The Rock explains the Game Plan

When I met Dwayne Johnson, also known as The Rock, there was not a doubt that this guy had played football in college. Johnson even played along side Doug Flutie while with the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League. When you meet someone that perfect a physical specimen it¹s like shaking hands with the entire cast of the movie 300.
Johnson was in Houston last month along with director Andy Fickman promoting Game Plan. Fickman grew up in Houston (Lee high school) and took Johnson to eat the night before at Lulling City Market. The junket was attended mostly by radio press from the multiple Sports Talk AM stations in Houston, a nice change from the usual suspects of Houston film critics.
The Game Plan is a kids flick pure and simple, it¹s a Disney film. But Johnson happily answered questions about the many films he¹s been involved with. Upcoming projects include the more adult Southland Tales and the movie version of Get Smart. Next year Fickman will direct a remake of Disney¹s Escape From Witch Mountain also starring Johnson. This is a reimagining of the original, certainly not a sequel, explained Fickman.
As Fickman was talking Johnson was joking around and walked over and sat in Fickman¹s lap. Get a chair, Fickman joked, I don¹t want him to rub his junk against my back.
The discussion veered to some earlier projects Johnson was associated with, one a film that hasn¹t come to fruition where he would play King Kamehameha of Hawaii.
That film will eventually be made, Johnson said. It was announced in a way that it was going to happen immediately when the truth was they forgot to add the part where I was saying that we¹re looking at a few years from now. That¹s still high on my list, Johnson added.
Another action film Johnson starred in, The Rundown (by The Kingdom director Peter Berg) originally had one of the greatest titles ever in movie history ­ Helldorado.
The studio executives were concerned in marketing to Middle America, said Johnson. Moms winced at the name but I totally agree it¹s a great title.
Fickman used this moment to add; Originally our film was called Bitch Slap, which broke up the entire room. Fickman seriously added that Witch Mountain would be thrilling with a strong dose of comedy.
- Michael Bergeron

Into the Wild / In the Valley of Elah

It's no coincidence that two of my recent favorite films use the preposition into in the title. The use of this word reflects a kind of inward and spiritual journey of the protagonist. In the Valley of Elah and Into the Wild are two of the best films of the year.
Paul Haggis wrote and directed In the Valley of Elah. The title is a reference to the David and Goliath legend and the story is based on actual events. Tommy Lee Jones plays a crusty retired military type of few words. Upon hearing his son, newly returned from duty in Iraq, has gone AWOL he drives half way across the country to perform his own search. Upon arriving at the border town base he finds his son has been killed, and the murder itself couldn't be any more grizzly. (We see the forensic aftermath.)
The interesting thing about In the Valley of Elah is how we become part of Jones' investigation process. He sees things the military and civilian police have overlooked. Along the way he gains an ally with a detective played by Charlize Theron, herself ridiculed by her fellow detectives because of her gender. Eventually she (and the audience) makes a breakthrough in the case but only because of the perseverance she's learnt from Jones.
Haggis won the Academy Award a couple of years ago for Crash but In the Valley of Elah is so much better a film, right down to its closing shot that hits you where you live.
The movie version of Into the Wild has been gestating for over a decade. Based on a best selling book by Jon Krakauer and starring Emile Hirsch the film takes the viewer on a journey to pristine wilderness. Beware because Mother Nature does not tolerate mere mortals easily.
A person would never know Sean Penn directed Into the Wild because of two things. First, Penn has directed three previous films in a vague style reminiscent of improvisational acting. Those films are good but not for everyone. Into the Wild is so far beyond that limited genre but still contains powerhouse acting. Secondly, this is the film of a serious artist and Penn has grown as a director to the point where he lets the events and not his own personal mindset dictate the message.
Hirsch is a force of nature, but there are several awesome performers along his journey (including Bart the Bear). The actor who sticks out is Hal Holbrook. Mostly known for 60s/70s era television like his Mark Twain one-man show, Holbrook comes across like a freight train in his all too brief role.

Death Proof full version (DVD)

Death Proof offers up Kurt Russell in a performance so wicked it instantly rates high in his gallery of iconic roles, and this is the guy who created Snake Pliskin in Escape From New York. Zoe Bell (actually playing herself), Uma Thurman's stunt double for Kill Bill, truly gives a standout performance.
A wordy and clever script sets up Russell as Stuntman Mike a different kind of serial killer. He stalks and kills with his muscle car. Death Proof easily divides into two parts, both united by Stuntman Mike. In the first part Austin gets the royal treatment as the city itself plays a kind of character in which a group of femmes party to their heart's content, while bar hopping, one-hitting and joy riding.
The second half displays an different femme cast, themselves the crew of a movie on location in Lebanon, Tennessee (shot in Southern California). Here's where Death Proof goes from entourage style female bonding to an edge-of-your-seat action thriller with obvious tips of the beret to classic 70s pulp like Vanishing Point.
Quentin Tarantino has basically knocked the ball out of the park with Death Proof, especially if your taste is for a post-modern reinterpretation of genre specific subjects. In this case a revenge flick with lots of cool automobile stunts.
For the DVD release of Death Proof nearly 30 minutes have been restored. Remember Death Proof was truncated and released as a double bill with Planet Terror under the common name Grindhouse last April. The extra footage fills out the film without padding. The scenes include the missing reel of Vanessa Ferlito's lapdance for Stuntman Mike as well as a black-and-white interlude to the second half of the film. Here Stuntman Mike figures out a way to furtively touch Rosario Dawson's toes. There's also a bit more of the barroom banter from the first half and camera set-ups that show the progression of a series of cellphone text messages. At one point we see a real Austin phone number (512 4312164) although when I call the number I get a busy signal. There's no director's commentary but extras on the second disc of this double DVD release include short featurettes, brief interviews with the actors and Tarantino, as well as a gag reel the actors made for editor Sally Menke.