Paul Giamatti has just been cast as King John in the upcoming medieval action flick “Ironclad”.  King John is the villain* and he’s throwing down against a “Seven Samurai” (except knights instead of samurai) led by a formidable Knights Templar played by James Purefoy.  Hit the jump to find out who would win in a fight.

Clive Owen is one of those actors who hasn’t found his audience yet, but has a devoted following of men and women who get him. It’s easy to see why he’s got something of a cult following: The man gives off the air of casual cool, and has what magazines refer to as “a rugged sex appeal” in a way that few modern actors possess. He looks like he could have been a day laborer at one point or another, probably did some boxing, but knows how to wrap his way around words. He’s got those penetrating eyes that suggest the sort of world-weariness that was of fashion in the 30’s and 40’s. And yet when a film of his clicks with an audience (Inside Man, Sin City), it’s usually because he’s an ensemble player. Duplicity did not find its audience, and Clive Owen still waits for the role that connects him with audiences. My Review of Duplicity after the jump.

I like Sean Penn, I really do.  He’s an intense and indisputably fantastic actor (we’ll forget the misfires like “I Am Sam” and “All the King’s Men”).  And while it was a bit of a bummer to see him drop out of playing Larry in The Farrelly Brothers’ adaptation of “The Three Stooges”, I think they’ve gone up a step in their replacement casting of Paul Giamatti.  Hit the jump to learn more and find out about the continuing saga of finding a new Curly.

You have to give it up for HBO. The mini-series as a format is on its death-nell. Network television has no interest in the format any more, or hasn’t for a while. They’d rather have a regular series, or a reality show. But the expense of putting on these sorts of things are of an older school, a school that is now all but vanished. But when HBO wants to do something (with the encouragement of Tom Hanks for sure), it gets done, and so the story of John Adams has been made as a seven part mini-series. Harrumph.

My review is after the jump:

Three new posters for independent films have debuted over the last few days and I’ve compiled them into this handy article.  Two of the posters are great.  One misrepresents the film its selling in such a tremendous way that I hope families go see it.  But I’ll get to that one last.

Hit the jump to see the new posters and my brief take on each.

There should be a point in this trailer for “Cold Souls” where they notify the audience “We know that this looks like a film by Charlie Kaufman, but it isn’t”.  The film follows Paul Giamatti as Paul Giamatti.  Feeling lost, the celebrated character actor decides to put his soul into cold storage only to have it lost and must go…wait for it…soul–or, you already got there.  Soul searching.  He goes soul searching, literally.

In this age of franchises and adaptations we should certainly cherish original ideas and saying your movie looks like something dreamed up by Charlie Kaufman is no insult.  However, there is a danger in being too weird if your story lacks depth and you’ve just coasted on premise alone.  Hopefully, that won’t be the case here because it certainly looks intriguing and I’m a huge fan of Giamatti.

Check out the trailer after the jump. “Cold Souls” hits theatres on August 7th.

Being a fan of both boxing and Ron Howard, I saw this movie a few years back when it first hit theaters.  At the time, I found it enjoyable but wasn’t entirely impressed, which made watching it on the new blu-ray format that much more enjoyable.  The film again showcases how talented Russell Crowe is an actor as well as Howard’s innate ability to tell a story.  Though not a perfect film, its one of those stories that you find yourself truly engaged in, rooting for the characters, and truly hating the antagonist.

The film is based on the true story of James Braddock, a 1930’s boxer who is forced into an early retirement after a hand injury proves serious enough to end his career.  Because boxers back then didn’t make the millions that they do now, he had to return to some sort of work to provide for his wife (played wonderfully by Renee Zellweger) and his four kids.  Since this was during the great depression, it proved even harder for him to find steady work and come up with the money needed for rent and food.  Howard does an amazing job here detailing the hardships and struggles that the average American faced during these times and you really do begin to feel for this family.