Author: Travis Keune

Hopeless film enthusiast; reborn comic book geek; artist; collector; cookie connoisseur; curious to no end

‘MacGyver’ back in Action on the Big Screen?

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New Line is developing ‘MacGyver’ into a feature film… no, really, they are! Dino De Laurentiis is executive producing and keeping it somewhat in the family, as his daughter Raffaella De Laurentiis and Martha De Laurentiis… oh yeah, and they’re working with ‘MacGyver’ creator Lee Zlotoff as well.

“We think we’re a stick of chewing gum, a paper clip and an A-list writer away from a global franchise,” said New Line’s Richard Brener. — HR

No writer(s) are attached yet, so it’s not going to happen in the near future. What has me curious is whether they’ll go realistic (ha! funny, huh?) and keep ‘MacGyver’ low-tech or will they ruin it by throwing a massive budget at special effects?

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

Andy Fickman remains Disney’s ‘M.A.N.’

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Hot off the heals of the (ahem) “successful” Disney remake ‘Race to Witch Mountain’, director Andy Fickman has been attached to a new Disney family adventure movie called ‘Monster Attack Network’.

…focuses on a team of first-responders who guard the citizens of Lapuatu, a Pacific island that would be a paradise except for frequent attacks by giant monsters that rise from the sea. — Variety

The film is an adaptation of the 2007 AIT/Planet Lar graphic novel written by Adam Freeman and illustrated by Nima Sorat. Scott Elder and Josh Harmon have been brought on to write the script. Disney apparently plans for this to be a “visual effects heavy” project.

[source: Variety]

‘Fast & Furious’ Franchise may go for #Five?

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Nothing major here, but for fans of the franchise it’s been revealed during a Hollywood press junket that there may be a fifth installment in the ‘Fast & Furious’ string of movies. Here’s what Frosty at Collider.com picked up during the junket when actor Paul Walker was asked about the possibility:

“I’ve heard it in the rumor mill. I’ve spoken with executives at Universal at this point and they’re pretty serious about it. They’re developing it. They know where they want it to take place. They want to do it in Europe.†

I can’t honestly say I myself am thrilled… actually, I’m sort of apathetic to the whole thing. These movies, more or less, have been fine but not excellent, so a fifth wouldn’t really bother me either way. I will say, however, that the fourth installment looks interesting in the sense that it seems it may be different than it’s predecessors and possibly take the franchise down a new path.

[source: Collider]

Eastwood directs Damon in ‘Human Factor’

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So, we’ve seen Clint’s final acting performance (perhaps) but he’s still staying as active as a twenty-something behind the camera. His next film will be ‘The Human Factor’ based on the book called Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation (whew! long title) by John Carlin. The story is centered around the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Damon plays rugby star and South African team captain Francois Pienaar, who along with former South African president Nelson Mandela (Freeman) created an event that gave the country’s whites and blacks a common cause to rally around as the country healed from years of apartheid. — TBAU

Here’s a few “on set” photos of Clint and Matt, caught by The Bad and Ugly… check out the website to see them all.

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[source: The Bad and Ugly]

It’s a Sad Day… ‘Witch Mountain’ beats ‘Watchmen’

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I think we all knew ‘Watchmen’ wasn’t going to make any long-running huge waves at the box office… we were just in denial. Well, it’s time for fans to face the music and realize horror that is the defeat of the ‘Watchmen’. The worst part is that it didn’t get beat by some other really cool movie. No, it fell to ‘Race to Witch Mountain’ of all things!

In only it’s second weekend, ‘Watchmen’ collapsed under the pressure of Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson’s terrifying People’s Elbow of crappy Disney movie horror. ‘Race to Witch Mountain’ leapt to number one with an opening weekend claim of $25 million. I have to admit, there’s a tiny little part of me that’s simply devastated that ‘Watchmen’ is, for all intensive purposes, on track to be a box office flop… even if the movie totally rules! With a budget of $130 million and ticket sales dropping after only two weeks, it doesn’t seem like much of an initial profit is in the cards for Zack Snyder’s early opus. Hopefully, merchandise sales and overseas box offices will make up some of the slack.

[source: Hollywood Reporter]

SXSW Review: ‘Modern Love is Automatic’

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What turns YOU on? Chances are, most of you won’t say that you’re into domination, but for a certain percentage of otherwise average, everyday citizens out there this is where it’s at. Directed by Zach Clark, ‘Modern Love is Automatic’ takes us into that mysterious and taboo world of the dominatrix through the eyes of an unhappy woman who finds she has a desire to dominate men who “need” to be dominated.

Melodie Sisk plays Lorraine, an apathetic nurse who is unhappy with her current way of life. Lorraine is an outsider, feeling unlike those around her her inevitably annoy her or seem oblivious to their own idiosyncrasies. After coming home and catching her boyfriend with another woman, Lorraine begins a journey of discovery that leads her to begin moonlighting as a professional dominatrix. She finds she is especially adept at this trade and through it finds a way to escape the alienation she feels towards traditional society.

I’m not sure I would call ‘Modern Love is Automatic’ a comedy in the strictest sense. It has humorous moments, but are not abundant and fall more into the descriptive categories of dark and dry humor. What is certain is that the movie is an intriguing character study that tackles taboo subject matter in a way that can be appreciated by anyone, so long as they’re willing to maintain an open mind. See, Lorraine is not so much different from the rest of us… she just allows the thoughts and feelings we all have at times to show outwardly without concern of others opinions. She is what we all would like to be, if not just some of the time.

‘Modern Love is Automatic’ develops a great story arc with Adrian (Maggie Ross) as well, an clueless aspiring model who becomes Lorraine’s roommate after she boots her philandering boyfriend out of her apartment. Adrian couldn’t be more of an opposite personality to Lorraine, but their relationship meshes surprisingly well and they actually grow closer in a strange and awkward way.

In the grand scheme of things, Lorraine’s transition into a dominatrix is not the key to the film’s success, but rather the structure of the story and the way in which it is presented. Theoretically, any taboo subject could be interchanged. ‘Modern Love is Automatic’ is told in the docudrama style that allows for a fictional narrative but irresistibly draws the viewer in as though it’s really happening. If you’ve seen ‘Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer’ imagine watching that movie, except replace the life of a serial killer with the life of a dominatrix.

‘Modern Love is Automatic’ is not a fancy film shot with brilliant color and lighting. That wouldn’t have worked as well as the fluorescent and seemingly natural lighting used that not only helps to emphasize the docu-dramatic feel but also encourages the sense that we (the audience) are partaking as voyeurs in a story of intimate and personal relationships between a dominatrix and her subjects.

It goes without saying that many will not appreciate this movie and some will flat out refuse to see it, but the truth is that not allowing yourself to openly engage in this movie is, in some ways, an act of denying one’s self a glimpse into one’s own secretive desires… whatever they might be. On a final note, ‘Modern Love is Automatic’ is NOT about sex. This movie is about finding a way to be yourself in this crazy and bizarre world, filled with crazy and bizarre people.

[Overall: 4 stars out of 5]

SXSW Review: MAKE-OUT WITH VIOLENCE

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I was gradually and completely sucked deep into ‘Make-Out with Violence’. This movie is outstanding, effortlessly melding the darker side of the teen angst and romance genre within the subtle realm of the zombie flick. The story is about twin brothers, Patrick and Carol Darling, who struggle to attain the unattainable love of their lives. Centered on the disappearance of Wendy (Shellie Marie Shartzer) and her return from the dead, Patrick finds himself unable to resist a morbid desire to care for the undead Wendy for which he held so dear in life. Meanwhile, Carol struggles to find some way to connect with Addy (Leah High) as more than just a friend. As the inevitable approaches and characters developing bonds, the tension rises and ultimately concludes with a twisted but romantic ending for one of the twins.

Amidst the many elements that make this movie work so well is the minimal amount of emphasis put on the undead Wendy herself. She is not the centerpiece directly, but does tie the entire story together. While her performance and the understated make-up are wonderful accomplishments, the true success of ‘Make-Out with Violence’ lies within the script, written by the Deagol Brothers and Cody DeVos. Little brother Beetle serves well as the occasional narrator to unintrusively assist with back story, which is a difficult task to pull off. The movie is not played for laughs and likewise doesn’t not garner any unintended laughter, which speaks loudly to how well ‘Make-Out with Violence’ works.

Eric Lehning (Patrick) and Cody DeVos (Carol) are tremendous are creating an eerie but intimate relationship with each other and their friends. The Deagol Brothers have created a sensational little film that is bound to command a favorable cult following. ‘Make-Out with Violence’ ranks up there in the vicinity of films like ‘Donnie Darko’ and ‘The Wackness’ in terms of it’s coolness and creative originality. The movie is filled with some great music by Jordan Lehning and the visual style is filled with a dark but colorful palette that draws your attention even further into the contrast of the love/death relationship of the story. One thing is for certain, this is the best piece of cinema to have come out of Tennessee and is likely one of the most satisfying films you’ll see all year. See it, see it, see it and enjoy!

Overall Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Pennywise is coming to the Big Screen!

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Some BIG news here for fans of Stephen King… not so good for those who suffer coulrophobia (that’s the fear of clowns). Warner Bros is developing a big screen adaptation of Stephen King’s beloved best-selling horror novel It. Dave Kajganich (The Invasion) has been brought on to write the screenplay.

While the TV mini-series wasn’t “perfect” it was a great telling of the story. King’s novels, especially his older/longer novels, I feel work better as mini-series because with more screen time than a typical feature film, more of the story makes the cut. So, it’ll be interesting to see how this version works, or doesn’t?

For those of you who HAVEN’T read the book, or at least seen the TV mini-series, here’s the breakdown:

…follows a group of kids called the Losers Club that encounter a creature called It, which preys on children and whose favorite form is that of a sadistic clown called Pennywise. When the creature resurfaces, the kids are called upon to regroup again, this time as adults, even though they have no memory of the first battle. — HR

The novel takes place during two eras, 1958 and 1985, which chronicles the central characters’ experience with Pennywise the Clown as children and again as adults. Apparently, the new feature adaptation will take place in modern day. Not sure what this means about the childhood back story… whether it will be cut or not. The TV mini-series starred John Ritter, Harry Anderson and Annette O’Toole.

However, the truly golden part of the mini-series was Tim Curry as Pennywise! So, this begs the question… who plays Pennywise in the feature adaptation? Sure, we could easily say Tim Curry, but come on… we all know that’s not going to happen. After all, Robert Englund isn’t playing Freddy Krueger in that remake. One thing’s for sure, they sure as Hell better not go full CGI!

[source: Hollywood Reporter]