg has created a whole futuristic universe full of strength. This is more than just a remake. It pretends to be a rebirth of the whole sci-fi genre.
Behind The Scenes:
-Steven Spielberg won past Season the Best Director and the Best Picture GMAs with ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’.
-Natalie Portman has starred this Season the erotic thriller ‘Secret Sins’.
-William Hurt has also been seen this Season before in the blockbuster ‘Invasion’.
-The CGI special effects for this movie were so complex that CMP has associated with Lucasfilms to develop them.
-A curiosity: Ian Holm also played a scientist specialized in robotic in CMP’s ‘The Naked Sun’.
THE FLASH: BLITZ
Action / Superhero
The Cast: Joshua Jackson, Isla Fisher, Simon Baker, Michael Madsen, Derek Luke, Steve Buscemi
The Director: Antoine Fuqua
The Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards
The Plot:
We start at Keystone City hospital, where The Flash (J.Jackson) is standing next to his best friend Hunter Zolomon (S.Baker) who has regained some ability to walk after Grodd's attack. Hunter makes it obvious that he wants nothing further to do with Wally, and tells him that his life is over, and that he wouldn't understand because he's never had tragedy. He blames Wally for his wife leaving him, when his mood changed after the attack. Wally suggests that he use this specialized treadmill from McCulloch's laboratory. Apparently, it was being built to handle The Flash's vast amount of speed and should help increase the healing of Hunter's legs. "A 'good chance' doesn't mean anything to me. I want a promise, Flash. I want you to promise me I'll walk again." The Flash smiles then leaves the treadmill in Hunter's room, and takes off.
Week's later, Linda (I.Fisher) is starting to show signs of her pregnancy. Its an extremely exciting and happy time in Wally's life, especially now that the eccentric amount of crime is down in Keystone. While doing his hourly patrol of the city, Wally receives a phone call from Hunter. He tells him to meet him at Iron Heights Prison just outside of the city. Once The Flash arrives, he sees a standing Hunter Zolomon walking slowly toward him. Unfortunately for the best friendless Wally, Hunter called for business not to celebrate his recovery. Hunter tells him that one of his "little costumed criminals" has escaped in gruesome fashion. We get a flashback sequence of this "Pied Piper" (S.Buscemi) being able to get a rat to bite a few guards, giving him the opportunity to escape. Hunter is extremely mad at Wally, who has unknowingly walked ten steps ahead of the slow Hunter. He tells Flash that Piper will likely join the rest of the random rogues on the street when he can.
It doesn't take long for these rogues to show their face in Keystone. There's an explosion at a bank, Flash races there, to find a man in a blue parka hoodie holding what appears to be a blue gun. Wally laughs at the man's appearance, telling him that its "Hot as hell outside", and the man responds in a grunted voice saying that he will shove this gun down The Flash's throat and freeze him from the inside out. The man (M.Madsen) announces himself as "Cold", but with the grunted voice, Wally jokes that he's trying to be a pirate; calling him Captain Cold. He pulls the trigger omitting a slight sheet of frost at absolute zero temperature making the air around him freezing cold, and also making Flash just a tad bit slower so he can keep up with his movements. Wally ignores him for the moment, and rushes into the bank to check on potential victims. No one is hurt, so Wally rushes back outside where he finds no sign of Cold or Piper though the manhole beneath him is somewhat opened.
One day earlier we arrive at the hospital where Hunter is receiving a checkup for sudden leg cramps and blurred vision. His words become jumbled together as if he were intentionally rushing them. The doctor leaves the room for what seems like hours to Hunter, so he finally decides to get up and find out whats up. He steps out of the room to see the entire hallway of the hospital stopped. He hears the very faint sound of a fly, and walks towards it. He grabs the seemingly non-moving fly and squishes it. He quickly realizes that time hasn't stopped, he's just moving incredibly fast. He smirks, and says Flash isn’t a hero yet. He needs that tragedy to make him one. Hunter says that he must face his ultimate opposite: “a man who has lost his pride, confidence, and identity to tragedy. One type of man who can reverse your twisted thinking. One man.”
Wally and Detective Jared Morillo (D.Luke) are at Wally's celebrating the pregnancy. Morillo says since Wally will be busy with his kid, in return he should get Wonder Woman's phone number. Wally then thinks about how proud Barry would be to see him so happy. Then the two hear what sound like sonic booms from downtown. Wally springs into his Flash suit, grabs Morillo and heads towards it. Once there, they start helping people who are hurt, and Wally notices Piper is doing the same. He speeds over to him and reminds him that once this is over, he'll be back in prison. Flash then hears the scream of a familiar voice, Linda. We see a reverse Flash. Its Hunter in a replica Flash suit but the colors reversed. He tells Linda that he's helping Wally become stronger, better. Morillo starts firing at Hunter but he's far too fast. Hunter says "ZOOM" and then in a blink appears next to Morillo and breaks his arm. Wally then races from Piper to see Linda in the hands of Zoom. "Detective Jared Morillo. Areyougoingtobepartofthetragedy?" he says. Then, it happens. He easily dodges Flash and sets off a sonic boom by snapping his fingers. Right in front of Linda. Wally screams and grabs his fallen lover. Zoom is gone.
Linda ends up in the hospital, hurt badly, when Zoom appears again. Flash and Zoom end up fighting, and racing across the globe. He explains that while Wally was blinking he just visited Linda in the hospital, where the doctors have just told her that she's had a miscarriage. We see a split screen of the two speedsters fighting and Linda in the hospital crying. She was going to have twins, a boy and a girl. Flash starts wailing on Zoom. He grabs him and pushes his speed to another level. He pushes and pushes until he can break time and leave Zoom there. And he does. Zoom isn't moving, he's frozen. Or so it seems. Wally says that he won...nothing.
We then see Wally walking into the hospital to see Linda barely awake, tears still on her face. She asks if he beat Zoom, and he nods. She asks if he's dead, and he says no. Crying, Wally says "Linda, I'm so sorry."
Stark’s Comment:
‘The Flash’ made 108 millions in box office. Reason enough to trust on this sequel. I hope this release will help to raise a bit the bad numbers of this Season.
Behind The Scenes:
-The character of The Flash was seen not only in the original movie of this saga but also in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Justice League’ and it’s expected to be back next Season in ‘Justice League 2’.
-Michael Madsen had to shoot his sequences in the movie almost in a row to be free to join the shootage of ‘Graceland’, where he plays Elvis Presley in his latest years.
THE RESURRECTED – THE FORGOTTEN PART II
Action / Gangster
The Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Lea Michele, Tom Wilkinson, Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis, Michael Douglas
The Director: Jonathan Demme
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
The Plot:
Two men sit in a room. It is Harrison Angelo (Gordon-Levitt) and Santonio Hudson (Johnny Depp). Santonio is an convict-turned-businessman, known for his associations with the inner-city mafia wars. He was at one time a part of a fallen family, which got him wound up in jail. But since he's been out, he's turned his life around. At a young age, Harrison's grandfather helped Santonio up the ranks, providing him protection and guidance. So Santonio looks up to him. Harrison asks Santonio for funding, to reinitiate the Angelo family. He tells him he needs help recruiting members to the new organization, and he believes that his experience in the mob would help.
But Santonio warns young Angelo not to try to get to the mountaintop on the first day as Don, and that it’s something you work at. Harrison offers Santonio to be his consigliere, and he accepts because of his admiration for Harrison’s grandfather.
Harrison now works at an art studio, one that is preparing to open and will be the largest one in town. He returns to work the next day, with a fresh feeling, like he is a new person. He always has a smile on his face. He is not shy and afraid to whatever he wants. The studio is days away from opening, and when while he helps get things ready,his boss introduces him to his newest co-worker(Lea Michele). Her name is Jenna, and she seems the opposite of Catharine. She is a down-to-earth, girl next door.
While working, Harrison makes a joke, to which everyone in room laughs. That is everyone but Jenna, which he takes notice of. This makes him curious, as lately he has been charming to everyone, even his boss. She is mysterious to him. After their shift, he introduces himself to her, and she doesn't say much, and leaves, hiding all of her emotions.
When Harrison exits the studio, he is walking to his car and hears something. He notices that something has fell from his jacket to the ground. He picks it up and it is a microphone. He quickly looks up and looks around, but doesn't see anything. He then drives home to find that Catharine is not there. He calls her and she reminds him that she is helping her mother go through some old junk today.
So he drives over there and offers his help. But he is interrupted, by Richard (Douglas), who has someone next to him. He introduces Harrison to Officer Dan Sheppard (Bruce Willis). Catharine (Williams) whispers to Harrison that her dad promotes his as the "toughest" cop in the city. They smile, shake hands and stare deep into each other's eyes.
Andrew Michelli (Pattison) is sitting at his home scrambling through files with a bottle of rum in his hand. There are bags under his eyes, and overall he looks physically tired. He slams down the files on a nearby table, and takes another swig of his alcohol. He screams in frustration and drops his head in disappointment. Then he spots a paper with a mug shot of Harrison's father on it. He smiles then picks up a phone and puts it to his ear.
"Father, listen to me. I can get at him. Sure his father is dead, but if I can find his mother before he does, trouble would certainly be headed her way. I want to break him down emotionally" Andrew says. "Son, how would you feel if someone used your own mother against you? I respect you thinking for yourself, but Andrew, I can handle this." Alexander replies. A look of disappointment is on Andrew's face, and it is obvious why.
Meanwhile, Harrison is just getting off work. He is on the phone with Catharine, talking dirty, when he looks out the window and notices something's wrong. He notices that his car wasn't there. He looks distraught and tells Catharine he'll call her back. He runs outside and finds indeed that his car was towed. Parked nearby is Jenna, who is just walking out as well. She asks what's wrong, and embarrassed, he tells her what happened. She offers him a ride to where he needs to be and at first he politely denies, hoping she would ask again, as he thinks about it more. She shrugs her shoulders, turns her back, and walks away. He then runs back to her, following her to car and puts his hand on her shoulder. We see her face as she looks down at the hand on her shoulder, and as she breaks out a small smile when she sees it. Harrison takes a big gulp, and tells her thanks for asking. Disappointed again, she slowly starts to walk, but stops and turns around, to see him face to face. "Are you sure you don't need a ride somewhere?" she asks again, enthusiastically with a wide, glowing smile on her face. We cut to Harrison who also breaks a smile.
Her car pulls up to the police department, and stops in front of it. "I hate this place." Harrison jokingly says, making her chuckle. They share a quick smile, and he breaks the silence by thanking her for the ride, which she replies with "Anytime." He leaves the car, and walks up the steps, in slow motion. We see Jenna pulling away behind him, and then all of the police men surrounding him. He has a brave look on his face as he enters the building. But as soon as he does, we go back to real speed, and he comes face to face with Officer Sheppard at the door. "You stalking me?" Sheppard says with a smile. "Yes, and it wasn't the least bit predictable that you would be here!" Harrison laughs and continues walking, after another awkward confrontation with Sheppard.
Santonio sits a computer, going picture through picture, through some sort of database. Every once in a while he writes down something on a pad, and then continues searching. He is abruptly interrupted by a door slamming open. In walks Alexander Michelli (Wilkinson) with a cigar in hand. "Hello Michael" he says. Santonio turns around and stares Alexander in the eyes. "Oh Alexander, I thought you knew that I have put the past behind me." He responses. "What past? The past where you tried to be a dirty rat and throw my empire to the feds. You should've known not to mess with Alexander Reginald Michelli. So what is your plan now,Michael? Are you gonna turn this kid in?" "What if I said yes. What if that is my plan. Or what if my plan is to put an end to your legacy right now?" Santonio says as he slides a gun out of his desk.
"Now let ME tell YOU how it is! I spent every single day of my life on my knees, working hard, giving my best effort to assure your success. And where did that get me in life?" Santonio yells. He pulls up a gun to Alexander's head. "It got me right here. Now I'm the one looking down on you." He lets a grin come up on his face and then drops the gun. They stare each other down for a few seconds, with Santonio smiling.
We then see Harrison and Catharine watching a movie at home. They are sharing some small talk when his phone starts to buzz. He looks at it and can't recognize the number. He asks Catharine if he can be excused, and then answers the call once she replies with a yes. When he answers, it is Jenna on the other line. He asks how she got his number, and she tells him he left his wallet in the car, which had his number in it. He looks down at his pants then rolls his eyes, embarrassed again. He tells her sorry for leaving it there, and she tells him it's okay and that she'll just give it to him at work the next day. Catharine overhears him talking and walks up behind him, and wraps her arms around him, pulling him backwards. "Hon, I'm on the phone!" he says with a smile. "Whoever that is and whatever they're calling about isn't important." She says and then lays down on the couch in a sexy pose. "Love me baby." She says softly. We see the phone laying on the ground and hear from a distance "Hello?Hello?Harrison?"
Harrison and Santonio are riding in a car, going to boxing match in downtown,to scout a boxer who could present help to them. They both leave the car and enter the arena, where they watch the fight. When they leave, the sidewalk is packed with people, as the fans exit. A gunshot is heard and Santonio notices a hole in his jacket and looks up. People start to scream and scatter, as Harrison scans the area. He then spots a mysterious figure on a nearby rooftop, who has a gun in hand. He shoots again, this time missing and hitting a close-by civilian. Harrison instructs Santonio to stay and care for the person, but also distract the shooter.
He hurries inside the building, a junky hotel, and starts to look for the closest way up. He doesn't see anything and must ask the clerk where the stairs and/or elevator is. The clerk looks confused at first, knowing that Harrison hasn't checked in, but then points down the hall to the elevator doors. He presses the button, and waits a few seconds to get in. He gets in there, and standing there is an elderly man and his grandson. It is a awkward ride up, as Harrison's heart strongly beats and he holds a gun in hand. When the doors finally open, he finds the nearest roof escape and goes up there.
The man spots Harrison and quickly starts to run. He leaps across a few rooftops, barely clearing the alley. Harrison struggles to follow, but he does. Harrison picks up his gun and takes an unsteady shot, piercing the man's shoulder. He keeps running though, and the next ledge he comes to, he jumps, but can't make it to the other side, and falls. Harrison runs up the ledge and looks down, trying to find the man. He can't spot him, so he jumps below, falling into the half-open dumpster.
Andrea (Stone) is driving a car, with Alexander in the backseat. They share a conversation about Andrew and his future. Alexander explains his happiness that his son has followed in his footsteps, while Andrea expresses her displeasure. They end up at the "family's" doctor. After a lengthy check-up, the doctor informs Alexander that his Colon Cancer is in the metastasis stage, and is beginning to spread. Andrea bursts out in tears,while Alexander holds her and tells her they might finally have to reveal the problem, which he's had for two years, to their son Andrew.
He takes a sigh of relief and then the other lid flies open and the man is face to face with Harrison. Harrison puts his hand on the man's injured shoulder and puts pressure on the womb with his thumb. He asks him who sent him, but instead of getting a reply, the man moves his hand up. In slow motion, he slings his gun towards Harrison's face and at the same time, a gunshot goes through the man's head. The gun hits Harrison directly on the nose, causing him pain. Santonio walks into the alley with a gun in hand. "Well, at least the body's already in the dumpster. I gotta say, it was a little tough keeping up with you guys. But I didn't have to take any death-defying stunts like you, ole buddy, ole pal. "Santonio says.
Meanwhile, Andrew is searching for birth records, to figure out Harrison's mother. He figures that if he can't get to Harrison by threatening his father(since he is dead),he would use his mother. While speeding along the streets at midnight, a car pulls out in front of him and they collide. When the driver gets out, it is Catharine. A smile crawls up on Andrew's face and the screen cuts to black.
We then see Harrison driving around town the next day. He is nervous as he does not know where Catharine went last night. Then in front of his car is Santonio holding tight onto Catharine, with a gun to her head. He lets out a devilish laugh and we hear a loud bang as the screen goes black. We then get a shot of Jenna's smiling face. "Wake up, silly head." she says joyfully. Harrison looks up and notices he was only sleeping and that he was at work. We cut to after their shift, where they are walking down an empty hallway. Jenna looks up and her eyes travel to his broken nose."That looks pretty bad, are you okay? You slept a while!I was worrying our boss would see you,and that'd be bad a day before the opening" she says. "Yeah I'm fine, just a rough…rough couple days." he replies. She slowly places her hand fingers on his nose, looking grossed out, then smiling. He accidentally lets his hand slip to her waist, and then the other. He softly lays her against the wall, looks into her eyes and clinches his teeth. He starts to close his eyes and lean in, but she lays her head against his shoulder, not letting him kiss her.
"We can't. I'm not sure if this is what I want." She says. He has a look of embarrassment on his face and whispers into her ear "I know, I just thought this is what you have been inching towards lately. It's stupid, I'm a foo-" she grabs his face and pulls it to hers, and lays a kiss on his cheek. "Goodbye, Harrison." She walks down the hallway as he is left looking on in loneliness.
Then, with a stroke of thought, he notices what he has to do. We see a montage of him shopping, with occasional shots of Officer Sheppard in the background. He finally arrives at his apartment and walks slowly down the hallway. The music starts to pick up pace as he nears the door. He takes a big gulp, and then opens the door. It is quiet and Catharine is standing here. They stare at each other for a few seconds and then Harrison slides across the floor, landing on his knees in front of Catharine. He pulls out small little box in his hand. He smiles, but when he looks in her eyes she mouths out "N-O". He is confused and we can hear his heart start to beat as everything starts to transition into black and white. He becomes dizzy as Andrew storms from behind and raps his arm around Catharine's neck and puts a gun to it with the other hand. Harrison rises to his feet and drops the box, which has a diamond ring fall out of it when it hits the floor.
"Listen kid, I made a mistake a few days ago. I let an inexperienced, unintelligent, and unskilled scum bag attempt to kill you. I shouldn't have put that job in anyone's hand but my own. But really, I shouldn't have wanted to kill you. Because you are weak, my friend. Without family connections you are nothing!" "And the same for you…friend." Harrison smiles. "Do not interrupt me. I know what you are up to. And if I can hurt you emotionally, then why bother the physical work. I couldn't get your father, or mother, so I chose your soon-to-be fiancée." Andrew says. There is silence for a while as the two men stare each other down. Harrison starts to charge, but Andrew points the gun at him and he backs down. "Don't you dare." Andrew says. We then hear Harrison talk to himself in his mind "C'mon Harrison. Time to make yourself a legend. Time to make your father proud." He scans the room for some help, and notices a knife laying on a table a few feet away. Andrew sees the eye movement and starts to get nervous. His hands start to shake. Harrison takes a deep breathe, breaking the silence, and leaps over the couch and near the table.
At the same time, the door slings open. This scares Andrew, causing him to pull the trigger. We see the look in Harrison's eyes, as if he's just been told he as a few seconds to live, as her body falls to the ground. At the door, is a shocked Andrea Michelli. Harrison charges Andrew and pushes him against a wall, stabbing him in the arm. "Boys…stop!I came here for a reason. I know it's not the right time…" she says. Andrew rises his gun up to his mom from across the room "What do you want?!?" "Harrison, I'm…your…mother." Tears flow down her face, as the Andrew looks grim. The screen goes black and we hear Andrew scream and then followed by three gunshots.
Stark’s Comment:
I really hope this second installment relaunches this saga, a sequel itself of the legendary CMP’s trilogy ‘The Heirs’. The first movie made a disappointing box office of 48 millions but I deeply hope this second one will make it much better.
Behind The Scenes:
-Past Season, ‘The Forgotten’ got 4 GMA’s nominations: Most Wanted Sequel, Villain (Tom Wilkinson), Supporting Actor (Robert Pattinson) and Actor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
-The screenplay of ‘The Forgotten’ was co-signed by Chad Taylor and Joey Stark. They were going to co-write this sequel too but when Taylor sent Stark his first draft of the screenplay, oey Stark liked it so much that he decided not to change a single word.
-Johnny Depp, Lea Michelle and Bruce Willis play new characters not seen in ‘The Forgotten’.
-Chad Taylor has stated that he wrote the character played by Lea Michelle thinking on her to play it after watching her in a tv show.
-This saga is planned to be a trilogy.
FLASHMAN’S DESTINY: As it has been announced, this fifth and last Flashman’s adventure will
recover many of the characters seen in previous installments of the saga. Talents returning confirmed are Catherine Z. Jones, a regular in the franchise, playing again the only lasting Flashy’s lover; Kerry Condon, playing his wife, who had not been seen in the latest installements; Ewan McGregor, seen in ‘Flashman’s Travels’; Ken Watanabe, seen in ‘Flashman And The Mountain Of Light’; and Nick Nolte, seen in ‘West Flashman’.
NEW WORLD: PART I – THE REBELLION: John Daws will reunite in this sci-fi movie some of the talents he has usually worked with in many of his previous CMP’s projects. Of course, Keira Knightley will be in the movie as she has been in all Daws’ sagas, from ‘Hitman’ to ‘Game Boy’. Also, Patrick Stewart, who worked with Daws in the Hitman movies and also in ‘The Critic’, returns to CMP after some Seasons away. And the star from Daws’ ‘He-Man: The Power Of Greyskull’, where he already met with Keira, Josh Holloway, will also join this old friends’ reunion.
A JAZZ TALE: Two big names play minor roles in this Clint Eastwood’s movie. Sean Penn will
play a corrupted policeman. Penn has admitted that he has accepted this minor character due to his friendship with Eastwood. They have already met before in CMP in movies like ‘Dakota North’, directed by Eastwood, and ‘The Funeral Drum’, where Eastwood played Penn’s father. And also playing a minor character in the story, a peculiar choice: Eddie Murphy will be the owner of the jazz club that is the center of all the mafia scene in the movie. Murphy had not been seen in CMP since the successful ‘The Revengers’.
SUNSHINE ON LONELY STREET: Ashton Kutcher returns to CMP to play a minor role in this romantic comedy written and directed by Trent Nielsen. His last CMP’s movie was back in Season 6, ‘McMillan and Wife: Murder by Game’. Jamie Lee Curtis and JK Simmons also join this cast playing Adam Brody’s parents. Simmons was seen this Season in 'Sam & Twitch 2'. Curtis could be seen in Kubrick’s ‘Jason Vorhees’ movies playing Vorhees’ mother.
WONDER WOMAN. THE HIKETEIA: Talents returning in this sequel already seen in the first movie are Josh Lucas, already seen this Season in ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’; Michelle Williams, who can be seen in this week’s release ‘The Resurrected’; and Carrie-Ann Moss, who had not been seen working for the Studio since the first Wonder Woman movie.
GRACELAND: Ben Affleck and Michael Madsen, who play both Elvis Presley in this biopic, once during his younger and the other during his decadent years, have confirmed that they have been working really hard to be able to sing with their own voices some of the Elvis’ songs to be heard in the movie, while others will be the original Elvis’ recordings. As a curiosity, Lindsay Lohan, who playes Priscilla Presley in the movie, won't be available to make the international promotional campaign of the movie after being convicted a few days ago for drunk driving.
METROID: Green light for this console game adaptation, to be released at the beginning of
Season 15. As it was announced, Zack Snyder will be directing this top budget action flick. And Charlize Theron will be starring it. GMA Winner Theron returns this way to CMP after a long absence. Charlize used to be a regular during the first CMP’s Seasons. But, after starring the ultraviolent cult exploitation ‘Damnation Road’ in Season 7, she only returned to the Studio to make a cameo in the failed ‘Nathan Zachary and the Pylfered Prototype’ in Season 12. So this will be her first starring role in 7 Seasons.
GUITAR HERO: Is it possible to make a movie version of a music rhythm console game? Steve Connors thinks so. Connors has written a story based on this popular game. The movie pretends to be a parody of teen comedies and it will particularly laugh at the Disney's Teen Stars gang. In fact, some of them will be seen in the movie laughing at their own public image. Jay Roach, absent from CMP since he directed ‘Check, Please’, will be directing this parodic film. Michael Cera is going to star it as a junkie of the Guitar Hero game. And Zac Efron is co-starring playing ‘the perfect guy’ and laughing at himself as the cute teen idol he in fact is.
INNERTURMOIL: One of the rare occasions when Josh Collins steps into sci-fi. He is the author
of this story playing with alternative realities. The screenplay – written by Collins long time ago and frozen at the CMP’s waiting list for years – was originally going to be shot by Jonathan Demme. But Demme was busy directing ‘The Resurrected’ so, finally, he has been replaced by the not very prolific Lodge Kerrigan. Damian Lewis, seen playing Queen Elizabeth’s husband in ‘The Princess and the Captain’, is starring the movie.
HELL NIGHT: This horror movie oriented to young audiences written by Kubrick and directed by Robert Rodriguez will have a long list of young stars in its cast. Two of them are having a busy Season: Cayden Boyd, who has recently made his debut in CMP with ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’, and Jodelle Ferland, in her third work of the Season after minor appearances in ‘Jack Vance: A True Hollywood Story’ and ‘Sam and Twitch 2’.
RICHARD FRANZWA – ‘METROPOLIS
Richard Franzwa releases this week his most ambitious project ever: the remake of the 1920s Fritz Lang’s classic ‘Metropolis’, a complex story that mixes a dark vision of the future, a metaphor about the risks of communism and a love story ala Romeo and Juliet. ‘Metropolis’ was a revolutionary movie in terms of visual and narrative creativity and has remained as an outstanding piece of art for almost a century. Now, together with the visual talent of Steven Spielberg, Franzwa has dared to update the classic with a spectacular new version.
1.'Metropolis' is your most ambitious movie so far... How does it feel to get involved in a huge movie like this?
To tell the truth, it's a little nerve racking. The original is a classic and had groundbreaking special
effects for its time. Since I've kept the same story down to the character names, 21st century special effects will be a big draw, as will Spielberg's name. The hope is that Mr. Spielberg can make a modern day classic that builds on the original film. Fingers are crossed.
2.What made you decide to write a remake of such a classic?
As I've said, the originals special effects were cutting edge, and I thought that given the right director and the right amount of money, special effects for the film made with today's technology could be mind blowing. When it was released in 1927 there was no such thing as computer generated graphics. I thought that merging the story of the haves vs. have nots coupled with modern day effects would be a winner at the box office.
3.The original 'Metropolis' was a metaphoric critic of communism and old Russian regime... Do you think the plotline is still interesting in our days?
There are still working class people and the leisure class. There is still the poor vs. the wealthy. Some things never change and some plot lines are universal. It's not a terribly difficult plot to wrap your head around and I think people will still find it relevant to today. Some specific parts of the plot are a bit dodgy, perhaps, but that's why we're spending so much money on the effects. To make people go 'Wow' instead of 'Huh'.
4.You have never been nominated at the GMA. Do you have the feeling
that this can be your big chance?
I don't know about that. Collins always has at least one slot taken up with something brilliant he wrote. Then you have Kubrick, Edwards, Taylor, Bradley, Nielsen and all the other great writers. That's a lot of competition when you consider that I only write one or two screenplays a year.
5.Talking about other stories from you... Will we have a sequel of 'Dragonlance' some day?
I've just about put the finishing touches on Dragons Of Winter Night. Another week or so and it should be sitting on Mr. Starks desk waiting for a greenlight.
THE FLASH: BLITZ
By Dawson Edwards
What can I say? I love comics. The Flash character calls to me. I'm sure there are people out there who can write a better story than I, but they certainly won't enjoy the process as much as I do. This movie has been a long time coming, and though I am completely at fault, I would like it to be known that the gracious folks at CMP never once rushed me. Someone once said
"You can't rush art!" That's the method I like to take when writing these days...as opposed to three seasons ago where I would rarely even proofread.
The Flash sequel is a lot more powerful than its predecessor. There's some great action scenes that I can't wait for you to see, but there are also tons of great moments for almost every character. The ending will probably be a bit much for some, but in a universe full of Kryptonians, Martians,sea dwellers and Amazons, I think its only fair that I pull the strings of reality back into play.
What is it about Wally West that I love so much? Maybe its just that I was lucky enough to see him being portrayed by Joshua Jackson? That's probably a big part of it, but its the natural feel of Wally that gets me excited. He's as blue collar as the rest of us. He won't punch you through a building like Superman, he's not as sarcastic as Iron Man, but he smiles. Both in and out of the costume, Wally West is a normal guy. A normal guy with a gift. Thank you Josh, Simon Baker, the beautiful Isla Fisher! To all those involved with making this movie, thank you. "Fallen Kings" received a Best Picture nomination which blew my mind, but this film is the closest to my heart. Thanks!
THE CMP’S CLASSICS COLLECTION
Volume 3 – Action / Adventure
Third DVD Box Set celebrating CMP’s 400 releases. After Comedy and Drama, this week is the turn for what has always been the most profitable kind of movies for the Studio: action and adventure. Almost every CMP’s author had tried luck sooner or later with top budget action flicks that usually look more for profits than for quality. But still some of these movies are worthy cinematic experiences, like the three ones included in this box set: three very different movies but all of them still remembered as CMP’s classics.
DEVIL TRIGGER
Season 10
Larry and Andy Wachowski / David Makalaster
Cast: Matt Damon, AnnaSophia Robb, Brian Dennehy, Josh Holloway, Thomas Haden Church, Patrick Stewart
B.O.: 248 mill. / N.Gains: 382 mill.
Alltimes Top 6 Box Office and Top 2 Highest Net Gains. This story that includes angels, demons, God and the Devil fighting across the world became one of the biggest cinematic phenomenon in CMP and movie industry’s History. It’s the only movie directed for CMP by the Wachowski Brothers and it broke all records and made a deep impact both in audiences and critics. The now retired David Makalaster reached the top of his writing career with this unforgettable show.
GMA Wins: 3, Director (Wachowski Brothers), Screenplay (David Makalaster), Production Design
GMA Nods 3, Most Wanted Sequel, Original Concept, Picture
THE FUNERAL DRUM
Season 8
Michael Mann / James Bradley & Joey Stark
Cast: Sean Penn, Julia Roberts, Jeffrey Wright, Ryan Gosling, Keanu Reeves, Clint Eastwood, Rosario Dawson, Edward Burns, William Hurt
B.O.: 70 mill. / N.Gains: 45 mill.
This is the only screenplay co-written by Stark and Bradley. Critics surrendered to the quality of this tough cops drama supported by an allstars cast. The movie mixes in the right doses violence, corruption, social denounce and sex to become an update of classic cops stories from the past.
GMA Wins: 3, Screenplay (J.Bradley & J.Stark), Actor (S.Penn), Cast
GMA Nods: 3, Picture, Supporting Actor (K.Reeves), Supporting Actress (R.Dawson)
DIVE IN THE SUN
Season 3
Michael Mann / Jack Hammer
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany, Orlando Bloom, Hugh Jackman
B.O.: 53 mill. / N.Gains: 20 mill.
This commando adventure may be one of the less remembered Jack Hammer’s stories but it very much deserves to be revisited. As usual, Hammer appealed to classic concepts – this time, the good old war novels ala Alistair MacLean and his Guns Of Navarone – to put up, with the help of the always brilliant Michael Mann, a highly entertaining adventure of four brave soldiers trying to survive in enemy territory. The four stars that made the commando have become later four of the main action stars in CMP.
RICHARD FRANZWA
Some times, we don’t pay the attention to Richard Franzwa’s works that they deserve. Maybe, it’s because he is a very discrete author that releases his movies without too much hype. But the truth is that, step by step, releasing no more than one or two movies per Season, Franzwa is building up a very interesting writing career that deserves to be highlighted this week, when he is releasing one of the main events of this CMP’s Season, the mega-epic ‘Metropolis’. So here is a look at some of the most interesting screenplays written by the versatile and creative Mr. Franzwa.
FALLOUT
Season 8
Richard Donner
B.O.: 60 mill. / N.Gains: 54 mill.
Franzwa made his debut in CMP in Season 7 with two minor dramas, ‘When Dreams Die’ and ‘A Standing Eight’. None of both made a big impact in audiences. One Season later, he tried luck with a top budget console game adaptation, ‘Fallout’, starred by Hugh Jackman and Robert Downey Jr. Although the movie wasn’t the expected blockbuster, a sequel was released in Season 10, directed by Stephen Sommers, and it reached the 104 millions in box office. A third installment has been repeatedly announced by Franzwa but there’s no news about it in CMP’s offices.
THE MANOR
Season 8
David Lynch
B.O.: 43 mill. / N.Gains: 16 mill.
Same Season than ‘Fallout’, Franzwa released a most peculiar movie directed by the always peculiar David Lynch. Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Jason Leigh lived a strange experience sharing their lives in a disturbing manor with the strangest maid and butler, played by Emma Thompson and Steve Martin. A movie different from any other that critics applauded for its originality.
HAIGHT-ASHBURY
Season 9
Oliver Stone
B.O.: 30 mill. / N.Gains: 16 mill.
After having one his very few box office’s hits with ‘Bond Scum’, a wild parody of James Bond’s movies starred by Jim Carrey – who had already worked for him before in ‘A Standing Eight’ -,
Franzwa offered us this nostalgic look at the summer of love. Jeremy Sumpter and Emma Roberts met the most iconic characters of the 60’s in this both internal and external trip that broke up some of the old myths about the golden decade. As it usually happens with Franzwa’s movies, it wasn’t a box office’s hit but critics very much supported the proposal.
THE SONJA BLUE CHRONICLES
Season 9
David Cronenberg
B.O.: 79 mill. / N.Gains: 53 mill.
Each Franzwa’s new story is completely different from the previous one. This time, Franzwa adapted the very gothic and dark Nancy Collins’ novels about a young woman, played by Selma Blair, whose life changes when she is assaulted by a vampire. The movie worked decently in box office and again critics applauded Franzwa’s work. Sadly, a sequel was released in Season 11, ‘The House Of Spirits’, and it flopped at box office, making Franzwa to freeze his plan of going on with this saga. ‘The Sonja Blue Chronicles’ got 2 GMA’s nominations: Best Adaptation and Most Wanted Sequel.
ALTERED STATES
Season 11
Marc Forster
B.O.: 55 mill. / Net Gains: 20 mill.
Franzwa likes adapting previous existing material and he also likes dark disturbing stories. And both things meet again in this remake of a movie directed by Ken Russell in the 80s. George Clooney played here an obsessive scientist decided to test strange drugs on himself. Clooney, Julianne Moore and Bob Balaban got GMA’s nods for their work in this peculiar movie. Just before releasing it, Franzwa had succeeded with a dark comedy starred by Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, ‘The Awful Truth’.
A HARD PLACE
Season 12
Clint Eastwood
B.O.: 81 mill. / N.Gains: 61 mill.
Again, a complete twist in Franzwa’s career. Now, he wrote an original drama about a cop using his own and arguable methods to capture an assassin. More classic movie than many of the previous Franzwa’s stories, ‘A Hard Place’ was acclaimed by critics as a solid film and got three GMA’s nods: Director (Eastwood), Supporting Actor (Harrison Ford) and Original Concept. Again, GMAs resisted going to a Franzwa’s movie.
DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF AUTUMN TWILIGHT
Season 13
Guillermo Del Toro
B.O.: 132 mill. / N.Gains: 83 mill.
Finally, box office success arrived for Franzwa with this epic fantasy world adventure. It was a top budget production with an allstars cast including Ewan McGregor, Uma Thurman and Dakota Fanning in the line of other fantasy sagas from CMP like ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ or ‘Magic – The Gathering’. With it, Franzwa confirmed again than anything can be expected from him as he never stays attached to any specific genre.
‘The Resurrected’, second installment of The Forgotten saga, hits the screens this weekend. In the movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt will have his heart split between two beautiful women, Michelle Williams and the CMP’s debutante Lea Michele. Hard to choose. But the three of them looked very friendly during the New York’s premiere of the movie.
He made a public statement about it recently. And now it’s a reality. Matt Kubrick has finished his
screenplay adapting to the big screen the peculiar gothic soap opera ‘Dark Shadows’, aired by ABC between 1966 and 1971. This way, CMP might release this movie before Tim Burton and Johnny Depp shoot their own version of the show, something that they’ve been planning to do for long and might become a reality this Autumn. Again, Kubrick goes before other Studios’ movies based on the same concept, like he already did with ‘The Avengers’ or ‘Sherlock Holmes’. No news about who will direct or star CMP’s version are known yet.
Weekly update of the Taylor / Cage War. It seems like Chad Taylor and Nicholas Cage have reached a wider agreement than just having Cage back in ‘Justice League 2’ playing Superman. The agreement includes Cage playing one of the main roles of another Taylor’s upcoming production, a drama titled ‘Amedia’. After that, Cage would accept not playing Superman again in a possible ‘Justice League 3’. So, as you can see, the peace treaty between Taylor and Cage seems to be the result of a complex negotiation.
After his brief appearance in ‘Legends Of The West’, Ben Stiller seems decided to keep trying new things in CMP beyond his usual comedies. Now, he has decided to direct again. In Season 4,
Stiller directed the CMP’s comedy ‘Eureka!’. The movie, starred by Luke Wilson and Heather Graham, didn’t make it at box office. Now, he is going to both direct and star an American remake of a very funny and sentimental dramedy: ‘Son Of The Bride’, an Argentinian movie that was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award back in 2001. James Bradley, who has written remakes of foreign films before for CMP – ‘Fools Game’, based on a French movie, and ‘The Orphanage’, based on a Spanish movie – is the author of the screenplay.
Finally, ‘Sam and Twitch 2’ became a box office’s flop. So what’s going to happen now with ‘Midnight Movies’? ‘Sam and Twitch 2’ was expected to be the instrument to resurrect financially Kubrick’s company. Now, Harry Stark is considering financing the next movies coming from the company until it recovers from the actual bankruptcy. ‘Midnight Movies’ is planning to develop soon a new sequel of ‘Reform School Girls’… which is not something too promising in terms of financial success anyway.
Only a rumor yet, but it all looks like finally there will be a ‘Silver Sable 4’. Although when releasing
‘Silver Sable and the Genesis Coalition’, both Joey Stark and Bryan Singer stated that they were a bit tired of this franchise, it seems like they are at least considering to get involved in a fourth installment of it. ‘There were a few questions that were left open in the third movie, so maybe we should make a fourth one to definitely give an end to the story’, has recently said Stark. There’s no screenplay yet and even the plotline is not closed so it still may take some time before we see Silver on screen again.
METROPOLIS
Sci-Fi / Drama
The Cast: Cillian Murphy, Natalie Portman, William Hurt, William H. Macy, Ian Holm, Peter Sarsgaard.
The Director and Producer: Steven Spielberg
The Screenwriter: Richard Franzwa
The Plot:
In the future the city of Metropolis, with its huge towers and vast wealth, is a playground to a ruling class living in luxury and decadence. They, and the city, are sustained by a much larger population of workers who labor as virtual slaves in the machine halls, moving from tenements which they call home to their back-breaking ten-hour shifts and back again. Freder (Cillian Murphy), the son of John Fredersen (William Hurt), the ruler of Metropolis, is oblivious to the plight of the workers until one day when a a beautiful subterranean dweller named Maria (Natalie Portman) visits the Eternal Gardens with a small group of children from the workers' city. They are sad and hungry and he is haunted by their needy eyes, something Freder has never seen among the elite of the city, and by this beautiful woman who tells all who will listen to her that they are all brothers. He follows her back down to the depths of the city and witnesses a horrible accident in the machine halls. Haunted by what he has seen, he tries to confront his father, only to find that the man he respects believes that it is right for the workers to live the way they do, while he and the elite live in luxury.
Freder decides to do something about it, but he must first learn more. With help from Josaphat (William H. Macy), Fredersen's recently dismissed office manager, he goes below again and takes over the job of one of the workers, in order to find Maria. Meanwhile, Fredersen is concerned about the rumblings of unrest among the workers, and his son's sudden interest in their plight. He assigns Slim (Peter Sarsgaard), his investigator, to follow Freder. Meanwhile, he goes for advice to an old acquaintance, the inventor C.A. Rotwang (Ian Holm). Rotwang once was a rival to Fredersen for the love of the woman Hel, who married Fredersen and died bearing his son, Freder. Rotwang still feels her loss and is willing to help his old friend, but not before showing off his latest creation, a robot that he has modeled in the image of Hel. Rotwang answers Fredersen's question by taking him to the catacombs below the modern city, where they see Maria preaching her gospel and counseling patience, in the hope that a "Mediator" , who will be able to reconcile the "head" and "hands" of society (that is the ruling and working classes), will come among them.
Fredersen will hear none of it, and sees the need to break the workers' resistance and destroy Maria's influence among them. He arranges with Rotwang to make his robot creation into a duplicate Maria (which requires kidnapping her), and to send the robot out among the workers to incite them to violence, so that Fredersen can use force against them. But he doesn't reckon with Rotwang, who despises Fredersen and his ruling class, and has commanded the robot to obey his orders and follow a plan that will destroy the city, both above and below ground. Fredersen also doesn't reckon with his own son Freder, who not only believes in what Maria is preaching but is beginning to see himself as the "Mediator," and is right in the midst of the conflagration when the workers' uprising starts. Soon, fires and floods spread, threatening to doom the children of the workers, abandoned in their parents' frenzied attack on the machines.
When the riot ends in the destruction of the workers homes, killing many of their children, Maria's evil robot twin is stalked by crowds of workers driven to a murderous rage blaming her for inciting the riot. They catch her and burn her at the stake discovering she is a robot. Rotwang, fearing the real Maria will expose his crime, decides to kill her. But Freder, having lived among the workers after the confrontation with his father, rescues Maria and kills Rotwang. In the end, Freder mediates between his father and the workers, bringing peace to Metropolis.
Stark’s Comment:
I honestly encourage all of you to go and watch this movie. It’s such a visual experience. Spielberg has created a whole futuristic universe full of strength. This is more than just a remake. It pretends to be a rebirth of the whole sci-fi genre.
Behind The Scenes:
-Steven Spielberg won past Season the Best Director and the Best Picture GMAs with ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’.
-Natalie Portman has starred this Season the erotic thriller ‘Secret Sins’.
-William Hurt has also been seen this Season before in the blockbuster ‘Invasion’.
-The CGI special effects for this movie were so complex that CMP has associated with Lucasfilms to develop them.
-A curiosity: Ian Holm also played a scientist specialized in robotic in CMP’s ‘The Naked Sun’.
THE FLASH: BLITZ
Action / Superhero
The Cast: Joshua Jackson, Isla Fisher, Simon Baker, Michael Madsen, Derek Luke, Steve Buscemi
The Director: Antoine Fuqua
The Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards
The Plot:
We start at Keystone City hospital, where The Flash (J.Jackson) is standing next to his best friend Hunter Zolomon (S.Baker) who has regained some ability to walk after Grodd's attack. Hunter makes it obvious that he wants nothing further to do with Wally, and tells him that his life is over, and that he wouldn't understand because he's never had tragedy. He blames Wally for his wife leaving him, when his mood changed after the attack. Wally suggests that he use this specialized treadmill from McCulloch's laboratory. Apparently, it was being built to handle The Flash's vast amount of speed and should help increase the healing of Hunter's legs. "A 'good chance' doesn't mean anything to me. I want a promise, Flash. I want you to promise me I'll walk again." The Flash smiles then leaves the treadmill in Hunter's room, and takes off.
Week's later, Linda (I.Fisher) is starting to show signs of her pregnancy. Its an extremely exciting and happy time in Wally's life, especially now that the eccentric amount of crime is down in Keystone. While doing his hourly patrol of the city, Wally receives a phone call from Hunter. He tells him to meet him at Iron Heights Prison just outside of the city. Once The Flash arrives, he sees a standing Hunter Zolomon walking slowly toward him. Unfortunately for the best friendless Wally, Hunter called for business not to celebrate his recovery. Hunter tells him that one of his "little costumed criminals" has escaped in gruesome fashion. We get a flashback sequence of this "Pied Piper" (S.Buscemi) being able to get a rat to bite a few guards, giving him the opportunity to escape. Hunter is extremely mad at Wally, who has unknowingly walked ten steps ahead of the slow Hunter. He tells Flash that Piper will likely join the rest of the random rogues on the street when he can.
It doesn't take long for these rogues to show their face in Keystone. There's an explosion at a bank, Flash races there, to find a man in a blue parka hoodie holding what appears to be a blue gun. Wally laughs at the man's appearance, telling him that its "Hot as hell outside", and the man responds in a grunted voice saying that he will shove this gun down The Flash's throat and freeze him from the inside out. The man (M.Madsen) announces himself as "Cold", but with the grunted voice, Wally jokes that he's trying to be a pirate; calling him Captain Cold. He pulls the trigger omitting a slight sheet of frost at absolute zero temperature making the air around him freezing cold, and also making Flash just a tad bit slower so he can keep up with his movements. Wally ignores him for the moment, and rushes into the bank to check on potential victims. No one is hurt, so Wally rushes back outside where he finds no sign of Cold or Piper though the manhole beneath him is somewhat opened.
One day earlier we arrive at the hospital where Hunter is receiving a checkup for sudden leg cramps and blurred vision. His words become jumbled together as if he were intentionally rushing them. The doctor leaves the room for what seems like hours to Hunter, so he finally decides to get up and find out whats up. He steps out of the room to see the entire hallway of the hospital stopped. He hears the very faint sound of a fly, and walks towards it. He grabs the seemingly non-moving fly and squishes it. He quickly realizes that time hasn't stopped, he's just moving incredibly fast. He smirks, and says Flash isn’t a hero yet. He needs that tragedy to make him one. Hunter says that he must face his ultimate opposite: “a man who has lost his pride, confidence, and identity to tragedy. One type of man who can reverse your twisted thinking. One man.”
Wally and Detective Jared Morillo (D.Luke) are at Wally's celebrating the pregnancy. Morillo says since Wally will be busy with his kid, in return he should get Wonder Woman's phone number. Wally then thinks about how proud Barry would be to see him so happy. Then the two hear what sound like sonic booms from downtown. Wally springs into his Flash suit, grabs Morillo and heads towards it. Once there, they start helping people who are hurt, and Wally notices Piper is doing the same. He speeds over to him and reminds him that once this is over, he'll be back in prison. Flash then hears the scream of a familiar voice, Linda. We see a reverse Flash. Its Hunter in a replica Flash suit but the colors reversed. He tells Linda that he's helping Wally become stronger, better. Morillo starts firing at Hunter but he's far too fast. Hunter says "ZOOM" and then in a blink appears next to Morillo and breaks his arm. Wally then races from Piper to see Linda in the hands of Zoom. "Detective Jared Morillo. Areyougoingtobepartofthetragedy?" he says. Then, it happens. He easily dodges Flash and sets off a sonic boom by snapping his fingers. Right in front of Linda. Wally screams and grabs his fallen lover. Zoom is gone.
Linda ends up in the hospital, hurt badly, when Zoom appears again. Flash and Zoom end up fighting, and racing across the globe. He explains that while Wally was blinking he just visited Linda in the hospital, where the doctors have just told her that she's had a miscarriage. We see a split screen of the two speedsters fighting and Linda in the hospital crying. She was going to have twins, a boy and a girl. Flash starts wailing on Zoom. He grabs him and pushes his speed to another level. He pushes and pushes until he can break time and leave Zoom there. And he does. Zoom isn't moving, he's frozen. Or so it seems. Wally says that he won...nothing.
We then see Wally walking into the hospital to see Linda barely awake, tears still on her face. She asks if he beat Zoom, and he nods. She asks if he's dead, and he says no. Crying, Wally says "Linda, I'm so sorry."
Stark’s Comment:
‘The Flash’ made 108 millions in box office. Reason enough to trust on this sequel. I hope this release will help to raise a bit the bad numbers of this Season.
Behind The Scenes:
-The character of The Flash was seen not only in the original movie of this saga but also in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Justice League’ and it’s expected to be back next Season in ‘Justice League 2’.
-Michael Madsen had to shoot his sequences in the movie almost in a row to be free to join the shootage of ‘Graceland’, where he plays Elvis Presley in his latest years.
THE RESURRECTED – THE FORGOTTEN PART II
Action / Gangster
The Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Michelle Williams, Johnny Depp, Robert Pattinson, Lea Michele, Tom Wilkinson, Sharon Stone, Bruce Willis, Michael Douglas
The Director: Jonathan Demme
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
The Plot:
Two men sit in a room. It is Harrison Angelo (Gordon-Levitt) and Santonio Hudson (Johnny Depp). Santonio is an convict-turned-businessman, known for his associations with the inner-city mafia wars. He was at one time a part of a fallen family, which got him wound up in jail. But since he's been out, he's turned his life around. At a young age, Harrison's grandfather helped Santonio up the ranks, providing him protection and guidance. So Santonio looks up to him. Harrison asks Santonio for funding, to reinitiate the Angelo family. He tells him he needs help recruiting members to the new organization, and he believes that his experience in the mob would help.
But Santonio warns young Angelo not to try to get to the mountaintop on the first day as Don, and that it’s something you work at. Harrison offers Santonio to be his consigliere, and he accepts because of his admiration for Harrison’s grandfather.
Harrison now works at an art studio, one that is preparing to open and will be the largest one in town. He returns to work the next day, with a fresh feeling, like he is a new person. He always has a smile on his face. He is not shy and afraid to whatever he wants. The studio is days away from opening, and when while he helps get things ready,his boss introduces him to his newest co-worker(Lea Michele). Her name is Jenna, and she seems the opposite of Catharine. She is a down-to-earth, girl next door.
While working, Harrison makes a joke, to which everyone in room laughs. That is everyone but Jenna, which he takes notice of. This makes him curious, as lately he has been charming to everyone, even his boss. She is mysterious to him. After their shift, he introduces himself to her, and she doesn't say much, and leaves, hiding all of her emotions.
When Harrison exits the studio, he is walking to his car and hears something. He notices that something has fell from his jacket to the ground. He picks it up and it is a microphone. He quickly looks up and looks around, but doesn't see anything. He then drives home to find that Catharine is not there. He calls her and she reminds him that she is helping her mother go through some old junk today.
So he drives over there and offers his help. But he is interrupted, by Richard (Douglas), who has someone next to him. He introduces Harrison to Officer Dan Sheppard (Bruce Willis). Catharine (Williams) whispers to Harrison that her dad promotes his as the "toughest" cop in the city. They smile, shake hands and stare deep into each other's eyes.
Andrew Michelli (Pattison) is sitting at his home scrambling through files with a bottle of rum in his hand. There are bags under his eyes, and overall he looks physically tired. He slams down the files on a nearby table, and takes another swig of his alcohol. He screams in frustration and drops his head in disappointment. Then he spots a paper with a mug shot of Harrison's father on it. He smiles then picks up a phone and puts it to his ear.
"Father, listen to me. I can get at him. Sure his father is dead, but if I can find his mother before he does, trouble would certainly be headed her way. I want to break him down emotionally" Andrew says. "Son, how would you feel if someone used your own mother against you? I respect you thinking for yourself, but Andrew, I can handle this." Alexander replies. A look of disappointment is on Andrew's face, and it is obvious why.
Meanwhile, Harrison is just getting off work. He is on the phone with Catharine, talking dirty, when he looks out the window and notices something's wrong. He notices that his car wasn't there. He looks distraught and tells Catharine he'll call her back. He runs outside and finds indeed that his car was towed. Parked nearby is Jenna, who is just walking out as well. She asks what's wrong, and embarrassed, he tells her what happened. She offers him a ride to where he needs to be and at first he politely denies, hoping she would ask again, as he thinks about it more. She shrugs her shoulders, turns her back, and walks away. He then runs back to her, following her to car and puts his hand on her shoulder. We see her face as she looks down at the hand on her shoulder, and as she breaks out a small smile when she sees it. Harrison takes a big gulp, and tells her thanks for asking. Disappointed again, she slowly starts to walk, but stops and turns around, to see him face to face. "Are you sure you don't need a ride somewhere?" she asks again, enthusiastically with a wide, glowing smile on her face. We cut to Harrison who also breaks a smile.
Her car pulls up to the police department, and stops in front of it. "I hate this place." Harrison jokingly says, making her chuckle. They share a quick smile, and he breaks the silence by thanking her for the ride, which she replies with "Anytime." He leaves the car, and walks up the steps, in slow motion. We see Jenna pulling away behind him, and then all of the police men surrounding him. He has a brave look on his face as he enters the building. But as soon as he does, we go back to real speed, and he comes face to face with Officer Sheppard at the door. "You stalking me?" Sheppard says with a smile. "Yes, and it wasn't the least bit predictable that you would be here!" Harrison laughs and continues walking, after another awkward confrontation with Sheppard.
Santonio sits a computer, going picture through picture, through some sort of database. Every once in a while he writes down something on a pad, and then continues searching. He is abruptly interrupted by a door slamming open. In walks Alexander Michelli (Wilkinson) with a cigar in hand. "Hello Michael" he says. Santonio turns around and stares Alexander in the eyes. "Oh Alexander, I thought you knew that I have put the past behind me." He responses. "What past? The past where you tried to be a dirty rat and throw my empire to the feds. You should've known not to mess with Alexander Reginald Michelli. So what is your plan now,Michael? Are you gonna turn this kid in?" "What if I said yes. What if that is my plan. Or what if my plan is to put an end to your legacy right now?" Santonio says as he slides a gun out of his desk.
"Now let ME tell YOU how it is! I spent every single day of my life on my knees, working hard, giving my best effort to assure your success. And where did that get me in life?" Santonio yells. He pulls up a gun to Alexander's head. "It got me right here. Now I'm the one looking down on you." He lets a grin come up on his face and then drops the gun. They stare each other down for a few seconds, with Santonio smiling.
We then see Harrison and Catharine watching a movie at home. They are sharing some small talk when his phone starts to buzz. He looks at it and can't recognize the number. He asks Catharine if he can be excused, and then answers the call once she replies with a yes. When he answers, it is Jenna on the other line. He asks how she got his number, and she tells him he left his wallet in the car, which had his number in it. He looks down at his pants then rolls his eyes, embarrassed again. He tells her sorry for leaving it there, and she tells him it's okay and that she'll just give it to him at work the next day. Catharine overhears him talking and walks up behind him, and wraps her arms around him, pulling him backwards. "Hon, I'm on the phone!" he says with a smile. "Whoever that is and whatever they're calling about isn't important." She says and then lays down on the couch in a sexy pose. "Love me baby." She says softly. We see the phone laying on the ground and hear from a distance "Hello?Hello?Harrison?"
Harrison and Santonio are riding in a car, going to boxing match in downtown,to scout a boxer who could present help to them. They both leave the car and enter the arena, where they watch the fight. When they leave, the sidewalk is packed with people, as the fans exit. A gunshot is heard and Santonio notices a hole in his jacket and looks up. People start to scream and scatter, as Harrison scans the area. He then spots a mysterious figure on a nearby rooftop, who has a gun in hand. He shoots again, this time missing and hitting a close-by civilian. Harrison instructs Santonio to stay and care for the person, but also distract the shooter.
He hurries inside the building, a junky hotel, and starts to look for the closest way up. He doesn't see anything and must ask the clerk where the stairs and/or elevator is. The clerk looks confused at first, knowing that Harrison hasn't checked in, but then points down the hall to the elevator doors. He presses the button, and waits a few seconds to get in. He gets in there, and standing there is an elderly man and his grandson. It is a awkward ride up, as Harrison's heart strongly beats and he holds a gun in hand. When the doors finally open, he finds the nearest roof escape and goes up there.
The man spots Harrison and quickly starts to run. He leaps across a few rooftops, barely clearing the alley. Harrison struggles to follow, but he does. Harrison picks up his gun and takes an unsteady shot, piercing the man's shoulder. He keeps running though, and the next ledge he comes to, he jumps, but can't make it to the other side, and falls. Harrison runs up the ledge and looks down, trying to find the man. He can't spot him, so he jumps below, falling into the half-open dumpster.
Andrea (Stone) is driving a car, with Alexander in the backseat. They share a conversation about Andrew and his future. Alexander explains his happiness that his son has followed in his footsteps, while Andrea expresses her displeasure. They end up at the "family's" doctor. After a lengthy check-up, the doctor informs Alexander that his Colon Cancer is in the metastasis stage, and is beginning to spread. Andrea bursts out in tears,while Alexander holds her and tells her they might finally have to reveal the problem, which he's had for two years, to their son Andrew.
He takes a sigh of relief and then the other lid flies open and the man is face to face with Harrison. Harrison puts his hand on the man's injured shoulder and puts pressure on the womb with his thumb. He asks him who sent him, but instead of getting a reply, the man moves his hand up. In slow motion, he slings his gun towards Harrison's face and at the same time, a gunshot goes through the man's head. The gun hits Harrison directly on the nose, causing him pain. Santonio walks into the alley with a gun in hand. "Well, at least the body's already in the dumpster. I gotta say, it was a little tough keeping up with you guys. But I didn't have to take any death-defying stunts like you, ole buddy, ole pal. "Santonio says.
Meanwhile, Andrew is searching for birth records, to figure out Harrison's mother. He figures that if he can't get to Harrison by threatening his father(since he is dead),he would use his mother. While speeding along the streets at midnight, a car pulls out in front of him and they collide. When the driver gets out, it is Catharine. A smile crawls up on Andrew's face and the screen cuts to black.
We then see Harrison driving around town the next day. He is nervous as he does not know where Catharine went last night. Then in front of his car is Santonio holding tight onto Catharine, with a gun to her head. He lets out a devilish laugh and we hear a loud bang as the screen goes black. We then get a shot of Jenna's smiling face. "Wake up, silly head." she says joyfully. Harrison looks up and notices he was only sleeping and that he was at work. We cut to after their shift, where they are walking down an empty hallway. Jenna looks up and her eyes travel to his broken nose."That looks pretty bad, are you okay? You slept a while!I was worrying our boss would see you,and that'd be bad a day before the opening" she says. "Yeah I'm fine, just a rough…rough couple days." he replies. She slowly places her hand fingers on his nose, looking grossed out, then smiling. He accidentally lets his hand slip to her waist, and then the other. He softly lays her against the wall, looks into her eyes and clinches his teeth. He starts to close his eyes and lean in, but she lays her head against his shoulder, not letting him kiss her.
"We can't. I'm not sure if this is what I want." She says. He has a look of embarrassment on his face and whispers into her ear "I know, I just thought this is what you have been inching towards lately. It's stupid, I'm a foo-" she grabs his face and pulls it to hers, and lays a kiss on his cheek. "Goodbye, Harrison." She walks down the hallway as he is left looking on in loneliness.
Then, with a stroke of thought, he notices what he has to do. We see a montage of him shopping, with occasional shots of Officer Sheppard in the background. He finally arrives at his apartment and walks slowly down the hallway. The music starts to pick up pace as he nears the door. He takes a big gulp, and then opens the door. It is quiet and Catharine is standing here. They stare at each other for a few seconds and then Harrison slides across the floor, landing on his knees in front of Catharine. He pulls out small little box in his hand. He smiles, but when he looks in her eyes she mouths out "N-O". He is confused and we can hear his heart start to beat as everything starts to transition into black and white. He becomes dizzy as Andrew storms from behind and raps his arm around Catharine's neck and puts a gun to it with the other hand. Harrison rises to his feet and drops the box, which has a diamond ring fall out of it when it hits the floor.
"Listen kid, I made a mistake a few days ago. I let an inexperienced, unintelligent, and unskilled scum bag attempt to kill you. I shouldn't have put that job in anyone's hand but my own. But really, I shouldn't have wanted to kill you. Because you are weak, my friend. Without family connections you are nothing!" "And the same for you…friend." Harrison smiles. "Do not interrupt me. I know what you are up to. And if I can hurt you emotionally, then why bother the physical work. I couldn't get your father, or mother, so I chose your soon-to-be fiancée." Andrew says. There is silence for a while as the two men stare each other down. Harrison starts to charge, but Andrew points the gun at him and he backs down. "Don't you dare." Andrew says. We then hear Harrison talk to himself in his mind "C'mon Harrison. Time to make yourself a legend. Time to make your father proud." He scans the room for some help, and notices a knife laying on a table a few feet away. Andrew sees the eye movement and starts to get nervous. His hands start to shake. Harrison takes a deep breathe, breaking the silence, and leaps over the couch and near the table.
At the same time, the door slings open. This scares Andrew, causing him to pull the trigger. We see the look in Harrison's eyes, as if he's just been told he as a few seconds to live, as her body falls to the ground. At the door, is a shocked Andrea Michelli. Harrison charges Andrew and pushes him against a wall, stabbing him in the arm. "Boys…stop!I came here for a reason. I know it's not the right time…" she says. Andrew rises his gun up to his mom from across the room "What do you want?!?" "Harrison, I'm…your…mother." Tears flow down her face, as the Andrew looks grim. The screen goes black and we hear Andrew scream and then followed by three gunshots.
Stark’s Comment:
I really hope this second installment relaunches this saga, a sequel itself of the legendary CMP’s trilogy ‘The Heirs’. The first movie made a disappointing box office of 48 millions but I deeply hope this second one will make it much better.
Behind The Scenes:
-Past Season, ‘The Forgotten’ got 4 GMA’s nominations: Most Wanted Sequel, Villain (Tom Wilkinson), Supporting Actor (Robert Pattinson) and Actor (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
-The screenplay of ‘The Forgotten’ was co-signed by Chad Taylor and Joey Stark. They were going to co-write this sequel too but when Taylor sent Stark his first draft of the screenplay, oey Stark liked it so much that he decided not to change a single word.
-Johnny Depp, Lea Michelle and Bruce Willis play new characters not seen in ‘The Forgotten’.
-Chad Taylor has stated that he wrote the character played by Lea Michelle thinking on her to play it after watching her in a tv show.
-This saga is planned to be a trilogy.
FLASHMAN’S DESTINY: As it has been announced, this fifth and last Flashman’s adventure will
recover many of the characters seen in previous installments of the saga. Talents returning confirmed are Catherine Z. Jones, a regular in the franchise, playing again the only lasting Flashy’s lover; Kerry Condon, playing his wife, who had not been seen in the latest installements; Ewan McGregor, seen in ‘Flashman’s Travels’; Ken Watanabe, seen in ‘Flashman And The Mountain Of Light’; and Nick Nolte, seen in ‘West Flashman’.NEW WORLD: PART I – THE REBELLION: John Daws will reunite in this sci-fi movie some of the talents he has usually worked with in many of his previous CMP’s projects. Of course, Keira Knightley will be in the movie as she has been in all Daws’ sagas, from ‘Hitman’ to ‘Game Boy’. Also, Patrick Stewart, who worked with Daws in the Hitman movies and also in ‘The Critic’, returns to CMP after some Seasons away. And the star from Daws’ ‘He-Man: The Power Of Greyskull’, where he already met with Keira, Josh Holloway, will also join this old friends’ reunion.
A JAZZ TALE: Two big names play minor roles in this Clint Eastwood’s movie. Sean Penn will
play a corrupted policeman. Penn has admitted that he has accepted this minor character due to his friendship with Eastwood. They have already met before in CMP in movies like ‘Dakota North’, directed by Eastwood, and ‘The Funeral Drum’, where Eastwood played Penn’s father. And also playing a minor character in the story, a peculiar choice: Eddie Murphy will be the owner of the jazz club that is the center of all the mafia scene in the movie. Murphy had not been seen in CMP since the successful ‘The Revengers’.SUNSHINE ON LONELY STREET: Ashton Kutcher returns to CMP to play a minor role in this romantic comedy written and directed by Trent Nielsen. His last CMP’s movie was back in Season 6, ‘McMillan and Wife: Murder by Game’. Jamie Lee Curtis and JK Simmons also join this cast playing Adam Brody’s parents. Simmons was seen this Season in 'Sam & Twitch 2'. Curtis could be seen in Kubrick’s ‘Jason Vorhees’ movies playing Vorhees’ mother.
WONDER WOMAN. THE HIKETEIA: Talents returning in this sequel already seen in the first movie are Josh Lucas, already seen this Season in ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’; Michelle Williams, who can be seen in this week’s release ‘The Resurrected’; and Carrie-Ann Moss, who had not been seen working for the Studio since the first Wonder Woman movie.GRACELAND: Ben Affleck and Michael Madsen, who play both Elvis Presley in this biopic, once during his younger and the other during his decadent years, have confirmed that they have been working really hard to be able to sing with their own voices some of the Elvis’ songs to be heard in the movie, while others will be the original Elvis’ recordings. As a curiosity, Lindsay Lohan, who playes Priscilla Presley in the movie, won't be available to make the international promotional campaign of the movie after being convicted a few days ago for drunk driving.
METROID: Green light for this console game adaptation, to be released at the beginning of
Season 15. As it was announced, Zack Snyder will be directing this top budget action flick. And Charlize Theron will be starring it. GMA Winner Theron returns this way to CMP after a long absence. Charlize used to be a regular during the first CMP’s Seasons. But, after starring the ultraviolent cult exploitation ‘Damnation Road’ in Season 7, she only returned to the Studio to make a cameo in the failed ‘Nathan Zachary and the Pylfered Prototype’ in Season 12. So this will be her first starring role in 7 Seasons.GUITAR HERO: Is it possible to make a movie version of a music rhythm console game? Steve Connors thinks so. Connors has written a story based on this popular game. The movie pretends to be a parody of teen comedies and it will particularly laugh at the Disney's Teen Stars gang. In fact, some of them will be seen in the movie laughing at their own public image. Jay Roach, absent from CMP since he directed ‘Check, Please’, will be directing this parodic film. Michael Cera is going to star it as a junkie of the Guitar Hero game. And Zac Efron is co-starring playing ‘the perfect guy’ and laughing at himself as the cute teen idol he in fact is.
INNERTURMOIL: One of the rare occasions when Josh Collins steps into sci-fi. He is the author
of this story playing with alternative realities. The screenplay – written by Collins long time ago and frozen at the CMP’s waiting list for years – was originally going to be shot by Jonathan Demme. But Demme was busy directing ‘The Resurrected’ so, finally, he has been replaced by the not very prolific Lodge Kerrigan. Damian Lewis, seen playing Queen Elizabeth’s husband in ‘The Princess and the Captain’, is starring the movie.HELL NIGHT: This horror movie oriented to young audiences written by Kubrick and directed by Robert Rodriguez will have a long list of young stars in its cast. Two of them are having a busy Season: Cayden Boyd, who has recently made his debut in CMP with ‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’, and Jodelle Ferland, in her third work of the Season after minor appearances in ‘Jack Vance: A True Hollywood Story’ and ‘Sam and Twitch 2’.
RICHARD FRANZWA – ‘METROPOLIS
Richard Franzwa releases this week his most ambitious project ever: the remake of the 1920s Fritz Lang’s classic ‘Metropolis’, a complex story that mixes a dark vision of the future, a metaphor about the risks of communism and a love story ala Romeo and Juliet. ‘Metropolis’ was a revolutionary movie in terms of visual and narrative creativity and has remained as an outstanding piece of art for almost a century. Now, together with the visual talent of Steven Spielberg, Franzwa has dared to update the classic with a spectacular new version.
1.'Metropolis' is your most ambitious movie so far... How does it feel to get involved in a huge movie like this?
To tell the truth, it's a little nerve racking. The original is a classic and had groundbreaking special
effects for its time. Since I've kept the same story down to the character names, 21st century special effects will be a big draw, as will Spielberg's name. The hope is that Mr. Spielberg can make a modern day classic that builds on the original film. Fingers are crossed.2.What made you decide to write a remake of such a classic?
As I've said, the originals special effects were cutting edge, and I thought that given the right director and the right amount of money, special effects for the film made with today's technology could be mind blowing. When it was released in 1927 there was no such thing as computer generated graphics. I thought that merging the story of the haves vs. have nots coupled with modern day effects would be a winner at the box office.
3.The original 'Metropolis' was a metaphoric critic of communism and old Russian regime... Do you think the plotline is still interesting in our days?
There are still working class people and the leisure class. There is still the poor vs. the wealthy. Some things never change and some plot lines are universal. It's not a terribly difficult plot to wrap your head around and I think people will still find it relevant to today. Some specific parts of the plot are a bit dodgy, perhaps, but that's why we're spending so much money on the effects. To make people go 'Wow' instead of 'Huh'.
4.You have never been nominated at the GMA. Do you have the feeling
that this can be your big chance?I don't know about that. Collins always has at least one slot taken up with something brilliant he wrote. Then you have Kubrick, Edwards, Taylor, Bradley, Nielsen and all the other great writers. That's a lot of competition when you consider that I only write one or two screenplays a year.
5.Talking about other stories from you... Will we have a sequel of 'Dragonlance' some day?
I've just about put the finishing touches on Dragons Of Winter Night. Another week or so and it should be sitting on Mr. Starks desk waiting for a greenlight.
THE FLASH: BLITZ
By Dawson Edwards
What can I say? I love comics. The Flash character calls to me. I'm sure there are people out there who can write a better story than I, but they certainly won't enjoy the process as much as I do. This movie has been a long time coming, and though I am completely at fault, I would like it to be known that the gracious folks at CMP never once rushed me. Someone once said
"You can't rush art!" That's the method I like to take when writing these days...as opposed to three seasons ago where I would rarely even proofread.The Flash sequel is a lot more powerful than its predecessor. There's some great action scenes that I can't wait for you to see, but there are also tons of great moments for almost every character. The ending will probably be a bit much for some, but in a universe full of Kryptonians, Martians,sea dwellers and Amazons, I think its only fair that I pull the strings of reality back into play.
What is it about Wally West that I love so much? Maybe its just that I was lucky enough to see him being portrayed by Joshua Jackson? That's probably a big part of it, but its the natural feel of Wally that gets me excited. He's as blue collar as the rest of us. He won't punch you through a building like Superman, he's not as sarcastic as Iron Man, but he smiles. Both in and out of the costume, Wally West is a normal guy. A normal guy with a gift. Thank you Josh, Simon Baker, the beautiful Isla Fisher! To all those involved with making this movie, thank you. "Fallen Kings" received a Best Picture nomination which blew my mind, but this film is the closest to my heart. Thanks!
THE CMP’S CLASSICS COLLECTION
Volume 3 – Action / Adventure
Third DVD Box Set celebrating CMP’s 400 releases. After Comedy and Drama, this week is the turn for what has always been the most profitable kind of movies for the Studio: action and adventure. Almost every CMP’s author had tried luck sooner or later with top budget action flicks that usually look more for profits than for quality. But still some of these movies are worthy cinematic experiences, like the three ones included in this box set: three very different movies but all of them still remembered as CMP’s classics.
DEVIL TRIGGER
Season 10
Larry and Andy Wachowski / David Makalaster
Cast: Matt Damon, AnnaSophia Robb, Brian Dennehy, Josh Holloway, Thomas Haden Church, Patrick Stewart
B.O.: 248 mill. / N.Gains: 382 mill.
Alltimes Top 6 Box Office and Top 2 Highest Net Gains. This story that includes angels, demons, God and the Devil fighting across the world became one of the biggest cinematic phenomenon in CMP and movie industry’s History. It’s the only movie directed for CMP by the Wachowski Brothers and it broke all records and made a deep impact both in audiences and critics. The now retired David Makalaster reached the top of his writing career with this unforgettable show.
GMA Wins: 3, Director (Wachowski Brothers), Screenplay (David Makalaster), Production Design
GMA Nods 3, Most Wanted Sequel, Original Concept, Picture
THE FUNERAL DRUM
Season 8
Michael Mann / James Bradley & Joey Stark
Cast: Sean Penn, Julia Roberts, Jeffrey Wright, Ryan Gosling, Keanu Reeves, Clint Eastwood, Rosario Dawson, Edward Burns, William Hurt
B.O.: 70 mill. / N.Gains: 45 mill.
This is the only screenplay co-written by Stark and Bradley. Critics surrendered to the quality of this tough cops drama supported by an allstars cast. The movie mixes in the right doses violence, corruption, social denounce and sex to become an update of classic cops stories from the past.
GMA Wins: 3, Screenplay (J.Bradley & J.Stark), Actor (S.Penn), Cast
GMA Nods: 3, Picture, Supporting Actor (K.Reeves), Supporting Actress (R.Dawson)
DIVE IN THE SUN
Season 3
Michael Mann / Jack Hammer
Cast: Ewan McGregor, Paul Bettany, Orlando Bloom, Hugh Jackman
B.O.: 53 mill. / N.Gains: 20 mill.
This commando adventure may be one of the less remembered Jack Hammer’s stories but it very much deserves to be revisited. As usual, Hammer appealed to classic concepts – this time, the good old war novels ala Alistair MacLean and his Guns Of Navarone – to put up, with the help of the always brilliant Michael Mann, a highly entertaining adventure of four brave soldiers trying to survive in enemy territory. The four stars that made the commando have become later four of the main action stars in CMP.
RICHARD FRANZWA
Some times, we don’t pay the attention to Richard Franzwa’s works that they deserve. Maybe, it’s because he is a very discrete author that releases his movies without too much hype. But the truth is that, step by step, releasing no more than one or two movies per Season, Franzwa is building up a very interesting writing career that deserves to be highlighted this week, when he is releasing one of the main events of this CMP’s Season, the mega-epic ‘Metropolis’. So here is a look at some of the most interesting screenplays written by the versatile and creative Mr. Franzwa.
FALLOUT
Season 8
Richard Donner
B.O.: 60 mill. / N.Gains: 54 mill.
Franzwa made his debut in CMP in Season 7 with two minor dramas, ‘When Dreams Die’ and ‘A Standing Eight’. None of both made a big impact in audiences. One Season later, he tried luck with a top budget console game adaptation, ‘Fallout’, starred by Hugh Jackman and Robert Downey Jr. Although the movie wasn’t the expected blockbuster, a sequel was released in Season 10, directed by Stephen Sommers, and it reached the 104 millions in box office. A third installment has been repeatedly announced by Franzwa but there’s no news about it in CMP’s offices.
THE MANOR
Season 8
David Lynch
B.O.: 43 mill. / N.Gains: 16 mill.
Same Season than ‘Fallout’, Franzwa released a most peculiar movie directed by the always peculiar David Lynch. Kevin Bacon and Jennifer Jason Leigh lived a strange experience sharing their lives in a disturbing manor with the strangest maid and butler, played by Emma Thompson and Steve Martin. A movie different from any other that critics applauded for its originality.
HAIGHT-ASHBURY
Season 9
Oliver Stone
B.O.: 30 mill. / N.Gains: 16 mill.
After having one his very few box office’s hits with ‘Bond Scum’, a wild parody of James Bond’s movies starred by Jim Carrey – who had already worked for him before in ‘A Standing Eight’ -,
Franzwa offered us this nostalgic look at the summer of love. Jeremy Sumpter and Emma Roberts met the most iconic characters of the 60’s in this both internal and external trip that broke up some of the old myths about the golden decade. As it usually happens with Franzwa’s movies, it wasn’t a box office’s hit but critics very much supported the proposal.
THE SONJA BLUE CHRONICLES
Season 9
David Cronenberg
B.O.: 79 mill. / N.Gains: 53 mill.
Each Franzwa’s new story is completely different from the previous one. This time, Franzwa adapted the very gothic and dark Nancy Collins’ novels about a young woman, played by Selma Blair, whose life changes when she is assaulted by a vampire. The movie worked decently in box office and again critics applauded Franzwa’s work. Sadly, a sequel was released in Season 11, ‘The House Of Spirits’, and it flopped at box office, making Franzwa to freeze his plan of going on with this saga. ‘The Sonja Blue Chronicles’ got 2 GMA’s nominations: Best Adaptation and Most Wanted Sequel.
ALTERED STATES
Season 11
Marc Forster
B.O.: 55 mill. / Net Gains: 20 mill.
Franzwa likes adapting previous existing material and he also likes dark disturbing stories. And both things meet again in this remake of a movie directed by Ken Russell in the 80s. George Clooney played here an obsessive scientist decided to test strange drugs on himself. Clooney, Julianne Moore and Bob Balaban got GMA’s nods for their work in this peculiar movie. Just before releasing it, Franzwa had succeeded with a dark comedy starred by Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen, ‘The Awful Truth’.
A HARD PLACE
Season 12
Clint Eastwood
B.O.: 81 mill. / N.Gains: 61 mill.
Again, a complete twist in Franzwa’s career. Now, he wrote an original drama about a cop using his own and arguable methods to capture an assassin. More classic movie than many of the previous Franzwa’s stories, ‘A Hard Place’ was acclaimed by critics as a solid film and got three GMA’s nods: Director (Eastwood), Supporting Actor (Harrison Ford) and Original Concept. Again, GMAs resisted going to a Franzwa’s movie.
DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF AUTUMN TWILIGHT
Season 13
Guillermo Del Toro
B.O.: 132 mill. / N.Gains: 83 mill.
Finally, box office success arrived for Franzwa with this epic fantasy world adventure. It was a top budget production with an allstars cast including Ewan McGregor, Uma Thurman and Dakota Fanning in the line of other fantasy sagas from CMP like ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ or ‘Magic – The Gathering’. With it, Franzwa confirmed again than anything can be expected from him as he never stays attached to any specific genre.
‘The Resurrected’, second installment of The Forgotten saga, hits the screens this weekend. In the movie, Joseph Gordon-Levitt will have his heart split between two beautiful women, Michelle Williams and the CMP’s debutante Lea Michele. Hard to choose. But the three of them looked very friendly during the New York’s premiere of the movie.
He made a public statement about it recently. And now it’s a reality. Matt Kubrick has finished his
screenplay adapting to the big screen the peculiar gothic soap opera ‘Dark Shadows’, aired by ABC between 1966 and 1971. This way, CMP might release this movie before Tim Burton and Johnny Depp shoot their own version of the show, something that they’ve been planning to do for long and might become a reality this Autumn. Again, Kubrick goes before other Studios’ movies based on the same concept, like he already did with ‘The Avengers’ or ‘Sherlock Holmes’. No news about who will direct or star CMP’s version are known yet.Weekly update of the Taylor / Cage War. It seems like Chad Taylor and Nicholas Cage have reached a wider agreement than just having Cage back in ‘Justice League 2’ playing Superman. The agreement includes Cage playing one of the main roles of another Taylor’s upcoming production, a drama titled ‘Amedia’. After that, Cage would accept not playing Superman again in a possible ‘Justice League 3’. So, as you can see, the peace treaty between Taylor and Cage seems to be the result of a complex negotiation.
After his brief appearance in ‘Legends Of The West’, Ben Stiller seems decided to keep trying new things in CMP beyond his usual comedies. Now, he has decided to direct again. In Season 4,
Stiller directed the CMP’s comedy ‘Eureka!’. The movie, starred by Luke Wilson and Heather Graham, didn’t make it at box office. Now, he is going to both direct and star an American remake of a very funny and sentimental dramedy: ‘Son Of The Bride’, an Argentinian movie that was nominated for the Best Foreign Film Academy Award back in 2001. James Bradley, who has written remakes of foreign films before for CMP – ‘Fools Game’, based on a French movie, and ‘The Orphanage’, based on a Spanish movie – is the author of the screenplay.Finally, ‘Sam and Twitch 2’ became a box office’s flop. So what’s going to happen now with ‘Midnight Movies’? ‘Sam and Twitch 2’ was expected to be the instrument to resurrect financially Kubrick’s company. Now, Harry Stark is considering financing the next movies coming from the company until it recovers from the actual bankruptcy. ‘Midnight Movies’ is planning to develop soon a new sequel of ‘Reform School Girls’… which is not something too promising in terms of financial success anyway.
Only a rumor yet, but it all looks like finally there will be a ‘Silver Sable 4’. Although when releasing
‘Silver Sable and the Genesis Coalition’, both Joey Stark and Bryan Singer stated that they were a bit tired of this franchise, it seems like they are at least considering to get involved in a fourth installment of it. ‘There were a few questions that were left open in the third movie, so maybe we should make a fourth one to definitely give an end to the story’, has recently said Stark. There’s no screenplay yet and even the plotline is not closed so it still may take some time before we see Silver on screen again.
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