Movies

Stanley Tucci latest to join Captain America

Academy Award nominee Stanley Tucci is the newest big name added to the list for Joe Johnston’s Captain America: The First Avenger. Tucci will play Dr. Abraham Erskine, the man who develops the serum that gives Steve Rogers (aka Captain America — played by Chris Evans) his super soldier ability.

Tucci joins Evans, Hayley Atwell, Hugo Weaving, Toby Jones, Tommy Lee Jones, Sebastian Stan and most recently Neil McDonough in Marvel’s anticipated July 2011 film. 

The Wolfman DVD Review

In 1941, Lon Chaney Jr. gave us the greatest werewolf story ever with The Wolfman. It was silver screen horror brought to life in a way we had never seen before. Over the years other werewolf films have tried to live up, but none were as spooky and gothic as the original. In the last decade, we have had to suffer through bad remakes of great horror movies with over-acting that were more about appeasing a teen audience that could not appreciate the original. In particular, it always seemed as though the werewolf got the silver bullet. Underworld and Twilight incoporated them, but were more about vampires. At last we have one that holds up to its counterpart.

Get Him to the Greek Review

As was a clear case in point with the Saturday Night Live bomb MacGruber, trying to stretch recessed story elements into a feature length film can be a disaster in guise. In Get Him to the Greek eccentric rocker Aldous Snow, who had a scene-stealing supporting role in 2008’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, is now the star and thanks to Russell Brands’ hilarious turn and a great supporting cast this is a rare spin-off that works.

Casting Notes: Cowboys and Aliens

Adam Beach has been added to the cast of Jon Favreau’s upcoming film Cowboys and Aliens, according to Variety. He will portray a half-Apache named Nat Colorado. The film also stars Daniel Craig, Paul Dano, Academy Award nominee Harrison Ford, and Olivia Wilde. Based on the popular graphic novel of the same name, “Cowboys” centers on Western settlers and Apache Indians setting aside their differences when a spaceship unexpectedly arrives in the 1870s.

Casting Notes: The First Avenger: Captain America

Neal McDonough will be portraying Dum Dum Dugan in Joe Johnston’s upcoming film The First Avenger: Captain America, according to Deadline. Dugan is one of the crucial member’s of Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division (also known as S.H.I.E.L.D) who also fights against the Japanese and Nazis during World War II.

Chris Evans will play the title character; Hayley Atwell, Tom Jones, Sebastian Stan, and Hugo Weaving also have roles in the film.

Get Him to the Spin-off: The Top 5 spin-off movies

Scenario: You are a movie executive wracking your brain for the concept behind the next cinematic gold mine.  Remakes are good, but that Uwe Boll reimagining of Casablanca is at the forefront of the studios attention. There’s nothing like a good sequel to bring in some coin, although you already have “Saw XXII” slated for a late year release date.  Now, what to do that seems fresh at a quick glance, but requires minimal creative input…? 

Glibness aside, while spin-offs may not have the glossiest of track records, they exist as a starring vehicle for popular but often overshadowed characters from hit films.  They have also helped to inflate the notoriety of some of the biggest stars working today.  In honour of the release of the Forgetting Sarah Marshall offspring Get Him to the Greek we will dive into the top five movie spin-offs.

Trailer Tracker: Shanghai, Going the Distance and more

Thanks again for checking out Trailer Tracker where we at Player Affinity delicately pick apart the latest trailers to hit the web. After a beefy week clip-wise we return to the doldrums of promotional material with only three new trailers. We shall explore the period noir film Shanghai starring John Cusack, “Go the Distance” with Justin Long and Drew Barrymore in their new relationship film and finally venture to Restrepo, a Middle East war doc that garnered significant acclaim at Sundance.