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Imagine Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood & Warren Beatty Playing Retired Superheroes

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 16th 2011 4:50PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical


He's not even finished in the editing booth for 'X-Men: First Class,' but director Matthew Vaughn ('Layer Cake,' 'Kick-Ass') has let it be known that he's got his eye on a very intriguing superhero project ... one that sounds a little like 'Watchmen' meets 'Red,' truth be told. The filmmaker's wonderfully cool idea is to cast the likes of Jack Nicholson, Warren Beatty and Clint Eastwood as retired superheroes who must help their grandkids save the world -- because their parents have screwed everything up.

The concept actually comes from UK television pundit Jonathan Ross, who is as sharp, smart and amusing as he is a gigantic comic book nerd. Deadline indicates that Mr. Ross' book, entitled 'The Golden Age,' has yet to be published, but already this idea sounds like a big, fat winner. That's all the early info we have so far, but given that Mr. Vaughn went off and bankrolled 'Kick-Ass' outside the Hollywood system, we're betting the man has enough passion to pull this project off as well. (Fingers crossed.)

'300' Sequel 'Xerxes' Reportedly Offered to Guy Ritchie (UPDATED)

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 16th 2011 9:00AM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical
If you've been dying for some word, any word, on the inevitable '300' follow-up, we have a semi-scoop from a lovable but unlikely source. NY Mag's Vulture indicates that Warner Bros. may be preparing to hand the project over to Guy Ritchie ('Snatch,' 'Sherlock Holmes') and not to '300' helmer Zack Snyder, who has 'Sucker Punch' on the way, as well as a brand-new 'Superman' project to call his own.

The Vulture report also offers all sorts of theories* on why Ritchie may get to helm 'Xerxes' over Snyder: 1) WB is worried about getting 'Superman' into production soon for contractual reasons; 2) early test screenings on 'Sucker Punch' were allegedly unkind; 3) Snyder's last two flicks (the owl one and the naked blue superhero one) didn't perform as well as expected. But it's probably just a case of Mr. Snyder being very busy, Mr. Ritchie (aside from post-production on 'Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows') being ... not as busy, and the studio wanting a profitable '300' sequel soon, goshdarnit! There's a big July release date with Xerxes' name just waiting for it!

*(No offense to Vulture, but we take test-screening smackdown reports with a grain of salt around here. For all we know, some overzealous newbie intern from Paramount / Universal / Fox could be spreading nasty rumors just to be a wise-ass.)

Update (2/17/10): A report from Entertainment Weekly: "Reports that the Sherlock Holmes director had been formally offered the job are "an erroneous rumor," according to (a WB) rep."

Whoopi Goldberg Accuses New York Times of 'Sloppy Journalism'

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 15th 2011 6:15PM
Filed under: Hot Topic, Cinematical


One of the big divides you often hear about in the "print vs. online" debate is that of simple professionalism: grammar, punctuation, proper spelling, research ... these are the things that a "true writer," regardless of medium, will focus on. Well, the consistently outspoken Oscar winner known as Whoopi Goldberg has now accused The New York Times of blowing it, as far as entertainment journalism is concerned.

The fracas began with this article in yesterday's Times, and it's clear that authors Manohla Dargis and A.O. Scott were making points about the black actors who've received Oscar attention since Denzel Washington and Halle Berry won theirs in 2002. The article never asserts that "only seven black actors have ever won an Oscar" (the actual number is 13), but that's how Whoopi interpreted it -- and she was not too happy about it. (Video from 'The View' after the jump.)

So, while Ms. Goldberg has a legitimate gripe (how tough would it have been to mention the six other actors?), this is not a case of poor research or a dumb mistake on the part of Ms. Dargis and Mr. Scott.
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Peter Greenaway Plans First Romantic Comedy, '4 Storms and 2 Babies'

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 15th 2011 1:30PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical
One of the most interesting filmmakers out there looks to have a new project on the way, according to Variety, and it seems like it's something entirely new for the strange, challenging and impressively prolific Peter Greenaway. It looks like the man behind 'A Zed and Two Noughts,' 'The Belly of an Architect' and (the wonderfully twisted) 'The Cook, the Thief, His Wife and Her Lover' is about to get a little romantic comedy in his future.

The project is called '4 Storms and 2 Babies,' and while it's being described as a romantic comedy -- a first for the admirably strange Mr. Greenaway -- the plot is encapsulated like so: "An unconventional love story about two men and a woman who becomes pregnant after a night of three-way sex with them." Given what I know of Greenaway's work, I'm guessing this won't be a typical "farce of misunderstandings," at least not until we get the American remake.

But I'm merely a fan of the Greenaway stuff. Hit the jump for some powerfully cool insights from Monika B., who adores this filmmaker like I adore John Carpenter.
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Kenneth Mars, Hilarious Character Actor, Passes Away at 75

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 14th 2011 9:30PM
Filed under: Movie News, Cinematical

Hollywood has lost another wonderfully colorful supporting player: The always-enjoyable Kenneth Mars, veteran of dozens of films (most notably by Mel Brooks and Woody Allen), has passed away at the age of 75 after a battle with cancer. To a big section of my generation (to say nothing of my dad's), Mars was a face first and a "name" second -- but we loved him no less for that.

To a child watching 'Young Frankenstein,' for example, there's a lot of stuff that might fly right over his or her head. But the particularly silly contributions from Kenneth Mars and Marty Feldman stand out like huge neon flowers to an 8-year-old movie freak. His hilariously bizarre performance as Inspector Kemp was always one of my favorites, but once I got a little older and saw Mars' work in 'The Producers,' I knew that this man was a specifically gifted comedian. Simply put: It takes some real talent to play a Hitler-adoring Nazi lunatic in a broad farce and NOT come off as ugly, distasteful or unpleasant. Mr. Mars' performance as Franz Liebkind was none of those things.

But Mel Brooks wasn't the only employer who enjoyed Kenneth Mars. Disney tapped the man to play the rather important role of Ariel's over-protective papa in 'The Little Mermaid,' Woody Allen hired the man for 'Radio Days' and 'Shadows and Fog,' and Mr. Mars also provided strong character work for directors like Herbert Ross ('Protocol'), Michael Ritchie ('Fletch'), and Alexander Payne ('Citizen Ruth'). The man did seemingly triple the TV work that he did on the silver screen, but fans of both media have lost a fine companion today.

Hit the jump for some of our favorite Mars moments. And of course, our deepest condolences to the late actor's family. He will be missed.
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BAFTA 2011 Winners Led by 'King's Speech,' Fincher Takes Director Prize

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 13th 2011 4:40PM
Filed under: Awards


The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs) are announcing their annual prize-winners at this very moment. Oddly, the presentation is on a tape-delay (even in the UK!) so you'll have to rely on us for the facts. Well, us and several great Brits on twitter. (Thanks, blokes and birds!) Thanks also to our pals at HitFix and IndieWire for being on the BAFTA ball!

Just now, for example, I learned that David Fincher ('The Social Network') has won the award for Best Director, which is weird because I had no idea Mr. Fincher was British. (That's what passes for comedy on a Sunday afternoon, sorry.) A full list of all the winners resides beneath the jump, but some other noteworthy prize-getters include Helena Bonham Carter for 'The King's Speech,' Geoffrey Rush for 'The King's Speech,' Colin Firth for 'The King's Speech,' David Seidler ('The King's Speech') for Best Original Screenplay, and Natalie Portman ('Black Swan') for Best Actress because 'The King's Speech' didn't have a female lead.

Snark aside, congrats to all the winners and especially to the great (brave) comedy known as 'Four Lions,' which won "Outstanding British Debut" for writer/director Chris Morris.

Brace yourself for the shocking Best Picture winner...
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Five Flicks to Avoid If You Actually Like Valentine's Day

By Scott Weinberg (Subscribe to Scott Weinberg's posts), Posted Feb 10th 2011 8:00PM
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical


The only thing more annoying than all the non-stop coochy-coo romance of Valentine's Day is the endless deluge of complaints from those cleverly cynical folks who just realized that, hey, Valentine's Day is sponsored by Hallmark Cards ... but since I'm single these days, I actually side with the cynical grouches. So in celebration of all things unlovable and anti-romantic, we offer this: Five Flicks to Avoid If You Actually Like Valentine's Day. (Yep, just like in the headline.)

'War of the Roses' -- Still the finest anti-romantic comedy of the modern era, Danny De Vito's twisted masterpiece reunites the three leads from 'Romancing the Stone' and 'The Jewel of the Nile,' but replaces adventure tropes and witty quips with venomous nastiness and overt unpleasantries. Plus it's funny as hell, provided you're watching the flick in the proper (cynical) state of mind.
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