Rama's Screen

What up movie buff! Havin’ a great Labor day weekend so far? Don’t forget to honor those hard working men and women whose sweat and tears have made our lives easier each day…. and remember to watch TDK again.
Despite the fact that Tropic Thunder holds the top box office again at $11.5 Million since its release on August 13th, which brings it to total $83 Million so far…. but that’s where you should give your undivided attention to.

According to Variety, The awesome info belongs to THE DARK KNIGHT, which as of this weekend has officially surpassed $500 Million in domestic box office, ($502.4 Million to be exact)
Overseas, the result is a strong $416 Million which brings both total up to… you ready?… $919 Million WORLDWIDE!!!
Yeah, Baby! Wohooo!
According to Box Office Mojo, this has put THE DARK KNIGHT up to rank# 10 in the All-Time WORLDWIDE Box Office

Domestically, Titanic still holds number 1 with $600.8 Million.
Globally, Titanic also holds number 1 with $1.8 Billion.
Still quite a ways to go for our Caped Crusader
Previous report had it that WB might release the movie on DVD in time for the Holiday season this coming December which prompted concern and WB the movie could only earn up to about $530 to 550 Million in theaters.

I don’t get why they’re so pessimistic.. I think there’s still time and as long as they keep the movie playing in theaters, it would still have a fighting chance at least until the end of November.
The fan website www.sinktitanic.com has faith that the fans will triumph and THE DARK KNIGHT will get the throne it rightfully deserves.
Click on the image below if you’d like to join the cause

Damn, if Samuel L. MothaF*ckin’ Jackson sneaks up on me like in the clip above… I’d probably get some heart attack, man! For a dude who’s gung ho about neighborhood watch, he sure has a funny way of teaching others about safety, through intimidation… which kinda makes sense cause you’d be twice as careful if you’ve gotten some close calls before. Better a prank than the real thing.
Via IGN, check out this clip from the upcoming movie about rival neighbors, LAKEVIEW TERRACE, trouble in the suburbs.
Think having a cop for a neighbor is awesome… well, think again.

Plot:
In “Lakeview Terrace,” a young couple (Patrick Wilson and Kerry Washington) has just moved into their California dream home when they become the target of their next-door neighbor, who disapproves of their interracial relationship. A stern, single father, this tightly wound LAPD officer (Samuel L. Jackson) has appointed himself the watchdog of the neighborhood. His nightly foot patrols and overly watchful eyes bring comfort to some, but he becomes increasingly harassing to the newlyweds. These persistent intrusions into their lives ultimately turn tragic when the couple decides to fight back.

LAKEVIEW TERRACE opens September 19th, 2008

People may start rumor and gossip about which actor might be awesome to play the villain in the next Batman movie but what about the actor himself, what does he think about all that? Via Comic Book Cynic, a Florida radio show interviewed Johnny Depp and mentioned to him if he’s ever heard the rumor about him as The Riddler..
Here’s the conversation…

Host: Hey Johnny, a listener called in earlier said you have to ask about the rumors on the internet of you doing the Riddler.
Depp: Oh yeah I heard about that. Not that I know of.
Host: You’d be a good choice.
Depp: It seems like it’d be a fun gig for a while, yeah

Riddle me this, Riddle me that
Well, he’s not completely saying no to it, but it probably also means that he hasn’t been approached yet by WB and Nolan to play the role. As of now, he is NOT the Riddler, but I’m sure he’d be willing to do it though.
Check out the full interview which also includes Johnny Depp’s plan to donate money for Heath Ledger’s daughter Matilda who’s unfortunately not in Heath’s will because the will was made some years ago before Matilda was born.

Thanks to slashfilm for the heads up

It’s labor day weekend and it’s hella hot down here in Riverside, CA. Feels like somebody up there has left the heater on for some reason I don’t know what.
While we’re soaking in our own sweat, Comic man Mark Milllar whose creation, Wanted was turned into a movie that got released back in May, starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie, talked to Newsarama a bit more about the plan for the sequel…. he did mention something about the idea briefly back in June
Those who’ve read the graphic novel would know that the movie version made some significant amount of changes.
I was gonna read the book at the Comic-Con but the jerkwad standing in line in front me wouldn’t let me borrow his…I was too cheap to buy one, can you blame me?! Everything at the Comic-Con including food got the prices all marked up like mad crazy.
Anyways, Millar said that for WANTED 2, there will not be any comic book sequel that the movie’s going to be based on…

“I’ve got this reputation of being a total whore, and even when I’m adamant about something like this, people don’t believe me, but there is nothing else coming from Wanted,” Millar said. “That six issues was the end. I love doing new stuff anyway – I get bored so quickly.”

The word is the character played by Terrence Stamp, Pekwarsky might have a bigger involvement in the next installment.
He’s the one who told James McAvoy’s character who his real father was and why he what he did a long time ago.
By the way, there’s going to be WANTED 2 and WANTED 3 and James McAvoy reportedly has signed on for both future projects.
Wanted screenwriters Derek Haas and Michael Brandt have been working on the script too.
But Millar’s definitely got something to contribute..

“What I will be doing is providing them with a very small amount of stuff for a story, and that will be used as a basic story that they can build from. It will be a small outline that can possibly be picked apart and not used – but it will be something exclusively for the second film, and no one will ever really see it.”

“It will be some of the stuff that we didn’t utilize from the first book for the movie – like chapters three and four – there will be some stuff from that, so in the loosest sense it will be based on the book, but only very little,” Millar said. “The nice thing about owning it and creator-owned properties is that JG and I will still be producers on the thing, and will still obviously get paid for the rights.”

I like the first movie, but I’m not sure about this whole sequel plan.
If you take Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie out of the equation, would James McAvoy have enough star power to carry summer blockbuster movie all by himself? Would his lonesome presence be able to draw box office profit?
Millar’s next comic creation that’s going to be turned into a movie is KICK-ASS which recently cast some actors including Nic Cage.

Curve the bullet!

Summer movies have always been about “More”… More action, more sex appeal, more special effects, more of everything.. Now that you’ve probably seen most of the movies of Summer 2008, I figured it’d be interesting to put them in a battle. They’re in different categories. Which is one do you think is “More” than the other??

Iron Man Vs The Dark Knight
WHICH ONE IS MORE BADASS?

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The Happening Vs. The Mummy 3
WHICH ONE IS WORSE?

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Sex and the City Vs. Mamma Mia!
WHICH ONE IS MORE GIRLY?

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Kung Fu Panda Vs. Wall-E
WHICH ONE IS MORE ENTERTAINING?

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Prince Caspian Vs. Indiana Jones 4
WHICH ONE IS MORE DISAPPOINTING?

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Pineapple Express Vs. Tropic Thunder
WHICH ONE IS FUNNIER?

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Wanted Vs. Journey To The Center of the Earth 3D
WHICH ONE IS VISUALLY COOLER?

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Hancock Vs. Hellboy II
WHICH ONE IS MORE OKAY?

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The Love Guru Vs. Tropic Thunder
WHICH ONE IS MORE OFFENSIVE?

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Anna Faris from The House Bunny Vs. Natalie Martinez from Death Race
WHICH ONE IS HOTTER?

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Pepper Potts from Iron Man Vs. Agent 99 from Get Smart
WHICH ONE IS MORE GORGEOUS?

From the Israel agent turned hairstylist to the action star who gets to be a science teacher, from a drunk, washed up, superhero to some of the worst sequels ever made, from sci-fi flick to another sci-fi flick, this is my list for the lamest movies of Summer 2008. I hope mistakes like these will never happen again next year. God help us all…

10. BABYLON A.D.

If genre Sc-Fi Action flick was a person, he’d be covering his face with both hands, head down and shaking in embarrassment because this movies gives him a bad name. The last time he felt this shameful was when John Travolta made that crappy movie Battlefield Earth

Lamest Moments:

* The girl miraculously gets pregnant
* Vin Diesel walking in the field with two little children

9. YOU DON’T MESS WITH THE ZOHAN

Adam, Adam, Adam… you’re better than this.
It breaks my heart to see anybody with such potential and talent and he’s just wasting ‘em all away.

Lamest Moments:

* Suggestive sex scenes with the elderly
* Singing in loud tenor voices to defeat the bad guy

8. HANCOCK

It’s decent but for a guy like Will Smith who, through his star power alone, can draw lots of box office money for each of his movies, he should’ve been able to do more than just decent.

Lamest Moments:

* Will Smith’s character flying along with an eagle flying by his side
* The moon painted on with a logo.

7. MAMMA MIA!

Thank God the music is catchy! ABBA’s great classic music is the only thing bearable about this movie version. If the songs weren’t around, then we could imagine the worst case scenario

Lamest Moments:

* The dance choreography
* The Greeks keep popping up and they’re not funny

6. STEP BROTHERS

Not a very entertaining follow up to their previous collaboration in Talladega Nights. After Semi-Pro and Step Brothers, you begin to wonder if Will Smith’s hilarity is slowly going downhill. He’s gonna need to come up with ANCHORMAN 2 just to redeem himself

Lamest Moments:

* Balls on the drumset
* The job interviews

5. MEET DAVE

Remember Eddie Murphy back in the days of Beverly Hills Cop and Coming to America movies, when he used to be funny?? Remember those days? Good times!
All I can say is… at times, history doesn’t repeat itself.

Lamest Moments:

* Dancing in the club
* The crew walks out of Dave’s mouth

4. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL

There were times when I was watching this movie that I just wanted to walk out of the theater and not finish it at all. I was feeling disappointment, upset, anger, all at once, I’m surprised I didn’t turn into a Hulk and tear the screen apart. I couldn’t bear seeing my hero Indiana Jones ruined like this.

Lamest Moments:

* Shia LaBeouf’s character swinging from one tree to another like a monkey
* Alien Spaceship

3. THE MUMMY: TOMB OF THE DRAGON EMPEROR

Even Brendan Fraser would probably go “what the hell was I thinking?”
Wanna put the blame on somebody? Blame it on Director Rob Cohen, writers Alfred Gough & Miles Millar, and Rachel Weisz got recast by Maria Bello… not a smart move!

Lamest Moments:

* 3 Yetis slide down from the mountain to help them out
* Jet Li’s character’s shape-shifting ability

2. STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS

When will this madness end? I doubt that Star Wars fans would classify this as one of their favorites. Why the hell did it even have to hit the big screen?! Damn you, Lucas!

Lamest Moments:

* Obi Wan Kenobi stalling time by having tea with the enemy
* Anakin Skywalker and his apprentice crawling inside a box

1. THE HAPPENING

M. Night Shyamalan used to be one of my favorite directors. Now I’m not so sure anymore. Has he lost his mojo? What was he smoking when he came up with the idea of plants making humans commit suicide?!

Lamest Moments:

* Mark Wahlberg’s character talkin’ to a plant
* The epidemic hits the second time around in the last scene

From weed smoking buddies to a cute robot on an outer space adventure, From curving the bullets to flying faster than jet planes, From an awesome reboot to one of the greatest sequels ever made. Summer 2008 goes down in history as one of the most awesome summer movie blockbuster seasons ever!

10. PINEAPPLE EXPRESS

THUG LIFE! yeah! you wanna get high? You’re gonna wanna after you’ve seen this hilarious ride that will take you to comedy and action and back. It’s a great escape, a sweet release,… the dopest dope!

Awesome Moments:

* Cross joint
* Danny McBride’s character crawling quickly out of a burning building.

9. WANTED

Far-Fetched? Yes! Ridiculous? Yes! What’s your point? In the end, the word ‘cool’ still applies. It reminds me of movies like Matrix and Equilibrium… and there’s something rad about hearing Morgan Freeman say, “MothatF*cka!”

Awesome Moments:

* The beginning Car Chase Scene
* Shooting from afar in the last scene

8. TROPIC THUNDER

Which one is funnier… Tropic Thunder of Pineapple Express? Some people have been asking that since these two movies come out a weekend apart from each other. What they don’t get is Tropic Thunder’s comedy is different, it’s a satire on actors and hollywood execs and the whole movie business.

Awesome Moments:

* Anything that Robert Downey Jr.’s character does
* Anything that Tom Cruise’s character does

7. THE INCREDIBLE HULK

They say, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Well, Ang Lee’s HULK back in 2003 was a disaster, but Marvel has fixed the mistake by bringing us this Smashing reboot. When we see the green giant hero, we wanna see some destruction and incredible fights,… this movie knows exactly what we want.

Awesome moments:

* Hulk kicking the bad guy like he’s a soccer ball
* The 26 Minute fight scene between Hulk and Abomination

6. KUNG FU PANDA

Skadoosh! Our hero Po the Panda knows how to use overweight size to his advantage and give some serious beatdown! For a Dreamworks animated movie, this jokes in this one are actually funny and the fight scenes are pretty cool.. plus, I got to meet Jack Black at the screening of this movie… Awesome! yes, I like to brag.

Awesome Moments:

* Po the Panda uses his belly to bounce the enemy all the way to the sky.
* Climbing the stairs

5. THE STRANGERS

Finally, a scary movie that’s really scary. Ya see… when I watch horror movie, I expect to get terrified, to find myself with my hands covering my eyes but a few fingers open because part of me wants to see what happens next.

Awesome moments:

* Mistaking a friend for a foe
* Liv Tyler’s character just standing there and in the background you see the bad guy standing there too, watching her..in a very stalkish, creepy way

4. DEATH RACE

A movie that’s heavy metal and rock n’ roll all at once. It’s hardcore entertainment not for the faint of heart.

Awesome Moments:

* The warden’s ultimate armored truck gets destroyed
* The way each criminal dies

3. WALL-E

I remember exiting the theater after seeing the whole thing and all the children were happy and they tried doing the robot’s voice “Wooaaall-Eeee!!” Truly an amazing movie watching experience.. Pixar has outdone itself.

Awesome Moments:

* WALL-E touching the little rocks that make the ring around the planet Saturn
* WALL-E stomps his foot on M-O The Cleaning Robot’s Face.

2. IRON MAN

The movie that makes us wish we could be just like Tony Stark. One of the most well reviewed movies of the year has scenes that will take your breath away… eat my shorts, Top Gun!

Awesome Moments:

* Iron Man goes supersonic and then deploys flares and then deploys flaps
* The hot flight attendants in Tony Stark’s private plane.

1. THE DARK KNIGHT

The throne, the honor, the glory for the most awesome movie of the summer 2008 goes to THE DARK KNIGHT which also has become one of the highest grossing films of all time.
Heath Ledger’s brilliant performance as THE JOKER will forever be remembered as iconic, borderline perfect, the stuff of legends!

Awesome Moments:

* The Joker’s Magic Pencil Trick
* The Joker in a nurse outfit walking out of the hospital and the remote got busted

I’m still disappointed, half upset at the fact that Lionsgate is not planning to hold any press screening of BANGKOK DANGEROUS prior to the movie’s release on September 5th, 2008.
The movie, so far, does give the impression that it’s not gonna live up to the expectation but maybe this featurette can change that assumption… or not.
Via IGN, this is a brief featurette of BANGKOK DANGEROUS that shows you some behind-the-scene stuff and as always, the actor Nicolas Cage and the producers would give the directors praises. I guess I as an Asian should be a bit proud of that but I’d be prouder of those two Pang brothers cast someone like Bruce Willis instead.. but my hero Bruce is probably too awesome for this gig anyway.

OFFICIAL SYNOPSIS:

The life of an anonymous assassin takes an unexpected turn when he travels to Thailand to complete a series of contract killings. Joe (Nicolas Cage), a remorseless hitman, is in Bangkok to execute four enemies of a ruthless crime boss named Surat. He hires Kong (Shahkrit Yamnarm), a street punk and pickpocket, to run errands for him with the intention of covering his tracks by killing him at the end of the assignment. Strangely, Joe, the ultimate lone wolf, instead finds himself mentoring the young man while simultaneously being drawn into a tentative romance with a local shop girl. As he falls further under the sway of Bangkok’s intoxicating beauty, Joe begins to question his isolated existence and let down his guard …just as Surat decides it’s time to clean house.

Directors Oxide Pang and Danny Pang (The Eye) paint an explosive picture of the Bangkok underworld, illuminated with neon and saturated in violence. Based on the Pang Brothers’ wildly popular Hong Kong action film of the same name BANGKOK DANGEROUS is written by Jason Richman. The adrenaline-powered thriller stars Nicolas Cage (Leaving Las Vegas, National Treasure), Charlie Young (Seven Swords), Shahkrit Yamnarm (Belly of the Beast) and Dom Hetrakul (Sniper 3). The film is produced by Jason Shuman, William Sherak, Nicolas Cage and Norm Golightly. Andrew Pfeffer, Derek Dauchy, Denis O’Sullivan and Ben Waisbren serve as the executive producers.

BANGKOK DANGEROUS will be in theaters September 5th

I’m not too excited about REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA. I always keep an open mind when I watch movies, and that includes tolerating musical movies… There’s some that I enjoyed like Nicole Kidman’s Moulin Rouge and Hairspray was kinda catchy… but I don’t know what to make of this one.
I like horror movies, but a musical horror movie, eh…
Via IGN, the clip above is red band, so if you can’t stand looking at blood and brain matter, then just watch read other posts on this website.
Paris Hilton is in this clip, but she doesn’t look as hot. She looks like a slut that’s been covered with STDs.. wait,..am I still talking about the real Paris or her character?!
I got a feeling this might end up in my list of one of the worst movies of the year

I remember seeing Paris Hilton close up in person at the Comic-Con panel for this movie. But the audiences in the room weren’t too impressed by the footage and the trailer shown that evening.
That’s a bad indication.

Plot:
Set in the not-so-distant future, the production tells the story of an epidemic of organ failures that devastates the planet, killing tens of millions. As scientists feverishly make plans for a massive organ harvest program, a multi-billion dollar biotech company called GeneCo begins to manufacture salvation — for a price — offering simple payment plans to those lacking the necessary funds to purchase new body parts outright. But all financed organs are subject to default procedures, including repossession at the hand of the notorious organ repo men.

REPO! THE GENETIC OPERA opens limited November 7th, 2008

The domestic Trailer for Columbia Pictures’ Thriller movie PASSENGERS has hit the web and it reminds me too much of similar movies… like The Forgotten or Flightplan or any other movie about the mysterious disappearance of somebody and for some reason everything seems to come out in color blue.
This means that there’s a big probability the movie’s going to be a miss rather than a hit.
I’m a bit disappointed by this trailer too because I understand that Anne Hathaway and Patrick Wilson, who’s going to be Night Owl in next year’s WATCHMEN, are the main stars of the movie, but at least you gotta mention the names of the two veteran, more experienced actors who in supporting roles, Andre Braugher and David Morse.

Plot:
After a plane crash, a young therapist, Claire (Anne Hathaway), is assigned by her mentor (Andre Braugher) to counsel the flight’s five survivors. When they share their recollections of the incident – which some say include an explosion that the airline claims never happened – Claire is intrigued by Eric (Patrick Wilson), the most secretive of the passengers. Just as Claire’s professional relationship with Eric – despite her better judgment – blossoms into a romance, the survivors begin to disappear mysteriously, one by one. Claire suspects that Eric may hold all the answers and becomes determined to uncover the truth, no matter the consequences.

PASSENGERS opens limited October 24th, 2008

Via Impawards, here’s the poster, click on it to enlarge