FEBRUARY, 11


THE RESPECTED

Action / Gangster

The Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Robert Pattinson, Lea Michele, Johnny Depp, Bruce Willis, Tom Wilkinson, Nicole Kidman, Michael Douglas

The Director: Jonathan Demme
The Producer: Joseph Gordon-Levitt
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor

The Plot:

The camera pans out and we’re onboard a commercial airline. It moves down the aisle, and we finally stop at a certain section. Vincent Angelo sits in his seat with a smile on his face. He has a book on his lap, The Godfather by Mario Puzo.The flight attendant comes by, and her name tag reads “Andrea Rose”. Their eyes meet and they are both thinking the same thing. They share a short conversation, as he attempts to flirt with her, but she rejects him. She suggests that he should keep reading his book, but he suggests to her that she meet up with him later in the day.

1986.Andrea takes care of her newborn son, named Harrison after one of the biggest actors at the time, Harrison Ford. She later meets Alexander Michelli (T.Wilkinson) and they begin to see each other more often. She decides not to tell him about her son, and gives Harrison to a trusted friend. She ends up pregnant again, this time giving birth to Andrew Michelli (R.Pattinson). They get married shortly after his birth.

Now Andrea’s lifeless body lays in a puddle of blood on the ground. Nearby lies the body of Catharine Collins, who blood spreads out and mixes with Andrea’s. Andrew stands, shaking, in shock of what he just did. While Harrison Angelo (J.Gordon-Levitt) has become more of a man, he can’t stand the sight of seeing his love and his mom dead. He passes out and falls to the ground, while Andrew scrambles to find a way to dispose of the dead bodies and flea the scene.

Andrew dumps the bodies in the river, and takes a trip to the cemetery, where he finds the grave of Daniel Michelli. He was Andrew’s cousin and best friend in life. While acting tough on the outside, it is evident that Andrew is hurting after murdering his mother and his best friend. He grips the tombstone and stares into the cityscape in the distance. He knows what he has to do. He must confess to the only person he has left…his father.

Alexander is a nervous wreck with his love missing. When they meet, they share a few words, when Andrew tells Alexander that they have to talk. Alexander takes a big gulp, and holds his son’s hand.”I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you son. I didn’t want to scare you.”Andrew looks confused as his father talks. “It’s just that…the cancer is terminal, and I didn’t want you to experience losing me, like I feel right now, with your mother gone.” A tear rolls down his eye, while Andrew stares on. “You…you have cancer?” Alexander looks confused, as he thought his son knew of the news. Andrew then decides to go with it, and hugs his father. “I love you,father. I love you”he says. Alexander kisses his kid on the forehead “I love you too, my boy.”

While Richard Collins (M.Douglas) sits at home with his wife, frantically waiting on news, Harrison speeds towards their house to tell them. But while on his way,he gets a call from Santonio (J.Depp). Harrison tells him everything that happened, and that he is going to tell her dad, a cop. Santonio tells him to stop the car and turn around. He tells him that they can not get the cops involved, no matter what. Harrison is confused, and tells Santonio that Richard is different, because he’s her father. He tells him that it doesn’t matter,and he will find a way to solve the situation. Harrison thinks about his options, and sides with Santonio, and turns around.

We see him making a phone call to Alexander. He informs him that his son is the one that killed Andrea and Catharine. Alexander is shocked, as she was the one thing in life that made him happy. He calls Andrew into the room, and tells him he’s found out the news, and that he will shun his son for the rest of his life. Andrew is in shock, as he expected his father to be the one who granted him forgiveness.

Harrison is at home, staring out the window at the world changing. A knock comes on his door, and Jenna (L.Michele) is there. She tells him that she’s heard the news, which prompts her to cry. Harrison, invulnerable to tears, hugs her and comforts her and has her take a seat on his couch. She tells him that her father, divorced from her mother, is now dating a woman named Anabel Vernice. She tells him that when she brought up Harrison while at Anabel’s house, it startled her. She asked Jenna if there was a way she could get a hold of Harrison. He seems confused, but then says he’s open to a visit.

So they set up a meeting, and she gets ready to leave, but Harrison tells her to wait. He brings her closer, and thanks her for coming over. She smiles, and expresses her apologies again. Thinking about the moment inside his apartment, Catharine’s death, he quickly tries to erase the thought from his mind, and kisses Jenna. This time, she resists, and holds onto him. But he quickly pulls away and apologizes for not thinking about his actions, and that he is just greiving. He tells her not fall for a bad boy like him. She laughs at him, and gives him a quick last kiss, and tells him that she expects to him to pick her up to go to Anabel’s.

Sheppard (B.Willis) and Collins talk to each other about the whereabouts of his daughter. Sheppard tells him that he will do whatever it takes to find Catharine. And from his studies over the past few months, he knows where to look. He scrambles through his equipment and finds his assets to tap into a phone line. But instead of getting into Harrison’s phone, he chooses to pursue Santonio. He knows that Santonio is the driving force behind the resurrection, and if he is stopped, than the return of the dangerous Angelo family may finally be put to rest.

Andrew, angry at himself, looks through things in his house. Everything his parents gave him. He looks through a yearbook from grade school, and finds pictures of him and Daniel. Then he looks up each of the girlfriends he had back then. He saves his favorite for last. Jenna . This makes him smile as he stares at her picture, but then he shuts the yearbook. He turns and finds his rope, and hangs it to his ceiling. He sets up a chair underneath, and gets on it. He puts the noose on his neck and closes his eyes. We see images of Andrea, Alexander and Daniel. The screen then fades to black, and we hear silence. Then suddenly we hear a phone ring. The shot returns to Andrew and there he is struggling, to get to his chair. He keeps his hands on the noose, trying to loosen its grip. He finally reaches the chair with his foot, and is able to get down. He finds the phone and calls the person back. On the phone is the hospital. They inform that his father has fallen into a coma, and that he is gravely ill. They tell him he needs to come to the hospital.

When he arrives there, they tell him that they need him to make a decision. They can take a chance, and give him the time of come out of the coma, but with significant problems. Or he could choose to pull the plug (putting Alexander to rest). The sad, broken, and hurt Andrew looks at his father. The sad look on his face changes to the grim look on his face that we saw on the end of the second movie. He knows that the empire will be his.”Pull the plug.”

Harrison cruises down the road with his window down, letting the wind hit him in the face. He pulls up to Jenna’s house, and picks her up. She leads him to Anabel’s house, which is a mansion located in the hilly outskirts of town. Harrison is awestruck as he looks at the beautiful visuals. He walks down her sidewalk, still looking around. Jenna looks at him, which makes her smile, and takes his hand. They enter the house, and there is the stunning Anabel (Nicole Kidman). She informs Harrison that at one point in her life, she was romantically involved with his father and grandfather.

As she starts to describe her father, Harrison develops a better understanding of his father. She tells him that he made a fortune, which when he died, went to her. Harrison immediately wonders why he was not put into the will, and inherited none of the money. He starts to get frustrated, but Jenna strokes his hand, easing his emotions. Anabel explains that Vincent was very aware of Harrison’s existence. But Vincent had felt very bad about not ever visting him in his wilder years when Harrison was a kid, that he would’ve felt ashamed to visit him now. He would’ve felt like a bad father.

He was left out of the will because he told Anabel that he didn’t want his only son to be involved in the lifestyle he was. He knew that the life of a mobster is tough, so while he wanted his son to continue the Angelo legacy, he also didn’t want him to follow in his footsteps. He ended up choosing the second choice, leaving Harrison unaware of the existence of Vincent. Harrison takes this information in, and now understands why his dad did that. Even though he didn’t know him, Harrison trusts his father, and thinks that he may be right. Maybe this isn’t the life that Harrison should be living. He stands up and thanks Anabel for having him over. She hands him a suitcase that she’s been saving for him, if she ever found him. In it is loads of money. She gives him a hug and tells him that next time he sees his grandfather, to tell him she said hello.

He and Jenna go out to his car, and he has a large smile on his face. He tells her that he is done with his dangerous lifestyle, and he’s going back to his old ways. She smiles and pats him on the back, as he lets out a sigh of relief and looks down at the dashboard. A very small device sits there, which is connected to the pedal. Harrison investigates and starts the car, but when he puts his foot on the pedal, he quickly takes it off. He then looks down, and see’s a button flashing, saying his trunk is open. He gets out the car to close it,but when he opens it up, he notices that under blankets is indeed a bomb. He sees a small device on the bomb that resembles the one on the dashboard. He figures that if he presses the gas, it sets off the bomb in the trunk.

He tells Jenna that they must find another ride, and she tells him that she could drive one of her father’s many vehicles. Meanwhile, we see a couple of thugs watching a security camera, visually mad because Harrison discovered the bomb. Andrew, fresh off the death of his father, tells them to chase him down.

And so while Harrison gets excited to ride on Jenna’s father’s motorcycle, two thugs get in the car and head towards the residence.”I’ve always waited to have a moment like this” he says excitingly, and puts on his sunglasses and slicks back his hair. As he rides down the road, he notices the two cars pull up behind, and inch closer.

They force Harrison to the middle of the road, while they get on both sides of him. Jenna gets scared, while Harrison is pissed off. He kicks one car, and then the other, but both time leaving little damage. He then pulls out a gun and shoots at each car, while Jenna reaches around and steers. Beside the road, sits a cop car, who notices the action, and turns his lights on. A cop chase ensues, involving the police, the two cars, and the motorcycle. The curvy roads cause danger, but the drivers continue to attempt to hurt Harrison. Then around a curve comes another car in the left lane, going the opposite way, and hits head on with one of the cars. Harrison looks ahead and sees that instead of following the curvy road, he can go straight off of the ramp and down the mountainside.

He’s seen it in movies, and considers it, but when he gets up to he reconsiders. The car and the cop continued on the curve, and are now in the distance. Harrison spots the 100 ft. drops and presses his brake, attempting to make a sharp turn. But he cannot complete it and he wrecks on his side, causing him and Jenna to fall off. They’re not badly injured, but they’re hurt and they see where the thug has shot the cop. He approaches the couple, and pulls his gun out. He points it at Harrison’s head, but before he pulls the trigger, we hear his walkie talkie. It is Andrew telling him to leave Harrison up there. It is a rarely used road, and he will have to find escape. The thug leaves, while Jenna starts to cry.

Andrew is at Harrison’s car. We see him going through trunk, and throwing the “bomb” in the trash. It is easy to see that the bomb was actually fake. He gets in the backseat and takes the suitcase that Harrison left. He lifts it up and smiles…”Worked to perfection.”

A few days later, Harrison is on the phone with Santonio. He has thought over his options, and does not want to get involved in the mafia wars. “I’m sorry Sans, but I’m not cut out for this. You shouldn’t have put in effort to help me.” Harrison says. “No Harry, I’m sorry…“ he replies. Meanwhile, back at Shephard’s house, he walks past his room and hears the beeper going off. He is quick to get to it, and hears the conversation. “ I’ve been a bad person, I’ve killed a lot of people, and I know I’ve probably hurt you now. Try not to let me effect your feelings. I’m just a maniac.” Santonio finishes. Sheppard’s device fades out, and he becomes amazed by this development. He listens to the quote repeatedly and comes to the conclusion that Santonio has killed Catharine.

Sheppard hunts down Santonio, while Richard investigates at his home, and comes to the conclusion that it was indeed Andrew who committed the crime. Santonio, who still feels strongly about taking down his former ally, also begins to search for Andrew. He sits alone at the Michelli household, holding Harrison’s breifcase in his hands. He opens it up, and we see tons of cash. But below it all is a set of documents, which Andrew seems to be pleased the most about. Santonio arrives at the house, and barges in. He charges Andrew and points a gun at him. “That’s it Andy! Give up? Oh yeah, remember me? I remember when you were just a little boy.” he laughs violently. “There’s no better way to get back at your dad than by killing you.” Santonio continues. “My dad? My dad’s dead.” Andrew smiles, and a shot goes through Santonio’s head. Sheppard stands at the door with a smoking gun in hand.

Andrew and Sheppard share an awkward moment, as the window breaks behind. Andrew grabs his gun, as Collins comes through the window. He notices Santonio, and looks up at Sheppard, then at Andrew. “You killed my daughter!” he yells. Sheppard looks at him strangely “No, this guy killed her!” Sheppard points at Santonio’s body. Collins picks up his dumbfounded face, as Andrew puts three bullets in Collins chest. Sheppard escapes outside the window and races to his car. Andrew stays put within his house and lights up a cigarette, as Collins and Santonio lay dead on his floor.

Harrison shuffles through his belongings to find his suitcase, but he can’t. He calls Jenna and asks her, but no luck. Then everything in the room goes silent as Harrison looks down at his phone, which begins to ring. He answers it, and it is Andrew. Their chilling conversation ensues, as Harrison is informed of the deaths of Santonio and Richard. He finds out that his enemy is in possession of all of the money. Andrew then tells him that Jenna is pregnant, and that they had been good friends since their school days, and they “interacted” a few days ago. Harrison is quick to call Jenna, who confirms this. She tells him that she is not sure who’s the father, as she is not committed to anyone.

Harrison decides not to get mad, but to get to work. Along with the help of his grandfather (who we only can hear), he sets up his empire member by member. The Underboss, the Capo’s, and even gathers some Associates. We see Jenna arrive at Harrison’s apartment, and walking up to the door. As her hand nears the knob, a flashback starts. It is in a dark room, in Jenna’s home. Andrew is in the room, and tries to come onto her, but she rejects him. He tries again, and she pushes him away and tells him to leave. He starts to walk out, but then returns back inside, and wraps his arms around Jenna, who tries to push him off. “Don’t tell anyone about this…because you know what I could do.” Andrew says, and the scene fades away, as he begins to rape her.

A tear begins to roll down from her eye, and she backs away from the door, and walks away. Harrison stares out the window clinching his teeth, and looks back to a picture of Catharine and then back to Jenna. Cut to the police station, where Sheppard is informing all of his men. They plot out a series of arrests and warrants against the Michelli clan. But unfortunately for Sheppard, he cannot find anyway to put Andrew away, after he framed one of his associates as the killer of Santonio and Richard and other victims. Sheppard feels powerless in his pursuit, because of how clever Andrew has mastered the situation.

Harrison meanwhile, is visiting a local night club, where a popular local band is playing. He takes a few drinks at a table by himself, as the waitress approaches him. “Need anything sir?” she proposes. “Yeah, another drink, and some goddamn sympathy!” She is scared, and walks away, as Harrison sits in the dark. He is not drunk, but he has had a few drinks, and it’s obvious that the last few months have gotten to him. He looks up at the television to see 54 arrests have been issued against the Michelli clan in what is one of the city’s biggest takedowns in history. It also reports that heir of the throne Andrew Michelli is still at large. We then see a bar fight ensue, as Harrison chuckles to himself. They get close to Harrison’s table, startling him. One man throws the other ontop of the table, forcing Harrison to dodge the action. He gets outside, and is greeted with a dark cloudy sky, filled with heavy rainfall. He stands in the rain and walks to his car, all by himself.

A speeding police chase races by. A man peeks out of the car in front and points a gun at Harrison. The gun delievers three shots, one hitting Harrison, and the other two hitting his car. He screams in pain, but gets in his car and follows the chase. A barricade has been set up on the city’s suspension bridge (similar to the Golden Gate Bridge in size).The car spins around, halfway down the bridge, coming to a screeching halt. The police car behind it also stops, as well as Harrison’s car. The rain continues to pour on the city skyline, as Andrew exits his car, Sheppard leaves his cop car, and Harrison gets out of his. Sheppard tells Andrew to stop where he is and he does, but the man in the passengers seat points his gun at Sheppard, who shoots the man.

“Well there goes my last man.Happy?” Andrew says jokingly. Harrison then comes running from behind and begins to scream. “Put him away! Put him away! You know what he did!” he yells. “What exactly did I do Mr.Angelo?” Andrews says delightfully. “You-” Harrison begins but is interuppted. “You are under arrest for Sexual Assault of the Second Degree.” Sheppard exclaims. Andrew’s smile turns sour after he realized that Jenna turned him in. He then makes a break for it, running toward the edge, and leaps off the bridge. Sheppard and Harrison take this as a suicide attempt, and let out a big sigh of relief. But we see under the bridge, where a boat is there, that caught Andrew, and has kept him alive.

Sheppard and Harrison race down to the boat, and try to get on. The captain of the boat sits on watching, but then pulls out a gun (obviously being hired by Andrew), prompting Harrison to shoot the man. Sheppard laughs “Now I’m happy.“Andrew, ailing from his injuries, tries to talk. “Harrison, you are so foolish. You try so hard to re-create something that will fail eventually. It’s not worth it. You’re so young to the game. Don’t you know…you can never visit the clubs or pubs. Learn the game. Your father was right…you’re not right for this. If you are a loser at life, then you will never succeed in our world.” Harrison stares on “Don’t talk about my father. You’re mistaken. I’m ready. And by the way…our world? I think you mean my world…Il mio mondo…vaffanculo”Andrew looks mad,but pulls out a gun to shoot Sheppard, and is shot by Harrison, killing him. Sheppard makes an agreement with Harrison to let him go, because he saved his life. “Do you want to lead a corrupt life Harrison?“ he says. “No…I want to be respected.“ They shake hands. “This doesn’t mean I’m done with you.” Sheppard says. “I know” Harrison smiles and jumps off of the boat.

Harrison is now sitting at his desk, with his hair slicked back, and people running in and out of his office. An associate tells him that they just completed a deal with a local business to let them take over. Harrison is happy, as it’s one his first major milestones in the long career he has ahead of himself. Finally Jenna walks in, wearing a dress, with a large baby bump. She tells him that she received the tests back, and that it is his baby. He looks at his desk, and see’s a framed picture of his grandfather, and next to it, his father. He is then heard in a voice over “My life is not about being a forgotten son. Not about resurrecting the family business. Not about being respected in this industry. It’s about legacy.” He places his hand on Jenna’s pregnant stomach. “ And preparing a good life…for my heir.”


Stark’s Comment:
In Season 13, ‘The Forgotten’ was a painful disappointment at box office when it unexpectedly made only 48 million and 7 millions of net gains. But, next Season, the second episode of the trilogy, ‘The Resurrected’, became a more than decent hit making 113 million and 154 millions of net gains (and getting a Best Picture nod too). I presume that this third and final installment of the saga will follow the line of ‘The Resurrected’.

Behind The Scenes:
-Gordon-Levitt, Pattinson, Douglas and Wilkinson have been in the three movies of the trilogy.
-Depp, Willis and Michele joined the saga in its second installment.
-Nicole Kidman is the only new face in the cast. But she is retaking the character she already played in the original ‘The Heirs’ trilogy.
-CMP delayed the shooting of this movie until Michael Douglas was ready to join it after his recent health problems.
-Jonathan Demme had to shoot in a row all the sequences where Johnny Depp shows up because the actor had very few free dates to shoot between his work in ‘Noon’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’.

MIRROR’S EDGE

Action

The Cast: Megan Fox, Mila Kunis, Billy Bob Thornton, Sean Bean, Jon Voight

The Director: Doug Liman
The Screenwriter: Steve Connors

The Plot:

Faith Connors (M.Fox) is a ‘Runner’ in a futuristic city ruled by the totalitarian regime of Mayor Callaghan (J.Voight). Mayor Callaghan has forbidden the use of any kind of electronic communication as part of a policy to reduce crime (but also with the intention of controlling citizen’s life). The ‘Runners’ are an illegal organization leaded by a man named Merc B.B.Thornton). They are couriers that carry physical communiqués around the city, being their clients revolutionary groups opposite to Callaghan’s totalitarian policies. Police forces are always alert against them.

As the movie begins, we see Faith running away from Police through the roofs of the city. It’s a very dangerous chase as we see Faith’s skill to jump from one building to another in a highly risky way while policemen open fire on her. Finally, Faith loses the policemen and completes her mission successfully.

Faith returns to her small apartment. She has there a radio (although having electronic equipments of any kind is forbidden) to monitor the Police frequencies. She hears on the radio the voice of her sister Kate (M.Kunis). Kate is a police officer. Faith and Kate have always had a distant and conflictive relationship as their respective visions of Callaghan have always been opposite. Kate is transmitting to the Police Central that she is going to visit Robert Pope. Pope is a brand new candidate running for Mayor that has promised to bring more freedom to the city.

Minutes later, a police report on the radio indicates shots are being fired at Pope’s office. Faith is so scared something may have happened to Kate but she feels helpless.

A few days later, Faith hears through her radio that Kate has been convicted of Pope’s murder.

She tells Merc about it. Merc uses his confidential contacts to help Faith. Merc arranges a spot where Faith can ambush the convoy that is taking her sister to prison. Faith is able to successfully free Kate and after she lures the police away, she takes Kate to Merc’s lair.

There, Kate tells Faith and Merc that she didn’t kill Pope. Her superiors ordered her to visit Pope to check if his security team was making a good job. While being with Pope, somebody with a mask got into Pope’s office and shot him. Before he died, Pope could only tell one word to Kate: ‘Icarus’.

Faith meets with her friend Jacknife (S.Bean), a former runner who used to train her. Jacknife knows everything that goes on in the city. He tells her to investigate a former wrestler named Ropeburn, who was Pope’s head of security.

Faith goes to see Ropeburn to Pope’s offices but as soon as he sees her the man tries to run away through the penthouse. Faith chases him through the buildings’ roofs. Finally, Faith catches him and after a fight, she hangs him over a rooftop and interrogates him. To her surprise, Ropeburn tells her that he run away because he thought she had been sent by Police to kill him. Then, he tells Faith that he is almost sure Pope was killed by Callaghan’s policemen or by the people from a private security firm working on something Pope was investigating called ‘Project Icarus’. Before he can tell her anything else, Ropeburn is shot from another building and dies.

Faith runs away and returns to Merc’s liar. To her surprise, she finds the liar has been attacked. Kate has disappeared and Merc is lying on the floor nearly dead. Before he dies, Merc tells Faith that it was police forces that attacked them. Kate has been probably taken to the Shard, the city’s largest skyscraper where the mayor’s offices and the city’s centralized surveillance computers are. Merc tells Faith that it probably was Callaghan’s police who killed his politic rival Pope too and that Kate will be accused of being a revolutionary infiltrated in police forces and the murderer of Pope so Callaghan stays free of any suspect.

Once Merc dies, Faith goes to her apartment. But she is ambushed there by men dressed with the private security company’s uniforms. She runs away in a deadly run through the top of the city’s buildings while chased by both helicopters and special units shooting at her. Faith has to use her running and jumping skills in a vertiginous way to get free of all of them.

Finally, Faith escapes. And she goes then to the Shard. She gets into the building going down from its roof to a window in an extremely dangerous descent. Then, she moves through the building until she reaches the server rooms.

She destroys the surveillance servers and returns to the roof. There, she is shocked when she sees her friend Jacknife and Kate. Kate is being held at gunpoint by Jacknife, almost ready to leave the building in a helicopter.

Faith faces Jacknife. And Jacknife tells her the truth: Project Icarus is a plan being developed by a private security company and created by Mayor Callaghan. They are creating special teams to murder one by one all the runners in the city and to stop their uncontrolled flow of information. Pope had known about it and was planning to denounce that plan to the media to stop Callaghan and his illegal methods.

As an expert former runner, Jacknife had been hired by Mayor Callaghan to act as consultant of Project Icarus. He would be paid a huge amount of money for it. Jacknife accepted although that meant betraying all his mates. He was the one who shot Pope. And it was also him who told Callaghan where Merc’s liar was so police forces could kill Merc and recapture Kate and also who told them about her apartment. Now he is taking Kate back to prison to be formally prosecuted for Pope’s death.

Jacknife shoots Faith and attempts to fly away with Kate in the helicopter. Jacknife’s shot fails. Faith is able to jump and hang from the helicopter as it is taking off. She then gets into the helicopter’s cabin. Jacknife is piloting. Faith and Jackknife fight until she knocks Jacknife and he falls to his death, straying bullets from a machine gun and damaging the helicopter.

The helicopter starts pitching and spinning violently and Kate falls out, barely grabbing the edge of The Shard’s rooftop. Faith gets to jump out before the helicopter crashes into the Shard. She is able then to grab Kate right before she falls.

Screen goes black.

We hear a news bulletin: Mayor Callaghan has been officially accused of ordering the assassination of his political rival Robert Pope. He has also been accused of financing a secret plan to assassinate all the runners by private security forces. Although Callaghan denied all the accusations, citizens have reacted with crowded demonstrations against the Mayor. The district attorney has decided to prosecute Mayor Callaghan. District attorney has admitted that he has two protected witnesses against Mayor Callaghan. It all looks like Mayor Callaghan will not only resign in the upcoming days but also that he could be sentenced to jail for all that. Probably, the Law against electronic communications will be abolished by the City Council as soon as Callaghan resigns.

Faith turns off the radio. She steps out of a small country house. The skyscrapers of the city can be seen in the distance and through the trees. Kate is outside the house relaxing in a hammock. Both sisters look at each other and smile.


Stark’s Comment:
Not the most artsy movie in the world, I know. But it has ingredients enough to work very nicely in box office.

Behind The Scenes:
-Doug Liman has directed before for CMP the movies ‘Ace Banner’ and ‘The Cure’.
-Steve Connors confirms his liking for game adaptations. Before this one, he has adapted games like ‘Gears Of War’, ‘Uncharted’, ‘Assassin’s Creed’ and ‘Guitar Hero’. And he has already announced he will adapt ‘Heavy Rain’.
-In the console game, the character played by Megan Fox is Asian. Obviously, not in the movie.
-Megan Fox has not been very lucky lately at CMP: her two latest works for the Studio (‘Kingdom: The Dark And The Light’ and ‘Toons’) have flopped at box office.
-Mila Kunis only previous work in CMP, ‘Housatlantavegas’, was also a box office’s flop.
-Sean Bean has worked with Connors before playing the main villain of ‘Assassin’s Creed’.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HOLDEN CAULFIELD?

Drama

The Cast: Tobey Maguire, James Franco

The Director: Wes Anderson
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins

The Plot:

Peter Moore (T.Maguire) is a guy in his mid-40s who once had his childhood dreams to be a famous author, but with his older age catching up to him, he's settled with the life every average human is expected to have: Wife, kids, hard working job that barely gets he and his family by. He's been content working as an automobile mechanic for fifteen years and usually on Saturdays he'll grab a few drinks with his co-workers.

During one particular beer-outing, Peter and his co-workers take notice that one of them has a book he brought in to read during downtime. The author of the book was once a famed author using the pen name 'Holden Caulfield.' Holden apparently dropped off the face of the earth after writing four novels in his life. A few of Peter's coworkers joke around, explaining in brief dialogue their perception of what they think happened to Holden; but Peter explains to them that he actually WAS a great friend of Holden.

So the film really begins when Peter tells the story of when he was in his mid-twenties, still with being an author on his mind. He was a college guy taking classes in English and creative writing; all while working part-time jobs. The idea of his wife and kids were far in the back of his mind, he considered himself married to his own work. His favorite author was a writer named Holden Caulfield (J.Franco). Peter was given the opportunity to meet Holden at his first and only book signing. At first, Peter was dumbfounded. Holden was a few years younger than him and managed to publish four brilliantly written novels: The only books he would ever write in his life. Holden found Peter slightly interesting because he was the only person to show up with a mysterious short story Holden never got published that Peter found off a website, a website Holden used to post the short story before he became a well known author. It was the only story in which Holden used his real name.

In a way, Holden takes Peter under his wings, showing him the ropes of writing: even if throughout their friendship it doesn't seem as if Holden is really all that interested in helping Peter because he rarely actually speaks with Peter about writing. Holden seems to work less and go with the flow of life, content with it because he knows he's already got enough money to live, while Peter struggles in life getting himself recognized as a writer, getting through school and making sure he's square on money. Holden doesn't help him get seen by his own publisher and he doesn't help Peter with financial issues; in fact, Holden tends to borrow money from Peter.

Being a couple of young college aged guys living near Las Vegas, Peter and Holden spend long hours out at night going to bars, casinos, strip joints, clubs and picking up women to bring home for the night: One funny scene involves poor Peter sitting on one side of a couch with the girl he brought home on the other, both not speaking while in the background, Holden is having wild loud hot sex with the woman he brought home. Peter breaks their awkward silence by talking about how there should be a restaurant that sells all kinds of cheese from around the world.

About a year of this hard partying and friendship, Peter hasn't really learned anything from Holden as he promised, but Peter still sticks with him: totally unaware if Holden even has respect for him or if he's just using him. Peter has those same doubts about himself with Holden, if he feels like he's using Holden as his own personal 'Mr. Miyagi.' Holden begins to start going down the deep end. He calls Peter and tells him he won't be able to make it to a public book reading and wants Peter to go in representation of him. Unfortunately, Peter agrees to the book reading and when the people show up and find their famed author has been replaced by some 'nobody' tonight, they all end up throwing things at Peter and walking out. Similar things happen throughout the film when Peter must attend a book signing in place of Holden, signing books in Holden's name. Holden even wants Peter to write his fifth genius book titled 'The Girl in the Window', under one condition: He wants Peter to sign it as Holden Caulfield.

With hardly any great advice at writing, throughout the rest of the film, Peter is writing his first draft of the story while dealing with his strange friendship with Holden while Holden becomes a recluse. Many of Holden's eccentricities include calling up his ex-girlfriend and screaming at her, then calling her back on the phone and apologizing, crying and wanting to be taken back. Holden does nude yoga in front of his open window, he has OCD and is somewhat of a hypochondriac: no better excuses to go out with a woman, family, friend, or Peter but 'I'm sick' or 'There's a spider in front of the doorway'

Peter cuts ties off with Holden after finally growing some balls and he doesn't see Holden for years. Sometimes he would walk by Holden's apartment and look up to see the blinds of the window in Holden's apartment down, but he could tell Holden was looking at him through the blinds.

Years would pass (quickly for film editing) and Peter would meet his current wife and have his children with her. One day, he receives a call from Holden, as if they were casual friends who spoke everyday: Holden said he wanted to meet up with Peter for dinner. Peter agrees and the two meet up in a restaurant for dinner and some drinks. They talk about how their lives have been but don't really reflect on the time they spent with each other. Holden says he's doing great and that he's got a few movies and books lined up, he constantly feeds Peter his lies and Peter just shakes his head, laughing, "somethings never change"

After Peter says that, Holden takes subtle offense and excuses himself from dinner. He leaves his cut of the check. The next day, Peter receives a phone call from a sister of Holden who Peter didn't know he even had. The mysterious sister tells Peter that Holden took sleeping pills last night and passed away. Peter goes to the memorial.

Peter finishes telling the story to his co-workers and they all leave the bar. Peter takes a taxi home and requests the driver stop at a mailbox. He puts a folder in the mail and drives away.

The editor in chief of Holden's publishing company receives the envelop and opens it. When she pulls it out, she looks at the cover page it reads:

The Girl in the Window
By
Holden Caulfield

Peter is walking down the street he usually walks to get to work the next day. He looks up at Holden's apartment and could swear he saw the blinds in the window move as if someone saw him and stepped back: much like what Holden would do when he got caught peeping out his window.


Stark’s Comment:
Here’s a very original and interesting story. It should easily cover the investment as it was pretty cheap to produce. So let’s cross fingers and hope that moviegoers appreciate this very appealing movie.

Behind The Scenes:
-Wes Anderson had not worked for CMP since he directed the so called ‘Wes Anderson’s Fables’ written by James Bradley: ‘Bill And The Rocket Man’, ‘Fools Game’ and ‘Man In The Mirror’.
-Before Wes Anderson finally took control of this project, many other directors were considered by Collins: Dayton and Faris, Paul Thomas Anderson, Darren Aronofsky, Jason Reitman and David Fincher. In fact, it was the Studio who finally considered Anderson the best choice among them.
-Tobey Maguire had not been in a CMP’s movie not playing Spiderman since Season 5’s ‘An American Stroll’. After that, he has been seen in 5 CMP’s productions but in all of them he played Spiderman.
-James Franco has already starred this Season ‘Dark Shadows’. Past Season, he won the Best Starring Couple award with Carey Mulligan for ‘A Farewell To Arms’, also winner of the Best Picture GMA.


GRAND THEFT AUTO: Console games keep being and endless source of material for CMP’s authors. Now’s the turn for one of the most successful games in recent years and it’s been Chad Taylor the one adapting it for the big screen. Martin Campbell will be the man directing the movie. Campbell has directed for CMP the old ‘Corsairs’ movies, the comedy ‘Crooks’ and the two installments of the interrupted David Makalaster’s saga ‘Magic – The Gathering’. Leading the cast, we’ll see Tom Hardy, making his debut in CMP, and two GMA Winners: Ray Liotta and Anthony Mackie.

A MURDER OF CROWS: The very active lately William H. Macy – already seen this Season in ‘Replicant Rebel’ and ‘A Tangled Web’ – joins the cast of this action thriller written and directed by Richard Franzwa. Marisa Tomei, also seen this Season in ‘Noon’, will also be seen here playing Giovanni Ribisi’s secretary and Harvey Keitel’s lover. And Lindsay Lohan, not seen in CMP since ‘Graceland’, will try to resurrect her acting career playing a photographer.

PRIDE AND PREJUDICE AND ZOMBIES: GMA Winner Susan Sarandon returns to CMP after a long time away – her last work for the Studio was ‘Silent Hill’ – to play here the aristocratic and dubious socializer Lady Catherine. Bryce Dallas Howard, whose only previous work for CMP was in the musical ‘Nine’, also joins the cast playing Natalie Portman’s old friend. Tim Burton is the director of the movie.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HONEST: Josh Collins returns to family dramas with this new screenplay to be released in Season 17. Paul Haggis is directing it. Haggis made his debut in CMP two Seasons ago with the flopped James Bradley’s drama ‘Alice’. The lead characters of the story – a marriage counselor and his wife – will be played by Kevin Costner and Elizabeth Shue. Shue has already worked with Collins in the critically acclaimed Francis Coppola’s drama ‘Prison Letters’.

THE SHIELD: It is obvious by now that Matt Kubrick is casting people with previous experience in other jobs to act in this horror slasher movie. This week is the turn of the very sexy Sarah Shahi, best known for being an ex cheerleader of the Dallas Cowboys. Jerry O’Connell, who already worked in the previous horror flick developed by Kubrick ‘Pinocchio’s Terror’, repeats the experience in this one. And Monica Keena, whose previous experience in the horror genre was no other than ‘Freddy vs. Jason’, will also show up in this one making her debut in CMP.

F-ZERO GX: Forrest Whittaker and Terrence Howard, whose voices were already heard in ‘F-Zero’, will be heard again in this sequel. Karyn Kusama, director of the first movie, is directing this sequel too also written again by Dawson Edwards.

THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS: He has never made a place for himself in CMP. In fact, his short career in CMP only includes a brief appearance in the musical ‘Only In America’ and a voice-only work in ‘Bird Of A Feather’. But better late than never… Richard Gere will lead the cast of this remake written by the debutante D.R.Cobb and directed by Scott Derrickson. Also on top of the cast, we have Stephen Dorff, who has played minor roles in ‘Silver Sable’ and ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’.

DEEP SILENCE 3: Two CMP’s debutantes join the cast of this sequel of the popular horror adventure saga now written by Matt Kubrick and Dawson Edwards and being directed by Kubrick himself: Abigail Bianca and Parry Shen. Jessica Alba leads this cast same way she did in the two previous installments of the franchise.

MODERN WARFARE: Two well known names in CMP’s universe join the allstars cast of men of this game adaptation written by Chad Taylor. GMA Nominee Jay Hernandez, last time seen in CMP in ‘Alice’, and Benicio Del Toro, whose last work for the Studio was ‘Hell Night’. Peter Berg is directing the movie and Tony Scott is the producer of it.

FOOD AND OTHER LANGUAGES: First screenplay of a new screenwriter making his debut in CMP: Jack ‘Coltimar’ Adkins is the author of this soft drama to be released in Season 17. As it happens with many of the new CMP’s writers, this is the only screenplay Adkins has sent to CMP’s offices so far so nobody at the Studio knows if it will be the beginning of a new writing career or not.


JOSH COLLINS
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO HOLDEN CAULFIELD?

Josh Collins releases this week his fourth movie of the Season after the comedy ‘Malcolm Manboobs’, the drama ‘Foreclosed’ and the mockumentary ‘Little Miss Dollface’. Now’s the turn for a different kind of story focused in only two characters and having the world of literature in the background. We have talked with Collins about this interesting project.

1.This is a story different from the ones you usually write. Where did the idea came from?

Stemmed from a very short story a fellow writing-class student had, so I won't necessarily take all of the credit for the idea, but I was able to flesh it out a lot more and add upon it. I did decide on the name and bigger background of Holden. There are always these 'come and go' famous people, once their 15 minutes are up, they disappear and you never hear of them again. What if a group of people are talking about this one particularly famous person, Holden Caulfield, and what they believe happened to him. There just so happens to be someone close to the writer to tell the true story of what happened, but as it turns out in the end, are we really sure that's what happened?

2.Why did you use the name of 'Holden Caulfield'? A kind of tribute to 'Catcher In The Rye' or Salinger?

It's such a famous name that happens to carry a lot of different feelings from people who read the book. Some find the character to be a complete genius, others find him to be a whiny brat. In that sense, Holden in the story is like Holden in the book: Some may call him genius, others may call him an insane dumbass. It was definitely a nod to Salinger and his book, but the character name is the only thing familiar to the 'Catcher in the Rye' I suppose Holden's parents had the last name 'Caulfield' and decided it would be cute to call him 'Holden' like if your parents' last name was Depp, you may have crazy parents who named you 'Johnny' out of tribute to the actor. I think that's what happened to my Holden.

3.Who do you personally feel closer to: Franco's or Maguire's character?

I feel a much personal connection to Maguire's character. He's just a guy trying to catch his break and when he thinks he can get his foot in the door, the mentoring help he seeks from Holden isn't very much help. Seems to be my life in a nutshell!

4.Did you have their chemistry in Spiderman's movies in mind when you chose Franco and Maguire or is it just a coincidence?

At the time, I wasn't thinking so much about Spider-Man when casting the film. James Franco has been rapidly becoming one of my top actors and I really wanted to give him the better break I didn't really give him much of in 'Weigh Anchor' I did happen to picture him as a great Holden. Tobey, I've been wanting to work with him for a while and it seems like the only break he's gotten in CMP has been Spider-Man, which I'm sure he's tired of (laughs) But now that you mention it, they do play off each other very well. It all sort of just happened to fall in place coincidentially, and it worked!

5.What are you working in lately? Can we expect a sequel from your megahit 'Metroid' coming up soon?

I began writing a Metroid sequel, but didn't like where it was going at the time I was writing it, so I put it on hold. There should be a sequel to that, but you know how I am with sequels. I still have like 3 or 4 other movies that are waiting for their sequels to finish them up. I have been going back to dramas in the last few films I pitched, all with that newer less melodramatic style I had when I first started here. It is funny though, I seem to have gotten a few projects down the pipeline with other writers, namely Chad Taylor and Matt Kubrick. They've been keeping me busy with ideas they've given me to either co-write or produce. There is also a science-fictiony story I'm working on in my head revolving around time-travel. As for my other favorite kind of films to write, kid-oriented films, I don't have a heck of a lot to work on for that, but there's always room for more ideas in the coming future when they come!


GMA’s CURIOSITIES, PART 1

In only three more weeks, the Golden Moon Awards will be back for their 16th Edition. After 15 Editions, there are a lot of data, stories and curiosities around these prestigious awards. So, to warm up things for the upcoming new Edition, this week and the next we will take a look at the story of the GMA and some of their most relevant facts.


The most awarded movie at the GMA is ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’. In Season 13, this movie won 6 out of its 11 nominations. ‘Carousel’ and ‘A Farewell To Arms’ follow it in the list of the most awarded movies with 5 statues. The most nominated movie after ‘Kavalier and Clay’ is ‘American Tabloid’ with 9 nominations but it only won in 4 categories.

Box office’s success and awards have usually gone their own separate ways. The most successful CMP’s movies at box office ever – ‘Silver Sable and the Wild Pack’, ‘Justice League 2’ and ‘The Ice Princess’ – didn’t win a single statue.

On the other side, movies that have flopped at box office have become later Best Picture winners. That’s the case of ‘Nagasaki Daydreams’, ‘The 6th Avenue Castaways’ and ‘The Rock Star’.

In Season 4, Claire Danes was nominee for her work in two different movies: ‘Carousel’ (Actress and Starring Couple) and ‘The Great War Series: Storm Breaks’ (Supporting Actress). She won the two statues she was aspiring to for ‘Carousel’.

Bill Murray is the only star that has won two statues for the same work (not considering here the Best Starring Couple award). He won Best Villain and Best Supporting Actor in Season 7 playing the Devil in ‘Life And Facts Of A Dirty Mind’. He was also nominee for Best Director for the same movie.

Johnny Depp is the most awarded actor ever at the GMA with three statues: two Best Starring Couple awards for ‘Cell Mates’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes’ and winner of Best Villain for ‘Uncommon Valour: The Frigate Captain’. But he hasn’t won yet the Best Actor award although he has been nominated twice at that category for ‘Drawing Dreams’ and ‘Sherlock Holmes’.

James Bradley is the most awarded screenwriter. He has won 4 Best Screenplay awards: ‘Fools Game’ (Season 2), ‘The Toymaker’ (Season 3), ‘The Funeral Drum’ (Season 8) and ‘The Miracle Men’ (Season 11). He has also won a statue as producer of the Best Picture winner ‘The 6th Avenue Castaways’. And he has another 6 nominations, 5 as screenwriter and one as director of ‘Nude!’.

Julia Roberts has not been too lucky at the GMA. She is the talent with a highest number of nominations that has never won any award. She has fought for the Best Actress award three times: ‘Warland’ (Season 4), ‘’The Awful Truth’ (Season 10) and ‘The Orphanage’ (Season 14). She also got a nod for the Best Starring Couple award in Season 1 for ‘Court Appeal’.

Bruce Willis and Paul Bettany won the Best Starring Couple award in Season 8 with ‘The Naked Sun’. Three Seasons later, they were nominated again at the same category for playing the same characters in ‘Robots Of Dawn’. But they didn’t win this second time.

Emile Hirsh is the only talent that has been in the nominations list for three Seasons in a row. In Season 12, he was nominee for the Best Starring Couple award for ‘The Impossible Dream’. In Season 13, he won two statues: Best Starring Couple and Best Actor for ‘Kavalier and Clay’. And in Season 14, he returned as nominee for Best Actor with ‘A Jazz Tale’.

In Season 13, while Hirsh won the Best Actor award, Ellen Page won at the Best Actress category for her work in the comedy ‘Nude!’. The curiosity here is that critics considered many Seasons before that both talents had no future in CMP after their work in the terrible horror movie ‘Blood Beach’. Both Hirsh and Page joked about it in their acceptance speeches.

Steven Spielberg won 4 statues in only two GMA Editions. He consecutively won as Best Director and also as producer of the Best Picture Winner in Seasons 13 and 14 for ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’ and ‘Metropolis’.


They are young, they are sexy and they can be seen in action in this week’s release ‘Mirror’s Edge’. But before that they have posed as the naughty girls they also are for FHM magazine. And here is one of the pictures of the session for you to enjoy it!



Now it’s official. Henry Cavill will be Superman in the new movie based on the character to be directed out of CMP by Zack Snyder. Cavill, who will be seen soon again in CMP in ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’, already has experience being a Kryptonian after playing the character in CMP in ‘Superman: Last Son’ and ‘Justice League 2’. So let’s say it again… All together now… CMP WAS THERE FIRST!

James Franco has definitely become one of the most prestigious and demanded stars in CMP lately. This Season, he has starred ‘Dark Shadows’ and also will be seen in this week’s release ‘Whatever Happened To Holden Caulfield?’ Offers to be in more CMP’s movies keep arriving to his agent’s office. Even the strangest ones. Franco has been recently offered to lead the cast of a new Kubrick’s movie that will resurrect again Jason Vorhees. And he has also been offered to play no other than Luigi (yes, Supermario’s mate) in an upcoming movie written by Chad Taylor. ‘Hey, what are you thinking about? I am a GMA Winner, you know…’ has probably been Franco’s answer when he has rejected those (¿appealing?) proposals for a CMP’s top star.

‘Savage Streets’ didn’t make a big impact in moviegoers or critics (and I can understand why). But do not despise this movie for it. The 40 millions of net gains made by the movie have tasted so sweetly at Midnight Movies’ offices. I have written here about the financial problems this company has gone through. Well, now that’s over. ‘Savage Streets’ has been a wonderful business for Kubrick’s company after all and has got Midnight Movies’ financial situation into shape for a while.

By the way, my good friend Matt Kubrick has told me that he would like to turn ‘Dark Shadows’ into a saga, no matter that the movie didn’t work particularly well at box office. ‘How? And with whom? All the main characters died in the movie!’, I answered him (aren’t I sharp and perceptive?). Well, the answer is obvious and maybe I am not that intelligent after all. Kubrick will do what every author does when there is no way of going forward with a saga: he’ll turn the sequel into a prequel.

Lawrence Abernathy, who has made his debut as screenwriter in CMP with the entertaining ‘Thrust From Skyline’, might develop a big screen version of the acclaimed online comic by Jeremy Love ‘Bayou’. In fact, Harry Stark has included this project in the release schedule of Season 17. But the truth is that it is not absolutely sure if the movie will be developed or not. Abernathy has not presented yet at CMP’s offices a complete screenplay for the movie. Weeks ago, he sent an incomplete draft of screenplay but Harry Stark liked it so much that he decided to include the project in the release schedule. The problem now is: will there be a complete screenplay on time or not?

Besides this ‘Bayou’ uncertainty, release schedule for Season 17 has been closed. And, for what I know, the only frustration Harry Stark has about it is that John Daws hasn’t sent him yet the screenplay for ‘New World III’, a movie Stark very much wanted to release next Season (specially after the wonderful box office made by the second installment of that saga). Eleven different writers will be releasing their stories next Season, including two debutantes: Jack Adkins and D.R.Cobb.

I don't want to forget to mention the last scandal in CMP. Some movie critics are not very happy with Josh Collins' reaction to the reviews of his latest release 'Little Miss Dollface'. The movie got pretty negative reviews and Collins showed his discontent in a... mmm... let's say... a little hard way at CMP's forum. And it hasn't taken long the reaction of some critics. 'We are profesionals', has said Tim Reeve, 'We get paid for writing our opinion about movies. It's our job. And Mr. Collins has shown he does not respect our job when he does not like what we write about his movies.' Roy Winslow has also said: 'With movie reviews, some times you win and some times you lose and Josh Collins has shown he does not accept well losing'. As a reaction to Collins' comments, movie critics Tim Reeve, Roy Winslow and Andrew Stampton have stated that they won't write again any review of Collins' movies unless he publicly apologizes. Stampton reminded in a press release that Collins already had problems with Kate Beckinsale before also for talking about her in a rude way. 'So this is not the first time he publicly behaves this way...', added Stampton. Isn't it a nice fuss?