December Boys Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Word has it this morning that Wonder Woman has finally -- thank the friggin' Lord, I tell ya! -- been cast in the upcoming live-action Justice League of America. Moviehole reports (via the director of one of the gal's most recent flicks) that Teresa Palmer has, in fact, landed the role. I'm going out on a limb here, but I'd say the director Moviehole spoke with was Ron Hardy, who worked with Palmer on December Boys. Since that was an Aussie pic, and Clint from Moviehole is an Aussie, I'd imagine he's pretty close to the production. But I could be wrong, and if I am, Clint will send us an email.

Anyway, this looks to be a bit stronger than any other rumor -- Clint has already updated the post telling us an Aussie newspaper is running the rumor today, and the entire online community is buzzing. Could we finally have our first official (damn you Biel!) Justice League cast member? Palmer is an up-and-comer; she got her start in Wolf Creek as a background actress, before going to do films like The Grudge 2, December Boys and the upcoming Kids in America. She's Australian, which automatically makes her sexy enough for this role in my book, and she's 21-years-old. Nothing is set in stone yet, but you might as well start debating -- is Teresa Palmer a good fit for Wonder Woman?

I think Warner Bros. is really screwing up by rushing its Justice League of America movie, but then, I was never a big DC superhero fan, so I don't care. There are millions of fans who do care, though, and for them I hope the studio doesn't ruin it. After all, there are franchise spin-offs expected, and if a character is badly cast, that hero might unfortunately remain miscast for more movies to come. Sure, some people would love for Smallville's Tom Welling to play Superman in Justice League of America (although, as Erik pointed out before, that probably isn't happening), and even continue in future films, replacing Brandon Routh in Bryan Singer's series. But at least the actor has already proven himself worthy of the part to many fans. What about Wonder Woman, for whom comic geeks have debated the perfect actress for the past few years? Everyone's favorite Amazon will not likely be played by Charisma Carpenter or Katie Holmes or Eva Green or Nadia Bjorlin or Megan Fox or Sophia Bush or Jessica Biel or Rachel Bilson or Katherine McPhee or Priyanka Chopra. However it could be the very beautiful and very much unknown (in the U.S.) Victoria Hill.

According to Moviehole, the Australian actress has tested for the role. It makes sense now that Aussie director George Miller is officially on board, since he plans to shoot the thing Down Under, and would benefit from having a local cast. Although Americans may not recognize her, Hill can currently be seen in the limitedly released December Boys (aka the movie in which Daniel Radcliffe isn't Harry Potter). She was also seen (nude) by a few people earlier this year in Geoffrey Wright's updated Macbeth. Fans of Xena: Warrior Princess who want to check the actress out can break out their Season 6 set and view her in two episodes. Of course, you might want to hold off on holding your own audition of the actress (by way of her past work), because she hasn't actually been cast as Wonder Woman just yet -- she's only tested for it, which could mean nothing.

He may be most famous for his role as Harry Potter, boy wizard, but Daniel Radcliffe isn't just The Boy Who Lived anymore. Moviefone's Patricia Chui recently had a chance to chat with Radcliffe via AIM about Harry Potter, the roles he's taken recently to break out of the Potter mold, how he felt about doing his first sex scene, what he'd name a band if he had one, and ... how he'd look wearing the Annie wig. Think you know everything there is to know about Radcliffe? What's his birth sign? What sport (besides Quidditch) is he obsessed with? And what nickname does he absolutely hate being called?

Most importantly, what's it like to be one of the most famous faces on the planet? Read Patricia's chat with Radcliffe yourself, and let him tell you all about being "Dan" in his own words ...

A coming-of-age tale adapted from Michael Noonan's novel, December Boys is primarily notable for providing Daniel Radcliffe with his first big-screen opportunity to prove himself more than just Harry Potter. Otherwise, it's a cloying, unremarkable affair. Rife with clichés and corniness, Rod Hardy's film concerns four orphans in the late '60s whose lives are oh-so-forever-changed when they're given a summertime break from their arid Australian Outback home and sent to vacation with a couple that lives by the sea. There, the goal of being chosen by foster parents is complicated by profound life lessons and, in the case of Radcliffe's virginal orphan Maps, sexual awakening at the hands of a blonde (Teresa Palmer) with a thing for Creedence Clearwater Revival. "I can teach you if you want," coos the teenage seductress, and the terrified/excited look on Radcliffe's face as he awaits entry into manhood has a vibrancy otherwise sorely absent from the proximate action. Combining the dewiness of The Cider House Rules with a few fantastical interludes seemingly culled from outtakes of Big Fish, it's a film with overwritten plotting and underwritten characters, often too content to simply work its audience over with a familiar, trite brand of adolescent nostalgia.

At this beachside idyll, Maps, Misty (Lee Cormie), Spit (James Fraser) and Spark (Christian Byers) find their friendship tested upon learning that the couple living next door to their cottage can't have children, and may want to adopt one of them. The possibility of being "saved" most fiercely consumes Misty, a devout kid who takes to sycophantically doting on the pair, a carnival motorcycle stuntman (Sullivan Stapleton) and his French wife (Victoria Hill). His yearning for family is the film's touchingly sentimental crux, complicated by the juxtaposition of the older Maps' angry disinterest in being adopted. Alas, December Boys can't leave well enough alone, tapping into genuine feelings of loneliness, acceptance and inclusion only to then embellish them with unneeded affectations. The off-putting directorial attempts to shamelessly tug at the heartstrings occur so frequently that empathy for these four comrades - dubbed the "December Boys" because of their shared birthday month - is muddied by indifference wrought from insistent emotional manipulation.

Around the same time that Daniel Radcliffe makes fans squee with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which is scheduled to come out in November of next year, it looks like he'll send North American girls into a flutter by reprising his Equus role in New York City. Reuters has reported that the actor is hoping to debut the play on Broadway late next year. I would assume that this would be after the film comes out, so he can get all the press tours done before he drops trou again.

His involvement in the UK production created enormous buzz, both for his nudity and his smoking, and the play relished in advanced ticket sales that rose above $4 million. If you remember, the play is about a psychiatrist who is trying to help a young man who has been blinding horses with a metal hoof pick. (It is also based on a true story.) As for a possible run on Broadway, Radcliffe says: "I would be very nervous because I think that [the audiences are] even more discerning than in London. But I know we have a good show, it was a good show when we did it in London and hopefully if we do it again it will still be that good. It has to be better."

Better or not, I bet he could totally mess up, and hordes of girls will still see it for not only a glimpse of Harry in person, but also Daniel in all his glory. I mean, how many fan girls ever get to see that much, especially when the actor is still so young? (He turned 18 in July.) At the very least it will remind audiences once again that he's more than just a princely wizard. I can only imagine what sort of roles he steps into once the franchise is complete... In the meantime, you can check him out in December Boys, which opens later this month.