Mar 6 2009Is This 'Pandorum' Poster a Political Cartoon About the Internet?
I think so. Or maybe it's suggesting a Saw movie centered on aquarium bubblers?
I'm open to other suggestions in the comments.
Pandorum Poster [IMPA]
Mar 6 2009'Limits of Control' Trailer: It's a Jarmusch Alright
Nothing like a new Jim Jarmusch movie to make a Friday feel like a Saturday, you know? Just that he usually makes good films, and The Limits of Control, with a guitar string-based killer and Bill Murray, looks like it will be good too. This trailer is our second Saturday:
Continue Reading "'Limits of Control' Trailer: It's a Jarmusch Alright"
Mar 6 2009Seinfeld Cast on the Curb
Well, I'll have to record the next season of Curb Your Enthusiasm in SP mode: there's going to be a Seinfeld reunion!
The Seinfeld cast is making another must-see appearance. EW has learned exclusively that the four stars of NBC's long-running comedy -- Jerry Seinfeld, Julia Louis-Dreyfus, Jason Alexander, and Michael Richards -- will be featured in a multiple-episode story arc on HBO's Curb Your Enthusiasm this fall. The cameos will mark the first time that all four actors have appeared together in a scripted TV show since Seinfeld went off the air nearly 11 years ago. No date has been set for this event, or for Curb's seventh season, which will run for 10 weeks.
Of course, Michael Richards is now largely considered a racist, Seinfeld is a humorless husk of his former self, and Julia Louis-Dreyfus and Jason Alexander have already done Curb, but come on, it's a Seinfeld reunion. And any Seinfeld reunion that doesn't begin with the reveal that Jerry and Elaine now have a baby named Cosmo should be considered at least a marginal success.
Mar 6 2009Bonus Marmaduke!
Following today's revelation that Marmaduke once co-existed alongside Heathcliff, my friend Kevin did some research into this cartoon menagerie (searched on YouTube) and found some clips I think you should look at. Man, what a miserable thing it is. All the painfulness of a Marmaduke comic but with the added dimension of time. But on the plus side, I think Scatman Crothers might sing the theme song:
Mar 6 2009Saturday Morning Gaza Strip Issues
Sorry to get so heavy on you again (first urban horse cruelty, now this!), but Yoni Goodman, one of the animators of Waltz with Bashir, made this short about Israel oppressing the peoples of Gaza, and here it is. If you don't want to get into the politics of things, just pretend it's about giant, magic hands being assholes.
Mar 6 2009Marmaduke Coming to Theaters--If He'll Ever Get Off His Owner's Lap!
Hold on to your fucking huge pets! Fox is bringing Marmaduke, Brad Anderson's exceedingly lazy, unbearable, deservedly ridiculed comic about a giant dog repeatedly doing the same series of ten gags, to the big screen! And the fact that the comic is universally loathed, and that Beethoven was already Marmaduke several times over, isn't going to stop them:
The studio has signed director Tom Dey to develop a big-screen adaptation of "Marmaduke." Brad Anderson created the decades-running newspaper comic strip, about a mischievous Great Dane who lives with the Winslow family, in 1954. The big dog then appeared in several animated episodes of "Heathcliff" and "Garfield and Friends."The studio declined comment on any specifics for the feature because the project is in the early stages of development.
It hasn't been decided whether "Marmaduke" will be live-action, animated or a mutt.
Marmaduke appeared in episodes of Heathcliff and Garfield and Friends? I didn't realize he was the funny page's equivalent of Rob Schneider.
Anyway, if there's anything positive to be taken from this, it's that at least we're one step closer to a Ziggy movie. Ziggy is also a terrible comic, but I look forward to seeing how his smooth, bulbous, pantsless form would translate to CGI. I imagine it being sort of like Paul Giamatti born from a nightmare.
(Thanks, Manny.)
Mar 6 2009New 'Star Trek' Trailer: Spock Hugs
It's so hard for Spock to hug. Trying so hard to remain emotionless but realizing the inevitable sentiment that spawns from a good hug. I think that's probably the main conflict in this movie:
Mar 5 2009Look What Your Romantic Marriage Proposals Are Doing to Horses
Hansom cabs: they add character to the filming of a costume drama, but at what cost to horses? No, but really, it's a serious issue. As the film Blinders points out, it's dangerous and idiotic that we still have horse and carriages running alongside horseless carriages for the entertainment of tourists who couldn't get tickets to Shrek: The Musical. Horses hate it!
Here's the documentary's trailer. I guarantee once you see video of the above, pathetic horse gazing longingly out the barred window of his second-story (walk-up!) pen, you'll never wrap yourself in a blanket and take a romantic, equine-driven jaunt around Central Park again.
Continue Reading "Look What Your Romantic Marriage Proposals Are Doing to Horses"
Mar 5 2009Who Watches the Watchmen Saturdays at 10 AM on FOX?
What if, instead of making the transition into a 2009 blockbuster film by a "visionary" director, Alan Moore's Watchmen were adapted into a cheesy Saturday morning cartoon where Silk Spectre plays a keytar and the Comedian hopes for a kiss? That scenario is no longer hypothetical:
Continue Reading "Who Watches the Watchmen Saturdays at 10 AM on FOX?"
Mar 5 2009Deep Space Vacations Always End Poorly
After Paul W.S. Anderson's Event Horizon, you'd think everyone would know to avoid both deep space demons and anything made by the people involved with Resident Evil. Someone should have told Dennis Quaid before he agreed to this:
Mar 5 2009Everything Happens in New 'Wolverine' Trailer
I lost track of the times in this trailer I thought, "That's going to happen too?" Wolverine fights in every war, meets half the mutants in the Marvel universe, jumps onto a moving helicopter--he's basically a feral Forrest Gump. Either this movie is going to be four hours long or half the story will be told in a montage set to CCR's "Fortunate Son".
Continue Reading "Everything Happens in New 'Wolverine' Trailer"
Mar 5 2009Daft Punk Scoring 'TR2N'
When did Disney get so aware of how to make TR2N relevant? Following rumors that the title will not be the ridiculously stupid TR2N (I'll still be calling it TR2N) and that there will be light jet v. light cycle battles, Billboard has announced that Daft Punk will be doing the score. That's right--the same Daft Punk you like the music of! Now if they could just get Groovy Dancing Girl to take over Bruce Boxleitner's part, then we'd really have something.
(Thanks, Matt and Musnud.)
Mar 4 2009This Guy Will Take Care of All Your Truck Lifting and Coin Bending Needs
As the fable goes, just at the crossroads of comedy and tragedy lives a bulky, aging, pony-tailed man who goes by the name of Stanless Steel. There, he bends pennies with his bare fingers, hopelessly explains his nickname, and makes calls in the hopes someone wants him to life their truck. There's a documentary on this figure debuting at SXSW this year, and here's a teaser:
Continue Reading "This Guy Will Take Care of All Your Truck Lifting and Coin Bending Needs"
Mar 4 2009'Scott Pilgrim' Movie Still Accurately Recreating 'Scott Pilgrim' Comic
It's been a few days since we last saw anything from the set of Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, so let's take a moment to gaze upon how Edgar Wright is effectively replicating panels from the books. Rear-view-on-swings recreation accuracy has prevailed. We did it.
The lower, sagging swing is a nice touch, though the implication that Michael Cera needs prop assistance in looking awkward is absurd. If Cera were angrily shouting from the balcony of a castle, Pope-style, he would still be pitiable.
From: Edgar Wright Here.
Mar 4 2009'Public Enemies' Trailer Continuing Christian Bale's Streak of Movies I Will See
As is the case with most recent movies involving a brooding Christian Bale and regular gunfire, Public Enemies looks good. In fact, with Michael Mann at the helm and Johnny Depp as Dillinger (reminding us he can play non-goofy, non-pirate roles), it looks really good. But none of these powerful elements are highlight of this new trailer for the film. The best part is Billy Crudup's spot-on old fashioney voice:
Continue Reading "'Public Enemies' Trailer Continuing Christian Bale's Streak of Movies I Will See"
Mar 4 2009What Would You Do if You Had 'One Week' of Something?
Jeez, Joshua Jackson, I don't know what I'd do. I guess it depends if I have one week to live, one week to find His beauty with my motorcycle, one week of being Joshua Jackson, one week of being Joshua Jackson as Wolverine, or one week on a messy, Marc Summers-hosted game show. Regardless, I'd probably think WWJJD?*, and do that.
*He would star in a weekly paranormal series, obviously.
One Week Poster [IMPA]
Mar 4 2009Good News if You Like Looking at Megan Fox
This news will make a handsome giftset with the Ratner-directing-Youngblood revelation in the category of Awful Comics Being Brought to Life By Hollywood Talent So Blindingly Appropriate that Fans and Haters Alike Cannot Help But Resoundingly Approve. Megan Fox starring as the hot, raven-haired, oft-naked heroine of the comic book Fathom? That is not disagreeable, except for the part about a Fathom movie:
Megan Fox is ditching the robots and taking her career to Western and underwater frontiers.Fox is in final negotiations to star opposite Josh Brolin and John Malkovich in "Jonah Hex," Warner Bros.' action Western based on the DC Comics character. She also is attached to star and develop "Fathom," Fox Atomic's comic book-based underwater adventure.
In "Hex," being directed by Jimmy Hayward, Fox will play Leila, a gun-wielding beauty and love interest of Hex (Brolin), a scarred bounty hunter tracking a voodoo practitioner (Malkovich) who wants to raise an army of undead to liberate the South.
"Fathom," a comic created by recently deceased artist Michael Turner, follows a young woman named Aspen who learns she is a member of a race of aquatic humanoids who possess the ability to control water.
As for the Megan Fox-in-Jonah Hex news... I guess? I still don't know why Jonah Hex is being produced as a film. This is going to be the Pets.com of comic adaptations--the one that finally bursts the already thinly-stretched skin of the bubble. Sell your Comic Book Movie stock (CBM) now.
Mar 4 2009Kids Will Love This Horrifying 'Up' Toy
The French Disney/Pixar blog has posted some shots of toys from the upcoming animated feature Up, thus giving us a first look at a plastic version of the Christopher Plummer-voiced character, Charles Muntz. As /Film has noted, he looks a disturbing amount like Kirk Douglas (possibly doing a Gap Elderly ad).
I'm all for making the under-represented old age population the central characters in a film, but I would hold off on making too many of the action figures, Pixar. No matter how successful Up will undoubtedly be, I don't think many kids are going to ask to see this gaunt, sinister face under the tree on Christmas day. It's terrifying enough they'll have to see it in the mirror on their 90th birthdays.
Mar 4 2009'500 Days of Summer' Trades Repetition for H&O
Is "You Make(-a) My Dreams" the new "Mr. Blue Sky"? I think that's what the makers of 500 Days of Summer are going for, as they've exchanged the charming but repetitive Leslie Nielsen narration of the first trailer with a more conventional, clip-driven preview scored by indie music and the out-of-place Hall and Oates hit.
How many young, fictional romances will begin with one potential suitor questioning the other about what's on their headphones? At least Garden State and this one:
Continue Reading "'500 Days of Summer' Trades Repetition for H&O"
Mar 3 2009How About 'The Dirty Dozen' with Swords and Stuff?
Some guys wrote a script that answered a long-pondered question: "Man, what if the Dirty Dozen were, like, knights?" And now a studio has paid these men for that script:
Alex Litvak and Michael Finch are going medieval.The scribes have sold their original screenplay "Medieval" to New Regency Pictures, who picked it up in a bidding environment. No producers are attached.
The script's story line plays like "The Dirty Dozen" in the age of castles, plagues and serfs, which the studio hopes to spin as a hyper-realistic action movie in the vein of "300."
I think we all can see how this will go...
Continue Reading "How About 'The Dirty Dozen' with Swords and Stuff?"
Mar 3 2009'TR2N' Probably Not Called 'TR2N' Anymore, Has Awesome Fight
If you love the Tron sequel spoilers, AICN has new information on what Jeff Bridges and his son are doing in the CLU with the MCP cones and whatever. But if you're like me, less thirsty for general TR2N news, mostly just interested in why anyone would see fit to name a movie TR2N and if there are any light jet versus light cycle battles, here's the news on that front:
1. Seeing that every human thinks TR2N is a stupid and unpronounceable title, Disney has reportedly decided against it, and will likely be going with the popular format of [Old Movie's Title]: [Some Sort of Subtitle]. I stand by my suggestion of inTRONet.
2. There will be a light jet/light cycle battle, which sounds incredible.
That's all you need to know. For now.
Mar 3 2009Alexander Payne Preparing Alexander Payne All-Star Line-Up for Latest
Election star Reese Witherspoon, Sideways star Paul Giamatti, and Sacha Baron Cohen--who hasn't been in any Alexander Payne movies, upsetting my all-star theory--have agreed to star in Downsizing, a new film that sounds like Honey, I Shrunk the Kids as a romantic comedy:
Alexander Payne is putting the finishing touches on the social satire "Downsizing," a script about miniature people, and has put together a big-name cast.Paul Giamatti, Sacha Baron Cohen and Reese Witherspoon have all committed to star in the film, which would likely land at Fox Searchlight, where Payne has a first-look deal.
Giamatti, who teamed with the director on "Sideways," is aboard to star as a man low on money who decides he can have a much nicer life if he undergoes a process to shrink himself.
Witherspoon, whose career took off after starring in Payne's "Election," would play a woman Giamatti meets on his journey as a miniature person. Baron Cohen would play a pint-sized foreigner.
Well, obviously Sacha Baron Cohen is the foreigner character. He has so many great, mildly-offensive accents in his arsenal, it would be a crime not to make him the foreigner character. The real question is if Jack Nicholson or a naked Kathy Bates will be unlockable secret characters.
Alexander Payne is 'Downsizing' [Variety]
Mar 3 2009Angelina Jolie is a Master of Disguise
Cashing in on the recent popularity of kitchen staple-based films, here are the first shots from Salt, which Columbia Pictures describes as such:
Angelina Jolie stars as Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who swore an oath to duty, honor, and country. When she is accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy, Salt goes on the run to clear her name and ultimately prove she is a patriot. Using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative, she must elude capture and protect her husband or the world's most powerful forces will erase any trace of her existence.
They'll never catch Salt; her covert skills are too impressive. She can change hairstyles, coats, shift positions slightly--all the good spy tricks. By the time the feds realize she's on this rooftop, she will be gone. Or at least she'll be wearing a parka and red wig and turned 180 degrees, which is just as effective.
First Look at Angelina Jolie in Salt [Coming Soon]
Mar 3 2009Public Enemies/Private Parts Poster
Only slightly more subtle than an arrow that says, "Hey, ladies, Johnny Depp's crotch is in this!"
New Public Enemies Poster [Coming Soon]
Mar 3 2009You Will Not Believe What Comes Out of This Kid's Mouth, in Connecticut
Lionsgate has released an ANIMATED POSTER for The Haunting in Connecticut, and you will just not believe what comes out of this kid's mouth, in Connecticut. Unless you've seen any of the previous promotional material for Haunting in Connecticut. In that case, you'll not only believe it, you'll be tired of how often you've seen ghost puke come out of this kid's mouth. Does any other haunting even happen in this film, in Connecticut? Sometimes it doesn't seem like it.
Anyway, here it is:
Continue Reading "You Will Not Believe What Comes Out of This Kid's Mouth, in Connecticut"
Mar 3 2009New 'Terminator Salvation' Trailer May Be Only Hope You Have, John Connor
Bad news, future resistance leader John Connor: The Terminator monsters outnumber us humans, they're killing us, and they've started wearing our human skins as disguise coats. But on the plus side, you're kissing the Lady in the Water, so you're doing alright too. This video should summarize things.
Continue Reading "New 'Terminator Salvation' Trailer May Be Only Hope You Have, John Connor"
Mar 2 2009Should Rorschach Be New Krueger?
The role did nearly nothing for Robert Englund but ensure him horror cult status and a place in the sequels, but apparently the part of Freddy Krueger is now a hot commodity, and the fan favorite to put on the bladed glove is Jackie Earle Haley. The Academy Award-nominated actor spoke to MTV about the chances of him becoming the official Nightmare of Elm Street, and his Watchmen co-star Jeffrey Dean Morgan chimed in too:
“You know, I did hear about that just recently,” the Oscar-nominee smiled when we asked him about the Freddy rumors recently. “A lot of people have been asking me.”And although rumors that he was near signing on the dotted line appear to be false, Haley is more than willing to talk to Bay and his team if they want to contact him.
“You know,” he said with a grin. “I’m curious.”
In many ways, the casting would make sense. Haley is only slightly older than Englund was when he first took over the Freddy role, has a nonexistent hairline that would make the Freddy makeup easier, and resurrected his career (with “Little Children”) playing a deranged-but-somewhat-sympathetic man who preyed on kids.
“I personally would love to see him as Freddy Krueger,” added Haley’s “Watchmen” co-star Jeffrey Dean Morgan. “I can’t think of anyone else that could pull it off.”
I agree Haley would be good for the part, but Morgan is really overstating things to imply he might be the only actor capable of pulling it off. In fact, I'd suggest to whoever directs the next Nightmare on Elm Street that they look beyond human actors into the stuff of true nightmares...
Mar 2 2009Keira Knightley To Be Cloned, Clavicles Harvested
If any "haters" generate complaints about Keira Knightley acting robotic in her next role, at least she can blame it on her character being a clone! Because, as everyone knows, human clones are basically robots. Or so they say:
[Keira Knightley] is ditching the period garb and going futuristic, signing on to star in the cloning-themed thriller Never Let Me Go.Per Variety, the would-be blockbuster centers on a trio of British boarding school students who grow up isolated from the rest of the world only to realize they are actually clones whose sole purpose is to have their organs harvested.
At least if there are any hater-generated complaints about a robotic performance this time around, Knightley can blame it on her character.
Thanks for the tip, Brandi, even though your subject line, "Never let me go," made me feel I was more wanted than was the case.
Mar 2 2009Dreams of Being Totally Ripped Have Never Looked More Somber
Here's the poster for Fighting (both the movie Fighting and the concept of fighting)! If you're confused why the image isn't really that evocative of fighting, understand that the film was originally titled Pull-Ups.
'Fighting' Poster Premiere [Cinematical]
Mar 2 2009Judd Apatow's 'Ghostbusters'
Looks like Judd Apatow will be adding Ghostbusters 3 to the sometimes inconsistent line-up of Pineapple Express, Drillbit Taylor, Knocked Up and others. Apatow Productions is officially attached to produce the third G. Busters film:
Judd Apatow's name has been attached the rumors about Ghostbusters 3 since they first began, with all reports saying he would be the producer for the film written by The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Greg Stupnitsky. Now the production has gotten so close to actually happening that Production Weekly is listing it-- and wouldn't you know, Apatow Productions is right there in charge.
Does this mean the trailers will triumphantly announce that Ghostbusters 3 is "from the guys who brought you The 40-Year-Old Virgin"? Because the far more impressive part is still that it's '"from the guys who were the Ghostbusters--even Bill Murray, I shit you not!" I don't think other claim should attempt to usurp how unbelievable and possibly tragic that is.
Apatow Productions Officially In Charge Of Ghostbusters 3 [CinemaBlend]
Mar 2 2009Just Who Is This Professor Manhattan Character?
All this week, NBC will be posting a new video profile of a Watchmen character every day. By Friday, you'll know so much about these heroes that you won't even need Teen Beat's "Which Watchmen Do You Kiss Most Like?" quiz to discern that I definitely kiss like The Comedian (rough but funny and flirty).
Today's profile is Dr. Manhattan. It's not embeddable, so you'll have to click around here if you want at it. I'm sorry.
Mar 2 2009Old Woman Going to Jail Still Our Best Movie Concept
Your weekend box office results:
1. Tyler Perry's Madea Goes to Jail - Tyler Perry's $16.5 million. Where will Madea go next? Only Tyler Perry's Brain knows.
2. Jonas Brothers: The 3D Concert Experience - $12.7 million. Did people not realize this was a concert EXPERIENCE? It's not just three religious brothers in tight pants and rolled-up jackets singing for people who Tivo the Disney Channel; IT'S AN EXPERIENCE.
3. Slumdog Millionaire - $12.2 million. Is this the Oscar movie? I've been wanting to see that Oscar movie with the Indian fellows! Is this it?? I know it was dog million-something! I think this is it!!
4. Taken - $10 million. Have you been Taken?
5. He's Just Not That Into You - $5.9 million. Has he not been that into you?
Also:
8. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li - 4.7 million. Maybe a third try at a Street Fighting movie will be the charm.
Weekend Box Office Results [Box Office Mojo]
Mar 2 2009Batman. Terminator. And Someone Named Sam Worthington.
Yahoo has premiered these three new character posters for Terminator Salvation. Display them as a set to show your excitement for the new Terminator film, or post them individually to support a couple actors and the metal man apparently named NATOR SAL\. The choice is yours, John Connors.
