JANUARY, 20


MAGIC: THE GATHERING – SINISTER BLACK

Action / Fantasy
Cast: Jude Law, Claire Danes, Jeremy Irons, Josh Hartnett. Voice of Ron Perlman.
Director: Martin Campbell
Screenwriter: David Makalaster


Box Office: 179 mill.
Net Gains: 209 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: WOW! Superb box office! The third best release of the Season so far. And absolutely amazing net gains over 200 millions. The reason for those net gains is that the movie has become a record breaker release in American DVD market reaching outstanding sales numbers. Wonderful release.

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

Comedy
Cast: George Clooney, Brad Pitt, Anne Hathaway, Jean Reno. Cameos by Michael Caine, Steve Martin.
Director: Jon Favreau
Screenwriter: Steve Connors
Producer: George Clooney

Box Office: 57 mill.
Net Gains: 35 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Correct box office breakdown. I personally liked this production and I am happy it has worked well enough without surprises.

THE DEAD WALK

Horror / Zombies
Cast: Gabriel Mann, Elizabeth Reaser, Alex Neuberger, Sammi Hanraty, Thomas Sangster, Desmond Harrington, Ariel Kebbel, Noah Fleiss, Joy Bryant, Brad Dourif.
Director: Eli Roth
Screenwriter: Josh Collins

Box Office: 33 mill.
Net Gains: 0.5 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: All I can say about this one is that at least it didn’t lose a single cent for the Studio. The critical reception (see below) is almost cruel and, as President of the Studio, it hurts. By the way, this makes the 15th consecutive CMP's release without net losses and that equals the best strike of net gains releases ever. It looks like Season 9 may become the best CMP's Season in history.


MAGIC: THE GATHERING – SINISTER BLACK

‘Here is a sophisticated fantasy adventure that recovers again for Hollywood trolls, warlocks and other classic creatures of the genre. Usually, when producing this kind of shows, Hollywood considers that the screenplay is the less important thing. The look of the creatures, the exotic locations, the make up, the digital effects, the luxurious production design in general, are considered to be enough to put up an appealing product. Luckily, not this time. This movie is supported by a solid and elaborated screenplay written by David Makalaster. And that makes the difference from other similar films. Makalaster has developed the characters, the situations and the conflicts enough to really create an own believable universe. And, beyond all the paraphernalia of digital effects and everything, that is what provides this production a personality to make it shine above many subproducts offered by the fantasy genre in recent years.’
-Roy Winslow

‘The influence of The Lord Of The Rings trilogy in all subsequent fantasy movies is almost inevitable and it is also present in this one. Known that, ‘MTG – Sinister Black’ is an entertaining show for the fans of the fantasy genre – I am not that sure if it is appealing enough out of that target audience. Martin Campbell is not Peter Jackson… but he doesn’t need it to be. He has controlled the production so efficiently to make a solid and brilliantly set up story with the help of the elaborated Makalaster’s screenplay. The effort put in making this complex production has been worthy. It is a good fantasy movie. It won’t shadow TLOR movies, but still can be considered as a step ahead in the genre.’
-Amy Ratched

‘At least it is not another CMP’s superhero movie… In a time when all CMP’s blockbusters authors seem to have taken the easy way, adapting one and another Marvel or DC comic, Makalaster has dared to turn into images a popular card game. And that is reason enough to applaud him. Taking risks is not the trend in CMP lately and this movie is more risky than it may seemed. I am happy that box office has responded so well. That might save us from just waiting for ‘The Avengers 7’ or ‘The Flash 4’ or whatever.’
-Vic Carter

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

‘Steve Connors was right when he wrote in a previous issue of this blog that making remakes is a risky thing. When watching this movie, I just could not forget the original. Caine and Martin have never been so funny as they were in it. But I must admit that, at the same time, I enjoyed this one. Clooney and Pitt have this talent to make self-parodies of themselves that perfectly fits with this story. Favreau has respected the best comedy set pieces of the original just adapting them to his cast. And they still work as they worked in the original movie. So, if you can forget this is a remake or you have not watched the original movie, watch this one, cause it is a wonderfully paced comedy with quite a few hilarious moments.’
-Anne Roman

‘Being handsome and sexy can be a heavy weight for some talents. That’s the case for Pitt and Clooney. Both have made along their careers great performing works, both comedic and dramatic, but still would not be included if someone makes the list of the best actors of our days. Definitely unfair. Pitt has nothing to envy here to any comedy actor of our time and Clooney seems to make so easy the difficult art of being funny. Although we have seen them together before on screen, the chemistry between them keeps working here. We are used to praise dramatic works, but it is time to remember how hard it is to be funny on screen. Together with them, Anne Hathaway will have to keep waiting for the role that definitely puts her in the A-list of actresses. Oh, yes: and I loved the cameo by Caine and Martin speaking with Australian accent.’
-Alex Stampton

‘If you are a fan of George and Brad, watch this movie. If not, enjoy the warlocks of ‘MTG’ or the zombies of ‘The Dead Walk’ in the other rooms. This is a ‘Clooney and Pitt Show’. Everything is based on their appeal, their chemistry and their sympathy. Connors has given them the present of one of the best comedy materials for the last decades – without introducing almost any change in it – and Favreau has put the cameras at their service to let them enjoy and shine in a nice and entertaining show. It is all about them. And it works unless you don’t like them. I do so I had a great time.’
-Lily Stevens

THE DEAD WALK

‘The tricky use of a hand held camera was an innovative and daring bet when ‘Blair Witch Project’ came out. Then, ‘Cloverfield’ used that shooting technique translated to a blockbuster production and it was ok. But once the surprise and novelty factor is gone, let’s admit it is just a repetitive and not very creative way of telling a story. Roth and Collins have moved the moving camera trick to the world of zombies. But, at the end, there’s nothing new in it neither in the story that tells. Predictable and boring.’
-Daniel Grafton

‘Feelings when watching a hand held camera movie. First third, confusion until you get used to it. Second third, accepted, it can even be surprising. Third third, you end up exhausted and just wanting the camera to stop for a second and give you a break. My problem was that I jumped to the third third from the very first moment here. There’s nothing really worthy in this movie. Nothing you didn’t see before in previous hand held camera movies. The cast is dull, the plot is full of clichés and Eli Roth proves for the third time in CMP that he is not valid for much more than just a short bedtime episode. I would have never imagined I’d write this, but this zombie flick made me miss the Syndrome movies.’
-Tim Reeve

‘How is it possible that the man that offered us past week the brilliant and intelligent ‘Dare To Be Perfect’ can also be behind this awful Z-series product? Collins likes to make movies about families in conflict – from ‘Blink’ to ‘Velcro’ or from ‘Lyra’ to ‘Dare To Be Perfect’ – but, maybe trying to look for new family conflicts to tell us, he has written this poor story of a family facing a zombies attack. And to hide the poorness of the story, Roth has decided to confuse us shaking the camera to exhaustion. And the sad thing is that this movie has worked in box office much better than other CMP’s releases that deserved better luck. Well, this rarity will be directly forgotten in the ‘rarities drawer’ of CMP. The right place for it to be.’
-Chris Burgess


If it's not a weekly superhero movie in CMP, it's a fantasy film. Magic: The Gathering, based on a card game that has denied seed planting for future disease curers and world leaders. An update of one of the coolest con man movies of all time, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels and a motion-sickness induced zombie survival flick.

MAGIC THE GATHERING: SINISTER BLACK

This could have gone in a completely bad direction. But you could tell Makalaster and Campbell put forth some effort into this film based on a card game. From an action/fantasy standpoint, I would say this would be a good watch, and you don't even have to be a fan of the game or know what it is to like it. But in all other aspects I wasn't completely and totally WOWed. Not bad but didn't stand out too much either. It felt like it didn't know what kind of fantasy it wanted to be making it a pretty busy movie.
ACTING/CAST: 7/10
DIRECTION: 7/10
WRITING: 7/10
CONCEPT/PLOT: 6.5/10
REWATCH: 9/10(Makalaster knows the card players are going to eat this film up and bootleg it the hour they get home from seeing it for the 5th time on opening day)
FINAL NOTES: The gavel has spoken! I wouldn't say avoid it like the plaque, but don't expect to tread into new waters.
OVERALL: 7/10

DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS

It's the kind of movie I wouldn't mind if they remade it, I would just simply call it an update for today's audiences. Steve Connors really has been on a role lately with his grown up comedies and he made sure the film stuck to the sophisticated humor that made the original so fun to watch. I enjoyed it so much I would forget it was based on a film that was made two decades ago.
ACTING/CAST: 8/10
DIRECTION: 8/10
WRITING: 8/10
CONCEPT/PLOT: 6/10(I give remakes even if I said I forget it was a remake lower scores)
REWATCH: 10/10
FINAL NOTES: Just like the original, it's certainly a timeless classic comedy that will entertain audiences for many years to come.
OVERALL: 8/10

THE DEAD WALK

Not the greatest title in the world, but Collins isn't all that great at film titles. Though it was certainly an idea many fans of the genre would love to see, it's still essentially what Blair Witch, Cloverfield and Quarantine did. It was still watchable, even if you're not going to learn anything. Collins seems to have an alter ego going on at CMP. Coming fresh off Dare to be Perfect buzz, his credibility gets put back in the hot seat when these films come from him.
ACTING/CAST: 2/10 I liked that there was low profile talent in the film, but I didn't really feel much from the characters. Gabriel Mann did a good job..though his character was perhaps the better developed of everyone.
DIRECTION: 3/10 Eli isn't a mastermind of cinema
WRITING: 4/10
CONCEPT/PLOT: 5/10 we've seen zombie flicks. We've seen 'shaky camera' flicks, we've seen a lot of the same stuff those other better films have done all the way to the dad's speech in the camera at the end. But you did get to see him blow his brains out.
REWATCH: 7/10 it's the kind of film many people would watch again and buy on DVD, but definitely not for those who are easily sick to motion.
FINAL NOTES: Like Magic, not horrible, but didn't offer very much new away from the 'giving the people what they want' mind-frame, letting them see a zombie invasion hand held camera film.
OVERALL: 4.5/10

MR. THUMBS' CERTIFIED PICK OF THE WEEK
DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS