Tony Stark is struggling to hold it together in the first trailer for Iron Man 3 , and that’s before Ben Kingsley as conveniently and ambiguously-ethnic baddie The Mandarin enters the picture with his samurai hair and his even more ambiguous weirdo accent. Then it’s bye bye Stark mansion and hello waking nightmare as Tony’s world unravels. “Nothing’s been the same since New York ,” he sighs. “I can’t sleep… and when I do, I have nightmares.” Air-attacks crumbling that sweet Malibu pad into the Pacific and being haunted by an Iron Man doppelganger are freaky enough, but the saddest sight in our first glimpse at Iron Man 3 has to be the image of Stark crawling into bed alone, Iron Man parts strewn across the floor like an addict’s discarded syringes. Five bucks the line “It’s like I don’t even know you” or “I can stop whenever I want!” are uttered somewhere in this movie. Trailer debut via Apple iTunes : Dynamic action, a hint of self-destruction, Guy Pearce’s clean-shaven and therefore supremely threatening mug (what’s more rage-inducing if you’re Tony Stark – Pearce kissing your lady on the cheek, or your competition from another dude in a magical flying suit?)… I’d venture to say it seems like Shane Black is back. Let’s hope. Synopsis: Marvel Studios’ “Iron Man 3” pits brash-but-brilliant industrialist Tony Stark/Iron Man against an enemy whose reach knows no bounds. When Stark finds his personal world destroyed at his enemy’s hands, he embarks on a harrowing quest to find those responsible. This journey, at every turn, will test his mettle. With his back against the wall, Stark is left to survive by his own devices, relying on his ingenuity and instincts to protect those closest to him. As he fights his way back, Stark discovers the answer to the question that has secretly haunted him: does the man make the suit or does the suit make the man? Iron Man 3 is in theaters May 3, 2013.
As a tough Detroit cop in Rob Cohen’s Alex Cross Rachel Nichols ( G.I. Joe , Conan ) hunts a maniacal serial killer ( Matthew Fox ) alongside Tyler Perry , who attempts to crossover from his niche following to the mainstream with the James Patterson crime thriller. But it’s not the first time the co-stars shared a scene, as Nichols recalled with a laugh: “It took me four days to say, ‘You know what’s really funny? We were in Star Trek together!'” Nichols, down to earth and vivacious in person, has built a career of primarily dramatic roles in film and television since making her feature debut in the comedy prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd . Proving herself both game and capable for an array of physical demands has invited an action heroine streak to sneak into her filmography; between the survival horror P2 , 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra , and last year’s sword-and-sandals adventure Conan (not to mention a guest turn on Criminal Minds and her ongoing lead role as a cop from the future in the 12 Monkeys -esque Continuum ), Nichols is a short list of Hollywood actresses with believable action chops. (As if that wasn’t awesome enough: Nichols also stars in and executive produces the upcoming Raze , an indie film also starring Zoe Bell that she describes as ” Hostel meets Fight Club meets Gladiator ,” with women.) Read on for Nichols’ chat with Movieline about her work in Alex Cross , her Tyler Perry- Star Trek connection, and nerding out over the role that kick-started her action career: J.J. Abrams ‘ Alias . Tyler Perry is the big draw and fascination in this film, stepping out of his comfort zone, but how familiar were you with him and his work before working on this movie? I had seen a bunch of the Madea movies and I’ve always contended that anybody that can do comedy, and can do comedy well, can do anything in the entertainment realm. I think comedy is the most demanding and difficult and the most harshly criticized, and Tyler has this presence about him; as soon as I shook his hand the first day on set I knew he could do this. No problem. He’s got this presence, and he’s very approachable, and he’s very kind — he’s got these really expressive eyes, and then we were doing the tactical training and spitballing and laughing and I thought to myself, he could really do this. And I thought it was a really interesting choice, because I do like it when people step out of their comfort zone. And I’m sure that for years people have been saying, “Tyler, do this — or Tyler, do that project,” and I thought it was really cool that he chose this one. The movie opens in the middle of an action sequence, with you, Tyler, and Ed Burns chasing down a perp. Tyler eventually catches him first, but I’ve seen you in enough action roles to second guess that outcome. In real life who would win in a foot race? Hmm. I’ve never been particularly fast. I don’t know! I’ve never seen the man run. That’s a really good question. He got in great shape for the movie. But I bet Matthew [Fox] would beat all of us. His physical transformation was astounding. I know! What he created and what he did… when I saw him on set I didn’t work with him, but I saw him at dinners and out and when I saw the film and really watched what he did, I was blown away. I’ve known Matthew – we have the same manager, I’ve met him a bunch of times, I loved Party of Five like every other woman in America, I loved LOST — and when I saw him in this, I found him incredibly scary, which is a testament to the job that he did because he’s not incredibly scary. Was it scary to see him around on set, living in the skin of Picasso? I saw him around and he seemed very much into it but it wasn’t like he was Method all the time, that guy the entire time day in and day out. But obviously the diet and the fighting and the training, he was so dedicated. It was interesting to watch knowing what he had put into it. I find it interesting that you and Tyler share a Star Trek connection. I know! It’s really funny. I had never met Tyler before, and when I met him, immediately he was so disarming and so easy to be around that it took me four days to say, “You know what’s really funny? We were in Star Trek together!” It was this one big scene where they’re at the hearing for the Kobayashi Maru test and I’m the one green girl in this sea of cadets and he’s this high commander. It was really funny — I briefly met him then, I think I shook his hand – and it seems like a lifetime ago. But yeah, Tyler Perry and I share our Star Trek connection. You’ve had a history of unlucky characters who don’t quite make it very far, so to speak, but you’ve also done a number of really big projects. What’s your perspective on how your career’s shaken out so far? [Laughs] I’m lucky [knocks on wood] — I’ve been able to do some really fun things, whether it’s G.I. Joe or Conan , huge movies… And Alias ! Alias ! Alias was awesome. I do a show now called Continuum which is going to come to the States, fingers crossed. It just premiered in the U.K. and it was a big hit in Canada, now we’re going to do season two so that’s super awesome. But Alias was my first taste — I watched Jen [Garner] , pregnant at the time, do this lead role on this show and I just thought, gosh, this job is insane! And now I’m clearly not pregnant but doing the lead on this show, and I love it. I want to try to do anything, though you’ll never see me sing in a movie. I warn people that I’m tone deaf, so that’ll never happen. But I don’t mind when I make an interesting exit from a film, that’s totally fine. [Laughs] My parents would prefer not, but this was such a fun role and I love the twist. I love how this thing that we’re talking about but we’re not talking about right now, it’s such a surprise. You mentioned that your parents would like to see you in a rom-com or something like that, but things don’t quite work out that way. I would love to see myself in a rom-com! I did an edgy little one a couple of years ago called A Bird Of the Air with Jackson Hurst and we had the best time. It was really fun, and it was emotional and it had its sad moments, but it would be great to have a co-star like Jackson who you get along with, which makes it so easy to have fun. How did you find yourself falling into so many action roles? I love the action stuff, and it started with Alias . Alias is the first time I ever had to do a fight scene. Had you trained in that world before? No! It was all very new to me, and I was obsessed with the show. When they hired me I didn’t tell them I was a crazed fan because I thought they might decide not to hire me. I had seen every freaking episode. I lied and said, “Oh, I’ve seen a few — it’s a really good show.” But I was obsessed! You were like, Rambaldi, what? I was like, “Oh my god, is that an artifact? Can I touch it? Can I put it in my purse?” [Laughs] I was madly in love with the show so that’s where it started. Then, you know, I think it’s really cool because Jen Garner has always known she could do action. She could pick up a sword and go do a big action movie and people will say she’s totally believable as a woman and a fighter. When you get to the point where you’re established enough that people link you with something, especially being an action hero babe, it’s awesome. Because then you can fight the battles and have the crossbows and wrestle with swords and ride the horses because you’re already believable, people see you in that genre. Then it’s even more fun to kick ass. There’s also the strong female character aspect that I like about it. And it also keeps me in good shape; if I’m doing an action movie, I’m staying in good shape. Action heroines remind me of that Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire line; she could do everything he could do, only backwards and in high heels. And so often in action roles actresses are also required to be glammed up while kicking ass. It’s one of those things, and learning a fight is like learning a dance. You have the training, you know the moves, and you put it all together. Sienna Miller and I had an epic fight scene in G.I. Joe , and that stuff’s just fun to do. Then when you see it on the screen and you look like such a bad ass you think, “Alright, I’m just going to sit back and rest on my laurels and look awesome!” What else is on the horizon for you beyond returning to Continuum ? I’m going to go back and do Continuum and I did this movie called Mechanic in Philly that a friend of mine directed, with David Morse and Mike Vogel. And I also executive produced and am also acting in this film called Raze , which we’re editing right now. It’s sort of Hostel meets Fight Club meets Gladiator , but it’s all women. That may be the best description of any film, ever. Oh, yeah. Check it out online ! Alex Cross is in theaters now. Read more here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
As a tough Detroit cop in Rob Cohen’s Alex Cross Rachel Nichols ( G.I. Joe , Conan ) hunts a maniacal serial killer ( Matthew Fox ) alongside Tyler Perry , who attempts to crossover from his niche following to the mainstream with the James Patterson crime thriller. But it’s not the first time the co-stars shared a scene, as Nichols recalled with a laugh: “It took me four days to say, ‘You know what’s really funny? We were in Star Trek together!'” Nichols, down to earth and vivacious in person, has built a career of primarily dramatic roles in film and television since making her feature debut in the comedy prequel Dumb and Dumberer: When Harry Met Lloyd . Proving herself both game and capable for an array of physical demands has invited an action heroine streak to sneak into her filmography; between the survival horror P2 , 2009’s G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra , and last year’s sword-and-sandals adventure Conan (not to mention a guest turn on Criminal Minds and her ongoing lead role as a cop from the future in the 12 Monkeys -esque Continuum ), Nichols is a short list of Hollywood actresses with believable action chops. (As if that wasn’t awesome enough: Nichols also stars in and executive produces the upcoming Raze , an indie film also starring Zoe Bell that she describes as ” Hostel meets Fight Club meets Gladiator ,” with women.) Read on for Nichols’ chat with Movieline about her work in Alex Cross , her Tyler Perry- Star Trek connection, and nerding out over the role that kick-started her action career: J.J. Abrams ‘ Alias . Tyler Perry is the big draw and fascination in this film, stepping out of his comfort zone, but how familiar were you with him and his work before working on this movie? I had seen a bunch of the Madea movies and I’ve always contended that anybody that can do comedy, and can do comedy well, can do anything in the entertainment realm. I think comedy is the most demanding and difficult and the most harshly criticized, and Tyler has this presence about him; as soon as I shook his hand the first day on set I knew he could do this. No problem. He’s got this presence, and he’s very approachable, and he’s very kind — he’s got these really expressive eyes, and then we were doing the tactical training and spitballing and laughing and I thought to myself, he could really do this. And I thought it was a really interesting choice, because I do like it when people step out of their comfort zone. And I’m sure that for years people have been saying, “Tyler, do this — or Tyler, do that project,” and I thought it was really cool that he chose this one. The movie opens in the middle of an action sequence, with you, Tyler, and Ed Burns chasing down a perp. Tyler eventually catches him first, but I’ve seen you in enough action roles to second guess that outcome. In real life who would win in a foot race? Hmm. I’ve never been particularly fast. I don’t know! I’ve never seen the man run. That’s a really good question. He got in great shape for the movie. But I bet Matthew [Fox] would beat all of us. His physical transformation was astounding. I know! What he created and what he did… when I saw him on set I didn’t work with him, but I saw him at dinners and out and when I saw the film and really watched what he did, I was blown away. I’ve known Matthew – we have the same manager, I’ve met him a bunch of times, I loved Party of Five like every other woman in America, I loved LOST — and when I saw him in this, I found him incredibly scary, which is a testament to the job that he did because he’s not incredibly scary. Was it scary to see him around on set, living in the skin of Picasso? I saw him around and he seemed very much into it but it wasn’t like he was Method all the time, that guy the entire time day in and day out. But obviously the diet and the fighting and the training, he was so dedicated. It was interesting to watch knowing what he had put into it. I find it interesting that you and Tyler share a Star Trek connection. I know! It’s really funny. I had never met Tyler before, and when I met him, immediately he was so disarming and so easy to be around that it took me four days to say, “You know what’s really funny? We were in Star Trek together!” It was this one big scene where they’re at the hearing for the Kobayashi Maru test and I’m the one green girl in this sea of cadets and he’s this high commander. It was really funny — I briefly met him then, I think I shook his hand – and it seems like a lifetime ago. But yeah, Tyler Perry and I share our Star Trek connection. You’ve had a history of unlucky characters who don’t quite make it very far, so to speak, but you’ve also done a number of really big projects. What’s your perspective on how your career’s shaken out so far? [Laughs] I’m lucky [knocks on wood] — I’ve been able to do some really fun things, whether it’s G.I. Joe or Conan , huge movies… And Alias ! Alias ! Alias was awesome. I do a show now called Continuum which is going to come to the States, fingers crossed. It just premiered in the U.K. and it was a big hit in Canada, now we’re going to do season two so that’s super awesome. But Alias was my first taste — I watched Jen [Garner] , pregnant at the time, do this lead role on this show and I just thought, gosh, this job is insane! And now I’m clearly not pregnant but doing the lead on this show, and I love it. I want to try to do anything, though you’ll never see me sing in a movie. I warn people that I’m tone deaf, so that’ll never happen. But I don’t mind when I make an interesting exit from a film, that’s totally fine. [Laughs] My parents would prefer not, but this was such a fun role and I love the twist. I love how this thing that we’re talking about but we’re not talking about right now, it’s such a surprise. You mentioned that your parents would like to see you in a rom-com or something like that, but things don’t quite work out that way. I would love to see myself in a rom-com! I did an edgy little one a couple of years ago called A Bird Of the Air with Jackson Hurst and we had the best time. It was really fun, and it was emotional and it had its sad moments, but it would be great to have a co-star like Jackson who you get along with, which makes it so easy to have fun. How did you find yourself falling into so many action roles? I love the action stuff, and it started with Alias . Alias is the first time I ever had to do a fight scene. Had you trained in that world before? No! It was all very new to me, and I was obsessed with the show. When they hired me I didn’t tell them I was a crazed fan because I thought they might decide not to hire me. I had seen every freaking episode. I lied and said, “Oh, I’ve seen a few — it’s a really good show.” But I was obsessed! You were like, Rambaldi, what? I was like, “Oh my god, is that an artifact? Can I touch it? Can I put it in my purse?” [Laughs] I was madly in love with the show so that’s where it started. Then, you know, I think it’s really cool because Jen Garner has always known she could do action. She could pick up a sword and go do a big action movie and people will say she’s totally believable as a woman and a fighter. When you get to the point where you’re established enough that people link you with something, especially being an action hero babe, it’s awesome. Because then you can fight the battles and have the crossbows and wrestle with swords and ride the horses because you’re already believable, people see you in that genre. Then it’s even more fun to kick ass. There’s also the strong female character aspect that I like about it. And it also keeps me in good shape; if I’m doing an action movie, I’m staying in good shape. Action heroines remind me of that Ginger Rogers/Fred Astaire line; she could do everything he could do, only backwards and in high heels. And so often in action roles actresses are also required to be glammed up while kicking ass. It’s one of those things, and learning a fight is like learning a dance. You have the training, you know the moves, and you put it all together. Sienna Miller and I had an epic fight scene in G.I. Joe , and that stuff’s just fun to do. Then when you see it on the screen and you look like such a bad ass you think, “Alright, I’m just going to sit back and rest on my laurels and look awesome!” What else is on the horizon for you beyond returning to Continuum ? I’m going to go back and do Continuum and I did this movie called Mechanic in Philly that a friend of mine directed, with David Morse and Mike Vogel. And I also executive produced and am also acting in this film called Raze , which we’re editing right now. It’s sort of Hostel meets Fight Club meets Gladiator , but it’s all women. That may be the best description of any film, ever. Oh, yeah. Check it out online ! Alex Cross is in theaters now. Read more here . Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
We’ll give the man credit for trying to break out into a different role, but Tyler’s performance proved to be a disappointment. According to The Hollywood Reporter : You almost feel sorry for Tyler Perry, stepping out of his own universe for the first time to try to expand his range and finding himself in something as thoroughly dismal as Alex Cross. An unpleasant film from the sadistic behavior of its loathsome villain to the grubbiness of its visual palette, this stands as a substandard attempt to bring novelist James Patterson’s intuitive cop back to the big screen. All the same, it will be interesting to observe if much of Perry’s generally loyal audience turns out to see him in a major change of pace, as well as if nonfans are curious to check him as a potential action hero. Whatever the opening is, legs are doubtful. Among other things, Alex Cross features a mano-a-mano climax that is a strong contender for the title of worst major fight scene ever to grace a major motion picture. The lighting is dark, it’s framed so tightly you can’t tell who’s hitting whom or what’s going on, and the camera’s intense jitters make it a virtual parody of filmmakers trying to make something exciting by shaking the camera. It’s incredible one of the six producers didn’t notice this and demand a retake. Not directly based on any single one of Patterson’s novels about the brilliant investigator and forensic psychologist but credited nonetheless as an adaptation of Cross, the script by Mark Moss and Kerry Williamson takes the man back to his pre-Washington and FBI days, when he was a cop on the Detroit police force (though some might notice that, for financial reasons, the film was shot largely in Cleveland). This repositioning suits the fact that Perry is about 20 years younger than Morgan Freeman was when he played the role in Kiss the Girls in 1997 and Along Came a Spider four years later. Towering over the other actors (he’s 6-foot-5), Perry lumbers around with a degree of charisma but a lack of emotional range or variety in line delivery. Although watchable and certainly different from the usual run of leading men, he’s not really all that interesting in this character. Fox is plenty convincing as the cretin without the merest morsel of humanity, while the other actors just cash their paychecks, notably Jean Reno as a French industrialist with an unexplained penchant for turning the city of Detroit around. Have you seen ‘Alex Cross’ yet? Do you want to? Images via WENN/youtube
Donald Trump has put his pet birthing issue on hold at least for the moment, taking to Twitter calling those who opposed a golf course development he planned in Scotland as “morons” and chastising an award-winning filmmaker who spotlighted the scheme a “zero talent.” OK, go ahead and insert a “You’re fired” moment where appropriate… The Donald posted scathing tweets about Anthony Baxter whose doc You’ve Been Trumped follows the story of a group of Scottish homeowners who take on the reality star/real estate billionaire who tried to buy up a wilderness area near their homes to develop a golf course. Fellow filmmaker Bill Forsyth penned an article for The Guardian in which he likened Baxter’s doc about the real-life Trump with his fictional account of an American oil company that sends an American to Scotland to buy up a village where they want to build a refinery. Tit-for-tat followed with Trump spokesperson George Sorial telling the U.K.’s Daily Mail that Forsyth is “nothing more than a misinformed jackass looking for a few headlines on the back of the Trump name.” Forsythe said the doc is “a moving depiction of human survival and dignity amidst murky doings akin to seventies Romania.” You’ve Been Trumped follows residents next to the $1.2 billion development showing residents’ water and electricity being cut off and mounds of earth being piled up next to their homes. The project ran into logistical hurdles and Trump described the filmmakers, which won prizes on the festival circuit last year, as “morons.” “Your documentary has died many deaths. You have, in my opinion, zero talent,” said Trump. “[You] should really be ashamed about his massive box office disaster. Take a hint and get out of the film business, loser. People don’t like false stories.” He also tweeted that the documentary has helped him “promote & make Trump International Golf Links Scotland so successful you stupid fool!” – Ouch! You’ve Been Trumped will be broadcasted in the U.K. on BBC2 this weekend, which clearly brought on the flare-up in the British press. [ Sources: The Daily Mail , The Guardian , Photo by Murdo MacLeod ]
Those out there who might dismiss the final Twilight pic Breaking Dawn Part 2 as just another vampire movie sequel heavy on Bella Swan’s moony-eyed sighs and Edward Cullen’s sparkly undead chest, consider: This new behind-the-scenes featurette peels back the curtain to reveal the massive sets, wire work, and action set pieces Bill Condon wrangled for the highly anticipated franchise-ender — starting with Kristen Stewart going Over The Top with a little arm-wrestling action! I wish the Twilight Saga took Bella on an arm-wrestling tour of bars and truck stops with her newfound vampire strength, but alas. Stewart does, however, get to leap over giant chasms (okay, that’s probably her stunt double but still ) and do a bit of tandem vampire-fu with Robert Pattinson . The clip also features cast mates explaining further for the uninitiated the idea of half-vamp baby Renesmee and why Michael Sheen and his Italo-vampires want her dead. And did I mention the sprawling new cast of international bloodsuckers? Lee Pace , people! Between Breaking Dawn and Lincoln (both out November 16) you’ve got two chances to see the underrated Pace grace the big screen. Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
It’s a curious truth about Tyler Perry that, when not in drag and playing the outsized role of Madea , he’s a recessive screen presence, appearing a little uncomfortable in his own body, awkward and not particularly emotive. When he gives himself a role like the one in Good Deeds, it fits as part of the character, but anchoring a potential action franchise like Alex Cross , he looks like he’d rather be somewhere else. As the title homicide detective, the protagonist of a series of books by James Patterson and one who’s been played in earlier screen incarnations by Morgan Freeman (in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider ), Perry can’t summon the charisma necessary to make a role that’s essentially a melange of police and criminal profiling clichés into something that works either in a serious or schlocky mode. His ungainliness in the action sequences even provoked the odd unintentional laugh at the screening I attended, though he’s hardly the only one involved in this film who’s on the hook for that. Alex Cross is filled with accidental comedy, and while it’s a mess in any traditional movie sense, it’s has its moments of preposterous fun that come in the form of a nonsensical plot and a fabulously competent, scenery-gnawing villain. That villain, who earns the nickname “Picasso” for his habit of leaving charcoal sketches at the scenes of the murders he’s committed, is played by Matthew Fox with a near-Tourette’s style twitchiness. The guy’s a hired gun, we know from the outset, but he’s also completely cray-cray, which Fox indicates by keeping his eyes open wide enough for us to always be able to see the full circle of his sclera. With an array of tattoos and seemingly no body fat, Picasso looks to be somewhere between a meth addict and a Marine. Whatever his background, he’s not getting paid enough for the convoluted acrobatics he goes through to take down his targets. Buying his way into underground fight rings, scuba-diving through pipes, train takeovers — the dude is not one to just run up to someone on the street and shoot them in the head. In addition to his art fetish, he also has a thing for torturing people and compulsively doing pull-ups. He is, in other words, hilarious, and Fox’s over-the-top portrayal provides a curiously fitting counterbalance to Perry’s underplaying, as the two engage in a cat-and-mouse pursuit through Detroit. Picasso is targeting members of an international corporation led by Leon Mercier (Jean Reno) that plans to revitalize the city by making it a center of nanotechnology. The only detail that’s important there is that the high-ranking members of the company are all different varieties of asshole foreigners, from the slinky sadist Fan Yau (Stephanie Jacobsen) to germaphobe German Erich Nunemacher (Werner Daehn) to the smug Frenchman Mercier, with his fancy cognac and dismissive attitude. Keep your hands off our troubled city, damn international investors! Cross lives with his wife, Maria ( Carmen Ejogo , who stole Sparkle away from Jordin Sparks but is in a thankless part here), two kids and sassy mother (Cicely Tyson), and works with his best friend since childhood Tommy (Edward Burns, in a role probably described in its entirety as “Irish-American cop”). His only distinguishing characteristic is his Sherlock Holmes-worthy psychological profiling abilities, which he shows off by listing every detail of his wife’s day based on her appearance. He doesn’t put these skills to impressive use on the case, however, misreading Picasso as someone who’d be uninterested in chasing down the cops pursuing him — a judgment call that causes him a world of grief. Alex Cross was directed by Fast and the Furious and Stealth director Rob Cohen, who approaches the film with a bewildering haphazardness. Whenever Fox’s character gets angry, the picture splinters like he’s the can’t-look-directly-at-him baddie from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. A climactic fight scene gets so chopped up that it’s impossible to place the characters participating in it, while seemingly mundane sequences of a character researching something on a computer are livened up by the camera being shaken as if we’d get bored if something weren’t moving. And boring is something that Alex Cross , for all of its problems, is not. Despite the rebuilding-of-Detroit angle, there’s little specific to the city depicted in Cross and his team’s investigation. And there’s certainly no attempt to tie in how sorely understaffed the actual Detroit Police Department is. The film does finds a few spectacular repurposed locations that it puts to good use — a church-turned-MMA-ring and an old theater that’s been converted into a parking lot both serve as striking backdrops for mostly silly combat sequences. Alex Cross is a misfire, but it’s sometimes an entertaining one — enough to make you curious about who else Perry could go up against in another installment, and just how much overacting would take place. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
It’s a curious truth about Tyler Perry that, when not in drag and playing the outsized role of Madea , he’s a recessive screen presence, appearing a little uncomfortable in his own body, awkward and not particularly emotive. When he gives himself a role like the one in Good Deeds, it fits as part of the character, but anchoring a potential action franchise like Alex Cross , he looks like he’d rather be somewhere else. As the title homicide detective, the protagonist of a series of books by James Patterson and one who’s been played in earlier screen incarnations by Morgan Freeman (in Kiss the Girls and Along Came a Spider ), Perry can’t summon the charisma necessary to make a role that’s essentially a melange of police and criminal profiling clichés into something that works either in a serious or schlocky mode. His ungainliness in the action sequences even provoked the odd unintentional laugh at the screening I attended, though he’s hardly the only one involved in this film who’s on the hook for that. Alex Cross is filled with accidental comedy, and while it’s a mess in any traditional movie sense, it’s has its moments of preposterous fun that come in the form of a nonsensical plot and a fabulously competent, scenery-gnawing villain. That villain, who earns the nickname “Picasso” for his habit of leaving charcoal sketches at the scenes of the murders he’s committed, is played by Matthew Fox with a near-Tourette’s style twitchiness. The guy’s a hired gun, we know from the outset, but he’s also completely cray-cray, which Fox indicates by keeping his eyes open wide enough for us to always be able to see the full circle of his sclera. With an array of tattoos and seemingly no body fat, Picasso looks to be somewhere between a meth addict and a Marine. Whatever his background, he’s not getting paid enough for the convoluted acrobatics he goes through to take down his targets. Buying his way into underground fight rings, scuba-diving through pipes, train takeovers — the dude is not one to just run up to someone on the street and shoot them in the head. In addition to his art fetish, he also has a thing for torturing people and compulsively doing pull-ups. He is, in other words, hilarious, and Fox’s over-the-top portrayal provides a curiously fitting counterbalance to Perry’s underplaying, as the two engage in a cat-and-mouse pursuit through Detroit. Picasso is targeting members of an international corporation led by Leon Mercier (Jean Reno) that plans to revitalize the city by making it a center of nanotechnology. The only detail that’s important there is that the high-ranking members of the company are all different varieties of asshole foreigners, from the slinky sadist Fan Yau (Stephanie Jacobsen) to germaphobe German Erich Nunemacher (Werner Daehn) to the smug Frenchman Mercier, with his fancy cognac and dismissive attitude. Keep your hands off our troubled city, damn international investors! Cross lives with his wife, Maria ( Carmen Ejogo , who stole Sparkle away from Jordin Sparks but is in a thankless part here), two kids and sassy mother (Cicely Tyson), and works with his best friend since childhood Tommy (Edward Burns, in a role probably described in its entirety as “Irish-American cop”). His only distinguishing characteristic is his Sherlock Holmes-worthy psychological profiling abilities, which he shows off by listing every detail of his wife’s day based on her appearance. He doesn’t put these skills to impressive use on the case, however, misreading Picasso as someone who’d be uninterested in chasing down the cops pursuing him — a judgment call that causes him a world of grief. Alex Cross was directed by Fast and the Furious and Stealth director Rob Cohen, who approaches the film with a bewildering haphazardness. Whenever Fox’s character gets angry, the picture splinters like he’s the can’t-look-directly-at-him baddie from Danny Boyle’s Sunshine. A climactic fight scene gets so chopped up that it’s impossible to place the characters participating in it, while seemingly mundane sequences of a character researching something on a computer are livened up by the camera being shaken as if we’d get bored if something weren’t moving. And boring is something that Alex Cross , for all of its problems, is not. Despite the rebuilding-of-Detroit angle, there’s little specific to the city depicted in Cross and his team’s investigation. And there’s certainly no attempt to tie in how sorely understaffed the actual Detroit Police Department is. The film does finds a few spectacular repurposed locations that it puts to good use — a church-turned-MMA-ring and an old theater that’s been converted into a parking lot both serve as striking backdrops for mostly silly combat sequences. Alex Cross is a misfire, but it’s sometimes an entertaining one — enough to make you curious about who else Perry could go up against in another installment, and just how much overacting would take place. Follow Alison Willmore on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
With Deadline reporting that Ivan Reitman is expected to begin filming a Ghostbusters reboot next summer, sans Bill Murray , and Dan Aykroyd saying that he and Harold Ramis will hand over the original crew’s Proton Packs to a new generation, it’s time to start dreamcasting a new team of spectre battlers. Famous Monsters of Filmland , cites an August appearance by Aykroyd on comedian Dennis Miller’s radio show in which the O.G. (Original Ghostbuster) explains that Tropic Thunder screenwriter Etan Cohen has written a great script from a story by The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky in which a blind-in-one-eye Dr. Ray Stantz (Aykroyd) and a rather portly Dr. Egon Spengler — “who’s too large to get into the harness” — decide to recruit a new team of Ghostbusters. According to the site, Aykroyd is looking for “three guys and one young woman” to pick up the mantle, which is sure to have a lot of agents working the phones for their actor clients. In 2009, I interviewed Ramis for a Vanity Fair.com piece I did on the Ghostbusters video game and he told me a similar story. He and Aykroyd, who wrote the first two Ghostbusters scripts, were consulting with Eisenberg and Stupnitsky on the third, and he told me that the idea was that the original slime-fighting crew were going to be ‘the mentors, the emeritus Ghostbusters” and pass the torch to “a new set of actors that can actually carry the franchise forward without wearing girdles and fake hair.” At the time, Ramis told me that his Year One, co-star Michael Cera was a “huge fan” of Murray’s Venkman character and that he’d learned from a third party that Cera carried “a Ghostbusters wallet.” All these years, I still like the idea of Cera joining a new Ghostbusters crew that would also include Seth Rogen, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jay Pharoah from Saturday Night Live and Madeleine Martin from Californication . Now tell me which actors you’d like to see christened the new Ghostbusters. Pick four actors you’d like to see cast in the reboot. You don’t have to follow Aykroyd’s “three guys and one woman” comment as a guideline, but it would be nice. If you don’t see your choices in the poll below, leave it in the comments section, and if I think they’re plausible, I’ll add them to the list of potential candidates. Take Our Poll Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
With Deadline reporting that Ivan Reitman is expected to begin filming a Ghostbusters reboot next summer, sans Bill Murray , and Dan Aykroyd saying that he and Harold Ramis will hand over the original crew’s Proton Packs to a new generation, it’s time to start dreamcasting a new team of spectre battlers. Famous Monsters of Filmland , cites an August appearance by Aykroyd on comedian Dennis Miller’s radio show in which the O.G. (Original Ghostbuster) explains that Tropic Thunder screenwriter Etan Cohen has written a great script from a story by The Office writers Lee Eisenberg and Gene Stupnitsky in which a blind-in-one-eye Dr. Ray Stantz (Aykroyd) and a rather portly Dr. Egon Spengler — “who’s too large to get into the harness” — decide to recruit a new team of Ghostbusters. According to the site, Aykroyd is looking for “three guys and one young woman” to pick up the mantle, which is sure to have a lot of agents working the phones for their actor clients. In 2009, I interviewed Ramis for a Vanity Fair.com piece I did on the Ghostbusters video game and he told me a similar story. He and Aykroyd, who wrote the first two Ghostbusters scripts, were consulting with Eisenberg and Stupnitsky on the third, and he told me that the idea was that the original slime-fighting crew were going to be ‘the mentors, the emeritus Ghostbusters” and pass the torch to “a new set of actors that can actually carry the franchise forward without wearing girdles and fake hair.” At the time, Ramis told me that his Year One, co-star Michael Cera was a “huge fan” of Murray’s Venkman character and that he’d learned from a third party that Cera carried “a Ghostbusters wallet.” All these years, I still like the idea of Cera joining a new Ghostbusters crew that would also include Seth Rogen, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Jay Pharoah from Saturday Night Live and Madeleine Martin from Californication . Now tell me which actors you’d like to see christened the new Ghostbusters. Pick four actors you’d like to see cast in the reboot. You don’t have to follow Aykroyd’s “three guys and one woman” comment as a guideline, but it would be nice. If you don’t see your choices in the poll below, leave it in the comments section, and if I think they’re plausible, I’ll add them to the list of potential candidates. Take Our Poll Follow Frank DiGiacomo on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
