Movies

Josh Trank didn't like previous versions of 'Fantastic Four'
The 31-year-old director thinks Simon Kinberg's 2005 and 2007 adaptations of the comic book film - which starred Jessica Alba and Chris Evans - "weren't very good", and, for this reason, he understands why audiences are skeptical about his upcoming interpretation, starring Miles Teller, Kate Mara, Michael B. Jordan and Jamie Bell.
Josh said: "I get the skepticism going into it because the previous movies weren't very good. It's a very hard title to crack."
However, the screenwriter insisted that his version of the superhero movie - due for release in August - is going to be a "slugfest".
Speaking to EntertainmentWeekly.com, Josh said: "The audience should expect an epic, massive, huge, multipower slugfest. This movie is big. A lot of stakes."
While 'Fantastic Four' is Josh's first superhero movie, it isn't the first film he's directed that has included superpowers, having previously directed 'Chronicle' - which also starred Michael as one of three teenagers who discover they have kinetic powers after a freak accident - and Josh thinks the two films are linked in some way.
Josh said: "'Chronicle' was all about the discovery and evolution of those powers. ('Fantastic Four') is like, 'What if it's a couple years later and it sucks?'"

Arnold Schwarzenegger doesn't think 'Terminator Genisys' needs James Cameron's help.
The 67-year-old actor has insisted the fifth film in the 'Terminator' franchise is good enough to stand on its own and is annoyed that Paramount is showing a promotional video, where the original films' director is endorsing it, as he had no involvement in the latest offering.
Speaking to Collider, Arnold said: "I do not like the idea that the studio went out and used it as a promotional material for the movie because I always felt that if you do that, it looks kind of like you need James Cameron to say something good about the movie.
"Which we don't, because the movie is a straight 10, it's a fantastic movie."
The 'Predator' star's comments come after Paramount premiered a promotional video earlier this month in which the 'Avatar' director told fans, "You're gonna love this movie", and said he considers it the true third film in the series.
While Arnold is very proud of 'Terminator Genisys', he recently admitted that he found shooting the nude scenes "embarassing".
He previously said: "[Nude scenes] are embarrassing, but fun. It leads to funny conversations and funny dialogue and great humour and everything like that.
"It's inevitable, you have to do it because it's what the movie shows, and there are certain times you can cover things up, and there are certain times you don't and you can't. So what? I don't think there's anyone here that has anything to hide."

Zack Snyder has rubbished criticism of the mass destruction finale to 'Man Of Steel'.
The 49-year-old director - who helmed the movie starring Henry Cavill has Superman - has hit back at critics of the film, saying it was important to show the consequences of the Kryptonians' war.
He told Entertainment Weekly: "I was surprised [about the ending controversy] because that's the thesis of Superman for me, that you can't just have superheroes knock around and have there be no consequences.
"There are other superhero movies where they joke about how basically no-one's getting hurt. That's not us. What is that message? That's it's okay that there's this massive destruction with zero consequence for anyone?"
Meanwhile, Ben Affleck - who'll assume the role of Batman in the eagerly-awaited 'Batman v Superman' - has defended Snyder's approach to film-making.
The 42-year-old Hollywood star said: "One of the things I liked was Zack's idea of showing accountability and the consequences of violence and seeing that there are real people in those buildings.
"And in fact, one of those buildings was Bruce Wayne's building so he knew people who died in that Black Zero event."

Mark Ronson found it "tough" watching the Amy Winehouse documentary film.
The 39-year-old musician - who's well-known for his collaborative work with the singer, who died in July 2011, aged 27 - has confessed that although aspects of the movie are uncomfortable, he's pleased his wife Josephine de La Baume was able to learn more about his close friend.
He shared: "Obviously, it's tough to watch the film because it brings back memories.
"But what I love about it is that my wife never got to meet Amy and I am always telling her stories about us in the studio and the clever, witty things that Amy would say.
"We watched it and my wife said, 'Now I get it, now I see the Amy you talked about'. I forget that not everyone got to see that side of her."
What's more, Mark said the film helps to underline Amy's talents as a lyricist.
He explained: "The thing that's really good about the film is the way they show the lyrics to make sure you read every word and understand them, the genius of them.
"You also see she was a real jazz performer with the attitude that, 'I write these songs, go out and sing them and that's what I'm all about'."

Rachel McAdams got "freaked out" when her career took off.
The 36-year-old actress starred in a string of well-known movies including 'Mean Girls', 'The Notebook' and 'Wedding Crashers' between 2004 and 2005, but had to take some time off because she was petrified she was going to be "swept up" and "typecast" forever.
She confessed: "I got a little freaked out. I didn't quite know what I was getting into. It felt like I was being swept up by this current and I wasn't sure what I wanted out of it. I got worried about being typecast or suddenly only doing blockbusters. I felt like I wasn't on solid ground for a bit there, and I wanted to check back in with me."
The 'Southpaw' star went backpacking around Ireland in an attempt to seek clarity, and returned with a "reaffirmation of wanting to work with great people" and a desire to do "not what was expected of me".
However, nowadays, the blonde beauty said she has more balance in her life as she has become pickier about which films she appears in and likes to stay down-to-earth so she can effectively play "normal" people in her movies.
She explained to the Sunday Times Magazine: "I have to fill my cup back up sometimes and get back to normal life if I'm going to portray normal life".

The audience for the opening week of 'Magic Mike XXL' was almost exclusively female.
The Gregory Jacobs-directed movie - starring Channing Tatum, Matt Bomer, and Joe Manganiello - about male strippers has entered the US box office charts at the number four position, with the Hollywood Reporter claiming that the sequel played almost entirely to females.
Some 96 percent of the movie's audience was reportedly comprised of females, as compared to 73 percent female for the first film, with the sequel making $12 million on its opening weekend.
Meanwhile, Channing recently admitted he had his body hair groomed to a "high level" for 'Magic Mike XXL', explaining he didn't want fans witnessing a "jungle" around his groin during the scenes where he stripped down to his undergarments.
He said: "The grooming is on a high level, because you don't want a jungle down there, overflowing the posing pouch."
Meanwhile, co-star Kevin Nash acknowledged ageing made grooming even harder second time around.
He said: "For the first film, I bought a body-grooming thing and did it myself.
"This time I'm older - 55 - and all of a sudden you get hairier so I got waxed. Man, oh man, that was rough."

Sir Ben Kingsley still feels like an "apprentice".
The 71-year-old actor may have begun his career over 30 years ago, winning a string of awards throughout, but he is still learning his craft.
He said: "I still think of myself as an apprentice."
While younger stars are documenting their lives more and more via social media, the 'Walk' actor - who has been married to fourth wife Daniela for eight years - has no plans to start sharing details of his personal time with his fans.
He told Tatler magazine: "Because I broadcast myself so much as a performer, it's important for me to get back to the private me.
"I am seen by a lot of people and that is my contribution. I don't think my contribution is what I had for breakfast."
Ben is most famous for playing the titular role in 'Gandhi' and said recently he took on the project because he was looking for a father figure as his own dad was absent from his life.
He said: "At the time I just felt that Bapu [an affectionate nickname for Gandhi, meaning dad] was something I needed. 'I need you Gandhiji. Because you are something that's missing in my life.' "
Kingsley - whose birth name is Krishna Bhanji - admitted playing other strong character has enabled him to fill a "vacuum" in his life created by his tough upbringing.
He explained: "I am actually filling a vacuum with the fathers that I play.
"By playing Gandhi, Itzhak Stern, Massoud Behrani, I am filling the vacuum in me. In little Krishna."

Reese Witherspoon couldn't understand Sofia Vergara on set.
The 39-year-old actress stars with Colombian-born Sofia, 42, in the new comedy 'Hot Pursuit' and confessed the pair couldn't communicate with each other " half the time" because of their very different accents.
She said: "I couldn't understand what she was saying half the time. She couldn't understand what I was saying half the time. But we both love cake, clothes, kids and our families."
However, the blonde beauty - who plays a police officer escorting the widow of a drug dealer (played by Sofia) in the film - insists their different accents didn't stop them from having a laugh on set or striking up a firm friendship with one another.
She explained in an interview with the August edition of Britain's InStyle magazine: "As soon as I met Sofia i said, 'I want to make a movie with you.' She and I together are such a funny thing because we represent two completely different cultures and kinds of women. but we just love each other. We laughed so much."

Channing Tatum was "super fat" when he started filming 'Magic Mike XXL'.
The 35-year-old actor - who has two-year-old daughter Everly with wife Jenna Dewan-Tatum - spent over four months training and a month on a diet to shed the pounds to get in shape for the stripper sequel.
He said: "I was super fat when I started. It was daddy fat. Actually, it was every kind of fat.
"I haven't eaten for four days!"
Though Channing resumes his role as the titular stripper in the movie, he insists the plot is very different to the first 'Magic Mike'.
He said: "I'd call it a lot more fun and probably a little less dark."
And if there is ever a third movie in the saga, Channing thinks that one will be different too.
He said: "If we do another one, it will be someone gets kidnapped and we turn it into an action movie."
The movies are based on the '22 Jump Street' star's own experiences as a stripper, and though he enjoyed "going back in time" in a "controlled" way, he has no desire to revisit those days for real.
He told Grazia magazine: "I don't know if I understood anything when I was 19. I don't know if I learned anything profound.
"You can look back on the crazy times and think, 'That was insane!'
"I like that I got out unscathed for the most part. But I don't want to go back. I like the controlled going back in time."