Stuck on The Weinstein Company shelf for nearly two years, Mikael Hafstrom's WWII drama "Shanghai" will finally be released....in China. The irony is a bit rich considering China blocked filming in the country after the production had spent nearly $3 million constructing sets. The production then moved to London and Bangkok where filming was completed.
The film stars John Cusack, Chow Yun-fat, Gong Li and Ken Watanabe and is "about an American intelligence official who investigates a friend's death in Japanese-occupied Shanghai in the months before the attack on Pearl Harbor." While there is no official word on why the film, which wrapped in August of 2008, has taken so long to be released, someone close to the production has said editing proved to be difficult as Hafstrom had to work with "visually different footage" (yeah, we don't know what that means either) from London and Bangkok, and apparently quite a few composers have gone through the turnstiles as well.
The film will hit Chinese theaters in a wide release this June without any edits from Chinese censors. A U.S. release date has still not been scheduled.
5/07/2010
The Weinstein Company To Finally Release The John Cusack WWII Drama 'Shanghai'....In China
Marc Forster's 'Machine Gun Preacher' Films This Summer With Gerard Butler & Michelle Monaghan; Michael Shannon In Talks
Back in January, it was announced that Marc Forster ("The Kite Runner," "Quantum of Solace") and Gerard Butler were teaming up for "Machine Gun Preacher," based on the true story of Sam Childers (Butler), a former drug dealing biker who became a missionary and preacher, and founded an orphanage in the Sudan and a militia to protect the children there. Little else was heard about the project, but it seems much has been happening behind the scenes.
Deadline reports the film is now set to shoot this summer, and casting is coming into place. Michelle Monaghan is confirmed to be joining the film. She will play "Childers' wife, Lynn, who cleaned up her own demons while Childers did a stretch behind bars, and struggled to keep their family together in Detroit while he went to Africa" to establish the orphanage. Piquing our interest is news that the always awesome Michael Shannon is in talks to join the cast "playing a close friend of Childers who stayed with his wife while he was away in Africa." That role is apparently central to the plot.
The script comes from playwright Jason Keller who adapted Childers' memoir Another Man's War: The True Story of One Man's Battle to Save Children in the Sudan. Lionsgate has acquired the domestic distribution rights for the film that will show a different side to Butler who, until now, has been reduced to yelling a lot in action films or playing a charming asshole in lame rom-coms.
New Judd Apatow Produced Comedy Starring Paul Rudd, Written By David Wain & Ken Marino To Shoot This Fall
While we wait for Paramount to get their head out of their ass and green light "Anchorman 2" already, the rest of the cast are focusing on other projects for now to ensure that the Judd Apatow comedy train keeps on going -- with or without Ron Burgundy.
Speaking with MTV on the red carpet at Time 100 (there is seriously a red carpet thing for this?), Apatow revealed, "I'm producing a movie that Paul Rudd's in that's shooting in the fall which David Wain wrote with Ken Marino, and they're going to announce that soon." Of course we'll have to wait until this thing is officially announced for details, but more Rudd via Wain and Marino? Awesome.
The Rudd, Wain and Marino triumvirate most recently knocked out the underrated "Role Models" (seriously, the replay value on this one is surprisingly good) and Rudd and Marino currently have the catering world comedy "Party Down" on Starz, which is being criminally ignored. Seriously, if you haven't watched do yourself a favor and pick it up. This writer thinks it's miles above the overrated "Eastbound & Down."
Again, no word yet on when this will hit theaters until an official announcement is made, but with a fall shoot a 2011 release is pretty much guaranteed.
'Iron Man 2' Underperforms At Midnight Screenings, Record-Wise
Tired, perhaps annoyed of all those silly blog posts asking, "OMG, just HOW much money will "Iron Man 2"make? Or perhaps the even more ludicrous ones asking, "can 'IM2' make more money than, 'The Dark Knight'"??
It's not that we don't want it to do well, but those posts -- all about the math, the money and the numbers -- do tend to be rather obnoxious. Especially because there's the given assumption that "Iron Man 2" is going to blow everyone out of the water despite the rather tepid reviews (here's our collective likes, issues and problems with the film).
Well, if Thursday night's midnight screenings are any indication, the hyperbole number crunchers should keep it in check. While Jon Favreau's Marvel sequel did take in a decent $7.5 million on approximately 2,500 screens, those numbers were well under the $26.3 million "New Moon" midnight haul the "Twilight" film took over Thanksgiving last year. Those numbers were also well under the $18.5 million "The Dark Knight" raked in on its midnight debut in the summer of 2008.
Sure, "Iron Man 2," will still do gangbusters this weekend (it's already taken in over $139 million overseas and update: man, it just took in $52 million Friday night in North America) and likely overall, but we feel like this is some sort of karmic payback to those that just thought this one was in the record book bag, no matter what. Maybe we should just hate the player and not the game. [THR/Movieline]
In Theaters: 'Iron Man 2,' 'Babies,' 'Mother & Child'
Summer has officially begun with "Iron Man 2" hitting theaters just a couple short years after the original shocked the box office and many critics as well. Some experts are expecting the first weekend grosses to approach those of the current record holder, "The Dark Knight," however with Thursday midnight screenings only bringing in $7.5 million versus $18.5 million by "TDK," it seems that results might be lower than predicted. With "Babies" 543 screen opening no match for the record-breaking 4,380 screens for Marvel's main moneymaker, options at the megaplex are limited this weekend so if superheroes aren't your thing, you may want to check out your local arthouse instead.
In Wide Release: The inevitable sequel to the surprisingly fun 2007 film, “Iron Man 2” returns Robert Downey Jr. to the role that not only brought him back from a drug-induced cinematic wasteland, but transformed him into an unexpected A-list star. As expected, director Jon Favreau tries to reconcile bigger with better, adding Mickey Rourke, Scarlett Johansson and Sam Rockwell to the equation, and also sees Don Cheadle replacing Terrence Howard. We reviewed the film earlier in the week, finding it to be weaker than the original, but still probably one of the more entertaining blockbusters to hit theaters this summer. Critics are much more ambivalent this time around with Rotten Tomatoes reporting a 71% rating, while Metacritic is a bit lower with a score of 57. After you've watched it, see if you agree with our assessment of the film.
In Limited Release: “Babies” is the story of four infants from four different places around the globe -- Namibia, Mongolia, Japan and California -- during their first precious months of life. Filmmaker Thomas Balmes doesn’t use narration or subtitles to add dramatic arc to his film, he just places the camera on the children and allows them to reveal the cultural similarities that tie us all together as homosapiens. Or maybe it is just an excruciating hour and half of home video style footage that would make even Anne Geddes wince. RT: 70%, Metacritic: 62.
Prolific documentarian Alex Gibney (“Taxi to the Dark Side,” “Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room”) returns to the world of greed with “Casino Jack and the United States of Money.” In lobbyist and convicted criminal Jack Abramoff, Gibney has the perfect target for a country so divided politically; a villain everyone can agree on. We got a chance to see the film and posted our review yesterday, finding it, like most of Gibney's work, educational and entertaining if a little disjointed. Definitely worth a look if it is playing near you, unless you want to hold out for the Hollywood version starring Kevin Spacey, out later this year. RT: 89%, Metacritic: 67%.
Weaving together the stories of three women, all of who's lives have been affected by adoption is writer-director Roberto Garcia's "Mother and Child." Produced by Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, the film has a much more intimate scale than those of the "Babel" director's, while giving the viewer complex characters and richly human moments. The fantastic ensemble cast includes Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, Kerry Washington and Samuel L. Jackson. We posted our favorable review yesterday, happy to discover a film genuinely heartwarming and heartbreaking, with uniformly great performances from the leads. RT: 86%, Metacritic: 84.
Harmony Korine returns to his very lo-fi roots after his most expensive project, "Mister Lonely," with the very literally titled "Trash Humpers." With only four months from the start of production to world premiere, the film has a quick-and-dirty analog aesthetic that perfectly matches Korine's raw and subversive style. We saw the movie last year and loved every deranged second of it. We highly recommend you seek it out if it comes to your town because it really is best experienced with an audience.
Also out this week in limited: "Multiple Sarcasms" starring Timothy Hutton as a man trying to work out his lifetime of women trouble by writing a play. The film also stars Mira Sorvino, Dana Delany and Stockard Channing. RT: 8%, Metacritic: 33. "The Oath" is a documentary that plays like a thriller, shot on location in Yemen. It follows two very different men as their lives intersect with Al-Qaeda, and the U.S. political machine. We're hoping to get a look at this one very soon. RT:67%, Metacritic: 70.
--Written by Hunter McClamrock
Confirmed: Doug Liman To Direct 'The Three Musketeers'
Despite his track record of being somewhat of a loose cannon who can't stick to a budget or shooting schedule to save his life, Warner Bros. have found their man in Doug Liman to direct "The Three Musketeers."
As we previously reported last month, Liman was in negotiations after being selected from a shortlist of potential directors that included Dave Frankel ("Marley & Me," "The Devil Wears Prada"). The film, though based on the famous novel by Alexandre Dumas, will probably play fast and loose with the source material as last year's "Sherlock Holmes" did. Michael Robert Johnson ("Mute"), Peter Straughan ("The Men Who Stare At Goats") and Bridget O'Connor ("Sixty Six") penned the screenplay and the film is being fast-tracked for a fall shoot.
The film, which will most likely shoot in 3-D, is rushing to try and beat Paul W.S. Anderson's "Three Musketeers" film, which is currently set up at Summit, and will also be in 3-d and goes in front of cameras this summer.
Universal Picks Up 'The Man With The Iron Fists' To Be Written, Directed, Starring & Scored By RZA
RZA is getting ready to drop some mad knowledge on the film world. Universal will be backing his directorial debut "The Man With The Iron Fists" which the Wu-Tang Clan member will direct himself based on a script co-written by himself and Eli Roth.
The film, which as been in the works now for a couple of years is, according to Roth, RZA's "reinventing the Kung Fu movie genre." RZA tried to describe the project late last year and frankly, we didn't understand what the hell he was talking about:
"I don’t think I want to really describe [the premise], I think I just want to say that we’re striving to do what I did in hip-hop for film. It’s striving to bring the originality and excitement that I brought to hip-hop to the silver screen. I don’t want to give the movie away. You know, it’s action, it’s a certain genre, but I think I’ve got a certain twist of originality and a certain way of filming, a certain way of seeing scenes, that only a few people in Hollywood see. And definitely only a few people of my generation see. So I don’t know if that gives you any information or not."Thankfully, a few more details have emerged and the film will find RZA playing "the title character, a blacksmith who forges weapons for the inhabitants of a village in feudal China. They are forced to defend themselves, and before you know it, everybody is kung fu fighting." It's not like these kinds of movies need much in the way of plot anyway.
Well, whatever it is, RZA has been working hard with Roth, who adds "RZA went to China to shoot test footage on his own, with all the choreography. It was very visual and I think he will bring to life a script that mixes kung fu with a spaghetti Western mindset and a hip hop influence. RZA has imagined every tribe, every fighting style, every costume. He knows kung fu like I know horror."
RZA, who will also be composing the film's soundtrack, will begin production this September in Hong Kong and has been given a $20 million budget to work with.
--Written by Kevin Jagernauth
Jason Statham Joins 'Safe'; Magnetic Fields Doc 'Strange Powers' Gets Picked Up; 'Carlos' Poster Revealed & More
The poster for "Carlos," Olivier Assayas' epic biopic on famed terrorist Carlos The Jackal has landed and it's.....okay. It doesn't change our anticipation for the film, which is fairly high. "Carlos" will premiere at Cannes in a little over a week in its full five-and-a-half-hour cut. The full version will hit Sundance Channel in a mini-series format (as it's originally intended) and a shorter theatrical cut will make the arthouse rounds later this year.
Jason Statham has joined the thriller "Safe" that is set to be directed by Boaz Yakin. No plot details are available yet. Yakin made a splash with his gritty urban drama "Fresh," but quickly fell into directing stuff like "Remember The Titans" and "Uptown Girls" so expectations are low on this one.
Variance Films has picked up the North American theatrical rights to the Magnetic Fields documentary “Strange Powers: Stephin Merritt and the Magnetic Fields.” We saw the film at SXSW and called it a disappointing film that is "blandly and typically laudatory" with no real insight to the man and his work. That said, as big fans of Merritt and the Magnetic Fields we may be too close the subject material so give it a whirl yourself when it begins its limited rollout on October 27th.
Whatever this is, it's not the model being used for the upcoming "Godzilla" reboot from Warner Bros.
Yet another "Ice Age" movie is on the way. Tentatively titled "Ice Age: Continental Drift," Fox has scheduled the film for a July 13, 2012 release date and yes, it will be in 3D.
In yet another blow to Roman Polanski's ongoing legal battle, prosecutors are opposing the director's request that recent secret testimony by Roger Gunson, the original prosecutor on the case, be unsealed. Polanski's lawyers claim that the testimony details the plan by the case's original judge, Judge Laurence J. Rittenband, where he was planning to use Polanski's term under psychiatric evaluation as punishment for the crime. A hearing is set for Monday.
Kevin Durand, best known as the freakishly tall assassin-for-hire Martin Keamy on "Lost," has joined Hugh Jackman's "Real Steel." Directed by Shawn Levy, the film follows a father-son team training an unusual robot to win a boxing championship after Jackman's fall from glory as an actual human boxer. Durand will play a Texan boxing promoter. Filming is set to begin next month.
Avi Arad will be attending the Electronic Entertainment Expo where he plans to "offer insight into the worldwide premiere of his newest Pac-Man project." Will it be a movie? God, we fucking hope not. [via /Film]
Elizabeth Perkins ("Weeds") has joined the cast of the live action/CGI hybrid "Hop." Directed by Tim Hill ("Alvin And The Chipmunks"::shudder::), the film follows "an out-of-work slacker (James Marsden) who accidentally injures the son of the Easter Bunny (voiced by Russell Brand) and must take him in as he recovers." Perkins will play Marsden's mother.
--Written by Kevin Jagernauth
Don't Expect Us To Follow The 'Super 8' Viral Campaign For One Whole Year
Ahh, right on schedule, just a day after the trailer "leaked" (it's still not down so we assume Paramount put it up purposely). The viral marketing campaign for J.J. Abrams' Steven Spielberg-inspired mystery supernatural whatsit film, "Super 8," has already begun. Figures.
We already got duped (we were too excited) by "Scott Pilgrims Vs. The World," year in advance campaign (which was admittedly fun to follow), but don't expect us to follow the clues and mysteries closely for a year; that's for the sites that do free marketing for films (we only half do that; plus the whole "Slusho" thing was annoying).
Once someone let's us know if it's ghosts, monsters, spirits or aliens, we'll let you know, but look people, "Lost" is an overrated (and convoluted) sci-fi soap-opera. Just sayin'...
'The Strangers' Bryan Bertino To Write & Direct Thriller 'This Man'
Deadline reports that Bryan Bertino, the man behind cheap horror film "The Strangers" is set to write and direct "This Man" for Sam Raimi's Ghost House Pictures. The new film is a supposedly fact-based tale about a regular joe who has been in the nightmares of people he has never met before. That's kind of odd. Take the "true story" talk lightly, the film is based off of a website by Italian sociologist Andrea Natella, and a commenter in the original article claims that the entire thing is a guerrilla marketing campaign as the website is registered with "guerrillamarketing.it."
Being a true story or just a guerrilla marketing scheme makes no difference in the long run as it won't affect the quality of the film in any way. Admittedly, it is a pretty neat campaign and is sure to get people talking. Though the film's plot sounds a bit intriguing and creepy, we don't doubt that it will end up fizzling in the third act when it ends up answering why this man is appearing in everyone's dreams. While something like that is better left unanswered and meant to at least be a metaphor of some kind, chances are the studio won't want to disappoint audiences by leaving the story open, so they'll most likely disappoint them with a half-assed explanation on the dreams. Then again, this is the man who directed "The Strangers," which is notorious for having no twist or motivation at all, so maybe the "whys" will be left unanswered.
Also on Bertino's plate is the script for "The Strangers 2," which will be directed by Laurent Briet and will have Liv Tyler reprising her role as Kristen McKay. We reported this back in early April, but this writer still can't believe how redundant a sequel to that film might be. Even if it gets all "Alien" prequel on us, do we really care where the strangers came from? The original made a $70 million profit along with making back its $10 million budget, but the reviews were mostly negative, and audiences don't seem to be clamoring for a sequel like they did with "The Ring" and the utterly retarded "Jeepers Creepers."
"This Man" is presumably being written now, with casting news and such to come at a later date in time.
Vincenzo Natali To Direct Adaptation William Gibson's 'Neuromancer'
Canadian director Vincenzo Natali ("Cube") is set to make a film adaptation of William Gibson's novel "Neuromancer," THR reports.
The adaptation has gone through several different hands now, with Chris Cunningham developing a script over a decade ago. Author Gibson himself even stated that Cunningham would be his first choice, saying "[he is] My only choice. The only person I've met who I thought might have a hope in hell of doing it right." It's a shame this never panned out – Cunningham surely would have made one wacky sci-fi out of this.
"Moon" director Duncan Jones also once expressed interest in the project, but it eventually ended up in the hands of music video director Joseph Kahn. The Kahn directed feature would have starred Hayden Christensen in the lead, but with Natali stepping in, it is unclear whether Christensen is still on board for the feature.
'Neuromancer,' published in 1984, stands as one of the most influential pieces of science-fiction literature and was a seminal piece in the creation of the cyberpunk genre. The story centers on Henry Dorsett Case, a low-life ex-professional computer hacker who is employed by a mysterious corporation to perform a high level hack. It features then-innovative concepts such as transferrable consciousnesses, cyberspace, and even a virtual space called "the matrix" – sound familiar, anyone?
No word on when this one will film yet, but Natali is set to release his Adrien Brody and Sarah Polley-starring creature sci-fi/horror "Splice" on June 4th. Check out the trailer below:
'Men in Black III' Confirmed For 3D, Opens May 25, 2012.
Alright, no shockers here or really much news to speak of other than a release date.
Director Barry Sonnefeld recently told press that "Men In Black 3" would be shot in stereoscopic 3D and would reteam the original leads Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones for the McFranchise threequel.
All of this is now true, though TLJ is not officially locked in, but essentially he'll be onboard (he's in "advanced negotiations" which means it will happen). Josh Brolin is also in talks to play the younger version of Jones' character, with a time traveling plot that will take the story back to 1969. We really hope Agent Kay was a pot smoking hippie in those days.
Now Columbia Pictures has set a date for the film which will be May 25, 2012, the start of Memorial Day weekend. Etan Cohen ("Tropic Thunder") wrote the script, David Koepp gave it a polish and production will start this fall.
Summer 2012 is already getting hectic: Marvel’s “The Avengers” hits May 4, Peter Berg's boardgame-with-aliens picture “Battleship” arrives May 25, J.J. Abrams' “Star Trek” sequel is slated for a June 29 date , the rebooted 3-D “Spider-Man” by director Marc Webb is scheduled for July 3 and Christopher Nolan's third "Batman" film swoops into theaters on July 20.
Other films likely hitting that summer are "John Carter of Mars, "Wolverine 2" and the recently announced "Godzilla" reboot (presumably in 3-D).
'Iron Man 2': The Good, The Bad & The Ugly
Read it and weep. We gave "Iron Man 2" a shot and while some of us liked the film a bit better than our official review [a C+ grade is all it could muster], most of us here at The Playlist can agree the picture was an overstuffed semi-mess with myriad issues. We also all felt that most of the charm, zip and entertainment value evinced in the surprisingly fun "Iron Man" was sorely absent in this clunky sequel by director Jon Favreau.
Here's what we call the Good, the Bad, The Ugly: Things we loved, things we thought were silly and things we downright hated and if the above wasn't enough of a hint, be forewarned, we had more issues than praise.
THE GOOD:
Sam Rockwell Steals The Show The acting MVP of "Iron Man 2" was easily Sam Rockwell and he shined brightly as the considerably insecure, less successful foil to Tony Stark. His spray tan smarminess (see the orange hands?!?) and desperate longing for success was hilariously tragic. His lame attention-grabbing disco dance moves on stage? His inept and ineffectual bossing around of Mickey Rourke's "Whiplash" character? While Robert Downey, Jr. got a few good digs in what surely was an improv-lead quip-off in Monaco, Rockwell stole the charm factor away overall and that's saying something.
Gwyneth Paltrow: Thinking Person's Sex Symbol Yes, Scarlett Johansson looks sensational in a catsuit, but Playlisters of both genders were far more taken with Pepper Potts. Gwyneth Paltrow gets a far more interesting role than the usual superhero love interests (even if there is a bit of a damsel in distress moment at the end), making the likes of Maggie Gylenhaal and Liv Tyler look very token. More importantly, her chemistry with Downey Jr feels relaxed and genuine, with a very different rhythm to most modern couples, reminiscent more of screwball comedies of the '30s and '40s. The scene in her office framed between an executive toy provided the biggest laugh at the screening we attended. 
Visual Effects and Action Sequences: By and large the action set pieces, the big finale at the Stark Expo, were breathlessly put together and beautifully shot (by Darren Aronofsky regular Matthew Libatique). The execution of the drone fight and the subsequent battle ranks up there with some of the best action sequences in recent run of comic book movies (even though yes, a tad video-game-y). Gorgeously staged and executed with a fair bit of panache, the climactic robot-a-thon elicited big cheers from the audience we saw it with. However, yes, the concluding action sequence with Mickey Rourke is pretty anti-climactic and far too short.
Clark Gregg Leaves Us Wanting More: A character actor called "that guy" by lesser movie nerds, Clark Gregg was previously best known to the uninitiated for "The New Adventures of Old Christine." With "Iron Man 2" and the upcoming 'Avengers' movies, average moviegoers will now call him "Agent Coulson" (which we consider a step up). He sadly gets less screentime than his S.H.I.E.L.D. brethren, but we've got our fingers crossed that more Marvel movies mean more Gregg. Coulson's dry wit and fuck-you approach to Stark is one of the movie's high points. 
THE BAD:
The Music, Both Score And Songs: Every good superhero franchise needs an iconic theme; "Superman" had one, "Batman" has two, and even "X-Men" had a half-decent one. B-lister Ramin Djawadi singularly failed to deliver with the first "Iron Man," and John Debney didn't do a much better job for the sequel; it's ok, but very anonymous, as befits a composer who was behind "Valentine's Day" and "Old Dogs." The song picks aren't much better; we can live with the obnoxious party music of AC/DC (ugh), but an Iron Man/War Machine fight, set to "Another One Bites The Dust" and "Robot Rock"? A bit painfully on-the-nose, isn't it? 
James Rhodes Is An Unusually Fast War Machine Study. OK, "Iron Man 2" can't have it both ways. While it's filled with painful exposition half the time, no one even stops to explain for a second how Rhodey (Don Cheadle) can all of a sudden get into the War Machine armor for the first time and be as much an expert as Tony Stark? Ok, he may have learned once or twice in the interim, but to be that proficient all of a sudden? Feels like Justin Theroux was at the laptop with a J on that one. Plus using Stark's one drunk scene as an excuse to have an Iron Man armor showdown... god, that scene was near embarrassing on multiple levels and deserves its own category.
Tech Talk Mumbo Jumbo: Firewall! Log in! Encrypted password! For a moment there, we thought we were watching "Hackers." We're not quite sure how come the military, the government and Justin Hammer seem incapable of creating a network that can't be hacked in under thirty seconds by anybody, but the technical globbitygook jargon was even more comically distracting. It all culminated at its worst during the eye-rolling digital magic hands sequence as Tony Stark figures out the new element/cure by waving this arms around, mumbling some whatchamacallit sci-fi science to himself and then having Jarvis proudly declare, "Congratulations sir, you've discovered a new element." Gee, that dramatic threat was pretty dangerous, huh? Please.
The Occasionally Clunky Script: The script does a fair amount of expert juggling but occasionally drops the ball (or all of the balls). Examples of the worst boilerplate action dialogue that made us question whether or not we were actually having a good time: Scarlett bursting into the VERY CLEARLY EMPTY room of Mickey Rourke only to shout "He's not here!" Then there's the moment when Rhodey looks at all the dead robots, with the blinking lights, and finally says "They're bombs!" (Or something to that effect.) Even your average movie goer is smart enough to understand what was going on in these scenes.
Bad Special Effects: As stated in the "Good" section above, "Iron Man 2" largely wowed us with its FX, except for one moment in the otherwise awesome Monaco scene. Rourke's Siberia-cool Vanko calmly walks toward the camera as exploding cars careen past him. The shot didn't make us say, "Wow, that Ivan Vanko is one serious badass who doesn't even care that cars are blowing the fuck up around him." The awful blue screen made us think, "Of course he's fine. He's safe in a studio with a craft services table nearby."
Irrelevant Post-Credits Stinger Wears Irrelevance Proudly: What kind of fan-service is this, anyway? At the close of the "Iron Man 2" credits, we have a brief scene paying off Agent Coulson's trip to New Mexico. The camera pans down to reveal... a HAMMER! Hey, Marvel and co., admit it — you tossed off this scene in 30 minutes on the director's lunch break. If you're going to make the nerds in the audience wait through all those credits, at least give them something worthwhile, like another actor doing something interesting. As is, the casual fan doesn't know much about Thor, so they assume that it's not the weaponry of the God of Thunder, but something involving Justin Hammer, which is more than a reasonable conclusion.
Film As Two-Hour Set-up for Future Avengers Outings: Studio heads would normally shake their heads at a $200 million trailer, but Paramount seems just fine with spending that much for "Iron Man 2" only to pave the way for "Thor," "Captain America: The First Avenger," and more. Theroux's compromised script seems less concerned with its own narrative than with advancing the franchise, letting the S.H.I.E.L.D. subplot obscure development of Stark and Iron Man. We're all for geeky references, but a less-than-subtle Captain America moment feels less like a wink toward the knowing nerds and more like product placement. 
No Real Sense Of Threat. Jeff Bridges, Mickey Rourke and Sam Rockwell. You'd think at least one of those actors and their respective villains could have made Tony Stark sweat, right? Like its predecessor though, Stark never really looks threatened in the sequel with the main antagonist ultimately being his dwindling health and the convenient toxicity meter — a problem which is resolved early on anyway. The film's light, fun tone also means Stark's internal dramas, while somewhat interesting, are basically redundant as the potential for self-destruction is never there. It's probably what Favreau was hinting at with the drunk party scene, but with the abysmal execution of that scene comes Stark's continued floating in his comfort zone.
THE DOWNRIGHT UGLY:
The Drunk Party Scene Is Retarded. Aside from the aforementioned song choices, (spun in an uncomfortable cameo by the late DJ AM), this whole scene seems to exist because of a vacuum of action in the mid-section of the movie, rather than because it comes from character or plot. Coming off like a deleted scene from "Hancock," it's a rare moment of uncertain tone for Favreau, who's normally so good at balancing it; it switches between slapstick comedy and this-is-Tony-Stark's-low-point drama, and stops the film dead in its tracks. If they're going to half-ass "Demon In A Bottle," could they not just go for a drunk-driving scene?
Scarlett Johansson Is Iron Woman. The actress said in recent interviews she found it difficult to convey the "unwavering confidence" of her Black Widow character and boy does it show. She's so tightly wound, perhaps nervous to be around this cast, she's completely leaden and acts like she has a foreign object wedged far up her backside. Not helping her wooden case at all is the fact that her character dispenses each badguy the same way with a twisting neck flip maneuver. Mr. Favreau, get her a new trick already.
Samuel L. Jackson & The Non-Momentum. Like Scarjo, the once mighty Samuel L. Jackson sticks out like a sore thumb in this generally great cast of actors. Once again, playing a variation of his cool-guy "Pulp Fiction" character (once the arrogance went to Jackson's head, his acting abilities just shut down somewhere in the mid '90s). Even worse is the terrible 'Avengers' subplot he needs to anchor. It's bad enough that "Iron Man 2" feels like a commercial for the super hero team-up half the time and it's worse that anytime an 'Avengers'/Sam Jackson scene rears its head the movie grinds to a halt and all momentum is lost.
Villains That Don't Shower - Ok, let's get this straight — Ivan Vanko has potentially game-changing arc-reactor tech within his means, but he chooses to live in squalor with his dying dad. And when his dad dies, he finally builds this material to take out Tony Stark. But, for some reason, he waited for Stark to admit to the world that he's Iron Man before taking a path of action. Also, he doesn't groom his freakish nails and lets his raggedy hair trail behind him no matter where he goes. This is... not a villain with straightforward priorities.- Gabe Toro, Drew Taylor, Kevin Jagernauth, Kimber Meyers, Oliver Lyttelton & Simon Dang
Chris Pine Is In Talks For McG's 'This Means War'
Some new, minor information has surfaced on McG's next film, "This Means War."
A few weeks ago we reported that Seth Rogen and Chris Pine were being sought for the spy-love-friendship movie, and EW has confirmed that Pine is in early negotiations to co-star along with Reese Witherspoon. In case you forgot, the film is about "two best friends, both of whom are spies, that go to war with each other after falling in love with the same woman." It will deal with friendship, love, what happens when the two collide, etc. We're sure it will have nothing profound to say about any of the aforementioned topics.
That rather simple log line has been in development for ten years (never a good sign), with Martin Lawrence and Gore Verbinski ("Pirates of The Caribbean") interested at one point. Maybe if Fox chose someone with a few more ideas to bring to the table (i.e. not McG), the film would be moving at a quicker pace. Still no word on Rogen, but we personally doubt he'll bite (and we personally hope he won't). McG films don't sound like Rogen's bag and the much more interesting Sarah Polley film, "Take this Waltz," in which he is involved, has the same July 2010 start date as the spy comedy, so we're taking that as an indisputable pass (and "Take This Waltz" secured funding from the Canadian government earlier this spring so it should be good to go).
Although the film's latest draft is one written by Timothy Dowling, the man behind "Role Models," things can't be looking too good if Bradley Cooper has backed out. This is the man who dealt with garbage like "Failure to Launch," "The Rocker," and "Yes Man." If Cooper had "creative differences" with this film, who knows what level of abysmal the script actually is. Let's not even get started on what it must mean if Martin Lawrence lost interest in the project.
We suppose we'll find out later in the year, as the film seems to be chugging along even without the two main characters securely cast. Hopefully something amusing will come out of the shoot, maybe Christian Bale will stop by and recreate the berating of a crew member for old time's sake. Surely that would be a hell of a lot funnier than the actual film's idea. As with McG, anything can happen (except, apparently, casting actors).
Watch: New 'Inception' Trailer & TV Spot, Plus New IMAX Poster
Update #2: Okay a high quality video is now floating around, and we've got the stream below. Again, this is a pretty goddamn incredible trailer.
Update: So a better quality version of the trailer is now online, but you have play the Mind Crime game in order to find it. Super annoying. Good job hiding a highly anticipated trailer within the confines of a viral game only nerds are playing Warner Bros! Way to get the word out.
Ok, these are shitty phone-cam versions of both and we'll swap 'em out once the official versions hit the web later today (right, Warner Bros?) but here is the latest TV spot and full length trailer for Christopher Nolan's existential heist flick "Inception" boasting tons of new footage.
Even in these super low grade snaps (the trailer was captured from what seems like the third row of a theater that didn't know how to turn off pre-show advertising and trivia) our goosebumps were considerably raised. It seems like a good portion of the footage unveiled earlier this year at ShoWest has made it into the latest, lengthy trailer as well as a more clearly defined 'plot' and finally, a look at Marion Cotillard. We're ready. Warner Bros. please deliver the hi-def version soon.
--Written by Kevin Jagernauth
Liam Gallagher Producing 'The Longest Cocktail Party,' The Story Of The Beatles' Demise
Liam Gallagher. Singer. Songwriter. Professional asshole. And now, apparently, movie producer. The cranky former frontman of Oasis is bringing the story of the demise of the Beatles to the big screen after securing the rights to Richard DiLello's memoir The Longest Cocktail Party: An Insider’s Diary Of The Beatles, Their Million Dollar Apple Empire And Its Wild Rise And Fall.
The book chronicles the contentious years between 1967 and 1970 from the perspective of DiLello, an American teenager hired as Apple Records' 'house hippie,' who eventually moved his way up to being director of public relations. Those years saw the Beatles at their most brilliant and fractious, releasing albums like "Abbey Road" and "Let It Be," all the while juggling the increasingly bitter personal relationships, creative differences and managerial woes that led to the band's eventual breakup. It's certainly one of rock 'n roll's more fascinating stories and there's probably no one better suited to shepherd the project than Gallagher who is an unabashed fan of the group.
Partnering with Revolution Films, Gallagher will head to Cannes next week to launch the project and begin the search for a screenwriter and a director. Once the script is in the can -- hopefully at the end of this year or early next year -- casting will begin for the Fab Four and the rowdy Apple Records roster and crew. Of course, the production will have to secure the rights to the Beatles' catalog which could cost a pretty penny, but we do hope this one comes together; its a compelling story that will make for fascinating big screen fare.
--Written by Kevin Jagernauth
New Pictures From Ralph Fiennes' 'The Hurt Locker'-Style Version Of 'Coriolanus'
When the first images broke of Ralph Fiennes' directorial debut, an adaptation of Shakespeare's "Coriolanus," a little while ago, it was in no way what we'd been expecting. The project was thought to have a contemporary setting, but the images revealed it to be a full-on war movie.
Unlike the sometimes-gratuitous modernizations of Shakespeare's work (Michael Almereyda's "Hamlet," please stand up), the action-packed end-of-an-empire drama of "Coriolanus" seems tailor-made for an update, and Fiennes has enlisted regular Ken Loach DoP Barry Ackroyd, who's recently shot both "The Hurt Locker" and "Green Zone," to give the film some of the feeling of those works.
The Daily Mail has a handful of fresh images from the film, which give us a first look at the supporting cast, including Gerard Butler as Tullus Aufidius, the rival of Roman general Coriolanus (Fiennes himself), Vanessa Redgrave as Volumnia, his mother, Brian Cox as Menenius and Jessica Chastain ("Tree of Life") as Virgilia. James Nesbitt, John Kani, Ashraf Barhom and, bizarrely, British pop star Will Young also appear. The look seems to be inspired more by the Balkan war than by Afghanistan or Iraq, and indeed shooting took place in Belgrade, with former Serbian special forces soldiers appearing as extras.
It's been a long time since there was a Shakespeare movie worth a damn, (although we're hopeful about Julie Taymor's "The Tempest," when it eventually sees the light of day) but this looks like it could be terrific -- it's a real passion project for Fiennes, and he's assembled a hell of a cast. The only question comes over the casting of Gerard Butler, who, "How To Train Your Dragon" aside, has never appeared in anything even close to being worth a damn.
Terrence Howard To Play Nelson Mandela Opposite Jennifer Hudson In 'Winnie'
The last few years has seen a flurry of screen portrayals of Nelson Mandela. Morgan Freeman finally took on the role, to somewhat disappointing effect, in Clint Eastwood's "Invictus," Clarke Peters, of "The Wire" and "Treme," did an excellent job in the underrated thriller "Endgame," while Dennis Haysbert played incarceration-era Mandela in "Goodbye Bafana." Now it looks like one more, somewhat surprising, star is going to take the role on.
Terrence Howard, who's been a little quiet for the last few years, aside from "Fighting" and a role in George Lucas' upcoming "Red Tails," will take on the iconic role in "Winnie," a biopic of Mandela's former wife. Winnie Madikizela-Mandela is referred to by many South Africans as "The Mother Of The Nation," due to her role in the struggle against apartheid while her husband was imprisoned. She's also a controversial figure, however, being convicted of kidnapping in relation to the murder of a 14-year-old boy, and of fraud in 2003, as well as splitting from Mandela in 1992 due to infidelity.
She was played earlier this year by Sophie Okonedo ("Hotel Rwanda") in the BBC drama "Mrs. Mandela," but the role in "Winnie" will be taken, strangely enough, by Jennifer Hudson, of "American Idol" and "Dreamgirls" fame. The youngish casting suggests that this'll focus on the early part of their lives, but it's possible that the sweep of the story will be wider. Filming starts on May 31st, under the stewardship of Darrel James Roodt. We were going to make a joke about Howard being replaced by Don Cheadle in "Winnie 2", but Empire got there first, goddammit...
Clint Eastwood's 'Hereafter' Handed Pre-Halloween October 22nd Release
Clint Eastwood's supernatural drama "Hereafter" will now hit theaters October 22nd through usual Eastwood collaborators, Warner Bros.
The film, starring Matt Damon, Cécile de France and Bryce Dallas Howard among others, was scribed by Peter Morgan and follows three concurrent stories involving an American factory worker with the ability to communicate with the dead; a young British boy looking to contact his deceased twin; and a French journalist coping with a near-death experience from the 2004 tsunami.
A pre-Halloween release alongside "Saw VII 3D" and "Paranormal Activity 2" seems odd considering the studio's recent confidence in Eastwood, dropping his last two efforts ("Invictus," "Gran Torino") right in the Oscar-contending window. Then again, 2008's "Changeling" was released on October 31st and ended up earning three Academy nominations including a nod for Angelina Jolie so perhaps it's just a clever bit of counter-programming.
That being said, the October release date could indicate that Warner Bros. has a bit more awards-season faith in Todd Phillips' road-trip comedy, "Due Date." That film is already developing strong buzz, and it has Golden Globe-winning talent from last year on board (Zach Galifianakis and Robert Downey Jr.) so it wouldn't be too surprising if it trumped a film described as "in the vein of 'The Sixth Sense'" for award-season prioritization. And we wouldn't be surprised if the Academy tries to amend shutting out "The Hangover" by tossing a few nods to Phillips and co. this time around.
Other quality WB works potentially include Chris Nolan's "Inception" and Ben Affleck's "The Town" but they're already hitting in July and September respectively so unless "Yogi Bear" — due out December 17th — is the studio's Oscar weapon, the late fall award season releases may be surprisingly without Eastwood and WB this year.
Ewan McGregor & Vera Farmiga No Longer On Board Madonna's Period Drama 'W.E.'
Ewan McGregor and Vera Farmiga have respectively turned down and exited leading roles in Madonna's upcoming sophomore directorial effort, period drama "W.E.," with the production now in a state of chaos.
The two thesps were being lined up to play King Edward VIII and socialite-turned-Duchess Wallis Simpson but are now no longer on board, with McGregor's exit likely coming as less of a surprise as he was never officially on board in the first place. Farmiga, meanwhile, has reportedly left her post citing "family reasons" despite the fact she has recently announced a new pregnancy which rules her out of this and puts in doubt the likes of a leading role in indie-western "A Thousand Guns" and her own directorial debut/starring vehicle "Higher Ground" which were scheduled for later this year.
Reports from the production also note that Oscar-winning producer David Parfitt ("Shakespeare In Love") and casting director Nina Gold have exited as well citing creative differences stemming from Madonna's alleged meddling ways and inability to "collaborate and delegate." If true, perhaps this played a part in why McGregor isn't involved anymore — either way, the production does look to be in dire straits.
"W.E." tells the parallel stories of the affair between King Edward VIII and Wallis Simpson which led to the royal's abdication and the contemporary story of a woman, Wally Winthrop, with romantic problems of her own, in addition to an obsession with the life of the Duchess of Windsor.
Poor Abbie Cornish is now by herself seemingly still attached to star as Winthrop who, in one instance in the film, will reportedly be visited by an apparition of the Duchess of Windsor who then proceeds to rock out "with her pugs, to the Sex Pistols’ songs 'Anarchy In The UK' and 'God Save The Queen.'" Christ, this sounds ridiculous — someone, please, help Madonna make this happen for entertainment's sake.
Shooting was originally slated for this summer in London, New York and the French Riviera but, all things considered, that may no longer be a realistic start date.
First Look: Chloe Moretz In Matt Reeves' 'Let Me In'
Update: A hi-rez version from Overture has arrived.
Here's the first look at "Kick-Ass" breakout star Chloe Moretz in Matt Reeves' upcoming remake of Swedish vampire flick "Let The Right One In."
The young starlet will play the renamed vampire child Abby whose blossoming friendship with her new neighbor, 12 year old Owen - played by "The Road" star Kodi Smit-McPhee - is more much complicated than first thought. Richard Jenkins also stars as Abby's guardian in the pic, which will be set in Los Alamos, New Mexico in the '80s.
Moretz obviously doesn't have the physical eeriness of Alfredsson's lead, Lina Leandersson, with criticism already coming in strong for her 'over-cuteness' for the role. Surely, Reeves knows better though and is going for something different, as a straight-up English-language remake of Alfredsson's popular adaptation seems destined to just fall flat.
"Let Me In," as it's been retitled, will hit theaters October 1st.
Review: 'The Trotsky' Isn't The Revolutionary Comedy It Wants To Be
Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel) thinks his life bears more than just a coincidental resemblance to the socialist leader Leon Trotsky. After reading Trotsky's autobiography My Life, Bronstein determines that is, in fact, the reincarnation of Trotsky and believes that his life will mirror his own. He will marry young, start a revolution, be betrayed and then eventually assassinated. Comedies don't get much more high concept than this, and despite a spirited performance by Baruchel, "The Trotsky" isn't quite the revolutionary comedy it wants to be.
After a very clunky opening twenty to thirty minutes establishing the premise, "The Trotsky" settles into a film that pretty much owes its shape the second half of "Rushmore," when Max Fischer enrolls in public school. Bronstein suffers the same fate when, after trying to organize a union for the workers at his father's factory, he father matches his son's vigor for the common man and pulls him out of private school and sends him to a public high school. The horror!
At first, Bronstein is a strange fit for the school but, he soon finds a new adversaries in Principal Berkhoff (a delicious evil Colm Feore) and a teacher Ms. Davis (Domini Blythe). Bronstein engages the (tiny) student council (Tiio Horn and Ricky Mabe) and decides that he is going to unionize the students to give them a collective voice. In the midst of all this, Bronstein slowly develops a relationship with former activist lawyer Frank McGovern (Michael Murphy) who he tries to engage to help sue his father all while wooing Alexandra Leith (Emily Hampshire) who he believe is his future wife (because like Trotsky's first wife Aleksandra Sokolovskaya, she doesn't like him at first and is ten years older than him). And yes, there is a lot going on in this movie.
As the film builds, writer/director Jacob Tierney tries to turn "The Trotsky" into yet another rousing high school comedy where the kids stick it to the adults but, it never quite works. The high concept of the film continually gets in the way of its own momentum as do the myriad of sub-sub-sub plots and relationships that dangle like distracting loose threads. Among the many things left unexplained or unexplored are Bronstein's contentious relationship with his more successful older brother; the significance of Bronstein's shiksa stepmom which is briefly touched upon and then never mentioned again; Alexandra's ex-bf who gets a couple pointless scenes (frankly, he could've been written right out of the script) and Alexandra's relationship with her best friend Laura (played by the staggeringly beautiful Jessica Paré) who comes in for a couple scenes but never seems the confidante that Alexandra requires.
The other sticking point for the film is, sadly, its very Canadian tone. This is somthing this writer has touched upon before and, as a Canadian, feels often hampers homegrown productions from resonating elsewhere. "The Trotsky" is loaded with a lot jokey Canadian and even Montreal specific (where this writer is located and where the movie is set) jokes that will make Canadians groan and go right over everyone else's head. If you've been waiting for jokes about Margaret Trudeau, the West Island and the differences between Ontario and Quebec then perhaps this movie is for you, but the film practically stops dead when it gives way to extended segment with "E-Talk" host Ben Mulroney (the Canadian equivalent of Ryan Seacrest with far less charisma). Add all of this to a film that runs a painfully long two hours, and you have a project could've definitely used tightening up and another pass at the script.
With all that said, there is still a lot that works with the film. Jay Baruchel, as we mentioned before, is pitch perfect here. Even though he's once again working in a film that is below his talents (seriously, he is a need of a great script for a lead role; Judd Apatow where are you?), he makes the film worth watching. The film also features a much stronger second half, and when Bronstein finally decides to take drastic measures (which we won't spoil here) to get the student body their union, the film does become quite engaging. Plus extra points for a mainstream comedy making pointed references to "Battleship Potemkin," "Norma Rae" and Ken Loach's "Land & Freedom." That doesn't happy very often (or at all).
As you can guess, "The Trotsky" is simply uneven. For every moment where the film truly seems to be moving forward, it becomes distracted and amateur. Despite a better second half, the film doesn't quite earn the late stage emotional changes in its characters that occur to tie up the plot (and in fact, we haven't even mentioned Bronstein's relationship to his father which suddenly comes into play at the end; again, this film is overstuffed to bursting). We also haven't yet commented the score by Francophone indie rockers Malajube largely because its distinctly unremarkable, playing to the standard tropes of pop/rock scores. Tierney certainly seems to hope there will be more adventures for Leon Bronstein as he leaves the door open for a sequel, but one revolution is certainly more than enough. [C]
--Written by Kevin Jagernauth
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