What do sharks, pirates, Klingons and Dirty Harry have in common with each other? Nothing really, but they might get a mention somewhere below as we look back at a certain killer animal franchise, talk about some great upcoming releases and provide you with another playlist for your consideration...
Despite a lengthy, troubled production process, Disney have announced that The Lone Ranger began principal photography in New Mexico yesterday.
Starring Johnny Depp and Armie Hammer, the film is based on the 50s television series of the same name and is all set to be a rollicking Western thrill-ride. With a script written by Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio, Gore Verbinski directing, Depp starring and Jerry Bruckheimer on production duties, Disney have brought back all the Pirates of the Caribbean alumni who made the franchise the success it was.
Marvel Studios, in a bid to avoid comparison to the 1960s British TV series also called The Avengers, has announced they are renaming their long-awaited superhero crossover for the UK market. The new title, Avengers Assemble, is a riff on the battle cry used to herald the arrival of the self-labeled World's Mightiest Heroes.
The first TV spot has been released for upcoming comedy Jeff, Who Lives at Home. The movie comes courtesy of Jay and Mark Duplass the writer/director team behind 2010's Cyrus. Mark may also be known to some for his role as Pete Eckhart in top US Comedy The League.
It stars Jason Segel and Ed Helms as brothers Jeff and Pat, the former of which is 30 and still living in his parent’s basement, the latter is experiencing some pretty serious marital problems.
This contemporary fairy tale is not what I expected from dour Finn Aki Kaurismaki, master of deadpan irony in a cold climate. In warm and sunny contrast, Le Havre is a political comedy drama with a foreigners'-eye-view of stereotypical France, unsparing in its accordion music, tiny, quaint neighbourhood bars and little backstreet grocers’ shops. But it’s this old-fashioned sense of locality and close-knit community that drives the feel-good plot.
It's hard to take someone seriously when their name makes them sound like an extra from Hollyoaks. It's even harder to actually like them when they direct Terminator Salvation, a sequel to one of the most beloved action franchises ever and still manage to make it as dull as watching your fingernails grow. Yes, I'm talking about McG, Hollywood's equivalent of a weak indie band like The Vaccines or Pete Doherty's latest musical turd. The people who push their work in front of you insist that they are fresh, fun and exciting, but anyone with eyes and ears can tell it's more over-stylised, stale trash that we've already seen and don't want again.
Dwayne Johnson (formerly known, of course, as The Rock) has entered into talks to play the lead in MGM's Hercules, based on two graphic novels by Steve Moore, The Thracian Wars and The Knives of Kush.
As sci-fi aficionados strain their ears and scour the web for any tasty morsels of additional info on Ridley Scott's upcoming space thriller Prometheus, the more determined/fanatical amongst them have transcended the language barrier to gain more insight into the relatively secretive project. When the English director was interviewed on Hungarian television, the zealous fans were ready and willing to translate what was said.
In a mostly predictable evening, Michel Hazanavicius’s The Artist took home three of the night’s biggest prizes at last night’s 84th Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Jean Dujardin. The Artist won five Oscars overall, tying Hugo’s take for the evening, which took home awards in several technical categories.
As well as possessing a surname that sounds a bit like a popular spice, Joel Kinnaman is an emerging talent on our television and cinema screens. Currently appearing alongside Denzel Washington and Ryan Reynolds in Daniel Espinosa's Safe House as well as in US crime series The Killing, Kinnaman received his major break in the 2010 film, Easy Money (also directed by Espinosa).
He is of Swedish birth (but also possesses US citizenship through his American father), and this trait afforded him the opportunity to appear in David Fincher's The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo remake in late 2011.
