Jason Bateman

Superhero Film ‘Hancock’ With No Superhero Ancestry Proves Bold But Deadly Decision

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 01:35:37 -0700

CHICAGO – With superhero films as hot in 2008 as psychedelics were in the 1960s, the new blockbuster superhero film “Hancock” fits in with the label but without any of the ancestry.

Rating: 2.0/5.0

While 2008 superhero films such as “Iron Man,” “The Incredible Hulk,” “The Dark Knight,” “Hellboy II: The Golden Army” and “Punisher: War Zone” (along with “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” coming in 2009) are all based on previous stories with a previously ravenous fan base, “Hancock” with an alcoholic and listless Will Smith and Charlize Theron – who hides a surprise bombshell – literally comes from nowhereland.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Hancock” in our reviews section.

View our full, high-resolution “Hancock” image gallery.

In fact, “Hancock” is the only 2008 superhero film not derived from a previously established comic book.

The original script for “Hancock,” which was inked by Vincent Ngo in 1996 and called “Tonight, He Comes,” was shuffled through the Hollywood director’s circuit until director Peter Berg (“The Kingdom,” “Friday Night Lights,” “The Rundown”) finally ate it up in Oct. 2006. Filming began in July 2007.

Its truly original origin could have either been its golden savior or its deadly assassin. The decision ultimately proved treacherous as everything it tried to do to be different just made it the same.

Its originality actually might not seem so novel, too, once you consider the 1983 film “The Return of Captain Invincible”. In that film, Alan Arkin plays Captain Invincible and Christopher Lee plays his nemesis (Mr. Midnight). Captain Invincible is asked to return from retirement to the superhero battlefields, but this time around, he’s a raging alcoholic. Sound familiar? Uh huh.

“Hancock,” which features Will Smith, Charlize Theron, Jason Bateman and director Michael Mann in a small acting role, opened everywhere on July 2, 2008.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Hancock” review.

Charlize Theron (left) and Will Smith in “Hancock”.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Will Smith (center) “Hancock”.
Photo credit: Sony Pictures Entertainment

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Hancock” review.

Color-Pencil Animated Opening Credit Sequence For ‘Juno’ Surfaces Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 11:08:03 -0700

The color-pencil animated opening credit sequence for “Juno” has surfaced online thanks to its creator: Shadowplay Studio. I learned about this from a Dec. 27 post on /Film.

Watch the “Juno” opening sequence here!

Ellen Page and Michael Cera for “Juno” on Sept. 8, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com
Since “Juno” director Jason Reitman also directed “Thank You For Smoking,” you wouldn’t be surprised to find out that Shadowplay is also responsible for creating that film’s opening titles, too.

Diablo Cody (left) and Ellen Page for “Juno” on Nov. 5, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com
There’s universal agreement (as much as there can be universal agreement) that “Juno” is one of the best films of the year and perhaps the best of the independents.

Jennifer Garner for “Juno” on Sept. 8, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Ellen Page (left) in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Reitman says the following about the sequence in a blog post from Aug. 2007:

They were created by Shadowplay Studio, which is the same team who did the badass opening titles for “Thank You For Smoking”.

I met them back in 2000 when we both had short films playing the festival circuit. Their short (“This Guy is Falling”) was a really impressive half live-action/half animation piece they did in college.

When they did “Thank You For Smoking,” the titles were rendered on a series of computers in one of their mother’s living rooms. Now they got a fancy place in an art-deco building on Wilshire.

The “Juno” opening titles are out of control. I don’t want to give away too much, but the whole process was really labor intensive.

The Shadowplayers would have parties in which friends and family would help construct the whole thing. I can’t wait for you all to see it and then I can explain how it was done.

My interview with “Juno” star Ellen Page and “Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody can be found here. The HollywoodChicago.com film review of “Juno” by Shane Hazen can be found here.

“Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Ellen Page and Michael Cera in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb

Jennifer Garner (left), Jason Bateman and Ellen Page in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb

From left to right: J.K. Simmons, Ellen Page, Allison Janney and Jason Bateman for “Juno” on Nov. 5, 2007.
Photo credit: WireImage.com

Interview: Why Hollywood’s Enraptured With ‘Juno’ Scribe Diablo Cody, Star Ellen Page

HollywoodChicago.com — Mon, 26 Nov 2007 12:55:39 -0700

Editor’s note: This interview contains explicit language. Due to length, it is being published as a two-part series to be concluded shortly.
Dec. 7, 2007 update: Part two can now be found here.
CHICAGO – Diablo Cody fittingly ushered in her Chicago “Juno” junket in classic Diablo Cody style: The night prior, she blogged with brevity where she’d be kicking back and when.

“Juno” screenwriter Diablo Cody.
Photo credit: WireImage.com
Though a frequenter of the German bar scene, the Red Lion in Lincoln Park was Thursday evening’s sanctuary with friends off the beaten press path. While legal in Canada at 20, “Juno” star Ellen Page wasn’t at Cody’s side until Friday.

More than most, our interview especially paid no attention to the live recorder.

Instead, the laissez-faire time morphed into a blunt and beguiling conversation replete with cunning perspective, quick-witted commentary, unexpected bloody fingers and all things “adamant” (Cody’s word of the day) and “slutty” (Page’s).

Page came forthright out of the gates about her kissing scenes with “Superbad” comic phenom Michael Cera. She said: “Yeah, there were quite a few angles and takes, so we made out a lot.” Had there been need for more kissing takes, she said: “Hey, if he wants to dish it out, I’ll take it.”

She likened Cera’s charmingly geeky and blameless character in “Juno” to someone she’d date in reality. A lightbulb came on and Page volunteered: “It’s weird. He’s similar to a very good friend of mine.” Cody knew who and had met him.

Now Cody – who loathes the label of a “stripper turned blogger turned screenwriter” (more the latter than the first) – first spoke in our interview with modesty and irony. She gave props to her Juno persona with relative awe.

“The character is semi-autobiographical even though the story’s not. I feel a definite kinship with Juno. It’s an easy character for me to write. It felt very organic. I really based her on myself as a teenager, but Juno is way cooler than me. I didn’t always have the ready response,” Cody said absolutely with ready response.

Ellen Page.
Photo credit: IMDb
She added: “I was a lot more emotional and immature. She’s a very brave, articulate young lady.”

Without needing to be prompted, Page was eager to illuminate her love for her character: “She definitely hides behind that – behind her sarcastic wit. The whole point of being an actor is learning to just be the person you’re supposed to portray. I really admired Juno and it was really easy for me to connect my heart with her heart.

“Whenever you play someone who’s honest, whole and well written, you’re going to be able to connect with them. Juno has a special place in my heart. I was obsessed with her. I read the script a couple years ago and wasn’t just interested in pursuing it. It was as if this needs to happen.”

At the time, Page had just viewed “Juno” director Jason Reitman’s “Thank You For Smoking” and was about to convene for a general meeting. One week after the meeting had been arranged, the news surfaced that Reitman would be directing “Juno”. Page says on the twist of fate: “I was in cloud nine.”

Wanting the leading gig in “Juno” was just as clear for Page as it was for Reitman. As for Cody: “The instant her name came up from the beginning of the process, I knew she’d be amazing. She’s one of the best of her generation. When Jason came on board, he was adamant about her and I was 100 percent behind him.

“In terms of casting, I put my trust in Jason as I did with many aspects of the film,” Cody said. “He was adamant about the cast he wanted.”

Cody’s one not only to think quickly before she speaks but also to listen to her own words after she does. She then discerned about herself: “I’ve used the word ‘adamant’ twice. That’s the first and second time I’ve used that word in a really long time. It feels kinda good.”

Ellen Page (left) in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb
Page appreciates the fine art of fine vernacular, too, and offered: “My word that I’m using a lot lately is ‘slutty’. It’s good. It can have nothing to do with the word. If someone orders a tuna sandwich, slutty!”

With the film’s screenwriter at her side, Page was posed the question of whether she had to deliver any lines she despised.

“Honestly, no,” Page said. “There were some that felt more awkward and some I totally put my faith into Jason for it not to be ridiculous. Everything she wrote felt extremely organic to me. I didn’t speak the exact same way as Juno did when I was 16, but I did have my own specific language with friends.”

Back to Cody’s past and present, her essence today is drawn from all the good and the shameful of yesterday. While sometimes slapped with the negativities associated with a brief stint as a stripper, it’s perhaps surprising to learn she’s in fact more at odds with what has principally crafted her career.

“I tend to be somewhat ashamed of my blogging past,” Cody offered. “Blogging is vanity. It’s self-publishing. There’s no prestige in it. That’s not to say something has to be prestigious to have merit, but there’s something cheesy about being the first blogger turned screenwriter. I mind the stripper comparisons less.

“But [blogging is] where I come from. I owe my entire career to blogging. I was discovered because of the blog.”

She then interrupted herself due to a minor medical surprise: “I’m sorry. There’s blood all over my hand. I just cut myself really badly. It’s one of those small cuts that produces a ton of blood.” It’s that randomness – that quirkiness – that propels people’s growing interest in her. You never know what to expect with her.

Ellen Page and Michael Cera in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb
In our Oct. 16 review on “Juno,” we wrote: “Cody is used to clever wordplay to pad earnest moments of connection and soul bearing. Formerly a brief stripper, Cody’s long-running blog gained national exposure with her memoir ‘Candy Girl: A Year in the Life of an Unlikely Stripper’.”

So how did Chicago-native producer Mason Novick discover Cody’s blog? Was he searching for porn?

Page silently nodded her head. Before treated with the answer from Cody, Page’s own avant-garde personality launched her into tangential narrative in response to bloody digits.

“I have scars all over my fingers because I’m a fucking klutz,” Page acknowledged. “I [recently] moved into a [new] place [and] bought nice hiking shoes. I like to hike. I was wearing them in my place. I have a really old apartment and everything’s wood.

“I totally ripped my fingers to shreds with a brand-new knife I bought. It’s the only thing I spend money on. I have used furniture and whatever, but I like cooking and good knives are important. There was blood everywhere and it had gotten all over my shoes.”

Though she seemed apologetic for divulging the glimpse into her personal life, without interruption her mind fired back to: “Oh. Porn. Mason. Searching.” Cody now dished out our answer.

“Mason has never really told me the whole story because we have an extremely professional relationship,” Cody said on reflection while staring into her past. “I believe he said he was Googling ‘pussy’ and found The Pussy Ranch,” which is the title of her current blog.

Jennifer Garner (left), Jason Bateman and Ellen Page in “Juno”.
Photo credit: IMDb
“That means vagina,” Page jested for clarification.

Cody pressed on into the story of her manufacture: “Who hasn’t Googled ‘pussy’ or ‘cock’ during a dark, lonely moment? He was probably at work, though. That’s the funny part.

“He found my blog and started reading it – shockingly. There probably wasn’t a lot of visual material for him to work with, but there was a lot of cynical blabber about the sex industry. He for some reason thought I would make a good screenwriter. I absolutely love that man.”

Cody offers her love for Novick with purely professional undertones, of course, as she has been married to Jonny Hunt for the past three years. They relocated from Chicago to Minnesota and currently reside in Los Angeles. The couple appropriately met where Cody spends much of her personal and professional time: online.

While Cody continues developing a cult following as one of today’s most promising screenwriters, being tagged “the new Tarantino” is her most prized praise yet.

“Ah hah!,” she declared with elevated volume and unadulterated pride. The meek chic geek then returned: “I wish I were that talented. I wish I had one pixel of [Quentin] Tarantino’s talent. He’s an absolute hero of mine. That [praise is] Jason Reitman’s largesse. That’s very nice of him to say. [Tarantino is] a fucking icon.”

Page interjected with sarcasm: “Who’s Quentin Tarantino? Does he go out with Oprah?”

Stay tuned for part two of this interview, which will be published shortly. “Juno” will open in limited theaters on Dec. 5.

Dec. 7, 2007 update: Part two can now be found here.
By Adam Fendelman
Publisher
HollywoodChicago.com

‘Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium’ Vying to Break Guinness World Toy Record

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 31 Oct 2007 17:24:16 -0700

I was informed on Wednesday that Walden Media and Fox Walden are vying to break the Guiness World Record for the largest toy drive. They intend to amass 12,000 pounds of toys from Nov. 6 to 12.

The Guiness World Record is calculated based on the most toys collected within a week as valued by total weight. The film companies are working with Toys for Tots to reach the goal.

The buzz-building excercise is timed to the holiday release of “Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium,” which is written and directed by Zach Helm. The film stars Dustin Hoffman, Natalie Portman, Jason Bateman and Zach Mills.

“What an incredibly special way to bring some of the magic from this movie off the screen and into the lives of children this holiday season,” Portman said in a statement.

“Mr. Magorium’s Wonder Emporium”
Photo credit: IMDb
“Toy chests” will be placed in movie theatres, schools, libraries, community centers and businesses throughout New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Miami, Boston, Atlanta, Denver, Seattle and Washington, D.C.
Each market has a goal to collect at least 1,200 pounds of toys. Fox Walden will also conduct an online campaign that allows people across the country to build a toy online.

The film, which is a Walden Media and Mandate Pictures co-production, opens on Nov. 16.