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Rupert Grint Lands Two Roles – He’ll appear in Charlie Countryman and CBGB

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While Harry Potter’s Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson have been lining up movie roles, things have been quieter on the Rupert Grint front. However now the young actor has booked two roles, according to Variety, as he’ll appear in Fredrik Bond’s The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman and Randall Miller’s CBGB.

In The Necessary Death of Charlie Countryman, Shia LaBeouf stars as Charlie Countryman, who is just a normal guy until he falls in love with the one girl who will probably get him killed. When Charlie meets the absolutely irresistible Gabi she’s already been claimed by Nigel, an insanely violent crime boss with a gang of thugs at his disposal. It isn’t known exactly who grint will play.

CBGB recently booked Alan Rickman to CBGB club owner Hilly Kristal. The film follows the New York City club’s impact on the underground music scene, where it almost inadvertently gave birth to punk. Grint will play Cheetah Chrome of the Dead Boys, who played a prominent role during the club’s rise.

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Universal Plans Lego Hero Factory Movie – With robots fighting off intergalactic baddies

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Despite the fact it’s deal with Hasbro hasn’t turned out so well, with several movies being dropped from production and Battleship sinking at the box office, Universal Pictures isn’t completely giving up toys and game adaptation, as it’s in negotiations for the screen rights to Lego’s Hero Factory line of toys.

These toys, which took over from the Bionicle line in 2010, are rather different than the rest of Lego’s products, as each character fits into a sprawling mythology. The story takes place on a planet that manufactures heroic robots to fend off evil intergalactic forces. Hero Factory has also branched out into other arenas, with a comic book line, computer application, and various other things.

The project will be a live-action movie set within the established mythology. Michael Finch and Alex Litvak (Predators) are in talks to write the screenplay.

It’s not the only Lego movie in development, as Warner is working on a film about the more traditional brick type Lego and its world, which will be a family comedy.

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New Trailer For The Watch – Ben Stiller and co. take on an alien invasion

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After a Florida Neighbourhood Watch leader shot a black teenager in Florida, Fox decided this might be problematic with it’s planned film, Neighbourhood Watch. Cue a title change to The Watch and now a new trailer that sells the sci-fi angle of the film far more than anything that could in anyway be construed as vigilante action. The film is about a suburban neighborhood watch group that serves as a front for dads to get some male-bonding time away from their families. The group finds itself in over its head when it uncovers an alien plot to destroy the world.

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Martha Marcy May Marlene (Blu-ray) – ‘A fantastically dark cult movie, brilliantly acted’

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Martha (Elizabeth Olsen) is a seemingly typical 20-something girl. Struggling to find her identity in the world and dealing with unknown family problems she falls in with a commune of people who she believes will take care of her. However as the film unravels, it peels the layers away and gives us glimpses of the commune’s sinister, cultish leanings.

MMMM is a very impressive debut film from director Sean Durkin. A thriller disguised as a drama, it’s dark inner leanings boil slowly up to the surface as the film goes on. Durkin uses restraint extremely well throughout the film. At times it feels as if it could have easily fallen into schlocky horror exploitation territory, but Durkin instead decides to splice together Martha’s struggle to reintegrate herself into her sister Lucy’s (Sarah Paulson) upper-class normal life and her integration into the cult.

The film has a lot going for it, with a fantastic cast led by the previously mentioned Olsen, along with John Hawkes as the cult leader Patrick. He plays a rather calm but also deeply terrifying character, who displays his power among the cult by renaming all of the women himself and carrying out ritualistic rape when he chooses to, which the elder women of the cult refer to as ‘cleansing’. His anger only comes to the fore in a few scenes, but you can’t help but feel his dark side throughout.

The film uses parallels and contrasts throughout, cutting between the present and Martha’s past seamlessly, giving the film an often dreamlike quality. This may be a subtle form of showing Martha’s loss of reality and fall into paranoid delusions. The film’s themes also fantastically contrast with a heavy palette of gold and yellow, which increase the picturesque ideals when in fact something much darker and more sinister is going on beneath the surface.

As MMMM continues, Martha’s paranoia and social detachment from the real world start to show, starting off as simple acts such as having no social inhibitions when she jumps happily into a public lake in the nude, to Martha walking in on Lucy and her husband having sex. Martha never tells Lucy and her husband what actually happened at the cult, making it extremely hard for them to understand what is going on, but Olsen plays the character so well you can see the pain and torture in her eyes.

Some people may find the ambiguity of the film a little hard, especially the ending, but it feels as if closure was given, the film would have been unsatisfying. Sometimes it works to leave the audience scratching their heads as the credits role.

The Blu-ray transfer is good, feeling very crisp despite the cheap format that the movie was filmed on. The sound is good, although in several scenes the dialogue is muffled on purpose, so don’t adjust your sets! The special features are chock full of featurettes and Durkin’s prologue to MMMM, Mary Last Seen.

Overall Verdict: A fantastically dark cult movie, brilliantly acted by the entire cast and a promising debut from both director Sean Durkin and, as an adult, serious actress, Elizabeth Olsen. That’s said, the film’s ambiguity may be a little hard for some.

Special Features:
Mary Last Seen
Spotlight on Elizabeth Olsen
Featurette: The Story
Featurette: The Psyche of a cult
Marcy’s Song Music Video
A conversation with the filmmakers
Theatrical trailer

Reviewer: Gareth Haworth

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Journey 2: The Mysterious Island (Blu-ray) – Utter nonsense but quite a fun adventure

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The Anderson family sure have a knack of getting lost in Jules Verne-ian places! After going in search of his missing father in Journey To The Center Of The Earth back in 2008, Sean (Josh Hutcherson) gets a strange encoded message from his grandfather (Michael Caine), which once deciphered says he’s stuck on the Mysterious Island in the South Pacific. Sean gets his new stepdad, Hank (Dwayne Johnson), to agree to take him there, with the man hoping it will be a bonding experience.

It proves difficult to get to the island, as it’s surrounded by massive storms that cause them to crash land on the isle along with their guide, Gaby (Luis Guzman), and his daughter, Kailani (Vanessa Hudgens). The Mysterious Island lives up to its name, as it’s full of beasts that are small in normal places but gigantic here, as well as lost cities, a gold spewing volcano and possibly Captain Nemo’s submarine. However their biggest problem is that shortly after they’ve found Sean’s granddad, they discover the island is about to sink beneath the waves and they’ve only got a day or two to escape or they’ll all drown.

When Journey To The Center Of The Earth director Erik Brevig left Journey 2 and was shortly followed by Brendan Fraser, the omens didn’t look good for this sequel. While the hiring of Dwayne Johnson as the new male adult lead was a positive move, getting Brad Peyton in to direct didn’t seem such a great plan – after all, his only previous film was Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore, which wasn’t exactly a masterpiece of the cinematic form. It’s a nice surprise then that despite the bad signs, the movie turns out to be a lot of fun. Not good, but fun.

Although it sometimes feels like a theme park ride and there are a few too many moments that were presumably designed to look good in 3D in cinemas but just seems a bit odd when flattened down on TV, it has great forward momentum and a good sense of humour. Every time it threatens to become so dumb you give up, it moves on to something else. By the time it reaches the conclusion it completely throws logic to the wind and you just have to go with its whimsical nonsense.

I did kind of wish Sean wouldn’t keep suggesting there was some sort of scientific logic to what’s going on, just in case any children takes it seriously, as not only is Journey 2 unscientific, it doesn’t actually make any sense. Indeed it has a kind of anti-sense, where what it says is true about the island one second is completely contradicted the next – with neither being able to be the whole truth if what we’re seeing it actually happening. However if you don’t think about anything and don’t mind the fact it’s constantly contradicting itself, it is entertaining.

It’s largely due to the cast that it works, as they have the right level of earnestness mixed with a slight edge that they know it’s a bit silly (well, all except Vanessa Hudgens, who seems to be trying to perfect a style of acting that involves no intonation or cadence whatsoever). Without Dwayne Johnson, Michael Caine and the sweet toughness of The Hunger Games’ Josh Hutcherson it would be a horrible mess of CGI and people running from giant animals, but they make it fun. You even get The Rock singing a song. What more could you want?

The film does try to make a small apology from its dicking around with science as well as the liberties it takes with the various Jules Verne novels it borrows from, by including a ‘Can You Survive Mysterious Island’ Interactive Adventure in the special features. This mixes behind-the-scenes footage with teachers and Verne fans talking about the ideas in the film and trying to right some of the liberties it takes. There’s also a gag reel and some deleted scenes.

On Blu-ray it looks extremely good, with bright, vibrant colours, sharp edges and great contrast. It’s certainly the best way to view this hyper-coloured world and the audio is strong too.

Overall Verdict: Silly, utterly nonsensical and constantly contradictory, Journey 2 is nevertheless entertaining family fun, which is definitely aimed at the kids more than the adults.

Special Features:
‘Can You Survive Mysterious Island’ Interactive Adventure
Gag Reel
Deleted Scenes

Reviewer: Tim Isaac

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The Top 10 US G-Men In Film – As MiB’s J & K return, we look at the best agents on screen

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With the Men In Black back in cinemas this Friday (May 25th), it started us thinking about all the great US government agents there have been in the movies. Whether it’s the FBI, CIA or a fictitious agency like the IMF or MIB, investigating for the Americans government has given us a lot of good movies over the years. So who are the best agents? Here’s our top 10.


10. Dale Cooper
 From: Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me (1992)
Played By: Kyle McLachlan
Agency: FBI
Although his best work was on TV, the quirky, idiosyncratic Special Agent Dale Cooper did get to make an appearance on the big screen in Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me. Prone to strange visions of backwards-talking dwarfs in red rooms – which give him odd clues for his investigations – Cooper certainly doesn’t go by the FBI handbook. On TV he was sent to Twin Peaks to investigate the murder of young Laura Palmer, which comes to a head in Fire Walk With Me, where the strangeness of the town goes into hyperdrive and we discover what actually happened. Sadly Cooper isn’t in it a huge amount, but at least he makes an appearance.


9. Gracie Hart
 From: Miss Congeniality (2000)
Played: Sandra Bullock
Agency: FBI
I can’t imagine that in reality the FBI would send an agent undercover as a beauty pageant contestant (it would be asking for a sexual harassment lawsuit), but that’s Gracie Hart’s assignment in Miss Congeniality. When someone threatens to bomb the Miss United States competition, the unkempt and constantly tripping over herself Gracie is given an extreme makeover and sent to join the beauty contest. Although she at first thinks the whole thing is ridiculous, she soon learn perhaps it’s not so bad after all. A lot of fun, Bullock’s charm and wit make her one of the most entertaining FBI agents we’ve ever had.


8. Joseph Turner
 From: Three Days Of The Condor (1975)
Played By: Robert Redford
Agency: CIA
Films normally concentrate on the field agents who are out there fighting crime, shooting the bad guys and constantly in danger, but what about the people behind the scenes putting together important info and doing the background investigations? That’s Joseph Turner, who works for the CIA as a researcher. He pops out of the office and returns to find all his co-workers have been killed. Not knowing what’s going on, he’s forced to go on the run, unravel a complex conspiracy, work out who he can trust and try not to get killed. Robert Redford is superb as an ordinary trying to deal with extraordinary circumstances in one of the best conspiracy thrillers ever made.


7. Evelyn Salt
 From: Salt (2010)
Played By: Angelina Jolie
Agency: CIA
Is she a loyal US agent or a secret Russian mole? That’s the question in Salt, and as the film plays out the answer seems to change just about every 10 seconds. Evelyn is a highly respected CIA Agent who seems shocked when a Russian agent walk in and claims Salt is a double-agent who’s about to assassinate the US President. She goes on the run, and while normally in this sort of film we discover there’s no truth to the allegations at all, it turns out there may be some reason why the Russian Agent thinks Evelyn is a secret assassin. But is she? Although a bit silly, Salt is great fun and it’s always nice to see a woman being allowed to kick ass as an agent, especially if she’s in the form of Angelina Jolie. 


6. Ethan Hunt
 From: Mission: Impossible (1996)
Played By: Tom Cruise
Agency: IMF
He’s now taken on impossible missions in four movies, working for the IMF (Impossible Mission Force), an independent agency of US government who get involved in the things it would be difficult to do officially. Ethan’s been involved in all sorts of adventures, often getting set up and having to clear his name, as well as trying to destroy a genetically modified disease called Chimera, taking on a ruthless arms dealer and in his latest outing, crawling all over the tallest building in the world. While Mission: Impossible is always in danger of being a very generic franchise, it’s given us four surprisingly fun films, with a fifth in the works. 


5. Samuel Gerard
 From: The Fugitive (1993)
Played By: Tommy Lee Jones
Agency: US Marshals
Samuel Gerard searched every gas station, residence, warehouse, farmhouse, henhouse, outhouse and doghouse for Richard Kimble and won an Oscar for Tommy Lee Jones in the process. Gerard’s single-minded approach and shrewd attitude marks him out as a superlative G-Man, something brought to bear even more strongly a couple of years later when Jones joined the Men In Black. The US Marshal is brought in when Dr. Richard Kimble goes on the run after being accused of killing his wife. Kimble insists a one-armed man did it, but all Gerard cares about is tracking down Kimble and bringing him in to face justice. Gerard got his own movie, US Marshals, a couple of years later, but the less said about that the better. 


4. Clarice Starling
 From: The Silence Of The Lambs (1991)
Played By: Jodie Foster
Agency: FBI
Clarice Starling is just a trainee when she’s brought in to consult with genius serial killer Hannibal Lecter. The powers that be hope the young woman will entice Lecter to start talking and help with their investigation of a new murderer, known as Buffalo Bill, who kills and skins his victims. Lecter is onto their games immediately, but does begin to talk to Clarice, quid pro quo. The scenes between Hannibal and Clarice are some of the best ever filmed, helping to make this one of the few movies that have ever won the big five Oscars (Picture, Director, Screenplay, Actor and Actress). While it’s normally Lecter people concentrate on, Foster’s Clarice Starling should not be underestimated, with a superb mix of innocence and toughness. 


3. Black Widow
 From: The Avengers (2012)
Played By: Scarlett Johansson
Agency: S.H.I.E.L.D.
While she appeared in Iron Man 2, Joss Whedon introduced us to a more interesting Black Widow in The Avengers, an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. who’s more than able to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the superpowered likes of Hulk and Thor. What makes her particularly interesting isn’t just her astonishing fighting skills, but her almost preternatural ability to get people to reveal the information she’s after without them realising, or indeed knowing what it is she’s trying to discover. It’s extremely well done and ensures she’s a vital member of the Avengers team. We can only hope she’ll get her own movie soon! 


2. Jason Bourne
 From: The Bourne Identity (2002)
Played By: Matt Damon
Agency: CIA/Treadstone
It must be pretty disconcerting to wake up with absolutely no memory but soon discover you have innate talents at killing people. But then, I suppose if you can’t remember anything, you wouldn’t know whether everyone went round killing each other all the time and so you were juts normal. However Jason Bourne assumes there’s something unusual about him, not least because of the tracking chip under his skin. He goes on the run across Europe, enlisting the unwitting Marie to help him as he tries to avoid a series of assassins. But what’s going on and what does it have to do with something called Treadstone? Well, there’s this film and two more where he gets to uncover all the CIA’s covert secrets about exactly what sort of agent he is. 


1. Agents J & K
 From: Men In Black (1997)
Played By: Will Smith, Tommy Lee Jones & Josh Brolin
Agency: MIB
The MIB is an unusual government agency in that it looks like it actually might be quite fun to work for, even if the three Men In Black movies have proved it’s a pretty dangerous job. Agents J & K are part of a team that monitors alien activity on Earth, ensure that it’s kept secret from the human population and ward off extra-terrestrial trouble. While many aliens are nice, every so often there’s one who has nefarious plans and wants to take cause major problems, whether it’s a ‘Bug’ who wants a powerful energy source known as The Galaxy, aliens looking for the Light of Zartha that could destroy the Earth, or in the latest film, killing Agent K in the past, so J has to go back in time to stop him from being killed (oh, and preventing the invasion of Earth too). Plus, they get to use some of the greatest gadgets ever. What more could you want?

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