Useless Place Blog

Indie movie star Mark Ruffalo has revealed how his young son greeted the exciting news that he is to be the next Hulk with an incredulous “you?”.

The 42-year-old actor, who has made his name playing down-to-earth roles in character-based films, was unveiled last week as the new Hulk in the upcoming superhero film The Avengers.

But when he shared the news with his nine-year-old son Keen, he said the boy was as surprised as he was that he had landed the role.

He told CBS’ the Early Show: “I had the same reaction my son had – ‘You, papa? The Hulk?’”

Ruffalo, who will be playing the green superhero’s civilian alter-ego, the meek scientist Bruce Banner – alongside Robert Downey Jr’s Iron Man and Chris Evans’ Captain America – said that he is pleased he won’t have to hit the gym for the role, unlike most action actors.

“What I like about it is they really want my character to be the everyman, which means they want me to gain 10 more pounds [instead],” he joked.

Ruffalo will be the third actor to play the role in recent years, after Eric Bana’s turn in the 2003 movie Hulk and Edward Norton’s more successful take in 2008’s The Incredible Hulk.

But Norton, who was accused of meddling with his film’s creative direction, was controversially dropped by Marvel just days before Ruffalo was unveiled at last week’s Comic-Con festival.

The Avengers is set for release in 2012, and will bring together some of Marvel’s most famous comic-book superheroes, including Nick Fury (Samuel L Jackson), Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), and Thor, played by Ca$h star Chris Hemsworth.

Source: Splash News

The Expendables star Sylvester Stallone has admitted he has made some terrible movies.

Stallone, 64, has made more than 50 films during his career but admitted that Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot was the worst.

He said to UK newspaper The Sun: “I made some truly awful movies. Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot was the worst. If you ever want someone to confess to murder just make him or her sit through that film. They will confess to anything after 15 minutes.”

Stallone added that he also wishes he had never made the fifth Rocky movie as it wasn’t that well received.

He said: “I’m greedy – what can I tell you. It was a mistake because the audience didn’t want to see the downside of the character. They wanted him to remain on top. I should have known that.”

Source: Splash News

Robert Pattinson and Kristen Stewart have opened up about living life in the spotlight.

“It’s funny when something comes out of nowhere,” Pattinson said.

The British actor reminisced about how life has changed for the young stars of the hit franchise, revealing: “We used to drive to [the] set with a little minivan with the entire cast, and two years later it’s this. It seems like it will blow over quickly but it doesn’t happen.”

His co-star, and rumoured off-screen girlfriend Kristen Stewart, said the cast are as passionate about the Stephenie Meyer books the series is based on as the fans.

“We are put on this pedestal, and we really have this exact same love for the book,” Stewart told KIIS FM.

The actress went on to reveal that she is not keen on glamming up for red-carpet premieres.

“I wish I didn’t have to show up in these dresses – we look like demi-gods when we show up,” Radar Online reports Stewart saying.

“I want to be able to run around and not have my feet feeling like they’re going to fall off.”

Source: Splash News

Twilight star Kristen Stewart has said some of the movie’s merchandise is ‘really weird’.

Stewart, 19, is one of the lead stars in the Twilight Saga film series, along with Robert Pattinson, 23, and Taylor Lautner, 18.

The film series is huge around the world and there are Twilight-themed T-shirts, fast-food toys, and action figures, as well as adult items.

Speaking about the merchandise, Stewart said to MTV News: “I’ve heard that there are pretty obscene items that you can get with the boys’ faces on them.

“And that is just actually really weird – not even funny-weird, just weird.”

Stewart added that her character Bella has escaped lightly with the merchandise.

She said: “I’m actually just on T-shirts and dolls and stuff, to be honest. I don’t think I’m on bed sheets and stuff like that, which is still funny-weird.”

Source: Splash News

Iron Man 2 star Robert Downey Jr has revealed he and wife Susan stay happily married by ‘venting’ at each other during long drives.

The two-time Oscar nominee, 45, told CBS’s The Early Show: “We’re really well matched.”

When asked what is the best piece of advice that Susan has ever given to him, he replied: “Shut up.”

He added: “We have really good therapeutic tools that we use. Things we do to stay current with each other and to really practice listening and stuff.

“If you’re with your partner driving somewhere that takes more than 10 or 15 minutes, we have a thing where one of us can say to the other one, ‘Go’.

“That means you’re supposed to start venting and just saying whatever comes up.

“Rather if we talk about ourselves in a general way, and saying that we understand the other one’s point of view even if we don’t entirely, it’s very helpful.”

Susan, who married Downey Jr five years ago, was executive producer on the much-anticipated superhero flick Iron Man 2 – the soon-to-be-released sequel to the hugely successful Iron Man.

Source: Splash News

A remake of the horror classic A Nightmare on Elm Street has debuted at the top of the US box office.

The Warner Bros film grossed an estimated $32.2 million in its opening weekend, according to figures from Hollywood.com.

It beat Paramount’s animated movie How To Train Your Dragon, which came in a distant second, earning $10.82 million.

Fox’s Date Night, starring Steve Carrell and Tina Fey, came in third spot with $7.6 million, while Jennifer Lopez’s latest rom-com The Back-Up Plan took in $7.2 million.

The new A Nightmare on Elm Street stars Oscar-nominated actor Jackie Earle Haley as the new Freddy Krueger.

He is expected to reprise his role as the classic horror character in a sequel, as Warner Bros seeks to extend the movie franchise.

Source: Splash News

James Cameron’s hit flick Avatar has broken UK records for the opening-day sales of Blu-ray discs.

The hit movie, which is the highest-grossing movie in history after taking £1.19billion, was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray and its first-day Blu-ray sales in the UK were 222,824.

Avatar’s sales beat the old record-holder, The Dark Knight, which previously sold the highest amount of discs in one day.

In North America the flick is also setting more records as it has now become the fastest-selling DVD and Blu-ray release there, with 6.7 million sold in just four days.

The movie was recently released on DVD and Blu-ray in the US and Canada on Earth Day as the movie has an environmental factor.

Source: Splash News

Borat star Sacha Baron Cohen is reportedly in talks about starring in a new movie remake of The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty.

The funnyman is reportedly the frontrunner for the role of the fantasist after being offered the part, according to film site Pajiba.com.

The first movie starred Danny Kaye and was released in 1947, and the remake seen a number of directors such as Ron Howard, Steven Spielberg and Chuck Russell come and go from the helm.

Actors such as Jim Carrey, Owen Wilson and Kevin Anderson have all, at one point, been linked to the movie.

A director has not yet been attached – however, it is claimed Baron Cohen has been offered the part.

An insider said to UK newspaper Daily Express: “Nothing has been agreed or signed yet but the hope is Sacha will soon be on board.”

Source: Splash News

Russell Crowe has apologised to Robin Hood fans – because he doesn’t wear tights in his upcoming movie.

The Oscar winning star revealed he refused to wear green tights in his new movie based on the UK legend – because they weren’t invented at the time.

“There are no tights in this film,” Crowe said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.

“They weren’t invented until quite a few hundred years after when the story takes place. We start our story in 1199.

“Tights don’t come into play until the 1600s. I do apologise to those who will be disappointed that there are no tights.”

The New Zealand-born actor made his comments on the day that he also received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

The married dad of two was humble when receiving his star at a special ceremony that was also attended by wife Danielle, fellow actor Sam Worthington and US talk show host Jay Leno.

Crowe said it was a privilege to receive the honour in front of his colleagues and friends, adding: “But most importantly in front of my beautiful wife Danielle and my sons Charlie and Tennyson.”

Source: Splash News

Sam Worthington’s box office glory is not about to end. Clash of the Titans, his action adventure movie, led the North American box office this weekend not long after his last film, Avatar, smashed it.

Clash of the Titans, which was turned from 2-D into 3-D at the 11th hour, turned in $61.4 million in US theatres on the weekend. Avatar, in a historic record-breaking tally, took $2.5 billion worldwide.

But American critics trashed Titans, which also stars Liam Neeson and Ralph Fiennes. Rolling Stone’s Peter Travers wrote: “The film is a sham, with good actors going for the pay and using beards and heavy make-up to hide their shame.”

The Boston Globe said: “The ancient Greek playwright Euripides wrote, ‘The gods visit the sins of the fathers upon the children’. That’s possibly the only explanation for the remake of Clash Of The Titans.”

Titans also broke the North America record for an Easter weekend film opening – Scary Movie 4 took $40.2 million in 2006. Tyler Perry’s Why Did I Get Married Too? ranked second in the North American box office with $30.2 million, while the animation How To Train Your Dragon was third as $29.2 million.

Source: Splash News

Johnny Depp settled in for some serious couch-sitting when he spent countless hours watching a Scottish sitcom to “grow” a Glaswegian voice for his role as The Mad Hatter in Alice In Wonderland.

Depp watched Rab C. Nesbitt and worked with voice coach Gerry Grennell to perfect the accent. Grennell, who Depp used in From Hell (2001), said: “He listened to a lot of Scottish voices in order to master the accent, but Rab C. Nesbitt stood out for him. Johnny was slightly puzzled when he first watched it, but before too long his ears got attuned and he was laughing out loud.”

Rab C. Nesbitt starred Gregor Fisher as the layabout soak who believed unemployment was his chosen path.

Grennell added: “Who knows? Maybe he’ll turn up to his next film set sporting a string vest.”

Depp was also earlier reported putting in hours of research in coming up with the amazing red hair he wears for the movie – as that worn by real Victorian hatters who became stained with mercury from felt they used and turned mad as a result.

Source: Splash News

Director Tim Burton’s Alice In Wonderland has opened in the UK with record takings for a 3-D flick.

The movie, which stars Johnny Depp and Anne Hathaway, took £8.3m in its first weekend in the UK, beating James Cameron’s Avatar, which took £6.7m.

Including its 2-D takings, the movie made £10.5m in total during its first weekend, knocking Avatar off the number one spot, according to reports.

Cameron’s billion-dollar sci-fi movie dropped to the second spot with £908,049.

Burton’s hit version of the classic children’s tale uses a mixture of live-action performances and animation and also stars his girlfriend Helena Bonham Carter as the Red Queen.

Source: Splash News

Kim Cattrall spent too much time astride a camel during filming for Sex and the City 2.

The actress, 53, found herself bow-legged from riding a camel while making the SATC sequel in Morocco.

She told the BBC: “Sarah Jessica Parker and I were on the camel literally for 13 hours and when I got off I was bow-legged in a way that you can’t even imagine. Oh God it hurt.”

Cattrall, who has long riveted viewers with her portrayal of Samantha Jones to Sarah Jessica Parker’s Carrie Bradshaw, also said that signing on for the hit TV series left her a little weak at the knees.

She said: “The thing about signing up to a television series in America is that you read a script that is basically 30 pages and you sign a piece of paper that says, ‘For the next five, possibly six years of your life this is going to be your job’. Based on 30 pages of script. It’s very difficult to make that leap. And I was just turning 40 at the time and I was a little bit nervous about this character, whether I could pull it off, and thank God I did. It’s just changed my life irrevocably.”

Sex and the City 2 will be released in May.

Odeon has decided to backtrack on its decision not to screen Tim Burton’s new movie Alice In Wonderland after talking with Disney.

The cinema chain had initially refused to show the movie in the UK, Irish Republic and Italy after Disney announced its plans to release the movie on DVD in May.

The film’s director, Burton, had previously said Odeon’s decision was ‘upsetting’.

He told BBC Breakfast: “I feel terrible about it. To me it doesn’t make anybody look good.”

Disney said its plans to reduce the amount of time it can be shown in cinemas meant it would ’set a new benchmark, leading to a 12-week window becoming rapidly standard’ in comparison to the general 17 weeks.

However, after talks between the two companies, Odeon released a statement saying: “The Odeon and UCI Cinema Group is pleased to announce that, following detailed negotiations with the Walt Disney Company Ltd, an enduring agreement has been reached encompassing all the different aspects of both companies’ commercial relationship.

“As a result of this agreement, Odeon is pleased to confirm that it will be able to continue with its plans for significant investment in new cinemas, in digital technology in 3D capability and the other exciting developments designed for the increased enjoyment of all its customers.”

Details were not revealed but Disney have said the film will be out on DVD 13 weeks after it is released on March 5.

Director Steven Spielberg has praised James Cameron’s new movie Avatar and said it’s ‘the most evocative sci-fi movie since Star Wars’.

Cameron’s new flick Avatar features state-of-the-art motion-capture technology and the Titanic director first had the idea for the movie 15 years ago.

Spielberg, 62, attended a private screening of the movie along with Arnold Schwarzenegger and others.

The Hollywood Reporter claim he said Avatar is ‘the most evocative and amazing science-fiction movie since Star Wars’.

Spielberg is currently working with Lord Of The Rings director Peter Jackson on movie Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn.

Vampire movie The Twilight Saga: New Moon has gone straight in at the top of the box office chart in the UK and Ireland.

The second movie in the four-part series brought in £11.7 million in its first three days and made three times the amount of movie 2012, which was knocked off the top spot by the film.

The Coen brothers’ comedy flick A Serious Man came in at number eight bringing in £302,985 and Disney movie A Christmas Carol dropped from second to third after taking £2.2 million.

Disney’s other movie Up is still in the top five and in fifth place, Michael Caine’s film Harry Brown.

Taylor Lautner revealed his most bizarre encounter with a Twilight fan during a US chat show interview.

The young star, who plays Jacob Black in the successful vampire series, told Jay Leno: “We were at an autograph signing, I think it was in Denver. There was a mother, who was in her late forties and a teenage daughter. And the mother, she’s next in line and she’s getting ready, doing this dance, shaking and the daughter’s just chilling. So, the mother skips on up and she gets there, grabs my wrist and says ‘Taylor, I’m wearing the Team Taylor panties right now. Is there anyway I can take them off for you and have you sign them quick?’”

Luckily for Lautner security stepped in and told the woman that won’t be happening and escorted her away.

The 17-year-old actor, who is a keen American Football fan, also got an opportunity to show off his skills by throwing and catching a ball to NFL legend Jerry Rice in the studio.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon is out this Friday.

X-Men star Sir Ian McKellen has said he is too old to return for a fourth movie in the superhero series.

The 70-year-old played the part of villain Magneto in the previous three movies but he said it is unlikely that he will take part in a fourth installment.

It is claimed that a fourth movie would be a prequel to the original three films and would focus on the younger life of Magneto.

Talking about a fourth film, he said to Empire magazine: “I suspect it wouldn’t involve me.

“I think it would be about the younger Magneto. They can’t have someone whose face is as lined as mine any longer.”

A spin-off film X-Men Origins: Wolverine was released earlier this year featuring the earlier life of Wolverine.

SOURCE: Splash News

Woody Harrelson’s new movie Zombieland has topped the box office with $25 million on its opening weekend.

The new film, which also stars Little Miss Sunshine actress Abigail Breslin, came first ahead of animated feature Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.

Disney released 3D versions of Toy Story and Toy Story 2, which opened with $12.5million and made third place, with Ricky Gervais’s new movie The Invention of Lying coming fourth with $7.4 million.

In sixth place was Drew Barrymore’s new comedy movie Whip It, making $4.9million.

Source: Splash News

Sacha Baron Cohen’s movie Brüno, in which he plays a gay Austrian fashion reporter, has been banned in the Muslim-majority country of Malaysia – because it contains a “lot of sex”, according to an official.

Despite the movie’s worldwide success, officials in Malaysia have banned the film, which contains nudity, as well as sex acts.

An official from the National Film Censorship Board said: “The movie has been banned in Malaysia because of the sexual content. It was decided by a three-man committee. [There is] a lot of sex in it.”

He added that the panel’s judges base their decision on how much violence, horror or sex films feature.

The official, who wanted to remain anonymous, said: “In the case of Brüno, the ban is based on its sex and counter-culture content.”