A 'Goonies' revival? Corey Feldman says its 'not entirely out of the picture'

 

It's a weird time to be Corey Feldman -- but isn't that always the case? Nicholas White caught up with the former child star for a feature in today's Los Angeles Times Calendar section and while the main topic was his overall career and the death of Michael Jackson, the piece veered a bit into the fanboy sector. And while last summer Feldman called a "Goonies" revival "a myth," this year he's more slippery on the subject. Here's an excerpt:  

The 1980s movie icon -- Mouth of "The Goonies," Teddy of "Stand by Me," Pete of "Gremlins" -- wants you to know he really is a good guy.

Since last summer's second season of the A&E reality show "The Two Coreys" and last July's long-awaited (but direct-to-DVD) feature "Lost Boys: The Tribe," Feldman has kept largely quiet. But lately, he has been talking up his Pink Floyd-esque band Truth Movement and its goal of making concerts environmentally friendly. In addition, he says a "Lost Boys 3" is in the works and a sequel to the beloved "Goonies" is not entirely out of the picture.

"My job, it seems, in life is to educate the world that, 'Hey that was just the beginning of my life, I'm still very young and have a long way to go.' "

But sometimes it seems letting go of the past is the hardest part of going forward. Two days before Feldman's first concert on his band's "Off the Grid" tour at Universal CityWalk, Michael Jackson died.

Feldman, who famously befriended the pop singer during his own teen years, went into a painful self-reflective mode. Although Jackson and Feldman were close at one time -- and Feldman said he remains friendly with the Jackson family -- they had a public falling out in 2001. Then, amid the singer's felony child abuse charges, Feldman publicly stated in 2005 that their relationship may have been inappropriate.

Since Jackson's death, though, Feldman has been calling him a "role model" and "dear friend..."

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-- Nicholas White

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CREDIT: "The Goonies" cast photo shows Corey Feldman in the hat, image courtesy of Warner Bros.

Jules Verne Festival this weekend in downtown Los Angeles

The Jules Verne Festival kicks off this weekend in downtown L.A. with classic movie screenings, some intriguing documentaries and several events that have guests and themes that will certainly appeal to the Hero Complex audience. You can check out the extensive (and inexpensive!) programming at the official website but here are a few scheduled events that jumped out at me.

Disney fans will be excited about a Friday 7 p.m. screening of "Fantasia 2000" but even better is the Saturday afternoon bill with its two grand classics of science fiction cinema: "The Day the Earth Stood Still" (1951) at 1 p.m. and "Forbidden Planet" (1956) at 3 p.m. All screenings at the Edison.

Alfred Gough ("Smallville") will be on hand for a special screening of Richard Donner's "Superman" and his re-edited version of its sequel, which is called "Superman II: The Donner Cut" and well worth seeing if you are a fan of the Last Son of Krypton. Saturday 8 p.m., Imaginasian Center.

Adama himself, Edward James Olmos, will be a special guest at a tribute to Ron Moore, the creative force behind "Battlestar Galactica," the soon-to-be-concluded series on Sci Fi. Saturday, 7 p.m., The Edison.

Linda Harrison, who played Nova in the 1968 film "Planet of the Apes," will be on hand for a special program entitled "Planet of the Apes: 40 Years of Evolution." Sunday night, 6:45 p.m., The Edison. (There will also be a screening of the startling simian classic at the Imaginasian at 7 that night.)

-- Geoff Boucher

2008 photo of Edward James Olmos by Gus Ruelas/Associated Press. "The Day the Earth Stood Still" image from the Hulton Archive via Getty Images. "Superman" photo courtesy of Warner Bros. "Planet of the Apes" courtesy of Twentieth Century Fox. 

Richard Donner says 'Lethal Weapon 5' is 'dead in the water'

EXCLUSIVE: The filmmaker talks about "Lethal Weapon," the state of Superman and getting his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame:

Richard Donner, who directed and produced all four "Lethal Weapon" films but found himself excluded from the recent plans to make a fifth, now says that his old friend Mel Gibson has walked away from the franchise revival.

"Mel turned it down," Donner said. "I would like to think that Mel turned it down because I wasn't involved. Knowing Mel, I would like to think that. Would that be the kind of thing he does? It sure would be."

I checked with Gibson's camp on Sunday night and while they were reluctant to make any official comment, I left the conversation with no doubt in my mind that Donner's account is accurate. The 78-year-old filmmaker should have pretty good insight into Gibson; in addition to the four "Lethal" films, Donner directed Gibson in "Conspiracy Theory" and "Maverick" and until recently, the two were pursuing another collaboration, "Sam and George." The pair have a famously mutual admiration society and why not?

For Gibson, the first "Lethal Weapon" in 1987 propelled him to whole new Hollywood heights while for Donner it added luster and longevity to a resume that already included "Superman," "The Omen," "Ladyhawke" and "The Goonies." The "Lethal" franchise eventually grossed $488 million at the U.S. box office and the last installment, released in the summer of 1998, topped $130 million domestically.

In recent months there was a ramping of expectations that, like Indiana Jones, Rambo and John McClane, Gibson's volatile cop-hero Martin Riggs would be back on the screen to remind moviegoers of 1980s cinema glory. Those expectations began when word got out that Shane Black, who famously wrote the screenplay for the first "Lethal Weapon" and co-wrote the first sequel, had a script that would reunite Gibson's Riggs with his old partner, Danny Glover's Roger Murtaugh. He brought it to producer Joel Silver, another veteran of the "Lethal" franchise, who wanted Black to also direct it. (Black made his directorial debut with "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" in 2005.)

The news of the Silver and Black project stirred press coverage and considerable blogosphere interest this summer, especially after actor Columbus Short said he was up for a supporting role and that the project was being fast-tracked. (And, no surprise, there were plenty of people who groaned at the mere mention of another "Lethal Weapon" movie.) It was all frustrating for odd-man-out Donner, who with a separate team had come up with a sequel concept of their own. Donner, who had a falling out with Silver a few years ago, didn't enjoy being excluded from a franchise that he considers his signature work.

"Joel Silver tried to ace me out of it. He tried to put it together but made sure he didn't do it until my  contract was up. You know, it's typical of the man. A guy who wasn't even around at the beginning when we started on the first one. He came in late."

The architecture of Oz

The Venice Biennale, the preeminent international architectural exhibition that is now underway, isn't exactly familiar turf for the Hero Complex, but when we saw the design on display (at right) of a mobile city as envisioned by Chinese architects, our first thought was: "These guys obviously enjoyed Richard Donner's 'Superman.' " Then we heard that the entry pavilion incorporated images from the films "Star Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back," "Dr. Strangelove" and "The Wizard of Oz," and we decided that maybe there might actually be some unexpected fanboy enlightenment on display at the 11th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia.

When visitors approach the entrance to the main hall (and 250,000 are expected to pass through that hall, the Corderie dell’Arsenale, before the close of the Biennale on Nov. 23), they are confronted with the 4,624-square-foot "Hall of Fragments." At the center of the exhibit is a glowing hourglass-shaped passage of moving images created by two giant convex screens, which flash geometric distortions of some classic Hollywood films. The vistors are watching the exhibit, but the exhibit is also watching them; the images change with the size, density and speed of the crowd passing through.

The "Hall of Fragments" was created by David Rockwell (the founder of the Rockwell Group in New York and the architect behind the Kodak Theatre, Nobu and the W Hotels) in collaboration with Reed Kroloff and Casey Jones. We invited Rockwell to write a bit about "Hall of Fragments" (which sounds vaguely Kryptonian to us), and he told us that, when it comes to inspiration, there's no place like home.

The first movie I ever saw was "The Wizard of Oz."

So imagine the excitement when asked by Aaron Betsky (director and curator of the 2008 Venice Biennale) to explore the relationship between architecture and film and create an entry pavilion to the exhibition. This gave us an opportunity to use Oz as the springboard to expand on the theme of “Out There: Architecture Beyond Building,” realizing the vivid crossroads of architecture and film and architecture in film.

Oz really makes me think of arrivals, even grand entrances, and how we arrive at a great city, building, exhibition or public space that just stops you in your tracks, in amazement, trying to absorb it. When it’s great, film has this same impact — it has the power to take you elsewhere. In fact, our design projects insist on keeping that goal in mind as well. This transition often occurs with architecture and public spaces, when you pass through a portal into a new reality, be it spatial or environmental.

There is the dramatic departure from the sepia-toned reality of Kansas into the dream with Dorothy (and Toto) then dropped into this wildly imaginative fantasy world and the hyper-saturated Technicolor of Oz -- a sensory-overload introduction to an outlandish place full of colorful characters.

Just as the journey to and through Oz is a magical dream world where the characters follow that iconic and unforgettable yellow brick road, the experience of architecture is also a journey, sometimes physical and layered and sometimes more experiential and fleeting.

Mark Millar wants a shot at 'Superman' on screen

Comics writer Mark Millar (who brought the world "Wanted," "Superman: Red Son" and Marvel's "Civil War") is a big fan of Richard Donner's 1978 film "Superman."

How big?

Well, he has one of Christopher Reeve's capes from the movie hanging in his home in Glasgow and (this is not a joke) he bought the stuffed and mounted corpse of Frisky, the stranded cat that Superman plucks from a tree in the movie. He recently got a chance to meet Donner and giddily compares it to "meeting Gandhi."

Millar was in Los Angeles visiting Golden Apple and he chatted with Blair Butler of G4's Fresh Ink for an interview and the subject turned to the future of Superman on the screen, which is quite the hot topic right now. It turns out that, a while back, Millar hatched an idea for a trilogy of films about the Last Son of Krypton and, after some recent conversations with an unidentified director, he thinks it might be gaining some traction.

The Superman problem: Can he still fly in the 21st century?

Thirty years ago, the Man of Steel was flying high at theaters. But will he ever get off the ground again?

Richard Donner's "Superman," released in December 1978, was a box-office triumph and critics were, for the most part, cheering right along with the fans. Roger Ebert called the film "a pure delight," while the late Jack Kroll wrote in Newsweek that Donner had pulled off "a major feat in filmmaking."

It was by nature a sunny film, sentimental and playful, never embarrassed while soaring with its John Williams score and (literally) with its special effects. But show it to a teenager today and he or she will snicker and roll their eyes. These are kids who have sat in dark theaters with Wolverine, Hellboy and Heath Ledger's Joker. If they're holding out for a hero, you can bet he's not going to be plucking kittens out of trees, reciting patriotic mottos and chasing down bumbling bad guys named Otis.

This brings us to the Superman problem. Warner Bros. just pulled in half a billion dollars in the U.S. alone with the relentless nihilism of "The Dark Knight," and the other hero films of the summer ("Hancock," "Iron Man," "Hellboy 2," etc.) presented troubled protaganists who struggle as much with themselves as they do with bad guys. So, of coruse, Warner now wants Superman to tone down the Boy Scout stuff.

Lauren A.E. Schuker had a recent piece in the Wall Street Journal that quoted Warner Bros. executive Jeff Robinov (who, by the way, is apparently the man who came up with the idea of postponing the sixth "Harry Potter" film until next year) about the plans for the Man of Steel's next flight in Hollywood:

Like the recent Batman sequel — which has become the highest-grossing film of the year thus far — Mr. Robinov wants his next pack of superhero movies to be bathed in the same brooding tone as "The Dark Knight." Creatively, he sees exploring the evil side to characters as the key to unlocking some of Warner Bros.' DC properties. "We're going to try to go dark to the extent that the characters allow it," he says. That goes for the company's Superman franchise as well.

We've heard this before. There was a series of Superman projects announced that had the hero dead, dying, powerless and, perhaps worst of all, portrayed by Nicolas Cage in a suit of armor. The thing is, Superman has always been a daytime hero; he's not Batman prowling the gutters of Gotham looking to exact revenge on every street punk in the world.