Mediabreak on Hiatus

Sorry for the lack of posts, but I will be holding off on continuing this blog until mid-December. I am very busy finishing my film Zombie Allegiance. Once I am finished, I will have plenty of time to devote each day to blogging, and I will have a more focussed idea of what Mediabreak will be about. Until December, I bid you a Happy Fall!

Film Forecasting; DAY TWO - DISNEY/PIXAR

Another day, another studio.  Here's a look at the films going into production in early 2009.

Today: Disney/Pixar

"Alice in Wonderland" - Johnny Depp stars as the Mad Hatter in this Tim Burton directed live action/motion capture film also starring Burton's wife Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen, and Anne Hathaway as the White Queen.  I'm a huge fan of Burton's, from Beetlejuice, Edward Scissorhands and Batman to his recent greats Big Fish and Sweeney Todd, his dark tales are timeless.  With Depp and Carter (his muses) again, 'Alice' is promising.  ANTICIPATION RATING 4 out of 5

"Tron 2" - A sequel to the 80's film, again starring Jeff Bridges as Kevin Flynn.  I never cared for the original, and see no point in rehashing this franchise.  However, two of the writers from my favorite show Lost are writing the screenplay, so who knows?  ANTICIPATION RATING 2 out of 5

"The Sorcerer's Apprentice" - Nic Cage stars in this fantasy film based on the Goethe poem that also served as inspiration for the famous Mickey Mouse sketch in Disney's Fantasia.  This new wave of family friendly fantasy films has bored me (except for Golden Compass), and Cage has been lackluster as of late.  ANTICIPATION RATING 1 out of 5

"Mars Need Moms" - Robert Zemeckis directs this motion-capture film about martian children on Mars in need of Moms, who take them from earth.  This is based on an intriguing children's story, and Zemeckis is more than capable of bringing this story to the screen.  ANTICIPATION RATING 4 out of 5  

"Wild Hogs 2" - A sequel to the Tim Allen, John Travolta, Matin Lawrence film about mid-life motorcyclists.  The first was cute, so why not.  ANTICIPATION RATING 3 out of 5

"Up" - Pixar's newest computer animated film about a 78 year old widower living out his wife's fantasies.  An imaginative film from the only company that consistently makes quality family films.  "Wall-E" has been my favorite (thus far) of 2008, and "Up" sounds extremely charming.  ANTICIPATION RATING 5 out of 5

"Toy Story 3" - A threequel to the classic films starring Tom Hanks and Tim Allen.  "Toy Story 2" was a rare sequel better than the original, so 3 has great potential, especially with the full voice cast returning.  ANTICIPATION RATING 5 out of 5

Sunday...Fox!

Film Forecasting: DAY ONE - MGM

Variety last week published a list of 40 films (by major studios) going into production in early 2009. The list of films has been pre-budgeted with funding secured, so the current financial crisis has no bearing on their production. This is the first of 9 blog entries looking closely at each of the major studios slated productions.

Today: MGM

“The Matarese Circle” – A political thriller set during the Cold War, ‘Matarese’ will be the next film directed by David Cronenberg (Videodrome, The Fly, Eastern Promises) and is set to star Denzel Washington. Fresh off of the Russian thriller ‘Eastern Promises,’ Cronenberg (one of my personal favorites) is the perfect person to direct ‘Matarese,’ with its Soviet subtext. ANTICIPATION RATING 4 out of 5

“RoboCop 2010” – Originally this was supposed to be a remake of the original, which REALLY pissed me off because the original Paul Verhoeven RoboCop is one of my favorite films. But now it is reported that this will be a sequel to be directed by Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain). RoboCop in Aronofsky’s hands is a terrible match. While the two existing RoboCop sequels are not great, I worry that Aronofsky will completely kill the franchise. ANTICIPATION RATING 2 out of 5

“The Cabin in the Woods” – No info has been released on what exactly this film is about, but it was written by Joss Whedon (Firefly, Buffy) and will be directed by first timer Drew Goddard, known for his writing on my favorite show Lost. I’m a fan of both these guys, so I have a feeling this can be good, whatever it’s about. ANTICIPATION RATING 3 out of 5

“Fame” – A remake of the film ‘Fame’ about dancing high-school kids. Whoopi-dee-doo.
NO ANTICIPATION WHATSOVER

Wednesday…Disney!

Juneau Vice

On the eve of what could be an epic (in comedic terms) VP debate, I thought I'd share a few facts on Sarah Palin.  I don't by any means want this blog to become political, so I'll keep this short and sweet.  Sarah Palin seems like a nice woman, she's young and attractive, and seemingly sweet and naive.  Naive and VP don't sync up.  Mccain is old, so chances are higher than normal that Palin could become President.  We've done naive the past 8 years, haven't we learned anything?

Palin fought with Petroleum lobbyists to keep Polar Bears off the endangered species list, a ploy to prevent the Polar Bears status from being used to impose greenhouse gas limitations.  She went so far with this fight as to file suit against the government she now so wants to preside over.  If you've seen Al Gore's Inconvenient Truth, or read anything on global warming, then you know what the rapidly melting ice fields mean to the future of the Polar Bear.  Palin denies the existence of global warming.  Tell me then Sarah, why the crazy weather the last few years, was Katrina gods will?  You two are obviously close, so you should know.      

Finally, Palin as Governor of Alaska had a long history of corruption.  She equates her international experience to Alaska's geographic proximity to Russia.  Her 17 year old daughter is pregnant, yet she slashed funding for teen pregnancy in Alaska.  Sure she is a woman, but she is so against women's rights, being pro-life and going as far as trying to pass legislation in which rape victims were forced to pay for their own rape kits.  Her husband was a registered member of the Alaskan Independence Party, a group determined to secede from the United States and become a commonwealth, or independent nation.  Palin attended these meetings.  Does this sound like someone we want to be a heartbeat away from our Presidency?  Think about this while watching tonight's debate.  

PETA and Breast Milk (Why, Oh Why?)

I have always disliked PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals). I have nothing against Vegans (thou I do love meat), and believe me, I'm all for Animal Rights, just not at PETA's cost. Ever since they passed out graphic pamphlets to school aged kids, called "Your Daddy Kills Animals" and "Your Mommy Kills Animals," I have been appalled by their actions. These comics told kids things like, your daddy goes fishing and kills animals, lock up your kittens from daddy or he will kill them all. I’m serious, I'm not even exaggerating, and what's worse is the covers of the pamphlets which cartoonishly depict a crazed mom and dad viciously mutilating a fish and a rabbit. These were passed out at elementary schools to scare the kids into submission. Propaganda at its most evil. I wont even get started on their campaign put up in high schools to teach high school kids that drinking milk can lead to acne, cancer and strokes.

Milk leads me to the most recent crazy gimmick by PETA. Read this excerpt from a letter that was seriously sent by PETA to Ben and Jerry's this past week.

“On behalf of PETA and our more than 2 million members and supporters, I'd like to bring your attention to an innovative new idea from Switzerland that would bring a unique twist to Ben and Jerry's. Storchen restaurant is set to unveil a menu that includes soups, stews, and sauces made with at least 75 percent breast milk procured from human donors who are paid in exchange for their milk. If Ben and Jerry's replaced the cow's milk in its ice cream with breast milk, your customers--and cows--would reap the benefits.”

They go on to explain that cows milk is hazardous to our health, and that dairy cows are often mistreated, etc. Again, I’m all for the proper care of animals, but what the hell? First of all, remind me never to order anything with milk products in Switzerland. Luckily, Ben and Jerry's wrote back; "we applaud PETA's novel approach to bringing attention to an issue, but we believe a mother's milk is best used for her child." PETA is so crazy that they believe donated human breast milk is vegan because it was knowingly donated by the mother. So, if someone dies and donates their body to be eaten, will PETA go carnal on us? What a crazy world we live in.

R.I.P. Paul Newman

"Sometimes nothing can be a pretty cool hand."

Paul Newman died last night from a long fight with lung cancer. Newman was a legend, a true icon of cinema. As far as actors go, he was genuine, giving it all to his characters, and using his fame to give it right back to society. Amazing roles in The Hustler, and The Sting, along with title roles in Hud and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, Newman knew how to play it cool. I personally love him playing the selfish, greed-lust driven boss Sidney Mussburger in the Coen Brother's Hudsucker Proxy. But no Newman role (in my opinion) can top that of Luke in Cool Hand Luke, the chain gang thief with the greatest of all outlooks on life. The "damn the man" mystique of the Luke character reads on Newman himself. A relentless liberal advocate, he was a champion for liberal causes, backing up democratic candidates and notably etching his name into Dick Nixon's enemies list. His famously organic line of Newman's Own food products are great, but what's more is that all the proceeds go to charity. Newman himself was a prominent philanthropist, known for his work with seriously ill children and his co-founded Hole in the Wall Gang Camp, so named for Butch Cassidy. Newman will be sorely missed not only by movie lovers like myself, but more importantly by the many he has helped over the years. Newman was 83.

I'm Starting A Movement; The Originality Movement

Movie remakes. I’ve been neutral on this subject for some time; watching decent remakes like Oceans Eleven (with Clooney tastefully modernizing Sinatra) pass by horrendous remakes like Planet of the Apes (with Whalberg going Funky Bunch on Heston’s role). Don’t get me wrong, I like Mark Whalberg, just not here. I don’t mind sequels, or prequels, but this fad of remakes is getting really old, really fast. There are those remakes that are decent films but just didn’t have to be made (Willy Wonka), and then there are those that just really shouldn’t have been made.

Let’s start with horror. Most horror films nowadays are remakes. No, not remakes from 40 or 50 years ago, but remakes from the eighties! Why? What is there in today’s filmmaking bravado that wasn’t there 20 years ago? The worst of the bunch are hands down Gus Van Sant’s Psycho and Rob Zombie’s atrocious Halloween remake, which not only rank in the worst remake category, but the worst films of all time category as well. Now word comes that another Hitchcock classic is being remade, The Birds, starring Naomi Watts in the Melanie Daniels role, and to be produced by…wait for it…Michael Fucking Bay! I have to say, I do like the Dawn of the Dead remake Zack Snyder did, although the original cannot be beat, and I also dig the Hills Have Eyes remake, but the sequel took it too far. Now obviously Snyder can’t touch Romero, but Dawn of the Dead remade was still enjoyable.

Sci-Fi has the same fate as horror, with remakes like Godzilla, King Kong, and War of the Worlds (which I enjoyed) proving time and time again that originality is lacking. People say there are no more original ideas out there. This is a sad notion, one I believe not to be true at all. The fact of the matter is there is so much unoriginal work out there that anything remotely unique gets suffocated by this mass of rehashed, recycled storylines and character arcs.

What really made me want to write this blog was a story I read this week that stated Japanese film legend Akira Kurosawa’s masterpiece, Rashoman is to be remade next year, as is my favorite of his films, Ikiru. The same thing happened with French director Jean Luc Godard’s masterpiece Breathless, being turned into a Richard Gere flick. Godard and Kurosawa had a true genius, a unique and genuine vision. We watched and studied their films in film school like an English major would study Shakespeare. I don’t see anyone reading J.K. Rowling’s take on Hamlet, or Tom Clancy’s take on Richard III, so why do we have to be subjected to this trudging upon of quality filmmaking. I say it’s like having to listen to Hannah Montana sing the Beatles…its sacrilegious. Granted, taking a film and re-imagining it is another story. Kurosawa had his film Yojimbo masterfully rehashed by Sergio Leonne’s epic spaghetti western A Fistful of Dollars…unique.

What I’m getting at is this. Look at a shortlist of films slated to be remade in the next few years; Tron, The Evil Dead, The Fly (again), The Thing, Escape From New York, etc. These are all great movies that mastered the effects and techniques of filmmaking for their time. If you want to showcase how technology has changed, don’t show us how King Kong can be better in CGI; show us something new and unique. I know it's all about money and what sells, but don’t always presume moviegoers are stupid, we know how to enjoy an old movie for what it is and what it was for the time it was made. Please...Let’s bring back originality.

Welcome! Let me introduce you to my blog (sounds like a creepy pickup line)

Welcome to my blog! Now, an introduction to what Tony’s Take; A Mediabreak Production is all about.

First, a little about myself. My name is Tony Nunes, I am a filmmaker out of southern New England and self proclaimed pop-culture whore. Here are four facts that will help you gauge the kind of person I am, and the kind of blog this will be. My idols are Jim Henson and Steven Spielberg. My favorite quotes are “I dream for a living” said by Spielberg, and “I’ll let you be in my dreams if I can be in yours,” a lyric from a Bob Dylan song. I am an avid listener to NPR. And most importantly, I am a loving husband and father.

What is this blog about? This is a fun blog about all things media. I love movies and television, dork culture like comics and videogames, and silly things like puppets. I am interested in serious things like politics, African studies and media studies. This blog will cover it all.

What made me want to start this blog? Good question. The truth is, I know a handful of people who think we live in a society where news and information has been replaced by this subjective world of blogger's, and knowledge has become the great hypocrisy, a notion replaced by judgment and opinion. Well…shit yes it has, and I want to know other peoples opinions. I want people to know my opinion. How interesting would the world be without all these opinions? Granted, news should never be confused with opinion as the case has been on certain quote-on-quote news-programs that promote left or right rhetoric rather than providing cold facts to shape the people’s opinions. But blog's are designed to be taken as nothing more than ideas, personal opinions on things that matter to the blogger, and hopefully their readers. The “Mediabreak” part of my blog’s title is homage to the faux newscasts from the film Robocop, a statement that this is nothing more than my subjective thought process. I took a class on Media and Society in college and had to keep a daily blog, a series of rants on all things media. I loved this project, and found myself missing it as of late. So here I am, starting up my own blog and putting myself out there for anyone to read. Will anyone besides my wife read it? Doesn’t matter, nothings more therapeutic than a good rant now and then

Enjoy!