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!