The Lone Ranger gets a 90-second Super Bowl tease.

I'm not sure 'good enough' is quite what Disney wants to hear in regards to their very pricey summer tentpole, but that pretty much sums it up.  This Gore Verbinski film looks like solid fun, with a nice blend of humor and myth-making.  It's a bit odd to hear what I presumed is the villain (Tom Wilkinson) telling the 'comforting' story of the Lone Ranger, but I can't fault an ad for my own confusion.  The action looks grand and seems to have quite a bit of personality, and I'm partial to an action film that feels like a genuine 'jumping and swinging' adventure.  Will this set the world on fire?  I have no idea, but Disney can always just demand a Pirates of the Caribbean 5 at a reduced rate if this flops.  For those who like the western, this seems like the real deal, a genuine bit of western action-adventure on a modern tentpole scale.  And yes, on that note, it looks a lot better than Wild Wild West.

Scott Mendelson   

The Lone Ranger gets a new poster...

No, I'm not posting a 21-second preview of a 90-second Super Bowl trailer.  But I will post this rather nice new poster, which seems to the be the official theatrical one-sheet.  So yeah, along with Iron Man 3 and Oz: The Great and Powerful, Disney seems to be going full-steam ahead with this Sunday's game.  I know G.I. Joe: Retribution has a preview debuting during the game as well, along with Oblivion, World War Z, and allegedly Star Trek Into Darkness.  But the big teaser debut will be for Universal's sixth Fast and the Furious film.  This clip will be notable both because it's the first footage anyone has seen of the film and because we might finally find out what the title of the fifth sequel is going to be.

Scott Mendelson

The Lone Ranger gets a, um, Lone Ranger-centric trailer.

What's interesting about this second and somewhat more plot-centric trailer is how is seems to follow the 1981 film The Legend of The Lone Ranger pretty closely for at least the first two acts.  I saw that film several years back and noticed how perfectly it fit what is now the standard superhero origin story template, even if it was hobbled by bare-bones production values (at least Christopher Lloyd made a great villain).  Anyway, the other thing of note is how little time Arnie Hammer apparently spends actually in costume.  Obviously he doesn't don the mask for at least the second act, and it appears that he is basically dressed 'normal' during at least one of the major train-centric action sequences.  Aside from those little details, this looks like fun, even if it looks a bit generic thus far.  Perhaps its the absence of specific villainy, as baddie Tom Wilkinson is nowhere to be found this time around (although Helena Bonham Carter shows up and Ruth Wilson seems to be quite imperiled).  I believe in Gore Verbinski, especially when working with Ted Elliott and Terry Russo (cause them f**kers wrote The Mask of Zorro!) so I'm optimistic until I'm given a very good reason not to be.  Anyway, so far, no cause for alarm.  The Lone Ranger opens July 3, 2013.  As always, we'll see.

Scott Mendelson

Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger gets a gorgeous and grounded trailer filled with trains and more trains.

Disney certainly isn't selling whatever supernatural elements survived the temporary shutdown from late last year.  This looks like a straight-ahead western adventure centered around the newfangled railroad, and it frankly looks pretty sharp.  Gore Verbinski is nothing if not a visual stylist and this looks gorgeous.  But the most promising sign is the fact that the trailer emphasized its time and place while all-but hiding Johnny Depp in the shadows.  You get a few glimpses of Depp and Arnie Hammer, but most of this tease is just Tom Wilkinson (the villain, natch) talking about how much he loves trains with bits and pieces of what is allegedly an insanely elaborate train-set action sequence.  Whatever you may think about the need for a Lone Ranger picture or whether it was wise to spend $200 million on it, this does look like something at least attempting to be a real movie, which I'd argue is the Verbinski touch.  Anyway, this one drops July 3rd, 2013.  As always we'll see, but I'm officially intrigued by the restraint and relative realism on display.  This certainly *looks* closer to Pirates of the Carribean: Curse of the Black Pearl than Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.  Your thoughts?

Scott Mendelson   

Why The Lone Ranger was always a smarter bet than John Carter...

Well, um, this does look like Arnie Hammer a The Lone Ranger and Johnny Depp as Tonto.  Here is your first official look (congrats on getting it online before cell-phone photos were leaked) at Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger.  If you recall, the film was almost shelved last year over budgetary concerns.  Disney only put the project back on the table when costs were trimmed from $250 million to $215 million.  Ironically, it was this story that first brought to light the insanely high price tag for Andrew Stanton's John Carter, which (barring a miracle) is set to open to pretty lukewarm numbers tomorrow.  I've long argued against the ever-rising budgets of big-scale would-be blockbusters, arguing that studios shouldn't "spend Return of the King money on Fellowship of the Ring".  But it is beyond odd that this film was the one to make Disney finally come down hard on budgets.  Even if $215 million is still a bit much to spend on a Lone Ranger film, it is surely a far-safer bet than a complete unknown entity like John Carter (which has no stars, cult-level source material, an untested live-action director at the helm, and - in hindsight - isn't a good movie).

Review: Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - A 2D 35mm Experience

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
2011
137 minutes
rated PG-13

by Scott Mendelson

Rob Marshall's Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is arguably the movie most of us thought we were getting back in summer 2003 with Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl.  It is a weightless, thoughtless, undisciplined, and juvenile bore.  It replaces plot and character with non-stop frantic action that provides little entertainment value because there are no clear stakes.  Unlike the first picture, it gives us no characters worth caring about and no story worth following.  Unlike the bloated but surreal, challenging, and ambitious sequels, it lacks any kind of cinematic life, feeling less like a big-screen extension of the mythology than a made-for-TV pilot reboot.  It is the very definition of half-assed cash-in.  Eight summers ago, the initial exploits of Will Turner, Elizabeth Swann, and Jack Sparrow surprised us by being a real film that happened to be based on a Disney theme-park ride.  This fourth installment can't even hold a candle to The Haunted Mansion or The Country Bears.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides gets a (slightly improved) final trailer.

We're two months out from start-date on this one, so Disney has unleashed a final and more plot-centric trailer. I know I've been bagging on this picture since the start, but I'm going to try to accentuate the positive for the moment. The trailer clearly lays out the journey (to find the fountain of youth) and the core character relationships, including the 'not Will Turner and not Elizabeth Swann' in the guise of a young sailer and the imperiled mermaid he falls for (Sam Cleflin and Gemma Ward). I wouldn't be surprised to see some TV spots that highlight these two above Sparrow and the gang, and the trailer earns major points for not being all-Jack Sparrow for the entire 2.25 minutes. The action does look refreshingly practical and the scale seems to be a decent mix of epic adventure and boots-on-the-ground plausibility. So even if the film seems to lack the grand ambitions of Gore Verbinski's original trilogy, one can hope that it will still be a solid good time. But, it must be said, the trailer loses a point or two for repeating the phrase 'fountain of youth' as if its a new vocabulary word. Still, this one will surely hit pretty huge on May 20th. While I theoretically could get into an early press screening, I may just wait until opening night as it falls on 'preschool babysitting night'. Should I choose that route, I shall be faced with a difficult decision. I don't care much for live-action 3D, but I do so love IMAX. Decisions, decisions...

Scott Mendelson

Review: Rango (2011)

Rango
2011
107 minutes
rated PG

Rango is the very definition of an odd-duck. It is a gorgeously-animated little fable that works both as an homage to westerns (spaghetti or otherwise) and film noir, as well as a thoughtful and spiritual hero's journey. It may not be a prototypical talking animal cartoon, and it keeps its emotionalism in check for most of the running time, but the picture remains an aloof and endlessly imaginative piece of art cleverly disguised as throwaway pop-entertainment. As a piece of political fiction, it shows us yet again how warped our discourse has become. In this day and age, its seemingly common-sense story of the rich exploiting the poor very nearly counts as a partisan statement. Oh, and it's also pretty funny to boot.

Weekend Box Office (03/06/11): Two openers (Rango and Adjustment Bureau) win, two openers (Beastly, Take Me Home Tonight) lose.

Paramount released its first non-Dreamworks cartoon in nearly five years this weekend. And indeed, the number one film by a long shot was Gore Verbinski's Rango (teaser/review). The critically-acclaimed and nearly-existential Johnny Depp vehicle grossed $38 million over the three-day weekend. That's the biggest opening for a Paramount animated feature not from Dreamworks, although it's slightly behind in attendance compared to the $32 million opening of The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie back in November of 2004. Paramount's animated fare has been exclusively Dreamworks since the August 2006 release of Barnyard: The Original Party Animals. Since they acquired Dreamworks in early 2006, they've basically been just releasing the Katzenberg cartoons. But prior to that, they actually had a good thing going with Nickelodeon, although they have released a few Nickelodeon live-action co-ventures over the last few years (Charlotte's Web, Hotel For Dogs, etc). This will hopefully mark the return of Nickelodeon-funded animated features. Can't let Disney have all the fun.

Gore Verbinksi's The Lone Ranger gets a logo.

I like Gore Verbinski quite a bit. I certainly like Johnny Depp when he's in 'I give a damn' mode, and Jerry Bruckheimer now has something to prove after whiffing with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. So count me as intrigued for The Lone Ranger. Anyway, for those who care, here's the official logo. It looks appropriately cheery, implying that this reinvention will be closer in tone to Iron Man than Batman Begins. As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson

As Pirates of the Caribbean 5 and 6 are more-or-less confirmed, a moment of appreciation for Gore Verbinski's original trilogy.

About a week before the debut of the first real trailer for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, work has come out from the always dependable HitFix that Disney plans to build a whole new trilogy around Rob Marshall's fourth Jack Sparrow adventure. No word on details (Depp's schedule is awfully crowded these days), but at the very least it is a sign that the Mouse House is pleased with Marshall's upcoming entry in the long-running franchise. And yes, the plan is to shoot parts 5 and 6 back-to-back, because that went over so well with the cast and crew of the original series. Having said that, let me step up and defend Dead Man's Chest and At World's End. While they lacked the simplicity and whimsy of Curse of the Black Pearl, they were heavily character-driven, pleasantly complicated, and weirdly amoral tales of piracy.

Yep, Gore Verbinski is directing The Lone Ranger, with Johnny Depp as Tonto.

Confirming something that has been rumored for literally years, Disney announced that Gore Verbinksi will be helming a feature-film retelling of The Lone Ranger. And yes, Johnny Depp will be playing Tonto. For what it's worth, Johnny Depp does have is 1/4 Native American, with a Cherokee maternal grandmother and a partial-Cherokee father. As to who will be playing the actual Lone Ranger, that is still up in the air, although I'm pretty sure that perennial favorite George Clooney has outgrown the part. Jerry Bruckheimer will be producing for a planned 2012 release.