Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars sci-fi series may have first appeared 100 years ago -- and director Andrew Stanton's Disney adaptation John Carter may be taking forever to come out -- but EW's new photo from the movie is fresh as ever: Friday Night Lights vet Taylor Kitsch yanks on a chain while a gigantic, extraordinary white ape bellows behind him. Shall we caption this big-budget brawn?
Once again, it's that time of year to overeat, yell at family members and give thanks. For you though, dear Movieline family, I will cut back on the profanities and gorging and instead share the five movie-related things that I am most grateful for this year.
Last week, you and I watched the first trailer for Tarsem Singh's Mirror, Mirror in slack-jawed horror. (After all, aren't Snow White adaptations supposed to be about the titular princess and not Julia Roberts's aging concerns, Bollywood dance numbers and Armie Hammer's impression of a dog?) Surprisingly though, not all of the Internet's feedback was negative. A few brave souls commented on the Relativity trailer enthusiastically -- and now MovieMavericks.com is claiming that some of those suspicious thumbs-up reviews came from the same source.
Happy Thanksgiving, my naughty little puritans. Before I jump headfirst into the HoKa turkey that Gloria Virtel is graciously preparing, I thought I'd share the five filmic things I'm most thankful for in 2011. Join me as I thank national treasures like Jon Hamm, Penn Badgley, and Twitter's new empress.
Tragic news from the New Orleans set of G.I. Joe: Retaliation, where a crew member suffered fatal injuries after an accident while breaking down the set. Filming closed earlier this week under director Jon M. Chu, who had already Tweeted his departure from the set days before the incident occurred. The tragedy marks the latest in a string of on-set accidents on big budget studio productions including The Expendables 2 and The Hobbit.
"When I made Trading Places, Eddie was 19 or 20 and bouncing off the wall with talent and was a very happy guy," John Landis recalled recently about this year's Academy Award host drop-out. "When I made Coming to America, it was a few years later, Eddie had become an international star and was not as happy. It was awkward on that film because he was kind of a jerk, and we had a real falling out. But still we worked together very well." [NYT]
Miss Piggy has been a TV and movie star for decades, but in The Muppets, she finally gets the spotlight to herself and dominates the entire film start to finish -- or so she'd have us believe. The Muppets is a showcase for many of her colleagues, but she's the only character who gets a split-screen duet with Amy Adams and a very contemporary wardrobe. Movieline caught up with the porcine superstar (who is voiced by Eric Jacobsen) to discuss the new movie, her new look,and the bodily secret that Kermit doesn't want you to know.
Call me a glum frog with a hand flapping up my ass, but I didn't love The Muppets. Jim Henson's franchise is about goofy, heartfelt antics, and his whimsy warps into a barrage of Glee tunes, self-conscious dorkiness and perky, perky people under the pen of Jason Segel. It's a no for me. Luckily, the '90s already gave us a solid, if stupendously, un-self-consciously dorky Muppets update in the form of Muppets From Space. It's not exactly a part of the classic Kermit cannon, but that's because it's a tangential Henson operation. Think of it as Muppets Origins: Gonzo. Now you're in.
"Starting today, the company will offer the features as part of its iPad application, letting users browse merchandise from shows and movies. [... Steve] Yankovich, 50, was inspired to develop the technology while watching the movie Something's Gotta Give, which featured a toaster he wanted. 'You'll be able to buy exactly what's there,' said Yankovich, who runs mobile services at the San Jose, California-based company." [Bloomberg]
Thank God it's Wednesday. Also in today's edition of The Broadsheet: Aaron Sorkin inches closer to Steve Jobs... Jeremy Renner shares his Bourne name... David Fincher doesn't want to do The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest (for now)... Jimmy Fallon apologizes to Michelle Bachmann... and more.
In David Cronenberg's new film A Dangerous Method, Keira Knightley plays Sabina Spielrein, a young woman who at times lapses into fits of hysterics and at other times, comfortably discusses masturbation and the arousing aspects of her father's beatings. Originally though, this complicated character (and the onscreen spankings she endures) were not intended for the Pirates of the Caribbean star -- but for Julia Roberts, America's Longest-Reigning Sweetheart.
If you have $10,000 and no soul, I've got the perfect Christmas gift for you: The engagement ring that Roman Polanski bought for Sharon Tate in 1967 -- the one she was wearing when the Manson family murdered her and her unborn child -- can be yours! The website GottaHaveRockandRoll.com is graciously putting the Valley of the Dolls star's jewelry up for auction, and if you wanna go a little helter-skelter this holiday season, I suggest you snatch up the pricey trinket without looking back. Fancy and fun! Coming up next on GottaHaveRockandRoll.com: Some plane debris with Jim Croce's entrails on it. [TMZ]
Though The Avengers doesn't come out until May, it's already time to play the same game we did with Bridesmaids's first poster: Who goes hardest? Is it Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man? Is it Scarlett Johansson as Natasha Romanoff? What about Jeremy Renner as Clint Barton? We score all eight characters' ferocity and pick a winner after the jump.
Few Tweeting, iPod-owning, Netflix-streaming, eternally online citizens of the 21st century would lament the advances and conveniences that digital gadgets and technologies afford, but what if you still love that which is made increasingly obsolete? In the film world, that widening gap stands between classic celluloid and digital projection; as studios like 20th Century Fox begin experimenting with digital-only distribution, where does that leave the folks who cherish the magic of watching films on, you know, film?
Say you're a teen Twilight devotee. Ever since last year's Eclipse, you've been counting down the days until Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner reprised their roles for the long-awaited, demon fetus pregnancy installment in Stephenie Meyer's fluffy vamp franchise. Your boyfriend promised he would take you to Breaking Dawn -- Part 1, only at the last minute he bailed (typical!) and you missed the one thing that was getting you through a particularly rough and angsty period of your adolescence. What do you do?
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