Seems Sasha Baron Cohen’s Bruno - the followup to his mockumentary style movie Borat - has been stamped with the dreaded NC-17 rating for controversial sexual scenes. Like we had any doubt that Bruno wouldn’t push the limits for a reaction. But we know this was going to get the MPAA first in line for said reactions and now they will edit the movie down and to sneak in an R.

Like the quote at Latino Review mentions, its not the rating, but that this will reveal some of the intelligent bits from the movie.

In one scene showed at the festival, Bruno auditioned children for a subversive movie with a number of offensive acts. Clueless stage moms agreed to the increasingly absurd requirements set forth by the actor, including one woman admitting that her infant daughter could lose seven pounds in a week to fit the part.

Finally, Bruno told her about the scene, in which the child had to dress as a Nazi pushing someone into an oven.

I have said before that I have not been anticipating this film at all because it sounded like it was just going to be Bruno gay-ing people into shock and horror to illustrate the intolerance of other lifestyles. Funny for about a minute then its the same gag over and over.

But he appears to be hitting up different contraversies as well and I hope that it has the same hidden brilliance that Borat had. In its lowbrow appeal there was some deeply intellectual messages and from what I was seeing from Bruno, it felt like those elements were missing. But now I get a glimmer that it will still be as smart.

I can hope.

As a genetically engineered Disney project the singer/actor combo is pretty standard. They nearly disqualify the “singers shouldnt be actors” rule because they tend to be equally good at both things. Which for the most part is “not very”.

But Miley Cyrus has taken her cutesy pop and tv Dis-com show to teen popularity including a Feature Film based on the property. So will we see the Hanna Montana character again on the big screen? Not if Miley has anything to say about it. But she is up for more movies.

Yahoo says:

“We got really lucky with having the material to make one movie,” Cyrus said in an interview Monday. The film reveals Hannah Montana’s identity to the world in a way Cyrus says is “very clever” and diminishes the chances of a sequel — but doesn’t dampen the future of the popular Disney TV show.

Even though I am double the target demographic I cannot deny her domination of the teen pop world. And no doubt there will be people who like to jump that bandwagon to hate on her, but I do find a few of her songs very catchy.

Her upcoming Hanna Montana movie will be much different from her last foray on the bigscreen which was just a stage concert in theaters that combined her tv character’s music and her own. (Costume changes included) But this will serve as a turning point for her show. In the program, normal highschool student Miley has a secret identity as popstar Hanna Montana. The film will not end the series, but will change it as the film will serve to expose the secret.

Her future projects will step away from the role she is famous for, which is a smart move if she ever wants to outgrow the Mouse. But in a glimpse of brutal honesty Cyrus said she is waiting to see “a good actress or not, or if I’m just good at playing myself. Which might just be the case.

Rob Zombie’s sequel to Halloween is well on its way despite mixed reviews of his reboot of the franchise. But it seems his odd casting choices seem to be the flavour of news today. Accordion Musical Comedian Extraordinaire Weird Al Yankovic has been cast

FilmJunk reports:

Weird Al Yankovic has been cast in Halloween 2 as a television talk show host. Here’s why I’m not surprised: First off, Rob Zombie has a serious love of long, stringy hair. This means Weird Al is totally his man. Second; he cast Mickey Dolenz of The Monkees as a gun salesman in the first Halloween. Actually, Zombie seems to do a lot of this type of casting. Like Tarantino, he tends to gravitate towards character actors he likely was a fan of growing up. I

So is this sort of casting really just a fan tribute for Rob Zombie?

Casting Weird Al as a TV Talk Show host wouldn’t be a stretch for Al’s character acting, but there is a reason Weird Al doesn’t have an acting career, but I have tons of respect for him as a music artist. His most brilliant stuff is often not his cover spoofs. And his one shot at the big screen (UHF is a staple in my DVD Collection) was all just Weird Al being himself, and that worked.

Despite his random genius, I would love to see Weird Al in this as a straight laced TV Host, and hope he isn’t one of his zany exaggerated persona. That would just be sweet. Everyone will anticipate him to start screaming about Velcro and tater tots while illustrating his double-jointedness. But I think it would be a sharp point to have him all stoic and serious. There is your cameo worth watching.

Sam Raimi’s Drag Me to Hell looks like a great horror film and a new poster has hit the net.

I like how literal the poster is, and from the trailer it looks like Alison Lohman’s character will be experiencing the emotional equivalent to this imagery throughout the film.

Now that the horror pendulum is swinging the other way and we are seeing less of the torture porn type horror and more suspense thrillers, I can see myself watching more of this kind of film.

Via

Star Trek is getting so much positive buzz lately that the powers that be are greenlighting a sequel before it even comes out.

Latino Review shares:

Story is still in the embryonic stage, but the trio are aiming to deliver their script to the Melrose studio by Christmas for what would likely be a summer 2011 release.

“There’s obviously a lot of hubris involved in signing on to write a sequel of a movie that hasn’t even come out yet,” said Lindelof, co-creator with Abrams of ABC’s “Lost” who produced the upcoming “Trek” but did not contribute to Orci and Kurtzman’s screenplay. “But we’re so excited about the first one that we wanted to proceed.”

As for potential storylines, Kurtzman stressed that the writing team will wait to take a cue from fan reaction about which direction to go.

This seems to be more the standard lately. Hollywood is willing to take the chance on a movie they already anticpate will rake in the coin instead of waiting til its over instead of getting around to it later when schedules work out causing a 4 year delay.

And I do like how they admit to be waiting for fan reaction. This is obviously the best way to handle the direction of the film but I hope they don’t let it railroad them. I imagine George Lucas quietly re-writing JarJar’s part in Attack of the Clones after the fan reaction.

But the slate will be clean, and they can do whatever they want with Trek now without having to resort to a team of consultants to make sure nothing conflicts. I hope that this movie lives up to its buzz, but I also wonder what they are going to call the sequel. Technically this is Star Trek 11, but its not. So will this be Star Trek 2.. again?

I say, BRING ON THE KLINGONS!!

Andy Hallett, known in geek circles as Lorne on TV’s Angel has died of heart failure at the ripe age of 33.

EOnline reports:

Andy Hallett, who starred as Lorne (”the Host”) on the TV series Angel, died of heart failure last night at age 33, according to his longtime agent and friend Pat Brady. The actor passed away at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles after a five-year battle with heart disease, with his father Dave Hallett by his side.

His character Krevlornswath of the Deathwok Clan, or Lorne was first known as “The Host” and we later find out he is an outcast from a violent race of demons who don’t understand his love for music and performing. He quickly became a staple on TV’s Angel, and one of the most popular supporting cast member.

He wasn’t much outside of Angel, but he will always be remembered as Lorne the Host.

The most recent Harry Potter film Half-Blood Prince is already in the can and waiting to be released come this July, but filming for the back to back 2010/2011 releases of the final chapter - Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows - is already underway. By this point in the story there are very few roles left to be cast, but it appears that Rhys Ifans has one of them.

MovieWeb shares:

Rhys Ifans appeared on Friday Night with Jonathan Ross and announced that he will be playing an important role in the upcoming film Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. Under contract, the actor did not reveal which character he will be playing.

He did say that he will be playing a wizard.

Speculating that he is a wizard isn’t sharing much. He might as well have said he will be playing a part of a man for all that says about his role. Just how many non-wizards are in the last book?

But the devoted fansite The Leaky Cauldron has already pinned him down for the role of Xenophilius Lovegood editor of the wizarding world’s oft seen magazine, The Quibbler, and father of Luna Lovegood, a latecomer to Harry’s student posse.

Xeno’s presence will be key at Bill Weasley and Fleur Delacour Wedding as he gets into a conflict with Quiddich star Krum which reveals a clue to one of the Deathly Hallows which is the quest Harry is on. His daughter is also a part of the plot likely to be hit on in the two part finale.

Xeno is an odd fella, and I think that Ifans could play that part well. I can’t think of who else he might be.

Ghost Busters 3 has been rumoured in and out of Hollywood more times than I can count. But with the release of the Ghost Busters video game and Harold Ramis spearheading the movement, we are getting closer and closer to seeing a third chapter to the 80s classics over 20 years after the last film. And from the sound of things, possibly a rejuvenation of the franchise.

Harold Ramis was interviewed by MTV and talked in detail about the progress of Ghost Busters 3. ScreenRant has most of the inverview, but I am just going to hit the headlines.

- Judd Apatow will not be involved at all

- Apatow film staples Rogen, Rudd, and Frano (original rumoured) will not be in this film

- The original cast will return (Though Bill Murray is just Ramis’ speculation - he is confident he will get him on board)

- There will be a “Passing of the Torch” with younger (not teens) Ghost Busters taking over for the retirees.

- Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky are writing the script. (Akroyd, Ramis and Ivan Reitman consulting)

- Rumours of the casting have been going on for a LONG time. Ramis said one of the early rumours he heard was Chris Farley, Ben Stiller and Chris Rock.

So far this sounds like it is shaping up and headed in the right direction.

The overall intention is that they want to do this right, and having the original cast, and director consulting, while still having the original Ghostbusters in it, this will be a true sequel instead of a half assed remake.

Any thoughts on a Ghost Busters 3?

A brilliant new poster for Star Trek has hit the net.

I previously said I liked the North American release poster and that hasn’t changed, but I have a deep appreciation for the classic nature of this poster. I think I like this one most of all just because of its tribute to the original series and reminds you that this is still Star Trek. Abrams has said repeatedly that he wants to respect the source material in this sequel/reboot, but the die-hards still feel slighted by the change to the timeline.

I hope this is a very dramatic nod to those die hards that there is still a heart of Trek in this story.

Via

A new teaser poster for Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes -staring Robert Downey Jr - has hit the net.

As any teaser poster should, this one gives us a tiny glimpse of the main character and portrays him with those penetrating eyes that you know are deducing what you had for breakfast, your favourite colour, and penchant for Asian cuisine. The font is also very reminiscent of the old fashioned type news print text common to the gaslight era Holmes is to take place in.

Very nice poster indeed.

Via

Seems not even screaming droves of Wrestling fans wanted to see John Cena’s 12 Rounds this weekend. Perhaps they were all off watching Monsters vs Aliens with their mums. This left 12 Rounds to scavenge $5.3m landing in 7th on its opening weekend.

Yahoo News says:

Irish actor Gillen, who suggests a curious mix of Richard Gere and Gary Oldman, brings a devious sparkle to smirking sociopath Miles, who seems on the verge of breaking into a wee jig every time he sets Danny another apparently impossible task.

If Cena were half as charismatic, Danny and Miles’ turbo-charged cat-and-mouse game would be a real blast. But Cena is no Jason Statham. His stolid seriousness sucks the life right out of any scene in which he’s required to speak.

The movie itself didn’t have much of a draw to me as most described the plot as a ripoff of another Cena film, but it turns out it was only vaguely paralleled. My issue was the lack of interest in seeing a movie staring a professional wrestler pretending to be an actor.

I don’t mind professional wrestlers getting parts in movies where they may be asked to play supporting roles, or just in a scene that requires a physically imposing person. Hands down the best reasons to get a tv wrestler personality to do it. But they rarely turn out to give good performances in lead roles. Dwayne Johnson being likely the only exception to that rule, but he quit wrestling and worked his way up the food chain.

With an estimated production budget of a modest $20million this isn’t an utter failure by any means, but it sure doesn’t shine a good light on Cena.

Gone are the days when tagging a wrestlers name on a movie would instantly attract his loyal fans to the seats.

Gemma Arterton first caught my eye in St Trinian’s. Since then she has been quietly securing semi-iconic roles for herself starting with a Bond Girl, an Arabian princess in Prince of Persia, and now the demi-goddess Io in Clash of the titans.

MovieWeb shares:

Arterton will take the role of the demi-goddess Io. “My part is… the coolest part,” she said. “Io’s not in the original film. Perseus falls in love with her and then [CENSORED FOR TINY SPOILER]. It’s a really great part.”

Arterton also said that in contrast to the 1981 original Harry Hamlin film, this one is “much more about Perseus’ mission, and how he deals with being the son of Zeus.”

Arterton has a very alluring presence, and I suspect these roles are not the last we will see of her.

I do like that this remake is not going to be a direct retelling, but still stay to the Greek Myths revolving around Perseus - Son of the King of Gods. I just hope we get to see those symbolic exchanges where the gods play with clay figures to manipulate fate, and we get to see Perseus fight Medeusa.

Oh, and a clockwork mechanical owl would be fun too. Just for old time’s sake.

Monsters and Aliens topped the Boxoffice on the weekend, and ask any squash around here and you will see that wasn’t a big surprise.

ComingSoon reports:

DreamWorks Animation’s Monsters vs. Aliens dominated the weekend box office with an estimated $58.2 million from 4,104 theaters for an average of $14,181 per theater. It was the biggest debut so far in 2009, topping the $55.2 million first weekend of Watchmen in early March.

Horror flick Haunting in Connecticut was in a happy second on about two thirds as many theaters. Rounding out the top 3 was last weeks topper Knowing.

I like that they mention how this is an impressive weekend for the film and how it just inched past Watchmen, which people are convinced was a failure. We know it wasn’t, just interesting to see how people’s perspectives call it a flop because it didn’t rake in $150m.

I still have no interest in seeing this movie, but I might rent it for the kids.

Did you go see this?

Last night I had the pleasure of seeing a Test Screening for John Campea’s The Anniversary. The venue we saw it at was upgraded from a friend’s living room to a small local theater called The Staircase which was a little rough around the edges, but just oozed with arthouse charm, and had an awesome cafe in the front.

We had about 20-25 people in attendance and we nuzzled in the cinema style seats to watch John lay it all out for us. He introduced the film, though most in attendance were well aware of what he was up to lately, and he warned us that audio levels might be rough, as well as some of the lighting issues. Corrections had yet to be applied, so we were forewarned that this is not the final product.

Manolis Zontanos was also in attendance and meeting him was a treat. I spotted him outside the theater, and we had yet to meet so I called out his name and made him feel like he had stalker fans. He should get used to it, this guy is a talented comedian.

Probably one of the funniest moments in the movie was an ad lib where Manolis and Jesse (Dan Callahan - College) are drinking and watching tv and the two of them discuss a number of topics mostly involving anal violations. Their chemistry was perfect and I could have watched 90 minutes of these two just riffing on each other.

In the long run, I think it was a good movie, and I liked it a lot. I won’t be giving it an “official” review, as I think I am too close to it and I don’t think I can remain subjective. I love seeing John’s work and I can feel his signature over the dialogue and the message.

Everyone in attendance seemed to like it as well, and it was worth the night out. I was really worried I would have to tell one of my oldest friends that his movie sucked.

Thankfully I didn’t have to do that.

A couple weeks ago when we talked about Scarlett Johansson as the Black Widow in Iron Man 2, I mentioned that I had no doubts in her ability to act or maybe pull off the accent, but I just couldn’t picture it. She just didn’t “look” like Black Widow to me.

Well Screen Rant has an image that might set your mind at ease.

But at least as far as visually, things are looking up - When she recently showed up in London at Moet and Chandon: A Tribute to Cinema party, Scarlett was looking considerably more like the Russian spy that we’ve come to know.

Well my mind is at ease, but my heart rate isn’t.

Scarlett looks absolutely smoldering hot in that dark red hair and striking makeup. This is more like I would imagine Black Widow to look like.

At least now I am less worried about Scarlett in the role. I am confident at least that she can pull off the look.

Just about to head out to the Test Screening for The Anniversary, and today was a light dose of news, so I figured I would condense them into a “Around the Web” kind of post.

So here goes…

Marvel Films is taking applications for writers to bring their properties to the big screen. Because Hollywood has such a shortage of writers?

Cobra Commander toy reveals disfigured transparent masked Leader of Cobra Why are they bothering with a mask if its going to be transparent? Doesn’t that defeat the point of the mask?

Serinda Swan joins Tron 2.0 as a temptress Tron 2.0 looks like it will have some more eyecandy. Are there any guys in this movie?

Ron Moore’s The Thing Prequel faces rewrites. Rewrites are a double edged sword. They either fix it, or make it worse. Who knows.

Tony Stark’s rival Justin Hammer in Iron Man 2 We get a badguy to fight Iron Man and a badguy to challenge Stark. I like that they are keeping a Stark story too. Now just get him drunk.

Canadian supermodel Noot Seear is Heidi in Twilight Saga’s New Moon. Worst Supermodel name EVAR!! But she’s cute. I wonder if she can act?

Now I am off to the movies!!

Just the other day we had a look at the UK Star Trek poster, and I wasn’t impressed. I wished upon a star for a better poster as I just wasn’t impressed and my pleas to a non-existant deity of Karma were answered.

I like this one MUCH better. It still borders on the floating head thing, but it looks to capture the dazzle and adventure of the original series and still says everything that the new series has been promising. Oh, and an Enterprise in flight.

A few other posters were also released, but this is by far the best in my opinion. I could see that on my office wall.

MovieWeb has the rest.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was all WB had left in which to pole its tents, so it got pushed from the Christmas release to support the oh-nine lineup this summer. So strangely all the promotional materials had to stretch out another 8 months. So this month’s sampling comes in the form of 6 new character centric posters.

I do like the groovy backdrop of the movie’s off kilter title, but the characters themselves look a little “too” painted up. I am not sure if these are actually paintings or if they are edited photos, but they seem a little off. I wonder if they padded Hermoine’s breasts again like last time.

Latino Review has enbiggened versions to peek at.

I found this online and I couldnt resist. It showcases the cultural differences that studios from different countries will go to in the pursuit of entertainment.

Fluffy Animal Movies made in America:

Disney’s G-Force (not to be confused with the name we all called Battle of the Planets)

Fluffy Animal Movies made in Japan:

Cat Shit One: The Animated series (Based on a three issue Manga called Apocalypse MEOW)

Of course this is all in good fun, and clearly if you choose movies of a specific nature you are going to be able to find this kind of extremes. But it was funny to see the two displayed side by side.

Sam Raimi did an interview with Empire Magazine for their May issue, where he talks about his experience with Spiderman 3 and speculates on how he is moving forward with that under his belt.

ScreenRant quotes:

“They really gave me a tremendous amount of control on the first two films, actually. But then there were different opinions on the third film and I didn’t really have creative control, so to speak.”

“The best way for me to move forward on films, I realize…and this was a lesson I had to learn for myself…is that I’ve gotta be the singular voice that makes the creative choices on the film.”

I gotta respect Raimi for these statements.

Most fans are willing to give him a pass on Spiderman 3 and let him direct Spiderman 4 without an uproar because we remember the first two films and are not ready to crucify him over one bad one. But he also throws credit where it deserves. He admits that the studio pushed him into including Venom, which seems like a waste now. But if the guy is going to get crapped on for what happens in his films, he is willing to earn that target on his back.

Credit where credit is due, even if its bad credit.

He doesn’t completely dodge the blame for the less than well receieved film, but he is learning from his mistakes and is putting his foot down on 4. Speculation is pointing towards Morbius and Lizard, however the fans are grasping at the logical step after Venom’s defeat to bring in Carnage. I think Carnage can wait for now.

Hopefully this means we can resume our regular schedule of Spidey flicks that looked to be improving until he hit his speed bump with 3.