I’ll be back… to make movies that have already been done.

So the Internets were buzzing with thoughts of what The Terminator is going to be doing now that he is no longer the Governator of our fine state of California. Apparently driving the state into near bankruptcy, and knocking up the hired help got boring for the ol’ Austrian Oak. Word got around that he had taken his next project (not another maid) and was ready to get back into acting. We were all on the edge of our seats, waiting with baited breath (you like that one Paul, totally used your line) to see what the amazing action star was going to blow us away with this time. His next movie will be… The Last Stand.

Arnold will play the Sheriff of a quiet little town when all the sudden he is thrust back into action, and tasked with stopping a notorious drug kingpin who is on the run (in some sort of super-duper car apparently) and driving straight for Arnolds town. He is forced to assemble his deputies and get ready for the showdown, and make their… Final Destination. I’m just kidding, Last Stand.

The only problem I have with this, is haven’t we seen this movie before when it was called Walking Tall? Staring non-other than Dwayne “I’m the toothfairy” Johnson? Didn’t he have to defend his quiet little town against drug dudes who were ruining it? I’m sure that plot has been done before many times, but for some reason this time it really made me think of Walking Tall.

Now that being said, I’m sure it will be an action packed blockbuster and I personally, cant wait. Our generation is completely lacking an action star on Arnolds level. So I guess if we cant get one of our own, we might as well keep using him! I mean come on, 64 is the new 20 right… right…??? Holy shit I cant believe ol’ Dutch is 64. I think these days he is using more pull-ups than he is doing if you catch my drift (my drift being that he shits himself he is so old).

Hey look - Dopey, Sleepy, Grumpy, and a female (holding a tommy gun?) so the movie is politically correct.

The one thing that caught my good eye (pun intended for further in the article), is when I was scanning the cast line-up on IMDB, I saw non other than the Last King of Scotland himself, Forest Whitaker. I can only assume that he will play the drug kingpin hurling towards Arnolds town in his super-duper automobile. And for this I am thankful, because I cannot wait to see Forest Whitakers fat ass take on the 64 year old geriatric Terminator. Stay tuned with your ears for this one, it should be fun ladies and gentleman.


Taylor Lautner will not act like a Werewolf… or an actor.

If you listened to the 10/22/11 show, you know that I was at a loss for words (for once) when I asked Paul what he thought the “W.S.” stood for in Paul W.S. Andersons name. His reply – Paul “Wesley Snipes” Anderson, which was just about the best response imaginable. So when I read that Taylor Lautner will be starring in an Indie movie directed by Gus Van Sant I thought I was going to have comedic gold on my hands…. comedic “shit-gold” as we like to say. Werewolf jokes, stabs at his horrible acting, and shirtless puns to say the very least. But after I finished reading the article on THR, I was just… at a complete loss.

I just cant figure this out. Lautners last movie Abduction was just ripped apart by critics, and its no secret that his acting is… ummm, yeah. According to the article, Lautner is “determined to work only with top directors and writers from now on as he strives to define himself as an actor.” Good for you buddy, good for you. But I hate to point out one tiny little flaw in your strategy, usually its a two way street. I would love to work with top notch talent too, but unfortunately I’m stuck with Paul.

Does the success of Twilight automatically entitle Lautner top notch scripts and directors? Sure he wants to work with them, but does anyone in their right-mind want to work with him!? I could see if it was a movie geared towards the same audience (13 year old girls/Paul) and they wanted him on board to sell tickets… but an Indie flick!!?? I don’t see his hairy acting skills (Werewolf… hairy… get it? Come on I had to get one joke in there) lending themselves very well to an Indie film. But I could be wrong, his skills could pay off if the movie is about people who don’t wear shirts, or about people who are horrible actors, or about a Vampire and a Werewolf fighting over their love for a human girl… oh wait.

Hey look, my face is weird.


Happy Halloween!

Cinema Recon would like to wish everyone a Safe and Happy Halloween!  Drive a little slower out there today, keep an eye out for the kids.  They’ve been looking forward to this, and today is about them.

Oh, and if two abnormally large kids ring your doorbell wearing sheets with eye hole cut outs, and they also happen to be rambling on about movies and Internets…you should probably not ask them how old they are.  Just give them that king size Snickers bar you got there.  Thanks!  Uh, I mean…Today’s about the kids!

Normal schedule of shows will resume this week, so look for our newest Podcast this weekend!


Daylight Come and I Want More Beetlejuice!

During some of our practice runs here at Cinema Recon, one of our practice news stories was that a Beetlejuice 2 was in the works.  Not many details at the time, but we did hear that it would be a sequel rather than a remake.  Our practice consensus: hesitant anticipation.

Why so serious?

Today, all across the internets, sites are quoting EW.com’s interview with David Katzen­berg and Seth Grahame-Smith.  The duo has formed Katz­Smith Productions and are working on a number of projects, amongst them the Beetlejuice sequel.

“We’re not remaking Beetlejuice. People have been very angry about that,” said Katzenberg to EW.  Added Grahame-Smith, “When Warner Bros. came to us about it, we said the only way we’d do it if we got Tim [Burton’s] blessing and involvement, and we got that, and the star of the movie has to be Michael Keaton as Beetlejuice, and it’s a true continuation 26 years later. Not just throwing him in as a cameo …”

So let’s recap:  1) A True Sequel, 2) Tim Burton is onboard, 3) Only Michael Keaton can be the Man in Stripes.

Yes please.

 


Independence Day 2 and 3 will not Depend on Will

ID4 is sort of a special movie for me in particular.  It came about during a time when I could not possibly have been more excited to see aliens engaging in aerial dogfights with F-16s.  I eagerly anticipated its release and followed every bit of news I could about the film at the time (which was often difficult in 1996, without the internets!).  During the summer of ’96 I was also in the UK for a student exchange program, so I had to wait just a bit longer before I’d get to see Jeff Goldblum bypass the firewall and hack an alien mainframe (no simultaneous release overseas).  I can distinctly remember being at a London payphone and asking my parents to go see the movie just so they could tell me about it at 90 cents a minute.  Ah….to be 14 and in love (with alien movies).

Now all that being said, Independence Day is not a good movie.  Sure, people my age with similar stories may remember it that way, but upon another viewing, we understand that time is a funny thing.  Its like going back to Chuck E. Cheese’s when you are 25.  Everything was exciting, shiny, and fast! …Unless you are above 4 feet tall, then its all just loud.  ID4 had some great special effects, especially for the time, but damn, it is difficult to sit through now.  From cheesy one liners to slow motion leaping dogs…best to keep it on the shelf rather than tarnish your fond memories of the White House being demolished.

Now, 15 years later, I learn (courtesy of Vulture) that Fox will be making not one, but two sequels to ID4 simultaneously.  Great.  Fine.  I’m all for it.  I will not complain at all when we get two more summer fluff action films, since the original was just that: a summer fluff action film.  I’m actually quite surprised this hasn’t happened sooner.  …Or am I?  It seems the reason lies with the headliner, Will Smith, who had been seeking $50 million to shoot them back-to-back!  Bananas!  In addition, it is also said that he wants his wife and daughter in the films.  Now, if you’ve earned your stripes, and certainly Will Smith has, I’m all for you negotiating the heftiest price tag that someone is willing to pay you.  However, when you start sticking your fingers in other portions of the pie, like dictating how casting should commence, I begin to sympathize less.  Get a goddamn babysitter.

So now Fox is prepared to begin moving along with this project with or without Will Smith.  Which is good and bad.  I do like Will Smith, and I would love to see him dress in black and get jiggy wit just the two of us in the wild wild west while welcoming aliens to Earth, but that money certainly could be helpful in putting forth a better all around film.  Does Independence Day need Will Smith?  Or can it survive enough on name alone?  It would certainly be a big risk to have no Will, film two huge movies together, then watch the first of the two tank.

Either way, I will definitely go see these.  Unless of course I am out of the country.  Then I will call my mom and have her tell me all about them.


Hey look at the found footage I found!

If you took a look with your ears holes at the most recent show we did on 10/22/11, in the movie news section I was stammering over the name of a found footage superhero movie that I had read about. I was saying Carnival… well, it turns out the name of the movie is Chronicle (I was close enough).  It follows three high school teenagers who come into some superpowers (sweet find dudes!) and of course they have some fun by playing pranks and what-nots. But just like mom says, it’s all fun and games until someone uses their superpowers to drive a jeep off a cliff into a river and kill someone.

Paul says he is sick of the found footage genre, and I agree but it does look like they are taking some of the “shaky cam” out of this one, probably in an attempt to stop movie-goers from getting motion sickness and throwing up all over each other. Either way, I think this looks pretty damn sweet from the trailer. I’ll definitely have to keep an eye on this one. Chronicle is scheduled to release in ‘Merica on February 3rd 2012.


This is the Dumbest thing I’ve heard all day

And yet, I can’t help but be excited.  Comingsoon.net is reporting that one of, if not THE, greatest comedies of all time may be well on its way to getting a sequel.  Normally this kind of talk should garner no expectations, but given the facts that 1) writers are apparently on board, and 2) Jim Carrey himself is talking about doing it… “so you’re telling me there’s a chance?!”

I know if Jake could read, he would be quite excited for this as well.  Lets just hope we get a lot more  Harry and Lloyd! …and a lot less harry and lloyd.


The Happening is… er, well… happening.

If you have browsed the awesomeness that is the Cinema Recon website you will know that we have what we like to call a “Shit List.” And it is, well, exactly what it sounds like. Movies that we deem to be bad… really bad. One of the movies on that list happens to be M. Night Shamalanga-ding-dongs botanical masterpiece, The Happening. But after reading this article from io9.com, I am not so sure it still belongs on there. Apparently The Happening, is actually happening!

According to the article, 136 students at Kompong Cham high school in Cambodia collapsed while they were all standing at attention as punishment (probably for not listening to enough Cinema Recon). Apparently a nearby bunch of trees, some being medicinal oil trees (silly Cambodians) absorbed all the oxygen and low and behold, BAM! all the kids all pass out.

I guess these kids never saw The Happening, or else they would have known to stay away from trees, and plants, and grass, and bushes, and Mark Wahlberg. But just because The Happening might actually be happening doesn’t mean we’re taking it off the “Shit List” anytime soon, but it does mean that if you find yourself near a Cambodian medicinal oil tree, hold your breath!

Psst... hey, come over here so I can murder you.


Episode 10/22/11

Today on the show, we get down and dirty with backroom dealings and political scandals in our review of The Ides of March(05:22)

We also gouge our faces off and choke down the worst tasting candy bar on screen today!  Its our stomach churning review of The Three Musketeers(1:37:46)

CinemaRecon.com is finally LIVE!  And to celebrate such a momentous occasion, we give you a behind the scenes look into the preparation of a typical Cinema Recon show!  (53:35)

In the news…  (2:21:23)

  • Chipotle isn’t satisfied with our stomachs, they’re after our hearts, too!
  • Eminem to star in a movie to document his illustrious and overlooked boxing career!
  • Starship Troopers 4 is going to be a real thing!  (shhh, Jake doesn’t know it will be a cartoon)
  • The new Twilight Zone has a director…the writer of Under Siege 2: Dark Territory!
  • Evil Dead to be reaching for its boomstick once again!
  • Joss Whedon filmed a portion of the new Avengers with a rotary telephone!  (…or his iPhone.  Either way, we call shenanigans)
Listen below:
 
 
Download Here (by right clicking, then “save as”):  CR: Episode 10/22/11
 
 
 

The New Pre-Film Chipotle Commercial I’m Embarrassed to Say I Love

On the upcoming show (Episode 10/22/11) you will hear Jake and I discuss a new commercial which Chipotle is currently running in theaters, prior to the movie previews.  I dare you to watch this and not get all sappy.  Seriously.  $1, on the table:

Somethin’ about the combination of little stop-motion farm animals and Willie Nelson’s perfect pitched voice makes me all happy inside…and then I realize this is a Chipotle commercial.