"Our time is up...."

This news just broke, so there's precious little detail available, but HBO has made it official that In Treatment starring Gabriel Byrne will not be returning for a fourth season.

This was riveting, compelling, top-notch TV featuring some of the best acting anywhere. Mia Wasikowska, Blair Underwood, Dianne Wiest, John Mahoney, Michelle Forbes, Hope Davis -- this show was a talent magnet. I've only seen the first two seasons, but it's addictive, remarkable work, more like live theater than television.
This one will truly missed.

How many "f's" in "catastrophic"?

I have to admit, I like this casting. Zak Snyder's Lois Lane will be none other than Amy Adams, fresh off her turn in The Fighter.

She's done the brassy Katherine Hepburn type before, most recently in A Night at The Museum: Battle of the Smithsonian, so in a way, she's right at home here. What I'm happiest about is that Adams is an actress first, unlike Kate Bosworth in Superman Returns, who was more cheekbones than SAG member. Adams is perky and can seem naive and yet very capable (see The Fighter), so she brings a very human face to Lois and should really help ground the film and make us like this Lois Lane.

Rumors continue that Viggo Mortensen is in talks to play a villain, and that villain is likely to be General Zod. If that all comes to pass, we have reason to get excited.

Dusting off the sword of Kings...Excalibur on Blu-ray

With the premiere of HBO's Game of Thrones a mere three weeks away, it seemed like a good time to find something to get in that medieval siege armor mood, so what better excuse to take a peek at the newly released Blu-ray of John Boorman's Excalibur.

Boorman's last two films since Deliverance (1972) had both received comparatively lackluster receptions; the midnight movie trip-fest Zardoz (1974) and Exorcist II: The Heretic (1977), universally considered to be one of the worst sequels of all time. Boorman needed a hit, he needed a fresh perspective, so he looked to the past and Sir Thomas Malory's 15th Century Le Morte d'Arthur, while looking home to his native UK as the only place to film his long-imagined dream project. 

Released in 1981, Excalibur still feels very much like a film from the Seventies, especially when you get a load of the Magic Mushroom font used in the opening prologue...

There's a lot of Stevie Nicks hair on the women and a lot of Artistic Nudity. But the film holds up, the myth of Arthur and Camelot has remained a fascinating one and it still pulls us in. Excalibur is lavish and astounding and looks tremendous. The Blu-ray is a bit softer, image-wise than most, largely due to the era in which the film was made and the film stock in use at the time. Boorman was also looking to evoke a very gauzy, romanticized mood at times (Arthur and Guenevere's wedding), the tone becoming much darker and brutal during the film's many combat scenes, which are remarkable. Blu-ray reveals all, and in most cases the details in the film's production design hold up beautifully, though I was astounded to learn that sequins existed in the 12th Century.

Name one other film that features Helen Mirren, Gabriel Byrne, Patrick Stewart and Liam Neeson, all in very early roles of their careers. Gabriel Byrne is almost unrecognizable, playing a character of such rage and aggression, it's hard to reconcile him with the calm psychologist of In Treatment.

The real star of Excalibur is Nicol Williamson as Merlin. The story is essentially told through Merlin's point of view, as he becomes increasingly aware that "our kind's" age is slipping away, that this new age is a time for Men, not creatures, as Merlin clearly sees himself as something other than a Man. He's a Necromancer. His performance makes the film, conjuring up Merlin as a hypnotic, wry and sad character, possibly cursed by having the ability to see too much. He wants Man to attain a greater good, but fears he will too often be disappointed.

Excalibur is fascinating. The combat sequences are utterly brutal and the armor is astounding and frightening, bristling with spikes, helms shaped into the heads of various beasts. When a limb is cleaved off or a knight falls, it's a realistic collision of steel and mud and blood. Supernatural elements and the sin of man are woven throughout the film making the Arthurian myth seem vital and surprising.

If you've never seen Excalibur, this is the perfect time to seek it out. If you've seen it but find that you're memory's a bit fuzzy, giving Boorman's 30-year-old vision of Camelot a look will definitely not disappoint, but rather awaken your love of medieval myth and excite you all the more for what's about to come.

AMC's brave new world

No question about it, AMC's adaptation of The Walking Dead was one of the biggest hits of 2010. Now with Mad Men looking very uncertain, it appears the network has figured out that most precious of formulas: TV + Geeks = Money.

AMC is developing a realistic science fiction saga featuring an ambitious female scientist and her fellow scientists at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory as they make first contact with an alien race, a concept similar to Contact with Jodie Foster.

The Voyage is the work of genre vet John Shiban (The X-Files, Star Trek: Enterprise, Breaking Bad, Torchwood) who wrote the script. AMC will make a decision about green-lighting a pilot sometime in the first week of April.

BREAKING NEWS: Fringe lives on!!!

What a great way to head into Friday -- despite bumpy performance in its Friday night "death slot," Fox just ordered a FORTH SEASON OF FRINGE!!!

Thank you, universe(s), thank you!!!

Girls just wanna have guns - Take that, Sucker...

It was a bad sign when reviews didn't appear late Wednesday, as they usually do. But by late today enough reviews for Zak Snyder's Sucker Punch had emerged that we can pretty safely say this movie is not going to be making a lot of 10-Best lists.

The consensus is emerging that the film is a confused hodge-podge of fantasy set pieces -- a fantasy worlds demo real masquerading as self-empowerment.

"Sucker Punch is not one of the worst movies of the year, it’s three of the worst slapped together on a single reel."

"It’s like watching the Pussycat Dolls starring in “The Last Airbender”

God bless the shy candor of The New York Times:

"You could go to see Sucker Punch this weekend — a lot of people probably will, and a few may even admit as much back at the office on Monday — or you could try to make it yourself, which might be more fun, though not necessarily cheaper. Here’s what you will need: a bunch of video-game platforms; DVDs of Shutter Island, Kill Bill, Burlesque and Shrek; some back issues of Maxim; a large bag of crystal meth; and around $100 million."

The most punishing mainstream review may be in Entertainment Weekly's D-grade write up (because letter grades kill), describing the film's "...pounding, monotonous violence and derivative videogame scenarios...my hostage eyeballs began to flicker much like those of Babydoll (Emily Browning), the child-woman waif whose degrading travails provide this fantasy with its nonsensical action."

This has got to be particularly demoralizing for Zak Snyder, as this is the first film he's directed that hasn't been based on existing material. So take heart -- he's directing Superman next.

I try to always hold full judgement until I've seen the movie, but it sounds like self-indulgence ruled the day here and that there will be no end of shots taken at this film's unfortunate title.

East meets West in one of the best

It would be ridiculous of me to deny my love of science fiction or thrillers. I wear my heart on my sleeve. But one of my personal favorite genres is the Western. There’s just something so mythic about the elements and the characters and the history, they rope me in with the greatest of ease. In 1958, William Wyler (Ben Hur) directed what for my money is one of the all-time Western greats, The Big Country.

Gregory Peck stars as an east coast sea captain who moves out west to join his fiancé’s ranch, only to find himself treated as an outsider, resented by ranch foreman Charleton Heston, but also caught up in the middle of a bitter range war with neighboring rancher Burl Ives. The cast is amazing – Jean Simmons, Carroll Baker, Charles Bickford and an unforgettable Chuck Connors. Wyler makes extraordinary use of his widescreen canvas to capture some truly epic locations. Peck is at his finest as he finds himself scoffed at and derided as a “fancy dude” by the roughneck ranchers who don’t understand him.

Initially I wasn’t sure how older Westerns would come across on Blu-ray, then I saw John Ford’s The Searchers and my jaw hit the floor. Ever since then, I’ve been hoping that The Big Country would get the Blu-ray treatment and it’s riding into town on May 24th, surprisingly as a Walmart online exclusive. Possibly a sign of things to come, if studios continue to be leery of the costs involved with releasing older catalog titles. You can’t beat the price, they have it at $9.86!

If you don’t like Westerns or think you always know what to expect from them, then definitely check out The Big Country, it’s overflowing with classic scenes and is one of the true greats of the era.

What's the word, Zak...?

The first reviews of Zak Snyder's Sucker Punch should start to drift out tomorrow -- I have to admit I'm fascinated to see how this one turns out. I am getting that not-so-great feeling. I've found Snyder to be a very fascinating cat. To finally get Watchmen made, that was some doing. This one has a very self-indulgent look to it, clearly one man's vision. It looks like Terry Gilliam's Brazil collided with a Victoria's Secret catalog. I hope Snyder has the vision to have actually achieved something grand here. After all, he's moving on to Clark Kent and Metropolis next. Do we really want something to get us less excited about that prospect?

Watch this space sometime Wednesday afternoon for any inklings.

Then later on, I'll let you in on what will be for me the most eagerly anticipated Blu-ray release of the year, coming soon...only at Walmart?!?

March 21st: Shooting begins!!!

Raise your tankards in celebration! After seemingly endless delays and problems, principal photography begins (well, began, other side of the world and all) in New Zealand today on Peter Jacksons's production of The Hobbit!

It's finally, actually happening!

Gator Bait - plus, icons getting old...

Yes, he's a gator-man-thing that wears pants and a labcoat. Plus, he can somehow enunciate enough to make with "Die, Warmblood!" or "Hey, I was waitin' for that cab!" Thanks, C. Thomas Howell, for spilling the beans that the new Spider-babies reboot (can you still call it a reboot when the cast isn't really old enough to be wearing adult shoes?) has decided to go with scientist turned suitcase Dr. Curt Connors, aka The Lizard, as the Big Bad in their new film.

I know, DC has its Killer Croc, but Croc (bless 'im) was more of a dermatologically challenged circus sideshow guy, so you kind of buy the whole talking and wearing pants thing. Plus, Croc is just a little too out there to transfer to the reality of film -- especially a Christopher Nolan-fueled reality. Croc has only ever appeared in animated episodes of Batman, never live action. It will be strange to have Spidey going all Jurassic Park punching it out with a velociraptor who wears purple pants. Here's hoping The Lizard has at least one other accomplice, maybe Rhino?

So this The Amazing Spider-man is definitely doing its own thing. I was not a big fan of Andrew Garfield in The Social Network, though his Confused and Angry thing could fit well with Peter Parker. I'm still reeling from Sally Field as Aunt May (HUH?!?) Yes, Sally Field as Aunt May ("Run, Forrest, run!). She should have never done those Boniva commercials.

Also, in a very bizarre move, apparently no J. Jonah Jameson at all. Way to miss the shameless and easy crossover product placement for Jameson's whiskey. Over in Smallville it's Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Pa and Ma Kent. Wow, everyone is getting old!

Strange days await us, to be sure. Oh, one last bit: speaking of Christopher Nolan and Gotham City, Joseph Gordon-Levitt confirmed he will not be playing Dr. Hugo Strange or The Riddler, as previously rumored. He'll be Alberto Falcone, son of gangland boss Carmine Falcone, seen previously in Nolan's Batman Begins. Presumably Joseph will be taking an Omerta on everything else.

"He just got off the couch..."

Fresh from its double KO at the Oscars, The Fighter is bound to be spinning like crazy in home theaters this weekend, and our house was no exception. The true story of Massachusetts ("The Pride of Lowell!") boxer Micky Ward's road in search of the light welterweight title, aided and obstructed by his family.


David O. Russell really delivers the goods, returning to the same killer form he exhibited in Three Kings (way back in 1999). The Fighter has a lot in common with The Town, both pictures are full of tremendous performances and both revel in their blue collah Massachusetts families.


Christian Bale is simply amazing here. He seems to somehow physically tranform himself from one role to the next. Here it's like he's even transformed his skull, he looks so hollow and gaunt as Micky's crack-addicted brother and trainer Dicky, it's hard to believe this is the same guy who suits up as Bruce Wayne. Bale's engergy is manic and ferocious and you can't take your eyes off him. As messed up and awful as Dicky becomes, you also can't help liking him, a feat very few actors could have pulled off, considering how vain and self-obsessed Dicky is. It's a astonishing performance.


As the domineering, chain-smoking mother, Melissa Leo actually made me forget her recent wince-inducing acceptance speeches. She is completely submerged in character here. Which does Alice Ward have more of, character flaws or Carmella Soprano pant-suits?


The movie features a jaw-dropping display of late-eighties early-nineties costume and production design. The stone-washed jeans and hair will blow your mind. But until you've spent time with Mickey and Dickey's sisters, a coven of stay-at-home-forever chainsmoking harridans, you ain't seen nothin' yet! The scenes with these ladies you will not soon forget.

You have to feel a little bad for Mark Wahlberg. He carries this picture. He's in nearly every scene and it's a tremendously physical, vulnerable role. Plus, he produced the movie (Darren Aronofsky exec produced). But nearly all the acting laurels for The Fighter went to Bale and Leo. Wahlberg does a really tremendous job here. I guess (for now) he'll have to content himself with being one of the most accomplished producers in the business today (along with Boardwalk Empire and In Treatment). Amy Adams also does a great job here, rising to hold her own against Leo and her brood.

No doubt about it, The Fighter delivers a fascinating true story and characters you continually give a damn about. Russell keeps the punches coming and never slips on the canvas.

Jennifer Lawrence's next big thing: The Hunger Games

Hailed by some in the publishing world as "The next Twilight," author Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games has been a source of fierce development interest and casting speculation. Set in a postapocalyptic dystopia, this society has taken its zeal for reality television to the extreme, demanding that each region of the country give up two of their children to compete as gladiators in a televised fight to the death.

Speculation over who would play teen huntress Katniss Everdeen ended when director Gary Ross (Pleasantville, Seabiscuit) announced that Winter's Bone actress Jennifer Lawrence would be stepping into the arena in what promises to be the first of several films (the books comprise a trilogy).

Hmmm... it may be time to go take another look at Battle Royale.

Aronofsky exits Wolverine...

Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky has announced fairly late in the game that he is retracting his claws and will not be shooting Fox's revamped The Wolverine with Huge Ackman. Uh, Hugh Jackman.

Aronofsky cited the movie's long shooting schedule which would have kept him in Japan for over a year -- too long a time away from his family.

One can't help but be intrigued with the prospect of a director with Aronofsky's viscera taking on a superhero flick. The Wrestler was flat-out amazing. It will be interesting to see who they can get to replace him that has even close to as much edge and if they can keep this project's interest level elevated above that of just another sequel. Aronofsky had previously been shaping a his own version of Robocop, but had to walk away from that one, too. Here's hoping whatever lures him back towards a genre project one day that third time's the charm.

Best Star Wars "deleted scene" EVER...

Ginormous thanks to Tony VanderManzen for steering this my way -- dude, you Rule!

"Yo, Adrian!" Rockets and Robots on the road

Yes, that's the Italian Stallion, alright. And how about that statue?

Duties have me back east this week, including a stop in The City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia. Yes, I did make a pilgrimage to see the Rocky statue in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Yes, those are the art museum steps that Rocky runs up in the 1976 movie, probably the second most famous flight of stairs in movies, next to The Exorcist stairs in Georgetown. No, I did not run up the stairs. Next trip, I swear...

A Philly Cheese Steak, "with Whiz..."

Actual U.S. History! Our beloved Liberty Bell, which was incredibly humbling to stand next to. Astonishing to see it hanging there.

And proof that I can find historically relevant insurance information just about any place I go!

Joahann Schmidt: Beneath the mask!!!

Yup, it's the first official shot of Red Skull! Turns out the serum that makes Cap' super nice and cool brings out the most of your "inner qualities."

I'm still grappling with Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Pa and Ma Kent. But that's another story...

“Most girls like to play pretties, but you like guns, do you?”

Thanks to the heroic babysitting services of my sister-in-law, my wife and I actually got out to the theater and saw The Coen’s True Grit. I think my wife must love me or something, as she knows of my complete and utter love for the western genre. I’d been wanting to see True Grit since long before it opened, and I’m happy to say it didn’t disappoint.

I’ve got enormous fondness for the 1969 original, so I was a little uneasy at the notion of a remake. Joel and Ethan Coen have stayed close to the original source novel by Charles Portis and they’ve delivered a movie that is both very reminiscent of the John Wayne version, but unique and original in its own right. I will always be confused by the Academy Award nomination process. Hailee Steinfeld plays the main character in True Grit, she’s in nearly every scene. So how is she nominated for Best Supporting actress? Mystifying. She’s terrific in the role here and a real discovery. I will probably always be partial to Kim Darby in the Duke version – after all, she was Miri, for cryin’ out loud! – but Steinfeld does a tremendous job, coming on with a full head of steam in the early scenes, gradually realizing that the farther afield she gets with Rooster Cogburn (“he likes to pull a cork!”), the deeper over her head she’s going to find herself. My wife made a pretty shrewd catch that there are a lot of thematic similarities between True Grit and Winter's Bone -- both involve young women on increasingly dark quests to avenge the evil brought upon their now absent fathers, both have to use their wits and fast talking to get themselves out of more than one jam. Nice catch!

Jeff Bridges is terrific as Cogburn – Jeff Lebowski fused with the DNA of a bear who ought to be hibernating. He does a splendid job of evoking a more naturalistic Rooster Cogburn, slovenly, threatening and likeable all at once with a voice like the bottom of a wood stove.

This is a film ripe with phenomenal supporting characters and marvelous dialogue. Dakin Matthews has the difficult task of inhabiting the Strother Martin character from the 1969 film, who finds himself in the unenviable position of having to bargain with the always litigious young Mattie Ross. It’s a classic scene and Matthews somehow nails it, making it his own. It’s a great couple of scenes.

Matt Damon is a solid improvement on Glen Campbell, making Texas Ranger LaBoeuf a wonderfully uptight and self-righteous foil against Cogburn and Mattie. I was particularly impressed with Barry Pepper, playing Lucky Ned Pepper -- the character was first played by Robert Duvall and Pepper does a wonderful job of making the antagonist more than just a stock villain. He nails every moment he’s onscreen.

The Coens pull out all the stops, but nothing ever feels gimmicky or forced. In a lot of ways, this is one of their most mature pictures. They must have a lot of affection for the genre – they clearly do for these characters. The explosive camera-trickery is reined-in here, with Roger Deakins sumptuous, baroque cinematography carrying us into a landscape that seems increasingly more remote, more fraught with peril. The restraint behind the camera is only meant as a compliment here, as it puts the characters front and center the entire time and in many ways makes True Grit a refreshingly old fashioned kind of movie, the kind you think of when someone bemoans, “They don’t make ‘em like that no more.” The picture has clearly connected beautifully with audiences across a wide slice of ages.

Coming out of the theater, it felt especially sweet to see that the movie was off the marquee as of Friday, meaning we’d caught it on its last night in the theater! Because you don’t get to savor the old west on the big screen too often. No you do not.

Winter is awesome...

Been working up to this one, but now I’ve reached the summit at last. It’s been a long time since I’ve read a book associated with the label of “fantasy” attached to it. So often the genre conventions have been done to death and there’s this awkwardness that can be painful at times. Admit it –someone recommends a “fantasy” novel to you, your eyes may roll up in your head and you may question the source. I used to read the genre a lot, then seemed to have an impossible time finding anything that hooked me.

Then I heard about A Game of Thrones. I have to admit, it took my hearing about the elaborate HBO series for A Game of Thrones to hit my radar. An enormous medievel looking TV series starring Sean Bean, Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage?! What the!?! I soon learned that George R.R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones is just the first book in a colossal series that’s been amassing a rabid hoard of readers since 1996. Wow, was I ever late to the party. There are art books, role playing games, websites, you name it.

Let’s not mince words: A Game of Thrones is easily the best fantasy novel I’ve read in 20 years.

Having just finished it, I’m in a state of complete stunned awe. Where to even begin? Set in some distant quasi-medievel era, the book follows the machinations and conspiracies between the Stark and Lannister families; echoing the War of the Roses, we’re given a story ripe with betrayal and avarice and foreboding that is simply impossible to put down. It’s got the manipulations of I, Claudius with the pulp immediacy of The Sopranos on a canvas befitting The Lord of the Rings. There are hosts of rival families, at times recalling the rancor between the Atreides and Harkonnen families in Dune. As mayhem and power-grabs abound, something else is happening. In this world, winter is about to return in what may be a decades-long ice age. The northern part of the kingdom is fenced-off by a colossal 700 foot wall of ice, guarded by the ever-vigilant cadre of the Night’s Watch. What are they guarding us from? What lives on the other side of that wall?

Don’t look to me for answers. What I’ll just say is that the characters in this book are beyond phenomenal. Cersei Lannister and Eddard Stark are classic characters. Cersei Lannister… just know that you’ll be turning pages and losing sleep and gnashing your teeth like a madman – dying to know what happens next but at the same time, hoping it never ends. And wow, does this book end. But there is clearly so much more to come, with book five in the series just annouced as publishing this coming July.

Make no mistake, this is no kid's fantasy series. This is material for adults. The level of detail and atmosphere is astonishing, the characters are remarkable, the battles like nothing you’ve read before. The level of craft in Martin’s writing is just so above average, he’s got this reader utterly hypnotized. It was just such a tremendous pleasure to read.

I guess I’m still kind of shaking a bit from this reading experience. It was so satisfying. I can scarcely believe that in a bit more than a month, this epic saga will be unspooling before my hungry eyeballs. If it’s one-tenth the story the book is, this is the television event of the decade. Read this damn book!!!

"My mother? Let me tell you about my mother...!"

More archaeology in Tinsel-town as another franchise gets its bones dug up for a new generation.

Warner Brothers production company Alcon (The Blind Side, The Book of Eli) are negotiating to purchase the franchise rights to producer sequels and prequels to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner.

The deal would exclude rights to remake the original, being finalized with rights-holder Bud Yorkin, a producer on the original film. “This is a major acquisition for our company, and a personal favorite film... We recognize the responsibility we have to do justice to the memory of the original with any prequel or sequel we produce. We have long-term goals for the franchise, and are exploring multi-platform concepts, not just limiting ourselves to one medium only.”

So, Blade Runner the TV series?!

The Bad the Cool and The Freakin' Awesome...!

Word has emerged that Quentin Tarantino has finished writing his western screenplay. Actor Franco Nero spilled the beans on some recent casting including himself, Keith Carradine and Treat Williams. Christoph Waltz is also rumored to be involved. Tarantino has confessed in the past a long percolating ambition to make his own Sergio Leone spaghetti western -- flashes of Leone were all over Kill Bill(s) and Inglourious Basterds -- is this script that movie?

This makes my mouth water. Is the western finally back? This from a poor soul who has yet to see True Grit.

Stay tuned...