NOVEMBER, 1


SUB-MARINER

Action Superhero / Fantasy
Cast: Ian Somerhalder, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Marton Csokas, John Noble, Ruth Wilson, Bill Paxton, Kellan Lutz. Cameo by Brett Cullen.
Director: David Fincher
Screenwriter: John Malone

Box Office: 147 mill.
Net Gains: 127 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Every time the Studio releases a superhero movie, I can’t help expecting record-breaking numbers ala ‘Justice League 2’… Sometimes, that makes me forget that making 147 millions at box office still is a wonderful turnout. Yes, the Studio ‘has’ to feel more than happy with these numbers.

THE JUNGLE

Drama
Cast: Jim Sturgess, Emma Watson, Keira Knightley, Vera Farmiga, Rade Serbedzija, John C. Reilly, Michael Pitt, Ty Burrell, Angelica Huston
Director: Todd Field
Screenwriter: Yuri Redding

Box Office: 38 mill.
Net Gains: 11 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Obviously, this wasn’t the kind of release oriented to become a blockbuster. This is one of those ‘prestige moves’ we like to make at CMP. But, anyway, box office has stayed a bit below my expectations (yes, ok, I know what Bob Felton would say: I am a too greedy guy…).

HERE, KITTY KITTY

Comedy / Animation
Cast of Voices: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mike Meyers
Director: Andrew Adamson
Screenwriter: Josh Collins

Box Office: 29 mill.
Net Losses: 12 mill.

Stark’s Reaction:
Big ouch! From time to time, animated movies turn into hard and unexpected box office’s disasters in CMP. And, sadly, this is one of those occasions. A too severe flop not deserved by this nice movie.


SUB-MARINER

‘David Fincher and John Malone have made a big effort to put up a most impressive superhero movie here. ‘Sub-Mariner’ shows its big ambitions from beginning to end: luxurious production design, very elaborated plot, the most sophisticated CGI and a clever mix of conceptual reminiscences from many movies, from ‘Avatar’ to ‘Abyss’ to more classic ones like ‘20000 Leagues Under The Sea’… and, of course, CMP’s ‘Aquaman’. The final result of it all is a quality show and an entertaining movie – although a bit too long – but not the ultimate redefinition of the superheroes genre it may pretend to be. Namor is not as powerful as a comic icon as Batman or Superman, no matter how hard Fincher and Malone try. ‘Sub-Mariner’ may be an efficient movie but still you will have the feeling that you are watching a movie about a character from the B-list of superheroes.’
-Vic Carter

‘I have this problem with Ian Somerhalder… He is so handsome, so sexy, so physically perfect that I just do not get to believe him in any character he plays. He always looks to me as a top model pretending to be an actor. He is ok playing Namor but, again, I felt he is a bit cold as an actor, as if there’s always a certain distance kept between him and his characters. Mary Elizabeth Winstead claims here that she deserves a future in CMP. And the rest of the cast do their job properly in their difficult task of making believable characters that fit better in the pages of a comic book than in a live action film.’
-Lilly Stevens

‘CMP’s ‘Aquaman’ was an unfairly reviled movie. It made a wonderful box office of 177 millions and net gains of 220 millions. But critics ate it alive and that is probably why Dawson Edwards decided not to develop a franchise out of it. This ‘Sub-Mariner’ – Marvel’s version of Aquaman – looks like a remake of Dawson Edwards and David Yates’ film. Malone and Fincher have tried hard to polish the kitsch elements in that one and to build up a most consistent plot. But the funny thing is that it has made a much lower box office. Yes, I admit that ‘Sub-Mariner’ is a better movie than ‘Aquaman’ in many aspects, including screenplay and directional job. But, in its desperate search of quality, it has lost in the way the naïve charm and freshness of ‘Aquaman’.’
-Tim Reeve

THE JUNGLE

‘Here is a hyper-dramatic story to enjoy for those who like to go to a movie theatre to suffer. Upton Sinclair’s book pictures the reality of immigration in the 1920’s without romantic concessions. And so does this movie. It presents a group of characters condemned to fatality. Every step they take goes wrong and there’s not too much room for hope in their lives. Todd Field does respect the toughness of the story without making any Hollywood-esque turn on it. The result is a honest and interesting movie about how life was for those desperate people that arrived to the US looking for a better life and fought against all odds to survive. Top quality drama and a moving story only suitable for those who look for something more than a flashy sci-fi story on a movie screen.’
-Charlie Kiggs

‘Jim Sturgess keeps growing as an actor with this new job. He shows here that he is much more than just a cute British guy. Sturgess has left behind weaker acting jobs always playing the same lovable young man – from ‘Across The Universe’ to CMP’s ‘Snow’ – to make a top dramatic performance. Also, Keira Knightley shows here she can shine on screen being something more than a heroic lady among pirates or sci-fi action heroes. And Emma Watson also grows here as an actress leaving more and more behind Hermione Granger (maybe too fast?, isn’t she a bit too young or at least looks a bit too childish for her character, same way it happened before in ‘Grow Old With Me’? ). I know we are only at the beginning of this CMP’s Season, but I hope people will remember these top quality acting works when the next GMA time comes.’
-Anne Roman

‘The struggle of immigrants looking for a better life has been a recurrent issue in both cinema and literature. Upton Sinclair’s book has had more recent popular heirs in books (and movies) like the also extremely dramatic novels by Frank McCourt’s ‘Tis’ and ‘Angela’s Ashes’. Todd Field’s movie is not, in that sense, a most original one but still it is a serious and solid approach to part of the recent American history. Yuri Redding’s adaptation has perfectly captured and respected the spirit of the book and the atmosphere of the time. Jurgis Rudkus’s life events from the family drama to his criminal career to his decadence and redemption is both an epic and intimate tale that deserved to be told with the efficiency both Field and Redding have shown in this consistent and interesting production that overcomes that certain lack of originality.’
-Jackie O’Callaghan

HERE, KITTY KITTY

‘Funny. Josh Collins has written a movie that falls in all the clichés he laughed at in the wonderful ‘Woodland Creatures’. Here we have a return to the most classic concept of animation: a comedic story with talking animals. In 2011, after having ogres, racing cars, toys, robots and many other creatures starring animated features, going back to simple animals inevitably looks a bit old fashioned. Sometimes, that concept still works (the first ‘Madagascar’), some others it does not work anymore (‘Bolt’). Sadly, this has been one of those times it does not work. Audiences have not been interested in the Australian adventures of these cats. And that does not mean that the screenplay wasn’t funny. In fact, it is (even more than the other cats’ movie written by Collins, ‘Karate Kat’, although that one did work much better at box office). It is just that audiences are not willing to surrender to predictable jokes of a funny cat interacting with a funny kangaroo… Collins should have remembered the things he laughed at in ‘Woodland Creatures’ before writing this story.’
-Roy Winslow

‘Somebody at CMP should stop Vince Vaughn from making more voice-only works in animated features. This is the third one and it is also the third box office’s disaster with him on board after ‘Calvin and Hobbes’ and ‘Toons’. For some unknown reason, Vaughn is a jinx for animated movies. Out of the starry cast of voices hired for this production, only Hugh Jackman makes a remarkable job exaggerating his Australian accent for the best character of the film. The rest of the cast just put their voices for the pay. And Vaughn confirmed again he wasn’t born for voice-only jobs.’
-Andrew Stampton

‘Andrew Adamson had directed before two very creative animated movies for CMP: the blockbusters ‘The Ice Princess’ and ‘He Man And Masters Of The Universe’. Both of them had great visual findings and meant a step forward in modern animation. That makes even more surprising that, after some Seasons away, Adamson has returned to CMP to direct this much more classic film. ‘Here, Kitty Kitty’ is a too conformist production in terms of visual creativity. There’s nothing new in it. Maybe, 20 years ago it would have been a daring and innovative proposal. But right now it does not take any risk in terms of creativity. It has a correct story, with some decent gags, but audiences demand much more than that from animation nowadays. I have the feeling that this movie is further evidence that the golden days of animation we went through the past two decades – from ‘Toy Story’ to the first ‘Shrek’ – may be definitely gone.’
-Mark Anderson

OCTOBER, 28


SUB-MARINER

Action Superhero / Fantasy

The Cast: Ian Somerhalder, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Marton Csokas, John Noble, Ruth Wilson, Bill Paxton, Kellan Lutz. Cameo by Brett Cullen.

The Director: David Fincher
The Screenwriter: John Malone

The Plot:

Japanese fishermen hurry to pull in their loads before a storm approaches. A white dolphin is stuck in with a load of tuna. The men ready to club the dolphin to death, but notice something clinging to the dolphin: a human baby boy. At a guard post in Okinawa, a young soldier named Cooper stands guard, when he sees something on the ground. He signals the post for spotlights, and in a puddle lies the baby. Cooper slings his gun and picks the baby up.

20 years later…

Coop (I.Somerhalder)(soon you‘ll know him as Namor), streaks across the desert on a powerful motocross bike. He guns the engine and ramps over a razor wire fence. The now Sgt. Cooper (B. Cullen), stares at a monitor in a high tech Marine base guard tower. On his screen is Coop, giving him the finger. Coop rides his motorcycle through the artillery range while live fire goes off. Humvees give chase to Coop all the way to the tarmac. A cargo plane is about to land, but Coop rides in front of it, making eye contact with a woman aboard, complicating the plane's landing. Coop then speeds away.

At dinner that night with Cooper, Coop learns that the plane he rode in front of blew its nose gear, the engine sucked up debris, and that it was carrying a rescue crew to save a downed submarine crew. That night, Coop sneaks into the hangar through the fire door and starts repairing the plane. The woman from the plane, an oceanographer named Carrie Alexander (M.E. Winstead), returns to the hangar but notices the opened fire door, and recognizes Coop's motorcycle from earlier. Coop rolls the repaired nose gear under the plane. He stops when he hears a sound, like giggling children, followed by something saying its hungry. He starts to look for the source. In the plane's cargo bay he finds a beluga whale and two dolphins. Carrie finds him inside and punches him. He asks her what her name is. One of the dolphins squeals and Coop tells Carrie that its hungry, and leaves.

When Carrie exits the plane she sees mechanics puzzling over the repaired landing gear. The plane gets ready to take off. Soon after takeoff, Carrie hears the animals squealing and goes to investigate. She finds Coop staring blankly at the dolphins. The loadmaster suddenly appears and asks who he is. Carrie tells him that Coop is tech support from her lab and to add him to the flight manifest. Coop tells Carrie that he just needed a ride far away from the base as he can get. The plane lands in Guam, and the animals and cargo are rushed to nearby helicopters. Carrie is signaled that the helicopters are ready, and Coop asks if he can come along to help. The choppers lower the animals into the water. Carrie tells Coop to meet her on the well deck of the navy ship and jumps the 50 feet down to the water below. Carrie and the animals make their way to the ship's well deck as the sea gate closes behind them creating a pool inside the ship.

Coop carries a ice block filled with fish out to the well deck. Just as he's about to throw it into the pool for the animals, Carrie spikes it on a mechanical pincer hand and twirls it into air using a Newt Suit, a large deep sea diving suit. Suddenly Lt. Steve Algier (K. Lutz) appears. He knows Coop from back in the day. Coop and Algier quickly get into a fist fight that is broken up as Admiral Porter (B. Paxton) enters. He tells them that 50 ships are currently looking for the submarine with no luck so far. They are going to conduct sonar surveys over the entire area, which will take a long time. He says that if anyone has a better idea they should speak up. Carrie notices that during the scuffle, her Newt Suit was damaged. Coop tells her that he'll fix it, but she tells him not to worry about it as she’ll just use the other suit.

Coop fixes the arm of the Newt Suit and goes to find Carrie. He finds her asleep in a chair in front of a row of laptops. Just as he's about to leave he sees something on one of the laptops: the face of Leonard McKenzie. Carrie wakes up and sees Coop. He apologizes for waking her and tells her that he got the arm working. He apologizes for the thing with Algier and tells her that they had been in Navy SEAL training together, but Coop washed out on day 3. He asks her about all the stuff spread out on the table. She had been looking for any similar situations. She tells him the man on the screen is Leonard McKenzie, an oceanographer who vanished without a trace in 1990 while studying the subsurface scattering layer, a sort of bioluminescent cloud. This gives Carrie an idea. She informs Admiral Porter that she believes that the Tucson, the submarine, flew through a cloud, the subsurface scattering layer, and hit an uncharted seamount, the same as she believes McKenzie did 22 years earlier.

Coop is feeding the animals when Carrie comes out to tell him that they are diving in the morning. Coop watches as she disrobes down to a bikini and dives into the pool. When she gets out, she shakes her hair and some of the salt water hits Coop. He flinches and grips his face in pain. He covers his eye and turns away. He heads to the bathroom, flips on the faucet and looks in the mirror. His eye is a completely white nictitating membrane. He blinks - the inner eyelid disappears. He dunks his head in the sink, washing it out. When he looks again the membrane is gone.

Coop watches from the deck as Carrie enters the water in a Newt Suit. Once she's under, Coop goes through a hatch into a high-tech dive operations center where Admiral Porter and other personal are keeping an eye on things. Carrie continues going deeper and deeper. She activates her thrusters, but her arm locks up and starts her on an uncontrollable dive. Coop realizes that she used the damaged suit that he worked on instead of the other fine suit. The personnel tell Porter that she's too deep for support divers. Algier tells Porter that the rescue sub will be ready in 30 minutes. Coop suggests that someone use the other suit to rescue her, but is told that she'll be at crush depth before anyone could reach her.

Carrie plummets deeper, as Coop gets into the other Newt suit. Over the radio he tells her that he's coming in after her. Carrie realizes that she's approaching max depth. He finally makes it to her and grabs her elbow, ending the freefall. Two giant squids appear with ‘Riders’ clinging to the squids’ mantle. The squids grab hold of Carrie and Coop and bring them deeper. Carrie tells Coop to flood his suit, but he can't figure out how and his Newt suit implodes. His pupils dilate, become larger than humanly possible, lens shape changing, and nictitating membranes blink. He's not dead, but rather transforming. Carrie grimaces in pain as water fills her suit. Water forces its way into Coop's lungs. His ribcage expands, internal organs suddenly alter their structure and function. He takes a breath, then another. The metal starts to crush him, but he breaks out, and “Namor the Sub-Mariner” (as he is in the comics) emerges.

The Giant Squid continues on with the pieces of Coop's suit, unaware he broke free. The water level inside Carrie's suit reaches her eye level, as she sees something. Coop sees it too: Atlantis. The Squid riders accelerate away with Carrie. The Giant Squids glide toward a black tower and enter. Warlord Krang (M. Csokas) peers at Carrie as she fights for breath. Krang then notices Coop's empty suit. Krang places Carrie in an air pocket. Coop clings to the side of the Tower, trying to process what is going on. Krang tells Carrie that he has confiscated the Tucson and its genocidal weapon. Krang tells his underlings to take her to the Krypt.

Coop goes to the top of the Tower where he finds Krang's Cruiser, a gigantic craft. Hanging beneath inside a gelatinous egg case is Carrie. The cruiser rises from the Tower. Coop swims after but his human strokes are clumsy. On pure instinct, he throws himself at the cruiser and shoots through the water. He enters Carrie's bubble, empties the water from her suit and seals her inside. They exit the bubble, but Carrie's faceplate cracks. Coop takes her up to the surface, but as he approaches his body begins to feel enormous pain. He sees rescue divers up above and they are picked up by them. On board, Coop convulses in agony, while Algier watches as his body turns back to normal.

Carrie awakens and tells Porter that the Tucson is down there, captured. She then drifts back asleep. Coop wakes up and asks Algier to let him out of the hyperbaric chamber, but he refuses. Carrie goes out to the pool to see the beluga and notices sucker marks from a squid and realizes that she wasn't imagining everything. She asks Coop what happened. Coop assures her that the sub is in the underground city. She then remembers the name Krang. He tells her that he could breath underwater and could swim incredibly fast. Carrie checks the scanners but can't find any evidence of the underwater city. Coop tells her that he needs to go back down there. She opens the chamber and Coop makes a break for it.

Orderlies chase after him, but Carrie trips them. Algier aims a fire hose at Coop, blasting seawater at him. Coop begins to transform. Algier uses the pressure of the hose to slam Coop against the walls. Coop throws Algier by the collar and takes off running. On the deck Algier slashes him with a knife, revealing that Coop has a layer of impenetrable silver muscle. Algier orders soldiers to open fire on Coop. Porter orders them to cease fire, and Coop leaps overboard. Algier orders some divers to prepare the fliers, one man armed submarines. Algier chases after Coop in the flier, armed with torpedoes. He fires them, and the torpedoes streak after Coop. The firs explodes within 10 feet of him, jolting him hard. Algier chases him too deep and the sub's engine begins to break away, but it implodes before he can get back to the surface.

Coop continues to Atlantis and discovers that the city moves along with the deep sea currents. In the murky waters, he’s dragged away by slave drivers into a cavern filled with air. Coop looks around at thousands of slaves, and realizes that he can understand the creatures. Coop inadvertently causes a riot amongst the slaves, causing Lady Dorma (R. Wilson) to make an appearance. The slaves pass by the palace where Coop sees King Thakor (J. Noble) relishing the scene, he is accompanied by his niece Dorma and his half-brother Krang. Coop starts looking for a way to escape, and ducks behind some reef, but doesn't see a giant electric eel rear up behind him and bite him. Thakor's trident then goes through the eel's neck. The eel then goes for Thakor. Krang and Dorma watch from above.

Spectators begin to cheer for Thakor as he battles the giant eel. Thakor wounds the eel again, but it flings him into reef. Thakor gropes for his trident, but cant get it as its imbedded in the eel. Coop sees that nobody is coming to help and throws a haymaker at the eel. Dorma looks on in as Coop unleashes on the eel, beating it until it is just a misshapen blob. The eel's corpse discharged its remaining energy, zapping Coop.

Coop is taken into the Tower where Thakor and Krang study him. Krang tells Thakor that he believes they will have to wage war against the surface people, and they must go to the Hidden City and seek help from the Ancient Ones. Coop awakens, and Thakor asks him if he is from above. Dorma enters the room wishing to return Coop to her slavehold. Later, Krang tells the Squid Master that if Thakor comes to believe the humans are a threat that he will go to the Ancient Ones of his own free will, and never expect that they plan to betray him. He then tells Squid Master to send word to the Krypt that they must make the Tucson's weapon operational by the time they reach the Hidden City and allow the humans to notice them.

Dorma asks Coop why she hasn't noticed him before. Later, she takes him to the imperial palace for a dinner, Thakor and Krang are also there. Someone asks why a slave like isn't hungry. Thakor claims that Coop is a descendant of a small band of escaped slaves and is thus unfamiliar with the customs. Everyone is eating the eel Coop killed. Suddenly, Thakor's guard dies. Thakor says that it was his duty to defend him, and he failed so he had to die. Thakor then asks everyone to leave, except for Coop. Thakor tells Coop that he should have died long ago and his daughter Fen should have taken over the throne, but she was killed. Coop tells Thakor that Krang took a vessel belonging to his people and kidnapped its crew, and he has come to return it and its crew to the surface. Thakor tells him that Krang has not mentioned this and summons him. Krang enters, and denies any knowledge of the vessel.

At Dorma's palace, Coop asks her why her kind aren't slaves. She says that the slaves breath air and are thus handicapped. Namor tells Dorma that Krang took something very large from him and may be keeping it in air and asks her to get him into the Black Tower. She tells him that you can't see the entrance to the tower, you must feel it.

Back on the surface, Carrie is led to see Porter. He asks her story might sound like on sonar. She tells him enormous biological activity, strange mechanical sounds, but the computer wouldn't know how to classify them. Porter hands her a reading that says: unknown biologicals. Porter tells Carrie that they looked into Nix and nobody can figure out where he came from. Carrie then realizes what Krang said when he said genocidal weapon - the Tucson's sonar kills fish.

Coop makes his way to the Tower. He senses something and reaches forward toward the wall, but his hand goes through. Having found the entrance, Coop enters the Tower. Krang watches Coop moves through the Tower from an observation room. Krang releases various creatures to attack Coop, and notes Coop's Icthyid lateral-line sense. Coop creates a pressure wave, creating a shock of water that slams the creature, stunning it. This intrigues Krang, so he decides to see just how strong Coop is by releasing a giant five-armed beast. The beast uses all five arms to beat up on Coop, until Coop rips off one of the arms and starts beating the beast with it. Krang releases more beasts, and Coop flees from them into an air pocket. Krang steps in after him, and tells him that he is not a human, and that the Tucson is a weapon deadly to the sea life. Coop realizes that Krang intends to use the Tucson's sonar on Thakor. The Squid Master comes in to tell Krang that surface vessels approach.

Carrie sees Navy divers ready satchel charges of C-4. She runs to Porter and asks him if he's crazy. Porter claims they are just seismic explosives to let them take readings through the scattering layer, but Carrie knows better than that. Soon, Atlantis begins to reverberate with thunderous noise and flashes of orange light. Dorma asks Thakor what it is, and he tells her to find Krang. The satchel charges fall into the city and explode, sending out shockwaves. Coop races up from the city as charges go off around him. On Porter's sonar screen is the skyline of Atlantis. He orders for the charges to be set 1000 feet deeper. Thakor asks Krang how they found the city. Krang says that is was Coop and that he was a spy for the surface dwellers all along. Coop begins to fight against the submarines, keeping them from dropping more charges. Over a monitor Porter catches a glimpse of Atlantis through the damaged scattering layer. Porter gets on the radio and tells CINCPAC to send out the whole fleet.

Krang tells Thakor that they need to unite the ocean to deal with the threat from above. Coop approaches and tells them that all they want is their submarine back. Thakor tells Coop that he has searched the city for the vessel but didn't find it. Coop tells him that Krang has taken it somewhere to use as a weapon against the city. Thakor orders Krang to take Coop away. The city begins to move toward the Hidden City, while various creatures begin to go berserk, destroying building and killing others. In the Black Tower, Coop fights against the Squid Master. After defeating the Squid Master, he orders all the creatures to stop the mayhem, and they do. Krang's cruiser heads for the Hidden City, and realizes that he must find Coop before he masters his powers or he will become just as much a threat as his mother Fen was.

Dorma tells Coop that Krang and Thakor are searching the city for him. Coop asks what happened earlier, and she tells him that he ‘spoke‘. She tells him that Fen was also a Sea Speaker. They both then realize that Coop is Fen's son. Dorma tells him that he now can possibly win Thakor's favor and stop Krang from starting his war. Coop goes to the Forbidden Garden where he finds Thakor and tells him that Krang is betraying him, and that the Tucson may be located in the Hidden City. Thakor tells Coop that his daughter vanished and never had a child. Thakor leaves for his palace where Krang informs him that the Ancient Ones have agreed to an alliance. Thakor tells him that he would like to try and negotiate with the humans. Coop speeds toward the Hidden City where he sees several incredibly strange creatures. Krang's cruiser passes by and he follows it to the Krypt, where he finds various ships. Coop searches the Krypt as he partially transforms. Coop eventually comes across Leonard McKenzie's submarine. Krang surprises Coop and tells him that McKenzie was his father and Fen was his mother. Krang takes Coop to the Tucson where he tries to get the captain to activate the weapon. Krang then takes the Tucson down into the water. Coop fights off guards, and when they use a pressure weapon against him, he transforms.

Back at the palace, Thakor wonders where Krang is. Coop appears and tells Thakor that he is the son of Fen, who Krang killed, and a human. But he tells them that he doesn't know his name. Thakor brands him Namor. From the palace they can see the Tucson approach. Namor speeds toward it, but Krang activates the sonar, killing all the nearby sea life, and continues toward Atlantis. Namor pushes the Tucson up toward the surface. Squid Riders chase after him but are destroyed by the lower pressure. Admiral Porter spots the Tucson as it rises all the way to the surface. The Ancient Ones begin to take over Atlantis as Thakor and Dorma wonder where Namor is.

Namor lands aboard the navy ship in front of Porter, who shoots Namor, but he doesn't heal. Namor leaps into the pool to heal. A soldier is about to shoot him when Carrie tackles him. Namor heads back down to Atlantis where he finds that Dorma has been injured by Krang. Carrie sees giant whirlpools reach the surface. Namor uses his speaking ability to get the creatures of the sea to fend off the Ancient Ones.

Krang orders that Thakor give him the throne, but he refuses. Thakor's octopus throne comes to life and attacks Krang. Thakor's henchmen hold off the throne as he stabs Thakor through the chest. As Thakor dies, Namor arrives and unleashes all his fury on Krang for killing all his family. Namor blasts a stream of bubbles from his lungs burning Krang's face away, then grabs Krang by the throat and impales him on Thakor's trident. Dorma's wounds heal, and she proclaims Namor to be the new King of Atlantis.


Stark’s Comment:
As with any superhero movie, I expect to begin the Season with a big blockbuster. I am curious to see how David Fincher will manage with the genre. Welcome to CMP, John Malone!

Behind The Scenes:
-When presenting the movie, John Malone stated that he wanted ‘Sub-Mariner’ to be ‘an Aquaman for adults’.
-Alden Ehrenreich was the first option to play Namor. But David Fincher didn’t like him for the character so he asked for a replacement. Ian Somerhalder joined the project then.
-Other talents considered to play Namor were Zachary Quinto, Josh Hartnett and Jonathan Rhys-Meyer.
-Brett Cullen replaced Bruce Willis, who wasn’t interested in being in this movie.
-Except for Somerhalder and Paxton, the rest of the cast is making their debut in CMP with this movie.

THE JUNGLE

Drama

The Cast: Jim Sturgess, Emma Watson, Keira Knightley, Vera Farmiga, Rade Serbedzija, John C. Reilly, Michael Pitt, Ty Burrell, Angelica Huston

The Director: Todd Field
The Screenwriter: Yuri Redding

The Plot:

Jurgis Rudkus (J.Sutgess) and Ona Lukoszaite (E.Watson), a young man and woman who have just immigrated to Chicago from Lithuania, hold their wedding feast at a bar in an area of Chicago known as Packingtown. The couple and several relatives have come to America in search of a better life, but Packingtown, the center of Lithuanian immigration and Chicago's meatpacking industry, is a dangerous and dirty place where it is difficult to find steady work. After the reception, Jurgis and Ona learn that they are more than a hundred dollars in debt to the owner of the bar. In Lithuania, it is customary for the guests to leave money to cover the cost, but many of the impoverished immigrants departed the feat without leaving any money. Jurgis vows that he will just have to work harder to make more money.

Jurgis finds work, as does Marija Berczynskas (K.Knightley), Ona's cousin, and Teta Elzbieta (V.Farmiga), Ona’s stepmother . The family signs an agreement to be a house, but it turns out that they've been tricked, as the agreement is full of hidden costs, and the house is poorly maintained. As the family's living expenses increase, Ona is forced to look for work. Jobs in Packingtown involve hard labor conducted in unsafe conditions. Jurgis' father, Dede Antanas (R.Serbedzija), finds a job only after agreeing to pay another man a third of his wages for helping him get the job. The job turns out to be too difficult for the old man and he dies of a stroke while working.

Winter is the most dangerous season in Packingtown, and Jurgis risks his life every day by working in an unheated, poorly lit slaughterhouse. Marija is courted by a violinist, but the couple is not able to marry because they don't have enough money for a wedding. The factory Marija works at closes down and she loses her job. Jurgis joins a union and slowly begins to understand the web of political corruption and bribery that makes Packingtown run. Marija regains her job, but it soon fired when she complains about being cheated out of some of her wages. Ona is now pregnant, and her job becomes increasingly difficult for her. Her supervisor, Miss Henderson (A.Huston), oversees a prostitution ring, and most of the girls at the factory, are made to be prostitutes.

Ona eventually gives birth to a healthy boy, who she and Jurgis name Antanas after Jurgis' father. Just seven days later, Ona is forced to go back to work at the factory. The poor conditions at work cause Jurgis to break his ankle. He is forced to spend several months in bed, unable to work, while recuperating. Teta's youngest son dies of food poisoning. Jurgis' ankle eventually recovers and he returns to work, but the factory refuses to give him his job back. Jurgis is eventually forced to take a job at a fertilizer plant, and begins to numb himself with alcohol.

Ona becomes pregnant again. One night, she doesn't return home from work. Jurgis goes to the factory to discover that Phil Connor (T.Burrell), Ona's boss, has kept her after work and tried to force her to sleep with him. Jurgis attacks Connor and is arrested. After an unfair trial, Jurgis is sentenced to a month in prison. In prison, Jurgis befriends a criminal named Jack Duane (M.Pitt). When he is released, Jurgis finds that his family has been evicted from their home and is living at the rundown boardinghouse that they had stayed at when they first arrived in Chicago. When he enters the boardinghouse, he finds Ona screaming. She has gone into premature labor. The strain of giving birth kills Ona and the child. In despair, Jurgis disappears on a drinking binge.

Teta finds Jurgis and convinces him to think of his son, Antanas. Jurgis starts to look for work again. He eventually lucks out and finds a job at a steel mill. Things are starting to look up for him. But one day, Antanas drowns in the muddy street. Jurgis abandons his surviving family members and wanders the countryside.

Jurgis returns to Chicago in the winter, and finds a job digging freight tunnels. He injures himself on the job and is forced to spend some time in the hospital. When he is released, he has no money and is unable to find work, so he becomes a beggar. One night, a wealthy young man gives Jurgis a hundred dollar bill. Jurgis goes into a bar and asks the bartender to make change for it, the man cheats him and only gives Jurgis ninety cents back. Jurgis attacks the bartender and is sent to jail. In prison, he meets Jack Duane again. When they are released, Jurgis becomes Duane's partner in crime, and the two commit burglaries and muggings. Jurgis is eventually recruited to work for a corrupt local Democratic party leader, Mike Scully (J.C.Reilly). When a series of strike hits Packingtown, Jurgis crosses the picket lines, making a good deal of money as a scab, while undermining the union he used to be a part of.

One day, Jurgis sees Phil Connor again and attacks him. He is jailed once again. Once he is released, Jurgis is forced to live on charity. By this time, he has completely lost touch with his family. One day he runs into an old acquaintance from the boardinghouse who tells how to find Marija. He learns that Marija has become a prostitute to help support Teta and the children. When Jurgis finds Marija, he learns that not only has she become a prostitute, but she has also become addicted to morphine. Jurgis wants to see Teta and the rest of the family again, but not until he finds a good job.


Stark’s Comment:
Here we go with a quality drama. And you all know that means one thing: it’s a hit or miss release. Welcome to CMP, Yuri Redding!

Behind The Scenes:
-The movie is based on the book by Upton Sinclair.
-Jim Sturgess and Emma Watson won the Best Starring Couple award in Season 16 with ‘Snow’. Sturgess also won the Best Actor award and Watson was nominee for the Best Actress award.
-This is the 18th movie for Keira Knightley in CMP. That makes her the more active female talent ever in the Studio’s history.

HERE, KITTY KITTY

Comedy / Animation

Cast of Voices: Vince Vaughn, Reese Witherspoon, Anne Hathaway, Hugh Jackman, Gwyneth Paltrow, Mike Meyers

The Director: Andrew Adamson
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins

The Plot:

Oscar (Voice of V.Vaughn) is a lazy ne'er-do-well calico cat. He is in for an adventure of his life when he is put into the care of a neighborhood family while his own family takes a vacation on a cruise. This does not sit well for Oscar who very quickly shows animosity to the catsitters, including the child friend of Oscar's original owner, Molly (Voice of A. Hathaway).

Felix (Voice of R. Witherspoon) is the cat of the babysitting family. She's the complete opposite of Oscar. Mature, intelligent, a bit of a goody-too-shoes. Out of spite because of Oscar's constant annoying attitude, Felix tells Oscar that his old family doesn't love him and the new family are going to eat him.

This story scares Oscar to the point of him escaping through an open window. When Molly discovers that Oscar disappeared, it devastates her. Felix sees how upset it makes her human and she sets out to find Oscar. When she does, she finds him on a cargo ship. While she wastes time trying to convince Oscar to come back by saying the family isn't so bad and Felix only said those things to scare him to the point of shutting him up.

The cargo boat leaves with the cats still inside! Back at home, the family comforts Molly, who is even more saddened that both of the cats are missing. They say they'll have them both back before the family returns.

The boat ends up in Australia. Once it makes landfall, the cats escape the cargo. They have no idea where they are and get themselves lost in the Australian outback, running into animals they had never seen before. For example, a smooth talking Kangaroo con artist (Voice of H.Jackman) who says he'll help them get home, only to send them deeper into the outback where even more vicious animals like the Tasmania Devil are and ditch them.

Even though both cats hate water, they can't find any other way to get back home but use a cheap version of a boat to get back home across the ocean. While on the ocean, they face even greater foes like sharks and a storm that nearly kills the cats. But they manage to survive with each other. On a funny note, as they are going across the water, they happen to pass a cruise ship. The passengers are Oscar's family. They try to take a good look at what's in the water, thinking it's Oscar. But they only say 'nah, it couldn't be.'

The cats make landfall on their native soil and head home. Molly is sitting in her room upstairs looking out the window with binoculars and she happens to spot Oscar and Felix hurrying down the street. She runs to meet them, but just as they are almost to her, an animal control truck pulls up, nearly running the cats over and causing them to hide. The driver of the truck steps out and captures them, Molly rushes at the guy and distracts him, kicking him in a place no man should be kicked in and forcing the cats to be released.

Molly takes them home, naturally just in time for the vacationing family to return and retrieve Oscar. The family jokes about Oscar being so lazy and boring that he probably just laid around the house all day like he does back home. To avoid conflict, Molly and her family (Voices of G.Paltrow and M.Meyers) tell them that that is exactly what happened.


Stark’s Comment:
With Adamson and that top notch cast of voices, I expect this animated feature to become a big blockbuster.

Behind The Scenes:
-Andrew Adamson has directed two animated movies before for CMP: ‘The Ice Princess’ (B.O.: 316 mill, alltimes top 2 box office) and ‘He Man and Masters Of The Universe’ (B.O.: 130 mill.).
-This is the third voice-only work of Vince Vaughn in a CMP’s animated movie after ‘Calvin And Hobbes’ and ‘Toons’. Those two movies were severe box office’s flops.
-Josh Collins has written two animated movies before: ‘Bird Of A Feather’ and ‘Karate Kat’. Both worked nicely at box office.


GRAND THEFT AUTO II: Green light for this sequel of Chad Taylor’s adaptations of the popular console games saga. This second movie is almost a complete revamp of the franchise. Tom Hardy, seen past Season in ‘At Cross Purposes’, is the only member of the original cast returning in this new installment. Together with him, the CMP’s debutante Joel Edgerton will play one of the leading roles. Also the director has changed: Martin Campbell, director of the first movie, has been replaced here by the regular team formed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor. ‘Grand Theft Auto’ wasn’t as successful as expected by the Studio, making only a correct box office of 80 millions and net gains of 93 millions.

ATLAS SHRUGGED: Rodrigo Santoro, only seen before in CMP in Chad Taylor’s ‘Gaga’, and Richard Jenkins, seen past Season in Chad Taylor’s ‘L.A. Wolf’, have joined the cast of this Clint Eastwood’s adaptation of Ayn Rand’s book. Dwight Gallo is the author of the screenplay and Charlize Theron and Ben Affleck lead the cast.

ORIGINAL COLONIES: He is back at last. It was Season 7 when Noah Baumbach directed a movie now considered a CMP’s classic, the comedy ‘Lyra’. The movie was critically acclaimed and got 7 nominations at the GMA, although it finally won only one award. Since that successful debut, Baumbach had not worked again for the Studio. But now he is back with this new story written by Josh Collins, who also wrote ‘Lyra’. ‘Original Colonies’ mixes comedy and drama in the story of a young man trying to find out who’s the mother of his son among the lovers he had while travelling through the US’ original colonies. His sister will help him in that search. And these brother and sister will be played by Jesse Eisenberg, not seen in CMP since ‘Mega Man’ (also written by Collins) and the CMP’s debutante Mia Wasikowska, best known for playing Alice in Tim Burton’s ‘Alice In Wonderland’.

BAD FAMILY: Three veteran stars join the cast of this action comedy about a gangster family written by Joey Stark and directed by Joel Turteltaub. Joe Pesci, only seen before in CMP in ‘The Naked Sun’ and ‘Bond Scum’; GMA Nominee Harvey Keitel, whose latest work for the Studio was making a cameo in another Joey Stark’s film, ‘The Paper Man’; and Chazz Palminteri, seen before in CMP in 'Gaspipe' and The Dark Tower saga, will play supporting roles in this movie.

GOD OF WAR: Marie Bello, not seen in CMP since ‘Dark They Were, And Golden Eyed’, plays Athena in this Guillermo Del Toro’s fantasy big production. Yes, the same mythological character played by Angelina Jolie in Zack Snyder’s ‘Athena’. Playing the lead character’s family – played by Vin Diesel – we will see two CMP’s debutantes: Odette Yustman plays Diesel’s wife, and Stephanie Yanusaukas, seen out of CMP in ‘Punisher: War Zone’, plays his daughter. Josh Collins is the screenwriter of this game adaptation.

PRETEND TO SMILE: Shia LaBeouf has not been interested in playing a minor character in this drama directed by Tom Ford, written by Dawson Edwards and starred by Amanda Seyfried. To replace him, the chosen one has been Jeremy Sumpter, best known in CMP for starring the two ‘Zoids’ movies and Oliver Stone’s ‘Haight-Ashbury’.

STATE OF MIND: As it was previously reported, when Martin Scorsese abandoned this project, some big names who had accepted to play minor roles in it also renounced. Urgent replacements had to be made: Michael Chiklis (replacing Tom Hanks), Martin Freeman (replacing Brad Pitt) and William Fitchner (replacing Sean Penn). Andrew Garfield, who will also be seen soon in 'Bad Family', stars this drama written by Chad Taylor and finally being directed by Neil Blomkamp.

INNOCENCE: Ted Levine returns to CMP with this courtroom drama written by Yuri Redding. His only previous work for the Studio was in Richard Franzwa and Richard Donner’s ‘Fallout’. A CMP’s debutante plays the murdered girl of the story: AnnaLynne McCord. Actor Ed Harris is directing the movie, Kevin Bacon is producing it and both are also part of this cast lead by Josh Hartnett and Dominic West.

THE CAPED CRUSADER: The Mara sisters, Rooney and Kate, will show up in this superhero movie focused on Batman (a de facto sequel of ‘Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths’). Both sisters made their CMP’s debut past Season in two different Chad Taylor’s stories: Rooney was in ‘Grow Old With Me’ and Kate was in ‘The Lonely Polygamist’. ‘The Caped Crusader’ has also been written by Taylor and it is being directed by Nicolas Winding Refn. Silver Lining Entertaining is producing the film.

SURVIVOR: Green light for this adaptation of a novel by Chuck Palahniuk written by D.R. Cobb. The movie will tell the strange story of the members of a most peculiar cult. Ryan Gosling is going to star this film in his second work of the Season after ‘Bad Family’. Gosling and Cobb already worked together in the acclaimed ‘The Question’. To direct the film, the chosen one has been Mark Pellington, who makes here his CMP’s debut.


YURI REDDING – ‘THE JUNGLE’

Three new screenwriters will make their debut during this new CMP’s Season: Yuri Redding, Dwight Gallo and John Malone. At CMP’s offices, everybody is convinced that the three of them are called to become very active writers for the Studio. This week, we have talked with one of them and we will talk with the other two in next weeks. Introducing Yuri Redding…

1.Why have you decided to adapt this Upton Sinclair's book?

I was forced to read it years ago in high school and it always kind of stuck with me. Most people seem focus on it as a sort of expose of the corruption and unsafe working conditions in the meatpacking industry, but I was always more interested in the poverty and the immigrant experience since my grandparents actually came over from Russia around the same time and had to deal with similar hardships, so it also kinda hits home a little bit.

2.You'll be releasing soon too the courtroom drama 'Innocence'. What can you tell us about this movie?

It seems that every month or two, somebody who has been in prison is released due to new evidence being found, usually DNA. I wanted to tell a story about what it must be like for the person wrongfully accused and convicted of the crime and the process it takes for them to regain their freedom which should've never been taken away in the first place.

3.What movie genres are you more interested in?

For it's sort of a combination of heavy dramas (as you can probably tell by my first two projects) mixed in with some genre stuff like action, science-fiction and thrillers.

4.Let's go with a classic question for newbies: what are you more interested in? Box office's success, critical applause or awards?

To be honest, both interest me equally. That's why I have tried to balance out my slate of films between big-budget fair and smaller dramas, so that I can hopefully achieve both - just maybe not for the same movie.

5.Is ther any CMP's movies or any CMP's writers you particularly admire?

As my GMA voting record probably indicates, I absolutely loved D.R. Cobb's 'Jonestown.' Some other favorites of mine are 'Eye of the Needle,' 'The Question,' 'Heavy Rain,' 'Kite,' and Chad Taylor's 'The Forgotten' trilogy. Still being new to Crazy Moon Pictures, there are a lot of movies I want to go back and look at.


DAVID FINCHER

The always interesting movie director David Fincher has directed his sixth film for CMP: the comic adaptation ‘Sub-Mariner’. Fincher has had his up and downs along his CMP’s career. He has had only one box office’s flop but, also, he only has had one ‘+100’ release and he’s never been even nominated at the GMA. Now, he has accepted the challenge of directing a superhero movie, something that may have surprised some of his fans. Maybe, it’s time for Fincher to have his first big blockbuster in CMP’s world. In the meantime, let’s look back at his career in the Studio.

SAVING SAMANTHA MOSS
Written by Ted Froats
B.O.: 17 / N.L.: 15
Fincher’s debut in CMP was also his first (and only) box office’s flop. This dark thriller was starred by Natalie Portman and Jake Gyllenhaal and they won the Best Starring Couple GMA with it. Other big names in the cast included Robin Williams, playing the villain of the function, and James Franco before becoming the demanded and awarded big star he is now at CMP. Critics praised this claustrophobic story but audiences turned their back to it.

CHRYSALIS: PENNIES FROM HELL
Written by Joey Stark
B.O.: 91 / N.G.: 89
This was the second spin-off of the very popular ‘Wild Cards’ saga (the first one was ‘Yeoman’). While Matt Kubrick was the writer of the mainstream movies of the franchise, Joey Stark wrote this spin-off focused on the character of Chrisalys. Eva Green played Chrysalis for the first time, replacing Angelina Jolie, who had played her in the two previous installments of the saga. The cast included regulars of the ‘Wild Cards’ movies like Tim Roth, Bruce Willis, Matt Dillon or Viggo Mortensen and also talents like Don Cheadle or Gong Li. Matt Kubrick made a cameo in it. The movie worked nicely in box office. In fact, it made better numbers than the two previously released installments of the franchise.

L.A. WOLF
Written by Josh Collins
B.O.: 54 / N.G.: 65
Fincher accepted to direct this cops movie conceived as the beginning of a new CMP’s franchise. The movie didn’t work as well as expected at box office. Then, when Collins wrote a sequel of it, he decided to replace Fincher behind the cameras. David Ayer took his place and Fincher and Collins had a public confrontation for that reason. Chad Taylor directed past Season a third movie based in the character of David Wolf.

MORE TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
Written by Ben Tyler
B.O.: 116 / B.O.: 94
After the bad experience Fincher went through with the sequel of ‘L.A. Wolf’, he decided to stay away from CMP for some time. Finally, he accepted to work for the Studio again directing one of the three stories included in this sequel of the very successful ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’. Matt Kubrick and Gus Van Sant directed the two other stories and this one became so far the most successful release Fincher has had in CMP.

THE LONELY POLYGAMIST
Written by Chad Taylor
B.O.: 79 / N.G.: 65
Fincher returned past Season to CMP to direct this peculiar story about a man married four times and father of more than 20 kids. Chad Taylor wrote this adaptation of a book by Brady Udall. Like most of Fincher’s movies for CMP, the film worked correctly at box office without making outstanding numbers. By the time the film was released, Fincher already announced he would be directing John Malone’s big screen adaptation of ‘Sub-Mariner’. Due to his commitment with this project, he had to reject the offer D.R. Cobb had made him to be the producer of the upcoming ‘Survivor’.


This week’s issue of ‘Premiere’ magazine takes to its cover to Mary Elizabeth Winstead, the star from ‘Sub-Mariner’. Winstead makes this week her debut in CMP but she is expected to be seen in other films from the Studio this very same Season. Also, there is a special article looking at the CMP’s career of the three main stars in ‘The Jungle’, all of them GMA winners - Jim Sturgess, Emma Watson and Keira Knightley – and how they have made their way in the jungle of Hollywood. Find also a special interview with Josh Collins presenting his new animation feature, ‘Here, Kitty Kitty’.



Two old traditions of the Golden Moon Awards have been respected this Season: the most nominated movie wasn’t the most awarded one at the end and the curse of the 5 nominations returned.

Yes, ‘Jonestown’ (6 nominations) defeated ‘Woman Of God’ (7 nominations) more clearly than initially expected. We all knew it was going to be a very tough duel between these two very different movies and ‘Jonestown’ finally won it. ‘Woman Of God’ completely lost strength from nomination phase to winners phase of voting. Even ‘Stairway To Heaven’ (only 2 nominations) with its 100% of success almost defeated ‘Woman Of God’.

So ‘Jonestown’ becomes the big winner of the night. But, most of all, it was Josh Brolin’s night. Nobody had ever before won the Best Villain and the Best Actor awards with the same movie. Only Bill Murray had won together Best Villain and Best Supporting Actor awards with ‘Life And Facts Of A Dirty Mind’. So this Edition has been, more than any other thing, the big triumph of Mr. Brolin.

By the way, it is not at all the first time that a movie that did not work at box office becomes later the big winner of the GMAs. Movies like ‘Nagasaki Daydreams’, ‘The 6th Avenue Castaways’ or ‘The Rock Star’ also failed at box office and then won the Best Picture award.

‘Oedipus Rex’ joins the cruel ‘5 Nominations Club’. No award for this Sophocles’ adaptation. It was a bad indication that the movie didn’t get the nod at the Best Director and Best Picture categories. Finally, the most pessimistic outlooks became true and the movie didn’t win at any of the 5 categories it had a chance to.

Bad night too for some talents that are getting used to be defeated at the ceremony.

James Franco has reached the 7 nominations but he has been defeated in the latest 5 ones. This is the third time that he does not make it at the Best Actor category. He only won before at the Best Supporting Actor and the Best Starring Couple categories.

Ridley Scott couldn’t make it either at his fifth nomination for Best Director. It’s his fourth defeat in a row at this category. He has only won one Best Director award back in Season 2 (together with the Best Picture award as producer) with the first ‘Uncommon Valour’ movie.

And Michelle Pfeiffer also went again through a bitter night. Fourth nomination and still waiting for her first GMA. She fought an extremely tight duel with Cate Blanchett but, again, she went home empty handed.

On the happy side, the award for David Strathairn means the second GMA for him after he won the Best Actor award with ‘Otto Rahn’ and Catherine Z. Jones has won her third GMA after the two statues – Best Actress and Best Starring Couple - she won back in Season 2 with ‘Fools Game’.

Peter Sarsgaard, Atticus Shaffer, Josh Brolin, Cate Blanchett and Oliver Stone show up for the first time in the list of winners.

Anyway, just in case you are interested, here goes some inside information about how things went at some of the main categories and how things changed from the nominations votes to the winning ones, according to my CMP’s confidential sources:

BEST VILLAIN
No chances at all for Jeremy Irons. And no, Billy Bob Thornton wasn’t the tough rival expected for Brolin. Josh won the award with much less difficulties than expected.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Without doubt, the biggest surprise of the night. Nobody at CMP expected Catherine Z. Jones would defeat Charlize and Saoirse. Things completely changed here from nomination phase to winners phase.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Extremely tight duel here between David Strathairn and Al Pacino. So tight that Strathairn finally won by the narrowest margin possible.

BEST STARRING COUPLE
The duel here was between Sarsgaard & Shaffer and Craig & Hoffman. No chances for Dakota and Liam as their supporters in nomination phase decided to abandon them when the time to vote for the winners came.

BEST ACTRESS
Everybody knew Cate Blanchett was going to win. But I’ll reveal the truth here: finally, it was also an extremely tight duel between her and Michelle. Again, a most narrow margin decided the winner, although Cate looked like the winner by far after nomination phase. What would have been the biggest surprise of the night was very close to happen.

BEST ACTOR
No discussion here. Josh Brolin didn’t have a challenging rival at the end. Sarsgaard’s chances lowered down from nomination phase to winners phase and Franco stayed far away from them.

BEST DIRECTOR
Another surprise for those who knew how the voting at nominations phase had gone. Ridley Scott looked as a sure winner. But voters changed their mind and Stone defeated him with a comfortable margin. Once more, voting for nominees and voting for winners prove to be two completely different things in voters’ choices.

BEST PICTURE
According to my CMP’s internal sources, there wasn’t the duel expected at this category after all. ‘Jonestown’ won by a wide difference confirming that it wasn’t the night for ‘Woman Of God’ at all.

My opinion? Winners are well chosen. My heart was with ‘Frontier’ so it wasn’t the happiest night for me. But I feel happy for ‘Stairway To Heaven’, one of my favorite films of the Season that I missed at the main categories. I enjoyed both ‘Jonestown’ and ‘Woman Of God’ so I would have agreed with any of them winning the main awards.

I know I use to be more acid and provocative in this column, but the truth is that it was a great Season and it has been a fair and great GMA Edition so I have no complaints for once. Congratulations to all the winners!

THE 18th GOLDEN MOON AWARDS CEREMONY

THE LOCATION

The Golden Moon Awards are back home for its 18th Edition. The Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles is again the place where all the big stars, the media and the fans meet once more to celebrate the Gala.

As usual, there is a great atmosphere in and out of the Auditorium in this thrilling and glamorous night.


THE RED CARPET

Nominees and guests walk down the red carpet while fans welcome them with shouts and ovations and journalists from all over the world fight for some exclusive words.

Among the stars seen in the red carpet we have talents like Dominic West, who is starring the upcoming ‘Innocence’; from ‘The Lonely Polygamist’, Jennifer Connelly; Mary Elizabeth Winstead, who will be making soon her debut in CMP with ‘Sub-Mariner’; Adrianne Palicki, seen this Season in ‘Island Of The Dead’; and Gemma Arterton, who made her CMP’s debut this Season with ‘Tarzan’.


THE CEREMONY

A fanfare sounds as the lights turn on in the Auditorium.

Will Ferrell comes out to the stage… for once, not wearing any costume.

W.F.: Welcome to a new edition of the Golden Moon Awards! Yes, the awards that have been won by me… and a few other talents. As you can see, there won’t be silly costumes tonight. When Harry Stark asked me to present this Gala again I only made one condition: no more embarrassing costumes. I want to be me for once. And I admit I’m a bit nervous… I would have accepted taking one of those pills Ben Tyler took to write ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’… *laughs* But Tyler took the only one he had left to write ‘Stairway To Heaven’… *big laughs*

Okay… We have gone through a wonderful CMP’s Season. Very few box office’s disasters. Yes, ‘Grow Old With Me’ didn’t work too well. The love story between Robert Pattinson and Emma Watson wasn’t as successful as expected. Kristen Stewart’s boycott worked after all… *laughs*

And no, audiences do not like anymore happy and optimistic stories: ‘The Sky Is Grey’ didn’t make it at box office… *laughs* Also, ‘Suicide Partyland’, also known as ‘Jonestown’, didn’t make it at box office either, but at least Josh Brolin is the Ralph Fiennes of tonight’s Gala with his double nomination. Good luck, Josh!

Anyway, we had some great achievements this Season… ‘Metroid: Prime’… Wow! Charlize is so great, isn’t she? She broke records with that movie. And again, she got a GMA nomination for ‘Frontier’. Isn’t she magical? Same as it happened with ‘Love Lost’, she only has to appear in a few sequences and there you have it… another GMA nomination for her! It’s not fair. Some of us have to show up during the whole length of the movie to be nominated and Charlize only needs… what?... half of the movie? a couple of flashbacks? *laughs* Just kidding, Charlize. We all love you. Good luck tonight *Charlize Theron laughs and waves from her seat*

Cate Blanchett is here tonight too, ladies and gentlemen… *applause while Cate waves from her seat* I loved her work in ‘Woman Of God’. I can understand the film was nominated for Best Adaptation. But it could have been nominated for Best Original Concept too. A Pope with boobs. Boy, isn’t that an original concept? *big laughs*

Ok, let’s go with the Gala…

(Somebody comes out to the stage. It’s somebody wearing a fish costume. It takes a few seconds to notice it’s Joseph Gordon-Levitt)


J.G-L.: Wait a second… I have something to say…

W.F.: Oh, my God… I can’t believe this… They promised me there would not be silly costumes tonight… What are you doing here, Joseph? I am the stupid guy that wears stupid costumes. You are supposed to be a prestigious actor!

J.G-L.: Some critics have said that the Shark Man was the most interesting character of ‘Stairway To Heaven’. I wanted to know how does it feel to be a Shark Man…

W.F.: For God’s sake, Joseph… You look ridiculous. You haven’t even been digitally manipulated. And that’s not even a shark costume. It’s only a cheap Nemo costume!

J.G-L.: Are you sure? Ben Tyler has just told me at the backstage that this is exactly how he imagined the Shark Man…

W.F.: Oh, no… I’m afraid Ben Tyler has bought some more of his pills… *big laughs*

Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to the 18th Edition of the Golden Moon Awards and enjoy the show!

(Italics = off-voice)

BEST PRODUCTION DESIGN

We could see her this Season in the dark action thriller ‘At Cross Purposes’. And we saw him in Michael Bay’s blockbuster ‘The Team’ and he will be seen again soon in Clint Eastwood’s ‘Atlas Shrugged’: Sarah Shahi and Ben Affleck!


B.A.: Ok, let’s go with the awards! Isn’t it great to be here, Sarah?

S.S.: It is, Ben. I feel much more part of the big CMP’s family now that I have been invited to present an award.

B.A.: The first impact you have from a movie is its production design. Sometimes it can make the difference from the very beginning of any release.

S.S.: And the nominees for Best Production Design this Season are…

BORN AGAIN
OEDIPUS REX
THE GOONIES II

And we have a winner…

BORN AGAIN

Scott Prescott, Executive Producer of ‘Born Again’, takes the award: ‘It was very difficult to capture the inspirational and lyrical spirit of this great movie. But this moment means our team made a wonderful job. Thank you very much!’

MOST WANTED SEQUEL

From ‘The Team’, here is the twice GMA Winner Kate Hudson! And from ‘Skin Tight’, here is the GMA Nominee, John Cusack!


J.C.: You know, Kate, I have been told backstage that Cate Blanchett and Josh Brolin were the first choice to present this category. But they had to be urgently replaced by us when they were unexpectedly nominated…

K.H.: Yeah, John, sure… their nominations were such a surprise…

J.C.: Being invited to present an award usually means that the guys at CMP didn’t have any hope you are going to be nominated… But, hey, thank you anyway…

K.H.: Come on, John, don’t be a whiner…

J.C.: Okay, okay… I’ll just do my job. Nominees for most wanted sequel are…

GREEN ARROW: YEAR ONE
TARZAN
UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES

And voters want to watch a sequel of…

UNCHARTED 2: AMONG THIEVES

Dwain Marsh, Producer of the film, steps up to take the award and says: ‘I honestly don’t know if there will be an ‘Uncharted 3’ or not. But there are two promising hints: the ‘Uncharted 3’ console game has been already released and we have won this award… So, come on, Mr. Connors, you can start working on it!’

BEST ADAPTATION

She has gone through a busy Season working in two very different movies: ‘Skin Tight’ and ‘Island Of The Dead’. And he has had a most impressive debut in CMP playing no other than Tarzan. Please welcome, Marley Shelton and Taylor Kitsch!


T.K.: Damn! ‘Tarzan’ didn’t make it at the Most Wanted Sequel category… Please, CMP’s writers and directors, I want to stay! I’m ready to accept offers!

M.S.: Don’t worry, Taylor. You’ll be back to CMP for sure. Even I will be back, no matter the box office of ‘Island Of The Dead’… *cross fingers*

T.K.: In the meantime, let’s go with the nominees for Best Adaptation. They are…

OEDIPUS REX
SKIN TIGHT
WOMAN OF GOD

And the Golden Moon goes to…

WOMAN OF GOD

Ron Hooper, Producer of the film, takes the statue and says: ‘I want to congratulate James Bradley for writing this great adaptation. He must feel strange… We have always thought that there couldn’t be a GMA Edition without Bradley being nominated at the best Screenplay category… Well, this statue is also yours, James!’

BEST ORIGINAL CONCEPT

Ladies and Gentlemen, the star from ‘Born Again’ and the star from ‘Cousins’: Tobey Maguire and Rachel McAdams!


R.M.: We have three very different and all of them great stories nominees at this category tonight…

T.M.: And, for me, it was great to be part of one of them, ‘Born Again’… not having to play Spiderman in CMP again…

R.M.: Never say never again, Tobey…

T.M.: I know… Nominees for Best Original Concept are…

AT CROSS PURPOSES
BORN AGAIN
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

And the winner is…

STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Bret Mansher, Producer of the film, takes the award and says: ‘Making such a wild and crazy comedy like ‘Stairway To Heaven’ was a great pleasure itself. Winning this award is a beautiful addition to that unforgettable experience. Thank You!’

Let’s go with the first musical performance of the night. Taylor Swift is here to sing the John Denver’s country classic ‘Sweet Surrender’, one of the songs included in the soundtrack of ‘Somewhere Other Than The Night’.


BEST STARRING COUPLE

She is one of the most popular young talents in CMP and this Season we could see her in ‘The Goonies II’ and he is becoming one of the most demanded talents in the Studio lately. We saw him this Season in ‘Grow Old With Me’ and we will see him soon again in two upcoming CMP’s releases: ‘Bad Family’ and ‘State Of Mind’: Chloe Moretz and Andrew Garfield!


C.M.: First of all, congratulations, Josh Brolin… I am so happy you were nominated for playing my father in ‘The Goonies II’…

A.G.: Chloe, I am afraid he is not here tonight for ‘The Goonies II’ but for ‘Jonestown’…

C.M.: Really? What were those voters thinking?

A.G.: Yeah, I know what you mean… Emma Watson is also nominee tonight for ‘Grow Old With Me’ and I am not…

C.M.: Yeah, Andrew, shocking, isn’t it…? Well, we better go with the nominees for Best Starring Couple…

LIAM AIKEN & DAKOTA FANNING – Just There
PETER SARSGAARD & ATTICUS SHAFFER – Frontier
PHILIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN & DANIEL CRAIG – The Sky Is Grey


And the Golden Moon goes to…

PETER SARSGAARD & ATTICUS SHAFFER
FRONTIER

Sarsgaard and Shaffer step up to the stage together to take the award. ‘I hope this is only the first one of the night for ‘Frontier’. Good luck, Charlize, Joel and Ethan!’, says Sarsgaard. And Atticus thanks Joel and Ethan Coen and Chad Taylor for giving him the chance to be part of such wonderful movie.

BEST CAST

Please welcome, the star from ‘At Cross Purposes’ and the upcoming ‘Innocence’ and an actress who is about to make her debut in a CMP’s film with ‘Pretend To Smile’: Amanda Seyfried and Josh Hartnett!


A.S.: Wow, it is such a thrill to be here tonight… This is my real debut in CMP’s world.

J.H.: Welcome to the family, Amanda.

A.S.: Making the right choices for the cast is an essential part of any movie production… Some people may consider this one a minor category, but I think it is a most important one.

J.S.: It sure is. And the three best cast choices of the Season were made with these movies…

OEDIPUS REX
SKIN TIGHT
WOMAN OF GOD

And we have a winner…

SKIN TIGHT

The producer of ‘Skin Tight’, Rupert St. Martin, takes the award and dedicates the win to all the members of the cast, to D.R.Cobb for creating for them a gallery of wonderful characters and to Harold Ramis for making all of them shine with their work.

BEST VILLAIN

She was heard in the mega-succesful ‘Metroid: Prime’ and then she could be heard and seen in the hilarious ‘Skin Tight’. He will be seen soon in the upcoming ‘Sub-Mariner’. Here they are together: Carla Gugino and Ian Somerhalder!


I.S.: You know, Carla, I am very nervous with the release of ‘Sub-Mariner’… I hope it makes it at least half as well as ‘Metroid: Prime’ did at box office…

C.G.: And you will be seen in it! It feels strange being part of the most profitable CMP’s release ever and not showing up on screen at all…

I.S.: You can feel very proud, Carla…

C.G.: I am. ‘Skin Tight’ just won the Best Cast award so I can’t be happier of how this Season went for me…

I.S.: This Season’s nominees for Best Villain are…

BILLY BOB THORNTON – Skin Tight
JEREMY IRONS – Woman Of God
JOSH BROLIN – Jonestown


And the winner is…

JOSH BROLIN
JONESTOWN

Josh Brolin runs up to the stage and kisses the statue: ‘God knows I feel relief… It is so stressing to be nominated at more than one category. You keep thinking all the time what will you say to your friends if you don’t win at any of them… Congratulations to Billy Bob Thornton and Jeremy Irons for their wonderful jobs. And thank you, D.R. Cobb and Oliver Stone!’

FULL MOON AWARD

Ladies and Gentlemen, Julia Roberts…


J.R.: This is the third Edition of the honorary Full Moon Award. And I must say I love the winner of it… He has made history in CMP’s world. First, because he has developed in the Studio a very interesting career both as actor and director, as a wonderful continuation of his amazing career out of CMP. And, second, because he has made a unique achievement in GMA’s History. He has won three Golden Moon Awards in three different categories: Best Director for ‘The Greatest Show On Earth’, Best Villain for ‘American Tabloid’ and Best Supporting Actor for ‘The Show’.

By the way, we were nominated together at CMP’s very first Season at the Best Starring Couple category for ‘Court Appeal’. After that, he was my cheating husband in the second CMP’s movie we made together, ‘The Awful Truth’. Out of CMP, we have also worked together twice. First, it was ‘Charlie Wilson’s War’ and we met again as starring couple in his latest directional job ‘Larry Crowne’.

Yes, he is the winner of this Edition’s Full Moon Award… and I love him…

TOM HANKS

The audience stands for a long ovation as Tom Hanks steps up to the stage, hugs and kisses Julia and takes the award. He says: ‘I would love to mention now all the talented actors, actresses, screenwriters and directors I have had the chance to work with thanks to CMP… Good friends like Joey Stark, Marcus Trax, Matt Kubrick, Richard Franzwa, James Bradley and Dawson Edwards trusted me to direct their stories or to play the characters they had created. Thank you, guys, for those wonderful gifts. I’ll keep doing my best not to disappoint you!’

Before we move to the next awards, let’s stop again to hear some music. Here is Rhianna singing ‘Only Girl (In The World)’.


BEST SCREENPLAY

We saw him this Season in the Clint Eastwood’s western ‘This Far From Heaven’ and we will see him more than once next Season in movies like the upcoming ‘Bad Family’. She will also be back to CMP next Season with the top production ‘God Of War’: Ryan Gosling and Rosario Dawson!


R.D.: I love to present this category. CMP would be nothing without their talented screenwriters…

R.G.: Yeah. They have kept the Studio alive after more than 500 movies released. These guys never get tired of creating new stories…

R.D.: And they are getting better all the time.

R.G.: The three screenwriters nominees this Season are…

BEN TYLER – Stairway To Heaven
CHAD TAYLOR – The Lonely Polygamist
D.R. COBB – Jonestown

And the Golden Moon goes to…

BEN TYLER
STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN

Ben Tyler takes the award and dedicates the win to all the cast and crew of the film for their wonderful work.

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS

The winners of past Edition’s Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor categories: Toni Collette and Colin Firth!


T.C.: Oh, boy, it is way much more relaxing being here just to present the awards and not waiting to see if your name will be inside the envelope…

C.F.: Well, our names were in there after all, Toni. And that’s a most wonderful feeling.

T.C.: One of the three actresses nominees tonight at this category will go through that delicious feeling in a second… But, ladies, the three of you very much deserve the award for your brilliant works.

C.F.: Nominees for the Best Supporting Actress award are…

CATHERINE Z. JONES – Wonder Woman III
CHARLIZE THERON – Frontier
SAOIRSE RONAN – At Cross Purposes


And the Golden Moon goes to…

CATHERINE Z. JONES
WONDER WOMAN III

Catherine Z. Jones steps up to the stage very excited with tears in her eyes. She says: ‘Life can be hard and life can be beautiful at some moments like this. I want to dedicate this award to one very special person: Thank you for being here with me tonight. Michael, I love you!’

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR

C.F.: Winning an award playing a supporting role is such a rewarding experience. You only want to go to the leading star and tell him: ‘You see? I got the award, what about you?’

T.C.: Unless the lead star of the movie has won two awards instead of only one, like it happened past Edition with Ralph Fiennes and ‘Eye Of The Needle’….

C.F.: Did you necessarily have to mention that, Toni?

T.C.: Nominees for Best Supporting Actor are…

AL PACINO – Oedipus Rex
DAVID STRATHAIRN – Jonestown
LIAM NEESON – Woman Of God


And we have a winner…

DAVID STRATHAIRN
JONESTOWN

David Strathairn steps up to the stage, takes the award and thanks D.R. Cobb and Oliver Stone for making ‘Jonestown’ possible in such a brilliant way.

BEST ACTRESS

And now, please welcome the winners of past Edition’s Best Actress and Best Actor awards: January Jones and John Turturro!


J.T.: A Queen, a Pope and a young journalist… The three actresses nominated tonight played characters with high responsibilities…

J.J.: Yes, and out of the three of them, it is a journalist the one I fear the most…

J.T.: You bet… A journalist can damage an acting career much more than any Queen or Pope in the world…

J.J.: Anyway, the three talented nominated actresses tonight are…

CATE BLANCHETT – Woman Of God
EMMA WATSON – Grow Old With Me
MICHELLE PFEIFFER – Oedipus Rex


And the Golden Moon goes to…

CATE BLANCHETT
WOMAN OF GOD

Cate Blanchett steps up to the stage looking thrilled. ‘Emma and Michelle, it was a honor for me being part of this trio with you two. Thank you, Ridley Scott and James Bradley, and thank you to all the wonderful cast mates I had in the movie for making things so easy to me. I love you.’

BEST ACTOR

J.T.: And now we have a father, the leader of a strange sect and… ahem… January, what was James Franco in ‘The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway’?

J.J.: He was… er… he played… Well, he made a great job. Let’s leave it that way.

J.T.: Ok. Nominees for Best Actor are…

JAMES FRANCO – The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway
JOSH BROLIN – Jonestown
PETER SARSGAARD – Frontier


And the winner is…

JOSH BROLIN
JONESTOWN

Josh Brolin returns to the stage and says: ‘During one of the first conversations I had with D.R. Cobb about this movie, he told me I was going to win the Best Actor GMA with it. I did not believe him but I accepted the job anyway. Well, dear D.R., you were right… Thank you very much to everyone who made possible this unforgettable night…’

BEST DIRECTOR

He was seen this Season in ‘Oedipus Rex’ and she will be seen soon in the upcoming ‘Bad Family’… And it is always a pleasure seeing them anytime anywhere: Susan Sarandon and Robert De Niro!


R.D.: It has been an amazing CMP’s Season. The three wonderful directors nominated here prove how challenging this Season was… So challenging that I just can’t believe Marty and ‘Oedipus Rex’ are not fighting at the Best Director and Best Picture categories…

S.S.: I know what you mean. All the people that made ‘Island Of The Dead’ possible probably feel unfairly ignored too… Let’s go with the nominees for Best Director…

JOEL AND ETHAN COEN – Frontier
OLIVER STONE – Jonestown
RIDLEY SCOTT – Woman Of God


And the Best Director award goes to…

OLIVER STONE
JONESTOWN

Oliver Stone steps up to the stage and says: ‘I want to thank D.R. Cobb for writing a great screenplay and to all the cast and crew of the film for their commitment with the project. Thank you for this award. You are all too generous.’

BEST PICTURE

Ladies and gentlemen, Tom Cruise!


T.C.: It’s great to be back at a Golden Moon Awards ceremony. And in case you are wondering why I have been invited to present this award, it is probably because I will be starring a new CMP’s movie next Season. I know I don’t show up often in CMP’s movies. It will only be my fourth work for the Studio. But, hey, I am Tom Cruise after all… Well, three brilliant movies are nominated for the Best Picture award. And they are…

FRONTIER
JONESTOWN
WOMAN OF GOD

And the Best Picture Winner of Season 18 is…

JONESTOWN

Jack Gillen, Producer of the film, takes the award and says: ‘Oliver Stone, D.R. Cobb, it was great to share with you your faith in this project! Here we are now! We made it!’

GOOD NIGHT AND SEE YOU ALL AT THE 19th EDITION OF THE GOLDEN MOON AWARDS

THE PRESS ROOM GALLERY

Best Supporting Actress and Best Supporting Actor
Best Starring Couple
Best Actress and Best Actor and Villain
Best Director
THE HALL OF FAME