The third chapter in C.S. Lewis' epic masterpiece finds Lucy (Henley) and Edmund (Keynes) journeying back to the land of Narnia without their older siblings. I quite liked "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe" but "Prince Caspian" missed the boat on just about every single level. Blerg. "Dawn Treader" takes the franchise to the Fox studio and has a new director and it'll be very interesting to see how the material translates under new leadership. If this film makes a healthy chunk of money, you can expect to see a few more "Narnia" films. If it doesn't, however, this could be the end especially considering the fact that, of the four remaining volumes, only one ("The Silver Chair") really lends itself to the screen. We'll see.
"The Tourist" - Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany
An unwitting traveler (Depp) finds himself dragged into an international man hunt when he becomes involved with a beautiful but dangerous woman (Jolie). So apparently this is getting at least passing mention in Award Show discussion but every time I've seen the trailer I've been thoroughly unimpressed. I mean, sure, there are some outstanding actors here but this just doesn't seem like something I (or the average 18-35 year old) is going to care about. Perhaps I'm wrong but I'm not rushing to the theater.
"The Tempest" - Helen Mirren, Djimon Hounsou
Based on a Shakespearean play, "The Tempest" finds a duchess (Mirren) exiled to a remote island where she begins a fight with a slave (Hounsou). I would say I follow the movie calendar pretty closely and spend a chunk of time every night looking at various film-related websites. But I have never heard of this movie. Ever. Apparently it's not getting good press and it's not the kind of movie I invest my money in but still, I'm shocked that this late in the year, I see NOTHING about a film until the day before it opens. Wow.
From what I've read and seen in previews, they are actually working some of The Silver Chair into The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I can see that, but what's sad is that comments I've seen from the director just don't make any sense, like, "They had to have a reason to make this journey." Ummm, Lewis gave the reason in the book, and it is a good reason. That and the silly comments made by the director and Neeson about Aslan make me wonder if they had actually read the book.
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