peter dinklage Tagged Articles at Cinematical

Some news bites for your Friday:

• There's a new drama that's begun production called Saint John of Las Vegas, and Variety reports that it has collected a pretty sweet cast -- Steve Buscemi, Romany Malco, Emily Mortimer, Tim Blake Nelson, John Cho, Emmanuelle Chriqui, and Peter Dinklage. Said to be loosely based on Dante's Inferno, of all things, and written by new scribe Hue Rhodes, Buscemi stars as "an ex-gambler who's under the tutelage of a maverick insurance fraud investigator (Malco)." I'm not quite sure how that works, but you can be sure that there'll be a lot of struggle and vice. And John Cho in a drama? Will he finally be breaking out of his usual comedic gigs?
• In other news, that untitled parkour pic that I mentioned back in February of 2007, starring Channing Tatum, is still in the works. Variety reports that New Line is finally shooing the project into production early next year, with Richie Smyth making his feature directorial debut. The film is said to be about a NYC cop who has to infiltrate a group of parkour-loving bank robbers. Does this mean Tatum has to learn himself some parkour? And I still want to know: Will David Belle be involved?

One thing I've noticed about most epic sci-fi/fantasy stories is that they're essentially about war, albeit disguised and softened with weird monsters, robots and other creatures with funny names. There's usually a bad guy (with a really sinister sounding name) who wants to take over the world or something similar, and a reluctant hero -- plucked from his comfortable, yet mundane home -- who has to stop him. The trick is to make it all fun. Because let's face it, we humans love war. If we didn't there wouldn't be so many movies and books about war, as well as -- you know -- real wars. (More specifically, I think, we love watching them, rather than fighting in them.) The Lord of the Rings trilogy worked so well because Peter Jackson projected his own twisted glee into every frame; he loved making those movies and it showed. The characters felt an anxious anticipation toward the battle, like a buildup, and the battles themselves were explosive releases. The new film The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, the second in an unfortunately ongoing series, treats war as if it were already played out, rather than happening before our eyes. It's a dead dog dull bore of a movie, but that won't stop it from making a fortune. (See also Jette's review.)

After seeing what Hollywood did with one of the finest cartoons ever made (The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle, ugh!) I was more than a little skeptical when I learned that Disney was turning one of my very favorite animated characters into a live-action movie. The cartoon is Underdog, the movie version comes from the guy who did Racing Stripes, and the very first teaser trailer is right here.

It's basically one of those "misdirection" trailers in which we're expected to think we're watching a "serious" promotional piece ... and then it's all fun and giggles when we get a flying dog thrown at the screen. Plus, and I know it's a major piece of geeky nit-pickery, but this cute little pup doesn't look a thing like Underdog! Someone get me the canine casting directors on the phone! Opening August 3 (against the teen comedy Charlie Bartlett and the spy thriller The Bourne Ultimatum), Underdog looks to have been a fairly "collaborative" production, what with its three screenwriters and ten (yes, ten) producers.

The title pup is voiced by Jason Lee; the supporting cast includes Peter Dinklage, Jim Belushi, Patrick Warburton and (the voice of) Amy Adams; and the tagline "One Nation Under Dog" is sure to cause some complaints across the bible belt. Bet on it.

The last flurry of news we got on the Narnia sequel was back in December, when Mark had reported that filming for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian was set to begin in England and New Zealand. The film's start date was just around the corner, and there were still some substantial gaps in the cast. Several cast members have been falling into line recently, however, and Moviehole.net is reporting that at least one more part has been safely filled.

The latest addition to the ever-expanding cast is Peter Dinklage (The Station Agent) as Trumpkin the Dwarf. Dinklage will play a leader in the resistance to King Miraz and supporter of Prince Caspian X as the true king. The cast list on NarniaFans.com also lists Vincent Grass as Doctor Cornelius and Alicia Borrachero as Queen Purnaprsmia. Ben Barnes will play Caspian and William Moseley (Peter), Anna Popplewell (Susan), Skandar Keynes (Edmund) and Georgie Henley (Lucy) will all be returning as the Pevensie clan. (Liam Neeson will also back as the furry Jesus figure Aslan). Although, this will probably be the last we see of Mosely and Popplewell, since their characters are getting a little long in the tooth for Narnia. Shooting was set to begin this month; so if Andrew Adamson wants to keep to his schedule, casting is going to have to be completed sooner rather than later.

If you ask me, the only good thing to come out of Thomas McCarthy's The Station Agent was Peter Dinklage's genuine (yet often boring) performance in the lead role. Other than that, well, I only watched the film once ... if you get my drift. However, a lot of people thoroughly enjoyed the flick and I figured it was only a matter of time before McCarthy, an actor-turned-writer/director, would shell another film.

Well folks, that day has finally come: Variety reports McCarthy has just signed a deal to write and direct The Visitor for Groundswell Prods. and Participant Prods., marking his (highly anticipated?) sophomore effort. The dramedy is said to revolve around a widower/economics professor whose "world is turned upside down when he meets two illegal immigrants, one of whom he befriends and tries to help when discovered by U.S. immigration authorities." While McCarthy has consistently found work as an actor before and after The Station Agent, he's been itching to jump back behind the scenes for awhile now. Here's hoping McCarthy's latest tale of unusual friendships (which starts shooting next month in Gotham) manages to keep me from catching up on some much-needed sleep.

My pals and I were working hard at SXSW 2004 when we caught wind of a recently-added "on the down low" movie screening that sounded pretty cool. It was a comedy called Surviving Eden, and it was directed by Greg Pritikin, whom we already knew from his sadly underrated ventriliquism comedy Dummy. Prior to the screening, Greg asked that we not review the movie, positively or negatively, because it was still very much a work in progress.

Me and my two cohorts laughed a whole lot at Surviving Eden, and we left the theater a little bummed that we'd been asked not to review it. But we didn't.

Flash forward 2.5 years later, and here comes the flick's theatrical premiere! Cineville will be releasing Surviving Eden in NYC on August 25th, in Chicago on 9/1 and in Austin on 9/8. Most of us won't be able to check the movie out until it hits DVD, but it's basically a very amusing spoof on reality TV, and (more specifically) the "fake-celebrity" status that comes as part of the package. The colorful cast listing includes Michael Panes, Peter Dinklage, Cheri Oteri, Jane Lynch, Sam Robards, Illeana Douglas, Deep Roy and John Landis. Keep an eye out for it.

With the release of Little Man, I was shocked to find no protests from little people. Is this movie not the worst representation of dwarfs in decades? Though I'm not sure if the actors playing Marlon Wayans' body are actual little people, it must be insulting that a real little person isn't playing the "vertically-challenged" character. Wasn't it bad enough that The Lord of the Rings trilogy didn't use dwarfs as hobbits? Basically Little Man backtracks the portrayal of little people and makes them out to be freaks once again.

So, I'd like to take this opportunity to salute the little people in movies. They are in fact all over the big screen, mostly as stand-ins and stunt-doubles for children, but once in awhile they are really celebrated with prominent roles. These roles have decreased, though, since CGI replaced many creature characters so we have fewer little people dressed as Ewoks, robots and other sci-fi/fantasy inventions. I chose seven films I think are quite significant in the showcasing of individual little people. I've deliberately left out Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs on account it obviously doesn't use actual little people, and I've also omitted The Wizard of Oz since there are no real standouts, only a lot of dressed-up extras.

In a move that serves to remind us that MGM is now primarily a distributor, the company has acquired the rights to Death at a Funeral, a dark comedy from independent production company Sidney Kimmel Entertainment, one of the indie groups that signed an early, non-exclusive distribution deal with MGM. Though MGM owns domestic rights, international sales remain with SKE, which will try to sell the film at Cannes.

The movie will be direct by Frank Oz, and "revolves around a dysfunctional Brit family as they gather to mourn the passing of their patriarch." Needless to say, what with the film being a comedy and all, things don't go as smoothly as planned at the funeral. Oz will have a pretty good cast on his hands when production begins, including Matthew Macfadyen, Peter Dinklage and Ewen Bremner, who you may remember as the homelier of the two Trainspotting Ewans (he was Spud).

Did The Adventures of Rocky & Bullwinkle teach Hollywood nothing?! Was its run in theaters was so brief that no one noticed its existence and utter failure? Whatever their excuse, Disney has a lot to answer for when it comes to their determination to change Underdog from a cute cartoon into a movie featuring real humans. I mean, honestly - who approves these things? By what totally demented logic did they convince themselves that this movie was worth spending money to create?

Right. Bitching and whining aside, there is one bit of news about the movie that might save it from being a complete disaster: the magnificent Peter Dinklage is in it. Apparently the only human being actually in the cast so far, Dinklage will be playing a villain named Simon Bar Sinister (which somehow, accord to the The Hollywood Reporter, actually says "Simon Bastard." You clearly have to be smarter than I am to understand that.) and just may make at least parts of the movie worth watching. Maybe. I just hope they're paying him so much that he won't care if (Ha! I said "if.") the movie tanks.

Dinklage's humiliation begins next month in Rhode Island - let's hope they find him some other humans to act with before the cameras start rolling.

There’s something reassuring old fashioned about Sidney Lumet’s Find Me Guilty. Despite its modern setting, the film is anchored firmly in a time when jokes were gags, Louis Armstrong sang about the whole world smiling, and directors had the confidence to make leisurely movies. Even in Find Me Guilty’s moments of weakness - and, believe me, they’re not hard to find - Lumet’s breezy confidence carries his film through, saving it from the trash heap of utter mediocrity.

Vin Diesel - with hair - stars as Jackie DiNorscio, a soldier in New Jersey’s Lucchese crime family, one of the “five families” than once ran mob activity in the area of New York City. In the late 1980s, 20 members of the family were brought to trial on 87 different charges; the trial ran for nearly two years, becoming the longest criminal trial in US history. Though 19 of the defendants hired lawyers, DiNorscio, a man who left school after eighth grade and whose legal experience stemmed entirely from his extensive jail time, elected to represent himself. For the next 21 months, his antics made him a thorn in the side of the defense, a source of constant irritation to the judge, and a complete wildcard in the eyes of the jury.

Constantly calling himself a “gagster, not a gangster,” DiNorscio used his bullish charm and natural instincts to find his way, sometimes, to success in the courtroom. Just as often, however, he was on the verge of being removed from the case, and he made an enemy of codefendant Nick Calabrese, who feared DiNorscio’s misbehavior would jeopardize all 20 of the defendants. As DiNorscio, Diesel is a strangely endearing combination of macho and insecure; he's blustery and fearless, but with a childlike eagerness to please that lurks just below the surface. What is so interesting about the performance is that one is never quite sure if the traits on display belong to his character or to Diesel himself. Since they work equally well for both, however, it doesn't matter which man we're really seeing: the performance succeeds and, as a result, convincingly raises Diesel above the level of what Lumet calls “a race car action hero” for the first time.