Thursday, September 17, 2015

9-17-15 Movie News

        Hello ladies and gentlemen, here is some movie news with some of my thoughts and opinions (which will be in BOLD print). So without further ado...


(NOTE: All of these stories come from comingsoon.net)


        Universal Pictures and Legendary Pictures have released the new Steve Jobs trailer, which you can watch using the player below. The film is scheduled for release on Friday, October 9. Set backstage at three iconic product launches and ending in 1998 with the unveiling of the iMac, Steve Jobs takes us behind the scenes of the digital revolution to paint an intimate portrait of the brilliant man at its epicenter. Steve Jobs is directed by Academy Award winner Danny Boyle and written by Academy Award winner Aaron Sorkin, working from Walter Isaacson’s best-selling biography of the Apple co-founder. The producers are Mark Gordon, Guymon Casady of Film 360, Scott Rudin and Academy Award winner Christian Colson. Michael Fassbender plays Steve Jobs, the pioneering founder of Apple, with Academy Award-winning actress Kate Winslet starring as Joanna Hoffman, former marketing chief of Macintosh. Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple, is played by Seth Rogen, and Jeff Daniels stars as former Apple CEO John Sculley. The film also stars Katherine Waterston as Chrisann Brennan, Jobs’ ex-girlfriend, and Michael Stuhlbarg as Andy Hertzfeld, one of the original members of the Apple Macintosh development team.


 
        This was a really fantastic trailer. Some would say it gave away too much and to that I say what don't you know about Steve Jobs. This man revolutionized the technology we use today and yes at times he could be jerk. The film looks so good and Aaron Sorkin I think has done a masterful job with script from what I've seen and I'm excited to see how this film turns out after all of the problems it has went through in the past year. Michael Fassbender is the perfect choice to play Steve Jobs and this is a film that could get a lot of Oscar attention come January. 



        Four-time X-Men movies director Bryan Singer, who today celebrates his 50th birthday, took to Instagram this morning to announce his next project. As you can see from the below script photo he posted, Singer will next dive deep, offering a new big-screen take on Jules Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Originally published in a serialized form beginning in 1869, Verne’s 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea tells the story of Captain Nemo and the crew of his submarine vessel, the Nautilus, as they embark on incredible adventures and encounter fantastic sea life beneath the surface. Multiple takes on 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea have hit the big screen over the years, with director Richard Fleischer delivering Walt Disney Pictures’ 1954 version. Arguably the best known film adaptation, it stars Kirk Douglas and won two Academy Awards (Best Art Direction-Set Decoration, Color and Best Effects, Special Effects). Walt Disney Pictures nearly went forward with their own adaptation of 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea a few years ago with David Fincher attached to direct. Back in 2010, 20th Century Fox was also rumored to be developing their own take. The new version hails from screenwriters Rick Sordelet & Dan Studney (the latter of whom worked with Singer on Jack the Giant Slayer), with Singer himself providing the story.

        This is fantastic news to hear. Putting Bryan Singer's personal life aside, he his a master director and he has't directed a bad film yet. I think this is a property that is a perfect fit for him for a numerous amount of reasons. His movies have spectacular stories, amazing effects and magnificent performances. I think with that we may even see Hugh Jackman play Captain Nemo because of the great working relationship between the two and that would be perfect casting. I'm really excited to hear this news and to see a modern take on this story gets me really excited. 



        The “Transformers Writers Room” has finished its collaborative plans today as Deadline reports that two features have emerged from the Paramount Pictures experiment. Academy Award winner Akiva Goldsman (I Am Legend, A Beautiful Mind) is set to write Transformers 5 and the studio is talks of moving ahead with Michael Bay directing and Mark Wahlberg set to reprise his Transformers: Age of Extinction role as Cade Yeager. The Transformers writers room also included “The Walking Dead” and “Invincible” creator Robert Kirkman, the Iron Man writing pair of Art Marcum and Matt Holloway, “Fringe” and “Lost” scribe Jeff Pinkner, X-Men: The Last Stand and The Incredible Hulk‘s Zak Penn, Black Hawk Down scribe Ken Nolan, “Black List” scribes Geneva Robertson-Dworetrepeat, Christina Hodson, “Marvel’s Daredevil” season one showrunner Steven DeKnight and Lindsey Beer, a science major at Stanford, who has written original specs in the sci-fi and fantasy genre. Paramount Pictures’ most recent entry in the Transformers franchise was 2014’s Transformers: Age of Extinction. It stars, in addition to Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor. It has not been confirmed as of yet if either talent will be returning for Transformers 5. Age of Extinction grossed over $1.1 billion at the global box office with all four films combined grossing over $3.7 billion. Bay’s next film offers the director a break from the Transformers franchise. The true military thriller 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi stars Pablo Schreiber, John Krasinski, James Badge Dale, David Denman, Max Martini and Dominic Fumusa and is slated to hit the big screen January 15, 2016.

        Someone please tell me that I'm dreaming. The Transformers films have been a pretty big disaster from a story perspective and one of those reasons is Michael Bay. Now I did like the first film and thought the franchise had a lot of potential and then it went way down hill from there. After seeing the disaster that Was Transformers: Age of Extinction, I've said that if Michael Bay comes back for a 5th film then I wouldn't go to see it and therefore won't review it and I stand by that today. Now granted Paramount has brought together a talented group of writers together to help get this franchise back on the right track and make good films. Look can my mind change, yes, but I don't think I will as long as Bay is attached. 



        Warner Bros. Pictures has released the new Point Break trailer, which you can watch in the player below! Inspired by the classic 1991 hit starring Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, Point Break is scheduled for release in 3D and 2D theaters on December 25. In Alcon Entertainment’s fast-paced, high-adrenaline action thriller Point Break, a young FBI agent, Johnny Utah (Luke Bracey), infiltrates a cunning team of thrill-seeking elite athletes – led by the charismatic Bodhi (Edgar Ramirez). The athletes are suspected of carrying out a spate of crimes in extremely unusual ways. Deep undercover, and with his life in imminent danger, Utah strives to prove they are the architects of this string of inconceivable crimes. The film is replete with the most daring athleticism ever seen in a motion picture. These action adventure feats are performed by elite athletes representing the world’s best in class in big-wave surfing, wingsuit flying, sheer-face snowboarding, free rock climbing, and high-speed motorcycling. The film stars Édgar Ramírez (Zero Dark Thirty, The Bourne Ultimatum, Carlos the Jackal) as Bodhi, and Luke Bracey (G.I. Joe: Retaliation, November Man) as Johnny Utah, along with Ray Winstone (Noah, The Departed), Teresa Palmer (Warm Bodies) and Delroy Lindo (Sahara, Gone in Sixty Seconds), under the direction of Ericson Core (Invincible) from a screenplay by Kurt Wimmer (Salt, Law Abiding Citizen).



        This was a great trailer if the film wasn't called Point Break. Now I know that I should be open to change for a remake of a film that I happen to really love, but I just can't. The filmmakers for this film took such a simple premise and have turned it into an extreme sports adrenaline rush film and it makes no sense. The premise for this film sounds so stupid and the acting looks wooden and I'm just so worried that it's going to tarnish the legacy of the first film. Another thing that will hurt it is that it is coming out on Christmas Day just one week after Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens where it will get absolutely eviscerated at the box office. Like I said I'm not looking forward to the film whatsoever and but I am still holding out hope that the film could be good. 



        Universal Pictures is quickly gearing up for Ouija 2, the sequel to last year’s low-budget smash, and according to Deadline, it has found a new name to co-star with leading lady Annalise Basso in the form of actress Elizabeth Reaser, best known for portraying Esme Cullen in all five films in The Twilight Saga. Directing the movie is Mike Flanagan, best known for his 2014 horror film Oculus, starring Karen Gillan and Brenton Thwaites, which was also co-produced by Blumhouse. Flanagan is co-writing the screenplay for the sequel with his Oculus co-writer Jeff Howard. 17-year-old Basso, who also appeared in Oculus as the younger version of Gillan’s character, has been hired for the leading role in the movie as a young girl whose father died. Fun with boards and planchets will ensue.  Universal Pictures and their partners (Hasbro, Platinum Dunes, Blumhouse Productions) have already set a prime horror release date of October 21, 2016 for Ouija 2, hoping to repeat the success of the first movie which grossed $102.5 million worldwide on a $5 million budget. Reaser, who has also appeared in films like Young Adult and TV series like “True Detective,” will next be seen in Michael Showalter’s indie drama Hello, My Name Is Doris opposite Sally Field.

        Eventhough I hated the first film this is actually pretty great casting. Elizabeth Reaser is a very talented actress and she is really good in just about everything she has been in (other than the Twilight Saga but that's a whole other discussion). When I heard about the first film, I groaned because it is the stupidest idea in the history of Hollywood and now that it made way more money than it should've we get to see another terrible sequel and to that point another horrible horror sequel. No amount of casting can make this film good and I'm dreading seeing this film. 

        So there you have it ladies and gentlemen, which of these stories peaked your interest or was there another story that interested you? Let me know in the comments section below and let your voice be heard.

                                                                                                                                        Jonah Sparks

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