Considering the amount of hockey tweeting Kevin Smith has been doing lately, it should come as little surprise that he's setting up a match for his 39th birthday on Sunday. It sounds like he'll need to get some extra rest hours in on Saturday, though, because his new film "A Couple of Dicks" is pulling some a late shoot tonight, according to Kevin Pollak.
Other gems in today's rundown include Tom Felton's warm welcome to one of his Hogwarts professors, as well as a blast from the past for "Full House" fans via John Stamos, who uploaded a photo taken during a BBQ at Bob Saget's place. You can check out all of these and find out which "Twilight" actress recently got a tattoo in the Twitter-Wood report for July 31, 2009. Read more...
Of all the directors in all of Hollywood, could anyone have predicted that the person who’d end up replacing Gore Verbinski at the wheel of the multi-billion dollar "Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise would be the guy who scored an Oscar nod for “Chicago”? You remember, the 2002 musical about those lovely, murderous ladies? The one staring Richard freaking Gere?
Well, according to a report in Variety, that’s what is gonna happen: Rob Marshall is set to assume directing duties for the fourth "Pirates." Hey, it could be an inspired choice or a demented one—who’s to say at this point? So let’s take a look at some reasons why Marshall’s “Pirates” might rock or why it instead might stink, er, sink. Read more...
Fame is a tricky beast. Once everyone gets used to seeing your face everywhere, that newfound notoriety makes people forget your early work. It sucks for you because you want your audience to recognize the effort you’ve made to get where you are. The audience gets a treat from their forgetfulness however: DVD night at home becomes a game of, “He was in THIS?!”
If anyone out there hasn’t caught on yet, I’m talking about and to Seth Rogen. That dude is everywhere and it isn’t just because his new flick “Funny People” comes out today. For the past two years, it’s been hard to hit the theater and not see Rogen, in either a starring role or in one of his myriad co-starring roles and cameos. He’s been lurking about the silver screen for close to a decade, frequently in peculiar places. Here are five random Seth Rogen appearances in film. I guarantee you say “Seriously, he was in that?” at least once. Read more...
I asked, and you all answered with your clicks. To recap briefly for those who have just returned from Mars: Rachelle Lefevre, who played Victoria in "Twilight" and the upcoming "New Moon," has been replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard for the third (and presumably fourth) film adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's four-part vampire romance series. Lefevre was not amused. "Twilight" studio Summit Entertainment was even less amused. Words were exchanged and things got ugly.
That all went down in the space of a day. Not even a full day. Since "Twilight" is all the rage right now, I figured I'd poll you readers to get an idea of how the casting switch changes your interest in the series, if it does at all. The numbers are in now and... well... they surprise me a little bit. Only a little though. Read more...
The feud-starting dialogue in a recent episode of “Entourage” pointed out the all too obvious: “Knocked Up” is insanely unrealistic. People get pregnant all the time and romance usually starts in the most unusual of places, true. But no way in hell does Katherine Heigl look across a crowded nightclub, see Seth Rogen and decide then and there, “Yep, that’s the dude I’m hooking up with tonight.” Frankly, the entire scenario is absurd.
Then again, it isn’t. Seth Rogen’s a good looking dude, even under the scruffy costume of "Knocked Up"'s Ben Stone, and while Katherine Heigl is a stunning beauty under any circumstances, she isn’t some fictional goddess under the precise make-up and dress of movie production. Of course these two people could end up together. Attraction, and life in general, are unpredictable like that. Capturing that randomness convincingly on film, harnessing just a hint of reality on top of the fiction, is Judd Apatow’s greatest strength as a filmmaker. Read more...
FROM MTV.COM: Judd Apatow's "Funny People" stars some of the most established names in comedy — Adam Sandler, Seth Rogen, Jonah Hill — and features cameos from heavyweights like Ray Romano, Sarah Silverman and Paul Reiser.
But heading into Friday's opening, the actor everyone seems to be talking about is Aziz Ansari, who has created an unforgettable character named Randy — or "Raaaaaaaandy!," as he likes to scream — a foul-mouthed sexual braggart and stand-up comedian who shows up in a couple scenes and ends up stealing every one. Ansari's moment, it seems, has finally arrived. With the April premiere of NBC's "Parks and Recreation," in which he plays a government employee heavy on the irony and lacking in motivation, and now "Funny People," Ansari is looking to be one of 2009's breakout stars.
Continue reading Aziz Ansari's Randy Set To Be Breakout Star Of 'Funny People'
"Gremlins" fans beware: everybody's favorite mogwai could be getting the Yoda treatment.
In an interview with Empire Online, original "Gremlins" director Joe Dante said that he's heard scuttlebutt of a third installment in the franchise, packed to the gills with CGI effects. According to Dante, the film would likely be less of a sequel and more of a -- surprise! -- remake.
"I hear they're going to make another one soon," Dante told Empire. "The actors from the first two are too old to do a proper sequel, so I'm sure when the new one arrives it will be a remake of the original." Read more...
FROM MTV.COM: A movie about a priest who's transformed into a vampire might inspire some deep noodling about Catholic liturgy, no doubt. And that could be what Park Chan-wook, the waywardly brilliant South Korean director (and onetime philosophy student), had in mind in making his latest film, "Thirst." But just when we've set our brains on ponder, the picture muddies all hope of contemplation with flashes of the fearlessly eccentric imagery for which Park has become famous, and some of the slurpiest sex scenes to be found in any recent R-rated movie.
Park's narratives are ... challenging, you might say. Here, the virtuous priest, Sang-hyun (played by frequent Park associate Song Kang-ho), after volunteering to be a test subject in the search for a cure for a mysterious disease, finds himself developing a taste for blood. At first, being a gentle soul, or possibly just lazy, he siphons it out of comatose patients at the hospital where he ministers. Then he becomes involved with Tae-ju (irresistibly ornery Kim Ok-vin), the unhappy wife of his childhood friend Kang-woo (Shin Ha-kyun, another Park vet). Tae-ju eventually learns the priest's secret and is intrigued ("Vampires are cuter than I thought"). Soon he puts the bite on her — but quickly regrets it. Tae-ju has none of Sang-hyun's spiritual conflicts about bloodsuckery (she's not Catholic!), and before long she's mocking his nonviolent approach to slaking the ancient thirst. ("You easy-blood-drinking coward!") An instinctive traditionalist, she eagerly embarks on a round of throat-ripping depredations among the local populace, resulting in the sort of problems that a hundred years of vampire movies might lead you to expect.
Continue reading 'Thirst': Drinking Problem, By Kurt Loder
The majority of you -- 60% -- will forego the week's latest movie releases in favor of witnessing the IMAX Experience for the summer hit "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince." I'm not expecting to see another record-breaking weekend along the lines of what happened when "Prince" opened a couple of weeks ago however. Mainly because there's some stiff competition this week.
The other favorite is Judd Apatow's "Funny People," which earned 21% of your votes. The story of a dying comedian and his young protege has garnered some mixed reactions. Apatow rarely disappoints when he brings the funny, but "People" supposedly has a more serious bent. We'll get to see starting today if it measures up to the filmmaker's previous hits "Anchorman" and "Knocked Up." Personally, I'm expecting good things. Read more...
FROM SPLASH PAGE: Last month, Michael Jackson's death prompted a recollection of how close he and Stan Lee came to buying Marvel Comics. The piece received quite a bit of attention, so when I had the chance to talk with Lee during this year's Comic-Con in San Diego, I had to ask the legendary co-creator of the X-Men, Fantastic Four, Hulk and countless other comic book superheroes about his professional and personal relationship with the King of Pop.
While Lee had kind words for the recently deceased pop culture icon, his mention of Jackson's interest in another of Lee's famous co-creations perked up my ears. In the grand tradition of Marvel Comics' famous series, Lee's response offered up a "What If?" tale involving Jackson and Spider-Man tailor-made for an alternate Marvel universe.
Continue reading What If Michael Jackson Made 'Spider-Man'? Stan Lee Explains How It Almost Happened!
