This week on the show we review Miami Vice and Sympathy for Lady Vengeance, and we discuss the possibility of an 80’s family film comeback. We also count down our top 5 cop movies and lay waste to a few of the most recently released movie trailers. Download this week’s podcast now via the link below.

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There’s been some developments on the Dragonlance animated movie front, as it looks like an impressive voice cast is starting to take shape. It was recently announced that Kiefer Sutherland has signed on to voice Raistlin Majere, a dark wizard whose body was left frail and weak after his initiation to the dark arts almost killed him. Kiefer has done some great creepy voices in the past (Phone Booth anyone?) and his involvement adds credibility to the film. Also confirmed are Lucy Lawless (Goldmoon), Michael Rosenbaum (Tanis Half-Elven) and Michelle Trachtenberg (Tika Waylan). I’m still unsure what to expect in terms of quality from this project, but it sounds like they are treating it with the same care as a full blown feature film and not some direct-to-DVD castoff. It’s a great story, I just hope they keep it closer in tone to the Lord of the Rings than, say, Harry Potter. For all the latest updates stay tuned to www.dragonlance-movie.com.

As many of you are aware, in addition to the various live action movie projects they have on the go, Marvel is also developing a series of direct-to-video animated feature films. The first of these, Ultimate Avengers, was released back in February. I thought it was okay, although I was hoping for something a little higher quality overall. It was just barely a cut above typical Saturday morning cartoon fare. The sequel will be released on August 8th and Marvel is currently teaming up with online community Habbo.com to present a 10 minute preview of the film. The plot revolves around Black Panther and an alien horde that is raiding the jungles of Wakanda. Again, it doesn’t look like anything spectacular in my opinion but if you’re a fan of comics and/or animation it may be worth checking out. Click below to watch the first ten minutes of Ultimate Avengers 2. (Note: You don’t need to be a member of Habbo.com to watch.)

Miami Vice
Written and Directed by: Michael Mann
Starring: Colin Farrell, Jamie Foxx, Li Gong, Naomie Harris

Over the past few years Hollywood has been resurrecting a lot of old TV shows and giving them novelty big screen treatments, cashing in on the nostalgia factor but very rarely improving on the shows or giving us anything worth seeing. I mean, did anyone really need a Dukes of Hazzard movie?

When people think of Miami Vice, quite often they think of cheesy 80’s fashion and music, and you might assume that a big screen adaptation directed by the original series creator would be another one of these low brow parodies. I actually might not have minded that, assuming they did it in the vein of the Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson Starsky and Hutch remake. But the interesting twist is that the creator of Miami Vice is none other than Michael Mann, who has gone on to become the acclaimed director of such movies as The Insider and Collateral. Instead of going campy, Mann went in the exact opposite direction, reimagining the show’s concept to give us an ultra-stylish and dark modern cop movie.

I had my doubts about whether or not I wanted to see a Miami Vice movie that took itself so seriously, and indeed the movie starts off like a music video, opening in a nightclub with that damn Jay Z/Linkin Park remix playing and all the characters dressed to the nines (ie. my worst nightmare). But then the movie started to build momentum and I found myself getting hooked into the plot. Sonny Crockett and his partner Ricardo Tubbs get a phone call out of the blue from a friend and FBI agent who says his operation has gone awry. His cover is blown and his life is in danger. There is an intense scene of some FBI agents getting ambushed and after meeting up with their superiors, Sonny and Rico are assigned to track down the leak.

The visual style of the movie was fantastic. The locations were beautiful and the washed out colours, grainy texture and high contrast look was awesome, bringing out the feel of Miami’s seedy underbelly perfectly. Mann has used a similar style in a lot of his movies, including Collateral. Of course, the downside of Michael Mann’s style is that he also has a tendency to stretch scenes out and slow down the pace of a movie. In some cases it works, like with The Insider, where the movie focuses on the inner turmoil of its main character. However, Miami Vice is supposed to be a summer action film, and there isn’t much depth to these characters.

This is why eventually Miami Vice lost its way for me. The whole middle chunk of the movie involves their undercover wheelings and dealings, and there is very little action. It’s all setting up meetings, talking on cell phones, dropping loads and shooting loads. There is suspense whenever a confrontation occurs, but then each scene just seems to fizzle. At this point, a love story develops between Sonny and a female businesswomen. Sex and romance may have been an important element of the original Miami Vice series, but here it just derails the story. The middle stretch of the movie dragged on for what seems like an eternity, and although it tries to create conflict within the characters, it bored the hell out of me.

Now, the movie’s climax does make up for the long ride somewhat. There are two kinetic and tense action scenes that come near the end of the film, including what may be one of the best shootouts I’ve ever seen on screen. Very violent and well choreographed, and shot handheld to get across a sense of confusion and chaos. If the movie had more scenes like this it would have been amazing.

Overall the movie is way too long for what it is. The visuals are the main redeeming quality in my opinion, putting it a cut above, say, a Michael Bay movie like Bad Boys. Unfortunately, in this case most people will probably prefer Bad Boys. The slow pace, mesmerizing score and often bleak music from bands like Mogwai indicate that maybe Mann wanted to delve deeper into the psyche of his characters. Unfortunately, there is no room for character development in the script, and it feels out of place.

The truly sad thing is that Miami Vice had the potential to be one of the best movies of the year so far, but it just didn’t follow through. I will give it a mild recommendation based on the great beginning and end, but you might want to bring a pillow for the middle of this flick. — Sean

We’ve heard rumours before about a real Aquaman movie possibly being greenlit as a result of the popularity of HBO’s comedy series Entourage. At the time, it seemed a bit unlikely, with Mark Wahlberg (the actor on which Entourage is based) supposedly being the proposed star. But now the rumours are back, and with the CW’s Aquaman TV pilot quickly becoming the most downloaded video on iTunes, maybe it’s not such a stretch anymore. According to the L.A. Times, there have been recent discussions at Warner Brothers about actually making it a reality, with Charlie’s Angels director McG listed as a possible helmer. The strange part of all this is that Ari Emmanuel, the talent agent on which Entourage character Ari Gold is based, is one of the people pushing for the project to get a greenlight. I don’t really know how I feel about this. I still think Aquaman is a pretty weak character to build a franchise around (Entourage creator Doug Ellin even admits he chose it because it “sounded like a ridiculous movie”). But with all the buzz around Entourage and the Aquaman TV pilot, there’s definitely some interest there (albeit ironic) that could be turned into dollars. Maybe they should give it the Snakes On A Plane treatment and let the marketers play off its inherent cheesiness. Either way, I wouldn’t be surprised if it did actually happen… we all know there’s been plenty of stupider ideas that have made for successful movies over the years.

Last week we reported on a joke letter written by the band Steely Dan that accused Owen Wilson and the producers of You, Me and Dupree of ripping off the idea for the movie from their song “Cousin Dupree”. Now Owen Wilson has humoured them enough to respond with a sarcastic quip of his own. “I have never heard the song ‘Cousin Dupree’ and I don’t even know who this gentleman, Mr. Steely Dan, is. I hope this helps to clear things up and I can get back to concentrating on my new movie, ‘HEY 19.’ ” (The humour there, for those who didn’t get it, is that “Hey Nineteen” is another Steely Dan song.) Of course, this whole dispute may be just a farce but it’s cool to see that Wilson didn’t feel he was too cool to play along. That Owen Wilson, I’m telling you… he’s good people. If you want to read the original letter you can still find it on Steely Dan’s website here.

Pirates of the Caribbean 2 has finally been dethroned from the box office top spot this week, with Michael Mann’s Miami Vice taking home the biggest chunk of change over the weekend. I’m kind of surprised that the Miami Vice name still holds this much appeal, but then again it might just have been Colin Farrell and Jamie Foxx doing all the “appealing”. Looks like Clerks 2 isn’t doing all the repeat business they hoped it would either… Kevin Smith better hurry up and release that audio commentary MP3 soon!

1. Miami Vice - $25.2M
2. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest - $20.5M
3. John Tucker Must Die - $14.1M
4. Monster House - $11.5M
5. The Ant Bully - $8.14M
6. Lady in the Water - $7M
7. You, Me and Dupree - $7M
8. Little Man - $5.1M
9. The Devil Wears Prada - $4.78M
10. Clerks II - $3.94M

It looks like there may be another David Cross/Bob Odenkirk collaboration on the horizon, in the form of a big screen adaptation of their cult comedy sketch series Mr. Show. In an interview with Premiere this month, Odenkirk recently revealed that he and Cross had written a script, and that they hope to shoot the movie this fall. I’m assuming a lot will rely on Cross’ schedule, as the man seems to be everywhere lately with a million projects on the go. (Granted, the cancellation of Arrested Development probably opened up his schedule considerably.) I have to wonder though, can a Mr. Show movie really work? Would it be a collection of sketches, or would it follow a specific character like the previous Mr. Show spin-off film Run Ronnie Run? Quite often comedy sketches are simply not made to last 90 minutes. I suppose we’ll find out their plans soon enough, but with the talent involved it definitely has potential.

I know a lot of people didn’t like X-Men: The Last Stand, but I enjoyed it. I did have a few minor gripes with the movie, but I can honestly say that none of them had anything to do with scapegoat director Brett Ratner or any of the deviations from the comic book canon. I will probably add the DVD to my collection at some point, but I’m wondering if we will see a bigger and better version at some point down the road. For the time being, Fox Home Entertainment is offering a single-disc release that includes two audio commentaries (one with director Brett Ratner, the other with the producers and writers), ten deleted scenes, three alternate endings with optional director commentary, theatrical trailers and two easter eggs. The Collector’s Edition will include all of the above, plus a 100-page commemorative book with an all-new story written by Stan Lee. Not a bad package, but there’s still room for a second disc with featurettes and more behind the scenes stuff. I’m guessing it will happen eventually, so be warned! For now, you can pick either of these releases up on October 3rd. There will also be a 3-disc X-Men Trilogy box set available on the same day.

Whenever Martin Scorsese is working on a new movie, you can pretty much assume that it’s going to have a stellar cast, because most actors would do just about anything to work with the guy. He’s a living legend to be sure, and with a filmography that includes Taxi Driver, Raging Bull, and Goodfellas he’s certainly earned his respect. The Departed, Scorsese’s latest, stars Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Jack Nicholson, Martin Sheen, Mark Wahlberg, and Alec Baldwin… just to name a few. How can you go wrong with names like that? Leonardo DiCaprio plays an undercover cop who is assigned to infiltrate an Irish mob syndicate; Matt Damon on the other hand is a mole planted within the police department. I’m not sure why but I get excited just seeing DiCaprio on the big screen nowadays… he seems to be so choosy with his roles and works almost exclusively with big directors now. Both him and Damon often get hated on just because they’re pretty boys, but they’ve definitely got the acting talent to back it up. Man, this is another great-looking flick… did someone say 2006 was turning into a crappy year for movies? Watch the trailer for The Departed now at the link below. It hits theatres on October 6th.