A brand new trailer-ish preview for Hancock debuted on American Idol last night (see video above), and I'm still in the camp of people who are really looking forward to this one. I've spoken to some people who've seen a good amount of Hancock, and they say the flick is very heavy on special effects. Based on the original trailer and this preview, I'd say they're absolutely right. But this is a July 4th weekend movie -- am I the only one who expects a film that comes out over the July 4th weekend to be absolutely stocked with an unhealthy amount of special effects? Plus it's nice to see an original character sandwiched between a handful of established characters, not to mention the fact that Will Smith plays him.
Shouldn't have to say too much about the plot as the video above does a good job laying it our for us; the only thing I'm interested in seeing now is Charlize Theron's role in all of this. She's the only one who's been kinda absent in these previews. We know she's married to Jason Bateman's character, and, according to early script reviews, her and Hancock were supposed to have a little unspoken "thing" going on. Not sure if that's been removed or what, but here's hoping the next trailer shows us a little more of The Theron.
Why We Can't Wait to See It: For the first time in his career, Mr. Fresh Prince himself dons the superhero costume and will fly off to save the day. Sure, his superhero is a bit washed-up and drunk half the time, but if any man can bring the BIG budget and get nominated for an Oscar in the same year, it's our homeboy from Philly, Will Smith.
Why It Might Do Well: Is there anything more alluring than a combo that includes Will Smith, superheroes and the high stylings of director Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom)? Additionally, you want the funny, there's Jason Bateman. You want the hotness, there's Charlize Theron. You want my opinion? I'm sold.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Will Smith always draws big numbers, but when people become so used to seeing a sequel or a film based on a familiar property (like last year's Transformers), it might be somewhat difficult to convince them that it's still okay to support an original idea.
Fun Fact: On its way to theaters, Hancock went through three different directors (Michael Mann, Jonathan Mostow and Gabriele Muccino), as well as two different titles (Tonight, He Comes and John Hancock) before settling on Hancock, directed by Peter Berg.
With the news that Battle in Seattlewill open the Seattle International Film Festival, and coverage of the recent Olympic protests on every channel, it couldn't be a better time to release the trailer for the protest drama. Movieset is currently hosting the full trailer for the film set during the infamous World Trade Organization riots in Seattle in 1999.
In 1999, the World Trade Organization (WTO) convened in Seattle, Washington for a global trade negotiation conference. Before anyone knew what had happened, over 40,000 protesters had amassed outside the conference buildings and the anti-globalization group, Direct Action Network, had total control over downtown intersections. Unfortunately, the protests erupted into violence and a state of emergency pitted demonstrators against the National Guard and local police.
Stuart Townsend's directorial debut has a huge cast including Ray Liotta, Charlize Theron, Michelle Rodriguez, Martin Henderson, Channing Tatum, André Benjamin, and Woody Harrelson. Judging by Eric's SXSW review it doesn't look like all that star power has helped the film all that much. Battle was originally scheduled to be released in March, but has been moved back to September. It makes much more sense to release this kind of 'earnest' political drama when everyone is finished with summer popcorn flicks and are ready for something with just a little substance, however heavy-handed it might be.
In a summer full of old and new superheroes, one guy has been kinda flying under the radar. The big film arriving this year for Fourth of July weekend doesn't involve any giant f**king robots and it's one we haven't heard much about. USA Today just posted a sneak peek at Hancock; the new Will Smith flick directed by the very talented Peter Berg (Friday Night Lights, The Kingdom). Above you will see the brand new image that went along with their story which adds to the other bits and pieces floating around the net (check out our full Hancock gallery below). A bunch of set photos hit awhile back, there was a teaser trailer and a poster, but that's been about it as far as Hancock goes. It's sorta like the huge summer film no one is talking about.
The second year of AFI Dallas was a big hit with locals, with ticket sales way over expectations. Big kudos have to go to fest director Michael Caine* and his stellar team for working out the kinks from last year's fest and making everything flow smoothly this year, while programming a huge lineup for Dallas cinephiles. Here are some of the pics; a rundown of this year's fest highlights is after the jump:
One of the things I love about living in New York City is that it's easy for us to spot trends before, say, folks from Memphis (sorry Memphis, but your boys choked BIG TIME last night). Part of this is because most NY'ers travel by mass transit -- allowing everyone to see what everyone else is wearing, reading, watching, etc ... When I'm on the train, I particularly like to check out what the hot books are. Usually you can tell which book is hot because one out of three people are reading it. At the height of The Da Vinci Code madness, I couldn't even tell you how many people were on that one. (I'd even catch some who took off the dust jacket in an attempt to hide the title because they didn't want other people to know they were reading what everyone else was reading. No joke.)
I watch the book trends because I like to see which are being turned into movies. This, in turn, helps me predict which upcoming movies will do well at the box office. If I see a lot of people reading one book, chances are those same people will run to the theater when the film comes out. Now, I haven't been out on the train too much in the past month, but I've noticed one book that doesn't seem to be going away. In fact, I visited two bookstores before finally finding it in stock. (In the last subway car I rode in, I counted three different people reading it.) The book? The Road, by Cormac McCarthy.
Some new photos have emerged from Will Smith's superhero caper Hancock over on DVD Forum. I picked this one as it was a nice bookend to those Iron Man ones. Everyone loves when superheroes throw cars! There hasn't been much on this film since the teaser, so hopefully this means we'll be getting a full trailer soon.
I did a double take when I first looked through these -- I thought Jason Bateman was Dennis Quaid for a second. Is it just me? Probably. I do write these articles in the dark and my eyes are probably being destroyed. A viral site has also been launched, run by the titular hero himself. It seems not even superheroes are safe from fanboy snark. . .
Hancock is about a superhero in need of a major image overhaul and new enthusiasm for chasing bad guys. He hires Jason Bateman as his PR man, but just embroils himself in more of a mess when he falls for his wife, played by Charlize Theron. The teaser had some funny moments, and if done right, this film could be a sharp antidote to all the superhero goodness we'll be getting this summer. Hancock opens on July 2nd, 2008.
One of the things I hate most about wannabe indie movies is the fallacy of the two-day scruff. That's when a male character wakes up every day with exactly two days' growth of beard, even if the movie takes place over the course of two weeks and even if he lacks the means to shave. That's a small thing, I know, but it indicates that the director is grasping at straws trying to come up with a visual look for his story, perhaps a kind of cool, grungy look. The new Sleepwalking, directed by Bill Maher (not the Comedy Central guy) is filled with such things, like a spookily serene shot of a girl swimming underwater with weird sunglasses on, or swirls of powdered snow wisping across a lonely highway. These images may fill out a 2-1/2 minute trailer, but they're out of place in Maher's feature film.
Nick Stahl plays the "sleepwalking" James, a dead-eyed slacker who works a construction job and goes home to a dreary apartment. One day his sister Joleen (Charlize Theron) disappears and his 11 year-old Niece Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) turns up looking for help. Even though he can't drive, James attempts to maintain a schedule, driving her to school in the mornings, before turning up at his job. One day he's late, and the next he calls in sick to look for his sister. On the third day, they oversleep, just as social services turn up. James loses his job and Tara is shipped off to a home. But the first chance she gets, she coaxes her uncle to help her skip town. Their money carries them only as far as James and Joleen's father's farm, which looks permanently chilled and dried and wind-blown (only scraps of paint remain on the outside walls).
I'm not quite sure how I missed this, but there is an interesting bit of news coming by way of Boston.com this week. In an interview with Charlize Theron, they discussed her current plans, and the upcoming Sleepwalking, but that's not all. On the third page of the article, it says she will both produce and star in a remake of Park Chan-wook's Sympathy for Lady Vengeance.
I guess they're either not into the movie, or were stopped from getting any further details, because that's all they say about it. Filthy teases. The original came out back in 2006, and with Charlize involved in the remake, I imagine it will keep what Martha Fischer described as "totally unexpected" "subtlety and tenderness." For those who aren't familiar with Chan-Wook's vengeance trilogy, this final film focuses on a teen girl who is forced to confess to a crime she didn't commit. She spends the next 13 years in prison, and is a model inmate known for her kindness. Once she gets out, however, her tune changes and she begins to put together the revenge she has been secretly plotting over the years. She's so determined, in fact, that it's all she cares about -- shrugging off everything around her as a distraction.
While not big on remakes, especially of really funky foreign films worthy of a viewing, I have to admit -- Charlize could probably knock this out of the ballpark. Could this be her Oscar win without "getting ugly?"
The complete line-up for the second edition of the AFI Dallas International Film Festival has been announced, and beyond the galas and the glitter, the programming team has assembled an intriguing schedule. Robert Wilonsky of Unfair Parkwas the first to post the news and highlighted several of his recommendations.
First, though, the stars: Helen Hunt will appear in support of her directorial debut Then She Found Me, which will serve as the Opening Night Gala on March 27, and Charlize Theron and Woody Harrelson will walk the red carpet for the closing night presentation, Battle in Seattle. Sometime in between, Robert De Niro and Barry Levinson will come out hustling for their latest, What Just Happened? Special awards will be given to Hunt, Theron, Jack Lemmon (in care of the late actor's widow, Felicia Farr), Mickey Rooney (?!), and Todd Wagner.
AFI Dallas established itself on the local social calendar last year as a premium civic-boosting event. That's good for the city, but as a film buff, I'm glad to see more international films in the narrative competition, more docs, an expanded and ace-looking section devoted to music docs ("Deep Ellum Sounds"), an entirely recommended six-film "Mavericks" section (featuring the French Chrysalis and the Japanese Vexille), and a ton of shorts. There's a fair share of titles that are dragging around lukewarm notices (see What Just Happaned? above), but I'm glad that local audiences will have a chance to decide for themselves. Cinematical will be covering the festival, which begins on March 27 and runs through April 6.
Sleepwalking stars Charlize Theron -- but she disappears from the screen for about two-thirds of the film. It's set in the American West -- but shot in Canada. It's about family, pain, loss, renewal -- all of which are discussed, and discussed more elegantly, in other films at Sundance this year. It even has what's become a fairly standard-issue Sundance finale, as a character hits the open road with a bright future ahead of them, aside from the murder rap in their rear view mirror. It's not that Sleepwalkingis bad, per se; it's just that it's inert, a space-and-schedule filler that can now put the words "Sundance Premiere Selection" on the DVD box when it goes straight-to-video.
Joleen Reedy (Theron) has one of those lives where all the things that go wrong keep her harried and distracted enough to not notice how many of them are her fault. She's been thrown out of her house because the cops have seized her boyfriend's on-site marijuana gro-op, and she and her daughter Tara (AnnaSophia Robb) move in with her brother James (Nick Stahl). Joleen doesn't even try to get back on her feet -- or, rather, she figures the best way to get back on her feet involves leaving town in pursuit of another man; Tara's left with James, and his strained life implodes under the stress of trying to care for an 11-year-old girl.
So I know these aren't the first pictures to come out of Peter Berg's Hancock, but these are the first that capture Will Smith in full superhero gear. Cine21 is hosting two images of Smith in his 'tights.' Well, to be fair, they aren't tights. In fact, like most superhero costumes, it's kind of a spandex and body armor combo -- which really does make the most sense if you think about; comfortable and bullet-proof. Smith stars as Hancock; a superhero that is down on his luck. In desperate need of a PR makeover, he hires a new agent (played by Jason Bateman) in hopes of recapturing some of his former glory. Charlize Theron also stars as Bateman's wife and her involvement with Hancock causes some serious problems in her husband's working relationship with the scuzzy superhero.
I'll admit that I'm a little surprised that it took this long to get the first look at Smith in his 'Super' look. There have already been plenty of photos released from the set, a poster, and the first trailer was released back in December -- all of which featured the ordinarily dapper Smith looking like a bum. Now maybe it's just my Arrested Development nostalgia clouding my judgment, but I do think that this movie has a shot at being pretty funny. Say what you like about Will Smith, but he's got one of the best track records in the business. Plus, Berg has a knack with make comedies from unlikely premises. From a dead stripper in Vegas to a misanthropic superhero is not that much of a leap if you think about it. Hancock opens in theaters on July 2nd, 2008.
To be honest, I'm a little surprised that today is the first day I have heard about the indie-drama Sleepwalking -- mainly because it stars two Oscar-nominated actors. Heck, one of them even won. You would have thought that the marketing department would have had a field day with that kind of award-winning pedigree. Trailer Addict is now hosting the first trailer for this dysfunctional family drama, which stars Charlize Theron, Nick Stahl, AnnaSophia Robb and Dennis Hopper.
Robb plays a young girl who has to come to terms with the fact that her mother (Theron) has abandoned her, and that she has been left with her uncle James (Stahl), who is not ready to deal with raising a kid on his own. Hopper plays the patriarch of this dysfunctional family and by the looks of the trailer, he is making full use of his skill with playing a 'villain.'
Sleepwalking was written by Zac Stanford, who is a relative newcomer, and this was his first feature film script. Bill Maher (no, not that one) directed the dysfunctional weepie, and is also relatively new to the directing game. (So far, Maher has spent most of his career as a visual effects artist on films like X-Men and Mars Attacks!) The movie was chosen to be a part of the Sundance slate (you can check out stills from the film from our Sundance coverage here), but there is no word about a release date. One look at the credits would lead me to believe that it probably won't take long before the property is snatched up by a studio.
At last count, it looked like Guy Pearcemight have been replacing Viggo Mortensen in the upcoming adaptation of Cormac McCarthy'sThe Road. Fortunately (and no offense, Guy) it looks like Viggo is still on board ... plus he just got a gal named Charlize Theron as a co-star. According to Variety, the Oscar-winning blonde will play the main character's wife, a small but important character who will appear mostly through flashbacks.
An admitted fan of the source material, Ms. Theron will be working alongside director John Hillcoat (of the excellent The Proposition) and screenwriter Joe Penhall (of the strangely entertaining Enduring Love). The adaptation, which is being produced by 2929 Entertainment and distributed by the Weinsteins' Dimension Films, tells the story of "a man who embarks on a nightmarish road trip after a nuclear explosion in an attempt to transport his son to safety while fending off cannibals." Awesome.
And thanks also to Variety for the reminder: I need a good book for my Sundance flight -- and The Road is definitely going to be it. I think that will be the first "Oprah's Book Club" selection that I've ever read. (No offense, Oprah.)
Before he was saving humanity, Will Smith was all about the comedy. ComingSoon.net is now hosting the first teaser poster for the superhero comedy, Hancock. Directed and co-written by Peter Berg (The Kingdom), the film stars Smith as a down on his luck superhero with a serious need for an image makeover. Enter Jason Bateman (Juno) as a PR agent who is hoping to do just that. Also starring is Charlize Theron as Bateman's wife and possible love-interest for Smith -- or at least those paparazzi pictures taken back in August certainly make it look that way. The project had been kicking around since the 1990's and had passed through the hands of some high-profile directors before Berg landed the job.
The first trailer for the film was released earlier this month and other than a slightly re-cycled gag about flinging marine life, it looks like there is a potential for a pretty funny flick. Personally, I'm not sold on the one sheet -- for starters Smith's expression on the poster has the unfortunate look of someone smelling something unpleasant. Not to mention there is the unfortunate choice of a tag line. But, all in all, I guess there is really not that much to tell audiences about the film other than the fact that Smith is the star. Of course, judging by the man's record at the box-office that seems to be enough to pack them into the seats. Honestly, I'm just looking forward to watching Smith in a comedy that has a little bit of edge -- this is the same director who gave us Very Bad Things after all. Hancock is set for release on July 2nd, 2008.
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One of the things I love about living in New York City is that it's easy for us to spot trends before, say, folks from Memphis (sorry Memphis, but your boys choked BIG TIME last night). Part of this is because most NY'ers travel by mass transit -- allowing everyone to see what everyone else is wearing, reading, watching, etc ... When I'm on the train, I particularly like to check out what the hot books are. Usually you can tell which book is hot because one out of three people are reading it. At the height of The Da Vinci Code madness, I couldn't even tell you how many people were on that one. (I'd even catch some who took off the dust jacket in an attempt to hide the title because they didn't want other people to know they were reading what everyone else was reading. No joke.)
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SCOOP: Spider-Man 4 and 5 Might be Shot at the Same Time!
Cinematical Seven: Disney's Awesome Live-Action Kid Adventures
