Movie News: Friday, December 01

Punisher Vs Jigsaw!
   For those of you who love cross genre movies to the like of Freddy Vs Jason or Aliens Vs Predator, we take Marvel comic's badass vigilantee with a penchant for firearms and we pit him agaist JIGSAW!!! MovieHole quoted Jonathan Hensleigh, director of ?The Punisher?: ?We?ve been planning one. We?ve been working on one for about two years?, says Hensleigh. ?I think we?re going to do it. I think...

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Tobey Maguire says No to Spider-man 4?
   With actors in long running franchises leaving the roles that catapulted their fame, it just seems trendy and appropriate that Tobey Maguire would consider broadening his horizons and quitting the Spiderman Franchise. One of the drawbacks to playing an iconic character is that the actor becomes recognized AS that character, and people tend not to buy into replacements. CinemaBlend says:...

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J.Lo's Ex Comes Out Fighting (E! Online)
   

E! Online - Ojani Noa is unwilling to go quietly into obscurity.

Clooney Mixes Drinks with DeVito (E! Online)
   

E! Online - Danny DeVito wasn't the only one knocking back the limoncello the other night.

Clooney, DeVito had `brutal night' out (AP)
   

AP - Blame it on the shots of limoncello. George Clooney says he woke up tipsy after a "brutal night" out on the town with his pal Danny DeVito.

The Architect - Trailer
   A harrowing and ultimately human story of two very different families. Leo Waters (Lapaglia) is an idealistic architect and patriarch of an affluent, suburban Chicago family. Tonya Neeley (Davis) is a pragmatic activist who is trying to keep her family together while living in one of the city’s most drug and crime-infested public housing projects.

Scorsese Ready to Duel (E! Online)
   

E! Online - Marty Scorsese's going medieval.

With his good cop-bad cop suspense drama, The Departed, now the biggest box-office hit of his four-decade career, the Oscar-nominated director is ramping up plans to make even more grandiose projects.

Shirtless Bush seen in 'Brokeback' spoof (AP)
   AP - A "Brokeback Mountain" parody airing on Canadian television depicts an unusual type of summit between President Bush and Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.

Bloody "Apocalypto" draws good early reviews (Reuters)
   Reuters - Mel Gibson's new movie "Apocalypto" drew several good early reviews on Friday from critics who cautioned the thriller set against the end of an ancient Mayan civilization is also extremely violent.

Review: `Rise of Taj' gross-out schlock (AP)
   AP - The National Lampoon, once a brand name above nearly all others in comedy, has become shorthand for pathetic frat boy humor; it's latest installment is "National Lampoon's Van Wilder: The Rise of Taj."

2006 is the year of Celebrity Apologies (AP)
   AP - "Love means never having to say you're sorry," Ali MacGraw said in the 1970 tearjerker "Love Story," a line whose iconic status belies its lack of any discernible logic.

Columbia Pictures to make a new Cleopatra film
   Columbia Pictures has just announced that they have decided to make a new movie about Cleopatra, it will focus on her strength as a military leader. The folks over at cinemablend.com give us this: Variety says they (Columbia Pictures) have picked up the rights to a 10-page proposal which they?ve hired Scott Rudin to turn into a movie. The idea is supposed to be a ?new take? on Cleo which will...

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Eddie Murphy Signs For Beverly Hills Cop 4 - Sad
   About 7 months ago I wrote that Beverly Hills Cop 4 was coming on the horizon... the only sticking point at that time was if Eddie Murphy would actually do it. I also said I would have lost all hope in Murphy if he actually did... well... I've lost all hope, because Eddie Murphy has reportedly signed up for Beverly Hills Cop 4. This is a horrible idea. Both the quality of the films and the...

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How Will The Public Respond To Apocalypto?
   We're now only a week away from the opening of the new Mel Gibson film Apocalypto. I'm really interested to see how film fans react to this movie on two different levels: 1) In a day when people are crying about the lack of originality in Hollywood today, a movie with: "no big stars attached and is a Mayan-language epic about the decline of the native civilization" is about as original as it...

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James Bond Gay?
   A gay James Bond? Naw... I don't think it would work. Apparently Daniel Craig (My new pick for the best James Bond ever) has been suggesting that perhaps some gay characters and some full frontal male nudity should be in the works for upcoming Bond films. Cinematical says this: Here's the Craig quote currently floating around the internet: "Why not? I think in this day and age, fans would have...

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He-Man Dead
   Oh He-Man, what might have been. The newest incarnation of the He-Man movie is now officially dead. Mattel, the toy company that obviously owns the rights to He-Man, licensed the film rights to Fox2000 who in turn have been working on developing the film. However, as our friends at Moviehole point out, the project has been wrought with problems: Its been a long and tumultuous journey for the...

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Burstyn tells Oprah of her troubled past (AP)
   AP - Oscar winner Ellen Burstyn says she struggled through decades of abuse and hopes her story will inspire other women.

`The View' is kind to drunken DeVito (AP)
   

AP - The ladies of "The View" are laughing off Danny DeVito's loopy behavior during his appearance on the ABC daytime talk show.

Interview - Shreyas Talapde
   Your film Dor has been getting very good reviews - how does that feel? "The Box office is getting happier by the day. The word of mouth publicity is strong. People get to see me in a completely different light. In Iqbal I didn't speak a word and in Dor I talk and I talk. The response to the film is very positive. Whoever has spoken to me has told me they liked my role very much. "

Interview - Amrita Rao
   She is bubbly, cheerful and yet intense and thoughtful in her own way. And what strikes you is that she is so essentially Indian in her character and mannerisms. Actress Amrita Rao is the prefect choice to play the coy, shy Poonam in Sooraj Barjatya's Vivah. We catch up with the actress on the eve of her release and get her talking.

Nativity
   Did I miss something? I recall my grandmother's delicately placed porcelain figures arranged around a peaceful baby Jesus in a manger. I dont recall any violence. Away in a manger, no crib for a bed, The little Lord Jesus laid down His sweet head. The stars in the sky looked down where He lay, The little Lord Jesus, asleep on the hay. The cattle are lowing, the Baby awakes, The...

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Nicole Kidman is the highest paid woman in Hollywood
   For a very long time Julia Roberts was the most well paid woman in Hollywood, but now that she's raising a family and doing Broadway Nicole Kidman has been kind enough to step up to the bank. Money is the name of the game and Kidman gets plenty of it according to monstersandcritics.com: Kidman is the highest paid actress according to the Hollywood Reporter?s 2006 list. The Reporter states Nicole...

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Letters From Iwo Jima
    ( Release: Dec. 20, 2006   Rated: Rating Pending    Details | Photos  ) — Clint Eastwood's follow-up to Flags of Our Fathers details another story from Iwo Jima, but this time, the tale is told from the Japanese side of the battle. The film follows real-life Japanese General Tadamichi Kuribayashi (Watanabe) who battled American troops for 40 days on the island of Iwo Jima.

Sarandon ventures to "Valley" with Haggis (Reuters)
   Reuters - Susan Sarandon is joining the cast of "In the Valley of Elah," Paul Haggis' follow-up to his Academy Award-winning hit "Crash." Tommy Lee Jones and Charlize Theron already have been cast in the Warner Independent Pictures mystery thriller.

"Christmas Card" mindless holiday entertainment (Reuters)
   Reuters - If watching a holiday movie is part of your seasonal tradition, "The Christmas Card" should work nicely. Put it on while you make a gift list, trim the tree or bake cookies. It's such a generic story that you can divert your attention to other things and not miss a beat.

Producer Zaentz sues over "Patient" (Reuters)
   Reuters - Producer Saul Zaentz on Thursday filed a $20 million lawsuit against Walt Disney Co. and its Miramax Films unit, accusing them of failing to share profits from his 1996 best picture Oscar winner "The English Patient."

Wyle gets more nerdy revenge in "Librarian" sequel (Reuters)
   Reuters - "The Librarian: Quest for the Spear" was basic cable's most-watched movie in 2004, making a sequel all but inevitable.

"Turistas" -- stay home (Reuters)
   Reuters - Venturing into the xenophobic terrain that helped to make Eli Roth's "Hostel" a unique horror destination, John Stockwell's "Turistas" takes full advantage of its intoxicatingly exotic backdrop -- it's the first American production shot entirely in Brazil -- to spin the creepy saga of a group of gringos whose fun-in-the-sun vacation turns deadly.

Dancing penguins set to lead lackluster box office (Reuters)
   Reuters - The weekend after the extended Thanksgiving holiday is typically dismal at the box office because holiday shopping is usually on the minds of most would-be moviegoers.

"Office" star Krasinski suits up for Clooney pic (Reuters)
   Reuters - John Krasinski, one of the stars of NBC's "The Office," is in negotiations to join George Clooney and Renee Zellweger in "Leatherheads," a 1920s football romantic comedy that Clooney is directing.