Posts Tagged ‘Zoe Saldana’

Short Take: Arguably what "Salt" or "Columbiana" should have been

Director: Steven Soderbergh

Screenwriter: Lem Dobbs

Cast: Gina Carano, Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglas, Antonio Banderas, Michael Angarano, Bill Paxton

Length: 1h 33m

Synopsis: In a world where you live only for as long as you can defend yourself against stiff physical assaults and the occasional poor judgment of character, there exists Mallory (Carano). A freelancing black ops agent of sorts, her dedication, awareness, savvy, and tenacity have made her one of the most sought after of her kind. After a rescue mission that didn’t go as smoothly as it should have, she begins to suspect that one of her more frequent employers, known only as Kenneth (McGregor), has been planning to set her up for failure. As a test, Mallory takes up his newest assignment where she’ll be working with another agent named Paul (Fassbender), who it turns out is in fact part of a double-cross. Surviving the betrayal placed a giant target on her back, and now she’s on the run looking to clear her name and get revenge on those responsible.

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Short Take: Pretty to look at and different, but only mildly interesting

Director: Olivier Megaton

Screenwriter: Luc Besson, Robert Mark Kamen

Cast: Zoe Saldana, Lennie James, Cliff Curtis, Jordi Mollà, Beto Benites

Length: 1h 48m

Synopsis: An assassin named Cataleya (Saldana), who is alarmingly proficient at her job, has been making her mark on the victims of her last couple dozen “assignments,” leaving a calling card meant to catch the attention of a certain someone from her past. That person is Don Luis (Benites), who when Cataleya was a child ordered to have her and her parents murdered. Narrowly escaping her own hit, Cataleya has dedicated the twenty years since to seeking revenge on Don Luis, receiving special training from her connected uncle Emilio (Curtis). The Don has in fact finally noticed Cataleya’s handiwork, but so too has the FBI. The driven avenger is now tasked with making good on her vengeance without being caught by the authorities or killed by the Don’s protectors. To her credit, neither deterrent is threatening to quell her earnestness. Read the rest of this entry »

Short Take: Fun, but ultimately superficial

Director: Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard)

Screenwriters: Peter Berg (Very Bad Things), James Vanderbilt (Zodiac, Basic)

Cast: Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Taking Woodstock, Watchmen), Zoe Saldana (Avatar, Star Trek), Chris Evans (Sunshine), Jason Patric (Narc)

Length: 1h 38m

Synopsis: A smoking aces U.S. special ops team gets double-crossed during a routine mission in Bolivia, and as a result they get the blame for the deaths of over two dozen innocent children. After faking their deaths to escape the CIA they work towards finding a way to get back to the states, but money is tight and options are limited. Opportunity finally knocks in the form of a mysterious woman with wealth, connections, and a serious attitude. Once back in America the group makes it a point to hunt down the person(s) responsible for framing them. Read the rest of this entry »

Zoe Saldana ("Avatar," "Star Trek") in Warner Bros.' "The Losers" - Opens April 23rd

IGN.com published a set visit article yesterday about their trip to Puerto Rico where Warner Bros. is currently filming The Losers, based on the Vertigo graphic novels of the same name. The high-octane action film is being directed by Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) and stars Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Watchmen), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), and Chris Evans (Sunshine).

The story is about a former CIA black ops team that got double-crossed and tries to get revenge. The part of that story that IGN walked in on is the ending, which according to the article will supposedly entail a plethora of gunfire (naturally). Grasping the tone and style of the film was not easy for some of those involved, apparently because the story mixes moments of sincere drama with one-liners and gags. Chris Evans explains how he first reacted to the script.

“I just knew that Peter Berg wrote it, it was Warner Bros., it was a war-type movie,” Evans recalls. “And by page 20 I was a little confused as to what they were going for. Because there were a lot of jokes. There were times of high drama, shootouts and someone’s cracking a line. And I said, ‘What is this?’ Because I think nowadays we want … Bourne Identity . You want very raw, very real, very authentic stuff. And the days of the Die Hards and Lethal Weapons, those movies where there was room for some humor, you don’t see a lot of them. So I put the script down on page 30 and I called my agent and I said, ‘What is this? What am I missing? I’ve got to go back and start over and get the right tone in my head. I’m not thinking clearly on it.’ And he said, ‘This is Joel Silver. It’s based on a graphic novel. Why don’t you read the graphic novel first, then crack the script?’ So I went back and started over and it made a whole lot more sense. And I really, actually thought, ‘You know what? There’s room for this.’” – movies.IGN.com

The article as a whole provides a number of details, none of which would likely be considered spoiling. Those details, though, are mostly on the level of tidbits, failing to indicate much besides how difficult it is to shoot an action movie. As someone who still has yet to look into the graphic novel series, a rudimentary exploration into any of the characters or discussion with the director about what he’s aiming to accomplish would have helped. Besides these shortcomings it should prove to be an interesting read for those anticipating the release of The Losers, which opens April 23rd.

Short Take: Jaw-dropping visuals, and a list of relevant messages

Director: James Cameron (Titanic)

Screenwriter: James Cameron (Titanic)

Cast: Sam Worthington (Terminator: Salvation), Zoe Saldana (Star Trek), Sigourney Weaver (Prayers for Bobby), Stephen Lang (Public Enemies)

Length: 2h 42m

Synopsis: Humans have landed on an earth-like alien planet named Pandora, where they hope to collect precious minerals that are worth unimaginable sums. Standing in their way are an indigenous people called the Na’vi (pronounced Nah-vee), whose physical prowess and territorial rigidity have made diplomatic resolutions exceedingly difficult. In the mix is a man who is able to take control of his own alien body and permeate the Na’vi’s intense and scrupulous social boundaries in order to persuade them to peacefully make way for the humans. Read the rest of this entry »

A still of Zoe Saldana from "Avatar"

ComingSoon.net has published a transcript of a panel discussion that took place in London involving director James Cameron and the cast of his new movie Avatar. The documented Q and A session is moderately long, and goes into great detail about the film and how its creators felt about it on various levels. The questions are precise and demand complex answers, and said answers are elaborate and insightful. Cameron and the cast seemed to make sure to be as articulate as possible, and as a result they provide a wealth of information about both themselves and the film. The questions range from the typical “how did ___ make you feel,” to discussing the difference between seeing and “really seeing” and their relationship to the film and its story.

If you’re curious and/or interested about Avatar we would like to strongly recommend that you take a close look at this transcript. It contains less than a handful of the most minor of spoilers, which if you’re someone who’s been keeping up with the film they might not be new to you anyways.