Cinematically Speaking - 9/23/12

I saw THE ODD LIFE OF TIMOTHY GREEN (★★) a while back, and it hasn't aged well in my mind as I think about it.  My kids liked it, which was its point, but it also seemed geared toward childless couples who only watch Disney movies.  It's like a Bizarro Mary Poppins, where this magical boy appears in their life and teaches them how to be parents, and CJ Adams does a really good job as Timothy. (Actually it reminded me a lot of D.A.R.Y.L. too.)  The supporting cast is one you might expect in something heavier.  Dianne Wiest, Ron Livingston, Shohreh Aghdashloo, David Morse, Rosemarie DeWitt, Common, Lois Smith and M. Emmet Walsh are the other adults touched in one way or another by Timothy.

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If you ran a studio and I came up to you and said "Give me $250 million and I'll make a movie based on A Princess of Mars" you'd at least pause before showing me the door, right?  But that's how JOHN CARTER came to fruition.  But how do you not get thrown out the door for pitching "Give me $225 million and I'll make a samurai movie starring Keanu Reeves?"

The long-delayed 47 RONIN is such a movie, and the director finally got fired after the budget ballooned and shooting spiralled out of control.  I expect more people to get fired before it opens.

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Saw the preview for SILENT HILL: REVELATION. I saw the first one but I don't remember anything about it besides the visual style.  I can't imagine the sequel doing well.  It has Sean Bean in it, and I thought he died in the first one, but I attend to assume Sean Bean dies in everything he's in.