Angelina Jolie Reportedly Furious Over Megan Fox In Tomb Raider Movie

You may know Megan Fox for her starring role as "Stars-and-Stripes Bikini Kid Dancing Under Waterfall" in Bad Boys 2, or her work as the non-robotic female lead  in the Transformers movies (I think she's credited as "Lip-Gloss-Chick-Who-Poses-On-Motorcycle"). But soon, you may see Fox taking on the role of everyone's favorite 1990s video game heroine, Tomb Raider lead Lara Croft. This casting decision makes me very, very happy. But according to reports, it makes Angelina Jolie very, very pissed.

The next Tomb Raider film is said to focus on Lara Croft's younger years, and Angelina Jolie, 34, is apparently getting a too haggard (by Hollywood standards) to play a young Lara, so Megan (23) has reportedly been tapped for the role. According to an unnamed source quoted by Britain's The Sun tabloid:

"Angie was intent on reprising her role. She feels it's something she helped define and feels robbed that it looks likely to be handed to someone who she considers less capable than her."

And:

 "Angie isn't a fan of the Transformers films and believes Megan won't do the Lara Croft character justice. She's also annoyed because she thinks Megan copies everything from her, from her tattoos to her style."

So the gloves are off and the claws are out!

Leaving aside the issue of whether playing Lara Croft takes some amazing reserve of acting talent, I have a great way to settle the issue: Lingerie pillow-fight. At some douchebag's house. Of course I would document this battle for the internet, and thus it would be part of my job, and my boyfriends won't get mad and gay gamers wouldn't mind seeing.

So which chick is the best Lara Croft? Jolie, Fox, or is there another person who should take the part?

Battle of the Babes... Angelina Jolie and Megan Fox [The Sun UK]

'Hitman' Film Sequel Moves Forward

It has been announced that a sequel to the 2007 video game film, Hitman will move forward. According to IESB, up and coming writer, Kyle Ward (Kane and Lynch, Fiasco Heights) has been brought in by Fox to pen the script to Agent 47's second big screen epic. It is likely that the film will be part of a cross-promotional vehicle for the Hitman franchise as a whole, as Hitman 5 (working title) is expected to hit stores for the 360, PS3, and PC sometime at the end of 2010. (Although seeing as they just hired the writer, that seems likely to be pushed back in 2011.)

Excited? Meh? Personally, I found Hitman to be somewhat entertaining, not terrible, anyway. A sequel is certainly not something that was on a personal wishlist. However, it featured some decent action sequences and Timothy Olyphant pulled off the role competently. Besides the scene where Olyphant smacks around Lost's Henry Ian Cusick (Call Penny now, biatchhh!), the most memorable parts of the film had to be Olga Kurylenko's "sort of" star-making role as a scorned and abused call-girl who accompanies Agent 47 on his quest (for what, I forget.) The image of her sprawled naked on a bed after getting wasted and making a drunken attempt to seduce Agent 47 is one that any guy probably won't forget for a long time. (I don't know what that says about the rest of the film if she was the most memorable part, but...she was.)

I'm sure this will be met with a knee-jerk reaction of "What? WHY would they make a sequel to this inane game film?" Well, the answer is quite simple: nearly $100 million. (Foreign and Domestic Gross.) Hello sequel.

Hitman sequel gets a new writer [IESB.net]

USA Today ROTF coverage with Image of Combined Prime and Jetfire

In an article that documents the filming sequences of the climactic battle of Transformers Revenge of the Fallen, USA Today managed to capture the essence of the film Director Michael Bay's handling of the cast and crew and the way the crew reacted and complied with him.



From calling Josh Duhamal a *bleeping* pansy, to telling a pizza delivery guy to "Get those *bleeping* pizzas the *bleep* out of here!!!", we get a good look at the intensity and focus of the filming of the action film.

Check out the article by clicking here. [USA Today]

Harold Ramis "Glad" He Turned Down Super Mario Bros. Movie

With classic comedies like Caddyshack, Groundhog Day and Analyze This, Harold Ramis has an impressive film director resume — which was almost tarnished by that disastrous Super Mario Bros. flick.

"(Producer) Roland Joffe wanted me to direct the Super Mario Bros. movie," says Ramis. "I took the meeting because I loved the game... I'm glad I said no."

Others who escaped the Super Mario Bros. cinematic train wreck include Danny DeVito, who turned down the role of Mario, and Kevin Costner, who passed on playing King Koopa.

Bob Hoskins accepted the role of Mario and later called the experience "a fucking nightmare". Dennis Hopper ultimately took the role of Koopa, recently saying that he did the picture so his son could have shoes. Nobody needs shoes that bad.

Ramis glad he passed on `Super Mario Bros.' film [AP via Game|Life]

A Very Costly Kiss: Senior Denied Diploma

For teens, there is no greater joy than graduating high school. Shaking off the shackles of education and claiming that hard-fought diploma is truly an epic day. Unfortunately, for several students at Bonny Eagle High School in Maine, their natural exuberance has led to some surprisingly serious problems.

On Friday night, when the senior class was waiting to graduate, excitement began to grow. Students bounced a large inflatable rubber duck. The noise level rose. And then came "the kiss." When called, one student walked on stage to receive his diploma and blew a kiss to his family. The school administrator, clearly not the sentimental sort, sent the student back to his seat ... sans diploma.

The seemingly harsh punishment has sent the Web all aflutter. Searches on "student denied diploma" and "bonny eagle high school" are both through the roof. Additionally, blogs and news papers are chiming in with opinions on whether or not the administration overreacted. The student's mother has given interviews and is quite upset at her son's treatment. According to an article from Fox News the outraged mother said, "A bow, a kiss to your mom is not misbehavior."

But the administrators feel they were just enforcing the rules that students agreed to. At a meeting following the debacle, school superintendent Suzanne Lukas said that "if a student doesn't adhere to the expectations, then the consequences are clearly spelled out."

This isn't the first time that rambunctious (dare we say "fun"?) behavior affected a graduation ceremony at Bonny Eagle. "Four years ago we had some issues with silly string and beach balls," said Lukas.

Source

Remembering Final Fantasy VIII

PopMatters recently posted an extremely in-depth look back at Final Fantasy VIII, exploring the themes, emotions, and insight into human behavior that make one of the most neglected entries in the franchise great.

Final Fantasy VIII was light-years ahead of VII both graphically and in terms of complexity, and perhaps that's the reason the game is one of the most underappreciated games in the Final Fantasy line. I must confess, that before reading Jack Patrick Rodgers' write-up, I considered it one of the weakest entries myself, citing IX as the sweet-spot for PlayStation-era roleplaying games. Now I've got an itch to play through the title once again with a keener eye on the underlying themes, thanks to insightful observations like these:

At one point, Squall's party reaches the site of a recent battle, and one of his traveling companions casually drops a bombshell on everyone else: they're all orphans of the previous world war and grew up at the same orphanage, but their memories of their time together have been erased by the Guardian Forces. The childhood friends that Squall can only dimly recall are in fact his new companions for this mission.

It's a terrific, resonant metaphor: the experience of warfare stole their childhood innocence and is slowly turning them into soldiers who have no purpose except the next battle. More than that, it's a commentary on how the responsibilities and pressures of adulthood can cause us to forget who we once were. Anyone who has ever rediscovered a childhood memento and found old memories flooding back can sympathize with characters who are amazed at how much they've forgotten.

It's a fascinating read, highlighting moments such as the Laguna visions, which while at first strange turn out to be the efforts of a son trying to come to terms with his absent father, or Squall's calling out of Seifer as a bully when the other students are trying to remember him fondly upon news of his apparent execution.

It may not do much to change Final Fantasy VIII's low level of regard amongst fans, but "Remembering the Orphan" will definitely have some looking at the game in a completely new light.

Remembering the Orphan: Final Fantasy VIII [PopMatters]

New 'Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen' Photos Arrive!

I just received a bunch of new photos from “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” from MTV's Splash Page, and since I’m pretty sure there’s no need to introduce my favorite giant robots to all of you out there, let’s get straight to the images, shall we?

Yup, that’s ol’ Optimus Prime himself in the above image. Head over to our “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” gallery for a Devastator-sized heap of photos from the much-anticipated sequel to Michael Bay’s 2007 blockbuster. The first dozen or so were added in the last 24 hours, so take your time and enjoy the mechanized scenery.