7 minute read
WILLAIM HURT
must stop a mummy awoken from a 2,000-year-old curse who threatens to plunge the world into his merciless, unending service.
The Scoop: Another Mummy movie? You gotta be kidding. Director Rob Cohen says that although he had walked away from the XXX and Fast and the Furious franchises, his conver sion to Buddhism inspired him to make a movie set in China. The unpredictable but always likable Brendan Fraser returns as well and, in spite of non-stop CGI action, he might be the film’s strongest attraction. But no Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson? What’s up with that!?!
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SWING VOTE August 1st The Cast: Kevin Costner, Kelsey Grammer, Dennis Hop per, Stanley Tucci, Nathan Lane
The Plot: Costner stars as Bud Johnson, an apathetic, beer slinging, lovable loser, who is coasting through a life that has passed him by, except for the one bright spot in his mundane existence is his precocious 12 year old daughter, Molly. She takes care of them both, until one mis chievous moment on Election Day, when she accidentally sets off a chain of events which culminates in the presidential election coming down to one vote, her dads. Suddenly, Bud Johnson becomes the voice for everybody when the world realizes that his vote will be the one that elects the next president.
The Scoop: It seems like the more times the notoriously cantankerous Kevin Costner plays these care-free loafers the more you kind of want to have a beer with him. He’s definitely getting smarter with choosing more off the beaten path roles and it might just be his road back to the respectability and stature he once pos sessed. Swing Vote looks like the kind of bipartisan, populist crowd pleaser we used to get with movies like Dave.
PINEAPPLE EXPRESS August 8th The Cast: Seth Rogen, James Franco, Bill Hader, Rosie Perez, Gary Cole
The Plot: That’s “plot,” not pot. Oh, but there’s that too. Rogen plays stoner Dale Denton, who has only one reason to visit his equally lazy dealer, Saul Silver: to purchase weed. Specifically, a rare new strain called Pineapple Express. But when Dale becomes the only witness to a murder by a crooked cop and the city’s most dangerous drug lord, he panics and dumps his stash of Pineapple Express at the scene. Both men hit the road, but soon realize that their herb is traceable and that the bad guys are hot on their trail.
The Scoop: Judd Apatow protégés Seth Rogen and James Franco have not of ficially been reunited since the classic NBC series Freaks and Geeks until now. Apatow’s roster of stars has a new member in director David Gordon Green (George Washington) which no doubt gives this movie considerable cache. And although he’s only the producer of this, one can only wonder what comes first, the Judd Apatow Backlash or the Judd Apatow Backlash backlash?
TROPIC THUNDER August 15th The Cast: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Nick Nolte, Steve Coogan, Matthew McConaughey, Danny McBride
The Plot: A group of generally spoiled and vainglorious movie stars filming an epic Vietnam War movie find themselves in an actual war zone and are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying when their fed-up writer-direc tor decides to dump them in the middle of the jungle.
The Scoop: Thunder is Stiller’s first time in the director’s chair since Zoolander in 2001 but his new creation has more of the ab surdist feel of his short-lived Fox sketch comedy series. Among the handful of bold choices is the casting of Downey Jr. as an eccentric, “serious” actor who undergoes a risky medical proce dure to darken his skin to play a black man. As you might imag ine, Stiller had initially planned to hire an African American actor. But most buzzed about is Tom Cruise’s cameo as a balding, overweight studio boss blowhard. However, Thunder’s producers are doing their best to keep that under wraps so, just pretend you didn’t hear that. For the love of God people, keep it to yourselves! CROSSING OVER August 22nd The Cast: Harrison Ford, Sean Penn, Ray Liotta, Cliff Curtis, Ashley Judd
The Plot: Crossing Over is a multi-character canvas about immigrants of different nationalities struggling to achieve legal status in Los Angeles. The film deals with the border, document fraud, the asylum and green card process, work-site enforce ment, naturalization, the office of counter terrorism and the clash of cultures.
The Scoop: Few details are available regarding the production of the film, al though given the cast and director Wayne Kramer (The Cooler) it sounds like an early critical favorite that may stay around long enough for the onslaught of award season that, like Summer, seems to start a little earlier every year.
FILM INTERVIEW HURT’S SO GOOD: Whether Playing a U.S. President or the Incredible Hulk’s Nemesis, William Hurt Raises the Game
ITH FOUR ACADEMY AWARD nominations (and one win, for 1986’s Kiss Of The Spider Woman) and more than 50 credits over the course of a respected 30-year film career, William Hurt is hardly the first actor one might consider for a lead role in a comic book adaptation about a scientist turned into a hulking monster by gamma radia tion. But just ask the Washington, DC native about his turn as General Thaddeus “Thunderbolt” Ross in this month’s The Incredible Hulk and you’ll watch a broad smile cross his grizzled face. The sequel to the 2003 film directed by Ang Lee, The Incredible Hulk finds Edward Norton taking over the Bruce Banner/ Hulk role from Eric Bana, with Hurt’s Ross both the military mastermind trying to capture the green giant and the father of Betty Ross (Liv Tyler), Banner’s love interest.
We recently sat down with the iconic star of films such as Altered States, Children of a Lesser God, Broadcast News and A History of Violence to talk about everything from Bill Clinton and politics to complex characters and comic books. BY B. LOVE W
I read somewhere that you spoke with Bill Clinton during your research for your role in Vantage Point. What was he like in person?
It’s amazing how available he was, how personable. Imagine the number of people he has to meet! So I was pretty floored by that, but it was a quick conversation because I was pressed for time when I got through to him. Imagine me saying, “Mr. President, I gotta go. I’ve got a plane to catch…” It was absurd for me to be telling him that, but I found him even in that circumstance to be very decent.
I heard you’re going to Europe for your next film?
Yes, to work with Julie Delpy on her next film, which is called The Countess.
And you play the bad guy in that?
I don’t know. It’s set in the feudal ages, when I think everyone was pretty much basically bad. Or maybe we’re all still bad, I don’t know.
And now you’re playing the bad guy in The Incredible Hulk.
He’s not a villain? Nooooo... He’s conflicted. (Laughter)
Did you love The Hulk when you were a kid?
I did– I loved it! So I didn’t blink. I jumped at it, and then I found out after I signed up that it’s one of my 18-year-old son’s favorite comics.
So now you’re the cool dad.
I don’t know if I’m cool. It depends on the day when your kid’s a teenager.
Could you talk a bit about your character in the film? General Ross is conflicted. He wants Hulk’s power, but is humiliated by Hulk’s conscience. He actually sees and occasionally recognizes that it’s more developed than his own, even though he’s a patriot and a warrior for his country. He’s sacrificed immensely for that purpose, but at the expense of his humanity, which he occasionally recovers.
Was your character in A History of Violence conflicted? Was Rich ard III conflicted? They’re all conflicted. Yes, definitely. wasn’t questioning himself. I think unless you were asked to play one, and then you’d have to play a simpleton, or a crazy person, or an angel. A pathologue or a saint. One of the bookends of life.
Your character in Mr. Brooks didn’t seem very conflicted. That’s not a person. He’s there to provoke conflict, pure and simple. That’s a wonderful thing for an actor to get to play, because it’s a real clear throughline. Brooks was a lot of fun for me because I didn’t have to worry about playing a human being. Playing a human being is real difficult. Look at the dimensions of humanity, which are always to some extent in doubt. To me, one of the standard events in human experience is, “Jeez, I don’t know what’s going on here today, or what’s going to happen next.” We don’t quite know. There are people who are completely committed to no more surprises, and there’s something to be said for that. But it’s gonna throw armies of babies out with the bathwater.
Other than the Julie Delphy film, what else are you working on next? Actually [Vantage Point director] Pete Travis and I are talking about doing a film on Nelson Mandela in South Africa, and I’m really chomping at the bit to get started on that.
