entourage Tagged Articles at Cinematical

The greatest thing about last night's premiere episode of The Simpsons was just how current and fanboy-ish it was, and that's because it was written by Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg (Superbad), the former of which also voiced the character of Homer's Hollywood trainer. But perhaps the best part of the episode came when Rogen -- who's had a long-standing feud with the gang from Entourage -- used his character to take another jab at the HBO show after they used him as the punching bag for a storyline earlier this season.

Simpsons Spoiler Warning

The joke came right at the end of the episode when Homer is yelling at his Hollywood trainer (voiced by Rogen) for ditching him, thus nudging Homer off his diet and back on the chubby wagon -- a move that ultimately ruined the superhero movie he was starring in. So when Homer demands to know who his trainer left him for, Rogen's character admits it was Turtle from Entourage. He then apologizes to Homer and offers him to train with Turtle too so they can both lose the weight. Turtle, for those who remember the episode, was the one who helped instigate the "Why would anyone sleep with Seth Rogen?" argument that caused quite the stir back in July.

After the episode, Rogen told E! that the Entourage guys are "a**holes" and that Entourage creator Doug Ellin was a "moron". But the feud goes back even further because Rogen pitched an Entourage-type show long ago, and HBO turned it down only to then bring on Entourage. So, yeah, Rogen -- the clever bastard that he is -- decided to do what every true fanboy wished they could do: He used The Simpsons to get back at his Entourage bully. And I thought it was pretty awesome ...

First there was David O. Russell's much-publicized on-set freak out, and then it was Christian Bale all but tearing a cinematographer in half. Now a video has surfaced featuring Matt Damon directing Adrian Grenier in what looks to be a PSA for a site called One by One, which does exist and (thanks to commenter Corey for pointing this out) is apparently an organization that helps children in poverty from around the world. Matt Damon is the company's spokesperson.

So Grenier has, like, five lines to deliver, but he keeps stumbling over his words and pissing Damon off. Meanwhile, Jeremy Piven (who looks like he's either in his full-on Ari Gold character or just stepped off the set of Entourage) is frantically pacing behind Damon as he continually corrects and eventually goes off on Grenier. Piven doesn't say a word, so it's tough to say, yes, he is in character as Ari Gold -- though he does look to be acting as if he were Grenier's agent. That being said, Damon refers to Grenier by his real name and not Vince (though at one point Grenier asks if he should talk as Vince), so who knows what the hell is going on here.

I personally think they're filming something for an upcoming Entourage episode and decided to have a little fun at the same time by throwing together this little viral video. Either way it's pretty hilarious, and I wish it went on a drop longer so we could really watch cameo king Matt Damon freak out hardcore.

Watch the NSFW, foul-mouthed video after the jump, and you decide: is it real or is it fake?

It's rare that even a movie's biggest fan can recall all of the little throwaway lines of dialogue and performance details from supporting players. But if that supporting player is Jeremy Piven, you can almost guarantee it will come immediately to mind, whether he's an assaultive partygoer who turns introspective during a Gas 'N Sip hangout session in Say Anything, or a pal searching for romantic redemption during his high school reunion in Grosse Pointe Blank. Finally in charge of his own film, The Goods, Piven is no less generous with his comedic set-ups, sharing the screen with a talented ensemble of players (including Ving Rhames, Katheryn Hahn and Rob Riggle) who find themselves tasked with the challenge of liquidating an entire dealership's stock of cars over the Fourth of July holiday.

Cinematical recently spoke to Piven via telephone to discuss his participation in the film, which is produced by Adam McKay (Step Brothers) and directed by Neil Brennan (Chappelle's Show). In addition to talking about the good fortune that found him at the helm of a summer comedy, Piven discussed the prospect of making a car salesman a charming fellow, and reflected on the reasons why folks seem to find him such a convincing con man.

Cinematical: A car salesman is perhaps not the first person you think about when you imagine a sympathetic character. How much did you want this guy to be genuinely likeable and how much of a snake-oil salesman did you want him to be?

If you watch Entourage, but didn't see it Sunday night, then this post will include spoilers. Be warned!

So I caught the latest Entourage episode on Monday night (because I like to tape my shows and spread them across the week), and in true Entourage fashion, nothing really happened during the episode (does anything ever actually happen on this show?), and yet it was still entertaining. One of the central running gags during said episode had to do with Knocked Up and Seth Rogen, and how the guys couldn't understand why anyone (including Katherine Heigl's character in the film) would want to sleep with the dude. Granted, the joke itself is sooo two-years-old, but whatever -- sometimes the show is very "now" and sometimes it's very "way back when."

The topic remained throughout the entire episode, coming up again on a double date and again during an after-party conversation where one character actually admitted to sleeping with Rogen ... while drunk. Kinda messed up, but Entourage is known for going after celebrities and Hollywood execs, agents, etc ... though the Rogen gags seemed a little harsh even for them. But maybe there's some personal history behind it. When E!'s Daily Ten caught up with Rogen, he had this to say about the episode:

"Yeah, those guys are a**holes. I actually ran into Matt...Kevin Dillon in a Starbucks. And he's like 'you know, I've got to kind of apologize because apparently the guy who created our show doesn't like you so much.' And I said 'well I have reason to believe because I think [showrunner] Doug Ellin is a moron from all I can understand so it makes sense he doesn't like me ...'

Read the rest of his quote after the jump and find out the real reason why Rogen doesn't like Entourage

I think for fans of the psychological thriller, 13 Tzameti, an American remake probably seemed like a bad idea from the get-go -- to be honest, most of them usually are. But with the film's original creator at the helm, and the addition of Mickey Rourke, Jason Statham, Ray Liotta, and Ray Winstone, hopefully it has helped raise our expectations for the update ever so slightly. But the remake won't just be a boys club this time around, because The Hollywood Reporter has announced that Emmanuelle Chriqui (Cadillac Records) has joined the remake of Géla Babluani's Sundance winner.

The original film, released in 2006, centered on a young construction worker who in a desperate attempt to earn money for his family is swept up in a deadly game of Russian Roulette that has been turned into a 'spectator sport'. There aren't many details about the plot for the remake, but Babluani has confirmed that he will not be remaking the film 'shot-for shot', and that some of the story elements will be changed. I don't want to give anything away, but if you have seen the original film, then you probably have a pretty good guess as to what Babluani might have in mind for his re-write.

Chriqui might be best known as Sloan McQuewick on HBO's Entourage, but she has been slowly building her film resume with everything from teen horrors to 'empowering' indies (although it's probably for the best if she leaves Don't Mess with The Zohan off her resume). It shouldn't come as a surprise that in most of her work, her looks have played a large part in the roles she is offered; hookers, porn stars, you name it. I just hope for her sake, Babluani is going to give her something just a little more exciting to do this time around.

I'm sure I wasn't the only one sad to see Ebert & Roeper officially head off the air recently, but those of you really hurting will be happy to know the show made one final appearance last night during the season premiere of Entourage on HBO. And what a review they gave Medellin -- the fictional Pablo Escobar biopic starring Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) in a horrible fat suit. Last season on the show, the movie premiered at Cannes and was booed off the stage. Thus, at the beginning of this episode (and via Richard Roeper), we learn poor old Medellin went straight to DVD.

My favorite part of the episode, however, comes when Ari Gold (Jeremy Piven) enters his office the morning after the Medellin review aired on Ebert & Roeper. And so, for a bonus treat, check out that scene after the jump (though keep in mind a couple of F-bombs are dropped). Love this show. Welcome back boys!

• Whether you watch Entourage or not, you've probably heard that the show's premise is loosely based on Mark Wahlberg's own experiences as he stepped into the movie business. Now he's finally getting into the action. Mixed in with his upcoming work with The Fighter and The Brazilian Job, Ace Showbiz reports that Wahlberg has filmed a scene with Jeremy Piven for the show where they go at it. There's no word on who Wahlberg will play.
  
• Louise Linton, who played a Skin Care Consultant in Lions for Lambs, and Katie in The Echo, is now going sporty. Variety reports that the actress has signed on for a role in the indie comedy The Wiffler: The Ted Whitfield Story. She'll play a woman called Shannon Storm in the film, which focuses on the MLB strike in 1994, that let the nation turn its eyes to wiffle ball.
• Finally, Alex Pettyfer, who you might remember as Alex Rider in Stormbreaker, is getting ready to be Tormented. Variety reports that the actor will topline the horror film, which centers on "a bullied teen who comes back from the dead to take his revenge." And people think they just have to fear karma... He'll be joined by the likes of April Pearson, Larissa Wilson, Mary Nighy, and Dimitri Leonidas.

You aren't anybody unless you're famous enough for rival biopics. I hope you all celebrated the holiday yesterday by watching both Gérard Depardieu and Georges Corraface in their respective, rival Columbus films. Coming in the future, we may also get competing movies about Harvey Milk, Philip K. Dick, Sammy Davis, Jr. and now Pablo Escobar. We've long followed news regarding Joe Carnahan's movie about the Colombian drug lord, who will be played there by Javier Bardem, but now Variety reports another Escobar pic in the works. This one will be produced by Oliver Stone, directed by Antoine Fuqua and is simply titled Escobar. It's based on the book "Mi Hermano Pablo", written by the cocaine king's brother, Roberto Escobar Gaviria, who worked as accountant and confidant to Pablo.

So, this looks like it will be more of a life-encompassing biopic. It also appears to be going into production ahead of Carnahan's film, Killing Pablo, since Carnahan is first working on White Jazz while Escobar is fully financed and ready to begin shooting in Colombia and Puerto Rico in early 2008. All that needs finishing is the script rewrite, which is being done by David McKenna, who already wrote a bit about Escobar in his screenplay for Blow (he was played by Cliff Curtis). Variety doesn't mention who Stone and Fuqua have or are casting in the title role of their film, which means it may not be secure. I'm sure some people would like to see Adrian Grenier play the part, as he does via his character Vinnie Chase on the show Entourage, but that would actually be a terrible idea. Personally, I'd like them to go back to Curtis, but for a long-term biopic they'll likely want someone younger, as well as someone more familiar to audiences.

I also wish that Stone was directing this himself -- even if he really annoyed the heck out of me recently -- because he seems to know the territory. And because he thanked "Ari Gold" (Jeremy Piven's character on Entourage) when talking to Variety about the project. But he should do just fine overseeing Fuqua's direction, a job he's sharing with former Malcolm in the Middle older brother Justin Berfield, Jason Felts and James Reach.

When HBO's Entourage decided to spotlight the making of a fictional Aquaman movie with James Cameron directing, everyone immediately began to wonder whether a real Aquaman flick would, um, surface in the near future. But once that storyline crept its way out of the TV show, folks at home and in Hollywood forgot all about the underwater superhero. As of now, a big screen Aquaman movie is not in the works. Ah, but Entourage is once again stirring the pot; this time, Vince and his crew are getting ready to bring their Pablo Escobar biopic, Medellin, to the Cannes Film Festival. Those marketing geniuses over at HBO have even gone so far as to set up a website and trailer for Medellin as if the film was really coming out in theaters. Of course it's not a real film, but, like with Aquaman, will all the buzz generate further interest in a real Pablo Escobar movie?

Actually, one doesn't have to appear out of thin air this time. That's because director Joe Carnahan already has plans to make a Pablo Escobar biopic called Killing Pablo, but whether or not all the necessary ingredients will fall into place following his work on White Jazz remains to be seen. For one, Carnahan's first (and only?) choice to play Escobar, Javier Bardem, would need to be available. Speaking with Cinematical's Ryan Stewart last month, Bardem said that "it's something in the back of our heads. Pablo Escobar is an amazing character to play, because he's bigger than life. He's an amazing character, but Pablo Escobar is somebody that is not that simple." Bardem pretty much mirrored those comments when he spoke to Premiere recently while out promoting Goya's Ghosts: "That project has been around for some years now and we have talked several times," meaning he and Carnahan. "I guess there will come a time when we can agree to do it, because Pablo Escobar is an amazing, amazing character."

Personally, I think that time should come soon. If it was up to Carnahan, I imagine he'd love to shoot Killing Pablo as soon as he's finished with White Jazz. And why not capitalize on all the buzz Entourage is currently producing around the real-life controversial figure? As of now (and according to IMDb), Christian Bale is the only one attached to Killing Pablo. Hopefully Carnahan and Bardem can come to an agreement so we can see an Escobar biopic within the next two years. Hmm, or perhaps they're just waiting to see how the fictional film from Entourage does at Cannes? What say you? Has Entourage piqued your interest in a Pablo Escobar movie?

Entourage writer/Brooke Shields hubby Chris Henchy just got a major promotion: He's been brought on board by Adam McKay and Will Ferrell as a senior producer for their Gary Sanchez Productions. (For the civilians among us, that means that he'll "help develop and produce projects" for the company.) While Henchy does have prior production experience, that experience is limited to television, where he has spent the bulk of his career. In addition to filling various producing capacities for Spin City (a secret guilty pleasure for me), Battery Park, Life with Bonnie and I'm with Her, Henchy also wrote for some of those shows before moving on to his current Entourage gig.

Prior to this deal, Henchy, McKay and Ferrell already had a professional connection: Henchy is writing the screenplay (his first work for the big screen) for Land of the Lost, a(nother) TV-show-turned-movie flick that McKay is directing, and in which Farrell is likely to star.