Poland's M:i:iii Review

See here http://www.moviecitynews.com/columnists/poland/2006/060427.html

An excerpt:

Summer starts with a whimper… perhaps the loudest whimper on record, but a whimper nonetheless… with Mission:Impossible 3, aka Alias: The Motion Picture, aka The Really Big Movie That Really Doesn't Suck That Bad...

The simple analysis of Abrams directorial skills is that he shoots virtually everything in close-up, has no skill in establishing space (a TV director's trait because the density of the image in TV forgives this problem most of the time), and is only in his element when people are talking… and talking… and talking.

Here is a little more detail…

JJ Abrams has four tricks that he uses (a lot) in Mission:Impossible 3:

1. It's really hard for Tom Cruise to get into every building. (Everyone else on the I:M team seems to be able to get in through cleverness. Ethan Hunt has to use gadgets and raw physicality that turn him into Spider-Man.)
2. He can get tears to well up in Tom's eyes like they did in Puss-n-Boots in Shrek 2.
3. Lots of tough talk in tight close-up.
4. When it's time to leave an impregnable building, use lots of automatic weapons and be sure that only the outnumbered good guys will know how to shoot.

These four items will get you through pretty much all of Mission: Impossible 3...

Phillip Seymour Hoffman was clearly not all that important to the movie - he was the McGuffin - until he became an Oscar candidate, then winner. I would bet a large sum that his last scene in the film was a re-shoot, though it may have been reshot during principle photography. Unlike in Capote, Hoffman is in his fully-fed glory here and the idea of him competing with Tom Terrific is appropriately avoided in most of the movie. When that changes, expect to hear some deserved laughs in the audience.

I really liked the first M:i film...and I enjoyed the second even though I know it was a piece of crap. I'll see this one too with expectations that it will be more like the second than the first. Oh, well. It sounds like fun!

Miller is CRUISIN' for a BRUISIN'

Oh no! Not my boy Tommy! War of the World the worst movie of his career!!! Oh my God, I hope this arguement doesn't get physical next time we meet! War Of The Worlds was AWESOME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
(I meant every since one of those exclamation marks).Nothing beats seeing Tom running through the city while people are getting turned to dust left and right. That was easily my favorite time at the movies last year.
Erik, I think I know why you didn't like it. During the movie you started to ask yourself, "Huh, what would I be doing in a situation like this." As the movie unfolded you realized that your little brother-in-law would be acting like Tom Cruise (saving the family, blowing up alien ships, throwing peanut butter sandwhiches at windows) while you would be playing the Tim Robbins role...of getting your ass kicked...by TOM CRUISE!!!!!

Best Comic Book That Were Turning Into Movies

Here to shoot down my brother's crazy ass list.

Tim's top 10:

1. X-Men 2
2. Batman Begins
3. Hulk (That's not a mistake. It's number three!)
4. X-Men
5. V For Vendetta
6. Sin City
7. Constantine (Yeah I said it! Constantine is better than Spider Man 2.
   What are you doing to do about it!!!!)
8. Mystery Men
9. Spider Man 2
10. Road To Perdition

Eric's Summer Update, Week 2

Movie, Estimated Gross, (change from last week)

1. DaVinci Code, $325, (+25M)
2. Cars, $300, (+$70M)
3. M:i:iii, $225
4. Pirates 2, $200, (-$150M)
5. Superman, $200, (+25M)
6. X-Men 2, $185
7. Over The Hedge, $175
8. The Break Up, $150
9. Poseidon, $115, (+45M)
10. Click, $110, (-$30M)
11. Talladega Nights, $85, (+25M)
12. Miami Vice, $80
13. You, Me & Dupree, $75
14. The Ant Bully, $70
15. Illusionist, $65, (new)
16. Nacho Libre, $60
17. FF3, $60
18. Lady in the Water, $60
19. Super Ex-Girlfriend, $60
20. Just My Luck, $55

The big mover is Pirates 2. EW convinced me that it may not be quite as desired as I thought. Cars is the other big mover...but in the opposite direction...since my initial guess was below Nemo and Incredibles.

I'm continued to be convinced that DVC will play to the 18-25 crowd since it has action and will make them feel smart.

Superman remains the big wild card. I can see it as high as $300M or as low as $125...I'm not confident enough to even split the difference.

Saving the Big Screen

Over the past couple years, I've become convinced that something like digital 3D projection is the only thing that will keep movie theaters from becoming as lifeless as stage theaters.

James Cameron has been tooting that horn for a while now, and here's the latest:

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1002384440

an excerpt:

The director of the highest-grossing film of all time at $1.8 billion worldwide said he is considering a re-release of 1997's Titanic in digital 3-D just as Peter Jackson is planning at some point for King Kong and, possibly, his The Lord of the Rings trilogy. George Lucas also plans to theatrically re-release his original Star Wars in 3-D timed to the space opera's 30th anniversary next year. With filmmakers and exhibitors united behind the idea of enhanced cinema experiences, Cameron predicted that studios would become even more focused on both releasing new titles and re-releasing classics in 3-D digital cinema. "We will reach a point in a few years when every major studio will ask how many of its four or five annual tent poles should be in 3-D," Cameron said. "It will become almost a rule that all major 3-D animated releases will be made available in 3-D. "Every year there will be a copy of timeless favorites brought back through (3-D) dimensionalization," he said. "The new wave of 3-D films will be the must-see films, the major releases from major filmmakers."

The Damned Narnians

This week's Entertainment weekly article on Walden Media got me thinking. Walden seems to be building a family-friendly brand in "Walden Media." From what I've read, they're hoping that in a couple years people will hear that something is a Walden Media film, and they'll take their family, if for no other reason, other than they know it will be kid-friendly and faithful to a children's classic.

I think they're ducking a potential PR nightmare since the Narnia stories become increasing exclusivist in their Christian worldview...and who could blame them. LWW was clearly a Christian tale, but non-Christians can leave appreciating the Jesus-like salvation myth while still feeling as their alternative faith was untouched. In future novels, however, it becomes clear that Aslan is not the only holy being the creatures in Narnia have faith in. And according to Aslan, these other faiths are all based on a lie and the people who follow the lie are lost. As I'm sure you know, there's a big difference between telling a Jesus story in a magical world and telling stories which portray false religions in that magical world...especially when the other major religion in that world is patterned on Islam. Mind you, I think as far as Christian exclusivists go, CS Lewis is fairly respectable in his portrayal of the other religions. But in today's world, any worldview that appears intolerant is met by the public with a harsh (and ironically, intolerant) backlash.

Walden's big brand: Narnia, however, is building its own lucrative fanbase. The unanswered question is, how much of that fanbase will remain loyal if the Narnia stories start saying, "if you're not a Christian, you're going to hell." To many Christians, that's true, non-offensive, and not at all in conflict with the family-friendly brand of Walden Media. For this segment of the fanbase, to remove the "offensive" elements would be a betrayal by Walden of their commitment to "remain faithful to the text"...a line they repeated out over and over during the LWW campaign so to avoid the religion question. To many others (both non-Christians and more liberal Christians), keeping those elements in is about as un family friendly as you can get.

I think it's clear that the Narnia brand and the Walden Media brand are steam rolling towards one another. Walden must have a plan for how to handle this, but since they're not being open about it, I'm guessing they haven't figured out any great compromise or anything and that ultimately, they plan on pissing off one of these two groups.

Prince Caspian doesn't hit this sub-theme as much as the next story, The Dawn Treader, and later stories do. If Caspian doesn't make a big financial splash, I can see producers balking and not being willing to go out on a limb and offend people since to do so would mean they could lose a portion of their dwindling audience. It'll be interesting to see how long Walden Media will be willing to sing its "we're faithful to the text" mantra.

At this point what I find so fascinating is that the major media outlets haven't pondered this question yet. Given that LWW made more money domestically than Harry Potter 4 did last year, I thought at least one major entertainment correspondent would have spent the one day required to crank out the Narnia series and see what they're all about (I think all seven of them together are slimmer than Harry Potter 5) . Had they done so, I'm sure they would have had a big story titled something like "Is CS Lewis' Narnia good for today's kids" around the time of the DVD release. Oh well. At some point they'll figure it out...and it'll be fun to watch.

The Narnia Kids

Dark Horizons http://www.darkhorizons.com/news06/060424i.php has adapted a brief Entertainment Weekly piece on the future of the Narnia series.
What's interesting about this and other reports on the topic over the past year is that they all fail to note the element that is probably forefront in the producers' minds when planning out this series: the age of the cast.
Everyone's keenly aware that the Potter kids are aging faster in the movies than the books allow, and if Narnia stories don't get into theaters with some regularity the same will happen to a lesser extent.
Here's the order of the stories chronologically

1. Magician's Nephew
2. Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe
3. Horse's Boy (actually takes place during the Pevensies' reign at the end of LWW)
4. Prince Caspian
5. Dawn Treader
6. Silver Chair
7. Last Battle

But since LWW needed to be done first for branding reasons, they must do Caspian, Treader, and Chair as their next three because of the casting requirements. All four Pevensie children are in Caspian, while two are in Treader. In Treader a new child character is introduced who is then also the lead in Silver Chair.
Assuming that the Last Battle will, in fact, be done last, the remaining two movies could be done in pretty much any order the producers want. My guess is that they'll do Magician's Nephew sooner rather than later...especially if the series start to fizzle out.

The Magicians Nephew, since it is a prequel, has all new human characters.
Two of the Pevensies have a cameo in Horse's Boy...but those characters are much older in that film.

In the Last Battle all of the children who appeared in the earlier stories re-appear (except Susan), but they are all significantly older.
Here's the order they should do them

1. Lion, Witch, and Wardrobe
2. Prince Caspian
3. Dawn Treader
4. Silver Chair
5. Horse's Boy
6. Magician's Nephew
7. Last Battle

Putting Magician's Nephew at the penultimate spot allows for Last Battle taglines such as "You've seen how it begins, now see how it ends".

Walden Media

I gotta say, I'm really excited about Walden Media. The stuff I read
about them leading up to their release of Narnia was really positive.
And the latest EW article gave me even more confidence in them.

I hadn't realized that they're headed up by the former president of
Dimension Films. During the Narnia hype all they talked about was
billionaire-evangelical, Philip Anschutz's involvement...apparently,
he's just the money behind the company.

It's really great that people who know how to make movies have
committed themselves to make family-friendly movies. I really hope
that they make a brand out of themselves. Given that Big Idea (the
creators of VeggieTales) got bought out, Walden is the only game in
town that has visionary movie makers that could make real change in
Hollywood.

That said, I wonder how Narnia's success ($291M domestic, #2 in 2005)
will reduce their dependancy on Anschutz. I hope not much.

EW's Top Ten Summer Movies

1. Superman Returns, $300M
2. M:i:iii, $260M
3. X-Men 3, $240
4. Cars, $235M
5. DaVinci Code, $225M
6. Pirates 2, $200M
7. Over the Hedge, $175M
8. Poseidon, $140M
9. Break-up, $120M
10. Talladega Nights, $115M

[Editor's note: EW is owed by the same company that made Superman, and two years ago they put their own Catwoman on the cover of their Hits to Come edition]

Ann's "Best Movies I've Seen on Subjects that Don't Interest Me"

1. Waking Ned Devine- Old people winning the lottery
2. Last Castle- Military prison heroes
3. Seabiscuit- Horse racing
4. Mannequin- movies where a Sex in the City star mannequin that comes to life

Actually, I don't really like Mannequin that much, but three just seemed like an incomplete list.

Ann's Favorite Tom Cruise Movies

In the spirit of keeping lists, here's my list of favorite Tom Cruise movies. Not necessarily what I would say are his best movies, just the ones that I like the best.

1. Last Samurai
2. Mission Impossible
3. Jerry Maguire
4. MI:2
5. Top Gun

Poland's Summer Column, Week One

Movie industry guru, David Poland, started his summer movie column last week. Not the most exciting column ever, but it's a great resource if you want a brief explaination of all the films being released this summer.

He also posted his prediction charts. Here's his top 5 from this week:

1. Pirates of the Caribbean II, $347m

2. Superman Returns, $238m

3. Mission: Impossible 3, $185m

4. Cars, $210m

5. X-Men: Last Stand, $185

Obviously, he's missing DaVinci Code...and given Supe's complete lack of advertising, I think he's over estimating that...plus M:i:3 will do better since Posideon will under perform and TC will benefit from being the only thing out that people want to see...but no one pays me for what I think.

M:i:3 Analysis

Here's the deal, HSX is going to release Call/Put stock for M:i:3 with a strike price of $65M...War of the Worlds opened with $64.8M and made $234M domestic. Last year every movie (except Fantastic Four) that opened with at more than $30M more than tripled it's opening. Using that precedent, $65M opening for M:i:3 would put it over $200M...given that I think Poseidon will under perform, I think $225M is a good guess and Tim's $250M is not out of the question. What say you?

Eric's Initial Summer Guesses

1. Pirates of the Caribbean II $350
2. The DaVinci Code $300
3. Cars $230
4. Mission: Impossible 3 $225
5. Superman Returns $175
6. Over The Hedge $175
7. X-Men: The Last Stand $185
8. The Break Up $150
9. Click $140
10. Miami Vice $80
11. You, Me & Dupree $75
12. Poseidon $70
13. The Ant Bully $70
14. Omen $65
15. Nacho Libre $60
16. Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift $60
17. Lady in the Water $60
18. Super Ex-Girlfriend $60
19. Talladega Nights $60
20. Just My Luck $55

Best Comic Book Movies

I'm sure Tim will come up with something I'm missing...but until then, here's my list

1. Spiderman 2
2. Batman Begins
3. Incredibles
4. X2
5. Mystery Men [Edit 4/20]
6. V for Vendetta [Edit 4/20]
   
7. Superman
8. Batman
   

The Truth behind the DaVinci Code Brand

This is a response to David Poland's Hot Button column from April 17.

The DaVinci Code will not be a major summer blockbuster because it is based on a best-selling book.

IMHO, however, DaVinci Code will be a mega hit because it is based on the DaVinci Code brand. Right now, anything that says "DaVinci Code" on it sells. Books, prequels, calendars, anti-DVC books, "in the spirit of DVC" books, you name it, it's money.

None of the former movies based on books that are on your list had anywhere near the level of public awareness nor, more importantly, the familiarity of the brand as DVC has...and you know as well as anyone, that branding, whether that brand is its stars, director, or franchise (and this has...or will have...all three) is the most important asset studios leverage in today's world (for a clear example of the power of branding see the much-panned, no-star, #1 movie from this weekend).

A couple years ago Disney launched a new DVC rip-off brand with National Treasure and made $173M domestic. Based solely on the fact that DVC has a pre-existing brand presence, DVC will do MUCH better than Treasure. Couple the power of this brand with the level of controversy that swirls around this brand and, learning from history, we know that the media storm that will hit mid-May will make this a contender for the highest grossing movie of the year. And don't forget, this isn't some hack making this film, it's powered by two of the most capable brands in the business today, Mr. Howard and Mr. Hanks.

Tim's Summer Movie Guesses

The Da Vinci Code-350
Pirates-300
Over The Hedge-250
Mission Impossible-250
Superman-225
X-Men-210
Cars-200
Click-175
Monster House-170
Break Up-140
You, Me & Dupree-125
Miami Vice-110
Talladega Nights-100
Fast & Furious 3- 100
The Omen-95
Lady In The Water-80
Posideon-75
Super Ex-Girlfriend-75
Ant Bully-70
Nacho Libre-60
Garfield- 55
Just My Luck-50
Snakes On A Plane-55
Little Man-40

George Bush Senior Created Hip Hop

You may think this is crazy or more likely blasphemous. How could George Bush have created something that most Bush fans would say is awful? I'll tell you.
When there is a social injustus people will fight against it any way that they can. Some people form coups, throw a riot or picket, but most of all, they try to get others involved. A way of getting others involved is through music. Being that many musicans are liberal by nature they don't like to see the people at the bottom of the social ladder going through the pains that they are. Many musicans believe/hope that through music they can inform or incite people to help make a change.
Now hip hop started around 77 and 79. Well, Bush didn't get into office until 88 right? Correct, but before that he was running the CIA. Around that time the CIA has been accused and has been well documented on the fact that they were bringing cocaine into South Central Los Angeles. (You can find sources at http://www.geocities.com/~virtualtruth/crack.htm).
Even though hip hop started in the late 70s it wasn't much more than a local thing that was going on in New York. Something that people did at some parties. But then, in '83 Grandmaster Melle Mel released "The Message" that spefically talked about how crack/cocaine was destroying the neighborhoods and it was the second hip hop songs to be played on major radio stations (behind Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper Delight"). Once that record started to sell it got companies interested in hip hop. Back in '83 rap music was still looked at as a fad. A gimmic, something that would come and go. And you know what? It probably would have. But thank God for George Bush. With all the cocaine he was pumping and/or letting into Los Angeles and other black communities it created poverty and crime beyond African American's wildest dreams. From this a voice came. A voice loud and clear. A voice that was so loud in fact that middle Americans like myself couldn't stop but listen to it. That voice was called N.W.A. Niggaz With Attitude (formed of super producer/rapper Dr. Dre, DJ Yella, Eazy E, MC Ren and top 50 movie star Ice Cube). They came out so angry, with so much to say and so unapplogetic that it was the new rebel music. Even though white kids in the suburbs couldn't relate to the things that were getting said in the songs they were sure of one thing. That this would piss off their parents. That it did. Hip hop started pissing off so many people and caused so much controversy that it started to get bigger and bigger and bigger until it was unstoppable. What about the crack/cocaine epidemic? Well that did the exact same thing and spread over the country inciting groups on the east coast like Public Enemy, KRS-One, X-Clan and others to make strong, angry and unabashed music that us white kids couldn't get enough of.
All hip hoppers give praises to George Bush. If he would have tried to stop drugs coming into this country instead of bring them in, hip hop music would have just been a gimmic. Something that came and went. Something new and fun for a couple years like techno, until it just died out. But since he fucked up the black community so bad and got them so pissed that they started to make music about their surroundings...he saved it! Thank you George Bush! With out you there would be no Snoop Dogg.

Great things about Till We Have Faces

I re-read Till We have Faces for the first time since college. It's a wonderful C.S. Lewis book that explores the seemingly inconsistant way divine interacts with people.

1. Intriguing story...
2. Insightful exploration of why God doesn't reveal himself to everyone in the same way...if at all.
3. Strong female lead character.
4. Relationships and love take center stage.

The only 2 Things we need to do with Immigration

1. Institute a Guest Worker Program...if you were living in the hell-hole known as Mexico, couldn't feed your family, and had an 80% chance of crossing the American border, you would risk your life to get a job in the US and provide for your loved ones, wouldn't you. Should we really jail people for making the right choice? Those immigrants who are working in this country today must be allowed to become legal immigrants.
2. Build a Big Fence on the Border...we need to make it so the success rate of those who attempt to jump the US border is less than 5% or responsible Mexicans will continue to come here and our government and social services will be overwhelmed and become ineffective (even more so)

4 Most promising things about Smallville

Ok, so I'm behind the times. But we finally rented the first DVD of the first season of Smallville. At this point I'd have to say that it certainly isn't as good as Firefly...but the comparison isn't unfounded. Here's the best things the show's got going for it so far:

1. Lex Luthor...what a great character...by far the most sympathetic character on the show.
2. Good Soundtrack...haven't seen too many shows that have a contemporary soundtrack...but then again I don't watch the WB either
3. Father/Son relationships...I love the parallels between Clark and his dad and Lex and his.
4. It's just plain fun

4...no 6...Movies that could top V for Vendetta

1. Superman Returns...it's Brian Singer and a resurrection story. If done right it could top Spider-Man 2 on the all-time best comic book movie list.
2. Lady in the Water...I don't know anything about it other than M. Night Shyamalan...do I need to know anything else?
3. United 93...it's already touching a nerve and it hasn't even been released.
4. The Departed...Scorsese and DiCaprio have had two movies in a row that were almost great...this cast and topic could be the one that puts them over the top
5. [edit 4/12] Apocalypto
6. [edit 4/12] Flag of Our Fathers

Tim, are right...those two films belong to this list.

4 Reasons why Vendetta Can't Be Topped in 2006

1. It's an important topic...if you're not afraid of Western governments becoming totalitarianistic, you should be
2. It speaks the truth about tyrants...the régime that will ruin us all will come from those who don't respect the sanctity of life, not from those who do
3. It recognizes the power of words and music in human existence...after the power of words, music is the most effective means of liberating the human heart
4. It's not overly idealistic...V is not the noblest character in the movie, Evy is because she recognizes that ideals without taking in account the physical and emotional lives of the people those ideas impact is almost worthless