While I’m sure Broadway purists probably turn their nose up at the musical adaptations of Hollywood films, I have to admit, I’ve always enjoyed seeing some of my favorite films get the musical treatment. Right this very moment, you can fly to New York City and catch a diverse group of stage adaptations like Groundhog Day, Kinky Boots, Waitress, Amelie, School of Rock, and A Bronx Tale, not to mention the predictable number of classic Disney animated movies. So the news that another movie adaptation is getting the musical treatment is not at all surprising, even if its source material is a little less traditional than most.
One of the least funny running jokes in the new Baywatch movie — which is really saying something because there are a lot of unfunny running jokes in the new Baywatch movie — involves these lifeguards constantly inserting themselves into all sorts of situations that fall well beyond their jurisdiction. They refer to laughable old cases that have nothing to do with rescuing drowners, a nod to the old Baywatch TV show that serves as the film’s source material and chief target. But the case the takes up most of the film’s inexplicably expansive runtime (116 minutes! For a Baywatch movie!) is just as absurd, with the lifeguards trying to bring down a drug ring and real-estate swindle centered around their Southern California beach. Ha ... ha?
There was no jocularity on Baywatch when I was a child. These brave men and women in red bathing suits were doing very important things, like guarding lives, performing CPR, running in slow-motion, and occasionally starting totally random spinoff shows featuring sea monsters. The new Baywatch movie is a new breed of ‘watch. These guys do joke around, constantly. It’s Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron as mismatched partners on the lifeguard scene, joking about one another’s testicles, performing highly unprofessional autopsies, and even arguing over severed limbs. Seriously: Not your Hasselhoff’s Baywatch.
Some people stand in the darkness. Some people make movie versions of campy ’90s television series about lifeguards. It’s gonna be all right. They’re always ready, they won’t let you out of their sight, etc.
It’s a big week for Dwayne Johnson’s upcoming projects, as two have now secured directors. The other day we learned that Johnson will reunite with his San Andreas director for Rampage (based on the classic arcade game), and now another Johnson project based on a classic property has snagged a director, too.
Sony has been putting in some serious effort to ensure that their big screen adaptation of the 'Uncharted' video game is actually good. Over the years the project has attracted names like David O. Russell, Joshua Oppenheimer, and David Guggenheim, and Mark Wahlberg was attached to star at one point. The latest name to board the project is screenwriter Mark Boal, writer of 'Zero Dark Thirty' and 'The Hurt Locker,' and as a bonus, Boal is a fan of the video game on which the film is based.
With Comic-Con 2014 less than 24 hours away from its grand start, the internet is a flurry of missed flights and scheduling headaches and excitement and worry and Hall H line preparation and ... release dates? Yep, the studios are capitalizing on the Comic-Con excitement to announce the release dates of some very geek-friendly films and Sony took the chance to let everyone know when they'll be able to see 'The Amazing Spider-Man 3,' 'Sinister Six' and 'Uncharted.'
It's been a long time since we've heard anything new about an 'Uncharted' movie, with many directors having circled the project. But now Sony has hired 'Horrible Bosses' and 'Identity Thief' helmer Seth Gordon to take on adapting the video game franchise for the big screen.
Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day have worked together a lot. First they were in 'Going the Distance,' then Sudeikis made a couple of appearances on Day's show 'It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia,' then came 'Horrible Bosses' and now its sequel. Well, that's not enough as they're also going to be starring in 'One Night on the Hudson' together, and they'll be directed by their 'Horrible Bosses' helmer