Mendelson's Memos

Thursday, February 2, 2012

This is confidence: The Hunger Games gets an IMAX upgrade while Lionsgate releases a spoiler-free second trailer.

I have now seen three Hunger Games previews, the teaser, the wonderful full trailer from a few months ago, and now this 69-second second trailer. And I still know next-to-nothing about how the film plays out. I know the concept, I know large chunks of the first and second act, and I know some of the actors I can expect to see. Other than that, nadda. No mega-money shots from the climax, no thrill-spilling montage, no expository narration or on-screen text. That, ladies and gentlemen, is how you market a would-be franchise. You explain the core story, you tease a character relationship or two, offer a few tantalizing bits and pieces, and you get out. This final teaser, combined with the news that the film will play in IMAX for the first week of release, is a sign that Lionsgate feels it has the goods and can deliver not just to the fans of the source material but to general audiences as well. The Hunger Games opens on March 32rd. As always, we'll see... Oh, and the IMAX press release is after the jump.

Scott Mendelson

Super Bowl commercial: G.I. Joe: Retaliation brings the cheese.

I liked G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra more than most people did, so it heartens me to say that this short 30 second spot feels more larger-than-life than the first full trailer. Point being, I don't want a G.I. Joe movie that is 'dark, gritty, and realistic'. Obviously having two genuine movie stars leading the pack will probably allow this picture to be taken more seriously than the last one, although it will be interesting to see how much Channing Tatum actually appears in this sequel, since he's obviously being hidden in the marketing thus far. As I've said before, the most promising element is the fact that they are actually honoring the crazy cliffhanger from the first picture and frankly the fact that they are treating this as a sequel at all, as opposed to a 'reboot'. Anyway, considering how much ink has been spent of late discussing the costumes for female characters in franchises like this, it is refreshing to see that Elodie Yung (Jinx) and Adrienne Palecki (Lady Jane) will be allowed to wear full outfits during their big moments. And Faran Tahir (allegedly playing Cobra Commander) once again returns to the Paramount franchise fold, having had small roles in Iron Man and Star Trek (he's apparently a good luck charm). Point being, this does look like the kind of big-scale fun we want out of a G.I. Joe movie, so here's hoping that Jon Chu pulls it off. The picture opens on June 29th, 2012. As always, we'll see...

Scott Mendelson

The newly announced Before Watchmen is a prime example of what's killing DC Comics - Chasing the converted at the expense of new readers.

The big news this morning (really early this morning, like around 3:04am) is DC Comic's announcement of a seven-book prequel to Alan Moore's groundbreaking Watchmen series. Titled Before Watchmen (covers) the mini-series will involve the likes of Brian Azzarello, Darwyn Cooke, and J. Michael Straczynski with each of the seven chapters concerning a specific major character. I have no idea whether this project will be any good or not. But it sits as a shining example of the fundamental flaw that exists in the comic industry, especially within DC Comics. They spend most of their time chasing the readers that grew up with their iconic characters rather than attempting to attract new readers who are growing up right now.

Among my various New Year's Resolutions for 2012 is a personal pledge to shave more often. While I get the peach fuzz pretty much 12-16 hours after a full facial shaving, I still find it occasionally irritating to my skin to shave every day. But as a result, I will occasionally let it grow for a week. There are two problems with this. First, when I finally do shave, I have enough of a beard that it takes me a good twenty minutes to be able to see my cheeks. Secondly, pretty much everyone in my household, from Wendy to Allison to Ethan, prefers me clean-shaven. Since I agree with them and I do try to make them happy when possible, I really am trying to make an effort to shave at least every few days. Fortunately I did plug in my razor today, so I will probably give it a go later today after I get some work done.

Edward Burns and (especially) Megan Fox need to fire their publicists. Friends With Kids gets a poster, with only six of the eight billed stars.

There are six top-billed actors in this film, and six of them appear on the poster. The two missing actors are, of course, Megan Fox and Edward Burns. Should we take any particular meaning to Fox's exclusion from the poster? Burns hasn't been a 'name' since the mid-1990s, but Fox, come what may, remains a publicity machine. I could speculate on whether or not Lionsgate is afraid that Fox's presence will scare off the older moviegoers that this film is surely targeting, but it would be just that - speculation. Anyway, the film drops on March 9th, so we'll see.

Scott Mendelson

Burying the lead - Dreamworks Animation to make CGI/traditional hybrid!

The Hollywood Reporter is um... reporting that Dreamworks has lined it the three main vocal cast members for a newly-announced upcoming animated film. The picture, entitled Me and My Shadow, concerns the plight of a shadow (Bill Hader) who grows tired of being attached to human Stanley Grubb (Josh Gadd). To quote the piece, "When a crime in the shadow community puts both of their lives in danger, Stan is forced to take control of Stanley, thrusting both of them into an adventure featuring a shadowy villain, who intends to lead a rebellion to take over the human world." Kate Hudson will play Grubb's would-be love interest and I'll do my best to roll my eyes at a female character once again being merely described as 'the love interest'. It will be directed by Mark Dindal, who is best known for directing the best non-Pixar animated film of the 2000s, The Emperor's New Groove (edit - I was too focused on American toons. Spirited Away is arguably one of the best animated films ever). Anyway, Me and My Shadow comes out November 13th, 2013. What is buried halfway down the article is this golden nugget, something that should make animation fans take notice of this project in a big way:

Not much to add here, but this is hardly a surprise. Of course, now filmgoers like me who love IMAX have to hope that the converted 3D effects are actually halfway decent (Green Lantern is the high-water mark in this not terribly distinguished field). Anyway, Marvel and Disney are clearly aiming gunning for the opening weekend record on May 4th, the same weekend where Spider-Man ($114 million) and Spider-Man 3 ($151 million) broke said record in 2002 and 2007. What are your thoughts? Are you a big enough fan of IMAX to justify watching yet-another live-action film that was shot in 2D but converted to 3D? Or will your primary goal be finding the biggest 2D screen you can find? Oh, and if I had known that the 3D poster above actually worked as 3D, I would have posted it last week (sometimes 3D embeds don't work on Blogger). Anyway, it's a snazzy poster and I'll only add that poor Scarlett Johansson looks like that kid standing way back in the outfield hoping/praying that no one hits the baseball to her. The full press release is after the jump.

Scott Mendelson

Weekend Box Office (01/29/11): The Grey tops, while One For the Money and Man On a Ledge somewhat stumble.

In a somewhat refreshing turn of events, this weekend had three wide releases, all budgeted below $45 million and all technically geared towards adults. And for the fourth straight weekend this month, an R-rated new release topped the box office yet again. The top film of the weekend was Joe Carnahan's wilderness survival drama, The Grey. The Liam Neeson vehicle, concerning plane crash survivors struggling to fend off death by various forms of nature (including wolves), opened with a solid $20 million. Yes, that's slightly below the $21 million debut of Unknown and the $24 million debut of Taken around this time in 2011 and 2009, but those films were PG-13 while The Grey was rated R. The picture scored a B- from Cinemascore, which is not surprising. On one hand, it's a good movie, a thoughtful and introspective mediation on several men coming to terms with their forthcoming demise. On the other hand, the film was sold as an action picture featuring Liam Neeson fighting wolves with his bare hands. Without going into spoilers, that's not entirely accurate. Still the film obviously has fans, as the picture scored a relatively rare 3x weekend multiplier. Anyway, the film cost Open Road Films just $35 million, so this should be a solid moneymaker for the mini distributor even if the somewhat false advertising causes it to drop hard next weekend.

Review: Tony Kaye's Detachment (2012) paints a grim picture of public education.

Detachment
2012
100 minutes
rated R
Opens in limited release on March 16th

by Scott Mendelson

Most of the ideas in Tony Kaye's Detachment are not revolutionary, especially not to anyone who has followed the last thirty years of debate regarding the public education system in America (Jonathan Kozel's many works of nonfiction come to mind). And while the story is told in a style that sometimes veers in art-house cliche (sepia-toned flashbacks, first-person testimonial to an unseen listener, hand-held claustrophobia, etc), the picture is in the end devastating via its almost objective presentation of the issues at hand. Sure, Kaye is saying, we know that public schools are underfunded, understaffed, and stuck with various federal mandates and (worst of all, argues Kaye) a deluge of unmotivated students whose parents only take an interest when it comes to rebutting disciplinary measures. But told through the eyes of a substitute teacher who is far more caring than he wants to be, the picture wonders why we're so accepting a system that doesn't seem to be all that successful for any number of American youths.

Finding Nemo, Pixar's best film, gets a 3D trailer...

It's not my favorite Pixar film. That honor goes, on a given day, to either Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, or The Incredibles. But Finding Nemo may be Pixar's most objectively perfect movie. It is a distillation of the core Pixar theme: surviving in safety vs. living in danger. It hits every emotional note and every comedic bit just right and works on two entirely different levels for kids and adults. Kids find it funny as hell, while adults (especially parents I'd argue) find it moving as hell. The film is just under nine years old, which means that there is an entire generation of young kids that doesn't even realize that the film has a prologue involving mass murder (a fact hilariously noted in an episode of The Simpsons last year, when Milhouse discovered the horror of the never-seen 'chapter 01' on his DVD). Allison discovered the movie two years ago, it was the first full-length theatrical feature she ever sat down and watched with us, as well as the first film she wanted to watch multiple times (Allison being Allison, she almost immediately asked where Nemo's mommy was). So I suppose the question is, will you see the 3D-converted version of Finding Nemo when it debuts in theaters on September 14th, 2012? And if you have very young children, do you start the film on the first or second chapter when the kids want to watch it?

Scott Mendelson