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Edge of Darkness Trailer Disappointingly Lacking in Beavers. Today in Film Bloggery 10/15/09

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 1 month ago
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It’s been a long time since we saw Mel Gibson in a movie, and many people are anticipating his return to the big screen with a beaver puppet on his hand. And that makes us disappointed to learn that there’s this other Gibson vehicle arriving in theaters first: Edge of Darkness, the trailer for which arrived online last night. Couldn’t this be pushed back indefinitely (and we get Malick’s delayed The Tree of Life in its place)? Or, at least until after the Jodie Foster-directed The Beaver opens?

Such disappointment would be felt with any other Gibson movie after all the Beaver hype, but the feeling is exacerbated by the fact Edge of Darkness looks like just another vigilante thriller in the wake of Taken, Law Abiding Citizen and the Foster-starrer The Brave One. The cast is great, even if Danny Huston seems like 100 other characters he’s played before (not that I ever dislike his rehashed performances). And of course a script co-written by William Monahan and direction from Martin Campbell in his first feature gig since Casino Royale should mean the film won’t be terrible. Still, does anyone want to see this at all?

Check out what the other film blogs are saying about the trailer after the jump:

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Oscars 2010 - Thinking About Next Year Already. Today in Film Bloggery 02/10/09

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 9 months ago
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Yesterday, for the second time in two weeks, In Contention’s Kristopher Tapley confessed to being done with 2008 and noted a bunch of anticipated 2009 films. These aren’t necessarily titles he’s looking forward to seeing, though; it’s basically a preliminary jump on next year’s Oscar season. Because apparently this year’s Academy Awards are all but handed out, the winners properly predicted and expected, and now it’s time to think about what will be up for what in 2010. Those titles Tapley lists are Rob Marshall’s Nine, Peter Jackson’s Lovely Bones, Michael Mann’s Public Enemies, Clint Eastwood’s Mandela (formerly The Human Factor), Richard Curtis’ The Boat That Rocked, Scott Cooper’s Crazy Heart and the latest from Terrence Malick (The Tree of Life), Steven Soderbergh (The Informant), Paul Greengrass (Green Zone), Martin Scorsese (Shutter Island) and James Cameron (Avatar).

Oh, and then Jeff Wells had to go and hint that Spielberg’s Lincoln is likely to arrive by year’s end. What and who else is being foreseen as nominated this time next year? Check out the links after the jump.

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Observe and Report = The Dark Mall Cop. Today in Film Bloggery 02/09/09

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 9 months ago
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After flocking to theaters for the PG-rated Paul Blart: Mall Cop, is America ready for the R-rated version? That will be decided when Jody Hill’s Observe and Report hits theaters this April (and before that, SXSW next month). Starring Seth Rogen in the Kevin James role, the later of “the dueling mall cop movies” has a new NSFW red-band trailer, and it has all the Blart-haters on the net (many of whom probably didn’t see the movie) all excited. Never mind if Observe will be better (it will be for those who prefer a lot of F-bombs in their comedies), the real question is whether or not a darker, raunchier version of a movie that’s already a box office hit will in turn be a flop. Especially in these times of speculating that audiences want more hopeful yet more mindless entertainment. Considering Observe seems almost like a bridge between Paul Blart: Mall Cop and Taken, which took the box office top spot away from Blart a few weeks ago, it’s plausible that this could actually be Rogen’s biggest hit yet.

After the jump, check out the trailer and what people around the blogosphere are saying about it:
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Fox Delivers Blunt Blow to Fanboys. Trade Roughage 01/30/09

Christopher Campbell
By Christopher Campbell posted 10 months ago
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  • Fox may frustrate fanboys once again. Though not as sharp a jab as the studio’s Watchmen lawsuit, an option Fox holds on Emily Blunt could potentially keep her from playing Black Widow in Marvel/Paramount’s Iron Man 2 (a role she’s perfect for). Instead, she’ll have to settle on starring opposite Jack Black in Fox’s reimagined adaptation of Gulliver’s Travels.
  • And speaking of disappointing fanboys: as if Scott Derrickson hasn’t already done enough damage to science fiction with his recent remake of The Day the Earth Stood Still, he has just been tapped to direct a single movie combining two of Dan Simmons’ Hyperion novels.
  • 2009 Oscar nominee John Stevenson (Kung Fu Panda) will direct the new He-Man movie, Masters of the Universe. Worse than that, however, is Variety’s reminder that another 2009 nominee, Frank Langella, costarred as Skeletor in the godawful 1987 Masters of the Universe.
  • 2009 Oscar nominee Mickey Rourke (who is also slated for Iron Man 2) will star in a kind of anti-Slumdog Millionaire, an American gangster flick titled Broken Horses, that will be scripted, directed and co-produced by Indian filmmakers. It will be the first Hollywood film from Reliance Entertainment since the company funded the DreamWorks exit from Paramount last year.
  • “Breaking a longstanding taboo, Fox is releasing male-driven pic Taken on Super Bowl weekend,” begins the weekend box office preview from Variety. While I may believe that Taken could indeed be a guy movie, it certainly hasn’t been marketed as such. Anyway, I never understood the concept of a Sunday event keeping men from going to the movies on the Friday and Saturday before. So, if the film does take the top spot this weekend, I for one won’t be too shocked.