If like me, you have survived the onslaught of witty repartee between Iron Man and War Machine, time standing still in Robin Hood, and the hot mess of CGI and Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia then you are ready for what awaits you in June. Make no mistake, you may not have the monster in Manolo’s, otherwise known as Carrie Bradshaw, to suffer through but you do have a mêlée of 80’s rehashes that studios happily throw money at.

So, suit up, grab your popcorn, and prepare yourself for the next adventure that await you.

JUNE

June 4th

Ondine

Were you expecting a description of The A Team perhaps? At this point, anyone who is seeing The A Team on Friday already has their tickets, and even my words of wisdom will be unable to stop them. Instead I’ll spotlight a film that deserves attention.

Ondine is an independent film starring Colin Farrell as a fisherman who pulls up a beautiful woman in his nets. His sick, precocious daughter believes she is a Selkie, a Scottish seal who becomes a human wife on land. Time will tell if she is really as she seems.

Geekiness Factor: As a fairytale set in the modern era, it combines Splash and Heroes with a dose of romanticism and second chances. This movie works because it doesn’t use CGI, in fact the only special effects it uses comes from your very own imagination in overdrive. Its sense of wonder on faith, entrances you back to a time when you still believed in Santa Claus.

Screen Steamer: Colin Farrell has served me a heap of B movie bad boy charm in past films like The Recruit, S.W.A.T., not to mention a harmonious turn in Crazy Heart. Here he takes off his shirt only once, but seems well cast as a fisherman down on his luck and striving to be sober. Alicja Bachleda keeps you guessing as Ondine, which means “from the water.” She is alluring with a subtle sensuality in ocean soaked dresses, only coming up for air to coyly flirt with a scruffy Colin.

Continue Reading →

At this point, what can I really tell you that you don’t know about Shrek? Unless you have been living under a tree stump in a swamp, chances are you are very familiar with the franchise about a lovable green ogre and a colorful cast of characters pulled from popular children’s fairy tales.

In this probable last movie of the franchise, Shrek (voiced by Mike Myers) is knee-deep in diapers and devilish toddler antics, and he’s not exactly digging the whole domestic thing. The realities of family life are weighing him down, and a disastrous birthday party is the last straw.

As is typical of most parents, he fondly recalls the pre-marriage and pre-kids days as being much better than they actually were. You know, that whole “the grass is always greener” mentality everyone falls victim to from time to time. In his delicate emotional state he becomes easy pickings for the shady Rumpelstiltskin, who offers Shrek one day as his former playboy self.

Continue Reading →

Tom Cruise has gotten a pretty bad rap in the past few years. Ever since his epic “couch jumping” episode on Oprah, he’s been labeled by some as, well, crazy. Most people in the public eye can take that information two different ways. They could choose to be sticks in the mud and hate the media, or they could embrace it in a film, making light of their eccentricities.

Luckily, as fans of comedy and action, we are treated to the latter with Tom Cruise’s newest upcoming flick, Knight and Day. The film is basically Tom Cruise playing his typical Mission: Impossible super spy when he’s blacklisted and forced to take to a civilian (Cameron Diaz) for assistance in staying alive.

In the newest international trailer for the film, they focus more on the “cover story” that the government forges, in which Cruise’s character has gone crazy. After his epic cameo in Tropic Thunder, there’s no doubt that Cruise is willing to take a few shots at himself, or the characters he’s played.

Check out the trailer after the jump, and catch Knight and Day in theaters on June 25th.

Continue Reading →

While Tom Cruise has been working like a fiend to pick a director for the upcoming sequel to his popular Mission Impossible franchise, he’s also got a new film coming out where he plays an international action spy. That’s called range.

While the characters may seem a bit played out, the premise is somewhat fresh. From 20th Century Fox:

An action-comedy centered on a fugitive couple (Cruise and Diaz) on a glamorous and sometimes deadly adventure where nothing and no one – even themselves – are what they seem. Amid shifting alliances and unexpected betrayals, they race across the globe, with their survival ultimately hinging on the battle of truth vs. trust.

The film also stars Cameron Diaz, Peter Sarsgaard, Lost’s Maggie Grace, and Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s Marc Blucas. Check out the newest trailer after the jump. Knight and Day hits theaters on June 25th.

Continue Reading →

This week sees more new film and TV releases on Blu-ray and DVD. Among the ones we’re more interested in this week are Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, Dead Snow, The Box, Season One of Nurse Jackie and Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant (pictured above with John C. Reilly and Chris Massoglia).

Check out all the new releases below.

Movies

Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant ~ John C. Reilly, Salma Hayek (Blu-ray and DVD)

Dead Snow ~ Vegar Hoel (Blu-ray and DVD)

Dirty Harry/Magnum Force ~ Clint Eastwood (Blu-ray)

Everybody’s Fine ~ Robert De Niro, Drew Darrymore (Blu-ray and DVD)

Grumpy Old Men/Grumpier Old Men ~ Walter Matthau, Jack Lemon (Blu-ray)

Howards End (Criterion Collection) ~ Anthony Hopkins, Helena Bonham Carter (Blu-ray and DVD)

Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths ~ Mark Harmon, Alyssa Milano, William Baldwin (Blu-ray and DVD)

Continue Reading →

The very first trailer for Knight and Day, the Cameron Diaz, Tom Cruise action movie that we showed you the poster for the other day is now online. With James Mangold (Walk the Line) directing the film, it looks to be a great action-comedy with both Cruise and Diaz looking like they’re having a good time.

Seeing these two actors together for the first time since Vanilla Sky, I’m reminded of the chemistry they had on-screen; and it’s fully evident again here. The trailer’s funny moments seem to be a continuation of Cruise not taking himself so seriously, much like in Tropic Thunder – which really helped to lighten the atmosphere around him, after all the Scientology and “Katie-gate” snafus.

Of course, the comedy meeting the action scenes make this seem like a perfect match for everyone involved. Diaz is showing her comedic side, such as she did in her hits, There’s Something About Mary and My Best Friend’s Wedding - where she plays much better as the ‘straight-man’, rather than trying to actually be a comedian. Mangold also comes through, giving us the action that he’s proven to do so well in films like 3:10 to Yuma and Copland. Put it all together and it’s a bundle of fun.

Continue Reading →

Instead of getting a trailer for Piranha 3D, as reported to be attached with this week’s release of Avatar, most people got the trailer for Cameron Diaz and Tom Cruise’s upcoming action-thriller, Knight and Day. Directed by James Mangold (Walk the Line, Cop Land) and written by Patrick O’Neill, in his first produced, feature screenplay, the film is centered around Diaz and Cruise’s characters being chased around the world where “no one and nothing is what it seems – even themselves.”

The trailer was pretty funny, and looked like the 20th Century Fox film is going to feature some fantastic action including Tom Cruise crash-landing a plane to jumping from a motorcycle onto the hood of Diaz’s car. The film also features Peter Sarsgaard (Orphan and An Education), Maggie Grace (LOST, Taken), Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood) and Viola Davis (Law Abiding Citizen and Doubt). Unfortunately, here isn’t much more to go on until the trailer gets released online.

However, Slashfilm recently got a photo of the poster – which I hadn’t seen, and actually don’t even remember hearing anything about this movie before now – so now I’m sharing it with you. It’s all text and stylized people (assuming it’s the lead characters), but is interesting – and better than the soon to come, I’m sure, photoshopped heads version.

Check out the full-size image below. Knight And Day is scheduled for release in July, 2010.

Continue Reading →

About a week ago a colleague of mine asked why in the world I wanted to go see The Box. I explained that I found the premise fascinating. What if you were told that if you pushed a certain button, you would get a million dollars, but there is a catch. When you push the button, somebody you do not know will die. What would you do?

Therein lies the premise of The Box. This is the third film by Richard Kelly, who garnered cult-like status with Donnie Darko (2001), then wide ridicule for his follow up Southland Tales (2006). Lots of movie types were looking toward this movie to determine whether Kelly is a gifted director, or a one hit wonder. I’m sorry to tell you after viewing this convoluted mess, it seems like a case of the director having no clothes. It’s one thing to be a little avant-garde  with your vision, another entirely to just throw weird crap in your movie and hope that it sticks.

Continue Reading →

Fans who have been waiting to see if Seth Rogen can really deliver as a masked crusader are one step closer to either breathing a sigh or relief, or eating their proverbial hats. Some brand new set pics have surfaced showing off Rogen taking on the role of Britt Reid’s alter ego, and by the looks of them, he may be emerging as a true pulp hero. While these aren’t the first pics we’ve seen from the film’s set, they are the first we’ve seen of Rogen in the domino mask and fedora.

Written by Rogen and partner Evan Goldberg (Superbad) with Michel Gondry (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) sitting in the directors chair. The Green Hornet follows the adventures of Britt Reid, newspaper publisher by day, masked superhero by night, and his sidekick Kato (Jay Chou). Starring alongside Rogen is Edward James Olmos, Cameron Diaz, and Christoph Waltz.

Since the movie doesn’t hit theaters until December 17, 2010, we’ll be seeing plenty more where these came from. In the meantime, check out the brand new, action-packed images of both Rogen and Chou running around in costume after the jump!

Continue Reading →

With the publicity for Seth Rogen and Michel Gondry’s Green Hornet picking up steam in the past monh or so, more news has come out on the casting of the main villain in he film, Mr. X. The role was originally set to go to Nicolas Cage, but for whatever reason (possibly the fact that he’s got another superhero film in the works with Kick-Ass), Cage has stepped down from his role.

We now recieve word that the role will instead be taken on by Christoph Waltz, fresh from playing the Nazi baddie in Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds.

“I’m told that ICM’s actor Christoph Waltz who won Best Actor at the Cannes Film Festival for playing a Nazi in Inglourious Basterds (and is a shoo-in for an Oscar nomination) has now been cast as villain Chudnofsky in Sony’s The Green Hornet opposite Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz.

Since Quentin Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds came out — and crossed the $100M mark this weekend – Waltz has been offered a lot of big movies by a lot of big directors. And he’s getting big bucks now. How great he’s found success at age 52.”

This is the second news of an actor getting replaced from the film after Stephen Chow stepped down from both directing and the role of Kato. See Waltz, Rogen, and Cameron Diaz in theaters for Green Hornet on December 17, 2010.

Seth Rogen’s Green Hornet has been in and out of the news in recent weeks. From the bizarre casting of Edward James Olmos and Nic Cage to the last minute release date from next summer to December of next year. It now looks like we’re getting our first look at some of the cast, with new set photos.

There are only a few photos to check out, thanks to our friends at SuperHeroHype, but they give us a glance at Rogen’s Britt Reid, Cameron Diaz as his squeeze, Lenore Case, and even our very first look at Taiwanese actor Jay Chou as the Hornet’s faithful sidekick, Kato.

Check out the images after the jump, and you’ve got plenty of time before you can see Michel Gondry’s first take on the super hero classic in theaters on December 17, 2010.

Continue Reading →

Even though he didn’t divulge exactly what character he’s going to be playing or very many other details, everyone’s favorite Admiral Edward James Olmos did say he’s joining the cast of the Seth Rogen starrer The Green Hornet. During an appearance this past weekend at Wizard World in Chicago, the Battlestar Galactica star and The Plan director said that he’s definitely in the film — as told to the folks at Hollywood Snitch, who were on-hand for the event.

According to Olmos, he was leaving the convention and pretty much heading to the set to start work — or that’s the way he made it sound at least. Said the actor/director: “I’m on my way to do The Green Hornet. It’ll be a lot of fun with Seth [Rogen], Nicolas Cage and Cameron Diaz.”

That’s just about as vague as you can get and still be information. Of course, it is news that Olmos will be in the film, so that’s something. Still, it would be nice to find out what character he’s going to be playing. We already know that Asian pop star Jay Chou will be playing Kato in the film, that Nicholas Cage is playing a bad guy and that Cameron Diaz is the love interest. But what of Olmos?

My guess is that he’ll be some sort of authority figure, much as he’s been on BSG and even way back in the Miami Vice days. I’m going to go out on a limb and say he’s a cop in the movie and maybe even a world-weary cop reluctantly forced to allow The Green Hornet to go about his crime fighting business. Along the way they build a grudging respect for one another and finally learn to work together to help save the city they both love. We’ll see if I’m right.

The Green Hornet, directed by Michel Gondry, also stars Seth Rogen, Nicholas Cage, Cameron Diaz and Jay Chou. It hits theaters in 2010.