Coming off one of its most contentious years in history, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences has sent out its list of candidates for its Board of Governors elections late this month.
The Board of Governors directs the Academy’s strategic vision, preserves the organization’s financial health, and assures the fulfillment of its mission.
Governors attend 6-8 board meetings annually (in person or by video conference when out of town). Each Governor also serves on one board oversight committee and their branch’s executive committee, and they are expected to represent their branch at numerous Academy events through the year.
Governors have fiduciary responsibilities imposed by state law to serve the Academy’s best interests, by acting with responsibility and care when approving annual goals presented by management, as well as major policies concerning governance.
CEO Dawn Hudson oversees a staff of more than 300 who conduct the Academy’s day-to-day business.
The Board of Governors directs the Academy’s strategic vision, preserves the organization’s financial health, and assures the fulfillment of its mission.
Governors attend 6-8 board meetings annually (in person or by video conference when out of town). Each Governor also serves on one board oversight committee and their branch’s executive committee, and they are expected to represent their branch at numerous Academy events through the year.
Governors have fiduciary responsibilities imposed by state law to serve the Academy’s best interests, by acting with responsibility and care when approving annual goals presented by management, as well as major policies concerning governance.
CEO Dawn Hudson oversees a staff of more than 300 who conduct the Academy’s day-to-day business.
- 5/10/2019
- by Michael Cieply and Bruce Haring
- Deadline Film + TV
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire actor Bruno Gunn has joined the upcoming film Barely Lethal. The film stars Hailee Steinfeld as a teen assassin who runs away in hopes of living a normal high school life, but adversaries from her old life (including Jessica Alba's character) just won't let her be. Fanboys director Kyle Newman is directing, with a script by John D'Arco. John Cheng and Brett Ratner are producing via their RatPac Entertainment, along with Hopscotch Pictures’ Sukee Chew and Rko Pictures' Ted Hartley and Vanessa Coifman. Photos: The Redemption of Brett Ratner: Photos of the 'Hercules' Helmer
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- 11/14/2013
- by Rebecca Ford
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Exclusive: Jessica Alba will join Hailee Steinfeld and Samuel L Jackson in Rko Pictures’ action film Barely Lethal. Highland Film Group handles international sales and will continue talks with buyers in Toronto next month.
Production is set to commence on Oct 17 with Kyle Newman directing from a screenplay by John D’Arco.
Brett Ratner and John Cheng are producing for Rat Entertainment alongside Sukee Chew for Hopscotch Pictures, Ted Hartley and Rko’s Vanessa Coifman.
Barely Lethal centres on Megan, a teenage assassin who is hunted by a former associate after she fakes her own death and enrols in a suburban high school.
Alba will play Victoria Knox, the villain of the piece who pursues Megan.
Alba will be seen in the forthcoming features A.C.O.D., Stretch, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For and Dear Eleanor and the IFC mini-series The Spoils Of Babylon.
Production is set to commence on Oct 17 with Kyle Newman directing from a screenplay by John D’Arco.
Brett Ratner and John Cheng are producing for Rat Entertainment alongside Sukee Chew for Hopscotch Pictures, Ted Hartley and Rko’s Vanessa Coifman.
Barely Lethal centres on Megan, a teenage assassin who is hunted by a former associate after she fakes her own death and enrols in a suburban high school.
Alba will play Victoria Knox, the villain of the piece who pursues Megan.
Alba will be seen in the forthcoming features A.C.O.D., Stretch, Sin City: A Dame To Kill For and Dear Eleanor and the IFC mini-series The Spoils Of Babylon.
- 8/27/2013
- ScreenDaily
Academy Award nominated actor Samuel L Jackson (Django Unchained, Pulp Fiction) has joined Rko Pictures’ Barely Lethal, starring Academy Award nominated actress Hailee Steinfeld (Ender’S Game, True Grit). Highland Film Group (Hfg) is handling international sales in Cannes. Kyle Newman (Fanboys) will direct the comedy action script by John D’Arco. Principal photography will begin Fall 2013. Barely Lethal is being produced by Rko Pictures with Hopscotch Pictures and Brett Ratner’s Rat Entertainment.
Barely Lethal is a playful, high-velocity action-comedy in which a 16-year old international assassin (Steinfeld) yearning for “normal” adolescence fakes her own death and enrolls in a suburban high school. When her former-employer (Jackson) comes calling, it becomes more extracurriculars than any teenager can handle.
Rko Pictures will produce, with their President of Production Vanessa Coifman and Ted Hartley producing alongside Brett Ratner and John Cheng for Rat Entertainment and Hopscotch Pictures’ Sukee Chew.
Samuel L. Jackson...
Barely Lethal is a playful, high-velocity action-comedy in which a 16-year old international assassin (Steinfeld) yearning for “normal” adolescence fakes her own death and enrolls in a suburban high school. When her former-employer (Jackson) comes calling, it becomes more extracurriculars than any teenager can handle.
Rko Pictures will produce, with their President of Production Vanessa Coifman and Ted Hartley producing alongside Brett Ratner and John Cheng for Rat Entertainment and Hopscotch Pictures’ Sukee Chew.
Samuel L. Jackson...
- 5/16/2013
- by Michelle McCue
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
It's been over a year since last we talked about the Highland Film Group's proposed remake of the Rko classic I Walked with a Zombie, but man, how times and things concerning the project have changed.
Adam Marcus, who was once attached to direct the film now known as The Plantation, is out of the picture, and according to the Highland Film Group's website both Liv Tyler (The Strangers) and Gary Oldman (Dracula, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) have expressed interest in starring. Ted Hartley and Twisted Pictures' Mark Burg, Oren Koules, and Carl Mazzocone are still signed on to produce.
Check out some early teaser art and the plot crunch below.
Synopsis
Betsy, a young haunted school teacher, is running from her past. She accepts the generous offer from Mr. Theroux, agreeing to home-school his children while living with them in their idyllic family plantation.
Betsy quickly embraces...
Adam Marcus, who was once attached to direct the film now known as The Plantation, is out of the picture, and according to the Highland Film Group's website both Liv Tyler (The Strangers) and Gary Oldman (Dracula, Batman Begins, The Dark Knight) have expressed interest in starring. Ted Hartley and Twisted Pictures' Mark Burg, Oren Koules, and Carl Mazzocone are still signed on to produce.
Check out some early teaser art and the plot crunch below.
Synopsis
Betsy, a young haunted school teacher, is running from her past. She accepts the generous offer from Mr. Theroux, agreeing to home-school his children while living with them in their idyllic family plantation.
Betsy quickly embraces...
- 3/26/2011
- by Uncle Creepy
- DreadCentral.com
Considering how long we've been talking about it, I still have my doubts will ever see an Rko remake. Highland Film Group is selling I Walked With a Zombie for producers Ted Hartley, and Twisted Pictures' Mark Burg, Oren Koules, and Carl Mazzocone. Newly titled Plantation (then why remake it?) the official Highland Film Group site claims that both Liv Tyler and Gary Oldman have expressed interest in starring. Adam Marcus is no longer directing. From a story by executive producer Andy Fickman, and a screenplay by Adam Marcus and Debra Sullivan, "Besty, a young haunted school teacher, is running from her past. She accepts the generous offer from Mr. Theroux, agreeing to home school his children while living with them in their idyllic family plantation...."...
- 3/26/2011
- bloody-disgusting.com
One of Rko's many remakes is being sold by Highland Film Group under a different title. The proposed redo of I Walked With a Zombie is going by The Plantation these days and according to Highland's site, Liv Tyler and Gary Oldman are "interested" in starring. Andy Fickman, Rko's Ted Hartley and Twisted Pictures' Mark Burg, Oren Koules and Carl Mazzocone are still attached to produce the script by Adam Marcus and Debra Sullivan. Fickman told us last fall that progress on the Rko remakes was moving slowly but surely. Marcus would be directing I Walked With a Zombie / Plantation . Here's a synopsis from Highland along with sales art...which uses a skull merged with Angelina Jolie's face. Betsy, a young haunted school teacher, is running from her past. She...
- 3/25/2011
- shocktillyoudrop.com
The four actors have been set to star in A Late Quartet, an independent film from writer/director Yaron Zilberman. Shooting will start later this month in New York. Hoffman, Keener, Northam and Walken will play members of a world famous string quartet. They struggle to stay together on the eve of their 25th anniversary, with illness, ego and lust among the factors that threaten to tear them apart. Imogen Poots and Liraz Charhi also star. Zilberman directs from a script he wrote with Seth Grossman. Zilberman will produce with partner Tamar Sela through their Opening Night Productions banner. Vanessa Coifman, David Faigenblum, Emanuel Michael and Mandy Tagger are also producing. Concept Entertainment, Spring Pictures and Unison Films are the companies behind the film. Rko Pictures will distribute with its chief, Ted Hartley, among the exec producer roster. Zilberman directed the 2004 documentary Watermarks, about an Austrian female swim team from the 1930s.
- 1/10/2011
- by MIKE FLEMING
- Deadline
Roughly two years ago, it was announced that producer/director Andy Fickman ( Race to Witch Mountain ) and Twisted Pictures, the company responsible for the "Saw" franchise, were working with Rko Pictures chairman Ted Hartley to remake four films from the Rko horror catalog, including three early films by producer Val Lewton ( The Bodysnatcher , I Walked with a Zombie and Bedlam ) and John Farrow's airplane crash survival thriller Five Came Back . Last year, ComingSoon.net talked to Fickman and gave us the scoop that Adam Marcus ( Jason Go to Hell ) would be directing the first of them, I Walked With a Zombie . Since then, we haven't heard very much about progress on either that or the other three films so when they spoke with Fickman earlier this week for his...
- 9/24/2010
- shocktillyoudrop.com
The actress Blythe Danner can do anything, and in the one-woman play, My Brilliant Divorce by Geraldine Aron, she does: pirouetting, leaping, laughing, singing, sashaying across a bare stage fitted with one large stuffed chair in which she is engulfed like Eloise. Accompanied only by a stuffed dog in a wheeling cart, she recounts the tale of marital loss in a staged reading directed by the playwright and Jim Lawson. This being a comedy, she finds love. The evening of husbands and wives was sponsored by Dina Merrill and Ted Hartley who cheered Danner on along with Bob Balaban and Lynn Grossman, Danner's children Jake Paltrow with Taryn Simon, and daughter Gwyneth with husband Chris Martin of Coldplay. This was one of Guild Hall's stellar summer evenings. The week prior, the shy Barbara Kruger greeted guests at her one-woman show (till...
- 8/27/2010
- by Regina Weinreich
- Huffington Post
Screen Daily reports Myriad Pictures and Rko Pictures' genre division The Roseblood Movie Company are co-financing and producing a film based on an original screenplay by Bret Easton Ellis. The film is currently untitled, but Brad Furman (The Take) is directing with shooting set to begin in late summer. The script tells the story of an awkward social outcast who, after being humiliated by a group of peers, takes revenge by taking them hostage. Sounds to me a lot like Stephen King's novella "Rage" if you ask me. For those that don't know, Bret Easton Ellis' novels have served as the inspiration for such films as 1987's Less Than Zero, the Christian Bale starrer American Psycho and Roger Avary's The Rules of Attraction. However, his most recent adaptation didn't exactly sit well with critics, so much so I skipped the screening based on the consistent barrage of...
- 5/21/2009
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
The Roseblood Movie Co. is getting into the Bret Easton Ellis business.
The genre label, a joint venture of Myriad Pictures and Rko Pictures, will co-finance and produce an untitled original screenplay written by Ellis, whose novels have led to the films "Less Than Zero," "American Psycho" and "The Informers." Brad Furman ("The Take") is set to direct.
Producing are Ted Hartley, chairman and CEO of Rko Pictures; Kirk D'Amico, president and CEO of Myriad Pictures; and Braxton Pope of Ithaka Films. Zanne Devine and Michael Helfant will executive produce.
The project is scheduled to being shooting in late summer.
Ellis' story line involves an awkward social outcast who takes hostage a group of peers who humiliated him, with grim results.
"This is a joyously scary film, typical of the best of the genre and an exciting addition to the Roseblood slate," Hartley said.
"We really support Brad's vision of the film,...
The genre label, a joint venture of Myriad Pictures and Rko Pictures, will co-finance and produce an untitled original screenplay written by Ellis, whose novels have led to the films "Less Than Zero," "American Psycho" and "The Informers." Brad Furman ("The Take") is set to direct.
Producing are Ted Hartley, chairman and CEO of Rko Pictures; Kirk D'Amico, president and CEO of Myriad Pictures; and Braxton Pope of Ithaka Films. Zanne Devine and Michael Helfant will executive produce.
The project is scheduled to being shooting in late summer.
Ellis' story line involves an awkward social outcast who takes hostage a group of peers who humiliated him, with grim results.
"This is a joyously scary film, typical of the best of the genre and an exciting addition to the Roseblood slate," Hartley said.
"We really support Brad's vision of the film,...
- 5/19/2009
- by By Jay A. Fernandez
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rko has found a director for its upcoming remake of the 1943 horror classic, “I Walk with a Zombie”. His name is Adam Marcus, and he last directed the Val Kilmer starrer “Conspiracy” (you’ve probably never heard of it, cause mostly it sucked), and before that, “Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday”, which as it turns out, wasn’t really the final Friday. Variety has more on the remake: The film focuses on a private tutor who discovers a terrifying family secret while working at the ancient estate of a New Orleans businessman. The original was a forerunner of the corps of walking corpse films that followed. Hartley called the film one of the most valuable in the Rko library. The 1943 original was directed by Jacques Tourneur, and starred Edith Barrett, James Bell, and Tom Conway. Marcus will adapt the remake with his writing partner Debra Sullivan, while Ted Hartley,...
- 3/16/2009
- by Nix
- Beyond Hollywood
The recently re-established Rko is developing a remake of the 1936 road comedy titled Love on a Bet for comedy regular Steve Carr (of Daddy Day Care and Are We Done Yet?) to direct. The original was directed by Leigh Jason and starred Gene Raymond and Wendy Barrie. In the film, to raise money for a play, a man bets his rich uncle that he can begin a journey in New York's Central Park with nothing but his underwear and end up in California with a suit, $100 and a fiancee. I really love that concept, but in the hands of Steve Carr, it's going to be turned into one hell of a shitty Hollywood movie. What a travesty! "The original took place in the days where it was racy to be in underwear," producer Ted Hartley told Hollywood Reporter. "This movie is going to start out with the guy wearing ...
- 11/20/2008
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Steve Carr has signed on to direct Love On A Bet, a remake of a 1930s Rko comedy that will be produced by the resurrected company. A word of warning, though: the last time Carr directed a remake of an Rko movie, for Rko, it was the ghastly Are We Done Yet?, which was ostensibly a remake of Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House.This one, though, would seem to have more potential. The original starred Gene Raymond as a young playwright who bets his rich uncle that he can start a journey in New York wearing nothing but his pants, and finish off in California with a suit, $100 and a fiancée. Could make for an interesting and witty road movie comedy – so what upgrades does Rko have in mind? "The original took place in the days where it was racy to be in underwear," said Rko’s Ted Hartley,...
- 11/19/2008
- EmpireOnline
RKO is putting money down for "Love on a Bet," a remake of a 1936 road comedy that will be directed by Steve Carr.
RKO's Ted Hartley is producing along with Carr and Jason Taragan via their Rumpus Entertainment banner. Aaron Ray is producing as well.
The original "Bet" was a Depression-era comedy -- directed by Leigh Jason and starring Gene Raymond and Wendy Barrie -- that followed a man who, in order to raise money for a play, makes a bet with a rich uncle that he can begin a journey in New York's Central Park with nothing but his underwear and end up in California with a suit, $100 and a fiancee.
"The original took place in the days where it was racy to be in underwear," Hartley said. "This movie is going to start out with the guy wearing a lot less than his underwear. It's going to be edgy and romantic.
RKO's Ted Hartley is producing along with Carr and Jason Taragan via their Rumpus Entertainment banner. Aaron Ray is producing as well.
The original "Bet" was a Depression-era comedy -- directed by Leigh Jason and starring Gene Raymond and Wendy Barrie -- that followed a man who, in order to raise money for a play, makes a bet with a rich uncle that he can begin a journey in New York's Central Park with nothing but his underwear and end up in California with a suit, $100 and a fiancee.
"The original took place in the days where it was racy to be in underwear," Hartley said. "This movie is going to start out with the guy wearing a lot less than his underwear. It's going to be edgy and romantic.
- 11/19/2008
- by By Borys Kit
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
UPDATED 7:00 P.M. PT FRIDAY, JAN. 25
STRIKE ZONE: Latest news and updates
RKO Productions is the latest company to sign an interim comprehensive agreement with the Writers Guild of America, the guild announced Friday.
The agreement is similar to those struck by the WGA and several production companies and studios, including Lionsgate, Marvel Studios, The Weinstein Co., United Artists, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Spyglass Entertainment, MRC, Jackson Bites, Mandate Films and Worldwide Pants.
"The negotiation with the guild was smooth and businesslike; they kept their agreement and we kept ours," said RKO's CEO Ted Hartley. "This now releases the pent-up energies of the talented executives, producers and writers at RKO. We all are eager to get back to creating great films and innovative programming today."
RKO will announce its production schedule next week, which includes several film projects, as well as financing, producing and distributing a number of new versions of classic RKO films from its 1,300 title library.
In a joint statement, WGA East president Michael Winship and WGA West president Patric Verrone said, "In the past, RKO gave the world such classics as King Kong,' ' 'Citizen Kane' and 'It's a Wonderful Life.' Not it looks to the future, signing an interim agreement that recognizes fair and respectful compensation for writers on the Internet and in new media."
Meanwhile, representatives of the WGA and Hollywood studios met for a fourth consecutive day of informal talks Friday.
STRIKE ZONE: Latest news and updates
RKO Productions is the latest company to sign an interim comprehensive agreement with the Writers Guild of America, the guild announced Friday.
The agreement is similar to those struck by the WGA and several production companies and studios, including Lionsgate, Marvel Studios, The Weinstein Co., United Artists, Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, Spyglass Entertainment, MRC, Jackson Bites, Mandate Films and Worldwide Pants.
"The negotiation with the guild was smooth and businesslike; they kept their agreement and we kept ours," said RKO's CEO Ted Hartley. "This now releases the pent-up energies of the talented executives, producers and writers at RKO. We all are eager to get back to creating great films and innovative programming today."
RKO will announce its production schedule next week, which includes several film projects, as well as financing, producing and distributing a number of new versions of classic RKO films from its 1,300 title library.
In a joint statement, WGA East president Michael Winship and WGA West president Patric Verrone said, "In the past, RKO gave the world such classics as King Kong,' ' 'Citizen Kane' and 'It's a Wonderful Life.' Not it looks to the future, signing an interim agreement that recognizes fair and respectful compensation for writers on the Internet and in new media."
Meanwhile, representatives of the WGA and Hollywood studios met for a fourth consecutive day of informal talks Friday.
- 1/25/2008
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
RKO Pictures is bringing new life to the Boris Karloff cult film Isle of the Dead, hiring writers Brian Horiuchi and Matt Lazarus to adapt a remake.
In the 1945 film directed by Val Lewton, Karloff played a Greek military commander on an island where a plague breaks out. He orders the isle quarantined and as residents fall ill and die, some begin to suspect that a vampire-demon might be the cause of the deaths.
RKO plans to set the remake against the backdrop of a viral outbreak in Afghanistan.
"Val Lewton made his name by taking the horror genre to a new place," said RKO chairman and CEO Ted Hartley, who will produce. "Brian and Matt have the same kind of genre-bending sensibilities that will give this classic tale the perfect blend of contemporary themes and timeless scares."
No director has been set.
RKO Pictures vp Kevin Cornish is overseeing.
RKO Pictures at one point was among the greatest of the legendary Hollywood studios.
In the 1945 film directed by Val Lewton, Karloff played a Greek military commander on an island where a plague breaks out. He orders the isle quarantined and as residents fall ill and die, some begin to suspect that a vampire-demon might be the cause of the deaths.
RKO plans to set the remake against the backdrop of a viral outbreak in Afghanistan.
"Val Lewton made his name by taking the horror genre to a new place," said RKO chairman and CEO Ted Hartley, who will produce. "Brian and Matt have the same kind of genre-bending sensibilities that will give this classic tale the perfect blend of contemporary themes and timeless scares."
No director has been set.
RKO Pictures vp Kevin Cornish is overseeing.
RKO Pictures at one point was among the greatest of the legendary Hollywood studios.
- 8/15/2007
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
This review was written for the theatrical release of "Are We Done Yet?"
Mr. Cube builds his dream house in "Are We Done Yet?" which essentially takes the "Are We There Yet?" characters and grafts them into the basic plot line for the classic RKO comedy "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," in which Cary Grant played Mr. Blandings, a man who predated "Green Acres' " Oliver Douglas by a couple of decades.
While the refurbished version would never be taken as an improvement over the original, it makes for a generally inoffensive hour-and-a-half, and with a certifiably gonzo John C. McGinley providing the bulk of the laughs, it is definitely less obnoxious than those "Cheaper by the Dozen" remakes.
It also is better than the 2005 Ice Cube comedy that still managed to gross a highly respectable $82 million. Given the new film's pre-Easter weekend release strategy, it should play well with kids and home improvement fanatics, though others could find themselves relating to the title on more than one occasion.
The last time we saw Ice Cube's Nick Persons, he was trapped in an SUV with two kids traveling from Portland to Vancouver. Now fully domesticated, Nick, his bride, Suzanne (Nia Long), and her two growing children (Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden) are finding his former bachelor pad a little cramped, and with twins on the way, bigger quarters are required sooner rather than later.
They find the sprawling house of their dreams in the rural Pacific Northwest (courtesy of British Columbia), which affords lots of fresh air and lakeside views. It also proves to be a major money pit, but Persons is so taken in by a local real estate agent's ("Scrubs" regular McGinley) slick sales pitch, he fails to notice all the telltale signs.
As it turns out, McGinley's ingratiating Chuck Mitchell Jr. wears a number of hats, including building inspector and contractor, and before Nick knows what has hit him, Chuck has moved his Airstream trailer into the Persons' yard to oversee the neverending renovations.
Directed by Steve Carr, who helmed Ice Cube's "Next Friday", and adapted by Hank Nelken ("Saving Silverman"), the picture delivers the requisite number of pratfalls, and the genial Ice Cube makes for a credibly hapless everyman, but the comedy still feels a little too safely soft around the edges. A little more inspiration could have made it something enjoyable instead of simply innocuous.
Visually, cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator, effectively captures all those unobstructed, picture-perfect vistas. Production designer Nina Ruscio rightfully lends the house a distinctive character of its own.
Should the Persons family return for another sequel, here's hoping they at least don't take another dip into the RKO vault and turn "Citizen Kane" into "Are We Rich Yet?"
ARE WE DONE YET?
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents an RKO Pictures/Cube Vision production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriter: Hank Nelken
Based on characters created by: Steven Gary Banks, Claudio Grazioso
Based on the motion picture "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," screenplay by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
Producers: Ted Hartley, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Todd Garner
Executive producers: Heidi Santelli, Aaron Ray, Steve Carr, Derek Dauchy, Neil Machlis
Director of photography: Jack Green
Production designer: Nina Ruscio
Editor: Craig P. Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Nick Persons: Ice Cube
Suzanne Persons: Nia Long
Chuck Mitchell Jr.: John C. McGinley
Lindsey Persons: Aleisha Allen
Kevin Persons: Philip Daniel Bolden
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Mr. Cube builds his dream house in "Are We Done Yet?" which essentially takes the "Are We There Yet?" characters and grafts them into the basic plot line for the classic RKO comedy "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," in which Cary Grant played Mr. Blandings, a man who predated "Green Acres' " Oliver Douglas by a couple of decades.
While the refurbished version would never be taken as an improvement over the original, it makes for a generally inoffensive hour-and-a-half, and with a certifiably gonzo John C. McGinley providing the bulk of the laughs, it is definitely less obnoxious than those "Cheaper by the Dozen" remakes.
It also is better than the 2005 Ice Cube comedy that still managed to gross a highly respectable $82 million. Given the new film's pre-Easter weekend release strategy, it should play well with kids and home improvement fanatics, though others could find themselves relating to the title on more than one occasion.
The last time we saw Ice Cube's Nick Persons, he was trapped in an SUV with two kids traveling from Portland to Vancouver. Now fully domesticated, Nick, his bride, Suzanne (Nia Long), and her two growing children (Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden) are finding his former bachelor pad a little cramped, and with twins on the way, bigger quarters are required sooner rather than later.
They find the sprawling house of their dreams in the rural Pacific Northwest (courtesy of British Columbia), which affords lots of fresh air and lakeside views. It also proves to be a major money pit, but Persons is so taken in by a local real estate agent's ("Scrubs" regular McGinley) slick sales pitch, he fails to notice all the telltale signs.
As it turns out, McGinley's ingratiating Chuck Mitchell Jr. wears a number of hats, including building inspector and contractor, and before Nick knows what has hit him, Chuck has moved his Airstream trailer into the Persons' yard to oversee the neverending renovations.
Directed by Steve Carr, who helmed Ice Cube's "Next Friday", and adapted by Hank Nelken ("Saving Silverman"), the picture delivers the requisite number of pratfalls, and the genial Ice Cube makes for a credibly hapless everyman, but the comedy still feels a little too safely soft around the edges. A little more inspiration could have made it something enjoyable instead of simply innocuous.
Visually, cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator, effectively captures all those unobstructed, picture-perfect vistas. Production designer Nina Ruscio rightfully lends the house a distinctive character of its own.
Should the Persons family return for another sequel, here's hoping they at least don't take another dip into the RKO vault and turn "Citizen Kane" into "Are We Rich Yet?"
ARE WE DONE YET?
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents an RKO Pictures/Cube Vision production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriter: Hank Nelken
Based on characters created by: Steven Gary Banks, Claudio Grazioso
Based on the motion picture "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," screenplay by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
Producers: Ted Hartley, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Todd Garner
Executive producers: Heidi Santelli, Aaron Ray, Steve Carr, Derek Dauchy, Neil Machlis
Director of photography: Jack Green
Production designer: Nina Ruscio
Editor: Craig P. Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Nick Persons: Ice Cube
Suzanne Persons: Nia Long
Chuck Mitchell Jr.: John C. McGinley
Lindsey Persons: Aleisha Allen
Kevin Persons: Philip Daniel Bolden
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Mr. Cube builds his dream house in Are We Done Yet? which essentially takes the Are We There Yet? characters and grafts them into the basic plot line for the classic RKO comedy Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, in which Cary Grant played Mr. Blandings, a man who predated "Green Acres' " Oliver Douglas by a couple of decades.
While the refurbished version would never be taken as an improvement over the original, it makes for a generally inoffensive hour-and-a-half, and with a certifiably gonzo John C. McGinley providing the bulk of the laughs, it is definitely less obnoxious than those Cheaper by the Dozen remakes.
It also is better than the 2005 Ice Cube comedy that still managed to gross a highly respectable $82 million. Given the new film's pre-Easter weekend release strategy, it should play well with kids and home improvement fanatics, though others could find themselves relating to the title on more than one occasion.
The last time we saw Ice Cube's Nick Persons, he was trapped in an SUV with two kids traveling from Portland to Vancouver. Now fully domesticated, Nick, his bride, Suzanne (Nia Long), and her two growing children (Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden) are finding his former bachelor pad a little cramped, and with twins on the way, bigger quarters are required sooner rather than later.
They find the sprawling house of their dreams in the rural Pacific Northwest (courtesy of British Columbia), which affords lots of fresh air and lakeside views. It also proves to be a major money pit, but Persons is so taken in by a local real estate agent's (Scrubs regular McGinley) slick sales pitch, he fails to notice all the telltale signs.
As it turns out, McGinley's ingratiating Chuck Mitchell Jr. wears a number of hats, including building inspector and contractor, and before Nick knows what has hit him, Chuck has moved his Airstream trailer into the Persons' yard to oversee the neverending renovations.
Directed by Steve Carr, who helmed Ice Cube's Next Friday, and adapted by Hank Nelken (Saving Silverman), the picture delivers the requisite number of pratfalls, and the genial Ice Cube makes for a credibly hapless everyman, but the comedy still feels a little too safely soft around the edges. A little more inspiration could have made it something enjoyable instead of simply innocuous.
Visually, cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator, effectively captures all those unobstructed, picture-perfect vistas. Production designer Nina Ruscio rightfully lends the house a distinctive character of its own.
Should the Persons family return for another sequel, here's hoping they at least don't take another dip into the RKO vault and turn Citizen Kane into "Are We Rich Yet?"
ARE WE DONE YET?
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents an RKO Pictures/Cube Vision production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriter: Hank Nelken
Based on characters created by: Steven Gary Banks, Claudio Grazioso
Based on the motion picture "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," screenplay by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
Producers: Ted Hartley, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Todd Garner
Executive producers: Heidi Santelli, Aaron Ray, Steve Carr, Derek Dauchy, Neil Machlis
Director of photography: Jack Green
Production designer: Nina Ruscio
Editor: Craig P. Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Nick Persons: Ice Cube
Suzanne Persons: Nia Long
Chuck Mitchell Jr.: John C. McGinley
Lindsey Persons: Aleisha Allen
Kevin Persons: Philip Daniel Bolden
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
While the refurbished version would never be taken as an improvement over the original, it makes for a generally inoffensive hour-and-a-half, and with a certifiably gonzo John C. McGinley providing the bulk of the laughs, it is definitely less obnoxious than those Cheaper by the Dozen remakes.
It also is better than the 2005 Ice Cube comedy that still managed to gross a highly respectable $82 million. Given the new film's pre-Easter weekend release strategy, it should play well with kids and home improvement fanatics, though others could find themselves relating to the title on more than one occasion.
The last time we saw Ice Cube's Nick Persons, he was trapped in an SUV with two kids traveling from Portland to Vancouver. Now fully domesticated, Nick, his bride, Suzanne (Nia Long), and her two growing children (Aleisha Allen, Philip Daniel Bolden) are finding his former bachelor pad a little cramped, and with twins on the way, bigger quarters are required sooner rather than later.
They find the sprawling house of their dreams in the rural Pacific Northwest (courtesy of British Columbia), which affords lots of fresh air and lakeside views. It also proves to be a major money pit, but Persons is so taken in by a local real estate agent's (Scrubs regular McGinley) slick sales pitch, he fails to notice all the telltale signs.
As it turns out, McGinley's ingratiating Chuck Mitchell Jr. wears a number of hats, including building inspector and contractor, and before Nick knows what has hit him, Chuck has moved his Airstream trailer into the Persons' yard to oversee the neverending renovations.
Directed by Steve Carr, who helmed Ice Cube's Next Friday, and adapted by Hank Nelken (Saving Silverman), the picture delivers the requisite number of pratfalls, and the genial Ice Cube makes for a credibly hapless everyman, but the comedy still feels a little too safely soft around the edges. A little more inspiration could have made it something enjoyable instead of simply innocuous.
Visually, cinematographer Jack Green, a frequent Clint Eastwood collaborator, effectively captures all those unobstructed, picture-perfect vistas. Production designer Nina Ruscio rightfully lends the house a distinctive character of its own.
Should the Persons family return for another sequel, here's hoping they at least don't take another dip into the RKO vault and turn Citizen Kane into "Are We Rich Yet?"
ARE WE DONE YET?
Columbia Pictures
Revolution Studios presents an RKO Pictures/Cube Vision production
Credits:
Director: Steve Carr
Screenwriter: Hank Nelken
Based on characters created by: Steven Gary Banks, Claudio Grazioso
Based on the motion picture "Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House," screenplay by Norman Panama and Melvin Frank
Producers: Ted Hartley, Ice Cube, Matt Alvarez, Todd Garner
Executive producers: Heidi Santelli, Aaron Ray, Steve Carr, Derek Dauchy, Neil Machlis
Director of photography: Jack Green
Production designer: Nina Ruscio
Editor: Craig P. Herring
Music: Teddy Castellucci
Cast:
Nick Persons: Ice Cube
Suzanne Persons: Nia Long
Chuck Mitchell Jr.: John C. McGinley
Lindsey Persons: Aleisha Allen
Kevin Persons: Philip Daniel Bolden
Running time -- 92 minutes
MPAA rating: PG...
Revolution Studios partner Todd Garner will enter into a nonexclusive, first-look deal with Revolution Studios as an independent producer, it was announced Tuesday by Revolution founder Joe Roth. In the wake of the development, Roth now will oversee all of Revolution's development activities. Garner's first project in his new role will be to serve as an executive producer on The Fog, which will be released in October. Garner also will join Suzanne Todd and Jennifer Todd as a producer on the Tim Allen comedy Zoom, which will begin production in July. In addition, Garner will serve as a producer along with Nicolas Cage and Norm Golightly on the sci-fi action thriller Next and with Ted Hartley, Ice Cube and Matt Alvarez on the remake of the classic 1948 comedy Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, both of which are in preproduction. Garner also has several other projects in development.
Opens
April 9 in Los Angeles
Cardsharps, grifters, gangsters and shady women mix it up in Damien Nieman's surprisingly entertaining "Shade", a dramatic thriller with a large cast playing the hell out of some very juicy roles. Nieman's script shuffles nimbly among an array of colorful characters and offers unexpected twists that keep you off-balance. The film is shot around Los Angeles, a town that looks familiar yet strange as hot spots and hotels take on a retro look -- somewhere between Damon Runyon and film noir.
If marketed with as much imagination and verve as it was made with, this film from RKO Pictures could rack up decent boxoffice figures. Certainly, the cast catches the eye, ranging from Gabriel Byrne, Stuart Townsend and Thandie Newton to Melanie Griffith and Sylvester Stallone.
As the movie gets under way, a con by slinky Tiffany (Newton) and a scruffy Miller (Byrne), dressed as a street bum, nets a mere $300, which demonstrates how small-potatoes these grifters are even as they aim to take down a legendary cardsharp called the "Dean" (Stallone). Only they need their own card trickster, which means teaming up with moody though talented Vernon (Townsend).
The three have a past: Tiffany once hooked up with Vernon but switched her romantic alliance to Miller. Nevertheless, each needs the other to go up against the Dean. They also recruit a second card player, Jennings (Jamie Foxx), to pull off a sting, then realize the money actually belongs to a local mobster, Malini (Patrick Bauchau). His icy henchman come calling as does a crooked vice cop (Bo Hopkins), whose vocabulary does not contain the word "No."
Nieman smoothly builds to the high-stakes poker game in scenes of escalating tension and biting dialogue, all backed by a percussion-driven score. Quicksilver editing jumps action back or forward in time by a few minutes. Voice-over dialogue occurs on the soundtrack in scenes where characters exchange glances and ponder moves.
Townsend exudes a ripe combination of confidence and wounded pride as a man bested at love but never at cards. Byrne and Newton have the grift in their blood so bad their every move is suspect. Foxx pushes the envelope of overconfidence, unaware how over his head he truly is. Stallone and Griffith work well together in small though crucial roles. And Hal Holbrook turns up as a cagey old card magician.
SHADE
RKO Releasing
An RKO Pictures production in association with Merv Griffin Entertainment, Hammond Entertainment, Judgment Pictures and Colbalt Media Group
Credits:
Writer/director: Damien Nieman
Producers: Ted Hartley, Merv Griffin, David M. Schnepp, Christopher B. Hammond
Executive producers: Joe Nicolo, Bo Hopkins
Director of photography: Anthony B. Richmond Production designer: Gregory Van Horn
Music: James Johnzen
Costume designer: Susanna Pulisto
Editors: Scott Conrad, Glenn Garland
Cast:
Vernon: Stuart Townsend
Charlie Miller: Gabriel Byrne
Tiffany: Thandie Newton
Larry: Jamie Foxx
Eve: Melanie Griffith
Stevens: Sylvester Stallone
Dina: Dina Merrill
Malini: Patrick Bauchau
Scarne: Bo Hopkins
Running time -- 102 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
April 9 in Los Angeles
Cardsharps, grifters, gangsters and shady women mix it up in Damien Nieman's surprisingly entertaining "Shade", a dramatic thriller with a large cast playing the hell out of some very juicy roles. Nieman's script shuffles nimbly among an array of colorful characters and offers unexpected twists that keep you off-balance. The film is shot around Los Angeles, a town that looks familiar yet strange as hot spots and hotels take on a retro look -- somewhere between Damon Runyon and film noir.
If marketed with as much imagination and verve as it was made with, this film from RKO Pictures could rack up decent boxoffice figures. Certainly, the cast catches the eye, ranging from Gabriel Byrne, Stuart Townsend and Thandie Newton to Melanie Griffith and Sylvester Stallone.
As the movie gets under way, a con by slinky Tiffany (Newton) and a scruffy Miller (Byrne), dressed as a street bum, nets a mere $300, which demonstrates how small-potatoes these grifters are even as they aim to take down a legendary cardsharp called the "Dean" (Stallone). Only they need their own card trickster, which means teaming up with moody though talented Vernon (Townsend).
The three have a past: Tiffany once hooked up with Vernon but switched her romantic alliance to Miller. Nevertheless, each needs the other to go up against the Dean. They also recruit a second card player, Jennings (Jamie Foxx), to pull off a sting, then realize the money actually belongs to a local mobster, Malini (Patrick Bauchau). His icy henchman come calling as does a crooked vice cop (Bo Hopkins), whose vocabulary does not contain the word "No."
Nieman smoothly builds to the high-stakes poker game in scenes of escalating tension and biting dialogue, all backed by a percussion-driven score. Quicksilver editing jumps action back or forward in time by a few minutes. Voice-over dialogue occurs on the soundtrack in scenes where characters exchange glances and ponder moves.
Townsend exudes a ripe combination of confidence and wounded pride as a man bested at love but never at cards. Byrne and Newton have the grift in their blood so bad their every move is suspect. Foxx pushes the envelope of overconfidence, unaware how over his head he truly is. Stallone and Griffith work well together in small though crucial roles. And Hal Holbrook turns up as a cagey old card magician.
SHADE
RKO Releasing
An RKO Pictures production in association with Merv Griffin Entertainment, Hammond Entertainment, Judgment Pictures and Colbalt Media Group
Credits:
Writer/director: Damien Nieman
Producers: Ted Hartley, Merv Griffin, David M. Schnepp, Christopher B. Hammond
Executive producers: Joe Nicolo, Bo Hopkins
Director of photography: Anthony B. Richmond Production designer: Gregory Van Horn
Music: James Johnzen
Costume designer: Susanna Pulisto
Editors: Scott Conrad, Glenn Garland
Cast:
Vernon: Stuart Townsend
Charlie Miller: Gabriel Byrne
Tiffany: Thandie Newton
Larry: Jamie Foxx
Eve: Melanie Griffith
Stevens: Sylvester Stallone
Dina: Dina Merrill
Malini: Patrick Bauchau
Scarne: Bo Hopkins
Running time -- 102 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
Regency Enterprises -- which along with Fox 2000 produced this past weekend's top-grossing movie, Man on Fire -- has found the truth in David Collard's Beyond a Reasonable Doubt. Collard's spec script is a remake of the 1956 RKO film of the same name. The original Beyond a Reasonable Doubt was one of the last English-language films from writer-director Fritz Lang. It starred Dana Andrews, Joan Fontaine, Sidney Blackmer, Arthur Franz, Philip Bourneuf and Ed Binns. The story centers on a newsman who intentionally frames himself for a murder he didn't commit to point out the dangers of circumstantial evidence and to expose an overzealous district attorney who has manipulated evidence in the past to gain convictions. Everything is going as planned until his friend, the one person who can exonerate him, is killed. The Collard script, developed internally at RKO, will be produced by Regency topper Arnon Milchan along with RKO's Ted Hartley. Nine Yards Entertainment's Aaron Ray, who repped the project and sold it to Regency's Sanford Panitch and Peter Cramer, will receive executive producer credit. Collard is repped by Endeavor.
- 4/28/2004
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Rambo star Sylvester Stallone's new movie Shade is set to have a theatrical release - after much difficulty in generating any interest in it. The con-man caper has been slow to find a distributor, but Rko chief Ted Hartley says buzz around the movie is finally building. He says, "All of the foreign territories except two have now been sold, and the movie is going to turn the corner to profitability. We have four serious bids for domestic distribution. I think we're in good shape, and I think it's an important turn for Stallone." Website Aintitcoolnews.Com's correspondents have seen the flick and report, "Age has made Stallone's face fascinating - those basset hound eyes buried even further in that Shar-Pei landslide of skin, but with a rumpled dignity."...
- 3/4/2003
- WENN
Strong Cup of 'Mighty Joe' / Buena Vista's ape call scores with solid story, sympathtic characters and that great gorilla
By Duane Byrge
This monkey shines. Buena Vista's "Mighty Joe Young", an amusing and good-hearted family film that follows the trials and tribulations of a massive gorilla amid the incursions of poachers and "imprisonment" in an American theme park, will win young hearts as well as the admiration of parents who appreciate a solidly told tale with sympathetic characters.
Joe here is truly a monkey man: He's got anthropomorphic qualities and feels things and perceives them very much like human beings. Only, he's more generous and trusting than your typical Homo sapien. In fact, he's the protector of a small African village. He's also the faithful servant and champion of a concerned and comely young woman, Jill (Charlize Theron), who shares a particular bond with Joe -- both their mothers were killed by poachers 20 years ago. It's this legacy that propels "Mighty Joe"'s plot line -- the same evil poacher (Rade Sherbedgia) has returned, and he realizes the commercial potential of Joe as an exhibit in today's theme-park world.
Basically, "Mighty Joe" is a person-in-distress story, the saga of a natural innocent whose resistance to the real world precludes him from being an effective protector of his natural habitat. It's a winning tale, and screenwriters Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner have kindly distilled it for family-fun dimension. The respect and friendship between Joe and Jill is particularly heartwarming.
Admittedly, "Mighty Joe" does get clogged somewhat in explication of the gorilla's heredity, and the plotting of the climax may seem derivative for even the youngest viewers. Still, director Ron Underwood has shaped the film to a towering dimension and propelled the schematic narrative to its fastest capacity.
Special praise to Theron for her sympathetic protector portrayal; unfortunately, Bill Paxton's performance as a explorational zoologist is decidedly flaccid, wavering in determination and motivation. Sherbedgia is aptly cunning as the arch villain.
The technical contributions are strong, particularly Rick Baker's creation of this extraordinary ape. It's both towering and appealing. Other tech contributions serve the story line well, especially directors of photography Don Peterman and Oliver Wood's expansive lensing.
MIGHTY JOE YOUNG
Buena Vista
Credits: Producers: Ted Hartley, Tom Jacobson; Director: Ron Underwood; Screenwriters: Mark Rosenthal, Lawrence Konner; Executive producer: Gail Katz; Co-executive producers: Mark Lisson, Gary Stutman; Supervising producer: Ralph Winter; Directors of photography: Don Peterman, Oliver Wood; Production designer: Michael Corenblith; Editor: Paul Hirsch; Creature designed and produced by Rick Baker; Visual effects supervisor: Hotyt Yeatman; Music: James Horner; Costume designer: Molly Maginnis; Casting: Pam Dixon Mickelson; Sound mixer: Richard Bryce Goodman; Based on a screenplay by Ruth Rose and a story by Merian C. Cooper from RKO Pictures' "Mighty Joe Young". Cast: Jill Young: Charlize Theron; Gregg O'Hara: Bill Paxton; Strasser: Rade Sherbedgia; Garth: Peter Firth; Harry Ruben: David Paymer; Cecily Banks: Regina King; Kweli: Robert Wisdom. MPAA rating: PG. Running time -- 115 minutes. Color/stereo.
By Duane Byrge
This monkey shines. Buena Vista's "Mighty Joe Young", an amusing and good-hearted family film that follows the trials and tribulations of a massive gorilla amid the incursions of poachers and "imprisonment" in an American theme park, will win young hearts as well as the admiration of parents who appreciate a solidly told tale with sympathetic characters.
Joe here is truly a monkey man: He's got anthropomorphic qualities and feels things and perceives them very much like human beings. Only, he's more generous and trusting than your typical Homo sapien. In fact, he's the protector of a small African village. He's also the faithful servant and champion of a concerned and comely young woman, Jill (Charlize Theron), who shares a particular bond with Joe -- both their mothers were killed by poachers 20 years ago. It's this legacy that propels "Mighty Joe"'s plot line -- the same evil poacher (Rade Sherbedgia) has returned, and he realizes the commercial potential of Joe as an exhibit in today's theme-park world.
Basically, "Mighty Joe" is a person-in-distress story, the saga of a natural innocent whose resistance to the real world precludes him from being an effective protector of his natural habitat. It's a winning tale, and screenwriters Mark Rosenthal and Lawrence Konner have kindly distilled it for family-fun dimension. The respect and friendship between Joe and Jill is particularly heartwarming.
Admittedly, "Mighty Joe" does get clogged somewhat in explication of the gorilla's heredity, and the plotting of the climax may seem derivative for even the youngest viewers. Still, director Ron Underwood has shaped the film to a towering dimension and propelled the schematic narrative to its fastest capacity.
Special praise to Theron for her sympathetic protector portrayal; unfortunately, Bill Paxton's performance as a explorational zoologist is decidedly flaccid, wavering in determination and motivation. Sherbedgia is aptly cunning as the arch villain.
The technical contributions are strong, particularly Rick Baker's creation of this extraordinary ape. It's both towering and appealing. Other tech contributions serve the story line well, especially directors of photography Don Peterman and Oliver Wood's expansive lensing.
MIGHTY JOE YOUNG
Buena Vista
Credits: Producers: Ted Hartley, Tom Jacobson; Director: Ron Underwood; Screenwriters: Mark Rosenthal, Lawrence Konner; Executive producer: Gail Katz; Co-executive producers: Mark Lisson, Gary Stutman; Supervising producer: Ralph Winter; Directors of photography: Don Peterman, Oliver Wood; Production designer: Michael Corenblith; Editor: Paul Hirsch; Creature designed and produced by Rick Baker; Visual effects supervisor: Hotyt Yeatman; Music: James Horner; Costume designer: Molly Maginnis; Casting: Pam Dixon Mickelson; Sound mixer: Richard Bryce Goodman; Based on a screenplay by Ruth Rose and a story by Merian C. Cooper from RKO Pictures' "Mighty Joe Young". Cast: Jill Young: Charlize Theron; Gregg O'Hara: Bill Paxton; Strasser: Rade Sherbedgia; Garth: Peter Firth; Harry Ruben: David Paymer; Cecily Banks: Regina King; Kweli: Robert Wisdom. MPAA rating: PG. Running time -- 115 minutes. Color/stereo.
- 12/15/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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