Get Him To The Greek

I know there are those out there who liked this film and thought it was funny, well I am not one of them. As a big fan of Forgetting Sarah Marshall I really expected more from this spin-off, being so entertained the first time around by Russell Brand as Aldous Snow. This really fell flat, very few laughs, not enjoyable, certainly a real low point for comedy in 2010.

Robin Hood

I am a huge fan of Ridley Scott and I was pretty excited for this film, going in I did have expectations. What a huge let down, sure it was an origin story, but it just seemed to piss all over everything that had been done with Robin Hood in the past. The main character was not likable, there was no stealing from the rich and giving to the poor (one scene, big whoop) and it was incredibly boring. I struggled to stay awake through most of this film.

Clash Of The Titans

What a turd this turned out to be, it took me four sittings to finally sit through this entire film. Much like Robin Hood, I could not stay awake, there was no interest, terrible acting, a storyline I didn’t care about and well it was boring. This was excruciating to sit through, and thanks for the apology Sam.

A Nightmare On Elm Street

Trailers sure can be deceiving, see the trailer tricked me into thinking this would be good. Instead it was a horrible mess, and pretty much an insult to a franchise I adore. Jackie Earle Haley was fine, despite the Rorschach voice but everything else was terrible. Don’t even get me started on Rooney Mara and her inability to be interesting.

The Twilight Saga: Eclipse

These films just get worse and worse, from the script to the acting, this is atrocious. I had hopes because David Slade was directing, but again much like New Moon this was uneventful and annoying. The characters seem to get worse, as do the actors playing them. This series sends out bad messages to the audience it is aimed at, I even for a moment thought Jacob was going to force himself on Bella (well more so than he did), and apparently that’s acceptable behaviour. Nope, pass!

Legion

The film which was the worst of the bunch, Legion. I hated everything about this movie, I was so excited to see this and I couldn’t believe the disappointment. There is just about nothing good about this film (aside from Kevin Durand), even the best of actors (Dennis Quaid) were beyond terrible. If I ever have to sit through this again, I’m stabbing my eyes out with a fork. This was easily one of the worst films to come out in the past 10 years.

Of course, details on the script are being kept secret at this time. There’s no word on when filming will actually begin, and it will likely be sometime before that happens as the duo is working on their current project, an Iraq War film titled CN-9. Actors are already being looked into, with insiders saying that the duo is considering Will Smith for a part. It’s unknown if it’s for the for of Robin Hood. The tale of Robin Hood has been told many times, with Ridley Scott the most recent director to take on the Prince of Thieves.

The Film:

The Blu-ray features the theatrical cut (running at 140 minutes) and a new unrated Director’s Cut (running at 156 minutes). I’ve seperated my review for both.

(The Theatrical Cut): It shouldn’t be any surprise to anyone that the character of Robin Hood would get a fresh reboot to kick start a new movie based on the oft-told character. And I do mean oft-told. The timeless tale of an archer who steals from the rich, only to give to the poor, has seen its fair share of films. Maybe not as extensive as Dracula or Sherlock Holmes, but still the legend of Robin Hood has peaked its head up countless times since the birth of cinema. What’s new to say this time around? This Robin Hood tries to demystify the legend, and ground it into reality, providing the origins to infamous outlaw, amidst politics, religion, and history. Funny, considering the film builds itself on he tiniest shreds of facts. Despite that, it holds itself up well on those pebbles of information, only to fall to one knee with its thematic like-mindedness of Gladiator.

Ridley Scott is a fine director through and through, yet this film is curiously an amalgamation of the Robin Hood myth, and his two previous historical epics, the aforementioned Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. This tale doesn’t soar like the first Scott/Crowe collaboration in Gladiator, but it tries, and for the first hour, most of this new revisionist look at Robin Hood works. At first, we’re caught up in this world of 12th Century England, with Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) battling in the trenches in the Third Crusade. Arrows flies, happily, and even the political maneuvering of France’s position into the throne of England is intriguing. The look of the film serves this well, as only a Scott film provides.

But in the second half of the film, plenty of questions and issues arise. The film crumbles somewhat, much like his Kingdom of Heaven did with too much on its plate. Robin Longstride returns home to Nottingham and picks up the Maid Marian, his Merry Men pop up from time to time, and the errors of the new King’s taxation rules come to light. Whereas in Kingdom of Heaven crashes under that film’s weight of politics and religion, as Scott tried to draw parallels to our times, DVD Producer Charles de Lauzirika resurrected that film in a better, longer cut. I’m not sure if that will work for Robin Hood, although I’m game for his attempt. What hurts Robin Hood isn’t deleted material (but more on this later,) but half-done plot lines that conclude for a possible sequel. The second half of the film must build the romance between Robin and Marian, begins his outlaw status as we all know and love, and show his disconnect from the King’s wishes. Plus, don’t forget about the politics and the epic battles.

So, when does he shoot his arrows?

It’s too much and by the end, we are left somewhat dissatisfied by the commonality between this film’s structure and Gladiator. Also, Robin Hood as the myth and character is great, but this revisionist look misses the fun of the character for most of the film. We get it in bits and pieces. It’s not enough that the film sets up and teases the frolicking fun of the soon-to-be adventures of Robin Hood, because its dead set seriousness could have used a page or two from Michael Curtiz and Errol Flynn.

(The Unrated Director’s Cut): While this new cut doesn’t radically change one’s perception of the film like the longer Kingdom of Heaven did, however, it features new scenes that do help Scott’s take on the legend. Deeper and richer interactions between Robin and Marion, some increased in violence, and a little clairty in the overall story with some scenes here and there, that allows the film – with everything Scott wanted – to breathe and not feel so stiff. A subplot is included in this cut of the ‘Runaways of Sherwood’ that adds more to the film than you’d expect. While not a radicial inclusion, this Unrated Director’s Cut is the preferred version to see and makes for a little less aggrivating time with Scott’s version of the legend.

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Universal offers up another great HD presentation. Deep level of details, fine clarity in facial features, a great looking balance of the colors, however muddy and muted in the intended vision, makes for a great looking HD picture. The DTS audio is booming as well and as expected. The surround speakers are in full swing, from the action and the ambience, all makes for an engulfing experience.

Director’s Notebook: This is a pop-up feature that comes along periodically in the Theatrical Cut from Ridley Scott, as in concept designs, stills, production featurettes, and it’s rather EPK, if not a tad cool, since it’s Scott.

Rise and Rise Again: Running a bit over an hour, this is a far more personal and in-depth look at this production with great interviews and on-set footage. Best of all, there isn’t a shred of promotional element to it, as it’s rather honest from the earliest incarnation of the idea to the final film.

Deleted Scenes: Even more scenes left out, interestingly, as I found a few to be pretty good. Optional commentary from the editor, Pietro Scalia, is offered. The Art of Nottingham is an extensive stills galery and a few TV Spots and Trailers round out the extras.

Conclusion: A devisive, yet interesting take of the legend that works best in the Unrated Director’s Cut than it did originally, all on a superb Blu-ray from Universal.

The Film: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

You can see more on Universal Studios’ Youtube page here.

Source: Universal

Source: UHE

The Blu-ray and 2-disc DVD Special Edition will include the most extras (from the press release) with theatrical and director’s cut film, as well as a digital copy of the director’s cut that can be viewed on an array of electronic and portable devices anytime, anywhere. Additionally, both the Blu-ray Combo Pack and the 2-Disc Special Edition will feature deleted scenes and filmmaker commentary, plus an extensive look at the making of Robin Hood that includes behind-the-scenes interviews with cast and crew. The Blu-ray release also exclusively features an interactive “Director’s Notebook,” which seamlessly takes fans inside the making of the specific scenes of the film, from production design to special effects.

Source: Universal Home Entertainment

This adds onto the ever-growing trend of grabbing eighties television shows/films, spinning them around and making some fast cash in the form of said new feature. Already attached to produce the feature is Alex Siskin, Mace Neufeld and the production company Escape Artists. The hunt is still on for a writer and director on this film.

Crowe will appear once more this year on the big screen in the Paul Haggis film The Next Three Days. The upcoming thriller, centered on a married couple who’s life is turned upside down when the wife is accused of murder, comes out in theaters on November 19th.

Iron Man 2 continues to do strong, making $26.6 Million to add to a grand domestic total of $251.2 Million. Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood still struggles to get an audience here in the States but when you add it up with international sales it’s made $191.1  Million. Check out the rest of the totals below from Box Office Mojo.:

Weekend Box Office (May 21-23)

1. Shrek The Final Chapter  ($71.5 M)
2. Iron Man 2  ($26.6 M)
3. Robin Hood  ($18.7 M)
4. Letters to Juliet  ($9.1 M)
5. Just Wright  ($4.2 M)
6. MacGruber  ($4.1 M)
7. Date Night  ($2.8 M)
8. A Nightmare on Elm Street  ($2.2 M)
9. How to Train Your Dragon  ($1.8 M)
10. Kites  ($952,000)

This Thursday Sex and the City 2 comes out in theaters and this upcoming Friday we have the wide release of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time in order to hold the guys over who don’t want to see Carrie and the girls travel to Lord knows where. On the limited circuit you can see Agora or Survival of the Dead.

10 – Dardo Bartoli (Burt Lancaster) in The Flame and the Arrow (1950)

Although, director Jacques Tourneur gave us some of the more atmospheric horror films in the 1940′s with Cat People and I Walked with a Zombie, he also gave us a slightly notable swashbuckler in this film. The film shares similar ideas from WB’s own Adventures of Robin Hood 20 years prior, as Lancaster must rescue his son from tyranny in his land. Lancaster is not Flynn, but arrows fly all the same: with grace.

9 -Turok from Turok: Son of Stone (2008)

This character is more notable in comics, but he’s been the subject of many rumors for a live action film. An animated film was finally made, and while it isn’t entirely successful, seeing Turok shoot his bow and arrow towards dinosaurs should get any action fan excited. This is more of a tease for a real film, so where’s the real film?

8 -Neyriti (Zoe Saldana) from Avatar (2009)

The Na’vi might be alien and blue, but their skills in archery, especially Neyriti’s, should be commended. Plus, would Cameron be talking about a sequel, if it wasn’t for her archery skills at the end of the film, that saves Sam Worthington from certain death? Nope. Neyriti is one of the rare females on this list that can shoot an arrow with the best of them.

7 – Chance Boudreaux (Jean-Claude Van Damme) from Hard Target (1993)

JCVD is known for his action and martial art skills, but in this film-John Woo’s American debut-he proves he is equally as good with the bow and arrow. A poor New Orleans boy decides to hunt the hunters, in a reverse Most Dangerous Game theme, with great results. Surely one of Van Damme’s better films, even if Woo temporarily replaces bullets with arrows. Just look at the poster art.

6 -Guinevere (Keira Knightley) from King Arthur (2004)

Oddly, Ms. Knightley isn’t a stranger to the bow. Before this film, she was cast in a made-for-TV Disney film called Princess of Thieves, where she plays the daughter of Robin Hood. That film honed her archery skills for her bad ass take on Guinevere in this updated King Arthur film that took the legend out, and added facts to the famous story. Archery never looked so hot.

5 -Chewbacca in the Star Wars films (1977-1983)

While Chewie might not be the typical archer, whatever fancy futuristic weapon thing he carries in these films, it all does the same thing. While he never fully showcased his archery skills a whole lot, one assumes his forest world of Kashyyyk demands a Wookie to be quite skilled at the bow.

4 -Guo Jing (Alexander Fu) from The Brave Archer (1977)

The great Chang Cheng gaves us this start to a four films series based on legend (aren’t they all?) about rebels and soldiers, mixed with revenge, all done beautifully by the Shaw Brothers studio. Out of all of the martial art films, this one, while typical in approach from the studio, feels different because of the archery aspect. Fans should seek this out.

3 -Legolas (Orlando Bloom) from The Lord of the Rings trilogy

After 9 hours, I think we can safely assume the archery skills of this character. Whether it’s a light touch or in an epic battle, Legolas was always on point. Bloom’s career seems to be off now, but this role will be fondly remembered for a slew of reasons, many non-archery based, but the elf could wield a mean bow and arrow.

2 – John Rambo from Rambo: First Blood Part II (1984)

The war still wasn’t over for John Rambo, and while he trades away his bullets for so sick bow and arrow action, this film is perhaps the definitive action film. There’s intensity and grace behind each violent arrow Rambo shoots. Like Rambo needed to be even more bad ass, he was in this film. His near-perfect skills could only be match arrow-by-arrow by our number one…

1 – Robin Hood (Errol Flynn) from Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)

So what if this is a cliched answer. While there’s been a slew of movies based on this character, nobody did it with more grace, spunk, and fun than the immortal Errol Flynn. Always with a smile, his Robin Hood, like most characters from this period became the ideal version of what we expect from a Robin Hood (think Bela Lugosi’s performance in Dracula for a comparison). What’s not to love? Sorry, Costner and Elwes, nobody touches Mr. Flynn. Nobody.

What are your favorite archers? Did we miss a character? Tell us in a comment below!

The Film:

While Mel Brooks has never again reached the heights of the comedic gem Blazing Saddles with his other films, but he’s come close, and after a series of complete mishaps that those unfunny cats named Jason Friedberg and Aaron Seltzer have done, the spoof genre is about dead as Britney Spears’ career. The spoof genre seems like a complete waste of time now days, aiming for a quick laugh for a quicker buck, so it’s kind of an odd task revisiting Robin Hood: Men in Tights since Friedberg/Seltzer has continued to whore out the genre to death and back.

But Mel Brooks is the King of the Spoof, if there’s such a thing, and even a weaker entry by him, is still a blast.

17 years later, Robin Hood: Men in Tights isn’t as funny as it once was, but I remember roaring to this as a kid growing up, and maybe it’s the nostalgia, but I was still smiling all the way through again. Can you believe it has been 17 years? Yes, there’s plenty of limp jokes that didn’t work then and certainly don’t now, and there’s some rather dated references in the film (like Nike pumps-remember those?), but it’s Mel Brooks, who still and always will be Mel Brooks. So what does that mean now? The man, even in his weaker films, can string a lot of fun and laughs here and there for a 80 minute romp.

The key to this film’s everlasting fun (yeah, I think I can say that about this film) is the lead performance of Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Saw). A dash of debonair, a dose of charm, and a helping of cheese sums his performance up.  The next best thing to Errol Flynn himself! Unlike some other Robin Hoods, I can speak with an English accent! The film riffs on the classic Adventures of Robin Hood starring the great Errol Flynn, Kevin Costner’s Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, and Disney’s own Robin Hood, and overall, Men in Tights features some mixed results. It’s defiantly not a laugh-a-minute, and in comparison to Blazing Saddles or Young Frankenstein, it’s a lesser entry, but the cast makes it fun when the jokes don’t work. Roger Rees as the Sheriff of Rottingham, is sleazy and flamboyant in all of the right tones, a young Dave Chappelle earns a few chuckles, but it all comes back to Cary Elwes who scene steals at every opportunity.

I wonder if that locksmith ever came?

The Blu-ray:

Audio/Video: Fox delivers a solid little HD presentation for this aging film. While at times soft, the overall video benefits from the HD with some great facial details and nice textures in the forest and castle scenes, along with clothing. The film clever looks its age, but it’s a nice improvement over than ragging looking DVD. The DTS track is surprisingly nice. The sound FX and musical numbers have a little punch to them, with none of the dialogue being drowned out. Could everything have been better? Most likely, but even this should please most fans.

Commentary: This is an older track, recorded in those days of Laserdiscs, and it’s just Mel Brooks talking. Some good info, but mostly a bit monotonous. He’s a bit dry-sadly-and spends not enough time with stuff we might want to know and describes the action on-screen far too much. Worth a quick listen, if you skip around.

Funny Men in Tights: Three Generations of Comedy: This is the only new extra and it’s in HD. It’s a 13 minute retrospective piece on the film with interviews from the cast, friends, and crew about the film and working with Mel. It’s a quick, nice look at the film.

HBO First Look: The Legend Had It Coming: What’s essentially an EPK look at the film, now, as a piece of nostalgia, it’s rather a fun watch. It’s in SD, but Cary hosts the origins and production of the film.

An Isolated Score track and a HD Trailer round out the extras.

Conclusion: Far from Brooks’ best, Men in Tights after all of these years is still a fun film, whether you laugh or groan at the jokes today. Fox’s Blu-ray is pretty good too, better than I was expecting.

The Film: Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

The Blu-ray: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

We now divert our attention to the chick flicks of the weekend, but of course it’s no real surprise that Letters to Juliet landed gracefully in third place with Just Wright close behind. The Summit Entertainment distributed film pulled off a heavy but sweet marketing campaign, that made a few aware of Letters to Juliet for a longer time compared to Just Wright. Despite all of that marketing hoo-ha, Letters to Juliet made $13.7 Million while Just Wright wrangled in $8.5 Million. Continue reading on to check out the rest of the totals below from Box Office Mojo.:

Weekend Box Office (May 14-16)

1. Iron Man 2  ($53 M)
2. Robin Hood  ($37.1 M)
3. Letters to Juliet  ($13.7 M)
4. Just Wright  ($8.5 M)
5. How to Train Your Dragon  ($5.1 M)
6. A Nightmare on Elm Street  ($4.7 M)
7. Date Night  ($4 M)
8. The Back-Up Plan  ($2.4 M)
9. Furry Vengeance  ($2.3 M)
10. Clash of the Titans  ($1.2 M)

It’s time to bring in more action for the next weekend as the SNL skit-turned-feature film MacGruber comes out this Friday. DreamWorks Animation pulls out the big guns with the IMAX 3D and regular theater release of Shrek The Final Chapter. Following those two, are the limited releases of 180 South: Conquerors of the Useless and Racing Dreams.

“You’ve got dead ears, mate. You’ve seriously got dead ears if you think that’s an Irish accent,” snapped Crowe. After a short pause, Crowe would continue to talk about the film and the character, only to snapped back at Lawson. “B******s,” exclaimed Crowe after Lawson said there were hints of Irish in the accent. Storming off of the show’s set, Crowe added: “I’m a little dumbfounded you could possibly find any Irish in that character – that’s kind of ridiculous, but it’s your show.”

Below, is the audio clip from the show. Be forewarned that this is unedited.

Another summer film, another meltdown (remember Christian Bale’s infamous rant on set of Terminator Salvation?). I think the question was just, but perhaps ill-advised. Crowe maybe should have just laughed it off. What do you all think?

Source: Daily Mail

Ridley Scott is a fine director through and through, yet this film is curiously an amalgamation of the Robin Hood myth, and his two previous historical epics, the aforementioned Gladiator and Kingdom of Heaven. This tale doesn’t soar like the first Scott/Crowe collaboration in Gladiator, but it tries, and for the first hour, most of this new revisionist look at Robin Hood works. At first, we’re caught up in this world of 12th Century England, with Robin Longstride (Russell Crowe) battling in the trenches in the Third Crusade. Arrows flies, happily, and even the political maneuvering of France’s position into the throne of England is intriguing. The look of the film serves this well, as only a Scott film provides.

But in the second half of the film, plenty of questions and issues arise. The film crumbles somewhat, much like his Kingdom of Heaven did with too much on its plate. Robin Longstride returns home to Nottingham and picks up the Maid Marian, his Merry Men pop up from time to time, and the errors of the new King’s taxation rules come to light. Whereas in Kingdom of Heaven crashes under that film’s weight of politics and religion, as Scott tried to draw parallels to our times, DVD Producer Charles de Lauzirika resurrected that film in a better, longer cut. I’m not sure if that will work for Robin Hood, although I’m game for his attempt. What hurts Robin Hood isn’t deleted material, but half-done plot lines that conclude for a possible sequel. The second half of the film must build the romance between Robin and Marian, begins his outlaw status as we all know and love, and show his disconnect from the King’s wishes. Plus, don’t forget about the politics and the epic battles.

So, when does he shoot his arrows?

It’s too much and by the end, we are left somewhat dissatisfied by the commonality between this film’s structure and Gladiator. Also, Robin Hood as the myth and character is great, but this revisionist look misses the fun of the character for most of the film. We get it in bits and pieces. It’s not enough that the film sets up and teases the frolicking fun of the soon-to-be adventures of Robin Hood, because its dead set seriousness could have used a page or two from Michael Curtiz and Errol Flynn.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

Robin Hood chronicles the life of an expert archer, previously interested only in self—preservation, from his service in King Richard’s army against the French. Upon Richard’s death, Robin travels to Nottingham, a town suffering from the corruption of a despotic sheriff and crippling taxation, where he falls for the spirited widow Lady Marion (Oscar winner Cate Blanchett), a woman skeptical of the identity and motivations of this crusader from the forest. Hoping to earn the hand of Maid Marion and salvage the village, Robin assembles a gang whose lethal mercenary skills are matched only by its appetite for life. Together, they begin preying on the indulgent upper class to correct injustices under the sheriff.

Robin Hood charges into theaters on May 14th. Go on, check out the new trailer below.:

The second film that he’s in talks to be a part of is the Hugh Jackman starring feature Real Steel. If a deal can be worked out, Durand will play the Texan promoter of robot boxing (THR). The picture, directed by Shawn Levy, is a boxing drama set in the near-future where 2,000-pound robots that look like humans do battle.

When it comes to this casting news, there’s only one real problem with these two films, and that’s how close to release they are to each other. They’re both expected to start up principal photography during this summer so it all depends on his schedule as to what he can squeeze in.

Durand will be appearing in the role of Little John in Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood, set for release on May 14th.