Screen Time

Moviegoers can catch director Robert Zemeckis’ new big screen version of “Beowulf” in Digital 3D starting Friday at McAllen’s Cinemark Hollywood USA.

Digital 3D showtimes start at 1:30 p.m. on Friday at Cinemark Hollywood. The place is also screening a conventional print of “Beowulf,” as will most Valley theaters come Friday.

I want to catch this thing in 3D, but I’m afraid it’ll look all blue and red and not very 3Dish, like that third “Spy Kids” movie. I think I’ll screen the conventional print first, and if this movie is more than an unnaturally buff and animated Ray Winstone screaming “I am Beowulf!” a hundred times in two hours, I might drive up to McAllen and dig on the 3D experience. Anyone out there heard anything good about this 3D print?

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Poster image courtesy Paramount Pictures

The Coen Brothers‘ universally praised “No Country for Old Men” hits select theaters (ahem - outside the RGV) this weekend. The new flick, based on a Cormac McCarthy novel, is being called a big and bloody return to form for the Coens, who many agree slipped with their last two releases (”Intolerable Cruelty,” “The Lady Killers”).

I’ll admit that I have no love for “The Ladykillers,” and the only thing that worked for me in “Intolerable Cruelty” was George Clooney’s spastic lead performance. So, I’m glad the critics are lovin’ on the Coens again, and I’m looking forward to catching “No Country.” Still, this isn’t the first time the Coens have had a so-called “comeback” after a few coldly-received movies.

Everybody loves unforgettable flicks like “The Big Lebowski,” “Fargo” and hits like “O Brother, Where Art Thou?,” but some of the Coens’ most interesting work can be seen in some of their least popular movies. Let’s take a quick look at a few:

‘The Hudsucker Proxy’ (1994) - I can see how this box office flop can be a tough one to love - with Jennifer Jason Leigh’s 30’s-style motor mouth, the bizarro quirkiness of the story, and the setting’s artificial quality. Still, all those elements help make this an unforgettable work. “Hudsucker” is a fun, fast-paced and original flick with Capra and Howard Hawks-style screwball comedy filtered through the Coens’ unusual lens and brilliant visual style. Tim Robbins stars as a naive 1940’s businessman who’s set up by a selfish exec (a great Paul Newman) and an ambitious journalist (Leigh), but all he wants to do is sell hula hoops. The cast is amazing, and Bruce Campbell even steals a few short scenes.

“Barton Fink”(1991) - John Turturro plays an eraser-head playwright who’s tortured by writers block while trying to write a Hollywood screenplay. This surreal comedic thriller was a hit with critics, but audiences didn’t really embrace its dark tone, slow pace and deadpan comedy. ‘Fink’ was reportedly born out of the Coens’ own frustrations with writers block. How they can create such a twisted, compelling and original movie that’s still deeply steeped in homage is a mystery to me. John Goodman’s eerie supporting performance still haunts me - even more than Turturro’s hairdo.

‘The Man Who Wasn’t There’ (2001) - This highly-stylized black-and-white effort’s look and score recall early film noir, but “TMWWT’ is more of a dark absurdist drama than anything else. This isn’t one of my favorite Coen movies. It’s probably one of the most difficult to embrace due to its ponderous storyline, but the cinematography is glorious, and the Coens pull amazing performances from their talented cast (Billy Bob Thronton, James Gandolfini, Frances McDormand) who really sell the flick’s themes of detachment and isolation. There are so many layers to this one that it demands repeat viewings.
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Photos courtesy Miramax,  Warner Bros., 20th Century Fox, USA Films

News of a Hulk movie franchise reboot hit the Web last year (expect to see Edward Norton turning green in 2008). Now comes news that Marvel’s Spider-Man might look and feel a lot different when he returns to the big screen.

Sam Raimi, director of all three Spider-Man flicks, told MTV this week that the upcoming “Spider-Man 4″ will be a “fresh take” on the series. MTV reports that the “fresh take” on “Spidey 4″ might mean that the story will diverge from and contradict plot details from the first three movies, adding weight to reboot rumors.

Raimi said he won’t write the fourth flick, and it sounds like he’s not interested in directing it. He says he’s happy letting a new writer take over while he produces and that he’s adopting a “hands off” approach to crafting the story. A new writer is being sought for the fourth Spidey flick, since Marvel has parted ways with original “Spider-Man 4″ writer David Koepp, who also wrote the first movie.

On the bright side, Raimi mentions that he might be up for helming another “Evil Dead” movie, he’s ruling out a “Venom” movie and he won’t make “The Hobbit” unless he gets Peter Jackson’s blessing. All good things.

So, what will a possible Spidey reboot look like? Will we get a new cast to match the new creative team? Will Tobey Maguire and crew return if Raimi isn’t in charge? I kinda like the idea of a new direction for this franchise, but I really love the first three flicks. I just hope we don’t get something that should go straight to DVD.
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Photo courtesy Columbia Pictures

The inevitable has happened. Someone just cast Toby Maguire and Jake Gyllenhaal as brothers in a movie. It’s called, remarkably, “Brothers” and it’s directed by Jim Sheridan (”In America,” “My Left Foot”) and co-stars Natalie Portman.

This is either brilliant casting or a big no-brainer. I remember back in 2000/2001 - the “Wonder Boys” and “Donnie Darko” days - most people couldn’t tell Maguire and Gyllenhaal apart. They both had that same sleepy-eyed, slim, “alternaboy” look and it seemed like they were always landing similar roles - usually playing the sensitive, sleepy-eyed alternaboy in indie movies.

For a while there I was referring to Gyllenhaal as the “poor man’s Tobey Maguire,” since Maguire seemed liked the better actor, and he seemed to get the better gigs. Well, Maguire still gets great roles (”Spider-Man,” “The Good German”) but Gyllenhaal’s resume is lookin’ pretty good nowadays (”Brokeback Mountain,” “Jarhead”). Who’s the better actor? I dunno, I think it’s a draw at this point. They both still have the market cornered on the sleepy-eyed manboy thing. Hopefully we’ll get to see them act against each other once “Brothers” opens in 2009.

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It’s no secret that we miss out on tons of good first-run movies here in the Rio Grande Valley. It happens for lots of reasons - reasons that make sense to the suits who run distribution houses and theater chains. (I wrote about this before here).

Basically, those suits don’t think a small indie flick like “Rocket Science” or “Control” will sell many tickets beyond a major urban market, and they’re probably right. So, I’m not gonna moan about not being able to catch a little indie flick at my local Cinemark. Instead, I’ll wait the few weeks - or months - until the local Landmark chain screens it or it’s released on DVD. No big …

It’s a shame, though, that Valley movie lovers won’t be able to catch the well-received new movie by Sean Penn or the latest offering from popular filmmaker Wes Anderson upon their initial wide releases.

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Lindsay Lohan’s irresponsible but infinitely quotable dad tells Hollywood.com that his daughter wants to quit Hollywood. Does this mean she won’t make a cameo in the direct-to-Skinemax sequel to “I Know Who Killed Me?”

Seriously, even if Lohan isn’t quitting the movie industry, I think the poor girl’s lost most of her appeal as far as moviegoers are concerned. The tabloid drama has now eclipsed her acting career which, besides “Mean Girls,” wasn’t really amounting to much.

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I’ll say this for filmmaker George A. Romero - he’s done us all a big favor. By virtually creating the zombie genre with “Night of the Living Dead” way back in 1968, the filmmaker paved the way for great movies like “28 Days Later,” “Shaun of the Dead” plus that great “B****, get out the room!” scene in “The 40 Year Old Virgin.” But I think he should have stopped hemorrhaging fake blood and wanky scripts way back in the 70s.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s an unpopular opinion. Romero’s a “legend.” A “master of the craft.” Sure, he made some great horror movies years ago that worked as brave social commentary. Yes, he inspired some maverick filmmakers. Fine. But, did you catch his last movie, the dreadful mind-numbing wreck “Land of the Dead?” That one made it official - Romero’s knack for weaving unexpected social messages into genre movies has been successfully passed on to other, finer filmmakers. Plus, the dude really needs a good editor and a dialogue writer.

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Is the Western making a comeback?

I was surprised by the recent critical and box-office success of “3:10 To Yuma,” and who can forget 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain?“ Now the upcoming “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” is getting pretty good reviews from the Toronto Film Festival.

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