News for
Payback (1999/I) More at IMDbPro »

2009 | 2002

16 articles from 2009

---

Angelina Jolie in New Teaser Trailer as Agent Salt

4 November 2009 5:42 PM, PST | ScreenRant.com | See recent Screen Rant news »

I love salt, all types of salt really – Sea salt, table salt, rock salt and Evelyn Salt. Not familiar with that last one? She’s next summer’s female action spy played the ever so pouty-lipped Angelina Jolie. At one point, Tom Cruise was rumored to be attached to the Phillip Noyce (Patriot Games, The Bone Collector) directed secret double agent yarn but ultimately, Noyce and company decided to go with a more feminine touch. Good move guys!

Jolie has proven time and again that she is the go-to woman in Hollywood for lead female action roles. Say what you want about the Tomb Raider movie, but as Lara Croft there can be no other woman playing the part. Same goes for her roles in Mr. and Mrs. Smith and last summer’s Wanted. In Salt, she appears to be just as convincing while playing a wrongly accused woman on the run. »

- Paul Young

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Salt Trailer Starring Angelina Jolie (in English)

4 November 2009 11:53 AM, PST | FilmJunk | See recent FilmJunk news »

Earlier this week, a Russian trailer for the upcoming Angelina Jolie action-thriller Salt found its way online, but was quickly pulled down by Sony... and really, who wants to see a low-quality, dubbed version of a trailer anyway? (A lot of people... I know.) Today they have debuted the first domestic trailer for the film over at Yahoo! [1], and although it looks fairly action-packed, I can't say there is anything all that noteworthy about it either. Is Angelina Jolie really the biggest current female action star? It seems weird to say that, but I guess her filmography proves it. Either way, I'm sure they're hoping to attract fans of Wanted with this one. The production history on Salt has kind of a weird twist in that Tom Cruise was originally supposed to star in the lead role (and not in drag). Somewhere along the way they rewrote the story so »

- Sean

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Review: Did you ever see… Assassins?

22 October 2009 1:11 PM, PDT | HeyUGuys.co.uk | See recent HeyUGuys news »

Cirque de Freak: The Vampire’s Assistant is unearthed this week. John C Reilly stars as a vampire who performs at the Cirque Du Freak. He meets a young boy, and agrees to take him on as an apprentice.

The screenplay is written by Brian Helgeland. I recognised the name, so i looked up his filmography. It turns out he has written the screenplay’s of many films, including La Confidential, Conspiracy Theory and Payback, having also directed the latter. And along with the Wachowski brothers (The Matrix), he has a screenplay credit for a personal favourite of mine. So join me as i look back at Sylvester Stallone and Antonio Banderas, as they play Assassins.

I knew nothing of Assassins myself when it was released in 1995. It was only a couple of years later that i spotted it on video, intrigued by this movie i’d never heard of. »

- Barry Steele

Permalink | Report a problem

---

See the Edge of Darkness Trailer with Mel Gibson

16 October 2009 9:38 AM, PDT | TheHDRoom | See recent TheHDRoom news »

Warner Brothers has released the first trailer for Edge of Darkness starring Mel Gibson as a grieving father bent on seeking out the truth surrounding his daughter's murder.

It has been roughly a decade since we have seen Mel this emotionally fired up in a domestic environment in Payback and Lethal Weapon 4, returning to the type of role he has already proven more an adept at handling. Edge of Darkness could be the film that gets Mel back on the tracks after derailing from numerous real-world incidents.

Co-starring with Mel are Ray Winstone, Danny Huston, Bojana Novakovic and Shawn Roberts. Edge of Darkness opens wide on January 29.

View the trailer in high definition at Yahoo! Movies. »

Permalink | Report a problem

---

New Trailer With Mel Gibson On The ‘Edge of Darkness’

15 October 2009 10:00 AM, PDT | The Flickcast | See recent The Flickcast news »

Its been some time since I was interested in a movie featuring Mel Gibson. In the past, his work in movies like Mad Max, We Were Soldiers, Payback, Braveheart and the Lethal Weapon franchise showed that he knows how to play someone on the edge who does what’s necessary to get the job done. Plus, those characters weren’t afraid to kick some ass. Now, as seen in this new trailer for Edge of Darkness, it seems Gibson is returning to the kind of role that made me a fan of his in the first place.

In this new film, written by William Monahan and directed by Martin Campbell, Gibson plays a Boston detective whose daughter is killed when a hit targeted at him goes wrong. Of course, he’s not going to let that one go so he starts his own investigation to determine what happened. Once he »

- Chris Ullrich

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Mel Gibson Takes Us to the 'Edge of Darkness' in New Trailer

14 October 2009 7:16 PM, PDT | Cinematical | See recent Cinematical news »

Counting out Signs and We Were Soldiers, it's been nearly a decade since Mel Gibson's knocked some skulls (if you're willing to factor in 2000's The Patriot; if not, then exactly a decade since 1999's Payback), and in the trailer for Edge of Darkness -- embedded post-jump -- it looks like old habits die hard.

Gibson plays a Boston detective whose daughter is killed in a hit meant for him. Naturally, he starts knocking on doors and following trails to determine if his daughter had actually been the target all along, and why. Writer William Monahan is no stranger to either Beantown (The Departed) or elaborate conspiracies (Body of Lies), and director Martin Campbell (Casino Royale) already made a BBC miniseries out of the material back in 1985. (No wonder it was reminding me of State of Play, title similarities aside.)

I wasn't sure then why a film with such »

- William Goss

Permalink | Report a problem

---

xXx: The Return of Xander Cage Gets a New Director

26 August 2009 6:34 AM, PDT | FilmJunk | See recent FilmJunk news »

We heard last year that Vin Diesel had signed on to reprise his role [1] as secret agent/extreme sports enthusiast Xander Cage in a new xXx flick, and that Rob Cohen (The Fast and the Furious, The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor) would be returning to direct as well. Both of them skipped the original xXx sequel, xXx: State of the Union, which starred Ice Cube as the slightly less athletic spy Darius Stone. However, a couple of months ago Rob Cohen dropped out of the project [2] in order to take on Medieval, a movie he describes as "The Magnificent Seven in the Middle Ages". Now a new director has been named as his replacement. According to The Hollywood Reporter [3], Ericson Core will direct xXx: The Return of Xander Cage, which Columbia is hoping to shoot early next year. Core directed the Mark Wahlberg football drama Invincible, and also »

- Sean

Permalink | Report a problem

---

XXX: The Return of Xander Cage Finds A New Director

26 August 2009 1:15 AM, PDT | Slash Film | See recent Slash Film news »

Is there really a demand for a second xXx sequel? Last year it was announced that Michael Ferris and John Brancato (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines, The Net, Catwoman) were to write the screenplay for XXX: The Return of Xander Cage, the third film in the series which would re-team director Rob Cohen and actor Vin Diesel. But when Cohen dropped out to ruin a possible much better film direct Medieval, we assumed that the film had fallen back into development hell. Not so... THR reports that Ericson Core has signed on to helm the project. Who is Ericson Core? A USC Film School graduate, who started his career as a Director of Photography on such films as Payback, Mumford,  The Fast and the Furious, and Daredevil. He refocused on directing commercials, before making his feature directorial debut with the Disney football film Invincible. As for the story, all »

- Peter Sciretta

Permalink | Report a problem

---

‘Vampire’s Assistant’ Trailer Introduces Us to the Freaks

5 August 2009 12:57 PM, PDT | FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news »

Ah, the family film-ification and mainstream appeal that this film has sunk its teeth into is really apparent after this new trailer. At first, I thought it might have a little more depth considering the indie pick song and the camera work in the opening, but it quickly transforms into something that looks more like the family films we've come to expect in the past few years. But, despite what looks like a blend of cool acting and terrible jokes from John C. Reilly as the main vamp, the trailer for The Vampire's Assistant does do a good job of displaying all the Freaks - Patrick Fugit as Evra the Snake Boy, Ken Watanabe as the malformed Mr. Tall, Jane Krakowski as some sort of regenerating woman, and a quick look at Salma Hayek with a beard. And is there anything hotter than a woman who covers her cleavage with a full French Fork? So »

- Dr. Cole Abaius

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Review: 'The Hunter' by Darwyn Cooke from Idw

21 July 2009 12:50 PM, PDT | Comicmix.com | See recent Comicmix news »

Let's get the disclaimer out of the way first: Yes, ComicMix is publishing lots of stuff with Idw Publishing. Doesn't matter, The Hunter would still be on the short list for the best book of the year if it came out from Chick Publications.

I've had a preview copy of the entire book for a few months now, and I've held off on reviewing it because I didn't want to tease you, even though previews of the first pages were up and about. You just would have wanted more. I certainly did.

The backstory is simple: it's an adaptation of The Hunter by Donald Westlake, writing as Richard Stark. It's the first novel featuring his protaganist Parker. In this book he's been betrayed by his wife and fellow criminals in the aftermath of a heist, and he hammers his way through New York circa 1962 to get revenge. A lot of it. »

- Glenn Hauman

Permalink | Report a problem

---

‘Cirque du Freak’ Tranforms into ‘The Vampire’s Assistant,’ Gets a Release Date

14 July 2009 3:23 PM, PDT | FilmSchoolRejects.com | See recent FilmSchoolRejects news »

It's been ages since we've even thought about this flick. I always blamed the name. Back in 2007, we dropped the news bomb on you that John C. Reilly was going to join the cast of this, yet another, vampire film, and we followed it up in 2008 when there was a change that Willem Dafoe himself would go from Antichrist to vampire-lover. But since then, the news about Paul Weitz's (American Pie, About a Boy) project has been barely whispers. Luckily, we got an email covered in blood today (don't worry, I'm using Neil's computer so he'll have to clean it up) trumpeting that not only is Cirque du Freak changing its awful name to The Vampire's Assistant, it's also getting the solid release date of October 23rd. "But what's it about?" I make you rhetorically ask. Well, I'll tell you. It tells the story of a common boy who meets up with a traveling circus freak »

- Dr. Cole Abaius

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Podcast #126 - Taking Pelham, Then and Now

16 June 2009 12:18 AM, PDT | SoundOnSight | See recent SoundOnSight news »

Taking Pelham, Then and Now This past weekend saw the release of director Tony Scott's re-envisioning of Joseph Sargent's 1974 thriller "The Taking of Pelham One Two Three," with Denzel Washington taking over from Walter Matthau and John Travolta subbing for Robert Shaw. We'll examine both the remake and Sargent's original, as well as taking this occasion to take a look back at another crime film from the era, John Boorman's "Point Blank," which itself was remade as "Payback," starring Mel Gibson. Listen now [1] Download the show in a seperate window [2] [1] http://www.soundonsight.org/SoundReviews/Episode126.mp3 [2] http://www.soundonsight.org/SoundReviews/Episode126.mp3 »

- Ricky

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Screenwriter Brian Helgeland talks The Taking Of Pelham 123, Robin Hood, and Untitled Cop Movie

10 June 2009 12:48 PM, PDT | Collider.com | See recent Collider.com news »

I could have talked with screenwriter Brian Helgeland for an hour. That’s because he’s written some great scripts and worked for some amazing directors. Here are some of the films he’s written: L.A. Confidential Payback Mystic River Man on Fire Conspiracy Theory A Knight’s Tale And that’s just part of his resume, as his new movie “The Taking of Pelham 123″ arrives [...] »

- Steve 'Frosty' Weintraub

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Book Expo America: Obama Goes Manga, Darwyn Cooke Tackles ‘Parker’ & Dash Shaw Gets Animated

1 June 2009 9:25 AM, PDT | MTV Splash Page | See recent MTV Splash Page news »

BookExpo America, the largest convention in North America for publishers of printed media, arrived in town this weekend — along with a ridiculous amount of books to show off to retailers, press and anyone else who happened to be wandering the floors.

While the sheer number of projects on display during the show was no surprise, there were a few items with ties to the comics and movie/television worlds around the convention floor that did stand out for one reason or another. When I finally managed to haul them back to Splash Page HQ, I spread a few of them out for a photo — which I’ve posted here along with a few thoughts about each project and why I picked it up.

First, here’s the pic:

And clockwise, starting from the top-left book, are the following:

1. I happened upon the booth for Joyful Stories Press during my wandering, »

- Rick Marshall

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Movies That Deserve a Second Life: Action/Adventure Edition

13 March 2009 2:12 PM, PDT | JustPressPlay.net | See recent JustPressPlay news »

When referring to a movie that nabbed a second life, typically home video is the savior. There are countless movies that didn’t fare well in their original theatrical runs but have earned a so-called second life thanks to profitable video sales and rentals that make them much stronger than they ever were when they first arrived. Examples of this trend vary greatly, whether you’re referring to genre, era, proliferation (or magnitude of the “second life”) and, of course, how deserving it is. Most that get a boost long after its premiere got where it is now slowly, spread wide by word of mouth and critical re-analysis. Most of them were not well received during the initial run, and many are re-evaluated, and mistakes are mended. Among them: 2001, The Princess Bride, The Day the Earth Stood Still, The Big Lebowski, Fight Club, Office Space and Dazed and Confused. These »

- Matt Medlock

Permalink | Report a problem

---

Donald E. Westlake, 1933-2008

1 January 2009 8:32 PM, PST | Comicmix.com | See recent Comicmix news »

We've just received word that Donald E. Westlake passed away yesterday.

Donald is probably best known to comics fans as the author (under the psuedonym Richard Stark) of the Parker novels that Darwyn Cooke is adapting and bringing to Idw Publishing later this year. But that's the barest fraction of his output. Over a career that lasted decades, he was a four-time Edgar Award winner in four different categories. In 1993, the Mystery Writers of America named Westlake a Grand Master, their highest honor.

His novels were turned into twenty-one different movies, including Payback and The Hot Rock (featuring his famous character John Dortmunder) and wrote screenplays on his own, most notably for The Grifters, where he was nominated for an Academy Award, The Stepfather, and a treatment for the James Bond film Tomorrow Never Dies.

He will be missed.

Here's a promo image from the upcoming Cooke series:

»

- Glenn Hauman

Permalink | Report a problem

---

2009 | 2002

16 articles from 2009

---