Starting last May and extending into July I wrote three or four pieces about Robert Harris‘s attempt to persuade MGM honchos to allow an independently-funded restoration of 65mm elements of John Wayne‘s The Alamo. I jumped in myself at one point and convinced a roster of hotshot directors — Darren Aronfosky, JJ Abrams, Guillermo del Toro, Matt Reeves, Alfonso Cuaron, Rian Johnson, Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu — plus actor Bill Paxton and producer Bob Gale to lend support to this effort.

In August Variety‘s Sebastian Torrelio began working on a piece about the situation. The MGM guys nearly stonewalled him to death, and then Variety‘s editors decided to fold his Alamo reporting into a broader piece about classic film restoration…or something like that. Maybe it’ll appear this month or whenever. Don’t hold your breath.

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Ridley Scott‘s Exodus: Gods and Kings has been described by Fox Filmed Entertainment chairman and CEO Jim Gianopolus as a kind of classically-produced, cast-of-thousands Biblical epic that William Wyler or Cecil B. DeMille would recognize and respect. The quote, which appeared in a Pete Hammond Deadline story that popped last night, reads as follows: “You don’t see movies on this scale anymore. You don’t see movies using these numbers of people in these massive scenes unless they are computer generated. Ridley did the real thing — and in only 80 days.”

How can you call a movie that uses 1500 CG shots “real”? It’s apparent that most of the shots/scenes in the just-released Exodus trailer use CG to some extent, and that some scenes use a great deal of CG. Yes, Scott and his team gathered a lot of people and animals together for various scenes but I’d be willing to bet — I’m fairly certain, in fact — that very little of Exodus is “the real thing.” (Outside of close-ups, I mean.) I’m sure that it’s all a mixture of real footage and CG. Nobody makes big Bible films the DeMille or Wyler way any more. Not necessary, way too expensive.

It’s a relief, by the way, that Scott is apparently no longer a fan of the herky-jerky action photography that he used in Gladiator.

21 Years: Richard Linklater, an intelligent fellating of the director of Boyhood, opens in theatres and on demand on 11.7.14. Directed and written by Michael Dunaway and Tara Wood, it features friendly tributes from Zac Efron, Billy Bob Thornton, Mark Duplass, Matthew McConaughey, Ethan Hawke, Jack Black, Kevin Smith, Parker Posey, etc. I don’t think there’s much chance of Boyhood not getting nominated for a Best Picture Oscar or Linklater not snagging a Best Director nom, but it can’t hurt to have famous friends presenting the case.

“With a Sharknado-inspired visual style and a deeply weary lead performance from Nicolas Cage, Left Behind is cheap-looking, overwrought kitsch of the most unintentionally hilarious order, its eschatological bent representing its only real shot at box office redemption. This faith-based thriller is likely to inspire far more dorm-room drinking games than religious conversions.” — from Andrew Barker‘s Variety review of Left Behind. “This failed epic — really, an epic failure — would barely be noticed, were it not for former Oscar-winner Nicolas Cage taking on a Sharknado-quality remake of a Kirk Cameron movie.” — from Elizabeth Weitzman‘s N.Y. Daily News review.

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To even acknowledge a movie like Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day (Disney, 10.10), much less quote from Justin Chang’s 10.2 review of it, feels like nihilism on my part, but this is a slow day. I have nothing but spitting contempt for anyone who would excitedly buy a ticket to “a passable, tolerable, not unbearable, totally inoffensive adaptation of Judith Viorst’s beloved 1972 children’s book…the sort of busily contrived, one-damned-thing-after-another farce where cars are smashed and Dad gets set on fire, but it all goes down with a spoonful of sugar and a cheery string of studio tie-ins.”

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I’m seriously excited by the idea of Chris Nolan‘s Interstellar (Paramount, 11.5) being the first mainstream film to deliver some kind of coherent conveyance (by whatever means) of Einstein’s Theory of Relativity. And by the input of noted astrophysicist Kip Thorne in the film’s scientific verisimilitude. My only hope is that one of the characters (not Matthew McConaughey!) will explain the concept of time-bending by referring to a hand pressing down upon a trampoline — I’ve always liked that one. What I don’t get is the idea of earth’s civilization saving itself by…what, migrating to another green planet somewhere? “Mankind was born on earth” but it was “never meant to die here.” In reality and surely in Interstellar, the billions of souls on our polluted, all-but-doomed speck of dust ain’t goin’ nowhere. A small community of earth explorers could theoretically start over again on another planet (i.e., a voyage that yeehaw-accented McConaughey has spoken of in trailer narration…“To break bayhhrriers, to reach for the stahhhrrs”) but the idea of an exploratory space mission somehow saving the world from its own ecological ruination strains credulity.

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“On the other hand a good movie is a good movie is a good movie and Gone Girl is a great fucking movie, whether the 6,000 voters in the Academy [come to] realize that or not.” — from a 9.29 Awards Daily rant, written by Sasha Stone.

If you’ve seen the semi-classic Them! (’54), you know what those giant ants sound like….”wah-wah-wah-wah-wah-wah!” mixed with a theramin. This same exact sound filled the IRT Lex platform underneath Union Square today. It was awful…ear torture, brain madness. Worse than a car alarm. People in the video seem to be doing their best to ignore it but try standing there and listening to this godawful racket for five or six minutes straight, as I did.

Glenn Kenny will probably take issue but this is a very “twee” sentiment. Be gentle. Keep things in perspective. Shrug it off. Cosmic flow, bro. Sip your herbal tea with lemon.

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…but that’s okay. I’m totally fine with vague aroma tease. The important thing, obviously, is “does this make you want to see it?” Of course it does. This is the first Interstellar trailer to features an image of Jessica Chastain…right?

The embargo date for David Ayer‘s Fury (Sony, 10.17) is Thursday, 10.9, so look for the first reviews to pop on Wednesday night, 10.8, at 9 pm Pacific. Brad Pitt quoted about Shia Wackazoid: “Oh, I love this boy. He’s one of the best actors I’ve ever seen. He’s full-on commitment, man. He’s living it like no one else, let me tell you. I’ve been fortunate to work with a lot of great actors. He’s one of the best I’ve seen.” That’s a gracious thing to say. Pitt knows LeBeouf has been in a corner and baring his fangs, and that what he needs right now is a little love.

A somber, colorful period drama…Peter Weir-ish, handsomely shot, assured direction…what’s not to like? Four years after the slaughter of Australian soldiers in Gallipoli, an Australian farmer (Russell Crowe) travels to Istanbul to discover the fate of his sons who may have been killed in battle. On top of which Crowe apparently falls in love (i.e., has it off) with Olga Kurylenko, playing a Turkish woman owns the hotel in which he stays. Directed by Crowe, written by Andrew Anastasios and Andrew Knight. Cinematography by Andrew Lesnie, the Lord of the Rings/Hobbit dp who won an Oscar in ’02 for The Fellowship of the Ring. Opening in Australia and New Zealand on 12.26.14. The only dicey thing about it is the title.

“It’s a work of chilly wit and bleak metaphor, an artifice that invites the kind of analytical response where we pull on our chins and discuss how other people, more naive than we, will receive it.” — from Andrew O’Hehir‘s Salon review of Gone Girl, which I saw again last night…perfect, deadly, as exquisitely made as a mainstream thriller can be but at the same time a reflection of everything we are (or are afraid to admit that we are)…a laugh and a gulp…”that’s marriage.”