Thursday, May 15

• PETA Takes Aim at Speed Racer

  After being handed a thorough critical beatdown and feeling the painful sting of audience indifference, the Wachowski Siblings' beleaguered anime epic Speed Racer suffered yet another indignity today -- courtesy of those loveable activists at PETA. The L.A. Times reports that the animal rights group's German arm (the movie was shot in Berlin) has accused Speed Racer's animal trainer of chimpanzee abuse, alleging that a representative of the American Humane Association witnessed an incident in which the poor primate that played Chim Chim was smacked upside the head after biting one of the actors.

  The outcry over chimpanzee abuse comes as no surprise. Anyone who's seen the popular West German TV show "Sprockets" knows that Germans love their monkeys.

  Source: L.A. Times

  
  

  Posted 05/15/2008 by Thomas

  Andy Wachowski | Larry Wachowski | Speed Racer

• New Twilight Movie Images of Edward and Isabella at Play

  The L.A. Times' new Hollywood Backlot has a crop of new pictures from their recent visit to the Twilight movie set, most of which feature stars Robert Pattinson (Edward Cullen) and Kristen Stewart (Isabella Swan) frolicking through the woods as teenage vampire/human couples so often do. Consistent with earlier posters and images from the film, Isabella looks blissful and innocent while Edward is all dark and pensive. It's a match made in Tiger Beat heaven.

  Head over to Hollywood Backlot for the full set of pics.

  
  
  

  Twilight - Trailer

  Kristen Stewart Stars - Releasing Dec. 12, 2008

  Posted 05/15/2008 by Thomas

  Robert Pattinson | Twilight | Kristen Stewart

• Julie Benz on Rambo's Surprising Relevance

  The most recent chapter of Sylvester Stallone's Rambo franchise had the monosyllabic mercenary escorting aid workers into war-torn Burma (aka Myanmar) and then slaughtering the country's ruling military junta almost single-handedly. Who would have thought that buried beneath the film's cartoonish gore was a theme of surprising prescience, with the Myanmar junta's resistance to foreign aid currently compounding the devastation caused by Cyclone Nargis?

  "It was a ticking time bomb waiting to go off," Rambo co-star Julie Benz told us at an event yesterday promoting her latest project, the horror flick Saw V. "Stallone was very smart about setting the movie there. He did a lot of research to find out where the most volatile place in the world was...I do a lot of work for the U.S. Campaign for Burma because of my experience making Rambo."

  Wanna help? Head over to uscampaignforburma.org.

  
  

  Posted 05/15/2008 by Thomas

  Julie Benz | Rambo

• Saw V Plot Details Revealed (Yes, Jigsaw is Still Dead)

  In what has now become an annual event for horror movie fans, the indomitable Saw franchise will unveil its fifth chapter in October, with a host of grisly new traps awaiting the victims of Hoffman (Costas Mandylor), the devious protégé of deceased Saw villain Jigsaw. The latest installment has Hoffman scrambling to close loose ends (i.e., kill a lot of people) when the secret of Jigsaw's torturous ways is on the verge of being exposed.

  Thankfully, Saw V looks to be a bit less perplexing than its predecessors, which constantly jumped around the story's narrative timeline in an effort to keep fans guessing. "This film is far less confusing and more linear, and there are TWO great twists," Saw V producer Marc Berg told horror fansite Bloody-Disgusting yesterday. "Just when you thought you figured it out, we twist again. We bring in some new characters that you really get to know... we bring in some peripheral characters that play out in Saw VI - the people that you think will live… not a chance!"

  Source: Bloody-Disgusting

  
  
  Next Showing: Saw V opens October 24, 2008

  Posted 05/15/2008 by Thomas

  Costas Mandylor | Tobin Bell | Saw V

• Beavis and Butthead: The Movie?

  Mike Judge, the mastermind behind Office Space and Idiocracy, is contemplating bringing his greatest achievement to the big screen.

  In a recent conversation with MTV, Judge confided that he is considering a live-action movie version of the '90s TV classic, Beavis and Butthead. MTV's Larry Carrol and Judge joked about casting options, including Seann William Scott--in either of the titular roles.

  Who do you think should play those oh-so-charming guys? 

  
  

  Posted 05/15/2008 by Heather

  Mike Judge

Wednesday, May 14

• The Love Guru Banned in India?

  Yahoo! News is reporting that Mike Myers' return to comedy, The Love Guru, might not play in India.The movie, about an American who was left at an Indian ashram as a baby and then puts his schooling there to use as an unorthodox self-help guru, has raised hackles in the hindu community.

  Universal Society of Hinduism president Rajan Zed accuses it of 'lampooning Hinduism' (which it obviously is) and is calling for India's Central Board of Film Certification and Ministry of Information and Broadcasting to ban the movie throughout India. For their part, the Central Board of Film Certification denies ever receiving an official request.

  The real question is: Are these groups calling for the movie to be banned because it is poking fun at Hinduism or because it just isn't funny?

  
  
  

  The Love Guru trailer

  Mike Myers & Jessica Alba Star - Releasing June 20, 2008

  Posted 05/14/2008 by Heather

  Mike Myers | The Love Guru

• X-Files Sequel Trailer Hits Net

  The trailer for the X-Files sequel, The X-Files: I Want to Believe has hit the Interwebs. We watched it and still have no idea what is going on, but yet are strangely geeked to see the movie. And after all isn't that what The X-Files is all about?

  Check it out at IGN and then let us know what you think!

  
  

  Posted 05/14/2008 by Heather

  The X-Files: I Want to Believe

• Jonah Hill in Talks for 21 Jump Street Movie

  Straight out of the "Huh?" file comes EW.com's report that Superbad star Jonah Hill is in talks to write and possibly star in a big screen adaptation of 21 Jump Street, the undercover narc TV drama that launched the career of Johnny Depp and helped put Fox's network on the map in the late '80s.

  The involvement of funnyman Hill strongly suggests that producers are going for the ironic/self-aware vibe that's become all the rage with big screen send-ups of popular '70s and '80s TV shows. If that's indeed the case, Hill's first order of business should be a required viewing of the ill-conceived Ben Stiller/Owen Wilson Starsky & Hutch flick, followed immediately by 2005's disastrous Dukes of Hazzard, so that he may learn what pitfalls to avoid.

  Source: EW.com

  
  

  Posted 05/14/2008 by Thomas

  Jonah Hill