SEPTEMBER, 30


TARZAN

Action Adventure / Drama

The Cast: Taylor Kitsh, Gemma Arterton, Kyle Chandler, Tim Roth, Ryan Kwanten, Jessica Pare

The Director: Joe Wright
The Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb

The Plot:

While on their way home from an African safari, Jack Clayton (R.Kwanten), CEO of Greystoke Industries, and his pregnant wife Alice's (J.Pare) plane gets caught in a storm and crashes into the jungle below. They survive the crash and Jack manages to build a tree shelter using pieces of the crashed plane. Alice goes into labor and gives birth to a son. She dies soon after giving birth due to an infection. Jack buries his wife. Several months later while out hunting, Jack is killed by an ape. The infant John Clayton is taken into the ape tribe.

At age 8, while out playing with one of the chimps, John is attacked by a panther. He jumps into a river and in a true "sink or swim" moment, figures out how to swim and escapes, but the chimp he was playing with is killed by the panther. He floats downriver a bit, when he gets out, he notices something in the trees. It's the shelter his father built. For the first time he sees his reflection in a mirror, discovering that he is not an ape. He also finds his father's hunting knife, which has his father's name engraved on it. The sharp and shiny object fascinates him.

Several years pass, and John (T.Kitsh), now an adult, has now become the dominant male of his ape tribe. He goes to the tree structure everyday, and looks at books his parents had. One day, while on his way back to the tribe he is attacked by a silver-back gorilla. After a long, tense struggle, John manages to kill the beast with his father's knife.

While out on a hunt with his ape companions, they are attacked by a group of natives. The spears and arrows of the natives kill the apes. The natives chase after John, and they eventually manage to hit him with an arrow. They capture John, who they call Tarzan. They keep him captive in their village where the villagers beat him, until one day, a group of anthropologists including Jane Porter (G.Arterton, the first woman John has ever seen), and Paul Darling (K.Chandler), arrive in the village. Jane convinces them to let "Tarzan" go by giving them her watch and hair brush. Tarzan quickly escapes into the jungle, but doesn't stray too far away, and observes the anthropologists (the first white people he has ever seen) from up in the trees.

One day Jane is down by the river, when a panther approaches. Just as the panther is about to strike, Tarzan leaps the trees, where he had been watching Jane, and fights the panther. The panther pounces on Tarzan, badly wounding up his shoulder. Tarzan throws the panther off of him, and stabs it with his father's knife. He then passes out from blood loss.

Jane takes Tarzan to her group's camp and treats his wounds. While nursing him back to health Jane teaches Tarzan some very rudimentary English, and has Paul teach him to shave. Paul finds Tarzan's knife, and notices the engraving. He does some research and discovers the truth about Tarzan and who his parents were. He asks Jane to find out how he has survived all these years in the jungle.

Paul secretly sends off a DNA sample of John/Tarzan to Jack Clayton's brother Bill (T.Roth), John's uncle. Tarzan tells Jane that he was raised by apes, and that he doesn't remember his parents. He takes her to the tree shelter, where they make love. A few days later, Paul announces that they are heading back to America and that he has secured permission to bring John Clayton with them to meet his only relative, and to study his transition into civilization.

Upon their arrival in New York City, Jane takes John to meet his uncle at Greystoke Tower. Since the disappearance of Jack and Alice, Bill Clayton has been running Greystoke Industries, and he doesn't want to give up control of the company to some feral ape man. Jane continues teaching John English, along with teaching him social skills. Paul attempts to trick John into giving him his fortune to "protect his interests", but Jane stops him.

A few months pass, and John and Jane become engaged. One day, John goes to the zoo, and upon seeing apes in cages, he tries to break them out of captivity. He releases the apes and some other animals before he is arrested. Bill attempts to have John declared legally insane so that he can retain control of the company. John is not found insane and is freed.

John misses Africa and decides to sell his shares in the company to Bill for a healthy sum of money, which he uses to build a large estate back in Africa. He and Jane leave America and are married upon their arrival in Africa.


Stark’s Comment:
Can Tarzan still fulfill a movie theatre after all these years? Cobb has adapted the character and the story to our days looking for a new audience. We’ll see if it works…

Behind The Scenes:
-Jonathan Mostow (‘Nick Fury’) got involved as director in the pre-production phase of this movie. But D.R. Cobb decided to replace him and hired Joe Wright (‘Misplaced Affection’) due to the usual ‘creative differences’.
-Both Taylor Kitsh and Gemma Arterton make their debut in CMP with this movie.
-Kyle Chandler’s only previous work in CMP was also written by Cobb: ‘Short On Time’.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Comedy / Sci-Fi

The Cast: Zach Braff, Anne Hathaway, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Will Ferrell, Dwayne Johnson, J.K. Simmons. Voices by Michael Clarke Duncan, Hugh Laurie

The Director: Richard Linklater
The Screenwriter: Ben Tyler

The Plot:

Brian Forrest (Zach Braff) has packed up his suitcase and is leaving home for good. He looks back at the bare house for a moment, sighs, and says goodbye to the place.

"Goodbye, master," says the house (V.O. Hugh Laurie).

The door dilates open to reveal the floating city of New Los Angeles. The year is 2084. We find out (via narration from Brian himself) that Brian is packing up and moving to go to his new job on the moon, working in the lunar protein synthesis division of the uber-successful, ever-present megacorporation known as the Pinkwater Conglomerate. It was just as well - he hates this town and everything about it. No matter how many air filters they install, they still can't cover up the smell of dead fish that had been caught in the tidal power collectors. His old job had been for shit, too - the pay wasn't terrible, but his boss was. And then there were the shark people who roamed the streets at night. The only reason he had stayed there was because Amanda (Anne Hathaway) had a job and roots there. And now there was no reason left for him to stay.

"It all happened without warning," he claims. "Three years together - yeah, we had our spats, but no more than most people, right? If there were something wrong, she'd have told me, right? But no - suddenly one day it's 'I'm leaving - there's someone else.' If only I'd sprang for those new memory-enhancing implants, I could find out just what the fuck I did to deserve this.

"Doesn't matter now. I need a fresh start. Get the fuck out of this fish graveyard."

He heads to the space port and boards a space elevator to the orbital GEO station. From there, he will transfer to a special zero-G car, break off from the cable and head to the prefabricated metropolis of Lunar City One.

He sits back in his seat and relaxes. (The operator announces that the in-flight entertainment will be Return of the Giant Hogweed starring the Thesbot 9000 and Hamlet starring Justin Bieber III). But just then, who should appear but Amanda and her new boyfriend Mark (Joseph Gordon-Levitt).

Brian tries his best to avoid being seen, deliberately ignoring the advice of his anger management implant chip (again voiced by Hugh Laurie). After all, what can be worse than being stuck on a space elevator with your ex and her new boyfriend? Despite these efforts, he is noticed almost immediately. He pretends to be pleasantly surprised to see them and strikes up a bland conversation with the two. They say that they are going on vacation. He eventually discovers that Mark is a robot (real name: Mark VI, Model 2117B). And not just any robot - he discovers (at a point when Amanda leaves for the powder room and he and Mark are alone) that he is a PleasureBot 6000.

At this point, Brian is no longer able to contain his rage and frustration. Once Amanda returns from the restroom, he explodes ("You left me for a sexbot...you FUCKING BITCH!") A fight of Jerry Springer proportions commences.

Brian is furious that his longtime girlfriend has left him for a "walking vibrator," when he was nothing but faithful to her. Amanda shoots back that Brian is a neurotic wreck, is emotionally abusive, and makes everyone around him miserable. (No one can smell the "dead fish" except him, he has nothing but cruel words to offer most people, and engages in frequent psychosomatic vomiting).

Despite the best efforts of the flight attendants, the argument escalates even further when Brian begins making racist remarks against shark people (Brian, as this argument reveals, is neurotic and kind of a dickhead, to be honest), angering a shark man a few rows back (V.O. Michael Clarke Duncan). Eventually, he makes one disparaging remark against Mark too many, and the robot overcomes his non-violence programming by delivering a haymaker to the face.

The shark-man smells blood and joins the frenzy.

Before they can kill each other, however, a turret descends from the ceiling and fires three perfectly-aimed incapacitation darts at them. Their world goes dark...

Meanwhile, back in Lunar City One, Pinkwater Conglomerate CEO Henry Caldwell (J.K.Simmons) is berating his underlings via vidphone for allowing helium-3 production to increase by 13% (and for allowing his subscription to Pipe Enthusiast Monthly to expire). From his frothing, barely coherent tone, he is obviously either insane or coked out of his mind. His security chief (Dwayne Johnson) interrupts him, informing him that two "known agents and an escapee" have just been detained, and that these people possess information that could destroy them. Furious for being interrupted, he tells them to find them and kill them if they're THAT important. "They're being stalled by spaceport security right now, but-" "And while you're out, get me a danish!" The Chairman then resolves to arrange an "accident" at the factory to keep helium prices high.

Meanwhile, Brian, Mark, and Carl (the shark person) wake up in the GEO station detention block. Each of them remarks how screwed they are - Brian will likely be unable to keep his new job, and Carl will likely get in trouble with his wife, on whom (he says) he is cheating. But Mark is in the worst trouble of all - he and Amanda are not, in fact, on vacation, but are actually on the run. Mark is trying to escape his life as a prostitute and slave (cyber-pimps regularly wipe their hobots' memories so that they don't develop true sentience), and steal away to Mars. Amanda (being something of an expert programmer) had helped him build up immunity to low-level wipes (but not full wipes). But now their names are on the blotter, and his pimp will be able to find them.

Brian angrily suggests that Mark turn himself in to keep Amanda out of danger, but Mark says that he would rather die than become a mindless robot again, and that if Amanda is in undue danger, he will tell her to leave him and go home.

Just before another fight starts, a guard enters. He announces that Amanda has bailed all of them out - including, surprisingly, Carl.

The four of them meet up outside the detention center. Curiously, Carl is the first person she talks to.

"What the hell were you thinking, getting involved in the fight like that?"

"I needed to protect Mark from inside lockup."

"Bullshit - that was you letting your emotions and animal instincts take over!"

"You're one to talk - you escalated the fight in the first place!"

Brian interrupts, demanding to know what's going on.

Carl explains that he is a government agent investigating the Pinkwater Corporation - more specifically, their Robotics Division. Robot prostitution has been illegal ever since the Great Cyberclap Outbreak of 2073 and so, naturally, is the construction of new pleasure models. To get around this, Pinkwater has been constructing models ostensibly for other purposes, and then delivering them (with reprogramming instructions) to known synthetic flesh-peddlers. Since Mark is a model constructed by Pinkwater in 2076, and has a residual datastamp of his own delivery stored in his positronic brain, he makes the perfect physical evidence to present to the authorities.

Amanda, he explains, is a closely involved civilian associate (and anti-cyberslavery activist) who's been working with the investigation for almost two years.

Mark is shocked, hurt, and confused by this turn of events (they've been together for only one year). He asks whether everything between them was a lie.

Amanda says that at first, she was only trying to infiltrate the organization by pretending to be a customer, but she genuinely did fall in love with him.

She tries to explain but Mark interrupts. Mark is still unsure whether he can trust her ever again (deception is something his mind has only been developed enough to process for a short period of time). Carl in turn interrupts their bickering and tells them that they don't have time - Pinkwater's agents are aboard the station and they have twenty minutes to board a release flight to the moon. Brian can use his ticket, Amanda and Carl can claim official business, and Mark can shed his skin and fold himself up as luggage.

"But Pinkwater owns that moon!" Brian protests.

"Well, not all of it. Parts of it are controlled by zombies. Still, you have any better ideas?"

"Christ. I knew I should've taken the early flight instead."

(Back on the moon, the head of security informs Mr. Caldwell - now in the middle of shooting up - that the fugitives have boarded a flight to the moon. He smiles and tells him to have a force ready to meet them there. The camera zooms in on his bloodshot eyes).

The four of them make it to the moon's surface, where indeed Pinkwater has a private police force waiting to arrest them (ostensibly for jumping bail). However, they find that Mark has grown a new skin during the long flight from the Earth to the Moon - one that looks exactly like Brian. Now it is impossible to tell them apart. They take them into custody to determine who is who, and to find out what the Chairman (currently sound asleep) wants to do with them.

During an interrogation, Mark seduces and incapacitates the captain of the guards (who has been struggling with his sexuality for some time). The four fugitives escape in an elaborate chase sequence across the lunar city's sterile prefabricated environment involving tanks, a stolen taxi, and a tricycle. At one point, the shots fired by one of the Pinkwater Security Tanks blasts open an airlock, causing several citizens (including one played by Arnold Schwarzenegger) to go flying out to their deaths on the moon's surface.

They lose their pursuit in the dark outskirts of the lunar city. Or more accurately, their pursuit is too scared to continue. They soon discover why, as they are surrounded by a pack of ravenous zombies. Their leader (Will Ferrell) stops them.

"HOLD IT! Before we eat your brains, we have just one question...do any of you know how to fix a neural protein synthesizer?"

As luck would have it, Brian does. Now that they can synthesize brain matter, the zombies no longer need to eat the brains of humans.

(Here there is a scene of Mr. Caldwell berating his now obviously-closeted head of security for allowing them to escape).

Back in the zombie colony, the zombie leader introduces himself. His name is Steve, leader of the Undead Peoples' Revolutionary Communist Party. The lunar zombies, he explains, were created when one of Pinkwater's cosmetic products went horribly wrong. (Much like a Captain Planet villain, the Conglomerate does little that isn't evil). Most of those affected were workers (except for Steve himself, who was a Vice President), and thus grew to resent corporate authority and became communists. ("We will overthrow our capitalist pigdog oppressors...and then eat their BRAAAAAAAAINS!")

However, despite sitting on a sizable weapons cache, they (like many revolutionary organizations) mostly just hold meetings and don't do much of anything. The entries to the upper city are heavily guarded, so there is little chance of escape from the undercity, much less the planet (which would require getting on an elevator at the Conglomerate-controlled port). They are stuck here, and will have to live among zombie communists for the rest of their lives (which will last as long as the fuel supply for the synthesis machine does).

"Well, we'll just call for reinforcements from the Agency, right?" Brian asks.

Carl grimly explains that this isn't an option. The government is advocating minimal resources and manpower to this operation because they have little interest in the plight of robots, and the . In all likelihood, the Agency has already disavowed all knowledge of this operation. The fact that they even sent him to do the mission (an alcoholic who had failed miserably in his last mission) shows how little faith they had on it. They're on their own now.

The bickering between Mark, Brian, Amanda, and Carl (who, it is revealed, used to date Amanda a long time ago) reaches an all-time high as they each blame each other for what has happened to them. The zombie leader finally tells them to shut up. Angrily, each of them storms off and goes their separate ways.

Brian contemplates the situation for a moment. Against all odds, he's grown to like Mark, and knows that Amanda has only meant well and loves him (she wouldn't be bickering if he didn't). Slowly, he realizes what a neurotic jerk he's been and formulates a plan.

"Okay, if I'm going to get out of this alive, I need to get my ex-girlfriend to reconcile with her robot prostitute boyfriend AND her secret agent partner, so we can help the zombie communists take over the planet and free all the robots from slavery...you know, when you say it out loud, that almost sounds silly."

One by one, he talks (and apologizes) to the three others, reconciling them. (During this, we also learn that the plan to break Mark free of sexual cyberslavery wasn't necessary to the plan - it was Amanda's idea). He then lays out his plan: Mark and Amanda will sneak past the blockade at the entrances to the outer city and make their way to the Robot Control Center, where Amanda will reprogram the security robots to fight for them. Meanwhile, the zombie communists (led by Carl as military commander) will lead the attack and form a new government on the moon.

Despite a few objections (Carl doesn't think the Agency will like a communist-ruled moon and Mark is Catholic), they agree to the plan.

The attack begins the next morning and succeeds (with Mark not only getting past the head of security, but getting him to turn against the Conglomerate). Zombie Steve chases down and eats the Chairman's brain, finally achieving revenge on the man who wronged him.

As the zombie proletariat overthrows their oppressors (with the cooperation of the equally-oppressed humans), Carl, Mark, Amanda, and Brian survey what they have done.

"Well, the governments of the Moon and Earth are going to have plenty to talk about," Carl remarks.

"I'll say," says Mark.

Three months later, we see Brian getting off work at his new job at the now collectively-owned lunar protein synthesis facility. He casts a glance at one of his coworkers, Eva (Mila Kunis).

We then see scenes of the happy new lives of the characters - Mark and Amanda together, the Security Chief with a robot of the same model as Mark, and Carl in a hot tub with several shark women. Brian then asks Eva out for coffee. She helpfully informs him that Eva is short for EVA v2.78, Model 23.

"Well, robots can still...do coffee, right?"

Eva smiles. Roll credits. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3muC5MXn1sY


Stark’s Comment:
The main talents involved in the unforgettable ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’ are back… An absolutely crazy comedy. Audiences may love it or hate it… an uncertainty Tyler is used to.

Behind The Scenes:
-Ben Tyler, Richard Linklater, Zach Braff, Anne Hathaway and Will Ferrell teamed up before in the critically acclaimed comedy ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’, the first screenplay ever written by Tyler and winner of the Best Screenplay GMA.
-Arnold Schwarzenegger (in a parodic homage to ‘Total Recall’) and Mila Kunis make uncredited cameos in the movie.
-Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s character is unofficially inspired in Jude Law’s character in ‘A.I.’
-Ivan Reitman was initially considered to direct the movie. But Braff and Hathaway convinced Tyler to replace him with Linklater to make the shootage a Litterbox’s old friends reunion.
-Gordon-Levitt has already succeeded this Season with another comedy, ‘Cousins’. He rejected to be in this week’s release ‘At Cross Purposes’ to be in this one.

AT CROSS PURPOSES

Action / Film Noir

The Cast: Tom Hardy, Josh Hartnett, Diego Luna, Sarah Shahi, Rory Culkin, Saoirse Ronan, Elijah Wood, Shea Whigham. Voice of Jim Dale.

The Director: John Hillcoat
The Screenwriter: Lawrence Abernathy

The Plot:

“This tale, like any other begins at the beginning, not the end, nor the middle, nor the kinda beginning. This tale begins at the beginning. Oh and a quote as well.” – Narrator (Jim Dale)

PROLOGUE:
At a black screen, these words are spoken before MOMENTO MORI, latin for “Remember You Will Die”, edges its way across the screen. Soon after that, the sound of scuffling and grunts can be heard before a loud gunshot echoes out and the scene opens on the thick Nevada desert. Marco Vespe (D.Luna) stands atop a man with a bullet lodged into his forehead, Marco has a smoking gun in his hand and he looks back towards his partner, Julius DeFranco (T.Hardy). The two speak casually for a moment before putting the man in the back of a truck, their conversation revolving around the increasingly harsh events of a war between Drug Cartels from Mexico that has leaked over into the U.S. Julius, after giving a half-hearted argument, agrees to take the man’s body to a local river while Marco looks through the man’s wallet and finds that he’s in fact the son of Nevada Senator Lawrence Blackwell.

FILM:
In a small dingy strip club on the Las Vegas Strip, Private Detective Benjamin Stuart (J.Harnett) slowly comes to after a long night of binge drinking and barfights. He reaches a hand to his forehead in an attempt to stop his headache. He looks around before heading out into the blazing Vegas sun, he checks his pockets to find that who ever assaulted him has stolen his wallet and car keys.

Back in the Outlands, Julius drops the man’s body in a river after removing all of his clothes and cutting his body in several parts. While in the Outlands, he receives a call from Marco informing him of who they’ve killed.

Benjamin walks back to his office to discover Polly Fontaine (S.Shahi) inside his office. She pleads for him to find her son whose recently gone missing after being seen around a US – Mexican Border Checkpoint. Days later, pictures of someone who appeared to be him were found on the internet, the pictures depicted him being tortured. Benjamin takes the case and calls a friend in an attempt to find the location of the computer that uploaded the pictures.

Julius and Marco drive into Reno with the hopes of finding answers to the false name on the contract that they were given. The two set up a meeting at the “Quick Times’ Diner in Reno and find Roger Anders (R.Culkin) waiting for the two. He informs to the two that Lawrence’s son was to be assassinated so that he could die as a martyr and jettison his father’s political campaign to get him into the Oval Office. Anders then tells them that they can’t leave the diner alive. As soon as he finishes those words a group of men open fire outside of the diner, shooting anyone present as Julius and Marco duck down and pull out their side-arms.

Benjamin begins his drive to Mexico, meeting a 15 year old hitchhiker named Lily (S.Ronan) on the way. He agrees to take her to the city by the checkpoint, where she claims her family is waiting for her. Shortly after picking up Lily, night falls upon them and they rent a room with two beds in a cheap motel and Ben treats Lily to dinner at a low-price diner. While waiting for their food, one of the truckers recognizes Lily as a prostitute that gave him sexual favors, Lily doesn’t deny this but begins to cry. Impulsively, Ben punches the trucker and begins to fight him and after catching a right hook Ben goes down. The trucker moves over to Lily before catching a stool to the back of the head, courtesy of Ben. After leaving the diner, Lily reveals that she is an orphan and that she has no where to go. She wanted to go to the city by the checkpoint in hopes of crossing over into Mexico, and she shows Ben her passport. Ben realizes he has no other options but to take Lily into Mexico with him.

Marco shoots Roger in the head as Julius moves over to the counter and begins to fire at the men outside of the diner. Marco begins to circle around picking the men off by the windows, after several minutes of shooting, all fire ceases. Julius decides that if they two are going to get out of this, their going to have to meet with their usual contract delivery man who resides at a Local Strip Club.

Ben and Lily pass through the checkpoint without a hitch and Ben’s contact reveals that the location that the shots were taken at is close to the checkpoint city, out in the Deadlands. Ben stops at another cheap hotel and tells Lily to stay put before he heads out into town and buys a revolver and a number of bullets. Afterwards he heads out into the Deadlands, to the address his contact has given him. He exits the car and knocks on the door of the house which is quite large but quite dirty as well. A Mexican man answers the door and once he notices that Ben can’t speak Spanish calls for another man to come to the door, Spencer Blackwell (E.Wood). Spencer speaks English and informs Ben that the house is just a place for people who want to cross over into the US to come. Ben doesn’t believe either of them and pulls his gun out, before finding that the gun is faulty and won’t fire. The Mexican man punches Ben and he falls to the ground, unconscious.

Marco stays on the ground floor of the Strip Club as Julius heads to the Upper Floors and meets Richie Frost (S. Whigham). Richie tells Julius that the only way out of this bind is to kill Marco and frame him as the only killer of Lawrence’s Son. Julius disagrees with this idea initially but after Richie informs him that many Contract Killers will be going after the two, some even in the building, Julius agrees and heads back downstairs. Julius tells Marco that Richie can clear the two and he begins to drive Marco into the Outlands, asking him if he’s ever heard The Tale of The Rich Frenchmen with Marco replying with silence…

Ben comes to in a basement where he sits beside the son of Polly, whose beaten and bruised. The Mexican comes downstairs and the sound of a car starting and driving away can be heard as The Mexican begins to beat Polly’s son. Ben manages to wrench his hands out of the cuffs that binds him to his chair and begins to fight the Mexican, which is a losing battle. He runs upstairs, looking for anything that can help him before the Mexican comes upstairs, knife in hand. The Mexican begins to swipe at Ben before BANG! He falls to the ground while Lily stands in the doorway. “I…I followed your tire tracks and your had a gun in the back seat of your car…” She tells him. Ben moves over to Lily and hugs her as she drops the gun, tears beginning to fall from her eyes.

Spencer drives down the road to the Mexican-American Checkpoint but is stopped by two hitchhikers, Marco and Julius. Spencer agrees to give the two a ride and Julius asks Spencer if he’s ever heard the Tale of the Rich Frenchmen...


Stark’s Comment:
Another uncertain release… It has quality enough to make a very nice box office but it is too dark for teen audiences and, after all, teens are who turn a movie into a blockbuster. We’ll see…

Behind The Scenes:
-This is the first movie directed by John Hillcoat for CMP.
-This is the second screenplay written by Lawrence Abernathy for CMP. The first one, ‘Thrust From Skyline’, made 89 million at box office.
-Some talents rejected the offer to play minor roles in this movie and had to be replaced: Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Culkin), Topher Grace (Wood) and Jeff Bridges (Whigham).


PRETEND TO SMILE: After his latest success with the third installment of the Wonder Woman saga, Dawson Edwards is returning to drama next Season with this tough story focused on a young prostitute. Movie director and fashion designer Tom Ford is going to make his debut in CMP directing it. To play the leading role, the chosen one has been another CMP’s debutante: the young star Amanda Seyfried. The film is being produced by Scoundrels Productions, the company created by George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

ATLAS SHRUGGED: New writer Dwight Gallo is behind this adaptation of the Ayn Rand’s book being directed by Clint Eastwood and starred by Charlize Theron. Still hot his success with ‘The Team’, Ben Affleck returns to CMP playing the lead male character of the story. Also, Aaron Eckhart has joined this cast. Eckhart had not been in CMP since the flopped ‘Nathan Zachary and the Pylfered Prototype’. He was offered the job in the movie to replace the initially considered Christian Bale. Bale refused the offer due to his commitment with another upcoming CMP’s production. Brad Pitt rejected the job too before Eckhart finally was the chosen one.

HERE, KITTY KITTY: Green light for this animation movie about a cat traveling to Australia. This Josh Collins’ screenplay has been waiting for years to be finally developed but here it is at last. Andrew Adamson returns to CMP after so long away to direct it. Adamson has directed before two animated blockbusters for the Studio: the record-breaker ‘The Ice Princess’ and the blockbuster ‘He-Man and Masters Of The Universe’. The cast of voices is leaded by Vince Vaughn, who seems to have become a specialist in voice-only jobs in CMP after being heard in ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ and ‘Toons’ (sadly, two severe box office’s flops). Also to be heard in this movie, Reece Witherspoon, absent from CMP since ‘Netchasers’, and Anne Hathaway, who can be seen in this week’s release ‘Stairway To Heaven’.

SUB-MARINER: Two more names to add to the cast of this comic book adaptation written by John Malone and directed by David Fincher. The young Ruth Wilson makes here her debut in CMP while the veteran Bill Paxton returns to the Studio after his work in this Season’s western ‘This Far From Heaven’.

INNOCENCE: Ed Harris and Kevin Bacon have teamed up to put up this courtroom drama. Harris is going to direct it, Bacon is going to produce it and both will play supporting roles in this story about two men sentenced for murder fighting to prove their innocence. Josh Hartnett, who can be seen in this week’s release ‘At Cross Purposes’, leads the cast and Yuri Redding is the author of the screenplay.


BAD FAMILY: This Joey Stark’s action movie tells the story of a band of gangsters formed by the four sons of Susan Sarandon. The two older brothers are going to be played by no other than Ryan Gosling, who is said to be having a very busy Season 19, and Chris Pine, seen before in CMP in ‘Housatlantavegas’ and ‘Modern Warfare’. Jon Turteltaub is directing the movie.

ASSASSIN’S CREED III: Cillian Murphy, last time seen in CMP in the Best Picture Winner ‘Metropolis’, joins this franchise playing the mean Cesare Borgia, son of the also mean Pope Rodrigo Borgia. Ralph Fiennes returns to the saga playing again Rodrigo Borgia. Fiennes got a Best Villain nomination for playing that character in the previous installment of this franchise, right before his personal success with ‘Eye Of The Needle’. Another talents returning to the saga are Gabriel Byrne, playing again Niccola Machiavelli, and Tilda Swinton, playing this time two different spirits: the good Minerva and the bad Juno. Peter Jackson directs and produces the film.

GROW OLD WITH ME: Rooney Mara makes her debut in CMP with this romantic story directed by Nick Cassavetes and starred by Robert Pattinson and Emma Watson. Chad Taylor has also announced that all the songs to be heard in the movie will be John Lennon’s songs, including of course ‘Grow Old With Me’. Taylor already proved how much he likes Lennon as he was the writer of the biopic ‘The Beatles’.

ISLAND OF THE DEAD: More stars coming from tv shows join the cast of this horror movie written by Matt Kubrick and being directed by D.R.Cobb. Michelle Borth and Tamara Taylor are going to make their debut in CMP fighting zombies in this film. And they will count with the help of Bobby Cannavale, who made his debut in CMP past Season in a completely different kind of movie, the theatrical drama ‘A View From The Bridge’.

THE JUNGLE: Todd Field is directing this adaptation of the Upton Sinclair’s book written by Yuri Redding. GMA Winners Jim Sturgess, Emma Watson and Keira Knightley are the shiny starring trio of the film. But also in it we will see more CMP’s debutantes like Vera Farmiga and the Croatian actor seen in movies like ‘Batman Begins’, Rade Serbedzija. John C. Reilly, seen this Season in ‘Somewhere Other Than The Night’, also works in this movie.


BEN TYLER – ‘STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN’

Ben Tyler returns with ‘Stairway To Heaven’ after his controversial latest release ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’. And we have talked with him about both films and his future works.

1.How was the writing process of such a complex and imaginative screenplay as 'Stairway To Heaven'?

It's a funny story, really, because I didn't mean for it to turn out the way it did when I started writing it. I began with the express goal of writing something "normal." Stairway was originally conceived as a sort of urbane romantic dramedy. Then, as I sat down to figure out where to begin, an idea popped into my head - "We all know how awkward being trapped with your ex on an elevator can be - but what if it were a space elevator?" And then it just transformed into something completely different. So yeah, I start out trying to write a romantic comedy and I make a story with zombie communists in it. I guess I'm just incapable of writing a normal story! My muse is a very naughty girl indeed.

2.How did it feel working again with Linklater, Braff and Hathaway so long after your first movie, 'Schroedinger's Litterbox'?

You know, I really hadn't thought about this angle too much until the casting was almost complete. I hope that people don't misinterpret this as meaning that this is a "spiritual sequel" to Litterbox, because I think they're very different films. Litterbox is more intellectual, while Stairway is more farcial in tone.

But getting back to the subject at hand, I was very fortunate to be able to work with such talented people on my debut film, and I'm happy to be working with them again.

3.This Season, you have also released the very experimental 'The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway'. Were you satisfied with how things went for this movie?

Absolutely. I put a lot into that movie - it's a big part of why I came back. And I was absolutely delighted by the reaction to it, both positive and negative. Indeed, I must confess that Charlie Kiggs's review of the film is easily my favorite. I have the newspaper clipping up on my wall. And I also found it quite encouraging that people were actually willing to go see it. Either there are more nostalgic dorks in the world than I anticipated, or it's a sign that audiences are growing more open-minded.

4.Do you think that there will be some room at the next GM Edition for these two peculiar stories you have released this Season?

We'll see. I certainly hope so. But that's not really a matter for me to decide.

5.What's next coming up from you in CMP?

At some point I'm finally going to finish Command & Conquer: Tiberian Sun. I'm almost done with it, I just need the time and the willpower to make that last push. After that, it's going to take some time for me to put the wheels in motion. Most probably it will be another musical - another adaptation, but more lucid than the Lamb.


ZACH BRAFF

Zach Braff can be considered – together with Ben Stiller and Steve Carell – one of the undisputable kings of comedy in CMP’s world. But, although he is regularly demanded by CMP’s authors, his career in the Studio has not been a bed of roses. More supported by critics and authors than by audiences, Braff’s career in the Studio has had its ups and downs, including 3 nominations at the GMA but also quite a few severe disappointments at box office.


THE MOGULERS
Ivan Reitman / Daggle
B.O.: 233 / N.G.: 230
Zach had an early debut in CMP. It was Season 1 and he starred this action comedy together with Jennifer Love-Hewitt about the robbery of a computer game (suspiciously similar to ‘Hollywood Mogul’). This was the only screenplay ever written by Daggle and the beginning of a more than promising career for Zach in the Studio. But he has never had a box office’s hit as big as this one.

DON’T STAND SO CLOSE TO ME
Nick Casavettes / Joey Stark
B.O.: 12 / N.L.: 17
His second movie was also his first flop. This lousy comedy about a teacher harassed by his students (and particularly by Mena Suvari) instantly joined the list of the worst movies ever developed by the Studio. Critics ate alive the movie… and it was more than deserved.

CONTRACT KILLING FOR DUMMIES
Zach Braff / Ted Froats
B.O.: 46 / N.G.: 2
To resurrect his CMP’s career after that disaster, Zach decided to direct himself his next CMP’s movie. It was the story of two dummies (Zach and Sean William Scott) trying to get rid of a corpse (yes, ‘Weekend at Bernie’s’ is an obliged reference for this one). The movie hardly avoided net losses and didn’t really help much Zach’s career in the Studio.

LIEUTENANT USA AND HIS WARM STEEL GANG
David Zucker / John Daws
B.O.: 132 / N.G.: 173
An iconic comedy in CMP’s History. Zach joined here what would be known as the CMP’s Comedy Squad (including Steve Carell, Jack Black, Owen Wilson, Will Ferrell…). This parody of superheroes movies became a major event in CMP and a personal success for all the talents involved. A weaker sequel would be released a few Seasons later but Zach’s character surprisingly disappeared from the story. It was the last ‘+100’ release for Zach until now.

SCHROEDINGER’S LITTERBOX
Richard Linklater / Ben Tyler
B.O.: 51 / N.G.: 22
It was Season 6 …and then came ‘Schroedinger’s Litterbox’. This intellectual and surreal Ben Tyler’s comedy completely changed Zach’s career in CMP. Critics surrendered to this original movie. Ben Tyler won the Best Screenplay GMA being this his first screenplay. And Zach was nominated at the Best Actor category. The film instantly became a cult movie and an obliged reference of quality comedies in CMP. Zach’s prestige in CMP instantly reached the sky with this work. Now, the writer, director and co-star of this film (Anne Hathaway) have reunited again 12 Seasons later in this week’s release ‘Stairway To Heaven’.

MARY’S DARK SIDE
Zach Braff / Steve Connors
B.O.: 35 / N.G.: 24
This second directional job by Zach in CMP helped very much to increase even more Zach’s prestige in the Studio. The pattern of his CMP’s career was set with this movie: quality comedies more supported by critics than by audiences. The movie got 5 nominations at the GMA (including Best Picture). Kate Hudson won the Best Actress award with it and Zach and Kate were nominated for Best Starring Couple. Connors also won his only Best Screenplay award.

CRIME STOPPERS
Kevin Smith / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 4 / N.L.: 32
After those two personal triumphs, Zach surprisingly accepted to play a very minor role in this comedy. He met again here with his mates from ‘Lieutenant USA’, Steve Carell and Owen Wilson. The film was a tremendous box office’s disaster. It didn’t help much Zach’s career. A forgettable experience.

SUSPICIONS AND DISHONORS
Woody Allen / Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 35 mill. / N.L.: 1
Working with Woody Allen is always a bet for prestige for any talent. Zach accepted another supporting role in this movie but it was a more rewarding experience than the previous one. Again, box office turned its back to his movies, but at least he got his third nomination at the GMA, this time at the Best Supporting Actor category.

THE BUS
Marc Webb / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 39 / N.G.: 7
The pattern in Zach’s career in the Studio was back with this new work: quality comedy, critical applause and weak box office’s numbers. Zach bet again for a peculiar story and he made a great job in this hilarious and original comedy where he met with heavy-weights like Robert De Niro, Cameron Diaz, Jeff Bridges, Kim Bassinger or Bill Murray. The film consolidated Zach’s image in CMP as an actor specialized in author-esque and adult audiences oriented comedies.

FAMILY REUNION
Jay Roach / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 50 / N.G.: 23
For the third time, Taylor and Zach teamed up. The main appeal of this movie was watching together two of the CMP’s most popular comedians: Ben Stiller and Zach. Big names like Harrison Ford, Jennifer Aniston and even Brad Pitt making a cameo increased that appeal. A big box office was expected for this one. But, again, numbers didn’t match expectations. Zach’s keeps being more prestigious than profitable in CMP’s world.


Two sexy stars, Taylor Kitsch and Gemma Arterton, are the new Tarzan and Jane in the updated version of the characters directed by Joe Wright and being released this week. ‘Premiere’ magazine includes in its latest issue a classy photo session with both stars showing a vintage and stylish look.



If I ask you who is the most successful talent in CMP’s world, who would you say? Probably Christian Bale. Or Charlize Theron. Or maybe Johnny Depp. But no. You are all wrong. The recent success of ‘Born Again’ – I would have never thought this arguable movie would finally make more than 100 million at box office! – has made me notice something: there’s nobody more successful in CMP than Tobey Maguire. Look at his amazing statistics:
-He has worked in 12 movies for the Studio. All of them have made net gains. And that includes:
-1 ‘+300’ release (‘Silver Sable and the Wild Pack’, by the way the alltimes top 1 best box office)
-1 ‘+200’ release (‘Star Wars: New Order’, a record-breaker by the time it was released)
-8 ‘+100’ releases
-And the other two releases made very decent box offices: 91 and 75 millions.
-In terms of net gains: 1 ‘+400’ release, 3 ‘+200’ releases and 4 ‘+100’ releases. That means 8 out of his 12 works have generated more than 100 millions of net profit for CMP.
Of course, being part of successful franchises like ‘Star Wars’, ‘Silver Sable’ and ‘The Avengers’ helps, but Maguire has also starred unexpected ‘sleepers’ like his two latest works, ‘Whatever Happened To Holden Caulfield?’ and ‘Born Again’, both written by Josh Collins.
In conclusion, in a most quiet way, Tobey Maguire can probably show the most successful sheet of services of all the hundreds of talents that have worked for Crazy Moon Pictures.

Some weeks ago, I announced that veteran screenwriter Ted Froats might be back to CMP. Two times Best Screenplay GMA Winner, Froats announced that he wanted to adapt ‘Les Miserables’. And not only the musical but the whole Victor Hugo’s book. In fact, he had already written the first movie for a trilogy. But Harry Stark publicly stated that he would not begin developing this ambitious project until he already had the three screenplays of the trilogy. Stark didn’t want to leave unconcluded such a huge project so he wanted to be sure he had the screenplays (specially after the ‘Cell Mates’ trilogy stayed unconcluded with Froats’ sudden retirement). Well, what’s the situation of ‘Les Miserables’ right now? For what I know, Froats seems to have disappeared again from the CMP’s scene and ‘Les Miserables’ has gone on hiatus while Stark keeps waiting for the second and third screenplay of the announced trilogy (probably impatiently tapping on his desk).

A new generation of screenwriters is about to make their debut during the first weeks of Season 19. Dwight Gallo, John Malone and Yuri Redding already have the green light for their first movies in CMP. And it seems like they are here to stay. The three of them already have a few pitches at the waiting list. According to my sources, Harry Stark is more than happy with this new blood. He likes screenwriters to commit with the Studio and it seems like these three new authors are working hard to have a lasting career in CMP. Welcome!

Lawrence Abernathy, Ben Goldey and Michael Banno also go on with their writing career in CMP but at a much slower pace. The three of them have already released one movie: ‘Thrust From Skyline’, ‘First Flight’ and ‘Viral’ respectively. This week, Abernathy releases his second story, ‘At Cross Purposes’, and Goldey and Banno are expected to release a second film in the near future. Another newbie, Jack Atkins, disappeared without a trace after releasing his first and only story, the romantic ‘Food And Other Languages’. As always, writers come and go in CMP but it seems like we can’t expect a writing activity from these ones as intense as the one from the Gallo / Malone / Redding trio.

And just because I am writing about writers, a recurrent question comes to my mind: what happened with the very successful ‘New World’ franchise? John Daws – a veteran writer with long periods of inactivity – has never developed the third installment of this sci-fi saga although the second one made an extraordinary box office of 258 millions (and net gains of 293!). Do we have here another unconcluded trilogy? Oh, poor Harry, I know how much he hates leaving things unconcluded… (and here goes my famous ‘evil laugh’).

SEPTEMBER, 27


WOMAN OF GOD

Historical
Cast: Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Daniel Craig, Jonathan Pryce, Ian Holm, Jeremy Irons, Tom Wilkinson
Director: Ridley Scott
Screenwriter: James Bradley

Box Office: 53 mill.
Net Gains: 13 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Being a historical movie, the Studio has to feel satisfied enough with these numbers. Domestic and foreign markets have behaved completely different with this release. American audiences have absolutely ignored the movie. The box office made at the domestic market was simply ridiculous. But the film has worked extremely well at the foreign market – specially Europe – and that has finally saved it from net losses.

JONESTOWN

Drama
Cast: Josh Brolin, David Strathairn, Val Kilmer, Scott Speedman, Tony Goldwin, Michael Stuhlbarg, Don Johnson, Elizabeth Mitchell
Director: Oliver Stone
Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb

Box Office: 23 mill.
Net Losses: 1 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Audiences have mistreated again D.R. Cobb. Same way it happened past week with ‘Skin Tight’, moviegoers have not appreciated this brilliant movie written by Cobb as it deserved. Unfair.

BORN AGAIN

Drama
Cast: Tobey Maguire, Preston Bailey, Ellen Page, Jeffrey Wright, Cayden Boyd, Michael Caine, Jada Pinkett Smith, Patricia Clarkson, Allison Collins, Bailee Madison
Director and Screenwriter: Josh Collins
Producer: Grand Island Movies

Box Office: 104 mill.
Net Gains: 90 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Oh, yeah! This is one of those cases that a movie makes numbers I would have never expected even in my happiest dreams. People seem to have fallen in love with this film and it has made a box office way much better than expected. It looks like Mr. Drama is back in such a good shape.


WOMAN OF GOD

‘Ridley Scott and James Bradley have demonstrated before in CMP how well they manage with historical movies. Scott was the director of the Best Picture GMA Winner ‘The Gunpowder Plot’ and the complete ‘Uncommon Valour’ saga. And Bradley is the screenwriter of movies like ‘The Toymaker’ or the also Best Picture winner ‘Pompeii’. In ‘Woman Of God’ they have joined all their talent to recreate the atmosphere, the spirit, the dialogues and the behaviors of ancient times while telling a most interesting story. The very careful production design is one of the many brilliant elements of this excellent movie. The movie takes you back to medieval times and perfectly immerses you in all those conspiracies of the Kings and Popes and all that wonderfully recreated world of power and intrigues. No doubt, Scott and Bradley were the best team possible to put up this film called to become a CMP’s classic.’
-Charlie Kiggs

‘Cate Blanchett has automatically destroyed one of the questions of the next Golden Moon Awards edition: we already know who is going to win the next Best Actress award. What a extraordinary acting job… We have seen before actresses playing women that pretend to be a man (Gwyneth Paltrow and ‘Shakespeare In Love’ come to my mind) but nobody has made it in such a believable way. Watching her characterization, it is very much believable that everybody except for her lovers and the previous Pope do think she is a man. Blanchett gets to transform into a man without losing her charm and appeal but looking absolutely masculine at the same time (in a completely different transformation from the one she already did in ‘I’m Not There’). Simply excellent. And all the talented cast that surrounds her also fits like a glove in their characters, with a special mention for Liam Neeson as the man that loves her and protects her with mixed feelings of father and lover.’
-Anne Roman

‘Very interesting story even if you are not interested in religious issues. I had never heard before of Pope Joan and her amazing life adventure and I have no idea if she ever really existed or not. And I don’t really care. The only thing I know is that we do have here a most interesting story perfectly told with the needed mix of epic and intimate approach by an inspired Ridley Scott. The film has nothing to do with boring historical movies pretending to be a scholarly recreation of ancient times. The story have all the ingredients of any big story – action, passion, intrigue, betrayal, fights for power – and an excellent group of talents making a brilliant acting job. Young moviegoers should watch this film not only because it is very much entertaining but also as an engrossing lesson of History… no matter if that History is legend or truth.’
-Roy Winslow

JONESTOWN

‘Many moviegoers may have wrongly thought that it was not interesting enough to recreate events that took place back in 1978. Big mistake. I felt an immediate interest for this film. And I must say it has not disappointed me at all. On the contrary, I was instantly absorbed by this crazy and hard to believe story. ‘Jonestown’ is a wonderful story about human madness, manipulation, sects and the weird influence some leaders may develop over ordinary people. It is also a most engrossing thriller in some way. What happened at Guyana is a unique and sick event and Stone and Cobb have turned it into an excellent movie unfairly mistreated by audiences but absolutely indispensable for any fan of quality films.’
-Vic Carter

‘I knew it would happen sooner or later. I knew some day Josh Brolin would finally get the perfect character to fully display his extraordinary acting skills. He has been close to that level of excellence in some of his previous works like ‘W.’ (also directed by Stone) or ‘No Country For Old Men’ among others. But playing Jim Jones means reaching the top of his acting career. He is simply perfect as the cold, manipulative, both intelligent and crazed leader of the People Temple. Brolin must feel more than happy with this CMP’s Season: he sure had fun making ‘The Goonies II’ and now he has shined like never before with ‘Jonestown’. With the permission of the also excellent David Strathairn, this is Brolin’s moment.’
-Tim Reeve

‘Oliver Stone is an irregular moviemaker. Sometimes, he is so dominated for his personal and political obsessions or his will to leave his message clear, than the moral in them ends up eating his movies. But sometimes he is just one of the most brilliant moviemakers of our days. ‘Jonestown’ joins the group of my favorite Stone’s movies, together with ‘Platoon’, the first ‘Wall Street’ and my personal favorite ‘JFK’. I think he has made the most intelligent choice telling this sick story from a certain distance. With a deliberate coldness, Stone just tells us the story without making an explicit denounce of the events. He lets the audience to reach its own conclusions without forcing or provoking the inevitable amazement with what happened at Guyana. And that kind of impartial way of telling the story works as it makes you feel as disturbed as Stone pretends. Brilliant.’
-Chris Burgess

BORN AGAIN

‘Here is another case of ‘thesis movies’. That kind of movies pretend to develop and establish a thesis about some specific issue. ‘Born Again’ pretends to offer a reflection about the transition from life to death and reincarnation. At least, that’s what it seems. The problem with this film is that it only establishes the premise: people die, no matter if they are old or young, rich or poor, good or bad… Everybody dies. Ok. And the movie states that obvious premise through seven different stories about different kind of people facing death. Still ok. The problem is that after following those different stories you just want to ask: so what? The movie suddenly ends. But where is the thesis? What’s the conclusion? Is there any moral or message in all that? People die. They are all linked by those petals of roses. But that moral or message or conclusion or whatever is so hidden that, after all, it is never told in the movie. The ending is so abrupt that this simple question – so what? – keeps floating in the air waiting for an answer long after the movie has finished.’
-Jackie O’Callaghan

‘’Born Again’ shows a succession of sad, tragic or heart-breaking stories about people living the last moments of their life (by the way, Dawson Edwards made a movie with the same premise although a different perspective in ’24 Hours To Live’). Watching people going through that intimate moment of death always has a certain morbid element. But it is also a hard emotional experience. That segment played by Preston Bailey, Allison Collins and Patricia Clarkson can’t be watched without shedding a tear… Josh Collins has written again a most intense emotional drama and the cast of talents perfectly express the sadness, desperation, resignation and all the wide range of feelings that dying or losing a close person may provoke. Take a box of Kleenex with you and enjoy the acting works, without doubt the best of this film.’
-Amy Ratched

‘It has happened to me with ‘Born Again’ the same thing that it happened to me before with Clint Eastwood’s ‘Hereafter’. I was very much interested in the premise of these movies when I heard about them. Any reflection about what might be waiting for us after death is always an appealing issue. The problem is that cinematic language is not like an essay or a novel. Movies need to be entertaining besides and beyond the message in the story. ‘Hereafter’ disappointed me because it was a most boring film. And I felt something similar watching ‘Born Again’. It’s an interesting movie. It is well done. Talents do a good job. But it is not entertaining. And that is something almost unforgivable in any movie.’
-Andrew Stampton

SEPTEMBER, 23


WOMAN OF GOD

Historical

The Cast: Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Daniel Craig, Jonathan Pryce, Ian Holm, Jeremy Irons, Tom Wilkinson

The Director: Ridley Scott
The Screenwriter: James Bradley

The Plot:

It is the 9th Century. Joan, 10 years old, is the daughter of a village priest in Ingelheim am Rhein, in the saxon territory. Her father (Tom Wilkinson) had always hoped for a son and was disappointed at the birth of a girl. Her mother died when she was 3 and her father never loved her because of being a girl. She had a lonely childhood.

Joan grows up being a very intelligent girl. She learnt to read by herself. For years, she intensively studied the Bible, as it was the only possible read at her home.

When she is 14, her father dies of a heart attack. Alone in the world, she decides to travel to the city of Dorstadt. There, she visits the teacher of the cathedral school of the city, a wise man named Arhus. She tells him she wants to be one of her pupils. The teacher tells her that he does not accept girls as pupils. But when Joan proves him to be far more capable of dealing with the scriptures than any of his other students, Arhus accepts her as pupil.

The cathedral school’s students usually live at the house of local nobles as servants. Joan is sent to live with Count Gerold (L. Neeson). Soon, Gerold falls in love with her. One year later, Gerold has to go to war in the army of Lothair (J. Pryce) and his wife Richilde takes advantage of his absence to try to arrange a marriage for Joan and thus get rid of her rival for Gerold's affections. However, the Normans break into the city during the wedding ceremony and carry out a bloody massacre, which Joan (C. Blanchett) just about survives.

Due to her experience of the massacre, where she realizes the risks and weakness than being a woman means, Joan has a wild idea: she decides to assume a male disguise, cutting her hair short, binding her breasts and entering a monastery of Benedictines as "Brother Johannes Anglicus".

She stays there for some years intensively studying medicine. She becomes an adult there, constantly afraid of being exposed as a woman. Joan impresses the other monks with her knowledge of medicine, managing to save many people during a plague of a dangerous infectious disease. She becomes them a very much respected expert on medicine.

After those years at the monastery, Joan decides to go on a pilgrimage to Rome and use her medical knowledge to become a "Medicus" there. In Rome she wins a great reputation by curing Pope Sergius II (I. Holm) of gout with her herbal remedies and he makes her his personal physician. For a couple of years, Joan stays besides Pope Sergius II and becomes a respected member of the Pope’s circle of influence. She is very much surprised when one day the Pope tells her that he knows she is a woman. She thinks she will be punished by the Pope but, instead of that, he tells her that he will keep the secret as he respects so much her intelligence and medical talent.

While living at the papal palace, Joan falls in love with Ambassador Lambert of Saxony (D.Craig). One day, she reveals him her true identity as woman and they become secret lovers.

Two years after Joan’s arrival to Rome, the Pope threatens Lothair I for not confirming his election and Lothair marches to Rome with his army to submit to Sergius. Gerold also comes to town in the army's wake. Gerold recognizes Joan and she begs him not to reveal she is a woman. Gerold promises he won’t if she accepts to become his lover. She does.

For some time, Joan will have two lovers: Ambassador Lambert, the man she really loves, and Gerold, a man she does not love but protects her from all the political conspiracies going on in the papal palace.

Lothair's ally, a bishop named Anastasius (J. Irons), successfully plots to murder Sergius and the people gather to elect a successor by acclamation.

Everybody expects the mean Anastasius to be elected, although everybody in Rome knows that he was behind the Pope’s murder. Gerold talks with King Lothiar and tells him that people won’t accept Anastasius as the new Pope. Somebody else should be elected. Somebody familiar with the intrigues of Rome but not involved in any of the latest conspiracies. Somebody who will be loyal to Lothiar but not as conflictive as Anastasius. Gerold gives the King a name: the respected and prestigious ‘medicus’ Johannes Anglicus. Although he’s been his ally, the King does not trust Anastasius much so he likes Gerold’s idea.

That way, to Joan’s surprise, King Lothiar anounces that she will be the new Pope.

She is scared to death but Gerold encourages her to face the situation for the good of Christendom. Joan hates Anastasius for being the murderer of Pope Sergius so she accepts just to avoid Anastasius becoming Pope.

Joan is sworn in as Pope of Rome in a solemn and beautiful ceremony.

The day after the ceremony, Ambassador Lambert visits her at the papal palace. He has always been a honest man. He tells her he just cannot go on with their secret relationship anymore. He does not want to go through something as crazy and sick as being the lover of the Pope. Lambert tells her he is leaving Rome. That breaks Joan’s heart and she feels lonelier than ever in the big and empty rooms of the palace.

Joan appoints Gerold as head of the papal army. They go on with their relationship. Although she feels affection for him, Joan never gets to love him. Gerold is the only cure she has for her loneliness. He is an ambitious but still good man and Joan feels safe when being with him.

During her pontificate, Joan presents herself as a charitable pope, helping women and children. People love her as Pope.

Problems arise when Joan discovers she has fallen pregnant. Now, her reign is in grave danger if people discover the truth about her.

Gerold tells her to wait until next Easter. When the day of the birth comes, they will fake her death and he will help her to run away from Rome. He promises her they will begin a new life together with their baby far from Rome.

So Joan tries to hold off the birth until after Easter.

Every Easter, the Pope heads a big procession across the streets of Rome. That year, during the Easter procession, conspirators led by their enemy Anastasius, attack and kill Gerold.

When Joan is informed about Gerold’s death while heading the procession, she collapses and goes into labor. Everybody sees what’s happenning.

The crowd goes mad when they realize the Pope is in fact a woman. And she is giving birth in front of them!

Some people begin to throw stones. Then, more people do the same. Finally, the crowd goes out of control. And Joan is stoned to death…

The film ends with Joan lying death on the floor at the entrance of a Roman church, surrounded by stones and with her papal clothes stained bleeding…

An off voice tells how the Catholic Church decided to delete her name from the list of Popes and any reference to her story disappeared from any book or chronicle.

Centuries later, the existence of a female Pope was officially considered nothing more than a legend…


Stark’s Comment:
Historical movies is another one of those genres that usually have a hard time at box office in CMP. I hope we get to know how to make this one work because I honestly think it’s a good one that deserves not being a flop.

Behind The Scenes:
-Cate Blanchett and Liam Neeson made their debut together in CMP in another historical movie: ‘The Bridge’. The film was a box office’s disaster.
-Cate Blanchett has worked before with Jeremy Irons in ‘Wild Cards: Battle Of The Rox’.
-Ridley Scott already directed Daniel Craig in ‘The Holders’ and Jeremy Irons in ‘The Gunpowder Plot’.
-Initially, Jeremy Irons was going to play Joan’s lover, Gerold, but later Bradley and Scott decided that he would play the villain, Anastasius, and Neeson would play Gerold.
-Ian Holm won the Best Villain GMA working with Bradley in ‘Pompeii’.
-Past Season, Ridley Scott and his brother Tony won the honorary Full Moon Award.
-The last two winners of the Best Picture GMA were written by James Bradley: ‘The Show’ and ‘Eye Of The Needle’.

JONESTOWN

Drama

The Cast: Josh Brolin, David Strathairn, Val Kilmer, Scott Speedman, Tony Goldwin, Michael Stuhlbarg, Don Johnson, Elizabeth Mitchell

The Director: Oliver Stone
The Screenwriter: D.R. Cobb

The Plot:

On November 14, 1978, Congressman Leo Ryan (d. Strathairn) and a group of government officials and media representatives took a plane down to Georgetown, Guyana to visit and investigate the goings-on at Jonestown, the community formed by the Peoples Temple and their leader Jim Jones (J. Brolin). For the next three days, the Peoples Temple's lawyers, Mark Lane (M. Stuhlbarg) and Charles Garry (D. Johnson), refuse Ryan's group access to Jonestown. On November 17th, Ryan informs the lawyers that they are going to be there that afternoon, regardless of Jones' schedule or willingness.

At 2:30 pm, Ryan's group flew in to the Port Kaituma airstrip, 6 miles from Jonestown, along with the lawyers. When the group arrives at the gates, Jones is just finishing the last rehearsal on how to convince Ryan's group that everyone was happy and in good spirits. Jones initially only allows Ryan and three others into Jonestown, with the rest not gaining access until after sunset.

That night, the Ryan delegation attended a reception in the pavilion. While the party received a warm welcome, Jones goes on a tirade about government conspiracies and martyrdom and decries attacks by the press. Two Peoples Temple members, Vernon and Monica, pass a note to reporter Don Harris (T.Goldwin), mistaking him for Ryan, reading "Dear Congressman, Please help us get out of Jonestown."

Ryan and three members of his group spend the night in Jonestown. The other members of the Ryan delegation, including the members of the press, are told that they have to find other accommodations, so they spend the night at a small cafe near the airstrip.

Early in the morning on November 18th, eleven Temple members walk out of the colony toward train tracks to hop a train to Matthew's Ridge. When the press arrives at Jonestown that day, Jim Jones' wife Marceline (E.Mitchell) gives them a tour of the settlement. That afternoon, two families come to the Ryan delegation and ask to be escorted out of Jonestown. Jones decides to grant the two families permission to leave along with Vernon and Monica. Under the pavilion, Don Harris hands Jones the note written by Vernon. Jones tells the reporters that Vernon, like others who left the community, will do everything they can to lie and destroy Jonestown.

Shortly before the truck leaves for the airstrip, Temple member Larry Layton (S.Speedman), demands to be part of the group. While most of the Ryan delegation departs Jonestown on a large dump truck back to the airstrip, Congressman Ryan and Richard Dwyer (V.Kilmer), a representative of the U.S. Guyana Embassy, stay behind to process any additional defectors. Shortly after the truck departs, Temple member Don Sly grabs Ryan while wielding a knife. Ryan isn't hurt, but Dwyer strongly recommends that Ryan leave Jonestown. Ryan does and promises to return at a later time to address the dispute and states that he would describe Jonestown in basically good terms. The truck stops when they receive word of the attack on Ryan. They return to Jonestown to get Ryan and head to the airstrip.

With the group having grown in size, they have to charter an extra plane, a six-passenger Cessna. Larry Layton is a passenger on the Cessna, which takes off first. When the Cessna has taxied over to the far end of the airstrip, Layton produces a gun and begins shooting the passengers. Monica and Vernon are both wounded. Dale Parks, one of the defectors, manages to disarm Layton.

At the time, passengers are beginning to board the other, bigger plane. A tractor with a trailer attached driven by members of the Temple's Red Brigade security squad approaches the plane. When the tractor gets within 30 feet of the plane, the Red Brigade opens fire on the aircraft while two Red Brigade members circle the plane on foot. Congressman Ryan, Don Harris and three others are killed. Nine others are injured in or around the plane. The Cessna's pilot, along with the copilot of the other plane, flee in the Cessna to Georgetown.

Back at Jonestown, Jim Jones announces a meeting. Jones informs the lawyers, Lane and Garry, not to attend the meeting as tension against them is high. They are escorted to a guest house several hundred feet from the pavilion. Before the meeting, aides prepare a metal vat filled with poisoned Flavor Aid. When the assembly gathers, Jones tells them that one the people on the planes is going to shoot the pilot, that the plane will crash down in the jungle, and that they better not have any children left when it's over, because they'll be killed. Jones urges the Temple members to commit suicide. The airstrip shooters then return to Jonestown and inform Jones that the congressman is dead. Jones announces the news of Ryan's death to the assembly.

Lane and Garry become frightened when a group of men run into a nearby building and take out rifles and ammunition. Two of the men go towards the lawyers with their rifles semi-ready. They announce to the lawyers that they are going to die for the battle against fascism and racism. Lane tells the men that they will write down the history of what the Temple believes in. The men like the idea. Lane then asks the men for a way out of Jonestown. One of the men points towards the jungle and towards Port Kaituma. The attorneys then run into the jungle.

The group begins to drink the poison. Parents poison the children. The poison causes death in five minutes. After drinking the poison, the people are then escorted down a wooden walkway leading away from the Pavilion. Those unwilling to drink the poison are shot. Jones waits for the poison to take effect in everyone before shooting himself in the head.

Later that day, three Temple members who were out on assignment arrive back in Jonestown and see the aftermath. They find five people who managed to survive: a hearing impaired man missed the announcement and pretended to be dead, one man slept through it, one man hid under a building, one man ran into the jungle, and a little boy hid in a nearby tree. Jonestown is now shown deserted and little remains of the settlement outside of an abandoned truck and an old oil tank turned on its side.


Stark’s Comment:
Second quality release of the week. I expect audiences to be very much impressed by this true story. At least, I was.

Behind The Scenes:
-Oliver Stone has only directed two movies before for CMP: ‘The Company’ and ‘Haight-Ashbury’. He also produced Matt Kubrick’s acclaimed war drama ‘Home’.
-Josh Brolin could be seen this Season in ‘The Goonies II’.
-David Strathairn won the Best Actor GMA for his previous work for the Studio: ‘Otto Rahn’.

BORN AGAIN

Drama

The Cast: Tobey Maguire, Preston Bailey, Ellen Page, Jeffrey Wright, Cayden Boyd, Michael Caine, Jada Pinkett Smith, Patricia Clarkson, Allison Collins, Bailee Madison

The Director and Screenwriter: Josh Collins
The Producer: Grand Island Movies

The Plot:

As the film starts, a quote on the screen appears:

"I did not begin when I was born, nor when I was conceived. I have been growing, developing, through incalculable myriads of millenniums. All my previous selves have their voices, echoes, promptings in me. Oh, incalculable times again shall I be born." —Jack London

1) A man (TOBEY MAGUIRE) in his early 30s wakes up in the morning. He goes outside to pick up the newspaper. On his way inside, he picks a petal from a rose. He takes a shoebox out of his closet and places the rose petal in the box. We see there are several other rose petals in the box. After he puts the box away, he goes into the kitchen to have his breakfast and read the paper. One of the headlines reads: Bomber on death row after 32 year jail sentence. After breakfast he goes outside to get to work. Before he gets in his car, he has a small chat with a neighbor walking her dog. The man affectionately pets the dog while talking with the woman. After the morning chat, the man gets in his car and drives to work. He is late to a meeting and his boss reprimands him for it. After work he drives to a nearby restaurant and eats dinner. He is next drinking beer in a strip club alone. Nobody seems to be paying all that much attention to him. On his way out to his car, he is stumbling drunk. He gets in, starts driving and crashes into a wall.

2) A child (PRESTON BAILEY) laying in a hospital bed opens his eyes. He is exhausted, has tubes coming in and out of his body. The camera zooms out and we see he has been feeling the effects of his chemotherapy. He sees his family, his dad, sister (ALLISON COLLINS) and mother (PATRICIA CLARKSON) standing around his bed. All of them look sad and helpless. His father hides his face in his hand and steps outside; too upset to even want to see his son like this anymore. His sister steps up to him at the bed. He smiles at her, though still sounding very weak as he talks, "Hey Goopers. You take good care of mom and dad, ok?" she nods, "I think you may want to have one last look at this.." His sister takes a rose petal out of her pocket, "I picked it outside of the hospital. Figured you may want to put one more in the box." The boy takes it and stares at it for a few seconds, then gives it back to his sister, "Why don't you keep it this time?" His sister gives a half-smile, takes the petal and leaves the room before she breaks down herself.

The child stares at his mother for a long time. She takes his hand and holds it. "Mom, it is my last wish that you don't let this destroy you. I was always happy with you, Dad and Lucy; don't ever forget that." His mother attempts to smile, "I know, and I love you so very much. I tried, we all tried to fight this. To get you see your high school graduation, or at least see your 12th birthday." she crawls onto the hospital bed and holds him.

"Remember that trip we all took to Florida to get away from the cold weather? Lucy was only a baby and you were in kindergarten. You fought with me about wanting to swim far out into the ocean. You always wanted to be more grown up than you actually were. Accepting this...it's the most grown up decision you have ever made." his mother tells him. The boy smiles and closes his eyes.

3) A young woman (ELLEN PAGE) about 17/18 opens her eyes, she is having sex with her boyfriend in the back of his car parked behind a gas station. The nudity is all implied and they reach the climax. He lays with her and they have some small talk. When her boyfriend says, "let's get married." Out of the blue, she doesn't say yes. It upsets him a little and she doesn't think she loves him like that. She talks about the dreams she wants to fulfill before she even thinks about marriage. They have a heated fight, he calls her a slut and says she was a horrible fuck, she gets out of the car and starts walking home. On the walk back home, she picks a rose-petal and carries it in her hand. From behind her at the very gas station she left, she hears people screaming, followed by gunshots. She gets nervous and starts walking faster. A car skids out of the parking lot, driving extremely fast. The armed robber's getaway car catches up to her and hits her; ironically, it was her boyfriend's car. The getaway car continues to drive without even stopping, the girl slowly loses grip of her life. Her hand opens up, revealing the rose petal in her hand. She closes her eyes.

4) A middle aged man (JEFFREY WRIGHT) is sitting next to his wife (JADA PINKETT SMITH) on an airplane. They have a discussion about their marital problems and about how she is leaving him. He tries his hardest to try to convince her, trying to remind her of the trip they've just taken and how fun it was. She lies to him about the fun she actually had and says it was a desperate pathetic attempt on his part to relight the spark in their marriage. That's when he draws the line and fights back with her. He opens his carry on luggage and the camera sees a rose petal sticking out of the pocket of his bag. He pulls out a book and opens it, but continues to yell at his wife. Things eventually begin to go wrong on the airplane. It begins to experience heavy turbulence. Passengers are panicked. The plane begins to fall. The arguing couple are both scared, but just as the plane is about the crash, they accept their fate and hold hands. The plane crashes in water.

5) A teenage boy (CAYDEN BOYD) wakes up in the morning and comes downstairs ready to go to school with his backpack around his shoulder. His dad asks if he needs a ride and the boy replies, "No thanks, I hate cars." Before he walks out the door, he stops and sits down next to the family pet dog, Sammy. "Goodbye, Sammy." The boy says with a tear in his eye. On the walk up to school, a group of high school jocks drive past the boy and throw a bottle at him, hitting him. The jocks laugh and the car continues on down the road. When he gets to school, it's the same routine. Being laughed at my kids passing through the halls, being shoved into walls. He stops at his locker and there are a pile of rose petals inside of it. Once the boy makes it to lunch, he sits at his table, alone, staring off into the distance. He has made his final decision, he jumps up, runs at the nearest kid in the lunch room and slits the kid's throat! Once the other students realize what happened, the boy holds up a gun and starts firing! Students race out of the lunch room in panic. The boy slowly proceeds through the school, shooting as many people who get in his way as possible. He steps out to the front of the school, eyes full of anger and tears. The police are heard shouting to drop his weapon! The boy holds the gun up to his mouth, police shout to not do it, he pulls the trigger.

6) A large family are having an outdoor reunion picnic by the lake. We see Barney, an old Australian Shepherd slowly walking around, sniffing everything and getting random pats on the head. He plays with the children and adults, barking playfully, but still old age has caught up to him so he can't play for long. Cars drive by on the nearby road or airplanes pass through the sky and it frightens him enough to bark at them. It's not the most sunniest and warmest day to be having a family reunion, but they try to make the best of it. Barney wanders around in nearby woods sniffing the ground. He comes across a rose petal lying on the ground. He takes the rose petal in his mouth and carries it back to the family. One of the people ask, "Barney, what do you have?" and the mother of his family answers, "Oh he collects rose petals and buries them into the ground. I have no clue why, he's done it since he was a puppy." Barney finds a spot nearby and buries the rose petal. After doing so, one of the youngest members of the family; Sara, a 3 and a half year old girl wants to play with Barney down by the lake. While playing, Sara accidentally slips into the cold water. Barney barks at her, but she continues to panic. Barney jumps into the lake and grabs Sara's shirt, dragging her back onto land. The rest of the family have since realized what happened and go to comfort both Sara and Barney. Barney lays his head down. The shock of the cold water, his old age and the stress of saving the little girl costs Barney his life. He closes his eyes.

7) An old man (MICHAEL CAINE) is in a cemetery, staring at the grave of his deceased wife. His granddaughter (BAILEE MADISON) is with him. The granddaughter asks about her grandmother, what she was like. Then she asks questions about death and what he believes happens to us when we die. The old man is kindhearted and patient, answering all of his granddaughter's questions. He talks about his belief in death: that we don't really actually die and that we are basically reincarnated in several different forms. On the way out of the cemetery, the old man picks a petal from a rose and puts it in his pocket. His granddaughter asks why and the old man simply answers, "I don't know. It's just something I've always done." On the walk back home, the girl asks more questions about why grandpa doesn't like cars and he simply replies, "They've always just scared me." They get home and his granddaughter goes off to play while he watches the political talk shows on TV. A few hours later, the old man's daughter stops by to pick up her daughter, thanking her dad for watching her while she was at work. She asks, "Are you going to be alright?" and he smiles, "Of course. What could possibly go wrong?"

He is shown eating a sandwich for dinner, then taking a bath. He walks into his bedroom and takes the rose petal out of the pocket of the pants he was wearing earlier(now piled up on his bed) and puts the rose petal in a shoebox in his closet. There are several other rose petals in the shoebox. He puts the box away and the phone rings from downstairs. He starts going downstairs to answer it, but he loses his footing and falls down the stairs. The phone continues to ring as he slowly loses consciousness and closes his eyes.

A newborn baby opens its eyes, the baby's mother is holding it and the father is sitting next to the bed. Both of them very happy and proud. "Welcome to the world, sweetie." The mother says to the baby. The father stands up and plants a kiss on the baby's forehead. The father is holding a bouquet of roses. The baby grabs at the roses and pulls a pedal off.

BLACK SCREEN AND END CREDITS


Stark’s Comment:
And third quality release of the week. Definitely, this is not a week looking for big box offices but for prestigious releases.

Behind The Scenes:
-This is the 9th directional job for Josh Collins. He has been nominated once for the Best Director GMA with ‘Hollyweird’.
-Many of the talents involved have worked before with Collins: Tobey Maguire (‘Whatever Happened To Holden Caulfield?’), Cayden Boyd (‘The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon’), Jeffrey Wright (‘Fireflies In The Jelly-Jars’, ‘Little Miss Dollface’), Michael Caine (‘Salintology’), Bailee Madison (‘Bedtime Stories 2’, ‘Restraint’), Patricia Clarkson (‘Weigh Anchor’), Ellen Page (‘Woodland Creatures’) and his own’s daughter Allison Collins.
-Allison Collins, daughter of Josh Collins, has worked before in two of her father’s films: ‘After The Storm’ and the Best Picture GMA Winner ‘The Rock Star’. She also worked in Robert Rodriguez’s ‘Hell Night’.
-Best Actress GMA Winner Ellen Page has already worked this Season in the blockbuster ‘The Team’.


THE JUNGLE: New screenwriter Yuri Redding will make his debut in CMP next Season with this adaptation of the classic Upton Sinclair’s book. It tells the dramatic story of a family of Lithuanian immigrants in the US during the early-20th century. The film is going to be directed by actor and director Todd Field, making also here his CMP’s debut. And it has a most appealing starring trio: Jim Sturgess, currently working in ‘Assassin’s Creed III’; Emma Watson, currently working in ‘Grow Old With Me’; and Keira Knightley, not seen in CMP since ‘New World II’. Sturgess and Watson already were the starring couple of the acclaimed and awarded love story ‘Snow’ back in Season 16. They won the Best Starring Couple GMA with it.

ASSASSIN’S CREED III: As said, Jim Sturgess is back to this saga together with the rest of the modern Assassins that team up with Colin Farrell to fight the contemporary Templars. Anne Hathaway has finished her work in ‘Stairway To Heaven’ to join on time this production. And Shannyn Sosamon is also back in it. Peter Jackson is directing and producing this movie written by Steve Connors.

SUB-MARINER: The cast of this David Fincher’s superhero movie written by the newbie John Malone will be full of CMP’s debutantes. Among them, we will see Mary Elizabeth Winstead, seen out of CMP in movies like ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’; Marton Csokas, who could be seen in the ‘Lord Of The Rings’ trilogy; and John Noble, seen in movies like ‘The Last Airbender’. Ian Somerhalder is starring the film.

ATLAS SHRUGGED: Dwight Gallo, another new CMP’s screenwriter, is also going to make his debut with a book adaptation. The book chosen by Gallo is this cult novel by Ayn Rand. Hollywood has been trying to adapt this book for decades. Finally, past April was released a big screen adaptation of the book. The movie flopped and it was also eaten alive by critics. But that does not seem to have discouraged Gallo to develop his own version of this complex story. And CMP has accepted the challenge. The first good news about this production is the very appealing names announced to be the director and the lead star of the film: no others than Clint Eastwood, who has directed this Season the western ‘This Far From Heaven’, and who can be considered the star of the moment in CMP after the huge success of ‘Metroid: Prime’: Charlize Theron.

ISLAND OF THE DEAD: This movie about humans and zombies fighting in an island has another one of those casts full of CMP’s debutantes. And most of them come from tv shows. Michael K. Williams, from ‘Boardwalk Empire’; Scott Porter; from ‘Friday Night Lights’; Rhys Coiro, from ‘Entourage’; and Adrianne Palicki, also from ‘Friday Night Lights’ and now working on a ‘Wonder Woman’ tv series (don’t miss about it ‘The Innercircle’ below).

GROW OLD WITH ME: Two times Golden Moon Award winner and a total of four times nominee Emile Hirsh returned to CMP after some time away at the beginning of this Season with the western ‘The Sheriff, Saloon and the Storm’. And it seems like he is here to stay, cause he will also be seen in this romantic story starred by Robert Pattinson and Emma Watson. Nick Cassavetes is directing this film written by Chad Taylor.

TARZAN: Ryan Kwanten returns to CMP after his only previous work for the Studio some Seasons ago playing a supporting role in Juan Carlos Fresnadillo’s film ‘WW3’. Jessica Pare follows January Jones and Christina Hendricks as another star from the tv series ‘Mad Men’ making her debut in CMP. Joe Wright is directing this new version of the classic character created by Edgar Rice Burroughs with a screenplay written by D.R.Cobb. Taylor Kitsh plays Tarzan, a lost member of the Clayton family and relative of both Kwanten and Pare.

BAD FAMILY: Green light for this action comedy about gangsters written by Joey Stark. GMA Winner Susan Sarandon, whose last work for the Studio was ‘Pride And Prejudice And Zombies’, plays in it the mother of four siblings that become the most wanted band of criminals in Chicago during the 1920’s. The character is inspired by the legendary ‘Ma’ Baker. Jon Turteltaub, who already worked with Joey Stark in the blockbuster ‘Daughters Of The Dragon 2’, will direct this movie to be released next Season.

AT CROSS PURPOSES: Saoirse Ronan takes one step forward in CMP with this movie playing her first adult character for the Studio, a young prostitute, in this dark action thriller written by Laurence Abernathy and being directed by John Hillcoat. Together with her in the cast are Sarah Shahi, seen before in CMP in ‘The Shield’; and Diego Luna, seen in ‘Savage Streets’ and ‘The Dark Tower’. The English voice artist Jim Dale will be heard as narrator in the movie.

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN: Two voices will be heard too in this comedy written by Ben Tyler and directed by Richard Linklater. Hugh Laurie and Michael Clarke Duncan have accepted to make voice-only works in this film starred by Zach Braff, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Anne Hathaway.


JAMES BRADLEY – ‘WOMAN OF GOD’

We all know by now that James Bradley is a specialist in two things: winning Golden Moon Awards and creating unforgettable female characters. This week’s release, ‘Woman Of God’, looks as if he has put together again both things. The film tells the story of a strong woman and it smells like one of the big contenders for the next GMA Edition.

1.Why were you interested in telling the story of Pope Joan?

I saw on TV a documentary about the legend of Pope Joan. It is such an interesting story and I instantly thought it could be a great movie. As usual, as soon as I looked for more information at the net, I discovered there have been movies and tv series about the character before. It happens to me all the time! It’s pretty frustrating when you think you have found new material and you suddenly discover that your idea is not that new or original… I have gone through something similar with many of my latest stories, like ‘Eye Of The Needle’ or ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’… Anyway, I decided to go on and tell my own vision of the legend.

2.After writing this movie, do you think that Pope Joan really existed or not?

The honest answer is…. maybe. I found at the net different versions of her legend. What I did is taking what I liked most of each version to build my own story. But it is impossible to reach an undisputable conclusion about the truth or not of the story. True or not, it is a great story to tell. It has it all to be a great historical movie.

3.I am surprised you did not cast Kate Winslet to play the character…

Me too! *laughs* Since the very first minute I considered writing this story Cate Blanchett came to my mind. She was there even before I had written a single word of the screenplay. She is just perfect for the character. She has this mysterious mix of female fragility and a touch of male strength that makes her perfect to play a woman pretending to be a man. But don’t worry, I am sure that I will work with Kate again in the future…

4.The film looks as a solid candidate for the next Golden Moon Awards… Do you expect this one to be your third Best Picture award in a row after ‘The Show’ and ‘Eye Of The Needle’?

You may not believe this, but I am always surprised when my stories get awards. I always fear that people will not have any interest in my stories. In that sense, winning awards is more than nothing a beautiful surprise. I know I usually don’t write movies called to become big box office hits. I am a complete ignorant about videogames or comic books or all that sources that usually are behind the biggest box offices in CMP. I would love to be at the list of the most successful movies but I’m afraid it will never happen. As some other writer said here, I always dream of writing a movie that becomes a huge box office’s success and also an award winner all together in one only movie. But after all these years in CMP, I know both things do not usually go hand by hand.

5.What new stories can we expect from you in the near future?

I have already written this story inspired by the scandal of the tabloid ‘News Of The World’. I like how it has turned out and I’m looking forward to see it developed. Also, I am currently working on a possible sequel of ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’. And I keep considering adapting ‘Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter’. It’s another weird book from Seth Grahame-Smith, the author of ‘Pride and Prejudice and Zombies’. But, again, I have got to know that Hollywood is already considering making a movie based on the book. I hate that…


MOST AWARDED MOVIES

This week, CMP releases three movies that might easily become strong candidates for the next Golden Moon Awards. That’s the perfect excuse to begin warming up the next GMA’s Edition coming up in just three weeks. So this week we take a look back at the most awarded CMP’s movies ever…

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER AND CLAY
Steven Spielberg / Joey Stark
Season 13
Awards: 6 / Nominations: 11
After teaming up before to make the two ‘Dr.Jones’ movies and before they met again this Season for ‘The Goonies II’, Spielberg and Joey Stark put up this ambitious story about two young comic authors during the Golden Days of comic based on the awarded book by Michael Chabon. The film didn’t work as expected at box office, but it became the most awarded and the most nominated movie ever at the Golden Moon Awards.
Best Picture (Steven Spielberg, producer), Director (Steven Speilberg), Actor (Emile Hirsh), Supporting Actor (James Franco), Starring Couple (Emile Hirsh & Jamie Bell), Adaptation.

EYE OF THE NEEDLE
James Bradley / James Bradley
Season 17
Awards : 5 / Nominations: 10
James Bradley adapted this Ken Follett’s book about a cold murderer Nazi spy and his passionate relationship with a married woman in an isolated island during World War II. Crimes, espionage and sex were the ingredients of this efficient thriller that became past Season the most supported movie at the Golden Moon Awards.
Best Picture (James Bradley, producer), Supporting Actor (Colin Firth), Screenplay (James Bradley), Villain (Ralph Fiennes), Starring Couple (Ralph Fiennes & Kate Winslet)

A FAREWELL TO ARMS
Martin Scorsese / Chad Taylor
Season 15
Awards: 5 / Nominations: 8
Scorsese directed this adaptation of Hemingway’s classic book written by Chad Taylor. The film tells an epic and tragic love story during World War II. Gary Cooper had starred a previous big screen adaptation of the book and then Rock Hudson starred the next one. This time, it was James Franco who played the soldier in love with the nurse played by Carey Mulligan.
Best Picture, Director (Martin Scorsese), Actress (Carey Mulligan), Screenplay (Chad Taylor), Starring Couple (James Franco & Carey Mulligan)

THE SHOW
Jason Reitman / James Bradley
Season 16
Awards: 5 / Nominations: 8
This very original story told the intrigues and ambitions of politicians, journalists and tv moguls trying to take advantage from the drama of a girl trapped in the depths of a well. This satiric movie, starred by Ryan Reynolds, was the unexpected winner of the 16th Edition. Reitman and Bradley have teamed up again this Season in the successful comedy ‘Cousins’.
Best Picture, Director (Jason Reitman), Supporting Actor (Tom Hanks), Screenplay (James Bradley), Original Concept.

CAROUSEL
Sam Mendes / Ted Froats
Season 4
Awards: 5 / Nominations: 5
Back in Season 4, Ted Froats wrote this adaptation of the classic Rodgers & Hammerstein’s musical taken to the big screen before in 1956. For so long, the movie stayed as the most awarded movie ever, before the new categories of Best Adaptation and Best Original Concept were created. The peculiarity here is that ‘Carousel’ won 5 awards without winning at the Best Picture and Best Director categories.
Best Actress (Claire Danes), Supporting Actress (Dakota Fanning), Screenplay (Ted Froats), Starring Couple (Jim Carrey & Claire Danes), Cast.

AMERICAN TABLOID
Martin Scorsese / James Bradley
Season 12
Awards: 4 / Nominations: 9
Books adaptations are often behind multi-awarded films. Two talents very familiar with winning awards, Scorsese and Bradley, were the brains behind this adaptation of James Ellroy’s book about politics and mobsters’ conspiracies during the 50s and 60s. A top-notch cast joined them in this quality and interesting film.
Best Picture, Director (Martin Scorsese), Villain (Tom Hanks), Adaptation.

POMPEII
James Cameron / James Bradley
Season 6
Awards: 4 / Nominations: 7
Again, the name of James Bradley is attached to a multi-awarded film. And again it is a book adaptation. This one is based on a book by Robert Harris and tells an action and love story taking place during the eruption of the Vesuvius. A movie critic described this Cameron’s top budget production as ‘Titanic in Ancient Roman times’.
Best Picture (James Cameron, producer), Director (James Cameron), Villain (Ian Holm), Starring Couple (Leonardo DiCaprio & Keira Knightley).

METROPOLIS
Steven Spielberg / Richard Franzwa
Season 14
Awards: 4 / Nominations: 5
Richard Franzwa and Steven Spielberg faced the daring challenge of making a remake of the legendary sci-fi film directed by Fritz Lang back in 1927. And the result was one of the best sci-fi films ever developed by CMP. Cillian Murphy and Natalie Portman starred this epic story that mixed social denounce and romance. Like in ‘The Amazing Adventures Of Kavalier And Clay’, Spielberg won again two statues as producer and director of the film. And that happened in two consecutive GMA’s Editions.
Best Picture (Steven Spielberg, producer), Director (Steven Spielberg), Supporting Actress (Natalie Portman), Adaptation.


The very classy Cate Blanchett is at this week’s cover of ‘Premiere’ magazine, the only magazine in the world specialized in CMP’s movies. Blanchett stars this week’s release ‘Woman Of God’. Also in this issue, Josh Brolin talks about his new CMP’s movie ‘Jonestwon’ and you can find an interesting article about life after life linked to the release of Josh Collins’ new film, ‘Born Again’.



There’s life for Guillermo Del Toro in CMP after the ending of his ‘Dragonlance’ trilogy. Not exhausted enough after putting up those complex movies, Del Toro has accepted to direct the also complex production of ‘God Of War’, the adaptation of the popular videogame written by Josh Collins. Del Toro seems to be specializing in big fantasy productions in CMP. But he wasn’t the first option to direct the film. Initially, Josh Collins considered Robert Rodriguez. But I’ve got to know that the Studio wasn’t too confident that Rodriguez would be the best choice for this film. So after some conversations between Collins and Harry Stark, they decided that Del Toro should replace him.

Scoundrels Production, the CMP’s affiliate production company created by George Clooney and Brad Pitt, is back on track. After producing three movies – the successful remake of ‘To Catch A Thief’, the artsy but flopped ‘Asterios Polyp’ and the critically acclaimed ‘A Tangled Web’ – the company will be producing new films coming up next Season. Clooney and Pitt won’t necessary be in the cast, as it has happened before. The company wants to focus on low budget but quality dramas mainly.

Steve Connors has confirmed that he has finished the screenplays for the sequels of two of his most successful movies: ‘Fantasy World’ and ‘The Revengers’. Both films were starred by Steve Carell. And Carell will be back in the sequel of ‘Fantasy World’. But he won’t be back in the sequel of ‘The Revengers’. The reason is that Carell played in the first movie his popular character Lieutenant USA, created by John Daws. That provoked a protest from Daws, as Connors had used the character without his permission. To avoid any copyright problems, ‘The Revengers 2’ will be starred again by Eddie Murphy, playing once more the clumsy superhero Ultraman, but Carell won’t co-star the film. By the way, Connors has also stated that he might begin working now on a third installment of the sci-fi series formed by the films ‘Invasion’ and ‘Freedom City’.

And I end up this week with a curiosity. Adrianne Palicki will soon make her CMP’s debut in the upcoming zombies flick ‘Island Of The Dead’. But she is already working on a new ‘Wonder Woman’ tv series. And I want to show you this picture of Palicki playing Wonder Woman – with a… let’s say… arguable costume. I leave you this week with one (easy to answer) question: who do you prefer as Wonder Woman, ‘our’ Cobie Smulders or ‘their’ Adrianne Palicki?