The Screengrab : rainn wilson

Morning Deal Report: Bruce Willis and the One-Word Titles

Scott Von Doviak — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 14:30:00 GMT

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bruce Willis is set to star in a trio of upcoming action movies. Red, in which “Willis would portray a former black-ops agent who has gone into retirement but is forced back into action when a high-tech assassin comes a-callin’ to threaten him and his girlfriend”; Scarpa, “a mob biopic directed by Tears of the Sun helmer Antoine Fuqua; and Inventory, in which Willis “would play a detective on the trail of a murderer.”

Natalie Portman, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Rainn Wilson will headline the “indie dramedy” Hesher. “The story centers on a loser twentysomething who invades the life of an awkward 13-year-old who is living with a pill-popping father and grandmother. Gordon-Levitt is playing the title character, a good and bad influence on the boy's life. Wilson is the dad trying to keep his family together after the death of his wife. Portman, who is producing the film with Lucy Cooper, plays a supermarket worker for whom the kid falls for after she saves him from a bully.”

The French thriller Tell No One will get the American remake treatment. “Miramax and Focus will co-develop the project, still in early stages of development. No director or cast have been attached although a start date of spring 2010 has been tentatively set for principal photography,” Variety reports.

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DreamWorks CEO Brags About New 3D Technology, Talks Shit About Your Daddy

Phil Nugent — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 15:45:00 GMT

"There were two major developments in cinema during the 20th century. The first came in the Twenties when silent movies became talkies. The second came in the following decade, when we went from black-and-white to color. Now, 70 years on, we're in the third great revolution: the new generation of 3D." That's Jeffrey Katzenberg, CEO of DreamWorks Animation, explaining why the release tomorrow of the company's Monsters vs. Aliens is such an historic occasion that you must bow down before him. ""I honestly believe that," says Katzenberg. "I really don't think this is an exaggeration." (If he'd just said that he didn't think he was exaggerating and left out the "really", there'd still be room for us to doubt.) But those of us with long memories--memories that stretch back as far as, say, last month, when Coraline was released, or even those senile few old enough to remember Beowulf, practically a whole year and a half ago--have been down this road of hype before. Why is this 3D revolution different from all previous 3D revolutions, going back to the bygone days of 1953's House of Wax? Let's wind Jeffrey up again and see what comes out:

"Until now almost all of the 3D movies that audiences have seen were filmed in 2D and then post-produced into 3D. With Monsters vs. Aliens, this is our first film totally authored in the 3D format – and not just any 3D format. We use something called InTru3D, which combines DreamWorks Animation's authoring tools with the latest Intel technology, allowing artists to tell a more compelling story and give film-goers a more exciting, immersive 3D movie experience. It's a huge development and so very important. This is something that people have to see and experience and write and talk about and let the audience know that it's coming. Hopefully, that will make people aware that this not our fathers' 3D." That shit that your father put up with sometimes had notorious side effects, and that was on top of the most obvious cost of watching a 3D movie, which was that more often than not, the movie you were watching was something along the lines of Metalstorm: The Destruction of Jared-Syn. "People used to get headaches and some even got nauseous," says Katzenberg. "And who ever heard of a successful business that makes its customers throw up? Well, apart from the alcohol business!" Let it be noted that even when on the verge of making history, Jeff still had it in him to make a funny.

Monsters vs. Aliens inaugurates a new slate of DreamWorks animated films that will be made in the new 3D process, but in a knowing move that may be lost on a significant portion of its young target audience, the story, involving a strike force of mutants, including a not-quite-fifty-foot woman (voice by Reese Witherspoon), who are called into action to combat a threat to the Earth posed by Rainn Wilson--playing an alien visitor, though I think it would be just as plausible if he were just Rainn Wilson in a bad mood, is a parodic throwback to the kind of '50s sci-fi spectacle that was routinely served up in your father's 3D. This perfect fusion of form and content was not planned. As The New York Times has reported, Katzenberg informed the project's directors, Rob Letterman and Conrad Vernon, that they were making it in 3D when " work on the movie was well under way". “We were totally taken aback,” says Vernon. “I didn’t sign up to do something garish.” Well, yeah, dude. Nobody would think you were planning to make a garish movie called Monsters vs. Aliens. (I see Sven Nykvist as chief D.P. and Anthony Hopkins as the Jello-O monster.) According to the Times, "The DreamWorks team associated 3-D with Captain EO, the 1980s-era Disneyland attraction, long since closed, that starred Michael Jackson as a space explorer. Stuffed with 3-D gimmicks that extended from the screen into the audience — lasers, smoke, flying fuzzy aliens — that film, directed by Francis Ford Coppola with George Lucas as executive producer, defined cinematic cheese for a generation of Hollywood creative types." But Katzenberg made the "not-your-father's-3D" speech at them, and even assured them, “I’m pretty sure that no business can succeed in which it makes the customer hurl.” (You'll note that this is a version of the same joke he tells the British newspapers, but when he's telling it to people who work for him, the gloves come off.)

There are also clear business advantages to making 3D movies, which may conceivably have appealed to the capitalist pirate who dwells deep inside Katzenberg's gentle-Buddhist-monk soul: "Tickets for 3-D screenings can be sold for a premium. It would also be harder to pirate DreamWorks movies: sneaking a camcorder into a theater — which is the way most bootleg DVDs are born — wouldn’t work at a 3-D screening. And 3-D was a way of standing out in a marketplace increasingly cluttered with computer-animated movies, as Coraline recently demonstrated with surprisingly strong box-office returns." The downside is that DreamWorks did have to scale back its plans to open the movie on 5000 screens across the U.S., because there aren't that many 3D-friendly screens in the U.S. (Instead, it'll be rolled out on about 2000 screens.) After a period of adjustment and a "tutorial" from John Bruno, who worked on the theme park attraction T2 3-D: Battle Across Time,, the group assembled for Monsters vs. Aliens felt they were ready to make the leap. "Although Mr. Katzenberg had promised that 3-D would not be used as a gimmick," says the Times, "DreamWorks ultimately couldn’t help itself. When the film was nearly finished, Mr. Katzenberg asked the creative team to add some more 3-D 'pow,' according to Mr. Vernon. Most of that pow was tooled back — B.O.B.’s lone eyeball no longer rolls out into the audience, and debris from explosions doesn’t land in the front row — but they kept one at the beginning of the movie: a paddleball sequence. 'That was basically us telling the audience, "Look what we could do to you, but we’re going to control ourselves" ' Ms. Stewart said." Will history be conclusively made on Friday. Having seen Coraline, I can tell you this much: it's definitely true that the glasses you have to wear are now a lot cooler.

Related: Screengrab Review: Monsters vs. Aliens

Precursors: Mars Attacks!

Screengrab Review: Monsters vs. Aliens

Andrew Osborne — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 14:00:00 GMT

At the 3-D screening of Monsters vs. Aliens I attended, there was a collective gasp from the children in the audience when the first image seemingly launched off the screen at us, and a cynical, “It took five people to write that?” from an adult behind me when the end credits finally rolled. My own opinion fell somewhere between those two reactions.

While generally more broad and less well-written than a typical Pixar film, the gang at DreamWorks Animation (under the direction of Conrad Vernon and Rob Letterman) gives good visual in their latest, with everything from spaceships to red rubber paddle balls zooming towards (and, in correctly equipped theaters, beyond) the screen, as well as a series of cleverly conceived and executed action sequences: one, involving an epic battle on and around the Golden Gate Bridge, is especially breath-taking.

The story and characters, meanwhile, don’t go a lot deeper than the high-concept title: Reese Witherspoon voices a young bride-to-be named Susan, who transforms into a 50-ish foot woman called Ginormica after getting hit by a mysterious meteorite on her wedding day.

“Ginormica,” in fact, is the name assigned to Susan after she’s captured by a secret government agency tasked with containing the world’s creepiest creatures, including a brainless blob (Seth Rogen), a fish-ape (or possibly ape-fish) “missing link” (Will Arnett), a Brundlefly-esque amalgam of mad scientist and cockroach (Hugh Laurie) and Insectosaurus (Jimmy Kimmel), a giant Mothra-style insect several times larger than even Ginormica (and whose incoherent yowlings somehow required yet another celebrity voice). When evil extraterrestrial Gallaxar (a relatively restrained Rainn Wilson) invades, the U.S. President (a disappointing Stephen Colbert, badly in need of restraint) is convinced by General Monger (Kiefer Sutherland, channeling Larry the Cable Guy) to arrange a battle royale involving...say it with me now...monsters vs. aliens.

Along the way, there are plenty of (mostly) clever gags -- my favorite involving a thumb-less wedding guest -- and nice (if simplistic) messages about acceptance and girl power. Meanwhile, even those currently experiencing Rogen fatigue may get a kick out of the actor’s familiar stoner giggle issuing from a family-friendly blob...a character the husky Canadian was pretty much born to play.

And besides, griping that DreamWorks’ new offering doesn’t measure up to, say, WALL-E or The Incredibles isn’t entirely fair. Since at least the Jeffrey Katzenberg era at Disney, American mainstream animated features (from Who Framed Roger Rabbit to Coraline) have been consistently smarter, better crafted and more humane than most Hollywood product over the same period. If Monsters vs. Aliens is just an average kiddie film, then here’s hoping all the kiddies raised on such films will come to demand at least as much quality from the studios as their generation moves forward into adulthood.

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DVD Digest for January 27, 2009

Paul Clark — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:00:00 GMT

This week, a whole bunch of late-summer/early-fall releases are coming on DVD to help soothe the midwinter moviegoing blues.

Of this week’s bumper crop of recent theatrical releases coming to DVD, the most noteworthy is Woody Allen’s Vicky Cristina Barcelona (Genius Products, also Blu-Ray), which became the Woodman’s biggest hit in years due in no small part to the promise of hot Penelope Cruz-on-Scarlett Johansson action. That it was also a welcome change of scenery for the filmmaker- shooting for the first time in Spain- helped matters somewhat as well. It’s definitely worth a look if you haven’t seen it yet- come for the sexy stuff, stay for the memorable performances by Oscar nominee Cruz, Javier Bardem playing a character 180 degrees removed from his Anton Chigurh, and the ever-dependable Rebecca Hall.

Also this week, Warner unleashes the cops’n’robbers trifecta of Edward Norton and Colin Farrell in Pride and Glory (also Blu-Ray), Neil LaBute’s Lakeview Terrace (also Blu-Ray), and Guy Ritchie’s Rocknrolla (also Blu-Ray). Other releases include: Rainn Wilson in The Rocker (Fox, also Blu-Ray); Kirk Cameron’s inspirational melodrama Fireproof (Sony), the Iraq War drama The Lucky Ones (Lionsgate); Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired (Image), a docuymentary about the filmmaker’s controversial court case; the French thriller Tell No One (MPI); the babes-and-binge-drinking comedy College (Fox); and a pair of direct-to-DVD animated releases, Hulk Vs. (Lionsgate, also Blu-Ray) and Open Season 2 (Sony, also Blu-Ray).

This week’s selection of classics coming to DVD is highlighted by MGM’s The Pink Panther Film Collection (MGM), which includes all of the films including a new pressing of the original, also available in separately as The Pink Panther (1963) Collector’s Edition (MGM, also Blu-Ray). There’s also The Pink Panther Classic Cartoon Collection (MGM), a nine-disc set of the televised Pink Panther shorts. All of this Pink Panther news might be happier if it didn’t portend the release of the second crappy remake starring Steve Martin, but what can you do. Also this week: Mary Poppins 45th Anniversary Edition (Disney).

Finally, the big Blu-Ray only news this week is the release of Universal’s The Bourne Collection, which includes all three theatrical features (sorry, no Richard Chamberlain TV movie), along with a raft of extras. Also this week: Oliver Stone’s Any Given Sunday Director’s Cut (Warner), the college band drama Drumline Special Edition (Fox), and the annual release of Groundhog Day (Sony).

Trailer Review: Monsters vs. Aliens

Paul Clark — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:00:00 GMT

After Monday’s Trailer Review of the teaser for Pixar’s Up, most trailers would be a letdown, and this one is no exception. Yet taken on its own terms, Monsters vs. Aliens looks pretty fun. For years, Dreamworks has been Pixar’s most ubiquitous rivals in the CG animation market, but while films like the Shrek franchise and Shark Tale relied far too heavily on easy pop culture references for their humor, they’ve been getting better in recent years, re-positioning themselves as the Warner Bros. to Pixar’s Disney. I like that the cast here is somewhat less star-studded than most previous Dreamworks Animation releases- Reese Witherspoon is top-lining of course, but the most of the other cast members they went for comedic talent rather than box-office clout. That said, the combination of Seth Rogen, Stephen Colbert, Rainn Wilson, Will Arnett, Paul Rudd, and even Hugh Laurie (such a perfect Jeeves) is pretty irresistible. It remains to be seen whether this is any good, but what can I say, I laughed, especially at the “Susan” gag.

Screengrab Fall Preview: Scott Von Doviak’s Picks

Scott Von Doviak — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:30:00 GMT

We’ve reached that part of the summer when Rainn Wilson comedies and films by Fred Durst are considered top new releases, so it must be time to look ahead to the fall. Traditionally this is the movie season for Oscar contenders and challenging indie fare, so let’s put away the robots and superhero tights and play a little 3 Up, 3 Down. (Feel free to weigh in with your own picks, my fellow Screengrabbers – if you dare.)

3 UP

1. Burn After Reading – No Country for Old Men was a return to form for the Coens, and we’re all happy they finally got their Oscars. But it’s been a while since we’ve had a pure shot of that Coen Brothers feeling. No Country was adapted from a Cormac McCarthy novel, The Ladykillers was a remake, and Intolerable Cruelty originated with other writers. Based on the trailer, Burn After Reading looks like a return to the inventive goofiness of The Big Lebowski and O Brother Where Art Thou?, which puts it right in my wheelhouse.

2. The Road – Speaking of Cormac McCarthy, the second adaptation of his work in as many years in due in November. The grim post-apocalyptic tale is brought to the screen by John Hillcoat, director of The Proposition, a western that certainly counts McCarthy’s Blood Meridian among its influences. Viggo Mortenson has the lead, and the supporting cast includes Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Robert Duvall, Garrett Dillahunt and The Wire’s Omar himself, Michael K. Williams.

3. Synecdoche, New York – Charlie Kaufman’s directorial debut didn’t exactly wow most critics at Cannes, but the guy hasn’t let me down yet. (Well, Confessions of a Dangerous Mind didn’t really do it for me, but I’ll blame Sam Rockwell for that.) Even if it doesn’t really work, the premise – which has theater director Philip Seymour Hoffman building a replica of New York in a warehouse – should provide more of the Kauf’s trademark reality-bending weirdness.

3 DOWN

1. The Day the Earth Stood Still – Unnecessary remake of a sci-fi classic, with Keanu Reeves as an alien? The first time I saw this trailer, I thought it was a fake. The second time, I just said “No thanks.”

2. Twilight – I understand I’m not the target demographic for this “y.a.” phenomenon, but I still resent the fact that it’s in my face everywhere I go these days, and that’s only going to get worse as the release of this adaptation approaches.

3. The Women – This has got to be the uber-chick flick of the year: Meg Ryan, Annette Bening, Eva Mendes, Bette Midler and Debra Messing in a remake of the George Cukor classic. If I grow a vagina between now and when it comes out, maybe I’ll reconsider.

WILD CARD

Oliver Stone’s W. This can’t possibly be any good, can it? And yet I can’t wait to see it. We might be looking at a train wreck for the ages here.

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Trailer Review: The Rocker

Paul Clark — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:00:00 GMT

This summer looks to bring the release of a number of high-quality comedies. But judging by the trailer, The Rocker probably won’t be one of them. Admittedly, Rainn Wilson’s snarky-doofus persona doesn’t lend itself easily to leading man roles in the same way as, say, Jack Black. But still, wouldn’t Wilson’s Office popularity lead one to expect better than a shabby mashup of School of Rock and Drillbit Taylor? Worst of all, it’s just not funny, which is pretty surprising considering how easy a target heavy metal makes itself (the flashback sequence here is especially dire). Looking up the movie on IMDb, I was a little surprised to find it was directed by Peter Cattaneo of Full Monty fame- admittedly not a wonderfully-made film, but nonetheless a very funny one. Cattaneo hasn’t done much of note in the past decade, and from the looks of this trailer, that streak won’t be ending this year.

"Juno": Is the Little Movie That Could Too Big for Its Britches?

Phil Nugent — Mon, 11 Feb 2008 21:00:00 GMT

Dana Stevens in Slate diagrams the Juno backlash. Stevens speaks for a lot of us here: "When Juno came out, I saw it as a flawed but fun indie, a film that, despite the screenplay's overreliance on grating banter, somehow snuck up on you by the end and made you like it." Since then, the damnded thing has been nominated for four major Academy Awards including Best Picture, come unnervingly close to doubling the box office take claimed by the second-biggest hit among the Best Picture nominees (No Country for Old Men), and inspired some big name critics to hail it as the best movie of the year. Granted, this reaction is insane, but how insane? And how much of one's dismay at those who are overpraising the picture should be directed at the movie itself? We've been here before: it wasn't that long ago that Little Miss Sunshine was praised for its stellar cast and surprising mix of world-beaten warmth and black humor, only to set off panic alarms in some quarters when it made a mint and garnered Oscar nominations. Both these films have been accused of playing out of their leagues, albeit by people who you might expect not to really care that much about the Oscars as a serious measure of artistic worth. At the same time, they stand accused of not being "indie" enough--they're unusual compared to most of the mainstream product, but they're also commercial comedies with big studio promotional money pushing them uphill. Of course, if they hadn't been hits at all, some of the same people who now claim to see something unjust in their success would be wondering why smart, off-beat little movies with good commercial instincts can't get a break in this country. In fact, they'd be tearing their hair out over it.

The Juno backlash--which, as Stevens notes, has already inspired a backlash to the backlash ("Is it so wrong to have liked Juno a little?" moans Tim Long, as if anyone's liking it a little were the problem)--reminds us that movies do not exist in a vaccuum, and that makes it harder for our responses to certain movies to remain untouched by the cultural weather they generate. It's natural for people who saw Juno early in its run to see what kind of response it's since inspired and to wonder if they saw the same movie, just as it's natural for people whose introduction to it were a sheaf of notices calling it the greatest thing since sliced bread to check it out and emerge from the theater wondering what they're missing. It is "a movie you adore or revile, attack or defend, and maybe change your mind about—not just after a second viewing, but halfway through the first." (As Stevens points out, there is a rare universality of opinion on the repellent suckiness of the first couple of full dialogue scenes, in particular the one where Rainn Wilson mans the counter at the convenience store and spits out such horrors as, "This is one diddle that can't be un-did, homeskillet." I haven't seen an opening so thoroughly designed to drive viewers out of a movie that actually turned out to have its good points since Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me.) The scary thing is that, this year, Juno might actually have a chance to beat the Coens P. T. Anderson for Best Picture at the Oscars, especially if it's seen as a compromise candidate stuck in between two bigger movies that many Academy voters regard as off-puttingly nihilistic. But my money's on Atonement; it has confused young women and production values, with English accents thrown in to boot!