Do not expect to learn too much about the film in this one, but if you are a fan of The Office or Extras then you'll enjoy this.
Cemetery Junctionis the new film by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant. Gervais posted these photos from the shoot on his blog with the comment "This is me in character (Len Taylor). I play a fat middle-aged bloke from Reading by the way. Chameleon."
Principal photography is set to commence on location in London today on Cemetery Junction, the first motion picture written and directed by Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant, the multi-award winning team behind The Office and Extras.
MTV have this interesting article about the on screen death of a real life businessman.American businessman Lee Iacocca gained fame and fortune rescuing the automotive industry from the same sort of problems they currently find themselves in. He is now 83 years old, rarely gives interviews, and spends his days running a foundation searching for a cure to type 1 diabetes — the disease that took his wife Mary from him. According to the new comic-book blockbuster “Watchmen,” however, Lee Iacocca was brutally murdered in 1985.Source: MTV
Confused? So is Lee Iacocca.
In director Zack Snyder’s “Watchmen,” historical figures are depicted as existing in an alternate reality in which we won Vietnam, Richard Nixon was elected for five terms, and superheroes walk amongst us. And as much as I personally loved the movie, I’m also a huge film buff — so when I saw a very-alive American icon getting murdered 24 years ago on screen, I found myself struggling to comprehend the “Why?” “How?” and “Has this ever been done before?” of what was unfolding before my eyes.
“It’s nothing against Lee; I think Lee’s awesome,” Snyder told me when I asked him about the scene, in which an actor playing Iacocca meets with superhero industrialist Ozymandias, only to be caught in the crossfire as an assassin tries to kill the crimefighting CEO. “But he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The fact of the matter, however, is that the former Chrysler CEO and Ford President never met the fictional Adrian Veidt — and when I reached out to Iacocca for comment, he wasn’t exactly thrilled about the details of his big-screen debut.
A spokesman confirmed that Iacocca had never heard of “Watchmen” until I called. The news of his depiction came as a surprise, and his office confirmed that they had never been approached by Snyder, Warner Brothers, or anyone else associated with the film — either to ask permission or to simply give him a heads-up.
When I explained that Iacocca is shown on-screen being shot between the eyes and killed, the phone went quiet for what felt like forever. The automotive pioneer’s office has since attempted to contact the studio to secure a screening, DVD or even an explanation, but as of press time had yet to receive a return phone call.
It looks as though Iacocca will have to fork over $10 for a ticket on March 6, just like the rest of us. And for those wondering, he did not appear in Alan Moore’s original “Watchmen” graphic novel.
Asked about the legality of the situation, Snyder told me: “I think we got away with it because the movie has a satirical quality to it. And there were so many other famous people [in the film], lookalikes of Nixon, Annie Leibovitz, or [President] Kennedy. These are the people that we need in the movie to try and create this ’80s vibe.”
“And so, when we had the scene where Adrian was meeting with the captains of industry,” Snyder continued, “Lee just kinda jumped out as a famous [person]; someone you identify with the ’80s, but also with being in the automotive industry.”
Throughout the decade, Iacocca was a fixture on television thanks to commercials that painted him as a down-to-earth company chairman with a knack for business and an affection for working stiffs.
Although the initial reaction of Iacocca’s spokesman was to point out that his name and likeness are trademarked, further exploration into the legality of the “Watchmen” situation had her agreeing that since Iacocca isn’t being used to “sell or make profit” on something, there was little that could be done.
Mr. Iacocca, who insisted that he would not comment until after viewing Snyder’s “Watchmen,” did say that he had seen a publicity photo of lookalike Walter Addison dressed as him in the mid-’80s.
“The actor looked good,” he commented.
Legal or not, Iacocca’s spokesman did express some level of dismay over his on-screen “murder,” and the notion of an 83-year-old man answering questions about it once “Watchmen” is seen by millions of people all over the world.
“He’s fine; I think he’s fine,” Snyder said of Iacocca in the real world. “But you shouldn’t hang out with Adrian, because it’s dangerous.”
Jeffrey Wells has posted this review by one of his friends over on Hollywood Elsewhere. Looks as if Watchmen may have had all it's good bits in the trailer. I hope he's wrong, but looking at some of the recent clips I'm starting to get a bad feeling about this."I've seen Watchmen," he began. "And speaking as a huge admirer and devotee of the graphic novel, the film is a staggering failure. On the plus side, you've got a pretty literal adaptation of the source material. It is at times a meticulous and gorgeous recreation of Alan Moore's original work. Unfortunately it's an empty, inert, meandering and, yes, boring 2 hours and 45 minutes.
"Oh, and it's horribly acted throughout. Truly. Malin Akerman (i.e., Silk Spectre II) confirms whatever fears you may have initially felt after The Heartbreak Kid and 27 Dresses. Carla Gugino (the other Silk Spectre) just looks silly. Patrick Wilson (Nite Owl II) is his usual blah self. Only Jackie Earle Haley's Rorschach and Billy Crudup's Dr. Manhattan register at all.
"Sadly even the presumed up-and-comer Matthew Goode plays Ozymandias, the world's smartest man, as an arch and slightly bored Bond villain. I had high hopes after being wowed by him in The Lookout, but he's bungled this great opportunity. (It's clear in retrospect the part should have gone to a real star. Say what you will but Tom Cruise would have been perfect.)
"I say all of the above as a person who was very much into the 20 minutes they screened for all of us months ago. Sorry to confirm our worst fears but those scenes in fact remain the best and among the few that work on any level.
"Watchmen is just not much of a movie. It has no narrative pull and no characters to invest in. It uses rotely shoehorned-in action scenes, and has a sheen that doesn't befit the dark material.
"So much for the visionary vistas of Zack Snyder. Oh, what Paul Greengrass could have done!
"And to reduce it all to dollars and sense, I'll be shocked if this one plays to a wide audience after an admittedly huge weekend. Watchmen fans are in for a rude awakening."
What do you make of that review? Anyone else out there seen it?
Here is an interview the BBC had with Matthew Goode, who will be playing Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias). In the interview he compares the Watchmen movie with his current film, Brideshead Revisited which is something I had not considered. Have a read and let me know what you think.Rising British star Matthew Goode is going from one extreme to another with his movie roles.
You can see him in costume drama Brideshead Revisited from this weekend, but after filming that he went straight on to his part in Watchmen - the most anticipated graphic novel adaptation ever.
He told Newsbeat it was surreal: "Three days after filming in Marrakech (for Brideshead) I'm suddenly out in Vancouver practising Kung Fu and doing something so off the wall and bizarre in an alternative 80s when Nixon is still president and there's the doomsday clock. You know that's what you want as an actor."
He says it wasn't a conscious decision to do such varied roles.
"Everyone is like 'Was that a decisive choice?', but you just go up for these auditions and it sounds facetious but I've just been really lucky, I've been so lucky."
Watchmen is widely regarded as the best graphic novel ever. The story is set in an alternate 1985 where Superheroes are real and the US is heading towards a nuclear war with the Soviet Union.
It tells the story of a group of past and present heroes and superheroes and the mysterious murder of one of them.
Matthew plays Adrian Veidt (aka Ozymandias) a retired vigilante superhero who has made his identity public: "It's fully 80s and it's comparable to Brideshead as it goes over several different eras."
Matthew is nervous about how Watchmen fans will react However, he admits the costumes were quite a surprise: "I have some classic outfits. I look like David Bowie half the time with a big blonde wig and I have a supersuit - Batman-esque with all the muscles and it's deeply uncomfortable to wear, but hilarious fun."
Matthew wasn't an expert on the novel before he was cast but he says he has done his background work into Watchmen.
"There's not so much research you can do because it's set in this alternative reality.
"But it's so dense and it's the graphic novel of all graphic novels, so you've just got constantly keep going back to the novel itself."
But with this being the ultimate graphic novel Matthew admits he is very nervous about the reaction of Watchmen fans: "I'm hugely worried. I met 7000 of them at Comic Con but I think from what we've seen of the little bits of it already it does look amazing, but I'll know more when I see it myself, I don't want to burn any bridges."
