News Muse ponders over the latest movie gossip, giving you her unique take on all the showbiz shenanigans…
News Muse reported in November 2008 that Karate Kid was getting a remake. Well, time flies cos here's a shiny new trailer:
http://youtube.com/v/2SmmxvHLsKk
Made in China, like everything else these days (including my nephew!), this movie will not only teach us how to beat up bullies but also give us a sightseeing tour around Beijing. We'll have to wait til 18 June though to see how Jackie Chan goes about teaching Will Smith Jr the art of putting on a jacket (the new and improved 'wax on, wax off'?), although the lengthy trailer is a tell-all.
I just got back from China and during my visit I noticed how keen the Chinese are to copy things. A Samsomite suitcase, a Gucchi handbag, a Kanon camera, or why not any of the world's latest cinema releases straight to DVD and at a 'good price, good price'. Although these days people needn't even bother getting the ripped DVD as it's all available online. No wonder then that James Cameron's super-hyped Avatar has been announced as the fastest pirated film ever. Apparently the sci-fi blockbuster was downloaded a whopping 900,000 times during its first week of release. Previous record-holder was New Moon with 610,000 dowloads in the first week. The film industry of course hates the idea of all that lost revenue, but Avatar's box office figures seem unaffected - the movie's already taken over £180million in the US alone.
This week you can't have missed Mariah Carey's Champagne-fuelled acceptance speech at the Palm Springs International Film Festival. She won a Breakthrough Performance award for her role as social worker Mrs Weiss in Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire. Although it was her slurred speech and not her achievement that everyone got talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I845iYuTg4A&fs=1
Now that one diva's got an award, another diva's stomping her little foot for one too. Jennifer Lopez claims she should have got an Oscar for her role in biopic El cantante about salsa dancer Hector Lavoe (played by husband Marc Anthony). She is annoyed at the Academy for ignoring the movie. Stop blowing your own trumpet, chica! Whatever happened to 'I'm still Jenny from the block'?
From one big head to another. Joe Jonas (one third of the Jonas Brothers) says he'd like to appear in a Bond movie. What? Why? Although, if Sam Mendes of all people is in talks to direct the 23rd movie then, I guess, the franchise is taking yet a new direction, in which I envision Joe appearing in a night club scene, singing a song (obviously) wearing one of those that's-quite-a-nice-little-nothing-you're-almost-wearing-numbers.
Danny Boyle's latest project, 127 Hours, has been in the news this week because James Franco has signed up to star in the movie as true-life mountaineer Aron Ralston who got stuck between a rock and a hard place, so to speak, drank his own pee and cut his arm off with a dull knife.
First of all, eeeew! Second of all, how exciting can a movie get when it's about just the one bloke, who happens to also be stuck in just the one place? And presumably he would be unconscious at least half the time from the pain of hacking through his limb. 127 hours of a passed out James Franco with a bleeding arm? Let's hope not.
One thing's for sure, Boyle won't have this main character running as much as he usually has them do, nor diving into toilets...
Filming starts in March in Utah.
