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New Battleship Trailer offers a Plot

Damon Houx — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 19:45:50 +0000

2012′s summer is going to be interesting as many of the big films look like they might not work. Men in Black III is going for another round of re-shoots, and there are a lot of other question marks, as well. Now we have the full trailer for Peter Berg‘s Battleship - which on paper looks dicey – but it’s got scale and a story now. Taylor Kitsch, Liam Neeson, Rhiana, Brooklyn Decker and Alexander Skarsgard star. The film is set to open May 18. Check it out…

The best thing to say about the new trailer is that now we’ve got a story. Kitsch’s character is put in charge, and you don’t have to think of Star Trek to recognize this as a fun but dusty old trope. Model-turned-actress Brooklyn Decker (her name sounds like a slang term for something incredibly filthy) does not appear to have much chops, but from the gadgets of the villains to their full-body Halo suits, this looks about 20% less dumb than it did before.

Okay, it’s a stupid premise, and it’s great that they’re selling the Hasboro connection to Transformers (really?), but it’s got Jesse Plemons, who played Landry on Friday Night Lights, and who remains one of the great TV geek characters. As long as there is escalation and some actual chess-type strategy involved, this Battleship could be good stupid fun. Fingers crossed.

What Board Game should they adapt next?

Liam Neeson in The Grey Trailer

Damon Houx — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 19:21:36 +0000

After the huge success of Taken, it appears that the early months of the year will promise at least one Liam Neeson action movie for another couple years. In 2011 it was Unknown. In 2012 it’s The Grey, which hits theaters January 27. The film had a teaser spot, and now it’s got a full trailer. Both end with Neeson about to box a wolf. Check it out…

Moviefone got it first, so there’s that, and the trailer is hosted by Neeson and Frank Grillo. The Grey looks to tap into something primative, an adventure story based around life or death consequences. This sort of subject matter seems like prison movies.People tend to love them when they’re good, but they only come around once every couple of years. The Edge was released in the 1990′s, and it’s hard to remember one since.

It’s probably because it’s hard not to live the film, and you need someone as talented and as crazy as Joe Carnahan to want to direct it. Carnahan understands that there’s not much digital trickery that can be done with this sort of film – at least it seems that way from the trailer. You need to see that there’s snow everywhere for a film like this to work. We’ll see if it does January 27.

Do you have a favorite Man Against Nature film?

Liam Neeson fights Wolves, Cold in The Grey Trailer

Damon Houx — Wed, 21 Sep 2011 21:47:49 +0000

Liam Neeson has re-teamed with The A-Team director Joe Carnahan for The Grey and it looks to be an adventure. The film tells the story of oil riggers who survive a plane crash, and who are forced to survive in the wilderness and battle the nearby wolves. What looks to be a mixture of Alive and The Edge has at least one advantage – the trailer shows Neeson going up against a wolf wearing broken bottles on his hand. The trailer packs a punch, check it out.

The January 27 release date suggests that they’re going to try for another January/Taken-style success, and perhaps this is the film to recapture that magic (last year’s Unknown is probably best forgotten). These films seem to another story of survival that deals with what’s in a man’s heart, and the will to live and all that.

After years of developing projects only to see them evaporate, it’s also good to see Carnahan working steadily. So many of his former projects had gone through the rounds and died on the vine. Those must have been heartbreaking an include an adaptation of the James Ellroy novel White Jazz to star George Clooney and an adaptation of Lawrence Block’s A Walk among the Tombstones to star Harrison Ford. Perhaps teaming with Neeson is the best thing for Carnahan, as Neeson has been reborn as an action star since Taken.

What’s your favorite Liam Neeson role?

Battleship Trailer goes Boom

Damon Houx — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 17:57:26 +0000

It’s hard to know what to make of Battleship – the movie – even after the trailer. And that’s because it’s hard to call the board game (from which the film is derived) plot driven. It involves calling out numbers, which leads to hits and misses. Here there’s an intergalactic threat, and battleships. No on ei is currently calling out anything resembling numbers, but you know someone’s going to say it, someone’s got to say “you’ve sunk my battleship.” Peter Berg directs Liam Neeson, Alexander Skarsgard, Taylor Kitsch and Brooklyn Decker, and the teaser’s here now. Check it out…

This looks part Independence Day, but maybe a little Pearl Harborish. Post World War II saw a boom in films about war boats, but partly because location shooting is so temperamental, there haven’t been that many over the last twenty years. You also have submarine movies, but so many of those revolve around claustrophobia.

This must be the set up, but it doesn’t feel like there’s much meat here. There’s a love interest, and some back story (Berg is good with characters, so the first act shouldn’t be too painful, though Brooklyn Decker is still a model first), and then an alien attack. If it follows the board game, it could be a cat and mouse game, but nothing in the trailer suggests as much. So it’s still a weird film. But the footage looks good and the actors are likeable. Maybe once we get a sense that there is a story here, it could be more appealing. Word is that there were groans when the trailer showed at preview screenings of Cowboys and Aliens.

Did this sink your interest in Battleship?

Liam Neeson To Appear In ‘The Dark Knight Rises’?

traviswoods — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 22:20:11 +0000

So this is kind of a big deal—it turns out that a major plot point may have leaked from the set of The Dark Knight Rises, as broken by Drew McWeeny at Hitfix. First, to recap what we already know—this is the last film in the Christopher Nolan continuity of Bat-films, Catwoman and Bane show up at some point, and a young version of Batman Begins villain Ra’s al Ghul will appear via flashbacks (as played by Josh Pence). However, rumor has it that a particularly big name actor will be returning to the film and portraying his villainous character from earlier in the series.

This, according to /Film:

“Drew McWeeny at HitFix got news today of a scene shot on Monday. He has tried to confirm his info with Warner Bros., which politely declined to comment at all. What he learned is that Liam Neeson was on set on Monday to shoot a scene in which he reprises the role of Ra’s al Ghul.”

Wowza. Now, despite the fact that this character is, you know, kind of dead (he was killed at the end of Batman Begins), his character, Ra’s al Ghul, was nigh-immortal in the Batman comic mythos. And if the new Batman film picks up that thread, it sounds like The Dark Knight Rises is ready to get weird on us.

What do you think of the Batman news?

Liam Neeson Is No Longer In ‘The Hangover 2′

traviswoods — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 18:05:59 +0000

Sad news for fans of “distracting celebrity cameo that will also remind everyone that Mel Gibson was supposed to be here” as The AV Club calls it, as the oft-discussed Liam Neeson cameo in The Hangover II is now no longer happening (gasp!).

As you may remember, Mel Gibson was originally set to cameo in the film as a tattoo artist, which would be a nod to Mike Tyson’s cameo in the first film, and the franchises overall gimmick of casting celebrities who physically assault women in humorous roles (how cute, you guys!). But then Mel was ousted, and Liam Neeson was brought in, despite having no record of domestic assault (weird, huh?). Unfortunately, though, Neeson wasn’t available for reshoots and the role was once again recast:

“Neeson was unavailable to do reshoots of his scene as a tattoo artist (presumably the one who gives Ed Helms the Mike Tyson homage on his face), having already decamped to London to work on the Clash Of The Titans sequel. So instead, Phillips replaced Neeson entirely with Nick Cassavetes.”

I know what you’re thinking, Hangover fans—“but Nick Cassavetes hasn’t beaten anybody up, has he?”—but sometimes we just have to accept that things change, and that we might not be able to rely upon the Hangover anymore to present us with charming presentations of guys who beat women. At least until Chris Brown is available for Hangover III.

What do you think of the Hangover II news?

UPDATED: Taken 2 Now Coming With Liam Neeson, Not Without

Damon Houx — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 01:12:05 +0000

When Taken came out in January of 2009, it was not expected to be a runaway success. In fact, it was an action movie going up against the Super Bowl. But the film became an honest-to-goodness word-of-mouth hit. Liam Neeson was reborn as an action star – leading to The A-Team and Unknown – and the film made $145 Million at the box office. A sequel was assured and spoken of repeatedly. Earlier today Deadline Hollywood wanted to throw some cold water on that fire, reporting that either the film would go forward without Neeson, or shoot in another year. Now it appears that those contract disputes have been resolved, and shooting is to begin either at the end of the year or the start of 2012

Luc Besson wrote and produced the original, and has been working on a sequel with writer Robert Mark Kamen with eyes on Olivier Megaton to direct. Megaton previously helmed the Besson-produced Transporter 3, and Megaton comes from the stable of younger directors who’ve worked under Besson until they break into Hollywood. This group includes Clash of the Titans‘ Louis Leterrier and Taken‘s Pierre Morel, who was working on the update of Dune for a while. Besson – wanting to move forward – had come up with a list of suitable replacements, including Ralph Fiennes, Mickey Rourke and Sean Bean, but that list has proven unnecessary.

It’s likely that the earlier news break was part of ongoing contract negotiations. But if anything, the success of Taken suggests more of a right time/right place/right story than anything Neeson brought to the table, as he’s been hard pressed to capture the public’s attention as successfully (see also: Unknown). If Neeson wants a franchise, this is a good one to have in his pocket.

The biggest problem facing the sequel is that as much as audiences are willing to go to follow-ups to films like this, heroes like the sort Neeson played – be they like Paul Kersey in Death Wish, or John McClane in Die Hard - rarely make for good sequel stories, and often the second film just remakes the original to less effect, as in Escape From L.A..

Do you have a better joke title than Taken 2: Electric Boogaloo?

Weekend Box Office: Liam Neeson’s Unknown Gets Top Spot

Laura Aguirre — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:19:17 +0000

What do you know, I Am Number Four is actually No. 2, and Mr. Liam Neeson topped the box office charts with his new (known) thriller Unknown. Both films had a strong performance during this President’s Day weekend. The sci-fi flick grossed $19.5 million, while Unknown, which also stars Diane Kruger and January Jones, grossed $21, 770,000 million — close, indeed. Also new this weekend was Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son, which came did well despite coming in at No. 5, after Gnomeo and Juliet and Just Go With It.

Check out the weekend box office below…

Unknown | NEW | Warner Brothers | Weekend Gross $21,770,000| Average Per Theater $7,154 | Total Gross $21,770,000 | Film’s Budget – $30 | Week 1
I Am Number Four | NEW | Buena Vista | Weekend Gross $19,500,000 | Average Per Theater $6,183 | Total Gross $19,500,000 | Film’s Budget – $60 | Week 1
Gnomeo and Juliet | Last Week #3 | Buena Vista | Weekend Gross $19,400,000| Average Per Theater $6,437 | Total Gross $50,421,000 | Film’s Budget – N/A | Week 2
Just Go With It | Last Week #1 | Sony | Weekend Gross $18,200,000 | Average Per Theater $5,130 | Total Gross $60,756,000 | Film’s Budget – $80 | Week 2
Big Mommas: Like Father, Like Son | NEW | Fox | Weekend Gross $17,000,000 | Average Per Theater $6,025 | Total Gross $17,000,000 | Film’s Budget – $32 | Week 1
Justin Bieber: Never Say Never | Last Week #2 | Paramount | Weekend Gross $13,600,000 | Average Per Theater $4,362 | Total Gross $48,437,000 | Film’s Budget – $13 | Week 2
The King’s Speech | Last Week #6 | Weinstein | Weekend Gross $6,566,000 | Average Per Theater $3,148 | Total Gross $103,278,000 | Film’s Budget – $15 | Week 13
The Roommate | Last Week #5 | ScreenGems | Weekend Gross $4,100,000| Average Per Theater $1,898 | Total Gross $32,694,000 | Film’s Budget – $16 | Week 3
The Eagle | Last Week #4 |Focus Features | Weekend Gross $3,559,000| Average Per Theater $1,550 | Total Gross $15,041,000 | Film’s Budget – $25 | Week 2
No Strings Attached | Last Week #7 | Paramount | Weekend Gross $3,120,000 | Average Per Theater $1,587 | Total Gross $66,033,000 | Film’s Budget – $25 | Week 5

The Justin Bieber documentary took a big fall on its second week. Maybe people weren’t too crazy about the Biebz after that Glee episode? Or maybe it’s just too much Beiber at once?

What did you see this weekend?

Unknown: Movie Review

Andrew Payne — Fri, 18 Feb 2011 16:04:10 +0000

Liam Neeson returns to Europe-based thrillers this week as an ordinary man who finds himself with no memory and the target of assassins in the middle of Berlin. Does the average Joe in a world of intrigue yield dividends or does Unknown just turn out to be an ordinary thriller? Check out the review below to find out…

The Players:

Director: Jaume Collet-Serra
Writer: Oliver Butcher and Stephen Cornwell
Cast: Liam Neeson, Diane Kruger, January Jones, Aidan Quinn and Frank Langella

The Plot:

In Berlin for a biochemical conference, Dr. Martin Harris (Neeson) gets in a horrific taxicab accident that sends him into a coma. He awakens to find that his wife (Jones) suddenly doesn’t recognize him and claims that another man (Quinn) is actually Dr. Martin Harris. Harris tries to convince authorities that the man is impostor, but his lack of identification and credentials make him seem crazy. He’s cast out into the streets of Berlin only to find himself the target of some mysterious assassins.

He eventually finds the taxi driver (Kruger), the only person who believes his story. United with her, Harris tries to figure out why he’s suddenly become unknown and who is trying to kill him.

The Good:

The Action Pieces: In between a plot that meanders while failing to move at all, are some pretty nifty action pieces including an excellent car chase through the streets of Berlin that relies much more heavily on stunt work than it does on CG. Those moments make this film feel like a throwback to those thrillers we all miss – where action feels real and the stakes high. Unfortunately, they come in the middle of an otherwise scatterbrained story.
The Ending: When the film reveals what’s happened to Harris (don’t worry, no spoilers) it comes as a complete surprise and also justifies all the time wasted leading up the reveal. It’s one of those rare “gotcha” moments that doesn’t seem forced and actually helps inform the rest of the film. Ordinarily poor films are born out of a poor ending, but this is one film that winds up unsatisfying despite an excellent climax. What a shame.

The Bad:

The Lack of Characterization: A major issue with this film is that we never really have a sense of who any of these characters are. While that certainly makes sense for our amnesiac lead, it doesn’t mean that every character should be treated. They may as well be talking mannequins as we learn nothing about any of them while they serve no purpose other than to move the plot forward and be conveniently placed. Had there been some care taken to more fully flesh out these characters, perhaps the film would have been a more interesting thrill ride that did more than just shoot at a man running through Berlin.
The Trick of the Story: Because thrillers can’t just rely on compelling characters or slick direction anymore, this one has to have a high-concept premise. In this case, it’s the aforementioned amnesia angle that finds Harris unaware if he’s really who he thinks he is while the audience is convinced that he is. The film twists around with that for about 90 minutes without making any progress toward a resolution. It establishes very quickly Harris’ issue then produces no more turns until its ultimate reveal. This method of storytelling provides nothing more than a confusing narrative that becomes so nonsensical that merely paying attention seems worthless after awhile.
Detached: This sense of confusion is eventually paid off, but by the time we get to the reveal we’re so detached from the story that it hardly serves as a revelation, more like a sense of relief that the movie can’t go on much longer. The film is so chained to its premise of a man’s presumably being ignored by everyone who knows him, that it never stops to ask itself whether or not any of this making any sense. Particularly in one scene where Harris recalls in detail everything about a personal correspondence between him and another scientist, yet the scientist cannot even begin to believe it’s him because he doesn’t have identification. Wouldn’t anybody think something is amiss?
Logic: Rather than provide a well-plotted or logical way for its main character to confront his predicament, the film lazily asks the audience to simply accept what is happening so it can blow up a few cars without ever having to justify anything happening onscreen. All this does is betray a clever ending that deserved to be reached in a more elegant matter.

Overall:

Unknown is nothing more than a non-sensical and rudimentary thriller. It brings absolutely nothing new to the table even with its unique premise. The characters are flat and uninteresting and it spends so much time running in place with head-shaking ways of showing, once again, that Dr. Harris is being ignored by everybody he knows. Outside of that plot characteristic, everything else about this movie we’ve seen before. It offers no new tricks and because it instantly makes its main character’s plight so unbelievably, it just ends up as a goofy version of better thrillers we’ve seen before.

Rating: 4/10

Unknown opens in wide release on February 18th.

Liam Neeson Returning to Star Wars as Qui-Gon Jinn

Krystal Clark — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 20:52:49 +0000

Liam Neeson was the lead actor in the first installment of George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel series. He played a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon Jinn, who was a mentor to Ewan McGregor’s young Obi-Wan Kenobi. If you haven’t seen the film, and have been living under a rock, this post will be a bit spoilery so continue reading at your on risk.

In Stars Wars: Episode I The Phantom Menace, Neeson’s character died after a battle with Darth Maul (Ray Park), but thanks to the magic of animation, he’s back! Qui-Gon Jinn will reappear on the Cartoon Network series, “Star Wars: The Clone Wars.” People were already excited about the show, but this is just icing on the cake. Neeson will voice the character on the January 28th and February 11th episodes.

When asked about his dramatic return to the Star Wars universe Neeson said that he feels that “these characters resonate…even after all these years.” He continued “Growing up, my heroes were cowboys; they were strong and mysterious, and it seemed like they always rode off into the sunset. For kids today, Star Wars has that same kind of magic. I really wanted to be a part of that.”

You can watch a video sneak peek of Neeson over on EW.

What do you think of Neeson’s return? Are you excited?

Liam Neeson Reunites With Joe Carnahan for The Grey

Krystal Clark — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 22:02:46 +0000

Even though The A-Team wasn’t a runaway hit like many of us thought it would be, it didn’t sour the relationship between director Joe Carnahan and star Liam Neeson. The duo plans on working together again on another project according to Deadline. The film is called The Grey, and it’s a thriller set against the backdrop of the Alaskan tundra. Just thinking about that makes us shiver!

The Grey was recently green-lit and is expected to start production next week with a cast led by Neeson that features Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo, Nonso Anozie, and Joe Anderson. The story will follow an unlucky group that “gets stranded by a plane crash right in the hunting zone of a pack of rogue wolves on the frozen Alaskan tundra.” If that doesn’t spell terror we don’t know what does.

The shoot will take place in Vancouver, and the director thinks the frigid weather will help the cast deliver more believable performances. He said, “In a way, it’s great, because it beats the shit out of the cast and that suits the storyline.” Filming will last for about 40 days and it will follow a typical indie style schedule. Carnahan admits that he hasn’t experienced anything like it since he worked on 2002′s Narc.

What do you think of Neeson and Carnahan reuniting for The Grey? What do you think of the premise?

Liam Neeson Confirmed for Taken 2, TV Series on the Way

Krystal Clark — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 18:48:52 +0000

Liam Neeson has been all about action films ever since Taken debuted in theaters early last year. It was a sleeper hit, and became somewhat of a cult phenomenon. He followed that performance with Zeus from Clash of the Titans and Hannibal in The A-Team, now he’s returning to his vengeful roots in the sequel Taken 2. Yes, it is happening.

According to Deadline, Neeson will begin production on Taken 2 this spring. They also revealed that writer Luc Besson and the production company EuropaCorp have plans to bring Taken to the small screen. In terms of the timeline, it would follow the events that occur in the sequel. Does this mean that we can expect week after week of random kidnappings followed by extreme beatings and shoot-outs?

Speaking of shootouts, another action flick known for its gun play will also be turned into a TV series. The Transporter franchise, which solidified Jason Statham as a one-man ass kicking machine is a possible candidate. With the success of shows like “Nikita” it seems that renegade assassins and vigilantes are all the rage.

The Transporter will cost about $48 million and the series run will consist of 12 episodes. Production will start early next year and the first episodes will be delivered in November. Who will star as the lead in this and Taken? We’re not sure but we’ll let you know when we find out.

Who do you think should be cast?

ScreenCrave.com » liam neeson

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Unknown: Movie Review

The Players:

The Plot:

The Good:

The Bad:

Overall:

Rating: 4/10

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