Death At A Funeral is the latest film from Frank Oz, who has a decent bit to answer for due to 2004’s criminally unfunny, ungood, and unwatchable The Stepford Wives. But try not to hold that against him too much. The guy’s giving us a well-reviewed comedy here, and he’s working with a supersharp Brit … Continue reading
–You can stop wringing your hands over the rounding out of casting for the upcoming Universal comedy Baby Mama. In a bold choice, smiley everyman Greg Kinnear has been cast as the male lead opposite female lead Tina Fey, while ER doc and The Claw proponent Maura Tierney has been added as Fey’s sister in … Continue reading
I must be getting old, because I remember a time when Renny Harlin was making movies people went to see, even when that was still a hit and miss affair. Example: The successful Die Hard 2 was followed up by flaming wreck The Adventures of Ford Fairline which was followed up by short-term Stallone resuscitator … Continue reading
Everyone’s favorite New Zealander-turned-Bond director-turned-Bond fan heartbreaker, Martin Campbell, has nabbed his next gig. After finishing out the upcoming thriller Unstoppable, Campbell will be taking the reigns of Paramount’s 36, a remake based on the 2004 French crime film 36 Quai Des Orfevres (the assumed address of the French Police’s Criminal Division).I missed the original … Continue reading
When I woke up this morning I was missing a friend. Daniel Robert Epstein passed away last night at only 31 years old. And although you may not know it, you lost somebody too – Dan was one of the best interviewers I have ever had the pleasure to know, and he was branching out, … Continue reading
We’ll know by the time the grosses for Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer are announced this weekend whether or not The Silver Surfer is going to get his own spin-off movie, but the folks at Fox are feeling very confident at the moment; according to the LA Times they’ve hired J Michael Straczynski … Continue reading
Currently on TV, there are three different regularly-televised showcases for black comedians. On HBO, Diddy’s Bad Boys of Comedy supposedly spotlights up-and-coming talent with an edgy twist. On Starz, Martin Lawrence’s 1st Amendment Stand Up does….roughly the same thing. And finally, and most embarrassingly, BET’s Comic View pretends to do the same, but in fact … Continue reading
With Ice Cube and Tyler Perry as the loudest voices of the moment, the state of mainstream black filmmaking is so rancid that any new venture is likely to be met with either open arms of joy or deep suspicion. (Spike can’t carry an entire culture on his shoulders, though I know he tries, and … Continue reading
I’m no Oscar prognosticator, but yesterday I saw what I consider to be the first performance that is a lock for a Best Actress nomination – Angelina Jolie in A Mighty Heart. Sure, there are dozens upon dozens of Oscar-bait movies waiting to burst out of the gate this fall, but the actresses in those … Continue reading
You gotta give William Hurt credit. While he’s always worked with a Samuel L. Jackson-esque frequency, he’s been able to dip into virtually every genre in both film and television, and even direct-to-DVD, without skipping a beat or leaving any sort of career-damaging stains despite having starred in a number of outright bombs/failures (e.g. Michael, … Continue reading