It's been over a decade since Ian McKellen donned Gandalf's robes on the set of the first film in the "Lord of the Rings" trilogy. Now 10 years later, the British actor is itching to revisit Middle Earth. He recently read the script for the first of "The Hobbit" films, but with no start date for production, the guy is getting a little antsy.
"Gandalf is a fantastic part and I long to do it," McKellen told MTV News, adding that both he and "LOTR" director Peter Jackson prefer the earlier Gandalf the Grey version to his later, post-resurrection incarnation. "He was more humane somehow. He was the guy who liked to hang out with the hobbits and drink too much and smoke too much." Read more...
I spend far too much of my day reading about silly movie projects – this absurd remake, that insulting franchise extension. Sometimes I forget how good film can be – how good it has been. A couple days ago, I sat down to watch Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest" – a picture I'd seen several times before but never in its newly restored and remastered DVD form – and came away wishing, surely fruitlessly, that 2009 could deliver a thriller that even approached the twisty coolness of this 1959 masterpiece.
Even at the time of its original release, "Northwest" was ahead if its time, as co-star Martin Landau made clear in an interview with MTV News coinciding with the film's 50th anniversary. The actor played Leonard, a henchman assisting with his boss' criminal enterprise and attempting to eliminate a perceived threat from Madison Avenue exec Roger Thornhill (Cary Grant). Read more...
FROM MTV.COM: Tim Burton digs supernatural stories: the goth-comic ghost tale of "Beetlejuice," the headless killer from the great beyond in "Sleepy Hollow," the undead love story of "Corpse Bride." In a way, Burton knows vampires too, resurrecting Bela Lugosi — the definitive cinematic Count Dracula — in the Oscar-winning biopic "Ed Wood."
All of this has made "New Moon" vampire Jamie Campbell Bower think that Burton should direct "Breaking Dawn," the expected film adaptation of the final book in Stephenie Meyer's "Twilight" series.
Jamie Campbell Bower Wants Tim Burton To Direct 'Breaking Dawn'
Tolkien-ites freaked out over the fate of "The Hobbit" – when's it gonna start shooting? Will the studio's financial implosion affect production? Um, the movies are still happening, right?! – received a much-needed boost last month from Ian McKellen, who revealed he'd actually read the script.
MTV News had a chance to chat with Sir Ian while he was promoting his AMC mini-series, "The Prisoner," and the actor behind Gandalf the Grey revealed some more details – and clarified others – that keep the Tolkien boosts coming. Read more...
FROM MTV.COM: Early this year, when MTV News visited the New York set of "Sherlock Holmes," Robert Downey Jr. promised that his take on the masterful inspector would emphasize brawn as much as brains.
"He's a total badass," the Oscar nominee said. "He thinks through all eventualities, possibilities and counterattacks when he's fighting, so he actually has the fight worked out before he starts."
Continue reading Exclusive New 'Sherlock Holmes' Trailer Packed With Fights And Explosions
For all his embrace of whiz-bang moviemaking technology, Robert Zemeckis remains loyal to his roots: once a Beatlemaniac, always a Beatlemaniac. More than three decades after his directorial debut, the Fab Four-obsessed comedy "I Wanna Hold Your Hand," the man is returning to the same musical territory with a 3-D performance-capture adaptation of the classic cartoon movie, "Yellow Submarine."
Zemeckis wants Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr to return to that trippy, underwater territory as well, MTV News has exclusively learned.
"We haven't gotten the word yet on the two surviving Beatles, whether they're interested in doing it or not," the director said during an interview with our own Josh Horowitz. Read more...
FROM HOLLYWOOD CRUSH: So apparently "Twilight" star Kristen Stewart doesn't want to be like a certain Oscar-winning UN ambassador who has given birth to Brad Pitt's children. "I don't want to be a movie star like Angelina Jolie," KStew told the British magazine Fabulous.
If you ask me, Angelina has a pretty darn impressive personal and professional resume — one nearly any human being on earth would kill to possess — but, hey, who am I to question Kristen's dreams and nightmares? I've admired her gritty acting talents since 2002's "Panic Room," and with "New Moon" coming up in a matter of weeks, her career is only on the rise. But if she doesn't want to model her career after Angie, who should she aspire to be? And, almost as important, whose Hollywood fate should she do everything she can to avoid?
Continue reading Kristen Stewart Doesn't Want To Be Like Angelina Jolie? We've Got Other Role Model Suggestions
It's the first November of 2009, which means it's time to pull that lever, touch that screen or figure out whatever newfangled contraption your district has provided: today is Election Day, so cast that vote!
I put that exclamation point in there not because I'm excited to vote in New York's mayoral election, but because Election Day gets me thinking about what a rich topic elections have been for cinema. Combining intrigue, corruption, passion and the odd sex scandal, politics in general and elections in particular have made for some big screen gems over the years. Here are my favs. Read more...
We now know that Robert Zemeckis is playing it old school in at least one respect when it comes to his "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" sequel: the script will be penned by original scribes Jeffrey Price and Peter Seaman.
But with over two decades of moviemaking technology between the release of his first cartoon bunny film and the beginning of creative brainstorming for the second, the question is whether or not Zemeckis will also play it old school when it comes to the look of the film. Will it merge live-action with traditional animation? Or, building on his work on films like "A Christmas Carol" and "Beowulf," will the director introduce motion-capture and 3-D technology into the equation? Read more...
So the Yankees' Alex Rodriguez was last night's World Series hero, knocking a ninth-inning double for the go-ahead run and a 3-1 series lead against the Phillies. In tonight's Game 5, A. J. Burnett looks to mirror his one-run gem from last week as he takes the mound at Citizens Bank Park. With the Yanks possibly locking up the Fall Classic in a matter of hours, either of these guys could end up nabbing the series' MVP award. Or the Phils could stage a comeback powered by Game 1 gods, Chase Utley and Cliff Lee.
Whatever happens, though, I know one thing: I detest both these teams because I am a heart-broken Mets fan (is there any other kind?). That's why when I think about ballplayers these days, I tend to think about movies. Cinema has given us some of the best and silliest sluggers and hurlers imaginable, and it is these athletes I choose to honor in October, rather than anyone on the Yanks or the Phils. Read more...
