The Flickcast

First Look At Jessica Biel in ‘The A-Team’

Posted on October 5, 2009

jessica-biel-the-a-team-small Over the last few weeks we’ve had the first looks at the The A-Team’s brand new van, the assembled team and Bradley Cooper’s “Faceman” showing his skills with automatic weapons. But until now, there was one other piece of the casting puzzle that was missing: Jesssica Biel’s character. Now, thanks to the fine folks at Geek Tyrant, we’ve got the fist pics of her as well.

As Biel’s character wasn’t in the original series, I’m not as interested to see what she looks like in the movie — other than the more obvious reasons. It was more important to find out how closely the film’s new team, which includes Liam Neeson, Sharlito Copley, “Rampage” Jackson and the aforementioned Bradley Cooper, would stack up to their series originals. Fortunately, they stack up very well.

With all the great pics coming out showing how much director Joe Carnahan seems to be both paying homage and modernizing the look of The A-Team, really only one other question remains about the cast: Does “Rampage” Jackson’s character sport a Mohawk like Mt. T did in the original series? As they say, inquiring minds want to know.

With all the info starting to come out now about the film, its just a matter of time before we find out the truth behind this very important piece of info. My guess right now? He does.

The A-Team hits theaters on June 11, 2010. Check out a larger pic of Biel’s character after the jump.

Showtime Orders Fourth Season of ‘Californication’

Posted on October 5, 2009

Those who caught last week’s season premiere of Showtime’s original series Californication can give themselves a congratulatory pat on the back. Thanks to the astounding viewership, the show has already been picked up for another season. The episode had 821,000 viewers, which is more than twice as many as the first season initially got.

For those who aren’t on the bandwagon, the series stars David Duchovny as Hank Moody, an at-one-time successful writer, who has hit a bit of writer’s block and relies on vices like booze and women to help him cope. Being on Showtime, this becomes one of the bigger appeals to some watchers as an “adult show.”

The show has some great supporting characters to play alongside Duchovny as well, including Natasha McElhone (Ronin), Pamela Adlon (King of the Hill), Madeline Zima (The Nanny) and Evan Handler (Sex and the City). Also, there are enough celebrity cameos to make any Entourage watcher turn their head.

Keep this season going strong by catching episode 3 of Californication’s third season this Sunday on Showtime at 10pm ET/PT.

Weekend Box Office: ‘Zombieland’ Brings It Home

Posted on October 5, 2009

Overall, it was not a particularly impressive weekend at the box office, with the top films boasting relatively modest numbers. Sony Pictures should be smiling, though, because their studio nabbed the top two spots. According to Box Office Mojo, Zombieland lurched over the competition, raking in an estimated $25 million in its opening weekend. The horror comedy has already recouped its budget, and will likely be a big success story this year, buoyed by positive reviews and good word of mouth.

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs continues to impress and took in another $16.7 million for a cumulative gross of $82 million. The unusual move to release Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D drummed up some impressive interest, netting $12.5 million. Disney is no doubt salivating over this, because Toy Story 3 is set to be released next summer.

The Invention of Lying from comedian Ricky Gervais had a unimpressive opening of $7.3 million. Its budget was only $18 million, so it should be profitable anyway. In contrast, last week’s Surrogates also made $7.3 million this weekend. Its cumulative total is only $26.3, nowhere close to its reported $80 million budget.

Capitalism: A Love Story, and Whip It both earned $4.8 million, but Whip It played in almost twice as many theaters. Whip It is probably the biggest surprise of the weekend. It had good reviews, a likable and recognizable cast, and was highly promoted. It had to be a big disappointment to Drew Barrymore, who directed the movie, her first.

Recent holdovers Fame ($4.7), The Informant ($3.8) and Love Happens ($2.7) rounded out the top ten.

New ‘Modern Warfare 2’ Trailer

Posted on October 5, 2009

modern-warfare-2 As we may have mentioned before, we’re pretty excited here at The Flickcast for this game to hit store shelves. Modern Warfare 2 represents the ultimate in first-person-shooter action and from what we’ve seen so far, looks to be able to take its place among the elite of games in that space. Prior to today, we’ve been able to bring you some info about the game including an earlier trailer and a look at the awesome, customized XBox 360 console dedicated to it.

Today, we’ve got another brand new trailer for you from the game, courtesy of our friends at Activision. This time around, the trailer shows a lot more of the exciting gameplay you can expect from this game. It also gives you some insight into the story and talks about the cost of war. Plus, did I mention that quite a bit of stuff blows up? Well, it does and its awesome. All in all, a very cinematic trailer which makes me even more anxious to play the fully completed game.

Modern Warfare 2 is for all next-gen consoles like XBox 360 and PS3. Look for it to hit store shelves on November 10th. Meantime, check out the brand new trailer and see for yourself after the jump.

Review: ‘Whip It’

Posted on October 5, 2009

Drew Barrymore makes an impressive directorial debut with this coming of age story set in the world of Roller Derby. This is a sports movie for women, by women, starring women. I suspect men will have little trouble enjoying it as well. Adorable Ellen Page (Juno) plays Bliss, a socially awkward teenager from Bodeen, Texas, who is thrust into the world of pageants by her mother (Marcia Gay Harden). One day while shopping in a thrift store, she sees three women skate into the store and leave some fliers about an upcoming Roller Derby.

Intrigued, she recruits her best friend Pash (Alia Shawkat of Arrested Development) to venture into Austin for the event. She is immediately captivated by the sport. She dusts off her old Barbie skates and tries out for the team. After making the team, she becomes an unlikely hero, using her small stature to weave in, out, and around her competitors. The title refers to a move the team uses when they grab her by the hand and catapult her ahead of the pack “whipping” her into position.

This movie is a blast, despite having all the sport movie clichés. Shauna Cross’s screenplay is not exactly brimming with originality. Underdog, check. Disapproving parents, check. First love, check. Climatic final match, check. However, the dynamic cast and the unusual sporting event breathe new life into the genre. Ellen Page is fantastic, and captures the insecurities of her character perfectly. A scene where she gets her heart broken takes your breath away. I actually felt like someone had punched me in the gut. You see her character harden a bit with steely resolve as she climbs the next rung on the ladder of life. The mother/daughter scenes hold a lot of emotional resonance, and were very believable.

New Trailer: Dwayne Johnson in ‘The Tooth Fairy’

Posted on October 5, 2009

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson has had quite an interesting career in a pretty short amount of time. He’s covered just about all of the prerequisites that his Action Movie forefathers set for him: Sci-Fi franchise, art-house picture, buddy movie, and family film. Those accolades took stars like Schwartzenegger and Stallone 15 years to accomplish, and Johnson has managed to do them in 5. He’s now coming off of the success of Race to Witch Mountain and The Game Plan for another family-friendly film in The Tooth Fairy.

In the film, Johnson plays tough guy Derek Thompson, known to his friends as “The Tooth Fairy” due to his aggressive sportsmanship on the hockey rink. Thompson is kind of an S.O.B. to fans, friends, and even his kid, until things get turned around and he is sentenced to serve as an actual tooth fairy.

The cast is pretty heavy, throwing in names like Ashley Judd and Julie Andrews, but the most interesting is the addition of Billy Crystal to the cast. This is Crystal’s first on-screen role since 2002’s Analyze That (with brief voice role in 2006’s Cars). It’s interesting that Crystal would come out of the woodwork for this film, but it could have something to do with the film’s screenwriters. The script was done by the writing team of Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel, who worked with Crystal on films like City Slickers, Forget Paris and Mr. Saturday Night.

Check out the first trailer for the film after the jump. Enjoy Dwayne, Billy, and the rest of the cast when The Tooth Fairy hits theaters January 22 of next year.

How ‘Zombieland’ Inspired This Writer

Posted on October 5, 2009

Zombieland opened this week and let me tell you it is, in my opinion, one of the best films of 2009. Only a day into its release Hollywood insiders were predicting the movie could go onto make $30 million in its opening weekend. If that happens it means Zombieland will have made back the $26 million and change it cost to make. While those numbers may not carry the weight of the billion dollars The Dark Knight made Zombieland’s rapid return on investment cannot be overlooked. Hollywood, take note, Zombieland should be the new standard of success.

All that said, I’m not writing a review of Zombieland by any means (Chris already wrote a great one), nor am I looking to talk about the merits of the film, of which there are many. No, I’m casting all the business stuff aside for the moment to speak about one thing: inspiration. You see, immediately after watching Zombieland I got home and was compelled to write (in this case a novel I’m working on). I had in me a burning desire to create. Therein lies the true success of Zombieland. For this writer, it spurred the creative forces that drive cinema.

How did it do this? Simply put, the film was honest. There was no allusion to a grand design or twist ending. The characters were endearing and story practically A to B simple. Moreover, it defied stock conventions of the genre. The girls weren’t running away screaming and guys not always the most heroic. These were characters anyone in the theater could relate to personally or through friends they probably know. Being able to create that rapport with the audience was the secret weapon of Zombieland. It connected with viewers (trust me on that, I saw the response from the packed theater first hand) and even if only for a few moments at a time they could see themselves in that world of zombies and loved it. Those are the moments writers, specifically, aspire to.

More Set Photos from ‘The A-Team’

Posted on October 3, 2009

Faceman with gun As more and more news comes out about Joe Carnahan’s upcoming remake of The A-Team I’ve grown very interested, and anxious. When I first heard about the film I was skeptical. Was this to be another comedic derivitive of a somewhat serious show much like the Starsky and Hutch movie starring Ben Stiller and Owen Wilson?

Alright, I realize there was something inherently funny about the original A-Team series, but it was the Eighties and that’s what television was like back then. Strip away the one liners and jabs and the core of the show made an effort to follow a somewhat serious vein.

To that end, it appears Carnahan is determined to make this a great action film (If you’ve seen Smokin’ Aces, you’ll know what I’m talking about) based on some more set photos. Testament to this are the shots of Bradley Cooper rehearsing on set with an assault rifle in hand. It looks pretty intense and…okay, I’ll just say it, awesome!

Fortunately, as serious as Carnhan may take the film it certainly looks as though he’s preserving the original look. Seeing the cast of Liam Neeson as John “Hannibal” Smith, Bradley Cooper as Templeton “Faceman” Peck, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson as B.A. Baracus, and Sharlto Copley as H.M. “Howling Mad” Murdock in costume instantly invokes images of the series I refused to miss each week. I can almost hear the theme song playing in my head when I see the pictures.

While it remains to be seen if Jackson actually has a Mohawk under his cap, Neeson’s grey hair, Cooper’s suit jacket, and Copley’s baseball cap make it clear to me this film will pay proper homage to the series I grew up with. Granted, it’s still hard to gauge without seeing some actual footage but so far I’m sold!

The A-Team opens in theaters June 11, 2010. Check out some bigger photos after the jump.

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