Film School Rejects » Fanboy Activism

Tempe, Arizona to Host X-Men Origins: Wolverine Premiere

Neil Miller — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 17:30:40 +0000

In a press release this afternoon, 20th Century Fox has notified us that Tempe, Arizona has won the “Hometown Premiere” contest and will now host the world premiere of the upcoming action film X-Men Origins: Wolverine. I’ve included the full press release below, as I have very little to say about this announcement. It is mostly because my lovely town of Austin finished 4th. We were even beaten by Hastings, Nebraska. I was not even aware that anyone even watches movies in Hastings, Nebraska.

The good news for Austinites is that we already hosted the surprise world premiere of Star Trek. Take that, Tempe.

Full press release from 20th Century Fox is below:

“X” MARKS THE SPOT FOR TEMPE, ARIZONA – WINNER OF THE X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HOMETOWN PREMIERE CONTEST

Tempe’s Schools, Businesses — and X-Men Fans — Come Together to Narrowly Prevail Over Davis, CA for World Premiere of Summer Blockbuster

LOS ANGELES, (April 20, 2009)….In a hard-fought contest stretching over thousands of cities and towns across the Unites States, Tempe, Arizona has emerged triumphant in its far-reaching, citywide bid to nab the world premiere event of X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, on April 27.

The announcement caps a frenzied two-week period in which entrants launched innovative and viral campaigns, urging fellow residents to enter the Hometown Premiere contest by marking their town with a digital “X” on a special contest website. In each locale, schools, businesses, and of course X-Men and Wolverine fans, joined forces to create special videos posted on YouTube, as well as websites urging residents to enter the contest.

Tempe accumulated the most “X’s,” narrowly beating out Davis, California in a hard-fought battle to bring home a major “Hollywood” style event.

The “Origins” of the event came from Hugh Jackman, who plays the famed antihero in X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE. Jackman wanted to express his appreciation to the fans by hosting the premiere, in which he will bring the movie and a few of his “friends and enemies” from the film to Tempe. In addition to the stars and filmmakers, the event will have all the other trappings of a mega-Hollywood premiere, including the red carpet, klieg lights and media coverage.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE, the first chapter in the X-Men saga, unites Wolverine with several other legends of the X-Men universe, in an epic revolution that pits the mutants against powerful forces determined to eliminate them. Twentieth Century Fox releases the film everywhere May 1st.

Editor’s Blog: New Features! Twilight Fans! Date Rape!

Dr. Cole Abaius — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 02:15:31 +0000

It’s been a while since we’ve done a Weekly Editor’s Blog which begs the question of whether we can keep calling it “weekly.” Since no one actually cares, the answer is yes. Plus, we worked too hard coming up with that name just to let it go. I’m sure you can’t blame us.

We’ve got some serious ground to cover this week, so I’ve conveniently jammed the relevant material into three categories that will inevitably be mocked for being puns.

The News

This week is actually a pretty exciting week in the menial little inner workings of the site. Due to its wild popularity, we’ll be moving Landon Palmer’s Culture Warrior column to Mondays (reset your DVR), and we’re introducing three – count ‘em – three new columns.

Turned On, Tuned In – Every Monday, Bethany Perryman reports on what’s turning her on this week. A sex column for the entertainment junkie. We’ve been meaning to do this for a while, but since no one that works for FSR has ever had sex, we figured we’d turn to a name that’s been written on bathroom walls from El Paso to Maine.
The Worst Movie Ever – If there’s anything we like more than bashing terrible movies, it’s chocolate pie. Since we can’t publish chocolate pie on the internet, this will have to do. Every Tuesday, we’ll be taking another look at that week’s worst movie ever. Check it out, or you might accidentally watch something that will force you to gauge your eyes out.
Movies We Love – We couldn’t be Rejects without bringing some balance to the force. After bashing the worst of the worst, we’ll be celebrating the stuff that made us fall in love with the big screen in the first place.

Exciting column switches, exciting brand new features, and exciting new logos. Plus, Neil has an exciting meeting with a specialist to finally check out that growth.

The Fad

It turns out that the new cultural trend is to physically attack anyone who doesn’t share your taste in movies. Apparently Twilight fan girls are throwing out verbal threats, tossing acid and leaving horse heads in the beds of detractors of the series. I’m hoping none of them have read my review of the film.

Some of you have latched onto the fad in order to launch F-bombs and empty death threats because Robert Fure didn’t like Observe and Report.

To counteract this new attitude that stems solely from fans being completely insecure in their own artistic tastes that they feel the need to insult and threaten anyone who disagrees – I’d encourage everyone to go check out Fure’s review and leave a comment telling him what a great job he’s doing and how handsome he is. Also, go hug a puppy.

But seriously, if anyone else disses Pee Wee’s Big Adventure, I swear I will choke them.

The Ugly

Speaking of Observe and Report and nonsense – there have been a lot of editorials around the internet discussing the finer points of date rape and its humor value. Major blogs have done roundups, feminist sites have given video-middle-fingers to Seth Rogen, and for some reason, no one has bootlegged the scene and set it to Meatloaf’s “I Would Do Anything for Love (But I Won’t Do That).” Get on it, YouTube.

We’ve stayed out of the debate pool so far because, let’s face it, no one has offered any good arguments on either side so far. Some people are outraged that date rape is being displayed in a “comedy”. Some people realize that the context of the scene matters. Some people are outraged that the scene wasn’t rape-y enough.

Personally, I don’t really care where you come down on the argument. Is it rape? Is it not rape? Should date rape be shown in film by the “hero?” Does the context even matter?

These questions don’t matter because the right answer is — Tugg Speedman should have never gone full retard.

Tune in next week when we may or my not write another edition of the Weekly Editor’s Blog. Will we? Won’t we? Not knowing is half the fun!

Fight for Fright: Time Warner and Brighthouse Cable Slash FEARNet

Robert Fure — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:09:02 +0000

If you’re on this site, I can’t imagine you not having a pretty sweet cable package to watch all sorts of awesome movies as they air or On-Demand. If, like a few of us Rejects, you have Time Warner Cable (or Brighthouse), then your cable package is replaced some of the sweet with a healthy dose of bitter.

In some move that I’m sure is being justified as cost cutting or what not, Time Warner and Brighthouse are removing FearNet from their packages. This means no Twilight Zone marathons, no laughable episodes of Freddy’s Nightmares and, most damning, no On-Demand streaming of Fear Itself or any of the more than a dozen movies they would have ready at any one time. Some of which were in HD. Double bummer.

Like any good genre fan should do, fight to get what’s yours back. Tell Time Warner and Brighthouse that FEARNet is a desirable channel and that we all still want it. You can do so by joining the Facebook petition to save the channels here. I’ve done it and so should you, because of peer pressure and of my personal desire to spend even more time in front of a TV watching free horror movies. If you still need convincing on why FEARNet should be saved, check out what would be upcoming straight to you cable box if it were still there. Fight for FEARNet.

What do you think of this bogus announcement? Will you sign the petition?

Let the Right One In: The Subtitle Conspiracy

Neil Miller — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 16:34:51 +0000

Sometimes things get lost in translation. This is just a fact of life. But one situation that shouldn’t see language getting mixed and matched is in the subtitling of foreign films for their American DVD release, especially after the film has already been subtitled for an American theatrical release. That said, it appears as if the folks at Magnolia Home Entertainment, the company distributing the Swedish vampire sensation Let the Right One In on DVD, have got all of their wires crossed.

As the folks at Icons of Fright (via CHUD) have pointed out, the subtitles for the film — which made my list of the Ten Best Films of 2008, Rob Hunter’s list of the Ten Best Foreign Films of 2008 and Robert Fure’s list of the Ten Best Horror Films of 2008 — have been changed in sometimes peculiar ways. Take for example the scene below, in which Haken (the caretaker of young vamp Eli) is attempting to murder a boy to harvest some blood for his pint-sized companion. The boy’s friends come looking for him and begin shouting silly things through the door in order to chide their friend out of the gym locker room. We’ll start with their original line:

Now, the scene from the DVD, in which the boys’ comments are changed significantly:

I’m no expert, but it would be hard for me to believe that the Swedish to English translations for both “you can jerk off” and “time to go” are that closely related. This brings up the more important, and even more perplexing question of why Magnolia would change the subtitles for such a scene. It is obvious that the change is deliberate, as the two quotes are completely different. So why make the change for a DVD release? Were they trying to bring the intensity of the language down a bit? Not likely. Both the DVD and the Blu-ray are rated R, just like the film’s theatrical cut. It makes absolutely no sense. In fact, it’s more than dumbed down, it is just plain stupid — a completely ridiculous bunch of bullhonkey. There, I said it. As much as I love Magnolia Pictures and their dedication to small genre films, not even I can deny that they’ve f*cked the pooch on this one.

What is particularly sad is that there are a lot of you out there who have discovered this film on DVD, as its theatrical run was very limited, so you may never see a cut with the proper subtitles. And I can say with absolute certainty that some of the changes outlined by Icons of Fright will dilute the intensity of the film a bit. So keep that in mind, but don’t let it stop you from seeing this film at all costs — it is still one of the best damn movies of last year.

Activism: Brilliant High School ‘Assassination’ Foiled by Studio Collapse, Needs Our Help

Neil Miller — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 07:01:30 +0000

If you’ve been reading our site for a while, then you may remember our coverage of the Sundance Film Festival in 2008 and my glowing endorsement of Brett Simon’s excellent high school noir film Asssassination of a High School President. If not, read my review here then come back for the rest of the discussion. Don’t worry, I will wait. For further explanation, check out my list of the 10 Best Films of Sundance 2008 — Assassination is right at the top as the #1 film.

Moving on, I was contacted by my good friend Peter over at Slashfilm today with some heartbreaking news about the film, which was loved by just about everyone who saw it last year at Sundance and here in Austin last year during South by Southwest (SXSW). The film, which stars Reese Thompson (Rocket Science) and Mischa Barton (The O.C.), tells the story of an intrepid high school reporter (Thompson) who begins to investigate the story behind some stolen SAT scores and ends up getting caught in a vicious spider web of deceit. It’s an incredibly well-written script and an amazingly well executed film — essentially it is the noir version of a John Hughes movie.

The heartbreaking news delivered by Mr. Sciretta was that this film may become a victim of the current economic crisis. According to an inside source, the film is currently sitting on the proverbial shelf in Hollywood after the involuntary bankruptcy of the Yari Film Group earlier this year. This put the film’s previously scheduled April release on hold, and since then there have been various studios looking at the film for possible distribution deals, but right now it poses a major financial risk for any studio who might pick it up. Sony currently owns the home video distribution rights and could very well put it out direct-to-DVD, but that would be a sad situation. It would be really great if a studio such as Sony Pictures Classics, Fox Searchlight or Summit Entertainment would snatch up the film from the bargain bin and give it a limited release. It would certainly get some support from the online community. Need proof, check out the thoughts of Peter over at /Film or Quint over at Ain’t It Cool News.

So what can we do about this? Well, at this point we are doing what we can — writing about it and helping generate some awareness. Our hope, as a community, is to raise some buzz and awareness among the indie labels and show them that this would be a worthwhile cause. What can you do? Check out the film on Facebook and go over to the film’s Official Site and register for updates. Who knows, if we can get enough people on board and in support of this film, maybe it will get a theatrical release. Either way, it should be on your must see list, straight to DVD release or not.

Would you see Assassination of a High School President in a theater if it played in your market?

Fans Move That The Joker Be Retired in Honor of Heath Ledger

Paige MacGregor — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 21:21:57 +0000

Fans are calling for Heath Ledger’s rendition of The Joker in Christopher Nolan’s blockbuster bash The Dark Knight to be acknowledged as the pinnacle of the character’s representation on film. But these fans won’t be satisfied with a posthumous Oscar; a petition placed on The Ultimate Joker, a Web site started by two dedicated fans, Fer Barbella and Nico Pimentel, is asking the film industry to refrain from recasting the role… forever. One of the site’s creators who spoke with the staff of Wired magazine via e-mail made the following comments:

“We truly believe Ledger’s performance as Joker is the best an actor could ever do,” the site’s team leader, Fer Barbella, told Wired.com. “Any other performance will be below expectations for sure, so we want to forever keep Ledger’s Joker as the one,” added Barbella, who launched The Ultimate Joker site last week.

Perhaps the fans at The Ultimate Joker are right—maybe there are those unique moments when the perfect mix of talent, determination, and material coalesce into a shining example of what it means to really bring a character to life; and with Ledger’s untimely passing, which many suggest was an indirect result of the intense process he underwent in order to transform into the white-faced psychopath, calls to immortalize his highly acclaimed performance as The Joker are understandably intensified.

But film is not baseball. The film industry does not “retire” a character the same way a team retires a player’s number. The way the industry at large shows respect to actors is well established: posthumous awards, film dedications, plaques, memorial services, lifetime achievement awards… Calls by Ledger’s fans to “retire” the character of The Joker from film (the petition does not include television or animated representations) are calls for something that, while it would be an unprecedented honor for the late Mr. Ledger, might also represent a limitation placed on the creativity that the medium of film was founded on.

The fact that we can’t imagine a better portrayal of The Joker on film, having now witnessed Ledger’s, does not mean that another actor would not come along who could present what some might view as a better portrayal. The fact that I could not imagine a better portrayal of Batman than Michael Keaton certainly didn’t stop Christian Bale from blowing Keaton’s sullen caped crusader right out of the water with his own take on The Batman only sixteen years later, for example.

That said, the propriety of The Ultimate Joker’s calls for the retirement of The Joker from film is up to you to decide. Even if you disagree with the site’s goals, we highly recommend browsing the amazing collection of quotes, interviews, fan videos, photos and other interesting information that The Ultimate Joker has compiled.

Do you think that The Joker should be retired from movies?

Stop the Presses: Fanboys Hits Theaters Today!

Paul Sileo — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 00:18:22 +0000

There is no need to adjust your monitor, wonder if you swallowed too many of Grandpa’s happy pills, or even be afraid that you have somehow entered into a Finnegan’s Wake-like world where up is down, left is right, and James Joyce is actually relevant. That’s right – Kyle Newman’s Fanboys has actually seen the light of limited release.

Am I the only one who wondered if this day would ever come? I remember when I first heard about Fanboys. I think it was sometime in early 2007, you know, the year when the movie was supposed to come out the first time. But, alas, it was not so. And neither was it so for April 2008, September 19, 2008, or November 26, 2008. But now! On February 6, 2009, one can actually go pay money to a movie theater and sit down to watch the moving images that comprise it. You can watch the trailer right here.

In case you have forgotten, and I assume some have since I am shocked this actually happened before I was a Grandpa and needed my own pills, Fanboys follows the exploits of a group of friends and Star Wars fanatics who decide, since one of their own is seriously ill, to drive to Lucas’ Skywalker Ranch and steal a copy of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace so that he may see it before he dies. And glad we are that it’s still the story. See, that’s one of the main reasons why the movie has taken so long to come out. Apparently, early test audiences thought that premise was a little too sad (even though I would call having The Phantom Menace as the last film you saw on earth a tragedy in and of itself), so it was changed. And the Geeks rose up. And it was changed again. See where I am going here?

Anyway, the film, which stars Sam Huntington, Chris Marquette, Dan Fogler, Jay Baruchel, and Kristen Bell, looks to me like a good time, especially if you are even semi-geeky (like me), a Star Wars fan (me again), or a huge fan of Kristen Bell in as few clothes as possible (guilty as charged). Unfortunately, I won’t be seeing the film anytime soon, because it is only opening in a limited release (see the full list of theaters below), but if you live in Austin, Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, San Francisco, or Seattle, go see it for me and be sure to pour one out for those of us not privileged enough to live in or near a real city.

Will you be seeing Fanboys this weekend?

AUSTIN
Alamo Drafthouse Ritz

CHICAGO
AMC River East
AMC Pipers Alley
AMC South Barrington 30

HOUSTON
AMC Gulf Pointe 30 Theatres
AMC Studio 30 Theatres
Angelika Film Center

LOS ANGELES
AMC Century City 15
Mann Chinese 6
AMC Broadway Cinemas
Pacific Beach Cities All Stadium 16
AMC Rolling Hills 20
Regal Long Beach Stadium 26
AMC Burbank 16
AMC Promenade 16
Pacific Winnetka All Stadium 21
AMC Block 30
Pacific Culver City

NEW YORK
AMC Empire 25
AMC Lincoln Square 13
AMC 34th Street 14
Regal Union Square Stadium 14
AMC Raceway 10
Regal Farmingdale Stadium 10
National Amusements Commack Multiplex 15
Regal New Roc City 18
AMC Palisades Center 21
AMC New Brunswick Theatre 18

PHILADELPHIA
Landmark Ritz at the Bourse 5
AMC Neshaminy 24
Regal Marketplace at Oaks 24
Regal Warrington Crossing 22
AMC Cherry Hill 24

SAN FRANCISCO / SAN JOSE
AMC Metreon 15
Century 16 Mountain View
Century 20 Daly City
AMC Bay Street 16
AMC Mercado 20
Century Northgate 15 Cinemas

SEATTLE
AMC Cinerama
AMC Pacific Place 11
Regal Alderwood 7 Theatres
Lincoln Square Stadium 16
Regal Parkway Plaza 12

Now We Can All Ask Chris Nolan About Batman 3 Simultaneously

Neil Miller — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 03:17:35 +0000

It seems to be the movie related topic of the year: is Christopher Nolan going to come back and make another Batman movie? It is a question that remains unanswered even after almost a billion dollars worth of box office gross and the pleading of fans everywhere. And while we in the media will continue to camp out in Nolan’s bushes and attempt to trap him or anyone around him into admitting that he’s already got a plan for where to go next, it appears that fans will get the next shot.

Our good friend Loquaucious Muse over at All Things Fangirl attended a Blu-ray launch event this week held by Warner Bros. in honor of The Dark Knight’s release on Tuesday, December 9th. The director was on hand to answer questions as well as roll out some details on the Blu-ray exclusive features. Among the benefits for Blu-ray owners will be a BD-Live commentary hosted by Christopher Nolan. Details are as follows:

On December 18th, Chris Nolan is doing a live commentary with 100,000 Dark Knight Blu Ray owners. He will host the screening and answer questions as it goes on. With 100,000 people, it will most likely get a little crazy and who knows if Chris Nolan will tell me how exactly the Jim Gordan thing works (trying to keep this post spoiler free…), but it still sounds pretty damn cool to me. In Nolan’s words, “It’ll be interesting to see what it’s like…the potential of it is very exciting.” (Note: It had previously been announced that at some point Nolan would do a commentary, but only tonight was the date of this chat confirmed)

This is very similar to a chat held recently by Guillermo Del Toro with the release of Hellboy II: The Golden Army, where fans were able to ask questions and talk shop with the director via their web-enabled Blu-ray players.

As part of the Q&A at the event, Nolan did comment on a third film, saying that he’s currently looking into where the story would go:

If he made a third film, it would be for no reason but the continuation of story. He is currently looking into where the story would go and if it needs to go there. He maintained that it’s very hard to make a movie of this scale (and specified he wasn’t asking for our sympathy, drawing a laugh from the crowd) – it’s two hard years and you gotta love it. One of his biggest fears is getting halfway through making a film and realizing it’s unnecessary and he doesn’t want to make it anymore. If there is a third story that needs to be told, there will be a third film, but nothing is set in stone or a given.

And finally, Nolan addressed some of the questions around the possibility of the DVD/Blu-ray release giving us more Dark Knight for our money, saying that there really isn’t a 3-hour director’s cut:

There is no 3 hour cut anywhere – no deleted scenes. He, John [Jonah] Nolan & David Goyer would cut scenes before they ever made it to the screen in what Nolan calls an “aggressive editorial approach.” Their criteria was that every scene needs three reasons to be in the film or it’s out. This made for a difficult time in the editing suite as every single scene was essential and could not be removed.

So for those who were looking for 6-hours of deleted scenes you’re out of luck. Though if I were to take a wild stab at it, I would say that you’ll still find plenty of reasons to love The Dark Knight on Blu-ray. Just a hunch.

The Dark Knight is on DVD and Blu-ray December 9, 2008. You can pre-order it over on Amazon.com. For a full report from the Blu-ray launch event, head over to All Things Fangirl.

Captain Kirk is Mad as Hell. The Daily Diversion.

Neil Miller — Tue, 25 Nov 2008 11:00:27 +0000

There is something so perfect about this video created by a Trek fan who goes by the handle tvTrequer. It was sent in to the folks over at TrekMovie, who are currently tracking a number of Star Trek trailer spoofs that have sprung up online. Apparently not every Trekker is down with the glossy, high-octane approach of J.J. Abrams. Fair enough, perhaps a big budget CG-injected extravaganza isn’t what everyone wants — but it is what we are going to get. That said, it is always fun to watch fandom manifest itself in the form of video mashups.

The one above is by far the most creative of the bunch, as it combines some footage from the original Star Trek television series with footage from the new trailer. It is also a look at how many fans expect that Bill Shatner is reacting in real life — though, it is hard to be sure what he is really thinking, other than the fact that he’s really into cheap hotel prices. For more of these, check out TrekMovie. If you missed it, feel free to check out the Star Trek trailer here.

In other Trek-related news, our friends at FirstShowing are reporting that Star Trek will be headed for IMAX theaters. Ooooh…

Have a video suggestion for The Daily Diversion? Of course you do. Just send that junk via electronic mail to editors@filmschoolrejects.com.

Fan Rant: The Real Bond Villain is Marc Forster

Mister Hand — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 19:22:47 +0000

I’ve been a James Bond superfan going on 22 years. I can name all of the films, in order, from Dr. No to Quantum of Solace off the top of my head. For each one, I can tell you who played Bond, his main squeeze, and who played the major villains. I can even rattle off trivia about each one, like the fact that Roger Moore has said in interviews the only Bond film he dislikes is A View to a Kill because he, like everyone else, recognizes he was too old to still be playing Bond in that film.

Before yesterday, there were only two Bond films I hated–the aforementioned A View to a Kill, and License to Kill. Now there’s a third. Because overall, Quantum of Solace just plain sucked.

It pains me to say it. While the last 20 minutes or so of QoS were pretty good, the rest of the film is a botch job. The next time EoN decides to take some art house director and hand a 007 film over to him, I hope they get a second unit director who knows how to shoot an action sequence. The opening car chase is an incoherent mess. There’s an awesome scene in a large portico with Bond fighting another guy hanging from ropes, all while deadly shards of glass fall on them. Too bad no one bothered to point the cameras at any part of the scene that mattered.

I think the trend has been growing since Saving Private Ryan. If you watch that movie, you’ll note that the camera shakes an awful lot during action sequences. And there’s a lot of fast editing. But you always know exactly what’s going on!

I’m afraid it’s become a game of cinematic telephone. Spielberg does Ryan, another director apes it, a third director with considerably less skill copies that, and now we’re down to QoS. The phrase Spielberg originally said was “breathless excitement” and by the time it got to Forster he understood it as “screw you, audience.”

I am heartened, however, by the fact that so many people and reviewers are catching on to this stuff. Marc Forster’s not the first one to try to pull off this crap. Honestly, I’ve had the same problem with the last two Bourne films, although not nearly to this degree.

I generally hate fanboy rants. Anytime someone says the phrase, “raped my childhood,” I really want to punch that person in the face and say, “Get a life.” But I spent a good hour and ten minutes sitting in a theater last night just being pissed off. People have complained about QoS not having a story. The fact is, there’s all sorts of story going on in the film, with endless potential to grow the Bond character and expand the Bond universe. But I didn’t care.

The scene at the avant garde Tosca performance verged on greatness. And then we’re in the middle of a horribly mangled action sequence and everything goes to shit again.

I can’t say I wasn’t prepared. Every advance review complained about the things I’m laying out here. I even went to the theater fully prepared for disappointment. But I wasn’t just disappointed. I wanted to beat the shit out of Marc Forster and every single person involved with EoN productions who allowed him to ruin this movie. If I hear the same advance word on the next Bond film, I won’t be there on opening day. I might never see it at all. It’s just too painful.

If anyone wants to punch me in the face and tell me to get a life, send me an email and we’ll see about arranging it. After what I endured last night, I think I can take it.

Zack Snyder Sees Your Watchmen Anger, Remains Unphased

Neil Miller — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 17:38:27 +0000

There has been all sorts of talk, up and down, left and right, about Zack Snyder’s upcoming comic adaptation Watchmen, a film that comes along with more fan baggage than just about anything we’ve ever seen. And lately we in the online media world have been traffic whoring over one particular topic: the changed ending. But while we are using it to drive hits — just as I am doing right now — fans are using it to (a) have something to talk about and (b) have something, no matter how small, to be critical of. From one end of the interwebs to the other, die hard Watchmen fans have been heard crying out “No Squid?! No way!” — or something like that.

In reality though, it all seems to have no effect on Snyder, who continues to go calm, cool and collected through post-production. If anything, a recent interview with Garth at Dark Horizons shows Snyder’s unbreakable confidence in his movie and in the direction that he has chosen for the adaptation. See below for his explanation, but be warned that it does contain spoilers for both the comic and the movie.

“The squid was not in the movie when I got the script, the squid was never in any draft that I saw. My point is only that there was this elegant solution to the squid problem that I kind of embraced. I’m a fan of the thing as much as anyone, I was saying what are we going to do about this before I even read the script.”

Snyder also commented on some of the fan uproar:

“The fans, god love ‘em, they’re all up in arms about the squid. What they should be up in arms about are things like shooting the pregnant woman, ‘God is real and he’s American’, whether THAT’s in the movie. That’s my point of view, maybe I’m crazy.”

No Zack, you aren’t crazy — we are all just a little bored and in the world of the fanboy, being satisfied means accepting defeat. From where I sit, Snyder is on the right track — sometimes it pays to have a visionary director pick and direction and stick with it, even if it sounds suspect. What matters is that the final product captures the spirit of the book and gives fans something to be proud of. And as of this moment, it would appear that Snyder is well on his way to accomplishing that feat.

Discuss: Does The Hulk Need Another Film of His Own?

Neil Miller — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 00:32:36 +0000

With The Incredible Hulk making its way onto DVD today, it has got all the various deciders at Marvel making the press rounds. And with that, of course, comes plenty of questions about the plans that Marvel has for its green behemoth. Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige caught up with MTV News this week, talking about how proud he was of the film, one that was a major gamble for the fledgling studio. It was a gamble in the sense that it was an attempt to reboot a character whose last on screen appearance, in 2003’s Hulk from director Ang Lee, had left so many fans very disenchanted. As well, it was only the second self-financed Marvel venture — and how could they possibly top the $300-plus million dollar earner Iron Man?

And while Hulk vs. Iron Man is a debate left for movie website forums and watercoolers, one thing is clear — The Incredible Hulk was a financial and critical success compared to Ang Lee’s film. So why not make a second one? If Iron Man 2 and 3 are already on the calendar and characters like Thor and Captain America are gearing up for their films, why not go ahead with another Hulk movie? That is the question that MTV posed to Feige, who had this to say in response:

The truth is that Hulk has had two films in the past five years, and it’s time to give some of the other guys a turn. But certainly what we are doing is suggesting and cross-pollinating the characters between films, and like reading a comic, I’d like to set that expectation that anything can happen — and anyone can pop up — in anybody else’s story. I would expect that people may see the Hulk again soon before he is again carrying his own film.

So there you have it — the Hulk will make another appearance on the big screen, he will just have to do it in someone else’s movie. Of course, from there we could speculate in all sorts of directions. This could be to imply that he would be held off for the Avengers movie, but also that he might show up in Iron Man 2. Either way, it is clear that Hulk is to become a supporting character in Marvel’s upcoming slate. The question is whether or not there is anything wrong with that. Personally, I don’t think so. In fact, I would be interested to see the Hulk become Iron Man’s adversary in his next film — that might not be a bad idea, though logistically (as in, getting Ed Norton to sign on), that does present some issues.

But lets put all the logistical issues aside for a moment and ask the real question: Where do you think Hulk should show up next? Should he get his own sequel, or are you okay with him cross-pollinating with other Marvel characters?

Rabid Fans Upset over ‘Rocky Horror’ Remake

Robin Ruinsky — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 02:34:44 +0000

There’s anger out there. Serious, deep seated anger has gripped a segment of the population. The Rocky Horror Picture Show fanatics are foaming at the mouth, furious at the prospect of the most feared word in the world of film lovers: Remake.

Even worse than that other word, Sequel; remake strikes horror in the hearts of the film fanatic. First comes the horror, and then comes the fury, followed by the petition.

Sure, the price of gas rose to record heights. The US is still mired in a war. Global warming is upon us and polar bears are floating out to sea on melting ice floes. Yet, among Rocky Horror fans, the very idea of this remake has inflamed passions far more than any of those dire events. MTV has had the audacity to plan a remake one of the cheesiest films in the history of cinema.

1975’s The Rocky Horror Picture Show remains most notable for the appearance of some very young actors who would later become very well known. Barry Bostwick, Susan Sarandon, and Tim Curry performed in a film that became a cult classic. And of course there’s also Meatloaf in a supporting role.

Midnight showings of the film have attracted audiences for over thirty years. The audience doesn’t merely sit in their seats and watch the film, but wear costumes, sing along and recite dialogue. It’s a bonding experience among this select group. I don’t know if they draw straws to choose who wears the corset and garter belt of Dr. Frank-N-Furter, though I suspect there are fans who embrace the attire with glee.

The news of a remake has led to an online petition by the infuriated fans with the elegant title “Fuck You MTV”. Words such as “abortion” are used to describe the planned remake. There’s anger, passion and fury in this petition. They fear the remake will be a tepid version of the hallowed original.

Then there’s the Keanu Reeves factor. Yes, Keanu “Matrix” Reeves is somehow swept into the controversy. Why? In the last paragraph of the petition the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still is tossed into the mix as another example of remake folly.

I propose a solution to mollify the petitioners. Reach out to those in need and let Keanu Reeves play Dr. Frank-N-Furter in The Rocky Horror Matrix Show.

Let us know what you think about the remake of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. How many garters so you give the idea. You can give zero to ten garters!

Fans Get Militant Over Negative Dark Knight Reviews

Josh Radde — Wed, 16 Jul 2008 18:03:26 +0000

I’d venture a guess and say that The New Yorker is having a frustrating week. First David Remnick, editor of the publication, went on CNN to defend his “tasteless” and “fear-mongering inducing” cover featuring a Muslim Barack Obama giving a “terrorist bump” to Militant Michelle in the Oval Office while burning an American flag in the corner. Now, he may have to on E! and defend critic David Denby’s outlandish criticism of The Dark Knight.

Some people, myself included, check Rotten Tomatoes regularly during the week any particular movie comes out. When Hancock kept dropping and dropping I decided I wouldn’t drop everything to go check it out. Likewise, when Wanted displayed good reviews it crept onto my checklist. RT is a good source for people who want to go to the movies, but are wary on what they spend their $20 on (including a small popcorn and Milk Duds). And for those paying particular close attention to The Dark Knight (which was holding steady at 100% for awhile), David Denby’s review was a shot in the head.

Denby didn’t denounce the movie. He didn’t even say it was “bad,” necessarily. Here’s the blurb in Rotten Tomatoes (I would urge you to stay away from the actual review, because it has some spoilers):

“This movie is grim and jammed together. The narrative isn’t shaped coherently to bring out contrasts and build toward a satisfying climax. The Dark Knight is constant climax; it’s always in a frenzy, and it goes on forever.”

Now some people will see that blurb and not take it seriously at all, because WHO DOESN’T WANT A CONSTANT CLIMAX (Am I right, guys, *nudge*)? But to defend Denby, it’s a perfectly reasoned and rational argument. He, like everyone, praised Ledger’s performance (”He’s part freaky clown, part Alice Cooper the morning after, and all actor. He’s mesmerizing in every scene.”) and said the IMAX experience left him “giddy.” Like some who criticized Batman Begins in 2005, he disapproves of Bale’s ghoulish voice and the fight choreography being too close to the camera to really soak in. In 2005 I had the same response to those critics–Liam Neeson’s line “this is not a dance.” There’s no need for a wide-angled fight because Batman’s one goal is to take down enemies as quickly as possible.

As for the voice, I love it, but I can understand why some people don’t. It’s forced and rough, but it’s also intimidating and completes the separation between Batman and Bruce. There is no “Bruce” in “Batman” and vice versa and I think Bale has done a great job of juggling the duality (also written about nicely here in another FSR article). See how I reasoned that without calling Denby a f*ggot?

As for the “constant climax” remark, I can see what Denby is saying. Remember the film Armageddon–that movie is at full blast from the time the oil drillers leave Earth to when they return. Blockbusters fall into this trap too often, there’s just so much action that you don’t have any time to DESIRE more of it. A great action movie, like The Matrix, builds up to a climactic ending because each action sequence shows you a bit more, and more, until it all comes together at the end. I haven’t seen TDK yet, but I can understand the sentiment. A movie that shows you its best bit of action in the middle and doesn’t build towards an ending is frustrating, I call that the “Lethal Weapon 4 Effect.”

Also, while I was writing this article I checked back at RT’s home page and I now see that TDK has jumped from a ludicrously disappointing 88% approval to a satisfactorially sufficient 90%. I hope everyone keeps in mind, too, that Batman Begins ended with 84% approval.

I know that commenting on the Internet on sites like Rotten Tomatoes, AICN, and FSR is fun because you get a soundboard for your opinions and can remain anonymous. My mom got a touch of this when she commented on an FSR article I wrote about ten classics being converted to 3D and noticed that some people had taken to calling me an “idiot.” “Well, that’s so mean,” she said, “they missed the point of your article.” “That’s the Internet, mom,” I replied. That being said, there’s no reason for threatening David Denby’s life (in jest or not) because he didn’t like a Batman movie. It doesn’t matter that he gave Hancock a better rating than Iron Man. It doesn’t matter that he split his Dark Knight review with that of Wall-E (some insisted that showed disrespect to Batman, and didn’t see it as a space constraint in a publication). He’s a critic, and from what I can tell, an honest one. 520 comments dropping f-bombs, homosexual slurs, and hoping a man contracts AIDS based on his view of a Hollywood film is a bit extreme, especially coming from people who haven’t even seen the movie yet.

So please, give the man a break.

Instead, focus your fanboy hatred towards Eric D. Snider who just posted a review proclaiming The Dark Knight is “[e]asily the worst Batman film so far, and I include Batman & Robin in that statement.”*

Let’s lynch this f*cker.

*Snider’s review is a joke. But it did momentarily drop The Dark Knight’s RT rating below 90%.

Transformers 2 to Be a Big Car Commercial, And Why That’s Not a Bad Thing

Neil Miller — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 17:44:53 +0000

In the interest of full disclosure, I feel it necessary to say that I was a huge supporter of the first Transformers film. My loyalty to director Michael Bay runs deep, so deep that I will contend to this day that The Island was a decent film. Nothing I can do about Pearl Harbor, but The Island had its merits. In the case of Transformers, I was willing to trade off the commercialized nature of having all of the robots change into GM vehicles in order to get a big, badass film that featured some of my childhood’s most cherished characters. In a sense, I was the poor Russian boy during the Cold War, who willingly gave up his free speech under communist rule for the simple fact that he knew he would be fed — it was a trade off.

And while I realized that many others out there were not willing to make said trade off, I wasn’t aware that it was cause for such disdain for Mr. Bay’s film. It didn’t hit me until I received an email last night from a reader named Terry, who dropped me a link to a story over on Slashfilm that broke down all of the known Transformers models in the upcoming sequel Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. Terry wrote simply, “Have you seen this? This is absolute bull sh*t. I will not see this movie if it is going to be one big car commercial.”

As much as I would like to be able to say that I can understand where Terry is coming from on this issue, I can’t say that I do. I suppose that I was softened to the idea of an all-GM sponsored Transformers film while watching the behind the scenes footage of the first film, upon which Michael Bay mentions at one point how the film probably would not have been possible without some of the sponsorships. You see, Transformers wasn’t always a high priority project, certainly not one that Paramount would be willing to sink $300+ million dollars of production monies into. Therefore, the sponsorships from companies like GM helped keep the production budget down under $150 million, a figure that is unbelievably low when compared to that of Spider-Man 3, which cost upwards of $260 million.

So as it stands, Transformers fans really have a choice — would you rather have a Transformers movie where the vehicles are the new Chevy Beat, the Chevy Trax, the Saab Aero-X (pictured below) and the new, upgraded Chevy Camaro (pictured above, courtesy of Jalopnik), or would you like to have no Transformers movie at all?

Personally, I am of the belief that the commercialization of big-budget films such as Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is ok as long as it doesn’t detract from the film. And at least with the first film, it did not detract from the film one bit — and I have a feeling that round two will follow suit.

What do you think, is it okay for Transformers 2 to be a big car commercial if that means that the film will get more money to invest in better, bigger special effects and whatnot?

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