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Movie Review: Punisher: War Zone (2008)
5 December 2008 3:16 AM, PST
Ray Stevenson as The Punisher in Punisher: War Zone
Photo: Lionsgate I have never subscribed to the "so good it's bad" idea of looking at films. I am sure I have a few exceptions to that rule (the first two Mummy movies suck, but I enjoy them for example), but Punisher: War Zone is truly awful. I am not saying you won't enjoy it, I am just saying I didn't. There is an audience for a film like this and I don't particularly believe you have to be a mouth-breathing troglodyte to be a part of that group. I am not a comic book reader, but I would bet anyone that reads "Punisher" comics will enjoy this. On top of that this film is not shying away from absurdity, it embraces it. It would be hard for me to believe that director Lexi Alexander didn't realize all her actors were
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Brad Brevet
Movie Review: Frost/Nixon (2008)
5 December 2008 3:09 AM, PST
Michael Sheen and Frank Langella in Frost/Nixon
Photo: Universal Pictures The best way I can think to describe Frost/Nixon is to say it is on the same level as a courtroom drama with a climax equivalent to a teenage "cramming for the Sat" movie. As the story began to unfold I couldn't help but wonder if there wasn't a better way for director Ron Howard to tell it. I enjoyed watching it, but the ups and downs were so obviously scripted there wasn't any kind of "surprise around the corner" moment. What you see in the trailer is what you get, and if you have seen the trailer the moment Nixon says, "I'm saying if the President does it it's not illegal," feels so cliche and hammy it has no real impact. To top it off, it feels as if this is a film to show British talk
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Brad Brevet
Get a Taste of Michael Shannon in 'Revolutionary Road'
5 December 2008 1:52 AM, PST
Michael Shannon plays John Givings in Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road. John has been committed to an institution for psychiatric evaluation and this is the first time he is seen in the film as he is given four hours leave with his family (Kathy Bates and Richard Easton) and they have chosen to take him to meet Frank and April Wheeler (Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet). The clip below is only a taste of what Shannone brings to his moments in the film so don't worry, you aren't spoiling anything at all by watching it, as a matter of fact this is such a small dose you still have a Whole Lot to look forwarad to once you see the full meal deal. Revolutionary Road hits theaters on December 26.
Brad Brevet
'Hancock 2,' 'Sin City 2' and 'Superman 2'
5 December 2008 1:51 AM, PST
Small snippets of news regarding Hancock 2, Sin City 2 and the Superman Returns follow-up hit the Net over the past 24 hours. They can hardly be considered "real" news, but I am sure some of you will find the updates interesting. First off, JoBlo talked to Will Smith regarding another Hancock film and got this: We just got done talking to Will Smith, who's promoting Seven Pounds, and he told us that we'll "definitely" be seeing a sequel. When we asked Will if he'd ever be up for playing another superhero he replied that there were a lot of unexplored characters in the Hancock universe that would be ripe for a sequel and confirmed that we'll definitely see the rumored Hancock 2 in a few years. Next, Frank Miller talked to IGN UK about the long gestating Sin City 2 and got some encouraging words: "Sin City 2 is written," he told the site.
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Brad Brevet
Jim Carrey Falls in Love with 'Phillip Morris' in New French Trailer
5 December 2008 1:51 AM, PST
Thanks to TrailersLand (via Coming Soon) we have an international French trailer for Jim Carrey's upcoming feature with Ewan McGregor I Love You Phillip Morris based on a book by Houston Chronicle crime reporter Steve McVicker in which Carrey will play Steven Russell, a married father whose conman ways introduced him to the Texas prison system. There, he falls in love with cellmate Phillip Morris (McGregor). His love for Morris motivates his escape from prisons four times, once by using a green pen and bucket of water to change his prison outfit into what appeared to be surgical scrubs, another time by faking his death from AIDS and signing his own death certificate. Morris eventually got out, but Russell's escapades got him a 144-year sentence. As I watched the trailer below I got bored out of my mind. I stopped it just as he met Phillip Morris at two
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Brad Brevet
Box-Office Oracle: Dec. 5 - Dec. 7, 2008
4 December 2008 11:39 PM, PST
#1 movie predicted correctly: 0 Weeks in a Row 1. Four Christmases The box office will drop around 50% this weekend. Call it the calm after the storm. Regardless, predicting this weekend is a bit like flirting with the prettiest ugly person. Estimate: $15.0 million 2. Bolt There's a chance Bolt will win this thing. What do you do with a film that doesn't follow the natural known laws of the box office universe? Estimate: $14.3 million 3. Quantum of Solace I've got a crazy idea. What about releasing the next two Bonds a month apart? If everything is frontloaded now why are we taking a year off? I bet both of them would make more if people could see two in a weekend. Can I patent this idea? Estimate: $13.8 million 4. Twilight I can only drop it 57%. Pretty severe though, right? All the teen girls have moved on already. Probably to something called "The Jonas Brothers." Estimate: $12.0 million
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Laremy Legel
New Trailer for the 'Friday the 13th' Remake
4 December 2008 8:25 PM, PST
Photo: New Line Cinema Okay, only question I have about this trailer is whether or not the body count is actually 13, which is what I assume by the constant numbers flashing on screen, or if that is just a nice little gimmicky way of getting to the point that this is a Friday the 13th film. I don't think it really matters since I would assume everyone, except perhaps some hot chick, is going to die. I guess one of the only things that bugs me about this film is that the first franchise never hit the 13 number, as in 13 films. For some reason I think it would be pretty cool to have one horror franchise with a collection of that many good films. The Saw franchise gave up on making intense and scary films and decided gore was best, maybe this will be the start of something interesting. We'll see.
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Brad Brevet
Oscar Predictions: Take Three, All Top Eight Categories
4 December 2008 7:18 PM, PST
Well, since last week's edition I have seen The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Doubt, Revolutionary Road and earlier today I saw The Reader. I can tell all interested parties that I think all four are quality films, but obviously some get me a bit more excited than others. I already did a short commentary on my thoughts of Benjamin Button, which basically proclaimed my love for the film and I do think it is going to end up being the film to beat as I have a limited number of films yet to see, but it isn't going to be an easy task because the majority of the films behind it are all pretty much operating on the same level. Basically, if you think of a door blocking Benjamin Button from all other contenders, just imagine the pounding that door is going to take as a group of films
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Brad Brevet
'Slumdog Millionaire' Takes National Board of Review Best Film Kudos
4 December 2008 12:35 PM, PST
Once again the National Board of Review manages to confuse us all with their picks and not because they are all that much of a surprise, but more because the film they consider to be the best film of 2008 doesn't make it into their list of Top Ten Films. Can someone explain that to me please? Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire came out on top as the group's Best Film of the year while the film's star, Dev Patel, nabbed kudos for Breakthrough Performance by an Actor and screenwriter Simon Beaufoy won Best Adapted Screenplay in a tie with Eric Roth for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, which also took home an award for David Finsher as well as being named inside the group's list of top ten films of 2008, a status Slumdog didn't manage to achieve. Therefore I guess it shouldn't be a big surprise that Man on
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Brad Brevet
New 'Friday the 13th' Remake Poster With New Trailer on the Way
4 December 2008 12:20 PM, PST
I will never quite understand how some people are such avid horror fans. Sure, I enjoy a good bit of massacre and murder at the movies on occassion, but only on occassion. There are the folks that run and constantly visit those horror film dedicated websites and I just don't know how they do it. I guess that's why the folks at Bloody-Disgusting occassionally cover films such as Twilight and The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. I mean, if they didn't I would think they would go insane. Then again, I would also think they would go insane when they see a classic such as Friday the 13th getting the remake treatment. I would imagine, for the most part, an avid horror fan is a purist and seeing a beloved screen icon such as Jason Voorhees returning to the big screen in what is considered a remake that might not sit too well.
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Brad Brevet
Would Someone Finally Destroy Mankind Please!?!?
4 December 2008 2:49 AM, PST
David Frank knows more than you. Care to disagree? Next Friday Keanu Reeves threatens to scrape Earth free of the entire human race, or at least truckers, football fans and Kathy Bates. Yet, unless the remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still really deviates from the original film, I doubt Reeves floats away in his bowling ball of eco-friendly destruction from a human-free planet. After all, it's a Hollywood studio movie, and while Hollywood studio movies love to occasionally kill billions of humans -- preferably with the aid of visceral computer pixels blowing famous landmarks up real good -- they never have the pair to finish the job. In 2009, we get 2012 from the destroyer of worlds and intelligent cinema Roland Emmerich. This guy adores inflicting pain and stupidity on massive groups of people. He practically blew up Earth in Independence Day, froze it to death in The Day After Tomorrow
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David Frank
George Lucas Still Thinking about an 'Indiana Jones 5'
4 December 2008 2:49 AM, PST
Coming Soon got a chance to speak with George Lucas as he hit the town to present the American Cinematheque's 23rd annual award to Samuel L. Jackson and they obviously squeezed in a couple of Indiana Jones and Star Wars related questions. Earlier this week I prepped an article talking about how the latest Indy flick was considered by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association as a comedy/musical when it came to Golden Globe consideration, it was going to be a snarky little article, but I abandoned it just because it felt mean spirited rather than newsworthy, but my feelings on Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull remains - it was just plain bad. So, when Lucas says he is still considering a fifth film it baffles me just a smidge. Then again, I guess we can all learn from our mistakes, but then you have to
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Brad Brevet
'Ghostbusters' Video Game Trailer Makes Me Want 'Ghostbusters 3'
4 December 2008 2:49 AM, PST
Photo: Atari Originally the idea of a new Ghostbusters movie seemed rather stupid to me. I enjoyed the first one, but the second one and its Bobby Brown infused soundtrack pretty much stunk. However, here we are, just shy of 20 years since Ghostbusters 2 and Atari is prepping to release a Ghostbusters video game in June 2009 and with the debut of the trailer over at Gametrailers.com I can't help but get something of a nostalgic feeling and think a third film with all the guys back for one last ghost hunt would be such a bad idea. After all, watching this trailer you quickly realize this thing is hardly a game as much as it is just another Ghostbusters tale and with the entire voice cast back and some rather impressive graphics (especially Slimer) you get a small idea of what we would be able to expect. Check out
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Brad Brevet
'Romancing the Stone,' 'Arthur' and 'They Live' All Up for Remake Treatment
4 December 2008 2:49 AM, PST
If you were under the illusion that the Hollywood studio system had completely given up on originality I have to assume this one article should take care of that in one fell swoop as a trio of remakes were announced in one day and while I typically don't mind remakes the three up for consideration beg the question, "Why?" First up is Fox assigning Daniel McDermott to write a remake of the 1984 Michael Douglas and Kathleen Turner adventurous rom-com Romancing the Stone. The original was a big hit that ultimately sent the careers of both Douglas and Turner as well as co-star Danny DeVito and director Robert Zemeckis into the big time. I actually enjoy the original pic and it still holds up as a solid '80s flick telling the story of a romantic adventure involving a jewel and some baddies. There is no word on what kind of,
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Brad Brevet
New Tarzan Poised To Wear Gap Khakis
4 December 2008 2:49 AM, PST
Entertainment Weekly has the scoop on Stephen Sommers' proposed new take on the Tarzan tale and it is quite odd to say the least. The details read: The action-adventure icon will trash his loincloth and throw on a pair of khakis for the next big screen take on Edgar Rice Burroughs' classic character, who first appeared way back in the Stone Age -- er, 1912. Director Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) and screenwriter Stuart Beattie (Australia) are ditching the boy-raised-by-apes origin story for a 1930's-set romp with a hefty helping of romance: Think Pirates of the Caribbean with buffed-and-tanned actors flying through the jungle and sprinting up trees, parkour-style. EW is far too kind to the idea saying it seems like a safe bet considering Beattie's involvement in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but I find it hard to believe the idea of the Lord of the Apes strolling
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Brad Brevet
Taste Eastwood's 'Gran Torino' Rage... 35 Times
4 December 2008 2:48 AM, PST
Photo: Warner Bros. There have been a few words spread around regarding Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino, but perhaps none of them interested me as much as a Twitter update from Neil Miller of Film School Rejects which read: "Clint Eastwood is tastefully racist in Gran Torino." Put that sh*t on the poster. Okay, color me intrigued. I don't get to see the film here in Seattle until December 16, but that doesn't stop me from sharing a few pretty pictures of a gun totin' and teeth grindin' Eastwood as he gets ready to spread his joy all across his neighborhood, which if Miller's quote is any indication, is sure to be the Christmas classic we watch for ages as the snow falls and the Christmas lights blink. Huh? You mean his character actually is racist in the flick? Even better! All joking aside, Eastwood has flirted with the idea
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Brad Brevet
Will 'Magneto' Origin Story Get Underway in 2009?
3 December 2008 6:18 PM, PST
IndieLondon (via iO9) has an interview with well known superhero producer Lauren Schuler Donner in which at the end of the interview they dish for a bit on the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine as well as the proposed X-Men Origins: Magneto as the tendency to tell more singular superhero stories based on the "X-Men" franchise hopes to flourish. Wolverine hits theaters next May and Donner says, "It's good... it's very good. I'm very pleased with it. It's very much an origins story. It's very much in the tone of the first X-Men." However, that one's in the bag and when it comes to superhero franchises and its fans it has gotten to the point beyond "What have you done for me lately?" to "What are you doing for me tomorrow?" Donner has always seemed just as interested in getting these films off the ground as the fans and Magneto doesn't
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Brad Brevet
Trailer for 'Little Ashes' Emerges
3 December 2008 6:00 PM, PST
Robert Pattinson as Salvador Dali in Little Ashes
Photo: Regent Releasing While Robert Pattinson's recent star power at the hands of Twilight is certainly going to up the profile of Little Ashes I don't see it ultimately doing any kind of considerable business, but that shouldn't stop the new found Pattinson fans from going into orgiastic convulsions as their favorite vampire lover puts on a fancy pants mustache and gets all artistic as Salvador Dali. The trailer for the film has just debuted over at Yahoo and it looks decent enough, but I can't say I have any interest in it. The story follows the eccentric artist Salvador Dali and renowned poet and revolutionary Federico Garcia Lorca as they find their artistic and sexual freedom in each other. Set prior to the Spanish Civil War and shot on location in Spain the feature is sure to include a dabble of political and moral conundrums,
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Brad Brevet
2009 Sundance Film Festival Line-up Revealed
3 December 2008 2:39 PM, PST
I am heading out the door and have no time to really dig into this, but here is the line-up for next year's 2009 Sundance Film Festival as reported by Variety. Dramatic Competition Adam, directed and written by Max Mayer ("Better Living"), about a slightly dysfunctional man's attempt at a relationship with an alluring new neighbor. Stars Hugh Dancy, Rose Byrne, Peter Gallagher, Amy Irving, Frankie Faison. Amreeka, directed and written by Cherien Dabis, a drama examining the challenges faced by a divorced Palestinian woman and her teenage son upon moving to rural Illinois. With Nisreen Faour, Melkar Muallem. Arlen Faber, directed and written by John Hindman, about the intrusion of two strangers into the life of a famous reclusive author. With Jeff Daniels, Lauren Graham, Lou Pucci, Olivia Thirlby, Kat Dennings. Big Fan, directed and written by Robert Siegel (writer of "The Wrestler"), which hinges on the reaction of a
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Brad Brevet
Is Paramount Balking on Fincher's Elliot Ness Flick Due to a Dislike of the Director?
3 December 2008 1:47 PM, PST
Recently there has been a lot of negative news surrounding the relationship between Paramount Pictures and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button director David Fincher. Earlier this year there were rumors floating around the studio wasn't happy with the length of Button as it was coming in around three hours (it will be released at 166 minutes). There was a falling out of the "Heavy Metal" project, which Fincher was set to produce for Paramount, but that fell through with the reasons being documented over here. Even more recently the New York Post ran a piece detailing the following incident between Fincher and one-time Paramount exec John Goldwyn: David Fincher is not helping his movie "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" with his imperious ways. "We are working our asses off trying to get Oscar nominations, and he is so abusive that it's crushing," said an insider at Paramount. "Whatever we do,
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Brad Brevet
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