I bet when you woke up this morning, you thought the same thing I did: "When are we going to get to see Tom Cruise viciously murder a whole bunch of people on the big screen ... again?" Right? We're SO on the same wavelength here, like internet, movie-related soul mates from outer space! That said, fellow soul mate, Variety tells us that Cruise and United Artists have acquired rights to The Monster of Florence, based on the book by Douglas Preston. Cruise will produce and possibly star, though there's no word on whether he'd play the killer or one of the men trying to crack the case.
This is actually a pretty crazy story, and I believe it was the subject of a recent 48 Hours Mystery (or Dateline) where these two guys -- Preston and Italian journalist Mario Spezi -- were on an intense search to find out who exactly committed eight gruesome double homicides between the years of 1968 and 1985. Both men claimed to have found the guy, but then -- since they knew so much about the case -- both became actual suspects themselves. It's a pretty wild story and one that's ripe for the big-screen treatment. Only problem is it kinda suffers from "the Zodiac issue" where no one currently knows who the killer is, and so they won't be able to tie a nice, shiny bow around this puppy. Regardless, it's a good story and I'm curious to see what they do with it. You?
We've stayed away from all the Ghostbusters rumors these past couple days because last time we crossed this road, we were told nothing existed. Well, seems that's not at all true: Variety reports that Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky (The Office, Year One) have been asked to write a script for a Ghostbusters sequel (reported earlier today by Pajiba.com) that may or may not "pass the torch to a new group of ghost chasers." Funnily enough -- and even though he flat out told us he had nothing to do with it -- this is totally in line with those early rumors that "The Apatow Clan" would be involved in some capacity; namely Seth Rogen. When we asked him about it during the Pineapple Express junket, however, the man denied knowing a thing. Then again, he's an actor ... and he's paid pretty damn well to pretend.
The Apatow connection is also there in that these two writers are behind the Apatow-produced Year One, which, ahem, is being directed by Harold Ramis -- who, in case you forgot, played Dr. Egon Spengler in both Ghostbuster movies. No word from Columbia Pictures on the project, and Variety is simply throwing out all the same fluff that's been reported on other sites for months now. Could we see a reunion and a torch passing? Will the Apatow folks take over the Ghostbusters franchise? I'd certainly be down for it.
You?
(And now we shall continue to run circles around this monster until someone finally caves ...)
It is no secret that horror maestro Clive Barker has not had good luck lately with feature films. But to his credit, it hasn't made him bitter about seeing his work translated for the big screen. In an interview with MTV, Barker got the chance to weigh in on the upcoming remake of Hellraiser for Dimension Films -- and judging from his comments, he seems to be in a good place with the project. Barker told MTV, "I never get tired of revisiting [characters] if there is a good story to be told." He seemed genuinely excited about what he has planned for the story of a puzzle box from another dimension and the 'human pin-cushion'.
Back in February, Marcus Dunstan and Patrick Melton were hired to work on the re-write of the Barker-approved script. But the project had another setback when the French directing duo of Julien Maury and Alexandre Bustillo (À l'intérieur) left the project due to "creative differences." So for now it looks like Pin-Head and the Gang are without a director. Hopefully, Dimension can get the ball rolling on the remake, because I don't think Barker could take another disappointment at the box office.
After the jump...find out what Barker really thinks about PG-13 horror.
The 2008 Toronto International Film Festival is officially underway, and as always Cinematical is your one-stop-shop for all things TIFF. Our reviews, galleries, interviews and scene coverage will begin to populate the main page soon, but in the meantime we've been sharing some great exclusive clips, images and posters from some of the more talked-about flicks screening in Toronto this year. Below, feast your eyes on a clip from Picasso & Braque Go To The Movies, produced and narrated by none other than Martin Scorsese. The film, from art dealer-producer-director Arne Glimcher (The Mambo Kings) delves deep into the relationship between film and the visual arts, and it features folks like Scorsese, Chuck Close and Julian Schnabel. For more on Picasso and Braque, see the film's official summary over on the TIFF website.
Just when you thought you've seen it all comes this fan made Jar Jar Binks salad from Cinematical reader Ken A. No joke folks, that really is Jar Jar Binks from the Star Wars prequels carved out of a root vegetable. Why Jar Jar ... and not, say, a character that people actually like?
Ken explains, "... after hours of carving, I wasn't sure I'd be able to destroy my handiwork. After all, who wants to squash a sweet potato that's been lovingly crafted to look like Admiral Akbar? Or demolish a Daikon radish in the form of cult hero Boba Fett? Not me, that's for sure. But what if I could create a Star Wars figure that I wanted to destroy? Surely then I'd be able to slice into it without remorse. Choosing a character did not turn out to be difficult." Ken then goes on to give step-by-step instructions on how to create your own Jar Jar Binks salad, and we've got a few making-of images for you to check out in the gallery below. Afterwards, make sure you head on over to Only Knives for the recipe.
Cinematical is very excited to bring you this exclusive clip from the new flick JCVD, which, surprisingly, has watched a tremendous amount of buzz build around it since it first screened at this past Cannes Film Festival. Now, as part of the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival midnight slate (it premieres tonight!), JCVD will receive a more proper introduction (or should I say, re-introduction) to the world. JCVD, of course, stands for our good friend Jean-Claude Van Damme, star of such action flicks as Kickboxer, Timecop, Universal Solider (first bootleg I ever watched), Double Impact, Death Warrant ... shall I go on?
From what I understand, JCVD follows Van Damme (who stars as himself) as he travels back to his home country in an attempt to find peace and tranquility after whatever was left of his career seemed to vanish. We'll have a review coming up very soon, but in the meantime check out this very funny clip below as it should give you an idea of the vibe this flick is going for. Dare I say this might be one of my most anticipated films of the fall season? JCVD will also play Fantastic Fest before arriving in theaters (in limited release) on November 7.
In just a few hours from now, my Superbowl champion New York Giants will take the field against the Washington Redskins and officially kick off another fantastic year of football! (Non-football fans sigh, and quickly go back to whatever it was they were doing.) While I have a whole bunch of friends and family members who partake in a little something called fantasy football, I've never taken to it. Not that I think it's stupid or a waste of time (I actually feel it makes the game more exciting and worthwhile for lots), it's just that like a lot of stuff, I'm too lazy to get involved in the learning of rules, of player names, of positions, etc ... I'd much rather spend that time learning more about film so I can better serve you fine folks. Hmmm .... but who says we can't combine the two?
Yup, our good pals over at Snag Films (ya know, that groovy site that lets you watch tons of documentaries for free) are currently featuring the film 10 Yards: Fantasy Football (snag it above). A doc about fantasy football? One exists? Sure ... just check out the synopsis below.
From Award-Winning Filmmakers, Hunter Weeks and Josh Caldwell (10 MPH, 2007) comes the hilarious, offbeat, and all-encompassing portrayal of fantasy football. 10 YARDS captures the phenomenon of fantasy football in our society with specific focus on wacked-out j.fred's INTERGALACTIC CHAMPIONSHIP League, where the top prize is a box of Twinkies®. As the season progresses, filmmakers Hunter & Josh (both members of j.fred's league) travel the country interviewing a variety of diverse fantasy football leagues, NFL players, commentators, and the guys who started it all in 1963. From all women's tackle football to Mexican mariachi bands, get ready for some of the best camaraderie ever in this 90-minute fantasyland.
No more speculation, no more talk of ret-con and false funerals -- Harvey Dent is officially 100% dead. It comes straight from the mouth of Aaron Eckhart, who revealed his character's fate in no uncertain terms to ComingSoon.net "He is dead as a door nail. He ain't coming back baby!"
And lest you doubt that he knows the mind of Christopher Nolan, well, Eckhart asked him whether Two-Face would ever be coming back. "I asked Chris [Nolan] that question and he goes, "You're dead" before I could even get the question out of my mouth. 'Hey Chris, am I?' 'You're dead!' 'Alright, cool.'" There's no chance it will be rewritten or retconned, as he was never even contracted for a third film. "No, I'm not coming back. I think unfortunately, Heath [Ledger] was supposed to go on and that didn't work out. I'm nobody. I'm a cog. I have no say over this sort of stuff. I'm sure that there's so many other characters that they could whip together. I heard Angelina Jolie was going to be Catwoman or something like that. I thought that was a great idea. I'd like to be in that one."
Dent's death has now been confirmed via the novelization, the script, the actor, and the director. Though I would say that's as definitive as it gets, fanboys and girls across this great Internet refuse to accept it -- they just believe in Harvey Dent too much. But since we do live in a world where no comic character stays dead, where 299 Spartans can rise again, and Chev Chelios survives a fall from a helicopter, I guess you can hardly blame them.
Cinematical is excited to bring you these brand new exclusive images from The Brothers Bloom (see gallery below), which will enjoy a premiere at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival this month. The film, which marks writer-director Rian Johnson's follow-up to the much-beloved Brick, stars Adrien Brody and Mark Ruffalo as "the best con men in the world" who, for their one last job, decide to take a beautiful and eccentric heiress (Rachel Weisz) on a trip around the world. The delightful Rinko Kikuchi (pictured in the gallery below) also stars. We here at Cinematical are big fans of Johnson's Brick (that kinda sounds weird, huh?), and have been looking forward to The Brothers Bloom for quite some time now. While those lucky ducks currently in Toronto will get to see the film early (we'll have our review soon), the rest of us will have to wait till it hits theaters on December 19.
I don't know when exactly AMCtv.com's Sci-Fi Scanner blog came about, but after bringing us the news last week that Mathieu Kassovitz wasn't exactly happy over the final product that was Babylon A.D., they've continued their hot streak by landing an interview with "Lost" and Star Trek producer Damon Lindelof, who fessed up that he'd be just as eager to adapt Stephen King's series as he would be to see someone else do it.
"The Dark Tower is to me every bit as daunting an adaptation as the Lord of the Rings trilogy must have been for Peter Jackson, except we've got seven books we're looking at," said Lindelof, who then explained that doing that doing the films alongside the closure of Lost would be too challenging a task at the moment.
Not unlike Watchmen, King's series remains among the literary works that everyone else insists to me are positively OMG!-awesome and that I have yet to get around to (I know, I know). With any luck, I'll get to them before someone gets to the movies, which seems to be an inevitability with or without Lindelof's involvement.
Oh yes, you heard that right -- and I almost slapped myself when, during a Toronto Fest meeting earlier today, I unfortunately had to inform our team that coverage of Paris, Not Francewas a top priority. Congrats Ms. Hilton, you've successfully found a way to turn all the attention toward your documentary by making it look like you want nothing to do with it. Of course, that's not the case at all -- heck, it's not like the chick ever pulled something like this before (cough ... sex tape ... cough). But let's back up for a minute ...
... there's a Paris Hilton documentary playing Toronto? Yup, it's called Paris, Not France, and it marks the first feature for music video and commercial director Adria Petty (daughter of Tom). What's it about? Apparently, the flick follows Paris around for a year and provides us with one of those intimate looks into the life of blah blah .... and then she says "That's hot" about a gazillion times ... the end. So why is everyone talking about it?
Well, because Paris (and her "people") somehow managed to get the festival to pull all but one screening of the doc for reasons they're not willing to disclose at this time. So what's up? Is Paris really that upset with the way she's portrayed in the film that she doesn't want it shown? Or, is this whole "pull the screenings, threaten lawsuits" thing just a ploy to get people (like us) talking and wanting and needing? I'd say it's certainly suspicious, especially since we're talking Paris Hilton here, who, whether you like it or not, is pretty smart when it comes to marketing herself as a larger-than-life personality.
What do you think? And does all this hoopla make you want to see the film even more?
It's so creepy when something you just found yourself chatting about with a fellow geek pops up in your newsfeed -- proof that Magdalena does answer to a higher power! If you were praying for an update, MTV has not one, but an entire week they're devoting to the spear-wielding superheroine.
MTV has a video interview up with the lovely Jenna Dewan, who's playing Patience, the most recent inheritor of the Magdalena powers. According to her, they're following the comic book pretty closely except for one touchy area -- while honoring Magdalena's heritage and bloodline, they're sidestepping the religious element of the book. "When I started this I said I didn't want it to be a religious movie - the Catholic Church versus everyone else. I wanted it to be somebody who knows she has something inside bigger [than herself], this spiritual want to help people," Dewan said. "That's really what we're focusing on - fighting the darkness for the light, rather than the Catholic Church and religion. There is that element of it but it's more about fighting people who are evil in this world."
Now, I always thought of the Magdalena as the girl version of Stephen Sommers' Gabriel Van Helsing and not particularly controversial, but we do live in touchier, Golden Compass censoring times. As Dewan points out, Patience is one of the only Magdalenas who questions the authority of the Church and decided she would work independent of its control. Wouldn't it have been cool to see that religious conflict onscreen? Ah well. My previous jokes about chastity and skimpy costumes aside, I'm happy to see Gale Anne Hurd bringing another tough chick (and one from the comics, no less) to the screen -- with or without the sacrilege.
I probably don't have to explain this poster too much, since, ya know, all anyone has been talking about for the past couple days is how Governor Sarah Palin's 17-year-old daughter was knocked up. The Juneau stands, of course, for Juneau, Alaska, which makes this whole thing that much easier to spoof. And how can you not love that tagline ... "A comedy about running for president ...and the bumps along the way." (It's a joke! Lighten up Pubs and enjoy your convention!) The poster, however, is slightly behind the ball -- from what I understand, we do know who the babydaddy is; he has curly hair and looks like every single male lacrosse player I've ever met. They play lacrosse in Alaska? Right on! We here at Cinematical wish these two younger-than-they-should-be parents a long and prosperous life together. (And let us know when we should start blaming the film Juno for this pregnancy. Damn you Hollywood! You done it again!)
Update: Thanks to Goss for pointing us toward two more funny posters, located in the gallery below.
For those folks out there who've been dying to see a) Lindsay Lohan in a new movie and/or b) Lindsay Lohan fake a pregnancy in order to keep a job, then you simply must watch the new trailer for Labor Pains. (Too bad this sucker couldn't hit on Labor Day! HA! Not funny.) We've told you about the flick before; in it, Lohan plays a secretary who's about to be fired when she suddenly decides to say she's pregnant in order to stay employed. Hilarity ensues when she needs to keep it up -- going so far as to create a fake belly and take on pregnant woman activities, such as lamaze class.
The trailer claims the film is still in post production, so one imagines this is just a little teaser to whet your appetite. Directed by Lara Shapiro, Lohan stars opposite Cheryl Hines, Chris Parnell and Luke Kirby. The trailer voiceover definitely gives it a nice direct-to-DVD touch, and the comedy seems targeted toward the teen-to-pre-teen crowd. Not exactly the perfect follow-up to I Know Who Killed Me, but I'd say La Lohan is heading in a slightly more watchable direction. Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think. Will this make it to theaters?
I have something to confess: My name is Erik and ... I do not have an iPhone. [Watches all his friends on Twitter immediately bolt out the door] I know, I know, how can I write for a major blog on the internet and not have an iPhone? Am I against Apple? Do I hate the human race? Did someone beat me over the head repeatedly with an iPhone, scarring me for life, making it so I'll never ever purchase one? No, no and no. I actually think the iPhone is a pretty neat little gadget -- it's just I'm too lazy (and cheap) to switch providers.
But for those who DO have an iPhone or an iPod Touch, well, you can now read Cinematical all you want ... and it's easy, it looks cool and your friends will envy you like crazy. As you can see from the image on the right, we have a specific URL: http://i.cinematical.com/.Yup, so all you have to do is navigate over there while you're out on the streets, iPhoning away. Ain't life grand? Definitely let us know what you think!
I bet when you woke up this morning, you thought the same thing I did: "When are we going to get to see Tom Cruise viciously murder a whole bunch of people on the big screen ... again?" Right? We're SO on the same wavelength here, like internet, movie-related soul mates from outer space! That said, fellow soul mate, Variety tells us that Cruise and United Artists have acquired rights to The Monster of Florence, based on the book by Douglas Preston. Cruise will produce and possibly star, though there's no word on whether he'd play the killer or one of the men trying to crack the case..jpg)
We've stayed away from all the Ghostbusters rumors these past couple days because last time we crossed this road, we were told nothing existed. Well, seems that's not at all true: 
It is no secret that horror maestro .jpg)
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Dark Knight Spoiler Warning ....jpg)
I don't know when exactly AMCtv.com's Sci-Fi Scanner blog came about, but after bringing us the news last week that .jpg)
It's so creepy when something you just found yourself chatting about with a fellow geek pops up in your newsfeed -- proof that 
For those folks out there who've been dying to see a) Lindsay Lohan in a new movie and/or b) 
I have something to confess: My name is Erik and ... I do not have an iPhone. [Watches all his friends on Twitter immediately bolt out the door] I know, I know, how can I write for a major blog on the internet and not have an iPhone? Am I against Apple? Do I hate the human race? Did someone beat me over the head repeatedly with an iPhone, scarring me for life, making it so I'll never ever purchase one? No, no and no. I actually think the iPhone is a pretty neat little gadget -- it's just I'm too lazy (and cheap) to switch providers. 
