Cut Me Another Piece of Pie Love..

Guess who's back-back, back again-gain-gain, Stifler's back-back tell a friend-friend!

Do you remember when Jim violated an apple pie? Do you remember  when Stifler's Mom was the hottest thing around? Do you remember the amazing life pep talks from Jim's Dad? Do you remember this one time at band camp? 

If you don't then, I'm not gonna lie, I am a little bit disappointed. As disgraceful as it may be to older generations the American Pie movies (as horrific as they may be from an analytical approach) played a major part in our lives growing up. From 1999 onwards teenagers were on the floor laughing at the cringe-worthy antics of these American high school students with Jim being the butt of everyone's jokes.

Let's hear it for the boys! Kevin, Jim, Oz, Finch and of course the legen-wait for it-dary Stifler are all set to go back to school this spring as the latest instalment of the franchise hits our screens on May 2nd 2012 (UK release date) with all of our favourite faces from the 1999 classic (Chris Klein who plays Oz did not appear in the third film - American Wedding). The film

written and directed by Jon Wurwitz and Hayden Schlossberg basically is what it says on the tin - the class of '99 return to East Great Falls for their High  School Reunion ten years after they left. Jim (Jason Biggs) is still married to band 

geek Michelle (Alyson Hannigan aka Lily from the successful sitcom How I Met Your Mother) but they're suffering a severe sexual slump after becoming new parents. The video of Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth) and Jim has made him a Youtube sensation and his next door neighbour develops a crush on him. Oz has found fame as a sportscaster on an NFL show and has moved to Malibu after appearing on a televised dance competition however he and Heather (the beautiful Mena Suvari) have split up since we last saw them in American Pie 2 (2001) and have not spoken to each other in quite some time - drama alert! According to reports, Suvari found this the most compelling elements of the plot of The Reunion film;

"I liked how it didn't just go into the reunion with the obvious (plot of) Heather and Oz being together. I liked that twist" she said. "I also really enjoyed how they gave Heather this moment of breaking out of her shell and really sticking up for herself and showing this different side of her. That was really refreshing."  Mena Suvari to reporters.

Not much has been revealed about Kevin (Thomas Ian Nicholas) or Finch (Eddie Kaye Thomas) except for the fact that Kevin is now married and works from home as an architect and Finch has still got an incredible way with the ladies. However, he may have met his match in the lovely Selena, "the ugly duckling nobody noticed in high school who has since grown into a beautiful swan", who is played by Dania Ramirez who gave an outstanding performance in Season Two of hit tv series Heroes as the vulnerable yet lethal Maya.

However, the question on everyone's minds is, "What's new with The Stifmeister?" The last we saw of Stifler he was a semi-changed man (a closet scene with Jim's Grandmother in American Wedding made his transformation to 'nice guy Steve' incomplete) and was dating Michelle's younger sister Cadence (Mad Men's superstar January Jones). However, this time around Steve (strictly comedy actor Seann William Scott) is rumoured to be unlucky in love and struggling with work as a temp. Stifler has always had a little trouble fitting in solely down to the fact that he can at times, i.e all the time, be a bit of a douche. Even to his friends - he put laxatives in Finch's 'moccachino' in American Pie which led to an embarrassingly gross incident in the ladies loo's of their school. In an interview with Seann William Scott he says that when he returned to his home town after the first film some people he had grown up with still had "a hard time differentiating between reality and the film."

Sean has had is fair share of grief for his characters crude and crass behaviour - I don't know about anyone else's parents but my mum wasn't too pleased with Stifler to the extent I used to sneak watching the DVDs! However, no-one can deny that the guy can act (let's just forget that Goon (2012) ever happened okay?). Yes, he may play the same quirky, waster, LAD character with the hilarious one-liners and memorable quotes in every movie he is in (such as Dude Where's My Car, Evolution and Role Models) but he plays that type of character so well that we almost believe that he is like that! But that couldn't be more wrong! 
He does have that same crude sense of humour but nowadays who doesn't? Despite being one of the more successful actors to come out of American Pie and despite a couple of stints in rehab (come on an actor in rehab hardly a shocker any more!) he has remained down-to-earth, humble and sort of like the guy next door. He was voted Homecoming King at his Prom and was also voted 'Most Friendly' in his yearbook which he jokes about in an article in Glamour Magazine. So what can we expect from Stifler in the new movie? Well definitely more hilarity and I'm personally rooting for another romantic interest (albeit I'm rather sad it's not me..)

Who should we expect to see at the reunion? Well look out for old favourites such as Vicky (Tara Reid) and Jessica (Natasha Lyonne) as well as cameos from unforgettable classmates, exchange student Nadia (Shannon Elizabeth), dorky Chuck Sherman aka ' The Shermanator' (Chris Owen) and the guy who coined the term MILF i.e. John (John Cho of Star Trek (2009) and the Harold & Kumar films). Basically just about the entire cast of the first film plus a few new faces (Katrina Bowden, Neil Patrick Harris, Vik Sahay, Ali Cobrin, Jay Harrington and Charlene Amoia.) Should be quite interesting to see how each of the characters have evolved since the last time we saw them.

The film also sees the return of old favourites such as the legend that is Jim's Dad (funny-man Eugene Levy) and 'the absolute MILF' Stifler's Mom (played by the unforgettable Jennifer Coolidge). Levy is the only character to appear in all three original films (American Pie, American Pie 2 and American Wedding) and all four direct-to-dvd spin-offs (American Pie: Band Camp, American Pie: The Naked Mile, American Pie: Beta House and American Pie: The Book of Love).

It's no secret that there was some initial hesitation from some members of the cast to film another movie - especially after the spin-offs had not been well received. There was the fear that it would not be good enough to maintain the integrity of the original trilogy. In an interview, Jason Biggs stated;

"I think with each sequel we did, OK, we might have digressed a bit in (American Pie) 2 or 3 but I feel we still did a good job... But you don't want to do the one that sinks the franchise because people don't like it." 

Seann William Scott, Jason Biggs and Chris Klein have all managed to maintain rather high-profile film careers (obviously at differing levels) whereas, Eddie Kaye Thomas and Thomas Ian Nicholas only pop up occasionally on screen in TV programmes. The leading ladies of the series have also had a tough time of it. Natasha Lyonne tottered through a decade of drug and alcohol related issues and Tara Reid became a tabloid favourite for her outrageous public behaviour. Mena Suvari has been more successful although some critics argue that her peak was in 1999 which saw her star in both American Pie and the academy award winning American Beauty. 

Although she has had minor parts in more recent films such as Rumour Has It (2005) alongside the incredibly talented Jennifer Aniston and Shirley MacLaine, Domino (2005) alongside Miss Keira Knightley, Factory Girl (2006) with Sienna Miller and romantic comedy You May Not Kiss The Bride (2011) alongside Katherine McPhee and Kathy Bates. 

However, the real shining star of the American Pie trilogy is Alyson Hannigan who people across the world have fallen in love with as Marshall Eriksen's (Jason Segel) wife Lily Aldrin in the CBS worldwide star How I Met Your Mother which is currently in its seventh season with an eighth confirmed!

The real answer to which actor/actress is the most successful is really all down to those all important figures that the producers of American Pie: The Reunion will put into their bank accounts! Hollywood Reporter provides a breakdown of all those big numbers I think we'd all love to see on our payslips..

For starters, a little background into the production of the $50million film, production was moved to Georgia to cleverly abuse the advantage of a generous tax credit. Reportedly, Universal is forking out a pretty impressive $5million each to Seann William Scott and Jason Biggs (plus a small slice of first-dollar gross pie) to reprise their roles putting them in joint first. Alyson Hannigan comes in closely at joint second place with Eugene Levy with a cheeky wee estimated $3million. 

The rest of the cast (including Chris Klein, Eddie Kaye Thomas, Thomas Ian Nicholas, Natasha Lyonne, Jennifer Coolidge, Mena Suvari and Shannon Elizabeth) are all reported to be paid far less, with most in the $500,000 - $700,000 region - still quite a nice little lift in the old bank I reckon. Coming in at last place is Tara Reid who is rumoured to have agreed to join the film for a measly $250,000 (well not really measly to you or I but compared to her co-stars..)

Well I don't know about you but I will definitely be going to see it when it comes to our screens on May 2nd (April 6th USA and Australia release) and more than likely (whether it's horrific, mediocre or brilliant - I'm hoping for the latter) I will still buy the DVD to complete my set of American Pies. I think the films (despite how terrible they must seem compared to epics such as Titanic and The Hurt Locker) were really quite important in defining particular aspects of film. For example, it was one of the first few 'gross-out films' which now fill our screens (The Change Up and The Hangover for example)  but aspects of the film are quite on-par with the youth of today... To keep up-to-date follow the official American Pie:The Reunion on Twitter - their tweets are actually really quite funny at times! (https://twitter.com/#!/AmericanPie)

Watch the official trailer here - as you can probably guess Jim's back to his old sock habits...

Hope to see you all at the Cinema! 

Glasgow Cineworld Adds A Whole Other Dimension

March 9th saw a revolutionary moment in cinema history as the first set of D-Box seats were installed in our very own Cineworld Glasgow making it the first UK cinema to offer what has been called a '4D experience'.

Since the instalment there are currently 35 D-Box fitted seats in the Renfrew Street Cineworld. These seats cost an extra £4.50 (you can decide yourself if you think its worth it!) and it basically enhances a 3D movie such as John Carter (the box office flop) with movement and vibration seats. John Carter was the first film to be D-Box enabled and the next to come is Avengers Assemble (produced by Marvel Studios and predicted to be a great success). According to DVD Intelligence; "To date, D-Box Motion Code is available on over 900 titles and many prominent Hollywood studios have started embedding D-Box Motion Code on Blu-ray format and theatrical releases." 

After Cineworld Glasgow, six other Cineworlds, it has been announced, will be equipped in this cutting edge technology including Crawley, Milton Keynes, The 02 Greenwich London, Castleford West Yorkshire and Didsbury Manchester.

So the science-y stuff, films that are embedded with the D-Box Motion code programming send frame-by-frame encoded instructions to the seats on which your bottom perches which then move in a synchronised motion to the action you see on the screen. Pretty clever huh? Apparently this new advancement will get your senses quivering "..through the power of movement and feeling, creating a multi-sensorial revoloution in film watching."

Cineworld CEO, Steve Wiener, has said that they are "..absolutely delighted to be the first cinema chain in the UK to introduce the cutting edge D-Box technology and provide a fourth dimension to the cinema experience."

 Personally I think that the whole idea is a little out there and I'm not sure if we're quite there yet as a nation. I don't particularly enjoy 3D films as most of the time I feel for the £8.50 I paid that I'm missing a dimension. However, in saying that, I probably would pay that extra £4.50 just to see Robert Downey Jr. dressed as Iron Man/Tony Stark in 4D. I'll leave you to watch the trailer for the D-Box so you can decide for yourself...

Disney the Brave

Red curly hair and bright blue eyes, incredibly feisty and fierce, courageous, strong and an ace with a bow and arrow..

When you think of a Disney Princess what do you picture? Long gowns, tiaras, long beautiful hair, can-do attitudes and pitch perfect voices? That's what I think of. However, Disney's newest princess is a little bit different. Meet Merida.

  Not exactly your typical Disney princess is she? Star of the upcoming Disney/Pixar movie Brave, Merida is definitely causing some excitement! She will be the first ever Scottish princess (you would never be able to tell from the stereotypical ginger hair would you?) and safe to say we Disney geeks are more than a little excited! The film is centred on Merida (voiced by Kelly MacDonald) a highly skilled archer and daughter to King Fergus (Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson) who is determined to carve her own path in life.

In doing so she defies an ancient custom sacred to the kingdom and thus accidentally unleashes chaos. She seeks out a wise old woman for help as they always do. This particular wise old lady is voiced by the amazing Julie Walters (Mamma Mia, Harry Potter and the whateverthetitlesare and Educating Rita to name a few). However, Merida gets cursed and has to race against time to figure out what it means to be truly brave. 

Brave was originally announced back in the April of 2008 but under the original name The Bear and The Bow. It is set during the 10th century in the highlands of Scotland and is a much darker and more mature animation compared to the usual Disney/Pixar films. Quite significantly, Merida will be the first female protagonist in a Pixar film which is a great honour to us Scots for the film to be set here. The film is due to be released on the 22nd of June 2012 and it is scheduled to have its European premiere at the Edinburgh International Film Festival on June 30th.

All Hail King Billy!

Funny man and Scottish legend Billy Connolly has been hard at work with not one but two major movies out this year and one more in the making!

With the impending release of the new Disney/Pixar film, Brave, Billy Connolly is gearing up for a busy year full of red carpets and smiling for the paps! He voices King Fergus in the movie and has many the hilarious line! The film also features the talented voice of Kelly MacDonald (The Decoy Bride) as King Fergus' daughter Merida - the protagonist of the film.

He is also currently wrapping up filming on The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey set which is due to be released on the 14th of December 2012. After a rocky start, with filming being cancelled and then restarted, the film is set to be a blockbuster. Also starring is the Sherlock duo Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins and Benedict Cumberbatch as Smaug. Lord of the Rings veterans Hugo Weaving, Ian McKellan, Andy Serkis, Orlando Bloom, Ian Holms, Christopher Lee, Cate Blanchett and Elijah Wood are all back for a little bit more Middle Earth drama! Other major Middle Earth stars include Richard Armitage, James Nesbitt, Stephen Fry and Evangeline Lily. Further excitement was stirred when it was announced that Connolly's character Dain Ironfoot, the great dwarf warrior, will return for the second instalment of the film; The Hobbit: There and Back Again.

Both films are set in Middle-Earth about 60years prior to where J.R.R Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" trilogy begins. The official press release revealed that; "The adventure of The Hobbit follows the journey of title character Bilbo Baggins who is swept into an epic quest to reclaim the lost Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the fearsome dragon Smaug."


The two parts are being filmed back to back and are currently in production in New Zealand. Director Peter Jackson has reprised his role after the success of The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and he also serves as producer and co-writer. Also, the composer Howard Shore, who was responsible for the beautiful score of the trilogy has also returned to the set of Middle Earth to bring more spectacular music to our ears.

Personally I think that The Hobbit duo could very well be more successful than the LOTR classics. But then again... I do have an odd crush on Martin Freeman (yes, even as a hobbit - judge me at will!)

Brave release date 22/06/12

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey release date 14/12/12

The Hobbit: There and Back Again release date 13/12/13

And May the Odds Be Ever in the Box Office's Favour

After Suzanne Collins 'The Hunger Games' sold over 30 million copies worldwide it's no wonder that the film adaptation of the hit novel broke Box Office records in the FIRST night of showings!

Like any good Katniss Everdeen fan-girl I was first in line to see the new movie The Hunger Games - quite literally. I made my mother wait for an hour and a half so we could be first in to the screen for the 8pm Advanced Screening on the 22nd of March. My excitement was unreal! I had 'I <3 Peeta' written on my cheek and I was shaking in my seat with anticipation! To anyone not seeing the movie I must have looked like a crazy person who had escaped from an asylum only moments before but did I care? No sir! 

The movie is set in a post-apocalyptic America where two children from each of the 12 districts are chosen every year to enter the Hunger Games in which they fight to the death until only one survives. Which is where Katniss Everdeen (the film's main character played by the beautiful Jennifer Lawrence) and Peeta Mellark (one half of the love interests in the film played by Josh Hutcherson *swoon*) come in to shot - they are the 'tributes' from District 12. 

However, the topic in discussion is the film's immediate success! No doubt after the books flew off the shelves the producers knew that the movie would make it big but I don't think that anybody anticipated quite how much of a box office success it would be! The film had the fifth-best opening day ever with an astronomical $68.3million (incl. $19.7million from midnight showings). The film has had by a long way the best ever opening day for a non-sequel! Dedicated fans indeed! To put this into prospective Tim Burton's highly anticipated Alice In Wonderland (a little like Marmite- you love it or hate it) raked in $40.8million on opening day back in 2010.

According to Entertainment Weekly;"The Hunger Games has started off stronger than such blockbusters as The Dark Knight, Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 1. However, the four films it fell short of are Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows — Part 2 ($91.1 million) and the three Twilight sequels."


So there you have it! If you thought Twilight Fever was bad? Just wait, hunger for something a little different is spreading like wildfire throughout the world sparking Team Peeta and Team Gale wars in high schools, office and shopping malls everywhere.

  The Hunger Games is          in cinemas everywhere now I demand that you go and see it now. Starring Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Elizabeth Banks, Lenny Kravitz and Donald Sutherland.

Here comes the Bride.. Wait a moment, who are you?!

The Doctor arrives in 'Hegg' minus the Tardis but plus not one but two blushing Brides!

With the action movie packed summer we have ahead of us it was nice to see a little romance to get us through spring. What's even better than a love story with a hilarious cast? When that story is set in your very own country (albeit a fake island within said country but hey let bygones be bygones). That's right a romcom set in the bonny land of the Scots! With West Lothian born David John McDonald (best known as the charming David Tennant of the Doctor Who legacy) leading the charge the film is a must-see chick flick! Set on the fictional island of 'Hegg' in the Scottish highlands (actually filmed partly on the Isle of Man and partly in the surrounding areas of Inverary and castles in Dumfries) the film follows writer James (a charismatic David Tennant) who escapes to the island with his fiancée Lara (the beautiful Alice Eve) who is a mega star being chased by the relentless paparazzi. 

The couple choose the island in the hope of being able to be married in peace however chaos ensues and Lara flees. Her management team (led by the hilarious Michael Urie of the Ugly Betty franchise) decide to stage a fake wedding in her absence in hopes of getting rid of the pesky paps! They hire feisty local girl, Katie (played by the amazing Kelly MacDonald - Trainspotting 1996) who unbeknownst to them is nursing a broken heart. They pay her to be a 'decoy bride' and of course hilarity follows. James and Katie at first do nothing but quarrel constantly however, as in every good rom-com, as they spend more and more time together... well you know how it goes... A film perfect for a girls night in with one or two cosmos!

Who's that behind the veil David?

An apology,

Just a quick apology to my wonderful viewers (hit the 170 on the ol' hitometer woot woot!) for the lack of updates recently! Sadly Uni work got the better of me and deadlines were a'looming! But never fear, I'm back! I shall be updating almost everyday to keep you up-to-date with the film buzz in the 'Gow!!

Mairi

Amy Pond Arrives In Manhattan..

Accompanied by someone other than the Doctor?! How scandalous!!
Oops sorry my mistake! It was only Karen Gillan filming her new BBC Four biopic of the revolutionary cockney fashion photographer David Bailey. 'We'll Take Manhattan' airs on March 3rd 2012. The 1hour and a half long film is set in 1962 and it explores the relationship between photographer David Bailey (Aneurin Barnard) and his model and muse Jean Shrimpton (the wonderful Karen Gillan). 

In particular the film focuses on the two during their legendary New York photo shoot for British Vogue in 1962. The film captures the whirl-wind that was that particular week, their love affair and how they, unintentionally, managed to change the world of fashion photography forever. 

 Scottish lass Gillan, famous for playing Amy Pond in Doctor Who alongside Matt Smith, took the role of Shrimpton incredibly seriously as she wanted it to be as authentic a performance as possible. According to an interview, Gillan states that the script immediately caught her eye because she knew of Bailey and was inspired as a model by Shrimpton. She then goes on to describe Shrimpton;

"She was the first supermodel in the U.K, actually. She was this young country girl who shot to fame by being David Bailey's muse. They did this one photo shoot for Vogue magazine in New York, which changed the face of fashion. It was outrageous just because before them was a very poised, '50s style that was very beautiful, together and collected. They represented this young, free, slightly scandalous thing."

Gillan has just recently left Doctor Who after two and a half seasons as Amy Pond but it was a career move that she felt was at the right time as she wants to expand her horizons and hopes to work on Broadway. Karen is certainly paving the way for young aspiring Scottish actresses! Not only has she got supermodel good looks, she is also an incredibly talented actress and so down-to-earth. At only twenty four years old, she is certainly one to watch in years to come.

We'll Take Manhattan airs on March 3rd and features the acting talent of Anna Chancellor, Karen Gillan, Aneurin Barnard, Sascha Bailey, Robert Glenister, Fiona Button, Helen McCrory, Joseph May and Frances Barber.

Glasgow Film Festival

Matt Damon as you've never seen him before

Well as you all should know the Glasgow Film Festival is in full swing and runs until this Sunday - 26th of February. One of the highlights so far of the Festival has been We Bought a Zoo directed by the acclaimed Cameron Crowe - the man behind Almost Famous. 
We Bought a Zoo is an autobiographical story of a Benjamin Mee, a widower played by Hollywood superstar and mega-babe Matt Damon, who turns his young family's life upside down after making a slightly odd purchase: a zoo.
The film caused quite an emotional stir at the festival and even the toughest critic was moved to tears. However, do not be fooled into thinking that this film is just a tear-jerking sob story because you would be catastrophically wrong. It is a story of fun, hope, peace and inner strength. An STV News review of the film stated that;
"Essentially, We Bought a Zoo focuses on how new people and places can unexpectedly lead to rebirth and rejuvenation after the loss of a loved one."

A classic in the making if you ask me!

From Bogart to Pattinson..

Let by-gones be by-gones

 Unlike the days of Casablanca, Rebecca, Gone With The Wind and Clockwork Orange, the films shown nowadays  are pretty basic - even a major movie buff and frequent cinema-goer like myself has to admit that - and there are not many original plots left out there. It tends to be one hype and then many films follow the same storyline.

For example, the Twilight Saga (I don't aim to offend any Fang-girls out there - I was once one myself!) boy meets girl, girl falls in love with boy, girl finds out boy is a   vampire, vampire boy has been waiting for her for eternity and blah de blah blah. In the wake of the Twi-fever epidemic we have had the likes of The Vampire Diaries and True Blood spring up on our TV's and many other vampire related films released - same storyline, different characters.

So it is always refreshing when you hear of a movie that will soon be released in Scotland and the rest of the UK that is a complete change to everything you've ever seen!!

The Hunger Games are coming soon and it'd be a severe understatement to say that I was only just excited about this! I won't give the storyline away (I've read the books - which I seriously suggest you do too!) so here is the trailer to tingle your tastebuds!

Enjoy!

p.s there's also a lot of eye candy for the ladies - I'm thinking a new R-Patz could be found amongst them!