Ahoy, squirts! Quint here. My DISTRICT 9 piece went up (read it here) and now here’s the rest from the panel. - There was an opening remark from some Sony high up (Think his name was Brewer, sorry for not catching the rest) about how this summer is great for them and that trend continues with their development slate going to 2011, which will have the next SPIDER-MAN movie as well as a new MEN IN BLACK film and GHOSTBUSTERS. So, MiB is pretty new news and it’s good to hear they’re still behind GHOSTBUSTERS. - ANGELS & DEMONS… The product reel kicked off with a few minutes of ANGELS & DEMONS. I don’t follow the books, but I have to say this one looks much more interesting than THE DA VINCI CODE. Maybe it’s Tom Hanks’ less ridiculous haircut. Maybe it’s the man-crush I have on Ewan McGregor. Or my attraction to the darker, cult setting and the Illuminati bad guys. The footage just seemed less forced, everybody seeming to be having a good time, especially McGregor who just oozes charm and innocence as the young priest who seems to be Hanks’ ally at the Vatican (which probably means he’s really a bad guy, but that’s okay). Detail-wise, there were a lot of scenes that could have been pulled out of the first movie, but it just felt fun in this context. I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I might really enjoy this movie. - THE TAKING OF PELHAM 123… The new trailer just premiered and I have to say I’m going in to this one with low expectations. I’m not a Tony Scott hater, but I am a die hard fan of the original (naturally, Robert Shaw and Walter Matthau FTW). I have the one-sheet hanging in my bedroom. And what I keep seeing from this movie seems like it goes for the flash and over-the-top insanity aspect, forgoing the character work that made me love the first film. Denzel Washington looks better in the role than I thought. He’s more vulnerable and every-day-guy than I expected him to be, but Travolta is what I feared he’d be. What I loved about Robert Shaw’s portrayal of the main bad guy in the original was just how calm, cool and collected he was. Mr. Blue was deadly serious, but intellectual, as were most of Shaw’s villainous turns. Travolta is going in a radically different direction, turning more to his over-the-top types like in FACE/OFF and BROKEN ARROW, screaming obscenities, etc. Amongst the footage shown we also got a bit of John Turturro interrogating Denzel Washington, accusing him of being in cahoots with Travolta, Travolta saying he’ll trade all his hostages on the subway train for Washington and then a big moment on a bridge, which I can only imagine comes from the end of the movie where Denzel has a gun on Travolta. I’m not really down with those changes, but then again I wouldn’t want a shot for shot remake either. Hopefully this movie works in its own context and I’ll enjoy it the same way I enjoyed the ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 remake. It won’t top the original, I’m pretty sure of that, but I’ll consider it a win if I can enjoy it for what it is. - THE UGLY TRUTH… This was probably the surprise of the footage for me. The DISTRICT 9 stuff was as good as I was hoping it would be and I think the highlight of the day, but in terms of genuine surprise… going from no expectations to thinking a movie is going to turn out really good, I think THE UGLY TRUTH was the winner. It’s a romantic comedy starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler as two local TV news personalities… he’s the gruff, rude, frank and flirty type and she’s the introverted beauty. It seems to be a Cyrano/Roxanne type tale, where Butler offers his talents in the male/female dynamic as a guide to help her land a hunky surgeon she has her eye on. I’d be shocked if the movie didn’t end with Heigl and Butler realizing they love each other, but the trip to that moment looks really funny. Two scenes in particular stood out for me. One takes place during a baseball game as Butler is feeding Heigl advice through an earpiece as she’s out on a date with the surgeon. Butler tells her to order a hot dog and slowly slide it into her mouth. She realizes what she’s doing and abruptly stops, knocking the contents of her soda into her date’s lap. She furiously scrubs his lap, apologizing and not noticing the uncomfortable, but pleased look on his face. The baseball “Kiss Cam” angles in on them and, of course, it looks like she’s giving him a massive, vigorous handjob. All the players stop and look on, the crowd looks on and Butler lets it continue on for a bit before telling her to look up. She does and realizes what it looks like and looks horrified. Okay, that was kind of funny. Then the scene that really stole it for me. Someone (probably Butler) sends Heigl a pair of “vibrating panties.” She looks confused as she opens it up and after some internal debate tries them on. Just as she gets them in position, there’s a knock at the door. It’s her boss, their dinner meeting is on and they have to leave right that minute. She barely has time to hide the remote in her purse before running out. Of course, at the dinner she has to give some kind of update on a presentation and before she does that her purse gets kicked over and a kid picks up the remote for her vibrating panties. He shakes it around, trying to figure the device out and of course on go the vibrating panties. Heigl realizes what’s going on, but is called to give her pitch before she can excuse herself and ends up having to hide her pleasure, which goes up in stages as the kid at the far table finds a knob that turns it from enjoyment to ecstasy. Heigl sells it, the best orgasm at a restaurant scene since WHEN HARRY MET SALLY… not that there have been a ton to choose from, mind you, but the comparison is inevitable. What really makes the scene work though is Butler’s reactions. The surprise, confusion and then realization as he spots the kid with the remote. The way he just grins and sits back to enjoy the show, even going so far as to block her tries to shrug off the presentation to him just so he can watch her squirm (literally) is great. Butler has a great sense of comedic timing and really makes me think this might go beyond just a cute rom-com. - JULIE & JULIA… I don’t have much to say about this footage, but I liked it. Meryl Streep is always dependable and looks like she’s having a blast playing Julia Child. Amy Adams is also fairly dependable and she’s looking mighty adorable here, playing a woman who is using Child’s cookbook to separate herself from others, starting a blog where every day she cooks one of the 365 recipes in the book. The flick looks to tell two stories that aren’t exactly related, but share a common struggle. One is Adams’ struggle to find her voice and Child’s struggle to make her passion her work. The flick looks really cute. I might have lost my insanely manly man macho image by saying that, but fuck it. I liked what I saw. - THE YEAR ONE. I really, really want this one to work. A lot of people jump on Jack Black’s dick, but I think he’s a genuinely funny guy and when paired with the right material I think he crosses over into the hilarious zone. And I’ve noticed a bit of a backlash against Michael Cera, too. But I love these guys and I love Harold Ramis. He still has it. THE ICE HARVEST was a great bit of bleak comedy that was vastly overlooked. But I’m not sure about this one. I like the idea… two idiots stumble across biblical stories… I like the cast. You have Black and Cera as well as Bill Hader, Hank Azaria, David Cross, Paul Rudd, Chris Mintz-Plasse, Oliver Platt and Ramis himself… a great comedy cast, no doubt. However, the impression I got from the footage shown was a kind of a shotgun approach. It felt like they’re just kind of randomly throwing different kinds of jokes at the wall. Some stick and are really funny (like Hank Azaria as Abraham telling Cera and Black of Sodom and Gomorrah that are overrun with whores who will pleasure any man who wants it and Cera shyly asking which city has more whores… you know, so they can make sure to doubly avoid that one) and some isn’t (Black getting kicked out of his tribe… although, that did have a funny ending with a black-faced Bill Hader as the tribe chief watching Jack Black set fire to a hut and shrieking… then going, “Oh, that’s not my house” and going silent). This is one I really, really want to like. I just don’t know if it’ll be all there by the time I see the full thing. That’s about that for Sony. Be back with more as ShoWest develops. -Quint quint@aintitcool.com Follow Me On Twitter
