Friday, May 04, 2007
Heavens To Betsy... I Mean... Betty!
TFL's not really down with reporting news anymore, mainly because we don't care. We're a blog and we're gonna do bloggy things. And whatever Andrew's been doing. That being said, since I have the day off tomorrow and am terribly bored at such an ungodly hour, I'll be covering the only thing I'm truly good at: a news item that requires pictures of a scantily clad Liv Tyler. She's gonna be Betty Ross in next year's rampaging reboot, The Incredible Hulk.
The deets from THR: [Betty] Ross, a classic "Hulk" character from the comic book's beginning in 1962, is Banner's fellow scientist and an ally in his quest to rid him of his lurking monster deep inside. The movie will unfold with Ross estranged from Banner (Norton), but with the pursuit of the Hulk heating up and Banner on the run trying to cure his condition, Ross finds herself swept back into his life.
And as promised, scantily clad snaps of la femme Tyler:
Source: The Hollywood ReporterDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards! Continue reading Heavens To Betsy... I Mean... Betty!
Thursday, April 26, 2007
First Pic Of Galactus' Asshole Hits The Web!
Our heroes pause before their fantastic voyage.
You know why I'm looking forward to the new Fantastic Four movie? Because unlike the first tepid installment, this one looks rife with sci-fi sets and props. They seem to be fully embracing the concept here and HOLY SHIT BEN GRIMM'S GONNA WRASSLE A BEAR!
More neato pics and way boring promotional art can be found here.
Discuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Fantastic Four, Galactus, News
Continue reading First Pic Of Galactus' Asshole Hits The Web!Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Stormy Weather
So, according to Moriarty of AICN, Galactus, one of the baddies in the upcoming Fantastic Four: Rise Of The Silver Surfer, is going to be a cloud instead of a giant purple man wearing a dress and a food mixer. Good.
The Fantastic Four movie does seem to get the geek community into a tizz. The first film should have been awful, and probably was really, what with it being a strictly by-the-numbers Hollywood hack job, but it was really fun and, despite recourse to obnoxiously extreme sports, really good natured.
Now that I have sat through Cigarette Burns, the John Carpenter directed, Moriarty scripted, episode of the Masters Of Horror TV Series, I feel justified in criticising him. It was really shit. Really, really bad. Embarrassingly so. Awful. Quick review: oof. Moriarty doesn’t think the cloud thing is a good idea. The prissy, precious fool.
All back-room politics between Moriarty and Fox aside, let us consider the filmic evidence:
The cloud in Star Trek: The Motion Picture was awesome. It was huge, which is great for spectacle cinema, but remained vague, even as the crew begin to explore it, thus maintaining its mystery almost right up to the end.
The Day After Tomorrow: yes, I know the films mentioned so far have been a bit rubbish, but the clouds have been great. The storm systems in this film are visceral, huge, powerful and unstoppable. Forces of nature are scary because they don’t have bollocks you can kick them in. Giant men, even if it means having to make a really big boot, will always have that trouble.
The Lion King and Monty Python And The Holy Grail: cinematic proof that god lives in a cloud. Clouds have cosmic, metaphysical and sometimes outright religious significance for us poor earth bound souls forced to spend our lives looking up at them. For a less theistic take on the mysticism of clouds see the episode of Battlestar Galactica near the end of season 3 (still awesome, quitters) where Starbuck is having hallucinations in the upper atmosphere of a cloudy planet.
Now let’s look at the history of giant men in the cinema:
The Stay Puft Marshmallow Man, Ghostbusters: Funny, certainly, but Rick Moranis was scarier. Dammit, Rick Moranis was also more awe-inspiring. A good thing the film-makers re-tooled the giant candy man into a gag, because the audience were going to be laughing anyway.
Incredible 50ft people films: popular in the fifties, and usually achieved by filming some man in a loin-cloth walking slowly in close up and then superimposing him on a wide shot, usually with the other actors waving their arms and running away in the bottom of one corner. One side effect of this trick was that these giant monsters were usually slightly transparent. A 50ft woman film was made in the 90’s with Daryl Hannah. It was awful.
Giant animal films: Another popular trick was to glue plastic horns to iguanas and then have them scamper over a model train set. As good as it sounds.
Godzilla: Basically, whatever you do with the ‘giant man’ idea, the audience knows it is going to be a man in a suit running around a scale model of a city. It doesn’t matter if it was done practically as in the Toho Godzilla films, or with fancy pants CGI, as it would be done in The Fantastic Four. It’s just a small thing made big. The enduring love the increasingly cheesy Toho Godzilla films have compared to the opprobrium heaped on the relatively straight-faced Hollywood remake proves once again that comedy is the only guaranteed result with a giant biped wandering about on screen.
So I’m all for a cloud. Giant men just reek of the cheapest and earliest of carnival special effects, incapable of anything other than being cheesy. Does anyone have cinematic example of giant cinematic men that aren’t, basically, lame? Get on to the message boards now and have your say!
Source: AICNDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Clouds, Fantastic Four, Galactus, News
Continue reading Stormy WeatherTuesday, April 17, 2007
Norton Smash!
Edward Norton is playing Bruce Banner in The Incredible Hulk next summer. This is incredible, rampaging news.
Avi Arad has been talking up a sequel for awhile now. But that was never any big news since he talks up a future movie for every character in the Marvel bullpen (Spitfire & The Troubleshooters- Christmas 2011!). Even when they announced Transporter director Louis Leterrier was attached to the project I could barely work up a shrug. But this casting news changes everything. Now this is an A-list project. Now we know they aren't afraid to throw some money at this thing. Now I'm excited, true believer!
I'm a fan of the first movie, Ang Lee's Incredible Inner Child, but we all know it tanked at the box office. It just wasn't the movie fans wanted and it certainly wasn't the action packed movie the studio was selling in commercials. I can still remember the sound of weeping children in the theater after Hulk smashed some poodles. It seems the producers are gambling that the popularity of the Hulk as a character far surpasses the stink of failure associated with their first try. My guess is they're hoping this will be a do-over movie like Wrath Of Kahn was. I'm all for that. As much as I loved the first flick (and the first Star Trek for that matter), I'm totally onboard for some high quality Hulk Smash.
No word on the villain yet, but it'll probably be The Abomination. He offers far more obvious action potential than any other nemesis. Personally, I'd love to see Hulk take on The Leader. The idea of brains against brawn is a lot more dramatic than simple fisticuffs between two gamma irradiated monsters. But hey, if I want drama I can go watch Eric Bana grapple with his daddy issues.
Source: The InternetDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Edward Norton, Hulk, News
Continue reading Norton Smash!Thursday, March 15, 2007
There Can Be Only One... Colin
Exciting news for those four people still interested in the Highlander franchise, as a new installment is currently on its way for release this spring. But there'll be no Christophe Lam-bearrr this time, as it'll be in that much (and some times rightly) maligned art-form anime.
Highlander: Vengeance seems to abandon the concept of the quickening and what have you, and has just gone for the oft-used revenge angle, hence the title. Here's the official synopsis:
"In revenge, patience is a virtue. And after a millennium, Colin MacLeod doesn't give a damn about virtue.
After four films and two successful television series, you've never seen the Highlander like this. MacLeod returns with a vengeance.in an animated feature-length epic! In the tradition of "Vampire Hunter D" and "Ninja Scroll," anime wizard Yoshiaki Kawajiri brings his unique visual bravura to the immortal "Highlander" franchise. For the first time, the MacLeod katana blade will find itself in the hands of a Japanese master.
In the new tale, the lone warrior Colin travels with the wise-cracking ghost Amergan through the ages searching for the immortal despot Marcus Octavius, who killed his lover on the Celtic plains tens of centuries ago. On his quest, he discovers New York is submerged, and one dominant monolith fortress towers over the seas. Colin can save the survivors, but his sword only hungers for the blood of one man. Despite many lifetimes of training, Colin has failed to vanquish Marcus on the great battlefields of history. Can he finish what he started and stop Marcus? Will Colin lead the people to freedom or become consumed by hate? There can be only one."
Colin? Colin?!? Why not just call him Harold and be done with it? As stated there, it's from the people behind Ninja Scroll, which I quite liked despite it being filled with the usual anime pitfalls, namely repulsive sexual elements. It's being written by David Abramowitz, who I've never heard of but apparently was the showrunner for the Highlander series, but funnier, was a writer on Cagney and Lacey. I hope they mention that on the poster.
On a personal note, I'm a big fan of the first Highlander, as it's such an extreme case of sheer insanity wrapped in a bundle of relatively-mainstream fun, but I haven't bothered to see any of the others, for good reason apparently. Although I used to watch the cartoon, and enjoyed it, but then again, that was a long time ago. Still, from as much as the trailer as I got to watch (the loading times on the official site are awful), it didn't look particularly enthralling, especially with that weird pseudo slow motion anime always has going on. Still, optimism is good, right? Right?
Highlander: Vengeance will be released on June 5th.
Source: ANN, ImagiDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Anime, Colin, Highlander, News
Continue reading There Can Be Only One... ColinFriday, March 09, 2007
Batgirls And Batsuits
So once again, Latino Review was right on the money with their insider casting info. Today Variety is reporting that Ms. Gyllenhaal is indeed in final talks for the Rachel Dawes role in Chris Nolan's upcoming Batman sequel, The Dark Knight.
Now onto a wee bit of Batsuit talk. A scooper for AICN sent them the following:
I told this person how I didn't particularly dig the suit in Batman Begins and said it was too bulky. To this he/she replied, "Well then you'll love the new one." He/she also stated that Bats changes his suit halfway through the film - and its a major plotpoint as to the how and why this happens.
So there you go. Speculate! Scrutinize! Start a rumor that the above pic is actually a design from the film!
Source: Variety, AICNDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Maggie Gyllenhaal, News, The Dark Knight
Continue reading Batgirls And BatsuitsWatch For The Watchman
A YouTube video of 300 footage from what looks to be the trailer shown at last year's San Diego Comic Con is floating around the web. It's neato footage. But what's even more neato is a QUICK glimpse at a test shot of Rorshach from director Zack Snyder's upcoming Watchmen. I like it!
Harry over at AICN has pretty much confirmed that it's not a hoax. Head over there to read what he's got to say and also to get a much bigger look at the shot above. For those curious to pinpoint the shot in the YouTube video below, it's somewhere at the 1:52 mark.
Source: AICN, YouTubeDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: 300, News, Watchmen, Zack Snyder
Continue reading Watch For The WatchmanThe Fruit Of Indiana Jones' Fertile Loins?
Update 2: According to a couple of undisclosed sources, this is simply bullshit talk on LaBeouf's part, essentially trying to protect himself before anything's official and written in stone. I would expect to hear further confirmation in the trades soon enough.
Update 1: Apparently, according to Collider.com, LaBeouf IS NOT Indiana Jones' son. At least, that's what LaBeouf is claiming despite yesterday's Variety article which all but confirmed it. What makes this odd is that Variety is not the type of publication that would shoot their wad prematurely. So obviously something's up. More as it comes.
Original article follows after the jump.
Paying no heed to the sage love advice of his beloved Temple of Doom sidekick Short Round, it seems Indiana Jones did find time for love sometime whilst dodging murderous Nazis, slitherous snakes, and sensuous Sean Connery. The result? Completely boring actor Shia LaBeouf.
Variety reports that LaBeouf is in "final talks" for the role, though I'm sure it's pretty much a done deal, seeing as how LaBeouf already has close ties with Steven Spielberg's DreamWorks in the forms of the upcoming Disturbia and Transformers.
I should also note that Ain't It Cool actually broke this news back in mid February ('twas never written up by TFL because I'm a lazy cunt), way before Variety as rightly pointed out by CHUD.com's resident beardo Devin Faraci. I echo this because I think Variety is full of shit and should be called out for their resoundingly awesome "hands over ears" approach to entertainment reporting.
Indiana Jones IV begins shooting this June and is scheduled to open on May 22, 2008.
Source: AICN, CHUD, Variety, Collider.comDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Indiana Jones, News, Shia LaBeouf
Continue reading The Fruit Of Indiana Jones' Fertile Loins?Wednesday, March 07, 2007
Marty, Mark Double Down On The East Coast's Gambling Haven
This news is probably more suited for our illustrious MODOKTV column, but I think our wonderful Carlton Stevens is busy somewhere trying to digest a deep-fried chocolate hamburger or something. Nevertheless, news comes that Oscar winner Martin Scorsese (sounds nice, huh?) and his Departed Oscar-nominee Mark Wahlberg will be teaming up as executive producers on a new HBO project dealing with the development of Atlantic City.
From THR: "The project will be developed in conjunction with the book, "Boardwalk Empire: The Birth, High Times, and Corruption of Atlantic City" by Nelson Johnson which chronicles the Eastern city "from its birth as a quiet seaside health resort, through the notorious backroom politics and power struggles, to the city's rebirth as an entertainment and gambling mecca where anything goes."
Scorsese is no stranger to gambling or Atlantic City. 1986's The Color of Money with Tom Cruise and Paul Newman took place in that very locale. And of course, the man made Casino which similarly dealt with the crooked underbelly of West Coast "gambling mecca" Las Vegas. Wahlberg is re-teaming with his Entourage co-producer Stephen Levinson as well.
No word on when to expect this, but we here at TFL will be sure to report it. Just as soon as Carlton passes that... thing... he ate.
Source: The Hollywood ReporterDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: HBO, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Scorsese, News
Continue reading Marty, Mark Double Down On The East Coast's Gambling HavenKill Bill, Kill Comic
Former co-writer and all-around awesome Bostonian Dave Davis from the venerable JoBlo.com gave me the heads up last week on a comic book iteration of Quentin Tarantino's William-killing Kung-Fu/Western opus, written and drawn by artist Adam Warren. Apparently, the comic didn't get the QT seal of approval, but what does remain for your discerning eyes are four layouts depicting a pre-Kill Bill Bride doing her thing back when the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad wasn't all broken up and dysfunctional.
Check out all of Warren's layouts after the clickity-click.
For more info and bigger images, head over to Adam Warren's deviantART site.
Source: deviantART, Dave DavisDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Comics, Kill Bill, News, Quentin Tarantino
Continue reading Kill Bill, Kill ComicMonday, February 26, 2007
Martin Scorsese, we salute thee!
The Oscar ceremonies have come and gone. And in the end? A short, enthusiastic, and lovable Italian-American filmmaker finally walked away with the award that has (perplexingly) eluded him for decades. Yes, the man who once uttered... "Have you ever seen what a .44 Magnum will do to a woman's pussy?" ...walked away with gold. Fuckin' A.
The winners...
BEST PICTURE
The Departed
BEST DIRECTION
Martin Scorsese (The Departed)
BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
William Monahan (The Departed)
BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine)
BEST ACTOR
Forest Whitaker (The Last King of Scotland)
BEST ACTRESS
Helen Mirren (The Queen)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin (Little Miss Sunshine)
BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Jennifer Hudson (Dreamgirls)
BEST MUSICAL SCORE
Gustavo Santaolalla (Babel)
BEST FILM EDITING
Thelma Schoonmaker (The Departed)
BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Guillermo Navarro (Pan's Labyrinth)
BEST ART DIRECTION
Pan's Labyrinth
BEST MAKEUP
Pan's Labyrinth
BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Marie Antoinette
BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest
BEST SOUND EDITING
Letters from Iwo Jima
BEST SOUND MIXING
Dreamgirls
BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
The Lives of Others (Germany)
BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Happy Feet
BEST DOCUMENTARY
An Inconvenient Truth
BEST MUSIC
"I Need to Wake Up" by Melissa Etheridge (An Inconvenient Truth)
BEST SHORT SUBJECT DOCUMENTARY
The Blood of Yingzhou District
BEST ANIMATED SHORT FILM
The Danish Poet
BEST LIVE ACTION SHORT FILM
West Bank Story
Source: Oscar.comDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Martin Scorsese, News, Oscars
Continue reading Martin Scorsese, we salute thee!Friday, February 23, 2007
Justice League: The Ten Year Road To Production Begins Today
WB has taken the first real step towards a Justice League movie. Variety says they've hired Kiernan and Michele Mulroney to write a script for the most superest of all super teams. All I know about these screenwriters is that they're married and one of them has Dermot Mulroney for a brother. And really, what other qualifications do you need to pen the biggest comic book extravaganza since ever?
No word yet as to who will be in the line-up. The moisture you see dripping from your screen right now is from the salivation of a million fanboys drooling online over the possibility of Christian Bale and Brandon Routh squeezing their firm spandexed buttocks into the same frame. Along with that Starbuck chick from Battlestar Galactica as Wonder Woman, of course. Personally I'm hoping J'onn J'onnz makes the cut. Slather William Hurt in some green body paint and give that martian manhunter his long overdue moment in the spotlight. All that's left to do is get Carlos Mencia as Vibe, throw Bruce Campbell in a giant Starro suit and wait for the dump truck to drop the load of Oscars in your driveway.
Source: VarietyDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Justice League, News
Continue reading Justice League: The Ten Year Road To Production Begins TodayFriday, February 16, 2007
"Hey, Eckhart... Think about the future!"
Well, it seems that the days of casting speculation of who will be playing Harvey Dent/Two-Face in Chris Nolan's The Dark Knight are finally over. It's Aaron Eckhart. See what I did with the quote up above? From 1989's Batman? Ha Ha Ha. Andrew Clarke hates me right now, I can feel it.
So yes, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Eckhart "is in final negotiations" for the coveted role that seemingly everyone in Hollywood was up for. Good choice? Unfortunately, I haven't seen a single film of Eckhart's so I have no valid opinion on either his skills or screen presence. Superficially, though? As a physical match to Christian Bale's Bruce Wayne, I think he's pretty good. Better than Tommy Lee Jones was to Val Kilmer anyway. I will say that I'm, again, happy with the direction Nolan's going with casting. Let's just hope his brother's script is up to snuff and that Bale takes some throat lozenges this time out.
Speaking of casting, it was rumored right away by the guys over at Latino Review that Maggie Gyllenhaal (among others) was up for the vacated role of Rachel Dawes after finding out that Katie Holmes was out. Well now they're confirming from a couple of their strongest sources (which were spot on originally regarding Eckhart and Heath Ledger) that Gyllenhaal has indeed landed the useless role of the female love interest in TDK. Let's see... Brunette? Check. Droopy-eyed? Check. Boring actress? Hmmm, Maggie's got you there, Mrs. Cruise.Let's see if Ledger goes two for two in nailing Gyllenhaals.
Source: The Hollywood Reporter, Latino ReviewDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, News, The Dark Knight
Continue reading "Hey, Eckhart... Think about the future!"Thursday, February 15, 2007
Cranky Ruins
As any regular reader knows, we here at TFL are totally queer for Crank. We can only hope you are too since this article has some Crank spoilage. So for maximum reading enjoyment, the management recommends watching Crank at least once before proceeding.
Now then, Variety reports that the film's co-directors, Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, have written the script for Pathology, filming this Spring. It's described as "... a drama about medical students who compete to see which can commit the perfect murder." Sounds like Hitchcock's Rope by way of CSI. Throw David Caruso and some Haitian Plant Shit into the mix and my ass is in the seat opening night. The Variety article ends with a single sentence containing an offhand simplicity that belies its profound awesomeness: "Neveldine and Taylor brought the project to Lakeshore, where they made the Jason Statham starrer 'Crank,' AND ARE IN THE EARLY STAGES OF A SEQUEL TO THAT PIC." This is vindicating news for the half of our message board posters who insist that Chev survived the fall from the helicopter. Or it's spectacular news for the rest of us who insist he died, because that can mean only one other thing - ZOMBIE CRANK! Either way, we all win.
In not so great news, there's an adaptation of Scott Smith's supremely scary novel, The Ruins, in the works. Production is tentatively slated for early May according to this Production Weekly article. At the risk of sounding like a reactionary nerdface, I just don't see how they can translate this story for the big screen. For one thing, the action takes place in one isolated location. And, more importantly, the majority of conflict comes from knowing the inner workings of the characters as they deal with a horrific threat. Sure, it's been done before. George Romero uses character dynamics to amp the suspense in his claustrophobic Dead films. But the external threat of zombies is far more viscerally satisfying than Smith's borderline abstract botanical monster. I have a feeling that the best we can hope for is something akin to Stephen King's Misery. That adaptation faced similar hurdles and managed to deliver an effective, but ultimately hollow, thriller. Anybody who hasn't read King's book would never know it, but there is an entire level of subtext jettisoned from Rob Reiner's adaptation. I doubt Ruins director Carter Smith will be able to put the protagonists' inner musings on celluloid either. But hey, I could be wrong!*
*No, I'm not.
Source: Variety, Production WeeklyDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Crank, News, The Ruins
Continue reading Cranky RuinsMonday, February 12, 2007
80's Retro: The Final Assault
Update!
The Dan Akroyd/Chevy Chase vehicle Spies Like Us is the next mediocre cable channel staple to go through the recycle bin. This is the kind of remake that baffles me the most. And I'm not easily baffled. Just ask my arch-nemesis, The Baffler. A movie like Spies Like Us exists solely as a showcase for the stars. It's a threadbare plot designed to move the characters from one comedic set-up to the next. Kind of like an Abbott and Costello flick. So why bother duplicating the thing without the stars? Is there really that much positive name recognition attached to Spies Like Us? If this trend continues we're going to be looking at a Borat remake in a few years, mark my words!
Hit the jump for the original article.
The 80's have been a source of retro entertainment for years now. VH-1 would be off the air if it weren't able to mine the decade's rich resources. 57% of the total content of the internet is attributed to 80's fansites and memes. Now the final assault begins on movie theaters!
First up from Moviehole.net is a proposed Weird Science remake. Now conceptually I can get behind this. The internet has become such a hub for sexually desperate young men that a flick about computer generated girlfriends seems inevitable. John Hughes was probably ahead of his time when he wrote this one back in 1985. But we all know the shine of this particular gem wasn't found in the script. It was found in Anthony Michael Hall's angry uber-nerd and Bill Paxton's angry repressed homosexual. It's gonna be hard to top that cast. They'll probably have to get some smokin hot celebrity to step in for the former Mrs. Steven Seagal to make up for the inferior comedic talents of that Mac commercial kid as Hall and Dane Cook as Paxton. I'm guessing they'll use one of the Simpson sisters.
Moviehole also tells us that Warners is threatening us with a veritable carpet bombing of DTV sequels to 80's hits. Rumor has it they're talking about a Gremlins 3, which I can get behind. This one would end up using CGI instead of puppets. Well, duh. Also on slate are sequels to New Jack City and The Lost Boys (which I could have sworn was just released last year). And if that isn't enough to satiate your inner child, Goonies 2: For The Love Of Chunk is being talked about maybe possibly happening sometime. They think.
And now for the finishing blow. An oily roundhouse kick to the nuts guaranteed to rattle your skull. DTV action star, producer and destroyer of worlds Dolph Lundgren wants to get all the guys back together for a new action movie. andPOP.com quotes Drago thusly:
"You know, I was thinking today, it would be great to make a movie with the 80s action rat pack- Jean Claude and a few others. There are issues with schedules and age and so on, but maybe I'll be the one to make it happen. I was talking to Chuck Norris' people about doing something with him, maybe an action comedy?"
You know, if any one of these meatheads can make this happen, it's Dolph. Joke all you want, but the guy has become a pretty successful producer in the ever expanding video market. Throw Steven Seagal into the mix, get Frank Stallone to record the theme song and you've got an old fashioned action movie that'll really put hair on your chest.
Source: Moviehole.net, andPOP.com, 80stees.com, CinematicalDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: 80s, Dolph Lundgren, Gremlins, New Jack City, News, Spies Like Us, The Goonies, The Lost Boys, Weird Science
Continue reading 80's Retro: The Final AssaultMonday, February 05, 2007
Gone In A Flash
Woe is you, superhero fans. Or maybe not, depending on your point of view. In any case, as studios bankroll their latest comic book epics in an attempt to match the success of X-Men, or Spider-Man, or Howard The Duck, the casualty list seems to be growing. Here are the latest pair to fall victim to the "we couldn't agree" curse.
First up is self-proclaimed rabid comic geek David Goyer, best known for killing the Blade franchise, co-writing the dull Batman Begins, and writing The Hoff's lines in 1998's Nick Fury: Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. Goyer has been booted off his latest project - DC's The Flash - on account of that old chestnut, "WB and myself simply couldn't agree on what would make for a cool Flash film."
Goyer has said that "the script did involve both Barry and Wally as The Flash. I wanted to showcase the legacy aspect of the hero -- as that was something that hadn't been explored yet in film," which sounds interesting. But not as interesting as his replacement at the helm of the film, Shawn Levy, director of Night At The Museum and Cheaper By The Dozen. Yes, it's Tim Story all over again.
Our second casualty comes from the little town of Sunnydale, as we hear that Joss Whedon has departed from the Wonder Woman movie. Speaking on his blog, Whedon said "I had a take on the film that, well, nobody liked." He doesn't really say a lot more, apart from mentioning he's working on a flick called Goners and that he never had an actress picked out for the Amazonian Princess.
Guess this means Nathan Fillion will be out of work for a bit longer, at least until White Noise III.
Source: THR, WhedonesqueDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: David Goyer, Joss Whedon, News, The Flash, Wonder Woman
Continue reading Gone In A FlashSaturday, February 03, 2007
News Round-Up: 2/3/07
In a business move that shouldn't come as too much of a surprise to anyone, DreamWorks and Aardman have split ways, terminating their seven-year partnership this past Tuesday. The move comes after the poor financial success of Aardman's last two (critically embraced) films, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and Flushed Away. Aardman will now be tasked with having to find other means of financing and distribution for their work, but I imagine that for an animation studio that's won four Oscars (three for Wallace & Gromit projects, and more specifically, projects that weren't shit), it shouldn't be too difficult.
The companies did have one other film in development, Crood Awakening, which was announced at the 2005 Cannes Film Festival and penned by John Cleese. Rights to the project now revert to DreamWorks. Don't count on ever seeing it. However, according to Reuters, Aardman is apparently already at work on a Wallace & Gromit sequel! There's your light at the end of this tunnel.
Source: Variety, Reuters, Ta
Solid journeyman director (I'm ignoring Vertical Limit here) Martin Campbell will apparently not be returning to helm the glorious buttocks of Daniel Craig in the impending follow-up to the wonderful Casino Royale. This is too bad since Campbell's two 007 outings (Goldeneye and the aforementioned Royale) were the two best of the last ten+ years. No new blood has been mentioned but let the rumor mill begin milling. Cameras aren't expected to start rolling on Bond 22 till January 2008.Source: IGN
WARNING: SPOILERY!The Departed, Scorsese's fantastic film where practically everyone, well, dies, is apparently unhindered by such trifling facts of the obvious. The film's Oscar-nominated screenwriter William Monahan (Kingdom of Heaven) is already hard at work on a viable sequel to the coked-up Italian's most (financially) successful film to date. Word is that the proposed sequel will follow Mark Wahlberg's Dignan and a new character that would be played by Robert De Niro. Yes, please! Scorsese's never done a sequel to his own work before (Color of Money doesn't count) but hey, you know what? I hope he does it. Let the motherfucker school Hollywood in the sequel department just like he did with the remake.
Source: Variety, The Hollywood Reporter, JoBlo.com
Woody Allen, having been through one bit of hotness in Scarlett Johansson, is now moving his attentions over to another, Penelope Cruz. Allen will be filming an untitled comedy-drama with the luscious brunette in Spain, presumably as soon as he's done with Cassandra's Dream, a drama in the vein of his excellent Match Point, which is due out sometime this year.Source: FOXNews.com
In "Oh, huh, that's kinda weird" news, Russell Crowe is going to be playing the Sheriff of Nottingham in a revisionist version of the Robin Hood story. Variety reports that Universal Pictures has bought Nottingham, a hotly-pursued spec script from the creators of the now canceled show Sleeper Cell, in a deal that will reunite Russell Crowe with Brian Grazer's Imagine Entertainment. No director's yet attached.Source: Variety
Finally, it seems that there will be a Ghostbusters III. Sort of. Apparently, according to a radio interview, Dan Aykroyd revealed plans for a CG film entitled Ghostbusters: Hellbent. Even Bill Murray is on board, they're saying. Sigh. If they were going to bring back the Ghostbusters, it would only be worth a shit if they focused on the fact that these guys are now balding, fat, and sardonic. And then show Ernie Hudson: Looking as good today as the day he burst out the womb.Source: CISN Country, AICNDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: 007, Aardman, DreamWorks, Ghostbusters, News, Nottingham, Penelope Cruz, Russell Crowe, The Departed, Woody Allen
Continue reading News Round-Up: 2/3/07Friday, February 02, 2007
News Round-Up: 2/2/07
It's Friday evening, I'm bored, and in a vain attempt to prevent this site becoming SethRogen.com, I thought I'd swing some superhero-related news your way. Aren't I generous?
Everyone's favourite webhead is back this summer, but he's back even sooner in a digital sense, following in the footsteps of X-Men 1.5, The Punisher: Director's Cut, and Daredevil: The Version You Never Wanted To See. Hitting stores on April 17th, Spider-Man 2.1 will include a whole eight minutes of new footage - including extended fight scenes - as well as new commentaries, featurettes, and a sneak preview of the third flick, out this summer. I've always been in two minds over the flick, as, on one hand it's the greatest superhero spectacle since Donner's Superman, and a pretty good responsibility parable to boot, but on the other hand, it has a lot of incredibly tedious stuff involving Kirsten Dunst and her lazy eye. Still, it'll probably be worth picking up just to see more Doc Ock. Click on the picture for the cover art, courtesy of DavisDVD.
Source: DavisDVD
The Hulk 2 hype seems to be gathering pace, and director Louis Leterrier has been mouthing off about the film on SuperheroHype's message boards. He hasn't revealed a great deal, but hey, it's a slow news day. Here's what he has to say so far:
"HULK is CG. We are using prosthetics for other areas of the film.
The main villain is "Thunderbolt" Ross. Emil Blonsky isn't far behind...
We're very close to casting Bruce Banner."
Right then. All signs point to this being a more straightforward adaptation of the character than Ang Lee's 2003 masterpiece. Whether that's a good thing or not, I'll let you decide (it's not).
Source: SHH Boards
Head-in-a-box Gwyneth Paltrow has been answering questions about her role in Jon Favreau's upcoming Iron Man, which is blasting onto screens in 2008. Here's what came from her gob:
"I play Pepper Potts, who's Iron Man's assistant. They have a very charged dynamic.
When do you start Iron Man?
March.
And what do you do to get ready?
Pump it up! [Laughs] I'm exercising.
So why Iron Man?
You know why? Because of the people involved. It had nothing to do with the size of the budget. It was like, if I got a call that there's a six-million-dollar movie, and these are the people, I'd do it. I've always wanted to work with Robert Downey Jr. He's a genius, and I had never been asked to do a film with him before. I'm really excited that it's Iron Man because I've never done anything like it. I'm really thrilled."
I don't know whether it's funny or sad that six million dollars is considered a low budget for a movie nowadays, but there we are: She's Pepper, she's working out and she loves Robert Downey, Jr. Phew, the world can finally go back to normal after those sensational revelations.
Next week: what sandwich Joss Whedon is making while writing the latest Wonder Woman draft.
Source: Entertainment WeeklyDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Hulk, Iron Man, News, Spider-Man
Continue reading News Round-Up: 2/2/07Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Seth Rogen's Seed Spreads
Following up on the brilliant simplicity in design of The 40 Year-Old Virgin's one sheet, Ain't It Cool brings us one of the new Knocked Up sheets above. And Seth Rogen's look says more than a million floating heads ever could.
Here's a quick look at two other designs. The one with Katherine Heigl is great too since, again, so much is told in one shot. For a bigger look at the one sheets, head over to Ain't It Cool by clicking any one of these pics.
Source: AICNDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Knocked Up, News
Continue reading Seth Rogen's Seed SpreadsSunday, January 28, 2007
1 (900) HOT-CHAT
The crazy and lovable bastards behind what could potentially be the best comedy of the year wanna chat your hot, fuzzy asses off tomorrow. Be there.
Chat LIVE with Edgar Wright, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost!
Log on at the Working Title site on Monday, January 29th at 10:00 AM US Pacific / 1:00 PM US Eastern / 18:00 PM GMT to join a live web chat with the team behind Hot Fuzz.
Early word is that Hot Fuzz is at least as good as Shaun of the Dead, which pretty much makes it Top Ten material automatically. I sure hope so. Luck Brits get it on February 16th (Andrew and Charlie, I hate you) while we lowly Americans must wait till April 13th.
And simply because it's awesome, check out the Hot Fuzz trailer yet again... in HD!
Note: Dial 1 (900) HOT-CHAT at your own discretion. The Fake Life will not be held responsible for whatever sexual atrocities you may or may not encounter on said calling service. You pervs you.
Source: Working TitleDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards! Continue reading 1 (900) HOT-CHAT
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Nobody Likes Tom Cruise's Wife Either
"She is SO outta here, I swear!"
The hombres over at Latino Review have gotten some insider dope regarding casting in The Dark Knight. The character of Rachel Dawes will apparently be back for the upcoming sequel, but not in the form of Katie Holmes. That's all they're saying. Score one for Scientology!
Also, Latino Review "confirms" that the character of Harvey Dent will be in The Dark Knight. I thought this was already confirmed, but okay. They claim that Matt Damon passed on the role and that the filmmakers have met with Josh Lucas, and that there's been interest in both Jamie Foxx and Ed Norton. And though they don't mention them by name or whatever, I'm quite sure even Anthony Hopkins, Meryl Streep, and Dakota Fanning have auditioned for the part as well.
Head over to Latino Review for a few other casting tidbits.
The Dark Knight is currently in pre-production, is scheduled to start shooting in March, and can be expected to swoop into cinemas sometime in 2008.
Source: Latino ReviewDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Katie Holmes, News, The Dark Knight
Continue reading Nobody Likes Tom Cruise's Wife EitherTuesday, January 23, 2007
The World Turns On Shyamalan
It is currently open season on M Night Shyamalan in Hollywood, and everyone seems to be enjoying shitting on him, spreading nasty, if not necessarily untrue, gossip about the huge ego'd writer/director of The Sixth Sense. The latest one, as described here, details his inability to sell his latest script, entitled Green Planet.
It is an alien invasion script, which is a lot like his earlier film, Signs, I guess, which ripped a whole lot off from Spielberg's Close Encounters Of The Third Kind, and tells a story of aliens using the Earth's ecosystem against us poor humans, so possibly ripping off Spielberg's War Of The Worlds red weeds, not to mention another Speilberg 'protege' Roland Emmerich's environmental disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow. Or maybe it's very, very original, and not at all like Save The Green Planet, A South Korean film about kind of the same thing but has the advantage of a: existing, b: being completely loopy and c: being absolutely brilliant.
Apparently every studio in town has passed on this script. He pissed everyone off in town with his claims of genius, which everyone in town was happy to ignore while he was making massively successful films. His last film, The Lady In The Water, was a bomb though (and shit) and now the knives are out.
Poor man. All he has going at the moment is a director's gig on a kiddie kung fu cartoon called Avatar: The Last Airbender. As I don't have to work with him, I would rather he carried on making movies rather than the legion of averagely-abled hacks like Brett Ratner (X Men 3, Rush Hour 3), simply because tales of great hubris are simply more entertaining, at least at a distance. The same goes for the Wachowski Brothers, brought low after everybody in the world except pretentious goths and me hated The Matrix sequels, who are now directing an adaptation of kiddie cartoon Speed Racer.
In the meantime, here's me having my own go at Shyamalan.
Source: MovieholeDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Green Planet, M. Night Shyamalan, News
Continue reading The World Turns On ShyamalanDylan Baker Wants More Screentime Dammit!
Dylan Baker claims Spider-Man director Sam Raimi's got big plans for his Curt Connors character in the NEXT arachnid action adventure romp. We've been teased enough with the guy in the last two films, and maybe 3 will feature him sitting on a park bench, checking his watch, and winking at the camera while mouthing "The Lizard's comin', bitches".
Wait... so is Raimi doing Spider-Man 4?
Ripped from iFMagazine.com: “In this one I am still in my business suit and that’s all I’ll say. I’m kind of the guy that Peter Parker needs to come to whenever he has those quandaries about what’s going on,” states Baker. But then continues on to explain, “All I can say is we’re going to see a lot more of [me] at some point if what Sam says is true, and Sam is the guy who knows, so I am sticking with him.”And would the actor be up for being a main villain in the next Spidey flick?
“Oh yeah [I’d be up for that],” he exclaims. “I’m friends with Alfred Molina and I just saw him the other day and he had so much fun doing Doc Ock, that for me it’s a no-brainer. So, put it in [the movie] and let’s go.”
Okay, so we know Baker is desperate to unleash his inner reptile. But to this day, there hasn't really been any concrete word as to whether or not Raimi and co. would be back for a fourth installment. Baker's comments suggest yes, but I guess we'll know for sure right before Spider-Man 3 opens and makes a billion gajillion dollars. We do know now that David Koepp is in talks to return for writing duties on part 4, though. That's a start.
Source: iFMagazine.comDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Dylan Baker, News, Spider-Man
Continue reading Dylan Baker Wants More Screentime Dammit!Stallonian Genocide
Having punched his way back into some semblance of filmic relevance again with Rocky Balboa, Sylvester Stallone now seems ready to take up new projects he's got in mind that don't involve nostalgia. Those expecting a return to the bulging and glistening forearms of Over the Top, I'm sorry, you're gonna have to wait. Instead, Sly is interested in tackling a film about the Armenian Genocide by way of Austrian author Franz Werfel's book, 40 Days in the Moses Mountain.
Talking about the idea of the film, Stallone stated: It is an epic about the entire termination of a society. The movie is a hot potato, Turks have been trying to kill the issue for 85 years.
Turkish website SABAH, from where the story originates added: It has been stated that in order to prevent the shooting of the movie, the chairman of the fight against the groundless genocide claim association, Savaş Eğilmez, has started an angry letter campaign. The journal also contained Eğilmez's words: "the book is full of lies; because the author obtained the data from the nationalist and radical Armenians."
As Stallone himself mentions, there's been much debate over nearly the last one hundred years regarding the genocide of the Ottoman Armenians, mainly on the part of Turkey, who to this day claims that the deaths of about 1 million Armenians were a result of cultural conflict and famine during the fallout of World War I. However, according to Wikipedia, 21 countries to date have recognized the event as being genocide. So someone is wrong, and though it could be Wikipedia, from what I know living in a city heavily populated with Armenians of third, second, and especially first generation, it's probably the Turks.
I personally think it would be beyond interesting to see someone like Stallone tackle such a seemingly ambitious film rife with very political and ethnic conflict. It's unexpected anyway, and I guess that's what's appealing to me. There's no mention as to whether he's writing it, wanting to direct it, or simply reading the book while sitting on the can, though. So who the hell really knows what the deal is?Apart from the impending Rambo IV, Stallone's only other projects have been writing gigs for both an Edgar Allen Poe film as well as his take on the murders of Tupac Shakur and Christopher Wallace and the L.A.P.D.'s Rampart Division. No updated word on either of those films. Nor on Over the Top 2: Let's Get Silly.
Source: SABAHDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: News, Sylvester Stallone
Continue reading Stallonian GenocideMonday, January 22, 2007
Sean Connery: Funds Depleting, Need Money
Legendary Scottish thespian Sean Connery, last seen in the 2002 piece of shit League of Extraordinary Gentleman, is apparently seriously considering coming out of retirement and once again taking the mantle of Dr. Henry Jones in the upcoming (Can you believe it starts filming this summer?) Indiana Jones IV. I don't know about you, but I can't stop starring at this man's boots.
...speaking from his home in the Bahamas, Connery told Scotland on Sunday that he had already had discussions about returning to the big screen in the epic adventure series that has grossed £700m in cinemas worldwide.
The new Indiana Jones film is due to shoot this summer, and after being approached by Lucas, Connery admits he is seriously considering it.
Asked directly if he thought he would be back in front of the cameras this summer as Dr Jones, he answered: "Perhaps."
Choosing his words carefully, Connery then added: "At the moment there's nothing decided. I haven't got the script. Everything depends on the script."
Connery made no mention of financial demands, suggesting money is not his top priority, though he could expect a fee of £10m or more and possibly a share of the gross.
Coy replies? Yes. But I wouldn't be surprised if it actually happened. And I know that I for one would love to see the guy return to the big screen. This would probably be his best (and only) bet too.
Indiana Jones and the Oh My God Old People is expected to hit theaters in May 2008.
Source: Scotland on SundayDiscuss this and other Fakery on our message boards!
Labels: Indiana Jones, News, Sean Connery
Continue reading Sean Connery: Funds Depleting, Need Money
