giovanni ribisi Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I'm not sure it was well worth the wait for a behind-the-scenes photo like the one above, but I will admit it's very nice to see an actual image from James Cameron's Avatar that didn't leak online with a ton of "Is it real or is it fake?" baggage towing behind. The LA Times have debuted the first official image from the Titanic director's much-anticipated sci-fi epic, due in theaters on December 18, 2009, and it shows director James Cameron pointing at something while star Sam Worthington (wearing a backpack of some sorts, as well as something on his wrists) looks on. We're not entirely sure what set they're on, but it looks like the inside of a ship.

This digital 3-D flick (which is a mix of CGI and live action shot on special cameras developed by Cameron) tells of a paraplegic ex-marine war veteran (Worthington) who's sent to establish a human settlement on the distant planet of Pandora, but winds up in a battle against the planet's indigenous population, the Na'vi. Sigourney Weaver, Michelle Rodriguez, Zoe Saldana and Giovanni Ribisi also star. No word on when the first trailer will arrive (possibly in front of X-Men Origins: Wolverine or during the Oscars??), but one imagines we'll see more of Avatar within the next couple months.

If you think back to the warmer days of summer, you might remember that Jessica posted about an upcoming Internet porn flick called Middle Men. Set to be a comedy, the film was said to follow some normal dude who ends up in the center of that biz we call adult entertainment during the early days of Internet porn (mid-90s, I guess?).

And now we have our men of porn. Variety reports that James Caan, Gabriel Macht, Peter Stormare, and Rachael Taylor have signed on for the film, which will star Luke Wilson and Giovanni Ribisi -- all in yet-to-be-disclosed parts. The film is also sounding a wee bit different these days. Yes, it's still about some regular guy -- a "straight-and-narrow businessman who builds the first online billing company dealing exclusively with adult entertainment." But then there's a bit of an insane twist. He finds "himseld in the middle of a whirlwind filled with starlets, conmen, Russian mobsters, federal agents, and international terrorists."

Well, this is nothing like I expected -- dudes spending late nights on Stile Project's old cam pages while girls contort themselves while basking in the glow of their monitors. Maybe writers George Gallo (who will direct) and Andy Weiss were hanging out with Guy Ritchie. How terrorists, conmen, and Russian mobsters all get involved is anyone's guess, but it's kind of hard not to be intrigued with that cast.

Sean Astin is returning to the land of fantasy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Astin is joining Angelica Huston, Giovanni Ribisi and Ron Perlman in the CGI-animated Spirit of the Forest, an eco fairy tale for Fantastic Films International and Spain's Dygra Films.

Astin and Ribisi play two gopher friends who's forest home is threatened by an evil businesswoman, voiced by Huston, who wants to build a highway in its place. With the help of an old oak tree, played by Perlman, the forest fights back with a vengeance. (I think they missed the boat by not having Viggo Mortensen play the oak tree.)

Sure, it's very helpful to have a cast in place before starting a flick. James Cameron's Avatar already has the likes of the soon-to-be-Uhura Zoe Saldana, the toughest chick to ever hit space -- Sigourney Weaver, all-around tough girl Michelle Rodriguez, quirky Giovanni Ribisi, and the underworld Macbeth, Sam Worthington. But even with tough, female topliners, and epic Ripley, you need to have a lead villain to create all the thrilling space action. Variety reports that this will be none other than Matt Gerald. ...Who?

The actor, who looks like a real-life Hitman, is jumping into the role from much smaller stints in films like Magnolia (Officer #2), T3 (SWAT Team Leader), and xXx (Liebo). He's also just finished working on the Chuck Palahniuk adaptation, Choke, where he plays Detective Ryan. Now, Avatar is about the clashing between a humanoid race on their home planet of Pandora, and those from Earth who settle in and are at odds with them. It's sounding kind of like Dune meets the Mayflower. Pandora has all sorts of treasures and resources, and those darned Earth people want it for themselves, which leads to a battle for survival. Now we've just got to wait and see if Gerald can stand up to Weaver, Saldana, and Rodriguez.

For those who were confused, irritated or just plain disappointed with the ridiculous Yahoo Serious comedy Young Einstein, you'll be happy to know that everyone's favorite physicist is getting a legitimate early-years biopic soon. According to Variety, Lionsgate has purchased the worldwide life rights to Albert Einstein, which kinda sounds like they now own the guy and could make a clone army (that probably wouldn't be so bad). Lionsgate has also bought the rights to Walter Isaacson's book Einstein: His Life and Universe, which was the first biography to dip into the genius' private archives. Isaacson will also serve as a consultant on the film, which also gained access to Einstein's correspondence and papers, which are currently owned by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. The story will focus on Einstein's life from about 20 to 40, at which age he won the Nobel Prize in Physics. The film will apparently show the man as a rebel who challenged existing scientific theories but will also deal with personal and romantic plots.

All I can say is, it's about time. But this is me, a total geek who wears Einstein t-shirts. Of course, this is also me, the guy who is really bad at science and has never really read much on Einstein's actual work. I'm mostly interested in his personality, which is why I'm excited to see him get a decent biopic. As far as I can tell or remember, there hasn't ever been a good Einstein movie -- even if you have a guilty spot for Yahoo Serious, his movie was by no means about the real genius. Aside from Serious, we've seen Walter Matthau play the guy in I.Q. and Michael Emil sorta play him in Insignificance. According to the IMDb, there are at least three Einstein biopics in the works, one of which is probably Lionsgate's. One of them is about the friendship between Einstein and Paul Robeson, played by (last we heard) Ben Kingsley and Danny Glover, respectively, and another is being directed by Liliana Cavani with Vincenzo Amato (The Golden Door) playing the lead (I guess Giovanni Ribisi jumped the gun when he said he was cast in that film). There's also a British TV-movie in the works with Andy Serkis as Einstein.

There's this station here in New York that airs Wonder Years episodes back-to-back late at night. (And I just got a few smiles from the folks who've discovered this gem tucked somewhere between channels 30 and 40.) Anyway, I had totally forgotten that Giovanni Ribisi played one of Kevin's friends during those later seasons. It was Ribisi, that dude Chuck who blinked a lot (whatever happened to him?), Paul and Kevin. Am I taking you back? I've always been a fan of Ribisi's work, and kind of like the fact that he's never really blown up to big-time Hollywood movie star. He's either the bigger guy in a smaller film (Boiler Room), or the smaller guy in a bigger film (Saving Private Ryan). Sure, he always sounds like he's five minutes away from a sinus attack, but I've loved him in so many films that his constant sniffling and blood-shot eyes draw me in even closer.

Why the love-fest for Ribisi? Well, according to The Hollywood Reporter, my man just landed a heckuva role in James Cameron's highly-anticipated -- film-that-will-change-the-world-as-we-know-it -- Avatar. He'll be playing a character named Selfridge "in the Fox film about a band of humans pitted against a distant planet's indigenous inhabitants." Ribisi joins a cast that already includes Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana (Avatar and Star Trek XI? When did this girl become so hot?), Sigourney Weaver and Michelle Rodriguez. Apart from the human actors, Avatar will also feature six computer-generated actors known as "synthesipians." And in the case of a Hollywood strike, I imagine those "synthespians" will take over for awhile -- ya know, kind of like replacement baseball players. Avatar hits theaters on May 22, 2009.

Now that Lindsay Lohan is officially out of rehab (and wearing a "Thou Shalt Not Do Anything Stupid" ankle bracelet), the girl should have plenty of time to start shooting the dark comedy Poor Things; that film starring Shirley MacLaine we told you about back in May. Remember how there was talk Lohan would be replaced in the flick, until MacLaine came to her rescue and issued a bizarre statement, saying they were rearranging the schedule of the film so Lohan can shoot her scenes following the 30-day stint in rehab? Remember all that? Well, according to one of the most reliable sources in the world (ahem, Page Six), the plug has been pulled on Poor Things for good. As in, the movie is dead. Page Six cites an email from production designer Fontaine Beauchamp Hebb (I'd like to see that on a birth certificate) to product vendors GE and Dell (both of whom were promised placement in the film in return for cash) that came attached to the subject line: "Poor Things has been cancelled."

Apparently, the body of the email read as follows: "Sorry to be the harbinger of bad news, but I just received a call from Jacky Gilardi, the producer, pulling the plug on the ill-fated film. Apparently, Ms. Lohan's antics in Las Vegas over the weekend have scared the bond companies and all of the funding has been pulled . . . I look forward to working together in the future and trust our next project will not be as fraught with difficulty." It should be noted that one of Lohan's friends called bullsh*t on the email, telling Page Six the actress had nothing to do with the movie shutting down. Says the friend: "It was a mess to begin with. They randomly fired Channing Tatum for Giovanni Ribisi, and then financing fell through because producers spent money like water. It was only supposed to cost $4 million -- Lindsay was being paid nothing for that role." As expected, everyone involved with the film declined to comment. So until final word comes through, I'd say you should chalk this one as another "Lohan ruined everything" rumor. Poor thing ... even when she's sober, she can't catch a break.

You know, we're leading with Brittany Murphy and Jason Lee, but they're only the mainstream, comedic tip to the talent that is coming from the upcoming fantasy comedy The Other Side. There is Giovanni Ribisi (Lost in Translation), and I wouldn't be surprised if he got the gig due to his connection with Lee -- they were both in I Love Your Work, plus an untitled short that Lee directed last year and he's appeared in a few eps of My Name is Earl. But the cast also boasts Jim Broadbent, Tim Roth and Lili Taylor listed in the news from Variety, and IMDb lists even more -- Anjelica Huston, Fiona Shaw, Eddie Izzard, Rupert Friend, Eddie Griffin, Dave Matthews... You get the picture.

Directed by producer David Michaels, Other Side comes from the pens of Michaels and Phil Reeves, and it focuses on a grad student (Murphy), who is spending her summer working at a science institute on a remote northern island. While there, "she discovered an eccentric community of characters who are hiding a secret about a terrible tragedy that took place many years before." Lee, for one, is playing: a hippie, chauffeur, pilot, butler, bartender and bait shop clerk. Between him and the rest of the cast, I would say that they picked just the right people to pull off an "eccentric community," although I find it smirk-worthy that Murphy will play a scientist. This is a comedy, so I imagine she will be a very, very cute and giggly scientist. However, how interesting would it be if she was the one believably serious actor in the piece? I mean, she has completely 180'd before.

I'm sure most of the mega-brilliant Cinematical readers remember a German thriller from a few years back called Das Experiment (that's German for "The Experiment," by the way). It came from Oliver Hirschbiegel, who'd go on to direct the excellent Hitler flick Downfall and get semi-direct The Invasion before getting booted off the project by irate producers. Well, if you remember that movie (Das Experiment, keep up) or you happen to know about the 1971 "Stanford Prison Experiment," then you'll be happy to know that Christopher McQuarrie (a.k.a. the guy who wrote The Usual Suspects) will soon be making his own movie about the case.

The experiment involved segregating a bunch of college students into "guards" and "prisoners" -- and let's just say things got ugly. Mr. McQuarrie will also direct the film, which is something he hasn't done since 2000's The Way of the Gun. According to Variety, Icon Entertainment has just purchased the international sales rights, which means it'll most likely net a North American distributor some time relatively soon. Cast members include Giovanni Ribisi, Paul Dano, Jesse Eisenberg, Kieran Culkin and Channing Tatum. Production begins in October. And yep, they'll be shooting a good deal of the film at Stanford University. (And if you haven't seen Das Experiment yet, definitely consider it worthy of a Netflix placement.)

Memo to Hollywood: no more instant messaging in movies. Aside from the phoney-baloney software layouts that always strike the eye as odd, the message boxes are invariably blown up big enough so that Stevie Wonder could read the text, and the chatters still feel compelled to verbalize their every keystroke for the benefit of the audience. It all comes off as incredibly fake, which actually makes it a good thematic match for Perfect Stranger, where everything comes off as fake. This is one of those mechanically-minded thrillers that sacrifices logic, character and common sense in order to lay 90 minutes of groundwork for a last-minute twist. I'm perfectly willing to admit that I didn't guess the ending, but I think it's fair to say the movie cheats to get there. I don't think it cheats in the classic plot-hole sense so much as it cheats in the psychological sense. To say more would give too much away, but let me say this -- people suffering under profound emotional stress can't possibly 'conceal' it to the extent that occurs here.

Perfect Stranger, a James Foley film, follows the character of Rowena, an urban newspaper reporter played by Halle Berry whose journalistic calling card is apparently forging false identities. When we first meet her, she's posing as (I think) a public relations expert in order to dupe a crooked congressman into confessing to an illicit affair. Later on in the film, she'll take on the identity of an office temp in order to get close to a suspect in the murder case the film revolves around. Is that what they're teaching in journalism school these days -- how to cook up phoney resumes in order to get a scoop that no newspaper in the country would publish after the reporter explained to the editor how the information was dubiously obtained? Yeah, I know -- shut up, Ryan. Anyway, the kickstand on the plot goes up when Rowena's childhood friend, Grace, shows up in town, drops some hints that she's in trouble with powerful people and then quickly turns up murdered. Needless to say, Grace sets out to find the killer of her friend.