Wednesday, 11 May 2011 Written by Ivan Radford
Thor thundered ahead at the UK Box Office this week, holding on the top spot after its £5m debut.
Marvel's superhero lost around 40% of last week's takings, but has hammered together a £9.5m running total, which will keep the makers of The Avengers happy for now.
Fast Five is right behind the God of Thunder with £1.6m stashed firmly in the boot. After three weeks on release, Vin Diesel's racer has accelerated past the £13.5m gross from the last Fast and Furious film, making it the fastest and most furious in the whole series. Bald men up and down the country will be sweating profusely with excitement.
Insidious, meanwhile, is in a strong third position, boasting a teeny 9% drop as people begin to spread the word about the Saw director's horror film. It's almost at the £4m mark in total, but expect this one to reach a fair bit higher than that.
All the three holdovers held back the weekend's new releases. Emerging at the head of the pack is Water for Elephants, the watery film about elephants and Robert Pattinson. Thanks to previews from Wednesday onwards, R-Patz beat Saoirse Ronan's Hanna to the UK Top Ten's fourth spot. But we all know she could take him in a proper fight.
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Thursday, 09 December 2010 Written by Ivan Radford
Director: Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck
Cast: Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Paul Bettany
Certificate: 12AG
Trailer
Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck. It takes a great name to attract stars from Hollywood's A-list. Ever since 2006's The Lives of Others, it was clear that the man christened Florian by the Henckel von Donnermarcks was destined for great things. This isn't one of them.
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Thursday, 04 November 2010 Written by Ivan Radford
"Attempted murder? That's not that serious."
"Not when you downgrade it from murder, but when you upgrade it from room service..."
That's Johnny Depp as hapless tourist Frank, who gets caught up with the mysterious Elise - a woman who looks a lot like Angelina Jolie - on a train journey across Europe. But no sooner than you can say Sexy Facial Hair, he's being shot at in Venice and being chased by Paul Bettany (Sexy Non-Facial Hair).
With this new international trailer, The Tourist is still looking to be quite a solid little thriller. All set to trump James Mangold in the naming department, director Florian Henckel von Donnersmarck has pretty much gone ahead and made Knight and Day. But better.
The official synopsis uses words like "whirlwind romance", "breathtaking backdrop" and "thrust", so you know you're in for a good time. Plus the trailer doesn't use Muse as the backing track, so it's clearly classy stuff.
The Tourist is out on Friday 10th December (seven days after Donkey Kong Country Returns on the Wii, just so you know). You can see the The Tourist teaser trailer here. And there's also a glamourous Facebook page to drool over. But first, read on for the new video.
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Wednesday, 22 September 2010 Written by Ivan Radford
If there's one thing Paul Bettany's good at, it's kicking ass for the Lord. And now to celebrate the new trailer for Priest, we've got two new stills from Scott Stewart's religious shoot-em-up. And they're pretty much exactly what you'd expect.
Teaming up again after the floppy wobbly Legion, Stewart's actioner sees Paul Bettany's Priest (read: trained killer in a war against vampires) trying to live an everyday life in a dystopian city controlled by the Church. But when vampires kidnap his niece, he goes back into business. And apparently hops onto his sexy black motorbike.
Yes, clerics, guns and bikes (oh my) are the order of the day. And when that's not fast enough for him, Bettany jumps around on the side of trains to get his speed fix. With him on his crusade for vengeance is Maggie Q's Priestess. She has has otherwordly fighting skills, naturally.
The best bit about the new trailer? There's oodles of Karl Urban's bad guy. And he's wearing A HAT. He also conducts an invisible orchestra at one point. To enjoy Urban's growly nemesis, check out the trailer in our videos section, or read on for the video plus the sexy stills of Bettany's man of God.
Priest hits cinemas on Friday 13th May next year.
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Tuesday, 27 July 2010 Written by Ivan Radford
After the floppy wobbly Legion, Scott Stewart and Paul Bettany are back with another religious session of ass kicking with Priest. Judging by the trailer, which is now online, it might be an improvement.
Naturally, the manga it's based on has vampires in it - evil, blind, underground dwelling bloodsuckers, who have been at war with man for decades. After the church took over government, they trained up fighting priests to rid the world of the scummy sinful creatures.
Enter Paul Bettany. Now, though, the vampires have been largely defeated, and our titular priest is trying to live a normal everyday life. Then some rogue vampires kidnap his niece. So he goes back to kicking ass for the Lord.
It's not that bad looking, given the cheesy dialogue and copious slow-motion. There's an especially interesting bit at 1:01, where you can see a crazy man in a hat conducting an invisible orchestra. For the trailer, head over to First Showing. For more on invisible orchestras, head here. Alternatively, just read on for the video.
Priest hits cinemas in May 2011. Oh, and it'll be in 3D.
Thursday, 07 January 2010 Written by Ivan Radford
Remember Legion? The archangel arse kicking actioner from Scott Smith? The one where Paul Bettany chops his wings off and jumps down to Earth to protect the Second Coming from the wrath of Heaven? How could we forget it? Well, just in case you have, there's a brand new clip online for your retinas to feast on. And it's pretty damn awesome.
Archangel Michael (Bettany), now sans halo, is seen here in a dust up with Archangel Gabriel (Kevin Durand). You can tell from the brutality of the battle that God means business when he sends his forces to wipe out humanity. Don't believe me? Look at Gabriel's air-slicing wings. That knocks the socks off Alan Rickman's feathers in Dogma.
Head over to Yahoo Movies for the exclusive thing, or read on for the video below.
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Friday, 25 September 2009 Written by Ivan Radford
Director: Jon Amiel
Cast: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch, Martha West
Certificate: PG
Trailer
Beards. Monkeys. Evolution. This is what Biology’s all about. So when looking for someone to play Charles Darwin, father of ten (eleven including modern thinking), Paul Bettany is the natural selection for the role. Shedding his scalp and wrestling with guilt, he’s evolved into a fine actor. He can generate chemistry with anything, from Orang-utans to dead children. The one person he doesn’t share sparks with is his wife, Emma (Connelly). She’s the religious one.
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Friday, 25 September 2009 Written by Ivan Radford
Good old Charles Darwin. Those Americans sure do love him. So it was no surprise to us Brits that a film about his life (and theory of evolution) was struggling to find a home across the Atlantic. Especially given that the film was called Creation. But the Paul Bettany-starring biopic, which hit UK cinemas today, has now got itself a distributor in the States.
Some said Jenniffer Connelly was too controversial for the right wing. But Newmarket Films - the people who brought America the film they all wanted to see, The Passion of the Christ - have stepped up the evolutionary chain to seize the opportunity. Yes, Jon Amiel's film will be released in the US around December. The next question is whether it will get anywhere with the Academy. After all, they weren't too keen on Wimbledon...
Creation
Tuesday, 22 September 2009 Written by Ivan Radford
Director: Jon Amiel
Cast: Paul Bettany, Jennifer Connelly, Toby Jones, Benedict Cumberbatch
Certificate: TBC
Release Date: Friday 25th September
Part ghost story, part heart-wrenching love story, Creation is the powerful tale of Charles Darwin (Paul Bettany) and the single most explosive idea in history. Darwin’s great, still controversial, book on The Origin of Species depicts nature as a battleground. In Creation, the battleground is a man’s heart. Torn between his love for his deeply religious wife (Jennifer Connelly) and his own growing belief in a world where God has no place, Darwin finds himself caught in a struggle between faith and reason. This is not the grey-bearded old man that most people imagine when they think of Darwin. The Darwin we meet is a young, vibrant father, husband and friend whose mental and physical health gradually buckles under the weight of guilt and grief for a lost child - Annie, his adored 10 year old daughter who leads him out of darkness and helps him reconnect with his wife and family.
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