Movies36

Ellen Page plays the part of Bliss Cavendar in her upcoming film Whip It!  The movie is directed by Drew Barrymore who also has a part in the film.  It’s about a beauty pageant contestant who joins a female roller derby league.  If you’re wondering why Drew would pick a roller derby film for her directorial debut I’ve got a theory.  Remember the opening scenes of Charlie’s Angels?  There was a roller derby scene there.  I’m thinking Drew didn’t get enough the first time around and is going in for another round.

Just to through a wrench in the works Drew and her boyfriend Justin Long (Live Free or Die Hard) broke up and he pulled out of the movie which started filming this summer.

I remember roller derby.  We used to watch it on Saturday nights when I was a kid. It was way more fun than ice hockey, kind of like wrestling on skates.  So I’m thinking this should be fun.

Look for it next year in theatres!

Ten years ago today Armageddon blew onto the big screen with character who were larger than life.  It was the first film that Michael Bay (Pearl Harbor, Transformers) ever produced.  This film had it all action, adventure, a love story, scenes that would bring you to tears, laughter and the even blew stuff up. 

Here are a few things you may not have known:

• This is the first movie ever that NASA allowed to use actual space suits.
• Parts of the film were made in the restricted section of NASA.
• The day the film opened was Liv Tyler’s 21st Birthday.  She turned down her role in the movie twice before finally accepting it.
• The movie trailer shows shots of real space shuttles launching.
• Bruce Willis used a photo of his kids to help him cry during the scene when he said goodbye to Grace (Liv).
• Kevin Costner was originally going to star in the movie.

My favorite scene is when they are making their demands and don’t want to ever pay taxes again.  What’s yours?

Ghost Town is a romantic comedy starring Tia Leoni, Ricky Gervais and Greg Kinnear.  It’s about a man who dies for seven minutes and can see ghosts when he wakes up.  How annoying would that be?  Anyways, Greg plays one of the ghosts and talks Ricky’s character into breaking off his engagement.  This results in a love triangle gone wrong.

David Koepp ( Secret Window, War of the Worlds, Indiana Jones IV) and John Kamps (The Borrowers, Zathura) co-wrote the screenplay and David directed the movie.  It sounds like a lot of fun.  I wonder if it’ll be along the vein of The Frighteners.

The film releases August 19,2008

In order to bump DVD sales, Warner Brothers will be releasing Tales of the Black Freighter direct to DVD five days after Watchmen is released in March of 2009.  One of the charcters in the Watchmen will actually be reading a ‘Tales of the Black Freighter‘ comic book.  It will include a documentary type film titled Under the Hood which will go into the backstory of the characters in Watchmen.  It sounds like a brilliant marketing strategy, if the movie lives up to expectations. 

Watchmen stars Malin Akerman (27 Dresses),  Jackie Earle Haley (Semi-Pro), Jeffrey Dean Morgan (PS I Love You), Carla Gugino(Sin City), Billy Crudup (The Good Shepherd), and Patrick Wilson(Phantom of the Opera).  Zac Snyder of 300 and Dawn of the Dead is directing.

Hayden stars in the latest Christopher Columbus film I Love You Beth Cooper along with relative newbie Paul Rust.  If you don’t know Paul don’t worry because it actually suits his role in the movie.  Paul plays the part of Denis Cooverman, complete nerd, valedictorian and  movie geek who announces in his graduation address that he loves Beth Cooper. 

The film is meant to be in the tone of the 80’s romance movies such as Sixteen Candles but set in modern times.  It’s based on a novel by Simpsons writer Larry Doyle.  It’s all about putting yourself out there in spite of the fear of rejection and taking what comes in stride.

The novel received excellent reviews and is supposed to be wildly funny.  This film is definitely on my To Watch list.  It’ll be in theaters sometime next year.