Joe Carroll, a former University professor who killed a bunch of female college students, escapes from jail.  Ryan Hardy, the man who caught him, is brought in after leaving the FBI to team with a Mason, a tough female FBI Agent, to recapture Carroll.  It turns out Carroll had help on the outside from a network of wanna be serial killers.

In an interview with Collider, Kevin Williamson had this to say about his upcoming serial killer show on Fox:

You’ll be routing for the FBI agent who is going to bring him down. It’s very emotional. It’s this huge, big, hybrid show like The Vampire Diaries, where it relies on the twists and turns, and the tears, where you just get so invested in the characters and you’re like, “No, not that one,” and then they die. It’s one of those shows.

The Vampire Diaries is probably my favourite show on TV right now, so a comparison by Williamson to that show piqued my interest.  After reading the pilot script by Williamson I see hints of his description, but I don’t know how it will develop into a “huge, big, hybrid show”.  To me it comes across as a standard kinda dark procedural.  I did experience a “no, not that one” reaction whilst reading the script, and I think if it can generate that reaction in me without any of the sensory factors which go along with actually watching a TV show, I think this reaction may be a common occurrence should the show end up running for a while.

I thought the flashbacks to when Ryan was tracking and caught Joe were done well, as well as the ones featuring other character like the student who survived, and Carroll’s wife, and they helped to introduce some of the characters who I assume will be major players going forward.

Whilst reading the script I couldn’t help but picture Carroll as being played by Jere Burns (Duffy from Justified).  He’s not written in any particularly definitive way, but it was the first actor that came to mind and I couldn’t shake it.  Likewise, I couldn’t help but imagine Robin Tunney playing Mason, in no small part because I don’t like Robin Tunney and I didn’t like Mason.

My initial impression whilst reading was that it will probably need to be toned down a bit.  First of all the language, ‘cos I’m fairly certain Fox doesn’t want a bunch of f-bombs being dropped each episode.  Plus it’s a little bit too gruesome in its depiction of violence against women.  I like violence in movies but I don’t like my TV shows to be too gratuitous.

I can say right now that I’m not going to enjoy the initial feeling that every new character introduced could be a potential serial killer.  That shit will get old real fast.

I’m also not too sure about the potential longevity of a show based in essence on tracking serial killers controlled and motivated by someone behind bars, especially if the authorities do what they should and place Joe in solitary to avoid him influencing people on the outside.  It seems rather limited and a bit freak-of-the-week to me.  Still, it’s just a pilot, and shows typically develop and evolve as time moves on.  The thing I always come back to is Seinfeld, which I thought was pretty damn ordinary for the first season and a half, and then developed into arguably the best TV show of all time.

I think that casting, and a commitment for the show to be something more than an ordinary procedural, will ensure that it develops an audience.  This in turn should keep the notoriously cancellation happy Fox from axing the show prematurely.  If both of those factors are covered then I can see myself losing interest like I did with Prison Break and Fringe.

Written by: Chad St John
To be directed by: Timur Bekmambetov
To star: Robert Downey Jr and Reese Witherspoon

Aliens are destroying our planet by going back in time.  They travel back each day to destroy each yesterday.  One man, James Smith (Downey Jr), beats them to a yesterday to warn people of impending disaster.

Talk about a nonstop action flick.  The action in this one starts from the 2nd page and doesn’t let up for another 109 pages.  This is nothing but pure action which will be infused with the charm of Robert Downey Jr and Reese Witherspoon and with Timur Bekmambetov’s visual flare as an added bonus.

There’s probably no-one hotter in Hollywood right now than Robert Downey Jr and it’s surprising that it took the success of Iron Man for the industry (and the public) to realise just how fantastic he is.  The guy’s 100% pure charisma isn’t he?  Show me someone who doesn’t like Downey and I’ll show you an idiot.

Reese Witherspoon is equally as charming as Downey but packaged in a different way.  I actually like Reese Witherspoon, not her tired romantic comedy roles, but the few things she’s done outside of that typically shitty genre.  She was great in Freeway and Election.  Reading the script it was exceptionally easy to picture her in the role of Riley with everything Riley says sounding like it could come from Witherspoon and her sexy as hell accent.

The dialogue and banter between Riley and Smith is pretty natural save for a few instances and I’m hard pressed to think of two actors who’d be better in these roles than Downey and Witherspoon.  Now it may be that because I had these actors in mind before I started reading the script that I somehow projected their suitability onto the characters, but the casting seems pretty spot on to me.

As for the actual aliens the jury’s still out.  From what’s in the script I pictured them as the velociraptors from Jurassic Park covered in armour, carrying futuristic assault rifles, and with a Blackberry on their hip.  Kinda like a douchebag dinosaur.  There’s something equally terrifying and comical about that image.  Depending how they’re done and the combination of live action and CGI they could be halfway decent or absolutely terrible.  I certainly wasn’t that fearful of them the way they were described in the script though.

On an end note I’d like to say that I really disliked the very last action line which has the Blackberry device powering on, indicating that the alien ships are near.  Every time I encounter something like this in a script or film it drives me fucking crazy.  Kinda like the shitty ending in the Eagle Eye script where the PS3 says hello to the kid as some indication that the supercomputer AI is still around.  Those kind of tags bug the living hell out of me.  Just end the fucking story already.  It’s one step above winking at the audience.  There’s nothing wrong with the film ending with a sense of closure.  Hopefully when The Days Before is released that final shot of the Blackberry in the trash won’t make the cut.

RATING: 6/10

CONCLUSION
It’s a very cool concept to be going back in time day by day to prevent aliens from destroying the world but I just wasn’t a fan of the aliens being repilian.  Dinosaurs take over the world with assault rifles and Blackberrys. Ugh.  I think the imagery of New York being ripped apart will be a major factor in how the film turns out, just as the visual effects for the reptile aliens will be.  I have the utmost faith in Downey Jr, Witherspoon and Bekmambetov so if the visual effects are up to scratch I think the film could turn out to be a fairly enjoyable popcorn flick, but that’s all it’s gonna be.

The Hollywood Reporter is today reporting that Joe Eszterhas will be returning to Hollywood for his next project based on the Virgin of Guadalupe, an icon of the Virgin Mary that supposedly appeared to a Mexican peasant in the 16th century.

This is a bit of a change of pace from his usual sexually charged material, but I don’t care.  I’m a massive fan of Eszterhas so in my opinion any Eszterhas is better than no Eszterhas.

Now if only he could convince Paul Verhoeven to direct it I’d be in heaven.  Maybe they could even talk about the canned sequel to Showgirls they planned on making.

(source = The Hollywood Reporter)

The original British cast

Written by: Drew Pearce & Jeff Greenstein
Plot/Info: Superheroes are real.  They interact in society just like regular people.  The show follows four friends who are B-list “capes” and frequent the only superhero bar in New York called “The Watchtower.”  The show is an adaptation of a British show which aired last year on ITV2.

I’m a pretty big fan of the original British version of the show, with its dry humour and great premise, so I was quite excited to hear that the show was being adapted for the US.  In my mind it was gonna be another great adaptation like The Office, but despite having the original creator Drew Pearce involved it unfortunately all seems to fall a bit flat.  The great thing about the original version is that the whole point of the show is to illustrate that being a superhero isn’t all that it’s cracked up to be, and that there are still class divisions within that segment of society.  The tone of the original show seemed to fit this much better than this script has done.

There have been changes to the characters in the adaptation, although I can’t figure out why they felt the need to do that other than to try and make the show more of their own.  In the original version there was Alex who controlled heat, Sarah who controlled machines with her voice, Don who could see 60 seconds into the future, Jenny who had super-strength, and Devlin who was the alpha-male #1 superhero.  The US version changes the majority of these, there’s now Pete who controls the cold, Callie who can be invisible for a limited time, Nigel who can read minds if he’s within 3 metres, Sandy who has super-strength, and Bradley who’s the alpha-male.  In addition, the bouncer/doorman at the bar has been changed from Thundermonkey (who can calls his monkeys to do his bidding) to Horseforce (who does the same but with stallions).

One of the first things that struck me when I read the script was a glaring mistake.  The title of the show comes from a sign on the outside of the bar which reads “”NO MASKS, NO POWERS, NO HEROICS” yet there’s this action almost directly under this:

It seems pretty important to me that this integral element of the show should be maintained and not disregarded almost immediately.  Maybe it’s just an oversight, but it’s a pretty damn big one wouldn’t you say.

The only saving grace of the script is the fact that Don/Nigel is still gay, and is British to boot, in the US version.  I’m assuming they did this in order to appeal to a wider audience and to play off his accent and demeanour in combination with his sexual orientation, but the result is still not that great and the character, whilst essentially the same as the original version of the show, is not as well written.  Overall he seems to lack the biting edge that he has in the British version.  The other main downfall of the script is that it’s just not funny.  In fact, this was the only section which I thought was any good:

Ultimately I think it was a good decision that ABC declined to pick up the show as this will leave all of us who are/were interested in the premise to seek out the superior British version when it becomes available on DVD.

Final Grade:  C- (I could have rated it lower, but I still like the whole premise of the show)

Simon Pegg

GENRE: comedy/action

PLOT:
After attending the San Diego Comic-con, two British nerds travel across America to visit Area 51.  Along the way they encounter an alien named Paul who enlists their help to travel north.

I absolutely LOVE Simon Pegg and Nick Frost.  They were awesome in their first project, Spaced, and they continued that excellence through Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz.  Pegg can currently be seen playing Scotty in JJ Abrams reboot of Star Trek.  I first heard about Paul around August 2008 on AICN and have really been waiting for more information on it ever since, which is why it was such a surprise for me to receive it today.  Needless to say, I quickly stopped reading Grand Theft Auto and sunk my teeth into the script.

Put simply, it’s f’ing great.  It’s obviously very funny, there are some great Back to the Future references, fun action scenes, and even a debate about evolution and intelligent design between Paul and Ruth.  There’s literally nothing I dislike about this script.  Nothing.  That may be because I’m easily pleased when it comes to films/scripts, or because of my admiration of Pegg and Frost, and whilst these things may be true, there is simply no denying that Paul is a great, silly, fun, and caring film.  My reviews are never that insightful to begin with, but it’s especially hard when I enjoy something as much as I enjoyed this, it just turns into 300 words of me gushing about how great it is.

Here’s just a taster of the Back to the Future references:

Pros:

• Everything

Cons:

• Nothing

Final Grade: A

DATE NIGHT – Josh Klausner
DEATH AT A FUNERAL – Chris Rock & Ayesha Carr
THE GILMORES OF BEVERLY HILLS – Chris Rock & Ali LeRoi
GREENBERG – Noah Baumbach
THE HARDY MEN – Ron Parker
PAUL – Simon Pegg & Nick Frost

PAUL is real, I’m reading it now and hopefully will have a review up soon.

© 20th Century Fox

Some nice scripts found their way to me today.  One of which I’m pretty excited to read (hint: it stars Ben Stiller),  Thanks to those who sent them to me.  If anyone’s reading this and has something to donate, you can do it through the contact form on the about/contact page.  Thanks.

• ALICE – Linda Woolverton (02/23/07)
• GHOSTS OF GIRLFRIENDS PAST – Jon Lucas & Scott Moore and Jeff Nathanson, David Diamond & David Weissman (01/25/08)
• NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM: BATTLE OF THE SMITHSONIAN – Robert Ben Garant & Thomas Lennon and Scott Frank (11/04/07)

Tyler Labine

First off I have to say that I really enjoy watching Tyler Labine, even though some may say he always plays the same character, I find him funny nonetheless.  He really was the only redeeming thing about both Invasion and Reaper.  Therefore, it should come as no surprise that I really liked the pilot script for Sons of Tucson.  I have my doubts about the ability of it to succeed on Fox considering the way they treat anything which isn’t named American Idol or The Simpsons, but I think that the style of humour, and the cast which they have got for the show are all quite promising.

The pilot introduces us to Ron (Tyler Labine) who works at a sporting goods store and once again has that kind of chatty cool personality.  In walks three brothers, Gary (14, the boss), Brandon (16, kinda dumb but caring), and Robby (8, ADHD pain in the ass), who proceed to enlist Ron to be their fake dad in order to enrol at the local school for the price of $200.

He does his job and returns home only to have his girlfriend dump him, be served with an eviction notice, and get fired the next day for selling a crossbow to a 12 year-old.  Ron’s once again called upon to help the boys out when Robby faces disciplinary problems over a fire he caused at the Back to School Fair.  After all this, Ron takes the boys to their home, and with their reluctant help he cons an old lady out of some civil war figurines.  The pilot ends with them all realising they work well together, so they enter into a deal whereby Ron will provide his services for a set fee and boarding in the tool shed.

If someone had told me the premise of this show, I don’t know if I would have been that interested in watching it, but the inclusion of Tyler Labine and Jake Busey (as Tony, who doesn’t appear in the pilot script) definitely makes this something I’m gonna watch when it airs.  There are some occasional laughs in the pilot, but for the most part it’s fairly standard sitcom stuff.  I can see myself getting real annoyed with Robby pretty quickly if he’s just played as a hyper kid who does as he pleases, but my hope is the character will be developed a bit so as to avoid this.  Ultimately, I think the success of the show will come down to whether or not you like Tyler Labine’s whole schtick, or whether you find him grating.  Reading the script I could visualise him speaking the words very easily and this just led to me enjoying it more.  Plus, as an added bonus it would appear that Labine’s casting in Sons of Tucson means that Reaper is no more, and seen as how I had only recently decided to stop watching that show it means I’ll have somewhere else to see Tyler Labine.

Final Grade:  C+ (although I think the show has more potential than the actual pilot)