out of sight Tagged Articles at Cinematical
Fan Rant: Am I Sick of George Clooney? Not Anymore I'm Not
Filed under: Celebrities and Controversy », George Clooney », Fan Rant »
Yesterday, Monika asked if we were tired of George Clooney, who has undeniably been everywhere since making his escape from ER in the mid-1990s. I wanted to weigh in, because my answer is a curious one, and it sadly wasn't an option in Monika's poll: I used to be tired of him, but I'm not anymore. I think the peak of my tiredness came with the dreadful Perfect Storm in 2000. I remember being so sick of seeing Clooney pop up as these boring, poker-faced, tediously noble action heroes. I hadn't seen his earlier B-movie efforts at the time, and the triple-threat of Batman & Robin, The Peacemaker and The Perfect Storm made me wish he'd never been born. (I had seen Three Kings, and honestly don't remember why that didn't change matters for me -- I think I wrote it off as a fluke, and was more impressed with Ice Cube anyhow.) What an anodyne heartthrob, I thought, with no personality or real talent. Get him out of my sight.
Ving Rhames Has Got 'The Goods'
Filed under: Comedy », Casting », Newsstand », Paramount Vantage »
I don't know why I think of Ving Rhames as a tough guy dramatic actor first and a comedic actor second. Even his most iconic role, as Marcellus Wallace in Pulp Fiction, was simply a straight-played comic part. Throughout his career he's been in a lot of comedies, from the truly awful (Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot) to the near-perfect (Out of Sight). But I guess lately, aside from the recent I Now Pronounce You Chuck and Larry, he's been pigeon-holed as best-suited for crime thrillers, prison dramas and well-produced horror films, with an occasional fun action pic like the Mission:Impossible movies. Personally, I'd love him to do another movie that mixes all those genres with a touch of comedy, a la the guilty pleasure Con-Air, but I'll settle for just a comedy. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Rhames has signed on to Paramount Vantage's The Goods: The Don Ready Story, which Monika told us recently will star Jeremy Piven as a used car salesman. Also joining the cast is Anchorman's David Koechner.It wasn't mentioned what kind of characters Rhames and Koechner will be playing, but hopefully they're fellow used car salesmen working alongside Piven, who, more specifically, is a guy who must save the struggling dealership over a Fourth of July weekend. The most logical idea, though, is that whatever Rhames' role, he will be some combination of humor and muscle; the combination is one of the reasons that Rhames can do comedy and still retain his reputation as a bad ass, unlike some other people (please don't ever put Rhames in a babysitting comedy!). The comedy will be produced by Will Ferrell and Adam McKay via their new company Gary Sanchez Productions, along with Chris Henchy (Entourage) and Kevin Messick (A Lot Like Love). The script was written by Rick Stempson and Andy Stock, who also wrote the upcoming Seann William Scott movie Gary the Tennis Coach. It will be directed by Chappelle's Show actor/writer/director Neal Brennan.
Tom Lazarus Interviews Scott Frank via Screenplay
Filed under: Fandom », Scripts », Interviews »
Writer Tom Lazarus has written two
of the best screenplay how-to books you can find on bookshelves (Secrets of Film Writing and Rewriting
Secrets of Film Writing), and Scott Frank (Out of Sight, Get Shorty, Minority Report,
Little Man Tate, Dead Again) is one of the best screenwriters working today. So when the two get
together you know it's going to be something quite interesting. Lazarus has an interview with Frank at his web site (Frank did the forew0ard for
"Rewriting").But it's not just a simple Q and A; not only is the interview itself wide-ranging and a must-read for film buffs, but it's also a good lesson in screenwriting -- Lazarus has structured it as a screenplay itself, complete with fade-in's and camera directions. Frank talks about the writing process, the dos and don'ts of screenwriting, and offers tips to young screenwriters.
JLo Snags a Role in Ocean's 13?
Filed under: Casting », RumorMonger », DIY/Filmmaking », Angelina Jolie », Brad Pitt », George Clooney », Remakes and Sequels »
Okay, so the last time I spoke about JLo here on Cinematical, things didn't go so well. People thought I was
being very mean and awfully unfair towards Mrs. Lopez-Noa-Judd-Almost Affleck-Anthony. Perhaps I can redeem myself
here. Or not. As Martha
reported the other day, Steven Soderbergh and company are
returning, yet again, for Ocean's 13. The funniest thing
about these sequels is that, as the numbers get higher, it's just that many more people they need to cast.
I'd love for this thing to go to Ocean's 26 just to see which random actors show up. I'd imagine myself saying
things like, "Holy crap, is that a digitized Marlon Brando?
Sweet!"
While most of the cast is returning for a sequel, Julia Roberts and Catherine Zeta-Jones will stay behind. Supposedly, the script didn't call for their characters, but something tells me that's a load of craps. Ya know, like the game? With Ellen Barkin signed on to play a love interest to Matt Damon's character, there's room for one more female to fight over heartthrobs George Clooney and Brad Pitt. Unfortunately, it appears as if Angelina Jolie will not be showing up (Ain't that a bummer?), but Jennifer Lopez is now one of the names being thrown into consideration. Of course, this comes via a "Super Secret Inside Source" over at JoBlo, so take it all with a grain of salt for now.
Honestly, I really enjoyed Lopez's shifty performance in Out of Sight. Coincidentally, her co-star in that film was none other than George Clooney. Now, if her role alongside Danny Ocean is similar, then I'm down with giving her a shot. Ocean's 13 will start shooting (primarily on five soundstages in Burbank) this July 21st.
Wait - we *don't* want J. Lo to die?
Filed under: Drama », Music & Musicals », RumorMonger », Celebrities and Controversy », Newsstand », Remakes and Sequels »
Every studio in Hollywood has
apparently refused to finance Ray director Taylor Hackford's latest pet project, a feature based on Georges
Bizet's classic opera Carmen, starring Jennifer Lopez. Bizet's opera is a dark, tragic tale of a gypsy whose
daliances with a soldier and a bullfighter bring down both men, and bring their respective political struggles to a
head. Hackford says the suits are afraid of putting Lopez, whose fan base is largely comprised of teenage girls, into a
serious, potentially R-rated project in which the heroine is eventually killed. "There is a great deal of fear in
Hollywood," Hackford tells the NY Daily News, based on the fact that "many of the films are not
working," with moviegoers. "We want to do a tough, hard version, but Hollywood thinks [Lopez'] audience is
13-year-old girls." The suits couldn't really be trying to get Hackford to make his project adolescent-friendly – and if they are, it's only because they've never seen that MTV version of Carmen, starring Beyonce and subtitled, "A Hip-Hopera". The 12-21 year old audience has, I think, been served an adequete helping of Bizet. It makes perfect sense that no one would back a serious, expensive, drama (and it's not even clear whether or not Hackford plans to make it a musical) starring Jennifer Lopez, who has proven bankable only in romantic comedies and as an actress, has by most accounts never lived up to promise she showed in Out of Sight. The real question is: why doesn't Hackford just go get himself another ingenue? Last I heard, there were one or two other Latina actresses in the world...
Jeremy Renner Wants To Be An Avenger
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