Above: Rainn Wilson lets his hair down for The Rocker.
Fans of Rainn Wilson's offbeat, hilarious and strangely endearing performance as Dwight Schrute on NBC's The Officemight expect him to transition into film work with straightforward comedy, and The Rockerconfirms that suspicion. However, they might not realize the serious professional motives behind his choice. In the movie, directed by Peter Cattaneo (The Full Grown Monty), Wilson plays a grown-up dolt named Fish with a scary fixation on classic rock. Abandoned by the band Vesuvius in his teens -- before they became a commercial phenomenon -- Fish spends the next twenty years working deadbeat jobs and wishing things happened differently. Naturally, he gets a second chance: When the opportunity rolls around to drum for his nephew's high school, Fish goes for it. Ageism and slapstick humor ensue.
While not exactly a classic, The Rocker proves Wilson has the charisma to carry a movie. The script could use some polishing, but Wilson manages to play a completely dysfunctional human being without ever becoming an annoyance. It's a testament to his skill as an actor with calculated timing. The humor emerges from the naturalism of his performances, which make you believe in the outlandish characters he portrays. In a conversation with Cinematical recently, Wilson elaborated on his particular strategies as his career advances, reminisced about his days as a New York theater actor, and shed some light on a few upcoming projects.
What if someone took the video game Pac-Man and turned it into an independent live-action, horror-thriller? Well, check out the video above, because that's exactly what these fine folks did on what looks to be a budget of about twenty bucks. This time, however, we're seeing things from the ghosts POV and Pac-Man is the hunter, instead of the hunted. The Pac-Man graphics are on the cheap, and they even cut in scenes from the video game to use as a substitute for at least one kill, but as a whole -- with a solid, heart-pounding score and clever acting -- this thing is definitely worth a watch. Loved the ending!
Whaddya think? CGI feature-length Pac-Man movie in 2011, starring ... who?
Today will be partly cloudy with a chance of kick ass!
The Hobbit: Not long ago Guillermo Del Toro told fans that his next move was to begin work on The Hobbit script very soon. Well guess what? To our complete shock and surprise, the dude actually followed through on all this "writing script nonsense" and -- wait for it -- started working on the script (along with LOTR partners Frank Walsh and Philippa Boyens). YES! And this is, like, the BIGGEST news online today. "NEWSFLASH: Del Toro is on page 12 and he's already introduced 750 new creatures!" I give up ... call me in 12 years when the film is finally complete and ready to hit theaters.
The Dark Knight: You've watched the movie countless times, followed hundreds of viral sites, read thousands of stories on Heath Ledger and why he deserves to square off against Jesus up in heaven for a chance to be God's new (and much more well-liked) son -- so, what's left? Well, if you still haven't overdosed on The Dark Knight and/or are in desperate need of another Batman fix, feel free to feast your eyes on the film's script. Yes, JoBlo managed to snag a copy of the entire thing (read it here) for you to save, print out and do whatever it is you freaks do with stuff like that. Personally, I enjoyed reading it to see where they trimmed and cut and called Wonder Woman a whore. Kidding! Just wanna make sure you're paying attention.
Poltergeist remake: Because in this one she's watching a reality show, gets pulled into the television and subsequently bores herself to death. [Writes down notes for Poltergeist 2 pitch ...] Anyway, THR tells us that Boogeyman writers Juliet Snowden and Stiles "I wonder how many Teen Wolf jokes he got growing up" White will pen the script for the remake of this classic spooky flick. "Too soon!" yelled a nobody movie blogger, but alas it was too late.
What's really going on over at Warner Bros. regarding their superhero properties? Is Justice League still moving forward? Has Christopher Nolan already signed on to direct a third Batman film? Will they attempt a move similar to what Marvel is doing and plot out solid solo flicks before combining worlds? Well, Variety recently spoke with Warners Chief Alan Horn, production prexy Jeff Robinov and Gregory Noveck, senior VP of creative affairs for DC Comics, and they brought back a few answers regarding all this fun stuff.
Firstly, a deal is officially on the table for Chris Nolan to (we assume) co-write and direct a third Batman film, however he hasn't made a decision yet. Horn said, "We have no idea where Chris is going with this. We haven't had any conversations with him about it." Hopefully an announcement on that front will arrive soon. With Justice League, Warners does eventually want to make it, but it definitely seems the early bad buzz from within the fanboy community is what put the breaks on this one.
Originally, it looked as if Warners was going to use JLA to launch solo efforts for a bunch of DC properties. Now, however, we're hearing a different tune. Horn notes they want to turn "the properties into viable movie product in an intelligent way so that we introduce them like planes on a runway. They have to be set up the right way and lined up the right way and all take off one at a time and fly safe and fly straight." So then what does this mean for the future of Justice League ... ?
One of the privileges of being an adult is seeing R rated movies. Well, not me -- I was watching them before I was even in kindergarten, and I suspect most of the Cinematical staff was too. But in general, adulthood brings unrestricted viewing access to copious amounts of sex and violence. Of course, that was back before Hollywood decided that R ratings didn't make enough money, and everything vaguely dark should be slashed to allow a 12 year old a ticket.
The latest flick to be marched to the chopping block is the troubled Punisher: War Zone. Latino Review was told by an insider that the latest fight is over cutting it down to a PG-13 rating. I imagine that this is the battle that saw Lexi Alexander canned, and not a disagreement over the film's soundtrack. (It's much easier to sell her as petty and difficult with that story than one over a rating -- but who knows what's true or not at this point.)
Apparently, Lionsgate isn't even listening to their own buzz, since what had everyone talking was the impressive level of violence in the red band trailer. (I've embedded it below since we never got a chance to post it.) They're likely looking at The Dark Knight and how much money its PG-13 rating made and thinking they can copy its success, despite that their protagonist is known for his semi-automatics and bloody tactics, not his "I'll never kill or use guns" ethics.
Do you really want another PG-13 Punisher? I can't imagine you do. I know most of you are pretty lukewarm on the upcoming non-sequel, but if there was one thing that would get you to see it, wouldn't it have been the table leg through the eye? I've been honest about what was drawing me to the film, but if they neuter it, I'm not even sure Ray Stevenson can lure me. It's being released at Christmas, for heaven's sake. How am I supposed to relax from battling Christmas shopping crowds without gratuitous bloodshed? Come on, Lionsgate. Keep the R.
We're well into August, and here in Austin it's hot and dry and the last thing most of us are thinking about is anything going on next March. But over at SXSW, they're ignoring the dog days of summer and preparing like crazy for next year's interactive, music, and (of course) film festival / conference. The 2009 South By Southwest Film Festival is scheduled for March 13-21, as you can see from the new site for next year's festivities, and you can start submitting your films now for consideration. You've got until December to get your short or feature film to the festival if you're dreaming of seeing your name in lights (or at least your film's title) at the Paramount next year.
A few films are already scheduled to be screened at the 2009 fest: the SXSWclick winners, which were recently announced. The Grand Jury award for the short-film contest went to Peter and Ben, by Pinny Grylls, which also won in the documentary shorts category. Little Pumpkin, directed by Tiffany Bartok, took home the Popularity Contest award. You can watch these films and the winning shorts from all categories on the SXSWclick site. In fact, you can watch all the finalists online if you like. So if you want to pretend it's March in Austin, crank up the air conditioning a bit, sit back in a comfy chair with a beer or milkshake (in tribute to Alamo Drafthouse, a favorite SXSW venue), and enjoy the SXSWclick shorts. Then hike a mile back to your car with Scott Weinberg or Will Goss next to you, scarfing down hot wings from a Sixth Street bar and speculating on how many screeners they can watch that night before they pass out from exhaustion. (Okay, maybe you do have to wait for March for that last experience.)
The cool gang over at Rotten Tomatoes has gotten a little behind the scenes glimpse of Coraline, the highly anticipated partnership between Neil Gaiman and Henry Selick. And because they're so cool, we get to embed it for you, so you don't have to leave the comfort of Cinematical.
Coraline has been floating around for so long I honestly can't remember if any of this information is new -- it feels like it is, so I guess that's just as good. But I can tell you the footage is, and is the first we've seen since the teaser back in February. And it's a treat! You also get to marvel over a few of the set pieces, and who can't gape for hours at anything Selick has created? At under two minutes, it's just enough to leave you desperate for more. It's going to be a long time before we get any more -- Coraline won't be released until February 6th, 2009.
Ladies, get ready for Jake "Prince of Persia" Gyllenhaal! Just Jared has nailed the first set photos from the highly-anticipated Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, based on the popular video game in which a Prince does ... stuff ... God does he look hot, or what!? Okay, for realz now -- Jake plays a young Prince named Dastan who must team with a feisty and exotic Princess (Gemma Arterton) and stop an evil ruler from destroying the world. Something tells me this is one film where looks will definitely kill. Check out two more photos below, then the rest over at Just Jared. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time will hit theaters on May 28, 2010.
And speaking of guys who look good with their shirt off and shoot movies based on video games, 20th Century Fox has put out a few new promotional pics from Max Payne, starring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis. In the film, based on yet another popular video game, Wahlberg stars as a guy whose family was killed and, well, he's out to kick some ass. Kunis plays a hottie assassin out to avenge the death of her sister. Together, these two are the kind of nuts you wouldn't want to meet in a dark alley -- but you'd definitely want to meet in a darkened movie theater. Max Payne hits theaters on October 17. Check out the new pics below.
If you thought that Heath Ledger's Glasgow grin in The Dark Knight was gruesome, consider that it may have actually been tame. Peter over at /film has scanned in a bunch of images from the making-of book, and they illustrate a few of the early Joker ideas that were created in pre-production, before Ledger was cast (check out a couple in the gallery below, and more over at Slash).
It's always fascinating to see how a character came to be, particularly one that's proving to be as iconic as Ledger's joker. The facial scars were apparently decided on quite early, with varying degrees of severity, but the spiky hair was an interesting choice. I remember there was a lot of complaining initially about Ledger's long and "greasy" hair, but I prefer it to the short and spiky look, which says Mark McGrath more than clown-faced madman. I have no idea how much Ledger brought to the table in terms of his look, and it doesn't sound like that's mentioned in the book, either. Creepy stuff -- frankly, if this is how dark Christopher Nolan's team can go, I can't wait to see what they could do with a new villain altogether.
Finally, we all have a reason to watch American Gladiators sober! Apparently, the Gladiator known as Titan (aka Mike O'Hearn) was on the Todd n' Tyler radio show this morning in Omaha where he blew the mind of Omaha-ians with word that he's pretty close to landing the lead role in Lionsgate's Conan reboot. Slashfilm picked up the news from a reader, then listened to the show and came back with this quote from Titan (who was supposed to meet with Conan folks this morning): "Today's not even an audition. They're bringing me in today just to sit me down and talk. How about that? It's even better than an audition!"
Additionally, Titan also told Todd n' Tyler that he's got a casting session scheduled for Marvel's Captain America, which means they've got the ball rolling over there. He definitely looks the part, but will Marvel really take a chance on an American Gladiator as the lead in a big summer blockbuster flick? I can't see that happening, but you never know -- word is Titan looks good when he ... makes a fist? (I dunno, I'm reachin' here ...)
What do you think about all this? Personally, I don't mind Titan as Conan, but only if this guy plays the bad guy. On the other hand, the role of Captain America is a bit more precious. Would you fans mind it going to a Gladiator, or do you want someone more recognizable?
Here are some Fanboy nuggets for you to chew on ... Halo: The Fall of Reach -- While that old Halo movie is dead and buried, the property may still have a little life left when it comes to a big-screen adaptation. Stuart Beattie wrote a draft of a script based on the 2001 novel by Eric Nylund, which served as a prequel to the first game in the series. Now, Latino Review has snagged a piece of concept art from Kasra Farahani (Wolf Man, Spider-Man 3, Hancock) that's accompanying Beattie's script and will be part of an eventual presentation to Microsoft. Click on the image above to see a larger version over at LR. Hang on Halo fans, they're trying to make this happen for ya ... Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen -- We now know what Shia LaBeouf's next ride might be, and it's definitely not a used 2001 Honda Accord. Oh no, CHUD reports that Megatron will be back in the sequel! Not a giant reveal, I know, but they also claim -- possible spoilers -- that the baddie from the first film might come back to help the Autobots defeat "a new menace." (Some say that menace is The Fallen, some say it's LaBeouf's future parole officer -- we'll check our sources and get back to you.) Not only that, but Megatron might return as a tank this time. Hopefully said tank will offer up enough protection from, ya know, tight corners and multiple shots of whiskey.
More Mummy and Justice League still has a pulse after the jump ...
In a new interview with Access Hollywood, it would appear director Michael Bay is in complete control of the whole "Shia kinda f**ked up the sequel" situation. Not only does Bay insist that Shia LaBeouf wasn't drunk when he wrecked his car, but he also alluded to re-writing the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen script so that Shia can work with a damaged hand. On whether LaBeouf was drunk at the time of the accident, Bay says, "You're gonna see - that's gonna go away. That's fresh news... He was not drunk. He was drinking hours and hours before." Wait ... did he mean "he was drinking FOR hours and hours before?" Heh.
But the most interesting part for us film fanatics comes when Bay says, "I spoke to him yesterday in the hospital. His two fingers are pretty mashed, but we're figuring out a way to shoot around it, kind of write it in the story." Early reports claimed LaBeouf would have to miss about a month of shooting, which, depending on who you talk to, either does or does not put a major strain on the production. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if Bay was in LaBeouf's hospital room right now with a giant freakin' robot and a camera shooting away, while screaming, "Just get everything ... we'll figure it all out in post!"
In case you're interested Mr. Bay, we here at Cinematical have a few ideas on how you can work Shia's injured hand into the script. And you can start by reading this post over on Spout ...
Cinematical has just received this exclusive poster for the film Doubt (click image above to enlarge), starring Meryl Streep, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams. Based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning play of the same name, Doubt was written, adapted for the screen and directed by John Patrick Shanley (whose last directorial effort came in the form of the very awesome Joe Versus the Volcano). Set at a Catholic School in the Bronx in 1964, Doubt tells of a stern principal and nun (Streep) who accuses a priest (Hoffman) of "acting inappropriately" with a young black student, and the younger, inexperienced nun (Adams) who comes between the two.
While on Broadway, Doubt was the talk of the town, and we expect this big-screen version to give us more than one buzz-worthy performance, especially with a cast like this. I can't be the only one looking forward to a little Doubt this December. Have you seen the play? Whaddya think?
There's good news and bad news, Soderbergh fans: The bad news is that the director's two-part, Benicio Del Toro-starring Che Guevara biopic Che, as noted in a recent piece in The Hollywood Reporter, still doesn't have a U.S. distributor. Gregg Goldstein's piece (which also looks at the similar challenges faced by Cannes '08 films Synedoche, New York and Two Lovers) notes that there are four offers on the table from independent distributors, but no deal has yet been signed.
For many who saw Che at Cannes (including myself), this is vexing news. Goldstein also relates that one distributor's hopes to purchase Che as a single film with a three-hour running time has been roundly rebuffed. However, in case anyone would like to see what all the fuss is about -- albeit in blurry, bootleg fashion -- a grainy, blurry bootleg of the trailer (in all Spanish with no subtitles) for the first half of Che, The Argentine, has hit YouTube (see above) -- and while the bootlegged trailer may lack clarity and definition, it also gives a great sense of the look and the feel of the film.
Does The Argentine's trailer make you hunger for all of Soderbergh's Che? Or does it just make you appreciate how hard it's going to be to get a distributor to back a four-hour long historical drama in Spanish?
Back during Comic Con, this poster (click to enlarge) was hanging up at the press conference and we snapped some iffy images of it. Now, however, the good folks over at Warner Bros. have sent us a shiny new version which looks a whole heckuva lot better. In case you didn't read it yet (slacker!), Terminator: Salvation won our Comic Con award for best all-around presentation at the convention. Not only did McG "bring it," but his cast was just as excited. Granted, they're still in the middle of filming -- which means they're currently eating, sleeping and sh*tting Terminator -- but it was nice to see some great footage and a jazzed-up crew. Trust me when I say the two-or-so-minutes of footage was pretty dynamite and I'm now convinced McG will deliver a highly-entertaining flick at the very least.
Terminator: Salvation will arrive in theaters on May 22, 2009.
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One of the privileges of being an adult is seeing R rated movies. Well, not me -- I was watching them before I was even in kindergarten, and I suspect most of the Cinematical staff was too. But in general, adulthood brings unrestricted viewing access to copious amounts of sex and violence. Of course, that was back before Hollywood decided that R ratings didn't make enough money, and everything vaguely dark should be slashed to allow a 12 year old a ticket.
We're well into August, and here in Austin it's hot and dry and the last thing most of us are thinking about is anything going on next March. But over at SXSW, they're ignoring the dog days of summer and preparing like crazy for next year's interactive, music, and (of course) film festival / conference. The 2009 South By Southwest Film Festival is scheduled for March 13-21, as you can see from the -(2).jpg)
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