Fresh Loaf

WING NUT: Heath Ledger (front) as the Joker and Christian Bale as Batman in 'The Dark Knight'

Genre entertainments invariably rake in more money than heavyweight film dramas — that’s what they’re made for. The striking thing about 2008 wasn’t just that the popcorn movies had more explosions and sight gags, but that they had more to say than the theoretically more substantial films. Movies about monsters, robots and caped crusaders seemed more engaged with present-day issues than the work of such celebrated filmmakers as Ron Howard, Sam Mendes, Clint Eastwood and the Coen Brothers.

Iron Man and The Dark Knight both depicted costumed zillionaires fighting injustice, but also contained pertinent metaphors for the duties of the individual in the face of urban and global problems. In the bright, frequently funny Iron Man, Robert Downey Jr. offered a playful but revelatory turn as a weapons-building industrialist reassessing his company’s — and, implicitly, his country’s — influence in the world. The Dark Knight’s knotty, expansive crime story became an increasingly fraught exploration of the risks of imposing civic order, unleashing chaos and taking responsibility for collateral damage. The film’s tragic dimensions were only heightened by the late Heath Ledger’s compelling portrayal of the Joker as an anarchic psycho. (more…)

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Released today on DVD, The Incredible Hulk was meant to be a dramatic do-over of the 2003 Hulk feature film. Marvel hoped the first Hulk would match the record-breaking success of its previous year’s Spider-man, but Ang Lee’s cerebral, angsty take on the raging green giant was an underperformer. Despite its $137 million budget, Hulk earned $132 million theatrically in the United States (and $245 million worldwide).

As a “reboot” sequel, Incredible brought in French action director Louis Leterrier, pumped up the premise as a combination of monster movie and manhunt flick and enlisted a new cast, with Edward Norton replacing Eric Bana as the Hulk’s anguished alter ego, Bruce Banner. Incredibly, the financial results were practically identical: Leterrier’s film had a $150 million budget and made $134 million in the U.S. ($261 worldwide) — and that’s not factoring inflation into the equation. Here are five theories as to why Incredible failed to pump up the box office.

1. Memories of the first film scared people off. Ang Lee’s Hulk contains some thrilling, fascinating set pieces. The scenes of the Hulk bounding across the Southwestern desert, battling tanks and helicopters, feature a weird lyricism matched by few movies of any kind, let alone comic book films. Unfortunately the film, which lasts well over two hours, is surrounded by sluggishly-paced scenes, weird Oedipal plotting that seldom makes dramatic sense and superfluous, “24”-style split screens and effects that replicate comic book panels for no good reason. Making a follow-up to a movie nobody liked was bound to be a risk, although Incredible opts to ignore Lee’s continuity and pay affectionate homage to the old “Incredible Hulk” TV series.

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Marvel Comics’ next superhero to get a big-screen introduction (following next summer’s prequel X-Men Origins: Wolverine) will be The Mighty Thor, the Norse God of Thunder reconceived as a Superman-style do-gooder by Stan Lee, Larry Leiber and Jack Kirby in 1962. Variety reports that Kenneth Branagh is in negotiations to direct the big-screen Thor film, which has a release date of July 16, 2010. (Incidentally, Iron Man 2 is set for May 7 of that year.)

Branagh is an intriguing potential choice. As his generation’s best-known interpreter of Shakespeare for the big screen, he could deftly handle the antiquated dialogue of the Thor comics, which have more “forsooths” than a day at the Renaissance Festival. Branagh’s fluency with special effects and action scenes is a bigger question mark — he didn’t really distinguish himself with Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein — but his Henry V suggests he could bring gravity and wit to the (literally) mythic elements of the story. Rumor has it that much of the Thor script takes place in Asgard, realm of the Norse Gods. Screenwriter Mark Protosevich says:

“It’s going to be like a super hero origin story, but not one about a human gaining super powers, but of a god realizing his true potential. It’s the story of a Old Testament god who becomes a new Testament god.”

It sounds pretty ambitious for a superhero popcorn movie — more Lord of the Rings than Spider-Man. The next question becomes, who could play a convincing Thor?  In the comics, he’s a strapping guy with long blonde hair, and his look includes a red cape, a winged helmet and a big honking hammer. To even approximate the comics, you’d need someone with the physique of He-Man era Dolph Lundgren, but with the vocal authority of a Shakespearean thespian.

So is “Lost” star and former Georgian Josh Holloway a crazy choice?

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This week CL Charlotte’s Matt Brunson discusses the DVD releases of Ewan McGregor-Hugh Jackman movie Deception, Iron Man, the special Coppola Restoration of all three Godfather movies and more.

DECEPTION (2008). It’s hard to believe a movie starring Hugh Jackman and Ewan McGregor, two impossibly charismatic actors, could be so dull, but the evidence is right here. McGregor stars as Jonathan McQuarry, a meek accountant who has no fun until a lawyer named Wyatt Bose (Jackman) swoops down like a slumming deus ex machina and introduces his new pal to the pleasures of pot, nightclubs and mixed doubles tennis matches. Just before Wyatt leaves town for a business trip, he “accidentally” switches cell phones with Jonathan; soon, the virginal numbers cruncher is receiving calls during which sexy female voices merely whisper, “Are you free tonight?” Passing himself off as Wyatt, Jonathan soon discovers an anonymous sex club in which the members all turn out to be Wall Street movers and shakers. Read the rest here.

(Godfather photo courtesy Paramount Pictures)

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Here are some selected titles that arrive on DVD today. Keep an eye out for Matt Brunson’s “View From the Couch,” posted tomorrow.

2008 Olympics – Beijing 2008 Complete Opening Ceremony

“Adam 12″ Second Season

An Autumn Afternoon

“B.L. Stryker” the Complete Series

“Beauty and the Best” the Complete Series

Bigger, Stronger, Faster*

Can’t Hardly Wait 10th Anniversary Edition

“Click & Clack’s As the Wrench Turns”

CSNY: Deja Vu

“Deadliest Catch” the Complete Fourth Season

Forgetting Sarah Marshall

Iron Man

Jellyfish (more…)

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