x-men Tagged Articles at Cinematical

When I closed my eyes and pictured the greatest villain costumes in sci-fi movies, I was surprised how often hair -- and headpieces -- come into play. That makes sense for those of us who are not costume purists because we're thinking of the character as a whole, and in movies we're very often looking at close-ups of villains. We want to get up close and personal, to study the sneer, to examine the evil eyes, to absorb the dismissive scowl, to observe the raised eyebrows.

Isn't it the whole package that sells a character as a villain? The actor makes all the difference in the world, no matter if he's buried under a ton of makeup or becomes nearly unrecognizable, but the costume plays an important role. In honor of all those who will sally forth this weekend in costumes that are good, bad, and ugly, we salute the designers of the top ten (plus a couple of bonus selections) greatest villain costumes in sci-fi movies, and the actors who wear them.

The Emperor Ming (Flash Gordon)

It takes a truly evil villain to pull off this particular outfit. Arrayed in varying shades of deep red and gold, Ming (the always game Max von Sydow) threatens to steal the show when those eyebrows are raised. Somehow Ming looks both sartorially forward-thinking -- what is that raised cowl doing back there except to frame his bald head -- and ridiculously, gloriously silly.

Read the rest over at SciFi Squad

OK, maybe not literally. I mean, the rise of Brett Ratner probably isn't a sign of the end-times, although anyone who saw Rush Hour 3 might feel a little differently. So say what you want about him as a director, at least he's not deluded about his place in film history. In an interview with Starpulse, the director that everyone loves to hate was promoting his DVD tribute, The Shooter Series, but the conversation soon drifted to Ratner's rep among the comic book crowd where he had a few choice words for his detractors, saying, "You can't make these people happy. I'm kind of the Anti-Christ to these comic book geeks. Every single person that wrote shit went to see that movie multiple times because a movie doesn't gross $200 something million unless people go to see it more than once. Every single person who said, "I'm never seeing that movie," they were the first ones there."

It might pain me to say this, but the man has a point.

When it comes to our personal 'kinks' there isn't much that can keep fans away from the theater (case in point: I know I'll be there opening day for a Whedonless Buffy). But let's be honest: getting so-called geeks into the theater for the big-screen treatment of a beloved hero is the cinematic equivalent of shooting fish in a barrel. Yet that hasn't stopped Ratner from seeing everything he does as a huge success, telling Starpulse: "Mine [X-Men:The Last Stand] outgrossed the other two by far. Mine was the one that made the most narrative sense." The sound you just heard was my head hitting the keyboard ... repeatedly. But I guess that's one thing about Ratner that will never change: for him, box office will always be in direct proportion to quality.

After the jump: a Beverly Hills Cop IV update...

While X-Men: The Last Stand definitely has its fans, the primary consensus was that folks would've preferred X-Men and X2 director Bryan Singer behind the camera to complete the trilogy he started, which began with a very impressive origins film and continued with what some claim to be one of the greatest comic book films ever made. Unfortunately at the time, Singer gave up directing duties on The Last Stand to Brett Ratner in order to helm Superman Returns -- a move that kinda came back to bite him in the ass on not just one front, but two.

Now, though, Singer is talking to 20th Century Fox about returning to the franchise that's given him the most success as a filmmaker. Speaking at Korea's Pusan International Film Festival, Singer said, "I'm still looking to possibly returning to the 'X-Men' franchise. I've been talking to Fox about it." He added, " I love Hugh Jackman. I love the cast." While The Hollywood Reporter doesn't mention any specific X-Men films, back in August it was reported that Singer was potentially interested in directing the upcoming X-Men: First Class film, though the Wolverine sequel is also currently without a director. Either way I'm sure fans would welcome him back to the franchise with open arms, hearts and minds.

If it was up to you, which upcoming X-Men film would you like to see Singer helm? First Class, Wolverine 2 or a big X-Men reunion film?

We've been pretty hard around here on a certain movie with adamantium claws. Yes, whenever I'm reminded of X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which comes out on DVD and Blu-ray today, I wish I had been shot with amnesia bullets. Still, I appreciated Hugh Jackman's determined efforts to stay out of the damn costume. Whenever Wolverine has donned a uniform in the previous X-Men flicks, he looks like he can't wait to rip it off. In his natural state, as the wandering, memory-challenged Logan, he repels latex like Congress repels taxpayers.

Most actors quickly declare that the biggest challenge in superhero movies is the costume: how to avoid looking sheepish or silly while wearing a form-fitting, custom-made suit that may reveal more than most of us are willing to bare at the beach? With advanced, super-realistic, computerized special effects and ripped body / stunt doubles available as needed, though, I think the bigger challenge lies in bringing the secret identities of superheroes to life: all those moments when supposedly normal people are leading supposedly "normal" lives.

Who, then are the most convincing superheroes without costumes? What actors and actresses have made you believe that their very human characters on screen could transform into larger-than-life heroes and/or heroines with a quick dash into a phone booth? Mind you, I'm not just talking Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen ...

1. Famke Janssen as Jean Gray in X-Men
She cuts a fine figure, doesn't she? Famke Janssen is undoubtedly sexier than Wolverine when they both suit up, yet she really shines whenever she's using her brain -- which is all the time. She doesn't need the costume to be one of the smartest, most empathetic, and most lethal people, in the universe.

We've seen the ads, we've seen a trailer, but we really have no idea what to expect from this week's release of Gamer. Except that it's directed by Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor, the madmen of action cinema, and it's set in the near future, and it concerns an online game that involves mind control. Cool! If we're lucky, maybe we can figure out what's happening before a migraine sets in from all the on-screen insanity sure to be unleashed from the people behind Crank and Crank High Voltage.

Focusing on the mind control angle for a moment led me to think about all the great sci-fi movies that have played around with the idea of remote control mental gymnastics. The adolescent brain immediately seizes on the possibilities inherent in stripping unsuspecting young ladies down to the buff (thanks a lot, Zapped!), yet the more mature thinker wonders about deeper issues, like what to do with a woman who will only go out with you because you gave her no choice.

1. X-Men
Bryan Singer wove the mind control battle between Professor Charles Xavier (Patrick Stewart) and Magneto (Ian McKellan) into the fabric of the story. You could enjoy Wolverine (Hugh Jackman) discovering a fuller range of his powers, sympathize with the desperate plight of Rogue (Anna Paquin), admire Jean Grey (Famke Janssen), or simply try and stare through the body paint covering Mystique (Rebecca Romijn). Lurking in the background, though, was a duel between good and evil, with Professor Xavier favoring gentle nudges in the right direction and Magneto ready to wage an all-out war.

Read the Rest at SciFi Squad

The Avengers' mighty writer Zak Penn gave a nifty little update on all things Marvel yesterday, and it completely slipped past my radar. Better late than never though, right?

SciFi Wire caught up with Penn right as he was on the verge of another Marvel meeting. With Iron Man 2 well underway, they're beginning to knit together the continuity and overlap the plotlines: "I'm taking a meeting next week with the Thor and Captain America people, and we are all going to get together, and I will see what is going to happen. I'll see where they are leaving the characters; it's pretty complicated. ... There's a board that is tracking what is happening. [We'll see] how this movie overlaps in that movie ... Marvel is autonomous now. It is night and day: Everyone has read every comic. They know how to make a cool movie." (Low wages or not, wouldn't you just love to work for Marvel?)

Every compliment Penn has for Marvel is a backhanded slap to his old parent studio, Fox. He revealed that he was frustrated while writing X-Men and X2 because he was dying to do a crossover, and bring in the Fantastic Four.
"They're doing Captain American and Thor first, and then Avengers is coming out," Penn said. "They want to see that they're all connected, not like the Fantastic Four can't come into the X-Men world, like I was told ... It is a world of difference [at Marvel]; it is a lot easier to do things like that, and they encourage it." Here I'll leave off so you can weep at the missed opportunities, and wish we lived in an Ultimate Universe where Marvel still owned their entire stable of heroes.

Poor Bryan Singer. He may have X-Men and X2 under his belt, but a lot of fans will never forgive him for selling out the mutants in favor of Superman ... and we won't go into the Superman thing again.

But Singer is sorry. Very sorry. In fact, he told Total Film that he made a terrible mistake and that he regretted not directing X3 "before I was watching it, during watching it, after watching it." (Join the club, Singer.) He was quick to amend his longing with praise for a little praise for Brett Ratner, though. "It's weird for me to watch it, because I'm so close to the universe. And also Brett is a good friend of mine. But, of course, I would love to return to that universe." How to return is a problem now that the series has devolved into spin-offs and prequels, and he's understandably reluctant to return through one of the avenues open to him: a Magneto origin story. "The only thing that concerns me about Magneto is that if the prequel were to follow the track I used in X-Men, which is Magneto's history in the concentration camp, then I've lived in that world. Apt Pupil, X-Men and now Valkyrie ... I've lived in that Nazi universe for quite a while. I just might need to take a little break before I do something like that."

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 love a good movie poster. I've collected them, often paid way too much for them, and even once managed to snag one of those subway ads for Interview with a Vampire (don't ask). II know a lot of you out there couldn't care less about a new poster (it's just advertising< right?), but I also know there are plenty of you out there who are just like me, and can be found slowly meandering along a row of coming soon posters at your local theater, mouth open, day-dreaming .... mmmm. But anyway, let's start with the very good and work our way down to "the other stuff."

Where the Wild Things Are:
Damn if this new poster isn't another jaw-droppingly beautiful image; cute but with an edge. We've got the monster front and center, beautiful colors, and all of the small detail adds up to something I'd be proud to hang in my living room. Granted, most of us were probably sold on Spike Jonze's adaptation of Maurice Sendak's classic as soon as that first bar of Wake Up in the trailer started, but this new poster is another cherry on what looks to be one hell of a cake. Image included in gallery below.



The Box:
Sometimes you almost feel sorry for Richard Kelly. He was supposed to be the next big thing until Southland Tales happened, and he's never heard the end of it. Things haven't gone much smoother for his 'ode to Twilight Zone' either, but hopefully the bad part is over and now we have our very first glimpse at the one-sheet. So how do you make a poster for a movie that nobody knows all that much about? Well, it turns out you make a Hitchcockian poster, because nothing says suspense like a little touch of the man himself. Personally, I like it, but if you have a thing against 'big head' posters you might feel a little differently. Image included in gallery below.

This Friday will see the release of Push, a sci-fi actioner about people with amazing mental abilities on the run from a government organization that wants to exploit their gifts. I'm reminded of how cool it would be to have mental powers of my own whenever I find myself comfortably ensconced on the couch with the remote just out of reach, and I try to bring it closer through sheer force of will. Being able to predict the future would certainly enhance my stock portfolio and the ability to read minds would vastly improve my poker game. Movies about people with special mental abilities have a long and illustrious history, so here are seven of my favorite films from the genre.

The Star Wars films
A discussion of psychic powers in the movies that did not mention The Force would rightfully earn me a verbal slap down in the comments section. The Force is an energy field created by all living things, that surrounds and penetrates living beings and binds the galaxy together -- and if you're a Jedi (or for that matter a member of the Sith), you can channel this energy field to do pretty much anything the script may require.

• Telekinesis? Sure. It comes in handy during a closely matched light saber duel, allowing you to whip large objects at your opponent.
• Mind control? Absolutely. This is particularly useful for telling weak minded storm troopers to buzz off.
• The ability to see the future? Hell yeah. This is what allows a Jedi to anticipate an opponents moves in battle.
  
• Fire a proton torpedo through an exhaust port that's only two meters wide? Oh please. The Star Wars saga would have ground to a halt early on without this ability.

And it's all thanks to these weird little organisms in the blood. When you hear the phrase "The Force is strong in this one," it means "he's got midi-chlorians out the yin yang." How awesome would it be if next time you got pulled over you could give the officer a casual wave of the hand and say "these aren't the droids you're looking for" and be on your merry way.