Welcome to The Extras! A daily dose of all the smaller movie related news, clips and just plain cool stuff that you might have missed!
- The other day, when the news broke about Fifty Shades of Grey smashing box office records, I quipped on Facebook about there’s much better porn to be found on the internet for free. Know who agrees with me? Internet porn stars!
- Well, that was quick. Just yesterday I was theorizing on how Daniel Cudmore will possibly be replaced as the metal-skinned mutant Colossus – a criminally small role he has played in three X-Men movies – in the upcoming Deadpool now that the role’s requirements have been expanded to more than just “Be tall. Have muscles”, and today the Canadian actor has confirmed just that.
Thanks everyone for all the support for me 2 reprise the role of #Colossus in #Deadpool but unfortunately it won’t be happening for me con’t
— daniel cudmore (@danielcudmore) February 17, 2015
I’ve had a blast playing such an awesome character over the years! #Deadpool will be kick-ass with #TimMiller and @VancityReynolds #BestFans — daniel cudmore (@danielcudmore) February 17, 2015
Let the fan casting begin! For my pick, if Geno Segers aka Banshee’s Chayton Littlestone was just a bit paler (What?! He’s supposed to play a native Russian!) he would be perfect!
- Making Star Wars has a very intriguing theory on the real identity of Kylo Ren, the assumed baddie with the crossguard lightsaber glimpsed in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. With the secrecy around the film, there’s practically no real evidence to support their claim, but it is a cool one nonetheless.
- Poster of the day: No Country For Old Men
- Here in South Africa, we’ve become accustomed to presidents who do nothing, but sometimes presidential inactivity can be a good thing, as in the case of acting legend Sydney Poitier. Before Poitier would go on to become a titan of stage and screen, he was a poor immigrant from the Bahamas who was barely eking out a living with menial jobs in New York City. Realizing that his life was in a downward spiral and desperate to go back home to his family but being unable to afford it, Poitier penned a letter to US President Theodore Roosevelt himself asking for help.
Dear President Roosevelt,
My name is Sidney Poitier and I am here in the United States in New York City. I am from the Bahamas. I would like to go back to the Bahamas but I don’t have the money. I would like to borrow from you $100. I will send it back to you when I get to the Bahamas. I miss my mother and father and I miss my brothers and sisters and I miss my home in the Caribbean. I cannot seem to get myself organized properly here in America, especially in the cold weather, and I am therefore asking you as an American citizen if you will loan me $100 to get back home. I will send it back to you and I would certainly appreciate it very much.
Your fellow American,
Sidney Poitier
Roosevelt, of course, didn’t reply, leaving Poitier stranded and desperate enough for money that he decided to just audition at the American Negro Theatre. The rest is movie history as Poitier would go on to star in a string of films, eventually becoming the first black person to win an Oscar for Best Actor.
- Ah, the 80’s, when you could dress like a rodeo clown and people thought it was fashion. I have many fond movie memories of that decade, a lot of which can be found in this video. Get ready of a nostalgia overdose.
- It’s official: Dawn of the Planet of the Apes actor Kodi Smit-McPhee will be the new young Nightcrawler. No, I don’t mean that he’s taking over from Jake Gyllenhaal as nutjob crime reporter, but rather he has been cast by Bryan Singer as the younger version of blue-skinned teleporting mutant Kurt “Nightcrawler” Wagner in the upcoming 80’s set X-Men: Apocalypse. The role was of course previously played on screen by Alan Cumming.
- Conan the Barbarian is as famous for being such an incredible movie as it is for its actual production. The movie had a very tumultuous road before it became the genre-defining classic that we know today, and now you can learn all about it (and impress your movie geek friends) with i09’s write-up on Everything You Never Knew About The Making of Conan The Barbarian.
- Riding a motorcycle is cool. Know what’s even cooler? Riding a motorcycle while wearing these awesome movie/pop-culture inspired helmets! I’m calling dibs on the Venom and Boba Fett ones. Darryn already ordered the Hello Kitty one.
- Forget the actual movie, it turns that there was much steamier intrigue and more people getting violently screwed behind the scenes of Fifty Shades of Grey. According to THR’s in-depth look at the film’s production, not-s0-subtly titled “Fifty Shades of Cray”, it’s revealed that due to original author EL James being given huge unprecedented amounts of creative control on the movie, it resulted in constant battles between the and director Sam Taylor-Johnson, to the point where the helmer is maybe considering not returning for the sequel.
Based on what I’m reading from the report, Johnson – who had the support of the cast – wanted to make a really interesting movie that surpassed its source material for maturity and insight. James – who was said to have “crazy” and “impulsive instincts” – wanted to make a porno.
- It’s been a while since I’ve posted a really cool short film on here, and today I have a doozy! The Brain Hack is a slickly made little piece of sci-fi goodness with a killer twist, which has won a plethora of awards at various short film festivals. Watch it, and you’ll understand why.
Two students create a short-cut to induce hallucinogenic visions of God, and find themselves hunted by a deadly religious sect.
If you have anything you would like to contribute to Extras, whether it be interesting stories, funny videos, or artistic photos of yourself in morally questionable poses, feel free to drop a mail to kervyn@themovies.co.za
Last Updated: February 18, 2015
