Posts Tagged 'Robert Zemeckis'
Movie Review: 'Flight'
by Grace Suh, Nov 2 2012 // 10:00 AM
What can't Denzel do? He can stop a train, he can land a plane, and in the case of the latter, which he does on Flight, Robert Zemeckis's first live motion movie since 2000's Castaway, he can elevate a disappointingly conventional disaster-movie-of-the-week/addiction drama to compelling watching all by the force of his charisma.
Flight starts as the story of Whip Whitaker (Denzel Washington), a hero pilot who manages to land a badly malfunctioning plane under extreme circumstances no other pilot could have done. They know this because the NTSB (National Transportation Safety Bureau) task force that investigates the crash (a routine procedure for all plane crashes) puts ten veteran pilots into a flight simulation mimicking the exact circumstances Whitaker suffered, and found that none of them could land the plane safely as Whitaker did.
But we the audience knows what the public does not, that Whitaker is a drunk, and drank heavily not only the night before the flight, but the morning of, and even during the flight itself. So the movie quickly evolves (or is it devolve) into an addiction drama. For the question begs to be asked: Does the addiction story ramp up the plane crash story, or drag it down to a commonplace redemption tale? The answer is: both.
Tagged: Bruce Greenwood, Denzel Washington, Don Cheadle, John Goodman, Kelly Reilly, Melissa Leo, Robert Zemeckis
'Tales From The Crypt' Creeping its Way Back To Television With a Reboot
by Sebastian Suchecki, Jul 29 2011 // 7:00 AM
Tales from the Crypt, the campy-yet-excellent horror staple of the early 90s television, is back in news as producers are hoping to reignite that spark once again with a modern reboot. After 15 years of being off the small screen, the horror series will be returning to television.
The new series is being developed by Gil Adler, a producer on the original HBO series, and Andrew Cosby, best known for his work on Eureka. The hour-long series will be based on the comics. Unlike it's predecessor, the new series will not follow the anthology format, but will follow a standard series format using the characters in an ongoing storyline format.
Those of you who read the original comic books will see this is a strange turn of events as the comics didn't have much in the way of returning characters. Other than The Crypt-Keeper, The Vault-Keeper and The Old Witch, all other characters and the "victims" of the stories always changed. It is also being reported that The Crypt-Keeper, The Vault-Keeper and The Old Witch are not going to be part of the new series.
The original HBO series, which spawned collectibles and movies through out the 90s, ran for seven seasons. It attracted an impressive stable of directors and actors including Robert Zemeckis, Dan Aykroyd, Steve Buscemi, Tim Curry, Whoopi Goldberg, Teri Hatcher, Kirk Douglas, Joe Pesci, Brad Pitt, Ewan McGregor, Malcom McDowell, Bob Hoskins, Brooke Sheilds, Benicio Del Toro, Demi Moore, Martin Sheen, Richard Donner, Walter Hill, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Tom Hanks, William Friedkin, Tobe Hoober and Michael J. Fox.
Posted in: Announcements · Comedy · Horror · Movies · News · Reboots and Remakes · Sci-Fi · TV
Tagged: Andrew Cosby, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Benicio Del Toro, Bob Hoskins, Brad Pitt, Brooke Sheilds, Dan Aykroyd, Demi Moore, ewan mcgregor, Gil Adler, Hank Azaria, HBO, Joe Pesci, Kirk Douglas, Malcom McDowell, Martin Sheen, richard donner, Robert Zemeckis, Steve Buscemi, Tales from the Crypt, Teri Hatcher, The Crypt-Keeper, The Vault Keeper, Tim Curry, Tobe Hoober, Tom Hanks, Walter Hill, Whoopi Goldberg, William Friedkin
War Movie Mondays: '1941′
by Douglas Barnett, Nov 8 2010 // 2:30 PM
This week's pick is the 1979 least known and only comedy from director Steven Spielberg, 1941 which stars Saturday Night Live originals Dan Aykroyd (Sgt. Frank Tree), and the incomparable John Belushi (Capt. "Wild" Bill Kelso, U.S. Army Air Corp.) Other supporting actors include Bobby Di Cicco (Wally Stephens), Ned Beatty (Ward Douglas), Lorraine Gary (Joan Douglas), Murray Hamilton (Claude Crumm), Christopher Lee (Capt. Wolfgang von Kleinschmidt), Tim Matheson (Capt. Loomis Berkhead) and Toshiro Mifune (Cmd. Akiro Mitamura).
Also on hand are Warren Oates (Col. Maddox), Robert Stack (Maj. Gen. Joseph W. Stillwell), Treat Williams (Cpl. Chuck "Stretch" Sitarski), Nancy Allen (Donna Stratton), John Candy (Pvt. Foley), Slim Pickens (Hollis P. Wood), and Count Floyd himself, Joe Flaherty (Raoul Lipschitz).
The opening of the film informs the audience about the infamous Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941 which hurtled an unsuspecting America into World War II. The West Coast of the United States was fearful that the Japanese would attack California next. These were actual fears that were quickly realized by its citizens, and that extreme caution and observation was needed to thwart any attempt which made invasion possible. The film is set just six days after the Pearl Harbor attack.
In the first few opening minutes of the film, Spielberg, and writers Bob Gale, John Milius, and future director Robert Zemeckis (Back to the Future trilogy) fantastically lampoon Spielberg's Jaws opening by using the very same actress to re-create her skinny dip scene in the early morning hours. Veteran Spielberg composer John Williams even re-creates his famous theme music. The female swimmer is instantly caught on the periscope of a Japanese submarine which is prowling the California coastline for a worthy military target.
Posted in: Academy Awards · Classics · Columbia Pictures · Comedy · Cult Cinema · DVD · DVD Reviews · Universal Pictures · War · War Movie Mondays
Tagged: Bob Gale, Bobby Di Cicco, Christopher Lee, Columbia Pictures, Dan Aykroyd, DVD, Joe Flaherty, John Belushi, John Candy, John Milius, John Williams, Lorraine Gary, Murray Hamilton, Nancy Allen, Ned Beatty, Netflix, Robert Stack, Robert Zemeckis, Slim Pickens, Steven Spielberg, Tim Matheson, Toshiro Mifune, Treat Williams, Universal Pictures, Warren Oates
The Future is What you Write
by Diane Panosian, Apr 20 2010 // 10:00 AM
The future is bright. So bright in fact, that J.J. Abrams angled multiple reflections off of every surface imaginable in the darkness of space. Just how many suns were there? A Trek fan and a friend of mine pointed out that finally the future is catching up with the dreams geeks have had for decades. It seems the PADD, or (Personal Access Data Display) has been around since 60's Trek and is now getting its time in the sun thanks to Mr. Jobs and his iPad.
I, however, didn't grow up on Trek, I grew up on multiple viewings of Back to the Future Part II. I dreamed of the day when I too would glide on a hover-board, wear flashy baseball caps, and watch TV on a nifty visor. To that end, some of the predictions have come true. As for the rest…well I'll meet you at Café 80's on October 21st, 2015.
"Where we're going we don't need roads." Um, yeah we do. We need a lot more roads in fact. Take the amount of roads we had in the 80's and double it. Either that or bring back the electric streetcars that used to take up a lane on the LA freeways. There is another option. Anyone with a spare $194,000 lying around can now own their own hover car, or should I say Terrafugia Transition plane.
Posted in: 3-D · Abrams · Apple · Business · Clothing · Features · Gear · Geek · Microsoft · Movies · Sci-Fi · Social Networking · Star Trek · Tech · Web
Tagged: Back to the Future, Back To The Future 2, Escape From New York, Facebook, Footloose, iPad, J.J. Abrams, Mr. Fusion, Robert Zemeckis, Robocop, She-Ra, Smallville, Star Trek, Terrafugia Transition
'Pulp Fiction' Writer Gets A Year In Jail
by Bob Starr, Oct 1 2009 // 2:45 PM
Roger Avery, the Oscar-winning writer of Pulp Fiction (A common misconception is that Tarantino wrote the entire film solo. He did not.) has been sentenced to a year in jail and five years propation. Sentenced in Ventura on Tuesday the charges were pretty serious:
"Avery, 44, pleaded guilty in August to gross vehicular manslaughter while intoxicated and other charges stemming from the January 2008 collision that killed his Italian friend Andreas Zini and injured Avary's wife. The crash occurred in the city of Ojai, 80 miles northwest of Los Angeles."
While best known for Pulp Fiction, Avery also wrote Silent Hill and the Robert Zemeckis' version of Beowulf. No word yet on how this will impact his writing and directing duties on the film adaption of popular video game Return to Castle Wolfenstein. The film was set for a 2010 release but will probably be delayed unless the studio decides to bring someone in to replace Avery.
Either way, here's hoping this incident doesn't undermine Wolfenstein completely because that could be a great movie. We'll be sure to have more information on Avery's sentence and what this could mean for the film as it develops in the future.
Posted in: Legal · Movies · News · Writers
Tagged: Beowulf, Pulp Fiction, Quentin Tarantino, Return to Castle Wolfenstein, Robert Zemeckis, Roger Avery, Silent Hill