Certain Things Are "Unstoppable"

Tony Scott has never quite reached the dazzling heights of his brother, Academy Award-winner Ridley, but Tony has had his fair share of hits from Top Gun to Enemy of the State to pretty much any Denzel Washington action/thriller made in the last ten years. Honestly, I've always been indifferent to the collaborations between Denzel and Scott, but there is no denying that the two have talent, and Tony Scott manages to reaffirm time-and-time again why he is one of the kings of the action movie genre. The duos latest collaboration, Unstoppable, is scheduled for a November release and puts Denzel Washington up next Captain Kirk, Chris Pine, who stole the show in J.J. Abrams' Star Trek. I liked Pines work so much in Trek, I'm excited to see him doing some more action, but the story of an escaped train harboring explosive chemicals also carries various shades of the best action movies of all-time from Speed to Die Hard. This could be a fun and entertaining thriller, and with Pine sharing double-billing with Denzel, it could make this collaboration between Washington and Scott stand out more than their previous collaborations. Check out the trailer below:

The Way to Popularity

What is the key to success? That is a question that has plagued moviemakers for generations. How does one make a successful movie, and what makes that movie significant enough to have such success? I've thought about it, and I think I've come up with something of a satisfactory answer. Every movie that has ever found widespread, universal popularity, has never been a movie that followed the culture, but preceded it.

The movies that have had the highest levels of success are ones that tap into the culture zeitgeist and help create the culture of that generation rather than taking the definitions of that generation's culture and trying to make a movie about it. Sure, some movies may have made some money, but after leaving the theater no one remembers it later, that remembrance all comes down to whether it left a mark on the culture. A good movie that impacts the culture can change the way we talk, create inside jokes or cryptic sayings between one another, or it can even inspire us to do something that we wouldn't have thought of doing otherwise.

Think of stuff like The Breakfast Club, Pulp Fiction, even something like Star Wars. George Lucas' epic sent underdog messages of hope, not to mention the dialogue became quotable and everyone knew what you were talking about the moment you said, "May the Force be with you." The same can be said for The Dark Knight with, "Why so serious?" and Avatar with, "I see you." But I've also come to find out, as a moviemaker you can't consciously do this. It's something that has to develop naturally, and the mingled results of people who have tried to do so and didn't are splattered throughout movie history. Best way to have this potentially happen I've learned is just to try and be original, do something that is at your best attempts unique and unlike anything you've seen before. If it works, then you may have solved that mystery of tattooing the culture.

I'm Working on Something Big

I've completed a third draft for a script titled Coffee Shop, a movie that was in all actuality, the first idea I ever had for a movie. While this is the third draft, that is to say it is only the third complete draft, but probably the fiftieth draft if you count all the start-and-go attempts over the years. And I'll just repeat this, I'm working on something big. I don't wanna give too much away, but I'm excited about this. Sure, two more years of college, but who says I can't work on my first feature while in college? Maybe I'll start sooner, or later, but I just wanted to let ya'll know. It's something different for me, but all the same, it is me, it feels me, and it's the first script I've written that I think I can see myself in almost each and every character. It's still a fair ways off, a few drafts to follow, and some fine tuning, but... Just wish me luck and pray on this. Thank you.

Tarantino is Far From "Oblivion"

People love Quentin Tarantino. While I've never been his biggest fan, his next rumored project is a supposed reboot of the classic pulp radio hero, The Shadow, a more sinister Batman in essence that cloaked himself in the shadows and hunted gangsters. The Shadow last hit movie screens in the mid-90's with Alec Baldwin playing the titular character. It's long been known that a reboot of The Shadow was in the works at Fox, but Tarantino has supposedly been hired to co-write the movie with the belief that he'll be directing as well. The original Shadow from the '40s was fairly violent, dripping with pulp, and set in the world of gangsters. This is a perfect match of heroic adaptation for Tarantino, all assuming the rumor is true.

In other news, Disney has bought a pitch from Freshman director Joe Kosinski, who helmed Tron Legacy for the studios, which is riding great tidal waves of anticipation. Obviously Disney believes in Kosinski cause they're investing in his next movie, an adaptation of his own graphic novel he created called Oblivion. Oblivion tells a story, " set in post-apocalyptic Earth, where civilization lives above the clouds and scavengers illegally collect artifacts from the polluted and destroyed surface below. When one young scavenger discovers a crashed spacecraft planetside - and a beautiful women within he rejoices at the find. Little does he realize that his discovery will lead him to a journey filled with romance, adventure and unimaginable danger." That's the official description, and it's caught me, hook, line, and sinker. Kosinski is shaping up to be a fine talent, with me already dizzy with excitement for his debut feature, Tron Legacy, and Oblivion sounds just like my cup of tea. I'm extremely looking forward to both of Kosinski's features with Disney, and I'm gonna keep a close eye on his career as he seems to be shooting upward.

Adventures in "Gravity"

I really like Alfonso Cuaron as a director, his style is consistent and increasingly engrossing. The director of movies like Children of Men and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Cuaron is one of the finer working today, and his latest movie in production, Gravity sounds like the kind of ambitious project that one expects from a director so technically minded as he is.

Gravity is a movie written by Cuaron and his brother Jonas and scribe Rodrigo Garcia. Not too much is known about the story other than majority of the movie is set in space, within zero gravity. It's described as a thriller about a woman who survived a disastrous space mission and follows her on her attempts to return to Earth and her daughter. The movie is gonna be a hybrid of CG animation and live-action, being called a 60-40 compromise by Cuaron. Cuaron, who is known for his drive for technical perfection in his movies and his use of long, fluid tracking shots, surely will push the CG to the limits, with rumors that the opening shot of the movie lasts as long as 20 minutes!

It's been known for a while that Robert Downey, Jr. would have a significant role in the movie, and it was originally to be made with Angelina Jolie in the lead role, but she dropped out some time ago. As the movie has now found a home at Warner Bros. and Cuaron seems to be moving forward to start filming by the end of this year to meet the 2012 release date, Jolie has been replaced by Scarlett Johansson. I've never been impressed by Johansson's acting, I can still be proved wrong, but if there's one thing I do value is Cuaron's abilities as a director, so I'm not too worried, while still scratching my head over her casting.

Regardless over any thoughts about the cast, I enjoy Cuaron as a director and I am more than excited to see another big budget movie that is not based upon any other property but written directly for the screen. Hopefully such ambition will yield fruitful results.