Bladerunner 2

Not just no, but hell no.

This weekend I received an e-mail from /Film reader Tanner C. informing me that one of the screenwriters of Eagle Eye was working on a screenplay for Blade Runner 2. I spent the weekend trying to get confirmation, and thanks to my friend Frosty at Collider who was able to get in touch with a second person who was also at the event, I was able to confirm that the following was actually said. But before you throw a hissy fit. let me fill you in on all the details and assure you that nothing is being developed by the studio itself, or with the studio’s involvement.

Although I disagree with the article's author -- I don't believe Bladerunner is perfect -- it remains one of my top three all-time favorite movies in any genre. For all its faults, it remains a visionary work no matter the version, and one of the movies that had the biggest impact on me. The very thought that someone would even attempt a sequel makes me want to bellow with rage.

Animated Opinions

The latest issue of The Austin Chronicle contains my feature on the unique internet movie review site, Spill.

Like most weeks over the past six years, Martin Thomas, C. Robert Cargill, Chris Cox, and Korey Coleman gather to record their movie discussions. But now, instead of weekly Austin cable-access show The Reel Deal, they bring their act – equal parts critique, comedy troupe, and sideshow – to the Internet as a series of animated shorts under the moniker Spill.

Continued...

Unlikely Movie Scientists (WIRED MAGAZINE: ISSUE 15.10)

We've actually discussed this topic at several of our meetings and I know we all agree on number one!







Denise Richards, The World Is Not Enough (1999)
Her character's name is bad enough: Jones, Christmas Jones. But it requires a quantum leap in logic to buy the scantily clad, blank-faced Richards as a nuclear physicist.

Check out the rest of the list!

Edelman on The Bourne Paranoia

Fascinating post on David Louis Edelman's blog about the Bourne movies, which he calls "the most intelligent, well-crafted, thoughtful thrillers about American paranoia" that he's ever seen.

I just don’t believe this paranoid worldview is sustainable. And director Paul Greengrass doesn’t either. Like Poe’s Tell-Tale Heart or Irving’s Headless Horseman, these things come back to haunt us. And for Greengrass, in The Bourne Supremacy and The Bourne Ultimatum, that Headless Horseman is Jason Bourne.

Notice the look of fear in the eyes of the various intelligence impresarios that Bourne runs across (played ably by Brian Cox, Chris Cooper, Joan Allen, and David Straitharn). Bourne isn’t just a renegade spy; he’s the twitch of conscience that you feel in the middle of the night, he’s the thing that haunts you after you’ve just violated international law in the name of the United States of America. Soil the Constitution, and Jason Bourne will get you.

(snip)

When does the American paranoia end? And who will stand up and apologize once it’s over?

Good question, Dave.

Go read.

Top 50 Dystopian Movies of All Time

The method of ranking the movies by using both Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB ratings created an interesting and fairly thorough list. While I have some quibbles with some of the rankings, overall it's fascinating reading.

(Thanks again to Bill Crider and his amazing Pop Culture Magazine.)