Craig's MovieBlog

Alias Returns

I know no one cares anymore, but if you are an Alias fan, you can't tell me you weren't jazzed by the final 5 seconds of the show's 2 hour return.  And if it's still sitting on your Tivo, I won't ruin it for you.

By the way, I firmly believe Sydney and Jack know all this new twist.  After you've watched the episode, go back and listen to their conversation on the plane before that final scene:

Sydney: Would you like to hold your granddaughter?
Jack: Yes, I would.
Sydney: She has Vaughn's eyes.
Jack: Yes, she does.
Sydney: (beat) Dad... (staring at him)
Jack: (nods knowingly) I'll take care of it. (smiles)

And just for fun, here's an older interview with Jennifer Garner about the show coming to an end:

Any intel on the big finale?
If it's what I think it's going to be, it will be the most… Oh, gosh, I'm afraid to say anything. You know, one thing about not doing the show — I look forward to just being able to talk about what I'm doing and not always having to stop myself.... It won't be one of those finales where it ends, and you go, ''Oh, that was it? After all of this?'' We came in with a bang, we'll go out with a bang.

Tom Cruise Gets Good Press Coverage (For a Change)

Over at Hollywood Elsewhere, Jeff Wells gives a big thumbs up to Mission: Impossible 3, but what I really liked was his comment about "check your brain at the door" movies.  It doesn't have to mean that it's a bad film - it's just a genre.  You can have good and bad "brainless" movies, and this looks to be one of the good ones.

When I hear a film is a "check-your-brain-at-the-door" thing, I know I'm going to hate it. This is not that. It exemplifies what a good geek-level action film should be. Abrams, the director-writer, keeps playing to slightly higher intelligence levels than these films are usually geared to.

By the way, did anyone watch Alias last night to see the new preview for M:I-3?  The ad kicked off with a screen that read, "From the Creator of Alias and Lost," and then went into the preview.

Now, I'm certainly not doubting the intelligence of this move... I mean, it was during Alias, so they had the right captive audience.  However, I have to wonder - has a major summer tentpole blockbuster movie ever pimped its director with his television resume?  I guess they could have said, "From the Writer of Regarding Henry and Gone Fishin'," but it might not have had the same amount of ooomph.  ;)

Early Insider Mission Impossible 3 Review

Take this with a grain of salt or two, especially since Kevin Smith loved the last piece of garbage Star Wars movie, but he says that MI3 is much better than the last sequel, and as good if not better than the first.

To me, however, the more interesting point that Jeff Wells makes, is the rationale for Paramount not showing the film to the press, even though the film might be quite good.  Just like the demise of early screenings for critics, the studios are quickly learning that they are so big that they may just not need the press.  They can do their own marketing and PR, and do their own vertical integration across magazines, television, etc.  If they can just get to that huge opening weekend on their own, then they can make their money on international and home rental.  And if on the rare chance that they have a good film, audience word of mouth will spread.

Filmmakers tend to be a bit more affectionate and supportive of other filmmakers than, say, critics or the public, but that aside, Kevin Smith has seen Mission: Impossible: 3 and passes along the following: "I saw it last month in [director-writer J.J. Abrams'] editing room, and it's really great: far, far superior to the second one, and as good (if not better) than the first. Philip Seymour Hoffman plays the most believable bad guy since Anthony Hopkins in Silence -- he's just plain frightening. [The film has] great tent-pole scenes and Tom Cruise is in top form. There's no fat on it at all. All those years working on Alias made for fine training for JJ, as this thing is very well plotted and paced. It'll do extremely well. I know I'll see it again in theaters." Why is Paramount publicity not showing it then? What is the strategy in keeping word-of-mouth spreaders away from it until three days before it opens? I think it's part of the New Hollywood World Order...the truly big tent-polers are their own engine, about themselves & their own self-perpetuating inevitability, and writers and reporters are but lint on the lapels of the big-studio distribs in this context...at best incidental to the process. And the p.r. people are looking to make a statement to that effect.

Aaron Sorkin's Return to Television

I don't care what anyone says - ANYONE!  The West Wing of today is a pale comparison of what it was when Aaron Sorkin was in charge.  Go back to the shows on Bravo or A&E or whatever channel it's syndicated on, and I dare you to peel your eyes and ears away from the set.  It's electric, it's hypnotic, it was the best show on TV bar none.  It wasn't even close.  It's not an opinion... there are scientific facts in a laboratory somewhere to back this up.

Anyway, Bill Simmons dropped this bomb on his blog today, and I haven't stopped salivating since.

I received a copy of Aaron Sorkin's spec script, Studio 7 -- his secret project that caused near-chaos in Hollywood when he suddenly started shopping it a few weeks ago. Everyone loved it, everyone said great things, and after reading it ... I couldn't agree more. It's already my new favorite show even though they haven't started casting it yet -- like Larry Sanders, only if it was about SNL. In a viciously clever way, Sorkin's pilot script pretty much obliterates SNL and everything that happened to the show over the past few years, as well as TV networks and the post-Janet Jackson/FCC Era in general. It's a masterpiece. It's perfect. I can't say enough about it. When this show debuts next year (or whenever), it will be impossible to take SNL seriously anymore. I'm telling you.

Good god - just reading this again I'm freaking out in anticipation, but maybe that's because I'm losing my love for Lost and Alias this year.