Since the tragic death of franchise star Paul Walker, the future of Fast & Furious 7 has been uncertain. With six to eight weeks left to shoot, producers have been forced to find a way to retire Walker's pivotal character from the franchise. Now, it seems that they've come to a decision on it as Universal has announced that there are plans to resume production "on or near" April 1 of this year.
At some point during the past year, Robert Rodriguez's sequel to Sin City changed titles from Sin City: A Dame To Kill For to Frank Miller's Sin City: A Dame To Kill For. That's a bit of a mouthful, and probably one that will not look so good on a theatre marquee. But it does not change a thing about the film itself, which promises to be every bit as pulpy, violent, and sexually explicit as the previous installment.
Even the star of a major action franchise has to take off his spandex every once in awhile, and Andrew Garfield is no exception. While the The Amazing Spider-Man franchise has plans to stretch far into the future, Garfield is supplementing his web-slinging with some good, old-fashioned, serious roles. The latest project he's attached himself to is The Woman In Gold, which he will star in alongside Helen Mirren.
With all the excitement over directors, writers, and actors, we sometimes forget that film composers even exist (unless they're John Williams). It's a shame too, because composers are an important factor in any film as their soundtracks can make or break a movie. A single scene suddenly changes meaning because of a well-placed aural cue, a sweeping vista or emotional dialogue brings tears to the eyes because of the music that accompanies it. So in talking about composers, we are talking about one of the most important factors that goes into making a movie great.
Howard Hughes seems to be excellent fodder for cinema, and not just because of his involvement in the medium. He was the subject of Martin Scorsese's The Aviator, the template for a James Bond villain (in Diamonds are Forever), and has been referenced in The Simpsons. Now, the iconic billionaire recluse will be played by another icon of sorts, as Warren Beatty finally gets things underway for his long-gestating Howard Hughes film.
By all accounts, 2012's Dredd was one of the most faithful comic book adaptations committed to screen. Avoiding the usual attempts at watering down subject matter for a PG-13 rating, Dredd went whole-hog, allowing for a high body count and rough action in dystopic wasteland. It was dark, it was bloody, and it was a massive box-office failure. But fans of the film still hold out for a Dredd 2, and now star Karl Urban has given them a glimmer of hope.
Now there is a headline I never thought I would write. I even struggled with a way to distill it down to something clever and cutting, but there's really no other way to put it. Apparently Tim Story, the director of Ride Along, has signed on to make the film Diplomats, which tells the story of the relationship between basketball star Dennis Rodman and North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un.
One of the major criticisms of Sam Raimi's Spider-Man 3 was that there were far too many villains tossed into one movie. I had hoped that The Amazing Spider-Man franchise would have learned their lesson from that film and would avoid putting all their supervillains into one armored tank. Unfortunately, that seems to be exactly what Sony has done with The Amazing Spider-Man 2, folding in the Green Goblin, Electro and The Rhino into a smorgasbord of evil.
We have not heard a great deal from Viggo Mortensen recently. The Lord of the Rings star is very particular in the roles he plays, and the result is that he does not appear in films that often. His last performance in a major film was as a minor character in On The Road, and he has no credits at all for 2013. But that's all about to change. Mortensen is coming back to the screen, taking on the lead part in Captain Fantastic from Electric City Entertainment.
What can we say about the upcoming Biblical film Son of God? It's...certainly a film. That much is clear. Whether it will be a worthy entry into the Biblical epic genre has yet to be seen, but based on the latest trailer I am going to have to say a resounding "no."
