Posts with tag MikeMyers
Posted Jul 30th 2008 10:02PM by Eugene Novikov
Filed under: Comedy, RumorMonger, Scripts
What do you do when your new movie turns into one of the biggest bombs of the summer? You go back to what you know. Take
this rumor for what it's worth -- probably not much given its "anonymous insider" source -- but the word is that
Mike Myers has shaken off (or maybe learned from) the disaster that was
The Love Guru, and has set to writing a fourth
Austin Powers flick. According to the same rumor, he'll be collaborating on the screenplay with
Michael McCullers, the
SNL vet who wrote and made his directing debut with this year's considerably more successful
Baby Mama. The plot will have a "father and son theme loosely based on his own life" (??!!) which suggests a prominent place in the cast for
Seth Green.
I didn't think
The Love Guru was very funny -- and neither did anyone else, I don't think -- but I did appreciate how giddy Myers got about fart jokes and lame double entendres. Genuine enthusiasm can go a long way in comedy, and Myers has never lacked for
that, which is largely the reason why I'm not ready to give up on him just yet. Well, and also the fact that I thought all three of the
Powers movies were pretty good.
And I'll say this: I laughed at the Guru Pitka's use of "
Mariska Hargitay" as a patented mantra. Sue me.
Posted Jul 22nd 2008 6:32PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Comedy, Casting, RumorMonger
We know that
Val Kilmer is talented, whether it's morphing into icons like John Holmes or Jim Morrison, or voicing KITT, or being Bruce Wayne. But these days, Kilmer is all about the inspiration. There
was talk recently of a collaboration with 50 Cent on some music, and now the actor has told
MTV that he's the man behind Dr. Evil's Mini-Me -- not quite the news you'd expect to hear.
He explains: "[I was] the genesis of Mini-Me... [On]
Island of Dr. Moreau, I told Marlon Brando my plan to save my performance just in case there was a giant hole in the second half. I was going to strap the little man to my chest. And, you know, you can't get around that visual. And then he [Brando] STOLE my little man!" So then he sees Vern Troyer on the big screen as Mini-Me, and "I asked Mike Myers about it myself. He said, 'absolutely.'" (That it came from the movie.)
So there you have it, folks. Val Kilmer is the reason that we now have Vern Troyer.
Posted Jun 19th 2008 9:02PM by James Rocchi
Filed under: Comedy, New Releases, Paramount, Theatrical Reviews
If you don't count his vocal work in the
Shrek films,
The Love Guru marks the return of
Mike Myers to the big screen after a five-year absence. Last seen in 2003's
The Cat in the Hat, Myers is now unveiling -- or is that unleashing? -- a new character, Guru Pitka, a self-help maven who brings the spiritual teachings he learned from Guru Tugginmypudha (Ben Kingsley) in India to America. Much like Austin Powers, Guru Pitka gives Myers an opportunity to play to what he thinks of as his strengths, giving us an outlandish-looking character with a thick accent and a fish-out-of-water back story. The problem is that Pitka's entirely too much like Austin Powers -- not a character, but instead a series of catchphrases, makeup appliances and goofy mannerisms that lets Meyers indulge in his penchant for sex gags, bodily-function gags and constant, self-satisfied glances at the camera.
Any time you review a film like this negatively, people ask "Why can't you just enjoy a few laughs?" And I can't give a simple answer to that, but I think it comes down to the fact that I can't
just enjoy a few laughs if they're surrounded by a much larger chaotic mass of things that aren't funny. So it is with
The Love Guru, as Pitka's brought to Toronto to help Jane Bullard (
Jessica Alba), the owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs, get her broken-hearted star player Darren Roanoke (
Romany Malco) over his girlfriend Prudence (Megan Good) leaving him for L.A. Kings goalie Jacques "Le Coq" Grande (
Justin Timberlake) so that the Leafs might win the Stanley Cup. The occasional funny bit is drowned out by the mass and might of Meyers's self-indulgent eagerness to wallow in his obsessions -- poop, accents, naughty talk, makeup and innuendo.
Continue reading Review: The Love Guru
Posted Jun 19th 2008 3:02PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Fandom, Polls
I caught a screening of
Hancock last night. We still have a couple weeks to go before we get to that film, but I am
very curious to hear what you folks think of this flick. It's certainly ballsy (especially for a Fourth of July weekend), and I loved that about it -- so we'll see. My mouth shall remain shut for now. That said, this weekend is a peculiar one because we have two comedies competing against one another. Sure, one (
Get Smart) could probably pass itself off as an action-comedy, but it will be fascinating to watch the old school (Mike Myers) go up against the new school (Steve Carell).
On paper (and from what I've been hearing),
Get Smart seems like the better all-around choice if you only have cash for one film and want a taste of typical, popcorn summer entertainment. Then again, Mike Myers hasn't starred in a live-action film since 2003's
The Cat and the Hat, and so fans might be itching for that familiar Myers absurdity (with a twist of Mini Me thrown in for extra punch). If you choose your films based on the female factor, well,
Get Smart gives us the beautiful Anne Hathaway, while
The Love Guru features the equally-as-beautiful Jessica Alba. My opinion: Hathaway's the better actress, but Alba's the fan favorite. As far as directors go,
Love Guru gives us a first-timer, and
Get Smart is brought to us by the guy behind films like
Tommy Boy, Anger Management and
50 First Dates.
So, based on my shoddy analysis, which film will you be seeing this weekend?
Posted Jun 5th 2008 9:02AM by Kim Voynar
Filed under: Movie Marketing, Images
While my kids probably would have preferred to have the Hulk Smash hands that Erik got this week, they were temporarily jazzed with this week's cool swag: The Love Guru Magic 8-Ball! He's groovy! He looks like a molded plastic Jesus, only with a Madonna-esque birthmark and an unfortunate discount eyebrow-waxing job! He wears flowers and love beads!
And he answers all your deepest life questions with such sage responses as "Yo Momma," "The Only Way Out is In," and "Touch the Holiness."
Continue reading Groovy Swag of the Day: It's the 'Love Guru' Magic 8-Ball, Man!
Posted Jun 3rd 2008 5:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Comedy, Celebrities and Controversy, Religious
Mike Myers' latest,
The Love Guru, has been sparking up a lot of controversy. There were (and still are) Hindu protests based on the trailers. Then, the British Film Institute
declared that it wouldn't screen the film, nor would it be involved with any release of the comedy. Now, we're getting some positive press about the film -- straight from Deepak Chopra.
He wrote a post in
his blog called
Love Guru: Hindu Lions and Hollywood Lambs? back in April, and it's now hitting the wire, since he says that the protests are unwarranted. He discusses previous films and their impacts, the importance of comedy in faith, and his own involvement with the film. "As viewers will find out when the movie is released this summer, no one is more thoroughly skewered in it than I am --- you could even say that I am made to seem preposterous. If I don't take offense and some Hindus do, that doesn't make me superior or more mature or even innately tolerant. I just know the difference between a belly laugh and a diatribe."
The Hollywood Reporter fleshes out the story, discussing Chopra's relationship with Myers -- his books reportedly helped Myers through depression and led to the new character, he got Chopra's blessing before making it, they've popped up together on
Iconoclasts, and Myers wrote the forward for
Why is God Laughing? Are the Hindu protesters jumping the gun? Is Chopra being too forgiving? We'll find out soon enough -- the film opens on June 20.
Posted Jun 1st 2008 9:57PM by Erik Davis
Filed under: Awards, Fandom
.jpg)
"The second one's gonna be f**kin' badass!"-- Megan Fox on
Transformers 2
The
2008 MTV Movie Awards are in the books and
Transformers came out on top with the best movie award, with director Michael Bay and an unbelievably hot (seriously -- no one should be
that good looking)
Megan Fox accepting the honors. Bay, who was sitting next to his own Fox all night, looked happy up there at the podium -- and if it was possible to make love to yourself on live television, we probably would've seen something nasty.
Highlights for me this year include a very funny
Wayne's World reunion, in which the boys counted down the top ten porn names for 2008 films (even though half the flicks mentioned came out in 2007). Ben Stiller, Jack Black and Robert Downey Jr. cracked me up big time with their
Tropic Thunder viral video bit, which concluded with them blowing up Black's head in order to impress Stiller's overweight, internet nerdy nephew. (Loved the line about
Iron Man: "It'll do till
The Dark Knight gets here." Classic!)
Myers was a decent host; liked the animal trainer bit; was iffy on the craft services chick. How odd was that gum commercial/sketch with the award rolling around in the bathroom? Thought the Sandler tribute was cute, though most of the intro jokes fell flat. (I love Seth Rogen and James Franco, but that pot bit tanked hard. Did you see the uncomfortable looks from the audience? And what was up with the wide shot for the entire bit, this way no one at home could actually see what was happening on stage?) Oh, and I will
admit -- the kiss from
Step Up 2 the Streets was kinda hot.
Step Up 3 Way ... anyone? J/K!!
Favorite moments from this year's show? Did you watch it? Do you care?
WAIT! One more thing:
How 21 Jump Street did
Johnny Depp look tonight???? Holy crap, dude looked 17.
Hang on! Check out a gallery from the show below ...
%Gallery-24143%
Posted May 27th 2008 3:02PM by Monika Bartyzel
Filed under: Awards, Shorts, Fandom
There are four things I will always love about MTV: the videos from the '80s,
Daria, the first handful of seasons of
The Real World, and the MTV Movie Awards spoofs. In many cases, those suckers stick in my mind more than the films they were spoofing -- especially 1999, when Alyson Hannigan, Jaime Pressly, Chris Owen, and Charlie O'Connell took on everything from
Risky Business to
Cruel Intentions. The sight of Hannigan reenacting the whipped cream scene from
Varsity Blues is forever burned into my brain.
This year, however, things will be a bit different for the awards ceremony.
The Hollywood Reporter posts that instead of spoofs, a number of big-name actors are making their own short films for the evening, with the creative control in their hands -- namely,
Ben Stiller,
Robert Downey Jr.,
Adam Sandler, and host
Mike Myers. Not much is being said about the shorts, but Stiller hired Mike Bender to write his, and Nick Stoller to direct it, while Myers' shorts focus on two new characters he's come up with.
While I love the spoofs, this should be great twist on an old habit -- and as a rabid Downey Jr. fan, I'm itching to see what he comes up with. How about you? Will these shorts convince you to tune in?
Posted May 13th 2008 5:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Comedy, Paramount, Celebrities and Controversy, Distribution, Politics
Well, for a
tempest in a teapot the controversy over
Mike Myers' comedy
The Love Guru seems to be heating up by the day. CJ Report
confirmed that the British Film Institute has responded to Hindu protests, and has issued a statement that the prestigious institution will "not be screening this title nor will be involved with a possible release of it." Now this doesn't mean the film will not be shown in the UK, but the BFI's refusal to support the film must come as a blow to Myers, a committed anglophile.
Guru is the story of an American-born guru who returns home to help coach a lovelorn hockey player with a struggling marriage. Sure, it looks silly, and
a little stereotypical, but so did
The Party and a lot of people seem to like that movie. According to CJ Report, "Hindu groups have recently been approaching film distributors associations, exhibitors groups, regulatory bodies, government ministries, theater owners, etc., in various parts of the world urging them not to distribute/screen
The Love Guru till Paramount Pictures makes necessary changes to it." Paramount still maintains that they will screen the film for Hindu audiences, but they have not agreed to make any significant changes to the film.
Continue reading The British Film Institute Refuses to Screen 'The Love Guru'
Posted May 7th 2008 3:32PM by Eric Kohn
Filed under: Action, Comedy, Drama, Casting, New Releases, Celebrities and Controversy, Images
Catching an afternoon screening of
Iron Man last weekend, the questionably denigrating representations of Afghani villains bugged me less than the bizarre cultural references in the trailers preceding it -- especially when it came to accents. Three previews in a row contained characters speaking intentionally mangled English, a fact all the more recognizable because all of them were played by well-known actors.
You Don't Mess With Zohan showed
Adam Sandler as a tough Israeli hair stylist.
The Love Guru preview found
Mike Myers blabbering on with South Asian inflections. Rounding things out in perhaps the most innocuous case,
Cate Blanchett popped up as a Communist baddie in
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Are these gross caricatures or fair play?
We've touched on this issue before, but it looks like each month the trend gets a little stronger. There's edgy and there's a line:
Borat may or may not send the wrong message, but the character's
faux Kazakh accent tells you a lot about the way Americans tend to judge foreigners on the basis of their less-than-perfect English. The specific nature of the satire gives Cohen's performance an underlying purpose -- unlike, say,
Love Guru, which seems more like a chance to ignorantly marvel at Myers' ability to turn Indians into a continuous punchline. Recently,
a few Hindu groups launched protests against the film. This could mark uncharted terrain for Myers, who did not, as far as I know, get lambasted by any hippies after the first
Austin Powers.
Posted May 6th 2008 7:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Comedy, Paramount, Movie Marketing, Trailers and Clips
With every piece of marketing that comes out for Mike Myer's
The Love Guru, I am less sure about whether or not this movie is going to work. The
new trailer for the self-help comedy is now up on
The Guru Pitka's MySpace page (that's right, he has his very own
page), and after watching it I just don't know what to think. The
first trailer wasn't so great, but then there were those hilarious
You Tube messages. The latest trailer, though, puts the film back in the 'meh' category -- talk about confusing.
Guru is the story of an American-born guru who is hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs to provide counseling to their star player (played by Romany Malco). Joining in on the hilarity are
Justin Timberlake (as a French Canadian player),
The Daily Show's
John Oliver as Pitka's assistant, and
Jessica Alba as the love interest.
Continue reading The New 'Love Guru' Trailer
Posted Apr 25th 2008 1:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Comedy, Casting, RumorMonger, Remakes and Sequels
It was a mere 11 days ago that
rumors surfaced that supermodel
Gisele Bündchen was in talks to star in
Austin Powers 4. (You know, the movie that hadn't been
mentioned in almost a year? That was our first clue that something was up). But today, MTV
spoke with
Seth Green (aka Scott Evil), and got the official word that we can chalk it up to just another crazy internet rumor.
Green told MTV, "I'll tell you what, if a script for
Austin Powers 4 gets written and then it gets green lit by whatever version of New Line is still making movies, and everybody agrees to do it, then we'll have something to talk about. But at this point,
Austin Powers 4 is nothing more than something Mike Myers talked about off-handedly during the
Shrek press." I guess you can't get more straightforward than that.
I can't help but be just a teensy bit disappointed that a fourth film is not going to happen. I am probably one of the few people who thought
Goldmember was pretty darn funny. Plus, I thought Myers was on to a good idea when he said that the fourth film would focus on Dr. Evil (with maybe the exception of the first movie, Dr. Evil's side of things was becoming infinitely more interesting). One thing is for sure, by the looks of the
trailer for Myer's latest character comedy, I think I would much rather get another
Austin Powers movie than another installment of
The Love Guru.
Posted Apr 14th 2008 3:02PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Comedy, Casting, New Line, RumorMonger, Remakes and Sequels
For starters, I had no idea that a fourth
Austin Powers film was even
on the horizon. So imagine my surprise when the
Boston Globe reported that Gisele Bündchen was in talks to star in the latest installment of Mike Myers' spy franchise. According to the Globe, Bündchen has already been given a script and her agent is arranging meetings with Myers and producer
Jay Roach.
Myers first spoke about another
Austin Powers film back when he was still prepping
The Love Guru with
Jessica Alba. Myers had
told MTV, "We're developing a fourth [movie], entirely from Dr. Evil's point of view." Myers also said that he would only be working on a
Powers film in his spare time. Judging by Myers' slate for 2009 it doesn't look like he is going to have much free time; the actor is still attached to star in the Keith Moon biopic,
See Me Feel Me: Keith Moon Naked for Your Pleasure, as well as
The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (both films are scheduled for release in 2009).
Continue reading Casting Rumor: Gisele Bündchen in Talks for 'Austin Powers 4'?
Posted Feb 19th 2008 7:32PM by Jessica Barnes
Filed under: Comedy, Paramount, Movie Marketing, Posters
I just can't quite decide if
Mike Myers looks comedic or downright creepy in the new poster for his romantic comedy,
The Love Guru. Although, I guess it is pretty weak to be creeped out by a guy in a handlebar mustache holding a flower. IMPA Awards has just released the first
poster, and the words mustache and flower pretty much sum up the one sheet. Well, that, and a fairly corny tag-line -- but I'll let you find that out on your own.
Myers stars as Pitka, an American raised by gurus who returns to the states to start up his own self-help business. His first project is to solve the professional and personal problems of a hockey player who has hit the skids (well, it
is a Mike Myers movie after all, so hockey was bound to show up somewhere). Joining Myers in the cast are
Jessica Alba as Myers' love interest,
Justin Timberlake as a rival skater, Verne Troyer as the team coach, and
Ben Kingsley as Guru Tugginmypudha. Also included in the cast are
Romany Malco as the troubled player and
The Daily Show's
Jon Oliver as Dick Pants (is it just me, or do some of these names look like something you would see on a substitute teachers attendance sheet?).
The flick shot on location in Toronto over the summer, and so far we have only gotten a few
sneak peeks of Alba and Myers on set. I can't put my finger on it, but there is just something about this movie that has me very nervous. So as much as I might like Myers, I don't think even he is going to be able to make Alba funny -- just ask Dane Cook. Personally, I think I'll just hold out for Myer's
Keith Moon biopic instead.
The Love Guru opens in theaters on June 20th, 2008.
Next Page >
