- His last try at a big-budget movie may have sucked and
vastly underwhelmed and been a critical flop at the box office, but that
doesn’t mean a studio won't hand director David Ayer the reins to another major
project. In fact, Ayer is reportedly in negotiations to take the helm of what
else, a massive recycling of an iconic, existing film that was released more
than three decades ago and therefore must be remade immediately using better
visual effects, bigger guns and better resolution for those vital murder
scenes. Yes, the “Suicide Squad” is closing in on the director’s chair for the
forthcoming remake of classic gangster film “Scarface,” a movie that came out
in 1983 and is itself a remake of a 1932 film that was loosely about Al Capone.
The 1983 version saw Al Pacino in one of his most iconic efforts, portraying Cuban
drug lord Tony Montana in 1980s Miami. The movie was a massive box office
success, but that production may be dwarfed by its cultural staying power over
the years, as its most memorable lines have been requited, recycled and reused
by so many different folks across movies, music and television that it’s almost
as if Montana never died in a hale of bullets, machine gun in hand, and he’s
still walking among the living. The recycled idea is the work of Universal,
which originally had “The Magnificent Seven” director Antoine Fuqua lined up to
helm the film, only to have him tell them to Fuqua off due to scheduling
conflicts. Whoever directs will do so from a script penned by the Coen brothers,
with the movie slated to drop next August with “Star Wars: Rogue One” actor
Diego Luna reportedly taking the Montana mantle from Pacino…….
- Pope Frank, Pontiff of the People and star of the silver
screen? Though he may be staunchly in favor of the common man and an avid
advocate for the poor, it appears that Pope Francis is readying to make his
movie debut by participating in a documentary that producers tout as "a
historic nonfiction film." It’s a first for the Vatican, a development
Focus Features announced at the Cannes Film Festival, revealing that it has
acquired worldwide rights to "Pope Francis - A Man of His Word." Only
once before has the Vatican collaborated with outside filmmakers and the first
to grant direct access to a pope and this one is noteworthy because the film,
directed by Wim Wenders, is a co-production with the Vatican. According to
producers, Wenders' film features Pope Francis responding to questions from
around the globe and discussing ecology, immigration, consumerism and social
justice, which means it could be a tough sell given its lack of explosions, car
chases, CGI, attractive women and being a sequel to an established movie
franchise, but maybe there’s still time to add in scenes of Vin Diesel and his
crew souping up the Pope Mobile for a chase through Rome. As for Wenders, the
German filmmaker of the angels-on-Earth classic "Wings of Desire," he
had several chances to sit down with the pontiff for the project and though his
film doesn’t yet have a release date, a summer blockbuster it ain’t……..
- Do not feed the pigeons, professional athletes. That’s
what you’re doing when you commit the seemingly helpful, harmless act of
showing social media support for students looking to escape their final exams
by getting their teacher’s favorite sports star to retweet or respond to one of
their messages. First, a high school senior in Indiana convinced former Los
Angeles Lakers star and future Hall of Famer Kobe Bryant to retweet a message
that, if it were retweeted, would win a wager for the students and his
classmate with their teacher, leading to them being allowed to skip their final
exam. Social media being what it is, it took student Peyton Meyer of
Janesville, Iowa, about five seconds to hear about it and try to find a way to
turn the concept around in his favor. He and his class made a deal with their
teacher, Laura Roberts, who is a massive fan of Green Bay Packers quarterback
Aaron Rodgers. Roberts agreed that if Meyer could convince the Super
Bowl-winning signal caller to retweet one of his messages, she would cancel the
final in a sports literature class made up of high school juniors and seniors
in the Janesville Consolidated School District. Clearly not realizing that
acceding to the request would mean hordes of other students would make the same
requests of him and other athletes, Rodgers obliged. “I'm sure a sports lit
final is very important, but here you go....#PayItForwardFriday,” Rodgers
tweeted. The act meant no final for Roberts’ class and made Rodgers the latest
future Hall of Famer to essentially be the old guy sitting on a park bench,
pigeons blanketing him and his surroundings, crapping all over the place and
seeking their bread crumb………
- Lots of news involving the Catholic Church today and it’s
not all posh trailers on movie sets and trips to the craft services table for
the pope and his underlings. Life is decidedly less rosy right now for
Pittsburgh's Roman Catholic bishop, who claims he received hate mail for
allowing church members to eat meat on St. Patrick's Day, which this year fell
on a Friday during Lent. Bishop David Zubik shared that sad revelation as he
took part in the church’s World Communications Day, detailing how some
Catholics sent him correspondence that should theoretically send them directly
to confession without passing go or collecting $200. "You're sending us to
hell. Who do you think you are to be able to tell us we can eat meat?,"
Zubik recalled reading in some of the letters he received. Given the ire in
those messages, it’s not all that surprising that the bishop went on to say
that he sees a significant need for less hatred and fear in the world. Wait,
threatening someone you’ve likely never met because they said it was OK for
other people you’ve never met to enjoy a burger or a grilled chicken breast
during Lent means you’re too angry and have hate in your heart. Way to grasp
the concepts of love and understanding, anonymous Catholics who took a few
minutes out of kicking puppies and shoving nuns into mud puddles to bang out an
angry manifesto to mail to the local leader of the Steel City’s Catholics.
Pittsburgh is a hard city with a definite edge to it, so being the bishop there
necessitates a lot of toughness, but that doesn’t mean Zubik should have to put
up with this deluge of holy sh*t………
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