Model-turned-actor Tyrese Gibson may have been a supporting player in last year's mega-hit Transformers , but he's using the heat the film lent him to transform himself – namely into a major movie star. ComingSoon.net/Superhero Hype! caught up with Tyrese on the set of his currently-shooting film Legion and got the scoop on a slew of his upcoming projects.

Universal Pictures has revealed three new TV spots for The Incredible Hulk , opening in theaters on June 13. Directed by Louis Leterrier, the action-thriller stars Edward Norton, Liv Tyler, Tim Roth, Tim Blake Nelson, Ty Burrell and William Hurt.

"Drinking, smoking and whoring ain't what they used to be in Boogie [site], Radu Muntean's attenuated reflection on friends whose paths since high school have taken starkly different routes," writes Jay Weissberg for Variety.

"Playing on themes similar to Old Joy, Muntean uses his cool yet sympathetically observational eye to chart the distance between a responsible family man and his long-lost buddies who have yet to grow up - problem is, auds are aware that the guys are losers long before the protag. Though more universal in theme than the helmer's superior The Paper Will Be Blue travel is unlikely to be widespread outside fest berths."

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"Twelve years after co-directing Foreign Land, filmmakers Walter Salles and Daniela Thomas have returned to update their portrait of urban Brazil, which they left in the economic throes of president Fernando Collor," writes Deborah Young in the Hollywood Reporter.

"Linha de passe is a far more successful film, both as a drama and in depicting the reality of growing up poor without no future in sight.... Comparisons to Luchino Visconti's Rocco and His Brothers are inevitable, but without name actors in the cast, this is not going to be as easy a commercial ride as Salles' cultish The Motorcycle Diaries."

Linha de passe.">Linha de passe.">Linha de passe.">Continued reading Cannes. Linha de passe....

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"Brit helmer Thomas Clay's sophomore feature, Soi Cowboy, demonstrates a growing maturity," writes Leslie Felperin in Variety.

"This slowburning, enigmatic drama, mostly about a Danish man and a Thai woman awkwardly living together in Bangkok, is deeper and more likeable than Clay's controversial debut, The Great Ecstasy of Robert Carmichael. Gone are the latter film's shock tactics, allowing Clay's cinematic sophistication to sparkle all the better."

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"France loves James Toback, and James Toback loves France right back," writes Karina Longworth at the SpoutBlog.

"The New York auteur, whose work is more often than not unfairly maligned stateside, has already seen Fingers, his first (and best) film, remade by French director Jacques Audiard. The original is one of two Toback films screening at Cannes this year; the other, his documentary on long-time friend Mike Tyson, premiered to more than one standing ovation last night."

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Filed under: Comedy, Independent, Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Trailer Trash, Trailers and Clips

For this week's Trailer Park we're taking a Rube Goldberg approach, with an intricate series of mechanisms (metaphorically speaking) allowing us to careen from one trailer to the next by one connection or other. Ready? Let's start with:

X-Files: I Want to Believe
Yes, I want to believe too. X-Files became unwatchable for me in its last few years on the air, but prior to that it was one of the best hours of dramatic television ever. I'd love to see the series revived as a successful film franchise, but this trailer isn't doing much for me. We have the reappearance of Fox Muldar (David Duchovny) and Dana Scully (Gillian Anderson), as well as the theme from the TV show, but the rest is a muddle of chaotic imagery. This being X-Files, details are being kept to a minimum, but I'm not seeing enough here to get me revved up, which is how I was hoping to feel. Here's Elisabeth's take on it.
And speaking of Gillian Anderson...

Continue reading Trailer Park: Rube Goldberg Edition

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Filed under: Documentary, Sports, Cannes, Theatrical Reviews, Festival Reports, Celebrities and Controversy

"They'll make hypocrite judgments
After the fact
But the name of the game
Is be hit and hit back ... "

-- Warren Zevon, "Boom Boom Mancini"

Boxing is a brutal sport. Does that mean you have to be a brute to succeed in it? Mike Tyson was the youngest ever heavyweight champion in the world; when he stepped into the ring, it was as if he was in absolute control over everything that happened. And when he stepped out, it was as if he had no control over anything that happened. He had a marriage implode in public. He served three years in prison for rape. He became a nightmare-parody of himself, pathetic and terrifying, telling challengers he would eat their children. And now, as seen in James Toback's documentary Tyson, he is older, sadder, sober, off drugs and out of the fight game, trying to battle things you cannot simply strike with your fists.

Continue reading Cannes Review: Tyson

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"The only parts of Woody Allen's Vicky Cristina Barcelona that really and truly feel alive and crackling are the Spanish-language scenes between Javier Bardem and Penélope Cruz," writes Jeffrey Wells.

"These two, portraying a pair of identically tempestuous, self-obsessed painters whose marriage has fallen apart due to an overabundance of heat and impulse and Spanish vinegar, are dynamite together. They create spark showers when they rage and taunt and rekindle their mutual hunger." The problem? A "persistent, obnoxious, unwanted and thoroughly unnecessary narration track... There were boos."

Updated (and up-thumbed) through 5/17.

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(Andre on May 16, 2008 4:58 PM) Great festival coverage. Take Care.

In the Auteurs' Notebook, Daniel Kasman writes an entry on "something from Cannes, that's not at Cannes. With all praise due to Olivier Assayas's technophiliac/technophobic recent films that bend and twist space and time as befits this globalized, postmodern world, his latest film Summer Time is a breath of fresh air, if only because it is grounded in an old age: that of objects, and the memories and history kept in them."

"Eight decades or more, you would have thought, is time enough to let bygones be bygones. But in this sad, remarkable but all too human instance, the answer appears to be, no." Rupert Cornwell reports in the Independent on the ongoing rivalry between sisters Joan Fontaine and Olivia de Havilland.

Continued reading Shorts, 5/16....

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"CineVegas will show a site-specific work by Takashi Murakami for one night only, June 16, at the Wynn Las Vegas." The Circuit's Michael Jones has details.

Cinewhores NYC presents The World of Susie Wong at Galapagos Art Space on Sunday. Via Edith at the L Magazine.

Continued reading Fests and events, 5/16....

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"It's probably not an exaggeration to say that were it not for Cannes, directors like myself would not get the chance to make the kind of films we are compelled to." Duane Hopkins, whose Better Things screens as part of Critics' Week, blogs for the Guardian.

Continued reading Cannes, 5/16....

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"Two Frenchmen and a South Korean make a great deal of mischief in Tokyo!, an uneven but enjoyable trio of films that take affectionate (and sometimes literal) aim at the Japanese capital," writes Justin Chang in Variety.

"Fittingly enough, horror and sci-fi rep the primary building blocks of these Tokyo stories, though the ingredients aren't always doled out in the proportions one would expect from filmmakers Michel Gondry, Leos Carax and Bong Joon-ho."

Updated through 5/17.

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(Nick Plowman on May 16, 2008 1:02 PM) I really want to see this. Dammit, where did I leave that Cannes invite....? ;)

He was a youthful 70, still handsome, still a very young guy in spirit and hadn't lost any of his professional ambition. He was always auditioning, checking his car phone for messages from his agency; he loved to work and loved knowing that a handful of the films he made had become cult pictures, movies that earned him a niche in popular culture, that would outlive him: The Golden Voyage of Sinbad, Barbarella, Death Rides a Horse, Danger: Diabolik (of course), CQ and - as I always insisted whenever in his company - The Last Movie.

Tim Lucas (more).

Also remembering John Phillip Law: Ronald Bergan (Guardian), Robert Cashill, John Coulthart, Joe Leydon, Phil Nugent (Screengrab) and Richard Harland Smith. The site.

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(Richard Harland Smith on May 16, 2008 12:35 PM) I'd like to add my own memories of JPL, if there's room... http://www.moviemorlocks.com/admin?mode=edit&entry_id=8a258bcb19f20aa60119f2c260120002

(Maya on May 16, 2008 12:41 PM) Dare I admit that as a young boy John Phillip Law's angel in Barbarella did more to stir up my desires for the divine than the Catholic church? For years I dreamt of waking up, humming to myself, picking off white feathers. It's something of a coincidental tribute, then, that SF's Another Hole in the Head has included two 35mm screenings of Barbarella at this year's festival.

(David Hudson on May 16, 2008 12:43 PM) Many thanks, Richard and Michael - divine memories indeed.

(Brian on May 16, 2008 9:41 PM) And to continue the coincidental tribute, a 35mm print of the Last Movie has been booked for the Roxie a few days before that first Barbarella screening.

(ronald bergan on May 17, 2008 4:49 AM) May I add my obit to the tributes, though I failed to mention The Last Movie I'm afraid. http://film.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/0,,2280440,00.html

"'Now that is a movie!' I exclaimed to a friend on exiting this morning's screening of Arnaud Desplechin's Un Conte De Noël (A Christmas Story [site])."

Glenn Kenny: "The bourgeois-dysfunctional-family-comes-together-for-a-holiday setup is one of the hoariest in any medium, but if anybody can conjure something fresh out of it, it's Desplechin, and boy does he ever.... The creation of such a vivid, individualized group of characters and such a compelling roster of dilemmas is a staggering enough feat. But what makes this movie such a darkly exuberant feast is Desplechin's storytelling."

Updated through 5/17.

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(Tom on May 16, 2008 11:51 AM) Thrilled... I feel like a cheerleader or something, but I couldn't be happier at this reception. It only stokes the fire in me to see the film myself. Thanks for the typically excellent round-up, David. I wish I could have been in Cannes...

Looking back 30 years ago, back to the summer of 1978, my mind is thick with memories of the pop culture phenomenons of the time. On television, shows like "Happy Days", "Three's Company" and "Charlie's Angels" ruled the tube. Disco was still king, and bands like the Bee Gees, Fleetwood Mac and Kiss ruled the radio. And of course, there were movies... The summer of 1978 was very special for me because it was one of the few times in my where I can remember every movie that I was in love with at the time being out in the theaters at the same time. By May of 1978, "Saturday Night Fever", "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" and "Star Wars", all 1977 releases, were still going strong on the big screen. Then, on Friday June 16, 1978, the big screen really exploded (for me, anyway); "Jaws 2" and "Grease" were released on the same day at both movie theaters in "Grease" was playing at the Hampton Arts Theater (a single screen back then) and "Jaws 2" was playing at the Westhampton Beach Theater (a first-run movie theater back then). This was, to say the least, a very big deal for an 11 year-old boy like me. Three years prior, my parents had refused to let me see the original "Jaws". I must have been the only kid in the entire third grade who wasn't allowed to see that movie! So now the sequel comes out and my dad had read that it wasn't as gory, so he let me see it. Now while it can generally be agreed that "Jaws 2" is nowhere near as good as the original, it was quite a thrill nonetheless to see this film on the big screen, especially is a seaside town like Westhampton Beach. For that reason alone, I still have a special place in my heart and memories for "Jaws 2". Now, onto "Grease"...put simply, my family went to see that movie on the screen six (6) (yes, I said SIX) times! Two of those times, we stayed in our seats to watch it twice. You could do that without a problem back then. I think we wore out the phonograph needle playing the movie soundtrack over and over again. I actually wanted to be John Travolta! I mean, let's face it - between "Grease" and "Saturday Night Fever", this guy always got the chicks!

"Although profoundly compassionate toward its characters, My Father My Lord is an implicit critique of ultra-Orthodox dogma by a filmmaker who grew up in a Hasidic community but abandoned it when he was 25 to study film," writes Stephen Holden in the New York Times. The film "has the glowing simplicity and force of a biblical parable."

"With a dreamlike narrative suffused in a fuzzy childhood-memory glow and dominated by the presence of an overbearing father, the movie, in its best moments, suggests a Haredi version of Terence Davies's 1988 masterpiece, Distant Voices, Still Lives," writes Joshua Land in Time Out.

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CHILDRESS, TX -- The Palace Theater was built in 1925 by partners F.M. Phipps and G.S. Layton, one of six theaters to eventually be operated by the partnership and their extended families. The cinematic dynasty in this small west Texas town began when Phipps and an earlier partner puchased the LaGrande Opera House in 1911 and built the Monogram Theater. 1988 saw the end of over three-quarters century of Hollywood on the silver screen in Childress when nephews of Mrs. Phipps closed the Palace doors. The Palace rose from the ashes of two fires, in 1934 and again in 1935. Gene Autry and other cowboy stars performed on her stage, as well as did children of the community, participating in decades of the "Birthday Club" on Saturday mornings. Childress Theatre Company, a 501(c)3 corporation, has launched the Palace Restoration Project with plans to restore the Palace to her original Art Deco glory. Costs are estimated to be approximately $2 million. When completed, the Palace, with new sound, projection and lighting systems, will show classic films as well as films for children on Saturday mornings as the "Birthday Club" is revived. She will serve as a cultural center in downtown Childress for citizens of the community and the surrounding area with facilities for live dramatic and musical productions.

LOS ANGELES, CA -- Join Us on the Second Night of the THIRD EVER LOS ANGELES OLD-TIME SOCIAL For an Evening of Old-Time Music Performances! __________ Friday, May 16 8 PM $10, $8 for Panorama members ___________ The Velaslavasay Panorama 1122 West 24th Street Los Angeles, CA 90007

LAWRENCE, MA -- We have about 40 vintage theater seats available. They are cast iron and in good condition. Please contact Monica at (978)332-5566 or email for more information.

"An ostensibly routine noir-style psychological thriller vaults into the realms of high art in competition contender Three Monkeys [site]," writes Jonathan Romney in Screen Daily.

"Cannes has been kind to Turkey's Nuri Bilge Ceylan in the past, with Uzak and Climates establishing his auteur credentials here in 2003 and 2006. His new film represents a bold departure from his past style: it's best described as introspective melodrama, yet both visually and tonally, it's still quintessential Ceylan."

Updated through 5/17.

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Igor - Trailer 1 What do you do when you’re born with a hunch in your back? In the land of Malaria, you become an Igor. Directed by award-winning animation verteran Tony Leondis (Prince of Egypt, The Road to El Dorado, Lilo & Stitch 2) and from Max Howard, producer involved in such films as The Little Mermaid, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Aladdin and The Lion King, comes Igor. This playful and irreverent comedy brings a new twist to the classic monster genre. Igor is the story of a made scientist’s hunchback lab assistant who dreams of becoming an evil scientist and winning first place at the annual Evil Science Fair. Starring Steve Buscemi (Charlotte’s Web), John Cleese (Shrek 2, Shrek 3) and John Cusack (High Fidelity, Grace is Gone), Igor is sure to re-invent the mad scientist genre for a new generation. Directed by: Tony Leondis Starring: John Cusack, Steve Buscemi, John Cleese, Jennifer Coolidge, Arsenio Hall

Tropic Thunder - Trailer - Red Band Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. lead an ensemble cast in “Tropic Thunder,’ an action comedy about a group of self-absorbed actors who set out to make the most expensive war film. After ballooning costs force the studio to cancel the movie, the frustrated director refuses to stop shooting, leading his cast into the jungles of Southeast Asia, where they encounter real bad guys. Directed by: Ben Stiller Starring: Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Downey Jr., Brandon T. Jackson, Nick Nolte

Editors Rolando Caputo and Scott Murray tip their hats to May 68 and cede the floor to Dušan Makavejev, who opens the new issue of Senses of Cinema with a question: "How did I get Otto Muehl and the AA Kommune (Actions-Analytic Kommune) into Sweet Movie?" They weren't rough on him, but they didn't make it easy, either. And then: "At a screening in Taormina, within a minute or two of the Commune scene a few dozen people stood up and ran out of the screening room. And minutes later another three, five and a dozen people left. They were ugly moments. When I went out to hear what they were saying, I found them all watching the film through the exit doors. When the Commune scene ended, they all went back to their seats."

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"A visceral, violent and deeply disturbing vision of life in the Maze prison, set during the 'dirty' protests and the second hunger strike of 1981, is offered up by Britain's most prominent entry in the Cannes film festival," writes Charlotte Higgins in the Guardian.

"Steve McQueen's Hunger, which focuses on the death of Bobby Sands after 66 days without food, prompted both applause and walk-outs as it premiered today, opening the prestigious Un Certain Regard section of the festival."

Updated through 5/17.

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NORWALK, OH -- The Norwalk Main Street Theatre, in an effort to provide the community with great live performing theatre is looking for an experienced Director(s) that can bring community theatre back to the area. This position is unique in that the right person(s) will be willing to work on commission. Our success is your success. The expense of the show and the profits of the show will be split between the Director and the theatre. There are several benefits: It will allow more than one Director to work at the Norwalk Main Street Theatre, bringing different flairs and directing styles and choices to the stage. It will also mean that you can keep your day job while pursuing your other passion on a part part-time basis. We are open to all sorts of ideas for live theatre. This could be your chance to bring the script that you have written to the stage, or put on a musical Revue using local talent. The possibilities are as endless as your imagination. If this sounds interesting to you, please email.

TEMPLE, TX -- While showing few signs of its former self, the Ritz Theater has been standing as a library for over 20 years.

After spending a few minutes browsing aisles of books at McGinley Memorial Library, it's easy to forget that long ago the place was a movie theater where people lived out today's distant memories. Although the exterior of the McGregor library still looks exactly like a theater, once you get indoors, 14,000 books and a computer lab mask the building's past. Just a few clues shed light on its former role.

Read the full story in the Temple Daily Telegram.

Ben Stein's Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed (PG) will be showing at the Norwalk Main Street Theatre, 57 E. Main St., Norwalk, Ohio on Friday May 16th at 7:00 p.m. for one show only. Ticket prices are: $3.50 for children, students with ID and seniors 60+ and $6.00 for Adults. Concession stand will be open with the best popcorn you have ever tasted (popped with coconut oil!), pop, water and candy! Come join us as we fire up the Carbon Arcs! (This theatre is for sale)

BINGHAMTON, NY -- As they continue to figure out the future plans for the Riviera Theatre, the owners have been cited for not filling out the necessary paperwork and let it fall into disrepair.

The company that owns the Stone Opera House was fined $100 for failing to register the Chenango Street building as a vacant property with the city, said Wilson "Doc" Rigdon, one of the company's partners. The city's vacant-property ordinance requires owners to submit a plan to rehabilitate, demolish or maintain and secure an empty building. Last month, the city took Stone Opera House LLC to court for failing to register the building.

Read the original article in the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.

Does anyone have any photos or media related to: -The Boulevard Theater -The Alameda Theater -The Center Theater -The Floral Drive In -The Garmar Theater Any and all info will be appreciated for an E.L.A. historical project. First hand memories, stories, etc. also welcomed. Please contact: Al Guerrero alguerrero@earthlink.net

FLINT, MI -- When this writer took in "What Happens in Vegas" at the US 23 Twin Drive-in Theatre, it was learned that the drive-in's owner Lou Warrington suffered a serious heart attack last year which left him homebound. He is 71. His 74-year-old wife Diane is doing double duty by caring for her ailing husband and managing the drive-in. It is the belief of Diane Warrington and the drive-in staff that is the final year of operation for the US-23 Twin Drive-in. The Warrington family is seriously considering putting the drive-in property on the market. The most likely fate is redevelopment. There is a small Kroger supermarket adjacent to the drive in. The Warringtons would be willing to sell the propety to Kroger if the price is right. Word is that the only reason the rival Miracle Twin Drive-in Theatre is still open is because the US 23 Twin is still open. So if the US 23 Twin closes permanently, so will the Miracle Twin. So with the recent news of the two drive-ins' season opening, it is likely that this is the final year for the two drive-ins.

RIDGEWOOD, NY -- Michael Perlman of Queens Preservation Council is seeking a historically-sensitive arts-related tenant for the endangered historic Ridgewood Theatre (55-27 Myrtle Ave, Queens, NY). It is of the utmost omportance to lease, and adaptively & creatively reuse a gem by the prolific Thomas Lamb, so it can contribute to the appeal of an up & coming neighborhood. The theater shuttered in March 2008, marking the end of its nearly 92 years as a first-run theater. The new owner is considering leasing the 2 ground floor theaters and reopening the upper floors' screens for films, but plans are not believed to be confirmed. ***Parties of interest may contact Perlman, and information will be relayed to the appropriate parties for prospective tenants.

PORTLAND, OR -- This article in OregonLive discusses the single-screen scene in the area with special focus on the 1920's Moreland Theatre.

The Moreland is just one of the vintage neighborhood movie theaters on Portland's east side that still draw customers in an age of multiplexes, rentals, video on demand and "living room" theaters. Portlanders, unusually devoted to their neighborhood theaters, go to the Bagdad, the Hollywood, the Clinton Street Theater and others to mingle with neighbors, marvel at the theaters' ornate beauty and taste a simpler time. "Portland's a pretty good city when it comes to maintaining vintage movie theaters," says Ross Melnick, a 33-year-old movie industry veteran studying for a doctorate in film history at the University of California at Los Angeles.

I love Werner Herzog. I've previously described him as my favorite crazy person and as an utterly fantastic deadpan comedian, but I also love that he's got this adventurous spirit as well. He commits strange, unpredictable cinema. Even though he can tell a story with the best of them - last year's Rescue Dawn is a rock-solid narrative in addition to being visually arresting - but so many of

SYCAMORE, IL -- The State Street Theater reopened after renovations to update it while still maintiang its classic charm.

Sycamore's State Theatre, 420 W. State St., has recently undergone some major renovations. The theater reopened Friday with the release of "Iron Man" after being closed for two weeks due to renovations. The improvements include new, handicap-accessible bathrooms, full remodeling of the lobby and new computer systems that accept debit and credit cards.

Read the full story in the Northern Star.

CHESAPEAKE, VA -- Just when I thought I'd seen everything, a new car dealership tries to lure customers with many unique amenities including a movie theater.

Soon, car buyers will be able to watch a movie, get a haircut and a manicure and do it all from the comfort of a local car dealership. On Monday in Chesapeake, Priority Automotive will open at 1800 Greenbrier Parkway, and it will feature a restaurant with full-service kitchen, a movie theater, plasma screen televisions, a hair salon, a shoe shine station, a Wi-Fi work area and a manicure station. A dedicated executive chef will provide snacks and gourmet meals, and a kids play area includes a 250-gallon saltwater aquarium.

The full story, in the Daily Press.