Quick clips for Thursday October 23
I hope they're just going in alphabetical order
The only place in which director Ben Stiller logically follows director Steven Spielberg is during roll call at recess. And yet, The Hollywood Reporter is...reporting (arrggh, and I fought against that joke for so long...time to reset the "accident-free" clock back to zero) that Stiller is being sought by Dreamworks to helm The Trial of the Chicago 7, which is the retelling of the court case of the troublemakers at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Oh, and the screenplay is by Aaron Sorkin, who has a black belt in ass-kicking dialogue. This project has been a hot potato, tossed from Spielberg to Paul Greengrass (the infinitely talented man behind United 93 and the last two Bourne movies) and now, apparently, to the guy who directed Zoolander. Look, I liked Tropic Thunder, quite a bit actually, but that readies a human to film a Sorkin script about as well as playing Madden '08 readies you to start at defensive back in the NFL (for any team other than the Chicago Bears, who will take you if you have mobility in all of your limbs). I'm not saying that Stiller doesn't have it in him to make a great movie, but this is a project that was courted by the best of the best, directors who have either touched Oscar or will one day do so. The closest Stiller has come is once hugging the muppet who lives in the garbage can. Still, if my choices are seeing what Bebo the magical sell-out can do with this or not seeing this thing get made at all, I guess I'll opt for the former, but this could be a humorous, intelligent, politically charged script and so help me if it gets neutered...I'll probably write some strongly worded comments on this blog about it. So take that.
You knew this was one of my flaws going into this blogging relationship
My passion for "Lost" is a thing of legend. Of all the nerdy, nerdy shit that I do (and I am to nerdy shit what John Holmes was to porn), this may be the most nerdy. I have some of the toys, used to actively participate in forums discussing the minutiae of the series, wrote FAN FICTION, and routinely throw tantrums when I have to watch an episode on DVR and not live. I am, in fact, a total gomer for the series. Which is why I'm so happy about this:
True, this shows very little new footage, but (A) hellooooo it's a sign the show is on its way back to me, (B) any new footage is still a new chance to drool over Evangeline Lilly (a solitary new clip will work just fine thanks), who represents one of the final entries on my "list," and (C) am I the only one who saw Hurley with a gun and Ben working with Jack?! For those who don't know what that means or the significance of those words, you are dead to me. Seriously, I know season 2-3 were seen as mediocre (I still loved much of them), but season 4 was soooo frakkin' good you can't tell me this isn't the best show on TV. Oh, nominate your "Mad Men" (which is booooring, no matter what you say) and "Gray's Anatomy" (which is stoooopid, no matter what you say) for Emmys, but this, this my friend is the reason God created the boob tube. And it's almost back. It's a good time to be alive.
For those worried about that supercollider experiment, you can escape a Black Hole
If you put a gun to my head (and please don't, because I have a rather bad headache as is), I'd probably say Neil Gaiman would finish in my top 3 favorite authors (not in a "I have a Master's in English and want to impress you with my knowledge of the literary world" way but in the, "give me a book to read right now way"). The other two are likely Margaret Atwood and Harlan Ellison, although Michael Chabon and Dave Eggers may fist-fight their way in. At any rate, it fills me with sadness that MTV.com is reporting Gaiman and writing partner Roger Avery (who is in a heap of legal trouble for something really bad, so I'm surprised he has time to write) are backing out of an adaptation of "Black Hole," a graphic novel about an STD that causes mutations and such (if only such a thing had been around to dissuade kids from sex years ago). Gaiman's on-screen work has been limited; he adapted Beowulf, had a hand in Stardust (based on his own novel), aided in both Mirrormask and the upcoming Caroline, and should have been perfect for the movie. The problem is, director David Fincher (who I just found out did those super sweet Ladanian Tomlinson/Troy Paomaolo Nike commercials) is also perfect for the movie and is a bit of a control freak, informing Gaiman and Avery they'd have to do, like 10 drafts (and then, according to the run time of Fincher's Zodiac, they would use every single word ever written in all of the drafts). Creative authors, creative directors, creative differences...too bad, so sad. Here's hoping they find someone equally as awesome. If not, here's hoping Fincher makes it awesome. If not, I don't have money on it, so I don't actually care that much.
The only place in which director Ben Stiller logically follows director Steven Spielberg is during roll call at recess. And yet, The Hollywood Reporter is...reporting (arrggh, and I fought against that joke for so long...time to reset the "accident-free" clock back to zero) that Stiller is being sought by Dreamworks to helm The Trial of the Chicago 7, which is the retelling of the court case of the troublemakers at the 1968 Democratic National Convention. Oh, and the screenplay is by Aaron Sorkin, who has a black belt in ass-kicking dialogue. This project has been a hot potato, tossed from Spielberg to Paul Greengrass (the infinitely talented man behind United 93 and the last two Bourne movies) and now, apparently, to the guy who directed Zoolander. Look, I liked Tropic Thunder, quite a bit actually, but that readies a human to film a Sorkin script about as well as playing Madden '08 readies you to start at defensive back in the NFL (for any team other than the Chicago Bears, who will take you if you have mobility in all of your limbs). I'm not saying that Stiller doesn't have it in him to make a great movie, but this is a project that was courted by the best of the best, directors who have either touched Oscar or will one day do so. The closest Stiller has come is once hugging the muppet who lives in the garbage can. Still, if my choices are seeing what Bebo the magical sell-out can do with this or not seeing this thing get made at all, I guess I'll opt for the former, but this could be a humorous, intelligent, politically charged script and so help me if it gets neutered...I'll probably write some strongly worded comments on this blog about it. So take that.
You knew this was one of my flaws going into this blogging relationship
My passion for "Lost" is a thing of legend. Of all the nerdy, nerdy shit that I do (and I am to nerdy shit what John Holmes was to porn), this may be the most nerdy. I have some of the toys, used to actively participate in forums discussing the minutiae of the series, wrote FAN FICTION, and routinely throw tantrums when I have to watch an episode on DVR and not live. I am, in fact, a total gomer for the series. Which is why I'm so happy about this:
True, this shows very little new footage, but (A) hellooooo it's a sign the show is on its way back to me, (B) any new footage is still a new chance to drool over Evangeline Lilly (a solitary new clip will work just fine thanks), who represents one of the final entries on my "list," and (C) am I the only one who saw Hurley with a gun and Ben working with Jack?! For those who don't know what that means or the significance of those words, you are dead to me. Seriously, I know season 2-3 were seen as mediocre (I still loved much of them), but season 4 was soooo frakkin' good you can't tell me this isn't the best show on TV. Oh, nominate your "Mad Men" (which is booooring, no matter what you say) and "Gray's Anatomy" (which is stoooopid, no matter what you say) for Emmys, but this, this my friend is the reason God created the boob tube. And it's almost back. It's a good time to be alive.
For those worried about that supercollider experiment, you can escape a Black Hole
If you put a gun to my head (and please don't, because I have a rather bad headache as is), I'd probably say Neil Gaiman would finish in my top 3 favorite authors (not in a "I have a Master's in English and want to impress you with my knowledge of the literary world" way but in the, "give me a book to read right now way"). The other two are likely Margaret Atwood and Harlan Ellison, although Michael Chabon and Dave Eggers may fist-fight their way in. At any rate, it fills me with sadness that MTV.com is reporting Gaiman and writing partner Roger Avery (who is in a heap of legal trouble for something really bad, so I'm surprised he has time to write) are backing out of an adaptation of "Black Hole," a graphic novel about an STD that causes mutations and such (if only such a thing had been around to dissuade kids from sex years ago). Gaiman's on-screen work has been limited; he adapted Beowulf, had a hand in Stardust (based on his own novel), aided in both Mirrormask and the upcoming Caroline, and should have been perfect for the movie. The problem is, director David Fincher (who I just found out did those super sweet Ladanian Tomlinson/Troy Paomaolo Nike commercials) is also perfect for the movie and is a bit of a control freak, informing Gaiman and Avery they'd have to do, like 10 drafts (and then, according to the run time of Fincher's Zodiac, they would use every single word ever written in all of the drafts). Creative authors, creative directors, creative differences...too bad, so sad. Here's hoping they find someone equally as awesome. If not, here's hoping Fincher makes it awesome. If not, I don't have money on it, so I don't actually care that much.
posted by Ryan at
8:47 AM
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