Dune: House Corrino

Corrino is the 3rd in the prequel trilogy of books leading up to the original novel, Dune.

Dune: House Corrino

Amazon

I enjoyed it so much that I’ll continue with the audio version of the master work, itself.

I see a huge future film epic something like Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings, the acting and story more important than special effects.

Paramount, I expect, wants to make another Avatar 3D, but … you know, … in the desert.

Chase Palmer has been hired to write director Pierre Morel’s (Taken, From Paris With Love) version of Dune at Paramount. According to THR, Palmer will be working with Morel to stick close to the original source material, which is the 1965 classic book by Frank Herbert. As most of you know, David Lynch took a crack at Dune back in 1984 at Universal.

It’s important to note while Palmer has been hired to write the script, that doesn’t mean Dune is moving in front of the cameras anytime soon. With what has to be a huge budget and complicated source material to adapt, many have tried to get Dune off the ground with little success (Peter Berg). Just because a hot director wants to make the film, doesn’t mean it’s going to happen. It’s going to take a lot of happy studio executives and some big name stars to get this thing rolling. More as we hear it.

Collider

why movies are so BAD

I saw the movie 2012 and could not comprehend how and why talented people would conspire to make a move so terrible.

… Peter Travers of Rolling Stone criticized the film by comparing it to Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen: “Beware 2012, which works the dubious miracle of almost matching Transformers 2 for sheer, cynical, mind-numbing, time-wasting, money-draining, soul-sucking stupidity …

Wikipedia

What’s the business model for making even John Cusack embarrassed for having joined the cast?

… It topped the international box office in its first weekend with $225 million … ultimately grossed over $769 million worldwide …

Crap like that sells. I guess.

Why do movies suck? Because you’re too old, probably. Author Edward Jay Epstein explains why in his fascinating new book The Hollywood Economist, and the future looks bleak for audiences over 25 or so years of age. …

full article – Noted journalist Jay Epstein explains why movies suck

Amazon – The Hollywood Economist: The Hidden Financial Reality Behind the Movies

What a shame.

Roger Ebert reinvented

Chris Jones’ magazine profile of Roger Ebert in Esquire seems to have triggered an onslaught of media coverage.

It has been nearly four years since Roger Ebert lost his lower jaw and his ability to speak. Now television’s most famous movie critic is rarely seen and never heard, but his words have never stopped.

check it out – Esquire

In fact, Roger may be more popular with more people than ever before. Follow him on twitter EBERTCHICAGO.

my review – Avatar

Finally saw the 3D version.

Overall AWESOME.

A breakthrough in technology that just might save the movie theatre business.

Dialogue was good. Acting, overall quite good. Special effects simply brilliant, a big leap forward from anything else I’ve ever seen.

I’d heard the plot was crappy and laughable. But Avatar has the same plot as every other Hollywood blockbuster:


Boy meets Girl … Evil challenges Good … BIG fight with plenty of gore and explosions … Good triumphs … James Bond and Girl walk hand-in-hand into sunset.

Are you telling me every Hollywood blockbuster has a plot line crappy and laughable?

Meryl Streep – best actor ever?

Few would argue that Meryl Streep is not the greatest actress of all time.

The only other choice could be Katharine Hepburn.

While beautiful, I’d say Meryl was not at all the typical Hollywood starlet nor bombshell. Perhaps because she wasn’t simply eye candy, she had a chance to get some meaningful roles.

Cover girl at 60

Hollywood is no place for older women—or is it? In the cover profile of Vanity Fair’s upcoming January 2010 issue, Leslie Bennetts investigates the mystery of how, at age 60, Meryl Streep has become the industry’s “new box-office queen.”

The evidence is indisputable:

• Her 2008 screen musical Mamma Mia!, Bennetts writes,“has grossed $601 million worldwide, despite some cringe-worthy reviews (for the movie, not its much-lauded heroine).”

• The Devil Wears Prada, also from 2008, in which Streep played a demanding fashion-magazine editrix, has raked in $324 million around the world.

• And Nora Ephron’s Julie & Julia, released earlier this year, has earned $121 million and counting.

To read more of the interview visit Vanity Fair.

I’ve been a huge fan since Out of Africa. In fact, as a young man I recall organizing my own Meryl film festival, renting one of her movies each night for a week over Christmas.

She was brilliant, recently, as Julia Child.

I’ve not seen It’s Complicated. But I love Alec Baldwin. And the trailer looks amusing.

Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.

The next question is … what male actor is greater?

renting a movie from iTunes

I downloaded a rental movie online for the first time. It worked perfectly US$3.99.

The Bourne Trilogy is fantastic. Why aren’t more Hollywood movies put together like this?

Click PLAY or watch a trailer for the Bourne Ultimatum on YouTube.

Video tutorial … How to Rent Movies With iTunes.

Amazon Video on Demand for the same film was only $2.99, but could not be downloaded to Canada for some reason. Amazon is usually cheaper than iTunes, but doesn’t work quite as well.

I’ll rent more from iTunes.

Santa’s brother – Fred Claus

I’m astonished to report that the movie Fred Claus should be an annual tradition. It’s great for both kids and adults.

Fred Claus is a 2007 Christmas comedy-drama film produced and directed by David Dobkin. The film stars Vince Vaughn and Paul Giamatti, marking their first time working together.

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

It only got a 23% rating at Rotten Tomatoes. That’s rotten. But I liked it.

Julie & Julia – a review

I was certain I wouldn’t be much interested in a movie about cooking. … But I was wrong.

Loved it.

… a comedy-drama film written and directed by Nora Ephron. The film depicts events in the life of chef Julia Child in the early years in her culinary career, contrasting her life with Julie Powell, who aspires to cook all 524 recipes from Child’s cookbook during a single year, a challenge she described on her popular blog that would make her a published author. …

Click PLAY or watch the trailer on YouTube.

The acting is terrific.

… Meryl Streep has been widely praised for her performance as Julia Child. Movie critic A.O. Scott of The New York Times affirmed that “By now this actress [Streep] has exhausted every superlative that exists and to suggest that she has outdone herself is only to say that she’s done it again. …

Similarly, Stephanie Zacharek of Salon magazine concluded that “Streep isn’t playing Julia Child here, but something both more elusive and more truthful — she’s playing our idea of Julia Child.” …

Stanley Tucci as Paul Child, Julia’s husband, is brilliant too.

Iron Man 2 – May 7, 2010

This will be one of the biggest blockbusters of the year. Love the cast.

Robert Downey Jr., Gwyneth Paltrow, Don Cheadle, Scarlett Johansson, Sam Rockwell, Mickey Rourke, Samuel L. Jackson

Mickey Rourke as the “bad guy”. Fantastic!

Click through to watch the first official trailer.

Paramount Pictures and Marvel Entertainment present the highly anticipated sequel to the blockbuster film based on the legendary Marvel Super Hero “Iron Man”, reuniting director Jon Favreau and Oscar nominee Robert Downey Jr. In “Iron Man 2”, the world is aware that billionaire inventor Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) is the armored Super Hero Iron Man. Under pressure from the government, the press and the public to share his technology with the military, Tony is unwilling to divulge the secrets behind the Iron Man armor because he fears the information will slip into the wrong hands. With Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), and James “Rhodey” Rhodes (Don Cheadle) at his side, Tony forges new alliances and confronts powerful new forces.