gregory smith Tagged Articles at Cinematical

A few news bites for the end of the week:

• Gregory Smith, who played one of the Stantons in The Seeker: The Dark is Rising, has picked up a starring gig, according to Variety. He will lead the indie drama In My Pocket, which will be the directorial debut of David Lisle Johnson III from a script he co-wrote with Joseph Ferrugio. The film will follow the travails of addiction and focus on two young men -- one is the good guy set for med school who fails out because of his addiction, while the other is a guitarist for a rock band who gets replaced. And for you Empire Records fans out there, Brendan Sexton III (Warren) also has a role.
• Meanwhile... Kenneth Lonergan, scribe of Analyze That and Gangs of New York, is getting ready for a celebration. The Hollywood Reporter posts that he has signed on to pen the screenplay for Father's Day -- that flick that Ashton Kutcher is producing. The plan is to make the film "a multigenerational look at fatherhood, centering around a father and son who have never gotten along but who coincidentally have baby sons at the same time." It's certainly not the most original premise out there, but we'll see if this can become this generation's Parenthood.

It's an awesome week for DVD collectors: new box sets devoted to Stanley Kubrick and Mario Bava; new Criterion Collection versions of Jean-Luc Godard's Breathless, Terence Malick's Days of Heaven and John Huston's Under the Volcano; new editions of Russian silent classic Battleship Potemkim, Brit schoolboy classic O Lucky Man!, horror "classic" Hellraiser, bizarre and wondrous animation Fantastic Planet and the first appearance of paranoid conspiracy thriller Executive Action on DVD.

On the indie side of things, Wild Style gets a 25th Anniversary Edition from Rhino. Director Charlie Ahearn captured rap in its South Bronx infancy, expressed in words, music, dance and subway graffiti. This is a vital, exciting doc. The latest DVD features an audio commentary plus bonus material and deleted scenes provided by Ahearn.

Dog Bite Dog (pictured) is a terrific, ferocious, dark and dank Hong Kong action pic that taps into the worst impulses of cops chasing criminals. It's a throwback to early 90s adult thrillers ("Category III" by Hong Kong rating standards) with standout performances by Sam Lee as an insanely dedicated inspector and Edison Chen as a feral, imported assassin. Cheang Pou-Soi directed. Dragon Dynasty's two-disk special edition features audio commentary by Chen and industry vet Bey Logan and five "making of" features. Note that Dragon Dynasty rental editions, featured exclusively at Blockbuster, only include one disk.

Coming of age tale Nearing Grace features Gregory Smith as a likable hero, Jordana Brewster as a teen vixen, and David Morse and David Moscow as family members falling apart . It's a modest period drama, set in 1978, with modest charms that never transcends its familiar premise, but is pleasant viewing if you're in a nostalgic mood or a fan of the actors. Look for the DVD from Vivendi Visual Entertainment.

Just the other day Ryan brought us news of the increasing cast for the film adaptation of Susan Cooper's young adult fantasy series, The Dark is Rising. After grabbing a "good guy" in Ian McShane, they've got themselves a bad guy, who is none other than Doctor* Who alum and current invisible man, Christopher Eccleston. (Or, if you haven't been geekfesting on television lately, he's starred in everything from Shallow Grave to The Others.) They've also added Gregory Smith to the cast (Everwood star), who will be wiping away his clean-cut image to play the edgy, tattooed older brother of Will. In case you're itching to know how all of the cast is fitting in, here's a quick guide: Alexander Ludwig is playing the lead, Will Stanton -- a boy who finds out that he is the last of the Old Ones on his 11th birthday, and subsequently rises to power. As for the others:

Ian McShane will be Merriman Lyon -- the first Old One, which bonds him to the last, Will, as a mentor. Christopher Eccleston is playing The Rider (I assume Black) -- a Lord of the Dark with power comparable to Merriman, he's Will's major nemesis -- and the man who tries to bring him to the Dark Side. (And better to look at than a deep breather in a big, black mask.) Gregory Smith will be Max -- Will's older brother. Emma Lockhart will play Gwen -- the oldest of the Stanton children. Austin Vaccaro is playing James -- Will's slightly older brother who loves to tease. Frances Conroy, the mom from Six Feet Under, doesn't have her role listed yet. Could she perhaps be The Lady -- a great being of Light who is a friend and mentor to all of the Old Ones?

*Of course, the Doctor is too important to be short-formed. Thanks, The Jeremy. :)