Lindsay Lohan does not read reviews of her performances, according to TMZ, which is a smart move when it comes to her much-publicized turn as Elizabeth Taylor in the Lifetime movie, Liz & Dick. The picture, which chronicles Taylor’s tempestuous love affair with Richard Burton, doesn’t air until Nov. 25, and already critics are carving into Lohan like she’s a Thanksgiving turkey.
The reviews aren’t uniformly poisonous, and Grant Bowler, who plays Burton, is actually drawing good notices, but Lohan has not been so fortunate. Even the most charitable critics tend to damn her with faint praise, such as Variety’s Brian Lowry, who calls her performance “adequate.” But that review sounds downright positive when you compare it to the Napalming Lohan got courtesy of The Hollywood Reporter. Below are distillations of five reviews from most to least positive. That’s right. I saved the worst for last, and followed it with a trailer from the biopic.
5. Lohan certainly is adequate, barring a few awkward moments, thanks largely to the fabulous frocks and makeup (courtesy of Salvador Perez and Eryn Krueger Mekash, respectively) she gets to model.” — Brian Lowry, Variety
4. “Lohan, in character as Taylor, is often so believable you might think you’re seeing the real thing, but then every once in a while she’ll backslide and deliver lines that sound DOA.” — Linda Stasi, New York Post
3. “Elizabeth Taylor loved diamonds. This new movie about her life feels more like rhinestones….It’s tempting to say the movie’s big problem is that Lohan is no Liz Taylor. And she isn’t — though that’s not entirely her fault. There aren’t all that many actresses, or women, who can stop a room simply by walking
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In the last couple years, Alexander Skarsgård has taken on roles ranging from controversial Danish filmmaker Lars von Trier’s Melancholia to Peter Berg’s Battleship, but now it looks like the 6′ 4″ heartthrob may be heading to the dense foliage of the tropics.
The Swedish-born actor has risen to the top of the contender list to star in David Yates’ Tarzan for Warner Bros., Variety said. The film still is awaiting the official go-ahead from studio brass, but a late summer shoot is expected.
Come summer, Skarsgård may don the character of John Clayton III, aka. Tarzan. The story follows the “re-assimilated” Clayton who is asked by H.M. Queen Victoria to team with mercenary George Washington Williams to save the Congo from a warlord who controls a rich diamond mine.
Samuel L. Jackson is a possibility to play Williams who is a Civil War vet who wants to repair his name following his involvement in a massacre of Native Americans.
Yates officially committed to the project last week, which, given all the colonial subtext, risks running afoul a sensitivity issue or two. Yates directed the last four installments of the Harry Potter franchise.
Toronto premieres Disconnect and What Maisie Knew will be Skarsgård’s next starrers.
[Source: Variety]
Also in Friday morning’s wrap of news briefs: Variety appoints its new publisher. Shirley MacLaine eyes her next gig. And, take a look at the new Specialty newcomers for the weekend.
Robert Rodriguez’s Machete Kills Heads to Open Road
The new movie sees Danny Trejo reprising his role as ex-Federale agent Machete and adds Michelle Rodriguez, Sofia Vergara, Amber Heard, Charlie Sheen, Lady Gaga, Antonio Banderas, Jessica Alba, Demian Bichir, Alexa Vega, Vanessa Hudgens, Cuba Gooding Jr., William Sadler, Marko Zaror and Mel Gibson. Here’s what is known about the pic: “Machete “recruited by the president of the United States for a mission which would be impossible for any mortal man: He must take down a madman revolutionary and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war and anarchy across the planet,” THR reports.
Ewan McGregor and Kate Hudson Eye Born to Be King
McGregor will play dual roles as an extra who resembles a major movie star. Hudson, who is still in talks to join the project, would play a Hollywood starlet who has issues with the star but likes the extra, THR reports.
Variety Names Michelle Sobrino-Stearns Publisher
Its associate publisher Sobrino-Stearns was named publisher, the first big move at the Hollywood trade publication since Penske Media Corp. acquired it earlier this month. She is Variety’s first female lead in its century-plus history, Deadline reports. [PMC is the parent company of Movieline]
Shirley MacLaine Eyes Tammy
MacLaine is in talks to star opposite Melissa McCarthy in road trip comedy Tammy. The story centers on a woman who is laid off from her job at Hardee’s, discovers her husband is having an affair and decides to go on a road trip with her alcoholic, foul-mouthed,…
Also in Thursday morning’s round-up of news briefs: Tim Burton launches the London Film Festival with his latest; Toronto surf pic heads to U.S. theaters and Variety is set to end its pay wall.
Storm Surfers 3-D Heads to U.S. Theaters
The 2012 Toronto Film Festival documentary is directed by Christopher Nelius and Justin McMillan. The film follows Tom, Ross and surf forecaster Ben Matson’s adventures as they track and chase giant storms across the Great Southern Ocean, braving gigantic waves, freezing conditions and near-death experiences. Using state-of-the-art 3D technology the feature is narrated by Oscar nominee Toni Collette. XLrator Media acquired U.S. rights to the film.
Around the ‘net…
CBS Films Courts Chris Hemsworth to Play Terrorist Hunter in American Assassin
Based on Vince Flynn’s bestselling novel series, CBS Films is offering Chris Hemsworth $10 million to star as terrorist hunter Mitch Rapp in American Assassin It is the 11th book in Flynn’s series of espionage novels, Deadline reports.
Sean Hannity to Make Film Debut in Atlas Shrugged: Part II
In the film that opens Friday, Hannity plays the host of a TV show similar to his own on Fox News. The film is set several yard in the future when the conservative commentator will presumably be off the air. Hannity is a fan of the book Atlas Shrugged and its author Ayn Rand, a fierce defender of capitalism, THR reports.
Frankenweenie Opens London Film Festival
Filmmaker Tim Burton has said he is “honored” that his stop-motion 3D animation Frankenweenie has opened the BFI London Film Festival. “It was made here, so it has extra special meaning,” the director told the BBC at the film’s European premiere.
Variety’s Pay Wall to End
One day after…
As breathlessly reported by Variety’s Jeff Sneider via Twitter: “Ladies and gentlemen, The Master primed for limited release on Sept. 14, will expand the following weekend!” The Weinstein Co. will release early in prime awards season moving the pic up from an October release, rolling the Philip Seymour Hoffman-starrer wide on September 21. The bad news for Austin, Texas film geeks: The timing seems to contradict speculation that Anderson’s hotly anticipated pic might debut at Fantastic Fest, which runs September 20-27, though it may still screen there post-limited release. A Venice, late Toronto, or Telluride premiere is likely. [Variety]
The Shane Black-helmed Iron Man 3 begins filming this month, but Marvel fans are still trying to piece together clues as to who, exactly, Iron Man is going up against in his post-Avengers threequel. The latest casting news doesn’t make it any clearer: James Badge Dale, most recently seen in The Grey and Shame, will play Eric Savin, a soldier known from Marvel lore. But will Dale also portray the character as the superpowered mercenary he transforms into in the comics?
Said character is Coldblood, an enhanced robo-soldier who’s reconstructed after a land mine injury. But Variety’s report is careful to avoid confirmation that Dale will play Savin as Coldblood in the nanotech-themed sequel, which already has Ben Kingsley in place as its villain. Thoughts on how it’ll all come together?
[Variety]
This just in from Variety: “Ben Kingsley is in final talks to play the villain in Iron Man 3, but fans of the comic book character will be disappointed to learn he won’t take on original Tony Stark archenemy the Mandarin.” Well, good. I for one am glad that Ben Kingsley will not be playing a Chinese guy. Instead, the Oscar-winning actor will reportedly play a baddie “involved in the spread of a virus through nanobots.”
Variety’s intel comes not officially from Marvel Studios but through “insiders”:
Though insiders acknowledged Kingsley’s involvement to Variety, Marvel declined to comment on the deal, and insiders denied that the character would be the Mandarin, a wealthy Chinese scientist and martial arts expert who, by backing the warlord who imprisoned Stark, was indirectly responsible for the creation of Iron Man.
If Iron Man 3 does follow Warren Ellis’s comic book series “Extremis,” Kingsley might be playing one of the scientists who lets loose the nanotech serum. And if Iron Man nemesis the Mandarin is somehow involved, it wouldn’t be beyond reason to cast an actor who is half Caucasian, like the character. But Kingsley, who famously played Gandhi in his career-making role, is half English and half Indian (on his father’s side) — and those are not interchangeable ethnicities, people.
Back when Jon Favreau was still attached to Iron Man 3 he was very vocal about wanting to include The Mandarin as the threequel’s villain, but it’s not been officially suggested that The Mandarin’s ethnicity might be changed for any reason. (In 2009 Iron Man actor Faran Tahrir alluded to a possible connection between his character and the supervillain, sparking wild speculation that they could be one and…
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Ever since growling his way through 2008’s gloriously B-movie-esque B-movie Taken, Liam Neeson’s been enjoying his newfound status as the gruff hero with killer instincts and a particular set of skills that you want on your side in the event of a kidnapping/assassination attempt/jailbreak/wolf attack. So why fix something that ain’t broke? Enter Non-Stop, Neeson’s next actioner and an airplane-set excuse to see Neeson smash heads and deliver straightfaced epic one-liners.
Variety reports that Neeson, currently gracing screens reprising the role of Zeus in Wrath of the Titans, is in negotiations to lead the high concept action pic about “a worn-out air marshal who faces a threat while traveling on an international flight.” Simple premise, high bone-crushing potential! We don’t even need to know a single thing more about Non-Stop that what its title and setup tells us. We already know what Neeson can do with some tape and a handful of minibar bottles!
Neeson’s upcoming slate features a crapton of action as is, even beyond Wrath; he co-stars in Peter Berg’s Battleship this May and, as revealed recently, reprises his role of Ra’s Al Ghul in Chris Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises in July. The recently-filmed Taken 2 is due in theaters this October, with a plot that sees Neeson’s onscreen daughter Maggie Grace step up to save her now-kidnapped parents.
Non-Stop will be directed by Jeff Wadlow (Cry_Wolf, Never Back Down) from a spec script by John Richardson and Chris Roach, under superproducer Joel Silver. Fun fact: At 59, Neeson is already five years older than Harrison Ford was when he fought off evildoers thousands of feet above the ground in Air Force One, which also brings to mind the only two things…
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This should be interesting: Variety’s Gregg Goldstein reports from Berlinale that Billy Bob Thornton is working on a script for an “‘ethereal’ road movie” entitled And Then We Drove. Based partly on experiences from his time with ex Angelina Jolie, Thornton says “[it's about] a guy who’s on a road trip and picks up this girl along the way, and what happens to them. It’s about the question of life: ‘What is this? Where do I fit in?’” Or, maybe: Honey, Have You Seen My Vial of Blood? Thornton, who premiered his latest directorial effort Jayne Mansfield’s Car in Berlin, will also direct. [Variety]
Here’s one way to deflect attention from NYU GradeGate: Variety reports that James Franco is in talks to play Playboy impresario Hugh Hefner in Lovelace, the porn biopic starring Amanda Seyfried as the titular XXX actress Linda Lovelace, of Deep Throat fame. Unfortunately — or fortunately? — Franco’s role would be limited to a one-day cameo, which sounds like something along the lines of his blink-and-you’ll-miss-it Green Hornet appearance. The film is currently shooting in Los Angeles. [Variety]
