ComicBookMovie has some seriously pixelated photos of recent filming in California that appear to reveal a new villain in director Zack Snyder’s “Superman” reboot. We already know that Michael Shannon is playing General Zod. So who might this be? A Kryptonian henchman, perhaps?
Judge for yourself:
Here’s the red-band trailer for the action-comedy starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. It opens in theaters on March 16. Thanks to HeyUGuys for the heads-up on this one.
Vodpod videos no longer available.
Here’s the synopsis:
“In the action-comedy 21 Jump Street, Schmidt (Jonah Hill) and Jenko (Channing Tatum) are more than ready to leave their adolescent problems behind. Joining the police force and the secret Jump Street unit, they use their youthful appearances to go undercover in a local high school. As they trade in their guns and badges for backpacks, Schmidt and Jenko risk their lives to investigate a violent and dangerous drug ring. But they find that high school is nothing like they left it just a few years earlier and neither expects that they will have to confront the terror and anxiety of being a teenager again and all the issues they thought they had left behind.”
Good Monday Morning, Everyone.
Critical brickbats didn’t keep Dr. Seuss’ “The Lorax” from ruling the box office over the weekend. The anti-corporatism parable took in a quite capitalist $70.7 million, propelling a 34.4 percent improvement in receipts over the weekend previous. And “The Artist” got its Oscars bump, finishing the weekend in 10th place, after languishing in 15th the weekend before.
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo, here’s the weekend, by the numbers:
| 1 | N | Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax | Uni. | $70,700,000 | – | 3,729 | – | $18,960 | $70,700,000 | $70 | 1 |
| 2 | N | Project X | WB | $20,775,000 | – | 3,055 | – | $6,800 | $20,775,000 | – | 1 |
| 3 | 1 | Act of Valor | Rela. | $13,700,000 | -44.0% | 3,053 | +14 | $4,487 | $45,239,000 | $12 | 2 |
| 4 | 4 | Safe House | Uni. | $7,200,000 | -34.1% | 2,553 | -499 | $2,820 | $108,200,000 | $85 | 4 |
| 5 | 2 | Tyler Perry’s Good Deeds | LGF | $7,000,000 | -55.1% | 2,132 | – | $3,283 | $25,745,000 | – | 2 |
| 6 | 3 | Journey 2: The Mysterious Island | WB | $6,925,000 | -48.3% | 3,060 | -290 | $2,263 | $85,611,000 | $79 | 4 |
| 7 | 5 | The Vow | SGem | $6,100,000 | -38.5% | 2,826 | -212 | $2,159 | $111,712,000 | $30 | 4 |
| 8 | 7 | This Means War | Fox | $5,625,000 | -33.2% | 2,342 | -847 | $2,402 | $41,464,000 | $65 | 3 |
| 9 | 6 | Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance | Sony | $4,700,000 | -47.8% | 2,487 | -687 | $1,890 | $44,881,000 | $57 | 3 |
| 10 | 13 | The Artist | Wein. | $3,900,000 | +34.2% | 1,756 | +790 | $2,221 | $37,088,000 | $15 | 15 |
The New York Times has finally figured out that there’s a big-screen adaptation of Edgar Rice Burroughs’ “John Carter” tales in the works and it hits movie theaters this week. The paper takes a look at the hero’s pulp legacy and a possible resurgence in the print titles.
Here’s the nut graf:
“The Library of America plans to reissue “Princess of Mars” in April with an introduction by Junot Diaz, an unusual elevation for a book that began as a pulp serial and whose appeal remains a kind of cheerful boys’ adventure romanticism. Seldom, if ever, out of print, “Princess” has enjoyed a remarkable shelf life not so much in libraries or classrooms as in the cluttered, dreamy, overheated minds of teenage boys and certain grown-ups. Out of nostalgia or affection they have preserved that part of their mental storeroom from housecleaning and have not only made early editions of the John Carter books into expensive collector’s items, but have also extended the character into fan fiction online.”
I am not quite entirely sure who thought rebooting “Robocop” would be a good idea. Nonetheless, the movie now has a lead actor.
Actor Joel Kinnaman, who’s appeared in “Safe House” and “The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo,” has been confirmed as Officer Alex Murphy in the Jose Padilha-directed reboot for MGM. ComingSoon has the story.
The original “Robocop” franchise, which bowed in 1987, starred Peter Weller and Nancy Allen. Part of the appeal of the original was its B-movie cheesiness and the sense of humor that underlined it. I am not at all convinced that a reboot will be able to capture that spirit.
Via Cosmic Book News, here’s a shot of the movie tie-in T-Shirts for “The Dark Knight Rises.”
Writing in the L.A. Times, Dima Alzayat checks in on the latest big-screen adaptation of “The Lone Ranger.” The famous masked man hasn’t been seen onscreen since 1981’s “The Legend of the Lone Ranger” which starred Klinton Spilsbury (Who? Exactly.) in the title role.
The new production, which had its share of troubles,and was even shut down until its budget was trimmed, stars Johnny Depp as Tonto, Helena Bonham Carter and Armie Hammer as the Ranger is directed by Gore Verbinski. It’s scheduled to hit theaters in 2013.
Here’s the nut graf:
“The revival of “The Lone Ranger” comes at a welcome time for New Mexico, which saw a sharp falloff in film activity last year when the future of its tax incentive program was thrown into question (the state kept its 25% film tax rebate, but imposed a funding cap on the program). Sony Pictures Imageworks announced this week that it would close its visual effects unit in Albuquerque in part because of the decline in film production in the state.
Read the full story here.
Artist Ralph McQuarrie, whose concept drawings for “Star Wars” defined the franchise at least as much — perhaps more — as the actual movies, has died. He was 82.
McQuarrie’s stylish art provided the template for some of the movies’ most famous characters, including C-3P0, R2-D2, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. He even made a cameo in “The Empire Strikes Back,” which netted him his own action figure, TotalFilm reports.
According to TotalFilm, McQuarrie began his career as a technical illustrator at Boeing. He went on to contribute designs for “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “E.T.” He won an Oscar for his work on “Cocoon.”
In a statement, Lucas said McQuarrie’s “genial contribution, in the form of unequalled production paintings, propelled and inspired all of the cast and crew of the original Star Wars trilogy.”
On a personal note, one of my prized possessions as a child was a portfolio of McQuarrie’s concept art for the first “Star Wars” movie. It’s been lost to the sands of time. And on mornings like this, I wish I’d had the presence of mind to hold onto it.
As the title of this post suggests, here’s the red-band trailer for the former SNL star’s latest comedy. Current SNL star Andy Samberg, who’s kind of an embryonic Sandler also stars. I’ve not paid to see a Sandler movie since “Mr. Deeds.” And the last one I enjoyed was “You Don’t Mess with the Zohan.” I’m not surer I find this one particularly encouraging. What do you think? Leave your thoughts in the comments.
As always, this is the red-band trailer, so you might want to send the kids into the other room for this one.
Name: Red State
Release Date: 2011
Writer: Kevin Smith
Director: Kevin Smith
Cast:
Michael Angarano: Travis
Michael Parks: Abin Cooper
Deborah Aquila: Mrs. Vasquez
Nicholas Braun: Billy-Ray
Ronnie Connell: Randy
Kaylee DeFer: Dana
Patrick Fischler: Agent Hammond
John Goodman: Joseph Keenan
Kevin Pollak: ASAC Brooks
Joey Figueroa: Route 9 Friend
Kyle Gallner: Jarod
Anna Gunn: Travis’ Mother
Matt L. Jones: Deputy Pete
John Lacy: Travis’ Father
Catherine McCord: News Reporter
Alexa Nikolas: Jesse
Stephen Root: Sherrif Wynan
Cooper Thornton: Plastic Wrap Man
Betty Aberlin: Abigail
Run-Time: 88 mins.
Studio: Lions Gate
What a long, strange trip it’s been.
With his 1994 directorial debut “Clerks,” writer/director Kevin Smith nimbly (and hilariously) tapped into the zeitgeist of GenX America, chronicling the adventures of two Twenty-something wage slaves toiling in dead-end retail jobs with little to no idea where life was taking them. Nonetheless, they knew that something — anything — had to be better and it might be around the next bend — or after they clocked off at a convenience store in suburban New Jersey.
For those of us who were in our early to middle-twenties when the film (shot in black-and-white and on a shoestring budget) debuted, it was like looking into the mirror. Smith’s clerks, Dante and Randall, reflected the uncertainty we all felt as we either left college behind for the working world or lived out an extended adolescence in some netherworld that was not quite adulthood but clearly not childhood either.
That Smith told his stories in a hyperverbal fashion in dialogue layered with heaping helpings of poop, drugs and sex jokes, and laced with references to Star Wars and comic books, only endeared him to us all the more. And the films’ settings — a suburban New Jersey filled with shopping malls, tract homes and long boozy nights — were in a world recognizably our own. He’s dubbed that fantasyland, which boasts its own continuity and recurring characters, the “Askewniverse,” named for his early View Askew production company.
In short, Smith was the first GenXer to hit it big in Hollywood. He’d be our Scorcese, just with a serious video games jones and an obsession with the F-Word.
In the nearly twenty years since, Smith has pursued a varied career as a filmmaker. He’s made some great movies (“Chasing Amy” and “Dogma“), some good movies (“Mallrats“), some truly awful movies (“Jersey Girl“) and several that make you wonder why he bothered at all (“Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back,” “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” and, why God, why, “Clerks II“).
He’s dabbled in cartoons with an animated version of “Clerks“, undertaken popular spoken-word tours and immersed himself in comic books — both as a creator and the co-owner of Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, a comic shop on his home turf of Red Bank, N.J.
In recent years, Smith has taken to Twitter and social media with a passion, launching a podcast with longtime comedic foil Jason Mewes (the “Jay” half of the long-running stoner Laurel & Hardy team of Jay & Silent Bob) and becoming an outspoken and occasionally obscene auteur of the medium.
And that’s how I learned about “Red State.” Burned by some of his past outings, it’s no understatement to say that I approached the movie with no small amount of trepidation.
But that didn’t stop me from firing it up on Netflix the other night where Smith, who sparked a Sundance bidding war but nonetheless decided to self-distribute the film — has found a home for his 88-minute meditation on organized religion and the violence of contemporary America.
In short, it’s a revelation and a potent reminder that Smith, like many filmmakers, is at his best when his work is its most personal.
The film opens with a recognizably Smithian premise: three bored teenagers, somewhere in Middle America, are cruising online for sex and setting up what the believe is a threesome with a seriously freaky girl. The tryst arranged, the young men find themselves in front of a decrepit trailer on a nearly abandoned country road (Horror Movie Alert: something hideous is about to happen). Their host is a woman whose teen/adolescent years are well behind her.
Courtesy of some drugged beer, the movie takes a left-turn and they soon find themselves in the clutches of a terrifying fundamentalist sect that considers the real-life Westboro Baptist Church — notorious for its homophobic protests of military and other funerals — too lightweight for them.
The sect is led by a charismatic preacher, Abin Cooper, played by Michael Parks (“Kill Bill, Vols 1 and 2“). Parks is mesmerizing, bringing a realistic fanaticism to a man who believes he has the duty to not only oppose same-sex relationships but to kill homosexuals as well. One of the film’s most unsettling moments comes early in our introduction to Cooper. He oversees the execution of a gay man, wrapped in clingfilm and lashed to a cross, as Cooper’s flock prays and silently mouths hymns.
As evidenced by his 1999 outing, “Dogma,” which Smith billed as his own lover’s quarrel with the Catholic Church, the director has a particular affinity for questions of faith and the actions we take — no matter how horrifying — in the name of that faith.
Those questions are woven throughout “Red State,” the title even a reflection of Bush II era evangelical Christianity and the increasing polarization of the national political dialogue hastened by the emergence of Fox News and other partisan outlets.
The Branch Davidian/David Koresh undertones of Parks’ Cooper are given an added jolt by John Goodman. The former “Roseanne” star, who’s become a versatile character actor as age descends, plays a veteran U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agent given the charge of seving a warrant on Cooper and his congregation.
Goodman’s Agent Joe Keenan is a decent guy who’s a little weary and nearing retirement. He doesn’t want to do anything to jeopardize his pension. This means, naturally, that everything will (and does) go to hell in a handbasket. And the movie’s final act finds Goodman launching a Branch Davidian-style raid against Cooper’s heavily fortified and heavily armed compound.
Nearly the entire congregation is killed in the ensuing firefight. And total carnage is only averted when mysterious trumpet calls that the deranged Pastor Cooper believes are a sign of the apocalypse, bring it to a halt. The real reason for the trumpet peals is far more mundane and hilarious. But you’ll have to watch the movie to find out.
But there are moments of clarity as Goodman tries to avert what will surely be a slaughter, only to find his efforts rebuffed by his superiors, who fear a repeat of Waco and give Goodman’s Keenan a truly gut-wrenching order. And, inside the compound, a young woman realizes the insanity of her position and tries to work to get herself and young children out of the compound.
The final reflection of our topsy-turvy politics comes when the cult’s survivors, residents of Patriot Act America, find themselves declared enemy combatants and are spirited away, without trial, to maximum-security prisons.
Though Smith harbors clear disdain for the Rev. Cooper and his band of homophobes, the federal government doesn’t fare much better. With the exception of Goodman’s Joe Keenan, agents of the government are either heartlessly bureaucratic or laughably incompetent. It’s also clear that Smith is nervous about living in a society where habeas corpus rights are barely worth the paper on which they’re printed.
At its heart, “Red State” is really about the battles, external and internal, between Goodman’s Joe Keenan and Parks’ Abin Cooper. The two are really the only characters who hold the viewers’ attention and interest. The three teens who are catalysts of tragedy are interchangeable and, with few exceptions, the glazed-over believers in Cooper’s cult are mostly anonymous.
Smith recently announced that, after “Red State,” he plans to make one more film and then retire from directing. If that’s true, then that’s a shame. Nearing middle-age and seemingly freed from the constraints of the “Askewniverse,” Smith seems to have his voice as a social critic, using his films to hold a mirror up to the extremes of contemporary America and asking us to consider the course we’re taking as a culture.
And right now, we could use more such independent voices.
Now we’ll just have to see if these are the only good moments from the swords-and-sandals epic that opens later this month. Sam Worthington, Liam Neeson, Ralph Fiennes and Rosamund Pike star.
The Crunchable Net/Work
The Cineaste's Lament. 