Movie Quote Weekends

 

Movie Quote Weekends

 

Not Playing: "Why Don't You Love This?!?"

 

Death Note!

 

Death Note, the popular Japanese graphic novel, is a rarity, spawning interest in both its native country and in the United States. Both the Death Note animated series and the live action films have found their way to the United States, breaking sales records and inspiring Hollywood to attempt to adapt the series for American audiences. Unfortunately, this has been easier said than done. Though some big names have tried to attach themselves to the film, its American rights owner- Warner Brothers- has had a seemingly bumpy road getting the film made.

In Death Note, we learn about a mystical race of monsters called Shinigami, who each carry around a blank book called a Death Note. If a human's name is written in the book, he or she will die of a heart attack. Ryuk, a bored Shinigami, decides to drop his Death Note into the human world just to see what happens. It falls into the hands of a bright honors student named Light Yagami, whose father is a police detective. Light amazes Ryuk by instantly beginning to use the Death Note to kill criminals. Soon the world takes notice and dubs the mysterious vigilante 'Kira'. This also gets the attention of the authorities and a legendary detective known only as L. Thus begins a cat and mouse battle between Light and L.

Perhaps it's the dark material that has made this a difficult property to get off the ground; though its latest difficulties were caused by Batman and Superman. Massively underperforming, the film forced Warner Brothers to offload various projects. Death Note was one of them, though Netflix has picked up the project and it is currently under production. While the translation of the idea to American sensibilities is unknown, here is the currently announced cast:

 

Not Playing: "Northern Thunder"

 

Lady Films

 

 

 

Sister Bette?

In the mid 1980's, legendary singer Bette Midler had apparently dropped off the face of the earth. Her once meteoric career had stalled, allegedly a victim of her demanding, diva-like behavior. By 1985 she was eager to get back into movies. Touchstone Pictures, a then new subsidiary of Disney, was eager to find known talent who could be hired for less. Bette Midler fell right into that category. She quickly signed with Touchstone and struck gold. Her first film under the contract- Down and Out in Beverly Hills, was a huge success. She followed up with a string of modest hits- Outrageous Fortune, Ruthless People and Big Business. 

 

It would be 1988's Beaches that would give Ms. Midler- and her ego- the boost they would need to return to the bad times. Despite doing interviews stating that she would do whatever was expected of her, Ms. Midler began to return to form. She had (sort of) agreed to make the film Sister Act, starring in the role of Dolores Van Cartier, the errant songstress who winds up in the nunnery. Ms. Midler decided that she did not wish to make the film and was certain she had told Touchstone Pictures of that decision. The late announcement of her decision led to an all-out scramble to fill the role before shooting began. Dolly Parton was asked, since she had signed a deal with Touchstone Pictures, but she didn't feel comfortable taking the role on such short notice. In the nick of time, producers found their replacement- Whoopi Goldberg. Despite the turmoil behind the scenes, the movie was a huge success.