Tag Archives: John Milius

Watch Chris Hemsworth Get Flirty In Exclusive ‘Red Dawn’ Clip!

Posted on by

After three years of an uncertain fate after the MGM bankruptcy, the remake of “Red Dawn” is just a few weeks away from hitting the big screen. Like its brother-in-arms “The Cabin in the Woods,” “Red Dawn” stars a couple doe-eyed up-and-comers who just may go on to star in “The Hunger Games,” or, in the case of both movies, “The Avengers.”

For a brief sneak peek at the trip back in time to 2009, look no further than this exclusive clip, which just so happens to feature Chris Hemsworth, years before he lead his hair grow out and began summoning thunder.

In the clip, we see Hemsworth as Jed, taking over the role from Patrick Swayze in the original 1984 from director John Milius, encounter Toni, played by “Friday Night Lights” stand-out and “G.I. Joe: Retaliation” star Adrianne Palicki. Jed and Toni briefly reminisce about the times their families used to camp together, an experience that should come in handy when the story of “Red Dawn” gets going.

For those of you unfamiliar with the basic premise of “Red Dawn,” the movie tells the story of a group of teens in small town America that escapes capture and bands together to form a guerilla-style resistance, known to them at the Wolverines, when the United States is invaded by North Korean forces. Jed, as the member of the Wolverines with actual military experience, becomes the leader of the militia as they fight to free their country.

“Red Dawn” also stars Josh Hutcherson, Isabel Lucas, and Jeffrey Dean Mrogan, and opens in theaters on November 21.

Check out everything we’ve got on “Red Dawn.”

RZA Lines Up Next Two Directing Gigs

Posted on by

6ebfb RZA Man Iron Fists RZA Lines Up Next Two Directing Gigs

“The Man With the Iron Fists” hasn’t even hit theaters yet, and already RZA has his next two movies lined up.

The Hollywood Reporter has the news that the Wu-Tang Clan frontman-turned director will next helm the long-gestating biopic “Genghis Khan” and then will tackle the action thriller “No Man’s Land.” His directorial debut, “The Man With the Iron Fists,” comes out Friday, so this news is pretty good evidence that the film is going to be as good as we hope it will be.

“Genghis Khan” is written by “Apocalypse Now” scribe John Milius and has been in the works for a while now. Milius is also executive producing the film and had once been slated to direct it. The flick is preparing to shoot in China next year, which is the same country where RZA shot “Man With the Iron Fists.”

After he’s done with that, RZA is expected to move on to “No Man’s Land.” That script was written by Trey Ellis and David Klass and “centers on a man who steals a powerful criminal’s diamond that soon proves to be far more valuable than initially thought. With the help of a dancer, he attempts to stay alive and cash in on the jewel.” The entire story takes place over the course of one night.

“The Man With the Iron Fists” is due out on November 2. The official synopsis reads, “Since his arrival in China‘s Jungle Village, the town’s blacksmith (RZA) has been forced by radical tribal factions to create elaborate tools of destruction. When the clans’ brewing war boils over, the stranger channels an ancient energy to transform himself into a human weapon. As he fights alongside iconic heroes and against soulless villains, one man must harness this power to become savior of his adopted people.”

Are you glad RZA has made the transition to directing? Which of these three films are you most excited for? Tell us in the comments section below or on Twitter!

Tags ,

Robert Rodriguez Reminisces About His Early Film ‘Roadracers’

Posted on by

18a4b Robert Rodriguez Robert Rodriguez Reminisces About His Early Film Roadracers

Robert Rodriguez loves “Roadracers,” a film he made on a sliver of a budget in between his indie hit “El Mariachi” and his breakout “Desperado.”

He told me that much almost as soon as he got on the phone. “I love ‘Roadracers,’ ” he said. “It is one of my favorite movies.” You could hear the excitement in his voice.

And he has a reason to be excited. After years of attempting to get “Roadracers” out on DVD and then eventually Blu-ray, Rodriguez finally succeeded with the April 17 release in high definition. Part of the reason it had taken so long to hit video was because of the film’s origins.

“It was a movie made for cable, so it never had any real presence. It was always ‘We’ll put it out when we put out “Sin City.” ‘ Then that would come and go,” Rodriguez said. “It was one of those things where the rights kept changing hands until nobody knew where it even was. Then we waited for Blu-ray to come around to do a nice, definitive version.”

“Roadracers” was originally made to be part of a series of films made for Showtime in the early 90s called “Rebel Highway.” Directors like John Milius, William Friedkin and Ralph Bakshi made movies for the series, which were meant to be tributes to tough guy movies from the 50s. Wes Craven had originally signed on to make a film, but when a new “Nightmare on Elm Street” movie got an unexpected greenlight, the producers needed someone to make an episode on the cheap.

And Rodriguez knew a few things about making movies on a tight budget. He had just come off the success of his $7,000 debut “El Mariachi,” when he was asked to fill the gap in the series. “It was a very fast movie. I wrote it in a couple of weeks, shot it in 13 days, which was one day less than I even had on ‘El Mariachi.’ How did I end up with a $700,000 budget and a day less?”

Rodriguez originally saw “Roadracers” as an opportunity to work on a larger film before running off to make his sequel to “El Mariachi,” “Desperado” with Antonio Banderas. “I got to shoot something before I did ‘Desperado,’ so it wasn’t that leap right into ‘Desperado’ not knowing what a crew was,” Rodriguez said. “It gave me a chance to show what Salma Hayek could do in English to get her cast in ‘Desperado.’ “

What resulted was a crazy ode to 50s hotrod movies starring David Arquette, Hayek and a young John Hawkes. Rodriguez looks back fondly on his experience shooting the film because of how free he felt to push the boundaries of creativity.

“You look back and you go, ‘I don’t even direct or shoot or edit like that anymore.’ You wish you could get back to that. There was really something about it that was fresh and go-for-broke,” he said. “You didn’t know what you were doing. There’s something really exciting about that. I can’t think for the life of me how we even pulled it off.”

“Roadracers” is out on Blu-ray and DVD now.

What did you think of our interview with Robert Rodriguez? Let us know in the comments below and on Twitter!

Tags , , ,