Aeon Flux writers molest 'Boys'

I didn't know what to think about the Aeon Flux movie adaptation. It was so weird and non-sensical that I wasn't sure if it sucked or it was just doing what the TV show did. Which was...be weird and make no sense. So, instead of judging the writing duo composed of Matt Manfredi and Phil Hays on Aeon Flux, I'll take a look at what else they've done. Let's see...Crazy/Beautiful and the Tuxedo(starring Jackie Chan). Nevermind.

Best known for their work on “Aeon Flux,” “The Tuxedo” and “Crazy/Beautiful,” Manfredi and Hay will adapt the project which follows a top-secret branch of the CIA that monitors superheroes. In this world, however, superheroes behave like over-privileged celebrities, often engaging in adult — and illegal — activities. The series made headlines around comic websites a year ago when it was unceremoniously dropped from DC Comics’ Wildstorm imprint, with rumors pointing to its highly-adult subject matter, and eventually found it way to Dynamite Entertainment.

I've never read the graphic novel, but I've heard it's pretty good. I can only imagine how good it could be in capable hands, such as these guys'. Maybe it'll top the Tuxedo and Crazy/Beautiful...COMBINED! Possibly to star an ensemble cast comprised of Jackie Chan, Kirsten Dunst and Charlize Theron. Couldn't possibly suck then.

MTV

Michael Bay saves us from asteroids. Really.

In 21 years, an asteroid named Apophis is scheduled to pass within the moon's orbit. Fearing that we'll be smashed into a billion-trillion little bits, someone decided it'd be good to start a competition to see who could come up with the best plan to move the asteroid. Cleverly, this competition was named the Move an Asteroid Competition.

Now, apparently, Michael Bay is some sort of rocket scientist, because he came up with the winning idea in Armageddon. Unfortunately, Billy Bob Thornton laughed at him, and the whole idea was tossed out.

The Register reports that Mary D’Souza recently won the competition for the paper entitled “A Body Solar Sail Concept for the Deflection of 99942 Apophis.” D’Souza’s plan calls for wrapping the asteroid with mylar film, which will cause solar radiation pressure to move the asteroid off of its path.

As I read this news, I realized that I had heard an extremely similar plan long ago: It was one of the solutions presented for the asteroid that threatened to destroy us in Michael Bay’s Armageddon.

For those of you who don’t have 100% recall of that film, remember that before they hire Bruce Willis’ character to sweep in and save Earth, Billy Bob Thornton at NASA entertained a wide variety of solutions to dealing with the asteroid. Here is the exact line from the movie, delivered by one of NASA’s scientists:

"Some of us have got this idea: We want to land a craft, deploy solar sails. You’ll have a great big canopy. Solar winds will be caught by these mylar sails!"

This outlandish and ridiculous plan draws an extremely pissed off response by Billy Bob Thornton:

"C’mon guys! We’ve gotta come up with something realistic here!"

The take-away message here is that Billy Bob Thornton is bad for humanity and Michael Bay is good. If you asked me, which you didn't but I'm telling you anyway, I would prefer Bruce Willis be the savior of humanity.

/film

Marvel goes from comic to film to anime

That's a logical step, right? Marvel is teaming up with Madhouse, one of Japan's top animation studios, to adapt classic Marvel characters(and, eventually, the entire universe) into anime TV shows.

Madhouse is currently in production on the first of four new series (12 x 30 minutes), which are scheduled to launch in spring 2010. The initial series will feature characters including Iron Man and Wolverine, among others, and Madhouse will ultimately look to adapt the entire Marvel Universe, creating in essence a whole new character base for Marvel.

“We are incredibly excited to have this full collaboration with Marvel to create a completely new world that has never been done before in the Marvel Universe. This will be the first time there will be a full Japanese anime style for Marvel, and the Madhouse creative team is fully engaged to bring this to a worldwide audience,” said Jungo Maruta, president and CEO of Madhouse Inc.

The Marvel anime series will debut on ANIMAX, the first and largest 24-hour network dedicated to anime.

I'd say this is a radically different approach to Marvel properties, but their Saturday morning cartoons have emulated the anime style for years now(along with most other Saturday morning cartoons).

Marvel Press Release

Eddie Murphy stars in another comedy, painful sighs are heard 'round the world

Eddie Murphy and movies have had somewhat of a pathetic/terrible relationship recently. He has clearly fallen off of his throne as a comedy great with craptastic feces fests such as the Adventures of Pluto Nash, Meet Dave and so on and so forth. It's no wonder that news of him being in a new movie brings as much torment to movie-goers as the inclusion of Nicolas Cage in a movie. So, with yet another 'comedy' on the way, it's a given that optimism for Eddie Murphy's career is at an all time low. However, some of the news seems promising...

Last month, Murphy told MTV News that for his next movie, “1000 Words,” he spends half the movie totally silent due to the fact that his character learns he only has 1000 words left before he dies.)

Maybe if Eddie Murphy can't talk, the movie will be funny. Or not. Hell, even I'm not that hopeful.

MTV

Babylon A.D. will probably suck

I know I shouldn't be surprised, but I was kinda hoping it'd be okay. Alas, when a director trashes his own movie, you know it's going to suck. Such is the case with Babylon A.D.. Apparently, director Matthieu Kassovitz thinks that Fox is terrible and only cares about money and stupid action. Is anybody surprised by that? I hope not.

In a new interview at AMCTV Kassovitz says of Babylon A.D., "I'm very unhappy with the film. I never had a chance to do one scene the way it was written or the way I wanted it to be. The script wasn't respected. Bad producers, bad partners, it was a terrible experience." "

If you read that quote and are thinking he may not exactly be talking about Fox, think again. The final quote in the article brings it home. "I should have chosen a studio that has guts. Fox was just trying to get a PG-13 movie. I'm ready to go to war against them, but I can't because they don't give a shit."

The film has been in post-production for some time and has apparently been cut down to a meager 93 minutes with a reported 70 minutes falling to the cutting room floor. AMC mentions a quote star Vin Diesel gave a while back saying, "Am I even in the movie any more, or am I on the cutting room floor?"

It's interesting to see a director talk about a film of his in such a way, especially when he says it is "pure violence and stupidity" saying parts of it "are like a bad episode of '24'."

I might wind up seeing it out of morbid curiousity, anyway. Even so, disappointing to hear.

Rope of Silicon

Woody Harrelson 'lands' zombie movie role

Harhar. Bad pun aside, Woody Harrelson is the first actor to sign on to the upcoming action-comedy, Zombieland. I like the idea. Zombie comedies tend to be pretty good, too.

Harrelson is the first actual living breathing human being to sign onto the cast of Ruben Fleischer’s zombie action comedy, in which a pair of mismatched guys, survivors of a zombie apocalypse, find redemption and friendship in amongst the blood and the guts and the grue.

Let's all just hope this doesn't suck.

Empire Online

National Lampoon sinks lower than Scary Movie makers

You'd like to think that the makers of the Scary Movies/Date Movie/Epic Movie/Meet the Spartans/Disaster Movie/etc. were the kings of terrible comedy, wouldn't you? Well, you might actually be wrong. Another rapidly decling comedy franchise is pulling off the gloves and getting down and dirty. National Lampoon is making a 300/Gladiator/whateverancientepicyoucanname spoof.

"Really?!?" you might ask. Since when did National Lampoon movie from crappy college-related comedies to directly spoofing movies? Who the hell knows? What's even sadder about this is that the Scary Movie guys already tackled this with Meet the Spartans.

Set to star in this crapfest known as National Lampoon's The Legend of Awesomest Maximus are Kristanna Loken, Rip Torn and Tony Cox. Hold on to your butts.

Empire Online

Method Man hopes to bring class to a film with Nicolas Cage

What could possible make a comic book movie starring Nicolas Cage any better? Add Method Man! Please! Anyone will make the movie more enjoyable than Nicolas Cage will.



MTV

Box Office Breakdown

Tropic Thunder takes the lead again last weekend at the movies.

1. Tropic Thunder - $16.5 M

Tropic Thunder continues to prove its worth as a pretty good comedy that can beat a movie that's been out for over a month and a couple movies that might not even be worth rentals.

2. The House Bunny - $15.1 M

It amazes me that this even made what it did. Maybe movie-goers thought they'd be seeing actual playmates prancing around in the buff or something. At least, I hope that's why they went to see this.

3. Death Race - $12.2 M

I'm also suprised that this didn't do better. Considering what sort of movie this is, you'd think it would've done better in its inaugural weekend and beat a second rate comedy. Apparently not. Next week doesn't look any brighter, because movies like this tend to have an even shorter shelf-life than aforementioned second rate comedies.

4. The Dark Knight - $10.3 M

Batman is still hanging in there with his grappling hook firmly planted in the theaters. It's not surprise that this is still up here. What's even less of a surprise is that it should have surpassed $500 M in the next two weeks.

5. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - $5.66 M

This may be somewhat surprising. A Star Wars film performed as horribly as this did in its opening weekend, and then it dropped off this sharply? Surely a sign of the end-times. I may not have seen The House Bunny, but I'd wager this was better. You'd certainly think it would've made more than it in its first weekend, at least.

6. Pineapple Express - $4.8 M

I usually don't go down to #6, but the funniest movie of the year(thus far) warrants it.

Box office stats courtesy of Rope of Silicon.

Riddick's adventures chronicled again...twice.

After two movies, a straight-to-DVD anime, a video game and a four year hiatus, Vin Diesel finally talks about the return of his semi-famous character. The original film, Pitch Black, was something of a fan-favorite. While the second movie didn't do too well, the video game was another fan-fave. So, it might somewhat make sense that they're planning two more sequels. Somewhat.

“David Twowy right now is writing the scripts. The only question is whether we take a page from the ‘Lord of the Rings’ guys and try to shoot the two chapters at the same time. There are two more in mind,” he said of Riddick, the Furyan warrior first introduced in the 2000 film “Pitch Black.” “‘The Chronicles of Riddick’ was presented as a three part trilogy that would answer ‘Pitch Black’ in the same way that ‘Lord of the Rings’ answered ‘The Hobbit.’”

I don't know about comparing the series to Lord of the Rings in any way, but I can see good coming to this. Unlike many, I still enjoyed the Chronicles of Riddick, even if it was a tad mediocre. With a remake of the video game scheduled, it makes sense to also try to bring it back to the big screen...even if the game winds up doing better than the movies.


MTV

Kevin Smith continues to be lucky bastard

Kevin Smith may once again have seen a highly anticipated movie before the rest of us get our chance. Damn him. Damn him to hell. He mayormaynot have seen the new Star Trek flick. His comments were a little sketchy, no doubt due to an N.D.A., but he makes it fairly obvious, anyway.

The stars absolutely trek in this film. It is fantastic. Anybody who was worried doesn’t need to be worried–about this film I cannot talk about…It was in very capable hands. The director did a phenomenal job–the director and his crew. Top notch cast and the guy that plays the lead is an instant star. That dude is going to be so famous. He is so wonderful. He picked up a role that I would say is pretty challenging for someone to step into the shoes of, because it is a role that has been played before many times by the same guy.

Either way, it's pretty exciting. Again.


TrekMovie

Arnie may lend voice to Terminator Salvation

Many people, including myself, thought it might be a little hard to swallow a Terminator movie without some sort of appearance by the Governator. News is now surfacing that could put our fears to rest, as the producer, Moritz Borman, made a few telling comments.

Borman, who produced all three previous Terminator movies, told Wired.com: "Schwarzenegger is governing California. He will not be, as a person, in the film."

"As a person" opens the door to some kind of voiceover, right?

"I'm not going to answer the question about what we're trying, or what we want, or what we're toying with," said Borman. "It's really up to what fits in the film or not. Maybe his voice, or maybe not. It's really not settled.

Let's keep our fingers crossed. Maybe we get to see a flesh-less terminator quipping with Arnold's unmistakable voice.


Wired

Transporter 3 manages to look as ridiculous as previous films; incorporates BMX?

Jason Statham reprises his role as the non-comic-book-making Frank Miller. This doesn't look as terrible as the other ones, but I'm not getting my hopes up.

Lionsgate runs a 'Train' on Clive Barker

A couple months ago, you may have seen a trailer for a movie called Midnight Meat Train from horror master Clive Barker. Aside from the horrible name, you might've thought the movie looked good. I know I did. I loathe horror films. Especially the gore-ror variety. Imagine my surprise and, doubtlessly, many other's when the movie was barely released in any theaters. The details on what happened to this interesting-looking film are just now coming to light.

“The Midnight Meat Train” was originally set for a May 16 release date but was pushed to August 1, where it was only released in 102 second-run and dollar theaters. Though many of the screenings were viewed by sold-out audiences, the movie only made $83,361. Some fans can’t help but wonder if this decision was driven by corporate politics. That’s Barker’s take on the situation to be sure. The filmmaker said he believed Lionsgate president Joe Drake was essentially shortchanging other people’s films in order to focus more attention on movies like “The Strangers,” where he received a producing credit.

Barker told MTV News this week that he is “very proud that the movie is surviving the nonsense. People are getting to see the movie. It’s sort of starting to have a cult life.” He’s less positive in his feelings for Drake, calling him “small-minded” and a “nobody.”

“There’s room for everything,” Barker insisted. “You don’t have to sh– on somebody else’s work to advance your own material.”

And sh– on you he did, Mr Barker. Sh– on you he did.

MTV

Rick Rape sets the record straight on Game

What do you get when you combine Death Race, the Running Man, and fecal matter? The answer might just be this movie.

The game in “Game” — from “Crank” and “Pathology” creators Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor — is a futuristic multiplayer in which you can control other people. Gerard Butler’s, John Leguizamo’s, and Ventimiglia’s characters are forced to play first person games, and are considered just Sim-like avatars by the people who play them, and control their actions remotely, much like you would on a Wii.

The game is watched by millions online, and the players are pop culture heroes. But in the real world, the players are death row prisoners, who hope that playing the game will set them free. If you win 30 games, you’re out (hey, it’s one way to alleviate an overburdened prison system). Butler’s character, John Tillman — who plays under the handle Kable — is the first person to ever get close to that number.

While Butler’s Kable — who may have been falsely imprisoned — is forced to kill in the game called “Slayerz”, what Ventimiglia’s character does is “a little more disturbing,” as you might guess from his name — Rick Rape. “He’s a very misunderstood character,” Ventimiglia said. “He’s kind of loose and slippery and he doesn’t operate like a regular human being.”

Visually, he should be disturbing as well, Ventimiglia said, since the character wears a latex outfit that makes him look like “a bumblee f—ed a black widow and acts like a snake.” Quite an image.

I was okay with the premise, however absurd and cliche. I was okay with the columnist's obvious classic, non-gamer approach to 'video games', but when an actor descrives his character as “a bumblee f—ed a black widow and acts like a snake,” it's time to realize that there's no hope for the movie. Also, the nick name obviously wasn't doing the movie any service.

MTV

Modern setting may reanimate Frankenstein

Steve Niles is bringing his comic Wake the Dead, a modern-day retelling of the Frankenstein story, to the big screen from the producer's seat. WETA is set to do the effects. Cool.

“Right now, we’re scouting locations,” Niles said. “[Director] Jay [Russell] wants the movie to be ready for the next San Diego [Comic-Con]. WETA is doing the designs, and it looks amazing. And whatever they need me on, I help. Jay runs the treatment by me and I put the story together, so it begins and ends with me, but I don’t have to write it.”

“Wake the Dead” is a modern Frankenstein story, where a college student named Victor is trying to reverse death.

I'm not a horror fan, but I like the idea. It should be interesting to see how this one plays out.

MTV

Nicolas Cage ruins more movies

Nicolas Cage has had his share of abortions. He's in the upcoming Bangkok dangerous. He's ruined several movies before(Gone in 60 Secs, etc. Need I say more?). Recently, he made me loathe an absolutely badass comic book hero(Ghost Rider). Now, he' s settling for less popular comic blood. He's in an adaptation of Kick-Ass by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. and brought to the screen by Matthew Vaughn. Luckily, it's not a starring role.

No, for the title part and leading role – of a teenager called Dave Lizewski who, tired of being a dweeb, reinvents himself as a (powerless) superhero named Kick-Ass – has gone to an unknown British actor called Aaron Johnson (who can be seen in Angus, Thongs And Perfect Snogging).

Cage will play a former cop who, in his quest to bring down a druglord, has trained his teenage daughter (Chloe Moretz) to be a lethal weapon.

Also joining the cast – which already boasted McLovin himself, Christopher Mintz-Plasse as Kick-Ass’ nemesis, The Red Mist – is Lyndsy Fonseca, who plays the object of Kick-Ass’ affection
(unfortunately, she thinks he’s gay).

Well, I like the premise. I'm holding my breath if Nicolas Cage is in it, though. The only good thing he's been in recently was Nazi Werewolf Women of the S.S., and that was only a fake trailer.

Empire Online

Alex Proyas makes more awesome sci-fi

Alex Proyas is adapting another work from another classic Sci-Fi author, this time Robert A. Heinlaein. The story is called The Unpleasant Profession of Jonathan Hoag. You can peep the details below.

The 1942 story, which Proyas and his partners describe as an action-packed
psychological thriller, complete with a love story, has a doozy of a hook: a man who can’t account for his actions during the day employs a husband-and-wife detective team to find out what he gets up to. Needless to say, the truth is pretty much out there – very out there. If you thought Proyas’ Dark City was bleedin’ mental, you ain’t seen nothing yet, but that’s all we’re going to say.

The title, by the way, is likely to change. Shooting should start in 2010 or
2011, depending on where Proyas places this on his to-do list.

Color me curious. I like the premise.

Empire Online

More movies to follow Tropic Thunder's Hollywood criticism?

In my review of Tropic Thunder, I harped on the in-movie trailers that perfectly lampooned Hollywood. Now it seems that How to Lose Fiends & Alienate People is attempting the same. It looks funny, but do we really need another trend started in Hollywood that's going to be beat to death? Next thing you know, we're going to have another movie like Tropic Thunder to criticize the fact that movies in Hollywood over-use fake trailers to criticize Hollywood. Then, even that could become trendy. Then we'd have a movie to criticize the fact that Hollywood movies are overly critical of themselves.

In any case, neither Tropic Thunder nor How to Lose Friends & Alienate People pioneered this fake trailer movement. If any of you recall Bowfinger, 'Chubby Rain' did just as good of a job at it. Even Bowfinger isn't the first to take a crack at it, though. Movies have been doing it for years. It's just the recent frequency of movies doing it which bothers me.

Below is the trailer for 'Theresa: The Making of a Saint" from How to Lose Friends & Alienate People.

Mike Judge's new flick to star Affleck and Bateman

Mike Judge is working on a new movie(yay!). From the look of the cast, it could be good.

Affleck will be co-starring in Extract with Jason Bateman
set to star. Bateman will play a flower extract factory owner who's dealing with
workplace problems and a streak of bad luck, including his wife's affair with a
gigolo. Affleck will play an ambulance-chasing lawyer with Clifton Collins
Jr. also joining the cast as a factory worker who loses a body part in a
freak accident and is now due for a huge settlement. Mila Kunis and Kristen Wiig are
also aboard.

I'll reserve judgement until I see it. The set up sounds a little wacky, but if it wasn't, then it wouldn't be a Mike Judge movie.


Ropes of Silicon

Clone Wars, not as bad as you might think

I was convinced ahead of time that this would be absolutely terrible. So convinced that I didn't even want to spend my money on it. That's saying a lot, since it's Star Wars. This was all until I went to go see Tropic Thunder and had a half an hour to kill. So what else do I do but sit in on Clone Wars? In that span of time I was convinced that it wasn't terrible, just kinda mediocre, and that I'd go see it.

Flash forward to the next day, me and a few friends go to the theater to catch a 5:30 showing of it. Previews lurch by slowly for about twenty minutes until we finally get to the classic intro screen. "A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away..." My friend Grant cracks, "This isn't Mama Mia!". We prepare for the text scroll...but it never comes. It is, instead, replaced by a TV-style "previously on Star Wars" type recap. A narrator basically reads what would have been the scroll. It's a little unexpected, as everything else in the Star Wars universe has the scroll. It doesn't really hurt the experience, though.

The movie powers on, and we are treated to ridiculous amounts of the Star Wars-style action we've all come to love, the mistakes we've become accustomed George Lucas making, a few bad voice acting jobs, an over-the-top and cheap-looking animation style and so on and so forth.

So, where do I start? I guess I'll get all of the negatives out of the way. Ahsoka. She's a terrible mistake for the series. She's like Anakin Mk II. I haven't seen a character so obnoxious and annoying since Hayden Christensen emoed up the screen a few years back. She's every bit a clone of him infused with Miley Cyrus' DNA. Her character is totally unnecessary and could've been left out, entirely. It's terrible to have the two of them on screen together. They both whine and don't listen to anyone...except that Anakin for some reason usually defaults to her ideas and they work. Way to train her, Darth Pushover. Another obnoxious part of their interactions that's completely unnecessary are the nicknames. "Sky Guy"? "Snips"? "STINKY"?! Please.

As for production values, the movie is lacking in quite a few areas. The animation style is barely acceptable, but the crappy textures and poor lip-synching are what really kill that aspect of the film. The absence of a score by John Williams also hurts a bit. The choice of voice actors to stand in for their big name counter-parts sounds right for a few lines, but when a full range of emotion is employed throughout the movie, they sound less and less like the stars they impersonate.

On the Hutt side of things, we've also got a few new characters of note. Jabba the Hutt's son, who I thought would be a great annoyance, didn't have a speaking role and just cried from time-to-time. Make sense, since it's a baby. The real note-worthy character here is the Truman Capote slug. Jabba's effeminate uncle, Zero the Hutt. He is utterly ridiculous. Me and my friends couldn't contain our laughter every time he spoke. After the movie, I researched it a bit, and found that it's actually in-line with Star Wars mythos. Hutts are hermaphrodites. They generally always take on male titles(hence uncle), but they either adopt masculine or feminine personalities. It makes sense, and, looking back, I probably wouldn't have enjoyed the movie nearly as much if he wasn't there. He makes you laugh. I think that was the intention, to have a character so patently ridiculous that you can't help but enjoy them.

So, now that I've got all the bad crap out of the way, I'll start defending the movie like the fanboy I am. I can understand a lot of the choices made for the movie. The "previously on Star Wars" segment, the poor production values, the no-name voice actors, etc. They're gearing up for a TV show. They want this to fit in seamlessly with the TV show. What better way to do that than to turn the movie into several episodes of a show? It actually works, too. While Clone Wars may not make for the best movie, if you think of it in terms of a show, it's actually pretty damned good.

So, it's not perfect. It's not even as good as the prequel trilogy. It's not terrible, though. If you go in with no expectations and you give it a little room to do its thing, then you might just enjoy yourself. If you go in with a GeorgeLucasiskillingmychildhood attitude, then you're going to hate it. Lighten up and enjoy it for what it is.

**Unrelated Rant**

That being said, George Lucas has no idea on how to continue the series. For some reason, he seems to think that all Star Wars is is the force and lightsabers. He couldn't be farther from the truth. Some of the best Star Wars stories don't even involve Jedi. Books like Tales from Jabba's Palace capture the Star Wars feel better than any of Lucas' recent attempts and the force isn't anywhere to be found in them. Dark Forces, the classic Star Wars game for the PC, was one of the better Star Wars games out there and started one of the best Star Wars game series without the help of the force(although, it found its way into later installments). The Star Wars Battlefront series is one of the best selling group of Star Wars games out there, and the Jedi and Sith play such a ridiculously small role in it that they aren't really even worth mentioning.

My point is, instead of focusing on the force and the Jedi and the Sith and the same battles and plotlines we've been seeing for years, Star Wars should be focused on something different. Something unknown to the franchise. Something that doesn't involve the Clone Wars. Maybe even the empire and the Republic could take a back seat for a while. Take it somewhere new. Or just focus on known characters that everyone loves that don't get nearly enough screen time. You've got Chewbacca and Boba Fett. How can you not harness the awesomeness of either of those two? Especially Boba Fett! In the immortal words of MC Chris, his back pack's got jetts. He's Boba the Fett. He bounty hunts for Jabba the Hutt to finance his 'Vette. How about let's do something cool with him, instead of turning him into an annoying fat kid and focusing on his dad.

Bad things are transported in threes

I've only seen the second Transporter movie, but I just didn't get it. It was bad, in my opinion. It was way over the top and it seemed like it was trying to do so seriously. On the other hand, you have movies like Shoot 'Em Up and Crank, which know what they are and play to that effect. That's the way I think it should be done.

Anyway, now that I'm through with my rant, I'll move on to my point. There's going to be a third Transporter movie. Peep the poster below.







My interpretation of the poster is that Jason Statham is about to pistol whip whoever decided there should be a third movie. Or maybe just the person who designed the poster.

Ropes of Silicon

Bruce Campbell talks Evil Dead 4/is awesome

Many fanboy dreams have been answered. Especially since he, personally, wants to do the movie right.

“Sam gets to hide behind the camera. I can’t. But I think he’s planning on factoring that in,” Campbell revealed. “As like a major factor. It’d be a major liability, you know Ash runs out of breath or his back goes out and [stuff] like that. I mean I just blew my hamstring fighting a stunt guy for ‘Burn Notice,’ the show that I’m doing now. So there’s a little bit of truth to all of that!”

...

“Nobody knows anything,” he said. “I mean if we were really smart [though], we’d go back to a handheld movie and shoot it in 16mm and find someplace in the middle of nowhere. And have a crew of 10 people. If we were smart.”

Two words. Cool.

MTV

McG says new Terminator title ties in to plot

Apparently, according to McG(the director of Terminator Salvation...and both Charlie's Angels movies), the title of the new Terminator film will actually pertain somewhat to the plot. This is contrary to what he did with Charlie's Angels: Full Throttle, which was just stupid. Man, he's such an innovator.

MTV

How to look funny & Be over confident

Simon Pegg is suddenly everywhere. I guess that's not a bad thing, since he's usually very funny. Now he's finally landing movies where he headlines with other famous celebrities. His new movie, How to Lose Friends & Alienate People, claims to be "The Most Hilarious Comedy of the Year." It doesn't look that funny. It does look pretty funny, though. Here's the trailer, you decide.



MTV

Box Office Breakdown

A movie finally beat the Dark Knight?! Can it be?

1. Tropic Thunder - $25.8 M

Well, it almost made as much as the Dark Knight made last weekend(its fourth in theaters), and beat it for the #1 spot this weekend. That says...something.

2. The Dark Knight - $16.4 M

It may not topple Titanic as the highest grossing film of all time, but it can sit comfortably in second place, this weekend and all time. Honestly, though, who's going to make the case that Titanic is a better, more enjoyable movie?

3. Star Wars: The Clone Wars - $14.6 M

A Star Wars movie debuting at under $15,000,000? A Star Wars movie that can't beat a movie that's been out for a MONTH?! I know, it's not exactly the Phantom Menace or anything(ouch), but word-of-mouth must have really killed this one before it even got off the ground.

4. Mirrors - $11.2 M

Kiefer Sutherland in a crappy horror movie apparently warrants fourth place in the box office. Who knew?

5. Pineapple Express - $9.81 M

Pineapple Express is, thankfully, still hanging in there for its second weekend.



Box office stats courtesy of the IMDb.

Tropic Thunder is a gold farmer

Chances are that if you've turned on a TV lately, you've either seen a preview for Tropic Thunder or heard about the controversy surrounding it. Chances are that if you're a normal person, you couldn't possibly care less about how many times the word "retard" is tossed around in the movie or how the mentally challenged are portrayed in movies. Chances are that if you see the movie, you will laugh. Hard.

From the moment the movie starts, you know you're in for a treat. It opens to a fake commercial for Booty Sweat and Bust a Nut, followed by 'previews' for Scorcher 6, Satan's Alley and the Fatties: Fart 2. The commentary couldn't be more fitting, since everyone in the theater just sat through twenty minutes of advertisements and previews.

That isn't the only satire the movie holds, though. All the characters are stereotypical actors. Ben Stiller plays Tugg Speedman, the action guy(think of him as Vin Diesel with hair). Robert Downey Jr. is Kirk Lazarus, the method actor(he's basically Russell Crowe playing Fred Williamson). Jack Black is Jeff Portnoy, the comedian(Eddie Murphy, only fat and white). Finally, Brandon T. Jackson plays Alpa Chino, the rapper turned actor with his own product lines(take your pick). They all play their parts pretty well. As offensively as possible, anyway. The only REAL acting job here is Robert Downey Jr.'s. He stays in character almost the entire movie. He's almost believable in his black face, save for the fact that he constantly spouts stereotypical lines. The rest of the cast is pretty good, as well. A lot of the laughs are built around the ridiculous amount of cameos in the movie.

The plot is fairly inventive. It's one of the more original stories that you'll see in Hollywood, these days. That's probably because it makes fun of the predictability of other movies. The dialogue is sharp and fun. It's also what makes the movie so offensive. Everyone gets lampooned in this movie: actors, Australians, directors, producers, rappers, the mentally challenged, etc.

You can clearly see where the budget of over one-hundred-million dollars went. Big name actors in lead roles and cameos, grandiose scale, lots of special effects, etc. It's the most epic comedy I've seen in a while, if not ever.

In the end, the movie is well worth seeing. Don't go in expecting the funniest or best comedy of the year. Go in expecting to get your dollar's worth, though. That is, of course, assuming you're not overly sensitive.

Coen Brothers cast 'Serious' leads for new film

Hot on the heels of their soon-to-be-released black comedy, Burn After Reading, the Coen Brothers have already announced yet another black comedy.

A Serious Man is a period black comedy set in 1967. The story centers on Larry Gopnik (Stuhlbarg), a Midwestern professor whose life begins to unravel when his wife sets out to leave him and his socially inept brother (Kind) won't move out of the house.

Sounds suspiciously like Step Brothers, but knowing the Coen Brothers, it should be worth watching. They've already cast the leads for the film, Richard Kind of Spin City and Michael Stauhlbarg.

Ropes of Silicon

Crowe to play funny man

Fans of comedy and Tool-alike might soon be rejoicing, as Russell Crowe may be starring in a biopic of comedian Bill Hicks. Details are kinda scare thus far, but Russell Crowe usually doesn't disappoint. I'm interested in seeing who gets attached to direct/etc. I'd be surprised if it wasn't Ridley Scott. The two seem to be attached at the hip, these days.

Empire Online

Fox just remembered it owns the rights to Watchmen

Yes, more Watchmen news already. Fox is suing Warner Brothers to prevent the release of Watchmen, because they claim to have bought the movie rights to the book in the 80's. This is extremely great timing for Fox. The movie was announced at least a year ago. The trailer came out a month ago. Fox finally thought, "Oh, wait. Don't we own that?". I hope this is just a case of Fox being out of its mind, because it would really suck if there was any validity to their claims.

IMDb/WENN

Kevin Smith Watches the Watchmen

In the most recent post on his MySpace blog, Kevin Smith vaguely talked about having seen Watchmen and the awesomeness that ensued.

I saw "Watchmen." It's ****ing astounding. The Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed prevents me from saying much, but I can spout the following with complete joygasmic enthusiasm: Snyder and Co. have pulled it off.

Remember that feeling of watching "Sin City" on the big screen and being blown away by what a faithful translation of the source material it was, in terms of both content and visuals? Triple that, and you'll come close to watching "Watchmen." Even Alan Moore might be surprised at how close the movie is to the book. March can't come soon enough.

Now, I know Kevin Smith isn't the most profound or thought-provoking director in the world, but, generally speaking, I tend to trust his opinion on movies. That being said, this excites the hell out of me. I think it should excite the hell out of you, too.

In case you don't know what Watchmen is, get educated. Reading the graphic novel is a good idea.

The Rundown(not the movie)

I figured my inaugural post should explain the basics of my blog, considering there's not many other places for me to talk about it at the moment. So here goes:

-In this blog, I will review movies and TV shows that I watch. Mostly, but not exclusively to, movies and TV shows on DVD.
-I have a ridiculous amount of DVDs, the three-at-a-time Netflix plan and I often go see movies in the theater. As such, there won't really be any sort of rhyme or reason to the specific movies or shows I review and the amount of reviews.
-I will also post news/videos/pictures relating to movies and TV shows that I find interesting/important.

My attention span is running thin, so anything else that needs to be said will be addressed in subsequent entries. So for now, my currently non-existent readership, enjoy all of the zero other entries containing interesting news and reviews that I currenly have posted.