Posts Tagged ‘mark wahlberg’

Posted on April 21, 2009 - by Travis

Bale to Duke it Out with Wahlberg in ‘The Fighter’

David O. Russell is going Rocky on us, as he will be directing Relativity Media’s new movie ‘The Fighter’ to be distributed by Paramount, which is expected to begin shooting this July.

The movie tells the story of “Irish” Mickey Ward, a fighter from Boston who was helped by his half-brother Dicky Eklund to the world lightweight championship. Eklund (Bale) is remembered for his career prior to drugs and crime, when he went toe to toe with Sugar Ray Leonard, and then afterwards when he trained Ward (Wahlberg) Rocky-style.

I have to admit, I would have rather seen Arronofsky direct this, but due to the long-running issues with getting the project off the ground, Arronofsky backed out and moved on. However, that’s not to say Russell isn’t a capable director. The project has also gone through it’s share of actors, including Matt Damon and Brad Pitt, before steeling on what looks to be Bale and Wahlberg, although they are apparently still negotiating.

One thing’s for sure, filming in a boxing frame of mind, Wahlberg shouldn’t do anything to “piss” Bale off or they may find themselves in real-life fisticuffs as a result of Bale’s temper.

[source: Variety]

Posted on April 14, 2009 - by Travis

Wahlberg and Franco join ‘Date Night’

20th Century Fox’s newest comedy in the works is ‘Date Night’ which will star Steve Carrell and Tine Fey. Shawn Levy will direct the comedy written by Josh Klausner (Shrek the Third) about a married couple get into trouble after their routine date night goes horribly wrong.

After acquiring a top-shelf ensemble of actors for his sequel to ‘Night at the Museum’, Levy felt the drive to pursue a similar approach for ‘Date Night’. Already signed on to supporting roles are Leighton Meester (Gossip Girl), Common, Taraji P. Henson (Benjamin Button) and Kristen Wiig (SNL).

Now Mark Wahlberg and James Franco have also joined the supporting cast, making this an interesting mix of comedic and dramatic talent. Wahlberg will play a successful but ridiculously buff securities expert who is trying to score with Fey’s character. Franco will play a less-than-genius conman and criminal.

‘Date Night’ sounds like it will be funny, but once again I think a lot of it will be determined by the rating the movie shoots for. With this cast, I think it would be silly to shoot for PG-13 and restraining this cast in the process. The tone of the story reminds me a little bit of Scorsese’s ‘After Hours’ but is not likely to be nearly as dark.

[source: Variety]

Posted on April 6, 2009 - by Kirk

Bale Joins Wahlberg for ‘Prisoners’

It looks like Batman could be directed by the guy who last directed Superman, and the new film will co-star Max Payne.  What a crossover!  In fact, Christian Bale, according to insiders, has attached himself to star alongside Mark Wahlberg in ‘Prisoners.’  Though it isn’t official yet, Bryan Singer has expressed interested in stepping in as the film’s director.

The film is about a small-town carpenter whose daughter is kidnapped.  Believing the local police, including a brash, young detective in charge of the investigation, aren’t doing everything that must be done, the father kidnaps the man believed to be responsible and begins torturing him.

No word yet on which actor will be playing which part.  Bale seems more the small-town, bible-thumping, kidnapper-torturing father type while Wahlberg seems more suited to play the small-town detective with aspirations on the big city.

Source: Risky Biz Blog

Posted on February 25, 2009 - by Kirk

Wahlberg and Ferrell Are the ‘B Team’

‘B Team’, a new action comedy directed by Adam McKay and starring the dynamic duo of Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg is getting several bids from various studios according to Variety.

The screenplay, by Chris Henchy, would have the two actors pairing up as cops.  The films will be of the buddy cop variety.

No studio has officially signed on yet, but the film is expected sometime in 2010.

Source: Variety

Posted on October 19, 2008 - by Movie Geeks

Review: ‘Max Payne’

Jeremy:

‘Aliens’, ‘Predator’, ‘Die Hard’, ‘Die Hard 2′, ‘Point Break’, ‘Speed’, ‘Die Hard With a Vengeance’.  What do all of these films have in common?  They are all action films released by 20th Century Fox between the mid-80s and the mid-90s.

‘Daredevil’, ‘I, Robot’, ‘Alien Vs. Predator’, ‘Transporter 2′, ‘Live Free or Die Hard’, ‘Hitman’, ‘Babylon A.D.’.  What do all of these films have in common?  They are all action films released by 20th Century Fox in the past five years.

See a dropoff there somewhere?

The first set of films holds some classics.  Some of them are routinely in top ten lists of the best action films of all time.  Something else they all have in common.  They are all rated R.  All the films in the second set, save one, are rated PG-13, and ‘Hitman’, the lone R-rated film there, was still edited all to hell to cut back on the action.

Now, I know this is supposed to be a review of ‘Max Payne’ and not an editorial on the state of action films, but everything that is wrong with the films in that second set ‘Max Payne’ is guilty of, as well.  Yes, it, too, is a film released by 20th Century Fox.

Directed by John Moore, ‘Max Payne’ is a shining example of style over substance.  I don’t understand what is so difficult with transferring a storyline from a video game to a movie.  No one seems to know how to build a decent story out of a video game, and it shouldn’t be that difficult.  Storylines in games have become so complex in recent years that they shouldn’t have to be that much thought put into it.  Nonetheless, most movies based on video games seem to be missing something that makes them appealing.

What ‘Max Payne’ is clearly missing is a coherence that would have done wonders for the story.  We are thrown into the middle of the story from frame one.  There really isn’t much time to figure out who is who before we really have to start paying attention to what what is happening to them.  Apparently, the screenwriters were writing this for people who had already played the game.  And, at a brisk 100 minutes, we really don’t get much time to sit back and calculate what is going on at any given moment.  The few times it does slow down just proves all over again how incoherent and silly the storyline is.

The basic structure is that Payne, played by Mark Wahlberg, is trying to figure out who killed his wife and child.  There’s a cult involved, or it might be a Mafia family, but it’s never really explained.  There’s a pharmaceuticals corporation that had something to do with it, but that is just kind of thrown in halfway through.  There are winged demons flying around, or they may just be hallucinations.  Basically, the investigation is just getting Max Payne from location A to B to C so that he can get into high production shootouts.

That is where ‘Max Payne’ really shines.  John Moore, who previously directed ‘Behind Enemy Lines’ and ‘Flight of the Phoenix’, knows how to blow stuff up real good.  The video game had a John Woo-inspired feel to it, and that carries over here nicely.  Wahlberg jumps and shoots, shoots with two guns, pumps and shoots a shotgun in a matter of nanoseconds.  Basically all the really cool things Danny Butterman wanted to do in ‘Hot Fuzz’.

All this cool action is helped by the great visual style the film takes on.  It’s all just on the reality side of ‘Sin City’, and it works.  This is particularly well done in the scenes involving the winged demons.  They are obviously CG, but it’s not bad CG.  I would probably liken it to the effect in ‘Constantine’.  Not the best, but never so bad it’s distracting.

You would think the storyline would give Wahlberg something heavy to do.  On the contrary, he’s left to just brood through scene after scene.  It’s only the film’s final act that he really takes off.  I won’t give away what happens to Max in the storyline, but that element really triggers something in Wahlberg’s performance that makes it 10 times as good as it had been previously.

There is a lot of wasted opportunity in the cast.  Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges is pretty much wasted as an Internal Affairs investigator.  Mila Kunis is buried under about a ton of makeup and leather.  Beau Bridges is painting by numbers in a part that’s pretty much paint-by-numbers, itself.  Chris O’Donnell…let’s just say that guy’s stock has dropped about as fast as anything on the actual market.

When all is said and done, ‘Max Payne’ is not a bad film.  It delivers some really good action at a very high production level.  It is amazing to see that the film only cose $35 million.  This is as big and as stylish as anything that costs three times that amount.  Unfortunately the story doesn’t provide anything that will make it one to remember.  It is a shame that ‘Max Payne’ couldn’t deliver a story that would justify how good it looks.

[rating: 2.5/5]

Posted on August 29, 2008 - by Ram Man

‘Max Payne’ Full Length Trailer!

From Movieweb.com here is the full length trailer for Mark Wahlberg’s new film ‘Max Payne’. The film based on the popular video game is due to hit the big screen on October 17th! Check it out.

Posted on August 21, 2008 - by Michelle

‘Max Payne’ Int’l Posters

Mark Wahlberg and his shotguns… two tough posters from IMPawards. We’ll see if ‘Max Payne’ is just as tough come October 17th.

Posted on August 11, 2008 - by Scott

New ‘Max Payne’ picture …

Pretty badass new picture from ‘Max Payne’ featuring Mark Wahlberg and Mila Kunis.

For those of you that don’t know, this is a video game movie, and thankfully is not being helmed by Uwe Boll. I am not quite sure this one will be any better, but I have to assume that since it landed both Wahlberg and Kunis, it will be a little entertaining.

Posted on July 23, 2008 - by Charles

New ‘Max Payne’ Posters!

We got a hold of these while they were on display at Comic Con …

WICKED!

Posted on July 10, 2008 - by Scott

‘Max Payne’ teaser trailer hits …

The ‘Max Payne’ teaser has officially hit, and you can see it here:

Posted on June 23, 2008 - by Travis

In case you missed it … ‘I [Heart] Huckabees’

Dawn Campbell: “You can’t deal with my infinite nature, can you?”
Brad Stand: “That is so not true. Wait … what does that even mean?”

This is just a tasty little morsel of the philosophically quirky humor that’s so brilliantly written with great abundance into I [Heart] Huckabees. The film is written and directed by David O. Russell and is easily one of my all-time favorite comedies. A comedy that’s way beyond what is normally considered, well … normal. The film has an incredible ensemble cast, including Dustin Hoffman, Lily Tomlin, Jude Law, Mark Wahlberg, Naomi Watts, Jason Schwartzman and Isabelle Huppert.

(more…)

Posted on June 18, 2008 - by Scott

‘Max Payne’ … “Most complex character I’ve ever played”

Mark Wahlberg talked to MTV about the upcoming film adaptation of the hit game ‘Max Payne’.

“Two weeks out I was just dying,” Wahlberg said of his titular role in the upcoming video game adaptation “Max Payne.” “I wanted my life back.”

“I read the script and said either somebody got really creative or it’s actually more like a movie than most games,” Wahlberg enthused.

“Max Payne is not a one-trick pony. It’s probably one of the edgier roles I’ve played but also the most layered. Here’s a very happy guy who worked a dismal job, had a beautiful family. But the beauty in his life was taken away. He just goes on a rampage. It’s all driven by emotion.”

I don’t know about all that..he is just a video game character, even in 3D he cant be that complex. The movie is slated for release October 17th.

Posted on June 15, 2008 - by Charles

Wahlberg hopes for ‘Entourage’ movies

Mark Wahlberg has spoken about his plans to turn HBO series Entourage into a film franchise.

In an interview with website Moviefone, he admitted that the success of the Sex and The City movie may open the door for Entourage, a show he executive produces, to move to the big screen.

“We’re doing season five right now. We’re hoping for maybe three [or] four more seasons, and then maybe a film or two,” he said.

“Obviously the Sex And The City success has opened up a window of opportunity there.”

Entourage, based on Wahlberg’s early career, focuses on fictional actor Vincent Chase (Adrian Grenier) as he rises to the Hollywood A-list.

The show is really addicting to watch and to also think that most of the show is based on Wahlberg’s life as he was growing up is unbelievable!

Posted on June 13, 2008 - by Ram Man

Review: ‘The Happening’

Ram Man:

M.Night Shayamalan is back with his first “R” rated feature film …”The Happening” . This film has been cloaked in secrecy since production wrapped. Rumors leaked from a disgruntled projectionist that it was horrible. Everyone says Night’s career is riding on this…He will be fine! If you want to be surprised by what happens in the Happening read this after you see it and see if you agree with me (spoilers coming).

The Happening jumps right into it! The first scene in the movie has a pair of women in Central Park talking on a bench, when all of the sudden one takes a hair pin out a drives it into her own neck! People then begin to fall of buildings and drive cars of the road and die by the thousands. The Happening stars Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Dechanel as a married couple Elliot and Alma Moore. Their relationship “on the rocks” they must try to fix it while staying alive from the invisible force of death. Elliot and Alma together with their friend Julian (John Leguizamo) attempt to leave the city to a safer are outside the hot zone. Soon the force takes over the eastern coast of the country and out group finds themselves stranded in rural Pennsylvania. (I figured any kind of deadly force would be too bored to go to rural Pennsylvania).

After the large cities are decimated people begin to be affected in the smaller communities including the one Elloit and Alma are hold up in. Julian , once he loses contact with his wife leaves to go back to the city to find her (Noooooooo). Can you say Goner? By this time authorities have rule out terrorism and have no Idea what is causing this. Elliot , a science teacher, begins to believe a theory of this old farmer that the plants and trees are turning on us. I now expect to hear a chorus of “Trees” by Rush. Still on the run Elliot and Alma take up residence with a crazy old woman (Betty Buckley from eight is enough) and intended to wait it out and stay alive til this is over.

That is where the movie stops..and the ending takes over. The movie is thrilling and bloodier than anything M.Night has done before. The death scenes are great. My personal fave is a scene in Princeton NJ., Julian riding in a car on a suburban street, where people are hanging from trees like human Christmas ornaments. The movie was good but then he had to end it….that’s where you lose me. Like in his past films (Village & Lady in the Water) the end of his film ruins the ride you have taken up to that point. I’m not going to give it all away but I just have to quote an old TV slogan …Don’t mess with Mother Nature! The film is ok for DVD rental or catch it at a matinee.

I hold M.Night Shaymalan up to a higher mark with his past films (Six Sense, Unbreakable,Signs) and this one is still in that same rut with the Village. I do give him credit for night repeating or falling into the sequel trap. M.Night fans will go see this film and say I’m nuts. But the average movie goer will leave the theater and just say “Huh????”

Travis:

I know I’ve been shunned for having positive opinions for movies that the mass movie-going audience has found repulsively, unforgivably bad … so they say. But that’s the beauty of it … I don’t care. I think M. Night Shyamalan is a talented filmmaker and a promising storyteller. I’m not suggesting everything he does is perfect, but I believe the reason he gets crucified so often is because he’s doing something outside the box.

The Happening is a great sci-fi thriller that deals with a contemporary issue in a creative and entertaining way. What I admire about Shyamalan as a filmmaker is that he chooses to break out of the Hollywood mold [even if he does occasionally get stuck in his own mold] and he makes an effort to tell stories in a way that is fresh. I also respect him for doing his homework in writing an interesting story. The scientific “theory” presented in The Happening is based in relevant scientific concepts and addresses an issue that many, including myself, feel is important.

Like all of Shyamalan’s films, The Happening is rooted in suspense and the fear of the unknown. We can’t fault him for that, as its what he does. It would be like faulting Ingmar Bergman for making beautiful but depressing films … its what he did. I’m not going to start throwing Oscar comments out there, simply because there’s nothing in the movie that warrants any Oscar discussion. So, don’t worry about that. However, I feel this is a solid film that will find its audience amongst the fans who keep an open mind. The performances were perfect in that they served their purpose. This movie wasn’t about the characters, but rather about an idea. Wahlberg was convincing … serious and straight most of the time, emotional when necessary and even dabbled in light humor when called for. Zooey Deschanel … well, don’t get me started with her. I mean, those eyes … [*snap out of it*]

Sorry. Where was I … Oh, the cinematography and the score also carried this same relative characteristic of being subtle and appropriate, masterful on their own but maintaining a humble symbiosis with the film. There’s an organic quality to the flow of the story which is fitting, given the idea behind the incredible events taking place. I suppose the only thing I can really nit-pick about [if I must] is the somewhat convenient circumstance by which Elliot (Wahlberg), Alma (Deschanel) and Jess (Sanchez) manage to survive The Happening. Its a brief distraction, which is followed by the true ending to the film … which actually further illustrates my point that the story isn’t about Elliot and Alma. This is a very good film … I dare you to see it and really think about it. If you’ve already seen it and hated it … I triple-dog-dare you to watch it again without the blinders.

4 1/2 out of 5

Scott:

This movie is being promoted as the greatest B movie ever by Mr M Night, and I have to say..This movie isnt even the greatest D movie ever. This is your typical M Night crap..strange occurrences that have no explanation and the ending is just a big let down. If I wanted to walk away unfulfilled I would have went and watched a Uwe Boll movie, I might have scored it better.

1 out of 5.

[rating: 2.5/5]

Posted on May 23, 2008 - by Travis

Plethora of pics from ‘The Happening’

Check out these movie stills and production photos from M. Night Shyamalan’s newest creepy thriller:

To see more (believe me, there’s plenty) check out the following links …

cinemaemcena.com
movieweb.com

Posted on February 5, 2008 - by Brett

What’s Happening? “The Happening”. Ugh.

And the early award for most ambiguous, least affecting title of 2008 goes to: M. Night Shyamalan and his upcoming film The Happening. Due out this very summer (wow!), it stars Mark Wahlberg as a man trying to keep his family together during a natural crisis affecting life on the planet. That crisis apparently in some part involves turning people into lemmings. Here’s the trailer, go ahead and watch it, I’ll wait for you.

watch me!

Kind of reminds me of 2002’s Suicide Club (Jisatsu Saakuru), that Japanese horror film that opens with like 50 Japanese school girls holding hands as they all jump in front of a train. But maybe that’s just me. Either way, M. Night Shamalan gets a lot of grief from people, so I’ll cut him a break and say that Mark Wahlberg was a good choice at least. Oh, and that Zooey Deschanel too. Someone told me there was talk a long time ago about casting her as Harley Quinn in the The Dark Knight. That might’ve been a little too perfect for my simple mind to handle.

Anyways, while you wait for M. Night to wow you with another wild twist this summer or simply try to find some way in your mind to get excited about this film, why don’t you go watch The Sixth Sense or Unbreakable again and hope that M. Night manages something close. He’s trying to make you happy people, he’s really trying.