You are browsing the archive for September 2011.
“I’ve made some bad movies, but some of those bad movies have been other people’s dreams, so it would be sort of inelegant to tread on all that. I’ve made movies because I’ve thought, ‘God, I really want my kids to have a house in the country.’ It’s depressing, not being in charge of one’s destiny. So what you have the power to do as an actor is the power to say ‘no’. You don’t have the power to say ‘yes’.” And: “I think it might mean no more action films! I mean, I love action movies, I love all sorts of movies, but there are just too many of the fuckers and too few movies for grownups.” [The Guardian via MovieCityNews]
Dream House promises to chill you with intrigue and suspense, but will the actual ‘dream house’ provide any of the scares? Here’s hoping yes. Freaky houses are a touchstone in horror cinema, and today I’m building a blueprint for a spooky manse made only from rooms in creepy movies. Norman Bates, Jack Torrance and Leatherface all contribute to the interior decoration.
Have your own customized design suggestions? Share them in the comments.
Dining Room: Texas Chainsaw Massacre
In what remains the freakiest movie ever made, Leatherface and his quaint family gather ‘round the dinner table as their squirming victim screams for her life. The juxtaposition of the fine table with the smattering of bones and death really make this noshing nook “pop.”
Bedrooms: The Exorcist and Poltergeist
When your children can’t sleep, they should be able to climb their bedroom walls freely and hurl dressers at their parents. Kids rule! In The Exorcist, we see a tall bureau come after Ellen Burstyn like an enraged Beauty and the Beast setpiece, and in Poltergeist, Dominique Dunne scampers up the walls like either a gecko or Lionel Richie.
Kitchen: Scream
We’ve seen grotesque and paranormal feng shui so far, but how about a pristine, suburban kitchen with shock-white walls and enough windows to please your neighborhood’s murderous, ghostfaced voyeurs? In Scream, Drew Barrymore kicks off the proceedings by unsuccessfully avoiding a masked killer. As she’s stabbed repeatedly, we watch her popcorn burn on the stove. Who makes popcorn on a stove anymore? Hair-raising!
Basement (and Bathroom): Psycho
You’ll need a motel-size bathroom with an intrudable shower in your nightmare house, but you’ll also need a horrifying basement that serves as a drawing room…
You may not have realized it, but Tyrese Gibson had a billion dollar box-office summer. The worldwide grosses of his two blockbusters Fast Five and Transformers: Dark of the Moon totaled $1.7 billion to be exact — a number that the former model/R&B artist/actor quoted twice during a recent chat with Movieline.
Among the other topics discussed over the phone while the actor (and future author) was stationed in Chicago promoting Fast Five’s Oct. 4 home-video release: possible future installments for both franchises, his whirlwind trip with Michael Bay and how he plans on changing the universe, one men’s advice book at a time.
Congratulations on having two of the biggest box office successes this year. It must feel pretty great to be Tyrese right now.
Thank you. It does.
At what point were you asked to return to the Fast and Furious franchise for Fast Five?
I got a call about a year and a half ago. Then it all started, and it was just about trying to schedule it and make it all happen because they had to arrange for me to do both Transformers and Fast Five. I just couldn’t believe they were letting me do both at the same time and more importantly, I was just happy that my characters hadn’t been clipped.
It must have been a surreal experience to be commuting between two sets as testosterone-fueled as Fast Five and Dark of the Moon. What that time period was like for you?
There were just a lot of personalities and a lot of energy to be had. There was pressure because everyone’s going to be watching these movies. I’d show up and just be respectful, know my lines…
Happy Friday! Also in today’s edition of The Broadsheet: Woody Harrelson may be next up for Now You See Me… The Half Nelson team gets Hate Mail… Idris Elba “would definitely consider” James Bond… The English Patient spawns a lawsuit… and more.
· New Line has officially declared its intention to reboot the Mortal Kombat series with Fame and Glee: The 3-D Concert Movie director Kevin Tancharoen, whose earlier Web episodes adapting the famously violent video game went viral earlier this year. The series’ writer, Oren Uziel, got the scripting gig. And here’s their Mileena! Ahem. [Deadline]
· Woody Harrelson is the latest actor to enter negotiations for the magician heist film Now You See Me, which would feature him as Merritt Osbourne, “a mentalist and hypnotist known for his Jedi-style mind tricks” — as well as reunite him with his Zombieland co-star Jesse Eisenberg. [Variety]
· Filmmaking duo Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Half Nelson, It’s Kind of a Funny Story) have locked in Hate Mail as their next project. It’s an ensemble piece about “several Manhattanites who encounter various iterations of hate mail and grapple with the subsequent fallout of their relationships.” I’ll totally volunteer to play the guy who drinks away the voices of Web trolls every night! Let’s do it! [Variety]
· Idris Elba doesn’t really want to be the first black James Bond, but that doesn’t mean he wouldn’t consider accepting the role if/when Sony ever offered it to him. Like, obviously. [THR]
· Saul Zaentz, the three-time Best Picture-winning producer, is suing Disney for allegedly holding out on money he says it owes him for the…
