July 2008 News Archive (Page 6)

Earlier this week, a new poster for X-Men Origins: Wolverine was revealed at Comic-Con.

Here's a look at what may be the most anticipated movie of 2009:

In December, comic book fans will be treated to Punisher: War Zone. It's the sequel, of course, to 2004's The Punisher.

In the movie, Dominic West stars as Jigsaw, the flick's scar-faced villain. Ray Stevenson stars as the new Frank Castle.

Check out the film's trailer now:

MGM has announced that Darren Aronofsky will direct the studio's new installment of its RoboCop franchise.

Reportedly, Aronofsky is fast tracking the RoboCop movie, hoping to it one of the most anticipated new films for 2010. It might have some competition from Shrek Goes Fourth, of course.

Will you go see a new RoboCop movie?

In making the announcement, Mary Parent, Chairman, Worldwide Motion Picture Group, MGM said:

"Darren is undeniably one of the most talented, original and visceral film makers... All of us at MGM couldn't be more excited."

The studio's goal is to reinvent the RoboCop, similar to what Christian Bale and company are hoping for with Terminator Salvation.

On the heels of the annoucement that a Hairspray sequel is all but guaranteed, here's more film follow-up news:

John Cho and Kal Penn will reprise their roles in a third installment of the Harold & Kumar franchise, Variety reports.

Get ready for more Harold and Kumar, folks!

This spring's Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay grossed $38.1 million domestically, more than double its production budget.

The series' first film, 2004's Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, has established a cult following on DVD, earning more than $30 million from home video alone.

On August 20, Robert "Fish" Fishman (Rainn Wilson) hopes to see his musical dreams comes true in The Rocker.

Here's a preview for the movie:

I know this may be almost as sacrilegious as saying I don't support the troops... but I can't hold it in any longer. Here goes:

I didn't like The Dark Knight.

Perhaps my opinion would be different if reviews for the movie hadn't been so off the charts. But IMDB users have rated The Dark Knight as the best film... of all-time!

I don't even think it's the best film in the Batman franchise, but that's as much as a compliment to Batman Begins as a condemnation of The Dark Knight.

Anyway, here are my reasons for thinking The Dark Knight is more overrated than The MacBook Air...

• Bruce Wayne/Batman is the least interesting character in the movie.

The Joker - both as a character and as a performance by Heath Ledger - is mesmerizing. Any time he isn't on screen, the movie slows to a halt. Harvey Dent is layered, a seemingly glory-filled attention hog and obstacle in the way of Bruce and Rachel's love... who turns out to truly have a heart of gold, only to see it corrupted by the death of his loved one and a barrel of acid.

Jim Gordon is torn apart by his crime-ridden city. You can see the pain on his face in every scene. Heck, even Alfred is interesting. He serves as Batman's moral compass in the movie.

But the Caped Crusader himself is shoved into the background, while these other characters drive the story along. We saw how Bruce became Batman in the prior film, and now it appears as though he's just sitting back, waiting for others to give him a purpose. Which would be okay, except...

• The premise of the movie is based on Batman's unique brand of heroism.

I loved the ending. I thought Gordon's closing speech and the idea of Batman serving as the hero Gotham deserves - by actually serving as the target of their unified disdain for evil - was exceptional. But the rest of the film didn't do this concept justice.

Again, for a majority of the two and a half hours, Batman wasn't even a secondary character. The people on the ferry were heroes for not blowing each other up; Alfred was the one who had to plead with Bruce to "endure," to "be the outcast... [to] make the choice that no one else will face: the right choice."

Continue Reading...

Pineapple Express co-stars Seth Rogen and James Franco recently sat down with MoviesOnline to discuss their upcoming comedy. Here are a few highlights of the interview:

MoviesOnline: What was the idea behind writing this? Also, James, this isn't something we'd normally expect to see you do. How did this come to you and why did you say yes?
Rogen: The original idea came from Judd [Apatow] actually. He just kind of had the loose notion of like, 'What about a weed action movie?'

Me and Evan thought that could be rad and basically we started thinking about making a movie that was kind of a weed movie and action movie and had a real kind of friendship story to it then that would be our favorite movie ever. We originally actually wrote Franco's part for me and the part I ultimately played just for someone else in general and then when we got Franco involved we thought it was a good idea to switch the roles. I think it worked really well.

Franco: I hadn't done a comedy for a while. I had directed a very low budget movie called 'The Ape' and it was playing at a festival in Austin. Judd was there and he came and saw it and it's kind of funny.

Seth Rogen and James Franco in a scene from Pineapple Express.

Rogen: I think it's funny.

Franco: Thank you. After he saw it he said, 'I miss the funny Franco.' I hadn't really done a comedy other than 'The Ape' since 'Freaks and Geeks'. So then we started talking about ideas and he said, 'Well, I'm going to do this movie "Knocked Up" with Seth, but after that you guys should do a movie together.'

I read it and thought that it was very funny, but I said, 'Oh, Seth, you get to play the good role, or the role that I want – Saul.' They were like, 'Nah. You can play Saul.' I think around that time I met David, or well we all met at 'Superbad' and Judd said, 'I'm thinking about having him direct.' Sounded like a good idea.

Sorry, fans of The X-Files. But the latest film version of the iconic television series isn't receiving rave reviews.

Here are a look at some of the latest...

- For the uninitiated, The X Files: I Want to Believe may seem as musty and forbidding as one of those dank secrets that Mulder and Scully were forever digging up from some backyard, or fetid swamp, or their own aching hearts... -- Time Magazine

- Director/franchise creator Chris Carter gives devoted fans plenty of small moments to swoon over, but the appeal should be limited beyond those fervent loyalists... -- Variety

- A movie that benefits from -- but doesn't make very good use of -- the history and the chemistry between its stars, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson... -- The Orlando Sentinel

- The plot is mundane and seems pieced together from bits from (better) episodes of this now defunct TV show... -- Sci-Fi Movie Page

Roberto Orci, one of the writers on the Transformers sequel, has revealed part of the plot to MTV. 

“It’s about being away from home. It’s a few years later and Sam is going to finally go to college and he’s going to face being away from home just as the autobots are having to deal with being away from Cybertron,” Orci said.

Sounds interesting. But what about the title? Why “Revenge of the Fallen?"

“Because Transformers 2 sounds stupid,” Orci said.

Earlier today, we fed movie goers' sex drive with Megan Fox's lips in the first poster for Jennifer's Body.

Now, let's tap in to everyone's need for action with this poster for Max Payne.

The video game adaptation, which stars Mark Wahlberg in the title role, opens October 17. It tells the story of a maverick cop determined to track down those responsible for the murder of his family and partner.