Liv Tyler Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Imagine taking the writer of the classic Troma flick Tromeo and Juliet, the Zack Snyder Dawn of the Dead remake, and the web series PG , and giving him a superhero to work with. What could possibly be the result? A trusty wrench-swinging super power-free hero called the Crimson Bolt in the shape of Rainn Wilson.

Variety reports that Wilson, Ellen Page, and Liv Tyler will star in James Gunn's comedy Super -- which has got to be the "f'd up low-rent Watchmen piece" being shopped to indie outlets back in March. Zeroing in on the superhero genre, the flick will focus on an average guy who finds his "pseudo-superhero alter ego" after seeing that his wife (Tyler) is falling for a charming drug dealer. There's no mention of who Page will play in this story, but it would make for quite an interesting twist if she's the one doling out the drugs.

Okay... So this isn't the first time Gunn has tackled the superhero genre. In 2000, he wrote The Specials -- a film I hunted for for about 5 years before giving up finding it anywhere (although now I think I know just where to find it). One can only hope this will do better. And with Wilson's early description of the project, it'll probably be a whole lot better than those Scooby Doo flicks.

First up, there's Ms. Cameron Diaz. After getting hitched to Ashton Kutcher in What Happens in Vegas, The Hollywood Reporter posts that the actress has grabbed her next romcom. The picture in question is called Swingles (picked up by Paramount in 2006), and it centers on a man and woman whose respective best friends fall in love and leave them without their beloved wingman and wingwoman. "Despite their antagonism, the two remaining singles decide to join forces to help each other find romantic partners." ...and oh, perhaps fall madly in love like romcom fools often do?

Meanwhile, Liv Tyler is getting her own slice of romantic comedy. Variety reports that she's going to star in an upcoming indie called The Romantics. The project seems to be a bit of a passion project -- Galt Niederhoffer (Prozac Nation adapter and a principal at Plum Pictures) is adapting her own novel, and planning to direct it as well.

The film will follow a group of college friends who reunite after 6 years for the wedding of Lila and Tom, which brings up a long rivaly for the soon-to-be groom between the bride-to-be and her maid of honor, Laura (Tyler). While the basic premise might knock into films like The Big Chill, the review over at Amazon doesn't make it sound promising. Publisher's Weekly says: "Neither the characters nor the story convince as Niederhoffer repeats thin stereotypes in a vain attempt to strengthen the plot." It's really too bad. Tyler can do better, and we already have enough thin stereotypes in romcom land. But get ready, two more typical romances on the way.

It's difficult to pick a favorite scene from the Lord of the Rings trilogy -- but at least picking the one that won Best Picture narrows it down. This has always been one of my favorite scenes in The Return of the King, and it does capture the themes of Tolkien in one haunting moment. A new age is beginning and an old one is dying, and there is nothing achieved without great and bitter losses. Even romance and the promise of life comes at a high price. If Arwen chooses a mortal life, she will be separated from her family, her people, and from an endless life of song, beauty, and memory in the Gray Havens. In Tolkien's mythology, the decision has ramificatications beyond this world, and her parting from her father is more permanent than even the film hints at.

Some trivia, courtesy of IMDB:

• The movie marks the second time in history that the third movie in a trilogy was nominated for Best Picture, by the Academy Awards and Golden Globes, after The Godfather: Part III (1990) and the only time that a third movie has won the Best Picture Oscar. It tied with Ben-Hur (1959) and Titanic (1997) to win the most Oscars (11) in a single year. Of the three films to have won 11 Academy awards, it is the only to not have received a nomination for its acting.

• Each of the cast members was given a gift on their last day of shooting. Liv Tyler received Arwen's "dying dress," the one she's wearing in this scene.

• Pregnancy changed Peter Jackson's vision of Lord of the Rings. Originally, he wanted to cast Lucy Lawless as Galadriel and Uma Thurman as Arwen. Unfortunately, both actresses became pregnant after being asked to read, and the roles were filled in by Cate Blanchett and Liv Tyler, respectively.
  
  

Back in early July, we made mention of the fact that Bryan Bertino, writer/director of The Strangers, had at least two projects going on at Rogue Pictures since he ended up giving them a good ol' summer sleeper success story, the grosses for which inevitably prompted talk of a possible sequel.

Well, Variety now tells us that there surely will be a second Strangers, and that Bertino is returning to write (if not direct) it, with a certain star standing to return as well (profitable as the film may have been, I'd rather not risk spoilers, so don't bother clicking on either that Variety link or the 'certain star' one if you've yet to see the film -- after all, it doesn't open in the UK 'til tomorrow).

I felt that The Strangers milked enough tension out of a somewhat sparse premise to merit a watch, but I'm that much more concerned about how redundant or ridiculous a second one would have to be in order to follow it up. The point remains that, if they make it, I will watch it, and so will plenty of others. Let's face it: There are more vicious cycles operating in the world today.

As someone initially unimpressed with the teaser trailer for next weekend's horror offering, Mirrors, I found myself pleasantly surprised by the unpleasantries on display in the film's restricted trailer, among them the sight of Amy Smart ripping her own jaw off (what can I say, I'm a man of simple taste).

However, I then wondered if that particular moment wasn't the best that the film had to offer. Sure, you don't want to spoil too much before a film opens, but it's a scene that has become the focus of most TV spots and -- in hindsight -- the poster, and as a plot development, I'm almost certain that it'll happen before the film hits its hour mark (a matter that no one will be able to confirm until late Thursday evening, which is its own little omen). But it fell on me to watch that part and find my interest piqued.

This week, I don't want to talk about anything new. I don't want to discuss the good news about studios and European exhibitors finally agreeing on a virtual print fee. I don't want to comment on Nielsen's research showing the strong consumer appetite for 3-D films (I'll be talking enough about 3-D next week in anticipation of Journey to the Center of the Earth). I don't want to even get people's hopes up about Microsoft's supposed "manners device" that silences cell phones instead of blocking them (signal blocking was recently found to be illegal in the U.S.). I really don't want to comment on Mark Gill's "The Sky is Falling" speech from the L.A. Film Festival loosely concerning the state of art house cinema (the speech is more related to film making and financing, plus I already played Chicken Little last week).

In The Incredible Hulk, long-time character actor Tim Roth leaps onto summer's biggest stage as Emil Blonsky, a soldier brought in by General Ross (William Hurt) to hunt down Bruce Banner and bring him back alive. But when Blonsky learns that Banner isn't "just another fugitive," he begins to want the kind of power Banner has hidden deep within. Yet, with that power comes a very large price -- and if he's not careful enough, Blonsky could end up turning into an abomination. Cinematical managed to snag Roth for a few moments to ask him about the character and what it's like for him to be appearing in such a giant film, as well as whether he'd be down for Hulk sequels and more fun with his pal Quentin Tarantino.

Cinematical: Is it important to start the character in a very realistic fashion given the wild changes he goes through in Act III?

Tim Roth: Yeah, I think what's interesting -- and what was interesting about doing it -- was that there was a real arc to the character. He goes through many different versions of himself before he finally goes over the top in the end. So it would've been a little less intriguing for me as an actor if I had a couple of scenes in the beginning and then suddenly I'm the monster. Yeah, that would've been a little dull ... but it was really the opposite in this case, because we really got to develop the character and play around with different aspects. See him as he's becoming more addicted to this; I mean, it's kind of like the journey of a weird junkie in a way.

Here are a few statistics on the 2003 film Hulk:

• Directed by Oscar winner Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger)
• Written by Michael France (Cliffhanger), James Schamus (The Ice Storm), first-timer John Turman (and maybe 15 other screenwriters)
• Estimated budget: $137 million
• Worldwide box office: $245 million
• Rotten Tomatoes score: 61% positive
• IMDb user rating: 5.8 out of 10

So I ask you this: Are we talking about a failure ... or an underrated movie that's been unjustly labeled a failure? It matters not, I suppose, because the arrival of the all-new The Incredible Hulk, Marvel (and Universal) hopes to leave the first Hulk cowering in a dusty vault somewhere. (Until the next DVD re-release, of course.) So while I felt a strange bit of resentment towards this "forget that first movie, let's get a do-over" procedure, I felt pretty confident about the second Hulk's chances. Director Louis Leterrier has shown some skill with action flicks like Unleashed and Transporter 2, the new cast (which includes Edward Norton, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler and William Hurt) was pretty impressive, and (best of all) the producers were making one simple promise from the outset: More action.

With The Incredible Hulk out this Friday (June 13), stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler and director Louis Leterrier sat down for another one of Moviefone's fabulous Unscripted segments. The great part about these Moviefone Unscripted sessions is that not only do the stars and filmmakers ask each other questions, but most of those questions are from you, the reader -- because you left them in the comments section of this very blog! OMG! But anyway, above you will find an exclusive clip from their chat (one you won't see over at Moviefone), where all three talk about the importance of getting "the eyes" right, since, as Liv says, they're "the window to the soul." And I totally agree, especially when it comes to CG characters like Hulk and Abomination. Interestingly enough, because of certain techniques used, the eyes on Hulk and Abomination are "pretty much" the eyes of stars Edward Norton and Tim Roth, according to Leterrier.

Interesting conversation all around; head on over to Moviefone to check out the rest.