gregory hoblit Tagged Articles at Cinematical

An average to slightly above-average thriller with a noticeable lack of twists, predictable or otherwise, Untraceable is acceptable viewing for anyone who is a fan of Diane Lane or dense enough about the Internet to buy the film's premise, that a hacker of limited means and intelligence could create and maintain a high-profile Website; the origin of which is untraceable by the FBI. It's a conceit that sounds fishy even to the computer know-nothings in the theater and at one point the film acknowledges this, throwing in the caveat that while the technology to trace the killer does exist, it's only available to the National Security Agency, and they aren't willing to share their technology with the FBI. Uh-huh. Let's assume, for the sake of argument, that that's the case. Once FBI agents themselves start getting murdered and their bodies grotesquely displayed on the site in question, wouldn't some responsible FBI chief threaten the NSA with a press conference to let America know that this culprit could be caught if the NSA spooks would only share their toys?

After they're stalked and selected, the killer's victims meet the sharp end of a taser and end up trapped in a Saw-like contraption in a dank basement, staring into a video camera that's sending feed to a website called KillWithMe.com -- yes, Sony has grabbed that particular domain and you should go there now to see some funny marketing. The killing mechanisms, be it a drip of acid into a water tank or the turning on of heat lamps one after the other, are incrementally activated by the number of hits the Website receives. The more people tune in, the faster the victim dies. Much like in Seven, the killer chooses high-profile, prominent victims to draw attention to his crimes and that only adds to the outlandishness of him being uncatchable. Still, there's enough lack of knowledge about the technology in question to make it sound something less than absurd, and the movie works on a the level of a cheap, quick ride that you can ride just long enough before it gets tiresome and irritating.

As I reported before, powerhouse performers Anthony Hopkins and Ryan Gosling will next be seen in the film Fracture. Earlier reports about the film -- a psychological thriller concerning an Assistant DA (Gosling) struggling to keep the man who tried to kill his wife (Hopkins) behind bars -- only included a brief synopsis, details on the two stars and the film's director Gregory Hoblit. But now, thanks to the gang over at IGN, we've got a one-sheet and some stills from the film to look at too.

As they often do these days, the one-sheet features the faces of stars Hopkins and Gosling with Hopkins doing what can best be described as the "Hannibal Lecter come-hither look." In addition to the one-sheet, there's also the production stills from the film. In them, we get several images of both stars from various scenes in the film: Gosling confronting Hopkins in jail, Gosling staring purposefully into camera, Gosling confronting Hopkins' wife at an event, Gosling comforting his wife, etc. You get the idea.

I'm a big fan of Ryan Gosling and, on occasion, Anthony Hopkins too. So, I'm pretty sure the combination of these two actors and director Hoblit, who also has a great facility with these types of films, will lead to something good. Gosling was the best thing in the otherwise under-whelming Murder by Numbers and Hopkins was, of course, in Silence of the Lambs so this film should have all it needs to succeed. We'll find out if I'm right when the film gets released later this year.

Diane Lane, one of the most versatile and interesting actresses working in Hollywood today (and also quite a looker) has just signed on to star in the thriller Untraceable for Sony-based Screen Gems. The film will be directed by Gregory Hoblit, who also helmed Fallen with Denzel Washington and the upcoming Fracture with Anthony Hopkins.

Untraceable, which centers around an FBI cybercop who races against time to track down a ruthless online predator before it's too late, will be written by Allison Burnett -- based on an original screenplay by Robert Fyvolent and Mark R. Brinker (boy that's a mouthful, eh? gotta love the Writer's Guild and their rules). Untraceable is not the fist time Lane has graced the screen in a genre project like this. She has also appeared in such films as Knight Moves with Christopher Lambert, Murder at 1600 with action star and alleged tax-evader Wesley Snipes and the upcoming thriller Killshot, directed by John Madden and co-starring Thomas Jane and Mickey Rourke. She has also in one other recent genre film, although she might rather forget that particular experience -- the dreadful Sylvester Stallone starrer Judge Dredd. Maybe she didn't have a choice and had to do the film? After all, Stallone is the law.

Anyway, no word yet on additional casting, when shooting is expected to start or if this movie will be any good at all but Lane has a nack for picking good projects -- including the recent Hollywoodland and The Perfect Storm --- and Gregory Hoblit as an accomplished director of this type of taut, suspenseful thriller, so this project might be worth checking out once it reaches theaters sometime next year.

Yes folks, the Boogeyman is back ... and this time it's personal. Jeff Betancourt, who you'll find warming up the editor's chair for the upcoming Grudge 2, has signed on to make his directorial debut on another horror sequel, Boogeyman 2. With a script by Brian Sieve, pic will revolve around a woman whose fear of the boogeyman causes her to check into a mental hospital. (Why she opted to just skip the whole night light routine is beyond me.) However, once there things don't go so well, and something tells me it's not the shoddy food service. Production will begin in late November.

The internet is turning into one scary place, and Hollywood thinks it's the perfect breeding ground for serial killers. Gregory Hoblit (Primal Fear) is in negotiations to direct the techno-thriller (no, it's not a thriller set against a ton of thumping techno music), Untraceable. Pic is based on the spec script Streaming Evil written by Robert Fyvolent and Mark R. Binker, which has since been chopped into pieces and re-written by Allison Burnett under the new title. Story focuses on an FBI investigator hunting a serial killer who posts pictures of his gruesome crimes on a website. (Hmm, am I warped for wondering what said website's google rating is?)