Weekly Ketchup: Anne Hathaway and Hugh Jackman in Les Miserables

00- Awesome two musical examples!! Perfect!
01- I agree about Marty, but god was Gangs of New York dull and anti-climactic! I blame the studio compromises on the final cut - but still.

Sep 2 - 05:42 PM

Gangs of NY is a (very) flawed masterpiece. The studio interference almost killed it, but a few glimpses of what it could have been still shine through. Personally, I think it's worth watching just for Leo's and Lewis's performances.

Sep 2 - 05:56 PM

I agree those two were amazingly good - but the clunky, quicksandish pacing made this movie not worth seeing twice. once again, I blame the studio.

Sep 2 - 06:29 PM

Sean Pak

It IS a flawed masterpiece, but I would put the emphasis here on "masterpiece." I've seen it four times and still think it's an awesome movie, a calling card if made by any other director. A lot of people hated the ending but I thought it was amazingly moving, almost makes me cry every time. Throughout the entire movie you feel more and more compassion for Bill the Butcher and more disillusionment about Leo's revenge, that when it finally comes it is anti-climactic, but purposefully so, and it's extremely powerful. You feel the disappointment of both characters, especially in their short moments of bonding on the battlefield. I love that movie, truly one of the decade's best.

Sep 3 - 12:15 AM

I'm not sure why anyone would bring up Gangs of New York to bash on. The only recent misfire of Scorsese's has been Shutter Island. Talk about anticlimactic and clunky. It ends with the biggest cliche psychological thriller twist, has some of the worst cgi I've seen in years, and as much as I respect Leo, he just didn't fit the role. I'm not looking forward to Hugo, but I think he'll get back on track sooner than later as he always does.

Sep 3 - 03:46 PM

I think no one brings up Shutter Island because it is forgettable - for all the reasons you mention. Ugh. It didn't help the the trailer practically gave away the ending.

Sep 4 - 11:58 AM

I have to agree on Shutter Island, it wasn't terrible but didn't really capture the essence of the novel.

Sep 4 - 05:43 PM

Bradly Martin

Thank you Valmordas. The novel was so tragically beautiful. I recommended the shutter island film to everyone I knew feeling that Martin and Leo would do the tale justice only to be utterly disappointed. Excellent book, average movie.

Sep 5 - 02:58 AM

Woah, so you didn't like West Side Story, Singing in the Rain, or even The Wizard of Oz? C'mon now Watcher. Everything else is spot on though. :)

Sep 2 - 05:57 PM

Nope, nope and.... nope! If it has singing in it, then 99% of the time I'm not interested. This goes for most of classic Disney as well.

Sep 2 - 06:00 PM

Well alright Watcher. Guess I can't change your mind. At least you like two musicals. :/

Sep 3 - 11:44 AM

Andreas Babs

But Singin in the Rain is awesome! It has a brilliant message about the advancement of technology affecting the advancement of Hollywood which can still be used today (not necessarily with talking pictures, but now with 3d films as an example and how many are trying to jump onto this bandwagon and many just don't work. Avatar is the new Jazz Singer I guess?).
Ah well. Musicals aren't for everyone. I can understand why people don't like having songs scattered around. I don't like many musicals myself but some are just so well done. =]

Sep 4 - 12:48 PM

I hate the Wizard of Oz

Sep 2 - 07:18 PM

Danny Hall

Obviously he has never watched les misarables on the stage specifically designed for it in london. That play changed my life. jk it was awesome though

Sep 2 - 09:23 PM

Jacob Holmes

Les Miserables is NOT that kind of musical. There's practically no dancing in it at all whatsoever. Have you even listened to the music? It's frigging amazing. There's a reason why it's called one of the best musicals in history. And it's not a happy, cheerful kind of show like the Wizard of Oz or Singin' in the Rain. It's pretty darn serious. Anyway, my only concern is that I hope it doesn't turn out like the Phantom of the Opera movie. But since the director of The King's Speech is doing this and not Joel Schumacer(thank God), then it will probably be pretty darn good.

Sep 2 - 09:57 PM

No, I haven't listened to the music. I like underground hip hop, why the fuck would I ever bother with Les Misrables? You enjoy it - fine, go enjoy it, but it's not something I'm interested in AT ALL.

Sep 2 - 10:09 PM

LORD HAVE MERCY!!!!! Les Miserables is AWESOME: Jean ValJean, Cosette, Fountain, and JAVERT!!!!! Well, I can see where you hate the musical aspect, but maybe another good live-action, dramatic re-telling would be awesome!!!! Jean Valjean steals a loaf of bread and then Javert goes hunting him down, even when ValJean becomes The Bishop of Digne, Javert is still on the guy's tail . . . all over a godforsaken piece of bread. Still a Great Tale from The Guy Who Wrote Hunchback of Notre Dame. There are similarities between Quasimodo (in Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Jean Valjean (in Les Miserables)---both are unjustly demonized men. Well even ROBOCOP becomes demonized in the film of the same name--The entire police force almost guns-down Murphy/Robocop. ///Classic Epic storytelling seems to mandate that the central character becomes a scourge to humankind during the third and fourth acts and then emerges as the hero during acts 5 and 6 and then the seventh through 9th act features the equalization and victory of the hero over the villain.

Sep 3 - 08:36 AM

I'd be all for, say, watching it as a dramatic stage play, maybe as a movie, but only if they take out the "musical" part. I'm a fan of theatre, but like I said, not musicals.

Sep 3 - 10:42 AM

Sean Pak

I like underground hip-hop and musicals. You talk as if liking one thing means not bothering with the other, haha

Sep 3 - 01:03 PM

Jacob Holmes

in that case, watch the version with Liam Neeson and Geoffrey Rush that ISN'T a musical, but directly based on the original book

Sep 3 - 02:35 PM

I'd personally recommend the french version of Les Miserables, the one with Jean-Paul Belmondo and it's a retelling during world war 2. It's my favorite version and certainly not a musical. I am still puzzled as to why it got turned into a musical since the book has no moments or chapters where you can't help but think "oh man, Jan Valjean is going to burst into song now"

Sep 4 - 09:51 AM

Korey Winicky

man i tend to notice your posts and i tend to agree everyonce in while but your damn negative haha. either A) you think all musicals are for men who are not manly or B) you dont respect the aspect fo art and a movie. me myself agree more to Noah's contradiction to not seeing or wanting to se the movie though if he is a fan of the play like i am myself he'll prolly still see it and then tell ppl he didnt like i will hahaha. saying "if thats your thing awesome not mine" but dont undermine what they are as an art or the people who will enjoy it. being as hiphop is basically poetry done with both music and words on a level and a musical is essentailly the same thing and comparison to that of a normal stage play/and or movie. and i think it's ironic that SWEENEY TODD is your pick for a good musical. on stage there's no talking it's an OPERETTA. it JUST singing. and if it's a demasculine thing, Sweeney Todd is about a man done wrong, doing wrong and then laying his heart on the line and ultimately saying he is wrong for something he thought was justified. which is also desmasculating(is taht evena word?) at it's finest in the musical world. other wise keep up the good commentary... but you cant say you respect someones stance on something after basically calling them girlish and pansies (Which i understand is pointing at the actors in the plays) but still that reflects upon the type of person who likes musicals and would not look in the direction of a shoot em up blow em up romp. and if you like dramatic things like Sweeney i would suggest checking both sweeney and Les out if they ever come into your city. right now Les is in Seattle and man it's sold everynight even on the weekdays and it's insane in downtown when ever theres a showing. showings of people that if you put into many mnay many may screen would put many actioners to shame with the people who would show up.

Sep 3 - 02:22 PM

When the cast breaks into song and dance all the sudden, it breaks all of the immersion for me personally. Plus I find it all to be extremely obnoxious from the music itself to the "prancing" about. But for whatever reason I thoroughly enjoy Tim Burton's take on Sweeney Todd as well, although I did cringe every time that kid opened his pie hole. I'd say it has more to do with the story in combination with Burton's macabre vision that far outweighed any prejudice I have regarding musicals than anything else.

Sep 3 - 03:45 PM

Jason Wilkerson

Not even Little Shop of Horrors?! that's my favorite musical followed closely by Sweeney Todd. And anyone who loves movies that says they don't like Singing in the Rain, I have to question their devotion to film...

Sep 3 - 04:05 PM

Jason Wilkerson

P.S. - Last I heard, or at least when Spielberg was helming Oldboy, it wasn't going to be a remake of the brilliant Korean film. Oldboy is based on manga comic book, and Park Chan-Wook's film, while a masterpiece, deviated from the source material. So the American version was supposed to go back to the source and adapt that. I don't know if that's what Lee is going to do with this film now though.

Sep 3 - 04:09 PM

I cringe at the thought of mr. happy ending directing a remake or reimagining or adaptation of Oldboy

Sep 4 - 04:16 PM

Sherm Will

Ummm, what Spike Lee Movie has a happy ending besides Mo Better Blues? Please, do elaborate!

Sep 4 - 11:40 PM

"She Hate Me" (for better or worse). Most of Spike's films have cathartic happy endings, with wiser characters picking up the pieces. I'd say "Crooklyn", "He Got Game", "Get on the Bus", and "Girl 6" have happy endings despite 3rd act tragedies. And "Inside Man" is a happy ending once the motives are revealed.

Sep 5 - 04:59 AM

I was refering to Spielberg helming Oldboy not Lee. Comment that I replied to hints at Spielberg-Oldboy.

Sep 7 - 12:20 PM

Chris Skoufis

The guy who directed one of the stupidest video game to movie adaptations of all time is directing one of the most bad-fucking-ass action franchise entries?! NO!!! NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO NO! Who in their right mind thought "Gotta get the dude who directed Max Payne to direct this shit right here!"? Whoever did needs to be beaten over the head with a hockey stick. The rest of the news isn't that interesting. Well, The Wolverine one isn't much of a surprise. The mine as well reboot the franchise after one movie. I expect to see The Wolverine hit theaters in 2014. Possibly 2016.

Sep 2 - 05:28 PM

Yeah, that person should be punished. They should tar and feather him, just like they did in the olden days. :P

Sep 2 - 05:53 PM

Chris Skoufis

Tar, feather, and public humiliation. Sweet, sweet revenge ;)

Sep 2 - 07:14 PM

Why don't the two of you just get a room together?

Sep 2 - 09:55 PM

@ doomzdavo I got a room with your whore ass mother last week

Sep 2 - 11:10 PM

I guess you're the one with the tiny dick that she was talking about.

Sep 3 - 12:12 AM

Your mom talks to you about people she has fucked? thats weird

Sep 3 - 02:34 AM

Hee Hee sounds super gay. It's haha bitch

Sep 4 - 10:08 PM

00- I enjoy the stage production, but could care less about a movie version(s). Wake me in 15 years when they make another version of the musical - and like the 98 version and this one - goes generally unnoticed by the masses.
01- I can't see Leo as this role - but knowing his skills - he'll probably kill it (in a good way)
02-I like Josh, but I hope he puts energy into this, since he seemed bored in Jonah Hex.
03-I'm not going to comment, since I probably won't see this.
04-I hope this adoption fares better than the awful Dinner for Shmucks.
--
05- Yes, there is angel overkill - but this could be good. Plus, she's a f*cking dream weaver.
04-Having the Live Free writers chipping in gives me hope - so more on that later. Plus, it's funny a movie is getting criticized because it has a lot of writers tinkering with it. You guys do realize that tentpole movies have an average of 24 writers involved by the time the final draft is completed, right? You should. It's not exactly your first rodeo.
03-With Family Guy's team making the new Flinstone's and this, classics are going to look different to the new generation. Even Star Wars will be messed with for kids (thank, Lucas, for the *ahem* awesome bluray changes).
02- Hollywood is having a hell of a time banking on the success of Twilight's lead actors. The other two star's side projects have sputtered, so we'll see if Taylor can be the break-out star. I'm not totally convinced, but I've been wrong before.
01-Die Hard is a limping franchise? All 4 of the movies are solid (Live Free's R-rated version, not the PG-13 one), with Die Harder the weakest link.

Sep 2 - 05:38 PM

I'm actually still surprised they haven't made a "Die Hardest" yet

Sep 2 - 06:02 PM

Live Free or Die Hard (both versions) was pretty unspectacular. I liked John McClane back when he was a normal guy who was forced to survive near suicidal odds, not a superman who was impossible to kill and could take down a fighter jet.

Sep 2 - 06:12 PM

Fair enough. But I gotta ask - if that's the case, why did you watch any of the sequels? He hasn't been a normal guy since the first movie.

Sep 2 - 06:35 PM

You have to admit that Live Free took McClane's death proof-ness to some pretty ridiculous levels. The other three at least had logical, believable stunts and action scenes. The big scenes for the fourth movie involve cars being catapulted through tunnels in ludicrous ways that defy physics, a police car being drove into a damn helicopter after it is shot through the air by jumping it off a toll booth, a friggin' SUV being driven through and entire building and into an elevator shaft, where a fist fight ensues, and the ridiculous fighter jet sequence. McClane turned into a live action cartoon in the fourth movie.

Sep 2 - 07:19 PM

So what's the fucking problem King Crunk? You'd rather just see a normal and boring everyday cop eating donuts? What the fuck is your problem man? Answer me. I hope you get in a car wreck and fly out the fucking windsheild.

Sep 2 - 10:00 PM

Honestly I didn't like the sequels all that much. Part 2 was lame, as it was just the first one only this time at an airport. Die Hard w/ a Vengeance was a little bit better, mostly because Bruce Willis and Sam Jackson worked pretty well together. Still, it was at least 40 minutes longer than it needed to be. Live Free or Die Hard completely jumped the shark once McClane started killing helicopters w/ cop cars, taking out F-35B Lightning II fighter jets, and shooting people through his own gunshot wounds.

Sep 2 - 10:42 PM

In my mind McClane retired and lived a quiet life after kicking Hans @$$. I especially try to forget Vengeance ... Also it's funny how the studios think they can keep milking franchises after their aging stars can't throw down anymore. The thing is Labeouf ain't no Ford and same goes for whatever young punk they try to replace Willis with.

Sep 3 - 12:24 AM

Here's the explanation that should put everyone's mind at ease, so they can just take the movies as they are - John is the anti-Sampson. The less hair he has, the more powerful he becomes. Mystery solved. Now sit back and enjoy as the helicopter goes BOOM.

Sep 3 - 12:43 AM

@doomzdavo- Better question: what is your problem? The last few days you have been trying to instigate fights with numerous people on this site. You have started fights out of nowhere with Linda B, Myron K, and Irukandji lately, calling them various names without any context to do so. You are just being a jerk for no reason. I am not going to get into a pissing contest with you by degrading your mother or even you like others have, because I know all that you want is to fight with people on here so you can feel good about yourself with your witty comebacks and vulgar put downs. And no, I would not care to see a movie about cops sitting around eating donuts, that would be boring. That still does not change the fact that I did not like Live Free or Die Hard. I love the first movie, think the second is mediocre, and find the third to be at least enjoyable even if it is not exactly a good movie. The fourth was just overkill with an uninteresting villian and action scenes that belonged in a Fast and Furious movie, not Die Hard.

Sep 3 - 07:24 AM

"Answer me." What a pathetic prick.

Sep 3 - 09:46 AM

You guys are all a bunch of freakin losers. lmao

Sep 3 - 10:53 AM

And you're Winning, Charlie!

Sep 3 - 11:16 AM

The Holy Rainbow of Awesomness

@ Noah - I can accept that lol. His lack of hair gives him strength.

Sep 3 - 11:36 PM

If we're all "freaking losers" then why are you on this sight other than trying to trace the people who fucked you mum.

Sep 4 - 01:14 AM

Bow ties are not cool.

Sep 4 - 05:15 AM

Chris Skoufis

@doomzdavo. SHUT THE FUCK UP!! You're doing a bunch of ignorant, pathetic, and mean-spirited things for the sake of just being a complete douche. What is your damn problem you pathetic half-bred loser?!!

Sep 4 - 08:04 PM

Your screenname is my problem Irukandji.

Sep 4 - 09:57 PM

Dave J

@King Crunk--- To put all the commotion aside, and as far as action movies is concerned, your tastes seem to delve into 'more' superheroe type of films than die hard action action flicks. Since as you say some of that stuff shown wasn't humanly possible or that they defy physics but as far as I'm concerned I feel that if anybody who either has hands and feet- anything is possible. Also, superhero films defies the 'laws of physics' than alot of the action stuff shown on any of the "Die Hards" or any of "The Fast in The Furious" for that matter!

Sep 9 - 02:18 PM

ANNE HATHAWAY AND HUGH JACKMAN TAKE THEIR MUSICAL ACT TO THE MOVIES: LES MISERABLES

Been done, no thanks.

#3 SCOTT PILGRIM AND BRIDESMAIDS COSTARS STEP UP FOR PITCH PERFECT LEAD ROLES

Chick is uber hot. But unless she goes nude in this movie it's gonna suck.

#3 NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM DIRECTOR RESURRECTS FRANKENSTEIN FOR 20TH CENTURY FOX

This guy looks like he has had 10 facelifts at the age of 30. Good thing he is behind the camera, and not in front of it.

#2 WILL SHARK BOY AND THE ROCK BE DAVID AND GOLIATH?

Make this film, please. It will be so horrible we will never see these actors again. Think 'Batman and Robin'.

#1 DIE HARD 5 WILL BE A SEQUEL DIRECTED BY A REMAKE SPECIALIST

Might be good or not. Won't even bother to see it in the theaters if it gets critically panned.

Sep 2 - 05:41 PM

Hey I like Dwayne "the Rock" Johnson, its the crappy children films hes in that I can;t stand

Sep 2 - 07:19 PM

Jason Wilkerson

We'll never see them again, huh? If you want to compare that to Batman and Robin you should remember that Clooney went on to make some of the best movies of his career like Good Night and Good Luck and Michael Clayton. I'd hardly say he disappeared.

Sep 3 - 04:16 PM

No, but Chris O'Donnell and Alicia Silverstone dropped off the map, all second tier films since. You didn't see much of Arnold Schwarzenegger or Uma Thurman either (besides Kill Bill). That movie pretty much embarrassed it's entire cast, with Clooney being the sole survivor.

Sep 4 - 05:47 AM

Clooney was also the worst Batman ever, he should feel lucky to have survived this catastrophe.

Sep 4 - 06:11 AM

Alica Leo

les miserables is my favorite play, so I am interested in this. Though the thought of the Icarly girl in it makes cringe. The gambler sounds good, but I'm getting sick of Martin and Leo movies. Let someone like Tom Hardy work with him. I'm guessing Andy Serkis will play Frankenstein? Really, this sounds bad. Not the serkis thing, everything else. The first die hard is the only die hard i like, so I just don't care anymore. They could cast Adam sander in the lead for all I care.

Sep 2 - 05:46 PM

karl anderson

Anne Hathaway in a musical....tres miserable....take it how you like....lol

Sep 2 - 05:56 PM

She can now fake a french accent while singing! This movie has the potential to be the laughing stock for the ages!

Sep 2 - 06:17 PM

Bradly Martin

Anne Hathaway has a hauntingly beautiful singing voice. Watch the ending of The Simpsons Once Upon a Time in Springfield. Ironically enough, she fakes an accent in that episode.

Sep 5 - 03:18 AM

Brad Hadfield

She sang well at the Oscars too. It was only the hosting that sucked.

Sep 6 - 03:48 PM

Dave J

@Alica L.----If "Les Miserables" is your favorite play, how many versions of the films did you see, since they're so many- I have four different versions myself (including the one with Liam Neeson) with the first one being the best one so far!

Sep 7 - 12:47 PM

Shark Boy and The Rock as David and Goliath? What the hell??? Hollywood is on on drugs (or whatever they could get their hands on).

Sep 2 - 05:51 PM

Everyone knows that people in Hollywood studios have been addicted to crack cocaine since 1980

Sep 2 - 07:21 PM

Top Stories
0. Hugh Jackman can finally stretch his musical muscle on the big screen, and I will admit his routine w/ Anne at the Academy Awards was pretty funny. Too bad she's not much of a singer.
1. I've forgotten all about Sin City 2. Anyway, The Gambler sounds like an interesting story and is the kind of tale that's right up Scorsese's alley.
2. So glad Will Smith isn't attached to this anymore. I'm sick of his smug face.
3. No thanks.
4. Ed Helms is a funny man, but most American adaptations of foreign comedies have turned out badly (I'm looking at you Chris Rock).

As far as the rotten ideas, I don't have much to say. Every one of them looks like they will suck. Zoe Saldana is hot but I think it's time she started doing other film genres. As for The Wolverine, it's "been a Rotten Idea pretty much since Darren Aronofsky left the project." No more Die Hard movies, Taylor Lautner sucks as an actor (as does the Rock), and a Frankenstein directed by the same guy behind Night at the Museum might be worth watching - on rental - just for the so-bad-it's-funny factor.

Sep 2 - 06:08 PM

"been a Rotten Idea pretty much since Darren Aronofsky left the project." Yep, that line summed it up perfectly.

Sep 3 - 12:26 AM

Dakota Gordon

Is Dwayne Johnson big enough to be considered a giant?

Sep 2 - 06:11 PM

good point! DWAYNE JOHNSON'S AWESOME--one of my favorite actors working today. They'll do what they did to Humphrey Bogart in Casablanca . . .attach wooden-platforms to his shoes. Mel Gibson's only 5 feet 6 inches tall, yet he's THE ROAD WARRIOR. Anybody can be made a giant and don't believe anything you see in a Hollywood movie (even Rocks and Trees are phony sometimes)

Sep 3 - 07:47 AM

I can certainly see The Rock as Goliath (and doesn't take much acting) but I can't see taylor lautner as nothing but a little bitch.

Sep 2 - 06:18 PM

Hopefully it is an ultra gritty, realistic retelling of the biblical story, and has Goliath whoop David's ass! Just imagine The Rock and Sharkboy throwing down in an epic climactic battle, and just when it looks like the movie is going to have the cliche moment where David gets a second wind and is going to destroy Goliath, The Rock bitch slaps Sharkboy, performs the Rock Bottom, and then drops The People's Elbow that causes Sharkboy to get completely flattened into human tomato paste from the impact! I'd pay to see that....

Sep 2 - 07:08 PM

I'd fucking finance that movie! Or pay to be an extra in the scene where he does a Rock bottom from a 5th floor all the way to the sidewalk.

Sep 2 - 10:16 PM

Is Scorsese still doing Silence after he finishes up Hugo? I hope so, he has been trying to get that made for years, and it sounds like something he would knock out of the park. The Gambler sounds cool, too.

I am still against this Oldboy remake, but Brolin is inspired casting. If those rumors of Bale playing the villian are true, then it will at least be interesting even if it is a disaster. My main concern now is that, after reading this article, I learned the screenwriter wrote crap like Poseidon and I Am Legend. The first fifteen minutes or so of Legend were amazing and had me hopeful they were going to finally do the book justice. Then after the monsters started showing up it was all downhill. The horrible ending that was so far from the book's in every way imaginable also has me worried they are totally going to screw the pooch with Oldboy's last act.

Die Hard 5 is complete overkill of the franchise (really part 4 was), and John Moore signing as the director does not give me hope of it being anything special, as his previous films were average at best.

Sep 2 - 07:04 PM

Nope Scorsese isn't gonna be able to do Silence after Hugo and The Gambler wanna know why? Because after he finishes the Gambler and begins to work on Silence he will get side tracked with yet another film (possibly a remake that the studio will insist that he make) then he will end of dying of a heart attack while eating a plate of ravioli on his birthday and that will be that.

Sep 2 - 07:26 PM

Well it has been reported he wants to follow up Hugo with Silence since it has been one of his long time passion projects and he has secured financing and everything. I hope that is true, because I want to see Scorsese do some hard hitting drama again. I am also hoping that the cast that was announced for it a few years back is still interested, specifically Benicio Del Toro and Daniel Day Lewis.

Sep 2 - 09:35 PM

Alica Leo

Wow, your upbeat.

Sep 2 - 08:20 PM

I cannot help it! I'm just a big ball of sunshine no matter the circumstances! :)

Sep 2 - 09:36 PM

John Noto

WTF ever happened to The Irishman or whatever, I remember them announcing that they had the entire Goodfellas cast plus Keitel and Pacino signed for that shit.

Sep 3 - 12:50 PM

Good point! I had completely forgotten about that since they have not said anything about it in forever.

Sep 3 - 01:38 PM

noel noel

What the hell does "snikts" mean?

Sep 2 - 07:07 PM

Anybody see the trailer for War horse? After I saw it I was like give that Horse the Oscar right NOW!

Sep 2 - 07:33 PM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRf3SfeMRD4/// Thank You, Myron; I just watched it. Spielberg has The War Horse and Tintin due out in December . . . its like Spielberg wants to stamp-out all the competition for The Oscar. I hope The Help or Rise of the Planet of the Apes (or maybe even something better) will swipe-away The Best Picture and Best Director Award from Spielberg; I don't appreciate filmmakers who seem to make films in order to win awards--it looks like The War Horse and Tintin are deliberately chock-full of phony academy-award type camera-angles and actors' facial-expressions. "The Spielberg Look" (an actor stars toward the camera with a childlike awe and sparkle) or "The Spielberg Zoom" (when the camera swoops-down and then lifts-up at the subject in frame).

Sep 3 - 07:37 AM

"Tree of Life", fingers crossed. Hollywood is too materialistic to appreciate such a spiritual film. The fact that some think it's about Intellegent Design is an example of how it's misunderstood. Despite it's high Tomato-rank, it's interesting to see how many critics that gave it a positive review had to throw in back-handed criticisms about how they really didn't like it, but couldn't deny its force. The great thing about Rotton Tomatoes is that it makes it very clear, sampling reviews over a period of time, just how glib and shallow most critics are, and that their educated gestures of intelligence are more often than not empty affectations.

Sep 3 - 09:42 AM

I favor The Tree of Life as well . . . many people report having experienced genuine Spiritual Enlightenment while seeing The Tree of Life . . . Spielberg is the best living director for sure but I like films like The Tree of Life and The Help and Rise of the Planet of the Apes, and The Blind Side of two years ago that don't seem to set out to BE Best Picture Films.

Sep 3 - 10:02 AM

I disagree with "The Help", I think it is totally calculated as Oscar bait. Viola Davis deserves it though. "Rise" deserves, at least, the visual effects award, to say nothing about Sirkis or maybe adapted screenplay as nominations. I think it blew the DC/Marvel films out of the water, and pre-empted "Contagion" in a very clever way.

Sep 3 - 11:13 AM

King Simba

Blind Side wasn't an oscar bait movie? That thing seemed made with every intention of winning oscar awards. A poor underdog rising up to become a champion - it's the kind of thing the academy absolutely adores. Just check out all the awards they gave to Shakespeare in Love, A Beautiful Mind, Braveheart, Gladiator, Slumdog Millionare and others.

Sep 3 - 12:48 PM

Thank You for Responding. After reading your responses; yes, come to think of it . . . well, Oscar Bait or "Audience Manipulation" or both?// I know that The Blind Side has Christian themes probably capitalizing on FIREPROOF and The Passion of the Christ that were "anti-Hollywood films in the sense that Hollywood would have rejected Fire Proof and The Christ movie because they were too Christian. Then Hollywood realized that "Christian Movies" earn a lot of money and made The Blind Side. Oscar Bait . . . maybe, though; Audience Manipulation and Oscar Bait go hand in hand.

Sep 3 - 01:58 PM

many people report having experienced genuine Spiritual Enlightenment while seeing The Tree of Life . .

Many people have reported falling asleep, too.

Sep 4 - 05:50 AM

Many people are not bright. I noticed above that you must have slept through Schwarzenegger's political career. "Tree of Life" is not for everybody, and the ADD-addled should beware. I'm sure there's some Robot Chicken available to your liking.

Sep 4 - 09:11 AM

Bradly Martin

I was interested in The Tree of Life until I read about Sean Penn's dislike of it. I have enjoyed bits and pieces of Malick in the past though. short attention spans not welcome. It's kind of like falling asleep at the air port. Some people find people with baggage interesting, some people could care less.

Sep 5 - 03:26 AM

"People with Baggage" happens to be all of us, whether we notice or not, and the human essentialism is what makes it relevent. I happen to find human inner conflict more interesting than CGI. You could chalk it up to taste, except you'll find that the stories and art throughout history that has sustained time are those with esoteric significance as opposed to "sound and fury". A lot (most?) of people want distraction and escapism. "Tree of Life" is a work of art, conveying significance and meaning about fundamental being and experience - consciousness and creation from the Big Bang to a single child, and the separation and reconciliation of the human psyche with the macrocosmic creative impulse. This is pearls before swine for most people, but it places Malick among the company of Blake, Goethe, Joyce, Beethoven, Dylan, and film essentialists like Kubrick, Kurosawa, and Tarkovsky. It's one thing to say that this isn't one's preference for entertainment, but it's quite another to simply ignore its significance because you can't be bothered to think about it. But, in many ways, Ignorance is the new American Entitlement. (For you Brits, substitute "Western", because America is leading your culture right now as well.)

Sep 5 - 05:20 AM

My attention span is just fine when what I'm watching isn't dull. No, it doesn't have to be action/escapism entertainment. Malick is just a tedious director.

Sep 5 - 07:56 PM

Haha yeah can't wait to see that film. :)

Sep 4 - 02:09 PM

Devia Tan-Navarro

Another musical would be nice, though by now I just want a solid musical no pop songs or rom-com storylines. Never seen Les Miserables in anyform but read the book so I'm curious.

Still excited for Hugo cause of Hit Girl and Scorsese. I'm hoping the movie is worth buying the book since it cost a lot.

Only seen two Die Hards, the first and the last one and still thinking the last one was full of cliches/parody (read: cheap imitation) of the first.

Sep 2 - 07:36 PM

Rachel Woloshin

Last I checked, Frankenstein is not about "friendship and redemption". More like don't fuck with nature. This is such a rotten idea.

Sep 2 - 08:50 PM

Yea, I hope no high-fives were given out when they decided to make the Frankenstein movie with those themes. They already DID that. it was called Edward Scissorhands.

Sep 3 - 12:53 AM

And Swamp thing

Sep 3 - 02:41 AM

HOLY SMOKES!!!!!!! ("Frankenstein, or the Modern Prometheus" by Mary Shelly written in 1816 and revised in 1831 has many themes including REJECTION and DAMNATION [as opposed to Friendship and Redemption). Yet making a non-action "Frankenstein movie" today would equal box-office DOOM. Audiences today hate films with humanitarian themes (as evidenced here in Rotten Tomatoes).///// Now I'm FRANKENSTEIN-ESSAY-THUMPING . . .
READ THE FOLLOWING UNDERSTANDING OF FRANKENSTEIN CAREFULLY (read it aloud if you need to): "Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, is a story of dual themes: Faustian behaviour and nineteenth century parenting techniques, the theories of Rousseau, and other Romantics. However, this novel focuses on the outcome of one man's, namely Victor Frankenstein's Faustian motives and desires of dabbling with nature, which result in the creation of this offspring or creature. Unlike Faustus, Victor was not doomed to failure from his initial desire to overstep the natural bounds of human knowledge. Rather, it was his poor "parenting" of his progeny that lead to his creation's thirst for the vindication of his unjust life. His failure in the creation of his "child", is specifically the creature's monster-like persona and Victor's own tragic life and end. His creature was not raised and nurtured by himself. The views of Rousseau, Locke, Montaigne and indeed Mary Shelley's personal child rearing experiences, concerning the practice of parenting, enrich the reader's perception of the parent/child relationship between Frankenstein and his creature. As a "hero", Victor is a hero related to Prometheus Satan and Faustus; they were all heroic in their revolutions yet pathetic in their destinies. However, Frankenstein rebelled but failed in the full execution of that rebellion by failing to follow through, i. e. failing to parent his creation, the goal an direct result of such a rebellion; thus he created a "monster" through his absence of nurturing and love for his progeny.

In order to investigate Frankenstein's thirst for knowledge and motives for the creation of his child, we must turn to the character of Faustus. They both search for the secrets of life. Indeed, Faustus searches for its very cause and the knowledge how to manipulate it. The protagonist embarks on a classic Romantic Quest, the tenets of which are expressed in the Faust legend, i.e., the consummate desire for knowledge and the tragedies that can arise from desires. Frankenstein states: The world was to me a secret, which I desired to divine. Curiosity, earnest research to learn the hidden laws of nature, gladness akin to rapture, as they are unfolded to me, are among the earliest sensation I can remember (Shelley, p. 22)."

Sep 3 - 08:01 AM

The absence of love and understanding in the creature's life implies that he would have profited from the additional absence of his formed consciousness. Frankenstein's son would have benefited by remaining in an animal-like state in the wilderness. Certainly, Rousseau would be in concord with this statement. The creature's greatest and most painful rite of passage was his realisation that he was all alone, again referring back to the Adam motif. His father, Frankenstein, mimics the behaviour of a typical abuser by his total blindness realising what he had done to his child. My supposition is that if Victor had felt remorse for the trespasses he has committed against his son and loved him, the creature would not have become a killer. The creature would have been able to overcome his other shortcomings if he had someone to love and nurture him.

Faustus and Frankenstein both never contemplated the results of their probing actions into the deep crevices of the secrets of nature. They could only see the excitement and challenge to their ultimate goals. Frankenstein should have paid more attention to his decisions. However, one could assert that Frankenstein, himself, was trying to create a substitute for his own deceased mother. Indeed, Victor was deeply adversely affected by the premature and untimely death of his vivacious and nurturing mother. Perhaps Victor was not in an emotionally healthy state when he made the decision to create his child. Here, Shelley is discussing the pros and cons of contemplation before conceiving a child. It is interesting to think that Shelley, herself, probably never had the luxury of the choice, whether it was due to the lack of family planning technology or her own emotional obstacles.

The journey from Frankenstein's Faustian beginnings to his role as neglectful parent, is a deeply interconnected and richly developed expedition within the novel. My assertion is that the greater part of this work is an articulation of one woman's fears or to expand to a greater society and psychology poses: Can an "un-mothered" child who experiences more pain than pleasure, ever be able to develop into a moral, considerate and functional member of society?"

"You seek for knowledge and wisdom, as I once did; and I ardently hope that the gratification of your wishes may not be a serpent to sting you, as mine has been"

-Victor Frankenstein

Sep 3 - 08:05 AM

This is a good summation of why "Frankenstein" is one of the dozen best novels ever written. The horror is definitely more about the Faustian self-destructive pride than in the "creature" itself. Unless there is an extended cut of Branaugh's version, there's never been an attempt to capture this aspect. Even as long as Branaugh's version is, it is cut too fast, eliminating every second that doesn't contain dialogue or action. All of the symbolic reflection was missed, and I suspect that was a studio decision. "Wolfman" was similar, with gorgeous photography ruined by a pace that doesn't allow the scenes to breathe. And some half-baked, last minute action scenes thrown in. I'm interested in a contemporary Frankenstein, exploring genetic examples of new scientific pride (ala "Rise/Planet of the Apes"), where the creature is a failed experiment abandoned in the quest for genetic perfection.

Sep 3 - 09:31 AM

YES!!!!! THANKS!!!!! My favorite version is Frankenstein The True Story (the four-hour version by Christopher Isherwood starring Michael Sarrazin, James Mason, and David Macullum). Its unfortunate audiences wouldn't appreciate so complex an adaptation of Frankenstein; Kevin Branaugh's version is the most ambitious to date (aside from 1973's Terror of Frankenstein), but somebody must have re-cut the Coppola/Branuagh version because it was hard for audiences to understand. Frankenstein-philes will have to settle for "action-packed" "stream-lined" Frankenstein films because anything else won't earn the producer a profit.

Sep 3 - 10:19 AM

Mary Shelly had a lot of Guilt-Issues concerning child-birth and creation; her mother Mary Wollstonecraft died while giving birth to her. And Mary met her future-husband Percy Shelly at her mother's grave; they should make a movie about Mary Shelly in addition to GOTHIC.

Sep 3 - 10:23 AM

Thanks for the recommendations. I haven't heard of either of these versions and will have to check them out. I see "Terror" stars Leon Vitali, Kubrick's right hand man. There was another TV version around this time that seems to be a different film entirely. I absolutely agree that a Mary Shelley biopic would be potentially incredible. "Gothic" was cute, but not exactly serious.

Sep 3 - 11:06 AM

But . . .if you make a "Frankenstein-Movie" about "un-love," Hatred, and abandonment, the movie will fail. "Dispassionate" is the word best describing The Typical American Movie-Goer. Terminator Salvation was about Redemption and Humanity and the kid sitting behind me said "Terminator Salvation" SUCKED What The Fuck Did We Just See?//I turned around and said it was a film about The Human Condition and what it meant to have compassion toward your fellow man.//The kid said, he didn't "get it."///In Terminator Salvation, The Cyborg Lays Down his life for The Resistance (Sacrifices its life) and saves the day.

Sep 3 - 08:14 AM

BIBLE-THUMPING TIME:
JOHN 15: 12 - 13 This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.//// Movie-goers don't want to see Horror or Science-Fiction movies (like FRANKENSTEIN or TERMINATOR: SALVATION) with LOVE themes or REDEMPTION themes or SALVATION themes. Audiences like Killing and Violence and Bloodshed and Brutality . . . like Oldboy.///OLDBOY is not my thing.

Sep 3 - 09:06 AM

stephen lee

02 I am really confused about this so if anyone can clear this up for me that would be awesome. I read that the american remake was a no because even though the director said go for it the creator of th manga said no and what he says goes since he made the story.
03 Hmmm i'm kind of mixed on her work so idk
04 Cool...Ed Helms kinda looks like Jason Sudekis anyone else see that??

04 Really no one can live up to the hype that Darren Aronofsky brought to the table.
03 Hahahahahahahahaha

Sep 2 - 09:55 PM

david hurlburt

Well usually the author of the source materal doesn't have much say in film adabtions of his/her work. Idk anythink about this situation though, so who knows.

Sep 3 - 11:34 AM

ahungerartist ahungerartist

No love for the announced title and details of the new Coen Bros. movie? That's at least as fresh as an umpteenth Les Miz. Scorsese/Donahue is always fresh news. I'm hoping for a Gangs Redux director's cut eventually. And I'm too faithful to shrug off "Hugo", but I really really hope they don't use the crappy Cranberries-esque music from the trailer. Also no word on Scorsese's soon to be released George Harrison doc. I'm probably the only fan who thought his "No Direction Home" was the best film he did in the last decade. And Park Chan-wook fans can take some solace that he's shooting an American film in Nashville right now. I could point out the numerous examples of terminal hacks continuing to get inexplicably good work in Hollywood except it's getting too sad to be funny anymore. The best punchline might be Stallone hiring the "Conan" director AFTER it flopped, but he's always had a keen ear for Suckness.

Sep 2 - 10:23 PM

This article seems to knock the Die Hard franchise in two separate places, first being critical that the writers of the fourth movie are going to be helping on Wolverine, and that the franchise itself, before the director choice, was limping. However, the last film had an 82% and did solid box office. What's awful about that?

Sep 2 - 11:29 PM

Nothing is awful about it. It's just jaded people basing their statements on perception rather than solid facts to write those pieces. Snark bandwagon stuff.

Sep 3 - 12:49 AM