RIDLEY SCOTT SIGNS ON FOR “BLADE RUNNER 2”
Scott is a top-shelf filmmaker, the concept is sound and the source material as good as it gets. This one, unlike “Austin Powers 4,” feels right. The most positive aspect is that Scott apparently has a real fire in the belly for the project. He’s been fiddling with the original — director’s cuts, etc… — since the beginning of home video, which is a good sign the creative energy and inspiration are in plentiful supply.
Furthermore, Scott can do any picture he wants. He’s not some “auteur” on the downslide and desperate for a return to the glory days of yore. Translation: he’s doing this for all the right reasons: passion, love, creative energy…
Yep, this feels right.
On the other hand…
TONY SCOTT EYES ‘WILD BUNCH’ REMAKE
Ohmydeargawd.
The original is not only a masterpiece, it’s a director’s masterpiece. “The Wild Bunch” IS Sam Peckinpah. You might as well remake the Mona Lisa. There’s no way this doesn’t turn out as flat and uninspired as Tony Scott’s remake of another lightning-in-a-bottle masterpiece: “The Taking of Pelham 1,2,3.”
There are films that transcend earthly constraints, that capture something unique — be it a time, place, feel, performance — that can never be recreated. Sure, the picture might make money, but as we saw with the remakes of “Psycho,” “The Longest Yard,” and too many others — just stop.
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LAST NIGHT’S SCREENING
Well, after seven weeks of more help and hard work than any son is entitled to, my dad left for Wisconsin and home this morning with the mafia trunk of his ’69 Buick Electra 225 filled with the tools that put my renter-destroyed home back in livable shape. Departure time 4 am and we miss him already. Since the wife and I are both early risers, rather than try to fall back asleep we made a pot of coffee and watched a few episodes of “The Rockford Files.”
Cool dawn. Warm bed. Hot coffee. “This is Jim Rockford…” North Carolina. Pretty wife. Bliss. Period.
Love you, Dad!
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TODAY’S QUICK HITS
ROBERT DOWNEY JR. TALKS “IRON MAN 3”
WILL SMITH IN TALKS TO JOIN “FANTASTIC VOYAGE”
“SEX AND THE CITY: THE HIGH SCHOOL YEARS” CONFIRMED
THE 30 HARSHEST MUSICIAN-ON-MUSICIAN INSULTS IN HISTORY
WHY ‘THE LONE RANGER’ BEING DUMPED IS A GREAT THING
WHERE’S WALL-E?
IN OTHER NEWS, THERE’S AN OSCAR MUSEUM?
JANE FONDA PLEADS FOR ATTENTION WITH: “GENEROUS PEOPLE HAVE MORE ORGASMS”
DANNY DEVITO WINS WELL-DESERVED HOLLYWOOD STAR
WRESTLING ON SYFY. GUESS IT’S REALLY NOT SCI-FI ANYMORE.
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CLASSIC PICK FOR SATURDAY AUGUST 20TH
TCM:
8:00 PM EST: Place in the Sun, A (1951) — An ambitious young man wins an heiress’s heart but has to cope with his former girlfriend’s pregnancy. Dir: George Stevens Cast: Montgomery Clift, Elizabeth Taylor, Shelley Winters. BW-122 mins, TV-PG, CC.
A perfect film as proved by the fact that you sympathize with Clift’s character throughout and hope against hope that the story ends differently, no matter how many times you’ve seen it. Gripping, haunting, and ultimately heartbreaking thanks in large part to Clift’s unforgettable performance and the otherworld beauty of Elizabeth Taylor, which makes you believe he would do what he does to possess her.
Shelley Winters is just as good as the simpering, unsympathetic roadblock to the realization of every young man’s hopes and dreams.
Not to be missed. Nor is “The Heiress,” “Red River,” “The Misfits,” and “The Search.” It’s Montgomery Clift day on TCM and it can’t get much better than that.
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