Nov 3 2009 'Men Who Stare at Goats' Character Posters Skimp on Goat Photographs
Looks like my family tree! Hahahahahahah!
Because my family has a long, proud history of bovid bestiality inexplicably resulting in hoofed children.
(Full sizes at Cinematical.)
Oct 27 2009 People Magazine's Hottest Hunks of Various Years Competing for Sinatra Bio?
The ever-reputable Guardian claims Martin Scorsese's Frank Sinatra biopic is the setting for a casting war! Except it's not so much a war so much as three big names that they're claiming may or may not be trying to get the lead:
George Clooney, Leonardo DiCaprio and Johnny Depp are all fighting to land the role that will surely give the victor the best chance yet of securing the critical acclaim to match their earning power.Scorsese, who won his first best director Oscar in 2006 for The Departed, wants his current muse DiCaprio to play the Rat Pack singer. The two are putting the finishing touches to Shutter Island, their fourth film together, before Scorsese turns his attention to making Sinatra next year.
Executives at Universal, the studio financing the film, are pushing for Depp to play Sinatra, after being impressed by his performance as bank robber John Dillinger in Public Enemies this year.
But Sinatra's daughter, Tina, has her own view of how her father should be portrayed, which critics feel would be a sanitised life story. She favours Clooney, in what would be his most challenging role to date, as a safe pair of hands.
Obviously Martin Scorsese wants Leonardo DiCaprio playing Frank Sinatra. Martin Scorsese wants Leonardo DiCaprio to play every part. Howard Hughes, Gangs of New York guy, Departed guy, Shutter Island guy, muse, friend, wife, loving mother to his bushy-eyed progeny: Scorsese wants to see DiCaprio's round head in every one of those roles. And besides that, he'd probably would be a pretty decent Sinatra.
What confuses me are the latter two claims...
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Sep 30 2009 New 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Trailer: The Cuss You Won't Watch This
New trailer for Wes Anderson's The Fantastic Mr. Fox, people. Let it wiggle into that fox-in-a-corduroy-blazer-shaped hole in your heart and fill it with stop-motion love:
Continue Reading " New 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Trailer: The Cuss You Won't Watch This "
Sep 16 2009 'Men Who Stare at Goats' Poster: Starring Goat (The Species of Goat)
Who's responsible for this? I think it must be the graphic designer for Taco Bell.
Sep 9 2009 'In the Air' Teaser: Live Like a Well-Dressed Hobo
Hey, it's the first trailer for Jason Reitman's In the Air. The teaser is built around a motivational speech by George Clooney's character, who endorses a traveling lifestyle free of the burden of material possessions and personal relationships. His viewpoint really rang true for me, since I can't afford owning things, and I'm too obnoxious to have friends. But does it still count as following his philosophy if, instead of flying place to place, I just kind of shuffle around muttering?
Continue Reading " 'In the Air' Teaser: Live Like a Well-Dressed Hobo "
Sep 2 2009 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Behind-the-Scenes: Stop-Motion Animation Appears Labor Intensive
Here's a Fantastic Mr. Fox featurette, hosted by Jason Schwartzman. If you want to see how laborious it is creating feature-length stop-motion of some well-dressed wildlife, this is just the thing for you. And if you want to see George Clooney roll around on the ground whistling, strangely this is also just the thing for you:
Aug 28 2009 'Men Who Stare at Goats' Trailer: Coen Brothers Lite
This trailer for Men Who Stare at Goats is basically Diet Coen Brothers. I'm not going to say it will completely fulfill you in the same way a refreshing Coen Brothers will, but I think you'll detect enough of that distinctly Coen flavor in Grant Heslov's comedy--especially with a mustached George Clooney and long-haired, druggie Jeff Bridges--that it should at least tide you over until you can get the real deal:
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Aug 18 2009 'Up in the Air' One-Sheet: Make a "Connection," Get It?
Removed at the request of Paramount Pictures Corporation
Empire has debuted the first poster for Up in the Air, the new comedy from Jason Reitman. If the goal was to make this, at first glance, look like a mobile phone ad that has George Clooney in it for some reason, they have succeeded, because I am equally eager to see this movie and buy this phone plan that works in airports worldwide.
Jul 30 2009 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' Trailer: Kids' Movies Are Suddenly Really Great
Oh, if only to be a child again. Not me as a child--I was an idiot who spent most of his time re-enacting scenes from Ghostbusters--but a child with discerning enough taste to recognize and enjoy that this fall marks a quality family film renaissance. In October comes Spike Jonze's Where the Wild Things Are, and in November we get Wes Anderson's adaptation of The Fantastic Mr. Fox--a film that places the director's wit and stylized direction in a realm more accepting of abstraction: the world of Rankin/Bass-like stop-motion animation.
We've already seen how good Wild Things looks, and now a trailer for Fox has finally been released. It's basically Roald Dahl's Bottle Rocket:
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Jul 7 2009 Clooney May Have Once Mentioned Some Interest in Playing Jack Ryan!
Is George Clooney (the guy with the haircut on The ER) taking on the role of Jack Ryan--previously played by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and Ben Affleck--in the next film featuring the Tom Clancy creation? He is if you read into quotes from unnamed sources! According to a story on The Daily Beast:
A source says he expressed interest in playing Jack Ryan when and if Paramount attempts to revive the Tom Clancy series.
I don't know. Can someone photoshop George Clooney into a suit so I can see how he might look in the part?
Sep 26 2008 George Clooney Playing 'Lone Ranger'? Why Not
Following yesterday's announcement that Johnny Depp will be playing Tonto in Jerry Bruckheimer's The Lone Ranger, rumor is spreading that George Clooney will be taking the role of the masked hero himself. Of course. Why wouldn't he be? From AICN:
Word as of now is that George Clooney has shown a lot of interest in the role of the Lone Ranger, and the studio's been talking to him about it. Previously it was rumored that Nic Cage was up for the role, but that rumor died a long time ago. Clooney's name has come up quite a number of times since.
There was once a time when news of a Lone Ranger movie would lead to me say something like, "Yikes, let me guess, you get Clooney to play the goofy-but-handsome lead, Johnny Depp as Tonto, and you have Jerry Bruckheimer add some explosions," and everyone would say, "Laugh out loud! You're a great satirist! That is so what Hollywood would do--only they obviously won't really do that because it's too typically "Hollywood" even for them. The only way it would be more ridiculous is with Nic Cage in the lead." But if they're going to actually do that, even to the point of considering making it a Nicolas Cage vehicle, where can I go from there? Suggest Michael Bay direct? Offer that they make it a cross-over with the upcoming disaster/action/awesome-shit take on Moby Dick? Ponder how Bruckheimer somehow beat Judd Apatow into putting Seth Rogen and Kal Penn in the saddles? It's getting really hard to parody Hollywood when they've already drawn such an accurately grotesque caricature of themselves.
Aug 8 2008 New 'Burn After Reading' Featurettes Show Impressive Idiot Characterization
Want to see Brad Pitt act like a dolt and George Clooney act like a womanizer (more than usual)? Believe me, you do, so watch these new Burn After Reading character featurettes. The variety and complexity of Pitt's dimwit expressions are guaranteed to impress.
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Jun 20 2008 Montage-ier, Brad Pitt Crying-ier New 'Burn After Reading' Trailer
Burn After Reading is one of the few upcoming films I'm able to look forward to without too much apprehension. The Coen Brothers have taken the screwball-crime-comedy genre that they made so beloved with Raising Arizona and The Big Lebowski and added the natural human desire to see Brad Pitt get punched in the face. How could it miss? So enjoy this new international trailer that, although not as revealing or red-bandy as the domestic version, should still elicit a few enthusiastic fist pumps.
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May 30 2008 The Coens' 'Burn After Reading' Trailer Must be Watched
Who would have thought you could combine the talents of George Clooney and Brad Pitt yet not focus on how suave and charming they are? The Coen Brothers, that's who. And they've added John Malkovich, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton, and J.K. Simmons into the dark spy-comedy Burn After Reading. After watching the trailer, knowing that I have to wait until September to see the full product, I'm going to hate toiling through summer more than the elderly. Note: the trailer is R-rated for language and the feeling of intense pleasure it gives you that is normally reserved for adults. Watch it below the cut or by clicking around iTunes.
Continue Reading " The Coens' 'Burn After Reading' Trailer Must be Watched "
May 16 2008 Clooney to Stare at Goats in Hopes of Killing Them
I think we all have a goat or two we'd like to teach lesson or two. I know I'd personally love to murder a few of those idiot fainting goats--that'd show them. But there's always the one nagging problem in my plan: evidence! If only there were a way to kill the f***ers with only mind power!
According to author Jon Ronson, someone else had this same thought--namely, the U.S. Army--and began a series of "strange forays into extra-sensory perception and telepathy, which apparently included efforts to kill barnyard animals with nothing more than thought." Seeing the inherent potential in such an idiotic but supposedly true story, Peter Straughan wrote a screenplay from the book, Men Who Stare at Goats, and now George Clooney is set to star in a Grant Heslov-directed adaptation. The only deviation from the book will be that Clooney's death "stare" will be more of a playful wink and a charming grin.
George Clooney to 'Stare at Goats' [Variety]
Apr 30 2008 Coens' 'Burn After Reading' Stills: Pitt is a Douche, Clooney Regrets Love-Making
Over at First Showing, the first production stills from the Coen Brothers' Burn After Reading have popped up. Of course, being that it's a new dark comedy from the Coens, I'm ridiculously enthusiastic about these images, but I can't help but feel there's a bit too much winking at the audience going on with Brad Pitt's oafish gym employee character. Brad Pitt is a huge star, and People Magazine told me he's the sexiest man alive during certain years, but now he has ridiculous bleached tips and works at a gym!? That's crazy! Though, at the same time, if Brad Pitt weren't a huge star and occasionally the sexiest man alive, he probably would have bleached tips and work at a gym. So maybe this is just great casting.
More shots--including George Clooney hamming up post-coital regret in country-style patriotic bedding--here.
Apr 10 2008 The Uwe Boll Conundrum: Day 3
Following Uwe Boll's rant yesterday--in which he thew insults at Michael Bay, Eli Roth, and George Clooney--responses from all parties have already flooded in thanks to the power of internet-speed communication. Here they are.
Michael Bay's response: "I find people who rant like that - calling shit about both me, and George Clooney - comes from someone screaming because he is not being heard. He is obviously a sad being. When you ask 'do I care'? Not in the slightest."
Eli Roth's response: "GREATEST COMPLIMENT EVER. That is just further proof of what a genius Sasha Baron Cohen is. That’s his best character yet!"
George Clooney's response: An air of unending charisma and self-satisfaction, as always.
Uwe Boll's response to their responses: Rob at RobOnt Radio passed along his interview with the director, in which he basically says he was using those big names as archetypes for the Hollywood Director, and no malice was intended. Also that he propositioned a room of 800 dentists for money?
My response: Drifting towards something akin to this. Let him work; let him live. Otherwise it's one less thing for me to deride.
Jan 31 2008 'Leatherheads' Poster Attempt #2: Big Heads & Romance
Whereas the last Leatherheads poster confusingly left out all of the love-triangle elements to make it sports-centric, this one seems to be focusing exclusively on the romance between George Clooney and Renee Zellwegger, not even mentioning that co-star John Krasinski is a third romantic lead. Believe me, I wouldn't have decried the previous one had I know that my other option was seeing overly-airbrushed smugness beside a fourth-wall-breaking attempt at adorability.
New Leatherheads Poster [Empire]
Jan 30 2008 'Leatherheads' Poster Possesses No Rules
I'm confused as to why the marketing department for what appears to be a screwball romantic comedy set around early football decided to push the film's actual football playing as the sole selling point. Superbowl Fever? And now I'm torn which supplement would best finish the tagline: "...in love", "...until she came around", or "...actually, I guess there were still some rules."
The Leatherheads One-Sheet! [ComingSoon]
Jan 29 2008 George Clooney in 'Burn After Reading'/Theatre Ad
I think this new shot from the upcoming Coen Brothers comedy Burn After Reading may just be a reminder to silence our electronic devices and pick up some concessions before the film starts, and that with their massive screens and stadium seating, an AMC Theatres Night feels as magical as a night with George Clooney. But that doesn't stop me from geeking out about it like a freak. With all the No Country hoopla, I'd nearly forgotten--another new Coen Brothers movie is coming, M.F'ers!
First Picture of George Clooney from 'Burn After Reading' [FilmoFilia]
