movies

Share We’ve not seen much of Vince Vaughn since the mess that was Couples Retreat, but that could all be about to change thanks to a potential collaboration with Three Kings helmer David O. Russell.Deadline reports that the pair are all but confirmed to team-up for family saga Old St. Louis, with Vaughn assuming a double-role as both star and producer.The film will be based around a script written by Russell himself, with Vaughn playing a travelling salesman whose life is turned upside-down when he reconnects with his estranged daughter. Chloe Moretz’s name is being touted around as the aforementioned sprog, although at this stage that’s no more than speculation.All of which sounds like a fairly good fit for Vaughn. We can easily picture him fine-tuning his usual motormouth routine into a salesman’s patter, before grudgingly dealing with his family baggage.It also sounds like it might be more of a challenge than the usual frat-pack fare he’s been turning up in for the last decade or so. We know he can do a bit more than high-speed wisecracking, and this could be just the vehicle to remind everyone of that fact.Our only reservation is that it all sounds a bit conventional on paper, with a worrying chance of “life lessons” being learned from a precocious child. However, Russell is a fairly subversive influence (I Heart Huckabees anyone?), so it’s probably safe to assume that things won’t get too happy-clappy.Looking forward to seeing Vince again, or have the frat-pack had their day? In cinemas this week... Inception review                Salt review The A-Team review            Predators review Toy Story 3 review             The Karate Kid review

Share We were already interested by upcoming indie drama I Melt With You given its intriguing leading trio of Rob Lowe, Jeremy Piven and Thomas Jane, but our ears (that’s right, ears) have pricked up still further at the news that pornstar Sasha Grey will also be involved.The film will follow ex-college buddies Lowe, Piven and Jane who, unhappy with the way their lives have turned out, decide to revive an old pact that The Hollywood Reporter describes as one “they vowed to live, die and kill by.”Sounds suitably dramatic, but where does Grey fit in? Well apparently she’ll be playing a “free spirit” (for which read “nutjob”) named Raven who convinces one of the pals that the only way they can truly achieve happiness is through death. She sounds a cheery sort then…It’s another move towards the mainstream for “adult performer” Grey, who raised eyebrows by bagging a big part in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience, in which she wasn’t half bad at all. If she keeps going like this, she could shake off the “former porn star” moniker in no time.With a budget of a mere $1 million to play with, Pellington has assembled a genuinely striking cast for what he describes as, “a film is about four guys (dealing) with mortality, aging and friendship. It is very dark and very low budget.” Consider us thoroughly intrigued.Looking forward to I Melt With You, or prefer Sasha’s earlier work? Let us know… In cinemas this week... Inception review                Salt review The A-Team review            Predators review Toy Story 3 review             The Karate Kid review

Share J.J. Abrams isn’t big on conventional projects. It’s unlikely we’re going to find him directing Sandra Bullock in a fluffy, pink rom-com anytime soon. Which is why we hardly raised an eyebrow upon hearing his plans to make a robot movie set in the Victorian era.HeatVision has revealed that Abrams is producing an adaptation of quirky comic-book Boilerplate: History’s Mechanical Marvel, the charmingly bizarre tale of “the world’s first robot.”And the old rust-bucket has quite the tale to tell, having knocked about with Lawrence of Arabia, travelled to the South Pole and weighed in against the Germans in the First World War, not to mention a brief spell dabbling in silent movies.All of which is a load of old rubbish of course, but the comic-book’s excellent gimmick is to craftily draw-in Boilerplate to pictures of the age, deceiving more than a few of its more gullible readership.How Abrams intends to approach this one is unclear, although we’d imagine it will cost a few quid to do it properly, particularly if Boilerplate is up to his usual era-hopping antics. Hopefully he’ll still look as endearingly naff as he does on the page though.We can only really imagine Abrams will play it for laughs, in any case. Dropping some sort of high-tech cyborg into WW1 would be rubbish, but having Teddy Roosevelt ask a walking dustbin for help…that’s more like it!An ace idea or one for the scrapheap? Let us know… In cinemas this week... Inception review                Salt review The A-Team review            Predators review Toy Story 3 review             The Karate Kid review

The last we heard about Wes Craven's slasher film franchise sequel Scream 4 was disparaging news for fans of the horror series. Series writer Kevin Williamson was off the project, Craven wasn't in control of the script, and much of the cast wasn't happy with re-writes from Ehren Kruger. But despite all these problems, the production has pushed forward and is moving right through principal photography. Although some spy photos have made their way online from people checking out shooting in Michigan, today Craven gave us a first look (see below via Twitter) at the return of Ghostface, the serial killer who's back for Sidney Prescott.
Scream 4 is currently scheduled for release on April 15th next year. You can follow Craven on Twitter here.

Honestly, it's not as if this is a groundbreaking first look since the masked killer hasn't changed his look at all. Craven could've easily snagged a picture from any of the previous productions with just the killer in the photo and we wouldn't be any the wiser. Also, in case you don't remember, the original voice of Ghostface, Roger L. Jackson, will reprise his vocal role in the sequel as well. In addition, Jackson is joined by franchise survivors Neve Campbell, Courtney Cox and David Arquette. New cast members include Hayden Panetierre, Alison Brie, Mary McDonnell, Emma Roberts, Adam Brody, Marley Shelton and Erik Knudsen. Screenplay problems or not, I'm looking forward to seeing how Ghostface will dispatch with all of these new victims.

While I'm normally always excited to see any new footage from a David Fincher movie, this TV trailer isn't exactly that great, so don't get too excited. I'm not exactly sure what this is, but a new trailer for Fincher's The Social Network was emailed to me (by JD) from YouTube. This definitely feels like a 60-second TV spot, with the music choice and structure, so I'm thinking that's what it is. The trailer features Kanye West's "Power" and is very low quality, very dark, and not the best thing to watch, but at this point I think I've seen enough anyway. It contains most scenes from the theatrical trailer as well as a few new shots. Watch below.
Watch the new 60-second TV trailer for David Fincher's The Social Network:

The Social Network is directed by Oscar nominated filmmaker David Fincher, of superb films like Alien 3, Se7en, The Game, Fight Club, Panic Room, Zodiac and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button previously. The script was written by screenwriter and producer Aaron Sorkin, of A Few Good Men, "The West Wing", and Charlie Wilson's War previously. It's based on Ben Mezrich's novel titled The Accidental Billionaires, about the founding of Facebook: "A Tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal." Sony is bringing The Social Network to theaters starting on October 1st this fall. For more info and updates, visit the official website.

On August 13th you're going to have to make a tough choice - The Expendables or Scott Pilgrim (or both!). To help support one choice, I'm featuring this new behind-the-scenes featurette for Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables. Apple has been posting a series of featurettes each week for the movie with a different focus each time. This one is on an injury Stallone received that put him in the hospital while fighting Steve Austin on the set. Sly is now 64 years old but it's still impressive to see him kicking so much ass (and getting so beat up) on set. Don't watch this if you get queasy easily, as it's not censored and these are real injuries. Enjoy!
Watch the "Fighting" behind-the-scenes featurette for Sly Stallone's The Expendables:

You can also watch this Expendables featurette, plus three others, in High Definition on Apple
The story follows a team of mercenaries who head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator.
The Expendables is both written and directed by legendary action actor and filmmaker Sylvester Stallone, who has also directed Paradise Alley, Rocky 2, 3, and 4, as well as the most recent Rambo movie. This is a Nu Image / Millennium Films production developed by Avi Lerner and Les Weldon. Lionsgate is bringing The Expendables to theaters starting on August 13th later this summer. We first featured a trailer for this back in October of last year but it got pulled, then the official trailer debuted back in March. Still excited?

Playing most-excellent air guitar riffs is the only way they can dream anymore. Confession: Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is one of my personal favorite rad 80's comedy cult classics, it's so damn good (I even kind of like the sequel). Concept: Rufus' time machine phone booth is the "dream machine" in Bill & Ted's Excellent Inception on CollegeHumor (found on MovieViral). There's nothing like seeing the occasional "whoa!" Bill & Ted moment thrown in to lighten the intense mood of Hans Zimmer's score, or seeing them turn the cheesy action from Bill & Ted into the intense action from Chris Nolan's Inception. Watch below!

"Ted, you and I have witnessed many things. But nothing is as bodacious as what just happened." This video is surprisingly well put together, which is why these viral videos kick so much ass. There's a whole bunch of them floating around for Inception recently but I thought this would be a fun one to feature since I'm such a big fan of the totally bodacious Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure. This is also more proof that you can throw Hans Zimmer's amazing score on top of almost any footage and it immediately makes it epic. Plus, I'm glad we can keep some Inception chat going, as it seems people are still wrapped up in discussing many theories.

We've heard from just about everyone so far - Joss Whedon, Robert Downey Jr. - on the recent confirmed casting of Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner / The Hulk in Marvel's The Avengers movie. One person we haven't heard much from yet is Ruffalo himself, but Entertainment Weekly got the chance to ask him a few questions and they made damn sure to ask about the Hulk. Given that his deal was literally just signed that night, Ruffalo hasn't had much time to dwell on the role, but he's got Edward Norton's blessing and is quite excited to take on the big green guy in Avengers. "I was very, very nervous. I didn't know what to expect."
I've heard from others saying that they thought Ruffalo looked nervous, and he definitely was. "It was very exciting — and I realized I had some pretty big shoes to fill. Those were my heroes up there! I was a comic book fan growing up. I loved The Hulk and The Avengers — it's just strange to be entering that world as an actor. I never would have imagined that before." As for his inspirations/connections to the role, he adds:
"He's a guy struggling with two sides of himself — the dark and the light — and everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control. I grew up on the Bill Bixby TV series, which I thought was a really nuanced and real human way to look at The Hulk. I like that the part has those qualities.
I'm a friend of Ed's, and yeah, that wasn't a great way for all that to go down. But the way I see it is that Ed has bequeathed this part to me. I look at it as my generation's Hamlet."
In fact, Ruffalo's deal for Hulk is so fresh he doesn't even know when they're shooting it yet. "Sometime in the winter. I'm not sure," he says. That gels with what we've heard recently about Marvel gearing up to start shooting The Avengers early next year after things wrap up with production on Captain America and Thor. That's all Ruffalo had to say before topics switched to The Kids Are All Right (which is highly worth seeing) but I will say it's great to hear him talk so enthusiastically about the character, especially after the negativity surrounding Norton's replacement. Of course, there will still be some backlash especially once we see him in character, but I'm happy with Ruffalo and I'm looking forward to seeing The Avengers with him in the cast.

I was wondering when we would see J.J. Abrams' company Bad Robot actually make a robot movie! Heat Vision reports that Paramount and Bad Robot have picked up rights to a graphic novel-picture book hybrid called Boilerplate: History's Mechanical Marvel (buy it on Amazon) that tells a story of "the world's first robot, who, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, fought alongside Terry Roosevelt and Lawrence of Arabia, journeyed to the South Pole and was involved in the silent movie business before disappearing on the battlefields of World War I." Awesome, just awesome, what a perfect and hilarious concept for a movie!
Abrams will be producing at Bad Robot. The book's co-writer Paul Guinan originally pitched the concept on a website 11 years ago when trying to drum up interest in a graphic novel. The site eventually took on a life of its own when some people started believing the robot and its history to be true. (You can visit viral sites like this one.) The book was finally published last year. No word on who is even writing the adaptation, but I think it's safe to assume that writers Boilerplate writers Paul Guinan and Anina Bennett will be involved in some way. I'm totally 100% sold on this, want to see it happen as soon as possible, I already love it so much!

Yesterday we featured a fantastic new featurette for Disney's upcoming animated movie Tangled, today we have the first official teaser poster for the same movie as unveiled on Yahoo (found via SlashFilm). Hair, lots of hair everywhere, that's all there is, but it's quirky and fun and a perfect Disney way to get audiences in to this. The studio is really trying to make sure they can market this properly and turn it into a huge hit like so many classic animated Disney movies of past, but they've got a lot of work ahead to make everyone excited for this. We've already seen one teaser trailer so far, wondering when we'll see the next? Check this out!

Tangled is being co-directed by Nathan Greno (the head of story on Bolt) and Byron Howard (a co-director of Bolt). Providing the voices in the film will be Mandy Moore (as Rapunzel), Zachary Levi, Donna Murphy, and David Schwimmer. This new telling of the classic fairy tale will transport audiences "to a stunning CG fantasy world complete with the iconic tower, an evil witch, a gallant hero and, of course, the mysterious girl with the long golden tresses. Expect adventure, heart, humor, and hair, lots of hair." Disney is releasing this limited first on November 12th, then will release Tangled nationwide in 3D on November 24th in the fall.

It's been over a year since we heard screenwriter Kurt Wimmer (Equilibrium, Street Kings) was hired to pen the remake of Total Recall, or rather, a new adaptation of Philip K. Dick's story We Can Remember It for You Wholesale. But today comes the first real development on that project in a long time as Columbia Pictures has officially announced via press release (read here) that Len Wiseman (Live Free or Die Hard, Underworld) will direct this new, contemporary adaptation. For those of you who were already lamenting the fact that Total Recall was being remade, I can't really see this news changing anybody's mind right now.
Here's some fluffy PR quotes to try and put your mind at ease. Producer Neal Moritz says: "I have been trying for years to work with Len and fortunately we finally found a great project that he loves as much as we do. Len is terrifically talented and we know he is the right director to re-imagine Total Recall for a new generation of fans.” Well he's not going to say he hated the fourth Die Hard, so obviously they think he's the right guy for the job. Columbia president Matt Tolmach has this bit of puffery: "Len has an incredible love of the genre and a great gift for action. He'll bring a contemporary feel to the film while taking care with everything we love about Philip K. Dick’s original story."
Meanwhile, Wiseman himself says, "I've always been fascinated with Philip K. Dick's short story, and I'm excited at that prospect of diving even deeper into the type of world it evokes and the questions it asks. I love that the most crucial mystery our character is trying to solve is the one of his own soul.” That's a little less bullshit, and a little more interesting, but Wiseman has an uphill battle to convince people (including me) this is something they need to see. Schwarzenegger and Paul Verhoeven made a damn good sci-fi film back in the day, and that will be hard to live up to.  We can see what Wiseman's most recent work looks like when the remake of the classic TV series "Hawaii Five-0" hits CBS this fall (Wiseman directed the pilot). What do you guys think?

Now that Lost is finally off the air, co-creator Damon Lindelof is going to have a lot more time on his hands, time which he's now using to climb mountains... figuratively. Deadline is reporting that Lindelof has been hired to do some polishing on Ridley Scott's much-ballyhooed Alien prequel, a project that he jumped at because the original 1979 film was so inspiring to him. Reports are that meetings between Lindelof, Scott and 20th Century Fox have sparked new ideas that could lead to "a free-standing science fiction film", not just a project that would set up the events to take place in the original Alien. Scott Free will be producing the new film and Fox hopes Scott will make it his next directorial project. Lindelof is still currently working on Cowboys & Aliens and the sequel to J.J. Abrams' Star Trek with Alexander Kurtzmann and Roberto Orci. Scott has several options for his next directorial project, one of the most imminent being Gucci, the story of the rise and fall of the Gucci fashion empire, with Angelina Jolie circling the role of Patrizia Reggiani, who was sentenced to a 29 years in the slammer after being convicted of plotting the murder of her ex-husband, Maurizio Gucci, after he'd taken control of the family dynasty. Reinvigorating the Alien franchise is apparently top on Fox's list, with a forthcoming Blu-Ray and DVD box set of the first four films in the series, and plans for the prequel. Apparently, drafts of the prequel script by Jon Spaihts were so strong that they persuaded Ridley Scott to step up from just producing the film, to lensing it as director.