Category: Action

‘Kick-Ass’ Gets It’s Ass Picked Up.

kick-ass

Variety reports that Matthew Vaughn’s independently produced & financed film ‘Kick-Ass’ has been picked up for distribution from Lionsgate for 2010.

Lionsgate has grabbed domestic rights to Matthew Vaughn’s action-comedy “Kick-Ass.”In a deal that is described as “big,” the mini-major has committed to a wide 2010 release.

Pic is based on a comic by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr. about a comic-obsessed teenager who decides to become a real-life superhero despite his lack of any superpowers. Cast includes Nicolas Cage, Aaron Johnson, Chloe Moretz and “Superbad’s” Christopher Mintz-Plasse.

U.S. distribs got their first peek at a rough cut of “Kick-Ass” on July 28, a few days after the fanboys at Comic-Con saw clips of the film and gave it their blessing.

Vaughn’s Marv Films shingle and Brad Pitt’s Plan B produced and privately financed the project.

I think that after  showing the  footage  at Comic-Con  and seeing the positive impression it made with fanboys & movie geeks, including this guy, Lionsgate has a gem on their hands.   I would venture a guess at a early Summer release to try not to get lost in the shuffle of Iron Man 2 which already has a May 7, 2010 release date.   I hope Lionsgate will fight for the ‘R’ rating that ‘Kick-Ass’ looks like it needs.

‘El Superbeasto’ and ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex’ Updates

rob zombie

With the follow-up to ‘Halloween’ just a few weeks away, and with ‘The Haunted World of El Superbeasto’ on its way to DVD shelves next month, it seems Rob Zombie’s career as a filmmaker is in full effect.   Today, thanks to the heads up by /Film, we have the teaser trailer for ‘El Superbeasto.’

Check it out:

This looks like a nice piece of insanity is headed for our TV screens.   It features the voices of Rosario Dawson, Paul Giamatti, Danny Trejo, Sheri Moon Zombie, Clint Howard, Brian Posehn, Bill Moseley, Sid Haig, and Dee Wallace.   It hits video stores on September 22nd.

Also in the news today is this bit of information Zombie dropped while speaking with Shock Till You Drop.

The plan is to go on tour for a while then finally come back and make Tyrannosaurus Rex. Because that got shoved off to the side and that was a film I really wanted to make. It’s like Rejects on steroids.

The plan is that Zombie finishes up the ‘Halloween II’ promo train, release a new album near the end of October or beginning of November, then go on tour for a bit.   Once finished with that, he plans to dive into the world of ‘Tyrannosaurus Rex,’ which is being billed as ‘Raging Bull’ meets ‘The Road Warrior.’   So, this time next year, production is looking to have begun on the film, and we could be looking at a release date sometime very late 2010 or early 2011.

Red-Band Trailer for ‘Legion’ Released

legion

So much for free will.   God’s taking our asses out, and he’s decided to do it in gory, R-rated fashion.   Luckily for us, the archangel Michael has come to Earth to save us.   He, a diner full of notable actors, and some pretty heavy artillery are going to fight off the forces of Heaven before the Apocalypse can rear its ugly head.

Luckily for all of us, we have a teaser for this battle to the end.   Through its Myspace page, we have this redband, extended trailer for Scott Stewart’s new film, ‘Legion.’   It stars Paul Bettany as Michael, Kevin Durand as Gabriel, and Dennis Quaid, Lucas Black, Charles S. Dutton, Tyrese Gibson, and Adrianne Palicki as the human fodder for these bad ass servants of the Lord.   Doug Jones also shows up as someone called the Ice Cream Man, and, judging by the first, few seconds of this clip, he’s going to be giving movie goers nightmares come January 22nd.

Check it:

It’s very bloody, and there just isn’t anything that quite spells the end of the world like an old lady spouting the F-bomb.   All in all, this looks like it’s going to be one sacriligious blast at the cineplex.   It’s even cooler that it has some A-list power behind its cast.

‘Legion’ comes out on January 22nd.   My nightmares of Doug Jones’ freakishly long arms begin January 23rd.

Three Studios Vying to ‘Kick-Ass’

kick-ass

It’s a three-way dance to see which studio is the most ‘Kick-Ass.’   According to Risky Biz Blog, Lionsgate, Paramount, and Universal are each vying to be the independently made film about a super hero teen.   Early word of the violence in the Matthew Vaughn-directed film made many studios squeamish about picking up the film.   However, footage shown at this year’s Comic Con has sparked some heavy buzz amongst comic book fans.   After screenings were held for potential buyers, most of the studios who had turned away from the film initially gained a certain level of interest.

Based on the comic book by Mark Millar and John Romita Jr., the film stars Aaron Johnson as a high school geek who decides to turn himself into a real-life crimefighter.   Things get hairy once he runs into actual criminals with actual weapons.   Nicolas Cage, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Mark Strong co-star.

The film was initially dealing with Sony Pictures, but dealings fell through when the studio and the creators couldn’t agree on the age of the film’s leads.   Sony wanted to raise the age of the film’s lead female to that of an older teenager.   After this, Vaughn and company decided to self-finance the film with the hopes of picking up a buyer after the film was completed.

We should be getting word within the next few days which of the above studios will come out on top.   With movies like ‘Punisher: War Zone,’ ‘Gamer,’ and the ‘Crank’ series, Lionsgate certainly has no qualms with putting out an R-rated action extravaganza.   However, you have to think established studios like Paramount and Universal will be able to strong-arm the smaller competition if they choose to.

Paramount’s got the inside track going in the comic book realm with films like ‘Iron Man,’ ‘Transformers,’ and the upcoming slate of Marvel adaptations.   On the other hand, Paramount isn’t really one to put much backing into an R-rated fan movie like ‘Kick-Ass.’   Despite dealing with Paramount on ‘Stardust,’ they really aren’t the best course of action for Vaughn to take with his film.

This leaves Universal, which has had major, R-rated releases in the past few years like ‘Wanted,’ ‘Public Enemies,’ and the Judd Apatow slate of movies.   Universal also proved with last year’s ‘The Strangers’ that it is a studio that has no problem with taking a smaller budget film and pushing it into a tentpole position.   This isn’t to say Universal is going to be the film to come out on top of this buyers competition, but it is certainly the studio that would treat the film’s release the way it should.

Review: ‘GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra’

GI Joe

GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the story of a devious young explosion who yearns for nothing more than to blow up everything in sight. This young explosion teams up with fellow explosions, all with the same goal, and together they explode so much that they feel UNSTOPPABLE!!! Unfortunately, this group of evil explosions has forgotten that the good guys have their own army of explosions, which they unleash, setting off a chain reaction of good VS evil, explosion VS explosion to see who can rack up the most damage. After two hours of consecutive explosions [SPOILER ALERT] the good explosions win. Yeah, director Stephen Sommers likes his explosions, even more than Michael Bay (gasp!)

There’s really not a whole lot more to explain than that. Sure, there is a little bit of a “story” underneath all those explosions, like how a hotshot military man, Duke (Channing Tatum), joins GI JOE (where knowing is half the battle) and becomes way more awesome than anyone else in about three seconds of training, and also how another strangely young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) [SPOILER ALERT x2] rises to power as Cobra Commander, and more importantly goes from having a high pitched voice to a low-pitched gravelly voice full of EVIL. Oh yeah, and we can’t forget the futuristic nano-machines, little green robots that eat everything in their path, even entire cities! It makes no sense, but it does make a lot of EXPLOSIONS! However, all these “story” elements serve one purpose and one purpose only: to make things blow up!!!

OK, OK, OK, enough about EXPLOSIONS. If you’re not into loud, fast, stupid ACTION is there anything here to like? Nope. Not one bit. Fortunately, if you can turn your brain off, there is a fairly enjoyable movie in there. We get to see things such as: a military convoy VS an army of Cobra airships (that look much more like alien UFOs), an asian ninja VS a white ninja, machine guns VS energy beam blasting guns (again, very alien), two guys running around Paris in Halo-style battle armor destroying everything in their path, and even a Superman style race against the clock to blow up some missiles. Many of these events are loosely explained with a crazy amount of flashbacks.

The flashbacks in JOE range from pretty cool to laughably awful, with most falling somewhere in between. This is also where almost all of the “character development” takes place. How come the asian ninja hates the white ninja? FLASHBACK. Did Duke used to be friends with Cobra Commander? FLASHBACK. Did Duke used to date the evil Baroness? FLASHBACK. The most ridiculous flashback comes right at the start of the movie, which begins in Paris… in the 1600s. Yeah. GI JOE starts off hundreds of years ago, in a Paris where everyone speaks English. This opening really set up the tone of the movie. As soon as the scene started, everyone in the audience erupted in laughter and the thought came to mind, “is this GI JOE or Van Helsing 2?” Luckily that scene only lasted for a few minutes, before we headed into the “not too distant future”.

It seems like I’ve really been trashing the movie, but like I said it actually was pretty fun. The Paris scene where Duke and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) smash their way through Paris in their Halo suits was pretty great and was probably the most accurate reproduction of how you would play with a GI JOE toy. Even though the suits looked pretty lame (OK, incredibly lame) I couldn’t help but think how cool it would be to be running around like that.

Unfortunately, the weakest aspect of GI JOE are the special effects, which is strange considering that the movie is nothing but special effects. If you’ve seen Van Helsing or Mummy 2, you probably know that director Stephen Sommers is no stranger to bad CG, but here it seems like he’s gotten even that much worse. Every time a CG helicopter passes through the frame, it looks like something out of a mid-nineties video game, and the first time that the big GI JOE plane flies over their base in the desert, the CG was so terrible I almost thought it was a joke. These effects shots, which should be relatively easy to do in this day and age, looked mind-blowingly awful, and no I’m not exaggerating. They are THAT BAD. They also break the very basic laws of physics at the end of the movie when [SPOILER ALERT x3] they make ice sink. That’s right, a giant underwater base is destroyed when they blow up a big chunk of ice, which then proceeds to sink down in the ocean. Uhh, what?

I haven’t mentioned the acting since it’s really not worth mentioning. None of the actors really bring anything special to the movie (not that it’s necessarily their fault) except for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is quite hilarious as the scene stealing “The Doctor” and eventually Cobra Commander. Also, is that Gordon-Levitt doing the low-pitched gravelly voice work? If so, kudos, because it was hilarious.

If you like seeing stuff blow up, by all means go and see this immediately and bring your kids. Out of the two hour run time, there’s maybe about twenty minutes where stuff isn’t blowing up, and the movie certainly never gets boring. Plus, if the kids want to see the movie again, just give ’em a few GI JOE toys and some firecrackers and they can recreate the movie in the backyard!

Writers Set for ‘Mission Impossible 4’

mission impossible

First off, let’s just get the news out of the way.   Tom Cruise and J.J. Abrams, acting as producers, have set the task to Josh Applebaum and Andre Nemec to write the screenplay for ‘Mission Impossible 4.’   Now, let’s go back over and look at the writers who have taken us through the adventures of Ethan Hunt.

First off, David Koepp and Robert Towne get screenwriting credits for the first ‘Mission Impossible’ movie.   Steve Zaillian and Koepp developed the script, but it is evident in watching it that the action scenes were put in place before a story was every written around it.   The same, and on a much grander scale, can be said for ‘Mission Impossible II,’ which gives the sole screenwriting credit to Towne.   Once Abrams took over the series for ‘Mission Impossible III,’ he began recruiting his old partners from “Alias” to develop a cohesive and suspenseful storyline.   It is the screenplay by Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci that made ‘Mission Impossible III’ the best of the series.

Abrams is doing the same with ‘Mission Impossible 4,’ as Applebaum and Nemec co-wrote seven episodes of “Alias” and served as supervising producers for the bulk of the show.   They will be writing the script from a story idea Abrams had for the fourth entry in the franchise.

“I’ve been looking forward to working with Josh and Andre again for years,” Abrams tells Variety. “Their sense of balance between character and action is wonderful, which I know is hugely important to Tom as well. We’re off to an exciting start, so, as usual, fingers crossed.”

It isn’t clear as to whether Abrams will be directingt he film, as he did with ‘Mission Impossible III.’   While he and Cruise are serving as producers, sources close to the project claim Cruise’s Ethan Hunt will have an onscreen presence of some kind.   The film is aiming for a Summer release in 2011.

Insane ‘Machete’ Cast List Confirmed

machete

It was an unconfirmed rumor a few weeks back, but it appears a lot of the rumblings behind some of the casting on ‘Machete’ has been confirmed.   In an article on Variety today by Mike Fleming about Overnight Productions, it was revealed that not only would Robert De Niro be joining Danny Trejo in the film, but Jessica Alba, Michelle Rodriguez, Steven Seagal, Lindsay Lohan, Cheech Marin, Don Johnson and Jeff Fahey would also be playing supporting roles.

This answers a few questions people were asking when De Niro’s name came up previously.   Primarily, if Fahey is returning, De Niro will not be playing Senator McLaughlin, unless, of course, Fahey has stepped aside to fill another role.   A few of these names like Lohan and Rodriguez were also pretty much confirmed already.   However, Seagal and Johnson have totally come out of nowhere.   I cannot wait to see what role Robert Rodriguez has Seagal filling.   This could be his chance at finally playing the villain.

One name peculiar by his absence is Jonah Hill, who was also rumored to be playing a character in the film.

‘Machete’ is currently in production and is set for release sometime in 2010.   With names like De Niro and Alba on board, the chances of it going straight to DVD have thinned, so look for this one in your theaters.

Source: Variety

‘Ong Bak 2: The Beginning’ Trailer Released

ong bak 2
Reactions to Tony Jaa’s latest martial arts, kick in your face were pretty mixed at the South by Southwest midnight series this year. It was the opening night, so some may have been kinder to it than others. Whether you thought it was an epic punch to the head or meaningless fight scenes after another, there was no doubting that it had some amazing choreography.

‘Ong Bak 2: The Beginning’ gets a limited release on October 23rd, so you can judge it for yourselves then. Until that day, though, you can gaze at the trailer, which was just released from Magnet Releasing.

Here’s the description of the film:

Martial arts superstar Tony Jaa stars in and directs this epic tale of revenge set hundreds of years in the past. Featuring a huge cast and hordes of elephants, this prequel takes Jaa’s skills to the next level, showcasing him as a master of a wide range of martial arts styles – while proving him to be a promising director as well.

You can check out the trailer right here:

Source: Apple

‘Cliffhanger 2’ to be Written by Fred Dekker?

cliffhanger

Let’s see the possibilities here.   A UFO crash-lands on a mountain, and killer slugs turn a snowboarding crew into zombies.   It’s up to Gabe Walk to climb up the mountain and take out the zombies one-by-one.   Or, Dracula, Frankenstein, the Wolfman (got nards), and Gillman build their new fortified castle up on Gabe’s mountain, and it’s up to the Ranger Walker to stake, shoot, destroy, and wipe out the monsters once and for all.

Those are just some of the possibilities Fred Dekker could come up with for ‘Cliffhanger 2,’ as, evidently, the screenwriter/director is working on the project.

Our buddy, Alex, over at First Showing, was in attendance last night at a screening for ‘Monster Squad.’   Director Dekker and screenwriter Shane Black were there providing live commentary.   In the Q&A afterwards, the inevitable question of what the two were working on came up.   Dekker claimed that he is currently writing ‘Cliffhanger 2.’   Apparently, he didn’t sound like he was joking, and Alex seems to think this is a sincere announcement.

Word on the sequel project has been fairly quiet since it was announced in May that StudioCanal was planning a ‘Cliffhanger 2.’   Dekker hasn’t had a film he’s written released since 1993, ironically, the same year ‘Cliffhanger’ tore it up at the box office.

We’ll keep you updated as the story progresses.

Source: First Showing

Renner Could be ‘Max Max 4’

jeremy renner

After watching ‘The Hurt Locker’ a second time, it seems star Jeremy Renner is poised for the A-list.  After bumping into him at CineVegas, he certainly has the entourage to prove it.  Well, that move up to super stardom looks to take its next step, as Renner is attempting to fill the role left open by Mel Gibson.

In a recent interview, Renner says he is screen testing and meeting wiht George Miller about starring in ‘Mad Max 4.’  In fact, Renner says he is “fighting” to do the film.  Renner also said this would be next Summer, so ‘Mad Max 4’ might be coming our way sometime in 2011.

The next installment in the ‘Mad Max’ franchise, which, when last we heard, was still titled ‘Mad Max 4: Fury Road,’ has gone through several iterations under director Miller.  Earlier this year, it was announced the film would be done using 3D stereoscopic anime.  No word has come down to the contrary, and what we see when it finally comes out could be a digitized version of Renner.

Source: Modesto Bee