Shooter Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Review: Shooter -- Scott's Review
Filed under: Action », New Releases », Paramount », Theatrical Reviews », New in Theaters », War »
Swiftly and aggressively entertaining at its best moments, thoroughly (aggressively) boring at its worst, the new action flick Shooter feels like it fell right out of the 1980s. Jettison the handful of offhand references to current events (like 9/11 and other violent incursions) and you're looking at a screenplay that Arnold Schwarzenegger or Bruce Willis would have climbed all over. When director Antoine Fuqua keeps his lenses focused firmly on the action, Shooter is quite a bit of tough, gritty fun. It's just that all the endless story deviations and lethargic plot contortions start to grate on the nerves after a little while.
Based on the novel Point of Impact (by Pulitzer Prize-winning film critic Stephen Hunter), Shooter is a blend of The Fugitive and In the Line of Fire -- with one amusingly outrageous portion of Cliffhanger thrown in because, hey, blood looks really cool when it's splattered all over virgin snow. Our hero is Bob Lee Swagger (as played by Mark Wahlberg and yes I said Swagger), the undisputed world's champ when it comes to killing enemies by way of military sniper rifle. Think you've got mad Halo skills when you find that sniper gun? Please. Bob Lee Swagger can hit a tin can from over a mile away -- and pet his dog at the same time. So when a shadowy government man (Danny Glover) shows up at Swagger's isolated cabin with his evil henchman (Elias Koteas) in tow, you'd think Bob Lee would know better than to accept their proposal -- to "fake" a presidential assassination in order to help "prevent" a presidential assassination -- but he doesn't.
Trailer Park: Time For Crime
Filed under: Action », Comedy », Drama », Trailer Trash », Movie Marketing »
As The Shadow was fond of saying: "The weed of crime bears bitter fruit." Crime may not pay, but it often makes for compelling cinema. This week on trailer park we look at some recent trailers in which people, for one reason or another, find themselves on the wrong side of the law.
Shooter
Mark Wahlberg plays a retired sharpshooter pressed back into service to prevent a Presidential assassination. His attempts to foil the hit go wrong and he ends up framed by his former employers and on the run. The story is nothing we haven't all seen before, so it all comes down to the execution (pun most definitely intended). Wahlberg has developed a formidable screen presence, and I suspect he'll be able to pull it off. The most interesting thing about seeing the rapper formerly known as Marky Mark up there on the screen, is the fact that you no longer care that it's Marky Mark. This film is not to be confused with the similarly-plotted The Shooter starring Wesley Snipes. You can read Chris Ullrich's take on this trailer here.
Smiley Face
Regardless of your views on marijuana, possession and use of it remains a crime here in the U.S. Martha Fischer first mentioned this film here on Cinematical back in March. This stoner comedy is from Gregg Araki, the director behind The Doom Generation, a nightmarishly messed up but fascinating film. Smiley Face stars Anna Faris as a young actress who really likes pot. After mistakenly eating an entire batch of cupcakes laced with the stuff, things start to get silly. Faris is probably best known for the Scary Movie series, and she does a pratfall in the trailer that will remind you of that fact. As sophomorically stupid as those films can be, I like Faris, and she's usually memorable in even small roles like the ones she played in Lost in Translation and Brokeback Mountain. I think this will be one to look out for.
Shooter Hits a Trailer
Filed under: Action », Drama », Thrillers », Trailer Trash », Movie Marketing »
Take equal parts Jason Bourne of The Bourne Identify and John Rambo of First Blood, mix them together with a premise that sounds vaguely like several other films of this genre and what do you get? The new thriller Shooter, starring Mark Wahlberg and directed by Antoine Fuqua.As our own Martha Fischer reported way back in February, the film, based on the novel Point of Impact by Steven Hunter and adapted by the author, tells the story of a retired elite sniper who's forced back into business for one last job to protect the President of the United States from assassination. Unfortunately, as often happens in these movies, Wahlberg's character is double-crossed and then must fight to clear his name and survive long enough to expose the real plot.
So, now that I've got you all fired up to see this movie, I can tell you that Yahoo! now has the exclusive trailer for the film posted at their site. So, head on over and take a look. I did, and I like what I see so far -- but I'm a sucker for this type of thing. Plus, any movie where the main character is described as "a thinking man's Rambo" is ok by me. Enjoy.
Quickhits: Flyboys Dist Deal, Mara to Shooter, Krumholtz to Paris, Script Deal for Tyrese
Filed under: Action », Drama », Romance », Thrillers », Casting », Deals », MGM », Paramount », Distribution », Newsstand »
Mmm ... odds and ends:- Electric Entertainment has signed a distribution deal with MGM which, while it normally wouldn't matter to anyone at all, is worth mentioning because it means that MGM will distribute Flyboys, an oddly under-the-radar, $60 million WWI flick that stars Jean Reno and the prettiest bad actor around, James Franco. Thanks to the deal, the movie should be in theaters this fall.
- Everyone is very excited this morning about the news that David Krumholtz (aka one of the guys in Numb3rs who isn't Rob Morrow) has signed on to appear in Woody Allen's next movie. You remember that one -- it's got Michelle Williams in it, and doesn't have a name or a plot. Rest assured, however, that Krumholtz will be doing whatever it is Allen tells him to do in Paris. This much we know.
- Since they're actually building a cast for it, it's starting to look like third-time lucky for Paramount's Shooter. After it failed to get off the ground the two times they tried before (with Keanu Reeves and then Robert Redford each in line to star - I bet they were never cast in the role before or since), the studio announced it again last month, this time as a collaboration for Mark Wahlberg and Antoine Fuqua. Variety reports today that Kate Mara has joined the cast, playing the love interest of Wahlberg's pissed off ex-sniper; production is due to begin this summer.
- Tyrese Gibson just isn't getting the scripts he wants, apparently. To correct matters, he threw together a spec called To Each his Own and, what do you know, sold it to Screen Gems. Gibson will star in the film (It's about "two friends in conflict" -- could that not be the summary of say, 86% of all the movies ever made?), and also co-produce it through his HQ Pictures.
Marky Mark, Shooter
Filed under: Action », Drama », Thrillers », Casting », Paramount », Newsstand »
After months of talks, Mark Wahlberg has agreed with Paramount to star in Shooter, to
be directed by Antoine Fuqua. The film is based on Point
of Impact, Stephen Hunter's novel about "a master sniper [Wahlberg] lured out of a reclusive existence to
prevent an assassination. He's double-crossed and hunted for a murder." Ooooh - damn that military and its
deception. Since one review of the book refers to the sniper as "a thinking man's Rambo," I'm guessing he
doesn't take the double-crossing lying down. The film has already been in development twice, once with Keanu
Reeves as the sniper, and once with Robert
Redford, so no one can be blamed for not believing in this one until film is actually exposed.Also in the works for Wahlberg and Fuqua at Paramount is By Any Means Necessary, a "terrorist drama" with Al Pacino. Though this film was initially scheduled to shoot first, Pacino and Paul Attanasio, who is doing a rewrite of the script, have been unavailable, so Shooter, the screenplay for which is ready to go, might actually go ahead.
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