"Wonder Twin Powers Activate"

File under: The greatest thing any Twilight cast members have ever done for us.

[src]

That's Peter Facinelli & Nikki Reed as the infamous Wonder Twins. Though Facinelli was saddled with a total boresville part in Twilight, he was fun on Nurse Jackie and seems to have a good sense of humor in general. Remember that time he present costume design guild awards in just his underwear?

Now on to more pressing questions. Once their College Humor short emerges (which is what they're in costume for) what water-based shape is Facinelli going to take: whirlpool to drown in, icicle to suck on, bucket of water to dump with? And which animal form will Nikki change into? It's funny but I do always think of her as feral after thirteen (2003).

Links

Rain Perry interesting and fun article comparing Crazy, Stupid, Love. with... Biutiful. (via AD)
Tom Shone on the elitism of magic and power in modern entertainment. It's a curious question really.
THR Nobody can quite let go of Sex and the City Movie 3. It still might happen.
Corduroy (via JJ) talks to Josh Hartnett about his career (post acting hiatus). I thought I'd share this since we were just talking in that Taylor Lautner post -- I realize they're not exactly interchangeable ;)  -- about the limited shelf life of young male actors who get hired for a lot of big roles and big projects before they've truly proven themselves. Isn't that essentially what happened to Hartnett?  

Hartnett photographed by Peter Ash Lee for Corduroy

When you first start really young and you have some success, they want to take away your edges and make you into this proto-typical movie star... people don’t like to be boxed in and actors are no different.”

He also says:

I started when I was 17 and when you’re that age, you’re a bag full of nerves. I was a little bit freaked out by the whole industry. But now I’m actively looking for things that scare me; things that push me outside my comfort zone. As an actor, that’s the only way you grow and the only way you create something truly interesting for yourself and the audience as well.”

...which is code for rebuilding his once bright career through the indie film circuit, isn't it?

"Would you like one of my flowers" (Illustration by Scott C)The Great Showdowns simple concept movie illustration tumblr that yields very cute results. I love that the references are from several decades, not just the overplayed 80s ...though there's quite a lot of that as there always is online. Check it out.
ioncinema talks about the next project from I Am Love's brilliant director Luca Guadagnino which looks like it may star the ubiquitous duo of Mia Wasikowska and Jeremy Renner who plan to be in every movie of the next 5 years (along with Fassbender & Mulligan)

The Awl asks "what makes a great critic?" 
IndieWire Michael Fassbender offered the lead role in Prisoners. But his docket is so full now, who knows. 

"Avengers Assemble" at D23

God, I hope people didn't wait in line hours and hours for this. So short.  It's cute how Jeremy Renner bounces out at 1:05ish though. 

I guess they only really showed a teensy tiny clip between Samuel L Jackson's Nick Fury and Tom Hiddleston's Loki which i09 loved. I'd hoped to post a counter opinion from someone who was not at all impressed (it's important to maintain some balance in our fanboy ruled world) but have misplaced the link. Drat.

P.S. Totally eager to see how Tom Hiddleston's career develops. He was great to look at as F Scott Fitzgerald in Midnight in Paris and I suspect he did about as fine a job as anyone could have done making sense of his confusingly written character in Thor. Eager to see what's next for him?

Q&A: British Ladies, Weary Superheroes, & "The Hours" for Men

I thought we'd experiment with a Q&A column so over the weekend I asked you to ask questions. Despite this summer's attempt to rebrand myself as a mutant telepath to rival Professor X, I can't actually read minds (unless I'm sitting across from you or holding something that belongs to you), so you had to type them.

So here we go. I'm answering half of them chosen somewhat randomly.

Robert: Do you think mainstream audiences will ever tire of superhero flicks? If so, which film will be the straw that breaks the camel's back?
Professor R: Yes, all things being cyclical. I predict it will happen with the Spider-Man reboot after the Spider-Man reboot... in 2019. (The window keeps shrinking, see.) Either that or the Wonder Twins: The Movie in 2016.

eurocheese: We've heard who'll be producing the Oscars (Brett Ratner and Don Mischer). Any guesses on a host?
Professor R:  It would be unfair for me to guess since I can see into the future. But I will tell you it's a solo act this year after last year's debacle and it's unfortunately not Andy Serkis covered in motion capture gear backstage and then projected onto the stage by WETA in a variety of famous beastly character guises from cinematic history: King Kong, Mickey Mouse, The Creature from the Black Lagoon, Charlotte on a web, Jabba the Hut. (Damnit. That would have been so great. Why don't they let ME produce the Oscars? Fuck Brett Ratner!)

Mark: Is Michelle Williams becoming the next Renée Zellweger? She is showing up in 4 or 5 movies a year and seems desperate to win the Oscar.
Professor R: I don't understand the question. That's like comparing apples to oranges lemons. I don't think Williams is desperate to win an Oscar. She wouldn't be making Meek's Cutoff if she was. If she's desperate to win an Oscar she's doing a terrible job of showing it; quiet and serene on the campaign trail is generally not a winning strategy. 

/3rtfull: You're having tea with three famous women. Who are they?

Click to read more ...

Superman and the Spit Curl

Another week, another "first look!" at another superhero. This is Henry Cavill as Superman in Zach Snyder's upcoming film Man of Steel (2013). Cavill looks fine but for the lack of eyebrows. I don't remember Cavill or Superman being eyebrow free in previous incarnatians. And of course I miss that dangly lock of Super hair that Kal-El is always rocking. There are some classics you just don't mess with... like spit curls. I can't prove it but I think that if you lop off the spit curl that's as good as making his cape out of a polykryptonite blend. He'll be down for the count in no time.

Spit Curls forever! Is what I'm saying.

Shouting, actually.

Linkface

Scouting New York Fun/creepy. Take a retro tour of American Psycho's New York City landmarks. 
Pajiba Speaking of Christian Bale. The web is abuzz with all those Dark Knight Rises on set photos now that filming has commenced. I agree with Iggy on Tom Hardy's lipless "Bane" look, however true to character it may be. Iggy wrote...

Hardy. Better with lips.

it must be a cinematic crime hiring Hardy, the most lusciuous male lips, and make him wear that thing. Could this be considered playing against type?

Geekscape Since Batman is in the air, why not a ranking of all filmed Catwomen? I find it hilarious that Anne Hathaway is included in this six-wide field since she hasn't even purred yet. Who knows how good she will or won't be? The Pfeiffer write up is insightful.
Twitch Superhero fatigue has not yet set in. Commissioned scripts for Ant Man and Doctor Strange have been turned in to Marvel Studios. 
My New Plaid Pants surveys the current wanting cinema crop 
Twitch Forbes Highest Paid Actors list: Johnny Depp and Leonardo DiCaprio are up top but the list is soooo 1990s as if nothing ever changes in Hollywood. 

La Daily Musto Hello Gorgeous. Lauren Ambrose (Six Feet Under) will star in the revival of Funny Girl. I'm stunned and happy. Here's a video making the rounds of her doing the famous closing number "My Man"

It's such an interesting choice because it clearly signifies that the producers are NOT trying to duplicate Barbra. Which is, I think most people of sound minds would admit, the only sane way to approach reviving such an iconic connected-to-one-legend piece of theater.

Austin Translation "there's a snape in my boots" 
Regretsy Zombie Golden Girls 
Broadway Blog the original Evita and Che, Patti LuPone and Mandy Patinkin are reuniting for a limited run concert on Broadway. 

Finally, mark your calendars for August 31st. Gonzo 80s 'classic' Scarface will be showing at 500 screens nationwide to celebrate an epic Blu-Ray release. I'm not wild about the movie which is so widely embraced by gangstas who love its excess unironically and ignore its cautionary tale finale. But if you've never seen it you'd be crazy to miss the chance to see Michelle Pfeiffer's first great performance on the big screen. That year's supporting actress nominees can kiss her skinny pampered ass. Imagine that arguably star-making backless dress / elevator descent entrance on the big screen! Al Pacino's ambitious criminal is hypnotized and so were movie audiences, rescuing La Pfeiffer from her then status as 'Grease 2 girl'. If her entrance isn't enough imagine those 80s dance moves, or the huge-ass sunglasses. Chase those Pfeiffer visuals with mounds and mounds of coke snorting and utter icy contempt for everyone in her field of vision... including herself. She's mesmerizing. Oh and, yeah, some people would describe the movie that way, too.