Rama’s SCREEN

For those of you who still think the title QUANTUM OF SOLACE doesn’t sound like a Bond movie title, and those of you who are still scratching your head, wondering what the hell it means, can now rest assured in knowing that it doesn’t mean anything at all. At least that’s how it is according to the man who plays the famous spy agent, Daniel Craig. Via showbiz, he told Britain’s GQ magazine that he had a hand in choosing the title and it means jacksquad…

“I was involved in making the decision. Names were coming out, some ludicrous stuff was going back and forth - I can’t remember exactly, but you know the sort of thing: ‘The Blood On Your Face’.
“I knew I didn’t want ‘death’, ‘die’, ‘bleed’ or any of those things in the title.”
“As soon as it came out, people were saying, ‘Ooh, it sounds like Harry Potter’. No, it’s Quantum of Solace. I was saying, ‘It’s a Bond title!’
“The name of a Bond film is not about anything. Live And Let Die? Octopussy? What does it mean? It means very little.”

I don’t get! Daniel Craig just contradicted himself because back in January, he did explain what the title meant in a brief video interview.
Just FYI, there have been 3 Bond movies in the past that have used the word “Die”.. Live and Let Die, Tomorrow Never Dies, Die Another Day.

Check out the hardcore trailer

QUANTUM OF SOLACE opens November 14th, 2008

The guy who could be Tony Blair’s long lost brother, British thesp actor Michael Sheen (The Deal, The Queen, Underworld movies) has signed on for two projects. The term “scheduling conflict” is not in his dictionary.

He’s set to star with Samuel mothaF*in’ Jackson in the thriller movie UNTHINKABLE which looks at the ethics of torture after a terrorist threatening to detonate nuclear devices in the U.S. is questioned by a black-ops interrogator and an FBI agent played by Carrie Ann Moss.

Michael Sheen also will have a role in Tim Burton’s Disney movie ALICE IN WONDERLAND. No word yet on which character he’s going to play.. I’m vouching for him to play either The Cheshire Cat or The King of Hearts… Sheen playing The Cheshire Cat would be a pretty amusing thing to see though especially with the format of the movie which will combine performance-capture imagery, currently seen in “Beowulf,” with live-action footage.

Recently the movie cast Matt Lucas as both Tweedledee and Tweedledum, while the world is still stoked about Johnny Depp playing The Mad Hatter.

I only remember vaguely about the 1987 suspense/supernatural thriller ANGEL HEART starring Robert De Niro and Mickey Rourke… I only saw it once, it was… one of those movies that was tough to watch but at the same time, you’re either hypnotized or scared to sh*t, you can’t help but keep watching it til the very end. De Niro’s character’s name Louis Cyphre was a play on the word Lucifer. It was based on the novel Falling Angel by William Hjortsberg and adapted to the big screen by writer/director Alan Parker. The movie was filled with disturbing sex scenes, violence and voodoo rituals…
Now where am I going with this?
According Variety, Producers Michael De Luca, Alison Rosenzweig and Michael Gaeta have joined forces to develop the remake of ANGEL HEART

Those three ambitious Producers also optioned remake rights from a private U.K. firm, which owns the rights to the original film and they also optioned the underlying book rights to the novel from which original film was adapted.
Sounds like these three musketeers wanna make sure this project are theirs, as if the first installment never existed.
It’s going to be tough finding someone to play the role De Niro so cunningly performed in the original film.
That said, why is it that remakes nowadays don’t have the decency to wait and give the original version some time?
There should be a rule as to how many years you should wait before you can remake any movie from the past.

ANGEL HEART is about a private investigator named Harry Angel who is hired by a man who calls himself Louis Cyphre to track down a singer called Johnny Favorite. But the investigation takes a mysterious turn.

* In celebration of this info, here’s the trailer for the original ANGEL HEART

This is a sign that Hollywood is losing talent,.. when Madonna herself makes a freakin’ movie. This is the trailer for her directorial debut gig: FILTH AND WISDOM. Frankly, judging from this trailer, all I see is lots of Filth and No Wisdom. Well,,,… at least she didn’t come up with a sex video.

tale of three roommates who must delve into mischievous and naughty behavior in pursuit of bigger and brighter futures. A Ukrainian immigrant, A.K. (Eugene Hutz), finances his dreams of ‘trans-continental superstardom’ with his band, Gogol Bordello, by turning tricks as a role-playing cross dresser. As A.K. literally whips the privileged of London into shape, he also secretly pines for the object of his affection, Holly (Holly Weston), an aspiring ballerina looking for her big break while moonlighting as a slippery stripper. Meanwhile, Juliette (Vicky Mclure) steals medicine from her pharmaceutical job in hopes of quenching her dreams of helping Africa’s youth. FILTH AND WISDOM is every bit as erotic and playful as it is poignant and touching, revealing the universal struggles we all face in our pursuits of happiness

FILTH AND WISDOM opens limited October 17th, 2008

Via IMpawards.com, here is the movie poster

I’m looking forward to the wide release of Steven Soderbergh’s biopic movie about Che Guevara starring Benicio Del Toro as the legendary revolutionary fighter, that comes in two interconnecting parts: GUERILLA and THE ARGENTINE mainly because history is one of my favorite subjects back in high school. So far the 4 hour movie has only been making rounds from one film festival to another, I’m startin’ to get frustrated, will it ever be distributed fairly to general audience? But the waiting continues.
Chud, however, got to hear director Steven Soderbergh talk about the movie during the Q&A session at the recent New York Film Festival and Soderbergh actually wanted to make a third installment but there was not enough dough… I hear you, man!

“Even though we’ve made two parts we still haven’t shown everything. There’s actually another movie, I think, to be made about what happens between these two parts but we didn’t have enough money.”
“We (writer Peter Buchman and I) talked about [the third film]. The story of Che in the Congo was absolutely fascinating. We actually sort of sketched an idea for a small film, that would take place in the Congo and Prague, where he went after fighting in the Congo to sort of lick his wounds and write a very self-critical book on what happened [there].”
“The [real] answer is that we didn’t have enough money to do that. Also, it’s a fascinating chapter, but it didn’t really fall into the bookend idea we ended up with.”

And with this economy, I doubt that Hollywood powerful, influential studios or producers would even lend Soderbergh a dime to make CHE 3 or whatever the title maybe… unless of course, the story took a rapid change and by some miracle, the character Che Guevara got bit by a radioactive spider and he became a Latin web crawler..
I’m saying that because it’s ridiculous how Sony/Columbia Pictures decide to continue with SPIDERMAN 4 and SPIDERMAN 5 after how horrible Spiderman 3 was.
Anyways, I haven’t seen either GUERILLA or THE ARGENTINE but I’m keeping my hopes up. Let me fill you in on something… when I become a filmmaker someday, one of the ambitious projects I’m going to undertake is to make a biopic movie based on the life of Bung Karno, who was Indonesia’s First President. A ladies man, a great Orator, a charismatic leader, a ladies man, his supposed connection with Communist Party, his defiance against United States, and how CIA and Suharto screwed him over in the end. If you don’t know who he was, just google him up.

The teaser poster for Sony’s upcoming sequel movie THE PINK PANTHER 2 has hit the web and it still doesn’t give you any good reason to be anticipating this movie whatsoever.
The only reason I’d watch it is because Bollywood beauty Aishwarya Rai is one of the stars. Now they should come up with THE PINK PANTHER 2 character poster where she gets to have the whole space instead of Steve Martin.

Steve Martin will reprise his role as the bumbling Inspector Jacques Clouseau in the modern-day farce. John Cleese will play chief inspector Dreyfus in the film. Garcia, Molina and Rai have signed on as detectives and experts who join forces with Clouseau to catch the thief who has been stealing artifacts around the world.

Check out the first promo teaser

THE PINK PANTHER 2 opens February 6th, 2008

Earlier this year I was a bit disappointed that the French got to see Iron Man first before we did because it opened there a few days before it got released nationwide here in the U.S.

Now James Bond is taking similar method but through different detour.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, QUANTUM OF SOLACE will open in theaters in England first on October 31st, 2008 and then will open in India on November 7th, 2008 and then finally… the film will open in U.S. theaters on Nov. 14th, 2008.
The move by Sony marks the first time that a major U.S. film has opened in India before hitting theaters Stateside.

As you probably remember, the change of the release date of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince from this November to next summer caused many movies to change their release dates too including QUANTUM SOLACE from Nov. 7th to Nov. 14th
I never thought India would grab the previous date though.
Would you fly to England and India to catch an early screening of QUANTUM OF SOLACE?
Which movie would you be willing to do that for? That probably would make you the craziest American movie fan ever.

Hearing it was cool and all but it’s no comparison to seeing Alica Keys‘ beautiful face singing her heart out in a video clip. Via yahoo, here is the music video for the original Soundtrack theme song of the upcoming Bond movie, QUANTUM OF SOLACE. The song is titled ANOTHER WAY TO DIE performed by beautifully talented Alicia Keys and the rocknrolla Jack White of The White Stripes.

How’d you like the song?

QUANTUM OF SOLACE opens November 14th, 2008

Usually after a long day of hard’s work in very hot sunny Southern California, I’d just like some ice cold water and some nice cool breeze but apparently the gods of cinema have a painful sense of humor because today it’s confirmed a.k.a official a.k.a why o why o why.. that, via UGO, Brett Ratner, the so-so director of Rush Hours movies IS indeed going to direct the movie version of GOD OF WAR based on the popular video game. The possibility came out back in May.

There were rumors that Djimon Hounsou might play the main character Kratos but no confirmation on that yet.

Universal Pictures secured the movie rights to the popular video game created by Sony Computer Entertainment back in the summer of 2005. Set in ancient Greece, the game follows the battles of the warrior Kratos, who tackles mythological beasts including Medusa, Cyclops and the Hydra. Players navigate Kratos on his quest to find Pandora’s Box and destroy Ares, the god of war.

By the way, Brett Ratner also said that PLAYBOY movie based on the life of Hugh Heffner and the movie BEVERLY HILLS COP 4 are definitely in development.
After all this time, surrounding himself with lots of project options, he’s finally made some of them happen for reals. whether that’s a Good thing or bad thing, it’s up to you to judge.

I have to be in LA for a short while this morning, but I don’t wanna you to go empty handed. The folks at The Quentin Tarantino Archives have some spy photos of the Germany set of INGLORIOUS BASTARDS which is currently called Inglourious Basterds for the time being. Enjoy!
* Click on the image below to see more

Remember last year when SWEENEY TODD has hit interactive online trailer mashup where you can mix all kinds of different scenes from the movie and make your own Sweeney Todd Trailer?! Now Lionsgate has something similar, the SAW V trailer mashup tool on the LionsgateLIVE channel of You Tube - http://www.youtube.com/LionsgateLIVE. You can edit a bunch of video clips including those from previous SAW Movies, compile them according to your desire, whatever mix and however which way you want it and make it your own. Visit LionsgateLIVE to create a trailer for your favorite Saw film using the mashup tool, and then upload your video to be entered to WIN a trip to Los Angeles and two tickets to a Lionsgate Horror Film Premiere!

* Just click on the image below to start

The Saw V trailer mashup has already received over 3 Million views – check it out for yourself!

SAW V opens October 24th, 2008

Here’s the poster of CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC, via Impawards, and below is the official trailer that hit the web. So far it looks like Devil Wears Prada has a shopping addiction. Starring cutie Isla Fischer, the red head Sacha Baren Cohen (Borat) gets to sleep with every night. When I first noticed Isla in Wedding Crashers I didn’t think she could be a star, but the progression showed, slowly but surely, from supporting roles in The Lookout and then Definitely Maybe… maybe SHOPAHOLIC would be the movie that would start her career as a lead actress from here on out. The result for this movie at the box office will determine that.

Plot:
Rebecca Bloomwood is a sweet and charming New York City girl who has a tiny, little problem that is rapidly turning into a big problem: she’s hopelessly addicted to shopping and drowning in a sea of debt. While Rebecca has dreams of working for a top fashion magazine, she can’t quite get her foot in the door—that is, until she snags a job as an advice columnist for a new financial magazine published by the same company. Overnight, her column becomes hugely popular, turning her into an overnight celebrity. But when her compulsive shopping and growing debt issues threaten to destroy her love life and derail her career, she struggles to keep it all from spiraling out of control.. and is ultimately forced to reevaluate what’s really important in life.
Isla Fisher (”Wedding Crashers”) stars in the film from producer Jerry Bruckheimer and director P.J. Hogan (”My Best Friend’s Wedding”), based on the best-selling series of books by British author Sophie Kinsella.

CONFESSIONS OF A SHOPAHOLIC opens February 13th, 2009

MTV got to talk with Kirsten Dunst while she’s promoting her new movie How To Lose Friends and Alienate People…. or you can call it How to Come Up With Just As Long-A-Title As Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of The Crystal Skull

Anyways, all the people of the world now has known for quite some time, due to previous info of course, that Sam Raimi and Tobey Maguire are in, as in they’re going to be involved in the fourth and the fifth installment of the Friendly Neighborhood sequels with scripts written by scribe Jamie Vanderbilt

Last info didn’t include Kirsten Dunst as one of the people returning to reprise their roles. We were under the assumption that she’s battling depression. Can you blame her? Everybody hates her as Mary Jane Watson… but she can’t help being herself.

So Dunst implied that she might be in SPIDERMAN 4 after all..

“I’m in,” said the actress matter of factly. However, when pressed to make the announcement official, Dunst quickly changed her tone, and rather cryptically added, “I’m not saying anything, I know there’s rumors…”

See.. now that’s fishy, if she hesitated in giving confirmation or making the announcement official, that could either mean.. she’s not locked in for the project yet..or…it was just wishful thinking on her side.
Poor Dunst, will she ever know for sure?… will she ever be likable at all?
Do you think she should return as Mary Jane Watson or is time for recast?

SPIDERMAN 4 will be released in 2011

Wasn’t there a great man who once said,..”Do not go where the path may lead, go instead where there is no path and leave a trail“? Well, just like other movies are trying to copy The Dark Knight’s dark and gloomy mood, other movies are also trying to copy follow its trail by filming some of the scenes with IMAX camera, Jon Favreau has discussed using IMAX cameras in filming Iron Man 2, while director D.J. Caruso has expressed interest in doing so for future projects such as Y: The Last Man and guess what?! Now it’s Michael Bay’s turn.
The director known for awesome explosions in all his summer blockbuster movies will film at least three action set pieces using IMAX cameras for TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN which will open nationwide June 26th, 2009..
Isn’t IMAX screen like at least about 72 ft wide and 53 ft high?! And I’m guessing Optimus Prime’s actual height is about 30 - 40 feet tall.
I guess IMAX would be the best way to bring the character to life, literally.
I remember back in the day, people wanted to be like Michael Jordan, now everybody wants to be like Christopher Nolan.

I’ve been following this info since it popped up on slashfilm earlier today and as much as I’d like to see a sequel done to the one of the classic sci-fi cult hits ever known, it all seems too good to be true. And after seeing Harrison Ford as old, slow Indy Jones in INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL, I would hate for him to somehow for some odd reason, show up in BLADE RUNNER 2 as well. He’s past his prime.
It all started with the question surrounding which writers said they’re working on the sequel and are they really working on BLADE RUNNER 2??
The long article comes to a conclusion that we can all feel relieved about, for now. I’m just gonna let you read it directly from Peter Sciretta of slashfilm, just click on the image below to take you there. And if you have any opinion about this, pro or contra, just chime in through the comment section below.

As we all know TERMINATOR SALVATION is in the works and will hit theaters everywhere next Memorial Day in 2009. (Check out the first Teaser). All the while we thought that Director McG had the blessings of the original creator to continue the franchise but lo and behold, the great James Cameron, via joblo, said to E online recently…

It could be a big steaming pile or it could be brilliant. Sam Worthington is in the Avatar and the new Terminator and he likes the script, but I never saw it. There was no blessing involved.

So who’s lying and who’s telling the truth? And why does it sound like James Cameron is pissed off about it?
What the hell does he have to complain about anyway, he’s been swimming in money since who-knows-when.
Plus, He should be glad as it is that The Dark Knight sadly will not be able to sink Titanic off the box office throne of all time. Damn ship’s still holding on to all it’s got.

Via slashfilm, there’s a new info in Wonderland, literally. The word is talented Matt Lucas (Shaun of the Dead) is playing both Tweedledee and Tweedledum in Tim Burton’s 3D adaptation of ALICE IN WONDERLAND for Disney (check out the spy photos)
Recently it cast Johnny Depp as The Mad Hatter. The movie will be released on March 5th, 2010

Based on the Lewis Carroll classic “Alice in Wonderland,” which will combine performance-capture imagery, currently seen in “Beowulf,” with live-action footage. Disney released their classic animated version in 1951.

I’m off to take care of some business right now, but I’ll be back in a few hours to talk more about movies,.. cause ya know… I got nothing better to talk about anyway.

Here come the Men In Black! for the third time? You gotta admit it, the second installment was junk, and Lara Flynn Boyle’s skinny ass anorexic body didn’t help either, it was just one of those movies put together because somebody higher up there waved some six figure checks in front them like a carrot bait for a donkey.

Parade talked with producer Walter Parkes if there’s a possibility for MEN IN BLACK 3…

“The challenge is getting the script right and finding a time when our busy stars are available,” says a source close to Parkes. “But everyone, including Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones, wants to do another.”

Recently, Tommy Lee Jones suit the studio behind No Country For Old Men for not paying him enough, so I guess it’s fair to say that Jones would return for MEN IN BLACK 3 if you tempt him with the right amount of cash. Which is kind of sad, actually. A talented actor such as himself driven by money.
Will Smith on the other hand, I’m not sure if he wants to do this gig again, because he’s too busy trying and trying again to get that golden statuette that’s long overdue. But he did make Hancock, so I wouldn’t say he’d reject the idea of MEN IN BLACK 3 completely. Ya never know.
The question remains, do you really wanna see MEN IN BLACK 3 or have you had just about enough??

This commotion happened not too long ago but I figured I’d share it with you here for hilarity purposes. Actor Sacha Baren Cohen as the world might know him better as Borat has a new movie based on one of his alter egos, BRUNO, this time he disguised himself as a gay Austrian reporter that was once part of Cohen’s act show back in his Ali G days. This is a string of his many deviant acts as he goes around in character.
He made a disturbing scene at an airport, and then he bothered Guvn’ah Ahnold, and then he purposely mistook Hamas for Hummus and then… he crashed a Catwalk during Milan Fashion week, just check out the video clip below. He even got arrested for the stunt, I wonder if we’ll ever see it in the final print of the movie.

I’m not a big fan of Green Lantern but whether I like it or not is irrelevant because the big screen version will happen no matter what. Some of you might be  into the superhero with the powerful ring, I frankly don’t see what’s so cool about him just yet.
Firstshowing got to talk with producer Donald De Line, who is developing the film and this is what he basically said…

“a new draft of the script came in” and they’re “gearing up to start shooting early spring.”

The awesome El Mayimbe of Latinoreview reviewed the script and called it “Very cool and if executed as written, the script has the potential to be a HUGE blockbuster with serious franchise potential for further sequels and prequels as the script alludes to” Read the full script review.
DC folks are thinking about releasing the movie by 2010.