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January 26, 2000

Source: Coming Attractions

Jet Li was up for this part and walked away. Michelle Yeoh was in talks with the Wachowskis and decided to make her own film instead. Now the Brothers W are in talks with RUMBLE IN THE BRONX star Francoise Yip (she was the one who played Jackie's love interest) to take the role of Neo's arch-nemesis in the sequel to THE MATRIX. This would be a pretty cool choice and a chance for the Brothers to mold a relatively new and unknown commodity into a major badass. Let's wait and see…
            

January 26, 2000

Source: Movie Headlines

Empire Online is reporting that Johnny Depp has officially been cast as ex-Gong Show host Chuck Barris in director Bryan Singer's CONFESSIONS OF A DANGEROUS MIND. This ends weeks of speculation about who would be cast to fill the departed Mike Myers' shoes. Ben Stiller and John Cusack were also up for the role that eventually went to Depp. Depp joins George Clooney who is already aboard playing CIA agent Jim Byrd. Filming is slated to begin in March.
          

January 26, 2000

Source: Aint it Cool News

Ain't It Cool has posted a report about some of the finer plot details regarding AMERICAN PIE 2. Some of the details include Nadia coming to visit Jim (Jason Biggs) in Michigan, where he, Stifler (Sean William Scott) and the boys are living on the lake and going to college. Most of the movie revolves around Jim preparing for Nadia's arrival. In other PIE news, there are rumors that this Sunday could give us a sneak peek at the flick in the form of a Super Bowl commercial. Keep your eyes peeled.
           

January 26, 2000

Source: Aint it Cool News

Well, the internet movie community definitely fell asleep on this one, but it certainly has picked up once it leaked out. Turns out, Comedy Central employees Jon Stewart and Robert Smigel have been away from the duties at the cable channel filming the new Anderson flick, currently referred to as X-4. Looks like old PT is assembling quite a cast of comedic talents for this new one. Anyone got any idea about the plot line for this??
            

January 25, 2000

Source: AsiaBizTech

Oh yeah, baby...you had to see this coming ---> "Movienet International Co., Ltd. and Advanced Internet Integration Planning Inc. (AII) have joined forced to initiate Broadband Internet Preview, a business in which movie previews are distributed using the broadband Internet. The first movie to be previewed will be THE BOONDOCK SAINTS. This movie is scheduled for nationwide release in Japan in mid-February, but the preview will be shown before that on Feb. 4, streamed on-demand between the hours of midnight and 10:00 p.m. This will be the first trial in Japan. Up until now movies have been distributed after opening in the theatres, or distributed over the narrow-band Internet, or trailers have been distributed. The movie preview will be available to the approximately 80,000 households connected to the cable services, but actual distribution of the preview will be limited to just 300 people on a first-come first-serve basis.

According to AII, that is a number that accommodates the needs of both the network operators, who want to maintain quality, and the content provider, who wants to show the preview to a suitably large group. The movie preview will be streamed using both RealNetwork Inc.'s Real Video and Microsoft Corp.'s Windows Media Technologies. The data will be transmitted at a speed of 512kbps. Compared to a regular narrow-band transmission (with a 56kbps modem), the broadband streaming can present the movie in a screen window that is twice as large both vertically and horizontally. The companies are also considering the use of Apple Computer Inc.'s QuickTime streaming."
        

January 25, 2000

Source: IMDb

And speaking of seeing things coming...anyone who didn't see this puppy coming, please raise your hands now (as everyone keeps their hands folded neatly beside them). Courteney Cox has reportedly tossed ol' super-hyperman David Arquette out of their Hollywood home, and wants a divorce. The problems for the couple, who have only been married for 18 months, have apparently worsened due to his partying and her desire to start a family. A spokesman for Warner Brothers refused comment, saying "this is a private matter between David and Courteney."
        

January 25, 2000

Source: Popcorn

This is the part of this job that I hate.  I hate bringing innocent people such as yourself such news.  I hate being the bearer of such bad, bad tidings.  But, this is my job.  Lance Bass and Joey Fatone from the band 'N Sync have signed with Miramax (why, Harvey, why?) to star in the romantic comedy, ON THE LINE.  The film revolves around a man (Bass) who falls in love with a girl on a train, subsequently loses her, then recruits his best bud (Fatone) to...get this...plaster the town with posters and flyers in an attempt to track her down.  In a related story, a Joblo.com staff member had to be talked down from atop the Brooklyn Bridge today where he insisted on leaping to his death.  He is currently resting at Bellevue Mental Hospital watching RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, SEVEN, JAWS, and CLERKS in an attempt to restore his love for movies.
          

January 25, 2000

Source: Coming Soon!

Not sure if these preliminary nods will give you any insight as to which films will rule the Oscars come the official February 13 nominations, but the five films below were named Tuesday as CONTENDERS for the makeup Oscar by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.

Cast Away
The Cell
Bedazzled
The Grinch
Shadow of the Vampire

Ten-minute clips of each film will be screened for the makeup award nominating committee Feb. 10. Members may nominate up to three films for Oscar consideration, recommend a single film for a special achievement award or elect to recommend that no award be given in the category.
           

January 25, 2000

Source: Spielberg-Dreamworks

DreamWorks Fansite was invited by DreamWorks to visit the set of Ivan Reitman's upcoming comedy EVOLUTION and chat with some of the cast.  Their reports are being posted incrementally and up right now are QuickTime
interviews with stars David Duchovny, Ivan Reitman, Sean William Scott and Orlando Jones.  Future posts will include set descriptions, pictures and further interviews.

Click here to check out all of the fun EVOLUTION stuff
         

January 25, 2000

Source: Spielberg-Dreamworks

*** UPDATE ***

DreamWorks officially commented on the possible re-release of its two major Best Picture candidates, ALMOST FAMOUS and GLADIATOR on Monday.  They said while FAMOUS may be re-released, GLADIATOR definitely would not be.  This would give the studio a chance to re-market ALMOST FAMOUS to those unfortunate enough to miss it the first time around.  Good move, DreamWorks! (That wasn't sarcastic).

There are reports that Dreamworks will re-release its two major Oscar contenders GLADIATOR and ALMOST FAMOUS in theaters shortly after nominations for the Academy Awards are announced. Dreamworks, who did very well for themselves last Sunday, may be anxious to recoup some of the losses ALMOST FAMOUS incurred in its original theatrical release. The movie could do much better with a Golden Globe win and Oscar nomination under its belt (and tons of other positive word of mouth). As for now, FAMOUS is set for a March 13th DVD release while GLADIATOR has already become the best selling DVD of all time.
      

January 24, 2000

Source: Mothership

Ang Lee was chatting up his HULK project while attending the Broadcast Film Critics Association's Critics' Choice Awards. He told EON, "I'm developing [THE HULK] and we're hoping for a 2003 release... it's just in the beginning
stages. We've got to do so much research and prepare work and just see what's happening." Also interesting to note is that it looks like Lee might totally rework the latest script by X-Men writer David Hayter, despite the fact he is admittedly only "familiar" with the character. Lee went on to say "I'm just beginning on the script and [will] probably be changing it entirely." Hey, after CROUCHING TIGER, I trust this guy (although I wish it were coming sooner than 2003).
      

January 24, 2000

Source: LA Times

The LA Times went berserk over the weekend and posted a whole slew of images, some of which have never been seen before. Some of the cooler shots include the first Fox licensed ape shot from PLANET OF THE APES, a picture of Brad Pitt and Robert Redford in SPY GAMES, a similar A.I. pic to the one we saw yesterday, Ben Stiller mugging for the camera in ZOOLANDER and Kevin Spacey acting like an alien in K-PAX. Check 'em all out here (click on THE YEAR AHEAD: GALLERY).
     

January 24, 2000

Source: E! Online and Aint it Cool News

Kevin Smith had mentioned in his now defunct Psycomics column, that he had met with Eliza Dushku (TRUE LIES, Buffy the Vampire Slayer) about joining the cast of JAY AND SILENT BOB STRIKE BACK. He also mentioned that she had not been cast and that the role eventually went to Shannon Elizabeth. While that is partly true, it seems that Mr. Smith was so impressed by the young Ms. Dushku that he wrote a part specifically for her and she has now indeed joined the production. Eliza will reportedly be playing an "aggressive jewel thief" (I can't wait to see what he does with this) in the movie which began filming last week. In other View Askew news, AICN has posted a script
review of J&SBSB and since I am trying to know nothing about this film (I knew all about DOGMA and that ruined the movie for me) I haven't read it. But the premise sounds cool so if you're interested and don't mind the possible minor spoiler, you might want to check it out here.
     

January 23, 2000

Source: Aint it Cool News

So far, all that what we've seen of Steven Spielberg's A.I. has been pretty scant, to say the very least. We've seen Haley Joel Osment mugging for the camera, but in truth that could've been from any Haley film. We've seen a prototype car and a model arm and the teaser trailer really lived up to its name. But now we finally have a glimpse into what may be going on over there in the largest soundstage ever created. I won't say too much about what's going on in this pic, mainly cause I have no idea. Looks kinda like Haley's character interacting with some sort of robot in the making. Check it out below:

< Click pic to see big version at AICN >
    

January 23, 2000

Source: Mothership

Before UNBREAKABLE opened, there was already talk that this was only the first part in a trilogy. Bruce Willis seemed to confirm these rumors while director M. Night Shymalan seemed to discredit them saying he wanted to do
something more original. If a report from Premiere magazine is correct, Shymalan may have been pulling our chain (wouldn't necessarily be surprised by that) and he and Disney are already hard at work planning the next two
movies. We here at JoBlo will keep you up-to-date of any breaking developments.
    

January 23, 2000

Source: PTAnderson.com

Have we in the internet news community fallen asleep at our collective computers? Has PT Anderson really pulled the wool over our eyes and quietly begun production on his fourth feature film? Maybe. In fact, in all probability he has. The film, starring Adam Sandler and Emily Watson, is said to already be filming in locations "outside the Valley." Now don't worry, reports have it that this film is definitely a PT Anderson film and not an Adam Sandler film.  Hopefully his recent talks with directors Quentin Tarantino and Anderson will mean that Sandler is trying to change his goofball image and do something a little more substantial. Not that I didn't love BILLY MADISON...
    

January 22, 2000

Source: Joey Baloney

Sometime around Thursday, I considered posting my picks for winners of this year's Golden Globe awards. Thank God I reconsidered because my predictions were awful. In fact, with this year's winners, you'd be hard pressed to find
someone who really did well. There were quite a few surprises in this year's spectacular and without further adieu, here's a quick summary:

Let's start with Supporting Awards. Your man and mine, Benicio Del Toro beat out Willem Dafoe (and three other guys) to win the Best Supporting Actor award for his role in TRAFFIC. I really didn't think he'd win but I was very pleasantly surprised. I think his work has been overlooked for some time now. Speaking of being pleasantly surprised, cute as a button Kate Hudson beat out heavily favored ALMOST FAMOUS competition from Frances
McDormand for the Best Supporting Actress Globe. I really would've loved to see Frances win, cause she was just unforgettable in her role. But...Kate really did shine as Penny Lane and made the movie hers. I think everyone
who saw that movie fell a little bit in love with her. So right off the bat, I'm 0 for 2. But not terribly disappointed about it.

Stephen Gaghan hitched his wagon to a star named TRAFFIC and rode it all to a win for Best Screenplay. He seemed like a cool enough guy (just looked like one of your old drinking buddies) but I was really rooting for Cameron
Crowe and I know a lot of people were expecting Kenneth Lonergan for YOU CAN COUNT ON ME to take it. George Clooney beat out such top name stars as Mel Gibson, Robert DeNiro and Jim Carrey to take the Best Actor, Musical or Comedy. I had my vote on John Cusack simply because it was the only movie in that category I had seen. Renee Zellweger wins the Marisa Tomei award of the night as the actress I don't think anyone thought would win. She took home the Best Actress for NURSE BETTY and I really think that anyone who made pre-show predictions probably picked Juliette Binoche from CHOCOLAT. In fact, Zellweger herself didn't even think she'd win cause she was in the crapper when the award was announced. If you missed it, it was quite funny to see Hugh Grant stammering on stage trying to delay.

I get increasingly excited for the new THE HULK movie everyday and today was no exception as Ang Lee walked away with the Best Director trophy for CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON. I really think he deserved it and it shows as he beat out twice nominated Steven Soderbergh. Now we get into the part where the surprises kind of end.  Awards darling Tom Hanks (who looks pretty creepy with his new PT moustache) won Best Actor for CASTAWAY and pretty woman Julia Roberts (who actually had the gall to tell Dick Clark there was no way she would win) won Best Actress for ERIN BROCKOVICH. 

As for the two Best Picture awards, ALMOST FAMOUS (thankyouthankyouthankyou) won for Best Musical or Comedy. I was getting really nervous that CHOCOLAT would win as Miramax is really stepping up their campaign as of late. But cooler heads prevailed and I can only hope this will push FAMOUS into an Oscar nod. In the drama category, GLADIATOR slayed its competition and took the prize. I think this again is another film that really deserves it. When you watch that DVD and see all the hard work that went into making this film, you really have to give Ridley Scott and his team a lot of credit. A great flick.

Finally, I'd just like to add a few other things I learned tonight while watching the awards. One, it must've been cold as all hell in Los Angeles, cause it was nipple central out on the red carpet. You'd think they would wear a shawl or something...cover themselves up. I guess not. Two, Tom Cruise apparently has a Vanilla Ice biopic coming out soon (or so the announcer says). Third, Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes must be scoring some good $h!t. Fourth, everytime I saw that guy from the West Wing, I couldn't help but think, "Eliminate, Billy Madison." He may be on a award winning drama with Martin Sheen, but he'll never live down his role as Eric in BILLY MADISON. Fifth, put "Dame" Elizabeth Taylor back wherever you found her. Watching that old coot on stage had me in hysterics. I thought Dick Clark was going to crap his pants. "What am I supposed to do now?..." And lastly, I never realized how much Al Pacino has contributed to my vocabulary with all the many catchphrases from his huge resume.

So it was a fun night and I hope you all enjoyed watching the Golden Globes. In case you missed anything, here's a final rundown of all the winners tonight:

Best Picture - Drama:  GLADIATOR
Best Picture - Musical or Comedy:  ALMOST FAMOUS
Best Actress - Drama:  Julia Roberts, ERIN BROCKOVICH
Best Actor - Drama:  Tom Hanks, CASTAWAY
Best Actress - Musical or Comedy:  Renee Zellweger, NURSE BETTY
Best Actor - Musical or Comedy:  George Clooney, O BROTHER, WHERE ART THOU?
Best Foreign-Language Film:  CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
Best Supporting Actress:  Kate Hudson, ALMOST FAMOUS
Best Supporting Actor:  Benicio Del Toro, TRAFFIC
Best Director:  Ang Lee, CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON
Best Screenplay:  Stephen Gaghan, TRAFFIC
Best Original Score:  Hans Zimmer and Lisa Gerrard, GLADIATOR
Best Original Song:  "Things Have Changed", Bob Dylan, WONDER BOYS

Thanks for listening,
Joey Baloney