Annapurna Pictures has released the first trailer for The Sisters Brothers, the upcoming dark-comedy-western from director Jacques Audiard! The story, a genre-hybrid with comedic elements, takes place in Oregon in 1851 and based on Patrick Dewitt’s acclaimed novel of the same name.
Check out the first trailer for The Sisters Brothers below:
Matteo Garrone is back with The Tale of Tales, a bold English-language horror/fantasy starring Salma Hayek – as a Spanish queen who eats a raw dragon’s heart – Vincent Cassel and John C. Reilly.
We already reported on the rumors of John C. Reilly’s involvement with James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, which was mainly connected with the character of Rhomann Dey. In the comics Dey was the Nova Corps member who selected the first Earth born Nova (Richard Rider), but his role in the movie was said to be a human who acted as a liaison between S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Guardians. This was of course just a rumor, and recent casting news has raised some interesting questions.
We’ve been following the news pretty closely lately concerning James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, and some recent developments have revealed a lot more of the story. Rumors and casting announcements have been hitting fast lately, so we’ll try and speed through this as quickly as possible.
My buddy Aaron is a bartender for a certain movie theater here in Michigan, and on occasion, the theater will have advanced employee screenings for movies a couple nights prior to the film’s release. These are his thoughts on The Campaign…
Aaron: The campaign is simply Will Ferrell being Will Ferrell. its an act we’ve come to know and love from Talladega Nights, Semi-Pro and Step Brothers. – 1:44 AM
Aaron: If you like Will Ferrell, you’ll like this. If not, you won’t Plain and simple. – 1:48 AM
Aaron: And Zach G did well replacing John C Reilly. Worth the price of admission if you have time on your hands. – 1:49 AM
Aaron: Boob count: nip slips count, so 1. – 1:50 AM
Lots of movie news and trailers coming out of Comic-Con International, so let’s get started!
Oz: The Great and Powerful
It seems like the pairing of Sam Raimi and a Disney prequel to The Wizard of Oz starring James Franco wouldn’t exactly be on the top of “Things to be Expected at Comic-Con 2012”. But alas, Oz: The Great and Powerful is very much real. A Comic-Con panel revealed that the story would follow The Wizard before he became The Wizard of Oz, starring James Franco as the title character. Raimi also revealed that longtime friend and fan favorite Bruce Campbell will have a role in the film. I don’t think I’m alone when I say he’d be awesome as the leader of the munchkins.
The trailer, which was released soon after the panel finished up, reveals a similar style to the original film in that it begins in black and white and turns to color once our hero reaches The Land of Oz. I’ll admit, once Franco reaches The Land, the whole thing becomes Tim Burton-y in the Alice in Wonderland variation, a film that I despise with every fiber of my being. Joe Roth, one of the producers of Alice in Wonderland, serves as a producer on this film which may explain the similar style.
But here’s the thing, Raimi is better than 95% of most mainstream action/adventure directors working today. His projects always have an immense amount of passion regardless of the budget, and he has the decency to give the audience a self-aware wink, but not to the point of pretentious overload. I’ve yet to encounter a Raimi film that I didn’t like, and hopefully Oz: The Great and Powerful won’t be an exception. Here’s the trailer:
After what seemed to be a falling out on production of The Lone Ranger due to an inability to find a suitable actor for the title character, a surprise visit from Trailerland has made its way to Comic-Con. A thus far unreleased preview for The Lone Ranger has been screened at the Con, and this is what Collider had to say about the goings-on of this important preview.
Most of the trailer has Tom Wilkinson (who plays the film’s villain) providing narration about the importance of trains. He explains that because trains will be the fastest mode of transportation in the old west, and whoever controls them “controls space and time.” It’s unintentionally funny because, it’s, you know, trains. But the visual style is full of Verbinski’s indulgences, like a brief shot that goes into a saloon and there’s a prostitute swinging from a wooden crescent moon that’s suspended from the ceiling. There’s also a slo-mo shot of a bunch of white guys in around a table getting shot at.
Then there’s the big reveal of Tonto (Johnny Depp) and The Lone Ranger (Armie Hammer), and the shot is the first official image from the film. Then there’s a bunch of quick action shots including the Ranger drawing down on an unseen enemy, and Tonto clinging on to the bottom of a speeding train. But if there’s one big take-away from this trailer, it’s trains. Trains are really, really important. The film also stars Helena Bonham Carter, William Fichtner, Barry Pepper, James Frain, Ruth Wilson, and James Badge Dale.”
Personally, I think Armie Hammer is an awesome choice for any movie, especially one as epic as The Lone Ranger. He has a certain screen presence about him that led to very powerful performances in The Social Network and even J. Edgar. Put Johnny Depp in just about anything and I’ll watch. I’m not too worried about his performance here. The Lone Ranger is set to release July 3rd, 2013.
A new trailer for the upcoming Tim Burton film, Frankenweenie, was released at the Con today. It’s an extended version of the trailer that’s been running in theaters for the past couple months, and it furthers the tone set by the partially creepy and partially cute trailer we’ve already seen. This is definitely a passion project for Burton because it’s based off a short he made at the beginning of his career. I’m actually very excited to see how he extends the idea to feature length, and the way the premise seems to be played out is reminiscent of Edward Scissorhands. Will this be Burton’s first good film since Big Fish? I hope so.
You can read Collider’s summary of the Con Panel with Burton right here and you can watch the extended trailer for the film below:
The Expendables 2
One of the most anticipated panels of the year was The Expendables 2 which brought together literally every major action star of the past forty years. From Stallone to Schwarzenegger to JCVD to Liam Hemsworth, The Expendables 2 has something for everyone and this panel only proved that. One of the high points of the evening was seeing Schwarzenegger awarded IGN’s Action Hero Hall of Fame Award by last year’s recipient, co-star and friend Sylvester Stallone. A collection of Arnold’s best scenes and kills was shown to the audience and met with uproarious applause.
The bromantic panel that followed allowed for the actors to brag about how great everyone in the movie is. Stallone went as far as saying that audiences will be surprised by JCVD’s performance. The stars also got to talk about how much fun it was to interact with other legends in their genre. Some new clips were shown including “a truly kick-ass gunfight scene set at an airport between JCVD’s bad guys and the Expendables.” Despite Chuck Norris’ involvement (sorry, Kronner) and the film’s PG-13 rating (which is because of Chuck Norris [sorry again, Kronner), I’m pretty excited for this movie, especially because the first one was so truly bad-ass and will go down as one of the most popular cult hits of all time.
Here’s the panel for your enjoyment:
Wreck-it-Ralph
Disney’s newest film, Wreck-it-Ralph, looks to be something like The Avengers (Ed. Note: Nothing is like the Avengers.) meets Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World with animation similar to Tangled. What comic books were to The Avengers, video games will be to Wreck-it-Ralph. A valentine to gamers everywhere, this is one of my top ten most anticipated films for the rest of the year, and one that I’m getting more and more excited for as the release date approaches.
A new, ten minute clip was premiered at the Con today. A detailed description of the clip can be found here. According to IGN, the plot goes something like this:
Ralph is the antagonist of an old school arcade game called Fix-It Felix, Jr., where he destroys builds as Felix (30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer) makes repairs with his magic hammer. This is Ralph’s job, where he’s seemingly stuck forever as a destructive, brutish villain. The only time he can truly be his good self is after the arcade closes or during his Bad-Anon support group meetings with other video game heavies.
The lonesome Ralph is determined to find himself a new video game home, one where he can finally be the hero. What appears to be a simple power strip on the floor of the arcade is, in fact, Game Central Station, which allows characters to venture to the different game worlds of the arcade. Some of the other game worlds Ralph journeys to include the sci-fi combat shooter game Hero’s Duty and the cart-racer Sugar Rush, encountering no-nonsense Sgt. Calhoun (Jane Lynch) and Vanellope Von Schweetz (Silverman) along the way.
Sugar Rush offers Ralph his best chance yet at heroism (and love via his burgeoning relationship with Vanellope), but all is threatened when it’s discovered that the seemingly safe and saccharine realm of Sugar Rush holds a deadly secret that threatens to destroy all the game life in the arcade itself.
I think this is a fantastic premise for a film and I’ve been waiting for something that incorporates a bunch of different video game characters in a movie setting. While I’m not the avid player I once was, I know I’ll be able to understand most of the retro references that come up even in the film’s trailer. Something that disappointed me, though, was the reported absence of Mario and Luigi. According to the panel (which you can watch part of below) at the Con, Super Mario Bros. asked too much for an appearance in the film so Disney scrapped the idea.
A bit of news that redeemed this bad news; Skrillex will be providing music for the “Hero’s Duty” portion of the film. Guess where you can read more about Wreck-it-Ralph? Yep. Bosco’s Grindhouse.
And that’s the beginning of the news. Seriously. We’ll talk again, real soon.
For more CCI coverage click here. For pics from the con check out our Tumblr!
Disney’s 52nd animated feature is set to be Wreck-It Ralph – and we have the first trailer here…
It’s been directed by Rich Moore – who has worked on The Simpsons and Futurama. It stars John C Reilly as Wreck-It Ralph, Jack McBrayer (30 Rock) as Fix-It Felix Jr. and features Jane Lynch (Glee) and Sarah Silverman.
‘Wreck-It Ralph’ is the bad guy in the video game Fix-It Felix Jr, and for 30 years he’s been doing the same thing and he’s fed up of it – he wants to be the good guy. He abandons his game and sets off through the video arcade to prove he can be a hero. But in doing so he inadvertently releases a deadly threat that could unleash chaos across the entire video arcade.
This looks seriously cute. The nostalgia quotient is also quite high with cameos by old school game characters amongst the made up ones (how many could you spot?) Makes me yearn for the good old days (where did I put my Mega Drive?) Hopefully the story will live up to the trailer and not turn into a damp squib. It would be a real shame if such a great premise just fizzled out. At the moment this is a film I want to see…
The movie is currently set for a 3D release (obviously) this November.
Well, folks, there’s good news and bad news. The bad news is, the Anchorman sequel is pretty much a no-go. Will Ferrell claims that there were places for the film to go, but the sequel itself isn’t really holding up. Now for the good news. Back in May, Ferrell said that he, John C. Reilly, and Adam McKay were considering doing a sequel to Step Brothers. That consideration has now become a reality. The trio is now working on a script that they will hopefully begin to film in Fall of 2012.
Another script that Ferrell and McKay have been talking about is the film Three Mississippi. The story would follow an annual game of Thanksgiving tackle football that gets a little bit out of hand. Knowing Ferrell and McKay, they can make literally anything funny, so I’m actually really excited to see that finally come to life. But until then, Step Brothers 2 is something that I’m also quite excited to see come to life. The first one, to me, is a modern comedy classic just based on how raunchy and childish it is. Ferrell, until that point, had found a nice niche in PG-13 comedies, but as soon as the line, “I’ll drop that motherf–ker!” was uttered from his mouth, I knew I was in for a good time.
It’s just that John C. Reilly is such a talented and respected actor, and it was hilarious to see him like a complete man-child. When you’re watching Mr. Cellophane tell somebody, “We’re here to f–k shit up!”, there’s a little bit of shellshock going on.
If you want to relive some of the zaniness that was Step Brothers, check out this video right here:
It’s always an exciting and equally worrisome affair when your favorite TV show or internet sensation gets their own movie. On the bright side, that gem of a show that you love and cherish oh so much is finally getting the feature film treatment that they deserve. But, on the downside, if big budget investors step in and ruin what made the source material so great, well, then you as the viewer have to deal with the heartbreak. There’s also the rare occasion when the program still airs after the movie has come out and it just flat-out sucks. A victim of this horrible occurrence? The one and only Spongebob Squarepants Movie. Great movie, everything after 2005 on the show was just complete and total s***.
Adult Swim comic geniuses Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, known for their extremely odd television program, “Tim and Eric, Awesome Show! Great Job!” have finally been honored with a feature film entitled, Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie. Known for their random sketch comedy and short but hilarious ideas, many fans of the show were worried that when stretched to feature-length, the dynamic duo would lose their edge and the entire movie would just be one big, bad joke.
The plot involves Tim and Eric wasting a billion dollars on a movie funded by Schlaaang, a fictitious production company led by the diabolical Tommy Schlaaang (Robert Loggia), who, after screening the movie and complaining, “I spent a billion dollars on this piece of s***?!”, demands that Tim and Eric get him his money back or he’ll kill them both. After getting Hollywood makeovers, they realize that they can no longer manage to afford the life of glitz and glamour that they love dearly. After being forced to fire their spiritual guide Jim Joe Kelly (Zach Galifianakis), they go to their favorite night club to deal with their remorse, making a plan to drink themselves into oblivion and do countless stupid things.
While in the bathroom, Eric sees an advertisement at his urinal that claims to have the answers to all the problems. The S’Wallow Valley Mall, located in the “historic S’Wallow Valley” needs a new owner. Damien Weebs (Will Ferrell), the current operator of the S’Wallow Valley Mall promises anyone who comes to “run my mall” a billion dollar paycheck. Desperately, Tim and Eric decide to make the trip out and see if they can get their billion dollars.
Arriving at the entrance, the two men suddenly realize how decrepit and possibly diseased this place is. Hobos are scattered all over the floor, the place looks like it hasn’t been cleaned in days, but low and behold, there are still a few shops up and running. After an awkward meeting with Weebs which includes two back-to-back viewings of Top Gun, Tim and Eric decide to take over the mall under the name Dobin PR.
Tim and Eric are Gods in the world of cult classics, with Hall of Fame photos right next to Tommy Wiseau and Jared and Jerusha Hess. They had an extremely successful show on Adult Swim until 2010, when the pair decided that they had stretched themselves to their comedic limits as far as the show was concerned. They then started working on Billion Dollar Movie, abbreviated as B$M, and the final product is this masterpiece of comedic cinema that I’m reviewing right now.
The only possible comparison that I can give this movie is Napoleon Dynamite meets A Serbian Film. The humor is equal parts bizarre and disgusting, and you know that the thing that most comedy films have, it’s called a heart? Yeah, well this movie doesn’t have that. When your movie involves a small child being blown to smithereens mid-air, you know you’ve got a hit on your hands. The performances are surprisingly committed from the supporting cast, but John C. Reilly steals the show as Taquito, a sickly homeless man who was abandoned at the mall when he was a child. Literally everything that came out of that man’s mouth during this movie had me busting out in laughter, no matter how sickening it could have been.
Will Forte plays Allen Bishopman, a vengeful sword salesman who plans to rat out the whereabouts of Tim and Eric to the Schlaaang corporation. Forte plays the role extremely well, offering up quite a bit of gut busting laughter whenever he’s on screen. In fact, most of the cast members of B$M have had recurring roles on “Awesome Show, Great Job!” so they’re extremely familiar with the often irreverent material of Tim and Eric.
Many fans have complained of the film’s rather linear storytelling, but I find it to be a blessing in disguise. At the end of the day, there’s a reason why episodes of “Awesome Show, Great Job!” are only 10 minutes long. Because, unlike Jackass, 95 minutes of oddball skits can get very old, very quickly, and B$M quickly finds a wonderful balance between what worked on the TV show, and what works in a feature film. In fact, I applaud Tim and Eric’s ability to create a feature film out of a premise that seems impossibly short-winded.
Fans and newbies alike will find something to love in Tim and Eric’s Billion Dollar Movie. Produced by Funny or Die pioneers Will Ferrell and Adam McKay, the film is an inviting introduction to the most lovable idiots since Lloyd Christmas and Harry Dunne, but is also a faithful jump to the big screen for longtime fans. Granted, this movie isn’t for everybody, but if it is for you, you’ll be getting a nice dose of shrim in your life.
The very talented Jack White is releasing a solo album! I am not sure if I have ever been so excited about anything in my entire life! As sad as that sounds, let me explain. I have always been a big fan of White’s talent. He is an amazing musician in many areas. His voice is remarkably unique and bluesy. His guitar riffs are always chaotic and unpredictable, yet his acoustic sets can be beautifully melodic and soft. Whether it was with The Raconteurs, the Dead Weather, or (my favorite) the White Stripes, he has made an unmistakable impression on the music world.
With this new CD, it seems we will be able to let Jack White out of his cage. No restrictions, no rules.
The CD titled Blunderbuss will be released on April 24th of this year. The album will be released on White’s record label, Third Man Records.
Here is the first sample of his new album: A song called Love Interruption. Prepare yourself for the eargasm.
Jack is also doing a lot of producing for his label. Even actor John C. Reilly (Step Brothers, Chicago, Boogie Nights) has a few White-produced singles! – “I’ll Be There If You Ever Want” and “Gonna Lay Down My Old Guitar.” to name a couple.
I will be back shortly after April 24th for an extensive review which I am sure will be full of praise.