It's very easy to forget that there's a third Hobbit movie coming out; I'd even forgotten what happened in the last one and I've seen it twice. So in case you are like me and had completely missed the fact that yet another installment of Peter Jackson's bloated franchise will be hitting cinemas this December, the marketing departments over at New Line Cinema and Warner Brothers continue to roll out character posters for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies in the hopes that we'll get excited over the return of some of our heroes.
Let's face it, everyone: Peter Jackson's The Hobbit trilogy is just not that good. It's overlong and over-ambitious, turning a nice adventure story into a three-part epic with characters that Tolkien never invented, and battle scenes he never wrote. Still, for all of that, there is one very bright spot in the midst of all the darkness: Ian McKellan's Gandalf. That bearded wizard has been with us since the first Lord of the Rings came out eons ago, and he's managed to elevate every turgid scene in two Hobbit movies with his presence. As we draw close to the release of The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies, we can at least expect some quality Gandalf action.
Steve Carell is often referred to as the nicest guy in Hollywood. Even in his more obnoxious and acerbic roles, he still has this undercurrent of sweetness that just makes you want to go out for coffee with the guy. Since it must get tiring being that nice, Carell has begun to take on much nastier, darker roles, beginning with a critically acclaimed turn in Foxcatcher. He now continues to expand his repertoire by signing on to a new, as-yet-untitled thriller to be directed by Gore Verbinski.
For many comic book fans, the most glaring omission in first Avengers film was the conspicuous absence of a certain web-slinger. The reasons behind this are of the corporate/childish variety, for while Marvel continues to produce Spider-Man comic books, Marvel Studios does not have the film rights to the character. Spider-Man belongs to Sony, just like X-Men and Fantastic Four belong to 20th Century Fox. Until now, the prospects for Spidey appearing in an Avengers or Marvel-based film were pretty much nil.
Dracula was not always such a bad guy. Once upon a time, he was just a ruler trying to protect his family and his people from invading hordes. Sometimes, when you're trying to do the right thing, you just have to become a walking member of the vampiric undead.
Rumors of the Super Troopers sequel have been wreaking serious havoc with my emotions. The sequel idea was mentioned quite awhile ago, and seemed to be confirmed by members of the Broken Lizard comedy troupe that produced the original cult comedy. Then we heard very little for or against the movie, and I was beginning to wonder if it was one of those wishful ideas that never gets off the ground - like the Galaxy Quest sequel. Thankfully, it sounds like Super Troopers 2 is indeed coming to the big screen.
There's not enough Eddie Izzard to go around. The comedian has his hands in quite a number of pots right now. Having appeared as a supporting player in films like Ocean's Twelve and Valkyrie - not to mention his stand-up comedy and star-turn in the short-lived series The Riches - Izzard has also turned to writing and producing, as well as acting. He's worked on NBC's Hannibal and Munsters reboot Mockingbird Lane, and is set to appear in the comics adaptation Powers. Now, The Hollywood Reporter confirms that Izzard is set to adapt Timothy Hallinan's crime-comedy novel series Junior Bender for the small screen.
There seems to be a new interest in the works of premiere spy-master John Le Carre. Recent years have seen the release of a number of Le Carre adaptations, from a new version of Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy to the recent A Most Wanted Man, with Philip Seymour Hoffman. Now Le Carre's work is moving back to the small screen in the form of a limited TV series based on The Night Manager.Hugh Laurie and Tom Hiddleston have signed on to appear in the limited-run series now being shopped to major American networks.
If all you have ever seen of Shakespeare's Richard III is Laurence Olivier's limping, leering, badly made-up monstrosity of a king, then you're going to have to revise your idea of this most fabulous villain. Richard as Shakespeare wrote him may have been bad, and he may have been twisted, but in his newest iteration he's far from unattractive. Given that he's being played by Benedict Cumberbatch, that should hardly be surprising.
Before Benedict Cumberbatch, Robert Downey Jr., Jeremy Brett, or Basil Rathbone donned the deerstalker, the world's first film version of Sherlock Holmes was performed by an actor named William Gillette. Never heard of him? That is hardly surprising, as Gillette was primarily a stage actor and made only one film: Sherlock Holmes, from 1916. Long thought lost, Sherlock Holmes was recently discovered by the Cinematheque Francaise, and is currently in the process of a digital restoration with the help of the San Francisco Silent Film Festival.
