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Entries in Video Game Movies (14)

Jake Gyllenhaal: Pumped for 'Persia'

In the interest of equal rights, I should contrast the Megan Fox topless shot with a comparable male photo. Fortunately, Just Jared has snapped some pics of Jake Gyllenhaal going all McConaughey for Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

He definitely looks like he's been working out, and I think I speak for everyone when I say that, if nothing else, these photos of a buff, longhaired Jack Twist ought to once and for all put an end to his status as a gay icon.

Seriously, with the hair and everything, doesn't he look like he's about to join Thunder from Down Under? Give this guy a bowtie and he'll strip at your bachelorette party.

What's most strange about these new pics at Just Jared is that Gyllenhall is walking around the set with Reese Witherspoon clutching his arm. I'm a Reese fan and everything - more than a lot of people, even - but that looks incredibly desperate to me. She traveled to Morocco to hold his hand on the set? Doesn't help that she's dressed like Murder She Wrote's Jessica Fletcher working in her garden, either.

The now-delayed Prince of Persia will hit theaters on Memorial Day 2010.

Posted on Monday, August 11, 2008 at 04:23PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , | Comments2 Comments

Staring Down the Barrel of a New 'Max Payne' Photo

Before seeing the the trailer for Max Payne, I was unsure how I felt about Mark Wahlberg in the lead role. I mean, that's one dark dude in the video game. I could more easily see a ragged leading man like a Clive Owen over a guy who carries a 4% body fat like Wahlberg. But he impressed in the trailer, and the movie looks like it's taking the most cinematic aspects of the game and leaving most of the other elements - the very drawn-out journey of the character - on the cutting room floor. In other words, he's going from Point A to Point C in the movie, or so the trailer would have us believe.

I'm not sure how I feel about Mila Kunis in the supporting role still, other than acknowledging that she'll be great to look at. In fact, the entire supporting cast is a bit on the less predictable side, with Beau Bridges, Donal Logue, Chris O'Donnell, and Ludacris filling out the major roles. I will say I liked a lot of elements director John Moore brought to the remake of The Omen; casting was really that film's major problem. He was certainly able to carry tension through many of the scenes.

This kind of action is entirely different, but having seen the trailer, as I said, my confidence in Wahlberg has grown.

Here's a new pic of the man in action, courtesy of Coming Soon.

Max Payne will be in theaters Friday, October 17th.

Posted on Saturday, August 9, 2008 at 07:06PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , | Comments4 Comments

Video Game Adaptations: A 'Doom' Sequel? Will 'Wolfenstein' Finally Move Forward?

wolfensteincover.jpgThere were a couple of headlines related to video game adaptations today, and if it's all the same to you, I'm going to condense them into one story. The reason for that is I can't believe one of them is actually moving ahead.

You remember Doom, right? If you needed a refresher, the flick was actually on cable yesterday as I was trying to find some baseball to watch. But Doom is not a good movie. It briefly incorporated the first-person-shooter point of view toward the end, and that's about the only thing that stuck with me, having not been a Doom player.

Before you say I couldn't possibly understand all the nuances of the game that movie got right, I don't care; I haven't read Mario Puzo's The Godfather, either. That movie's still pretty good. I mean, who has the time to become intimately familiar with every source material for every movie made? Can't happen. So toss the argument.

In addition to not being much of a flick, Doom was a dismal box office failure, too, making less than half of its $70 million budget in the U.S. Why and how a sequel may be getting made just doesn't make a lot of sense. But as IGN reports, id Software CEO Todd Hollenshead says the company has learned some things from their maiden voyage and believes that the game Doom 4 may be best suited for the movie sequel.

"We'll see what happens when we get further along in development of the game and there's more buzz and we share more about what the game will be about," says Hollenshead. "As the buzz meter starts to go up, that may kind of kick-start the guys over at Universal."

I could understand if the first film just didn't get an audience and people were actually clamoring for a sequel, like Serenity, for instance (although I realize that's not a video game). I could understand it if, like the Resident Evil movies, they actually make a little bit of money at the end of the day even though they're not terribly good films. But to not make money and to be mediocre at best...and you want us to pay for another dose?

Click to read more ...

Posted on Monday, August 4, 2008 at 10:00PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in | Comments2 Comments

'Prince of Persia' Won't Start His Reign Until May 2010

So what does this mean, exactly? The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Disney has pushed back the release date for the video game adaptation Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, but not just by a week or two. Originally, the film was supposed to hit theaters on June 19th next year but now it's been tabled until May 28, 2010.

A whole year? Did they lose every copy of the script? I mean, they just started filming it and during production they're realizing this movie that's been in the works for roughly half a decade needs to marinate another 11 months?

Jake Gyllenhaal will play the title character, a Prince who...uh...has to save the day; that's the short version. The movie will also star newly-minted Bond babe Gemma Arterton, Ben Kingsley, and Alfred Molina. This is a Jerry Bruckheimer movie, and the Bruck usually doesn't move for anybody. So unless they screwed up production so royally that it would be months behind schedule (after only a few weeks on the set), this is purely a business move.

Click to read more ...

Posted on Friday, August 1, 2008 at 03:07AM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , | Comments4 Comments

Comic Con Posters: 'Max Payne,' 'Day the Earth Stood Still,' and Another 'Red Sonja'

It's day two of Comic Con in San Diego, and now all the big appearances and press events are starting to attract the crowds. We still have some posters to share with you, though, from Max Payne, The Day the Earth Stood Still, and yes, from Red Sonja (again).

I'll start with Max Payne, simply because this first one is among the coolest movie posters I've seen in a while. I really dig the perspective; it's not a straight-on shot, even the title has the three dimensional quality. You'll notice the three most powerful colors in advertising: Black, white, and red. And the detail is very precise and the image evocative and ethereal. This is excellent.

Of course, because that poster's so unique, it kind of makes this one seem commonplace. Though it's kind of a poster of a poster, we've seen similar work with Rambo and Righteous Kill this year. I don't love this one, although I suspect it's the one we'll see more of in theaters.

The Day the Earth Stood Still also has one great new poster and one that kind of earns a shoulder shrug. We'll start with the great one, a tip of the cap to the original film, but in an incredibly ominous way. You don't see much, but if you were faced with that situation in real life, what you see you sure as hell wouldn't like.

And then we have the mass panic poster. Never my favorite whenever they cart it out. A variant was used for The Happening most recently.

Finally, here's the second Red Sonja poster. I like this one, as well, and much like the first poster that we debuted yesterday, it really smacks of a comic book. It makes you wonder if the film will have that same visual style or if it will be more traditional. Why not go for broke? It is Red Sonja, after all. It's not like people have been waiting for the remake for 20 years. Give 'em something new and different.

So there you have it, another Comic Con poster recap. For the record, IMP Awards has all of these posters and gazillions more.

Posted on Friday, July 25, 2008 at 12:43PM by Registered CommenterColin Boyd in , , , , , , , , , , | CommentsPost a Comment
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