Okay, so there is no shortage of material already out there for “Our Idiot Brother”, Paul Rudd’s latest lead role, as an Idiot Brother.

The trailers so far (you can catch up on everything so far right here) show that Paul Rudd is indeed an idiot and these latest two offerings do nothing to detract or dissuade from that.

The red band trailer and tv spot are NSFW due to a bit of swearing and drug reference, but otherwise they are very much along the lines of what we have already seen. It should be a lot of fun, what we don’t know is whether Rudd can elevate the material above the predictable and give us something a little more special.

Thanks to Film Filia.

Our Idiot Brother is a Paul Rudd comedy, so it’ll immediately have charmed many of you into submission and while I can’t find it easy to forgive the bass slapping dance thing out of I Love You Man* I’ll buy him as a likeable stoner who annoys his family when he arrives on the doorstep of his three sisters.

Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel and Emily Mortimer are those sisters and are the focus of the new clip and it’s always a pleasure to see Mortimer on screen even when she’s being harangued by the other two. Steve Coogan turns up in this one too as husband to a sister and the trailer we saw recently made it look as if there’s a decent script to go with the so so premise.

The film played pretty well at Sundance and there’s just over three weeks until it turns up on America’s door with a blunt in one hand and a guitar in the other demanding to be let in. No news as to a UK release.

MovieWeb served this one up,

* This is what I mean…

The last poster that we got for Our Idiot Brother, the upcoming comedy led by Paul Rudd, wasn’t exactly the best thing we’ve ever seen, to put it nicely. But now HitFix have got the new poster for the film, and it’s looking much better.

We now get to see Rudd’s co-stars, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, and Emily Mortimer, who play his sisters in the film, with Rudd clearly getting on their nerves just by being his laid-back self.

The film premiered at Sundance at the start of the year to some good reviews there and in case you missed it you can see a trailer here. To me, there aren’t that many comedians that have a great track record, but Rudd is certainly one of them. He’s been going from strength to strength over the past decade, following his break in Clueless, starring as Phoebe’s boyfriend and then husband in Friends, as well as taking supporting roles in a number of Judd Apatow-related movies, including Anchorman, The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Knocked Up, and the upcoming Wanderlust opposite Jennifer Aniston and the next Apatow-directed feature, This Is Forty, a spin-off from Knocked Up.

In Our Idiot Brother, Rudd stars as Ned, an upbeat, laid-back guy that gets arrested when he sells cannabis to a police officer. After his release, he successively moves in with his sisters and manages to disrupt their lives and (hopefully) cause general comedic chaos for the family.

Banks, Deschanel, and Mortimer have of course all been rising to bigger and bigger recognition in recent years, and it’s great to see a comedy with such a good line-up like this. Also co-starring alongside them all will be Steve Coogan, who is a bit of a comedy genius, and Rashida Jones, who starred with Rudd in I Love You, Man and who played the junior lawyer defending Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network last year.

The film is directed by Jesse Peretz, who directed the Zach Braff-starrer, The Ex, a few years back, and who also has a number of great music video credits, including Foo Fighter’s Learn To Fly, which won him a Grammy Award in 2001. Currently scheduled to be released in the US on 26th August, and with no date scheduled for the UK, it looks like we may have to wait until its DVD/Blu-Ray release to catch this one, which is a shame. Without further ado though, here’s the new and improved poster. As usual, click to enlarge.

I’ll need to buy a pair of boxing gloves when this poster hits the streets as I want to punch it in the face.

What happened to this poster? Eh? I have no idea what this is meant to mean, or who it’s meant to appeal to, or what that tagline means, can anyone tell me?

And it’s a shame as the trailer didn’t do the film any harm and there’s an excellent cast in there somewhere. Oh well, book/cover/judge etc.

Before the horror, here’s the synopsis,

Synopsis: Every family has one: the sibling who is always just a little bit behind the curve when it comes to getting his life together. For sisters Liz, Miranda and Natalie, that person is their perennially upbeat brother Ned, an erstwhile organic farmer whose willingness to rely on the honesty of mankind is a less-than-optimum strategy for a tidy, trouble-free existence. Ned may be utterly lacking in common sense, but he is their brother and so, after his girlfriend dumps him and boots him off the farm, his sisters once again come to his rescue. As Liz, Miranda and Natalie each take a turn at housing Ned, their brother’s unfailing commitment to honesty creates more than a few messes in their comfortable routines. But as each of their lives begins to unravel, Ned’s family comes to realize that maybe, in believing and trusting the people around him; Ned isn’t such an idiot after all.

Coming Soon. They are who are owed thanks.

Yahoo have released the full theatrical trailer for The Weinstein Company’s new movie, Our Idiot Brother which has a simply fantastic cast including Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer Rashida Jones, Hugh Dancy, Kathryn Hahn, Shirley Knight, Janet Montgomery, Adam Scott and Steve Coogan. Jesse Peretz directs the movie whcih is set for release in the US 26th August. No UK release date that I can find as yet.

Synopsis: Every family has one: the sibling who is always just a little bit behind the curve when it comes to getting his life together. For sisters Liz, Miranda and Natalie, that person is their perennially upbeat brother Ned, an erstwhile organic farmer whose willingness to rely on the honesty of mankind is a less-than-optimum strategy for a tidy, trouble-free existence. Ned may be utterly lacking in common sense, but he is their brother and so, after his girlfriend dumps him and boots him off the farm, his sisters once again come to his rescue. As Liz, Miranda and Natalie each take a turn at housing Ned, their brother’s unfailing commitment to honesty creates more than a few messes in their comfortable routines. But as each of their lives begins to unravel, Ned’s family comes to realize that maybe, in believing and trusting the people around him; Ned isn’t such an idiot after all.

Check out the trailer below and let us know what you think in the comments section.

The ongoing collaboration between Steve Coogan and director Michael Winterbottom is the gift that keeping giving. They scored big on the small screen earlier this year with the fantastic six-part, two-hander comedy The Trip, having previously ventured into similar meta territory (and to great critical acclaim) with features 24 Hour Party People and A Cock and Bull Story.

Now The Playlist is reporting that the duo is set to reteam for an adaptation of the life of British pornographer and strip club owner Paul Raymond. Under the working title of Paul Raymond’s Wonderful World of Erotica (which sounds like it could have been one of Coogan’s comic creations for TV), the film will follow the fortunes of Raymond, a club proprietor and magazine magnate who was also an incredibly wealthy individual, owning vast amounts of property in London’s Soho area.

Raymond lived a colourful life which had its fair share of tragedies (his daughter died of a heroin overdose and he became mixed up in various criminal activities), but if anyone can inhabit that larger-than-life persona, Coogan is surely up for the task, as he more than adequately demonstrated in his portrayal of legendary Manchester figure, Tony Wilson in Winterbottom’s 2002 biopic.

One of the movies coming out in the Sony ‘Laughing Stock’ range today is Will Ferrell’s new movie, The Other Guys. It’s directed by Adam McKay and has a rather impressive ensemble cast which includes Mark Wahlberg, Damon Wayans Jr., Steve Coogan, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendes, Dwayne Johnson, Samuel L. Jackson, Brooke Shields, Ice-T and Tracy Morgan.

Ferrell and Wahlberg are partners in the New York police department but struggle to get noticed in their normal day jobs as a forensic accountant and a ‘wanna-be hero cop’. The duo are forever overshadowed by by the city’s top cops, Danson and Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson), until one day, an opportunity arises giving them their chance to shine.

If you’re a Will Ferrell fan, then you’re going to love this movie just as much as the rest of his back-catalog. I’m no great lover of all things Ferrell but I understand his draw and I’m sure this will be another hit where lines can be quoted for years to come.

It’s completely ridiculous throughout but with a strong cast who seem to purposefully overact at even given opportunity, this makes for a silly and fun Saturday afternoon watch.

Not for me but I know many of you will love it! [Rating 2/5]

The Other Guys is available to buy now on DVD and Blu-ray or to rent here.

Special Features:

Special Features

• “Pimps Don’t Cry” music video
• Extreme Close Up
• Everyone Hates The DVD Guy
• movieIQ
• The “Mom”-mentary- Unrated Version
• The “Mom”-mentary
• Line-O-Rama
• Deleted & Extended Scenes
• Alternate Action
• Wasn’t That???
• Crash and Burn!
• Why Are There Brits In This Movie?
• Rob Riggle Likes To Party
• We Shouldn’t Kiss Chicken
• Mark Wahlberg’s Eating Contest Entourage
• Bed Bath and Way Beyond

Here’s something rather amusing for lunch time. Sir Michael Caine must be one of the most impersonated celebrities on the planet but can the Italian Job legend do an impression of himself?! Ummmmm….., well watch the below to find out!

We think this interview must be pretty old since it’s got Michael Parkinson doing the interview and to our knowledge, he’s not done any for a while now but thanks to Vulture for bringing this back to the forefront.

Have a watch of the below and then scroll down to view Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan having a go at ‘being’ Michael Caine!

You’re only supposed to blow the bloody doors off!

Rob Brydon and Steve Coogan – Skip to 2min 20.

]]> http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2011/01/07/hilarious-michael-caine-does-his-best-michael-caine-impression/feed/ 0 http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/12/13/the-trip-dvd-review/ http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/2010/12/13/the-trip-dvd-review/#comments Mon, 13 Dec 2010 13:30:28 +0000 Nick Turk http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/?p=60726

It must be frustrating being Steve Coogan. As the winner of numerous British Comedy and BAFTA awards (not to mention the 1992 Perrier Award, the 1997 Silver Rose of Montreux and a South Bank Show Award for his live show “The Man Who Thinks He’s It”) he’s also been listed amongst the 50 funniest acts working in British comedy as well as featuring in the Top 20 greatest comedy acts of all time as voted for by fellow comedians.

He’s forged himself a moderately successful Hollywood career and starred in a number of successful films from the likes of Sofia Coppola, Ben Stiller, Jim Jarmusch, Adam McKay and Frank Oz and starred alongside such names as Will Ferrell, Mark Wahlberg, Jackie Chan, Owen Wilson and Kirsten Dunst. And to top it all off he’s even founded his own production company, Baby Cow Productions, which itself has given birth to such comedic gems as “The Mighty Boosh”, “Marion and Geoff”, “Nighty Night” and “I Am Not An Animal”. Yet despite all this, he’ll always primarily be remembered for one thing and one thing only … Alan Partridge.

Which is why we should be eternally grateful to Michael Winterbottom. As one of the most gifted British filmmakers of this generation Winterbottom has not only notched up an impressive seventeen films since 1995 including the likes of “Welcome To Sarajevo” (1997), “Wonderland” (1999), “Code 46” (2003), “9 Songs” (2004), “A Mighty Heart” (2007) and “The Killer Inside Me” (2010) but he’s wholly responsible for giving Coogan by far his two greatest movie roles to date playing Madchester music mogul Tony Wilson in the hilarious “24 Hour Party People” (2002) and … well … himself in the equally witty not to mention highly metafictional “A Cock And Bull Story” (2006). And it’s to the latter of these roles with which we can draw obvious parallels with their latest collaboration “The Trip” (not to be confused with the 1967 Roger Corman directed film starring Peter Fonda and Dennis Hopper) which has recently finished a six week run on BBC2 and is available to buy on DVD today.

Bringing along the infectiously entertaining Rob Brydon (who previously appeared alongside Coogan in “A Cock and Bull Story” and the 2002 BBC comedy drama “Cruise of the Gods”) “The Trip” is a partly fictionalised, partly improvised series that sees Coogan embarking on a restaurant tour of the North of England in order to write a series of culinary reviews for The Observer. But when Coogan’s girlfriend Mischa (played by Margo Stilley of “9 Songs” infamy!) insists they take a break from their relationship and heads back to America he’s left with no alternative than to turn to the Welsh charms of Mr. Brydon instead. Each episode thus involves the two comedians visiting a number of rather expensive restaurants (The Inn at Whitewell, L’Enclume, Holbeck Ghyll, Hipping Hall, The Yorke Arms and The Angel Pub at Hetton) where they indulge in much fine cuisine, partake of much wine, admire the stunning landscapes and talk … a lot!

Granted, on paper this doesn’t exactly get the comedy glands pumping so it’s to everyone’s credit, not least the talented triumvirate that is Coogan, Brydon and Winterbottom, that the finished product emerges as such a resounding triumph; a series that is, arguably, one of the best TV shows of 2010 and, quite possibly, amongst Coogan’s best work in years.

But before we continue how can we fail to mention the impressions? Both Brydon and Coogan are no strangers to the world of celebrity impressions and so clearly relished the opportunity to indulge in a spot of choice mimicry. And so conversation invariably turns to imitation as the likes of Michael Caine, Roger Moore, Sean Connery, Ronnie Corbett, Bruce Forsyth, Woody Allen, Ray Winstone, Liam Neeson, Hugh Grant, Stephen Hawking, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Al Pacino and Anthony Hopkins come under the vocal radar. And it’s with such celebrity “cameos” that “The Trip” gains a great deal of its comedic value as not only do Coogan and Brydon deliver time and time again with awe-inspiringly pitch perfect impersonations but subsequently weave them into such hilariously memorable vignettes that you’d happily sit there listening to the two of them for hours on end. To choose a favourite scene would be nigh on impossible but the sequence in which Coogan explains and then demonstrates the precise minutiae of Richard Gere’s various acting techniques had me in tears whilst Brydon’s discourse on the gradual metamorphosis of Michael Caine’s tone of voice is not only brilliantly witty but quite possibly the most convincing Caine expression I’ve yet heard!

But whilst Brydon remains his usual amiable self and simply astounds with his consummate skill of top notch celebrity impressions (and, lest we forget, the legendary “Small Man Trapped In A Box” routine) it’s Coogan who ultimately comes out tops, delivering a wonderfully nuanced performance that is both self deprecating, subtly layered and really rather fascinating. For much as he did in “A Cock and Bull Story” he once again takes what is, ostensibly, an easy role (playing himself!) and injects it with enough ambiguity as to have audiences questioning what is real and what is fictional.

Back in 2001 Hotdog (a UK film magazine that ran from 2000 – 2006) had memorably labelled Coogan “the new Peter Sellers” when his latest film, “The Parole Officer”, had opened in cinemas. And whilst such hyperbole was, perhaps, more instigated by Coogan’s skill in inhabiting a variety of successful comic creations there were certain moments during “The Trip” when such comparisons floated once more to the surface. It’s a well documented fact that not only did Sellers harbour many deep-seated anxieties of artistic and personal failure but he famously refused to appear on Michael Parkinson’s chat show back in 1974 unless he could do so in character. Likewise, Coogan (or should that be Meta-Coogan?) is constantly plagued by fears of failure, loss, rejection and the soul crushing ignominy of artistic obscurity in a role that is surprisingly revealing whilst also being cunningly concealing.

As Rob and Steve continually try to outdo each other in a battle of both comedic skill and artistic integrity we see Brydon as a decidedly carefree individual who hankers not for illustrious fame and fortune but is simply content with the simple pleasures in life; a glass of wine, a fine meal, a spot of poetry, a damn good laugh and the love of his wife to whom he makes a series of charmingly affectionate yet childishly innocent late night phonecalls. Steve, on the other hand, not only indulges in a series of one night stands but seems to be increasingly going nowhere fast, floundering with his overseas relationship and waiting for that one big Hollywood role to come a-calling.

And it’s this very factor that makes “The Trip” not just a great series but a truly exceptional one, expertly balancing the comedy with scenes of surprising poignancy as we see the cracks slowly form in Coogan’s typically cocksure façade and the sadness, regret and insecurity that lies beneath. And it’s also in such moments that Winterbottom truly excels as a filmmaker as he scores said scenes with the beautiful music of Michael Nyman; a gentle piano rendition of “If” (the original of which was written for the 1995 Japanese animation “Anne No Nikki” aka “The Diary of Anne Frank”) underscoring the action with a haunting fragility that is both unexpected and utterly beguiling. Nyman’s music is similarly employed in the closing scenes as the haunting strains of “The Departure” (from Mike Niccol’s “Gattaca”) greet Coogan’s return home to an empty apartment. Whilst Brydon embraces his wife and child, slips in a few more exquisite impressions and enjoys a home cooked meal Coogan stands alone in his expensive surroundings, replaying a video on his phone showing him and Mischa in happier times whilst staring forlornly at the nighttime view from his apartment window. As the scene plays out we cut back and forth between the two of them with Winterbottom successfully employing colour and lighting to both accentuate mood and juxtapose the varying emotions; Brydon’s scenes are full of both colour and warmth whilst Coogan’s utilise a blue palette and thus exude a cold emptiness. For a series that relied so much on conversation it’s perhaps fitting that it ends with few words; a beautifully understated coda to a wonderful series and undeniable proof that, given the right material, Coogan is that rarest of things … an exceptional talent, a brilliant comedian, an accomplished actor and a true national treasure.

As if the series itself wasn’t reason enough to buy the DVD we’re treated to an enjoyable, if not awe-inspiring, selection of extras. Sadly not included is a commentary as to be treated to a further 3 hours of banter between Coogan and Brydon would have been the icing on an already mouth watering cake. We do, however, get a healthy side serving of deleted footage which provides further proof of the dynamic duos immense talent, undeniable chemistry, outstanding impressions and improvisational skills. But quite frankly it’s not the extra features that are the draw here as the show itself is so damn good that the BBC could have released a vanilla DVD and I’d still be here urging you all to buy a copy immediately. In an age when television schedules are full to bursting with uninspiring, insipid and quite frankly depressing fare “The Trip” is a divine breath of fresh air and a journey that I’ll be more than happy to take time and time again. Did I enjoy it? Abso – bloody – EXACTLY!!

The series was edited into a feature film which premiered at the Toronto International Film festival in September 2010 and is set for release in the US by IFC Films some time in 2011 …

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At the Cannes Film Festival earlier this year, Armando Iannucci announced his plans to follow-up his critically-acclaimed feature film debut In The Loop with a “slapstick comedy”, tentatively titled Out The Window.

In an interview with The Guardian over the weekend, Iannucci shared the first details about the new project:

The story of a guy who works in a glass-fronted office building and one day he scratches his armpit. Somebody films it, puts it on YouTube with a soundtrack of monkey noises. It ruins his life. So this guy spends the rest of the film trying to track down the bastard who made him known the world over as Scratchy Monkey.

Iannucci is said to have collaborated on the film’s script with Will Smith and Roger Drew, who both worked with him on the BBC series The Thick Of It.

In addition to Out The Window, Iannucci is also working on a long-awaited film centering on Alan Partridge, Steve Coogan’s fictional talk-show host, and has sold a script to HBO that will focus on the office of the Vice-President.

ThePlaylist reported this one.

Yesterday London was assaulted by the stars of Adam McKay’s cop comedy The Other Guys, and they were on excellent form when they turned out for the crowds.

No doubt you’ll have seen the trailers for the film, which stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg as a team of incompetent cops, with dynamic duo of Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson, Eva Mendes and Steve Coogan completing the cast.

Leicester Square was overrun by the premiere and as always it was our excellent friends at Upbeat who were tasked with bringing this fantastic premiere report to the world, so click below to enjoy.

Film Trailers by Filmtrailer.com

Coogan fans out there who bemoan the fact that the great comedian has yet to make that progression to big Hollywood star (his first lead feature Hamlet 2 failed to make a dent) will be happy to learn Deadline have reported that he has landed a role in the upcoming comedy My Idiot Brother.

With a cast line-up that reads ‘quirky’ and ‘talented’ (Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Zooey Deschanel, Emily Mortimer and Adam Scott), the film focuses on Rudd’s laidback idealist, who disrupts the lives of his three sisters when he comes to stay at each of their houses.

The film is directed by Jesse Peretz (whose biggest film to date was the Zach Braff comedy The Ex), while his sister Evgenia, is on scriptwriting duties.

Steve Coogan could be set to reprise his role in Cruise of the Gods, a one-off BBC comedy-drama, featuring such acting-talents as David Walliams and Rob Brydon. LA Times are reporting that Focus Features are now looking to develop a remake, tentatively titled The Great Beyond.

Synopsis: Andy (Brydon) is a struggling actor who has never quite reached the success of his first role as Romak in sci-fi series Children Of Castor. When he finds himself as a hotel porter he decides it time to go on that fan-club cruise he’s been putting off for a while. Whilst there he meets Nick (Coogan), his co-star from the TV series. Nick is now a Hollywood success staring in Sherlock Holmes…In Miami. This is the story of the cruise and the surprising events that happen along the way.

Dave Guion and Michael Handelman are attached as writers / directors, most recently working on the Steve Carell-Paul Rudd comedy, Dinner For Schmucks.

Despite brief appearances in Percy Jackson, and the upcoming Marmaduke and The Other Guys, Coogan hasn’t been given a chance to carry a film since Hamlet 2, so it’ll be interesting to see how this one fairs when it’s released.

So far we’ve seen one trailer, then another trailer for Adam McKay’s The Other Guys which matches up Will Ferrell and Mark Whalberg as pen pushing cops envious of the supercop duo of Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson.

It looks like a fairly knockabout comedy, but you can’t argue with the cast and in this new clip we can to see more than humourous reactions to explosions and bombastic police action.

I still can’t shake the image of Whalberg in The Departed but his banter here with Ferrell points to good things for the film, which may be sold on its action in the trailers, but its success will be in how the comedy and the cast fare.

Here’s the clip.

All hail Moviefone for having this one. Well, go on. Start Hailing.

Every young adult fantasy series, be it in the form of a book or film, will have a fight on its hands to be recognised. With Twilight and the Harry Potter phenomenons petering out the hunt is on for the next big thing and the movie adaptation of Percy Jackson tries very hard to emulate the success of its forebears.

Sadly Chris Columbus and his creative team fly a little too close to the Sun of Potter and Narnia and come out with their wings burnt by the comparison, but for younger fans with minds unclouded by thoughts of Tumnus and Hagrid Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief may prove enjoyable.

Dave put up his comprehensive review here, and I’ll add my take on the film in this review of the Blu-ray, but both Dave and I agree that Percy Jackson will appeal to fans of the fantasy genre, but that it will, like almost all young adult literary adaptations it will prove divisive for fans of the source material.

I’ve not read the books and so came to the film with a basic grasp of Greek mythology and a slightly prejudiced feeling that this one was too hanging on to the coattails of a certain Mr. Potter and any fantasy film with an eye on the young audience will have to carve out a strong identity to make an impression and PJATLT is almost in a sea of similar fare.

The CG is impressive, and on a visual level the film is treat, but I fear Percy and his pals arrived a little too late for this party and the script seems rushed, both in the sophistication and its execution. Several of the name stars do great work and the central trio are likeable if a little too eager to jump into the limelight.

What I love about these Blu-ray releases is that they bundle in a ton of featurettes and interviews with those behind the scenes as well as serve up the standard deleted scenes. You can see a list of these below, and while Percy Jackson won’t win any awards for originality it offers up a visual feast peppered with some fun moments but doesn’t have enough respect for its source material or its audience to sway the hearts of those already lost to other young adult fantasy franchises.

Percy Jackson & The Lighning Thief is out on Multi-pack, Blu-ray and DVD today.

DVD Special Features
Digital Copy

Blu-Ray Special Features
Deleted scenes
Secrets of the Gods featurette
Discover Your Powers quiz
Inside Camp Half-Blood featurette (which you can see here)
On Set with Brandon T. Jackson featurette
Meet the Demigods featurette
Composing for the Gods: A Conversation with Christophe Beck
BD Live extras

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is scheduled for release in the UK next Monday, 5th July and since we know how much readers of HeyUGuys like it, we’ve managed to get 3 copies of the DVD to give away from our friends at Twentieth Century Fox.

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is based on the book by Rick Riordan and also stars Logan Lerman, Alexandra Daddario, Jake Abel, Sean Bean, Kevin McKidd, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan and Rosario Dawson. If you missed the exclusive clip from the DVD extras that we posted last week, you can watch it here. In fact, you’ll need to use that post to answer the question which to win the prize.

To be in with a chance of winning one of three copies of Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief, you need to become a fan of the HeyUGuys Facebook Page and the Official UK Percy Jackson Facebook Page and then answer the following question using the form below:

Which one of these Greek gods is related to Percy Jackson?

The small print:

• This competition is open to the UK only
• Only one entry per household will be counted
• The competition will close Tuesday 6th July at 23.59 GMT
• The winner will be picked at random from entries received

The usual T&Cs can be found here. Good Luck!

COMPETITION NOW CLOSED

Sony have just sent us the brand new high definition trailer for The Other Guys which stars Mark Whalberg, Will Ferrell, Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Steve Coogan, Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson. The first half of the trailer is similar to the one released a while back but the second half sees Eva Mendes talking about her chest….. ummmmm!

The Other Guys is directed by Adam McKay movie is scheduled for release 1st September.

Synopsis: Set in New York City, The Other Guys follows Detective Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell), a forensic accountant who’s more interested in paperwork than hitting the streets, and Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), a tough guy who has been stuck with Allen as his partner ever since an unfortunate run—in with Derek Jeter. Allen and Terry idolize the city’s top cops, Danson and Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson), but when an opportunity arises for the Other Guys to step up, things don’t quite go as planned.

Click the images below to enlarge or scroll down to view the trailer now in HD.

Sony (and thanks to TotalFilm for the heads up) have released this brand new motion poster for The Other Guys which stars Will Ferrel and Mark Whalberg. If you’ve not seen or heard of of a motion poster before, it’s basically a little advert in a poster orientation which promotes the films.

The Other Guys is directed by Adam McKay and has a great cast which also includes Eva Mendes, Michael Keaton, Samuel L. Jackson, Dwayne Johnson, Steve Coogan and Ray Stevenson who I think I last saw in Rome (the TV series, not the place!).

I’ve placed the motion poster below the synopsis. The poster gives us an insight into what we might expect from the film itself.

Set in New York City, The Other Guys follows Detective Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell), a forensic accountant who’s more interested in paperwork than hitting the streets, and Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg ), a tough guy who has been stuck with Allen as his partner ever since an unfortunate run-in with Derek Jeter.

Allen and Terry idolize the city’s top cops, Danson and Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson), but when an opportunity arises for the Other Guys to step up, things don’t quite go as planned.

Last week HeyUGuys were lucky enough to get invited along to the press conference for Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief. I was there armed with my video camera and you can watch the entire press conference in full here. After the press conference, along with a group of my fellow bloggers and journalists, I was able to interview Kevin McKidd and Steve Coogan (below), Alex Daddario and Brandon T. Jackson (interview coming tomorrow) and Logan Lerman and Chris Columbus (interview coming Thursday).

All the interviews were audio recorded and I’ve placed the interviews below.

• After finding out that Hell is in Hollywood, are Steve /  experiences Hellish or otherwise? (00:00)
• We discover Steve hasn’t read the books! (00:54)
• Did Kevin read them and his son tells him how much Poseidon is in them (1:05)
• Receiving a letter from Chris Columbus (01:22)
• Have Kevin’s kids seem the movie? (01:45)
• Who did Steve Coogan us as his inspiration for the rock star dress of Hades? (02:20)
• Was Hades always going to be a comedy character? (03:13)
• It was Rosario’s idea to kiss! (03:38)
• Does Steve get recognised in the US? (04:07)
• Does Kevin get recognised? (05:34)
• Is Rome the movie going to happen? (06:04)
• Will there be an Alan Partridge Movie? (07:25)
• How does Steve pick movies? Financial? (08:28)
• Contending with Clash of the Titans (09:35)
• Have Steve and Kevin worked together before? (10:19)
• Steve growing up as an actor (10.34)
• How did Kevin get into acting? (12:00)
• Did Steve always want to make people laugh? (13:26)
• What was the last impression he did (14:00)
• Are you playing Craig Murry? (15:45)

[gplayer href="http://www.heyuguys.co.uk/audio/percy_jackson/steve_kevin.mp3"] Interview with Steve Coogan and Kevin McKidd: [/gplayer]

Percy Jackson and the Olympians is a series of five books written by Rick Riordan. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is the first of the book and sets the scene for both us, the audience and for Percy himself. After the Harry Potter series, kids seem to be in need of another fix of something mysterious and wonderful and it seems that Percy Jackson is where it’s at. It’s not so big in the UK yet but after the release of the new movie with a mix of all star cast and semi-newcomers, will the films start a wave of Percy Jackson here in the UK? Hopefully my review of the film might help you decide!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is directed by Chris Columbus. His name may not be one you’ve heard but if I tell you that he directed Mrs Doubtfire, Home Alone, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, you’ll no doubt have seen one or more of his movies. He’s also very well known for his writing. He wrote Gremlins, Young Sherlock Holmes and some movie that you might have heard of called The Goonies that inspired this very website. He really is a legend in cinema and when you see his name billed on a movie you go in expecting good things.

Here’s the brief synopsis to give you a bit more of an idea about what the movie is about:

Synopsis: Trouble-prone Percy Jackson is having problems in high school – but that’s the least of his challenges. It’s the 21st century, but the gods of Mount Olympus seem to have walked out of the pages of Percy’s Greek mythology texts and into his life. Percy has learned that his real father is Poseidon, god of the sea, which means Percy is a demigod – half human, half god. At the same time, the powerful gods on Olympus are feuding, which could launch a war enveloping our entire planet.

I went into the screening of Percy Jackson not really knowing anything about it. I’d seen the trailers and read the synopsis and production notes but that didn’t really prepare me for what I was about to see. The movie opens with a gigantic Kevin McKidd (Poseidon) walking out of the sea with a huge trident tattooed on his arm. Poseidon soon comes to meet Zeus, his brother played by Sean Bean who tells him that someone has stolen his master lightening bolt, the source of all lightning across the world and lays down a gauntlet that if he doesn’t have it returned to him a war amongst the gods would begin. Zeus believes that Poseiden’s son, Percy Jackson has stolen it – the issue is that Percy doesn’t even know that he’s a demi god (half human, half god) but he has always felt different to all the other kids at school and had a love of spending time in water.

After a series of events, Percy finds out his heritage and meets characters Chiron (Pierce Brosnan) who he thought was just his school teacher but is in fact half-horse and realises that his best friend, Grover Underwood (Brandon T. Jackson) is actually a satyr! Now, what is a satyr I hear you ask. Well, if you think back to your early high school days, you probably studied this sort of thing. I’m pretty sure I did anyway and watching this movie, I started remembering all the mythological creates that I had learnt about 16 years ago. You don’t need to know anything about Greek mythology to watch this film but I guarantee, when you come out of it, you’ll want to find out more about it. The effects that are used in this movie to create these wonderful characters are simply wonderful and very clever although after interviewing Brandon T. Jackson last week, I found out that wearing blue tights to create the effect afterwards isn’t as fun as we might think it is!

Other creatures used in the movie include the Hydra (clip here), and Medusa, played by Uma Thurman who, as you’ll see in this image, has snakes in her hair, but, whatever you do don’t look into her eyes or you’ll turn to stone! I’m not sure I’ve ever seen product placement in a film like this with the iPhone. Credit to Apple / Chris Columbus there! The CGI used to create these snakes is absolutely fantastic with the multitude of snakes attached to her having their own personality yet still being in touch with and linked to Medusa’s thoughts and persona. Massive credit to the guys who created the special effects for this movie because they are simply brilliant. Full list of cast and crew on IMDb here.

The other main leads in the movie include Alexandra Daddario who plays Annabeth Chase, the best swordsman (woman) of all the demi-gods. She’s a little perturbed when Percy turns up as the new kid on the block but their friendship grows stronger throughout the movie as she, Percy and Grover all depart on a question find who stole the Lightning bolt so that they can return it to Zeus before the epic war erupts. From here, Percy and his friends embark on a mission to discover the true thief of the lightning bolt. The issue for them is that Hades (the devil and another Greek god played excellently by Steve Coogan with his assistant played by Rosario Dawson) is on the hunt for Percy as well as with the lightning bolt, he can overthrow his brother Zeus. Percy decides the best cause of action is to go and meet Hades in Hell and try and talk things through.

Chris Columbus is a genius of the child genre of movie as he’s able to tell a story that is both intense, adult enough for people like me to enjoy it but child-like enough that a 12 year old can come out of the cinema and ask their parents if they can go straight back in to watch it again. Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is no exception. The story is clever and Columbus adds comedy to parts but also huge tension and draws you into the story. As I said earlier, the effects are amazing. Just watch this clip of the Hydra and you’ll see what I mean. Columbus saves the big cgi for one of the final scenes though and I won’t spoil it for you but the CGI is so well done.

The three main leads are very believable and if there were a sequel (which I’m sure there will be) I would go and see it. There is one scene in particular which i think the movie lost it’s focus on being a movie for kids. The cast end up in a hotel where basically they are drugged to keep them there with women surrounding Grover. I’m sure it was wonderful for him to film but is this the sort of message to be sending to kids? I’m probably being over the top and you can tell me once you’ve seen it what you thought.

All in all, Percy Jackson was a well made movie with so many Hollywood stars playing cameos, it was hard to keep up but all of them were so well cast and it was wonderful to see them in a movie where they could all have a lot of fun making. It’s also nice to know that if you want to be a Greek god, you have to be British! Roll on the sequel!

Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief is released this Friday 12th February.