BillyBobThornton Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When one F.X. Toole adaptation grabs a bunch of Oscars, what will happen to the next one?

Million Dollar Baby -- winner of Best Movie, Director, Supporting Actor, and Lead Actress -- was adapted from Toole's short story collection Rope Burns: Stories from the Corner, and now The Hollywood Reporter posts that Pound for Pound is getting the big-screen indie treatment with the starring help of Billy Bob Thornton.

A full -- but unfinished -- posthumous novel this time around, Pound follows Dan Cooley, an ex-boxing contender who has outlived both his wife and children, and focuses on his grandson, who then gets killed. "As Cooley vacillates between booze-fueled suicidal thoughts and fantasies of homicidal vengeance, Hispanic teenager Eduardo 'Chicky' Garza y Duffy begins his troubled ascent in the amateur boxing world." In classic sports movie form, they will be able to offer each other redemption.

It's going to be quite interesting watching Billy Bob play an ex-boxer, but he's definitely the right fit for an aging, bitter, and boozy dude. As for the film, it's going to be written and directed by Ron Shelton, the man behind Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, and Play it to the Bone. Could this be a return to Bull Durham form? That film was his first directorial stint, and grabbed the filmmaker his only Oscar nod.

One thing I'm liking about 2009 so far is that we've been fortunate enough to witness a whole bunch of entertaining, idiotic celebrity moments. And while I'm not one to obsess over celebrities and the stupid little egotistical things they do on a daily basis, listening to Christian Bale scream at a cinematographer or Billy Bob Thornton act like a complete moron on live radio somehow brightens up my day. Why? Because it's funny; they're funny. With everything that's going in the world right now -- job losses, economic hardships, a live-action Dragonball movie -- Billy Bob Thornton decides to act like the world's biggest incompetent jerk on a radio show that's promoting his work. How is that not hilarious?

But did he really act like a jerk, or was it all a big misunderstanding? In the fourth episode of Jeremy Fisher's For Real show, Mr. Fisher explains exactly what went down on that radio show; that Billy Bob wasn't acting like a drunk donkey with an ear infection -- instead, he was just responding to a botched Canadian-to-English translation of the entire conversation. Little confused? Here, watch the video below. Trust me, it explains everything.



[via Buzzfeed]

Austin was celebrating film this week before the SXSW crowds even arrived. On Thursday night, Austin Film Society held its ninth annual Texas Film Hall of Fame awards gala at Austin Studios, honoring Texans and "honorary Texans" in the film industry. It's a fundraising event for filmmaker grants and educational programs, and attire ranges from the glitziest cocktail dresses to blue jeans and cowboy boots. Thomas Haden Church emceed the ceremony, revealing surprising depths of bizarre-yet-enjoyable humor. Really, I think someone should consider him to host the Oscars next year, although I don't know what his singing and dancing talents might be.

Thirteen and Twilight director Catherine Hardwicke, shown above, received the Ann Richards award for someone in film who "who breaks barriers and forges new creative paths." Her award was presented by Brendan Fraser. The Star of Texas award for an exceptional film made in Texas went to Rushmore, which was filmed in Houst -- Luke Wilson accepted the award. Linda Gray, who nearly goosed Thomas Haden Church onstage, inducted her Dallas co-star Larry Hagman into the Hall of Fame. Keith Carradine inducted Powers Boothe. Austin filmmaker Richard Linklater shared a tribute to Texas playwright and screenwriter Horton Foote, a Hall of Famer who died earlier this year. And Dennis Quaid presented the Tom Mix Honorary Texan award to his The Alamo co-star Billy Bob Thornton, who explained to us how he was more of a real Texan than an honorary one, anyway.

We've got photos of the event's honorees in the gallery below (as well as a few other familiar-looking attendees); check 'em out.

Well Cinematical is officially in Park City, Utah for the 2009 Sundance Film Festival, and to kick-start our coverage we have this exclusive clip from The Informers, which is one of (if not the) largest premiere here this year. Based on the book by Bret Easton Ellis, The Informers follows a week in the life of several seedy individuals -- movie executives, rock stars, a vampire, a kidnapper -- as they mix and mingle in 1983 Los Angeles. With an all star cast including Billy Bob Thornton, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Winona Ryder, Brad Renfro, Amber Heard and more -- The Informers, directed by Gregor Jordan, looks to spread its dirty, erotic stench all over Park City this week. Check out the clip below, which features Mickey Rourke and the late Brad Renfro (in his final role).

Seemingly needless to say, spoilers for the Shia LaBeouf techno-thriller Eagle Eye will soon follow.

Seriously, I don't want to hear any complaints. I done warned ya.

Alright then. So, as much as the film tested my suspension of disbelief in theaters -- which it did, in no small frequency -- I pretty much went with it and enjoyed it, though nothing says studio ex machina like the rah-rah happy ending in which Shia takes several bullets while thwarting an evil computer's elaborate assassination attempt on the President of the United States and his entire Cabinet, but magically manages to make it to Michelle Monaghan's son's birthday party after all, Guitar Hero make that Rock Band in hand (hey, now that bit rhymes!).

Well, according to the video after the jump, bootlegged borrowed from the recent DVD release, another ending was actually considered... and then written... and then filmed where the kids are playing the game before it freezes up and indicates that (duh-duh-DUH!) said evil computer is back online and coming after him, them, and maybe even YOU!

So ... which ending is sillier?

When two people walk away from a high-speed car crash with nary a scratch on them, you know you're watching an action movie. When an innocent, ordinary citizen is suddenly thrust into the middle of a national security crisis, you know you're watching a paranoid conspiracy thriller. When both these conditions have been met, nothing makes much sense, and things go "boom!" every 8-10 minutes, you know you're watching Eagle Eye.

Re-teaming star Shia LaBeouf and director D.J. Caruso from last year's immensely popular, faux-Hitchcockian Disturbia, Eagle Eye, which had a special screening at Fantastic Fest with Caruso in attendance, might welcome comparisons to The Man Who Knew Too Much or The Wrong Man but is actually closer in spirit to The Net, Irwin Winkler's 1995 attempt to wrestle with identity theft and other perils of the information age. Like that movie, Eagle Eye exploits the all too common fear of technology, but shoves the premise way past common sense, positing a world in which an anonymous voice on a cell phone holds the power of life and death over complete strangers.

With this role, LaBeouf ascends definitively into the Hollywood firmament of stars. While this may be good news for his legion of young fans and his accountant, it's bad news for the moral possibilities of the character he plays. Looking like Seth Rogen's younger brother with a scruffy beard and threadbare clothes, Jerry Shaw is a prodigal son living on the cheap in Chicago. He's devastated when he learns that his twin brother has been killed in an accident, but reconciliation with his stern father (William Sadler) is impossible.

From bits of Babel to new nightmares on Elm Street:

• While it might have seemed like Rinko Kikuchi dropped off the cinematic circuit after making waves with Babel, the young actress has kept busy and will soon be seen in the likes of The Brothers Bloom and Shanghai. But that's not all: The Hollywood Reporter posts that she's in talks for Isabel Coixet's next film, Map of the Sounds of Tokyo. A tale of dual identities, the film is said to focus on a fish-market worker who is also a contract killer. It's not clear whether she is that worker, or will have another part in the film. Whatever the case, it'll be nice to see Rinko in something new.
• In a completely different vein, there's a new rumor on Elm Street. Forget Smallville stars -- according to Ace Showbiz, the reigning nightmare king Robert Englund was on Loveline recently, and mentioned the new movie. He said he's heard talks about Billy Bob Thornton taking on the role. I must say -- that's completely out of left field, but I'm not hating the idea. How about you? Could Billy Bob be a good fit for the striped sweater?

There's just something about Bret Easton Ellis' work on the big screen that I love -- the desperation mixed with a backdrop of insidiously upbeat '80s music. We've gotten Less Than Zero, American Psycho, The Rules of Attraction, and now The Informers. Word broke in May of 2007 that the interconnected collection of stories was going to be adapted, and now there's a trailer which you can see after the jump (beware of nudity and foul language).

It's the late Brad Renfro's last role, and one that should prove to be much eerier than Heath Ledger's stint as the Joker. It's got thumbsucking Lou Taylor Pucci as an entirely different sort of character, but Billy Bob Thornton steals just about every clip he's in -- and there's also the likes of Amber Heard, Winona Ryder, Mickey Rourke, Kim Basinger, Rhys Ifans, and Brandon Routh.

It looks like it could be just as good as its predecessors, but here's to hoping that the goodness is balanced with the box office this time around. Have you read the book? Do you think this trailer does it justice? And are you excited about the film?

Even though the inevitable backlash against Shia LaBeouf has already begun, you have to respect a guy who made his start in flicks like Dumb & Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd and made his way to the coveted spot of Spielberg's go-to leading man. Plus, he has a way of making me enjoy films that I normally wouldn't plunk down my hard-earned dollars for. Trust me when I say that it took a lot of restraint not to throw things at the screen during Transformers, so, I really hand it to the guy. Hopefully some of that magic will rub off on the Dreamworks action thriller, Eagle Eye. JoBlo now has the first look at the poster and Mr. LaBeouf seems to really be working the 'intense look' this time around.

LaBeouf plays Jerry Shaw, a slacker who returns home after the mysterious death of his successful twin brother -- gee, do you think there will be a case of mistaken identities? Along with a single mother played by Michelle Monaghan, the two are framed as terrorists, and are threatened into becoming members of a cell plotting to assassinate a politician. Joining in on the fun are Rosario Dawson, and Billy Bob Thornton as the two government agents that are a step behind.

Eye reunites LaBeouf with Disturbia director, D.J. Caruso, in an action thriller that was originally on Spielberg's to-do list. Now that we got a better look at the film, the longer trailer helped ease some of my concerns that instead of Rear Window, Caruso and company were looking to rip-off North by Northwest this time around.

Eagle Eye hits theaters on September 26.