Current Movies Blog

Oh snap, there’s news and today is officially a day. Let’s rock it:

• -Adrien Brody will lead the cast of the Nimrod Antal directed, Robert Rodriguez produced/written Predators. [Current]
• -A look into the legitimate world of matching an actor up with a charity proves the scene from Bruno was sadly real. [Indie Eye]
• -RZA joins Todd Phillips’ Due Date with Robert Downey Jr. and Zach Galifianakis. [Variety]
• -Samuel L. Jackson will star in the adaptation of Same Kind of Different as Me. Whatever. [Variety]
• -Paul Schrader is still making a Bollywood film. It’s called Xtreme City. Can’t be the YUKIO MISHIMA SONG I made up, though. [Variety]
• -You noticed those last three links were all from Variety? Why? Because…it’s the spice of life. [Instant Rimshot]
• -Go away. Listen to the fox.

-John Lichman

If you’re a fanboy or sci-fi genre nerd, you’re likely sitting at your computer asking yourself this very question. Ain’t it Cool broke last night that Antal, whose thriller Armored comes in December, was Robert Rodriguez’ choice to direct a “reboot/reimagining/re-verbing” of Predators.  While many commenters wondered who’d name their kid Nimrod, but who would?

Antal emerged in 2004 with Kontroll, which took the meanial job of a Budapest subway worker and turned it into a dark comedy as there may or may not be someone throwing people in front of trains. But Bulcsú can’t tell the difference since he never leaves the underground tunnels and could be the one killing people. It starts with a descent into the subterranean setting and ends with an overt ascension to freedom.

Antal’s work can be filled with a sly humor, but when forced to put on the bright lights for mainstream affairs, you wind up with Vacancy: a two-bit thriller that did nothing more than capitalize on the Saw franchise of pretty people being hunted by sick perverts. But Antal can even make this look decent. And his armored car heist story looks fine.

So who is Nimród Antal?

Well, we’ll figure it out once he’s in Austin, shooting CGI predators in the back of Robert Rodriguez’ house.

-John Lichman
Img: Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images

Zach Galifianakis interviews Natalie Portman, Between Two Ferns submitted by JoshuaHeller

Internet Funnyman, renowned Visioneer and soon-to-be (The) Hangover star Zach Galifianakis has another important episode of his imporant interview show. This time with Natalie Portman.

And her dog, Whiz.

Robert Rodriguez Explains Why His Barbarella is Officially Dead submitted by AtomicLegion

The director explains his main aversion to why his remake of the space camp classic wasn’t made. It has something to do with making a movie outside of Austin and leaving his 5 kids behind. Ironically, when he made Planet Terror, he stayed in Austin but left his wife.

Thankfully, Red Sonja is still in production–and the poster’s still up on Wilshire Boulevard!

Another Car Crash Near on Nicolas Cage Movie Shoot Near Times Square submitted by ebindleglass

Another day, another future headline to be saved for when The Sorcerer’s Apprentice comes out in theaters.

“Disney Film Crashes at the Box Office, just like last May!”

And as a special final treat, we found Nick Cave’s Treatment for a sequel to Gladiator at Gone Elsewhere. It’s so awesome:

Maximus enters and finds the Roman Gods (Jupiter, Apollo, Pluto, Neptune, Mars, Mercury, and Bacchus) who mock his predicament. Still, they offer a deal: their brother, Hephaestos, has run off to the desert filled with bad ideas. He is gathering apostates/fanatics and slowly amassing a power greater than their own. As a result, they’ve aged…grown weak and diseased. They want Maximus to seek out Hephaestos and kill him. In exchange, they will reunite him with his family. Maximus bolts out of the temple without saying a word.

Hot on the word that Robert Rodriguez managed to turn an important press event into his important press event, the close-knit cats at Aint It Cool managed to get some neatly scripted PR responses from the Hard R director that funds his CGI-galas off goofy kids’ movies.

So let’s get into the tough questions! Maybe he’ll elaborate more on Rodgriguez’ next film, Nervewracker? Or maybe Rodriguez will explain why he’s doing The Jetsons? Or…

1. Quite some time ago you created a treatment called PREDATORS, which was about Arnold’s characters being shipped to the Predator home world where they were put into an alien menagerie.

Now that you’re producing a PREDATOR movie, is there any hope that it’ll be called PREDATORS and be based upon your original treatment? And if not, what direction are you taking this and does it have a title?

There was more than one Arnold Schwarzenegger in the first Predator? Anyway, Bob’s response?

Way back before I did Desperado, I had taken a writing assignment for a sequel to Predator.

With a nod toward Cameron’s ALIENS I decided to call it PREDATORS. I set it on a jungle-like Predator planet. It was just a writing assignment, so I didn’t have to worry about budget constraints or how the movie would actually get made with the technology that existed back then, so I just wrote any cool thing I could come up with.

Fast forward 15 years to when I got a call from Alex Young over at Fox, who had been digging around and found my original treatment. He was eager to get it made and re-invent the Predator franchise using the treatment as a guide. So he contacted me to see if I’d be interested in being involved, and it seemed like the perfect project for us over at Troublemaker Studios.

I’ve built up an amazing team over the years at Troublemaker, and they’re all huge PREDATOR fans. (I know this because Predator model kits litter our offices and workstations.) So the next stage is finding a writer and director to come in and work with us to bring it to life. Whether or not it will ultimately be based on the treatment or not is still unknown at this time.

Boring. Ok, let’s do a follow-up question about one of the other five films he claims to have in production! Like Red Sonja and–

2. The original John McTiernan PREDATOR is a brilliant action/ science fiction film. What is it that you’re hoping to bring to fans of that film that will revive the franchise?

Wait, what sort of question was tha–

3. Will you work to get the Governor involved somehow in your new PREDATOR production?

Why would Governor Rick Perry be in this?

4. Are you going to make this a badass R-rated Predator movie?

Not if Shorts is successful.

5. What is coming up next for you as director and is there any chance that you’d take the reins on PREDATORS?

A valid question. And one that is answered in Rodriguez double-speak:

The idea is that I’d produce PREDATORS here at Troublemaker Studios, so that I can feel free to walk to the PREDATORS soundstage, pick up a camera and co-shoot the coolest scenes.

Directing wise, next up will be NERVERACKER for the Weinstein Company.

THE END.

Sure, “directing” and “producing” may mean the same in Robert Rodriguez’ mind, but we’re not entirely sure what the point of this five question robo-interview was. Nothing was asked about Nervewracker, no comment given about the Sin City 2 rights and whether Rodriguez would stick to the film sans Weinstein; finally we’re dying to know which Governor “interviewer” Grande Rojo (Spanish for “Robert Rodriguez’ Publicist Emailing AICN And Asking Him To Run Some Talking Points”) was discussing. Has to be Rick Perry. We’re positive.

So to conclude:

• Robert Rodriguez is remaking Predator, calling it Predators, and he snagged an idea from James Cameron when it came to making a sequel.
• A Governor may or may not be in the remake.
• It could be bad-ass, or it could become Rodriguez’ next kids film franchise.
• Email interviews are bad.

Anvil’s Top 5 Rock Movies

Goodbye week! Hello weekend!

It’s Friday and we are getting the heck out of dodge to sit in movie theaters to watch The Soloist, The Informers and Tyson so we can turn in a webcam by Sunday night on Current.com/Movies. But before that, some fun news came out today.

Machete poster? (via /film)

Machete Poster submitted by wirehedd

Cannes Prize for Tarantino? submitted by Gregsalter

We’re edging closer and closer to the 62nd Annual Cannes Film Festival on May 13, with the full list of films released yesterday. Of course, the major films to look at are in competition, like Quentin Tarantno’s Inglorious Basterds and Ang Lee’s Taking Woodstock. We’ll wait and see what our friends have to say when they touch down across the pond next month.

But The Playlist is quick to note  that actress Isabelle Huppert is the head of the Jury this year–and was also removed from Basterds, either by her own volition or Quentin’s is up for debate.

It’s Thursday! That means while most of you are working for the weekend, we’re hyped for a brand new episode of The Rotten Tomatoes Show tonight at 10:30 p.m. Meanwhile, here are three stories we dug from Current.com/Movies:

Robert Rodriguez Confirms Predator Series Reboot submitted by James Buckingham

The long-standing rumor that a Predator remake was happening finally became grim reality today when director Robert Rodriguez revealed that–along with four other films–are currently in his production queue. He has let slip that in this “modern” revision, there will be multiple Predators fighting a group of commandos. Mm.

He also claims to be producing The Jetsons. Or directing it. As always when it comes to a prospective Rodriguez production, no one knows the status of it.

The Tribeca-Sundance Throwdown–De Niro vs. Redford submitted by Pericles_Lewnes

The Tribeca Film Festival began yesterday and the claws are out as the supposed spectacle festival is aquiring Grade A talent–from Sundance!

and finally…

Weinstein Company Really Did Lose the Rights to Sin City 2 submitted by AtomicLegion

Even I thought this was a fake when originally submitted, but it turns out to be real! Hoo ray Internet!

In the mean time, don’t forget to submit your webcam reviews and three word reviews to us at Current.com/Movies and The Rotten Tomatoes Show!

AUSTIN, TX–Gov. Rick Perry (R) signed legislation today at a local film studio to a chorus of cheers and well-wishes from area contractors who work in the film industry.

According to Kelley Shannon, who actually attended and did reporting for the event:

The legislation also covers television and video game production, all under the umbrella of the “moving images” industry. Perry is asking the Legislature for $60 million for incentives in the coming two-year budget cycle. Lawmakers haven’t yet finalized the biennial budget.

…

Texas Film Commission director Bob Hudgins said because the new law takes effect immediately, some of the unspent incentive money for the current fiscal year can be used under the new more flexible guidelines.

About $20 million was budgeted for production incentives in the current two-year spending cycle. Grants of $6.2 million were awarded in fiscal year 2008, which ended Aug. 31. So far in fiscal 2009 $6.1 million has been spent on grants, Hudgins said.

But the event took a turn for the worse when local director Robert Rodriguez had to remind everyone that they were on his property and announced he would take advantage of this new law by shooting his next five films in Texas. Included in the wish list of work still in production that includes the Sin City sequel, joke trailer turned reality Machete, the upcoming sci-fi film that has no defined plot Nervewrackers and two films that surprised the hell out of everyone else in the Real F*cking World:

• The Jetsons (?!)
• A Predator remake. That will be called Predators. About a group of Predators fighting a group of commandos. Probably set in Austin. And filled with useless CGI proving that yes, Robert Rodriguez can animate and do effect works for entire films by himself in his studio.

When Bloody Disguisting originally talked of the rumored Predator remake, many called “bullshit” and thought it was impossible to utterly ruin a classic genre film so much. Rodriguez, however, clearly is ready and able to prove these naysayers with being wrong.

“Thanks to this bill I don’t have to go shoot out of the state,” [Rodriguez] said. “This is a substantial incentive, and it makes Texas extremely competitive.”

Luckily, it will not stop him from destroying franchises. Sadly, no word about Red Sonja or where he was given the rights to ever adapt The Jetsons.