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Sam Worthington Gets Gritty in 'American Crime'
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Casting, Deals, Noir, Scripts, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Few of us have had the chance to read Rick Remender's upcoming series, The Last Days of American Crime, but it's already tapped for the big-screen treatment. To sweeten the deal, American Crime already has a face. An Australian one. Mania is reporting that Sam Worthington has signed on to play the series' star criminal, Graham Brick. American Crime is set in a near-future where the government has found a way to kill the criminal impulse in its citizens. That's good for everyone but the criminals, and chaos erupts as the unsavory element goes mad trying to get in one last job. One of these men is Graham Brick, who is in the midst of planning a big heist, and gets to watch all his best laid plans fall apart in a bloody fashion. I read the preview Radical handed out at Comic-Con this year, and like all previews, it was too short to really get a handle on the story. But the art was incredible, it was ridiculously violent, and it had that slimy feeling of Sin City. You can check out three pages here, and Radical has 15 pages up on MySpace. The first issue is scheduled to hit stands in December.
Remender will be penning the screenplay himself, and Radical will be producing it under their film shingle. We'll supposedly be getting a studio, a director, and more cast-members very soon, but it's tough to get excited without having read issue #1. Still, if this is really the mix of James Ellroy and David Mamet's Heist that Remender promises, Crime will be something to look out for.
Indie Roundup: 'Cracks,' 'Harry Brown' Deals and Trailers
Filed under: Drama, Independent, Thrillers, Deals, IFC, Distribution, Cinematical Indie, Trailers and Clips
Indie Roundup: Your quick guide to what's new and upcoming in the independent film community.
Deals. Our friends at indieWIRE report that Cracks has been acquired by IFC Films, which plans to release it next year via its IFC in Theaters platform. The film is the feature directorial debut of Jordan Scott, daughter of Ridley Scott. Eva Green (The Dreamers, Casino Royale) stars as a teacher and diving coach in an Irish boarding school for orphaned girls; Juno Temple, Imogen Poots, and Maria Valverde also star. "The trials and tribulations, for both the students and their unorthodox teacher," writes Kurt Halfyard at Twitch, "gradually are brought to a boil that subverts many of the typical paths in either a coming of age story or a typical 'school-girl dormitory' tale."
Michael Caine stars as Harry Brown, a retired Marine who determines to clean up his neighborhood after his best friend is killed. Samuel Goldwyn Films picked up theatrical rights to the thriller; indieWIRE notes that the film opened in the UK last weekend, though the US release date has not yet been announced. Daniel Barber directed. UK site Pure Movies calls Harry Brown "a superior offering – albeit a gritty and bleak one."
On Demand / Online Viewing. Check out On Hallowed Ground, available exclusively this month on Babelgum. Andre Braugher narrates the documentary, which explores Rucker Park, a basketball court in Harlem where legendary future NBA players, and those who should have been famous, once played. Speaking of gritty players, if you're curious to catch up with Troy Duffy's The Boondock Saints, it'll finally be coming to video on demand in January.
After the jump: watch trailers for Cracks (absolutely gorgeous) and Harry Brown (dark and intense)!
Cinematical Seven: Silliest Disaster Scenarios
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, New Line, Paramount, 20th Century Fox, Cinematical Seven, Lists
We both know that I could probably fill all seven slots of this list with just scenes from Roland Emmerich's disaster-tastic 2012, but in the interests of letting everyone else get a chance to see it, let's stick with films that have already come and gone. Some of these titles qualify because of the uniquely ridiculous nature of their disasters, while others count for what ridiculous plots unfold amidst otherwise ordinarily perilous acts of nature.
There will be a couple of spoilers to go along with our picks, but since most of these have been out for a couple of years, it's not like it's the end of the world...
Bicycle Messengering Gets Intense With David Koepp's 'Premium Rush'
Filed under: Thrillers, Sony, Scripts
When was the last time you recall seeing an actual bicycle messenger? Unless you live in a densely populated, car-hating metropolis, chances are rather slim that you ever see someone on a bike with a package under their arm, ducking and diving all manner of obstacles before screeching to a halt in front of a skyscraper and racing inside to drop off said package just in the nick of time. Which is why it is simultaneously bizarre and fascinating to me that David Koepp would pick the high-stakes world of two-wheeled courier services as the frame for his next directorial project.What's even more fascinating is the scale Premium Rush, which I am 99% positive is the name of a Capri Sun flavor I used to drink in the '90s, is set up to be. Sony is bankrolling the production, which Variety says they see as "a big-budget actioner, much like the films Koepp is known for penning, and will feature the kind of elaborate chases associated with a William Friedkin pic." The Friedkin emulation I can understand, as The French Connection still remains a benchmark chase film, but the big budget Koepp titles they're referencing include Spider-Man, Jurassic Park, and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.
Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' Gains More Cast Members
Filed under: Horror, Thrillers
By Alison NastasiDarren Aronofsky's latest film is a thriller with a supernatural twist. Black Swan is currently in pre-production and Slashfilm recently revealed full casting details for the film. It was already announced that Natalie Portman will star as Nina, a veteran ballerina competing against a mysterious rival dancer, Lily, played by Mila Kunis. As the dancers approach an important performance, Nina starts to question if her rival is a supernatural apparition or if she's having delusions and her identity starts to blur with that of her eerily similar competitor. To the absolute joy of fanboys everywhere, the film includes an "ecstasy-induced hungry, aggressive, angry sex" scene between Portman and Kunis. Having flashbacks to Requiem for a Dream yet?
Joining the cast of Black Swan will be Vincent Cassel, Winona Ryder and Barbara Hershey. Ryder plays Beth, Nina's frenemie who used to be the star dancer but is nearing the end of her career. Hmm. Cassel is the "handsome but sinister" (love him but no shocker here) Yevna who is the stage director and Hershey is Nina's mother.
Read more at HorrorSquad!
The 'Se7en' Crew Reunites to Get 'Proud'
Filed under: Thrillers, Deals, Scripts
Se7en... I'll never forget the first time I watched it, nestled with friends into the old seats at Gettysburg's Majestic Theater, all of us enamored, shocked, chilled, and buzzed on the thrill of the film IMDb ranks as #27 out of the Top 250 Films. It's one of those movies that elicits glazed eyes of fandom at its mention. But could the magic be brought to life again?The Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision Blog reports that Se7en alums David Fincher, Andrew Kevin Walker, and Michael De Luca are re-teaming to make a new adaptation of Max Ehrlich's The Reincarnation of Peter Proud for Columbia Pictures. Fincher is, of course, attached to direct, and Walker will pen the script. (The book was originally adapted by Ehrlich himself for the film back in 1975.) The story focuses on a college prof who becomes plagued by recurring dreams and nightmares that he realizes are memories of a past life. With the help of his girlfriend, he tries to find the source of the visions and "discovers a woman and her grown-up daughter who are keys to his past life." The original story got in some hot water for a subplot rife with incest, but methinks that will be diluted or deleted this time around as everything gets updated.
With all of this in place, the only blocks left are the cast. It might seem like an easy pick, but I'd love to see Kevin Kline bite into this. Yes, he's the go-to guy for college professors, but he's also severely talented and severely under-utilized. A role like this could rip him out of the crap. But if the choice was yours, who would you like to see crack the past? Or are you just recoiling at word of another remake?
Roland Emmerich May or May Not Blow Up the World Again
Filed under: Action, Drama, Thrillers, New Releases, Sony, 20th Century Fox, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels
At a press junket earlier this summer for 2012, Roland Emmerich told reporters he's not doing any more blow-'em-up flicks. "I would not know how to top this... It's just one of these things, you know. I had a hard time deciding to do another disaster movie, but... you cannot make a disaster movie if there's not something --- an idea in this disaster which elevates it to something more than a disaster. And so it was this idea, you know, that there will be a global flood and it's a retelling of Noah's Arc." Later he added, "It's not my last film, it's my last disaster film. And that's because I wouldn't know what else to do. It's just, you know what, I really didn't want to do this movie at first... But when I decided that the idea was too good to not do it for the reason I had done before, I said, okay, if I do it, I will do it in such a spectacular manner that nobody can top it for a long time. I have that pride in my work."
Review: The Box
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Mystery & Suspense, Warner Brothers, Theatrical Reviews
Richard Matheson's original short story, "Button, Button," was a nifty little morality tale about a couple faced with a peculiar opportunity -- if they push a button in a box, they'll get a sum of money but kill a stranger in doing so. That version of the story ended with the wife pushing the button and killing her husband, a man she didn't really know. As an episode of "The Twilight Zone" in 1986, the story ended with the couple paid off and assured that the device would then go to another couple to whom they qualify as strangers. Now, Richard Kelly's The Box takes that same basic premise and spins it into a mind-bender of the most baffling degree, starting out as another "Twilight Zone"-worthy variant but eventually reaching the outer limits of both patience and reason.
Bradley Cooper Gains Superpowers In 'Dark Fields'
Filed under: Action, Drama, Thrillers, Casting, Universal, Newsstand
The future Faceman may have lost the chance to fly as the Emerald Knight, but DC isn't the only place you can gain superpowers. You can also score them from top secret pharmaceuticals! (Don't try this at home, kids.) According to The Hollywood Reporter, Bradley Cooper is set to star in Dark Fields, a thriller directed by Neil Burger and based on the book by Alan Glynn. Cooper will play a writer down on his luck who manages to get his poor paws on a secret drug that promises to make one smarter. He doesn't go ask Alice before popping them, and finds that it's a wonder drug. He enjoys writing success, wealth and women until the side effects kick in. They're long lasting, potentially lethal, and have the extra kick of making time appear as a stop-motion movie. As if that doesn't suck enough, mysterious and unpleasant men begin pursuing him. Do they look like Shia LaBeouf, who was originally set to star? Hopefully not.
The screenplay was penned by Leslie Dixon, and is said to be similar to Fight Club and The Game, which might be a big spoiler as to the nature of those mysterious antagonists, which is why you shouldn't think about it too much. There's no start date, but hopefully he has no time between The A-Team and Dark Fields to squish in another frightening romantic comedy.
Review: The Fourth Kind
Filed under: Horror, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Universal, Theatrical Reviews
By Todd Gilchrist (reprint from 10/28/09 -- L.A. Screamfest)
I'm not sure exactly what quality it is that real people possess and actors lack, but any time a film pretends to document real behavior, either literally or as a reenactment, something is almost always missing. Sometimes the problem is a deliberate decision to enhance events with artificial emphasis or drama, and sometimes it's simply too great a sense of self-awareness in the actor, who knows he or she is performing. But while there are a precious few movies that nail that authenticity, notably the recent underdog-blockbuster Paranormal Activity, such is certainly the case in The Fourth Kind, a film that purports to build an argument for alien abductions using "actual" footage from case studies.
While much of the movie's so-called source material carries the convincing roughness and deficiencies of homemade, handheld recording, too much of it seems far too calculated, both in its technical proficiency and the performances contributed by its "real" people. Further, its accompanying reenactments by recognizable actors undermine the possibility that audiences can take its case seriously, all of which adds up to thriller that unravels easily even if it nevertheless occasionally qualifies as a scary good time.
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