An often overlooked 80s classic is getting a slick HD makeover on the occasion of its 25th birthday: the George Lucas-produced and Ron Howard-directed fantasy film Willow comes to Blu-Ray on March 13. First released in 1988, Willow follows the adventures of a farmer (Warwick Davis of Harry Potter and Leprechaun fame in the title role) from a humble village of little people who finds himself pursued by entire armies as he protects a magical baby from a tyrannical witch. There’s a roguish swordsman, a rebellious princess, even an evil knight who dresses in black armor. Basically, it’s Star Wars meets the book of Exodus meets (duh) Lord of the Rings. Which is fine, especially since it was at the time the closest we thought we might ever get to anything remotely Tolkien-esque on the big screen*.
Of course, 13 years after Willow’s release we actually got that live-action LOTR, which is probably why the new trailer for the Willow Blu-ray really, really, no really, seriously wants you to think The Hobbit while you watch. In fact, the tagline ‘from smallest beginnings…’ shamelessly apes The Hobbit’s “from small beginnings” to the point that you wonder if the original title was ‘Age Of Hobbits’. Here’s a look:
Despite a rather underwhelming ending and TV movie-level direction (sorry, Ron, but it’s true), Willow was a wonderful bit of cheesy 1980s fantasy at least worthy of a double feature with Krull. True, Willow lacks a “hey, wait, he’s in this??!” appearance by Liam Neeson, but it does have a pre-fat Elvis period Val Kilmer, Davis in one of his rare chances…
Full Story »I’ll give Liam Neeson this much. He’s even braver in real life than the hard asses he plays in the movies. The New York Daily News reports that Neeson, 60, raised $20,000 for breast cancer research on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday by stripping down to a pair of pink bikini briefs and entering a dunk tank on the talk show.
“If I take this off, does the $10,000 become $20,000?” Neeson asked DeGeneres as he doffed the pink robe he was wearing to reveal the similarly hued Speedo.
“We get fined if you take those off,” the talk-show host said pointing to his briefs.
After taking the hot seat, he was promptly doused with with a huge tub of water when an audience nailed the tank target.
Kudos to Neeson for sucking it up for charity, but, at the risk of sounding like a real a-hole, I’m going to suggest that he didn’t suck it up enough. Judging from the rolls of belly fat visible in the video, I think that Neeson should either adopt a high-protein diet and Hugh Jackman’s personal trainer or begin employing what I am calling “The Willis Technique” since seeing Looper.
Watching Rian Johnson’s impressive but depressing time-travel film, I noticed that Willis, who looks more fat and happy than John McLean in the film — that’s a Die Hard joke — tended to be well-covered in his bedroom cuddle scenes with Qing Xu. I’m sure there’s a very good reason that Willis favored chaste white t-shirts and other cover-ups while spooning with the love of his life, but I have to wonder if some bright person on that set, maybe Bruce himself, realized that the simple undergarment would hide a multitude of fleshy sins that could very well have made Johnson’s…
Full Story »If you don’t have a whiny, teenaged kid, then watch this latest trailer for Taken 2. Although Maggie Grace, as Kim, is ostensibly playing a woman in her 20s, she’s behaving just like a 15 year-old! Even under life or death circumstances, adolescents can behave as if they are stuck in their own little personal pool of molasses, and it’s up to Dad — or Mom — to gnash some teeth, raise the voice and light a fire under the kid’s reluctant ass.Enter Liam Neeson, as as retired no-nonsense CIA operative Bryan Mills. The man knows how to wield the tough love while brandishing a gun, and after a fog-burning “C’mon! Kim! Move!” his little girl is maneuvering that Mercedes Benz taxi around Istanbul, or wherever the hell they are, like she’s Ryan Gosling in Drive. Now that’s good parenting!
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Looks like Taken 2 could be subtitled All in the Family, or maybe Bad-Ass & Daughter. Liam Neeson is back as retired CIA operative Bryan Mills, and based on the plot points covered by the two new trailers posted below, he enlists daughter Kim (Maggie Grace), who he gallantly rescued in the first Taken, to assist him in saving her Mom (Famke Janssen) from the bad guys. Turns out the motive for moms kidnapping is familial in nature, too: She’s been taken by the father of the kidnapper Mills killed back in the first flick.
And if Neeson didn’t suck you in the first time around with his unflappable, I-will-make-you-regret-ever-messing-with-me charisma, he opens the first trailer by having some fun with his character’s certitude. Taken 2 is directed by the memorably named Olivier Megaton, whose credits include Colombiana and Transporter 3, and we’re happy to see that the script was written by the same team that made the first Taken such a taut experience: Luc Besson (The Professional and La Femme Nikita) and Robert Mark Kamen (Karate Kid, the Transporter movies), whose Kamen Estate vineyards makes some delicious vino, by the way.
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I’ve always had a weak spot for Andy Samberg’s impression of Nicolas Cage on SNL’s Weekend Update, which the show revived over the weekend to help pimp the NBC Universal property Battleship. This called for the appearance of that film’s co-star Liam Neeson — or Neese’s Pieces, or Tall Bono, or Leslie Nielsen, or whatever else Cage felt like calling the actor when he wasn’t wondering, “Which Jewish masseuse do I have pork to get a gig in this town?”
Your mileage may vary, but hey. I laughed, and it’s Monday. Off we go.
Let’s see — after Russell Crowe, Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio and now reportedly Tom Cruise, who’s left to consider to star opposite Beyoncé Knowles in Clint Eastwood’s long-planned, probably-never-gonna-happen Star is Born remake? George Clooney? Brad Pitt? Liam Neeson? Viggo Mortensen? Jean Dujardin? Philip Seymour Hoffman? Albert Brooks? Charlie Sheen? Matthew Broderick? Peter Dinklage? Richard Dreyfuss? (Too busy.) Ned Beatty? Danny McBride? Roberto Benigni? Peyton Manning? Who did I forget? [Deadline]
Forget John Carter’s controversial budget woes and terrible tracking for a minute; Wrath of the Titans has been threatening to be the first big biff of 2012 since it was announced, thanks largely to its poorly received predecessor, Clash of the Titans. The sequel’s initial Marilyn Manson-themed trailer didn’t help, either, but Warner Bros. have thankfully tightened things (and stopped lingering on Sam Worthington’s Kenny Powers ‘do) for a new trailer that actually promises some fantastic CG creature work. Bring on the lava monster thingy!
Wrath of the Titans picks up ten years after the events of Clash, with Perseus (Worthington) tapped once again by Zeus to save the world, this time from the nefarious Titans and Olympian plotters we glimpsed in Immortals. (Thanks for that primer, Tarsem!) This time around Rosamund Pike is along for the ride as the warrior queen Andromeda, as well as folks like Toby Kebbell and Bill Nighy.
This trailer tightens things up a bit, explaining the set up (Liam Neeson’s Zeus is under attack!) and packing a ton of CG creature looks into the span of a minute and a half. Honestly, that’s shaping up to be the draw of this Jonathan Liebesman-helmed sequel. All I want to see is some believable lava smoke monster giant action. The movies never get those guys quite right.
Wrath of the Titans will debut March 30.
[via ComingSoon]
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