Two new TV spots for The Dark Knighthave arrived online over at The Tube; both of which, I'm sure, are making the primetime rounds as we speak (I know one of them debuted during Sunday night's Survivor finale). The two spots (check out one above and the other after the jump) are pretty Joker-centric, with some brief comedy thrown in via Bruce Wayne and Alfred/Lucius Fox. I gotta say I'm loving Heath Ledger's performance more and more each time another bit of video arrives. It's amazing he pulled off this role, especially since most of us counted him out when his casting was first announced: "Heath Ledger as The Joker? Really? Seriously? Is that a joke?" Well kudos to him -- I, for one, cannot wait to see this whole thing play out on the big screen.
Question: Will you be seeing The Dark Knight in IMAX or in a conventional theater? July 18th baby!
Okay, I'm going to try to write this post without pissing off a gazillion people. See, our resident Twilight expert, Kim, is flying to France right now, and so I'm the lucky guy left to write about Twilight. And speaking of the biggest teen vampire film to hit the states since The Lost Boys, a brand new poster for Twilight has been released by Summit Entertainment. (You can check it out to the right and click to enlarge.) Additionally, we've decided that now is the time to introduce our official Twilight gallery (see below). Fans of the film should definitely save that gallery link and check back daily as we'll be adding more photos real soon.
And there's more! CulturePulp's Mike Russell tipped us off to this super funky comic strip he created, which was inspired by a recent trip of his to the set of Twilight. The comic strip is supposed to compliment an article he wrote for The Los Angeles Times. The comic is a damn funny read, as Mike takes you through a scene where they're playing vampire baseball and running at 30mph. Don't know, but it sounds good.
Confession time! I've never read Twilight, and I have absolutely nothing against the book or its fans. However, the only thing that worries me about this film is Kristen Stewart. Hate me forever, but she always plays the disturbed, "I have several emotional issues that stem from my childhood" kinda gal. Not a bad thing, mind you, but I've never seen her give us an ounce of power, of energy, of anything, really.
So here's a question for you fans: Do you think Kristen Stewart is the right actress to play your beloved Isabella Swan? Have you seen her other films? (Or maybe Isabella is a really boring person, because then Stewart would be excellent in the role.
The always-enjoyable Dennis Farina was arrested when a loaded gun was found in his carry-on luggage at Los Angeles International Airport on Sunday. Farina, who's best known for being awesome in everything, was caught with a .22-caliber handgun in his briefcase. The actor claimed he forgot he had it on him when bail was set at $25,000, but then raised to $35,000 when cops learned the gun wasn't registered. 1) How do you accidentally forget that you have a loaded gun in your briefcase? 2) Why are you carrying around a loaded gun that's not registered? 3) Are there a lot of people out to get Dennis Farina -- so much so that he has to bring an unregistered loaded gun to the airport?
And when the airport security asked Mr. Farina if he was traveling with a gun in his briefcase, did the actor turn and deliver one of his trademark replies? "You kiddin' me? What? I can't carry a f**kin' gun in this country anymore. Look, Idiot #1, tell Idiot #2 that I'm Dennis F**kin' Farina and I can do what I want. You gots?"
Speaking of ... we need to get Midnight Run on Blu-ray. Can somebody make that happen? They were smart enough to stick that sucker on HD-DVD, but I want to watch one of my favorite comedies ever on Blu-ray, like, now. And then I want them to include a commentary track from Farina, and I want him to talk about getting arrested in an airport with a loaded gun. I'd love to hear what that sounds like.
Sound off ... your favorite Dennis Farina role? (For me, it's a toss up between Midnight Run and Get Shorty.)
Another new (and improved, in my opinion) image of Samuel L. Jackson as The Octopus in The Spirithas been revealed, courtesy of Comic Con Magazine (click image to enlarge). Directed by Frank Miller (Sin City, 300), and based on the graphic novel by Will Eisner, The Spirit follows rookie cop Denny Colt (Gabriel Macht) who returns from the dead to fight crime in Central City. Jackson plays The Octopus, The Spirit's main nemesis -- a villain who plans to wipe out all of Central City and kills anyone unlucky enough to see his face. (That said, I guess we're all doomed -- damn you Comic Con magazine for showing us this dude's face!)
Also starring in the flick are Scarlett Johansson (as the Octopus' secretary, Silken Floss), Eva Mendes (as Sand Saref), Jaime King (as Lorelei Rox) and Paz Vega (as Plaster of Paris). Gotta love the names in this one. If I may recommend myself for the sequel; I could play Dynamo Clorox III. Sweet! The first trailer for The Spirit was released during New York Comic Con, and I'm sure the cast and crew will have plenty of goodies for the folks attending San Diego Comic Con in July.
The Spirit arrives in theaters on December 25 (Happy Birthday Jesus, indeed!). Check out our gallery below.
Ahem. Where were we? Oh yes -- a few nude, er, new photos from the set of Jennifer's Bodyhave arrived online, and it seems the lovely Megan Fox (pictured above) has finally transformed into a girl that doesn't wear any clothes. About damn time! (Last week she transformed into a motorcycle and we were all, like, what the F!) These new images come to us via The Bad and Ugly, who have a few more of Fox in and out of the lake, and let's just say they're a tad more revealing. For those who don't remember, Fox was recently named the sexiest woman in the world by FHM magazine -- and these new photos definitely help the girl live up to that title.
Written by Diablo Cody (Juno), Jennifer's Body stars Megan Fox as a newly-possessed cheerleader who begins killing her male classmates; specifically, those trying to woo her. Amanda Seyfried stars as Jennifer's best friend and the film's hero, while guys like Adam Brody show up as the lead singer of a band (see images of Brody's Nikolai character over at Just Jared).
Man, looking at that image above reminds me of those days when I was applying to be "guy who holds blanket over naked actress on set." Never got the job, of course, because I didn't have 3-5 years experience, but it was still fun to try. Jennifer's Body arrives in theaters next year ... as well as on the desktops of every horny male teenager in the world right ... about ... now.
Cinematical has just received this exclusive teaser poster for City of Ember(click to enlarge), due out this October 10th courtesy of 20th Century Fox and Walden Media. Based on the best-selling novel from Jeanne Duprau, City of Ember was written by Caroline Thompson (Edward Scissorhands) and directed by the very talented Gil Kenan (Monster House). Oh, but the talent doesn't stop there -- check out this cast: Bill Murray, Saoirse Ronan, Tim Robbins, Martin Landau, Toby Jones and Harry Treadaway. And did I mention it was produced by Tom Hanks?
And here's a synopsis for ya: "For generations, the people of the City of Ember have flourished in an amazing world of glittering lights - underground. But Ember's once powerful generator is failing . . . and the great lamps that illuminate the city are starting to flicker. Now, two teenagers in a race against time, must search Ember for clues that will unlock the ancient mystery of the city's existence, and help the citizens escape before the lights go out forever."
Early buzz tells us the film looks gorgeous, so that's definitely a good sign. We've also been told that the first trailer for City of Ember will debut in front of Prince Caspian this weekend. (Chalk up another reason to hang with those peeps over in Narnia.) Once again, City of Ember arrives in theaters on October 10th.
Cinematical was just handed this exclusive clip from the film Mongol, which finally arrives in theaters in limited release on June 6 after being nominated for a Best Foreign Language Oscar. Mongol comes from the award-winning Russian filmmaker Sergei Bodrov (Prisoner of the Mountains), and it follows the early years of Genghis Khan -- before he took on that name, through his perilous childhood to the battle that sealed his destiny. Cinematical's Eric D. Snider reviewed the film when it played the Portland Film Festival, and said: "The battle scenes, in particular, are thrilling and visceral without being too nauseating, and Japanese actor Tadanobu Asano's performance as Temudjin has the stoicism and dedication you need for an effective biopic hero." I think it goes without saying that we all love a film with a few good battles in it, and Mongol looks to give us just that ... and then some. Check out the clip above, then the poster, then get your asses to the theater when it arrives on June 6.
A whole new batch of images from the next James Bond flick, Quantum of Solace, have just arrived online. So, in honor of a badly beaten-up Daniel Craig, we've decided that now is definitely the right time to launch our official Quantum of Solace photo gallery -- complete with good guys, bad guys and women who may or not be good or bad. (Can I just say that I absolutely love this photo above. Obviously they've had a long night -- and even though he's all sorts of damaged, Bond has that "I bet I could still tap that" look on his face.)
What do we know about Quantum of Solace? Well, it picks up right where Casino Royale left off, and it follows 007 on a mission to figure out which moron came up with the name for this film. I kid, I kid. Actually, we're with Bond as he attempts to figure out more about the organization that blackmailed Vesper -- a mission that ultimately leads him to several countries and to a couple of men; one of which, Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric), is conspiring to take total control of one of the world's most important natural resources. There's double the action, double the intensity and (we hope) double the love-making.
Quantum of Solace arrives in theaters on November 7. Check out our brand new gallery below.
Ever since the numbers were released yesterday, anyone and everyone (as well as anyone who is everyone) has been talking Speed Racer -- specifically, how a $120 million Hollywood blockbuster could open with only $20 million at the box office. You can blame Iron Man, you can blame the marketing, you can blame the blogs for trashing the film all year long, you can blame Christina Ricci's weird haircut, or you can blame that judge on Project Runway for saying, "You can never have too much color!" Fact is, it missed the mark.
But what could've helped Speed Racer make more money in its opening weekend? The running time has been mentioned a lot in the past 24 hours, but a running time doesn't exactly woo audiences into the theater. Is the film's marketing 100% to blame? Should the trailers have been cut differently? Should they have stressed that this was a film for kids? Should they have added a little viral action into the mix? Or what about overall? From the beginning, were the Wachowski Brothers the right folks for the job? Should they have gone the animated route instead -- or maybe the animated 3-D route? Should they have made this a film for older kids; slap on a PG-13 rating?
In your opinion, what could've helped Speed Racer -- both in its opening weekend and in its development as a feature film?
A whole crop of new images from The Incredible Hulk have hit the net, including the one above showing some assistant dude (Tim Blake Nelson) holding the super serum that's eventually injected into Tim Roth (which, of course, gave him super powers and turned him into Abomination). Ah, but those of us at New York Comic Con were told that this serum is, in fact, the same kind used to create Captain America. Additionally, First Showing is running around claiming there's a shot of Captain America's shield on Tony Stark's workbench in Iron Man -- and, while they've watched the scene several times and say it's true, I don't believe anyone from the Favreau camp has confirmed this yet.
Now thatIron Man has literally destroyed the box office, it will be interesting to see how their second self-financed film does when The Incredible Hulk hits theaters on June 13. The two scenes we watched at Comic Con were enough to convince me that this version of Hulk will definitely kick a bunch of ass. That's a given. But will it succeed with fans? (Something tells me there's already a whole bunch of people who will hate this film regardless, but that's their problem -- we'll certainly go in with an open mind and an open heart). Definitely check out all those new images (mixed with some older ones) in the gallery below.
(In honor of Mother's Day, we're launching a series of posts today written, in part, by our mothers after we asked them one simple (yet very complex) question: What's your favorite movie and why?)
The first film I ever watched with my parents was Annie Hall. I was three. I'd go on to watch bits and pieces of it throughout the years (my mother always had it on), but it wasn't until later in life that I came to really appreciate everything this film represents and all that it means for my eccentric Jewish family from New York. So when I asked my mother for her favorite movie, I already knew this would be the first one out of her mouth ...
"At that time, I related to Annie Hall. I always dressed differently; was always trying to better myself. We were hip, your Dad and I; we lived in the city and I even had a Bloomingdale's card that Daddy was always trying to take away from me. I just saw myself in this film. I went to school, but never finished -- not only was Woody Allen at his best when he made this film, but he also captured this time in New York City perfectly. A close second after Annie Hall would be The Big Chill-- because I never graduated college and I never had a group of friends like that, so I was always drawn to that movie. And the soundtrack ... how do you beat that soundtrack?"
According to early estimates from Box Office Mojo, this summer's second big-budgeted extravaganza failed to pick up more than $20 million at the box office this weekend, with the poorly-reviewed comedy What Happens in Vegasfinishing right behind in third. Of course,Iron Man took the top spot for a second week in a row with roughly $50 million, while Speed Racer -- which some projected to take home at least $30-40 million -- came in second with $20.2 million, as What Happens in Vegas slid into third with $20 million. Rounding out the top five were Made of Honor ($7.6 million) and Baby Mama ($5.7 million).
So what happened to Speed Racer? Part of the reason had to do with its targeted audience, which, supposedly, was kids, though kids weren't very familiar with the cartoon the film was based on. That, and the flick clocked in at over two hours -- a running time that's been mentioned a lot this weekend, as well as one that's way too long for a PG-rated kiddie adventure. That said, its PG-rating scared away those adults who grew up with the cartoon; people who, most likely, were looking for something a bit more skewed toward adults (especially when Iron Man came out the weekend before and kicked a whole lot of ass). Nevertheless, I'm pretty sure we can rule out that Speed Racer franchise at this point.
Coupla questions for ya: Why do you think Speed Racer failed to power across the finish line in spectacular fashion? Also, what happens to the Wachowski Brothers now? Will folks think twice before giving them $150 million and free reign?
Most of the time, our earliest memories of film have something to do with our parents. Personally, I wouldn't be half the movie nerd I am today if it weren't for my mother and father. My mother took me to see my first film in an actual theater (E.T.), as well as my first drive-in movie (Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom). While my father was off at work, she sat through the Star Wars films (even though she never got them) and never complained a bit when I'd insist on watching the live-action Popeye for 8-10 hours in a row, six days a week, when I was a small boy. (I was addicted to Popeye, by the way.)
With that said, today is Mother's Day, and all across internet movieland you'll see lists of the best movie moms, the worst movie moms, the best films to watch with your mother, the hottest celebrity moms, and so on and so forth. We here at Cinematical decided to do things a bit differently this year, and instead of shoveling out another list based on one of the above topics, we've gone ahead and given the site over to our moms for the day. Oh yes, we're nutty like that. Basically, we asked our moms to tell us, in their own words, what their favorite movie is and why. So, throughout the day, you'll see posts from a number of our writers ... with one noticeable difference: the majority of said post will be written by that writer's mother.
So this one is for all our moms (and all the hard-working moms out there who read Cinematical on a daily basis). Thanks for being there, and thanks for being you. Love ya!
Above you will find the latest Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer. While it looks kinda like the last one, it's easy to spot a whole bunch of new scenes and dialogue. Anyone else notice how all these trailers and TV spots have been very light on Marion Ravenwood's scenes? They've included her in this jungle car chase scene, and she's had a line or two, but that's it. Part of me wonders how much she's in the actually movie? Then again, perhaps they'd rather play up the Shia LeBeouf and Cate Blanchett roles over Karen Allen, who, while very well known to all of us movie buffs, isn't exactly a household name across the globe. Kinda diggin' LaBeouf's character more and more each day; he's a fun guy to watch on screen and my fingers are crossed he does a good job here. Reviews thus far have been iffy ... but I'd rather wait to see for myself.
Over on his blog, Kevin Smith has released another new image from Zack and Miri Make a Porno, promising fans that the film's first internet-only teaser will debut on his site, www.quickstopentertainment.com, when he returns home from a trip to the east coast next week. Additionally, Smith says he'll be at San Diego Comic Con again this year (we missed ya at NYCC, Kev!), and to (most likely) look out for a panel in the big room on Friday night. Panel? Does that mean he'll have a bunch of cast members with him? Does that mean he'll debut the first full-length trailer for the film? Does that mean he'll give out candy?!
From looking at the photo, it appears we'll be getting some fun adult hockey in the flick, which, in case you didn't know (or forgot) tells of two platonic friends (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who, strapped for cash, decide to make a porno. Check out a couple more images from the film in our gallery below. Zack and Miri Make a Porno arrives in theaters this fall.
The always-enjoyable 
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Cinematical's 2008 Cannes Preview
EXCLUSIVE: 'City of Ember' Poster Premiere!
Tons of New 'Quantum of Solace' Images!
