Pity the poor woman competing with Monica Bellucci for a man’s heart. That’s Giulia’s (Laura Morante) predicament in this Italian drama from Pursuit Of Happyness director Gabriele Muccino. Hubby Carlo (Fabrizio Bentivoglio) is a frustrated novelist having it away with old flame Bellucci while his wife, anarcho-crusty son and jailbait daughter deal with their own romantic crises. Remember Me entertains with its screaming rows and OTT dialogue (“We have castrated each other!”); if only marriage breakdown was as fun in non-Latin countries… Extras include deleted scenes.
It’s Halloween, so the moon is clouding over, and Clip joint has assumed a sickly-green pallor as we round up our chosen excerpts of the undead.
Despite their reputation for causing mayhem all year round, the denizens of the night are actually a rigidly organised bunch, with a fully fledged hierachical class system, probably some kind of pension payment scheme and their own lawn-green bowling association too. There are aristocratic vampires on top, with the chattering classes - mostly ghosts - propping them up, then the loveable decomposing footsoldiers - zombies - at the bottom. So which are your favourites?
1) Let’s start with an easy one - who is the best Dracula? Maybe you have to go with the one you grew up with - in my case, Gary Oldman’s Transylvanian. Dark, suave, with sumptuous long tresses, an inquenchable romantic longing and an ability to induce bad acting in almost anyone around him, he’s the Mills & Boon of Draculas. But, of course, there’s always The Count.
2) Not all vampires are born with a bloody spoon in their mouths, of course. The neck-biting fraternity are a marketing man’s dream these days - rebellious individualists who seem to have filled out the long stretches of eternity by watching too many Marlon Brando movies. Near Dark’s redneck band of vampires is very much in this, er, vein.
3) Right: ghosts. No shortage of phantoms to choose from down the pictures, whether they be friendly, Japanese, or - true horror - Patrick Swayze with a penchant for phallic pottery. But I’m going to plump for Boris Karloff in The Ghoul, mostly because I want someone to explain to me the distinction between a ghost and a ghoul.
4) You’ve been dead for an eon. You’re a festering, dessicated cadaver and no one fancies you. You’re lonely, so what do you do? How about getting a pet? A werewolf, maybe - but be sure to keep them on a short liche (sorry).
5) Gordon Brown, take note - zombies have definitely been a growth industry in the last five years, for some reason more fondly remembered in the retro pantheon than other night-dwellers (are vampires fundamentally too 80s, too aspirational, too cheesy?). Zombies, thanks to sheer lack of self-awareness and any discriminatory powers, are the real masters of adapting to new times - witness the famous shark attack in Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters.
Thanks for shouting the odd word of encouragement as Clip Joint took its little turn on the catwalk last week. Here are your own directional fashion tips:
1) George Harrison adds weight to the idea of the fashion industry as one big conspiracy, or consensual hallucination, in Hard Day’s Night, a notion at least as old as the Emperor’s New Clothes.
2) “Red is dead, blue is through, green’s obscene and brown’s taboo.” Kay Thompson sets the mould for the imperious magazine editor on film in Funny Face, as she dictates this season’s colour.
3) A bare-chested Clark Gable in 1934’s It Happened One Night was, it is said, a dark day for the American vest industry.
4) Plenty of sartorial crimes in The Fifth Element, courtesy of Jean-Paul Gaultier. Bruce Willis’s blonde crop and mandarin vest are straight out the designer’s own wardrobe, wethinks.
5) Brigitte Bardot’s animal-loving stance obviously came later in life: she’s wearing an ocelot coat, according to the song Stanislas.
I’m not sure how many actors need to turn down roles in the upcoming Justice League of America movie before they just to tuck their movie production tail between their legs and run away. Man, they’ve got to be close. Jessica Biel’s turned down Wonder Woman, and they’re really having a heck of a time finding interested actors. MTV now reports that Stomp the Yard’s Columbus Short, who has got This Christmas and Whiteout on the way, is among those who have turned down the chance.
The actor told the site he was up for the movie, having been approached to take on John Stewart/The Green Lantern. But he didn’t refuse out of comic disgust. Short says: “Justice League is going to be dope; it’s going to be huge. But it’s not the movie for me.” While he used to be set on becoming the first really big African-American feature film superhero, now he says: “I think there comes a point in an actor’s career when he decides what type of actor you want to be. [Each actor] decides: I want to do commercial movies, but do I want to go this way? Or do I want to go that way?” Apparently, he didn’t want to don tights and take that route.
The cynic in me wonders if he’s just being nice, and would be interested in the role, or a similar superhero role, if it wasn’t such a rush-job movie. Whatever the case, he’s out, and JLA is back to square one. Will anyone want to be in this thing? Is this a lost cause?
Tags: Columbus Short, ColumbusShort, jla, Justice League of America, JusticeLeagueOfAmerica, superhero casting, SuperheroCasting, The Green Lantern, TheGreenLantern
Jessica Barnes Filed under: Comedy, Drama, Universal, Movie Marketing, Posters
ComingSoon now has the exclusive first look at the teaser poster for Charlie Wilson’s War(click on the image to the right for a larger version). War stars Tom Hanks as the ‘unconventional’ congressman Charlie Wilson, who with the help of a Texas socialite and a rogue CIA agent managed to organize a “covert war” in Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion. Hanks is joined by Julia Roberts as the socialite Joanne Herring and Philip Seymour Hoffman as CIA agent, Gust Avrakotos.
Wilson’s good-time-guy image was only one aspect of his personality and more importantly he considered himself a staunch patriot with a clear sense of right and wrong. Wilson was once quoted as saying ‘”The US had nothing whatsoever to do with these people’s decision to fight…But we’ll be damned by history if we let them fight with stones.” Charlie Wilson’s War is based on the book, Charlie Wilson’s War: The Extraordinary Story of the Largest Covert Operation in History by George Crill III — I guess for the sake of billboard space they decided to shorten the title just a little.
The trailer for the film was just released a few weeks ago, and I think most of us were a little ‘underwhelmed’ by the whole thing. It’s a solid cast, and it does have Oscar written all over it, but for such a fascinating story I guess I was just expecting a little more ‘oomph’ in the preview. Although for those of you out there worried that this is just another boring political drama, don’t worry, the trailer works in a few genuine laughs — but that could just be me. Much like the trailer, the poster for the flick isn’t going to blow you away but it gets the job done — mainly reminding you that there are three Oscar winners in the film. Considering you have mega-stars like Roberts and Hanks in the cast, it’s a pleasant surprise that Hoffman made it on the poster at all. Charlie Wilson’s War is scheduled for release on Christmas Day.
Tags: Charlie Wilson’s War, CharlieWilson’sWar, Julia Roberts, JuliaRoberts, Mike Nichols, MikeNichols, Phillip Seymour Hoffman, PhillipSeymourHoffman, poster, Tom Hanks, TomHanks, trailer
The man who made one lone bandaid look like the most badass thing around is going to take on an infamous heavyweight role. The Hollywood Reporter has Phantom Punch. Writer/actor/director Ryan Combs wrote the screenplay, and the film is being directed by Robert Townsend (writer, director, and star of The Meteor Man). The film will cover Liston’s success as a boxer, and include that “phantom punch” that brought him down.
Townsend says: “The thing is that certain people are born to play certain roles and Ving has always gravitated toward Sonny Liston’s story. This is his baby, and he’s giving birth to it. He’s already playing the character at so many levels.” Liston’s the guy who went up against Cassius Clay/Mohammed Ali and was brought down by the infamous “phantom punch,” which was then immortalized on a Sports Illustrated cover. That’s really got to suck for a man who won by knock out 39 of his 54 fights, and only lost 4. Instead of being most remembered for that, he’s the guy who snoozed in the ring. But boxing isn’t all that Rhames will have to take on. Before getting in the ring, Liston’s predilection towards fighting got him sent to prison twice, and there’s also ties to the mob to deal with. Production began this week in Toronto, and is scheduled to wrap in the beginning of December.
Tags: Phantom Punch, PhantomPunch, Robert Townsend, RobertTownsend, Ryan Combs, RyanCombs, Sonny Liston, SonnyListon, Ving Rhames, VingRhames
Surprise, surprise! We will be getting to choose what sort of semi-true Philip K. Dick production we want to check out. As I told you earlier this month, Taryn Manning and Bill Pullman have already shot Your Name Here, a part biography/part creative embellishment about the author. Now, according to The Hollywood Reporter, we’ve got another one gearing up — the adaptation of Dick’s semi-autobiographical novel, Radio Free Albernuth, which began filming this month. The pic will be the feature directorial debut for The Getaway producer John Alan Simon, who also wrote the screenplay.
The Ironic lady herself, Alanis Morissette has signed on to co-star with Jonathan Scarfe (The Poet), Shea Whigham (All the Real Girls), Katheryn Winnick (Failure to Launch), and Hanna Hall (Halloween). Alanis is playing Sylvia, “a woman who shows up in the vision of a record label executive named Nick (Scarfe) as a glamorous singer.” But there’s a twist — she’s actually “an ordinary woman in unexpected remission from lymphoma who, after appearing in Nick’s visions, gets a job as his secretary.” Through shared visions and spirituality, they become soul mates. Basically, the typical, funky Alanis fare. I mean, she has been the top holy dog, after all. Morissette says: “I am a big fan of Philip K. Dick’s poetic and expansively imaginative books. I feel blessed to portray Sylvia, and to be part of this story being told in film.”
It’ll definitely be an interesting addition to her repertoire. She got famous getting slimed on You Can’t Do That on Television, then uber-famous for her music (the second round, not the super pop stuff), from there, Kevin Smith made her God, she smooched Sarah Jessica Parker on Sex and the City, did a few more movie and TV stints, and most recently, appears in Jeff Goldblum’s mockumentary, Pittsburgh. Maybe one of these days she’ll combine the music and spirituality and play some sort of traveling Christian musician. But for now, she’s just going to have visions.
Tags: Alanis Morissette, AlanisMorissette, Hanna Hall, HannaHall, John Alan Simon, JohnAlanSimon, Jonathan Scarfe, JonathanScarfe, Katheryn Winnick, KatherynWinnick, Philip K. Dick, PhilipK.Dick, Radio Free Albernuth, RadioFreeAlbernuth, Shea Whigham, SheaWhigham
Erik Davis Filed under: Action & Adventure, Casting, RumorMonger, Fandom, George Clooney, War
And now I present you with the giganto rumor of the day; one I’m not so sure I believe, but why not let you readers decide how legit this may or may not be. IESB is reporting that they’ve heard through one of their top secret sources that George Clooney has been offered the role of Duke in the upcoming live-action G.I. Joe movie. You might recall that folks were originally targeting Mark Wahlberg for this role, but that casting fell through. Now, it appears, Clooney’s name has popped up for whatever reason. For those of you up to date on all things Clooney, you might be wondering why he would take on this role if he just opted out of Joe Carnahan’s White Jazz because of hectic scheduling concerns. And considering Jazz was tapped to begin its production around the same time G.I. Joe was set to go, wouldn’t Clooney still be too busy to film it?
Well, and here’s where you’ll need to take a giant leap, IESB claims Clooney turned down Jazz because he’s itching to star in a big blockbuster. But is he? Really? IESB is still waiting to hear back from Clooney’s reps, who will most certainly deny this whole thing (because that’s what reps do), but even if he was offered the role (which might be true –why wouldn’t you go after the big guns first?), I really can’t see Clooney taking it. Personally, his schedule is packed. Not only is he finishing up the Coen Bros. new movie, but his latest directorial effort, Leatherheads, was pushed back to the spring because Clooney still had more work to do on it. I can’t see him taking on a role that films this winter when he needs that time to complete and promote Leatherheads. Regardless of this whole thing, it will be interesting to see how casting unfolds for G.I. Joe, as they’ll most likely target some top A-list actors for their main roles. Clooney, Wahlberg, who’s next … Ice Cube? (Shouldn’t take you long to pick up that reference ….)
Tags: cinematical, duke, g.i. joe, G.i.Joe, george clooney, ice cube, joe carnahan, leatherheads, mark wahlberg, white jazz
In “Crank 2,” Chelios faces a Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a battery-powered ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep working.
I really enjoyed Crank. Sure it was a bit dumb but it was one of the funnest movies I’ve seen in a long time. Since reading this I have been trying to decide whether to shake my head or to laugh out loud. There really is no other way to keep both the story and Chev Chelios running. Yes, it is very dumb but hopefully they manage to keep the same pace of the first one without it becoming too stupid. I’ll definitely give it the benefit of the doubt based on the first one and if it does suck I can always go back to the time when Chelios just needed adrenaline to stay alive.
There was a comment posted at the end of my blog last week from Danny K, who talked about the plain, face-in-the-crowd ordinariness of actor Paul Giamatti. I think in a town where everyone looks like someone, that’s a huge compliment.
In light of that, I was relieved to find an unpretentious club in downtown LA last Friday where the partygoers looked, well, ordinary. I know that sounds a bit like schadenfreude, but it can be exhausting when the general population is foetal, miniscule, blond, buff or square-jawed. How I sometimes long for a Ginsters pasty or a trip to Corby.
Downtown is an area I still need to explore fully. A few years ago it was a real no-go area - the way that Compton still is - but thanks to a clean up it looks and feels a bit like Canary Wharf. That may or may not be a good thing depending on your opinion of tall glass and marble buildings but it was comforting to find somewhere reminiscent of London.
The DJ at La Cita was playing a very cool reggae/ska mix, and not so loud that we couldn’t hear each other over the music. Yes, I am officially old. Even better, it was next to a taco stand. And unlike anywhere I’ve ever been in London, the owners of the club let our group bring in two enormous bags of take-out and eat them at our table in the patio garden.
I was there with Nicholas Levis, the producer of a documentary called Darkon about a real life version of Dungeons and Dragons. Directed by Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer, it follows a group of mostly bearded role-playing warriors who live for their medieval fantasy weekends.
The documentary has been incredibly well received just about everywhere in the States. It was the winner of the South by Southwest Film Festival’s audience award last year, a New York Times Critics’ Pick and is getting its American TV premiere on IFC in a couple of weeks. There are currently two billboards for the film on Sunset. Nicholas was going to drive down there this week and take a picture, just like Drama did in Entourage earlier this year when Five Towns premiered. Life imitates art, or should that be the other way around?
I was at the LA premiere to support him and my friend Jennifer, who helped plan financing for the movie way back in 2002. Nicholas, who has at least five other projects bubbling thanks to Darkon, is currently negotiating the film’s premiere in the UK, so go see it if you get the chance. It’s very funny, but also strangely compelling because of how emotionally invested the Darkon players become in their fantasy world.
Years ago when I was working as a cub reporter on the Southend Evening Echo I was sent to cover a Sealed Knot event. I thought it was a secret rope-tying society until I turned up at a field near Ministry of Defence land in Shoeburyness, Essex, to watch grown men in tights spear each other with fake swords. Boy, did they take it seriously, but so do the Darkon devotees in Baltimore. Hometown of director John Waters. Say no more.