Okay, I'm going to try to write this post without pissing off a gazillion people. See, our resident Twilight expert, Kim, is flying to France right now, and so I'm the lucky guy left to write about Twilight. And speaking of the biggest teen vampire film to hit the states since The Lost Boys, a brand new poster for Twilight has been released by Summit Entertainment. (You can check it out to the right and click to enlarge.) Additionally, we've decided that now is the time to introduce our official Twilight gallery (see below). Fans of the film should definitely save that gallery link and check back daily as we'll be adding more photos real soon.
And there's more! CulturePulp's Mike Russell tipped us off to this super funky comic strip he created, which was inspired by a recent trip of his to the set of Twilight. The comic strip is supposed to compliment an article he wrote for The Los Angeles Times. The comic is a damn funny read, as Mike takes you through a scene where they're playing vampire baseball and running at 30mph. Don't know, but it sounds good.
Confession time! I've never read Twilight, and I have absolutely nothing against the book or its fans. However, the only thing that worries me about this film is Kristen Stewart. Hate me forever, but she always plays the disturbed, "I have several emotional issues that stem from my childhood" kinda gal. Not a bad thing, mind you, but I've never seen her give us an ounce of power, of energy, of anything, really.
So here's a question for you fans: Do you think Kristen Stewart is the right actress to play your beloved Isabella Swan? Have you seen her other films? (Or maybe Isabella is a really boring person, because then Stewart would be excellent in the role.
Another new (and improved, in my opinion) image of Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus in The Spirithas been revealed, courtesy of Comic Con Magazine (click image to enlarge). Directed by Frank Miller (Sin City, 300), and based on the graphic novel by Will Eisner, The Spirit follows rookie cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) who returns from the dead to fight crime in Central City. Jackson plays The Octopus, The Spirit's main nemesis -- a villain who plans to wipe out all of Central City and kills anyone unlucky enough to see his face. (That said, I guess we're all doomed -- damn you Comic Con magazine for showing us this dude's face!)
Also starring in the flick are Scarlett Johansson (as the Octopus' secretary, Silken Floss), Eva Mendes (as Sand Saref), Jaime King (as Lorelei Rox) and Paz Vega (as Plaster of Paris). Gotta love the names in this one. If I may recommend myself for the sequel; I could play Dynamo Clorox III. Sweet! The first trailer for The Spirit was released during New York Comic Con, and I'm sure the cast and crew will have plenty of goodies for the folks attending San Diego Comic Con in July.
The Spirit arrives in theaters on December 25 (Happy Birthday Jesus, indeed!). Check out our gallery below.
Ahem. Where were we? Oh yes -- a few nude, er, new photos from the set of Jennifer's Bodyhave arrived online, and it seems the lovely Megan Fox (pictured above) has finally transformed into a girl that doesn't wear any clothes. About damn time! (Last week she transformed into a motorcycle and we were all, like, what the F!) These new images come to us via The Bad and Ugly, who have a few more of Fox in and out of the lake, and let's just say they're a tad more revealing. For those who don't remember, Fox was recently named the sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine -- and these new photos definitely help the girl live up to that title.
Written by Diablo Cody (Juno), Jennifer's Body stars Megan Fox as a newly-possessed cheerleader who begins killing her male classmates; specifically, those trying to woo her. Amanda Seyfried stars as Jennifer's best friend and the film's hero, while guys like Adam Brody show up as the lead singer of a band (see images of Brody's Nikolai character over at Just Jared).
Man, looking at that image above reminds me of those days when I was applying to be "guy who holds blanket over naked actress on set." Never got the job, of course, because I didn't have 3-5 years experience, but it was still fun to try. Jennifer's Body arrives in theaters next year ... as well as on the desktops of every horny male teenager in the world right ... about ... now.
Cinematical has just received this exclusive teaser poster for City of Ember(click to enlarge), due out this October 10th courtesy of 20th Century Fox and Walden Media. Based on the best-selling novel from Jeanne Duprau, City of Ember was written by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) and directed by the very talented Gil Kenan (Monster House). Oh, but the talent doesn't stop there -- check out this cast: Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Toby Jones and Harry Treadaway. And did I mention it was produced by Tom Hanks?
And here's a synopsis for ya: "For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights - underground. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing . . . and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever."
Early buzz tells us the film looks gorgeous, so that's definitely a good sign. We've also been told that the first trailer for City of Ember will debut in front of Prince Caspian this weekend. (Chalk up another reason to hang with those peeps over in Narnia.) Once again, City of Ember arrives in theaters on October 10th.
Cinematical was just handed this exclusive clip from the film Mongol, which finally arrives in theaters in limited release on June 6 after being nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar. Mongol comes from the award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains), and it follows the early years of Genghis Khan -- before he took on that name, through his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny. Cinematical's Eric D. Snider reviewed the film when it played the Portland Film Festival, and said: "The battle scenes, in particular, are thrilling and visceral without being too nauseating, and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano's performance as Temudjin has the stoicism and dedication you need for an effective biopic hero." I think it goes without saying that we all love a film with a few good battles in it, and Mongol looks to give us just that ... and then some. Check out the clip above, then the poster, then get your asses to the theater when it arrives on June 6.
A whole new batch of images from the next James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, have just arrived online. So, in honor of a badly beaten-up Daniel Craig, we've decided that now is definitely the right time to launch our official Quantum of Solace photo gallery -- complete with good guys, bad guys and women who may or not be good or bad. (Can I just say that I absolutely love this photo above. Obviously they've had a long night -- and even though he's all sorts of damaged, Bond has that "I bet I could still tap that" look on his face.)
What do we know about Quantum of Solace? Well, it picks up right where Casino Royale left off, and it follows 007 on a mission to figure out which moron came up with the name for this film. I kid, I kid. Actually, we're with Bond as he attempts to figure out more about the organization that blackmailed Vesper -- a mission that ultimately leads him to several countries and to a couple of men; one of which, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), is conspiring to take total control of one of the world's most important natural resources. There's double the action, double the intensity and (we hope) double the love-making.
Quantum of Solace arrives in theaters on November 7. Check out our brand new gallery below.
It might not be the best quality image, but the first glimpse of Justin Chatwin (War of the Worlds) as the anime hero, Goku, has finally hit the net -- and I have to admit, it doesn't look half-bad. A dedicated Dragonball Z fan submitted a scan from the Japanese magazine Shonen Jump to the Dragonball fan site (see to the right; click to enlarge) and even though it's blurry and covered in Japanese, it does give me hope that the film won't be a total disaster. Fox has kept a tight grip on updates for the film, and other than a few MySpace entries from co-star Emmy Rossum, the most we have gotten was a leaked teaser poster.
Dragonball was written and directed by James Wong and tells the story of Goku, a young man locked in a struggle with the evil Piccolo (James Marsters) over some mystical globes known as 'dragon balls'. The debate over whether or not Chatwin was going to be able to pull off the classic manga character was a big source of contention among fans. It's not like it's easy to ignore the obvious racial 'disparity' in hiring Chatwin to play a guy that normally looks like this.
So what do you think? Now that we have finally seen Chatwin in all his manga glory, will it be enough to silence detractors? Or will it be the last piece of the puzzle that proves they were right all along?
Dragonball will arrive in theaters on April 8th, 2009.
Ever since the numbers were released yesterday, anyone and everyone (as well as anyone who is everyone) has been talking Speed Racer -- specifically, how a $120 million Hollywood blockbuster could open with only $20 million at the box office. You can blame Iron Man, you can blame the marketing, you can blame the blogs for trashing the film all year long, you can blame Christina Ricci's weird haircut, or you can blame that judge on Project Runway for saying, "You can never have too much color!" Fact is, it missed the mark.
But what could've helped Speed Racer make more money in its opening weekend? The running time has been mentioned a lot in the past 24 hours, but a running time doesn't exactly woo audiences into the theater. Is the film's marketing 100% to blame? Should the trailers have been cut differently? Should they have stressed that this was a film for kids? Should they have added a little viral action into the mix? Or what about overall? From the beginning, were the Wachowski Brothers the right folks for the job? Should they have gone the animated route instead -- or maybe the animated 3-D route? Should they have made this a film for older kids; slap on a PG-13 rating?
In your opinion, what could've helped Speed Racer -- both in its opening weekend and in its development as a feature film?
A whole crop of new images from The Incredible Hulk have hit the net, including the one above showing some assistant dude (Tim Blake Nelson) holding the super serum that's eventually injected into Tim Roth (which, of course, gave him super powers and turned him into Abomination). Ah, but those of us at New York Comic Con were told that this serum is, in fact, the same kind used to create Captain America. Additionally, First Showing is running around claiming there's a shot of Captain America's shield on Tony Stark's workbench in Iron Man -- and, while they've watched the scene several times and say it's true, I don't believe anyone from the Favreau camp has confirmed this yet.
Now thatIron Man has literally destroyed the box office, it will be interesting to see how their second self-financed film does when The Incredible Hulk hits theaters on June 13. The two scenes we watched at Comic Con were enough to convince me that this version of Hulk will definitely kick a bunch of ass. That's a given. But will it succeed with fans? (Something tells me there's already a whole bunch of people who will hate this film regardless, but that's their problem -- we'll certainly go in with an open mind and an open heart). Definitely check out all those new images (mixed with some older ones) in the gallery below.
And we have the embed, courtesy of IGN. The quality is not ideal, so if you're looking to freeze frame, you may want to view the Quicktime version over there.
The trailer is predictably creepy, but also typically vague. There is not much of a sense here as to what the movie will be about other than an unexplained phenomenon and missing girls -- I felt compelled to go back and look at the plot details just to appreciate it a little better. With all the cool movies coming out this summer, I don't know if I'm hooked enough to buy a ticket yet to this one. Nearly, though!
I know it can't be -- but the sadistic looking dude with the needle looks an awful lot like Alex Krychek.
If you need an additional Mulder and Scully fix, there are two viral videos that were released this weekend. They feature the two FBI Agents reminiscing about each other, which suggests this movie is a reunion on all fronts. They are a bit odd, mostly because they are so short and random. They're included after the jump.
There's been much buzzing around the Cinematical virtual office over the past few days about Speed Racer. James pretty much liked it (for a kids' movie), Scott pretty much hated it, and Eugene seems, well, a bit disappointed. We just got back from taking the crew to see Speed Racer.
Last week at the same time, we were at Iron Man, and the theater was almost completely packed, with only front row seats left by the time the previews started. This week, same time, exact same theater, even, and there were maybe 20 people total. And I have to say, if the Wachowskis are aiming for the kiddie market with this film, as many seem to think, I think they've largely missed their mark. Aside from the largely empty matinee theater, there were a couple of signs during the screening that this movie wasn't playing well to the kiddie set.
Above you will find the latest Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer. While it looks kinda like the last one, it's easy to spot a whole bunch of new scenes and dialogue. Anyone else notice how all these trailers and TV spots have been very light on Marion Ravenwood's scenes? They've included her in this jungle car chase scene, and she's had a line or two, but that's it. Part of me wonders how much she's in the actually movie? Then again, perhaps they'd rather play up the Shia LeBeouf and Cate Blanchett roles over Karen Allen, who, while very well known to all of us movie buffs, isn't exactly a household name across the globe. Kinda diggin' LaBeouf's character more and more each day; he's a fun guy to watch on screen and my fingers are crossed he does a good job here. Reviews thus far have been iffy ... but I'd rather wait to see for myself.
Over on his blog, Kevin Smith has released another new image from Zack and Miri Make a Porno, promising fans that the film's first internet-only teaser will debut on his site, www.quickstopentertainment.com, when he returns home from a trip to the east coast next week. Additionally, Smith says he'll be at San Diego Comic Con again this year (we missed ya at NYCC, Kev!), and to (most likely) look out for a panel in the big room on Friday night. Panel? Does that mean he'll have a bunch of cast members with him? Does that mean he'll debut the first full-length trailer for the film? Does that mean he'll give out candy?!
From looking at the photo, it appears we'll be getting some fun adult hockey in the flick, which, in case you didn't know (or forgot) tells of two platonic friends (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who, strapped for cash, decide to make a porno. Check out a couple more images from the film in our gallery below. Zack and Miri Make a Porno arrives in theaters this fall.
In honor of the upcoming Speed Racer, Matt Atchity over at Rotten Tomatoes has put together an impressive list of the most memorable cars to ever appear onscreen -- and if 50 wasn't impressive enough, he has put together an exhaustive list of honorable mentions.
There's no arguing with his picks -- for me, Dumb and Dumber's dog van ranks high, as does Garth Algar's MirthMobile. (You don't know how badly I coveted one as a teenager.) I think the Bond Astin Martin should rank above General Lee and Speed Racer though -- but I'm always one for a classic.
My number one pick -- yes, even above the DeLorean -- is the above. Mad Max's Modified 1973 Ford Falcon XB GT Coupe, ranked #26 on Atchity's list. That car is all kinds of sexy. I'm not really sure what that says about me, but there you go. There's a replica in my home town and it kills me that it is not mine.
Check out Matt's list, but come back and tell us your own picks. And if you have a car like Mad Max's, I'm all yours. I'm just saying.
The trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Warshas hit the net via Yahoo! Movies. Those who caught the broadcast of it on the 8th were lucky, as the Yahoo trailer is in less than ideal condition: just when things started to get good, the sound cut out on me! (So take my opinion with a grain of salt.) While I got all nostalgic and excited upon hearing Obi Wan's Theme (one of John Williams compositions, I think), the rest didn't fill me with much confidence. It looks less like a trailer for a movie trailer than one for a video game -- and not because of the animation, but because it mostly is made up of "Look, how cool!" shots. But, like I said, the sound died when the plot started to pick up, so I will re-watch it when the glitches clear up and form a new opinion. If it worked for you, please tell me if I'm wrong -- and if it is way better than a video game trailer.
The Clone Wars hits theatres August 15th. I wonder if Star Wars fans are already lining up?
Okay, I'm going to try to write this post without pissing off a gazillion people. See, our resident Twilight expert, Kim, is flying to France right now, and so I'm the lucky guy left to write about Twilight. And speaking of the biggest teen vampire film to hit the states since The Lost Boys, a brand new poster for Twilight has been released by Summit Entertainment. (You can check it out to the right and click to enlarge.) Additionally, we've decided that now is the time to introduce our official Twilight gallery (see below). Fans of the film should definitely save that gallery link and check back daily as we'll be adding more photos real soon.
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Cinematical's 2008 Cannes Preview
EXCLUSIVE: 'City of Ember' Poster Premiere!
Tons of New 'Quantum of Solace' Images!
