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Dan Owen reviews

DAN'S   MOVIE   DIGEST

I s s u e   # 1 4 3

2 9   J u l y   2 0 0 5

Cover

MOVIE NEWS

DESTROY ALL HUMANS!

A movie adaptation of recent video-game hit Destroy All Humans is on the cardfs, with 'THQ' developing the movie with the aide of 'United Talent Agency'.

Of course, nobody seems to have realized that Mars Attacks - a Tim Burton turkey from ten years ago - has already tapped the game's sensibility...

APOCALYPTCO

Actor/director Mel Gibson is getting back behind the camera with the action film Apocalypto, which he also wrote. 'Walt Disney Pictures' will distribute domestically and Gibson's company 'Icon' will handle foreign territories.

'Variety' says Apocalypto is set to begin production this October in Mexico for a summer 2006 release. Gibson will produce along with 'Icon' partner Bruce Davey.

Gibson will not star in Apocalypto and may not use a star for the film, which is set in an ancient civilization some 3,000 years ago. The title is a Greek term which means "an unveiling" or "new beginning."

Consistent with such Gibson films as Braveheart and The Passion Of The Christ, the script depicts abundant action and violence.

Cover

GOD OF WAR

'Universal Pictures' has secured the movie rights to video-game God Of War, created by 'Sony Computer Entertainment'. 'Mosaic Media Group' alumni Charles Roven and Alex Gartner will produce the feature adaptation.

In the game, players can unleash the power of the Gods and embark on a merciless quest as Kratos, an ex-Spartan warrior driven to destroy Aries, the God Of War. Armed with lethal double chain-blades, Kratos must carve through mythology’s darkest creatures — including Medusa, Cyclops and the Hydra...

X-MEN 3

'IGN Filmforce' has learned that actress Ellen Page will play the role of Kitty Pryde in X-Men 3, which director Brett Ratner starts filming next week in Vancouver for a 6 May 2006 release.

Page can next be seen in Hard Candy soon, and she also starred in the TV series Trailer Park Boys. The site adds that the part of Warren "Angel" Worthington's father has not yet been cast.

Cover

TRAILERS

Doom - Trailer 1 (weblink)

A spin-off for the disappointing Fantastic Four baddie?
Thankfully not.

This must be the oft-rumoured video-game adaptation then?
Got it in, er, two!

Cool. I love the games! So who's in it?
Karl Urban (right with Thandie Newton in The Chronicles of Riddick).

Huh?
The gruff one in Lord Of The Rings, and the gruff baddie in Chronicles Of Riddick.

O-kay.
And The Rock.

Ah, the wrestler.
Indeed.

Does it look good?
Well, it looks like a generic action movie, to be honest. It's basically another round of macho men with guns running around a research facility (on Mars) and killing monsters. As you'd expect from a Doom movie.

Well, that sounds okay if you're in the mood for that.
Urban and The Rock are pretty solid action heroes, so this could be a lot of violent fun. Or it could be another Resident Evil. We'll see...

Cover V For Vendetta - Trailer 1 (weblink)

Sounds cool.
It is. Very. Well, the comic-book certainly is. I mean - ahem - the graphic novel by Alan Moore.

Him again!
Yes, Mr Moore's pioneering work has been making its way onto the silver screen in the past five years... with varying degrees of success.

How so?
From Hell was an astoundingly researched dark and dreadful read... that became a glossy Johnny Depp movie with a frivolous psychic element. The League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen was pulp high-concept adventure at its finest... that became a hideous box office turkey with naff effects.

I see. Well, perhaps V For Vendetta will break this trend?
Let's hope so. It's one of my favourite Moore stories. But Moore has already distanced himself.

Does the trailer inspire hope?
Actually, yes! Natalie Portman is extremely well cast as Evey Hammond, while Hugo Weaving's voice is great for the permanently-masked vigilante V.

I'm confused.
The story is set in a parallel universe where England is controlled by a Big Brother-esque government. V is a terrorist, who dresses like Guy Fawkes, and decided to bring down the system with the help of a protégé called Evey.

Hmm, sounds like 1984.
It has many inspirations, yes - but Moore's story is extremely well crafted and marvellously told. It will be wonderful if the movie manages to tap into this mindset. The trailer does look very good, though.

Who's behind it?
Well, James McTiege - "officially".

Why "officially"?
He was the Second Unit Director on The Matrix trilogy. The Wachowski Brothers gave him the gig, but rumours have it that the Brothers (who are the Second Unit Directors) have had a very strong influence all the way through. They even wrote the screenplay.

Ah. I see. Does it look particularly Matrixy?
It looks similarly stylish, yes, which is good. There are also some Matrixy "vapour trails" added to V's airborne daggers. Hmmm.

Okay, so this sounds promising then.
Indeed. "Remember, remember the 5th of November..."

Er, what?
You'll know what I mean when you see the movie. Out November 5th!

Cover

US TOP 10 (CINEMA)

All figures are weekend box-office gross.

  • 1. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) ($28.3m) (total to date: $114m)
  • 2. Wedding Crashers ($25.7m)
  • 3. Fantastic Four (2005) ($12.6m) (total to date: $123m)
  • 4. Wedding Crashers ($12.4m)
  • 5. Bad News Bears ($11.4m)
  • 6. War of the Worlds (2005) ($8.93m) (total to date: $208m)
  • 7. Hustle & Flow ($8.02m)
  • 8. The Devil's Rejects ($7.07m)
  • 9. Batman Begins ($4.73m) (total to date: $191m)
  • 10. La Marche de L'empereur ($4.38m)

UK TOP 10 (CINEMA)

  • 1. Fantastic Four (2005) (£3.54m)
  • 2. Madagascar (£3.27m)
  • 3. Wedding Crashers (£1.84m)
  • 4. War of the Worlds (2005) (£1.75m)
  • 5. Dark Water (2005) (£0.48m)
  • 6. Batman Begins (£0.29m)
  • 7. The Descent (£0.26m)
  • 8. Kicking and Screaming (£0.24m)
  • 7. Mr & Mrs Smith (£0.0836m)
  • 10. Maine Pyar Kyun Kiya? (£0.0831m)

Cover ** IN THE PIPELINE **

All the following are U.K. release dates, and are subject to change.

All the following are U.S. release dates, and are subject to change.

  • JULY: The Dukes Of Hazzard (29)
  • AUGUST: 3001 (5), Doom (5), Deuce Bigelow European Gigolo (12),
  • SEPTEMBER: Birth Of The Pink Panther (23), Legend Of Zorro (23), Serenity (30), Spy Hunter (30)
  • OCTOBER: Wallace & Gromit (7), The Fog (14), Land Of The Dead (21)
  • NOVEMBER: Cars (4), Harry Potter 4 (18), Brother Grimm (23)
  • DECEMBER: Chronicles Of Narnia (9), Underworld 2 (9), King Kong (14), The Producers (24), Zathura (21), Mad Max Fury Road (31), Die Hard 4 (31)

Page Content copyright © Dan Owen, 2005.

Email Dan Owen

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The following is a list of Dan's Movie Digests online :

DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TXW32R4 32" widescreen TV connected to either a Creative Dxr2 DVD-ROM player or Microsoft Xbox and played through a Sony STR-DB930 amplifier.

PC games reviewed by the editor are on:

  • Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
  • Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
  • Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
  • Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
  • Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP