Linkorama

I am going to try to post here more often, even if it is just a collection of links I find interesting. Speaking of ...

- The A.V. Club has an interview with Nathan Fillion, star of the new ABC series "Castle." You might remember him from such TV series as "Firefly" and such movies as "Serenity," "Slither" and "Waitress."

- Another good one from The A.V. Club: an interview with Wes Craven, focusing mostly on "The Last House on the Left," both the 1972 original and the remake, which hits theaters Friday.

- The legal battle between novelist Clive Cussler and Crusader Entertainment over the "Sahara" script could end up costing him $28 million. Ouch. The Hollywood Reporter has the story.

- Watchmen screenwriter David Hayter is practically begging fans to see the movie again this weekend.

- Steven Spielberg is quietly finishing up his work on "Tintin," his much-discussed collaboration with Peter Jackson.

- Alex Proyas, whose new film "Knowing" hits theaters March 20, is guest blogging at /Film and taking a look back at "Dark City."

- Nominations for the Saturn Awards, which recognize movies and TV shows in the science fiction, fantasy, horror and action/adventure/thriller genres, have been announced. "The Dark Knight" and "Lost" received the most nods.

Watchmen

Apparently, comic book fans have been waiting for a film adaptation of Watchmen for a long time. It’s been in various stages of development ever since DC Comics published the limited series, later packaged as a “graphic novel,” in 1986.

Written by Alan Moore (who refused to be credited on the movie due to his dissatisfaction with adaptations of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen and V for Vendetta) and illustrated by Dave Gibbons, “Watchmen” was hailed as revolutionary in the comic book world. It’s publication has been described as the moment when comic books “came of age.” In 2005, Time included it on its list of the “100 best English-language novels from 1923 to the present.”

I know this because Wikipedia knows this.

Oscar recap

The producers of the 81st Annual Academy Awards, presented Sunday night at the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood, promised big changes this year. And they mostly made good on that pledge.

Hugh Jackman, best known for portraying the surly mutant Wolverine in the X-Men movies but a song-and-dance man on the stage, was an inspired choice as host. His good nature and enthusiasm seemed to spread throughout the room from the moment he took stage. The show could have used more of him as it plodded on toward midnight.

No matter how many entertaining bits it has, the show is still too long, coming in this year at about three and a half hours—10 minutes longer than last year. Cutting an hour would make it a much more manageable length.

Oscar preview

This year, the Oscars go to India.

Not literally—the 81st Annual Academy Awards will be presented Sunday night at the usual spot, the Kodak Theatre in Hollywood. But the frontrunner for the top prize is Slumdog Millionaire, British director Danny Boyle’s film, set and shot in India, about a young man (Dev Patel) from the slums of Mumbai who becomes a contestant on the Indian version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?

Nominated for 10 awards and having been honored repeatedly during the last few months (including best picture from the Golden Globes, best director from the Director’s Guild, best picture from the Producer’s Guild and best cast from the Screen Actor’s Guild), Slumdog is the safe bet for best picture, director and adapted screenplay Sunday night.

Friday the 13th

Sex, drugs, decapitation, a young woman burned alive—all before we even see the words Friday the 13th on the screen.

This re-imagining of the classic 1980 slasher movie has everything fans of the series would expect. And it’s made with more care and keeps a much firmer grip on reality than most of the sequels churned out throughout the ’80s.

Rather than a straight remake of the original Friday the 13th—we see Mrs. Voorhees (Nana Visitor) only in a short prologue, in which we learn she has killed all but one of the Camp Crystal Lake counselors following her son’s drowning and see her demise at the hands of the lone survivor—screenwriters Damian Shannon and Mark Swift (Freddy Vs. Jason) borrow elements from several of the earlier movies. The result is a film that feels both new and familiar—an admirable achievement, whether you’re a fan of this kind of movie or not.

Welcome back, slashers

Jason Voorhees, everyone’s favorite machete-wielding, teenager-killing, masked madman, is back. And he’s joining other familiar faces—Leatherface, Michael Myers—at the slasher movie revival party.

Friday the 13th, a re-imagining of the 1980 film that introduced moviegoers to Camp Crystal Lake, hits theaters today, the latest in a long line of what Roger Ebert derisively refers to as “Dead Teenager Movies.”

The filmmakers, however, have deep affection for their source material.

“The greatest thing about the films was the experience of sitting in a theater with other people and being scared out of my mind,” producer Brad Fuller said of the previous Friday the 13th movies. “I went to a summer camp in Maine and one of the big reasons most people get so scared watching the films is because so many of us have had a summer camp experience or have gone camping.”

The Wrestler

What do you do when one thing is all you know? If you're actor Mickey Rourke or aging pro wrestler Randy "The Ram" Robinson, you keep doing it, even if no one is watching—and, in the Ram's case, even if it means putting your life on the line.

The parallels between actor and character in Darren Aronofsky's "The Wrestler" are uncanny. One ultimately finds redemption; for the other, it's difficult to say.

The enlightened among us will say pro wrestling is "fake." Indeed, much about Randy is fabricated. His bleach-blonde hair? The result of regular dye jobs. His bronzed skin? Tanning beds do the work. His muscles, still bulging two decades past his prime? A virtual smorgasbord of steroids runs through his veins. His real name? Robin Ramzinski.

Snubbed

The Bat-Signal must be on the fritz.

How else to explain the snub The Dark Knight received last week from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when Oscar nominations were announced?

Sure, Heath Ledger is all but a lock to posthumously win best supporting actor for his maniacal turn as The Joker, and the Academy named The Dark Knight in seven other categories (art direction, cinematography, editing, makeup, sound, sound editing and visual effects). But look at the writing nominations and you won’t find the names Christopher Nolan, Jonathan Nolan or David Goyer. Chris Nolan is missing from the best director list, as well.

The most glaring omission comes under best picture, where the competitors are The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (which has a leading 13 nominations), Frost/Nixon, Milk, The Reader and Slumdog Millionaire.

Gran Torino

"Ever notice how you come across somebody once in a while you shouldn't have (messed) with? That's me."

Clint Eastwood, as the central character of Gran Torino, Korean war veteran/retired Ford worker/widower Walt Kowalski, snarls that warning to a trio of thugs menacing his neighbor, a friendly Hmong teenager named Sue (Ahney Her), but he might as well wear it around his neck on a sign for all to see.

Whether you're staring at him down the barrel of a shotgun or just happen to stray too close to his property as he sits on his front porch, cigarette in hand, cooler of Pabst Blue Ribbon and trusty yellow Lab at his feet, your day will be considerably more pleasant if you avoid him altogether—especially if you're one of the gangbangers who have all but taken over his Detroit neighborhood. They're everywhere—gangs of black, Latino or Hmong youths. It's hard on a bigoted old man like Walt.

Bride Wars

Guys, this one’s for the ladies. Of course, you can probably figure that out from the title.

All engaged men should take their fiancées to Bride Wars, which can serve as a primer on how not to behave as the big day approaches. As an engaged man, I can appreciate the movie on that level alone. That it has a fair share of laughs along the way is an added bonus.

Liv (Kate Hudson, who also takes a producer credit) and Emma (Anne Hathaway) seem like polar opposites. Liv is a successful attorney, a driven career woman who knows what she wants and is accustomed to getting it. Emma is a middle school teacher, polite and generous to a fault—she’s a pushover and those around her, especially fellow teacher Deb (a scene-stealing Kristen Johnston), take advantage of that trait.