Old Tinseltown wisdom dictates never to work with children or animals, a rule that even makes its way into this year's Jordan Peele offering "Nope" via a vicious animal-performer attack. Sometimes the rule can be soft-pedaled with animatronics and CGI facsimiles, but that doesn't necessarily guarantee a smoother production.
One of the most savage when-animals-attack movies (according to /Film standards) crafted an incredible antagonist for the cast and crew to wrangle, but that didn't ease the shoot any. Luis Llosa's "Anaconda" is a 1997 adventure-horror movie that sees a small film crew venturing into the Amazon in search of an undiscovered (fictional) tribe called the Shirishamas and, after running into a shady hunter, end up tussling with a mythic green boa snake. Featuring a stacked cast (Ice Cube! Danny Trejo! Jennifer Lopez!) and a cult following, "Anaconda" is one of the enduring creature features of the 1990s.
Old-school film site...
One of the most savage when-animals-attack movies (according to /Film standards) crafted an incredible antagonist for the cast and crew to wrangle, but that didn't ease the shoot any. Luis Llosa's "Anaconda" is a 1997 adventure-horror movie that sees a small film crew venturing into the Amazon in search of an undiscovered (fictional) tribe called the Shirishamas and, after running into a shady hunter, end up tussling with a mythic green boa snake. Featuring a stacked cast (Ice Cube! Danny Trejo! Jennifer Lopez!) and a cult following, "Anaconda" is one of the enduring creature features of the 1990s.
Old-school film site...
- 11/16/2022
- by Anya Stanley
- Slash Film
Luis Llosa's "Anaconda" recently made /Film's list of the most savage when-animals-attack horror movies, with Ryan Scott citing its memorable kills as the reason why it's "the ultimate '90s creature feature." The 1997 horror-adventure focuses on a documentary film crew that encounters a snake hunter in the Amazon rainforest, all while tracking a legendary green anaconda of mythic proportions. It features a slew of snakes and the star of the show, an animatronic anaconda designed by special effects supervisor Walt Conti, who previously engineered a full-size animatronic orca Willy of "Free Willy" and the miniature humpback whales of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home." The cast – among them Ice Cube, Jennifer Lopez, Jon Voight, and a baby-faced Owen Wilson – got cozy with lots of non-human co-stars, but local black wooly monkeys made both scouting and shooting a hazard.
Longtime film site Film Scouts shares insights on the production of "Anaconda"; therein,...
Longtime film site Film Scouts shares insights on the production of "Anaconda"; therein,...
- 10/31/2022
- by Anya Stanley
- Slash Film
Luis Llosa's 1997 creature feature "Anaconda" is one of those rare films that many people saw, but that few people love. Unapologetically reminiscent of monster movies from the 1950s, "Anaconda" was snarfed at by the general public, earning generally negative reviews (it currently holds a 40 approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes) and netting 11 Razzie nominations. It won none of its Razzies, "losing" to films like "The Postman" and "Batman & Robin." One may interpret the losses as a compliment or an insult. Despite the sour reception, "Anaconda" -- which starred Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Danny Trejo, Eric Stoltz, Owen Wilson, and Jon Voight -- earned a massive 136 million on a mere 45 million budget. It was followed by four sequels, including a "Lake Placid" crossover film wherein the titular snake did battle with a giant crocodile.
The premise of "Anaconda" is about as complex as a cheap animal attack movie might warrant,...
The premise of "Anaconda" is about as complex as a cheap animal attack movie might warrant,...
- 10/30/2022
- by Witney Seibold
- Slash Film
Call it the J.J. Effect. Animatronics — along with similar techniques like puppetry, makeup effects and miniatures — is making a comeback.
The work was long responsible for some of the most iconic characters and scenes in cinema history, then shunted aside in the 1990s as CGI became cheaper and delivered ever more realistic results. But J.J. Abrams, a director who’d grown up in the effects heyday of the ’70s and ’80s, followed his love of those arts and the cinematic language of “Star Wars” when he included a wide range of animatronics in 2015’s “The Force Awakens.” Now, Hollywood is rediscovering its love of puppets controlled by motors, gears and cables, whether via the expansion of the “Star Wars” universe or in movies like Netflix’s “Dark Crystal” reboot, “Age of Resistance.”
Film fans of a certain age (which include many of today’s directors) never fell out of love with so-called practical effects.
The work was long responsible for some of the most iconic characters and scenes in cinema history, then shunted aside in the 1990s as CGI became cheaper and delivered ever more realistic results. But J.J. Abrams, a director who’d grown up in the effects heyday of the ’70s and ’80s, followed his love of those arts and the cinematic language of “Star Wars” when he included a wide range of animatronics in 2015’s “The Force Awakens.” Now, Hollywood is rediscovering its love of puppets controlled by motors, gears and cables, whether via the expansion of the “Star Wars” universe or in movies like Netflix’s “Dark Crystal” reboot, “Age of Resistance.”
Film fans of a certain age (which include many of today’s directors) never fell out of love with so-called practical effects.
- 1/2/2020
- by Drew Turney
- Variety Film + TV
This article originally appeared in If Magazine #143 (Oct-Nov 2011).
The shark is not working. The shark is not working. The repeated phrase that echoed around the waters of Martha.s Vineyard during the filming of Steven Spielberg.s blockbuster Jaws almost 40 years ago.
Massive production problems led to budget over-runs and the project was more than 100 days over schedule. As a result, the young filmmaker thought his career was over. Far from it . his head was far above water.
Fast forward to today and the classic film is still seen as the ultimate shark movie.
.The work on Jaws was an incredible achievement. Jaws is a classic... you.re not going to outdo it or out-top it,. shark animatronics expert Walt Conti tells If from Los Angeles. .The tension and the suspense is built through brilliant editing and sound design and if you actually look at what the shark is doing...
The shark is not working. The shark is not working. The repeated phrase that echoed around the waters of Martha.s Vineyard during the filming of Steven Spielberg.s blockbuster Jaws almost 40 years ago.
Massive production problems led to budget over-runs and the project was more than 100 days over schedule. As a result, the young filmmaker thought his career was over. Far from it . his head was far above water.
Fast forward to today and the classic film is still seen as the ultimate shark movie.
.The work on Jaws was an incredible achievement. Jaws is a classic... you.re not going to outdo it or out-top it,. shark animatronics expert Walt Conti tells If from Los Angeles. .The tension and the suspense is built through brilliant editing and sound design and if you actually look at what the shark is doing...
- 9/12/2012
- by Sam Dallas
- IF.com.au
The non-stop assault to your senses by nature's most efficient killers comes to a head with the theatrical release of Relativity Media's Shark Night 3D in theaters. If the insane amount of coverage wasn't enough to help you decide what to spend your hard-earned dough this weekend, we hope that this nifty package of our choice bits will do the trick.
If you haven't been reading us recently (and why weren't you?), you wouldn't know that Shark Night 3D is helmed by stuntman-turned-director David R. Ellis and stars Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Joel David Moore, Katharine McPhee, Chris Carmack, Chris Zylka, Alyssa Diaz and Sinqua Walls.
Lookin' for free stuff? Make sure to score yourselves some Shark Night 3D Swag. Just head over here for all the details.
And if you still haven't gotten enough of Shark Night 3D coverage, scroll all the way to the bottom to watch...
If you haven't been reading us recently (and why weren't you?), you wouldn't know that Shark Night 3D is helmed by stuntman-turned-director David R. Ellis and stars Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Joel David Moore, Katharine McPhee, Chris Carmack, Chris Zylka, Alyssa Diaz and Sinqua Walls.
Lookin' for free stuff? Make sure to score yourselves some Shark Night 3D Swag. Just head over here for all the details.
And if you still haven't gotten enough of Shark Night 3D coverage, scroll all the way to the bottom to watch...
- 9/2/2011
- by kwlow
- DreadCentral.com
Are you one of those folks who watch the making-of features on DVDs more often than the actual movie itself? If you are, have we got a treat for you. Get ready to dig on lots of behind-the-scenes goodies from Shark Night 3D.
As bonus, we even added below more behind-the-scenes videos that we featured many months ago when the movie was still referred to as David R. Ellis' Untitled Shark Thriller. Go feast your eyes on all eye candy in this one neat little package.
David R. Ellis directed Shark Night 3D from a screenplay by Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg. Shark Night 3D stars Sara Paxton (The Innkeepers, Last House on the Left), Chris Carmack (“The O.C.”), Dustin Milligan (“90210,” Slither), Joel David Moore (Avatar, Hatchet), Chris Zylka ("My Super Psycho Sweet 16") and Katharine McPhee (The House Bunny).
Did you see our video interview series?
Part 1 - Chris Carmack,...
As bonus, we even added below more behind-the-scenes videos that we featured many months ago when the movie was still referred to as David R. Ellis' Untitled Shark Thriller. Go feast your eyes on all eye candy in this one neat little package.
David R. Ellis directed Shark Night 3D from a screenplay by Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg. Shark Night 3D stars Sara Paxton (The Innkeepers, Last House on the Left), Chris Carmack (“The O.C.”), Dustin Milligan (“90210,” Slither), Joel David Moore (Avatar, Hatchet), Chris Zylka ("My Super Psycho Sweet 16") and Katharine McPhee (The House Bunny).
Did you see our video interview series?
Part 1 - Chris Carmack,...
- 9/1/2011
- by kwlow
- DreadCentral.com
In this final installment of our Shark Night 3D video interview series, we bring you some words of wisdom from two behind the camera talents, director David R. Ellis and animatronics supervisor Walt Conti.
Shark Night 3D stars Sara Paxton (The Innkeepers, Last House on the Left), Chris Carmack (“The O.C.”), Dustin Milligan (“90210,” Slither), Joel David Moore (Avatar, Hatchet), Chris Zylka ("My Super Psycho Sweet 16") and Katharine McPhee (The House Bunny). David R. Ellis helms the movie as director while Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg wrote the screenplay.
Animatronic effects supervisor Walt Conti waxes on about the details that went into making the animatronic sharks while David R. Ellis elaborates on the remoteness of the island where they shot the movie as well as how he chose which shark to use.
Watch the first part of our Shark Night 3D video interview series with Chris Carmack, Chris Zylka, Alyssa Diaz and Sinqua Walls.
Shark Night 3D stars Sara Paxton (The Innkeepers, Last House on the Left), Chris Carmack (“The O.C.”), Dustin Milligan (“90210,” Slither), Joel David Moore (Avatar, Hatchet), Chris Zylka ("My Super Psycho Sweet 16") and Katharine McPhee (The House Bunny). David R. Ellis helms the movie as director while Will Hayes and Jesse Studenberg wrote the screenplay.
Animatronic effects supervisor Walt Conti waxes on about the details that went into making the animatronic sharks while David R. Ellis elaborates on the remoteness of the island where they shot the movie as well as how he chose which shark to use.
Watch the first part of our Shark Night 3D video interview series with Chris Carmack, Chris Zylka, Alyssa Diaz and Sinqua Walls.
- 8/31/2011
- by kwlow
- DreadCentral.com
David Ellis has made a name for himself directing some of the most memorable horror films around, including "Snakes on a Plane" and "The Final Destination." In his new film, "Shark Night 3D" (opening 9/2), Ellis unleashes the monsters of the deep onto an unsuspecting populace. The result is some awesomely bloody death scenes.
But Ellis is also a cinephile, and he was kind enough to pull together his own favorite animal-focused horror films. So without further ado, take it away David...
10. "The Fly" (1986)
Jeff Goldblum as a giant fly. What more can you ask for in a movie?
9. "Arachnophobia" (1990)
The '90s had so many great animal horror movies and this movie about a South American killer spider that hitches a ride in a coffin to the U.S. is one of them.
8. "The Ghost And The Darkness" (1996)
Based on a true story of two lions in Africa that killed 130 people over a nine-month period.
But Ellis is also a cinephile, and he was kind enough to pull together his own favorite animal-focused horror films. So without further ado, take it away David...
10. "The Fly" (1986)
Jeff Goldblum as a giant fly. What more can you ask for in a movie?
9. "Arachnophobia" (1990)
The '90s had so many great animal horror movies and this movie about a South American killer spider that hitches a ride in a coffin to the U.S. is one of them.
8. "The Ghost And The Darkness" (1996)
Based on a true story of two lions in Africa that killed 130 people over a nine-month period.
- 8/23/2011
- by IFC
- ifc.com
Shark Night 3D is an upcoming thriller horror movie directed by David R. Ellis (who once brought us Snakes On A Plane). The film is touted as ”Jaws” for the 3D generation. The cast includes Sinqua Walls, Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz, Joel David Moore, Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan and Katharine McPhee. The animatronic sharks will be created Walt Conti, who previously created the giant snake in ‘Anaconda’ and the ‘Free Willy’ whales. The movie Shark Night 3D will be released in 2011.
Synopsis:
A sexy summer weekend turns into a blood-soaked nightmare for a group of college students trapped on an island surrounded by voracious underwater predators in Shark Night 3D, a terrifying thrill ride from director David Ellis (The Final Destination, Snakes On a Plane), featuring a red-hot young cast including Sara Paxton (Superhero Movie, Last House on the Left), Dustin Milligan (.90210,. Slither), Chris Carmack (.The O.C..), Joel David Moore...
Synopsis:
A sexy summer weekend turns into a blood-soaked nightmare for a group of college students trapped on an island surrounded by voracious underwater predators in Shark Night 3D, a terrifying thrill ride from director David Ellis (The Final Destination, Snakes On a Plane), featuring a red-hot young cast including Sara Paxton (Superhero Movie, Last House on the Left), Dustin Milligan (.90210,. Slither), Chris Carmack (.The O.C..), Joel David Moore...
- 5/25/2011
- by Melissa Howland
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Snakes on a Plane director David Ellis and domestic distributor Relativity Media didn't like the film's original title, Shark Night 3D. While the movie will be released in international markets under that name, Ellis and Relativity have been trying to come up with a new name for the film. Ellis has been fighting to release the movie under the working title "Untitled 3D Shark Thriller". Ellis tells Vulture [1]: "At our weekly production meetings, I made everyone on the crew come up with names — Chums, Fins, Terror on the Lake — but they all seemed kind of cheesy. And so until I hear a better name, I like what we’ve got right now: Untitled 3D Shark Thriller. The title says everything you need to know: 'We’ve got sharks.' 'It’s in 3D.' and, 'It’s a thriller.'” If you're releasing movies with titles like the announced sequel Piranha 3Dd,...
- 2/9/2011
- by Peter Sciretta
- Slash Film
Snakes on a plane...sharks on a lake. I see how this works. What I didn't see was David Ellis' reptile creature feature because number one, I don't like snakes and number two, I don't like snakes. But at least the flying snakes had Samuel L. Jackson to help get people on board. Even the barely watchable Cellular had Kim Basinger kicking some ass to elevate it past Lifetime fare. But for his next film, either Ellis has completely given up trying to get a recognizable name, or he is simply unable - so I guess Relativity (who just picked up distribution rights) is banking on 3D and the inherent allure of sharks.
Without so much as a title or a name you can recognize, Untitled 3D Shark Thriller is making its way to the big screen, apparently hoping to be the next generation's Jaws. According to Variety, the...
Without so much as a title or a name you can recognize, Untitled 3D Shark Thriller is making its way to the big screen, apparently hoping to be the next generation's Jaws. According to Variety, the...
- 11/28/2010
- by Cindy Davis
In their third pick-up since acquiring Overture Films this past summer, Relativity Media have baited the domestic rights to David R. Eliis’ Untitled 3D Shark Thriller which formerly went by the IMAX-like, National Geographic production title of Shark Night 3D. The film will swim into theaters sometime in 2011. While the production is an appropriate move for most of the players involved – Ellis previously helmed Snakes on a Plane and The Final Destination, and producers Chris Biggs and Mike Fleiss’ NextFilms brought us the Hostel films – a thriller/horror and for this production were joined by an unlikely indie producer in Lynette Howell and her Silverwood Films, Her banner has given us horror films before with junkie teachers of America in Half Nelson and the heart-ripping relationship break-up film Blue Valentine. Gist: Written by first-time scribes Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, this stars the inexpensive Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Katharine McPhee,...
- 11/24/2010
- IONCINEMA.com
When we last heard about this particular shark film, it was entitled Shark Night 3D and we reported on the film's casting choices [1]. Now the movie has wrapped photography and has gone into the post-production stage, referred to only as Untitled David R. Ellis 3D Shark Thriller. The production received some good news, however, as Relativity Media has picked up domestic distribution rights and plans on opening the movie wide in 2011. For those who need a refresher, the film revolves around seven people spending a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana. When sharks begin attacking, they soon discover a dirty plan that's been hatched by several locals. David R. Ellis (of Snakes on a Plane fame) directed and the cast includes Donal Logue, Joel David Moore, and Chris Zylka. I'll admit that I'm kind of a sucker for shark movies, so this one certainly has my attention, especially since...
- 11/24/2010
- by Aaron
- FilmJunk
The film once called Shark Night 3D is now called The Untitled David R. Ellis 3D Shark Thriller, but at least it has a distributor. Relativity Media has picked up domestic rights to the film, which is in post-production right now, and will release it wide on a Tdb date in 2011. As we've reported before, Donal Logue, Sinqua Walls, Sara Paxton, Dustin Milligan, Katharine McPhee, Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz, Joel David Moore, and Chris Zylka are in the cast. Director David Ellis [1] (the even-numbered Final Destination films and Snakes on a Plane) worked from a script by writers Jesse Studenberg [2] and Will Hayes [3]; the film has been called "Jaws for the 3D Generation," but that came from Deadline, so rely on that as you feel fit. Previously: The film's plot reportedly revolves around seven people who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana. When their vacation quickly becomes...
- 11/24/2010
- by Russ Fischer
- Slash Film
It looks like David R. Ellis' 3D shark film (formerly known as Shark Night 3D) will definitely be coming to us sometime in 2011 thanks to Relativity Media; however, we're just not sure what the title will be.
According to Deadline Hollywood Relativity acquired the film from Sierra Pictures and Incentive Filmed Entertainment. It stars Sara Paxton, Katharine McPhee, and Donal Logue and was written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes. Chris Briggs and Mike Fleiss are producing via their NextFilms banner, along with Lynette Howell via the Silverwood Films banner. It's currently in post-production.
Ellis (pictured right), you may recall, also directed Final Destination 2, The Final Destination, Snakes on a Plane, and Cellular so there's hope for a fun, yet effective shark tale here. This film revolves around seven men and women who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana's Gulf area. When their vacation quickly...
According to Deadline Hollywood Relativity acquired the film from Sierra Pictures and Incentive Filmed Entertainment. It stars Sara Paxton, Katharine McPhee, and Donal Logue and was written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes. Chris Briggs and Mike Fleiss are producing via their NextFilms banner, along with Lynette Howell via the Silverwood Films banner. It's currently in post-production.
Ellis (pictured right), you may recall, also directed Final Destination 2, The Final Destination, Snakes on a Plane, and Cellular so there's hope for a fun, yet effective shark tale here. This film revolves around seven men and women who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana's Gulf area. When their vacation quickly...
- 11/24/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Every good fish tale needs its eye candy, and David R. Ellis' Shark Night 3D has just gotten a couple of more beauties to don bikinis for his next toothy little film.
According to Variety Sara Paxton (pictured right; The Last House on the Left) and Katharine McPhee (The House Bunny) will be joining the previously announced Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz, Joel David Moore, and Sinqua Walls in the upcoming feeding frenzy.
Shark Night 3D revolves around seven men and women who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana's Gulf area. When their vacation quickly becomes a nightmare of hellish shark attacks, unheard of in freshwater lakes, they soon discover that the sharks are part of a sick, greedy plan on the part of several locals.
Ellis will be directing from a script by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes. The animatronic sharks will be created Walt Conti,...
According to Variety Sara Paxton (pictured right; The Last House on the Left) and Katharine McPhee (The House Bunny) will be joining the previously announced Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz, Joel David Moore, and Sinqua Walls in the upcoming feeding frenzy.
Shark Night 3D revolves around seven men and women who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana's Gulf area. When their vacation quickly becomes a nightmare of hellish shark attacks, unheard of in freshwater lakes, they soon discover that the sharks are part of a sick, greedy plan on the part of several locals.
Ellis will be directing from a script by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes. The animatronic sharks will be created Walt Conti,...
- 9/1/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Yes, that is what Shark Night 3D is being billed as. Jaws for the 3D generation. If that isn't a chum filled bucket of bloated fish guts to swallow. Lets set the bar incredibly high guys. Obviously they are going for hype and that may be the only thing this film has. With Piranha 3D not exactly setting the box office on fire one has to wonder how many more aquatic 3D adventures the public has left in us...
Director David Ellis (the even-numbered Final Destination films and Snakes on a Plane) and writers Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes have plotted this film and today we have four names to add to the cast. According to THR, Sinqua Walls, Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz and Joel David Moore are all going to be part of the story in which revolve around a plot that involves “seven men and women who spend...
Director David Ellis (the even-numbered Final Destination films and Snakes on a Plane) and writers Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes have plotted this film and today we have four names to add to the cast. According to THR, Sinqua Walls, Chris Carmack, Alyssa Diaz and Joel David Moore are all going to be part of the story in which revolve around a plot that involves “seven men and women who spend...
- 8/31/2010
- by Keepers of the Bid
- Horrorbid
And another big 3D fish is looking to take a bite out of the box office next year (hopefully a bigger one than Piranha 3D did, we're still pissed about its performance) as the cast for David R. Ellis' Shark Night 3D is finally fleshing out.
According to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog Sinqua Walls ("Savage County"), Chris Carmack (The Butterfly Effect: Revelation), Alyssa Diaz (Red Dawn) and Joel David Moore (pictured right; Hatchet, Avatar) have all signed on to chum the waters.
Shark Night 3D revolves around seven men and women who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana's Gulf area. When their vacation quickly becomes a nightmare of hellish shark attacks, unheard of in freshwater lakes, they soon discover that the sharks are part of a sick, greedy plan on the part of several locals.
Ellis will be directing from a script by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes.
According to The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog Sinqua Walls ("Savage County"), Chris Carmack (The Butterfly Effect: Revelation), Alyssa Diaz (Red Dawn) and Joel David Moore (pictured right; Hatchet, Avatar) have all signed on to chum the waters.
Shark Night 3D revolves around seven men and women who spend a weekend at a lake house in Louisiana's Gulf area. When their vacation quickly becomes a nightmare of hellish shark attacks, unheard of in freshwater lakes, they soon discover that the sharks are part of a sick, greedy plan on the part of several locals.
Ellis will be directing from a script by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes.
- 8/31/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
It has been a couple of months since we last spoke about David R. Ellis' (Final Destination 2, Snakes on a Plane, Asylum, The Final Destination) next three-dimensional terror fest Shark Night, but the first plot details have come to light so it's time to head back into the old trusty cage to get dirty!
According to Variety Sierra Pictures has scored key territory deals for Incentive Filmed Entertainment's 3D thriller Shark Night, selling off the UK, Commonwealth of Independent States (Cis), and the Middle East.
It has been revealed that the plot of the film revolves around a group of college friends who spend the weekend at a lake, only to discover that danger lurks beneath its waters.
Ellis will be directing from a script by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes. The animatronic sharks will be created Walt Conti, no stranger to such deadly movie creatures, having also...
According to Variety Sierra Pictures has scored key territory deals for Incentive Filmed Entertainment's 3D thriller Shark Night, selling off the UK, Commonwealth of Independent States (Cis), and the Middle East.
It has been revealed that the plot of the film revolves around a group of college friends who spend the weekend at a lake, only to discover that danger lurks beneath its waters.
Ellis will be directing from a script by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes. The animatronic sharks will be created Walt Conti, no stranger to such deadly movie creatures, having also...
- 5/14/2010
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Good news for all shark-lovers out there. David R. Ellis has signed on to direct a film titled Shark Night 3D. What a mix, huh? See, sharks, and 3D, kind of spooky?
No wonder they already describe this upcoming project as “Jaws for the 3D Generation”. It could be interesting, so check the rest of the report.
Looks like Ellis is a big fan of this kind of adventures, since we all remember his movies Snakes on a Plane and The Final Destination.
So, now we have the new adventure, and Ellis will shoot Shark Night 3D this summer in Louisiana with a $28 million budget.
The whole thing will be produced by Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs and Lynette Howell, and they are exactly those who hope this will be like a Jaws film but in 3D.
The screenplay is written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, and the film’s...
No wonder they already describe this upcoming project as “Jaws for the 3D Generation”. It could be interesting, so check the rest of the report.
Looks like Ellis is a big fan of this kind of adventures, since we all remember his movies Snakes on a Plane and The Final Destination.
So, now we have the new adventure, and Ellis will shoot Shark Night 3D this summer in Louisiana with a $28 million budget.
The whole thing will be produced by Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs and Lynette Howell, and they are exactly those who hope this will be like a Jaws film but in 3D.
The screenplay is written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, and the film’s...
- 4/11/2010
- by Fiona
- Filmofilia
David R. Ellis ("The Final Destination", "Snakes On A Plane") is set to direct "Shark Night 3D" for Incentive Filmed Entertainment, reports Deadline New York. Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes wrote the script for the film, which is scheduled to shoot this summer in Louisiana. Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs and Lynette Howell are producing. Fleiss and Briggs previously teamed up for "Hostel" and "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Ellis will shoot the film with 3D cameras as he did for "The Final Destination". He was second unit director water-set films "The Perfect Storm" and "Deep Blue Sea". The latter film's Walt Conti will create the animatronic sharks in "Shark Night 3D"....
- 4/10/2010
- www.ohmygore.com/
Harrison Ford Confirmed for Cowboys and#038; Aliens: Yesterday rumors began swirling that Harrison Ford had joined Daniel Craig and Olivia Wilde in Cowboys and#038; Aliens, Jon Favreau's follow-up to Iron Man, and today the director confirmed via Twitter the rumors were true. Details on Ford's character are as yet unknown, but the script was adapted from the Platinum Studios Comics graphic novel written by Fred Van Lente and Andrew Foley. The sci-fi Western explores what would happen if the traditional Old West enemies -- cowboys and Native Americans -- found the prairie attacked by aliens in mid-1800s Arizona. Iron Man and Children of Men scripters Hawk Ostby and Mark Fergus took a first stab at the script, which was then worked on by Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek) and Damon Lindelof ("Lost"). The film currently has a July 29, 2011 release date. [Twitter]
Mom...
Mom...
- 4/7/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
Could this be where the rumours of a Jaws 3D remake [1] started? Deadline New York [2] reports that David R. Ellis, the esteemed filmmaker behind such genre classics as Snakes on a Plane, Cellular and Final Destination 2 has lined up his next gorefest, and it will be a movie called Shark Night 3D. As the title implies, it will involve killer sharks and it will be shot in 3-D, a medium that Ellis has some experience with, since he also helmed the most recent Final Destination film. The script was written by newcomers Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, and the film will be produced by Mike Fleiss and Chris Briggs (Hostel, Poseidon). I believe Hayes was a writer on the Adult Swim show Assy McGee, so perhaps this will be at least partially a comedy? The good news is that the sharks will be animatronic instead of CG, and will...
- 4/7/2010
- by Sean
- FilmJunk
David R. Ellis (”The Final Destination” and “Snakes on a Plane”) has been tapped to direct “Shark Night”. The Incentive Filmed Entertainment project is going to film in 3D, and is written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes. It is scheduled to start shooting this summer in Louisiana with Chris Briggs, Mike Fleiss, and Lynette Howell producing. Ellis has previously worked in 3D on “The Final Destination”, and he will be using the same technology for “Shark Night”, according to Deadline New York. Walt Conti, who previously worked with Ellis on “Deep Blue Sea” where he was second-unit director for the water sets, will create the animatronic sharks in “Shark [...]...
- 4/7/2010
- by Costa Koutsoutis
- ShockYa
Deadline are reporting that David R. Ellis has signed on to direct Shark Night 3D, a movie that seemlessly blends Ellis’ past works into one – he was a second unit director on Deep Blue Sea, and he directed The Final Destination 3D for New Line. Sounds like Shark Night 3D will be right up his street!
The film, written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, will shoot this summer in Louisiana, with a $28 million budget. Incentive Filmed Entertainment (the company financing the film) are hoping that it will be Jaws for the 3D generation. Wait, wasn’t that Jaws 3D??
Apparently the sharks will be animatronic with Walt Conti, who was responsible for the sharks in Deep Blue Sea, the supersized snake in Anaconda and the whale in Free Willy, behind their creation. No word on whether Ellis will tap the internet for script and story ideas as he did with Snakes on a Plane…...
The film, written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, will shoot this summer in Louisiana, with a $28 million budget. Incentive Filmed Entertainment (the company financing the film) are hoping that it will be Jaws for the 3D generation. Wait, wasn’t that Jaws 3D??
Apparently the sharks will be animatronic with Walt Conti, who was responsible for the sharks in Deep Blue Sea, the supersized snake in Anaconda and the whale in Free Willy, behind their creation. No word on whether Ellis will tap the internet for script and story ideas as he did with Snakes on a Plane…...
- 4/7/2010
- by Phil
- Nerdly
Sorry "Twilight"... your days are numbered. Vampires might be immortal, but they can't do much blood-sucking when they're chewed into small pieces and sent hurtling through the lower digestive tract of a rabid animal. ...I wonder if a chewed up vampire's pieces would re-constitute after being expelled back into the world? These are the questions that keep me up at night.
Anyway, David R. Ellis, the man who birthed "Snakes on a Plane" and "The Final Destination" (the most recent in that series), is going to be working with animals again in "Shark Night 3D." Deadline reports that he'll shoot his "'Jaws' for the 3-D generation" this summer, with Walt Conti creating animatronic sharks (ie minimal-to-zero CG!). Conti also designed the deadly animals in "Anaconda" and "Deep Blue Sea"; Ellis worked as a second unit director on the latter, another shark movie, as well as waterbound flicks "The Perfect Storm,...
Anyway, David R. Ellis, the man who birthed "Snakes on a Plane" and "The Final Destination" (the most recent in that series), is going to be working with animals again in "Shark Night 3D." Deadline reports that he'll shoot his "'Jaws' for the 3-D generation" this summer, with Walt Conti creating animatronic sharks (ie minimal-to-zero CG!). Conti also designed the deadly animals in "Anaconda" and "Deep Blue Sea"; Ellis worked as a second unit director on the latter, another shark movie, as well as waterbound flicks "The Perfect Storm,...
- 4/7/2010
- by Adam Rosenberg
- MTV Movies Blog
Times have been tough for those suffering from thalassophobia lately. First, that whole "3D Double D Boobs" thing with the Alexandre Aja remake of Piranha, which is really good news for those of us who just figured out how to spell Inglourious Basterds without looking it up every time. But now comes the news that we're getting a 3D movie about ravenous sharks, too?!
According to Deadline.com, David R. Ellis, the man who brought us MFin' snakes on a MFin' plane (remember that?), is chomping at the bit to bring an audience ravenous for 3D gore Shark Night 3D. The script is being written by Will Hayes (who I really, really hope is also this Will Hayes, who used to write for Best Week Ever, because that would be hilarious) and Jesse Studenberg. (Is this the shark movie Heidi Montag was threatening to make? Because, gosh, that would be super.
According to Deadline.com, David R. Ellis, the man who brought us MFin' snakes on a MFin' plane (remember that?), is chomping at the bit to bring an audience ravenous for 3D gore Shark Night 3D. The script is being written by Will Hayes (who I really, really hope is also this Will Hayes, who used to write for Best Week Ever, because that would be hilarious) and Jesse Studenberg. (Is this the shark movie Heidi Montag was threatening to make? Because, gosh, that would be super.
- 4/7/2010
- by Jenni Miller
- Cinematical
Deadline is reporting that "Snakes on a Plane" director David R Ellis has signed on to helm "Shark Night 3D," a $28 million film that will shoot this summer in Louisiana. The script was written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, who are hoping to make the new movie into "Jaws" for the 3D generation. It will use animatronic sharks, created by Walt Conti, the man responsible for the sharks in "Deep Blue Sea," the supersized snake in "Anaconda" and the whales in the "Free Willy" films. Ellis seems to be the right director for this film. He shot "The Final Destination" using 3D cameras, and plans to do the same thing with "Shark Night 3D." He was also the second unit director on such water films as "The Perfect Storm" and "Deep Blue Sea." "Shark Night 3D" is expected to appear at the Cannes Film Festival next month.
- 4/7/2010
- WorstPreviews.com
David R. Ellis ("The Final Destination") is tipped to direct the horror feature "Shark Night 3D" says Deadline New York.
Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes' script is being kept under wraps but the $28 million creature feature hopes to become "Jaws for a new generation".
Walt Conti, who created the animatronic creatures in "Snakes on a Plane" and "Deep Blue Sea", will handle the animatronic sharks in this film.
Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs and Lynette Howell will produce and shooting kicks off this summer in Louisiana for a release in 2012.
Ellis was recently linked to direct the thriller "Bad Luck" which begins shooting this Fall.
Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes' script is being kept under wraps but the $28 million creature feature hopes to become "Jaws for a new generation".
Walt Conti, who created the animatronic creatures in "Snakes on a Plane" and "Deep Blue Sea", will handle the animatronic sharks in this film.
Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs and Lynette Howell will produce and shooting kicks off this summer in Louisiana for a release in 2012.
Ellis was recently linked to direct the thriller "Bad Luck" which begins shooting this Fall.
- 4/7/2010
- by Garth Franklin
- Dark Horizons
I know some of you are going to be very excited for something called Shark Night 3D. But I think it sounds kind of done before. The movie will be directed by David R. Ellis, who gave us the failed internet-buzz-sensation Snakes on a Plane and second-unit footage for Deep Blue Sea. He also did stunts in the Burt Reynolds movie Sharky's Machine, but that's not quite as relevant as it sounds.
Very little in Deadline.com's announcement of Shark Night 3D makes it seem appealing in any way. First, there's the claim that it'll be "Jaws for the 3D generation." Are we the 3D generation now? And was Jaws 3-D not Jaws for the 3D-of-its-time generation? Honestly, though, I don't even expect this to be as good as Jaws 3, in any format (I've only seen it on 2D VHS). Plus, I think Piranha 3D will beat this to the...
Very little in Deadline.com's announcement of Shark Night 3D makes it seem appealing in any way. First, there's the claim that it'll be "Jaws for the 3D generation." Are we the 3D generation now? And was Jaws 3-D not Jaws for the 3D-of-its-time generation? Honestly, though, I don't even expect this to be as good as Jaws 3, in any format (I've only seen it on 2D VHS). Plus, I think Piranha 3D will beat this to the...
- 4/7/2010
- by Christopher Campbell
David R. Ellis must really like 3D. He must also really like movies about killer animals. What better way to follow-up Snakes on a Plane and The Final Destination 3D than with Shark Night 3D, a film that hopes to succeed where Jaws 3D so epically failed.
Deadline New York got the exclusive goods on news that Ellis has committed to direct the $28 million man-eating shark flick Shark Night 3D this summer in Louisiana.
"The script was written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, and the film will be produced by Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs, and Lynnette Howell. Sierra Pictures' Nick Meyer will handle foreign territories. Wme Global, which packaged the film, will sell North American distribution. The film is expected to get action at next month's Cannes Film Festival."
The animatronic sharks will be created Walt Conti, no stranger to such deadly movie creatures, having also been responsible for the Deep Blue Sea sharks,...
Deadline New York got the exclusive goods on news that Ellis has committed to direct the $28 million man-eating shark flick Shark Night 3D this summer in Louisiana.
"The script was written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, and the film will be produced by Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs, and Lynnette Howell. Sierra Pictures' Nick Meyer will handle foreign territories. Wme Global, which packaged the film, will sell North American distribution. The film is expected to get action at next month's Cannes Film Festival."
The animatronic sharks will be created Walt Conti, no stranger to such deadly movie creatures, having also been responsible for the Deep Blue Sea sharks,...
- 4/6/2010
- by Foywonder
- DreadCentral.com
David R. Ellis has signed on to direct a film titled Shark Night 3D, which Deadline claims is aiming to be "Jaws for the 3D Generation". You can't help but get flashbacks to Jaws 3D with that statement. It always bothers me when Hollywood execs use Jaws as an example when they are clearly aiming to make a popcorn tentpole. The fact that "3D" is part of the film's title ensures the movie will probably be more Deep Blue Sea than Jaws. The screenplay is written by Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes, and the film's animatronic sharks will be created by Walt Conti, the guy/shop responsible for the sharks in Deep Blue Sea, the supersized snake in Anaconda and the whales in the Free Willy movies. This will not be the first time Ellis has worked with sharks, as he was a second unit director on the late-1990's...
- 4/6/2010
- by Peter Sciretta
- Slash Film
David R. Ellis ( The Final Destination , Snakes on a Plane ) is set to direct Shark Night 3D for Incentive Filmed Entertainment, reports Deadline New York . Jesse Studenberg and Will Hayes wrote the script for the film, which is scheduled to shoot this summer in Louisiana. Mike Fleiss, Chris Briggs and Lynette Howell are producing. Fleiss and Briggs previously teamed up for Hostel and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre . Ellis will shoot the film with 3D cameras as he did for The Final Destination . He was second unit director water-set films The Perfect Storm and Deep Blue Sea . The latter film's Walt Conti will create the animatronic sharks in Shark Night 3D .
- 4/6/2010
- Comingsoon.net
The newspaper ad for "Deep Blue Sea" kind of says it all: wet and terrified, Saffron Burrows is about to be eaten by a very big shark. One can't help but have certain expectations. See created-by-science monsters go amok! See a feisty crew of adventurers go bye-bye one at a time! See pretty girls die and men ride the giant, man-munching beast.
The Warner Bros. wide release, bumped up to Wednesday, should chomp up the competition, given the awareness and relative uniqueness of the movie.
Shocking but true, we live in an era where the original theatrical release of "Jaws" and its mostly abysmal sequels are ancient history. There really hasn't been a good shark movie since Steven Spielberg's big hit 24 years ago.
Savvy casting -- with a mixture of new faces and character actors -- and director Renny Harlin's extreme-sports approach to the action scenes, cool destructible production design and gruesome special effects, make it all come together in a crowd-roaring swim-hide-die game between unlucky humans and 25-foot-long, genetically altered mako sharks.
Floating research facility Aquatica -- a huge facility with underwater living quarters and laboratories and a fenced-in sea-corral -- is in trouble. Funding might go away, there's a tropical depression headed toward it and someone's been keeping secrets about those strange, messed-with sharks, which may hold the key to regenerating human brain tissue.
The beleaguered head of Aquatica, Dr. Susan McAlester (Burrows) is personally driven to find a cure for Alzheimer's, and she suspects increasing the brain size, and presumably teeth, of makos is making them smarter. And meaner. But her crew is just plain nervous when a seemingly successful experiment -- hurried to save the company and witnessed by a take-charge financial backer (Samuel L. Jackson) -- results in the near gobbling up of the project mastermind (Stellan Skarsgard).
It does take a while for the film to open the human sushi bar, with Jackson's got-the-ax outsider giving Burrows' prickly English gal an excuse to take everyone on a grand tour, and be introduced to chief shark wrangler and aquaman Carter Blake (Thomas Jane), religious cook Sherman "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J), Aquatica's excitable engineer Todd Scoggins (Michael Rapaport) and the always budgeted marine biologist/screamer (Jacqueline McKenzie).
But once the three "smart" sharks -- they recognize guns, can swim backwards and behave like 8,000-pound underwater housebreakers -- cause the facility to nearly blow up and sink, with many sections flooded and the survivors separated, "Deep" sees red and there are a half-dozen hoot-and-holler scares and numerous memorable dismemberments.
One doesn't so much root for the sharks (thankfully no attempt is made to really personalize them) as against certain characters, with some of them rudely and quite hilariously removed from the proceedings. (One early clue that the subject matter and appeal of the movie is blood-curdling primal, despite its sci-fi premise that's hard to swallow anyway, is the Film Production's notes, in which casting information is put under the section "Shark Bait".)
"Deep" Heroes Blake and Dudley are at just the right depth for this barn flooder -- guys who know how to survive, how to out-hustle the leaky screenplay and how to fry bogeyfish. Hip-hop artist LL Cool J is sensationally funny, and almost as over-the-top as muscleman Jane. Burrows makes for a delectable but somewhat tart fall girl.
Technical aspects of the widescreen production are generally top-notch given the experienced behind-the-camera crew, including production designer William Sandell ("Small Soldiers"), the editing team of Frank J. Urioste, Derek G. Brechin and Dallas S. Puett, visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun, animatronic wizard Walt Conti, stunt coordinator R. A. Rondell and underwater director of photography Pete Romana.
DEEP BLUE SEA
Warner Bros.
In association with Village Roadshow Pictures/
Groucho III Film Partnership
An Alan Riche-Tony Ludwig/Akiva Goldsman production
Director:Renny Harlin
Producers:Akiva Goldsman, Tony Ludwig, Alan Riche
Screenwriters:Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers, Wayne Powers
Executive producers:Duncan Henderson, Bruce Berman
Director of photography:Stephen Windon
Production designer:William Sandell
Editors:Frank J. Urioste, Derek G. Brechin, Dallas S. Puett
Music:Trevor Rabin
Costume designer:Mark Bridges
Visual effects supervisor:Jeffrey A. Okun
Shark action supervisor:Walt Conti
Casting:Christine Sheaks
Color/stereo
Cast:
Carter Blake:Thomas Jane
Dr. Susan McAlester:Saffron Burrows
Sherman "Preacher" Dudley:LL Cool J
Russell Franklin:Samuel L. Jackson
Janice Higgins:Jacqueline McKenzie
Todd Scoggins:Michael Rapaport
Jim Whitlock:Stellan Skarsgard
Running time -- 105 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
The Warner Bros. wide release, bumped up to Wednesday, should chomp up the competition, given the awareness and relative uniqueness of the movie.
Shocking but true, we live in an era where the original theatrical release of "Jaws" and its mostly abysmal sequels are ancient history. There really hasn't been a good shark movie since Steven Spielberg's big hit 24 years ago.
Savvy casting -- with a mixture of new faces and character actors -- and director Renny Harlin's extreme-sports approach to the action scenes, cool destructible production design and gruesome special effects, make it all come together in a crowd-roaring swim-hide-die game between unlucky humans and 25-foot-long, genetically altered mako sharks.
Floating research facility Aquatica -- a huge facility with underwater living quarters and laboratories and a fenced-in sea-corral -- is in trouble. Funding might go away, there's a tropical depression headed toward it and someone's been keeping secrets about those strange, messed-with sharks, which may hold the key to regenerating human brain tissue.
The beleaguered head of Aquatica, Dr. Susan McAlester (Burrows) is personally driven to find a cure for Alzheimer's, and she suspects increasing the brain size, and presumably teeth, of makos is making them smarter. And meaner. But her crew is just plain nervous when a seemingly successful experiment -- hurried to save the company and witnessed by a take-charge financial backer (Samuel L. Jackson) -- results in the near gobbling up of the project mastermind (Stellan Skarsgard).
It does take a while for the film to open the human sushi bar, with Jackson's got-the-ax outsider giving Burrows' prickly English gal an excuse to take everyone on a grand tour, and be introduced to chief shark wrangler and aquaman Carter Blake (Thomas Jane), religious cook Sherman "Preacher" Dudley (LL Cool J), Aquatica's excitable engineer Todd Scoggins (Michael Rapaport) and the always budgeted marine biologist/screamer (Jacqueline McKenzie).
But once the three "smart" sharks -- they recognize guns, can swim backwards and behave like 8,000-pound underwater housebreakers -- cause the facility to nearly blow up and sink, with many sections flooded and the survivors separated, "Deep" sees red and there are a half-dozen hoot-and-holler scares and numerous memorable dismemberments.
One doesn't so much root for the sharks (thankfully no attempt is made to really personalize them) as against certain characters, with some of them rudely and quite hilariously removed from the proceedings. (One early clue that the subject matter and appeal of the movie is blood-curdling primal, despite its sci-fi premise that's hard to swallow anyway, is the Film Production's notes, in which casting information is put under the section "Shark Bait".)
"Deep" Heroes Blake and Dudley are at just the right depth for this barn flooder -- guys who know how to survive, how to out-hustle the leaky screenplay and how to fry bogeyfish. Hip-hop artist LL Cool J is sensationally funny, and almost as over-the-top as muscleman Jane. Burrows makes for a delectable but somewhat tart fall girl.
Technical aspects of the widescreen production are generally top-notch given the experienced behind-the-camera crew, including production designer William Sandell ("Small Soldiers"), the editing team of Frank J. Urioste, Derek G. Brechin and Dallas S. Puett, visual effects supervisor Jeffrey A. Okun, animatronic wizard Walt Conti, stunt coordinator R. A. Rondell and underwater director of photography Pete Romana.
DEEP BLUE SEA
Warner Bros.
In association with Village Roadshow Pictures/
Groucho III Film Partnership
An Alan Riche-Tony Ludwig/Akiva Goldsman production
Director:Renny Harlin
Producers:Akiva Goldsman, Tony Ludwig, Alan Riche
Screenwriters:Duncan Kennedy, Donna Powers, Wayne Powers
Executive producers:Duncan Henderson, Bruce Berman
Director of photography:Stephen Windon
Production designer:William Sandell
Editors:Frank J. Urioste, Derek G. Brechin, Dallas S. Puett
Music:Trevor Rabin
Costume designer:Mark Bridges
Visual effects supervisor:Jeffrey A. Okun
Shark action supervisor:Walt Conti
Casting:Christine Sheaks
Color/stereo
Cast:
Carter Blake:Thomas Jane
Dr. Susan McAlester:Saffron Burrows
Sherman "Preacher" Dudley:LL Cool J
Russell Franklin:Samuel L. Jackson
Janice Higgins:Jacqueline McKenzie
Todd Scoggins:Michael Rapaport
Jim Whitlock:Stellan Skarsgard
Running time -- 105 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 7/26/1999
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
It's "don't go near the water" time again with fangs replacing jaws in Sony's "Anaconda", a popcorn/horror munchy about a film crew in the Amazon terrorized by a giant snake.
Likely to wrap up and swallow a sizable chunk of young audience boxoffice, this derivative and sometimes cheeky entertainment may inadvertently tickle the funny bones of adults who've made this genre trek before.
Featuring a melting-pot/cross-demographic ensemble including Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Eric Stoltz and Jon Voight, the real star of this entertainment expedition is, of course, the monstrous, special-effects-created anaconda.
Basically, the judgmental question in this type of curdler is whether the monster is scary and awesome enough to keep audiences clutching and ducking. In this case, yes: The serpent, which seems to be as long as an 18-wheeler and as thick as a set of tractor tires, is fracturingly frightening -- and not just to us types who fear garter snakes.
In this oft-followed story trek, Stoltz stars as Dr. Steven Cale, an anthropologist who has enlisted a camera crew, including fledgling director Terri (Jennifer Lopez), to shoot an ethnography of the Shirishama, an elusive Amazon tribe. So it's up the Amazon in a rattletrap boat -- seemingly left over from "The Heart of Darkness" voyage -- to find the legendary Shirishama.
Following the standard story cadence of monster movies, screenwriters Hans Bauer, Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. fleck the early journey with unsettling, foreboding incidents. These minor sensory frights also include a hellacious storm during which the crew picks up stranded snake poacher Paul Sarone (Voight), whose slithery ways strike fear in their hearts.
Under director Luis Llosa's carefully charted helmsmanship, tension is gradually built and the plot knot tightened: Subjective camera shots, tight shots of the characters and false frights all build to the inevitable entrance of the star, the snake itself. Unfortunately, the dialogue is often redundant and overwritten -- likely to provoke some "hisses" from sophisticated viewers. About the only generic element the scripters have not mixed in is the pooch in jeopardy sequence.
This film is about having a good-time fright, and there's none having more of a good time than Voight, who as the demented and mysterious snake poacher has served up a tongue-in-cheek performance that seems an amalgam of Hannibal Lecter, Ricky Ricardo and William F. Buckley Jr.
Other players fit the bill, including Stoltz as the serious-minded professor, Lopez as the enthusiastic director and Ice Cube as her boyfriend who yearns for the relative safety of South Central L.A.
Technical contributions are tops, primarily cinematographer Bill Butler's frightening and beautiful framings. Special credit to the snake team: Walt Conti and John Nelson.
ANACONDA
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures presents
a film by Luis Llosa
Producers Verna Harrah, Leonard Rabinowitz,
Carole Little
Director Luis Llosa
Screenwriters Hans Bauer, Jim Cash,
Jack Epps Jr.
Director of photography Bill Butler
Production designer Kirk M. Petruccelli
Editor Michael R. Miller
Music Randy Edelman
Co-producer Beau Marks
Visual effects John Nelson
Animatronic effects Walt Conti
Casting Mindy Marin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Terri Flores Jennifer Lopez
Danny Rich Ice Cube
Paul Sarone Jon Voight
Dr. Steven Cale Eric Stoltz
Warren Westridge Jonathan Hyde
Gary Dixon Owen Wilson
Denise Kalberg Kari Wuhrer
Mateo Vincent Castellanos
Poacher Danny Trejo
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
Likely to wrap up and swallow a sizable chunk of young audience boxoffice, this derivative and sometimes cheeky entertainment may inadvertently tickle the funny bones of adults who've made this genre trek before.
Featuring a melting-pot/cross-demographic ensemble including Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Eric Stoltz and Jon Voight, the real star of this entertainment expedition is, of course, the monstrous, special-effects-created anaconda.
Basically, the judgmental question in this type of curdler is whether the monster is scary and awesome enough to keep audiences clutching and ducking. In this case, yes: The serpent, which seems to be as long as an 18-wheeler and as thick as a set of tractor tires, is fracturingly frightening -- and not just to us types who fear garter snakes.
In this oft-followed story trek, Stoltz stars as Dr. Steven Cale, an anthropologist who has enlisted a camera crew, including fledgling director Terri (Jennifer Lopez), to shoot an ethnography of the Shirishama, an elusive Amazon tribe. So it's up the Amazon in a rattletrap boat -- seemingly left over from "The Heart of Darkness" voyage -- to find the legendary Shirishama.
Following the standard story cadence of monster movies, screenwriters Hans Bauer, Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr. fleck the early journey with unsettling, foreboding incidents. These minor sensory frights also include a hellacious storm during which the crew picks up stranded snake poacher Paul Sarone (Voight), whose slithery ways strike fear in their hearts.
Under director Luis Llosa's carefully charted helmsmanship, tension is gradually built and the plot knot tightened: Subjective camera shots, tight shots of the characters and false frights all build to the inevitable entrance of the star, the snake itself. Unfortunately, the dialogue is often redundant and overwritten -- likely to provoke some "hisses" from sophisticated viewers. About the only generic element the scripters have not mixed in is the pooch in jeopardy sequence.
This film is about having a good-time fright, and there's none having more of a good time than Voight, who as the demented and mysterious snake poacher has served up a tongue-in-cheek performance that seems an amalgam of Hannibal Lecter, Ricky Ricardo and William F. Buckley Jr.
Other players fit the bill, including Stoltz as the serious-minded professor, Lopez as the enthusiastic director and Ice Cube as her boyfriend who yearns for the relative safety of South Central L.A.
Technical contributions are tops, primarily cinematographer Bill Butler's frightening and beautiful framings. Special credit to the snake team: Walt Conti and John Nelson.
ANACONDA
Sony Pictures Releasing
Columbia Pictures presents
a film by Luis Llosa
Producers Verna Harrah, Leonard Rabinowitz,
Carole Little
Director Luis Llosa
Screenwriters Hans Bauer, Jim Cash,
Jack Epps Jr.
Director of photography Bill Butler
Production designer Kirk M. Petruccelli
Editor Michael R. Miller
Music Randy Edelman
Co-producer Beau Marks
Visual effects John Nelson
Animatronic effects Walt Conti
Casting Mindy Marin
Color/stereo
Cast:
Terri Flores Jennifer Lopez
Danny Rich Ice Cube
Paul Sarone Jon Voight
Dr. Steven Cale Eric Stoltz
Warren Westridge Jonathan Hyde
Gary Dixon Owen Wilson
Denise Kalberg Kari Wuhrer
Mateo Vincent Castellanos
Poacher Danny Trejo
Running time -- 90 minutes
MPAA rating: PG-13...
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