The Dark Knight,the sequel to the brilliant Batman Begins.One of the most anticipated films of the year,an anticipation which was increased by the death of Heath Ledger and the rumours about his portrayal of Joker and about the impact of this role on him.As the months went by,TDK became the movie event of 2008.The reviews confirmed the predictions that TDK is one of the best,if not the best,movies of the year.Many box-office records are already broken and some analysts predict that the gross may even be close to the gross of Titanic.
I could not decide whether or not to write a review.There's so much you can write about this movie.Anyway,i will write some of my thoughts .The Dark Knight is a film with many layers.It's pointed out that it's character study.That's true,because one of the aspects is the conflict between the radically different characters of Batman and Joker,along with their struggles and the struggles of the other characters,who have substance and are not just a part of the main story.Batman is more vulvernable than ever.The results of his effort are not what he expected :"I did not have that it mind when i said i wanted to inspired people".The conflict in his soul ,the conflict between Batman and Bruce Wayne becomes more intense.In the face of Harvey Dent he sees the chance for the retirement of Batman.But these hopes,remain just hopes.The adversary is unpredictable and the casualties lead to doubts,despair,emotional pain.In the end,self-sacrifice is the only solution. "Know your limits Mr.Wayne" "Batman has no limits" It seems that even Batman has limits.
The Joker,the menace for Gotham.Harvey Dent,the hope.The darkness.The light.The light that becomes the darkness.
"This city deserves a better class of criminals'' "Madness is like gravity,all it takes is a little push" "Some people want to watch the world burn" Joker quotes or quotes related to him.The two (or three) versions of the story about the scars.Is this man crazy,twisted,a criminal mastermind,someone who enjoys chaos?
Christian Bale is once again great.But the most talked about actor is Heath Ledger.This is a perfomance of a lifetime.His portrayal of Joker is riveting and at times terrifying.And if you've read about how he prepared for the role,his level of dedication is evident.He's the Joker.The very least,he should be nominated for an Oscar.However,we should not ignore another very good perfomance,the perfomance of Aaron Eckhart as Harvey Dent/Two Face.Morgan Freeman and Michael Caine are also very good.Maggie Gylenhaal who replaces Katie Holmes is good too.As i've written and in my review for Iron Man,rarely the cast selection is so successful and that is proven by the invidual perfomances and by the interaction of the cast.
As i said in the beginning of the review,there's so much you can write about TDK (you can write also about the cinematography,the music,the philosophy,etc).It's a great movie,a sophisticated movie,for which we'll talk about for a long time.I may write soon some more of my thoughts.
Recent casting rumours about the third movie:Angelina Jolie (Catwoman),Johny Depp (Riddler),Philip Seymour-Hoffman (Penguin)
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Dark Knight Review
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
SDCC 2008 X-Men Origins:Wolverine Interviews
Photo:Empire
AP Entertainment cought up with Hugh Jackman and Stan Lee at Comic-Con to discuss the new film.
Source:Associated Press
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MGM Press Release:Darren Aronofsky will direct Robocop
LOS ANGELES, CA July 24, 2008 – Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) has signed Darren Aronofsky to direct and David Self to write a new installment for its ROBOCOP franchise. Aronofsky, the director of The Fountain, and Self, the writer of Road to Perdition, make a formidable creative team, fast tracking the ROBOCOP motion picture and spotlighting it as one of the most anticipated new films for 2010.
The announcement was made today by Mary Parent, Chairman, Worldwide Motion Picture Group, MGM.
In making the announcement Parent said: “Darren is undeniably one of the most talented, original and visceral film makers, and David is one of the greatest writers in Hollywood. All of us at MGM couldn't be more excited.”
Phoenix Pictures’ Mike Medavoy, Arnold Messer, Brad Fischer and David Thwaites will produce ROBOCOP. Cale Boyter, Executive Vice President Production at MGM will oversee the project for the studio.
Phoenix Pictures’ Chairman and CEO Mike Medavoy said: “After making the first ROBOCOP at Orion more than 20 years ago, I’m thrilled to be helping to return this character to the screen with our partners at MGM and through the eyes of Darren Aronofsky and David Self.”
Phoenix co-presidents Brad Fischer and David Thwaites added: “With a filmmaker of Darren Aronofsky’s vision and imagination and a writer of David Self’s caliber, we are poised to bring to the screen an entertaining and provocative film, which will now be under the creative guidance of two of the best storytellers working in our industry today.”
Aronofsky’s credits include Pi, Requiem for a Dream and The Fountain. He is completing the feature, The Wrestler with Mickey Rourke, Marisa Tomei and Evan Rachel Wood. He is repped by CAA and attorney Carlos Goodman.
David Self's credits include 13 Days and Road To Perdition. He wrote God of War for Universal, to which Brett Ratner is attached to direct, and was a writer on Universal's Wolfman currently in production. He is represented by UTA and attorney Karl Austen.
The original ROBOCOP, which premiered in 1987, was "part man, part machine and all cop." The film's storyline focused on the future of law enforcement as a terminally wounded cop returns to the police force as a powerful cyborg haunted by submerged memories. The original film was nominated for two Academy Awards – Best Film Editing and Best Sound. Since the film’s debut, ROBOCOP has become one of the most successful titles in MGM's vast film library. The franchise continues as a worldwide phenomenon, especially in the U.S., Japan, Germany and the United Kingdom. ROBOCOP, ROBOCOP 2, and ROBOCOP 3 have sold approximately 4.1 million gross DVD units worldwide.
SDCC 2008:Terminator Salvation Panel
By Erik Davis,Cinematical
July 27,2008
This was one of the panels I was most looking forward to because I desperately wanted to walk away from it with even more good vibes than I already had. Though I still chuckled every time someone prefaced a question with "This is for McG ...," the guy definitely "brought it" to Comic Con. You could tell this dude really wanted to sell the audience; he wanted to sell them on another Terminator flick, he wanted to sell them on it being directed by a dude named McG and he wanted to bottle up his enormous energy and sell that too. The guy was amped up to a level just beneath "Okay this is uncomfortable," and the panel audience was virtually high-fiving him the entire time.
The Footage
I wasn't sure what we'd be seeing as far as footage from the film went, since they were still right in the middle of shooting and, well, you wouldn't expect anything too polished. But to my surprise they managed to throw together an enticing little two-or-so-minute teaser that was gritty, grimy, familiar and --pardon the language -- pretty f**king rad. I was too engulfed to write down every second of the thing, but it basically consisted of a number of quick snippets of gunfire, Anton Yelchin (as a young Kyle Reese) saying stuff like, "Come with me if you want to live," a little of Sam Worthington (who seems like the kind of guy that'd clock you for staring at him for more than three seconds), Moon Bloodgood (hot name for a hottie actress), Common (who I assume plays the obligatory post-apocalyptic black dude) and, of course, those T-600 robots (the film takes place in 2018, 11 years before Arnold's T-800 existed).
Not much robot footage, but there was this awesome shot of a giant robot claw smashing down through a roof in order to pick up a human. McG later explained that these were called Harvesters; that they purposely went around harvesting humans. Bale looks perfect in the role of John Connor, who, here, is married to Kate Connor (Bryce Dallas Howard), and the two -- according to McG -- play a sort of Bonnie and Clyde pair of tough-as-nails mercenaries. This film takes place at the beginning of the resistance, when the Skynet technology wasn't exactly perfected (unlike the T-800, the T-600 robots are easy to spot) and groups of individuals were holed up in desolate areas fighting to stay alive.
The Panel/Press Conference
Here are some highlights from the panel and subsequent press conference with the cast (everyone minus Bale, who was promoting Dark Knight in Hong Kong):
* McG said the studio is aware that the film might turn out to be R-rated, and that no matter what they will not kill crucial elements in order to fit a PG-13. Buuut, it there was a problem area and it didn't royally mess with the story, then they'd most likely trim it to get the lower rating. McG: "I'm not afraid of PG-13."
* This film will end on a cliffhanger, and regarding "those highly-spoilerish ending rumors" from a few months back, McG says they are completely false. Word is the script is constantly being tightened and worked on as we speak and as they continue to shoot in New Mexico.
* McG says this film will show us the "becoming of Skynet."
* Sam Worthington said the film will "grab you by the balls" and that, at first, it was a little intimidating because he was "asked to go toe to toe with f**king Batman."
* Anton Yelchin (Kyle Reese) said that the film begins to show how his character (just a teen here) got to the point where "someone like Sarah Connor would sleep with him."
* The T-600 robot (pictured above) was described as sort of a used automobile, with skin stretched over; rusted, weathered, etc ...
* Jonah Nolan (The Dark Knight) was the only name that surfaced with regards to the script, and McG said that Jonah is the man who deserves the most credit for it. Considering you have Bale and Nolan involved, you better believe they worked in Dark Knight plugs a whole lot to remind folks that these were the people who made that film such a success.
* The next trailer will apparently be attached to Quantum of Solace.
* McG said he was very influenced by Children of Men when it came to designing this post-apocalyptic environment.
* A very funny part in the panel came when McG asked a Sarah Connor in costume, an Asian Arnold in costume (hysterical impression; the place was in stitches) and a Robert Patrick as the T-1000 impersonator on stage to chill with the cast. Cute, definitely helped "make" the panel.
Terminator Salvation hits theaters on May 22.
SDCC 2008:EW's Visionaries Panel
Entertainment Weekly hosted a panel with Director Visionaries, Kevin Smith, Zack Snyder, Frank Miller, Judd Apatow.
Source:ifcnews
Read more!
SDCC 2008:Smallville Panel
By Richard Keller,Tv Squad
July 29,2008
In one of the rowdiest panels of the Con, the stars and writers of the CW's Smallville took to the stage on the last day of the convention. Moderated by Joseph Loeb, the panel featured Allison Mack (Chloe), Justin Hartley (Green Arrow), new stars Sam Witwer (Doomsday), Cassiday Freeman (Tess), and showrunners Kelly Souders, Brian Peterson, Todd Slavkin and Darren Swimmer. It was a panel full of spoilers, fan appreciation, and a good amount of name plaque requests.
Some of what is upcoming during season 8 can be found after the jump.
First off, they will be holding to the "No Tights" part of the "No Tights. No Flights" rule established at the beginning of the series, which implies that Clark may start flying during the 8th season. Showrunner Darren Swimmer said that Clark was going to start thinking about his destiny in the world and, to that end, would begin working on a secret identity. Showrunner Kelly Souders added that Clark would be using the Daily Planet to active search out those people who needed his help.
Sam Witwer will portray the character Justin Bloom. He will be an extremely nice paramedic who starts having blackouts with dire consequences. Turns out, those blackouts are connected to the appearance of the villain Doomsday. Cassiday Freeman will play Tess, the new girl at Lexcorp now that Luthor is gone. Tess will be Miss Mystery -- no one will know who she is or why she was picked to run the company.
Allison Mack said her character would be struggling with the events of last season at the beginning of this one. This includes tidying up some dangling strings with Jimmy Olsen and breaking strings with Clark to be more independent. There is also a chance that Chloe will be using her powers in future episodes. Mack enjoys the fact that she is the ultimate sidekick, the Gal Friday, to Clark.
Now that Just Hartley will be a regular cast member this season there will be more exploration of his Green Arrow and Oliver Queen characters. Hartley enjoys playing both Queen and Arrow and likes being the lone vigilante and the leader of the Smallville version of the Justice League.
Other items discussed during the panel:
* During the audience Q&A someone asked Allison how it was kissing star Tom Welling. Her response: "What do you think?"
* While not returning this season, the door is always open for Michael Rosenbaum and Sam Jones III to return as Lex Luthor and Pete Ross.
* The season premiere will feature an appearance by the Justice League. Later in the season DC Comics scribe Geoff Johns will be writing an episode that will introduce the Legion of Super-Heroes. According to Darren Swimmer there will be much more use of DC characters and mythology this season.
* Asked about the difference between Luthor and new villain Doomsday, Darren stated Lex was smart, but couldn't kill Clark.
* Allison may direct an episode of Smallville this season. Actually, after shaking hands with showrunner Todd Slavkin during the panel, it may be a done deal.
* The panel was asked what shows they would like to crossover with. The natural response from all was Supernatural. Across the panel: Kelly Souders said Heroes; Cassiday suggested either American Idol or So You Think You Can Dance; Sam suggested the original Knight Rider because Doomsday could kick Michael Knight's butt; Justin said The West Wing since he could say to the President,"Don' worry, Prez. We got this."; Darren mentioned The Office.
* For some reason many in the audience were asking for the panel members' name plaques. Eventually, this became a running joke, with Sam asking Tom for his placard.
* The last question of the session came from someone dressed as Batman. He asked when they were going to bring him onto Smallville, then proceeded to ask for Cassiday's name card.
SDCC 2008:Lost Q&A
By Keith McDuffee,Tv Squad
July 27,2008
* Did the island travel when the hatch blew and the sky turned purple? Lindelof: "No., but something did happen."
* Will we see Jin and Locke again? Jin will still be on the show in some form. We have not seen the last of those two. Both characters will still be on the show.
* Which is their favorite episode and season: Cuse: 'The Constant'. Season 1. Lindelof: Season 1 finale. Season 4.
* Did the island travel when the hatch blew and the sky turned purple? Lindelof: "No., but something did happen."
* Will we see Jin and Locke again? Jin will still be on the show in some form. We have not seen the last of those two. Both characters will still be on the show.
* Which is their favorite episode and season: Cuse: 'The Constant'. Season 1. Lindelof: Season 1 finale. Season 4.
* Is the cityscape reflection in the water in ads significant. Cuse: No. Folks are reading too much into it.
* Will we see Rousseau's flashback. Answer: We will see her "story" -- they don't want to refer to these as "flashbacks" anymore.
* They will start shooting in three weeks if a strike doesn't get in the way. All episodes will be back-to-back, uninterrupted.
* Did the movie "Lost Horizon" influence the show? Cuse said he'd seen the movie, but he seemed strangely dismissive about whether or not it influenced the show.
* Vincent will make it to the end of the show.
* Will Kate and Jack wind up together in the end? Of course, they could not answer that.
* Will Kate be able to see Sawyer again? Yes.
* Will we see what happens to the five people in the zodiac boat? Yes. Interesting note: On-set, the actors call the other castaways from Flight 815, the ones roaming around the background, "socks."
* How did Daniel know about the secondary protocol? Because it was written in his notebook. The notebook will figure prominently in season five.
* How old is Richard Alpert? Cuse: "Quite old" How many toes does he have? We will learn a lot more about his history and will see him barefoot in the very near future.
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
X-Files:I Want To Believe Review UPDATED
Having watched all nine seasons of X-Files the last one and a half year,i have to say that it's one of my favourite tv series.X-Files ended in 2002,although the plan was to continue the show with Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish as the leads or other actors/actresses in possible future seasons.The sequel to the 1998 movie X-Files:Fight the Future,was supposed to be released shortly after the end of the series,but due to legal matters,it was put on hold.Last year,the project was greenlit,with a screenplay that was ready since 2003(for obvious reasons there were changes to the original screeplay)and with a 35 million $ budget.The title of the sequel:X-Files:I Want to Believe.
This movie is a stand-alone story and not a part of the X-Files mythology.The events take place in real time.Mulder is in hiding and Scully works now in a hospital.The dissappearance of a FBI agent is the cause for the return in the field.We are introduced to two FBI agents,a believer and a skeptic.We are also introduced to Father Joe,a former priest and a convicted pedophile,who claims to have psychic abilities.
In the movie,we see the development of the relationship between Scully and Mulder.Mulder,although hesitant at first,he is willing to return.Scully is reluctant,has reservations,does not to return,she has put the past behind.She has now a responsibility as a doctor and has deal with other matters and she eventually faces a serious dilemma.As the story progresses,the relationship is put to the test,but it is proven how strong it is.
There are several references to the series,which fans will appreciate.And a familiar character also appears.As far as the the plot is concerned,while it's not probably the best X-File,it's engaging and there are nice and interesting elements.The approach here is low-key and not action,effects-driven.The tone is dark but there are funny moments,which mostly come from Mulder.
The chemistry between David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson is still there and their perfomances are good.Amanda Peet and XZibit are adequate and Billy Connolly is pretty good.
The problem with this movie is expectations and lack of interest.Loyal fans,after all these years of waiting,expect a decent movie,dissappointed fans from the last seasons
have low expectations or they don't care and the interest of casual viewers is not high.In my opinion,while the movie at times loses its pace and certainly has other flaws,it's a decent movie,that's worth watching.The fanbase is still strong but is that enough for XF:IWTB to be successful?The answer will be given shortly.Let's hope that X-Files:I Want to Believe is successful enough,so as another movie will be produced,which is planned to be mythology-related and which will give the conclusion to the events set up by the series.
Review written on July 25.
UPDATE (July 30):Sadly,XFIWB grossed only 10 million $ last weekend in the U.S,which is about half of the gross analysts projected (19 million $).
Let's examine some of the reasons for the low opening:
-Lack of interest,decline in popularity:Although the series is still popular (DVD sales and other figures prove it),let's face it,it's not as popular as it was in its prime (when the first movie was released) or even when it ended in 2002.The lack of interest from fans or casual viewers can also be attributed to the wrong marketing of the movie.
-Marketing/Promotion:Considering the fact that for the promotion of Fight the Future Fox spent almost as much money as the budget of the movie(66 million $ budget,60 million $ promotion cost,189 million $ worlwide gross,Fox received 103 million $ (55 %)),it's logical that the studio did not want spent so much money for the promotion of the sequel.However,that does not mean that the promotion should be so quiet.Yes,there were trailers,interviews,tv spots etc.But many people,even fans of series,were not aware of the release of the movie.As it is proven by recent movies,the marketing does not have to be costly but smart and targeted.
-Release date:Releasing XFIWB the second week of release of The Dark Knight was certainly a wrong choice.Add to that,the fact that other movies have the same target audience.
X-Files:I Want To Believe,considering it's low budget (35 million $),will be profitable ( add worldwide box-office and DVD revenue).However,it seems that the odds for a third movie are not much.
U.S Box Office July 25-27
| # | Title | Jul 25 - 27 | Jul 18 - 20 | % Chg. | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | ||
| 1 | The Dark Knight | $ 75,166,466 | $ 158,411,483 | -52.5 | 2 | $ 17,216 | $ 313,781,677 | ||
| 2 | Step Brothers | 30,940,732 | 1 | 10,000 | 30,940,732 | ||||
| 3 | Mamma Mia! | 17,746,725 | 27,751,240 | -36.1 | 2 | 5,935 | 62,595,465 | ||
| 4 | The X-Files: I Want to Believe | 10,021,753 | 1 | 3,147 | 10,021,753 | ||||
| 5 | Journey to the Center of the Earth | 9,717,217 | 12,340,435 | -21.3 | 3 | 3,615 | 60,487,455 | ||
| 6 | Hancock | 8,311,123 | 14,040,178 | -40.8 | 4 | 2,512 | 206,482,007 | ||
| 7 | WALL•E | 6,422,186 | 10,070,396 | -36.2 | 5 | 2,110 | 195,308,076 | ||
| 8 | Hellboy II: The Golden Army | 5,100,305 | 10,117,815 | -49.6 | 3 | 1,690 | 66,059,925 | ||
| 9 | Space Chimps | 4,536,838 | 7,181,374 | -36.8 | 2 | 1,788 | 16,167,380 | ||
| 10 | Wanted | 2,738,550 | 5,072,805 | -46.0 | 5 | 1,561 | 128,627,405 |
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Knight Rider (2008)-TCA Report
Co-executive producers Doug Liman and Dave Bartis brought in Thompson, who was a writer for The Fast and the Furious movie franchise, after the two-hour movie was picked up as a series, to bring in a little juice. His goal is to make the show as "fast and furious" as those movies. To that end, he's expanded the cast to create a whole team of people to support Mike Traceur and KITT. Thompson said they'll work from a headquarters called the "KITT cave."
By Joel Keller,Tv Squad
July 22,2008
Imagine for a second that Comic Book Guy from The Simpsons was hired to run a television show. Now imagine that the television show was a remake of an old favorite. Sounds like it would make for a pretty impatient press tour panelist, right? Well, that's what we got with Gary Scott Thompson, the new show-runner for Knight Rider.
Thompson answered most of the questions on the panel, and his message to everyone was: remember that two-hour KR movie that aired last year? Forget all about it. The characters may be the same but the story is completely different. What went on before probably won't matter for much. Even KITT is a little different.
"The idea is to assemble a whole team," said Thompson, somewhat dismissively to a question about the additional cast members. "And it's going to get pretty boring in today's age to watch a guy in a car talk for 43 minutes. No offense to anyone, but we live in an age where you have seen Mission: Impossible, Bourne Identity, the new Batman movies, Iron Man, and the audience wants that, and they are looking for that."
One of the first indications that the movie doesn't matter came when I asked about the scene in the movie when Sydney Tamila Poitier's character wakes up after what seems to be a one-night stand with another woman. Thompson said they haven't explored her sexuality in the series, and Liman continued by essentially belittling my question: "You know, he could take what he wanted from it, but to really feel free to explore his imagination. And having sat in the writers' room with them, the stuff that he's managed to come up with for the episodes that are, you know, the first eight episodes are so imaginative. A question like that almost feels small."
Well, sure it's a small question, but the scene in the movie seemed so gratuitous -- it essentially was a beacon saying "this isn't 1983 anymore" -- that it stuck in a lot of viewers' minds. Poitier told the critics that when she saw the scene in the movie she didn't think it was "a big deal," and that's a great thing. Sure, if they explored it more, it wouldn't have. But it just seemed so thrown in there, it looked like it was put there just to prove something. Anyway, good to see that they're starting from scratch at this point.
KITT is going to be a little different, too, and not just because they upgraded his looks. "The character KITT is evolving. And we've mapped out through 13, through 20, through -- into a second season, actually, already and
what this character is. If I told you everything, I'd be giving up the entire season. But I will pose this question to each and every one of you. Why would you put artificial intelligence into a car? And that's the question we asked ourselves, and it has a bigger answer."
Other tidbits:
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Still Out There (in Movie Theaters)
By Mark Harris,NY Times.com
July 13,2008
CHRIS CARTER, the creator of “The X-Files,” has a message for anyone who, some time during the show’s nine-season run, threw up his hands trying to figure out exactly what was going on with the extraterrestrial abductions, the black-oil aliens, the metal sinus implants, the Syndicate, the Cigarette Smoking Man, Mulder’s sister, Scully’s baby, Mulder’s father, Scully’s cancer, the colonists, the Lone Gunmen, Deep Throat and all the rest of the show’s staggeringly complex and often murky mythology:
You can come back now.
Of course there are those who never left, who have kept “The X-Files” alive since the series finale five years ago via online episode guides, concordances and no small amount of erotic fan fiction. And Mr. Carter will be delighted if they show up at precisely 12:01 a.m. on July 25, the opening day of “The X-Files: I Want to Believe,” his big-screen attempt to see whether there’s still an audience out there for the paranormal probings of the F.B.I. agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson). But Mr. Carter, and 20th Century Fox, are especially interested in casual viewers who may stay away out of fear they have 202 hours of homework to do first.
There’s no need. “I Want to Believe” is, in “X-Files” argot, a stand-alone: a self-contained story reminiscent of several beloved early episodes in which Mulder and Scully were dispatched to a remote (but always vaguely Canadian looking) location to confront an undefined, menacing presence. Mr. Carter promises not only scares but also a beginning, middle and end, none of them overly entangled in back story. Everyone, including newcomers, is invited to jump aboard.
At least that’s the hope. The first “X-Files” movie, released 10 summers ago, was so elaborately knitted into the show’s story lines that it had to open precisely between the end of Season 5 and the start of Season 6. The film grossed $84 million, impressing many who doubted that people would pay for a supersized episode of a series they were used to seeing for nothing.A decade later, in the wake of the big-screen successes of “The Simpsons” and “Sex and the City,” the TV-to-movie genre has considerably more credibility. But the success of “I Want to Believe” is far from assured.
Five years out of sight is a long time even for a popular franchise, and when Fox gave the go-ahead to Mr. Carter and his co-writer and co-producer, Frank Spotnitz, the green light came with a low budget of $30 million, a strong expression of preference for a user-friendly PG-13 rating and a now-or-never timetable predicated on finishing the script before the writers’ strike last winter.
The mere existence of a new “X-Files” movie represents something of a triumph of patience and persistence. “These things take a while,” said Tom Rothman, co-chairman of Fox Filmed Entertainment. “The show is very personal to the creative team, and the stars, literally and figuratively, had to line up.”
That was by no means a certainty when the series left the air. Mr. Duchovny had quit a year earlier, eager for more family time and other work, and perhaps weary of the show’s hothouse atmosphere. “There were relationship repairs to be made, certainly, between David and me,” Mr. Carter said of the later years of the run.
Ms. Anderson stayed until the end, but by then, she said, “I wasn’t even sure when I would be interested in being on a film set again, period.” She added: “It can get so all-consuming and incestuous. I wanted to escape.”
Mr. Duchovny, 47, went on to make several movies and now stars in the Showtime comedy series “Californication.” Ms. Anderson, 39, moved to London, where she established herself as an actress onstage, in British television (“Bleak House”) and in film (“The Last King of Scotland”). She is now the host of “Masterpiece Classic” on PBS.
Mr. Carter and Mr. Spotnitz already had an idea for a new “X-Files” movie when the series ended, but it was shelved when an argument with Fox over syndication profits led Mr. Carter to file a lawsuit in 2006. “To resolve it took me longer than I had anticipated,” he said of the protracted dispute, which was amicably settled. “But the day my representatives were calling me saying it’s over, Fox was on the other line saying, ‘Do you want to make this movie?’ ”
The long delay necessitated a fresh approach, not to the plot but to the characters. “We had tried very hard to think of something we had not done before,” Mr. Spotnitz said, “and we came up with an ‘X-File’ that was very creepy and disturbing. But that was in 2003. By 2007 we realized that the Mulder-and-Scully aspect of the story had to be different because of the passage of time. The movie” — which acknowledges that several years have elapsed — “is more about them and their relationship than anything we would have done in the series. We never would have spent that kind of capital in an episode.”
Both actors were enthusiastic about the prospect of an installment that did not rely on the series’s labyrinthine plotlines. “I never was able to follow the story,” Ms. Anderson said, laughing. “Some people who spent a lot of time hashing it out might have been able to make sense out of everything, but I got lost.”
Mr. Duchovny said he welcomed the screenplay as a chance for “the characters to have a clean slate on which to create themselves again.”
“And the mythology still exists,” he added. “Even if we don’t bring it to bear in a specific movie, viewers who were into all that will understand some moments and reactions a little better.”
As production neared, Mr. Carter wondered if a PG-13 would render the movie too tame. “I didn’t want to be hemmed in,” he said. “I remember saying to Tom Rothman: ‘Look, we’re in a new world now, we’ve got the “Saw” movies, the “Hostel” movies. I want to do something that scares people in a big-screen way.’ He was very thoughtful about the evolution of that particular appetite. And in fact that period of horror seemed to run its course with audiences in a very short time.”
“I Want to Believe” was shot in Vancouver, the series’s home for its first five years, and a place where Mr. Carter could stretch his budget even with a weak American dollar. The return to Canada was not just a homecoming, he said, but also a plot necessity. The story, which includes roles for Amanda Peet and the rapper and actor Xzibit as F.B.I. agents, and the Scottish comedian and actor Billy Connolly as a spooky maybe-psychic, required a location with a metropolitan area, a nearby forest and a vast amount of snow.
Under Mr. Carter’s direction, the shoot may have felt like a family reunion, but that’s not to say everyone was instantly at home. “I walked in thinking, it’s going to be like riding a bicycle,” Ms. Anderson said. “It wasn’t.” It was like riding a unicycle, she said, modifying unicycle with an emphatic and unprintable adjective that fans have never heard Scully utter. “I’d been trying so hard to stretch myself in other roles, and to catch myself when I did anything that remotely resembles Scully, that when I was put back in the ring with her, my brain started misfiring.”
The challenges for Mr. Duchovny were more physical. “It’s been a while since I worked on those night shoots,” he said. “I’d forgotten how bodily taxing it can be standing in the cold or trying to chase somebody down at 4 in the morning.”
Both actors say they’re up for more sequels if the demand is there, and so are Mr. Carter and Mr. Spotnitz. In April, when the two men took the stage at Comic Con in New York to unveil a brief trailer, a crowd of more than 2,000 greeted them like slightly aging rock stars. A fair share of those in attendance were old enough to be the parents of the teenagers milling around the graphic-novel and action-figure displays outside, and many had clearly been keeping the faith.
Mr. Carter and Mr. Spotnitz, both practiced in the art of revealing little, fielded questions gamely if obliquely, including a number of inquiries about whether Scully and Mulder might ever become romantically involved. It is the Question That Will Not Die, and it perplexes Mr. Carter, who said, “I never wanted to domesticate the show, to make it simply about Mulder and Scully rather than about the quest they share.”
Mr. Duchovny, when told of the questions, said: “I’m not surprised people are still curious. It’s really the kind of weird marriage they have, that perfect and imperfect relationship, that gives life to the whole enterprise.”
Ms. Anderson used to find the whole idea ridiculous. “There was always part of me that thought, ‘What’s so special about these two, and will everybody not shut up about it?’ ” she said. “And then, while we were doing this movie, somebody sent me a link to a YouTube montage that a fan had put together of Mulder and Scully. Clips of our growing intimacy through the series. One, it was really moving, and two, I couldn’t believe how many times we held hands and actually kissed. And I was left with my very first understanding of what the fans were on about. I finally kind of got it.
“Because the clips show that there may be room for more — I’m putting my foot in my mouth,” she said, quickly changing the subject. “But if we had given them what they said they wanted years ago, it would have ruined the series.”
As the Comic Con session continued, with audience members still aching for plot details, the earnest Mr. Spotnitz and the elliptical Mr. Carter were asked what they wanted moviegoers to take away from “I Want to Believe.”
“Hope,” said Mr. Spotnitz.
All eyes turned to Mr. Carter. “The trash under your seats,” he said.
The future of the Tudors
By Eric Goldman,IGN
July 18,2008
This afternoon at the Television Critics Association press tour, Showtime's President of Entertainment Robert Greenblatt was asked how long The Tudors might last for. Said Greenblatt, "I think there's another two years in it."
Henry VIII had six wives and the first two seasons used those marriages as season-long story arcs, with each season focused on one wife each – Catherine of Aragon in Season 1 and Anne Boleyn in Season 2. However, Greenblatt noted that the one wife per season rule will change and that, "The next season is Anne of Cleves and Jane Seymour," and that it's likely Season 4, "will be the final two wives," with the series probably coming to an end there.
Caprica Trailer-BSG News
On July 20,Sci Fi Channel announced the network might decide to pick up "Caprica" as a series rather than air a backdoor pilot, an act that could push the project's premiere to 2009 (the pilot is scheduled to air in December).
In BSG news,it's officially announced that the second half of the final season will begin in January 2009.There is lot of talk about new BSG tv movies.SCI FI was said to be considering up to three Galactica TV-Movies.However,the Chicago Tribune's Maureen Ryan, who was the first to report on the TV-Movies,has heard that the one shooting in August is likely to be the only one. What's still unclear is when it will air - though it's assumed it will be sometime before the final episodes of Galactica debut early next year.
Production on the fourth and final season of Battlestar Galactica wrapped two weeks ago.
Sources:Wikipedia,IGN
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
X-Files Retro:The Truth (Series Finale)
By JULIE SALAMON,NY Times.com
May 22,2002
The television series that turned paranoid distrust of the government into a pop phenomenon ended just when paranoia might seem like a smart response to current events. But with a platitudinous final episode that was more of a tease than a conclusion, ''The X-Files'' wrapped up looking more dutiful than relevant, an acknowledgment that the show's lucrative future lies in its past.
The first commercial break drove the point home: ''The series is ended, but the conspiracy will continue forever on DVD. Own Season 5 today.'' The busy Internet chat rooms after Sunday night's two-hour finale were full of lamentations for the vigor and excitement of Seasons 1 through 6, when the show's paranormal, conspiracy-theory creepiness was fresh and fun. (Season 9 just ended.)
The show's executive producer, Chris Carter, wasted little original thinking on a final episode meant to invoke instant nostalgia in the hope of reaping future rewards. (In more reruns, perhaps another movie, the memorabilia market for ''X-Files'' lunchboxes and T-shirts.) Borrowing blatantly from the ''Seinfeld'' finale, Mr. Carter used the mechanism of a trial to remind viewers of the series's highlights in the guise of revelation.
The F.B.I. agent and U.F.O.-chasing hero Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) is captured while infiltrating the government sanctuary holding the biggest secret of all. The F.B.I. and the military join forces in a kangaroo court designed to find Mulder guilty.
In case anyone has forgotten, a military man explains Mulder's biggest crime: ''He's a crusader and a lot of people do not like crusaders.'' Fans, however, loved Mulder (and Mr. Duchovny, who left the show a year ago). So Mr. Carter brought him back to center stage one last time, to kiss Agent Scully (Gillian Anderson) and to prove beyond doubt that Robert Patrick and Annabeth Gish were doomed to remain the second team.
It turned out that the episode was called ''The Truth'' not so much for its mostly unsurprising revelations, but for its endless speechifying about the subject. ''The truth will come to you as it's come to me,'' says Mulder solemnly, ''faster than the speed of light.''
In the final episode, however, truth emerged slowly and often ponderously, through court testimony geared toward recollection of the series's weird amalgamation of alien and family mythology. It's confirmed that Mulder's sister, Samantha, was abducted by aliens and was the subject of terrible experiments; that Mulder was the father of Scully's baby, William (given up for adoption); and that aliens are indeed going to take over Earth. (There's a date: Dec. 22, 2012.) Old demons like the Smoking Man (William Davis) appeared to die yet again.
Mr. Carter stirred himself to inject some humor into the somber proceedings. When Scully visits Mulder in jail, he says, ''I thought I smelled you coming, Clarice,'' and follows the Hannibal Lecter joke with a full kiss on the mouth (a rare exhibition of physical intimacy). During Mulder's trial, as John Doggett (Mr. Patrick) testifies about the supernatural things he's seen, the prosecutor asks, ''What does this science fiction have to do with anything?''
Until the end, the series maintained its mesmerizing visual gloominess, cleverly punctuated with suggestive plays of color and light. What does it mean -- if anything -- that Mulder's orange prison uniform perfectly matches Scully's hair?
It also retained its conspiracy-theory heart that has appealed so greatly to viewers. After Mulder is captured, his military jailors torment him with beatings and doublespeak. ''You are a guilty man,'' screams a soldier. ''You entered a government facility in search of nonexistent information.''
Above all, Mr. Carter wanted to reconnect the series to Mulder and Scully. In the final confrontation in the New Mexican desert, when Doggett (Mr. Patrick) and Monica Reyes (Ms. Gish) try to save them, Mulder waves the agents away. As he and Scully jump into their own S.U.V. and drive off, the members of second team look sad, as if realizing that they never quite cut it.
As the final episode ends, Scully and Mulder are left together, alone against the world, in a burst of romance mixed with apocalyptic certainty and unconvincing religious inspiration. They hold hands and contemplate a dismal future of conquering aliens. They also talk of a greater power that may save them. Mulder touches the cross Scully wears around her neck, caresses her lips and then utters the series' final words: ''Maybe there's hope.'' At the very least, there's syndication -- and those lunchboxes.
X-Files:I Want To Believe Interviews
David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson
Chris Carter
Source:The Vegas Film Critic
9News Interviews
Uploaded by Jumpettegeuh
U.S Box Office July 18-20
| # | Title | Jul 18 - 20 | Jul 11 - 13 | % Chg. | Weeks | AVG | Cumulative | ||
| 1 | The Dark Knight | $ 158,411,483 | 1 | $ 36,283 | $ 158,411,483 | ||||
| 2 | Mamma Mia! | 27,751,240 | 1 | 9,325 | 27,751,240 | ||||
| 3 | Hancock | 14,040,178 | 32,080,560 | -56.2 | 3 | 3,718 | 191,543,979 | ||
| 4 | Journey to the Center of the Earth | 12,340,435 | 21,018,141 | -41.3 | 2 | 4,361 | 43,504,712 | ||
| 5 | Hellboy II: The Golden Army | 10,117,815 | 34,539,115 | -70.7 | 2 | 3,150 | 56,526,885 | ||
| 6 | WALL•E | 10,070,396 | 18,793,588 | -46.4 | 4 | 3,042 | 182,732,709 | ||
| 7 | Space Chimps | 7,181,374 | 1 | 2,860 | 7,181,374 | ||||
| 8 | Wanted | 5,072,805 | 11,996,175 | -57.7 | 4 | 2,085 | 123,322,635 | ||
| 9 | Get Smart | 4,125,021 | 7,201,376 | -42.7 | 5 | 1,932 | 119,608,695 | ||
| 10 | Kung Fu Panda | 1,860,854 | 4,411,412 | -57.8 | 7 | 1,236 | 206,616,381 |
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Terminator:Sarah Connor Chronicles Season 2 Details
By Joel Keller,Tv Squad
July 15,2008
TCA Report
First of all: The show will have more self-contained episodes this year. Why? Executive producer John Wirth had a very succinct answer to that: "Because we wanted to."
Second of all: Brian Austin Green and Garret Dillahunt, who had recurring roles in season one, will be permanent cast members for season two. Both, of course, are very happy to be coming back. One of the reporters, though, asked the producers about the increase in the number of characters. EP Josh Friedman said that, in discussing the show, the producers and wrters "looked for other types of people to bring to the show, maybe more real-life. Sci fi shows can get insular sometimes. It's good to see characters interact with real people every so often instead of just people who know the secret or robots."
James Middleton, who is working on both the series and the new Terminator movie that stars Christian Bale, admits that the series is working on a separate timeline from the movie. "Both the show and movie take certain inspiration from Terminator mythology, like the value of self-sacrifice, perseverence and faith. But when we deposited Sarah Connor in the present day, we instantly created a new timeline and mythology for her." He felt that the time-travel aspect of the story could potentially have created alternate timelines, anyway, so in that respect, it's consistent with the brand's overall mythology.
Summer Glau, who plays the Terminator infiltrator Cameron, was asked if people who meet her are disappointed that she can't kick someone's ass. "People always say something to me at the pharmacy, the produce section, or the airport. I always feel like I'm disappointing in real life, just reaching for the celery," she joked. She went on to say that she was "surprised and thrilled at how many people are watching our show. people are seeing the show and are really excited about it."
Thomas Dekker told the critics to expect his character, John Connor, to be a little less of a weak kid this year. "He was able, but didn't have blood in him to be a leader," he said. "The plan was to keep him young, have long hair, go to school and be normal, his essence of youth and innocence still there. A lot of that dies at the beginning of this season. (The writers are) trying to do it subtly in the script."
When Friedman was asked if he envisioned an end point for the show, he said that "when we started it I had a plan for at least four seasons; 80 episodes worth. Those things still hold true." Though he noted that when writers begin a season they don't always know where they're headed until midway through. That being said, though, "I have ideas how it'll end. I hope it doesn't for awhile."
