CBS didn't wait until the eleventh hour to make its new series pickups. It ordered six new series Monday, including Jerry Bruckheimer's drama "Eleventh Hour".
But it went down to the wire on its bubble series: "Shark" and "Moonlight"; solid performers "The Unit", "Rules of Engagement" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; and even overachiever "How I Met Your Mother" -- none of which had heard their fate by Monday night.
But while the other series are waiting to find out whether they will be back, the question for "Old Christine" seems to be which network will the series return to.
In a Deja Vu of the "Scrubs" predicament in May 2007, when the series almost went to ABC before getting a last-minute reprieve by NBC, it is understood that ABC is ready to pick up "Old Christine" with a 22-episode order if CBS declines to do so.
There have been rumblings that CBS is considering using the Julia Louis-Dreyfus starrer "Old Christine" to open a second comedy block on Wednesday. The network on Monday picked up another female-oriented comedy, "Worst Week", about an engaged couple.
But it went down to the wire on its bubble series: "Shark" and "Moonlight"; solid performers "The Unit", "Rules of Engagement" and "The New Adventures of Old Christine"; and even overachiever "How I Met Your Mother" -- none of which had heard their fate by Monday night.
But while the other series are waiting to find out whether they will be back, the question for "Old Christine" seems to be which network will the series return to.
In a Deja Vu of the "Scrubs" predicament in May 2007, when the series almost went to ABC before getting a last-minute reprieve by NBC, it is understood that ABC is ready to pick up "Old Christine" with a 22-episode order if CBS declines to do so.
There have been rumblings that CBS is considering using the Julia Louis-Dreyfus starrer "Old Christine" to open a second comedy block on Wednesday. The network on Monday picked up another female-oriented comedy, "Worst Week", about an engaged couple.
- 5/12/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It was a good Thursday morning for Focus Features CEO James Schamus, who saw his company take pride of place the Golden Globe film nominations.
It also had a charge of Deja Vu. Two years ago, Focus led the pack with 12 noms as its Brokeback Mountain led the field with seven nominations.
This year, Paramount Vantage and Universal specialty division Focus scored 11 noms each. But Focus also could boast the dominate film, Atonement, with its seven nominations. In addition, it fielded Eastern Promises and Lust, Caution, which earned three and one, respectively. And that's not counting its stake in Paramount Vantage's Into the Wild, for which Focus is handling non-English international rights. But then, who's counting?
"I'm back from Taipei and I'm on such a high," said Schamus, who co-wrote and executive produced Ang Lee's Lust, which just won seven Golden Horse awards. (The movie's foreign-language Globe nom helps make up for the "complete absurdity" of the film's disqualification in the foreign-language Oscar race, Schamus said.)
Focus came out of the awards gate slowly this year, gaining little traction with such hopefuls as Evening, Reservation Road and Talk To Me. But a careful rollout strategy for Atonement and a late surge for the dark-horse thriller Eastern Promises as well as Lust have put it in a pole position.
It also had a charge of Deja Vu. Two years ago, Focus led the pack with 12 noms as its Brokeback Mountain led the field with seven nominations.
This year, Paramount Vantage and Universal specialty division Focus scored 11 noms each. But Focus also could boast the dominate film, Atonement, with its seven nominations. In addition, it fielded Eastern Promises and Lust, Caution, which earned three and one, respectively. And that's not counting its stake in Paramount Vantage's Into the Wild, for which Focus is handling non-English international rights. But then, who's counting?
"I'm back from Taipei and I'm on such a high," said Schamus, who co-wrote and executive produced Ang Lee's Lust, which just won seven Golden Horse awards. (The movie's foreign-language Globe nom helps make up for the "complete absurdity" of the film's disqualification in the foreign-language Oscar race, Schamus said.)
Focus came out of the awards gate slowly this year, gaining little traction with such hopefuls as Evening, Reservation Road and Talk To Me. But a careful rollout strategy for Atonement and a late surge for the dark-horse thriller Eastern Promises as well as Lust have put it in a pole position.
- 12/14/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
UPDATED 8:35 p.m. PT Oct. 31, 2007
It's Deja Vu all over again for the writers and studio reps around the bargaining table.
After months of speculation that Internet compensation will decide whether the WGA seals a new contract or goes out on strike, the studios' chief negotiator has blamed an eleventh-hour impasse on a little shiny disc.
Once again, labor strife is being spelled DVD.
Judging solely from the point-counterpoint between the producers and the guild late Wednesday, the tone would suggest the odds of a writers strike just went up.
"We've been working hard to come up with a package in response to your last proposal, but we keep running up against the DVD issue," said Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. "The companies believe that movement is possible on other issues. But they cannot make any movement when confronted with your continuing efforts to increase the DVD formula, including the formula for electronic sell-through.
"The magnitude of that proposal alone is blocking us from making any further progress," Counter said at the end of a second long day of mediated talks with the WGA. "We cannot move further as long as that issue remains on the table. In short, the DVD issue is a complete roadblock to any further progress."
Counter said writers can only expect the same terms for permanent Internet downloads of movies and films as they are now provided under the home video residuals formula. The AMPTP exec left unaddressed the matter of ad-supported content streamed over the Internet for free, a reuse for which WGA members get no further compensation but seek first-time pay minimums.
It's Deja Vu all over again for the writers and studio reps around the bargaining table.
After months of speculation that Internet compensation will decide whether the WGA seals a new contract or goes out on strike, the studios' chief negotiator has blamed an eleventh-hour impasse on a little shiny disc.
Once again, labor strife is being spelled DVD.
Judging solely from the point-counterpoint between the producers and the guild late Wednesday, the tone would suggest the odds of a writers strike just went up.
"We've been working hard to come up with a package in response to your last proposal, but we keep running up against the DVD issue," said Nick Counter, president of the Alliance of Motion Picture & Television Producers. "The companies believe that movement is possible on other issues. But they cannot make any movement when confronted with your continuing efforts to increase the DVD formula, including the formula for electronic sell-through.
"The magnitude of that proposal alone is blocking us from making any further progress," Counter said at the end of a second long day of mediated talks with the WGA. "We cannot move further as long as that issue remains on the table. In short, the DVD issue is a complete roadblock to any further progress."
Counter said writers can only expect the same terms for permanent Internet downloads of movies and films as they are now provided under the home video residuals formula. The AMPTP exec left unaddressed the matter of ad-supported content streamed over the Internet for free, a reuse for which WGA members get no further compensation but seek first-time pay minimums.
- 11/1/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Pusan International Film Festival
BUSAN, South Korea -- Commercial Korean cinema is usually peopled with glamorous, flawless faces and figures, but "Skeletons in the Closet" squeezes humor out of a decidedly downbeat and unattractive Korean family. Subtlety is not director Chung Yoonchul's cup of tea. Bursting at the seams with one-joke gags, silly skits and exaggerated acting and body language, the film is a laugh-a-minute exercise, though the jokes will be forgotten as soon as credits roll.
It was released in South Korea in late February, receiving modest boxoffice returns. Cartoonlike performances make the plot as self-explanatory as mime, so language won't be a barrier to foreign viewers. However, the very local humor and social mind-set will. This film is unlikely to travel to major festivals or get much sales interest abroad.
"Skeletons" might as well be called "Family Under the Influence", as the moon features prominently as a mysterious force that holds sway over all the characters' behavior, making them act as if they have PMT all the time. Yong-sun, the teenage daughter in the Shim family, is the narrator. Their eccentricities and unbecoming mannerisms are displayed to considerable comic effect. One of the funniest scenes include: a family photo session that turns out like the Korean version of the painting "American Gothic", and older brother's Deja Vu visions of being a king in his past life.
On the one hand, the Shims' personalities and obsessions are laid open, warts and all. On the other hand, the film suggests that, like the dark side of the moon, everybody has secrets. The biggest one concerns Teacher Shim, the pater familias who cannot satisfy mom in bed. One day, he rescues a sick high school student and ends up in a love hotel with her. The episode is filmed by hidden webcam and broadcast on the Internet. He denies have done anything, but the truth is the film's central mystery. Mom also nurses a secret -- her fantasies about a karaoke waiter who introduces her to a world of aromatic beans. Yong-sun is in love with her film course teacher, but he, too, has a shady past to reveal.
The film would have been mildly thought-provoking if it had ended at about the 100-minute mark, where the characters come to realize that you can never fully know a person, even your closest kin. However, it drags on for too long, culminating in a huge public brawl that is noisy, badly directed and brings everything down to a pedestrian level.
"Skeletons" may be a zany and endearing portrayal of a dysfunctional family, but lacks the depth to reflect current family values in Korea.
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
CJ Entertainment/Musai Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Chung Yoonchul
Written by and based on a work by: Yoo Gab-yeol
Producer: Kim Yoon-ho
Director of photography: Choi Yoon-man
Production designer: Baek Kyung-in
Music: Ji Park
Editor: Ham Sung-won
Cast:
Chun Ho-jin
Moon Hee-kyung
Kim Hye-soo; Yoo Ah-in
Running time -- 117 minutes
No MPAA rating...
BUSAN, South Korea -- Commercial Korean cinema is usually peopled with glamorous, flawless faces and figures, but "Skeletons in the Closet" squeezes humor out of a decidedly downbeat and unattractive Korean family. Subtlety is not director Chung Yoonchul's cup of tea. Bursting at the seams with one-joke gags, silly skits and exaggerated acting and body language, the film is a laugh-a-minute exercise, though the jokes will be forgotten as soon as credits roll.
It was released in South Korea in late February, receiving modest boxoffice returns. Cartoonlike performances make the plot as self-explanatory as mime, so language won't be a barrier to foreign viewers. However, the very local humor and social mind-set will. This film is unlikely to travel to major festivals or get much sales interest abroad.
"Skeletons" might as well be called "Family Under the Influence", as the moon features prominently as a mysterious force that holds sway over all the characters' behavior, making them act as if they have PMT all the time. Yong-sun, the teenage daughter in the Shim family, is the narrator. Their eccentricities and unbecoming mannerisms are displayed to considerable comic effect. One of the funniest scenes include: a family photo session that turns out like the Korean version of the painting "American Gothic", and older brother's Deja Vu visions of being a king in his past life.
On the one hand, the Shims' personalities and obsessions are laid open, warts and all. On the other hand, the film suggests that, like the dark side of the moon, everybody has secrets. The biggest one concerns Teacher Shim, the pater familias who cannot satisfy mom in bed. One day, he rescues a sick high school student and ends up in a love hotel with her. The episode is filmed by hidden webcam and broadcast on the Internet. He denies have done anything, but the truth is the film's central mystery. Mom also nurses a secret -- her fantasies about a karaoke waiter who introduces her to a world of aromatic beans. Yong-sun is in love with her film course teacher, but he, too, has a shady past to reveal.
The film would have been mildly thought-provoking if it had ended at about the 100-minute mark, where the characters come to realize that you can never fully know a person, even your closest kin. However, it drags on for too long, culminating in a huge public brawl that is noisy, badly directed and brings everything down to a pedestrian level.
"Skeletons" may be a zany and endearing portrayal of a dysfunctional family, but lacks the depth to reflect current family values in Korea.
SKELETONS IN THE CLOSET
CJ Entertainment/Musai Films
Credits:
Director-screenwriter: Chung Yoonchul
Written by and based on a work by: Yoo Gab-yeol
Producer: Kim Yoon-ho
Director of photography: Choi Yoon-man
Production designer: Baek Kyung-in
Music: Ji Park
Editor: Ham Sung-won
Cast:
Chun Ho-jin
Moon Hee-kyung
Kim Hye-soo; Yoo Ah-in
Running time -- 117 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 10/10/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
The musical "Dreamgirls" danced away with three Golden Globes. The contemporary drama "Babel", which headed into the event with a dominant seven nominations, was shut out until the end of the evening, when it was named best drama. And actresses who played queens of the realm and queens of the fashion world reigned as the 64th annual Golden Globe Awards were spread among 11 films Monday night.
On the TV side, ABC swept the top series categories with the drama "Grey's Anatomy" and the comedy "Ugly Betty", while "Betty" star America Ferrera got the best actress in a comedy series award.
HBO's biopic "Elizabeth I" was the most-heralded program of the night, with trophies for best miniseries or TV movie, supporting actor Jeremy Irons and star Helen Mirren.
In fact, Mirren could be forgiven if she experienced a moment of Deja Vu at the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. Having visited the stage for her work in "Elizabeth I", she was crowned again as best actress in a motion picture drama for playing Elizabeth II in "The Queen".
"In 1952, a woman called Elizabeth Windsor walked into literally the role of a lifetime, and I honestly think this award belongs to her because I think you fell in love with her, not with me," a regal Mirren said.
If any one movie felt the love at the ceremonies, it was "Dreamgirls", which won supporting trophies for Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy and was named best musical or comedy.
Pointing out that the Broadway show on which the film was based is 25 years old, producer Laurence Mark credited DreamWorks co-chairman David Geffen for saying yes to the adaptation. "I sometimes think the movie was not meant to happen until now so that these stars could align and so that (director) Bill Condon could be the one to guide them," an elated Mark said.
Producer-director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu took a global view of "Babel"'s win as best drama. It was presented to him by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, still on crutches from a recent skiing accident. The ensemble drama about miscommunication was shot on three continents in five languages, but Inarritu declared, "The power of cinema is unique, and at the end, emotion doesn't need translation. That's the beauty of it."
Paramount Pictures chairman Brad Grey had reason to enjoy the evening. Paramount produced "Dreamgirls" with DreamWorks, which is now a division of Paramount, and distributed the film. And Paramount's specialty division, Paramount Vantage, earned a place in the spotlight with "Babel".
Forest Whitaker, who was nominated once before for 1988's "Bird", appeared overwhelmed when he prevailed as best actor in a drama for playing Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland". He admitted he was "really happy to be included in the company of Leo (DiCaprio) and Will (Smith) and Peter O'Toole and Leo once again," he said. Among those he thanked was "Scotland" screenwriter Peter Morgan, who took home the best screenplay award for "The Queen", which he also penned.
Martin Scorsese earned his second Golden Globe as best director for the crime drama "The Departed". "I'm going to talk a little faster than I normally do," he said with the ceremony running dangerously long. He joked that he started out to make a movie like such vintage Warner Bros. Pictures crime dramas as "Public Enemy" and "Angels With Dirty Faces" but "ended up making 'Devils With Dirty Faces.' "
For her turn as the fearsome magazine editor Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada", Meryl Streep picked up her sixth Golden Globe -- though she never had won before as best comedic actress.
On the TV side, ABC swept the top series categories with the drama "Grey's Anatomy" and the comedy "Ugly Betty", while "Betty" star America Ferrera got the best actress in a comedy series award.
HBO's biopic "Elizabeth I" was the most-heralded program of the night, with trophies for best miniseries or TV movie, supporting actor Jeremy Irons and star Helen Mirren.
In fact, Mirren could be forgiven if she experienced a moment of Deja Vu at the ceremony at the Beverly Hilton, hosted by the Hollywood Foreign Press Assn. Having visited the stage for her work in "Elizabeth I", she was crowned again as best actress in a motion picture drama for playing Elizabeth II in "The Queen".
"In 1952, a woman called Elizabeth Windsor walked into literally the role of a lifetime, and I honestly think this award belongs to her because I think you fell in love with her, not with me," a regal Mirren said.
If any one movie felt the love at the ceremonies, it was "Dreamgirls", which won supporting trophies for Jennifer Hudson and Eddie Murphy and was named best musical or comedy.
Pointing out that the Broadway show on which the film was based is 25 years old, producer Laurence Mark credited DreamWorks co-chairman David Geffen for saying yes to the adaptation. "I sometimes think the movie was not meant to happen until now so that these stars could align and so that (director) Bill Condon could be the one to guide them," an elated Mark said.
Producer-director Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu took a global view of "Babel"'s win as best drama. It was presented to him by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, still on crutches from a recent skiing accident. The ensemble drama about miscommunication was shot on three continents in five languages, but Inarritu declared, "The power of cinema is unique, and at the end, emotion doesn't need translation. That's the beauty of it."
Paramount Pictures chairman Brad Grey had reason to enjoy the evening. Paramount produced "Dreamgirls" with DreamWorks, which is now a division of Paramount, and distributed the film. And Paramount's specialty division, Paramount Vantage, earned a place in the spotlight with "Babel".
Forest Whitaker, who was nominated once before for 1988's "Bird", appeared overwhelmed when he prevailed as best actor in a drama for playing Idi Amin in "The Last King of Scotland". He admitted he was "really happy to be included in the company of Leo (DiCaprio) and Will (Smith) and Peter O'Toole and Leo once again," he said. Among those he thanked was "Scotland" screenwriter Peter Morgan, who took home the best screenplay award for "The Queen", which he also penned.
Martin Scorsese earned his second Golden Globe as best director for the crime drama "The Departed". "I'm going to talk a little faster than I normally do," he said with the ceremony running dangerously long. He joked that he started out to make a movie like such vintage Warner Bros. Pictures crime dramas as "Public Enemy" and "Angels With Dirty Faces" but "ended up making 'Devils With Dirty Faces.' "
For her turn as the fearsome magazine editor Miranda Priestly in "The Devil Wears Prada", Meryl Streep picked up her sixth Golden Globe -- though she never had won before as best comedic actress.
- 1/16/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
One could make the case that any movie starring Penelope Cruz or William H. Macy can't be all bad. And "Sahara", which stars both Penelope Cruz and William H. Macy, proves the point: It isn't all bad.
What it is is a big summer action movie that would have been hot stuff about 30 years ago but looks tired and worn today despite a perky, attractive cast that refuses to wilt in the desert sun. Star Matthew McConaughey can draw female audiences just as Cruz draws males, so the film should do enough boxoffice so as not to cause the new Paramount regime any anguish. It might take video and DVD to put the film in the black.
Although shot in Morocco and Spain, the movie is set vaguely in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly Nigeria and Mali. "Sahara" is based on one of novelist Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures, whose intrepid hero is a deep-sea expert and treasure hunter with a nose for trouble and lovely women. In movie terms, Dirk is something of a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones.
Unfortunately, McConaughey is a little too light to step into the kind of role Harrison Ford or Kevin Costner would have played it a decade or so ago. And Steve Zahn is likable but forced as Al Giordino, Dirk's happy-go-lucky sidekick with a quick quip for any situation. The division of labor between these two is best summed up by Zahn's line: "I'll find the bomb! You get the girl!"
Cruz doesn't have much to do other than look ravishing while jumping from a camel onto a moving train or leaping out of a helicopter to escape the villain. And Macy gets sidelined with a character, nominally Dirk's boss, who hears about all the action over the telephone. Still it is fun to watch the two actors turn nonsense into watchable nonsense.
So what is a deep-sea expert doing in the Sahara? Actually he is searching for a Civil War Ironclad battleship that he and he alone believes somehow drifted from Virginia to Africa 140 years ago. Cruz's Dr. Rojas is a World Health Organization doctor determined to locate the cause of a baffling new plague in Mali. Her search has no real connection to Dirk and Al's quest, yet they keep running into one another in the vast wilderness so that Dirk can rescue her from certain death. (In fairness, she rescues him too.)
The trio's escapades come to the attention of evil French entrepreneur Massarde (Lambert Wilson) and Mali strongman General Kazim (Lennie James) who send the entire Mali army after them to cover up the source of the rapidly spreading illness. Four writers struggle to give the plot any sense of plausibility without much success. Leaps in logic and locations abound as our heroes wisecrack their way through fights without a scratch.
First-time feature director Breck Eisner -- he has directed a TV film -- does a respectable job in maintaining forward momentum and brisk byplay among the actors. The film's action set pieces, including a battle between boats on a river, breaking into a mysterious power plant in the middle of nowhere and various skirmishes between our heroes and the general's faceless soldiers, come off effectively.
There is nothing to them though we haven't seen before, and the use of old pop songs on the soundtrack contributes to a strong feeling of Deja Vu. The film's otherworldly locations and sets that neatly blend into the startling vistas spruce up the formulaic happenings. Production designer Allan Cameron has, after all, designed a Bond movie, and this is his fourth movie in Morocco. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey makes the most of the locations to give them a haunting beauty. No, it isn't all bad but it isn't very good either.
SAHARA
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures and Bristol Bay Prods. present in association with Baldwin Entertainment Group a j.k. livin production, a Kanzaman production
Credits:
Director: Breck Eisner
Screenwriters: Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John C. Richards, James V. Hart
Based on the novel by: Clive Cussler
Producers: Howard Baldwin, Karen Baldwin, Mace Neufeld, Stephanie Austin
Executive producers: Matthew McConaughey, Gus Gustawes, William J. Immerman, Vicki Dee Rock
Director of photography: Seamus McGarvey
Production designer: Allan Cameron
Music: Clint Mansell
Costumes: Anna Sheppard
Editor: Andrew MacRitchie
Cast:
Dirk Pitt: Matthew McConaughey
Al Giordino: Steve Zahn
Dr. Eva Rojas: Penelope Cruz
Massarde: Lambert Wilson
Dr. Hopper: Glynn Turman
Carl: Delroy Lindo
Admiral Sandecker: William H. Macy
Rudi: Rainn Wilson
MPAA rating: PG-13.
Running time: 123 minutes.
What it is is a big summer action movie that would have been hot stuff about 30 years ago but looks tired and worn today despite a perky, attractive cast that refuses to wilt in the desert sun. Star Matthew McConaughey can draw female audiences just as Cruz draws males, so the film should do enough boxoffice so as not to cause the new Paramount regime any anguish. It might take video and DVD to put the film in the black.
Although shot in Morocco and Spain, the movie is set vaguely in sub-Saharan Africa, mostly Nigeria and Mali. "Sahara" is based on one of novelist Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt adventures, whose intrepid hero is a deep-sea expert and treasure hunter with a nose for trouble and lovely women. In movie terms, Dirk is something of a cross between James Bond and Indiana Jones.
Unfortunately, McConaughey is a little too light to step into the kind of role Harrison Ford or Kevin Costner would have played it a decade or so ago. And Steve Zahn is likable but forced as Al Giordino, Dirk's happy-go-lucky sidekick with a quick quip for any situation. The division of labor between these two is best summed up by Zahn's line: "I'll find the bomb! You get the girl!"
Cruz doesn't have much to do other than look ravishing while jumping from a camel onto a moving train or leaping out of a helicopter to escape the villain. And Macy gets sidelined with a character, nominally Dirk's boss, who hears about all the action over the telephone. Still it is fun to watch the two actors turn nonsense into watchable nonsense.
So what is a deep-sea expert doing in the Sahara? Actually he is searching for a Civil War Ironclad battleship that he and he alone believes somehow drifted from Virginia to Africa 140 years ago. Cruz's Dr. Rojas is a World Health Organization doctor determined to locate the cause of a baffling new plague in Mali. Her search has no real connection to Dirk and Al's quest, yet they keep running into one another in the vast wilderness so that Dirk can rescue her from certain death. (In fairness, she rescues him too.)
The trio's escapades come to the attention of evil French entrepreneur Massarde (Lambert Wilson) and Mali strongman General Kazim (Lennie James) who send the entire Mali army after them to cover up the source of the rapidly spreading illness. Four writers struggle to give the plot any sense of plausibility without much success. Leaps in logic and locations abound as our heroes wisecrack their way through fights without a scratch.
First-time feature director Breck Eisner -- he has directed a TV film -- does a respectable job in maintaining forward momentum and brisk byplay among the actors. The film's action set pieces, including a battle between boats on a river, breaking into a mysterious power plant in the middle of nowhere and various skirmishes between our heroes and the general's faceless soldiers, come off effectively.
There is nothing to them though we haven't seen before, and the use of old pop songs on the soundtrack contributes to a strong feeling of Deja Vu. The film's otherworldly locations and sets that neatly blend into the startling vistas spruce up the formulaic happenings. Production designer Allan Cameron has, after all, designed a Bond movie, and this is his fourth movie in Morocco. Cinematographer Seamus McGarvey makes the most of the locations to give them a haunting beauty. No, it isn't all bad but it isn't very good either.
SAHARA
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures and Bristol Bay Prods. present in association with Baldwin Entertainment Group a j.k. livin production, a Kanzaman production
Credits:
Director: Breck Eisner
Screenwriters: Thomas Dean Donnelly, Joshua Oppenheimer, John C. Richards, James V. Hart
Based on the novel by: Clive Cussler
Producers: Howard Baldwin, Karen Baldwin, Mace Neufeld, Stephanie Austin
Executive producers: Matthew McConaughey, Gus Gustawes, William J. Immerman, Vicki Dee Rock
Director of photography: Seamus McGarvey
Production designer: Allan Cameron
Music: Clint Mansell
Costumes: Anna Sheppard
Editor: Andrew MacRitchie
Cast:
Dirk Pitt: Matthew McConaughey
Al Giordino: Steve Zahn
Dr. Eva Rojas: Penelope Cruz
Massarde: Lambert Wilson
Dr. Hopper: Glynn Turman
Carl: Delroy Lindo
Admiral Sandecker: William H. Macy
Rudi: Rainn Wilson
MPAA rating: PG-13.
Running time: 123 minutes.
It was a case of boxoffice Deja Vu this weekend in North America as four of the same five films from the previous session were sitting atop the charts, according to Monday's final figures. The familiar list of family-targeted titles continued to dominate, due primarily to the lack of any new wide releases. Sony's "Closer", an R-rated drama from director Mike Nichols, was the only film to open with anything close to a wide release and had a promising debut in the fifth slot from just 476 theaters. Buena Vista's "National Treasure" held the top spot for the third consecutive weekend, only the third film to do so this year, taking in $17 million. The Nicolas Cage starrer slipped 47% in its third frame, taking its cume to date for the Jon Turteltaub-helmed "Treasure" to $110.1 million in 17 days. The PG-rated film is the 18th release in 2004 to top the $100 million mark and the 46th picture to do so for the distributor.
- 12/6/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It was a case of boxoffice Deja Vu this weekend in North America as four of the same five films from the previous session were sitting atop the charts, according to Monday's final figures. The familiar list of family-targeted titles continued to dominate, due primarily to the lack of any new wide releases. Sony's "Closer", an R-rated drama from director Mike Nichols, was the only film to open with anything close to a wide release and had a promising debut in the fifth slot from just 476 theaters. Buena Vista's "National Treasure" held the top spot for the third consecutive weekend, only the third film to do so this year, taking in $17 million. The Nicolas Cage starrer slipped 47% in its third frame, taking its cume to date for the Jon Turteltaub-helmed "Treasure" to $110.1 million in 17 days. The PG-rated film is the 18th release in 2004 to top the $100 million mark and the 46th picture to do so for the distributor.
- 12/6/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Opens
Friday, February 20
Welcome to Mooseport joins the ranks of Hollywood movies about politics that are devoid of political content. Offering mild observations about celebrity and the media, the film centers on a popular ex-president's transition from the White House to rustic New England. The script by Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society, "What About Bob?") is concerned mainly with personal integrity and romantic commitment, subjects he treats with vague generalities. From the first scenes of Mooseport, which unfolds like a sitcom pilot, it's evident where the pieces will fall. When they do, the impact is minor.
Compounding the sense of predictability and Deja Vu is the presence of well-known TV actors portraying the sorts of characters they've perfected on the small screen. Ray Romano, making his onscreen film debut (after a voice role in Ice Age), puts his tentative, low-voltage delivery to effective use in playing a regular guy -- but fans of Everybody Loves Raymond will find more laughs in his weekly series. Film vets Gene Hackman and Marcia Gay Harden lend whatever nuance they can muster, but there's only so much to be done with Schulman's broad-stroke comedy. When the votes are in, the Donald Petrie-helmed film will poll strongest among older audiences, but it won't secure a landslide for Fox.
Hackman plays the very presidentially named Monroe Eagle Cole, a Democrat fresh off two terms with approval ratings through the roof. A smooth operator with a self-deprecating facade, Monroe is essentially decent and driven by ego -- Hackman puts it all across with his customary naturalness. As the first commander-in-chief to be divorced while in office, he's facing tough alimony negotiations with his vindictive ex (Christine Baranski, in what feels like inevitable casting). With his entourage of Secret Service and staff, Monroe sets up camp at his sprawling summer estate in the laid-back burg of Mooseport, Maine.
Before he can choose among big-bucks offers for memoirs and speaking engagements, the village elders enlist him to fill the void left by their deceased mayor. But what was meant to be an unchallenged run for office turns into a close -- and closely watched -- race between the ex-president and a plumber.
The rivalry between Monroe and Handy Harrison (Romano) is less about issues than about jealousy and male posturing -- specifically for the affections of veterinarian Sally (Maura Tierney), Handy's girlfriend of six years. In a tired story line whose outcome is clear, she's increasingly frustrated with his refusal to pop the question and quickly says yes when Monroe asks her out.
Rip Torn, playing Monroe's campaign manager, arrives upon the scene like a much-needed tonic to the bland proceedings. In the film's best sequences, political strategy sessions focus on urgencies like whether the former president should cancel a date, and the broadcast media get mileage out of his rebuffed good-night kiss.
Those bright moments don't compensate for Petrie and Schulman's condescending view of ain't-they-wacky yokels. Costumer Vicki Graef and production designer David Chapman emphasize the cliched divide between the power elite's country chic and the plaid-flannel brigade's down-home clutter.
WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT
20th Century Fox
Mediastream IV/Intermedia
Credits:
Director: Donald Petrie
Screenwriter: Tom Schulman
Producers: Tom Schulman, Basil Iwanyk
Executive producers: Rory Rosegarten, David Coatsworth, Moritz Borman, Doug Richardson
Director of photography: Victor Hammer
Production designer: David Chapman
Music: John Debney
Costume designer: Vicki Graef
Editor: Debra Neil-Fisher
Cast:
Monroe Cole: Gene Hackman
Handy Harrison: Ray Romano
Grace Sutherland: Marcia Gay Harden
Sally Mannis: Maura Tierney
Charlotte Cole: Christine Baranski
Bullard: Fred Savage
Bert Langdon: Rip Torn
Irma: June Squibb
Morris: Wayne Robson
Martha: Jackie Richardson
Mandy: Reagan Pasternak
Reuben: Jim Feather
Harve: Ed Fielding
Running time -- 111 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Friday, February 20
Welcome to Mooseport joins the ranks of Hollywood movies about politics that are devoid of political content. Offering mild observations about celebrity and the media, the film centers on a popular ex-president's transition from the White House to rustic New England. The script by Tom Schulman (Dead Poets Society, "What About Bob?") is concerned mainly with personal integrity and romantic commitment, subjects he treats with vague generalities. From the first scenes of Mooseport, which unfolds like a sitcom pilot, it's evident where the pieces will fall. When they do, the impact is minor.
Compounding the sense of predictability and Deja Vu is the presence of well-known TV actors portraying the sorts of characters they've perfected on the small screen. Ray Romano, making his onscreen film debut (after a voice role in Ice Age), puts his tentative, low-voltage delivery to effective use in playing a regular guy -- but fans of Everybody Loves Raymond will find more laughs in his weekly series. Film vets Gene Hackman and Marcia Gay Harden lend whatever nuance they can muster, but there's only so much to be done with Schulman's broad-stroke comedy. When the votes are in, the Donald Petrie-helmed film will poll strongest among older audiences, but it won't secure a landslide for Fox.
Hackman plays the very presidentially named Monroe Eagle Cole, a Democrat fresh off two terms with approval ratings through the roof. A smooth operator with a self-deprecating facade, Monroe is essentially decent and driven by ego -- Hackman puts it all across with his customary naturalness. As the first commander-in-chief to be divorced while in office, he's facing tough alimony negotiations with his vindictive ex (Christine Baranski, in what feels like inevitable casting). With his entourage of Secret Service and staff, Monroe sets up camp at his sprawling summer estate in the laid-back burg of Mooseport, Maine.
Before he can choose among big-bucks offers for memoirs and speaking engagements, the village elders enlist him to fill the void left by their deceased mayor. But what was meant to be an unchallenged run for office turns into a close -- and closely watched -- race between the ex-president and a plumber.
The rivalry between Monroe and Handy Harrison (Romano) is less about issues than about jealousy and male posturing -- specifically for the affections of veterinarian Sally (Maura Tierney), Handy's girlfriend of six years. In a tired story line whose outcome is clear, she's increasingly frustrated with his refusal to pop the question and quickly says yes when Monroe asks her out.
Rip Torn, playing Monroe's campaign manager, arrives upon the scene like a much-needed tonic to the bland proceedings. In the film's best sequences, political strategy sessions focus on urgencies like whether the former president should cancel a date, and the broadcast media get mileage out of his rebuffed good-night kiss.
Those bright moments don't compensate for Petrie and Schulman's condescending view of ain't-they-wacky yokels. Costumer Vicki Graef and production designer David Chapman emphasize the cliched divide between the power elite's country chic and the plaid-flannel brigade's down-home clutter.
WELCOME TO MOOSEPORT
20th Century Fox
Mediastream IV/Intermedia
Credits:
Director: Donald Petrie
Screenwriter: Tom Schulman
Producers: Tom Schulman, Basil Iwanyk
Executive producers: Rory Rosegarten, David Coatsworth, Moritz Borman, Doug Richardson
Director of photography: Victor Hammer
Production designer: David Chapman
Music: John Debney
Costume designer: Vicki Graef
Editor: Debra Neil-Fisher
Cast:
Monroe Cole: Gene Hackman
Handy Harrison: Ray Romano
Grace Sutherland: Marcia Gay Harden
Sally Mannis: Maura Tierney
Charlotte Cole: Christine Baranski
Bullard: Fred Savage
Bert Langdon: Rip Torn
Irma: June Squibb
Morris: Wayne Robson
Martha: Jackie Richardson
Mandy: Reagan Pasternak
Reuben: Jim Feather
Harve: Ed Fielding
Running time -- 111 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Dimension Films' sci-fi movie "Equilibrium" borrows from so many literary and cinematic sources that this future world feels absolutely Deja Vu. Lacking in originality and featuring cost-conscious models and effects that cannot compete with those in holiday blockbusters, this lame Christmas entry will have to attract young male audiences with action sequences involving guns, swords and futuristic martial arts.
Writer-director Kurt Wimmer's dystopian society, where all human feeling is illegal, owes its biggest debt to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451". But one can spot lifts from George Orwell and Aldous Huxley along with images from filmmakers ranging from Fritz Lang to King Vidor in his depiction of a conformist society kept in check through regular doses of a mood-suppressant drug self-administered with needle guns.
The new religion in this postapocalyptic world is peace at any price. Its "clerics" stamp out any expression of human emotion with deadly force. For some reason, it has been decided that art, music and literature are what provokes unwanted passions. (My God, just think how many lives have been lost through poetry alone!) Thus, cleric John Preston (Christian Bale), the government's top killer, ruthlessly burns all books and paintings he finds in the "nethers," a rotting urban landscape that surrounds the soulless city of Libria. When his partner shows signs of emotion, John kills him. But his new partner, Brandt (Taye Diggs), is an even fiercer believer in the system.
The highly predictable then happens: John accidentally misses his drug dose. Sure enough, he starts to "feel." First, he feels certain urges for a "sense offender" played by Emily Watson. She has wild, curly hair and red lipstick, so you know she has ditched her drugs. Then John gets misty-eyed over a puppy, a gimmick that was old before talkies came in. John de-cides to join the rebels and assassinate the supreme ruler, called Father. No one has ever seen Father, but he appears larger than life on TV monitors all over the metropolis. Yes, Wimmer lifts from "The Wizard of Oz", too.
A film as poorly thought out as "Equilibrium" makes you realize how beautifully imagined and densely observed the future was in "Minority Report". Nothing makes sense in Libria. If all reading material is banned, how do its citizens achieve their literacy? If all emotions are suppressed by drugs, what accounts for the constant displays of anger? If all passion is doused, how do marriage and propagation of the species manage to continue? Most importantly, if all violent urges have been suppressed, then why is the movie so violent?
The clerics undergo religious study, which apparently means bullet avoidance. Thus, in any gunbattle, the clerics can slip between the paths of bullets, no matter how numerous, while slaughtering multitudes. These balletic fights provide the film's slick stunt action, neatly choreographed by Jim Vickers.
Bale all too easily plays the zombie enforcer but never finds a convincing way to play his emerging emotions. Diggs' moral righteousness strikes the appropriate cord. Watson gives dash and vigor to a small role, but what is she even doing in this movie?
The models for the antiseptic city look all too familiar to sci-fi fans. Up-close interiors are mostly drywall wonders that perforate easily. Dion Beebe's cinematography is dark and moody in the nethers but changes to sunny and sterile in Libria's city center. That must be what is meant by equilibrium.
EQUILIBRIUM
Dimension Films
Blue Tulip Prods.
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Kurt Wimmer
Producer: Jan de Bont, Lucas Foster
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Rona
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: Wolf Kroeger
Music: Klaus Bedelt
Costume designer: Joseph Porro
Co-producer: Sue Baden-Powell
Editors: Tom Rolf, William Yeh
Cast:
John Preston: Christian Bale
Brandt: Taye Diggs
Mary O'Brian: Emily Watson
Master Cleric: Angus MacFayden
Partridge: Sean Bean
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Writer-director Kurt Wimmer's dystopian society, where all human feeling is illegal, owes its biggest debt to Ray Bradbury's "Fahrenheit 451". But one can spot lifts from George Orwell and Aldous Huxley along with images from filmmakers ranging from Fritz Lang to King Vidor in his depiction of a conformist society kept in check through regular doses of a mood-suppressant drug self-administered with needle guns.
The new religion in this postapocalyptic world is peace at any price. Its "clerics" stamp out any expression of human emotion with deadly force. For some reason, it has been decided that art, music and literature are what provokes unwanted passions. (My God, just think how many lives have been lost through poetry alone!) Thus, cleric John Preston (Christian Bale), the government's top killer, ruthlessly burns all books and paintings he finds in the "nethers," a rotting urban landscape that surrounds the soulless city of Libria. When his partner shows signs of emotion, John kills him. But his new partner, Brandt (Taye Diggs), is an even fiercer believer in the system.
The highly predictable then happens: John accidentally misses his drug dose. Sure enough, he starts to "feel." First, he feels certain urges for a "sense offender" played by Emily Watson. She has wild, curly hair and red lipstick, so you know she has ditched her drugs. Then John gets misty-eyed over a puppy, a gimmick that was old before talkies came in. John de-cides to join the rebels and assassinate the supreme ruler, called Father. No one has ever seen Father, but he appears larger than life on TV monitors all over the metropolis. Yes, Wimmer lifts from "The Wizard of Oz", too.
A film as poorly thought out as "Equilibrium" makes you realize how beautifully imagined and densely observed the future was in "Minority Report". Nothing makes sense in Libria. If all reading material is banned, how do its citizens achieve their literacy? If all emotions are suppressed by drugs, what accounts for the constant displays of anger? If all passion is doused, how do marriage and propagation of the species manage to continue? Most importantly, if all violent urges have been suppressed, then why is the movie so violent?
The clerics undergo religious study, which apparently means bullet avoidance. Thus, in any gunbattle, the clerics can slip between the paths of bullets, no matter how numerous, while slaughtering multitudes. These balletic fights provide the film's slick stunt action, neatly choreographed by Jim Vickers.
Bale all too easily plays the zombie enforcer but never finds a convincing way to play his emerging emotions. Diggs' moral righteousness strikes the appropriate cord. Watson gives dash and vigor to a small role, but what is she even doing in this movie?
The models for the antiseptic city look all too familiar to sci-fi fans. Up-close interiors are mostly drywall wonders that perforate easily. Dion Beebe's cinematography is dark and moody in the nethers but changes to sunny and sterile in Libria's city center. That must be what is meant by equilibrium.
EQUILIBRIUM
Dimension Films
Blue Tulip Prods.
Credits:
Screenwriter-director: Kurt Wimmer
Producer: Jan de Bont, Lucas Foster
Executive producers: Bob Weinstein, Harvey Weinstein, Andrew Rona
Director of photography: Dion Beebe
Production designer: Wolf Kroeger
Music: Klaus Bedelt
Costume designer: Joseph Porro
Co-producer: Sue Baden-Powell
Editors: Tom Rolf, William Yeh
Cast:
John Preston: Christian Bale
Brandt: Taye Diggs
Mary O'Brian: Emily Watson
Master Cleric: Angus MacFayden
Partridge: Sean Bean
Running time -- 107 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 12/6/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
First there was "Koyaanisqatsi", filmmaker Godfrey Reggio's innovative 1983 non-narrative merging of mesmerizing images and cyclical Philip Glass music. (The title comes from the Hopi terminology for "life out of balance.") It went on to spawn countless imitators, particularly among commercial and music video directors.
Reggio followed up in 1988 with the pan-cultural "Powaqqatsi" ("life in transformation"), a more worldly but no less spiritual take on technology's effect on developing nations.
Now he completes the trilogy with "Naqoyqatsi" (translating as either "war as a way of life," "a life of killing each other" or "civilized violence"), and although Reggio has a lot to say about our hyper-accelerated 21st century lifestyle and brings extensive digital technology into the mix, there's a pervading sense of Deja Vu that leaves the larger impression.
Twenty years later, Reggio still knows how to make a point with poetic imagery, but his ability to startle has been stifled by the very prevalence of the fast-forward technology that he so stringently takes to task.
As a result, while bringing his trilogy of films to a fitting close, the technique grows tired during the course of its nearly 90 wordless minutes. Despite the involvement of Steven Soderbergh as executive producer, this Miramax release will unlikely attract more than marginal interest beyond the film festival circuit.
The picture is divided into three thematic acts. The first traces the evolution of the numerical code; the second concentrates on competitive sports, gaming and other addictive pursuits; and the third serves up a montage of constantly shifting contemporary iconography. The final installment of the trilogy relies heavily on stock footage gleaned from newsreels, military and instructional films, corporate videos and even commercials.
Those images have been considerably altered from their original form, be it by speeding them up or slowing them down, tinting or coloring, distorting or re-animating, among other forms of digital manipulation.
They're often quite beautiful to look at and even occasionally warrant a snicker, as is the case when, during a sequence containing a succession of 3-D corporate logos, the name "Enron" floats across the screen.
But after a while, those images and those themes seem to repeat themselves and when backed by another swirling drone of a Glass score (made somewhat warmer this time around by the presence of cellist Yo-Yo Ma), the effect becomes undeniably hypnotic -- as in "you are getting sleepy."
Very sleepy.
NAQOYQATSI
Miramax
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-producer: Godfrey Reggio
Producers: Lawrence Taub, Joe Beirne
Executive producer: Steven Soderbergh
Director of photography: Russell Lee Fine
Editor-visual designer: Jon Kane
Music: Philip Glass featuring Yo-Yo Ma
Running time -- 89 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Reggio followed up in 1988 with the pan-cultural "Powaqqatsi" ("life in transformation"), a more worldly but no less spiritual take on technology's effect on developing nations.
Now he completes the trilogy with "Naqoyqatsi" (translating as either "war as a way of life," "a life of killing each other" or "civilized violence"), and although Reggio has a lot to say about our hyper-accelerated 21st century lifestyle and brings extensive digital technology into the mix, there's a pervading sense of Deja Vu that leaves the larger impression.
Twenty years later, Reggio still knows how to make a point with poetic imagery, but his ability to startle has been stifled by the very prevalence of the fast-forward technology that he so stringently takes to task.
As a result, while bringing his trilogy of films to a fitting close, the technique grows tired during the course of its nearly 90 wordless minutes. Despite the involvement of Steven Soderbergh as executive producer, this Miramax release will unlikely attract more than marginal interest beyond the film festival circuit.
The picture is divided into three thematic acts. The first traces the evolution of the numerical code; the second concentrates on competitive sports, gaming and other addictive pursuits; and the third serves up a montage of constantly shifting contemporary iconography. The final installment of the trilogy relies heavily on stock footage gleaned from newsreels, military and instructional films, corporate videos and even commercials.
Those images have been considerably altered from their original form, be it by speeding them up or slowing them down, tinting or coloring, distorting or re-animating, among other forms of digital manipulation.
They're often quite beautiful to look at and even occasionally warrant a snicker, as is the case when, during a sequence containing a succession of 3-D corporate logos, the name "Enron" floats across the screen.
But after a while, those images and those themes seem to repeat themselves and when backed by another swirling drone of a Glass score (made somewhat warmer this time around by the presence of cellist Yo-Yo Ma), the effect becomes undeniably hypnotic -- as in "you are getting sleepy."
Very sleepy.
NAQOYQATSI
Miramax
Credits:
Director-screenwriter-producer: Godfrey Reggio
Producers: Lawrence Taub, Joe Beirne
Executive producer: Steven Soderbergh
Director of photography: Russell Lee Fine
Editor-visual designer: Jon Kane
Music: Philip Glass featuring Yo-Yo Ma
Running time -- 89 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
As virtually the last of the 1970s Movie Brats to tackle science fiction, Brian De Palma ventures into an outer space that is not just overly familiar but downright worn-out.
"Mission to Mars" achieves a handful of tense moments and eye-catching images in its depiction of a Mars rescue mission. But the overall feeling is unmistakably that of Deja Vu. De Palma must compete with characters and images and ideas ranging from "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" to "Dune", "2001" and the many "Star Trek" and "Alien" productions.
Featuring a solid ensemble cast but lacking any actor with true star power, "Mission to Mars" appears headed for a less-than-stellar boxoffice performance domestically. Overseas and ancillary prospects may be brighter.
The most damaging aspect to this movie about the rescue of a marooned astronaut on Mars is its startling lack of urgency. Granted, it takes six months to mount and accomplish such a mission. But De Palma creates little tension in any of the mechanics of this languid errand.
The film even gets going slowly as we are introduced to a group of NASA astronauts in the year 2020 (without any concessions to futuristic fads or clothing) who are about to blast into space for the Red Planet. The first mission to Mars is headed by Don Cheadle, who got the assignment when Gary Sinise refused psychological testing following the cancer death of his astronaut wife.
When Cheadle's crew gets wiped out in a baffling disaster on Mars, the last communication holds out the faint hope Cheadle may have survived the mysterious catastrophe. Getting a green light from the Mars program head (an unbilled performance by Armin Mueller-Stahl), a rescue mission takes off under the command of Tim Robbins that includes Sinise, Robbins' loving wife Connie Nielsen and all-around fix-it guy Jerry O'Connell.
En route, a meteor shower damages the recovery ship, which necessitates space-walking repairs. But the craft is more damaged than the crew realizes. So when they power up to enter Mars' atmosphere, the ship is destroyed.
This leads to the film's most suspenseful sequence, in which the four space-walking astronauts attempt to capture a small resupply module, their only hope to survive and land on Mars.
Robbins dies in the attempt, leaving the other three to encounter Cheadle's Martian Robinson Crusoe. The remaining astronauts then confront the "enemy," a Modigliani-like alien (evolved, apparently, from Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters" alien) when they enter a holographic planetarium. Here they learn the fate of Mars' ancient civilization and the impact its destruction had on the evolution of life on Earth.
This third act is the most likely to lose audiences. Not only does any conflict drain away from the story, but the "explanation" of mysterious event and the subsequent history of Mars feels more like a special on the Discovery Channel rather than the climax of a sci-fi movie. The old Mars ride at Disneyland delivered more thrills.
De Palma and his frequent collaborator, cinematographer Stephen H. Burum, furnish their usual highly fluid camera, offering strange angles and floating shots that show off the spiffy production design of Ed Verreaux's spaceships to good effect. The Mars surface and weather patterns are also nicely rendered in location shooting at Fraser Sand Dunes in British Columbia along with second-unit work in Jordan and the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
But these landscapes are almost too realistic for the movie's good. They contain little of the mystery or wonder that is part and parcel of science fiction. The story and dialogue almost emphasize the everyday reality of space travel. Even in Robbins' death, De Palma seems more interested in what happens to the human body when exposed to the vacuum of space than the emotions of a wife seeing her husband die instantly before her eyes.
In the end, "Mission to Mars" feels like work rather than fun. Which may explain why the mystical climax works against the studied realism of the first two acts.
MISSION TO MARS
Buena Vista Pictures
Touchstone Pictures presents
A Jacobson Co. production
Producer:Tom Jacobson
Director:Brian De Palma
Writers:Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Graham Yost
Story by:Lowell Cannon, Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Executive producer:Sam Mercer
Director of photography:Stephen H. Burum
Production designer:Ed Verreaux
Visual effects supervisors:Hoyt Yeatman, John Knoll
Music:Ennio Morricone
Co-producers:David Goyer, Justis Greene, Jim Wedaa
Costume designer:Sanja Milkovic Hays
Editor:Paul Hirsch
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jim McConnell:Gary Sinise
Woody Blake:Tim Robbins
Luke Graham:Don Cheadle
Terri Fisher:Connie Nielsen
Phil Ohlmyer:Jerry O'Connell
Sergei Kirov:Peter Outerbridge
Nicholas Willis:Kavan Smith
Renee Cote:Jill Teed
Running time -- 112 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
"Mission to Mars" achieves a handful of tense moments and eye-catching images in its depiction of a Mars rescue mission. But the overall feeling is unmistakably that of Deja Vu. De Palma must compete with characters and images and ideas ranging from "Star Wars" and "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" to "Dune", "2001" and the many "Star Trek" and "Alien" productions.
Featuring a solid ensemble cast but lacking any actor with true star power, "Mission to Mars" appears headed for a less-than-stellar boxoffice performance domestically. Overseas and ancillary prospects may be brighter.
The most damaging aspect to this movie about the rescue of a marooned astronaut on Mars is its startling lack of urgency. Granted, it takes six months to mount and accomplish such a mission. But De Palma creates little tension in any of the mechanics of this languid errand.
The film even gets going slowly as we are introduced to a group of NASA astronauts in the year 2020 (without any concessions to futuristic fads or clothing) who are about to blast into space for the Red Planet. The first mission to Mars is headed by Don Cheadle, who got the assignment when Gary Sinise refused psychological testing following the cancer death of his astronaut wife.
When Cheadle's crew gets wiped out in a baffling disaster on Mars, the last communication holds out the faint hope Cheadle may have survived the mysterious catastrophe. Getting a green light from the Mars program head (an unbilled performance by Armin Mueller-Stahl), a rescue mission takes off under the command of Tim Robbins that includes Sinise, Robbins' loving wife Connie Nielsen and all-around fix-it guy Jerry O'Connell.
En route, a meteor shower damages the recovery ship, which necessitates space-walking repairs. But the craft is more damaged than the crew realizes. So when they power up to enter Mars' atmosphere, the ship is destroyed.
This leads to the film's most suspenseful sequence, in which the four space-walking astronauts attempt to capture a small resupply module, their only hope to survive and land on Mars.
Robbins dies in the attempt, leaving the other three to encounter Cheadle's Martian Robinson Crusoe. The remaining astronauts then confront the "enemy," a Modigliani-like alien (evolved, apparently, from Steven Spielberg's "Close Encounters" alien) when they enter a holographic planetarium. Here they learn the fate of Mars' ancient civilization and the impact its destruction had on the evolution of life on Earth.
This third act is the most likely to lose audiences. Not only does any conflict drain away from the story, but the "explanation" of mysterious event and the subsequent history of Mars feels more like a special on the Discovery Channel rather than the climax of a sci-fi movie. The old Mars ride at Disneyland delivered more thrills.
De Palma and his frequent collaborator, cinematographer Stephen H. Burum, furnish their usual highly fluid camera, offering strange angles and floating shots that show off the spiffy production design of Ed Verreaux's spaceships to good effect. The Mars surface and weather patterns are also nicely rendered in location shooting at Fraser Sand Dunes in British Columbia along with second-unit work in Jordan and the island of Lanzarote in the Canary Islands.
But these landscapes are almost too realistic for the movie's good. They contain little of the mystery or wonder that is part and parcel of science fiction. The story and dialogue almost emphasize the everyday reality of space travel. Even in Robbins' death, De Palma seems more interested in what happens to the human body when exposed to the vacuum of space than the emotions of a wife seeing her husband die instantly before her eyes.
In the end, "Mission to Mars" feels like work rather than fun. Which may explain why the mystical climax works against the studied realism of the first two acts.
MISSION TO MARS
Buena Vista Pictures
Touchstone Pictures presents
A Jacobson Co. production
Producer:Tom Jacobson
Director:Brian De Palma
Writers:Jim Thomas, John Thomas, Graham Yost
Story by:Lowell Cannon, Jim Thomas, John Thomas
Executive producer:Sam Mercer
Director of photography:Stephen H. Burum
Production designer:Ed Verreaux
Visual effects supervisors:Hoyt Yeatman, John Knoll
Music:Ennio Morricone
Co-producers:David Goyer, Justis Greene, Jim Wedaa
Costume designer:Sanja Milkovic Hays
Editor:Paul Hirsch
Color/stereo
Cast:
Jim McConnell:Gary Sinise
Woody Blake:Tim Robbins
Luke Graham:Don Cheadle
Terri Fisher:Connie Nielsen
Phil Ohlmyer:Jerry O'Connell
Sergei Kirov:Peter Outerbridge
Nicholas Willis:Kavan Smith
Renee Cote:Jill Teed
Running time -- 112 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
- 3/10/2000
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"The Big Tease" is at once deeply derivative though somehow hilarious. The film is wonderfully inhabited by Scottish comedian Craig Ferguson of "The Drew Carry Show", whose hilariously befuddled, hopelessly bemused Scottish hairdresser traversing the gilded surfaces and lower depths of world's entertainment-driven celebrity nexus yields some uproarious moments.
Warner Bros. was smart in pushing the film's release from the saturated late-fall market to early next year, where this unruly, bracing work should register strongly with young adults. Given the sustained laughter generated at its premiere during the Chicago International Film Festival, this movie will play to that audience.
In form and content, this R-rated adult production suffers somewhat from Deja Vu, coming so quickly after "Bowfinger" and "The Muse". But the script by Ferguson and Sacha Gervasi compensates with some explosive, uncompromising humor.
Director Kevin Allen, who made the radically different "Twin Town", gives the dark, off-center humor here an easy, tossed-off quality. This is another work that uses a fake documentary as a framing device. Crawford Mackenzie (Ferguson), Glasgow's most gifted hairstylist, turns up in Los Angeles for the World Freestyle Hairdressing Championship, where he intends to compete for the prestigious Platinum Scissors prize.
Followed by a BBC television crew recording his every action, Mackenzie is devastated to discover he was never formally invited to the competition but merely promised a prominent seat to observe the action. Thrown out of the luxurious five-star hotel (Larry Miller brings down the house as a smug hotel executive), Mackenzie drifts through a stylized, dreamy, vacant Hollywood populated by second-rate stars trying desperately to qualify for a HAG (Hairdressers of America Guild) card in order to be admitted into the competition.
With the camera crew there to record his ritual debasement, Mackenzie's nightmare becomes a comedy of entrapment. His only ally is a high-powered Hollywood publicist (Frances Fisher, very brittle and very funny) whose own appearance he has miraculously transformed. Inevitably, Drew Carey also turns up, in a piercing bit of self-depreciation that only elevates Mackenzie's professional status.
Weighing in at 86 minutes, "The Big Tease" goes down very easily, although the propulsive laughter of the first half dissipates in the second half. The problem is the other prominent parts are played by good actors (Mary McCormack, David Rasche) who aren't particularly funny, and their characters don't have the depth and detailing to create the same observational, blackly comic riffs of Ferguson. Even the big competition feels like a letdown given the attention it receives in the buildup.
But "The Big Tease", to its advantage, is not a comedy of manners, insight or behavior. It's meant to incite spasms of laughter, and there it succeeds more often than it has any right to.
THE BIG TEASE
Warner Bros.
Producer Philip Rose
Director-executive producer Kevin Allen
Screenwriters-executive producers
Sacha Gervasi, Craig Ferguson
Director of photography
Seamus McGarvey
Editor Chris Peppe
Production designer Joseph Hodges
Composer Mark Thomas
Color/stereo
Cast:
Crawford Mackenzie Craig Ferguson
Candy Harper Frances Fisher
Monique Mary McCormack
Stig Ludwigssen David Rasche
Martin Chris Langham
Hotel executive Larry Miller
Drew Carey Drew Carey
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Warner Bros. was smart in pushing the film's release from the saturated late-fall market to early next year, where this unruly, bracing work should register strongly with young adults. Given the sustained laughter generated at its premiere during the Chicago International Film Festival, this movie will play to that audience.
In form and content, this R-rated adult production suffers somewhat from Deja Vu, coming so quickly after "Bowfinger" and "The Muse". But the script by Ferguson and Sacha Gervasi compensates with some explosive, uncompromising humor.
Director Kevin Allen, who made the radically different "Twin Town", gives the dark, off-center humor here an easy, tossed-off quality. This is another work that uses a fake documentary as a framing device. Crawford Mackenzie (Ferguson), Glasgow's most gifted hairstylist, turns up in Los Angeles for the World Freestyle Hairdressing Championship, where he intends to compete for the prestigious Platinum Scissors prize.
Followed by a BBC television crew recording his every action, Mackenzie is devastated to discover he was never formally invited to the competition but merely promised a prominent seat to observe the action. Thrown out of the luxurious five-star hotel (Larry Miller brings down the house as a smug hotel executive), Mackenzie drifts through a stylized, dreamy, vacant Hollywood populated by second-rate stars trying desperately to qualify for a HAG (Hairdressers of America Guild) card in order to be admitted into the competition.
With the camera crew there to record his ritual debasement, Mackenzie's nightmare becomes a comedy of entrapment. His only ally is a high-powered Hollywood publicist (Frances Fisher, very brittle and very funny) whose own appearance he has miraculously transformed. Inevitably, Drew Carey also turns up, in a piercing bit of self-depreciation that only elevates Mackenzie's professional status.
Weighing in at 86 minutes, "The Big Tease" goes down very easily, although the propulsive laughter of the first half dissipates in the second half. The problem is the other prominent parts are played by good actors (Mary McCormack, David Rasche) who aren't particularly funny, and their characters don't have the depth and detailing to create the same observational, blackly comic riffs of Ferguson. Even the big competition feels like a letdown given the attention it receives in the buildup.
But "The Big Tease", to its advantage, is not a comedy of manners, insight or behavior. It's meant to incite spasms of laughter, and there it succeeds more often than it has any right to.
THE BIG TEASE
Warner Bros.
Producer Philip Rose
Director-executive producer Kevin Allen
Screenwriters-executive producers
Sacha Gervasi, Craig Ferguson
Director of photography
Seamus McGarvey
Editor Chris Peppe
Production designer Joseph Hodges
Composer Mark Thomas
Color/stereo
Cast:
Crawford Mackenzie Craig Ferguson
Candy Harper Frances Fisher
Monique Mary McCormack
Stig Ludwigssen David Rasche
Martin Chris Langham
Hotel executive Larry Miller
Drew Carey Drew Carey
Running time -- 86 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 10/27/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
While it may appear to be another high-octane, high-concept Eddie Murphy comedy, "Life" has something more to offer.
Forgoing the broad strokes for some welcome substance, the century-spanning picture is an unexpectedly moving surprise -- a bittersweet excursion that isn't afraid to mix a little poignant reflection in with all the laughs.
That blend may not exactly be what those paying for a Murphy-Martin Lawrence match-up have in mind. As a result, "Life" will unlikely hit the lofty heights of a "Nutty Professor" or "Dr. Dolittle". Nevertheless, backed by a terrific supporting cast and featuring a strong Wyclef Jean score, the Universal release should do some serious time at the boxoffice.
Murphy's in fine form as two-bit hustler Ray Gibson, whom we first see scoping out potential victims at Club Spanky's, a swank Harlem nightclub circa 1932.
Despite a lingering sensation of "Harlem Nights" Deja Vu, things kick into gear when Gibson and down-on-his-luck Claude Banks (Lawrence) -- an aspiring bank teller with a big gambling debt -- find themselves at the mercy of Spanky (a smartly cast Rick James).
Paying him back by doing a little bootlegging job down in Mississippi, Ray and Claude find themselves framed for murder by a corrupt Southern cop (Nick Cassavetes) and handed a life sentence at a state work camp.
The days turn into months, the months turn into years, the years turn into decades and, over half-century and countless escape attempts later, Banks and Lawrence, bickering like an old married couple, persevere.
Based on an idea by Murphy and nicely fleshed out by screenwriters Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone ("Destiny Turns on the Radio"), the film has been given something of a "Forrest Gump"-style historic sweep by director Ted Demme.
While the ploy may be derivative, it's oddly affecting. Credit Demme's willingness to take a little time with the material, allowing the audience to get to know and appreciate all the colorful characters. He's not afraid to throw heavier dramatic elements in with the high jinks.
The results aren't always smooth and there are a few awkward moments when the viewer is unsure whether to laugh. And, like Ray and Claude, the picture has a little trouble making a clean getaway.
But there is a lot of enjoyment to be found. In addition to the rich comic chemistry between Murray and Lawrence (reuniting the pair for the first time since 1992's "Boomerang"), there's a wealth of character performances among the inmates, including Bernie Mac as the predatory Jangle Leg, Miguel A. Nunez Jr. as the prim Biscuit, Michael "Bear" Taliferro as the imposing Goldmouth and Bokeem Woodbine as the mute, baseball-slugging Can't Get Right.
Also good are Clarence Williams III as a conniving card shark, Ned Beatty as a sympathetic prison superintendent and Poppy Montgomery as the warden's flirtatious daughter.
Playing a significant role are Rick Baker's special makeup effects, which startlingly age Murphy and Lawrence 60-plus years, though the effect works more convincingly when not held up to the harsh scrutiny of extreme close-ups.
Among the other standout technical contributions, cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson ("Oscar and Lucinda", "Shine") evocatively keeps pace with the time periods, especially during a couple of nicely textured montage sequences; while Wyclef Jean, making his feature film composing debut, has come up with an ambient soundscape that unobtrusively surveys the various eras' defining musical signatures.
LIFE
Universal Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment present
A Brian Grazer production
A Ted Demme film
Director: Ted Demme
Screenwriters: Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone
Producers: Brian Grazer, Eddie Murphy
Executive producers: Karen Kehela, James D. Brubaker
Director of photography: Geoffrey Simpson
Production designer: Dan Bishop
Editor: Jeffrey Wolf
Costume designer: Lucy Corrigan
Special makeup effects: Rick Baker
Music: Wyclef Jean
Music supervisor: Amanda Scheer-Demme
Casting: Margery Simkin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ray Gibson: Eddie Murphy
Claude Banks: Martin Lawrence
Willie Long: Obba Babatunde
Dexter Wilkins: Ned Beatty
Jangle Leg: Bernie Mac
Biscuit: Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
Winston Hancock: Clarence Williams III
Sgt. Dillard: Nick Cassavetes
Can't Get Right: Bokeem Woodbine
Older Mae Rose: Poppy Montgomery
Spanky Johnson: Rick James
Running time -- 108 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Forgoing the broad strokes for some welcome substance, the century-spanning picture is an unexpectedly moving surprise -- a bittersweet excursion that isn't afraid to mix a little poignant reflection in with all the laughs.
That blend may not exactly be what those paying for a Murphy-Martin Lawrence match-up have in mind. As a result, "Life" will unlikely hit the lofty heights of a "Nutty Professor" or "Dr. Dolittle". Nevertheless, backed by a terrific supporting cast and featuring a strong Wyclef Jean score, the Universal release should do some serious time at the boxoffice.
Murphy's in fine form as two-bit hustler Ray Gibson, whom we first see scoping out potential victims at Club Spanky's, a swank Harlem nightclub circa 1932.
Despite a lingering sensation of "Harlem Nights" Deja Vu, things kick into gear when Gibson and down-on-his-luck Claude Banks (Lawrence) -- an aspiring bank teller with a big gambling debt -- find themselves at the mercy of Spanky (a smartly cast Rick James).
Paying him back by doing a little bootlegging job down in Mississippi, Ray and Claude find themselves framed for murder by a corrupt Southern cop (Nick Cassavetes) and handed a life sentence at a state work camp.
The days turn into months, the months turn into years, the years turn into decades and, over half-century and countless escape attempts later, Banks and Lawrence, bickering like an old married couple, persevere.
Based on an idea by Murphy and nicely fleshed out by screenwriters Robert Ramsey and Matthew Stone ("Destiny Turns on the Radio"), the film has been given something of a "Forrest Gump"-style historic sweep by director Ted Demme.
While the ploy may be derivative, it's oddly affecting. Credit Demme's willingness to take a little time with the material, allowing the audience to get to know and appreciate all the colorful characters. He's not afraid to throw heavier dramatic elements in with the high jinks.
The results aren't always smooth and there are a few awkward moments when the viewer is unsure whether to laugh. And, like Ray and Claude, the picture has a little trouble making a clean getaway.
But there is a lot of enjoyment to be found. In addition to the rich comic chemistry between Murray and Lawrence (reuniting the pair for the first time since 1992's "Boomerang"), there's a wealth of character performances among the inmates, including Bernie Mac as the predatory Jangle Leg, Miguel A. Nunez Jr. as the prim Biscuit, Michael "Bear" Taliferro as the imposing Goldmouth and Bokeem Woodbine as the mute, baseball-slugging Can't Get Right.
Also good are Clarence Williams III as a conniving card shark, Ned Beatty as a sympathetic prison superintendent and Poppy Montgomery as the warden's flirtatious daughter.
Playing a significant role are Rick Baker's special makeup effects, which startlingly age Murphy and Lawrence 60-plus years, though the effect works more convincingly when not held up to the harsh scrutiny of extreme close-ups.
Among the other standout technical contributions, cinematographer Geoffrey Simpson ("Oscar and Lucinda", "Shine") evocatively keeps pace with the time periods, especially during a couple of nicely textured montage sequences; while Wyclef Jean, making his feature film composing debut, has come up with an ambient soundscape that unobtrusively surveys the various eras' defining musical signatures.
LIFE
Universal Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment present
A Brian Grazer production
A Ted Demme film
Director: Ted Demme
Screenwriters: Robert Ramsey & Matthew Stone
Producers: Brian Grazer, Eddie Murphy
Executive producers: Karen Kehela, James D. Brubaker
Director of photography: Geoffrey Simpson
Production designer: Dan Bishop
Editor: Jeffrey Wolf
Costume designer: Lucy Corrigan
Special makeup effects: Rick Baker
Music: Wyclef Jean
Music supervisor: Amanda Scheer-Demme
Casting: Margery Simkin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Ray Gibson: Eddie Murphy
Claude Banks: Martin Lawrence
Willie Long: Obba Babatunde
Dexter Wilkins: Ned Beatty
Jangle Leg: Bernie Mac
Biscuit: Miguel A. Nunez Jr.
Winston Hancock: Clarence Williams III
Sgt. Dillard: Nick Cassavetes
Can't Get Right: Bokeem Woodbine
Older Mae Rose: Poppy Montgomery
Spanky Johnson: Rick James
Running time -- 108 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 4/12/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It's like Deja Vu, this old-fashioned Parisian romance about sex and existentialism.
If you're in the mood for an old-style, art house film with plenty of angst, dark clothing, dirty hair, misdirected passion and the au lait ambience of the Left Bank, and are sorely tired of pretentious alien films, this is a Sunday afternoon diversion for you.
Unfortunately, this picture is often tres dopey and is mottled with generic conventions beyond its philosophical girth. Nonetheless, Leisure Time Films should derive a respectable art house number from the types who view the Village Voice as hip.
In this petite film, artsy student Gregoire (Melvil Poupaud) lugs around a copy of Soren Kierkegaard's to coffee shops and similar settings with which to prey upon disjointed females, in this case fellow student Claire (Chiara Mastroianni). Claire studies psychoanalysis at a U near Paris, but she doesn't go to class much -- her time is consumed with her own medical appointments, and, here's the depth, glowering at her mother (Daniele Dubroux), a night shift doctor (by choice) at a Parisian hospital.
Then there's Sebastien (Mathis Amalric), a burgeoning type who inveigles his way into staying a while with Claire and her mom. Basically, he's a shallow dip who's confused about his sexuality, which, naturally, catapults Claire and La Mom into a huge catfight.
Predictable, tedious and drenched with a shallow psychological predictability, "Diary of a Seducer" is, on the whole, pap for the cultural elite.
There are some delectations, nonetheless. There's no denying the pleasures of seeing Paris and the challenges of viewing conflicted love. Best, Truffaut all-star Jean-Pierre Leaud appears; unfortunately, his role is so trite that one is suspicious of the motive for including him in the cast -- to add marquee luster, we suspect.
On the plus side, writer, director and actress Dubroux has created a film that feels scrumptiously black-and-white. That's owing to the details and the feel for place and time that Dubroux exudes. Technically, the chief congratulations belong to cinematographer Laurent Machuel for his musty, clever lensing, as well as to costume designer Anne Schotte for the subtleties of garb, reflecting overall the pedestrian outlooks of these avant-garde pretendeurs.
DIARY OF A SEDUCER
Leisure Time Features
A production of Gemini Films
With the participation of the National Center of Cinematography and Canal+
Producer Philippe Saal
Screenwriter-director Daniele Dubroux
Executive producer Paulo Branco
Director of photography Laurent Machuel
Editor Jean-Francois Naudon
Sound designer Henri Maikoff
Sound mixer Gerard Rousseau
Art director Patrick Durand
Costume designer Anne Schotte
Music Jean-Marie Senia
Color/stereo
Cast:
Claire Conti Chiara Mastroianni
Gregoire Moreau Melvil Poupaud
Sebastien Mathieu Amalric
Anne Daniele Dubroux
Hubert Markus Hubert Saint Macary
Hugo Jean-Pierre Leaud
Diane Micheline Presle
Robert Serge Merlin
Charlotte Karen Viard
Running time - 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
If you're in the mood for an old-style, art house film with plenty of angst, dark clothing, dirty hair, misdirected passion and the au lait ambience of the Left Bank, and are sorely tired of pretentious alien films, this is a Sunday afternoon diversion for you.
Unfortunately, this picture is often tres dopey and is mottled with generic conventions beyond its philosophical girth. Nonetheless, Leisure Time Films should derive a respectable art house number from the types who view the Village Voice as hip.
In this petite film, artsy student Gregoire (Melvil Poupaud) lugs around a copy of Soren Kierkegaard's to coffee shops and similar settings with which to prey upon disjointed females, in this case fellow student Claire (Chiara Mastroianni). Claire studies psychoanalysis at a U near Paris, but she doesn't go to class much -- her time is consumed with her own medical appointments, and, here's the depth, glowering at her mother (Daniele Dubroux), a night shift doctor (by choice) at a Parisian hospital.
Then there's Sebastien (Mathis Amalric), a burgeoning type who inveigles his way into staying a while with Claire and her mom. Basically, he's a shallow dip who's confused about his sexuality, which, naturally, catapults Claire and La Mom into a huge catfight.
Predictable, tedious and drenched with a shallow psychological predictability, "Diary of a Seducer" is, on the whole, pap for the cultural elite.
There are some delectations, nonetheless. There's no denying the pleasures of seeing Paris and the challenges of viewing conflicted love. Best, Truffaut all-star Jean-Pierre Leaud appears; unfortunately, his role is so trite that one is suspicious of the motive for including him in the cast -- to add marquee luster, we suspect.
On the plus side, writer, director and actress Dubroux has created a film that feels scrumptiously black-and-white. That's owing to the details and the feel for place and time that Dubroux exudes. Technically, the chief congratulations belong to cinematographer Laurent Machuel for his musty, clever lensing, as well as to costume designer Anne Schotte for the subtleties of garb, reflecting overall the pedestrian outlooks of these avant-garde pretendeurs.
DIARY OF A SEDUCER
Leisure Time Features
A production of Gemini Films
With the participation of the National Center of Cinematography and Canal+
Producer Philippe Saal
Screenwriter-director Daniele Dubroux
Executive producer Paulo Branco
Director of photography Laurent Machuel
Editor Jean-Francois Naudon
Sound designer Henri Maikoff
Sound mixer Gerard Rousseau
Art director Patrick Durand
Costume designer Anne Schotte
Music Jean-Marie Senia
Color/stereo
Cast:
Claire Conti Chiara Mastroianni
Gregoire Moreau Melvil Poupaud
Sebastien Mathieu Amalric
Anne Daniele Dubroux
Hubert Markus Hubert Saint Macary
Hugo Jean-Pierre Leaud
Diane Micheline Presle
Robert Serge Merlin
Charlotte Karen Viard
Running time - 95 minutes
No MPAA rating...
- 7/24/1997
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Gerard Depardieu replays his role from the 1991 French film ''Mon Pere, Ce Heros'' in Touchstone's Yank version, ''My Father, the Hero, '' and proves again that he is one transportable talent.
Sunny, sweet and swift, director Steve Miner's take on the father-and-daughter-on-the-loose comedy should bounce around with modest success at the boxoffice. Longtime Depardieu fans may long for more grown-up romance in the family-safe scenario, but young co-star Katherine Heigl makes the most of a star-forming opportunity and should cause more than a few male adolescent hearts to skip a beat.
Francis Veber and Charlie Peters' screenplay wastes no time in sending divorced Parisian Andre (Depardieu) on a Caribbean vacation with his New York daughter, Nicole (Heigl), who feels she is neglected and on the verge of losing forever the father she both loves and, for superficial reasons, dislikes.
Bored, impatient, wiser in some ways than her 14 years, Nicole is ripe for her first real romance and finds the opportunity in the lobby of the vacation resort.
Local beach-hunk Ben Dalton James) is an honorable charmer, and Nicole, adrift in unknown territory, concocts an increasingly bizarre set of lies to make herself more desirable and grown-up. The primary fibs, that she's 16 and Andre is the lover that saved her from a dead-end life on the streets, fuel all kinds of embarrassing situations for father and daughter with locals and other guests.
The filmmakers show remarkable restraint with the secondary characters and overall tone of the film. While not always believable -- Andre's waterskiing experience is uncomfortably dangerous looking -- the usual padding of secondary plots is minimal, kept mainly to Andre's flirting with a friendly female (Faith Prince) on the prowl.
An uncredited, last-minute appearance by an Oscar-winning English actress helps wrap things up nicely after father comes around and helps daughter out of the hole she's dug herself. Depardieu's Cyrano Deja Vu in one scene is particularly charming, with Heigl gamely holding her own.
Handsomely mounted and peppered with breezy tunes, ''My Father, the Hero'' is as pleasant and over quickly as a hassle-free trip to the beach.
MY FATHER, THE HERO
Touchstone Pictures
Cite Films/Film Par Film/D.D. Prods. in association with the Edward S. Feldman Co.
A Steve Miner Film
Director Steve Miner
Producers Jacques Bar, Jean-Louis Livi
Screenplay Francis Veber, Charlie Peters
Based on ''Mon Pere, Ce Heros'' by Gerard Lauzier
Executive producer Edward S. Feldman
Director of photography Daryn Okada
Production designer Christopher Nowak
Editor Marshall Harvey
Music David Newman
Costume designer Vicki Sanchez
Casting Dianne Crittenden
Color/stereo
Cast:
Andre Gerard Depardieu
Nicole Katherine Heigl
Ben Dalton James
Megan Lauren Hutton
Diana Faith Prince
Mike Stephen Tobolowsky
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Sunny, sweet and swift, director Steve Miner's take on the father-and-daughter-on-the-loose comedy should bounce around with modest success at the boxoffice. Longtime Depardieu fans may long for more grown-up romance in the family-safe scenario, but young co-star Katherine Heigl makes the most of a star-forming opportunity and should cause more than a few male adolescent hearts to skip a beat.
Francis Veber and Charlie Peters' screenplay wastes no time in sending divorced Parisian Andre (Depardieu) on a Caribbean vacation with his New York daughter, Nicole (Heigl), who feels she is neglected and on the verge of losing forever the father she both loves and, for superficial reasons, dislikes.
Bored, impatient, wiser in some ways than her 14 years, Nicole is ripe for her first real romance and finds the opportunity in the lobby of the vacation resort.
Local beach-hunk Ben Dalton James) is an honorable charmer, and Nicole, adrift in unknown territory, concocts an increasingly bizarre set of lies to make herself more desirable and grown-up. The primary fibs, that she's 16 and Andre is the lover that saved her from a dead-end life on the streets, fuel all kinds of embarrassing situations for father and daughter with locals and other guests.
The filmmakers show remarkable restraint with the secondary characters and overall tone of the film. While not always believable -- Andre's waterskiing experience is uncomfortably dangerous looking -- the usual padding of secondary plots is minimal, kept mainly to Andre's flirting with a friendly female (Faith Prince) on the prowl.
An uncredited, last-minute appearance by an Oscar-winning English actress helps wrap things up nicely after father comes around and helps daughter out of the hole she's dug herself. Depardieu's Cyrano Deja Vu in one scene is particularly charming, with Heigl gamely holding her own.
Handsomely mounted and peppered with breezy tunes, ''My Father, the Hero'' is as pleasant and over quickly as a hassle-free trip to the beach.
MY FATHER, THE HERO
Touchstone Pictures
Cite Films/Film Par Film/D.D. Prods. in association with the Edward S. Feldman Co.
A Steve Miner Film
Director Steve Miner
Producers Jacques Bar, Jean-Louis Livi
Screenplay Francis Veber, Charlie Peters
Based on ''Mon Pere, Ce Heros'' by Gerard Lauzier
Executive producer Edward S. Feldman
Director of photography Daryn Okada
Production designer Christopher Nowak
Editor Marshall Harvey
Music David Newman
Costume designer Vicki Sanchez
Casting Dianne Crittenden
Color/stereo
Cast:
Andre Gerard Depardieu
Nicole Katherine Heigl
Ben Dalton James
Megan Lauren Hutton
Diana Faith Prince
Mike Stephen Tobolowsky
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Likely to appeal to the hardcore art-house crowd, ''Where'' tries too hard to be artsy. Writer-director-producer Gabor Szabo, who obviously has been greatly influenced by Jim Jarmusch and David Lynch, has attempted to create his own ''Eraserhead''-type road film. Only this one doesn't go anywhere.
Szabo's use of black and white effectively enhances the stark atmosphere he wants to create, but his repetitious shots and his blatant efforts to look offbeat ultimately work against him. Though the film is only 96 minutes, it would have been much more effective, and watchable, at a running time of about one hour.
It's possible that the repetition and tediousness of everyday life is the point that Szabo is trying to get across, but it is definitely a bad sign when we start moaning at seeing the same thing over and over again. It's a feeling of Deja Vu from hell.
The viewer is subjected to watching not only the same scene an intolerable number of times, but actually the same shots. At least five times we see through a car's windshield the same California street roll by our eyes, and the main character repeatedly staring at the same blanket on the floor.
''Where'' begins with a disturbing rape scene that is almost too real. In spite of our aversion, we are immediately fascinated and intrigued as to what will follow. In relief, we soon learn that the victim (Renata Satler) is really the man's (Miklos Acs) girlfriend, and that this is just the type of weird relationship they have.
She keeps threatening to leave, but he keeps forcing her to perform fellatio on him or fondle him while a bunch of people waiting for a bus look on in shock. She does eventually leave, but he calls and says, ''Come over now.'' And in spite of the abuse, or maybe because of it, she returns.
Their bizarre relationship fluctuates between playful and brutal. While naked, they both laugh as he rides her like a horse. But later when she dares to mock him, he smashes her head into a wall. Yet the intensity of these images are softened by the surrealistic atmosphere in which they take place. After the opening scene, realism takes a vacation.
Along the way there is some enjoyable quirkiness, such as the woman constantly screaming and running away, or the man limply punching his landlord. Acs, who looks a lot like Keir Dullea, gives a performance that is almost completely robotic in nature. He is a mysterious control freak seemingly devoid of any emotion. We're not sure what we feel about this guy even after the film ends.
And we truly miss Satler once the film jumps from Hungary to California and we never see her again. Once in the United States, the man hooks into Adolfo (Dennis Cornel), a young student who is as off-the-wall as his new mentor. Their relationship, though never physically sexual, goes the same twisted route as with the woman.
Some of ''Where'' is absorbing and intellectually amusing, but a lot of it is also redundant and annoying. Mr. Szabo's interesting style is ultimately original, but it would help if he figured out ''why?'' before asking any more questions.
WHERE
Where Film Inc.
Writer-director-producer Gabor Szabo
Cinematographer Nyika Jancso
Production designer Attila Kovacs
Sound George Pinter
Black and white
In English and Hungarian, with subtitles
Cast:
Miklos Acs
Woman Renata Satler
Adolfo Dennis Cornel
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
Szabo's use of black and white effectively enhances the stark atmosphere he wants to create, but his repetitious shots and his blatant efforts to look offbeat ultimately work against him. Though the film is only 96 minutes, it would have been much more effective, and watchable, at a running time of about one hour.
It's possible that the repetition and tediousness of everyday life is the point that Szabo is trying to get across, but it is definitely a bad sign when we start moaning at seeing the same thing over and over again. It's a feeling of Deja Vu from hell.
The viewer is subjected to watching not only the same scene an intolerable number of times, but actually the same shots. At least five times we see through a car's windshield the same California street roll by our eyes, and the main character repeatedly staring at the same blanket on the floor.
''Where'' begins with a disturbing rape scene that is almost too real. In spite of our aversion, we are immediately fascinated and intrigued as to what will follow. In relief, we soon learn that the victim (Renata Satler) is really the man's (Miklos Acs) girlfriend, and that this is just the type of weird relationship they have.
She keeps threatening to leave, but he keeps forcing her to perform fellatio on him or fondle him while a bunch of people waiting for a bus look on in shock. She does eventually leave, but he calls and says, ''Come over now.'' And in spite of the abuse, or maybe because of it, she returns.
Their bizarre relationship fluctuates between playful and brutal. While naked, they both laugh as he rides her like a horse. But later when she dares to mock him, he smashes her head into a wall. Yet the intensity of these images are softened by the surrealistic atmosphere in which they take place. After the opening scene, realism takes a vacation.
Along the way there is some enjoyable quirkiness, such as the woman constantly screaming and running away, or the man limply punching his landlord. Acs, who looks a lot like Keir Dullea, gives a performance that is almost completely robotic in nature. He is a mysterious control freak seemingly devoid of any emotion. We're not sure what we feel about this guy even after the film ends.
And we truly miss Satler once the film jumps from Hungary to California and we never see her again. Once in the United States, the man hooks into Adolfo (Dennis Cornel), a young student who is as off-the-wall as his new mentor. Their relationship, though never physically sexual, goes the same twisted route as with the woman.
Some of ''Where'' is absorbing and intellectually amusing, but a lot of it is also redundant and annoying. Mr. Szabo's interesting style is ultimately original, but it would help if he figured out ''why?'' before asking any more questions.
WHERE
Where Film Inc.
Writer-director-producer Gabor Szabo
Cinematographer Nyika Jancso
Production designer Attila Kovacs
Sound George Pinter
Black and white
In English and Hungarian, with subtitles
Cast:
Miklos Acs
Woman Renata Satler
Adolfo Dennis Cornel
Running time -- 96 minutes
No MPAA rating
(c) The Hollywood Reporter...
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