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With her sister Mary-Kate landing a role on the kickass show of Weeds, I was wondering when Ashley Olsen would get her own acting gig. Ashley has scored a role in “The Informers” starring Billy Bob Thornton and Kim Basinger. Reuters gives us the permise of the film:
 Set in 1980s Los Angeles, the script follows seven stories taking course during a week in the life of a movie executive, his wife, his mistress, a rock star, a vampire and a kidnapper. Thornton will play the movie executive, and Basinger his wife. Superman star Brandon Routh has been cast as the vampire, while Ashley Olsen will play a sexually promiscuous girl.
That’s all the role is described as: sexually promiscuous? I bet she could find a lot of inspiration for her character just by being around some of those Hollywood girls I love to write about so much.
Source: “Ashley Olsen lands provocative role” [The Superficial]
Image courtesy of Picture Perfect for use on Gone Hollywood
The Silver Surfer will make his live action debut in the second installment of the Fantastic Four movie franchise, USA Today’s Arienne Thompson reports.
In June, the Silver Surfer jumps from page to screen in The Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer.
With computer-generated imagery techniques similar to those used to create Gollum in The Lord of the Rings, the slippery Surfer, voiced by Doug Jones, “will look somewhere between gun metal and fluid metallics so you can see the body motion, the breathing, the muscle tone, the mood,” says Marvel Studios CEO Avi Arad.
The Surfer’s mood is key to the story. After striking a deal with the evil Galactus to save his planet, the once-human Surfer wreaks havoc throughout the cosmos. “He is a highly emotional being, trapped inside fluid metal,” Arad says.
Audiences will get a first look at the Silver Surfer this weekend in trailers before Night at the Museum.
Cool. The Surfer was long one of the more interesting Marvel supporting characters, although not one able to carry a book (or movie) on his own.
OTB
Related posts below the fold.
Kellvin Chavez of LatinoReview reports that Heath Ledger will play The Joker in the Batman Returns sequel.
 For months, gossip has been circulating who would play The Joker in the next Batman Begins sequel. It’s definite that the next sequel will concentrate on The Joker and they’re already throwing names around such as Steve Buscemi - Robin Williams - Lachy Hulme -Alexis Denisof – and Mark Hamill.
We were first to tell the world that Brandon Routh was going to be the new Superman. Now here we are at it again as we just got word from A VERY TRUSTED SOURCE that the offer last night was officially made to Heath Ledger to star as The Joker in the Batman Begins Sequel!
I would certainly prefer either Steve Buscemi or Robin Williams, both of whom are superb actors and have the maturity to play the part, over Heath Ledger. Mark Hamil just seems too clean cut for the role and , frankly, I don’t know who Hulme or Denisof are.
I’ll likely still watch the movie, though, so long as it doesn’t feature the Joker as a gay cowboy eating pudding.
My wife and I went to the 10:00 p.m. showing of “Superman Returns” last night. No real spoilers below for any who have seen any of the pre-release publicity but my review is hidden after the jump just in case.
Overall, it was an enjoyable movie but not one that lived up to the hype, let alone an eighteen year wait. It wasn’t nearly as good as most of the other superhero movies that have come out over the last few years.
Bryan Singer is an excellent director but his X-Men films were far superior to this one. The special effects were excellent, especially compared to the Christopher Reeve “Superman” films, but nothing special in comparison to the X-Men, Spiderman, and Fantastic Four movies. The plot moved very slowly, with long setups for a rather mundane story.
The premise of the movie is that our hero departed five years earlier to explore Krypton after its remains were discovered by astronomers. Yet, all we learn of that trip is that the planet was “a graveyard.” Why, then, was he gone five years? One would think a man who can fly at light speed could have explored a barren planet and returned home in time for dinner. No explanation is offered.
The Fortress of Solitude as crystals from Krypton angle, one of the most annoying aspects of the Reeve “Superman” series given its departure from the comics (although since woven into the two television adaptations) is central to the plot of this film. That the crystals can be easily removed by human hands and dumped into water — “like sea monkeys!” — with literally Earth shattering effect struck me as highly implausible. And Luthor’s motivations for a plan that would kill “billions,” including destroying the wealth of the Eastern Seaboard of the United States, were at best puzzling. How, exactly, he hoped to get rich with those people gone, especially living out on a barren Kryptonian-technology-laden island, was unexplained.
  Singer is obviously a comic book fan and there were numerous clever homages to the genre throughout the movie. Not only did Brandon Routh look eerily like Reeve, especially in his Clark Kent guise–down to a 1970s haircut and outdated three piece suit and tie–but he worked in most of the standard cliches and even evoked the cover of Action Comics #1, where Superman made his debut.
Routh did a creditable turn as Superman and Clark Kent, although nothing spectacular. For my tastes, Reeve’s was the best “Superman” portrayal and Dean Cain’s (”Lois and Clark”) the best “Clark Kent.” (Tom Welling’s “Smallville” version is also compelling but a radical departure from the canon.)
 Kate Bosworth was an excellent Lois Lane, portraying the role more powerfully than Margot Kidder. Mostly, I suspect, this is just a function of it being 2006, where a strong professional woman can be played effortlessly, vice 1978, where one had to introduce a campy “women’s libber” angle. She’s also, frankly, much better looking than Kidder, although perhaps no Teri Hatcher.
 Kevin Spacey stole the show with his variation on Lex Luthor. His interpretation is much more theatrical than past versions, borrowing somewhat from Jack Nicholson’s Joker. He had several great lines and pulled off the role superbly. It’s been too long since I’ve seen the Gene Hackman version to compare them. It seems clear, though, that the Luthor role is the premier one in the Superman stable. Michael Rosenbaum’s portrayal in “Smallville” is probably my favorite, just in terms of showing the man’s brilliance and complexity, but it’s not fair to compare a 2-1/2 hour film with an episodic format.
Parker Posey was also quite funny in her portrayal of Kitty Kowalski, Luthor’s nitwit girl Friday. Like Valerie Perrine in the Reeve movies, though, one wondered why Luthor would consort with such an obviously stupid woman. Indeed, more so given Perrine’s rather obvious compensating qualities.
Overall, I’d say the movie is worth seeing in the theater but certainly not worth camping out overnight for. It’s a cultural event moreso than an ordinary movie, just because of the character’s staying power–now going on 70 years. If this were the debut of Superman, though, I don’t think he would catch on.
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The long-awaited return of Superman to the big screen is drawing rave reviews from critics who have pre-screened it.
 “Superman Returns,” which opens in the United States next week, is receiving knock-out first reviews from critics, with newcomer Brandon Routh tipped to win over audiences as the latest crime-fighting “Man of Steel.” Hollywood’s two trade newspapers, Daily Variety and Hollywood Reporter, gave the movie strong reviews, with The Reporter describing it as “a heartfelt Superman movie that plays to a broad audience thanks to an emotionally troubled Man of Steel.”
Daily Variety critic Todd McCarthy said director Bryan Singer had imprinted the Warner Bros. movie with its own personality. “‘Superman Returns’ is never self-consciously hip, ironic, post-modern or camp. To the contrary, it’s quite sincere, with an artistic elegance,” he said. Routh won praise for his apparent effortlessness — with his resemblance to Superman predecessor, the late Christopher Reeve, not going unnoticed.
The movie’s plot has Superman returning to Earth following a mysterious absence of several years. Back home, an old enemy plots to render him powerless once and for all while the superhero’s great love, Lois Lane (Kate Bosworth), has moved on — or has she?
Newsweek said Singer, who left the popular “X-Men” franchise to make “Superman Returns,” did the right thing from the start of “this gorgeously crafted epic” by showing respect for the most foursquare comic superheroes of them all. The magazine added that “Routh may or may not be a real actor, but he effortlessly lays claim to the iconic role, just as Reeve did. Indeed, he virtually duplicates Reeve in the way he plays Kent as a diffident, awkward Midwestern colt.” “Next to Singer’s champagne, most recent superhero adventure movies are barely sparkling cider.”
It sounds quite promising. Then again, I seldom pass on a superhero movie.
Several promotional photos of Brandon Routh, Kate Bosworth, and the Superman set are thumbnailed below.
   
  
I didn’t realize Brandon Routh, the new Superman, had brown eyes. He wears blue color contacts in the movie. Here are some publicity stills of him:
 
And to not leave out Kate Bosworth, the new Louis Lane. She actually has both blue and brown eyes, check out her right eye, it’s half blue half brown. Actually, you can see it more clear here.
 
And to follow up on miscellaneous Superman items, here is George Reeves, who portrayed Superman in the 1950s television series, and Christopher Reeve from Superman I and II.
  
This summer at the movies should be quite a change from 2005’s lackluster showing, according to an extensive AP preview.
This year’s summer lead-ins: “Mission: Impossible III,” pitting Tom Cruise against supervillain Philip Seymour Hoffman; “Poseidon,” a remake of “The Poseidon Adventure” directed by Hollywood’s king of the sea, Wolfgang Petersen (”The Perfect Storm,” “Das Boot”); the animated “Over the Hedge,” an animals-against-humans comedy from the makers of “Shrek”; and “The Da Vinci Code,” reuniting Tom Hanks with director Ron Howard.
In addition to the usual sequels and remakes, there are all sorts of genre films to suit every taste. Most of them are sequels and remakes, too.
Tom Cruise’s first two “Mission: Impossible” capers were heavy on action and style. “Mission: Impossible III” director J.J. Abrams, creator of TV’s “Lost” and “Alias,” said he aimed to balance action with character interplay in the spirit of the television show on which the movies are based. “The thing I loved about the show is watching these incredibly accomplished operatives seamlessly working together to pull off a very specific goal,” Abrams said. “I honestly felt that as entertained as I was by the first two ‘Mission’ films, they didn’t embrace that aspect, which to me was the fundamental thing of the series.”
Wolfgang Petersen is back on the water with “Poseidon,” starring Kurt Russell, Richard Dreyfuss and Josh Lucas in a remake of the 1970s disaster flick about a luxury liner overturned by a tidal wave. “It was a chance to do a film reflecting our phobias today, our fear of terrorism or disaster, like 9/11 or whatever nature can do to us,” Petersen said. “A natural disaster like this is sort of a metaphor for the impossible and most disastrous thing you can imagine, and what would we do when it hits?”
Also returning to the water: Johnny Depp, Orlando Bloom, Keira Knightley and director Gore Verbinski with “Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest,” the follow-up to their 2003 blockbuster. “Dead Man’s Chest” has Depp’s woozy pirate Jack Sparrow trying to weasel out of an old debt — his soul, which he owes to the sea devil Davy Jones.
Jamie Foxx and Colin Farrell star in “Miami Vice,” written and directed by Michael Mann, creator of the 1980s cop show and Foxx’s director on “Collateral” and “Ali.” Farrell and Foxx take on the roles originated by Don Johnson and Philip Michael Thomas, playing undercover cops who infiltrate a South Florida drug ring. The TV show was known for glitzy fashion and hip music, but Mann’s new take is a grittier glimpse of cops on the street, Foxx said.
I didn’t care for “Pirates” so will likely skip the sequel. And I’m certainly not nostalgic for “Miami Vice,” which I thought was lame in the 1980s. And that’s lame.
Brandon Routh is the new Man of Steel in “Superman Returns.” Fighters for truth, justice and the rights of Mutant-Americans are back, led by “X-Men: The Last Stand,” the third installment in the franchise about the gang of super freaks, and “Superman Returns,” with the Man of Steel suiting up for his first big-screen adventure in almost 20 years.
Bryan Singer, who made the first two “X-Men” movies, directed “Superman Returns,” which introduces Brandon Routh as Krypton’s favorite flyboy. Co-starring Kevin Spacey as villain Lex Luthor and Kate Bosworth as Lois Lane, the movie has Superman back on Earth after a prolonged absence. Though not a sequel to the Christopher Reeve “Superman” flicks, the film borrows from the look and mythology created in that series. Routh said he fashioned his performance to match, injecting his own personality into the character while trying to stay true to Reeve’s Superman. “Chris did such an amazing job. You can change things, but if you do it could be horrible,” Routh said. “When somebody does something so great, there’s certain things you can tweak, but to change it just to change it sometimes is dangerous.”
The “X-Men” sequel, directed by Brett Ratner (the “Rush Hour” movies), reunites all key cast members, including Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, Rebecca Romijn and Famke Janssen. Driving the action this time is the discovery of a “cure” for mutancy. Jackman said the movie will wrap up the “X-Men” trilogy, though another film is in the works centered on his Wolverine character — the bushy-haired mystery man with metal claws and rapid healing powers. “He’s that reluctant hero, and he’s a fairly classic version of it,” Jackman said. “He reminds me of characters I always liked, Mad Max, Dirty Harry, Han Solo, where there’s more going on than what they’re letting on.”
Summer also offers superhero comedies. Ivan Reitman’s “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” stars Uma Thurman as the ultimate woman scorned, a superhero who uses her powers to exact revenge on the boyfriend (Luke Wilson) who dumped her.
“Zoom” stars Tim Allen and Courteney Cox in an “Incredibles”-like tale of a former hero gone soft. “Tim plays a retired superhero, and I play a kind of comic-book-obsessed, nerdy scientist. We’re trying to find people to train kids to become the next round of superheroes,” Cox said of her first big-screen leading role since she and her “Friends” gang called it quits.
The “X-Men” movies have been excellent, so I’ll certainly see the next installment. Frankly, the television versions of the Superman mythos, both “Lois and Clark” and the current “Smallville,” have been better than the Christopher Reeves movie version. As to the others, I’ll likely wait for the DVD.
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early five years after September 11 comes the first major wave of big-screen films dealing with the terrorist attacks.
“United 93″ mostly features a cast of unknowns in a gut-wrenching docudrama about the passengers who fought back and lost their lives during one of the September 11 hijackings.
Oliver Stone’s “World Trade Center” stars Nicolas Cage in the story of two policemen trapped in the rubble of the collapsed towers.
On a smaller scale, “The Great New Wonderful” features Maggie Gyllenhaal, Tony Shalhoub and Olympia Dukakis in a sketch of five New Yorkers a year after the September 11 attacks.
I just have no interest in exploiting 9/11 for entertainment purposes quite yet. Granted, we had WWII and Vietnam movies while those wars were still ongoing but this just seems different somehow. Wars are massive societal undertakings whereas terrorists attacks are personalized.
There are also plenty of comedies, cartoons, and family flicks. I’ll likely see some of those but never find it necessary to see them on the big screen, which I reserve for big budget, special effects movies.
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