Reportedly, HEROES’ star Zachary Quinto just signed up as the star of Steven Spielberg-directed biography of world-renowned compposer and pianist George Gershwin. Production is supposed to begin in April 2010, but already Quinto is getting dialogue and accent coaching. It looks like Steven Spielberg just found another actor he loves working with!

Can you “see” Zachary Quinto as George Gershwin?

Image: Bauer-Griffin

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IRON MAN 2 will be in theaters May 7, 2010.

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I hope you did have a wonderful Christmas break and you’re New Year’s looking good.

I think the superhero genre is back on track for the new year. 2009 was the year when the movies were being made so we should be seeing new superhero films released in the coming year.

But first, let’s see where HEROES and SMALLVILLE left off, and maybe we’ll have time to get to the other SUPERHERO films in the can – THOR, IRONMAN 2, GREEN HORNET and some other cool comics offerings I heard on the grapevine. And then there’s a TV show that I’ve long wanted to write about that I think would be perfect for the new year – The LEGEND OF THE SEEKER (Season 2).

OK, so I got a long wonderful day ahead of me… stay tuned!

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Funny and action-packed, this new clip from the upcoming film ASTROBOY shows Astro fighting the Peacekeeper, who looks anything but peaceful.

I’m really looking forward to this animated film that stars Freddie Highmore in the title role of the young robot  Nicholas Cage as his human dad/creator, and directed by David Bowers.

Check out the other promos released for the movie:

• ASTROBOY promo images
• ASTROBOY Trailer
• ASTROBOY new clips and photos

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I have the Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection for X-MEN Volumes 3 and 4 … and boy did I have a marathon watching 28 episodes!

But it’s all good, and it was worth it. These episodes are a must-see if you are a fan of the X-Men comic book. The episodes have been created from the pages of the original Marvel comic books, and you will get nostalgic and remember the series like when you were a kid (did I just give away my age group?). For starters, there’s the signature introductory soundtrack and X-MEN running towards the Brotherhood of Mutants. And then the animation is cartoon/comic-book-like, not CG, mind you. Younger audiences might initially find this as boring, but they will soon get hooked as the stories unravel.

The heart of Volume 3 is the story of the Dark Phoenix, and her sage was quite suspenseful. Most of Volume 4 is about Apocalypse, a dangerous mutant driven mad by his powers, and the epic “Beyond Good and Evil” has a surprising conclusion, which I will not spoil.

Total run time for Volume 3 is 345 minutes and volume 4 is 322 minutes, so get yourself a nice comfy theater seat and enjoy an action-packed Marvel DVD Comic Book Collection. Suggested retail price is $23.99 US/$29.99 Canadian, but on Amazon.com, the X-Men, Volume Three (Marvel Comic Book Collection) is only $16.99 and the X-Men, Volume Four (Marvel Comic Book Collection) is $17.49.

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But it was an X-MEN so of course waited for the DVD, which came out on September 15. And I don’t understand what the negative feel is about!  I certainly thought the film was a splendid prequel to the X-Men series, particularly Wolverine’s origins and history. I didn’t religiously follow X-Men in the early days so I was only familiar with Wolverine’s background, but the movie put the missing pieces together for me – who he was, why Victor Creed/Sabretooth loves to hate him,  how he lost his memory, and of course what the Weapons X program was all about. Now I don’t know if there were any discrepancies between the comics and this film, but X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE tied in well with the earlier X-Men film franchises. I wish they would make prequels of all the major characters on X-Men!

The only fault I see is that even at 107 minutes long, X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE was not enough to cover Wolverine’s past life in more detail. But that’s really a fault of cramming a legend into film. If Wolverine’s life was played out in the comics, it might have been drawn out longer.

I got the single-disc DVD with an extra “Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins” featurette which was basically about Hugh Jackman’s role as producer and the title role. Belatedly, I should have gotten the Ultimate 2-Disc DVD instead, for 5$ more, since it had more features and extras.

So here is a listing of what you can find inside the 2-disc special edition and the blu-ray disc. If you’re into features, the extra discs would be worth it. I think the DVD is worth owning too, if you follow the X-Men saga.

The X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Two-Disc Special Edition + Digital Copy) include the following:

• Commentaries by Director Gavin Hood and the producers
• A conversation with X-Men creators Stan Lee and Len Wein
• Deleted scenes
• Alternate sequences and scenes

The “X-Men Origins: Wolverine (Two-Disc Edition + Digital Copy) [Blu-ray] ” include everything in the special edition plus

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James Kyson Lee is a regular actor on HEROES better known to fans as Ando, Hiro’s one-time sidekick now partner-in-crime, when he acquired powers last year. James recently worked on an independent film titled WHITE ON RICE (review here), and that’s what I talked to him about. In that movie, you’ll see a side to James that he hasn’t shown on HEROES yet. And of course, I wanted to get juice about HEROES and tonight’s premiere for season four.

So get a load of the interview, after the cut!

James had previously worked with both Hiroshi Watanabe and director David Boyle on BIG DREAMS, LITTLE TOKYO and so the reunion on WHITE ON RICE was a perfect for them. James described the movie as all about family relationships. He says it transcends ethnicity (all the actors/characters are Asian) because the conflicts are something that families can relate to. “It can be about anyone anywhere in the US and you can still relate to it.”

The character that James played in the movie, named Tim Kim, was very smooth and quite appealing. Is James like him in any way?

“I tried to bring a little of myself in the movie. [Tim] is a worker but trying to chase his own dreams – music. I love music myself so it was great to try that in the movie. I got to work with the real Tim that the character was based on.”

James also revealed that he bought his first acoustic guitar while filming in Utah.

“I even got to play in a band, and to sing, and and that will come out in the movie.”

Since I saw a screener of the movie, I know what he’s talking about and you will see a different side of James Kyson Lee in that scene. James adds that his song is part of the soundtrack, so if you want to hear more of James’ music, watch WHITE ON RICE and buy the soundtrack.

And then of course I asked about HEROES! Since Season 4 is upon us, I wanted to hear what Ando will be doing this time around – is he running toward trouble or becoming more heroic. “Hiro and I have a new business. Hiro is getting his bucket list going and I’m trying to help him deal with his terminal illness. I may also be linked romantically to someone unexpected this season!”

Is he going to make use of his powers? James told me he will, but we’ll have to wait and see!

We definitely won’t have to wait very long now, since HEROES comes back tonight on NBC for its fourth season. At 8pm ET, we will be treated to two episodes for its premiere – “Orientation” and “Jump, Push, Pull”.

And that photo on the left? We will know exactly what James is so shocked about!

Images: Newscom; NBC/Chris Haston

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On first pass, I can’t really describe what genre WHITE ON RICE falls into. It’s somewhere between light drama and comedy, with a touch of romance and an undercurrent of tragedy thrown in. And mind you, the storyline is not that complex, but the script and portrayal have a way of making you laugh at the hilarity of a serious moment, and punch Jimmy (the main character) and put some sense into him, and then lead you to a teary-eyed scene, all while watching characters with gloomy, sad, almost-expressionless faces. I can’t imagine how the cast even kept straight faces while they’re saying their lines.

WHITE ON RICE is about a 40-year old divorcee named Jimmy, who wants nothing more than find “someone better than” his ex-wife, whose photo he lovingly kisses every night and says “I’ll find someone better than you.” Jimmy is more immature than a ten year old and sees nothing wrong with it. I mean, his running shoes has velcro, and he still loves dinosaurs (like my 5-year old nephew) except Jimmy is 40. Jimmy is not dumb, because he aces a college-level geology class! But when the Professor talks about how he loves rocks, Jimmy becomes genuinely super-enthusiastic and proudly shouts, “So do we! Rocks are great!”

Straight out of Japan, Jimmy now lives with his sister Aiko (Nae), a lonely young wife married to a much older man Tak (Mio Takada) who used to be so fun and sweet. Aiko and Tak have a 10-year old son named Bob (played by aspiring filmmaker Justin Kwong  – is he older than he looks?!), who has an enterprising after-school career to pay for his piano lessons. After several unsuccessful dates set by his co-worker Tim (James Kyson Lee), Jimmy gets interested in his brother-in-law’s sister Ramona (Lynn Chen). It turns out that Ramona and Tim once dated and are re-kindling their romance, so Jimmy tries to compete for her affection, and dreams of getting back at Tim. At Tim and Ramona’s wedding, Jimmy approaches the groom and with all sincerity smiles “I had a dream that I killed you,” while handing out his congratulations.

But Jimmy gets his second chance, and you applaud that someone as childish and simple like Jimmy finally finds what he is looking for. Although the film has an Asian cast, and there are scenes that Asians would relate to better (and crack them up more), I really thought the film was able to transcend ethnicity. It’s a film about relationships and coming-of-age… in a 40-year old. And that’s what makes WHITE ON RICE very funny!

Hiroshi Watanabe was a genius at portraying Jimmy, and you feel for the character so much that you wonder if that look is all made up, because Jimmy can look so immature when he’s smiles, and how can you “scold” a big boy like him? The supporting cast was great at “telling the story”, including James Kyson Lee, my original reason for following the film. Fans of James will love one particular scene when the actor shows a talent that we haven’t seen on HEROES. But it’s Justin Kwong, who plays Bob the nephew that made me wonder the entire time. Is he really older than he looks… and have I said that before?! His bio says he is an
aspiring architect and film maker, and a talented pianist. So I guess that was really him playing and not some double. And on set, Justin served as 2nd Assistant Camera on many occasions. Maybe that’s why the character can look so mature for his age.

It’s definitely a film that is worth watching. The entire cast is Asian, directed by David Boyle of “Big Dreams, Little Tokyo”.  The film has been playing in the Asian Festivals, but it is moving through select theaters across the country. This week WHITE ON RICE is playing in San Francisco and San Jose, California and later in the month in Salt Late, Denver in Honolulu.

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Wow! ASTROBOY is my MUST-SEE movie this fall, and if you still have doubts about the awesome factor of this film, watch the trailer below and you’ll see what I mean.

Simply put, ASTROBOY is the story of a young robot (Freddie Highmore) with incredible powers, created by a scientist Dr. Tenma (Nicholas Cage) wanting a son, and who had to learn what it means to be truly human. The story itself makes for great family drama, with some rather colorful characters, and great actors behind them – Nicholas Cage, Samuel L. Jackson, Charlize Theron, Donald Sutherland, Freddie Highmore and Kristen Bell to name a few. But it’s the CG animation that makes this a cool action-adventure! Plus, the story is set in futuristic Metro City.

So set your calendar for October 23, 2009 when ASTROBOY gets to theaters nationwide. Meantime, here’s that action-packed extended clip I spoiled about .  It looks like Astro Boy (Highmore) just found out he isn’t human, when machines called Yellow Jackets started hunting him down at the command of  Dr. Stone (Sutherland). The machines shoot out green cables that follow Astro like guided missiles but they can’t hold the robot down. One pilot falls from his cockpit and Astro saves him (and did you see that funny caption on the pilot’s helmet?). Finally, Stone sends out a gigantic vessel called The Spirit of Freedom to kill the robot.

After the cut are some high-res images featuring some of the main characters, including Jackon’s Zog and Kristen Bell’s Cora.

Courtesy of Summit Entertainment
© 2009 Imagi Crystal Limited/Original Manga © Tezuka Productions Co., Ltd.

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Well now that comedian Seth Rogen is playing the lead role in this remake, and Cameron Diaz – who also has a comedic streak – plays his leading lady-secretary, the new GREEN HORNET movie might become more interesting. And definitely funnier.

As the casting goes, Britt Reid (Seth Rogen) is a debonair (see – can you picture Rogen as debonair?!) young owner/publisher of The Daily Sentinel, and who fights crime by night as The Green Hornet. Cameron Diaz stars as Reid’s assistant Lenore Case, and Jay Chou as faithful valet kung-fu expert Kato. And don’t forget the Hornet’s well-armed cadillac, the “Black Beauty”. Nicolas Cage also stars as villain Mr. X. Set Rogen and Evan Goldberg scripted the film that’s directed by  Michel Gondry

Filming has begun for GREEN HORNET and there’s plenty of photos after the cut, of Seth Rogen and Cameron Diaz on set, plus a mask valet that could be Jay Chou or his stand-in. Unfortunately, a stunt man got injured in a scene involving the Black Beauty.

There are also photos that hint as spoilers, so take heed.

Images: Bauer-Griffin

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