Before this news broke that Mark Ruffalo was deep into talks with Marvel about becoming Bruce Banner for The Avengers, I was just thinking about the actor, who most recently co-starred in the critically acclaimed The Kids Are All Right. He’s always been one of those names recognized by film fans for his strong talent despite a total lack of name recognition thanks to an ego that must be the size of a peanut.
When you write/blog about movies, there are two non-verbally accepted truths: 1.) It’s never too early give Oscar predictions (just ask our own Julian Stark about that one) and 2.) There’s no unacceptable time to evaluate the year’s best movies. Today, we’re celebrating the latter, by giving your our Top 5 films of 2010 to date. We figured we ought to get it in before Inception debuts on Friday and more or less ransacks and usurps many of the movies our lists.
Brian Cox will star in Rupert Wyatt’s upcoming Planet of the Apes prequel, Rise of the Apes. According to TheWrap, he will play a heartless primate sanctuary owner. James Franco, John Lithgow, Freida Pinto, and Andy Serkis are already attached to star.
The film will be set in modern day San Francisco, where genetic experiments have created intelligent apes, leading to an uprising sparked by an ape named Caesar (Serkis). For the first time in the series, the apes will be photo-realistic as opposed to costumed, courtesy of WETA.
Greenberg, new on DVD and Blu-ray today, stars Ben Stiller in the title role as one of the most realistically complex characters in a film in years. Baumbach and writer/producer/actress Jennifer Jason Leigh have built a character with tons of idiosyncrasies and complexes and some how a comedian in Stiller manages to bring them all to life in convincing fashion. Both he and costar Greta Gerwig as Florence have fascinatingly real characters with diagnosable problems and that’s the chief strength of the film.
Walt Disney Pictures has always been prolific in this movie category, producing the most famous theme park as a family vacation destination and branding tool for its feature films and products. The iconic studio that brought us Fantasia, Cinderella, Armageddon, and Pirates of the Caribbean has a new hopeful in The Sorcerer’s Apprentice.
It is a busy week of DVD/Blu-ray releases, with the first release of a major rom-com, an erotic thriller and a indie comedy and the re-release of 4 major films. It is also a week of remakes, with Hollywood tackling a B-Movie classic and thrillers from Norway and France.
It was recently reported that Edward Norton will not be playing the Hulk in Joss Whedon’s upcoming film The Avengers. Multiple rumors about possible casting choices, including Sharlto Copley and actor-turned-rapper Joaquin Phoenix, have hit the Internet since then.
