Imagine how much heat this film would have if it stuck to it's original title, Repossession Mambo. Seriously. It could snag both the Gattaca crowd and the Dirty Dancing audience just off name alone. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner and steals her kidney!" Written by Eric Garcia(Matchstick Men) and based off his own novel, it stars Forest Whittaker and Jude Law as a pair of repo men charged with reclaiming artificial organs from people if they fall behind on their payments. I think there's a provision allowing for just this sort of thing in the health care reform bill.
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo was so friggin' popular worldwide, it's already being remade into an American version with possibly David Fincher at the helm. The story involves a journalist for a popular magazine who is hired by a wealthy magnate to solve a decade's old disappearance. He is joined in his quest by Lisbeth, a brilliant but anti-social computer hacker with a chip on her shoulder. In the books she's afflicted with Asperger's Syndrome, although I'm not sure if that made it's way to the films. Dragon Tattoo is the first of a trilogy of novels which have all been brought to the big screen already. Assuming this one is a hit here in the States, expect all three to flood our shores before the remake is ever completed.
From internet comic to novels and now to the big screen(along with a tie-in comic book), Diary of a Wimpy Kid has gone through quite a journey. Funny how I'd never heard of it until a few months ago until the hilarious trailer. Then again I thought the trailer for How to Eat Fried Worms looked funny too. My interest in this film has nothing to do with me being a poor, bullied schmuch during my formative years. Absolutely nothing. It remains to be seen whether or not it's popularity translates into big screen success.
Surprised? Yeah. It's on my list this week, and not in the "DEAR GOD STAY AWAY!!" section. Do I think The Bounty Hunter looks good in any conceivable way? No. Do I continue to be confused by Gerard Butler's presence in these contrived rom-coms, sent to flounder around opposite whatever poor acting leggy chick they coerced into signing up? Yes. At this point I'm resigned to simply following Butler's career trajectory, and all it's ups and downs(mostly downs). Eventually one of these films is going to be so awful and perform so badly that he's going to hit some sort of wall, and I wanna be able to spot the moment when it happens. Jennifer Aniston does look kinda hot in that black skirt, though.
If there's time....
A documentary based on the book by Thomas Frank, following how Kansas shifted from being the bastion of liberal ideology to the staunch, hard right-wing territory it is now. The film follows three people from different walks of life, and chronicles the rise of Conservative populism in the nation's heartland.
