Welcome to another edition of the Reject Recap, where we highlight the past week’s best news and original features from this very movie site and others around the web. It really wasn’t a huge week for stories out of Hollywood and the rest of the industry. Some of the biggest things involved sci-fi movie casting and trailers and the reminder of a remake nobody sees as necessary. In addition to the ten posts curated for your attention, we also share two goofy mash-up videos for your enjoyment this weekend.
Start your weekend right after the jump.
Christopher Nolan Sticks With Catwoman
We know very little about Christopher Nolan‘s Interstellar except that it’s starting to cast actors who’ve previously worked with the director. Which reminds us: remember when Inception was so secretive that people were guessing it was a surprise Dark Knight sequel with DiCaprio as the villain because it had such a repeat cast? Anyway, here’s Scott’s response to Anne Hathaway joining Nolan’s next: “The only question that really remains is if Hathaway is going to be able to show the same spark of charisma that she showed as Catwoman when she’s wearing a lab coat and explaining the science of wormholes on the bridge of a starship. You know, if that’s the sort of movie that Interstellar is going to be. Damn Nolan and his secrecy. It’s like he doesn’t want us to already have a bunch of preconceived notions about his movies before he even begins work on them. Jerk.
Bill Murray Was The Human Torch
For no other reason than to highlight the above fact, David listed the 10 Strangest Bill Murray Roles That Almost Nobody Saw, which includes his takes on Shakespeare and Hunter S. Thompson. Could the following be reason for him to have some part in the Fantastic Four reboot? “This is so freaking weird that I wrote this entire list just to share it. Bill Murray was in a Fantastic Four radio show. Seriously that happened. ‘Twas 1975 and a young Bill Murray was mere months away from becoming a member of Saturday Night Live. Until then he would do work for the 10-episode Marvel Fantastic Four Radio Show…In it, Murray depicts the Human Torch exactly like you’d imagine it: like Bill Murray. It’s so not the right role for him, and yet who cares? Brilliance.”
David Slade on His Vision for Daredevil
During an interview with our own Jack Giroux, David Slade revealed what his never-fulfilled version of the overdue Daredevil reboot would have looked like. Here’s Jack’s relay of the info: “Based on how Slade described the movie, it would’ve been the Daredevil movie fans have always wanted. ‘It’s in the 70s, Kingpin is going through New York dealing with the Irish mafia, and there’s Daredevil in the yellow suit. It was all there! You know, it’s a big studio film and it’s tougher…there are certain people who are really good at that, and I hope to be really good at that. I will continue to try my best.’”
The Point Break Remake Could Be Awesome
The remake of Point Break is moving forward, as Ericson Core has been hired to direct the script by Kurt Wimmer. Scott responded to this news favorably: “Despite having a name that sounds like a cell phone, Core has done some strong work as a DP (Payback, The Fast and the Furious) and his one previous shot as a director, Invincible, was notable for its design and its character work. So, no, he’s not the biggest name out there, but he’s absolutely shown the potential as a technician to create a buddy action film with a little depth to it…Rallying for the promise of a remake isn’t popular, but the opportunity for a new Point Break seems cut and dry: a high concept action movie is getting an update to bring it into the age of Red Bull and the X Games. We can all stop clutching our pearls now. This thing might just be completely awesome.”
The Hypocrisy of North Korean Cinema
With threats from North Korea on the rise, Landon looked at the communist country’s movie culture, which is difficult to tackle seeing as how it’s impossible to see many of its films. Here he notes the hypocrisy of late dictator and huge cinephile Kim Jong-IL: “the films he oversaw (in whatever capacity) exclusively and explicitly served the interests and stated the ideological prerogatives of the state. This illuminates the paradox of a dictator who controls national culture while he enjoys the exclusive privilege of having access to culture outside that nation: during Kim Jong-Il’s rule, North Korean cinema was evidently influenced by outside cinematic cultures, but its captive audience could only see the end result put through the state apparatus, not the films that operated as inspirational cues along the way.”
Darth Mouse and Emperor Walt Take Over the Star Wars Universe
This Disney/Star Wars mash-up is also a mash-up of dumb and genius. Via io9:
Are All Sports Movies About Race?
With the obviously race-themed biopic 42 in theaters this weekend, Scott Harris at Film.com addressed the issue of Hollywood mostly tackling stories about race through sports movies: “while the list of films that tout their racial message could fill a whole column by itself (White Men Can’t Jump being just the tip of the iceberg), you could make an equally long list of sports movies that rely on (mostly) unstated racial subtext to power their messages. Rocky may be an underdog story, but it’s also about boxing’s search for the Great White Hope. Jerry Maguire may not make a big deal about the fact that the agents and owners and people with power are all white while the actual working athletes are mostly black, but it’s not easy to miss either. Brian’s Song is first and foremost a story of brotherly love, but the fact that only one of the brothers is a brother is hardly incidental.”
Elysium Trailer Occupied the Web
The long-awaited trailer for Elysium landed this week, and its Occupy Wall Street-ish plot seems somewhat reminiscent of last year’s Total Recall remake. Of course, it also looks about 1000 times better than that movie. Kate commented on the first look at the upcoming sci-fi film from Neil Blomkamp: “another sci-fi epic that deals with the inherent evils of rigid class division and the true measure of a man modified by technology far beyond his control. Put simply – if you were into District 9, you’re going to be into Elysium…The film’s first trailer relies on cool visuals, massive scope, and the cache of its strong cast (also including Jodie Foster and Sharlto Copley) to sell the project, leaving plot expansion for a later date, but the bare bones of the film’s story are all there.”
Mean Girls is Better Than Heathers
Not all of us at FSR would agree with the idea, but Nathan claimed that the “overrated” Heathers (one of my favorite films of all time) is an inferior take on snooty high school girls than the “underpraised” Mean Girls. He argument: “Mean Girls is able to squeeze pretty much all of the same social commentary that Heathers contains into its story without getting anywhere near as nasty and uncomfortable. The repeated images of teens degenerating into bloodthirsty members of the animal kingdom covers the cruelty angle, peer pressure works to dramatically corrupt everything about Lohan’s blank slate character, and the character of Gretchen Wieners alone is a worthy enough shrine built in the honor of teenage overreaction. Mean Girls covers all of the same bases that Heathers does, but it does it with a story full of Machiavellian social sabotage that doesn’t have to resort to murder and suicide. That way much ickiness lies.”
If You Like Fight Club and Sex and the City You’ll Love Bergman’s Persona
If there’s a way to get today’s kids to watch Ingmar Bergman’s Persona, Landon’s response to its opening sequence in the latest Best Movie Ever column could do it: “It was like Tyler Durden’s cinematic wet dream. I remember feeling repulsed but also completely mesmerized by the beauty and the brutality of that sequence. The kid’s hand on the projected faces of the film’s two stars is such a beautiful iconic image, followed by the most aggressive beginning credits sequence I’ve ever seen.” And if that doesn’t work, Scott shared this: “my streaming service of choice suggested The Seventh Seal, Wild Strawberries and (ahem) Sex and the City as ‘Movies Like Persona.’”
A New Horror Film Fest to Get Excited About
Do we need more film fests? If they’re original and special, yes. Rob previewed the upcoming inaugural Stanley Film Fest: “it immediately gets right what so many others get wrong. Location. The horror film fest takes place entirely at the historic Stanley Hotel in Estes Park, CO, which in addition to being a beautiful yet creepy locale is also the hotel that inspired Stephen King’s ‘The Shining.’ Their inaugural fest promises to be a fantastically fun affair complete with parties, a horror-themed brunch, a ghost tour and more. Of course the most important element of a film fest is the film selection, and this one is no slouch. The opening and closing night films are Ethan Hawke’s new thriller The Purge and the Eli Roth vehicle Aftershock, respectively. In between are a lively mix of hotly anticipated follow ups from the directors of Rabies, Dead Snow and The Midnight Meat Train, thrilling changes of pace from Mark Duplass and Elijah Wood, a long overdue big screen showing of All the Boys Love Mandy Lane and more.”
A Potentially Safer Jurassic Park
What if the dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were just replaced with people who think they’re dinosaurs? Fewer deaths, maybe; more hilarity, certainly. Via Official Comedy: