The Hunger Games: Catching Fire , The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Iron Man 3 are among the most anticipated blockbusters of 2013. That is the result of survey of over 2,000 film fans by online movie ticketing site Fandango, which asked users their picks for the new year. The survey also ventures into who potential audiences are eyeing as potential breakouts over the year. Leading the pack among Best Male Breakout Movie Star is Henry Cavill , the Immortals star who will play Clark Kent/Superman in the upcoming Zack Snyder pic Man of Steel . Men in Black 3 actress Alice Eve tops the ‘Biggest Female Breakout Movie Star.’ The Men in Black 3 actress will play Dr. Carol Marcus in the upcoming Star Trek Into Darkness , which is also one of the most anticipated blockbusters of the new year. Sir Ben Kingsley tops the “Most Anticipated Villain” category for Iron Man 3 (also an anticipated blockbuster), while World War Z tops out “Most Anticipated Apocalyptic Movie.” The action-drama stars Brad Pitt, Mireille Enos and David Morse follows a U.N. employee who travels around the world in a race against time to stop the outbreak of a deadly Zombie pandemic. After being Sexiest Man Alive in 2012, Channing Tatum is apparently maintaining momentum into 2013, coming in as the top “Sexiest Man in the Movies” for his roles in G.I. Joe: Retaliation and White House Down . Mila Kunis leads the pack in the female category for Oz: The Great and Powerful . Two-thousand fans were polled by Fandango last week. And what are your Most Anticipated Films and Actors of 2013? Fan picks via Fandango for 2013 : Most Anticipated Blockbuster 1. The Hunger Games: Catching Fire 2. The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug 3. Iron Man 3 4. Star Trek Into Darkness 5. The Great Gatsby Biggest Male Breakout Moviestar 1. Henry Cavill ( Man of Steel ) 2. Sam Claflin ( The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ) 3. Armie Hammer ( The Lone Ranger ) 4. Jai Courtney ( A Good Day to Die Hard ) 5. Nicholas Hoult ( Jack the Giant Slayer ; Warm Bodies ) Biggest Female Breakout Moviestar 1. Alice Eve ( Star Trek Into Darkness ) 2. Chloë Grace Moretz ( Carrie ) 3. Alice Englert ( Beautiful Creatures ) 4. Jurnee Smollett-Bell ( Tyler Perry’s Temptation: Confessions of a Marriage Counselor ) 5. Gabriella Wilde ( Carrie ) Sexiest Woman In The Movies 1. Mila Kunis ( Oz: The Great and Powerful ) 2. Jessica Alba ( Sin City: A Dame to Kill For ) 3. Halle Berry ( Movie 43 ) 4. Zoe Saldana ( Star Trek Into Darkness ) 5. Jennifer Lawrence ( The Hunger Games: Catching Fire ) Sexiest Man In The Movies 1. Channing Tatum ( G.I. Joe: Retaliation ; White House Down ) 2. Hugh Jackman ( The Wolverine ) 3. Ryan Gosling ( Gangster Squad ) 4. Johnny Depp ( The Lone Ranger ) 5. Robert Downey, Jr. ( Iron Man 3 ) Most Anticipated Villain 1. Ben Kingsley ( Iron Man 3 ) 2. Benedict Cumberbatch ( Star Trek Into Darkness ) 3. Michael Shannon ( Man of Steel ) 4. Will Yun Lee ( The Wolverine ) 5. Christopher Eccleston ( Thor: The Dark World ) Most Anticipated Apocalyptic Movie 1. World War Z 2. After Earth 3. Pacific Rim 4. This Is the End 5. Oblivion
This week in SKINstant gratification, Will Ferrell ’s Spanish-language spoof Casa de mi Padre (2012) gives up brief but(t) glorious body-double buns for Genesis Rodriguez . Muchas Graci-ass! Chelsea Fitzpatrick shows off her overhead compartments in the flight terror Airborne (2012), and legendary full-frontal flesh from Barbara Crampton as she’s terrorized by a decapitated head in Re-Animator (1985). Finally, Brazilian boobs and bush abound in Rio Sex Comedy (2010), and a couple of stiff ones from Marissa Merrill in the zombie flick Dead Season (2012). See pics after the jump!
Well, maybe Brad Pitt won’t save all of us. As you can see in the first full trailer for Marc Forster’s big-budget action pic World War Z (via Apple), a few billion Earthlings will kick the bucket (but will probably reanimate, so there’s that) when the undead rise against us. Watch the trailer to get a look at Pitt’s shaggy-maned family man hero, who must to leave his wife (Mireille Enos) and their kids to go fight the zombie apocalypse for the sake of humanity in next summer’s World War Z . Head to Apple for the trailer debut. The full trailer has me breathing a sigh of relief after this week’s rather underwhelming trailer tease ; I can get used to World War Z ‘s superfast undead swarms, pouring through streets and leaping like lemmings off of buildings chasing desperately after Pitt’s delicious, delicious body. I mean brain. Or whatever these zombies eat. It must be high in protein to keep this kind of zombie metabolism going. Despite the departures from the book that will have lit fans up in arms, and the vaguely I Am Legend / War of the Worlds vibe this gives off, World War Z has me excited to see Pitt as an action hero. And how great is it that he’s doing a rare action turn while looking like a long-haired crunchy hippie dad? World War Z hits theaters June 21, 2013. How’s it look to you, Movieliners? Follow Jen Yamato on Twitter . Follow Movieline on Twitter .
Pop star’s latest addition marks his eighth tattoo, and his sixth of 2012. By Christina Garibaldi Justin Bieber’s new arm tattoo Photo: Justin Bieber/Instagram
Joss Whedon ‘endorses’ the governor in a new video, saying he will ‘put this country back on the path to the zombie apocalypse.’ By Kevin P. Sullivan Mitt Romney Photo: Getty Images
In 1992 Jean-Claude Van Damme was sitting in a splits kick astride the world. The former body building champion and genuine full-contact karate knockout artist (19-1, with 18 KO’s) was riding a string of high-kicking lo-fi gems to his first big-budget affair: the unexpected Roland Emmerich sci-fi hit, Universal Soldier . The film’s $102-million worldwide haul caught the attention of major studios, and faster than a jumping wheel kick, a three-picture deal worth a reported $36 million was steadied in front of the Belgium-born ballerino like a pre-cut breakboard. A shower of cheap pine splinters and expensive champagne should have followed for the action star who was in command of more fighting ability than all of the muscled lunks lumbering through 90’s shoot-em-ups combined. But Van Damme turned out to be his own worst enemy. In an admitted haze of drugs, alcohol and manic self-regard, the ‘muscles from Brussels’ turned his cocaine-tinged nose up at the best offer he would ever see, striking a precision death blow to his promising career instead. In 2004, on the UK TV show, Jean-Claude Van Damme: Behind Closed Doors , he recalled: “After the movie Timecop , I received a huge offer for a three-picture deal and it was $12 million per picture. That’s $36 million. I was wasted. I said, ‘I want 20 million like Jim Carrey’ and they hung up on me. I was not myself.” JCVD may never really have recovered from that error in judgment that cost him a long, lucrative career on the big screen, but there is some consolation. His first foray into major box office success, Universal Soldier, has become a venerable franchise (with and without him) anyway. The fourth Van Damme helmed installation of the zombie-commando series, Universal Soldier: Day of Reckoning, hits the Video on Demand market Thursday, with a small theatrical run set for November 30. In honor of this undead quadrilogy and its still-kicking lead, it’s high time to pay a little homage to four essential classics that set up Van Damme for a fall in the first place – and one newish film that will have you cursing the demons that stole from us more of the man’s best. 1. Kickboxer (1989): Half-baked JCVD fans who never really connected with the actor’s work on the emotional level it deserves will tell you that Bloodsport (1987) — the movie that unearthed the oiled majesty of Van Damme in the first place — is his greatest film, bar none. These people are heretics. Bloodsport is no doubt is a worthy martial arts tournament film, but its premise of fighting — possibly to the death — as sport, violates the warrior-code and undermines the righteous excitement of the inexorable flashback training montage where a punch drunk hero dream-trips his way to a final showdown comeback. Kickboxer has been dismissed as The Karate Kid in Thailand, and maybe it is, but like Daniel-son and Miyagi, there’s a worthy mentor-pupil relationship at heart of this irony-free, persistently charming cheese fest. It’s the kind of low-budget movie-making that doesn’t exist anymore, complete with an original synthy score. The track that plays over the opening credits, “Streets of Siam,” is a genuine jam and accompanies one of the most memorably tone-deaf on-screen jock performances of all time from real-life kickboxing superstar, Dennis “The Terminator” Alexio. Oh, and Van Damme drunkenly disco dances his way into a gratuitous barroom brawl. It’s B-movie perfection.
Can Rick and Lori’s marriage survive the zombie apocalypse? Robert Kirkman weighs in on the strained couple’s future. By Josh Wigler “The Walking Dead” Photo: AMC
As thoughts turn to autumn and the coming of winter, this week’s new DVD releases range from a highbrow Norwegian film about a man considering his own mortality to a guilty-pleasure sequel about sexy American teens eluding a masked madman. Yes, it’s that kind of week. HIGH: Oslo August 31 st (Strand Releasing; $27.99 DVD) Who’s Responsible: Directed by Joachim Trier, who co-wrote the script with Eskil Vogt (“freely” based upon Pierre Drieu La Rochelle’s novel Le feu follet ); starring Anders Danielsen Lie, Hans Olav Brenner. What It’s All About: Former party animal Anders (Danielsen Lie) is now 34, two weeks away from finishing rehab for drug and alcohol addiction, and at an utter loss in trying to figure out what to do with the rest of his life. Following a failed suicide attempt, he gets a day pass to travel to Oslo for a job interview, but things don’t go well. His family won’t see him, his ex won’t return his calls, the job interview goes south when Anders says that “drug dealer” is what’s missing from his résumé, and his old friends have grown up without him. (They now seem miserable because they have children, or miserable because they don’t.) Why It’s Schmancy: Trier (director of the international hit Reprise , which also starred Andersen Lie) begins the film with contemporary and vintage footage of the Norwegian capital, as a various voices narrate their memories of growing up and living there. One of these unidentified inhabitants remembers a friend who “thought ‘melancholy’ was cooler than ‘nostalgia’” and that’s almost a shorthand of the heartbreaking storytelling that Trier gives us. He’s aided greatly by a powerful performance by Danielsen Lie (in real life, he’s a doctor who occasionally acts in his friend’s films), who never wallows in self-pity. Most American movies about drugs end with rehab as the great panacea, but here’s a story about someone who’s been through therapy and still sees nothing waiting for him on the other side. (Fun fact: The novel on which Oslo August 31 st is loosely based was also adapted by Louis Malle in 1963’s The Fire Within .) Why You Should Buy It: This DVD release is admittedly light on extras — just a trailer, in fact — but given that this Cannes Film Festival official selection got a mere fraction of Reprise ’s U.S. release, it’s quite likely that fans of up-and-coming director Trier don’t even know that this movie exists. LOW: Halloween II (Shout Factory; $24.97 DVD/$29.93 Blu-Ray) Who’s Responsible: Written by John Carpenter and Debra Hill, directed by Rick Rosenthal; starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasance, Lance Guest, Leo Rossi What It’s All About: Picking up right where the classic Halloween (1978) left off, a traumatized Laurie (Curtis) is taken to Haddonfield Memorial Hospital to recover from the horrifying events of October 31. But Michael Myers isn’t done with her yet. Impassive mask in place, he skulks his way through the shocking dark and empty corridors of the place — and this is pre-Obamacare! — until he can find his prey. Will Dr. Loomis (Pleasance) arrive in time? And what shocking secrets of Michael’s past will be uncovered in this sequel? Why It’s Fun: Is Halloween II the game-changing slasher epic that the John Carpenter original is? Of course not. Does it still deliver some scary fun while staying true to the franchise? Absolutely. Horror fans are justifiably leery of sequels, particularly those not directed by the original filmmaker, but Halloween II keeps the jolts coming and allows the tireless Curtis one more opportunity to scream for her life. (The film marks the end of her career’s first chapter. Curtis’ acclaimed turns in Love Letters and Trading Places two years later allowed her to expand her repertoire beyond young-ladies-in-danger.) If nothing else, this one’s a damn sight better than the wretched Rob Zombie movie of the same title from a few years ago. Why You Should Buy It (Again): This Collector’s Edition from Shout Factory’s new Scream Factory label is a full bag of candy with two commentary tracks, the TV cut with additional footage, interviews, a doc about the movie’s screening locations, deleted scenes, an alternate ending, and lots more. (Both the DVD and the Blu-Ray come fully loaded.) And hey, if you’re one of the first 500 or so people to order from ShoutFactory.com, they’ll throw in a limited-edition Haddonfield Memorial nurse’s cap. Previously: Arthouse Freak-Out Beyond The Black Rainbow + Comedy Classic Airplane! Hit Home Video Follow Alonso Duralde on Twitter. Follow Movieline on Twitter.
This week sees the release of Resident Evil: Retribution , the next installment in what has been dubbed the “most successful” of video game movie series, a shallow victory indeed. Considering that contemporary video games have become cinematic, employing many proven Hollywood techniques in their platforms, it means that once those properties are adapted for the screen you could end up with the proverbial serpent eating its own tail. In the case of Doom however you end up with something else; much like a document that has been photocopied from a fax of a forgery taken from a carbon-copy, what you end up with is an indecipherable mess. But first, let’s take a look at the original Resident Evil , itself an exercise in impotent storytelling. How about this for a synopsis: In Raccoon City a company known as The Umbrella Corporation owns a laboratory called The Hive, where a T-virus has been released and The Red Queen computer seals the building and kills the occupants to stop an outbreak. Uh-huh. Guess I won’t look for the words, “Adapted from the novel by Noel Coward.” The gist of that 2002 film was zombies vs. mercenaries, including Milla Jovovich, who wages battle while wearing a red cocktail dress, of course; this cheesecloth-thin plotline has somehow been stretched into a 5-picture movie arc. Just three years later came the far more shallow bout of movie making that is Doom — basically the same movie, only with Jovovich’s sexy freedom fighter replaced by the buff chunk-muscle Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson. Doom comes the closest to replicating the gaming experience on film. Literally little more than a chase-and-shoot action pic, you can guess exactly how this script was constructed. Imagine for a moment you are building your dream home and want to make sure to include all the elements you deem important. You begin by telling a contractor you want him to construct a fireplace. Upstairs you instruct him to install a Roman bath tub and a closet big enough to park a mini-Cooper, and then you suggest he add a walk-in humidor in the basement. You inspect the plans, and once satisfied that everything looks perfect you then tell him, “I love it! Now you can begin construction on the house.” The same type of logic is going on here; clearly they included the important elements of the game and later decided it might be cool to also come up with a script. Then decisions were made based on money. The original video games featured demon entities which could be costly to replicate — so in the film they became mutated Martian explorers, mostly filmed in the dark. But wait, how will the soldiers end up on Mars, responding to this outbreak? Before you can utter “screenplay shorthand,” a portal is placed in the Nevada desert where the mercenaries can enter and arrive on Mars as quickly as they are needed. Voila ! Amazingly this is all goofier than it sounds, yet told with a straight face, telling us this is as it should be. We start with a hard-opening as scientists run down futuristic corridors, fleeing from something unseen. When they try to get through a closing hatch a female has her arm severed by the door. This is not mindless vivisection, mind you; later The Rock will use the severed limb to gain access via bio-verification locks! Subtle intro in place, roll credits. The year is 2046, and during the colonization of Mars there has been an experiment where a 24th chromosome has been developed which will grant humans incredible physical gifts and the ability to regenerate quickly from wounds — unless you happen to mutate into a hideous homicidal creature. (There are some glitches, understand.) The facility is sealed up and a few scientists remain, so a group of Marines are located for the mission. “The Rock” plays Sarge, and he guides a team of clichés named Reaper, Goat, Duke, The Kid, and others. Once there Reaper is reintroduced to his estranged scientist sister who works at the facility, which creates some sibling tension but is also convenient as she can guide the Marines around the joint. Director Andrezj Bartkowiak (his actual name — I did not nod off and type that with my forehead) uses his skills to hide the less-than-impressive appearance of the creatures. Even though this takes place almost entirely on the Fourth Planet you would never know it, because the whole time is spent in labs and the steam tunnels of the facility with zero exterior shots. It’s like watching someone’s vacation movies spent at a beach house and everything takes place in the basement. What we do see of the creatures is a biological illogicality, since the beings tower over the humans, rather immense in size. Their caloric and protein intake would have to be far greater than the limited food source a couple dozen scientists would provide. (Why not clear everyone out and let them cannibalize to extinction? Because that would leave us with a very short film experience.) It is far more entertaining to send anonymous soldiers to a grisly end while also vividly destroying some monstrous Martians in gory detail. During this melee Sarge eventually discovers a trademark weapon from the game, the B-F-G (Big F-ing Gun.) This weapon provides plenty of psychological material to analyze; many N.O.W. members opposed to the N.R.A. will tell you the B.F.G. is only a representation of the male organ. To be honest, those ladies have a valid argument — this gun shoots a plasma-like substance, meaning the ammunition is not actually fired as much as it is… ejaculated . You have to be very secure in your masculinity to wield this particular phallic weapon. As the Marines are systematically dispatched by the zombie goliaths we eventually get treated to the centerpiece scene of the movie where we watch all the action from the POV of star (and future Judge Dredd) Karl Urban, with his weapon in view of the camera just like in the game. It’s a decent representation filled with flashy camera tricks and computer wizardry, like seeing the game on screen with much better graphic simulators delivering the visuals. Ultimately there is a visceral feeling to Doom — you want to be in the action, and then you want to partake. With all the viscera flying on screen you’ll check your shoes for plasma, and then you’ll check eBay for older gaming systems that will allow you to play a vintage version of Doom . Why let The Rock have all the fun shooting his load?! Read more Bad Movies We Love. Brad Slager has written about movies and entertainment for Film Threat, Mediaite, and is a columnist at CHUD.com . His less insightful impressions on entertainment can be found on Twitter .
In Tuesday morning’s round up of news briefs, Nora Ephron planned her memorial, which took place Monday in New York. Also, the latest schedule is out with a packed schedule of Comic-Con events. An Agatha Christie adaptation will get U.S. distribution; and new castings for Sir Anthony Hopkins, Alicia Silverstone and Billy Burke. Social Network Team to Produce Fifty Shades of Grey The duo behind the Oscar-nominated The Social Network , Michael De Luca and Dana Brunetti, will collaborate to produce the racy nobel by E.L. James, which Universal and Focus picked up in a bidding war in March. The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy centers on a torrid love affair between a college student and a mysterious billionaire, THR reports . Nora Ephron’s Final Production Ephron, who died June 26th of complications from leukemia, ple-planned her memorial service, which took place Monday at Lincoln Center in Manhattan’s Upper West Side. Tributes came from Tom Hanks, Meryl Streep and Martin Short and the guest list included Sen. Al Franken, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, Martin Scorcese, Steve Kroft, Alan Alda, Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, Rob Reiner, Jon Hamm, Jennifer Westfeldt and frequent collaborator Scott Rudin, THR reports . The Latest Comic-Con Event/Party List Parties, cook outs, concerts, happy hours and a good number of curious events such as a Zombie Walk, Superhero Pub Crawl, Nerd HQ and more are charted and ready for all you fanboys and allies, The Tracking Board reports . Sony Label Takes Rights to Agatha Christie’s Crooked House Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions have picked up rights to director Neil LaBute’s adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic murder mystery novel for the U.S., Canada and select international territories. The script is by Downton Abbey writer Julian Fellows, Tim Rose Price and LaBute, Deadline reports . Sir Anthony Hopkins Boards Noah The actor will play Methusaleh in Darren Aronofsky’s film about the Biblical figure. Hopkins joins Russell Crowe, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Jennifer Connelly and Douglas Booth, Deadline reports . Alicia Silverstone and Billy Burke Don Boots Silverstone and Burke wil star opposite Amanda (A.J.) Michalka in the coming-of-age drama Jesus in Cowboy Boots . The film revolves around a small-town girl (Michalka) who struggles with her self-centered mother (Silverstone), but come to realize her worth through her imaginary cowboy friend (Burke), Variety reports .
