Warner Bros. has narrowed down the choices for the star of its Green Lanternmovie, and considering the three candidates have been publicly named, courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter,I’m thinking the studio should let the fans decide. Put the screen tests up online, allow us to ask a few questions of each of the eligible bachelors actors and then permit us to pick our favorite as though it were some kind of movie-casting version of The Dating Game.
In a way, we, the moviegoers, will end up entering a long relationship with the person put in the role of Hal Jordan, aka Green Lantern, and we don’t want this to be the old-fashioned arranged-courtship sort of ritual we typically get from Hollywood. It didn’t work for the last Superman movie, and many of us aren’t even that happy with the current Batman. Warner Bros. needs to learn from its mistakes and embrace democracy.
So, who should it be? The runners-up are: Bradley Cooper; Ryan Reynolds; and Justin Timberlake.
If you need help making up your mind, check out what the film bloggers have to say after the jump. I’m sitting this one out due to my unfamiliarity with the superhero, but I’d be curious to see how Timberlake would do in such a role.
Even though no readers bothered to guess the answer to the question asked in yesterday’s Bloggery post, I’m going two-for-two this week with another hot mystery: who will Fox get to fill the role of “B.A. Baracus,” originally played by Mr. T, in the A-Team movie? Regarding the trades’ confirmation that Bradley Cooperwill likely play “Face” in the Joe Carnahan-directed TV adaptation,along with the disappointing news that Liam Neesonmay be cast as “Hannibal,” many film blogs have reacted mostly with indifference. These aren’t the casting announcement we’re looking for, after all. We just want to know who the hell is going to try to take the place of someone as iconic as Mr. T.
I actually pity the poor fool whose job it is to make the casting choice. I also pity the person who has to decide if the new B.A. will sport Mr. T’s signature hairstyle and jewelry. And of course I pity the fool who has to play the part. He (Common, probably) is going to have to endure a lot of scrutiny long before he’s able to show audiences if he’s actually worthy.
While we’re waiting for the official announcement, though, bloggers are already on a roll with jokes about who should get the gig. Check out their ideas after the jump:
Surely this comes as no surprise to anyone, but the Academy has bypassed its rule for the Best Picture category to allow The Readerfour producers named as nominees. This special exception was made due to the film’s “rare and extraordinary circumstance” of having two of its producers, Sydney Pollack and Anthony Minghella, die during production. Though The Reader is a dark horse for the top award, there is now a slight chance we’ll see three posthumous Oscars awarded on February 22.
If ever there was a franchise that could use a do-over, its Lara Croft: Tomb Raider. Fortunately, Warner Bros. is rebooting the series and re-adapting the popular video game in a way that will “bear no resemblance to the original pictures.” That doesn’t necessarily mean it will be better, but it leaves room for that possibility.
The excellent Brazilian filmmaker Jose Padilha (Bus 174) has been stacking up Hollywood gigs since he won at Berlin last year with The Elite Squad, but the first project to go into production will be The Sigma Protocol, based on Robert Ludlum’s final novel, which will be modernized to focus on the present economy rather than on Nazis. Wait, does this mean recession fetish trumps Nazi fetish?
Joe Carnahan has put his troubled Pablo Escobar film to the side, for now, in order to direct and co-script The A-Teamfor producer Ridley Scott and executive producer Tony Scott. Could this be the greatest no-nonsense TV adaptation since S.W.A.T.? Carnahan’s view on the matter makes it seem so: “Fox hired me to make it as emotional, real and accessible as possible without cheesing it up.”
The latest film-centric trend on YouTube is apparently making fun of the new Star Trek trailer. And it goes way beyond the Smallvilleand 90210recuts I showcased last week. TrekMovie.com is collecting all the parodies, which also include a reverse recut featuring scenes from Smallville, another recut acknowleding the parallels to the Star Warsprequels, a weak clip using music from Top Gun and a hilarious recut employing the opening theme and credits style from The A-Team. Unfortunately, there’s still no Muppet Babiesversion, but I’m going to keep on checking back with my fingers crossed.
The best video included, though, is not quite a recut in the same class as the others. This one instead composites young Kirk footage into a scene from the original Star Trek TV show. It would be great even if William Shatner hadn’t already been publicly complaining about the film, but it’s even better knowing that Shatner likely had this exact reaction today. If he’s a good sport, he’ll even film a recreation of this clever YouTube clip.
We’ve had a bit of trouble getting this episode to go through the iTunes feed, so we hope this re-post will fix the problem. The original post, with episode description and embedded player, is here.
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Even though no readers bothered to guess the answer to the question asked in yesterday’s Bloggery post, I’m going two-for-two this week with another hot mystery: who will Fox get to fill the role of “B.A. Baracus,” originally played by Mr. T, in the A-Team movie? Regarding the trades’ confirmation that Bradley Cooper will likely play “Face” in the Joe Carnahan-directed TV adaptation, along with the disappointing news that Liam Neeson may be cast as “Hannibal,” many film blogs have reacted mostly with indifference. These aren’t the casting announcement we’re looking for, after all. We just want to know who the hell is going to try to take the place of someone as iconic as Mr. T.
Surely this comes as no surprise to anyone, but the Academy has bypassed its rule for the Best Picture category 
