Nicolas Cage is back as Ben Gates in the conspiracy sequel National Treasure: Book of Secrets (aka #2). Also appearing are Diane Kruger, Jon Voight, Helen Mirren, Ed Harris,Harvey Keitel, Bruce Greenwood and others.
The sequel’s plot suggests that Ben Gates’ great-grandfather had something to do with Abraham Lincoln’s murdder, so Gates sets about trying to clear the family name.
Release date is Fri Dec 21st. A trailer clip is below.
Jessica Simpson stated recently that she wants to be taken as a serious actress and that she thinks the way to do achieve that is to take a movie role with a full-frontal nude scene. Now while she did get down to her “Daisy Dukes” short shorts in the Dukes of Hazzard movie, there were definitely no nude scenes.
Her latest movie, Blonde Ambition, is going straight to DVD, to be in general release on Jan 22nd. However, it is being released in a small handful of theaters in the state of Texas this Friday Dec 21st. Do you think there’ll be nude scenes in this one?
The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman as the villainess Mrs. Coulter, had a lackluster opening the first weekend, and even poorer this past weekend – trumped by Will Smith’s I Am Legend and even Alvin and the Chipmunks.
It probably doesn’t help that the movie has been the subject of Christian religious controversy. Recently, Catholic bishops in the U.S. asked that a review of the movie be removed the website of the Catholic News Service.
Word is that the movie eliminated some of the relgious elements that the book had. While I haven’t seen the movie, it appears that this decision actually did more harm than good – though it’s possible I’m mistaken.
I received a hardcover copy of the book in the mid-90s, but misplaced it and thus never read it. The book cover and the movie trailers are very visually rich, and on that basis alone would I watch the movie, regardless of any controversy. A clip is shown below, and galleries are available at the official Golden Compass movie site.
By the looks of the Cloverfield movie poster, this is a ‘disaster’ movie. The head of the statue of liberty is missing, and the background shows buildings burning. But a Slashfilm post gives details that director Matt Reeves has revealed in various interviews. It’s a monster movie, though there have yet to be any visuals – either in stills or trailers – of the monster. That’s supposedly to build “dread and anticipation.”
J.J. Abrams is producing, so it’s not surprising the trailer for the next Star Trek – which he’s also producing – is attached to Cloverfield. The latter is out on Jan 18th. Note that depending on which Cloverfield trailers you watch, it either looks really boring or really exciting. A more exciting clip is below, but no monster appears. My bets are on a Gojira or Mothra monster.
The movie Charlie Wilson’s War, despite the title, is as much about the war of politics in Washington and the USA in general than about Afghanistan and military spending. Oh, and it’s a comedy of sorts. It stars the inimitable Tom Hanks and America’s Sweetheart, Julia Roberts – who was 3 months pregnant while filming, even while wearing the two-piece bikini while emerging from a backyard pool.
The Universal Pictures movie, which also stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, opens this Friday, Dec 21st. See the NY Times for a more indepth review.
Actually, not sure if I love Hilary Swank, not having seen her in a lot of roles other than as Brandon Teena in Boys Don’t Cry. She tends to take on roles in “true story” types of movies, so a tearjerker romantic comedy seems completely out of character, but the trailer makes it look like interesting. And tearjerking. Ahem *chickflick*. The movie opens this Friday, Dec 21st. Lisa Kudrow of Friends fame also appears.
Swank also appeared in Freedom Writers and The Reaping this year, and will appear in Birds of America in 2008.
The remake of Alvin and the Chipmunks, starring Jason Lee of the TV series My Name is Earl, might be a bomb with critics but it made #2 in the box office for this opening, topped only by I am Legend (starring Will Smith), which set an all-time December opening record with $76.5 million. The Chipmunks took in $44 million on Friday and Saturday combined, thanks probably to Saturday matinees with screaming kids.
Will Smith’s new horror zombie/ vampire movie, I am Legend – where’s he’s the last man on earth – hit a record $76.5 million in box office take, beating out the old December opening record by Lord of the Rings in 2003.This is Smith’s seventh straight hit movie. Despite all this, Smith was recently declared one of the most overpaid actors – with Nicole Kidman at the top of the list.
The Sweeney Todd movie, starring Johnny Depp and Helena Bonham Carter, is based on an older Stephen Sondheim opera/ play about a barber, Benjamin Barker, who returns to London after false imprisonment in Australia. Informed that the judge who sent him away took advantage of his wife, who then poisoned herself, Barker, decides to get even by shaving those responsible and then slitting their throats. (Sacha Baron Cohen also appears as a rival barber, and later as part of a meat pie.)
The movie is directed by the fun-horror master himself, Tim Burton, who convinced Depp to try singing – an important part of the role. Depp was very reluctant about his abilities at first – even scared – but his voice turned out to be not too bad. Not opera performance, but not bad.
Here’s the latest in The Dark Knight poster series, showing Heath Ledger’s Joker portrayal.
