Week In Review, Upcoming Movies, and DVD Reviews.

(More information for all of the films and projects discussed below can be obtained on our site by doing a search or reviewing our news section.)

Discussion Forum

CHARLIE'S ANGELS 2
The first one has been out barely a week and they're already planning for the next one by hiring screenwriter John August (GO) for seven figures to start working on the script. Now, excuse me, but it ain't the freaking script that makes this movie a hit, its the tits and asses that are clothed in barely nothing. It's the action, some of it wasn't too bad. It had nothing to do with the story. They should have save themselves the million bucks, hired some hack for $250,000 who only has to write about the beach, pool, lake, boats, heck anything where the Angels get wet, and some action scenes. Throw in a bad guy or two, and you got a picture. Not real hard.

TERMINATOR 3 (T3)
Tedi Serafian must have written a nice script. I mean, 'Arnolt' read it once and signed on. The only thing I don't get, is the bitch Terminator. It seems the main nemesis in T3 will be a women terminator, no offense people, but c'mon. A script review hit the Web a couple weeks ago, but from what I'm hearing that draft is even being re-written. But, no luck on the chick being ousted, 'Arnolt' recently was quoted talking about the character as some kind of a serious killing machine. We'll see how it plays out, but I'm not holding my breathe.

UNTITLED JOHN WOO FILM
Maybe it's just me, but I think his films stink. FACE/OFF was so annoying to me, the only thing that saved it was the script, which was butchered in the end. His camera work tends to be too heavy handed and his grasp of storytelling is just to abstract for me. Recently is was reported that scribes Michael Colleary and Michael Werb (FACE/OFF, THE MASK) have been signed for seven-figures to write an untitled drama for John Woo to direct. Former Fox Film Entertainment chairman Bill Mechanic to produce. Rumor has it that Mechanic is in the process of creating his own studio, and will finance the film. Colleary and Werb originally delivered a pitch to Mechanic, which got the ball rolling.

MEN OF HONOR
It's a film by George Tillman, Jr. (SOUL FOOD) and screenplay by Scott Marshall Smith. The film tells the story of Carl Brashear, the first black master Navy diver. The story is so contrived, and at times it was painful, but still, it's a story worth telling. I'm looking forward to reading an early draft of the script and seeing how the Hollywood machine destroyed it.

THE GRINCH WHO STOLE CHRISTMAS
Jim Carrey is excellent, and so is the story. Ron Howard does a great job with the film and directing the cast. I am a big fan.

PROOF OF LIFE
I reviewed the script a couple months ago and thought it was a good story with some great action. No doubt Russell Crowe will be good in it. I hope that director Taylor Hackford will stick to the story as it is written, and I think he did. Should be a good film.

UNBREAKABLE
I'm sick of M. Night Shyamalan. All the interviews, and he's constantly talking about his pet project, his little fuzzy stinking script, and how he's protecting the ending so it will remain pure. "Don't ask me about the ending," he wants to keep it a secret!!! Well, ah, excuse me, but I've had the script since April and so have a lot of other people. Well, I don't blame him for not wanting to talk about the ending, because it stinks this time. It's too over the top. (Read our script review on the home page or do a script search.)

(This is a new section. What can I say, I buy a lot of DVDs, over a hundred. So I might as well start reviewing them.) Here's my first one, to kick it off!

THE PERFECT STORM, THE MOVIE
The movie is so-so, well, actually, it was very moving at certain points. But most of all, it was spectacularly done by director Wolfgang Petersen. George Clooney and Mark Wahlberg are okay in the film which is based, God I hope you know, on a true story. In October 1991, near Gloucester, Massachussetts, the six members of the a swordfishing boat the "Andrea Gail," were caught by what meteorologists describe as "the perfect storm."

THE DVD
Extra features include several special features and documentaries about the making of the film, which is incredible. The special effects are awesome. There is also a very shot piece on the actual storm and the real "Andrea Gail." The DVD also includes commentaries by the filmmakers, storyboard, trailers, and enhanced features for your PC DVD, very cool. Sound: Dolby Digital 5.1, where's the DTS!! The widescreen format is the skinny one, so you folks with TVs smaller than 32 inches will have to squint or move your bloody chairs closer to the box. Luckily I've got a big screen, but I really wish they would offer the 1:85 format, or whatever it is. The not so skinny one...