With Super Bowl Sunday fast approaching, it’s time to get a little NFL-centric.

The Super Bowl is not just about splendid TV spots for upcoming cinema releases, there is a game to be played too. Many of us on this side of the North Atlantic rather look down our noses at American Football. Some dismiss it as rugby for softies (the “too much padding” argument), others as too stop-start (the “not as fluid as proper football” argument), others as too convoluted (the “I don’t really understand what’s happening here” argument).

For what my opinion is worth (please don’t tell me how little that is, I really am quite delicate) I think American Football is hugely entertaining and easily comprehensible, but more than that, the intricate choreography of its set-piece plays is so much better suited to cinema than either rugby or normal football.

Disagree? Tell me of a convincing and realistic portrayal of football in cinema? Mean Machine? Escape to Victory? You see?

Now of course that doesn’t make American Football a better or more compelling sport, but this is a film blog and so what it does make it is a better theme for a Six Of The Best article, in this case, Six of the Best cinematic portrayals of American Football. The film doesn’t need to be wholly or exclusively about Gridiron, but it must be a legitimate theme rather than a mere background detail. The Waterboy would be eligible, but sadly doesn’t make the list because it is deeply and enduringly terrible.

The excellent and exciting American Football-themed opening to Welcome to the Jungle (or “The Rundown” as it is otherwise known) is probably too peripheral a reference to qualify, more’s the pity. So what’s in? Here’s my list, please feel free to lambast me in the comments section for any glaring omissions, but be gentle. Remember, I’m delicate.

1. Jerry Maguire

Although Cameron Crowe’s 1996 film is not essentially about sport, but rather about a man trying to find his way to being the man he should and wants to be, American Football is threaded through. Very little on-field action is presented to us, save for the nail-biting finale when we wonder whether Rod Tidwell (a never-better Cuba Gooding Jr) will be able to pick himself up from the crunching end zone tackle that leaves him flat on his back, but the world of the NFL is there all the way through, from players getting caught in compromising situations, to the quest for a life-changing multi-year contract, to a splendid cameo from the Cowboys Troy Aikman (“I really liked your memo”).

Ultimately, Jerry Maguire is a great film because of its delicious script, note-perfect performances and deftly handled direction, not because it revolves around the world of the NFL, but revolve it does, commenting on the unpleasant side-effects of exclusive merchandising deals and the impact on the wives and children of professional athletes who continue to put their bodies in danger because they have such a small window within which to make their living. Although these matters are not the principal concern of the film (the condition of Jerry’s heart is), it is a fascinating insight to some of the collateral damage occasioned by American Football.

Eleven years ago, with the release of Richard Kelly’s seminal cult classic Donnie Darko, the thought that I might be one day vying to defend this once prolific director to a dismissive general public and disenfranchised fanbase would have been as counter-intuitive as thoughts come.

Following the theatrical release of Kelly’s freshman effort – which introduced the world to not only one, but two Gyllenhaals – it was widely accepted that the director could in fact do no wrong, and that a long and illustrious career lay ahead as he continued to baffle audiences with his trans-dimensional tales of suburban apocalypse.

Since then, however, everything has changed: a divisive director’s cut, and unofficial sequel and a two poorly received releases later, Kelly is no longer held in such high esteem. He has been derided, his storytelling abilities questioned and his imagination mocked. Nonetheless, with the benefit of hindsight, I cannot help but challenge this new opinion of Kelly as a self-indulgent and impenetrable pulp-existentialist.

Donnie Darko: The Director’s Cut

When Richard Kelly’s Donnie Darko made its début back in 2001, the cinemagoing public was almost unanimous in its indifference. Well, it would have been if anyone had actually gone to see it. It wasn’t long, however, until overwhelming critical acclaim and persistent word of mouth spread and the film developed a dedicated cult following. With the film’s fans showing an insatiable thirst for more information, eager to make some sense of the film’s most enigmatic complexities, Kelly released a director’s cut in an attempt to maximise his audience’s enjoyment and understanding of the story.

For many, however, the release of the new cut of the movie had the opposite effect, with many viewer’s enjoyment of the film apparently mired by the new and extended scenes. In a somewhat predictable backlash on a film many hadn’t seen coming, stars were hastily deducted and Kelly’s abilities questioned due to a slightly altered pace and an additional 20 minutes of running time. As Kelly delved deeper into his film’s mythology and began to compromise the human element of his story in favour of a greater sense of narrative coherence, the director’s winning streak came to an almost immediate end, and he fell into an underserved disrepute that would haunt his next two features.

But Donnie Darko isn’t a lesser movie simply because Kelly has attempted to elaborate on his initial premise and endeavoured to find a clearer way of telling his story; if anything, it’s gained greater immersive value. The original film was ambitious enough, and while there might be those who miss the margin for interpretation provided by the missing pieces of the puzzle, they underestimate a version of the movie steeped in just as much ambiguity. It’s the same masterpiece, just with a different arrangement.

Southland Tales

The story of Southland Tales‘ troubled production is infamous: lambasted following its début at Cannes, Richard Kelly’s follow-up to cult favourite Donnie Darko re-entered post production for a much needed emergency overhaul – in which the director hacked furiously at a movie rejected by critics as calamitous, self-indulgent and unsalvageable. Even in its heavily edited form, released theatrically eighteen months later, Kelly’s film failed to redeem itself in the eyes of most.

Southland Tales is the sort of movie that features two cars having sex, an unlimited fuel source that can also get you high, and which casts Justin Timberlake only to have him lip-sinc to The Killers’ All These Things That I’ve Done. It is a film of criss-crossing narratives, conflicting genres and one which has an opinion on just about everything. A post-apocalyptic satire with a dream sequence musical interlude, Kelly has constructed a sprawling narrative which encompasses everything from reality television and celebrity culture to terrorism, cyber-censorship and surveillance. Not to mention the important topic of teen horniness.

But while it might flirt with pretension and occasionally border on the obtuse, Southland Tales is better for its eccentricities than it is worse off. Kelly has crafted an intricate and rewarding tale that – while initially confounding – has more and more to give with every viewing. Casting actors otherwise pigeonholed, Kelly has wrung interesting – if hardly naturalistic – performances from Dwayne Johnson and Sarah Michelle Gellar, while finding an unexpected emotional centre with an uncharacteristically toned-down and heartfelt double-performance from professional idiot Seann William Scott.

The Box

Kelly’s most recent offering is a comparably personal tale of familial and philosophical conflict. Starring James Marsden and Cameron Diaz as partial representations of his parents, the film asks what you might do if offered extraordinary riches at the expense of the life of a stranger. With the couple’s decision leading them to discover a society rife with conspiracy and their deal with the devil having unforeseen implications for their only child, the two actors wring almost unbearable tension out of a relatively simple concept.

While the hallmarks of a Kelly production are indeed present and accounted for – from the inexplicable water coffins to the mind-bendingly poignant final reveal – The Box makes a conscious attempt to dial down the crazy in order to appeal to a wider audience. Although decidedly more commercial than Donnie Darko and Southland Tales, however, this is no Hollywood sell-out, the film proving characteristically rife with intrigue and underscored by a welcome intelligence.

With one character’s face blown off and another’s toes missing, this is a movie that spends as much time outside the box as it does within. Packing zombies, aliens and a twist that isn’t so much unpredictable as hauntingly inevitable, Kelly has produced another winning blend of genres that successfully transcends its constituent influences to become more than the sum of its parts. When such parts include an ex X-Man and Cameron “The Holiday” Diaz, that’s all the more surprising.

All in all, then, Richard Kelly isn’t some one-hit-wonder turned laughing stock. To write his movies off simply because they fail to live up to the standards set by his original cut of Donnie Darko would be to do his subsequent works a great disservice. He is an auteur, a filmmaker unwilling to compromise his own vision, however impenetrable and non-commercial it may prove. A Richard Kelly film is one that straddles genres, as well as time and space; one which casts actors against type and juxtaposes music with striking visuals; a movie which strains under the very weight of its filmmaker’s limitless ambition, with a bullet in its eye and a paradox at its heart.

With only three such films to his name, I can only hope that there are many more to come. And so should you.

I think news that the very popular pregnancy book, What To Expect When You’re Expecting, was going to be making its big-screen debut took everyone a little bit by surprise, given that the book itself isn’t so much a novel as a does-what-it-says-on-the-tin guidebook. (I believe – I’m yet to be expecting, myself.)

In reality, the film isn’t specifically adapting the book itself, but rather taking the idea and turning it into a film, and Yahoo Movies have just put up the first trailer, and it looks pretty excellent; a rom-com for us to look forward to next year.

When you have an ensemble cast that includes the likes of Elizabeth Banks, Anna Kendrick, Cameron Diaz, Dennis Quaid, Jennifer Lopez, Chace Crawford, Chris Rock, Matthew Morrison, Thomas Lennon, and Joe Manganiello, it’s either going to be a huge hit or a big disappointment, and this certainly looks like it’s going to be a success.

As you can imagine from the title, the film centres around five couples on the path to parenthood, and the trailer looks like the comedy should be coming in doses just as big as the romance, and with a cast that big, it should have a pretty wide appeal.

Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee) has directed a script written first by Heather Hach (Freaky Friday) with a rewrite coming from Shauna Cross (Whip It), with the original source material being Heidi Murkoff’s book of the same name.

What To Expect When You’re Expecting, which is also set to feature a cameo from our own Cheryl Cole, will be released here in the UK on 18th May next year, and it looks like it’s going to be a great light-hearted way to see out the end of spring ahead of the immense summer blockbusters we’re all looking forward to.

That release date currently lines it up against Sacha Baron Cohen’s next film, The Dictator, with Tim Burton’s Dark Shadows coming out a week before it and Men in Black III coming out a week after. Without further ado, here’s the great first trailer for the film (with the exception of the pretty poor and far too obvious ‘Expect the Unexpected’ tagline at the end). Enjoy.

The ensemble romantic comedy, What To Expect When You’re Expecting, has more famous names attached to the film than you can shake a stick at, and according to the BBC, one more name has unexpectedly just signed on to the project.

Cheryl Cole, who is currently at work on her third solo album during Girls Aloud’s present hiatus, has been confirmed to have a small cameo that will mark her feature film debut.

The film is to be directed by Kirk Jones (Nanny McPhee), with an early script by Heather Hach (Freaky Friday) that has been re-written by Shauna Cross (Whip It). What To Expect When You’re Expecting is based on the bestselling parenthood book of the same name, and though no plot is traceable through the original book, they’re turning it into a movie all the same. I think it’s one of those cases where they’re paying for the name more than the book itself, because so many millions of people across the world already know the title of the book.

The film will follow a number of couples as they become pregnant, and its cast already includes Elizabeth Banks, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Lopez, Anna Kendrick, Dennis Quaid, Chace Crawford, Chris Rock, and Matthew Morrison. Cole’s role is still yet to be confirmed, but it is rumoured that she’ll be playing a TV talent show judge.

If the rumours are true, it shouldn’t be too difficult a part for her to play, given that she’s had a wealth of experience in that field already with The X Factor’s fifth, sixth, and seventh series. Cole has in fact technically already had a minor cameo in the 2007 St. Trinian’s film with the rest of Girls Aloud as the school band, but (to the best of my knowledge, having not seen the film) she was just a performer in that film rather than being given a role to act, like she is being given now. She was going to be seen next in the first season of the US version of the show, but was recently let go from the judging panel, and won’t be returning for the UK’s next season either.

Rather than let that get to her, it looks like she’s now making her way into different forays and will be working on improving her recognition in America through film rather than television. I personally thought she was by the far the best judge on the UK version of The X Factor, and it will be interesting to see how big Cole’s cameo is, and whether or not it will be the start of a big screen presence from the English star. Maybe not, but we’ll see. At the very least, she has a genuine and natural charm that should come across nicely on screen. Filming has already begun for the project, with an aim to release the film in the US in May next year, and likely soon after here in the UK.

The Farrelly Brothers new movie, Hall Pass was released earlier this week on DVD and Blu-ray (order your copy here) and we managed to catch up with two of the stars of the movie, Owen Wilson and Jason Sudeikis, to chat about how they found filming and what we can expect from it.

Hall Pass also stars Christina Applegate, Richard Jenkins and Stephen Merchant. Scroll down to view our interview with the duo.

If you missed our theatrical review of the film, you can check it out here.

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HeyUGuys: Tell us about Rick and Fred and how they drive their wives to give them Hall Pass…

JASON SUDEIKIS: Why do they drive them to do it?  They don’t know any better, it’s unintentional.

OWEN WILSON:  Rick never really finds out exactly how Fred got his hall pass.  With Rick, his wife’s a little frustrated. We’re in a little bit of a rut in our marriage, and she sees him kind of looking at other women. She’s says, ‘Okay, if he thinks the grass is greener, you know what, take a week off from marriage.’

JASON SUDEIKIS: Go over there and try to mow some grass, buddy.

OWEN WILSON: Have at it. See how it works for you.

HeyUGuys: Was there a lot of ad-libbing happening?

JASON SUDEIKIS: Not so much ad-libbing as it was just discussing the scene quickly before you do it. Then you would have a little bit of a nuance or a way to change the line or make it feel a little more natural, and then you make the adjustment.

When you have someone as skilled [as Owen] it’d have to make sense to him in order for it to work for me.

HeyUGuys: Owen, what’s it like not getting the girls?  Is it a big change from your past roles?

With this character, as soon as I put on the wardrobe and looked in the mirror at the look that they had for me I realized that this character is not cool. It was bit of a funny look. It seemed very suburban schlub.

HeyUGuys: What was it like on the set?  Was it hard to keep it together?

JASON SUDEIKIS: Not during the scenes, I don’t think we really wasted a lot of takes.  Yet, we were having a good time. A lot of the crazy things we had to do weren’t together.  It was when we were separate – me in the car, Owen in the hot tub

OWEN WILSON: I was just begging to get Jason back.  It was when I was on my own that I had to do the crazy stuff.

HeyUGuys: Jason, what’s your favorite part about Owen in this movie?

JASON SUDEIKIS: It would probably be how believable he is at the end of the movie. I like that little speech that he gives he explains to Jenna about his feelings. I’m a sucker for that kind of stuff.  I think that’s usually my favorite parts in a movie is when it comes around to the other side.

HeyUGuys: Owen, how about you with Jason?

OWEN WILSON: I can just look at the poster and the set to his expression.  It’s jaunty. There’s something very funny to me about somebody’s who’s very like very inept, but very jaunty about it; screwing things up and getting things wrong, but still has like a misplaced confidence in himself. It was a very lovable quality that old Fred had.

——————

To say that Elizabeth Halsey (Cameron Diaz) is lacking the necessary skills to be a decent teacher would be an understatement of epic proportions. Prone to staggering into work nursing a debilitating hangover and generally treating all her high school students with the utmost contempt, she’s biding her time before its wedding bells for her and her extremely wealthy fiancé.

Trouble starts when said fiancé is pressured into dumping her by his non-nonsense mother and Halsey is forced to stay on at the school she despises. Pretty soon she spots another potential big win in the form of a new substitute teacher and heir to a big clothing empire, Scott Delacorte (Justin Timberlake). She discovers however, that Scott is also being pursued by another colleague, the exasperatingly jolly and perpetually breezy Amy Squirrell (Lucy Punch). Halsey decides that perhaps a little surgical enhancement may sway Delacorte’s opinion and she sets off on a mission to raise the funds needed, all to the bemusement of the school’s easy-going gym teacher Russell Gettis (Jason Segel), who finds himself falling for his shallow co-worker (god knows why!).

Bad Teacher comes with a strong comedic pedigree attached. Featuring alumni from the short-lived, much-loved coming-of-age comedy TV series Freaks and Geeks (stars Jason Segal, Dave ‘Gruber’ Allen, composer Michael Andrews and the show’s consulting producer and sometime director, Jake Kasdan) and the writing duo behind the US version of The Office (Gene Stupnitsky and Lee Eisenberg), the film should be as close to comedic alchemy as you can get. Unfortunately, it never really comes fully alive, and despite the best efforts of co-stars Punch and Segal, the script offers nothing fresh or new in an already tiresome set-up, and is further stymied by a weak central performance from Diaz.

Unlike the similarly-themed and monikered Bad Santa, where Billy Bob Thornton was genuinely repellent and believable as a grade-A curmudgeon, Diaz’s badness feels rather one-dimensional, and just by dropping loads of f-bombs during school hours and insulting member of staff and students doesn’t necessarily make for a humorous time.

Comedic scenarios we’ve seen time and time again are wheeled out once more. A charity car wash within the school grounds which Diaz hijacks to make money for her boob fund is particularly tedious and predictable, even calling to mind a similar scene from the actresses’ past oeuvre, Charlie’s Angels. It’s all provocative poses, soaped up cleavage shots and slow-mo hose action, which may have been acceptable (and indeed funnier) years back, but as Diaz is pushing 40 now, you almost want a character from the film to step out with a towel and drag her away from the sad spectacle she’s making of herself.

The scripts short-comings also have an effect on Timberlake’s character, and although he has an extremely funny fully-clothed romp with Diaz mid-way through, his holier-then-thou and straight-laced do-gooder is yet another comedy trope and the actor struggles to breathe life into this broad caricature.

Segal is his usual laidback and effortlessly funny self, although he isn’t in it long enough and the scenes he shares with Diaz end up highlighting her own comedic shortcomings really. It’s nice to see UK comedienne Lucy Punch making a solid impression in her first big US comedy, and she’s a lot of fun as that recognisable teacher, whose overly enthusiastic day-to-day education of young minds borders on the unhinged. Her whole gee whiz persona and terminally sunny disposition begins to show serious cracks later on in proceedings and many of the films laughs are found here.

There are a handful of genuinely funny moments in the film (Diaz’s complete disregard to the job results in her continuously screening high school-related films to her class while she sleeps off yet another night on the tiles) but they’re few and far between, which is a real shame coming from a team who are working within a field which they are renowned for and of which is their forte.

If Bad Teacher was to receive an end-of-year report from school, it would read – “an all-round disappointing effort and fully capable of achieving better”.

**~~~ (2/5)

This evening saw the 2011 MTV Movie Awards in LA. Not surprisingly, Twilight: Eclipse was the big winner as is becoming normal at the event!A full list of winners is posted below. Harry Potter came in with only one award where as Kick Ass managed to get a couple both for Hitgirl herself, Chloe Moretz.

The ceremony was as epic as always and boasted presenters including: Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Steve Carell, Emma Stone, Shia LaBeouf, Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, Josh Duhamel, Patrick Dempsey, Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Jesse Eisenberg, Aziz Ansari, Danny McBride, Nicki Minaj, Selena Gomez, Leighton Meester and Katie Cassidy. The event was hosted by Jason Sudeikis, in the Gibson Amphitheatre in Universal City, CA.

Columbia Pictures have released a couple more clips from their new comedy, Bad Teacher which is helmed by Jake Kasdan and stars Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Lucy Punch, Justin Timberlake, Thomas Lennon and Eric Stonestreet.

Synopsis: Some teachers just don’t give an F. For example, there’s Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz). She’s foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate. She drinks, she gets high, and she can’t wait to marry her meal ticket and get out of her bogus day job. When she’s dumped by her fiancée, she sets her plan in motion to win over a rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) – competing for his affections with an overly energetic colleague, Amy (Lucy Punch). When Elizabeth also finds herself fighting off the advances of a sarcastic, irreverent gym teacher (Jason Segel), the consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, her coworkers, and even herself an education like no other.

The movie hits UK cinemas 24th June. If you missed the trailer, you can click here to view.

Source: MSN & Yahoo

Columbia Pictures have released what I beleive to be the second poster for their new movie, Bad Teacher which is directed by Jake Kasdan and stars Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Lucy Punch, Justin Timberlake, Thomas Lennon and Eric Stonestreet.

Synopsis: Some teachers just don’t give an F. For example, there’s Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz). She’s foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate. She drinks, she gets high, and she can’t wait to marry her meal ticket and get out of her bogus day job. When she’s dumped by her fiance, she sets her plan in motion to win over a rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) – competing for his affections with an overly energetic colleague, Amy (Lucy Punch). When Elizabeth also finds herself fighting off the advances of a sarcastic, irreverent gym teacher (Jason Segel), the consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, her coworkers, and even herself an education like no other.

The movie hits UK cinemas 24th June. If you missed the trailer, you can click here to view.

Source: IMPA

Con caper Gambit has now begun filming over here in London, and here is the first image of leads Colin Firth and Cameron Diaz.

A remake of the popular 1966 feature, which starred Shirley MacLaine and Michael Caine, this version (scripted by Joel and Ethan Coen no less!) see’s Firth playing a British art curator who cooks up a plan to rip-off a rich art collector and calls on the talents of a Texas rodeo queen (Diaz) to help me with his scheme.

With a fine supporting cast (including the likes of Stanley Tucci, Cloris Leachman Alan Rickman and Tom Courtenay) and direction by Michael (Restoration) Hoffman, this is perhaps one of the more welcomed remakes of late. Firth appears to be channelling the image of original lead Caine with the dark-rimmed spectacles he’s wearing.

I am not the natural audience for The Green Hornet.  I was not the audience envisioned when the concept of this film was approved, scripted, cast and all the way to when the publicists sat about planning their campaign and subsequently sent me the Blu-ray.

This is not a bad thing necessarily because, while there are some classic films that I count in my top 500, there are also some clangers.  I enjoy eclectic films to the same degree as I consume romance and action adventure, although clearly not in the same way.  So while there are many a times when I hanker after some quality comic book violence The Green Hornet will not feature in my must-watch list because frankly I found it a little dull.

Admittedly, I am not a die hard fan of the original radio or comic book incarnations of the eponymous hero, but I considered myself sufficiently game to enjoy it and sadly I was left thinking that this was two hours of my life that I could never get back.

We enter the world of The Green Hornet amidst ongoing parental criticism directed at a prepubescent Britt Reid (AKA The Green Hornet, but not yet..) for being a failure.  Tom Wilkinson is a hard nosed newspaper editor and father, whose patience and emotion cannot stretch to support a son who is not meeting his expectations.  Zoom to the present and Britt is living in his father’s pool house, spending loads of cash on partying and women and his father ism naturally, still disappointed.  When he dies unexpectedly in suspicious circumstances Britt does not attempt to revenge him, but during a drunken night with the only man who can make a good cup of coffee, Kato, he attempts to deface his father’s grave by stealing the head of his statue and stumbles across a gang with evil intentions towards an innocent couple.  A latent sense of morality sets in and with Kato at his side he kicks some bad guy ass.  This is to be the beginning of a crime fighting partnership with a twist, but as the story develops it fails to deliver, much less sustain, the punch.

My belief is that you have to have a sense of interest and engagement with your hero to care about what happens to him/her and what motivates his actions.  This is not something that was in any way nurtured in this film by Seth Rogen, who plays the same version of himself we saw in Knocked Up with even less grace.  Jay Chou as Kato cannot fail to be more compelling and sophisticated by comparison and while it seems as though that may be the point, it  remains a challenge not to root for the excellent Christoph Waltz who hams it up superbly as the bad guy Chudnofsky.  This is an odd choice of film for Michel Gondry, whose tolerance for the schlub heroes of the noughties, such as Rogen and Jack Black is much higher than expected.  Overall the script is flat and the acting muffled by a storyline that feels forced and disconnected, or maybe I just was not drinking enough.

There are some highlights that may compel you to add this Blu-ray to your collection: Gondry’s ‘Kato’ vision, the use of slow motion and tactics before the fight sequences is rather cool and worth a repeated look; in among a film that feels like a bit of a mess I actually found myself liking Cameron Diaz’s performance which I felt had a degree of presence lacking from Rogen and Chou; the cars are amazing and the DVD allows you the chance to pause and enjoy. A missed opportunity with flashes of something brighter hiding in plain sight, blink and you’ll miss them.

**~~~ (2/5)

DVD Special Features:

Filmmakers’ Commentary
“Awesoom”-Gag Reel
Writing The Green Hornet
The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool

BluRay Special Features:

Jay Chou Audition
Double Barrel
movieIQ
The Green Hornet Cutting Room
Filmmakers’ Commentary
“Awesoom”-Gag Reel
“Trust Me” -Director Michel Gondry
Writing The Green Hornet
The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool
The Stunt Family Armstrong
Finding Kato
The Art of Destruction

The Green Hornet is out on Blu-ray and DVD today and available to rent here.

MTV have released a nice new batch of images of upcoming movies this summer and we’ll show you each one in a series of posts over the next few days.

Title: Bad Teacher

Director: Jake Kasdan

Cast: Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Lucy Punch, Justin Timberlake, Thomas Lennon, Eric Stonestreet

Synopsis: Some teachers just don’t give an F. For example, there’s Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz). She’s foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate. She drinks, she gets high, and she can’t wait to marry her meal ticket and get out of her bogus day job. When she’s dumped by her fiance, she sets her plan in motion to win over a rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) – competing for his affections with an overly energetic colleague, Amy (Lucy Punch). When Elizabeth also finds herself fighting off the advances of a sarcastic, irreverent gym teacher (Jason Segel), the consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, her coworkers, and even herself an education like no other.

UK Release date: 24th June

Trailer: Click here to view.

Source: MTV

The Green Hornet had a great cast and a visionary director on board and with Michel Gondry’s film out on Blu-ray and DVD next Monday we’ve been sent this fine clip to entice you to part with your money.

Of course, you’ll want to read Craig’s review first. Done that? Right, onto the vid.

The clip is entitled ‘You’re the Mastermind’so expect sycophancy and arcobatic fighting to go hand in hand with this one and if you held off from catching it at the cinema then this gives a fairly good idea of the hijinx on display in Gondry’s films.

Now that 3D TVs are out there’s a new category to delineate and I’ve included s the full whack of extras and features present out on the 3D Blu-ray, Blu-ray and DVD below the clip.

Here’s your clip,

Extras.

Blu-ray 3D Bonus Material

• Feature Film in 3d
• 3D Animated Storyboard Comparisons (exclusive to the 3D Blu-ray)
• Filmmakers’ Commentary

Blu-ray Bonus Material

• Feature Film in 2D
• The Green Hornet Cutting Room (exclusive to the Blu-ray)
• Deleted Scenes
• “Awesoom” -Gag Reel
• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• “Trust Me” –Director Michel Gondry featurette
• Writing The Green Hornet featurette
• The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool featurette
• The Stunt Family Armstrong featurette
• Finding Kato featurette
• The Art of Destruction featurette
• movieIQ
• Jay Chou Audition (Easter Egg)
• Double Barrel (Easter Egg)

DVD Bonus Material

• “Awesoom” –Gag Reel
• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• Writing The Green Hornet featurette
• The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool featurette

To celebrate the release of The Green Hornet on May 2nd, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment have given us three copies of the movie to give away on Blu-ray. Seth Rogen, Jay Chou, Oscar® Winner Christoph Waltz and Cameron Diaz all star in the movie directed by Michel Gondry.

Seth Rogen (Pineapple Express) stars as a self-made superhero in this high-octane buddy action/adventure co-starring Asian pop superstar Jay Chou (Curse of the Golden Flower), Tom Wilkinson (Michael Clayton), Oscar® Winner Christoph Waltz (Best Actor in a Supporting Role for Inglourious Basterds, 2009) and Cameron Diaz (upcoming Bad Teacher). Oscar® winning director Michel Gondry (Best Writing, Original Screenplay for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, 2004 – shared with Charlie Kaufman and Pierre Bismuth) brings his unique, cutting-edge visual style to this slick updating of the classic adventures of the masked vigilante “The Green Hornet” and his industrious sidekick “Kato.” Packed with irreverent humour and “explosive action” (Elizabeth Weitzman, New York Daily News), THE GREEN HORNET is the superhero hit moviegoers have been buzzing about all winter. Now, action fans can catch the excitement on Blu-ray 3D, Blu-ray and DVD, featuring eye-popping picture and sound, plus the latest in high-tech bonus features!

Blu-ray 3D Bonus Material

• Feature Film in 3D
• 3D Animated Storyboard Comparisons (exclusive to the 3D Blu-ray)
• Filmmakers’ Commentary

Blu-ray Bonus Material

• Feature Film in 2D
• The Green Hornet Cutting Room (exclusive to the Blu-ray)
• Deleted Scenes
• “Awesoom” -Gag Reel
• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• “Trust Me” –Director Michel Gondry featurette
• Writing The Green Hornet featurette
• The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool featurette
• The Stunt Family Armstrong featurette
• Finding Kato featurette
• The Art of Destruction featurette
• movieIQ
• Jay Chou Audition (Easter Egg)
• Double Barrel (Easter Egg)

DVD Bonus Material

• “Awesoom” –Gag Reel
• Filmmakers’ Commentary
• Writing The Green Hornet featurette
• The Black Beauty: Rebirth of Cool featurette

To be in with a chance of winning the movie on Blu-ray, please answer the following question using the form below:

Who play Kato in the original TV series, The Green Hornet?

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• Only one entry per household will be counted
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The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

We’ve had the naughty sweary version of the Bad Teacher trailer, a great poster and this evening Yahoo have released the non-sweary Green band version for our viewing pleasure! This movie looks great and is one I’m looking forward to very much with Diaz basically proving that there are a lot of teachers out there who hate school more than the kids that attend them!

Bad Teacher stars Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake Lucy Punch, Thomas Lennon, Eric Stonestreet, is directed by Jake Kasdan and is scheduled for release June 2011.

Synopsis: Some teachers just don’t give an F. For example, there’s Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz). She’s foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate. She drinks, she gets high, and she can’t wait to marry her meal ticket and get out of her bogus day job. When she’s dumped by her fiancé, she sets her plan in motion to win over a rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) – competing for his affections with an overly energetic colleague, Amy (Lucy Punch). When Elizabeth also finds herself fighting off the advances of a sarcastic, irreverent gym teacher (Jason Segel), the consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, her coworkers, and even herself an education like no other.

Sony Pictures have unveiled the first official poster for R-rated comedy Bad Teacher.

Directed by Jake Kasdan (Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story), Bad Teacher stars Cameron Diaz (The Green Hornet), Justin Timberlake (The Social Network), Jason Segal (Forgetting Sarah Marshall) and Lucy Punch (Take Me Home Tonight).

After being dumped by her sugar daddy, a foul-mouthed teacher (Diaz) begins to woo a colleague – a move that pits her against a much-loved colleague.

Bad Teacher will be released in the UK on June 24, 2011.

Check out the silly poster below:

Source: Just Jared

The Farrelly brothers are back with new recruit Owen Wilson (Farrelly veteran Ben Stiller must have been too busy being a daft Focker yet again) for new comedy Hall Pass.

Wilson stars as Rick, a loving husband and family man who is granted a ‘Hall Pass’ by his wife, allowing him to essentially live life as a single man for the week. Joined by best friend Fred (Ed Helms look-a-like Jason Sudeikis), the two set off on a mission to nail anything in a skirt although, unbeknownst to them, both wives are starting to explore the same possibilities of this new found freedom too.

Cast your mind back to 1994 when brothers Peter and Bobby first arrived on cinema screens with Dumb and Dumber. Dubbed an instant comedy classic by many, the two followed it up with the more modest money-making (but no less funny) Kingpin, before scoring another huge hit with 1998’s crude, yet sweet, crowd-pleaser, There’s Something About Mary. In the years since, it’s been a case of diminishing returns for the brothers, who have never been able to top the jizz folic-enhancing, testicle-mashing antics of that Ben Stiller/Cameron Diaz feature. Hall Pass does nothing to buck the trend either, and is the weakest film so far in the brother’s dick and fart oeuvre (which after the likes of Shallow Hal is really saying something).

After using the flimsiest of premises as a springboard, the film lumbers from one unfunny and contrived comedy set-piece to another. We’ve been witness to films in the past where the main characters’ actions don’t make any sense from an emotional viewpoint (for instance, would Andy really have been intially so blasé about his old toys?) but unlike that film, the ensuing material here isn’t strong enough to forgive and forget any initial niggling plot concerns. It doesn’t even manage to elicit laughs on a basic, puerile level. Some of the situations the duo find themselves in wouldn’t look out of place (minus the crudity) in a bad 70’s UK sitcom. Jokes are recycled from previous Farrelly films and one scene in particular, where Wilson falls asleep in a Jacuzzi, only to be rescued by two naked male sauna guests, is completely misjudged and comes across as just plain weird and even mildly racist.

The subplot involving the two unrealistically easy-going wives, which runs parallel to the guys’ escapades, doesn’t go anywhere funny either, and the Farrelly brothers have a couple of really odd-looking and completely charisma-free unknowns in the roles of potential suitors for the females. Seriously, they’re such a strange choice that it wouldn’t be surprising if the directors insisted on casting members of their own family or circle of friends as some kind of ill-conceived favour to them.

An older and ragged-looking Wilson (whose characteristically wonky conk is really distracting here) is going through the motions and is clearly way better than what he’s asked to do here, as are both Christina Applegate (who play’s Sudeikis’ needy wife) and esteemed character actor Richard Jenkins. He’s introduced half-way through proceedings as some kind of sexual Jedi master to help assist the men in their quest (you may have half-smiled at his nightclub scene in the trailer), but his initially welcomed presence is short-lived when even he can’t do anything with the jaded material.

The film’s one and only saving grace is our very own Stephen Merchant, who is at his bug-eyed best playing an additional member of Rick and Fred’s gang. He fares better than any of the other cast, although he isn’t in it nearly enough, and disappears 20 minutes in and isn’t seen again until during the closing credits where, incidentally, the film’s only real laughs can be found.

Perhaps the biggest crime committed here however, is the running time. The film clocks in at 107 minutes!!! That’s almost two (mostly laugh-free) hours – a self-indulgent display for any comedy, but for one as desperately humourless as Hall Pass, it’s a disgrace. The last 30 minutes or in particular are tough to endure.

In an age where vulgar, laddish humour stills reigns at the box office (you only have to look at the phenomenal success of The Hangover), the Farrelly brothers brand feels even more tired and antiquated when compared against that box office behemoth.

Some may still be able to find a modicum of enjoyment here, regardless of the lazy writing and the overwhelming sense of déjà vu, but for those who like toilet humour which doesn’t necessary have to appeal to the lowest common denominator, you should definitely pass on this.

*~~~~ (1/5)

Columbia Pictures released a brand new red band trailer for their new movie, Bad teacher last night and it looks pretty funny. It stars Cameron Diaz, Jason Segel, Justin Timberlake Lucy Punch, Thomas Lennon, Eric Stonestreet, is directed by Jake Kasdan and is scheduled for release June 2011.

Synopsis: Some teachers just don’t give an F. For example, there’s Elizabeth (Cameron Diaz). She’s foul-mouthed, ruthless, and inappropriate. She drinks, she gets high, and she can’t wait to marry her meal ticket and get out of her bogus day job. When she’s dumped by her fiancé, she sets her plan in motion to win over a rich, handsome substitute (Justin Timberlake) – competing for his affections with an overly energetic colleague, Amy (Lucy Punch). When Elizabeth also finds herself fighting off the advances of a sarcastic, irreverent gym teacher (Jason Segel), the consequences of her wild and outrageous schemes give her students, her coworkers, and even herself an education like no other.

This movie looks like it’s going to be a lot of fun, so check it out below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

Please note, this trailer is a red band trailer and contains swearing.

Alliance Films have picked up the rights to distribute Gambit in Canada, the UK and Spain.

Gambit, a caper film written by Joel and Ethan Coen, is set to star Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Cameron Diaz (The Green Hornet).

Michael Hoffman is attached to direct.

A British thief (Firth) comes up with a fool-proof plan to steal an expensive statue from one of the richest men in the world. His strategy involves the participation of a beautiful woman (Diaz) who happens to be the spitting image of the rich man’s late wife. But nothing goes as planned.

Gambit will shoot in London this May.

Source: THR

Dakota Fanning (The Runaways) has signed on to star in period drama Girls’ Night Out.

Fanning is set to play a teenage Princess Margaret.

Girls’ Night Out was penned by Trevor De Silva and will follow a teenage Princess Margaret on V.E. Day in 1945 when she and her sister Elizabeth are allowed out from Buckingham Palace for one night to join in the celebrations, and the encompassing night’s thrills, romance and danger.

Michael Hoffman (The Last Station), who is gearing up to shoot the Coen Brothers-penned remake of Gambit with Colin Firth (The King’s Speech) and Cameron Diaz (The Green Hornet), is attached to direct.

Production is expected to begin in late 2011.

Source: The Playlist