j.k. simmons Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Above: An exclusive image from Mike Judge's upcoming comedy Extract

Everyone loves a free movie ticket, right? Well what about a free ticket to a red carpet premiere in Los Angeles? We here at Cinematical are hella excited to be a part of this particular contest, because not only are we big Mike Judge fans, we're also really looking forward to seeing his new film, Extract, which officially hits theaters on September 4th. But why wait in line on September 4th with all the other weird, smelly locals when you can attend the red carpet premiere of the film alongside its stars on August 24th at the famed Arclight Theater in LA.

That's right, Cinematical has 10 pairs of tickets to give away for the Los Angeles premiere of Mike Judge's (Office Space) new comedy Extract, starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig and J.K. Simmons, and, like with all our ticket contests, all you have to do is leave a comment letting us know why you'd like to attend the Extract premiere on August 24th and we'll randomly pick 10 winners to attend along with a guest of their choice.

Now, you must leave your comment by Monday, August 17th at 12pm EST, and Cinematical will not be responsible for transportation to and from the theater -- which also means you need to live in or around the Los Angeles area in order to attend.

Head after the jump to watch the film's trailer and read the official rules for this contest ... then sound off below.

Cinematical is absolutely, positively pumped up to be bringing you the debut teaser trailer for Mike Judge's Extract, starring Jason Bateman, Mila Kunis, Ben Affleck, Kristen Wiig and J.K. Simmons. I'm a huge Judge fan; been following the dude since way back during his Beavis and Butthead days, and haven't really disliked anything he's put out. Folks have told me that Extract finds the writer-director returning to his Office Space-ish humor, and this teaser definitely shows some signs of that -- from the workplace mishaps to our hero's random romantic woes, classic Judge hilarity is watermarked all over this sucker.

Extract follows the personal and professional problems endured by the owner (Bateman) of a flower-extract plant, including a wife who won't sleep with him, a new hottie temp and ... Ben Affleck as a major stoner? Believe it. I think it's safe to say Judd Apatow's Funny People now has some serious competition when it comes to funniest film of the summer because this little sucker just shot up to numero uno on my anticipation list. What about you? Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think. Extract hits theaters on September 4.

If that reliable mecca of information that is Wikipedia is to be believed, the earliest surviving motion picture is dated to the year of 1888. Mathematically speaking, and disregarding any other media of storytelling, it should come as no surprise that someone might construct and release a film in 2009 that features not a single unique aspect to it. New in Town wouldn't be the first film to appear wholly recycled from many that came before it, and I severely doubt it'll be the last, and if it boasted even one iota of charm or humor between its first frames and its last ones, I probably wouldn't mind.

But it didn't, and so I do.

The last we heard about the webbed wonder, Eugene Novikov posted that the Pulitzer Prize-winning David Lindsay-Abaire (pen behind Robots and Inkheart) was getting ready to take his stab at Spider-Man 4. Now MTV reports that the film will start shooting in 2010 -- so, at the very least, another year from now.

It seems that they ran into J.K. Simmons at Sundance, and he said that he'll continue his gig as J. Jonah Jameson in the next instalment, and that he "saw Sam [Raimi] at his Christmas party." I guess that statement is referring to how he found himself involved in the film -- unless Spidey takes on Santa in number 4? Red v. Red, the final showdown?

Considering this news, it certainly seems like the planned May 2011 release can happen, which will mean that each Spidey instalment adds a year (two years between 1 and 2, and three years between 2 and 3). Now, four years is a really long time, so I wonder if there will be a reboot of sorts -- not exactly throwing out the storyline and going wild and fresh a la Batman, but finding a fresh spin to win back the disappointed fans after the last outing. Letting the dust settle before moving on could help, but on the flip side -- will it be too much time to wait? Do you think a four-year hiatus will be the thing to bring Spider-Man back to form, or will no one be lured to the web come 2011?

As we come out of the weekend, Juno's dad and Claire Fisher's conservative boyfriend are teaming up for a new film. The Hollywood Reporter posts that J.K. Simmons and Chris Messina are joining Jessica Alba in An Invisible Sign of My Own. Described as an Amelie-style film, the indie "follows the transformation of a sheltered, math-obsessed teacher when a new science teacher arrives at her school." No word on who Simmons and Messina will play, but does it really matter when we have Alba not only taking over the whimsical shoes of Audrey Tatou, but also trying to be a math nerd? Strrrange casting!

And have you ever wondered what Thelma & Louise would've been like had they driven all over the place with a corpse? THR also posts that Laura Harring, Jill Marie Jones, and Oded Fehr have signed on to star in a new dark comedy called Drool. Basically, Harring will play an abused wife who accidentally kills her husband (Fehr) as she plans to leave her "better" half with the help of her friend (Jones). What does she do? She decides to "drive the body cross-country." That just doesn't sound sanitary.

To some, he's a dancer from Fame. To others, he's Baz's Mercutio in Romeo + Juliet. (He needs to do more Shakespeare!) To most these days, however, he's Michael Dawson from Lost. And now THR posts that Harold Perrineau is going to executive produce and star in a new indie drama called Case 219. Based on Walter Dean Myers' novel Shooter, the film focuses on three misfit teens after a high school shooting.

And one more little bit: Henry Thomas has joined Dear John.

There may not be much footage that we haven't already seen in either the original red-band trailer or the international teaser for the Coen brothers' Burn After Reading, but I noted enough bits and pieces to feel these two new videos worthy of sharing. Plus, for those of you who have a preference, George or Brad, you now have a trailer that fits you best. Personally, I'm hoping that the ladies, Frances McDormand and Tilda Swinton, get their own character-centric trailers. And while Focus Features is at it, how about individual spots for John Malkovich? Heck, give Richard Jenkins, J.K. Simmons and David Rasche each their own, too. I'm that excited about this movie that I want more, more, more.

Fortunately, we've only got about a month until Burn After Reading opens on September 12.

Now that the girls are all lined up to star in Jennifer's Body, it's time to bring in some of those hottie boys to populate the flick. The Hollywood Reporter tells us Adam Brody has hopped onboard the dark comedy/horror (written by everyone's favorite stripper-turned-Oscar winner, Diablo Cody), where he'll play Nikolai, "a hot lead singer of an up-and-coming band with a penchant for evil." Jeepers! Also joining the cast is Juno's dad, J.K. Simmons, who'll play Mr. Wroblewski, a high school science teacher.

Jennifer's Body marks a reunion for Juno's Jason Reitman and Diablo Cody, the former of which will produce, not direct. That job has gone to Karyn Kusama. Already starring in the film is Transformer's Megan Fox; she'll play a cheerleader who becomes possessed by a demon and starts feeding off the boys in her town ... while still finding time to shovel out a good amount of pop culture references, one imagines. Amanda Seyfried will play Jennifer's best friend, and the one who's placed in charge of protecting the community. I'm looking forward to a badass teen horror/comedy with females in the lead. It's about damn time we get a female-centric scary movie that doesn't involve half-nekked females being tortured (though with Megan Fox in the lead, I wouldn't mind one scene ... or several ... but I didn't just say that). Jennifer's Body is due out next year.

It's a slow day today... But here are Variety's latest casting bites:

• He's been a Kim of Comedy, and lately he's been playing around on The Real Wedding Crashers, but now actor and comedian Steve Byrne is getting a high-profile feature gig in The Goods: The Don Ready Story. Well, the film, not so much the role, although it could certainly prove to be memorable. He will play an irate customer at Jeremy Piven's dealership. This is his second feature in the last year, as he's also got a role in the indie comedy Don't Shoot the Pharmacist! But for now, check out some of these links to see what the comedian is all about. Personally, I hope he's an irate customer in pink short shorts.
  
• Earlier this month, I posted that Brittany Snow was joining Lee Toland Krieger's indie film called The Vicious Kind. The film centers on a girl is targeted by her boyfriend's obsessed older brother (to be played by Adam Scott) when she's taken home for Thanksgiving. Now Alex Frost and J.K. Simmons have nabbed gigs in the film. While there is no word on who they're going to play, let me go out on a limb and say Frost, who is a year younger than Snow, is the boyfriend, and Simmons is his dad. Frost got his start starring as Alex in Elephant, while Simmons is, of course, Spider-Man's J. Jonah Jameson. For now, you can see the young actor in two upcoming films that hit screens next month -- Stop Loss and Drillbit Taylor.
  

I saw Spider-Man 3 Saturday night. It was a total mess, but the visuals were incredible, the fight scenes were thrilling, and I enjoyed enough of the film to make it worth my time. Still, it occurred to me on the way home that with a few simple changes, the film could have been a superhero classic. And

Before we begin, please know that I'm not a die-hard Spidey fan. The first two Spider-Man films were entertaining enough, but I forgot them immediately afterward. I know when you read that heading you probably thought this article would consist of complaints like "Why didn't they do such-and-such with the character of Venom like they did in Issue #231 of blah-blah-bloo?" But that's not me. This article comes from the point of view of an average guy with no knowledge of comic books who went into Spider-Man 3 with no expectations. Here's what I would have changed to make the movie more entertaining to me. SPOILERS AHEAD!

1) Kill Mary Jane in the opening scene

The Uncle stuff is played out, Peter needs something new to be upset about. And I used to love Kirsten Dunst, but now she "acts" her scenes like she can't wait for someone to yell "Cut!" so she can go and make out with one of The Strokes. Are we really supposed to believe that Peter would choose Dunst's dehydrated, negative, miserable Mary Jane over Bryce Dallas Howard's pants-explodingly hot, upbeat, and cheerful Gwen Stacey? Mary Jane is a terrible girlfriend! She spends the entire film whining about her lackluster singing abilities to a guy who spends his time keeping the city free from evil! She's dull, she's pouty, and she participates in elaborate Chubby Checker-scored cooking/dancing/infidelity montages with James Franco! Dump her!

2) Have your villains get upset before the last twenty minutes roll around

A no-brainer. I can't recall seeing a movie where the villains decided "You know, maybe we should kill the hero" so late in the game. The Sandman appeared to be thinking about what to have for dinner for most of the film. Venom doesn't even enter the picture until the last third. It's screenwriting 101, especially in a movie of this kind. By the end of Act One, you better be damn sure your audience knows who the antagonist is, and what your hero is up against. Nobody seems to have clear motives here. All the characters are confused and conflicted and don't really know who they want to kill and why or if they even want to. That's fine for a Scorsese film, but this is Spider-Man, people!

3) More J.K. Simmons and Bruce Campbell

In the few moments of screen time given to each of these fantastic character actors, they charged the movie with an energy that nearly all of the other actors lacked. As a huge Oz fan, it's always a little jarring to see J.K. Simmons in other roles – I kept expecting him to sexually assault Peter Parker. But once I got past that, the guy was hilarious. And Bruce Campbell's champagne back-and-forth in the restaurant was pure gold. Truth be told, Campbell should have played The Sandman. He certainly would have brought more life to it than Thomas Haden Church -- who must have thought he was playing the Sandman who puts kids to sleep.