JANUARY, 11


NOON

Action
Cast: Brad Pitt, Johnny Depp, Cameron Diaz, Sam Rockwell, Marisa Tomei, Matthew Fox, Kevin Durand, Tim Roth
Director: Martin Scorsese
Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment

Box Office: 221 mill.
Net Gains: 186 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Wonderful box office! Second ‘200’ of the Season after ‘The Dark Tower’. Net gains are outstanding too but they are not higher mainly because the huge amount spent by the Studio in paying the extraordinary salaries got by Pitt, Depp and Diaz for their work.

SNOW

Drama
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Emma Watson, Alan Rickman
Director and Screenwriter: Trent Nielsen



Box Office: 42 mill.
Net Gains: 9 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
This is the kind of productions when having net gains no matter the amount of them is satisfactory enough. I never expected this low budget intimate love story to become a big blockbuster so it has nicely covered my expectations.

VIRAL

Horror / Zombie / Thriller
Cast: Topher Grace, Desmond Harrington, Franky G, Sarah Chalke, Emma Prescott
Director and Producer: Christine Jeffs
Screenwriter: Michael Banno

Box Office: 23 mill.
Net Losses: 24 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
First flop of the Season. It is particularly painful when a new author flops with his debut movie. This one wasn’t a cheap movie to produce at all with all the digital effects and so. So net losses are specially high. Better luck next time, Banno.


NOON

‘The star-system still works in today’s Hollywood. I have the feeling that without the names of Pitt, Depp and Diaz leading the cast, this movie would have never made the outstanding box office it has. ‘Noon’ is a correct and entertaining action pack. It keeps you tense and interested until its very last moments. But it is not such an extraordinary movie to have become the big event it has. It is the appeal of its main stars what upgrades the interest of this solid production. Watching Pitt and Depp together on screen is reason enough to pay a ticket to watch this movie. Both do not let down with their solid works as the lonely hero and the villain respectively. And Cameron Diaz, an actress that keeps growing in CMP each movie she makes, is the perfect complement to increase the appeal of this production. Of course, not even them would have succeeded without a solid screenplay and director supporting them, but it is their powerful screen presence what definitely turns ‘Noon’ into the cinematic event it is.’
-Roy Winslow

‘Movie industry is always surprising. Scorsese has made one of his best box offices in CMP with what probably is one of his weakest works for the Studio. Past Season, the wonderful and multi-awarded ‘A Farewell To Arms’ only made a discrete box office. And the unforgettable ‘American Tabloid’ wasn’t either the box office’s hit it deserved to be. And now, this action show almost breaks records. ‘Noon’ is not a bad movie. Scorsese abandons his more sentimental side – shown in CMP in movies like ‘A Farewell To Arms’ and ‘Tender Is The Night’ – and returns to crime and violence, his most natural territory. He has shot the story with nerve and creates a rising tension and suspense – in the line of one of his most recent works out of CMP, ‘Shutter Island’ – but I don’t think ‘Noon’ will be remembered as one of his best films. Anyway, he has proved with this movie that he also knows how to make a blockbuster when he wants to and not only being the artsy director we all know he is.’
-Mark Anderson

‘This cool and violent movie respects only partially its original source, the classic western ‘High Noon’. Chad Taylor has introduced some changes in the plotline – besides its adaptation to our times – with intelligence. More violent, more spectacular and with a much more tragic ending than ‘High Noon’, Taylor’s version reminded me even more than that movie the Michael Mann’s masterpiece ‘Heat’. The structure of the story and its final showdown is closer to Mann’s movie than to Fred Zinemann’s classic. Even the relationship and the final confrontation of Pitt and Depp’s characters reminded me the acting duel between Pacino and De Niro in that movie. Anyway, ‘Noon’ is an appealing action movie for adult audiences. It is good to see a movie working so well in box office without superheroes, fantasy worlds and flashy digital effects in it.’
-Vic Carter

SNOW

‘It is not easy to write a good love story. The risk of being too soft, too corny or too predictable is always there. Trent Nielsen has proven before that he knows how to deal with stories full of strong feelings (In fact, thank God we have Nielsen in CMP to take a rest from time to time from big CGI shows and superheroes sagas!). With ‘Snow’, Nielsen has avoided all those risks. He has written and directed a movie with an interesting narrative structure. It is not easy to use the flashback and flashforward resources without losing control of the story. The characters are believable (although the ending might be a bit forced), the dose of romanticism is well measured to not becoming sickly sweet, the plot flows at a nice pace and the final result of all that is a nice and moving movie. It may not be a masterpiece and it may not become a classic of the romantic genre. It even may not be the best Nielsen’s story (in my opinion, ‘Sunshine On Lonely Street’ was a much better story than this) but it is a decent and honorable attempt to tell a good love story worth to watch.’
-Anne Roman

‘I like both Emma Watson and Jim Sturgess so this movie had good chances to be appreciated by me even before I watched it. And I must say that I was not disappointed. Emma Watson keeps growing in front of the cameras beyond Harry Potter. She has this classy presence, a natural elegance and a very feminine vulnerability that makes her specially appealing to me. And Jim Sturgess has this guy-next-door presence that works so well in this kind of movies. The needed chemistry between them works so well. Maybe this is not yet the movie that will turn both into main stars in CMP but, without doubt, it is a good step forward in that direction.’
-Andrew Stampton

‘’Snow’ is a missed chance to make the great love story CMP has not made yet. It is close to it but still the movie stays one step before becoming that perfect and definitive love story the Studio has never made. There are some weak points in the plot that downgrades the quality of the movie. Mainly, all the final third of the movie, with Emma’s character showing up as a ghost and Jim’s character letting himself die to reunite with her again does not work as strongly as it should have. It lowers the dramatic intensity of the story instead of upgrading it as it pretends. Also, the relationship between Jim and his father – presumed to be the reason why Jim does not completely believe in love – is not fully developed and at some points it interferes in the main plotline more than support it. Once said so, Nielsen has still made a solid work in the right direction, helping us to forget some false steps in his writing and directing career that had damaged lately his deserved prestige.’
-Jackie O’Callaghan

VIRAL

‘I have a problem with zombies. After watching the wonderfully funny ‘Zombieland’, I just can’t take zombies seriously anymore. And ‘Viral’ has not made me change that. I hate gore and zombies are just unable to scare me at all so it is very difficult for me to enjoy a movie like this. Previous zombies movies made in CMP – the inconsistent ‘Syndrome’ trilogy or the horrendous ‘The Dead Walk’ – have not helped either to turn me a fan of the zombies subgenre. ‘Viral’ may be a bit better than those but still fails in terms of suspense, action of visual findings. I had the feeling that the debutante Michael Banno soon loses control of his own story and it all turns out into another senseless succession of pretended stunning sequences that only inspired me boredom and indifference.’
-Chris Burgess

‘Surreal. That’s the best thing I can say about this movie. While it’s first half can be saved as a decent piece of suspense, with Grace and Harrington wandering around the devastated city, the second half of this movie is a surreal – not to say ‘absurd’ or even ‘embarrassing’ - story with that wife turned into a monster and that unbelievable ending where Grace’s daughter suddenly spreads her wings and flies (!!). Banno respects the rule of any zombies movie when setting the premises of the story. But when the time to develop the story comes, it seems as if he and Christine Jeffs would be driving a car that runs too fast to be controlled.’
-Tim Reeve

‘Just to try to be positive, I will say that the only finding in this movie are the zombie animals. That lion and that Rhino turned into zombie beasts is the only moment of the whole movie that you can find something a bit original and visually surprising. Not enough to save this production. Any episode of ‘The Walking Dead’ is a better ‘zombie experience’ than this failed production. Michael Banno has proved he can build a story but he will have to elaborate and polish more his material in future works to fully develop the potential as a horror or suspense author he has only given a slight hint of in this debut movie.’
-Amy Ratched


NOON

OPENING STATEMENT: The western genre isn't necessarily dead, it's still around. Just not as often as most movies you see. But even when you go into a film like 'Noon' you will see the western influence; even if it's not set in the old west. Go figure, it's an update of the 1952 western film 'High Noon.' You know when you are seeing a Scorsese film, you are going into something masterfully made from the writing all the way to the performances and direction. We have something here that easily rivals the greatness of the newest Hollywood hit; the western 'True Grit' and 'Noon' isn't even a western!

WHAT I LIKED: As stated already, it's hard to hate on a well made film like this. Great performances all around, the maturity of Chad Taylor's writing, Scorsese's writing, the production values: we have here something that I don't think will be left out of GMAs this season.

WHAT I DISLIKED: People in the movie theater kept getting up and going to the bathroom or to the snack bar right in front of me. I felt like putting my feet up over their seat and holding them down with my feet!

SHINING STAR/DEAD WEIGHT: Sam Rockwell finally gets a job in a CMP movie. Instant Shining Star moment. The rest of the cast are already well established great actors and actresses who pulled their weight without dropping a sweat.

THE BRAINS BEHIND: Chad knew just what he was doing when he not only got Scorsese to direct, but he is also showing his independent studio 'Silver Lining' is looking for an extra element of prestige. Scorsese did what he does best in this film, so no complaints from either brains here!

OVERALL: A+ a modern Scorsese classic!

SNOW

OPENING STATEMENT: IF Hermione ever wanted to try to break free of the Harry Potter mold, this would be a a perfect way to do it. Anne Hathaway managed to break her Disney-image by starring in 'not so kiddie' roles. Emma does it here. Snow is a love story we haven't really seen all that often. You may think you've seen it all before, but not this way. Definitely not the norm of what we typically see in the mainstream romance movies.

WHAT I LIKED: The way scenes were scattered around throughout the movie is something I liked too, making the viewers put all the pieces together.

WHAT I DISLIKED: The way it ended, though it was an alright ending, it felt as if the ending was already decided before the script was even thought of, know what I mean?

SHINING STAR/DEAD WEIGHT: Those who shined were definitely the lead stars here: Jim and Emma. Great chemistry! Alan on the other hand, he's a fine actor, but he was hardly in the movie and basically forgotten.

THE BRAINS BEHIND: Trent definitely put a great amount of effort into writing a great romance film. The way he wrote and directed it certainly shows a wonderful amount of skill. He made something that will just grow on you in no time.

OVERALL: A- had a few minor flaws here and there and those flaws I tried pointing out in this review, but still worthy of an A.

VIRAL

OPENING STATEMENT: You might think that for a while, you're just watching a typical zombie movie with added originality of animal zombies, but once you get to where Connor's wife turns into a giant monster is where you're wondering 'what the fuck?' zombie movie meets Godzilla then when the child who only gets mentioned twice and finally shown at the end sprouts wings we're all wondering 'ahhh'

WHAT I LIKED: Definitely the addition of zombie-animals, something that if we've seen before already in zombie movies, we haven't seen enough of.

WHAT I DISLIKED: I think I was a little confused there toward the end once the giant dinosaur-rhino-elephant thing was loose in the city.

SHINING STAR/DEAD WEIGHT: It was one of those movies where anyone could have done the roles and the results would have turned out the same.

THE BRAINS BEHIND: I usually try to go easy on the CMP writing debutants, but sometimes you have to be direct and honest if they want to be taken seriously as writers. Then again, CMP is a fantasy game where people can write however they want. It's all just for fun. It may be surprising but I'm looking forward to seeing what Michael Banno has in store for us in future works. Don't be discouraged by anything critics have to say, Michael! Keep on writing!

OVERALL: D- Don't be surprised to see this last less than a week in theaters.

MR. THUMBS' CERTIFIED MUST SEE OF THE WEEK:

NOON