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'Call of Duty' Movie Talk Highlights Kevin McKidd's Sense of Humor
Filed under: Action, Fandom, War
I'm already a big Kevin McKidd fan from his work on television shows like Rome and the woefully under-seen Journeyman, as well as his turns in Ridley Scott's Kingdom of Heaven and Neil Marshall's Dog Soldiers, but his comments on the increasing possibility of a Call of Duty film have made me love the actor even more. For those who weren't in line at midnight for the recent launch of the latest CoD entry, Modern Warfare 2, you should know that Call of Duty is a first-person-shooter video game series that started off during World War II but has since spread its settings throughout the last hundred or so years of combat.A few months ago Activision, the game's publisher, filed for a Call of Duty movie-related trademark, hinting that they were planning on kick-starting a film franchise as well. After the $550 millon success of Modern Warfare 2, the New York Post caught up with Kevin McKidd, who lends his voice to Soap, one of the games' staple characters, about his involvement with the project and if there was any progress on the film front. His response is golden:
"They were looking for a rough, Scottish actor in Hollywood they probably couldn't get Gerard Butler, so they got the No. 2 Gerard Butler, me. I had no idea it would be so huge, and now there are talks of a feature film," ... "if the script is good, and Gerard isn't available [laughs], then absolutely."
AFI Fest Review: The Messenger
Filed under: Drama, Theatrical Reviews, Other Festivals, War
Just when movies about the war in Iraq had exhausted audience interest, this summer's sleeper hit The Hurt Locker came along. And just when those same audiences thought there was only one movie about Iraq that could resonate with them, The Messenger comes along. Starring Ben Foster, Woody Harrelson and Samantha Morton, the film is not only a revelatory look at the war's logistical repercussions stateside, but an examination of the emotional toll not only battle but survival takes on soldiers, culminating in a poignant tale of redemption that counts as one of the very best films of the year.
Foster (3:10 To Yuma) plays Will Montgomery, a staff sergeant more or less waiting out his last days as a military officer after an extended tour of duty in Iraq. Although he initially (and understandably) reluctant to participate when he is enlisted to inform families of the deaths of their loved ones, he bonds with his superior officer, Tony Stone (Harrelson), and slowly emerges from his own emotional morass as a result of reaching out to these grieving families. But when he and Tony inform a mother named Olivia (Morton) of her husband's death, he becomes inextricably involved in her and her son's life, realizing that the tenuous relationships he previously participated in are no substitute for something more meaningful.
'Sgt. Rock' Looks to the Future with Francis Lawrence
Filed under: Action, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Deals, Warner Brothers, Scripts, DIY/Filmmaking, Newsstand, Comic/Superhero/Geek, War
Once upon a time, Sgt. Rock was in the hands of Guy Ritchie, and many an Easy Company fan was upset. But you'll undoubtedly wish that Ritchie and Joel Silver had made it to the finish line, because Sgt. Rock will not make it to the big screen in a form you'll recognize. According to The Hollywood Reporter, he has a new director in Francis Lawrence and a whole new space-time continuum. Joel Silver is still on board as producer, and he's bringing Akiva Goldsman on board to help. They've hired newcomer Chad St. John to pen the script. As you may or may not know, Sgt. Rock is a WWII soldier. He's always fought in WWII. The poor guy has never even gotten to leave the European theater. (It was rumored in Swamp Thing that he was transferred to the Pacific, but never confirmed.) Any attempt at a movie adaptation has always gone forward with this central idea of keeping him in his element. But budget, politics, and popularity has always been an issue, and no one believes you can make The Dirty Dozen in this day and age unless you're Quentin Tarantino. So Warner Bros has decided to bypass the drama, and put Sgt. Rock in the future. CG is cheaper than Nazis, and a nondescript soldier of the future is less problematic than an American fighting a good fight. (While no war is a good war, I do think we can all agree that fighting Nazis was a good thing.)
Nothing else is known about this storyline, so I hate to jump to a knee-jerk conclusion as to who or what Sgt. Rock will face there, or whether he will be transported to the future from WWII. But I think this is an unfortunate thing to do to a character who resides in WWII for a very specific and honorable reason. The last thing he should become is a Universal Soldier or Terminator ripoff.
Cinematical Seven: '80s Military Recruitment Movies
Filed under: Fandom, Cinematical Seven, Lists, War
We live in a time when war movies based on toys (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra) are better received by the public than those that have a basis in truth (The Hurt Locker). G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, out on DVD and Blu-ray today, dances around its origins as military action figures by positioning its heroes as an elite unit, more like well-armed spies than anything resembling common soldiers. The aim appears to be similar, though: provide heroic figures that inspire others to follow in their footsteps.
Back in the 80s, movies that could be mistaken for recruitment propaganda became surprisingly common. The film industry, which had firmly resisted anything related directly to the Vietnam War while it was being waged, became schizophrenic in the 80s, releasing anti-war and pro-war flicks side by side into theaters. Here are seven key films, listed chronologically, that helped shape the public's perception of the military during that decade.
Private Benjamin (1980)
Nancy Meyers began here, co-writing and co-producing the tale of Judy Benjamin (Goldie Hawn), a bride who wears black after her husband (Albert Brooks) dies on their wedding night. A spoiled woman-child, Judy enlists in the armed forces; basic training toughens her up as she realizes she can deal with the rigors of military life. As a budding feminist, she still had miles to go to learn that she didn't need a man or the military to be all she could be; as a poster child for plucky women in the armed forces, Private Benjamin was a positive-reinforcement milestone.
Soldier at Savannah Film Fest Rave-Reviews 'The Messenger'
Filed under: Drama, New Releases, Festival Reports, Politics, Oscar Watch, Other Festivals, Cinematical Indie, War
The Messenger opened the 12th Savannah Film Festival with a bang: a sellout crowd, international press, and Hollywood stars Woody Harrelson and Ben Foster in attendance to rub elbows all night. Even without the glitz, though, Savannah was a smart place to screen the Iraq drama. Oren Moverman's film is a character study about a soldier (Foster) dealing with the aftermath of war, but like Kathryn Bigelow's Iraq film The Hurt Locker, it's about the personal toll Iraq leaves on soldiers who survive and the families of those who don't; the politics of war are hardly an issue. And so, in a city that supports two military bases and the men and women who serve them, The Messenger played like gangbusters.
Foster stars as William Montgomery, a recent Iraq returnee dealing with serious leftover issues and a new assignment to play out his final three months of service: informing families that their loved ones have been killed on duty. As Montgomery's partner, Harrelson provides moments of levity, but there were plenty of sniffles throughout the film just the same.
While it was pretty easy to figure out what the general consensus was, there were three figures in particular I was watching for a reaction – the only three uniformed soldiers in attendance, who may or may not have been connected to the production. (The film has been screened for military personnel, and Harrelson and Foster personally met soldiers at Hunter Army Airfield prior to the night's screening.) When asked what military folk have thought of his film in the post-screening Q&A, director Moverman deferred to one of the officers in the audience to share his reaction with the crowd. What follows is the unnamed soldier's impromptu review of The Messenger.
"Matt Damon!" New Trailers for 'Invictus' and 'Green Zone'
Filed under: Action, Drama, Sports, Thrillers, Awards, Mystery & Suspense, Universal, Warner Brothers, Oscar Watch, War, Trailers and Clips
August gave us the voice of Matt Damon in Ponyo, September gave us the inner voice of Matt Damon in The Informant!, and now October has brought us a look at his next two performances.Clint Eastwood's Invictus is one of the last big likely contenders of the awards season, though it is as of yet unseen (unless those very few who have seen it are very good at being very quiet). Damon plays real-life rugby captain Francois Pienaar, whose team saw the support of Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) as a rallying point around which they might lift the spirits of South Africa in the wake of apartheid. It's political! It's underdog! It's opening in December! It's Oscar bait for certain, and Apple has the exclusive trailer.
Paul Greengrass' Green Zone, on the other hand, was shuffled out of the Oscar race once Universal decided to sort out its slate after a lackluster summer at the box office, and that may have been a wise move. Yahoo's trailer (which is also embedded below) comes across as more of a straight-up actioner than a ready-made contender, with Damon back in Bourne mode as a betrayed soldier on the hunt first for WMDs, and then for answers. Based on the best-seller Imperial Life in the Emerald City, it opens on March 12, 2010.
Bruckheimer to Adapt 'Shattered Union' Video Game
Filed under: Action, Disney, Games and Game Movies, War
Now how's this for a cool premise? "U.S. states secede from the U.S. and form their own governments that wage a civil war against each other after Washington, D.C., is wiped out in a nuclear blast and chaos ravages the nation." Sounds like it could make for a fairly novel action flick, eh? Well, as Variety informs us, that's the exact plot of a 2005 video game called Shattered Union. (Just because I've never heard of it doesn't mean it's not good. If you've played this one, leave us a mini-review in the comments section.)The tale of a dystopian American Civil War Part II will come from producer Jerry Bruckheimer (don't act surprised), who in turn will entrust the adaptation to one J. Michael Straczynski. Serious genre fans know this gentleman as the co-creator of Babylon 5. He's written tons of TV, in addition to Eastwood's Changeling, plus he's got a metric ton of massive projects on the way, World War Z and Silver Surfer among them. The studio will be Disney, so don't expect a hardcore carnage-fest. I'm generally a fan of the Bruckheimer / Disney action conflagrations, and this one sure sounds like something I'd dig. Now hire Peter Berg to direct it.
CMJ Dispatch: 'The Fourth Kind,' 'The Messenger,' and More
Filed under: Action, Drama, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Thrillers, Universal, Festival Reports, DIY/Filmmaking, Cinematical Indie, War
The CMJ Festival ended Friday night with a whimper -- well, maybe that was me whimpering after I left a special screening of the spooky ooky alien thriller, The Fourth Kind. In case you haven't checked out the trailers and featurettes on the official site, I'll give you a quick breakdown -- the movie switches between "real" footage of director Olatunde Osunsanmi interviewing Dr. Abigail Tyler, a psychiatrist in Nome, Alaska, an area with an allegedly high rate of reported alien abductions, and Milla Jovovich playing Tyler as she struggles with the mysterious death of her husband and her patients' nightmares and mental breakdowns. Interestingly enough, the movie also sometimes intersperses Tyler's "real" footage of her sessions with clients with Jovovich acting them out using split screens. In any case, despite any questions as to the validity of the Tyler story and problems with the last third of the movie, I found it pretty damn scary. The Fourth Kind will be begin probing theatergoers on November 6th. (Note: It's unclear whether this was the final cut or not.)
The First Official Photo From 'The A-Team'
Filed under: Action, 20th Century Fox, Newsstand, Movie Marketing, Remakes and Sequels, Images, War
We've had a lot of unofficial parparazzi shots of The A-Team and their van, but now you can go into your weekend having seen the real deal, courtesy of Salon Del Mal. Try to contain your excitement, as no one around you is going to understand it. Just keep the joy to yourself, and then when a coworker or friend says "Oh my God, did you see that official photo of The A-Team?", you can talk freely.
In all seriousness (well, as serious as one can get), this photo is kind of creepy. I have to echo Drew McWeeny of HitFix, who declared that Liam Neeson looked like he was wearing a George Peppard Halloween costume. I have to extend that to the entire cast, especially Sharltro Copley as Howling Mad Murdock. With all their talk of going dark and gritty, I expected the cast and crew of this would make this A-Team their own characters. The names would be the same, there'd be a few nostalgic nods, but they'd go in a unique direction. Instead, they just shrugged and made an exact replica of Mr. T. They really do look like a group of dedicated costumers that youd meet at DragonCon.
I don't mean to sound disappointed or negative. I'm not invested enough in the original to mind, and I like the cast Joe Carnahan has assembled. I think this could be fun. Even if it's not, at least I can gaze at Bradley Cooper and his leonine hair which is still very much intact. Never trust those grainy paparazzi images that say otherwise.
Sound off what you think of your official look. A bigger photo is included in the gallery.
Gerard Butler Goes Shakespearean in 'Coriolanus'
Filed under: Classics, Drama, Independent, Casting, Newsstand, War
Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, many of you feel my client Gerard Butler should be placed on movie star probation. In the light of new evidence, I plan to petition for a retrial as it would appear that Mr. Butler has abandoned romantic comedies in order to accept a role from England's greatest playwright. Yes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Butler is taking a role in William Shakespeare's Coriolanus alongside Ralph Fiennes, William Hurt, Vanessa Redgrave, and Jessica Chastain. Fiennes will be playing the lead and will be helming the adaptation in his directing debut, which was adapted by John Logan. On a very awkward appearance on Baltimore WJX, Butler revealed that his next role would be in Fiennes' adaptation, and he described it as "a passion project" for them both. He didn't specify which role he would be taking on, but I'm hoping it's Coriolanus' sworn enemy, Tullus Aufidius. He always looks so good with blood on him, and it would be glorious to watch him fight Fiennes.
Of course, this is Shakespeare and financing could be difficult even with Fiennes at the helm, though a solid cast should help with that. It was one of the projects at the IFF this September, and I hope they found someone to give them some money. Not only does the world always need more Shakespeare, but Butler needs a meaty role now. Seeing as it was Steven Berkoff's Coriolanus was what ushered Butler into acting, I can think of no better production (save perhaps The Scottish Play) that could wrangle him another plea bargain.
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