AlyssaMilano Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Harold Ramis is the comedy writer and director everyone's cribbed from, from Sandler to Apatow. After leaving "Second City TV," Ramis went on to write, direct, and occasionally star in comedic touchstones like Animal House, Caddyshack, Stripes, Groundhog Day, and of course, Ghostbusters, which have starred a slew of loveable losers fighting to get their sh*t together in the army, on the golf course, or in the middle of a war with supernatural beings. After taking a few years off, Ramis is taking it back to the beginning with this summer's Year One, which stars Jack Black and Michael Cera as loveable loser cavemen who, when Black's Zed accidentally burns down the village, find themselves in the middle of a very familiar holy war. Read on and find out what the big daddy of buddy movies had to say about evolution and self-improvement, male full frontal nudity and the lack thereof, and what the heck is up with Ghostbusters 3.

Year One opens nationwide this Friday, June 19th.

Cinematical: How much more stressful is it to deal with marketing a summer blockbuster and competing with the other movies that are out?

Harold Ramis: You know, it's the same level of stress every time you make a movie, because you've pinned all your hopes and dreams on it and you've fantasized what success will be like, but at the time you can't escape fantasizing what failure will be like. [laughs]

I conceived this movie on a big scale, to do a Biblical epic comedy. I knew it was ambitious and when the studio said "Yes, we'll do it," and it became real, I thought, "Oh my God!" [laughs] It's one thing to fail small, but to make a big movie that doesn't work is so risky.

It looks like Dan Aykroyd better work fast if he wants to get Alyssa Milano in the upcoming Ghostbusters sequel -- she's starting to line up the feature gigs. Following her horror stint in Pathology, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Milano is grabbing a rom-com. She'll star and produce My Girlfriend's Boyfriend, which might sound like a sexuality-bending role for the actress, but really it's just typical. She'll play a woman who meets two perfect men and must decide between them. One (played by Christopher Gorham) is a struggling novelist, while the other (Michael Landes) is an ad exec. Where the girlfriend fits in is anyone's guess. However, the pic does have Beau Bridges and Carol Kane in additional roles, so there's that going for it.

Meanwhile, remembering the tough women I was asking for? We're getting at least one on the big screens soon with Elisabeth Shue. TMZ posted a snap of her shooting Piranha 3-D, and as you can see above, she's sporting some rather impressive pipes these days. They should do a good job against those flesh-hungry fish, or at least provide them with some good muscle to chew on. It's just a waste that it's just for a niche film remake. But could this mean -- maybe just maybe -- a possible future as an action heroine? It would be a waste for those pipes to be forgotten once Piranha is done filming, and we already know she has the acting chops to go with it.

Rocky, Rambo, Indy, all of the old icons are making their way to the big screen, and as we know, our favorite ghostbusters are hoping to head in that same direction. But rather than just jumping into the action, we learned back in March that this Ghostbusters sequel would have the old pros handing over the reigns and mentoring a new batch of ghost fighters. Now if Dan Aykroyd has his say, this will mean creating a larger new core team that will finally increase the female ghost-fighting power.

While talking with the LA Times about the particulars of the third film (he says Sigourney Weaver is in, as are the ectoplasmic specialists, and that he wants Harold Ramis to direct), Aykroyd said that he's pulling for a "new generation" ghostbusting team. This one would have five members, at least a few of whom are women. Specifically, he's hoping for Alyssa Milano (who lent her voice to the new game), and Dollhouse star Eliza Dushku. "I think they're amazing."

I get the feeling that they're trying to go for a more sleek ghosbusting feel, rather than simple comedy. Neither actress is a big name in the world of laughs, and both have their feet firmly planted in the supernatural fighting biz. So this becomes a bittersweet yay: women are entering the flock, but will we see some of that classic comedy go out the window as the story gets modernized? I like it when things get a little more slick, but please -- not too slick.

Are these the two women you'd like to see fighting the ghosts? Or, would you wish for a more comedic bent with someone like, say, Tina Fey? Who should be the lady ghostbusters?

Sigourney Weaver may have started warming to the idea of more Ghostbusters back in December, but that doesn't include lending her voice for the upcoming video game. She's out, and in her absence, Atari isn't going with just anyone. They're going with the daughter of a boss who has a little witchy charm.

That's right -- Variety reports that Alyssa Milano is lending her voice in the upcoming Ghostbusters: The Video Game. Luckily, it won't be as Weaver's Dana Barrett, which would probably cause an uproar. Instead, her character is "Dr. Ilyssa Selwyn, the brainy guest curator of a 'World of Gozer' exhibit at the Natural History Museum." It seems that Milano was approached once Weaver declined to come back to the fold. I guess they were a fan of her voice in Dinotopia and Jimmy Neutron.

It sucks that Weaver isn't involved in this latest Ghostbusters incarnation, but at least they did a heck of a job recruiting the rest of the classic cast. Of course, Murray, Aykroyd, Ramis, and Hudson are in there, but there's also Annie Potts' Janine, William Atherton's Walter, and Slavitza Jonan as Gozer. I just wish they could've brought Rick Moranis back to play. He might be largely absent from Hollywood for the past decade, but he did lend his voice for the Brother Bear flicks in 2003 and 2006.

Ah well. Back to the topic at hand: Think Alyssa can keep up with the big ghost-busting boys?

Just in time for the Oscars -- our friend Weston over at Funny or Die sent along this new video from the comedy site that spoofs The Wrestler trailer with a preview for a film called The Uncler -- about how Uncle Sam (Seth Morris) is desperately trying to climb his way back into our good graces, all while charming the top off a local stripper/lady liberty (played by my childhood crush Alyssa Milano). Jake Szymanski directs this high-quality video that's pretty damn funny; I especially like the little recession facts that take the place of awards won and fancy critic quotes.

Check out the video below and let us know what you think. Also, head after the jump to watch the real trailer for The Wrestler to compare the two. Yeah ... who's your boss?!

The Uncler w/ Uncle Sam and Alyssa Milano from Alyssa Milano

Yet another movie withheld from press screenings, Pathology isn't exactly a horror movie, though it does contain a good amount of gore. It inspired me to coin a new subgenre: "secret underground club of life and death" movies. In these films, two or more young people get together and use logic and intellect to cut through the dreary, soul-deadening reality of life and get closer to something more metaphysical, usually involving death or sex or both. Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948) is an early example, in which two students kill a man for sport, and then throw a dinner party with the corpse hidden in the very center of the room, just to see what it would be like. Other examples might include Flatliners (1990), Crash (1996) and Fight Club (1999). (Am I forgetting any?) Unfortunately, in conjuring up these other examples, Pathology quickly collapsed in comparison.