When Jason Momoa assumes the mantle and broadsword of Robert E. Howard's iconic hero Conan the Cimmerian in Marcus Nispel's re-envisioned Conan the Barbarian, he's got eight decades of popularized novels, artwork, and the specter of Arnold Schwarzenegger's famous '80s-era barbarian to contend with. Which is why, with Hawaiian-born Momoa's distinct look, his influences, and the circuitous route he took from Baywatch hunk to Game of Thrones fan favorite, you should be happy that this isn't your grandpa's Conan.
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Don't be surprised if Craig Gillespie's new, updated Fright Night bears only partial resemblance to the 1985 cult horror-comedy of the same name; with a suburban Las Vegas setting, a much cooler teen protagonist, and a modern milieu filled with iPods and 4G-equipped cell phones, the tale of a high schooler's (Anton Yelchin) battle against the seductive vampire who moves in next door (Colin Farrell) is more like a slick second-cousin to the totally '80s Chris Sarandon/William Ragsdale-starring original. And as such, 22-year-old Christopher Mintz-Plasse isn't your parents' "Evil" Ed Thompson. Far from it.
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As William Bludworth, the coroner who's witnessed many a teenager attempt to cheat fate in Final Destination, Final Destination 2, and this Friday's 3-D sequel Final Destination 5, actor Tony Todd carries an eerie, prescient look in his eyes -- the look of a man who knows Death's secrets. Of course, Todd has plenty of experience himself toying with the agency of death in cinema, having starred in countless horror films, from the iconic Candyman series to the Night of the Living Dead remake to Adam Green's Hatchet and Hatchet II. So Movieline queried the horror icon: Which are the most memorable on-screen deaths he's either suffered, inflicted or witnessed over his 25-year career?
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After contributing scene-stealing but all-too-brief supporting turns in films like Observe & Report, I Love You, Man, and Funny People ("Raaaaandy!"), Aziz Ansari finally gets a full-on leading role in this week's 30 Minutes or Less as Jesse Eisenberg's straitlaced BFF/partner in crime, Chet. What took Hollywood so long to give Ansari, who's currently between seasons stealing yet more scenes on Parks & Recreation, the screen time he deserves? According to Ansari, he's just been paying his dues.
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It's crazy to think that Viola Davis's Oscar-nominated breakthrough in Doubt came only three short years ago, considering how forcefully the theater and film veteran has emerged as one of the more compelling actresses of her generation. As Aibileen Clark, an unassuming middle-aged maid in 1960s Mississippi in Tate Taylor's ensemble drama The Help, Davis wears the emotional toll of the Jim Crow South in her gait and gaze, an everywoman living through one of the most difficult times in America's past. And yet, thanks to the film's origins and the controversy surrounding her role, Davis nearly balked at taking on the "extraordinary" project.
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Danny McBride returns to theaters this week in 30 Minutes or Less, an action-tinged "double-buddy" comedy featuring McBride as Dwayne, the hapless mastermind of a plot to strap a bomb to a kidnapped pizza deliveryman (Jesse Eisenberg) and give him mere hours to procure more than $100,000. Director Ruben Fleischer's film then parallels the stories of Dwayne and his partner in crime (Nick Swardson) alongside that of the deliveryman and his own best friend (Aziz Ansari), whom he desperately enlists to help rob a bank.
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Rachel Weisz delivers an extraordinary performance in this week's The Whistleblower, which features the Oscar-winner as a Nebraska cop whose stint as a UN peacekeeper in Bosnia unravels when she discovers her coalition's complicity in an international sex-slavery ring. Based on true events involving Weisz's character Kathryn Bolkovac, the film charts a downswing of humanity salvaged only by Bolkovac's struggle to expose it and, in turn, Weisz's sensitive handling of a woman coming to terms with a world beyond compassion.
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Among this year's crop of true indie success stories -- this summer's Another Earth and Attack the Block among them -- is Bellflower, a film described as "a love story with apocalyptic stakes." Sweet and inventive -- then brutal and utterly devastating -- the debut feature from writer-director-star Evan Glodell was borne of over three years of sacrifice and dedication, DIY in spirit and in practice (as Glodell's homemade flamethrowers, groundbreaking camera rigs, and the tricked out car dubbed Medusa attest). So how did this $17,000 micro-budgeted labor of love (and pain) wind up with a distribution deal and some of the buzziest word-of-mouth of the season?
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J.K. Simmons has appeared in countless films and television shows, but the Michigan-born actor, 56, is only now making his debut as a leading man. In Jim Kohlberg's The Music Never Stopped (available on DVD this week), Simmons plays a hard-nosed father dealing with an estranged son (Lou Taylor Pucci) who suffers a brain tumor that keeps him from forming new memories. The only way the pair can connect is through the very rock music -- an impressive soundtrack for the micro-budgeted indie that includes Bob Dylan, the Grateful Dead and the Beatles -- the father despises. Like Almost Famous, The Music Never Stopped is a delicately written and acted movie loosely based on true events that profiles heartbreaking human moments around a powerhouse set list... only on a much more intimate scale.
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Not counting her miniscule blond counterpart Smurfette, Jayma Mays is the female lead in what may yet turn out to be the past weekend's number one film. And yet, as a phenomenon, the movie adaptation of The Smurfs pales in the long shadow of Mays's other gig: As the germophobic guidance counselor Emma Pillsbury on the megahit series Glee. Talk about hitting a Daily Double.
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Eight years after Andrew Bujalski's shoestring-budget feature debut Funny Ha Ha emerged to significant critical acclaim (no less than The New York Times declared it one of the most influential films of the decade, due in large part to Bujalski's follow-up Mutual Appreciation and the Mumblecore movement that sprung up around it), the filmmaker is back in development mode with his shoestring-budget fourth feature, Computer Chess. And this time around, you can help.
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The last seven days have been almost insanely kind to Dominic Cooper: Just a week ago, the 33-year-old British actor appeared as Howard Stark in the high-performing Marvel offering Captain America: The First Avenger. In the time since, Cooper has been lavished with praise for his stunning dual role in The Devil's Double -- and deservedly so.
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Of all the characters who share the same Montreal apartment building in Jacob Tierney's dark crime comedy Good Neighbors, Scott Speedman plays the absolute worst. His Spencer is an acrimonious widower/invalid who toys with his neighbors (played by Emily Hampshire and Jay Baruchel) for sport while hiding a twisted nocturnal alter ego as a serial killer terrorizes the nearby area. If you need evidence that Speedman -- still best known for his work on Felicity and the Underworld series -- has graduated from playing the sensitive, brooding, NYU student type, you'll certainly find it here.
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When the British sci-fi action pic Attack the Block opens this week in limited release, courtesy of Screen Gems, it will mark the completion of the long journey that comedian, screenwriter (Ant-Man, The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn), and first-time director Joe Cornish has made with his alien invasion passion project. So how did a South London-set hood actioner fronted by a cast of teenage unknowns manage to become one of the buzziest, fan-beloved films of the year?
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Nearly a quarter century of The Simpsons alone have made Hank Azaria one of the more inveterate voice actors in the industry. But what's the flesh-and-blood Azaria -- no slouch himself onscreen over the years -- to do when playing a cartoon come to life? That's one of the dynamics factoring into this week's live-action/CGI adaptation of The Smurfs, featuring Azaria as the tiny blue title creatures' arch-nemesis Gargamel.
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