Sunday, October 25

• Malin Akerman's Fine with Fame -- as Long as She's Not Robert Pattinson

  Actress Malin Akerman's career has been on an upward trajectory since her breakout role on the short-lived Lisa Kudrow series The Comeback. Since then, Akerman has gone psycho in The Heartbreak Kid with Ben Stiller, played a superhero in Zack Snyder's Watchmen, and is currently starring in one of this year's biggest comedy hits, Couples Retreat.

  In the October issue of 944 magazine, Akerman talked about some of her upcoming projects and discussed the price of fame. For her next film, she's taking a break from comedy for a dramatic role.

  Yes, The Bang Bang Club — it's based on a true story of two photojournalists' journey through the end of Apartheid — I play the photo editor. The story's incredible and it's really raw. We used a lot of locals and shot in all the same places where things happened.

  Akerman will return to comedy in writer-director Josh Radnor's HappyThankYouMorePlease, an ensemble piece that Malin calls her "love."

  I play a woman with alopecia universalis. I shaved off my eyebrows for the part and wore a bald cap. It's about all of our journeys to find love — and obviously I have added difficulties as a bald woman. It's [about] her trying to stay positive.

  The more projects Akerman does, the more famous she becomes, a situation she says is "manageable" for the time being.

  I couldn't imagine being Robert Pattinson right now. That would scare the sh-- out of me. I'd rather be able to walk out the door have a life.

  
  
  Next Showing: Couples Retreat is in theaters now
  

  Couples Retreat - Interview

  Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman talk about the tropical island

  Posted 10/25/2009 by BrentJS

  Related: Malin Akerman | Josh Radnor | Couples Retreat | Watchmen | The Heartbreak Kid

Thursday, October 8

• Couples Retreat Reviews: Stay Single!

  We had bad vibes about this one when, at the movie's Chicago premiere, co-star Malin Akerman said Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau had "grown up a little" and are "definitely a little more subdued." Unfortunately it seems to have rubbed off on their latest movie, in a not-funny way.

  "It contains little comedy, except for free-standing one-liners, and no suspense, except for the timing of the obligatory reconciliation. It doesn't even make you think you'd like to visit its island paradise."

  — Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

  "...a not lousy but unmemorable tropical-vacation comedy."

  — Dennis Harvey, Variety

  "This intermittently funny tale of four couples undergoing relationship therapy struggles hard for its occasional laughs."

  — Kirk Honeycutt, Hollywood Reporter

  "An ostensible paean to making a marriage work, Couples Retreat is instead so long, inert, and torturously unfunny that it makes a strong case for the drunk-and-promiscuous single life."

  — Nick Schager, Slant Magazine

  
  
  

  Couples Retreat - Trailer

  A comedy written by Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn

  Posted 10/08/2009 by reelz

  Related: Jon Favreau | Vince Vaughn | Malin Akerman | Couples Retreat

Wednesday, October 7

• Couples Retreat's Malin Akerman Disappointed in Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau?

  At last night's Chicago premiere of Couples Retreat, star Malin Ackerman (Watchmen) said she had a preconceived notion of Vaughn and frequent collaborator Jon Favreau, and they didn't meet it.

  Everyone has that idea of the single-and-crazy Vince and Jon in Swingers and Made, but I think they've grown up a little. They're still a little crazy ... but they're definitely a little more subdued.

  As big fans of Swingers and Made who were considering seeing Couples Retreat over the weekend, we're not very happy about this news.

  See also: The Hottest Comic Book Movie Babes of 2009, and a Malin Ackerman photo gallery.

  
  

  Posted 10/07/2009 by reelz

  Related: Jon Favreau | Vince Vaughn | Malin Akerman | Couples Retreat

Sunday, October 4

• Vince Vaughn and Malin Akerman Discuss Improv on the Set of Couples Retreat

  Couples Retreat, the latest comedy from Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, follows four couples on a tropical vacation where they are forced to participate in the resort's therapy sessions. The idea was conceived by Vaughn, who brought Favreau on to help him write the script. Vaughn and Malin Akerman (Watchmen) spoke to ComingSoon about the movie, with Akerman revealing that having a script didn't keep Vaughn and Favreau from improvising constantly.

  Yes. I think there was so much improv that we could probably do a whole other film on the side, but it was great. That was sort of some of the fun parts where you have your character, your intention, your goal for the scene and then it was really cool working with these guys because of the improv. I always love it. I think it's so much fun and so great. Although, once him and Jon start you're like, "Holy s**t." You can tell that there's some history there because you guys together are like husband and wife. You guys should've been a couple.

  Since Favreau and Vaughn's second movie, Made, improvisation has been a staple when the two actors work together. Vaughn said that they have a system worked out.

  I always do it the same way with Jon. I'll setup two cameras so that we can cut back and forth so that you don't try to match something that comes to your mind on the one side. I've always written, this is the first time I've taken credit, but I've always written a lot on all the movies I've done and not just dialogue but actual story and other people's lines. I've always done that. The great thing about doing that with Jon is that he knows what the story intentions of the scene needs. So it's not like you're with someone just rambling and saying bizarre things. It's all viable and cuttable choices. I think on the DVD of The Breakup, that scene in the bar where Favreau suggests putting a hit out on the new guy that she's dating, I put on that DVD a few other takes that are all really, really good that are just completely different ways to go to get to the exact same end result.

  Unlike their previous efforts, Retreat sees Favreau and Vaughn in a role reversal, with Vaughn playing the straight-laced family guy and Favreau as a cheating husband. Vaughn purposely put Favreau in the role.

  A lot of times the protagonist or the lead [in a movie] will [have] the burden of staying grounded so that the audience can see the movie through their eyes but a character like Trent [Vaughn's role in Swingers] is allowed more freedom to be out there because he's the comic relief. So for me it's just fun to watch Favreau in that role as it was in Breakup. I thought that he was really great and hilarious and in this one, too, he's so driven and ultimately so likable because Favs is very funny and also has a real warmth to him.

  
  
  Next Showing: Couples Retreat opens October 9

  Posted 10/04/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Jon Favreau | Vince Vaughn | Malin Akerman | Couples Retreat

Friday, September 25

• Extended Clips from Couples Retreat

  Couples Retreat, the latest comedy from Vince Vaughn and Jon Favreau, focuses on four couples who head to a tropical resort where couples therapy is mandatory. The trailer shows how Jason Bateman and Kristen Bell convince the other couples (Vaughn and Malin Akerman, Favreau and Kristen Davis, and Faizon Love and Kali Hawk) to join them at the retreat using a PowerPoint presentation.

  The group soon learns that Bell's pitch is far from the truth once they learn truth about the Eden resort from Peter Serafinowicz.

  The following clip has an extended look at the couples yoga session teased in the movie's trailer.

  
  
  Next Showing: Couples Retreat opens October 9
  

  Couples Retreat - Trailer

  A new comedy written by Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn

  Posted 09/25/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Faizon Love | Jason Bateman | Jon Favreau | Vince Vaughn | Malin Akerman | Peter Serafinowicz | Kristen Bell | Kali Hawk | Kristen Davis | Couples Retreat

Monday, July 6

• What to Expect in the Watchmen: The Director's Cut

  

  For those who want a preview of the upcoming July 17-19 release of Watchmen: The Director's Cut before it opens in Dallas, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, and New York, or just want to know what they missed in the theater, AICN has listed the additions to Zack Snyder's cut. If you want to remain clean of Watchmen spoilers, now's the time to stop reading. Otherwise, read on...

  A few notable changes include:

  - More Rorschach (Jackie Earle Haley), including conversations with Dr. Malcolm, arguing with Laurie (Malin Akerman) on the prison rooftop, fighting with cops at the Comedian's (Jeffrey Dean Morgan) apartment, and more monologues.

  - Hollis Mason, the original Nite Owl, has a montage death scene. Once Dan finds out he gets into a bar fight.

  - More interplay between Laurie and Jon (Billy Crudup) has been added, mostly things from the comic book.

  Other unknown changes will also be in there, adding up to a new running time of 3 hours and 10 minutes. That means an extra 30 minutes of new footage.

  
  

  Posted 07/06/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Billy Crudup | Malin Akerman | Jackie Earle Haley | Zack Snyder | Jeffrey Dean Morgan | Watchmen

Wednesday, July 1

• First Couples Retreat Trailer Online

  Couples Retreat, a new comedy written by Jon Favreau and Vince Vaughn, has its first trailer online. The movie stars Favreau and Vaughn, along with Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Malin Akerman, Faizon Love, Kristin Davis, and Kali Hawk, who, as the title suggests, are four couples that go to a exotic retreat to work on their marriages.

  Peter Billingsley, the little boy from A Christmas Story and a longtime friend of Vaughn and Favreau, directs. Watch the trailer below:

  
  
  Next Showing: Couples Retreat opens October 9, 2009

  Posted 07/01/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Faizon Love | Jason Bateman | Jon Favreau | Peter Billingsley | Vince Vaughn | Malin Akerman | Kristen Bell | Kali Hawk | Kristen Davis | Couples Retreat | A Christmas Story

Sunday, February 22

• Jeffrey Dean Morgan Becomes a Loser

  When Watchmen opens March 6, Jeffrey Dean Morgan will be far from done playing comic book characters. The Hollywood Reporter says Morgan, who plays The Comedian in Watchmen, will play the leader of a special forces unit that seeks revenge on the CIA after being betrayed and left for dead in the movie adaptation of the Vertigo/DC comic book The Losers. James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) and Peter Berg (Hancock) wrote the script, with Berg being one of 4 directors attached to the project at some point. McG and Tim Story were also slated to direct, though the directing duties are now in the hands of Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard). (Stomp the Yard? Should audiences expect some street dancing in The Losers?)

  While Morgan may have a lock on playing tough, government agent characters with both Watchmen and The Losers, he may have to find a new kind of role. Morgan is yet another cast member to deny a Watchmen sequel will ever happen. Morgan told Moviehole:

  We are all signed for sequels, but, ya know, there'd be no Rorschach, there'd be no Comedian -- it'd be sorta useless. It'd have to be a prequel. But I'd say unless Alan Moore says he's gonna write something, we'll never see 'Watchmen 2.' There may be someone sitting in a room somewhere at Warner Bros waiting to see if this does OK, and ready to pitch another -- but I doubt Zack [Syder] would do another, and without him, I wouldn't go back, and I can't imagine any of the other actors would want to either.

  The whole cast "signed for sequels?" Snyder has already said no to a sequel, and co-star Malin Akerman downplayed another Watchmen, but if Watchmen is successful, who can say?

  
  

  Posted 02/22/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Malin Akerman | McG | Peter Berg | Tim Story | Sylvain White | James Vanderbilt | Zack Snyder | Jeffrey Dean Morgan | Watchmen

Friday, February 6

• Another "No" to Watchmen Sequel

  Watchmen director Zack Snyder has already gone on record saying he would not be into making a sequel to his upcoming movie adaptation of Alan Moore's seminal graphic novel, and he's not the only one involved with the movie who feels the same way. Malin Akerman, who plays the second Silk Spectre in the movie, is also downplaying a possible sequel.

  "I would be curious to see what [a sequel] would look like," Akerman told MTV, "But I don't really know how [a sequel] would ever be possible. Because Watchmen is Watchmen, and we covered pretty much the whole novel."

  However, this is Hollywood, and if Watchmen dominates at the box office, it would seem likely for some kind of sequel or prequel or any -quel for that matter, to be made. Akerman disagrees. "I'm not sure if there are talks of it. If no one wants to watch it, then why do it?"

  On March 6, Akerman will see how much audiences want to watch the Watchmen.

  
  

  Posted 02/06/2009 by Ryan

  Related: Malin Akerman | Zack Snyder | Watchmen

Friday, January 9

• Sexy Akerman Cusses Over Watchmen's Legal Woes

  MTV caught up with Malin Akerman, the sexy actress who plays The Silk Spectre II in Watchmen, and asked her what she thought of the legal battle going on over her movie.

  
  

  Posted 01/09/2009 by Jim

  Related: Malin Akerman | Watchmen

Wednesday, October 15

• Faizon Gets No Love in Favreau's Couples Retreat

  Rising stars Kristen Bell and Malin Akerman have joined Sex and the City's Kristin Davis as the female leads in the romantic comedy Couples Retreat. The script is from Jon Favreau, who somehow found the time to pen a screenplay while working 20-hour days on the Iron Man set. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Couples Retreat's story revolves around "four couples who go to a tropical island resort, with one couple working on their marriage and the others sucked into the resort's couples therapy." One can only hope that a series of grisly murders ensues. Now that would be funny.

  Playing the male leads in Couples Retreat will be Favreau, Vince Vaughn (shocking!), Jason Bateman, and Faizon Love. THR says that "Bell is playing Bateman's wife, Davis plays Favreau's wife, and Akerman plays Vaughn's." Which begs the only slightly ironic question: Where's the love for Faizon?

  Handling the directorial duties is A Christmas Story's Peter Billingsley.

  
  

  Posted 10/15/2008 by reelz

  Related: Faizon Love | Jason Bateman | Jon Favreau | Vince Vaughn | Malin Akerman | Kristin Davis | Kristen Bell | Couples Retreat

Wednesday, July 25

• Watchmen Casting: Wilson is definite, and much more

  It's official, the cast for Watchmen has been put into place. Directed by Zack Snyder, Watchmen will be an adaptation of the DC Comics series about the costumed vigilante, Rorschach.

  As we reported earlier, Patrick Wilson has indeed been cast as Nite-Owl. Joining him will be Jackie Earle Haley, who actually joined Wilson in last year's Little Children. This time around, Haley will be playing Rorschach, and not the creepy child molester next door.

  Also added to the cast: Billy Crudup (Almost Famous, Stage Beauty) as Dr. Manhattan, Matthew Goode (The Lookout, Match Point) as Ozymandias, Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Grey's Anatomy) as the Comedian, and Malin Akerman (Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle) as the Silk Spectre.

  Keep checking ReelzChannel.com for any more Watchmen updates that come up during this weekend's Comic-Con!

  Source: The Hollywood Reporter

  
  

  Posted 07/25/2007 by reelz

  Related: Billy Crudup | Patrick Wilson | Matthew Goode | Malin Akerman | Jackie Earle Haley | Zack Snyder | Jeffrey Dean Morgan | Watchmen