The first trailer for The Losers has now been unveiled courtesy of MSN. You can see it embedded below the break. What follows is a lightly updated post originally servicing a clip of the trailer, and not the full thing we now have.
This film will be a solid rival for The A Team, I think, spinning a similar tale of a wronged bunch of military folk who then band together and use their skills against naughty types. The naughty types here are the double crossing CIA who stitched them up in the first place.
The film adaptation features Zoe Saldana, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Idris Elba and Chris Evans and was directed by Sylvain White. The script is credited to both Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt, the man behind the upcoming Spider-Man reboot screenplays.
So many daft catch phrases have come and gone, I don’t know why “Outstanding!” didn’t catch on after Avatar. Maybe Jeffrey Dean Morgan will have a little more luck with it.
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Two stories today about filmmakers hitting the stage. (Well, one of them is about a filmmaker returning to the stage, but close enough.) First, Trey Parker and Matt Stone are working with Robert Lopez on what is likely to be the musical about Mormons that the three guys have been working on for ages. Lopez was one of the composers and lyricists behind Avenue Q, the adult-themed ‘update’ of Sesame Street. That featured numbers about porn, racism and homosexuality, so it should be fun to see what the three come up with on the topic of Mormonism. Oh, people will probably be angry. An August-September run is planned for the New York Theater Workshop. [Variety]
After the break, the man behind In Bruges teams up with the avant-musical duo of Tom Waits and Robert Wilson. Read More »
UPDATE: Just after I published this, The Weinstein Company was announced as the distributor for Blue Valentine, the drama starring Ryan Gosling and Michelle Williams. The film has been one of the critical hits of the fest, but I’ve got to wonder what TWC will be able to do with it. The company is struggling, and I don’t have much faith in its ability to give the movie a proper release. Check Peter’s video review of Blue Valentine here. Original article follows.
Right at the beginning of this year’s Sundance there were a couple of big deals made. The doc Waiting for Superman was bought by Paramount and Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds, was picked up by Lionsgate. (Read Peter’s review.)As the festival winds down there have been a couple other big buys. Hesher is the most notable, with the Joseph Gordon-Levitt starring film going to Newmarket. The very well-received The Kids Are Alright has also found a home, and while Joel Schumacher’s Twelve isn’t the best-reviewed film at the fest, it’s got a deal now, too. Read More »
ABC held a sweepstakes which resulted in 815 winners receiving an exclusive message in a bottle, with a digital key containing the opening scene to the final season premiere of LOST, days before it premieres on television. Sl-lost has photos of one of the winner’s bottle, and spoilerfiles has the actual 4-minute scene online, which I have embedded after the jump.
Beware — this is the actual first four minutes of the season six premiere of LOST, Episode LA X. This is not a joke, not a rickroll. Do not watch it now if you don’t want to see it until the premiere!
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Lost showrunners Damon Lindelof and Carlton Cuse appeared on NPR to offer their DVD recommendations to Steve Inskeep. You can listen to the seven minute broadcast segement here, or listen to the entire extended 26-minute interview by clicking here.
It appears that a week ago, Paranormal Activity star Katie Featherston auditioned for Danny Boyle, who is currently in pre-production for 127 Hours. Boyle plans to start filming in early March, which leads me to think that he may be interested in Featherstone’s improv drama talent for the film. We know that Boyle is aiming for realism with the film, which tells the tale of mountain climber Aron Ralston — who amputated his own arm after being trapped under a boulder for five days. The film reportedly contains an hour without any dialog, and it’s mostly going to be a one-man show for James Franco.
I thought that Featherston did some surprisingly great work in Paranormal, and I could see her bringing a similar depth and believability to 127 Hours. There’s no word yet if he has chosen her for the part, but I’m wishing her well on this one.
[via Katie Featherston's Twitter, thanks to Jimmy W. for the tip!]
Prices on Blu-Ray players have been dropping quickly. Today’s Amazon Gold Box Deal of the Day is for a Sylvania NB530SLX Black-colored Blu-ray Disc Player for $89.99, 55% off the $200 retail price. I don’t know much about the unit but it is getting 4.5 out of 5 stars with 34 customer reviews. As always the Gold Box Deal of the Day is only valid until Midnight. So get it while you can.
If you thought the prospect of a new Muppet film co-written by Jason Segel was exciting, prepare yourself for another potential dose of awesome. Vulture is reporting that Flight of the Conchords co-creator James Bobin may end up directing the project. There’s no solid deal yet, but a Disney insider told Vulture “the movie is James’ to direct — if he wants it.” The project may seem like a perfect fit for Bobin — who also wrote for Da Ali Gi Show — but another potential directing gig with Segel’s bestest bud Judd Apatow may prevent him from committing.
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Back in1983, the Waldenbooks chain recorded a long conversation between David Lynch and Frank Herbert. The occasion was the impending release of Lynch’s version of Dune. The final film, as most well know, was often derided as an artistic failure, and it was undoubtedly a commercial disaster. In the years since the film’s release, Lynch rarely speaks of it. Herbert died in early 1986, so he didn’t have time to see the film attain a certain level of respect in the sci-fi community.
But the movie has earned a large number of fans over the years, and rightly so. Though quite flawed, the film features incredible production design and film craft, elements which are often cited as the reasons for fan appreciation. But it is also interesting as an adaptation that isn’t afraid to muck around with the source a little bit. I think a lot more adaptations should indulge in changes. Listening to this interview, which appeared on YouTube this week, it seems evident that Frank Herbert might agree. Read More »
/Film reader Film Savior screened Hot Tub Time Machine, and while the comedy won’t hit theaters until March 19th, he sent us a reader review. Savior calls it “hilarious, retarded, nonsensical, thoughtful, a waste of time, and great entertainment all at the same time.” You can read the entire virtually spoiler-free reader submitted review, after the jump.
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