Skip to main content

Louis Leterrier to Direct Sci-Fi Disaster Epic 'G'

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 23rd 2011 9:00AM
Filed under: Movie News, Sci-Fi, Cinematical


French filmmaker Louis Leterrier hit the action scene with the first two 'Transporter' flicks and the odd Jet Li thriller 'Unleashed' (aka 'Danny the Dog') before hitting the Marvel-ous big time with 'The Incredible Hulk' and then tackling Mount Olympus on 'Clash of the Titans.' So what's next for the upwardly-mobile Monseuir Leterrirer? According to The Hollywood Reporter, it will be a big-time hush-hush sci-fi apocalypse piece known simply as 'G.' Because we all know how people adore single-letter titles like 'M,' 'Q,' and 'Z.'

Universal says the flick will have shades of 'Taken' (cool) and 'The Day After Tomorrow' (not so cool), which means we may be looking at "a scientist who must thwart an impending ice age in order to rescue his daughter from alien kidnappers." (Hey, maybe I should write that.) As THR notes, Mr. Leterrier also has a heist flick called 'Now You See Me' on the front burner, so it may take a while for us to locate the 'G' plot.

Top 10 Weird and Wonderful Oscar Statistics You May Have Missed

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 22nd 2011 11:00PM
Filed under: Oscar News, Awards, Cinematical


A lot ('The Social Network'!) of the experts ('The King's Speech'!) are obsessed ('The Fighter'!) with what will happen ('Inception'!) on Oscar night. ('Black Swan'!) Personally, I think it's much more interesting to look back and see what already has happened. And by using the magic of numbers, combined with the invaluable assistance of Wikipedia, I've come up with some rather amusing little tidbits. (Some of these you may have read before, but oh well. They're still cool.)

1a. 'The Lord of the Rings: Return of the King' (2003) won 11 Oscars out of 11 nominations. Statistically speaking, it's the king of the Oscar heap. Other 100% winners include 'Gigi' (1958) and 'The Last Emperor' (1987), both of which went 9 for 9, and 'It Happened One Night' (1934), which was 5 for 5.

1b. 'The Matrix' (1999) won 4 out of 4, and the 3 for 3 club includes 'The Bourne Ultimatum' (2007), 'Grand Prix' (1966), and 'Jurassic Park' (1993). Several films have gone 2 for 2 and 1 for 1, but that's not all that interesting, plus it's too much research.

2. Only one film has ever won Best Picture and nothing else. It was 'The Broadway Melody' (1929), and its other nominations were for Best Director (Harry Beaumont) and Best Actress (Bessie Love). (Correction! 'Grand Hotel' (1932) also won Best Picture and nothing else ... because that was its only nomination!)

3. The 1956 short film 'The Red Balloon' won an Oscar for Best Original Screenplay, despite having zero dialogue.
Continue Reading

Discuss: Whom Should Kevin Costner Play in 'Superman: The Man of Steel'?

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 22nd 2011 9:00AM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical


Yesterday Deadline broke the story that Kevin Costner is up for a role in Zack Snyder's upcoming 'Superman' movie, and that's really all we have on the issue. One of the commenters over at Deadline made an interesting point: perhaps the Superteam is taking a page from the Batcave, and offering small but integral roles to well-known actors. (Like Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman, for example.)

But unless Mr. Costner is being hired for a "new" character or a relatively obscure one, the choices are few: the all-American western-lover could be playing A) mega-villain Lex Luthor, B) adopted pop Jonathan Kent, C) biological father Jor-El, or D) Perry White. As one of those film critics who actually still likes Kevin Costner (yes, really), I'd cast a loud vote for the fourth option. As played by Frank Langella in 'Superman Returns' and Jackie Cooper in the franchise that began with 'Superman: The Movie' (1978), Perry White is a fast-talking, sharply intelligent newspaper editor who doesn't take any crap, but also has a soft spot for his loyal employees Clark, Lois, and Jimmy.

A nice, colorful, essential supporting role for a movie star / character actor who still does good work. This sounds good to me. (Forget everything I just said if Costner is ultimately cast as a super-villain in spandex. That'd be just silly.) Our pals at Latino Review say Costner will be Pa Kent; what say you?

Drunken Baby Proves Hilarious in 'Las Palmas'

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 18th 2011 12:30PM
Filed under: Movie News, Video, Cinematical


The following clip is a two-minute excerpt of an upcoming, award-winning Swedish short film called 'Las Palmas,' which you can find more information on right here. From the official website:

Las Palmas wins the short film award of Gothenburg Int'l Film Festival, Startsladden, as well as the Audience Award. The Award is 800 000 SEK in cash and production value. Plus a bit of honour. The Jury statement reads: "Startsladden 2011 goes to a tragicomic movie in a crazy world that feels terribly familiar. An ingenious hybrid of Sällskapsresan and Easy Rider, which goes straight into our hearts".

Enough talk. Tell me this isn't hilarious.
Continue Reading

'Bambi' Blu-Ray Review: Insert Jaw-Drop Here

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 17th 2011 5:15PM
Filed under: Reviews, Family Film Guide, Cinematical, Blu-ray DVDs
Here's where I normally mention that, aside from horror films, animated features are my true cinematic passion. But it seems a bit silly to try and explain why a movie freak would be so sincerely excited to sit down and rediscover the 1942 Disney classic 'Bambi' on Blu-ray ... so let's just get to the point: This is something special.

The film is, of course, one of the Disney studio's undisputed classics. Full of warmth and sweetness, but also danger and sadness, it's a film that's broken the hearts and lifted the spirits of kids and adults for almost 70 years. Much smarter film critics than myself have explained why 'Bambi' is an almost ethereally beautiful family film, as much for its visual and emotional beauty as for its now-infamous question of "is the death of a "cartoon" parent too extreme an idea for a child to handle?" And that's where much of the magic lies: in the Disney artists' ability to make animals seem (mostly) human and in their (amazing) ability to make us care about "cartoon animals" so darn much. For a hundred reasons, both simplistic and staggeringly powerful, 'Bambi' is a true-blue classic, not just of animation, but of filmmaking in general. We all know this.

But now we get to the goodies:
Continue Reading

Eli Roth and Richard Kelly to Collaborate on 'Corpus Christi'

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 17th 2011 9:30AM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical


The Variety report seems hesitant to break out the "H"-word, but we'll do it: filmmakers Richard Kelly ('Donnie Darko') and Eli Roth ('Hostel') are teaming up for a (gasp) horror film called 'Corpus Christi,' and already, based only on those names, we're pretty darn intrigued. Described as a "contemporary thriller" (hehe), the film will follow a "mentally unstable Iraq war veteran ... who forges a strange friendship with his boss ... the wealthy and politically ambitious owner of a supermarket chain."

The early plot synopsis is nice and vague, just the way a good ol' contemporary thriller should be described. Mr. Kelly will write and direct, and Mr. Roth will produce, alongside Kelly's partner, Sean McKittrick. No casting to announce just yet, but Big V indicates that the filmmakers plan to get rolling within the next few weeks. They also mention (more than once) that 'Corpus Christi' will be a departure of normalcy for Mr. Kelly. I think what they mean is that it won't be all weird like 'Southland Tales.' As if that was going to happen.

More on what sounds like a "two indie genre guys tackle a creepy Coen-ish story" as soon as we get it.

'Best Worst Movie' Director's Next Film Will 'Destroy' You! (Exclusive Interview)

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 16th 2011 5:30PM
Filed under: Celebrity Interviews, Movie News, Horror, Cinematical


The official word just came across from The Hollywood Reporter, but we got the scoop on a fun story a little early, and here's why: Our pals from 'Best Worst Movie' have teamed up with the Alamo Drafthouse's Zack Carlson and Bryan Connolly ... and they're going to make a horror comedy called 'Destroy.' It's got (non-)vampires and elderly people and, well, let's just let Michael Stephenson (director and star of 'Best Worst Movie') and Zack explain this one.

Cinematical: Give us a brief-run down on what the flick is about, and tell us something especially unique that you won't tell other interviewers!

Zack Carlson: It's a dark comedy about a would-be vampire hunter named Steve Howard. He's really very good at what he does, but there's this one problem: vampires don't exist. So this well-intentioned schlub from New Jersey is traveling through Eastern Europe killing old men asleep in their beds, when he truly believes he's saving the world from monsters. There's a lot more to it ... he basically convinces this local woman that there's a supernatural threat and she becomes his assistant, ultimately helping him kill adorable grandpas. Various other characters end up colliding over all of this, and some of them end up with a stake in their chest. It's really primarily a comedy of errors, just with a lot of innocent blood splattered all over it.

But even though the protagonist is basically a rampaging murderer, he's still sympathetic due to the purity and delusional nobility of his "quest." He just wants to do what's right. We actually named the character Steve after my dad, because they're both likable, nice guys and incredibly devoted to doing things properly, but kinda just screw 'em up. I'm not spreading this around much as I don't want to hurt my pop's feelings, but it's a fact. At least my dad doesn't kill people, to my knowledge.
Continue Reading
Advertisement

Hot Topics

From Our Partners