Roger Rabbit just wants to make people laugh, not like the eye-bleary, dreary, sex-shocking Brown Bunny. Seeing the above clip from Who Framed Roger Rabbit definitely brings back memories. It's not every day that animation blends with live action, or modern movies get to use Golden Age voices, or animated characters from different studios appear together in the same film.
As an added bonus, the cast is just as tasty as the technological advancements this film made. Of course, there's Bob Hoskins, but there's also Charles Fleischer as the voice of Roger and other animated peeps, Christopher Lloyd as Judge Doom, Joanna Cassidy as Dolores, an archive recording of Frank Sinatra, Amy Irving singing for Jessica Rabbit, and Kathleen Turner taking on Jessica's speaking voice. This is the technological Robert Zemeckis I like -- forget that performance capture!
British filmmaker Neil Marshall earned a legion of new fans with 2005's The Descent, a genuinely scary flick that put me, for one, off spelunking forever. And for his next act? An energetic but derivative apocalyptic adventure that Rogue Pictures has unceremoniously dumped into theaters without press screenings or even much promotion.
Being one of Hollywood's Shameful Secrets™ (movies not screened for critics before they open) gives a film a certain stench, and it's too bad that Doomsday is stuck with it. It's not great -- I'm not even sure I'd call it "good" -- but the studios have certainly screened films that were worse. Heck, the studios have screened films that were worse this week (including one whose name rhymes with Mever Mack Mown). Doomsday is perfectly acceptable as a C+ movie, the kind that you don't see on purpose but that will certainly amuse you if you happen to stumble into the theater accidentally.
It begins with florid narration by Malcolm McDowell, who tells us that a horrific virus -- subtly called the Reaper Virus -- wiped out much of England. Then a wall was built to divide the infected northern half of Britain from the clean southern half, and all the sick people up north were left to die in chaos. "Social order decayed along with the corpses," McDowell says.
In honor of the striking screenwriters, I wanted to write a list of my favorites, either contemporary or all-time. But I decided that it would be more respectful to not exclude any of them. Even the bad writers need recognition right now. I've tried writing screenplays, and I salute anyone who has had one produced, whether brilliant or not. Even if it weren't difficult to actually write a script, it's certainly tough to deal with the b.s. of Hollywood and the sad truth that your vision will likely not make it to the screen as devised. So, instead of concentrating on real writers, I figured I'd look at screenwriter characters, specifically those portraying the hardships of the job.
"Joe Gillis" from Sunset Blvd.(1950, Billy Wilder).
I imagine there's nothing scarier for a struggling screenwriter than the thought of ending up like poor Joe Gillis (William Holden). The opening shot of Wilder's classic shows the character floating face down in a swimming pool, and immediately he's labeled "an unsuccessful screenwriter." This sets up a hopelessness for the character, and for writers in general, as the film then flashes back to one of the greatest stories of Hollywood cynicism ever made. Gillis not only represents the difficulty of making it as a screenwriter, he also shares some juicy lines about how writers aren't recognized enough by the public ("Audiences don't know somebody sits down and writes a picture; they think the actors make it up as they go along."); about drastic alterations to his scripts ("The last one I wrote was about Okies in the dust bowl. You'd never know because when it reached the screen, the whole thing played on a torpedo boat.") and about the desperation that turns good writers into seemingly hack writers (replying to talk of his once promising talent, he says, "That was last year. This year I'm trying to make a living."). There were screenwriter characters before him, and plenty after, but Gillis will forever be the quintessential example.
I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit again the other night (loved every minute of it for the hundredth time), and now that I'm older I'm able to appreciate the greatness of Bob Hoskins as Eddie Valiant. Essentially playing with himself in every scene, he completely commits, never winks at the audience, and totally convinces the viewer that man and cartoon walk side by side. In a sense, he's the movie's finest special effect. In addition to being a terrific actor, a new piece on Hoskins over at The Guardian reveals him to be a humble, hilarious and brutally honest interview. He talks about growing up in north London ("You don't end up with a face like this if you're hard, do ya? This comes from having too much mouth and nothing to back it up with. The nose has been broken so many times."), about getting his start in the business ("When I told my relations I'm gonna be an actor, they said: 'Don't be f**king daft. Forget it! You've got to be kidding, aintcha?') and scoffs at "Method Acting" ("Nah! Nah, that's Lee Strasberg, that's bollocks! Like how to look busy. It's just looking busy, impressing the boss. That's bollocks, going through all this cobblers. Living it out and all that. Bollocks. Total cobblers!")
It's Hoskins' frank discussion of his work that amused me the most, particularly his not-so-fond remembrance of the film that single-handedly destroyed my youthful innocence: "The worst thing I ever did? Super Mario Brothers. It was a f**kin' nightmare. The whole experience was a nightmare. It had a husband-and-wife team directing, whose arrogance had been mistaken for talent. After so many weeks their own agent told them to get off the set! F**kin' nightmare. F**kin' idiots." Seems like ol' Bob might be right, that married couple -- Annabel Jankel and Rocky Morton -- haven't directed a feature film since. Hoskins is 64 years old, but blows off the idea of retirement. He's got loads of projects lined up, and he mentions in the interview that he is into smaller roles now. I told you he was asked to play Fezziwig in Robert Zemeckis' planned re-re-re-re-make of A Christmas Carol, and he's got a supporting role in this month's Sparkle. Says Hoskins, "You reach a point where the cameo is the governor. You go in there for a couple of weeks, you're paid a lot of money, everybody treats you like the crown jewels, you're in and out, and if the film's a load of shit, nobody blames you, y'knowwhadimean. It's wonderful." Great actor, entertaining dude, and I'm definitely going to start working "Total cobblers!" into my everyday conversation.
In a recent interview, character actor extraordinaire Bob Hoskins let some pretty big news slip regarding an upcoming Robert Zemeckis project. Says Hoskins: "He's going to make A Christmas Carol with Jim Carrey." Yes, it looks like director Zemeckis is prepping yet another adaptation of the Charles Dickens classic, utilizing the motion capture animation technology he used in The Polar Express and the upcoming Beowulf. And if we're to believe Hoskins, Jim Carrey will star in the film, although the article doesn't say which role he's got. Maybe he'll play multiple roles like Tom Hanks did in Polar Express? I think it's safe to assume Carrey will at least take on Ebenezer Scrooge, and If that's the case, the actor will have played the two most legendary Christmas haters of all time -- Scrooge and The Grinch. What does Carrey have against the holiday? Is it some sort of "Phoebe Cates in Gremlins" repressed childhood memory?
Hoskins has worked with Zemeckis before, he played Eddie Valiant in one of my favorite films -- Who Framed Roger Rabbit? Asked about his role in A Christmas Carol, Hoskins says "He (Zemeckis) wants me to play Mr Fezziwig. He's doing it in that way he did Polar Express. You stand in a box with that funny suit on and it reads everything you do...Am I going to do it? Of course I am!" Hoskins as Fezziwig -- I like it. I'm not sure when Zemeckis decided motion capture is the only way to make films. I sure do hope he returns to traditional filmmaking at some point, the guy's made some great movies. I suppose he's got every reason to go back to the Christmas well after the seasonal success of Polar Express in IMAX. I liked Polar Express and all (the bizarre "Hot Chocolate!" musical number excluded), but does the world really need another version of A Christmas Carol? That has got to be one of the most filmed stories of all time. I guess it does generally work, especially when Bill Murray or The Muppets are involved. Would you guys see this one?
Have you seen the British crime classic The Long Good Friday lately? The film holds up just fine. But this is 2007, and it's getting remade, and by none other than the virtuoso who brought us Mortal Kombat, Soldier and Aliens vs. Predator, which I have to say was one of the most unexpectedly boring films I've ever seen. The original Good Friday was made in 1980 and starred Bob Hoskins as a sort of East End Scarface who becomes the target of a bombing campaign. According to the BBC, filming on the remake will begin in Miami in 2008, but no details on cast have been announced yet. Things appear to be moving quickly, though, so expect it soon.
The chairman of Handmade Films, which is footing the bill, had this to say about the project: "The original was a highly-praised classic and one of Handmade's most prized films, but its reach was limited primarily to the U.K. Following continued interest from the U.S., we realized that this remake could attract audiences worldwide with an updated setting and contemporary overtones." Anderson himself is also quoted in the piece, noting: "I am delighted to have the opportunity to put a new spin on this classic film which promises to reveal today's gritty underworld in equally shocking fashion." Hmm ... haven't you figured out by now that new spins aren't your cup of tea? Nor is providing content that is 'gritty' or 'shocking.' By the way, you may be interested to know that the photo of Bob Hoskins above was snapped immediately after someone told him that one of his finest roles was being shepherded into the next generation by Paul W.S. Anderson.
Having just come off the Tribeca film festival, I should be perfectly attuned to an experimental short film anthology like Paris Je T'Aime, (Paris, I Love You) and some segments of it are definitely enjoyable, but the overall hit-miss ratio is too low to ignore. This, despite a juggernaut talent bench that includes the Coen brothers, Wes Craven, Natalie Portman, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Alfonso Cuaron, Nick Nolte, Miranda Richardson, Bob Hoskins, Elijah Wood, Steve Buscemi, Gus Van Sant and Juliette Binoche. In fact, these are only a few of the notable performers and directors who contribute to the 18 shorts, only a few of which actually intersect with the others. My favorite of the lot is the one that the Times' Stephen Holden declared to be the worst: a snappy little love note to Parisian vampires titled Quartier de la Madeleine. Starring Olga Kurylenko as a classic vampire with opaque, milky eyes who is interrupted in the midst of her work by Elijah Wood, it's a beautifully photographed little love story with lots of blood that seems made of melted pink plastic.
Strangely enough, that's not the short directed by Craven (even though he makes a cameo in it -- how could he not?) Craven's entry is Pere-Lachaise, focusing on a visit to that famous cemetery -- where Oscar Wilde, Marcel Proust and Jim Morrison are buried -- by a squabbling couple played by Rufus Sewell and Emily Mortimer. Just when Sewell's character has run out of things to say, the ghost of Wilde actually shows up to give him some advice. Like many of the films, however, it feels like a 30-minute short that was cut down to about one-third of that time in order to squeeze it into this crowded phone-booth of a feature format. If you don't pay careful attention, you might actually miss Wilde's appearance and wonder what happened to wrap up the segment. Still, the acting drags it over the finish line. The same can be said for Quartier des Enfants Rouges, starring Gyllenhaal as an American actress shooting a costume drama in Paris and possibly falling for her Parisian dope dealer.
The last casting announcement we got from the sci-fi thriller Doomsday, was an exclusive from the director Neil Marshall (The Descent), to our own Chris Ullrich. Now Empire Online has reported that Malcolm McDowell is the latest addition to the cast. The story takes place 30 years after a plague has wiped out a good chunk of the population; inspiring a quarantine that mainly entails walling off the infected. Of course, the virus doesn't stay contained for very long and an elite team is put together to stop the disease from spreading. Written and directed by Marshall, the film also stars Bob Hoskins, Rhona Mitra, and Alexander Siddig. McDowell has signed on to play Kane, a global expert on the virus who advises the team on how to fight the spread of the disease.
It seems slightly out of character to have McDowell in a good-guy role in a film. Despite his varied career, nobody can play the steely-eyed villain like McDowell. Well, maybe Paul Bettany, but I guess that example might not really count. McDowell is currently doing his bad-guy best as Linderman on the NBC series Heroes right now, but there is no solid word on whether his work on the show is firmly in the guest star camp, or whether he has signed on for the long haul. Production on Doomsday began back in February, and between his turn as Dr. Loomis in Rob Zombie's Halloween remake later this year and his possible TV commitments, it looks like we will be seeing plenty of McDowell soon.
One of the cool things about working here at Cinematical is that we often get info on films, casting, directors and the like before it gets announced to the rest of the world. Such is the case today with some casting news about director Neil Marshall's latest film, Doomsday. As I reported before, the pic currently stars the super-hot Rhona Mitra, and now, according to our new info, she will be joined in the film by the Oscar-nominated actor Bob Hoskins. The post-apocalyptic pic, also being written by Marshall, concerns a lethal virus that has spread throughout a major country and wiped out most of the populace. To contain the virus, authorities enforce a brutal quarantine by walling-off the infected parts of the country.
This puts an end to the threat, until it resurfaces years later in another major city, forcing an elite team of specialists, led by Eden Sinclair (played by Mitra), to enter the quarantine area on a desperate mission to find a cure. Hoskins will play cop Bill Nelson, who nominates Mitra's character for the perilous mission and monitors her progress while giving, one would assume, nuggets of wisdom and aide along the way. In addition to Hoskins, other cast members include e Alexander Siddig, recently of Fox's 24, as well as previous Marshall alumni such as Sean Pertwee and MyAnna Buring. Production on the film begins February 9.
It strikes me a little funny that despite a long and varied career in the English film industry, Sean Bean has pretty much been relegated to the "British baddie" role in Hollywood movies. Well, that and the occasional so-so horror flick.
Solace in Cinema reported on a new trailer for Bean's latest film, Outlaws. The movie was directed by Nick Love, and is about a British military man (Bean) who returns home and bands together with some local malcontents to form a vigilante group. The local heroes then set out to solve society's ills. If you have seen Love's The Football Factory, you know Love isn't necessarily a fan of slow-paced introspective character studies. So don't expect these guys to organize grass-roots political action: It's all pipe bombs and ski masks. Rounding out the cast is Bob Hoskins as a policeman sympathetic to their cause that begins to supply them with what he considers to be some well-deserved targets.
The web site for the film promises a UK release date of March 9th, but as of yet there hasn't been any mention of any North American release. So until then, it's back to bad guys for Bean when The Hitcher hits theaters later this month.
The first film had barely made it to the theaters before the rumor mill began spinning around a possible cast for the sequel. Batman Begins, under the direction of Christopher Nolan and with the acting talents of Christian Bale and Michael Caine, was an exceptionally well-received movie, and people knew instantly sequels would be on the way. It didn't take very long for said rumor mill to declare Oswald Cobblepot (that's the Penguin, for those of you who don't know) as a character in the next film. Several good names popped up relating to the character, including Bob Hoskins -- a personal favorite. Eventually the rumors died down, and Hoskins faded from the picture ... until now.
IESB recently showed up at the premiere for Hollywoodland, and got the chance to throw Hoskins one quick question: They chose the Batman issue, and asked if he had any involvement. Hoskins appeared taken aback by the question, and indicated that he had never been approached for the role. He did, however, say he would love the chance to work with Nolan, particularly in the Batman universe. Of course, this seems to be a prevailing sentiment in Hollywood these days; everyone wants a piece of the current successful superhero franchise.
The Uber fan news site Batman on Film has recently
dropped a few more Bat-rumors related to casting in the upcoming sequel passed along to them from insider
tipsters. Here come the updates, in bullet-point form for your easy reading pleasure.
Michael Keaton is definately not the Joker, no matter what
you've heard elsewhere.
Arkham Asylum may have two prominent characters for us in the new film; Dr. Jeremiah Arkham is rumored to be a
small part, and Doctor Harleen Quinzel may show up as an Arkham employee- although the persona of Harley Quinn is not
expected to manifest.
I watched Who Framed Roger Rabbit again the other night (loved every minute of it for the hundredth time), and now that I'm older I'm able to appreciate the greatness of 
In a recent interview, character actor extraordinaire .jpg)
Have you seen the British crime classic .jpg)
The last casting announcement we got from the sci-fi thriller 
One of the cool things about working here at Cinematical is that we often get info on films, casting, directors and the like before it gets announced to the rest of the world. Such is the case today with some casting news about director 
It strikes me a little funny that despite a long and varied career in the English film industry, 
The first film had barely made it to the theaters before the rumor mill began spinning around a possible cast for the sequel. 
The Uber fan news site 
Insert Caption: The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian_thumbnail.jpg)
SCOOP: Spider-Man 4 and 5 Might be Shot at the Same Time!
Cinematical Seven: Disney's Awesome Live-Action Kid Adventures
