Henry Poole Is Here Trailer


When Pearl Jam's video for "Jeremy" came out, I think I watched it a billion times -- one, because it was damn good, and two, because I was young enough to crush on the cute, doomed, floppy-haired star. Now Mark Pellington, who directed the video, is bringing us the Luke Wilson-starring Henry Poole is Here, and you can check out the trailer above.

Not surprisingly, there is great music, but I'm not so sure on this whole premise -- it's too "Jesus on toast" for me. Nevertheless, Wilson stars as Poole, a guy who finds out he has 6 months to live, retreats from his life, and sets on a course to die in suburbia with junk food and booze. But then his neighbor notices a heavenly face on his house's stucco. Miracles ensue, love with Radha Mitchell grows, and Henry finds a purpose in life.

Now the question becomes: Will Henry Poole find his own miracle, or will he end up like Jeremy?

The film hits theaters July 25.

Earlier this week, there was buzz that Radha Mitchell was joining the science fiction thriller, The Surrogates. Now The Hollywood Reporter has confirmed it, and reports two other actors added to the mix -- Ving Rhames and Rosamund Pike.

Based on the graphic novel by Robert Venditti, the film will focus on a cop (Bruce Willis) who lives in a future world. However, instead of getting a naked Milla and trying to save the world from one uglified Gary Oldman, he's in a world where people live out their lives through "perfect-looking" robotic versions of themselves. But then these robots or "surrogates" start getting axed, and the cop has to venture into the world, as himself, to find the killer. Mitchell is playing his cop partner, Rhames is playing "a charismatic cult figure who disdains the use of surrogates and tries to lead an uprising against the 'new world order,'" and Pike is playing Willis' wife.

According to Coming Soon, Radha Mitchell has joined the cast of Jonathan Mostow's sci-fi thriller, The Surrogates. The movie is based on the graphic novel from Robert Venditti and was adapted by the screenwriting duo of Michael Ferris and John D. Brancato. The bad news is that these guys have written some pretty crappy movies in the past. Hopefully, these two are better at adaptations than they are at original ideas.

In The Surrogates, Bruce Willis stars as a cop in a futuristic world where all human interaction is performed by look-alike robots called Surrogates. Not only do the robots do all the talking for us, but they're even better looking too (when it comes to Mitchell, though, the original is none too shabby ... so I can't imagine what they would do to make her even better looking). When someone begins murdering 'surrogates' right and left, Willis is forced to venture into the outside world for the first time to track down the killer.

When the production for The Code gets into swing this month in Bulgaria, there will be more than a Morgan Freeman thief-like mentor and a younger Antonio Banderas crook. Variety reports that Radha Mitchell has signed on to star with the duo in the upcoming caper drama, which will be brought to us by director Mimi Leder and screenwriter Ted Humphrey. Unfortunately, they're not saying what her role is. Will she play Banderas' wife? Someone in the Russian mob that Freeman's character owes? The person the duo will rob to get that money? Who knows.

Mitchell made a name for herself in films like Phone Booth and Finding Neverland before heading Melinda and Melinda, Woody Allen's dual-story movie trek. Now she's got a handful of movies on the way that definitely hit some different themes. First up is a B movie named Rogue, which has her taking a cynical American writer on tour of the Outback when they get attacked by a crocodile and end up in some sort of horrific Gilligan's Island scenario. After that she goes back in time for The Children of Huang Shi, a period drama about journalist George Hogg who saved a group of orphaned kids, with help from a nurse and partisan fighter, during the Japanese occupation of China in 1937. Then things get lighter with Luke Wilson's Henry Poole is Here, and then darker again when she co-stars in The Seed -- about a "killer [who] returns from the past, forcing a young detective to return to a case that took her mother's life years before."

I apparently like Luke Wilson more than Erik, who recently told us about the actor's role in Henry Poole is Here, but I have to agree that the Vacancy star is at his best when surrounded by a good ensemble. Well, some of the other cast members of Henry Poole have just been announced, and so far it looks like Wilson will be supported well. The first, Radha Mitchell, is actually signed on, while the second, Oscar nominee Adriana Barraza, is still in talks ("advanced" talks). Though neither actress is who I would initially have in mind for a comedy, even one actually described as a dramedy, they are each talented enough for me to have faith in their capability for humorous performances.

Not much is really known about the plot of Henry Poole, which was written by Albert Torres, but a good guess for Mitchell's role is the love interest for Wilson's character. This part could be the fiancee that he breaks up with when he discovers he has six weeks to die, or it could be a new romantic pursuit, possibly one of the neighbors who disrupt his plan to wallow in seclusion for the rest of his short life. Hopefully Barraza will not ruin her Oscar-nominated reputation by appearing as a Mexican stereotype. So far, Henry Poole, which director Mark Pellington says is about a hopeless man who finds hope, makes me think of Joe Vesus the Volcano meets The 'burbs. As great as that combo sounds, though, Wilson is not quite the next Tom Hanks (even if you think Old School is Wilson's Bachelor Party and My Super Ex-Girlfriend is his Splash). Not even I like Wilson enough to give him that much credit.

Without going into too many embarrassing details about my misspent youth in eyeliner, let's just say I am pretty familiar with the 'Gothic lifestyle.' As a result, I've spent way too much time watching vampire movies, and now it looks like there's another one to watch. Fangoria is reporting that sources have confirmed that a film based on the life of Elizabeth "Blood Countess" Báthory is finally set for production. The story of the 15th century Hungarian countess who supposedly bathed in the blood of virgins to stay eternally young has been the source of plenty of vampire stories but there has never been much attention paid to the slightly less glamorous -- but no less gruesome historical story. Bathory was believed to have tortured and murdered over 600 young girls over the course of her life and was never brought to trial for any of her crimes.

It was almost two years ago when rumblings first surfaced about a Bathory film to be directed by Julie Delpy, who will also star, but there hasn't much solid detail about the project until now. According to Fangoria, the cast now falling into place would also include Ethan Hawke (I'll avoid the obvious Before Sunrise vampire joke), and Vincent Gallo. Supposedly, the film is set to start shooting this summer in Eastern Europe. If this project moves beyond gossip and into the production stage, it won't be the first Bathory film to hit screens this year. Juraj Jakubisko will be directing a "feminist" telling of the story. If Delpy's project continues inching forward at the same pace its been moving over the last two years, Jakubisko's film might be the only one we get.

I was having a conversation at my local coffee house the other day about cheesy sci-fi movies that we all loved and enjoyed in spite of, or because of, their cheesiness. One of the ones I brought up is a favorite of mine about an alien that takes over people's bodies and goes on a thrill-killing rampage around LA. I'm talking, of course, about the Kyle MacLachlan, Michael Nouri starrer The Hidden -- which also features a sultry Claudia Christian and her super-powered, um, sweater. If you've seen the movie you know what I mean. If not, its definitely worth a look.

Obviously, I'm not the only fan of this mid 80s gem because there's already been a direct-to-video sequel -- the extremely lame but cleverly titled The Hidden 2 -- and now, according to an article over at Movie Hole, a remake is in the works which already has a cast and director attached. Reporting for duty in the remake, now known as The Seed, are Neal McDonough, who's movie sci-fi cred goes way back to Star Trek: First Contact and the very cute Radha Mitchell, who also has a couple sci-fi films under her belt including the very good Pitch Black.

Actually, the film is not exactly a remake in the strictest sense. The new pic will change up the story slightly with Mitchell investigating a mysterious killer from her past that caused her mother's death and McDonough showing up to help catch the killer who just happens to be an alien from another world bent on the destruction of humanity. Currently, the film is in pre-production with Rock Shaink, Jr. attached to direct from a script he wrote with Mark Jonathan Stanley. No word yet on additional casting or a start date for shooting.

The only thing I know for sure about the casting situation with The Tender Hook is that it's an Australians-only affair. An article in this morning's Herald Sun is re-affirming most of what we've already known -- that Rose Byrne has replaced Radha Mitchell as Iris, a woman in a noir-stylized 1920s Sydney who is fought over by two opposing boxers. Hugo Weaving, Ray Winstone and Matt Le Nevez are also still attached to the project, although official announcements have yet to be made. The project is being written and directed by Jonathan Ogilvie, whose last film, Emulsion, was unseen by me. Still, I have high hopes for any film that self-identifies as film noir, one of my favorite genres.

Byrne, who was the Duchesse de Polignac in last year's Marie Antoinette, has a full slate of high-profile films for 2007, including the sequel to Danny Boyle's 28 Days Later and the starring role in Boyle's highly-anticipated 'the sun is dying, what do we do?' science-fiction film, Sunshine. The paper also reports that The Tender Hook is set to be shot in Melbourne, which has recently become one of the hottest filming spots in all of Australia.

The names in the title of this post kinda sound like they're from some sort of funky international law firm or something, don't they? Or maybe, instead of a law firm, a relief agency for orphaned children specializing in Asia? That would actually make more sense considering the true nature of this post. What the heck am I talking about? Glad you asked.

According to Production Weekly, Jonathan Rhys Meyers (of Bend It Like Beckham and the underrated Ang Lee film Ride With The Devil), Radha Mitchell (of High Art and Man on Fire), master of swords and two-handed pistol shooting Chow Yun Fat and former Chow co-star Michelle Yeoh are booked to be in the period drama The Children of Huang Shi for director Roger Spottiswoode.

The film, which tells the story of young British Journalist Gregg Hogg (played by Myers) who saves a group of orphaned children during the 1937 Japanese invasion of China by taking them on a 1000 mile journey to safety, is being written by Jane Hawksley. Mitchell will play the brave Australian nurse who helps Hogg save the children.

This new film covers similar ground explored before by Steven Spielberg in his film Empire of the Sun . In that film, a very young and pre-Batman Begins, Christian Bale is forced to flee his home when the Japanese invade China. He ends up separated from his parents and living at an abandoned airfield with other refugees -- including John Malkovich, Joe Pantoliano and a young Ben Stiller in one of his first movie roles . Empire of the Sun is a great movie that if you haven't seen lately, or at all, deserves a look.

If The Children of Huang Shi, which while obviously dealing with similar subject matter tells a different story, turns out to be half as good as Empire of the Sun, I will definitely be interested in seeing it. Even if Chow Yun Fat doesn't fly through the air, pistols blazing away in both hands, taking out bad guys.

Filming on The Children of Huang Shi is expected to begin mid-November in China with production moving later to Australia.

Those who love movies and video games in equal measure have had a red circle scrawled around the release date for Silent Hill for quite some time. Sure, there's nothing new about a horror flick based on a popular game series, but not many of those movies come attached to names like Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) and Roger Avary (The Rules of Attraction, Killing Zoe). With filmmakers like these on board, the odds of a half-decent movie being produced increase exponentially. And let's give the gamers a break. One can only take so many Dooms and BloodRaynes and Resident Evil: Apocalypses (sue me, I liked the first one) before starting to get a little desperate. So the hopes pinned upon Silent Hill were pretty high, if only those of a small-yet-passionate fanbase.

And then came word that Sony wouldn't be pre-screening the flick for press, which automatically placed Silent Hill in a "sight-unseen" garbage bin, alongside cinematic detritus like When a Stranger Calls, Stay Alive, BloodRayne, and Underworld: Evolution. (A note to Sony and the other studios: I'd quit it with the "no press screenings" approach; the moviegoers are getting wise to this gimmick.) Needless to say, the "press blackout" strategy didn't do a whole hell of a lot to generate excitement among the loyal Hill fans, but ...