Dark Knight just got better

From Iwatchstuff, "Eric Roberts, veteran of a million movies I haven't seen and current star of a couple TV shows I've never watched (but he did do a pretty funny interview with Howard Stern the other day), is rumored to be playing a mafia kingpin in The Dark Knight, Chris Nolan's upcoming Batman project.

Man, I was excited about this movie before, but now?

Let's see you disguise this boner, sweatpants!"

Movies cost a lot to make

From dark horizons, "There's talk all the time of expensive film sequences which didn't make it to the screen. For now the most notable remains the many millions spent on several space-set sequences in "Superman Returns" which didn't make the final cut.

Now, Yahoo News reports that Warner Bros. $150+ million sci-fi actioner "I Am Legend" spent at least $5 million for six days of night shoots in January to film a key scene for the Will Smith project.In the scene survivors gather at a pier by the Brooklyn Bridge, desperate to be evacuated. The scene required co-operation with no fewer than 14 government agencies, a 250+ crew, 1,000+ extras, and 160 members of the National Guard in full combat gear.

A fascinating full breakdown of the sheer scale and costs involved can be found in this intriguing read."

The boys are back in town!

By JAKE COYLE

NEW YORK (AP) - Spinal Tap is back, and this time the band wants to help save the world from global warming.

The mock heavy metal group immortalized in the 1984 mockumentary, "This is Spinal Tap," will reunite for a performance at Wembley Stadium in London as part of the Live Earth concerts scheduled worldwide for July 7.

The original members of Spinal Tap will be there: guitarist Nigel Tufnel (played by Christopher Guest), singer David St. Hubbins (Michael McKean) and bassist Derek Smalls (Harry Shearer). Rob Reiner, who both directed "This is Spinal Tap" and played the fake documentarian Marty DeBergi in the film, will also be in attendance.

A new 15-minute film directed by Reiner on the band's reunion will also play at the opening night of the Tribeca Film Festival in New York on Wednesday. The slate for the opening gala, to be hosted by Al Gore, was previously announced, excepting the Reiner short.

The festival is to open with a showing of several global warming-themed short films produced by the SOS (Save Our Selves) campaign. SOS is also putting on the Live Earth concerts, to be held across seven continents.

Reiner spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday to explain the reunion of Spinal Tap - a band always known more as a parody of rock 'n roll excess than environmental awareness.

"They're not that environmentally conscious, but they've heard of global warming," said Reiner, whose other films include "When Harry Met Sally" and "Stand By Me.""Nigel thought it was just because he was wearing too much clothing - that if he just took his jacket off it would be cooler."
Spinal Tap has reunited several times since the film, but hasn't for a number of years. For the band - whose last album was 1992's "Break like the Wind" - the occasion warranted a new single: "Warmer Than Hell."

Reiner provided a sneak peak at the lyrics: "The devil went to Devon, it felt like the fourth degree/ He said, 'Is it hot in here, or is it only me?'"

The director said the new short film explains what the band has been doing with their lives lately. Nigel has been raising miniature horses to race, but can't find jockeys small enough to ride them; David is now a hip-hop producer who also runs a colonic clinic; and Derek is in rehab for addiction to the Internet.

Reiner, 60, has for over 20 years worked with the National Resources Defense Council, an environmental action organization. Though the Spinal Tap reunion will be a lot of laughs, he hopes the SOS short films program and the Live Earth concerts have a substantial effect.
"What I think is going to be nice about this whole effort is there will be marching orders for people," said Reiner. "Not only from a personal standpoint of what individuals can do in their lives, but a macro perspective with respect to the public sector and government."

New Fantastic Four 2 action figures, including Galactus!

Right on!

From cinemablend, "On Monday, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences screened Star Wars as part of their “Great to be Nominated” series. See, the MPAA does do something besides censoring filmmakers and beating up grandma’s for downloading movies. I wonder which version of the movie they showed? Any chance they got George Lucas to give them a print of the film as it was originally shown? I doubt it.

No matter what format they showed it in, c One of the big theater chains really should pick this thing up and put it in their regular “turn of your cellphone” reminder rotation. We’ve all wished this would happen to the idiot cell phone talker next to us at a movie at some point.

Check it out in Quicktime by clicking here.

It’s eight kinds of force choke cool. "

Slow news day

WorstPreviews came out with another week of results of which movies everyone is interested in.

"Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" is still the most popular movie, now for 16 weeks straight. "28 Weeks Later" was able to take second place, even with such heavy competition behind it. Rounding out the top five, were "Transformers," "The Simpsons Movie" and "300." With the release of "Spider-Man 3" just around the corner, I'm surprised it is not doing better; the film took sixth place.

On the BUZZ charts, which determine how good people think a film will be, "Pirates 3" took first place again. "Bourne Ultimatum" has been the only movie to beat it in the last few weeks, and came pretty close again this week. Pretty much all the big blockbuster made it into the top ten list.

To see a chart for any film, click "Buzz Chart" link located on each of the film's description page.

Click here to see the Top 100 Buzz Films.Click here to check out the Top 100 most Popular films.

D'oh!

Entertainment Weekly spoke to the creators of "The Simpson," Matt Groening and James L. Brooks, about their upcoming movie. Apparently, all the footage that we have been seeing might not even appear in the film."We saw a trailer the other day, and somebody said 70 percent of the things in it — based on where we were eight weeks ago — are no longer in the movie, because we keep on fooling around," explained Brooks.According to the duo, they have been also putting out false stories, just for fun. But have been revealing more with each trailer.When asked to explain the plot, they just hinted by stating: "You'll see anatomy that you may not want to see. It would ruin it if we said now who in the picture isn't really a woman. It's an epic story that takes advantage of the wide-screen format. Worst screwup of Homer's life."

Click here to read our exclusive "The Simpsons Movie" preview.

Dunst gets smashed

From WWTDD, "Kirsten Dunst got lit up with new fug boyfriend Johnny Borrell last night after the London premiere of "Spider-Man 3". The Daily Mirror says:

'The 24-year-old actress began the evening at 6pm looking bright-eyed and bushy-tailed on the red carpet in Leicester Square. But two parties later, Kirsten — who by now had changed into a shorter dress with a bustier bodice — was looking more than a little disheveled. Whatever could have happened? Well, after the Spider-Man 3 premiere, she went on to the afterparty at the Freemasons' Hall in Covent Garden. After that, Johnny whisked her off to the Hawley where she apparently availed herself of the refreshments on offer. She eventually stumbled back to the Covent Garden Hotel just before 4am. '

God what do you do in a situation like this? They’re both monsters, so they deserve each other, but what if they breed. That kid would have some alien lizard head and hooves and spiked teeth and a forked tongue. The nurse would see it and then stumble backwards, knocking over a tray of instruments while making the sign of the cross. If the doctor has an ounce of compassion for the world he would deliver the baby and then throw it directly into a furnace."

This sucks

From WWTDD, "This is news to me but apparently film critic Roger Ebert had cancer and things didn't go well, and now he looks like Darth Vader without the mask. In anticipation of what will be said about him when he attends a Chicago film festival this weekend,

Ebert explains his condition:
What happened was, cancer of the salivary gland spread to my right lower jaw. A segment of the mandible was removed. Two operations to replace the missing segment were unsuccessful, both leading to unanticipated bleeding.A tracheostomy was necessary so, for the time being, I cannot speak. I make do with written notes and a lot of hand waving and eye-rolling. The doctors now plan an approach that does not involve the risk of unplanned bleeding. If all goes well, my speech will be restored.

I need to go finish screaming. Brb."

Bottom of the barrel scraped

"Variety is reporting that Baldwin Entertainment Group has signed Chuck Russell (The Scorpion King, Eraser, The Mask, The Blog) to direct action-adventure Mandrake, based on the Hearst comic.

Don't know much about Mandrake the Magician? Click here!"

I suspect the Joker

CHICAGO (AP) — Fire broke out on the roof of the city's vacant former post office Tuesday where a movie crew had been filming scenes for an upcoming Batman sequel.
Fire department spokesman Kevin MacGregor said a building engineer suggested the fire might have started in the ventilation system. He didn't know of any injuries.

At least a dozen ambulances and fire trucks were at the scene, just south of Chicago's downtown business loop.

MacGregor said it was unclear if the fire was related to the filming.
The crews had been filming there all week, said Pete Kearney, who works next door. Letters affixed to the side of the old post office read: "Gotham National Bank."

"We assumed it was part of the movie," Kearney said of the smoke Tuesday morning.