Screen Rant » the wrestler

Oscar Winners/Nominees Coming To Video On Demand

Heath McKnight — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 17:20:47 +0000

TVN Entertainment, one of the leaders in Video On Demand (VOD) technology, will be presenting eight 2009 Oscar winners and nominees, some of them day-and-date with DVDs. The movies include Frost/Nixon, The Wrestler, Slumdog Millionaire, and others.

So why is this a big deal? Because although studios embraced VOD with devices such as the VUDU and the Roku with access to thousands of Netflix titles and cable/satellite companies’ on demand services, they wouldn’t always allow rentals or even purchases day-and-date (when DVDs are released for sale and rental).

Things are changing and that’s a good thing. However, I think studios can do better: create some sort of “virtual DVD experience” and offer VOD services like TVN the opportunity to have DVD features, like commentary, documentaries, bloopers, etc., along with menus, in SD (standard definition) or HD (high definition). I believe this will push more people to choose VOD, though Broadband Internet service is a must.

Anyway, TVN also has some release dates of these Oscar winners/nominees and other movies:

April 21, 2009: Frost/Nixon: (Day and date), The Wrestler

April 24, 2009: Rachel Getting Married

April 29, 2009: Slumdog Millionaire

May 6, 2009: Bolt

May 7, 2009: Doubt

May 14, 2009: The Reader

June 3, 2009: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button

I certainly hope to see more exclusives like this, along with day-and-date releases of VOD movies. I truly believe this is the future of home movie entertainment. And if we can “carry” these movies around with us on our mobile devices, like you can with Apple and movies from the iTunes Store, we’ll all be able to enjoy movies at home and abroad. Hey, it worked for music!

To see the nominees and award winners of this year’s Academy awards, check out our play-by-play coverage of the 81st Oscars ceremony.

Source: TVN Entertainment

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Megan Fox Plays Passion For Mickey Rourke

Niall Browne — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 20:26:16 +0000

With Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen getting ready for release, the Diablo Cody penned Jennifer’s Body already in the can and Jonah Hex and Fathom on the way, it looks like Megan Fox is getting ready to take over cinema screens across the globe.

The actress has now signed on to star opposite Mickey Rourke in Passion Plays, a 1940’s set dramatic thriller. The Transformers star’s character is described as “a slender beauty with wings who is part of a carnival.”

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“Rourke will play a down-on-his-heels trumpet player, and Fox will play an angel in 1950s Los Angeles, with Rourke finding redemption in Fox after he attempts to save her from a gangster. Those familiar with the project describe it as a dramatic but heartwarming tale.”

Heartwarming and redemption? Period setting? Does anybody else think that this will get Mickey Rourke another Oscar nomination?

Passion Plays sounds like an interesting film with a period setting that can only add to the intriguing premise . Rourke does redemption with aplomb – one only has to watch The Wrestler and even Sin City to see this but will Fox be able to match the Iron Man 2 star’s intensity?

It’s doubtful – Fox is hardly known for her acting talent, but I’m sure her attachment wont harm the film getting funding or getting bums on seats for that matter.

Passion Plays will be directed by screenwriter Mitch Glazer.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

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Now Mickey Rourke Is Expendable, Too

Niall Browne — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 15:55:12 +0000

Imagine for a minute that you are Mickey Rourke.

Finding it a bit difficult?

Don’t worry, stay with me for a minute. You were once a hot commodity in Hollywood but you burned some bridges and went into professional boxing where your good looks were replaced with a visage that’s more Frankenstein than Valentino. Over the last fifteen years or so your career has been loitering in the straight-to-DVD section of video stores, except for a few roles in major flicks like Man on Fire and Sin City.

And then suddenly, you’re the star of a low budget, critically acclaimed independent movie and the word Oscar is mentioned in every sentence with your name (The Wrestler). What would you do? Hold out for a role in the new Scorsese film? Hell no! You join the cast of Sylvester Stallone’s The Expendables because you know what a comeback is!

The Wrestler star Rourke credits Stallone with helping him getting his career back on the road after a chance meeting in a restaurant which lead to Stallone giving Rourke a role in Get Carter. As a way of repaying the action icon Rourke accepted the offer of “an unscrupulous arms dealer who becomes the go-to guy for a group of mercenaries planning to topple a South American dictator.”

The cast of The Expendables is filling out nicely with Jason Statham, Jet Li, Randy Couture and Dolph Lundgren confirmed, while Forest Whitaker and Ben Kingsley are both in negotiations to enlist. With more roles to be filled it looks like anybody could be cast in this film. Anybody. I’m still holding out for a bit of Bruce Willis and Arnold Schwarzenegger – even for a brief scene.

The way this is shaping up, it looks like it could be The Dirty Dozen for our generation!

The Expendables starts shooting (in more ways than one) in March.

Source: Variety

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Golden Globe Nominations: Little Love For The Dark Knight

Kofi Outlaw — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 23:35:24 +0000

The 2009 Golden Globe Nominations have been officially announced and it looks like The Dark Knight has been almost totally snubbed by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

That’s right folks, The Dark Knight received just one nomination: a Best Supporting Actor nod for Heath Ledger’s groundbreaking (and freaky) turn as The Joker. No Best Director nomination for Chris Nolan; no Best Screenplay nomination for Chris and Jonathan Nolan; no Best Original Score nomination (although Dark Knight composers Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard are both nominated in that category for work on two other films).

So, want to see which films stole the slots that rightfully belong to TDK? Check out the list of the 2009 Golden Globe Nominees in film:

BEST DRAMA
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

ACTOR (DRAMA)
Leonardo DiCaprio – Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella – Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn – Milk
Brad Pitt – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke – The Wrestler

ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Angelina Jolie – Changeling
Anne Hathaway – Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep – Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas – I’ve Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet – Revolutionary Road

BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges

ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Javier Bardem – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell – In Bruges
James Franco – Pineapple Express
Dustin Hoffman – Last Chance Harvey
Brendan Gleeson – In Bruges

ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Sally Hawkins – Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand – Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep – Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson – Last Chance Harvey
Rebecca Hall – Vicky Cristina Barcelona

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Gomorrah
I’ve Loved You So Long
Waltz with Bashir
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments

ANIMATED FILM
Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Cruise – Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. – Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman – Doubt
Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight
Ralph Fiennes – The Duchess

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – Doubt
Penelope Cruz – Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis – Doubt
Marisa Tomei – The Wrestler
Kate Winslet – The Reader

DIRECTOR
David Fincher – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle – Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry – The Reader
Ron Howard – Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes – Revolutionary Road

SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy – Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare – The Reader
Peter Morgan – Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley – Doubt

ORIGINAL SCORE
James Newton Howard – Defiance
Alexandre Desplat – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A.R. Rahman – Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer – Frost/Nixon
Clint Eastwood – Changeling

ORIGINAL SONG
“Down to Earth” by Peter Gabriel / Thomas Newman – Wall-E
“Gran Torino” by Clint Eastwood / Kyle Eastwood – Gran Torino
“I Thought I’d Lost You” by Miley Cyrus – Bolt
“Once in a Lifetime” by Beyoncé Knowles – Cadillac Records
“The Wrestler” by Bruce Springsteen – The Wrestler

So there’s a lot on this list I’m OK with (like Robert Downey Jr. and Tom Cruise receiving Supporting Actor Comedy nominations for Tropic Thunder, or Kung-Fu Panda getting a nod for Best Animated Film); there are some things on this list I couldn’t care less about (Best Musical or Comedy, anyone?); and there definitely some things on this list that make my head just want to explode.

Forgetting my obvious (and aforementioned) problem with the fact that The Dark Knight has been shut out of nearly every relevant category, I think that a film as wonderful as Let The Right One In was should have earned a Best Foreign Language Film nomination. And how Colin Farrell got a Best Comedy Actor Nod for In Bruges (which also got a Best Picture Comedy nod) will forever be beyond me.

On the flip side, James Franco getting a Best Comedy Actor nod for Pineapple Express is just plain awesome; it’s also good to see Mickey Rourke back on the rise, earning a nomination for his apparently soul-wrenching turn as a washed up athlete in The Wrestler (which I have yet to see). However it’s strange as hell that after so much early buzz Clint Eastwood’s old-man-turned-vigilante drama Gran Torino only got one nomination… for Best Original Song.

Other than that, it seems to be award season as usual. No surprise that The Curious Case of Benjamin Button is leading the pack in nominations (after all the tremendous buzz), or that a Sam Mendes domestic life drama (Revolutionary Road) is also raking in the nominations. I haven’t seen Frost/Nixon, but it seems to have impressed the right people, because it’s coming out of left field to grab up a handful of nominations. Might have to get out and see that before Oscar season rolls around.

Speaking of the little gold guy, what do you think about The Dark Knight’s chances at the 2009 Academy Awards, now that you’ve seen the Golden Globe nominations? Do you agree with the list of nominees, or do you feel some great films didn’t get the recognition they deserve? Sound off and let us know.

(You can read the full list of Golden Globe Nominees (Film and Television) by clicking here)

Source: First Showing

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Oct. 23, 2008

Niall Browne — Thu, 23 Oct 2008 16:45:46 +0000

Yes, it’s that time of the week again.

This week:

Rob Reiner reads the Book of Shadows; 13 isn’t unlucky for Mickey Rourke and Jason Statham; we take a peek at Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino; will you see Saw V and Spider-Man makes sure that Sam Raimi doesn’t know Jack.

1. Rob Reiner will direct the action-adventure film Book of Shadows.

According to The Hollywood Reporter:

“The story follows a young man who must embark on the perilous journey of first love and face many trials of maturity while on the dangerous quest to close a mythical tome called “Book of Shadows” in order to restore balance to the world.”

Sounds like it could bring the director back to his Princess Bride heyday.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

2. The poster for Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino is now online. When the film was first announced earlier in the year the internet went crazy over the idea that the film could be a new Dirty Harry film. While the film does not feature Harry Callaghan, Clint sure does look bad ass!

Clint Eastwood’s Gran Torino

Source: USA Today

3. It’s almost Halloween and that can only mean one thing – there’s a new Saw movie on the way! Saw V (how odd for a film to use Roman numerals these days) opens Friday and you can check a batch of clips, interviews and trailers on Terror Feed.

Source: Terror Feed

4. Riding high on the crest of The Wrestler, Mickey Rourke has signed on to star with Jason Statham in 13. The film is a remake of the Franch language film 13 Tzameti.

According to Variety:

“(The film) centers on a man who steals a mysterious package that promises to pay out a fortune.”

50 Cent will co-star.

Source: Variety

5. Sam Raimi does not know Jack – Ryan that is. How many times can I make that joke?

Raimi is too busy with Spider-Man 4 to helm the reboot of Tom Clancy’s all American hero.

There was news a few moths ago was that Raimi was miffed that his Spider-Man star (you know what I mean) James Franco was turned down by Paramount.

Raimi said:

“I’m really excited about Spider-Man… Production [on more Spider-Man films] would start probably by March, I’m guessing of 2010. I loveTom Clancy, and I hope they’d keep me in mind… But because I’m committed to ‘Spider-Man and making that picture, I think it’s going to knock me out of the running for the Jack Ryan picture.”

Here’s a crazy idea Paramount – let Ben Affleck star and direct the new Jack Ryan. You never know…

Source: MTV

That’s it for now. See you at the movies.

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Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up – Oct. 2, 2008

Niall Browne — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 17:56:24 +0000

Welcome to the first October Screen Rant Mid-Week Movie News Wrap Up.

This week:

Battle: Los Angeles finds a director; Mickey Rourke’s Angel Heart gets remade; Jack Black is Bourne again, Punisher War Zone is rated while Sheen and Lucas joins Alice In Wonderland.

1. Battle: Los Angeles has finally landed a director. The Sci-Fi action pic will probably be helmed by Jonathan Liebesman, the man behind such frighteners (in more ways than one) as Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning and Darkness Falls. The South African born director is currently in negotiations to direct the film which is being billed as Black Hawk Down meets Independence Day.

According to The Hollywood Reporter :

“In August, Liebesman went out to locations in Santa Monica and downtown Los Angeles, shooting sequences and plates, and adding CGI aliens. He also created a pre-viz alien invasion sequence.”

It sounds like he really wanted that gig.

Source: The Hollywood Reporter

2. Now that Mickey Rourke is currently on the comeback trail with The Wrestler it’s time for Hollywood to raid his filmography for remakes. Michael De Luca has partnered with Alison Rosenzweig have optioned rights to William Hjortsberg’s novel Falling Angel, on which Alan Parker’s Angel Heart was based.

The original is a fantastic low key thriller that co-stars Robert De Niro and I highly reccomend that you check it out on DVD – just don’t let anyone ruin the ending for you.

Source: Variety

3. Jack Black will star in an untitled live-action action comedy that is a pastiche of the Bourne movies. The Hollywood Reporter says that the film is:

“A sort of comedic The Bourne Identity, the story sees Black as an American who finds himself washed up the shores of Cuba with no idea of who he is and how he got there. He comes to the conclusion that he must be a superspy, though in reality he is far from one.”

The film was penned by Kung Fu Panda writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn.

Source: Hollywood Reporter

4. Despite rumors to the contrary Punisher: War Zone is now locked and loaded with an R rating. The film was given the rating “For pervasive strong brutal violence, language and some drug use”.

It sounds just like one of my Friday nights. Just kidding – live free and well people!

Source: Rope of Silicon

5. Matt Lucas will star as Tweedledum and Tweedledee, in Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland. Lucas is huge here in the UK (but enough about his waste line) due to Little Britain. The US version aptly titled Little Britain USA is currently on HBO.

Meanwhile, another British actor Michael Sheen (Tony Blair in just about every political film) has also joined the cast.

Source: Joblo and Variety

That’s if for another week. See you at the movies!

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Springsteen Rocks The Movies

Niall Browne — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:47:00 +0000

Bruce Springsteen is an American legend. He’s sort of like the musical equivalent of John Wayne or Clint Eastwood, a strong presence who delivers a quintessential view of the United States.

Now the rock icon is attached to two very different films, offering his services as not only a singer/songwriter but possibly also as an actor. “The Boss” has written and recorded a song for Darren Aronofsky’s The Wrestler while Judd Apatow has offered him a role in his forthcoming film Funny People.

So where did this cinematic love of Springsteen come from?

Simple answer – it has always been there.

Springsteen has always been a huge cinephile, and many of his songs and albums have been inspired by movies. His 1995 album The Ghost of Tom Joad was inspired not only by John Steinbeck’s novel The Grapes of Wrath, but also by John Ford’s film of the same name. His haunting track Atlantic City was also based on Louis Malles’ film of the same name – with certain lyrics lifted directly from the screenplay. His iconic 1984 album Born in the USA was based on a script by Taxi Driver’s Paul Schrader, However Schrader made the film under the title Light of Day starring Michael J. Fox, and the title track was written and performed by Springsteen.

“The Boss” also wrote and received Oscar’s for his soundtrack work on Philadelphia and Dead Man Walking, while his songs were also the basis for the Peter Bogdonovich film Mask. However, copyright issues led to his recordings being dropped from the the Cher starring film, only to be replaced by “Springsteen light” Bob Seger. Also, don’t forget Springsteen’s wonderful cameo in John Cusack’s music inspired Rom-Com High Fidelity, a film based on Nick Hornby’s outstanding book.

Of Springsteen’s song for The Wrestler Aronofsky wrote in his blog:

“Bruce Springsteen wrote a beautiful original song for the closing the film. Called The Wrestler it is a wonderful acoustic piece. Makes me choke up every time I hear it. he really captured the spirit of the film and Mickey’s character in the piece”.

While Springsteen hasn’t accepted Apatow’s offer, let’s cross our fingers. You can never have enough Springsteen in your life.

Sources: CHUD and Darren Aronofsky

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