Well, you had to know it was coming, right? With the Blu-ray release of the Star Wars movies now just a few weeks away, review copies have started to find their way out to critics, and as a result, some disheartening details have come to light. It seems that George Lucas just couldn’t resist the urge to tinker with the original films yet AGAIN, and while the changes are fairly minor in the grand scheme of things, they are pretty ridiculous and wholly unnecessary if you ask me. For one, the puppet version of Yoda found in The Phantom Menace has been replaced with a fully CG one. This isn’t a huge surprise, considering that Yoda was CG in Episodes II and III. However, the bigger issue seems to be some audio tweaks to both A New Hope and Return of the Jedi, the latter of which adds Darth Vader screaming, “Nooooo!” in the Emperor’s throne room. I only wish I was joking.

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Hey, remember MoviePass, the company that announced a monthly subscription service for unlimited movie tickets a couple of months ago, only to be essentially shut down when exhibitors refused to co-operate? It looks like they have rebounded from the initial setback and may actually be getting their business off the ground after all. Variety reports that they have found an interesting way around the problem by partnering with Hollywood Movie Money, an existing service that provides promotional vouchers that can be exchanged for movie tickets. However, it appears that many of the major U.S. theatre chains are still not happy about the relaunch and will fight it to the bitter end. On top of this, the question remains, is there enough consumer demand to support this service?

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If….
Directed by: Lindsay Anderson
Written by: David Sherwin
Starring: Malcolm McDowell, David Wood, Richard Warwick, Robert Swann

Lindsay Anderson’s 1968 film If…. sets a counterculture revolution within the walls of an English public school, creating an allegorical fantasy which reflects the volatile atmosphere of the time. Featuring a pre-Clockwork Orange Malcolm McDowell, comparisons to Kubrick’s masterpiece aren’t totally misguided. Both films are populated with rebellious youths and flashes of ultra-violence, but Anderson’s approach is a less austere look at aggression as a means of change rather than simply a way to curb boredom.

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The Movie Club Podcast is an irregular roundtable podcast where we select two movies to dissect, analyze and discuss with a group of fellow movie bloggers and film fans.

Zardoz is pleased! After an extended six-month wait, we’ve finally managed to get the crew back together to record a brand new episode of The Movie Club Podcast. This time around we engage in a trippy fantasy / sci-fi discussion involving John Boorman’s inimitable Zardoz starring Sean Connery and the cult classic Flash Gordon starring Sam J. Jones, Melody Anderson, Max von Sydow and Timothy Dalton. For the sake of science, of course.

This episode is also a reunion of the podcast’s original line-up of Kurt, Andrew and Marina from Row Three along with Jay and myself. Head over to MovieClubPodcast.com to download the episode and leave your own thoughts on these two wacky films in the comments. Our next episode will be a high concept double bill: David Cronenberg’s Crash and Paul Haggis’ Crash.

The Debt
Directed by: John Madden
Written by: Matthew Vaughn, Jane Goldman, and Peter Straughan (screenplay); Assaf Bernstein and Ido Rosenblum (Ha-Hov movie)
Starring: Helen Mirren, Tom Wilkinson, Cirian Hinds, Sam Worthington, Jessica Chastain, Marton Csokas, and Jesper Christensen

At long last, we have a reprieve from all that dumbed down summer nonsense. The Debt is a true cinematic rarity these days. It’s smart adult fare for people who prefer not to lose IQ points every time they go to the cinema. Blockbusters have become synonymous with summer, but you can only see so many of them before you crave something a little more substantive. I didn’t realize how starving I was until I left the theater after my screening of The Debt feeling really, truly satisfied.  Plus, I won’t need a manicure for quite some time, because I chewed all my nails down to little nubs. I can’t remember the last time I experienced so much anxiety during a movie.

I’ll skirt around the finer points of the plot the best I can to avoid spoilers. The Debt takes place in 1997, and Rachel (Helen Mirren) is being honored at a book launch in Tel Aviv, thanks to some work she did as a Mossad secret agent in East Berlin in 1965. A garish scar across her face signals that Rachel suffered physically in her past, but it becomes quickly apparent that she bears plenty of emotional scars as well. Rachel has a sad, haunted quality about her, and we see her story unfold in flashbacks.

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After Disney pulled the plug on The Lone Ranger, Johnny Depp seems to be moving forward with another project he’s been attached to for quite awhile: a remake of the 1934 comedy-mystery film The Thin Man. Screenwriter David Koepp (Jurassic Park, Panic Room) has come on board to to adapt the material, which is originally based on a Dashiell Hammett novel. While the film is being dubbed a remake and will keep the period setting, there are some changes planned as well. The intent is to take elements from the first two films in the series (there were six in all) and combine them into one story. On top of that, the filmmakers plan to give the material “a Sherlock Holmes-like stylized treatment.” Yes, that’s referring to the Guy Ritchie version of Holmes, so I suppose some more slow-motion fight scenes are in our future. And, since the film is being directed by Rob Marshall (of Chicago fame) there are plans to incorporate a musical number or two.

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If you thought the theatrical releases in late August were lacklustre, just wait until you see this week’s DVD and Blu-ray line-up! Store shelves are almost completely devoid of major new titles this week with Disney’s Prom, Tyler Perry’s Madea’s Big Happy Family and Christian football drama The 5th Quarter topping the mainstream release list. Fortunately, there are some interesting foreign flicks to make up for it including Thai action flick BKO: Bangkok Knockout, Romanian crime drama Police, Adjective, and the Academy Award-winning In a Better World. We also have a ton of TV releases including Sons of Anarchy: Season Three, and on Blu-ray we have Top Gun, Good Will Hunting and The Coen Brothers Collection! What will you be buying or renting this week? Scope out the noteworthy selections after the jump and help support Film Junk by purchasing through our Amazon widget.

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There has been a lot of talk over the past year about Steven Soderbergh’s intention to retire from filmmaking. Aside from his upcoming films Contagion and Haywire, he has only three other movies that he intends to shoot before calling it quits: an adaptation of the ’60s spy series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., a Liberace biopic starring Michael Douglas, and Magic Mike, a movie about the world of male strippers based on Channing Tatum’s own experiences. Although he seems pretty focused on sticking to that schedule, it’s never been very clear what he might do after retirement. With the recent news that he is working as second unit director on The Hunger Games, some thought that he might continue to work in the industry, just not directing his own films. Now, however, he has revealed that he will leave it all behind in order to embrace a brand new career. Apparently Steven Soderbergh has plans to work with a different kind of canvas… that’s right, he’s taking up painting.

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With the Toronto International Film Festival just around the corner, many of us are busy trying to plan our schedules and prepare ourselves mentally for the onslaught. blogTO writer Julian Carrington is one of the lucky folks out there with full press credentials, and he asked if we would be interested in publishing some of his capsule reviews from the festival. How could we say no to more TIFF coverage?

Julian got things started early by catching advance screenings for a handful of this year’s films. After the jump, check out his thoughts on some noteworthy flicks including Nicolas Winding Refn’s Drive, Lars von Trier’s Melancholia, and Sarah Polley’s Take This Waltz. Stay tuned for plenty more updates starting next week!

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With the recent news that The Departed screenwriter William Monahan has been brought in to help with the script for Sin City 2, it seems only appropriate that Sin City should top last week’s poll of Robert Rodriguez films. The comic book adaptation won by a fairly large margin with From Dusk Till Dawn and Desperado being the only other films to come within reach. Planet Terror and El Mariachi rounded out the top 5. I was surprised to see Machete get so few votes, and while it’s true that Rodriguez only co-directed the film, technically he only co-directed Sin City as well. What do you think… do you agree with these results?

1. Sin City — 39.3%
2. From Dusk Till Dawn — 24.6%
3. Desperado — 16.4%
4. Planet Terror — 5.5%
5. El Mariachi — 4.4%
6. Once Upon a Time in Mexico — 4%
7. The Faculty — 2.3%
8. Machete — 1.9%
9. Spy Kids — 0.8%
9. Four Rooms — 0.8%

0:00 – Intro / Food Junk
15:35 – Headlines: Ridley Scott Signs on for Blade Runner Sequel, More Remakes: Flatliners, Romancing the Stone, The Grudge, The Gambler, Donnie Yen to Replace Jet Li and More Expendables Rumours, Kevin Smith’s Hit Somebody is Two Films, Jerry Bruckheimer and The Rock Team Up for ’80s Wrestling TV Series
37:55 – Review: TrollHunter
1:01:18 – Trailer Trash: The Rum Diary, Carnage
1:07:55 – Other Stuff We Watched: Cul-de-Sac, Fright Night, 30 Minutes or Less, Captain America: The First Avenger, Quantum Hoops, Tactical Force, WWE Royal Rumble Anthology, OMG! The Top 50 Incidents in WWE History, Man on the Moon, Andy Kaufman: I’m From Hollywood, My Dinner with Andre, Harold and Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
1:42:30 – Junk Mail: Reality TV Secrets, Characters Changing vs. Staying the Same Between Sequels, Losing Your DVD Collection in a Fire, Resident Evil Movies, Custom DVD Artwork, Christopher Nolan and Event Movies, Favourite NFL Teams
2:03:30 – This Week’s DVD Releases
2:05:50 – Outro

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With the summer movie season coming to an end, I thought now would be a good time to preview what the remainder of the year has in store for us and highlight a few of my personal most anticipated films. We’re headed into a more interesting movie season, when studios break out their big guns for awards contention. That’s not to say that this list is made up of Oscar bait; these are just the films that have caught my eye and it is not meant as a definitive guide. After browsing through release schedules, it looks like we have plenty to anticipate.

10. Moneyball

Normally a movie about baseball wouldn’t get me this excited, but based on the talent in front of and behind the camera, this one comes highly anticipated. Like many others, I’m interested to see how writer Aaron Sorkin follows his script for The Social Network. His snappy dialog within the business side of baseball seems like a perfect fit. Brad Pitt has really been on a roll lately in picking his projects and watching him act alongside Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jonah Hill should make for some unique dynamics. Director Bennett Miller has taken his time following up his debut feature, Capote, but it looks to be worth the wait. Moneyball hits on Sept. 23rd.

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