|
I don't really want to sound like one of those cranky people who sit around and complain that Hollywood never has an original idea, but it seems as though moviemakers are scraping the bottom of the barrel lately.
The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Owen Wilson will voice comics page Great Dane Marmaduke in a live action/CG movie. Did Hollywood learn nothing from "Garfield: The Movie"? (Obviously not, since they made "Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties.") Comic strips can sometimes work as a TV show (Peanuts springs to mind, as well as the old Garfield Saturday morning cartoon), but they don't seem to translate into terribly good movies. (Of course, there are a few exceptions, like "Little Orphan Annie," which was a musical and later a decent movie.) But, in general, I'm not convinced.
According to the Hollywood Reporter, the story will follow Marmaduke, who has moved to Orange County with his masters, as he navigates a turf war between the Mutts and the Pedigrees. The movie will include live-action actors William H. Macy, Judy Greer and Lee Pace, with voice acting by Wilson, Fergie, Emma Stone, Christopher Mintz-Platz, Steve Coogan and Damon and Marlyn Wayons. At least it has a star-studded cast. Unfortunately, the movie very well may be ruined for me by my reading of The Comics Curmudgeon, a blogger who makes fun of comics strips. His running joke with Marmaduke is that Marmaduke is a giant human-eating beast, and his owner is Hitler. Which, if you look at the comic's archives, really doesn't seem too far off.
And that's not all - apparently, things are moving forward for a Ouija Board movie. Now, I suppose that's not as bad - after all, Ouija boards are inherently creepy and lend themselves to horror movies (one figured into the plot of "Paranormal Activity," actually). The report at Entertainment Weekly says that the movie will be penned by "Lost" writers Edward Kitsis and Adam Horowitz, and will be an action-adventure movie. Maybe it will be something more along the lines of "Jumanji?"
Board game movies don't make me as nervous as comics, somehow. After all, "Clue," starring Tim Curry, was pretty tight. It's a good thing I'm not as concerned about game-based movies, considering that Hasbro signed a six-year deal with with Universal Pictures in 2008 to make movies based on toys and games, including Monopoly, Battleship and Candy Land. I'm especially interested in what they would do with Candy Land - I could see it either being a sugary-sweet kiddie movie (barf!) or a creepy, Tim Burton-directed romp through a creepy land of candy, with Johnny Depp as Lord Licorice. In fact, I definitely think that's what they should do.
What do you think? Will "Marmaduke" or "Ouiji Board: The Movie" be good, bad, or so-bad-they're-good? What comic strips or board games would you like see a movie based on?
|
