John Goodman Page 4

George Clooney's latest venture in front of and behind the camera; The Monuments Men, has been held back from it's planned release date following problems in applying the visual effects to certain scenes. The World War II set drama, which was also co-written and directed by Clooney, was due to be released on 18 December, however a statement from Clooney, given to the Los Angeles Times, revealed that the film is no longer running on schedule and as such it's release will be delayed until early 2014.

The Monuments Men was initially set for a 18 December release

The film, in which Clooney leads a team of art historians, museum curators and academics in a race to rescue a number of priceless works of art looted by the Nazis during their rampage through Europe. The screenplay was written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, who used the Robert Edsel account, The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, and the Greatest Treasure Hunt in History, to base the movie on.

Continue reading: Clooney's 'The Monuments Men' Out Of Oscars Race After Delay

A second trailer has been released for The Monuments Men, giving us another look at the sideways take on WWII. These men aren’t soldiers fighting to kill Nazis, rather captains of creative industries, over in Western Europe with a view to preserve the culture Hitler was vying to destroy.

George Clooney starring in The Monuments Men

The Monuments Men is based on a book by Robert Edsel and tells the true story of a World War II platoon charged with rescuing artistic and architectural landmarks from the Nazis before Hitler has his way with them.

Continue reading: A Fresh Look At The Art Of War– 'The Monuments Men' Trailer #2 [Trailer + Pictures]

George Clooney's latest assault on the Hollywood awards' season, The Monuments Men, remains the favorite to win Best Picture at the Oscars in February 2014 following the release of the first trailer this week.

Directed and co-written by the popular actor, the movie is based on the incredible and at times unbelievable story of a special unit formed in World War II to save rare antiques, art and architecture from destruction.

Clooney also plays the lead role, a man tasked with pulling together a team of curators and historians - played by Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray, Jean Dujardin and Bob Balaban - and attempting to mould them into a fighting force. 

Continue reading: Clooney's 'The Monuments Men' Remains Oscar Favorite After Trailer Release

The first trailer for upcoming George Clooney movie The Monuments Men has dropped ahead of the 2013/2014 film release. American audiences will catch the film this year, but most other countries (including the UK) will have to wait until 2014.

George Clooney Is Firmly At The Helm Of The Monuments Men As Actor, Writer & Director.

Here in Britain, we've been teased with snaps showing the glamorous American A-listers, such as Clooney himself, Matt Damon, Bill Murray and John Goodman, filming in "exotic" authentic wartime locations on our shores and occasionally popping by to check out the local amenities.

Continue reading: 'The Monuments Men': First Trailer Released For Upcoming George Clooney WWII Movie [Trailer]

Ok, so by now everyone's well aware that Jerry Buckheimer and Gore Verbinski's The Lone Ranger is a monumental flop - a serious disaster that could cost Disney $150 million. The Johnny Depp-Armie Hammer starring western took just $48.9 million over the usually lucrative five-day Independence Day weekend - leaving it miles from its $175 million marketing budget, not to mention its $250 million production costs.

Johnny Depp starred as Tonto and Armie Hammer played The Lone Ranger

According to the Hollywood Reporter, Disney is praying for a return of $150 million abroad, taking its worldwide total to $275 million and $150 million short of its $425 million total budget. "It's very disappointing," said Disney executive vice-president of worldwide distribution Dave Hollis. "Everything was perfect on paper, so today was incredibly frustrating." The problem is, nothing could be described as perfect. If Hollis is referring to Johnny Depp than it's lazy marketing. If he's referring to Verbinski in the directorial seat, or the bloated budget, than it's just stupid talk. The Lone Ranger has received some of the worst reviews of the year - it's a terrible movie - and unfortunately, nobody wants to watch big-budget westerns. Did Cowboys and Aliens teach them nothing? 

Continue reading: Where Does 'The Lone Ranger' Rank In List Of Biggest Movie Flops?

Monsters University spent its second week at No.1 in the US Weekend Box Office grossing $46.2 million. The sequel of Monsters Inc. follows the early, not so jovial, relationship of Sulley and Mike as they attend college. Monsters University includes some big names from the acting community including Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Steve Buscemi and Dame Helen Mirren.

Billy Crystal with ‘Mike Wazowski’, the character he voices in Monsters Inc. and Monsters University. 

Disney Pixar’s animation has fended off competition from Sandra Bullock and Melissa McCarthy’s cop comedy The Heat. The comedy has received favourable reviews and the weekend box office reflects this, grossing since its release on Friday $40 million.

Continue reading: 'Monsters University' Fends Off 'The Heat': Still No.1 In US Box Office

Monsters University, the prequel to Monsters Inc., has done extremely well during its first weekend of release. The Disney Pixar animation has made $82.4 million, placing it ahead of World War Z and Superman: Man of Steel in the box office charts. 

The animation has outdone its predecessor, Monsters Inc. which, released in 2001, made $65.5 million during its opening weekend. In Monsters Inc. we saw the monster's world powered by the terror of children scared by Mike and Sulley during their night-time adventures into the human world. The two best friends overcome adversity to ensure a predictable happy ending in true Disney style. 

Monsters University follows the relationship between Mike (the green Cyclops) and Sulley (the fluffy blue one) as they attend university. As it turns out the pair were not always as close as they were in Monsters Inc. 

Continue reading: Monsters University Earns $82.4 Million On Its Opening Weekend

The weekend box office is looking colorful as Monsters University, Pixar’s return to the 2001 comedy, is set to dominate. Gearing up for takings to the tune of $80 million (according to the Los Angeles Times) by the end of the weekend, Monsters University is set to topple other new releases, such as Brad Pitt’s nod to the zombie genre, World War Z and even Warner Bros.’ monster hit (no pun intended) Man of Steel. This would make Monsters University’s opening weekend the fourth biggest this year. It would also make it Pixar’s biggest opening weekend since Toy Story 3 in 2010. And if Monsters U doesn’t quite catch up to Toy Story in emotional depth or originality of plot, it still shows (hopefully) that the California-based animated dream factory is finally onto something – after flops like Cars 2 and lackluster releases, such as Brave.

Monsters University is a sort of prequel to the 2001 movie. While in Monsters Inc. Mike and Sully are a pair of bachelors, sharing an apartment and working together at the scare factory, here we see them back in their college days – at the beginning of their friendship, when Mike is a hardworking loser and Sully – an overly confident jock with a legacy at the university. After both join the same fraternity – the unimpressive Oozma Kappa and have to compete with rival frat Roar Omega Roar, their friendship begins to slowly unfold.

Watch the Monsters University trailer here.

Continue reading: Weekend Box Office: Monsters University Makes Monster-Sized Debut

A host of Hollywood stars, including Clooney, Matt Damon, John Goodman, Bill Murray and Hugh Bonneville have landed in southern English locations while filming World War II movie The Monuments Men in Rye, Sussex, and Duxford's Imperial War Museum in Cambridgeshire.

Adapted from the 2010 true story novel, Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves And The Greatest Treasure Hunt In History, by Robert M. Edsel, the film will be centred upon a group of historians and art curators - members of the 'Monuments, Fine Arts, and Archives' program - a taskforce who work together to recover priceless artwork stolen by Nazis and other important cultural items, before they are destroyed by Hitler or bombed in the six-year-long conflict.

The film, which is produced and directed by Clooney, will also co-star Cate Blanchett and The Artist's Jean Dujardin, and will use the former airfield in Duxford for plane scenes and American war-base footage, and the coastal Rye location for shotting of a nautical nature.

Continue reading: Hollywood Meets Sussex: Clooney And Co Shoot 'The Monuments Men' [Pictures]

The Coen brothers eighth placement in the competition for the prestigious Palme D'Or at the Cannes Film Festival could be their strongest chance since Barton Fink, which won the award in 1991. It's been six years since the filmmakers have been in competition at Cannes though it seems Inside Llewyn Davis could see the brothers back with a bang.

Llewyn (Oscar Isaac) At Jim and Jean's Apartment

The movie, loosely based on Dave Von Ronk's posthumously published memoir The Mayor of MacDougal Street, follows Oscar Issac as a singer-songwriter who navigates the testing New York folk music scene of the 1960s. The film, boasting an all-star casting including Isaac, Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby), Justin Timberlake (The Social Network), Garrett Hudlund (On The Road), Adam Driver (Girls) and John Goodman (Argo), Inside Llewyn Davis appears to have all the attributes of a possible Palme D'Or winner and the Coens appear to have spent time making it the best movie possible. It is believed the brothers could have rushed the film into last year's Oscar season though decided against it. Timberlake has contributed to the movie's soundtrack, as has Mulligan's husband Marcus Mumford and T Bone Burnett, who helped shift 8 million copies of the O Brother, Where Art Thou? score. 

Watch The 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Trailer!

Continue reading: Coen's 'Inside Llewyn Davis' Targets Cannes' Prestigious Palme D'Or [Trailer]

Mike and Sulley enter the Oozma Kappa house

The new worldwide trailer for Disney/Pixar's Monsters University introduces Helen Mirren's character Dean Hardscrabble whilst also featuring Steve Buscemi, John Krasinski, Alfred Molini and, of course, Billy Crystal and John Goodman as Mike and Sulley. The latest clip focuses on the duo as they study to become "scarers. The movie opens in the U.S. on June 21, 2013 and a few weeks later on July 12 in the UK.

The trailer opens with students extolling the virtues of Monsters University, "Imagine a university where I can unique...and learn what I love," says one wide-eyed student. It's quickly established that the institution's main job is to teach young monsters how to become scary. "I'm gonna scare circles around you this year," Mike tells his roommate Sulley, "You're not even in the same league as me," comes the confident reply, "You don't have to study scaring, you just do it!"

Continue reading: New Monsters University Trailer Introduces Helen Mirren's Dean Hardscrabble [Trailer & Pictures]

Take your Amours, your La Haines, Amelies, City of Gods and Pan Labyrinths. You can even take your Taxi Drivers, Graduates and Citizen Kanes and just get the hell out of here. Animated films are everyone’s favourite, and it’s time we started admitting it.

Monsters University is the film we’ve all been waiting for, isn’t it? The prequel to Monsters Inc? Course it is! Although we know Sully and Mike landed well-paid jobs after college so that’s kind of a spoiler, but nonetheless we can’t wait to see it. In fact, the only other animated treat we can think of to outdo this would be Toy Story 4, and that ain’t happening any time soon. Forgetaboutit. This lovely new long trailer should whet your appetite for what is shaping up to be the year’s biggest animated event. Saying that, with Despicable Me 2 set for a summer release, it’s facing real competition.

Continue reading: Get Ready For Degrees Of Laughter With Monsters University [Trailer]

Mike and Sulley return in the long-awaited Monsters University trailer, the Monsters Inc. prequel set to hit movie theatres globally in summer 2013 with a cast of brand new Monsters University characters.

It's been more than 10 years since the Oscar winning animation Monsters Inc. hit our screens in 2001, but even though those who were young enough to enjoy it then have probably grown out of it by now (or, at least, say they have), there's no question that this hilarious prequel will still be a must-see for all you Mike and Sulley lovers out there. It sees the two beastly individuals (voiced by Billy Crystal and John Goodman) in their college years, majoring in 'scaring' and victimising each other in an array of schoolboy pranks as they compete against each other to be the scariest monster around. Funnily enough, plenty of the kids who watched Monsters Inc. when it first came out will quite possibly be going through similar experiences in their own lives as students, which makes the timing of Monsters University charmingly apt.

The movie sees a brand new director, Dan Scanlon, who is likely to breathe fresh life into this memorable CGI flick though the previous director, Pete Docter, has made his return in the role of screenwriter alongside previous co-writer Andrew Stanton. Monsters University is soon to be released on UK cinema screens on July 12th 2013.

Continue reading: Mike And Sulley Return To Our Screens As Students At The Monsters University (Pictures)

Being Valentine's Day week, cinemas are flooded with romantic movies like the new teen franchise-launcher Beautiful Creatures. US audiences can also weep their way through the new Nicholas Sparks drama Safe Haven, while in the UK couples instead can laugh at Judd Apatow's epic rom-com This Is 40 and the clunky British farce Run For Your Wife. And for alternative viewing, there's the ultimate date movie A Good Day to Die Hard, Bruce Willis' fifth instalment in the crashing, exploding franchise.

And this kind of action dominates the week's new selection of trailers, starting with the very explosive-looking Olympus Has Fallen, starring Gerard Butler as a Secret Service agent trying to retake the White House after a terrorist invasion. The muscly cast includes Morgan Freeman, Aaron Eckhart, Angela Bassett and Melissa Leo. It opens in March.

Continue reading: A Week In Movies: Beautiful Creatures Opens, Tom Cruise Visits A Post-apocalyptic Earth And Billy Crystal And John Goodman Reunite In Monsters University

At last, that animation we’ve all been waiting for: Monsters University. This is the prequel to the 2001 movie Monsters Inc. (yes, it has been that long…) and with Pixar mainstay Dan Scanlon in the director’s seat, the movie also stars John Goodman, Billy Crystal and Steve Buscemi, providing some of the main characters’ voices.

Watch the video for Monsters' University

Continue reading: Scare Tactics: Monsters University Trailer Hits The Net (Video)

Oscar hopeful Flight has it's long-awaited box office unveiling today (Feb 1) in the UK and if critical reception and US box office takings is enough to go by then Paramount shouldn't have too much to worry about when it comes to audience numbers.

The film's star, Denzel Washington, delivers yet another powerhouse of a performance that makes his entry into the Best Actor category at the Oscars totally justified as he takes on the role of a veteran commercial pilot who fills his days with women, alcohol and drugs. Supporting Denzel in the flick is Don Cheadle, Kelly Reilly, Bruce Greenwood and Melissa Leo, as well as John Goodman who both delivers a scene-stealing performance - as he so often does.

Whilst Contact Music's own review of the film isn't wholeheartedly positive, the singling out of Denzel's performance is a mainstay among contemporary reviews, such as Rolling Stone and The Guardian, who single out the performance for being "detailed, depth-charged, bruisingly true" and maintaining Washington's "natural gravitas" respectively.

Continue reading: 'Flight' Expected To Take Off At UK Box Office This Weekend

The first trailer for Joel and Ethan Coen's new movie 'Inside Llewyn Davis' has been released, with Oscar Isaac playing a New York City folk musician who played a prominent role in the Greenwich Village music scene during the early 1960s. Joining Isaac (Drive) in the film is Carey Mulligan (The Great Gatsby), Garrett Hedlund (On The Road), John Goodman (Argo), Adam Driver (Girls) and Justin Timberlake.

The trailer features Bob Dylan's 'Farewell' and sees Davis getting turned away from various Manhattan music venues as he attempts to forge a career in the folk music business. The movie is loosely based on Dave Von Ronk's posthumously published memoir The Mayor of MacDouglal Street. Production began in New York in February 2012, and actor Isaac spoke to the Hollywood Reporter about putting his musical skills to the test. "I've been playing for 20 years, so it was kind of the perfect storm of things that came together for me to be a part of it.We did all the music live, no playback; it's like a concert movie. There's like six or seven songs in it."

Sure we could do with a wood-chipper death, but the Coen Brothers don't appear to be mellowing. The trailer features their usual sharp dialogue and humour - at one point, Llewyn's wife (Mulligan) advises him, "You should be wearing condom on condom and then wrap it in electrical tape."

Continue reading: First Look: Coen Brothers' New York Folk Movie 'Inside Llewyn Davis'

Next year looks set to be a seminal year for movies. Forget sequels and the so-called impending apocalypse; 2013 is all about beginnings as we discover the dubious past of 'The Wizard of Oz' in upcoming sequel 'Oz: The Great and Powerful' and how loveable 'Monsters, Inc.' protagonists Sulley and Mike got qualified to become scarers. Move over 'Breaking Dawn', 'The Dark Knight Rises' and 'Skyfall', and let's see what 2013 has in store! There have been plenty of dodgy trailers come out for 2013 releases, but here are ten of the trailers we consider worthy of your time! 

 The Great Gatsby

Continue reading: 10 Of The Best Big Budget Film Trailers For 2013

George Clooney has signed up British actors Daniel Craig and Hugh Bonneville for his new World War 2 movie The Monuments Men. The Bond and Downton Abbey stars will join established Hollywood actors John Goodman, Bill Murray, Cate Blanchett and Oscar winner Jean Dujardin, according to Deadline.

The movie, written by Clooney and Grant Heslov, tells the story of a group of art experts chosen by the US government to retrieve works stolen by the Nazis, before Hitler destroys them. It's based on Robert M Edsel's book The Monuments Men: Allied Heroes, Nazi Thieves, And The Greatest Treasure Hunt In History. "I'm excited about it," Clooney told industry website TheWrap. "It's a fun movie because it could be big entertainment. It's big budget - you can't do it small - it's landing in Normandy". Hitler's forces swept through the museums and private collections of Europe during World War II, though 'The Monuments Men' were the directors, curators and art historians who risked their lives to retrieve the masterpieces. "I'm not opposed to doing a commercial film, I'm just opposed to doing a commercial film that doesn't feel organic to me," Clooney said of the subject matter, adding, "So if we're going to do a commercial film we thought 'let's do something that seems fun and actually have something to say."

The movie is due to begin production in March 2013, with a release date likely to be set for 2014.

Continue reading: George Clooney Signs Up Daniel Craig For WW2 Flick 'The Monuments Men'

It might not be Oscar season yet but Argo has already started filling up the trophy cabinet. At the 16th Annual Hollywood Film Awards Gala, the cast of Argo – which includes Ben Affleck, Bryan Cranston and John Goodman – were honored with the Hollywood Ensemble Acting Award. The event was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California, yesterday (October 22, 2012), Examiner.com reports.

Ben Affleck leads the ensemble cast in this dramatic thriller, based on the true events of November 1979, when militants stormed the US embassy in Tehran, during the height of the Iranian revolution. 52 Americans were taken hostage but in the chaos, six Americans managed to escape. They sought refuge in the home of the Canadian Ambassador Ken Taylor and the CIA are asked to intervene.

The movie has received high praise since it debuted at the Telluride Film Festival in August 2012 and already, Oscar nods are being bandied about, with many claiming that this is Ben Affleck’s finest work to date. It’s received a 95% score rating on the Rotten Tomatoes site and such glowing reviews will surely serve Argo well when it comes to awards season at the start of next year. Peter Travers, writing for Rolling Stone, seemed to sum up the general attitude towards Argo, pretty succinctly: “Ben Affleck doesn't merely direct Argo, he directs the hell out of it, nailing the quickening pace, the wayward humor, the nerve-frying suspense. There's no doubt he's crafted one of the best movies of the year.”