In this morning’s roundup of movie news ‘n’ notes from around the web, “Tron” jumps the gun, “Eclipse” counts to nine, and we’ll always have Detroit.
Michigan has acquired a reputation as being among the most generous, aggressive states when it comes to financial incentives and tax breaks for movie production, so it’s not a surprise that the new Richard Gere movie, “The Double,” is shooting in Detroit. But it is startling that a movie that takes place in Paris, the Soviet Union, Switzerland, Baltimore and Washington, D.C. would shoot scenes for all those locales in the Motor City. In explaining the decision to B. J. Hammerstein, location manager Ernest Belding mentions the variety of Detroit architecture but doesn’t mention the tax breaks. (Detroit Free Press)
What is it with “The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” and lists? Todd Gilchrist says there are “Eight Things You Need to Know about ‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse,’” though really he’s created the list as an excuse to use quotes from the cast and crew. (Cinematical) Lauren Deiman counters with “Nine Reasons ‘Eclipse’ is the Best ‘Twilight’ Flick Yet.” She starts with the discovery of a new way to kill a vampire, and includes a bunch of spoilers along the way. (The Fab Life) And Kyle Buchanan chimes in with “The 9 Best Lines from Harry Knowles’ Highly Sexualized Review of ‘Eclipse.’” If you want to read Knowles writing about Taylor Lautner’s “pert always hard boy nipples,” you’re in luck. (Movieline)
“Tron: Legacy” doesn’t open until December, and Comic-Con doesn’t start for another three-weeks-plus, but Disney’s Comic-Con marketing is already in full swing. Peter Sciretta has photos of the “Tron” banners that are now springing up around downtown San Diego, paired with official Comic-Con banners. (SlashFilm)
American comedies just aren’t funny anymore, says Ben Walsh in the Independent. Of course, he compares some recent comedies to “The Odd Couple,” “The Producers” (the original version) and “Annie Hall,” which is setting the bar pretty high. And when he tries to suggest that Americans have lost “the art of sharp, snappy, witty dialogue,” he can’t really come up with many British alternatives. But he does like U.S. TV like “Mad Men” and “House.” (The Independent)
Alison Nastasi adds Tom Hanks to the list of people who used to be funny, and aren’t anymore. She prefers him in “Bachelor Party” to “Cast Away,” and longs for “a better time, a time when Tom Hanks was actually kind of funny.” You know, before he started winning Academy Awards and stuff. (Cinematical)
With the middle of 2010 upon us, Peter Knegt checks in with indieWIRE’s criticWIRE poll, and finds only one English-language narrative film from the first six months of the year to score an average grade of at least A-. The film is Aaron Katz’s “Cold Weather,” which debuted at South by Southwest and recent played the L.A. Film Festival. (“Blue Valentine,” “The Kids Are All Right,” “Winter’s Bone” and a few others got B+ grades.) The whole list is long on foreign-language films and documentaries, and full of nothing but movies that debuted at film festivals. (indieWIRE)
