-Two studios are jockeying for position regarding George Clooney films, with Overture selecting November 6th as the release date for “Men Who Stare At Goats” and Paramount eyeing November 13th for their limited engagement “Up In The Air” launch. While “Air” is only a limited release, Paramount is reportedly looking for a new date, possibly during Thanksgiving, with a wider holiday time berth.
-Jessica Alba has been added to the cast of “Little Fockers” as a pharmaceutical rep (haha) who causes havoc for the male characters in the cast (Ben Stiller, Robert DeNiro, Owen Wilson, Teri Polo, Blythe Danner, etc., i.e. The “Meet The Parents” Mcfranchise). Because a happily married man would not be tempted by any of Ms. Alba’s absent charms, we’re betting she could be listed in the credits for this one as “Piece of Ass.”
-Guess it wasn’t so hot after all — after indie company Alcon won a bidding war for Aaron Guzikowski’s Donald Kaufman-esque thriller “Prisoners,” the project was abandoned by stars Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale and even potential director Bryan Singer, and refashioned as a smaller $40 million project. With that comes a talent downgrade too, as hacktacular never-was Antoine Fuqua (“Training Day”) has come aboard to direct. Fuqua recently helmed “Brooklyn’s Finest,” which was thrown back in the editing bay to be recut after a lukewarm Sundance reception. It was recently bought (again) by Overture films who bought it from the essentially-going-under Capitol Films that could never afford to put it out.
-Paul Haggis’s upcoming “The Next Three Days” has added two more dubious cast members who, no doubt, will be given some typically laughable Haggis-ian dialogue. Olivia Wilde, a TV actress if there ever was one, will play a married friend of a man (Russell Crowe) determined to prove his wife’s innocence in a murder case (Elizabeth Banks), while the decidedly suburban Johnathan Tucker will play a “street tough” (oh lord) who runs a meth lab (dear God, no).
-Brett Ratner claims his story in “New York I Love You” is autobiographical, but slightly changed, in that he lost his virginity in Central Park to a woman tied to a tree. Only difference from real life? She was a paraplegic. Thanks for clarifying, Casanova.
-Dwayne Johnson is returning to action films, set for a lead role in CBS Films’ “Faster.” He plays an ex-con looking for revenge for his brother’s death. Phil Joanou (“Gridiron Gang”) was set to direct, but he’s vacated the director’s seat for mediocrity peddler George Tillman Jr. (“Notorious”). Hey, whatever gets Johnson away from banal kiddie films.
-With “Zombieland” drawing critical praise, writers Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick confirmed they are working on a couple of drafts for a “Venom” movie spin-off from the “Spider-Man” films. They wouldn’t comment on any ties with the upcoming “Spider-Man 4” — likely this is because Spidey 4 is still in pre-production, but could Sony be building their own Spidey universe separate from Marvel Studios’ “Avengers” buildup? And who’s the asshole who actually asked for a “Venom” movie?
-Oren Peli, director of “Paranormal Activity,” is in pre-production on his next film, “Area 51.” The sci-fi film is reusing the found-footage aspect of Peli’s debut, concerning a missing crew looking for a hidden alien spacecraft in a government facility. “Paranormal Activity,” which debuted with late night shows last weekend in small cities, expands this weekend into twenty more markets.
"Hacktacular"!? Really? Where do you come up with these gems? Do you crib them from some back-bench reviewer writing for the NY Post?
I get it. I do. It's punchy. It's pseudo-clever, and perfect fodder for the Internet blog set. But seriously, can't you better than that?
I enjoy reading your blog, an frequent your site several times a day. And up untill this point in time, I've kept myself from criticizing you guys because I'm a fan and I don't like to bite the jane that feeds, so to speak. But I feel compelled to comment now after reading too many hackeneyed, over the top, and contrived swipes.
How do I put this gently? A find a good portion of the writing on your site to be really quite atrocious. Rife with syntax, spelling, and grammatical errors, I can't help but think that you are lacking in some sort of serious editorial control. Or, is it that you're a bunch of 20-something years olds who don't really seem to care that much about quality as you do about quantity. I just don't know. But you need to thnk about these things if you wish to be taken seriously on the marketplace. But then again, maybe you don't.
And while I'm at it, perhaps you could encourage the other lazy writers of this site to stop using the word "titular" in every other post.
I know you think it makes your writing sound smart, but it doesn't. You've used it dozens of times in the past couple of months alone.
And as for Fuqua being a hack? Well, for one thing Training Day is a solid B picture with some great performances and some well-directed set pieces.
I always find it amusing when some blogger calls an actual filmmaker (you know, one who does that sort of thing for a living?) a hack when they lead a life with no films of their own. Trying to making even a halfway decent film yourself before calling others (who are actually doing so) out, as if you have any idea what you're talking about.
I mean really, who are you to judge?
It's like that old dictum, "Those who can't do, blog about others who can do"
Perhaps you should consider crticism of the constructive variety, as opposed to the pithy, clever, takedown, destructive kind.
It makes you look childish when you resort to name-calling.
You guys can do better than that.
You know, it's sad when the story of someone losing their virginity to a paraplegic tied to a tree doesn't really surprise you… Dwayne Johnson, he sure can't pick 'em can he? Jessica Alba, can we vote her Ms. Irrelevant of the 2000's? Outside of Sin City I can't think of a noteworthy film she's been near, let alone in.
It's Clooney vs Clooney vs Clooney with Fantastic Mr. Fox releasing on November 25th.
Anon, I liked where you were going with that until you made the assertion that only a filmmaker can critique a filmmaker, which naively goes against all notions of popular criticism. Moreover, you picked the wrong battle to fight, re: Fuqua- the guy has yet to make an interesting movie, and he may be directing competent action pictures and putting food on the table for his family, but he's not producing valuable art that anyone will remember in ten years. He's a guy in a field of artists who largely doesn't care what sort of message his empty-headed films spread. He makes fast food of the worst variety, and in asking for something a little more substantial from Mr. Fuqua, who pleases millions of faceless moviegoers, we are very much in the minority. He's a big boy, he can take it. But how about this- "Antoine Fuqua clearly doesn't give a shit about interesting storytelling." Better than "hacktacular," no?
All your other criticisms are being taken into consideration. In the meantime, you compared me to a NY Post writer, so fuck your mother.