The Game Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Set the bar low enough, and it can only be exceeded. That's how I feel about the upcoming big-screen version of The A-Team, a 80s television series entirely beholden to the staid formula of the day and ripe for reinvention. I didn't hate the series so much as I found it routinely mediocre. My colleague Monika Bartyzel loved the series as a kid, yet still questioned the casting choices that were being entertained: Liam Neeson as Hannibal? Bradley Cooper as Face? Adding fuel to the fire, rapper The Game is being considered to play the role of B.A. Baracus, according to blackfilm.com, which quotes "a very highly reliable source in the entertainment industry."

For me, the only thing that made The A-Team watchable was the bantering between the characters, and the choices so far all indicate that director Joe Carnahan is aiming for a more straightforward action picture, based on a script by Wanted's Michael Brandt and Derek Haas. Which is crazy, like moving Miami Vice to Seattle or transforming the lead character in Get Smart into a fairly bland, somewhat competent secret agent. (Even though the latter still made money.)

The mistake would be in confusing brand recognition with brand loyalty. If you're promising fans of the TV show that you're going to deliver the same thing, only bigger and better, then you damn well better deliver something in the same spirit. I haven't seen The Game's work as an actor (Waist Deep, Street Kings) yet; is he any good? If this rumor is true, could he wear the mohawk of the immortal Mr. T?

The good folks over at Fox Searchlight have just sent us the new poster for Street Kings (click on the image for a larger version), starring Keanu Reeves as a cop who, following the death of his wife, finds himself framed for a murder he didn't commit. In order to clear his name, he'll have to up against a cop culture he's been a part of his entire career. And he'll do it without help from steroids. Take that Clemens! The first trailer debuted a couple days ago, and the film also stars Forest Whitaker, Hugh Laurie, Common, Chris Evans, The Game and Jay Mohr. It's gritty, it's directed by David Ayer and it arrives in theaters on April 11. For more on Street Kings, head on over to the film's official site (which is in teaser mode right now, and will be updated with all sorts of goodies as the release date draws near).

Sylvester Stallone is ready to step into Charles Bronson's shoes. Variety reports that Stallone is in talks to direct and star in a remake of Death Wish, to be scripted by Michael Ferris and John Brancato. That's the writing team responsible for The Net, The Game, Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines -- and Catwoman. Draw your own conclusions, but with Stallone in the director's chair, this could be another project that ends up better than it initially sounds.

Michael Winner's 1974 original starred Charles Bronson as mild-mannered Paul Kersey, a New York City architect transformed into a killing machine meting out street justice after his wife is brutally murdered and his daughter is raped. Four sequels would follow over the next 20 years, but with Bronson's passing in 2003, the search for a successor was inevitable.

Early September saw two new vigilantes hit the screen: Kevin Bacon in Death Sentence, a straightforward and enjoyable revenge flick misunderstood to be a message movie, and Jodie Foster in The Brave One, which drew more direct comparisons to Death Wish because it was set in Manhattan. It's hard to imagine that a new Death Wish will try to be profound or offer anything new on the subject, but if it's well made and Stallone restrains himself a bit, that may be enough.

Stallone has been working hard on the comeback trail and made some major coin for the backers of Rocky Balboa. He also has Rambo due out on January 25, 2008, a release date that's normally a death wish of its own, but the trailer looks fairly awesome as an action pic. If Rambo hits big, this deal for Death Wish will generate even more excitement. And if Sly's Death Wish hits big, MGM is prepared to make it into a franchise for him, which could sustain Stallone well into his 70s (Bronson was in his early 70s when he made his last Death Wish). While you contemplate that thought, MGM is hoping to start production before March 2008.

You might have thought all hope was lost for Neil Strauss' womanizing tome The Game to hit the big screen, but now it's back. Last year, Columbia nabbed the book and gave it to Chris Weitz (About a Boy) to adapt. Weitz moved on to The Golden Compass, and the adaptation of The Game was left high and dry. Now Spyglass has nabbed the rights and has tapped relative-unknown Dan Weiss to adapt it. (Variety says he's behind some rewrites for flicks like Halo, as well as an HBO pilot.) Producer Andrew Miano says that while Weitz was the main guy, Weiss has been around since the beginning, and "his perseverance and love for the project continued to impress me." Is he a man in need of some womanizing himself?

If you're not familiar with the book, it's about an average Joe who gets the help from seduction "experts" to become the world's best pickup artist. His main guide, Mystery, uses the mantra: "find, meet, attract and close," while others are monumentally creepier -- like a guy who uses hypnosis as part of his plan to get women in bed. I haven't read the book, so I'm waiting to see if it can pull off the sleaze like, say, Roger Dodger did. On the other hand, I'm apprehensive since Campbell Scott's film had him as a pathetic womanizer facing a bunch of strong and powerful women, whereas The Game seems to rely on naivete.

Sidenote: On his website, Strauss claims to be leaving the seduction scene forever, after he gives out some sort of secret "LAST GIFT" to his VIP e-mail list. Hurry now, before the secret is gone forever and life is never the same!!!

Because the concept of Neil Strauss' The Game wasn't distasteful enough in written form, Columbia has decided to produce a film based on it. Strauss' book, which was based on an article he wrote for The New York Times, "chronicle[s]...[his] transformation from lovelorn loser to lothario" under the guidance of "a man named Mystery, who dispenses advice on the art of seduction using the mantra - find, meet, attract, close." And, in case you were questioning his pedigree, Strauss has a strong literary background: he's a rock critics who co-wrote both How to Make Love Like a Porn Star (with Jenna Jameson, no less), and a Motley Crue biography. Do you want to puke now, or later?

Columbia has placed Strauss' brilliant book (which did sell quite a few copies) in the capable hands of Chris Weitz, who will write the screenplay and produce the film with his brother Paul. Weitz, whose nuanced work on About a Boy was nominated for the best adapted screenplay Oscar, is an undeniably talented writer, so I suppose there's an outside chance he could turn a story about women as objects into something not completely repulsive. Good luck with that, Chris.