Everyone knows the Robin Hood story, but we don’t know it as told by Ridley Scott. At least, not yet. The “Gladiator” director put together an incredible cast, including Russell Crowe as Robin Hood and Cate Blanchett as Marion. The film is set to release on May 14.
In anticipation of the film’s upcoming release, Universal pictures has release a new trailer for Scott’s “Robin Hood.” If the brand new trailer isn’t enough to get you excited, the official site has loads of Robin Hood pictures, clips and exclusive web features.
Though this isn’t actually a best-to-worst list, “Planet of the Apes” was always going to be sitting at the top. Not only has it been the subject of countless pop culture parodies (admit it, “Simpsons” geeks: you’ve been singing “I hate every ape I see / From chimpan-A to chimpanzee” since you started reading) and contains one of the greatest movie lines of all time (“Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape!”), but it was a defining moment in late ’60s science fiction, leaving a legacy that even Tim Burton’s craptastic remake wasn’t able to taint…much. Everyone knows the famous State of Liberty scene where Taylor (Charlton Heston) damns the maniacs all to hell for blowing up the planet, but Earth’s real problem started with the plague that hit in 1983 (!), which killed off the majority of the planet’s dogs and cats. After a suitable period of mourning, humanity turned to monkeys and apes as pets, a regrettable decision which quickly led to simian slave labor and the inevitable uprising. At this point, things get a little sketchy, but a nuclear exchange definitely took place, and it was all downhill for humanity after that…not that apekind didn’t have its own troubles. (See “Battle for the Planet of the Apes” for details.) Good thing the mutants had the Alpha-Omega Bomb to serve as the great equalizer. Of course, their version of leveling the playing field involved leveling the entire planet, but, hey, you can’t argue with those kinds of results.
The original is soooo good, and Tim Burton’s remake is soooo bad!
Jessica Jane Clement is known the world over for her stunning looks. She’s made a change, recently, going blonde for the new Lynx Rise, a body wash designed to help guys wake up and stay alert. Jessica just did a shoot called “Spot the Difference,” in which she poses with mirror images of herself (two is always better than one in this case) and challenges guys to spot the difference between the two images.
Of the shoot, Jessica had this to say: “I really enjoyed my ‘Spot the Difference’ shoot for the launch of new Lynx Rise shower gel and hope guys are focused enough to notice the changes in detail. Girls love guys who can remember dating details which is why I’m encouraging guys to stay alert if they want to pull a scorcher this summer.”
Everyone will be talking about “Iron Man 2” this weekend. Bullz-Eye.com’s Jason Zingale gives it 3.5 stars out of 5.
It’s the next logical step in the “Iron Man” story, but it feels like Favreau and screenwriter Justin Theroux might have bitten off a little more than they could chew. There are so many subplots weaving in and out of the film that it’s difficult to discern between the ones that are important and those that could have been left on the cutting room floor. That’s because they’re all important in some respect, although some (namely anything concerning Samuel L. Jackson or Scarlett Johansson’s characters) feel more like setup to the upcoming “Avengers” film than a necessary addition to the story. Perhaps Marvel is getting a bit ahead of themselves when it comes to laying the groundwork for their future movies, because “Iron Man 2” could have done without all the clutter.
Favreau does a commendable job of connecting all the pieces into a coherent narrative, but it only works because of his incredible cast. Downey Jr. continues to shine as the wildly charismatic shellhead, while Gwyneth Paltrow gets plenty of room to grow as Stark’s closest confidant. The controversy surrounding the recasting of Don Cheadle as Rhodey (which is comically addressed in his first line: “It’s me, I’m here, deal with it and let’s move on.”) appears to have been for naught since you forget about Terrence Howard almost instantly, but Cheadle is still relegated to the background for most of the film. The same can be said of Rourke, who, despite a memorable introduction in the opening act, is never quite as dangerous as Vanko is made out to be. Sam Rockwell fares a little better as Hammer, a man whose bark is bigger than his bite, but that’s because the role presents him with the chance to be both funny and menacing.
