MAY, 6


DAUGHTERS OF THE DRAGON 2

Action Adventure

The Cast: Cameron Diaz, Halle Berry, Paul Walker, Kiefer Sutherland, Ken Watanabe, Gerald Okamura, Michelle Yeoh, Koji Yakusho.

The Director: Jon Turteltaub
The Screenwriter: Joey Stark

The Plot:

Colleen Wing (C.Diaz) and Misty Knight (H.Berrry) are working in NYC at their private detective agency known as ‘Daughters Of The Dragon’. But when Colleen’s grandfather Kenji Ozawa (G.Okamura) phones her to tell her that he needs to see her urgently, Colleen and Misty do not hesitate to fly immediately to Shanghai.

Next morning after their arrival, Kenji asks Colleen to take an early walk with him at the beautiful Japanese garden of his home. Kenji tells her that the Golden Samurais Brotherhood, the ancient brotherhood he is the leader of, is worried due to some recent events. The Papyrus has disappeared. The Papyrus is a very old parchment extremely valuable: first, because it is an ancient piece of art but, also, because it is written in it in hieroglyphic writing the ritual needed for a samurai to transform in any living creature. The Golden Samurais have never used that power. But, as Colleen knows (see ‘Daughters Of The Dragon’), the Dark Samurais, the evil brotherhood rival of the Golden Samurais, does use that forbidden power. Kenji is afraid that somebody may use the Papyrus to teach new samurais the power of transforming in living creatures.

While Kenji and Colleen are talking, Misty has decided to visit the beautiful Flower Market in Shanghai. There, a handsome American has approached to her. He introduces himself as Mark Wilbur (P.Walker), a business man. He is obviously flirting with Misty when something happens. A band of bikers appear at the market and they attack Misty. They are men with black masks on big motorbikes and holding nunchakus. They round Misty and Mark. Misty stops the hits of the nunchakus with her bionic arm. To Misty’s surprise, Mark shows great fighting skills. It’s a big fight between the bikers and Misty and Mark. The Flower Market becomes a mess and most of the flowers stands are destroyed during the fight.

Finally, Misty and Mark beat the bikers. When the fight is over, Misty asks Mark who he really is. Mark tells her that he is a CIA agent. His mission there is investigating the so called Hiam Yakuza, a mafia organization that controls a net of stolen arts pieces and also drug traffic from Shanghai to the US. He tells her that those bikers were thugs of the Hiam Yakuza. But why have they attacked Misty?

Meanwhile, at Kenzi’s garden, Colleen and her grandfather keep talking when something happens. Kenzi suddenly falls on the ground. To Colleen’s horror, he is suddenly dead. Colleen finds a little dart in the back of his neck. She runs trying to find the assassin but there’s no-one around. She only gets to see a man jumping into a car out of the garden and driving away. She gets to see he is a white man, not Asian. She returns to Kenzi and embraces him crying for his death.

Kenzi’s is buried in a traditional ceremony. After the ceremony, the members of the Golden Samurais Brotherhood reunite with Colleen and she promises them that she will recover the Papyrus. The samurais tell her that there are rumors that Master Khan, leader of the Dark Samurais, is back in Shanghai and it could be him who stole the Papyrus.

Later, Misty introduces Mark to Colleen. Mark tells her that maybe it is the Hiam Yakuza who stole The Papyrus due to his high value. Colleen and Misty decide they should find and meet Ki Shen (Kòji Yakusho), the mysterious and powerful leader of the Hiam Yakuza. Mark accepts to team up with them.

Colleen, Misty and Mark visit the underworld clubs of Shanghai looking for members of the Hiam Yakuza. At one of the clubs, Colleen sees the same man she saw after Kenji’s death. But when she tries to get to him, a few drunks round up Colleen, surprised to see an American blonde woman there. It all ends up in a big fight. Colleen shows her karate fighting skills during the fight. Once the fight is over, a mysterious woman approaches to Colleen. The woman tells Colleen that considering how she fights, she must be a samurai and shows Colleen her respect. The woman introduces herself as Mara (M.Yeoh) and asks Colleen what was she doing at the club. When Colleen tells her she is looking for Ki Shen, Mara answers that she can help her to find him. But Mara tells Colleen that she has to go with her alone leaving Mark and Misty. Although it looks strange and dangerous, Colleen accepts.

As soon as they leave the club, Mara gives Colleen an injection. Colleen faints and Mara introduces her in a car that was waiting for her in a dark backstreet.

Misty and Mark keep looking for Ki Shen on their own. They get to know the club where the bikers that attacked them at the Flower Market usually go. They go there and they steal a motorbike to follow one of them to the Ki Shen’s hideout.

When Colleen wakes up she is chained to a chair. In front of her is no other than Master Khan (K.Watanabe), the leader of the Dark Samurais, well known by Colleen (see ‘Daughters Of The Dragon’). He tells Colleen that he ordered the assassination of her grandfather and now he will also kill her. But he admits that he does not have the Papyrus.

Master Khan leaves Colleen alone with Mara. Mara is a sadistic professional torturer. When Mara is displaying her torture instruments, a man suddenly appears in the room. It is the white man Colleen has seen before twice. The man faces Mara and they fight. Finally, he kills her with one of her torture knifes. Then he releases Colleen and introduces himself as John Carson (K.Sutherland). He is a FBI agent whose mission is to arrest Master Kahn and to take him back to the US. It’s a secret mission as he does not want local authorities to interfere. He admits he has been following Colleen to see if she could take him to Master Kahn. The problem now is how can they escape from where they are, Master Kahn’s Palace.

To his surprise, Colleen tells him that they are not going to escape but to face Master Kahn. They get out of the room and let the guardians capture them. When they are taken to the presence of Master Kahn, Colleen tells him that she wants to challenge him to a duel following the rules of the Sacred Duel Of Ancient Samurais. It is a ritual duel her grandfather told her about. As the new leader of the Golden Samurais Brotherhood, Colleen has the right to challenge Master Kahn, also leader of the Dark Samurais Brotherhood, to that ritual duel. The rules are that both fighters have to dress the traditional Samurai’s armor, they can only use a sword and they cannot transform in any creature or use any kind of magic during the duel but only their sword fighting skills.

Master Kahn accepts the challenge and tells Colleen that the duel will take place in three hours, when the sun begins to rise.

Meanwhile, Misty and Mark are at Ki Shen’s hideout, an elegant mansion outside the city. They get into the house and look around until they find Ki Shen’s office and a safe. To Misty’s surprise, Mark opens it with great ability. Inside, they find The Papyrus… but Ki Shen’s men find them.

There’s a wild gunfight all over the mansion between Misty and Mark and Ki Shen’s men. Finally, Misty and Mark capture Ki Shen himself. He tells them that he was contracted by Master Kahn to steal The Papyrus but he didn’t kill Kenji. He tells them where they can find Master Kahn. After that, Ki Shen’s men arrive and Misty and Mark run away from the mansion takint The Papyrus with them.

It’s dawning. Master Kahn and Colleen face each other on a lonely hill. Both are dressed up with traditional samurai’s clothes and hold a sword. There are no witnesses. The duel begins as the sun begins to rise…

Misty and Mark arrive on their bike to Master Kahn’s home. They get in through the gardens and there they step into John Carson. He is waiting there for the end of the duel. According to the ritual, followers of the duelists cannot fight while the duel is taking place. Carson has been allowed to wait at the gardens.

Carson introduces himself to Misty and he says to Mark: ‘I’m not surprised to see you again’. Misty’s so surprised the two men know each other. Carson explains her that Mark is one of the most ‘prestigious’ thieves of ancient art in the world. Misty is shocked. She faces Mark with anger: ‘You are not a CIA agent?’ Mark realizes it has no sense to keep lying. He admits Carson is right. He was in Shanghai to steal The Papyrus…

Colleen and Master Kahn’s duel goes on. Both are extremely skilled with the sword. At some point, Colleen is about to beat Master Kahn. And to Colleen’s surprise, then Master Kahn breaks the rules and transforms into a dragon. Colleen cannot fight against that. The dragon is about to kill her when Colleen hear words inside her head. It’s her uncle Kenji’s voice. He is whispering strange words in old Chinese. It’s the secret mantra that allows samurais to transform in any kind of creature.

Colleen closes her eyes and let the voice of Kenji fulfill her mind. When she opens her eyes again she has transformed into a big lioness. A wild fight between the dragon and the lioness begins then.

At the gardens, Mark confesses that his original plan was selling The Papyrus to Master Kahn. But then he met Misty and he feels very much attracted by her, he says, and now he only wants to help her. ‘I know you very well and I can’t believe you’, tells him Carson, ‘I’ll arrest you and take you back to the US with me. You have a few pending issues with law there…’

At the hill, the lioness is wounded by the dragon but finally she reacts in a most savage way and gets to defeat him and kill him.

Misty, Mark and Carson see Colleen returning from the duel. Her arm is bleeding and she looks exhausted. When they ask her what has happened at the duel, she smiles in a mysterious way and only says: ‘Don’t ask. Too hard to believe…’

When Kahn’s samurais see Colleen they realize she has won the duel. And they attack. An horde of samurais surrounds them at the garden. They fight them any way possible with guns, sword, nunchakus and fists… The samurais even through grenades. In the middle of the mess, Mark approaches to Misty. He gives her The Papyrus, kisses her and tells her ‘We’ll meet again…’

Finally, the samurais are forced to retreat. Colleen, Misty and Carson reunite once out of Kahn’s house. There’s no sign of Mark.

The final sequence takes place at the palace of the Golden Samurais. In a solemn ceremony, Colleen gives The Papyrus back to the new leader of the Brotherhood. She talks to the members of the Brotherhood to tell them that she cannot accept being their leader as her uncle wanted but she will help them any time they need her.

Carson and Misty are invited at the ceremony.

As the sun begins to fall outside, The Papyrus is put back at the pedestal where it had stayed for so many years before being stolen. And Colleen smiles with satisfaction.


Stark’s Comment:
Another one of those releases that should work nicely without unpleasant surprises. Cameron has become lately one of the biggest CMP’s stars and that should help to turn this movie into one of the blockbusters of the Season.

Behind The Scenes:
-‘Daughters Of The Dragon’ made the best box office of CMP’s Season 10: 187 millions and 123 millions of net gains.
-The previous movie was directed by McG but Joey Stark decided that he wanted another visual style for this sequel.
-For so long, Joey Stark said that he would never write a sequel of ‘Daughters Of The Dragon’. Now, he has stated again that there won’t be a third movie.
-The main challenge of the movie was designing the digitally generated dragon and lion that fight at the final duel.
-Unconfirmed rumors say that the salary paid to Cameron Diaz for her work in this movie is the highest one ever paid in CMP to an actress.

ALABAMA

Romance / Drama

The Cast: Natalie Portman, Will Smith, Matt Dillon, Ed Harris, Kirsten Dunst, Forrest Whitaker

The Director: Will Smith
The Screenwriter: Chad Taylor

The Plot:

Natalie(Portman) is a southern church girl, who lives in Alabama with her husband John(Matt Dillon). Their love is strong, but she sometimes questions his commitment. It is 1965, and everyone and their brother know the controversy of civil rights. Her husband John is opposed. She’s heard from her father Ed(Harris) her whole life that blacks are bad and evil people. So she stayed away.

John has an ongoing affair with Kirsten(Dunst). One day, when Natalie arrives home from work early, John is there making love to Kirsten. Natalie freaks out, and leaves home crying. She feels so emotionally distressed that she just committed her life to this man, and he does this. She decides not to take any action but to get even. She wants to find a man to cheat with, as John continuously apologizes. She accepts it, yet still plans to go on the offense.

While shopping at the grocery store, a black man offers assistance in carrying her groceries. He introduces himself as William(Smith). She tells him to come with her. He wonders why, afraid she is going to turn him in or something. But instead, she takes him to her home, where John is absent. He asks her what she wants, and she whispers in his ear “Fuck me.“ She takes her clothes off, and approaches him. “Ma’am I…” He tries to resist, but cannot, and they have aggressive sex. Natalie is expecting John to return home, but he never does. When William leaves, they trade contact information, and part ways.

One day,Natalie broke her sink. Since John was at work, she didn't know who to call. Then she found William's number and called him. She asks if he can fix it, which he says yes. He comes over, and helps out. He starts to get hot in his long sleeve shirt,and takes it off. When he finishes the job, Natalie thanks him and he picks up his shirt. At this time, John walks in, right away seeing William putting his shirt back on with Natalie in his presence. William flees out the door, while John yells derogatory terms towards him.

We see William get in his car, and John follow behind. Finally, William gets away, and John angrily returns home. John has alternate plans, but will play his poker face, and act like he is not very mad. He tells Natalie he understands, and they go to sleep. But the next day, when she goes to work, John stays behind. He searches the house up and down, and finally finds William’s contact information. First, he calls him, yelling nigger into the phone repeatedly and harassing him. He then hangs up, and goes to his car. He drives to William’s address, with a gun in the backseat.

When he arrives, he storms in and finds William sitting on the couch. He points the gun, at him, and tells him to stand up. We see William slip a knife into his sleeve as he throws his hands up in surrender. John forces him against a wall, asking him why he was sleeping with his wife. “Because I wanted to,sir.” he says. This sets John off, and he pulls the trigger. But as he does, William uses his head to hit the gun out of his hands, and pulls out the knife. He stabs John repeatedly until he’s dead. The resident in the apartment next door, Josh(a policeman), hears the nonsense and rushes in. He arrests William on the spot.

Natalie must stay with her father after John’s death. She grows sick and tired of hearing how great of a person he was, and finally tells her father that he was cheating on her. He comforts his hurt daughter, who has not revealed that she was cheating on him, too.William’s attorney(Forrest Whittaker), meanwhile is trying to portray a self-defense plea. William tells him the whole story, including Natalie. However, the lawyer is afraid that revealing that would seal his fate, as there is already a bias.

Meanwhile, Natalie starts to miss William. She wants to visit him in jail, but knows it would hurt her image. She knows that she must act like the victim, in order for her side to win. Yet she has conflicting thoughts as she wants William to be free. She finally tells her dad the true story, angering him. He tells her to leave, causing her to cry again. Kirsten then visits Natalie, cussing her out, and telling her how bad of a person she is.

As the film progresses, we see her go through many emotions, as the trial approaches. We also see the media backlash, of a black man killing a white man. A montage is shown, as major news outlets, Martin Luther King Jr.,and Malcolm X all comment on the story.

At the trial, despite the defense, William’s story is not believed, and they believe John was lured into the house and killed. The judge is white, causing the attorney to go on an tirade about the judge is racist. Natalie, watching in the crowd, stands up. “It’s my fault. I had sexual relations with William, and John discovered. He was angry…” She thinks over her next words, knowing William’s fate is all but sealed. “It was me. I told John he should kill William, because I noticed my mistakes, and I didn’t want the burden on me. I’m sorry.” She sits down, with silence afterwards. Everyone in the courtroom looks around, including William, who knows she’s lying.

Finally Ed, Natalie’s racist father, stands up and claims an objection. He tells the truth, which Natalie revealed to him. He wants the best for his daughter, who wants the best for William. “Neither William, nor Natalie were at fault. It was John. John was angry man since I knew him, and an angry outburst like this was waiting to happen.” The community is shocked that she was with a black man, and starts to hate her. However, the judge has no other option but to let William off the hook, and he is able to start a relationship with Natalie, despite Ed’s disapproval. They move away to a northern city, where they watch the civil rights movement evolve on their colored television set.


Stark’s Comment:
One of the bets for cinematic quality of the Season. If everything goes right, we should hear a lot about this movie again when the next GMA’s times come. But I also expect it to make a nice box office helped by the star power of the starring couple.

Behind The Scenes:
-Second directional job by Will Smith after ‘John And Tommie’, also written by Chad Taylor.
-Natalie Portman was already pregnant when shooting the movie so Smith had to be careful it wasn’t noticed on screen, particularly in the sex sequences.
-Kirsten Dunst used to be a very active talent in CMP. She has been nominated at the GMA three times. But she had not been seen in a CMP’s movie since Season 10’s ‘Weigh Anchor’.

JASON VS. LEATHERFACE

Action / Horror / 3D

The Cast: Derek Mears, Andrew Bryniarski, Jerry O’Connell, Corey Bowles, Sid Haig, Karen Black, Jamie Bamber, Patricia Arquette, Dina Meyer, Max Van Ville

The Director: John Woo
The Producer: Midnight Movies
The Screenwriter: Matt Kubrick

The Plot:

The Midnight Movies logo comes up shooting over the audience's head and instead of credits the movie begins and we see Jason (D.Mears) moving through a dark forest walking at a quick pace he comes to a stop and the camera is tilted up at him while a full moon hangs in the sky. Meanwhile 4 teenagers are hanging out at their camp, two girls and two guys. They are having a party drinking, doing drugs and having explicit sex. One of the girls goes off to pee but Jason kills her by pushing her on a tree limb, twisting her around and the splitting her in half by pulling down on her legs. Her boyfriend goes looking for her and is beheaded with a machete. Meanwhile the second two are screwing in a tent the girl riding ontop when all of a sudden the man sees a dark shape looming all of a sudden Jason thrusts his machete through her stomach and she falls ontop of him then Jason thrusts his machete down into him and pulls it out causing blood to spray all over the place.

Meanwhile miles away deeper in the dark woods two rednecks named Buck (J.O’Connell) and Loomis (C.Bowles) are on the hunt, they are brothers and part of the Sawyer family the are cannibals and they are hunting prey. Finally the come upon a woman stuck in a bear trap screaming in pain we caught you girlie, says Buck we eat tonight!. A half hour later they are driving back to their small home built deep in the woods, driving along a dirt road. This is where we meet the rest of the family, their father Gregor (S.Haig), their mother Maude (K.Black) and Leatherface (A.Bryniarski) himself. They start preparing the woman in a grisly way for supper and slowly heavy metal music begins blaring through out the theater building to a high pitch. Finally the title Jason VS Leatherface shoots out across the audience in an awesome display.

The following day we are introduced to several characters, a pair of FBI agents named Michael Watkins (J.Bamber) and Laura West (P.Arquette), a pair of teenage lovers named Karen (D.Meyer) and Steve (M.Van Ville). Karen's family is kinda rich and owns a few businesses in the crystal lake area. Her parents also don't want her dating Steve, they feel he is below her. Michael Watkins is in the town to investigate a rash of dissapearences and unsolved murders. He hears talk of the local boogy man and knows that there have been murders in the area before. The movie alternates between Michael, Laura and the teens Steve and Karen going about they're day and interacting with family members, we get to know them and those around them. Michael and Laura question several townspeople and learn that the tale of Jason Voorhees and the old camp site. We get some flashbacks from ‘Voorhees the early years’ and ‘the bloody years’. Michael refuses to believe that a local legend is behind all this. Karen learns that her parents will be leaving town for the weekend on a trip and plans to meet up with Steve during the night so they can be together.

That night as Karen's parents are leaving town, the car breaks down in the middle of the woods along a dark road and they both get into a fight. The father gets out to check the engine whiles Jason spies them from the woods. Jason kills him right away while the mother screams for him to look out. The mother locks the doors to the car but Jason ends up pushing the car on it's side and tipping it over and all the windows bust out. She screams and slowly crawls her way out and runs screaming into the woods but eventually Jason catches up to her while she tries to hide and he slits her throat with his machete.

Later that night Buck and Loomis are out on the prowl again and as they bicker and fight they eventually run into Jason standing in the darkness. Buck has his head twisted off but Loomis manages to escape into the night and runs away back to his families old farmhouse to inform them what happened. They don't believe him so he takes Leatherface out to check the body and when they report back they all come to the same conclusion. Buck must be avenged, Jason has to die. But first they have to eat to keep their strength up. They pull two teenagers out of their basement and heard them into a pen. Leatherface comes outside and starts up his chainsaw and cuts them up. Meanwhile Jason kills two teenagers screwing hard in a camper. Jason kills them both. He first kills the male by electrocuting him on a fuse box then kills the female by beheading her.

Finally the movie begins heading towards it's final confrontation and the town of crystal lake becomes the battleground. Michael and Laura will eventually cross paths with karen and steve. The films major set piece happens inside a crowded bar where Jason and Leatherface fight each other. There will be large casualties from the scared patrons as the two fight each other. But when a gas main is cut by leatherface's chainsaw a spark blows the whole place up in a massive fireball sending survivors scattering and launching several cars through the air crashing to the ground. Michael gets on his radio and starts screaming. We need everyone send everyone get the fucking military here now!

Jason and Leatherface's multiple fights will be brutal as they stalk each other down and have all out brawls. Finally the movie will head to it's conclusion and the main event. But movie theater's will get two endings that they can show at different times so people watching won't get the same ending.

ending 1
Jason eventually ends up at the Sawyer families farmhouse deep in the woods he slaughters Loomis, Gregor and Maude before having one last all out brawl with Leatherface, being knocked through walls, windows, bringing the whole house down around them. In the end Leatherface will be disembowled with a machete. Michael, Laura, Karen and steve are the survivors and make it to daybreak when the military finally shows up.

ending 2
Jason makes his way to the farmhouse and Jason fights the surviving Sawyer clan but they all work together to bring Jason down. Maude will be killed but, with chains and riding around on dirt bikes the family bring Jason down, Loomis and Gregor put Jason's head on a tree stump and Leatherface cuts it off with his chainsaw. Michael, Laura, Karen and steve are the survivors and make it to daybreak when the military finally shows up.


Stark’s Comment:
You all know by now what happens with these horror movies: they are always a hit or miss. No matter the popularity of Vorhees and Leatherface, I don’t feel confident about the financial future of this production. Besides that, I like that experiment about the two possible endings.

Behind The Scenes:
-This is the first time in a CMP’s movie that it has two different endings depending on the theatre you are watching it.
-Matt Kubrick has said that he chose John Woo as director of the movie because he did not want any typical director specialized in horror films. In fact, the movie is presented as an ‘Action / Horror’ film and not strictly as a horror or a ‘slasher’ movie (although it obviously is).
-John Woo teamed up before with Kubrick in ‘The Avenger’ (nothing to do with ‘The Avengers’ saga). The movie, starred by Eric Bana, worked only correctly at box office. After that, John Woo only directed for CMP ‘Metal Gear Solid’ and it was a box office’s disaster.
-Jerry O’Connell has become a regular lately in Kubrick’s horror flicks. He could be seen in ‘Pinocchio’s Terror’ and ‘The Shield’.
-Karen Black has also worked with Kubrick before in the remake of ‘Silent Night, Deadly Night’.
-James Franco, Ron Perlman and Michael C. Hall were offered to be in the movie but the three of them declined the offer.
- Andrew Bryniarski already played Leatherface in the 2003’s remake of ‘The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’.
-Matt Kubrick has made two movies before with Jason Vorhees in it: ‘Vorhees: The Early Years’ and ‘Vorhees: The Bloody Years’. The first one was a box office’s success and the second one was a hard flop. Sequences of both movies can be seen in this one as a flashback.


JUSTICE LEAGUE: CRISIS ON INFINITE EARTHS: One of the surprises of this new installment of the ‘JL’ franchise is that CMP finally resurrects one of its most mistreated superheroes. ‘Aquaman’ made 177 millions in box office and 220 millions of net gains. And that means that Dawson Edwards and David Yates’ film is one of the most successful superhero movies ever in CMP’s History. But the extremely negative reaction of critics discouraged Edwards from developing a saga. Later, Chad Taylor considered including Aquaman as one of the members of the League. Finally, Aquaman wasn’t recruited. But now Taylor has finally decided to resurrect this mistreated hero and to include him as one of the most appealing novelties of this movie. So Paul Walker, who can be seen this week in ‘Daughters Of The Dragon 2’, will dress again the amphibian costume of the hero. In front of him, GMA Winner Paul Bettany also returns to CMP playing one of the villains of the story.

MIDNIGHT: Green light for a very interesting remake written by D.R. Cobb. In 1963, it was released a Brazilian horror movie titled ‘À Meia-Noite Levarei Sua Alma’ (‘At Midnight I’ll Take Your Soul’). It instantly became a cult movie. The movie introduced the iconic character of Coffin Joe and two sequels of it were developed. Now, D.R.Cobb has decided to develop an American remake of this classic of gothic horror. To direct it, he has chosen Brad Anderson, who succeeded in CMP with another horror movie, ‘Silent Hill’, and then absolutely failed with its sequel. And to play the iconic Coffin Joe, Cobb has chosen no other than GMA Winner Colin Farrell, who takes a rest this way from the ‘Assassin’s Creed’ saga to play a very different kind of assassin.

HEAVY RAIN: Peter Jackson is directing this action thriller written by Steve Connors with a long cast that includes GMA Nominee Laura Linney, whose last work for CMP was ‘Raise Of The Darkman’, playing here David Duchovny’s ex wife; James Gandolfini, seen past Season in ‘Love Lost’, playing a Police chief; and Jeffrey Wright, last time seen in the Studio in ‘Little Miss Dollface’, playing a drug trafficker.

EYE OF THE NEEDLE: James Bradley has decided to take back to the big screen the bestselling book written by Ken Follett. The book was already turned into a movie back in 1981. But Bradley has stated that his movie won’t be a remake of that film, as he has never watched it, but directly an adaptation of the book. It tells the story of a Nazi spy in England during Second World War and the relationship he has with a married woman in a lonely island. James Bradley is also going to direct the movie in what will be his 6th directional job.

DEATH CRUISE: Here comes at last the announced fourth episode of the ‘Reform School Girls’ series. Robert Rodriguez, director of ‘Tracks Of Blood’, second installment of the saga, is back behind the cameras after Rob Cohen replaced him in the third one, ‘Vixen’. Quentin Tarantino, producer of ‘Reform School Girls’ and ‘Tracks Of Blood’, is not back this time. The screenplay has been written again by Joey Stark (Matt Kubrick was only the writer of the first movie) and the two stars of the franchise, Michelle Rodriguez and Eliza Dushku – only seen together in the first movie – will finally meet again in this one in what promises to be a bloody final duel between them.

FAMILY REUNION: Jennifer Aniston, still hot her first GMA nomination past Season for ‘Queens’, returns playing Ben Stiller’s girlfriend in this comedy written by Chad Taylor and being directed by Jay Roach. And another big name also joins the cast: Harrison Ford. He had not been in a CMP’s film since ‘WW3’, also written by Taylor. Ford will be playing the father of Stiller and Zach Braff in what will mean his first comedic role in CMP.

LEMIEUX: The two times GMA Winner Robin Williams returns to CMP playing the General Manager of the worst team in the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins, in this biopic of hockey star Mario Lemieux written by Dawson Edwards and being directed by Kathryn Bigelow. Lemioux is played by Casey Affleck but, during his younger years, he will have the look of Jeremy Sumpter, not seen in CMP since Edwards decided to abandon the ‘Zoids’ franchise.

RESTRAINT: The young Bailee Mdison, who made an uncredited cameo in past week’s release ‘Kite’, playing the young Emma Stone, gets the credit this time as member of the cast of this Josh Collins’ thriller directed by Neil Jordan and co-starred by Cameron Bright and Josh Hutcherson.

A VIEW FROM THE BRIDGE: Stephen Frears is directing this D.R. Cobb’s adaptation for the big screen of the classic Arthur Miller’s play. And two CMP’s debutantes will be playing the characters whose love story unleashes the drama of the story: Eva Amurri, daughter of actress Susan Sarandon and Italian movie director Franco Amurri; and Sebastian Stan, seen mainly in tv shows like ‘Gossip Girl’. Francis Coppola is the producer of the movie.

SHORT ON TIME: Idris Elba, Best Villain GMA winner for ‘Rebel’ and last time seen in CMP in the megahit ‘Invasion’, returns to the Studio with this action thriller written by D.R.Cobb, directed by John Dahl and starred by Johnny Depp. And it seems like the ‘Aquaman’ stars are lucky this week because Emily Deschanel, whose only work in CMP was that movie, is also back here.


MATT KUBRICK – ‘JASON VS LEATHERFACE’

Matt Kubrick releases this week what could be his last screenplay for some time, as he has announced a temporary retirement as screenwriter. ‘Jason Vs Leatherface’ is a 3D horror slasher movie that reunites on screen the two icons of the genre. We have talked with Kubrick about this movie and some other things.

1.I have the feeling that 'Jason vs. Leatherface' is like the mother of all your slasher movies...

Yeah I would have to agree with that it's one of my favorite things I ever wrote for CMP lots of violence, sex and nudity. The movie will be tons of fun to watch just shut your brain off and enjoy the carnage.

2.Is it easier to work with characters everybody knows, like Vorhees or Leatherface, or does that make it more difficult than working with completely new characters?

It's kinda more difficult because these two horror icons have a lot of fans and if you do something with the character people don't like slasher fans will let you know

3.How do you feel about the ending of 'The Dark Tower' series? Nostalgic or relief?

I feel some relief that it's over because each movie became harder and harder to write as the series of books became more complex and added more to it. By the final movie I had to cut some stuff out and had to change things because it would just be to hard to put into a movie and have it make sense. In the last two books Stephen King himself actually becomes a subplot and I felt it had to go because well I thought it was kinda silly even in the books and it would come off kinda silly on screen.

4.You have won together with Sam Raimi the first Full Moon Award, the new award created by CMP to honor special achivements. How do you feel about it?

It's awesome! and I'm grateful for winning this award but there were a lot of people that worked on the movie and they all should get a special mention as well It wasn't just me and Sam Raimi but hundreds of people.

5.Recently, you announced a temporary retirement from CMP. What are your plans about it? Will it last long?

Until I come up with a lot of ideas. I'm going to focus heavily on Midnight Movies when I come back. I think that will be mostly what I focus on.


WILL SMITH

Will Smith is a veteran in CMP. He’s been around since Season 2 and he has built up a solid and successful filmography in the Studio. With ‘Alabama’, he reaches his 12th work for CMP. Along his career in the Studio, he has worked in four ‘+100’ releases and two ‘+200’ releases. He also has one nomination at the GMA for Best Actor and only one box office’s flop. With ‘John and Tommie’ he made his debut as movie director. Now, he returns both acting and directing with the Chad Taylor’s drama ‘Alabama’. Such an interesting and varied career deserves this week’s close look at.

CHEVROLET
Lawrence Kasdan / James Bradley
B.O.: 98 / N.G.: 107
Will made his debut in CMP co-starring with Tom Cruise this low budget road movie written by James Bradley. Scarlett Johansson and Rosario Dawson joined them in their peculiar trip and critics and audience very much supported this dramedy. Will got his only GMA’s nod for Best Actor with his work in the movie.

THE LAST LAWMAN
Robert Rodriguez / Jack Hammer
B.O.: 68 / N.G.: 35
Jack Hammer chose Smith to star what would become one of the most legendary sagas of CMP. The story mixed western elements with a post-apocalyptic world. Halle Berry, Nicholas Cage and Gene Hackman completed the allstars cast. This first installment was less successful than expected but the Studio decided to go on with the saga anyway.

RETURN OF THE LAST LAWMAN
Robert Rodriguez / Jack Hammer
B.O.: 111 / N.G.: 96
The second installment of the Last Lawman Trilogy meant the first ‘+100’ in Will’s career. This time, it was Salma Hayek and Christopher Lee who joined him in the new adventure. Audiences and critics were more supportive this time and the saga finally took off after the partial disappointment of the first movie.

GAME BOY
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
B.O.: 211 / N.G.: 242
Zemeckis and Lucas – producer of the movie - added Smith to the starry cast of voices of this ambitious production that mixed live action and animation in a fantasy world populated by some of the most famous console games’ characters. The movie became an outstanding success and broke all kind of records in CMP.

LEGEND OF THE LAST LAWMAN
Robert Rodriguez / Jack Hammer
B.O.: 139 / N.G.: 157
The Last Lawman Trilogy was completed with its most successful installment. It was obvious by now that Will Smith was one of the most valuable stars for CMP as all his releases were making more than 100 millions in box office. And time would turn this trilogy in a cult saga still considered as one of the most iconic franchises developed by the Studio.

HF
Michael Bay / Marcus Trax
B.O.: 193 / N.G.: 229
Will Smith did here what he does best: being the action hero of a very mainstream Hollywood’s action pack. Milla Jovovich was his co-star in this non-stop action flick that kept Smith as the most profitable star for CMP, with another release making more than 200 millions of net gains.

GAME BOY 2: WARLANDS
Robert Zemeckis / John Daws
B.O.: 265 / N.G.: 206
The sequel of ‘Game Boy’ was even more successful than the first movie. In fact, this is still the top 6 best box office ever in CMP’s History. Second ‘+200’ release in Will’s career and third release for him with net gains over the 200 millions’ landmark. There would be a third movie of the franchise but Will wasn’t in it.

ONLY IN AMERICA
Cameron Crowe / Ted Froats
B.O.: 153 / N.G.: 132
‘Only In America’ was a parodic musical comedy laughing at the latest US Presidential Elections. Will Smith leaded the cast playing a kind of Barack Obama. Big stars like Jack Nicholson, Jim Carrey, Ethan Hawke or Michelle Pfeiffer were also in the movie. The film got 5 nominations at the GMA in Season 7 winning 3 of them, including Best Picture. For Will, besides the critical and audiences’ support, it meant his 6th ‘+100’ release in a row and also his 5th release in a row making more than 100 millions of net gains. No other star had such an incredibly successful filmography in CMP by the time.

THE CRITIC
Rob Reiner / John Daws
B.O.: 57 / N.G.: 17
‘The Critic’ was an acid ‘mockumentary’ written by John Daws about the life and frustrations of a nasty movie critic played by Patrick Stewart. Will Smith was one of the big stars that accepted making a cameo in the film playing himself together with Brad Pitt, Julia Roberts and Keira Knightley.

GEARS OF WAR
Michael Bay / Steve Connors
B.O.: 35 mill. / N.L.: 12 mill.
And then came ‘Gears Of War’… This sci-fi mega-production looked like the safest bet possible. It was the adaptation of a bestselling console game. It had Smith leading the cast. Bay was behind the cameras. Nothing could go wrong. But everything did. For some unexplainable reason, this top budget production became a huge box office’s disaster. The amazingly successful strike of Will was over.

JOHN AND TOMMIE
Will Smith / Chad Taylor
B.O.: 33 / N.G.: 13
The disaster of ‘Gears Of War’ seemed to affect Smith very much. He stayed away from CMP for some time after that. And when he finally returned to the Studio, it seemed like he had decided to make a U-turn in his career. No more action flicks. He took the risky decision of taking a new direction in his CMP’s career. Smith made his debut as director and also played a minor role in this interesting biopic about the two black athletes that shocked the world in 1968 during the Mexico’s Olympic Games. It was Season 12 and the movie was critically acclaimed and got 3 nominations at the GMA, including Best Picture, winning the Best Starring Couple category with Anthony McKie and Derek Luke. Five Seasons later, Smith and Taylor have teamed up again with ‘Alabama’, the second directional work of Will Smith.


During her promotional tour of ‘Daughters Of The Dragon 2’, Cameron Diaz visited the Jay Leno’s Show. Cameron chose for the occasion a sexy but not too comfortable dress. During the interview, she had serious troubles with a dress that, to be honest, did not suit her very much. Here are some pics from the show.



‘The Goonies 2’ at full speed. Joey Stark and D.R. Cobb have a screenplay finished. They also have a cast chosen (including some of the talents from the original movie). They have Steven Spielberg producing the film. And now they also have a director. And an unexpected one. Matt Kubrick, who has announced his temporary retirement as screenwriter, will stay active as movie director. I’ve got to know that, as soon as he knew this project was going on, he shown Harry Stark his interest in directing this sequel of the classic adventure movie. And he got an instant yes for an answer. So now the movie will reunite three CMP’s authors – Cobb, Stark and Kubrick – in what promises to be one of the big events of next Season.

‘The Hunger Games’ is a best-selling sci-fi novel by Suzanne Collins about a tv programme in a post-apocalyptic world where a boy and a girl are chosen to fight to death. This peculiar story has been adapted to become a CMP’s movie by Chad Taylor and it is expected to be greenlighted soon. The only problem is that the director chosen by Taylor to take care of the film, Zack Snyder, has rejected the job after being involved in the pre-production of the movie. Taylor and Harry Stark are looking now for another talent to replace him urgently as the Studio prefers not changing the release date of the movie.

Another interesting project coming up from Chad Taylor is the adaptation of the peculiar novel by Brady Udall, ‘The Lonely Polygamist’. The book tells the story of a man who has married four times and has twenty-eight children. David Fincher has accepted to direct the film. Fincher has been related to many CMP’s projects that finally went to other directors but it seems like this time his return to CMP is for real. Brad Pitt is rumored to be playing the lead character.

Martin Scorsese is already working in the pre-production of his next CMP’s movie. After his two latest – and successful and critically acclaimed and awarded… – works with Chad Taylor (‘A Farewell To Arms’ and ‘Noon’), this time Scorsese is teaming up with the new and very active screenwriter D.R. Cobb. They are working together in a highly ambitious project: a luxurious adaptation of the Sophocles’ Athenian tragedy ‘Oedipus Rex’.

And I end up this week pointing out the doubts running through CMP’s offices about the future of one of the most profitable franchises still alive in the Studio: Justice League. The third installment of the franchise is about to be released but nobody at the Studio knows what will happen next. Chad Taylor has hinted in some interviews that this third movie might be the last one of the saga. And Christopher Nolan recently stated that he will abandon the saga after this release. On the other side, it is obvious that the Studio would like to keep alive this profitable franchise. But while the Studio is investing a huge budget on the marketing campaign of ‘Justice League: Crisis On Infinite Earths’ nobody knows at CMP by now if this will mean the League’s farewell or not.