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AICN-DOWNUNDER: Speed Racer, those Hobbit casting rumours, and smoking in Aus films
Stop steering and start driving. This ain't no dead piece of metal. A car's a living, breathing thing, and she's alive. Feel it talking to you. Telling you what she wants, what she needs. All you gotta do is listen. Close your eyes and listen.
AICN-DOWNUNDER
The saga of Bill Henson -- Australian artist whose art was accused of actually being child pornography... Google it, I'm not going into the whole thing here -- overshadowed another Arts vs Government debate that was taking place over the past couple of weeks.
For those who missed it, the Australian Medical Association recently called on state and federal governments to cease their support for projects that "glamorise, feature or promote smoking". Oy vey.
I'm a little more tolerant of this argument coming from the AMA, given they're approaching the debate with the aim of stemming the undeniable problem of teens smoking. They have a complex understanding of health, even if they haven't quite grasped the concept of "art".
It's worth mentioning that this is simply something the AMA has requested; there's no indication (that I've seen) that the government bodies are actually going to take them up on their suggestion, but since it's come up, I think it's worth discussing.
If airport novels about young, idealistic lawyers taking on Big Tobacco have taught me anything, it's that smoking is bad for you. I don't think there'd be too many arguments about that. But isn't the solution obvious? I mean, this debate is nothing new. Sure, the recent uproar has done some re-igniting, but this is something that comes up at least once every couple of years.
So, what's this solution that I think is obvious. Well, begin with the question: how do we properly define the problem here? Smoking is clearly drug use, even though it's on the mildest end of the scale. Why not classify smoking as "low level drug use" that, on its own, could incur a maximum PG rating? I'm not being rhetorical, I'm honestly asking. Has anyone else suggested this? If so, why was it ignored?
Naturally, sticking something with the PG rating is not going to stop teens from seeing the film (nor is, if we're honest, sticking it with an 18+ rating), but it's the closest reasonable compromise we can make without getting into actual censorship. To my eyes, this seems like a fairly logical way of looking at the problem, and for years I've wondered why this hasn't been the clear-cut solution. The fact that it hasn't been done suggests to me that there are some good arguments against it, so have at it. There's a talkback section below that's usually reserved for the mentally-anguished to work out their anger issues, but just this once we can appropriate it for some actual discussion. So, go on then: what's the best solution for the smoking-on-screen issue?
NEWS
Though I'm sure that they're going to be doing their casting well in advance, I think that assuming they're doing it this far in advance is maybe going a bit too far. I know THE HOBBIT will be pure fantasy, but it seems that a lot of the casting rumours are mired firmly in that genre as well. In trying to predict who will eventually be cast as Bilbo, the tabloids have looked to anyone Peter Jackson has worked with before (Jack Black, who actually made a good Hobbit at the MTV Awards a few years back), anyone whose name is synonymous with fantasy movies (Daniel Radcliffe), and anyone who's really just hot right now (James McAvoy, who kind-of also fits into category two). Normally, I would ignore this as fluff, but I thought it was worth asking why Ian Holm is automatically out of consideration. If that flashback in FELLOWSHIP with Holm as a young Bilbo (in a scene that will eventually find its way into THE HOBBIT... continuity hounds prepare to launch!) wasn't a good enough audition piece, I don't know what is. There's already an emotional connection with Holm's Bilbo, and I, for one, would really like to see him return. AICN-Downunder: where personal opinion poses as news. Hey, I wonder if Fox News is hiring...
As much as I love the local passtime of pretending New Zealand talent is actually Australian, it always throws me when I see Andrew Lesnie referred to as "Australian cinematographer", despite the fact that he was born, and currently resides, in Sydney (which I'm prepared to admit is, indeed, part of Australia). The guy got famous shooting LORD OF THE RINGS, so it's a hard connection (in my head) to make. Either way, he'll be in this neck of the woods lensing RESISTANCE, an Australian film about a covert alien invasion. The film will be shot (at least partly) in Canberra, so I suppose the easiest way to to subvert them is to get them to navigate through the CBD. (lolz!!!) But hey, an Australian movie about a resistance fighting an alien invasion with Andrew Lesnie shooting? Thus far, I am very sold.
James Colmer, the graphic artist on HOUSE OF WAX and, er, AQUAMARINE, is in pre-production for THE FURY, which he will both write and direct. Not a remake of the Brian De Palma film from 1978, the film features -- so imdb informs me -- "five teenagers taking shelter in an abandoned slaughterhouse rumoured to be haunted by malevolent poltergeist". The film will shoot in Adelaide this July.
AWARDS, FESTIVALS AND SCREENINGS
CANNES FILM FESTIVAL
Nothing we like more than a local-kid-made-good story. Melbourne filmmaker Julius Avery picked up a Special Mention Prize (not as good as the All We Can Talk About Prize, but still better than the We Overheard It Was Decent Prize) for JERRYCAN, a film about kids blowing shit up. In the grand tradition of Australians hearing about movies after a Prestigious International Organisation has made it famous, we'll be able to see Avery's short when it plays at the Melbourne International Film Festival next month.
BOX OFFICE
I'm dreading seeing SEX AND THE CITY atop this list next week, but it's inevitable. I'm guessing that WALL-E's upcoming domination will help counter that depression.
1. INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULL
2. WHAT HAPPENS IN VEGAS
3. IRON MAN
4. 21
5. MADE OF HONOUR
RELEASED THIS WEEK
George Clooney steals Scorsese's original title for his Stones documentary, Gabriel Garcia Marquez kicks off a new Ludlum-esque franchise, the second scariest film of the year frightens audiences young and old, the scariest film of the year frightens audiences young and old, and Scorsese retaliates by stealing the title of Clooney's upcoming Sudanese lighthouse drama.
LEATHERHEADS
LOVE IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA
THE ORPHANAGE
SEX IN THE CITY: THE MOVIE
SHINE A LIGHT
REVIEWS
SPEED RACER
Australian/NZ release: June 12
Well, it does everything it says on the box.
When this project was first announced, I couldn't for the life of me imagine why anyone would want to make this film. It seemed like the adage that Everything That Has Ever Existed Must Be Made Into a Movie was being strictly adhered to, with no attention paid to whether the world needed a SPEED RACER film or not.
Then I saw the trailer. Yes, the one that turned everyone off. It was such a balls-out, ridiculous piece of absurdity, that only two things would be possible: the film would be a brilliant drug trip of a movie, or it would aim for the stars and fail so spectacularly that the resulting car crash (get it?) would be more fascinating than just about anything else around it.
I think I was pretty on the money with that assessment. I have a lot of respect for the Wachowskis for putting themselves out there this much. I like THE MATRIX, but I consider it to be one of the most overrated blockbusters of all time... even as an undergraduate, its Cliff Notes philosophy seemed way too surface-level to me. SPEED RACER suffers from no such conceits, allowing the brothers to revel completely in a very well-designed and overly-constructed (in a good way) world.
SPEED RACER is, in my mind, a complete success. If you can get on board the cartoony style, you're going to love it. It's something we haven't seen before, different from the cartoon worlds of, say, WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? or SIN CITY. Although, that said, I could picture SIN CITY and SPEED RACER existing in the same universe, so maybe it's not that big a jump. But your enjoyment of this film is going to depend on how much you want to give yourself over to what you're watching. When you hear John Goodman give his anime-inspired grunts at things he disapproves of, or hear Christina Ricci's note-perfect delivery of "cool beans", or watch Matthew Fox eat up the screen with one of the most natural hammy performances ever given, how could you not?
Oh, that cast. It's not enough to cast good actors in a film like this; you have to bring in people who understand the tone that you're going for. Every actor in the ensemble appears to "get" the film, hitting all the serious and comedic notes with total perfection. Emile Hirsch is the real standout, as he has the hardest job. He has to play an intense, serious, and driven (get it?) guy who still fits into this extreme animated world. It's a difficult balance to pull off, but he does it. The fact that he's not just saving his A-grade performances for serious films like INTO THE WILD is impressive in itself.
Film criticism often suffers from reviewers who judge the film not on what it tries to be, but on what the reviewer himself wants it to be. I've been guilty of it myself, I'm not denying that. But your best bet is always to look at what a film is attempting to do, and judge its success or failure on that. VAN HELSING, for instance, proclaimed itself as a throwback to Universal Horror, when the result was actually a throwback to Hammer Horror, and a particularly bad one at that. SPEED RACER sets out to present an established world where impossible things are commonly accepted, and pushes every element of that to its logical extreme. It does everything it says on the box, and is the most unashamedly fun and enjoyable movies of the year.
NEXT WEEK
- Due to an unfortunate mistranslation, Takeshi Miike signs on to direct the movie version of Barbara Walters's just-released memoir AUDITION
- Paramount decides to remake CLUELESS, hiring Douglas McGrath to change the film's setting to England in 1816
- Universal inadvisably greenlights Peter Morgan's epic VIET KONG based purely on the title, re-hiring Weta Digital to create the giant ape FX
Peace out,
Latauro
AICNDownunder@hotmail.com
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dick
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yeah...you heard it here first.
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and their mother googooed over LOTR and the Matrix, yet a few years later these same people claim they were overrated. ha..ha
Every Tarentino movie is overrated...so there -
is that he's like 80 years old, and there's an excellent chance he'll be dead before/during the period when this film is made. He can't handle any kind of physical requirement, which Bilbo will likely have in this flick.
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Resetting "Clueless" in 1816? C'mon, they didn't even have cellphones then! What are they trying to do, turn it into some kind of Jane Austen story?
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There's just now way around Ian Holm's age. Bilbo was a young man of 50 (in Hobbit years where 33 is equivalent to 18 in modern men) when he set out with the dwarves. Sure they could CGI is all up, but I think this whole movie is doomed unless it's a Incredible Hulk scale rethink. The Hobbit is an entirely different book about a different time in Middle Earth and should be done differently.
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I saw Ian Holm preform King Lear last winter and he looked pretty good. I woulnd not sell him short.
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your tall!!
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well, she does
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And this fall in the same place as Transformers. And the same excuse! What were you expecting? Shakespeare? It was what it is: a living cartoon movie. Hell, if people love Transformers with big robots and 'splosions, Speed Racer is the there with bright ass colors and fast cars plus 'splosions. It was fun for what it was, so the the hating begin. Now that being said; the Hobbit is on shakey ground. Ian Holm has galvanized his place in movie history(we will always see him as Bilbo no matter what so deal with it.) Would it be nice to see him as Bilbo? Sure. Is it possible? Sure. Can HE pull it off? There's the question. But if they do go with a young actor, he has to look as close to Ian so not to piss of those die-hard LOTR fans.
Remakes/rehash of any movie as this point is just getting stale. They will never be as good a the original and the times have changed so much that Hollywood is watching itself beocz Big Brother knows best what we the public like and need. cough*bullshit*cough. -
I would like to see Ian HOlM back. Yet other alternatives.
1. Michael Palin.
2. Paul Hogan.
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Its really no competition. I think Joel McHale said it best on the Soup Friday. "Heres the time you'll ever hear these words" cut to clip of the MTV movie awards, "And the winner is.....Transformers!" Gotham_night I thought you liked Speed
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Jun 07, 2008 5:07:26 PM CDT
Sir Ian Holm will be 79 years old when this begins filming
by canada's king
Of course he could pull off the ten second scene in Fellowship with him finding the ring, but a two hour movie? Unless they find a way to digitally de-age him (and even that wouldn't do it as the character needs to be spry and energetic) then no way will Holm be able to fill Bilbo's shoes. Unfortunately.
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Name one G rated movie that wasn't made before the dangers of smoking was fully realised (let's say the 80s) that has smoking in it. There are none, because filmmakers making G-rated films have been concious of having smoking in their films for years. You really think any film this is going to be affected by this? Of course the AMA is referring to films that already have an M rating or a MA rating. You said it yourself they are concerned with teens smoking, not toddlers.
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it probably kills more people than cigs.....the whole issue is retarded.
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Jun 07, 2008 7:30:49 PM CDT
Hey Latauro, what are your thoughts on this Gone crap?
by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks
It's pretty difficult to get any opinion from you guys.
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Jun 07, 2008 7:42:29 PM CDT
Disregard Latauro, Quint gave me illumination.
by nomoredirtyjokespleaseweareyanks
I can't believe Harry liked Gone. What a fucking moron.
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It's quite rare that so-called respected critics and internet shit talkers both get it so utterly wrong about the same movie. This was a great movie, though it could definitely have used one more pass through editing to tighten it up a hair.
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Disney just edited out a scene of Goofy smoking a cigarette from their Three Caballeros DVD.
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Jun 07, 2008 9:57:31 PM CDT
"RESISTANCE, an Australian film about a covert alien invasion."
by j-dizzle
RIP OFF!!!!! Someone over at Insomniac Games should sue.
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...in the movie called 'Bilbo's Further Adventures in Valinor.'Hey Father Geek, you gunna ban this troller and delete all his post?
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Just spray my brains across the theatre now.
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I am gonna flip my car over you and smack you in the face!!!!!!!!!!!! Ba-Dum-CH!
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Ian Holm is too old to play the younger active Bilbo.
del Toro and Jackson have both said they want to use him in some capacity, so I'm guessing they'll have old Bilbo be the narrator telling young Frodo of his whacky adventures. -
anyone who thinks Ian Holm at his age can play a younger Bilbo is an idiot...I vote for Tumnus, he's perfect. Anyway, the two movie idea gets better in my mnd as i read back over the LOTR appendix, lot of great stuff and even add to the first film...Gandalf doesn't just have to disappear, and should they be casting the entire White Council? That would be so cool.
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Bilbo!
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End of story.
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For many good reasons but mostly for age reasons. There are other good actors capable of playing these parts. The story is the important thing, not fan loyalty to certain actors.
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How long has that thing been sitting around now? Has production started? Has it finished? Who's in it? What gives? An enquiring mind wants to know.
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half vader: I can't say too much about it just yet... (That's supposed to make me sound mysterious. The truth is that I haven't heard anything since Stephen Fry was announced as the writer, so I assume they're waiting on a draft from him. And anything from Stephen Fry is well worth waiting for.)
brobdingnag: Nothing to do with fan loyalty. It's the emotional connection that's already been established with the-Bilbo-that-looks-like-Ian-Holm. Even though I'm certain that the McAvoy rumour is bunk -- and I actually really like McAvoy -- it worries me that they may feel the need to "skew younger" (as people I never want to socialise with would put it) just because it's an adventure story and an adventure story needs a young hero. I am somewhat comforted, however, by the fact that both Jackson and Del Toro know better.
Motoko: Fuck me dead, I apologise. Had you contacted me sooner to inform me of the end-of-story situation, I wouldn't have wasted my time writing the review. Text me next time. -
My heart breaks for this movie. It was a great piece of work and it's being slammed repeatedly by the fists and feet of geeks with no clue and no soul. How many of you SPEED HATERS actually saw this flick? Not many I imagine considering the money it made. (I went and saw it three times so I think I contributed like 12% of the total box office revenue) But seriously, get over the fact that you feel you need to hate this movie because it looks so cartoony. It's a frakking cartoon! And it rocks. Don't you remember cartoons? The feeling of waking up earlier on your Saturday then you did during the school week and eating bowl after bowl of cereal while your mind soaked up cartoons like a sponge. Don't you think that being a passionate film/tv/pop-culture geek can be, in a large part, attributed to cartoons. I mean isn't that where the vast majority of us began our explorations of these universes? The Wachowskis set out to make a movie based on a carton that feels like a cartoon and they succeeded. And they pumped it full of exhilarating races, fun, quirky and bad ass anime fight scenes (Pops is awesome!), a talented cast and a story with heart. I pity those to blind to see that. Oh and someone on here said to name one G rated made after the dangers of smoking were fully realized (QUOTE: "let's say the 80's) that had smoking in it. Off the top of my head? Chipmunk Adventure (1987) You can't say there were no G rated movies with smoking in them after we realized smoking was dangerous. Simply because you haven't seen them all. Silly.
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I'm with you 100%! I grew up on Speed Racer and enjoyed the film, it felt and looked right. Those who hated it, just didn't get it and that's fine.
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Yeah thats true. Motoko Kusanagi did you see it or not? I can't remember.
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I know it totally bombed, but it was f*ckin' great. A totally insane pop-art explosion of awesome that managed to perfectly replicate the feel of the show, pay attention to the minuatae, and take it to another level never seen before. BUT, nobody cared. Everyone I know, including myself, saw it and LOVED it. Saw it in IMAX twice. Its not a flawless movie, but it was really f*ckin' great, and I bought utterly. Can't wait for the dvd/blu ray. Can't wait till geekdom wakes up to what they missed on the big screen. Can't wait for its second life as a cult film. A cult film done on a blockbuster budget.
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So how can you judge it at all? You didn't like the trailer, and decided that the movie sucked. Period. Your opinion might actually mean something if you actually saw the movie.
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For me, it's tied with Iron Man as best of the summer.
But definitely, Speed Racer is the best movie that's hated the most by people who have never seen it... that ever existed. -
You can add me to the list. I love Ian Holm as much as anyone, but he is just TOO OLD to play Bilbo in the movie. I don't know who can do it (but James McAvoy does appeal to me.) I wouldn't be against using Holm as a narrator, if they can make it work.
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"Speed Racer is the best movie that's hated the most by people who have never seen it... that ever existed."That remains FREDDY GOT FINGERED, actually. Even SPEED RACER got more love than Tom Green's deconstruction of gross-out comedy.
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Ian Holm this last winter held a schedule, touring with King Lear, that many of the talk backers on this site could not. I think just because he is old, does not make him to old.
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It's a modern movie masterpiece, and anyone who says differently is a stupid aging critic with their asses stuck in the 70's or they haven't seen it or they're that guy Capone.
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Martin Freeman would be perfect for Bilbo....
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Jun 08, 2008 9:57:15 PM CDT
Bilbo should LOOK the same as he did in the flashback, right?
by half vader
Seeing as he supposedly didn't age a day and all that from the time of The Hobbit to Fellowship? If Holm really is fit enough for touring and all it'd be cool to slap a bit of makeup on him and watch him go. He's 76 at the moment right? Seems pretty fit for his age, and Jackson disguised the fact that Lee was standing on the spot delivering his lines pretty well! Does Bilbo do acrobatics in The Hobbit (haven't read it since I was a kid) or walk a hell of a lot? Anyway here's hoping 'cause he's just so great...
Hey look I'm just mad at those fuckin' eagles who could have saved poor Frodo all that hassle and just dropped the damn ring in the fire. What, were they off somewhere getting stoned all that time? Poor little bugger. -
I'd love to hear how getting Fry came about in the first place - that'd be a good story too! I'd totally forgotten about him getting it. Christian Rivers must be getting antsy by now.
I loved Speed Racer too. Saw a really shitty session at Universal City where the focus in the top of the screen was so bad it was more like watching 3d without the glasses but still enjoyed the hell out of it. All those moronic reviews cited stuff like 'realism' and 'physics' so I knew going in they'd missed the forest for the trees. -
he already did such a good job with the younger version of another character. and his stuff in JUMPER is oscar worthy
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Martin Freeman sounds like a great choice to me. for serious.
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Jun 08, 2008 11:32:12 PM CDT
FOR THE LAST TIME, IAN HOLM IS TOO FUCKING OLD FOR HOBBIT BILBO
by ar42
Bilbo in the Hobbit is the same age as Frodo in the Lord of the Rings. Elijah Wood was 19. Ian Holm will be nearly 80 when they film. I love the man to death but it's not going to work out.
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DE PLANE! DE PLANE! Smiles everybody, smiles.
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ZOMBIE BILBO!!!
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Yeah I think Freddy Got Fingered was funny as shit, but I don't think it cost close to 300 million to make like Speed Racer. I also like how on DVD the inlet says the good the bad and the ugly, and the good is the (1) good review that tom green got. I really like how Tom Green went all out with the movie, and recognized that people hated it and pretty much made that the running joke on the dvd stuff. I wish I didn't have such a shitty computer so I could watch his show nightly with out my computer blowing up. Also has anyone played Speed Racer on the Wii since Harry never gave us a review? I've heard good things.
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The quality of your life is determined solely by the options you are willing to consider.
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Sure, he's old. But he was old when he played Bilbo in Fellowship of the Ring. And prior to passing on the ring to Frodo, didn't Gandalf say he appeared to not have aged a day since the adventures in The Hobbit? I thought the idea was that the ring pretty much prevented him from aging much, if at all. In which case, as he looked in the beginning of The Fellowship of the Ring is pretty much how he would look during The Hobbit. Okay, maybe give him a darker wig and spackle some of his wrinkles with makeup to give him a slightly more youthful appearance, but otherwise...it works. For Christ's sake, it's built right into the story to reuse him, rather than casting someone new for the sake of youth. Unless Holm isn't in good health and they're worried he's going to die on them before they finish shooting the movie, there's really no reason not to cast him. And, insane rumor or not, casting Jack Black or the Harry Potter kid...sorry, but that's going to pull me right out of the movie like a sledgehammer to the crotch.
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Why is Ian Holm too old, and do you really "love" him? Sicko.
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It's been sorta creeping me out how much Emile Hirsch looks like a young Jack Black at times. I watched Lords of Dogtown yesterday where he has the long hair and it's sorta uncanny!
And yes Speed Racer is best flick so far this summer - because it has poo-flinging monkeys. Not even Iron Man had that, except maybe in a metaphorical sense.
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