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January 4, 2002

You'd think I'd be more excited about the first two shots of Brad Pitt and Julia Roberts from Steven Soderbergh's next experimental film FULL FRONTAL - but I'm not.  First off, let it be known that Brad Pitt isn't the star of this vehicle. Neither is Julia.  So don't let that fool you. Pitt's role is reportedly one script page long and Julia has less screen time than OCEAN'S 11. No one is really the main character - it's an ensemble really, but I suppose when you've got names like Pitt and Roberts in your film, it's easy to ignore Blair Underwood (no offense Blair...).

In any event, I wanted the first pics I saw from the film to mean something.  To kick me in the ass and say "You have to see this movie goddamnit!"  But now we have these grainy papparazzi shots of Brad in a weird looking suit and Julia just looking terrible.  Not sure if that's her character or what but yikes!  Anyway, the pics appeared at AICN but they came from another website, where they came from another website, and on and on, back until someone scanned them in and put them up somewhere.  I tried to find the original site but had no luck.  Anyway, take a look for yourself...

< click pics to enlarge >
  

January 4, 2002

Here are some more shots from another 2002 release - this time it's the 1970s coming-of-age tearjerker GOODBYE, HELLO (formerly BABY'S IN BLACK).  The film, directed by Brad Silberling (CITY OF ANGELS), follows a young man (Jaky Gyllenhaal of BUBBLE BOY fame) who lives with the parents (played by Dustin Hoffman and Susan Sarandon) of his recently deceased girlfriend and struggles with life and love and stuff.  Via e-mail from someone named 'Sgt. Hulka' (doncha just love anonymous e-mail! Thanks!) a few small pics from the film were sent our way:

January 4, 2002

While out and about promoting THE MAJESTIC (which is performing terribly and killing its chances at any Academy Awards) writer/director Frank Darabont spoke out about his attachment to the feature film adaptation of Ray Bradbury's classic FAHRENHEIT 451.  He said that he approached Mel Gibson, who snatched up the rights in the mid-90s, to see if he was still interested. Gibson is apparently no longer interested in the film and Darabont asked if he would be willing to let him direct instead.

Mel agreed and Darabont is hard at work on adapting the script.  As to whether he will direct the film or not, Darabont isn't quite sure as he'd like to take time off after the lengthy writing process. He also added that not only was Gibson no longer interested in directing the film, he also opted out of starring, saying someone younger should be playing renegade firefighter Guy Montag.  Interestingly enough, Darabont hinted at none-other-than Paul Walker (JOY RIDE, FAST AND THE FURIOUS) when asked about a potential star....
 

January 4, 2002

Source: Variety

Actor/Singer Billy Crawford has been cast in one of the lead roles in THE EXORCIST prequel, alongside Liam Neeson.  Crawford starred in a Philippine variety show for eight years and released a self-titled album in 1999. John Frankenheimer will direct the film, which remains untitled, from a script by Caleb Carr.  The film follows a young Father Merrin (Neeson) and his first encounter with Satan while at a missionary in Africa.

Coming Soon snagged the first look at one-sheet for the upcoming teen comedy SLACKERS, starring Jason Schwartzman and Devon Sawa, and if you're so inclined you can check it out by clicking here

Actress Ellen Pompeo has joined the cast of both OLD SCHOOL with Luke Wilson and Vince Vaughn and CATCH ME IF YOU CAN with Tom Hanks and Leonardo DiCaprio.  She will play the main romantic interest in SCHOOL and a flight attendant who pops Leo's cherry in CATCH.  Pompeo stars in the aforementioned GOODBYE, HELLO as well as SHOWTIME with Eddie Murphy and Robert De Niro. (The Hollywood Reporter)

FilmForce has scored a host of sweet new pics from next year's Disney film.  They've got new shots from LILO & STITCH, TREASURE PLANET, THE COUNTRY BEARS as well as 5 new pics from the non-kiddie dragon pic REIGN OF FIRE.  Check them all out over here

I didn't think this was such a big deal, but people are going ape-shit over it, so I suppose I have to mention it.  Yes, N*Sync will cameo in ATTACK OF THE CLONES. Small, background, blurry one-second cameo.  I don't like the band either but I highly doubt their blink-and-you'll-miss-it roles will ruin the film.  That responsibility is taken by Jar-Jar.  Thanks to all the people who wrote in with the heads up. If you're interested, you can discuss this further with your fellow schmoes here
 

January 3, 2001

Click on any of the pics below to see the entire WARNER BROS 2002 MOVIE PREVIEW!

January 2, 2002

Get ready to chuck those standard edition USUAL SUSPECTS DVDs out the window. MGM is planning on releasing a special edition DVD of the film this April that will put that other disc to shame. DVD Shrine got all the details and let me just tell you, it sounds pretty sweet.  Click on the artwork below to find out all the juicy details and what exactly will be included.

In other DVD news, the Snoop Dogg horror flick BONES hits video stores on February 26th and we've got a look at the features as well as some of the DVD menus.  Here's the scoop on the disc itself along with the menus -

The Bones Platinum Series™ DVD features the widescreen version of the film, Dolby Digital EX 5.1 Surround Sound, DTS ES 6.1 Surround Sound, Stereo Surround Sound, a feature-length commentary with Director Ernest Dickerson, Snoop Dogg and Screenwriter Adam Simon, English subtitles and closed captions. The DVD also includes deleted scenes, two documentaries "Digging Up Bones," and "Urban Gothic: Bones and its Influences," the theatrical trailer, animated menus and two versions of the music video, "A Dogg Named Snoop" performed by Snoop Dogg. The DVD-ROM content includes the "Script-to-Screen" screenplay feature as well as a link to the original website.

Pre-order the BONES DVD here

Click here to see the entire list of DVD RELEASES in 2002
  

January 2, 2002

After a long holiday weekend, Honest Abe is back to share his thoughts on two new scripts he's read.  Here's Abe with his report:

PUKA PETE (negative, minor spoilers)
I am a huge David Spade fan. I went opening night to see "Joe Dirt" and laughed my nuts off. That said, I was so disappointed in reading his next feature which he co-wrote. It opens up in the late 60's where Pete has a band but his lyrics, well, they suck. He gets swallowed up by a whale (don't ask) and spit out on a beach for 30 years but he at first thinks it's only been 2 years. To make matters worse, it turns out he has been on the far side of Hawaii and not some uncharted island the whole time. Of course there's the jokes involving him trying to adjust. Also, his immune system hasn't developed to withstand life today so often he has bizarre reactions to the slightest things. The main jist of the script involves Pete trying to find true love and through a mix up, he thinks he has found it in supermodel Malena. He believes her to be a kindred spirit but of course every time he gets near her, something causes him to have a violent reaction. Also, Pete's not poor. The same whale that swallowed him up keeps spitting up gobs of pirate treasure so Pete is financially secure. The problem is that the script was SOOOOO predictable. Maybe I just possess keen insight but aside from a few jokes I laughed at, and a riff or to on "Castaway", there wasn't anything to really grab me and say "hey, go spend 9 bucks on this!!!" There's the reunion with his former hippie girlfriend who's now all business and money and she kinda helps him back on his feet and adjust to everything new. I would rather have had him just try to adjust the whole movie because in my opinion, the love story angle just didn't work. Bottom line: I love David Spade but until I see the trailer, I'm afraid I'll pass. (Maybe I'll sneak in.)

RESIDENT EVIL (positive, minor spoilers)
Creepy. That's a good way to start this review. Essentially this movie is a prologue to everything you know about the games. And if you don't know the games, then don't sweat it cause it ain't important. You're kept in the dark for the majority of this well written script. You only get hints of what happened. ( the old, need to know only, routine ). Hell, I'm still wondering about a thing or two after I finished reading it. All you really need to know is that there is a huge (and I mean freakin' huge) private industrial complex, Umbrella Industries, where every employee has become a zombie. If you're bitten, you will become one eventually. The way to kill them is with a shot to the head or a neck snap. I don't want to give away how everyone became zombies. All you need to know is that just like in Aliens, there is a band of ass kickers who show up to eradicate the problem only to have their own asses kicked instead. The wild cards in all this are Alice (a woman who woke up inside the complex who was unaffected by whatever turned everyone else into zombies, and Matt, an eco-terrorist.) Essentially this movie is a race to get from the sub basements of the complex up to the surface level so they can escape. They do have some help along the way but again, all I can tell you is: White Queen=Good. Red Queen=Bad. Stumped? Tough! Elements of this remind me of John Carpenter's The Thing. (speaking of things, there is one huge motherfucking....uh...Thing in the movie). I loved the ending and it's set up for a sequel. I hope this looks as good as it read. Parts of this are definitely good old fashion heart jumping scares. I expect this to be very gory too. Not just bloody but I mean the kind of movie where your girlfriend will scream "WHY DID YOU BRING ME TO THIS, I'M GONNA HAVE NIGHTMARES!!!" To which I say "Heh heh heh heh heh." Bottom line: great potential to be one heart stopping rollercoaster of suspense.
  

January 2, 2002

Now's the chance for you to vote for the JoBlo's First Golden Schmoes Awards. Below, you will find the FAQ about the awards and you can start voting for your favorites to be nominations, here.

WHAT EXACTLY ARE THE "GOLDEN SCHMOES"?
The Golden Schmoes is the name that we've chosen for the 1st Annual JoBlo Movie Awards, in which you, that's every movie fan who visits our site, votes for the movies which they believe were the best and their favorites of the year. It ain't the Oscars, folks...it's REAL FUCKIN' MOVIE FANS choosing the flicks!!

HOW DOES IT WORK?
It works in two parts. The first one is the one taking place in this forum right now: the selection of the nominees for the awards. Again, usually this part is reserved for old fuddie-duddies who sit and home and watch screeners of the movies which they are sent by the suck-up studios, but on our site, you get to choose the nominees!

This process will begin on December 31 and end on January 31, at which point we will close all of the threads in this forum, count up all of the nominees and decide (along with our experienced staff) on the OFFICIAL TOP 5 NOMINATIONS for each category of the actual awards.

And that would be the second part, the actual picking of the winners (that would take place on the site, not the forums). At that point, you would all have to pick only 1 selection per category and voila...the first annual JoBlo Movie Award winners would be announced soon thereafter! (the second part will likely take place around the first week of February 2002)

CAN ANYONE PARTICIPATE?
As long as you're registered on the board (simple sign-up here), in fine standing with our RULES & GUIDELINES and love movies...you can vote!!

HOW MANY NOMINATIONS CAN WE MAKE PER CATEGORY?
Everyone can choose up to 5 NOMINATIONS per category, but you don't have to choose 5 if you don't have that many. In other words, if you can only think of two BEST SCORES of the year, just put those two down as your nominees.

CAN I VOTE FOR MOVIES WHICH I HAVEN'T SEEN?
Well, there's no actual way for us to check this but we would seriously ask EVERYONE to vote ONLY for those movies which you have seen!! Please...let's try and make this first time a successful one for all.

CAN I VOTE MORE THAN ONCE?
You can EDIT your post (you do this by clicking on the 3rd icon above your post, looking like this ) and change your nominations anytime between now and January 31, but if you have more than 5 nominations per category, they will not be counted.

WHAT'S TO PREVENT PEOPLE FROM RE-REGISTERING UNDER OTHER NAMES AND CHEATING THAT WAY?
We have ways to find this out and if we find that someone is "fixing" the nominations process, we will disqualify their votes and ban them from the board. We are doing this for fun and because we seriously want to find out what the REAL MOVIE FANS (the schmoes!!!!!) love!! Rigging it for your own good, ain't what it's about.

ARE THE DIRECTORS/STARS REALLY GOING TO SHOW UP IF THEY WIN?
But of course! We already have pictures of Russell Crowe, Nicole Kidman and others (no pun intended) reserved, and I'm scanning the Net for new photos everyday. They will all be here in splendid .jpg quality, folks!!

HOW COME THERE'S NO CATEGORY FOR <INSERT MISSING CATEGORY HERE>?
Because it's too late and we already voted for which categories to include in this year's awards a while back. Keep your category in mind for next year's awards though.

FROM WHAT LIST OF MOVIES CAN WE PICK?
These are the awards for the North American release period of 2001. Please make sure that you vote only for those films which are included in this list here: http://www.joblo.com/ubb/Forum23/HTML/000002.html

ANY SUGGESTIONS, JOBLO?
Yeah, wait to vote. I would seriously suggest that you try and see as many of the movies as possible, so that you can make your picks as precise as you can (I know I am). Editing/changing your picks every other day probably isn't the best way to go about this.

WHAT IF I HAVE ANOTHER QUESTION?
You can either post it in this thread and we, psudoazn and I (the moderators), will try and answer it (or email us). PLEASE USE THE OTHER THREADS FOR NOMINATIONS ONLY...don't put any questions in there, or comments or suggestions or anything. Just NOMINATIONS!!

CAN WE HAVE FUN, JOBLO?
You bet your bottom dollar you can!! We're all hoping that this baby goes off without a major hitch and our award winners get noticed by TIME or NEWSWEEK magazine or something...or at least...MAXIM!! (who knows...this year, the Net...next year, the WB channel or something... Anyway, yes...this thing is obviously supposed to be a good time for all, so please enjoy it and let's see what THE REAL MOVIE FANS THINK!!!
  

January 2, 2002

Legendary horror director Wes Craven revealed last week that his project based on the video game "American McGee's Alice" will be entirely CGI-animated and not a live-action feature as previously thought.  How involved Craven will be at this point is still not clear. Just an exec-producer or more intimately involved?? (Variety)

The official site for Spyglass Entertainment has been updated with official stills from some of their high-profile 2002 releases, such as ABANDON (is that our own Arrow's name in the credit list-- see John Fallon...you bet!!!), REIGN OF FIRE, DRAGONFLY and THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO.

If you're at all interested in Steven Soderbergh's next film, the experimental quasi-sequel to SEX, LIES AND VIDEOTAPE titled FULL FRONTAL, check out the film's teaser site at www.fullfrontal.com. This was the first page of all copies of the script that were mailed out to potential actors and actresses.  Weird....