Zoe Saldana

It is about time that gorgeous actress Zoe Saldana finally get some recognition. In the last year or so she has gained a huge amount of recognition thanks to her roles in Avatar and Star Trek, but she’s been in the business for a long, long time. Some may remember her as far back as Center Stage or even box office smash Pirates of the Caribbean.

Heat Vision exclusively reports that Saldana is in early negotiations for the lead role in the assassin flick, Columbiana, written by Luc Besson. Apparently, Saldana would play a young woman who, after witnessing her parents’ murder as a child in Bogota, grows up to be a stone-cold assassin. She works for her uncle as a hitman by day, but her personal time is spent engaging in vigilante murders that she hopes will lead her to her ultimate target: the mobster responsible for her parents’ death.

I haven’t seen it yet, but she looked pretty hot wielding a gun in the recent movie The Losers, so this could be another hot role for her as well.

Woody Allen

Another cast member has been added to the upcoming romcom from Woody Allen called Midnight in Paris. Adrien Brody has joined the already star-studded cast for the flick, which starts filming in Paris this summer. Other cast members include: Owen Wilson, Marion Cotillard, Rachel McAdams, Kathy Bates and Michael Sheen. This will be the third time that Owen Wilson and Adrien Brody have starred in a film together.

According to THR, The film is

Adrien Brody

I love Adrien Brody and will check out almost anything he’s in. In fact, last year’s The Brothers Bloom with Mark Ruffalo was one of my favorites that I’ve seen in awhile. I’m also sort of hoping that Adrien Brody and Rachel McAdams will make out in this movie, but that’s probably just me.

Napoleon Dynamite

Media Bistro is reporting that Fox is in talks to create an animated series based on the 2004 indie comedy hit Napoleon Dynamite. Supposedly, most of the original cast is signed on to participate in the series, including the most crucial characters, John Heder as Napoleon and Efran Ramirez as Pedro and Aaron Ruell as Kip.

Napoleon Dynamite is one of those movies that is so ridiculous that it has to be funny. Nevermind the fact that it has a billion quotable lines that still make me laugh ’til this day. I remember when the movie came out, my friend and I had a conversation about how it would be even funnier in smaller increments, because in a two hour span some can get burnt out on that type of dry humor. So the thought of it being a half hour series, animated or otherwise, sounds like it could be a decent plan. Especially if it’s going to end up airing along with Family Guy and The Cleveland Show.

Favorite Napoleon Dynamite Quotes:

Don: Hey, Napoleon. What did you do last summer again?
Napoleon Dynamite: I told you! I spent it with my uncle in Alaska hunting wolverines!
Don: Did you shoot any?
Napoleon Dynamite: Yes, like 50 of ’em! They kept trying to attack my cousins, what the heck would you do in a situation like that?
Don: What kind of gun did you use?
Napoleon Dynamite: A freakin’ 12-gauge, what do you think?

Napoleon Dynamite: You know, there’s like a boat-load of gangs at this school. This one gang kept wanting me to join because I’m pretty good with a bow staff.

Napoleon Dynamite: [referring to Deb’s milk] I see you’re drinking 1%. Is that ’cause you think you’re fat? ‘Cause you’re not. You could be drinking whole if you wanted to.

Pedro: Do you think people will vote for me?
Napoleon Dynamite: Heck yes! I’d vote for you.
Pedro: Like what are my skills?
Napoleon Dynamite: Well, you have a sweet bike. And you’re really good at hooking up with chicks. Plus you’re like the only guy at school who has a mustache.

Rex: I’m Rex, founder of the Rex Kwan Do self-defense system! After one week with me in my dojo, you’ll be prepared to defend yourself with the STRENGTH of a grizzly, the reflexes of a PUMA, and the wisdom of a man.

Napoleon Dynamite: Tina, you fat lard, come get some DINNER!… Tina, eat. Food. Eat the FOOD!

Deb: I’m trying to earn money for college.
Kip: [from the background] Your mom goes to college.

PREVIOUSLY: Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood are ‘Splatter Sisters’

Evan Rachel Wood

Veteran producer, Edward R. Pressman (whose IMDb page claims he is working on a re-make of The Crow) is joining forces with David Gordon Green to produce a new slasher film called Splatter Sisters. Actually, according to writer Adam Bhala Lough, it falls more into the “sexploitation-serial-killer-slasher-road-movie” genre. Uh. Okay? Lough also claims that Splatter Sisters could start a new subgenre called “Skinemax Cinema.” Is it me, or does this have ‘softcore’ written all over it?

Here’s a little bit more evidence for you. The movie is slated to star real-life couple (or are they this week?)

Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson and Evan Rachel Wood (Across the Universe). The couple appeared together on screen once before in a music video of Manson‘s called “Heart Shaped Glasses (When the Heart Guides the Hand),” where Wood shows up as a Lolita type character and they have quite a realistic love scene together. So realistic that it was rumored to be real. The video’s below, so judge for yourself. I think the music video is “horror flick” enough.

So anyway, Splatter Sisters is supposed to change the world, or at least the entire slasher film genre, according to these dudes. “his is a role Marilyn Manson was born to play, and with Evan Rachel Wood bringing dramatic gravity to the ensemble, I have no doubt this will take the horror genre to a new level,” Green says. And Pressman adds, “Lough‘s unique talent and energy will make Splatter Sisters a very special and markedly commercial film. I’ve always been attracted to smart movies about killers made by directors with a real vision.”

Video below of Marilyn Manson‘s video, starring Evan Rachel Wood. What do you think of their on screen chemistry, and will it translate to the big screen? WARNING: VIDEO IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK! Seriously.

Source: Variety

Matthew Goode

THR reports that Matthew Goode (The Lookout, Match Point) has signed on to star in writer-director Jonathan Teplitzky‘s Burning Man, and will pretty much be surrounded by beautiful, foreign women throughout. Disappointing, considering I thought for a minute it might be about the hippie love drug fest that is the Burning Man Project.

According to THR, Goode plays Tom, an English chef with a chic restaurant on Bondi Beach trying to put his life and his relationship with his son back on track while surrounded by women. The lovely ladies signed on include: Bojana Novakovic, Rachel Griffiths, Essie Davis, Kerry Fox, Kate Beahan and Gia Carides.

The Longest Cocktail Party

There are two movies in the works right now that are surrounding the most famous (and wonderful, perfect, glorious, amazing, incredible) band in history, The Beatles. Well, the first one isn’t about the band themselves. It’s actually based on the book by Richard Dilello, The Longest Cocktail Party: An Insider’s Diary of the Beatles, Their Million-Dollar Apple Empire, and Its Wild Rise and Fall, which is pretty much as the title describes. First Showing makes a point to mention: “While Apple Corps. is certainly The Beatles company through and through, the film itself will focus on what it meant to be a young man caught up in the wild swirl of the music business, celebrities and the tail end of the swinging sixties’ in London. The Beatles won’t be making an appearance in the film aside from “off-stage – voices in the background, on the end of phones.” To me it sounds a little bit like a Beatles version of Almost Famous. Or maybe I just really want it to be.

The second Beatles-themed movie is a little more bizarre and quite possibly a LOT

Paul is Undead

more awesome. This one is also based on a book, Paul is Undead by Alan Goldsher. Oh yes, you read that right. We’re talking ZOMBIES. Not just that but BEATLES ZOMBIES. According to Telegraph UK, some of the highlights of the book include: 1) A zombie John Lennon kills his bandmates and they all become ‘undead.’ 2) They kill and eat the brains of fans while trying to evade their nemesis, zombie killer Mick Jagger. 3) Jesus agrees with zombie John Lennon that The Beatles are, in fact, bigger than him? To me, this sounds friggin’ hilarious. If it’s done right. Either way, I’ll watch it.

Credit: Paramount Pictures

The Last Airbender is the latest effort from acclaimed director M. Night Shyamalan (who I affectionately call Ramma-lamma-ding-dong at every chance), and it’s a live action film adaptation of Nickelodeon’s animated TV series for children. The movie stars Slumdog Millionaire‘s Dev Patel and Twilight‘s Jackson Rathbone. Check out the synopsis, preview, and posters – all below. The Last Airbender is in theatres July 2nd.

Film Synopsis: Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Four nations tied by destiny when the Fire Nation launches a brutal war against the others. A century has passed with no hope in sight to change the path of this destruction. Caught between combat and courage, Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aang teams with Katara (Nicola Peltz), a Waterbender, and her brother, Sokka (Jackson Rathbone), to restore balance to their war-torn world.

I can’t count how many times I have tried to like Zac Efron. Ok, maybe I can – it’s been about twice. Once in Hairspray and once more in 17 Again, and while I didn’t hate him in either film, I definitely didn’t see the mass appeal that he seems to carry around with him. However, in this preview for Charlie St. Cloud which is due in theatres July 30th, it looks like Efron might be showing us more of his adult side, which I am personally eager to see. Charlie St. Cloud is based on the novel The Death and Life of Charlie St. Cloud, written by Ben Sherwood. I haven’t read the novel, but the preview is enough to make me curious about it. Then again, I’m into those tear-jerking sap fests. Check out the preview below, or see it in high definition on Apple’s website.

Credit: Warner Bros.

By Contributor: Jeremy Ponti

It’s hard reviewing remakes.  The fair thing to do is to let the movie stand on its own, devoid of its connection to the original work.  But that’s next to impossible.  The fact that the movie shares the same title and basic story elements as another title just begs for comparison to the original work.  It’s only when a movie is done right that it can stand on its own as a separate entity (The Thing, Dawn of the Dead).  However, more often than not, the movie fails to be good from even just a basic movie standpoint, let alone comparing to the original (Halloween, Day of the Dead).  Let’s be honest, most remakes will probably fall under the “fail” category.

So where does the Platinum Dunes’ (the same company responsible for 2009’s Friday the 13^th and 2003’s The Texas Chainsaw Massacre ) remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street stack within the bloated pile of Hollywood remakes?

Oh, how I wanted to like the film.  The original 1984 film is a classic and is one of my all-time favorite horror films.  The whole series is one of my top horror movie franchises ever.  So I came into this film apprehensively.  Last year’s FRIDAY THE 13^th remake was nothing spectacular.  Not horrible, but far from fantastic.  Overall, it was a hollow experience.  So when I started seeing the trailers, I was already expecting a similar experience.  I was right.

The biggest problem that the movie needed to overcome was expectations.  If you’re going to call a movie A Nightmare on Elm Street, be prepared to carry with it some baggage.  And if the movie was stronger, maybe it could have overcome those expectations.  Unfortunately, the combination of few frights, a lack of gore, crappy script, unlikable characters, etc. etc. just made the film another hackneyed remake as opposed to another classic entry in the series.

Platinum Dunes and producer Michael Bay know how to make beautiful looking films.  However, their movies tend to be too beautiful.  A product of the digital age of film making, all of the Platinum Dunes movies look too glossy and too Hollywood to be truly scary (especially when the script is so weak).  Everyone is achingly beautiful and always well lit.  This makes for beautiful movies.  But when you’re dealing with a subject matter so dirty and grimy, sometimes glossy just isn’t the right way to go.

So while the film is shot beautifully, they sacrificed suspense in its name.  Everything is telegraphed.  There is no tension or suspense.  The original film worked well because you never really knew if the characters were dreaming.  Was Tina walking around in her backyard checking on a noise or was she actually dreaming?  Man, the school’s boiler room really is scary… oh, wait!  This is a dream.  Director Samuel Bayer heavy handedly uses special effects to shift the characters from the waking to dream world without a hint of suspense.

While the film is visually well done, the script and characters are not.  You never really get to like the characters.  Everyone is a cliché of the usual horror movie fodder you would expect.  Again, this is where Bay’s gloss hurts the film.  For a group of kids who are supposed to be high schoolers, everyone looks to be beautifully in their early 20s.  There are no “ugly” characters (save for, I suppose, Freddy himself).  You just know that everyone introduced will just be killed and you don’t care because they never really get past “I’m the pretty blonde” or “I’m the misunderstood sensitive guy” tropes.  Even the main hero, Nancy, is unlikable.  Was it the weak acting from Rooney Mara or was it that the script just didn’t work?  Whatever it was, I was rooting for Freddy the whole time.

Speaking of Freddy, Jackie Earle Haley was the best part about the film.  While no Robert Englund by any means, Haley really has the “pedophile” vibe down.  Haley’s portrayal of Freddy was reminiscent of the very first Nightmare film before later movies portrayed him as a one-line spewing anti-hero.  Haley is legitimately creepy, adding interesting character ticks and movements.  It is a shame, however, that the make-up design takes away the expressiveness of the original.  I think that’s what made the original Freddy so iconic.  Oh well.

Ultimately, I truly wonder why they felt the need to remake/reboot the Nightmare franchise as opposed to just adding to the mythos.  The original series had a fascinating (if not convoluted) mythology.  By choosing to reboot it and changing elements in the already well-known and established mythos when the last film in the series was just 7 years ago (2003’s Freddy Vs. Jason), I think they were asking us to forget too soon.  The subtle changes made to the Freddy mythos, I think, might hurt the franchise overall as people still know everything about the original Freddy.  Heck, even non-horror movie watchers know the story behind the original Freddy.  To make such changes (even the minor ones) might impact the movie’s lasting appeal.

I find I keep coming back to the concept of “expectations”.  The successful remakes all manage to overcome expectations and forge its own success. Dawn of the Dead (2004) shows how to do it as certain elements from the original are incorporated but the film manages to create its own identity.  Nightmare, however, does not.  Too much of the film borrows heavily from the original and without a solid story/script; one wonders why they even bothered to remake it.   The bathtub scene?  The stretching wall?  The ceiling death?  All of these iconic scenes from the original appear in the remake but they lack the impact of the original.  Why?  Because they all seem too familiar.

In the end, unless you really are just the curious type, save yourself the money and wait until it comes out to rent.  You know… forget that.  Just watch the original instead.

FINAL RATING: C

A Nightmare on Elm Street is in theatres now. Check out the preview below.

PREVIOUSLY: Official Trailer for ‘The American’ starring George Clooney!