Tuesday, July 15

• Meet Dave Director Brian Robbins Critiques His Critics

  

  Jill Simonian is a correspondent for Dailies (ReelzChannel TV, weeknights @ 6PM ET), and occasionally shares stories from the field. This week: Brian Robbins

  And rightfully so.

  After 20-plus years of movie-making (directing, writing and producing), Brian Robbins' films have grossed almost $900 million worldwide. Yes, he may soon become a billion dollar man in the next few years, like the recent "Billion Dollar Club" inductee Michael Bay. But how do movie fans know him best? As Eddie Murphy's partner-in-crime who brought us Norbit ... and he also directed Murphy's current fish-out-of-water farce in theatres now: Meet Dave.

  I met Robbins for the first time last week at Paramount Pictures. A humble, and quiet -- but very friendly -- guy, he was working on location. And I was dying to ask him what I have been curious to know for almost a year:

  "What do you have to say to 'stuffy critics' and 'haters' of your movies?"

  I do believe that critics, especially with comedies, should have to sit in a room with an audience of people -- people who actually pay money for the movies -- and watch with them, and then review it. I just don't know how you can sit in a room by yourself and watch a comedy -- and review it -- when you're of "a certain age" ... I think you also have to review things in the context of who they're made for, you know? That's just my opinion.

  Well said, Robbins... well said. Here's to making a billion bucks.

  Watch the story this week on Dailies.

  See Also: Our recent interview with Brian Robbins.

  
  

  Posted 07/15/2008 by Jill

  Related: Dailies | Brian Robbins | Norbit | Meet Dave

Thursday, July 10

• Getting Eddie Murphy to Shut Up

  After directing Eddie Murphy in the both Norbit and Meet Dave (in theaters tomorrow), Brian Robbins is now aiming to complete a trifecta, working with the talented funnyman on the high-concept comedy A Thousand Words.

  "A Thousand Words is a curse movie," Robbins told us at the premiere for Meet Dave. "It's about a guy who doesn't shut up, and then he gets a curse put on him and he's gotta shut up. So then you have Eddie Murphy, one of the most gifted verbal comedians of our generation, who stops talking at the end of the first act of the movie and becomes basically Buster Keaton or Charlie Chaplin for the rest of (it)."

  Robbins estimates that Murphy goes speechless for as long as 30 minutes in the film. Without the aid of words, fat suits or other hilarious prosthetics, A Thousand Words could very well be the comedian's greatest challenge yet.

  
  

  Posted 07/10/2008 by Thomas

  Related: Brian Robbins | Eddie Murphy | Meet Dave

Wednesday, July 25

• Disney dealz: Jailhouse Rock, Witch Mountain, and...smoking policies?

  Lots of doings at the Mouse House these days, including two new film projects and one major policy.

  First, Head of the Class alum Brian Robbins (Norbit, Varsity Blues) has been tapped to direct a new feature called Jailhouse Rock, reports Variety.

  Yes, we know what you're thinking, but it's not a remake of the 1957 Elvis movie. Rather, Jailhouse Rock was inspired by an L.A. Weekly article by Joshuah Bearman about a real-life American Idol-esque Inmate Idol Singing Con-Test at the Tent City jail in Arizona, which was initiated by a heavy metal loving guard and judged by Alice Cooper.

  There is one remake on the horizon, and that's Witch Mountain, which was inspired by Disney's 1975 adventure hit Escape to Witch Mountain and Bette Davis-starring sequel, Return from Witch Mountain.

  Based on Alexander Key's sci fi novel about paranormally-endowed alien siblings, Witch Mountain was written by Matt Lopez (who also wrote the soon-to-be-filmed Adam Shankman/Adam Sandler movie Bedtime Stories) and will be directed by Andy Fickman (Who's Your Daddy?), says The Hollywood Reporter.

  But most importantly, Reuters is reporting that Disney has come out against smoking once and for all. The family-friendly company became the first Hollywood studio to ban depictions of smoking on screen--forbidding it in all Disney-branded movies from here on out and urging its Touchstone and Miramax labels to so the same.

  Furthermore, Disney plans to include anti-smoking PSAs on any DVDs of movies that depict smoking and will encourage theater owners to show them before said films when they're in the theaters.

  What we wonder is: How are they going to distinguish the bad guys from the good guys now?

  
  

  Posted 07/25/2007 by Heather

  Related: Andy Fickman | Brian Robbins | Matt Lopez | Jailhouse Rock | Witch Mountain | Return From Witch Mountain