Rama's Screen

Here’s a new featurette for PUBLIC ENEMIES, the upcoming thriller/action by director Michael Mann, starring Johnny Depp and Christian Bale. The vibrant video above features Mann talking about what made Dillinger so infectious and charismatic. Depp and Bale mention that The Great Depression was what made the public idolize Dillinger and the clip shows that one of the famous bank robbers in U.S. history has a weakness, he cares too much. Overall, it was a helluva movie to watch,
check out my review

PUBLIC ENEMIES opens July 1st, 2009

I admit, I’ve never read any of the TOM SWIFT Books, I know it’s been around forever, it’s the sci-fi adventure classic novel series that’s said to have inspired people like Isaac Asimov and the stories center on Tom’s various science and technological inventions. Well, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, when it comes to reading, I’m more of a political thriller novel kinda guy,.. sci-fi is something I’d like to see in action on the big screen. And according to Variety, Barry Sonenfeld (Men In Black) and David Grabinski are going to help make that happen for people like me.

They’re going to develop SWIFT, which will be directed by Sonnenfeld. The movie will re-imagine the story and will feature Swift as one-half of a father-son team who are among the greatest inventors of all time.
The books were around since 1910 and was just as adventurous as the stories they tell because apparently it was outlined by Edward Stratemeyer, written by ghostwriters and credited to pseudonym Victor Appleton. Phew! Back then, it must’ve been a knock hard life for an author.

What I didn’t know is that there have been a couple of attempts to bring TOM SWIFT to the big screen in the past.
There was the musical version in the 1960s that Gene Kelly was set to direct but the project fell apart and then another one was planned in the 1970s but that one got nixed too.
I hope the curse of the TOM SWIFT doesn’t follow Sonnenfeld’s project because what would people like me be without sci-fi adventure movies?! Read the books?!

If Heath Ledger wasn’t nominated for his Joker role in The Dark Knight, that best supporting actor Oscar would’ve easily gone to Michael Shannon. If you haven’t seen Revolutionary Road, I suggest rent it as soon as you can because Shannon’s magnificent performance literally stole the screen from Leo and Kate.
Shannon won’t have to doing many indie gigs for a while like he used to… because big budget offers are rolling in from left and right. He’s already in JONAH HEX and the remake of 13.

According to Hollywood Reporter, he’s signed on to star as one of the male leads in the biopic project THE RUNAWAYS based on the life of the first all female rock band in the 1970s led by Joan Jett and Cherie Curry who will be played by Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning.
No word yet on which character that Shannon will play and whether or not he’ll be personally or professionally involved with either one of the four members of the band.

THE RUNAWAYS is based on Jett’s 1970s girl rock band named The Runaways, the members were guitarists Jett and Lita Ford, drummer late Sandy West, singer-keyboardist Cherie Currie and bassist Jackie Fox.The band lasted about four years together, falling apart over management and money issues. The film will revolve around Jett and Currie and follow them from the band’s meteoric rise as teenagers to their dissolution and disillusionment
Written and directed by Floria Sigismondi, The film is expected to start production in 2009 and will work around Kristen Stewart’s NEW MOON schedules.

The 2009 MTV Movie Awards is over! By far their silliest yet. TWILIGHT received 5 Golden Popcorn including Best Fight and Best Movie, I can’t believe these tweens voted for the vampire romance instead of The Dark Knight, generation today just doesn’t know quality films anymore. But what can you do, like Arnold said.. ‘It’s inevitable!’ After all, this show is for MTV fans anyway, so if Kate Winslet had won for Best Actress, there would’ve been a riot out on the streets of L.A.

To me, Andy Samberg, wasn’t consistent as the funnyman host of the evening, some of his jokes were dry but I did enjoy his intro spoof video and the music clip “cool men don’t look at explosions”
Only in MTV world that Bruce Springsteen could get beaten by Miley Cyrus.
Heath Ledger won Best Villain but didn’t get announced at the event. It was announced by MTV News correspondent Sway on the red carpet during an episode of the reality series “The Hills” before the ceremony began. What an insult to a late great actor.. all he got was that?!.. I know he wouldn’t care but we need to show some respect, man!
The surprise of the evening would be Jim Carrey winning Comedy, I really thought that one would go to James Franco or Steve Carell.
Ben Stiller received lifetime achievement or GENERATION AWARD with a hilarious set up by Kiefer Sutherland, Triumph the Comic Insult Dog, and Zac Efron.

Just a heads up, since NEW MOON opens this year and ECLIPSE opens next year and BREAKING DAWN opens the next, prepare yourself for Robert Pattinson winning lots and lots of Golden Popcorn in the years to come, thanks to fangirls everywhere..

Here’s the complete list of the winners or should I say Wieners!, They’re listed in bold dark maroon color

BEST MOVIE
•The Dark Knight – Director: Christopher Nolan, Producers: Charles Roven and Emma Thomas (Warner Bros. Pictures)
•High School Musical 3: Senior Year – Director: Kenny Ortega, Producers: Bill Borden and Barry Rosenbush (Walt Disney Pictures)
•Iron Man – Director: Jon Favreau, Producers: Avi Arad and Kevin Feige (Paramount Pictures)
•Slumdog Millionaire – Director: Danny Boyle, Producer: Christian Colson (Fox Searchlight)
•Twilight – Director: Catherine Hardwicke, Producers: Wyck Godfrey, Greg Mooradian and Mark Morgan (Summit Entertainment)

BEST FEMALE PERFORMANCE
•Angelina Jolie – Wanted (Universal Pictures)
•Anne Hathaway – Bride Wars (20th Century Fox)
•Kate Winslet – The Reader (The Weinstein Company)
•Kristen Stewart – Twilight (Summit Entertainment)
•Taraji P. Henson – The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (Paramount Pictures)

BEST MALE PERFORMANCE
•Christian Bale – The Dark Knight (Warner Bros. Pictures)
•Robert Downey Jr. – Iron Man (Paramount Pictures)
•Shia LaBeouf – Eagle Eye (DreamWorks SKG/ Paramount Pictures)
•Vin Diesel – Fast & Furious (Universal Pictures)
•Zac Efron – High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney Pictures)

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE FEMALE
•Amanda Seyfried – Mamma Mia! (Universal Pictures)
•Ashley Tisdale – High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney Pictures)
•Freida Pinto – Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight)
•Miley Cyrus – Hannah Montana: The Movie (Walt Disney Pictures)
•Vanessa Hudgens – High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney Pictures)
•Kat Dennings – Nick & Norah’s Infinite Playlist (Columbia Pictures)

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMANCE MALE
•Robert Pattinson – Twilight (Summit Entertainment)
•Taylor Lautner – Twilight (Summit Entertainment)
•Ben Barnes – The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Walt Disney Pictures)
•Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight)
•Bobb’e J. Thompson – Role Models (Universal Pictures)

BEST COMEDIC PERFORMANCE
•Amy Poehler – Baby Mama (Universal Pictures)
•Anna Faris – The House Bunny (Columbia Pictures)
•James Franco – Pineapple Express (Columbia Pictures)
•Jim Carrey – Yes Man (Warner Bros. Pictures)
•Steve Carell – Get Smart (Warner Bros. Pictures)

BEST VILLAIN
•Derek Mears – Friday The 13th (Warner Bros. Pictures)
•Dwayne Johnson – Get Smart (Warner Bros. Pictures)
•Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (Warner Bros. Pictures)
•Johnathon Schaech – Prom Night (Screen Gems)
•Luke Goss – Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Universal Pictures)

BEST FIGHT
•Anne Hathaway vs. Kate Hudson – Bride Wars (20th Century Fox)
•Christian Bale vs. Heath Ledger – The Dark Knight (Warner Bros. Pictures)
•Ron Perlman vs. Luke Goss – Hellboy II: The Golden Army (Universal Pictures)
•Robert Pattinson vs. Cam Gigandet – Twilight (Summit Entertainment)
•Seth Rogen and James Franco vs. Danny McBride – Pineapple Express (Columbia Pictures)

BEST KISS
•Angelina Jolie and James McAvoy – Wanted (Universal Pictures)
•Freida Pinto and Dev Patel – Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight)
•James Franco and Sean Penn – Milk (Focus Features)
•Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson – Twilight (Summit Entertainment)
•Paul Rudd and Thomas Lennon – I Love You, Man (Paramount Pictures)
•Vanessa Hudgens and Zac Efron – High School Musical 3: Senior Year (Walt Disney Pictures)

BEST WTF MOMENT (New Category)
•Amy Poehler – Baby Mama, Peeing In the Sink (Universal Pictures)
•Angelina Jolie – Wanted, Curved Bullet Kill (Universal Pictures)
•Ayush Mahesh Khedekar – Slumdog Millionaire, Jumping in the Poop Shed (Fox Searchlight)
•Ben Stiller – Tropic Thunder, Tasting the Decapitated Head (DreamWorks SKG/ Paramount Pictures)
•Jason Segel and Kristen Bell – Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Naked Break-Up (Universal Pictures)

BEST SONG FROM A MOVIE (New Category)
•“Jai Ho” – AR Raham, Slumdog Millionaire (Fox Searchlight)
•“The Wrestler” – Bruce Springsteen, The Wrestler (Fox Searchlight)
•“The Climb” – Miley Cyrus, Hannah Montana: The Movie (Walt Disney Pictures)
•“Decode” – Paramore, Twilight (Summit Entertainment)

Of all the comic strip characters out there, why the hell does HEATHCLIFF get to have a big screen treatment? I’m sorry but I never found this particular cat hilarious. Sure he’s wisecrackin’ and all but I’d usually skip him and go straight to Marmaduke or Boondocks. Variety reported that HEATHCLIFF is getting a second chance for a movie version and wait, when was the previous installment? I looked it up and it was the 1986 Heathcliff: The Movie, so since most of us probably don’t have any recollection of it, this new project will be a fresh start.

If you want to blame someone, point the finger at a joint venture between family toon studio Magic Lantern Entertainment and rights holder FitzRoy Media. They’re planning to adapt the character to 21st century, whatever that means, and the format of the movie will be hybrid a.k.a live action/CG just like Alvin and the Chipmunks… whooptif*cin’doo.
HEATHCLIFF was created by George Gately in 1973 featuring an eponymous cat. Now written and drawn by Gately’s nephew, Peter Gallagher.
Heathcliff looks similar to Garfield, the difference is.. while Garfield prefers to stay at home, eat, sleep all day and get fat Heathcliff is street-smart, active and mischievous. Garfield expresses his thought but Heathcliff is a silent character, I doubt he’s going to stay silent for the movie, he’s probably going to be annoying throughout the entire time.

Last week, it was announced that Basic Instinct, Showgirls director Peter Verhoeven is taking on the adaptation project THE SURROGATE, not to be confused with Bruce Willis’ upcoming sci-fi, Surrogates.
But I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that 20th Century Fox might change the title so audiences won’t mistake one for the other. I remember Avatar: The Last Airbender movie, directed by M. Night Shyamalan had to go with just THE LAST AIRBENDER because James Cameron also has another movie already called AVATAR>

Hollywood Reporter said Halle Berry has signed on to star in THE SURROGATE, based on the 2004 book by author Kathryn Mackel. It says that Berry’s deal is still in negotiation but Fox wants her so we can consider it as good as locked-in.

Here’s the official synopsis of the book..
“The perfect candidate to carry their child…with the perfect opportunity to destroy their lives.
When Kyle Dolan convinces his wife, Bethany, to hire a surrogate for their last surviving embryo, they allow themselves to hope once again. A med school student, Laurel Bergin seems perfect in every way. Problem is–Laurel Bergin is really Sable Lynde.
As the pregnancy progresses, Sable’s dark secrets surface, and her inner demons spill out into the Dolans’ lives. In a terrifying encounter, Sable is injured and lapses into a coma. Now the Dolans face psychological and supernatural forces they never knew existed.
Fearing for their sanity, their own lives, and the life of their baby, they confront the surrogate–and the darkness surrounding her–in a heart-stopping climax that will keep you reading late into the night.”

Told ya unexpected outrageous acts would happen on MTV Movie Awards, this one’s going to be viral. Sacha Baron Cohen’s alter ego BRUNO showed up to present an award for Best Male Performance. He appeared as a gay-lookin’ angel, flying high near the ceiling but of course, the wire didn’t do its job and he landed on 69 style with his ass right in front of rapper Eminem’s face…
look.. I enjoy Eminem’s music but he needs to lighten up cause obviously the man can’t take a joke besides,..everyone knows this is Cohen’s comedy style, spontaneous and aimed to piss people off… unless.. Eminem was actually in on it too.

BRUNO opens July 10th, 2009

This is fun… it’s like how it was during Superbowl again, when one movie spot after another just constantly hit the web. Via MTV, Here’s the new clip from HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE that was shown during the MTV Movie Awards 2009. Emma Watson, Dan Radcliffe, and Rupert Grint couldn’t make it to the event so they did a bit of an introduction. It’s a scene where Harry looks into the memory of the past that shows Dumbledore meeting Tom Riddle a.k.a future Lord Voldemort.
I understand this movie’s going to be even a lot darker than the last but man, I can feel the VFX is going to be quite the trip.

Voldemort is tightening his grip on both the Muggle and wizarding worlds and Hogwarts is no longer the safe haven it once was. Harry suspects that dangers may even lie within the castle, but Dumbledore is more intent upon preparing him for the final battle that he knows is fast approaching. Together they work to find the key to unlock Voldemort’s defenses and, to this end, Dumbledore recruits his old friend and colleague, the well-connected and unsuspecting bon vivant Professor Horace Slughorn, whom he believes holds crucial information. Meanwhile, the students are under attack from a very different adversary as teenage hormones rage across the ramparts. Harry finds himself more and more drawn to Ginny, but so is Dean Thomas. And Lavender Brown has decided that Ron is the one for her, only she hadn’t counted on Romilda Vane’s chocolates! And then there’s Hermione, simpering with jealously but determined not to show her feelings. As romance blossoms, one student remains aloof. He is determined to make his mark, albeit a dark one. Love is in the air, but tragedy lies ahead and Hogwarts may never be the same again.

HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE opens July 15th, 2009

The trailer for Twilight saga: NEW MOON has hit the web via Myspace. you can watch it using the media player below. It starts with Bella and Edward having a romantic moment and then a birthday gone terribly wrong that forces Edward to leave Bella for good. Laurent comes along with his appetite but incredibly buff Jacob is there to the rescue and the trailer ends with him turning into a Werewolf. Frankly, I liked the ones portrayed in Underworld and Van Helsing movies better. This one looks more like.. an ordinary wolf, is that how it was described in the book?

In “New Moon,” Bella Swan (Stewart) is devastated by the abrupt departure of her vampire love Edward (Pattinson) but her spirit is rekindled by her growing friendship with the irresistible Jacob Black (Lautner). Suddenly she finds herself drawn into the world of the werewolves, ancestral enemies of the vampires, and she finds her loyalties tested.
Directed by: Chris Weitz
Starring: Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, Taylor Lautner, Ashley Greene, Peter Facinelli, Elizabeth Reaser, Kellan Lutz, Nikki Reed, Jackson Rathbone, Edi Gathegi, Rachelle Lafevre, Billy Burke, Charlie Bewley, Jamie Campbell Bower, Daniel Cudmore, Christopher Heyerdahl, Dakota Fanning, Cameron Bright, Noot Seer, Michael Sheen, Graham Greene and Tinsel Korey

NEW MOON opens November 20th, 2009

And it’s here! The clip from TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN that was shown during the MTV Movie Awards 2009 has been released by MTV. In this scene we could see Shia’s Sam Witwicky and Megan Fox’s Mikaela playing hide and seek in the desert.. Constructicons are actually chasing them. Man is this movie going to be the most awesome thing this summer or what!
Some kids are going to want to visit Egypt and the pyramids thinking they’re going to see some giant robots just crashing the place.

TRANSFORMERS: REVENGE OF THE FALLEN opens June 24th, 2009