Posts with tag ChristianBale
Posted Jun 30th 2008 6:32PM by William Goss
Filed under: Drama, Romance, New Line, Home Entertainment
For whatever reason in the fall of 2005, I had missed out on the initial local press screening of Terrence Malick's latest epic, The New World, and the reactions that followed were decidedly ... less than appreciative. Shortly thereafter, word had come our way that an alternate cut would be opening instead, and so it was this second screening that I did attend.
For the first half of the film, I was fairly fascinated by the tale of John Smith (Colin Farrell) and his conquest of both what is now America and what was then Pocahontas (Q'orianka Kilcher). However, somewhere around when Smith disappeared and John Rolfe (Christian Bale) all but replaced him, I found my interest waning at a considerable rate.
It's difficult to deny that there were those who still thought the film to be one for the ages, even in its 135-minute incarnation. Those who lucked into the earlier screenings or lived in New York or Los Angeles could briefly get a glimpse of the original 150-minute cut, before certain scenes had been abridged, excised, or even replaced. Now, come October 14th, fans will get the chance to devour a DVD release of 172 minutes in length.
Earlier that same year, I'd found myself fairly unimpressed with the theatrical cut of Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven, only to eat my words once the engrossing three-hour-plus director's cut hit DVD after a similar NY/LA bow. Maybe almost three years after the fact, I can bring myself to give Malick's masterpiece another go. Will you?
[via DVD Active]
Posted Jun 30th 2008 10:32AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Sony, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels, War
The script for
Terminator Salvation must be all kinds of magic, because it's attracting the most unlikely of people.
The Hollywood Reporter announced today that
Helena Bonham Carter is in talks to join the cast, which already includes some pretty fine actors. Exactly who or what she will play is not mentioned, merely that her part is "small, but pivotal."
So, let the speculation begin! As Sarah Connor
has morphed to a lovely brunette Lena Headey in
The Sarah Connor Chronicles, perhaps she will be playing her in a flashback? (I know, the television show is on a separate mythology/timeline as the films, but I have to consider all the possibilities.) Could she be a Terminator model, despite her petiteness? A vital designer of SkyNet? A baker who comes up with an industrious way to dispose of fallen soldiers
and feed what's left of humanity? I'm at a loss here.
Bonham Carter has certainly moved away from her Merchant and Ivory days. Who would have ever thought the adorable Lucy Honeychurch was going to be Bellatrix Lestrange, let alone go post-apocalyptic? Oddly, her attachment interests me far more than even Christian Bale's. And there, I have to hand it to McG -- every time I think my vague interest in this movie is dead, he finds a way to stir it up again.
Terminator Salvation is aiming to hit theatres on May 22nd, 2009. That is going to be one enormous summer, isn't it?
Posted Jun 26th 2008 2:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
My morning was made when
Erik posted about Peter Travers' glowing review of
The Dark Knight, although that also makes it all the more painful that I will be nowhere near a movie theater on July 18. (Please let there be midnight screenings!) Anyhow, as the
Batman buzz continues to increase, there's a good interview with
Christian Bale in Parade Magazine. There are excerpts on the
mag's website, plus some extras at
Just Jared.
The biggest nuggets: First off, Bale is all about Batman -- to the point that he's said: "What Batman is all about is a double-sided edge; there's a duality to this character, which makes him still interesting to play in the sequel -- I hope in a third," and " I don't know if I will grow out of it one day. But I still have a love of just being perverse." The big, dark feature film wings have never made it to a fourth installment with the same actor, but it's excellent to hear how into the character he is.
Bale also talks about the future and
Terminator: "We have an opportunity with it for a continuation, but also a reinvention, and I have to say, much the same way in my mind as we have with Batman." This isn't as cool. Batman's life was set up well before the films, and the world of John Connor wasn't, so I'm not sure how well a whole reinvention can work when we haven't even gotten one full version. Thoughts?
Posted Jun 23rd 2008 11:33AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Drama, Casting, Universal, RumorMonger
The
Nottingham rumors are flying as thick as, well, the trees of Sherwood Forest. Both
CHUD and
Ain't It Cool News, who apparently share the same source, are adamant that Christian Bale will not be playing Robin Hood in Ridley Scott's reinterpretation of the classic tale. So, as exciting as the idea of seeing Bale and Russell Crowe square off again is, it will have to wait for another film. Oddly, I find the news a relief. I like Bale immensely, but there are only so many icons a man should play in his career!
But, there's a new name being tossed about.
Latino Review reports that
Sam Riley, who played the troubled Ian Curtis in
Control, is rumored to be in the running. Not only that, but Russell Crowe is said to be championing his casting. Whatever, and whoever, Crowe wants, he usually gets. So, if you look to your right, you may be looking at the latest incarnation of Robin Hood.
Riley is certainly closer to Sienna Miller's age, thus making the love triangle between Maid Marian, Robin and Nottingham a bit more complex. (And palatable to all of us leery of the age gap between Miller and Crowe.) He is certainly a fresh choice, and the role would lend itself to a talented newcomer. We shall soon see! Meanwhile, sound off below -- is Riley a good fit for the man in green? Or are you off the project for good now that Bale is out of the running?
Posted Jun 20th 2008 2:32PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Drama, Romance, Casting, RumorMonger
It's a day of big actors and big rumors. Aside from murmurs of Josh Brolin as Snake Plissken,
The Daily Mail claims
Christian Bale is in talks to play Robin Hood in Ridley Scott's upcoming film,
Nottingham, which has already cast
Russell Crowe as the Sheriff of Nottingham and
Sienna Miller as Maid Marian.
The paper says: "Nothing is signed for Bale, but director Ridley Scott is exceedingly keen to cast him." This could just as easily be false as it is true, but it wouldn't be surprising if Ridley was keen on Bale. The man has oodles of acting talent, and he's got increasing star power, so he's the perfect guy for a role like this. They say that costume fittings start next week, so we should know soon either way, as well as if Vanessa Redgrave and William Hurt will sign on.
Now, should this be true: I wonder how many iconic roles Christian Bale can take on before it's overkill, or whether he can just keep going and going like the Energizer Bunny. He's Batman, John Connor, and maybe now Robin Hood. Who's next?
[via
CHUD]
Posted Jun 12th 2008 10:32PM by Eugene Novikov
Filed under: Casting, Cinematical Seven, Comic/Superhero/Geek
I haven't seen this weekend's
The Incredible Hulk yet, and will do so a little begrudgingly because it's an implicit (or explicit, depending on whom you ask) diss of Ang Lee's
Hulk, a film I admire. But to the extent my interest in the
Louis Leterrier version is piqued, it's mostly because of the casting of
Edward Norton as the title character's alter ego. It's such an
interesting choice -- partly because Norton usually stays away from projects like this, partly because he's so uniquely gifted, and partly because my mind just reels at hearing "you wouldn't like me when I'm angry" coming out of his mouth. I'll watch
The Incredible Hulk less because I want to see another movie about Bruce Banner than because I'm curious to see Norton's interpretation of him.
All of which got me thinking about superhero/comic book casting in general. It's a subject that attracts a lot of breathless speculation every time a new movie is in the works, and there's rarely consensus on anything. In this edition of
Cinematical Seven, I take a look back at what I think have been the most inspired, interesting, or appropriate superhero (and villain, because why not?) casting choices in recent history -- not so much the resulting performances (though it can be hard to distinguish in hindsight) but the initial casting decisions.
As I like to do with these lists, I tried to mix the obvious with the out-of-the-blue, so feel free to weigh in with what I unjustly left out. In no particular order:
Continue reading Cinematical Seven: The Best Superhero (and Villain) Casting
Posted Jun 6th 2008 9:32AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Trailers and Clips
With only a month to go until
The Dark Knight, all the viral fun seems to have disappeared, taking anything newsworthy along with it. I'm actually very glad they haven't bombarded us (yet) with clips and television spots, as I want to see this film as unspoiled as possible. I know I'm not alone in that.
But the temptation is still there to see just a little bit more, and
two new videos have satisfied that quite nicely. One is on the making of the clown masks sported by the Joker's gang. It is quite short, but it is a fun little insight into the character and his gang of creeps. The second is all about shooting for IMAX, much of which has been repeated from the featurette that has been up on IMAX's site for months. However, the much of the footage in between the techno-speak is new, awesome, and spoiler free. It's just enough
Dark Knight to keep you going another month ...
Posted Jun 2nd 2008 9:32AM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Casting, Sony, Newsstand, Remakes and Sequels
The Hollywood Reporter announced that
Terminator 4 has lost Charlotte Gainsbourg from its cast -- a mere two weeks after
her surprise casting was announced. Apparently, it's all due to that age old story of a schedule conflict.
Terminator director McG has already started production in New Mexico, but if an actor's strike happens, the delay will cause a conflict with
Gainsbourg's next film, a French comedy.
But there is already an actress in talks to replace her, and one who has already cut her chops a bit in the action and sci-fi genres.
Bryce Dallas Howard is reportedly the one who will play Kate Connor, the First Lady of the Resistance. She's been absent from screens since
Spider-Man 3, due to marriage and motherhood, and it will be cool to see her return in a flashy role.
I think she is a better physical fit for the character than Gainsbourg -- Kate Connor/Brewster was played by Claire Danes, and they look reasonably alike. Not that Terminator sequels and spin-offs seem to be very concerned with that sort of thing.
Regardless of who steps into the role, I'm just continually surprised at the caliber of actors this franchise is getting. While the rest of us have been regarding it very skeptically, it's snagged more than one critical favorite. There must be something here we're just not seeing yet. Right?
Posted May 23rd 2008 8:49AM by Eugene Novikov
Filed under: Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Fandom, Scripts
What we previously knew about the plot of
Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins:
Christian Bale plays an older John Connor; a young Kyle Reese shows up in the form of
Anton Yelchin;
Sam Worthington plays some guy named Marcus. After Skynet brings about a nuclear near-apocalypse, our heroes must keep the machines from wiping out the rest of humanity. That's it. Now, thanks to a Warner Bros. start-of-production press release we know a lot more -- or do we?
"In the highly anticipated new installment of
The Terminator film franchise, set in post-apocalyptic 2018, Christian Bale stars as John Connor, the man fated to lead the human resistance against Skynet and its army of Terminators. But the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part by the appearance of Marcus Wright (Sam Worthington), a stranger whose last memory is of being on death row. Connor must decide whether Marcus has been sent from the future, or rescued from the past. As Skynet prepares its final onslaught, Connor and Marcus both embark on an odyssey that takes them into the heart of Skynet's operations, where they uncover the terrible secret behind the possible annihilation of mankind."
If you read that a couple of times, it doesn't really make very much sense ("the future Connor was raised to believe in is altered in part..."?). Studio marketing departments aren't known for lucid prose. It's not clear whether the human resistance Connor's going to lead (or so we keep being told) actually gets formed in this movie, or how Reese -- Connor's father -- enters the picture. But at least we have a sense of the storyline, and of who "Marcus" is. Parenthetically, we also learn that
Charlotte Gainsbourg will take over as Kate Connor -- the
Claire Danes role from
Rise of the Machines. Posted May 21st 2008 7:32AM by Scott Weinberg
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Warner Brothers, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels
With a brand-new
Terminator trilogy in the works, the producers
really needed to find a guy to play the heroic John Connor -- so they went to Gotham City. Yep, according to
BBC News, fan favorite
Christian Bale has signed on to play John Connor in not only
Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, but also its two follow-ups.
Sam Worthington,
Anton Yelchin, and
Common are already on board the next
Terminator, which was written by
John Brancato and
Michael Ferris. The director: McG.
Here's what producer Victor Kubicek told the BBC: "Christian was our first choice and he's a big fan of
The Terminator, so we're very lucky ... But with
Batman he's already done the whole franchise thing, so we weren't sure he'd respond." Still no word on whether the original Terminator (Arnold Schwarzenegger, of course) will be making an appearance, but with Christian Bale on board ... I already have a much better feeling about Terminator Parts 4, 5 and 6. Check out the full BBC report
right here. You can even leave a question for the Terminator producers if you feel like it.
But seriously: From
Edward Furlong (
T2) to
Nick Stahl (
T3) to
Christian Bale (
T4)? Now that's an upgrade.
Thanks to IGN Movies for the tip.Posted May 4th 2008 8:42PM by Elisabeth Rappe
Filed under: Action, Warner Brothers, Fandom, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Comic/Superhero/Geek, Remakes and Sequels, Trailers and Clips
Finally, the wait is over!
The second full length trailer for
The Dark Knight is up and it is all kinds of cool. Unlike the feeling left by the two Incredible Hulk trailers, I feel like there's plenty of scary Joker goodness waiting for me in the theatre.
Maybe it was the long wait, maybe it's just that there's a point of excitement one reaches, but this trailer seems kind of ... understated? I don't want to say flat, because it is anything but -- yet compared to the explosions and shrill laughter of the first, this one suddenly brought Batman back into the real world. When the bootleg was leaked, my e-mail box was flooded with people complaining that Ledger was too "gritty" and "realistic" in his performance. I don't share the complaints, but the Joker is definitely missing the eerie, superhuman element. I like it, but I can see why many might not.
Love the foreshadowing surrounding poor Harvey Dent. I'm already half in love with the handsome D.A.; I can't wait to see how Nolan handles his fall from grace. Watch it, and rave about it. Or complain. I think this might be the trailer that divides an audience -- I'm watching the comments to see!
The Dark Knight hits theatres July 18th.
Posted Apr 21st 2008 9:32AM by Eugene Novikov
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Casting, Warner Brothers, Fandom
After a lot of hemming and hawing, some hopeful casting news, and outrage over McG being attached to direct, it looks like
Terminator 4 is good to go.
There are a few things to glean from
this Hollywood Reporter story. First, obviously, is what's in the headline:
Moon Bloodgood, who played Generic Love Interest in
Pathfinder and starred in the canceled television series
Journeyman, has been cast as the female lead, a survivor of the nuclear holocaust we witnessed at the end of
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. She joins Christian Bale, Sam Worthington, and Anton Yelchin. Second, notwithstanding
earlier reports to the contrary, the third sequel is apparently still called
Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins. Finally, the movie is scheduled to begin principal photography on May 5th, which means that barring some Terry Gilliam-scale disaster, this long-speculated-about project is actually happening.
Count me among the
McG skeptics. Previous installments of this franchise have been helmed by world-class action movie craftsmen (disclaimer: I am a fan of
Jonathan Mostow), and I'm not convinced that McG has either the chops or the instincts to fill their shoes. The mincemeat he made of a terrific story in
We Are Marshall doesn't inspire confidence, and the pyrotechnics of the
Charlie's Angels films don't tell me much. That said, I'm excited for the
Terminator saga to continue, since there's a lot more of this story to tell (and since
Google is currently building SkyNet). Has anyone been watching the Fox TV show?
Posted Apr 9th 2008 3:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Fandom, Images
With all of the little tykes and tots who have hit the big screen over the years, one would think that it might be one heck of a daunting challenge to narrow the list down to a top 25, but I think Moviefone may have done it. They've posted a list of the
Top 25 Child Stars of All Time, and they've hit just about every child star I can think of, including a few I forgot about.
The list starts with
Kirsten Dunst. She might not have had a lot of movie gigs in her early days, but she certainly wowed audiences with her portrayal of Claudia in
Interview with the Vampire. I, for one, was so impressed that I had a much different vision of her future career, and am still waiting for the day that she can tap into what made her shine all those years ago. From there, we've got a collection of old and new names, moms and sons, and all the biggies.
The queen of children's entertainment Shirley Temple meets up with newer talent like
Anna Paquin and
Christian Bale (remember
Empire of the Sun?). There's also some funky trivia tidbits as well. Growing up, I was a rabid fan of
Hayley Mills, from her classic
In Search of the Castaways, to her brief stint in the first incarnation of
Saved by the Bell. But did you know that she was cast to be Stanley Kubrick's
Lolita before Disney got her out of the deal?
Check out the list, and weigh in below. Do you think they got it right, and is anyone missing?
Posted Apr 2nd 2008 9:32AM by Eugene Novikov
Filed under: RumorMonger, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Bahahahahahaha. Yesterday was chock full of huge, monumental movie news. A disproportionate amount of it involved the geek realm, with casting and sequel bites galore. For example,
we reported that
Christian Bale and
Brandon Routh were headlining the new
Justice League movie as Batman and Superman.
JoBlo insisted that all the rumors are true and
Jake Gyllenhaal is replacing
Tobey Maguire in the role of Spider-Man. (On the other hand,
maybe it's
Nicholas Brendon, or --
dear god no --
Jason Biggs.) From
GFR, we learned that the
Cloverfield monster was going to be putting in an appearance in
Transformers 2. IGN even created an entire fake trailer for
The Legend of Zelda movie! In slightly less shocking news, it
turned out that
Iron Man might get an April release date after all, depending on where you live.
But my favorite piece of news announced yesterday?
Slashfilm's bombshell that
Daniel Day-Lewis was headlining a
Peter Weir remake of
Werner Herzog's
Fitzcarraldo -- the one about a man who decides to build an opera house in the Peruvian jungle. This version, however, will be set 50 years in the future and feature a soundtrack by
Mick Jagger. Weird, subtle, and just plausible enough (at least until you get to the futuristic setting) to make you frown before remembering what day it is. (After reading the first paragraph, I did more than frown: I rushed to start a
Cinematical post!) Well-played, gentlemen.
Posted Apr 1st 2008 12:01AM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Action, Casting, Deals, Fandom, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek
Holy "Where the hell did this one come from" Batman! In a last ditch effort to win back fans, Warner Bros. has apparently convinced both
Christian Bale and Brandon Routh to reprise the roles of Batman and Superman for their upcoming live-action
Justice League of America film (currently titled
Justice League Mortal). A press release just sent to
Cinematical comes with this hilarious quote from a studio rep: "Brandon wasn't too hard to convince; he half-jokingly told us he's dreamt about this opportunity every night for the past several months."
Both men have signed a three-picture deal, which means Warners has plans to extend
Justice League beyond the initial film, due out in 2009. Currently, there's no word on whether
Armie Hammer (the actor supposed to play Batman) will still appear in some capacity, be it as a younger version of Batman or as a random extra in a background shot. On why he ultimately decided to take the role when there's a good chance it could confuse fans and screw up Nolan's franchise, Bale said, "I don't see me taking on this role getting in the way of anything, aside from someone else's paycheck. The script is awesome. Batman is awesome. Brendon and I look forward to taking this one to the next level."
Sounds like the studio is finally getting serious about this film, bringing on two actors with established fanbases -- guys they know will bolster the flick's box office. There are still a lot of unanswered questions, like what happens to Bryan Singer's
The Man of Steel now and will Chris Nolan even go ahead with a third Batman film with Bale doing JLA? Well, one thing is for sure: This whole project just got a lot more interesting ...
For more, check out the
entire press release over here.
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