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January 10, 2002

The pimpinest man in show-biz today, Chris Walken, will join Leonardo DiCaprio and Tom Hanks in DreamWorks big-budget 2002 action pic CATCH ME IF YOU CAN. Walken will play DiCaprio’s father in the film, which will be directed by Steven Spielberg. In CATCH DiCaprio plays the FBI’s most wanted, conman Frank Abangale, Jr. with Hanks as the agent tracking him down. If I might add real quick…if I had to pick one acting career to have I would most definitely choose Chrissy Walken. Here’s a guy who’s worked for David Cronenberg, Tim Burton, Quentin Tarantino, Spike Jonze and Steven Spielberg in addition to being able to go from TRUE ROMANCE and THE PROPHECY to STUART LITTLE 2 and THE COUNTRY BEARS.

And who can forget his turn as Ed Glosser: Trivial Psychic on Saturday Night Live. “At lunch…you're gonna treat yourself to a vanilla ice cream…you're gonna eat it…too fast…you're gonna get…an ice cream headache.. it's gonna hurt.. real bad.. right.. [ touches his forehead ] ..here.. for eight, nine seconds…”

January 10, 2002

Will Smith has left wife Jada Pinkett high and dry as he moves on with his remake of A STAR IS BORN without her. Pinkett was originally to star alongside Smith in the fourth film version of BORN but somehow along the way got bumped for the younger, more attractive, more talented R&B singer Alicia Keys. So why did Pinkett get the boot? Apparently, when Keys contributed a song to the ALI soundtrack, Smith took a shining to the young starlet and they struck up a friendship. A concern with Pinkett starring in the role was that she wasn’t much of a songbird but that problem looks to be solved. Girlfrieeend! Yo man needs to come correct!

So have I vented lately about my dislike for Will Smith? If so, I apologize - I need to let off a bit more steam. (Bear with me. I’m sick and grumpy and need to take out my frustrations on some poor sap.) I just don’t dig the guy. I find myself up to my elbows schadenfreude as ALI goes down the proverbial tube (from 2nd place to 6th in the matter of one week).  If I ever find something he's remotely related to enjoyable, I feel I have to rate it on the "Despite Factor" - as in "I liked MEN IN BLACK...despite Will Smith." And where does this come from you ask? Dunno. I actually was a big Fresh Prince fan back in fourth grade but somewhere along the line, the dude lost me. And marrying Jada Pinkett was a bad career move.  To me this is like Third Eye Blind and Matchbox 20 doing a record together. I know this has nothing to do with anything so I'm thinking I should cut down my NyQuil (capital N, little y, Big f**king Q!) dosage...
  

January 10, 2002

The folks from ATeaser were kind enough to send along a few pics today from some upcoming films.  Most notable was a new shot of Jodie Foster and Kristen Stewart from THE PANIC ROOM.  If you're thinking David Fincher is standing behind me with a gun to my hand demanding non-stop coverage of him and his films you're wrong.  (gethelp!)  Check out the picture below to see larger images of this and other 2002 movies such as Roberto Benigni's PINOCCHIO and more...

< click to see more preview pics >
   

January 10, 2002

Sandra Bullock will produce and star in the comedy BRIDESMAIDS for Revolution Studios. The film will follow two female friends as they attend a wedding on Martha's Vineyard.  Not much more of the plot is known but you can suspect the two "bridesmaids" will crack frequent jokes about always being the bridesmaid never the bride and etc.  Bullock would begin work on this film following shooting on her movie with Hugh Grant that films this Spring. (The Hollywood Reporter)

MONSTER'S BALL director Marc Forster will direct a Peter Pan feature for Miramax entitled NEVER LAND.  The film actually is more of a SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE story and follows the author of the classic Peter Pan tale and how he was inspired by four children and their mother who lived next store. NEVER LAND will be Forster's next project and filming will begin as soon as a suitable cast is found. (Variety)

Nick Cassavetes (son of John and better known to me as that bald guy from FACE OFF) will follow up the Denzel Washington suspense film JOHN Q with SOLACE, a thriller about a serial killer loose in Manhattan. Ted Griffin (OCEAN'S 11) wrote the script about a psychic recruited by a desperate police department in hopes of catching a killer on the rampage. (Variety)

You may have noticed in the ads on TV that Fox has moved its upcoming comedy KUNG POW one week to January 25th. In other release date news, RESIDENT EVIL has moved forward to March 15th and JASON X will finally be released on April 12th. (Dark Horizons)

Some cool footage behind-the-scenes footage from MINORITY REPORT is online courtesy of Smilin Jack Ruby.  He attended a car show where they were featuring the Lexus driven by Tom Cruise in the movie and has a clip of him interviewing a PR director interspersed with clips from the set. Check it out here
 

January 8, 2002

Never mind what you heard about Brad Pitt and David Fincher's next collaboration. Brad Pitt recently spoke to Premiere magazine and shed some light on his upcoming schedule.  As for the aforementioned Fincher project SEARED, the seedy tale about life as a cook in NYC, consider it over as far as these guys are concerned. Pitt says the project became "less attractive with time" and his interest, as well as Finch's, has cooled.  The duo will instead work on a new project, which Pitt described as a WWII movie, but after making some calls, I've found is a film entitled THEY FOUGHT ALONE (formerly FERTIG), set up at Columbia.

The plot follows Col. Wendell Fertig, an American on a WWII era Phillipine island who leads a groups of soldiers in a guerilla movement to scare off the Japanese, looked to seize control and gain a foothold in the war. Tom Cruise was once attached, but has since moved on to different projects leaving the project ripe for Pitt's picking.  Work could begin as quickly as this fall, as soon as Pitt finished up his work on THE LAST MAN (scheduled to begin production this Summer).  Pretty cool, eh?  And a departure of sorts for Finch, whose work to this point has been in a similar genre.

January 8, 2002

The official site for David Fincher's PANIC ROOM has just gone live at www.sony.com/panicroom. Right now, there's just an image of Jodie Foster with links to download the official trailer (nowhere near as cool as the bootleg one AICN ran a few weeks ago) but expect more in the coming weeks. In other PANIC ROOM news, a European version of the one-sheet has popped up online.  Click the image below to see the larger version. No word on whether the poster will stay the same in the States but it should hit theaters here soon...

< click to enlarge >
 

January 8, 2002

The Criterion Collection of DVDs is an odd one.  They range from CHASING AMY and SILENCE OF THE LAMBS to CARL TH. DREYER - MY METIER and TESTAMENT OF ORPHEUS. Very odd selections...but this time I have to give them some major credit. They're taking David Fincher's most under-appreciated film this side of ALIEN 3 and giving it the special treatment.  That's right, get ready for THE GAME - CRITERION COLLECTION.  The disc will reportedly be released on April 25 in all of its 2-disc glory.  According to www.davidfincher.net the disc will include, "interviews, trailers, never before seen footage, a psychology test, an isolated score with commentary by Howard Shore, director's commentary, plus much more. We can also expect to hear a DTS soundtrack in addition to the obligatory Dolby Digital track."  Sounds pretty freakin sweet.  If only they can stick to that April release date...

PS: Is today David Fincher day on JoBlo.com?? Not intentionally, no, but it sure seems that way....
 

January 8, 2002

I won't rehash the entire report from AICN here (to read what their scooper has to say, click here), but basically it says the film stinks, director Rick Rosenthal has been fired, 2/3 of the movie will have to be reshot, and Curtis single-handedly saved the film from the direct-to-video release. Before I go any further, I must tell you that I contacted a rep from Dimension Films (whose reputation I trust), who told me that there was "absolutely no truth to this story."  None.  Not a word. HALLOWEEN is still on-track for a Summer 2002 release.  I'm not sure exactly where all these rumors are coming from, but it seems either someone has a major vendetta and is starting a smear campaign against the final (?) installment in the HALLOWEEN series or Dimension is attempting to sweep a big, expensive mess under the carpet (which I doubt).  Whether the film stinks or not, I'm not sure.  Just don't believe everything you read is all I'm saying...

UPDATE: Just as I was about to update this page another separate report corroborating the fact that this scooper's report is inaccurate is online at Coming Attractions and also an official statement from the producer at the film's official website

January 8, 2002

Director James Mangold, who incidentally directed one of the films on my all-time top ten worst movies list (GIRL, INTERRUPTED), has set his sights on his next project - a biopic of legendary country singer Johnny Cash.  While I'd be excited as the next guy to see a flick based on Cash (if you've never heard his music cause it's "country" you're missing out.  I hate country music as much as the next guy, but Cash's stuff is in a league of its own.  Just listen to "Ring of Fire," "Boy Named Sue," and "Folsom Prison Blues"), but I worry that Mangold can't handle it.

COP LAND should've been a great film (when are you going to get a cast like that again?...) but it was surprisingly bad.  GI was awful, awful, awful.  I haven't seen KATE AND LEOPOLD yet but I hear it's nothing new - good but your standard romantic-comedy fare. I did enjoy his first film, HEAVY, but we haven't gotten back there since.  In any event, Mangold is in the casting stage now and is having considerable difficulty finding someone who can portray the Man in Black from the age of 20 to 38 convincingly.
 

January 4, 2002

Source: Variety

Coming Soon, among others, got their hands on some promotional posters for upcoming Disney releases. These aren't the official one-sheet, but preliminary posters used to push the film to vendors and such. Check out the posters for TUCK EVERLASTING, THE SANTA CLAUSE 2, THE COUNTRY BEARS and more here

That wacky Whoopi Goldberg will take time off from her busy schedule playing the center square on Hollywood Squares to host the 74th Annual Academy Awards.  Crap. And I had so much fun watching Steve Martin last year.

To promote the upcoming Mandy Moore flick A WALK TO REMEMBER, Warners and a company called EyeTide have created a cool new type of screensaver.  It's like a regular screensaver but it updates automatically with original content and stuff.  It's hard to describe, but it sounds cool and if you're so inclined, you can download it here

Director Brett Ratner recently spoke about the changes he will make when filming RED DRAGON. If you'll remember, a movie based on the book was already made by Michael Mann entitled MANHUNTER. Ratner looks to stay closer to Thomas Harris' novel and talks more about this and other things that you can read here
 

January 7, 2002

Marvel Entertainment head Avi Arad spoke to the E! Channel last week and revealed that barring some technicalities, the role of Elektra had been cast for the DAREDEVIL movie. He didn't mention names, but courtesy of Harry and his web of spies over at AICN, we've got a pretty good idea on who it might be.  Ever watch that show "Alias" on ABC?  Yup, Jennifer Garner, the ass-kicking top-secret agent is reportedly very, very close to signing the deal to star alongside Ben Affleck. Remember - this has not been confirmed yet (although could be by Variety or The Hollywood Reporter on Monday morning) so for now, consider it still rumor.  But it's definitely an interesting rumor....

So I know what you're all thinking - what does Mike (that's me, by the way) think of all this?  Well, I guess it's better than Lucy Liu but I'm still not sold 100%.  My wife is a big "Alias" fan so I've seen my fair share of the show and while she's certainly got the physicality of the role down (she kicks butt in every episode), I'm not quite sure she's got the look. There was always something about her that struck me as odd.  Sometimes there will be a picture or angle that will make her look extremely attractive, then the next minute she'll look strangely unattractive.  Like that "Seinfeld" episode where the girl only looked good in the one booth at the coffee shop.  I still kinda wish they had found that "unknown Greek actress" they had been promising, but I suppose it could've been a lot worse.  And look at how Hugh Jackman surprised the shit out of everyone....
  

January 7, 2002

One of the things that bugged me the most about THE PHANTOM MENACE was the relentless and shameless cross-promotions with just about every product out there.  I couldn't get myself a Steak Soft Taco at Taco Bell without being barraged by little Jake Lloyd's face haunting me.  It really just made me sick of the whole thing.  And now, it seems Sony will follow suit and drown this Summer's SPIDER-MAN in promotional crap.  Just announced were tie-ins with Hardees (?!?!), Dr, Pepper and Hershey's.  What's extremely disconcerting is that Hardees, a fast-food chain located primarily in the Southern U.S., promises to use "extensive signage" to promote the film. Thank God I wouldn't eat that crap their slinging cause I don't think I can stand to see one of my favorite childhood memories hawking the "Big Roast Beef Sandwich."  But I will not stop drinking Dr. Pepper. That truly is the nectar of the Gods. Mr. Pibb be damned!
  

January 7, 2002

Our new pals at David Duchovny Online sent us a heads-up that they've scored about eight new pics from FULL FRONTAL of the same variety that popped up on the net a few days ago.  Unfortunately there is no Duchovny in these shots but we do get to see some Blair Underwood and more of a freaky looking Julia Roberts.  Click on the shots below to see more of the set over at DD Online.

< click pics to see many more >
 

January 7, 2002

The American Film Institute's 2001 awards were given out at a televised event on Saturday and LORD OF THE RINGS took home the top prize.  The rest of the winners in the Film categories (don't ask me why the American Film Institute is giving away TV awards...) are listed below:

Discuss the AFI AWARDS with fellow schmoes here
  

January 7, 2002

A fan-based website for writer/director Cameron Crowe (which got a nice write-up in this week's EW), got word from Fox that a special edition DVD for Crowe's classic film SAY ANYTHING will be released on March 5th.  The DVD has long been in the works and it seems that now Cameron finally has had the time to devote to the disc and it looks like it's packed full of all kinds of cool stuff.  Here are the specs:

• Commentary with Crowe, John Cusack and Ione Skye

• 10 Deleted Scenes

• 13 Extended Scenes

• Making Of Featurette

• Theatrical Trailer

• TV Spots

January 7, 2002

Alicia Witt (VANILLA SKY) will join Sandra Bullock and Hugh Grant in their untitled romantic comedy scheduled for this Christmas.  Plot details are being kept under wraps, but it is known that Witt will play a Harvard grad that represents Bullock in court when she is fired from her position at a law firm by her boss (Grant).(The Hollywood Reporter)

Rapper Eve (she sings that song with the girl from No Doubt about blowin' ya mind or something...) will join Vin Diesel and Samuel L. Jackson in this summer's big action spy flick XXX.  Eve will play a colleague of Diesel's character and will also perform the title song for the film.  (The Hollywood Reporter)

Premiere Magazine seems to have confirmed the rumor that originated on Coming Attractions that McG (CHARLIE'S ANGELS) will direct the 5th SUPERMAN film.  The magazine also stated that Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez and Catherine Zeta-Jones have all inquired about the role of Lois Lane. The plot thickens...(Coming Attractions)

Wanna see the sweet ride that Tom Cruise will be tooling around in in MINORITY REPORT?  Check out Smilin' Jack Ruby's new report here

Watch a clip from the upcoming Jack Black/Colin Hanks comedy ORANGE COUNTY right here