June 2008 News Archive (Page 3)

Manohla Dargis, a New York Times film critic who lambasted the Sex and the City movie, has nothing but good things to say about Angelina Jolie in the new action thriller Wanted.

"Ms. Jolie has been perfectly cast as a super-scary, seemingly amoral assassin named (wait for it) Fox," Manohla Dargis writes. "Few American actresses, especially those with such pin-skinny arms, can make beating a guy to the ground look so easy and, yeah, man, like fun."

Earlier today, we published another movie critic's glowing praise for Heath Ledger in The Dark Knight.

Tobey Maguire turns 33 today.

While never confused with any of the best actors alive, Maguire is one of the better liked stars of his generation. He seems like a genuinely nice guy.

The star hasn't officially signed on for Spider-Man 4 yet, but it's very safe to assume that he'll be donning the spandex again for that film's fourth installment.

Meanwhile, here's a look at a few other movies on Maguire's solid resume:

• Spider-Man 3
• Spider-Man 2
• Spider-Man
• Seabiscuit
• Pleasantville

If it were up to Peter Travers, a movie critic with Rolling Stone, Heath Ledger would be nominated for an Oscar for his role in The Dark Knight.

"I can only speak superlatives of Ledger, who is mad-crazy-blazing brilliant as the Joker," Travers writes in the movie's first published review.

The praise certainly doesn't stop there, as Travers goes on to say:

"It's typical of Ledger's total commitment to films as diverse as Brokeback Mountain and I'm Not There that he does nothing out of vanity or the need to be liked."

Might Heather Ledger earn an Oscar for his work in The Dark Knight?

Travers added that there's "no plastic mask for Ledger. His face is caked with moldy makeup that highlights the red scar of a grin, the grungy hair and the yellowing teeth of a hound fresh out of hell." He then makes his Academy Award pitch:

"If there's a movement to get him the first posthumous Oscar since Peter Finch won for 1976's Network, sign me up."

With so many summer blockbusters coming out, it might be easy for Journey to the Center of the Earth to be overlooked.

But is the Brendan Fraser movie worth your time? A look at the film's trailer may give you a clue:

Guillermo del Toro loves monsters.

"I have always loved movies where the star is the monster. That has branded my view of art and storytelling all my life," the director told MoviesOnline.

In Hellboy II: The Golden Army, del Toro demonstrates his devotion to creatures of all shapes and sizes.

"In the first movie, we did big, big creatures," said. "One thing I wanted to explore this time was what would happen if the first attack came from tiny creatures that are actually cute."

Enter the concept of fairies. Practically Tinkerbell-like, they have little else in common with their spritely namesakes.

"Guillermo outdid himself on the cuteness scale with the tooth fairies, but they're nasty little things," said Hellboy II star Selma Blair (pictured below).

Hellboy II: The Golden Army opens on July 11.

John Lasseter is the chief creative officer at Pixar and Walt Disney Animation Studios. With WALL•E hitting theaters tomorrow, the animator recently spoke to MTV about another upcoming Pixar film:

Cars 2.

For starters, Lasseter said he's hoping Paul Newman will reprise the role of Doc Hudson in the sequel, scheduled for release in 2012.

"Well, you know, his character is coming back," Lasseter told MTV News. "He's a good friend of mine, and so we're just waiting to see."

As for the Cars 2 plot, little is known about the story beyond the fact that it will follow Lighting McQueen as he races his way across Europe.

"If you look at Toy Story 2, which is one of the stories I'm most proud of in all the pantheon of Pixar films, it's the same thing with Cars 2. We've come up with a great, great story line," Lasseter said.

"It's a film I directed and created, and I'm so proud of these characters. The impact of these characters have made in families all over the world is really great. That's why I make these films, to truly entertain an audience. So to revisit these characters, Mater and Lighting McQueen, and all the folks at Radiator Springs, I'm real excited to do that."

Both big movies opening this weekend are garnering favorable reviews.

We've already given you a glimpse at what critics think of Wanted. Now, here's a look at their take on WALL-E...

- The animation is stunning; the landscapes of the futuristic Earth offer the Pixar folks ample opportunity to show off their wares... -- Arizona Republic

- The pole position in the race for the next Best Animated Feature Oscar has clearly been staked out... -- ReelzChannel

- One of the best movies of the year. Just so beautifully done... -- Ebert & Roeper

- Stanton and Pixar have achieved a new plateau in their craft, creating what's destined to be a beloved classic, right up there with the likes of Snow White, Bambi and Cinderella ... -- ComingSoon.net

Earlier this week, Entertainment Tonight gave viewers a sneak peek at The Dark Knight.

Looks like a motorcycle crash gives The Joker a free shot at Batman in the clip. Take a look:

Tilda Swinton has joined the Nicolas Cage and Pierce Brosnan in Roman Polanski's political thriller The Ghost.

Variety reports that production begins this September in Europe.

Tilda Swinton won an Oscar for her role in Michael Clayton.

Cage will portray a ghostwriter hired to complete the memoirs of an ex-British prime minister after the first scribe turned up dead. The ghostwriter's research leads him to uncover skeletons in the politician's closet that put the writer's life in danger.

Swinton will play the wife of the former prime minister (Brosnan).

According to TAG Blog, which bills itself as "The thoughts and observations of the leaders of The Animation Guild," a Kung Fu Panda sequel is being discussed.

The recent blog entry states:

A story crew has started early work in Kung Fu Panda, the Sequel, even while animators are hand-drawing new material for the DVD of Kung Fu Panda, the original.

This news comes as no surprise. Kung Fu Panda has grossed approxmately $230 million in 19 days of release worldwide.