common Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Yeah, Mark Wahlberg has come a long way since his Marky Mark days. In fact, if there is anyone that the young and cherubic pop icons should try to emulate, it's him. Wrenching your way out of your niche is one thing. Moving from a good, vibrating, spunky underwear model to notable big-screen name -- that takes talent. But these days, that's talent has been squeezed into the serious with no room left for laughs.

Until now. Five years after his Huckabees angst, The Hollywood Reporter posts that Wahlberg is signing on to 20th Century Fox's upcoming comedy, Date Night. In fact, this will be his first all-out mainstream comedy, setting aside existential detectives and Middle-East action laughs. Date Night follows a couple who go out for dinner and a movie, and then get mistaken as other people -- that leads to, one would assume, comic moments.

As Eric pointed out when the news first hit last year that Steve Carell and Tina Fey joined the project -- it's getting directed by Cheaper by the Dozen helmer Shawn Levy, which doesn't bode well. But the cast certainly does. Fey and Carell are the couple, while Wahlberg will play a black ops man in private security who offers to help them. But there's more. James Franco somehow found time in his schedule to sign on and play a "dim con man," the Oscar-nominated Taraji P. Henson will play a cop who doesn't take things at face value, Common and Jimmi Simpson will play detectives on the take, Leighton Meester will play the couple's babysitter, and Kristen Wiig will play Fey's best friend.

Could all of these names have signed on if this was going to be like other Levy features? Maybe he's ready to surprise us.

With Wanted opening this week, starring rapper Common opposite Angelina Jolie (and, I'm happy to see, getting some awesome reviews, making it one of the few movies I may pay to see just for the heck of it), we thought it would be a good time to revisit seven other rappers who've attempted the treacherous transition from rap artist to movie star.

What makes film producers look to rap stars when casting for the big screen? Well, aside from the built-in audience that comes from casting a popular rap performer in a movie role, rappers have to have stage presence to perform, and that charisma and personality can come across well on a movie theater screen. Here are seven of them; let me know which of your favorite rappers I missed. (And before any of you Outkast fans get all worked up: they are hip-hop, not rap, and this post was for the rappers; Outkast is one of my absolute favorite bands, though, and Andre Benjamin in particular, I consider enormously talented. I'll do a whole column on Outkast and what they're up to movie-wise in the near future, promise.)

1. Will Smith -- Smith charmed TV audiences as a teenager in his popular TV show The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air before hitting it big on the silver screen with the triple-whammy of Bad Boys (1995), Independence Day (1996), and Men in Black (1997). Since then, more hits have followed, and Smith and his wife, actress Jada Pinkett-Smith, have become Hollywood royalty; Smith's solid marriage and commitment to his family have earned him a reputation as one of Hollywood's genuine "nice guys," to boot. Smith is one rapper who successfully made the transition from singer to big-name actor, largely due to his charm, charisma and natural talent on the screen. His latest film, Hancock, opens July 2.

After the record-breaking success of Night Watch and Day Watch (and an early film for B-movie maven Roger Corman, Arena), Khazakstan-born, Russia-based director Timur Bekmambetov makes his English-language big-studio debut with Wanted, a bruising, brawny action film starring James McAvoy and Angelina Jolie. Bekmambetov spoke with Cinematical in Los Angeles about making the jump to big-money moviemaking, the hidden world of secrets behind Wanted's look, the action-film apprenticeship of James McAvoy, working with Angelina Jolie and how " .... we (film makers) are all vampires. ..."

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In Wanted, rapper-actor Common plays The Gunsmith -- a cool, deadly expert marksman who mostly lets his bullets do the talking. But meeting with Cinematical in Los Angeles, the veteran of films like Smokin' Aces and Street Kings is warm and obviously enthusiastic about his experiences, talking about everything from his preparation process for playing what he calls "a Samurai warrior" in Wanted to the challenges facing African-American actors -- plus what's good to drink in Prague and how holding a real gun to James McAvoy's head can get you in the moment for your scenes.

Cinematical's podcast content is now available through iTunes; you can subscribe at this link. Also, you can listen directly here at Cinematical by clicking below:



As ever, you can download the entire podcast right here -- and those of you with RSS Podcast readers can find all of Cinematical's podcast content at this link.

At the recent press day for the new rock-'em, sock-'em action film Wanted, actor and rapper Common met the press; of course, someone asked him about his rumored involvement in the on-again, off-again Justice League movie, where he was rumored to be in contention for the role of Green Lantern, Jon Stewart. His answer was a nicely-tuned mix of diplomatic evasion and general enthusiasm, culminating in a non-statement of Nixonian proportions: "I really don't know what's going on with the Justice League movie; I can say if they do do a Justice League movie, I would love to be a part of it, but I really can't speak on it, because I don't know what's happening with it . ... I like the comic, though."

Common also spoke briefly about another high-octane franchise flick he's currently shooting, Terminator: Salvation: "I'm in Terminator 4, and I'm very grateful to be part of that ... I'm playing the role of Barnes, a resistance soldier with John Connor, fighting the machines; I also have a new album coming out in August, Invincible Summer. ..." So, in other words, not exactly a bevy of new information, but, nonetheless, confirmation that a) Justice League is still a no-go and b) Common's on our side in Terminator 4; for more on Wanted, look for our interview with Common tomorrow. ...

When Wanted was announced as the opening night film for the Los Angeles Film Festival, there was a mild outbreak of head-scratching over the choice; why start a film festival loaded with independent and foreign film with a big-studio action movie? The fact is that the opening-night LAFF premiere of Wanted -- directed by a Kazakh director who made his name in Russia, loosely based on a series of comics by a Glasgwegian Scot, starring America's most notable movie starlet opposite a Glasgow-born lead actor and shot with Prague standing in for Chicago -- doesn't say much about the LAFF as a film festival and doesn't say a single thing about L.A. as a real city, but it says plenty about L.A. as a company town with a global span. Wanted's a corporate product, but, thankfully, it's an excellent one -- the two-fisted, double-barreled high-octane guilty pleasure summer action movie you've been waiting for. Wanted is speedy and spiffy and shiny as a bullet, and it's got about as much actual weight when it stops moving.

Other than a half-hearted attempt at a little viral marketing, the comic book thriller Wanted is sticking to the advertising basics until their release in just a couple of weeks -- probably for the best if you ask me, because that weaving site wasn't cutting it. Cinematical has received a slew of additional photos from the action flick, giving us more shots of Angelina Jolie hanging out of cars, and co-star James McAvoy wandering around without his shirt off (which earns Universal a personal thanks from me). When the official site was launched, there wasn't much to start with, but Universal has since added character bios, a couple of flash games and an invite into the 'fraternity'.

By now there probably isn't much we don't know about the movie --but for those who might have missed it, the story centers on an office drone that discovers he is the heir to an ancient society of assassins. Russian director Timur Bekmambetov is at the helm, and rounding out the cast are Morgan Freeman, Common, and Terrence Stamp.

Wanted may not be at the top of my list of must-see summer flicks, but I feel like I have a personal stake in the success of this movie. Let me explain: ever since Tomb Raider, I've been quietly hoping that Jolie was going to be the action heroine that's missing from movies today. But, it hasn't quite worked out that way. Instead, I have walked out of each flick more disappointed than the last. So for me, Wanted is Jolie's last chance to be the badass I've always wanted her to be -- and this time I mean it. Check out the new photos in the gallery below.

Wanted arrives in theaters on June 27th.

I guess whether we like it or not, viral campaigns are hot, hip and here to stay. Universal pictures has launched the viral site for Timur Bekmambetov's Wanted, and it all revolves around a shadowy group known as the Fraternity of Weavers. Now for the tricky part: to crack the code on the website you must enter five secret words to earn a peek at the handbook for the fraternity -- plus you get a little bit more info behind Angelina's bad-ass hand tattoo. So if you're the kind of person who likes puzzles, then feel free to figure it out on your own. But, if you're like me and a little impatient, you can click over to Coming Soon and they have the solution -- I won't spoil it here.

Wanted is based on Mark Millar's graphic novel about an everyday schmo (as played by James McAvoy) who turns out to be the heir to a secret society of assassins. Angelina Jolie stars as Fox, the second in command and mentor to McAvoy. Morgan Freeman plays the elder statesman and co-founder of the group, while hip-hop artist Common stars as the weapons expert, The Gunsmith.

The viral site provides plenty of background info on the history of the ancient fraternity, but for the most part it's a bunch of spiritual mumbo-jumbo about fate, destiny, the Cathars, and ancient weaving cults -- oh, and plenty of Wikipedia links. There's also a sign up page if you're interested in becoming a member of the fraternity (hazing optional?). One imagines more viral goodies will most likely show up at some point before Wanted opens in theaters on June 27th.

You know what must suck? When your big casting announcement arrives shortly after telling us that Terminator 4 will be PG-13, leaving mostly everyone with a "we give up" sort of attitude.

Variety announced that rapper Common, last seen in Street Kings and soon to be onscreen in Wanted, has joined Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, Anton Yelchin and Moon Bloodgood (a varied cast indeed) in Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. He'll be playing a fellow freedom fighter and member of John Connor's inner circle.

Wait, has anyone in this movie not been cast as one of Connor's best friends forever? Maybe they should cast, you know, an actual terminator so they have something to fight. Although not having one would help achieve the PG-13 rating, and Connor could just rebuild society. Skip that whole War Against The Machines; it's too violent. Throw up a Wal-Mart, a Target, a Home Depot and an Olive Garden and call it a job well done.

Take from this what you will, but Cinema Blend is reporting on a tip they received from someone who was hanging with Adam Brody in a bar up in British Columbia. What's Brody doing there? Well, apparently some of the cast is with George Miller scouting locations for Justice League Mortal. (Not sure why they'd be up there with the director scouting, but let's roll with it for now ...) Anyway, Brody, Miller and a few others were in a bar, getting wasted, when this girl (who wrote into CB) asked him what they all were doing there. Naturally he said they were scouting for Justice League Mortal (which recently had to shift production from Australia to Canada). Then it gets interesting.

Here's her full quote: "George is our director. He said he's playing The Flash, Common is playing Green Arrow (or Lantern, one or the other), Armie Hammer (sounded like Arm and Hammer) is Batman, someone from "mad max" is Martian Man-hunter (didn't catch the name) and Hayden Christensen is Superman. Brody also nodded to the woman to his right and said "she (he said her name but I didn't catch it) is in it too". Oh, and they had lots of drinks." While I'm very reluctant to believe this one, on the other hand I could totally buy them wanting Christensen to play Superman. He'd bring some more "celebrity" to the cast, even though the fanboys who hated him Star Wars would hate him again -- even more this time -- for Superman. Should be interesting to see this one play out, as Justice League Mortal is supposed to begin shooting this summer.

What do you think about Hayden Christensen playing Superman?