Tag: Guy Ritchie (Page 2 of 3)

A “Kick-Ass” marketing campaign?

November 6, 2009 /

What’s looking to be almost certainly the most controversial comic book movie of 2010 is starting to take its marketing campaign into high gear with the release of posters for “Kick-Ass.” For those of you not in the know, it’s Mathew Vaughn’s adaptation of Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr.’s comic book about a teen (Aaron Johnson, who’ll also be playing the young John Lennon in “Nowhere Boy”) who decides out of the blue to be a superhero — only he doesn’t get bitten by a radioactive animal, nor does he spend 10 years turning himself into the ultimate ninja. Following his lead, a few presumably less than stable “heroes,” to be played by Christopher Mintz-Plasse (“Superbad“), Chloe Moretz (“(500) Days of Summer“), and Nicolas Cage, get into the act. Ultra-violent hijinks ensue.

KickAss_WildPost_4UP_NoURL

As you can see, we have four separate posters here that might be together on large billboards (those of us who live in L.A. may well see some huge version of this on the Sunset strip) and can also be displayed separately.

I don’t know the comic book, but as mentioned here before, there’s been definite buzz around this project based on some clips that showed this year at Comi-Con. Moreover, director Matthew Vaughn was once best known as Guy Ritchie’s producer, but he stepped confidently out of his shadow and emerged, in my opinion, the less showy and better director with the 2003 crime thriller, “Layer Cake.” As with 2007’s underrated/underseen romantic fantasy-comedy, “Stardust” the screenplay is credited to Vaughn and English TV presenter Jane Goldman. I also like the fact that so far Vaughan has made three very different movies in three different genres.

According to Peter Sciretta of /Film, comparisons are flying with this one, particularly to “The Matrix” and also, according to a unnamed friend who saw it, “Shaun of the Dead” — presumably in terms of the sense of humor. Still, considering the possibility for social satire and the touchy spectacle of young people and ultra-violence, my mind is going towards Kinji Fukasaku’s film of “Battle Royale.”

I understand a trailer is coming next week. Also, according to Rick Marshall of MTV, there is a web site (iamkick-ass.com), but what I’m seeing there right now is just pure whiteness. Not terribly kick-ass. Stay on the lookout, I guess.

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, Comic-Con, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News

The calm after the storm

September 2, 2009 /

Thanks to some unusually humid weather, greater L.A. — and its air quality — is just beginning to recover from the still ongoing Station Fire. Hollywood is similarly recovering from the news of the Disney/Marvel merger. Still, there are a few items.

*  If you’re a member of the cult around 1999’s “The Boondock Saints,” you’ll be happy to hear that Troy Duffy and company are back and that “The Boondock Saints: All Saints Day” has been picked up for distribution. I missed both the original film and “Overnight,” the documentary about misbehavior and rank miscalculations of its director. Now, maybe, I should see both.

The movie has a lot of fans  of the young and male variety, and I’m one of those two things. Still, I’ve always had a sneaking suspicion I’d hate the movie and love the documentary, but we’ll see. The cast for the sequel looks very good, however. Two favorites of mine are included, stand-up genius and highly underrated thesp Billy Connolly is back from the original and the excellent Julie Benz of “Dexter” and “Angel” is featured as well.

* Guy Ritchie is apparently recreating himself as a franchise film director these days, and in the wake of his upcoming “Sherlock Holmes,” he’s been signed to do an adaptation of DC’s “Lobo,” which I take it will be some form of violent space opera. Nothing wrong with that.

* Presumably with inglourious cash in its pocket, The Weinstein Company has made an acquisition. Colin Firth will be taking the lead in an upcoming film about England’s King George IV VI, “The King’s Speech.”  Back in 1994, the very good stage adaptation, “The Madness of King George” dealt with the mental issues of George IV’s dad ancestor, George III. According to legend, the title was changed from “The Madness of George III” because of a fear that prospective filmgoers might assume it was a third sequel. They might as well re-title this one “The Speech Impediment of King George.”

Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Dramas, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

Comic-Con mess o’ stuff

July 25, 2009 /


I might have missed my Joss Whedon panel yesterday (clearly, I didn’t want it enough and failed to get in line an hour early), but lots of other folks aren’t missing a thing.

* Apparently, Robert Downey, Jr. is claiming his martial arts using, womanizing (at least that’s how I remember the trailer), and druggie Holmes is closer to the Arthur Conan Doyle character that the scads of cinematic and TV Holmesessess we have had up to now. Well, the literary Holmes did use cocaine. Let’s just say I share Luke Thompson’s differing memory on those points.

Maybe it was all a product of the squirrelly Downey sense of humor we’ve seen in so many unusual performances over the years. I’m also skeptical of why Steven Zeitchik thinks the Guy Ritchie-directed Holmes is a particularly tough sell to geeks. Isn’t Data one of our patron saints? The geeks I grew up with actually used words like “Holmesiana.” The Aleister Crowley-cult thing won’t hurt with a certain breed of gothy nerd, either.

* John Lasseter presented one of the real greats, still very active and hoping for his first stateside hit: Hiyao Miyazaki.

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Action Movies, Actors, Actresses, Comic-Con, External Entertainment, External Movies, Horror Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie Dramas, Movie DVDs, Movies, News, Sci-Fi Movies

“Sherlock Holmes” and the case of the first trailer

May 26, 2009 /

Now that he’s convinced us that he’s capable of playing action hero, Robert Downey, Jr. has decided to see if he can blow the dust off your grandfather’s favorite detective and turn him into a tentpole franchise for the new millennium. With Guy Ritchie in the director’s chair, Jude Law playing sidekick, and Rachel McAdams rocking a bustle and corset, Downey may just be right. Check out the first trailer for “Sherlock Holmes” below, and be sure to follow Bullz-Eye’s coverage!


Trailers, Video

What Else Ya Got? “RocknRolla”

January 29, 2009 /

After considerably scaling back the U.S. release of “RocknRolla” to a mere 826 screens (most wide releases get 2500+) because it was deemed to be “too British,” Warner Bros. has reasserted its indifference with the film with a single-disc Blu-ray that isn’t necessarily terrible, but could have been much better.

“Audio Commentary”
Guy Ritchie and Mark Strong aren’t exactly two of the most outspoken guys in the business, but I respect them for their individual contributions to cinema. Their discussion on the film might not be as riveting as some had hoped, but it’s still a solid commentary with nary a quiet moment. Strong is very enamored with Ritchie’s latest film, while the writer/director plays the humble card most of the way through.

RocknRolla

“Will You Put the Cigarette Out?”
A single deleted scene featuring One Two (Gerard Butler) running on a treadmill while some old guy smokes in his face and Mumbles (Idris Elba) runs his mouth. Not exactly exhilarating stuff, but we’ll take what we can get.

“Blokes, Birds and Backhands”
Some reviewers have called out this making-of featurette for leaning more towards the EPK side, but though it’s mostly promotional fluff about the characters and the story, the interviews with are still enjoyable. Plus, a few tidbits are dropped along the way, the most interesting of which is that the “sex scene” between Butler and Thandie Newton was completely improvised on the day. Originally intended to be a passionate kissing scene between the two actors, Newton begged Ritchie to change it when Butler arrived on set with a nasty cold. Oddly enough, the scene actually works better than it would have as a boring kissing scene, so kudos to bacteria.

“Guy’s Town”
A location featurette about all of the different London hotspots used during filming (including a yet-to-be-opened Wembley Stadium), this 8-minute extra also skews a little towards the promotional side, but it’s still a nice addition to the set.

All in all, this will probably be a bit of a disappointment for fans of Ritchie’s films. With only a couple of extras to choose from and a digital copy to load on to your mobile entertainment player of choice, “RocknRolla” is just begging for a much-improved double dip in the future. Unfortunately, the chances of that happening are about as good as Guy Ritchie becoming the next Prime Minister, so don’t hold your breath.

Action Movies, Movie Comedies, Movie DVDs, Movies, TV Comedies

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