Movies: Haywire Punches Handsome Men In The Face

Gina Carano and Michael Fassbender, faking couplehood in Haywire

NATHANIEL ROGERS
...would live in the movie theater but for the poor internet reception. He blogs daily at the Film Experience. Follow him on Twitter @nathanielr.

 
YOUR FEATURE PRESENTATION
If you've ever wanted to see Ewan McGregor or Channing Tatum punched in the face repeatedly, HAYWIRE is your movie. At one time or another, the actors take quite a believable pummelling from rogue CIA agent Mallory (Gina Carano) in Steven Soderbergh's experimental action picture. Soderbergh first spotted his new muse, a real life mixed martial arts champ, while channel-surfing and was so transfixed he ended up building a feature around her. 'Why can't there be a female James Bond?' went his reasoning. He must have meant it in a loose sense for Mallory is no Bond. She's not super verbal, isn't at all comfortable at elegant black tie events, and has no discernible signature catchphrase. She orders no martinis, neither shaken nor stirred.

Carano's lack of acting experience shows when she's not fighting but thankfully that isn't often. Soderbergh, ever a resourceful director, keeps forcing her to dodge bullets, fists, and sharp objects. His fascination with Carano's athleticism pays off in the action sequences but the movie is curiously flat story-wise. We hop around the Globe with Mallory on assignment or for escape but, like her, we're always behind the story curve. For all we can figure they're making up the story as they go along as Mallory meets each new shifty coworker or employer. For what it's worth that's one piece of man candy after another: Ewan McGregor, Channing Tatum, Michael Fassbender, Matthieu Kassovitz, Antonio Banderas. (Perhaps Soderbergh was already thinking about his follow up, the Channing Tatum male stripper movie Magic Mike?)

More Haywire (Plus: Carol Channing and Jamie Bell) AFTER THE JUMP...

Gina tops Fassbender. He's always horizontal these days!

Jamie Bell: Tintin Might Be Gay

Nightlife.ca asks Jamie Bell, who voices Tintin in the forthcoming Steven Spielberg adaptation, whether he thinks Tintin is gay:

“I mean, I think that there’s always been that conversation; there’s always been that argument. No one has ever said no to that argument; there’s nothing definitive, so I mean, it’s up in the air. It’s an interesting question, because there is a lack of women and females in the entire Tintin universe; there’s only one and she’s represented as this annoying person who is singing all the time and bugs everyone [Ed’s Note: La Castafiore]. So there’s more mythology and curiosity about that. In all fairness, marriage and relationships aren’t really on his radar, though; he’s got bigger fish to fry and a larger treasure to find.”

It's certainly something that has been discussed, however.

If you missed the full Tintin trailer, it's HERE.

Jamie Bell Covers 'Vogue Hommes International'

Billy Elliott has turned into quite the fashion model.

Channing Tatum: Jamie Bell and I Have 'Been Having Sex for a Few Years Now'

Channing Tatum strips down for a new spread in GQ.

Two more shots, AFTER THE JUMP...

While the GQ cover story is not up yet, Tatum recently discussed the homoeroticism in his new film, The Eagle, and the master/slave relationship between Tatum and his costar Jamie Bell with The Vulture:

"I think there’s love in any relationship, whether it’s between a man and a woman, an animal and a person. Look, you have a need to be understood, humans gather around each other and they need to help each other through things. Jamie’s character and my character through trial by fire had to figure out how to understand each other. So I guess you could call it a bromance."

Tatum continues on that thread:

How about in real life?
Jamie and I have a bromance. We’ve been having sex for a few years now.

How’s that going?
Going fantastic.

He’s a lot smaller than you. He’s really small.
He’s a goer though.

What’s a goer?
I don’t know. I just made it up.

Two more GQ shots by Nathaniel Goldberg, AFTER THE JUMP...

Also, if you missed Nathaniel Rogers' review of the film, you can read it here.

Watch: Jamie Bell Plays Channing Tatum's Slave in 'The Eagle'

Back in December I posted some stills from the upcoming 140 A.D. period flick The Eagle, in which Jamie Bell plays slave to Channing Tatum's Roman Master. it's now ready for its close-up.

Watch the trailer, AFTER THE JUMP...

First Look: Steven Spielberg's 'Tintin'

Empire magazine has posted the first look at Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson's Adventures of Tintin, which won't be out for another year but makes heavy use of motion capture CGI.

Said Spielberg: "The first part of the film, which is the most mysterious part, certainly owes much to not only film noir but the whole German Brechtian theatre — some of our night scenes and our action scenes are very contrasty. But at the same time the movie is a hell of an adventure."

The beloved Belgian (and gay) lad Tintin is played by Jamie Bell, and Daniel Craig plays Red Rackham.

Two more shots, AFTER THE JUMP...