http://www.filmjunk.com Blog And Podcast Fri, 03 Jul 2009 19:28:48 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en With so many recent action movies striving for a sense of realism and intensity, we are seeing more and more directors attempting to use handheld and erratic camera movement as a way to inject energy into their scenes. When used skillfully and/or sparingly this can be very effective, but the downside is that it has been known to induce nausea and motion sickness in some viewers (Cloverfield). It is also sometimes used as a crutch when a director wants to hide poor special effects or a lack of fight choreography. While this current trend is probably a direct result of the success of The Bourne Trilogy, the idea of replicating a documentary feel within fictional films is not particularly new. What ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/03/open-forum-friday-is-shaky-cam-good-or-bad-for-action-movies/ In what appears to be a direct response to Neill Blomkamp's District 9 and ABC's upcoming V remake, Sci Fi Channel (who are officially changing their name to SyFy as of next week) have unveiled plans for a remake of another Kenneth Johnson TV series: Alien Nation. Based on the 1988 movie starring James Caan and Terrence Stamp, the show ran for just one season on Fox, but was continued a few years later with five made-for-TV movies. The new take on Alien Nation is expected to be set in the Pacific Northwest, and will pick up 20 years after a number of of alien ships have crash landed on Earth. The aliens, dubbed "newcomers", have since attempted to integrate with ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/03/tim-minear-heading-up-alien-nation-remake/ I hadn't really heard much about Carriers up until Star Trek hit theatres, but now that Chris Pine is starting to get so much attention for his role as Captain James T. Kirk, this project is also gaining momentum proportionately. The story seems like one we've seen a few too many times before: a group of survivors struggles to stay alive in the wake of a viral outbreak. That said, I have to admit, the trailer still captured my interest enough that I could see myself checking it out. One thing I like is the fact that the Z-word is never mentioned anywhere in the trailer, although it certainly seems to hint towards there being a clear zombie element. The similarity ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/03/carriers-trailer-starring-chris-pine/ I have to admit, this next news story reeks of a prank, especially when it's coming one day after the announcement of an Asteroids movie. Then again, I guess that should make this even more believable. According to Coming Soon, Fringe writer Brad Caleb Kane will be penning the script for a feature film based on another popular retro toy: the View-Master. He announced the project via his Twitter account back on Tuesday of this week. According to Kane, the movie is being set up at Dreamworks and produced by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman. He also says it will be "like the old 80's Amblin movies: Goonies, Young Sherlock... In that vein." For those who don't remember, the View-Master is ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/03/viewmaster-the-movie/ Only two major releases are hitting theatres over this holiday long weekend, the first being Michael Mann's Public Enemies starring Johnny Depp, and the other being Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs. Both will probably make a boatload of cash, but will either of them be able to match Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? The only limited release this weekend is the second film starring Nia Vardalos this summer, I Hate Valentine's Day. She wrote and directed this one herself, and reteams with My Big Fat Greek Wedding co-star John Corbett. What will you be checking out? Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs Public Enemies I Hate Valentine's Day (limited) http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/03/new-to-theatres-this-weekend-ice-age-3-public-enemies-i-hate-valentines-day/ Public Enemies Directed by: Michael Mann Written by: Ronan Bennett, Michael Mann, Ann Biderman (screenplay), Bryan Burrough (book) Starring: Johnny Depp, Christian Bale, Marion Cotillard, Stephen Dorff, Channing Tatum, Billy Crudup, Leelee Sobieski, Giovanni Ribisi, Stephen Graham The prospect of Johnny Depp playing a 1930's gangster is probably all that was required to sell most people on Public Enemies, but with director Michael Mann (Heat, The Insider) at the helm, no one really knew whether to expect a summer action movie or a character-driven art piece. What's more, with the number of great gangster flicks that have been made over the years, Mann had his work cut out for him if he was hoping to create something that could measure up to some of ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/03/public-enemies-review/ Behind the Lens is a feature where we pose a series of short, offbeat questions to inspiring filmmakers, actors and artists in order to get to know them a little better. Moon, the debut feature film from Duncan Jones, has been getting a lot of great buzz ever since it premiered at Sundance earlier this year. With a cerebral plot and an impressive solo performance by Sam Rockwell, not to mention amazing special effects on a shoestring budget, many critics have hailed it as the return of science-fiction for the thinking man on the big screen. The film is currently playing in select theatres in the U.S., and it will premiere in Canada starting this Friday. For more info on where you ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/02/behind-the-lens-duncan-jones-director-of-moon/ It should probably come as no surprise that Sacha Baron Cohen may have yet another lawsuit on his hands as a result of the upcoming film Bruno. What is a little bit unexpected, however, is the fact that the person contemplating legal action is not one of Bruno's on-screen victims... but rather comedian Pauly Shore! According to the New York Daily News, Shore is seeking retribution for Bruno's baby adoption gag, which figures prominently in the trailer. He seems to think it may have been stolen from his own movie Adopted (tagline: "First there was Angelina, then Madonna, and now Pauly!"). When I wrote about the first trailer for Bruno back in April, I did joke about the similarities between the ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/02/pauly-shore-might-sue-bruno-for-stealing-his-baby-adoption-joke/ Well it looks like we've finally got something more to report on the next installment in Paul W.S. Anderson's Resident Evil movie franchise. Although this is still not entirely official, Shock Till You Drop has it on good authority that Resident Evil 4 is a go and will be aiming for a release date of September 17, 2010. The new movie is apparently being called Resident Evil: Afterlife. As expected, the fourth chapter will have nothing to do with Resident Evil 4 the video game, and instead will pick up where the last movie, Resident Evil: Extinction, left off. That will probably mean a shift in setting to the Umbrella Headquarters in Tokyo. No word yet on whether or not Milla ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/02/resident-evil-4-gets-a-title-and-release-date/ I've been waiting a long time for a DVD release of Fred Dekker's cult classic Night of the Creeps... in fact, it's one of the few movies I still actually own on VHS. When The Monster Squad was finally released back in 2007, it looked like NOTC would follow soon after, but it's taken another two years for Sony to get their act together. At long last, a release date of October 10th has been set, and it's now currently up for pre-order on Amazon. Ever cooler is the fact that in addition to pre-ordering, you can also vote for your favourite DVD cover. Unfortunately, the three choices that they have available aren't all that fantastic. I know that they're going ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/02/vote-on-night-of-the-creeps-dvd-artwork/ Yet another head-scratcher coming from Universal Pictures this week as they have apparently picked up the film rights to the classic Atari and arcade game Asteroids. Yes, that's right Asteroids... the game with a little triangular ship shooting giant rocks in space. I mean, we all know that big screen adaptations of video games are usually doomed from the start, but when you're dealing with a game as simplistic as Asteroids, well, I really don't know what to say. This is the same studio that has movies based on Monopoly, Battleship, Candyland, Stretch Armstrong, and Major Matt Mason in development. Clearly they're primarily interested in selling nostalgia, although somehow I think they might be taking the idea a little too ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/02/universal-to-adapt-classic-atari-game-asteroids-as-a-movie/ Bad news Neil Marshall fans: it looks like he didn't get the directing gig for Predators after all. Harry over at Ain't It Cool News has been able to confirm the director for the upcoming reboot/sequel on behalf of his good buddy Robert Rodriguez, and it is Hungarian filmmaker Nimrod Antal. Latino Review first reported that Antal was a possibility just a couple of weeks ago. Nimrod Antal's filmography includes the subway thriller Kontroll, the Luke Wilson slasher flick Vacancy, and the upcoming heist movie Armored, which apparently helped sell Rodriguez the most. He had this to say about Antal: "I always loved Kontroll, where he proved himself to be a very resourceful and original filmmaker. When I saw Armored, I could ... http://www.filmjunk.com/2009/07/02/nimrod-antal-confirmed-as-director-of-predators/