February 24, 2006
Philip Seymour Hoffman to Play Roger Ebert
In an appearance on the Howard Stern Show today, film critic Roger Ebert mentioned that a Russ Meyer biopic is in the works, with Oscar-nominee Philip Seymour Hoffman set to play the critic. Then Ebert, at Stern's encouragement, showed his breasts and had lunch meat thrown at his ass. I mean, I didn't hear it, but I assume.
This sounds like pretty good casting, because Hoffman is male, white and kind of fat. I don't know what other requirements there would be.
Previous Entries
Spider-Man's New Costume Unveiled
Sony has finally released an official picture from Spider-Man 3. At first it appears to be a black & white photo of the webslinger, but closer examination reveals this is, in fact, the first shot of Spider-Man's new black costume. Fans of the comic series will recognize the black suit implies the presence of an alien symbiote and Venom story.
I'm not a big fan of Venom, but at least the costume doesn't look as hokey as it could. When my brother started wearing black, he kept attaching chains and safety pins to himself. Though he also started writing bad poetry and listening to a lot of Morrissey, so I think he had a whole other thing going on.
Pan's Labyrinth Looks Gross
Ain't-It-Cool-News was sent some scans from a European magazine showing some images from Guillermo del Torro's new horror, Pan's Labyrinth, and man are they terrifying. The film tells the story of a young girl who travels with her family to rural Northern Spain, where her imaginary world begins to take over. Besides revealing how amazing the grotesqueness of this film looks to be, I'm pleased that there's finally proof that other kids had imaginary pale scrotum men that ate big novelty peanuts for them. I told you, mom.
More after the jump.
Thornton to Get Stuck in Cave
Billy Bob Thornton is on-board to write, direct, and star in a drama telling the true story of Floyd Collins, an explorer who became trapped in Kentucky's Sand Cave in 1925, creating a 13-day media circus that ultimately ended in his death. As soon as I heard this movie involved exploring a cave, I said, "Come on, haven't we all seen The Goonies?" Then I read on and realized it was nothing at all like The Goonies, except possibly that it involves a cavern, so I had to start going around asking people if they really had seen The Goonies, so it wouldn't seem like I thought this movie sounded like that.
Grey Gardens Gets Fictionalized
Grey Gardens, the documentary chronicling the home life of Jackie O's cousin and aunt, whose squalid estate made headlines when the health department threatened to raid the premises, is set to be made into a motion picture starring Drew Barrymore and Jessica Lange:
Barrymore will play Little Edie, and Lange will play her mother, Big Edie Bouvier Beale, the socialite cousin and aunt, respectively, of Kennedy Onassis. The Edies made headlines around the world when Jackie O herself materialized to rescue her family from public disgrace.
What made the original Grey Gardens so interesting was more than the actual story of the affluent socialites; it was the raw exposure of the characters. This production will have a lot to live up to in portraying these personalities. Luckily, they've got Drew Barrymore on board, ensuring a completely inappropriate mix of cute, bubbly optimism, goofy comic pratfalls, and probably visible nipples.
Friday the 13th has Director
The upcoming prequel to Friday the 13th, focusing on the origins of Jason Voorhees, is now attached to horror director Jonathan Liebesman:
Liebesman, who's in final negotiations, has already worked with the studio and Platinum Dunes on "The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning," due out in October. His debut feature was 2003's "Darkness Falls" for Revolution.
I can't even describe how low my hopes for this project are. After the Friday the 13th prequel, I hope Liebesman works on inventing invisible poop, because then he'll officially be an expert at creating unnecessary crap I won't see.
