It's been a rough month for Bruce Willis, substance-wise. While promoting Cop Out on Good Morning America last month, the blazed actor could barely keep his eyes open for Robin Roberts. And then just last night, a journalist ran down the smashed actor at the Hornets/Lakers game, shoved a microphone in his face and asked him about March Madness and New Orleans music. Can't a world-famous celebrity enjoy a night of boozy revelry without a follow-up interview?
After the jump, Movieline recalls a few other stars who didn't let a little thing like promotional obligations get in the way of a good buzz.
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Just as you can count on Christopher Walken to do some sort of dance in most of his films, and for John Cusack to suffer some kinda hideous relationship blow-out, so too can you rely on Jason Statham to be lumbered with a name that in real life causes young children to be bullied as mercilessly as red-headed step-children. Upcoming 1980s action throwback The Expendables continues the fine tradition, with The Stath going by the name "Lee Christmas." Orright, compared wiff 'is ovva character monikers, it's a bit pissweak even if you've nevva blown tha froff off a couple down the rubbity with anyone answering to that surname. Another nine -- all dumber -- after the jump.
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3-D's sweeping the land! This week we've had almost non-stop news of projects to be filmed in the process (Spy Hunter, Popeye, Buck Rogers, Gulliver's Travels, Narnia), discussion of movies that're being converted (Clash Of The Titans , Sucker Punch) and the retro-stereoscoping of other recent hits (Titanic , 300). Three-dimensionality's even been in the gaming, TV, fashion-action film and religious broadcasting news, too. It's the wave of the future I tells ya! But also the past. Around the time we hear that Woody Allen's Untitled Spring 2011 Project will be filmed in the process, I'm betting there will begin a flurry of conversions of actual classics. As Anthony Lane wrote in The New Yorker recently, it's hard to not be curious about what Casablanca might look like in 3-D. But, apart from that and dead-certs (The Wizard Of Oz , Star Wars , Lord Of The Rings) what other hits (and a few box-office misses) would be too hard to resist watching with the glasses on?
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The Paycheck Role has long been one of the more pejorative distinctions in Hollywood, associating generally respected actors with films in which you can virtually see them holding their noses on camera. Today's news of John Malkovich and Frances McDormand joining Transformers 3 inducts a new duo into this distinguished subculture. But there's also a chance they know that for every Robin Williams cash-grab or Robert De Niro slum job, there are a tiny handful of actors who have actually established milestones of one sort or another while pulling down big salaries in bad, misconceived, underwritten and/or otherwise ill-advised films. Only time will tell if Malkovich and McDormand join the elite whom The Movieline Nine has taxonomized here; weigh in with your own additions below.
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The idea hit me first when I was watching John Cusack in 2012. Yes, it was weird that the actor had lent himself to a role that required him to shout and fake-drive a lot against blue screen, but what was stranger was that even his barely sketched character seemed cribbed from his recent films: he played a limo driver, as he did in Identity, and an author, as in 1408 and Martian Child, who tried to bond with his estranged progeny by taking them on a trip, kinda like in The Contract and Grace Is Gone. But, sufficiently mindblown by 2012's spectacle and moments of giraffe emotion, I forgot about the seeming sameness. That was, until this week's Hot Tub Time Machine.
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If you weren't aware that there was a sequel in the works for Showgirls, Paul Verhoeven's doggy chow-scarfing love letter to the Nevada entertainment scene, don't feel too badly about it -- neither were we. But a tip from a reader brought us up to speed: An unknown eurocommodity named Marc Volander, according to German website Extratipp, had secured $25 million in financing and was hard at work on a follow-up that would revolve around the character of Hope, played in the original by noted German model/actress/vatever, Rena Riffel. JoBlo.com translated a plot summary thusly: "It's about stripper who died from a dose of contaminated cocaine. Her brother comes to Frankfurt to find the responsible and revenge." It's a revenge-driven mystery, darlin'! And you'll want to keep that in mind as you watch the brand new and deeply inscrutable trailer, featuring more girl-on-girl softcore action and solo lip-licking than you can shake a dumbbell at. Read on for a glimpse at its nine most arresting images, as selected by a Movieline Grand Jury of one.
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There used to be a statute of limitations on remakes, but in Hollywood, nothing's sacred. Every day brings word of another reboot, and even recent, successful movies aren't immune. You may have heard that Spider-Man, Mr. and Mrs. Smith, Daredevil, Escape from New York, Vacation and Superman are all in line for a new re-do, but did you know that nine other movies from the past year are up for revision? Luckily, Movieline's pressed a glass to the office of studio executives around town to eavesdrop on the conversation, transcribed to the best of our satirical abilities. Have your second assistant get your decaf and roll your calls while you listen in.
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For the first time in fifteen years*, the Super Bowl-carrying network will introduce a new series in its lead-out time slot. On the heels of the most-watched television event of the year, the coveted post-game position is usually reserved for the network's most popular show (Friends, The Simpsons, Survivor in past years) or in rare years like this one, a new series that the network just about guarantees to be a hit. This Sunday, CBS is forgoing an episode of established hits like Criminal Minds or NCIS in favor of Undercover Boss, a reality venture in which the executive of a major company goes undercover as an entry-level worker. In honor of the Tiffany network's big gamble on Sunday, let's look back on nine other series that got their successful (and unsuccessful) starts as Super Bowl lead-outs.
*Movieline is not counting Fox's American Dad as a lead-out to the 2005 Super Bowl, since it aired after The Simpsons.
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One of the most bracing elements of the upcoming comic book adaptation Kick-Ass is Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), a 12-year-old superheroine who indulges in some decidedly R-rated mischief like graphic villain-garroting and "c***"-laced bon mots. A recent clip of Hit Girl in action has begun to spark controversy, but at least Lionsgate can point to a long history of cinematic children engaging in inappropriate (and often sociopathic) behavior. Here are nine other kids who blazed a bloody trail for her:
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Tobey Maguire was very nearly replaced in Spider-Man once before when he balked at making the second film, forcing Sony to line up Jake Gyllenhaal as insurance. Still, we can't recommend that Gyllenhaal get excited by today's news that Sony will be recasting Peter Parker in the next installment, as the studio's intended high school reboot will almost certainly limit its potential casting pool to actors 18-25. Who's got the inside track, then? Movieline's gone ahead and picked out nine young thespians whose spider-sense should be tingling right now.
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Well, that was fast: A mere eight days in, America has produced first roundly-loathed film of both the new year and the new decade. The critical excoriation (and likely middling box office) for the Amy Adams/Matthew Goode romcom isn't quite the start Universal was hoping for after a horrendous 2009, but on the bright side, things can only improve. Just ask the nine unfortunate souls below, who appear to be holding out the same hopes for themselves.
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While the '00s -- or the Aughts, or whatever you want to call the decade almost past -- end at midnight Thursday, they leave a spectrum of legacies for us to consider heading into the '10s. Not a lot of them were very good for movies, unfortunately, but filmgoers can still find some pretty significant influences in all the debris and disappointments. And love them or hate them, some of the most important influences came in convenient character form. Read on for an assortment of the essentials, and of course add your own after browsing.
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So Avatar finally premiered Thursday in London, followed by screenings in Los Angeles and in New York, where a stiff, cold wind in Times Square blew over a few hundred critics lightheaded with awe. And there was plenty of awe, mitigated by a few groans and all the random WTF-ery that comes with spending 163 minutes in James Cameron's staggering new world. A few first impressions of that world follow the jump, and many more to come Friday as Movieline attempts to get its collective head around the most expensive, ambitious film in cinema history. (Spoilerphobes be warned.)
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Since Tom Ford's A Single Man is a period piece, perhaps it's only fitting that the film's reviews tend to reference another bygone relic: print magazines. Seemingly every evaluation of Ford's ultra-stylish debut can't help but compare its look to that of a glossy fashion spread, which is a common criticism leveled at gay directors who've got terrific costumes and immaculate production design. (When the director is straight, critics merely call him "David Fincher.")
Movieline collected 9 such accusations, though really, it was as easy as shooting fish in a Jonathan Adler-designed barrel. Could they come to any consensus on exactly which magazine Ford's film is supposed to resemble? Let's find out!
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For a certain percentage of the population, Robert Pattinson as Edward Cullen is the Sexiest Man (Kinda) Alive. For the rest of us, he's much too emo to get worked up about. But all is not lost! With Extreme Makeover tips from even the crappiest vampire-themed flicks, he might sparkle for everyone yet!
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