Lex-cellent news

From comingsoon.net

Warner Bros. Pictures announced today that Jesse Eisenberg has been set to star as Lex Luthor and Jeremy Irons will play Alfred in the upcoming Zack Snyder untitled Superman/Batman film. The dual announcement was made today by Greg Silverman, President, Creative Development and Worldwide Production, and Sue Kroll, President, Worldwide Marketing and International Distribution, Warner Bros. Pictures.

Snyder stated, "Lex Luthor is often considered the most notorious of Superman's rivals, his unsavory reputation preceding him since 1940. What's great about Lex is that he exists beyond the confines of the stereotypical nefarious villain. He's a complicated and sophisticated character whose intellect, wealth and prominence position him as one of the few mortals able to challenge the incredible might of Superman. Having Jesse in the role allows us to explore that interesting dynamic, and also take the character in some new and unexpected directions."

The director added, "As everyone knows, Alfred is Bruce Wayne's most trusted friend, ally and mentor, a noble guardian and father figure. He is an absolutely critical element in the intricate infrastructure that allows Bruce Wayne to transform himself into Batman. It is an honor to have such an amazingly seasoned and gifted actor as Jeremy taking on the important role of the man who mentors and guides the guarded and nearly impervious facade that encapsulates Bruce Wayne."

Eisenberg received Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Screen Actors Guild Award and BAFTA Award nominations for his starring role as Mark Zuckerberg in David Fincher's The Social Network. He also starred in Woody Allen's To Rome with Love and Louis Letterier's Now You See Me. He next appears in The Double and NightMoves.

Irons won the Academy Award for his portrayal of Claus von Bulow in Reversal of Fortune. His work in the film also garnered him a Golden Globe Award. He won an Emmy Award and a Screen Actors Guild (SAG) Award for his performance in the TV miniseries "Elizabeth I," opposite Helen Mirren, and recently starred on the small screen as Rodrigo Borgia in Neil Jordan's highly acclaimed Showtime series "The Borgias," for which Irons earned a Golden Globe nomination. He was recently nominated for a SAG Award for the PBS Great Performances television miniseries "The Hollow Crown," for his performance as Henry IV.

Snyder's film stars Henry Cavill, reprising his role as Superman/Clark Kent, Ben Affleck as Batman/Bruce Wayne, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman/Diana Prince. The film also reunites Man of Steel stars Amy Adams, Laurence Fishburne and Diane Lane.

The new film is currently being written by Chris Terrio, from a screenplay by David S. Goyer. Charles Roven and Deborah Snyder are producing, with Benjamin Melniker, Michael E. Uslan, Wesley Coller, David S. Goyer and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers.

The film is set to open worldwide on May 6, 2016, and is based on Superman characters created by Jerry Siegel &Joe Shuster, Batman characters created by Bob Kane, and Wonder Woman created by William Moulton Marston, appearing in comic books published by DC Entertainment.

RBR: Now You See Me

Portraying magic in the movies can be just as difficult as performing a trick in real life. Both require a lot of misdirection before a final reveal that needs to payoff. In Now You See Me, the crime thriller that came out last May, a group of magicians and illusionists band together to perform tricks that seemingly involve robbing banks. The group, known as the Four Horsemen, consists of Jesse Eisenberg, Woody Harrelson, Isla Fisher, and Dave Franco. After committing their first trick/robbery, they are put under investigation by a cop played by Mark Ruffalo and an Interpol agent played by Melanie Laurent. Also involved is Michael Caine who is producing the Four Horsemen's act and Morgan Freeman as a magician who has built a career out of revealing magicians' secrets to the public. As you can see, there are a lot of moving parts at play here. This enables there to never be a dull moment in the film, but is also prevents us from really getting to know any of the characters all that well. The most development comes from the budding romance between Ruffalo and Laurent, but I found that to be the weakest part of the film. Meanwhile, director Louis Leterrier throws a lot of tricks at you, both of the magical and visual kind, that are meant to, and mostly succeed, at enthralling you. This is a movie that begs you to "look closer" in order to try and figure out. While it does a good job of keeping you guessing, I am not sold that the final reveal works. Yet I found it to be a twist that encourages me to watch the film again rather than get annoyed or disgusted. If you let yourself get sucked in to the magic, you will likely find yourself fully entertained. But if you're the type of person who wants to take the magic out of everything, the film gives you plenty of ammunition to hate it. Personally, I was entertained and would gladly be interested in seeing more adventures from The Four Horsemen in the future. Rating: ****

Illusions of grandeur

Heist movies are a personal favorite of mine and when you throw in a litle magic, plus a killer cast, well then you've got the recipe for a movie that will likely find its way on my 2013 preview next month. Until then, you can enjoy the trailer for Now You See Me here below.

RBR: 30 Minutes or Less

In 2009, I was pleasantly surprised by how much I liked director Ruben Fleischer's film, Zombieland. It had fun with a genre that I typically don't watch and produced a wholly entertaining film. So I was excited to see what he would do in this latest action comedy that once again featured Jesse Eisenberg. Unfortunately, this one lacks the laughs and creativity that made their previous outing so great. The premise involves two lunkheads (Danny McBride and Nick Swardson) who concoct a scheme to strap a bomb to an unsuspecting pizza delivery driver (Eisenberg) in order to force him to steal $100,000 for them so they can pay a hitman to kill one of the goon's father. Once we get the setup out of the way, the film briskly move from one scene to the next in predictable fashion and doing nothing special with this involved premise. Eisenberg and his buddy (played by Aziz Ansari, who does the spastic best friend much better than Charlie Day did in Horrible Bosses) hatch a plan, steal the money and make the drop with very surprising ease, which is disappointing and unfunny. This film either needed to punch up the script with more laughs or cast it with actors more suited for the action genre. The one positive thing is that 30 Minutes or Less barely runs 83 minutes long so it doesn't overstay its welcome. With that said, I'd rather wait 83 minutes for lukewarm pizza than watch this film again. A major disappointment here, especially given the talent (Danny McBride excluded) involved with this film. Rating: **

RBR: Rio

This computer animated film from last spring is a complete paint-by-numbers effort. Admittedly, the paint used is a dazzlingly array of color. This is a great looking film with vibrant scenery and creatures. For me though, that only goes so far. It's the story here that is a let down. It centers on a domesticated bird (voiced by Jesse Eisenberg) who is taken back to Rio in an effort to repopulate his species with the only remaining female bird of his kind (voiced by Anne Hathaway). Along the way, we move through one cliched story point to the next as the movie heavily borrows from better films like The Defiant Ones and Finding Nemo. To pad things out they throw in a handful of musical numbers that are in the moment pleasant but utterly forgettable. This film will probably be best appreciated by small children who will be easily mesmerized by the bright colors and goofy characters but there's nothing much for anyone older to latch onto here and enjoy. Rating: ** 1/2