June 2008 News Archive (Page 9)

Abigail Breslin stars as the title character in Kit Kittredge: An American Girl, the first movie we can think of to be based on a line of dolls.

The young actress recently spoke to MoviesOnline about the project:

Q: What was the best part of making this movie?

Abigail Breslin: The best part of making this movie was, I was so excited to get to do it because one of my favorite dolls was Kit and I collected them all since I was like 8. My grandma grew up in the Great Depression and she told me a bit about that, she said all the clothes were authentic and everyone was pretty much in the same situation back then.

She told me they would put sugar lumps on their tongues and drink the tea over it. I learned a lot about the Great Depression making this movie.

Q: How was the costume and hairstyle for you? It was a wig, right?

Abigail Breslin: Yes it was a wig. It was pretty cool, you know, to get to…I looked really different with it all. It sort of made you feel like you were really in 1934.

Q: How was working with a dog and a monkey?

Abigail Breslin: They were funny! I loved the basset hound. The monkey had a memo. He was a really funny monkey. He was cute.

On second thought, maybe James McAvoy won't be playing Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit.

"I'm a huge fan of the Tolkien saga, everything to do with Middle-earth," the actor told MTV News this weekend. "But no there's no truth in the fact that they've approached me yet."

Of course, just because they haven't approached McAvoy doesn't mean he's out of the running yet. Would you wanna see him star as Bilbo in The Hobbit?

Up next, fans can catch the British star alongside Angelina Jolie as Wesley Gibson in Wanted.

A trio of unfunny movies were released on DVD today. None were close to being hits in the theaters, but maybe they'll have better luck in the rental world.

Here's a rundown of all three films…

Be Kind Rewind
Stars: Jack Black
Why you should rent it: Because it saves you money, combining one new film with memories and scenes from old ones.

Fool's Gold
Stars: Kate Hudson, Matthew McConaughey
Why you should rent it: Does plot even matter when McConaughey wears a shirt so infrequently in the film?

Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins
Stars: Martin Lawrence
Why you should rent it: Because watching something so unfunny will make you feel like a funnier person the next time you tell a joke. Any joke.

Kevin Spacey will lead the ensemble cast of Shrink, an indepndent drama that has just begun production in Los Angeles.

According to Variety, Spacey will portray a shrink to the stars, a suitable role for an actor that comes across as haughty... but in an appealing way.

Saffron Burrows, Jack Huston, Griffin Dunne, Robin Williams, Pell James, Robert Loggia, Keke Palmer, Laura Ramsey, Gore Vidal, Dallas Roberts and Mark Webber will play a mosaic of Hollywood characters who are his clients.

In the film, the American Beauty star will take on a character that is unable to come to grips with a recent personal tragedy; the shrink is a chronic pot smoker who no longer cares about his personal appearance and has lost faith in his ability to help his patients.

As an adaption of a sitcom that a majority of its target audience was not alive for, Get Smart faces a challenge. Basically, it better be damn funny in order to attract viewers.

Does the Steve Carell vehicle succeed in this mission? Let's see what a handful of critics have to say about it...

- Although its chemistry never gels, Get Smart pulls off a sufficient number of goofy action set pieces to earn its entertainment value... -- Cole Smithey

- A lot of the comedy seems to have been lost in the translation... -- Variety

- This is a slap-dash effort whose producers threw money and stunts onscreen instead of the satirical gags and one-liners that made the old spy spoof so memorable... -- Hollywood Reporter

- In this distressingly generic spy spoof, it's not Maxwell who's clueless, but the filmmakers... -- Newsweek

Thomas Haden Church has come a long way since his role as a dim-witted mechanic on the sitcom Wings.

The actor has been nominated for an Oscar for his performance in Sideways, while also earning a co-starring credit as Sandman in the blockbuster Spider-Man 3.

Church turns 48 today and we'd like to wish him a very happy birthday!

Thomas Hayden Church, most recently seen in Smart People, is climbing his way up to A-list status.

Attention, women: we've found the ideal Christmas present for your man.

Just buy him a ticket to The Spirit, Frank Miller's next directorial effort, which opens on December 25. How can we be so sure guys will be attracted to this flick?

Take a look at the Scarlet Johansson-themed poster...

Earlier today, Rome's diocese said it has barred the producers of Angels & Demons from shooting in two churches for the film.

Producers of the movie (directed by Ron Howard and starring Tom Hanks) were turned down because the movie "does not conform to our views," said Monsignor Marco Fibbi, a spokesman for the diocese.

The crew had asked to film in the churches of Santa Maria del Popolo and Santa Maria della Vittoria, two architectural jewels in the heart of Rome that include paintings by Caravaggio, sculptures by Bernini and a chapel designed by Raphael.

"It's a film that treats religious issues in a way that contrasts with common religious sentiment," Fibbi told The Associated Press about the prequel to The Da Vinci Code. "We would be helping them create a work that might well be beautiful but that does not conform to our views."

Verne Troyer, better known as "Mini-Me" from the Austin Powers franchise, appears alongside Mike Myers again in The Love Guru.

The diminutive actor recently sat down with MoviesOnline to discuss the role:

MoviesOnline: You must have a fantastic relationship with Mike Myers?
Verne Troyer: Yeah. I guess so. It's fun to do the films that he asks me to do. If Mike Myers calls and asks you to do a film, you're going to say yes.

Verne Troyer in The Love Guru.

MoviesOnline: There were a lot more of the little jokes in this particular movie. Were you a little bit worried about how much they were making fun of your size?
Verne Troyer: No. It's a movie. It's comedy. Entertainment. If you don't like it, I'm sorry. It doesn't bother me. If that were to happen in the outside world, depending on the tone or how they said it, it might offend me a little bit. But, like I say, it's a movie and it's there to entertain people.

MoviesOnline: You get to talk in this one. As Mini-Me, you didn't. Were you really happy when you read the script? Did you go "Ooooh, dialogue!"?
Verne Troyer: Yeah, I was. It wasn't like I hadn't done anything with speaking lines before. I have. I've done a bunch. Just being in this big movie, everybody is going to see that he can actually speak.

As enormous fans of Toy Story and Finding Nemo, the Reel Movie News staff can't wait for WALL-E.

The latest Pixar feature opens on June 27. Here's an extended clip of the animated flick: