Cowboys and Aliens news and tidbits

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SmittenDramaKitten
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Post by SmittenDramaKitten »

OK, so I admit that C&A wasn't perfect. It was the first movie of Daniel's that I had seen after the 'dry spell' so perhaps my avidness was a little overblown. My support of Daniel and his creative talent is as firm and uncompromising as ever. The fact that he lends his name and his talent to a movie should be enough to allow it a higher status. But maybe he is only as good as the script, only as good as his director and only as good as his fellow actors. As much as I believe in his skills and talents as an actor, he can't pick up the ball and run with it all by himself. A really great movie needs to be firing on all cylinders. In retrospect, Daniel and Harrison both did good jobs. I also still think that Favreau did the best he could with the material at hand. If Daniel wasn't in it enough (and when is he ever?), I guess JF knew he had to give Harrison ample screen time considering the weight of his name. The movies biggest flaw (IMO) was Olivia Wilde. Her character was just a female foil with no substantial presence and the whole 'actually, I'm an alien too' was contrived and 'cheesy'. In no way is C&A as bad as Tomb Raider because genuinely bad actors dragged that movie down (Iain Glen was phenomenally bad) and the very notion of making a movie of a video game is far worse than making it from a comic book (also IMO). Daniel acquitted himself in this movie. It showed that he can continue to play with the 'big guns' - Spielberg and Harrison - and mark himself out as someone who can actually improve on what the industry stalwarts can create. :)
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calypso
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Post by calypso »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16001036

Cowboys and Aliens makers sued by comic book author

A US writer has taken legal action against the makers of Hollywood film Cowboys and Aliens, claiming he had the idea prior to the 2006 graphic novel on which the film is based.

Steven John Busti's court claim states the 100-page work published by Platinum Studios and its creator Scott Mitchell Rosenberg bears "striking similarities" to his own work.

Platinum and film studios Universal and DreamWorks have declined to comment.

Daniel Craig starred in the film.

Harrison Ford and Olivia Wilde were also among the cast of the movie which topped the US box office in June.

However, it is considered to have been a financial dud barely earning back its reported $163m (£103m) budget.

Mr Busti says that he came up with the concept of a group of 19th Century cowboys who fend off an alien assault in a Wild West backdrop in 1994.

The story was printed in an edition of a comic anthology called Bizarre Fantasy.

His legal action claims that the Platinum publications, released more than 10 years later, contained characters which resemble his own, including an alien commander called Morguu.

The Hollywood studios bought the rights to make a Platinum version.

Mr Busti failed to register to copyright for his original story until last year, but his lawyer insisted copyright is obtained as soon as material is created.
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JEC57
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Post by JEC57 »

calypso wrote:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-16001036

Cowboys and Aliens makers sued by comic book author

A US writer has taken legal action against the makers of Hollywood film Cowboys and Aliens, claiming he had the idea prior to the 2006 graphic novel on which the film is based.
If my memory serves me (and sometimes it doesn't!!) I seem to recall that this man tried this before - he tried to sue the author back in the day......and he lost.

Can't see how he thinks he will win this time.
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khenton
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Post by khenton »

Only one author that I know of ever successfully sued a studio and won and if my memory is working it was Harlon Ellison who sued terminator for stealing two of his original ideas from the outer limits or was it the twilight zone. :wink: K
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JEC57
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Post by JEC57 »

khenton wrote:Only one author that I know of ever successfully sued a studio and won and if my memory is working it was Harlon Ellison who sued terminator for stealing two of his original ideas from the outer limits or was it the twilight zone. :wink: K
That makes his chances less than nil really then, doesn't it. Especially as he already lost a case against the graphic novel author.
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calypso
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Post by calypso »

http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/

Beverly Hills, CA – The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films have been selected for consideration for Achievement in Visual Effects for the 84th Academy Awards®.

The films are listed below in alphabetical order:

“Captain America: The First Avenger”
“Cowboys & Aliens”
“Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2″
“Hugo”
“Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol”
“Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides”
“Real Steel”
“Rise of the Planet of the Apes”
“Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows”
“Sucker Punch”
“Super 8″
“Thor”
“Transformers: Dark of the Moon”
“The Tree of Life”
“X-Men: First Class”

In early January, the members of the Academy’s Visual Effects Branch Executive Committee, who selected the 15 films, will narrow the list to 10. All members of the Visual Effects Branch will be invited to view 10-minute excerpts from each of the 10 shortlisted films on Thursday, January 19. Following the screenings, the members will vote to nominate five films for final Oscar consideration.
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caramel
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Post by caramel »

Cowboys & Aliens top movie rental

Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig are back on top this week, as "Cowboys & Aliens" tops Blockbuster's movie rental chart.

Released earlier this year to theaters, "Cowboys & Aliens" tells the story of an interrupted feud between cowboys and Apaches.

The rivals find themselves in the way of "a spaceship, commanded by an alien creature that's bent on enslaving the human race," according to Blockbuster. "It's time for a six-gun shoot-out between these cattle rustlers and space invaders, and there might even be a temporary peace between the cowboys and Indians as they both take aim at these extraterrestrial uninvited guests."

Released earlier this year, the movie has grossed more than $100 million in box office receipts, according to imdb.com.

The remainder of the top 10:

2. The Debt
3. Friends with Benefits
4. Mr. Popper’s Penguins
5. The Smurfs
6. Super 8
7. 30 Minutes Or Less
8. The Change-Up
9. Our Idiot Brother
10. One Day

http://www.examiner.com/tv-movie-dvd-in ... um=twitter
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khenton
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Post by khenton »

Now wouldn't that be a hoot--c&a. Cult classic :wink: K
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tampa
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Post by tampa »

khenton wrote:Now wouldn't that be a hoot--c&a. Cult classic :wink: K
If the film hadn't cost tons, and if they had opening it in the Spring, before everyone was sick of super hero stuff, the darn thing might have actually been a hit.
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Post by JEC57 »

tampa wrote:
khenton wrote:Now wouldn't that be a hoot--c&a. Cult classic :wink: K
If the film hadn't cost tons, and if they had opening it in the Spring, before everyone was sick of super hero stuff, the darn thing might have actually been a hit.
:stick_iagree:

I still don't consider it a flop because if it had cost less it would have been a hit with those BO takings.

(Not sure I made sense there :-k ....but I knew what I meant! :lol: :lol: :lol: )
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Post by chippi »

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cheryl1700
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Post by cheryl1700 »

chippi wrote:Someone's in trouble...
http://www.abqjournal.com/main/2011/12/ ... lying.html
sorry just got an advert, no article :wink:
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chippi
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Post by chippi »

SANTA FE – In what sounds like a special effect gone wrong, an Albuquerque woman was seriously injured when she was pulled through the air more than 100 feet before being tossed to the ground during the filming of “Cowboys & Aliens,” according to a lawsuit.

Production assistant Tiffany Patterson suffered “massive injuries” in the accident, which began when a large diffusion filter screen took off in high winds on the set just outside Santa Fe.

The sci-fi Western starring Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig was filmed in various locations throughout New Mexico and topped the box office charts when it opened last summer.

The suit filed last week in state District Court in Santa Fe says Patterson and others tried to hold the 40-by-60-foot, more-than-1,000-pound filter by ropes when it got caught in the wind and “acted like a giant sail.”

Patterson’s rope was ripped from her hands and wrapped around her left leg.


Shown is a scene from "Cowboys & Aliens," which was filmed in New Mexico. A production assistant is suing the filmmakers after an accident on the set. (Courtesy of UNIVERSAL STUDIOS)

“Because the filter became like a giant sail, it lifted Tiffany over 20 feet off the ground and tossed her across the movie set,” the lawsuit states. “Tiffany was carried through the air over a hundred feet. While being dragged by the rope, she went through the post office building set, through the wall and out the roof.”

“After Tiffany came out of the roof of the post office building, she landed on a set tent filled with various props and crates,” then came down on her left side, the suit continues. It says her injuries included “a badly dislocated fracture of the tibia and fibula in her left leg,” and that when swelling set in, “it was so violent that her skin split open.”

She also had a “crush-type fracture in her left wrist, left index finger and left pinkie finger.”

Named as defendants in the suit are filmmakers DreamWorks Productions and DW Studios LLC, along with Crane Service Inc., of Albuquerque. The suit says a crane operated by the Albuquerque company was being used to hoist and hold the filter screen in the air when the wind storm hit on Aug. 5, 2010.

A Crane Service employee said Wednesday that the only company official who could comment was out of town. Efforts to reach a spokesperson for DreamWorks were unsuccessful.

The suit asks for unspecified monetary damages, including punitive damages, for Patterson.

Diffusion filters can be made from different materials and are used to soften images in filming or photography.

The suit alleges negligence by DreamWorks and Crane Service in part because “there were numerous warnings” about high winds the day of the accident but the big filter was not lowered.

Also, the suit maintains, the filter was rigged and assembled in an unsafe manner and that “on several occasions,” there were warnings that the filter was not stable.

“When the predicted wind storm hit, chaos erupted,” the suit states. Crew members grabbed ropes to try to keep the filter under control, but “the wind was simply too strong and filter was too unstable.”

“The ropes were literally ripped out of people’s hands,” the suit states. Many crew members received second- and third-degree rope burns and had to be rushed to the hospital.

Patterson was not knocked unconscious after her flight and hard landing but that meant “she experienced the full effects of the pain and terror experienced during this tragedy,” the suit states.

“Tiffany was wide awake during this entire ordeal and was certain she was going to die,” it says. “She continues to suffer from the massive injuries sustained in this tragedy.”

The suit was filed for Patterson by the O’Friel and Levy law firm of Santa Fe.
— This article appeared on page A1 of the Albuquerque Journal
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cheryl1700
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Post by cheryl1700 »

Well thats wot u have insurance for, film people and makers, she broke her leg and crushed her hand, taken while to come out to sue hasnt it.
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chippi
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Post by chippi »

cheryl1700 wrote:Well thats wot u have insurance for, film people and makers, she broke her leg and crushed her hand, taken while to come out to sue hasnt it.
Not really. By the time someone gets set up with a lawyer who decides on what grounds to sue, who to sue, etc. It can be a while. Plus they have to show some long standing effect from the injuries. They do have insurance to pay for injuries due to issues outside of negligence, but she is claiming negligence and asking for punitive damages.
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