Screen Time

The official poster for the upcoming comedy “Walk Hard: The Dewey Cox Story” just hit the Web. Yep, that’s it up there. I never thought I’d see so much of John C. Reilly. I think the guy reveals more of his … assets here than he did in “Boogie Nights,” and he played a porn star in that movie!

So, if this funny image isn’t enough to get you in the theaters, remember that “Walk Hard” is co-written and produced by Judd Apatow (”Knocked Up,” “The 40-Year-old Virgin”) and is directed by Jake Kasdan, who worked with Apatow on the great TV shows “Undeclared” and “Freaks and Geeks.”

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Even before the opening credits started to roll in “Transformers“ this summer, most movie fans knew a sequel was inevitable. Now we have a release date. Box Office Mojo reports that, according to Paramount, we’ll get to see the Autobots smashing into some Decepticons again on June 26, 2009. The big question is … Will Michael Bay return to direct?

Web rumors are circulating that Bay might opt out of the sequel to helm some other projects. Also, the word is that the impending Hollywood strike might somehow screw with Bay’s filmmaking schedule, making it difficult for him to meet the June 2009 release date.

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Comic book movie fans take notice. The good folks at Latino Review (how do they get all the scoops?) just visited the set of “Hellboy II: The Golden Army.” Director Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming sequel to his 2004 comic book adaptation is set to hit theaters July 2008. For now, LR has a few interesting tidbits about the movie and its set, and they promise to post interviews with all the stars in the next few days.

The good news is that most of the original cast members are back for “Hellboy II,” including Doug Jones as my fav Abe Sapien (that’s him with the goggles up there), and Guillermo Navarro, Del Toro’s Oscar-winning cinematographer for “Pan’s Labyrinth,” is shooting the thing. So at least it’ll look great. LR says the dailies they saw look fantastic and it looks like this one is loaded with great set design and lots of action. Read LR’s first post about the set visit here.
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Photo courtesy Universal Pictures

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Even though it employs half the cast of “The Rundown” and the trailer reminds me of a long, boring, convoluted dream I once had, I’m still interested in catching director Richard Kelly’s “Southland Tales.”

The release of the “Donnie Darko” director’s upcoming sci-fi epic has been delayed since it got panned at Cannes last year. Kelly says the version screened at Cannes wasn’t finished. He went back into the editing room and his final (latest?) version is scheduled to hit theaters Nov.9.

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An actor cast in the upcoming “India Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull” apparently forget about his non-disclosure agreement and babbled on and on about specific plot points for the movie to a small newspaper.

The boys at Aint It Cool News found a recent story from The Edmond Sun in Edmond, OK, the actor’s home town, in which he reveals way more about “Indy 4″ than George Lucas or Steven Spielberg probably wanted him too.

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Actor Casey Affleck will be in Austin this Wednesday to present his new film “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford.“ The screening is part of the Fantastic Fest, a week-long genre film fest co-sponsored by the boys of Aint it Cool News. The fest kicks off Sept 20. You gotta buy a pricey badge to get in, but you also get to screen tons of new horror, western and sci-fi flicks before anyone else. Cool folks like Patton Oswalt will also be hanging out. Check the fest Web site here for more info.

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The first few moments of the trailer for Jason Reitman’s new comedy “Juno” had me thinking “Oh no, not another ‘Saved.’” Then things got better and funnier, and now I can’t wait to catch this flick, which is already a hit at the Toronto International Film Festival. Some folks are saying it’s a contender for best movie of the year so far.

Like “Saved,” “Juno” is an irreverent comedy with a teen pregnancy at the center. Unlike “Saved,” or other films in that we’re-gonna-mock-everything mold, “Juno” looks warm, weighty, hilarious and it seems to be stocked with interesting characters and scenes instead of just shrill gags and pointless style. The film also boasts a cast to die for, including Ellen Page (the newer, better Jena Malone), Michael Cera (”Superbad”), J.K. Simmons (J Jonah Jameson from “Spider-Man”), Rainn Wilson (”The Office”), Jennifer Garner and Jason Bateman.

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I’ll say this for filmmaker George A. Romero - he’s done us all a big favor. By virtually creating the zombie genre with “Night of the Living Dead” way back in 1968, the filmmaker paved the way for great movies like “28 Days Later,” “Shaun of the Dead” plus that great “B****, get out the room!” scene in “The 40 Year Old Virgin.” But I think he should have stopped hemorrhaging fake blood and wanky scripts way back in the 70s.

Yeah, yeah, I know. It’s an unpopular opinion. Romero’s a “legend.” A “master of the craft.” Sure, he made some great horror movies years ago that worked as brave social commentary. Yes, he inspired some maverick filmmakers. Fine. But, did you catch his last movie, the dreadful mind-numbing wreck “Land of the Dead?” That one made it official - Romero’s knack for weaving unexpected social messages into genre movies has been successfully passed on to other, finer filmmakers. Plus, the dude really needs a good editor and a dialogue writer.

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My wife and I love the original “Get Smart.“ I was even one of the 12 people who watched the 1989 revamp “Get Smart Again” starring Andy Dick as Don Adams’ son (Yes, that really happened). So, we’ll probably be some of the first in line to catch the upcoming movie version of the classic show starring Steve Carell and Anne Hathaway.I think Carell is a great choice to play Maxwell Smart. He’ll do the role justice instead of just doing a bad Don Adams impersonation. I’m not too sold on Hathaway as Agent 99 though.

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Is the Western making a comeback?

I was surprised by the recent critical and box-office success of “3:10 To Yuma,” and who can forget 2005’s “Brokeback Mountain?“ Now the upcoming “The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford” is getting pretty good reviews from the Toronto Film Festival.

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