Morgan Freeman

‘Wanted’ With Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy Concocts Curving Bullet in Gluttonously Entertaining Blockbuster

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 22:01:00 -0700

CHICAGO – With curving, clinking and kissing bullets, “Wanted” indeed does Chicago proud. And Angelina Jolie sells it. And Morgan Freeman is ominous. And in his body of work, James McAvoy – the star of this orgasmic summer blockbuster – becomes a man.

Rating: 4.5/5.0

Many Chicagoans have been keenly aware of the film’s local filming throughout downtown Chicago and Broadview, Ill.

After also focusing its filming lens throughout the Czech Republic and Hungary, Chicago’s prominence reigns surprisingly dominant and central to the film’s assassin-based plot of one “apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice”.

Read Adam Fendelman’s full review of “Wanted” in our reviews section.

View our huge, high-resolution “Wanted” image gallery.

Listen to our episode-two podcast on “Wanted” and more.

Read more news on “Wanted”.

James McAvoy is the man of the hour, and in a short 110 minutes, is handed a Hollywood renovation from an initially fear-laden, listless boy to a surgically precise killer who’d give Matt Damon’s character (Jason Bourne) in “The Bourne Ultimatum” a fight for his life.

“Wanted” features Chicago front and center not only in its aesthetics but also central to its high-adrenaline pacing and action sequences. The Universal Pictures film needed exactly this big-city, fast-action feel to haunt McAvoy with the necessary vibrations in his quest to decide who he really is.

While “Wanted” is chock full of innovation – especially in its fight sequences and “The Matrix”-inspired special effects on ludicrously entertaining Hollywood steroids – the film at times still falls victim to the traditional stereotypes of what you’d expect in an assassin action-thriller with an ever-increasing death count.

“Wanted,” which was pushed back to a June 27, 2008 release date from an initial March 28, 2008 plan, won’t accrue the high marks and huge numbers it deserves because of its story alone. This is an outright action fest of sensory enchantment, carnal killing and orgasmic delight.

“Wanted,” which opened everywhere on June 27, 2008, stars James McAvoy, Angelina Jolie, Morgan Freeman, Terence Stamp, Common and David O’Hara.

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Wanted” review.

Fox (Angelina Jolie) shoots from the driver’s side of her Dodge Viper in the action-thriller that tells the tale of one apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures

James McAvoy as Wesley in the action-thriller that tells the tale of one apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Jaap Buitendijk

Continuing reading for Adam Fendelman’s full “Wanted” review.

Chicago’s Navy Pier to Feature ‘72 Hours of Batman’ For ‘The Dark Knight’ IMAX Premiere

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 14:08:17 -0700

CHICAGO – “The Dark Knight,” which for hordes of moviegoers across the U.S. is 2008’s most anticipated film, won’t just open on July 18, 2008 in Chicago to everyday fanfare. It was announced on Wednesday that the film will have “72 hours of Batman” that weekend at Chicago’s Navy Pier for its IMAX version.

Beginning with the first public showing at midnight on Friday, July 18 (late Thursday night), the film will show consecutively all weekend until late Sunday, July 20 (the midnight show). As well, various Batman-themed games, contests and prizes will add to the buzz throughout the weekend.

A scene from “The Dark Knight”.
Photo credit: The New York Times on March 9, 2008

Just in time for Father’s Day, tickets for every show that weekend go on sale this Thursday, June 12. Because it’s IMAX, the price is jacked up a bit to $15 for adults or $13 for children. Tickets can be obtained at http://www.imax.com/chicago. This is the film’s description:

“The Dark Knight” reunites director Christopher Nolan and star Christian Bale, who reprises the role of Batman/Bruce Wayne. Batman raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of lieutenant Jim Gordon and district attorney Harvey Dent, Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets.

The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker.

The film also stars Academy Award winner Michael Caine (“The Cider House Rules”) as Alfred; Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger (“Brokeback Mountain”) as arch villain The Joker; Gary Oldman as lieutenant Jim Gordon; Aaron Eckhart as district attorney Harvey Dent; Maggie Gyllenhaal as Rachel Dawes; and Oscar winner Morgan Freeman (“Million Dollar Baby”) as Lucius Fox.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

New Poster Surfaces For ‘The Dark Knight’: ‘Welcome to a World Without Rules’

HollywoodChicago.com — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 20:49:18 -0700

CHICAGO – The Joker played nice on Thursday and delivered new fan fruit for “The Dark Knight”: a movie poster sporting the new statement “welcome to a world without rules”. He used his popular viral site WhySoSerious.com to unleash the award.

Feast your eyes on the new poster below. View a high-resolution version here. View our full image gallery here for “The Dark Knight”. Read our extensive “The Dark Knight” coverage here. Stay tuned for another marvel in four days, too, which is speculated to be a new trailer.

This new poster for “The Dark Knight” was revealed on April 24, 2008 from a WhySoSerious.com viral marketing campaign. View a high-resolution version here.
Image credit: Warner Bros.

“The Dark Knight” from Warner Bros., which features Heath Ledger, Christian Bale, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Cillian Murphy and Anthony Michael Hall, is scheduled to hit theaters everywhere on July 18, 2008.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Three Months Early, First Review For ‘The Dark Knight’ Surfaces Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:05:10 -0700

CHICAGO – With today being April 9, 2008 and with “The Dark Knight” scheduled to open on July 18, 2008, the difference between the two dates, of course, is more than three months. Even so, the first review for the monolithically anticipated film has just hit the Web in Portuguese.

Contributor Alexandre Winck for the respected Batman site Batman-on-Film.com reports that the review comes from a “well-known blog in Brazil” that’s part of the “largest media corporation” there, which is known as Globo. Winck says the author is a “respected journalist”. While the translation into English is a bit rough, you’ll get the gist. The following information may contain spoilers.

Director Chris Nolan on the set of “The Dark Knight”.
Photo credit: Released by the New York Times on March 9, 2008

My secret agent between the Armani suits saw a super private session for “The Dark Knight” and came out drooling. It will be a great success, he guarantees.

The gadgets – especially the [Batpod], [which is] responsible for an acclaimed action sequence – are crazy and Heath Ledger might receive a deserved [award?] for his Joker. [He is] a mixture of a fool/clown, schizophrenic, sadistic and crazy.

The guy delivered, got himself into the role and it’s unrecognizable. There will be no other Joker after him.

Many great scenes. Impeccable effects. Music and sounds pretty loud, but helping the story. They have a heartbeat they use in a sensational way [that helps to anticipate] the next scene [as] a psychological trigger [like in “Jaws”].

The cast is awesome. Michael Caine and Morgan Freeman [steal] scenes in which all are present. Maggie Gyllenhaal [is] fantastic replacing Katie Holmes and Aaron Eckhart [is] a great surprise as the politician with a heart of gold whose personality changes after a horrible accident.

Another surprise is Eric Roberts as the mobster he knows so well how to do. Christian Bale [is] solid as ever [and] cool since Bruce Wayne is a rich playboy and Batman is the opposite. The film plays a lot with this duality. All the characters are complex, [have] ambiguities [and are] very interesting and delicate.

The humor … is totally dark. The movie is very dark and, in this version, a little too long. [It] will blow [everyone] away.

Due to its sensitivity, part of the next sentence is whited out in case you don’t want to read it. If you do, select it with your mouse.

Another scene … with Ledger [as] the Joker playing dead inside a body bag caused adverse reactions in the audience for obvious reasons. It will possibly be cut.

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Super Bowl Spot For Chicago-Filmed ‘Wanted’ Surfaces Online

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 19:18:00 -0700

CHICAGO – You don’t have to wait until Sunday, Feb. 3 to watch the official Super Bowl spot for “Wanted,” which was filmed in part in Chicago and stars Angelina Jolie, James McAvoy and Morgan Freeman. The spot just appeared online at Yahoo! Movies. For your convenience and viewing pleasure, we’ve uploaded the new spot to YouTube and embedded it below.

We have also created a new Angelina Jolie screenshot from this spot and have it for you below.

Angelina Jolie in “Wanted” from the 2008 Super Bowl spot.
Screenshot created by Adam Fendelman, HollywoodChicago.com

See our Dec. 6, 2007 “Wanted” coverage where we report on why the film’s release date was pushed back.

Click here for our huge “Wanted” image gallery!

By ADAM FENDELMAN
Editor-in-Chief
HollywoodChicago.com
adam@hollywoodchicago.com

Universal Pictures Pushes Back ‘Wanted’ Release Date From Spring to Summer 2008

HollywoodChicago.com — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:06:07 -0700

Universal Pictures announced on Wednesday it is pushing back the release date of the hotly anticipated film “Wanted,” which has filmed in Chicago, from the spring to the summer of 2008.

Angelina Jolie in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
The decision was made due to mounting competition on the weekend of its original selection. Initially slated to release on March 28, 2008, the film is now scheduled to open on June 27, 2008 to rival Pixar’s “Wall-E,” “What Happens in Vegas…” and Tom Cruise’s “Valkyrie”.

“After an early look at ‘Wanted,’ we are certain it fulfills its promise as a stunning, committed, thrilling and eye-popping vision that introduces a bold new narrative,” said Universal Pictures president of distribution Nikki Rocco in the Wednesday statement.

She added: “We believe it can stand shoulder to shoulder with the event titles of the summer and will give audiences a chance to discover a fresh [and] new alternative.”

David O’Hara in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
While Superhero Hype! calls the announcement a “surprise,” it’s certainly obvious to me that Universal feels it can better dominate that June weekend.

But will it? While the Superhero Hype! report says the March 28 weekend is “starting to get rather crowed,” that begs the question: crowded with what other films? The March weekend also features the likes of:

“21” (with Kevin Spacey, Kate Bosworth and Laurence Fishburne)
“My Brother is an Only Child” (an Italian film)
“Run, Fat Boy, Run” (directed by David Schwimmer)
“Stop-Loss” (with Ryan Phillippe)
“Superhero!” (with Leslie Nielsen, Sara Paxton and Brent Spiner from “Star Trek”)

James McAvoy in “Wanted”.
Photo credit: Universal Pictures
It’s fair to say even in the more “crowded” weekend that “Wanted” currently has the most brand recognition among those titles and also features among the most star-studded cast (with James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman, Angelina Jolie and Common).

While its June weekend has less rivalry by number of films, those films are more widely known and serve as greater box-office threats. The March weekend offers more film competition by number of films but with less visibility. I question the merit of this switch.

“Wanted,” which is the first English-language film helmed by Russian director Timur Bekmambetov, is based upon Mark Millar’s explosive graphic novel series.

Spy Photos Surface From ‘The Dark Knight’ Filming in Hong Kong

HollywoodChicago.com — Sat, 10 Nov 2007 09:54:37 -0700

As we know, “The Dark Knight” has moved its filming crew from Chicago to the hectic Hong Kong. On Friday afternoon, Ain’t It Cool News released a montage of grainy yet sufficient photos to capture the scene chaos.

In these 10 photos, we see Morgan Freeman (Lucius Fox), Christian Bale (Bruce Wayne/Batman) and director Chris Nolan. Notice the particularly interesting photo with Bale as Wayne photographing someone himself.