Summit Entertainment has released the trailer for director Rob Cohen’s Alex Cross, opening in theaters on October 19. Alex Cross follows the homicide detective/psychologist (Tyler Perry), from the worldwide best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he meets his match in a serial killer (Matthew Fox). The two face off in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, but when the mission gets personal, Cross is pushed to the edge of his moral and psychological limits in this taut and exciting action thriller. Rachel Nichols, Edward Burns and Jean Reno co-star.
In Monday afternoon’s round up of news briefs, SXSW is inviting audiences to propose panels for their 2013 event via online. BB takes a quick look at final weekend box office numbers. Samuel L. Jackson will host an upcoming awards show, while Fandango and MSN team up. And which book will be the next box office golden child? SXSW Accepting Panel Proposals for 2013 The South by Southwest Conferences and Festivals are now accepting programming proposals for next year’s edition. The event’s “PanelPicker” interface is an online tool that allows the SXSW attendees to have a voice in programming Music, Film, and Interactive conference activities through an open proposal and voting process. SXSW 2013 takes place March 8 – 17. Step One allows users to submit proposals for programming at the SXSW website beginning Monday, June 25 and continuing through Friday, July 20. Step Two allows participants to browse proposals and rate which ones they think are the best fit for SXSW. Community voting begins Monday, August 13 and will continue through Friday, August 31. Final Box Office Numbers for the Weekend Actual numbers are in and Brave rests comfortably at the top of the box office . It’s Friday through Sunday total came to $66,323,594 in 4,164 locations for a screen average of$15,928. Next up was fellow animation, Madagascar 3 with $19,712,315 in 3,920 theaters. That was a 42% drop in gross from the previous week and a per screen average of $5,029. It’s three week total is $157,086,037. [Source: Hollywood.com] Around the ‘net… Julian Assange Internet Dating to Become a Film Documentary filmmaker Cyril Tuschi will direct a film about a series of fictional dates involving the Wikileaks founder. Shooting will take place in Germany. Casting is pending, The Guardian reports . Samuel L. Jackson to Host BET Awards Chris Brown, Nicki Minaj, Usher, 2 Chainz and Big Sean are scheduled to perform, in addition to comedians Kevin Hart and Cedric the Entertainer, Washington Post reports . Fandango Partners with MSN for Movie Tix Fandango is working with MSN to be the web portal’s official online and mobile movie ticketer. MSN’s sites reach more than 100 million U.S. users per month, Deadline reports . One of These Books Is the Next Hunger Games Hunger Games has cleaned up at the box office and now the studios are looking at which other books out there may be the next golden franchise. The Seventh Son , The Wardstones Chroicles and Maximum Ride are all contenders, The Wrap reports .
All is Well won the Narrative Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend. Directed by Pocas Pascoal the North American premiere follows to Angolan sisters feeling civil war and struggle to survive in Lisbon. Honorable mention in the category went to Thursday Till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor. Best Documentary went to Drought by Everardo Gonzalez. The film is a poetic portrait of a cattle-ranching community in northeastern Mexico. In the Audience Award category, Best Narrative Feature went to Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild The film won Cannes and Sundance earlier this year. And Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives by sara Lamm and mary Wigmore won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Award Winners with information provided by LAFF: Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature) Winner: All is Well directed by Pocas Pascoal Producer: Luis Correia Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, William Brandao, Vera Cruz Film Description: (Portugal) Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. Honorable Mention (for Best Narrative Feature) Film Title: Thursday till Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini Film Description: (Chile) With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature) Winner: Drought directed by Everardo González Producer: Martha Orozco Film Description: (Mexico) Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinéma vérité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of distinction. Best Performance in the Narrative Competition Winner: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Joshua Sanchez’s Four . Film Description: Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild , directed by Benh Zeitlin Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Film Description: This stunningly imaginative, boldly original film follows six-year-old Hushpuppy as she fights to protect her father and their unique way of life in a remote, dreamlike area of the Delta threatened by apocalyptic floods. Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature Winner: Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives , directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore Producers: Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan, Zachary Mortensen Featuring: Ina May Gaskin, Stephen Gaskin, Pamela Hunt, Farm Midwives past and present, Kristina Kennedy Davis Film Description: Ina May Gaskin and the courageous midwives of the Farm commune inspired the modern midwifery movement. This beguiling documentary tells their empowering story with depth, intelligence and wit. Audience Award for Best International Feature Winner: Searching for Sugar Man directed by Malik Bendjelloul Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul Featuring: Rodriguez Film Description: Years after facing into obscurity at home, the music of ‘70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend. Best Narrative Short Film Winner: The Chair directed by Grainger David Producers: Spencer Kiernan, Caroline Oliveira Cast: Khari Lucas, King Hoey, Martha F. Brown Description: A young boy questions the origins of a mysterious mold outbreak that threatens to destroy his town. Best Documentary Short Film Winner: Kudzu Vine directed & produced by Josh Gibson Description: This ode to the kudzu vine poetically highlights its ties to the history and the people of the South. Best Animated/Experimental Short Film Winner: The Pub directed by Joseph Pierce Producer: Mark Grimmer Description: (England) Life isn’t easy behind the counter of a North London pub. Audience Award for Best Short Film Winner: Asad directed by Bryan Buckley Producers: Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura, Rafiq Samsodien, Matt Lefebvre, Kevin Byrne, Hank Perlman Cast: Harun Mohammed, Ibrahim Moalim Hussein, Ali Mohammed, Abdiwale Mohmed Mohamed, Mariya Abdulle, Najah Abdi Abdullahi, Mustafa Olad Dirie, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdikher, Abdi, Sidow Farah, Sahied Nuur Mahamed, Ahmed Dhadane Jimale, Hussein Abdi Mohamed, Isa, Mohamed Abdul, Ikram Hassan, Yasmin Abdi Mohamed, Maymum Abdi Mohamed, Sadia Hassan, Meade Nichol Description: A young boy in a war-torn Somalian village faces a moral dilemma. Audience Award for Best Music Video Winner: Piranhas Club directed by Lex Halaby Music: Man Man
All is Well won the Narrative Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend. Directed by Pocas Pascoal the North American premiere follows to Angolan sisters feeling civil war and struggle to survive in Lisbon. Honorable mention in the category went to Thursday Till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor. Best Documentary went to Drought by Everardo Gonzalez. The film is a poetic portrait of a cattle-ranching community in northeastern Mexico. In the Audience Award category, Best Narrative Feature went to Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild The film won Cannes and Sundance earlier this year. And Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives by sara Lamm and mary Wigmore won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Award Winners with information provided by LAFF: Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature) Winner: All is Well directed by Pocas Pascoal Producer: Luis Correia Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, William Brandao, Vera Cruz Film Description: (Portugal) Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. Honorable Mention (for Best Narrative Feature) Film Title: Thursday till Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini Film Description: (Chile) With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature) Winner: Drought directed by Everardo González Producer: Martha Orozco Film Description: (Mexico) Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinéma vérité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of distinction. Best Performance in the Narrative Competition Winner: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Joshua Sanchez’s Four . Film Description: Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild , directed by Benh Zeitlin Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Film Description: This stunningly imaginative, boldly original film follows six-year-old Hushpuppy as she fights to protect her father and their unique way of life in a remote, dreamlike area of the Delta threatened by apocalyptic floods. Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature Winner: Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives , directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore Producers: Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan, Zachary Mortensen Featuring: Ina May Gaskin, Stephen Gaskin, Pamela Hunt, Farm Midwives past and present, Kristina Kennedy Davis Film Description: Ina May Gaskin and the courageous midwives of the Farm commune inspired the modern midwifery movement. This beguiling documentary tells their empowering story with depth, intelligence and wit. Audience Award for Best International Feature Winner: Searching for Sugar Man directed by Malik Bendjelloul Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul Featuring: Rodriguez Film Description: Years after facing into obscurity at home, the music of ‘70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend. Best Narrative Short Film Winner: The Chair directed by Grainger David Producers: Spencer Kiernan, Caroline Oliveira Cast: Khari Lucas, King Hoey, Martha F. Brown Description: A young boy questions the origins of a mysterious mold outbreak that threatens to destroy his town. Best Documentary Short Film Winner: Kudzu Vine directed & produced by Josh Gibson Description: This ode to the kudzu vine poetically highlights its ties to the history and the people of the South. Best Animated/Experimental Short Film Winner: The Pub directed by Joseph Pierce Producer: Mark Grimmer Description: (England) Life isn’t easy behind the counter of a North London pub. Audience Award for Best Short Film Winner: Asad directed by Bryan Buckley Producers: Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura, Rafiq Samsodien, Matt Lefebvre, Kevin Byrne, Hank Perlman Cast: Harun Mohammed, Ibrahim Moalim Hussein, Ali Mohammed, Abdiwale Mohmed Mohamed, Mariya Abdulle, Najah Abdi Abdullahi, Mustafa Olad Dirie, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdikher, Abdi, Sidow Farah, Sahied Nuur Mahamed, Ahmed Dhadane Jimale, Hussein Abdi Mohamed, Isa, Mohamed Abdul, Ikram Hassan, Yasmin Abdi Mohamed, Maymum Abdi Mohamed, Sadia Hassan, Meade Nichol Description: A young boy in a war-torn Somalian village faces a moral dilemma. Audience Award for Best Music Video Winner: Piranhas Club directed by Lex Halaby Music: Man Man
All is Well won the Narrative Award at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend. Directed by Pocas Pascoal the North American premiere follows to Angolan sisters feeling civil war and struggle to survive in Lisbon. Honorable mention in the category went to Thursday Till Sunday by Dominga Sotomayor. Best Documentary went to Drought by Everardo Gonzalez. The film is a poetic portrait of a cattle-ranching community in northeastern Mexico. In the Audience Award category, Best Narrative Feature went to Benh Zeitlin’s Beasts of the Southern Wild The film won Cannes and Sundance earlier this year. And Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and the Farm Midwives by sara Lamm and mary Wigmore won the Audience Award for Best Documentary. Award Winners with information provided by LAFF: Narrative Award (for Best Narrative Feature) Winner: All is Well directed by Pocas Pascoal Producer: Luis Correia Cast: Ciomara Morais, Cheila Lima, William Brandao, Vera Cruz Film Description: (Portugal) Strangers in a strange land, two beautiful Angolan sisters fleeing a civil war in their homeland struggle to survive in Lisbon. Pocas Pascoal’s deeply personal saga shows us the face of exile with quietly stunning power. Honorable Mention (for Best Narrative Feature) Film Title: Thursday till Sunday directed by Dominga Sotomayor Producers: Gregorio González, Benjamin Domenech Cast: Santi Ahumada, Emiliano Freifeld, Francisco Pérez-Bannen, Paola Giannini Film Description: (Chile) With uncommon beauty and style, this Chilean road movie finds a family at a crossroads, as the daughter slowly realizes the divide between the adults in the front seat and the kids in back. Documentary Award (for Best Documentary Feature) Winner: Drought directed by Everardo González Producer: Martha Orozco Film Description: (Mexico) Contrasting the lives of a cattle-ranching community with the arid northeastern Mexican landscape that surrounds them, this cinéma vérité documentary paints a poetic portrait of a community on the verge of distinction. Best Performance in the Narrative Competition Winner: Wendell Pierce, Emory Cohen, E.J. Bonilla and Aja Naomi King in Joshua Sanchez’s Four . Film Description: Over the course of a steamy 4th of July night, a father and daughter, each trapped in loneliness, reach out for sexual connection — he with a self-hating teenage boy, she with a smooth-talking wannabe homeboy — in this psychologically complex, beautifully acted drama. Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature Winner: Beasts of the Southern Wild , directed by Benh Zeitlin Producers: Michael Gottwald, Dan Janvey, Josh Penn Cast: Quvenzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry Film Description: This stunningly imaginative, boldly original film follows six-year-old Hushpuppy as she fights to protect her father and their unique way of life in a remote, dreamlike area of the Delta threatened by apocalyptic floods. Audience Award for Best Documentary Feature Winner: Birth Story: Ina May Gaskin and The Farm Midwives , directed by Sara Lamm and Mary Wigmore Producers: Sara Lamm, Mary Wigmore, Kate Roughan, Zachary Mortensen Featuring: Ina May Gaskin, Stephen Gaskin, Pamela Hunt, Farm Midwives past and present, Kristina Kennedy Davis Film Description: Ina May Gaskin and the courageous midwives of the Farm commune inspired the modern midwifery movement. This beguiling documentary tells their empowering story with depth, intelligence and wit. Audience Award for Best International Feature Winner: Searching for Sugar Man directed by Malik Bendjelloul Producers: Simon Chinn, Malik Bendjelloul Featuring: Rodriguez Film Description: Years after facing into obscurity at home, the music of ‘70s U.S. singer/songwriter Rodriguez became an underground sensation in South Africa. Decades after his disappearance, two fans uncover the startling truth behind the legend. Best Narrative Short Film Winner: The Chair directed by Grainger David Producers: Spencer Kiernan, Caroline Oliveira Cast: Khari Lucas, King Hoey, Martha F. Brown Description: A young boy questions the origins of a mysterious mold outbreak that threatens to destroy his town. Best Documentary Short Film Winner: Kudzu Vine directed & produced by Josh Gibson Description: This ode to the kudzu vine poetically highlights its ties to the history and the people of the South. Best Animated/Experimental Short Film Winner: The Pub directed by Joseph Pierce Producer: Mark Grimmer Description: (England) Life isn’t easy behind the counter of a North London pub. Audience Award for Best Short Film Winner: Asad directed by Bryan Buckley Producers: Bryan Buckley, Mino Jarjoura, Rafiq Samsodien, Matt Lefebvre, Kevin Byrne, Hank Perlman Cast: Harun Mohammed, Ibrahim Moalim Hussein, Ali Mohammed, Abdiwale Mohmed Mohamed, Mariya Abdulle, Najah Abdi Abdullahi, Mustafa Olad Dirie, Mohamed Abdullahi Abdikher, Abdi, Sidow Farah, Sahied Nuur Mahamed, Ahmed Dhadane Jimale, Hussein Abdi Mohamed, Isa, Mohamed Abdul, Ikram Hassan, Yasmin Abdi Mohamed, Maymum Abdi Mohamed, Sadia Hassan, Meade Nichol Description: A young boy in a war-torn Somalian village faces a moral dilemma. Audience Award for Best Music Video Winner: Piranhas Club directed by Lex Halaby Music: Man Man
Also in Friday morning’s news round up, Universal is marketing an Alfred Hitchcock box set for its 100th anniversary. Pixar’s Brave looks ready to triumph at the weekend box office, and Marcia Gay Harden will play a librarian who finds life in Costa Rica. Hey Alfred Hitchcock Fans, Here’s the Box Set for You Packaged as a “Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Universal,” the Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection . The collection includes Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, The Trouble with Harry, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy and Family Plot . But there is a bit of a wait, the collection of 15 titles won’t be available until September 25th. Around the ‘net… Charlie Sheen Joins Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills Sheen has joined the cast in the sequel to the director’s Machete who will play the President of the United States. The two announced the news via Twitter, Deadline reports . Box Office Preview: Brave Set to Triumph Over Abraham Lincoln The animated film may hit $60 million, while Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is projecting a $15 – 20M opening. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is hitting around $5 – 7 million in weekend predictions, THR reports . Marcia Gay Harden Books The Librarian The actress will play lead in the film about a woman who finds “a new life path while touring Costa Rica. Produced by Classic Films along with Mano a Mano Films, Juan Feldman will direct from a script by Joel Silverman, Variety reports . Casey Affleck & Thunder Road Head to Pic on Baseball Superstar Josh Hamilton Hamilton went from crack addict to baseball star in the American league. The story is ripe for a feature and producer Basil Iwanyk and Thunder Road Pictures are on board with Casey Affleck set to write and direct, Deadline reports .
Also in Friday morning’s news round up, Universal is marketing an Alfred Hitchcock box set for its 100th anniversary. Pixar’s Brave looks ready to triumph at the weekend box office, and Marcia Gay Harden will play a librarian who finds life in Costa Rica. Hey Alfred Hitchcock Fans, Here’s the Box Set for You Packaged as a “Celebration of the 100th Anniversary of Universal,” the Alfred Hitchcock: The Masterpiece Collection . The collection includes Psycho, The Birds, Vertigo, Rear Window, North by Northwest, The Man Who Knew Too Much, Marnie, Saboteur, Shadow of a Doubt, Rope, The Trouble with Harry, Torn Curtain, Topaz, Frenzy and Family Plot . But there is a bit of a wait, the collection of 15 titles won’t be available until September 25th. Around the ‘net… Charlie Sheen Joins Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills Sheen has joined the cast in the sequel to the director’s Machete who will play the President of the United States. The two announced the news via Twitter, Deadline reports . Box Office Preview: Brave Set to Triumph Over Abraham Lincoln The animated film may hit $60 million, while Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is projecting a $15 – 20M opening. Seeking a Friend for the End of the World is hitting around $5 – 7 million in weekend predictions, THR reports . Marcia Gay Harden Books The Librarian The actress will play lead in the film about a woman who finds “a new life path while touring Costa Rica. Produced by Classic Films along with Mano a Mano Films, Juan Feldman will direct from a script by Joel Silverman, Variety reports . Casey Affleck & Thunder Road Head to Pic on Baseball Superstar Josh Hamilton Hamilton went from crack addict to baseball star in the American league. The story is ripe for a feature and producer Basil Iwanyk and Thunder Road Pictures are on board with Casey Affleck set to write and direct, Deadline reports .
In 2008’s B-movie hit Taken , Liam Neeson cracked skulls across Europe in search of his kidnapped daughter. In October’s Taken 2 , director Olivier Megaton and producer/co-writer Luc Besson set out to achieve something rare — An actual continuation of story! Multi-film character development! Unexpected moral examinations! — a proper sequel, in other words, as evidenced by the first trailer viewable after the jump. The concept for Taken 2 was already promising on paper: The daughter Neeson saved in the first movie (Maggie Grace) must now help save her parents from the vengeance-seeking gangster father (Rade Šerbedžija) of the baddies Neeson murdered in his fatherly rage. The film’s new trailer delivers on this front, demonstrating what few sequels or reboots or re-jiggered whatchamacalits these days bother to do properly: Expand on their predecessors in new and interesting ways. Neeson’s ex-operative Bryan Mills seems to be the same guy he was in Taken , but the plot turns his righteous actions in the first film on their head; another father out there is mourning, and wants bloody revenge. Who’s to say Šerbedžija’s paternal pain doesn’t warrant its own reckoning? Is this a mindless action sequel or a meditation on the cycle of vengeance and a parent’s drive to protect their children at any moral cost? Meanwhile, Grace (whom Besson attempted to turn into an action star earlier this year in the Guy Pearce vehicle Lockout ) has the opportunity to morph her victimized daughter character into a heroine. Look at the way she leaps over rooftops like a lady Jason Bourne! Turning Kim into an action hero not only makes up for how wimpy and naive she seemed (a perception magnified by my residual resentment of Grace’s turn as the useless Shannon on LOST , I’ll admit), it could turn Taken into a bona fide franchise instead of, as too many hit films become, a series of diminishing, direct-to-DVD quality returns featuring declining marquee actors/C-listers/WWE stars. And we haven’t even seen the fighting potential of ex-wife (and now-kidnap victim) Lenore, though the lethal potential of Famke Janssen’s thighs is a historically documented cinematic fact. Taken 2 is set for release on October 5. Let’s hope it lives up to the potential. Thoughts?
In 2008’s B-movie hit Taken , Liam Neeson cracked skulls across Europe in search of his kidnapped daughter. In October’s Taken 2 , director Olivier Megaton and producer/co-writer Luc Besson set out to achieve something rare — An actual continuation of story! Multi-film character development! Unexpected moral examinations! — a proper sequel, in other words, as evidenced by the first trailer viewable after the jump. The concept for Taken 2 was already promising on paper: The daughter Neeson saved in the first movie (Maggie Grace) must now help save her parents from the vengeance-seeking gangster father (Rade Šerbedžija) of the baddies Neeson murdered in his fatherly rage. The film’s new trailer delivers on this front, demonstrating what few sequels or reboots or re-jiggered whatchamacalits these days bother to do properly: Expand on their predecessors in new and interesting ways. Neeson’s ex-operative Bryan Mills seems to be the same guy he was in Taken , but the plot turns his righteous actions in the first film on their head; another father out there is mourning, and wants bloody revenge. Who’s to say Šerbedžija’s paternal pain doesn’t warrant its own reckoning? Is this a mindless action sequel or a meditation on the cycle of vengeance and a parent’s drive to protect their children at any moral cost? Meanwhile, Grace (whom Besson attempted to turn into an action star earlier this year in the Guy Pearce vehicle Lockout ) has the opportunity to morph her victimized daughter character into a heroine. Look at the way she leaps over rooftops like a lady Jason Bourne! Turning Kim into an action hero not only makes up for how wimpy and naive she seemed (a perception magnified by my residual resentment of Grace’s turn as the useless Shannon on LOST , I’ll admit), it could turn Taken into a bona fide franchise instead of, as too many hit films become, a series of diminishing, direct-to-DVD quality returns featuring declining marquee actors/C-listers/WWE stars. And we haven’t even seen the fighting potential of ex-wife (and now-kidnap victim) Lenore, though the lethal potential of Famke Janssen’s thighs is a historically documented cinematic fact. Taken 2 is set for release on October 5. Let’s hope it lives up to the potential. Thoughts?
Over at the fantastic retro cinema celebration series that is Trailers From Hell! , Joe Dante is currently running a Kickstarter to back the next batch of webisodes, which feature Dante and his “Grindhouse Gurus” — Eli Roth, Guillermo Del Toro, and John Landis, among others — dissecting their favorite genre fare of olde. And while a top pledge will get you all sorts of one-of-a-kind rewards ranging from lunch with Dante to the arachnid jaw from Starship Troopers , one prize in particular offers an opportunity so rare, someone had better jump on it, fast: A script reading by screenwriter Josh Olson . For $5,000 or more , an enterprising Kickstarter backer will get their script read and receive feedback from the History of Violence scribe who famously declared in the Village Voice editorial ” I Will Not Read Your Fucking Script ” that he — well, you know. “For a better understanding as to why Josh reading your script is so remarkable, we refer you to his legendary rant in The Village Voice ‘I Will Not Read Your #@$! Script,’ adds the Kickstarter page. Only one such prize is available for claiming, so hop to it! The Kickstarter campaign has 26 days to go… and presumably if the goal is not met, the Olson offer is off the table. Below, watch Olson’s Trailers from Hell guest spot , in which he goes deep on The Conversation : [ Trailers from Hell Kickstarter ]
