Sunday, June 17, 2012

Back to original plan

Despite my previous post, I'm still going to draw inspiration from Ozu's There Was a Father for the single-parent subplot.

The reason is that in There Was a Father, the child's mother is dead—as he is here—whereas in Kramer the parents are divorced.

Tuesday, June 12, 2012

Replacement movie

Kramer vs. Kramer (1979) will replace Ozu's There Was a Father (1942) as the movie I will use to get inspiration for a single-parent subplot.

Rest assured…

I am hesitant to reveal one actor who I want in this movie, but rest assured, he will be the villain.  Although people would now want to see him either as a villain or not at all, I can't think of a better actor for this particular part.

However, I do think it is hypocritical that, on Facebook, users dislike Gibson so much as a person that they've removed his movies from their profiles, but quickly pardon Chris Brown.  I'm not saying I admire either person on the basis of their character, though one has made a lot of decent to deserving movies, while the other is no more talented than any pop music artist still active (who, frankly, are quite talentless).

How do you have a backlash against an anti-Semite, but praise a man who commits domestic violence against women?

Yet, despicable though one's opinions may be, I do not believe it is sufficient grounds to deny them work.  My gay former friend objected to Clint Eastwood being cast in a dead project of mine because the friend thought he supported Proposition 8.

Monday, June 11, 2012

A word about 'The Simpsons'

I'm watching The Simpsons - Christmas DVD, consisting of 5 episodes from 1989 to 2001, and am cracking up consistently.


The Simpsons has been named the greatest show of all time (by Empire magazine), and as the greatest kids' show (though I couldn't recommend it to anyone under age 8).  Both of those accolades are very definitely deserved.  I can't think of a better show I've seen…then again, I'm more inclined toward the cinema than the boob tube.  I used to not be much, though.

From ages seven to nine, I stopped watching it for the stupidest reason ever: because of Treehouse of Horror VI (1995), where Homer repeatedly screams "Crap!" as he goes into the vortex in "Homer3."  Later I got back into it, and in ninth and tenth grade saw every episode through season seven.

But it hasn't been till now that I've truly appreciated everything about it.

Sadly, on my movie review blog, I think I'll give The Simpsons Movie a 3-out-of-5 rating.  The plot development is as good as any episode, but the jokes are not up to scratch by show standards.  The only exception is at the beginning: "AMERICAN IDIOT - FUNERAL VERSION."

Even the later episodes might not be as bad as I used to think.

Now for your next hint: This actor was a guest star on The Simpsons in the thirteenth season.

Sunday, June 10, 2012

More cast members!

Hopeful ones, that is.  Until they actually sign, I can't make any promises that they really will appear.

Sam Neill as the protagonist's father.

I'm not sure if Will Smith would be ok with playing a small role, given that he's played much bigger parts in recent years, but if the answer is "yes," I'd like to consider him as the protagonist's physician.

Finally—and I'll try to put this as simply as possible—there's an actor whose work I admire even though many people dislike him as a person now.  So when I realized my script needed a villain—and not just any villain, but Josef Stalin's daughter's son—I thought perhaps I'd give him this appropriate role.  For fear of losing popularity (and this is a blog of note), I'd rather not say who it is.

Now for your first hint as to the answer to my previous post: He turned down the part that went to Roy Scheider in Jaws.

Resurrection of more than just my project

For the purposes of having him be in this movie, I'm going to "resurrect" a dead actor.

Not literally, of course, but I will try to get permission from his estate to use his likeness in a brand-new role.

With the help, of course, of CGI.

Who is it?  I'll give you several clues; the first person to answer correctly will get whatever they wish (as long as it's legal).

Wednesday, June 6, 2012

Nine to start with!

Without further ado, I decided to just name who I'm considering for the cast in what I hope will be the next masterpiece.


Sean William Scott as the lead role, in the hopes that he could experiment with more sophisticated comedy.

Katherine Heigl as his fiancĂ©e.

Anjelica Huston as his son's homeschool teacher.

George Clooney as his dietician.

Kathy Bates as his mother.

Michael Caine as a fabled gift-giver associated with the season, and Julie Andrews as the missus.

Should they make it to filming, Mickey Rooney and Betty White as his elderly grandparents.

After the end credits, there will be a sneak peek at an upcoming, related film, as there are at the end of Marvel movies.

More to come when I think of actors for the other roles!

Sunday, June 3, 2012

New hopeful cast & crew: Composer

Hans Zimmer, like so many great film composers, has scored a wide range of films, which calls for a wide range of styles.

My former Facebook friend Lucas Hazlett named him as one of his three favorite film composers, the others being John Williams and James Horner.  Since breaking into the American film business, he has given us:

(asterisks are the ones that inspired me to consider him)

MOONLIGHTING (1982)
SUCCESS IS THE BEST REVENGE (1987)
RAIN MAN (1988)*
PAPERHOUSE (1989)
BLACK RAIN (1989)
TWISTER (1989)
DRIVING MISS DAISY (1989)*
BIRD ON A WIRE (1990)
DAYS OF THUNDER (1990)
PACIFIC HEIGHTS (1990)
GREEN CARD (1990)*
BACKDRAFT (1991)
THELMA & LOUISE (1991)*
REGARDING HENRY (1991)
K2 (1991)
THE POWER OF ONE (1992)
A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN (1992)*
POINT OF NO RETURN (1993)
I'LL DO ANYTHING (1993)
CALENDAR GIRL (1993)
TRUE ROMANCE (1993)
COOL RUNNINGS (1993)
THE HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS (1993)
RENAISSANCE MAN (1994)
THE LION KING (1994)
DROP ZONE (1994)
CRIMSON TIDE (1995)
NINE MONTHS (1995)
SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT (1995)*
BEYOND RANGOON (1995)
BROKEN ARROW (1996)
MUPPET TREASURE ISLAND (1996)
THE FAN (1996)
THE PREACHER'S WIFE (1996)*
SMILLA'S SENSE OF SNOW (1997)
THE PEACEMAKER (1997)
AS GOOD AS IT GETS (1997)*
THE PRINCE OF EGYPT (1998)
THE THIN RED LINE (1998)*
CHILL FACTOR (1999)
THE ROAD TO EL DORADO (2000)
GLADIATOR (2000)
MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE II (2000)
AN EVERLASTING PIECE (2000)
THE PLEDGE (2001)
HANNIBAL (2001)
PEARL HARBOR (2001)
INVINCIBLE (2001)
RIDING IN CARS WITH BOYS (2001)*
BLACK HAWK DOWN (2001)
SPIRIT: STALLION OF THE CIMARRON (2002)
THE RING (2002)
TEARS OF THE SUN (2003)
MATCHSTICK MEN (2003)*
THE LAST SAMURAI (2003)
SOMETHING'S GOTTA GIVE (2003)*
KING ARTHUR (2004)
THUNDERBIRDS (2004)
SHARK TALE (2004)
SPANGLISH (2004)*
MADAGASCAR (2005)
BATMAN BEGINS (2005)
WALLACE & GROMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT (2005)
THE WEATHER MAN (2005)
THE DA VINCI CODE (2006)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: DEAD MAN'S CHEST (2006)
THE HOLIDAY (2006)*
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: AT WORLD'S END (2007)
THE SIMPSONS MOVIE (2007)*
AUGUST RUSH (2007)*
KUNG FU PANDA (2008)
THE DARK KNIGHT (2008)
MADAGASCAR: ESCAPE 2 AFRICA (2008)
FROST/NIXON (2008)
THE BURNING PLAIN (2008)
ANGELS & DEMONS (2009)
PIRATE RADIO (2009)*
IT'S COMPLICATED (2009)*
SHERLOCK HOLMES (2009)
THE PACIFIC (2010)
DESPICABLE ME (2010)*
INCEPTION (2010)
MEGAMIND (2010)
HOW DO YOU KNOW (2010)*
THE DILEMMA (2011)*
RANGO (2011)
PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: ON STRANGER TIDES (2011)
KUNG FU PANDA 2 (2011)
SHERLOCK HOLMES: A GAME OF SHADOWS (2011)

Just FYI, I can't make any promises that who I want will appear in the movie.  These are just biographies of my wishful choices.

New hopeful cast!

Now that pageviews have somewhat taken a dive, I thought I'd share just who I want in the cast.

ATTN: DiCaprio and Winslet are no longer the leads.  But whatever appeal it might lose (because of my changing my mind about them and Macaulay Culkin) should be made up for with the social commentary the film will provide.