Evangeline Lilly Talks 'Ant-Man'; Judy Greer Finally Reveals Her Role

The fanboys will have their torches out next year when Marvel finally unveils Ant-Man, mainly because of the departure of fan-favorite director, Edgar Wright. All of the platitudes in the world aren't going to convince people that Peyton Reed is a worthy replacement until they see it for themselves, and apparently some of the cast needed to be won over, too. While talking with Buzzfeed, Evangeline Lilly revealed that she was a big fan of what Wright had planned initially, and had to be convinced to stay when Reed came aboard...

Lilly: “We all, I think, signed on very enthusiastically with Edgar. We were excited to work with Edgar. We were fans of Edgar. So when the split happened, I was in the fortunate position where I had not signed my contract yet. So I had the choice to walk away, and I almost did. Because I thought, Well, if it’s because Marvel are big bullies, and they just want a puppet and not someone with a vision, I’m not interested in being in this movie. Which is what I was afraid of.’

“I finally got the script literally the day before I was supposed to go in for fittings…I saw with my own eyes that Marvel had just pulled the script into their world. I mean, they’ve established a universe, and everyone has come to expect a certain aesthetic [and] a certain feel for Marvel films. And what Edgar was creating was much more in the Edgar Wright camp of films. They were very different. And I feel like, if [Marvel] had created Edgar’s incredible vision — which would have been, like, classic comic book — it would have been such a riot to film [and] it would have been so much fun to watch. [But] it wouldn’t have fit in the Marvel Universe. It would have stuck out like a sore thumb, no matter how good it was. It just would have taken you away from this cohesive universe they’re trying to create. And therefore it ruins the suspended disbelief that they’ve built.”

Another reason she agreed to stay on, despite a nagging urge to quit acting altogether, was the presence of Paul Rudd...

Lilly: “Initially, I was like, no way. No way. And then they said, ‘Paul Rudd’s playing the lead.’ And I was like, ‘Oh sh*t. I love Paul Rudd. I really want to work with him!’ So I was like, ‘OK, well, send me the script. I’ll read it and I’ll consider it.’ And then I started watching Marvel [Studios] movies, which I hadn’t done before. … I’m a bit of a snob when it comes to movies — like, the popcorn-munching movies, I never go see them. I was pleasantly surprised. I thought, these are actually incredible — they’re making fantastic films.”

After a bit of confusion we finally learned around Comic-Con that Lilly would be playing Hope van Dyne, but we've been kept in the dark about her co-star Judy Greer's role. Today she revealed to HeyUGuys that she'll be playing Scott Lang's ex-wife, Peggy Rae, who in the comics he frequently fought for custody of their daughter...

Greer: “I’m Paul Rudd’s estranged ex-wife. We have a daughter together and our relationship is, well, estranged, but I feel like my character is still rooting for him to succeed. I guess that’s about as much as I can say.” 

Ant-Man opens July 17th 2015. 

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The Park is Open in First Trailer for 'Jurassic World' starring Chris Pratt

"Remember, if something chases you...run". Twenty-two years after Steven Spielberg's Jurassic Park wowed audiences and captured our imagination by taking us to a place where dinosaurs could really exist, Universal is hoping to recapture that feeling with Jurassic World. The interesting thing about it is the route they've chosen to take, hiring indie director Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed) to take the franchise into the future. How did he do? While we won't know until next summer, the first trailer suggests he's headed in the right direction.

Starring Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Judy Greer, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Irrfan Khan, and Omar Sy, Jurassic World has a killer cast and a killer bunch of dinosaurs running roughshod over the newly-opened theme park. Of course it all starts when humans begin tinkering with Mother Nature, creating the first "genetically modified hybrid" that is more than anybody was prepared to handle. While the early images are clearly meant to evoke the spirit of Spielberg's films, later it begins to resemble the CGI madness of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which makes Jurassic World shares the same screenwriters.

Jurassic World opens June 12th 2015.


Jurassic World - Official Trailer (HD) by Konbini UK

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Ayelet Zurer Eyes 'Ben-Hur'; Anton Yelchin Joins 'Baseballissimo'; Judy Greer is a 'Geezer'

She's already played Superman's mom in Man of Steel, now the gorgeous Ayelet Zurer will be the mother of Ben-Hur in Timur Bekmambetov's remake. She joins a cast led by Jack Huston as the title character, a nobleman forced into slavery after being falsely accused of a crime by his best friend. Oscar-winner John Ridley (12 Years a Slave) wrote the latest screenplay, with Morgan Freeman and Toby Kebbell co-starring. Despite Zurer coming aboard the search is still on for an actress to replace Gal Gadot, who had to back out due to her Wonder Woman commitments.  [THR]

Jay Baruchel must love his sports comedies. A couple of years ago he co-wrote and starred in the hockey film, Goon, and now he's switching gears to the diamond with Baseballissimo. Baruchel wrote and will star in the film alongside Anton Yelchin, which is about "a rising baseball minor-league player who gets detoured on the way to major-league stardom by pitching for the Peones, a baseball team in Italy." Jacob Tierney (Good Neighbors) will direct. [THR]

The always hilarious Judy Greer (she's great on Married, by the way) will join Green Day's Billie Joe Armstrong in Geezer, along with Fred Armisen, Selma Blair, Chris Messina, Dallas Roberts, and Brian Baumgartner. The rock music drama centers on "the mid-life crisis of a husband and father who, on his 40th birthday, decides to revisit his punk-rock past by throwing an extravagant party in the presidential suite of the Drake Hotel—where he encounters his beautiful ex-girlfriend and former bandmates who have since moved on to bigger and better things." Meh. Lee Kirk is directing this one now in New York City.

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Review: Jason Reitman's 'Men, Women & Children' starring Adam Sandler, Jennifer Garner, and Ansel Elgort

At one point do we admit that Jason Reitman peaked with Up in the Airand now he's basically finished? Okay, one could make a case for Young Adult based solely on Charlize Theron's performance, but it seems Reitman is more intent on delivering messages than telling stories. His latest film, the blandly-titled Men, Women & Children is like a relic from 1999 when fear of the Internet was at its peak and every episode of 60 Minutes had some new horror story to peddle. 

A desperate grab to seem relevant and profound, the film actually begins with a few from a satellite hovering deep in space, analyzing and collecting data about all of the people down on Earth below. Emma Thompson's super-serious narration leads us into the lives of the people below, who have all had their lives changed by the Internet and technology. Like the similarly-themed Disconnect from last year, a series of connected stories show us the absolute worst of what the social networking age has to offer, boiled down into Afterschool Special simplicity. Adam Sandler, taking a break from vacationing with his pals in terrible comedies, goes dramatic as Don, whose marriage to Rachel (Rosemarie DeWitt) has gone stale. We know he's sad because even his beard is tragic. He masturbates to porn so much the spyware has killed his computer, forcing him to use the one belonging to his teenaged son, Chris. Chris has watched so much Internet smut he can no longer get it up with real girls. Damn libido-killing Internet.

So what else is happening in this "Pale Blue Dot" of ours? Yes, the film quotes Carl Sagan in a lazy attempt at profundity. Body image issues crop up with a pair of high school cheerleaders: Hannah (Olivia Crocicchia), who has a modeling website of questionable legality run by her celebrity-seeking mother (Judy Greer). Hannah's pencil-thin friend Allison (Elena Kampouris) has basically quit eating because she frequents chat rooms with others obsessed with being thin. They tell her to sniff her dinner but eat celery, instead. The girl needs a visit to the Golden Corral buffet, STAT. But not nearly as badly as hyper-protective Patricia Beltmeyer (Jennifer Garner) needs to get herself a life. You think wireless wire-tapping is bad? Patricia tracks her daughter Brandy's (Kaitlyn Dever) every move, every keystroke, every phone conversation and text message, leaving the quiet and sensitive girl afraid to even have friends. When she makes one anyway in MMORPG-obsessed Tim (Ansel Elgort), it's the kind of freeing experience we know is doomed from the start.

This is not a happy movie, or even really a hopeful one. We get the message within the first 30 seconds: the proliferation of social networking and online communication has made us less capable of forming new relationships, of experiencing the real world around us. The rest of the film is a sledge hammer exercise, with Reitman and co-writer Erin Cressida Wilson adding nothing new to the discussion.

This is too talented of a cast for it to be a total buzzkill, though. Individual scenes and certain relationships work better than others, and perhaps this film would have been served by pairing down the number of stories it's trying to tell. Dever and Elgort, standouts from Short Term 12 and The Fault In Our Stars most recently, have genuine chemistry in the film's most complicated romance. His character Tim is struggling with abandonment issues and found a sense of camaraderie in online gaming that he couldn't find playing football. Brandy is as much a lifeline for him as he is for her, and their relationship feels more genuine than any of the film's many overdone dissections of the digital experience. When Don and Rachel's marital malaise leads to Internet dating sites, hook-ups with paid escorts, and her begging a creepy Dennis Haysbert to give her a good f**k, things have gotten so ludicrous it's impossible not to laugh.

Seriously, though, it does seem as if Reitman is sinking right before our eyes. The guy who gave us perfectly contemporary films Juno and Up in the Air is now trying too hard to be relevant. Men, Women & Children wants desperately to make an impact on your life, but chances are you wouldn't even "Like" it on Facebook.

Rating: 2.5 out of 5

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New Trailer for Jason Reitman's 'Men, Women and Children'

In case you haven't figured it out, social networking isn't always so social. For all the ways the Internet has connected us to the world at large it has also disconnected us personally. This is nothing new, and Hollywood has already told that story umpteen times. So what makes Jason Reitman's Men, Women and Children different from the rest? The phenomenal cast he's put together with Adam Sandler, Ansel Elgort, Kaitlyn Dever, Emma Thompson, Jennifer Garner, Judy Greer, Rosemarie DeWitt, J.K. Simmons, and Dennis Haysbert,

The latest trailer introduces us to a number of characters whose lives have been affected, generally for the worse, by the Internet. This trailer seems to be dealing mostly with the search for love and companionship, which technology has made easier and complicated at the same time. While incredibly somber, this looks like a step up from Reitman's last film, Labor Day. Then again that one looked good in trailers, too, and Reitman has since written it off as a mistake. The reviews out of the festival circuit have been mixed, and their doesn't seem to be much buzz for a film opening in just a couple of weeks on October 1st.

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Mary Elizabeth Winstead Enters 'The Cellar'; Sarah Wayne Callies to 'Pay the Ghost'; Judy Greer goes to 'Fresno'

Mary Elizabeth Winstead has joined John Goodman in Bad Robot's small-budget thriller, The Cellar. Formerly titled Valencia and directed by Dan Trachtenberg, the film centers on a "woman who wakes up underground after a terrible car accident and fears she’s been abducted. Her captor, a doomsday prepper, warns her that a terrible chemical attack has left the outside world uninhabitable but as tensions rise she decides she must escape regardless of the terrors that await outside."[Deadline]

So Into the Storm didn't kick up much dust at the box office, that won't stop ex-The Walking Dead star Sarah Wayne Callies from taking on another feature role. She's joining Nicolas Cage in his latest potential stinker, Pay the Ghost. Uli Edel, director of the awesome Baader Meinhof Complex, is at the helm of this one about  "a professor whose young son goes missing during a Halloween parade in New York City. One year later he begins to sense his son’s presence and uncovers clues leading to a vicious and vengeful ghost that surfaces each Halloween to abduct children". Callies will play a "whip-smart" environmental attorney and Cage's estranged wife. [Deadline]

Judy Greer and Natasha Lyonne will star as siblings in Fresno, the new comedy from But I'm a Cheerleader director, Jamie Babbit. The film follows "lonely but stoic lesbian Martha (Lyonne), whose sister Shannon (Greer), a sex addict with no impulse control and a long history of poor decisions, winds up back in Fresno cleaning hotel rooms with her. When they accidentally kill a guest, the sisters are forced to confront their unpleasant co-dependent relationship." Sounds a little like Sunshine Cleaning meets Your Sister's Sister, a combination I can definitely get into.

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First Trailer and Images from Jason Reitman's 'Men, Women, & Children'

What amounts to a slump for someone like Jason Reitman are the solid reviews and underwhelming performance by his dark comedy Young Adult, and the overall disastrous response to Labor Day. That last film in particular didn't truly feel like Reitman at the height of his powers, which is finding humor and truth in uncomfortable relationships. His first three films; Thank You for Smoking, Juno, and Up in the Air hit on that difficult tone perfectly. And now with his latest film Men, Women, & Children on the way it seems Reitman is doing something new by exploring the dark side of technology.

Gathering a large and varied ensemble that includes Adam Sandler in a rare dramatic role, Jennifer Garner, The Fault In Our Stars' Ansel Elgort, Short Term 12's Kaitlyn Dever, Emma Thompson, Rosemarie DeWitt, Judy Greer, J.K. Simmons, and Dennis Haysbert, the new trailer suggests an interconnected story about relationships ripped apart in the Internet Age. Is it possible to find a human connection in a world dominated by social networking? It's a pretty gloomy piece of footage and is totally free of Reitman's usual brand of humor, but with Eric Cressida Wilson (Secretary) co-writing the screenplay there's bound to be some offbeat laughs in there somewhere.

Men, Women, & Children will hit the Toronto International Film Festival before opening this October.

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Marvel's 'Ant-Man' Begins Filminsg as Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, John Slattery, and T.I. Harris Join Cast

After much trial and tribulation, filming has finally begun on Marvel's Ant-Man. How do we know? Because of this enthusiastic tweet by director Peyton Reed....

Alright, gang. Today is the day. LET'S. GET. small. #AntMan
— Peyton Reed (@MrPeytonReed) August 18, 2014

With the whole Edgar Wright fiasco clearly in the rear view, not to mention the equally sudden departure of co-star Patrick Wilson, production is kicking off with a number of big additions to the cast, including one that seems to validate a recent rumor. Judy Greer, Bobby Cannavale, rapper Tip "T.I." Harris, Wood Harris (The Wire), Gregg Turkington, David Dastmalchian, and John Slattery have joined Paul Rudd, Michael Douglas, Evangeline Lily, and Corey Stoll in the superhero film which will be kicking off Marvel's third phase. Slattery is already a part of the Marvel Cinematic Universe as Howard Stark, and his addition would seem to confirm a recent rumor about certain SHIELD-related characters appearing.  As for everybody else? Nothing on who they could be playing but one of these guys has to be filling in for Wilson.

Ant-Man shrinks down to size on July 17th 2015. 

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Review: 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Starring Andy Serkis, Jason Clarke, and Gary Oldman

By now we all recognize that Hollywood is driven by the big money and bigger spectacle that sequels provide, with narrative need probably way down the totem pole when considering such follow-ups. As we've just endured the third unnecessary Transformers sequel, such things can prove to be a little depressing, and there was some concern that Dawn of the Planet of the Apescould be just another soulless sequel churned out by the system with pumped up CGI and no real heart. But the film, a technical and thematic marvel crafted by Matt Reeves, is not only exciting in the way we all want summer blockbusters to be, it improves on its predecessor in just about every way.

That's not a knock on Rise of the Planet of the Apes, a film that far exceeded expectations largely by giving in to its sci-fi B-movie roots. It worked as a warning to man's selfish meddling in the ways of nature and as a campy action flick about rampaging apes. 'Dawn' is considerably more serious but let's be honest here, this isn't the "Planet of the Apes and those Pesky Humans' series. We expect things to get a little dark along the way and probably won't turn out so well for our side. Action and violence, of which there are plenty of both, doesn't simply occur for the sake of momentary thrills. Every life-or-death decision is weighed, measured, and has real significance to the future of two opposing species.

Building on the sturdy foundation laid by the prior film, this one moves forward in time ten years after the human population has nearly been eradicated by the Simian Flu. Caesar (Andy Serkis, and let's just say the man deserves an Oscar by now) is no longer the young, genetically evolved ape we saw before. Now he's the leader of a tribe, and more than that he's got a wife (Judy Greer) and young son, Blue Eyes (Nick Thurston), relying on him. Like any leader, Caesar has those who are loyal and some like the badly-scarred Koba (Toby Kebbell), who claim loyalty but have their own motivations. The rules of their society are pretty simple, with the biggest rule scrawled in chalk, "Ape no kill ape". Humans haven't been spotted in what remains of San Francisco in years, so when a small pocket of them are encountered and it ends in bloodshed, some of Caesar's followers start sounding the drumbeat for war.

Screenwriters Mark Bomback, Rick Jaffa, and Amanda Silver draw obvious but resonant parallels between Caesar and Malcolm (Jason Clarke), a leading voice amongst the humans with his own son (Kodi Smit-McPhee) and lover (Keri Russell) to take care of. Unlike some of the others in their group, neither Malcolm or Caesar wants a battle, recognizing that a full scale war could destroy them all. But the humans need power to rebuild civilization, and the only source is on the apes' home turf. Without it, people have essentially reverted back to a primal state and their desperate, battle-ready leader Dreyfus (Gary Oldman, in Commissioner Gordon mode) is ready to do anything to change that.

Analogies to race relations or the ongoing conflict in the Middle East are clear but never beaten to death. It's far more concerned with common themes of loyalty, family, and betrayal, all of which are approached with sincerity and intelligence. When Caesar becomes father to a newborn child, we recognize how the stakes have been elevated and why he makes certain choices. Of course, we also know that whatever he decides it will end up with hundreds of digital apes swinging from power lines and firing machine guns from horseback. How would you like to be a normal animal in a world of evolved chimps? That must really suck. Anyway, when monkey mayhem ensues it's quite the computer-generated showcase. Reeves has done some spectacular digital effects work before, most notably in the monster flick Cloverfield. But let's not forget he also directed the superior vampire remake, Let Me In, and 'Dawn' impressively combines pot boiling thrills with moments of sheer horror. Comedy is sparse but there are a few moments of monkey mockery that are worth a laugh. They tend to end with somebody dying but they're funny for a time.

What more is there to say about Andy Serkis' performance capture work at this point? The emotion he's able to wring is truly exceptional, and I've personally come around to thinking we need a special category for honoring what he's so consistently been able to do. One only wishes the humans had more to work with. Clarke makes the most of a character that is basically just meant to play a lesser version of Caesar. Oldman is never given a chance to be the firebrand his character would seem to demand. But as noted before, this is 'Planet of the Apes', and so they get the bulk of the character focus. Where 'Rise' was mostly a movie about humans, we're clearly meant to land on the side of the apes now and it feels a little counter-intuitive at first.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is a deeply intelligent, wildly entertaining sequel that proves the summer blockbuster is capable of evolution, too.

 Rating: 4 out of 5

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International Trailer for 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' Offers New Footage

Before you go and hang out with a talking raccoon in Guardians of the Galaxy, 20th Century Fox would like you to spend some quality time with their army of talking apes. A new international trailer for Dawn of the Planet of the Apes has been released that offers up a few bits of new footage and a slightly different focus, but still looks like a sequel that has grown exponentially from the first film.

Directed by Matt Reeves and starring Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Keri Russell, Judy Greer, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit-McPhee and the returning Andy Serkis, the story follows a group of human survivors in San Francisco trying to co-exist with Caesar and his clan. Of course that proves to be easier said than done and a conflict erupts that may wipe out humanity once and for all.

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th.

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New Trailer for 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes'

The animals are taking over the box office this summer, and there's little us puny humans can do to stop it. Godzilla roars into theaters later this month but only a few weeks after that Caesar and his apes are set to dominate theaters with Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to 2011's blockbuster Rise of the Planet of the Apes.

The first film ended on a dark note but the latest trailer for 'Dawn' makes it clear things have gotten much bleaker in the years since. The human population has been all but wiped out by a virus, save for a few stragglers who forge a truce with Caesar and his barely-controllable army. But it isn't long before the peace is broken and a war erupts, one that may finish the humans off for good.

Directed by Matt Reeves with Jason Clarke, Gary Oldman, Andy Serkis, Keri Russell, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Judy Greer, and Toby Kebbell starring, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th.


Dawn of the Planet of the Apes :Trailer #2 by itsartmag

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Judy Greer Enters 'Jurassic World'

Somebody let the animals out of their cages and they are all coming after Judy Greer. Later this year she'll likely be chased by a bunch of dirty apes in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, and now she's just booked herself a ticket to Jurassic World to be terrorized by dinosaurs.

Greer, along with Katie McGrath (Merlin) and Lauren Lapkus, have joined an impressive cast that includes Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Jake Johnson, Irrfan Khan, Omar Sy, Vincent D'Onofrio, and the returning BD Wong. Colin Trevorrow is directing based on a script he co-wrote with Derek Connelly that is said to take place a couple of decades after the first film.

Greer will also be seen later this year in Tomorrowland, reuniting with The Descendants' George Clooney.  Jurassic World opens June 12th 2015. [THR]

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The First Trailer for 'Dawn of the Planet of the Apes' is Here!

The expectations were understandably low for Rise of the Planet of the Apes, with a mostly unknown director without the cred of Tim Burton, who had failed so miserably with the franchise a decade earlier. But the film turned out to be a hit, earning nearly $500M and mostly positive reviews from critics and audiences. Now with Matt Reeves (Let Me In) taking over the sequel Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, with the assumption that things will get even bigger, can the film hope to measure up?

That question has begun to be answered now with the arrival of the first trailer, and the most obvious change is the dark, ominous tone. Jason Clarke leads the film as the leader of a small band of human survivors of the virus unleashed more than a decade ago, and apparently he really needs to talk to the apes' leader, Caesear, played once again by performance-capture wiz, Andy Serkis. If the humans are asking to have a chat with Caesear then we can assume the apes have evolved enough to speak the language, which should change the dynamic in some interesting ways.

Also starring Gary Oldman, Judy Greer,  Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell, and Kodi Smit-McPhee, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes opens July 11th 2014. Check out the trailer and official synopsis below.


DAWN OF THE PLANET OF THE APES - Teaser Trailer by dmagianet

PLOT: A growing nation of genetically evolved apes led by Caesar is threatened by a band of human survivors of the devastating virus unleashed a decade earlier. They reach a fragile peace, but it proves short-lived, as both sides are brought to the brink of a war that will determine who will emerge as Earth's dominant species.

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