They might be family-friendly but these all-ages movies are really
great for grown-ups, too. If you didn't see them in the theater because
you didn't have a kid in tow, get over your insecurities. There's no
need to tap into your inner child to enjoy these flicks fully and
unabashedly.
I'm looking at the box office records for 2008, trying to figure out just how much of the $9.62 billion in domestic sales can be attributed to science fiction movies. The good news is that no matter how you slice it, scifi accounted for a pretty big chunk of the change, so it seems a pretty safe bet that we'll continue to see Hollywood pony up millions to make big, expensive eye-popping science fiction flicks. Go us. The bad news -- and it's not really bad news; just interesting news -- is that I'm having a hard time deciding which of last year's movies should genuinely get credited as scifi, and which just have science fictional elements.
I've discussed this before, of course, most specifically about The Dark Knight, which I don't think quite qualifies as science fiction. True, it features a number of scifi elements (most notably all the BatTech that gets cooked up at Wayne Industries), but at the end of the day I don't think it tips the scale. Leaving aside the murky science fictionality of The Dark Knight, however, other major movies this year are also on the "is it really scifi or not?" bubble. Consider the following $100 million-plus-grossing flicks (and be prepared for minor spoilers):
]]> Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal SkullBolt
A very cute animated movie about a dog that thinks he's a genetically-engineered super-pup because that's the character he plays on a TV show, and no one's ever told him the TV show isn't real life. It's definitely a satire of science fiction and riffs on any number of science fictional movies including, clearly, The Truman Show. The question is, if you riff enough on science fiction and even stuff in a few ginchy special effects, do you become sufficiently scifi to count? Maybe, but for my money this one doesn't.
Journey to the Center of the Earth
Based loosely on Jules Verne's scifi novel, this one should be a no-brainer. But at this point in the game (i.e, 144 years after the novel was originally released), I'm going to front the proposition that the whole "there's another world inside our world" concept is proper fantasy as opposed to scifi, and any movies based on it -- even those featuring a dinosaur -- don't fit squarely into the genre.
Eagle Eye
It's another "Supercomputer Tries to Run Things" sort of movie, a concept which is definitely science fictional (The Terminator, The Matrix, etc.). But the movie itself was marketed as a contemporary action thriller, and you actually had to be in a theater seat before you knew it was science fiction. I slot this in as a scifi credit, but as with Crystal Skull, you can easily argue that if the movie studio isn't marketing a flick as science fiction, it shouldn't really get to count as such.
Hancock
Science fictional superhero origin story? Sorta. But science fiction like the origin stories of The Incredible Hulk or Iron Man? Not so much. You could actually have a big debate over whether this was science fiction or straight up generic superhero fantasy, with valid arguments on either side. But to do that you'd have to find two people who actually care enough about Hancock to argue the point. For everyone's sake, I'll just say this one's too close to call.
So are these movies science fiction? Ultimately it's a judgment call, and I want to hear your opinion. The bright side to all these "bubble" cases is that whether one considers them genuinely scifi or not, the concepts are so pervasive that a movie can snatch up an explicitly science fictional plot point and no one blinks an eye. When scifi is essentially part of the background noise of common culture -- something that filmmakers can use without worrying whether people will follow it or not -- it means that we've won an essential argument about the genre's validity. Once again: Go us.
Winner of the Hugo Award and the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer, John Scalzi is the author of The Rough Guide to Sci-Fi Movies and the novels Old Man's War and Zoe's Tale. He's also the editor of METAtropolis, an audiobook anthology on Audible.com. His column appears every Thursday.
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We've all been there: Teenagers sitting in class, listening to a teacher drone on and on about unimportant things, wishing we could simply fly away. Or, in my case, wishing I could convert the teacher's DNA to that of a drooling, mutated monster that I could squash with a cosmic hammer of doom.
We've all be ostracized at one point or another, in one degree or another, isolated, confused and embarrassed by just about anything up to and including the wind blowing funny. I think it's these feelings of confusion, of not fitting in, that make the supernatural teen such an enduring movie genre. Not popular in class? What the hell do you care, you're a witch. Or a vampire. Or a werewolf. You can (and often do) literally eat your classmates and teachers for lunch. Snotty homecoming queen giving you a hassle? No worries, you'll call down a mini plague of locusts to mess up her hair. You're busy trying to stop an invasion of demons -- does that trig test really matter all that much?
Edward Cullen from Twilight, Scott Howard from Teen Wolf, Carrie White from Carrie... many movies, many characters, but who is the greatest of them all? Well, Dear Reader, that's up to you to decide. We're taking nominations! Simply post your pick in the comments field below this column. The characters with the most nominations will make up the field of sixteen contenders, who will be announced on January 15. Your votes will determine the contenders. Your votes will decide the result of each head-to-head battle. The fights will continue in daily columns on this site, until we crown the Greatest Supernatural Teen on February 13.
]]> The Rules:2. Make that teen "supernatural." We want the character to have a supernatural element, or one that fights or interacts with supernatural elements. So, of course, Harry Potter counts, as does David (Kieffer Sutherland's vampire from The Lost Boys). The Transformer's Sam Witwicky (Shia LeBeouf) would not count, but Edgar Frog (vampire hunter teen from The Lost Boys) would.
3. Characters from pure scifi movies are out: Transformers (space robots), Star Wars (future scifi), Men in Black (high-tech aliens), X-Men (science detailed within the context of the story) and Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure (future time travel) would be out. Weird Science (no way you can call that "science fiction"), Carrie (teleknesis with zero scientific explanation) and Night of the Comet (zombies are supernatural, it's just the way it is) would be in.
4. Teenager! We're looking for teens, not kids and not twenty-somethings. The kids/pre-teens/teens factor, however, is darn hard to judge. Does Cole Sear (The Sixth Sense) count? Ofelia, from Pan's Labyrinth? Those two are awful close to the "teenage" or maybe "pre-teen" level. We'll play it by ear and use common sense, so nominate away.
5. Is that movie really supernatural? The vast majority of the slasher flicks are out. Michael Myers, Jason Voorhees, these guys are very resilient, true, but not really "supernatural." Freddy Krueger is, as is Chucky, so you're looking for characters that battle them on the supernatural level -- like Heather Langenkamp in Nightmare on Elm Street III: Dream Warriors. You might think Goonies is supernatural, but are there any actual ghosts in there? Nope, just physical traps. It's a thriller, not a supernatural flick, so Chunk is out!
6. When in doubt: Nominate! Admittedly, there is a ton of gray area here. Drew Barrymore's Charlie McGee (Firestarter), is she supernatural or scifi? Not sure? Then just nominate. If enough like-minded people nominate, we'll see if there's room for the borderline cases.
Get on It:
There you go, a classic tournament in the making. Bust out your IMDB
research, hit that DVD collection, IM your friends, whatever it takes
to jog the memory and get your favorite characters into the ring.
Sixteen teens enter... only one leaves with the title.
Scott Sigler writes tales of hard-science horror, then gives them away as free audiobooks at www.scottsigler.com. His new novel, Contagious, hit bookstores on December 30. If you don't agree with what Scott says in this blog, please email him scott@scottsigler.com. Please include all relevant personal information, such as your address and what times you are not home, so Scott can come visit and show you his world famous "Chicken Scissors."
]]>
If you know Caddyshack as well as Bill Murray knows the golf course's underground tunnels, you're on your way to getting a hole-in-one on this quiz. Caddyshack has it all: SNL alumni, enough classic one-liners to fill a book -- and gophers! Plus, it's one of the few movies that injects the sport with a good bit of humor.Take Quiz »
Bonus question: What are the ways in which Carl tries to exterminate the gopher?
Answer correctly by Noon ET | 11C on Monday, January 12 and you'll be entered in a random drawing for an AMC backpack with a Classic Sports Films DVD prize pack that includes Caddyshack, Happy Gilmore, Tin Cup, and Hoosiers.
• SciFi Wire lists nine reasons George Lucas should retire -- or be shot into outer space. The man hasn't directed a good movie in decades.
• Terminator Salvation director McG will be working on a Captain Nemo movie. Let's just hope this is a faithful take -- Verne's Nemo is still one of the best characters in science fiction.
• The Dark Knight effect has hit Peter Segal's Shazam! superhero movie, which is now dead after Warner Bros. insisted on making the comedic character's story more grim and gritty.
• TR2N finally has a leading man. Garrett Hedlund, who had supporting roles in Troy and Eragon, beat out competition like Ryan Gosling and Trek's Chris Pine to follow Jeff Bridges' footsteps into Master Control Computer.
]]> • A preview of the upcoming Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica is online. I don't think BSG can go Dallas for too long without taking the fight to the stars.• Joss Whedon's Dollhouse is getting favorable, though not slavish, reviews. It's still only a matter of time before Fox flushes yet another of his projects.
• Science fiction is chock full of some really great fake ads. And strangely, a great majority of them are in Chinese. The revolution is coming, gents.
]]>1. They need to play Mad Men all year round and at different times. Lots of people have heard about the show but have no way to watch it. Put it on and get more people hooked.
]]>
What's life like for the cast of Breaking Bad now that Bryan Cranston has won an Emmy? Not that different... except that he won't let Anna Gunn (Skyler) look him in the eye, he hit Betsy Brandt (Marie) in the forehead with the statue (before making her polish it), and he walks around naked all the time -- even when the script doesn't call for it. You know, the usual stuff.
Here's one I like:
From "Arrival", Number 2 (played by Guy Doleman) to Number 6, during the initial interrogation:
"Let's bring it all up to date, shall we?"
This sort of suave, self-assured imperative disguised as a question helps set the tone of demeaning assertive control wielded by Number 2.
• Jennifer Garner and Ben Affleck welcomed a new baby girl. This is the second child for the couple, after three-year-old daughter Violet. No word on a name for the new arrival yet, but we imagine it'll fall somewhere in the color spectrum.
• Footage has surfaced of Jeffrey Wright being tasered by police while Josh Brolin recovered from a pepper-spray attack during the actors' arrest in Shreveport, LA. this past summer. (Something tells us this won't end up as an extra on the W. DVD.) Charges against both actors, stemming from a bar fight they were involved in, have been dropped.
• There's just no time to be an indie star when you're the idol of teenage girls everywhere, as Twilight's Robert Pattison discovered when he was forced to drop out of the independent film Parts per Billion in order to begin work on New Moon. Don't worry Robert, there's only four books in the Twilight series.You'll be free to score some indie cred sometime around 2014.
• In other swoony romance news, James Mangold (Walk the Line) will helm Juliet, about a woman who discovers she's a descendant of the infamous tragic lovers. Meanwhile DJ Caruso (Eagle Eye) will tackle an adult take on Jack and the Beanstalk with Jack the Giant Killer. You heard it here first: Offbeat literary fantasy is the new comic book movie.
• Are you a fan of remakes and Terminator: Salvation helmer McG? Well, then you're in luck, as the filmmaker has signed on to direct a remake of Disney's 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. Knowing the Mouse House, they'll probably add in a bunch of pirates for no reason.
• Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables keeps getting more testosterone-heavy by the day, with The Wrestler's Mickey Rourke now on board. Rourke joins Stallone, Jet Li, Forest Whitaker, Jason Statham, Dolph Lundgren and Sir. Ben Kingsley (what?) in an action flick about a team of "expendable" mercenaries sent to overthrow a South American dictator. Everything about this movie screams "'80s throwback" in the best possible way.
• Looks like you can blame Speed Racer for one more thing, as screenwriter John August (Big Fish) confirmed that the Shazam! movie he was working on for Warner Bros. is officially dead now thanks to the family film's burnout at the box office. Seems gee-whiz dogooders like Captain Marvel just don't have a place in the grim and gritty post-Dark Knight world.
]]>ENTERTAINMENT NEWS
BIZ
Lionsgate to acquire TV Guide Network and TVGuide.com
from L.A. Times - TV News
The studio will pay $255 million in a surprise move that
derails a previously announced deal.
from Variety.com - Golden Globes News
Golden Globes News: Economy poses major challenge to gifting suites -- The suite life will continue this year -- with at least six Golden Globes gifting suites scheduled over the weekend. But organizers say putting the events together during the economy's freefall has been a mighty challenge.
Will Fox Be Narnia's New Home?
from Box Office Boffo
Now that Disney has cut ties with Walden Media's "The
Chronicles of Narnia" franchise, some are speculating that 20th Century
Fox is the natural next home.
SAG STRIKE?
SAG delays cable deal bargaining
from Variety.com
Labor Issues: Members advised to continue working -- The
Screen Actors Guild has quietly delayed bargaining on its basic cable pact --
which expired three weeks ago.
FESTIVALS
Palm Springs basks in the glow of a starry awards night
from USATODAY.com Life - Top Stories
They're getting serious awards buzz, but stars at the Palm
Springs Film Festival on Tuesday were happily humble.
SUNDANCE
Damien Rice, John Rzeznik, others to play at Sundance
from Top Stories from LiveDaily.com
(LiveDaily.com) Damien Rice [ tickets
], Goo Goo Dolls [ tickets
] frontman John Rzeznik, Wynonna [ tickets
], Rachael Yamagata [ tickets
] and Gin Blossoms [ tickets
] are among the acts who've joined the lineup of performers for the Sundance
ASCAP Music Cafe, part of this month's Sundance Film Festival.
AWARDS
Pixar Animation pioneer Catmull earns Oscar
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ...
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- One of the digital wizards behind such
cartoon smashes as "WALL-E," "Ratatouille" and
"Finding Nemo" is getting an Academy Award....
Oscars 2.0: The film academy revamps its Web site
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ... by By SANDY COHEN
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Want to hear Cameron Crowe's thoughts on
winning an Oscar or see how king-sized movie posters are assembled? How about a
sneak peek at some of the exclusive exhibitions held at the film academy's
`Dark Knight,' `Iron Man' battle for effects Oscar
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ...
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- Superheroes Batman, Iron Man and Hellboy
are mixing it up with Brad Pitt, Nicole Kidman and an ancient mummy for the
'Journey,' 'Mummy' eligible for FX Oscar
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
Jonas Brothers to be Globes presenters
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
Brad Pitt to Present at People's Choice?
Brad Pitt could be a surprise guest at tomorrow night's
People's Choice Awards.
'Iron Man' an original for Scripter
from Hollywood Reporter by By Borys Kit
The screenwriters of "Iron Man" and the scribes
behind more literary fare "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button,"
"The Reader" and "
2008 'Razzies' Nominees Include Indy 4, Paris Hilton And Tom
Cruise - How Would You Vote?
from MTV Movies Blog by Larry Carroll
Is it just me, or was 2008 one of the worst years for movies ever? Well folks, the time has finally come to vent. It's one of my favorite days of the year, as my Razzie ballot just arrived in the mail. As a registered voter, I take my obligation very seriously, and it's always interesting to see what the annual awards for bad filmmaking have nominated for the worst of the worst.
Hollywood producers unveil best film nominees
from Reuters: Entertainment News
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - The Producers Guild of America on Monday unveiled nominees for their film and television awards with "The Dark Knight" and "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" among nominees for best-produced movie.
MOVIES
Daily Box Office: Monday, January 5, 2009
from Box Office Mojo - Current Box Office Results
Marley and Me tops Monday's box office with $1.6 million
Robert Pattinson Drops Out Of New Film, Citing 'Twilight'
Commitments
from MTV Movies Blog by Larry Carroll
Well, today's big news just went live over at MTV.com, and it's something that
will probably sadden most Twilighters: Robert Pattinson has dropped out of "Parts Per
Billion."
'Twlight': Taylor Lautner still Jacob?
from EW.com: Today's Latest Headlines
After a monster of a casting dilemma, it appears likely that
the actor will howl in 'Twilight' sequel 'New Moon'
Mickey Rourke joins 'Expendables'
from Variety.com
Simon Pegg And Nick Frost Confirmed For Roles In 'Tintin'?
from Splash Page by Elisabeth Rappe
Steven Spielberg's adaptation of the classic 'Tintin' comics isn't having an easy time making it to the big screen. Production is only a month away, but the film lacks all but one cast member: Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock. But Ain't It Cool News is reporting that the film finally has a grand total of three cast members -- and the newest additions are as close to geek gods as you can get: Nick Frost and Simon Pegg.
Video:
Angela Bassett Talks 'Notorious'
from Access Hollywood - Movies
Angela Bassett talks about the challenges of playing the
part of Voletta Wallace, the mother of rapper Notorious B.I.G.
Video:
Derek Luke Talks 'Notorious'
from Access Hollywood - Movies
Derek Luke talks about being personally picked by Sean Combs
to play the part of Puff Daddy in the new Notorious B.I.G. biopic.
Newest 'Watchmen' Trailer Has An Aggrieved Warner Bros. Turning
Japanese
from Defamer by Kyle Buchanan
Fox and Warner Bros. may currently be locked in a fanboy-torturing Watchmen legal battle, but that
isn't going to stop WB from releasing Watchmen's final, full
trailer...in Japan.
Watchmen Video Journal: The Minutemen
from /Film by orfilms@gmail.com (slashfilm.com)
Earlier today we posted a kick *** Japanese Watchmen movie trailer, totally forgetting that it was the 6th of the month. And you probably know by now that every month on the 6th Warner Bros releases a new Watchmen Video Journal.
John Woo takes Chinese epic to Western audiences
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ... by By MIN
HONG KONG (AP) -- John Woo is preparing to introduce his
first Chinese-language film in 16 years to foreign audiences after the
historical epic proved a massive success in
McG in negotiations for '20,000 Leagues Under the Sea' remake
from Entertainment Weekly's Hollywood Insider by Nicole Sperling
To prove once again that there are no new ideas in Hollywood,
Disney is remaking its 1954 classic 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and is in
negotiations with McG (Terminator: Salvation) to come aboard to direct.
First Look: Channing Tatum and Terrence Howard in Dito
Montiel's Fighting
from /Film by orfilms@gmail.com
(slashfilm.com)
Rouge Pictures has released the first two photos from Dito Montiel's
follow-up to A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints - an action drama set in the
world of underground street fighting. Fighting stars Channing
Tatum as a small-town boy Shawn MacArthur, who has come to
First Look: Judd Apatow's Funny People
from /Film by orfilms@gmail.com
(slashfilm.com)
Universal has the first official production photo from Judd Apatow's
upcoming dramedy Funny People. The film stars Adam Sandler as a 42-year
old comic named George Simmons, who one day he learns that he has a rare
untreatable blood disorder, and only has six months to a year left to live. Seth
Rogen plays Ira, a 25-year-old deli counter worker and aspiring stand-up
comedian who George takes under his wing
Chris Pine puts his own spin on 'Trek's' Kirk
from MSNBC.com: Movies
Pine believes the new movie will give audiences a sense of hope -- something he feels has been lacking in other sci-fi box office hits.
Lex Luthor Not Returning For 'Superman Returns' Sequel?
from Splash Page by Brian Warmoth
Perhaps an atomic non-story today, rumors have popped up that Lex Luthor may be out as the main villain for the potential sequel to "Superman Returns" (possibly titled "Man of Steel").
World War II rages on at the multiplex
from USATODAY.com Life - Top Stories
World War II never dies. It doesn't even fade away. It lives
forever in the creative fields of
TELEVISION
Better Than the Fall? A Host of TV Series, New and Not
from NYT > Television
The first few months of 2009 will be rich with new and
returning shows.
HBO lands rights to inaugural ceremony
from Hollywood Reporter by By Paul J. Gough
HBO has snagged the exclusive telecast rights to the opening
ceremony of President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration week.
Kelsey Grammer to star in ABC pilot
from Variety.com
TV News: Tucker Cawley writing comedy for network -- Kelsey
Grammer is taking another stab at a sitcom.
NBC, John Wells on 'Police' beat
from Hollywood Reporter by By Nellie Andreeva
NBC is looking to keep a John Wells-branded drama on the air
after the March finale of "ER" with an offer for an episodic order to
Wells' new cop drama pilot "Police" (formerly "LAPD").
Sanjay Gupta offered Surgeon General post
from Hollywood Reporter by By Paul J. Gough
CNN chief medical correspondent Dr. Sanjay Gupta will likely
be nominated the nation's new Surgeon General in the Obama administration.
Lahti, Sneed check into USA's military hospital
from Hollywood Reporter by By Nellie Andreeva
Emmy winner Christine Lahti and Johnny Sneed have joined the
cast of USA Network's 90-minute pilot "Operating Instructions,"
directed by "Hitch" helmer Andy Tennant.
Review: 'Frontline: The Old Man and the Storm'
from L.A. Times - TV News
Three and a half years after the floodwaters rose and
swallowed New Orleans, popular culture doesn't quite know what to do with
Hurricane Katrina and its ongoing effect on the city's and the country's
identity.
'24' ups the ante in Washington, D.C.
A little over a year ago, Sutherland and the crew of his popular Fox TV series, "24," came to the nation's capital to film segments of the show's seventh season.
A&E reality show has cops chasing ghosts
from The Live Feed by hollywoodreporter
Who you gonna call? How about 911?A&E is seeking to
one-up Sci Fi's "Ghost Hunters" with a new series that blends
paranormal investigation with law...
from Variety.com
Exclusives: Network gives six-episode order to series --
MUSIC
Nine insiders who are reshaping the music biz for 2009 and
beyond
The Stooges guitarist Ron Asheton found dead at 60
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ... by By
Amy Winehouse drops drug case appeal in Norway
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ...
New Eminem, 50 Cent Songs Hit Radio, Web
from Billboard News - All by Hillary Crosley, N.Y.
There's still no solidified release dates for upcoming
Interscope albums from Eminem and 50 Cent, but new music from both acts has
emerged in the past 24 hours. Eminem's "Crack a Bottle," which
features 50 as well as Dr. Dre, leaked online today (Jan. 6), while 50's "I
Get It In," debuted last night on
Stars Set For Super Bowl Party Performances
from Billboard News - All by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
Top music acts have begun lining up performances in
conjunction with Super Bowl XLIII, to be held Feb. 1 in
Aerosmith
Gets Back To Work After '08 Break
from Billboard News - All by Jonathan Cohen, N.Y.
After its members spent most of 2008 recovering from a variety of medical ailments, Aerosmith is ready to return to work on its next studio album, according to a Web post yesterday (Jan. 5) from drummer Joey Kramer.
iTunes
Dumps DRM, Adds Variable Pricing
from Billboard News - All by Chris M. Walsh, N.Y.
At the MacWorld conference today (Jan. 6) in San Francisco,
Apple Inc. confirmed reports that all four majors were now onboard to deliver
DRM-free music through the iTunes Music Store.
Soulja Boy Web cartoon to debut this month
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 6 (UPI) -- Soulja Boy Tell'em introduced his upcoming Web
series via his latest video for the song "Soulja Boy Tell'em"
Tuesday, Interscope Records said.
Rihanna taking no wardrobe risks for Malaysia show
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ... by By SEAN YOONG
Scoop: Britney's tour gets off to shaky start
from MSNBC.com: Gossip
According to Us Weekly, Britney Spears just doesn't have the work ethic she used to and it's affecting her upcoming tour.
Small Fla. town embraces Travolta during tragedy
from AP Top Entertainment News At 11:05 ... by By TAMARA LUSH
Kevin Smith's Los Angeles Comic Book Store to Close
from /Film by orfilms@gmail.com
(slashfilm.com)
Writer/director Kevin Smith runs two comic book stores, one in his home town of Red Bank, NJ and the other in Los Angeles.
Ferrell taking Bush spoofs to Broadway, HBO
Will Ferrell, the man who invented "strategery"
and other Bushisms, is taking his spoofs of the 43rd president to Broadway and
HBO.
Josh Brolin, Jeffrey Wright Cleared in Bar Brawl
Looks like there'll be no need for a presidential pardon for
this W. crew. Prosecutors in
Garner gives birth to 2nd daughter
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 6 (UPI) --
Madonna stars in Louis Vuitton ads
from Entertainment News - UPI.com
Bruce Lee's home to become a museum
from Hollywood Reporter by Reuters
A philanthropic bid by a
'Idol'-less inauguration planned
from Los Angeles Times - Celebrity News
Contrary to rumors circulating last week, Jennifer Hudson
will not be performing at the presidential inauguration.
Scared Swayze says may have only 2 years to live
from Reuters: Entertainment News
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Actor Patrick Swayze, in his first television interview since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer last year, said he was scared, angry and "going through hell" and may only have two years to live.
]]>
It usually begins with a half-kidding insult, a wrong look, a crossing over into a quick-fused tough guy's personal space. Whatever it is, the fragile laws of social decorum have been violated, and what was just a moment before the local public watering hole becomes a boxing ring or, if things get really out of hand -- a steel-caged wrestling match. One might think there are only so many ways to shoot a barroom brawl, but the ten movies on this list prove that the bar fight can be improved upon, expanded, and amplified.
10. Star Wars (1977)
Before it was famously altered, this brawl originally had cocksure Han Solo (Harrison Ford) stalling for time before blasting green-skinned alien bounty hunter Greedo with his laser gun from under a table of the Mos Eisley Cantina. An unphased Solo then stands up, flips a coin to the bartender and says, "Sorry about the mess." When re-released in 1997, director George Lucas changed the scene to have Solo shoot only after being shot at by Greedo, thus inspiring the fanboy protest: "Han Shot First."
9. On Deadly Ground (1994)
You never want to mess with Steven Seagal, especially when he's directing his own movie, but poor Big Mike (Mike Starr) makes this very mistake. After thoroughly dispatching Big Mike's crew, Seagal challenges the inebriated jerk to the "Hand Slap Game." Mike eventually gets pummeled by an unflinching Seagal, who asks him: "What does it take to change the essence of a man?" "I need . . . time to change" sputters Mike, thus making Ground's barroom brawl the first and only in movie history to offer spiritual healing.
8. Road House (1989)
Peak era Patrick Swayze and still the best bar fight movie ever made -- in fact, the entire film might as well be just one long bar fight. Highlight: One of Ben Gazzara's henchmen clears the dance floor of the Double Deuce by going Ninja Turtles with a pool stick, then pole vaults and flips onto the stage to challenge Sam Elliot and bouncer Swayze, to battle. Gazzara's reaction to all this? "Can somebody get a drink around here?"
7. From Dusk 'Til Dawn (1996)
6. Top Secret! (1984)
A barroom brawl underwater? It happens in war movie spoof Top Secret!
when Val Kilmer's endless fight with a bad guy spills over (pun
intended) into a river, where the two fight undaunted amidst their own
air bubbles and an entire Western saloon -- bartender, poker players,
swinging doors and falling chandelier included -- materializes on
river's floor (see also: Shane). The funniest part of the
whole perfectly executed sequence is a barstool slowly moving through
the water that actually breaks on Kilmer.
5. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
This
one's literally on fire, as the Nepal bar of Indiana Jones' former
lover Marion Ravenwood (Karen Allen) goes up in flames while Indy
(Harrison Ford) shoots it up with a group of henchmen headed by Nazi
Major Toht (Ronald Lacey) over the headpiece to the priceless Staff of
Ra. There's a little bit of everything here: Immolating men are shot,
greedy Nazi hands are seared, and the heavy-drinking Ravenwood gulps
down liquor pouring from a punctured jug before offing a bad guy with a
burning log.
4. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
"I need your clothes, your boots, and your motorcycle." So commands
a hulking, naked Arnold Schwarzenegger to the shocked frequenters of a
seedy biker bar in the scene that introduced an unstoppable killing
machine to the world of barroom brawls. You'd think the bikers would
know better than to laugh at a Terminator, but machismo rules, and
after failing to put his cigar out on Arnie's bulging pecs and winding
up on a skillet, the original addressee willingly forks over his keys.
Exit Arnie, all geared up to "Bad to the Bone," but not before leaving
with one final wardrobe addition: Killer shades.
3. Goodfellas (1990)
More beatdown than brawl, yet classic nevertheless. Short-tempered
Tommy's (Joe Pesci) revenge on taunting nemesis Billy Batts (Frank
Vincent) is as surreal as it is mercilessly brutal, with Donovan's
dreamy "Atlantis" scoring the gangster violence of a ambush (with a
little help Robert De Niro) both deserved and a fate-sealing act of
impulsiveness. Of course, for director Martin Scorsese, ethics are as
important as standing ground. Says an apologetic Tommy to fellow
gangster and bar owner Henry Hill (Ray Liotta): "I didn't want to get
blood on your floor."
2. Shane (1953)
A Western ain't nothin' without a barroom brawl, and Shane's
old school mano-a-mano slugfest between the titular hero and a rude
lackey of villain Ryker (Emile Meyer) is the best of a grand tradition.
The anticipation of each blow is so tense you feel you're in the action
yourself, but it doesn't end there, as friend Starrett (Van Heflin)
comes to the rescue when Ryker plays dirty and uses his gang to
outnumber Shane. The underdogs emerge victorious from the free-for-all,
and their shared look of joy while taking on all comers is the
Western's finest display of rugged frontiersmen's camaraderie.
1. Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003)
As already seen on this list, Tarantino is no slouch when it comes to
bar fights, but the "Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves" chapter of
his Kill Bill Vol. 1
is a saloon smackdown of epic proportions. Traveling to Japan to seek
revenge on crime boss O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), the Bride (Uma Thurman)
must first go through O-Ren's henchmen, including an army of
black-suited, Zorro-masked, samurai sword-wielding yakuzas within a
paper-walled bar. Tarantino's show-off compositions (black and white,
silhouettes), deliciously exaggerated sound effects, and passionate
love for martial arts choreography and excess (flying acrobatics,
decapitations, eye-gouges, full body slicings) all make monumental too
tame a word to describe this exercise in pure kineticism.
What movie has your favorite barroom brawl? Click here to vote.]]>
Thanks to a Cornell graduate student, you'll soon be able to receive Star Trek style medical treatments without the hassle of beaming to the final frontier. George K. Lewis, a third-year PhD student in biomedical engineering, has created a pocket-sized, therapeutic ultrasound device that can not only create images to make a diagnosis, but can also treat serious injuries using only sound waves. If this sounds familiar, it's because you've seen Dr. McCoy carrying around such devices in the Star Trek series and movies, waving them over lifeless bodies right before either magically reviving them or uttering, "He's dead, Jim."
Take Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, where the crew travels back in time to 1986. Through the course of their mission Chekov is injured, prompting McCoy to beg Captain Kirk not to leave him in the hands of "twentieth century medicine." Good thing, too: Whereas the hospital doctors were going to drill a hole in Chekov's head, McCoy quickly and accurately diagnoses his wound using a Tricorder and painlessly cures him by placing a small medical device on his forehead.
Yes, drilling holes sounds a bit barbaric. But Lewis's work means we can some day leave behind the medical "medievalism" Bones encountered altogether. We were already on our way before this breakthrough -- in 2007 researchers published the first experiment using ultrasound to seal punctured lungs. This powerful device, built for just $100, will open whole new avenues of possibilities. "New research and applications are going to spin out," Lewis says, thanks to the fact that "these systems will be so affordable and portable in nature."
As it is, Cornell says the higher-energy ultrasound that Lewis works with can treat prostate tumors or kidney stones, stabilize a gunshot wound, relieve arthritis pressure and help treat brain cancer by pushing drugs quickly through the brain following surgery. Could it heal a man's head wound in a matter of minutes like McCoy's model did in The Voyage Home? Why not?
"People are realizing that when harnessed appropriately, you can use ultrasound to treat things as opposed to just diagnose them," says Dr. Peter Henderson, the chief research fellow at Weill Cornell's Laboratory for Bioregenerative Medicine and Surgery. The lab is using one of the devices in experiments that aim to minimize the injury that occurs when tissues do not receive adequate blood flow. "It's a wide-open field right now, and George's device is going to play a huge role in catalyzing the discovery of new and better therapeutic applications."
Lewis suggests that the device could even have applications on the battlefield, where military medics could use it to cauterize bleeding wounds. So if McCoy brings the Klingons along on his next time-traveling adventure, we'll be ready to fight. Now all we need to do is figure out what was in the pill McCoy gave the woman at the hospital to make her grow a new kidney, and we'll be ready to explore strange new worlds.
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It's true, no one delivers a snappy kill quote the way Arnold Schwarzenegger does. ("You're luggage.") But he's not the only action hero capable of uttering a punny catchphrase right before dispatching the bad guy. Take our quiz and see what other killer turns of phrase you remember.
As the 1980s segued into the 1990s and neon jelly bracelets were phased out in favor of filthy flannel shirts, the slasher film wobbled pathetically on its last leg. Original movies were few and far between, and the genre's icons, of all the nerve, were satisfied to simply cash in on their past successes in sequel after sequel: Jason Voorhees, for example, spent a lot of time on a boat before he reached Manhattan in Friday the 13th Part VIII. Michael Myers spent a lot of time getting tangled up in a convoluted mythology in Halloween 5, while Freddy Krueger spent a lot of time with Roseanne and Tom Arnold in Freddy's Dead: The Final Nightmare. Whatever was a poor slasher fan to do? The obvious answer is, eat Stouffer's French Bread Pizzas and cry -- and that's just what many of us did. OK maybe it was just me; the point is, those were dark days for those of us who enjoyed the heady days of, say, He Knows You're Alone. The tears finally stopped a-flowin' when an unknown screenwriter teamed up with a veteran horror director in 1996 to make a little movie called Scream. (The Stouffer's addiction, however, remains to this day.)
]]> With Scream, Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven completely revitalized the slasher genre while simultaneously deconstructing it. It's an elbow to the ribs of genre aficionados as it's also what the aficionados crave. Most references to Scream seem only to mention the horror "rules" laid out by Randy, the film buff nerd -- never say "I'll be right back." deducing who's the next to die, etc. This winking at the audience was refreshing (it's nice, sometimes, to see a movie that acknowledges the existence of movies) but disarming: There are almost enough laughs to push Scream into the category of "horror comedy."The larger narrative of the film, however, keeps it firmly entrenched in the realm of fright flick: Wes Craven, after all, is at the helm, and Scream is one damn scary movie. The slasher staples I've discussed are all present and accounted for: The Final Girl, the masked killer and the large knife with which he goes a-killin', the stock characters, the gore... and so on. Forget the humor, forget the horror "rules" and the self-referential bits -- Scream is one of the best slasher films to be found. No wonder it revitalized the genre.
Made for about $14 million, the movie has earned over $160 million worldwide. Now, I don't consider myself to be some kind of business-minded mathemagician, but I think that's what's known as "a frickin' huge profit." Where the profit goes, of course, the imitators follow... and there were more than a few more slashers headed down the pike in the latter half of the '90s, including two Scream sequels.
I Know What You Did Last Summer
The most notable, perhaps, is I Know What You Did Last Summer,
again written by Williamson (based on the book by Lois Duncan). The
tale of a slicker-wearing, hook-wielding, fisherman wackadoo hunting
down good-looking teens for some old-fashioned revenge was also a
success, if it was a little blander than its predecessor. Nonetheless,
it's gone on to become a bonafide series, spawning enough sequels to
prompt one to say, "OK fine, you know, you still know, and you'll
always know what I did last summer. I get it, good for you."
Urban Legend
The idea of how, like, urban legends can sometimes come true was explored in the cleverly titled Urban Legend.
I mean, it WOULD be scary if you came home one night and you didn't
turn on the light because you didn't want to wake up your roommate...
and then the next morning it turned out that your roommate was totally
dead, and written on the wall in your roommate's very blood was written
"Aren't you glad you didn't turn on the light?" Urban Legend is bland enough to make I Know What You Did
seem like a hardcore flick you'd find in the skuzziest grindhouse
theater on 42nd Street. Still, audiences were hungry for slasher flicks
-- any slasher flick, apparently, and Urban Legend, too, became a franchise that's still kicking a decade after the original hit screens.
Valentine
The movie from the slasher renaissance that's perhaps most maligned is the one that most closely adheres to the formula: 2001's Valentine. Unfortunately, this guy who suffered trauma comes back years later all masked-up and stab-happy
film doesn't have...well, it simply doesn't have the balls to make it a
great horror movie. It's certainly got its moments (and I have an odd
affection for it), but it's just too timid. In my dreams, though,
there's Valentine footage out there, rescued from the cutting
room floor and stashed away somewhere -- footage filled with all the
requisite blood spilling and creepiness of the best the genre has to
offer.
If Scream brought about the resurgence of the slasher film, it also (oddly enough) helped usher in the PG-13 era of horror. See, unfortunately for genre buffs, the lesson learned from Scream's success wasn't "audiences love scary movies that are actually scary," but rather "audiences love scary movies that feature the fresh-faced teen stars of network television." Films featuring recognizable stars became known as "WB horror" -- while a movie with actors from 90210 or 7th Heaven earned a sneer and a hearty "Mehhh!" from hardcore gore junkies, these casting choices are still practiced heavily today, for better or for worse.
As filmgoers' tastes change, so will the type of horror films glutting the market. Like 'em or loathe 'em, slasher films have come and gone enough times to prove that they constitute a viable product that audiences continue to dig, not at all unlike Stouffer's French Bread Pizza.
A fan of horror movies and scary stuff, Stacie Ponder started her blog Final Girl so she'd have a platform from which she could tell everyone that, say, Friday the 13th, Part 2 rules. She leads a glamorous life, walking on the razor's edge of danger and intrigue.
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