The Movie Blog Podcast – September 18th 2009

Hey there folks. We’re back with another installment of The Movie Blog Podcast. Today I’m joined by regular guest Christina Warren of Mashable.Com and FlickCast.Com. We’re also joined today by Vic Holtreman, the one and only founder and Senior Editor of ScreenRant.Com

Together, we discuss:

1) Jennifer’s Body

2) Edward Norton claiming no cameo in Iron Man 2

3) X-Men: First Class casting

4) Nic Cage leaving Green Hornet, and the mess that movie seems to be in

These, and a few things more.

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Or you can download it directly here.

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64 thoughts on “The Movie Blog Podcast – September 18th 2009

  1. I think what they said in this podcast about megan fox can be said for Seth Rogen. Once you hear that his name is attached to this, yknow it wont be that great. all you apologists keep saying maybe he will surprise us, and liken it to michael keatons casting in batman, which is a totally absurd comparison because seth has been quite upfront about the fact that THEY ARE DOING THIS AS A COMEDY. he keeps likening it to his own Pineapple Express and Beverly Hills Cop. He isnt going to surprise us and give a great performance, because he isnt taking this seriously. like megan fox we know exactly what we will get from him, and thats the same crap we always get from him.

  2. My thoughts, whirlwind and brain waves:

    1-
    I have been commenting on SR here and there as well. It’s great to hear Vic’s voice, I hope he crops up again in the future on a MB podacst; Christina loses a point with me though due to the Farrah side comment. To say the late actress in the same breath as the questionable talent of Ms. Fox is highly suspect….not that I’d want to see Fox do a remake of Extremeties or anything…or even Saturn 3 for that mattter.

    (well, Farrah DID fight a robot…)

    2-
    To Hilk or not to Hulk? Well, worse comes to worse they could have a Banner not appear but “Hulk” instead for a moment or two. As to the problems of recasting??? Gee, even Vic forgot an actor was replaced in Iron Man and seeing how ‘War Machine’ could be a huge chunk of sell in next year’s must see…if recasting Banner is needed for Avengers a few years from now, so be it.

    3-

    X-Men. I’m not a big supporter of First Class. However, as I said before, if they regulated most of the “known” characters to the sidelines (or doing another project) and focus on, say, White Queen, Quicksilver, or Havok (Cyke’s brother)…etc. Otherwise, I too would like to see a film that takes place after the Last Stand.

    4-

    Green Hornet.

    Y’know what. I used to defend the project tooth and nail. John, you want to hear a prediction? I don’t want to make it. I’ve still got my fingers crossed…but I…wonder…if…

    its time to
    pull

    the

    plug

  3. Well,

    Hving aactually seen Jennifers Body I can tell you that Megan Fox was good, this being her first real oppurtunity to act (are we really going to suggest she was given a chance at anything but looking good in a Michael Bay film) AND the movie was half bad either.

    And shoot down Ebert if you want, and maybe even Peter Travers, but AO Scoot pulls zero punches.

    Try watching then movie before commenting.

    1. We are not shooting down Ebert or Travers. But the one who made the comment was using him to defend a movie that he hadn’t stated he had seen or not. We are not trashing these guys, we are mearly saying everyone has an opinion, and sometimes, it may be on something others don’t agree with.

      AO Scoot? Sounds like something out of Looney Tunes. LOL. Just kidding.

      1. Dragonslayer, no disrespect intended but, (if you read my statement above), I was neither supporting nor defending the movie. I merely stated the “fact”, that the above mentioned reviewers have reported Megan’s performance in a positive manner contrary to most expectations. My point was that they concluded this after they watched the movie. I agree with you that at the end of the day, what matters most is an individual”s opinion and not what a professional reviewer states, no matter how well respected they are.

  4. This is probably the first podcast that didn’t make me laugh my ass off every 2 minutes, need Soul, or at the very least Tapley, by the way where’s Chuck Norris?

  5. Contrary to most people’s expectations, Roger Ebert, A.O.Scott from NY times and Peter Travers from Rollingstone have all praised Megan Fox’s acting in this movie.

      1. Exactly. Opinion is opinion. So using someone else’s opinion to back something up when you yourself have not seen the movie is ridiculous.

        I’m not gonna see Jennifer’s Body till DVD so I can’t give an honest opinion on it.

  6. John, great discussion, i always enjoy listening to the podcasts, however, i was wondering that, dont you think it would be appropriate that you first actually see Megan Fox’s performance in this movie before you starting talking about her downfall as an actress?

      1. “John underestimates the power of horny men who are willing to pay 10$ to watch a shitty movie merely for a 2 second scene with a talentless whore showing her fake tits.”

        Which is odd because for 1…she never really shows her “fake tits”, and 2…. porn is free now….

        It’s not like she is hotter than any of your A List porn stars.

      2. What I meant to say, in a nutshell, was:

        People are going to watch her movies until she isnt hot anymore. if she still looks attractive to men, then people will watch her movies.

        Valid points though Rob, but what i said wasnt that literal, broh =P

    1. I always find it funny that everyone predicts and judges Megan Fox as if she will just go away after she fails.

      I would say that Jessica Alba is an A-List star with d-list acting skills and she shows no signs of going away.

      John I find your bias quite ridiculous actually. Megan knows why her bread is buttered, she at least admits that. She will never be an A-List actress, time to get over it cause she isn’t going anywhere soon.

      1. Hey Anti Septic,

        I don’t think you understand the word “bias”. I have nothing against her. I unbiasdly, and objectively look at her acting, and it sucks.

        As far as Alba goes… where is she now? What was the last leading role movie she was in?

        Her last 3 “LEADING” roles were
        The Eye – BOMB
        Awake – BOMB
        Good Luck Chuck – BOMB

        Her last supporting role was Love Guru – BOMB

        Studios have given up on her as a leading role… same thing will happen with Fox… because she can’t act.

        I’ve met Fox, she actually seems very nice, if anything I wish she was good. I’m biased FOR her. But facts are facts. She can’t act worth a lick, and she will not draw an audience.

        She’ll get her little contract, and once those 4 or 5 films are done, studios will stay away from her. Count on it. Just like Alba.

      2. Ok, now that you explain it that way it makes more sense. She will not simply just go away is all I was trying to say. In your interview it just sounded like you were bashin on her.

        Hey, I am not really even defending her as I know she isnt a great actress. I was only saying she isn’t going anywhere. Alba manages to keep herself in the spotlight without being a good actress so why would Megan Fox be any different.

        I wont see Jennifer’s body but I will see Jonah Hex no matter what, just a big fan of the comics.

    2. At first, I too, was going to say ‘But she was great in How To Lose Friends and Alienate People, a film which I couldn’t stop laughing. However, I came to my senses….Fox was simply playing up her own image.

      I will repeat: I can see her playing in a film noir femme fatale in a few years.

  7. Eh yo…I heard Nick Cage dropped out of the green hornet because he needs the time to prepare for the upcoming KNOWING sequel, titled “KNOWN”.

    The movie takes place 1000 years after the first. His children come back to earth (only a year older due to some kinda climate anti aging effect) and dig up Nick’s remains in order to resurrect him to de-code another pattern of numbers that will predict cataclysmic events in EGYPT (movies set in egypt = $100 MIL PLUS opening weekend).

    Then movie also stars Jason Statham as the children’s shuttle driver, and queen Latina as goddess Bastet.

  8. The Coen Brothers have said in an interview that Nick Cage is very difficult to work with. He always wants to interject his own ideas in the the character and script that strays from the original idea. They said they had to pull his reins in all the time. I think the reason he sucks in so much is because he tries to throw in his own “creative” ideas. Raising Arizona, where the Coen brothers said they had to rein him in constantly, is awesome. Ghost Rider, where Cage is the reason Blaze listened to the Carpenters and drank jelly beans from a martini glass, sucked. My guess is too many directors are intimidated by his Coppola blood and don’t have the strength to rein him in like the Coen brothers did.

      1. You forgot something… “that strays from the original idea.”

        Cage is the reason Blaze listened to the Carpenters and drank jelly beans from a martini glass in ghost rider…

        The man is the most creative brilliant actor out there.

    1. Really? I thought Ratatouille was the best. I found Gone Baby Gone a really overrated film, with a horrible ending. I liked it, but it wasn’t as great as everyone said.

      But then again, I didn’t like No Country For Old Men…just sayin

      1. No Country had probably the most fuking retarded ending ever, if it actually had a good ending it would have been a perfect movie, Gone Baby Gone’s ending actually surprised me, Ratatouille was great too but not as great as some of pixar’s other movies like Up or Toy Story or Finding Nemo

      2. No Country for Old Men was over about halfway through the movie. It’s climactic confrontation was in the middle of the movie, so after that, it kind of meandered around doing hothing.

    2. That was a terrific year, hands down. On further reflection, Gone Baby Gone should have gotten more notice, I cannot disagree- but I would have extreme trouble to say who did or did not deserve it.

      Eastern Promises?
      Michael Clayton?
      Mongol?
      3:10 To Yuma?

      I loved No Country…but There Will Be Blood was nothing short of cinema brilliance.

      1. I still don’t know if Mongol counts as either a 07 or 08 movie. There Will Be Blood was second best of the year for me.

        I’m still surprised I didn’t get shit-kicked for saying I don’t like No Country.

  9. 20th Century FOX is already rebooting Fantastic Four and Daredevil.

    I cannot believe none of you had the decency of mentioning how Seth Rogen as the Green Hornet was the worse casting call since Tobey was picked as Spider-Man

    But they DID say theyre making a TV show about X-Men Fist Class. I read a lot of articles about that, and then all of a sudden it kinda died out.

    Souldnt they (MARVEL) have made sure they got an actor that would stick around? Why didnt they ask Ed Norton:
    “Dude, we ned an actor that will be in The Avengers, we need comitment”
    The only reason why they rebooted the Hulk was to kick-start the Avengers, so why the fuck wouldnt they MAKE SURE that the same actor isnt game for the Avengers movie?
    I can prove that this Hulk reboot was only to initiate the Avengers movie because Tim Roth (he played the vilain in the hulk movie-Abomintation) already signed a 3 movie deal with Marvel.
    They KNEW that the latest hulk movie would be tied up with the avengers, so why didnt they MAKE SURE Ed Norton would stick around???

    1. What makes you think casting Rogen is wrong/bad? We haven’t seen any footage from this film, and who knows, maybe he’ll surprise us all. He’s already gained some points from me by shedding the pounds and toning his body to fit the role. Rogen naturally seems optimistic and committed to the project. Plus, I always mention this in relation to casting, Michael Keaton wasn’t anyone’s ideal choice for the caped crusader but he stepped in and worked some magic. I say give Rogen a chance.

      1. If Michael Moore was casted as Captain America I wouldnt need to see any footage.

        Same here. I could write you an essay on why Seth would make a pathetic Green Hornet. And I love Seth Rogen

        Unless its a comedy, if its a comedy hero movie, then fine, Im all for it.

      2. Instead of an essay, how about a paragraph, or a straight answer to my question? I’m not sure why you think he’s miscast. Because of his previous roles in comedy? Do you think he cannot act? What? Work with me, man, give me something to debate. Considering the script is written by Rogen and Goldberg, I always imagined Hornet would be on the lighter side of things-an action comedy.

      3. Im sorry, Methos =]

        Okay well hes fucking overweight, not that thats a bad thing but i dont want my Green Hornet actor being huge (Please dont take this wrong)

        Hes too funny, i cant take him seriously, at all. Maybe if this movie will be a comedy then fine but the Green Hornet is an action adventure. I dont tke him seriously at all. Maybe if he had a movie in which he played a good serious guy, i could think about him seriously, but its fucking distracting, i laugh everytime i see his FACE

        Also, hes got a beard, and thats not green hornet ish, but when hes clean shaven, his 7 chins show. And hes got a funny pedophile look about him.

        Hes the complete opposite of what the Green Hornet is supposd to be like

        Green Hornet is an EXTREMELY superior hand to hand combat fighter, and he is abnormally smart. He is also really talented with a handgun.

        I dont see Seth Rogen doing any of this. Again, i LOVE the guy, hes awesome, every movie hes in ROCKS. The onlyreason why i loved Step Brothers was because of that 4 secound scene with him.

        I just cannot for my life see him fighting crime.

        Ha! I dont even see him being a news paper editor! This is the Green Hornets normal human life job! I dont even see Seth doing THAT

        But this is only my POV.
        Obviously a lot more people disagree…because THEY KNOW whch direction they want to take this movie and they think hes perfect for the role, so lets just trust these people.

        Why, Methos- whats your take on this? Why would Seth Rogen be a good Green Hornet?

      4. well done, sir! ;-)

        I’m thinking the film will be humorous in tone. Michel Gondry has called the script both “funny and real-the best of both worlds.”

        Rogen himself has lost lots of weight in prep for his role. At least he was looking slimmer during the Black Beauty’s reveal @ comic-con. There’s a youtube video floating around with him and Diaz from behind-the-scenes of GH in LA, and he’s looking scruff free.

        Like I said, I’m waiting for some footage because there’s not much info out there. I’m not worried about the action portion of the flick. If I remember correctly Kato handled the bulk of the hand-to-hand.

        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsO7Xr6njMA

      5. To be fair, it is this very line of thought that puts some actors in a small box with a nice bow. In recent memory, Steve Zahn comes to mind, having played it “straight” in his last few films (Rescue Dawn, Sunshine Cleaning) but we know him mostly from crazy comedies.

        Yes, we can invoke Keaton. The problem, however, is that in the 89 Batman, they also cast Jack Nicholson, who didn’t just go over the top as that version of Joker, he was out of the ballpark. The character offered up a sadist fun and thus both actor and character overshadowed Batman and the actor that played him.

      6. Even with Jack’s dominating performance, Keaton proved to the naysayers he can do Batman, and do it well. I’m lovin’ the parallel between Keaton and Rogen-both men known mostly for their zany comedies, stepping into iconic roles of comic book vigilantes. Even down to the criticisms toward the actors. With Keaton it was “too short” or “too scrawny”, now with Rogen it’s “too fat” or “too goofy”. Hell, Christoph Waltz just might overshadow Rogen as Nicholson did with Keaton.

        Honestly, I don’t know whether or not Rogen will be a good Green Hornet. He’s most definitely an interesting choice.

      7. But I cant just look away from my two biggest concerns

        1) He’s to fucking funny and its distracting
        2) He’s still overweight, he looks like a normal dude id find on my way to Blockbuster. Not a Crime Fighter

        I really don’t see why they couldn’t have just picked an actor that somewhat looks like the GH

        Michael Keaton WAS known as an actor for comedies alone but he at least looked in shape, and looked a little like Bruce Wayne. And lets face it he was a great actor so it wasnt that shocking that he pulled off the role of comic book character

        Now, if the approach of this movie is to be funny, then alright I dont mind.

      8. Hey guy, no doubt Michael Keaton is a damn fine actor. However in 1989 when he was cast as Batman the fan response was equivalent to thousands of geeks rioting outside WB offices. The result was 50k letters protesting Keaton’s involvement. That’s one hell of a backlash and I give credit to WB for not kicking him to the curb. Back then, when fans think Keaton they think of his comedies, not the actor he is or could be. Same goes with Rogen. The guy is known for his stoner comedies and for some people that’s all he’ll ever be. It all boils down to typecasting, man.

        Anyways…can’t wait until the first trailer for further fencing!

      9. For the record: I am not downplaying Keaton in the 1989 Batman (or even Batman Returns, for that matter) and I was also not one of those who protested his casting either. But then again, I was the only kid on the block who seen “Clean & Sober”.

      10. @Darren J Seeley

        I didn’t see “Clean and Sober” until much later, well after “Batman Returns”. Probably a good thing since I was much too young to appreciate it during his Caped Crusader days. There was a phase of mine in the mid-late 90s where all I collected was Keaton movies because I thought the dude was fantastic. I still think the man is greatness. It’s unfortunate he doesn’t headline more movies nowadays. He seems relegated to DTV, cable movies, and supporting/cameo roles in theatricals. Which is cool in it’s way, I’m glad the guy is working.

      11. Wasnt that an irrelevant documentary?

        And, if you guys dont remember- he was first in line to play the Joker in TDK.

        And I didn’t like him one bit in Batman, at all. Sure when I was four and didnt knoew anything about acting he was ok. But then i turned five and watched it again and wondered why this average looking guy that looks like he should be doing my taxes is playing Batman.

        And then they chose George Clooney as Bruce Wayne.

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