Frickin' Eh Movie News 05.06.09: Wolverine Edition

Posted by Matthew Motiuk on 05.06.2009

Wolverine goodness, Terminator confusingness, a couple new trailers, and some sad news for the comedic world.

I went and saw X-Men Origins: Wolverine on Monday afternoon this week. First off, that is definitely the right time to see a movie. No crowd, no rush, nothing. It's very relaxing. Second, I've read a lot of mixed reviews on the movie, but I thought it was awesome. Hugh Jackman proves again that he is the perfect Wolverine. The show-stealer, though? Liev Schreiber as Victor Creed. Whereas Wolverine was the moody one seeking revenge and blood, Schreiber got to have fun as Creed, and it showed. I also really enjoyed the brief parts with Ryan Reynolds. Among the other highlights was the working in of history as actually a conspiracy cover-up (in this case, Three Mile Island, although it was very low-key) and the final fight between Weapon XI, Wolverine, and Victor Creed. That was amazing, and definitely worth seeing the movie for. All in all I really enjoyed it, thought it was excellent, and you should give it a look if you've been holding off on seeing it for whatever reason.

But that's enough about that. Let's get right into the news:


The Mid-Week Box Office Time Machine

Alright folks, last weekend the summer began with the blockbuster X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which pulled in just over $85 million to become the clear winner of the weekend. In a distant second was Ghosts of Girlfriends Past, which made $15.4 million. Obsessed went from first to third with $12 million in its second week. 17 Again went from second to fourth with $6.4 million. Monsters vs. Aliens made $5.8 million to climb a spot to fifth. The Soloist dropped from fourth to sixth, Earth from fifth to seventh, and Hannah Montana The Movie stayed put at eight. Rounding out the top ten was Fighting, being knocked out to ninth from third with only $4 million in its second week, and State of Play going from seventh to tenth.

The summer continues with the reboot of Star Trek. The young cast, led by Chris Pine, is setting to revive the old series and make it into a blockbuster hit. Will they succeed? I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little worried. I have that slight feeling that the trailers might have contained most of the best parts of the movie. That said, I'll still go see it. If that's not your cup of tea, then you could also go see Next Day Air. The only reason I even gave this movie a glance was Donald Faison of Scrubs fame, but now that I have, it actually looks pretty funny, with a really good cast. It might be worth a look if you don't have your Spock ears ready.


Rest in Peace: Dom DeLuise (August 1, 1933 – May 4, 2009)

Actor Dom DeLuise passed away in his sleep on Monday, May 4 in a Los Angeles, California hospital. He was 75.

In the 1970s and 1980s, DeLuise often co-starred with Burt Reynolds in films such as The Cannonball Run and Cannonball Run II, Smokey and the Bandit II, The End, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas and All Dogs Go to Heaven.

DeLuise was probably best known as a regular in Mel Brooks's films. He appeared in The Twelve Chairs, Blazing Saddles, Silent Movie, History of the World, Part I, Spaceballs and Robin Hood: Men in Tights.

He was the husband of actress Carol Arthur, and the father of actor, writer, director Peter DeLuise, and actors David DeLuise and Michael DeLuise.

Well this is just depressing news. DeLuise was a true master, a comedic genius, and he lit up the screen whenever he was on it. May he rest in peace.


Wolverine 2 in the Works, Along with Others

Hugh Jackman and Seed Productions partner John Palermo are developing several projects for the X-Men Origins: Wolverine star, reports Variety.

Fox and Seed are in development on a sequel to "Wolverine." The Seed partners have begun planning the sequel, which they are squarely focusing on the samurai storyline originated in the comic series, says the trade.

Fox has just closed a deal to acquire Personal Security, a spec script by Matt Lieberman. Jackman will star as a tough New York police detective forced into bodyguard duty for a spoiled teen heiress who is receiving kidnapping threats.

While Jackman has not set his next star vehicle, he has gotten revved up over Drive, a Seed-produced adaptation of the James Sallis novel set up at Universal. Jackman will play a solitary man who drives race cars by day and getaway cars by night in Los Angeles.

Long-in-the-works Carousel is also now a priority at Fox 2000, after David Magee turned in a script that Jackman and Palermo said keeps the timeless spirit of the Rodgers & Hammerstein classic, but injects relevance for a contemporary audience. Jackman will play Billy Bigelow.

I'm excited for another Wolverine, I really enjoyed this one and even more Wolverine would be pretty awesome. I expect there would be even more focus on the character. As for his other projects, Drive sounds pretty interesting, although not really a Jackman usual. I'm not entirely sure about Carousel, especially if it's still a musical, but I trust Jackman enough to not be too worried over this.


New Transformers Trailer

Yahoo! Movies has officially posted the new trailer for Michael Bay's anticipated Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, opening in conventional and IMAX theaters on June 24th. The DreamWorks sequel, written by Ehren Kruger, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, stars Shia LaBeouf, Megan Fox, Josh Duhamel, Tyrese Gibson, Kevin Dunn, Julie White, John Benjamin Hickey, Ramon Rodriguez, Isabel Lucas and John Turturro.

I saw this trailer ahead of Wolverine the other day and seeing it on the big screen, I am more receptive to the movie, but I'm still not all gung-ho over it. Whatever has grabbed people about these movies has not had the same effect on me for some reason, and I'm not sure why, but I would easily go without seeing this movie. That's just me, of course. The movie seems to be bigger than the last, with more fighting, more destruction, and all that goodness. So check it out and see what you think.


Christina Aguilera Making Her Film Debut

Christina Aguilera will make her big screen debut for Screen Gems in Burlesque, a contemporary musical that Steven Antin will direct, reports Variety. Antin wrote a script that was revised by Erin Brockovich screenwriter Susannah Grant.

Aguilera will play an ambitious smalltown girl with a big voice who finds love, family and success in a Los Angeles neo-burlesque club.

Donald De Line will produce. The film will shoot late this year.

While Aguilera has never starred in a film, she did lent her voice to the animated Shark Tale.

Oh dear lord, this will be crap. Although it does sound exactly like something Aguilera would go for. I have absolutely no interest in this movie, and I hope it bombs. Some singers just need to stick to singing, I think. Is that too much to ask?


The Rock Not Captain Nemo

Production Weekly has posted a retraction to the listing in their production guide which listed Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson as the star of McG's 20 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo. McG told SCI Fi Wire that he hasn't even spoken to Johnson.

Said McG, "I don't know where that came from. I've never spoken to Dwayne Johnson. You can be the first to report that I have no idea where that came from. I wish him every success, but I never spoke to Dwayne about this."

He added that the movie is still being offered to Will Smith.

The original story is below:

While director McG has told anyone who would listen that he'd love to have Will Smith star in his reworking of 20 Leagues Under the Sea: Captain Nemo for Disney Studios, according to the latest "issue" of Production Weekly, Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson has been cast in the undersea epic, which is listed as in active development to start shooting in Australia later this year. Presumably, Johnson, whose last two movies have been for Disney, will play Captain Nemo himself.

The synopsis is listed as such:

"A fugitive whaler teams up with a naturalist, a mysterious woman and a captain of a futuristic submarine, to search for a lost underwater civilization that holds libraries of vast knowledge and a weapon with the power to destroy mankind. (Studio is fast-tracking the project and hopes to make the film this year.)"

Well, good to know. I wouldn't be surprised if Dwayne did eventually land the role, as it sounds like something he would jump on. Would it be better with Will Smith? Probably. Will McG get Will Smith? That's a tough one to say. With how much he's gunning for him I'm almost saying he won't, or else he'd already have him. But who knows. We'll just have to see.


McG Talks Next Terminator, Confusing Time Frames

Terminator Salvation director McG talked to Film Journal about a possible sequel to the May 21st release which could possibly take place pre-Judgment Day again:

"I strongly suspect the next movie is going to take place in a [pre-Judgment Day] 2011," McG reveals. "John Connor is going to travel back in time and he's going to have to galvanize the militaries of the world for an impending Skynet invasion. They've figured out time travel to the degree where they can send more than one naked entity. So you're going to have hunter killers and transports and harvesters and everything arriving in our time and Connor fighting back with conventional military warfare, which I think is going to be f*cking awesome. I also think he's going to meet a scientist that's going to look a lot like present-day Robert Patrick [who famously played the T-1000 in Terminator 2], talking about stem-cell research and how we can all live as idealized, younger versions of ourselves."

. . . What? Now, let's get this straight. First off, I think the new Terminator is going to be amazing and awesome, no questions. But this, quite frankly, sounds kind of stupid. We're in the future and it looks awesome: stay there! Also, it appears McG is changing the timeline of Judgment Day and its progression in regards to the first three movies at will, and that's a dangerous game. I'm sure it can somehow be explained within the movies but still, if you screw around too much, people are going to get fed up. And I don't get why he wants the Robert Patrick thing in there. That seems like it has nothing to do with anything, considering how the T-1000 would have been machine-made . . . I don't know. I think McG is getting a little too excited and I'm a little worried right now.


New G.I. Joe Trailer

Opening August 7th, the Stephen Sommers-directed adaptation stars Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Christopher Eccleston, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Byung Hun Lee, Sienna Miller, Rachel Nichols, Ray Park, Said Taghmaoui, Channing Tatum, Marlon Wayans and Dennis Quaid.

I really don't know about this one. I know a lot of people who are excited about this one and think it's going to be awesome. But I have no knowledge of the background story, and watching the trailer, it just looks too over-the-top cheesy to me. And I usually like action in just about any form other than Ultraviolet. Something about this one just doesn't catch my interest and has me a little cautious. Watch the trailer and see what you think.


Rapid-Fire: Layer Cake (2004, starring Daniel Craig, Tom Hardy, George Harris, Colm Meaney)

I've been eyeing up this movie for a while due to my new love of Guy Ritchie movies and the fact that this movie is heavily advertised on the cover as something similar to that. So I present:

This movie mislead me quite a bit with the Guy Ritchie comparisons, and I'll lay that out right here. As much as they say this movie is hilarious and witty, it's not. It's very serious, with only one or two humorous blips coming out of the cracks. So don't go expecting the comedy of errors criminal story that I was expecting.

That said, the story is good when taken for what it is. It's fairly straightforward with a couple of dead ends thrown in there to throw you off the trail, one of which bothered me intensely because it really seemed to be given undue importance for almost no reason, and was never really resolved in any way. Besides that, it's good, and it's got a couple good twists to keep your own your toes.

Nothing to complain about in the acting, really. I was impressed with Daniel Craig, and I think this is the kind of role he's meant for. His one critical flaw is his utter inability to do comedy in any capacity. Even a witty off-hand remark that almost anyone else could make into a solid joke is completely deadpan and lacking any comedic value. Tom Hardy, playing Craig's right-hand man, is a solid addition, and especially after watching him in RocknRolla, I'm more convinced he's very well-suited for this kind of role. George Harris as Morty is good, especially when he flips right out. Colm Meaney is one of the best actors in the movie, and he's got both the serious and comedic parts down perfectly. Everyone does a solid job, even Sienna Miller, for as little as she does (granted, that's mostly just as eye candy).

Best part of the movie? Hands down the ending. Especially since by the ending I had come to terms with the fact that the movie was what it was, and everything started coming together, I really enjoyed it, but there's no questioning it was perfect. Which really, for me, made up for any flaws of the rest of the movie.

This is a solid British crime movie. Personally, it's no match for the kind of movie Guy Ritchie mastered, but it's definitely a decent movie that you won't regret checking out. And I am not kidding when I say that the entire thing is worth the ending.


Closing Time . . .

Continuing my summer movie extravaganza (which will likely only go through May since all the movies I'm interested in this summer are being released in May, besides maybe The Hangover) next week will be Star Trek, which I am unsure of right now, and I keep getting more uncertain of it as the release draws nearer. It's definitely not going to be like any Star Trek I've ever watched before, that's for sure. All this movie watching has the side effect of putting me in West Edmonton Mall a lot (that's the most convenient theatre for me to go to) which means I'll probably be spending quite a bit of money in the near future. Oh well, stimulate the economy, right? Alright, until next week . . .


[All news, images, and other stuff from www.comingsoon.net, www.imdb.com, www.rottentomatoes.com and www.youtube.com.]