Entries Tagged 'Behind the Scenes' ↓

For all those who thought Curly Joe was The Stooges downfall, this trumps it. One of the worst ideas in cinematic history: A new Three Stooges film — not a biopic, an actual Stooges adventure — starring Benicio Del Toro as Moe, Sean Penn as Larry, and Jim Carrey as Curly. Seriously. This is not a joke. The Farrelly Brothers (Something About Mary) are behind it.

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A well-known character actor for a number of years, Frank Whaley has appeared in nearly eighty films and TV shows, perhaps most famously opposite Kevin Spacey in Swimming With Sharks. He’s also written and directed three films, the most recent, New York City Serenade, coming to DVD on March 24. I had a chance to speak with Frank about the movie, his writing, and what’s next.

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Sans writer, director, or cast, Paramount and Dreamworks have secured July 1, 2011 as the date for Transformers 3, the third (and final?) chapter in the franchise. Scared another studio would snatch up the coveted holiday weekend slot, studio execs are betting Transformers: Revenge of The Fallen will be well enough received by audiences to warrant a third picture. This move also puts the Autobots and Decepticons squarely between the tag team of Spider-man 4 (May 6) & Thor (June 16) and Captain America (July 22), ensuring a Mighty Marvel Summer. (Marvel Comics’ Transformers ran for 80 issues between 1984-91).

UPDATE: Somebody’s gonna get fired. Director Michael Bay responded to the news of a Transformers triquel in 2011 on his blog… “Paramount made a mistake. They asked me on the phone and I said yes to July 4… but for 2012. Not 2011! That would mean I would have to start prep in September. No way. My brain needs a break from fighting robots.”

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I’ll admit Clue ranks high on my guilty pleasure list, but the studios are so devoid of scouting real talent that we suffer with greenlighting projects like this? Seriously?!

Universal has tapped director Kevin Lima (Enchanted) to direct a live action adaptation of the enduring Milton Bradley board game, from a script by Etan Cohen (Tropic Thunder). How exciting.

I can picture it now… Meryl Streep stars as Gramma Nutt, held hostage by Gloppy (Tom Cruise hoping for an Oscar) and the Gingerbread People deep in the Molasses Swamp. Only our adolescent heroes (Dakota Fanning and Zac Efron) and can help Plumpy (Jack Black) rescue her, but their exposure to MTV and Nintendo Wii has destroyed their imaginations, leaving little hope of ever finding the Brigadoon-esque Candy Land, let alone traversing it’s many dangers in time to reach Gramma before she’s turned into fudge.

Somebody at the WGA is not doing their job. There are hundreds of incredibly gifted writers in this town slaving away, creating compelling stories with inspired characters, and this is what goes into production. What truly scares me is what comes next… Michael Bay takes on The Weebles. McG reinvents Colorforms. M. Night Shyamalan shows us the dark side of Shrinky Dinks. Forget the economic recession, we’ve fallen into a creative black hole from which we may never escape.

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Fox is on a roll. Yesterday it was Ridley Scott’s The A-Team and today they rescue Narnia from the jaws of death. Seems the studio is willing to bite the bullet and swallow half of the development and production costs on The Dawn Treader, in anticipation of a Christmas 2010 release. Good to see the money they’re stealing from Warner Bros. Watchmen project is going to good use.

You’ll recall Disney dumped the franchise, after a less than robust return on Prince Caspian. The Mouse’s loss appears to be the Fox’s gain. Now all they need is a screenwriter. Unfortunately, first draft scribe Richard LaGravanese may no longer be available, leaving Walden and Fox in the lurch. The principal cast will all return, but director Andrew Adamson shifts into his producing chair, letting Michael Apted take the helm.

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Originality truly is dead for the summer movie season.

Fox announced late Tuesday that Ridley and Tony Scott have been given the green light for their remake of the NBC series The A-Team. From a script by forthcoming G.I. Joe big screen adaptation scribe Skip Woods, under the direction of Joe Carnahan (Smokin’ Aces), the studio has planted the picture as their June 2010 tent pole. Lucky us.

If that weren’t disturbing enough, Ridley — who I’ve interviewed and still admire — commented, “Tony and I feel that marrying this Scott Free project with Joe’s sensibility will result in a fast-paced, exciting franchise, one we hope will be around for years to come.” Yeah, because that worked so well for Miami Vice and The Dukes of Hazzard.

Carnahan chimed in, “Fox hired me to make it as emotional, real and accessible as possible without cheesing it up.” Good luck with that.

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Of course it was about the money. Warner Bros. is going to be a little sore on the back end, as Fox walks away from this hissy fit with somewhere in the neighborhood of $5-10 Million in cold hard cash, plus 5-8.5% of the gross — that’s right, GROSS — worldwide revenue the film rakes in. that Warner Bros. will retain full visual ownership of the picture, but after this little rape and pillaging effort, you can’t help but visualize Fox as the pimp smacking down its ‘ho at the end of the night. Ah, you gotta love Hollywood.

Last week, we had an opportunity to participate in an online Q&A with Angus MacLane, directing animator on WALL-E and director of BURN-E a hilarious new short film created exclusively for the DVD and Blu-ray releases. Angus joined the Pixar team back in 1997, after graduating from the Rhode Island School of Design, and has been a contributing animator on A Bug’s Life, Toy Story 2, Monsters Inc., Finding Nemo, The Incredibles, Cars, and Ratatouille. He was kind enough to take time an answer questions from an array of international press outlets, including Cinema Verdict.

Q: What did the role of directing animator on WALL-E involve?

AM: The Directing Animator’s job is to help the other animators keep their animation on model, so that the acting and movement are consistent for each of the characters over the entire film. They work to be both a surrogate voice of the Director when he/she is available, and also offer acting and performance suggestions. Directing Animators also help to define the motion and character of the main characters in the film. The Directing Animator reports directly to the Supervising Animators. On WALL-E, as well as The Incredibles, I worked under the Supervision Animators Alan Barillaro and Steven Hunter. They interface more with the production staff about the direction and management of the WALL-E animation department. They also serve as both a surrogate voice of the Director and also offer acting and performance suggestions as well. Time permitting, Supervising Animators will also help to define the motion and character of the main characters in the film.
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Back in late August, we had the opportunity to participate in a online Q&A with Disney storyboard artist and animator Burny Mattinson about his work on Sleeping Beauty. Burny joined the Disney company back in 1953 and has worked on a great many projects, most notably as director on both The Great Mouse Detective and Mickey’s Christmas Carol.

Q: You’ve worked in many unforgettable movies. Which is your favorite?

Burny: I have a very strong feeling for The Great Mouse Detective, beyond that Beauty and the Beast was one of my favorites to work on. Lady and the Tramp was my first film with the studio, and, of course, Sleeping Beauty has a very soft spot in my heart.

Q: When you were working on the film, did you have any sort of idea it would remain so popular 50 years later?

Burny: No! We were pleasantly surprised when everybody saw the final print and I think we all felt we made something classic. But at the time, we didn’t realize this would become such a beloved classic. We were too close to the working problems of it, just getting the work done. But then, when it was all together and we saw it for the first time, we realized we had something!

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Happy Birthday, Paddington Bear!  Well, close enough.  Actually, he made his debut on October 13, 1958 in a book by British author Michael Bond, and the rest is history. Those who have grown up reading his books or watching the cartoon series on Nickelodeon’s Pinwheel will be pleased to know that Warner Bros. is doing a live-action movie based on Bond’s creation. The film is being written by Hamish McColl (Mr. Bean’s Holiday) and will present Paddington as—you guessed it—a CGI creation. As tempting as it sounds, let’s hope and pray it’s not another Scooby-Doo or Garfield. A tentative release date of Summer 2010 is set.