DECEMBER,2


SILVER SABLE

Action / Superhero
Cast: Katherine Heigl, Tim Robbins, Anthony Hopkins, AnnaSophia Robb, Stephen Dorff, Sam Elliott. Cameo by Robert Downey Jr.
Director and Producer: Bryan Singer
Screenwriter: Joey Stark

Box Office: 130 mill.
Net Gains: 113 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Superb box office breakdown. Everything went as planned. I love it when there is no bad surprises in releases like this.

THE DARK TOWER:
THE DRAWING OF THE THREE

Action / Mystery
Cast: Russell Crowe, Jake Gyllenhaal, Angela Bassett, Ray Winstone, Chazz Palminteri. Cameo by William Moseley
Director: Sam Raimi
Screenwriter: Matt Kubrick

Box Office: 285 mill.
Net Gains: 349 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Oh, my God… I must confess it: I am just shocked! I could not have dreamt this even in my wildest dreams. The movie becomes the alltimes box office top 2. And it also becomes the all times net gains top 1! It made a box office of 189 millions only in the foreign market. It has made almost four times what the first installment of the saga made in box office. And it wasn’t a particularly expensive production… I just can’t find the words to describe my surprise. The hell to predictions. Movie industry is such an unpredictable business…

LYING WISH

Comedy
Cast: Michael Cera, Dan Byrd, Alexis Bledel, Skye McCole Bartusiak
Director: Mark Waters
Screenwriter: Josh Collins


Box Office: 46 mill.
Net Gains: 25 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Very nice box office. Much more than I expected. It completes a wonderful week… and a wonderful beginning of Season 9. 4 movies making box offices over 100 millions, one of them over 200, new alltimes net gains top 1, only one slight flop… Things could not be going better this Season!


SILVER SABLE

'CMP is suffering from 'superhero fever' lately. The success of 'The Avengers 2' seems to have created a superheromania in many CMP's authors. Joey Stark has joined this club with a correct production focussed on a secondary character from the Marvel factory, the sophisticated Silver Sable. Stark – who is not new at the genre, as he was behind the CMP’s Captain America trilogy - seems to be particularly worried of establishing some distances from the clichés of the superhero genre. But the truth is that 'Silver Sable' becomes after all the classic superhero product. Bryan Singer - producer of the first CMP's Captain America movie - has recovered some looks and elements from that saga and the final battle between the Synister Sindicate and Silver (with the help of Ironman) takes us back to Richard Donner's 'Superman 3' but also to Sam Raimi's 'Spiderman 3'. If we sum up to all that the references to Lara Croft - specially in the South Africa segment -, the final result is not as original as Joey Stark pretended. At the end, 'Silver Sable' is no other thing that another superhero movie perfectly manufactured and entertaining enough to justify its wonderful box office.'
-Roy Winslow

'The main appeal of this production is Katherine Heigl, an actress that has founded here the perfect vehicle to finally reach the status she's been looking for in movie industry. Everything here is put at her service to make her shine as the cool and sexy heroine. And Heigl has come out victorious from this challenge as she has created a charismatic character that guarantees fans enough to go on with the franchise. Facing her, Tim Robbins plays an accurate villain, more content than the usual overacted performances of crazed and eccentric villains in this kind of movies - remember Pacino in 'The Avengers 2' as the mother of all overacted villain's performances. Anthony Hopkins reproduces the work of Michael Caine in Christopher Nolan's Batman movies. Downey Jr. puts on again the Ironman costume just for the check. And AnnaSophia Robb reappears after her personal success in 'Paternal Nightmare' to confirm herself as the latest contender for the Cute Girl Throne in CMP'.
-Jackie O'Callaghan

'Bryan Singer is a specialist in setting up the bases for profitable CMP's franchises. Producing 'Captain America' and directing and producing 'T.Y.M.' and 'Visionaries' were his first tasks for the Studio. In the case of 'T.Y.M.' and 'Captain America', he abandoned the franchises after their first episodes due to creative differences with Harry Stark. Maybe that's the reason why he's been away from CMP for so long. Now, he has returned directing and producing another obvious 'first episode' of a new franchise. And once again he proves his talent in putting up appealing shows that generate more than nice profits. 'Silver Sable' has everything a blockbuster needs to be so. Harry Stark and Bryan Singer have designed this new franchise as a new money-making machinery. The idea of connecting it to another CMP's major franchise as The Avengers is another intelligent move to guarantee that fans of both sagas will religiously pay the ticket to watch any new installment from each of them. In conclusion, 'Silver Sable' is more a wise financial operation than a cinematographic event strictu sensu. We are not talking about cinema creativity here but about dollars. Don't forget that.'
-Vic Carter

THE DARK TOWER: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE

‘Every time a new release breaks records we wonder the same thing: is it justified? Past Season, a correct animated feature, ‘The Ice Princess’, became the alltimes box office top 1. Now, this entertaining mystery adventure becomes the most profitable CMP’s release ever. And both releases not only beat previous hits like the Game Boy or the Star Wars sagas but also ridicule some other releases in which the Studio invested much more money both in production budget and marketing. And is there a definable reason for the surprising success of movies like ‘The Ice Princess’ or this one? Not really. Some times, audiences just decide to love a movie beyond any specific reason. ‘Mouth to ear’ works and theatres brim over with devoted fans. And the supposedly wise Studio’s executives just cannot find a reason why some of their big bets don’t meet expectations while some other movies directly enter into the legend blowing up any prediction. That’s the thrill of this business.’
-Charlie Kiggs

‘Besides the amazing box office results, there are good and bad things in this movie. On the good side, this second episode based on Stephen King’s books is much better than the first one. The story has gained intrigue and depth and the characters here are better pictured than they were in the first one. This second episode expands the mysterious universe of the Dark Tower and leaves audiences with the will of knowing more about it all. On the bad side, as it happened with the first movie, there are too many holes in the screenplay. It is very hard to understand the story if you don’t previously know anything about the King’s books. Creating a mystery does not mean hiding information to the audience. Kubrick’s screenplay presumes everyone at the theatre knows what the universe of King’s books is about and that may confuse some viewers. ‘The Dark Tower’ books are a complex saga that creates a complete and unique universe and these movies stay one step before reaching that level. They are only absorbing mystery adventures but they don’t reach the epic dimension of creativity the books do.’
-Anne Roman

‘It is so rewarding to watch a movie like this when everything around are superheroes movies. Raimi is building up a saga oriented to all kind of audiences and not just comic fans that gets even more engrossing in this second episode. Russell Crowe has never looked more adapted to a character since ‘Gladiator’ and the complex storyline is becoming and intriguing puzzle so seductive. You can count on me for future episodes and, looking at box office’s results, it seems like there are many others like me looking for more.’
-Alex Stampton

LYING WISH

‘Probably, this week all movie critics around the world are trying to explain why the second ‘Dark Tower’ movie has become the most profitable CMP’s release ever. Not me. I am intrigued about another unsolved mystery: how is it possible that this comedy has succeeded in box office? ‘Lying Wish’ is probably the less funny comedy I have ever watched in a movie screen. I felt so stupid sitting there and watching how the movie went on and not a single smile came to my mouth while everyone around seemed to be having such a great time with its hard to believe storyline. Predictable, superficial and falling into bad taste at some moments is not enough to describe this poor production that, surprisingly, has not joined the top flops list of CMP.’
-Amy Ratched

‘Michael Cera made a nice work playing a supporting role in ‘Juno’. Here, he carries all the weight of the movie and maybe that is too much for a young comedian that may have a promising future but cannot stand alone such responsibility yet. The lack of stars appeal and the predictable jokes are two heavy loads for a story that does not take off at any moment. Josh Collins, a renowned author of dramas and dramedies, bursts again in this new attempt of writing teen comedies after ‘Super Bowl’. It is surprising that the same author behind that brilliant approach to Hollywood that was ‘Hollyweird’ is also behind this senseless fable about the hypocrisy that surrounds at all levels our life.’
-Chris Burguess

‘Making jokes about disable, handicapped or sick people always means stepping into moving sands. The Farelly Brothers have done it successfully in several movies and maybe they are the only ones that could have taken out a funny movie out of this story. Mark Waters has failed in his attempt and has sunk into those moving sands. Imagine for a second that, instead of cancer, Michael Cera’s character should have faked suffering AIDS. Would have audiences laughed so freely to the same jokes? Or would have it be considered as an unpleasant premise? That’s the stupidity around political correction. Is AIDS an untouchable issue while it is allowed to make jokes around cancer? Personally, I didn’t find anything funny in this comedy no matter the chosen disease to fool the movie industry. But I’m not here to make a speech about moral. I am here to write about a movie. And all I can say is that this was a poor movie not worth the ticket price.’
-Tim Reeve


Happy Thanksgiving to all who celebrate the huge feasting day. This week we have a superhero heroine, Silver Sable gracing the Silver Screen..pun intended, action/mystery sequel to the Dark Tower series following Roland the Gunslinger's quest and the ever-so-risky raunchy comedy, Lying Wish.

SILVER SABLE

Hey look, it's a superhero movie! It's been like two weeks since we've had one! I'm just pulling your chain. It's about time CMP made superhero comic movies with the lead character being a female. And in all fairness, it was a very entertaining trip, the perfect film to see after stuffing yourself full of turkey! I hope the film makers take that as a compliment because I myself am unsure if it is, but it's supposed to be. I enjoyed that at many times, I didn't feel like I was watching 'just a comic adaptation' but a more than decent action flick with a female mercenary who just happens to dress up like some kind of superhero.
ACTING/CAST: 8/10 Everyone fit in their roles well, even Heigl who I didn't imagine as Sable before this film was made!
DIRECTING: 8/10 Singer sticks to his element and offers a great vision of our beloved heroine.
WRITING: 8/10 Like I said, it felt more than just your average run of the mill superhero flicks.
CONCEPT: 7/10 But then you gotta remember it still is based on a comic book, but the plot really helped score this film fairly high.
REWATCH VALUE: 10/10
SEE IT: Yes definitely. And take your girlfriend whose sat through all of those male hero movies just to please you.
OVERALL: 8/10

THE DARK TOWER: THE DRAWING OF THE THREE

This is an interesting series to follow and I think I enjoyed watching this one just as much or even more than the first. Crowe is yet again impressive reprising his role as Roland the Gunslinger, a guy with so much mystery about him and what he does that you just want to keep watching to find out more. I wonder if that's why girls like to keep dating those mysterious types. They always want to see whats up those sleeves. Oh wait I'm supposed to be talking about a movie aren't I? Uhm...I liked it, if you're not in the mood for the other films that are out, this is definitely not a disappointment.
CAST/ACTING: 8/10 Strong links all around. Good mix of GMA/Oscar people and those who have yet to reach that level.
DIRECTING: 8/10 Sam Raimi was a perfect choice for this style.
WRITING: 8/10 Just a great adaptation.
CONCEPT: 7/10 being based off a book, you work with what you got! And what ya got here was a decent original concept.
REWATCH VALUE: 9/10
SEE IT?: Yes, don't avoid it and you can get it on DVD, see it at the theater, do whatever, just watch it.
OVERALL: 8/10

LYING WISH

I gotta say Josh Collins has himself a very big pair of balls because you need them if you're going to write a movie about faking cancer. He's done rape and murder of a child, gay adoption, teen lesbianism, deadbeat mother and now faking cancer. What's next Josh, two hours of someone kicking a puppy in the face? But you do have to say it brings up a point that people CAN be that sick just to get what they want. I think Michael Cera did a wonderful job in this role, it had some funny moments but there are many times when you don't want to laugh either the jokes aren't funny or you'd feel guilty if you let out a chuckle. At least Paul saw the error of his ways in the end. A little too predictable and preachy toward that point in the film though but with the content like that, you kinda do want to end it on a more positive note.
ACTING/CAST: 3/10 Cera was really the most appealing part of the cast.
DIRECTING: 5/10 Mark Waters coming from his 'Mean Girls' fame twists the knife with this film that could easily be called 'Mean Boys'
WRITING: 3/10 Clever raunchy jokes here and there, but definitely not GMA worthy..but neither was Knocked Up or Superbad.
CONCEPT: Say what you want about it being offensive with cancer being a huge 'no-no' to crack jokes about(and it's not that Collins was sitting there thinking 'tee hee cancer is funni lol') but in the center of it all rests a point that this stuff can and probably is happening more often than we want to admit. Kudos to Collins on bringing it in front of us. 7/10
REWATCH VALUE: Raunchy offensive older teen-college aged comedy? 9/10
SEE IT?: Only if you can see past the idea that it's making fun of cancer, it isn't, it's making fun of the people who will do anything and hurt anyone for personal gain. I wouldn't say avoid it, just don't get your panties in a bundle over it and take it as a crude comedy.
OVERALL: 5/10 if you like the crude comedy, this one is up your alley, but don't go into it if you think you're watching a cinematic masterpiece. Sit back, relax and laugh.

MR. THUMBS' CERTIFIED MUST-SEE OF THE WEEK:
SILVER SABLE