JUNKFILM

You know, if I had money I would have dropped everything and gone to the Sundance Film Festival this past weekend because from what I have been reading, there were some amazing films (and not just the monsters I wanted to see: Black Dynamite, Dod Sno, 500 Days of Summer, and a few others). Well, it would seem like the people at Apple have come to some sense and are offering 10 short films for free off their iTunes site. A great sum up of the opening night can be found here.
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Wolverine Reshoots
What new news would it be to hear about a studio to slap their director and tell them that their vision of their film is shitty and to make it more “kid friendly” with “more action?” Would that be new? Hardly. However, with a huge title like “X-Men Origins: Wolverine” coming out in May 2009 and the production company wants to make it sleek and more kid happy, I can’t help but call it to attention. It would seem like Gavin wants to make this film like a 1970s gritty, tooth and nail kinda actioner, while the studio (no surprise here, 20th Century Fox fucking up again) wants to make it appear like a Pepsi/Taco Bell friendly ad campaign (did they even read the comics?). But the real news is that there will be additional footage shot this month to add to the film. Hugh Jackman sent an email to the folks at Ain’t It Cool:

Hey everyone -

It’s Hugh Jackman, sending this note from freezing Vancouver. I have read a lot of your online comments regarding the footage that we are currently shooting and I share your passion for the Wolverine character and the movie - I owe it all to you guys!

I wanted to reach out and let you know that due to scheduling conflicts with certain cast members and location/weather considerations, we had to wait until now to shoot a couple of scenes. Please rest assured that WOLVERINE will be badass and hopefully meet all of your expectations. I am stoked by the positive response to the teaser, which clearly reflects the tone and scope of the film. If you like that, we’ve got much more in store!

In the meantime, here’s an exclusive shot of some characters you may recognize…

Cheers,

Hugh
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Watchmen has finally reached a settlement
After a lengthy court battle and making Fox Studios look like greedy, stubborn, retarded children, WB has settled with a dollar amount that made Fox happy.
-According to Variety’s sources, Fox will receive an upfront payment totaling between $5 and $10 million, which will cover $1.4 million that the studio invested in development fees, plus millions of dollars in legal fees.
-Fox will not be distributing the film, but under the terms of the settlement, will get gross participation of between 5% and 8.5% depending on the film’s worldwide revenues.
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McG wants Will Smith to play Nemo
In an upcoming adaptation about Captain Nemo, astoundingly bad director, McG wants the lead to be played by the ethnically wrong backgrounded Will Smith. Nothing against Will Smith’s heritage, truly. I hate him on a purely acting basis and poor choice of movies. And now of course, with Smith wanting to remake Old Boy and remaking the 80s classic Karate Kid, I hate him on a whole new level. But now, McG wants to stray from the character basis of having an Indian man helming Captain Nemo, and put Soccer Mom favorite instead in his place…
“The character Nemo in this film is more about obsession, he is obsessed and people tend to forget that when you become so obsessed you end up being the villain. I’m trying to get Will Smith to do it, been trying to get a hold of him. I’ve been wanting to work with him for a long time already. That guy’s great” says McG.
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Terry Gilliam is at it again
If you are a fan of film, you are sure to remember when Man From LaMancha was being made and it was a huge news debate. And if not the you remember the wicked documentary, Lost in LaMancha, about the demise of the film and how it was never meant to be. Well it would seem that Gilliam is at it again and ready to make it…finally. Let’s hope the desert doesn’t flood again.
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Samuel Jackson Might not be Nick Fury
In the film Iron Man, we got a glimpse that Marvel Comics and their films were doing something right: combining the characters into a world where all these other characters existed. This is something always pissed me the fuck off. Sure the Punisher is a cool character, and Spider-Man is hella awesome…but why aren’t there other heroes whipping around? In the books, any character can come and go at any given time… it’s a world full of heroes and villians, which makes it fun and elitist because you need to know years and years of back story to know what the hell anyone is talking about. But I digress…

Now, off my high horse, Nick Fury came into the final scene of Iron Man and told Stark that there was to be an Avengers. Who better to play Nick Fury than Jackson? I know, I know, Nick Fury isn’t black, but still, Jackson! But it looks like he might not be Fury in the upcoming films, Jackson comments:
“There was a huge kind of negotiation that broke down. I don’t know. Maybe I won’t be Nick Fury. Maybe somebody else will be Nick Fury or maybe Nick Fury won’t be in it. There seems to be an economic crisis in the Marvel Comics world so [they’re saying to me], ‘We’re not making that deal.’”
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Will Ferrel to play Bush in a one man show
This might be making some Will Ferrel fans very happy. Just as the title says, Ferrel will be playing George Bush Jr in a one man show. Ferrel extrapolates:
There are people who are going to be, ‘Enough already, leave him alone.’ Or, ‘I don’t care if it’s funny, I don’t want to even think about that guy anymore.’ Or — and I hope this is the case — people who think, ‘This is cathartic, this is good.’” At first I thought, I don’t know about a Broadway show
. I don’t want to be just known as the guy who did Bush. But then I thought, what am I talking about? This is a great way to hang that character up, not even so much as a political statement, but to send him off into the sunset….
“We very quickly discovered we could do a three-hour show with this character — the more you dig into who he is, where he comes from, it’s really shocking and extremely interesting at the same time…We can’t help but fail in portraying the scope of how much of a disaster the last eight years have been.”
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Keanu Reeves to play Spike in Cowboy Bebop LA remake
Yes, you read that right. After the hype of Fox Studios DragonBall live action movie coming out in April, they seem to be going head first in to remaking another anime into a live action movie, starring Keanu Reeves. (I can hear the collective sigh from everyone reading this)
Dark Horizons reports: Keanu Reeves is attached to star as Spike Spiegel, a bounty hunter and former member of a crime syndicate. Spiegel, along with Jet Black, a fellow bounty hunter and former cop, are the two pilots of the spaceship Bebop.

Peter Craig is writing the script. The original show, which debuted in the late 1990s, was strongly influenced by American music. Various directors, writers and producers on the show will serve as production consultants and associate producers on this film.
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The Thing….the prequel
With a plethora of terrible sequels and prequels raping our visual sensibilities this year (just watch the trailer package of Resident Evil Degeneration and cry with me), why not make a prequel to a good film? Dutch director Matthijs van Heijningen “is tipped to be helming Strike and Universal Pictures prequel to John Carpenter’s 1982 horror/sci-fi classic “The Thing”"….

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TV shows do the Farscape and Firefly thing…and make a movie
When Farscape was canceled after their best season, the sci-fi world was left with their collective mouths open. It was a raping unlike any other show’s cancellation. The outcries heard from the fans hit home with producers and Sci Fi Channel and a special mini movie, straight to video was released which tied up lose ends. When Firefly was canceled the sci-fi world was in shock. They too launched a campaign to bring it back…but instead Joss came out and made a theatrical movie in hopes to get the show relaunched, it didn’t work, even after that stellar film. Another excellent show cut down in it’s prime was Dead Like Me, the DVD movie is being released next month.

Now two newer shows, Pushing Daisies and Jericho, both canceled in the middle of their stories, are making movies to try and tie up lose ends. Could we see Veronica Mars soon?
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Blunt as Black Widow in Iron Man 2
Emily Blunt (The Devil Wears Panda) has been cast as the Black Widow for the Iron Man sequel. Hmmm, hinting as more of a S.H.I.E.L.D. presence. Interesting. It would seem that she will be playing Stark’s nemesis which would be a much better idea to keep Iron Man in “reality” over the previous idea of the Mandarin.
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People being cast for Scott Pilgrim
If you still haven’t read Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O’Malley, you are wasting your time with anything else you are doing. Stop wasting your time and my time. Go and buy the 4 books of Scott Pilgrim, soon to be 5.

Knives Chau has been cast. Ellen Wong will be portraying the single-minded, ex of Scott, who is WAAAY to into his band…and dating young Neil.
Kieran Culkin, who has bagged the role of Wallace Wells. Wallace is Scott’s gay roommate. And Aubrey Plaza has landed the role of Julie Powers, the drummer of Scott’s band.

And finally The Evil Ex, Matthew, is being played by Arshad Aslam and looks DEAD ON like him.

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