Chris Hemsworth or Brad Pitt ... do I *have* to choose?!

Yes, Aricia, you have to choose, because unless we're talking about The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, which is a very special case, you can only have ONE actor playing the same part in he same movie at the same time! (Well, Doctor Who can be played by up to five actors at once, but only when there's a temporal screw-up and the universe is about to collapse. So that doesn't count. Right.)

And The Mighty Thor is the part to end all parts ... and it went to another emerging Aussie, a lad by the name of Chris Hemsworth:


Part of me (and a large part -- which isn't fair to Chris. But still, see below) wants to say, "Durnitall, I wish they'd twisted Brad Pitt's arm a bit harder, or maybe offered him some more money."

But the fact is, that's rather a daft thing to be saying in any case, because before I saw The Fellowship of the Ring, I was saying, "Viggo who? Orlando what--?" And a week before Avatar a lot of us, self included, were saying, "Sam, who-d'you-say?"

So to speak, give the lad a chance for goshsakes, because ... well, pictures speak louder than words, so let me clam up and show you a few!






And you have to admit ... if you couldn't get Brad ... about which, whimper, but they couldn't, obviously, for reasons undisclosed. Maybe Brad is too sleep deprived with all those babies running amok in the house? And just maybe he's had quite enough of living in the gym, pumping enough iron to build the Sydney Harbor Bridge, and eating like a rabbit while he does it! Don't be fooled, kids -- that's what it takes to get the ripped physique. It don't happen in nature, only in the gym where the salad bar is your only comfort. Gak. Where did I put my Mars Bar?

As I was saying, if you couldn't get Brad, get someone who'd easily pass for Brad in dim light, and especially if he can act as well. And it turns out, the lad can! The official trailer is playing across the www right now, so check this out: (click on the little icon to PLAY FULL SCREEN ... it looks great that way...)



So don't be deterred by the Bradlessness of The Mighty Thor, because I have a feeling the Aussie assault on Hollywood is about to continue with a vengeance. The late Heath Ledger, plus Hugh Jackman, Sam Worthington, Eric Bana, and before them it was Russel Crow, Sam Neill, Geoffrey Rush, and these are just the mega-stars. There's also hosts of slightly-lesser stars without whom movies just wouldn't be the same. In recent years, Sam Worthington in particular has impressed the heck out of me. He was brilliant in Terminator Salvation, and it was so cool to actually hear him in Clash of the Titans, where they let him "do" it in his own voice. Yes!! Go Aussie!! [Waves flag till somebody throws beer cans]

So I do expect to be well and truly impressed by Chris Hemsworth in this one, and I think that after May 11 you'll have a hard time visualizing anyone else in the part. Still, though, I can help thinking back on Brad Pitt in Troy, and I know I've said elsewhere on this blog that Achilles looked more like Thor than Thor does! Would I kid you? You want the evidence? Here you go:



From the trailer, it seems to me that Marvell is gifting The Mighty Thor with all due gravitas, and this is great. The one thing that had concerned me was that the project would get trivialized in the translation to the big screen. Needn't have worried, and after Iron Man, it was probably never something to waste worries on. Roll on May 6!

Coming up for the third time: Brad and Ange ... getting Brangelated. At last!

Or is it the fourth time? I've lost count! Seems like every 6 - 12 months the magazine covers are all reporting Brad and Ange married in secret, at ceremonies so private even their friends didn't know they'd done it. Uh...huh.

But this one could be real. This time around it's a wedding in the planning, and it's not the ordinary hitching. It's a Hindu wedding set to take place in Jodhpur, with their guru presiding.

Sounds great to me. I just have three hopes:

1) This is a true story and they actually are planning to do it;

2) They really go through with it when push comes to shove; and

3) The marriage lasts longer than the courtship.

Come on, kids, let's see you do it! And if you'd like to know more, the whole story broke in the Indian press earlier today am spilled over into the western press a few hours later. Here's a link -- http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/92223/20101215/angelina-jolie-brad-pitt-marriage-jodhpur-siddha-yoag.htm -- and a quick tickle of Google will turn up a load of goodies on Siddha yoga, and "guru to the stars" Ram Lal Siya.

Oh, what the heck? Let's have some more pictures, while we're here. Don't you hate those blogs and sites where they dole out the news in bits you could inhale without even sneezing, and then give you one little picture for your time and trouble of gracing their pages? It's not as if there's a shortage of pictures for goshsakes! Here -- feast your eyes, and enjoy:

Chris Hemsworth -- the thunder god cometh, 2011!

The Mighty Thor was my favorite comic when I was knee-high to a grasshopper, so 'tis with baited breath that I await his reincarnation as a Big Screen hero -- but wait!

There's evidence to suggest that he'll re reincarnated on May 20, 2011 in 3D!! The short version of this story is that a fan snapped a photo on the LA set of the movie, where Kenneth Branagh is directing Chris Hemsworth, Anthony Hopkins and a stellar cast ... and there in the snapshot is a 3D camera rig!

(See the whole story here: http://screenrant.com/thor-3d-idris-elba-heimdall-mikee-53609/)

So some fantastic things come out of this: it's a monster movie ... it's more than likely going to be in 3D (yippee!) and it has some fantabulous actors, and a Shakespearean director...

But what about the star? What face are they putting on the thunder god himself?

Does anyone here remember me posting about this over a year ago? Click here for the original post ... and at that point we were wondering who was going to be Thor, and I remember mooting Brad Pit with the Achilles look.

I must be psychic.

They couldn't get Brad, but by golly, they got themselves a lad that's got something of the lookalike about him ... a lad by the name of Chris Hemsworth, who's a very new face to the movie screen. I saw him fleetingly as Jim Kirk's father in Star Trek ...

And here's the rub, boys and girls: Chris Hemsworth is another Aussie lad! Add his name to the list including Hugh Jackman, Russel Crowe (and yes, I know he was born in New Zealand, but he became an Aussie a short time ago), Eric Banna, Sam Worthington ...! "Aussies Take Hollywood By Storm," I believe is the term.

Here's a bit more about Chris Hemsworth ...

Brad Pitt: give the man some credit -- he's an actor!

There's a curious little piece running on The Times of India, and it just leaves you shaking your head. I've heard of some dumb things, but this just about takes the cake.

Pitt out of film for his good looks
Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt is out of upcoming movie State of Play as the director on hindsight felt he was too good-looking to play the role.

Pitt was originally to star in the big-screen thriller as a journalist but the actor quit during pre-production, citing concerns with the script, contactmusic.com reports. Gladiator star Russell Crowe was roped in as a late replacement for Brad to star opposite actor Ben Affleck's character of a Congressman in the film. Director Kevin McDonald is convinced that Crowe's rough features are more suited to the role. "In a way, I was lucky it didn't work out with Brad. The relationship between the journalist and the politician was meant to be between somebody who feels inferior, who's a bit of a schlump, who kind of can't get a girlfriend, and somebody he's looking up to and admires his polished politician friend," he said. "That is not the dynamic of a Brad Pitt. He's not looking up to anyone thinking 'Oh, I wish I could have your girlfriend'," he added.

Here's the rub, boys and girls: THE MAN IS AN ACTOR. He isn't actually Achilles. Nor doe she race about machine-gunning people. Nor was born at age 90 and grow younger throughout life. All these parts are ACTING.

And he's not supposed to be able to act the part of someone who looks up to others and envies their girl friends?!

I would venture to say that if Mr. Pitt decided to play the part of a blind leper, he'd do just fine. Being an ACTOR. Professionally. Meaning, "getting paid to do the job and being bloody good at it."

Anyway, Russell Crowe will also be just fine, but -- and Russ, we love you, man! --it's just the principle of the thing, you know?!

Okay, AG: off the soapbox and on with the eye candy. Here we go:

Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie: Brangelina to the rescue!

Some of the nicest stories are posted by users, not reporters. Journalists do this crap--work for a living and they pretty soon get jaded and some of them can't tell where humor crosses the line and turns snide. So in pro journalism work you often get a lot of wannabe humor that goes over like the proverbial lead balloon ... way too sarcastic for its own good. But when a user of a public news site posts a story, you don't have that jaded quality. You get a real news item, from a person who was there, saw it, did it, and is keen to share.

And here's a beaut: Brad Pitt’s N.O. housing efforts have Lower 9th Ward in the pink. It's a great little piece about how Brad and Ange are building 100 houses in one of the most heavily punished parts of New Orleans. I mean -- seriously cool. "Nice factor:" 11 on the scale of 1-10.

Go there -- read it and have a smile.

And while we're on the subject of the heavenly duo, let's have some more reasons to smile right here:

The Ultimate Movie, starring Depp, Jolie, Smith and Knightly (plus Pitt and Winslet, optional...)

Here's the challenge: design your own ultimate movie ... cast whoever you like in it. Who'd be your choice? We all of us can dream, I guess --!

In fact this scenario has been run as a poll in the UK, ant (not to anyone's astonishment, here's the result: "Ahead of Friday's 85 million pound, EuroMillions lottery draw, the poll has revealed that if finances come flowing, nine out of ten Brits would invest to make their own movie. While the hollywood's most bankable star Will Smith would be cast as the supporting actor with "Bend it like Beckham" star Keira Knightley would give him company for the role.One in four Britons would make a thriller, while one in five opted for a romantic comedy but they unitedly voted for London as their favourite destination to shoot the film."

And you have to admit, this wouldbe a heck of a film. It's a romantic comedy-thriller starring Johnny Depp, Angelina Jolie, Will Smith and Keira Knightly.

Good lord ... I'd go see that one myself!

The production and promotion pictures might look something like this...

What a movie this would be!

If I was nuts enough, I'd say: let's run a competition ... take the above pictures and work out a story that connects them all. Like ...

The lady scuba diver and the lady who organizes a historical re-enactment society get together with a gypsy guy and an actor; the diving lady moonlights as a model, and the actor is trying to run for office. They all live in the same apartment block in NYC, and somebody on their floor gets murdered, and the murder weapon gets all of them tagged as the murderer/ess ... they have to prove themselves innocent, before the detectives (played by Brad Pitt and Kate Winslet) slap on the cuffs and march 'em all away.

Hey, that's not too bad at all!

The Thunder God commeth ... in 2011!

In fact, Viggo has been in a couple more newsie items that might have blown right by you, because they're not (yet) Hollywoodish.

The big news first: Marvel considers a real-life Thunder God ... woah! You do know, don't you, that the next massive, monster movie of a comic book legend is The Mighty Thor ...?! If you didn't know -- consider yourself informed! And in fact they're casting the part now. They're looking at Brad Pitt, Viggo Mortensen, Gerard Butler, and James Preston Rogers ...

Ouch! Okay, well... James Preston Rogers has six-foot-six, has the muscles and the hair, but he's a pro wrestler. Thor won't be a simple acting part, and there's more to it than looking right. Unless he has the voice and the presence, you'll wind up with a movie that tanks, even though the actor looked right:



Oooooh, how I could wish Viggo would land the part, but as much as we love ya, Viggo, I have to admit, I don't think you're tall enough or big enough, muscles-wise. Thor was ... a big, big boy.


Gerard Butler could do the part. He has the presence, the stature, and some extremely nice, uh, muscles...



But if I had to choose? If I really, seriously, had to choose? Well ... I grew up with the comic books, and I have to tell you, folks, Brad Pitt's Achilles looked more like Thor than Thor did. And Brad can act. And Brad has a good voice. And Brad is close to the top of the Hollywood A-list.