Jack Black

PSA Sunday: Jack Black Says, “Don’t Be a Douche. Stop Piracy.”

by Dave Trumbore    Posted: January 22nd, 2012 at 1:24 pm

In the wake of SOPA/PIPA legislation and the resulting fallout, we thought we’d bring you a celebrity anti-piracy PSA today. If you haven’t heard about SOPA/PIPA before, they’re bills from the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate respectively that seek to prevent copyright infringement on websites (you can read more about them here). Although they are intended to protect artists, musicians, etc from unlawful distribution of their material, many have protested certain specifics in the legislation that could potentially limit freedom of speech and impinge on individual rights. Protesters were more than just sign-wavers as websites like Google, Wikipedia and popular comics site, The Oatmeal, all blacked-out their pages in response to the pending legislation. Things got even uglier after that, but it’s lucky for everyone that Jack Black is here to smooth everything over. Hit the jump to check out his anti-piracy PSA.

First Trailer and Poster for THE BIG YEAR Starring Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: September 6th, 2011 at 4:50 pm

Fox 2000 has released the first trailer for the competitive birding comedy The Big Year.  Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson star as three men who try to outdo each other during a year-long competition to spot the rarest birds in North America.  Martin, Black and Wilson can all be incredibly funny given the right material, but nothing in this trailer made me laugh. Given the story, it’s possible that the film is more of a dramedy, but one would think there would be at least some laughs to be had given the excellent cast. I’m hoping that they’re holding back the goods, so I’ll reserve judgement until we see more.

Rosamund Pike, Jim Parsons, Joel McHale, JoBeth Williams, Brian Dennehy, Dianne Wiest, Anthony Anderson, and Tim Blake Nelson also star.  David Frankel (Marley & Me) directed the adaptation of the Mark Obmascik book. The Big Year opens October 14th.  Watch the trailer after the jump.

New Images from MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE – GHOST PROTOCOL, MELANCHOLIA, THE BIG YEAR, and THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: August 18th, 2011 at 11:47 am

New images have gone online for Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, Lars Von Trier’s Melancholia, the bird-watching comedy The Big Year, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.  Hit the jump to check out all the images along with synopses and brief descriptions for each film.

Watch 25 Actors Before They Were Famous in Three Minutes, Including Seth Rogen, Jack Black and Natalie Portman

by Adam Chitwood    Posted: August 15th, 2011 at 4:16 pm

Thank the Maker for YouTube. With the advent of the video-on-demand digital age, no longer is that TV movie role that Actor X did when he was 11-years-old lost forever, and now someone’s put together a compilation of 25 “before they were famous” first roles for our viewing pleasure. Did you know that Daniel Craig was in A Kid in King Arthur’s Court? How about Joseph Gordon-Levitt on Roseanne or Jake Gyllenhaal in City Slickers? No need to hit up Netflix, some choice scenes are now all in one place.

Hit the jump to watch the montage, which includes 25 sometimes painful scenes featuring Jim Carrey, Denzel Washington, Angelina Jolie, Ryan Gosling, Keanu Reeves, Nicole Kidman, Seth Rogen, Jake Gyllenhaal, Harrison Ford and more.

Jack Black, Nicolas Cage, and Steve Carell in Talks for Charlie Kaufman’s Musical FRANK OR FRANCIS

by Brendan Bettinger    Posted: July 22nd, 2011 at 12:50 pm

Jack Black, Nicolas Cage, and Steve Carell are in talks to star in Charlie Kaufman’s next directorial feature, Frank or Francis.  Kaufman is also brewing another collaboration with his Being John Malkovich/Adaptation director Spike Jonze with Joaquin Phoenix attached to star — until today, that seemed to be in pole position on Kaufman’s slate.  However, Deadline says Frank or Francis is tentatively scheduled for a 2012 start, a more definitive date with more bankable stars than Phoenix circling.

Details are mostly under wraps, but here’s the logline: “The film chronicles a volatile back and forth between a film director (Frank) and an online blogger (Francis), who takes delight in berating his cinematic talent.”  Oh, and it’s a musical.  More after the jump.

Millenium Acquires Rights to Richard Linklater’s BERNIE

by Jason Barr    Posted: July 14th, 2011 at 8:47 pm

Having opening the 2011 LA Film Festival back in June, director Richard Linklater’s (Dazed and Confused) Bernie has now landed a distributor. Deadline reports that Millenium Entertainment is nearing a deal to distribute the black comedy domestically. Starring Jack Black, Matthew McConaughey, and Shirley MacLaine, Bernie is set in a small Texas town and tells the story of a beloved mortician (Black) who kills an adoring rich widow (MacLaine) and then plays it off as if she’s still alive. There is no word on when Millenium will release the pic theatrically but I’m hoping it’s sooner rather than later.

As for Linklater, the director is still working on his real-time coming-of-age tale Boyhood (a.k.a. Growing Up), a film starring Ethan Hawke, Patricia Arquette, and Ellar Salmon that he began shooting back in 2002. The completed pic will chronicle a young man’s (Salmon) trek from six years old to the twelfth grade and, as Linklater told The Playlist back in June, will continue shooting through 2014.

GULLIVER’S TRAVELS Blu-ray Review

by Andre Dellamorte    Posted: July 7th, 2011 at 5:19 am

The era of Jack Black comedies is coming to a close. With Gulliver’s Travels, Black has made his way into the “family comedy” zone and that’s the last refuge for comedic performers. That the film flopped stateside (though it made a bundle internationally) suggests that Black will now be relegated to supporting turns. Here he’s Lemuel Gulliver, a mailroom clerk who’s going nowhere in life when Amanda Peet sends him on a journalism assignment to cover a small island near the Bermuda Triangle. He gets sucked into a world where he’s a giant. My review of the Blu-ray follows after the jump.

TOP 5: Snow White War, Movie Theater Projection, R-Rated RIDDICK, Michael Sheen Reads Fan Fiction, and Jack Black Discusses Where Not to Rub Soap

by Jason Barr    Posted: May 29th, 2011 at 7:03 am

If you’ve been hanging around the site for a while, you know that we tend to post a lot of content throughout the course of a week. From interviews and reviews to general entertainment news, set visits, and niche stories, we always do our best to provide you the reader with a wide spectrum of coverage. Nevertheless, our front page only holds fifteen stories at a time meaning that some of our most interesting content has a tendency to fall through the cracks.  In an attempt to bring these stories back to the forefront, we are introducing this weekly “Top 5″ feature which we hope will prevent readers from missing out on the best Collider has to offer.

In this, our inaugural week, we’re bringing you a recap of Brendan’s mathematical breakdown of dueling Snow White films, our look at dimly lit 2d theater projection, a possible R-rated Riddick, Michael Sheen reading Twilight fan fiction, and Jack Black discussing with Steve where not to use body soap. Check out the quick recaps and links after the jump.

Dustin Hoffman and Jack Black Video Interview KUNG FU PANDA 2

by Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub    Posted: May 26th, 2011 at 3:31 pm

With Kung Fu Panda 2 opening this weekend, I recently got to interview Dustin Hoffman and Jack Black for our partners at Omelete.  While some sequels spend a lot of time reminding the audience who the characters are, one of the many things that’s great about Kung Fu Panda 2 is that it starts like you know the world and it never slows down.  In addition, while I’ve been very vocal about bad 3D, Kung Fu Panda 2 features some incredible 3D and the best part is the filmmakers used 3D to help tell the story.  If you have the option, you really want to see this in 3D.

While I’ve been doing interviews for almost six years, my conversation with Hoffman and Black is without a doubt one of the craziest I’ve ever had during a press junket.  Even though I don’t want to spoil what happens, I’ll say that wearing my Threadless t-shirt that says rub me on your butt was not my best idea.  Or maybe it was.  Judge for yourself after the jump.

KUNG FU PANDA 2 Review

by Bill Graham    Posted: May 26th, 2011 at 7:25 am

Kung Fu Panda 2 stands as a shining example of DreamWorks finally getting the sequel formula right. Building off of the success of the original 2008 hit, Panda 2 delivers more laughs, larger scale, finer animation, and arguably more heart. Jack Black returns as the  incompetently powerful Po the panda to battle the next stage in warfare that threatens to make hand-to-hand combat extinct. Joined by the Furious Five, the group wages war amidst the beautiful landscape of China in thrilling sequences of 3D combat that highlight the evolution of the fighting in the first film. With newcomer Jennifer Yuh at the helm, backed by the returning talents of writers Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger along with the full voice cast, Kung Fu Panda 2 is the latest animated film to blur the lines between the admiration from adults and kids alike, and brings bang for your buck in 3D. Hit the jump for the full review.

Richard Linklater’s BERNIE to Open LA Film Fest; First Images Released

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 23rd, 2011 at 12:12 pm

Richard Linklater’s new film Bernie will make its world premiere by opening this year’s Los Angeles Film Festival.  The film stars Jack Black as the title character, a beloved mortician in a small Texas town who does a horrible thing.  He also has to contend with the town’s richest, meanest widow (played by Shirley MacLaine) even though she adores him.  The film also stars Matthew McConaughey in his first collaboration with Linklater since 1998′s The Newton Boys.

Hit the jump to check out the first images from the film along with the full press release.  No official release date has been announced for Bernie as it is still searching for a distributor. Nevertheless, expect to see it in theaters some time later this year.  The 2011 LA Film Festival begins June 16th.

First Trailer for THE MUPPETS plus Poster for Fake Movie GREEN WITH ENVY

by Collider Staff    Posted: May 23rd, 2011 at 11:37 am

The first trailer for The Muppets has gone online.  It takes a little while to get to the actual Muppets, but stick through the trailer for the first 50 seconds and you’ll get there.  This is really more of an announcement trailer, and I’m not sure what will set this Muppets movie apart, but creating a trailer that basically goes “Surprise!  Muppets!” isn’t a bad way to start.  I’m slightly confused by the set-up of a fake Jason Segel/Amy Adams romance flick called Green with Envy, but I’ll go with it for now.

Hit the jump to check out the trailer for The Muppets and the poster for Green with Envy.  The Muppets also stars Chris Cooper, Rashida Jones, and a slew of celebrity cameos.  The film opens November 23rd.

Jack Black to Star in Michael Winterbottom’s BAILOUT

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: May 12th, 2011 at 7:51 am

Jack Black has signed on to star in the Michael Winterbottom comedy Bailout.  The film is based on Jess Walter’s novel, The Financial Lives of The Poets. THR reports that the script (which Walter also wrote) “details the story of one man’s attempt to come back from the brink of financial ruin after meeting a couple of losers in a late night supermarket.”  Black will play the man on the brink of financial ruin although it’s amusing to think that a little over a decade ago, he probably would have played one of the two losers.

Winterbottom, who swings wildly between light comedy (The Trip, Tristam Shandy) and intense drama (A Mighty Heart, The Killer Inside Me) said Walter’s script accomplishes the “rare feat of being funny and true at the same time.”  Filming is set to begin in the US this August.  Black is currently promoting Kung Fu Panda 2 and he’ll next be seen in non-animated-panda-form in Richard Linklater’s Bernie.

Synopsis for Richard Linklater’s BERNIE Revealed

by Phil Brown    Posted: April 21st, 2011 at 1:50 pm

With the sad unfortunate mess that was Gulliver’s Travels now finally behind us, it’s time for the world to reignite its love affair with Jack Black. If anything can get the pudgy comic back into the world’s good graces, it’s another project with his School Of Rock director Richard Linklater. The filmmaker hasn’t made a movie as financially successful since (it is really too bad that no one saw Me And Orson Welles, even if it was nice to know that the tide turned on Zac Efron that quickly) and Black certainly hasn’t had a film as well received critically since then either, so the timing could be just right for both of their careers.

Hyde Park Entertainment released an official plot synopsis for the upcoming Bernie today and the good news is that it sounds like a pretty odd and offbeat project even more in tune with Linklater’s sensibilities than School Of Rock. Black will star as kind and awkward funeral home assistant who may or may not have killed a domineering and bitter old woman played by Shirley MacLaine. Based on a true story, it could be the oddest film Black or Linklater has made in years and that’s a damn good thing.  Hit the jump for the complete official synopsis and more juicy details.

Watch the Uncensored FIGHT FOR YOUR RIGHT – REVISITED Starring Elijah Wood, Seth Rogen, and Danny McBride

by Matt Goldberg    Posted: April 21st, 2011 at 7:57 am

The Beastie Boys short film Fight for Your Right – Revisited premiered last night on VH1 (censored) and Comedy Central (uncensored) and now the uncensored version has made its way online.  The short stars Elijah Wood, Seth Rogen, and Danny McBride as Licensed to Ill-era Ad-Rock, Mike D, and MCA, respectively.  While the trailer hinted that there would be some semblance of a plot where the trio has a dance contest against their future selves (played by Will Ferrell, John C. Reilly, and Jack Black), the majority of the film is just the boys making mischief.  While the short has a fun mix of the Beastie Boys both honoring and mocking themselves, there are so many cameos that it feels less like a thoughtful reflection and more like a list of famous people who want to pay that tribute to the influential hip-hop trio.

Hit the jump to check out the uncensored short and judge for yourself.  The Beastie Boys new album, ot Hot Sauce Committee Part Two hits stores on May 3rd.

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