Tyler Perry to play James Patterson's "Alex Cross" in big screen relaunch!

Now this one comes as a shocker. Tyler Perry has just signed on to play Alex Cross, the detective made famous by Morgan Freeman in Kiss the Girls and the sequel Along Came a Spider, in a big screen relaunch titled I, Alex Cross.  The film is an origin story, featuring a younger version of the character. 

James Patterson scripted the 16 novels(and two upcoming) featuring the character, and he'll be penning this big screen adventure as well along with Kerry Williamson. Rob Cohen(The Fast and the Furious) is on board to direct.

Well, what can I say? I don't think much of Tyler Perry as a director, but as an actor he's somewhere between awful and putrid.  Idris Elba(Obsessed) had been negotiating for this role for months, and we even had the opportunity to ask him about it at one point and he seemed confident. Obviously something fell through along the way. 

No word on if Perry will play the role in a friggin' dress and panties.

Details on this story courtesy of Variety!

Remake of John Woo's 'The Killer' moves forward!!

        Even if you don't know the name you know John Woo. Have you ever seen a movie where the hero dives across the room while firing two handguns....Woo, how about the Mexican standoff scene that everyone attributes to Tarantino? Nope, Tarantino openly states that he was influenced by Woo for those scenes.  He is THE action director if you ask me, the brain behind films like Face-off and Mission Impossible III. His best work however was before he came to states to make movies. If you haven't seen it you MUST check out Hard Boiled which is easily in my top 5 shoot em' up action movies. Still, it was another movie that but American focus right on Woo, that was The Killer an awesome action flick that not only showed us Woo but also Chow Yun Fat. The story centers around a hitman who accidentally blinds a nightclub singer and makes it his business to protect her after the accident. It seems that Woo's plans to reinvent the film for American audiences is moving ahead according to a press release recieved by Deadline.com.

Producer John Woo said: “While all my films are special to me, THE KILLER is truly one of my favorites. We are thrilled to reinvent it as an English-language film and know it’s in capable hands by the incredible visual style and tender emotion John H. Lee brings to all his films.”

      Thank GOD Woo is involved, he may not be directing, that job is going to John Lee, but his involvement should ensure that it's not just another bastardized Hollywood remake. The writing is being handled by Josh Campbell and it will star Jung Woo-Sung recent star of critical hit The Good, The Bad, and The Weird, not a bad choice...you can't get as cool as Chow Yun Fat when it comes to playing an assassin but Woo-Sung should be up to the task. The only down side I can see is that they are planning on a 3D release, but whatever I'll just catch the 2D showing. See below for the trailer of the original, my apologies I could only find a french version....doesn't really matter though because all you need to see is the amazing action.

Trailer Time: Elektra Luxx, starring Carla Gugino and Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Chances are you never got a chance to see Women in Trouble, Sebastian Gutierrez's sexy all-girl(mostly) comedy featuring Carla Gugino as a pregnant porn star who gets mixed up in the crazy lives of others over the course of 24 hours.  It debuted at SXSW a couple of years ago and had a "blink and you'll miss it" run in theaters. In my opinion you didn't miss a thing, but the plan was always to be a trilogy.  Now we're getting a look at a trailer for the sequel, Elektra Luxx, which brings back pretty much the entire cast from before. Looks just as frantic as the first flick. 



I sometimes forget just how hot Carla Gugino can be, and Marley Shelton has a spot etched into my top 10. The addition of Timothy Olyphant gives me some hope this will be an improvement, along with what looks like a slightly expanded role for Gordon-Levitt.  Elektra Luxx is due to hit theaters on March 11th. I'll be surprised if it's here for long, but I'll definitely check it out when it arrives.

New Scream 4 movie poster

At least they've gotten away from the typical image of the ghostface killer and have moved on to something a bit more character specific. The Weinstein Company has released a brand new poster(above, in case you somehow missed it) for Wes Craven's Scream 4, set to hit theaters on April 15th.  With all the new additions to the cast, and the whole new set of horror rules in play, I'm kinda gettin' amped for it. Anybody up for a Scream trilogy marathon? 

Awesome 'I Love You, Man' mini-sequel! Sydney and Peter meet Rush!!

It took me a few viewings to really learn to love I Love You, Man. One of the reasons why was the way Peter(Paul Rudd) and Sydney(Jason Segel) raved over their love for the Canadian rock band, Rush. In fact it borders on obsessive infatuation than anything else.

Well it looks like the two characters are still at the forefront of the minds of Rudd, Segel, and director Jon Hamburg because they just shot a hilarious 6 minute mini-sequel which sees the two best buds finally meet their long time idols!  Check it below, courtesy of Funny or Die!  Kinda makes me want a real sequel. What do you think?

Jason Segel & Paul Rudd Meet Rush from Jason Segel

New Captain America: The First Avenger images

I'm sorry but I'm just not feelin' this whole Captain America thing. Out of all the Marvel movies we've seen, including Thor, Captain America looks like the least impressive. I can't escape the idea that he looks like one of the action figures I used to play with as a kid. Nothing against Chris Evans, who has managed to somehow mold himself into looking like Steve Rogers over the last few months, but I think there's a reason why so little has been revealed about the film up to this point. I mean, Thor comes out just a couple of months earlier and we've seen a lot. Maybe I'm reading too much into that, I dunno.

Empire Online has yet another feature on the Joe Johnston directed flick, due out in theaters on July 22nd. The little bit in the article doesn't add anything new, but there are a couple of never-before-seen shots of Captain America, which you can check out below...

Video: Check out Spider-Man swinging through the city streets!

We've seen some photos from the set of Spider-Man with the webslinger swinging through LA(posing as NYC). I don't typically care about set photos but I've been caught up in how they were shooting it since it appears we'll be getting a real live human being(likely not star Andrew Garfield though!) performing these feats. That's a welcome change.  Now we've got footage from the set which shows the high wire sequences being put into motion. Short, but kinda cool.

DVD Deal of the Day: Jason Statham's 'War' and 'The Bank Job' on Blu-Ray for $5.49

We're on a little bit of a Jason Statham kick around here lately. Not that we need any more reason to be considering he's pretty much the most badass action star we've got, but his most recent film The Mechanic was like a straight shot of caffeine and adrenaline. Belive it or not, Statham has another flick right around the corner and it's about as far from his past work as you can get, the animated feature Gnomeo and Juliet. 

So I started thinking a little bit about some of Statham's past flicks that not enough people saw, and conveniently Amazon has a couple of his better ones on sale right now. The first is 2008's The Bank Job, which features Statham(alongside the gorgeous Saffron Burrows) in a more low key role as one of the perpetrators of the infamous 1971 Baker Street robbery.  The second is War, which pits Statham against his The Expendables co-star, Jet Li.  Both are available on Blu-Ray for the low price of only $5.49, about 70% off the regular price. Click on the above links and buy your copy today!

Rumor: Malin Akerman as Lois Lane?

Not sure where Comicbookmovie heard this rumor about Malin Akerman(Couples Retreat) being "connected" to the role of Lois Lane in Zack Snyder's Superman flick, but they reached out to a PR agency who had this to say on the subject...

"Something a client heard on the grapevine. Could just mean she auditioned. Not surprising, she was in Watchmen."

I have a feeling Comicbookmovie heard this on a message board somewhere and decided to jump on it. Now that Henry Cavill has been cast as the Man of Steel the next big signing has to be for Lois Lane, right? I mean they aren't going to pull a Spider-Man and not have his greatest love interest show up in the film, are they? Like the quote says, Akerman makes sense for consideration since she worked with Snyder before on Watchmen, and it wouldn't be a total shock to have a blond in the role. Kate Bosworth donned a wig for the part in Superman Returns.

Anyway, this one is barely even at the level of "rumor" at this stage, but keep it under your hat just in case.

Yet another fan made teaser for The Dark Knight Rises!

I can see this is going to become a war of The Dark Knight Rises teaser trailers. We just got one last week, and here's another featuring many of the same elements as the first. More clips from Tom Hardy's breakout film, Bronson, and various shots of Anne Hathaway slinking around. This one does a better job of playing up the "Batman: Fugitive" angle, which we'll likely be seeing more of in the actual Christopher Nolan flick.  Check it out below, and then wait for the inevitable Man of Steel fan made trailer featuring Henry Cavill.  I give it a week before that crosses my desk.

Michael Rapaport and Pfife Dawg talk Beats, Rhymes, and Life

Of all the great movies showing at Sundance this year, the only one I really wish I had the chance to see was Michael Rapaport's A Tribe Called Quest documentary, Beats, Rhymes, and Life. The film showed over the weekend and has been met with mostly positive reviews, with some critiques saying that it goes really in depth on the rise of the legendary hip hop collective, and also into the reasons behind their break up. 

Michael Rapaport and Pfife Dawg fielded some questions from E! about the film, and you can check out their responses below. Pfife even talks a little about the possibility of yet another Quest reunion.  After the first video, there's another, more lengthy interview with just Rapaport. Both are worth checking out if you're as big a fan of A Tribe Called Quest as I am!

Did Platinum Dunes finally find a way to kill Freddy and Jason?

No big secret that I'm not the biggest fan of horror flicks, but I was actually talking about the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street recently and was asked about the assumed sequel. My comment at the time was "Man, I haven't heard jack sh*t about it."  It's true, there's been basically nothing on that front, and now we've got some clarification on the issue, not just about the future of Freddy Krueger, but his 80s slasher mate(and occasional nemesis) Jason Voorhees. 

The Complete List of 2011 SAG Awards Winners

Here are the winners from this year's SAG Awards, which I did not watch a single second of! So sue me!

MOTION PICTURES
Ensemble: The King's Speech
Male Actor, Leading: Colin Firth, The King's Speech
Female Actor, Leading: Natalie Portman, Black Swan
Male Actor, Supporting: Christian Bale, The Fighter
Female Actor, Supporting: Melissa Leo, The Fighter
Stunt Ensemble, Motion Picture: Inception

TELEVISION
Ensemble, Comedy Series: Modern Family
Ensemble, Drama Series: Boardwalk Empire
Male Actor, Comedy Series: Alec Baldwin, 30 Rock
Female Actor, Comedy Series: Betty White, Hot in Cleveland
Male Actor, Drama Series: Steve Buscemi, Boardwalk Empire
Female Actor, Drama Series: Julianna Margulies, The Good Wife
Female Actor, Television Movie or Miniseries: Claire Danes, Temple Grandin
Male Actor, Television Movie or Miniseries: Al Pacino, You Don't Know Jack
Stunt Ensemble, Television Series: True Blood

LIFE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Ernest Borgnine

Interview: Simon West director of 'The Mechanic'

I always love what we do here at Punch Drunk Critics, but some days are just more humbling and astounding than others. Like, for instance, when you get to talk to the director of one of your favorite action movies. That's just what we got a chance to do when Con Air director Simon West called in to talk to us for a bit. His new movie, The Mechanic, is in theaters now and it comes with high recommendations from us to go see it. That's honesty folks, were not just hyping because the director cut time out to sit down with us, this movie is bad ass action to a T with great performances by the ass kicking Jason Statham and the always amazing Ben Foster. That being said Simon was an awesome, down to earth guy, who earned LOADS of points with me during our interview when he said he loves making action movies....most directors say the artsy thing, that they love dramas and such because you can tell a personal story, but Simon West...no no...Simon West said he loves action movies because where else can you blow stuff up for fun and act like a kid again! How awesome of an answer is that! Here are some of the highlights:

 
 -What movie would he make if he had infinite resources

-His thoughts on how he made his film different from the original

-What it was like when "RickRolling" came about (He directed the video)

- His upcoming projects with Nicolas Cage and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson

....and much MUCH more, including some insight into a scene from Con Air that we all were wondering about.

So take a listen and let us know what you think. Also, do yourself a favor and go catch The Mechanic in theaters now!



 

Javier Bardem offered major role in Bond 23

Here's an idea, can we make Javier Bardem James Bond instead? Nothing against Daniel Craig, but he's no Bardem.  Instead it looks like Bardem would be up for playing Bond's primary villain, if Deadline is correct. They  report that the No Country for Old Men star, who just recently earned an Academy Award nomination for his performance in Biutiful(he's remarkable in it, by the way) has been offered a "major role" in the film, currently referred to as Bond 23.

Since it's not friggin' likely that Bardem will be some sort of Bond sidekick, it only makes sense that he'd be the heel, and likely a part of this Quantum organization which has been manipulating events since Casino Royale. 

At this point it's just an offer and by no means guaranteed he'll accept, especially with the lead role in Ron Howard's The Dark Tower trilogy also in the cards. If he accepts that, Bardem won't have much time for anything.

Bond 23, directed by Sam Mendes, is due to hit theaters on November 9th 2012. 

Tops at the Box Office

1. The Rite- $15M
Another soft week at the box office is won out by Anthony Hopkins' exorcism flick, getting off to a slower start than The Last Exorcism did($20M) just last year. While this is by no means a stellar debut, it does fall in line with Warner Brothers' projections.
2. No Strings Attached- $13.7M/$39.7M
The Ashton Kutcher/Natalie Portman comedy tumbled an average 30% from last week.
3. The Mechanic- $11.5
The only other major theatrical release was right on par with typical Jason Statham-led actioners(Crank 2 tallied $13M, Transporter 3 $12M), but generally good word of mouth may bounce it along through some soft competition the next few weeks. Let's hope, because it's a fun ride.

The search for Superman is over! Henry Cavill cast as the Man of Steel

This news has been a long time coming, but I'm sure the result will take some people by surprise. Warner Brothers and Legendary Pictures announced today that Henry Cavill will be donning the red and blue of Superman in the upcoming relaunch of the iconic superhero franchise currently titled Man of Steel. In the process they also officially confirmed Zack Snyder as director. The flick is dut out in theaters in December 2012.

Cavill might not be a household name to many people but that's all abou to change. He's best known for his role as the Duke of Suffolk in the Showtime series, The Tudors, but he's also had roles in Stardust, Whatever Works, and will be seen next in Tarsem's mythological adventure, Immortals.

The Sunday Drive: 1/30/11

3. Black Swan
I tried to keep this movie off of here for awhile, but the more I think about it the more I think people really need to run to their nearest theater and experience the beauty and power of Natalie Portman's performance.
2. Another Year
Take a break from all the explosions and shoot outs January has to offer and settle down for another Mike Leigh gem, featuring Lesley Manville's award winning performance as a middle-aged woman who has watched life pass her by for far too long. A disarming, charming little film from a true master.

Kevin Smith talks Red State editing, future Hit Somebody plans

You might not know this, but we here at Punch Drunk Critics International get around a little bit. Not only are we slaving away on our site here and producing the show on Sundays, but we also appear on a few other shows during the week. On Friday nights we hang out with our homies and occasional show guests, Josh Hylton and Kevin McCarthy on the Kevin and Josh Movie Show. This past week was a stellar episode where we talked about Christopher Nolan's snub at the Oscars and a few other things. The highlight, though, was Kevin Smith calling in to talk about his upcoming horror flick, Red State. We've been trying to get Smith to bring his Red State tour to DC, but for those who think it's a bit pricey to pay $60 for any flick, you might want to check out this excerpt from the interview...

See the first 2 minutes of 'Rio', featuring the voices of Jesse Eisenberg and Anne Hathaway

This seems to be a recurring theme with animated features lately, releasing a few minutes of the movie rather than just traditional trailers.  20th Century Fox have jumped on that trend as well, releasing the first two minutes of Rio, their upcoming film about a macaw(voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) who leaves his home in Minnesota for the warmth of Rio de Janiero. 

This will be director Carlos Saldanha's(the Ice Age movies) fifth animated film, which he considers his "dream project", more musical than his previous works. Featuring the voices of Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, George Lopez and more, Rio is set to be released in 3D on April 15th 2011.

Not typically my kind of flick, but I have to admit this is one gorgeous piece of work. The colors are practically popping off the screen.  Kinda lookin' forward to this now.

Snap Judgements: The Way Back, starring Jim Sturgess and Colin Farrell

It's been seven years since Peter Weir graced us with his last film, Master and Commander: The Far Side of the World, a masterful epic which featured Russell Crowe fighting against both a superior opponent and the ever present dangers of the high seas. Weir's firm grasp on large scale tests of the human spirit is once again at play in The Way Back, trading the wide open expanse of the oceans for thousands of miles of snow and sand.

Based on Slavomir Rawicz's highly disputed 1956 memoir, The Long Walk, Jim Sturgess(Across the Universe) stars as a Polish POW held captive in a Russian gulag around 1941. Along with a stone faced American(Ed Harris), a criminal(Colin Farrell), and a few others they make a daring escape from their confines, only to discover that the prison itself was hardly their true captor, nature is. Trapped in enemy territory, with literally nothing but harsh elemental extremes and no civilization for thousands of miles, they begin a grueling, treacherous walk towards freedom. And walk they do...and walk..and walk...there's so  much walking I stayed to see if Peter Jackson had a co-writing credit.

1st look: Dream House, starring Daniel Craig, Rachel Weisz, and Naomi Watts

One of the movies I've been waiting to see more of is Dream House, which features one of my favorite directors in Jim Sheridan(In America, My Left Foot), along with Rachel Weisz and Naomi Watts, two women I would pay good money to listen read out of the phone book.  Oh, and Daniel Craig is in it, too. Something of a departure for Sheridan, Dream House is about a married couple(Weisz and Craig ironically) who move into what they think is the perfect home, only to be haunted by the previous inhabitants, who had been murdered there before. Kinda sounds like a Guillermo Del Toro flick, doesn't it?

Now that the film has wrapped up shooting, JustJared has the first image from it, which you can see below...

Rumor: Robin Williams to join The Dark Knight Rises?

I've been jonesin' for Robin Williams to work with Christopher Nolan again ever since 2002's Insomnia. With the way he's so masterfully shrouded his natural comedic nature to transform into some truly dark characters in movies like One Hour Photo and World's Greatest Dad, I always thought he'd make one heck of a Bat-villain. Seriously, he'd be the perfect Riddler.

While I consider this to be a pretty big rumor at this stage, there's no denying the validity of the source. Batman News caught wind of a tweet from Batman-on-Film, who had this to say...