ChrisKlein Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Oh, Chris Klein. In the beginning, he made a decent go of things. He was in that little American Pie flick, and he found the perfect role in Election. While almost every square inch of that film held greatness, I'm not sure it would've been nearly as fun without his innocent yet horny Paul Metzler. But just like Michael Cera has to grow up one of these days, Klein can't play the innocent sensitive teen forever.

So he grabs a gig in Street Figher: The Legend of Chun-Li. It didn't go so well. In fact, when William Goss alerted us to some YouTube goodness about Klein's role, he said: "I can see the [Razzie] for-your-consideration ads now: 'Can only be described as epic in its awfulness' ... 'I can't remember the last time I watched an actor fail to walk into a room convincingly' ... 'So wooden that he makes Keanu Reeves seem like Don Knotts.'"

Perhaps it's wrong to kick a guy when he's already down; however, I couldn't help but alert you to a little gem over at Latino Review. They screencapped a bunch of the wonderful faces Klein dons during the film. There's lots of jaw-dropped shouting, but my favorite is the creepy snap to the right. I'm thinking he can team up with Christian Slater for a big-forehead buddy film. It's gotta be a better fit than these action movies...

50 Cent has been racking up the gigs lately, grabbing everything from Jekyll and Hyde to a sports drama called The Dance. And now he's got a new gig with upcoming action wunderman Chris Klein. Variety reports that he, Klein, Adam Rodriguez, and Richard T. Jones are starring in a new corrupt cop drama called Caught in the Crossfire, which newcomer Brian Miller wrote, and is currently directing in Grand Rapids.

The story follows two homicide detectives who get stuck in a mess between a gang-related homicide and some dirty cops. 50 Cent will play "a gang-banger who becomes a reluctant informant" -- not surprising, and certainly not a stretch for him. There's no word on the rest, however, but I'm guessing that Chris Klein will play one of the cops ... perhaps a corrupt cop to rival his "Razzie-worthy" Interpol agent in Street Fighter? The guy is definitely trying to up his tough cred, but will he ever be able to rise beyond the ashes of his sex-obsessed innocent cherubs from American Pie and Election?

Probably not, but he might have a future gig in tourism. In the clip below, local news visits the set and talks to the actors and director, who rave all over the place about the wonders of Grand Rapids. Klein, for one, overtly praises the area with a PR-laced straight and seemingly genuine face. At least he has that going for him. If not, once this tough-guy thing comes to an end he could probably go back to his schtick and get a gig as Finn's older brother on Glee.

Has it really been almost a month since me and maybe three other people paid to see Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li? As I said before, there were two things I took away from that experience: the haunting cadence of Michael Clarke Duncan's laughter, and the Razzie-worthy turn by Chris Klein as swaggering Interpol agent Charlie Nash. I can see the for-your-consideration ads now:

"Can only be described as epic in its awfulness" ... "I can't remember the last time I watched an actor fail to walk into a room convincingly" ... "So wooden that he makes Keanu Reeves seem like Don Knotts" ... "This shit is Ricotta, folks."

As several other reviews noted/hoped, his performance is one particularly ripe for a highlight reel on YouTube someday, and sure enough, an impatient individual of like mind cut one together (we put it after the jump). Running eleven minutes, I'm willing to bet it's actually every scene of his in the thing, and by the time he's yelling "NASH OUT!" into the nearest walkie-talkie, you'll be glad someone took the time.

Thanks to Pajiba for keeping an eye out, and remember: I call dibs on this costume for next Halloween. GOSS OUT!

While putting myself through the not good Street Figher: The Legend of Chun-Li, two aspects of the film seemed to merit particular note. The first would be Chris Klein's astoundingly bad faux-macho performance as a swaggering Interpol officer ("Nash out!"); the second would be every other line of Michael Clarke Duncan's dialogue as big, bad Balrog.

I bring this up because at any given moment, Duncan's Balrog is given to let loose with a hearty chuckle, and he does this at many given moments, as if director Andrezj Bartkowiak was concerned that he might've been too stoic on all those other days of shooting and just wanted to cover his butt.

I've already elicited some amusingly crude responses from pals, but even if you haven't seen the movie, I would like you guys and girls to complete the following sentence: Every time Michael Clarke Duncan chuckles...

(And "an angel gets its wings" is out of the running from the start. My game, my rules. Feel free to play off of that, though.)

I'll admit that I'm not loving the writing style on the blog for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li . Believe me, it's not easy to wade through all those descriptions of 'sweet footage' and sign-offs like "I'm out like a sonic BOOM" to get to the news (and I'm not the only one who feels this way). But that is why I'm here; I go through it so you don't have to. The site has just posted the first photo of Robin Shou (who despite a long and illustrious film career in Asia is best known here as Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat) as Gen. Shou plays a Kung Fu master who is also the mentor to a scrappy little gal known as Chun-Li (played by Smallville's Kristen Kreuk).

Legend will be doing away with the story set up in the 1994 film, and instead, Chun-Li is getting her very own origin story. Early reports had the action revolving around Li out for revenge for the death of her master, and there was also talk that the script would be pitting her against Hong Kong gangsters. But don't worry, Bison and some of his cronies are still getting some screen time.

A few months ago, Kristin Kreuk was said to be Chun-Li in the upcoming Street Fighter film. Variety has now confirmed it and listed off some of the rest of the cast, and you might be just a little surprised. Aside from the Smallville star, there's Michael Clark Duncan, Chris Klein, and Rick Yune. Yes, I'm talking about the Klein from Election and American Pie. Surprised? Filling out the rest of the cast is Moon Bloodgood, Taboo from Black Eyed Peas, Edmund Chen, and Cheng Pei Pei.

While Kreuk plays Chun-Li, Duncan will take on the role of Balrog, Yune, is the mystical Gen, and Klein will be Nash. As it breaks down in the game... Balrog* is M. Bison in Japan, and Vega outside. Since we're talking Duncan, that means M. Bison/Balrog -- a dude who holds a lot of similarities to a certain ear-biter. (This re-naming is ridiculous...) Gen, meanwhile, is an old, master assassin and friend of Chun-Li's father, who blames himself for the violent path the girl followed. And lastly, Klein's Nash -- also known as Charlie. This guy is a first lieutenant in the US Air Force who died in earlier games, but shows up in later ones, and is a friend of Guile.

I guess if Ryan Reynolds can take on Blade, anything is possible. But every time I try to think of Klein in this role, I hear him in his do-gooder voice saying: "Dear God, thank you for all your blessings. You've given me so many things, like good health, nice parents, a nice truck, and what I'm told is a large penis, and I'm very grateful, but I sure am worried about Tammy." And we can't forget -- Klein headed Rollerball.

*Post Edited: Variety says Bison, the villain, is still being cast, presumably that's this Bison/Vega. Stay tuned for more name confusion!

I know, I know. Today's all about Oscar nominations. But I still want to talk about the amazing day I had at the Moviefone house for Unscripted shootings. First, I get there and Heather Graham and Victor Rasuk have just finished taping an episode (for their movie 'Adrift in Manhattan'), and they came back to the greenroom to get their coats. They were both very cool, really friendly and all. And apparently Heather had asked Victor if he'd slept with some girl he'd mentioned as being a "big influence" on him, and he hadn't answered her, so she was like, "well, obviously the answer to that question is yes."

No sooner had Heather and Victor left, than in come Zooey Deschanel and Chris Klein for their Unscripted shoot, for their movie 'The Good Life.' They roll into the house with their entourage --

Hey, remember when Fred Durst was frontman for Limp Bizkit and, like, really popular? Don't you remember? No, before the porn, er, failed comeback attempts. No, that's Kirsten Dunst -- but nice try though. I'm talking about that rowdy "It's just one of those days!" dude, who always wore a red Yankees hat backwards, and did things like yell and ... what else did he do, exactly?

Well, chalk one up for Durst's agent, because the man has just landed an acting role alongside Chris Klein and Jake Busey (guess who he's related to?) in Play Dead, to be directed by Jason Wiles. Now, before you begin to wonder what on earth Chris Klein is doing in a movie with Jake Busey and Fred Durst, let me tell you what this sucker is about. Remember Last Action Hero? Yeah, well change the bad guys to meth dealers and, instead of Arnold, stick Klein into the lead role. The American Pie star will play a former TV action hero who's career has gone into the toilet. While traveling back from an audition, he becomes stranded in a remote Nevada town where a bunch of seedy drug dealers (Busey, Durst, etc ...) do bad things to people they don't know. Now, it's up to Klein to become a real action hero and save the day.

Pic was written by Wiles and Shem Bitterman; currently there's no production schedule set for this bad boy. Is anyone out there still a fan of Fred Durst? Does knowing he's involved in the film really make you want to see it? They're labeling this one as a dark comedy, so when it arrives on Netflix (I can't see this getting a theatrical anything), we'll be sure to let you know.

The last movie I saw at SXSW was also the most commercial film I saw, the film that will likely get the widest release: American Dreamz, which was written and directed by Paul Weitz. Weitz, who attended the festival's closing-night screening with actors Dennis Quaid and Sam Golzari, also wrote and directed In Good Company (which also starred Quaid) and co-directed American Pie and About a Boy. American Dreamz is Weitz's first foray into political comedy. I think he should have stuck with teenage sex comedies and Nick Hornby adaptations.

After the screening, Weitz explained that he got the idea for the film after watching TV footage of American Idol at the same time as the war in Iraq. I feel that American Idol does not mix well with U.S. foreign politics. It's like that time in college when I decided to mix orange juice and Jack Daniels. Admittedly, that was all we had left at the party and my judgment was also rather impaired, excuses that won't work nearly as well for the American Dreamz filmmakers. Let's hope they don't suffer from their unfortunate mix the same way I did with mine.

American Dreamz focuses on several related stories. Hugh Grant plays Tweedy, the Simon Cowell-esque producer/host of the Idol-esque show American Dreamz. He decides to boost ratings by finding some novelty contestants: one Jewish, one Middle Eastern. Omer (Sam Golzari), the Middle Eastern contestant turns out to be—you'll never believe this—a former terrorist. Meanwhile, WASP-y contestant Sally Kendoo (Mandy Moore) schemes to win by exploiting her relationship with a veteran of the Iraqi war (Chris Klein).