Chris Pine to join Denzel Washington in 'Unstoppable'

Chris Pine is in talks to star alongside Denzel Washington in Tony Scott's Unstoppable. The film, loosely based on a true story, focuses on a train engineer (Washington) who is about to be fired and the new conductor who will replace him (Pine). Both men must stop a freight train filled with flammable liquid and poison gas from destroying a city.

It's pretty interesting that Pine has chosen this role right after Star Trek, considering he was reportedly getting offered everything from The A-Team to The Green Lantern.

It looks like Pine joining the cast is near definite at this point, especially after Denzel Washington discussed the film with MTV news:

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A Leonard McCoy tribute

I feel like kicking myself from about two weeks ago. My name will forever be linked to doubts and suspicions about the new Star Trek movie. But, now that I’ve seen it, and the Star Trek hype train has slowed somewhat, I honestly don’t think I could love the film any more if I tried – flaws, typically faulty science and all. There has been the expected hoopla over both Chris Pine’s Kirk and Zachary Quinto’s Spock, and truthfully, it’s mostly all warranted. They’re not only better than I expected, they’re just damn good in their roles. Despite that, and the rest of the cast’s talents, one supporting actor always seems to get a bit lost. So, to end all that, I’ll forgo a typical review and make this into more of a tribute to Karl Urban’s slightly manic, but often hilarious depiction of Doctor Leonard McCoy. To warn you, there are some spoilers.



McCoy was without fail, Captain Kirk’s closest confidante, and in some cases, more of a sibling than merely a friend. McCoy was Kirk’s conscience, and his being Kirk’s voice of reason was no accident – his divorce left him world weary, and at times dangerously over-emotional, giving way to moments of irrationality. With J.J. Abrams’ reboot most of this is clear within the first few minutes of his and Kirk’s meeting aboard a ship. While Kirk is calm about their flight – McCoy is the polar opposite, and rattles off a list of horrifying, potential deaths in space ("One tiny crack in the hull, and our blood boils in 13 seconds"). He also, rather bitterly, mentions the divorce from a wife who keeps him from his child, who took everything and left him nothing except his bones. Though it’s Kirk’s relationship with Spock that gets most of our attention throughout the new movie, it is Kirk’s friendship with McCoy that starts first.



Although Karl Urban’s cast mates performances are nearly spot on (Quinto’s job being the hardest with Leonard Nimoy’s presence), Urban is the only actor who comes eerily close to his predecessor’s performance. It’s a near perfect match with DeForest Kelly’s McCoy, and everything from the rhythm of how Urban speaks to even his hand gestures are spot on. And yet, it would be insulting to call his performance an impersonation. It’s more like some sort of restrained possession, and even knowing some of Urban’s techniques (like using a dialect coach) isn’t enough to explain how it’s done. It almost feels like watching an actor’s magic trick, and there are moments when you feel he can’t possibly pull it off. Somewhere, somehow he will make a mistake – perhaps his accent will slip, or his line delivery will slow, perhaps this incarnation of Bones will be less cranky, less manic. But, it amazingly, never happens.



With Urban’s McCoy, it has become increasingly easy to see why some women and men, reject the Kirk or Spock adoration, and rather, fall quite hard for McCoy. This revived love for McCoy is more substantial than superficial (arguably more akin to Spock fans) even though Karl Urban himself is handsome. This love comes from McCoy’s sometimes inexplicable loyalty to Kirk, shown in one instance when McCoy smuggles Kirk onto the Enterprise even though Kirk has been grounded. This love comes from McCoy’s often unintentional moments of hilarity, the best example being McCoy’s attempt to cure Kirk of the temporary disease he gave Kirk in the first place. This love comes from the fact that Urban’s McCoy, like Kelly’s, gets the most memorable (not to mention xenophobic) lines, most of which are directed at Spock (“Are you out of your Vulcan mind?” “Green-blooded hobgoblin!”) If ever there were a salesman to bridge new Star Trek fans to the original show, it is Karl Urban’s McCoy. If he can’t hook them, nothing will.

I was surprised by the amount of humor in the new Star Trek movie, mostly because its misleading trailers have been so self-serious. But for all its action-as-filler, and idealism, McCoy is the movie’s humorous, world wise voice.

Spock as sex symbol

So, I've been reading through everyone's Star Trek hoopla and the one that has struck me the most is Annalee Newitz's over at io9.com. The article is a review, to be sure, but it reads as a bit of a lust love letter (or is it a tribute?) to the new Spock's sexiness.



Zachary Quinto's Spock, while still a slave to logic, can't hold back his emotions nearly as well as the old Spock could. The current Spock loves and yearns.

That isn't to say that the Leonard Nimoy's Spock didn't have a legion of fans who fell for him:

When celebrated science fiction writer James Tiptree, Jr. (AKA Alice Sheldon) started watching Star Trek in the 1960s, she wrote in letters to her friends about how the one aspect of the show that truly fascinated her was Spock. She wrote a fan letter to Leonard Nimoy, explaining that his sexual magnetism came from humans' natural exogamy, their urge to marry outside their own groups. An alien would be the ultimate outsider, the ultimate object of desire. In one besotted passage, she described Spock's "touching shoulder blades, the tremor, the shadowed and infinitely effective squint."

Tiptree's renegade nerd sexual desires have now gotten a lot closer to being the desires of the mainstream. Zachary Quinto's new Spock still has a thin, trembling body and the squint of a scientist, but he's emerged into this special-effects blockbuster of a film as a leading man, competent, virile, and sexually desirable. This triumphant sexualization Spock could only have happened in the early 21st century, when geeks are culture heroes and dork actor Michael Cera has become a romantic lead.

I haven't seen what Quinto has done with the role yet, but I'm struck by Newitz's observation. The original Spock probably resonates more with women who grew up in the late 20th and 21st century, where geek suddenly become chic (think David Tennant as Doctor Who). He would have been a much less likely sex symbol in 1969 than in 2009.

While Kirk is still the object of most people's desires, a large enough minority of people are drawn to Spock. At least among the large minority of nerd girls (a largely ignored group of comic book readers and sci-fi lovers who came of age sometime between Amidala and Arwen). Where Kirk is hot, Spock is cool - cold even. I figure that there are two types of straight women in the world: the ones that fell for Kirk, and ones that fell for Spock. I've always been a Spock girl.

Okay, I'm excited for 'Star Trek'

And with these newly released photos from Paramount Pictures how could you not be? I've posted 9 of them, and you head on over to /film for the rest.

Links for you: 'A-Team' remake casting rumors and that dreaded 'Venom' movie

Chris Pine talked with director Joe Carnahan about a role in the remake of The A-Team. Pine is reportedly interesting in playing H.M. Murdock and he worked with Carnahan in 2006's Smokin' Aces. I don't know what to say to this. I hate remakes, I'd rather not go into my feelings on The A-Team (read: it sucked), but Chris Pine was the best thing about Smokin' Aces by a mile. I just think the guy has been attached to one too many remakes, re-dos, and adaptations. Le sigh. [Playlist]



Sony is planning on making a Venom film. I've been meaning to post this as an open letter for a few days, but I didn't have the heart to actually type the words. Spider-Man 3 forever destroyed Venom for me. [Empire]

Mark Wahlberg and James Franco have signed on to join the cast of Tina Fey's Date Night. Other actors cast in supporting roles include Taraji P. Henson, Leighton Meester, Common, and Kristen Wiig. I'm only watching this for Franco. [Variety]

An explanation about why Zac Efron can't be nominated for an Emmy for his appearance on Saturday Night Live. I admit, without shame that SNL turned me into an Efron fangirl. But like a sad high school kid, I'll continue to post rants pretending to hate him. [Gold Derby]

Four international 'Star Trek' posters revealed

Four Star Trek posters have made their way onto the web. The UK, German, Australian, and Italian posters feature cast members Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Zoe Saldana, John Cho, Anton Yelchin, and Eric Bana. Zoe Saldana sure is purty:

This week in superhero news: the Green Lantern edition

Warner Bros. Pictures is reportedly going to begin shooting The Green Lantern this September in Australia. The film is scheduled to open on December 17, 2010.



The short list of possible Hal Jordans has Chris Pine (that's Captain Kirk to you) at the top of the pile. Other names being thrown around are Jon Hamm, Nathan Fillion, and Sam Worthington, though it appears that Warner wants an under 30 actor. So much for Jon Hamm. IESB points out that though one actor portraying both Kirk and Hal Jordan might be a sticking point, Christian Bale plays both Bruce Wayne and John Conner as well.

As usual, I'll toss out some names in case the casting universe picks up on it (curse you Scarlett):
Martin Henderson (too old), Jake Gyllenhaal (his name is always tossed around), Ryan Gosling, Gosling's doppelgänger Ben Foster, True Blood's Ryan Kwanten, Justin Hartley (Aquaman on TV), Charlie Hunnam despite the fact that he might be doing that Thor thing, and Henry Cavill.