It’s bad enough that Hollywood has to remake all of my childhood memories (yes, I admit my childhood memories are mostly TV shows and movies from the ’70s and ’80s). But when they go and use CGI rather than actors and completely alter the way I remember things (man, that sucked how the Who’s the Boss movie featured a computer generated Mona), I just get so upset I could rant on a blog. So, imagine my relief when I saw this official photo from the set of Universal’s Land of the Lostin today’s USA Today.
Yes, those Sleestak look just as you remember. Only darker, more detailed, and a little (just a little) less like a costume with a human inside. But as much as I’d like to salute director Brad Silberling both for respecting my childhood and for shitting on CGI (which is still just too lazy a tool these days), the choice seems mostly to do with retaining the show’s cheesiness. Anthony Breznican writes for USA Today:
Here’s an 11th suggestion for how the Academy Awards can build up its ratings: give Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson an Oscar nomination. Yes, I’m clearly continuing the snark, but I’m not coming out of left field. The wrestler-turned-actor was a presenter during Sunday’s ceremony and afterwards he was asked by reporters whether or not he’d one day like an Oscar. And obviously he said that he would. He’s quoted in The Times today discussing his response:
“‘ … of course, it’s every actor’s dream,’ he says, with initially guarded enthusiasm. In fact, he adds, momentarily overtaken by the excitement of it all, ‘winning an Oscar is a goal of mine’.”
And the writer for The Times is encouraging it:
“To judge from his track record, if the Oscar win is a goal, then it’s already in the bag. Just make sure they put the name Johnson on the trophy, and not Rock.”
The Rock will play “a Las Vegas cab driver who picks up a pair of siblings with magical powers” in Witch Mountain, which is set to “advance the storyline” of the Disney’s 70s movies about mystical orphans.
Owen Wilson has dropped out ofTropic Thunder, an ensemble comedy currently being directed by Ben Stiller in Hawaii, for obvious reasons.
John Goodman will lend his voice to the role of Paul Bunyan in the CG animated Bunyan & Babe.
Rob Zombie has signed a two-picture deal with Dimension, which would suggest that Bob Weinstein has faith that Zombie’s Halloween remake is going to do well this weekend.
Turner Classic Movies is turning their evening programming blocks over to guest programmers for the entire month of November. The guests will include a contest winner, a fictional character (Kermit the Frog), and Rose McGowan, whose “unpredictable” choices include A Place in the Sun and A Touch of Mink.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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