Universal recently made a deal with author Robert Ludlum’s estate for the exclusive rights to the Jason Bourne character and first look rights for any other Ludlum novels.

After the first three films grossed a total of more than $1 billion worldwide, U signed Matt Damon and director Paul Greengrass for a fourth Bourne film that George Nolfi is penning.  …The film will be readied for a summer 2010 release. [Variety]

Flame me all you want, but I saw Quantum of Solace over the weekend, and it was exactly what I was afraid of when they hired the stunt coordinator from Bourne: a bunch of blurry, shakey, incomprehensible action sequences.  GARBAGE.  This is THE WORST trend in movies out there right now.  It doesn’t make it exciting to cut together a bunch of blurry whatsits like a hand shifting gears or a foot on the gas pedal.  Action movies are in the details.  If you just cut together a bunch of crazy closeups super fast and then end on a slow-mo of the good guy getting away or the bad guy dying, it’s insulting to the audience.  It’s like telling us we’re on a need-to-know basis with the movie we’re watching.  If you’re going to make it totally ambiguous as to how things happen, you might as well just cut to black and put up a title card that says “he got away.”  Also, it’s half-assed.  F-cking choreograph that shit you lazy motherf-ckers.

It’s not “gritty realism” either.  The action in, say, Michael Mann movies or Training Day is infinitely more effective because it impresses upon you the gravity of violence by actually making you watch it.  Kooky idea, right?  It doesn’t create fake tension through cheesy editing and spastic camera work.  F-CK SHAKEY CAM BULLSHIT.  …In conclusion, I will be switching to decaf from here on out.