For the movie news week that was we capture both the highs and the lows in one neat little package. Enjoy!
Best: Brad Pitt in the new Sherlock Holmes movie?
Mystery surrounding the quality of Sherlock Holmes, starring Robert Downey Jr. and Jude Law, has been a puzzle worthy of the title character. While Guy Ritchie has a questionable track record at best (Swept Away will forever haunt him) eager interweb haters have speculated with ferocious negativity as to the supposed troubles on set. Criticism has come from all sides with an alleged leak as to the studio’s concern over the action and homoerotic subtext. The fact that no one has seen the film hasn’t stopped many from already labelling it as a disaster.
Well now we have news that the one and only Brad Pitt may have a small surprise cameo as the mischievous Dr. Moriarty. Having already worked with the director on Snatch it appears this may explain the current reshoots for the film. For those unfamiliar with Conan Doyle’s work, Moriarty is Lex Luthor to Sherlock’s Superman or even the Joker to his Batman. The fact that he wasn’t included in the core plot has been a sore point for enthusiasts of the mythic literary detective.
As soon as this was leaked Warner Bros was quick to dismiss it as more unfounded conjecture but we now have word from Mr. Ritchie himself. While not confirming the casting of Mr. Pitt, in an interview with MTV News when asked directly he stated:
"I don’t know how to answer that other than to say there is some kind of appearance. All will be revealed. I’m afraid I have to be slightly ambiguous about this but you’ll understand what I’m talking about when you see the movie"
The plot thickens… as does our excitement. I don’t care if it doesn’t make sense you get the idea.
Worst: Willis, Stallone and Schwarzenegger together on screen for the first time?
It seems that Sylvester Stallone’s recent career resurgence has opened the door for washed up eighties action stars the world over. His latest film The Expendables seems to involve every B-grade action star in memory, except Jean Claude Van Damme and Steven Seagal who clearly couldn’t get someone to cover their shifts at seven-eleven. The movie currently includes the likes of Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke, Eric Roberts and has now lured two more stars to the cast.
In a recent interview Bruce Willis revealed that he will be sharing screen time on the new film with Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger. While this would have impressed the pants off the eleven year old version of myself, it now just seems kind of desperate.
Willis went on to add:
"I want to send best wishes to Sly, and the Governor of California, my old pal Arnold…I'm waiting for a call from Sly about when we're going to try and make that happen. I don't know anything about [my character] yet, haven't seen any pages yet. But I'm excited about it."
When asked directly about the team-up he confirmed “That's the concept. That's the plan."
Sure it will be kind of interesting to see them all in one place but I think it’s time they accept their age and move on to something else. Van Damme proved to be a bastion of dignity with JCVD last year and wisely opted out of this attempt to set up a retirement fund.
I blame everyone who went to see or rented Rambo, the success of this film clearly led all of them to think that they still had something to contribute to world of celluloid. Give it up guys.