This week, we talk about how ScreenGeeks came about and how each of us got into loving movies.  While we don’t pretend that our split from First Showing was sunshine and rainbows, we definitely reminisce about the fun times we had.  As one editorial note that may or may not be important to some people, it’s worth pointing out that all of us made our own decision to leave the site.  We weren’t kicked out or anything silly like that.  Anyone looking for juicy gossip shouldn’t bother wasting their time.

 

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One of the great ones died today, and by that, I don’t merely mean one of the great Hollywood movie stars, but one of the great men and someone who made a difference. Paul Newman is so many things to so many people, even a list seems both inevitable and pointless. Yes, he was a huge movie star, with a career that lasted for decades, but this was only in a small part of his life overall. Newman was a film legend who could really act, took numerous chances with lots of tricky, complex roles and was enormously accomplished on stage as well as the big screen. Yes, he won an Academy award for acting in a Martin Scorsese picture, but he also gave dozens of other performances that were as good, if not even better, in films that range from excellent to being widely considered classics of American cinema. Yes, he had his own salad dressing, founded by his Newman’s Own company in 1982, but have you tried everything else that company produces (best chocolate-chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever tasted) and did you know the profits go straight to charity? Yes, Newman was an auto racer, but did you know that he won a race at the age of 70 (!) and that his introducing his friend and co-star, Tom Cruise, to the sport lead to Days of Thunder? Yes, he was the voice of a car in Pixar’s Cars, but did you know he acted for the Coen Brothers, Alfred Hitchcock, George Roy Hill, Sam Mendes, Sidney Lumet, Martin Ritt, Robert Benton, AND Robert Altman (to name just a few)? Here are a few other things that not everyone knows about Paul Newman:

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Ethan’s Score : 4.5/10

Alfred Hitchcock once said that to make a great film, you needed three things : the script, the script and the script. Eagle Eye is a somewhat noble effort. Director D.J. Caruso tries hard to make a relevant and exciting action-picture and the cast all do solid jobs. But unfortunately, the script is so amazingly dumb and preposterous that it nearly destroys and good it gets.

Shia LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, a slacker who undergoes some major drama when his twin-brother dies. Michelle Monaghan plays a character who’s name I have forgotten. But she’s a major MILF. Anyway, they get throw into a big terrorist plot…yadda yadda yadda. You’ve all seen the trailer. I don’t need to explain this to you anymore.

Eagle Eye wants to be a film like The Dark Knight that balances excitement and political commentary. They both even concern The Patriot Act. But Eagle Eye’s message pretty much boils down to nothing more than “TECHNOLOGY IS BAD AND THE GOVERNMENT SHOULDN’T SPY ON YOU!!!”. Another big hindrance of the film is it’s numerous plot-holes and implausibilities. There is suspension of disbelief and then there is this. If you want to come off as smart, then try and actually put some logic into it. Otherwise you come off as a special-ed kid trying to make a speech on the economy.

LaBeouf and Monaghan are both capable leads. But their dialogue is completely repetitive. Any real attempt at developing them come off as contrived and silly. Billy Bob Thornton is one of the best parts of the film. He’s very funny and adds his usual gravitas. But in the end, the characters never really feel real. Another problem with the script.

I may have spent the past four paragraphs bashing the hell out of Eagle Eye. But I will admit that it’s still very entertaining. But you truly have to turn off your brain to accept any of it. And this wants to be oh-so political and intellectual. Please Spielberg, before they use your idea as a movie, actually look over the script.

With The Great Depression 2 : Electric Boogalo hitting America soon, will peoplereally want to go to the movies? Will they really feel that their precious $12.50 better be spent on Shia LaBeouf shouting “NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!NO!” than on their own personal savings? The answer? Probably.

Entertainment is considered to be pretty much recession-proof.  If you’re worrying about keeping your job or home, there will be a need for escapism. Seeing something blow up is always a great cure for the blues. And keep in mind that the highest grossing film of all-time (adjusted for inflation) Gone With The Wind was released during the great depression.

So I’m betting on Shia “The Beef” LaBeouf’s new star vehicle to take number one. With a strong ad campaign promising action galore and hot chicks (Michelle Monaghan and Rosario Dawson FTW), it’s safe to say this is good escapism. But will the film’s terrorist themes make it underperform? People may want escapism, but with a reminder of current events, it might not fully do that. But either way, I’m predicting Eagle Eye for a very good 29 Million Opening Weekend. Will it have legs? Considering the reviews, probably not.

Other stuff hitting theaters this weekend is the new Chick Flick starring Richard Gere and Diane Lane. Count on chicks to flock to it. I’d say a solid 13 million opening weekend. The other wide release is Spike Lee’s newest joint, Miracle at St. Anna. A film like this would need outstanding reviews to have any chance to do well. But critics are ripping it apart. Sorry Spike, but this is going to bomb hard. I’d say a 3 million opening weekend.

It’s no surprise that Tim Burton’s Beetlejuice, one of the surprise hits of 20 years ago, not only spawned an animated Saturday morning series, but that the series was so well received and a ratings success. Burton’s film is one of the few that can deservedly be called “cartoonish” and have that remark taken as a compliment, and the animated spinoff was a perfect match for the already outlandish, wildly over the top material established on the big screen.

I just wanted to post and let everyone know that the website is having some issues.  It looks like the server that SG is on is getting overloaded.  I’m looking into solutions, but things might be a bit off and on for the next day or so as far as being able to access the site and the shows.  I’m working on getting things moved over to a new server, so please be patient.

This week, we take a look at the movie release schedule for the rest of the year.  Joining us again are Chris Stipp from Quick Stop Entertainment and our Canadian correspondant, Ethan.

 

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This week, we talk about the good, the bad and the ugly that was Summer ‘08. Joining us this week are Chris Stipp from Quick Stop Entertainment and our Canadian correspondant, Ethan.

 

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Another Way To Die, the new Bond theme song has been released (some would say leaked) online. It’s a collaboration between Alicia Keys and Jack White. What do I think? I think it kind of rocks. But I’m a pretty damn big White Stripes fan. And I loved the much maligned You Know My Name from the last film. So make up your own damn mind.

If you’ve been around the site or listening to the show for any length of time, you know that I’ve been absolutely over the moon for Marc Lougee’s Ray Harryhousen Presents:  Edgar Allan Poe’s The Pit and the Pendulum since I first got to see it at StarFest ‘08.  I haven’t seen it since then, and I have to admit that I was a bit worried that it wouldn’t hold up as well as I remembered it.  The good news is that it absolutely does.

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