Billy Connolly Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The original Boondock Saints was relegated to video store shelves before most would-be fans had an inkling it had passed them by in theaters. But eventually, chances are one night a friend would suggest watching this weird, violent movie about hot twin brothers with a serious gun fetish, Catholic complex, and Latin tattoos, and you'd pass the word along. Basically, Murphy MacManus (Norman Reedus) and Connor MacManus (Sean Patrick Flanery) were blue-collar Irish guys who decided that they'd had enough of the scum on the streets and began wiping them out in various creative ways, although their favorite weapons were and remain the gun. Their buddy Rocco, a mob errand boy, was the de facto third Saint. Meanwhile, they're being tracked by a very odd FBI agent by the name of Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe in a fabulously bizarre performance) and three bumbling local cops. And then there's Il Duce (Billy Connolly), the infamous assassin who's finally paroled from prison.

Ten years later, the Saints are in Ireland with Il Duce, aka their dad, when the word comes that someone in Boston killed a priest they knew and tried to make it look like the Saints did it. Game on. The boys shed their woolly sweaters and their long hair and beards and return to Boston.

The MacManus brothers are back with guns blazing in the long-awaited sequel to The Boondock Saints. The Saints are living in Ireland with dear old dad (Billy Connolly) when they get word a priest in Boston has been killed in a way that sets them up to be the fall guys. Long-haired and bearded from the Irish winters, they shed their hair (and their clothes) to head back to Beantown to set things straight. They're joined by a new Saint, Romeo (Clifton Collins Jr. with a sweet mullet), along with the trio of cops from the first movie. And although the unforgettable FBI Special Agent Paul Smecker (Willem Dafoe) is nowhere to be found, Special Agent Eunice Bloom (Julie Benz) is on the case, full of piss and vinegar just behind that sweet Southern smile.

Who's behind the murder? Why do they want to lure the boys back to Boston? You'll have to see The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day to find out. Meanwhile, Duffy spilled the beans on the legions of diehard Boondock fans, including his femme fanbase, his critics, and what he thinks women want from men these days. Read on after the jump ...

Last night at an all-media screening for The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day, audience members – both fans who had lined up for blocks to get in to see the stars and director of this long-awaited sequel and journalists – were treated to a colorful Q&A session with the director of Boondock, Troy Duffy, and its stars Billy Connolly, Sean Patrick Flanery, and Norman Reedus.

After Duffy told the audience where the afterparty would be held, a journalist asked why there was so much time between movies. Duffy was somewhat discreet, replying, "There was a rather serious bit of litigation. We sued the people who financed Boondock I and a bunch of people that distributed it, as the movie was extremely financially successful and myself, the producers, and none of the actors saw a cent of that so me and CB [producer Chris Brinker] went after them."

He went on to add, "When you're writing for a sequel and there's a movie that's been deemed sacred ground by the fanbase that's the predecessor, you cannot do anything to tread on that, so it's a bit trickier than just being able to sit down and write something."

Six years have passed since "The X-Files" went off the air after nine seasons; fans agree that it left with a whimper rather than a bang, and ten years have passed since the first and only feature film. So the question of the day is: why a sequel? Why now? But perhaps a better question is "why not?" The fact is that FBI special agents Fox Mulder (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson) always had vats of chemistry; they arguably outstripped and outranked any other male-female couple in the history of television. Their pairing was perfect: Mulder believed -- or wanted to believe -- in the supernatural while Scully was a scientist, a doctor and a Catholic who believed in God but looked for reasonable, logical explanations in everything. In each episode, the team was called in to investigate some kind of paranormal activity, and they debated and discussed the various possibilities behind each. In the end, hardly anything was ever proved or disproved.

The X-Files: I Want to Believe offers the viewer many mysteries to contemplate -- and only one of them is on-screen; as David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson return to roles and a franchise that last graced our TV screens in 2002 (and was last on the big screen in 1998), your mind swirls around the behind-the-scenes facts as fiercely as it does around the events playing out before your eyes. As reclusive, retired ex-FBI agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully (Duchovny and Anderson) help the FBI with an abduction case, you're not following the plot as such; instead, you're thinking things like Hey, didn't this show get canceled six years ago? Haven't Duchovny and Chris Carter, the star and director of this film, both sued the studio behind it? Who, out in the movie going audience, is really clamoring for this movie? If you're an X-Files fan, is this film's freestanding creepy tale, with no link to the weird and convoluted mythos Carter came up with for the show, going to satisfy whatever itch you may still have for the franchise? And if you're not an X-Files fan, is the idea that this film stands alone enough reason to come to the franchise now?

Desperate times call for desperate measures. Since Fox has refused to reveal virtually any plot details about this summer's The X-Files: I Want to Believe, I've endeavored to translate the still-cryptic but slightly more informative Russian trailer that hit the interwebs yesterday. It would seem that the story will involve a priest named "Father Joe" (that's the Billy Connolly character) who has nightmarish visions of a woman in trouble that he claims come from God. (In other words, this unofficial summary seems to have been on the money.) We also learn that Mulder is roped into the investigation by Amanda Peet's character, Dakota Whitney.

I had fun translating the cheesy dubbing; you hear bits of this dialogue in the American trailer, but a lot of it is new. Check out the translation after the jump.

I'll just come right out and say it: I think werewolves are dumb. They could be interesting, and I'm sure they once were, but for me they're typically a let down, whether they be the lame werewolves in Wes Craven's Cursed or the badly generated werewolf transformation in Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban or even the blood-splattering werewolves of a well-written horror film like Dog Soldiers. Maybe it's because the first werewolves I was familiar with growing up were Michael Jackson in the "Thriller" video and Michael J. Fox in Teen Wolf, but whatever the reason, the fact remains that I don't think they're scary and I don't think they're cool.

So, you can imagine how disappointed I was to see JoBlo's new spy shots from the set of "X-Files: Done One" (aka X-Files 2), which feature what looks to be a werewolf mask. I guess there's a chance that thing in the photos could simply be a wolf -- not of the 'were' variety -- and that would be OK. But seeing as this is the paranormal world of X-Files, I'm betting on my first thought being correct.

For other fans of the show, these photos are probably pretty exciting. They're certainly a lot more interesting than that first pic we saw last month, and more intriguing than these simple photos and video of David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson from FlynetOnline or these more official shots from ComingSoon.net. Also, with all the secrecy surrounding the plot of the sequel, these photos allow us to speculate a great many things while we wait to hear about the actual plot synopsis. Perhaps one of those new cast members, say Xzibit or Billy Connolly or Amanda Peet turns into a werewolf. Wouldn't that be super neat? Yeah, well you already know I think it would be boring, but I'm trying to be excited for the rest of you.

The Hollywood Reporter announced that Amanda Peet, Billy Connolly, and Xzibit have all joined the cast of X-Files 2. Details are pretty sketchy as to who Scottish comedian Connolly will play, but THR did confirm that Xzibit (the 'Pimper of Rides') and Peet would be playing fellow FBI agents alongside our friends Mulder and Scully (David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson). Peet has just signed to star in the drama, Real Men Cry with Mark Ruffalo, but it looks like X-Files might come first now that the production looks to be ready to go. Xzibit had also originally been signed to star in Oliver Stone's Pinkville, but when that film was stalled because of the writer's strike, I guess it freed up some time in the rapper/actor/TV host's schedule.

I'd be willing to guess that most fans of the show were pretty surprised when word of a sequel started making the rounds again. When official word finally hit, the fan in me was thrilled and a little curious as to how they were going to make a stand-alone story. Luckily, Chris Carter and series vet Frank Spotnitz wrote the screenplay. Filming is set to begin in Vancouver later this month, and the production is also currently casting in Canada. Although, there is still no confirmation on whether Lance Henriksen (Frank Black in Carter's other series; Millenium) will be making an appearance.

Just last week, Christopher brought us some script details that had been leaked. But, some of the details were later discounted by Carter, who said that he was using old character and plot to try and keep his casting process as secret as possible up until the last minute. I hope all the secrecy is worth it, because I can't see the addition of Xzibit and Billy Connolly as something worth this much security. X-Files 2 is set for release on July 25th, 2008.

We've been raving about the Canadian zombie comedy, Fido, on Cinematical for a while now. After a great premiere at TIFF, the film is slated for release on June 15th, and we've finally got a teaser for you to sink your zombie-yearning teeth into. It's quite brief, and doesn show much, but that might be best. Like any comedy, the laughs are best the first time around, and this teaser does a good job of showing the gist without revealing the gusto.

If you've missed our news on the servant zombie flick -- take some post-war "troops-yay!" propaganda films, add in some Donna Reed home life in full, vibrant technicolor, add a bunch of moaning, partially-decomposed zombies and blend them all together to get Fido. The film centers on a post-zombie-apocalypse paradise called Willard, where ZomCon gives out special collars that make flesh-hungry zombies into docile servants. Beyond the walls of the town, zombies moan groan and exist in a wasteland -- think of the future earth in the 80's camp tv show, Buck Rogers. Within the walls, people blissfully let zombies do almost everything, which usually amounts to daily chores and menial tasks, but they can also perform carnal pleasures, the likes of which Timmy's neighbour delights in.

However, unlike the zombie-loving people around him, Timmy wonders about the truth behind what a zombie is and what he/she can feel. This inevitably leads him to befriend his new zombie help, Fido (Billy Connolly). You should check out the teaser now, and the film this summer, if for no other reason than to see the Scottish comedian go through an entire feature with nothing but grunts, groans and facial reactions.