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Friday, March 19
Despite lousy reviews, Universal Pictures has released a red-band clip exclusively to IGN, likely because the site was one of the few to favorably review the movie. The clip, which is a longer and more graphic version of an earlier clip, is clearly trying to appeal to movie fans who enjoy the escapism of movies filled with action and a little gore. Watch the clip below, as long as you're not at work.
Next Showing: Repo Men opens today
Posted 3/19/2010 by Ryan
Related: Repo Men
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Jesse Ventura's classic line "I ain't got time to bleed" from the original Predator is a fan-favorite and will make an appearance in the upcoming Robert Rodriguez-produced and Nimród Antal-directed sequel, Predators. Cast member Topher Grace alerted MTV to the line's presence in the movie.
"That line is in the film," Grace said, though he would not reveal who gets to say it. All speculation leads to The Shield's Walton Goggins, who portrays the character of Stans in the movie. Goggins description of the character sure seems to imply that he could be the culprit.
I play Waler Stans in Predators — he's a famous serial killer and fancies himself the only celebrity of the eight persons on the alien planet, and is perturbed when they don't know who he is or ask for his autograph. Stans has a lot of one-liners that hopefully people will be quoting when they leave the movie.
It sure sounds like Goggins, but we wouldn't count out Danny Trejo, who plays a former Mexican enforcer named Cuchillo, or Mahershalalhashbaz Ali, who plays a member of the African Sierra Leone death squad named Mombasa, or even Oleg Taktarov, who plays a former Russian special ops agent named Nikolai. Goggins did mention at least one of his "20 one-liners" that fans can start quoting prior to the movie's release.
"Your ass is awesome." I'll leave it at that.
Next Showing: Predators opens July 17
Posted 3/19/2010 by Ryan
Related: Walton Goggins | Topher Grace | Predators
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The race for the lead role in Marvel's The First Avenger: Captain America continues as one contender admits defeat and another name is reportedly added to the list which includes Fantastic Four's Chris Evans, Cloverfield's Mike Vogel, Wilson Bethel (CBS' The Young and the Restless), MacGruber's Ryan Phillippe and G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra's Channing Tatum. IGN reports that Bethel has announced on his Facebook page that he is no longer in the running.
O Captain, My Captain... I am not He... Thanks for all of the love & support.
Meanwhile, Entertainment Weekly reports that Hedlund is out as well and that Sebastian Stan (Gossip Girl) is also up for the role, even though the actor hails from Romania and Captain America director Joe Johnston has said that he didn't want to make the movie "without an American playing the part." Marvel has been in agreement on that, though they may have changed their minds.
According to IESB, Marvel liked Stan's audition, and claims the actor is now part of a three-way race for the role with Stan as the favorite. Tatum and Evans are also in contention, which means Phillippe and Vogel are out. Stan could be just "unknown" enough for the role, and his time on Gossip Girl could be a positive since Gossip Girls actors have been a favorite of comic book movies of late. Gossip's Chace Crawford was once a part of the Captain America hunt, and Blake Lively recently landed the role of Carol Ferris in Green Lantern.
Production on Captain America begins this summer, so expect a decision to be made soon. If anyone is wondering why Marvel is taking such a long time, think of those three actors reportedly up for the role and ask yourself who is not only right for the role, but can command authority amongst actors like Robert Downey Jr.? Our money is on Evans, though appearances in two Fantastic Four movies could ruin his chances.
Who do you think will get the role? Write a comment below!
Posted 3/19/2010 by Ryan
Related: Channing Tatum | Mike Vogel | Ryan Phillippe | Sebastian Stan | Chris Evans | First Avenger: Captain America
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Now that Christopher Nolan has confirmed that he will return to direct a third movie in his revamped Batman franchise, the next question on the minds of many comic book movie fans is which villain from Batman's Rogues Gallery will be the main antagonist in Batman 3. Early fan speculation had pegged The Riddler as the front-runner for the sequel to The Dark Knight, and fake Riddler movie posters are still frequently popping up online.
Actor Michael Caine, who played Alfred Pennyworth, Bruce Wayne's (played by Christian Bale) loyal butler, confidante and father figure, helped to spark The Riddler rumors back in September 2008 when he told MTV that Johnny Depp would be playing the Riddler in Batman 3. Now, another high-profile person connected to the Batman franchise has made mention of The Riddler. In a recent interview with MTV, Academy Award-winner Hans Zimmer, who composed the scores for both Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, said that he would like to see Batman's quizzical nemesis appear in the third installment.
For me, I'd have an enormous amount of fun with The Riddler. There is such a wealth of fun to be had with a character like that.
In the article, MTV is quick to point out that Zimmer doesn't have any actual say about the villain that will appear in the movie. However, Zimmer did say that Nolan usually gives him an early heads-up about the main villain so that he can start thinking about how to score the movie. And, with Nolan's brother, Jonathan, currently working on the Batman 3 script, Zimmer should know who the villain is soon, if he doesn't already.
Once I knew [The Dark Knight villain] was The Joker, I started to get a sense of what it could be, more than what it shouldn't be. Chris and I have this interesting way of getting together, throwing ideas around causally, and then slowly one little Lego piece comes together and another falls off and another comes together.
In the DC comic books on which the Batman movies are based, The Riddler is the alter-ego of Edward Nigma, a brilliant man who commits crimes to flaunt his intellectual superiority. His plots and plans are often so elaborate that not even Batman would be able to figure them out, except for the fact that The Riddler is driven by the obsessive compulsion to leave behind clues or riddles that inevitably lead to his downfall.
Posted 3/19/2010 by BrentJS
Related: Christian Bale | Michael Caine | Jonathan Nolan | Christopher Nolan | Batman Begins | The Dark Knight | Batman 3 | Hans Zimmer
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If you've watched the trailer for The Bounty Hunter, you won't be surprised that the critic reviews are brutal. After last year's The Ugly Truth and now this, let's hope Hollywood finally recognizes Gerard Butler is not the least bit suited for comedy.
"I stared with glazed eyes at The Bounty Hunter. Here is a film with no need to exist."
— Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times
"...confused and joyless..."
— Dezhda Gaubert, E!
"It's a formula for romantic comedy gold, but The Bounty Hunter screws it up with a miscalculated story, useless subplots, and lack of anything resembling romantic chemistry between Butler and Aniston."
— Jason Morgan, filmcritic.com
"...a hapless sucker..."
— A. O. Scott, New York Times
"...another Jennifer Aniston dud."
— Kyle Smith, New York Post
Posted 3/19/2010 by reelz
Related: Jennifer Aniston | Gerard Butler | The Bounty Hunter
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It's been a long time since there was any news about Seth Rogen's The Green Hornet, a production that has been saddled with an inordinate amount of setbacks, from the release date being pushed back twice, to Nicolas Cage deciding to drop out of the movie, to a bomb scare on the set. Without any new information coming out, and with Matthew Vaughn's independently-financed superhero movie, Kick-Ass, currently in the midst of a promotional blitz, The Green Hornet has all but dropped off of the radar of many comic book movie fans.
And, it appears that any fans who are eager to see how French director Michel Gondry (Be Kind Rewind) plans to interpret the pulp hero for a modern audience will have to wait a bit longer. Speaking with MTV from the South By Southwest Film Festival in Austin, Texas, Gondry said that a trailer for the movie had been made, but that it may not debut until the summer. He did, however, offer a brief description of the trailer.
You see Kato [played by Jay Chou] and Seth deciding why they want to be crime fighters. Then you see images of their completion. It's pretty violent, but with a good spirit.
Gondry is not known as an action director, but he said that he had a "very skilled" second unit that shot "one of the most amazing car chases." He also said that he tried to be "precise" with the fight choreography and "redefine" fights in his own style.
There are many things happening at the same time. There is an anticipation, a planning of the fight by the hero. He sees a different element he has to deal with ... he calculates the best trajectory to fight them.
The Green Hornet also stars Cameron Diaz and recent Academy Award-winner Christoph Waltz.
Next Showing: The Green Hornet opens December 22
Posted 3/19/2010 by BrentJS
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Actor Mickey Rourke has been one of the least vocal promoters of director Jon Favreau's sequel to Iron Man. Whether it's because he is still unsure of himself after his long hiatus from the limelight or just busy with other projects is unclear, but his Iron Man 2 interviews can be counted on one hand. Even in the series of ET visits to the set of Iron Man 2, Rourke is the only one who doesn't speak in the clip in which he is featured.
Somehow, Total Film magazine managed to get Rourke to break his silence on the subject of the movie and his role as Ivan Vanko, aka Whiplash, in an interview for its May issue. Rourke said that part of what attracted him to star in Iron Man 2 was the brilliant casting of the first movie.
I normally don't really care for that type of film but I saw the first one and they very much took a chance by having someone like Robert Downey Jr.—who's not your conventional action hero—play the role. I thought that was pretty bold and it paid off because Robert brought a quirky, unpredictable sense of humor to it. He didn't make it stereotypical like Spider-Man, like Batman and all that sh*t.
Rourke added that working with a director who is also an actor was another big draw for him.
It's always interesting when you get an actor who's directing. That made it even more intriguing for me. I told Favreau that I didn't want to play a one-dimensional bad guy. So if I could bring a certain level of humility to the guy and a sense of humor, maybe even a few sympathetic moments, instead of being one-dimensional bad motherf***er. 'Cos that would have bored the sh*t out of me. Favreau … though it over and said, "Yes, we could make that work."
An actor truly dedicated to his craft, Rourke secretly travelled to Russia to visit an authentic Russian prison and meet with inmates to gain as much insight as possible for his role.
I was playing a Russian scientist who's been incarcerated for many years so I wanted to go over and see the facilities in Russia and the Russian criminal society. The inmates were fine and one guy came to my hotel after getting out after 12 years. He showed me these tattoos… They tattoo cats on their fingers or necks and the smaller the kitty-cat the more powerful the prisoner. Favreau didn't know I was there but after he went to bat for me I wanted to bring as much backstory as I could to the table.
Rourke said that the finality of his character's story arc will preclude him from appearing in any of the other Marvel Studios movies. But, then again, maybe not.
Well, the only thing I can tell you is that they had decided to kill me and we did film it with Gwyneth Paltrow. And then they came to New Mexico and re-shot it and now it's left up in the air...
Iron Man 2 also stars Don Cheadle as War Machine, Sam Rockwell as Justin Hammer, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, and Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow.
Next Showing: Iron Man 2 opens May 7
Posted 3/19/2010 by BrentJS
Related: Don Cheadle | Gwyneth Paltrow | Jon Favreau | Sam Rockwell | Robert Downey Jr. | Iron Man | Iron Man 2 | Mickey Rourke