Film Web Blog

Erik Davis
Filed under: Action, Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, RumorMonger, Fandom, Distribution, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Images

Director Sam Raimi is asked once again about Spider-Man 4 … and he literally beats a reporter to near death. Read all about right here on Cinematical!

No, he didn’t hurt anyone (please, Raimi wouldn’t hurt a fly), but Comic Book Resources did ask him again about Spidey 4 … and they somehow managed to spin his answer into something that’s just slightly different from what we already know. He did say that as soon as the strike is over, he’ll begin working with a writer on the screenplay — but that it will be up to the writer whether they’ll continue the same storyline or mix things up a bit. What’s most important to Raimi? “I’d very much like to see Tobey Maguire as Spider-Man, so I have a personal interest in that, but certainly anything’s possible.” Oohh, Kirsten Dunst just got bitch-slapped! Check out the full interview here.

Director Lexi Alexander’s new and (hopefully) improved Punisher flick has nabbed an interesting release date. Apparently, Lionsgate has scheduled Punisher: War Zone to be released on September 12, 2008 — a month that’s been kind as of late to genre pics like Underworld and Resident Evil. Rome’s Ray Stevenson stars as FBI agent Frank Castle, who arrives in New York to take on an underworld boss who plots to take over — wait for it — the underworld. Oh yes, they’re saving the aboveworld for the sequel. Julie Benz, Dominic West and Doug Hutchinson co-star. [via JoBlo]

Finally, for those who have always wanted to watch Shia LaBeouf hug another guy for an uncomfortably long time, new video and pics from the set of Eagle Eye have made their way online. JFX Online has a batch of LaBeouf stills, as well as video of the Spielberg apprentice shooting a few scenes while he frolics around the set. Disturbia director D.J. Caruso once again teams up with LaBeouf on a film about a young slacker and a single mom (Michelle Monaghan) who get all mixed up in a terrorist cell plotting a political assassination. Add to that the fact that LaBeouf really hugs a dude (”It’s okay Shia, it’s not your fault they signed you up for seventeen Transformers flicks”) … and you have the recipe for a delightful little thriller heading our way this August 8.

Tags: cinematical, d.j. caruso, eagle eye, lexi alexander, sam raimi, shia labeouf, spider-man 4, Spider-man4, spiderman 4

Source: Fanboy Bites: ‘Spider-Man 4,’ ‘Punisher: War Zone’ and ‘Eagle Eye’

Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Deals, Scripts, Newsstand

The writers strike may be keeping the pens from flying across the page, but some deals are still getting made. Variety has reported that Stuart Beattie has signed on to write a new film called The Man Who Tried to Save the World — once the strike is over, of course. The writer got his big break helping to suss out the story for the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, but that’s not all he’s been involved in. He penned Collateral, and then followed it up with the beyond-stinkariffic Derailed, he worked on 30 Days of Night, and now has got a bunch of original and adapted features on the way — Australia, Man Without a Gun, Spy Hunter, G.I. Joe, and Without Remorse.

The Man Who Tried to Save the World is based on the life and death of U.S. aid worker Fred Cuny, and will be based on Scott Anderson’s book of the same title, along with a ‘97 Frontline documentary called The Lost American. “The film will focus on the death-defying disaster-relief exploits of Cuny, a Texan who became known as the Master of Disaster for his accomplishments in unstable places like Iraq, Ethiopia, Somalia, Bosnia, and Chechnya.” However, he could only avoid death for so long, and when he went missing in Chechnya, it is believed he was murdered there. While we have been over-saturated lately with heavy political and war dramas, this could be a bit of a different spin, if done right. At the very least, it’s a sort of a real-life action hero story.

Topping that off, Beattie is also penning planning to pen a feature based on his recent documentary, Bra Boys. The film focused on the evolution of a Sydney beach surf gang of the same name, and was narrated by Russell Crowe, who Variety says will direct the feature. While I wish this is about a gang who is wild for the soft-touch of bras, I imagine it’s just the typical surfer slang.

Tags: Bra Boys, BraBoys, Russell Crowe, RussellCrowe, Stuart Beattie, StuartBeattie, The Man Who Tried to Save the World, TheManWhoTriedToSaveTheWorld

Source: Stuart Beattie Will Try to Save the World

Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting

Keeping things fresh, Liev Schreiber has signed on for another role. He’s already working on Defiance, which has him playing one of three Jewish brothers who escape Nazi-occupied Poland and join the Russian resistance. To balance these cinematic good deeds, he’s also getting into the body parts business. Variety has reported that the actor has signed on for Repossession Mambo. No, this isn’t Repo! The Genetic Opera, but rather the non-musical version that stars Jude Law and Forest Whitaker.

Schreiber will play Law’s boss at the futuristic, artificial organ credit union where Law works. That is, until he gets an organ, can’t pay, and goes on the lam with his ex-wife (Alice Braga), who also owes money. The back story — it is twenty years into the future, and Law and Whitaker have fought in a war in Africa, and have returned as “disturbed veterans.” They settle down in Toronto, working as repossession agents until the money/implant kerfuffle happens. So, I imagine Whitaker as co-star has to hunt Law down when he doesn’t pay. Now, it seems to me that it would be cheaper to just insert some sort of tracking system into these guys, so that running away won’t do any good. It’d be cheaper than an army of repossession agents. Anyway, Liev’s a good addition, but we’re still going to have to wait and see if this turns out to be successful, or just another Jude stinker. Before we dig into people’s insides, however, you can see Schreiber in Love in a Time of Cholera.

Tags: Alice Braga, AliceBraga, Forest Whitaker, ForestWhitaker, Jude Law, JudeLaw, Liev Schreiber, LievSchreiber, Repossession Mambo, RepossessionMambo

Source: Liev Schreiber Does the ‘Mambo’ with Jude Law

Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, Deals, Celebrities and Controversy, Religious, Cinematical Indie

Back in 1999, Kevin Smith added a black apostle to Jesus’ crew with Chris Rock’s Rufus in Dogma. Now a German filmmaker is going a big step further. Reuters reports that the son of God is about to get a brother in a new fantasy film set in India. But that’s not all — he will be evil. I can see the pitchforks and venom-laced words gearing up even as I type this. This is the brainchild of German filmmaker Robert Sigl, and it’s called The 13th Disciple. The project is in the very early stages, and is currently looking for an Indian co-producer so they can get it going.

Producer Marco Stefan says: “It’s a fantasy-adventure film and takes place completely in present-day India.” Basically, two twin, German archaeologists head to India to find evidence that Jesus has traveled there. During their search, they discover that Jesus had an evil twin brother — one that gets reincarnated in the present as “the scheming head of a religious sect.” Does that mean the second coming happens now, to foil the evil bro?

It seems this film has been in the works for a long time, especially since the original producer died in an accident (hopefully a random tragedy and not the work of that evil twin brother). The projected cost of this puppy is $7.4 million, and will shoot in Varanasi later next year, once they secure another producer. While the topic is a bit incendiary, Stefan says he doesn’t expect controversy since the film is clearly explained as fiction. But that didn’t stop unrest over The Da Vinci Code, which just had Jesus married with children, so I imagine an evil son of God would be even more incendiary.

Tags: Marco Stefan, MarcoStefan, Robert Sigl, RobertSigl, The 13th Disciple, the evil brother of Christ, The13thDisciple, TheEvilBrotherOfChrist

Source: Jesus & His Evil Twin Brother

R | Action, Sci-Fi, Sequel Movie
The two scariest monsters are meets again in the sequel of Alien vs Predator.
Synopsis:
When a Predator scout ship crash lands in a Colorado town. The Aliens on board escape and kill all the Predators except one. The last remaining Predator must now destroy all the Aliens as well as the horfic Pred-Alien that was spawned in the first AVP. Meanwhile the towns people are helplessly caught in the middle of the ultimate face-off between these two mythic creatures

Director : Greg Strause, Colin Strause
Starring : Reiko Aylesworth, Steven Pasquale, John Ortiz, Shareeka Epps, Johnny Lewis, Sam Trammell, David Paetkau
Trailer Aliens vs Predator : Requiem

Source: Aliens vs Predator : Requiem (2007)

Animated, Comedy Movie | Release Date : June 6, 2008
a lazy, irreverent slacker panda named Po Po who must somehow become a Kung Fu Master in order to save the Valley of Peace from a villainous snow leopard, Tai Lung. Prophecy said that Po is the “Chosen One” to save the day. But he appears to be the laziest of all the animals in ancient China. A group of martial arts masters are going to need a black belt in patience if they are going to turn this slacker panda into a kung fu fighter before it’s too late.
Director : John Stevenson, Mark Osborne
Starring : Jack Black, Angelina Jolie, Jackie Chan, Lucy Liu, Dustin Hoffman, Ian McShane
Movie Trailer Kung Fu Panda

Source: Kung Fu Panda

It must be tough being Jessica Alba. Not only does she have to live life as a blind violinist, but then she also goes and gets a fresh set of corneas that force her to see the violent ghosts of dead people. Oh, wait… It’s a movie? Right… got it.

The Eye is, of course, a transplant itself, adapted from the Hong Kong original and run through the spin cycle of turnaround before landing in the lap of Lionsgate, who attached Alba and got the horror up and running.

Looks like they’ve kept the basic plot of a terrible visual burden, so we’re wondering what this new version will do that’s fresh. Comingsoon.net nabbed the trailer from the clutches of MySpace, and you can find it at the link here.

Meanwhile, a true original has another movie out and we couldn’t be more excited. Stephen Chow, the man who brought us the likes of Shaolin Soccer and Kung Fu Hustle has decided to tackle more of a Spielbergian theme with CJ7 (or whatever it ends up being called in the UK). The plot finds a poor labourer’s (Chow) son finding an unusual toy – which has alien powers. Given the usual blend of incredible stunts and special effects (only one of which is sadly on show in this teaser trailer), this looks like a treat for next year….

Check out the footage here.

Source: Trailer Park: Eye see horror. And aliens!

Let’s sing the praises of some actors that warranted better material or at least better decision making to frame their game performances…

10 Performances From 2007 That Deserved Better Films
(I figure the title is self explanatory)

10 Thomas Haden Church as “Sandman” in Spider-Man 3
First things first: He looked perfect in the part. Second and even better: that hangdog expression he was wearing like an anvil combined with Sam Raimi’s careful tragic attention to his origin augured another super sequel. Sadly, the film lost its focus. They shoulda stuck to sticking with this Sandman. [my original reaction]

09 Lindsay Lohan & Jane Fonda as Rachel and Georgia in Georgia Rule
I know what you’re thinking. What!? Yes, yes, the movie is a mess. But know this: it’d be unwatchable without LiLo’s wildchild magnetism and Fonda’s effortless force of presence. Ditch the poorly conceived and terribly executed middle generation character/performance/actress (sorry Felicity, I don’t mean to bag on you constantly) and give these two stars a non repetitive throwdown of a movie. My guess is that that imaginary movie would’ve had a fighting chance.

08 Marion Cotillard as “Edith Piaf” in La Vie En Rose
Surprised? If you’ve read my review you know I’m no fan of the movie. But there were individual moments when I thought I might buy into the Cotillard hype, only to be dragged away with another off chronology tangent –seriously filmmakers, this gimmick is stale. And there’s only a couple people who can do it well to begin with. Is her performance as great as the fans claim? I doubt it but I’d have to see her scenes with some logical throughline to know. As it is it feels like Saturday Night Live sketchwork (without the humor): a different wig here, a different body posture there; unrecognizable from one scene to the next. That’s no way to sell a character’s evolution.

07 Zöe Bell as herself in Death Proof
Like some swashbuckling Princess Charming, she rescued me! I was sleepily trapped in talky tedium and her fresh physical presence and confidence woke me up. I’m so glad this stuntwoman is getting more acting work.

06 Ben Foster as “The Stranger” in 30 Days of Night
His detractors will tell you that he’s a total ham, shamelessly begging for “one to watch” media attention. I’m not here to argue with that assessment. So far I agree with it. I haven’t yet seen his other 2007 entries (3:10 to Yuma and Alpha Dog) But if you’re making a movie about vampires in an Alaskan town, try to entertain me. I’m begging you. He’s the single element of the film that works beyond the concept stage. His performance is just weird enough… just self-consciously creepy enough to sell me on the proceedings and the characters own truth. Josh Hartnett and Melissa George aren’t spinning their blandness into any interesting places as the lead marrieds. Danny Huston is terrible as the head vampire (how is it that he’s cast in everything?). Only Ben Foster seems to know that there’s an audience and that you have to really work for their thrills and chills.

05 Shia LaBeouf as “Sam Witwicky” in Transformers
Anybody who can make me deaf to terrible dialogue in –something nobody in those Star Wars prequels could do –earns respect. You don’t win Oscars for this type of accomplishment but you do earn bank if you can make action films better for your mere presence. He’s a star. (my review)

04 Nicole Kidman as Margot at the Wedding
More on this star turn in previous posts

03 Sigourney Weaver as “Lenny” in The TV Set
It won’t come as a surprise that Ms Weaver can do corporate soulessness with style and aplomb. She was Oscar nominated for the same 19 years back in Working Girl. She’s working just as hard for this new film. Unfortunately this mild satire doesn’t quite know how to capitalize on her wicked wit.

02 Michelle Pfeiffer as “Lamia” in Stardust
This fantasy adventure was thisclose to being a good movie despite its many annoying and easily remedied flaws (how did no one on this production realize the overkill happening in so many places: editing, CGI, Danes twitching, DeNiro mugging?). That it manages to almost be good is a tribute to this goddesses way with a foregrounded cartoon villainess. Practice makes perfect I guess, though I hope my personal goddess steps away from the evil bitches for her next couple of roles. Keep us guessing, Michelle. [my review]

01 Tabu as “Ashima Ganguli” in The Namesake
A text book case of a film adaptation trying too hard to be the novel. It’s a different medium, Mira, let the book go! Two hours cannot contain three hundred and four pages. That said, the movie worked well whenever Tabu’s lovely evocative face was onscreen as the mother… this movie was begging for trimming and focus so focus on what works. These parents (Irfan Khan, even better in A Mighty Heart was the dad) were always more interesting than the son.
*

Source: Top Ten: Better Than The Movies They’re In

I’m one of those people who actually didn’t mind “The Mummy” movies. No, they weren’t anywhere near Indiana Jones quality, but for fun treasure and adventure movies I thought they held themselves alright. The second Mummy flick was a big step down (how terrible did that “The Rock” monster look at the end?) but still fun flicks worth catching at a matinee.

We’ve known for some time now that another Mummy film is heading our way, and apparently is now finished shooting. Director Rob Cohen has put out what he is calling the official synopsis of the film:

The blockbuster global “Mummy” franchise takes a spellbinding turn as the action shifts to Asia for the next chapter in the adventure series, “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.” Brendan Fraser returns as explorer Rick O’Connell to combat the resurrected Han Emperor (Jet Li) in an epic that races from the catacombs of ancient China high into the frigid Himalayas. Rick is joined in this all-new adventure by son Alex (newcomer Luke Ford), wife Evelyn (Maria Bello) and her brother, Jonathan (John Hannah). And this time, the O’Connells must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service.

Doomed by a double-crossing sorceress (Michelle Yeoh) to spend eternity in suspended animation, China’s ruthless Dragon Emperor and his 10,000 warriors have laid forgotten for eons, entombed in clay as a vast, silent terra cotta army. But when dashing adventurer Alex O’Connell is tricked into awakening the ruler from eternal slumber, the reckless young archaeologist must seek the help of the only people who know more than he does about taking down the undead: his parents.

As the monarch roars back to life, our heroes find his quest for world domination has only intensified over the millennia. Striding the Far East with unimaginable supernatural powers, the Emperor Mummy will rouse his legion as an unstoppable, otherworldly force…unless the O’Connells can stop him first. Now, in “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor,” the trademark thrills and visually spectacular action of the “Mummy” series will be redefined for a new generation.

For me personally, for this movie to work it needs to still have Brendan Fraser as the lead character and NOT play second fiddle to his son. Rick is the Indiana Jones of this franchise, and I really hope they don’t just use this film as a vehicle for launching and new series featuring his son. That’s fine if it’s a by-product of the film… I just hope they don’t make it the total purpose of it.

So your thoughts… will this next Mummy movie be any good?

Source: “The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor” Synopsis

Peter Martin
Filed under: Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Foreign Language, Independent, New on DVD, Cinematical Indie

Have you recovered from your holiday eating binge? Are you ready for some pie? Reviewing Waitress at Sundance earlier this year, Cinematical’s James Rocchi described it as “a light, breezy romantic comedy with a crackerjack cast and a certain degree of faux-Southern charm that never descends to cornpone mawkishness, and also has a whip-smart comedic sensibility in every scene.” The late Adrienne Shelly wrote, directed, and co-stars with Keri Russell, Nathan Fillion and Andy Griffith. The DVD includes several featurettes and an audio commentary with Russell and producer Michael Roiff.

The Namesake very much impressed our own Kim Voynar, who called it “a deeply felt look at the ties of family and birthplace, the loneliness of living far from your home, and the connections that hold everything together, sometimes in ways we don’t appreciate until much later.” Mira Nair directed; the film stars Irfan Khan, Tabu, Kal Penn and Sahira Nair. The DVD features an audio commentary by director Nair and several featurettes, plus deleted scenes.

Critics gave high marks (83% positive, per Rotten Tomatoes) to documentary Manufactured Landscapes. It’s said to be an “investigation of photographer Edward Burtynsky’s legacy, with its aesthetic studies of industrial landscapes. … It uses the topic of Burtynsky as a springboard.” Jennifer Baichwal directed. The DVD includes additional scenes, a stills gallery and a discussion with Baichwal and Burtynsky.

We can never get too many rebellious child prodigy dramas, can we? Vitus fairly well divided critics: 34 positive and 21 negative, according to Rotten Tomatoes. The veteran and versatile Bruno Ganz is the most recognizable name in the cast. The DVD features an interview with Ganz, a “making of” feature and an audio commentary by director Fredi M. Murer.

Tags: adrienne shelly, andy griffith, bruno ganz, cinematical, edward burtynsky, fredi m. murer, irfan khan, jennifer baichwal, kal penn, keri russell, manufactured landscapes, michael roiff, mira nair, nathan fillion, sahira nair, tabu, the namesake, vitus, waitress

Source: Indies on DVD: ‘Waitress,’ ‘The Namesake,’ ‘Manufactured Landscapes’