Eugene Levy Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A feature-length adaptation of the classic Japanese manga, Astro Boy now comes equipped with a recycling message, both in its story and with its screenplay. Parts feel pieced together here and there from other, better, sometimes darker films, aligning the film itself less with our young protagonist and his knack for salvaging old robots and more with the villain's ability to simply assimilate other devices until it becomes one ungainly mass. That said, there's plenty of color and spunk to keep the kids interested; they'll just have to wade through some atonal waters in order to get to the fun.

When I last posted about Ang Lee's Taking Woodstock, I called it a "gay-themed project" and speculated that the film might be about how the main character's involvement in Woodstock "served as redemption for giving up his own artistic ambitions and living most of his life in the closet." Now that I've seen the trailer, which you can watch below, that pompous description seems laughably wrong-headed. This won't just be "lighter" than much of Lee's previous work, as I also wrote; it's a full-on slapstick comedy, complete with a classic underdog storyline, and showdowns between hippies and uptight old fogeys.

Mainstream comedies tend to be under-directed. Even the Team Apatow films, while generally outstanding, don't exactly distinguish themselves formally or stylistically. But Lee is so damn deliberate and meticulous, with every shot and every cut calculated just so, that I'm really curious to see how he handles something this lightweight and apparently raucous. It certainly looks like a new Ang Lee mode; his last film that could be called a comedy was 1993's wistful Eat Drink Man Woman, and Woodstock seems to be worlds away from that film. Before that, Lee made a Taiwanese film called The Wedding Banquet that sounds like it might be closer, but I haven't seen it.

Anyway, I think Demetri Martin, who stars and introduces the trailer, is an extraordinarily funny guy (anyone seen his show on Comedy Central?), and how awesome is it to see someone other than Christopher Guest cast Eugene Levy in an actual movie as opposed to the latest direct-to-DVD American Pie "sequel"? This looks like fun; it's set to be released August 14th.

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Cinematical has been given an exclusive look at the first official still for Astro Boy (see above), while our very good looking cohorts over at Moviefone have just debuted the first teaser (see below or over on Moviefone in glorious HD). Based on the popular Japanese manga and television series, this computer-animated 3-D version of Astro Boy is being produced by those wizards over at Imagi Animation Studios, and stars the voices of Freddy Highmore, Kristen Bell, Nicolas Cage, Bill Nighy, Donald Sutherland, Nathan Lane and Eugene Levy.

From the synopsis: "Set in futuristic Metro City, Astro Boy is about a young robot with incredible powers. Powered by pure positive "blue" energy, Astro Boy (Freddie Highmore) is endowed with super strength, x-ray vision, unbelievable speed and the ability to fly-not to mention the purest spirit on the planet. Embarking on a journey across the planet to discover his powers, Astro Boy encounters a netherworld of robot gladiators and other comic characters, and learns the joys and emotions of being human. When he learns his friends and family are in danger, Astro Boy marshals all his awesome super powers and returns to Metro City, in a valiant effort to save everything he cares about and to embrace his place in the world."

Astro Boy will soar into theaters on October 23, 2009.

In anticipation of what's sure to be the first trailer (or teaser) for Night at the Museum 2, USA Today has unloaded the first official batch of photos -- most of which show off a few of the new characters, a couple of returning characters and a cameo from Jonah Hill (who plays a security guard). Above, you'll see Ben Stiller, returning as the bumbling guard, and Bill Hader, who's playing General George Custer. Director Shawn Levy and Stiller both chat up the film, claiming it's definitely better than the first one. And with a cast that includes Robin Williams, Dick Van Dyke, Owen Wilson, Steve Coogan, Ricky Gervais (all of whom are returning), Christopher Guest, Hank Azaria, Craig Robinson, Ed Helms, Eugene Levy, Bill Hader and Amy Adams, you can't really go wrong.

In the sequel, Stiller's Larry Daley goes in search of his friends (and museum pieces) Octavius (Coogan) and Jedediah (Wilson) after they're mistakenly shipped to the Smithsonian in Washington, DC. On whether this will turn into a franchise for the studio, Levy says, "There are rumblings of another installment. We would love to take this premise (further). But even to say there's a likely third film is premature. We're not going to jinx things." We've included a few more images below, then feel free to hop on over to USA Today for the rest.

Night at the Museum 2 hits theaters on May 22.

With filthy, foul-mouthed R-rated comedy making a huge comeback (thanks, in part, to the success of Judd Apatow's films) coupled with the fact that the original cast of American Pie aren't exactly A-listin' it up on the big screen lately -- well, it doesn't take a brainiac to imagine some folks might want to revive the popular teen sex comedy franchise and stick a new one in theaters. Seeing as the direct-to-DVD installments featuring Eugene Levy all did well for Universal, now might be the perfect time to reunite this cast -- all of whom could probably use the extra paycheck (ahem, we're looking at you Tara Reid).

According to Moviehole, that's exactly what Universal is looking to do. Though no one has officially joined the cast (I think it's easy to say Eugene Levy would do it for a credit and a gift certificate to the Olive Garden), but the site claims things are inching along and an announcement could be made soon-ish. One imagines any sort of theatrical sequel would revolve around the married lives of Jim (Jason Biggs) and Michelle (Alyson Hannigan), and perhaps they'll tap in to the recent big-screen pregnancy boom and churn out something like American Baby ... or whatever.

What do you think? Is there room for another big-screen American Pie film? Would you see it?

When Demetri Martin joined the cast of Taking Woodstock, it was set to begin production in late August. In a nice change of pace, the movie is still on schedule, and will begin shooting at the end of the month, SAG strike be damned. But that isn't the only reason to anticipate Ang Lee's project. Variety reports the ensemble cast has been set, and it's insanely good. Get ready for a film that includes the likes of Emile Hirsch, Imelda Staunton, Liev Schreiber, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, Eugene Levy, Paul Dano, Zoe Kazan, Dan Fogler, Mamie Gummer, Henry Goodman, and Jonathan Groff.

Martin stars in the memoir adaptation as Elliot Tiber, a closeted gay man and aspiring interior designer who gives up his Big Apple dreams to run the family business in a Catskills motel. In 1969, he offered the hotel as home base for Woodstock organizers while his neighbor Max Yasgur (Levy) offered his farm. Staunton and Goodman play Tiber's parents, Groff will be festival organizer Michael Lang, Hirsch will play a Vietnam vet just back on American soil, Schreiber is in talks to play a transvestite named Vilma, Morgan will be a closeted married man having an affair with Tiber, Dano and Kazan play a hippy couple going to the concert, Fogler will be the head of a local theater troupe, and Gummer will take on the role of Lang's assistant.

I have a feeling this will be so very, very good.

Funny story, actually: growing up, my dad would always take me to the movies, and sometimes he just wasn't all that concerned about those pesky MPAA ratings. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad he did. I got to see a lot of great movies. But it is also why I saw Heavy Metal at the tender age of six. My dad saw the voice cast of John Candy, Eugene Levy and Harold Ramis and thought it couldn't be that bad ... but boy was he wrong. So you can imagine my amusement when Variety announced that David Fincher is going to head a film 'inspired' by the cult classic.

The original was released back in 1981 and was based on sci-fi and fantasy stories that were published in Heavy Metal magazine over the years. First published in the US in 1977, Metal was known for its over the top sex and violence. The update will definitely follow in the footsteps of the original film (and avoid the pitfalls of the 'sequel' in 2000), and will be an R rated animated film consisting of about eight or nine segments.

Fincher will only direct one of the segments in the film. Other segments will be helmed by Kevin Eastman (co-creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) and Tim Miller. Miller's Blur Studios will also handle the animation for the film. Fincher, Eastman and Miller will produce with Paramount, and the rest of the directors are expected to be signed soon. So what do you think about an update? Can Fincher pull this off? Or are images of chicks riding polar bears with flaming swords best left to van art?

Since I lost track of these weak, straight-to-DVD American Pie sequels at some point after the fourth installment, I'm kind of going at this with a blind eye. Apparently, a direct sequel to last year's American Pie Presents: The Naked Mile is already in the works (making it the sixth Pie-related film to hit the streets), with pre-production taking place in Toronto as we speak. American Pie Presents: Beta House will feature the same four dudes (John White, Ross Thomas, Jake Siegel and Steve Talley) from Naked Mile, only this time they're all grown up and heading to college. Beta House? College? Hmm, I smell a frat-related teen sex comedy heading our way.

In fact, that's exactly what happens. Pic centers on Erik Stifler and his cousin Dwight Stifler (who, I imagine, are both cousins of the original Steve Stifler). Upon entering college, Erik (apart from his name ending in a 'K,' sadly, the two of us have nothing in common) joins the Beta House, lands a girlfriend and goes to war against the evil GEK house who -- you guessed it -- are out to destroy the weaker frats with their money, brains and guys named Bret. Right now, casting is underway for Erik's main squeeze Ashley. Moviehole describes her as being "super cute, confident, together, instantly comfortable in the new collegiate surroundings, she is a catch." Basically, she's every girl that wouldn't date you in college. Andrew Walker will direct, with Joel Soisson and Keith Birder producing. No word on whether Eugene Levy will once again make his "purely for the money" cameo. Anyone out there actually watch The Naked Mile? Is it any good? Are these American Pie Presents flicks worth a spot on my Netflix queue?

The UK's Times Online has an interesting piece up about great Hollywood director-muse partnerships, from John Wayne and John Ford, to George Cukor and Katherine Hepburn, to Ingmar Bergman and Liv Ullman. As the article's author Ian Johns notes, these kinds of filmmaker-actor partnerships are less common these days, as directors have a wider array of big-name stars to choose from. Yet, there are still some profitable and creative partnerships out there. Martin Scorsese appears to have moved on from this 1970s and '80s pairing with Robert DeNiro to his modern creative muse, Leonardo DiCaprio, with whom he has made Gangs of New York, The Aviator, and now The Departed, with a fourth partnership -- a film about Theodore Roosevelt -- reportedly in the works. Russel Crowe and Ridley Scott worked together first in The Gladiator, then most recently in this year's TIFF offering A Good Year, and they went straight from that into shooting American Gangster together.

Johns goes on to make mention of Pedro Almodóvar's ensemble cast in Volver, where the director featured his favorite muse of the moment, Penelope Cruz alongside Carmen Maura, whom he directed in the 1980s. He doesn't mention my favorite director/ensemble combo of the moment, Christopher Guest and his amazing repeat performers, including Eugene Levy (with whom Guest also co-writes), Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban, Michael McKean and Parker Posey, to name only a few. So pivotal are these actors to Guest's latest films that I can't imagine him making a film without them at this point. They work together with an incredible ease that makes the improvisational style of Guest's films really work.

The article does give props to one of my favorite director/actor pairings: François Truffaut and his on-screen alter-ego, Jean-Pierre Léaud. One of the greatest joys of watching movies in my cinematically geeky life has been watching Léaud grow from boy to man as Antoine Doinel, starting in 1959's The 400 Blows, the film that first earned Truffaut respect at Cannes, when Léaud was just 15, through 1979's Love on the Run -- a 20-year run of great filmmaking. Leaud worked with other directors as well, of course, including Jean-Luc Godard, with whom he made 10 films, including Week End in 1967 and, nearly 20 years later, Détective in 1985, but nothing ever quite matched the magic of Léaud with Truffaut.

Who are some of your favorite director-actor pairs? And who would you like to see work together more?

With his films Waiting for Guffman, Best in Show, and A Mighty Wind, director Christopher Guest took the mockumentary approach he used in This Is Spinal Tap and brought it to a whole new generation. Guest assembled a cast of remarkable talent in Guffman, including Michael McKean (with whom Guest has worked for some 40 years), Eugene Levy, Fred Willard, Catherine O'Hara, Bob Balaban and Parker Posey, and worked with the same cast (adding some new talent along the way, including the spectacularly funny Jennifer Coolidge and perfectly deadpan Jane Lynch, building an almost unbeatable ensemble of comedy.

Guffman, Best in Show and A Mighty Wind all took the mockumentary approach, dealing, respectively, with a play in a small town, an eclectic group of characters taking part in a national dog show, and the reunion of 1960s folk singers for a concert. Guest's previous three films with this ensemble worked, not just because of their mockumentary style, but because of the brilliance and energy of the cast, who worked improvisationally, with very little script. With his latest effort, For Your Consideration, Guest and co-writer Levy break away from the mockumentary mold to take a narrative approach, while still retaining the improvisational freedom that give the cast the room to make their characters their own.