Now that Milla Jovovich might not be returning for another shot at the Resident Evil franchise, it's nice to see that she isn't still pining away for another chance at playing Alice. The Hollywood Reporter announced that Jovovich has signed to star in the real- life mystery, The 4th Kind. The film was written and directed by Olatunde Osunsanmi, a first time writer/director, who started his career as an assistant to Joe Carnahan (once again proving that in this business it's who you know).

There aren't many details about the story so far, but what we do know is that the film is based on a series of mysterious disappearances that took place in Alaska. The unsolved mystery of what happened to these people over the last 40 years has often been blamed on a government cover-up, or worse. Judging from the title, I'm going to go with aliens on this one. Kind will most likely use some of the juicier conspiracy theories as a starting point for the story. Jovovich will play an investigator sent to the remote town to uncover the story behind these unexplained abductions.

Not very long ago, Jessica told you that Steve Zahn and Timothy Olyphant had signed up to play in David Twohy's A Perfect Getaway, but it seems like the writer / director was scouting for actresses over the weekend. Looks like Milla Jovovich will be paired up with Zahn (the lucky dog) and Ms. Kiele Sanchez will be hanging with Mr. Olyphant. (Genre fans will remember David Twohy from flicks like The Arrival, Pitch Black, Below, and ... The Chronicles of Riddick.)

According to The Hollywood Reporter, "Jovovich and Sanchez join Timothy Olyphant and Steve Zahn in the thriller, which revolves around a newlywed couple on their honeymoon in Hawaii who run into two hikers who turn out to be vicious killers." Call me psychic, but I'm betting it's the Olyphant / Sanchez couple who do the stalking and the Zahn / Jovovich duo who do the running ... although it'd probably be more interesting the other way around.

The whole gang will begin shooting A Perfect Getaway next week in Puerto Rico and Hawaii. Tough gig. As far as the flick is concerned, I'm just a bit skeptical. Haven't we had enough of the Americans Terrorized Overseas thrillers yet? Then again (Chronicles notwithstanding) I'm a big fan of the Twohy, so I suppose one more dose of Passport Purgatory won't be all that bad.

This is yet another slow week for DVD releases, but at least you can fill your violence quota for the week!

Shoot 'Em Up
This is certainly not an epic feat of cinema, nor is it a movie that will gain Oscar buzz. It is, plainly and wonderfully, a movie about lots and lots of shooting in improbable circumstances. Clive Owen's human Bugs Bunny can do it all -- he can slide across the room gunning people down, or even get the job down while having horizontal fun with Monica Bellucci. Delightful in that mindless action sort of way, Shoot 'Em Up follows Mr. Smith (Owen), a "gun-toting badass" who has to keep a newborn, orphaned baby safe. While trying to save the little tyke from the likes of the criminal mastermind (Paul Giamatti), he gets the help of prostitute (Bellucci) whose specialty is people with mommy fetishes. It's completely unbelievable, in that tasty, cinematic sort of way.

There's a decent amount of special features to make this sale even more worthwhile. You can check out a director/writer commentary, deleted/alternate scenes (with optional commentary), a making-of featurette with sub-options from cast interviews to special effects, and finally, an animated clip of the action scenes in the film.

Check out Jette Kernion's Review | Buy the DVD


Resident Evil: Extinction
If you prefer your action to have more of the undead and less of the soon-to-be dead, the third installment of Resident Evil, this week's other big release, might be more up your alley. This time around, Alice (Milla Jovovich) teams up with Oded Fehr and Mike Epps to bring down the Umbrella Corporation and stop a virus that will turn everyone into the undead. Helping her, along with peeps like Ali Larter, is all of the super-human strength and perks that the company had given her. Oh, and this is all happening in the dry and roasty Nevada desert.

This set has a few good nibbles for you -- director/producer/writer commentary, deleted scenes, a featurette covering everything from pre-production to the end of shooting, and a sneak peek at the CGI movie Resident Evil: Degeneration.

Check out Peter Martin's Review | Buy the DVD

Other New DVD Releases (January 1)

War
September Dawn

Check out Peter Martin's Indies on DVD for even more new releases.

Poor Alice. She keeps waking up wet, naked and alone. When last we saw her, she was escaping from a top-secret medical research facility with four other survivors of a nuclear "accident" that destroyed the fictional Raccoon City. Actually, an evil scientist employed by the multinational Umbrella Corporation allowed the group to leave so he could activate a secret program implanted in dear Alice.

Watching Resident Evil: Extinction, the third installment in a series inspired by the video game, made me wish that I had a secret program implanted in me that would allow me to watch the movie in fast forward mode. Whereas the first installment in the series had a pleasant degree of kooky, claustrophobic atmosphere, and the second (Resident Evil: Apocalypse) had the virtue of non-stop action sequences -- even if the action was often silly and indecipherable visually -- Extinction has no such saving grace.

The first two films also had the benefit of lovely supporting distractions, in the persons of sexy fighting femme butt-kickers Michelle Rodriguez (in the first) and Sienna Guillory (in the second). Alas, Extinction completely wastes Ali Larter, who is reduced to striding around purposefully and acting compassionate as the leader of a group of survivors. This ain't Heroes, folks. Milla Jovovich previously appeared to revel in her unlikely role as Alice, a supremely efficient killing machine, but here she pouts and frowns and labors under the weight of tons of pancake makeup affixed to her face, to what purpose or intent I do not know.

You might remember that back in August, Moviefone was looking for questions that Resident Evil: Extinction stars Milla Jovovich and Ali Larter could ask each other as part of the site's Unscripted series. Well, the questions were picked, the interview is now online, and I am very happy to report that they didn't go with the courageous "privates" question (check out the comments in the original post). Jovovich is looking ready to burst, as she's having fiance Paul W.S. Anderson's baby this fall, and Larter looks lovely, as usual.

But really, this isn't about how they look -- it's about their conversation and their butt-kicking movie. The actresses discuss some fluff, the perks of kicking butt, and potential future games. Milla says she did the flicks for her little brother, and after the second, she wasn't too into the whole Resident Evil experience. However, she says that the script was so good, it changed her mind. (PR or real opinion? You decide.) Of course, Ali also got a bunch of Heroes questions, but the best moment came when they discussed the possibility of Milla joining the show, and what Jovovich thinks her special power could be. Now that is something I would pay to see. Those of you who want to see the gals kick tons of zombie ass (is there a better way to spend Saturday night? I think not) -- the movie comes out this week.

No huge surprises in last weekend's box office returns. Jodie Foster's new thriller took the lead with slithery CGI serpents bringing up the rear at number five. Superbad is definitely getting some McLovin' after being in the top five for five weeks now. Here are the numbers from last weekend:

The Brave One: $13.4 million
3:10 to Yuma: $8.9 million
Mr. Woodcock: $8.7 million
Superbad: $5.1 million
Dragon Wars: $5 million

This weekend we've got three new releases, plus two more flicks going into wider release. Check it out:

Good Luck Chuck
What's It All About: Dane Cook plays a man cursed. Every woman he has ever slept with has found true love with the next person they meet after dumping him. Now that he's in love with a woman played by Jessica Alba he has to find a way to break the curse.
Why It Might Do Well: Judging from the trailer, Ms. Alba spends at least part of the film in her underwear. Not a bad thing.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The plot synopsis and all the pratfalls in the trailer remind me way too much of Three's Company.
Number of Theaters: 2,500
Prediction: $10 million

Resident Evil: Extinction
What's It All About: Milla Jovovich returns as Alice, kicking zombie butt in the Nevada desert and taking on the evil Umbrella Corporation in this third installment of the video game-based franchise.
Why It Might Do Well: Halloween's success at the box office showed that people are up for a good scare, and for my money I'll take a zombie flick over a slasher movie any day of the week. I'm even willing to overlook my lukewarm feelings about Resident Evil: Apocalypse.
Why It Might Not Do Well: The list of crappy movies based on video games is a long and sad one.
Number of Theaters: 2,700
Prediction: $22 million

Sydney White
What's It All About: Amanda Bynes stars in this modern take on Snow White, playing a college student who after being rejected by the sorority she hoped to join is taken in by seven dorks.
Why It Might Do Well: Bynes has a great sense of comedic timing. If you thought The Amanda Show was just for kids, you might be surprised at how intelligent the humor was.
Why It Might Not Do Well: It's basically a teen comedy, and Superbad is a tough act to follow.
Number of Theaters: 1,900
Prediction: $7 million

And, although these next two opened last weekend, they're both spreading out into a greater number of theaters:

Across the Universe
What's It All About: A musical love story that takes place in the turbulent 1960s set to the music of The Beatles.
Why It MIght Do Well: It looks downright trippy, and it's got Beatles tunes. What's not to love?
Why It Might Not Do Well: It's not a huge release so this won't make the top five.
Number of Theaters: 400
Prediction: $2.5 million

Eastern Promises
What's It All About: David Cronenberg and Viggo Mortensen, the director and star of A History of Violence, re-team for this thriller. Naomi Watts plays a London midwife who comes into possession of a diary that could be dangerous for Russian mobsters.
Why It MIght Do Well: After their last collaboration, I'm dying to see what Mortensen and Cronenberg come up with.
Why It Might Not Do Well: Oh, don't be so negative.
Number of Theaters: 1,325
Prediction: $8 million


Here's how I'm betting things will go this coming weekend:
1. Resident Evil: Extinction
2. Good Luck Chuck
3. The Brave One
4. Eastern Promises
5. Sydney White

And here's how our little competition went last week:
1. Josh: 13
2. Matt: 11
2. Anna07: 11
2. Porcalina: 11
3. Ness265: 9
3. drklrdbill: 9
4. Lee: 8
4. Max: 8
4. Brad: 8
5. Ray: 7
6. peter: 6
7. ABIRD0006: 4
7. MikeJM79: 4

Here's how the competition works:
Please post your prediction in the comments section below before 5:00PM on Saturday. One point for every top five movie correctly named, two points for every correct placement, and one extra point for the top movie.

Sony Pictures has launched the official site for Resident Evil: Extinction. This time around: Alice, our genetically enhanced heroine (Milla Jovovich) is lost in the wastelands of Nevada while fending off the evil plans of the Umbrella Corporation. Joining Jovovich as fellow plague survivors are Heroes' Ali Larter and R&B singer Ashanti. Also returning are Oded Fehr as Carlos Oliviera and Mike Epps as L.J. Last month we had gotten word of a new R trailer for the film and another gallery of photos released to the web. The arrival of a web site might not seem like such a big deal, especially in the current climate of viral fever, but there's plenty of cool content. There are wallpapers, screen savers, and loads of media gallerie, as well as a pretty decent online game -- but be warned; it's armed with one of those age-verification login pages.

Resident Evil: Extinction was directed by Russell Mulcahy; according to this piece over at Movies Online, Paul W.S. Anderson's script has reportedly taken elements from the RE: Code Veronica. Anderson has written his share of video game flicks, including all three of the Resident Evil flicks, and directing the first one back in 2002. There had been some debate over whether Extinction was going to be the last film in the series, but Sony refers to the film as "the third and final installment", so I guess it really is the end for Alice -- I can only hope she will go out in style. Extinction hits theaters September 21st.

[via ComingSoon.net]

Confession time: I kind of have a soft spot for the Resident Evil movies. (Forgive me if I don't pause for any stunned silence.) I think the first movie is a perfectly entertaining live-action comic book, full of silly mayhem, kinetic chases, goopy monsters, stylish artifice, and semi-smart ideas. As far as Resident Evil: Apocalypse is concerned, well, even I'm not that shameless. I've actually TRIED to enjoy the thing as a guilty pleasure, but it's just three degrees too inept to earn even that designation. Still, it's tough to get bored when you've got Milla Jovovich and Sienna Guillory slaying zombies in skimpy clothes. (The girls, not the zombies.)

Having blathered all that, I suppose that the third entry in the series (Russell Mulcahy's Resident Evil: Extinction), which opens (loudly) on September 21, could tip the scales on way or another: If Part 3 is worth a wet slap, then the genre fans will remember the series as satisfying brain candy with a weak center. If Part 3 sucks, then we'll recall the Resident Evil flicks like this: "Yeah, I remember those. They sucked. The first one was kinda good. Wait, was it?"

Anyway, you may have already experienced the recently-released theatrical trailer for RE3, but if you like a little more gore in your promotional materials, then you'll want to click right here to savor the R-rated goodness of a good ol' red-band trailer. (Not recommended for the squeamish, the extremely pregnant, or those offended by female thighs.) I first saw this trailer before a screening of I Know Who Killed Me (seriously, I don't want to talk about it) and it was definitely lacking a lot of the slime, the splats, and the massive open head wounds. Hooray for all the less-than-mindless zombie mayhem. Perfect way to close down a raucous summer movie season if you ask me. Only time (and box office returns) will tell if we're due for a Resident Evil: Ultimate Armageddon Explosion Mega-Catastrophe Apocalypse Extinction Elimination Deathfest Part 4. (Check out our previous Extinction coverage here, here and here. And if you're really love zombies even more than Milla, try here, here and here.)

I just watched an outdoor screening of Dazed and Confused the other day, and I was once again surprised to see Milla Jovovich in the movie. I always forget she's in there hiding among the huge cast, possibly because it's a such a small role, but more likely because she's such a sweet hippie chick in it. Four years after appearing in that film, she did The Fifth Element, then The Messenger, then Resident Evil. Now it almost seems like she only does movies in which she kicks serious ass. It's like she turned in the guitar and marijuana for guns and adrenaline. Not that any of us mind, of course, because there's no action heroine sexier than Jovovich. She's the reason many of us are looking forward to Resident Evil: Extinction (out September 12) despite the previous RE installment's extreme suckage.

For the new movie, Jovovich is joined by another geektastically hot actress, Heroes' Ali Larter. And in a gallery of stills from RE:E on Yahoo! Movies, we get to see more of Larter's presence. There's one photo of her aiming a gun, non-action-like, as though she's involved in target practice. There's another pic of her hanging out with Oded Fehr, giving us her trademark teeth-exposing, upper-lip-raising, flared-nostrile intensity. There's also one of her shaking hands with Jovovich's Alice, which we saw before. Most of the other Alice stills are repeats, too, but there is an awesome shot of her in mid-flight, about to slaughter a bald baddie with her hockey-stick-like blades. And there's another one of her parked on a BMW motorcycle. From what we've so far seen from all the images, there doesn't appear to be much diversity in scenery, but we also haven't really gotten to see much of the destroyed Vegas yet, and I'm hoping that isn't because the movie lacks great set pieces.

Like many others, I was disappointed with Resident Evil: Apocalypse. Yet, I still look forward to Resident Evil: Extinction. Why? Because Milla Jovovich is still the hottest action heroine, regardless of how bad the movie she's kicking ass in. And with Highlander (and, um, Highlander II: The Quickening) director Russell Mulcahy taking over for the third installment, the thing could have possibly been a guilty pleasure even if Milla hadn't returned. Fortunately she has, and of course she looks pretty good (maybe a teensy weensy too butch) in the pics and the teaser trailer we've seen so far. The first poster, though? Why does she have to be in silhouette? This new international poster is more like it -- even if she does look more scary than sexy.

One thing that is odd about the poster is how it features the mock Statue of Liberty from the New York, New York Casino in the background. It gives the impression that RE:E takes place in a desert-covered New York rather than a wiped-out Las Vegas. The domestic poster at least shows more of the destroyed casinos and even includes the city's famous sign. I should stop criticizing the poster, though, because just looking at it makes me think the new genetically engineered version of Alice (Jovovich) is going to come after me with that giant blade. Resident Evil: Extinction finishes out the trilogy of the video game adaptation starting September 21.