Weekly Weblinks: Kubrick and Kurosawa

Getting a bit of a late start today, thanks to an intermittent internet connection over the last few days throwing me off my rhythm. But, while it’s now Friday afternoon rather than the usual Friday morning scheduled time, it’s still time for the Weekly Weblinks roundup of great blog posts and interesting news items. This week there’s discussion about some major directors, yet more superhero movie news, another iteration of the Ghostbusters 3 yo-yo, and word on perhaps the least necessary remake ever. Plus, dinosaurs. So read on for the Weekly Weblinks!

Blog Posts:

Every so often, Ian the Cool, PG Cooper, and Dan Fogarty get together to talk about a director’s entire body of work. This time around they take a look at the acclaimed and strange Stanley Kubrick, director of 2001, Dr. Strangelove, and more. Go see what they have to say about his films.

Of course, PG Cooper has his own classic film director to talk about, or at least one of his classic films. His movie of the month is Akira Kurosawa’s influential Seven Samurai, easily the best-known and most acclaimed film to come out of Japan.

But supposing that’s all a little highbrow for your mood today, and you’d rather just read about dinosaurs. Everybody knows Jurassic Park, and some people still talk about The Lost World. But Jurassic Park III doesn’t get a lot of discussion. Andy Watches Movies fills the gap with a look at the third film in the series.

It was the most critically acclaimed film that only a handful of people saw in 2011. Ryan McNeely takes a look at the modern silent film The Artist. Does he come down on the side of the critics? Read his review to find out.

What kind of person panhandles in a costume? BubbaWheat finds out as he reviews the documentary Confessions of a Superhero.

News Blurbs:

Could Stephen King’s The Dark Tower be coming to the big screen? Anomalous Material reports that Russell Crowe is in talks to play the protagonist if Warner Brothers gives the first film a green light. I haven’t read the story, so I have to ask you, Dark Tower fans: Is this something you want to see? Will Russell Crowe make a good Roland Deschain? And perhaps just as importantly, will he want to be on board for a series of 7+ movies?

Can’t get enough Middle Earth? Apparently neither can Peter Jackson. Jackson confirms that The Hobbit, previously planned to be two films, will now be a trilogy, with extra material filled in from Tolkien’s additional notes. The third film, which has not yet been given a subtitle, will be released in 2014.

Speaking of sequels and subtitles, the sequel to X-Men: First Class now has one and it comes from one of the most celebrated X-Men comic storylines. The sequel will be titled X-Men: Days of Future Past. The comic book storyline involved Kitty Pryde coming back in time to the present to avert a dark future in which the X-Men are hunted nearly to extinction. The future storyline involves Wolverine, and Hugh Jackman has reportedly expressed interest in taking part in the film, so this could wind up bridging the original X-Men trilogy with X-Men: First Class.

Marc Webb, who directed The Amazing Spider-Man, is having a spot of difficulty getting to direct the sequel. He’s under contract to Fox Searchlight to direct one more film for them, and that would likely interfere with his ability to direct The Amazing Spider-Man 2, as Sony wants him to do. The possible solution? Fox Searchlight has offered to let him take time off from their movies to direct the webslinger sequel — if he’ll commit to two feature films for Fox Searchlight. As yet, Webb has not been confirmed to have made a decision. (And personally, given the trilogy-happy nature of studios, I can’t help but wonder if this wouldn’t just lead to bigger problems down the line.)

Sony Pictures is moving forward with a new Jumanji movie, which will be a reboot, not a sequel, of the earlier film. Do we need a reboot or remake of Jumanji? Did we need the original?

And finally, it’s been a few months, so it must be time for Dan Aykroyd to get us annoyed at him again over Ghostbusters III. Aykroyd says Bill Murray is definitely not involved in the sequel, and that a script is moving forward. He regrets that Murray doesn’t want to do it, but says “Ghostbusters 3 can be a successful movie without Bill” and “It’s time to make the third one”. As regular readers here will know, I strongly disagree with both statements, especially given the “Ghostbusters: the Next Generation” plot that Aykroyd still seems to be pushing. But frankly, with all the ups and downs this film has had since I first heard of it nine years ago, I wouldn’t be the least bit surprised to find the script going back to the drawing board again, with further rumors of Murray reconsidering, two or three months down the line. Aykroyd says he’s secured studio support this time, but I’ll believe the film is happening when I see a trailer for it hit the big screen. (And will reserve judgment on whether I’ll watch it until that point.)

Just For Fun:

Like science fiction books, but are operating on a budget? Baen Books, one of the major publishers of sci-fi and fantasy, has a library of free e-books available, with most of their authors having one or two books available. Worth checking out if you want to check out some writers and don’t have a public library convenient to you (or if you prefer e-books to physical ones.)