Thanks to the UFC, the sport of mixed martial arts is pretty huge right now, as evidenced by the number of Hollywood movies that star MMA fighters or involve MMA in some way. Movies like Never Back Down, Redbelt and the upcoming Fighting have been marketing themselves partially based on the fighting style, while action movies like The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior have started casting MMA fighters as the new b-movie stars.
This month, Lionsgate is upping the ante with a direct-to-DVD movie called Never Surrender that stars a number of big name MMA fighters including Georges St. Pierre, Hector Echavarria, Anderson Silva and B.J. Penn. The plot revolves around an MMA world champion who gets lured into the illegal world of underground cage fighting in pursuit of vengeance for the death of his brother. The movie was written and directed by Hector Echavarria himself, so it seems a safe assumption that it will be heavy on the fighting and light on acting and story. Still… could this be the new Bloodsport? What do you think about the trend of MMA fighters making the transition to the big screen? Never Surrender hits stores on April 28th.
It has been rumoured for years, but at the ShoWest convention in Las Vegas this week, Sony finally revealed that they are officially working on a third Men in Black film. Details are still scarce at the moment; in fact, it hasn’t even been officially confirmed that Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones will return. However, I think we all know how pointless it would be to make Men in Black 3 without them. All that has been said so far is that the movie is likely going to be targeted for a summer 2011 release alongside Spider-Man 4.
I know a lot of people were really let down by Men in Black II, but I had a good time with it. Patrick Warburton in particular was a great addition to the cast. Either way I don’t think it matters how well part 2 was received, because as long as Will Smith is involved, this thing is going to make a shit ton of money. I’d gladly give another sequel a chance, but I will say that I won’t be disappointed if they get someone other than the guy who wrote Galaxy Quest to pen the script this time around. What do you think about Men in Black 3? Would you like to see Barry Sonnenfeld back in the director’s chair again, or should someone else take over the reins?
From the last man on Earth to… no men on Earth? Fox has acquired the rights to Alan Weisman’s non-fiction book The World Without Us with the intention of turning it into a big budget blockbuster from the writer and director of I Am Legend. Mark Protosevich, who also wrote the script for the upcoming Thor movie, was supposed to be working on Will Smith’s Oldboy remake next, but now will turn his attention to this project first.
Weisman’s book uses real-world science to predict exactly what would happen to the planet if humans were to suddenly disappear entirely. I’ve seen a documentary based on the book, and while it is a fascinating concept, I’m still wondering how it can possibly be turned into an exciting fictional film. The Hollywood Reporter says that they would expand the concept and likely “show an event that would lead to man’s disappearance”. End of the world scenarios are always fun and I liked I Am Legend more than most, so I’m definitely intrigued to see what director Francis Lawrence can do with the material. He is currently in pre-production on a movie called Eddie Dickens and the Awful End.
Adventureland Review
Written and Directed by: Greg Mottola
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Kristen Stewart, Bill Hader, Kristen Wiig, Martin Starr, Ryan Reynolds, Matt Bush
Although Judd Apatow is currently one of the biggest comedy directors and producers working in Hollywood today, his legacy actually started back in the ’90s working as a writer on a number of TV shows. It was the often-praised yet criminally short-lived series, Freaks and Geeks, which he co-created with Paul Feig that truly showcased his touch for crafting stories that were both endearing and hilarious (and, in fact, launched the careers of almost everyone involved with it).
So why am I bringing up Freaks and Geeks in a review of a film that Judd Apatow had nothing to do with? Well, it’s because Greg Mottola’s Adventureland contains all of the same elements that made Freaks and Geeks such a beloved classic — even moreso than any of Apatow’s own films. Freaks and Geeks alumni Martin Starr also has a great role in the film, and while Mottola himself didn’t work on F&G, he did direct a number of episodes of Apatow’s follow-up series, Undeclared.
Posted by Sean on April 1st, 2009 Filed under: Polls
I guess I should have known better than to include The Shining in a poll about haunted house movies… not that it doesn’t qualify as one (technically it is a hotel, but they do live there), but it kind of ensured that no one else had a shot at winning this thing. I honestly thought more people would have voted for some of the old classics, but I’m guessing they just aren’t that well-known. At any rate, Poltergeist was a strong second, followed by The Orphanage, and a two-way tie between The Amityville Horror and The Haunting. Maybe I should have included some less obvious choices like Monster House or Beetlejuice. Are there any other “outside the box” haunted house movies that we missed?
1. The Shining — 44.7%
2. Poltergeist — 20.7%
3. The Orphanage — 7.4%
4. The Amityville Horror — 5.9%
4. The Haunting — 5.9%
6. The Sixth Sense — 4.8%
7. The Changeling — 4.3%
8. The Others — 3.7%
9. The Innocents — 1.6%
10. The Uninvited — 1.1%
Well this is certainly a shocker. I know it’s April Fool’s Day and what not, but I certainly didn’t expect such controversial movie news to coincidentally hit the web on April Fool’s Day. According to Movie Site.com, Christopher Nolan has made some major casting announcements for his next Batman film. Get this; Don Rickles as Batman and Sammy Davis Jr. as the Joker! Huh? I’m sure I’m not the only person thinking a big WTF at this news. First off, shouldn’t these roles be reversed? Lots of people have been backing the idea of a Don Rickles Joker performance for years now, making Nolan’s choice to cast him as Bruce Wayne a bit of a slap in the face of fans around the internebs. And Sammy Davis Jr.? Aside from the fact that he’s been dead for years now, everyone knows that Davis IS The Dark Knight. In defense of his decision, Nolan claims that it was the audition process that really identified the strengths of Rickles as the Caped Crusader. From his blog, NolanBlog.com:
“He walked into the room and I thought to myself ‘This is Batman. No question’. He then began joking about Hollywood being run by the jews, called me a polak and insulted my Mother. It was hilarious. I thought ‘Hmmm…maybe this is The Joker?’. I asked him to grimace for me, and it was like no…this is definitely Batman.”
In response to Sammy Davis as The Joker:
“Well we now know that a posthumous Joker performance works best. Sammy Davis just has an energy to him…or he used to have an energy to him…that just works for this role. Also, we all know he’s already got a pretty solid connection to the franchise. Why not work with it?”
This has been Film Junk’s official April Fool’s Day post for this, April 1st 2009. Enjoy the rest of your day.
In the third edition of my look at the influences behind Monsters Vs. Aliens, I turn my attention to one of the pivotal inspirations behind Insectosaurus.
The obvious choice for this entry would be Mothra, or even Godzilla, but in truth there’s another Japanese monster movie that looms large over Monsters Vs. Aliens, and that is エイプリルフール, or roughly translated, Larvasari. Never officially released outside of Korea, this film has only been shown in a handful of international film festivals after its original theatrical run, and is considered by many to be one of the most obscure kaiju films.
In Larvasari, a young girl being escorted to her arranged marriage is abducted by a secret organization that detains those people afflicted with mutation caused by nuclear radiation. When Korea is attacked by the armies of a lost undersea kingdom, the girl and her fellow mutants are turned loose in order to summon the legendary kaiju Larvasari, which only they can control via telepathy.
Back before Guillermo Del Toro won the hearts of fanboys the world over with Blade II and Hellboy, his first mainstream Hollywood flick was a fairly mediocre monster movie called Mimic. To be honest, I can’t remember much about the movie now (my mental images of the film seem to be mixed up with The Relic, which was also released in 1997… go figure) but a quick visit to Rotten Tomatoes reveals that it was mostly panned back when it came out (although Ebert did give it 3 and a half stars). It’s certainly one of the least talked about movies in Del Toro’s filmography, but it would be pretty interesting to revisit it now, 12 years later. And hey, guess what? We will all get the chance to do exactly that with a brand new director’s cut of the film, coming to DVD this July!
Our friend Swarez over at Twitch reveals that Dimension Films will release a 12th Anniversary Edition of Mimic on July 8th. The new cut is based on a reworking of the film that Del Toro had been doing on his own time, restoring some of the “fake scares”, darker tone, and (possibly) the original ending. Extras will include an audio commentary, making of featurette, and more. What did you think of Mimic? Do you think a Director’s Cut will improve it, or was simply an early misfire from a talented filmmaker?
Update: This is 100% bogus. Swarez put one over on us, once again proving that you can’t believe anything you read on April Fool’s Day!
Once again, I’m taking a look at some of the movies that made Monsters Vs. Aliens possible. Today’s selection is the 1958 version of The Fly, which is the inspiration for Dr. Cockroach Ph.D.
Andre Delambre is an engineer with a dream to create a matter-transference device for the good of all mankind. Unfortunately, the most insignificant of creatures interferes with his plans, plunging his entire family into a frenzied nightmare.
I can’t really blame people for being suspicious of the new wave of 3-D films, particularly when a lot of studios are just using it to recapitalize on old properties. Case in point: Disney will be re-releasing both Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3-D later this year. To be fair, they are trying to give good value by playing both films together as a double feature. Still, it should be fun to see parents try and force their kids to sit still for two movies in a row!
The two movies will hit theatres as a “special limited engagement” starting on October 2, 2009. They’re also luring in fans by promising the first trailer for the upcoming Toy Story 3, which will also be shown in 3-D when it is released next June. John Lasseter had this to say:
“Disney Digital 3D offers lots of great new possibilities for the art of animation and we will continue to use this new technology to push the boundaries in telling our stories. With Toy Story 3 shaping up to be another great adventure for Buzz, Woody and the gang from Andy’s room, we thought this would be the perfect way to let audiences experience the first two films all over again. To see the movies back to back will be an amazing treat as well. This is certainly nostalgic for me and reminiscent of my youth when double features were the norm.”
Disney also announced this week that they will be putting out a 3-D version of Beauty and the Beast on February 12, 2010. Surely George Lucas and his 3-D re-releases of Star Wars can’t be far behind. What do you think, are these genuinely adding something new to classic movies, or are they just cash grabs?
