Nov 10 2009 'Mad Men' Creator Goes Romantic Comedy
Whether you loved or hated this summer's breakout hit The Hangover, I'm guessing you, like every other human, probably walked away from the film with one primary thought pounding at your braindoor: Why was Jennifer Aniston not in this instead of Ed Helms? I DON'T KNOW WHY. NO ONE KNOWS.
But relax; it is being corrected by Mad Men's Matthew Weiner:
With another season of "Mad Men" now under his belt, Matthew Weiner is getting serious about his feature career.The creator-exec producer of the AMC/Lionsgate TV drama had planned to spend some of his "Mad Men" hiatus helming his first feature, a romantic comedy that he wrote during his "Sopranos" days. "You Are Here" has lined up indie financing and a marquee-friendly cast that includes Jennifer Aniston, Bradley Cooper and Zach Galifianakis.
I'm not sure how this movie will sweep the Primetime Television Emmys, but I'm confident it will find a way.
Nov 6 2009 Bradley Cooper Joins Crazy Power-Granting Pill Movie
Forget mobile phone-based thrillers, everyone. We've got a new ridiculous, specific brand of mysterious-agents-chasing-a-guy thriller on the way that sounds even better (stupider): the magic pill that makes you rich and powerful thriller! Finally, a film that turns Kids in the Hall's Brain Candy into something terrible. From Variety:
"The Hangover" star Bradley Cooper has signed on to star in Relativity Media suspense thriller "Dark Fields."Neil Burger ("The Illusionist") is onboard to direct.
Project is described as a what-if story about a designer drug that can make you rich and powerful. Eddie (Cooper) is a down-and-out New York writer until he possesses a pill that gives him the ability to access the full capacity of his brain. He soon realizes that his newfound intelligence and success come at a hefty price as mysterious forces begin to pursue him.
That sounds really good. I really wish I could buy the cocktail napkin where the writer first scrawled, "something with some kind of really awesome pill?" That's going to be worth so much some day.
Oct 23 2009 Welp, Here They Are: The A-Team
So will every movie adaptation of a '70s/'80s campy action show take place in the same high-contrast, extremely overexposed world as Charlie's Angels? I'm fine with that; I only worry I may be blind by the time we get to Magnum P.I.
(Bigger version at /Film.)
Oct 22 2009 'A-Team' Set Visit: 'ET' Asks the Questions You Weren't Concerned About
Joe Carnahan's A-Team is currently shooting in Vancouver, and, for some reason, the sociomutants at Entertainment Tonight were allowed on set for a first look at the film. In this video, see: "Rampage" Jackson as Baracus! "Rampage" Jackson attempting to act! Bradley Cooper making jokes! An ET reporter attempting to interact in a way that won't reveal he's an alien! And slightly more!
Have it:
Continue Reading " 'A-Team' Set Visit: 'ET' Asks the Questions You Weren't Concerned About "
Oct 1 2009 Here Is Your Depressed 'A-Team' Team
Coming Soon has posted the first look at "Rampage" Jackson, Liam Neeson, Sharlto Copley, and Bradley Cooper on the set of The A-Team.
Thank god director Joe Carnahan appears to have included at least one scene where Baracus suddenly gets really nihilistic, sitting wherever he can and muttering how "it doesn't even fucking matter" for twenty minutes while the rest of the team awkwardly tries to console him. Those were always my favorite episodes of the show.
Sep 22 2009 'Valentine's Day' Trailer: Another VoltRom-Com Fuses Several Romantic Comedies Into One Powerful Monster
Can you believe that, come Valentine's Day, it will have been almost exactly one year since we last saw roughly a dozen celebrities of various caliber crammed into a single romantic comedy in which every other piece of dialogue has to reiterate the title? (See He's Just Not That Into You, web-slingers.) Thankfully, that will be the exact day that a new VoltRom-Com takes the throne, appropriately titled Valentines Day. This one manages to cram in two Roberts (Julia, Emma), two Grey's Anatomi, Bradley Cooper, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Garner, Topher Grace, Anne Hathaway, Ashton Kutcher, George Lopez, Shirley MacLaine, Queen Latifah, and the two celebrities most noted for being "so fucking hot" before the arrival of Megan Fox (Jessica Alba, Jessica Biel).
The trailer feels like watching an Oscars montage reel for The Year in Romantic Comedy. Or, maybe more accurately, like simultaneously hearing the scream of every single ugly friend that ever had to listen to their extremely attractive friend complain about relationships that ever existed:
Jul 10 2009 Green Lantern Casting Narrowed to Three
Our wait for an H.J. has almost ended. The Hollywood Reporter says casting for Hal Jordan, the lead in Warner Bros. Green Lantern movie, is down to three candidates:
Warners has spent the past five months searching for the actor to play Hal Jordan, the hot-shot Air Force pilot who is chosen by a dying alien to be his successor in an intergalactic police force known as the Green Lanterns.This week, the race narrowed to Bradley Cooper, Ryan Reynolds and Justin Timberlake.
The adaptation is being directed by Martin Campbell and--juuuuust a minute. What was that part about Justin Timberlake maybe playing Green Lantern?
Jun 9 2009 Liam Neeson's on the Jazz
Qui-Gon Jinn really enjoys when a scheme works outs! Variety is reporting Liam Neeson is in talks to put a cigar in his mouth and be John "Hannibal" Smith in Joe Carnahan's A-Team film, while The Hangover's Bradley Cooper may be playing "Faceman":
Liam Neeson is in negotiations with 20th Century Fox to star in its long-gestating bigscreen adaptation of "The A-Team" as Col. John "Hannibal" Smith. Bradley Cooper is in early talks to play Lt. Templeton "Faceman" Peck in the Joe Carnahan-directed pic based on the 1980s TV series.Production begins in late August for a June 11, 2010, release.
Ridley Scott is producing with Jules Daly and series creator Stephen J. Cannell, with Tony Scott exec producing through Scott Free. Carnahan and Brian Bloom polished a script by Skip Woods, whose recent script credits include "G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra" and "Wolverine."
Oh, good, the writer of Wolverine and G.I. Joe. That has to be a solid script then.
As you can see in the original television intro, now the only main roles left to fill are "Howling Mad" Murdock, B.A. Baracus, and constant crashing and explosions.
May 27 2009 'Between Two Ferns': 'The Hangover' Edition
Zach Galifianakis and Bradley Cooper promote The Hangover in the best way possible to promote anything: with another edition of Galifianakis's antagonistic, borderline surreal talk show, Between Two Ferns. Special appearance by one of our best comedians. You'll love it:
Continue Reading " 'Between Two Ferns': 'The Hangover' Edition "
May 8 2009 'Hangover' Trailer with Dirty Words
Enjoy the new, oddly dark trailer for The Hangover--rated R for two "fucks" and a hand gesture evocative of a masturbation finish. The ridiculous Mike Tyson re-enacting a Cadbury viral video soundtrack should not be enough to distract you from how good the last line is:
May 6 2009 This Guy Might Be Green Lantern
Might Hangover star Bradley Cooper, seen here with a monkey, play Hal Jordan, keeper of the Green Lantern jewelry and portable light source? So says HitFix:
Bradley Cooper is now one of the guys most likely to don the suit and slip on the power ring as The Green Lantern for director Martin Campbell.Let's be clear: they have not hired him yet. But the process is far enough along that this is more than just a meeting or some spot on a wish list.
Well, not my first choice for a Wet Hot American Summer cast member to play a DC superhero (I would first cast Paul Rudd as Blue Beetle and the talent show kid as Dr. Fate), but it works. I'll take that.
Apr 24 2009 'Hangover' Poster Has Done Years Worth of Meth
I admire that, while they could have made Bradley Cooper the handsome leading man counterpoint to Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis (to bring in those ladies), they decided, no, let's make all three of them look like they live under an overpass. With a baby. Kudos. (Also, for any studio executives reading this, "three men living under an overpass with a baby" is my pitch for another movie.)
Apr 2 2009 You'll Want to Feel This 'The Hangover'! Because It's a Movie with That Title, Not Actual Post-Drunken Sickness!
I never thought a sort of Vegas After Hours for aging frat boys would be a description I'd use favorably, but dammit, Todd Phillips, director of Old School, you've again set up a film with such a powerful comedy trinity (Zach Galianakis, Ed Helms, and Bradley Cooper) that I cannot deny being entertained.
The second trailer for The Hangover:
Mar 9 2009 'Hangover' Trailer is Better Vegas Entertainment Than Even That Star Trek Casino Thing
There's a reason Vince Vaughn enthusiastically shouts, "VEGAS BABY, VEGAS !!" on that Swingers poster I had in college: because crazy things are always happening there in movies. If it isn't Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz marrying, it's a giant toddler that Rick Moranis accidentally enlarged (legitimately crazy). What a town, right? And now we can add Bradley Cooper, Ed Helms, and Zach Galifianakis losing a groom and a tooth (while gaining a standard-size baby) to that list of fictional craziness happening in Vegas with this trailer for The Hangover. Maybe not as wild as a Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas (ostensibly a prehistoric version of Las Vegas), but it looks pretty good.
Dec 15 2008 'The Hangover' Photos Will Not Make Bright Light Hurt Your Brain
Thanks to Kevin for pointing out Ropes of Silicon has a couple shots from The Hangover, the Todd Phillips comedy in which "Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms play best buddies at a wild Las Vegas bachelor party who lose the groom just hours before his wedding." The combination of casual baby-wearing, defeated stare, and punched-in-the-mouth is enough to make me think this might be pretty good. Sometimes that's all it takes.
Nov 25 2008 'He's Just Not That Into You' or This Lazy Poster
Movie poster designers, there's been a misunderstanding. When myself and other internet people complain about the overuse of Photoshop, we generally mean that the stars are being airbrushed into a featureless oblivion, or that it's very apparent that no one is actually in the same room for the photo, or that Ben Stiller's head has quite obviously been thrown on a different body, and we're suggesting that maybe Photoshop shouldn't be used quite so heavily and lazily. We never meant to not use Photoshop at all, instead choosing to just do a Google image search for each star, grabbing the first image you find of them smiling, and dragging the variously-sized images into a rectangle. That makes it looks like a romantic comedy Atari game where each pixel is a random actor.
Anyone else who watched NBC's Ed notice this reunion of Warren Cheswick and Diane Snyder? Anyone else watch Ed at all?
Not Into You Poster [Jo Blo]
Jan 29 2008 'Midnight Meat Train' Trailer Isn't What You'd Think
First, despite the title, let me say this is not a porn about twilight transit gang bangs, though it would probably be better if it were. Instead, it's based on Clive Barker's 1984 short story, with Bradley Cooper starring as a disillusioned photographer who, for some reason, thinks no one has taken accurate pictures of a New York City before (yeah, and none have yet captured the subtle beauty of cigarette smoke either, Ansel). After some sharp criticism from Brooke Shields, he takes to the subway, taking candid pictures of a woman who somehow remains oblivious to him standing on front of her, then observes her brutal slaughter, still photographing her, but with a shocked expression.
Naturally, the police are somewhat disturbed to learn he continued to take pictures as a woman is being hacked apart, but not for the reasons you'd think--they apparently think he was stalking her. From there, I pretty much lost track of what was going on. I think it has something do with vigilante justice, photography, and the palpable strain of finding anything new to contribute to the horror genre.
Thanks for the tip, Graham.
Continue Reading " 'Midnight Meat Train' Trailer Isn't What You'd Think "
