SMAC - SHOWS, MOVIES & CHICKS

I love the Coen Brothers. They are like Stanley Kubrick or Wes Anderson: Their movies have a unique style that you will always be able to pick out. Rather than special FX, they rely on a good story, strong characters and dialogue. Burn After Reading is very Coen.

The Coens have done quite a bunch of comedies by now. Raising Arizona is a classic, while films like O Brother and Ladykillers dissapointed me. The Big Lebowski is in my opinion one of the best not only in the genre, but also one of the best films of all time. The love of detail in that movie is extraordinary. Yet, Lebowski had too many interwoven plots which was confusing for many people. Also Lebowski was a follow-up to an Oscar winning, more serious, film so expectations ran very high. This does make it very similar to Burn After Reading.

I also fear a lot of critics will have the same problems with Burn After Reading.

Where the film really differs from the Lebowski is, that it doesn't really have a central character. Or at least one that is that obvious. Which actually fits perfectly with the whole spy/agent theme of the film. So here is the plot in shortcut:

Osborne Cox (John Malkovich) works for the CIA but gets the boot from his current assigment. Because of that he quits his job altogether. Unfortunately his wife Katie (Tilda Swinton), is not too happy with the situation because she is having an affair with womanizer Harry (George Clooney) and ultimatly wants a divorce. She secretly recovers all data from her husbands computer, which also contains his memoirs about working at the CIA, to give to her divorce lawyer. All this data however, ends up in the hand of fitness trainer Chad (Brad Pitt) and his co-worker Linda, played by Francis McDormand, who needs money to get some plastic surgery done. So they put a plan in motion to blackmail Osborne. And of course, that's where all the trouble starts.

As I mentioned earlier, the biggest problem of the film is, that there is no obvious central character that takes you by the hand throughout the movie. But that really remains the films only problem, if you will call it that. Other than that, I have to say this is definitely one of the best Coen movies so far. And that says a lot. Every single person you see in this film, and I really mean that, is so perfectly cast and detailled. The dialogue is incredibly funny and smart. Seriously, if you like Coen films, you will laugh your ass off at some of the things being said on screen. This movie also showcases the formidable acting of all the participants. All the actors in the film just drew me in and didn't let me go.

This film is a gem. Many people will not get it, just like the Lebowski, because the humor happens on many different levels and doesn't hit you blunt in the face. And while being funny, in that Coen kind of way, it also has dark and brutal moments, also in that Coen kind of way, that remind me of Fargo. Once again, the Coens prove that they are the masters of showing the human tragedy. Burn After Reading is not as heavy as No Country but you can defintely watch it more often. I know I will. This is a Coen Classic.

Some weeks ago we reported about TERMINATOR - SALVATION and the new T-800, that will be played by austrian bodybuilder ROLAND KICKINGER. Though this is still confirmed, new rumors see the light of day. According to a source of LATINO REVIEW, director McG is planning to use the Body of KICKINGER and a digital mapped face (and voice) of SCHWARZENEGGER. This technique has been used several times in movies, the most famous that comes to mind was THE CROW, where they used the same technique for BRANDON LEE, who died during the film shoot.

Of course it's only a rumor, but this rumor gets backed up by a picture, that shows ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER and CHRISTIAN BALE on the set of T4.


Get the full story on LATINO REVIEW.

007 kicking ass again. Here is the new QUANTUM OF SOLACE trailer:



And you can get it in QuickTime HD here.

This is almost breaking news. Variety reports that COLUMBIA PICTURES hired the co exec-producers of "THE OFFICE" to pen a new GHOSTBUSTERS sequel with THE ORIGINAL CAST consisting of HAROLD RAMIS, DAN AYKROYD, ERNIE HUDSON and BILL MURRAY.

The scribes LEE EISENBERG and GENE STUPNITSKY just finished writing YEAR ONE a movie that HAROLD RAMIS directed. RAMIS on the other hand co-wrote the first two GHOSTBUSTERS movies with DAN AYKROYD. This indicates how close all the people involved are and that this is the real deal. Get the full story here.

Producer JERRY BRUCKHEIMER (PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN) is planing a movie about German WWII general Erwin Rommel called KILLING ROMMEL. The movie is based on a recently released book with the same title, written by STEPHEN PRESSFIELD. There isn't a trailer out for KILLING ROMMEL, but AICN posted a little video about PRESSFIELDS book that might help to imagine what the movie would be like. Check it out:

Over at IGN they have a brandnew trailer for KEVIN SMITHS upcoming comedy ZACK AND MIRI MAKE A PORNO. I love KEVIN SMITH and think the trailer is hilarious. The Cast is great. SETH ROGEN and ELIZABETH BANKS play ZACK and MIRI, JUSTIN LONG is in the flick aswell as JASON MEWES ("JAY" in the JAY AND SILENT BOB flicks) and JEFF ANDERSON ("RANDAL" in CLERKS). Can't wait for this one. Here's the trailer:

Comic genius MARK MILLAR (WANTED, KICK-ASS, THE ULTIMATES) might start working on a new SUPERMAN franchise. In a 10-minute interview with G4 the comic author said that he has been asked to write a SUPERMAN movie.

“A director approached me about three months ago,” Millar said. “and he said ‘look, [Bryan Singer's] The Man Of Steel might not be happening. If that doesn’t happen, it has been spoken about the possibility of me coming in, would you like to write it?’ And I was like Yeah.”

In the interview he talks about his idea on how this new SUPERMAN franchise might look. He wants to do a seven hour version of SUPERMAN split in three different movies.

“I’ve had this plan for like 10 years for a big three-picture Superman thing, like a big Lord of the Rings epic, starting over from scratch again with a seven-hour Superman story. And hopefully release them one year after another,” continued Millar. “If it works out, we’ll have to start shooting next summer.”

MILLAR already penned a SUPERMAN spin-off called RED SON. In RED SON SUPERMAN did not land in Kansas and grew up on a farm, but instead he crashs into the Soviet Union. The comic follows the common concept of "alternate histories", which is often found in Science-Fiction ( lots of comics deal with storylines like "what if the Germans won WWII or what if the South won the Civil War etc.). It's not a parody, more like a dark scenario with known (superhero) characters. It was a very interesting shot at a wellknown franchise, kinda like FRANK MILLERS "THE DARK KNIGHT RETURNS".
Since the SUPERMAN -just like the BATMAN- franchise is based in the D.C. comic universe, this could be "the next big thing" to hit the big screen. IF it happens.

Check out the full interview MILLAR gave G4:

Well it's kinda well known, that director MICHAEL BAY likes to blow shit off. But this looks really...real. Well, it is real. Someone filmed "behind the scenes" an explosion that was shoot for TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN. It kinda looks impressive and one have to wonder: What if they didn't get the angle they wanted? Anyways, take a look: