The Flickcast

Film Review: ‘Beastly’

Posted on March 4, 2011

Teenaged girls are the only ones likely to care for this modern day retelling of Beauty and the Beast. That’s your disclaimer. For those of us who have discerning tastes, the film is mediocre at best, but I imagine the teen demographic will find the movie charming.

Alex Pettyfer stars as Kyle, an unbelievably narcissistic and self absorbed high school student who eschews those who have the misfortune of not being good looking enough for his liking. Looks, money, and popularity are the things he deems most important in life. He’s a wretched human being suffering from a massive case of entitlement.

When we meet his father (played by Peter Krause), we see why Kyle has such shallow values. Dad is a preening news anchor with a bluetooth glued to his ear at all times. He has preached the gospel of good looks during Kyle’s entire life. The stagnant apartment they share in New York is devoid of charm; everything is white, and it reeks of wealth.

Aliens Hit The UK in a New Trailer For ‘Attack The Block’

Posted on March 4, 2011

While here in the states, we’ll be fighting off the alien threat out of Hollywood in Battle:LA, they’ve got a less conventional way of taking down evil extraterrestrials overseas. What happens when aliens are met with a bunch of street-savvy hoodrats from South London? Nothing good.

Here’s the official synopsis.

From the producers of SHAUN OF THE DEAD and SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD comes ATTACK THE BLOCK, a fast funny, frightening action adventure movie that pits a teen gang against an invasion of savage alien monsters. It turns a London tower block into a fortress under siege, and a weapon wielding teenage thugs into heroes. It’s inner city versus outer space.

Because Paul just wasn’t enough of an alien encounter, Nick Frost steps into this film as well, as the only well-known comedic figure in the film. Overall, an interesting take on a classic story, played to today’s social culture.

Check out the full trailer for Attack the Block after the jump, and the film hits UK screens on May 13th, so you can expect it to hit the states sometime shortly after.

Film Review: ‘The Adjustment Bureau’

Posted on March 4, 2011

Matt Damon plays David Norris, a young politician who rose to prominence from “telling it is like it is” and now facing a lag in his career having lost his passion. As often occurs with politicians, his fire is reignited in a restroom by another human being. This time it’s the free-spirited Elise Sallas (Emily Blunt), who’s on the run from hotel security for crashing an upstairs wedding. The two flirt for a few minutes before kissing, and she scampers off without so much as dropping her name, and David goes on to deliver your standard “stick-it-to-the-phony-baloneys” speech, and, naturally it’s a hit with the voters.

Cut to three years later, when David takes the bus one morning and runs into Elise, much to the mysterious consternation of Harry (Anthony Mackie), a well-dressed gentleman who carries a tome that looks like a living circuitry grid. While he chases down the bus, David and Elise pick up their banter and he even gets her number.

However, when David shows up to his office, he walks in while it’s in a state of suspended animation, complete with scary-looking men in hazmat suits apparently performing some kind of containment. The men give chase, and David finds himself in a large room getting talked down to by the white-haired Richardson (John Slattery), who works for the shadowy-named Adjustment Bureau and evidently possesses the ability to control the environment. He tells David to stay away from Elise or else he’ll erase his mind.

Giveaway: ‘Battle: LA’ T-Shirts!

Posted on March 4, 2011

With the new sci-fi action film Battle: LA hitting theaters next week, we thought it would be fun to have a giveaway commemorating the movie and to get you excited for it. So, in that spirit, we’ve got some cool swag for you including some hats and t-shirts and we’re going to be giving them away all next week starting Monday.

How can you get your hands on some of this cool stuff? Well, just keep an eye on our Twitter starting next Monday for your chance to answer a Battle: LA trivia question. If you’re the first person to reply to us with the correct answer, you get the prize!

Battle: LA looks to be a fun ride full of exciting man vs. alien action. What better way to watch the film with your friends than by wearing some official swag from the film? Remember, keep an eye on our Twitter for your chance to be one of the lucky few to get this cool stuff.

Also, be sure to click through right below for some cool pics from the movie and a larger look at the poster. Battle: LA hits theaters next Friday, March 11th.

Get a New Look at Marvel’s ‘X-Men: First to Last’

Posted on March 4, 2011

Because we like the X-Men so much and because Marvel sent it to us, we’ve got more preview pages for the upcoming comic arc X-Men: First to Last. As we said in our previous article about this, the story comes from writer Christopher Yost, who returns to the X-Men with artists Paco Medina and Dalibor Talijic.

Here’s the official word from Marvel about this great looking (and sounding) story:

Starting in X-Men Giant-Size #1 and continuing in June’s X-Men #12, a dangerous villain from the X-Men past travels to the present with one objective in mind—destroy their future! The Evolutionaries are coming and their rampage through the Marvel Universe will push the X-Men to their limits.

And as if a new X-Men story and comics weren’t enough, there’s also a new action figure as well: X-Force Archangel. Available exclusively at Marvel’s website, this is the only way you to get the first figure of Archangel in his “all-new, all-deadly” uniform. That’s right, we said “all-deadly.” Winning.

Look for this story to hit comic store shelves starting on May 18th. Until then, check out the new preview pages after the break.

Diane Lane is Martha Kent in Zack Snyder’s ‘Superman’

Posted on March 4, 2011

We’ve heard names like Kevin Costner for Jonathan Kent and Viggo Mortensen for General Zod being thrown around for Zack Snyder’s upcoming reboot of the Superman franchise, but they are not for sure yet. However, we do officially have another name to add to the cast alongside Henry Cavill as the title character. That name? Diane Lane, who is now set to play Clark Kent’s mom, Martha Kent.

The news was broken by THR late yesterday.

Warner Bros. Pictures and Legendary Pictures said late Wednesday that the actress is set as “the only mother Clark Kent has ever known.”

“This was a very important piece of casting for me because Martha Kent is the woman whose values helped shape the man we know as Superman,” Snyder said in a statement. “We are thrilled to have Diane in the role because she can convey the wisdom and the wonder of a woman whose son has powers beyond her imagination.”

Considering names like Phyllis Thaxter, K Callan, and Eva Marie Saint have played the character in the past, we’re expecting Snyder to take a drastic turn with Martha, as Lane is only 56. Lane is the second name to be cast in the film, after word came in earlier this year that The Tudors star Henry Cavill was to take the lead as the Man of Steel.

Snyder, who’s normally known for casting relative unknowns who pull off amazing performances, seems to be taking to the higher-profile names for this film. Could it be pressure from WB to compete with Nolan’s all-star supporting cast of Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, and Gary Oldman for the Batman films?

We’re hoping to get some solid casting announcements in the coming weeks that will prove that theory.

Film Review: ‘Take Me Home Tonight’

Posted on March 4, 2011

If Ferris Bueller’s Day Off got really drunk and fell into bed with Less Than Zero, their fetal-alcohol-syndrome-afflicted offspring might be Take Me Home Tonight, a movie that aims to be to the 80s what Dazed and Confused was to the 70s. And after all, it’s high time: Michael Douglas has already revisited Wall Street.

Take Me Home Tonight takes place in LA and Beverly Hills and hits all the era’s tags—RayBans, pastel popped-collar polos, pushed-up jacket sleeves, Preppie bow ties vs. New Wave skinny ties, frizzbomb perms for girls and spiked mullets or Gordon Gecko mousse-backs for guys, video stores, red sports cars, cocaine, wild house parties, evil bankers, and, of course, a sinister and sexually perverted fat German businessman in shoulder-padded black leather. Wouldn’t be an 80s movie without one of those.

The story, one of those “guy grows up in the course of one wild and crazy night” deals, hits all the plot buttons too. Our too-straight hero manages to finally bust loose and somehow to fulfill both his parents’ expectations and the anarchic instincts of the loser sociopathic guy who’s inexplicably his best friend. It goes without saying that he gets the girl too.

There are fibs and other deceptions, grand theft auto, cocaine abuse, dance-offs, police encounters, light sadomasochism, youthful irresponsibility and more. It’s all pretty silly and not to be taken seriously. There are absolutely no consequences for stealing the expensive sports car, bankers are prima facie arrogant and evil, and the moment of moral triumph comes when Tori decides to quit her banking job, because, of course, she hates it. Believe me, I’m no fan of the banking industry (see last paragraphs), but most of these ideas are simply juvenile.

SXSW Announces 2011 Closing Night Films

Posted on March 3, 2011

More news from Austin! This time it’s the closing-night films, and they’re a pretty notable bunch at that. Headlining the bunch is the world premiere of Billy Bob Thornton’s Willie Nelson documentary, The King of Luck. In addition to that, they’ll also be featuring the work-in-progress Bridesmaids, directed by Paul Feig, written by Kristen Wiig, and produced by Judd Apatow; the Harmony Korine short Umshini Wam; and P. David Ebersole’s documentary of Hole drummer Patty Schemel, Hit So Hard. The full list and descriptions follow:

Headliners

The King of Luck
Director: Billy Bob Thornton
This is a documentary about Willie Nelson: the man, the songwriter, the friend, the father, legendary performer and champion of the family farmer. (World Premiere)

Special Events

Bridesmaids (Work In Progress)
Director: Paul Feig, Writers: Annie Mumolo & Kristen Wiig
Kristen Wiig leads the cast as Annie, a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colorful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony.

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