Film and Television
Night in the Museum aka Boredom in the Movie Theatre
Because I have an 11-year-old in the house, and I’m a big fan of Dick Van Dyke, I went to see NIGHT IN THE MUSEUM…which proves the point that even the best special effects wizardry is no substitute for compelling stories and interesting characters. This is a tedious mess that apparently bored Owen Wilson, Robin Williams, and Ricky Gervais as much while they were making as it did all of us who had to watch it (The only actor who has the slightest bit of energy is Dick Van Dyke). Not even a fast-forward button could make this movie pass by quickly enough.
AMC Taken Prisoner
Variety reports that AMC will air six episodes of the UK’s new TV version of the 60s cult classic THE PRISONER…which is not to be confused with the movie verison being done at Universal by director Christopher Nolan from a script by Janet & David Peoples. Universal has the film rights to the Patrick McGoohan series while Granada has the TV rights. The series, which will be written by Bill Gallagher, will begin production in the Spring and will debut here and in the UK in January 2008.
AMC
execs were tightlipped regarding details of the updated version but
said it will similarly involve themes of paranoia and deal with
sociopolitical issues. What the new show won’t be is an exact replica of the original."The
show isn’t just a re-creation," said Rob Sorcher, AMC exec veep of
programming and production. "What we’re doing is an entirely new
reinterpretation that stays true to the components of the McGoohan
(show)’s vision."The new series will revolve around a man who awakes in the Village with no
memory of how he arrived. Episodes will follow how he tries to make
sense of his new environment, in which inhabitants are under constant
surveillance, identified by number and sans any recollection of how
they got to the island.
Cobra
TVShowsonDVD.com is reporting that the syndicated series COBRA, which lasted only a season, is coming to DVD in February, but only up in Canada, which was where the show was shot. Bill Rabkin & I wrote nine or ten episodes of COBRA, so I’ll be buying one of the boxed sets through Amazon.