Brendan Fraser Tagged Articles at Cinematical

It looks like Brooke Shields is making her way back to the big screen, and this time she won't be getting saucy in The Blue Lagoon. After a decade away, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Shields has signed onto the live-action comedy Furry Vengeance. Actually, considering the title, it's probably good to note that this is a family film. There's no word on what role she'll play in the Brendan Fraser flick, which follows a real estate developer who gets a hard time from a band of raccoons. One -- What's the obsession with coons lately? Davey Crockett on the brain? Two -- It might be the usual Fraser fair, but the cast does boast Ken Jeong, Samantha Bee, and Dick Van Dyke as well.

Meanwhile, in the shadow of Parenthood heading to the small screen, THR also posts that Freestyle Releasing has picked up Motherhood, and will release it this October. This is the Uma Thurman/Minnie Driver/Anthony Edwards project that has Uma trying to pull together her daughter's sixth birthday party in the midst of "urban challenges." As the ed note pointed out in the post about her casting last year, "More Goose!" But there's also the perk of a practically fully female production. Katherine Dieckman wrote and directed it, and it's produced by Pamela Koffler, Christine Vachon, Jana Edelbaum, and Rachel Cohen. They say: "From the outset, Motherhood has been a labor of love for us. As a collection of female filmmakers, we immediately took to the humor and honesty of the project."

Hopefully the labor is worth it!

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.

I mean this is the nicest way possible, but what the hell has happened to Brendan Fraser? Let's all think back to the year 1998 when I was convinced Fraser was going to get the credit as an actor he so deserved after starring in Gods and Monsters. Then, when he took his spot as Indiana Jones' heir apparent in The Mummy, it seemed like he was slated to be the next big thing. But, here we are 10 years later, and let's just say I'm glad I didn't put any money on my earlier claims. Fraser has been happy to hang in the kiddie flick ghetto, and judging by this latest announcement, he has no plans on leaving any time soon. Variety reports that the man has just signed to star in the family-friendly flick Furry Vengeance for Summit Entertainment (since I will give credit where credit is due, I have to admit I do like the title).

Fraser will star as a land developer whose new subdivision encroaches on a band of angry critters out in the wilds of Oregon. Michael Carnes and Josh Gilbert (Mr. Woodcock) wrote the script, and Roger Kumble (College Road Trip) will direct. Considering the director and the writers are famous for slightly raunchier comedies, you have to wonder what inspired them to take a walk on the 'G' side of life.

Fraser will be heading back to drama soon enough, as he has signed to star alongside Harrison Ford in the medical drama, Crowley. Not to mention, there is talk that Fraser will be popping up in G.I. Joe later this summer, too. So while I've got nothing against family films, there is still a big part of me that hopes Fraser decides to pick more projects that require a little less mugging and a lot more acting.

Furry Vengeance will start production this summer.

When you were munching popcorn while watching blockbusters last summer, were you secretly wishing that swashbuckling adventure heroes Indiana Jones and Rick O'Connell could be teamed up together in a quiet, sensitive, modern-day medical drama? If so, then your sweet, hopeless dreams are about to be fulfilled!

Harrison Ford has already been announced as the star and producer of Crowley, based on the true story of the Crowley family, whose two children suffered from a rare genetic disorder (as Elisabeth R. kindly informed us last June). Ford is set to play a medical researcher, and now Brendan Fraser (AKA Rick O'Connell in Mummy 3: Tomb of the Dragon and other Mummy movies) is apparently ready to play the title role, according to Production Weekly, as reported by Coming Soon.

The movie is based on The Cure, a book by Wall Street Journal writer Geeta Anand. Crowley quit his job and started a biotechnology company so he could find scientists that could help keep his children alive. It sounds like a fascinating story, but, frankly, it's hard to imagine Fraser doing the role justice. The only time he's hinted at deeper reservoirs was in The Quiet American; other than that, it's been almost entirely light comedies and adventures. He just turned 40; will this be his breakout part? Can he surprise us all? Will Harrison Ford blow him off the screen? Look out, residents of Portland, Oregon: Crowley will start filming there in April.

Not too long ago, Cinematical had a chance to travel to London to visit the set of Inkheart over at Shepperton Studios where stars Brendan Fraser, Paul Bettany, Helen Mirren, Eliza Bennett and Andy Serkis were filming a crucial scene in the film -- one that involved fire, magic, a non-CGI'd Serkis and strange-looking evil men. But we'll come back to that in a little bit. Shepperton Studios is made up of several buildings, and unlike the set of The Golden Compass (which we visited the day before), there wasn't much green screen to be found on this flick. Instead, the Inkheart sets were big, bold and quite beautiful -- one of which felt as if you were walking straight onto a village street, with shops and cobblestones and realistic rooftops.

On the side of this set stood the interior of a medieval-looking cathedral, which runs up about two stories and boasts a large staircase at its center. They were still dressing this set, which would be used for one of the final scenes later in the week. During our visit, we would meet with executive producer Diana Pokorny, costume designer Verity Hawkes, legendary production designer John Beard, two animal trainers and, of course, the cast with director Iain Softley (The Skeleton Key, K-PAX, Hackers). For more on the Inkheart set visit, follow us after the jump.

My general rule is: I don't walk out of movies. The last time I did so was in 2006 during the fairly wretched bar mitzvah comedy Keeping Up with the Steins -- but only because I was with a friend who wasn't into it; we were bored and I was embarrassed because I had suggested the film. I'm occasionally tempted to leave in the middle of a movie that's giving me no earthly reason to hope it will get any better, but something always keeps me in my chair. Often I'm at a press screening, where it's poor form to walk out. Even if I'm seeing a movie on my own dime, I'm usually driven by a sense of duty and completism. I like talking about movies, as you've probably guessed, and it doesn't seem legitimate to do so not having given the whole thing a chance. "Oh man, I despised Movie X." "Really? What did you think of the ending?" "I left halfway through." "Oh."

I've been doing some traveling, and am spending this weekend in San Francisco. Friday was a gorgeous day, but for various reasons I'm a bit behind in my movie-watching duties, so after exploring the city for a while in the morning, I decided to head to the theater for a double feature. The first thing I went to see was Swing Vote, which I found irritating and politically gutless but certainly watchable. My next choice: The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor.

I haven't seen the previous two movies in the Mummy series, although people have recommended them to me as rollicking old-fashioned action-adventure movies, from the same Saturday-afternoon-matinee roots as the Indiana Jones series -- not exactly brain teasers, but good silly fun. The good news is that if you too haven't seen the preceding movies, you can watch The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor without fear of getting confused or lost or not understanding the recurring characters. The bad news is that regardless of whether you've watched the other films, the third Mummy entry is a headache-inducing mess that piles on unimpressive special effects to stretch a slight and often incomprehensible storyline.

The movie begins with an extended backstory: the history of the Dragon Emperor from thousands of years ago, in which a ruthless tyrant (Jet Li) bargained with an infamous witch (Michelle Yeoh) in his ambitious drive to seek immortality. The backstory, narrated in a manner befitting the History Channel, goes on for far longer than necessary. (Hellboy II did this so much better and faster, and with cool puppetry too.) It's a full 10 minutes before the story begins and we encounter the leads from the previous Mummy films, Rick O'Connell (Brendan Fraser) and his wife Evelyn (Maria Bello this go-round), who have retired from the action business and are trying to lead humdrum lives in the English countryside.

When it comes to Hollywood movies, Chinese censors have always been a little strict. Case in point: The State Administration for Radio, Film and Television tells Variety that the upcoming release of The Mummy 3 Tomb of the Dragon Emperor is still pending until Universal makes unspecified changes to the flick. The censors didn't give any details about what would have to be cut from the film, but speculation has it that the source of the problem is "usually themes involving ghosts are taboo in China".

Emperor sets the new and improved O'Connell family (Brendan Fraser, Luke Ford, and Maria Bello) smack dab in the middle of another adventure battling a tyrannical emperor (Jet Li) and his legion of undead armies. Universal already made some concessions to the Chinese government in exchange for permission to shoot on location. According to Variety Universal was urged to make the film, "less political and more focused on fantasy than real history" -- Less political? Now that's a word I would have never associated with the Mummy franchise.

A flack for Universal has already released a statement saying, "Universal does not anticipate any obstacles to clearing the film for China and looks forward to releasing "The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor" in the country where it was set and shot." Translation: We just spent $145 million bucks on this movie, and we want some of those Chinese box-office dollars. Emperor is just the latest Hollywood production to get a rough deal from Chinese censors, but at least they are in good company. On the upside, I guess the Chinese will never know what they're missing.

The Mummy 3 Tomb of the Dragon Emperor opens on August 1st, 2008.