20TH CENTURY FOX PRESENTS A SPECIAL LOOK AT EPISODE III

Hands down, this was the most buzzed about presentation of the weekend (with the possible exception of Warner Brothers' look at Batman Begins--which was, ultimately, pretty disappointing).

I'm a huge Star Wars fan, but like many of us out there, I couldn't help but be disappointed by the prequels. I certainly don't hate them, but somehow they lack the magic and innocence of the original trilogy. Perhaps that's because I'm older now, or maybe it's because George Lucas has so much money now, that he can pay for creativity rather then stumbling across it. Whatever the reason may be, I am and forever will be a fan, and I am excited to see how the franchise wraps up next May.

A majority of the presentation was to promote the upcoming Star Wars trilogy DVD box set (due in Sept.) We were even treated to some of the lengthy featurette that will be included in the sure to be sought after collection.

Steve Sansweet of Lucasfilm was on hand to moderate the presentation which included surprise appearances by Carrie Fisher, Hayden Christensen and producer Rick McCallum. There was some surprise footage unveiled as well, including a shot of Hayden donning the infamous black mask for the first time.

Perhaps the biggest moment of the two hour presentation came at the end when Lucasfilm finally announced the full title of the film; Episode III: Reveng of the Sith. The crowd (over 6,500 in attendance) erupted with pleasure. I've never experienced anything quite like that. It was like being at a rock concert. For whatever reason, many Star Wars fans love to debate about Star Wars titles, but the general consensus on this one, was that the fans were more than pleased. The title is a throwback of sorts to Return of the Jedi (which was originally titled Revenge of the Jedi). Quite frankly, I think it's the best title of the new films. Not surprisingly, t-shirts went on sale not but thirty seconds after the title was announced, and in fact, immediately after the unveiling of the titleSansweet ripped off his dress shirt to reveal a Revenge of the Sith shirt, underneath. Very cool presentation. Lucas and his team know how to hype up their films, and the fans absolutely loved it.

PARAMOUNT PICTURES PRESENTS A SPECIAL LOOK AT TEAM AMERICA: WORLD POLICE

I have to say that I'm a huge fan of South Park. It just cracks me up. As vulgar as it can be, it also has something to say. It's absolute satire and hilarity at it's finest. Matt Stone and Trey Parker are now returning to the big screen with the epic comedy adventure Team America: World Police, the story of an anti-terrorist team protecting us from the scum of the Earth.

Stone and Parker have not hidden the fact that they are offended that the recent Thunderbirds movie lost the one thing that made the old show so great; the puppets. So with Team America, that's the route they're taking. The whole film is done with puppets and boy does it look like a riot. What I like most about this genius team of writers is that they don't make fun of one side. Republican, democrat--black, white--man, woman. Everything and everyone is fair game.

Parker and Stone were on hand for a Q & A and not only did they show us the hilarious trailer, they also unveiled some early, raw footage. The movie was slated for October but it may be pushed back.

I've already praised Anchorman, Napoleon Dynamite and Shaun of the Dead as the funniest films of the year. If the footage I saw at Comic-Con is any indication, add Team America to that list.

DIMENSION FILMS PRESENTS A SPECIAL LOOK AT SIN CITY

While 20th Century Fox and Warner Brothers offered up the most high profile of presentations, even they couldn't touch the highlight of the four day convention.

Director Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi) has always been a favorite of mine. I love everything about him. Even though he has made a few pictures I didn't care for (The Faculty for one), I admire how he shoots. He truly is an independent film maker and quite often writes, directs, edits, shoots and scores his own films. He does it all.

While Rodriguez is already quite well known, it is, no doubt, Sin City that will propel his career into a new stratosphere. Not just because of the film itself, but because of everything he did to get it made.

Sin City is the brainchild of graphic novelist Frank Miller. Miller is a legend in the comic book world and through the years has become quite disenchanted with Hollywood. It seems he was burned one too many times. Rodriguez has always been a fan of Sin City (a series of pulp noir shorts), but knew if he was going to be allowed to translate this work to film, it would take some heavy convincing. Rather than trying to reach Miller and ask for the rights, Rodriguez called up actor Josh Hartnett and some other performers with whom he is friends, and set out to shoot one of Miller's Sin City shorts. Rodriguez figured if Miller didn't like what he saw, then he would back off. If Miller did like what he saw, then part of the film would already be in the can. Lucky for Rodriguez, Miller liked what he saw.

To furthrer persuade Miller, Rodriguez claimed that he wasn't interested in making an adaptation, but rather doing a translation. He simply wanted to take directly from the page and put it on screen. According to Rodriguez, Miller's work was simply a story board for the film. Not only that, but the film maker also wanted Miller to serve as a director on the project. In order to do this however, Rodriguez had to drop out of the Director's Guild of America for they had some silly rule that states two directors are not allowed to share a credit. By this point, Miller knew he was in the presence of a fan who admired him, and not some money grubbing studio head out to make a huge wad of cash.

So Rodriguez and Miller set out to make the picture with the help of Quentin Tarantino (who is credited with directing one of the stories).

In addition to a lenghty and informative Q & A, Rodriguez and Miller were joined on stage by actresses Jessica Alba, Rosario Dawson and Jaime King. Suffice it to say, this was one sexy panel.

The highlight of the presentation came in the form of footage shown from the film including the sequence Rodriguez shot to entice Miller into allowing him to do the project. What can I say ABSOLUTELY BREATHTAKING! I really can't wait to see this movie. It looks like a visual stunner and has an absolutely stellar cast (including the likes of Bruce Willis, Mickey Rourke, Benicio Del Toro, Maria Bello, Elijah Wood, Micahel Madsen, Michael Clarke Duncan, Josh Hartnett and Nick Stahl). There is no release date for the picture yet, but I'm counting the days. This movie is going to be extraordinary.

Of all the presentations I attended at the Con, this is the one I didn't want to see come to an end. I could have listened to Rodriguez and Miller talk for hours. Sin City is going to be a winner.

SCREENINGS!

THE MACHINIST (R)
Starring Christian Bale, Jennifer Jason Leigh, and Michael Ironside
Released by

The Machinist features a bravura performance by Christian Bale, and anyone who has doubts about this guy's acting ability won't after they walk out of this picture. If anything, The Machinist further proves that Christopher Nolan and Warner Brothers were smart in their decision to cast Bale as Bruce Wayne in Batman Begins.

The Machinst features Bale as Trevor Reznik (sounds a little like Trent Reznor, doesn't it), a paranoid man with a painful past. This past causes insomnia and severe weight loss, and what's more, Reznik has a difficult time functioning around other people, and due to his enormous fatigue, he becomes a risk at work (he's an industrial machinist). The only individuals he seems to connect with are a sweet natured call girl (a terrific Jennifer Jason Leigh) and a single waitress (Aitana Sanchez-Gijon) who lives alone with her young son. As the film progresses, Reznik's condition continues to deteriorate, and before long the film assumes a dreamlike state so that we the audience begin to question what is really happening.

The Machinist was directed by Brad Anderson (Happy Accidents, Next Stop Wonderland), and the movie is stunning to look at. The tone is picture perfect. I wouldn't necessarily call it creepy, but it is sort of like watching a dream on film with it's shades of blue and abrupt transition shots.

As a mystery, The Machinist fails miserably. Inside the first half hour, I knew what was going on and was irritated that Anderson would take this sort of approach to the material. The whole "twist" ending thing has been done to death, and if anything, it offsets what this film is really about--it sells it short.

As a story about guilt and redemption, The Machinist succeeds in showing how some people deal with certain issues. In the case of Trevor Reznik, his body more or less shuts down, and he doesn't quite know how to deal with things in a rational way. It takes time, and it is the human story that is most satisfying here.

Without question, Bale is the glue that holds this picture together. This is a horrifying, devastating transformation. From the first moment we witness Bale standing in front of a mirror with his shirt off, it is clear that this is a man with major emotional problems. Bale reportedly lost nearly seventy pounds for this role, and he is so unbelievably sickly in this movie, that I thought he might keel over and die at any given second. He is literally skin and bones, and just the sight of his physical appearance was enough to make me turn my head. But not only is this an unnerving phyiscal transformation, it is also one of great psychological depth. There are moments when Reznik rambles incohrently trying to figure out how to deal with his situation, and I really bought into it every step of the way. This is an award worthy performance, and I haven't been this affected by Bale since his young turn in Steven Spielberg's underrated Empire of the Sun.

If Anderson would have ditched the mystery aspect of the plot and just focused on Reznik's problems directly, The Machinist would have had a much bigger impact on me. The added element of the obvious twist seemes like an all to predictabe device. Still, the brilliant Bale and the expert cinematography make the movie worth watching.

Grade: B-

SAW
Starring Carey Elwes, Danny Glover, and Leigh Whammell
Released by Lions Gate

Saw is, perhaps, one of the most buzzed about horror pictures of the year. Along with the likes of Haute Tension, Open Water and Shaun of the Dead, it has been talked up on several fan sites since it's debut at the Sundance Film Festival. Naturally, I was quite curious as I love the horror genre and was unable to see this one at Sundance. Lucky for me, Lions Gate threw a special screening of the picture for Comic-Con attendees.

As Saw opens, a man (Leigh Whannell) awakens submerged in a bathtub. As he bursts from the tub and desperately attempts to catch his breath, he finds that he is stranded in room of darkness. After a few moments, he realizes he is not alone. As the lights flicker on, he discovers that he is chained by his ankle, and stranded in a rather large, unkept restroom. On the other side of the bathroom is a chained Carey Elwes who has just barely regained consciousness himself. At the center of the restroom is a dead man laying face down in a puddle of blood with a gun in one hand and a tape recorder in the other. Before long, Whannell and Elwes find themselves in a sick game waged by a sadistic serial killer with true creativity on his side.

Saw starts off strong as we discover what the killer wants. The movie even becomes more terrifying when we see what this sadistic fiend is capable of through a series of horrific flashbacks that reveal the most twisted methods of death since John Doe's in David Fincher's brilliant Seven. For a while it looks as if Saw might breathe life into a seemingly dead genre (movies about serial killers have pretty much run their course).

Seriously, if you are the slightest bit squeamish, you are not going to want to see the ways in which this killer offs his victims.

Sadly, the movie sort of falls apart in the second half as it strives to shift suspicion from one suspect to the next. Is it the burnt out cop (played by an unispired Danny Glover) is it the good but flawed doctor (played by Carey Elwes) Is it the sleazy photographer (played by co-screenwriter Leigh Whannell) Or is it someone we may not have been introduced to yet

The whole movie unfolds in a jigsaw puzzle fashion and was quite obviously inspired by The Usual Suspects and the previously mentioned Seven.

Saw isn't without it's inspired moments. As I stated, the ways in which the killer has his earlier victims dispposed of, are quite terrifying, and the climax of the picture--in which the killer is revealed--is well shot (most notably, I liked the nifty little wink at The Texas Chainsaw Massacre), but it's also quite flawed, and I question how the killer was able to pull certain things off. Obviously, it's hard for me to go into this stuff, because I don't want to reveal the killer's identity, so you'll have to judge for yourself.

The soon to be released Haute Tension suffers from a ridiculous twist, but ultimately, I think it creeped me out more than this picture did. True, it was more by the numbers, but I found it scarier.

What I disliked most about Saw were the performances, most notably leads Elwes and Whannell. They just didn't sell it at all, and the final act evoked laughter from some of the audience I saw it with. Elwes' sense of panic and yearning to protect his family is overplayed. They say that acting is acting like your not acting. Elwes seemed like he was acting. Whannell tries, but his inexperience shows. In the end, I think stronger performances could have made all the difference in the world. You have to believe that these men are going through this, and it never felt real to me.

As for the title, it does have meaning, but I'll be damned if I'm going to spoil it in this review. I've lightened up a bit in my approach to writing this piece. When the movie was over, I wasn't impressed, but having since thought about it a bit, there are some terrifically terryfying sequences to be found in Saw. It's also well shot and edited. This movie has nothing on Open Water or Shaun of the Dead, but it does have it's moments.

On a final note, at press time, Saw had been slapped with an NC-17 rating which I don't understand at all. Yes it's grusome, but it's more than worthy of an R rating.

Grade: C

Comic-Con 2004 Report #4 will be up soon!