Here is a round up of stories that just didn’t make the /Film front page, or what we like to call…. Page 2!

WALL-E has been spotted hanging on to the side of San Francisco’s MUNI Fast Rail public transit system. [flickr]

Phillip Noyce is in negotiations to direct The Art of Making Money, a DreamWorks project about a notorious counterfeiter who printed more than $10 million in fake bills. [thr]

MTV has the poster for Henry Poole is Here.

United Artists and Lakeshore Entertainment have hired 24 co-creator-executive producer Joel Surnow to develop a contemporary spy thriller that will be directed by Casino Royale helmer Martin Campbell. [Variety]

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder will arrive on DVD and Blu Ray on July 29th. [bloody-d]

Oscar winning screenwriter Diablo Cody is now on Twitter. /Film is also on Twitter too!

Warner Bros will release movies for Apple TV the same day as dvd. [gizmodo]

FirstShowing takes a look at all the comic books you should read before seeing Iron Man.

Disneyland will be hosting Indiana Jones events starting on May 22nd:  “Indiana Jones: Summer of Hidden Mysteries” will be made of 2 different street shows, one involves a female Archaeologist and the other features Indy fighting on rooftops. [theraider]

ShockTillYouDrop has posted the first photos from Rogue’s The Last House on the Left remake.

Kim Richards and Ike Eisenmann, the original kid stars of Disney’s 1970s “Witch Mountain” movies, are coming back for Race to Witch Mountain. [thr]

Watch the video for Scarlett Johansson’s first single “Falling Down” which features David Bowie on backup vocals (but not in the video). [badandugly]

Our friends at MarketSaw have photos of a t-shirt made for James Cameron’s AVATAR from 19996 which Digital Domain was working on concepts. Jeeez, this film has been in development for some time.

Mark Ronson told the BBC that Amy Winhouse submitted a demo for the next James Bond film Quantum of Solace: “The demo sounds like a James Bond theme, hopefully. But I don’t know if it’ll get used.” [empire]

Disney will be releasing an Ultimate WALL-E programmable toy robot manufactured by Thinkway, which will retail for $189.99 USD. It will feature 10 motors for realistic movement, and also a “variety of sensors” to allow for voice activation, navigation, and detection of obstacles, among other capabilities. [pixarblog]

Spout wonders if Iron Man is Too Critically Acclaimed to be a hit?

Alamo Drafthouse had a special advanced screening of Iron Man where they had a guy in a jet pack dressed as Iron Man flying around the parking lot. How cool is that?

SFGate have put together a cool Google Maps mashup of famous movies shot in San Francisco. Now if only someone created a Google Map containing every movie shot in San Francisco. That would be cool.

Rob Zombie has posted a cryptic Dylan Thomas poem on his Tyrannosaurus Rex blog.

Teresa Palmer first entered our radar when she was rumored to be cast as Wonder Woman. It was later revealed that Palmer was actually cast as Batman baddie Talia al Ghu in the now defunct Justice League movie.

But now that the Australian actresses’ schedule is clear, the Courier Mail is reporting that Palmer has been cast in Michael Bay’s Transformers 2. Palmer recently starred opposite Adam Sandler in Bedtime Stories. Bay also cast another Aussie, Rachael Taylor, in the original film. Earlier today it was reported that Jonah Hill is in early negotiations to costar opposite Shia LaBeouf in the sequel.

Why not? On May 15th, Sylvester Stallone’s Rambo will die for the first time on the big screen in 430-plus theaters around the country. Yes, 1982’s First Blood will have a digitally re-mastered one-off showing complete with the alternative ending that, in a parallel dimension, left no sequels…and probably no Slashfilm. I kid. Included in the screening is a special “never before seen” interview with Stallone in which he’ll extend his arms countless times to emphasize the film’s “epic” creation and grin somewhat painfully while reminiscing, I imagine. We’ve pasted all gazillion of the participating theaters after the jump because we like ya. And click here for more info. Oh yeah, and O’Doyle Rambo rules.

Discuss: Going? Bring an air horn. 

5/15/2008

Thanks for checking out our Redbelt review. If you’d like, you can watch the video version of our Redbelt review at the bottom of this post.

I’ve been a huge fan of Mixed Martial Arts ever since I saw UFC #2 many many years ago. I still remember very vividly watching Royce Graice, a skinny little guy absolutely mow through men 2 and 3 times his size and weight. All these flashy fighters with their punches, flying kicks and spinning back fists were all made totally useless as Gracie always got them on the ground (where their flying kicks were meaningless), tied them up like a cobra, and then would either choke them out or make them tap (give up). Suddenly the world knew about Jiu-Jitsu and the real world of MMA was born.

So when you bring along a movie that appears to focus on the art, and it stars Chiwetel Ejiofor (who I’ve been a huge fan of ever since seeing him in Serenity a couple of years back) it instantly gets my attention. And so here comes “Redbelt”.

THE GENERAL IDEA

The synopsis for Redbelt looks like this: “Tim Allen and Chiwetel Ejiofor star in writer/director David Mamet’s martial arts drama concerning a jujitsu master who becomes corrupted by the glitz and glamour of Hollywood. When a respected jujitsu master (Ejiofor) eschews a lucrative prizefighting career in favor of opening a self-defense dojo, it appears that he has chosen a peaceful path in life. The dedicated martial artist’s fate takes an unanticipated turn, however, when he is manipulated into participating in ultimate fighting championships by a group of unscrupulous actors and fight promoters. Later, as the master is being relentlessly beaten in a dirty street fight, he connects with a high-profile action star (Allen) with serious marital problems. Realizing that the only way to regain his honor is to step into the ring, the jujitsu master reluctantly prepares for the fight of his life.”

THE GOOD

Surprise surprise, Chiwetel Ejiofor is fantastic in it. Not only did he look convincing performing the martial arts (which is often a big flaw in many of these types of movies) he also just gives a great performance. A troubled warrior who is trying to lead a peaceful existence suddenly confronted with doubt, adversity, betrayal and the weaknesses in his own character as well. Very well played.

One of the worst things about any sort of “fight” movie (karate, boxing, street fighting, whatever) is that they often look good, but have zero levels of believability because every single punch or kick that gets thrown would knock out a normal human being… and these fights inevitably end up having massive haymakers landing with every shot. Redbelt avoids that trapping and just has the fights look like real fights without the flashy glamour of knock out power shots with every punch. It’s not as flashy to look at on screen, but it adds to the authentic feel.

Surprisingly enough Tim Allen wasn’t that bad in the film. I rolled my eyes the moment I heard he was in this, but I’ve got to admit he was pretty good. It was a different sort of character for him and he did it pretty well.

THE BAD

If the combat looked believable in the movie… then that was the only believable part of the whole damn thing. The plot was so full of imagination defying nonsense and unrealistic scenarios that I spent a good part of the movie with my face buried in my hands. It’s hard to go into it too much without crossing into spoiler territory… but it just seemed like EVERYTHING that happened in the movie was not the way it would have happened in real life. It was so bad… gaahhhhh!!! I can’t say way it was bad because it would be a train of spoilers. Let me put it like this: The concept and general idea of the film were quite good… but the actual fleshing out and execution of the story was pathetic.

Aside from Chiwetel, all the characters were paper thin as far as depth goes.

OVERALL

Redbelt is a terrible movie that is ALMOST saved by authentic looking martial arts with a great character and a wonderful performance given to that character. Everything else surrounding that character was an unbelievable insult to human intelligence. So while there are some redeeming qualities to the film, I ended up just hating the flick. Overall I’m giving Redbelt a 3.5 out of 10.

You can watch the video version of our Redbelt review here:

Share This

Thanks for checking out our Son of Rambow review. If you’d like, you can watch the video version of our Son of Rambow review at the bottom of this post.

When I first heard about Son of Rambow it seemed like a cute idea, but probably one of those “throw away” festival films. I was also quite confused by the spelling of “Rambow” at first (The proper spelling is RAMBO), so I just assumed it was meant as a simple child’s typo in the film. So was this a simple throw away festival movie? NO! Son of Rambo is my new favorite film of 2008. Yes, it’s really that good.

THE GENERAL IDEA

The film’s synopsis looks something like this: “SON OF RAMBOW is the name of the home movie made by two little boys with a big video camera and even bigger ambitions. Set on a long English summer in the early 80’s, SON OF RAMBOW is a comedy about friendship, faith and the tough business of growing up. We see the story through the eyes of Will, the eldest son of a fatherless Plymouth Brethren family. The Brethren regard themselves as God’s ‘chosen ones’ and their strict moral code means that Will has never been allowed to mix with the other ‘worldlies,’ listen to music or watch TV, until he finds himself caught up in the extraordinary world of Lee Carter, the school terror and maker of bizarre home movies. Carter exposes Will to a pirate copy of Rambo: First Blood and from that moment Will’s mind is blown wide open and he’s easily convinced to be the stuntman in Lee Carters’ diabolical home movie. Will’s imaginative little brain is not only given chance to flourish in the world of film making, but is also very handy when it comes to dreaming up elaborate schemes to keep his partnership with Lee Carter a secret from the Brethren community. Will and Carter’s complete disregard for consequences and innocent ambition means that the process of making their film is a glorious rollercoaster that eventually leads to true friendship. They start to make a name for themselves at school as movie makers but when popularity descends on them in the form of the Pied Piper-esque French exchange student, Didier Revol, their unique friendship and their precious film are pushed, quite literally, to breaking point.”

THE GOOD

This film is such a stew of goodness it’s difficult to pick out the individual parts that make it so wonderful. The first thing I’ll mention is the amazing job done by the film’s child actor lead Bill Milner. As the young child brought up in the hyper religious family with a colorful and vivid imagination, Bill’s pure charm and wonder leaves you totally drawn into his story. You love this kid from the moment he comes onto the screen. There is something so special about a character who approaches the world with such a sense of innocence that the beauty of everything, even 80’s action films, ignites their imaginations and sense of wonder. It reminds us of how we once saw the world, how we wish we could see it again and how despite our years of being embittered and jaded parts of the world still actually is if we allow ourselves to see it.

Director Garth Jennings (who also directed the massively disappointing film “Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy” a few years ago, does a MASTERFUL job at brining the story to us. It’s hard enough to tell a compelling story and bring out good performances with adult professional actors… it’s got to be next to impossible to make a film that is meant to be meaningful, touching, funny and beautiful with almost an exclusively child cast. But somehow, some way, Jennings does it.

The film is funny. From the opening credits I had an idiot grin on my face. 4 or 5 big laugh out loud moments, with plenty of giggles throughout. Not bad for a film that wasn’t primarily a comedy.

THE BAD

An inherent drawback of working with child actors is that sometimes emotionally charged scenes can come off a little cheesy or forced. For the most part Son of Rambow manages for avoid this, but there were 2 or 3 occasions that it does pop its head up. Aside from that, I have no complaints.

OVERALL

Son of Rambow is a witty, charming and beautiful little movie. It’s so rare that child actors can actually fully carry a movie, and yet the ones who populate the world of Rambow do a fantastic job. You cheer for them, cry a little for them, laugh with them and just love them. I LOVED this film. Treat yourself and go see it this weekend. Overall I give Son of Rambow a 9 out of 10

You can view the video version of our Son of Rambow review here:

Share This

Even our box office analysts are predicting a disappointing opening for The Wachowski Brothers’ Speed Racer. But what analysts don’t know is that the first teaser trailer for Catherine Hardwicke’s big screen adaptation of Twilight, the first of a series of best-selling novels about teenage vampires, according to Collider. We first really discovered this film last week when /Film was bombarded with over 1400 comments from fans of the series. The last book knocked Harry Potter out of the top spot on the Best-sellers list, so I’m thinking this could be pretty big. One thing is for sure, there is a huge hardcore fan following on the internet. But could that translate to huge box office? Speed Racer will be the first huge test to see how big Twilight actually is. If that film performs higher than expected, it could be due to “the Twilight effect”. But will Twilight fans be able to save Speed and the Racer family? That has yet to be seen.

Twilight tells the story of 17-year-old Bella Swan (Kristen Stewart) who moves to the small town of Forks, Washington to live with her father, and becomes drawn to Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson), a pale, mysterious classmate who seems determined to push her away. But neither can deny the attraction that pulls them together… even when Edward confides that he and his family are vampires. Their unorthodox romance puts her in physical danger when Edward’s nemesis comes to town and sets his sights on Bella.

Yesterday we featured a cool new ArtFX Statue of Iron Man. Today we return with another great statue from Japanese manufacturer Kotobukiya. The Dark Knight Batman Vinyl Statue stands approximately 12″ tall, and sports The Dark Knight movie version of Batman’s suit. It is packaged in a 4-color window box. 1000 pieces will be available outside of Japan, Asia & Australia on the first production run of this piece.

The Dark Knight Batman Vinyl Statue is scheduled to ship in November 2008, and is available for preorder at 15% off for $106.25 from AlterEgoComics. Thanks to /Film reader Kieron T for bringing this to our attention. I’ve included a few more photos below to show you Kotobukiya’s fantastic detailing.

Cool Stuff is a daily feature of slashfilm.com. Know of any geekarific creations or cool products which should be featured on Cool Stuff? E-Mail us at orfilms@gmail.com.

additional photo source: toynewsi

It all comes down to this new trailer for The Incredible Hulk, with the Marvel reboot’s release on June 13th fast approaching and its positioning as the caboose of summer superhero flicks pretty much a lock as far as expectations and buzz go. This second trailer is far more well-rounded than the first in my opinion, which mounted everything on the Hulk’s rather predictable-looking end battle with Abomination. Moreover, there is a nice amount of fresh and promising footage with the Hulk and with Edward Norton here, the latter of which has an agreeably slick general blockbuster Bourne-like feel to it.

We also get more Liv Tyler in various states of pouting duress and awe, which somehow makes it more interesting. And the Hulk’s new intro satisfactorily plays up the character’s proportion to his surroundings and is well-lit, which nicely contrasts with the dimness and grimness of trailers The Dark Knight and Hellboy 2. Overthinking much? Mebbs. However, are shots of the Hulk smashing cars and helicopters enough to push its grosses past Ang Lee’s flick? And I still can’t decide whether the Hulk still looks “fake” as so many fanboys like to shake their fists to.

You can also watch the trailer in High Definition on Apple.com. The Incredible Hulk hits theaters on June 13th.

Discuss: What are your impressions of the new trailer for The Incredible Hulk? Does the film still rank last in your anticipation for this summer’s comic book flicks after viewing this? Might it be a hit after all is said and done?

The Gremlins have returned! No, Gremlins 3 hasn’t been given the greenlight. Although, I’m sure some Hollywood executive is sitting at his desk reading this thinking “Now, there’s an idea!” In this new advertisement for BT’s tech support services, the critters from the 1980s film Gremlins do their best to scupper a late night in the office for Dragons’ Den star Peter Jones. Watch the advertisement below.

Discuss: Should Hollywood make another Gremlins movie?

via: The Guardian

The new Incredible Hulk Theatrical trailer has just hit the net. I just love the look of this thing!

If you’d like to see the larger HD version of the trailer you can go here

Share This