Fancast: The Big Picture

We don't hear all that much about Gillian Anderson unless there's something X-Files related going on, and wouldn't you know it, there's an X-Files sequel due out this month. Maybe that's all that was needed to get her train moving again, because Anderson will now produce and star in a biographical film based on Gellhorn: A Twentieth Century Life. It's the story of Martha Gellhorn, a renowned war correspondent who covered Vietnam and even the Spanish Civil War and still found time for a failed marriage to Ernest Hemingway.

"Martha Gellhorn was one of the most respected journalists of this century, and I thought Caroline's biography effectively encompassed her rich and complex life," Anderson said.

Watch Gillian Anderson in some other non-Scully roles:
Tristram Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story
The House of Mirth
Hellcab

Here's the quote from Eddie Murphy, currently plugging his particularly kooky movie that is Meet Dave, that's gotten people buzzing about him again.

"I have close to fifty movies and it's like, why am I in the movies?" he said, adding, "I've done that part now. I'll go back to the stage and do standup."

Eddie Murphy cut his teeth on stand-up, reaching a pinnacle with his 1987 smash concert film Eddie Murphy: Raw, which certainly lived up to its name. Inspired by Richard Pryor and inspirer of Chris Rock, people have long quietly hoped that Murphy would stop churning out duds like Norbit and get back to what made him an admired and respected (not to mention hilarious) talent in the first place. Seriously, watch this classic SNL bit where he goes undercover as a white man. It may have started his make-up fetish, but it's still genius.

The question, however, will quickly become whether or not Eddie's still got the stand-up chops. A lot has changed since 1987, and a lot of people won't really react well to stereotypical gay jokes anymore, especially given Murphy's own history with "giving rides" - not to mention the fact that he did his two biggest stand-up specials while being clad head to toe in brightly-colored leather suits with big flaming collars and even a scarf. Also, it's entirely possible Eddie himself has changed a lot since 1987, perhaps becoming a sheltered, pampered movie star with no connection to the real world anymore. His stand-up success was built on relating crazy childhood stories of his alcoholic father's rantings, his mother's giant homemade hamburgers and getting into the filthy nitty-gritty of sex and relationships. Now that he's a famous zillionaire father in his late 40s, how is he going to recapture that deliriously raw feeling that made him what he was?

It could either be exactly what he needs to do right now, or a colossal disaster. Let's cross our fingers and hope for the former, so he can regain the comedy icon status that his recent movies have diminished. When Eddie Murphy is on, there's no one better.

Watch the trailer for Meet Dave.

Classic Eddie Murphy clips from Saturday Night Live:
Mr. Robinson's Neighborhood
Buckwheat Gets Shot
Buckwheat Is Dead: America Mourns
Buckwheat's Killer: John David Stutts
Prose and Cons - a Norman Mailer short

There was once talk that Hancock director Peter Berg would helm this project, but now the signs are pointing to yes for Phillip Noyce to direct Edwin A. Salt, the story of a CIA agent accused of being a spy for the Russians who must elude capture to clear his name. Tom Cruise is the big-time celebrity name attached to star, and a return to rote Mission: Impossible style heroics might be needed for the guy, since Valkyrie looks like a mess and even his star power couldn't get apathetic people to go and see the war drama Lions for Lambs.

Noyce is no stranger to political action thrillers, as the director of the Harrison Ford as Jack Ryan movies: Patriot Games and Clear and Present Danger. Then again, he also gave us Sliver. So if Noyce gets salty with Cruise, let's hope they steer clear of Billy Baldwin.

Drillbit Taylor [watch the trailer]
Owen Wilson stars as a washout mercenary who takes on a job to protect a trio of high school nerds from the bullies who make their lives hell, only to find the task is a lot harder than he thought. Produced by Judd Apatow and co-written by Seth Rogen and Kristofor Brown from a story by John Hughes.

Watch Drillbit Taylor clips:
The Deal
Bullies
Undercover Substitute Teacher

Tyler Perry's Meet the Browns [watch the trailer]
The unstoppable juggernaut that is Tyler Perry returns now with a tale about a woman in dire straits (Angela Bassett) who discovers that the father she never knew has died, and when she and her kids travel to the funeral, they find a whole new side of their family to get to know and love.

Vantage Point
An American president in Spain (William Hurt) is the victim of an assassination attempt, and the harrowing event is told Rashomon style, from eight different perspectives. Also starring Forest Whitaker, Dennis Quaid, Matthew Fox and Sigourney Weaver.

My Blueberry Nights [watch the trailer]
Smoldering songstress Norah Jones makes her film debut in this story about a woman who travels across the country in search of herself, forging a friendship with a gambler (Natalie Portman) while a man she left behind (Jude Law) quietly pines away for her. Also featuring knockout performances from David Strathairn and Rachel Weisz.

Watch an interview with Norah Jones.

City of Men [watch the trailer]
A powerful and critically-acclaimed story about two young men in Rio de Janeiro who are the best of friends, only to find the harsh realities of life among the city's criminal element may threaten to tear them apart.

Watch City of Men clips:
Party Time Pickup Lines
On the Run

Watch Nutty Professor II: The Klumps in its entirety right here, right now on Fancast.

Since Eddie Murphy is considering retiring from movies after next weekend's Meet Dave, it's worth going back to take a look at that career he's leaving behind, and it's handy that we have this incredibly self-indulgent sequel to study. In the first film, portly professor Sherman Klump had invented a serum that eliminated all his excess body weight but sent his aggressive behavior into overdrive, creating a handsome Mr. Hyde to his shy and retiring Dr. Jekyll. By the end, he'd controlled his inner Buddy Love and fallen for Jada Pinkett.

In the sequel, Jada's gone, but Janet Jackson is the perfectly sweet girl stepping into her shoes. With her help, Sherman physically removes Buddy Love from his body and mind, only to find that they've released a hyperactive jerk out to ruin Sherman's life, not to mention the fact that removing Buddy causes a host of health problems for the nutty professor as well Of course, Murphy plays both Sherman and Buddy, along with Sherman's mother, father, brother and grandmother, all except Buddy wearing giant fat suits. It's a showcase for Murphy's incredible versatility, as well as his predilection for fart jokes.

So watch Nutty Professor II: The Klumps here on Fancast. C'mon. It's free.

Watch the trailer for Nutty Professor II: The Klumps.
Watch the trailer for Eddie Murphy's first Nutty Professor.
Watch the trailer for the original Nutty Professor, starring Jerry Lewis.

Watch the new trailer for the latest James Bond adventure, Quantum of Solace, right here on Fancast.

I don't care what anybody says - Quantum of Solace is a cool title. The layperson is just going to call it "James Bond" anyway (true, by that rationale, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins will just be called "Terminator" by the public, but it's still awful), so why not take it from the title of an obscure Ian Fleming short story?

Continuing the relaunch of the 007 franchise that started with the rookie Bond's first mission in Casino Royale, we find Bond (Daniel Craig) still awash in the grief of losing Vesper Lynd and bent on retribution. However, it is soon revealed that the nefarious organization called Quantum has spies within the British government, and that trust is now an even rarer commodity. Events lead Bond to Haiti, and then force him to try and put a stop to the potential overthrow of the Bolivian government by Dominic Greene (Mathieu Amalric) while trying to outpace terrorists, the CIA and even M (Judi Dench).

With the same pulse-pounding excitement looking to carry over from the first Craig film, Quantum of Solace continues to give us this new-look Bond that we can sympathize with rather than simply idolize. Check it out for yourself!

Watch interviews with the cast and crew of Quantum of Solace.
Watch the London 007 press conference.
Watch the trailer for Casino Royale.
Watch Casino Royale clips:
The High-Rise Chase
Breaking Through a Fence
The Wrath of M
Meeting Vesper
The Poker Table

Bolt (John Travolta) is a dog who stars in his own super-adventure television show, not unlike Rex The Wonder Dog. The trouble is that he believes his own hype and that he actually has superpowers. So when he accidentally finds himself in New York instead of Hollywood, the adventure begins to get himself back to his owner and co-star Penny (Miley Cyrus). Along the way, he runs into a reluctant companion in Mittens the cat (Susie Essman) and a gung-ho partner in Rhino the Hamster (Mark Walton). So check out Disney's Bolt and see if it's going to be on your holiday agenda this year.

Watch the trailer for Disney's Bolt right here on Fancast.

A fresh update on the huge and masterful viral marketing campaign for The Dark Knight that has fans in a tizzy, from our woman on the scene, Katrina Lehto. You can get in on the action now! Here are all her prior reports. In the meantime, get all your Dark Knight needs right here.

It looks like the Joker has done a decent job of summing everything up for us so far - Whysoserious.com. The big things are all here. I appreciate how all of the links to all of the sites are listed.

Also, he's been really busy. It only makes sense as we're just over two weeks from the movie coming out. I've got my ticket and I'm so excited. I can't wait. Helping to tide me over, however, are continuing games. Today, all of the players with cellphones received this message "Wake up, clown! You have *one hour* to reply to be a part of today's fun. /operator". This lead to whysoserious.com/operator. There is a site that shows a poorly lit stage and five metal weights attached to chains, suspended from the ceiling. There is a field at the bottom for submissions. Once the hour deadline was up, there was another message sent out linking each participant with a partner. It turns out that this becomes a huge game of Operator with each participant getting a word and a number to call for the next person. The five end words were: Smoke, Fire, Pilot, Fun and Slaughter. These are the clues leading to the next site. All of these words can have 'house' added to the end of them. When that is entered as a solution, the participants were taken to another new site: whysoserious.com/punkdrop.

This is a shooting game, again in keeping with the carnival games theme. At the game there is a gun that shoots out balls and two buttons - one for the angle and one for the power. If you shoot three of the clowns in a row, you are sent to another new poster.

I've noticed that there are several tickets that you can win. The ticket from the skill shot racing game has the image of an alarm bell on it. The ticket at the end of the balloon game has the image of a safe on it. The newest game's ticket has an image of what seems to be a gym bag or a suitcase on it. It looks like this is pointing toward the robbery we see in the IMAX trailer footage but it could be something else. If it is in the order of that footage, if there is another game, there should be a school bus on it.

There's more from Eddie Murphy now, and he's got plenty to say to about his most famous franchise, so let's get to it. There's a lot of naughty language here, too, as if he's making a point about getting back to Axel Foley form. What form is that? Read on.

Why a fourth Beverly Hills Cop movie?

"Because the third 'Beverly Hills Cop' was horrible! I didn't want to leave it like that. The first two were cool and the third one was shitty. [Let's] get the franchise fixed again, clean up this old mess and do a good movie. [Don't] just leave Axel with his thumb up his a-- from the last movie. 'Whatever happened to Axel Foley? He's sitting in Detroit with his thumb up his ass since 'Beverly Hills Cop III.' Let's take those thumbs out and make a great movie!"

"When I go overseas they still call me Axel Foley — kids call me Axel Foley, I think that character, it resonated like no other movie, like nothing that I've done before."

What about the rumors that Brett Ratner is planning to tone down the language with Beverly Hills Cop IV and go for a PG-13?

"I'll tell you what about profanity. Over the last 20 years or so, because of the studios, everybody figured out there's a PG-13 audience, you know, and that's the biggest piece of the pie. And a bunch of artists, myself included, got put in this PG-13 box — artists that aren't PG-13 artists! Then comedies like 'Superbad,' 'Knocked Up,' and 'Juno' come out and people go, 'Oh, this is the brilliant shit.' And it's just people acting like real people, talking like real people. And those movies are making all the money now.

"Get back to the real shit," he added, regarding what he most wants for Foley. "That's where I started. [Be] a real person!"

“I’ve been in a bunch of different meetings with people, ‘Oh, we have to take Axel this way.” I ain’t seen no script yet [but] I’m not rolling out ‘Beverly Hills Cop 4’ for it to be a continuation of ‘Beverly Hills Cop III,’ which was a crock of shit. I wanna do a good one!”

He's not Paul Thomas Anderson, the genius creator of There Will Be Blood, and he's not Wes Anderson, the genius creator of The Darjeeling Limited. He's Paul W.S. Anderson, the guy who keeps cranking out Resident Evil movies. Listen to him talking like a big fancy-pants, won't you?

“I’m just starting to talk to Sony about it,” Anderson confessed. “I don’t even know if anything will come of it, but there’s a possibility it might happen. I love the ‘Resident Evil’ franchise and we always try to make the best possible movie we can. If we could find a good ‘Resident Evil 4’ to make, then we would do it. But I wouldn’t just do it for the sake of it, that’s for sure.”

So a fourth Resident Evil film may be in the works, with many more cloned Milla Jovoviches running around kicking zombie tuchus. One might normally say a line about not just cranking out a sequel for the sake of a sequel might not be applicable to a franchise like Resident Evil, but since it seems to have been done for a renowned saga like Indiana Jones, all bets are off.

Watch the trailer for the most recent film in the franchise, Resident Evil: Extinction.

On the heels of the news that Guy Ritchie is working on a Sherlock Holmes drama comes something that will likely undercut the efforts to relaunch the classic British detective as a real adventure hero: Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell starring as comedy versions of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's legendary creations Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson to be produced by Judd Apatow and to be written by Tropic Thunder scribe Etan Cohen (not Ethan Coen).

This would be somewhat akin to 300 coming out at the same time Meet the Spartans did, if Meet the Spartans was actually a funny comedy and 300 hadn't been joked to death already. If the comic version beats the dramatic version to theaters (and comedies are generally cheaper and quicker than adventure sagas), it may be hard to take the drama seriously enough to be effective. Then again, it's a Guy Ritchie Sherlock Holmes. Maybe it'll be like Snatch and will make the comedy version redundant.

Watch a clip from Cohen and Ferrell's last collaboration: Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.

By Chris Rachael Oseland
Fancast Movies

It's no accident Will Smith is the undisputed King of the 4th of July weekend.

He's famously quoted as stating, "When I started in movies, I said, 'I want to be the biggest movie star in the world.' The biggest movie stars make the biggest movies, so [my producing partner James Lassiter and I] looked at the top 10 movies of all time. At that point, they were all special-effects movies. So Independence Day, no-brainer. Men in Black, no-brainer. I, Robot, no-brainer."

This year, the Former Fresh Prince joins the Legion of Summer Super Heroes as Hancock. Normally, Smith gives us a wholesomely clean, wisecracking, lovable lead who saves the day despite unfair odds stacked against him. This year, he's bringing us a wisecracking, lovable alcoholic from another world who smashes the scenery with the careless abandon of a Grand Theft Auto junkie. Hancock should in no way be confused with Iron Man, a lovable, charismatic alcoholic billionaire, Hellboy, a lovable, charismatic otherworldly demon, or The Incredible Hulk, who likes to smash.

In media circles, it's currently trendy to pick on Smith for giving us exactly what we want. This year, that means superheroes, special effects, and snark. At this point in his career, the talking heads say he should shrug off that early ambition and start stretching our expectations, maybe challenge us a little. It's time for him to give us a Sideways, a Little Miss Sunshine, a Your Friends & Neighbors.

Instead, outside blockbuster season he's giving us heartwarming but meaningful movies like The Pursuit of Happyness and the upcoming Seven Pounds. Damn them man for having wholesome values. But let's be realistic - even if he gave them a bitter post-modern film about an indifferent small town bastard with a pointless job who casually cheats on his wife and leaves his parents to die in an abusive nursing home, the reviewers still wouldn't love him.

Screw 'em. There are 11 other months to experiment with deep movies. July is Smith's month for big budget, easy to watch, eye popping flicks. Ticket sales prove we love him for it.

Say what you will about quality, but Smith is wholesomely honest about his summer blockbusters. They won't change your life. They're not Shakespeare. They're darn fun popcorn movies that'll entertain you on a sweaty summer afternoon - and that's all. This 4th of July, enjoy Hancock with a clear concience.


1996: Independence Day
$306 million domestic, $511 international

1997: Men in Black
$215 million domestic, $339 million international

1999: Wild Wild West
$113 million domestic, $103 million international

2002: Men In Black II
$190 million domestic , $250 million international

2004: I, Robot
$144 million domestic, 204 million international

Watch an interview with Will Smith, discussing Hancock.

Watch George Peppard in The Blue Max in its entirety right here, right now on Fancast.

George Peppard is a fighter pilot during World War I. That should be enough to make you want to watch The Blue Max already, but we'll tell you more anyway.

George Peppard is a German fighter pilot named Bruno Stachel, who is determined to win the Blue Max - the highest honour in aviation (it's a British film, so we'll add the 'u' to honor). To do so, he must shoot down 20 enemy aircrafts. His quest puts him at odds with some of his fellow soldiers, who believe he cares more about earning the medal than protecting his allies and winning the war. When General Von Klugermann (James Mason) meets Stachel, he decides the man has potential in propaganda, and begins to exploit his exploits. Even Stachel's affair with Von Klugermann's wife Kaeti (Ursula Andress) doesn't derail his agenda.

Americans and British folk playing Germans without even bothering to attempt an accent is something that worked well in 1966 and likely won't work well in 2009 when Valkyrie is released, so enjoy it now. It's George Peppard being a ruthless badass. That's always worth watching.

Sam Mendes is juggling two film productions at the same time, and thus December's Revolutionary Road, starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet together for the first time since Titanic, isn't going to be ready in time for the fall movie festivals that most Oscar hopefuls rely on.

The other film is now tentatively entitled Farlanders, a Dave-Eggers-penned comedy about a couple (Maya Rudolph, John Krasinski) searching for a place to raise their kids. Apparently the plan is to finish shooting that film before heading to the editing bay to finish up Revolutionary Road. Let's hope this doesn't result in actual release date delays for either one.

Matt LeBlanc would jump at it, as he's got nothing doin'. David Schwimmer's directorial debut Run Fatboy Run didn't impress, so he might be on board (here's a hint, David - next time you make a movie about a fat guy, make sure to cast an actual fat guy in the lead). Matthew Perry's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip died a too-early death, and he's now stuck playing the older version of Zac Efron in 17 Again, so he'd probably be down. Lisa Kudrow has indie cred but gets stuck in 'best friend' roles a lot, so she'd probably consider reprising her best "Friend" role. Courteney Cox just had her F/X series Dirt cancelled, so she's likely free. Jennifer Aniston's tabloid career easily outpaces her film career, which has had scattered potential but a lot of misfires, and now she's doing a movie about a dog called Marley & Me.

Thus it makes sense that, after watching the Sex and the City folk milk their cash cow for a big-time movie, the cast of Friends are now considering taking their stab at theatrical gold. At least they are according to The Daily Mail, which requires a healthy amount of skepticism. It would make sense for them, though, at least in the short run. The insane marketing blitz that Sex had would likely work for them as well, and we'd all have a fresh opportunity to get sick of the Rembrandts all over again.

So while we wait to see if "The One Where It's A Movie" is anything more than conjecture, watch the full episode of Cox's Dirt in which Aniston guest-starred and even got "extra-friendly" with her.

By Andy Hunsaker
Fancast Movies

Will Smith summer blockbusters are often described as "review-proof." It doesn't matter how good the movie actually is, it's the likable Fresh Prince and lots of fun special effects. Hancock certainly delivers that much, and if that's all you need, have fun, and lament the loss of his trademark "aw HELL naw" line.

The marketing, however, may wind up doing more harm than good. Until a week or so ago, Hancock was being marketed as mostly a comedy, featuring Smith as a drunken Superman screwing up more than he helped. When moviegoers show up and realize that all that schtick is fairly well wrapped up in the first half-hour or so, they might start to wonder about the straight-up and moody superhero movie they will actually be seeing.

The film is actually less of this and more of this, when it's all said and done. It might be a nice surprise for others to have a brooding comic-book movie disguised as a comedy, but for those like me, if you lure me in with jokes and then keep forcing me to take your vague and muddled mythology seriously, I'm going to eventually get annoyed that the jokes aren't coming anymore.

The premiere for Hancock was huge on Hollywood Boulevard, shutting down a chunk of the street so they could install some big-time bleachers for the fans who wanted to scream at Will Smith. They got their wish.

Nobody takes summer blockbusters all that seriously, so it stands to reason that when you interview the stars of a popcorn flick like Hancock, they're going to be amusing and kooky about things.

Case in point: These interview clips of Will Smith, Charlize Theron and Jason Bateman goofing around. Charlize apparently has a thing for dressing up like a pilgrim.

Then in this package, director Peter Berg gets to share conflicting stories with Will about how much he liked doing the harness work to simulate Hancock's flight.

And if that's not enough, check out the European premieres of Hancock, with all the red carpet action from overseas.