Public Enemies - What Did You Think?
Crazy: Buried With Ryan Reynolds Is Really A One-Man Show
Posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Just a week ago we reported on Buried, the indie thriller about a civilian contracter in Iraq who is kidnapped and buried alive, to be played by Ryan Reynolds. Now The Playlist got quotes from an Autralian TV interview with Reynolds, who says the movie is all him, all the time. One man, one coffin, one crazy thriller. Read More »
Jonah Hill Has Already Finished His Movie With the Duplass Brothers
Posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Jonah Hill evidently really digs the movies by Mumblecore auteurs Jay and Mark Duplass. Their film The Puffy Chair, about two brothers on a road trip to pick up a replica of an odd family heirloom, is one of his favorites. So the three did a movie together, and according to MTV the project just finished a six-week LA shoot. In the untitled film (formerly called Safety Men) Hill is the son of Marisa Tomei, who has just begun a relationship with John C. Reilly. Read More »
Right now, geeks are having difficulty formulating their conflicted emotions about pics of a 15-year-old Dakota Fanning on the set of The Runaways, the 2010 girl-punker biopic. At times like this, I think the guttural proclamation, “Um, that’s racist like a robot!” will suffice. But yeah, Just Jared via Chud has posted a bevy of publicity-stunt pics of Fanning, as jail-bait lead-singer Cherie Currie, tangling around with Kristen Stewart, as leather-clad guitarist Joan Jett. Like a bearded Michael Musto, writer Devin Faraci predicts the movie could spark a fashion revolution amongst teen girls. I could see that happening. Maybe. I mean, the cover of Nylon magazine and exposure in Urban Outfitters is prob a lock. And Warped Tour would definitely be up for a lame “interactive” meet and greet. A new, recommended pic of Stewart, in a Stooges tee no less, after the jump…
Movie Review: Visioneers Starring Zach Galifianakis (Man Vs. Office Culture Continues)
Posted on Friday, July 3rd, 2009 by Hunter Stephenson
Thirty minutes into Visioneers—a high concept indie dramedy that is, well, brand new to the public—I was consumed by the thought that I, most likely, will never see the movie for sale in a really choice record store. (Don’t worry, this movie review will not serve as a wistful rant on the music industry courtesy of a wannabe Nick Hornby or Chuck Klosterman.) The realization got me down for a half-a-second. Nevertheless, calling Visioneers a “prized would-be staple of the ‘choice record store movie genre’” is a tidy complement that sums up how I feel about it.
In the mid/late ‘90s and early ‘00s, one could find a softly-curated section of DVDs in many independent record stores. Browsing the small selection was a welcome, habitual cool-down after hours spent listening to and considering albums. Generally, the selection amounted to: concert films like Ziggy Stardust, The Show, and Bill Hicks Live. Drug movies like Easy Rider and Neco z Alenky. Godzillas. Tromas. “OG”-flicks like New Jack City and Fresh. Usually a movie starring Natasha Lyonne that wasn’t American Pie. Docs like Grey Gardens and The Corporation. And odd movies starring great comedians like The Magic Christian and The Razor’s Edge. Right, Visioneers would be bunched in with those two.
Of course, “cult movies” is a broad umbrella term for these films, then and especially now, but their location under a roof housing infinite great music birthed the silent notion that the works belonged to a cinematic family. The odd symbiotic relationship is perhaps why the DVDs were rarely purchased; another reason is that, while the DVDs were new, the hands of countless gross nerds, junkies, and patchouli weirdos had flipped them over in states of blank studiousness and after many months of this they felt second-hand. Yet another reason is that most of the diehard culture addicts were shopping for music and…had already seen the majority of these films multiple times.
Want to be an Extra in David O Russell’s The Fighter? Want to see Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale fight it out in a boxing ring? Do you live near Lowell Massachusetts? Details after the jump.
Read More »
First Look: Eminem in Judd Apatow’s Funny People
Posted on Thursday, July 2nd, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Eminem revealed last month that he filmed a cameo in Judd Apatow’s Funny People. Now MTV has confirmed the appearance, publishing the first photo of Marshall Mathers in the movie, chatting with Adam Sandler at a Hollywood restaurant.
Every time Winona Ryder does something that interests the movie press (something that doesn’t involve getting arrested) she talks about a Heathers sequel. Listening to Ryder, you’d think there was a packaged project all ready to go, waiting in a studio exective’s office with a white sheet thrown over it, just waiting to be revealed like a classy sculpture. Not so, said original director Michael Lehmann when interviewed by Movieline. Read More »
Maybe The Last Moneyball Update For A While: Soderbergh Is Off The Project, MLB Approval Still Pending
Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Time to back away from Moneyball for a while: the New York Times reports that Steven Soderbergh is totally off the project, only hours after the LA Times published an interview with Sony head Amy Pascal, who reiterated the studio’s reasons for bailing on the project. And both the Times and Movieline talked to Major League Baseball (MLB), which has been in the process of negotiating with Sony to approve the use of official logos and team names. The whole convoluted story is after the jump. Read More »
Watch Aziz Ansari Do Stand-Up Comedy in Judd Apatow’s Funny People
Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 by Peter Sciretta
Universal has been launching a bunch of cool viral websites for Judd Apatow’s Funny People. First we had some clips from Jason Schwartman’s character’s pilot television show Yo Teach. A couple weeks ago they launched the official website for comedian/acotr George Simmons (the main character of the film played by Adam Sandler) complete with video clips from some of his filmography. Today they have launched (NSFW) LaughYourDickOff.com, the official website of Randy (played by Aziz Ansari in the film).
Randy is a superstar comic living in Los Angeles. In addition to being a show-stopping comic performer, he’s socially conscious, too. Check out the “Randy in Darfur” section of his website and find out where you can send your cashier checks to help support Randy…er, the cause.
The website includes a bio, tour dates, a soundboard, and more. The best part is a bunch of video clips from Randy’s stand-up comedy shows, which you can watch embedded after the jump. Warning: NSFW, and I apologize for the autoplay, but Universal doesn’t allow any way to disable it.
BIll Nighy Joins Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
Posted on Wednesday, July 1st, 2009 by Russ Fischer
Every other major British actor seems to have a part in the Harry Potter series, so why not Bill Nighy? The actor tells The Independent that he’s just nabbed a part in the final film(s) Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Who’s he going to play? Speculation and possible spoilers run rampant after the jump. Read More »
On the eve of its rebranding from The Sci Fi Channel to SyFy (seriously guys, WTF?) the home of Battlestar Galactica has announced plans to revive another venerable TV show featuring the conflict and cooperation between humans and other beings: Alien Nation. Variety says Tim Minear (Angel/Firefly) is scripting, hewing close to concepts behind the original 1988 feature that spawned a season’s worth of episodic TV on Fox and five additional TV movie sequels. The film told of a human cop and his alien partner who is part of a race (the ‘Newcomers’) carried in a slave ship that crashed on Earth and is attempting to fit into human society. Read More »
“From the director of Ocean’s Eleven, Twelve and Thirteen” might tell you everything you need to know about the sales pitch for Steven Soderbergh’s The Informant. Based on the true story of Mark Whitacre, played by Matt Damon, who blew the whistle on price-fixing policies at grain processing conglomerate Archer Daniels Midland, the film adapts the book of the same name by Kurt Eichenwald. But the trailer promises anything but a dry boardroom battle. Cut to ‘Flight of the Valkyries’ and pop song ‘Would I Lie To You?’ and featuring some great moments from co-stars Scott Bakula and Tony Hale, this looks like The Insider meets Top Secret. Watch the trailer after the jump. Read More »
