Having labeled the 1990 sci-fi Total Recall “cheesy,” it was only a matter of time before the makers of this summer’s lackluster Colin Farrell-starring remake had the tables turned on them by Paul Verhoeven, the original film’s director.
And so, Friday at a sold-out screening of the Arnold Schwarzenegger classic at the Egyptian Theatre in Hollywood, Verhoeven seized the opportunity for a little payback, a good-natured gleam in his eye. “Colin Farrell called it in an interview ‘kitschy,’” he declared with a smile. “So I dare to say that his version was not good.” more »
Paul Verhoeven and Ed Neumeier's dystopian action-adventure flick RoboCop (which I was too young to realize was a satire upon release) rolled off the assembly line before viral videos had been invented. Just imagine if these. . .marginally clever distractions had existed back in 1987. Heck, I'm sure we'd all be offering bids on lots in Delta City “for a dollar!”
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When you get a chance, go read Dennis Hensley's interviews with Elizabeth Berkley and Paul Verhoeven from the days before Showgirls was a cult cause célèbre. It's worth every minute: "Oh my God, I just saw it like a week ago. You have to understand, I’ve been working at this since I was like 5 years old so it was pretty overwhelming. I sat in the screening room by myself. The lights went down and I started to cry because it was just overwhelming at first. I’m such a perfectionist, but a certain point, was able to get lost in the story, which was a good sign to me. I really thought that I was watching another girl." Oh, you wish, honey. [Dennis Hensley via The Hairpin]
After devolving into a series of direct-to-video sequels (with a 2012 anime film on the way), Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi action satire Starship Troopers, based on Robert A. Heinlein's 1959 novel, is reportedly getting rebooted at Sony under producer Neal Moritz. Onboard for scripting duties are writing partners Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz, who most recently earned credits on Thor, X-Men: First Class, Fringe, and Terminator: the Sarah Connor Chronicles. (They also wrote Agent Cody Banks. Yep.) There's just one question: Who could possibly fill Casper van Dien's bug-stomping boots? [Vulture]
Remember the scene in Total Recall where our foe's eyes pop out of his head at a climactic moment? Well, your ears will perform a similar feat when you hear Arnold Schwarzenegger's Total Recall DVD commentary with director Paul Verhoeven. It's as monotone, Austrian, and filled with hearty chuckles as you imagine. It is still funny. In fact, it is the best thing I've heard all month.
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Director Len Wiseman may not be taking Colin Farrell's Doug Quaid to Mars in his "realistic," more Philip K. Dicksian Total Recall remake, and his version may be "a hard PG-13" instead of the original film's R-rating. But rest assured, he's staying true to the best part of Paul Verhoeven's Arnie-starring 1990 classic: The three-breasted woman. "You can't make a Total Recall without certain things," Wiseman told Collider at Comic-Con. Indeed. [Collider]
