THURSDAY TIDBITS

A few months ago, I wrote about an upcoming animated film called 9 (it hits theaters on 9/9/09), directed by Shane Acker, featuring the voices of Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Crispin Glover, Christopher Plummer, and Martin Landau. It’s a dark, post-apocalyptic tale about the impending extinction of all life (on earth? I think so). 9 is the little guy who saves the day, from what I gather.

Anyway, the poster has been released, and it’s quite a beauty. This film will be for the older kids, as it’ll carry a PG-13 rating.

I noticed some less than enthusiastic reviews on the IMDB message board for the film. Hmmm. Does Focus Films have time to pull off a fix?

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Shortly after the Steve Carell/Anne Hathaway Get Smart movie came out in 2008, HBO Home Video started releasing the original, 1965 television "Get Smart" series (starring Don Adams and Barbara Feldon) on DVD. I believe Season 3 has just been released.

We haven’t seen any of these yet, but I’m utterly convinced K would love them, and have added the first season to our Netflix list. I’m curious if any of you have tried them?

My dad loved this show. I’m not sure I remember the actual show, really, as much as I remember my dad getting a kick out of it. He did a mean Maxwell Smart impersonation.

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Robert Rodriquez recently told MTV that in between his Grindhouse spin-off (titled Machete), his Sin City sequel, and his sci-fi thriller (NerveWrackers), he’s hoping to get moving next year on a live-action film of The Jetsons. (You can Wiki that if you’re, say, under 30 years old. Otherwise you should know about "The Jetsons." Come on.)

We’re not sure what happened to Rodriquez’ proposed remake of Barbarella. But he’s a busy guy, isn’t he? And I think it’s amazing how he can pull off really decent kid fare alongside stuff like Grindhouse and Sin City. Ultra cool.

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I’ll leave you now with this photo of Mickey Rourke in his villain gear for Iron Man 2. Yeah.

Thursday Tidbits

I know, I know, what happened to Tuesday Tidbits? And the Weekly Classic Kids’ Movie? Well, let’s just say I’m doing what I can here... perhaps life offline is taking a bit more focus these days.

Anyway, let’s do it, and call it Tuesday, shall we?

This week’s tidbits focus on “kid” movies that parents will be happy to sit through. First off, did you know plans are underway for a Disney Lone Ranger film, written by the team that wrote the Pirates of the Caribbean screenplays? You did? Well, you’re ahead of me! British director Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, High Fidelity and 2010's Prince of Persia: Sands of Time [this image of Jake Gyllenhaall in the movie just makes me giggle]) is being rumored as the guy at the helm.

Johnny Depp is one of the big names attached so far ... but he’s not playing the Lone one, he’s playing the loyal sidekick, Tonto! It’s reported that Christian Bale and Matthew McConaughey are contenders for the Lone Ranger role.

In other Depp news, a blog devoted to the actor (which I somehow "lost" and didn't get the exact title/URL for, otherwise I'd link! Apologies--) is keeping tabs on the Tim Burton Alice in Wonderland project starring Depp as the Mad Hatter. They report: “Mia Wasikowska stars as Alice, alongside an all-star cast that includes Johnny Depp as the Mad Hatter (perfect casting), Anne Hathaway as the White Queen, Helena Bonham-Carter as the Red Queen, Christopher Lee as the Jabberwock, Stephen Fry as the Cheshire Cat and Alan Rickman as the Caterpillar.” Wow. Brilliant. Here's an image from the film:


A while back, I mentioned a film in the works by the quirky director Terry Gilliam, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, and Entertainment Weekly has an update and a report on a special screening that took place in L.A. a few nights ago. No surprises here: “All of the major independent buyers in town packed Hollywood's DGA theater for the screening, and while most left feeling a bit befuddled (as one often does coming out of a Gilliam feature) the consensus was that the movie is better than expected.”

Eek. That doesn’t bode real well for this highly anticipated project, featuring Heath Ledger in his last performance, along with Johnny Depp (again), Colin Farrell, and Jude Law (and Tom Waits!). You can see some new photos from the film on the German site DVD Forum.

Go here for my review of Gilliam’s Time Bandits and other sci-fi/fantasy recommendations.