Backlash from it’s disastrous 3-D run aside, the 2010 remake of Clash of the Titans was considered a box-office success and has since moved forward with the sequel treatment, the aptly (and very original) titled “Clash of the Titans 2.” Now, Warner Bros. and Legendary Pictures have finally secured a director in Jonathan Liebesman, director of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and the upcoming Battle: Los Angeles).
Most “one last job” movies are high-energy action flicks or thrillers driven by a veteran actor playing a character with a troubling back story, but Anton Corbijn’s The American operates as a character-driven mood piece, a precise and quiet visual portrayal of a man trying to quit his dangerous profession who is constantly haunted and pervasively paranoid.
Prepare to have your mind blown. All seven writers on the PAM staff wrote down our top 10 most anticipated movies of the fall season (through the weekend of Nov. 12) and then we combined them into one list. This might sound very easy to you, but you didn’t compile it. Truth was, not only were no two lists the same, but no one film made every single one of our lists. So, to compliment our combined top 10, we’ve each included a Critic’s Pick of a film high on our lists (or that just missed the group cut) and previewed it for you.
Recall that famous quote, “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.” I suppose this phrase doesn’t get around much in Hollywood because this summer has suffered the same snooze-inducing and blood-boiling goofs of last year. Rather than correct wrongs, studios followed a similar formula yet managed to produce an even worse lineup of films. This summer brought us such near tragedies as Robin Hood, Shrek Forever After, Jonah Hex, The Last Airbender, Grown Ups, and sadly, Iron Man 2.
We recently reported that David Slade and Robert Schwentke were both on a shortlist to direct “Wolverine 2” and that Robert Rodriguez was close to directing a Deadpool spin-off, but toss those ideas away for now. Fox’s preferred choice for the next “Wolverine” is Slade, but Darren Aronofsky has just stated that he would like the job, potentially usurping the director’s chair and producer/star Hugh Jackman is keen on the idea.
This week’s new releases from Hollywood are not the best the American industry can offer, two criticized comedies and a direct-to-DVD release. On the international front we have 4 releases from the UK, including Red Riding Trilogy where the release date was pushed back that last minute and a box-office smash from Russia. There is only one Blu-ray re-release, a cult horror-comedy classic.
We (Steven and Simon) sat down and drew up a list of our top five breakout stars of the summer of 2010 and then traded, writing in our own comments below the others’ choices. There’s not a lot of heated debate here, but the choices only overlap once and our conversation will at least get your mind going when it comes to defining a “breakout” performance or if an actor/actress has “broken though” into the mainstream and into the public consciousness.
