APRIL, 16
GAME BOY 3: GAME OVER
Adventure / Fantasy
The Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Keira Knightley, Ron Perlman, Paul Bettany, Orlando Bloom, Michael Fassbender, John Leguizamo
The Director: Robert Zemeckis
The Screenwriter: John Daws
The Producer: George Lucas
The Plot:
The film opens in Arcadia. A huge battle ensuing between the Retro's of USA and the Next Gens of UNGF. The battle takes place on the boarder of the USA and the UNFG worlds. Many people have died and the war has been going on for 5 years. When Master Chief (R.Perlman) launches a new weapon Link (O.Bloom) uses the tri-force to destroy the weapon. The force throws a huge light across the world and everyone is thrown back. Master Chief is heard saying 'Now it begins'.
Kevin (D.Radcliffe) is now in University in London and as 5 years have passed he has forgotten his previous adventures and dismissed them as just vivid dreams. At university he is trying to fit in and simply lead a normal life, going to parties and working part time in a DVD rental store. He is seen as a bit of an outcast however and is not very popular.
On the way home from university one day a huge crack of thunder and a bright light takes over the sky and Kevin is thrown back. He awakes next to a beautiful woman lying on the floor. He rushes over to her and he brings her around. She is startled when she realises it is Kevin. Kevin wants to know how she knows who he is. She explains that she is Princess Zelda (K.Knightley). Kevin laughs it off and calls her crazy. She asks how he cannot remember her after all he has seen and done. He is shocked that she knows things about him. Still he cannot believe. He says that Zelda is a fictional charachter from a computer game and that she is a real person. She looks down at herself and around her. She cannot understand where she is. Kevin explains that this is Earth and she is nuts.
Then a man walks behind with an itlaian accent dressed in a red suit. He is also surprised to see Kevin. He is startled and realises that he is Mario (J.Leguizamo). Before they can try and figure things out though a blast flies past Kevins head. They turn to see Master Chief standing there. They quickly run and hide. As they hide they catch a glimpse of Master Cheif, Solid Snake (M.Fassbender) and Dante (P.Bettany) walking past.
Kevin completely startled starts to shout and all three begin to argue. As they continue to fight Link runs around the corner. He tells everyone to be quiet and listen. He explains that the war has gone out of control. The power of the weapon Master Chief launched along with the power of the tri-force has created a rift between the realities. Kevin in disbelief tells them to go with him and they can hide in his college room.
Master Chief and the others continue hunting the others destroying everything in their path including Big Ben, Wembley Stadium and other famous sites.
Back in Kevin’s room link explains that the rift needs to be restored and that Kevin can help. Kevin says that he is just normal in the real world and that he has no powers. Link explains that the computer games Kevin played growing up were not just invented. A long time ago a man created a device that opened up a portal to their world. He called it the Metal Gear. He explains that they need the Metal Gear to close the rift once and for all. Kevin asks where the metal gear is and Link tells him that he does not know and that only the chosen one can find the metal gear.
Princess Zelda tells Mario and Link to go and find Master Chief and the others and stop them once and for all while she and Kevin go on a quest for the Metal Gear. Link is not happy about leaving the princess but she insists and says that the chosen one will protect her.
To find out where to find Master Chief they turn on Kevin's TV and watch the news. The latest sighting is by the Eiffle Tower in Paris and so they set off.
Zelda tells Kevin to lead the way. Kevin says he does not know where to go. She says the he will find it if he believes.
Link and Mario arrive in Paris and find Master Cheif and Snake attacking people at the Eiffle tower. Mario and Link intercept and a huge fight begins. Snake and Link take to battle fighting with swords and guns and arrows. Mario meanwhile starts fighting with Master Cheif.
Meanwhile Kevin and Zelda arrive at Stonehenge in England. This place is known for being somewhat of a urban legend that it is somewhat super natural. As they arrive Kevin starts to feel faint. The princess worried sits him down and they begin to talk about what is wrong. Kevin says he feels strange...different...more powerful in some way. The princess says that this is the link between hun and the metal gear. She tells Kevin that to raise the Metal Gear a sacrifice of someone or something he loves the most must be made. She explains that is why she joined him on the journey she is the sacrifice.
Kevin, angry, says no he will not let her die for this. She says it is too late. As she does a splatter of blood hits Kevins face and Zelda goes limp. Kevin looks around and sees Dante standing in the distance. Kevin quickly runs into hiding. He does not know what to do as he has no powers. He then hears Zeldas voice tell him that he has always had the power and that he just needs to believe in himself, like she always has. As kevin focuses he feels a rush of energy flow through him. As he does he a huge beam of light bursts out of Kevin, blinding Dante. Back in France Mario and Link are no match for the real world Master Cheif and Snake. They soon fall to the pair and all looks lost for them.
As the light dims, Dante sees Kevin in the Megaman suit and with the Tri-Force. Dante runs towords him shouting, but the all powerful Kevin raises his hand and Dante is stopped in mid-run. He lifts Dante in the air and throws him to the ground. The gound starts shaking and opens. Dante falls through the crack and up rises a huge metal contraption. It is the Metal Gear. Kevin quickly runs to Zelda. She is still breathing just. She tells him to start the metal gear and close the rift and she will be saved. She says thank you for his help again and that she loves him. Kevin kisses Zelda before running to the metal gear. He switches the button and the sky turns purple and a deafening sound forces Kevin to the ground.
When the light dies down and the sound stops, Kevin without his suit awakes to see that the ground is closed, the metal gear has gone and so has Zelda. Concerned he may be going crazy he quickly rushes back to London. This time however he has no doubts that it is real as most of London is destroyed. He closes his eyes and hears Zelda once again saying thank you.
Stark’s Comment:
The ‘Game Boy’ movies are a legend in CMP. In the days they were released, we thought that no other CMP’s production could beat our ‘Star Wars’ movies. But ‘Game Boy’ proved us wrong and became an outstanding cinematic phenomenon. I was thrilled when John Daws told me, after so long, that he wanted to make a third movie of the saga. This release has a strong sentimental meaning for us, the people of CMP. It’s like going back to our first times at the Studio. It’s six Seasons later… and Game Boy is back!
Behind The Scenes:
-All the members of the cast – besides Radcliffe, who has always played a live action character - made voice only works in the two first movies of the saga playing the same characters they play live in this one.
-The only novelty is Michael Fassbender. Christian Bale was the voice of Solid Snake in ‘Game Boy 2’ but he wasn’t interested in being in this movie.
-Some characters of this movie have been seen in other CMP’s productions: Kate Bosworth has played Princess Zelda in ‘The Legend Of Zelda I & II’ (also produced by Lucas). James McAvoy played Link in those same movies. Sean Bean played Solid Snake in the flopped ‘Metal Gear Solid’.
-Other voices heard in the two previous movies that won’t be heard in this one include: Will Smith, Mickey Rourke, Kevin James and Kirsten Dunst.
-John Daws had not written any movie for CMP since ‘The Gunpowder Plot’, Best Picture GMA winner back in Season 10.
-Robert Zemeckis had to abandon the pre-production of a hyped upcoming movie written by Steve Connors and being produced by James Cameron that he was going to direct due to his commitment with this project.
THE ORPHAN TRAIN
Drama
The Cast: Chase Ellison, Elle Fanning, Russell Crowe, Billy Bob Thornton, Felicity Huffman, Steve Zahn, Jennifer Anniston
The Director: Danny Boyle
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins
The Plot:
In this film we go back in time to a period of the U.S. not often looked at. It's the mid 1800s-early 1900s. Thousands of children are transferred from overcrowded orphanages and homes in the large cities in the northeast to live with families on farms throughout the west. The train was the mode of transportation for the orphans to go to their new homes. Many had parents who just couldn't or wouldn't care for their child, sending them away in the hopes that they would have a better place to live.
The feelings were often mixed. Some of the orphans found wonderful families to live with and continue their childhood. Others were mistreated, put to work on the farms like miniature slaves. In most cases, siblings were often split, tearing them away from the only family they knew. They were also discouraged from contacting each other in an effort to help them adapt to their new homes.
This story follows a heartwarming drama of two siblings who defy those discouragements. David (C. Ellison) and Mary (E. Fanning), a sibling pair who were split when they got off the train. Mary would go to a wonderful loving family (Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston) and David would go to the opposite as said earlier, working the farm and being lucky enough to even get a hello from his family (B.B. Thornton and F. Huffman) His inner desire is to find his sister and be with her again...but the country is a little too big for only two people. David would have to rely on gut feeling and his subconscious to tell him that he is on the right track to finding his sis and it's a long hard journey, but it'll be worth it. His fears of never finding her, being lost and dying on his own, afraid time will make her forget him.
On the other side of the spectrum, Mary is living with a good family in Illinois (a hot spot for Orphan Train passengers) she too desires to see her sibling and the family she has now may not be as bad as the one David got stuck with, but they too try to instill the idea of moving on and forgetting him, that they are her new family now. On many days, Mary returns to the station in the hopes that she would see David come off the train. Trying hard not to give up hope of seeing him ever again, she even tries to leave on her own, but she's a little young, could get easily lost and couldn't seem to go very far, still under the impression that he is coming for her.
Along the way, David bumps into interesting people and surroundings, one in particular is a travelling horseman, John (R. Crowe), who not only offers David food, drink and company, but also offers him that sense of security and giving him all he should have had back at the farm. John also provides as a helpful guide for David, helping him get closer to his goal.
The journey on foot would go several weeks, John takes David to Illinois, but that's as far as he is willing to take the boy, for he must get back to his own life. David leaves and turns to say thanks, but John is already gone. Was John a real person? or a figment of David's imagination?
At the end, our young hero happens to see Mary on her way back from the train station when an Orphan Train was dropping off more passengers. Mary stops walking and turns slowly, seeing her big bro staring back at her with a growing smile on his face. Her own smile grows.
Stark’s Comment:
I like this one. It tells an emotional story in an interesting historical scenario. Quality cinema. I cross my fingers for this release. It deserves a nice box office.
Behind The Scenes:
-Chase Ellison and Russell Crowe have already worked together this Season in ‘The Dark Tower: Wolves Of The Calla’
-This is the first work of Russell Crowe for CMP out of the Dark Tower saga since Season 7.
-Chase Ellison worked before for Josh Collins in ‘Dare To Be Perfect’. Elle Fanning worked with Collins in ‘Velcro’.
-Danny Boyle and Josh Collins teamed up before in the flopped ‘The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time’.
-Felicity Huffman has already worked with Collins this Season in her CMP’s debut ‘The Lovers Stages’.
CONSPIRACY OF LIFE
Thriller / Action
The Cast: Michelle Monaghan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Michelle Trachtenberg
The Director: D.J. Caruso
The Screenwriter: James Bradley
The Plot:
Sharon (M.Monaghan) works as a doctor in a main Chicago hospital. One night, Amy (M.Trachtenberg), one of the nurses she works with, phones her in the middle of the night and tells her, very nervous, that she needs to see her. Amy goes to Sharon’s apartment and gives her the files of five patients from the hospital. All of them were young (one of them a child), suffered minor illnesses, all died due to a sudden and unexpected event when being at the hospital (heart attacks, anaphylactic crisis…) and an autopsy was made to all of them. Amy begs Sharon to study the files cause she thinks that something strange may be going on at the hospital.
The next morning, when Sharon arrives at the hospital, she is said that Amy died past night knocked down by a car. The driver ran away. According to the hour of the death, Amy died right after leaving Sharon’s apartment.
Sharon makes some questions to all the doctors that treated the dead patients. Until she gets a call from Rabi Ben Jonah (G.Hackman). Jonah is the President of the Foundation that owns the Hospital and a prominent leader of the Jewish community in Chicago. Jonah tells Sharon that some doctors have told him that they are feeling uncomfortable because she is making too many questions about their patients. When Sharon tells Jonah about Amy’s visit to her apartment the night she died, Jonah just tells her that Amy might be an unbalanced person and she should stop making uncomfortable questions to the hospital’s employees.
During the following days, Sharon has the feeling that somebody is chasing here and keeps watching all her movements. So she decides to go to the Police.
At the Police Station, she meets Chief Andrew Leonard (D.Washington) and Detective Kyle Preston (L. Di Caprio). She tells them about her suspects of Amy not being killed accidentally and she being spied. When she leaves, Leonard tells Preston that Sharon looks like a paranoid maid and that there’s no evidence to investigate anything.
But Preston decides to investigate a bit. He talks with the cops that wrote the report of Amy’s accident. One of them tells him that a drunk homeless who saw the accident said that the car had deliberately ran the girl over but they thought he was just a crazy man and they decided not to put that on their report.
Preston also investigates the hospital. It’s a very profitable business for the Foundation. The richest people in Chicago usually go to it. Benjamin Jonah has been recently awarded by the Mayor of Chicago as an exemplary citizen… Everything looks perfect.
Meanwhile, Sharon also goes on with her own inquiries. Looking at the hospital’s archives she discovers something: each day that a young patient suffered a sudden death there was also a transplant surgery programmed.
She sees her friend Mike (J.Long), a young forensic doctor, and asks him if he has noticed something strange going on lately. He says he has: from time to time, Dr. Harmon (L.Schreiber), the chief of the Forensic Department, decides to make some autopsies without his usual presence, assisted always by the same two nurses. When Sharon asks Mike about the autopsy of the five patients Amy gave her the files of, Mike confirms that all the autopsies were made by Dr. Harmon by himself.
That evening, Sharon gets out of work late. She is using the subway to go home. When she is alone at a subway’s corridor, a masked man steps on her holding a knife. It seems like an ordinary assault. Sharon kicks him between his legs and runs away. And the man chases her all over the lonely corridors. Sharon panics. But she finally can jump on a train and escape. Once at home, she phones Preston and tells him that somebody has tried to murder her pretending it to be just an assault.
From that moment, Preston and Sharon start working together investigating what can be going on at the hospital. They begin with the patients that have had an organ transplant surgery during the last months. Most of them are members of wealthy families. Mike agrees to collaborate secretly with them looking for patients suddenly death at the forensic archives. There seems to be a connection between the dates a sudden death takes place and a transplant surgery is made.
One morning, Leonard calls Preston at his office. Leonard tells him that he has got to know that Preston is making an unofficial investigation at the hospital. Leonard does not want to hear Preston’s explanations as he considers it all a bunch of weak evidences. He orders Preston to stop it immediately or he might be suspended.
That very same day, Mike is found dead at his home. He has hanged himself. It all looks as if it was a suicide.
When Sharon knows about Mike’s death, she loses her nerves. She steps into the forensic chief, Dr. Harmon and claims him to tell her why he was making autopsies where Mike was not allowed to be. Harmon takes her out of his office in a bad way.
That night, Sharon is at her apartment when she hears somebody is opening her door. It’s the same masked man from the subway. She gets out of the apartment through a window and walks dangerously across a projection of the building. She slips and almost falls. Finally, she climbs using a pipe and reaches the roof. She runs away and goes to Preston’s apartment, where she spends the night.
Next morning, when she arrives at the hospital, Benjamin Jonah is waiting for her. He tells her that in a routine investigation a bag of cocaine has been found at her office. Jonah tells Sharon that she should accept to be discretely fired from the hospital. If not, she would be sued and she could end up losing her title of medicine doctor.
That evening, when Sharon tells Preston that somebody put the bag of cocaine in her office, Preston gets so mad and goes to see Leonard at his home. Leonard and Preston discuss again about the case. But a little girl interrupts them. It’s Leonard’s daughter. The girl tells her father that he has forgotten to buy her medicines. Leonard’s wife comes to take her away and nicely comments Preston that the girl suffered a heart transplant surgery a few months ago and is still under a special medication treatment. Preston and Leonard look at each other but both say nothing.
Preston meets Sharon that night and both get into the hospital together clandestinely. They get to the archives and find out that Leonard’s daughter had her surgery at the hospital. They also find the costs of it all. And there’s a stamp in the file: the costs have been cancelled.
Dr. Harmon sees them as they leave the hospital and he phones Jonah to alert him. Then, Jonah makes a phone call and only says: ‘This has got to end. You have to do something. Now!’
Back to Preston’s apartment, as he and Sharon get in, there’s somebody inside. He’s waiting for them holding a gun. It’s Leonard.
Leonard tells them that when his little daughter went to the hospital due to heart problems, Benjamin Jonah offered him a deal. Jonah told Leonard first that the girl needed an extremely expensive surgery that he probably could not afford. Then, Jonah told Leonard what was going on at the hospital: patients suddenly died. ‘It’s something usual at a hospital. Nobody makes questions’, he says. Their organs were removed and transplanted to rich clients that needed them and could pay big money for them. The hospital would make Leonard’s daughter surgery for free. The girl would have a brand new heart. All Leonard had to do was to be alert and protect him stopping any investigation that could begin in the future about what they were doing. ‘And I accepted the deal. I did it for my little girl!’, says Leonard, crying.
Preston jumps on Leonard. During the fight, there’s a shot. Sharon screams. Preston steps back. And then Leonard falls as blood begins to cover his shirt. He’s dead.
All TV stations’ news reports open next morning with the story of the illegal transplant net created at the hospital. Images of Benjamin Jonah and Dr. Harmon, handcuffed and taken out of the hospital and into a police car, are shown. A picture of Police Chief Andrew Leonard is also shown on screen while reporting that he was also involved in the criminal organization and died last night. Reports say that very important citizens of Chicago paid for illegal transplants and that more arrests will probably be made within the next few hours.
Preston and Sharon are having a coffee at a bar and watching the news on tv. ‘How do you feel?’, Preston asks Sharon. Sharon gives him a sad smile. ‘Strange’, she says. Preston smiles back at her.
Stark’s Comment:
I always fear the worst with thrillers. They never get to work. I hope the starry cast can save this one from the usual ‘curse of the thrillers’. But I feel insecure about it.
Behind The Scenes:
-This movie is inspired by true events that took place in the city of New Orleans.
-At some moment, James Bradley considered making this story a sequel of ‘The Funeral Drum’, retaking the characters played there by Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. But he finally abandoned this idea.
-DiCaprio has been 6 Seasons away from CMP. His last work was another Bradley’s pitch: the Best Picture GMA Winner Pompeii. DiCaprio won then the Best Starring Couple GMA with Keira Knightley.
-Gene Hackman has already worked with Bradley before this Season in ‘Nude!’
-Michelle Trachtenberg was seen this Season in ‘Lost At Sea’.
-Denzel Washington’s last movie for CMP was Season 10’s ‘Fallen Kings’.
-Michelle Monaghan has also been away from CMP since Season 10, when she showed up in ‘LA Wolf’.
SUICIDE SQUAD: It had to happen sooner or later. Matt Kubrick has always expressed his admiration for the trashy style of Uwe Boll. So, as a fan of B-series movie, it was almost inevitable
that some day Kubrick and Boll would meet in a movie. And this is it. A wildly violent story of five mercenaries always ready to take the toughest jobs. Expect tons of gratuitous violence. And the five mercenaries have already been recruited: Mark Wahlberg (good friend of Kubrick since they worked together in ‘Darkman: Resurrection’), Woody Harrelson (who already worked with Wahlberg in Ben Tyler’s ‘The Running Man), Jason Statham (who will release before ‘Dragonlance’ and already worked with Kubrick in ‘Ace Banner: Return To Fury’ and ‘Tracks Of Blood’) and two CMP’s debutantes, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Freddy Rodriguez are the members of this wild group. Everything sounds hair-raising, doesn’t it?
LEGENDS OF THE WEST: Now that ‘Conspiracy Of Life’ is ready to be released, Leonardo DiCaprio has joined the shootage of this Tarantino’s western. DiCaprio plays here a minor role and, as it happens with Ben Stiller, he has stated that he accepted the offer just for the thrill of working with Quentin Tarantino. The veteran Bruce Campbell, better known for The Evil Dead trilogy, will make his debut in CMP here.
GET DOWN: Dawson Edwards likes to work with talents he already knows in his movies. In this
one, being directed by Spike Lee, we will see some regular stars in Edwards’ movies like Anthony MacKie, past Season Best Starring Couple GMA winner, who already worked for Edwards and Lee in ’24 Hours To Live’; Mos Def, who also worked with Edwards and Lee before in ‘Fallen Kings’; and no other than Wonder Woman herself, Cobie Smulders, who has already been seen this Season in ‘Justice League’.
THE BUS: Dave Matthews will work in front of the cameras in this comedy directed by Marc Webb playing Cameron Diaz’s husband. And we will see here also a star that seems to be becoming the official Mr. Cameo in CMP: yes, Robert De Niro will show up making a funny cameo… and important one, cause he will be the bus driver.
SILVER SABLE AND THE GENESIS COALITION: The three members of the Wild Pack seen in
the previous installment of the saga will be back in this one. On the good side, Eric Balfour and Dominic Monaghan will be again the loyal friends of Silver. On the bad side, Gerard Butler will play again Foreigner, Silver’s boyfriend until he got jealous watching the close friendship between Spiderman and Silver and decided to leave her and join ‘the dark side’. By the way, Tobey Maguire will be seen again playing Spiderman, this time making only a cameo.
THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND: THE THREE TRIALS: Tim Curry made a big impression with his CMP’s debut in ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’, back in Season 9. He got a best Supporting Actor nomination and it all looked as the beginning of a nice career in the Studio. But it wasn’t. Now, Curry will finally be back to CMP in this adventure movie. But only in a voice work. Curry will be the voice of a ghost pirate. Michael Chiklis, who has not been seen in the Studio since ‘Star Wars: Mysteries Of The Sith’ (and that’s 9 Seasons ago!) also returns with this movie.
WW3: As we announced past week, this mystery movie written by Chad Taylor and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo will have a cast leaded by Harrison Ford, who will be supported by a wide group of young stars. Among them, all of them debutantes in CMP, you can count on Rafi Gavron, Alexander Skarsgard, Ryan Kwanten and Cam Gigandet.
THAT’S THE WAY: Trent Nielsen has not been very active this Season. After his impressive debut Season (Best Screenplay GMA included), in Season 13 he has only released one movie, the flopped teen comedy ‘Out Partying’ (by the way, the worst box office of the Season so far). But he seems to return with renewed impulse in Season 14. This family drama will be one of the first releases of Season 14. And the director of it will be the man that directed the last Nielsen’s movie released in Season 12: the failed comedy ‘Faded’. Yes, Cameron Crowe has accepted to direct this low budget production to be shot both in the US and England.
DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF AUTUMN TWILIGHT: The long cast of this big production
keeps growing. Karl Urban, already experienced in fantasy worlds after his work in ‘Lord Of The Rings’ debuts in CMP. And the sexy Jessica Alba, whose last work for the Studio was the successful ‘Deep Silence: Red Code High’, also joins the ride. Guillermo Del Toro is the man managing this crowded cast in this expensive and awaited mega-production.
F-ZERO: Green light for the second animation production of the Season (after the disappointment of ‘The Wind In The Willows’). Dawson Edwards is behind this big screen adaptation of a Nintendo’s game about futuristic races. Edwards has turned the game into a movie that will show some spectacular animated sequences close to anime style. To direct this non-stop action feature has been chosen Karyn Kusama, a female director responsible of ‘Jennifer’s Body’ that has no previous experience in animation. And to put his voice to the hero of the story the chosen one has been Josh Hartnett, not seen in CMP since ‘The Rock Star’. At some point of the pre-production phase, the Wachowski brothers were considered to direct this movie, probably due to its points in common with ‘Speed Racer’, but it was Edwards himself who finally gave up the idea.
GAME BOY 3: GAME OVER
By John Daws
Here are some quotes from the crowded press conference to present the world the new CMP’s movie ‘Game Boy 3: Game Over’.
John Daws:
‘The third and last gameboy movie brings the fight to our world. It is more adult themed but still keeps the child within at heart. This is intentional in the fact the people who have watched these films have grown up and therefore so has the story.’
It was real cool to get the cast back together and also work with them on screen rather than just getting their voices. I think that Dan also liked having real people to work with this time rather than people running around with mario dolls in their hands (laughs)...that and he gets to kiss a real Kiera for this film (laughs some more).’
‘I am happy with how the three films have gone. Some say it is cheap story about good and evil and it is. It was not meant to be a critical success. It was meant to be cheap popcorn fun and on an epic scale. I write a lot of screenplays and I like having the more fun ones sometimes as it is a nice break. Not every film needs to be deep, remember film is about enjoyment. The cast, the crew and myself enjoyed this immensely and I think the moviegoers will too.’
Daniel Radcliffe:
‘I have worked with John so many times, as has Kiera and so we know what we are normally going to get. Either critcal success or death scenes. This time though it was all about fun and having a good time. The crew loved it because of the old school among them were proper fan boys of sonic and mario. There were constant arguments about which one would win in a fight, who would really get the princess and so many SNES and Mega Drive consoles on set with competitions and things.’
‘It wasn’t all fun though. Working over the three films has been hard. A lot of time with green screens and a lot of long days because of the huge amount of CGI. John was also really insistant that the CGI was done first as was the Director. They both agreed that we, as the cast needed to know exactly what the world we was in was like. This of course is easier in this film because it was in the real world.’
‘Obviously it is more adult. My character has grown up and is interested in girls and trying to ensure that I have grown up but not changed completely from the first two films was a challange but like John says I got to kiss Keira...and it took so many takes (laughs).’
John Daws:
‘I think the three films really show technology at their best but the difference in the third film was a stark change from the previous installments so I think it will be very good to talk to our "Master Cheif" Designer, Mike Tundell on the CGI aspect.’
Mike Tundell:
‘Well despite us working on all three films, this one was the most difficult. You see in the first two almost everything was in the cartoon world. This meant we basically had a blank canvas. We was basically told that there was a real cartoonish world and so we went and played Mario, Sonic and Zelda games to draw inspiration. We was told that this world would be in the second movie but ther would also be a grittier "real world" part but that was still up to us so still a blank canvas.’
‘For the third film, I was really excited because I figured we had most of the stuff done from the first two...then John, Lucas and Zemeckis tell me that actually we need to recreate France and other real life locations...GREAT!’
‘So this one was much more specific and we had to make as best as possible famous landmarks and places that we can destroy that look like the real world. This obviously takes longer but we have such a great team and John and Zemeckis really help in telling us their visions which is also great becasue they both had the same vision which makes conflict minimal. We really pioneered a lot of the CGI in this film and never had to compromise what we wanted. Thats why when you see this movie you will really believe the world is getting blown up, you will be running out of the cinema screaming thinking the world is ending. It's great.’
John Daws:
‘Ok so thats some insight on how things were on set and how the CGI appraoch was taken. I guess that just leaves me to say that I think this trilogy will be remembered for bringing make people from the 80's back to kids films, letting their hair down and that this third installment will make the kids really dig the story and it will grow with them.’
‘I also have the pleasure of having the final word...Mario is much better than Sonic and would easily get the girl!’
JOSH COLLINS – THE ORPHAN TRAIN
Josh Collins is going through a tough Season. His latest movies – ‘LA Wolf 2’, ‘Bedtime Stories 2’, ‘The Wind In The Willows’ – have been consecutive box office’s disappointments. But, as usual, he stays at full activity creating more and new ideas. This week, Collins releases what probably is his most ambitious production of the Season and we have talked with him about it.
1.'The Orphan Train' is based on true historical events. What made you to be interested in telling this story?
To be honest, I never actually heard of an Orphan Train until my mother was talking to me about how she read an article about a man and his brother's experience coming off a real Orphan Train. I'm not sure where the story can be found, but I agreed with her that it might make an interesting story. I went and researched about Orphan Trains and I noticed they didn't really get talked about, and I think there were a couple of older TV movies based on them.
2.Danny Boyle and you already teamed up before in 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time'. We are not used to see you working with the same directors more than once. Are Boyle and you becoming a stable working team?
I enjoy Danny's style. When I was writing 'Curious' I was looking for something all English. But after watching Slumdog Millionaire, I thought his style would go well with the Orphan Train. He had a great touch of comedy, drama, and something that left moviegoers feeling good. I wouldn't mind working with him on something again, but I also enjoy working with as many different directors as possible.
3.You have increased your versatility later with movies very different from your traditional 'hard dramas', like horror, comedy, action or animation. In what genre do you actually feel more comfortable at this point of your career?
I think my niche so far has been drama and family oriented movies. I actually prefer sticking to those styles as we have each writer focus on something different which actually expands CMP's versatility. We have the action/adventure/sci-fi writers, the adult-comedy and raunchy-comedy writers, horror writers, drama writers and very rarely do the others get into writing with kids in mind, so I enjoy taking on the task to give something our movie-going public can enjoy with the whole family.
4.Box Office has not responded too well to some of your latest movies, like 'LA Wolf 2' or 'Bedtime Stories 2'. Do you miss releasing a blockbuster or you keep feeling satisfied no matter box office's numbers?
After so much that went wrong during the LA Wolf 2 production, I was already feeling done with it. I wanted it to be a franchise, but then I didn't want to be completely tied down with like 8 movies about one character. I knew that wasn't going to get critical reception and good box office, as well as Bedtime Stories 2(though I am surprised that the critical reception was better than I expected). I think it's more rewarding to find a diamond in the rough film that you don't expect to make a lot of money on (take Lyra for example) than to expect so much into a superhero or video game movie and turn out disappointed that it made less money than expected, or end up making double the money you expected(so predictable that way.) I have a few expected blockbusters in line, you just gotta be patient for their releases.
5.Is 'The Orphan Train' your biggest bet this Season for the Golden Moon Awards or do you expect some recognition for your other releases of the Season?
Well I don't expect award recognition out of LA Wolf 2 or Bedtime Stories 2, but if any of my films get nominated, it would be great to see it be Orphan Train or Lovers Stages. It all depends if there will be one more film Harry might pull out of nowhere toward the end that looks like an award worthy film. He's done it a few times before. But if not, I'll take what I can get from those aforementioned films.
DANIEL RADCLIFFE
We have written it here before: Daniel Radcliffe’s career in CMP is much bigger and versatile than out of it. In fact, Radcliffe has become one of the most respected and demanded talents in the Studio. Winner of two GMA, Radcliffe has made us all forget is typecast as Harry Potter to become one of the main young stars of CMP’s world and a regular Season after Season in all kind of movies. His interesting CMP’s career deserves to be taken another look at this week.
SOUTH EAST
Season 4
Neil Jordan / John Daws
B.O.: 75 / N.Gains: 54
Radcliffe made his debut in CMP with this very british drama where he met with Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Craig. It was a low budget production that worked extraordinary well in box office. First film and first GMA. Radcliffe won with this film the Best Actor GMA defeating two heavy weights like Robert De Niro and Colin Farrell. The beginning could not be more promising for him in CMP.
GAME BOY: SOULS OF THE USA
Season 5
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
B.O.: 211 / N.Gains: 244
His second work, again with John Daws, was completely different: a very ambitious action / fantasy movie where he was the only live action character in a fantasy world where he met a bunch of the most popular computer and console games ever. The movie was a huge hit and instantly reached the top of the most successful CMP’s movies ever.
AMERICAN HEARTLAND
Season 5
Sean Penn / Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 67 / N.Gains: 31
That same Season, Radcliffe also bet for a more artsy project: the story of the teen murderers known as the Memphis 3, directed by Penn and produced by Martin Scorsese. A quality work where Radcliffe shared the credits with big names like Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster or Shia LaBeouf.
POWERHOUSE
Season 5
Gus Van Sant / Marcus Trax
B.O.: 19 / N. Losses: 11
Obviously, Season 5 was quite a busy time for Radcliffe. His third movie of that Season was another very British drama where he met again with Daniel Craig. The movie was so ‘local’ that it didn’t work beyong the British Islands and became the only box office’s flop in Radcliffe’s career in CMP so far.
GAME BOY 2: WARLANDS
Season 6
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
B.O.: 265 / N. Gains: 206
A sequel was inevitable after the immense success of the first movie. ‘Game Boy 2’ became the top 1 box office in CMP’s History. Again, millions of moviegoers payed a ticket to watch Radcliffe in the fantasy world of USA dealing again with popular characters with big stars’ voices.
DAISY LANE
Season 7
Danny Boyle / John Daws
B.O: 49 / N.Gains: 21
Radcliffe kept combining big budget Hollywood’s productions with British more modest movies. Here, he co-starred with Pierce Brosnan a disturbing thriller, in his fourth collaboration with Daws. This time, this British production made net gains.
BLOOD MERIDIAN
Season 10
Ang Lee / Dawson Edwards
B.O.: 44 / N.Gains: 14
The retirement of John Daws meant also a decrease in Radcliffe’s presence in CMP. After three Seasons away, Dawson Edwards rescued him to star this violent western based on the famous Cormac McCarthy book. A quality western that worked discretely in box office. But, at least, Radcliffe was back to CMP.
MORE TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
Season 11
Matt Kubrick / Ben Tyler
B.O.: 116 / N.Gains: 94
Radcliffe showed up in the second installment of the ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’ series created by the now retired Ben Tyler, being directed his short story by Matt Kubrick. In it, Radcliffe had an acting duel with Tilda Swinton, who picked up a Best Supporting Actress Nomination for her work in the movie. This production meant the return of Radcliffe to box office’s success.
THE BEATLES
Season 12
Sam Mendes / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 38 / N.Gains: 9
A big challenge for Radcliffe. He was offered to play such a difficult character like John Lennon in this ambitious biopic of The Beatles. And he succeeded. The movie made a disappointment box office but it was a personal success for Radcliffe. He won his second GMA, this time at the Best Supporting Actor category.
GAME BOY 3: GAME OVER
Season 13
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
Radcliffe is again a regular in CMP, making at least one movie per Season. This week, he returns to the franchise that made him a big CMP’s star six Seasons after its last installment. We’ll see if time has not damaged the interest of audiences in this story.
We cannot help it: we like Michelle Monaghan. And we wished she showed up more often in CMP. Only seen before in ‘The Long Dark Night’, second installment of the ‘Fear The Darkness’ franchise, and ‘L.A. Wolf’, Michelle is back this week with the thriller ‘Conspiracy Of Life’. And before we begin to miss her again, we take her today to the ‘pic of the week’ section.
I have written here that Matt Kubrick had planned to develop under the label of Midnight Movies two arguable projects, sequels for ‘Sam & Twitch’, one of his first flops, and ‘Deep Silence’, the lousy but profitable saga that mixes the sexy Jessica Alba with creepy amphibian creatures. His plan is to make some cash to save his company from financial disaster. And – can you believe it? – he has dared to reply me! ME! The guru of CMP! This is what he has said about it in a recent interview:
‘I would like to say that Bob Felton is wrong I'm not doing these two sequels for the money. Sam & Twitch has been gone for far too long I really wanted to do a sequel at some point the studio was open to the idea but I never got around to writing it. I'm doing two artsy type movies back to back, Teenage Wasteland and Sam & Twitch 2 which is shot in black and white just like the first one it's going to be epic and a big film noir production. So after doing two arthouse type movies I wanted to do a movie where I could just have a lot of fun. I decided to make that Deep Silence 3 which I have a cool idea for. Sure I hope they are both hits but it's also about making something I can have fun with that is more a big pop corn action flick. I haven't directed a big budget movie in a long time and it was time to do another one.’
Ok, Mr. Kubrick. Get ready. You deserve my reply to your reply... ‘I’m not doing these two sequels for the money’ Let me stop laughing, Mr. Kubrick. Oh, no, making ‘Deep Silence 3’ is not looking for easy money. It’s pure art, ah? Come on... Okay, I can agree that you have artsy aspirations
sometimes with movies like ‘Teenage Wasteland’. But, honestly, don’t tell me that ‘Deep Silence 3’ will be a piece of art to be appreciated by future generations. It’s all about money and you and your friend Mr. Harry Stark, the greediest producer in Hollywood, know it very well. I can understand that you are decided to do anything to save your nice production company and its nice B-series horror and exploitation movies (which I enjoy so much, by the way). But, please, don’t tell me that a cops movie with John Goodman or that B-version of ‘Alien’ with Jessica Alba fighting underwater monsters are looking for something more than just juicy profits... Posterity will remember you for ‘The Dark Tower’ saga. The rest is only business, Mr. Kubrick.
Another talent with artsy aspirations is Will Smith. You could read past week his come and goes with the new Dawson Edwards’ movie ‘Get Down’, a movie he was going to produce, then he was going to direct and finally won’t have his name in the credits. It seems like, after the critical applause to ‘John and Tommie’, Smith has decided to go on with his career as moviemaker. I only hope that the action genre has not lost him forever. Despite ‘Gears Of War’, I think Smith is one of the most appealing stars for big shows and hope that this new artsy aspirations do not blow his mind and prevent him from remembering what he is best known for.
A controversial project on the horizon... I wrote past week that Trent Nielsen and Chad Taylor have co-written an upcoming movie. Well, I’ve got to know now that the story written by both is a homosexual love story... with a priest included. You wanted controversy? Well, here you have it: Brokeback Mountain with cassock... Oh, man, I’m going to love watching those same groups that so fiercely attacked CMP’s ‘The Company’ returning again with their demonstrations in front of the movie theatres...
A couple returning. Dakota Fanning and Abigail Breslin have confirmed that they will work together again after the brilliant ‘The Fantastic Mansion’ and the embarrassing ‘You Can’t Do That In The Movies’. And they will be back home. I mean, Josh Collins’ home. Yes, it’s Collins who has written an intensely dramatic story to reunite again two of his favourite members of the CMP’s Young Talents Squad he has always strongly supported. Dakota and Abbie are leaving behind childhood and entering into teen years with the intention of remaining as two of the most demanded and popular CMP’s stars.
And Connors will return too to more of the same. Yes, he keeps insisting in adapting console games although the experience is not being as profitable as expected. ‘Gears Of War’ became a historical box office’s disaster and ‘Uncharted’ and ‘Assassin’s Creed’ turned out below expectations. But Connors is not discouraged and announces the development of sequels for these two movies, together with a brand new console game adaptation that will be probably starred – fear the worst – by no other than Megan Fox.
GAME BOY 3: GAME OVER
Adventure / Fantasy
The Cast: Daniel Radcliffe, Keira Knightley, Ron Perlman, Paul Bettany, Orlando Bloom, Michael Fassbender, John Leguizamo
The Director: Robert Zemeckis
The Screenwriter: John Daws
The Producer: George Lucas
The Plot:
The film opens in Arcadia. A huge battle ensuing between the Retro's of USA and the Next Gens of UNGF. The battle takes place on the boarder of the USA and the UNFG worlds. Many people have died and the war has been going on for 5 years. When Master Chief (R.Perlman) launches a new weapon Link (O.Bloom) uses the tri-force to destroy the weapon. The force throws a huge light across the world and everyone is thrown back. Master Chief is heard saying 'Now it begins'.
Kevin (D.Radcliffe) is now in University in London and as 5 years have passed he has forgotten his previous adventures and dismissed them as just vivid dreams. At university he is trying to fit in and simply lead a normal life, going to parties and working part time in a DVD rental store. He is seen as a bit of an outcast however and is not very popular.
On the way home from university one day a huge crack of thunder and a bright light takes over the sky and Kevin is thrown back. He awakes next to a beautiful woman lying on the floor. He rushes over to her and he brings her around. She is startled when she realises it is Kevin. Kevin wants to know how she knows who he is. She explains that she is Princess Zelda (K.Knightley). Kevin laughs it off and calls her crazy. She asks how he cannot remember her after all he has seen and done. He is shocked that she knows things about him. Still he cannot believe. He says that Zelda is a fictional charachter from a computer game and that she is a real person. She looks down at herself and around her. She cannot understand where she is. Kevin explains that this is Earth and she is nuts.
Then a man walks behind with an itlaian accent dressed in a red suit. He is also surprised to see Kevin. He is startled and realises that he is Mario (J.Leguizamo). Before they can try and figure things out though a blast flies past Kevins head. They turn to see Master Chief standing there. They quickly run and hide. As they hide they catch a glimpse of Master Cheif, Solid Snake (M.Fassbender) and Dante (P.Bettany) walking past.
Kevin completely startled starts to shout and all three begin to argue. As they continue to fight Link runs around the corner. He tells everyone to be quiet and listen. He explains that the war has gone out of control. The power of the weapon Master Chief launched along with the power of the tri-force has created a rift between the realities. Kevin in disbelief tells them to go with him and they can hide in his college room.
Master Chief and the others continue hunting the others destroying everything in their path including Big Ben, Wembley Stadium and other famous sites.
Back in Kevin’s room link explains that the rift needs to be restored and that Kevin can help. Kevin says that he is just normal in the real world and that he has no powers. Link explains that the computer games Kevin played growing up were not just invented. A long time ago a man created a device that opened up a portal to their world. He called it the Metal Gear. He explains that they need the Metal Gear to close the rift once and for all. Kevin asks where the metal gear is and Link tells him that he does not know and that only the chosen one can find the metal gear.
Princess Zelda tells Mario and Link to go and find Master Chief and the others and stop them once and for all while she and Kevin go on a quest for the Metal Gear. Link is not happy about leaving the princess but she insists and says that the chosen one will protect her.
To find out where to find Master Chief they turn on Kevin's TV and watch the news. The latest sighting is by the Eiffle Tower in Paris and so they set off.
Zelda tells Kevin to lead the way. Kevin says he does not know where to go. She says the he will find it if he believes.
Link and Mario arrive in Paris and find Master Cheif and Snake attacking people at the Eiffle tower. Mario and Link intercept and a huge fight begins. Snake and Link take to battle fighting with swords and guns and arrows. Mario meanwhile starts fighting with Master Cheif.
Meanwhile Kevin and Zelda arrive at Stonehenge in England. This place is known for being somewhat of a urban legend that it is somewhat super natural. As they arrive Kevin starts to feel faint. The princess worried sits him down and they begin to talk about what is wrong. Kevin says he feels strange...different...more powerful in some way. The princess says that this is the link between hun and the metal gear. She tells Kevin that to raise the Metal Gear a sacrifice of someone or something he loves the most must be made. She explains that is why she joined him on the journey she is the sacrifice.
Kevin, angry, says no he will not let her die for this. She says it is too late. As she does a splatter of blood hits Kevins face and Zelda goes limp. Kevin looks around and sees Dante standing in the distance. Kevin quickly runs into hiding. He does not know what to do as he has no powers. He then hears Zeldas voice tell him that he has always had the power and that he just needs to believe in himself, like she always has. As kevin focuses he feels a rush of energy flow through him. As he does he a huge beam of light bursts out of Kevin, blinding Dante. Back in France Mario and Link are no match for the real world Master Cheif and Snake. They soon fall to the pair and all looks lost for them.
As the light dims, Dante sees Kevin in the Megaman suit and with the Tri-Force. Dante runs towords him shouting, but the all powerful Kevin raises his hand and Dante is stopped in mid-run. He lifts Dante in the air and throws him to the ground. The gound starts shaking and opens. Dante falls through the crack and up rises a huge metal contraption. It is the Metal Gear. Kevin quickly runs to Zelda. She is still breathing just. She tells him to start the metal gear and close the rift and she will be saved. She says thank you for his help again and that she loves him. Kevin kisses Zelda before running to the metal gear. He switches the button and the sky turns purple and a deafening sound forces Kevin to the ground.
When the light dies down and the sound stops, Kevin without his suit awakes to see that the ground is closed, the metal gear has gone and so has Zelda. Concerned he may be going crazy he quickly rushes back to London. This time however he has no doubts that it is real as most of London is destroyed. He closes his eyes and hears Zelda once again saying thank you.
Stark’s Comment:
The ‘Game Boy’ movies are a legend in CMP. In the days they were released, we thought that no other CMP’s production could beat our ‘Star Wars’ movies. But ‘Game Boy’ proved us wrong and became an outstanding cinematic phenomenon. I was thrilled when John Daws told me, after so long, that he wanted to make a third movie of the saga. This release has a strong sentimental meaning for us, the people of CMP. It’s like going back to our first times at the Studio. It’s six Seasons later… and Game Boy is back!
Behind The Scenes:
-All the members of the cast – besides Radcliffe, who has always played a live action character - made voice only works in the two first movies of the saga playing the same characters they play live in this one.
-The only novelty is Michael Fassbender. Christian Bale was the voice of Solid Snake in ‘Game Boy 2’ but he wasn’t interested in being in this movie.
-Some characters of this movie have been seen in other CMP’s productions: Kate Bosworth has played Princess Zelda in ‘The Legend Of Zelda I & II’ (also produced by Lucas). James McAvoy played Link in those same movies. Sean Bean played Solid Snake in the flopped ‘Metal Gear Solid’.
-Other voices heard in the two previous movies that won’t be heard in this one include: Will Smith, Mickey Rourke, Kevin James and Kirsten Dunst.
-John Daws had not written any movie for CMP since ‘The Gunpowder Plot’, Best Picture GMA winner back in Season 10.
-Robert Zemeckis had to abandon the pre-production of a hyped upcoming movie written by Steve Connors and being produced by James Cameron that he was going to direct due to his commitment with this project.
THE ORPHAN TRAIN
Drama
The Cast: Chase Ellison, Elle Fanning, Russell Crowe, Billy Bob Thornton, Felicity Huffman, Steve Zahn, Jennifer Anniston
The Director: Danny Boyle
The Screenwriter: Josh Collins
The Plot:
In this film we go back in time to a period of the U.S. not often looked at. It's the mid 1800s-early 1900s. Thousands of children are transferred from overcrowded orphanages and homes in the large cities in the northeast to live with families on farms throughout the west. The train was the mode of transportation for the orphans to go to their new homes. Many had parents who just couldn't or wouldn't care for their child, sending them away in the hopes that they would have a better place to live.
The feelings were often mixed. Some of the orphans found wonderful families to live with and continue their childhood. Others were mistreated, put to work on the farms like miniature slaves. In most cases, siblings were often split, tearing them away from the only family they knew. They were also discouraged from contacting each other in an effort to help them adapt to their new homes.
This story follows a heartwarming drama of two siblings who defy those discouragements. David (C. Ellison) and Mary (E. Fanning), a sibling pair who were split when they got off the train. Mary would go to a wonderful loving family (Steve Zahn and Jennifer Aniston) and David would go to the opposite as said earlier, working the farm and being lucky enough to even get a hello from his family (B.B. Thornton and F. Huffman) His inner desire is to find his sister and be with her again...but the country is a little too big for only two people. David would have to rely on gut feeling and his subconscious to tell him that he is on the right track to finding his sis and it's a long hard journey, but it'll be worth it. His fears of never finding her, being lost and dying on his own, afraid time will make her forget him.
On the other side of the spectrum, Mary is living with a good family in Illinois (a hot spot for Orphan Train passengers) she too desires to see her sibling and the family she has now may not be as bad as the one David got stuck with, but they too try to instill the idea of moving on and forgetting him, that they are her new family now. On many days, Mary returns to the station in the hopes that she would see David come off the train. Trying hard not to give up hope of seeing him ever again, she even tries to leave on her own, but she's a little young, could get easily lost and couldn't seem to go very far, still under the impression that he is coming for her.
Along the way, David bumps into interesting people and surroundings, one in particular is a travelling horseman, John (R. Crowe), who not only offers David food, drink and company, but also offers him that sense of security and giving him all he should have had back at the farm. John also provides as a helpful guide for David, helping him get closer to his goal.
The journey on foot would go several weeks, John takes David to Illinois, but that's as far as he is willing to take the boy, for he must get back to his own life. David leaves and turns to say thanks, but John is already gone. Was John a real person? or a figment of David's imagination?
At the end, our young hero happens to see Mary on her way back from the train station when an Orphan Train was dropping off more passengers. Mary stops walking and turns slowly, seeing her big bro staring back at her with a growing smile on his face. Her own smile grows.
Stark’s Comment:
I like this one. It tells an emotional story in an interesting historical scenario. Quality cinema. I cross my fingers for this release. It deserves a nice box office.
Behind The Scenes:
-Chase Ellison and Russell Crowe have already worked together this Season in ‘The Dark Tower: Wolves Of The Calla’
-This is the first work of Russell Crowe for CMP out of the Dark Tower saga since Season 7.
-Chase Ellison worked before for Josh Collins in ‘Dare To Be Perfect’. Elle Fanning worked with Collins in ‘Velcro’.
-Danny Boyle and Josh Collins teamed up before in the flopped ‘The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time’.
-Felicity Huffman has already worked with Collins this Season in her CMP’s debut ‘The Lovers Stages’.
CONSPIRACY OF LIFE
Thriller / Action
The Cast: Michelle Monaghan, Leonardo DiCaprio, Denzel Washington, Gene Hackman, Justin Long, Liev Schreiber, Michelle Trachtenberg
The Director: D.J. Caruso
The Screenwriter: James Bradley
The Plot:
Sharon (M.Monaghan) works as a doctor in a main Chicago hospital. One night, Amy (M.Trachtenberg), one of the nurses she works with, phones her in the middle of the night and tells her, very nervous, that she needs to see her. Amy goes to Sharon’s apartment and gives her the files of five patients from the hospital. All of them were young (one of them a child), suffered minor illnesses, all died due to a sudden and unexpected event when being at the hospital (heart attacks, anaphylactic crisis…) and an autopsy was made to all of them. Amy begs Sharon to study the files cause she thinks that something strange may be going on at the hospital.
The next morning, when Sharon arrives at the hospital, she is said that Amy died past night knocked down by a car. The driver ran away. According to the hour of the death, Amy died right after leaving Sharon’s apartment.
Sharon makes some questions to all the doctors that treated the dead patients. Until she gets a call from Rabi Ben Jonah (G.Hackman). Jonah is the President of the Foundation that owns the Hospital and a prominent leader of the Jewish community in Chicago. Jonah tells Sharon that some doctors have told him that they are feeling uncomfortable because she is making too many questions about their patients. When Sharon tells Jonah about Amy’s visit to her apartment the night she died, Jonah just tells her that Amy might be an unbalanced person and she should stop making uncomfortable questions to the hospital’s employees.
During the following days, Sharon has the feeling that somebody is chasing here and keeps watching all her movements. So she decides to go to the Police.
At the Police Station, she meets Chief Andrew Leonard (D.Washington) and Detective Kyle Preston (L. Di Caprio). She tells them about her suspects of Amy not being killed accidentally and she being spied. When she leaves, Leonard tells Preston that Sharon looks like a paranoid maid and that there’s no evidence to investigate anything.
But Preston decides to investigate a bit. He talks with the cops that wrote the report of Amy’s accident. One of them tells him that a drunk homeless who saw the accident said that the car had deliberately ran the girl over but they thought he was just a crazy man and they decided not to put that on their report.
Preston also investigates the hospital. It’s a very profitable business for the Foundation. The richest people in Chicago usually go to it. Benjamin Jonah has been recently awarded by the Mayor of Chicago as an exemplary citizen… Everything looks perfect.
Meanwhile, Sharon also goes on with her own inquiries. Looking at the hospital’s archives she discovers something: each day that a young patient suffered a sudden death there was also a transplant surgery programmed.
She sees her friend Mike (J.Long), a young forensic doctor, and asks him if he has noticed something strange going on lately. He says he has: from time to time, Dr. Harmon (L.Schreiber), the chief of the Forensic Department, decides to make some autopsies without his usual presence, assisted always by the same two nurses. When Sharon asks Mike about the autopsy of the five patients Amy gave her the files of, Mike confirms that all the autopsies were made by Dr. Harmon by himself.
That evening, Sharon gets out of work late. She is using the subway to go home. When she is alone at a subway’s corridor, a masked man steps on her holding a knife. It seems like an ordinary assault. Sharon kicks him between his legs and runs away. And the man chases her all over the lonely corridors. Sharon panics. But she finally can jump on a train and escape. Once at home, she phones Preston and tells him that somebody has tried to murder her pretending it to be just an assault.
From that moment, Preston and Sharon start working together investigating what can be going on at the hospital. They begin with the patients that have had an organ transplant surgery during the last months. Most of them are members of wealthy families. Mike agrees to collaborate secretly with them looking for patients suddenly death at the forensic archives. There seems to be a connection between the dates a sudden death takes place and a transplant surgery is made.
One morning, Leonard calls Preston at his office. Leonard tells him that he has got to know that Preston is making an unofficial investigation at the hospital. Leonard does not want to hear Preston’s explanations as he considers it all a bunch of weak evidences. He orders Preston to stop it immediately or he might be suspended.
That very same day, Mike is found dead at his home. He has hanged himself. It all looks as if it was a suicide.
When Sharon knows about Mike’s death, she loses her nerves. She steps into the forensic chief, Dr. Harmon and claims him to tell her why he was making autopsies where Mike was not allowed to be. Harmon takes her out of his office in a bad way.
That night, Sharon is at her apartment when she hears somebody is opening her door. It’s the same masked man from the subway. She gets out of the apartment through a window and walks dangerously across a projection of the building. She slips and almost falls. Finally, she climbs using a pipe and reaches the roof. She runs away and goes to Preston’s apartment, where she spends the night.
Next morning, when she arrives at the hospital, Benjamin Jonah is waiting for her. He tells her that in a routine investigation a bag of cocaine has been found at her office. Jonah tells Sharon that she should accept to be discretely fired from the hospital. If not, she would be sued and she could end up losing her title of medicine doctor.
That evening, when Sharon tells Preston that somebody put the bag of cocaine in her office, Preston gets so mad and goes to see Leonard at his home. Leonard and Preston discuss again about the case. But a little girl interrupts them. It’s Leonard’s daughter. The girl tells her father that he has forgotten to buy her medicines. Leonard’s wife comes to take her away and nicely comments Preston that the girl suffered a heart transplant surgery a few months ago and is still under a special medication treatment. Preston and Leonard look at each other but both say nothing.
Preston meets Sharon that night and both get into the hospital together clandestinely. They get to the archives and find out that Leonard’s daughter had her surgery at the hospital. They also find the costs of it all. And there’s a stamp in the file: the costs have been cancelled.
Dr. Harmon sees them as they leave the hospital and he phones Jonah to alert him. Then, Jonah makes a phone call and only says: ‘This has got to end. You have to do something. Now!’
Back to Preston’s apartment, as he and Sharon get in, there’s somebody inside. He’s waiting for them holding a gun. It’s Leonard.
Leonard tells them that when his little daughter went to the hospital due to heart problems, Benjamin Jonah offered him a deal. Jonah told Leonard first that the girl needed an extremely expensive surgery that he probably could not afford. Then, Jonah told Leonard what was going on at the hospital: patients suddenly died. ‘It’s something usual at a hospital. Nobody makes questions’, he says. Their organs were removed and transplanted to rich clients that needed them and could pay big money for them. The hospital would make Leonard’s daughter surgery for free. The girl would have a brand new heart. All Leonard had to do was to be alert and protect him stopping any investigation that could begin in the future about what they were doing. ‘And I accepted the deal. I did it for my little girl!’, says Leonard, crying.
Preston jumps on Leonard. During the fight, there’s a shot. Sharon screams. Preston steps back. And then Leonard falls as blood begins to cover his shirt. He’s dead.
All TV stations’ news reports open next morning with the story of the illegal transplant net created at the hospital. Images of Benjamin Jonah and Dr. Harmon, handcuffed and taken out of the hospital and into a police car, are shown. A picture of Police Chief Andrew Leonard is also shown on screen while reporting that he was also involved in the criminal organization and died last night. Reports say that very important citizens of Chicago paid for illegal transplants and that more arrests will probably be made within the next few hours.
Preston and Sharon are having a coffee at a bar and watching the news on tv. ‘How do you feel?’, Preston asks Sharon. Sharon gives him a sad smile. ‘Strange’, she says. Preston smiles back at her.
Stark’s Comment:
I always fear the worst with thrillers. They never get to work. I hope the starry cast can save this one from the usual ‘curse of the thrillers’. But I feel insecure about it.
Behind The Scenes:
-This movie is inspired by true events that took place in the city of New Orleans.
-At some moment, James Bradley considered making this story a sequel of ‘The Funeral Drum’, retaking the characters played there by Sean Penn and Julia Roberts. But he finally abandoned this idea.
-DiCaprio has been 6 Seasons away from CMP. His last work was another Bradley’s pitch: the Best Picture GMA Winner Pompeii. DiCaprio won then the Best Starring Couple GMA with Keira Knightley.
-Gene Hackman has already worked with Bradley before this Season in ‘Nude!’
-Michelle Trachtenberg was seen this Season in ‘Lost At Sea’.
-Denzel Washington’s last movie for CMP was Season 10’s ‘Fallen Kings’.
-Michelle Monaghan has also been away from CMP since Season 10, when she showed up in ‘LA Wolf’.
SUICIDE SQUAD: It had to happen sooner or later. Matt Kubrick has always expressed his admiration for the trashy style of Uwe Boll. So, as a fan of B-series movie, it was almost inevitable
that some day Kubrick and Boll would meet in a movie. And this is it. A wildly violent story of five mercenaries always ready to take the toughest jobs. Expect tons of gratuitous violence. And the five mercenaries have already been recruited: Mark Wahlberg (good friend of Kubrick since they worked together in ‘Darkman: Resurrection’), Woody Harrelson (who already worked with Wahlberg in Ben Tyler’s ‘The Running Man), Jason Statham (who will release before ‘Dragonlance’ and already worked with Kubrick in ‘Ace Banner: Return To Fury’ and ‘Tracks Of Blood’) and two CMP’s debutantes, Jean-Claude Van Damme and Freddy Rodriguez are the members of this wild group. Everything sounds hair-raising, doesn’t it?LEGENDS OF THE WEST: Now that ‘Conspiracy Of Life’ is ready to be released, Leonardo DiCaprio has joined the shootage of this Tarantino’s western. DiCaprio plays here a minor role and, as it happens with Ben Stiller, he has stated that he accepted the offer just for the thrill of working with Quentin Tarantino. The veteran Bruce Campbell, better known for The Evil Dead trilogy, will make his debut in CMP here.
GET DOWN: Dawson Edwards likes to work with talents he already knows in his movies. In this
one, being directed by Spike Lee, we will see some regular stars in Edwards’ movies like Anthony MacKie, past Season Best Starring Couple GMA winner, who already worked for Edwards and Lee in ’24 Hours To Live’; Mos Def, who also worked with Edwards and Lee before in ‘Fallen Kings’; and no other than Wonder Woman herself, Cobie Smulders, who has already been seen this Season in ‘Justice League’.THE BUS: Dave Matthews will work in front of the cameras in this comedy directed by Marc Webb playing Cameron Diaz’s husband. And we will see here also a star that seems to be becoming the official Mr. Cameo in CMP: yes, Robert De Niro will show up making a funny cameo… and important one, cause he will be the bus driver.
SILVER SABLE AND THE GENESIS COALITION: The three members of the Wild Pack seen in
the previous installment of the saga will be back in this one. On the good side, Eric Balfour and Dominic Monaghan will be again the loyal friends of Silver. On the bad side, Gerard Butler will play again Foreigner, Silver’s boyfriend until he got jealous watching the close friendship between Spiderman and Silver and decided to leave her and join ‘the dark side’. By the way, Tobey Maguire will be seen again playing Spiderman, this time making only a cameo.THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND: THE THREE TRIALS: Tim Curry made a big impression with his CMP’s debut in ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’, back in Season 9. He got a best Supporting Actor nomination and it all looked as the beginning of a nice career in the Studio. But it wasn’t. Now, Curry will finally be back to CMP in this adventure movie. But only in a voice work. Curry will be the voice of a ghost pirate. Michael Chiklis, who has not been seen in the Studio since ‘Star Wars: Mysteries Of The Sith’ (and that’s 9 Seasons ago!) also returns with this movie.
WW3: As we announced past week, this mystery movie written by Chad Taylor and directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo will have a cast leaded by Harrison Ford, who will be supported by a wide group of young stars. Among them, all of them debutantes in CMP, you can count on Rafi Gavron, Alexander Skarsgard, Ryan Kwanten and Cam Gigandet.
THAT’S THE WAY: Trent Nielsen has not been very active this Season. After his impressive debut Season (Best Screenplay GMA included), in Season 13 he has only released one movie, the flopped teen comedy ‘Out Partying’ (by the way, the worst box office of the Season so far). But he seems to return with renewed impulse in Season 14. This family drama will be one of the first releases of Season 14. And the director of it will be the man that directed the last Nielsen’s movie released in Season 12: the failed comedy ‘Faded’. Yes, Cameron Crowe has accepted to direct this low budget production to be shot both in the US and England.
DRAGONLANCE: DRAGONS OF AUTUMN TWILIGHT: The long cast of this big production
keeps growing. Karl Urban, already experienced in fantasy worlds after his work in ‘Lord Of The Rings’ debuts in CMP. And the sexy Jessica Alba, whose last work for the Studio was the successful ‘Deep Silence: Red Code High’, also joins the ride. Guillermo Del Toro is the man managing this crowded cast in this expensive and awaited mega-production.F-ZERO: Green light for the second animation production of the Season (after the disappointment of ‘The Wind In The Willows’). Dawson Edwards is behind this big screen adaptation of a Nintendo’s game about futuristic races. Edwards has turned the game into a movie that will show some spectacular animated sequences close to anime style. To direct this non-stop action feature has been chosen Karyn Kusama, a female director responsible of ‘Jennifer’s Body’ that has no previous experience in animation. And to put his voice to the hero of the story the chosen one has been Josh Hartnett, not seen in CMP since ‘The Rock Star’. At some point of the pre-production phase, the Wachowski brothers were considered to direct this movie, probably due to its points in common with ‘Speed Racer’, but it was Edwards himself who finally gave up the idea.
GAME BOY 3: GAME OVER
By John Daws
Here are some quotes from the crowded press conference to present the world the new CMP’s movie ‘Game Boy 3: Game Over’.
John Daws:
‘The third and last gameboy movie brings the fight to our world. It is more adult themed but still keeps the child within at heart. This is intentional in the fact the people who have watched these films have grown up and therefore so has the story.’
It was real cool to get the cast back together and also work with them on screen rather than just getting their voices. I think that Dan also liked having real people to work with this time rather than people running around with mario dolls in their hands (laughs)...that and he gets to kiss a real Kiera for this film (laughs some more).’
‘I am happy with how the three films have gone. Some say it is cheap story about good and evil and it is. It was not meant to be a critical success. It was meant to be cheap popcorn fun and on an epic scale. I write a lot of screenplays and I like having the more fun ones sometimes as it is a nice break. Not every film needs to be deep, remember film is about enjoyment. The cast, the crew and myself enjoyed this immensely and I think the moviegoers will too.’
Daniel Radcliffe:
‘I have worked with John so many times, as has Kiera and so we know what we are normally going to get. Either critcal success or death scenes. This time though it was all about fun and having a good time. The crew loved it because of the old school among them were proper fan boys of sonic and mario. There were constant arguments about which one would win in a fight, who would really get the princess and so many SNES and Mega Drive consoles on set with competitions and things.’
‘It wasn’t all fun though. Working over the three films has been hard. A lot of time with green screens and a lot of long days because of the huge amount of CGI. John was also really insistant that the CGI was done first as was the Director. They both agreed that we, as the cast needed to know exactly what the world we was in was like. This of course is easier in this film because it was in the real world.’
‘Obviously it is more adult. My character has grown up and is interested in girls and trying to ensure that I have grown up but not changed completely from the first two films was a challange but like John says I got to kiss Keira...and it took so many takes (laughs).’
John Daws:
‘I think the three films really show technology at their best but the difference in the third film was a stark change from the previous installments so I think it will be very good to talk to our "Master Cheif" Designer, Mike Tundell on the CGI aspect.’
Mike Tundell:
‘Well despite us working on all three films, this one was the most difficult. You see in the first two almost everything was in the cartoon world. This meant we basically had a blank canvas. We was basically told that there was a real cartoonish world and so we went and played Mario, Sonic and Zelda games to draw inspiration. We was told that this world would be in the second movie but ther would also be a grittier "real world" part but that was still up to us so still a blank canvas.’
‘For the third film, I was really excited because I figured we had most of the stuff done from the first two...then John, Lucas and Zemeckis tell me that actually we need to recreate France and other real life locations...GREAT!’
‘So this one was much more specific and we had to make as best as possible famous landmarks and places that we can destroy that look like the real world. This obviously takes longer but we have such a great team and John and Zemeckis really help in telling us their visions which is also great becasue they both had the same vision which makes conflict minimal. We really pioneered a lot of the CGI in this film and never had to compromise what we wanted. Thats why when you see this movie you will really believe the world is getting blown up, you will be running out of the cinema screaming thinking the world is ending. It's great.’
John Daws:
‘Ok so thats some insight on how things were on set and how the CGI appraoch was taken. I guess that just leaves me to say that I think this trilogy will be remembered for bringing make people from the 80's back to kids films, letting their hair down and that this third installment will make the kids really dig the story and it will grow with them.’
‘I also have the pleasure of having the final word...Mario is much better than Sonic and would easily get the girl!’
JOSH COLLINS – THE ORPHAN TRAIN
Josh Collins is going through a tough Season. His latest movies – ‘LA Wolf 2’, ‘Bedtime Stories 2’, ‘The Wind In The Willows’ – have been consecutive box office’s disappointments. But, as usual, he stays at full activity creating more and new ideas. This week, Collins releases what probably is his most ambitious production of the Season and we have talked with him about it.
1.'The Orphan Train' is based on true historical events. What made you to be interested in telling this story?
To be honest, I never actually heard of an Orphan Train until my mother was talking to me about how she read an article about a man and his brother's experience coming off a real Orphan Train. I'm not sure where the story can be found, but I agreed with her that it might make an interesting story. I went and researched about Orphan Trains and I noticed they didn't really get talked about, and I think there were a couple of older TV movies based on them.
2.Danny Boyle and you already teamed up before in 'The Curious Incident Of The Dog In The Night-Time'. We are not used to see you working with the same directors more than once. Are Boyle and you becoming a stable working team?
I enjoy Danny's style. When I was writing 'Curious' I was looking for something all English. But after watching Slumdog Millionaire, I thought his style would go well with the Orphan Train. He had a great touch of comedy, drama, and something that left moviegoers feeling good. I wouldn't mind working with him on something again, but I also enjoy working with as many different directors as possible.
3.You have increased your versatility later with movies very different from your traditional 'hard dramas', like horror, comedy, action or animation. In what genre do you actually feel more comfortable at this point of your career?
I think my niche so far has been drama and family oriented movies. I actually prefer sticking to those styles as we have each writer focus on something different which actually expands CMP's versatility. We have the action/adventure/sci-fi writers, the adult-comedy and raunchy-comedy writers, horror writers, drama writers and very rarely do the others get into writing with kids in mind, so I enjoy taking on the task to give something our movie-going public can enjoy with the whole family.
4.Box Office has not responded too well to some of your latest movies, like 'LA Wolf 2' or 'Bedtime Stories 2'. Do you miss releasing a blockbuster or you keep feeling satisfied no matter box office's numbers?
After so much that went wrong during the LA Wolf 2 production, I was already feeling done with it. I wanted it to be a franchise, but then I didn't want to be completely tied down with like 8 movies about one character. I knew that wasn't going to get critical reception and good box office, as well as Bedtime Stories 2(though I am surprised that the critical reception was better than I expected). I think it's more rewarding to find a diamond in the rough film that you don't expect to make a lot of money on (take Lyra for example) than to expect so much into a superhero or video game movie and turn out disappointed that it made less money than expected, or end up making double the money you expected(so predictable that way.) I have a few expected blockbusters in line, you just gotta be patient for their releases.
5.Is 'The Orphan Train' your biggest bet this Season for the Golden Moon Awards or do you expect some recognition for your other releases of the Season?
Well I don't expect award recognition out of LA Wolf 2 or Bedtime Stories 2, but if any of my films get nominated, it would be great to see it be Orphan Train or Lovers Stages. It all depends if there will be one more film Harry might pull out of nowhere toward the end that looks like an award worthy film. He's done it a few times before. But if not, I'll take what I can get from those aforementioned films.
DANIEL RADCLIFFE
We have written it here before: Daniel Radcliffe’s career in CMP is much bigger and versatile than out of it. In fact, Radcliffe has become one of the most respected and demanded talents in the Studio. Winner of two GMA, Radcliffe has made us all forget is typecast as Harry Potter to become one of the main young stars of CMP’s world and a regular Season after Season in all kind of movies. His interesting CMP’s career deserves to be taken another look at this week.
SOUTH EAST
Season 4
Neil Jordan / John Daws
B.O.: 75 / N.Gains: 54
Radcliffe made his debut in CMP with this very british drama where he met with Kirsten Dunst and Daniel Craig. It was a low budget production that worked extraordinary well in box office. First film and first GMA. Radcliffe won with this film the Best Actor GMA defeating two heavy weights like Robert De Niro and Colin Farrell. The beginning could not be more promising for him in CMP.
GAME BOY: SOULS OF THE USA
Season 5
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
B.O.: 211 / N.Gains: 244
His second work, again with John Daws, was completely different: a very ambitious action / fantasy movie where he was the only live action character in a fantasy world where he met a bunch of the most popular computer and console games ever. The movie was a huge hit and instantly reached the top of the most successful CMP’s movies ever.
AMERICAN HEARTLAND
Season 5
Sean Penn / Matt Kubrick
B.O.: 67 / N.Gains: 31
That same Season, Radcliffe also bet for a more artsy project: the story of the teen murderers known as the Memphis 3, directed by Penn and produced by Martin Scorsese. A quality work where Radcliffe shared the credits with big names like Denzel Washington, Jodie Foster or Shia LaBeouf.
POWERHOUSE
Season 5
Gus Van Sant / Marcus Trax
B.O.: 19 / N. Losses: 11
Obviously, Season 5 was quite a busy time for Radcliffe. His third movie of that Season was another very British drama where he met again with Daniel Craig. The movie was so ‘local’ that it didn’t work beyong the British Islands and became the only box office’s flop in Radcliffe’s career in CMP so far.
GAME BOY 2: WARLANDS
Season 6
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
B.O.: 265 / N. Gains: 206
A sequel was inevitable after the immense success of the first movie. ‘Game Boy 2’ became the top 1 box office in CMP’s History. Again, millions of moviegoers payed a ticket to watch Radcliffe in the fantasy world of USA dealing again with popular characters with big stars’ voices.
DAISY LANE
Season 7
Danny Boyle / John Daws
B.O: 49 / N.Gains: 21
Radcliffe kept combining big budget Hollywood’s productions with British more modest movies. Here, he co-starred with Pierce Brosnan a disturbing thriller, in his fourth collaboration with Daws. This time, this British production made net gains.
BLOOD MERIDIAN
Season 10
Ang Lee / Dawson Edwards
B.O.: 44 / N.Gains: 14
The retirement of John Daws meant also a decrease in Radcliffe’s presence in CMP. After three Seasons away, Dawson Edwards rescued him to star this violent western based on the famous Cormac McCarthy book. A quality western that worked discretely in box office. But, at least, Radcliffe was back to CMP.
MORE TALES OF THE UNEXPECTED
Season 11
Matt Kubrick / Ben Tyler
B.O.: 116 / N.Gains: 94
Radcliffe showed up in the second installment of the ‘Tales Of The Unexpected’ series created by the now retired Ben Tyler, being directed his short story by Matt Kubrick. In it, Radcliffe had an acting duel with Tilda Swinton, who picked up a Best Supporting Actress Nomination for her work in the movie. This production meant the return of Radcliffe to box office’s success.
THE BEATLES
Season 12
Sam Mendes / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 38 / N.Gains: 9
A big challenge for Radcliffe. He was offered to play such a difficult character like John Lennon in this ambitious biopic of The Beatles. And he succeeded. The movie made a disappointment box office but it was a personal success for Radcliffe. He won his second GMA, this time at the Best Supporting Actor category.
GAME BOY 3: GAME OVER
Season 13
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
Radcliffe is again a regular in CMP, making at least one movie per Season. This week, he returns to the franchise that made him a big CMP’s star six Seasons after its last installment. We’ll see if time has not damaged the interest of audiences in this story.
We cannot help it: we like Michelle Monaghan. And we wished she showed up more often in CMP. Only seen before in ‘The Long Dark Night’, second installment of the ‘Fear The Darkness’ franchise, and ‘L.A. Wolf’, Michelle is back this week with the thriller ‘Conspiracy Of Life’. And before we begin to miss her again, we take her today to the ‘pic of the week’ section.
I have written here that Matt Kubrick had planned to develop under the label of Midnight Movies two arguable projects, sequels for ‘Sam & Twitch’, one of his first flops, and ‘Deep Silence’, the lousy but profitable saga that mixes the sexy Jessica Alba with creepy amphibian creatures. His plan is to make some cash to save his company from financial disaster. And – can you believe it? – he has dared to reply me! ME! The guru of CMP! This is what he has said about it in a recent interview:
‘I would like to say that Bob Felton is wrong I'm not doing these two sequels for the money. Sam & Twitch has been gone for far too long I really wanted to do a sequel at some point the studio was open to the idea but I never got around to writing it. I'm doing two artsy type movies back to back, Teenage Wasteland and Sam & Twitch 2 which is shot in black and white just like the first one it's going to be epic and a big film noir production. So after doing two arthouse type movies I wanted to do a movie where I could just have a lot of fun. I decided to make that Deep Silence 3 which I have a cool idea for. Sure I hope they are both hits but it's also about making something I can have fun with that is more a big pop corn action flick. I haven't directed a big budget movie in a long time and it was time to do another one.’
Ok, Mr. Kubrick. Get ready. You deserve my reply to your reply... ‘I’m not doing these two sequels for the money’ Let me stop laughing, Mr. Kubrick. Oh, no, making ‘Deep Silence 3’ is not looking for easy money. It’s pure art, ah? Come on... Okay, I can agree that you have artsy aspirations
sometimes with movies like ‘Teenage Wasteland’. But, honestly, don’t tell me that ‘Deep Silence 3’ will be a piece of art to be appreciated by future generations. It’s all about money and you and your friend Mr. Harry Stark, the greediest producer in Hollywood, know it very well. I can understand that you are decided to do anything to save your nice production company and its nice B-series horror and exploitation movies (which I enjoy so much, by the way). But, please, don’t tell me that a cops movie with John Goodman or that B-version of ‘Alien’ with Jessica Alba fighting underwater monsters are looking for something more than just juicy profits... Posterity will remember you for ‘The Dark Tower’ saga. The rest is only business, Mr. Kubrick.
Another talent with artsy aspirations is Will Smith. You could read past week his come and goes with the new Dawson Edwards’ movie ‘Get Down’, a movie he was going to produce, then he was going to direct and finally won’t have his name in the credits. It seems like, after the critical applause to ‘John and Tommie’, Smith has decided to go on with his career as moviemaker. I only hope that the action genre has not lost him forever. Despite ‘Gears Of War’, I think Smith is one of the most appealing stars for big shows and hope that this new artsy aspirations do not blow his mind and prevent him from remembering what he is best known for.A controversial project on the horizon... I wrote past week that Trent Nielsen and Chad Taylor have co-written an upcoming movie. Well, I’ve got to know now that the story written by both is a homosexual love story... with a priest included. You wanted controversy? Well, here you have it: Brokeback Mountain with cassock... Oh, man, I’m going to love watching those same groups that so fiercely attacked CMP’s ‘The Company’ returning again with their demonstrations in front of the movie theatres...
A couple returning. Dakota Fanning and Abigail Breslin have confirmed that they will work together again after the brilliant ‘The Fantastic Mansion’ and the embarrassing ‘You Can’t Do That In The Movies’. And they will be back home. I mean, Josh Collins’ home. Yes, it’s Collins who has written an intensely dramatic story to reunite again two of his favourite members of the CMP’s Young Talents Squad he has always strongly supported. Dakota and Abbie are leaving behind childhood and entering into teen years with the intention of remaining as two of the most demanded and popular CMP’s stars.
And Connors will return too to more of the same. Yes, he keeps insisting in adapting console games although the experience is not being as profitable as expected. ‘Gears Of War’ became a historical box office’s disaster and ‘Uncharted’ and ‘Assassin’s Creed’ turned out below expectations. But Connors is not discouraged and announces the development of sequels for these two movies, together with a brand new console game adaptation that will be probably starred – fear the worst – by no other than Megan Fox.
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