The BJMDDS General Discussion Thread......

[Harvey danish]

The man behind Bond hits GoldenEye and Casino Royale has had enough of 007 and spy thrillers, at least for the moment. Martin Campbell, who convinced Mel Gibson to come out of self-imposed hibernation for Edge of Darkness, says he is now "excited" about his first superhero movie Green Lantern. "As of now I have no plans to direct a Bond film. I think I am done with it for now," Campbell told IANS in an e-mail interview from London, reports the HindustanTimes.

The director, who has worked with both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig, said "Both brought the essence of James Bond and that is what a filmmaker wants at the end of the day. It would be unfair on my part to compare the two."

About his latest venture, Green Lantern based on the comic book, Campbell said: "This is going to be different from other comic book series because we have made a very different and an original story out of the character..."

Campbell, who is in his 70s, is promoting the big-screen adaptation of his BAFTA award-winning BBC mini-series Edge of Darkness. Having released in the US Jan 29, it is being released in India by PVR Pictures in association with GK Films Production June 25.

Excerpts from the exclusive interview:

Having wielded the megaphone for two Bond films, do we see you directing another one?
First of all it was a delight to work on both the Bond movies and quite an experience to work with both Pierce and Daniel. As of now I have no plan to direct a Bond film. I think I am done with it for now. But then never say never, one doesn't know what one does in future.

Who do you think makes a near perfect Bond, Pierce or Daniel?
Pierce and Daniel both brought the essence of James Bond and that is what a filmmaker wants at the end of the day. It would be unfair on my part to compare the two. The fact that Daniel's both Bond movies were a hit is enough to say he knows his job well.

What about Green Lantern? How different would it be from the comic book series?
Yes, I am doing Green Lantern. I'd never done a superhero movie before. His powers are psychological. They're to do with 'will' and the enemy is the 'fear', as opposed to Superman who sort of runs into a phone box, gets the old spandex on and off he goes.

This is going to be different from other comic book series because we have made a very different and an original story out of the character rather than just taking it from the comic book.

Is it true that Ryan Reynolds is playing the lead?
Yes, Ryan is playing the titular character in it.

Do you think Hollywood is on a comic book adaptation spree?
Yes, a lot of people are making superhero movies, but I'm very excited about my first superhero movie. If I am not wrong, superhero movies have always had a wide audience. Maybe it's just a coincidence that a lot of these movies are being made at the same time.

Coming to Edge of Darkness, how did you zero in on Gibson for the role?
Mel was the only person we had in mind for the role. We didn't have a second choice and I think we were very lucky to get him.

Considering his sabbatical, did Gibson appear rusted in front of the camera?
I certainly think he was a bit worried because after not being in front of a camera for eight years, anyone would be hesitant. He's one of the best actors in the world. The truth is that he's got the weight and we haven't got many of those. And an actor of his calibre can't suddenly forget to act, right? He had done his rehearsals before we started shooting. As soon as the camera got rolling, Mel did what he does best - acting!

Have you ever been to India or watched any Bollywood films?
Well, I think I'll have to chalk something out now (for an India visit). But no plans as of now... I have to do a lot of catching up on movies.

[bjmdds]

Lantern interests me but Reynolds looks more of a Flash type but we shall see. Any Spidey 4 news Danish?

[Harvey danish]

I'll get my people on it.......

[FormerBondFan]

I may have said this before, but this whole Spidey reboot is COMPLETELY unnecessary. We don't need Spidey for escapism, and we can have other superheroes to enjoy. Captain America, Thor, Nick Fury, Green Lantern, Superman, Batman......you name them.

[Captain Nash]

Toy Story 3 opens in the US this weekend. What's the box office going to be?
I suspect it to be a big one. I don't know many people that don't like Woody, Buzz and co. Especially being a family film. The box office is always bigger.
Similar how Happy Feet did big numbers next to Casino Royale back in 2006. Where as Bond is most likely a couple going to see it, family films get mum, dad and the kids altogether. The box office is bound to be bigger. But for good reason.
I'm looking forward to taking my family to see Toy Story 3.
Love the Toy Story films, some of my favourites. Also looking forward to see "Mr.Pricklepants" , and see how big his role is.

[katied]

Toy Story 3 opens in the US this weekend. What's the box office going to be?
I suspect it to be a big one. I don't know many people that don't like Woody, Buzz and co. Especially being a family film. The box office is always bigger.
Similar how Happy Feet did big numbers next to Casino Royale back in 2006. Where as Bond is most likely a couple going to see it, family films get mum, dad and the kids altogether. The box office is bound to be bigger. But for good reason.
I'm looking forward to taking my family to see Toy Story 3.
Love the Toy Story films, some of my favourites. Also looking forward to see "Mr.Pricklepants" , and see how big his role is.

I'm guessing you'll take your son to see it when it comes out in your neck of the woods Since I've got nieces and nephews I'll have to see it. I find it surprising that it's rated G-most of the Disney and Dreamworks movies are PG or PG 13.

[stockslivevan]

I find it surprising that it's rated G-most of the Disney and Dreamworks movies are PG or PG 13.

Indeed, it's become a rarity for films to get G rated. Almost anything involving live action is automatically PG-13 making the "for kids over 13" distinction utterly pointless since tickets are sold to kids under that age anyway.

The US rating system needs a overhaul.

[Kristatos]

I'm guessing you'll take your son to see it when it comes out in your neck of the woods Since I've got nieces and nephews I'll have to see it. I find it surprising that it's rated G-most of the Disney and Dreamworks movies are PG or PG 13.

Most of the Pixar films have been rated G, as I recall, including the first two Toy Stories. But it is rare, and almost unheard of for live-action films. I think Star Trek- The Motion Picture was the last hit live action movie to be rated G, and that was back in 1979. I think the only live-action movies to get G ratings nowadays are things like documentaries and concert films. It's less unusual for movies to get the equivalent U rating here in Britain. Many movies that are rated PG in the States are U-rated here, including ET and the original Star Wars trilogy.

[Mazer Rackham]

PG-13 was born out of the backlash from the inadequate rating system that let Temple of Doom squeak by. The system is chaotic today, more of a case of who you know than what is on screen. The studios consider PG-13 their sweet spot, true to a point but it's more a mental ideal than an actual fact. PG-13 has untold "children" streaming in to see it, part of the success of this happy ratings range, not too violent and not too campy. Children as well as the adults flock to it, but if it is safe by most parents standards why is it PG-13? I know all the arguments and reasons behind it, it's just confusing as hell. Especially when compared to foreign ratings.


Recently I saw an interesting report putting the studio take for CR & QoS (Quark ) lower than I had thought. 40%. It had been 45 to 48% in the Brozza era (up from the Moore and Dalton era). I mentioned previously how that was seen as losing money for the studio initially, vis a vis Movie cost $240m with promotion, movie makes 400m, studio gets 175m, losing $65m. Of course this is only one side of the books, safely out of view of the other revenues.

The cost of making Bond has got to come down for it to have any kind of sustainable future. Remember that is what was being talked about when they were trying to spin CR, CR's cost was only supposed to be 70m range, safely in the under 100m, more the GoldenEye & Bourne movie range than DAD. Their business model Spending $280m + another $160m (440m) promoting it to make $586m gross is nuts.

It's not the whole story, but it's not healthy either especially when some of the other revenue streams like DVD are drying up.

[Kristatos]

PG-13 was born out of the backlash from the inadequate rating system that let Temple of Doom squeak by.

Wasn't it Spielberg himself who suggested the rating, after the controversy surrounding Temple of Doom and Gremlins getting a PG? Here in the UK, the controversy was slightly different, with ToD being rated PG (with a warning that some scenes may be too intense for younger children) and Gremlins getting a 15 rating. This highlighted the inconsistensy of the British ratings board and managed to piss off two opposite sets of parents - those who thought the PG for ToD was too lenient and those who thought the 15 for Gremlins was too strict. The BBFC created an intermediate 12 rating, but not for several years, with Tim Burton's Batman being the first film to receive the new rating.

[bjmdds]

Will there ever be an R-rated Bond film? I doubt it. It would lose too much of an audience. What is with all of these vampire themed Hollywood projects now with Twilight, HBO's True Blood, and The Gates on ABC? Enough already. Dark Shadows started this in the late 1960s-1970s and The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler followed, all from Dan Curtis, yet these 21st century projects seem lacking.

[katied]

I would love for the vampire thing to play itself out.Yes, there are exceptions to the rule(True Blood and Let The Right One In among them) but the vampire fad is just lame now.

[Harvey danish]

R -Rated Bond would be exceptionally heavyduty.......I'm all for it..It would bring the curious out ..in my opinion it would have blockbuster results in revenue $$$$$$$$$$$ as well as it's critic's............pro and con..

[bjmdds]

They would lose the under 17 crowd though Mr. Pastry.

[katied]

R -Rated Bond would be exceptionally heavyduty.......I'm all for it..It would bring the curious out ..in my opinion it would have blockbuster results in revenue $$$$$$$$$$$ as well as it's critic's............pro and con..

The younger fans might not get to see it..oh who the hell am I kidding?They'll find ways to sneak in or get their parents to take them!

[FormerBondFan]

What is with all of these vampire themed Hollywood projects now with Twilight, HBO's True Blood, and The Gates on ABC? Enough already. Dark Shadows started this in the late 1960s-1970s and The Night Stalker and The Night Strangler followed, all from Dan Curtis, yet these 21st century projects seem lacking.

What's more overrated? Vampires or zombies.

[Omega]

R -Rated Bond would be exceptionally heavyduty.......I'm all for it..It would bring the curious out ..in my opinion it would have blockbuster results in revenue $$$$$$$$$$$ as well as it's critic's............pro and con..

How many rated R movies have been blockbusters? 300 didn't break 500 million dollars every Bond since GE breaks that. Would a rated R Bond sell as well?

[Omega]

$597,338,077 Iron Man 2 smashes QOS record and it cost less has better writing with better casting.

[Harvey danish]

It with the right Bond would be a step in a direction that hasn't worked well currently due to casting of main character.. It may not break records but would hold it's own and though I know the rating may alienate some and bar others of age it would hold it's ownI feel... yes no doubt a PG would attract all ages and $$$$ but for the "cult like following" people like us who talk, banter, contrubute it would be a step in a direction that would allow more gritty, inner actions and discussions .......Does R Rating alone mean more sex???? not necessarily, but as said in the definition.. some scences may contain violence and may be inappropriate for younger than 17 viewers....... The gloves as to say would still be on but loosened.. all of course with the "right' Bond actor........

[Harvey danish]

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) – It admittedly starts off great guns, but all too quickly it becomes apparent that the big-screen arrival of the supernatural Western DC Comics series "Jonah Hex" is firing loud, empty blanks.

Although Josh Brolin is fine and dandy as the Civil War vet-turned-vengeful bounty hunter with one foot in the grave and a horrendously scarred face, the tortured anti-hero isn't alone when it comes to being cut to the bone.

Clocking in at a barely-there 81 minutes (and that includes the extensive credits sequence), the pared-down end product plays like a generous highlights reel with little else remaining to thread together those explosive, CG-riddled action sequences. Originally slated for an early August bow, the Warner Bros. release was bumped up to serve as young male-skewing counterprogramming to "Toy Story 3," but despite some entertaining bits and pieces, the overall picture unlikely will live up to fanboy Hex-pectations.

They'll tell you that Jonah Hex can trace his DC roots back to the early 1970s but that his life and times date back a century earlier to the Civil War-era Wild West. The legend, at least according to the screenplay by Neveldine & Taylor (the "Crank" movies), has Hex left physically and emotionally mutilated at the hands of the crazed Quentin Turnbull (efficiently if predictably played by John Malkovich), who killed Hex's wife and child in retaliation for the death of his brother. When Turnbull, believed to have been killed in a hotel fire, re-enters the picture with a nefarious scheme that will literally blow the Union apart, Hex is recruited to settle a long-standing score.

In the process, there's no shortage of firepower, but something is missing -- and not just a good chunk of the movie. Hex eventually will always get his man, but director Jimmy Hayward ("Horton Hears a Who!") fails to capture that all-important graphic comic tone that would have been a natural for the sensibilities of, say, Sam Raimi, the Coen brothers or Robert Rodriguez. What one ends up with is something that comes precariously closer to the Barry Sonnenfeld misfire, "Wild, Wild, West," especially by the third act.

Brolin's on-the-money turn aside, it's hard to gauge the other performances given how much of them seem to have been excised, particularly where the likes of Michael Shannon, Aidan Quinn and Tom Wopat are concerned. Megan Fox fails to bring much of a spark to her role of Lilah, the New Orleans prostitute who keeps a candle burning for Hex.

What does get left onscreen certainly looks terrific, with cinematographer Mitchell Amundsen and production designer Tom Meyer getting quite resourceful with the Louisiana locations; composer Marco Beltrami and heavy metal outfit Mastodon provide the necessary sonic grit.