MARCH, 25


ESCAPE FROM HELL

Sci-Fi / Horror

The Cast: Christian Bale, Denzel Washington, Milla Jovovich, Mackenzie Vega. Voice of Dennys Haysbert.

The Director and Producer: Sam Raimi
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins

The Plot:

Heaven or Hell. Those are the places we are told we are going to go after we die. Saint Peter decides if we're worthy of stepping into absolute paradise. If not, we are sent to hell. But can heaven make the same mistakes the judicial system can make on earth? Can good upstanding citizens destined for heaven end up in the fiery pits?

That's what this film challenges. A man (C.Bale) who dies in a car crash doesn't even get the free ticket to heaven because it didn't qualify as a murder. But he was still condemned by Saint Peter to be sent to Hell. Dantiel (Not his earth name, but the name he is branded with in Hell) knows there is something wrong when he ends up floating on a raft made out of bones in the lake of fire.

As the lake takes him deeper into the bowels of Hell, he overhears the screams of tormented souls and demons speaking in Latin. He screams out to the voices telling him there was a mistake, and everything goes silent. A few seconds later, beams of fire shoot up through the lake, signs that tell him there is no mistake and no escape.

The raft stops at land and Dantiel gets off. The details of Hell look phenomenal in the film. It's as if an entire new world really does exist where condemned souls go when they are no longer a part of Earth.

He first notices other souls when he gets off the raft. Some of them are quiet as if they were asleep. Others are screaming and begging mercy. Dantiel tries to talk to them but they completely ignore him and suffer in their own hells. At least that's the person who he first meets, Ibares (D.Washington), says they are doing. Dantiel wonders why Ibares can speak to him and Ibares says that his punishment is wandering aimlessly through Hell with no rest, but he's always tired, thirsty and hungry. Ibares asks Dantiel what it is that he did to end up here and Dantiel answers, "Nothing!" and Ibares says, "that's what they all say."

Dantiel asks how he can get out and of course, Ibares says the only way to get out of hell is to survive the journey to speak to Satan. Fight Satan in a battle he chooses and if you win, you might get back into heaven. But nobody ever wins and tells Dantiel that he shouldn't even try.

Naturally, Dantiel doesn't listen and goes on the journey anyway, in an action packed epic as he fights with demonic creatures. Ibares also wants to help and while the two fend off their fiends, they discover a couple more wrongfully damned souls: One is a woman by the name of Ophlem (M.Jovovich) and the other is a girl by the name of Delplis (M.Vega) who drowned on earth. Dantiel makes it his mission to protect his friends and get them out of Hell and into Heaven where they belong.

On top of the demons who try to keep them in Hell, they only have a certain amount of time to face Satan before they are doomed to remain in it and become demons themselves. Of all of them, Ibares seems to be the only one throughout the film closer to becoming a demon since he is already suffering in his own personal Hell while the others have a little bit of time left.

Ibares does become a demon but manages to make his big heroic rescue of the others by defeating one of Satan's demon lords. This allows Dantiel and the girls to make it into Satan's lair. Satan (Voice of D.Haysbert) says that if Dantiel defeats him, he will grant the wish of releasing him and his friends to Heaven.

It all comes to a head as Dantiel faces the dark prince himself. And as you would have guessed it, Dantiel defeats Satan (doesn't kill him, just defeats him) and he is given the promise of being released back to Heaven with the others.


Stark’s Comment:
Sam Raimi returns to CMP soon once ‘The Dark Tower’ series is over. And he does it with this sophisticated production that has appealing elements enough to become a box office’s success.

Behind The Scenes:
-Josh Collins considered many options to choose the director and the main stars for this movie. Some directors considered were James Cameron, Michael Bay, Ridley Scott and the Wachowski Brothers.
-Tom Cruise was considered to play Bale’s character.
-Will Smith was considered to play Washington’s character.
-Charlize Theron and Natalie Portman were considered to play Jovovich’s character.
-This is the 15th work of Christian Bale for CMP. That turns him by far in the most active talent in the Studio. Past Season, he suffered his first box office’s flop in his long CMP’s career with ‘Modern Warfare’.
-Denzel Washington worked with Collins past Season in ‘Foreclosed’. Mackenzie Vega has also worked before with Collins in ‘Woodland Creatures’ and past Season’s ‘Little Miss Dollface’.
-Satan is becoming a regular at CMP as he already visited CMP’s world past week in ‘The Prince Of Darkness’.

WOMAN

Drama

The Cast: January Jones, Scarlet Johansson, Jeffrey Donovan, Kasia Smutniak, Anna Friel, Sofia Vergara, Emille de Ravin, Lauren Conrad

The Director: Sophia Coppolla
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor
The Producer: Silver Lining Entertainment

The Plot:

1953. Marie (J.Jones) is an abused trophy wife of famous crooner Frank Martin (J.Donovan). She fell in love with him at a young age, while his career was just beginning. His popularity has skyrocketed over the years, making him more egocentric, and less like the lovable man she once knew. But the couple have two kids together, which is the driving force in keeping them together.

Behind her back, he is a promiscuous man. He hangs out with a group of four popular singers, and runs around with them, drinking and gambling. While at a casino, he falls in love with a worker named Samantha (S.Johansson), and flirts with her. They develop a relationship, which Marie is not aware of.As Frank embarks on a world tour, his alcoholism begins to kick in around the house, resulting in beatings of Marie, who is hurt physically and mentally.

While in France, Frank is out at the clubs with his entourage, and Marie is left to go to a quiet tea shop all by herself.While there, she is served by a beautiful waitress named Aimée (K.Smutniak).They strike up a conversation and end up developing a friendship. Marie finds out that Aimee is also abused, and looking for a way out of her relationship(divorce was not as common then). She tells her that she is down to her last option…suicide.Marie,being the sweet girl she is, talks her out of it, telling her that she’s figured out that there is a better life. She’s always inspired to be a writer her whole life, but Frank tells her she can not succeed and must be a housewife.But that doesn’t mean she can’t become a writer. Marie travels to Aimee’s house where she meets her husband, finding him to be very nice. She ends up sitting down with the couple, and consoling them, fixing their relationship.They thank Marie, as she must travel away, to continue the tour.

They next travel to England, where she meets Dana (A.Friel) at one of the clubs where Frank is performing. She is a divorcee who’s came to the club looking for love. They jokingly point out a few cute guys, making Dana smiles. She then explains how much she dislikes marriage, and why she’ll never get married again. This saddens Marie, and makes her notice just how much being married can bring down a happy woman.

Next stop is Spain, where Frank visit’s a friend he has in the area, before one of his performances. While at their house, Marie meets his wife, Ana (S.Vergara). She has only good things to say about Frank. Marie laughs it off, and tells her about his abusive ways. Ana seems interested and sympathetic for Marie. So she describes to her the relationship she has with her husband. She is a strong woman, who tells her husband how it is, and is never looked down on. Marie is fascinated by this and asks her she does it. Ana tells her it is all within her heart, and the husband has nothing to do with it.

Last stop on the tour is Australia.There she meets a beautiful young ambitious blonde named Rachel (E.de Ravin) at her husband’s show. She is there with her young, working, geek husband. It is evident that they are in love, but both are the shy type. Marie feels a weird feeling, as it reminds her of the days her and Frank were in love.Rachel tells her that she wants to have a kid, but her husband is not so sure just yet. She is obviously frustrated,but Marie calms her down, and tells her to take their relationship step by step, and enjoy the great moments they have.

When they head back to the States, she puts the kids to bed, and confronts Frank about his attitude, while he talks to his friend on the phone.Frank, thinking he’s the most powerful playboy in the world, slaps her and tells her to leave him alone while he is on the phone. She thinks about the four ladies she met around the world, and about what each of them are expiriencing. With tears in her eyes, she slaps him and tells him she is leaving him, and taking the kids.

She then sets on a life of her own, with her two kids by her side. She begins her writing career, and hires young Jessica (L.Conrad) as an assistant to help her out with her two kids, while she works in her home office. Marie visit’s a local library, looking for novels to inspire her, and while there she meets another aspiring writer…Samantha. They strike up a friendship, and end up helping each other along the way. Marie decides her first book will be about her own expiriences.

Marie and Samantha have many conversations, but one day Marie brought up men. Samantha describes a kind,compassionate,charming alpha male with a good head on his shoulders and a warm heart inside. To Marie this sounds a lot like Frank. She tells Marie that he is a popular crooner named Frank. Marie replies with anger, noticing it was Samantha that was the “other girl”. Jessica comes in to calm her down, telling her that she should know that everyone has their faults, just like she does. Marie is finally calmed and apologizes, telling Samantha that she is happy for her, and wishes her the best of luck with the man she couldn’t love.

But in the last arch of the film, we learn Marie has been diagnosed with cancer. Jessica,and the kids help her along the way, but it begins to be too much to fight. She loses her hair and is in bed all day. One by one, Aimee,Dana,Ana,and Rachel visit Marie while she is dying,all reminiscing about their memories.Even Frank makes one last visit, holding her hand, and reciting his wedding vows. Before her death, she lives to see her book released, and become a top selling hit.The kind-hearted,sweet soul named Marie is now popular world-wide, and the face of a feminist movement within the United States.

A storybook ending to the life of Marie Martin.


Stark’s Comment:
An extremely female audiences oriented movie. That’s an audience segment I trust very much as it responds pretty well. But still this is the kind of release I don’t feel completely sure about.

Behind The Scenes:
-Sophia Coppolla has only directed one movie before for CMP: Season 8’s ‘Maleficarum’. The movie – a witch hunting story written by David Makalaster and starred by Nicole Kidman – flopped at box office but Sophia won the Best Director GMA.
-Scarlet Johansson has stated that she accepted to work in this movie playing a minor role mainly due to her personal friendship with Sophia Coppolla, who directed her in ‘Lost In Translation’.
-Scarlet was seen past Season making a cameo as herself in ‘Queens’. But her last work for CMP was back in Season 11 in Woody Allen’s comedy ‘Suspicions And Dishonors’.
-January Jones makes her debut in CMP with this movie.
-Jones refused an offer to be in the upcoming ‘Short Of Time’ due to agenda problems while shooting this movie.

FOOD AND OTHER LANGUAGES

Romantic Comedy

The Cast: Adrien Brody, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Caine

The Director: Ron Howard
The Screenwriter: Jack Adkins

The Plot:

Franklin Charles Hale (A.Brody) is a quiet, quirky man who has lived his life as both captive and caretaker for his aging father. Arthur Hale (M.Caine), Franklin's father, took a lucrative import/export business, that his family started after landing in America generations ago, and turned it into an empire.

A tragic auto accident thirty years ago left Arthur widowed and paralyzed from the waist down. He relies heavily on his son, Franklin, as his company's lead accountant and the sole heir to his legacy. The problem is, Franklin is 40, unmarried and has only showed interest in one woman; a fiery, beautiful Hispanic woman who works as a waitress in a cafe the two men frequent.

After years of watching Isa (M.Rodriguez) Franklin decides to try out the Spanish he learned at Columbia. Despite the Spanish Franklin knows being vastly different from what Isa speaks, she is impressed. The two begin a friendship in which the very extroverted Isa softens the very private an introverted Franklin.

Working hard to keep the relationship a secret from his father, who's health continues to decline, puts a strain on every area of Franklin's life.

Everything comes to a head when Franklin discovers that Isa has lied about much of her life, including a young son. Arthur has Isa fired and tries to connect Franklin with a fine young lady from a prominent New England family.

Franklin leaves his father's business and follows Isa and her son to Puerto Rico in hopes of winning her and finally freeing himself from his father's grasp.


Stark’s Comment:
First screenplay written by Jack Adkins for CMP. And I am almost convinced that it will also be the last one, as I have never heard from him again since he sent me this one (in fact, we have no ‘5 Questions’ section this week because he was the man to be interviewed). A nice low budget production that could become the first sleeper of the Season. Hope so.

Behind The Scenes:
-Ron Howard has directed before for CMP the movies ‘Court Appeal’, ‘McMillan & Wife’, ‘McMillan & Wife: Murder By Game’, ‘Ugly’ and ‘John Wayne Must Die’. All of them made net gains.
-Ben Kingsley was considered to play Caine’s role but it was the Studio who finally chose Caine.


HEAVY RAIN: Green light at last for a long awaited game adaptation written by Steve Connors. It was announced long ago that he was adapting this dark and violent whodunit thriller. Peter Jackson, who has been working with Connors lately in the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ movies, has accepted to direct and produce this movie, willing to try something different from his usual fantasy and sci-fi works. And the starring couple of the movie will bring back to CMP two faces not seen for a very long time in a movie from the Studio: David Duchovny, only seen in CMP in ‘Westworld’ and ‘Lyra’, and Selma Blair, not seen in the Studio since the two ‘Sonja Blue Chronicles’ movies.

JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: Another long awaited green light. Third installment of the ‘Justice League’ saga coming up after the amazing success of the second one. Remember that ‘JL2’ made the highest net gains ever for a CMP’s production (588 millions of net gains) and the third best box office ever. Christopher Nolan is back behind the cameras to direct the usual members of the League: Batman (Christian Bale), Superman (Henry Cavill), Wonder Woman (Cobie Smulders), Green Lantern (Ryan Reynolds) and The Flash (Joshua Jackson).

DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF SPRING DAWNING: Dakota Fanning is back to this saga again. Also Ian Mcellen returns, with the surprising peculiarity that he will be playing three different characters in this movie. And two new names join the long cast of this mega-production: Cary Elwes, only seen before in CMP in ‘When Dreams Die’, and the inevitable Ron Perlman, a regular in any mega-franchise developed by CMP.

KITE: Carla Gugino, who already worked before with Dawson Edwards in ‘Gaspipe’, has been cast by him again here to play Emma Stone’s mother. The young Bailee Madison will also be seen in the movie in her first work for CMP, making an uncredited cameo.

ALABAMA: Another long awaited return to CMP. Kirsten Dunst, who used to be a regular in CMP during its first Seasons, including three nominations at the GMA, disappeared after her work in Season 10’s drama ‘Weigh Anchor’. Seven Seasons later, she returns to the Studio in this drama starred and directed by Will Smith playing the lover of Matt Dillon, Natalie Portman’s husband.

DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON 2: Two men will join the adventures of the two female lead characters of the movie, played by Cameron Diaz and Halle Berry. And they are Paul Walker, whose last work in CMP was ‘Earth 3K2’, and Kiefer Sutherland, who has been making voice-only works for the Studio lately in movies like ‘Metroid’ and ‘Mouse Guard’.

JASON VS LEATHERFACE: Jerry O’Connell seems to be becoming a fetish actor for Matt Kubrick in his horror flicks lately. He will be seen again in this one after his works in ‘Pinocchio’s Terror’ and ‘The Shield’. The cast also includes some CMP’s debutantes like Derek Mears, Corey Bowles and Sid Haig. And also another return: the veteran actress Karen Black is back after having worked with Kubrick before in ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’.

THE UNDERCOVERS: Andy Garcia will make a parody of the mobsters he has played before in and out of CMP from ‘The Godfather – Part III’ to CMP’s ‘Gaspipe’ in this action comedy being directed by Chris Weitz and starred by Steve Carell and Renée Zellwegger.

RESTRAINT: Josh Hutcherson plays here Cameron Bright’s best friend in this dark story being directed by Neil Jordan about the sick relationship between those two friends. Hutcherson has worked with Josh Collins, author of this screenplay, before in the drama ‘After The Storm’. His last appearance in CMP was in the blockbuster ‘Superman: Last Son’.

SHORT ON TIME: Green light for the second movie written by D.R.Cobb. This time it is a thriller about a man trying to solve a crime before he himself dies as victim of it. John Dahl is directing the movie in his first work for the Studio. And the lead star of the show will be no other than the extremely active lately Johnny Depp, who succeeded past Season with ‘Noon’, ‘The Respected’ and ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’.


DENZEL WASHINGTON

He is one of those actors that upgrades the quality of any movie with only being in it. A couple of weeks ago he won his first Golden Moon Award thanks to the eccentric villain he played in Spike Lee’s ‘The Cool’. But, although he is not one of those hyper-active stars in the Studio, Washington has developed a solid career in CMP: seven works for the Studio and all of them have made net gains, including two ‘+100’ releases. This week we take a look at the CMP’s filmography of this trustable talent.


DARK
Season 1
Michael Mann / Tom Figgs
B.O.: 110 mill / N.G.: 71 mill.
Denzel made a successful debut in CMP in its very first Season. ‘Dark’ was the story of a sexual triangle formed by Halle Berry, Clive Owen and him. The steamy sequences were the main appeal of the movie and audiences responded nicely to the proposal.

AMERICAN HEARTLAND
Season 5
Sean Penn / Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 67 mill. / N.G.: 31 mill.
Sean Penn directed and Martin Scorsese produced this interesting movie based on the real story of the teen murderers known as the Memphis 3. Denzel played a journalist covering the trial in the movie, starred by Daniel Radcliff, Shia LaBeouf (who won a Best Supporting Actor GMA with it) and Haley Joel Osment.

THE TOWERING INFERNO
Season 6
John McTiernan / Bill Cougan
B.O.: 51 mill. / N.G.: 0.1 mill.
Denzel and Clive Owen met again after ‘Dark’ to play the two lead characters of this remake of one of the most famous ‘disaster movie’ from the 70’s. Box Office wasn’t as good as expected for this spectacular production and it hardly avoided net losses.

FALLEN KINGS
Finally, Denzel met in CMP with his good old friend Spike Lee. And it was thanks to Dawson Edwards, who wrote this violent and tough story about cops, crime and betrayal. Again, Halle Berry and Denzel played a married couple here, in their second CMP’s movie together after ‘Dark’. Jay Hernandez and Eva Mendes completed the starring quartet. The movie was critically acclaimed and got 5 GMA’s nods but finally it didn’t win any award. Many critics still consider this one the best work of both Edwards and Lee in CMP.

CONSPIRACY OF LIFE
Season 13
D.J. Caruso / James Bradley
B.O.: 115 mill. / N.G.: 97 mill.
The best box office in Denzel’s career in CMP was this very mainstream action thriller about organs traffic in a hospital. Michelle Monaghan and Leonardo DiCaprio played the lead roles and Denzel played the villain of the story, a Police Chief corrupted to save his own daughter's life.

THE COOL
Season 16
Spike Lee / Dawson Edwards
B.O.: 53 mill. / N.G.: 9 mill.
Second reunion of Denzel with Lee and Edwards in CMP after ‘Fallen Kings’. A most peculiar gangsta movie inspired by the lyrics of songs from Lupe Fiasco. Derek Luke leaded the cast but Denzel has won the Best Villain GMA thanks to his creation of a mysterious villain with red eyes. Box Office did not treat fairly this interesting movie.

FORECLOSED
Season 16
Darren Aronofsky / Josh Collins
B.O.: 73 mill. / N.G.: 93 mill.
One of the sleepers of past Season. Collins and Aronofsky took a look to the consequences of the economic crisis through the eyes of Denzel’s character. The movie was almost a one-man-show and Washington was nominated for the Best Actor GMA for his splendid acting work in it.


January Jones makes a splendorous debut in CMP this week starring the new Sophia Coppolla’s movie written by Chad Taylor, ‘Woman’. And you bet she is quiet a woman… Here is the cover of ‘Premiere’ magazine to prove it.



This week, I am going to take a look at what CMP’s writers are busy with now so you all can guess what we may see on screen in future Seasons…

Steve Connors, who is about to release the action comedy ‘The Undercovers’, has stated that for some time he is going to concentrate in writing sequels of some of his latest works. And, according to him, that will include ‘Assassin’s Creed III’, ‘Uncharted 2’, ‘The Revengers 2’ and ‘Fantasy World 2’… But he hasn’t mentioned in the list a new installment of the ‘Invasion’/’Freddom City’ saga, so it is not sure if there will ever be a third movie of this successful series or not. Anyway, it’s ‘Sequelmania’ time for Connors.

A few Seasons ago, Josh Collins succeeded with an animated musical, ‘Bird Of A Feather’. Now, he has decided to try luck again with musicals but this time it’ll be a live action movie. Its title will be ‘Somewhere Other Than The Night’ and it will be focused on country music. Sophia Coppolla, who is releasing this week her second work for CMP, ‘Woman’, has been confirmed as the director of this new approach to musicals produced by the Studio.

After nearly 500 movies released, we have seen in CMP almost each and every iconic character and universes of popular culture: all the main superheroes created by Marvel or DC Comics; the Star Wars’ universe; Indiana Jones’ family; literature icons like detectives Philip Marlowe or Sherlock Holmes; music idols like Jimi Hendrix, Elvis, The Beatles or Lady Gaga; legendary explorers like Stanley and Livingstone or even mythological characters like Heracles and Athena… But, believe it or not, there are still iconic characters left to show up in a CMP’s production. So D.R. Cobb has decided to cover one of those absences. Cobb has decided to bring to CMP’s world no other than Tarzan, in a new adaptation pretty loyal to the original novel by Edgar Rice Burroughs.

But not everything are upcoming movies… There are also some projects that go into hiatus. Matt Kubrick has announced a temporary retirement and that will mean that some projects he had in mind will have to wait for his return to writing activity. And that includes projects like ‘The Shield 2’, a fourth installment of the ‘Deep Silence’ franchise and the return of no other than Darkman in his sixth appearance on screen. Let’s just hope that Kubrick’s retirement does not last too long.

And I have kept the best news for the last. Yes, you already know it by now: Ben Tyler is back to CMP! For those of you who joined the Studio later, Tyler was a pretty active and very creative screenwriter who worked for the Studio between Seasons 6 to 11. He won the Best Screenplay GMA with his very first work for the Studio, the acclaimed comedy ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’. In Season 9, he was nominated again for the same award with ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’. Besides those, some of his best known works for CMP are ‘Monolith’, ‘Borgel’, ‘Lobo’ or ‘Captain Planet’. For his return, Tyler has chosen a most peculiar experimental movie inspired by the music of the legendary rock band Genesis. And I won’t say anything more about it to avoid spoiling it. You will have to wait until Season 18, when this new Tyler’s movie is expected to be green lighted.

MARCH, 22


GRAND THEFT AUTO

Action / Crime
Cast: Tom Hardy, Anthony Mackie, Al Pacino, Lena Heady, Ray Liotta, Timothy Olyphant, Brian Cranston, T.I., Mehcad Brooks
Director: Martin Campbell
Screenwriter: Chad Taylor

Box Office: 80 mill.
Net Gains: 93 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Box office below expectations. At least, DVD market increased nicely the net gains. Anyway, the numbers are correct enough for me to bet for future sequels if Taylor is still interested in turning this movie into the beginning of a new franchise.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HONEST

Drama
Cast: Kevin Costner, Elizabeth Shue, Val Kilmer, Ellen Burstyn, Gary Oldman, Miley Cyrus
Director: Paul Haggis
Producer: Grand Island Movies
Screenwriter: Josh Collins

Box Office: 42 mill.
Net Gains: 17 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
You cannot ask for more with this kind of dramas… I feel satisfied with its box office’s breakdown. Urban women between 30 and 50 were our audience target here and it has responded according to our expectations.

THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS

Horror / Supernatural
Cast: Richard Gere, Stephen Dorff, Hayley Atwell, Alfred Molina, Armie Hammer
Director: Scott Derrickson
Screenwriter: D.R.Cobb


Box Office: 29 mill.
Net Losses: 4 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
I don’t know why, but it is almost a tradition that new CMP’s writers make their debut with a box office’s flop. Well, this one was a difficult product to sell… At least, net losses have been very low. A harder week than expected at box office to begin the new Season…


GRAND THEFT AUTO

‘’Grand Theft Auto’ is an efficient and entertaining action movie. But there’s nothing new or original in it. Martin Campbell retakes well known elements and put them all together to build up an effective story of tough guys that works as long as you don’t demand any innovation from it. The action pace of the movie is right and the characters and situations are appealing enough – although it abuses of an excessive and unnecessary graphic violence at some moments. It is the kind of movie to enjoy and forget. Easy entertainment without pretentions. You’ll feel satisfied watching it if you are not looking for anything else than that.’
-Mark Anderson

‘Tom Hardy has presented with this movie his credentials to become the new favorite action hero of CMP. He can easily become the official action hero of the Studio in the near future the same way that there was a time in CMP when each and every action flick was starred by Eric Bana and then by Gerard Butler. Hardy adapts perfectly to his character of a tough guy with a dark past. It is him who carries the weight of the film and he proves he can easily do it. Together with Hardy, Pacino shines over the rest showing again his powerful screen presence, although he plays once more his stereotyped character of tough and corrupted politician or mobster (remember CMP’s ‘What You Deserve’… and another dozens of his acting works). Same goes for Ray Liotta. Anthony Mackie proves again he deserves to be a regular in CMP’s movies and Lena Heady looks so great in her brief appearance that she is beginning to deserve a more extended character in a CMP’s movie urgently.’
-Vic Carter

‘I must admit I am full of prejudices when I have to watch a game adaptation. Many writers do not understand that the games’ language is not the same than the movie language. In this case, I admit that Chad Taylor has made a good adaptation of the best-selling ‘Grand Theft Auto’ console game. He has cared of creating solid characters and to set a consistent story. It is only in the second half of the movie when you can notice better the dependence of the story on the original material. The plot loses consistency and becomes a mere succession of action sequences with a bit forced link at some moments. But still this movie stays above the average quality of most games adaptations.’
-Tim Reeve

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HONEST

‘Paul Haggis and Josh Collins have developed one of those movie productions built upon a cast of veteran stars whose glory days passed long ago. And that’s always a dangerous bet. The new generations of moviegoers will hardly be interested in a movie starred by Kevin Costner, Elizabeth Shue and Val Kilmer (and no, the presence in it of Miley Cyrus is not enough to attract that segment of the audience). Anyway, this is an adult audience oriented movie and that segment enjoys meeting again with movie stars they have grown up with. You just have to forget about the movie becoming a blockbuster. But I don’t think Haggis and Collins were looking to break box office’s records here. They have made what they probably wanted to make: a quality drama about family and a reflection about how to face maturity as years go by and we enter into the second – or third – part of our lives.’
-Anne Roman

‘’The Importance Of Being Honest’ depended 100% in acting works. These intimate dramas are nothing if the cast members do not reach their best. And, in that sense, this movie passes the test with a high grade. The irregular Kevin Costner has found the right tone for his character this time. Kilmer and Shue show that they still have something to offer. Miley Cyrus at least cannot be criticized this time. And the best of the function are, by far, Ellen Burstyn and Gary Oldman. It’s great to see Oldman doing something different than his usual villains in sci-fi or action movies. He reminds us here how great dramatic actor he can be. And Burstyn is just a sure bet.’
-Amy Ratched

‘This week it was one of those weekends… Your girl tells you she wants to go to the movies. And you think: ‘Great! Let’s watch ‘Grand Theft Auto’! Gunfights, car chases, killing and destruction…’ But not. She takes you to watch ‘The Importance Of Being Honest’… What I mean is that Haggis’ movie is a good product only for female audiences. And don’t take that as a criticism. Collins has written another one of his solid family dramas, this time looking more at the adult characters than the young ones. Maybe, the only fault of the story is its certain lack of intensity. We have criticized Collins often for being too dramatically intense. The paradox here is that this time he has controlled himself a bit too much. Yes, I know what you’ll say: these movie critics are never happy. But ‘The Importance Of Being Honest’ may be a bit too soft drama. I had the feeling that the story stayed one step before reaching its full potential.’
-Chris Burgess

THE PRINCE OF DARKNESS

‘What I like most of this peculiar horror movie is its naivety. This movie has been made the way horror movies were made in the 1960’s or the early 70’s, before ‘The Exorcist’ came and initiated the change of the horror genre forever taking it to a way of no return where gore sequences ruled over more psychological horror. The story told in the original ‘Prince Of Darkness’ was already old fashioned and out of trend in 1987. So, considering we are now in 2011, you can imagine how out of trend looks this remake. But it is precisely that naivety what inspires me sympathy about this B-series production. This new ‘Prince Of Darkness’, like the original one, is called to become a rarity that some freaks of the genre will watch in the future with a condescending smile. Besides that, it is very hard to take it seriously.’
-Charlie Kiggs

‘The devil shows up through equations decoded from a green liquid… With that premise, you have to be a very fond fan of horror movies to feel any interest for this strange production. Unless you take this movie as a revival or a tribute to Hammer Studios or Roger Corman’s Z-series movies, it is very hard to write something positive or even serious about it. Even the special effects look old-fashioned, with that connection with an alternative dimension that reminded me the first ‘Poltergeist’. But my favorite part of the movie is that horde of possessed homeless that surround the laboratory. That’s simply hilarious. And when you laugh watching a horror movie, it is an evident sign that something is going wrong…’
-Roy Winslow

‘D.R.Cobb has made a risky bet for his debut as screenwriter in CMP. Too risky. I can agree that CMP needs to find new ways for the horror genre beyond the slasher movies written by Matt Kubrick, a formula obviously exhausted. But I don’t think this is the right way either. Even horror movies, like fantasy movies or sci-fi movies, need at least a slight ground of credibility. No matter how weird or imaginative a story is, it has to make you believe that what you are watching on screen might be real. And that does not happen at all with this poor movie. We’ll have to wait for future works of Cobb to judge him as screenwriter. Because this debut is nothing more than a failed experience any way you look at it.’
-Jackie O’Callaghan

MARCH, 18


GRAND THEFT AUTO

Action / Crime

The Cast: Tom Hardy, Anthony Mackie, Al Pacino, Lena Heady, Ray Liotta, Timothy Olyphant, Brian Cranston, T.I., Mehcad Brooks

The Director: Martin Campbell
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor

The Plot:

Laurence, or Ren (T.Hardy), was a lost soul, who moved to Liberty City in an attempt to make his life happy. But while there, he struggled to find a job. When he finally did, working in an office, he only managed to find one friend, his co-worker Gabriel (B.Cranston). Ren was lured by Gabe into helping him pull off a set of viral thefts, and then actual thefts. The feds hunted them down, and arrested Gabe, while Ren was left off the hook. But he soon dove into a sea of depression, and leaned on alcohol. He was arrested after a cop attempted to give him a drunk driving ticket, and he refused. But he is let out on bail, but by someone not known to Ren.

His name is Claude (T.Olyphant). He takes Ren out on a drive, but never says a word. Ren is confused and asks how they know each other. Claude drops Ren off at a large building, where a man awaits Ren. He opens the door and Ren goes into the building, meeting Tommy Vercetti (R.Liotta). Tommy is the head of the Vercetti gang, based out of Vice City, and tells Ren his story as he walks him through the house. Now that his gang is at the top, he must worry about the competitors. And perhaps the biggest one is not a mafia group, but a street gang, based out of San Andreas. Their name is the Grove Street gang. Essentially, Gangsters vs. Gangstas.

Their powerful leader, Carl Johnson (CJ) (A.Mackie), is just now returning to the city after making millions in San Andreas with ties to casinos, rappers, etc. Anyone in the city knows that the Vercetti gang has a an enormously large stash, hidden somewhere. And the Vercetti gang knows that the Grove Street gang are plotting to steal it. And so Tommy wants Ren to enter Grove Street’s headquarters and steal their plans. If he successfully tackles the task, he’ll set Ren for life. No more worries, no more depression. Tommy is very aware that this will start a war, but Ren does not.

He goes to the jail, to speak with Gabe about the best way to pull off this heist. Gabe gives Ren instructions and he is declares himself ready. Tommy’s friend Claude, who still acts mysteriously and doesn’t talk, picks up Ren and takes him to Grove Street headquarters in San Andreas. Michel (M.Brooks), a spy for Tommy’s crew, is friends with CJ and unlocked the back door when he left, so Ren can enter. When he does the house is empty, so he searches for any trace of plans. He goes upstairs and searches, but he hears a door open downstairs. It is three men, CJ, Michel and CJ‘s right hand man Bobby (T.I.). Ren hides in the room, trying not to make any noise. Michel finds him, and also almost calls CJ, but notices that he was hired by Tommy. He doesn’t say anything and leaves the room, but Bobby follows him, and goes into the room, noticing Ren. He screams for CJ, as Ren attacks him, trying to shut him up.

CJ, Michel, and Bobby hold Ren down and interrogate him. They ask him who sent him, and he tells them Tommy. They ask how he got in, and he says he used the backdoor. CJ realizes right away that Michel is the one that did it, and so he shoots him dead. CJ tells Ren he won’t kill him, and instead use him to get the money. He tells Ren to tell Tommy fake plans, and distract him, to try to figure out where the money is. CJ gathers up some of his thugs to take on Tommy. Meanwhile, Bobby and Ren are on their way to Tommy’s place, when they get stopped in the Red Light District. While at a stop light, a prostitute approaches the car, and Bobby shows interest. They pull over at the side of the road, and Bobby enters the sex shop with the girl.

Ren meets Sandra (L.Headey), an older prostitute. They start up a conversation, not about sex, but based on their previous residence. It is now that we figure out that when Ren was in Carcer City, he was involved in one of the most lively drug-selling group in the country. When the military took action, The Carcer City Siege, Ren was able to escape, while many of his counterparts were arrested or killed. He found new life in Liberty City, rehabbed and recovered.

Meanwhile, Tommy is meeting with John Leone (A.Pacino), a candidate for the vacant spot of Liberty City mayor. Tommy has donated tones of cash to the campaign, in order to get John to support him and his underground empire, law-wise. John warns Tommy that if he doesn’t shut down the Grove Street Gang, he won’t be elected, as they have dirt on him.

Bobby loses track of time, as Ren grows worried of it. He and Sandra go into the shop to find Bobby, who is having sex in one of the rooms. He notices Ren at the door and gets angry. He pulls out a gun, freaking the girls out, and pins Ren against the wall. They argue, but Ren reminds Bobby that they had to be there at a certain time. Bobby freaks out and puts his pants on and they go outside, where the car is gone. It been stolen.

Bobby then approaches a passing car, and opens the door. The person surrenders and get out the car, but then goes running down the street screaming for help. Bobby shoots him dead, as others see it, whom Bobby scares away. Ren, weapon-less, pops the trunk of the car, and grabs a crowbar. As Bobby is distracted with scaring the people away, a brave man approaches from behind to take him down. But Ren, knowing what he has to do, brutally beats down the man in his head. Bobby and Ren get in the car and drive Tommy’s mansion, where CJ (who thought Ren had already got the location) has already set up shop. We watch as CJ and crew attack the building, where Tommy’s people are taken by surprise.

In this ten-minute segment, the two parties take part in an all out war, exchanging bullets. We follow Claude as he goes one-on-one with one of CJ’s henchmen. At first, he’s hidden, sniping people off. But when the man spots him, Claude jumps off the balcony and knocks the gun out of the man’s hand. He puts his gun in his mouth, clinching on it with his teeth, and gets in a fist fight with the man. He gets the man against the wall, smiling, and head butts the man, with the gun’s barrel entering his eye. The man falls dead, but a bullet rock’s through Claude’s forehead as CJ picks him off.

Bobby and Ren arrive and are forced to enter the warfare. Tommy calls out Ren, saying he ratted him out. They argue continuously until Ren notices satchel charges (explosives) spread out through the house. He looks up to Tommy and tells him they must leave. They escape through the backdoor, but don’t go unnoticed by CJ, who quickly exits too, to follow them. He stops on the front steps and pulls out his remote detonator. He chuckles and presses the button, exploding all of the satchel charges, killing everyone inside. Ren and Tommy hop into his car and CJ follows.

A car chase ensues throughout the streets of Liberty City, in the middle of the night. Many memorable landmarks are seen, such as Star Junction (Times Square) and Middle Park (Central Park). Both cars traveling at high speeds, Ren is weaving through cars as Tommy sits out the window shooting at CJ. CJ shoots Tommy in the leg, causing pain, but Tommy shoots CJ in the shoulder, causing him to swerve, hit the curb, and spin out of control. He opens his phone and it’s Leone. He promises to tell him where the stash is, as long as he does not blackmail him out the race.

Tommy and Ren arrive at a house. It is Mr. Leone’s summer house, on the beach. Tommy can’t walk because of the womb, so Ren must drag him throughout the house, as he leads him to the stash in the basement. The light is broke, and so they must scramble around in the darkness, as CJ sneaks up from behind. They sit in darkness for a few seconds, until CJ shouts “Fuck Leone and fuck you Vercetti, I’m the King of Liberty City, now!” and shoots in their direction, hitting Tommy in the arm. They find light shining through glass doors in the basement, and Tommy resides there. This distracts CJ, as Ren comes from the side and punches him in the face. A brawl ensues, and CJ accidentally knocks over barrel, with white powder pouring out. Ren stops in his tracks, as he knows something’s very wrong.

Chua former drug addict himself, sniffs out the cocaine, and notices the number of barrels in the basement, all full of cocaine. Tommy lied. There was no money, just enormous amounts of cocaine. Ren, recovered, knows he has to get away from the drugs. But as the moonlight shines over the water, and through the doors onto Tommy, CJ sits down, amazed at this revelation. Tommy is slowly dying and Ren’s eyes quickly shift back and forth. He places his hands in the cocaine, and falls to his knees. He lays his face in his hands, as CJ sits in disbelief, and Tommy dies in the moonlight.


Stark’s Comment:
Cool movie. Hope it will be the first blockbuster of the new Season no matter it’s excess of violence.

Behind The Scenes:
-Martin Campbell succeeded with the two installments of the ‘Magic – The Gathering’ saga. That franchise was interrupted due to David Makalaster’s retirement from CMP.
-This movie is an adaptation of one of the best-selling console games of recent times.
-Taylor plans to develop sequels if this one works at box office.
-Tom Hardy makes his debut in CMP with this movie.
-Anthony Mackie has worked before with Taylor in ‘John And Tommie’. He won the Best Starring Couple GMA with that movie.

THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING HONEST

Drama

The Cast: Kevin Costner, Elizabeth Sue, Val Kilmer, Ellen Burstyn, Gary Oldman, Miley Cyrus

The Director: Paul Haggis
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins
The Producer: Grand Island Movies

The Plot:

Kevin Costner is a marriage counselor who seems content to spending more time mending other people's marriage than attending to his own with Elizabeth Shue. Val Kilmer is the brother of Kevin and is an ex-con who served time in prison for drugs and got out early for good behavior. Even before then he barely had any contact with his older brother whom he looked up to when they were kids. Kevin's respect for his brother is lost, but when their bedridden mother is on her deathbed, Kevin reluctantly allows Val to move in with him to be with their mother on her last days of life. When she goes, they will be the only ones left on their side of the family.

Val is frequently visited by his parole officer, Gary Oldman(in one particular scene Oldman shows up and finds out Val was not at home and he is almost arrested but Kevin's gift of talking to people about their problems manages to talk Gary out of arresting his brother) Some particular scenes have Oldman coming to the house and making himself at home, eating their food and talking to Ellen. She's so delusional she thinks Oldman is her late husband, so he starts making her think it's who she thinks it is, just so the things left unsaid got to be said and that she could hold her husband's hand as she dies, so she could feel his lips.

Elizabeth and Kevin think Val is a bad influence on their daughter, Miley Cyrus. And even though moving in is the first time he's ever met her, they bond pretty well. He helps her break out of the teen angst shell of self-loathing and he helps her discover who she is and what she's capable of. She's also adopted that trait of listening and being well spoken in scenes where he explains to her that he's always been the screwup child. Saying he took his family for granted and now he lost their trust. Miley's parents put her under suspicion fearing Val is passing behavior onto her.

Meanwhile, Kevin and Elizabeth try to repair their damaged marriage by wanting to be that young couple they once were. Hoping to relight the passion before their candle of matrimony completely burns out.

By the end, Val manages to sneak drugs into the home and is about to snort cocaine in his room while Oldman is in his mother's room. Miley catches him and tells him his mother is asking for her sons and there he is throwing his life away again. That he's got his family, or he can go back to the drugs. But drugs won't love him back! He flushes the drugs and sits with his mother, brother, Gary, Elizabeth and Miley until she dies.

Knowing that they're all they have left, Kevin forgives Val. Miley is going to be ok, His marriage is safe, by the end of the film he and Elizabeth feel they can't lie to themselves by pretending to be young again and agree to work their current marriage out instead of living in fantasy. Val never returns to drugs and it's open ended as to what happens to Gary but after Ellen's death, he felt a void had been made in his heart. He feels he shouldn't have lied to her about being her husband but he wanted her to have closure before passing away.


Stark’s Comment:
One of those ‘hit or miss’ dramas. The good thing about this kind of movies is that they have a pretty low production budget, so if they work the net gains can be very high (remember the amazing numbers of ‘Whatever happened to Holden Caulfield?’). The bad thing is that quite often this kind of dramas flop at box office.

Behind The Scenes:
-Paul Haggis' only previous work for CMP was the James Bradley's drama 'Alice'. It flopped at box office.
-Val Kilmer has worked twice with Josh Collins: 'Goldmine Killers' and 'The Mistaken'. Both movies flopped at box office.
-Elizabeth Shue has worked with Collins before in the acclaimed drama 'Prison Letters'.
-Miley Cyrus made her debut in CMP playing herself in the comedy 'Guitar Hero'.

PRINCE OF DARKNESS

Horror / Supernatural

The Cast: Richard Gere, Stephen Dorff, Hayley Atwell, Alfred Molina, Armie Hammer

The Director: Scott Derrickson
The Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb

The Plot:

Father Pleasance (R.Gere) invites Professor Jameson (A.Molina), a small group of fellow academic types, and a few students to investigate a mysterious cylinder found in the basement of an abandoned Detroit, Michigan church. The cylinder contains a swirling green liquid. Among the group of academics is a professor in metaphysics, Michael Reno (S.Dorff) and his girlfriend Caroline Leach (H.Atwell).

They find ancient-looking writings engraved on the wall next to the cylinder. After many hours of thorough research of both the writings and the liquid, Father Pleasance comes to believe that the liquid is, in fact, Satan. They set up a laboratory inside the church. The liquid appears to be sentient and begins producing increasingly complex data that is revealed by one of the students, David (A.Hammer), through computer decoding to include incredibly complex differential equations.

Over the period of two days, small discharges of liquid escape the cylinder and possess the group one by one, using them against the remaining survivors. Their attempts to escape the building are prevented by a group of possessed homeless people surrounding it, who kill two of the academics.

Jameson and Pleasance theorize that Satan is actually the son of an even more powerful force of evil, the "Anti-God", who is bound to a realm of anti-matter. The survivors all have the same dream, apparently a transmission sent as a warning from the future year "two-zero-one-nine", showing a shaky sequence of a shadowy figure emerging from the doors of the church. The group discovers that they are all having the same dream and discuss it's meaning. They think that the dream is meant as some sort of a warning. David doesn't have the dream, as was up all night trying to make sense of the equations created by the liquid.

That evening, the cylinder opens fully and the entire remaining liquid is absorbed into the body of David who becomes the physical vessel for Satan: A gruesomely disfigured being, with powers of telekinesis and regeneration, who attempts to bring the Anti-God through a dimensional portal using a mirror (initially failing because the mirror is too small). Satan soon finds a large wall mirror in the former priest's chambers, and begins to draw the Anti-God's hand through it as most of the group are caught up in fights with the other possessed members, during which Jameson is killed.

Caroline is the only one free to act, and tackles the possessed student, both of them falling through the portal. Father Pleasance then shatters the mirror, trapping Satan, the Anti-God and Caroline in the other realm. Caroline reaches out to the portal before it closes, leaving her in darkness. With Satan and the Anti-God trapped in the other dimension, the possessed die, the street people wander away, Father Pleasance and Michael (the only survivors) are finally able to escape, relieved that the evil has been, at least temporarily, defeated. In the other dimension (in which everything is covered in oil that rains down upon the realm), Satan and the Anti-God torture Caroline, and it is revealed that she is just one of many humans being tortured there.

Michael has the dream again, except that Caroline is now the figure emerging from the building. He appears to awaken, and rolls over to find Caroline, gruesomely disfigured, lying in bed with him. He then wakes up screaming, gets up (not noticing the oil stains on his bed), and approaches his bedroom mirror and reaches his hand out.


Stark’s Comment:
Cobb’s debut in CMP as screenwriter. And he has chosen a difficult genre for his debut. Another ‘hit or miss’ release that makes this first week of the Season an uncertain one in terms of box office.

Behind The Scenes:
-This movie is a remake of a John Carpenter’s movie released in 1987. The movie was a box office’s failure.
-Richard Gere hasn’t worked often for CMP. He has only been seen playing a minor role in the Best Picture GMA Winner ‘Only In America’. He also made a voice-only work in the successful musical ‘Bird Of A Feather’.
-Stephen Dorff has played minor roles in ‘Silver Sable’ and ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’.
-The rest of the cast and the director are CMP’s debutantes.


DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON 2: With 187 millions, ‘Daughters Of The Dragon’ was the most successful CMP’s movie back in Season 12. For so long, Joey Stark doubted about writing a sequel of it or not. But he has finally decided to do it. The movie is based on the comic characters Colleen Wing and Misty Knight, who will be played again by Cameron Diaz and Halle Berry. For this sequel, Jon Turteltaub replaces McG behind the cameras, making this way his debut in CMP.

DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF SPRING DAWNING: Most of the regular cast of this successful saga is back for this third installment produced and directed again by Guillermo Del Toro. Let’s go with part of them: Ewan McGregor, Anne Hathaway, Tim Roth, Jessica Alba, Vin Diesel and Brendan Fraser.

ALABAMA: This Chad Taylor’s drama starred and directed by Will Smith will mean the return to CMP of two talents not seen in the Studio for some time: Matt Dillon, not seen in CMP since ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’ but heard in the animated feature ‘Toons’, and Ed Harris, whose last work for the Studio was ‘Uncharted’. Matt Dillon plays Natalie Portman’s husband while Harris plays her racist father.

KITE: Ken Watanabe and Jeremy Piven join the cast of this violent story written by Dawson Edwards, directed by Paul Greengrass and starred by Emma Stone, Russell Crowe and Garrett Hedlund. Watanabe was last time seen in CMP in ‘Flashman’s Destiny’ while Piven’s last work for the Studio was the comedy ‘Check, Please’.

ESCAPE FROM HELL: She has been 11 Seasons away from CMP. Her last work for the Studio was back in Season 6, the successful action flick ‘HF’. Since then, Milla Jovovich hasn’t shown up in a CMP’s movie until this one. Also in it, we’ll see Mackenzie Vega, in her third work with Josh Collins after ‘Woodland Creatures’ and past Season’s ‘Little Miss Dollface’. And Dennis Haysbert will make his debut in CMP with a voice-only work: he’ll be the voice of nothing more and nothing less than Satan himself.

FOOD AND OTHER LANGUAGES: Michael Caine, seen two Seasons ago in ‘Salintology’ returns playing Adrien Brody’s possessive father in this dramedy written by Jack Adkins, directed by Ron Howard and co-starred by Brody and Michelle Rodriguez.

WOMAN: Past Season, we saw her making a cameo playing herself in ‘Queens’. Now, Scarlet Johansson returns playing also a minor role in this Chad Taylor’s drama. Scarlet has said that she has accepted to play a minor role in this movie due to her friendship with its director, Sofia Coppola, who already directed her in ‘Lost In Translation’. Scarlet plays the lover of January Jones’ husband, the only man in this cast: the CMP’s debutante Jeffrey Donovan.

RESTRAINT: Green light for this distressing thriller written by Josh Collins about how the friendship between two teenagers becomes a sick and even dangerous relationship for one of them. Cameron Bright returns to CMP after his personal success with ‘That’s The Way’ playing the obsessive friend. Neil Jordan, who already worked with Collins in his latest work for CMP, the horror comedy ‘The Hellbowl’, will be behind the cameras.

THE UNDERCOVERS: Steve Carell is a FBI agent with an undercover mission in this comedy written by Steve Connors and directed by Chris Weitz: he has to watch every move that makes the ex girlfriend of a mobster. And that woman will be no other than Renée Zellwegger, seen in CMP’s movies like ‘Paternal Nightmare’ or ‘A Hard Place’. Playing Carell’s kids we’ll see two Disney Channel’s stars that have already worked for CMP before: Emily Osment (‘Malcolm Manboobs’) and Jake T. Austin (‘Being Ben Stiller’).

JASON VS LEATHERFACE: Here comes a very special event for several reasons. First, because this movie will reunite on screen two icons of horror: Jason Vorhees and Leatherface. And second because this will be the last Matt Kubrick’s release for some time after he has announced a temporary retirement. John Woo (‘The Avenger’, ‘Metal Gear Solid’) is the director chosen by Kubrick to take care of this project. The movie will be shot and released in 3D. Matt Kubrick already brought back Jason Vorhees to the big screen in two previous CMP’s movies: ‘Vorhees: The Early Years’ (a box office’s success) and ‘Vorhees: The Bloody Years’ (a box office’s disaster).


D.R.COBB – ‘PRINCE OF DARKNESS’

D.R. Cobb makes his debut as screenwriter in CMP this week with ‘Prince Of Darkness’, remake of a forgotten movie directed by John Carpenter in 1987. But this won’t be the only time we’ll hear about Cobbin CMP at all. In fact, Cobb has become lately the most active writer by far in CMP and his personal waiting list of pitches assure that we will have stories coming from him not just for the next Seasons but for the next few years. We have talked with him this week for the very first time.

1.Why have you chosen for your debut in CMP a remake of a movie like John Carpenter's 'Prince Of Darkness'?

You know, I just watched the movie, and it didn't really hold up as well as I had remembered. I thought I could maybe improve a few things, then I started thinking about how the movie would be with better actors, and it just kind of evolved from that. I had wanted to submit something for a long time, but just didn't get around to it, or something, and I figured I might as well pop my CMP cherry with a remake to make the transition a little easier.

2. What kind of movies can we expect from you in the future?

I've submitted a lot of pitches since submitting 'The Prince of Darkness.' A lot. I think there will be a good variety. A little action, a little comedy, a little horror, a lot of drama. For adaptations I try to mix up the types of source material I use. I've adapted plays, novels, comic books, foreign films. Patrick Swayze once said, "Nobody puts baby in the corner." And I'm trying to not pin myself in any corners with my material. There are some very safe projects, and some pretty risky projects. I'm not sure I answered your question.

3. What's your main objective as moviemaker: critical or box office's success?

Both would be nice, but that's usually not the case. I guess I'd like a little of both. I'd like my movies to get good reviews, but maybe not great reviews. And I'd like my movies to make the studio a little bit of money, but maybe not hundreds of millions of dollars. When I submit a story I generally don't think about how much money it'll make. I'm more concerned with making sure it doesn't completely suck, and believe me I have failed at that a few times, but maybe those sucky movies, if they get made, will make a lot of money.

4. Are there any CMP's movies or writers you specially like?

Obviously there are the veteran writers like Kubrick, Stark, Edwards, Collins, and so on. I respect the fact that they've been around so long, and while I don't enjoy every movie they put out, they know what they're doing. This past season I really enjoyed Chad Taylor's 'Noon.' It just hit the right notes for me as a viewer. It was a good mix of old and new ideas. He took an old story and completely transplanted it, with the help of Hollywood's best. I was actually shocked that it didn't do better than it did at the Golden Moon Awards. Another recent flick I enjoyed was Richard Franzwa's 'A Murder of Crows,' which I hope gives Harvey Keitel the comeback he deserves. I always enjoy a good crime story and both delivered. Of course it's easier to remember the more recent movies.

5. You are already co-writing screenplays with other CMP's authors. How's the experience of co-writing going so far?

I've co-written two scripts now, and the experiences couldn't have been more different. The first one, was Joey Stark asked me if I could come up with an idea for a sequel to the 'Goonies.' Even though I've never been a fan, an idea popped into my head and I sent him the basic idea, which he then ran with and wrote it up, then I rewrote his story. The second was with Chad Taylor, who said he had an idea that he couldn't figure out how to write, so he gave me the concept and the main characters and then I wrote the whole thing, crafted the story. I enjoyed the process both times, although there was a little more pressure on the 'Goonies,' because of who was asking, you know. With Taylor, I had complete freedom, which is nice. I'm completely game if any other writers want to collaborate with me on something.


JAMES BRADLEY AND ACTRESSES

There’s a saying between actresses in CMP’s world: ‘Make a movie with James Bradley and you’ll be at the next GMA’s ceremony’. Bradley has proved to be the main specialist in creating interesting female characters in CMP. And you can notice the consequences of that looking at the GMA’s history. Almost each and every Season, actresses working in a movie written by him have been nominated or have won a Golden Moon. It is just amazing. I have always wanted to make these statistics and I finally have taken the time to do it. Looking at it, you can understand why every actress in Hollywood dies for being in a Bradley’s movie.

SEASON 2
-Best Actress Winner:
Catherine Z. Jones – ‘Fools Game’
-Best Starring Couple Winner:
Catherine Z. Jones – ‘Fools Game’
-Best Supporting Actress Winner:
Charlize Theron – ‘Cathedral’
-Best Actress Nominee:
Merryl Streep – ‘Cathedral’
-Best Supporting Actress Nominees:
Scarlet Johansson – ‘Chevrolet’
Rosario Dawson- ‘Chevrolet’

SEASON 3
-Best Actress Nominee:
Kate Winslet – ‘The Toymaker’

SEASON 4
-Best Supporting Actress Nominee:
Scarlet Johansson – ‘Paperback Story’

SEASON 5
-Best Supporting Actress Winner:
Wynona Ryder – ‘American Stroll’

SEASON 6
-Best Actress Winner:
Kate Winslet – ‘Man In The Mirror’
-Best Starring Couple Winner:
Keira Knightley – ‘Pompeii’
-Best Actress Nominee:
Keira Knightley – ‘Pompeii’

SEASON 8
-Best Actress Winner:
Scarlet Johansson – ‘The 6th Avenue Castaways’
-Best Actress Nominee:
Ziyi Zhang – ‘The Chinese Bride’
-Best Supporting Actress Nominee:
Sandra Bullock – ‘The Chinese Bride’
Rosario Dawson – ‘The Funeral Drum’
-Best Starring Couple Nominee:
Scarlet Johansson – ‘The 6th Avenue Castaways’

SEASON 9
-Best Supporting Actress Winner:
Jodie Foster – ‘Things I Forgot To Tell You’
-Best Supporting Actress Nominee:
Kate Winslet – ‘Things I Forgot To Tell You’

SEASON 10
-Best Actress Winner:
Angelina Jolie – ‘Tender Is The Night’
-Best Starring Couple Nominee:
Angelina Jolie – ‘Tender Is The Night’

SEASON 13
-Best Actress Winner:
Ellen Page – ‘Nude!’
-Best Actress Nominee
Michelle Monaghan – ‘Conspiracy Of Life’
-Best Starring Couple Nominee:
Ellen Page & Jena Malone – ‘Nude!’
-Best Supporting Actress Nominee:
Jena Malone – ‘Nude!’

SEASON 14
-Best Actress Winner:
Kate Winslet – ‘Alice’
-Best Actress Nominee:
Julia Roberts – ‘The Orphanage’

SEASON 15
-Best Supporting Actress Winner:
Lauren Bacall – ‘Son Of The Bride’
-Best Actress Nominee:
Olivia Wilde – ‘Game Of Truth’
-Best Starring Couple Nominee
Olivia Wilde – ‘Game Of Truth’

SEASON 16
-Best Supporting Actress Winner:
Carey Mulligan – ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’
-Best Actress Nominee:
Natalie Portman – ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’
-Best Supporting Actress Nominee:
Nicole Kidman – ‘The Show’
-Best Starring Couple Nominee:
Jennnifer Aniston & Sandra Bullock – ‘Queens’

And that makes this amazing numbers:

Total:
Nominations - 36
Wins - 13

Best Actress:
Nominations - 14
Wins - 6

Best Supporting Actress:
Nominations - 13
Wins - 5

Best Starring Couple:
Nominations - 9
Wins - 2


Here are Tom Hardy and Lena Heady looking absolutely great at the world premiere of ‘Grand Theft Auto’ in Los Angeles.



THE 16th GOLDEN MOON AWARDS EDITION

Funny, I had planned to begin this article writing something that Dawson Edwards already wrote at the CMP’s board a few days ago: I have a love and hate relationship with the Golden Moon Awards. Some editions, I fully agree with what happens. Others, I absolutely disagree. In this 16th Edition, I must say that I feel more disagreement than agreement.

I already was disappointed when nominations were announced. My two favorite movies of the Season, ‘The Respected’ and ‘Athena’, two wonderful cinematic works, were mistreated by voters. ‘The Respected’ was totally ignored and ‘Athena’ only got two minor nominations. And my third favorite movie of the Season, ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’ was forgotten at the main categories too. After that, my interest for this Edition automatically fell.

The thing I have enjoyed most this Edition is watching again how wrong can be my dear colleague Charlie Kiggs with his predictions.

Anyway, it was James Bradley’s Edition. His movies won 9 out of the 14 statues. Great Season for him.

Once said so, let’s see who had a happy night or a bitter one at the ceremony… and I’ll give you some inside information from my spies at CMP.

The Happy Ones

‘The Show’ was a deserved winner …considering the absences at the nominations. It was a great satire about the manipulation of the media and how superficial our society is these days. And it was an original concept, something not rewarded too often at the GMA, where books adaptations are always the main source of big awards winners. Nothing to complaint about the triumph of this movie. With these five awards, ‘The Show’ becomes one of the most awarded movies ever at the GMA together with ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’ (6), ‘Carousel’ (5) and ‘A Farewell To Arms’ (5).

The curiosity here is that you all probably think that its main rival was ‘Noon’. Well, you are wrong. My spies tell me that it was ‘Snow’ the movie that almost ruined the night to ‘The Show’. At the Best Picture category, ‘The Show’ finally beat ‘Snow’ for a difference as slight as one single vote, while ‘Noon’ stayed very far away from both. And I agree with Charlie Kiggs here: if ‘Snow’ should have won, I would have definitely lost my faith in the Golden Moons as serious movie awards.

Jim Sturgess was the big winner of the night. Yes, he stole the Best Actor award to Denzel Washington and James Franco. And I have not seen anything as unfair as that since Logan Lerman stole the statue to Anthony Mackie and Tom Hanks back in Season 12. I can live with Sturgess and Watson winning the Best Starring Couple award – although the other two couples, Aniston & Bullock and specially Franco & Maguire also deserved it much more than them -, but considering Sturgess’ work in ‘Snow’ a better acting job than Denzel’s and James’… Please… I will stop here to avoid being too rude with those ****** voters that supported him.

And what about Carey Mulligan winning the Best Supporting Actress award for ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies? That makes Carey joining the selected club of the ‘Three Awards Winners’, together with Johnny Depp, Scorsese and Tom Hanks, who also won his third statue in this Edition. Too much for Carey any way you look at it. Considering the excellent works of Merryl Streep and Nicole Kidman, this was another unfair decision in my opinion.

I am happy for Charlize Theron. She is a deserved winner. At least, considering again that Gwyneth Paltrow (‘A Tangled Web’) and Angelina Jolie (‘Athena’) were unfairly ignored. The problem at the Best Actress category wasn’t the rivals of Charlize, Natalie Portman and Emma Watson. The problem here is that the two best works of an actress in a leading role of the Season were not at this final trio.

It was also funny how ‘Athena’ saved the night. The movie jumped to the most nominated movies of the Season by winning at the only two categories it was nominated, Production Design and Most Wanted Sequel. A 100% of success at the Gala. But that movie should have shown up at more important categories.

The Sad Ones

Terrible night for James Franco. Three nominations and not a single award. His extraordinary works in both ‘Dark Shadows’ and ‘Whatever Happened To Holden Caulfield?’ proved that he is probably the actor in a better shape in Hollywood right now. But voters decided to ignore him when voting for the winners. I honestly think that he didn’t deserve to go through such a bitter night.

And same goes for ‘Whatever Happened To Holden Caulfield?’ in general. 4 nominations – less than deserved by this wonderful movie – and no wins. In years to come, people will remember more this movie than awarded ones like ‘Snow’ or ‘Love Lost’. I just can’t believe it didn’t pick up any statue at all.

But the main defeated movie of the night was without doubt ‘Noon’. It jumped from 6 nominations to only 1 award. ‘Noon’ is called to become a CMP’s classic. My spies at CMP tell me that again votes changed a lot from nomination phase to winners phase. ‘Noon’ was strongly supported when voting for the nominees. But, suddenly, their supporters disappeared when voting for the winners.

And that change of mind in voters specially hurt Martin Scorsese and Johnny Depp. Depp couldn’t make it either at Best Villain or Best Supporting Actor. So he remains as one of the very few talents to have won 3 GMA. But, looking at it the other way around, he has also become the most defeated talent at the awards: 4 out of his 7 nominations didn’t mean a statue for him. So he is a member of two clubs now: the ‘Three Times Winner’ club but also the ‘Four Nominations Without Winning’ club, a sad club also joined by James Franco and Robert De Niro in this Edition.

And, for the first time, Scorsese didn’t win this time like it happened with his three previous nominations. Jason Reitman won the Best Director award with less difficulties than expected.

In Conclusion

Are the Golden Moon Awards losing prestige or, at least, are they losing the interest of CMP’s fans? Maybe. Even Harry Stark had to demand some reactions at the CMP’s forum about it, as none of the CMP’s authors showed any reaction about them.

Anyway, voters rule and no matter if we like their choices or not. That’s democracy, isn’t it?

Oh! I almost forgot. My favorite part of this Edition was Daniel Day-Lewis introducing the ceremony. Somebody at CMP had the wild idea of choosing him and not the usual comedians for the introductory words. A most strange choice. But it worked!