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Movie News & Opinions

A Good Day to Die Hard: Casting Updates and Why I’m Even More Excited Than I Was Yesterday…

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The term ‘geek’ can be used or taken in a lot of different ways. Mostly though, it’s commonly used to describe someone with an abundance of knowledge on a particular subject, combined with a genuine love for said topic. For example, I could be easily referred to as a ‘Batman Geek’. I have a love for the mythology, I’m knowledgeable about the subject matter, and I’m passionate about what it all means to me. Perhaps that is why the abortion of a movie known as Batman and Robin is so painful for me to watch.

The Batman Mythos isn’t the only thing I geek out about however. There is another do-gooder that I find myself attached to as well – John McClane. Played by Bruce Willis and star of 4 Die Hard movies (with a cameo in Loaded Weapon 1), McClane was the ultimate ‘wrong time-wrong place’ guy. Through four movies he’s fought and defeated Hans Gruber, John Amos, Scar from the Lion King, and U.S. Marshall Raylan Givens – all the while, arguing with either his wife, his daughter, or Sam Jackson.

In addition to my love of Die Hard (and of Batman), I’ve also got what you might call an ‘uber-crush’ on one Ms. Mary Elizabeth Winstead. I mean, come on, who wouldn’t? So imagine my surprise when I first heard she had been cast to play Lucy McClane in 2007’s Live Free of Die Hard. She obviously owned the role, and I loved the movie and I believe her to be the most promising female movie star to come along in quite a while. Just look at her script selection – Black Christmas, Death Proof, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Thing, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter – she picks the movies I would pick if I were her. So awesome.

So anyhow, when news broke of the impending 2013 Valentine’s Day release of the franchise’s fifth movie – A Good Day to Die Hard – I was pretty bummed that it seemed she wouldn’t be involved. And then today, news broke which indicates otherwise! Booyah! According to The Film Stage, Ms. Winstead spotted on the set in Budapest:

Now the extent of her role is not yet known, so it could be anywhere from an extended cameo, to an actual role, but her mere presence makes me swoon excited elated confident that I won’t be disappointed on Valentine’s Day.

In addition to this, we have some other casting updates, four of them actually. Cole Hauser (Pitch Black) will appear as a supporting villain, marking his 3rd time in a Bruce Willis movie, previously appearing in Hart’s War and Tears of the Sun. In addition to Mr. Hauser, we will be seeing Megalyn Echikunwoke who has a funny connection to the film. She played ‘Nicole Palmer’ during the first season of 24, and just a few years ago FOX was kicking around the idea of crossing over the 4th Die Hard movie with a 24 film launch, pairing up the wise-cracking John McClane with the ultra serious and stoic Jack Bauer. It would’ve been epic. ALSO cast was Amaury Nolasco (Southland) who most people will likely recognize from Prison Break. If that’s not enough, we’ll throw in Russian Model Anne Vyalitsyna just for good measure.

There is also a rumor that Captain Picard will be playing the villain in this newest installment, but it’s not yet confirmed…

Combine those four with Willis, Winstead, and Jai Courtney (John McClane Jr) and you’ve got a damn solid cast. Aside from casting, there is actually some other news as well. Director John Moore, whose resume ranges from ‘disappointing and mediocre’ to ‘down right effing terrible’ has been handed the reins to one of the greatest Action franchises ever, and I’m a little worried. But he talked to Empire and said something I found interesting:

EMPIRE: …this is a Die Hard movie, pure and simple. In other words, no glib jokes then? No “How can the same shit happen to the same guy five times…” lines?

MOORE: “No, because that’s preposterous! I don’t know whether it’s post-financial crash or whatever, but I don’t think people are in the mood for that bollocks anymore. People are well savvy to the cynical reheating of any product, any franchise. Any shit won’t do. The bar’s a bit higher.”

EMPIRE: But what about the fish-out-of-water element, with McClane in Moscow?

MOORE: “There are a couple of great gags and a couple of great McClanisms. It’s not like he this idiot, bumbling around Moscow making ‘America won the Cold War’ jokes. It’s not Carry On Die Hard, I can assure you…”

EMPIRE: And what about the scale of the movie? So far, each Die Hard has been bigger than the one before… 

MOORE: “The scope along goes from New York to Moscow. It’s very, very international. There’s a car chase through Moscow that’s taking us 78 days to shoot. So… yeah. That should answer your question!”

This movie could make John Moore, and I really hope it does, because that would mean it was good. If it sucks though, I’ll have to add him to a list with Paul WS Anderson (who ruined Alien vs. Predator) of Directors I won’t watch anymore.

Finally, we have some footage. And SPOILER ALERT – At some point John McClane will bleed…

And just for fun, here’s some history you might not have known. Keep in mind though, she is totally wrong in thinking that Die Hard 2 is better than Die Hard: With a Vengeance…

And for good measure…

Movie Trailers

‘Premium Rush’ – New Trailer and Featurette

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Premium Rush kind of looks like one those films that I would normally pass over, but with a cast including Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Michael Shannon, I will actually give this a chance and I hope it does well. I haven’t seen a bad film which stars Joseph so my hopes are high there. The film centers on a New York City bicycle messenger (JGL) who picks up an envelope from Columbia University. A dirty cop (Shannon), desperate to get his hands on the envelope, chases the messenger around the city. It’s sounds basically like Citizen Kane with bikes!

Here’s the trailer:

Its looks like high-octane fun on bikes. “Got a name, got family…people who care if they see you again?” That’s what we like to hear from a bad guy, and I think Michael Shannon will easily do a great job as a corrupt cop (see his work on Boardwalk Empire).

Here’s a Behind the Scenes Featurette

All I can say is that director David Koepp has some balls letting his main actors do some of that stuff, because I mean look at Josephs arm at the end of that video. I didn’t expect this film to feature so many of the actors doing their own stunts, especially when it was shot using real traffic, because that seems to be insanely dangerous. On the other hand…if they die for the entertainment of the viewing public, that would show great devotion to their craft.

Movie Trailers

Judd Apatow’s ‘This Is 40’ Has A New Trailer, Fills Me With Existential Dread

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Judd Apatow is one of those strange curiosities in the filmmaking industry. He made his name blending bro-humor, stoner comedy and genuine emotional earnestness with the 1-2 knockout punch of 40 Year Old Virgin and Knocked Up, and has since put himself on the map as the go to guy for a successful mainstream comedy. Then as his career continued, he started putting in more of the earnest emotional stuff back into his work, which isn’t anything new for him at all. Longtime Apatow fans will be familiar with his TV projects, Freaks And Geeks being the most notable for being a perfect encapsulation of a generation’s awkward teen years, that had a timeless relatability to it despite being set in the 80’s.

Continue reading Judd Apatow’s ‘This Is 40’ Has A New Trailer, Fills Me With Existential Dread →

Movie News & Opinions

Your Writer/Director for The Avengers 2 is…

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Joss Whedon, come on down! You’ve just been chosen to continue on the path of greatness and while adding to your god-like status amongst the human population! According to several news sources, ranging from the Hollywood Reporter, EW.com, Newsrama etc., Joss Whedon is back in the saddle as your writer and director for Marvel’s The Avengers 2.

In the deal, Mr. Joss “I Own The World, Bow Before My Awesomeness” Whedon, signs a deal with Marvel Studios that keeps in the fold through the end of June 2015. In that, he will cover his duties as director and writer for The Avengers 2, as well as helping develop a live action series for ABC and, according to the Marvel Studios’ press release, “will also contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s cinematic universe.” Basically, as I have read it, he will take the Jon Favreau role in making sure that the universe that Marvel Studios has cultivated will be ushered into the next set of movies, culminating in The Avengers 2 movie. You can bet that the TV show will deal in the Avengers universe and it is safe to say that it is NOT the Guillermo del Toro Hulk series being developed for ABC apparently. Excited much? Yessir. Let us face it, Joss Whedon knows his characters and his television. While not successful all the time in terms of nielsen ratings, his television shows always are great and at least will cater to the cult crowds and die hard geeks his drops his wisdom on. Plus if it’s set in the Marvel Universe, umm, insta-hit?

A live feed from the Whedon household after the deal

From a Hollywood perspective, this should be zero surprise of course. The Avengers has made 1.5 BILLION worldwide. A large part is because not only the commercial acclaim of putting together the most brilliant way to market your movie (uhh, Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America: The First Avenger? Yeah, those were basically marketing teasers for that movie, profitable ones too at the very least), but the critical acclaim that got people coming back for more. The onus on Whedon and Marvel was making sure the characters were enjoyable to watch and developed to where they both electrified the screen individually AND as a team. Whedon solidified the Marvel Studio’s universe in this movie because he made sure this ambitious project did not implode like a dying star. With egos and sheer enormous size of this project, this could have been an unmitigated disaster with everything that was going on but instead, Mr. Firefly himself controlled the movie and its stars (and the future of this universe) and made sure the next several movies are events flicks that people of all walks and sizes will need to see.

So let’s recap, this will be Joss Whedon’s universe for the next three years and with Iron Man 3 for May 3rd, 2013; Thor: The Dark World in November 8th, 2013; Captain America: The Winter Soldier for April 4th, 2013; Guardians of the Galaxy launching on August 1st, 2014; with possibly Edgar Wright’s Ant-Man figuring into the equation too, this will probably confirm Avengers 2 hitting theaters in 2015, right when the contract ends. Not too mention the TV show that, crossing my fingers and just a hypothetical guess, will probably be S.H.I.E.L.D. related? Excited? You know it baby. So much that this ScarJo pic will be used to match the badassness of this news.

Movie News & Opinions

Could Marvel Studios Get Back Some Characters?

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How’s this for something to make a person stroke their chin in equanimity: A certain character or characters could be returning to a movie home with Marvel Studios in the near future from their very abusive home at Fox. I mean let’s face it, Fox has screwed up with nearly every Marvel movie they’ve churned out of their mediocre studio. Wolverine, the Fantastic  Four movies, Daredevil, Elektra and the Ghost Rider movies have all blown goats of the highest caliber! The only franchise they’ve had some good results with is the X-Men franchise, and even that took a couple stutter steps. I’m always hoping that Fox can step it up and I’m hopeful that Wolverine 2 (The Wolverine) and Josh Trank’s forthcoming Fantastic Four reboot can begin setting things right. Daredevil is another matter entirely and one of the big reasons as to all of the talk and rumors about certain characters reverting back to Marvel.

Like the Hellraiser franchise last year, Dimension needed to do something with the rights or risk losing them. So they produced a crappy movie that was finished in weeks and released on DVD, and now they are supposedly working on a reboot for the franchise. This is the same issue that Fox has with the Daredevil rights. If they don’t start production on a Daredevil movie by October 10th, then ‘the Man Without Fear’ would return to the Marvel Studios stable. This then brings up the rumors of a deal where Fox would trade the characters of Galactus and Silver Surfer back to Marvel so they can retain the rights to Daredevil. Because really, would Fox have the balls to produce a cheap piece of crap like Dimension did with Hellraiser just to hang onto it? I doubt it. They fail at even trying to make legitimate comic movies, let-alone an intentionally crappy one. Studio insiders at Fox are denying all of this of course and as I said it is all rumor at this point, but there has to be some truth to it or no one would be reporting on it.

There are a few different ways that this could boil down.

– Fox could make a piece of crap Daredevil movie and keep his rights, as well as those of Galactus and Silver Surfer, and then make a potentially decent Daredevil flick somewhere down the road.

– Fox could cut a deal with Marvel, letting Galactus and Silver Surfer go back with Marvel and avoid having to make a crappy Daredevil just for the sake of hanging onto the rights.

– ORRRRRRR Fox does absolutely nothing with Daredevil and loses him to Marvel while hanging on to Galactus and Silver Surfer.

Who knows what will happen at this point as the talks continue.

Joe Carnahan (The Grey, The A-Team) is currently in talks with Fox to direct the Daredevil reboot, and as stated before, Chronicle director Josh Trank is going to be rebooting the Fantastic Four franchise for Fox. I don’t see why Fox would have a problem letting Galactus and Silver Surfer go to hang onto Daredevil, because Trank would still have plenty of villains to draw on from the Fantastic Four comics. Dr. Doom is the obvious first choice and could carry over into any sequels. Then they can still use the Skrulls, Annihilus and the Mole Man. Regardless of how stupid the Mole Man looks, they could absolutely change him up to be a legitimate threat in a Fantastic Four movie.

This may just all be wishful thinking on my part since it appears that Marvel is certainly ramping up their foray into the cosmic scene with Thor, Avengers and now an upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy movie. Imagine if they had Galactus and Silver Surfer to add into the mix? The Galactus Seed storyline from the Mighty Thor comic in 2011 comes to mind as a great possibility for a crossover movie between Thor and the Asgardians squaring off against Galactus and the Silver Surfer.

I would honestly hate to see Daredevil made into such a terrible film again, but one could only hope that Fox sees how badly it botched the first one. You know, when they cast Ben Affleck and made DD look like the Gimp from Pulp Fiction? And I’d be willing for the trade off of Fox potentially doing that film right in return for Marvel Studios to add more players to its cosmic sandbox.

Movie News & Opinions

Newly Released ‘Hellraiser’ Concept Art Hopefully Indicates Reboot Isn’t Dead!

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You may or may not be aware, but Hellraiser, one of Dimension’s classic horror franchises, has kinda been stuck in direct to DVD/production hell (sorry), for quite a while now.

Even the characters in the movie agree.

While the 8th movie, Hellraiser: Hellworld seemed to finally put the nail in the coffin of the series, an attempt at a remake/reboot has been underway for years now. Initially the film was helmed by Alexandre Bustillo & Julien Maury, who were best known for ‘Inside’, but they departed from the project. It picked up steam again, when Pascal Laugier, who is most well known for his unflinchingly brutal ‘Martyrs’, a film that will deeply affect even the most jaded horror-hound set his sights on the film. It seemed like it was headed to being fast tracked, but he then left the project entirely as well. Then yet another team of directors picked up the project, Patrick Lussier and Todd Farmer, but the studio wanted them to make it a watered down PG-13 affair, and goddamned HELLraiser should be anything but PG-13, as Lussier and Farmer expressed.

via [Empire Online]

“We developed several versions for Dimension, but in the end we never saw eye to eye,” says Lussier. “The current story is extremely different from the story we pitched. It’s changed dramatically since we started, and it will probably change a lot more before it’s all over. Originally what they wanted was epic and dark, rated R. It was in our contract. So… if we do Hellraiser, it’s rated R; if they want to do PG-13 then they have to get rid of us.”

So thankfully we were spared some horrific PG-13 Hellraiser abomination, but this has again, unfortunately left the entire project on the back-back-back burner, destined to become whatever the celluloid version of Vaporware is. What am I getting at then? Well while the project does seem doomed, little tidbits here and there sprinkle out from the production being done, like the infamous “New Pinhead”, pictured below:

But more interestingly, and hopefully, there’s the recently released early concept art, for…. some version of Hellraiser, at some point of production, indicating just how much the conceptual team truly got what Hellraiser should be.

via [Bloody-Disgusting]

“In July Paul Gerrard and Mike Le Han produced a teaser trailer to accompany the pitch document which has many more conceptual designs that revision Hellraiser. Paul designed the new look for Pinhead and was production designer on the shoot and Le Han pulled in all of his film resources and directed the teaser on the new Alex 4:3 camera with anamorphic lenses.

With a crew of 47 an over 100 bloodied extras, the shoot was completed and is now in the depths of post production with a massive amount of VFX work being undertaken. Method Studios, Fugitive Studios and Flipbook Animation are helming the chi/VFX with the talented Glen Southern designing the new Hellraiser box.

When the teaser is complete they’ll be presenting it to Dimension Films along with an outline of the first film story and conceptual art pitch document with the hope to work on rebooting the Hell raiser franchise and bringing it into the 21st Century.”

CLICK TO ENLARGE
CLICK TO ENLARGE

That art is amazing. Some of it looks like a re-imagination of the Hell we saw in Hellbound: Hellraiser 2, which in my opinion, is the best of the series. Even concept art like this is something I’m chomping at the bit to see, because the Hellraiser franchise is one that is just begging to be brought back to life, with a creative mind behind it to explore all the brilliant ideas put out by the first two films. Hopefully, someone will pick it up soon, and make it happen for real this time.