Warner Bros. Pictures, Mad Chance Productions, Mosaic Media have announced that a sequel to their 2008 hit comedy Get Smart is in the works. 

Get Smart, which was originally a 1960’s comedy series that parodied spy movies, starred Don Adams as Maxwell Smart and Barbara Feldon and the sexy Agent 99. In the 2008 updated version, comedy actor Steve Carell took on the role of bumbling secret agent Maxwell Smart, AKA Agent 86 for the secret government organization known as CONTROL and Anne Hathaway stepped into the role as his beautiful and more competent partner, Agent 99 whose first name still remains a mystery.

As agents for Control, Smart and 99 battled the evil forces of KAOS, an insidious organization out for world dominance.

The sequel to "Get Smart", which will begin production soon, will be directed by Peter Segal who also direct the first movie.

One of these years I’m going to make it to the Cannes Film Festival. Every time I come close to pulling the trigger, I start thinking, am I going to get something out of this, that will make it worth spending over $4,000 on?  My answer always end up being no.  Here’s a look at the Indiana Jones Press conference.

Ok, I’ll admit I’ve always been pretty ambivalent towards the Indiana Jones trilogy. I liked Raiders well enough, but loathed Temple of Doom - it’s completely un-watchable, while Last Crusade was meh. So when they announced that they were finally going to do Indy 4 I could not have cared less. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull returns the series to it’s Raiders glory. This is the film that should have followed the Raiders, it’s pretty much a direct sequel with many nods to the first film and in the final moments brings everything full circle. When this film works, it works really well, but there’s still that strange sense of deja-vu. It feels like you are watching the original again, only 20 years later with slightly different characters and plot.  Maybe it’s because I watched Raiders the night before the screening so it was still fresh in my mind. But everything felt familiar instead of Nazi’s you had Russians, instead of Belloq we had Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett), instead of the Ark we had this goofy looking Crystal Skull which looked exactly like the head from one of the Alien films. I can see the crossover fan fiction already.  This familiarity isn’t a bad thing - especially considering how completely out of sync Temple of Doom feels like when I watch it. It put a smile on my face the first time Indy (Harrison Ford)  is re-introduced to the world in shadow with his hat and the first time you hear the classic John Williams theme again. It’s like I’m a kid again. I don’t care what anyone says John Williams is the greatest film composer of our times. You don’t have a soul if the Raiders theme doesn’t get your blood pumping. No many how many times it’s replayed it during the movie.  The opening 30 minutes of Raiders is simply, brilliant is too strong a word, exhilarating is better.  But then something happens that starts to derail things and it pains me to say it, because we love him here at EM and I’ve met him a couple of times, Shia LaBeouf  brings everything to a screeching halt.  Everything about his character is just horrible: from the stupid name - (Mutt Williams) to the greaser, bad boy attitude, to the playing with his pocket knife and his habit of combing his hair when he’s nervous.  None of it works, it just doesn’t ring true. Shia isn’t the bad boy, James Dean type. He’s the normal kid who gets into trouble because he’s a smart ass. 

Awhile ago, when I was yelling at people that Atonement wasn’t a “complex” plot (just stupid) and that there’s no such thing as “complex” plots just poorly scripted films, I may have to eat my words. I find myself on the fence as to whether this movie is overly complex or stupid.  There’s a fine line between the two and I think David Koepp (screenplay), George Lucas (story) and Jeff Nathanson’s script walks that fine line. This movie takes place right in the middle of the Cold War scare and in the opening there are several references to the witch hunt and how this isn’t “our America,” anymore. But then the next few scenes you have Russian agents speaking in heavy Russian accents in the middle of an Ice-Cream parlor and chasing Indy all over town. Not to mention they break into a top secret military base. The FBI would be completely incompetent if they didn’t investigate all the obvious Russian activity. The writers want to make a political statement, but this obviously isn’t the film for it. Even if it is set during that paranoid period in our history. They would have been better off just ignoring the subtext then trying to shoehorn one in. Just because you are paranoid doesn’t mean people aren’t out to get you. And politicians and government agencies are always out to capitalize on it, just look at our current situation.

All of the major action set pieces also feel like stuff that we’ve seen in the other three films only longer. There’s one chase sequence that’s fun for the first 5 minutes but 10 or 15 minutes in, I was like - I get the point, let’s move on already. This is a b to the w action film with little character development or progression. No one in this film has grown since Raiders.  Which actually is a good thing, it’s what we’re comfortable with as an audience and really, why mess with a formula that works.  But back to the plot, without giving anything away instead of chasing an ancient artifact, this time Indy gets caught up in a Russian Spy’s (Irina) quest for an object that promises untold knowledge and treasure. I won’t say more than that, but the film’s 3rd act feels like poorly constructed fan fiction. A great what if Indy discovered….It’s really nice special effects, but what happens in the end is almost exactly what happens at the end of Raiders. After the ride Steven Spielberg takes us on, I somehow expected something more, I don’t know, original. I can’t see Shia being able to carry an entire Indy film by himself, but it’s clear that’s where Spielberg and Lucas want to go.  Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull isn’t a perfect film, but it’s far more satisfying as a whole than the sum of it’s parts.

Final Grade B

EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria
Originally Posted 5.22.08

If you have read my reviews for any length of time you will know that one of my many film bias is an extreme dislike of talking animals in my movies. Generally, they creep me out and take me right out of the experience. The one exception to that rule was The Chronicles of Narnia. I didn’t think that was a perfect film, but I liked it well enough to go and read all of the books. I always thought Prince Caspian was a pretty weak book. It was too short, the lead character Prince Caspian (Ben Barnes) was a whiney little #$## who didn’t do much in it, but the book’s biggest sin was it didn’t really delve into what it must of been like for the Pevensie kids - High King Peter Pevensie (William Moseley), Edmund Pevensie The Just (Skandar Keynes), Lucy Pevensie - The Valiant (Georgie Henley) and Susan Pevensie (Anna Popplewell) adjusted to the idea that they were adult Kings and Queens trapped as powerless 13 - 16 year old children. The book missed an opportunity to explore this dichotomy. When we first see the Pevensie kids we see how they are adjusting - not well. Peter is getting into fights over the most minor slights and it’s up to Edmund to protect his back. And that’s the beautiful thing about this movie - it’s how the Pevensie family has become so close to each other and wise. In the first film they were typical one dimensional kids and the kid actors were clearly out of the element.

Here, they are very self aware and self assured as both actors and characters. There are times when you watch this movie where you can really see the duality of their personalities. You get that yes while they may look like kids, they truly are the former great Kings and Queens that they once were. It’s in their eyes, the way they move, and how they act. These kids could never had pulled this complexity of emotion off in the first film, but here it’s as if they were born to play these parts. The change in Edmund and Susan are the most pronounced. Edmund is a bad ass, calculating warrior that will do anything to protect his family, especially his brother Peter. While Susan has grown to be quite the fighter herself, the camera loves her and director Andrew Adamson showcases her perfectly, especially during the sweeping battles. When Susan breaks out the bow and arrow it’s a thing of beauty and pleasure to watch. As far as the animals go, I had the biggest concern for the noble mouse Reepicheep, I didn’t care for his character in the book, but he’s great in the film.

In one of our many emails, I think Sheldon summed up why Caspian works so well the best - it’s because the filmmakers chose to “make Caspian, naïve, rather than whiney.” And that subtle change makes all the difference in the world. Caspian comes across as stronger in the movie, more pro-active, not someone who just let’s things happen to him. He’s also self-involved at the most inopportune times. I like the fact that the film really played up the rivalry between Peter and Caspian. In the book Caspian just let Peter do everything without complaining or standing up for himself. Here Caspian calls Peter on his sometime “arrogance.” The writers Andrew Adamson (screenplay), Christopher Markus (screenplay), and Stephen McFeely took the best of C.S. Lewis’ work and expanded it to make it better. It’s a shame that Peter and Susan won’t be in the next film, because they will be missed. Everything about Prince Caspian is just right in terms of cinematography, scope and vision; the tone is dark but hopeful, and epic but intimate. While watching the battle scenes, the only thought going through my mind was, I hope the final Harry Potter film is a 10th as good as this was - . Bring on Eustace and Dawn Treader!

Final Grade A

EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria
Originally posted 5.17.08

Speed Racer was always one of my five wholly grails of films. Weirdly, I’ve never been that into the cartoon, but always thought it would make an amazing film. I was prepared to totally hate Speed Racer, everything that I saw of the film before I saw it sucked Chim Chim’s monkey balls which were then thrown in my face. The trailers were bad, the clips were amazingly stiff. Casting awful. CGI was crap. Clearly the directors/writers Wachowski’s have lost their damn minds. Warner Brothers raped my childhood and I LOVED every psychedelic, trippy, vertigo induced minute of it. This movie capped off a fantastic film week that included Iron-Man and Son of Rambow. I liked Iron-Man a lot, but this is the movie that just punched me in the happy bone.  I had a smile on my face for days after the screening. Why did this work so well? In a word, despite the weird LSD induced colors this film was about something. It had a heart and soul to it. And I wasn’t expecting that in a summer blockbuster.  This movie is about family and love - of racing and each other.  Each race while fast, frenetic and colorful told the larger story. It wasn’t about just getting to the finish line as fast as you can.

From the opening graphics to the end closing credits the Wachowski’s nailed everything that was good about Speed Racer and elevated it to the 10th level. In a film like this the makers forget what was it about the original source material that drew people to begin with. For example in Mission Impossible two and three, they complete remade and destroyed the original, classic well known theme song. It’s a minor thing, but that theme is part of MI’s character. Just like in Speed Racer the classic theme is vital to maintaining the integrity of the show/film. Before I walked into the theater I saw an ad for that god awful Speed Racer cartoon on Nicktoons where they completely bastardized the original song. I thought for sure it would be used in the movie as well. The Brother’s W, not only kept the original theme but gave it this majestic orchestral score that put a huge grin on my face. They kept all of the musical beats from the series. Even the one modern version of the song that roles at the end credits is incredibly cool.

And that’s why this film was so great, they did a lot of nods to the original classic moments - The Monster Car, yep it’s there (doesn’t look so monster), Chim Chim and Spritle pretending to be a goon? Yep, it’s there. Speaking of Spritle, I’ve always hated those two in the cartoon, but here. They pretty much steal the film. Young Paulie Litt is at time hysterically funny. The way Racer X (Matthew Fox) is handled is perfect. I was actually fooled by the twist that really wasn’t a twist towards the end.  Emile Hirsch brings a certain charm to Speed. Some of his line delivery is stilted and emotionless. But the writing is so strong and enough is going on that you don’t notice it as much.  Speed Racer may not be Oscar worthy “best film,” but it’s the most fun I’ve had at a movie in years.  Every frame is infused with love and care. It’s an extremely rare A+.

Final Grade A+

EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria
Originally posted 5.8.2008

Anyone who has read my reviews over the years, knows that I’m a sucker for films about the creative process and precocious British kid films. Writer/Director Garth Jennings, whose last film was 2005’s “Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” has crafted a small, indie film that - dare I say it?  Should I say it? Why not? Is “This Year’s Juno.” It’s a smart, witty, inspiring little movie about a sheltered kid (think Amish) Will Proudfoot (Bill Milner) who is introduced to movies in an over the top way. He accidentally watches a movie, not just any movie, Rambo: First Blood, and falls in love.  He somehow manages to make friends with the neighborhood bully Lee Carter (Will Poulter) who is making a movie to enter into a BBC Talent competition. Proudfoot becomes obsessed with Rambo.  Rambow works on several different levels, it’s a fun movie about the process of making a film.

It’s about trying to move outside of your boundaries (in this case Proudfoot’s strict religious upbringing) and how you can find friendship and brotherhood in the strangest of places.  Jennings infuses this story with a thumping 80s soundtrack.  The film’s two young leads successfully manage to carry the weight of this film on their shoulders. A lot of times when you have child stars in films like this, they always come across as older and more mature than they should be. But this time through Jennings strong writing and the performances, everything seems to just fit. Although this film is set in the 80s, it has a timeless feel to it. Jennings does a great job of showing us Will’s home life without bashing his religion. He clearly has a loving family that’s only trying to look out for him. The film doesn’t preach whether it’s wrong or right, it just is.  If the first film that I ever saw was Rambo, my head would be turned to. While the two leads and the A story are strong, the film falters a bit when it Jennings becomes enamored of his french star Jules Sitruk who plays the too cool for the room french transfer student Didier Revol.

This is one of the year’s best films. Too bad it’s going to get crushed by Speed Racer, when it opens in limited release this weekend. I don’t know what Paramount Vantage is thinking opening this film in the busy May season.

Final Grade A

EM Review by
Michelle Alexandria
5.08.2008

If it’s Tuesday, it must be Bluesday (copyright EM) and we have a tone of interesting news on Sony’s PS3 upcoming firmware upgrade.  Not only are we going to get the new Profile 2.0 update which will bring us Blu-ray Live functionality.  I saw this at CES earlier this year and it looks really promising. The Internet interfaces that was showcased at the Blu-ray conference looked beautiful and fully like Web 3.0.  My fear is it’s going to end up being just as lame as all Internet enabled DVDs in the past.  Not only is the new PS3 upgrade bringing us profile 2.0 capabilities, but today rumor has it that you will soon be able to download a copy of your Blu-ray movie directly to your PSP.  I recently picked up an 8 Gig SD Duo stick for $80. How cools will it be to be able to drop your movies onto your PSP. It’s nice to see studios finally loosing up on their draconian DRM and helping people take their content with them.  The first two movies to support BD- Lve will be Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story and The 6th Day.  Here’s the full press release on the PS3 Upgrade.

Update (Tuesday, 8am) -  Sony saw my post and decided, “Y’know what? Let’s release this update now!” So get it while it’s hot.

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After I said I wouldn’t watch it, I did tivo it and watched most of it, it cut off at 3 hours. After 80 years you’d think they figure out how to do the damn show in under 3 hrs!  So I didn’t catch the last few awards. I fast forwarded over all the fluff and just watched the award announcements and the musical performances. Everything from Enchanted was AWFUL, I loved the Raise Up performance and Once performance. It was surreal watching because I’ve been to events at the Kodak theater on several occasions and half the people nominated I’ve met and interviewed in the past.  As predicted no real surprises last night, other than Atonement almost getting blanked in all the technical categories. But getting best score? I thought the music in Atonement was one of the reasons I loathed that movie. Here’s the complete list.

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The Oscars are tonight and somehow I just can’t seem to care. Last year was a really lackluster year for films as evidenced by the fact that Michael Clayton one of the most convoluted boring films that I’ve ever walked out on is nominated for best picture.  Is it me or does it seem like there is a noticeable lack of buzz for this year’s awards race?  Is because the film’s nominated are kind of “meh?” Or did the three month long writers strike take the micky out of everything? I don’t know, but I’m not enthused. Granted I pretty much never watch award shows anyway, but tonight I don’t know.  I’ll Tivo it and will watch Across the Universe on Blu-ray before I catch a few minutes of tonight’s show.  There’s no way I could watch it live so I have to give my DVR a good 2 hr head start before I even think about turning it on. With that said here are my picks.  I really don’t expect any surprises tonight. But I would love to see Juno pull an upset and Once get best song. While I liked Enchanted I thought the music in it SUCKED and can’t believe it got three freaking music nominations and Once only got one - and for the worst song in the film. 

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Warner Home Video (WHV) announced today that the provocative, black-comedy OTIS, the fourth feature under the Raw Feed production banner, will have its world premiere on opening day of the 15^th edition of the South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference & Festival in Austin, Texas.  The film, along with Columbia Pictures’ 21 (starring Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth), was selected from a record number of entries to kick off the prestigious nine day festival March 7 with a special midnight showing.  The release plan for OTIS, the fourth feature under the Raw Feed production banner, may include a limited theatrical or midnight show run prior to being released in an uncut version on Blu-ray Hi-Def and DVD this summer. The first three Raw Feed films have sold more than one million DVD units to date.

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