Woody Harrelson is Howling Mad?
According to Cinematical, director John Singleton believes that the perfect actor to play the role of “Howling Mad” Murdock in his upcoming movie version of the 80’s action series The A Team is none other than Woody Harrelson. As a former A Team watcher, I can see that.
Harrelson does have that subtle lunatic vibe that Dwight Schultz was able to project so well before he became Lieutenant Barclay on Star Trek: The Next Generation. He’s shown this in some of his movies such as Natural Born Killers.
The big question (as mentioned in the article) is who will play the quintessential B.A. Baracus (as epitomized by Mr. T)? Who could substitute for the legend? Which actor would want to?
They should replace the Faceman character with a woman. Then Dirk Benedict will have been replaced by a woman in two series revamps.
Perhaps they should just get the original cast back for the movie. Just be careful when digging up George Peppard.
Crank 2 Spoilers Hit the Web
A slew of spoilerific and amazing character descriptions for Crank 2 just hit the web over at Spoiler TV. We’ve pasted them all. Judging from the run down, directors and Slashfilm party mates Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor seem to really love the word “sociopath,” and their Ritalin milkshake of a sequel should be all the better for it. I mean, a villain that is 100-years-old? Holy shit, that is awesome. What is this, Double Dragon? Sorry Scott Wolf, it’s not. It’s Crank, one of the best action flicks/franchises in years that arguably has its own subcategory: post-Shane Black.
And how Hollywood is it to list a character named “Pepper,” to be played by a 20something actress, and conclude in all CAPS, “Must Be Okay with Nudity”? Furthermore, seems there will be more cheeky media commentary in the sequel, and while I know I mention this character in every other post, I would give anything to see Robert Downey Jr.’s nutzoid reporter Wayne Gale from Natural Born Killers make a cameo. If Jason Statham’s Chev Chelios can survive a black market heart transplant (not to mention a helicopter fall), Gale can be resurrected!
Details…
Title: CRANK 2
CAST: Jason Statham, Amy Smart
EXEC PROD: David Rubin; PROD, Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi, Skip Williamson, Richard Wright; DIR/SCR, Mark Neveldine, Brian Taylor. Contract: SAG. Shoot Dates: April 28, 2008 (in Los Angeles, CA).
STORY: In spite of having fallen a mile from a helicopter at the end of CRANK, Chev Chelios faces a Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a battery-powered ticker that requires regular jolts of electricity to keep working.
Little Chev: 6-10, Caucasian, Male. A tough fowl mouthed British kid with a cockney accent. He is Chev (Jason Statham) seen in 1988, a bored, restless, troublemaker whose mother fears he is a sociopath. Seen on a Jerry Springer-ish UK talk show, he relives some of the incidents in his crowded young life — all of which seem to involve crime, violence and running.
ACTORS SUBMITTED MUST RESEMBLE JASON STATHAM
Talk Show Host: 30s-40s, Male. British. Cool but campy. The host of a trashy UK talk show, he’s an aspiring Jerry Springer
wannabe who interviews Karen Chelios and her “troubled” son Chev. Blissfully unaware that Little Chev’s life is remarkably similiar to an ultra-violent videogame, Talk Host chats earnestly with Chev, probing for the psychological source of his hyperactivity
Female Psychiatrist: 40s, an attractive female psychiatrist. She is Dr. Ankleson’s blunt, somewhat irritable therapist. Clearly bored with his cringing yellow streak, she orders him off her couch and back to reality, a piece of bad, bad advice
Hu Dong: Chinese Male, 100 years old, this aged gangster is the leader of the Triad gang in Southern California. Rejuvenated after getting Chev’s high-powered heart transplanted into his sunken chest, and horny as a 16 year old, he is lured into Doc Miles’ clutches by the seductive Vanilla
Karen Chelios: Female. British accent. She is seen in flashbacks, this English woman with dark hair, and dark circles under her eyes is Little Chev’s trashily dressed mother. Appearing on a tabloid talk show in the UK, she frets that her little demon of a son may in fact be a sociopath
Pepper: 20s, any ethnicity. This stripper is in the back seat of a patrol car when Chev and Eve steal the car. She’s aroused by Eve’s presence and gives Chev a tip about Johnny Vang’s probable whereabouts. MUST BE OKAY WITH NUDITY
Fish Halman: This veteran anchorman is seen on television, reporting on yet another explosive day in Los Angeles
Chinese Doctors #1 & Chinese Doctors #2: A pair of Chinese doctors, they perform a heart transplant operation on Chev, replacing his own beating ticker with an artificial heart. Wrongly convinced that Chev is too doped up to cause any trouble, they’re ready to harvest his testicles when Chev comes to and chokes them out. MUST SPEAK CHINESE
Glenda Lansing: 65 plus, an old lady. The older the better. We first see her at the racetrack, she is assaulted by Chev, who rubs himself against her to get some static electricity into his system. She later, delightedly and profanely,relives the moment on live TV
Detective: Older Male. Would love a notable actor here in a cameo. This baffled police detective tries to find out the bond that links Eve to Chev, and summarizes Chev’s remarkable criminal career
BS: Virginia Tech Mass Murderer Learned How To Kill By Watching Movies
Oh no, the press have found a photo of Virginia Tech Mass Murderer Cho Seung-Hui mimicking a movie.
No disrespect to the families involved in the horrible tragedy that occurred earlier this week, but please don’t let this be Columbine all over again. For those of you who don’t remember, this is what happened. People decided that it couldn’t have been their fault, that ignoring all the signs from the messed up Columbine kids was not the issue at hand. The issue was instead the mass media the kids consumed.
American media compared the massacre to a fantasy sequence from the 1995 film The Basketball Diaries in which Leonardo DiCaprio wears a black trench coat and shoots six classmates in his school’s hallways. Some eyewitnesses at the school compared the events to scenes from the 1999 film The Matrix. Several unsuccessful lawsuits against video game manufacturers were filed as a result by parents of some of the victims. Harris and Klebold were reported as fans of the movie Natural Born Killers, using the film’s acronym as a code in their home videos and journals. The rants in Eric Harris’ journal entries bear many similarities to character Mickey’s philosophy that he is only human, and humans are animals that rely on their animalistic instincts.
We were then treated to a crucifixion of music, movies and video games that may have caused the kids to go on their insane rampage. Because it’s Marilyn Manson’s fault. It’s the fault of DOOM and other first person videogames. It’s the fault of The Matrix because the kids wore trenchcoats. It’s not our fault for ignoring the escalating problem we refused to notice.
Anyway, years have passed, and now we are presented with an even worse massacre. The New York Times has discovered a photo, shown right, of Cho posing in a self-shot photo, imitating a scene from Oldboy, a 2003 South Korean film which won the Grand Prix at the 2004 Cannes Film Festival. In the film, an average man is kidnapped and imprisoned in a shabby cell for 15 years without explanation. He then is released, equipped with money, a cellphone and expensive clothes. As he strives to explain his imprisonment and get his revenge, he soon finds out that not only his kidnapper has still plans for him, but that those plans will serve as the even worse finale to 15 years of imprisonment. Park Chan-wook’s film is based on a Japanese manga of the same name.
The media has already begun to tear apart the film for it’s extensive body count and “sadistic violence.” It must be the reason why Cho killed 32 people this week. He saw that movie, and then THIS happened. We should ban violent movies to prevent future massacres. Let’s turn this tragedy into a motive to push a political agenda (because nothing less would be as insulting to the families involved).
Can we please just skip this whole ridiculous step and instead focus on the lives that have been lost? Let’s spend the time teaching everyone how wto recognize the signs of a disturbed individual so we can may-be prevent another one of these? Or would that be too logical? You’re right, we should ban Grand Theft Auto 4 and Hostel 2 instead.
Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson Hit Hawaii
Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson Hit Hawaii
For a lot of celebrities, the recently departed holiday season meant a time for vacation and travel. And Owen Wilson and Woody Harrelson seem to be taking an extended break from the hustle and bustle of Hollywood.
The “Butterscotch Stallion” and his “Natural Born Killers” pal were spotted on the Hawaiian island of Maui, kicking back and enjoying some time away from the mainland.
Woody’s wife Laura Louie is also along for this trip, as she was photographed by the paparazzi heading out for a swim with Wilson.
After the rocky year he had in 2007, it is good to see Owen taking some extended time to decompress and get his life in order before returning to the ‘rock star’ status he maintains in Tinseltown.