Tag: Samuel L. Jackson (Page 3 of 3)

Serious offers and old gossip

November 2, 2009 /

Just another sane Monday in movieland.

A robot* Halcyon, a somewhat odd firm with an all but empty website, has officially put its one and only asset and reason for being, the rights to “The Terminator” franchise, on the auction block. So reports Variety and Nikki Finke. Suddenly, over at Whedonesque — yes, the Joss Whedon fansite where the beloved cult TV and occasional film creator occasionally posts  — Whedon links to it and posts a very serious offer. So serious, in fact, that Finke — who occasionally claims she “doesn’t do geek” runs the item. Meanwhile, back at Whedonesque, the Whe-man and a commenter who appears to be both a fan of the Joss and the late singer-songwriter Warren Zevon (some folks are just blessed with too much taste) note an earlier serious offer.

Quote of the week (probably):

Well, here’s what I have to say to Nikki Finke: you are a fine journalist and please don’t ever notice me.

* Sony Classic has picked up the rights to “Mother and Child,” the latest film from arthouse/cable director Rodrigo Garcia, still probably best known to a lot of people as the son of Columbian literary great Gabriel Garcia Marquez. It’s not too surprising a pick-up, even in this tough market, given that the cast includes Annette Bening, Naomi Watts, up-and-comer Kerry Washington (“Ray,” “The Fantastic Four”), and Samuel L. Jackson.

* The box office “actuals” for most of the big releases turned out to be a couple of million higher than the estimates I reported yesterday. Sorry MJ’s ghost.

* Thinking about “The Men Who Stare at Goats” which comes out this Friday, Jeff Bridges gets appropriately trippy but not in too dudish a way.

* This is a few days old, but for those of us who find ourselves unduly fascinating by the Church of Scientology, via Kim Masters, here’s an interesting new story opened up last week. Writer-director Paul Haggis (“Crash”) announced he’s leaving the church.

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

Today in casting news

September 23, 2009 /

There are times when I really think I shouldn’t mention another single casting related story. There are so many, and the news so often changes several times before the first day of shooting, that it seems kind of pointless. Nevertheless, today brings us a few such items that sort of demand a little attention.

* I don’t think I’ve mentioned the word that’s been floating around for a while now that Brad Pitt will apparently be opposite Robert Downey, Jr. playing the role of Sherlock Holmes’ archnemisis, Prof. James Moriarity, aka “the Napoleon of Crime.” Though it appears he’ll only be in a cameo role, if at all, in the upcoming “Sherlock Holmes” film directed by Guy Ritchie, he’ll apparently be handling head villain duties in the already-planned for sequel — assuming, of course, that the first film is reasonably profitable.

If you can’t get enough of excessively early speculation, Spout’s Christopher Campbell was way ahead of me and rounded that all up as of yesterday. Pitt seems an unusual choice, but he’s always seemed to do better in character roles than leading man parts, and Downey is a genius at bringing a bit of character to leading man roles, so there’s a nice bit of symmetry here.

* If one or even two well known leads can’t guarantee box office success, why not try four and add a cult-comedy kicker? That seems to be thinking behind the latest collaboration of comedy writer-director Adam McKay and post “Land of the Lost“-still-megastar Will Ferrell.

As described by MTV’s Mike Wigler and THR‘s Mike Fleming, “The Other Guys” is a post “Hot Fuzz” spin on the buddy-cop genre in which Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne “No Longer the Rock” Johnson will attempt to allow a day in the sun for presumably bumbling, non-supercop ne’er do wells Ferrell and Mark “It’s been Decades Since I’ve Been ‘Marky Mark!” Wahlberg.  Only time will tell if this funky bunch — which also includes English comic Steve Coogan of “Tropic Thunder” and “24 Hour Party People” — delivers at the box office, but all five of these guys have proven they can be varying degrees of funny.

For some reason Jackson  hasn’t had much luck with out-and-out comedies. (He once remarked wryly that, “They were all funny while we were making them.”) Personally, I’d like to see him break that particular curse. I’m sure he would too.

Action Movies, Actors, External Entertainment, External Movies, Movie Comedies, Movies, News

Comic-Con Saturday odds and ends

July 26, 2009 /

Things may be somewhat winding down as the con’s final day unspools, but there was plenty of big movie stuff yesterday.

* I attended part of a live event that was basically the equivalent of a nifty Blu-Ray disc feature for the “Watchmen” director’s cut Blu-Ray disc, in which director Zack Snyder (“300“) performed a live commentary that was really more of an Q&A with users of the “BD Live” feature for the disc and audience members. What I saw didn’t quite rock my world in terms of the level of discussion. When asked whether the Comedian is a good guy or a bad guy, his answer was words to the effect of “I don’t know. That’s kind of the point.” Things were also light in terms of techno-geekery, slightly to my disappointment and slightly to my relief.

Here’s what bugs me, rightly or wrongly: Snyder has basically finished making two huge comic-book adaptations from opposite sides of the political spectrum — not necessarily overtly, but very clearly in their background — and he hasn’t seemed to notice. I’m a political animal by nature, so that kind of baffles me. Not everybody has to be super-political, but morality and politics is very much at the heart of “Watchmen” at least, and I don’t know how you can make the film without having more of a position on it. Also, Snyder says he hasn’t decided whether or not Veidt/Ozymandias is gay or whether Rorschach might have issues there as well. I’m not saying he had to publicly out any fictional characters, but it’s sort of conventional wisdom (and wise wisdom, I think) that a writer or a director should know that kind of detail for himself about major characters in his film, much as the actors also need to , though sometimes they can make differing calls on those matters. It has to do with committing.

There was also some mention, and free XL polyester t-shirts, for Snyder’s new project, “Sucker Punch.”

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

Black Lagoon: Season One

February 25, 2009 /

In the world of anime, it’s a little too easy to write off a new series as a mindless clone of a classic show. I’m sure the makers of “Black Lagoon” wouldn’t mind being compared to something as timeless as “Cowboy Bebop,” but that simply isn’t the case. The popular sci-fi noir wasn’t the first anime based around a group of modern day pirates, and “Black Lagoon” definitely won’t be the last. Plus, while “Cowboy Bebop” was as meticulously constructed as its smooth jazz soundtrack, “Black Lagoon” shoots first and asks questions later. This is a series that doesn’t waste any time in getting to the point, as evidenced by Japanese businessman Rokura Okajima’s decision to become a full-time member of the pirate crew known as Lagoon Company within minutes of being kidnapped by them.

Though Rokura is clearly the protagonist of the story, however, it’s trigger-happy Revy who is the main draw. Shooting and swearing her way through every job (whether it’s recovering a painting from a sunken Nazi U-Boat or fending off the viperous protector of a kidnapped boy), Revy quickly proves that she’s the key to the group’s success; because without her, well, nothing would get done. Packed with just enough plot and character development to curb any criticisms that it may be too shallow, “Black Lagoon” is typical anime fare executed in the style of a Hollywood action film. In fact, the first six episodes would make for a great movie, with Samuel L. Jackson as the group’s hard-boiled leader. Hey, it could happen.

Click to buy “Black Lagoon: Season One”

External TV, TV, TV Action, TV Anime, TV DVD Quicktakes, TV DVDs

Soul Men

February 14, 2009 /

Considering just how little soul Malcolm D. Lee’s “Soul Men” has for a movie starring two of the industry’s most charismatic actors, it probably should have been called something else instead. Perhaps a more appropriate title would be “Motherfuckers,” because co-stars Bernie Mac and Samuel L. Jackson utter the word at least a hundred times throughout the course of the film. Now, I’m all for Jackson channeling his inner badass, but it doesn’t have the same comedic punch when everyone around him joins in on the fun. Mac and Jackson probably had the time of their lives playing two has-been back-up singers who agree to participate in a reunion performance honoring the death of their former frontman, but the audience wouldn’t know it from watching the film, which is littered with old fart jokes circa 2002. An all-too-familiar buddy comedy that hinges entirely on the chemistry of its two stars, “Soul Men” is mediocre at best, and I shudder to think at how bad it would have been had neither actor been involved. God rest Bernie Mac’s soul, because while he wasn’t exactly what you’d call a great actor, he certainly deserved a better sending off than this.

Click to buy “Soul Men”

External Movie DVDs, Movie Comedies, Movie DVD Quicktakes, Movie DVDs, Movies

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