SteveHarris Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Review: 12 Rounds
Filed under: Action », Theatrical Reviews », Fox Atomic »
Poor New Orleans! As if the real-life horrors of Hurricane Katrina and the broken levees weren't bad enough, now the beautiful city must suffer from the devastation wrought by Danny Fisher, played by former * WWE wrestler / entertainer John Cena in 12 Rounds, the latest train wreck from director Renny Harlin. "Damn the property damage! I'm going to save my girlfriend, whatever the cost!" is a noble sentiment, especially when you don't have to pay the bills.
Danny isn't really responsible for the carnage he causes, of course, even though he politely apologizes whenever he crashes into other people's vehicles or accidentally kills people. (Cena furrows his brow and turns his smile upside down, just so you know he's not happy with himself.) The real blame lies with Miles Jackson, who is seeking revenge on Danny for the death of his girlfriend. Jackson is described as an international arms dealer, but he spends much more time blowing things up and changing SIM cards in cell phones than any actual dealing of arms.
Aidan Gillen, who was superb as a cagey, ambitious, well-intentioned politician in The Wire, has much less to play with here, but it's fun to watch him try to juice up the role of an exceptionally-nasty master criminal with absolutely no scruples or second thoughts. He provides one of the few true pleasures in 12 Rounds, which should be a lot more fun than it is. Instead of embracing its loonier plot elements -- a fire engine crashing across town, a ticking time bomb on a public bus, an out-of-control street car -- 12 Rounds insists on playing it straight as a sober drama, ending up as Speed without the flirtations or thrills.
Renny Harlin and John Cena Go '12 Rounds'
Filed under: Action », Casting »
Just in case you can't get enough of the WWE already, they're really getting into the movie biz. Variety reports that they're teaming up with Fox Atomic for a new action movie called 12 Rounds. The flick will be helmed by Renny Harlin -- the man behind Die Hard 2, Deep Blue Sea, and my personal favorite -- A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master. (Yes, I like that movie. A lot.) Now, being a WWE feature, there's got to be some wrasslin' in the mix, so the cast will be led by John Cena, and also include Steve Harris (The Practice), Aidan Gillen (The Wire), and Brian White (Stomp the Yard).The picture will follow "a New Orleans police detective (Cena) whose girlfriend is kidnapped." Harris will play an FBI agent, presumably helping on the search, White is a cop who works with Cena's character, and Gillen, who used to be sweet as Aidan in Circle of Friends, is taking on the role of the kidnapper. According to IMDb, that also makes him an "evil crime lord" who forces him to go "12 Rounds," hence the film's title.
Should this work out as well as Cena's last WWE feature, The Marine, this should be a sweet moneymaker for the company. In the meantime, we've got to see if any of the rumored cast sticks around -- everyone from Al Pacino to Piper Perabo and Method Man have been rumored to have parts.
Jay Hernandez, Jennifer Carpenter, and Columbus Short are 'Quarantined'
Filed under: Horror », Thrillers », Casting », Scripts », Newsstand »
You always have to beware of the rabies. It brought down Old Yeller, and it can bring down hot, fresh, Hollywood talent. The Hollywood Reporter has posted that Hostel star Jay Hernandez, Dexter's wacky sister Jennifer Carpenter, and Columbus Short (Stomp the Yard), along with Splendor's Johnathon Schaech and Steve Harris (Diary of a Mad Black Woman), will be rabidly Quarantined. The flick is an adaptation of the Spanish horror movie Rec, and the kicker: the flipping original film hasn't even come out yet! That's right -- the English-language version has already been cast and goes into production today, while the original doesn't hit European screens until November 23.The adaptation was written by director John Erick Dowdle with his brother Drew Dowdle, whose previous collaboration was this year's horror/thriller, The Poughkeepsie Tapes. This version of Quarantined is about an apartment building in downtown Los Angeles "where a deadly strain of rabies breaks out. A reporter and her cameraman are among those trapped inside when the edifice and its residents are quarantined." That's got to suck. However, maybe it's better than being quarantined with some skin-rotting virus or something. At least you have a fighting chance against rabid people. I have a feeling that some of the footage will be from the wobbly, running hand of the cameraman, but we'll have to wait and see, since we can't even watch the original yet.
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