Working relationships are the key to “making it” in Hollywood as I am sure many know. It looks like a solid working relationship formed with Valkyrieco-writer and producer Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise.
Variety reports that McQuarrie is currently working on three projects with Cruise, which is designed as potential star vehicles for the actor.
McQuarrie and Mason Alley are set to write Flying Tigers, centered on the volunteer fighter squadron created to help the Chinese fight the Japanese prior to the U.S. entering World War II.
Though Cruise isn’t officially attached the ace flier-actor has long sought to return to the skies, and several years ago was attached to The Few, a Paramount project about the first American pilots to battle Germans in WWII, with director Michael Mann and scribe John Logan.
Another project for McQuarrie is writing and producing with Guillermo del Toro the earlier announced United Artists project The Champions. McQuarrie is penning the script with a hope of driving it into a Cruise vehicle. The Champions is based on the British TV series. About a team of government agents rescued from a plane crash in the Himalayas by an advanced civilization and given superhuman abilities. Sounds like a franchise to me.
Finally, the Cruise-McQuarrie alliance with the most importance is espionage drama The Tourist. McQuarrie task is to rewrite for Cruise to star with Charlize Theron in the Bharat Nalluri-directed remake of the 2005 French thriller Anthony Zimmer.
Variety and Hollywood Reporter speak favorable of this movie, What Doesn’t Kill You, starring Mark Ruffalo and Ethan Hawke. Brian Goodman’s directorial debut movie was well-received at Toronto as well, and now is looking at coming to theaters late this year.
This weekend box office estimate from Variety is music to my ears. High School Musical: Senior Year celebrated a huge box office lead, which proves kids of all ages rather see an upbeat movie than a scary, dark horror movie. Yes, I am talking about Saw V, which came in second. The rest of the movies missed the spotlight starting with Max Payne in third.
“The Partridge Family” is coming back to television.
Remake details lack substance, right now, but the show will take a tongue-in-cheek, modern-day approach to the original series. According Variety, given all the changes in the music industry the new “Partridge Family” won’t look much like the original.
The original “Partridge Family” ran on ABC from 1970-74. An animated Saturday morning version, “The Partridge Family 2200 AD,” aired on the net in 1974.
Film and politics have never sat well together. Indeed, Hollywood comprises mainly of liberals, hence we get an unbalanced quantity of output. And when conservatives try to make movies, you get silly films like An American Carol, an attempt to be satirical while being as subtle as a coked-up bull in a Faberge egg store. Arguably, the best political films are the ones that either recognise the complexity of any social situation, or the ones who question their own beliefs and thus avoid the death-trap of dogma. Elite Squad has topped the Brazilian box office, receiving much critical acclaim, but in the UK and US the film has received mixed reviews, with many of the negative comments focussing on the film’s politics. But Elite Squad is a film with more depth than some hard-core liberals want to admit to.
Essentially, Elite Squad is the opposite perspective of modern classic City of God. Whereas the latter explores the history of Rio’s favelas told by its residents, Elite Squad focuses on the city’s police force and their attempts to deal with the resident crime-lords. Captain Nascimento heads an elite squad of super-troopers known as BOPE, a hard-core, gun-touting SWAT team who take no chances when a situation gets dire. However, Nascimento is tired of his violent life and the pressure builds as his search for a replacement is intensified by the need to clear up a particular section of the slums to coincide with Pope John Paul II’s visit. The frustrated Nascimento keeps an eye on two candidates, the proactive Neto and the law student Mathias.
On a superficial level, Elite Squad is a blistering assault on the eyes. Shot using shakey-cam techniques, the plot races past, and boasts a level of complexity including Mathias’s relationship with his fellow, cop-wary students, an NGO set up in a favela under close watch from its suspicious drug-baron, and an affluent youth who seem to be part of the problem as opposed to its solution. The worst thing that can be said about this film is that the director’s methods owe a little too much to City of God, and that its own style would have ensured the film deserved complete distinction. Read the rest of this entry »
George Clooney is set to star in “Men Who Stare at Goats.”
According to Variety, the film is an adaptation of British journalist Jon Ronson’s book about the U.S. Army’s First Earth Battalion, a unit that was to use paranormal powers. Title refers to the notion that one can kill a goat by staring at it.
Apparently, the project has been around for some time, but international buyers only just received the script this week as the Cannes fest and market got started. Script topped the 2007 Brit List of best unproduced screenplays.
 Variety has an inspirational article about Sean Combs shifting careers from hi-hop “P. Diddy” to serious actor on Broadway and in Hollywood.  Â
Combs is an encouragement to those who want to make an impact while following their dream to be what they want to be.Â
The article reinforces the concept that you need to give it all if you want to pull off a great success in your life. Hard work and honesty make the success we want to achieve.Â
After reading this article, I can see how Combs will become a role model for many young people, and I hope he makes the right choices with huge success as an actor. Â
Here is an awesome review of the highly-anticipated movie “Iron Man.” I have seen the trailer, the movie is an ideal summer hit.
“Finally, someone’s found a sure-fire way to make money with a modern Middle East war movie: Just send a Marvel superhero into the fray to kick some insurgent butt. The powerhouse comicbook-inspired actioner “Iron Man” isn’t principally about this fantasy, but it won’t hurt at least American audiences’ enjoyment of this expansively entertaining special effects extravaganza. Having an actor as supercharged as Robert Downey Jr. at the center of such a tech-oriented enterprise reps a huge plus, and Paramount should reap big B.O. rewards by getting out ahead of the summer tentpole pack with such a classy refitting of an overworked format.”
I have to share with you this wonderful piece in Variety.com about the late Richard Widmark by the great screenwriter William Goldman. Enjoy it! I sure did.  Widmark Impression
relationship formed with Valkyrie co-writer and producer Christopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise.
Film and politics have never sat well together. Indeed, Hollywood comprises mainly of liberals, hence we get an unbalanced quantity of output. And when conservatives try to make movies, you get silly films like 
