Pages tagged “peter berg”

Release Date: July 2
Director: Peter Berg
Writers: Vy Vincent Ngo and Vince Gilligan
Cinematographer: Tobias Schliessler
Starring: Will Smith, Jason Bateman, Charlize Theron
Studio/Run Time: Columbia Pictures, 92 mins.

Perhaps the oddest take on superheroes that film has offered yet, Hancock (Will Smith) is a drunken crime fighter with publicity issues stemming from his tendency to constantly cause collateral damge. But after saving the life of Ray (Jason Bateman), he ends up back in the world’s good graces. Where it would be easy to take this premise and turn the film into a superhero version of Pursuit of Happyness, instead, Hancock manages to riff on its genre with both humor and truly unexpected, if somewhat bizarre, plot twists. While the film never quite reaches an Alan Moore-level deconstruction of the superhero mythos, it has a fun time offering up all the joy of a big-budget action movie without taking things too seriously. Hancock’s execution ultimately falls short of what it attempts, but the movie’s overall charm and willingness to stick to its guns makes it more than just a blockbuster cash-in.

Watch the trailer for Hancock:

Up until a couple of days ago, Very Bad Things and Friday Night Lights had very little in common with Frank Herbert’s legendary novel Dune. But now, they will have a strong bond, as the director of the dark comedy and dark sports drama, respectively, takes his first stab at science fiction (or his second stab, if you consider Jeremy Piven playing a diplomat in The Kingdom to be a truly otherworldly occurrence).

That’s right, Peter Berg will direct a feature adaptation of Dune. Although no script or actors are yet in place, Berg already has quite a lot to (not) work with, because Dune has appeared on both the big and small screens before. In 1984, the enigmatic David Lynch gave it is his best shot, and in 2000, the Sci Fi Channel produced an epic Dune miniseries.

After the success of The Kingdom and with big expectations for this summer’s Will Smith film Hancock, Berg is a big name, and when Dune 3.0 sees the light of day, the word “epic” will likely be thrown around quite a bit.

Related links:
DuneNovels.com
YouTube: 1984 Dune trailer
YouTube: Siskel & Ebert on Very Bad Things

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