January Movie Releases

“Bride Wars” – Anna Hathaway and Katie Hudson are best friends who are planning on getting married on the same day. Hilarity and hijinks ensue, I’m guessing. Opens January 9th, 2009

“Che” – Benicio del Toro in the first part of a two-part film series by Steven Soderbergh about revolutionary Ernesto “Che” Guevara. Opens January 9, 2009

“Not Easily Broken” – Drama about love and family starring Morris Chestnut, based on the book by author/pastor Bishop T.D. Jakes. Opens January 9, 2009

“Nothing But the Truth” – Kate Beckinsale plays a D.C. reporter who outs a CIA agent but refuses to reveal her source. Also stars Alan Alda, Matt Dillon, and Angela Bassett. Opens January 9, 2009

“The Reader” – Ralph Fiennes is a British guy trying to unravel the mystery of his past: a woman (Kate Winslet) who made him read to her who was tried for Nazi war crimes. Opens January 9, 2009

“The Unborn” – Odette Yustman has a family curse that dates back to Nazi Germany involving an evil that possesses someone and gets stronger with each possession. Also stars Gary Oldman. Opens January 9, 2009

“Hotel for Dogs” – Two teens transform a vacant house into a hotel for dogs. Stars Emma Roberts and Don Cheadle. Opens January 16, 2009

“My Bloody Valentine” – Remake of the slasher film, in 3-D! Opens January 16, 2009

“Notorious” – A biopic on the life of rapper Christopher Wallace, a.k.a. The Notorious B.I.G. Opens January 16, 2009

“Paul Blart: Mall Cop” – Kevin James tries to be all that he can be: a mall security guard. Trouble arises when Santa’s helpers take the mall hostage, and Blart must become a real cop to save the day. Opens January 16, 2009

“Inkheart” – Following the same theme of “Bedtime Stories,” this one has Brendan “That’s FRAY-ZER, Not PHRASE-JOUR!” Fraser reading a book that comes to life. Opens January 23, 2009

“Possession” Sarah Michelle Gellar is a woman caught between her husband and his brother. When both are in a car accident the brother awakens and claims that he’s her husband. I wanna be that guy… Opens January 23, 2009

“Underworld 3: Rise of the Lycans” – A prequel to the two previous films. Stars Michael Sheen, Bill Nighy, and Rhona Mitra. Opens January 23, 2009

“New in Town” – Renee Zellweger is an ambitious company exec living in Miami who suddenly gets transferred to Minnesota. Hilarity and attraction to Harry Connick, Jr, ensue. Opens January 30, 2009

“Taken” – A former spy breaks out his skills to find his daughter before she’s forced into the slave trade. Stars Liam Neeson and Famke Janssen. Opens January 30, 2009

“The Uninvited” – A woman returns home to find her father engaged. When she’s visited by the ghost of her mother, she and her sister must convince their father that their stepmother-to-be is not who she pretends. Opens January 30, 2009

In Passing… Looking Back at 2008

 

 

 

These are a few of the talented and influential artists that have passed away this year…

 

 

Forest J. Ackerman

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/in-passing-forest-j-ackerman-1916-2008/

 

Sam Bottoms

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/19/in-passing%e2%80%a6-sam-bottoms-1955-2008/

 

George Carlin

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/06/23/in-passing-george-carlin-1937-2008/

 

Michael Crichton

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/11/05/in-passing-michael-crichton-1942-2008/

 

Don S. Davis

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/07/01/in-passing-don-s-davis-1942-2008/

 

Estelle Getty

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/07/22/in-passing-estelle-getty-1923-2008/

 

Isaac Hayes

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/in-passing%e2%80%a6-isaac-hayes-1942-2008/

 

Van Johnson                                                            

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/18/in-passing-van-johnson-1916-2008/

 

Eartha Kitt

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/26/in-passing-eartha-kitt-1927-2008/

 

Harvey Korman

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/05/30/in-passing-harvey-korman-1927-2008/

 

Don LaFontaine

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/in-passing-don-lafontaine-1940-2008/

 

Bernie Mac

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/08/11/in-passing%e2%80%a6-bernie-mac-1957-2008/

 

Robert Mulligan

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/22/in-passing-robert-mulligan-1925-2008/

 

Paul Newman

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/09/29/in-passing-paul-newman-1925-2008/

Bettie Page

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/12/in-passing-bettie-page-1923-2008/

 

Sydney Pollack

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/05/27/in-passing%e2%80%a6-sydney-pollack-1934-2008/

 

Jerry Reed

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/09/02/in-passing-jerry-reed-1937-2008/

 

Majel Barrett Roddenberry

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/19/in-passing%e2%80%a6-majel-barrett-roddenberry-1932-2008/

 

Stan Winston

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/06/16/in-passing-stan-winston-1946-2008/

2008: Year in Movie Reviews

 

 

The Bank Job

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/05/movies-on-dvd-review-the-bank-job/

 

Burn After Reading

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/10/01/movie-review-burn-after-reading/

 

Choke

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/10/27/movie-review-choke/

 

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/05/20/movie-review-the-chronicles-of-narnia-prince-caspian/

 

City of Ember

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/10/28/movie-review-city-of-ember/

 

The Dark Knight

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/movie-review-the-dark-knight/

 

Funny Games

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/03/17/movie-review-funny-games/

 

Get Smart

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/06/24/movie-review-get-smart/

 

Hamlet 2

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/09/10/movie-review-hamlet-2/

 

Hellboy 2: The Golden Army

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/07/14/movie-review-hellboy-2-the-golden-army/

 

The Incredible Hulk

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/06/16/movie-review-the-incredible-hulk/

 

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/05/22/indiana-jones-and-the-kingdom-of-the-crystal-skull/

 

Iron Man

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/05/02/movie-review-iron-man/

 

Jumper

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/03/07/movie-review-jumper/

 

Leatherheads

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/04/07/movie-review-leatherheads/

 

Quantum of Solace

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/11/17/movie-review-quantum-of-solace/

 

Son of Rambow

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/06/13/movie-review-son-of-rambow/

 

Speed Racer

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/05/10/movie-review-speed-racer/

 

Transsiberian

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/09/12/movie-review-transsiberian/

 

Tropic Thunder

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/movie-review-tropic-thunder/

 

W

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/11/14/movie-review-w/

 

Wall*E

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/07/10/movie-review-walle/

 

Where in the World is Osama Bin Laden?

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/07/21/movie-review-where-in-the-world-is-osama-bin-laden/

 

X-Files: I Want to Believe

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/07/28/movie-review-x-files-i-want-to-believe/

 

Zack and Miri Make a Porno

https://chasness.wordpress.com/2008/12/24/movie-review-zack-and-miri-make-a-porno/

Remake Radar: Oldboy

Welcome to the final Remake Radar for 2008.

“Oldboy” (2003)

Stars: Cho Min-sik, Yu Ji-tae, and Kang Hye-jeong.

Director:Park Chan-wook

Story: Dae-Su (Cho Min-sik) is abducted before his daughter’s birthday. He is taken to an unknown room and held there for 15 years. He’s released and given money, a cellphone, and expensive clothes. He falls for an attractive sushi chef (Kang Hye-jeong) on his path of vengeance, leading up to his captor Lee Woo-jin (Yu Ji-tae).

What do we know now?: Steven Spielberg and Will Smith are bringing it to a silver screen near you! Supposedly they are following the Manga series as opposed to the actual movie.

Is Kevin Smith Still Relevant?

 

 

 

Writer, director, and comic book artist Kevin Smith came into the Entertainment Scene in 1994 releasing his first film, “Clerks,” about a Quick Stop convenience store employee who was dealing with relationship problems while having problems with customers. Using credit cards and money borrowed from his family, as well as shooting at the Quick Stop where Smith worked during nights and in-between customers, the movie was an epitome of the Independent Films of the Nineties and traveled the film festival circuit before being picked up by Miramax, which gave him money to shoot additional scenes as well as pay for music rights (which cost more than the film itself).

 

The next year Smith received a bigger budget and made “Mallrats,” a movie about comic book-loving slackers who are dumped by their girlfriends and seek refuge at the local mall. This film featured a few people from “Clerks,” most notably the duo Jay and Silent Bob (Jay Mewes and Kevin Smith). The film’s budget was $6 million and brought in $2.1 million; a nearly critical failure for Smith. The best thing to come from this movie was that it was Jason Lee’s debut, who went on to do more Kevin Smith movies as well as the film “Almost Famous” and the hit NBC series, “My Name is Earl.”

 

Smith redeemed himself with the follow-up, “Chasing Amy” (1997) Ben Affleck starred as Holden McNeil, a comic book artist who falls in love with a lesbian comic book artist played by Joey Lauren Adams. The movie was a critical hit for Smith, being better received than “Clerks” and especially “Mallrats.”

 

From that point Kevin Smith climbed the filmmaking ladder with follow-up hit, “Dogma.” Smith had gained more “star power” with casting Linda Fiorentino, Alan Rickman, Chris Rock, Salma Hayek, George Carlin, Janeane Garofalo, and Alanis Morissette. Made on a budget of $10 million, it earned most of it back within its first weekend ($8 mil). Controversy from the Catholic Church surrounded it, possibly driving more people to go and watch it.

 

With the characters Jay and Silent Bob, as well as the inter-weaving of stories through Smith’s “View Askew Universe,” it was only fitting that Smith’s next film was, “Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” following the two convenient store misanthropes as they head to Hollywood to stop production of a Bluntman and Chronic movie. Smith has called it a “$15 million inside joke,” making it for the fans and to tie-up any loose-ends of the “View Askew Universe.”

 

And with the finalization of “Jay and Silent Bob…” Smith was closing a chapter on what made him famous: slacker characters and “dick and fart jokes.” As quoted by Ben Affleck: “Why in God’s name would I wanna keep writing about characters whose central preoccupations are weed and dick and fart jokes? I mean, ya gotta grow man. Don’t you ever want anything more for yourself?” Kevin Smith did, and walked away from the characters in View Askew.

 

Three years later Smith returned with “Jersey Girl.” Most the fanbase, reared on “Jay and Silent Bob” as well as Smith’s dialog (read: cussing and weed, dick, and fart jokes) turned away. The reasons differed, but most of the reasons stem from Ben Affleck’s relationship with Jennifer Lopez. To his credit, Smith made a good film. Not great, and not what he had built his career on, but it showed that Smith’s “Peter Pan” syndrome was well behind him.

 

Or so it seemed.

 

Sans any good ideas, Smith returned to his roots: “Clerks.” Cashing in on “sequel-itis,” “Clerks II” showed slackers Dante and Randall having to find jobs after the Quick Stop catches on fire. Here Smith returns to what made him popular: the View Askew Universe of characters. While the film did make its money, “Clerks II” was a far cry from Smith’s previous VA Universe ventures.

 

Which brings me to “Zack and Miri Make a Porno.” Greenlit by the Weinsteins before Smith had even written the script, “Zack and Miri” follows as two lifelong friends, strapped for cash, make a porno. Reportedly, this was based on Smith’s experiences in making “Clerks.”

 

And it’s this stagnation that makes me question Kevin Smith as a filmmaker. Ever since Smith has “struck out on his own” from the View Askew-verse, his road has been worse than a flat tire forced across speedbumps. I will give him credit for “growing up” and making “Jersey Girl,” and accept why it wasn’t as popular as his previous entries. However, he has mined the “Clerks” shaft all the way to China. He made a “Clerks” animated series, released a special “Clerks X” DVD with commentaries, original version, etc., and made a sequel not even as good as the original (which, in the world of his characters, requires chastising). Harlan Ellison once said that, “Gene Roddenberry had only one good idea in his lifetime, and that was ‘Star Trek.’” It seems that “Clerks” may be Smith’s “one good idea.”

 

If I had one thing to say to Mr. Smith, it would be, “Yes, I know that you LOVE ‘Star Wars’ and ‘Indiana Jones.’ We GOT that. Can you please move on?” I don’t mind the occasional reference to the series, I love them myself, but how many references to Spielberg and Lucas do you need? For God’s sake man, we get it!” And you can only keep profane language, comic book references, weed, dick, and fart jokes going for so long.

 

So, I’m opening this up for discussion. Is Kevin Smith still relevant? Is he still a filmmaker to be admired, or are his fifteen minutes up? Give me your thoughts.

 

 

In Passing… Eartha Kitt (1927-2008)

 

 

Singer, dancer, and actress Eartha Kitt passed away yesterday from colon cancer. Born to a half Cherokee/ half African-American mother and a German/ Dutch father in South Carolina she was raised by Anna Mae Riley, whom she believed to be her mother. After Riley’s death she was sent to New York to live with her biological mother, Mamie Kitt. By the age of 20 she was performing with the Katherine Dunham Company and made her film debut with them in “Casbah” (1948). In 1950 Orson Welles gave her the role of Helen of Troy in “Faustus.” They would have a love affair with Welles’ calling her, “the most exciting woman in the world.” Her sexiness would amp-up with her recording of “Santa Baby” in 1953. She would continue on with TV and film roles, notably subbing in for Julie Newmar on the last season of “Batman.” In the late Sixties she made anti-war statements which led to professional exile. A return to Broadway in 1978 in the show “Timbuktu!” earned her a Tony nomination for Best Actress in a Musical. Since then she has alternated between TV, film, and the stage. She was 81 years of age.

Thoughts and prayers to her family and friends.

For more information, check out her IMDB page at:
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0457755/

Movie News and Views Christmas Trailer Edition

A Christmas present for my readers. These are compliments of YouTube, and you can select to watch them fullscreen. Happy Holidays!
-Chas

“My Bloody Valentine” – Remake of the slasher film, in 3-D! Opens January 16, 2009.

“Push” – Psychic espionage movie (that’s a first) about altered people with extraordinary powers getting revenge on the agency that created them. Stars Chris Evans and Dakota Fanning. Opens February 6, 2009.

“Friday the 13th” – Remake of the classic 80’s movie. Opens February 13, 2009.

“I Love You, Man” – Paul Rudd is engaged to Rashida Jones, but has no male friends. So, he schedules “man-dates” in order to find a Best Man. Opens March 20, 2009.

“Knowing” – Nic Cage examines a letter from a time capsule with a code that predicts future events. Opens March 20, 2009.

“Dragonball Evolution” – Based on the video game. A young boy named Goku must find all seven dragonballs in order to prevent the Earth from being taken over. Opens April 8, 2009.

“State of Play” – Russell Crowe is a journalist researching the death of a woman tied to his best friend and Congressmen (Ben Affleck). Also stars Helen Mirren and Rachel McAdams. Opens April 17, 2009.

“Obsessed” – An office professional (Idris Elba) is married to Beyonce Knowles but is being cougar’d by Ali Larter. Think “Fatal Attraction.” Opens April 24, 2009.

“X-Men Origins: Wolverine” – Hugh Jackman’s back in the role that put him on the map: Wolverine of the “X-Men.” Watch for Liev Schreiber as Sabretooth. Opens May 1, 2009

“Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian” – Ben Stiller is back, as is Robin Williams as Teddy Roosevelt and Owen Wilson as Jedidiah. New historical personalities include General Custer, Ivan the Terrible, Al Capone, The Wright Brothers, Amelia Earhart, and Ulysses S. Grant. Opens May 22, 2009.

“The Proposal” – Sandra Bullock is Canadian and must marry her assistant Andrews (Ryan Reynolds) in order to avoid deportation. Eh? Opens June 12, 2009.

“9” – In a post-apocalyptic world a being with the name “9” wakes up. Upon looking around he finds others like him and that it’s up to him to save what’s left of the world from the Machines. Stars the voices of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Martin Landau and Christopher Plummer. Opens September 9, 2009.

“Arthur and the Revenge of Maltazard” – Luc Besson presents the sequel to “Arthur and the Invisibles.” Coming soon!

“The Code” – Morgan Freeman is a retired thief while Antonio Banderas is an up-and-coming one. Together, they plot to steal 2 Faberge eggs. Coming soon!

“From Paris with Love” – John Travolta is a bald, American secret agent who crosses paths with John Rhys-Meyers while in Paris. Coming soon!

“I Love You Phillip Morris” – Not necessarily about the tobacco industry. Jim Carrey is a guy who has a wife and kids and winds up in an auto accident, waking up and proclaiming that he’s gay. He quickly turns to embezzlement and fraud, which has him thrown into the slammer. There he meets and falls in love with his cellmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). Coming soon!

“Powder Blue” – 4 troubled people who connect on Christmas Eve. One of the stories is about an ex-con (Ray Liotta) reaching out to his estranged daughter (Jessica Biel). Also stars Forest Whitaker, Patrick Swayze, and Kris Kristofferson. Coming Soon!

“Veronika Decides to Die” – Sarah Michelle Gellar plays the titular character, a 28-year-old woman who wants to die but finds reasons to live. Based on the bestselling book by Paulo Coelho. Coming soon!

Movie Review: Zack and Miri Make a Porno

 

 

Another romantic comedy for the low-brow crowd…

 

Starring Seth Rogen, Elizabeth Banks, Jason Mewes, Jeff Anderson, Craig Robinson, Traci Lords, and Katie Morgan. Directed by Kevin Smith.

 

Was this movie anything more than the chance to shoot a faux porno with Jason Mewes getting the most action with porn star Katie Morgan? Or letting Mewes walk around naked? Or just having Traci Lords on set for back-alley cred?

 

“Zack and Miri” is a movie about lifelong friends Zack (Rogen) and Miri (Banks), two friends who have lived around each other growing up in Monroeville and now live together in an apartment. Miri works at the Mall while Zack works at the local coffeeshop Bean ‘N Gone. When the bills pile up too high and their water and electricity are shut off, they come up with a sure-fire way to make money: make a porno. From auditions to borrowing money to their location and equipment being destroyed, this film crew experiences it all. More complications arrive when Zack and Miri eventually discover their true feelings for each other.

 

How is the movie on a basic level? It’s okay. I agree with one reviewer who said, “Only Kevin Smith can make the making of a porno boring…” What kind of porno is being made where the films two main stars, Rogen and Banks, don’t get naked? Again, outside of Morgan and Mewes “getting’ it on,” there’s nothing to see here except the “love story.”

 

And that’s really what Smith is all about. “Clerks” was about a slacker convenience store guy and his girlfriend problems. “Mallrats” was about a slacker whose girlfriend worked at the mall and who was about to lose his girlfriend to another mall manager. “Chasing Amy” was about a comic book guy who falls in love with a lesbian. “Dogma” was about a woman who has given up on love and must stop two angels from destroying the Earth (okay, not his common fare…) “Jersey Girl” was about a guy who lost his wife due to childbirth, loses his job, and must not take care of his daughter. He eventually finds love with Liv Tyler. “Clerks II” finds the convenience store burnt to a crips, forcing the slackers to sell-out to hamburger food-chain Mooby’s, while Dante is about to get married but is falling for his female co-worker Becky.

 

See? A chronology of “love stories.”

 

To get back to the review… The movie was okay. It begins with about 30 minutes of all the characters dishing out trash dialog just for effect. Tarantino, Smith is not. While there are funny parts here and there the majority of the movie goes through the motions, feeling like a throwback to an Eighties rom-com. Rogen and Banks do a good job with the material given to them but everyone else in the cast seems to be sitting around, chewing the scenery. Watching a movie about making a movie shouldn’t feel like sitting around, waiting and watching a movie being made.

 

And how can you have a movie with Traci Lords just standing around, and maybe giving that one sorta “insightful” piece of dialog? That would be like having Shannon Tweed read a teleprompter while shooting a commercial for male-pattern baldness.

 

I could go on about Kevin Smith, asking if he’s even relevant anymore but I’ll save that discussion for another time. Smith claims that without Rogen the movie wouldn’t have been made, but I think the movie was made more for Jason Mewes to be with a porn star than anything.

 

My grade: C

 

In Passing… Robert Mulligan (1925-2008)

 

 

 

Film director Robert Mulligan passed away on Dec. 20 from heart disease. Mulligan began a career in TV in 1951, directing an episode of “Goodyear Television Playhouse.” He would go on to direct other shows such as “Suspense,” “The Philco Television Playhouse,” and “Playhouse 90” before turning to cinema with the film, “The Rat Race” (1960). His crowning directorial achievement came with 1962’s “To Kill a Mockingbird,” an adaptation of the Harper Lee book starring Gregory Peck. Mulligan was 83.

 

Thoughts and prayers to his family and friends.

 

For more information, check out his IMDB page at:

http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612322/

Movie News and Views Dec. 22, 2008 Poster Edition

–         Hollywood has found writer Hossein Amini to write a new Jack Ryan movie. Jack Ryan is a character created by Tom Clancy who has been in such movies as “Sum of All Fears,” “Patriot Games,” and “The Hunt for Red October.”

–         Graphic novel artist-come-film director Frank Miller has set his sights on doing a Buck Rogers movie.

–         The directors for “Halloween 2” bolted, and now Rob Zombie has been hired to sequel his remake.

–         “Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen” hasn’t even finished filming before another sequel has been greenlit.

–         Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn will be in a new movie called, “Couples Retreat,” scripted by Favreau and directed by Peter Billingsley (Ralphie from “A Christmas Story”)

–         Actor Anthony Mackie is set to play Jesse Owens in a biopic.

–         Keanu Reeves is interested in doing a live-action “Cowboy Bebop” movie.

–         Carla Gugino plays a porn star named Elektra Luxx in a movie called “Women in Trouble.” She has also signed on for the sequel, “Electra Luxx.”

–         November 29, 2009 is the set release date for “New Moon,” the sequel to “Twilight.” Note: this has no current script or director.

–         J. Lo will be in a new movie called “Plan B,” where she plays a single woman who turns to artificial insemination only to fall in love with the man of her dreams during her pregnancy. There ya go.

–         Tim Robbins is set to play Tony Stark’s father in “Iron Man 2.”

–         A “Judge Dredd” remake is in the works.

–         The latest Internet rumor was that Eddie Murphy was in talks to play “The Riddler” in the next “Batman” movie. Ha ha ha. Yeah, right…

–         James Cameron is attached to a “Forbidden Planet” remake.

–         Bazz Luhrmann, director of “Australia,” is helmed to direct “The Great Gatsby.”

–         49 songs are in competition for the Oscar.

–         “The Phantom” will get a re-boot.

–         Watch for a sequel to “The Queen.”

–         Hugh Jackman will host the Academy Awards.

–         Dreamworks announces a 3^rd “Madagascar” movie.

–         Twentieth Century Fox beamed “The Day the Earth Stood Still” into outer space. Depending on how well that went is how long before we get visited and slapped around for it…

–         “Alvin and the Chipmunks 2” is looking for a director.

–         Fox has also acquired the rights to “How to Talk to Girls,” a series of books written by a 9-year-old boy.

–         “The Dark Knight” has the highest DVD/Blu-ray sales for the year.

–         Will Smith confirms an “I Am Legend” prequel. Maybe “Eventually, I’ll Become Legend?”

–         And he also confirms a “Hancock” sequel.

–         Darren Aronofsky is planning on using un-used footage from “The Fountain” to make a movie for its fans. There ya go.

–         More remakes: “Arthur,” “They Live,” “Romancing the Stone,” and “Soylent Green.”

–         George Miller (“Mad Max,” “Happy Feet”) is no longer working on the Justice League movie.

–         The new “Planet of the Apes” remake will be called “Caesar,” after the “Conquest of the Planet of the Apes.”