Cameron Diaz, 'Transformers' and Kirk Cameron Lead 2015 Razzie Nominations

With the Academy Award nominations coming up as a celebration of the year's best films, it means the time is here to also "honor" the crappiest films to plague theaters. Yes, it's time for the annual Razzie Award nominations, when a group of mean-spirited folk swing at the low hanging fruit that are the most obviously terrible movies.

This year it's Cameron Diaz who comes out the big loser with three nominations (including Worst Actrss) for four different movies: The Other Woman, Sex Tape, and Annie, the last one they probably threw in just for the easy trifecta. Michael Bay's Transformers: Age of Extinction is obviously in the mix multiple times for Worst Movie, Worst Director, Worst Screen Combo, and Worst Screenplay. While sometimes these awards are around just to take cheap shots at celebs, it's hard to dispute the presence of Pompeii, Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas debacle, and The Legend of Hercules.

This year they're doing something different and offering the Redeemer Award to someone who has made a big screen comeback after stinking up the joint far too often. That list is actually pretty cool with Kristen Stewart, Ben Affleck, and Jennifer Aniston having made significant strides, at least according to the Razzie team.

The Razzie winners will be named on February 21st.

Worst Picture
- "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas"
- "Left Behind"
- "The Legend of Hercules"
- "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
- "Transformers: Age of Extinction"

Worst Actor
- Nicolas Cage, "Left Behind"
- Kirk Cameron, "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas"
- Kellan Lutz, "The Legend of Hercules"
- Seth MacFarlane, "A Million Ways to Die in the West"
- Adam Sandler, "Blended"

Worst Actress
- Drew Barrymore, "Blended"
- Cameron Diaz, "The Other Woman," "Sex Tape"
- Melissa McCarthy, "Tammy"
- Charlize Theron, "A Million Ways to Die in the West"
- Gaia Weiss, "The Legend of Hercules"

Worst Supporting Actress
- Cameron Diaz, "Annie"
- Megan Fox, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
- Nicola Peltz, "Transformers: Age of Extinction"
- Brigitte Ridenour, "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas"
- Susan Sarandon, "Tammy"

Razzie Redeemer Award
- Ben Affleck
- Jennifer Aniston
- Mike Myers
- Keanu Reeves
- Kristen Stewart

Worst Supporting Actor
- Mel Gibson, "The Expendables 3"
- Kelsey Grammer, "The Expendables 3," "Legends of Oz," "Think Like a Man Too," "Transformers: Age of Extinction"
- Shaquille O'Neal, "Blended"
- Arnold Schwarzenegger, "The Expendables 3"
- Kiefer Sutherland, "Pompeii"

Worst Director
- Michael Bay, "Transformers: Age of Extinction"
- Darren Doane, "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas"
- Renny Harlin, "The Legend of Hercules"
- Jonathan Liebesman, "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
- Seth MacFarlane, "A Million Ways To Die in the West"

Worst Screen Combo
- Kirk Cameron and his ego, "Saving Christmas"
- Seth MacFarlane and Charlize Theron, "A Million Ways to Die in the West"
- Any two robots, actors (or robotic actors), "Transformers"
- Cameron Diaz and Jason Segel, "Sex Tape"
- Kellan Lutz and either his abs, pecs or glutes, "Legend of Hercules"

Worst Screenplay
- "Kirk Cameron's Saving Christmas"
- "Left Behind"
- "Sex Tape"
- "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"
- "Transformers: Age of Extinction"

  Worst Remake, Rip-off or Sequel
- "Annie"
- "Atlas Shrugged: Who Is John Galt?"
- "The Legend of Hercules"
- "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles"

Read More

Review: 'The Expendables 3' Starring Sylvester Stallone, Wesley Snipes, Mel Gibson, and More

Through two movies Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables has been nothing but unfulfilled promises. The mandate for the franchise was pretty simple: gather the greatest action heroes of the '80s and indulge in every silly cliché the genre had to offer. Action movies today are pretty terrible but their stars are even worse, so it should have been easy to have fun hyping the old guard while bashing the current one. For a lot of reasons Stallone was never able to make things click, but with The Expendables 3 he finally gets it right. This is the explosive old school flick we have been waiting for all this time.

One of the major problems was the bloated cast never really added anything of value. What good were the creaky bones of Chuck Norris and Jean Claude Van Damme? Especially when there were so many characters neither really did much, anyway? The Expendables 3 fixes that with the inclusion of Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Kelsey Grammer (!!!!) and Mel Gibson, all of whom attack their roles like they've been waiting for just this opportunity. Even the screenplay, which is rife with all the terrible one-liners we'd be disappointed not to hear, actually resembles a real story. Wha??? Heaven forbid somebody remember to give these muscled behemoths something to do.

And what they do is make blowing stuff up and killing folks look like more fun than it should. A daring train assault springs free Doc (Snipes), an original Expendable locked away for years after a botched mission. He's keen with a blade (how ironic that Blade is good with a blade! Oh, Sly aren't you clever?) and makes good with the quips, which makes him perfect to rejoin Barney (Stallone) and his team of grunting old mercs. And this time it's perfectly okay to call these guys a bunch of old fogeys because that's essentially what this film is all about. After taking down some random, vaguely Middle Eastern bad guy, the Expendables are shot to crap by international arms dealer Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), leaving Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) in a coma. Stonebanks, who probably has the worst name in Expendables history, has an old beef with Barney that stretches back to the group's formation. He's dangerous; so dangerous that Barney decides to leave his aging team in the dust and recruit some new blood.

The junior league of modern hot shots consists of failed-Hercules Kellan Lutz, sexy UFC champ Ronda Rousey, boxer Victor Ortiz, and Glen Powell. With the exception of Rousey the new squad isn't nearly as interesting as the old crew and watching their recruitment is a serious drag. But it does afford us the chance to see Banderas as the chatty pest, Galgo, a mercenary nobody seems to want on their team. Banderas knows the score on movies like this (he was just in Machete Kills) and he's never been funnier. While he's too old for it now but he would have made for one Hell of a Deadpool twenty years ago, based on this badass and hilarious performance alone.

Whereas Harrison Ford, yes Han Solo himself, isn't given a whole lot to do he has a good time while doing it. Whooping and hollering while manning a rescue copter, with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Jet Li spraying bullets dementedly by his side, it's easy to see that this is what The Expendables always should have been. Another bright spot is Gibson, clearly indulging in yet another chance to play a ridiculous bad guy (he was also in Machete Killsin a similar role) who resembles the maniacal Martin Riggs if he went full-on nuts.  It's great stuff, slickly directed by Patrick Hughes who keeps the pace moving while edging out the gory stuff that would have upset the MPAA apple cart. For once the PG-13 rating didn't seem like an obstacle to be overcome, and that's with more action than in the first two films combined. The final sequence alone, a massive tank onslaught where every Expendable struts their stuff, is a cornucopia of violence, terrible jokes, and amazing vehicular feats that would make the Fast & Furious cast blush. Jason Statham (kind of in the background this time) and Snipes measure their...knives...in the middle of a firefight, Banderas hits on Rousey while she just hits people, and Stallone is still somehow faster than artillery fire. Even the final showdown lives up to expectations with Stallone delivering one truly amazing, groan-worthy catchphrase that is destined to end up on t-shirts. In short, it's pretty awesome.

So what are the odds of there being an Expendables 4? Hopefully there won't be any passing of the torch going on but with Stallone finally finding the winning formula these can go on as long as his aging bones will allow. There are still too many stars out there who need their moment in the napalm. One guy you won't ever see is Bruce Willis, who had a very public spat with Stallone over money and quit the movie after appearing in the first two. For a good time, count the number of occasions in which a character calls Willis' character, Mr. Church, an a-hole or disparages him in some way. Clearly the smoke has not cleared on that feud and hopefully the smoke hasn't cleared on The Expendables just yet.

 Rating: 3.5 out of 5

Read More

Kellan Lutz to Play William Shatner in 'Experimenter'

Quick, if you were casting somebody to play a young William Shatner who would it be? The answer is probably not going to be Kellan Lutz, the guy who played the really bulky vampire in those Twilight movies. He's been keeping busy, busier than some of his Twilight co-stars actually, with last winter's dud The Legend of Hercules and this summer's The Expendables 3, and now he's joining the cast of  Experimenter in the role of Shatner. Why is Shatner a character in this movie, anyway? Read on.

We learned about Experimenter some time back when Peter Sarsgaard and Winona Ryder came aboard to lead the film, a biopic on noted social psychologist Stanley Milgram. Milgram became famous, or infamous, for his 1961 Yale University obedience experiments that instructed subjects to deliver what they believed to be painful electric shocks to complete strangers. Basically it tested a person's willingness to be ordered around by a presumed authority figure, and if you want to see an example of this in action check out the amazing movie, Compliance.

So Lutz will play Shatner, who portrayed Milgram in the 1976 TV movie The Tenth Level so there will be some movie-in-a-movie stuff going on. Also joining him will be Anton Yelchin (Star Trek) as Rensaleer, a subject who resists authority, and Taryn Manning (Orange Is the New Black) as a test subject who becomes stressed by the experiment and pushes back. Anthony Edwards (ER) and Edoardo Ballerini (Romeo Must Die) also have roles.

Michael Almereyda (Hamlet) is directing Experimenter now in New York.

Read More

New 'The Expendables 3' Trailer Goes on One Last Ride

The summer is here and that means Sylvester Stallone has emptied out his Rolodex for The Expendables 3, the third and final entry in the big guns, big muscles, bigger explosions flick. The usual crew of Jason Statham, Terry Crews, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and Arnold Schwarzenegger are back again, joined by Wesley Snipes, Antonio Banderas, Harrison Ford, Mel Gibson, Ronda Rousey, Kellan Lutz, and Kelsey Grammer (!?!?). What's the plot? Who knows? The first two movies didn't really have much of a story behind them, so why attempt something new now?

The latest trailer certainly doesn't offer much except the undeniable coolness of seeing Wesley Snipes back in action and alongside Stallone for the first time since Demolition Man. Mel Gibson is the bad guy here as that's apparently all anyone will hire him for, as a former Expendable who has gone to the dark side. Looks like the old guard will be rushing to the aid of the young upstarts, an aspect Stallone probably requested himself, but not before dropping lots of bad one-liners and firing lots of oversized weapons. Patrick Hughes is directing and it does have a more polished look than the previous films.

The Expendables 3 opens August 15th. 


The Expendables 3-Official Trailer #1 (HD) Sylvester Stallone by trailersspaintv

Read More

'The Expendables 3' Goes Big with 16 New Character Posters

Guys like Sylvester Stallone, Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Jason Statham can't do much on their own anymore, but when they unite for The Expendables everything just comes together....sortof like The A-Team. The first two flicks in the tough-guy franchise have delivered exactly what they promised: over-sized action, and so it makes sense they'd go full-on overkill with the release of 16 posters for The Expendables 3.

These aren't your standard one-sheets of the expanding (both in cast size and waist lines) roster of heroes, instead giving us behind-the-scenes style looks at a cast consisting of the returning Stallone, Statham, Schwarzenegger, Randy Couture, Terry Crews, Dolph Lundgren, and Jet Li. Also enlisting for the next Dirty Dozen mission are MMA champ Ronda Rousey, Wesley Snipes, Harrison Ford (still !!!), Glen Powell, Kelsey Grammer (still ???), boxer Victor Ortiz, Antonio Banderas, Kellan Lutz, and Mel Gibson. Gibson, of course, is playing the bad guy who happens to be a former partner of Stallone's Barney Ross.

The Expendables 3 is directed by Patrick Hughes and opens August 15th. Hopefully this means a trailer is right around the corner. [Comingsoon/IGN/Joblo/Collider]

Read More

Review: 'The Legend of Hercules' Starring Kellan Lutz

A number of our greatest modern stories have drawn much of their inspiration from the ancient Greek myths, and Hollywood has often adapted those classic tales into many impressive feature films. The tale of Hercules, in particular, is an unforgettable one that sees the son of Zeus embracing his godly lineage in an epic quest full of monsters, jealous deities, and grand adventure. Now that story has been brought to the big screen once more in Renny Harlin's The Legend of Hercules, only with 100% fewer monsters, jealous deities, and grand adventure.

The first train wreck of 2014 is a labor of incompetence not even Hercules' strength can overcome. Directed by Harlin, who has never quite gotten over that whole Cutthroat Island fiasco, the film bears practically no resemblance to the original myths, and is instead a hodge-podge of far superior swords 'n sandals flicks like 300 and Gladiator. The freakishly massive and untalented Kellan Lutz portrays the Greek demigod (although he dresses and acts Roman), who was conceived when the god Zeus ravished his mother Queen Alcmene (Roxanne McKee) like Barbara Hershey being visited by The Entity. Her other son, Iphicles (Liam Garrigan), is a wormy little loser and disappointment to his brutal but immaculately-ripped father King Amphitryon (Scott Adkins). Jealous of his half-brother, Iphicles takes credit for capturing the randomly-appearing Nemean Lion, and gets off by spying on Hercules and the beautiful Princess Hebe. When she is pledged to wed Iphicles, Herc fights back and is banished for his insolence or something.

Much like the script cobbled together by an army of writers, Herc's banishment proves to be a minor inconvenience.  He goes off to war against somebody or other, gets ambushed and defeated, but rather than being killed or held captive, he somehow manages to negotiate his own sale into slavery. Say what? He and squad commander Sotiris (Liam McIntyre) are forced to fight in gladiatorial games, or more accurately "game", and within the span of one battle Hercules is somehow christened the savior of the people. Savior from what? Are the people oppressed? And why would they trust just another gladiator who does nothing to inspire their loyalty?

Short cuts are taken all over the place here, and while it's somewhat understandable in the shoddy special effects (the lion is comically awful), there's no excuse for cutting corners in the narrative. The dialogue isn't just wooden; it's damn near ossified into something that's vaguely Shakespearean recited by people who only occasionally remember to use an accent. Lutz doesn't just make for an uncharismatic hero and romantic lead, but he's outclassed by co-star McIntyre, who has more experience in this arena after starring in TV's Spartacus. He seems to be the only one who gets how this dialogue is supposed to sound, and actually manages to add a little something to a role clearly designed to be forgettable. Lutz may be the "big name" here, but this would have been a better movie if it were McIntyre in the title role, so perhaps he'll get his shot one day.

Harlin, who has fallen so far off the grid he's on the WWE's shortlist of go-to directors, gives the film an ugly, blanched look like a poor man's 300, while nothing can hide how poorly-framed and staged everything is. The battle scenes are dull, punched up with speed ramps, slow motion, and a curious amount of 3D rose petals. By the time Herc starts whipping around his newfound lightning powers, and the final battle comes to a confusing end that comes out of absolutely nowhere, The Legend of Hercules already stinks worse than the Augean Stables.

Read More

Four Clips from 'The Legend of Hercules' Starring Kellan Lutz

Renny Harlin's The Legend of Hercules (formerly Hercules 3D) is right around the corner, and to help pump up one of 2014's early blockbusters (duds?), four new clips have been released. Twilight co-star Kellan Lutz will get his first shot as an action star playing the mythological hero, and he's probably hoping his solo goes a lot better than Taylor Lautner's. Here's the official synopsis:

In the epic origin story The Legend of Hercules, Kellan Lutz stars as the mythical Greek hero – the son of Zeus, a half-god, half-man blessed with extraordinary strength. Betrayed by his stepfather, the King, and exiled and sold into slavery because of a forbidden love, Hercules must use his formidable powers to fight his way back to his rightful kingdom. Through harrowing battles and gladiator-arena death matches, Hercules embarks on a legendary odyssey to overthrow the King and restore peace to the land.

Co-starring Liam McIntyre, Scott Adkins,  Liam Garrigan, Johnathon Schaech, Roxanne McKee, Gaia Weiss and Rade Serbedzija, The Legend of Hercules opens January 10th. Thanks to Omelete for bundling these clips together.

Read More

Check out the First Official Teaser Trailer for 'The Expendables 3'!

If there's been a mantra for The Expendables franchise from the very beginning, it's "go big or go home". And we've seen them do exactly that with the sequel; bigger names, bigger explosions, bigger muscles, and bigger egos in the case of Bruce Willis. So why should we expect anything less for The Expendables 3?

The first teaser trailer is here and it doesn't offer much, but does it really have to? What it does do is show off the ensemble of action heroes with Sly Stallone and the usual favorites coming back for more, plus some stellar new additions in Mel Gibson, Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes, Ronda Rousey, Antonio Banderas, Kelsey Grammer and Kellan Lutz. Wait, wha? Kelsey Grammer!?!? As for the plot? Who knows? The whole whistling thing and walking slowly with guns is cool enough, story be damned.

The Expendables 3 is directed by Patrick Hughes and opens August 15th 2014.


The Expendables 3 - Exclusive Teaser Trailer [FULL HD] - Cinescondite by cinesconditeoficial

Read More

Kellan Lutz is the Son of Zeus in New 'The Legend of Hercules' Trailer

Moving on from his vampire days in Twilight, Kellan Lutz is now drawing blood the old fashioned way, with sword and spear in The Legend of Hercules. A new trailer for the Renny Harlin-directed mythological flick has been released, with Lutz as the titular hero and son of Zeus. But this won't be Herc embarking on his famous Twelve Labors, instead he's the victim of an evil scheme hatched by his brother the king, and must wage bloody war to gain his freedom and return to the woman he loves.

Expect lots of sweaty, shirtless dudes in tattered loincloths fighting and apparently mud wrestling in crowded arenas. Actually, this looks far better than it has any right to be, and Harlin, who isn't really known for his special effects prowess, appears to have done an admirable job. It all depends on Lutz, though, and he's going to have to do with being compared to Dwayne Johnson, who has his own Hercules film coming out soon after.

Co-starring Liam McIntyre and Scott Adkins, The Legend of Hercules opens in 3D January 10th.


The Legend Of Hercules - Trailer / Bande-Annonce #2 [VO|HD720p] by Team Lyricis

Read More

New Trailer for 'The Legend of Hercules' Starring Kellan Lutz

Perhaps realizing that Hercules: The Legend Begins sounds like it should be starring Kevin Sorbo, Summit Entertainment have taken it upon themselves to give the Kellan Lutz-starring flick a much better title. Now known as The Legend of Hercules, the film has also been bumped up a month to January 10th 2014, and given a brand new trailer to reflect all the recent changes.

Directed by Renny Harlin and co-starring Scott Adkins, Liam McIntyre, Johnathan Schaech, and Roxanne McKee, the film has the titular Greek demigod betrayed and forced into slavery, where he must fight in gladiatorial games to win his freedom. It still looks like a combination of Spartacus and Gladiator, which is a good thing, even if the effects are a little shaky. Could be a solid role for Lutz and the next major step in building Lutz into a genuine action star, as he's also got The Expendables 3 coming up soon. Check out the latest trailer below...

Read More

New trailer for 'Syrup' with Amber Heard and Shiloh Fernandez

Oh yay, another movie about the pervasive nature of marketing and the destructive nature of consumerism. Didn't we just get one of those with Branded a couple of weeks ago? Wasn't Morgan Spurlock's The Greatest Movie Ever Sold enough? Apparently not, and the current hot topic will be taken on again in Syrup, an adaptation of Max Barry's debut novel. At least this one has a pretty sweet cast to go along with it, who get a chance to check out in the newly released trailer.

Directed by Aram Rapaport, Syrup is a comedic satire which follows a guy named Scat(Shiloh Fernandez), who comes up with an idea for a cynical new product called "Fukk", described as "the American Dream in a fu**ing can". He pitches it to the weirdly named 6(Amber Heard), a rep at Coca-Cola, who wants to buy it. But Scat discovers that his roommate Sneaky Pete(Kellan Lutz) has stolen the copyright and sold it himself. Honestly, it sounds stupid and not particularly insightful, which is backed up by the trailer which is too smug for its own good.

Brittany Snow, Josh Pais, and Rachel Dratch co-star, but the film has yet to secure any stateside distribution. It'll be turning up at Sundance next year where it'll be looking for a buyer. Check out the trailer below....

Read More