Monday, July 26, 2004

Movie News

Bourne Sequel #1 at Box Office
The sequel to 2002's Bourne Identity took in $53.1 million over the weekend, making it the number one film and eclipsing the highest weekend gross for any James Bond film (Die Another Day grossed $47.1 million on its opening weekend).  The Bourne Supremacy follows on the heels of the first film, picking up the trail of amnesiatic CIA assassin Jason Bourne.

Bourne Review - Not as Good as the First
I enjoyed The Bourne Supremacy as a consistent, taut thriller that expands the character of Jason Bourne and allows him to open up his perpetually shaken can of whip-ass when he's framed for a diplomatic murder.  He's forced out of hiding and again dives into the search for his past as he puzzles together fragments of his memories, desperate to find out what is happening to him.  While not as inventive or substantive as the original, the Bourne Supremacy still ranks high above the usual action movie genre, lacking only in its comparison with the outstanding original.  The original's director, Doug Liman, took care to frame scenes to pull the viewers' eye to the appropriate subject, a concept lost on the frenetic NYPD-Blue-style camera movements of Bourne Supremacy director Paul Greengrass (he replace Liman after a reported clash with the studio).

Return of the King Extended Edition News
Sounds like a lot of people are getting a sneak preview of the new DVD footage to be released in December - the new version of the film is reportedly 50 minutes longer than the 201-minute theatrical release! Ouch!  Here are some tidbits and a few spoilers.  Sorry, no mention of a secret version of "Scouring of the Shire" getting thrown into the mix...

Nobody Cares that Last Star Wars Prequel to be named "Revenge of the Sith"
Lucasfilm announced the title for the final Star Wars prequel and die-hard geeks reacted with unabashed boredom.  If the other films running up the 'bridge' film - it will link the substandard prequels with the classic trilogy - had been less disappointing, there would be more excitement at the announcement.  Real geeks will note the parallels between this title and the final classic trilogy title "Return of the Jedi." And truly sad-devoted geeks with very little social life will undoubtedly remind you that that film was originally titled "Revenge of the Jedi" (Lucas changed it because a Jedi 'wouldn't seek revenge') and ask you home to their parents basement to show you their Star Wars toys. 

"Lost" to Surface on ABC in September
From Alias helmer J. J. Abrams, this Gilligan's Island on Steroids looks to be the most interesting new show announced on the otherwise anemic ABC Fall Schedule.  "48 survivors of a plane crash scavenge for what they can from the plane for their survival and begin exploring the small island where they have washed up. Some panic. Some pin their hopes on rescue. But there is something else on the island, something that doesn't make sense, something that will threaten their survival long before that wished-for rescue boat ever appears on the horizon."

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