Let’s start out by stating that I seem to be a sucker for a comedic Will Smith.  I guess it started with my formative years, watching Fresh Prince on Detroit tv everyday and knowing all the episodes.  I didn’t get outside much.  My step-dad said going outside was for “pansies”.

“Hitch - The Cure For The Commom Man” is Will Smith’ new movie, co-starring “King of Queens” Kevin James and the ever movie present and oh so easy on the eyes Eva Mendes.  Smith stars as Alex “Hitch” Hitchens, the not-so-urban myth “Date Dr.” who helps men get dates and hold relationships (man, I didn’t know i could make money doing this).

I have to admit that as pretty much cookie-cutter that you know the story will be, the trailer made me laugh out loud (which isn’t a good thing in an internet cafe - thanks home “virus having” PC) so I don’t know.  I’m sure I’ll get a bunch of people destroying any indie or artistic cred I had but you know what, Will Smith makes me laugh (as well Kevin James I’ve found out) and if you wanne be a hater - then hate away.  But to the rest of you, I say play on playas! whuh?

Check out the trailer for “Hitch” here and tell me you didn’t laugh.  Or don’t, I’ll probably be somewhere else.  Not likely though.

I might be alone (I’m leaning towards not) in thinking this maybe one of those really bad ideas, like Greedo shooting first, but “Son of the Mask”?  Dang. 

Keeping in line with such classics as Baby Geniuses 1 and 2, we have a talking, bouncing, flying, prank playing baby on our hands here.  Jamie Kennedy, Alan Cumming (not you too!) and Ben Stein are in this one and I’d just like to say, for the record, I am skipping this movie no matter what.  Like I skipped Shall We Dance, The Wedding Planner, Enough and Angel Eyes (yes, I know, they are all J. Lo movies), my ass will be planted firmly at home, or infront of this thing when others partake in this mutation. 

Wanna see for yourself.  Here’s the trailer for “Son of the Mask”, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.

It appears, according to Variety, that New Line Cinema has bought the film rights to Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Love In The Time of Cholera”.  The only surprising thing to me here is why it took this long, seeing how the other mandatory “alternative love” college reading “Unbearable Lightness of Being” by Milan Kundera was made into a movie in 1988 (though Unbearable Lightness of Being was first published in 1969 where as Marquez’s “Love” wasn’t made and published until 1985). 

Love In The Time of Cholera follows the story of Florentino Ariza and his comical and mystical second chance at the love he first new and lost 50 years ago.

No word yet on if anyone has shown interest to direct, who they’re interested in casting or start dates for production but I’ll be following this one with some interest. 

Via Cinema Confidential.

One thing is for certain these days and it’s that lives, families and relationship can and do fall apart and films will be there for us to watch this happen over and over again.  It either can be done well (We Don’t Live Here Anymore, American Beauty, the Ice Storm) or like crap (Stepmom anyone?) so I’m always a little hesitant of these projects.  Besides, why do I need to pay $13 for what I get when I go home to see my family for free.

“Imaginary Heroes” is the lastest in the “dysfunctional to a T” genre to come out and, after viewing the trailer, I must say it looks pretty solid.  Sigourney Weaver and Jeff Daniels are both due for a strong performance and Imaginary Heroes seems to be it.  The interesting thing here is that it’s written and directed by Dan Harris who wrote X2 and is one of the current writers for Superman Returns.  I guess he’s throwing around his “artistic credibility” with this one.

Interested yet? Well check out the trailer for Imaginary Heroes here and let me know what you think.  Also, any film using a song by the Postal Service is aces in my books.

So just for fun I thought I would drop this rumour because it makes me laugh each time I hear a new entry into the Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. ? drama (my personal hopes are Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Mary Kate and Ashley or Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Karl Rove). 

So now that Ash is dead in the water for this crash grab (oh, thank you) it seems that Michael Myers is next to fill the void to combat the ever so unkillable duo with Jamie Lee Curtis’ name even being mention.  The Jamie Lee Curtis interest is purely wishful thinking on their part I assume, though she did do “Halloween Ressurection” with Busta Ryhmes so anything is possibly with her I guess.

Check out the interview here and hear how the Michael Myers story would unfold, and also learn more about Robert Englund’s new “reality tv” series he has in the works.  No, it doesn’t involve him being a newlywed or putting a band together for world domination.

Via Creature Corner.

With the upcoming releases of Elektra and The Fantastic Four casting a shadow of doubt on it viewers, “Sin City” remains the true page to screen adaptaion that excitment is not wasted on.  Robert Rodriguez proved with “Once Upon A Time In Mexico” that Spy Kids didn’t ruin his ability to make violence look so damn cool and the line up is something fierce (take a peek at it here).

Now, thanks to the lovely people at Ain’t It Cool we’ve got a look at the new posters released for “Sin City” and I must say they’re are quite appeasing to the eye.  The one with Bruce Willis is making him look all “John McClane” kick ass again and, well what else is there to say - Rosario Dawson.

Take a look yourself here (click on the posters to see the full size images) -

And if you haven’t seen the footage from “Sin City” we posted oh so many months ago then do so here.

So we all know what can happen with movie spin-offs, and seeing how just crap-tacular Daredevil was, it seems only right to approach “Elektra” with caution. Also, those still residing in their parents basement hope for a small, pausable shot of Jennifer Garner side boob.

To get the masses hyped for the upcoming release (January 14, 2005), two featurette trailers have been released and the website has also gone live.  The two featurettes here and here are an inside look with Rob Bowman (director of “Elektra”) in the editing room.

Visiting the website may make you think you’ve just down something horribly wrong to your computer (you’ll know when you get there) but for those who may want to check out some clips, a synopsis and all other things “Elektra” do so here.

The thing here is too, from other clips I’ve seen, it seems to be a better made film then Daredevil (though, I’m not sure how hard they had to work for that) so it just might surprise…..possibly.  Maybe.

With ten consecutive multi-platinum albums, a multi-million dollar record company, the first non-athlete sneaker from Rebook and an elite sports club named the 40/40, Jay-Z sums up his music career here with a documentary / concert film in “Fade to Black”. 

With the back drop of a sold-out Madison Square Garden concert, “Fade to Black” brings the audience live concert footage and back stage peeks as well as bringing studio and behind the scenes material from the creation of his last album ever - The Black Album - up on to the big screen.

Arguably one of the most important mainstream hip hop acts in the past eight years, Jay-Z is a former street hustler who came out of that scene to become just a self proclaimed “kid who went from Marcy to Madison Square”.

Continue Reading "“Fade To Black” Film Review"...

So now it’s time for Robert DeNiro in “Hide and Seek” to lose a wife, have a freaky little daughter who makes an imaginary friend who doesn’t seem to be friendly at all and battle a ghost or some supernatural being in his house.  Nothing like just completely saturating the market with crap thrillers directed by the guy who did “Swimfan” eh?

“Hide and Seek” seems about as thrilling as “CandyMan 3” and makes me wonder why people don’t seem to realize that when you come across a bath tub full of water in your creepy house there’s usually something scary in it.  Don’t put your arm in. Seriously.  Dakota Fanning, Famke Janssen and Elizabeth Shue round out the cast but what’s Dylan Baker doing in this (an unfortunate choice for him)?

See the trailer for “Hide and Seek” for yourself here and see why it’s better to hide from this thing than viewing it.

Sure, his previous film - House of a 1000 Corpses -  was about as kitsch as you could get yet Rob Zombie still succeeded in creating a fun 70’s throwback bloody horror, no matter what crazy things Dave says about it. 

This time, comic artist and musican Zombie is back with a sequel to “House” called “The Devils Rejects”.  It basically starts where “House” left off and turns into a gritty highway murder rampage.  Most of the lead cast is back in this one (with the exception of Karen Black) with a few surprises (Rosario Dawson is listed in the cast, though, with no title).  Will it be fun - watch the teaser trailer for “The Devils Rejects” yourself here and decide. Also, you can go and mess around on the offical “The Devils Rejects” website here.

The next couple of months are full of highly anticipated film releases to the big screen (House of Flying Daggers, A Long Engagement and more) as well as the number one need to see film on my list from Wes Anderson - “The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”.  From the previous trailer already released here it looks to be another right on the mark hit from Anderson and now there is a new trailer with recently released footage cut into the old trailer.  Also the website is up and running as well so go on over and join Team Zissou there.  Now, only if December wouldn’t take so long getting here.

Thanks for the heads up Cinema Confidential

So, we’ve been teased for a while with the air-brushed painted costumes and characters from the “Fantastic Four” - but now, thanks to the good ole people at Comics2Film we’ve got a look at them in action filming in Vancouver.  Some are quality, some are just of the street (great shooting) but it’s a chance to see how they’ve actually made “The Thing” look.  Check out the film shoot pictures here for the “Fantastic Four” and see for yourself. 

Via filmrot

Since trailers reveal everything these days it seems only natural that film companies would start releasing large chunks of the movie before it gets released.  Jerry Bruckheimer’s new Nicolas Cage vehical “Natural Treasure” is not content with just giving you a trailer, oh no, the first 10 minutes of the film are now available online for you all to see here.  “National Treasure” also has quite an elaborate website as well (as posted by Todd a while ago) so if you haven’t checked that out yet view the website and piddly little “trailer” here.  “National Treasure” opens Novemeber 19/04.

Via filmrot.com

During the film festival this year Opus and myself were both lucky enough to catch the screening of “Undertow” and the Q&A with director David Gordon Green (who I feel is vastly talented).  “Undertow” is a follow up to his critically raved indie films “George Washington” and “All the Real Girls” (both recommended watches) and Green takes on a different genre here trying his hand at a thriller with his most celebrity ridden cast to date (Josh Lucas, Jamie Bell, Dermot Mulroney). 

Set in the south, a single father trying to raise his two sons in impovershied surrondings gets an unexpected visit from his recently released jailbird brother with plans of more than a family reunion.  David Gordon Green continues to impress me with his creativity and imagination as director and writer and “Undertow” unfolds into a film only he could tell so well.  Visit the website to check out the trailer, clips from the film and photo gallery, then go out and rent his other two previous films and hope that your city has a “select” theatre showing “Undertow” this Friday.  Read Opus’ film fest review of the film here as well here to get the twitch skinny on “Undertow”.

It’s been a puzzling time of late with certain directors picking or being rumoured to be working on such random films (John Woo - He-Man, Steven Spielberg - Transformer) and now continuing this trend is Jim Sheridan.  It appears that the director of “My Left Foot” and “In America” (which was such a great film) will be at the helm of “Locked and Loaded” starring 50 Cent in which an orphaned former drug dealer stops pushing (for you whities - that means selling drugs) and focuses on a career in rapping.  Emimen and Dr. Dre will be producing the film with a host of others, persumably because they want people who actually know how to produce a “movie” - though Dre is one of rap musics best producers.  Want to read the whole article, check it out here but I have but one question for Jim Sheridan - is it the challenge or the money?  I have my suspicions.

Via filmrot.com