SEPTEMBER, 21


METROID

Sci-Fi / Action
Cast: Charlize Theron, Laurence Fishburne, Ryan Simpkins. Voices of Kiefer Sutherland, Uma Thurman, Vin Diesel.
Director: Zack Snyder
Screenwriter: Josh Collins

Box Office: 279 mill.
Net Gains: 406 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: YEAH!!! It had been so long since something like this happened!!! ‘Metroid’ becomes the top 4 best box office ever. And it has made the top 2 highest net gains ever. Together with ‘Silver Sable and the Wild Pack’, it’s the only CMP’s movie ever to have made more than 400 millions of net gains. DVD sales – specially at the American market – have been simply unbelievable. Oh, I have been missing something like this for a very long time… It just feels so great!!!

TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD

Action
Cast: Russell Crowe, Ashley Judd, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Cera, Tom Wilkinson, Joan Cusack, William H. Macy, Beyonce Knowles, Tyrese Gibson, John Cena.
Director: Paul WS. Anderson
Screenwriter: Richard Franzwa

Box Office: 77 mill.
Net Gains: 59 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Great numbers for a movie of its kind. I personally liked it so much. This movie proves that action and cinematic quality can live together.

WHAT YOU DESERVE

Crime / Drama
Cast: Joshua Jackson, Carrie-Anne Moss, Al Pacino, Penelope Cruz, John Malkovich
Director: DJ Caruso
Screenwriter: Dawson Edwards


Box Office: 30 mill.
Net Gains: 3 mill.

Stark’s Reaction: Phew! Saved by the bell from net losses. But a quality movie anyway. It completes a more than wonderful week and a more than promising beginning of Season 15.


METROID

‘Zack Snyder has finally made the movie he probably has always wanted to make for CMP. After the failed experience of the fantasy saga ‘Kingdom’, ‘Metroid’ was the perfect material for him to display his main obsessions as movie director – and that also means his tics and excesses. Snyder has felt free to make the movie he wanted and he has put up a flashy visual show, spending the huge budget of the movie in a spectacular production design and, particularly, in those amazing CGI generated characters. Directional resources seen before in ‘300’ – abuse of slow motion, hyper-realistic cinematography, epic soundtrack surrounding action – are back here. As it usually happens with Snyder’s movies, the plotline is downgraded to the background as the visual strength of the movie eats it all. It’s a kind of directional style that you may enjoy or hate – in some way, Snyder has taken Michael Bay’s style to extremes – but it is obvious that audiences have decided to strongly support it.’
-Charlie Kiggs

‘’Metroid’ is a movie based almost 100% in its sophisticated production design. Josh Collins’ screenplay is just the basic support to build up a stunning visual show. The giant brain – that partially reminds me the fat villain played by Seth Rogen and also designed by Snyder for ‘Wild Cards. Battle Of The Rox’ -, the pterodactyl and that giant reptilian, all of them digitally generated, together with the exotic futuristic scenarios, will become sci-fi icons as remembered as the creatures of ‘Avatar’ or any Star Wars’ character. All of that makes ‘Metroid’ a breath-taking, astonishing but also a bit excessive show. But it is also remarkable that Snyder has been capable of telling his story and putting up his show in no more than 100 minutes in these days that any pretentious moviemaker considers that more than two hours are needed to make a good movie. That helps to keep up the pace of the movie without losing strength at any moment.’
-Roy Winslow

‘I will never understand audiences. CMP has developed great sci-fi movies. You only have to look at past edition to find four brilliant sci-fi productions like ‘New World’, ‘Metropolis’, ‘Star Wars: Holocron Initiative’ and ‘Invasion’. But none of them made a too impressive box office. And now comes this ‘Metroid’ – let’s admit it: only a childish movie hidden under a sophisticated and pretentious paraphernalia of CGI – and becomes a worldwide cinematic phenomenon. It is curious how the two most profitable movies ever developed by CMP – ‘Silver Sable and the Wild Pack’ and this one – are pretty poor movies, far away from the quality of many other CMP’s productions. It may be the sign of the times but audiences seem more interested in fast food than delicatessen.’
-Vic Carter

TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD

‘Here we have a dark story about losers with an enigmatic appeal. Paul W.S. Anderson is best known for making awful movies like ‘Alien vs Predator’ or ‘Resident Evil’. It was almost impossible to predict he would ever make a movie like this. Behind the action, ‘Turn Of A Friendly Card’ transmits a certain poetry as a picture of a bunch of lost souls wandering around what can be the most hostile and coldest place in the world, Las Vegas. You don’t get to like or appreciate those negative characters but you get to understand and share their loneliness and lack of course in their lives. In that sense, this movie mixes the action spirit of CMP’s Chinese Dragon Trilogy - with which it has quite a few points in common, including gambling and Las Vegas – and the melancholic desperation of ‘Leaving Las Vegas’. And all that is much more than what I would have ever expected from a moviemaker like Paul WS Anderson.’
-Anne Roman

‘Is anybody interested in the Best Cast GMA? Probably, it is one of the most undefined and less appreciated categories of the popular CMP’s awards. But watching ‘Turn Of A Friendly Card’ is the best explanation for the existence of that category. This movie is a cast movie. Without the impressive work of the whole cast – specially Crowe, Judd, Thornton and Cera – this movie wouldn’t have been nothing more than a stereotyped action movie. It is their perfect work as a team what upgrades this movie to a brilliant picture of a group of characters trapped in their own destiny against their will. That beautiful final sequence of Crowe on a gondola is the most poetic portrait of hopeless loneliness I’ve seen on screen in a long time. Cause, after all, does anyone believe that he will live happily ever after?’
-Jackie O’Callaghan

‘Another great screenplay by Richard Franzwa. From its wonderful beginning – that surprising sequence where Macy beats Crowe and then it is known that he hired him to be beaten – to its ambiguous happy ending, ‘Turn Of A Friendly Card’ is one of the most original stories recently seen on screen. Franzwa and Anderson have gone beyond making a routine action movie, upgrading it to a reflection about the difficulties to change our own destiny. That violent compulsive gambler played by Crowe and the sad prostitute played by Judd – two remarkable acting works that should not be forgotten at the next GMA Edition – join the gallery of the best losers recently shown on screen, at the same height than Rourke and his wrestler, just to mention another icon of fatality.’
-Tim Reeves

WHAT YOU DESERVE

‘Dawson Edwards has written a sexy thriller without falling into the explicit provocation of other recent CMP’s sexy thriller, ‘Secret Sins’. This one may not be the best of his dark stories – it is not as dramatically intense as ‘Fallen Kings’ or as intriguing as ‘Ms. Jordon’ – but still can be considered as another intelligent crime story, engrossing enough to deserve a watch. The four main characters are believable – something that didn’t happen in other Edwards’ movies like ’24 Hours To Live’ – and the suspense, based on the sexual tension of the crossed relationships, is built up to remain until the very final sequence. That’s what a thriller must be about and ‘What You Deserve’ does not disappoint in that sense. A good movie. Maybe not a top class one, but still good enough to consider it a worthy cinematic experience.’
-Jake Cobb

‘I must admit I had never thought before that Carrie-Anne Moss could be so sexy. I felt absolutely trapped by her sexual charm during the whole length of this movie. Moss creates a seductive character that stays in an intriguing middle land between the mistreated victim of a mean husband and a classic femme fatale. Both weak and strong, victim and villain, sometimes you hate her, sometimes you feel so attracted to her. And her steamy sex sequences with Jackson work with a perfect chemistry – something that does not happen at the same level with the Pacino-Cruz’s sequences – increasing the hot atmosphere of the story. From now on, Moss has been added to my personal list of erotic myths.’
-Andrew Stampton

‘CMP’s movies have always had an unsettled relationship with sex. Sometimes, the Studio has been accused of being too conservative. Some others, it has gone to excessive extremes – let’s mention here ‘Reform School Girls’ or the most recent ‘Secret Sins’. It is probably Dawson Edwards one of the CMP’s writers that has given sex the best treatment in his stories. Edwards’ characters - like Eva Mendes in ‘Fallen Kings’, Cameron Diaz in ‘Ms. Jordon’ and both Moss and Cruz in this movie - can be considered as some of the hottest female characters seen in CMP’s movies. Edwards always uses sex as an essential element of the plot but not as the main issue of his stories. Always disturbing, always mixed with crime, sex in Edwards’ movies is always a dangerous thing, a way to be damned, something forbidden… and that’s what makes it so appealing to his male characters that they finally fall into the temptation even against their will (Edward Norton in ‘Ms. Jordon’, Joshua Jackson here). In that sense, explicit sex sequences never work as well as when sexual messages appeal to the subconscious of both the character on screen and the audience. That’s what this movie does and that’s why it is so sexy.’
-Chris Burgess


Welcome back to CMP with a brand new season. I hope everyone was happy with the GMA wins last season. Let's hope for a successful season this time around!

METROID

Opening Statements: Metroid is a film most gamers would love to see turned into a movie, though film buffs may hate the idea due to their loyalty to the Alien series. The similarities between game and film aren't necessarily "endless" but there are some there. That's just enough for people to call it 'Alien Ripoff'

What I Liked: Charlize Theron makes the Samus suit work. A decent balance of action-science fiction-horror. I also liked how the film was more based on the older games. It was also nice to see the backstory of Samus and her training with the Chozo alien race.

What I Disliked: The 'forced casting' of certain characters. They seemed to be just there to fill in slots: Laurence, we haven't really seen him since his Aquaman role and has yet to find another role to suit him better.

Shining Star/Dead Weight: Charlize does well in her action hero role, showing female action-star rivals Jolie, Heigl, Smulders that there's room for more. The rest of the cast did well with their roles, even if they were just very minor supporting roles.

The Brains Behind: Zach Snyder is further proving he is a great director of action with his visual styles. It is difficult to bring a game adaptation to life on the screen. I also applaud the designers for making a wonderful adaptation of Planet Zebes and the familiar Spaceship. Great designs of Ridley, Kraid and Mother Brain. Josh Collins had a difficult time getting the rest of the cast to carry the film, but he did pick a great candidate to be Samus. Good attempt at capturing the backstory and writing one of his better Sci-Fi films.

Overall: C+

TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD

Opening Statement: Richard Franzwa had just come off of his biggest GMA night. It seems somewhat traditional to see CMP writers getting their big victories in one season and then get a new movie so soon after the award ceremony. It is certainly a different type of film from Franzwa, though I personally didn't think it was at the same par as most of Franzwa's films.

What I Liked: The cast worked pretty well together in this film. It does have an interesting touch and that's something we can always expect out of Franzwa: Interesting, creative, originality.

What I Disliked: Probably that it was marketed as an action though it wasn't necessarily action in the sense we all know. Perhaps it's wrong to think of a movie by its genre label, but this is the masses were talking about. When they want action, they want stunts and explosions!

Shining Star/Dead Weight: In the entire movie, I particularly enjoyed Michael Cera, whose more prone to being the 'nerdy funny guy' but he manages to be so much more here. I have no idea what Beyonce was doing in this movie.

The Brains Behind: Going off what I was talking about in my opening statement, it really is difficult to be on top of the mountain from a previous season and a writer may have a lot to live up to in their next release. The masses are expecting 'another Metropolis' and may end up being disappointed that this may not be as well made as the last film. We see it often with our writers coming so fresh off their victorious season and I think this happened to Franzwa. I still enjoy his works and Turn of a Friendly Card isn't necessarily bad, but with Metropolis so fresh on everyone's mind, it's no Metropolis. It is nice to see Paul W.S. Anderson get a film finally in CMP!

Overall: C+

What You Deserve

Opening Statement: And we have the underdog of the week. Dawson Edwards continues to move forward and deliver with his unique style of storytelling.

What I Liked: It was nice to see the actors try.

What I Disliked: There were some rather formulaic and predictable moments that stood out in the film, making it less creative. It is hard to do something new with a film. Some of the dialogue made me laugh when it shouldn't have.

Shining Star/Dead Weight: I don't think there was anyone in this movie that really stood out. Everyone was just comfortable in what they had. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Not really a good thing either.

The Brains Behind: We know Dawson Edwards can do so much better. It doesn't even compare to his classics such as Rebel or Fallen Kings. What can really be said about DJ Caruso's direction? He tried to show the story Edwards was trying to tell, but just missed the bulls-eye.

Overall: C-

Not the greatest week in releases, but I'll try to pick something for a must see

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

METROID