5,000 tweets have been tallied and Syfy’s Sharknado sequel has a new title. And the winning name is….wait for it…Sharknado 2: The Second One, which is one of the most awesome titles for a sequel in history.
The sequel to the social media sensation will air on the network next July.
“Since Twitter played such a huge role in the success of the original movie, we wanted to use that platform to ask our fans to name Sharknado 2,” said Thomas Vitale, Executive Vice President, Programming and Original Movies, Syfy. “This response is another reminder of how Sharknado has become a pop culture phenomenon. We want to thank all our viewers for their wonderful contributions to keeping up the shark-mentum.”
The Original Sharknado‘s Plot:
In Sharknado, regulars of a beachside bar including owner Fin (Ian Ziering), bartender Nova (Cassie Scerbo) and local drunk George (John Heard) teamed up with Fin’s ex-wife April (Tara Reid) to investigate the ecological nightmare that has sharks swimming through the streets of Los Angeles and falling from the skies.
The sequel will move the high-flying shark action to New York.
An Orson Welles film thought to have been lost forever has been restored by the George Eastman House and will have its world premiere October 9, 2013 during the La Giornate del Cinema Muto (the first film festival of silent cinema). Welles’ 1938 movie Too Much Johnson, which was never shown to the public, was found in an art house in Italy and meticulously restored to screening condition.
Before this print had been found, it was thought the only print had gone up in flames in 1970 when Welles’ house burned down.
“To think that a silent film by Orson Welles has been dormant for more than thirty years in the same city where a major festival of silent film has been held for about as much time is mind-boggling. It almost defies belief,” said Cherchi Usai, co-founder of the silent film festival.
“This is by far the most important film restoration by George Eastman House in a very long time,” stated Paolo Cherchi Usai, senior curator of film. “Holding in one’s hands the very same print that had been personally edited by Orson Welles 75 years ago provokes an emotion that’s just impossible to describe.”
The world premiere will be followed by a U.S. premiere on October 16th in Rochester, New York.
“The Motion Picture Department at George Eastman House is one of the oldest and most prestigious film archives in the United States and we are honored to host the U.S. premiere of this iconic film in the fall,” said Bruce Barnes, Ron and Donna Fielding Director of George Eastman House. “Under the leadership of Paolo Cherchi Usai, our museum is being widely recognized for its efforts in the field of moving image preservation. We are proud to be a key contributor to the restoration of one of the greatest long-lost treasures in motion picture history.”
Details on Two Much Johnson:
“Too Much Johnson was originally intended to be used in conjunction with Welles’ stage adaptation of an 1894 play by William Gillette. The Mercury Theatre planned to show the three short films as prologues to each act of the play. The three-part slapstick comedy was meant to be shown with the accompaniment of music and live sound effects, but was never finished. Joseph Cotten was cast in the lead role, with supporting roles going to Mercury Theatre actors, including Eustace Wyatt, Edgar Barrier, Ruth Ford, Arlene Francis, Mary Wickes, Orson Welles, and his wife Virginia Nicholson. The play ultimately opened without the film on August 16, 1938, and flopped.”
Coldplay’s never recorded an original song for a movie but they did so now with “Atlas,” the first song to be revealed off of The Hunger Games: Catching Fire soundtrack. Lionsgate and Republic Records announced “Atlas” will be released on August 26, 2013.
“I have great respect and admiration for Coldplay, and we are thrilled with how well they have connected to the themes and ideas within the film,” stated Catching Fire director Francis Lawrence. “Their unwavering passion and excitement for the project elevated the collaboration even further, and we can’t wait to share this music with audiences around the world.”
“We are so honored that Coldplay, one of the iconic rock bands of our generation, will perform the first song out on the new soundtrack,” added Tracy McKnight, Lionsgate’s Head of Film Music. “Knowing that Chris Martin is a fan of the books makes this even more meaningful. The Coldplay single underscores the stature of recording artists we’ve assembled for this powerful soundtrack.”
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire Plot:The Hunger Games: Catching Fire begins as Katniss Everdeen (played by Jennifer Lawrence) has returned home safe after winning the 74th Annual Hunger Games along with fellow tribute Peeta Mellark (played by Josh Hutcherson). Winning means that they must turn around and leave their family and close friends, embarking on a “Victor’s Tour” of the districts. Along the way Katniss senses that a rebellion is simmering, but the Capitol is still very much in control as President Snow prepares the 75th Annual Hunger Games (The Quarter Quell) – a competition that could change Panem forever.
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire opens in theaters on November 22, 2013.
When a first-time writer/director makes a low budget movie that ends up making a lot of money and achieves critical success as well, the common effect is a studio hoping lightning will strike the same spot twice and giving that director more money for their sophomore effort. Such is the case with Neill Blomkamp, who made District 9 with a $30 million dollar production budget, which ended up raking in $115 million dollars at the domestic box office, earned four Oscar nominations including Best Picture, and launched Sharlto Copley’s acting career. Now he’s back with Elysium, which has a $100 million dollar production budget, casts A-listers Matt Damon and Jodie Foster above the title, and re-teams the aspiring auteur with Copley once again.
Seems like a sure bet, right? The conventional wisdom is that this will end up making back the money it took to produce at the domestic box office but what has all that extra moolah and star power achieved in terms of filmmaking? Not a lot, unfortunately.
Set in 2154, the movie is a simplistic dystopian future where the upper class, or 1% if you enjoy occupying Wall Street, has fled to an Earth-orbiting, man-made space colony called Elysium. Up there, people enjoy clean air, speak English and French, and have access to medical treatment capable of curing disease, fixing broken limbs, and all sorts of magical medical badassery. Down on terra firma, cities like Los Angeles have become wildly overpopulated, the air is polluted (what’s new?), people speak English and Spanish, and disease and sickness run rampant.
Only qualified Elysium citizens are allowed to reap the benefits of its technology and so illegal immigrants continue to attempt entry via unauthorized shuttle launches. Jodie Foster plays the Defense Secretary of the colony, not hesitating to use lethal action to keep the riff-raff outside their borders. (This movie is anything but subtle in its approach.) Matt Damon plays a parolee trying to get his life back on track, but an accident at work leaves him with only a short time to live and forces him to try to reach Elysium in order to utilize their medical facilities. Oh, and his childhood love (Alice Braga) has just re-entered his life and has a daughter with leukemia who also needs immediate care in order to survive. Isn’t that just special? (And convenient.)
From a visual standpoint, the movie excels. The look of the Elysium colony is bright and beautiful (with a markedly non-Hispanic population), providing a stark contrast to the dusty, dirty slums where the (largely Hispanic) population struggles to eke out a living. And this is where things begin to go awry. District 9 wasn’t too subtle about its allegorical connection to Apartheid, but by making it a human versus alien story, it did present the genocidal practice in a different light. Here, there’s no adaptation of the hot-button issue of illegal immigration, it’s simply gussied up with science fiction by making border crossing reliant on a spacecraft rather than the ability to navigate rivers, deserts, and/or fences.
The script continues on auto-pilot in its casual addition of Foster wanting to stage a coup so she can gain ultimate authority on Elysium, painting William Fichtner as the rich, white owner of the company where Damon is injured, and using Earth-based mercenaries (led by Copley) to protect the interests of the elite. The messages of the film aren’t really being delivered through dialogue on-screen, they’re administered in a series of hammers to the audiences’ heads.
Compounding this problem is Blomkamp’s reliance on using shaky-camera work for every fight. The use of this technique in films has far exceeded its welcome, especially because only a select handful of directors are able to do it well. Here, it’s frustratingly executed and cheapens potentially good action scenes. There are a few good special effects along the way, most notably an energy blast shield Copley uses a few times and some advanced weaponry used by both sides of the conflict, but these added features aren’t enough to off-set the occasional difficulty in keeping your eyes from going cross when trying to stop the on-screen seizures.
There’s a decent amount of promise in Elysium and I wouldn’t say I didn’t enjoy it on some level. In fact, I quite liked Fichtner’s far too brief appearance and enjoyed everything to do with Copley’s performance. It’s just too bad that the depiction of this psychotic mercenary ended up being slightly more comical than intimidating and seemed like it came from a completely different film than the rest of the proceedings.
More significant to the story’s failings are too many complex issues that get short shrift while the movie tries to present itself as meaningful social commentary. While I can understand the appeal of seeing something like this on the big screen, I consider this to be a step back for Blomkamp and hope that his upcoming Chappie will be better executed. It’s also based on one of his short films (Tetra Vaal); District 9 was based on Alive in Joburg. Maybe going back to adaptations rather than writing up a feature from scratch will net better results.
GRADE: C-
Elysium opens in theaters on August 9, 2013 and is rated R for strong bloody violence and language throughout.
What does CBGB stand for? Country, Bluegrass and Blues, and CBGB the film is based on the true story of the New York club that helped launch the careers of The Ramones, Blondie, Talking Heads, and The Police. The cast is led by Alan Rickman and includes Ashley Greene, Malin Akerman, Freddy Rodriguez, Donal Logue, Stana Katic, Rupert Grint, Joel David Moore, Ryan Hurst, Johnny Galecki, Ahna O’Reilly, Richard de Klerk, Mickey Sumner, Taylor Hawkins, and Bradley Whitford.
Jody Savin & Randall Miller co-wrote the script, with Miller directing.
The Plot: CBGB follows the story of Hilly Kristal’s New York club from its origins as Country, Bluegrass and Blues (CBGB) to what it ultimately became: the birthplace of underground rock ‘n roll and punk. Kristal, a fan of Country and Bluegrass dreamed of having a club in the lower Eastside that catered to that kind of music, when he had difficulty booking those bands he turned to other kinds of rock music. Hilly had one demand of the acts he booked, they could only play their own original music. No top 40’s, no covers. It was the credo he lived by, support the artist at whatever the cost.
CBGB‘s heading to theaters later this year featuring a soundtrack that includes songs by New York Dolls, The Stooges, and Dead Boys, and Omnivore Recordings has released the track list for the CBGB: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack CD and double-LP.
CBGB Soundtrack List:
1. LIFE DURING WARTIME – Talking Heads
2. KICK OUT THE JAMS (Uncensored Version) – MC5
3. CHATTERBOX – New York Dolls
4. CAREFUL – Television
5. BLANK GENERATION – Richard Hell & The Voidoids
6. SLOW DEATH – Flamin’ Groovies
7. I CAN’T STAND IT – The Velvet Underground
8. OUT OF CONTROL – Wayne County & The Electric Chairs
9. PSYCHOTIC REACTION – The Count Five
10. ALL FOR THE LOVE OF ROCK ‘N’ ROLL (Live) – Tuff Darts
11. ALL BY MYSELF – Johnny Thunders & The Heartbreakers
12. CALIFORNIA SUN (Original Demo) – The Dictators
13. CAUGHT WITH THE MEAT IN YOUR MOUTH – Dead Boys
14. I GOT KNOCKED DOWN (BUT I’LL GET UP) – Joey Ramone
15. GET OUTA MY WAY – The Laughing Dogs
16. SUNDAY GIRL (2013 Version) – Blondie
17. I WANNA BE YOUR DOG – The Stooges
18. SONIC REDUCER – Dead Boys
19. ROXANNE – The Police
20. BIRDS AND THE BEES – Hilly Kristal
Anamaria Marinca in 'Europa Report', a Magnet Release. Photo courtesy of Magnet Releasing.
After watching film after film about space exploration, I’ve come to one conclusion: We really shouldn’t be exploring space. Now sure, there are numerous benefits to our attempts to understand the universe and answer fundamental questions about the origins of life on Earth. However, there just don’t seem to be very many films about discovering the secrets of our solar system/galaxy/beyond that don’t end in a body count and screaming. Case in point: Europa Report.
The title refers to one of Jupiter’s moons, which in real life has been a source of interest for scientists for some time and the 2011 discovery of liquid water underneath the vast sheet of ice that covers the surface of Europa has only heightened scientific curiosity. The film has clearly done its research on the moon and on space travel; filmmakers consulted heavily with both NASA and Space X to understand both the science and the aesthetics that go into a mission like the script proposes.
Although manned missions into deep space have largely been shelved, especially here in the U.S., the notion that a privately funded operation might take place is completely plausible and director Sebastián Cordero and his team sought to capture that on screen. To that end, the notion was to create a documentary style approach to the film. The footage is all captured either by fixed cameras onboard the ship, a couple of handheld cameras the crew had either inside the vessel, or via the cameras embedded in their space suits. It’s presented to the audience as a report of what happened on the mission and it’s clear early on that things did not go according to plan.
This brings me back to my original beef: Exploring space tends to end in tragedy and disaster. What that means for the international cast (Anamaria Marinca, Daniel Wu, Christian Camargo, Michael Nyqvist, Karolina Wydra, Sharlto Copley) is that what begins as a friendly and exciting opportunity to discover secrets about our solar system devolves into the sort of claustrophobic nightmare we tend to see from just about every space movie. I don’t want to say much more as it would be riddled with spoilers but I think you get the gist.
I found the depiction and design of the mission to be fascinating, as I’m a moderate science nerd. I enjoy learning about the methodology and strategy of how people might really attempt to undertake such ambitious space exploration. There are a whole host of challenges one must consider and the film did a nice job of addressing many of them; from combating the effects of a zero-G environment on human physiology, to the mental stresses of being locked in a small space with only a few other people for months and months on end.
The main actors all deliver good performances and were well chosen. They embody the multinational composition a mission like this might embrace and are capable of playing the range expected of them in the script. A quick clip of well known scientist Neil deGrasse Tyson adds to the sense of authenticity but two of the supporting roles (most notably Dan Fogler but also Isiah Whitlock Jr.) seem out of place with the rest of the cast.
This brings us to the disappointing aspects of the movie – which begin with the screenplay. Europa Report obviously isn’t a real documentary and it’s not an education program on the sci-fi channel (which is different from SyFy, where there would be asteroids full of sharks … and yes, I’m calling the term Sharkteroid so if you see that one get made, someone owes me money). As such, in an effort to create drama, writer Philip Gelatt uses the backbone of the scientific realism to present what is in effect, your typical space horror film. We’re free of the gory bits but this is almost the worst-case scenario of what a mission to Europa might net the brave crew of space explorers who undertake it.
In the end, while I found the science intriguing, the fairly standard resolution of it all deflated my esteem for the project as a whole. Perhaps the best comparison I can make is Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. While Europa Report doesn’t fly off the rails as much, it presents itself as a much more serious approach to things so when events do spin out of control, it’s in some ways more problematic. By choosing to go with a documentary style approach, there’s a greater sense of hope that this won’t be just another film presenting space exploration as a recipe for death. Going the typical route simply places the project alongside most of its genre brethren. In some ways, that’s interesting but it also doesn’t provide much of a reason to make a big effort to see it – partially due to some very slow pacing that makes the 90-minute runtime feel much longer but especially due to the price of a movie theater ticket.
GRADE: C
Europa Report is rated PG-13 for sci-fi action and peril.
Karen Black’s husband Stephen Eckleberry posted a message on Facebook today confirming his wife’s death after a long and difficult battle with cancer:
“It is with great sadness that I have to report that my wife and best friend, Karen Black has just passed away, only a few minutes ago. Thank you all for all your prayers and love, they meant so much to her as they did to me.”
The Oscar-nominated actress had a lengthy career spanning five decades. Among her more memorable films were Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, Nashville, Family Plot, The Great Gatsby, Airport 1975, and Burnt Offerings. Black also played four roles in the 1975 made-for-television film Trilogy of Terror, which remains one of the scariest productions ever to hit the small screen.
Black was 74.
Our thoughts are with her family and friends at this difficult time.
Wow…just…well, wow. I didn’t honestly believe Sesame Street could get any cooler, and yet here they go setting the bar for puppet coolness even higher. Sesame Street‘s Sons of Anarchy parody finds Jax, Clay, Tig, and Bobby cruising down the open road to an SoA-ish theme song and stopping to help out random strangers in need of words that rhyme.
The fourth season of Syfy’s Haven will feature guest starring appearances by Emma Lahana (Hellcats) and Christian Camargo (Dexter), as just announced by the network. The two will be featured as recurring guest stars when the series returns on September 13, 2013 at 10pm.
According to Syfy, Haven‘s fourth season will take place six months after the end of season three. And in case you don’t remember what happened, there was a meteor storm and Audrey and Duke mysteriously disappeared.
Per Syfy, Emma Lahana will play Jennifer Mason, “an eccentric, energetic and just a bit off-kilter young lady who gets pulled into Haven’s mysteries when she starts hearing strange voices in her head. These voices lead her to crossing paths with a town fixture who suspects her ‘condition’ could produce valuable clues about Audrey Parker’s (Emily Rose) whereabouts. As Jennifer digs into her own personal history, she discovers she may have a bigger role to play in the strange happenings in Haven.”
Christian Camargo is tackling the role of Wade Crocker, “the estranged half-brother of Haven mainstay Duke Crocker (Eric Balfour). Charming, driven, and slightly devious, Wade is a successful and good-natured businessman who seems to be at the top of his game. But, Wade is a Crocker through and through and could be tempted by a dark and lethal family secret that just may be his undoing.”
Tobias Menzies (‘Edmure Tully’ in Game of Thrones, ‘Marcus Junios Brutus’ in Rome) has landed the dual roles of Frank Randall and Jonathan ‘Black Jack’ Randall in Starz’ new series, Outlander. Based on Diana Gabaldon’s bestsellers, Outlander will be shooting in Scotland this year and arriving on Starz next year. Battlestar Galactica‘s Ronald D. Moore is adapting the books and executive producing the series.
The cast also includes Sam Heughan as Jamie Fraser.
The Plot:
It follows the story of Claire Randall, a married combat nurse from 1945 who is mysteriously swept back in time to 1743, where she is immediately thrown into an unknown world where her life is threatened. When she is forced to marry Jamie Fraser, a chivalrous and romantic young Scottish warrior, a passionate affair is ignited that tears Claire’s heart between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.
Frank Randall is Claire’s 20th century husband and a professional historian with a deep interest in the 18th century and his own genealogy. Frank and Claire are reunited in 1945, after being separated by the war. They are rekindling their relationship when Claire suddenly disappears. Jonathan “Black Jack” Randall is Frank’s ancestor from the 18th century. A Captain in the English Army posted into Scotland during a time when rebellion was rife. The nickname is no mistake, while Black Jack Randall may look striking similar, he is nothing like the gentle, bookish Frank; he is a dark, violent man who will take what he wants at any cost.
The fourth season of Syfy’s 
Tobias Menzies (‘Edmure Tully’ in 
