Don’t roll your eyes….and I’ll refrain from the heavy sighing. In news of yet another soon-to-be rebooted seminal ‘80s classic, word is out that the WarGames re-invention by MGM will be helmed by Seth Gordon.
Diary of a Wimpy Kid: Rodrick Rules is the silly sequel to 2010 Diary of a Wimpy Kid, and suffers not only from most of the faults of the original, but some of its very own. Based on Jeff Kinney’s popular comic-bookish children’s book series, this film adaptation is a frivolous piece of clichéd nonsense. With a DVD/Blu-Ray release on June 21, anyone (who wants to) can experience the middle-school hi-jinx of Greg Heffley and his clan of outcasts.
In what looks to be a pretty big potential coup for Microsoft and Xbox 360 Kinect sales, a new type of interactive advertising is on the way for Spring of 2012. NUads (natural user-interfaced ads) will begin showing up in video games and other downloadable content soon, and allow gamers to actually interface with advertisments that will respond to voice commands and gestures (like a thumbs up or down to place a product review).
With a tagline of "this is our time," and a new trailer that features synchronized dancing and high jumpers, the Footloose remake may be more ridiculous than I had thought possible. It's bad enough that Paramount decided to re-tred sacred '80s film ground (and it's not the first), but now we get the first real trailer of the film by writer/director Craig Brewer (Black Snake Moan), and it looks to be as bad as I feared.
Cedar Rapids, the new comedy directed by Miguel Arteta and starring Ed Helms, turns out to be an endearing and humorous fish-out-of-water story. I already reviewed the film when I saw its theatrical release back in February, and found it to be a quirky, laugh-inducing gem of friendship and fun. With Helms playing a naive but upright insurance salesman, the film revolves around an insurance conference in "big city" Cedar Rapids that changes his life forever. Those who missed Cedar Rapids during its limited theatrical release now have the chance to see it, as it comes out on DVD/Blu-Ray today.
After a major falling out with director Sam Raimi after they worked together on Spider-Man 2, musician/composer Danny Elfman reportedly said he would never work with the director again. But wounds heal over time, or maybe Raimi's intriguing upcoming projects were too much for the musical wiz to pass on. Either way, Elfman is reportedly onboard to score Oz: The Great and Powerful, Raimi's reboot of the 1939 classic musical which is set to star James Franco, Rachel Weisz, Michelle Williams and Mila Kunis.
The Matt Reeves-directed vampire pic The Passage has a new writer in Jason Keller. The horror film, based on a novel by Justin Cronin, is based in a dystopian future where a government experiment has turned most of the population into blood-thirsty undead. The Passage originally had producer Ridley Scott contemplating directing, although that didn't end up working out. Reeves came on board as director with the understanding that he would hire a new writer, and THR reports that he's handpicked Keller to work on the script and collaborate.
First there was the news last year that Disney would be making yet another theme park-related movie in Magic Kingdom, with Jon Favreau set to direct. Now THR reports that the family adventure pic will be penned by Pulitzer Prize-winner Michael Chabon, most recently attached to HBO’s Hobgoblin series. Though script details are being kept under wraps, the story revolves around Disney’s Magic Kingdom where attractions and characters will come to life. Named after Disney‘s flagship park, the story may also include other Disney parks around the world.
HBO fans might recognize Isiah Whitlock Jr. as the potty-mouthed Clay Davis from The Wire, but he plays a very different kind of role in the endearing comedy Cedar Rapids, a heartfelt fish-out-of-water story that makes insurance salesmen not only funny, but endearing. With the Cedar Rapids DVD/Blu-Ray release on June 21, Whitlock took some time to talk to us about the film and his role as the forthright Ronald Wilkes.
24 Frames reports that a sequel to Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Lightning Thief has locked down director Thor Freudenthal, as well as secured the return of young star Logan Lerman to play Percy. Percy Jackson and the Olympians: The Sea of Monsters is the title of the sequel, and Freudenthal’s family-friendly style is in keeping with the spirit of this young-adult mythological adventure.
