Flixens - Action

New Bond: "Royale" With Some Cheese

Fri, 17 Nov 2006 17:33:35 -0800

Ian Fleming's licensed-to-kill superspy James Bond is back in both his first and his latest adventure in Casino Royale, the reboot of the venerable film franchise that shows no sign of mellowing with age.

It seems as if each time a new Bond film comes out, the nay-sayers reiterate how Bond has become an anachronism and that his adventures have become old hat. Daniel Craig's debut as 007 will be the main reason that people go to see the movie, I'm sure. I'm happy to report that Craig fills out the tuxedo quite nicely, thank you, dare I say even delivering the best Bond since Sean Connery? At least, I think he's closer to Fleming's original character than Pierce Brosnan and certainly Roger Moore... rougher than either but smoother than Timothy Dalton.

The plot of the film is relatively straight-forward and uncharacteristically low-key. After earning his 00-status and his licence to kill (after fulfilling the 2-kill prerequisite which we've all seen in the trailer, James Bond is assigned his first mission, which takes him to Madagascar to capture a bomb-making terrorist, played by real-life "freerunner" Sebastien Foucan. Simply put, freerunning is the art of running as fast as you can, avoiding all obstacles in your path as gracefully as possible, and Foucan is the inventor of the sport. His talents are put to incredible use in the film's first big action sequence (there are only three). I've never seen anyone move quite like Foucan before, and the sequence is both thrilling and mesmerizing.

Bond sort of blunders the mission and earns the disdain of M, played once again by Dame Judi Dench. Trying to set things right, James teams up with Vesper Lynd (Eva Green), one of Her Majesty's Treasury agents and eventually gets involved in a game of high-stakes poker in Montenegro with Le Chiffre (Mads Mikkelson), a global money-launderer to various terrorist organizations who just so happens to be gambling with his clients' money. James' hopes to beat Le Chiffre at his own game in order to leave the villain no safe purchase in the world except with MI6's interrogators.

If you are familiar with the story, then you will know there are some twists along the way, but nothing you won't see coming down Fleet Street.

For the most part, the film succeeds in its mission. As I said, Craig makes a great Bond, the locales are gorgeous and places we will never see otherwise, the stunts are physical (Craig may be the most bloodied and bruised Bond yet), and the story is interesting.

The film falls apart in its final act, which suffers from "LOTR Multiple Ending Syndrome" and just about grinds to a halt before the 3rd and final action piece. At 144 minutes, it's about 20 minutes longer than it needs to be, and could have used some judicious editing to keep the momentum going.

Long-time fans may be upset to see Texas Hold 'Em being played instead of Baccarat, or by the absence of Q and his gadgets and Miss Moneypenny, or by the jumbled timeline of Bond's first mission with the M who replaced a previous M, but it is nice to see Bond back in his Aston Martin again (sorry BMW), and there are some nice moments related to previous Bond traditions, i.e. his response to "Shaken or stirred?" is perfect.

Oh, and it's a Columbia Picture, so get ready for the Sony product placements that we've all come to know and despise. The film is loaded with them, although I was honestly surprised that the PS3 wasn't a major plot point. There may be hope for Sony yet.

LaBeouf Watch, Dateline November 15, 2006

Wed, 15 Nov 2006 11:16:10 -0800

It's been quite a while since we had an update on the trials and tribulations of Shia LaBeouf. May 4th, to be exact. Long-time readers of this site will know that I have a special plase in my heart for that cutie. But today is a new day and we have news that young Master Shia has signed on to Transformers 2 and 3.

Now, now... don't get all excited. These trilogy deals are pretty standard these days. What's interesting though is that Shia seems to think that the Transformers feature film will be his ticket on the Lord of the Rings Gravy Train. In an interview with About.com, Shia compared his work on Bobby with his work on Transformers:

Again, that’s exactly what that is. If anyone tells you they do that for the art value, that’s bulls**t. It’s f**king painful. To go from Emilio Estevez to Michael Bay is like walking out of, you know, like in a hammock in the sky, hanging out drinking Pina Coladas with Jesus and then getting smacked in the face and thrown in the devil’s s**pile and having to make a movie. I swear to God.

Huh wha?? He goes on....

I was thinking about quitting this industry. And Michael Bay will tell you that. He’s so hard on his actors, and not in the way that Emilio might be, in that he’ll push you to be something better. Mike is just f**king a hard a**.

OMG, what a whiny, foul-mouthed little wimp! How could I have been so wrong?

Look, the four, five months of pain I went through might buy my mom a house and that’s forever, so I’m all right. People go to f**king war, it’s not like I have a hard job. I’m an actor. It’s not the worst thing. We’re sitting at a pool, I didn’t pay for those shoes, I didn’t pay for this. It’s not a bad life, and for a guy that didn’t have s**t going on. There’s certain pains; it’s a tradeoff like anything. There’s things you don’t want to do in your industry... You get lost in a f**king weird depression, man... I barely made it out of that movie. I was going to a heart specialist; I was having anxiety attacks, losing my mind. And you know, you’re doing physical s**t all day. It’s tough, man. And even Mike at the end, he was like, ‘Look, I know I’m hard on you but you’ll never get this again. If you can go through this with me, you can do anything.’ Sort of like the whole, ‘If you can live in New York you can live anywhere,” type thing. Whatever doesn’t kill you.

Yeah, yeah... whatever, pansy-boy. I am SO done with you. Oh yeah, and the thing about LOTR...

You don’t get bigger than $250 million robots blowing up the world. I don’t plan on making any other – I mean, I’m going to do Transformers 2 and 3 so that will be my Lord of the Rings.... Yeah, I’m gonna do it. That will be my Lord of the Rings and then I’ll just make indies the rest of my time, for a long time. Elijah [Wood’s] straight. Elijah can do whatever he wants. Why? Because he’s in one of the biggest, the top five grossers ever. People in China know who he is and people in Iceland know who he is. He can do whatever he wants. That’s my whole thing is I’ve got to get to the point where people in Iceland will go see Guide to Recognizing Your Saints. That’s what I’m trying to do... It’s a tough deal but again, it was tough to go from the kid thing to the adult thing. That was the toughest jump you can do in this business.

Sheesh... he sounds like Drew Barrymore coming off her E.T. gig. Who would have known? You know what? He's not even THAT cute...

King Kong: Bling, Long

Mon, 13 Nov 2006 08:27:43 -0800

The 3-disc Deluxe, Extended Edition of Peter Jackson's King Kong hits the DVD streets tomorrow, featuring a commentary track with director Peter Jackson and co-writer Philippa Boyens, 13 minutes of additional, completed footage, 38 minutes of deleted scenes, the 8-part documentary "Re-Creating the Eighth Wonder: The Making of King Kong", "A Night in Vaudeville" featurette, pre-viz animatics, electronic versions of the 1996 and 2005 versions of the script, bloopers, design galleries, and more (including a cool Kong statue depending on which version you buy).

You may remember my original review of the film, which I enjoyed, despite its flaws. I'll be the first to admit, it's very hard for me to be completely objective about a Kong film. Remember, I'm the kind of girl who can sit at home and watch a double-feature of King Kong vs. Godzilla and King Kong Escapes in all their man-in-suit glory and actually enjoy them.

But I'm curious to know how many of you are planning on buying the new double-dip. Jackson's film was overly long, by most accounts, so do we really need 13 more minutes of additional footage (plus over a half-hour of deleted scenes)?

Put me in the "Yes" column, I guess. I've been dying to see the "raft" sequence ever since it was cut out of the original release, only to find its way back onto the new DVD. Plus, as complete as the Production Diaries were, they weren't nearly as complete as the behind-the-scenes features on the Lord of the Rings extended editions. THIS is the edition I've been waiting for.

I can't help it. I am weak.

The Trailer Sony Doesn't Want You To See

Sun, 12 Nov 2006 17:46:05 -0800

I kind of like seeing the unfinished and unrendered material in this trailer. Amazing to see the way blockbuster movie trailers are put together. I wonder how many revisions a trailer goes through before it sees the light of day?

Anyhow, enjoy. The last 3 seconds shows the lunging Venom in full tongue BTW.

UPDATE: Looks like Sony got to the Google Video folks after all. Though I'm sure it can be found elsewhere on these internets.

Across the Pond, November 10, 2006

Fri, 10 Nov 2006 09:11:58 -0800

Hello everyone... Nina here to present another installment of "Across the Pond," Dominique Taylor's semi-regular column focusing on the UK entertainment scene. This week, Dominique opines on the talents of Lena Headey with the recent news that she has landed the role of Sarah Connor in the Fox network's Sarah Connor Chronicles...

Things Get Heady for Lena

By Dominique Taylor

As Nina has already mentioned, Lena Headey has landed the role as Sarah Connor in Fox’s new Terminator spin-off and so this week is dedicated to the Huddersfield girl who finally gets her break and asks the question, can she cut it?

Lina Heady has long been one of those actresses that you’re sure you’ve seen before but can’t really place. Playing alongside Steve Coogan in The Parole Officer I remember mistaking her for Melanie Sykes. And in similar Sykes fashion, she is a beautiful Northern brunette, but unlike Sykes, a midday ITV show with Des O’ Conner seems a million miles away as she is forging a solid career in Hollywood.

Solid because if you look at her filmography on IMDB, you will see that she has featured not only in Brothers Grimm, but also Onegin, Possession, Ripley’s Game and The Cave and she’s also got a number of films in pre and post-production, including Vivaldi and The Shooter. However, the same website reminds us of her thus far over-shadowed talent by offering a biography that could fit on a postage stamp and giving priority to the fact she was born on the same day as Seann William Scott. Flattering, no?

But can she blow this all into space as she lands the role of Sarah Connor? Her role in The Cave saw her as an adrenaline junky mega bitch and she’s got the tattoos to butch herself up, but the thing that’s worrying me is that this is supposed to take place in the time between Terminator 2 and 3 and she doesn’t look a bit like Axl Rose. Where’s the realism? If this is going to work, I need to know why Sarah Connor decided the scraped-back hair, sunglasses and fag look was not for her.

All facetiousness aside, what I’m trying to get at is that, in usual fashion, James Cameron provided us with a heroine that was largely desexualised (other than the small matter of creating John) and Fox has swiftly sexed her up again. I hope Lena does well, she deserves a steady starring role in the US, but I’m rather concerned this could just end up as one for the lads as a beautiful woman runs around firing her big gun and getting sweaty.

How About A Knuckle "Sand"wich?

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 21:34:01 -0800

Ahhh, I'm looking forward to this pun fest. The trailer leaves me feeling that we are going to get Venom's appearance only in the final act instead of terrorizing Spidey for two hours. And if someone can tell me how Uncle Ben gets mysteriously killed by the Sandman instead of that burglar guy, I'd love to listen to this revisionist history. Next thing you know LL Cool J is going to be Peter Parker's brother.

Spidey 3 Trailer Weaves Web of Destruction

Thu, 09 Nov 2006 07:57:54 -0800

Talk about your massive media blitzes...

An all-new, full-length, 2 1/2-minute trailer for Spider-Man 3 is about to be unleashed on the world today, broadcasting across a number of Viacom's media networks on TV as well as the Internet.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, on CBS the trailer will air after CSI and before the Shark. On Comedy Central, the trailer will run before a new South Park episode, while MTV will show the spot before a new Real World/Road Rules Challenge. Other TV networks airing the trailer include BET, Logo, MTV2, Spike TV and VH1, with each supporting the event with custom promotions.

In addition, 14 online destinations from Viacom's networks are supporting the airing, including AddictingGames.com, AddictingClips.com, BET.com, MTV.com, IFilm.com, Nick.com, ComedyCentral.com, GameTrailers.com, LogoOnline.com, Neopets.com, SpikeTV.com, The-N.com, VH1.com, and Xfire.com.

Immediately after the television premiere, a high-definition version of the trailer will be available exclusively on IFilm.com.

Sniff... news like this reminds me of Jenny From Canada and her Spidey-Loving ways... we miss you Jenny, wherever your parents have you locked away.

Headey Lands "Sarah Connor" Role

Wed, 08 Nov 2006 03:49:05 -0800

Lena Headey has been cast as the lead in The Sarah Connor Chronicles, which expands on the mythology of the Terminator films and takes place in the timeframe between Terminator 2: Judgement Day and Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, according to SciFiWire.

The project, from Warner Bros. TV is preparing a pilot for Fox, to be directed by David Nutter, who also directed James Cameron's Dark Angel pilot for the network. Nutter also directed the pilots for Smallville, Without a Trace, and almost a dozen others that have all been picked up as full series orders.

"It's important for me to live up, as best I can, to the bar that Jim Cameron set," Nutter said back in August, adding that the pilot "has to carry as much of a punch" as possible, even on a TV budget. "This is a huge project that's going to take an extensive amount of preparation and pre-production, [and I want to protect] the integrity of what Cameron created."

Headey will soon be seen opposite Gerard Butler in the feature film adaptation of Frank Miller's 300, where she will play Queen Gorgo.

Hulk Smashes on June 27, 2008

Tue, 07 Nov 2006 04:23:00 -0800

Marvel is looking to the summer of '08 to release The Incredible Hulk on 6/27/08, two months after it unleashes Jon Favreau's Iron Man on the world.

Variety has an interesting article about the company, where it reveals that the company is scrambling to show that its film business is running smoothly despite the departure of Avi Arad, and that while its overall revenues have dropped nearly 44% for the year (the cost of movies in development, I would imagine) it's publishing business has increased revenue by 20% to push overall sales revenue to 13% for the third quarter.

Ah, the power of marketing.

Wall Street has been happy with the direction Marvel has been taking, as evidenced by the fact that their stock price is up 6%. And the company expects to make a boatload of cash from the release of the two films, which have been highly anticipated by fanboys and fangirls everywhere.

Trying to distance itself from Ang Lee's take on the green behemoth, Marvel has promised in a press release that "you WILL like the Hulk when he's angry." Hee-hee... cute.

Summer in November

Mon, 06 Nov 2006 14:01:48 -0800

While Borat is reaching surprising heights in its box office earnings all across the world (see Box Office Mojo) and the awards-drawing films begin to be released, it seems that it's never too early to generate interest in a movie.

My favorite film industry misfits, the marketing people, have already begun work for the 2007 summer season. According to Empire, the full trailer for Spider-Man 3 will be available online this Thursday.

Spider-Man 3 is probably the most anticipated movie of 2007, and fans are certainly eager to get a clear view of the villain known as Venom.

Empire suggest going to them for the link to the trailer, but I personally suspect that it will be placed on the Apple trailers page.

Spider-Man 3 should be released on May 4 in North American cinemas.

Do you think it's too early (before the holiday season) to release this trailer? Will people remember to be excited when May arrives?

Borat... I Like!

Fri, 03 Nov 2006 04:37:56 -0800

If you are already a fan of Sacha Baron Cohen's Kazakh journalist, Borat, then I probably do not need to do much convincing for you to see the film adaptation, Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan.

I have always been slightly ashamed that Borat's spell has always worked effectively to make me laugh, but the film has removed that shame and replaced it with some embarrassment. It is, however, undeniable that Borat is one of the funniest films I have seen in many years, but still there is some depth and insight for those that want at least a little social commentary.

If you were planning on watching this film, you don't need to read the rest of this review. Borat is extremely entertaining, and I am giving it a 4-stiletto score.

If you are still reading, I would like to begin by stating that I did not need very much convincing to see this film, as I had been anticipating it for quite some time. I was originally introduced to Borat by my friend and source of much geek information, Sofiane, with whom I went to see Borat.

As I reported on some of the marketing for this movie, I had feared that too much of the movie was being revealed in the hilarious trailer (see HERE). My fear turned out to be true for the first half of the film, which is only one hour and twenty-five minutes long. Nevertheless, even in the first half there are still some surprises, and the funniest moments of the entire film have not been spoiled in any way by the trailer. Since watching that trailer, I had been avoiding any other marketing materials, but I was sad to see that they were trying so hard to spread the hype around Borat. I am certain that in North America at least, people must have been getting sick of the over-marketing.

There is not much in terms of a story, and the film is largely made up in the same style as the various Borat sketches that have been made for Da Ali G Show, but I think that director Larry Charles deserves praise for successfully putting together such an entertaining film. It is the mark of confidence in a director, in my opinion, when he or she can take a cult phenomenon such as Borat, and remain unobtrusive in his or her approach. The result is a genuine piece of work that will certainly not disappoint the fans, but will surely attract new ones among those who discover Borat through this film.

Sacha Baron Cohen delivers a terrific performance as the Kazakh journalist, and it is truly impressive to see him remain in character when placed in some riotous and awkward situations. Cohen is joined here by Ken Davitian as Borat's producer, Azamat. This is the only other fictional character in the film, and their adventures across America bring about not only some painful funny moments, but some truly frightening, and in a couple of other cases endearing moments.

The music is very much in tune with the general whimsical mood of the film, and is largely composed of gypsy music. I noticed several bits of music from Goran Bregovic, and Sacha Baron Cohen’s brother, Erran, composed all the original music used in the film. It is very suitable to the tone of the film, and perhaps not very noticeable, but in the first minutes it helps to put the viewer in the right mood.

One of the major difficulties of any comedy, even some of the funniest comedies of the past few years, has been to make a story that is not formulaic. It seems that the stories are always strung together with the focus being made on the various gags or jokes in a comedy (with some exceptions of course, notably Shaun of the Dead). In Borat, there was really no attempt at doing such a thing, and this decision was perhaps not very difficult to make since it adds to the genuineness of the film, and also because the gags and interviews themselves are diverse and strong enough to work without much added padding. This lack of pretentiousness in putting the film together also fits very nicely to the unpretentious Borat, and the candid approach taken through the character in general exposes the ugly aspects of some of the people that were "interviewed." When watching the film, it could be interesting to see which people turn out to be the most amiable toward Borat, but the aggressiveness or ignorance of others is chilling.

Since the story is virtually non-existent, it can be quite difficult to judge this film. Nevertheless, its saving grace as a film is that what little story there may be comes to a glorious finish, an end that is truly shocking and hysterical.

His name a Borat, he like you. And you will like him.

De Niro's Career Officially Over

Thu, 02 Nov 2006 06:20:58 -0800

We've all witnessed the long, slow slide to mediocrity that is Robert De Niro's post-Goodfellas career. What was once the finest actor of his generation has now become a parody of his former self, most recently slumming in movies like Analyze This/That and Meet the Parents/Fokkers, and Shark Tale.

Well, the decline has finally hit rock bottom I think, with news from the Hollywood Reporter about De Niro's latest project, New Orleans, with a plot right out of The Simpsons' fictional "McBain" series of cop films.

De Niro will play a veteran cop whose partner was not lost in Hurricane Katrina, but gunned down, and he gets teamed up with a new partner, played by 50 Cent, to find the real killer, ultimately leading him to the world of... wait for it.... police corruption!

You can just hear McBain shouting "NOOOOOOOOOOO!" or "Mendooooooooooooozaaaaaa!" already, can't you?

And hasn't the old white guy/hip black dude buddy cop formula pretty much been beaten into the ground?

Go, Speed Racer, Go!

Wed, 01 Nov 2006 08:18:31 -0800

Way back in June, Samantha (remember her?) told you about the ongoing rumor of the Wachowski Brothers directing a live-action Speed Racer movie.

Turns out it's not a rumor anymore!

The Hollywood Reporter details the news that the W. Bros. will be directing the film, with Joel Silver producing, a la The Matrix, so if you feel the need for Speed, this should make you very happy.

Personally, I'm non-thrilled on many levels. First off, these guys lost so much clout with the Matrix Trilogy and then with the rather pedestrian V For Vendetta, that this just seems like boilerplate stuff to me. I also never really "got" Speed Racer. My brothers loved it and all, but honestly? I think this is one of those "guy things" that most chicks probably just can't grasp.

I mean come on... He has a cool car and a monkey. Those are completely guy things. If I ask my youngest son what he wants for his birthday, those are usually the first things out of his month, followed by "a jet-pack". But speaking as a woman, a guy with a cool car is hot, but the monkey just ruins the whole picture. Monkeys smell, they poke you in private places, and they fling poo. Sounds like my ex-husband.

Hey-oooo! I'll be here all week. Try the veal!

And to top it all off, the Wachowski Brothers have said that they want to make the film family-friendly. Great. That means I'll probably have to go see it.

"Halo" Movie: PWND

Tue, 31 Oct 2006 07:42:39 -0800

Recently Nina told you about how Universal and Fox were pulling out of the Halo movie, citing cost among other factors as the reason for bailing out. Microsoft and Peter Jackson's Wingnut Films had hoped to continue on with the film, especially since pre-production was underway at Weta Workshop and Weta Digital.

Brace yourselves fanboys... I have some distressing news. Both parties have issued a statement saying that production on the film has officially ground to a halt.

Say it with me now... HEADSHOT!

The official word is as follows:

"As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement.

At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen.

We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp's vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring.

While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait".

Yes, Superman WILL Return Again

Mon, 30 Oct 2006 03:56:24 -0800

Hi everyone, I hope you had a nice weekend. We'll start out the day here with an update on a story from last week...

The other day we talked about the rumor that Superman Returns director Bryan Singer would be directing a sequel to the film, with FilmIck saying that it was a done deal.

Variety confirms it today with a story about Singer signing a deal with Warner Bros. to produce and direct the follow-up to the mildly(?) successful Superman reboot. The film is tentatively scheduled for a summer 2009 release, but the studio stresses that there is no script yet (it isn't clear if Dan Harris and Michael Dougherty will return to put pen to page yet) and no budget has been agreed upon.

It is assumed that the budget will be highly scrutinized again, with Warner insisting that the budget stay well below $200 million.