Shoot Em Up Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Since the weekend has come and gone and the only ones still talking about Crank: High Voltage are the critics who were forced to go to midnight and opening day screenings to write their reviews, it should come as no surprise that the sequel to the popular 2006 film did not perform exceptionally well at the box office. Indeed, it landed at sixth place in the weekend's Top Ten, grossing just shy of $7 million, while the number one film, 17 Again, raked in almost $24 million. But that's just the way that non sequitur cinema works: no matter what you hope or expect to happen next, there's no predicting how things will turn out.

Sorry, you don't know what non sequitur cinema is? Well, it's the action subgenre launched in 2000 thanks to the directorial style of filmmaker McG's Charlie's Angels which has since morphed into its own, thrilling, nonsensical entity which sometimes makes careers, but more often, claims them.

Not to be confused with real movies, these "experiences" function on a level of sensory overload that transcends such paltry objectives as character development or storytelling. Rather, they're most easily recognized by a preponderance of visual style that annihilates coherent thought, leaves eye sockets singed, and considers adrenal glands only slightly more valuable than Faberge eggs made from baby seal pelts and wrapped in bald eagle feathers. The original Angels collected enough on screen talent not only to earn it $264 million in worldwide grosses, but a sequel that made nearly as much despite making no sense at all and actually making the first film seem much, much worse than it actually is. (Ask McG how he feels about the reception of the two films if you don't believe me.)

Playing himself -- or, rather, a kind-of version of himself who volunteers to have his soul removed -- in this year's Sundance Dramatic Competition entry Cold Souls (see our review here), Paul Giamatti faced some fairly unique challenges: "I kind of forgot that I was playing myself in this ... I kind of felt that (director Sophie Bart) captured, in a funny way, an archetypal type of neurotic New York self-involved actor ... I kinda forgot I was playing myself; and I don't mean that to sound disingenuous about it, but I really did. ..." Giamatti spoke with Cinematical about how much he enjoyed Shoot 'Em Up, tapping into Russian melancholy for Cold Souls through facial hair and headgear and which midnight zombie film he'd most like to catch while in Park City. ...

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Warning: This post contains excessive grasping at straws.

Most knowledgeable folks seem to think that the upcoming Wanted looks like a piece of junk. I can understand their position: the trailer was kind of a sensory assault, and didn't exactly make the film seem original. For my part, I'm not ready to write it off. I like James McAvoy, director Timur Bekmambetov is a fellow Russian, and I tend to enjoy the wildly implausible brand of action that the film seems to be going for. So I'm happy to report a piece of news that kind of surprised me: Wanted has been rated R by the MPAA for "strong bloody violence throughout, pervasive language and some sexuality." That elaboration makes it seem like they won't be trying to trim the bad parts to earn a PG-13.

Now, okay: obviously that doesn't mean much. I mean, the similarly (identically?) themed Hitman was rated R too, and look how that turned out. But for me, the R rating speaks not directly to quality, but to the kind of film Wanted is likely to be. Seeing the trailer (and not knowing the source material), I thought that while it looked kind of cool, it also looked like a broad, inoffensive, second-rate action romp -- my first association, probably due to the presence of Angelina Jolie, was with Lara Croft Tomb Raider. But maybe it won't be. Maybe it'll turn out to be harsh, and sexy, and over-the-top in ways that are actually interesting. Maybe it'll be more like Running Scared or Shoot 'Em Up than like Ghost Rider. You might think that those comparisons don't help and that it still looks like crap, but it seems to me that an R rating for a movie like this increases the odds of it being worthwhile. Or am I off my gourd?

It was probably the squeal 'heard round the world' for martial arts fans when Scott first reported on the historic pairing of Jet Li and Jackie Chan. That was over a year ago, and now Variety is reporting the film has just wrapped shooting and is ready for that special 'F/X touch'. Titled The Forbidden Kingdom, the story "is a loose adaptation of classic Chinese tale "The Monkey King" which sees an American teenager transported back to ancient China, where he learns about honor, loyalty and friendship, and the true meaning of Kung fu". It has been rumored that both Li and Chan will play the Kung fu masters who help the boy in his quest. Stuart Little director, Rob Minkoff, was at the helm, but Hong Kong cinematographer Peter Pau (Shoot 'em Up) was on hand to oversee the whole production. Pau is one of the most respected cinematographers in Hong Kong cinema, and won an Oscar for his work on Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. Unfortunately, he also was in charge of Dracula 2000. Oh well, they can't all be masterpieces.

The Forbidden Kingdom was shot on location in the Zhejiang Province over the summer. Now, the film is headed for South Korea for some final touches. According to Kingdom's producers, it will be the most expensive non-Korean film to use the state of the art facilities. The film has a current budget of $70 million, but we all know how these things can get away from you sometimes. There is no word on what kind of FX are being added, but when your leads are Jet Li and Jackie Chan, you know it's probably not going to be any physical stunts. The Forbidden Kingdom is set for release on April 18th, 2008.

[Thanks to Rotten Tomatoes' Kathryn Kenworth for the Jet-Jackie mockup.]

In about an hour, I'll be writing another post regarding a new Moviefone gallery featuring the 25 Best Sex Scenes of All Time. One movie that will not be on that list (mainly because it hasn't come out yet) is Shoot 'Em Up, which arrives in theaters this Friday. Now before I go on, I must warn you that the clip we'll be linking to features both nudity and violence -- so those of you at work or around children might want to wait until the coast is clear. That said, New Line never even needed to market this film at all. All they could've done was show people this clip -- make it their trailer -- and folks would've flocked in masses. For the women, you have Clive Owen. For the men, you have Monica Bellucci. And for the people who couldn't care less about the sex, you have tons and tons of gun play. Need I say more?

The folks over at IESB are currently housing this clip, although no one seems to know where it came from. They claim it sort of landed in their laps, and so they put it up. Was it leaked on purpose? Was it not supposed to be leaked at all? We don't know. But what we do know is that the clip itself is flippin' fantastic -- and if I could simultaneously be typing this post and be on line waiting to buy tickets for this flick, you bet your ass I'd be in both places at the same time. (Actually, when you think about it, technically I could buy tickets online while I write this post. Thus, it is possible. So there ya go.) Parts of this clip were briefly shown in that last R-rated clip, but there's nothing like the whole scene to get you in the mood, so to speak. Here's a brief description to whet your appetite: While Clive and Monica get down to some between-the-sheets business, guys in ski masks burst into the room, bullets go flying, a baby begins crying and, well, the sex couldn't get any better. And Clive's final line -- classic! Check out the clip and let us know what you think -- Shoot 'Em Up hits theaters this weekend.

I'll cut to the chase: here's what's been released over the weekend. Disney's Prince Caspian will have a major presence at ComicCon this year, unveiling a "special preview" of the film, that includes new footage coupled with a talk featuring the filmmakers. Many of the film's visual effects artists have RSVPd to attend this event, but so far it's unclear if the actors will be attending as well. We also learned that Iron Man will be putting together some kind of footage for the event, although it's not really clear how extensive that will be. We know that Paramount is reserving a two hour spot on Thursday to unspool who-knows-what for a bunch of films including Stardust, Hot Rod, and Beowulf, which I've been told is having a much bigger presence at the convention than is generally known so far. The Star Trek cast is expected to be unveiled, but when and how isn't clear yet. J.J. Abrams will attend ComicCon, as will Robert Downey Jr., Jon Favreau and Roger Avary. George Romero will also attend the convention and will hold a talk.

New Line Cinema will unveil special presentations of The Golden Compass and Shoot Em' Up, and I'd expect to see at least a polished trailer for the former, if not personal appearances by some of the actors, and so forth. There's a 30th Anniversary Star Wars event, but I'm clocking that as a pretty minor happening at this point. Kevin Smith will be on hand, giving one of his famous talks. The Simpsons Movie will have a panel that includes not only creators but also some of the voice actors, including Yeardley Smith. On the smaller side, the Alyssa Milano film Pathology is pulling out the stops, bringing the cast around for meet and greets. We've also previously told you to expect a big presence for the Ghost House release 30 Days of Night, including a panel and possibly a bunch of footage.

What is it with Clive Owen and his fiercely protective behavior around babies? First he was charged with saving the future of humanity in the brilliant Children of Men, and now he's forced to protect a newborn from a feral Paul Giamatti and what looks like more gun-totin' villains than Crank, Running Scared and Smokin' Aces put together. Oh yeah, and Monica Bellucci is involved! Sold!

Click right here to enjoy the maniacally kinetic trailer for Michael Davis' Shoot 'Em Up. It's obviously a hyper-nutty action flick in the vein of the movies mentioned above, which means it's already high on my Must See list. Attentive movie geeks may remember Michael Davis from low-budgeters like Monster Man, 100 Girls and 100 Women. (They're two different movies.) The IMDb indicates that New Line will be unleashing this one on September 7, which would put it up against a few comedies (The Brothers Solomon, The Nanny Diaries, The Savages) and the long-awaited Hatchet.

Apparently the movie's about nothing more than an ultra-tough Brit who stands in the way of a ruthless hitman and his innocent prey. Good enough for me. Yeah, yeah, so it looks mindless. Forgive me for enjoying the hell out of Clive Owen's bad-ass mode, Paul Giamatti cackling like a lunatic and the obvious assets of Ms. Bellucci.

Writer/director Michael Davis has been toiling in the B-level genre arena for quite some time now (perhaps you're familiar with his 100 Girls or Monster Man), but the kid looks to be moving up in the movie world. His newest feature stars Clive Owen, Paul Giamatti and Monica Bellucci -- and ever since the thing's been in screenplay form, it's been described as "ultra-mega-over the top action mayhem." And after checking out this exclusive promo reel at Latino Review, I'm tempted to put Shoot 'Em Up right next to Smokin' Aces on my "action flicks I gotta see!" list.

The flick's about a noble hero who helps deliver a baby (mid-gunfight) and then spends the next 90-some minutes trying to protect the infant from a ceaseless hail of hot lead. Mr. Giamatti is the villain, which looks like a nifty change of pace for the nice-guy actor. New Line hasn't yet set a release date for Shoot 'Em Up, but I'm guessing it'll hit sometime in February or March.

Check out the promo clip, which might be yanked any minute, at Latino Review.