AshtonKutcher Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Hollywood has a long history of showing us charming "golddiggers" in film, whether they're cute Depression-era heroines trying to get a free meal, a trio of Fifties fashion models scheming to land rich husbands, or soft-pedaled prostitutes of either gender. In Spread, the golddigger is a young man, much like Joe Buck in Midnight Cowboy if he'd succeeded in his original plans, but unfortunately not debonair or complex enough to overcome the feeling that the movie is more sordid than sweet or sharply comic.

Nikki (Ashton Kutcher) -- and what guy with that name spells it that way? -- wants to live a life of luxury with as little effort as possible. He succeeds nicely by picking up rich woman and sponging off them for as long as he can. He has no car, no home and no savings, even though at least one woman buys him expensive clothes and gifts. Perhaps he just doesn't have a knack for acquiring expensive baubles like Marilyn Monroe's character in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, or more to the point, he has no long-term ambitions.

Over the weekend Ashton Kutcher posted a photo of his wife Demi Moore's backside on Twitter while she was bending down in a bikini. Said image spread to various news outlets, and it was interesting to watch because it didn't originate on Perez Hilton or on People.com -- Kutcher posted the photo himself. For once, the celebrity controlled the buzz, instead of, say, TMZ.

Kutcher's not alone -- in the past month or so, a slew of actors, actresses, filmmakers, screenwriters and industry buffs have jumped onboard the Twitter ship, with some using the insta-update social network more than others. But Kutcher and Moore were the first to really embrace the site, stealing a little thunder from folks like US Weekly and People magazine by posting their own intimate photos and updates -- the kind of stuff that may have eventually leaked to a TMZ if the stars hadn't placed themselves in the driver's seat instead.

As Kutcher and Moore use Twitter to give fans a closer look at their day-to-day lives out of the spotlight, others -- like, say, Jon Favreau -- are using it to also provide updates and images from the set of their new films. Not only did Favreau control the release of the first behind-the-scenes image from Iron Man 2, but he also levels with fans by talking about how scary and stressful the filmmaking process is. It's real and raw, and to be honest it's quite fascinating to watch these folks bypass the publicists and the studios and simply take control of it all from their very own desktop. (Check out WeFollow for a pretty comprehensive list of celeb Twitter accounts -- and click here for a list of all Cinematical Twitter accounts.)

So does this kind of stuff just feed our celebrity-obsessed addictions, or does the honesty and intimacy of a Twitter feed help bring them down off their magical pedestal to a point where their personal updates are way more interesting than that blurry beach bikini shot stuck on page 47 of this week's issue of People?

There has been a lot of buzz over the path of Katherine Heigl's career -- much of which is steeped in rumors about her desire for good material. Whether or not some of the particulars are true, like rumors that she wants to exit Grey's Anatomy due to crappy storylines, I think it's safe to say that she definitely portrays herself as a woman with a plan. A woman with a crappy rom-com plan thus far, but a plan nonetheless. I just can't believe that it includes Ashton Kutcher.

Variety reports that Heigl and Kutcher will star in Lionsgate's new thriller called Five Killers. Following director Robert Luketic to the feature, straight from The Ugly Truth, Heigl will play a woman who meets the man of her dreams (Kutcher) while on vacation and gets hitched. Unfortunately, "married bliss is turned upside down when they discover that their neighbors may be assassins hired to kill them."

Unlike many, I wasn't angered by many of her public comments. I understood her point of view over that whole Knocked Up kerfuffle, and I thought it she was quite honest and rational with her Emmy withdrawal last year. But her big screen choices make any complaints about mediocre storylines, or determination about her craft, a complete joke. Will any of you actually go see this?

After watching the trailer for Ashton Kutcher's romantic 'dramedy' Spread, I can't help but think this film could be much better than this first promo would have us believe. So maybe this first glimpse isn't going to 'wow' you right off the bat, but the combination of a May-December story with Kutcher in the lead makes you think the film might have something to say other than 'ain't love grand'.

Spread is the story of Nicki, a top-notch womanizer (Kutcher) whose player lifestyle is brought to a screeching halt by two very different women. Anne Heche also stars (in a role originally occupied by Jennifer Jason Leigh) as the older woman whom Kutcher is involved with when he meets an enigmatic waitress (played by Margarita Levieva) who is just a little more 'age-appropriate'. But, when true love knocks, it isn't exactly what Nicki has in mind, and judging by the terribly 'earnest' music being played over the second half of the trailer, you know that there will be few life-lessons learned along the way.

Spread was written by first-time screenwriter Jason Dean Hall, with David Mackenzie at the helm. It was just announced that the film was being added to the Sundance line-up (but only on the non-competition roster). Spread is expected to arrive in theaters later this year, so I would assume that Kutcher and company will be doing a hard sell out in Utah to generate a little buzz. Sound off below on whether you think Kutcher is forever cursed with being Kelso, the lovable goofball, or can he make the move to being a bona-fide leading man?

UPDATE: The trailer has been removed at the request of Katalyst Films, but stay tuned, and we will let you know when something a little more official comes our way.

Wanna know what's going on today, but don't feel like reading a lot? Welcome to Stuff and Things -- where we collect the stuff (and things) currently making waves online and spit it out in one somewhat short, easy-to-read post.

-- First off, Slashfilm posted this image of a Predator-carved pumpkin (see above), and I'd like to personally thank them for the nightmares I'm going to have tonight. God bless the children in that household.

-- Ashton Kutcher is still making movies. That's the bad news. Seems he's teaming with 21 director Robert Luketic on a new action comedy called Five Killers about a former hitman (Kutcher) whose life gets turned upside down when a rival from his past hires a group of killers to whack him. Unfortunately, it's not based on a true story. (What? It's Halloween ... time, I'm allowed to be morbid!) [Variety]

-- Moviefone just put up an Unscripted chat with the cast of High School Musical 3 ... and that Vanessa Hudgens girl? Yowzers! No wonder I hate Zac Efron so much.

-- Al Pacino received a lifetime achievement award at the third Rome Film Festival, which just kicked off its festivities. The fest runs through October 31.

-- Actress Teri Polo signed on to star in Joe Dante's The Hole, about a family who go through changes following the discovery of a bottomless hole in the basement of their house. Sounds like some serious termite damage, right there. [Hollywood Reporter]

-- Transformers II has become the first film in years to shoot at the Pyramids in Egypt. Nope, I gots no Megan Fox jokes for this one.

-- Is the end nearing for Focus Features? Patrick Goldstein explores what, unfortunately, appears to be the demise of Universal's specialty division.

-- Finally, Jesse James Hollywood will get his day in court. Remember Alpha Dog? Yeah, it's that dude.

After the jump: Is that a real porno, a teaser trailer for The Flash and Clint Eastwood's Gran Torino gets a poster.

Here's where I get confused: If you knew a pair of people like the characters played by Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher in the new feature-length sitcom pilot What Happens in Vegas, you'd probably hate them. Undoubtedly, in real life, you'd want to punch / mock / immediately walk away from people so outrageously stupid, selfish, and insufferable. So here's my question: Why would you actually PAY for the experience of meeting two such woeful and worthless people? It's not like there's much upside for you...

Pre-packaged movie star detritus of the most inane order, What Happens in Vegas offers an I Love Lucy premise, an Odd Couple leading duo, and a Three's Company screenplay. (I mean, like, season five Three's Company, when you could spot the flaccid punch-lines the split-second the set-up is delivered.) It's not like I went in gunning for the flick, because I happen to think that A) Ashton Kutcher is a fairly funny guy, B) Cameron Diaz is still (often) a generally appealing movie star, and C) "high concept" comedy can sometimes make for one colorful and energetic night at the cinema -- but I've been to writing seminars that offer more humor, creativity, and cleverness than what's on display here. And trust me, writing seminars have none of those things.

Oh, Ashton. He's the little train that just keeps on trying. At least this latest bit of news doesn't have anything to do with romantic comedy. That, at least, is a plus. According to Ace Showbiz, Ashton Kutcher visited Ryan Seacrest's radio show yesterday and told the host that he's starting to think about making a feature film of Punk'd: "I was actually walking down the street in New York yesterday and thought, 'What if I did Punk'd: The Movie? Like a full on feature film of Punk'd.'"

But it also seems to be more than just the passing notion that he suggests. Kutcher went on to say: "I got a plan. But if I reveal the plan then everyone's going to know when it's going down." To me, that says that he's planning one big, full-scale trick on a whole lot of his celebrity friends.

I must admit: I've watched a few episodes back in the day and they can be funny, in the same way any elaborate joke is. But can it make a good feature film? Sure, Jackass headed to the big screen a few times, but that's a whole different sort of film. Shocked celebrity faces and laughter isn't quite the same thing as rabid stupidity in action with crazy injury.

But, what do you say? Wanna get Punk'd?

I will totally admit to bashing this movie when I first heard about it, but I have to say it has some pretty funny jokes. I LOL'd at least four times during this latest trailer (just released by Moviefone) for What Happens in Vegas, and I can't remember the last time I LOL'd at anything starring Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher. See, it's all about Rob Corddry. Put that guy in anything and you're guaranteed a few funny bits. I love the part where Kutcher finds a bunch of hot girls in his living room, and he calls Corddry to tell him there's a hot girl party at his house. The exchange between the two earned bonus laugh points from me. And the trailer is cut together pretty well, with the laughs increasing as it plays out. Kudos to whoever put it together.

What Happens in Vegas stars Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher as two random strangers who meet one night in Vegas, get wasted and subsequently get married by drunken mistake. However, while they're parting ways the next morning -- admitting their stupid mistakes -- both wind up winning a three million dollar jackpot. It was her quarter, but he put it in. When a judge sentences them to "six months of hard marriage" these two strangers -- who now despise one another -- will have to find a way to make it work. Think The Break-Up meets War of the Roses. I dunno, looks kinda cute.

What Happens in Vegas hits theaters on May 9 (my birthday!). Check out the trailer above, or head over to Moviefone to watch it in glorious HD.

That picture up there is the official one-sheet for the upcoming romcom What Happens in Vegas. If we went by this poster, the movie looks like one of those cheek-pinchingly happy romcoms full of Vegas weddings and matrimonial bliss. But this is the movie where Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher fall to the huge Las Vegas cliche -- hitting Sin City to forget their problems, while getting drunk and getting married.

The twist -- they play a slot machine as they decide to dissolve the marriage and win $3 million, so splitting up isn't so easy. They're sentenced to 6 months of "hard marriage" by a judge who freezes their winnings. It's just so romantic! Both of them act like asses to the other, and then, oh my god, they realize that they're meant to be! They fall for each other! Yeah, I'm being really hard on this, but c'mon -- Ashton is notorious for his bad romcoms, and the trailer is just a melange of stereotypes and over-done jokes that doesn't seem to offer anything fresh. Cameron and Ashton get hitched on May 9.

What do you think?

Last month, I wondered how Jennifer Jason Leigh could sign on for an indie romcom starring Ashton Kutcher -- the man notorious for his bad romantic comedies. She was set to co-star in Spread, the classy-titled indie comedy where Ashton is a serial womanizer and Jennifer would be the thwarted lover -- so, not only a goofy Kutcher movie, but one where he gets to cast her off! But now, however, The Hollywood Reporter posts that one week after signing on, Leigh backed out of the project for undisclosed reasons. Her replacement will be -- Anne Heche.

Rumors suggest that Leigh is pregnant, but you can't help but wonder if she just got cold feet. Production is starting immediately, so it's not like the pregnancy worry would impact things that much right now. As for Heche, well, I'm less surprised about her casting, although maybe a Kutcher film isn't the best thing to follow up her success in Men in Trees. Eh, we'll have to wait and see. Maybe this will be a great romcom, and Jason Dean Hall's script and David Mackenzie's direction will make it all come up roses.

I've got to wonder now... According to IMDb, Laura Linney is attached. What on earth attracted Linney and Leigh to a Kutcher romcom?