I didn’t really think much about the film until I saw the trailer. The creepy make-out scene isn’t in the preview, and, in fact, Olsen is barely seen so I’m not sure what role she plays in the story line. I found the trailer compelling, though. I think it could be partly due to the music that’s playing in the background. I was just out of high school in ’94 so I guess I was around the same age as the protagonist. From what I saw in the trailer, however, we didn’t share many of the same problems.

Still, the trailer looks funny and I always enjoy watching Ben Kingsley. I don’t know much about Josh Peck other than the fact that he’s the star of Nickelodeon’s “Drake and Josh” and it looks like he’s lost a lot of weight.

The Wackness hits theaters on July 3rd 2008.

I reviewed the book awhile ago, and I’ll just reiterate how unbelievably awesome it was and the fact that it’s being made into a movie is killer. But then you get a director like Scorsese and a lead actor in DiCaprio, and suddenly the project feels like it could be one of the best movies of the year.

Sadly, that year is NOT going to be 2008. As of right now, according to IMDB, the film will arrive on October 2nd, 2009.

That’s a heck of a long way off.

But we already have two photos of the production, which feature DiCaprio and Scorsese behind a chain link fence.

The photos are courtesy of The Boston Herald. Yeah, they aren’t anything spectacular, but I’m so pumped for this movie, they could have just shown the FENCE and I’d be happy.

Enjoy.

Disney’s live-action adaptation of the popular action adventure video game series follows an adventurous prince Dastan (Gyllenhaal) who must join forces with Tamina (Arterton), a feisty and exotic princess, to prevent a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time. Molina will play Sheik Amar, a mentor to the prince. Kingsley is rumored to be playing Vizier, the main villain of the film.

The casting of two notable and respected “actors” ratchets up the prestige factor of the film a notch or two. I personally think this trend of casting “up” for summer blockbusters is a very welcomed change of pace. In the past there wasn’t a lot of thought put into trying to get the best actors for a summer tentpole pic as much as there was trying to get bankable actors.

Batman Begins probably began the latest trend by having a cast list that reads more like an Oscar nomination list than a list of the actors in a summer superhero action film: Christian Bale, Morgan Freeman, Michael Caine, Liam Neeson, Gary Oldman, Tom Wilkinson, Ken Watanabe. And that film was directed by Christopher Nolan who was first recognized as a good filmmaker and not as an action filmmaker.

Other films have followed suit including the smash hit, Iron Man, which cast the actor’s actor, Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role and brought in Jon Favreau, not really known for action films, to direct this very action-oriented movie. We all know how well that worked out. The Incredible Hulk and The Dark Knight will follow the same pattern later this summer. Many think Heath Ledger has a real chance at a posthumous Oscar nomination for his role as The Joker in The Dark Knight.

I’m not saying Prince Of Persia is exactly reaching these lofty goals just yet, but adding Ben Kingsley and Alfred Molina will go a long way in that direction. Bringing in Mike Newell as director was a smart move as well. Sure, he directed Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, but he also directed Four Weddings and a Funeral, Donnie Brasco, Mona Lisa Smile, and Love in the Time of Cholera – not the typical action director’s resume.

I’m not exactly a Jake Gyllenhaal fan, but I find that I’m starting to look forward to seeing what they do with this movie. Video game adaptations haven’t fared well in the past, but I’m thinking this film could be the one to break the curse.

War, Inc. is apparently a dark, political satire inspired by Naomi Klein’s article “Baghdad Year Zero”. Cusack wrote and produced the film. A working title of the film was Brand Hauser: Stuff Happens. The film was directed by Joshua Seftel and has a great cast that includes John Cusack, Ben Kingsley, Marisa Tomei, Hilary Duff, Joan Cusack, Dan Aykroyd, and Ben Cross.

“War, Inc.” Movie Trailer

War, Inc. is set in the future, when the desert country of Turagistan is torn by a riot after a private corporation, owned by the former US president, has taken over the whole state. John Cusack plays the role of a government assassin, who suppresses his emotions by gobbling down on hot sauce, and is sent to kill a Middle Eastern oil minister. In order to remain undercover, he poses as a production manager of a trade show which includes chaperoning a young pop star, Yonica Babiak (Hilary Duff). Everything changes, however, when the ruthless killer finds himself head-over-heels in love with a sexy reporter. The assassination does not go as planned and things get a bit complicated.

War, Inc. is set to open in limited release in the US on May 23, 2008.

First you have Leonardo DiCaprio playing Teddy, and then Mark Ruffalo as Chuck. Next up is the head physician named Dr. Cawley which will reportedly be played by Sir Ben Kingsley.

Kingsley is an amazing actor with a wide range of films in his past and from reading the book, he seems perfectly cast here to play a seemingly villainous doctor.

With the movie being directed by Martin Scorsese, this one is bound to be right up there with Mystic River and Gone Baby Gone in terms of Dennis Lehane novel-to-movie adaptations, and maybe with The Departed, Scorsese’s last huge hit.

Source: The Movie Blog
Source: Cinematical