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10 Most Fascinating 'End of the World' Movies

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 12:59:07 +0000

There are many theories, ideas or should I say 'schools of thought' on how the world would end. At the height of the Cold War, nuclear annihilation ranks at the very top. While others argue it will not be man who will destroy the world (directly) but - an epidemic of global proportions (most probably from a potent strain of virus - think: I am Legend) or severe climactic change (another ice age perhaps? That would be Day After Tommorow right?) or mechanical uprising (The Terminator, anyone?) or even attack from the outside - conquering aliens (Mars Attacks!) or perhaps an asteroid. And let's not forget zombies!

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Inspired by the upcoming release of Roland Emmerich's latest disaster epic 2012, tMF listed down 10 of the most fascinating 'end of the world' movies.

Before looking at the list, you need to know that it's not based on critical acclaim or Box Office success or even cult following - but a combination of these three factors and how 'cool' it is, thus the term 'fascinating'. One more thing, you'll not see very old movies here - we listed only recent films!

Enough of talk already! Let's see which movies made the top 10!
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# 10 - The Day After Tomorrow (2004) - Well, this is perhaps our tribute to Mr. Emmerich, but then again, it stars our favorites - Jake Gyllenhaal and Emmy Rossum and also, it tackles climate change, something very much in the news right now.

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The Plot: When global warming causes world wide disasters and leads to an ice age, a climatologist named Jack Hall tries to rescue his son Sam who is trapped in New York. Jack must go from Washington D.C. to New York, but on the way some things happen. Can Jack rescue his son?

How the World would end: As the result of global warming.

The Buzz: Not entirely sure, but its Jake Gyllenhaal (this movie) versus Tobey Maguire's Spiderman 2. Tobey's Spidey grabbed $783,766,341 worldwide, while Jake's disaster movie got $544,272,402 - round one to Tobey!

Featured Review: Mick LaSalle (San Francisco Chronicles): "The Day After Tomorrow" isn't satisfying in every way, but in the ways that really matter, it's one superior disaster movie. It depicts the sudden onset of a new ice age with expertly constructed action sequences and special effects that are nothing less than awe-inspiring. The spectacle, which is colossal and at times staggering to behold, begins within two minutes of the fade-in and keeps coming until the finish. I thought I'd seen it all. I hadn't.

On the downside, some of the dialogue is corny, but you know what? No one goes to "The Day After Tomorrow" expecting a Noel Coward play. There are also some moments that are funny without anyone intending them to be, and that's a bit of a problem. But the movie offers many other moments that are astonishing. Here's one: Two men walk along the now-frozen body of water that divides Manhattan and Staten Island, and they pass the Statue of Liberty, now frozen over and buried waist deep in snow. Like everything else these days, that shot was done on computer. But for once it doesn't look like it.

Instead, writer-director Roland Emmerich ("Independence Day") takes an enormous, compelling situation, lays it out meticulously and lures viewers into his fantasy. Along the way, "The Day After Tomorrow" even proves itself ambitious, making a sincere, if somewhat ham-fisted, case that something needs to be done about global warming. It's rare to see a blockbuster take anything resembling a clear-cut political stand. [ read more ]

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# 9 - The Fifth Element (1997): Directed by French filmmaker Luc Besson, starring Bruce Willis, Gary Oldman, Ian Holm and Milla Jovovich.

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The Plot: Two hundred and fifty years in the future, life as we know it is threatened by the arrival of Evil. Only the fifth element can stop the Evil from extinguishing life, as it tries to do every five thousand years. She is helped by ex-soldier, current-cab-driver, Korben Dallas, who is, in turn, helped by Prince/Arsenio clone, Ruby Rhod. Unfortunately, Evil is being assisted by Mr. Zorg, who seeks to profit from the chaos that Evil will bring, and his alien mercenaries.

How the World would end: Destroyed by Evil.

The Buzz: Former supermodel Milla Jovovich owes a lot to this movie. You can say, it's luck but Jovovich went on to play Ultra Violet and of course, the lead star of the Resident Evil series. I don't think anyone will argue, she's the undisputed 'Apocalyptic' lead actress of modern cinema.

Featured Review: Mick LaSalle (San francisco Chronicles): Luc Besson's science-fiction blast ``The Fifth Element'' has to be the most creative visualization since Tim Burton's first ``Batman'' in 1989. On top of that, it's a whole lot of fun. Based on an idea director Besson had as a 16-year-old, the picture remains, at heart, the fantasy of a wild, teenage imagination.

It's an amalgam of every science fiction cliche about flying cars, evil forces and benevolent outer-space creatures -- most of them dusted off and made new, all of them beautifully imagined. Orson Welles once compared making movies to a boy having a wonderful electric train set to play with. But no boy ever had a train set like Besson's in ``The Fifth Element.''

Nothing else looks like it. Besson, who also directed ``La Femme Nikita'' and ``The Professional,'' brought an array of artists into the process, including fashion designer Jean-Paul Gaultier to create the costumes and futuristic illustrator Moebius. All the elements cohere into a single vision of a completely other world. In ``The Fifth Element,'' it's just understood that a woman can be cloned, or that Bruce Willis drives a flying yellow cab through a Brooklyn cityscape unlike any other ever imagined.

Yet all the pretty pictures would mean nothing if ``The Fifth Element'' didn't move. It does. And it's fun, as in no-time-to-get-up-for- popcorn. [ read more ]

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# 8 - 28 Weeks Later (2007)- This is the sequel to the highly-sucessful 28 Days Later directed by Danny Boyle and stars Cilliam Murphy. Directed by Spanish filmmaker Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, it gave the sequel a different look and feel compared to the original. Boyle actually hired the Spanish filmmaker due to his commitment to another movie, Sunshine.

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The Plot: Six months after the rage virus was inflicted on the population of Great Britain, the US Army helps to secure a small area of London for the survivors to repopulate and start again. But not everything goes to plan.

How the World would end: The population will die as the rage virus spreads and become a pandemic.

The Buzz: Some would say the sequel is actually better than the original Boyle film, while others disagree and proclaim that 28 Days Later is far superior. While both sides provide very valid points, it should be noted that both films were well-received by critics. The Box office take of the movie reached $64,238,440 worldwide, while Boyle's 28 Days Later earned $82,719,885 world-wide.

Featured Review: The Village Voice's Nathan Lee: Director Juan Carlos Fresnadillo, whose résumé is limited to the deft if wildly precocious thriller Intacto, bluntly raids the zeitgeist in his sequel to Danny Boyle's new-school zombie smash 28 Days Later. That's forgivable because (a) 28 Weeks Later kicks ass; (b) etiquette forbids Nancy Pelosi from discussing the occupation in terms of gore-drenched cannibalistic anarchy; and (c) topical dissent is as intrinsic to the zombie genre as topical skin problems. From the social breakdown of George Romero's Night of the Living Dead (1968) to the undead blowback of Joe Dante's Homecoming (2005), the standard zombie diet has consisted of two delicacies: human flesh-preferably brains and viscera-and subtext, traditionally seasoned with sociopolitical flavor. You are what you eat, and if you happen to eat people, there's bound to be some anthropological gristle to chew. [ read more ]

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# 7 - Mars Attacks! (1996) - If you can recall how Earthlings defeated the Martians, then I'm not going to waste my time convincing you why this Tim Burton film ought to be on the list. (Hint: The old lady's favorite vinyl)

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The Plot: When Martians begin to attack the Earth, several groups of people must try to survive. These groups include a reporter and his girlfriend, a top scientist, the president and his family (and aides), a Kansas boy and his grandma, and Tom Jones and people from a casino in Las Vegas.

How the World would end: From Martian invasion

The Buzz: An inter-gallactic stellar cast - Jack Nicholson, Glenn Close, Pierce Brosnan, Sarah Jessica Parker to name just a few of the big stars.

Featured Review: Variety's Todd McCarthy: Script by British playwright Jonathan Gems, who worked closely with Burton in developing the storyline, serves up any number of sweetly subversive scenes, such as presidential adviser Martin Short's use of the White House's Kennedy Room as the place for his fateful assignation with the voluptuous Martian Girl (Lisa Marie), and a love scene played between the disembodied heads of Brosnan and TV personality Sarah Jessica Parker, both of whom have been kidnapped and dismembered by the Martians.

But the picture is lacking in the uproarious humor that might well have ensued from the material, which instead inspires occasional laughs but, much more often, bemused fascination and wonderment at the bizarre imaginations and impressive skill of the filmmakers. Pic is loaded with wit, nifty little ideas and an extraordinary sense of design, b ut its allure is of quite a particular nature, much closer to that of "Ed Wood" than of Burton's earlier, and far more commercially successful, works.

For connoisseurs, then, there are many pleasures to be had; others may find the film amusing but hardly compelling. The affection Burton and his cohorts possess for the sci-fi of the Cold War era is unmistakable, and is conveyed here through a loving reinterpretation of the aesthetic of the period. Hats off to the exceptional production team, from production designer Wynn Thomas, costume designer Colleen Atwood and lenser Peter Suschitzky to the many special- and visual-effects hands, who have done a superlative job making deliberately cheesy and artificial effects look seamless and utterly convincing. Music also plays a key part in the proceedings, from Danny Elfman's patented fun-house sounds to some mordantly used pop tunes. [ read more ]

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# 6 - I am Legend (2007) -While this is not the first time for Matheson's classic 1964 book to be adapted into a film, it's one of Will Smith's most authentic, fascinating and ultimately most enduring character portrayals in his acclaimed movie career. He plays a dedicated Scientist out to find a cure to save mankind.

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The Plot: Years after a plague kills most of humanity and transforms the rest into monsters, the sole survivor in New York City struggles valiantly to find a cure.

How the World would end: Due to a vicious man-made virus originally created to cure cancer.

The Buzz: Warner Bros. began developing I Am Legend in 1994, and various actors and directors were attached to the project, though production was delayed due to budgetary concerns related to the script. Production began in 2006 in New York City, filming mainly on location in the city, including a $5 million scene at the Brooklyn Bridge, the most expensive scene ever filmed in the city at the time. I Am Legend was released on December 14, 2007 in the United States. It opened to the largest ever box office (not counting for inflation) for a non-Christmas film released in the U.S. in December. The film was the seventh highest grossing film of 2007, earning $256 million domestically and $329 million internationally, for a total of $585 million. In 2008, the film was ranked as the forty-seventh highest grossing film of all time. I Am Legend also received positive reviews, with much praise to Will Smith's performance.

Featured Review from Peter Travers (Rolling Stone): It is totally cool to see Manhattan devoid of people as Will Smith and his dog roam the ruins after a virus wipes out the population. Or did it? Strange things come out at night. I'll say no more and won't need to if you've read Richard Matheson's classic 1954 novel or seen the two previous screen versions, 1964's The Last Man on Earth, with Vincent Price, and 1971's The Omega Man, with Charlton Heston. What you need to know is that Big Willie has no problem holding the screen. [ read more ]

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# 5 - Sunshine (2007): Eerie, even annoying to a certain degree and quite predictable but it was visually stunning. You either love it or hate it, but Danny Boyle delivered a sci-fi futuristic film which took inspiration from some of cinema's greats, incorporating these themes seamlessly.

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The Plot: 50 years into the future, the Sun begins to die, and Earth is dying as a result. A team of astronauts are sent to revive the Sun - but the mission fails. Seven years later, a new team are sent to finish the mission as they are Earth's last hope.

How the World would end: As a result of the death of our Sun.

The Buzz: Brought back the screen collaboration between Danny Boyle and Cillian Murphy, who both made waves in 28 Days Later, another Boyle film on this list.

Featured Review: Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian): Garland and Boyle's story reaches out, or reaches back, to the lost 1970s tradition of darkness, scepticism and subversion in science fiction, a period that combined the technological optimism of the Sputnik/Apollo era with the succeeding decade's political discontent. Sunshine alludes, empathically and even unsubtly, to Kubrick's 2001 and Carpenter's Dark Star with their weightlessly calm personnel procedures, vertiginous perspective planes of hyperdrive and enigmatically mutinous computers. We also feel the austere mysticism of Tarkovsky's Solaris - a movie that shows what space travel would be like if they'd managed it in the reign of Henry II - and the paranoid contaminations of Ridley Scott's Alien. The crew eat lunch and have important meetings around the same kind of tabletop, which is lit from below, like a photographer's lightbox, giving them all the same fierce pallor. But Sunshine also channels queasy modern anxieties from our modern age: a world of climate change, weapons of mass destruction and even suicide bombers. [ read more ]

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# 4 - 12 Monkeys (1995) - Two words: Terry Gilliam.

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The Plot: Terry Gilliam's nightmarish low-tech/high-tech future vision takes place in 1997, after a deadly virus has killed 99% of the human population--forcing the survivors to flee beneath our planet's surface. This leaves the (other) animals topside, to rule the Earth once again. The scientists select James Cole, an imprisoned sociopath, to return to the past and gather information useful in the defense against this contagion. Once back in time, he is to investigate the mysterious 'Army of the Twelve Monkeys' and report his findings. Scientific, social, and political themes like time travel (and its inherent paradoxes and nested loops), mental illness, the nature of reality, animal rights, and the Armageddon-potential of unchecked technological advances are artfully and cleverly explored

How the World would end: People will die due to virus.

The Buzz: This movie gave Brad Pitt his Golden Globes (Best Supporting Actor) and an Oscar nom for the same category.

Featured Review: Rolling Stone's Peter Travers: Even when Terry Gilliam's latest leap into the wild blue of futuristic fantasy is at its most confounding, you leap along with him. Such is the seductive power of his twisted imagination. Whether it's Monty Python, Brazil, Time Bandits or The Fisher King, Gilliam guarantees a thrilling ride. 12 Monkeys is no exception. Bruce Willis, in an eruptive performance of startling emotional intensity, stars as Cole, a prisoner tagged for an experiment that may get him killed. The year is 2035. Nearly 40 years earlier, a killer virus spared only 1 percent of the planet's population. In a lab located under the city of Philadelphia, scientists prepare to wrap the naked Cole in condomlike latex and zap him back to 1996 to find out how to reclaim the earth. Above ground the city is uninhabitable, except by the wild animals who roam deserted skyscrapers and department stores. Gilliam, along with the gifted cinematographer Roger Pratt and production designer Jeffrey Beecroft, fashions a disturbing and dazzling lost world. [ read more ]

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# 3 - Terminator (1984) - Endlessly imitated, The Terminator made the reputation of cowriter/director James Cameron -- who would go on to make 1997's titanic Titanic -- and solidified the stardom of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

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The Plot: The movie begins in a post-apocalyptic 2029, when Los Angeles has been largely reduced to rubble and is under the thumb of all-powerful ruling machines. Kyle Reese (Michael Biehn), a member of the human resistance movement, is teleported back to 1984. His purpose: to rescue Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton), the mother of the man who will lead the 21st-century rebels against the tyrannical machines, from being assassinated before she can give birth. Likewise thrust back to 1984 is The Terminator (Schwarzenegger), a grim, well-armed, virtually indestructable cyborg who has been programmed to eliminate Sarah Connor. After killing two "Sarah Connors" who turn out to be the wrong women, he finally aims his gunsights at the genuine article. This is the film in which Schwarzenegger declared "I'll be baaaack" -- and back he was, in "kinder and gentler" form, in the even more successful Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991).

How the World would end: Machines will annihilate human population and become the dominant specie.

The Buzz: From Arnold to Edward Furlong to some of today's up and coming, including Anton Yelchin and Sam Worthington, the Terminator series remain one of cinema's best bet to launch the careers of the very talented.

Featured Review: Variety: The Terminator is a blazing, cinematic comic book, full of virtuoso moviemaking, terrific momentum, solid performances and a compelling story. The clever script, cowritten by director James Cameron and producer Gale Anne Hurd, opens in a post-holocaust nightmare, A.D.2029, where brainy machines have crushed most of the human populace. From that point, Arnold Schwarzenegger as the cyborg Terminator is sent back to the present to assassinate a young woman named Sarah Connor (Linda Hamilton) who is, in the context of a soon-to-be-born son and the nuclear war to come, the mother of mankind's salvation.

A human survivor in that black future (Michael Biehn), also drops into 1984 to stop the Terminator and save the woman and the future. [ read more ]

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# 2 - 28 Days Later (2002) This movie succeeds in many ways - a new, fresh look at zombies, the interplay of the society and the individual during chaotic and violent times. It also gave the audience a truly memorable and fulfilling cinematic experience.

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The Plot: It has been twenty-eight days since Jim, a young bicycle courier, was knocked off his bike and injured in a car accident. When he wakes up from his coma, the world has changed. London is deserted, litter-strewn and grim, and it seems the entire world has disappeared. The truth, however, is even more horrifying - a devastating psychological virus has been unleashed on the world, turning the population into blood-crazed psychopaths driven only to kill and destroy the uninfected. A bitter struggle to get out of the city with fellow survivors to a military encampment at Manchester follows - but there, their troubles are just beginning.

How the World would end: Virus will wipe out the population.

The Buzz: Boyle explains that, with the aim of preserving the suspension of disbelief, relatively unknown actors were cast in the film. Cillian Murphy had at the time starred primarily in small independent films, while Naomie Harris had acted on British television as a child. However, actors Christopher Eccleston and Brendan Gleeson were well-known character actors. Eccleston, who went on to greater notablity for his portrayal of the Ninth Doctor in the 2005 series of Doctor Who, had already appeared in films such as The Others, Gone in 60 Seconds, eXistenZ and Shallow Grave (another film directed by Boyle). Likewise, Gleeson had appeared in several films, including Braveheart, Lake Placid, The General and eventually, the Harry Potter series.

Featured Review by Mick Lasalle (San Francisco Chronicles) : "28 Days Later" is almost a great apocalyptic thriller. It has eerie images, a compelling situation and an unusual capacity to surprise. It incites an irresistible state of unease, the sense of disaster only seconds away, as well as a deep hunger to know what comes next. There's no real relief until its last moments.

Yet the movie falls short two-thirds of the way in. Thereafter, it becomes impossible not to feel the filmmakers' strain -- and feel the story being muscled in odd directions in pursuit of thrills at all cost. By the finish, the movie is getting by on little but adrenaline and audience goodwill. Still, that goodwill runs fairly deep, because, taken all in all, "28 Days Later" is a superior motion picture. [ read more ]

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# 1 - Children of Men (2006) - Stunning, intriguing and ultimately disturbing, this Alfonso Cuaron movie provides one of the most fascinating look at the world in the near future.

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The Plot: In 2027, in a chaotic world in which humans can no longer procreate, a former activist agrees to help transport a miraculously pregnant woman to a sanctuary at sea, where her child's birth may help scientists save the future of humankind.

How the World would end: Man's inability to procreate.

The Buzz: Children of Men was not a financial success, but attracted positive reviews from critics and acclaim from filmgoers. The film was recognised for its achievements in screenwriting, cinematography, art direction, and innovative single-shot action sequences, receiving three Academy Award nominations and winning two BAFTA awards. It has gone on to take many accolades after its release, with many critics and associations recognizing it as a contemporary sci-fi classic.

Featured Review: Peter Bradshaw (The Guardian): What will the end of the world look like? As shabby and nasty as the way it looks here is my guess. This explosively violent future-nightmare thriller, directed by Alfonso Cuarón and adapted from the novel by PD James, has simply the most extraordinary look of any movie around: a stunningly convincing realisation of a Beirut-ised London in the year 2027, in which terrorist bombs have become as dreary and commonplace as cancer.

No one does dystopian satire like the English and this story is in a recognisably vernacular tradition, though owing as much to John Wyndham as George Orwell. It actually reminded me of bygone television chillers such as Barry Hines's Threads and the 1970s classic Survivors, with their distinctive and now unfashionably high-minded determination to confront the worst outcomes imaginable. It is, perhaps, odd that Cuarón sticks with the 1992 novel's reluctance to predict the internet, and media-watchers will be intrigued to see that in 2027 the London Evening Standard has evidently seen off web and freesheet competition to stay in its monopoly pole position on the capital's sandbagged streets. But despite the stylisations and grandiloquent drama, there is something just so grimly and grittily plausible about the awful world conjured up here, and the full-on urban warfare scenes really are electrifying. [ read more ]

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What's on your mind? Do you have other 'end of the world' movies which should have made this list? What do you think of the list of 10 movies above - any movie in particular you dislike? Let us know what you think!
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tMF Featured Trailer: That Evening Sun, with Hal Holbrook!

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 11:28:34 +0000

Hal Holbrook, who did an exceptional performance in Into the Wild, has new movie entitled That Evening Sun. It was shown at the recent SWSX to much acclaim. The movie also stars, one of tMF's favorites and definitely a talent to watch, Mia Wasikowska.

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Says Holbook of the movie:

I like to call a spade a spade; I like to say what I think. Anyway, there are educatedSoutherners and those who are not very educated for one reason or another. In this picture you see the two kinds of Southerners. So often, Hollywood portrays anybody from the South as some dumb hick who is racist. That's the favorite thing, you know - an uneducated hick. And I think that one of the things that Scott and Walton and Ray wanted to do in this film is to show a wider picture of Southern people.

More about the movie including the trailer after the jump!

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What the Movie is all about: Abner Meecham, an aging Tennessee farmer discarded to a nursing facility by his lawyer son, flees the old folks' home and catches a ride back to his country farm to live out his days in peace. Upon his return, he discovers that his son has leased the farm to Abner's old enemy and his white trash family. Not one to suffer fools or go down easy, Abner moves into the old tenant shack on the property and declares that he won't leave until the farm is returned to his possession. But Lonzo Choat, the new tenant, has no intention to move out or give in to the old man's demands.

This sets up a ruthless grudge match between Abner and Choat, each man right in his own eyes, each too stubborn to give an inch. Angered by his son's betrayal, and haunted by recurring dreams of his long‐dead wife, Abner sets about his own path toward reclaiming his life. Lines are drawn, threats are made, and the simmering tension under the Southern sun erupts, inevitably, into savagery.

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What's on your mind? What are your reactions after watching the trailer? Are you a fan of Hal Holbrook, and have you seen his other movies? Let us know what you think!

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tMF Featured Trailer: Jim Sheridan's Brothers has a new trailer!

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 04:54:43 +0000

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A second trailer (watch it after the jump!), more photos (featuring the lead cast) and an interview with Tobey Maguire at the LA Times. Apparently, the marketing campaign for Jim Sheridan's latest film, Brothers, is well underway!

Our recent spotlight article on Jake Gyllenhaal offered some details on his character, Tommy Cahill. The character study came from Jake's co-star Tobey Maguire during his interview at the LA Times.
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Maguire also made the following comment regarding Americans who were sent to war:

In the area of our veterans coming home with traumas or PTSD or whatever, it's one of those issues that isn't pretty to look at," Maguire says. "We ask these people to fight for us and risk their lives, and certainly potentially alter their outlook of the world or how they react to things. I think it would be nice for us as a society to have some more awareness of what they go through, and to take on some more responsibility for the results of our asking them to go over there. [ read more ]

Watch the second trailer below:

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What the Movie is all about: When a decorated Marine goes missing overseas, his black-sheep younger brother cares for his wife and children at home-with consequences that will shake the foundation of the entire family. BROTHERS tells the powerful story of two siblings, thirtysomething Captain Sam Cahill (Tobey Maguire) and younger brother Tommy Cahill (Jake Gyllenhaal), who are polar opposites. A Marine about to embark on his fourth tour of duty, Sam is a steadfast family man married to his high school sweetheart, the aptly named Grace (Natalie Portman), with whom he has two young daughters (Bailee Madison, Taylor Grace Geare). Tommy, his charismatic younger brother, is a drifter just out of jail who's always gotten by on wit and charm. He slides easily into his role as family provocateur on his first night out of prison, at Sam's farewell dinner with their parents, Elsie (Mare Winningham) and Hank Cahill (Sam Shepard), a retired Marine.
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tMF Fast Forward: John Hopkins welcome the cast and crew of David Fincher's 'The Social Network'

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:44:41 +0000

All Facebook posted an article about the current filming of David Fincher's 'The Social Network':

Last week we wrote that Johns Hopkins would welcome the crew of "The Social Network" this week as they'd be filming in front of some of the dorms. Today photos of the shooting are rolling in from Twitpic including shots of Eamon Brooks and Jesse Eisenberg, two of the film's main characters. [ read more ]

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I'm quite certain that one of the actors in the photos is Jesse Eisenberg, but I'm not too sure that the other one is Eamon Brooks. I believe it'sAndrew Garfield. I maybe wrong of course... So try to look at the photos please....

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On the actors, here's our take:

Andrew Garfield, who was exceptional in Boy A, would be an awesome addition to any cast. A big winner at the recent BAFTAs, Garfield will next be seen in Terry Gilliam's Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus. It makes me quite happy that with this new project, I'll be able to see how Garfield reacts with such director as David Fincher, and maybe even surpass his work in Boy A. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that this casting news will push through.

Garfield plays Eduardo Saverin the one who figured that their ticket to social acceptance and sexual success was getting invited to join one of the university's Final Clubs, a constellation of elite societies that had groomed generations of the most powerful men in the world and ranked on top of the inflexible hierarchy at Harvard.

Jesse Eisenberg, is perhaps the most under-rated young actor in America. But things are, indeed, looking much better for 'The Squid and the Whale' actor. The lead role in the new David Fincher film would be a great opportunity for Eisenberg to show just how awesome he is as an actor. With more than 7 new projects including Zombieland, Holy Rolers and Kill Your Darlings, Eisenberg is on his way up!

Eisenberg is Mark Zuckerberg, the computer genius, who hacked into the university's computer system, creating a ratable database of all the female students on campus-and subsequently crashing the university's servers and nearly getting himself kicked out of school. In that moment, in his Harvard dorm room, the framework for Facebook was born.

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About the book where the movie is based: Here are the details about the book via Random House:

The high-energy tale of how two socially awkward Ivy Leaguers, trying to increase their chances with the opposite sex, ended up creating Facebook.

Eduardo Saverin and Mark Zuckerberg were Harvard undergraduates and best friends-outsiders at a school filled with polished prep-school grads and long-time legacies. They shared both academic brilliance in math and a geeky awkwardness with women.

Eduardo figured their ticket to social acceptance-and sexual success-was getting invited to join one of the university's Final Clubs, a constellation of elite societies that had groomed generations of the most powerful men in the world and ranked on top of the inflexible hierarchy at Harvard. Mark, with less of an interest in what the campus alpha males thought of him, happened to be a computer genius of the first order.

Which he used to find a more direct route to social stardom: one lonely night, Mark hacked into the university's computer system, creating a ratable database of all the female students on campus-and subsequently crashing the university's servers and nearly getting himself kicked out of school. In that moment, in his Harvard dorm room, the framework for Facebook was born.

What followed-a real-life adventure filled with slick venture capitalists, stunning women, and six-foot-five-inch identical-twin Olympic rowers-makes for one of the most entertaining and compelling books of the year. Before long, Eduardo's and Mark's different ideas about Facebook created in their relationship faint cracks, which soon spiraled into out-and-out warfare. The collegiate exuberance that marked their collaboration fell prey to the adult world of lawyers and money. The great irony is that while Facebook succeeded by bringing people together, its very success tore two best friends apart.

The Accidental Billionaires is a compulsively readable story of innocence lost-and of the unusual creation of a company that has revolutionized the way hundreds of millions of people relate to one another.

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What's on your mind? Are you looking forward to this latest David Fincher film? Have you seen the movies of Jesse Eisenberg and Andrew Garfield? Let us know what you think!

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Fox Searchlight in trouble? No More Broncos.. I won't see Angarano!

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:33:23 +0000

Is today's business of making movies really going through very rough times? In the case of Fox Searchlight, it seems 2009 is their year of 'financial reckoning'.

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Come to think of it, the studio was the best performer last year - Take a look: Fox Searchlight's Slumdog Millionaire won the Academy Award for Best Picture at the 81st Academy Awards as well as a further 7 academy awards. Other Fox Searchlight films receiving Best Picture nominations include The Full Monty, Sideways, Little Miss Sunshine and Juno.

More about the studio's line up of movies for 2009 and some Box Office reports after the jump!
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Just take a look at this January 2009 report from Reuters:

Independent film label Fox Searchlight Pictures racked up more awards than any other movie studio at the Golden Globes on Sunday thanks to big wins for "Slumdog Millionaire" and "The Wrestler." The six awards for the studio, which is a unit of Rupert Murdoch's News Corp, will be key to boosting Searchlight's movie ticket sales in the weeks leading up to Hollywood's biggest event, the Oscars, next month.

"Slumdog Millionaire," a rags-to-riches tale about a young Indian man who competes on a TV game show, has raked in nearly $38 million worldwide to date, mostly in the United States. The movie was the night's big winner with four awards. Fox Searchlight's "The Wrestler," which has been released in just a handful of U.S. theaters so far, has brought in $2.8 million. The movie about a fallen wrestler earned best actor honors for Mickey Rourke in the starring role and a best original song award for rocker Bruce Springsteen.

Time Warner Inc unit Warner Bros received five awards, the night's second biggest number for a studio. [ read more ]

This year's line-up of films including Whip it!, Notorious, Miss March, Amelia, 500 Days of Summer, Adam and Post Grad (with 20th Century Fox and co-production with The Montecito Picture Company and Cold Spring Pictures) are nowhere near last year's hits. Except for 500 Days of Summer and Notorious and possibly The Fantastic Mr. Fox, all of these films bombed at the Box Office.

Now that the financial picture looks ridiculously bad, they've decided to fold Gentlemens Broncos. The Jared Hess movie, starring Jemaine Clement, Michael Angarano, Jennifer Coolidge, among others, is not performing as expected. In fact, it's not performing at all.

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Cineman Blend commented that:

It doesn't work so well when your movie is a stinker, which is exactly what Fox Searchlight seems to have learned with Gentlemen Broncos. It opened in two theaters last weekend and earned a merely-OK $5,751 per-theater average. But with the reviews scathing and a wider release unlikely to bring in new fans, Searchlight has apparently decided to cut their losses and give up on bringing the film beyond New York and L.A. Roger Ebert said on his Twitter feed that the Chicago release has been cancelled, and similar notices are apparently coming in for critics in markets like Denver and Phoenix. [ read more ]

The popular movie news site also posted this announcement: "Unfortunately GENTLEMEN BRONCOS will not be opening in any additional markets after Friday, November 6th. All screenings, etc. have been cancelled please do not include film in your calendars or reviews. Thank you."

All I can say is: No more Broncos... I won't be seeing Michael Angarano!

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What's on your mind? Have you heard of Gentlemen Broncos and is interested in watching the film? Have you seen the other films of Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite and Nacho Libre)? Are you a Michael Angarano fan? Let us know what you think!
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tMF Controversial: What? There's gay undertone in the latest Sherlock Holmes trailer?

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 10:21:58 +0000

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I've been reading a couple of movie blogs and finding out what's their take on the latest Sherlock Holmes trailer. One of the most intriguing just got to be Movieline's post, which I'm quoting below:

It's been a long, interesting ride for the Sherlock Holmes promotional campaign, which began with a shot of Robert Downey Jr stripped to the waist and now finishes with a final trailer full of homoerotic banter. "This is not your father's Sherlock Holmes!" the trailer cries. "Did your father's Sherlock Holmes flirt with Watson all day? Did he sublimate his sexual urges for Jude Law into a simultaneous, side-by-side orgasm of gunfire? [ read more ]

Other blogs are not as provocative as Movieline's take on the latest trailer. Total Film simply took note of the additional scenes and the music, saying: There are a few more story fragments and a snippet or two of fresh footage, but it's largely what we've seen before, albeit with the action ramped up and the music more boisterous...

So, what do you think? Oh, yeah you need to watch the trailer! More views after the jump!
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Den of Geek said:

There seems to be some who think this looks like a daft messing around with the whole Holmes legacy, and others who quite like that the look of what Ritchie has done here. The trump card is likely to be Robert Downey Jr, who we'd pay to watch read the phone book at times.

You can find the trailer below, and if rumours are to be believed, then a sequel is already in the early stages of script and story work too. [ read more ]

I guess you only need to look closely at the latest poster above to get some clue. But then again, a poster nor a trailer is not substantial enough to judge the merits of this film. However, some of us have been known to decide on whether a movie is good or bad simply by doing 'trailer watching'.

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What's on your mind? So what do you think? Do you enjoy the trailer, enough to watch the movie in theaters or you think this will be a load of crap? Let us know what you think!
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tMF Controversial: WAR! New Moon "Spawns IMDb Battle of the Sexes Turf War"?

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 13:19:23 +0000

Here we go again! Twilight: New Moon is scheduled for release this coming November 20 but already a fight is brewing between two massive movie audiences - the Twilight fandom versus the Comic book guys!

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Is this the ultimate battle of the sexes? Peter Sciretta @SlashFilm thinks so:

The funniest thing about the rankings is the demographics behind the votes The average Male user rating is a 3.3, while the average female user rating is an 8.0. And while females under 18 rate the film a 8.7, the most popular demo is the "Twilight Mom", females aged 30-44, which have given the film an average rating of a 9.9. Wow... [ read more ]

I'm still wondering how come IMDb already allowed its registered members to vote when the movie is not yet released? Anyway, we have a proposition to make, right after the jump!

It should be noted that Summit Entertainment is out to get that sector of the movie audience who are regarded to be 'hostile' to Twilight - young males. In our recent article, we took note of this:

Summit has this to say when they announced Weitz's directorial assignment:

Weitz, an Academy Award-nominated writer, director and producer, has a proven track record working with a broad range of material dealing with youth- oriented characters, fantasy and action. As such, he has the potential to bring alive in NEW MOON the dimensions and depth that fans will demand in the next installment.

In a recent interview, it was noted that "Chris Weitz, who also writes and produces, sometimes with his brother Paul, had done a fantasy adaptation in 2007's "The Golden Compass" and felt a connection to the material." Also, there is one particular segment of the moviegoing public that Summit wants to impress - the male audience who have been lukewarm (another word might be hostile) in their reception of Twilight. [ read more ]

Here's one of the movie's latest teaser trailer:

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Do you think after watching this teaser trailer you'll decided that 'It's only for girls!!!'? Says one of SlashFilm's viewers:

I'm really disgusted by those Twilight Moms. You're 30-44 years old and think this psycho-emo-shit is good? You can't be smart. Hell, no one who likes Twilight can be smart. [ source: SlashFilm ]

I'm surprised at the animosity the series has generated. It is as if it's a given for young American males to hate Twilight from the very start. I wonder, if this same guy would also hate his Mom, if she happens to be a Twilight Mom? I'm also surprised that everytime a male blogger or writer say something positive about Twilight, he's automatically regarded as gay? WTF.

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What's on your mind?

Anyway, do you think this is the ultimate turf war in contemporary movie history? And if you either love or hate Twilight, we're asking you a few simple questions: How much will New Moon take at the Box Office? Can it beat Star Wars or Star Trek, said to be the ultimate comic book guys' favorites?
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As of its post, here's the result: 1,701 IMDb users have given a weighted average vote of 4.5 / 10

Our proposition: Register at IMDb and take the vote. On Friday, we'll see the rating and find out who wins!
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tMF Featured Trailer: 2012 - Roland Emmerich’s latest disaster epic!

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:57:29 +0000

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Never before has a date in history been so significant to so many cultures, so many religions, scientists, and governments. A global cataclysm brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

How's that for an intro of Roland Emmerich’s latest disaster epic, 2012! Watch the trailer after the jump!

More about the Movie: An academic researcher leads a group of people in a fight to counteract the apocalyptic events that were predicted by the ancient Mayan calendar and other historical documents, astronomy, biblical and scientific data. It involves the passage of the Age of Pieces into the Age of Aquarius. It also involves the Destroyer, aka Wormwood, Planet X, Nibiru.

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The Buzz: Mark Gordon, who’s produced four of Emmerich’s movies including “2012,” says there’s a sweetness to Emmerich’s films influenced by the director’s love of Steven Spielberg movies.

“When I see Roland destroy things, I howl because it's fun. It’s not depressing,” said Gordon. “He shoots these scenes with a certain kinds of filter that as terrifying as it is, it’s magical at the same time. It’s not gritty, it’s clean. It’s pop.” [ source: Heat Vision: 2012 premiere: Roland Emmerich on his appetite for destruction ]

Here's the official Movie Site.

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What's on your mind? What are your reactions after watching the trailer for 2012? Are you fond of watching disaster movies? Let us know what you think!
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Casting News: Helen Mirren to play assassin in her first comic book role!

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:07:39 +0000

According to the Hollywood Reporter's Heat Vision, Oscar winner Helen Mirren is cast to play an assassin in Summit Entertainment's adaptation of the Wildstorm/DC Comics' Red.

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Details as follows:

The Oscar winner has signed to play an assassin in "Red," Summit Entertainment's adaptation of the Wildstorm/DC Comics miniseries being directed by Robert Schwenke.

Mirren joins Bruce Willis and Morgan Freeman in the tale of a former black-ops agent (Willis), now in retirement, who has to contend with younger, more high-tech assassins who show up to kill him. Mirren plays an old associate of Willis with a lethal set of skills. [ read more ]

This is, yet again, proof of the versatility of Mirren, who won Best Actress for her role as Queen Elizabeth II in Stephen Frear's The Queen. Of course, this is not the first time for Mirren to play an assassin. In Shadowboxer (that's where the picture above came from), she plays Rose, a female assassin, who is diagnosed with terminal cancer; decides to carry out one final killing, assisted by lover and also stepson, Mickey (played by Cuba Gooding, Jr.)
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I don't think this movie was well-received by the critics, but I enjoyed watching it. Among her co-stars were Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Macy Gray and Stephen Dorf (who did frontal nudity here). Mirren did quite a number of bold scenes - in which she made love with Cuba Gooding Jr. in an open-air garden.

Says Stephen Holden at the NY TImes:

Playing one of the most unlikely couples in screen history, Helen Mirren and Cuba Gooding Jr. are Rose and Mikey, contract killers and lovers living in Philadelphia who happen to be stepmother and stepson. And oh yes, Rose is dying of cancer and eventually exits the world with the kind of bang not seen since Jeanne Moreau’s self-annihilation in “Going Places.”

The intensity of Rose and Mikey’s passion goes way beyond conventional Hollywood sex, and the fact that it is interracial and intergenerational (Ms. Mirren is 22 years older than Mr. Gooding) lends it an extra transgressive kick. I haven’t seen a black man and a white woman make love like this in an American movie since Ellen Barkin and Laurence Fishburne tore at each other in “Bad Company” in 1995. Although I suspect that this explicitness will damage the film’s already marginal commercial prospects, I applaud the film (and the actors) for putting it in our faces at a time when Hollywood has turned squeamish. (In fact, “Shadowboxer” is independently produced and released and unencumbered by studio strictures.) [ read more ]

Says Kate Davies:

There are two features of this film that you can't fail to miss; it's mighty big on the sex and violence. It deserves some dubious honour for featuring the most disturbing sex scene you will ever come across, involving a soft-focus colour-enhanced camera shot of Rose and Mickey "making love" under some trees in a forest with bright pink blossom floating softly down from above, while birds sing in the trees, and leaves rustle underfoot, topped off with the occasional flashback to the pairs romantic meeting (Rose winks at seven-year old Mickey at his mothers funeral. I kid you not). Words cannot do justice to this assault on the eyes and ears. See it to believe it. At the other end of the scale, it also features a man being anally assaulted with a pool cue. The humanity. It's a film of extremes, this much is true. [ read more ]

It might appear 'disturbing' to some simply because the actors who did the sex scenes were of different color. I think the chemistry between Mirren and Gooding, Jr. was quite intense and they're acting out their roles, which they did with such authenticity, one can't help but wonder - why all the fuzz on the sex scenes?

Anyway, Mirren is such a gifted actress I would watch her movies whatever the role.

Lastly, I'm so looking forward to Mirren's take as the wife of Leo Toystoy in The Last Station. She has already gained additional Oscar mileage when she won the Best Actress award at the recent Rome International Film Festival for the role.

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What's on your mind? Are you a fan of Oscar winner Helen Mirren? Which among her movies are your favorites? Let us know what you think!
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OSCAR talk: Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin to host the Oscars

modelwatcher@gmail.com (Jed Medina) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 11:19:47 +0000

Two Oscar news of different levels of importance caught everyone's attention: The new Oscar hosts and Danny Boyle's problem with his Slumdog Millionaire child actors. I'll deal with the hosts here...

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While I'd love to see Hugh Jackman do it again and it would have been cool to see Ben Stiller and Robert Downey, Jr team up and do some hilarious antics on the stage, but it seems they're not in the mood to host the Oscars. When it was announced that Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin would host the upcoming Awards show, then that's also fine with me. Steve Martin is cool and he can really make the Oscar awards night lively and fun, while Baldwin can take care of the more serious side. Of course, they're together in It's Complicated with Meryl Streep, who could have been a host too, but...
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Here's the announcement:

Beverly Hills, CA-Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will serve as co-hosts of the 82nd Academy Awards®, Oscar telecast producers Bill Mechanic and Adam Shankman announced today.

We think the team of Steve and Alec are the perfect pair of hosts for the Oscars," said Shankman and Mechanic. "Steve will bring the experience of having hosted the show in the past and Alec will be a completely fresh personality for this event."

"I am happy to co-host the Oscars with my enemy Alec Baldwin," said Martin.

"I don't play the banjo but I'm thrilled to be hosting the Oscars - it's the opportunity of a lifetime," said Baldwin.

Martin hosted the 73rd and 75th Academy Awards shows, earning an Emmy nomination for the first stint. He has also served as a presenter on the show several times, most recently at the ceremony in February when he appeared with Tina Fey. He is currently touring with the bluegrass band Steep Canyon Rangers in support of his latest album "The Crow: New Songs for the Five String Banjo." In 1977 and 1978 Martin won Grammys for Best Comedy Recording. He earned a third Grammy in 2001 in the Best Country Instrumental Performance category. In 2007 Martin earned a Kennedy Center Honor.

Baldwin was nominated for an Academy Award in 2003 for his supporting role in "The Cooler." That year also marked his most recent appearance as a presenter on the show. Baldwin currently stars as Jack Donaghy on the comedy "30 Rock," a role for which he has won two Emmys (in 2008 and 2009). Baldwin earned a Tony nomination in 1992 for his performance in "A Streetcar Named Desire."

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2009 will be presented on Sunday, March 7, 2010, at the Kodak Theatre at Hollywood & Highland Center®, and televised live by the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 200 countries worldwide.

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What's on your mind? What can you say about Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin as Oscar hosts? Do you think they will do awesome? Let us know what you think!
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