Makes you wonder

Fanboys had better hope "Obsessed" doesn't break 20 million this weekend. Might be all a certain R&B/Pop Princess needs to don the star spangled underwear...

UPDATE: 28.5 million?! Uh Oh fanboys...

Earth Stood Still

Maybe I was too hard on the “Knowing”. At least it kept me entertained for a pretty decent stretch. This "Day the Earth Stood Still" remake is a straight yawner. I’m a fan of the original -- still holds up -- maybe that shaded my opinion just a bit. Nothing new here, except overblown CGI and a hokey, “save the earth” message. Don’t think I bought into any of the characters. Everyone acted so weird, I half expected them to pull off rubber masks and go, ‘Joke's on you, buddy! We’re aliens too!’

Outlander

Entertaining sci-fi action flick. Spaceman Jim Caviezel crashes to earth and teams up with some Vikings in order to catch the “dragon” that killed his family. Kind of Predatorish, but fun. They milk the “monster in the shadows” for the first hour, then the pace picks up. Ron Perlman pops in briefly from a rival clan to bash heads. Love interest Sophia Myles has some cool girl power moments and is instrumental in the final action sequence. Overall, the action was fine -- not “300“ level, but acceptable. Certain parts of the story were more than a bit predictable. Wish they had shot the earlier version, where the creature talks.

With a wider release, I think “Outlander” could have pulled in numbers close to what “Pathfinder” did in 2007, 30 million. Doesn’t quite break even when you have a 50 million dollar budget, but heck of a lot better than $166,003 from 81 theaters. Maybe it’s one of those tax write offs that were once popular with German investors. Oh well, there’s always life on DVD and cable.


BTW, I'm on Twitter... well, because... everyone's doing it!

Sleep Dealer Trailer

This looks Matrixy but intriguing...

The Spirit

Tempted to call this a good bad film but I won’t. Great cinematography, loads of eye candy -- exhibit A: Mendes, Eva -- watching it on mute is almost enjoyable…. Almost. Brings back 80s flashbacks of “Flash Gordon”. Today’s fanboys want their comic book adaptations taken seriously. Going camp was a gamble and Frank Miller rolled snake eyes. An R-rating might also have been the way to go, but I’m sure the marketing folks had images of “Spirit” lunchboxes and “Dr. Octopus” action figures with kung-fu grips, dancing in their heads. A semi-interesting failure.

Push

I could've saved myself a lot of time by copying my rant about “Jumper” and pasting it here. Another case of “cart before the horse” syndrome. Overly complicated story, too many characters, lots of exposition and the futile tease of a sequel. We’ve seen this premise countless times: the big, bad government chasing average folk with special abilities -- someone ought to try that as a TV series. Wait…

The Hong Kong setting makes for a fresh backdrop and Chris Evans is fine as the lead, but the effects were kinda cheesy -- you can't do "X-Men" on a 35 million dollar budget. Not a bad film, just too ambitious.

I blame “The Matrix”. Before that came along and made a bajillion dollars, sci-fi thrillers were much simpler. Nothing wrong with an ending that leaves the door open for a sequel, but not to the point where the script references characters we barely see or fully understand their motivations. Bigger isn’t always better. Neither is denser. Something to keep in mind when writing. Gonna read the script over the weekend.

A remake of “Firestarter” with Dakota Fanning probably would have gotten more bang for its buck.

Killing Babies

Well, not literally. Just trimming my page count. Trying to hover around 110 pages. Went from a page long conversation to a menacing gesture -- incredibly satisfying and a bit embarrassing at the same time.

So Long

First off, the “Life” finale kicked all kinds of butt. Sadly, today's viewers appear to be more interested in graphic autopsies than the whodunit aspect. Gonna miss this one if it doesn't come back. Hope the DVD is loaded with extras.

I’ve been really hard on the “Sarah Connor Chronicles” for most of this season, but I actually *liked* the season/series finale. It all seems to make sense -- right now anyway. Also, I think I figured out why little Savannah is an important piece of the puzzle.

Closure

Been a long time coming. Last week of tweaking the werewolf spec before sending it off to contest land. I've settled on the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship and Screamfest. Thought about entering Austin or Scriptapalooza as well, but that money might be more useful elsewhere -- like in my pocket! It's way too easy to catch contest fever and wind up with very little to show for it.

Missed the “Life on Mars” series finale, but the spoiler over on "syfywire.com" makes me glad I did. Sounds ridiculous. Hope the folks behind “Lost” are paying attention. I wish “Life” and “Sarah Connor Chronicles” had more time to wrap things up, be prepared for their respective season -- most likely series -- finales to contain loose ends.

Still watching “Dollhouse”, not exactly sure why. I no longer drink the Whedon flavored Kool-Aid in mass quantities… maybe the occasional sip or two.

The new “Cupid” was okay, not as good as the original -- ratings weren‘t that hot either. Didn’t see a lot of chemistry between the two leads. Bobby Cannavale has a tough act to follow after Jeremy Piven.

Giant sea worm discovered

This has the "most dangerous night on television" written all over it... (link)