Hiphop genius and martial arts fanatic RZA said that he currently developing a martial arts movie with director Eli Roth.

The movie, entitled The Man with The Iron Fist, has nothing to do whatsoever with the Marvel superhero. RZA said that he got the blessing of his “teacher” Quentin Tarantino to make the movie.

According to Roth, RZA is not only writing the movie, he will also direct it. He’ll probably do the music too, which is a great treat for his fans.

More actors have been announced for the impending Bad Lieutenant remake that will be directed by acclaimed director Werner Herzog.

Among the actors announced are Val Kilmer, Fairuza Balk, Jennifer Coolidge, Vondie Curtis Hall, Shawn Hatosy, Denzel Whitaker and Xzibit. The actors join both Nicolas Cage and Eva Mendes in the cast.

Other actors announced were Shea Wigham, Katie Chonacas, and Brad Dourif.

Film buffs will now that the original Bad Lieutenant, which was shown in 1992, featured Harvey Keitel in one of the strongest performances of his career. Abel Ferrara directed the original.

A number of characters are reportedly going to be cut out from the Harry Potter movie that is currently in production.

Harry Potter and The Half-Blood Prince is the sixth book and sixth movie in the franchise and if reports are true, many characters that appeared in the book will be excised from the movie version. One of these characters is Prof. Trelawney, played by Emma Thompson. Trelawney has already appeared in two movies in the franchise.

Other characters that will reportedly be cut from the movie include Fleur, Bill, Percy, and Hepzibah Smith. One other omission are the Gaunts, and this is where I’m scratching my head. They are pivotal characters in the movie so I don’t even know how the movie can relay Voldemort’s origin story without mentioning his family.

Mulder fans will kill me for saying this but I really think that Gillian Anderson is the more talented actor
between her and David Duchovny. That’s why I find it so disappointing that she just disappeared after The X-Files concluded.

Fortunately, The X-Files movie sequel may have reignited her passion for acting. She is reportedly going to star in and produce a biopic on the life of Martha Gellhorn a pioneering female war correspondent who managed to gain coverage of the various conflicts from the Spanish Civil War to Vietnam while also trying to juggle her personal relationships, including a marriage to Ernest Hemingway. Anderson will play the title role in the movie.

No word yet on possible release dates.

Guillermo del Toro is just so freaking red hot right now. He’s got all these wonderful projects lined up for him and the awesome thing is that he hasn’t let down both his fans and critics yet. That is talent for you.

Del Toro’s imagination is just so out of this world wild that anything he puts his opinions on will get a lot of mileage among film buffs, sci-fi/fantasy geeks and even the general media. During the Hellboy II premiere, Del Toro was asked about his vision for the Frankenstein film that he plans on doing. And he dropped the bomb, so to speak.

Del Toro wants Doug Jones to play Frankenstein’s monster.

Jones has been a perennial Del Toro performer, having worked for him as early as Mimic. He currently plays Abe Sapien in the Hellboy series. Del Toro justifies his choice, saying that he has always related to the Berni Wrightson version of the Frankenstein monster–”lanky, long and gorgeous in a tragic way.” He feels that Jones has those same qualities and will do a great job as the monster.

He declined to give his choice for Dr. Frankenstein though, adding that if he did, people will know what he plans to do.

The swashbuckling adventure is one of the most popular movie genres. Fans flock to theaters just to watch the titular hero brave enemies, devious traps and henchmen and eventually triumph with the woman and the treasure. The Indiana Jones series has coopted that genre and has managed to make itself the very definition of it.

Of course, in the 21^st century genres will need to be redefined for a new generation of audiences, thus the slew of movies that borrow heavily from the old, established standards. One of these movies is National Treasure.

The Nicolas Cage starrer borrows from the established plot devices of Indiana Jones while blending in the controversy-laden conspiracies of The Da Vinci Code. The great thing about National Treasure is that it actually succeeded. It took its borrowed lineage and actually produced something relatively new and exciting. The debonair hero has been replaced by the bookish, puzzle lover with a strong patriotic bent. And instead of a whip, he relies on another fellow nerd with a gift for electronics and programming.

You can just bet that because of the success of National Treasure a sequel will definitely be worked on. National Treasure: Book of Secrets gives more of the same. Same formula, same conspiracy angles, and, unfortunately, the same tricks. This is not so much an improvement from the former as an actual clone, only much duller.

One good thing that I can say about the movie is that all of the old characters have come back for the sequel. Call me weird, but I am always disappointed when not all of the actors in a hit movie return to the inevitable sequel. And it doesn’t matter if that character is just a support to the stars. I get jarred by the absence of these characters and affects continuity and the suspension of disbelief (especially if I know that said actor does not return because of pay disputes. Hear that, guy who played Tank in the Matrix?).

I’m not a huge Nicolas Cage fan but for some reason I always enjoy his work when he appears in movies where he doesn’t invest that much of himself in his character. He is much more natural and his acting tics disappear. Jon Voight as the father is still as cool as ever. I think he has been perfectly cast as Cage’s father especially since I get the same vibe from him as Cage. A great addition here is Helen Mirren, who is officially introduced to the National Treasure mythology as Ben Gates’ mom. Mirren is a great actress and I love that she appeared in a movie as silly as this but she has been grossly underutilized here.

Actually the big problem of National Treasure 2 is that, aside from Mirren, you do not get to see anything new. It’s the same plot only with usage of different plot devices and clues. Heck, even the villain (played by Ed Harris) uses Gates in much the same way Sean Bean did in the first movie.

National Treasure has stumbled upon a great formula that could ensure that it will become a great franchise. But using that franchise in this manner is not a good one. Next time think about the details some more and give the audience something fresh.

Rating: B-

Horny cineastes will surely go ga-ga over the news that Robert Rodriguez is going to remake Red Sonja with Rose McGowan in the lead.

According to reports, Rodriguez will produce the new Red Sonja movie for a possible 2010 release.

McGowan is reportedly stoked about her new movie role and so is Rodriguez. The two are a real-life couple, by the way. Rodriguez has raved over his lady’s great attitude, sexiness and strong character. But then I’d probably hear that from any love-smitten guy anyway.

The previous Red Sonja movie featured Bridget Nielsen, with Arnold Schwarzenegger also appearing in the movie as Conan.

Both Pierce Brosnan and Nicolas Cage are set to star in The Ghost, a political thriller under the direction of Roman Polanski. The movie is based on the Robert Harris novel that tells the story of a ghostwriter hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister. In the course of his work he discovers secrets that would endanger his life.

Brosnan is set to play the role of the prime minister and Cage is the ghostwriter.

Shooting for the movie will begin in Europe this fall.

I was one of the most hardcore X-Files fanatic when the hit TV series was still airing. So hardcore in fact that I think that I was one of the very first people to coin the word X-Phile in my community way back in the early 90s when the series was barely halfway through its first season (I’ll never know now though because the internet as we know it now was not yet available at that time!).

My fanaticism has now been reawakened with the impending release of the second X-Files movie. X-Files: I Want to Believe will hopefully be huge enough to merit more sequels. The frenzy has begun in earnest though. Marketing for the movie is now going full blast with free ringtones as well as a newly revamped official website that features a downloadable widget.

The widget itself is a nifty piece of programming. The widget reveals a community clue that actually shows more the more people interact with and download it.Fox will release more clues as the weeks progress and this will include exclusive content that people who have downloaded the website will see first.

X-Files: I Want to Believe opens on June 25.

Will Poulter, the child actor who appeared in Son of Rambow, has reportedly been cast in the next Narnia sequel.

According to reports, Poulter will play Eustace in “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader.”

Poulter will play the annoying Eustace Scrubb, the cousin of the Pevensie children. Michael Apted is set to direct this sequel. The movie is expected to be released on May 7, 2010.