RachelNichols Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Making a great movie poster is an art, but making a so-so one? That seems to be something that any studio can do. There are now four new character posters for the feature film version of the Real American Hero, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, and for those of you who were disappointed after only receiving head shots in the last round of one-sheets -- well, you aren't going to be much happier (that is, unless you have a torso fetish). The latest batch (see below) showcase Duke, Ripcord, Snake Eyes, Scarlett and The Baroness all in their best leather fightin' gear, which might not be much to write home about, although, I'm sure fanboys will be pleased with the tight leather outfits sported by Scarlett (Rachel Nichols) and The Baroness (Sienna Miller).

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra is set ten years in the future, and, like the title says, will center on the origins of the Cobra Organization. It would seem that it will be origin stories all around, as Stuart Beattie's script also puts Duke (Channing Tatum) and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) at the center of the action with their induction into the Joe team.

You would think that for a film expected to be a big hit this summer, there would be a little more 'oomph' injected into their marketing. But, I guess it wasn't meant to be ... yet ... and for now we're going to have to suck it up and deal with all these posters. However, there is one notable exception in all of the posters so far, and it is probably the one fans are most anxious about: good old Cobra Commander himself (as played by *Jason Joseph Gordon Levitt). Surprisingly, any images of Cobra have remained under lock and key, so I guess we'll have to keep our fingers crossed that he makes an appearance in the Superbowl trailer.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra will arrive in theaters on August 7, 2009. Check out the new and old posters below.

We brought you a bunch of brand new G.I. Joe character photos yesterday, but Paramount just sent over a whole batch of those same images (plus a few others) in beautiful hi-res. These photos include characters like Duke (Channing Tatum), Hawk (Dennis Quaid), Ripcord (Marlon Wayans), The Baroness (Sienna Miller), Destro (Christopher Eccleston), Heavy Duty (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Breaker (Saïd Taghmaoui), Scarlett (Rachel Nichols), Snake Eyes (Ray Park) and Storm Shadow (Byung-hun Lee). With the exception of Cobra Commander (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), that's our primary cast.

Check out all these images (in hi-res) in the gallery below. G.I. Joe hits theaters on August 7, 2009.

Well, if you weren't too hot on the new live-action G.I. Joe movie, you might change your mind after seeing this new photo, via those cool cats at JoBlo. Yup, that's Rachel Nichols (Alias, P2) as Scarlett (click on the image for a larger and hotter version). This marks the second official character photo from the film, after USA Today revealed our first look at Snake Eyes not long ago. From Wiki: "The official line on Scarlett is that her full name is Shana M. O'Hara. She was born in Atlanta, Georgia. Although she is as adept with standard weapons as any of her comrades, her weapon of choice is the crossbow which fires various bolts with specialized functions. Her rank is Master Sergeant, and she serves from time to time as team leader. Her primary specialty for the team is counter intelligence and is additionally skilled in martial arts and acrobatics. Of note, her secondary military specialty remains classified in all of her file cards."

I'm digging what I see so far out of this film, but what do you think -- is this the live-action G.I. Joe film you've always hoped for???

Here's how badly I remember the G.I. Joe cartoons I watched daily as a kid: in seeing this new casting headline, I immediately thought the G.I. Joe movie was primarily filling women roles first. See, my bad memory had me thinking Storm Shadow is a female. I guess because the name sounds like Eye Shadow, or is reminiscent of Shadowcat (though somehow not reminiscent of The Shadow) and Storm, both being female X-Men. But now I know. And knowing ... well, in this case it's the whole battle. It is half the casting news, though, and thanks to another great Latino Review exclusive, we hear that Storm Shadow (brother of Snake Eyes) will be played by Korean "Mega Star" Byeong-Heon Lee (aka Byung-Hun Lee). Asian cinema fans might be familiar with Lee from Ji-woon Kim's A Bittersweet Life, Chan-wook Park's J.S.A.: Joint Security Area and/or from Park's segment "Cut" from Three ... Extremes, in which he starred as the film director. He'll also be seen in the upcoming Josh Hartnett-starrer I Come with the Rain. In G.I. Joe he will be playing Japanese; Storm Shadow is Cobra Commander's ninja bodyguard and assassin, though the character has been known to have loyalties to the good guys, too.

As for the other half of the casting news, this one is really a woman. A very beautiful woman, in fact. Playing the hot, red-headed Scarlett (what? you never thought cartoons were hot?), is former model Rachel Nichols, who two or three of you may have seen this year in either P2 or Resurrecting the Champ (she also appears in the upcoming, likely more popular Charlie Wilson's War). Nichols is perfect for the role of G.I. Joe's super-smart martial arts expert, and sometime team leader, as she's not just good-looking. Did you know she graduated from Columbia with a double major in math and economics? Of course, she'll have to adequately pull off a Georgian accent, but really all we care about is that she looks good holding a crossbow -- not that Scarlett would like us to think of her only as a sex symbol; she'd remind us that, "beauty may only be skin deep, but lethal is to the bone."

UPDATE: IESB has received official studio confirmation that the above casting rumor is indeed true. Head over there to read Paramount's statements.

Cinematical has just gotten an exclusive clip and photos for the upcoming Alexandre Aja and Franck Khalfoun garage horror film P2, which will finally bleed its way onto the big screen this week. Filmed in a particularly creepy garage around the corner from Toronto's Art Gallery of Ontario (pretending to be New York City), P2 is about a businesswoman named Angela (Rachel Nichols) whose Christmas Eve is anything but jolly. She finds herself to be the sadistic, lust-filled focus of Thomas (Wes Bentley), a psycho security guard, in a deserted parking garage.

Thomas doesn't take too kindly to Angela's sexual past, and this clip has him ready to give some ex-lover a taste of blood-filled horror medicine. Luckily, you don't even have to imagine what happens to the guy -- some extra clips over at JoBlo answer that question, and show you why Thomas is working as a security guard and not a makeup artist. The lipstick horror fest opens on Friday, so check out the trailer and more clips on the film's website. Additionally, stay tuned for Jeffrey M. Anderson's review tomorrow, and check out the gallery below -- featuring two new exclusive shots plus a bunch more creepy P2 images.

If Alfred Hitchcock taught us anything, it's that sometimes suspense can occur in the most unlikely of places: cornfields, brightly lit motels, and even Mount Rushmore. But I have to admit, I wouldn't necessarily count a parking garage as one of them -- they're kind of spooky, but only when you don't tip the attendant for bringing you your car. Shock Till You Drop now has the exclusive poster for the indie-thriller P2. The horror was created by the team behind the French thriller High Tension, Franck Khalfoun and Alexandre Aja (The Hills Have Eyes). This time, Khalfoun is at the helm, and he also contributed to the script along with Aja. Next up for Aja will be the horror flick Mirrors with Tension writer Grégory Levasseur, and starring Kiefer Sutherland and Amy Smart.

P2 follows a successful businesswoman who is kidnapped by a creepy security guard with an ax to grind over his spurned affections. Wes Bentley (who has been relatively absent from the movies since his big break in American Beauty) stars as the wacko parking attendant, and Rachel Nichols is the career girl on the run. Nichols is a relative unknown to most, but for fans of Alias, her face might ring a bell as 'Rachel Gibson'. Next up for Nichols is a role that is probably a little more high profile; she has a part in the Tom Hanks film Charlie Wilson's War directed by Mike Nichols (no relation). P2 was shot on location in Toronto, Canada last January and is set to hit theaters on November 9th.

There's no lasting money in the beauty of plastic bags. American Beauty was Wes Bentley's lone gem among a handful of low-buzz releases. However, as an expert of the creepy stare, it's no surprise that he's diving into the darker films like the upcoming P2.

Under the eye of first-time director Franck Khalfoun, the creators of High Tension (Alexandre Aja and Gregory Levasseur) are turning their attention to the creep factor of parking garages. The main premise: a successful business woman (Rachel Nichols) spurns the advances of a security guard (Bentley). Not happy with her refusal, Bentley beats her unconscious and holds her captive. Nichols must not only escape his eerie stare, but also the scary parking garage.

The locale makes sense. I've been in the Toronto parking garage they filmed in, and it is quite creepy. Eerie stillness, the buzz of fluorescent lights, and strange, echoing noises are all mainstays of horror/suspense. That being said, I wonder if they can keep the tension in a relatively small and empty place. There is only so much running and hiding one girl can do. Or, will it really matter? Nichols obviously had to strip down to her camisol to grab an axe and hide amongst the pillars of P2, so it the plot goes slow, moviegoers will still have her sweaty, heaving bosom. Yes, the picture at the right is from the released still, which you can see in its full glory at Jo Blo's Arrow in the Head.

Because Americans have fallen totally in love with movies in which lots of violence -- sexual and otherwise -- is visited upon nubile young women, Alexandre Aja and Grégory Levasseur (the minds behind Haute Tension and the The Hills Have Eyes remake) are striking while the iron is hot. Their newest production is called P2 (as opposed to K2, a confusion that will only intensify when you see the word "climber" in the following quote), and will tell the story of "a corporate climber who gets stuck working late on Christmas Eve and finds herself the target of an unhinged security guard. With no help in sight, the woman must overcome physical and psychological challenges to survive." A sign that I will not be seeing this movie is that just reading the summary makes me feel a little sick with fear -- yes, the thought of psycho cops and security guards in isolated settings scares the crap out of me. That said, however, the bit about survival is hopeful -- maybe the woman will kick the guy's ass before he gets a chance to slash her face and fondle her boobs. Unlikely, I realize, but still.

The movie will star Wes Bentley, who has been under a rock (made of bad, little-seen movies) since American Beauty, and Rachel Nichols, and will mark the directorial debut of Hills Have Eyes editor Franck Khalfoun. Shooting begins next month.