Welcome to Movie Musings with Laremy, a weekly feature that dives into the weekly happenings around the cinematic landscape.
1. Avatar Joins The Dark Knight and Return of the King.
What do they all have in common? Four weekends in a row on top of the box office. Impressive stuff, and not a feat any 2010 movie will be able to pull off. Can it hit five in a row with Book of Eli looming?
Bonus Random Thought: It’s looking like The Hurt Locker vs. Avatar come March at The Oscars. Bigelow takes Best Director, Avatar grabs a controversial Best Picture golden statue.
2. Sam Mendes and Bond 23?
The luminary director might be on the verge of helming the next Bond film. Or perhaps he’s only on as a consultant? Whatever the case, I’m not sure where they could go wrong with this. Yes, Mendes made the horrifically depressing Revolutionary Road, and no, Away We Go didn’t make any money. However, for everyone who complained about the frenetic nature of Quantum of Solace, this is a huge coup. Mendes is an expert with deliberate pacing, he’s an expert with light, he’s an expert at letting his actors tell the story. Do we all at least agree that Bond movies should tell a story? If not, I suppose that’s the first issue.
Bonus Random Thought: I mean, does anyone want to go back to the cheesy one-liner days? I sure don’t.
3. G.I. Joe 2 Gets New Writers.
The fellows behind Zombieland have signed on to pen the new G.I. Joe script. It’s hard to know where to place blame for the original atrocity that was G.I. Joe, but I’m heartened to see they’ve at least realized there was a problem. That’s the first step to healing. Don’t let the folks who said “Popcorn Fun!” to you re: G.I. Joe fool you, either. That first one was a nightmare on wheels. You and I could have banged out that script in 30 minutes flat including a break for coffee. So yeah, this is a step in the right direction.
Bonus Random Thought: I’ll admit it, if they’d assigned Mendes to direct G.I. Joe I’d probably be a little worried right now.
4. Our First Look at Scott Pilgrim!
Our friends over at /Film got us a first look (warning: massive image) at Edgar Wright’s new Scott Pilgrim film. It features Michael Cera in an action scene. If you need a refresher on why you should be excited about Scott Pilgrim then here’s the synopsis (from Wikipedia): “The series is about 24-year-old Canadian Scott Pilgrim, a slacker, hero, and part-time bassist who is living in Toronto and plays bass guitar in the band “Sex Bob-Omb.” He falls in love with American delivery girl Ramona V. Flowers, but must defeat her seven “evil exes” in order to date her.” Sounds righteous, yes? Plus Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz, Shaun of the Dead) is directing, he’s a comic virtuoso.
Bonus Random Thought: I think this is going to be Michael Cera’s year. People have been knocking him for continually “playing himself” but 2010 is going to slam the lid on that argument. He’s extremely funny in Youth in Revolt. He’s still pondering an Arrested Development film, and Edgar Wright will make him a geek action star in Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. This is going to work. Get in on the ground floor of this fandom while you still can.
5. Sony Will Release 3-D Movies on Blu-ray.
The first on the docket? Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. The only thing that strikes me as odd here is that I don’t think people are absolutely digging the 3-D in films like Avatar and Up. Story always triumphs gimmicks, regardless of the medium. And I definitely think the CGI of Avatar is infinitely more impressive than the 3-D aspect. When you can put me in Pandora I’ll be interested in 3-D, but if we’re just talking about glasses and a lighting trick… I’m not sold. This isn’t the cure-all that Hollywood was hoping for on the home video front. It’s just another stopgap solution. From great stories come great profits. They should write that one down.
Check out last week’s Movie Musings here
Laremy is the lead critic and senior producer for a website named Film.com. He’s also available on Twitter, though not as an action star.
