CInematical Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Despicable Me
Second trailer for this 3D animated comedy, and this time it's focusing on arch villain Gru (voiced by Steve Carell) trying to break into the headquarters of a rival bad guy. This looks like fun and the bit with the shark had me howling. Check it out on July 9.

Sherlock Holmes
A second trailer for the new Holmes fllck with Robert Downey Jr. in the title role aided by Jude Law as Watson. Pretty sure this will have awesome written all over it. Plan a trip to Baker Street for Christmas day.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
There's some serious spectacle at work here. Jake Gyllenhaal stars in this adaptation of a video game I've never played, but I'm pretty sure that's not necessary. It seems tailor-made to be a summer blockbuster, which is good because it comes out on May 28.

Best Worst Movie
Speaking as someone who has watched and enjoyed some truly awful films in his time, this one really speaks to me. This documentary examines the phenomenon/train wreck that is Troll 2, a 1990 horror flick whose badness has become legendary. No release date yet and I suspect this will be hard to find in theaters.

How to Train Your Dragon
In this new animated comedy from Dreamworks, a viking teenager is trying to learn the ways of his people including hunting and killing those pesky dragons that are plaguing them. He soon learns, though, that everything his people know about dragons is wrong and sets out on his own path. Training begins on March 26.

New this week on AOL Moviefone:

• Splinterheads - A young slacker falls in love with a beautiful carnival worker.
  
• Invictus - Morgan Freeman stars as South African President Nelson Mandela who urges the captain of the national rugby team to strive for the World Cup for the sake of unifying their nation in the days following apartheid.
• Eichmann - Historical drama based on the confession of Adolf Eichmann.
• Mammoth - An intricately woven family drama starring Michelle Williams and Gael García Bernal as a married couple whose lives begin to spin out of control.
• Shake Hands With the Devil - Based on true events surrounding a 1994 U.N. peacekeeping mission to Rwanda that failed to prevent the slaughter of 800,000 Rwandans.
• Avatar - Second trailer for James Cameron's epic 3D science fiction extravaganza.
• Did You Hear About the Morgans - A couple on the verge of divorce can't escape each other after they witness a murder and must enter the witness relocation program.

I hope you don't hate vampires, because they don't seem to be going anywhere. Now Amy Heckerling, the woman behind Fast Times at Ridgemont High and Clueless, is getting in on the bloodsucking. According to Screen Daily, Parlay Films has grabbed the international rights to an upcoming romantic comedy called Vamps, that Heckerling will write and direct.

"The film will be a modern-day tale of two young female vampires living the good life in New York until love enters the picture and each has to make a choice that will jeopardize their immortality." Krysten Ritter will star as one of the lead vamps, and they're still searching for the other bloodsucker. This marks a big jump from the actress, who has moved from bubbly side gigs on shows like Gilmore Girls and Veronica Mars to some cinematic supporting roles, a lead gig in the web series Woke Up Dead, and now her first starring film job.

Perhaps I'm being overly hopeful, but it's time for Heckerling to bring us her next comedy classic, and I'm hoping this is it. There was a 13-year span between Ridgemont and Clueless, and it's been 14 years since Cher found love with Josh, so could this be the next Heckerling extravaganza we won't want to heckle? Or, just another project in an oversaturated market?

Our brothers and sisters over at TV Squad have busted through the boob tube and brought with them the following juicy bits of must-see eye candy.

• Is it possible that Oprah Winfrey's long-running talk show may be coming to an end? Find out right here.
• I realize he's done some acting but I'm still scratching my head at the notion of Jon Bon Jovi appearing on the season premier of Inside the Actor's Studio.
• FX is taking a stab at the western genre with Reconstruction.
• Here's a sneak peak at the CGI Dr. Who adventure (featuring David Tennant) that will be airing on the BBC later this year.
• Turner Classic Movies will be hosting a classic film festival at three Hollywood locations.
• ...and finally our wait is over, America, Judge Wapner will be returning to The People's Court, at least for a day.

Actors might make a lot of money, but at least they work for it with long hours on set, paparazzi insanity, exhausting PR tours, and the pressures of handling the same questions over and over and over again with grace and charm. But even more impressive is when they can be graceful in the face of utter ignorance or idiocy.

We've watched John Cusack get interviewed by a clueless film student, and now (after the jump of course) you can see Ian McKellen handle the women from The View. Ah, there's nothing like having your television interview start out with an inflammatory rant about swine flu and socialized medicine. It's not a surprise really -- the once-sweet Survivor star Elisabeth Hasselbeck has made a career out throwing wild rants into unusual places on the show. But, sadly, that's only the start of the nonsense that McKellen handles with dashing grace. Whoopi Goldberg can't keep her actors straight, and Sherry Shepherd pulls off one of those classic moments where a clueless interviewer reads crap off the cards without knowing what the hell she's talking about.

Yet, in the face of all that, McKellen is pure charm. I always find that impressive. Sure, he's an actor and makes his living making fiction convincing, but to be ready with that clever retort, graciously correct someone who should know better, and take it all in stride ... I wouldn't say this about most of Hollywood, but I think we can all learn a little from that small part of the biz.

After heaps of buzz and praise, and our own Eric Snider saying: "it's compelling and artistic, punctuated with warm humor and masterful performances, and ultimately triumphant and hopeful," Precious: Based on the Novel Push by Sapphire is finally hitting theaters today. It's a harrowing look at one girl's traumatic young life of being pregnant with her second baby (by her father), abused by her mother, and struggling with illiteracy and obesity. In other words, a movie that demands you to think and feel -- to be touched beyond the 110 minute span of the film.

Naturally, that made me think about movies that haunt us. It can be for any number of reasons -- because of a film's thought-provoking power, how it's filmed and presented, the way it latches on to pain in our own experience, unsettles our own belief systems, angers us, or challenges us. Whether it ends sadly, or with hope. Whatever the reason, certain films seep into us and refuse to leave, whether it be for a few fleeting post-credits moments, or a week, month, year, or lifetime.

Upon leaving Requiem for a Dream the first time, my friend and I couldn't get the music out of our heads. We couldn't stop repeating the same thoughts as our brains tried to process them. Even if I don't see the film before my eyes, the music brings back every feeling, every moment of tenseness. As the credits started moving in Dogville, I couldn't shake the last powerful moments out of my head. It took a while to shake the gooseflesh from my arms, and every time I let my mind slip back, there's a brief jolt of shocked memory.

Having dipped into the seductive waters of sexy courtesans, Stephen Frears is now looking towards the future, and the future's got lots of gambling. The trades are reporting that Frears is set to direct Lay the Favorite, a dramedy that will rejoin him with High Fidelity scribe D.V. De Vincentis. The project stems from an upcoming memoir by Beth Raymer called Lay the Favorite, Take the Dog, which will be published this Spring.

Now, why did I say trades and not pick one? That's because it's time to play Pick the Plot.

In one corner, we've got The Hollywood Reporter, who says that this is a world of "geeky gamblers" who "figure out how to work the sportsbook system in Las Vegas for their own profit. It centers on a woman in her early thirties who has made a series of bad choices but achieves a redemption of sorts when she meets and then becomes involved with the gamblers." De Vincentis says: "This is the version of 50-year-old math geeks from Queens in basketball shorts who have pet guinea pigs."

In the other corner, we've got Variety describing the story as a "young woman's journey into the world of sports gambling. She starts out as a cocktail waitress but gets caught up in gambling until falling in love," calling it a cross between High Fidelity and The Grifters.

So, geek fest with gambling and a little romance thrown in for good measure, or a romantic world where a cocktail waitress can gamble her way to money ... and love. Which do you choose?

Click image below to view full poster

Cinematical has just received this exclusive new poster for The Wolfman, due in theaters February 12, 2010. As you can tell from above, this latest bit of marketing for the Joe Johnston directed resurrection of Universal's classic shows off the gentler side of the moon-fearing creature feature. It's a simple image of Emily Blunt, who plays Benicio del Toro's romantic interest in the film, hiding with baited breath behind a tree in the mist-filled forest from del Toro's titular man cursed with an ancient affliction.

What works so great about the poster, other than the fact that Emily Blunt is always easy on the eyes (and even easier on the eyes when in a corset), is how it denies us a glimpse of the actual lycanthrope at the center of the movie. I find it a testament to how fantastic the character of the wolfman is that no amount of beauty is going to distract us from wanting to catch a look at the doomed soul who loses control of himself whenever the moon is full.

In addition to this poster, Ain't It Cool News has debuted a second Wolfman poster a little later on today, so make sure to hop on over there to catch another insight into the mystical, Victorian world brought to life by the likes of Benicio del Toro, Emily Blunt, Hugo Weaving, and Anthony Hopkins. After that, you may return to staring at the wonderful Emily Blunt, longing for February 12th to somehow get here sooner.

Check out the latest Wolfman trailer after the jump, and view the full poster by clicking the image below.

Ashley Greene's cinematic path hasn't been gradual. It all started with a couple one-ep stints on a few shows, a gig on a quickly vaporized show called Desire, time as a McDonald's customer in King of California, an uncredited moment on Shark, and playing Kim #4 in Otis. Then everything changed. She put on the superstylish clothes, added a pixie hop to her step, and starting divining the future on the Twilight series. Now she's got a handful of movies under her belt, and is circling her next starring gig.

Risky Biz Blog reports that Greene is looking into the ghostly side of supernatural life. The actress is in talks to star in The Apparition, Dark Castle's latest supernatural horror that will, most likely, wrench her out of sparkles and overprotective families. Written and to be directed by Todd Lincoln, the story focuses on a couple in college who are haunted by a "supernatural presence" they let out during a college experiment.

Supposedly, this is inspired by true events. Methinks true events in the same world where Blair Witch flies free, unless it isn't incantations that unleashes ghosts, but rather beakers of creepy substances. Or, they mean college experiment as in guy and girl make a witchy circle on their dorm floor and start doing spells all willy nilly. Whatever the case, the film hits production in February of next year.

One day, a man named Morace Park is surfing around eBay, looking for antiques, when he's intrigued by an item listed as an "old film." Housed in a funky antique tin, the man bids and wins it for the super-reasonable price of £3.20. He buys and sells antiques, so when the package arrives, it sits around for a bit. When he finally gets around to opening it, he unfurls some of the film to see what it is. The title reads: Charlie Chaplin in Zepped.

Yes, folks, as a story in the Guardian attests, this is a forgotten film that there's no record of. Almost seven minutes long, the short "is a mixture of footage of Chaplin and exuberant animation that reminded Park of Monty Python sequences." Park's neighbor John Dyer says: "It starts with live shots of Chaplin. It then turns into a dreamscape. We see a Zeppelin bombing attack. And then we see Chaplin taking the mickey out of the Zeppelin, at the time a powerful instrument of terror." They deduce that the film is a propaganda piece from the first World War. Park and Dyer have traveled to Los Angeles to learn more about the short, with filmmaker Hammad Khan recording their journey for a documentary.

One has got to assume that whoever sold it never bothered to open the film and see what this "old film" was. Just goes to show you -- old cinematic junk on eBay can lead to stunning discoveries, and never be so lazy as to not see what a film is before selling it.

I think it's safe to tell you, without spoiling the movie, that The Men Who Stare at Goats includes a couple of scenes with Jeff Bridges and George Clooney dancing around. The scenes are amusing and a little strange -- why are soldiers dancing? But they did fit consistently with the film as a whole. However, I was reminded of moments in movies that aren't musicals, but suddenly shift to some crazy kind of dance or musical number. I love these moments, and in fact I wish the dance scenes in The Men Who Stare at Goats were a little less toned-down and a little more "WTF?"

Okay, I'm kind of BS'ing you here. The Men Who Stare at Goats is a flimsy excuse. I really just wanted to write about surreal dance numbers in otherwise straightforward movies, because that can be so much fun. Last year's Adam Sandler vehicle Bedtime Stories was an annoying dud ... except for one glorious, shining moment where Guy Pearce launched into a song-and-dance number. Sometimes these dance moments are the best part of a movie, sometimes they spoil the mood and sometimes they're just one more weird aspect of an altogether bizarre film. Here are seven of my favorites.