It’s time once again for the Weekly Weblinks. It’s the last Friday in September, and that means we’re almost to that time of year when half the movie blogs, this site included, start filling their rosters with a bunch of horror films and monster movies. But even though we’ve had a few early arrivals, this week is (almost) free from frights, at least in the blog posts, though certain classics make appearances in the news post.
On the blogging front, a couple classic films get reviewed, as well as one of 2012’s, and a combination review and interview about an under-the-radar film from last year. In the news, a franchise relaunches, another gets a sequel, and a couple unexpected movie-to-TV adaptations. Read on for the details!
Blog Posts:
Trouble With the Curve, Clint Eastwood’s latest, is out. Check out T’s pun-laden review at the Focused Filmographer and see what he thinks about this baseball-backed drama.
Michael Alatorre has “a few words” to say about the 1963 classic Charade.
Shuffle an indepedent film from 2011 about a man who lives his life asynchronously, is out on DVD this month. Nostra at My Film Views has both a review and an interview with director Kurt Kuenne.
In honor of what would have been his 60th Birthday, Ruth at FlixChatter shares her picks of Christopher Reeve’s top five roles.
Eric’s Movies Project has him reviewing another Alfred Hitchcock picture, the 1946 espionage romance Notorious.
News Blurbs:
A knight’s series? ABC has purchased the rights to a series pitch from Ron Moore (exec. producer on the Battlestar Galactica reboot) to adapt A Knight’s Tale to a television series. The series will stay true to the premise and style of the film, including the incorporation of modern music. It’s an interesting idea, and I’ll probably tune in, but I wonder how well it will work; part of what made the film good was Heath Ledger’s charisma.
Of course, it’s not the only movie-to-TV adaptation on the horizon, doncha know. FX is adapting Fargo, with participation from Joel and Ethan Coen and Noah Hawley. Apparently MGM has been mining their movies for TV projects, so this is unlikely to be the last we’ll see from the studio.
It seems that movie studios and cinemas are increasingly interested in bringing back older films for limited engagements. Up next? Halloween. The quintessential slasher film is being re-released October 25, and is expected to get a wide release in the U.S. It’s not being adapted to 3D, just in case anybody was worried about that, and it will be released in conjunction with the short documentary You Can’t Kill The Boogeyman: 35 Years Of Halloween.
Herbert Lom, who played Chief Inspector Dreyfuss in the Pink Panther series of films, has passed away at the age of 95. The veteran character actor will also be remembered for his roles in nearly a hundred films.
Johnny Lewis, former star of Sons of Anarchy, was found dead on Thursday from jumping off a house, apparently committing suicide after murdering an elderly woman who owned the home.
Universal wants to bring The Mummy back to life once again. Len Wiseman is set to direct the upcoming reboot, with Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci producing. Wiseman says this version will be closer to its horror roots, but will still show the mummy as a thinking, essentially human individual.
Wes Anderson is at work casting his next film, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and two veteran actors are already cast. Frequent Anderson collaborator Bill Murray is working with the director once again, and Angela Lansbury has confirmed she has a bit part in the picture.
Peter and Bobby Farrelly say they’ve almost finished the script for the official sequel to Dumb and Dumber. The film also has a title now, Dumb and Dumber To. No, that’s not a typo. The story will be set 20 years later, with one of the idiots seeking a child he never knew he had, and both Jim Carrey and Jeff Daniels are expected to return.
20th Century Fox has hired Mark Millar as creative consultant for their movies based on Marvel Comics properties. This includes the X-Men and Fantastic Four franchises (as well as Daredevil in the increasingly unlikely event they start shooting before their deadline runs out and it reverts to Marvel Studios.) Millar is a long-time comic book writer for Marvel comics, having authored several of their titles and events in the past decade.
Morgan on Media 
Another excellent set of links, Morgan (and I’m not saying because you’ve shared one of mine ;-)). Very generous. Many thanks, my friend.
You’re welcome. Thanks for the retweet!
For me, Herbert Lom will always be thought of as the Clouseau’s nemesis in several Pink Panther films; great stuff. As prolific a performer as they come, he was.
Remembering Christopher Reeve as Superman will never be difficult and flixchatter.com highlighting several other indelible roles is a good thing especially talking about how he inserted himself into Remains of the Day; fun trivia.
Good weekly recap Morgan. đŸ˜‰
Thank you, S. I agree, Lom is unforgettable as Dreyfuss. Became as much a part of the films as Kato did.
Thank you so much Morgan! I appreciate it.
I’m a little sad/concerned about the remake for The Mummy. Only because I thoroughly enjoy the original along with the version with Brendan Fraser (only the first one though). Not sure I can get excited about the reboot.
A Knight’s Tale tv series, huh? first I heard of it. I’ll be keeping an eye out for more news.
Have a great day my friend
Hi, T.
I’ve never actually seen any of the Mummy movies. Not sure how that’s happened, actually. But I’m cautiously optimistic about the reboot, since it sounds like it’s going to be more like the original than the Fraser edition… get back to its monster movie roots some.
Many thanks for the link, Morgan!
I’m keeping an eye on that Fargo series. If done right, that has the potential to be really, really good.
I still haven’t seen the movie, but regional police dramas could conceivably work. Longmire proves that.
Thanks for the link love, Morgan! A Knight’s Tale TV series from BSG creator?? Hmmm I’m intrigued, I hope he’d cast Jamie Bamber again đŸ˜‰
I’m not familiar with Bamber (I only watched the miniseries of BSG), but it could be an entertaining series.
Nice to see you mention Herbert Lom passing, I loved his signature rolde as Chief Inspector Dreyfus.
Fargo? The TV show? Ouch. Say it aint so.
And I thought I had grow immune to the endless parade os sequels, reboots, transfers, etc… Guess not. Although all the others dont phase me enough to draw comment I guess.
Nice to hear Anderson and Murray are planning on working together again. Thats a great pairing.
Yeah, I thought Lom deserved a shout-out. Fargo… I haven’t seen the film, but I admit the idea of a TV series based on a decade-plus-old film is pretty out there. Though I do like police procedurals that aren’t set in New York or Los Angeles.
You get the feeling that Murray let Anderson have his phone number? I know he’s really really picky about what movies he takes now, but he sure does enjoy working with Anderson.
Very nice links. And interesting news. I’m curious to see how well Fargo and A Knight’s Tale would do on the small screen. I don’t think a Mummy reboot is necessary but maybe we’ll be pleasntly surprised like with Amazing Spider-Man (I doubt it, it’s Len Wiseman, after all).
Yeah, not exactly a great filmography from Wiseman, is it? Doesn’t bode well.