Screenhead

As a special treat for you all this week, I’m going to be tackling every film in the Saw franchise, including TWO installments on Thursday leading up to the big premiere of Saw VI this Friday, so strap yourselves in, because this is a long, strange journey with lots of odd bumps.

Saw brings us face to face with the Jigsaw Killer, a man who’s convinced that large portions of humanity don’t deserve to live.  But rather than take their lives out from under them directly, he’s going to play a game.  And in the process, he’s going to either force people to prove their worth to his satisfaction, or they’ll die, in which case, no great loss.  This time, we meet several of Jigsaw’s game players, and watch as they follow each of their games to its inevitable end.

The first thing you have to remember here is that, amazingly, this movie is FIVE YEARS OLD.  Yes, it’s almost ready for kindergarten by now, and frankly, it’s starting to show.  I’d always thought of 2004 as a real canker sore of a year, and the movies released therein weren’t much better.  Saw was, admittedly, one of the high points of 2004, but it’s true that moviemaking in general and specifically the Saw franchise has come a long way in terms of looks.

This is, however, the one that started it all, and thus it holds something of a special place.  When it was first released, it represented a novel idea and thus captured the imagination of most of the country.  Admittedly, the wheels have started to come off since, and Saw is showing its age, but it still packs in plenty of good quality twists and scares, especially if you haven’t seen this one yet.

The Screenhead Ten Scale looks at this venerable old title that’s starting to show its age and gives some respect to this creepy, ominous tale that started a movement by handing over a seven out of ten.  There’s plenty to like here, and there’ll be plenty to like in the events to follow.

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That’s it.

I’m going to Olive Garden after this.  The lure of Bellini tea and Neverending Pasta Bowl is entirely too necessary now.

See, I just got a good look at Joel Silver’s plans for the next few years, and I couldn’t be much more horrified if I tried.

The plan, shockingly enough, includes–and you’re going to want to be sitting down for this–a He-man movie, a Wonder Woman movie, the fifth installment of Lethal Weapon  and at least a dozen others.  Including, in the possibly most disturbing news of all, yet another Swamp Thing remake.

Considering that one of those is a sequel, and the rest are comic book properties that we know of, it’s not exactly the best of plans.  Though I do admit, I enjoyed the Lethal Weapon series and wouldn’t mind seeing another one (but isn’t Danny Glover REALLY getting too old for this?), and comic book / cartoon properties DO have the potential to be entertaining, I’m a little worried about the overall slate.  It’s just a little too heavy on the tried-and-true and short shrift given to innovation.

This isn’t surprising, of course, given the nature of Hollywood, but it’s no less disheartening to see it in practice.

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This summer, greed, murder and paranoia take first class seats on Night Train, a taut, new thriller starring Danny Glover (Lethal Weapon, Saw), Leelee Sobieski (88 Minutes, The Wicker Man) and Steve Zahn (Management, Joy Ride).  National Entertainment Media brings this nail-biting suspense film in the vein of Shallow Grave and The Ninth Gate to audiences as a simultaneous direct-to-DVD and Blu-ray.

How far would you go to have everything you desire?  Christmas Eve… when a veteran conductor (Glover), a young pre-med student (Sobieski) and a struggling salesman (Zahn) discover a dead body onboard a night train, the three strangers find themselves on a collision course with destiny.  Among the deceased man’s possessions is a mysterious box, which fascinates their attention.  Upon looking inside, they see a treasure so valuable that the three conspire to hide the body and split the fortune themselves.  This decision sets in motion a tense game of obsession and deceit, where greed betrays reason and morality gives way to temptation.  With local authorities at every stop and an assortment of suspicious passengers along for the ride, can the three strangers overcome their fixation with the coveted box or will they delve even deeper into the trenches of depravity?

Bonus features on both the DVD and Blu-ray editions of Night Train include a “Making of” featurette, interviews with the cast and crew, along with the trailer and photo gallery.  The film is presented with Spanish and SDH English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing.

Also featuring Matthias Schweighoefer (The Red Baron, Feardotcom), Geoff Bell (RocknRolla, Scoop) and Richard O’Brien (The Rocky Horror Picture Show, Dark City) in supporting roles, Night Train was written by and is the feature film directorial debut of Brian King, whose previous screenwriting credits include the film Cypher starring Jeremy Northam and Lucy Liu. The film was shot on location in Bulgaria.  It is rated R by the MPAA for violent content and some language.

Post  your name and Screenhead will pick the winner of Night Train Friday, July 31, 2009

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Variety reports that Danny Glover is set to star in upcoming Swedish film Dear Alice. The film has a budget of about 21 million Swedish kroner, which comes down to about $2.7 million.

It will follow four people whose fates intertwine on one day when the decisions they make have life-shattering results. Other cast members include Swedes Stefan Sauk, Tova Novotny, Peter Gardiner and Ulf Brunnberg.

Being helmed by Othman Karim, the film will start shooting in the south of Sweden next week.

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The color of money can really change the personality of any person in a moment and apparently that is what this new film directed by Brian King is all about. The cast includes Danny Glover, Steve Zahn and Leslie Sobieski, three strangers who discover money from a passenger who died while on the train.

With the dead person bringing lots of money on Christmas Eve on the night train, greed sets in to which the three find a way to dump the body to make sure they get away squeaky clean. Sobieski, who plays a sedate med student seems to be the most pursuant of the three with Glover playing good guy. Steve Zahn shows some reluctance but apparently it seems that he and Sobieski are vying for the one who gets the money. Just check out the trailer and see for yourself.

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We’ve seen oldies doing sequels to their old-fashioned action films. Well, okay, that was Bruce Willis (Die Hard 4.0) and Sylvester Stallone (Rambo). Rumors have been circulating that Mel Gibson could also join the bandwagon when last week, Joel Silver mentioned that a fifth installment is on the works. But apparently, those are just rumors. Richard Donner, the director of the first two adventures denied these claims.

It seems like Mel, turned the offer down. Sequels usually generate groans from moviegoers, however, a Lethal Weapon 5 installment has been pretty positive. It’s just too bad its main actor isn’t that interested in it. I’m also pretty sure getting another actor would totally kill the film since Gibson has been the face and selling point of the whole Lethal franchise.

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Three more actors may join John Cusack and Chiwetel Ejiofor in Roland Emmerich’s epic disaster project “2012.” Danny Glover, Thandie Newton and Oliver Platt are seeing if they want to make a date with Glover as president, Newton as his daughter and Platt as the Chief of Staff.

“2012″ was shopped around with a $200 million budget, but Columbia said it will be made for less than that.

The studio is planning a July 10, 2009, release, with filming set to begin in July — unless there is an actors’ strike.

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We will see Danny Glover reprise his stage role in a bigscreen adaptation of Athol Fugard’s apartheid-era play “Master Harold… and the Boys.”

The film will be helmed by Lonny Price, who directed Glover in the recent Broadway revival and played opposite him in the stage production 20 years ago.

According to Variety, the title role will be played by Thomas Sangster, the “Love Actually” star who’ll play the title role in the Steven Spielberg-directed “Tintin.”

The U.K./South Africa co-production will begin production on July 10 in Durban, South Africa.

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