by rick grant rickgrant01@comcast.net
After the fall box office smoke cleared, films that were made to be blockbusters failed to deliver. Cheap horror films like The Grudge 2 and Saw 3 brought in big revenues. Filmdom’s financial analysts are scratching their heads and thinking why make big expensive films when low budget horror flicks fill up the seats? Now, we face the silly season. Yes, it’s the make-or-break final blowout for the holiday season with the usual sappy Christmas fare and a few worthwhile major films.
The holiday season begins with the new Bond picture, Casino Royale, starring Daniel Craig, who has caused quite a swell of negative feedback among fans. Later, on December 8th, Mel Gibson’s Mayan epic Apocalypto premieres. Of course Gibson, in the most stupid bite-the-hands-that-feed-you blunder, uttered an anti-Semitic tirade while drunk and disorderly, pissing off just about everyone in Hollywood. Amazingly, Disney stood-by him and prayed the controversy would blow over by the time Apocalypto was released.
Traditionally, the movies have been a welcome escape from the stress of visiting relatives and the financial strain of buying presents. So lock up your credit cards and get ready for the onslaught of holiday hype, another Tim Allen Santa Clause picture, and a few gems shining in an otherwise mundane lineup.
November 17, Casino Royale opens as James Bond’s first mission. He must stop a banker from winning a casino tournament and using the money to fund terrorist activities. According to director Martin Campbell, this is Bond reinvented by pretending the previous 20 JB movies never happened. It’s a brand new creation. The buzz is: It’s a darker, more serious blond Bond. All the controversy about Daniel Craig being wrong for the role will no doubt send fans to the movie theater to see him for themselves, which will have a positive effect on the first weekend box office. 007 is gruffer around the edges as he fights more realistically than the suave Bond’s before him. A Bond staple is definitely back in this reinvention. Product tie-ins are rampant, with a French underwear manufacturer supplying Craig’s tight fit boxers. Bond is driving a Ford. Yes Ford’s all new Ford Mondeo will be seen in this Bond film. Meanwhile, off-set, Craig is dating American film producer Satsuki Mitchell. In the recent past, Craig has been linked to Kate Moss, and Sienna Miller. So despite the torrent of initial negative feedback when Craig’s casting was announced, I think when fans see the film they will change their tune about Craig. He’s a critically acclaimed and versatile actor who brings his macho intensity to the role. He played Perry Smith in the second Truman Capote biopic, Infamous.
Happy Feet dances in on Nov. 17 with those adorable penguins who court one another by singing. A penguin is born who cannot sing, but he can tap dance to lure a mate. So, he gets the entire penguin clan dancing. This spin-off was in production as a separate entity before the 2005 documentary about the Emperor Penguins incredible struggle for survival. This year Warner created a CGI penguin (voiced by Elijah Wood). Co-writer/director, George Miller, started this project two years before March of The Penguin hit theaters. However, the Penguins’ success coincidence worked out in his favor. Penguins are in vogue. Miller did ask the creators of the penguin documentary to show him as much footage as possible to make sure his penguins were accurately portrayed. Of course, the funny short showed before the Penguins picture established the comedic antics of these animated penguins. The hype is reaching critical mass on this holiday family film–a genre which has done blockbuster numbers in every seasonal release date. It’s as much of a sure thing as Hollywood can muster in this crap-shoot milieu.
November 22 is the opening date for Deck the Halls starring Danny DeVito and Matthew Broderick as neighbors, one of whom decorates his house with so many lights it can be seen from space. This starts a feud that gets out of hand and comedic situations ensue. DeVito plays the neighbor, Buddy, who decorates his house excessively. This overkill annoys Matthew Broderick’s character, Steve. He is hosting the local winter festival and is a conservationist, who thinks DeVito’s lights are an obscene waste of electricity. Steve leads a well ordered life which is being turned upside down by Buddy’s light show. He makes it his mission to sabotage Buddy’s expanding light display, restoring the peace and darkness to the neighborhood.
The Fountain also opens on Nov. 22. This is a sci-fi tale that recounts one man’s journey in the present as well as 500 years into the past and future. It stars Hugh Jackman, Rachel Weisz, and Ellen Burnstyn. Also on Nov. 22, Jack Black is back with another rock’n’roll picture called Tenacious D the Pick of Destiny. It’s an outrageous parable of a quest for the holy grail of rock. Black and his duo partner Kyle Gass embark to steal the “Pick of Destiny”–a magical guitar pick housed in a rock museum 300 miles away. Deja Vu rolls into theaters on Nov. 22. Denzel Washington stars as an ATF agent who travels back in time to save a woman from being murdered and falls in love with her during their adventures. And finally, Lets Go to Prison opens on Nov. 22. This comedy involves a career criminal’s plan for revenge that is thwarted by unlikely circumstances. He puts his intended victim’s son in his place by putting him in prison–and joining him.
November 30, The Nativity Story opens. This well-known drama focuses on the period of time in Mary and Joseph’s life before the birth of Jesus, chronicling their arranged marriage and acceptance of one another. It also covers the relationship between Mary and Elizabeth. It is Elizabeth, who is pregnant with John the Baptist that reassures the pregnant and yet-unwed Mary. When Mary arrives home she must deal with a skeptical family and skeptical Joseph as she reveals her pregnancy is ordained by God. The couple’s arduous journey to Bethlehem and the arrival of the three wise men is also part of the film.
December 8, The Holiday rolls into theaters. It stars Cameron Diaz, Kate Winslet, Jude Law and Jack Black. This romantic comedy features two women with romantic entanglements. So they swap homes in each other’s countries, where they each meet a local guy and fall in love. Written and directed by Nancy Meyers, this “holiday” fare is sure to bring in lovesick females. Also, Unaccompanied Minors opens. The story involves a group of kids who bond while snowed in at Chicago’s fictional Hoover International Airport the day after Christmas. There the kids create a make believe holiday for themselves to celebrate.
Mel Gibson’s much ballyhooed Mayan epic Apocalypto opens on December 8th. It is set in the Mayan empire as it plummets into decline. The rulers believe that the key to prosperity is to build more temples and offer more human sacrifices to the gods. Thus a period of mass execution depleted the population and the spirit of the people. Jaguar Paw (Rudy Youngblood) is a young man chosen for sacrifice. “Like hell,” he must have said. So, he flees the kingdom hiding his wife and child, trying to make sense of this dark gloom which has fallen over the empire.
In various interviews, Gibson stated that he spared no expense to portray the fear and terror the Mayans felt during this religious hysteria that gripped the Mayan rulers. He stated that it’s an old fashioned epic that eclipses Braveheart in its intensity and brutal bloody scenes of slaughter. Gibson seems to be intrigued by the blood and brute force exhibited by civilizations during certain historical periods. His Christ was beaten into a bloody pulp with skin hanging off his back like shards of cloth. In reality, no one could have lived through that much physical trauma. In my opinion, Gibson’s portrayal of primal violence serves as a metaphor for his belief that vicious brutality exists in all men, lurking just below the surface.
Eragon is an epic fantasy film in the mold of Lord of the Rings that opens December 15. In his homeland of Alagaesia, Eragon, a farm boy played by Edward Speleers, happens upon a dragon egg. This discovery leads him on a predestined journey. Later he returns to defend his homeland against an evil king. The story features the Dragon Riders who pilot their fire-spewing dragons like jet fighters, bringing death and destruction on the enemy. The scenario features dragons, knights, broadswords clashing, and Jeremy Irons as a knight.
Pursuit of Happyness also opens Dec. 15. A struggling salesman, Christopher Gardner (played by Will Smith) takes custody of his son (played by Japen Smith). Struggling to make ends meet, Gardner finds himself and his five-year-old son evicted from their San Francisco apartment with nowhere to go. When Gardner lands an internship at a prestigious stock brokerage firm, he and his son endure many hardships, including living in shelters, in pursuit of his dream of a better life for the two of them. Blood Diamond opens on the same date. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio as Danny Archer–a South African mercenary—and Solomon Vandy (played by Daimon Hounsou) is a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories are as different as two men could be, until their fates become intertwined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives. Also opening on the 15th is the endearing tale Charlotte’s Web, starring Dakota Fanning and the voices of Julia Roberts and Oprah Winfrey. Wilbur the pig is scared of the end of the season because he knows that he will end up on the dinner table. He hatches a plan with Charlotte, a spider that lives in his pen, to ensure that this will never happen. Finally, Dreamgirls, starring Beyoncé Knowles, Jamie Foxx, and Eddie Murphy, opens on Dec. 15th. This is based on the wildly popular Broadway musical. The scenario involves a trio of black female soul singers who crossover in the pop charts in the early 1960s. An Oscar buzz has developed on Jamie Foxx’s performance in the film.
Opening on December 20, Night at the Museum, starring Ben Stiller. It tells the story of a bumbling security guard at the Museum of Natural History. He accidentally lets loose an ancient curse that causes the animals and insects on display to come to life and wreak havoc.
We Are Marshall opens December 22. This is the story of the plane crash that claimed the lives of members of the Marshall University football team and how the team’s new coach (played by Matthew McConaughey) and his surviving players pressed on with the football program against all odds. It is based on a true story. Also opening on the 22nd, Rocky Balboa, has Sly coming out of retirement and going through another training montage for one last title bout, against a younger, stronger opponent.
Children of Men opens Christmas day, December 25th. Set in 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea. There her child’s birth may help scientists save the future of humankind. It stars Clive Owen, Julianne Moore, and Michael Caine. It is based on P.D. James’ novel, and directed by Alfonso Cuaron.
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