matthew mcconaughey Tagged Articles at Cinematical

I don't think there's enough Tommy Lee Jones on cinema screens, and I'm not alone in hoping he'd jump right back behind the camera again after his 2005 debut The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada. But it looks like he's going back behind the camera, as Variety reports that he's in talks to direct and costar in The Lincoln Lawyer.

At first glance, The Lincoln Lawyer might be a startling choice for Jones' next directing foray because it would appear to be Matthew McConaughey's attempt at a serious makeover. McConaughey is set to play Mickey Haller, a aimless lawyer who works out of the back of his Lincoln, and defends low rent criminals. One shiny day, he ends up with a case defending a Beverly Hills playboy against a murder charge, but it isn't all easy peasy and high paychecks. It's a Michael Connelly book, after all. Look elsewhere for bongo drums and shirtlessness. If it actually threatens to bubble over, just trust that stern glare of Jones to nip it in the bud.

No one knows what role Jones is interested in playing. Variety notes that "the playboy character" is the most logical choice for his stature, but Connelly's book paints him as younger and more hard-partying. They may rewrite it, or Jones may be eying a smaller part and spending most of his time behind the camera. It might take all his energy just trying to remind us of the days when McConaughey was just that Young Turk in A Time to Kill, and not the running gag of the gossip scene.

Several weeks ago at a press conference for Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, Matthew McConaughey's latest cinematic, um, effort, I asked him and co-star Jennifer Garner if this film was more a cautionary tale for women not to be drawn in by douchebags than an object lesson for would-be lotharios. While McConaughey marveled at the prospect anyone would think one of his characters was a douchebag, Garner dismissed the idea that the greater lesson could or should be learned by the film's female viewership. "It's more for men to say you have to risk love and commitment," she insisted. "Otherwise, you're going to end up alone with old-age make-up and sad and the beautiful woman is going to go off and marry someone else."

While Garner's make-up reference was a clever play on the film's decidedly underwhelming "ghosts of girlfriends future" segment – and one which, if you're lucky enough to never see the film, will never be provided an actual context - the question unfortunately remains: who is this film supposed to teach a lesson, much less entertain? Having analyzed its reprehensible characters and deconstructed its mixed messages, it seems obvious that the film was either made specifically for terrible, stupid people of both genders, or for no one at all.

It is of course impossible to say whether the much-discussed work print leak damaged Wolverine's box office take, nor whether Fox's cockamamie strategy of tacking on different mid-credits codas to different prints of the film helped matters. All we can conclude is that if piracy hurt, it didn't hurt that much (which really has been the refrain for the movie industry all along), since I don't think too many people will be unhappy with an $87 million first weekend. For those keeping score, that's well ahead of X-Men, marginally ahead of Bryan Singer's X2, and roughly $15 million behind Brett Ratner's X-Men: The Last Stand. Wolverine is not likely to hold up well, but it's hard to imagine a scenario where it doesn't get to $200 million domestic. And after all the angst, that's a victory.

One thing to consider is what this means for the straight action model of the comic book movie. I didn't dislike Wolverine like a lot of people did, but it undoubtedly did away with the nuance, intricacy and character focus that we've gotten used to seeing in major comic book adaptations. I bet it's much easier to make a Wolverine than a Iron Man or an X2 or a Watchmen, and it seems not to be much less financially rewarding.

I very much enjoyed not watching Ghosts of Girlfriends Past this weekend, and it seems so did a bunch of other people. The Matthew McConaughey romantic comedy picked up $15.3 million, which isn't bad, but puts the film way behind the last three identical Matthew McConaughey romantic comedies. And the 3D-animated Battle for Terra, while not a Delgo-level bust, couldn't break the top 10 and ended up with just over $1 million on around 1,200 screens. It's tough out there for animated features not bankrolled and marketed by huge studios.

The weekend's top 10 after the jump.

I apparently loved Ghosts of Girlfriends Past.

See, according to the logic doled out by the monogamy-hating, scotch-addled mind of one Connor Mead (Matthew McConaughey), the power of any relationship falls to whoever cares less, and my friends, I really could not care less about whether or not his boozing, cruising lothario was going to learn any magical lesson lifted straight out of Dickens. Ergo, the further I slumped in my seat while watching this mawkish, obvious, and not very funny film, the more powerful I grew in this particular relationship, and let me tell you right now: that and two bucks will get you a cup of coffee, with no need for any more artificial sweetener...

Dazed and Confused, Part 2. No, I'm not talking about that "spiritual sequel" we learned about in March. I'm talking about an honest-to-goodness sequel bringing back the characters we can't help but love. It seems that Matthew McConaughey, better known as the teen-loving David Wooderson, told MTV that it is a possibility.

"That's a very precious subject, that movie. We made such a gem... I've had loose discussions about what would be the next [in]carnation of a Dazed and Confused... [Richard Linklater is] not going to do it unless it's done the right way. It's a good idea, but he's gotta pick the right way to do it." The actor goes on to say how he'd love to see what everyone would be doing in 1992, and imagines Wooderson might have a few kids and run a community radio station.

While I'm not sure I'd want to see Wooderson in the family way, I would love to see these guys again in more than just quick clips from a reunion picnic. Would Mitch still pinch his brow? What sort of heated debates would Mike and Tony have years later? And would Cynthia still sport a fabulous fro? Is Slater still high? Would Michelle still make music (yes please!)? Is O'Bannion still in high school? Is Darla still a bitch?

If Before Sunset is any indication, this would be a fabulous sequel. Where do you think they all are 20 years later?

Holy crap... Matthew McConaughey has got a new film on the way, and it doesn't require him to be topless, nor does it require him to busy himself with sports and women! Instead, he's tapping into the old days of A Time to Kill and loving law once again. Empire reports that McConaughey has signed on to star in a new legal thriller called The Lincoln Lawyer, based on Michael Connelly's book.

McConaughey will play Mickey Haller, a "Lincoln lawyer" who is so low on the law totem pole that he works out of the back seat of his Lincoln Town Car and defends drunk drivers, con artists, and the other stellar parts of humanity. Then a rich Beverly Hills playboy gets arrested for attacking a woman and he chooses Haller to defend him. The lawyer, in turn, thinks it will be a piece of cake until the usual thriller fare bubbles up -- someone Haller knows is murdered, and he has to make sure he isn't next on the chopping block.

This is one of those star-before-the-meat projects that hasn't even been adapted yet, and doesn't have a director, so we've got a long way to go until a fully dressed McConaughey hits the big screen. This sounds better than much of his recent fare ... but I still want him to tap into more retro Wooderson. The man doesn't only need clothes -- he needs a good indie.

Goodness me, for just how long has Hollywood been sitting on the high-concept rom-com that is Ghosts of Girlfriends Past? So narrow-minded lothario Matthew McConaughey (who's getting good at this kind of role) is visited by three of his exes and shown the error of his ways -- namely, letting childhood flame Jennifer Garner slip away (I'll give 'em that much; a dumb, dumb move). If the Moviefone trailer above is any indication, saccharine and slapstick will be in no short supply.

It seems that director Mark Waters has opted to skew the sharper comedic stomping grounds of, say, Mean Girls in favor of another rom-com fantasy in the vein of Just Like Heavin', from the pair of writers who also brought us Full of It and Four Christmases. If we're really supposed to have any hope for this project, let me know when you find it.

At any rate, Ghosts opens on May 1st as counter-programming against X-Men Origins: Wolverine -- for all the girls who just can't stand that Hugh Jackman fella, I suppose. Come on, which one are you readers counting down the days for?

I think David O. Russell is a masochist.

He stirs up drama on set that makes shooting tense, but even more to the point: After spending much of the last year with the struggle to get Nailed shot, he's going for a project that's been in limbo for two years. The Hollywood Reporter posts that the director is in negotiations to helm The Grackle. If you have a really good memory and have been following Cinematical closely for the last few years, you might remember when the project got cooking with Matthew McConaughey in June of 2006.

First described as a film about "a Southern jack-of-all-trades hired 'by those who have trouble fighting for themselves,'" Grackle is now being described as a "New Orleans-set comedy [that] centers on a barroom fighter who helps clients settle legal disputes with his fists." Well, if anyone can make a weird premise like that into an great movie, it would be Russell. He might be hot-headed and argumentative, but the guy knows how to make excellent films.

But will it get off the ground this time?

To believe or not to believe:

MTV has posted an exclusive that says Michael Caine, Scarlett Johansson, and Matthew McConaughey are teaming up for a new heist thriller. However, the news doesn't come from the most reliable source -- Mr. Caine himself. Last time he mentioned an upcoming film, he was confirming the casting of Johnny Depp and Philip Seymour Hoffman in a new Batman movie, which MTV later debunked. Spotty memory or not, I'm inclined to believe this. Having a crappy memory might make you misremember conversations about future projects, but not completely create them out of thin air (unless he's going crazy!?). Besides, the project Caine is most likely referring to is the heist thriller Brilliance, starring Scarlett Johansson, which we first reported all the way back in September 2007.

I am both intrigued and repelled by this news. Should this go the fluff route that most of McConaughey's flicks have taken lately, it could be shite. However, if they can whip up something funny, but more charismatically subdued (like Dazed and Confused), I'm there. I better stop musing though -- thoughts of Wooderson with some snarky Rebecca will only leave me disappointed.

The Geek Beat is taking a late-September vacation to Middle Earth -- but it will be back next month and those of you suffering withdrawels can always check the archives. In the meantime, you can relax with a daily round-up of nerdy news bites. (They taste like coconut!) This is relaxing for me, too -- I get to catch up on my reading, my Halloween shopping, and my yoga. I can stay up all night re-reading Preacher (you know I will) and not waiting for an X-Men Origins: Wolverine story. A good way to end summer!

Now, onto today's news ...

• According to The Hollywood Reporter, Jeffery Erb and Robert Robinson Jr. have launched Framelight Productions with an eye to producing edgy comic and graphic novel adaptations. They already have options on Larry Hama's Dr. Death with Kip and Muffy, Gary Reed's Deadworld, Ralph Tedesco and Joe Tyler's Sins of the Fallen, as well as their 1001 Arabian Nights. (Clicking on any of those links will take you to previews of the books.) All of their productions aim to do one thing in particular -- involve the creator in all aspects of movie making. "We weren't the only producers wanting to make movies based on these creators' babies, but we were the only ones inviting them in as co-producers," says Erb.

• Edward Norton told MTV News that he's uncertain about the future of The Incredible Hulk and his role in it. There's been no word on whether they will be a solo sequel, or if Norton will be playing the Hulk in The Avengers. "The minds of Marvel are sometimes opaque. I won't say [they're] obtuse, but I don't have any idea what they want to do." Perhaps they're considering Matthew McConaughey, who had no idea he was rumored for Captain America -- but revealed to MTV that Hulk is really the only Marvel character he would like to play. (They could save on the budget -- all they have to do is dye that muscled dude green.)