ScreenGeeks Radio

Dave’s Note:  This was supposed to go up in March, but I slacked and lost track of it.

It’s been exactly one year since the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles made their return to the big screen after a 14-year absence. The question on every Shell Head’s mind: when can we expect the sequel, or, more to the point, are we getting a sequel at all? Following a big weekend opening of $24 million, executive producer Harvey Weinstein famously declared, “Cowabunga dudes! It’s sequel time!” The enthusiasm didn’t last, however, when the movie dropped 62% the following weekend and ended up grossing just $54 million domestically (and a little more than that worldwide).  Considering the film cost $35 million to make, the result was a minor hit and a success as a DVD item, but the push for a sequel has yet to take place. Director Kevin Munroe has moved on and is planning another CGI film, called Gatchaman, and there is no TMNT 2 currently being developed at The Weinstein Company or Warner Brothers.

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From the oft-heard complaints you hear from Trekkies about the fourth, fifth and ninth Star Trek films, you’d think we Spock-eared, Klingon-spouting fanboys (and girls) had no sense of humor. I’m referring to the “too much humor” issue that is both an asset and a burden to the longstanding (and still going) Star Trek film franchise.  Honestly, when you have classically trained actors standing around in heavy make-up, give deadly-serious monologues about what is “logical” and, in order to stage a shaking starship, stumble wildly around the “bridge”, dashes of humor are more than welcome.

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I’ve fallen severely behind in my posting of articles, especially ones that Barry has worked hard on, so today is an article extravaganza!  I’ll also be posting some thoughts on recent news stories as well.

We’ve still got some stuff to put up from Starfest.  I’m transcribing and interview we had with the guys over at Random Creature Face Films and director Richard Taylor.  Today, I’m finally posting a report we got from our good friend Jeff.  Jeff got to sit in on Adam Baldwin’s Q&A, and it’s a fun read.  I can vouch that the guy you see in interviews is the same off camera/mic.  Enjoy!

During Starfest 2008, Adam Baldwin spent an hour talking with his fans and answering questions. I have been to several of these questions and answer times at starfest and for me Adam Baldwin was at the top of list. He was very personal, very honest and his humble demeanor was refreshing. He started out by introducing himself, not that he needed to, but he did not assume everyone should know who he is. He took a couple of minutes giving a brief bio and then started answering questions. He answered questions about Chuck, My Bodyguard,  Independence Day and others, but as you can guess, the most popular questions were about his role as Jayne in Firefly.

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This month marks 20 years since the theatrical release of Willow, the fantasy written and produced by George Lucas and directed by Ron Howard.  When it was revealed that the film was being made, many believed that the title was the codename for a new Star Wars movie (sadly, they had to wait 10 more years for another Star Wars episode). Instead, we have Lucas’ obvious attempt at creating a fantasy film series on the level of Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings series, crossed with the blue print of Star Wars, and a dash of the Old Testament.  Willow was intended as a starter film, the equivalent of The Hobbit, with three bigger, more elaborate films to follow. Lucas’ hopes of putting Star Wars to rest for a while and expanding into another genre were thwarted when Willow was only a mid-sized box office hit and, while a money-maker, a minor disappointment (the three installments that were to follow were released as books, Shadow Moon, Shadow Dawn and Shadow Star, written by Lucas and X-men writer Chris Claremont).  On video, however, the film became a huge cult film and is now rightfully considered one of the finest American fantasy films ever made.

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At ScreenGeeks, we use all kinds of resources for our theatrical and dvd releases.  We use Box Office Mojo for referrence on all of our theatrical releases.  For the past few months, they’ve been showing that Postal will be getting a wide release against Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull next weekend.  Some would say that’s crazy to do, but I think it’s a brilliant move.  When Postal fails at the box office, he’ll be able to say that everyone who would have seen Postal went to see Indy instead.

 Well, it looks like that’s not the only excuse Uwe Boll will have when Postal flops.  Kotaku got ahold of a press release from Uwe Boll saying that instead of opening on 1500 screens nationwide, he’s now getting a whopping FOUR screens.  Apparently, they can’t even get theaters in New York or Los Angeles to let them rent out theaters to show the movie.

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This is just a reminder that we will be drawing a name on Sunday to give away a copy of the Criterion Collection edition of Fellini’s 8 1/2.  All you have to do is e-mail us at contest at screengeeks dot com and answer the following question:

What Joel Schumaker film opens with a scene heavily influenced by Fellini’s 8 1/2?

The contest will be open until 11:59pm MST on Saturday, May17th with the winner to be drawn on the 18th.

Yup, we’ve got the Iron Man bug like everyone else.  There are minor spoilers, but we’ll warn you ahead of time.

Edit:  Now with promised links after the break.

 

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Let me say, I was there at comic-con. I was excited about the footage since it primarily contained practical effects. Then I saw the first two trailers and I was…a little disappointed. I walk into the theater ad the first two trailers are Don’t Mess With The Zohan, and The Love Guru. Omg, I thought sitting there waiting for the film to start. And then suddenly The Dark Knight and The Happening trailers come out of nowhere and intantly, I’m stoked.

This movie is awesome. Now…I have not been an Iron Man fan from the comics, but let me tell ya, I think this film is what every Irom Man fan has wanted.  As far as what a Marvel Comics fan expects…this movie is great. There is more character than plot, which personally, is exactly what the perfect Marvel movie needs. This film is exactly what Marvel needed to do as far as developing themselves as a studio. This film is great because of the casting. While the climax (not the ending..wink wink) might be lame, trust me, this is the best first summer movie to come out since…I don’t know when.  All I have to say is enjoy!

I love the fact that we try to make sure that we don’t ask people the same things they always get asked.  Sometimes, you end up getting some truly special stories.  This interview brought us the story of how Nichelle Nichols ended up dancing for Duke Ellington.  It’s a great story and both Barry and I sat in front of her just enjoying her story.  We hope you enjoy it as well.

 

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