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Today shall go down as Super Bowl TV spot Saturday. Earlier we had a look at some prehistoric family entertainment with the Super Bowl spot for Land of the Lost. Here we are with the first glimpse at this year's other prehistoric comedy, Year One. The spot doesn't function so much as a trailer, but rather an extended clip introducing us into Jack Black and Michael Cera's characters and well as introducing us to Paul Rudd and David Cross as the biblical brother duo Cain and Abel. Written by Egon Spengler himself Harold Ramis (also directing), as well as writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupinsky (from NBC's The Office) the film is very reminiscent of Monty Python and the Holy Grail with its tongue-in-cheek presentation of events in pre-history and the Bible. This one looks like a lot of fun, and similar to Monty Python, will probably function more like a series of sketches connected by Cera and Black's journeying through the year one and meeting curious characters along the way.
In the Beginning There Was the Trailer for 'Year One'
Will Ferrell in 'Land of the Lost' Super Bowl TV Spot
Another Super Bowl TV spot hit the net today, and it's definitely better than the G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra spot we posted earlier. Land of the Lost is the feature film adaptation of the classic television series from the 70's of the same name (also later re-tooled for Nickelodeon in the early 90's).
The film follows "a disgraced paleontologist, his assistant and a macho tour guide who find themselves in a strange world inhabited by dinosaurs, monkey people and reptilian Sleestaks." Will Ferrell fills the role of paleontologist Rick Marshall, Anna Friel (from ABC's Pushing Daisies) as his assistant Holly, and Danny McBride as tour guide Will Stanton as the three are lost in a time warp taking them way back to the time of dinosaurs. The trailer feels like the recent Journey to the Center of the Earth adaptation, but with some real comedy, and infinitely better (though not spectacular) special effects. Ferrell and McBride's involvement really give me faith for this dip into classic television nostalgia to work if anything at least along the lines of Night at the Museum. We've embedded the trailer below for your enjoyment. Will you check it out this summer?
'G.I. Joe' Super Bowl TV Spot is Like Socks at Christmas
Today the official Superbowl Sunday TV spot for G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra hit the nets exclusively at ComingSoon.net. Yesterday 10 seconds of this footage hit the net, and there was a bit of excitement about how it looked. Honestly, I think that this spot is an awful introduction for what seems to be the beginning of a potential franchise. It looks way too similar to Transformers in action and style (seriously that slow-motion, flipping around in the street shot is lifted straight from it), and while I'm sure they're trying to duplicate the unprecedented success of turning a toy into a movie, I'm unimpressed. The video is embedded below but if you want to see the spot in glorious Quicktime HD head on over to ComingSoon.net for the links. Does this get you guys excited at all?
Now we have teaser poster for the forthcoming superhero blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine. While the poster itself is cool, it's not necessarily amazing. It's not really anymore exciting or creative than the fan-made teaser that came out over a year ago. Really I think this is just a re-tread of the teaser poster for X-Men: The Last Stand, but this one shows a little more skin. Anyway, it's a start on the long trail of marketing ahead. If you missed it, check out the trailer we posted a little while back.
FanToys: Camera Gun (for SHOOTING a Film, Huzzah!)
Cinematical posted this earlier today, and I just couldn't pass if up for our FanToys segment. Here is a genuine film camera with a twist. More specifically it's a Paillard Bolex H8 Military Gun outfit. This apparently has some sort of relation to a reporter who was working in Vietnam, and no one is sure whether or not it was used during the war for correspondents. But if you've got a good chunk of cash, this could be yours. Currently on sale on eBay, this listing is set at a Buy It Now price of $1,318. So for those of you who have deep enough pockets and a deep enough love for film paraphernalia this is definitely something unique and pretty bad ass. Brings an all new meaning to shooting a movie. That's right, I made the joke twice.
FanToys is a regular column dedicated to bringing you the best of the best collectibles, clothing, toys, and all around goodies that have anything and everything to do with the big and small screen. There's plenty of junk out there, but our job is to tell you about the junk that you really NEED!
Here we have the final poster for Zack Snyder's Watchmen. While the trailers and other posters have all been fantastic, this one seems too conventional to be completely cool. The imagery is good, but when you look at the other posters, this one just doesn't completely measure up. Either way, I'm already sold on seeing this when it comes out March 6.
At the end of the week, Liam Neeson is going to be kicking some ass. I'm not talking Qui-Gon Jinn slicing up some robots, but really going to town on some criminals. Taken follows a man who has "a very particular set of skills...skills that make him a nightmare..." for the people who have kidnapped his daughter.
There's a lot of buzz around this picture, and some people are even comparing Liam Nesson's performance in action to that of Matt Damon (check that link, trust me) in The Bourne Trilogy. That's really saying something considering Neeson has almost 18 years on Damon.
The first trailer for this movie really surprised me with its sort of twist if you will (if you haven't seen it, you'll see what I'm talking about in the trailer below). This movie will definitely be a breath of fresh air in the hellish empty void of the movie season that is January through April. It's also fresh in the sense that the last time something I liked involved a kidnapping, all it led to was the character who lost their kid running through the jungle yelling for him and reminding everybody that the kid was taken ("WAAAAAAAAALT!" I'm looking at you Michael from LOST). Anyway, if you've seen the theatrical trailer, then this isn't a huge departure from that one. There's some better music in my opinion, and some more intense action cuts. What do you guys think?
The 'Coraline' Trailer Henry Selick Wants You to See
A few days a go, we gave you a look at John Newbery Medal recipient Neil Gaiman's favorite trailer for the film adaptation of his book of the same name, Coraline. Well today, we also have word that director Henry Selick has a favorite trailer of his own (at least according to Ain't It Cool). Much like Gaiman's choice for the trailer, this one gives you a much better feeling for the film, and it's much darker and creepier in comparison to the theatrically released trailers. While the movie is based on a book intended for kids ages 9-12, I'm sure there's going to be some scared little kiddies out there. Those button eyes even freak me out and I'm almost 23 years old, but then again I'm scared of snow (not really, just kidding, but seriously it's awful). Anyway, check out Selick's favorite trailer for Coraline below. This one is going to be worth checking out if only for the fact that it will be available in 3D at some venues.
When I'm watching a true story put to film, I always find it intriguing what is real, what's been pumped up a little bit for the purposes of attempting to making a good film, and what's complete crap.
That thought kept running through my mind during Frost/Nixon, the Ron Howard film that chronicles the struggle that David Frost (Michael Sheen) and his team went through to interview Richard Nixon (Frank Langella) after his presidency had ended in the ashes of the Watergate scandal.
The flick is nominated for four Oscars, including Langella for Best Actor, Howard for Best Director, Peter Morgan for adapting his original Broadway play for the screen, and Best Picture. Sam Rockwell and Oliver Platt join Sheen as the team that tries to put Nixon away with words and debate and, in the words of Rockwell's character, "give Richard Nixon the trial he never had." On the opposite side, they have the foreboding Nixon, played pitch-perfectly by Langella and Kevin Bacon as Nixon's right hand man and protector, both physically and emotionally.
The film approaches the events in a talking heads/flashback form, something that lends itself better to the stage, but still works on screen. It starts about a month before the interview and spends the rest of the film giving a blow-by-blow of the out-of-his-league British journalist and the disgraced, evil politician.
This film is, without a doubt, right in my wheelhouse. I think, when they wrote the script, under the title was a little dedication, "For Phil" because it was meant for me: A political plot, mixed with journalism, an underdog story and several deep discussions on the way words can be used to get a point across...all partially/mostly true. Frost/Nixon takes what might be a boring concept to some and turns it into the ultimate competition, with everything on the line for both people involved.
Langella has gotten the most attention for his portrayal of Nixon, which isn't an impersonation but more of an amalgamation of parts of Nixon: his mannerisms, parts of his looks, and, for the most part, his larger-than-life personality. It's easy to say, and probably true, that without Langella, Frost/Nixon isn't the exciting/inspiring piece of film it turns out to be.
But, really the shining light of this film for me was Sam Rockwell. How does this guy NOT get more work?! He's a chameleon. He can take any role he's given and knock it out of the park, which is exactly what he does here. Every scene he's in, including talking head moments where he's talking about the past, is completely engrossing and exciting.
Frost/Nixon isn't an essential to see in the theater, but it's definitely a must-see, if not for the amazing performances and quick moving, inspiring script.
Honestly, I only fully enjoyed half of the Grindhouse double feature. Death Proof was just too much setup for too little payoff while Planet Terror delivered everything I wanted from a grindhouse picutre revival. But my most favorite part of the entire double feature experience was the plethora of fake trailers made just for Grindhouse. Now it seems that one particular trailer is getting not only one feature film treatment, but an entire trilogy.
Machete was the story of a double crossed hit man looking for vengeance on those who set him up to take the fall for the assassination of a government official. Now it looks like Dimension Films is working fast to expand Machete into three feature length films, but here's the catch, they will apparently all be straight to DVD. All of this information comes straight from Machete himself, Danny Trejo, who also confirmed that Robert Rodriguez would definitely be directing. Thanks to BloodyDisgusting for getting this information out of Trejo.
This was definitely one of my favorite trailers from all the faux previews on Grindhouse and while I think one feature film would be fun, I think that a trilogy might be pushing it. We'll see if Robert Rodriguez really comes through. For your viewing pleasure we have embedded the faux trailer for Machete below. Content is NSFW (brief nudity and language).
Poster Premiere: G.I. Joe (Knowing is Half the Battle)
Here we have one of six new character posters released for this summers attempt at bringing another toy franchise to the big screen. G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra doesn't hit theaters until August 7, but there's already an onslaught of marketing trying to get some hype for the film.
If all Paramount has in its pocket right now are these lame, unnecessarily torso heavy character posters then things aren't looking to promising. While it might've seemed like an interesting idea on paper, why the hell do we need to cut off half their heads? And what's with the faux X-Men/Batman suits and armor? I think it's safe to say many film-goers are going to be saying "No, Joe!" Above is the poster for the character Scarlett. If you'd like to see the other six character posters head on over here but unfortunately they don't get any better. I'd just as soon have Paramount make a film out of these re-edited G.I. Joe cartoons. Is anyone excited or remotely interested in this flick?
Greg Grunberg is known as the mind reading cop Matt Parkman on NBC's Heroes. But on the interwebs, Grunberg uses the micro-blogging service Twitter to hear the collective thoughts of his fans and give updates on all the Hollywood happenings in his life. But every now and then "Grunny" just goes the extra mile and uses the internet for what it's meant for...pure wackiness.
And so, this installment of Quick Flicks comes straight from the official Twitter of Greg Grunberg. The clip that follows is from a series on the Starz channel called Head Case. The series follows therapist Dr. Elizabeth Goode as she tries to help celebrities from movies, television, sports and music. After seeing this clip with Grunberg, I definitely want to check out the series. Luckily the entire first season is available on Netflix Instant Viewing, and if anyone has the means I recommend checking it out. In the meantime check out "Grunny" saying some stuff you wouldn't normally expect, and I sincerely hope he does more comedy like this in the future. Be aware that some language is not safe for work (NSFW) or children.
Over the weekend we snagged a story from Drew McWeeny over at HitFix regarding some negative talk at Sundance about Seth Rogen's upcoming adaptation of Green Hornet getting off the ground. Apparently Seth Rogen wasn't too happy with these reports, and he got in contact with Drew via e-mail to settle the score.
I'm betting Rogen was pissed and maybe even laid into Drew a bit since the only excerpt from this e-mail used is in regards to all the people who are hard at work on Green Hornet and I'm sure that this created a stir among the production team as to whether or not they were going to have jobs. In the e-mail Rogen comments:
"'The Green Hornet' has many people working for it, including production designers, costume designers and many conceptual artists, office staff, etc. [The studio heads] have every intention on making it, and assuming we're able to hire a new director in the upcoming weeks, which seems like a distinct possibility, it should still hit the release date."Well I'm glad Seth was nice enough to keep everyone in the loop, and it's good to hear that we'll at least get a chance to see how this project turns out. Other good news includes a report over at Ain't It Cool (ironically enough the former stomping grounds of Drew McWeeny aka Moriarity) that while Stephen Chow is no longer directing he is definitely still in for portraying the Hornet's faithful sidekick Kato. Stay tuned for any further developments as they come along. Labels: Green Hornet, Seth Rogen, Stephen Chow
After over a week of non-stop updates and news straight out of Park City, Utah, the 2009 Sundance Film Festival has finally concluded. After jealously pouring over Twitter updates from other film bloggers, it looks like the news and conversation flow may finally be getting back to normal. Having said that, I couldn't go without calling some attention to the films that garnered some buzz or simply caught my attention. Without actually being at the fest, we can only speculate as to how good these films might be or read reviews from our fellow film bloggers who you can see linked at the left.
Below are 13 films that I'm most curious to check out in the coming months. But who knows how long before these films get a wider audience. We only recently premiered the poster and trailer for The Great Buck Howard a film that premiered at last year's Sundance. Some other films of note that we're interested in (that we've already covered) include 500 Days of Summer and Mary and Max. Anyway, check out the list below...Plot synopses provided courtesy of Netflix.
Big Fan
Parking attendant and New York Giants fanatic Paul Aufiero (Patton Oswalt) must reexamine his life after he's beaten up by his favorite player in this comedy written and directed by Robert D. Siegel, a former editor-in-chief of "fake news" paper The Onion. Also starring Kevin Corrigan as Sal, Michael Rapaport as Philadelphia Phil and Marcia Jean Kurtz as Theresa, the film was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Brief Interviews with Hideous Men
Grad student Sara Quinn (Julianne Nicholson) is perplexed by her endless string of romantic failures. Combining work on an anthropological dissertation with her quest for personal answers, Sara embarks on a series of interviews with many different types of men, whose confessions range from banal to bizarre. Writer-director John Krasinski's romantic comedy is based on a collection of short stories from author David Foster Wallace.
Cold Souls
Paul Giamatti stars as himself, an actor in the throes of anxiety over an upcoming performance -- until he gives his soul to a mysterious company that promises to freeze and store it until he wants it again, along with his anxieties. But when his soul goes missing, Giamatti embarks on a journey to track it down. Along the way he learns a thing or two about engaging every human emotion, however difficult. Sophie Barthes directs.
Humpday
During a getaway at a sex-positive commune, best pals Andrew (Joshua Leonard) and Ben (Mark Duplass) find their friendship tested in strange new ways when a dare leads them to contemplate filming a live sex scene for an amateur porn festival. As the shoot date looms, our heroes must contend with two major logistical difficulties: Ben's wife, Anna (Alycia Delmore); and their heterosexuality. The indie comedy screened at the Sundance Film Festival.
It Might Get Loud
Davis Guggenheim, creator of the Oscar-winning An Inconvenient Truth, directs this fascinating profile of three contemporary guitarists: Jimmy Paige of Led Zeppelin, U2's The Edge and Jack White of the White Stripes. Each talks about their creative process, technique and influences as cameras follow them to key locations in their own music history. A jam session featuring all three musicians is woven into their discussions.
Lymelife
Set in 1970s suburbia, this coming-of-age tale revolves around the exploits of a pair of Long Island families grappling with complex relationships, financial woes and an outbreak of lyme disease that's "terrorizing" their community. Brothers Derick Martini and Steven Martini helmed this quirky dramedy that features a stellar cast, including Alec Baldwin, Rory Culkin, Kieran Culkin, and Cynthia Nixon.
Mystery Team
At age 7, pint-sized sleuths Jason, Duncan and Charlie solved all manner of kiddie mysteries in Oakdale. Now, at 18, the Mystery Team is about to leave their Encyclopedia Brown-style tactics in the dust with their latest case: a real murder. High jinks ensue in this goofy, fast-paced caper comedy written by and starring Donald Glover, D.C. Pierson and Dominic Dierkes. The film premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.
Rudo y Cursi
Stuck working on a banana ranch, two super competitive soccer-playing brothers dream of getting off the farm and finding stardom: Beto (Diego Luna) as a pro goalie and Toto (Gael García Bernal) as a singer -- but it might break them. When a professional soccer team ignores Beto's goalie skills in favor of Toto's fancy footwork, Beto signs on to a rival team, and the battle between brothers is on. Carlos Cuarón brother of Alfonso Cuarón directs this comedy.
Shrink
In the wake of a personal tragedy, Hollywood's psychiatrist to the stars (Kevin Spacey) devolves into a slovenly pothead and worries he's become incapable of helping his patients in this sharp indie drama that premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. The film also stars Saffron Burrows, Robin Williams, Robert Loggia, Dallas Roberts, and others as the shrink's diverse brood of showbiz clientele.
World's Greatest Dad
After his son (Daryl Sabara) dies in an awkward freak accident, high school poetry teacher Lance (Robin Williams) ghostwrites a suicide note to spare the family embarrassment. But when the note becomes an unexpected hit, Lance sees a chance to resurrect his writing career. In a bid for literary fame, Lance writes his son's journal and passes it off as his own. Written and directed by Bob Goldthwait.
I Love You Phillip Morris
When upstanding Texas cop Steven Russell (Jim Carrey) realizes he's gay, he changes his entire life and pulls a series of bold con jobs that lands him jail -- where he meets his one true love, cellmate Phillip Morris (Ewan McGregor). When Morris is transferred to another prison, lovesick Russell mounts a series of jailbreaks just to be with his beloved soul mate. Glenn Ficarra directs this comedy based on a true story.
Adventureland
Unable to afford the European vacation he'd dreamed of, recent college grad James Brennan (Jesse Eisenberg) reluctantly takes a gig at a local amusement park, only to learn that the dead-end job is, in fact, excellent preparation for the real world. Writer-director Greg Mottola's semi-autobiographical comedy-drama, filmed in Pittsburgh's Kennywood Park, also stars Ryan Reynolds and Kristen Stewart.
Grace
When an accident takes the life of the unborn, 8-month-old fetus inside her, Madeline Matheson (Jordan Ladd) insists on delivering the stillborn child -- only to discover that the baby is alive and heinously hungry. Before long, voracious baby Grace spurns milk and forces Madeline to slake her insatiable appetite for blood. Paul Solet directs this masterful horror movie, while Gabrielle Rose and Stephen Park co-star.
Which Sundance Films are you looking forward to?
Spielberg/Jackson's 'Tintin' Announces Cast and Title
An official press release announced yesterday that principal photography began on Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's collaboration on bringing the classic comic character Tintin to the big screen. Along with the announcement of production commencing, the project was also given an official title and confirmed cast.
The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn is a 3-D motion-capture film being directed by Steven Spielberg utilizing state-of-the-art technology from Peter Jackson's WETA Digital. Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead), Joe Cornish and Steven Moffat (Doctor Who, Coupling) are credited with writing the screenplay. This project has been in development for some time now tracing all the way back to Spielberg's first hearing of the comic series just after someone had compared Raiders of the Lost Ark to the adventures of Tintin and a history of its development has been traced by UK's Sunday Times. The comic focuses on the adventures of a young Belgian reporter in pursuit of a great story.
Taking on the role of this intrepid reporter is rising star Jamie Bell who was most recently seen in Defiance and is better known for his portrayal of the title role in Billy Elliot. Also recently unannounced is the involvement of 007 himself, Daniel Craig, as the character Red Rackham. Toby Jones (Infamous) is also on board in a still unknown role. Today's press release also confirmed the previously rumored casting of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost as Thomson and Thompson and motion capture legend Andy Serkis as Captain Haddock.
While I don't have any sort of nostaligia connected to Tintin I still vaguely remember the animated series of the comic strip being on Nickelodeon. What's got me most excited about this film now is seeing Spielberg tackle a motion-capture film with Peter Jackson (who will actually be directing the second in a planned trilogy of Tintin's adventures). Two of my favorite directors combined with the writing talents of Edgar Wright and Steven Moffat and a great cast make this a must-see for me when this one gets released in 2011. I just don't know if audiences are going to clamor to see a character who hasn't had any sort of mainstream exposure since the early 90's. Spileberg and Jackson's involvement is a big boost, but time will tell and a trailer will surely make or break the hype machine. If you'd like to read the whole press release, head on over to ComingSoon.net.
Isn't weird how a headline like that doesn't garner any sort of concern for George Clooney? Everyone just assumes that he's healthy and doesn't have to go to the emergency room AGAIN for medical attention. Bet you'd feel pretty stupid if George Clooney had to go to the hospital wouldn't you...STUPID!
Well, luckily for Clooney that's not the case. The photo to the right is simply confirmation from Starz Life of his return to the very show that made him the household name he is today. For the fifteenth and final season of ER there have been plenty of reports of former cast members returning to the show for one last hurrah (dead or not). While there has definitely been rumor after rumor about Clooney's potential return, these photographs prove to be some welcomed nostalgia for longtime fans of both Clooney and ER. No word on the exact date of his appearances but they will definitely be towards the end of the season.
I've never watched ER, but that's not because I don't enjoy it. The show started back when I (or for that matter anybody) didn't have a DVR or any sort of loyalty to remembering when a TV show was airing. Either way I always love seeing an actor return to his roots and pay homage to where it all started. Even for people who aren't fans, is Clooney's appearance enough to get you to watch?
Today we have another Sundance trailer making its way across the interwebs. This one is for a stop-motion animation film, which doesn't usually grab a lot of attention at the fest, or at least enough to make waves outside of the festival itself.
Mary and Max features the voices of Toni Collette as Mary and Philip Seymour Hoffman as Max. The plot synopsis from IMDB: It is a simple tale of pen-friendship between two very different people; Mary Dinkle, a chubby lonely eight year old girl living in the suburbs of Melbourne, and Max Horovitz, a 44 year old, severely obese, Jewish man with Aspergers Syndrome living in the chaos of New York. Spanning 20 years and 2 continents, Mary and Max's friendship survives much more than the average diet of life's ups and downs. Like Harvie Krumpet, Mary and Max is innocent but not naïve, as it takes us on a journey that explores friendship, autism, taxidermy, psychiatry, alcoholism, where babies come from, obesity, kleptomania, sexual difference, trust, copulating dogs, religious difference, agoraphobia and much much more."
With this description Mary and Max feels like it could be similar to the upcoming Pixar film Up regarding its relationship between the young and old characters, but sans the Disney whimsy. I'm automatically interested in anything Philip Seymour Hoffman does, and this looks quirky enough to be something different for the animation genre. Trailer is embedded below courtesy of Collider
Economic Crisis Might Kill Nick Fury for 'Iron Man 2'
Probably one of the most exciting moments of this summer's blockbuster season was seeing Marvel set up for the impending superhero team flick The Avengers with a bumper introducing Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man. Even cooler was Marvel's choice to begin to create their own cinematic Marvel universe by having Robert Downey, Jr. make a cameo as Tony Stark in The Incredible Hulk. But now it appears the coolness factor of this little venture might be in a bit of a spot.
IGN sat down with Sam Jackson himself and asked him about the rumors circulating that Marvel may not be able to afford to have him aboard:
This is not good news for Marvel or fans of the upcoming potential franchise. While some might think that it's not necessary to have Jackson keep the role for this to work, this predicament is just as annoying as when Marvel switched out the already established Terrence Howard (Rhodey from Iron Man who later becomes the character War Machine in the comics) for Don Cheadle. Not that I don't like Don Cheadle, but casting changes like this for what is to become a franchise is just frustrating.
I can't say that Marvel is being stingy with their money, especially because we don't know how much Jackson is supposed to get paid for portraying Nick Fury (I would hope that he'd be willing to take a pay cut to participate in something like this, especially since the man makes about 5 films a year). However, Marvel's negotiating tactics don't seem to great considering their first offer to Mickey Rourke as a potential villain in the sequel to Iron Man is a lowball figure. Anyway, I really would like to see this all successfully come together, and hope that Marvel and the negotiating talent can come to some sort of arrangement. What do you guys think about this debacle?