(Photo by Claire Folger / Lionsgate / courtesy Everett Collection. KNIVES OUT)
Knives Out is 5!
Before he would get to utter the words “Bond, James Bond” to the delight of millions, Daniel Craig built up a durable if not spectacular resume, showing up in a range of films from the first Angelina Jolie Tomb Raider to A Kid In King Arthur’s Court. As the sniveling son of mob boss Paul Newman in Road to Perdition, Craig was able to make an impact with a broad audience in a film that already had plenty for us to look at, including Conrad L. Hall’s rain-drenched cinematography and a rare anti-hero turn from Tom Hanks.
By 2005, Craig was on the cusp of a major breakthrough with a co-starring role in Steven Spielberg’s Munich, and crime flick Layer Cake, essentially a stylish and gritty feature-length audition tape to play Agent 007. The following year, he and GoldenEye director Martin Campbell launched Casino Royale, a rousing and hard-nosed crowdpleaser revealing a James Bond for a new cynical generation. He’s since reprised the role three more times with Quantum of Solace, Skyfall, and Spectre, and when he returns in 2020 with No Time to Die, Craig will have the longest consecutively tenured Bond in film history.
Of course, when you’re James Bond, every non-Bond role you take becomes something of an automatic sensation. Some roles, like Logan Lucky or David Fincher’s The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo really demonstrate Craig’s range. Other films, like Dream House or The Invasion, are spectacular bombs. And the rest, along the lines of Cowboys & Aliens and The Golden Compass, are right in the mushy middle.
We know on which end of the spectrum Craig’s latest film, the Rian Johnson whodunit Knives Out, lands. (Hint: It’s his best-reviewed movie ever.) With No Time To Die‘s April 2020 November 2020 April 2021 October 2021 release now behind us, and Knives Out his main acting outlet (with Glass Onion follow-up Wake Up Dead Man activating in 2025), take a look back as we rank all Daniel Craig movies by Tomatometer!
97%
94%
92%
92%
91%
86%
83%
82%
81%
79%
79%
75%
75%
63%
63%
58%
58%
49%
44%
44%
42%
41%
40%
35%
37%
21%
20%
10%
10%
7%
5%
(Photo by © Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures / Courtesy Everett Collection)
Unless you had tremendous recall of all the bit roles in American Grafitti or The Conversation, the first time the world at large set their eyes on Harrison Ford was in the little indie that could: Star Wars. With no previous acting reference points for most audiences, Ford WAS Han Solo, the glumly debonair and seductive space rogue who gave a dash of modern cynicism to Star Wars’ populist mysticism, singing aliens, and laser swords.
Ford returned for The Empire Strikes Back, jumpstarting the best run of movies anybody had in the ’80s. None of his films this decade were Rotten, and nine of them are Certified Fresh — utter classics and masterpieces like Blade Runner, Return of the Jedi, and all three Indiana Jones movies. 1985’s Witness, in which Ford plays a steely detective protecting an Amish boy who’s seen a murder, garnered him his only Best Actor Academy Award nomination.
Ford’s ’90s highlights include The Fugitive (another box office smash and a Best Picture nominee), taking on the CIA analyst Jack Ryan role created by Tom Clancy in Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger, and kicking off unruly passengers as the freaking President of the United States of America in Air Force One.
After a 19-year absence from the big screen, he, Steven Spielberg, and George Lucas brought Indy back for The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. The movie would go on to be designated Certified Fresh by critics, though it’s no secret critical and audience appreciation for the movie remains weak.
Since them, Ford has gamely returned to the roles that made him famous: Han in Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens and Deckard in Blade Runner 2049. Both movies would also be Certified Fresh, the first time Ford would have two consecutive CF films since the ’80s. And now we’re taking a look back we rank all Harrison Ford movies by Tomatometer! —Alex Vo
96%
93%
94%
94%
94%
89%
88%
86%
84%
83%
83%
80%
81%
78%
77%
77%
78%
72%
71%
70%
68%
63%
63%
60%
60%
57%
55%
49%
49%
44%
40%
34%
32%
31%
29%
25%
19%
18%
8%
- -
Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power is the highly-anticipated Lord of the Rings prequel series, which takes places thousands of years before the events of J.R.R. Tolkien’s novels and Peter Jackson’s movies, making its debut to Amazon Prime Video’s streaming service in September. Also joining this month is the movie remake of Goodnight Mommy, which stars Naomi Watts, the movie adaptation of Grady Hendrix’s ’80s-themed horror novel My Best Friend’s Exorcism, led by Elsie Fisher, the premiere of Thursday Night Football and more. Read on to find out what is headed to Prime Video and sister service Freevee this month, with a few highlights noted at the top.
Description: Prime Video’s The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power brings to screens for the very first time the heroic legends of the fabled Second Age of Middle-earth’s history. The prequel series will take viewers back to an era in which great powers were forged, kingdoms rose to glory and fell to ruin, unlikely heroes were tested, hope hung by the finest of threads, and the greatest villain that ever flowed from Tolkien’s pen threatened to cover all the world in darkness. Beginning in a time of relative peace, the series follows an ensemble cast of characters, both familiar and new, as they confront the long-feared re-emergence of evil to Middle-earth. From the darkest depths of the Misty Mountains, to the majestic forests of the elf-capital of Lindon, to the breathtaking island kingdom of Númenor, to the furthest reaches of the map, these kingdoms and characters will carve out legacies that live on long after they are gone.
Premiere Date: Friday, Sept. 2.
Thursday Night Football
Description: This September, Prime Video will become the exclusive home for Thursday Night Football in what is the first year of a historic 11-year agreement with the NFL. The deal makes Prime Video the first streaming service to air a season-long exclusive national broadcast package from the NFL, and includes 15 regular-season games and one preseason game per year. Prime Video will also deliver new pregame, halftime, and postgame shows as well as fan-favorite interactive features like X-Ray and Next Gen Stats powered by AWS.
Premiere Date: Thursday, Sept. 15
Goodnight Mommy (2022)
37%
Description: When twin brothers arrive home to find their mother’s (Naomi Watts) demeanor altered and face covered in surgical bandages, they begin to suspect the woman beneath the gauze might not be their mother.
Premiere Date: Friday, Sept. 16
My Best Friend's Exorcism (2022)
50%
Description: The year is 1988. High school sophomores Abby and Gretchen have been best friends since fourth grade. But after an evening of skinny-dipping goes disastrously wrong, Gretchen begins to act…different. She’s moody. She’s irritable. And bizarre incidents keep happening whenever she’s nearby. Abby’s investigation leads her to some startling discoveries — and by the time their story reaches its terrifying conclusion, the fate of Abby and Gretchen will be determined by a single question: Is their friendship powerful enough to beat the devil?
Premiere Date: Friday, Sept. 30.
$ NEWLY AVAILABLE TO RENT/BUY ON AMAZON VIDEO
* AMAZON ORIGINALS
Available 9/1
Movies
80%
21 Grams
(2003)
- -
23:59
(2011)
73%
A Family Thing
(1996)
71%
The Adjustment Bureau
(2011)
67%
The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the Eighth Dimension
(1984)
87%
American Beauty
(1999)
0%
American Ninja
(1985)
- -
American Ninja 2: The Confrontation
(1987)
- -
American Ninja 3: Blood Hunt
(1989)
- -
American Ninja 4: The Annihilation
(1991)
89%
An American Werewolf in London
(1981)
14%
Apartment 143
(2011)
20%
Autumn in New York
(2001)
65%
Bad Influence
(1990)
31%
Big Top Pee-wee
(1988)
76%
Black Sunday
(1977)
14%
Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2
(2000)
86%
The Blair Witch Project
(1999)
62%
Cabin Fever
(2002)
- -
Cabin Fever 2: Spring Fever
(2009)
85%
The Clan
(2015)
12%
Cold Creek Manor
(2003)
90%
Crazy Heart
(2009)
87%
The Descent
(2005)
24%
The Dilemma
(2011)
- -
Dust 2 Glory
(2017)
20%
Employee of the Month
(2006)
81%
Europa Report
(2013)
41%
The Expendables
(2010)
68%
The Expendables 2
(2012)
32%
The Expendables 3
(2014)
23%
Failure to Launch
(2006)
81%
Fight Club
(1999)
54%
Frontera
(2013)
51%
The Ghost and the Darkness
(1996)
78%
Gorky Park
(1983)
82%
Hard Eight
(1996)
82%
He Got Game
(1998)
46%
Heartburn
(1986)
46%
Here Comes the Devil
(2012)
99%
How to Train Your Dragon
(2010)
83%
I Saw the Devil
(2010)
53%
I'm Still Here
(2010)
36%
In Time
(2011)
63%
Instructions Not Included
(2013)
10%
Intersection
(1994)
58%
Jason's Lyric
(1994)
83%
Juan of the Dead
(2011)
72%
Legally Blonde
(2001)
35%
Legally Blonde 2: Red, White & Blonde
(2003)
98%
Let the Right One In
(2008)
16%
The Lifeguard
(2013)
63%
Love Story
(1970)
33%
Loving Pablo
(2017)
- -
Mandrill
(2009)
3%
The Mod Squad
(1999)
14%
Moonlight and Valentino
(1995)
68%
mother!
(2017)
83%
The Motorcycle Diaries
(2004)
12%
Mr. Baseball
(1992)
95%
My Beautiful Laundrette
(1985)
71%
Night Falls on Manhattan
(1996)
71%
Open Water
(2003)
28%
The Out-of-Towners
(1999)
68%
The Package
(1989)
11%
Pulse
(2006)
43%
The Recruit
(2003)
41%
Reign of Fire
(2002)
90%
Rescue Dawn
(2007)
8%
Rings
(2017)
77%
Role Models
(2008)
77%
Role Models
(2008)
Unrated
13%
Ronaldo
(2015)
41%
Rookie of the Year
(1993)
88%
Roxanne
(1987)
66%
The Sacrament
(2013)
54%
Save the Last Dance
(2001)
19%
Shattered
(2022)
95%
The Silence of the Lambs
(1991)
88%
Sin nombre
(2009)
92%
Skyfall
(2012)
3%
Staying Alive
(1983)
33%
Superstar
(1999)
80%
Support Your Local Sheriff!
(1969)
53%
The Transporter
(2002)
83%
Trollhunter
(2010)
60%
Uncommon Valor
(1983)
87%
The Usual Suspects
(1995)
- -
Van Wilder: Freshman Year
(2009)
80%
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
(2008)
71%
Wanted
(2008)
76%
War of the Worlds
(2005)
52%
Weekend at Bernie's
(1989)
- -
We're No Angels
(1955)
46%
Wild Bill
(1995)
75%
The Young Victoria
(2009)
6%
Yours, Mine & Ours
(2005)
88%
1917
(2019)
(Freevee)
98%
All About My Mother
(1999)
(Freevee)
28%
Annie
(2014)
(Freevee)
86%
As Good as It Gets
(1997)
(Freevee)
46%
Bad Teacher
(2011)
(Freevee)
82%
Broken Embraces
(2009)
(Freevee)
42%
Can't Hardly Wait
(1998)
(Freevee)
68%
Charlie's Angels
(2000)
(Freevee)
41%
Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle
(2003)
(Freevee)
44%
Cowboys & Aliens
(2011)
(Freevee)
30%
Criminal
(2016)
(Freevee)
21%
For Greater Glory
(2012)
(Freevee)
77%
Fried Green Tomatoes
(1991)
(Freevee)
13%
God's Not Dead
(2014)
(Freevee)
76%
Happy Feet
(2006)
(Freevee)
45%
Happy Feet Two
(2011)
(Freevee)
93%
Hidden Figures
(2016)
(Freevee)
29%
Kindergarten Cop 2
(2016)
(Freevee)
53%
Leatherheads
(2008)
(Freevee)
37%
Tyler Perry's Madea's Big Happy Family
(2011)
(Freevee)
26%
Madea's Family Reunion
(2006)
(Freevee)
93%
Matador
(1986)
(Freevee)
77%
Match Point
(2005)
(Freevee)
96%
Pain and Glory
(2019)
(Freevee)
83%
Silence
(2016)
(Freevee)
64%
Stop-Loss
(2008)
(Freevee)
30%
The Bone Collector
(1999)
(Freevee)
20%
The Huntsman: Winter's War
(2016)
(Freevee)
31%
The Longest Ride
(2015)
(Freevee)
84%
There's Something About Mary
(1998)
(Freevee)
91%
Volver
(2006)
(Freevee)
- -
Where's the Money
(2017)
(Freevee)
94%
Whiplash
(2014)
(Freevee)
Series
- -
American Ninja Warrior
: Seasons 12-13
97%
Friday Night Lights
: Seasons 1-5
- -
Texicanas
- -
WAGS: Miami
: Seasons 1-2
- -
Murder, She Wrote
(Freevee)
- -
Murder She Wrote: A Story to Die For
(2000)
(Freevee)
- -
Banacek
: Seasons Seasons 1-2 (Freevee)
- -
Models of the Runway
: Seasons Seasons 1-2 (Freevee)
- -
The Rockford Files
: Seasons Seasons 1-6 (Freevee)
He Is Psychometric (2019)
Prison Playbook (2017)
Reply 1988 (2015)
Reply 1994 (2013)
- -
Search WWW
- -
Signal
56%
Aline
(2021)
86%
Flight / Risk
(2022)
*
92%
How to Train Your Dragon 2
(2014)
(Freevee)
77%
Dog
(2022)
57%
Firebird
(2021)
86%
The Outfit
(2022)
- -
Heatwave
(2022)
Prisma (2022)*
10%
Firestarter
(2022)
29%
Memory
(2022)
- -
September Mornings
: Season 2 *
70%
Our Idiot Brother
(2011)
68%
Ambulance
(2022)
On an Apple device? Follow Rotten Tomatoes on Apple News.
As Thanksgiving approaches, stuff yourself on this platter of the 24 biggest, most famous movie turkeys — movies audiences had anticipated, expected, and even hoped to be Fresh on the Tomatometer, only to come out Rotten as branded by the critics. (Only movies made after Rotten Tomatoes came into existence, though! Because, Ishtar, we’re nice people.)
Following San Diego Comic-Con last weekend, movie news slowed to a trickle this week, mostly consisting of last minute news from the convention, and a few other stories. What news did happen this week includes new movies for Kevin Bacon, Nicolas Cage, John Cusack and Harrison Ford, a sequel to Wolf Creek, an adaptation of The Nutcracker, and two very different cowboy movies.
Cowboys & Aliens opens in theaters this weekend, but Harrison Ford isn’t quite done playing aging cowboys just yet. The actor who gave the world both Han Solo and Indiana Jones has signed on to star as the aging Wyatt Earp in Black Hats, an adaptation of the novel by Max Allan Collins (Road to Perdition). Blending real historical figures with fiction, Black Hats tells the story of how 1920s Hollywood detective and movie consultant Wyatt Earp teams up with Bat Masterson to take on Al Capone in New York City when he learns that Doc Holliday’s son has gotten into trouble with the mobster. So, basically, to follow up Cowboys & Aliens, Harrison Ford just signed on to a movie that could be called Cowboys & Mobsters. Black Hats is being adapted by screenwriter Kurt Johnstad, who cowrote 300, and is now also adapting that film’s sequel 300: Battle of Artemisia. There’s no word yet on when Black Hats will start filming, or who will be directing. Harrison Ford is likely to be just the first big star to sign on for the film, as the roles of Bat Masterson and Al Capone also seem to be ripe for big name movie stars to portray.
Producer Mike Medavoy (Zodiac, Black Swan, Shutter Island) has signed an agreement with two Chilean businessmen to develop a feature film based upon the true story of the 33 miners trapped in the Copiapó copper/gold mine in 2010. Following a cave in, the 33 miners and support personnel were trapped half a mile underground for a record 69 days before eventually being rescued. Screenwriter Jose Rivera (The Motorcycle Diaries, Trade) will adapt the miners’ stories. An official book is being written by Pulitzer Prize winning journalist Hector Tobar, and since this film is also being called “official,” some of the same material may also be used in the adaptation. Filming of this currently untitled project is expected to start sometime in 2012. It is not yet known whether this movie will be filmed in Spanish or English.
In 2008, Gerard Way, the leader singer of My Chemical Romance, got into the comic book business with The Umbrella Academy, a six issue limited series about a group of kid superheroes who reunite years later after their adoptive father dies. Now, Rawson Thurber (Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story) has signed on to do a rewrite of The Umbrella Academy, and possibly direct. The first draft was by Mark Bomback (Unstoppable; cowriter of Live Free and Die Hard), who also cowrote Bryan Singer’s upcoming Jack the Giant Killer. To give you an idea of what kind of movie The Umbrella Academy could be, when they were kids, the heroes defeated the Eiffel Tower after it was turned by a zombie robot into a giant monster that shot lasers. That was just one of two news stories involving Rawson Thurber this week. Thurber also has come aboard to direct We’re the Millers, a drug comedy to star Jason Bateman (Arrested Development, Horrible Bosses) as a low level drug dealer who concocts a plan to smuggle 1,400 pounds of marijuana using a rented RV and a fake family as a cover story.
Although Matt Damon won’t be returning as Jason Bourne in The Bourne Legacy, this week, two actors from The Bourne Ultimatum signed on to reprise their roles. Joan Allen costarred as CIA Deputy Director Pamela Landy in The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, while Albert Finney played Dr. Albert Hirsch, the man in charge of the Treadstone behavior modification program, in The Bourne Ultimatum. Jeremy Renner will be playing one of the other assassins that was trained by Treadwell, Rachel Weisz will be costarring as the new agent’s romantic interest, and Oscar Issacs is also signed in an unknown role. Edward Norton is still in talks to play the film’s primary villain/antagonist. Director Tony Gilroy (Duplicity, Michael Clayton), who also wrote or cowrote the first three films, will be directing The Bourne Legacy, as well as cowriting with his brother Dan Gilroy (Two for the Money; cowriter of The Fall). Universal Pictures has already scheduled The Bourne Legacy for release on August 3, 2012.
Kevin Bacon earned critical praise as Sebastian Shaw, the central villain in this summer’s X-Men: First Class. Now, the actor has signed on for another villainous role in Universal Pictures’ adaptation of the Dark Horse Comics series R.I.P.D. Ryan Reynolds and Jeff Bridges are already signed to star as a rookie/veteran buddy cop team who work for an agency of deceased lawmen who fight supernatural criminals and monsters. R.I.P.D. will be directed by Robert Schwentke (Red, Flightplan) from a script by Phil Hay and Matt Manfredi, the screenwriting team behind Aeon Flux and Crazy/Beautiful (they also cowrote Clash of the Titans). Universal Pictures has already scheduled R.I.P.D. for the pre-Independence Day weekend of June 28, 2013. Kevin Bacon playing another villain, as well as the idea of Jeff Bridges playing an undead cowboy lawman are both “Fresh” ideas, but the rest of the creative people involved with R.I.P.D. lands it in the borderline area.
John Cusack and Nicolas Cage are in talks to star in The Frozen Ground, a crime drama based upon the true story of Alaska serial killer Robert Hansen. John Cusack would play Hansen, who abducted over 20 women over a 12 year period, flying them into the Alaskan wilderness to be hunted and eventually killed. Nicolas Cage is in talks to play the Alaskan State Trooper who finds Hansen’s only surviving victim, who teams up with the young girl to bring Hansen to justice. The Frozen Ground will be produced by the independent company Emmett/Furla (16 Blocks, 88 Minutes, Righteous Kill). Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson is also one of the film’s executive producers. The Frozen Ground was adapted by newcomer screenwriter Scott Walker, who will also make his debut as director when filming starts this fall in Anchorage, Alaska.
Universal Pictures has picked up rights to a pitch based upon the 1816 German story The Nutcracker and the Mouse King by E.T.A. Hoffman, which went on to inspire the Tchaikovsky ballet The Nutcracker. This new movie based on The Nutcracker will be a live action adventure about a 12 year old girl who receives a Nutcracker doll as a gift. That leads to “an adventure that includes a war involving a seven-headed Mouse King and his army of mice, curses and themes of ugliness and beauty.” The pitch was made by the screenwriting team of Jon Gunn and Jon Mann, whose only previous credit is the 2000 Eric Roberts film Mercy Streets. Universal’s The Nutcracker is actually now the second movie in development based on that story, with the other being developed by the producers of The Twilight Saga.
Elton John’s Rocket Pictures is reuniting with Gnomeo & Juliet writer/director Kelly Asbury for an adaptation of Derek Keilty’s Will Gallows and the Snake Bellied Troll, the first in a series of British children’s books. Set in a world that combines fantasy with the Wild West, Will Gallows and the Snake Bellied Troll is the story of “a young Elfing sky cowboy” who sets out to bring Noose Womworx the troll to justice for the murder of his father, the former deputy sheriff of Oretown. Like Gnomeo & Juliet, Will Gallows and the Snake Bellied Troll is expected to heavily feature musical elements. Unlike that film, however, it will feature both live action (probably Will Gallows) and CGI (probably the Snake Bellied Troll).
Australian horror director Greg McLean (Rogue, Wolf Creek) has received the financing he needs to move ahead with plans for a sequel to the 2005 torture/captivity movie Wolf Creek. The premise for the sequel sounds nearly identical to the first film, as three backpackers in the Australian Outback encounter an evil torturer (John Jarratt reprising the role), who chases and then tortures and kills them. Wolf Creek 2 is one of the week’s Rotten Ideas mostly because the first film received a Rotten Tomatometer score (53%), but also because the whole “torture horror” genre seems over played at this point.
Action director Rob Cohen (xXx, The Fast and Furious, Stealth) has signed on to direct a $100 million Korean War epic called 1950 (the year the war started). 1950 will be the most expensive film ever produced by the Korean film industry, and is scheduled to start filming in May of 2012 for a release in the spring of 2013. 1950 will be based on true stories of the Korean War as depicted by New York Herald Tribune journalist Marguerite Higgins, for which she became the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize. The producers are in talks with unspecified “A-list Hollywood and Asian talents” for the lead roles of Marguerite Higgins, Captain Darren, the leader of a platoon of Marines, and a Korean KATUSA named Sunjae Lee. KATUSA stands for Korean Augmentation to the United States Army, and refers to Korean soldiers who fight alongside American soldiers. General Douglas MacArthur is also expected to be depicted in 1950 as a supporting cast member. The script is being adapted by screenwriters Rachel Long and Brian Pittman, whose first produced credit will be the upcoming independent film Silver Falls. 1950 is the week’s most Rotten Idea mostly because Rob Cohen’s reputation as an over-the-top action director makes the concept of him directing a Korean War epic seem a bit too much like Michael Bay’s Pearl Harbor.
For more Weekly Ketchup columns by Greg Dean Schmitz, check out the WK archive, and you can contact GDS via Facebook or a RT forum message.
This week at the movies, we’ve got bronco-busters and extraterrestrials (Cowboys and Aliens, starring Daniel Craig and Harrison Ford), little blue people (The Smurfs, starring Neil Patrick Harris and Katy Perry), and modern romance (Crazy, Stupid, Love, starring Steve Carell and Ryan Gosling). What do the critics have to say?
What is Cowboys and Aliens? Is it a Western? A sci-fi thriller? An homage? A parody? Well, say critics, it’s all those things and more, though it’s not quite as seamless – or as fun – as one might have hoped, given the talents involved (and the B-movie promise of its undeniably awesome title). Daniel Craig stars as a mysterious man with no memory of his past who stumbles into a rough-and-tumble town called Absolution, where he’s treated with disdain by a tyrannical lawman (Harrison Ford). However, when hostile space invaders blast away at the community, they turn to the stranger for help. Critics say what could have been a giddy, action-packed romp is bogged down by serious tonal problems; though Cowboys and Aliens has a top-notch cast and moments of genre-bending fun, we’re never sure how seriously to take the action onscreen, and the result is an odd hybrid that never fully takes flight. (Check out this week’s Total Recall, in which we count down Craig’s best-reviewed films, as well as our gallery of movie genre mashups.)
Many a Gen-Xer has a soft spot for the Smurfs, those diminutive blue folks who enlivened our youthful Saturday mornings. Unfortunately, not all is smurfy in Smurfland; critics say the live action/ CGI hybrid The Smurfs is pretty thin stuff, an unfunny, less-than-thrilling family film with plenty of crass innuendo but almost no magic. Neil Patrick Harris stars as a New York workaholic who must help the Smurfs get back to their village – they’ve been chased out by their archenemy Gargamel, and they must navigate the Big Apple in the meantime. The pundits say The Smurfs feels like a nostalgic cash-grab, with a generic plot and little of the charm that made these elfin creatures appealing to begin with.
When it comes to romantic comedies, sometimes great acting can give shape to uneven material. Critics say that’s largely the case with Crazy, Stupid, Love, a fitfully rewarding effort enlivened by its star power. Steve Carell stars as a newly divorced middle-aged guy who hasn’t been on a date in years and has almost no way with the ladies. He ends up tagging along with a good-looking younger playboy (Ryan Gosling) and learning a thing or two about contemporary amour. The pundits say Crazy, Stupid, Love too often resorts to sitcommy scenarios, though it’s also insightful, funny, and occasionally quite touching, thanks to a cast that also includes Emma Stone and Julianne Moore.
The Interrupters, a documentary about a group of “violence interrupters” who attempt to combat urban violence in Chicago, is at 100 percent.
The Guard, starring Brendan Gleeson and Don Cheadle in a dramedy about a gruff Irish policeman who teams with an incredulous FBI agent on a drug investigation, is at 93 percent (Check out our interview with Gleeson here).
Attack the Block, an action/comedy about a group of inner city London kids who defend the city against an alien invasion, is Certified Fresh at 91 percent.
The Future, directed by and starring Miranda July in the tale of an unmarried couple whose maturity is tested after adopting a stray cat, is at 91 percent.
Point Blank, a French thriller about a nurse who finds himself caught in the crossfire of rival gangsters as he attempts to save his kidnapped wife and child, is at 88 percent.
Sleep Furiously, a lyrical documentary about life in a Welsh farming community, is at 79 percent.
Good Neighbors, starring Scott Speedman and Jay Baruchel in a thriller about the residents of an apartment building who become fascinated with a series of local murders, is at 65 percent.
The Devil’s Double, starring Dominic Cooper in a dual role as Saddam Hussein’s hard-partying son Uday and as his reluctant body double, is at 61 percent.
This week’s Ketchup includes new movies based upon Japanese imports Godzilla and Shogun Warriors, new roles for Angelina Jolie and Leonardo DiCaprio, and new movies for the directors of Wanted and Kick-Ass.
Harrison Ford became famous for playing Han Solo, and became even more famous for playing Indiana Jones. However, outside of those seven movies, Ford’s career has been pretty much devoid of science fiction (or fantasy) elements. Next summer, that will change as Harrison Ford has been cast in DreamWorks’ Cowboys & Aliens. Ford is joining the already cast Daniel Craig (Quantum of Solace) and Olivia Wilde (Year One, TRON: Legacy) in an unknown role, but it’s probably a good bet that he’s more of a cowboy than an alien. Cowboys & Aliens has been in development since at least 2002, but because Platinum Studios published a comic book version of the story in 2006, it’s now called a comic book adaptation. Cowboys & Aliens will be the first movie directed by Jon Favreau since he rocked to a new level of fame with Iron Man and next month’s Iron Man 2. Many screenwriters have worked on Cowboys & Aliens over the last 8+ years, but the current draft is by the team of Damon Lindelof (ABC’s LOST), Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (the writing team of Star Trek and Transformers). Lindelof, Kurtzman and Orci are also working together on Star Trek 2. Cowboys & Aliens is starting filming this month in California, and is scheduled for release on July 29, 2011.
Damon Lindelof is not the only executive producer and writer of LOST to already be working on post-Island movie projects. Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz are a writing and producing team responsible for 20 episodes including several of the Hurley-centric stories (and next week’s episode). Hurley is the obligatory fanboy character on LOST (minor spoiler: when he ended up in 1977, Hurley tried to rewrite The Empire Strikes Back!). So it makes sense that Kitsis and Horowitz’s latest project for Disney is the third movie in the planned TRON trilogy (presuming TRON: Legacy is not a massive flop when it is released this December). Like the original 1982 film, TRON 3 will most likely be another adventure set within the world of video games, where human players fight alongside computer programs in games to the digital death. No details have been revealed yet about what Kitsis and Horowitz have planned for TRON 3, but they are expected to be crafting a story that will wrap up the TRON saga as a movie trilogy. TRON 3 is unlikely to get a greenlight until after the release of TRON: Legacy, but if that movie is indeed a hit, it’s possible that TRON 3 could be put into production in time for a release in 2012.
Marvel Studios made big deal making news last year when the comic book company was acquired by Disney. However, as part of the deal, a few of the existing properties that were already in development at Paramount (like Thor, The First Avenger: Captain America and Ant-Man) were not part of the deal (at least as far as them being distributed by Disney). One such high priority project is the adaptation of Brian K. Vaughn’s Runaways (not to be confused with The Runaways, about the 1970s all girl rock band). Brian K. Vaughn is yet another LOST writer/producer who made the news this week, having cowritten seven episodes, including a couple that are fan favorites. This week, Marvel entered into negotiations with Peter Sollett (Raising Victor Vargas, Nick and Norah’s Infinite Playlist) to direct Runaways. Runaways was one of Marvel’s biggest original concept comic book hits of the 2000s, telling the story of six teenagers who are all the children of super villains. Each Runaway and their parents represent a different stereotype: a mad scientist, a mob boss, an alien, an evil wizard, a telepathic mutant and a time traveler (complete with a pet dinosaur). As a movie, The Runaways is being described as “The Breakfast Club with superheroes,” which is basically a fair way of describing it, as both share the idea of teens from different backgrounds becoming friends.
Walt Disney Pictures and ImageMovers (Monster House) are teaming up to coproduce an adaptation of an upcoming young adult novel called Dark Life by Kat Falls. ImageMovers boss Robert Zemeckis (Beowulf, Back to the Future) will be directing Dark Life, but it is currently unknown whether the movie will be CGI, live action or a combination of the two. This news comes just a few weeks after Disney announced plans to close ImageMovers Digital, the performance-capture studio where Zemeckis worked on movies like The Polar Express and A Christmas Carol. The last ImageMovers project will be Disney’s Mars Needs Moms, and the studio’s closure will apparently not impact Zemeckis’ CGI remake of Yellow Submarine. Dark Life is set in a near future Earth in which water levels have risen to the point where many people now live on the ocean floor. The result is that children manifest superpowers, and the story focuses on an underwater boy who teams up with a surface girl to take on a government conspiracy. Disney is hoping Dark Life will lead to a new family-friendly franchise.
Director Ruben Fleischer had one of 2009’s most memorable debuts with Zombieland, a zombie action comedy that sort of felt like an American Shaun of the Dead. Zombieland wasn’t perfect, but it was fun and displayed a nice visual flair, and whatever faults the film may have had (which were few) were probably more in the script than in Fleischer’s direction. In other words, he’s sort of the new anti-Kevin Smith. Fleischer was one of the younger directors mentioned recently as being considered for Mission: Impossible IV, but Fleischer instead is choosing to stay with material that sounds a little closer to his first film. 30 Minutes or Less is an action comedy about a pizza delivery guy (Danny McBride) who is forced to team up with a junior high history teacher (Aziz Ansari of NBC’s Parks and Recreation) in a bank heist when one of them (probably Ansari, I would guess) is strapped to a bomb vest. The 30 Minutes or Less script has the distinction of being one of last year’s Black List top unproduced scripts chosen by movie industry insiders (although it only came in at #71, so take that with a grain of salt). The writers of 30 Minutes or Less are Michael Diliberti and Matthew Sullivan, who are also working on the upcoming Brewster’s Millions remake. Filming of 30 Minutes or Less is scheduled to start this July in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
When Rowan Atkinson (Blackadder, Mr. Bean) starred in the James Bond spoof Johnny English in 2003, the box office reaction in the United States ($28 million total) basically would leave one to think that it was a massive flop. However, worldwide, Johnny English was much better received, earning a global sum of $160+ million (from a budget of $40 million). And so, even though the American audience might still have little interest in the concept, Universal Pictures and Working Title Films (Hot Fuzz, Smokin’Aces) are now developing Johnny English 2. Oliver Parker (An Ideal Husband, The Importance of Being Earnest) will direct Johnny English 2 from a script by Hamish McColl (cowriter of Mr. Bean’s Holiday). Rowan Atkinson will once again star as the title character, and filming is expected to start in the United Kingdom in August, 2010. One thing that has significantly changed since 2003 is that in 2006 James Bond was given a reboot, with Daniel Craig taking over the role in Casino Royale, ditching many of old cliches that Johnny English spoofed. The reason Johnny English 2 is one of this week’s Rotten Ideas has nothing to do with the box office performance of the original film in the USA. Instead, this is a Rotten Idea because Johnny English scored an average RT score of 33% from a pool of critics that includes dozens of international sources. So, the chances are that another Johnny English will probably repeat the same sort of lame slapstick jokes that go on for much too long, and likewise end up being just as Rotten of a movie as the first.
Taylor Kitsch first entered most moviegoers’ field of vision last year by playing Gambit in X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and his first big starring role will be in the title role of Disney’s John Carter of Mars. And now, Kitsch has signed on for another big budget action movie, but this time around, he’s likely going to have to get a haircut. Or maybe not, since this is Battleship we’re talking about, and if you’re going to believe a movie based on a Milton Bradley boardgame, I suppose a male navy officer with long flowing locks could probably be part of the “movie magic” too. Battleship is part of Universal’s deal to make movies based upon Hasbro properties which also includes Candyland, Monopoly, Ouija Board and Stretch Armstrong. Battleship was adapted into a movie about an alien invasion at sea by brothers Jon and Erich Hoeber, who also wrote the comic book adaptations Whiteout and this fall’s Red. Taylor Kitsch landed the lead role as a “wildly spirited” U.S. Navy commander after Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) dropped out so that he could instead costar in The Master, the new movie directed by Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood). Tom Arnold has also landed an unknown role in Battleship, but he probably doesn’t play one of the alien invaders. Peter Berg (Hancock, Friday Night Lights) is directing, and Universal plans to start filming this summer in Australia, aiming for a release on May 25, 2012. This is one of this week’s Rotten Ideas because it is still an alien invasion movie based upon Battleship. It’s really just that simple.
One of the most famous examples of ultra-low budget “schlock” filmmaking is 1984’s The Toxic Avenger. The character went on to star in three sequels, an animated kids show, an Off-Broadway musical and become the mascot of sorts of Lloyd Kaufman’s Troma Entertainment. And now, The Toxic Avenger is being rebooted in an unexpected way, with big Hollywood money and producers to bring “Toxie” to theaters in a much bigger way. The Toxic Avenger is the story of a nerdy and scrawny janitor who falls into a vat of hazardous waste, transforming him into a grotesque monster who uses his new strength to fight evil, usually resulting in violent and over the top death scenes. Stylistically, The Toxic Avenger is sort of like what might have happened if the young John Waters had been more of a comic book and horror movie fan. In addition to Troma, the reboot’s producers include Akiva Goldsman (Hancock, Constantine) and Richard Saperstein (Se7en, The Mist). The reboot is aiming to transform The Toxic Avenger into an environmentally conscious, family friendly PG-13 action comedy similar to The Mask, which Saperstein worked on as an executive at New Line Cinema. The next step for the project is to find a screenwriter who can adapt The Toxic Avenger to match this new vision. The reason this reboot is one of this week’s Rotten Ideas is that the concept is a complete 180 degree turn from pretty every thing that The Toxic Avenger has ever been about: super cheap production values, exploitation-style violence and gore, gratuitious sexuality and political incorrectness. Of course, in addition to all of that, the Toxic Avenger movies are also mostly very rotten themselves, which means that even if this reboot was completely faithful to the original films, it would probably still be a Rotten Idea.
Although Avatar did quite well and was available in 3D, the movie that seems to be having the most immediate influence on the 3D explosion is 1983’s Jaws 3D. Piranha 3-D has already been filmed and will be released on August 27, 2010, and now a movie called Shark Night 3D is also prepping up to follow the trendsetting dorsal fin waves of Jaws 3D. Shark Night 3D will be directed by David R. Ellis, who has worked with animal casts before in Homeward Bound II and Snakes on a Plane. Ellis also has experience with 3D horror films, having directed last year’s The Final Destination (he also directed Final Destination 2). The premise of Shark Night 3D isn’t known yet, but it probably involves sharks swimming around at night in 3D (just a hunch). Shark Night 3D starts filming in Louisiana this summer, and it’s still being written by Jesse Studenberg (no credits yet) and Will Hayes, whose credits include writing episodes of Best Week Ever and Assy McGee. The animatronic sharks are being designed by Walt Conti, whose previous work includes the sharks in Deep Blue Sea and the giant snake in Anaconda. This is one of this week’s Rotten Ideas because it just smacks of being a relatively cheap ($28 million) cash in on the current fascination with the 3D fad. There’s also that very generic title and the non-existent premise that doesn’t even mention whether there will be any humans in Shark Night 3D, or if it will just be 90 minutes of sharks swimming around menacingly but not actually doing anything.
The rabid Internet fanbase of young female Taylor Lautner fans who loved The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D helped make his latest movie franchise a big hit. With Lautner added to the mix, The Twilight Saga: New Moon brought in $142 million its first weekend (the third highest opening weekend ever), and went on to bring in a global total of $706 million. The Twilight Saga did all that with a story of a girl who is romantically torn between a bloodthirsty zombie and a guy who transforms into a big furry dog monster (but it surely helps that Lautner is the one with all the creepy body hair). The third movie, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, has already been filmed and will be released on June 30, 2010, with Sharkboy once again starring to help ensure that fans of the water-breathing superhero will come back for this one too. And now, Summit Entertainment is preparing to begin production of the final two Twilight Saga films, adapting Stephenie Meyer’s Breaking Dawn into two movies that will be filmed back-to-back. In recent weeks, several high profile names have emerged as candidates to direct, and the director that is now in negotiations is Bill Condon. In addition to directing Dreamgirls, Condon has also directed the biopics Kinsey and Gods and Monsters (about James Whale, the director of Frankenstein and Bride of Frankenstein). Condon also got his start, perhaps most significantly to Breaking Dawn, by directing 1995’s Candyman 2: Farewell to the Flesh. Condon will need those horror movie chops, as the story of Breaking Dawn involves the heroine becoming pregnant with the spooky zombie’s love child, which then starts tearing her body apart from the inside, while also forming a telepath romance with the furry dog monster guy from within the girl’s womb. And people thought the premise of The Adventures of Sharkboy and Lavagirl in 3-D was far-fetched. Anyway, the reason this is a Rotten Idea should be obvious, as it means that if Condon does sign on, we’ll have to wait a bit longer to see other movies from him. One project people have expressed anticipation for is Richard Pryor: Is It Something I Said?, a biopic about the 1970s comedian that will star Marlon Wayans. And of course, there’s always the possibility that Bill Condon might do another Candyman movie, which would probably be sort of Rotten as well, but at least it probably wouldn’t involve psychic half-zombie fetuses falling in love with furry dog boys.
For more Weekly Ketchup columns by Greg Dean Schmitz, check out the WK archive, and you can contact GDS through his MySpace page or via a RT forum message.
