Hugh Jackman in Talks For ‘X-Men: Days of Future Past’

From slashfilm, One of the key characters in the Days of Future Past comic book storyline (as was the case in most of the big X-Men stories in the early ’80s) was Wolverine. And so it seemed inconcievable that Bryan Singer would make the First Class sequel (or is it an X-Men bridge movie?) without bringing in Hugh Jackman. Remember that it was Singer who cast Hugh Jackman as Wolverine in the first place, angering fans who wanted to see a pint-sized dude with claws, as per the original comic book version of the character. People were angry, that is, until they saw Jackman in action and he won everyone over.

So, now that Singer has not only the First Class cast ( James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence and Nicholas Hoult) but ‘classic’ X-Men actors Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart on board, the next guy in line had to be Jackman. And now he’s set.



THR reports that Jackman is in talks, without any details of how big his role in the film will be. Let’s hope it isn’t as minor as his First Class cameo (above). Given that a slightly aged Wolverine is one of the important characters in the alternate future timeline of the classic story, Jackman could get to play dual roles in the film.


So who’s next? Famke Janssen? This film needs a Kitty Pryde; what do you think the chances are that Singer will try to bring back Ellen Page, who played the character in X-Men: The Last Stand? Since there have already been multiple big-screen versions of the character, a new actress taking the gig wouldn’t be a big deal.

Not A Bad Idea!: Heroes Of Science Action Figures

From geekology, Note: Larger version HERE, but be sure to check out the artist's site for a full-res version. He also explains his criteria for inclusion and why there's only one woman, no Bill Nye, etc.



"This is a series of conceptual action figures based on famous scientists by DeviantARTist datazoid. They would all look great locked in an epic battle on my living room floor. *imagines Tesla shooting a lightning gun at Einstein while Hawking backs over Schrödinger's face in his wheelchair*"

These little guys took between 40 minutes and 2 hours each, totaling around 50 hours of work.
The figures are all based on Star Trek: TNG and Star Trek: DS9 figures (primarily Odo from DS9, and Picard as Dixon Hill from TNG), and have been heavily modified in Photoshop using Liquify and a great deal of digital painting. Unfortunately, the figures aren't real. I wish they were.
Great job, I think the only thing they're missing are some SWEET ACCESSORIES. Every action figure needs accessories! Obviously, Schrödinger would come with a cat. And Jacques Cousteau -- he could have a submarine playset add-on! Oh God I could just think about this stuff all day.

American Horror Story

I believe I'm the first to bring up this series on the blog and I am wondering how many of you are watching it. As season 2, The Asylum, is in full swing I once again find myself drawn into what has got to be one of the edgiest TV series' I've ever seen. One of the most unique and intelligent things about AHS is the decision to make the second season a whole new story. When season one, involving a couple moving into a notoriously haunted murder house, wrapped up it seemed final and I thought okay where is this going to go? Then season two comes out with Asylum and it is fantastic. A few of the actors from season one are carried over (Jessica Lange, Evan Peters, Lily Rabe, Zachary Quinto, Sarah Paulson) but in entirely different roles. If you are not watching then let me recommend it to you, season one is now available on Netflix. Great stuff, I love it when horror breaks into the mainstream.

It's a SpongeBob Christmas airs tonight!

Hey gang! This airs on CBS tonight at 9:30! They also shot some bumpers with the live actor Patchy the Pirate talking to you from "on set," and I might be in the background. Even without the my ego-feeding part, the special is awesome. Tune in!

Edit: I completely forgot to mention that, although this premieres tonight, it's been available on dvd at Target etc. for a couple of weeks. Apparently it was "quietly" released for reasons having to do with shelf space. It's only ten bucks, and the pineapple house I made is on the cover!

Happy Thanksgiving, you beautiful freaks!

Alien: Resurrection

1997 **

And so a once-iconic franchise goes careening straight off the rails.

I love director Jean-Pierre Jeunet. I think he's a visual genius and both Delicatessen and Amelie would easily appear on a list of my 50 favorite movies. But the franchise's genre-jumping experiment begun by James Cameron takes an even sharper misstep this time, because the world really didn't need the French art-house Alien movie.

For exhibit A I present Dan Hedaya's crossed eyes. He's the head honcho of the Auriga, a military research spaceship on which they have successfully cloned Ripley and the Alien Queen she was carrying, using Ripley's blood samples extracted in the previous film. The clone retains some of Ripley's memories, and Dan Hedaya receives this news with his face all up in the camera and his eyes googling thusly.

"That's very nice about the clones and everything but I think I'm having a stroke..."
It's not a mystery, it's just part of Jeunet's style to find actors with dramatically contoured faces and exploit that quality, in order to invoke the ubiquitous Sad Clown of Life. That's why he keeps hiring Ron Perlman and the amazing Dominique Pinon.

Best yearbook photo ever.
Is there no place for accomplished clownishness in sci-fi horror? Perhaps I don't have the authority to say, but I will say Alien Resurrection makes a bad case for it and here's why. Jeunet might love action films but he doesn't seem to get them. The setup for this seems good enough: the Auriga is visited by the smaller ship Betty and her ragtag crew, who will team up with Clone Ripley when the Alien poop hits the fan. They do, and it does, and the movie's plot unfolds before them: traverse the vast Auriga and reach the hangar where the Betty is before everyone gets killed. Ready go.

And they start walking to their ship. Like, leisurely strolling. Captain Michael Wilcott wanders off because he sees a pretty gun on the floor. There's a long interlude while Clone Ripley gawks at the seven previous failed versions of her -- one alive in bed, the rest displayed in big tanks of fluid. She burns them all and we get individual shots of all six tanks exploding. These items plus a number of expository asides completely neutralize any sense of urgency or suspense.

The mismanagement goes even further, at one point claiming suspence and tension when there isn't any. At the end of one action scene, two guys are strapped to each other and one of them is holding them both on a ladder. He's about to lose his grip because of the added weight of an Alien hanging off the other dude's foot. So there's all this screaming and "what's gonna happen?" and "will he cut himself loose, sacrifice himself to save his comrade?" in the air, and nobody bothers to mention that the Alien's head has been blown off and there aren't any more around. So somebody can go down and help them somehow, grab the one guy's arm, shoot the Alien off the other guy's foot, whatever. Like I said, the action scene is over.

Plus Winona Ryder's in it and she's even worse than usual.

"Keep. Looking. Pissed. Off. Yay, I'm acting!"
I'm not sure where it was first decided that there was DNA swapping going on when the facehugger's victims were incubating. Like the Alien/Predator team-up, I think it originated early in the comic books and seeped into everything else. Making the Alien 3 Alien quadrupedal was fine, and I don't begrudge Resurrection for cloning the Queen from Ripley's blood or mixing some Alien DNA into Ripley to make her badass. It's the kind of bogus move that's okay when you're making the fourth movie in a series.

But the climax of this flick is a cosmic misfire, managing to insult the Venerable Order of Movie Monsters and the miracle of birth itself. With Brad Dourif screaming helpfully in the background, we watch the Alien Queen give birth human style, which to me feels like the laziest shortcut idea to a pale imitation of the psychosexual fears this franchise has fostered. And the newborn monster is quite literally the least interesting non-human player in four whole movies.

"You're a disappointment to your mother, your grandmother, and the universe's sum total of good ideas."
Earlier tonight a friend of mine was griping about the unmasking of the Space Jockey in Prometheus, and he said something that I think applies even better to Resurrection's Hybrid monster. He said "They took something iconic and un-Gigered it!" And it's true. The Hybrid is what you get when you take the Alien, give it the body posture of a drunk old homeless lady, then fill in all the interesting texture with spackle and slime. Why would anyone do that?

I've been skipping over this review and doing other ones, I guess because this movie gets my dander up. Not only do I like the director, but also it was written by this guy Joss Whedon who you may have heard of. I've read and heard rumblings that the studio messed around a bunch with his script, but I haven't delved into it because it won't make the movie better. Watching Alien: Resurrection is an annoying experience I don't plan to repeat. It teases you by looking like it will be fun and worthwhile, but then it starts slapping you with these little disappointments, and each time you're tricked into hoping it's the last because all they have to do is get back to that thing they had going at the beginning.

And then.

Slap!

PVC-1

(2007) ***1/2

This work of Columbian cinema was taken in one continuous shot. Although dizzying towards the end,  it works because it throws you in to every scene with an uncomfortable realness. It opens with Benjamin and Jose, along with two others, driving down a little country road to a small rancho where they hold a family at gunpoint and demand 15 million pesos. It turns out the family doesn't have any money, the robbers strap a homemade bomb made of PVC pipe around the mother, Ofelia's, neck.

What PVC-1 lacks in plot it makes up for in intensity. Ofelia, her husband, and eldest daughter make the trek to the nearest town where they meet up with Jairo, an anti-explosive specialist. Any moment Ofelia or her husband Simon fidget with the pipe, it starts beeping and you have no idea when, or if, it's going to blow. I would recommend this movie to anyone because it's down-to-earth enough that it won't give you nightmares, but dude prepare yourself for 85 minutes of teeth-grinding nervous tension!

The Fear

(1994) ****

"There is no devil but fear."

A weekend of fear exploration with aspiring psychologist Richard turns deadly with the help of an adult-sized Pinocchio -- I mean wooden figure.

This thing is seriously so creepy I can't imagine how a child could find it so endearing. The Fear follows the typical formula of city kids camping out in the woods and not knowing their ass from the fireplace, and I almost aborted this one because of its terrible soundtrack. There's a reason why 90's white boy ska/reggae isn't popular anymore. Just sayin'.

I gave this such a high score because Richard's dream interpretation plays an important role and each character brings their own unique complexity and, just as they get annoying, die.

In touch with your Inner Sanctum

(or, as Crystal Math refers to it, Inner Scrotum)

Thanks to JPX's charitable contribution to JSP's horror collection, and to Lon Chaney Jr's trouble-ridden mug, the two of us enjoyed episodes entitled "Calling Dr. Death," "Pillow of Death," and "Weird Woman." As you can see below, all of the Inner Sanctum movies follow a recognizable pattern.

Calling Dr. Death

(1943)

Crystal Math's rating: ****

Johnny Sweatpants' rating: ***

Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as Dr. Mark Steele, an unhappily married neurologist who dreams of divorcing his wife and getting it on with his nurse/secretary, Stella. His wife is adulterous, condescending, and unapologetic towards Steele about her actions. One weekend when Steele and Stella decide to get out of town, his wife's skull is crushed with a blunt instrument. Of course, Steele is the primary suspect and the chief of police is not backing off questioning Steele and imposing himself in nearly every aspect of his life.

JSP: The use of Lon Chaney Jr.'s whispering inner monolog is both endearing and illuminating. His festering hatred towards his wife Maria is justified as she openly despises him and cheats on him unapologetically. Apparently divorce was not really an option in the 40's because it seemed like the most pragmatic solution but it's never even thrown on the table as an option.

Pillow of Death

(1945)

Crystal Math's rating: *** 1/2

Johnny Sweatpants' rating: ***1/2

Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as Dr. Mark Steele Wayne Fletcher, an unhappily married neurologist attorney who dreams of divorcing his wife and getting it on with his nurse/secretary, Donna. Fletcher is a successful attorney who despises his wife's growing obsession with suicide. When she unexpectedly dies via pillow suffocation, Fletcher again becomes the primary suspect with a detective busting his balls for all the answers.

JSP: First of all I was disappointed that the weird head in the jar did not introduce this film. Secondly, "pillow" has to be the most non-threatening noun to ever precede "...of Death" in the history of cinema. In any case Pillow of Death was one of the more entertaining installments, mainly because of the high body count and the hilarious seance used to contact his deceased wife. His wife's ghost points her finger squarely at Lon but is the seance merely trickery?

Weird Woman

(1944)

Crystal Math's rating: ***1/2

Johnny Sweatpants' rating: ***

Lon Chaney, Jr. stars as Dr. Mark Steele Wayne Fletcher Norman Reed, an unhappily contently married neurologist attorney Sociology professor who dreams of divorcing his wife and getting it on with his nurse/secretary, Donna convincing his superstitious wife Paula to give up the traditions of her adopted Pacific Islander rituals and get with the Western school of thought on science over faith. When one of his colleagues is found murdered, he must clear Paula's name before the town breaks into witch hunt mode.

JSP: Weird Woman is a little more involved than the other Inner Sanctum murder mysteries because it explores the neverending battle between reason vs. superstition. Personally I found Lon Chaney's character to be the least likable in the bunch. He clearly only married Paula because she's a knockout but treats her more like a savage that needs domestication than a wife. Nevertheless it was just as much a fun viewing as the others.

There are 2 more Inner Sanctums that we weren't able to tackle but there's always next year!

Speaking of entomology...

Here are a couple of movies that "bugged" me this October . . .

The Fly
(1986) *** 1/2

Seth Brundle is a socially awkward nerd with an ugly, ugly face but a rippin', smashin' body (played by Jeff Goldblum). One night he hits it off with Veronica Quaife (Geena Davis) at a press conference and brings her back to his humble abode warehouse in which he has built a couple of "Telepods" capable of transporting someone from Point A to Point B.

Without Brundle's knowledge, Veronica's editor and former lover obtains the story she gathered from Brundle and publishes it, putting more pressure on Brundle from the science community and bringing him more and more into recluse to perfect his Telepods. Veronica convinces him to document videotapes of his progress for scientists and for posterity. His first project has disgusting results: a baboon is turned inside out. However, his next experiment is a success so he decides to place himself in the Telepod, and therein lies all the similarities of the 1958 original. The doctor undergoes a horrifying transformation, attempts to save himself, and comes to terms with the tragedies of science and experimentation.

I haven't seen an "attack by vomit" sequence until now. It's disgusting, but effective!

The Fly 2
(1989) ***

Seth Brundle's son must use his fly powers to stop corporate evil.

Martin Brundle has been raised in a lab since birth, and even though his accelerated growth half-fly DNA makes him an annoying kid on-screen, that annoying kid disappears about 20 minutes in and we get a socially awkward but exceptionally good-looking nerd, just like his pops.

From left: evil CEO, Martin B, and his love interest.

When Martin comes of age he is given his own apartment by the corporation that raised him with the promise that he will finish his father's work on the Telepods. The Fly 2 is by comparison tamer than its predecessor, and the real "horror" doesn't begin until about 1hr 20 of this 1 hr 40-minute movie. However, the ending is very promising and surprised me at how well this pulled off as a sequel. It could stand alone on its own six legs!

Once Martin realizes he is being watched every moment of his life he rebels and runs away, only to return when his body begins a metamorphosis:

"Could I bother you for a cup of sugar?"

Kidnapped

(2010)

Johnny Sweatpants' rating: ****1/2

Crystal Math's rating: ****

JSP: I wouldn’t say that I’m a fan of the home invasion genre, but I will concede that there are several very strong horror movies of that variety. In recent years the French appeared to have cornered the market with High Tension, Inside and Them and the US countered with the cerebral The Strangers. Spain’s Kidnapped follows the same formula of innocent people being attacked in their homes by  homicidal killers. In The Strangers the invaders’ motives aren’t revealed while in the French ones I mentioned the motives were reserved for a shocking reveal or plot twist in the end. The motive in Kidnapped is merely money and I would argue that it makes the movie much more realistic and hence more frightening. The family makes several attempts to appeal to the thugs' compassion but they simply have none.

The characters do not always behave the way you think you would or the way you expect them to, but the extreme circumstances make it unfair to judge them. Certain individuals have only split seconds to make decisions that may save the life of (or be responsible for the death of ) their loved ones. As for the ending... ahhh the ending. I shall not spoil. All I will say is that I was initially outraged but the more I let it sink in the more fixated on it I became. Now I'm of the opinion that the ending is perfect.

CM: Ugh! Blergh! Grrrrrghrr... Ok I got that out of my system. Kidnapped falls into the category of Best Movie You Never Want to See Again. From the very first frame (at the top of this review) where a man with a plastic bag over his head runs aimlessly through the forest seeking help, to every hairpin turn in the plot when things could get better and resolve themselves, to the striking denouement that left my jaw on the floor for twenty minutes, Kidnapped does just that to all your sense of security.

A typical middle-class family moves into a new home and all of its members are wrapped up in their own world, their own drama: the mother is trying to coordinate a nice home-cooked meal to share with her family, the rebellious teenage daughter wants to go to a party to see her boyfriend, and the father has too much work to bother conceding with the mother's point of view, so he gives his daughter money and tells her to have fun tonight.

This movie does not drag for one moment! Before long three strange men come a-knockin' on their doorstep. Although all three have the intent to steal every penny the family's got, I found it intriguing the amount of time spent developing each burglar's character, the first of whom just wants to get the money and get out with no problems, the second of whom just wants to have his way with the teenage daughter, and the third of whom seems to have gotten involved with the wrong crowd on the wrong night.

CONCLUSION: JSP and Crystal agree that every movie should end either like Kidnapped or like The Great Outdoors.