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So far, the most successful movies of the past few months (The Avengers, Men in Black III, Snow White and the Huntsman) have all been big-budget, special effects–heavy movies or sequels with established or well-known characters. Therein lies the challenge of marketing director Oliver Stone's upcoming adaptation of Savages. Despite being based on the novel by Don Winslow, Savages doesn't have the advantage of being based on known characters, yet, ironically, will have to contend with The Amazing Spider-Man on its opening weekend.
To help audiences become more familiar with the characters in Savages, Universal has released several character clips from the movie. All done in police interrogation-style interviews, which means that marijuana growers Ben (Aaron Johnson and Chon Taylor Kitsch) won't exactly be truthful about their business, and neither will Mexican drug cartel leader Elena Sanchez (Salma Hayek) and her enforcer Lado (Benicio del Toro). Ben and Chon's girlfriend O (Blake Lively), however, is willing to admit to her triumvirate relationship.
watch the videos >> Posted 06.14.12 by Ryan -
Director Oliver Stone's adaptation of Savages has a tough road ahead, competing against the highly anticipated The Amazing Spider-Man its opening weekend and family-friendly sequel Ice Age: Continental Drift the following week. It may seem cynical to think that the crime-thriller only has two weeks to make its mark on the box office, but the third week after Savages' release, The Dark Knight Rises hits theaters and will likely be dominating the box office.
Still, there must be a reason Universal decided to release Savages during tentpole season... The two latest TV spots provide some answers as they reveal explosions, weird masks, and rocket launchers while briefly describing a story about two marijuana growers (Aaron Johnson and Taylor Kitsch) whose mutual girlfriend (Blake Lively) is kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel that the two friends refused to work with. Salma Hayek leads the cartel, and Benicio del Toro plays the mustachioed cartel enforcer who kidnaps Lively and forces the two friends to, as one of spots says, go to war.
watch the TV spots >> Posted 06.06.12 by Ryan -
Universal clearly has a lot of confidence in director Oliver Stone's adaptation of Savages. After seeing an early version of the movie in February, the studio decided to change the release date from September to July 6th, putting it in direct competition with The Amazing Spider-Man, which opens 3 days earlier. Now, we finally have our first look at Savages, as MTV has delivered the movie's first trailer.
Based on the 2010 novel from Don Winslow, Savages follows marijuana growers Ben (Aaron Johnson) and Chon (Taylor Kitsch), who refuse to join forces with a Mexican drug cartel led by Salma Hayek. The cartel sends an enforcer (Benicio del Toro) to kidnap the two friends' girlfriend (Blake Lively), which prompts the two friends to take down the cartel themselves in what looks to be an explosive showdown.
watch the trailer >> Posted 04.05.12 by Ryan -
ReelzChannel Celebrity Rundown
As Bravo execs huddled at Adrienne Maloof's mansion to discuss what to do about the new season of Real Housewives of Beverly Hills in the wake of Russell Armstrong's suicide, wife Taylor Armstrong has asked the network to carefully edit the show's video footage, which includes multiple marriage counseling sessions with a psychiatrist.
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A jihadist has made a death threat against David Letterman, urging followers to "cut the tongue of the lowly Jew and shut it forever." The Late Show host — who's a Christian — had apparently mocked the death of accused terrorist leader Ilyas Kashmiri, who was killed by a U.S. airstrike in Pakistan in June.
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Mike "The Situation" Sorrentino and Pauly D have shot back at Abercrombie and Fitch after the retailer offered to to pay Sitch not to wear their clothes. Sorrentino mocked the company's 10% stock price drop on Twitter after a bad earnings report, and Pauly D noted the company's raging hypocrisy in a tweet that included a picture of a Fitch t-shirt with the cast's catchphrase "G.T.L." (Gym, Tan, Laundry).
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47-year-old David Cross, perhaps best known for playing Dr. Tobias Fünke on Arrested Development, is engaged to 28-year-old Amber Tamblyn, star of the two Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants movies. The couple have been dating since 2009.
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Designer Michael Kors married longtime lover Lance LePere on Tuesday in Southhampton, NY. Kors announced plans to marry LePere days after same-sex marriage became legal in New York in July.
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44-year-old Salma Hayek is on the cover of the September Allure and comes out against plastic surgery, saying "it's not wrinkled-looking, but it's not beautiful." When asked what part of her body looked better 10 years ago, Hayek responded: "My boobs. They're not bad, by the way. I'm not complaining about them." A slideshow of the photo shoot argues that there's been very little slippage the past decade.
Posted 08.18.11 by reelz -
Oliver Stone is putting together an appealing cast for his upcoming drama Savages, based on the novel by Don Winslow that follows two pot-dealing buddies who become involved with a Mexican drug cartel. When the cartel kidnaps their girlfriend, the two are forced to find a way to pay the ransom.
Last month, Taylor Kitsch (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) and Aaron Johnson (Kick-Ass) were cast respectively as Southern California pot growers Chon, an ex-Navy Seal, and Ben, an environmentally-conscious Berkeley grad. Benicio Del Toro was also cast last month as a drug enforcer named Lado, who works for a drug cartel matriarch, to be played by Salma Hayek.
The latest cast additions, according to Deadline, are Blake Lively (Green Lantern) as O, the kidnapped girlfriend, a role originally intended for Jennifer Lawrence until she won the lead role in The Hunger Games. Pulp Fiction and Be Cool co-stars John Travolta and Uma Thurman will reunite in the movie, with Travolta playing a burned out DEA agent named Dennis, and Thurman playing O's mom, Paqu. Then there's Emile Hirsch (Milk), whom Variety reports has also joined the cast in an unspecified role.
Production on Savages starts in July. Winslow adapted the screenplay with Shane Salerno (Shaft).
Posted 04.23.11 by Ryan -
While last year's Shrek Forever After may have actually been "the final chapter" of the saga of those loveable ogres, Shrek (Mike Myers) and Fiona (Cameron Diaz), that doesn't mean that we've seen the last of the fantastic world of Far Far Away. DreamWorks Animation has been working on a (initially direct-to-DVD) spin-off featuring Puss in Boots (Antonio Banderas) since 2007, and now they've finally started to hype the theatrical release of the movie. The first teaser trailer debuted on Friday attached to Rango and it can now be viewed online. And, a new teaser poster for the movie has also been released.
watch the teaser trailer >> Posted 03.06.11 by BrentJS -
ReelzChannel Celebrity Rundown
His Swingers days seem like a lifetime — and three chins — ago as Vince Vaughn and wife Kyla Weber had a baby girl last weekend. It's the first child for the couple, who married in January.
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Still money is 52-year-old soap star Lorenzo Lamas, who's announced April 2011 wedding plans with 23-year-old Shawna Craig, a dead-ringer for Salma Hayek.
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E! Online has released its Top 10 Mug Shots of 2010. Two of the more impressive entrants — Snooki and Randy Quaid — should cry foul as Lindsay Lohan has an unfair advantage with two entries.
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It's no surprise Leonardo DiCaprio was 2010's top-grossing actor (with roles in Inception and Shutter Island), but you'd never guess Mia Wasikowska is #2. Alice in Wonderland and The Kids are All Right earned over $1B worldwide.
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The Hollywood Boxing Organization, which has sponsored bouts involving Jose Canseco, Michael Lohan, and The Partridge Family's Danny Bonaduce, is offering $1M to movie fighters Will Smith (Ali) and Mark Wahlberg to fight in a charity boxing match in February. While Smith has both a height and reach advantage, the smart money is on Wahlberg, who actually boxed in The Fighter.
Posted 12.21.10 by reelz -
Whew. After reading IronMan 2 critic reviews about this time last week, we were concerned it might be as lousy as Spider-Man 3. Then we saw it and it was pretty cool. But it got us thinking: What if Scarlett Johansson, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leslie Bibb, and the rest of the Iron Man 2 hotties weren't in the movie? What if it was 2 hours of iron suits, bad guys, and exposition? Bo-ring.
So with that profound thought we present the rest of the hotties we're looking forward to in Summer 2010.
See The Hottest Chicks of the Summer Flicks >> Posted 05.12.10 by reelz -
The first picture of actress Salma Hayek (Frida) as her character in Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant has been released, and it's a hairy one. Hayek's character, Madame Truska, performs as a "bearded lady" in a traveling freak show with her lover, Larten Crepsley (played by John C. Reilly), the titular vampire. The movie is based on the popular Cirque du Freak young adult novels by Darren Shan.
When asked about playing such an unusual character, Hayek told Entertainment Weekly:
... she needs to be very comfortable with herself. I thought, of all people to have that problem, she'd be an interesting one.
Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant is directed by Paul Weitz (American Pie) and also stars Willem DaFoe, Ken Watanabe, Orlando Jones, and Ray Stevenson
Posted 08.09.09 by BrentJS -
Reelz.com and a few other online outlets were part of a group brought down to the set of Cirque Du Freak in New Orleans earlier this week. We saw the sets, spoke to cast and watched some filming.
Sadly, we are sworn to secrecy for now, but what we can tell you is that Willem Dafoe has joined the cast as Gavner Purl. This has been confirmed and actually, we saw him on set in full costume.
Cirque Du Freak is an adaptation of the first three books of the popular U.K. series by Darren Shan. Paul Weitz (About a Boy, American Pie) directs. Joining Dafoe in the cast of freaks and vampires is Salma Hayek as Madame Truska (aka "The Bearded Lady") and, actually, she doesn't look half bad with a burly beard. There's also John C. Reilly as Larten Crepsley, Ken Watanabe as Mr. Tall and Patrick Fugit as Snake Boy.
If you're a fan of the Cirque Du Freak novels, drop us a line or post a comment below and let us know what you think about this one. More to come on Cirque Du Freak!
Posted 05.29.08 by reelz