X-Men: First Class (June 3, 2011) (MC: 65, RT: 86%)

[Senji]

lol @ black guy

[6souls]

http://sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-..._2597428_n.jpg
http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphot..._1109165_n.jpg

[Bregor]

Man Oliver Platt does not look good these days.

[6souls]

Interviews:

Kevin Bacon with Moviefone

Spoiler: show

As all 'X-Men' fans know, 'X-Men: First Class' is going back to the very beginning, before Charles Xavier was known as Professor X and Eric Lensherr became Magneto, with 'Kick-Ass' director Matthew Vaughn at the helm.

Kevin Bacon took some time out of his Golden Globes day to chat with Moviefone about joining the X-Men family. He plays villain Sebastian Shaw, a powerful mutant who's planning to take over the world amidst the backdrop of the swinging '60s and the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Bacon teased some great scenes opposite the new Magneto (Michael Fassbender of 'Inglourious Basterds') and his character's cool '60s style, including a private inner sanctum and his own sub.

He also told us how he feels about the 'Footloose' remake and whether we can expect to see him in a cameo.

What can you tell us about your character, Sebastian Shaw, and how he figures into the plot?

You don't see much [of his backstory] in the movie, but he's kind of a self-made man. He lost his father as a young man, made his first million by the time he was 30 and first billion by time he was 40. He's a very powerful billionaire and also, as it turns out, a mutant. He's the leader of the Hellfire Club, which is a nightclub for the rich and extremely powerful. And he has a plot to take over the world, so that's really fun. He's incredibly good at manipulating people and at taking whatever kind of energy or ability they have and using it to his advantage, like if he's talking to a German, he's fluent in German. He's very charming and able to get whatever he wants.

Why did you decide to take on this sort of role?

I was a big fan of 'Kick-Ass' and someone told me I should go read the script and meet with Matthew Vaughn and like that, I was in 'X-Men.' I liked the script, thought it was such a fresh look at the franchise, but also the comic book movies in general and certainly it's a great character. He's definitely the character I was interested in playing.

Is your look changing for the film?

My look is very different from the guy in the comic books. We decided pretty early on that that was not going to translate to film. But there's a certain kind of style to the suits that I wear, but I don't have anything extreme in the makeup department. When you first meet me -- I don't want to spoil it -- but when you first meet me, I look a little different.

Were you an X-Men fan?

Oh yes, definitely. Not so much from the comics, because I didn't read that many as a kid, but I really liked the movie. I liked the notion of being different and the metaphor for judging people by their external qualities and the idea of racism and it plays very heavily into the themes for this movie. And is there the opportunity for people who are different to assimilate or to even relate to other beings that are different from them? In our realm of the world, we have humans, various versions of that and animals and plants and nature and they're introducing another element to that and I just think that's kind of cool.

Who's your favorite X-Men character?

I always thought that it was great that you had Professor X in his wheelchair. That's really fascinating -- right from the beginning to have a lead character bound to a wheelchair is super interesting and Patrick Stewart was great in the role.

Are you signed on to more than one film?

I am, but whether or not I end up in any more remains to be seen.

Matthew Vaughn was planning a big action scene in a rotating room, but scrapped it after he saw 'Inception,' and said he needed to go bigger. How has he topped it?

I'm trying to think what scene that was. I remember hearing something about that, but I'm not sure if that was online or actually from Matthew. But we do have a really, really super cool scene in a hall of mirrors and that's going to be really spectacular.

What's the craziest-looking mutant or mutant power that will get audiences talking?

That's hard to say because when you do a movie like this, so much of this stuff is happening in post. There were some practical things, like it's no secret that Magneto has the power to move and bend metal and the way that's handled right from the first scene in the movie is going to be really cool. It's something we haven't seen in any other movie so far.

The movie is set in the '60s: Is Vaughn going for a swinging '60s, James Bond look?

There is an element of that, certainly to my character. I've got some pretty nice pads and I'm kind of slick in that way. I don't think it's visually, in terms of camera moves, it's not trying to recreate that. But it has an element of that. The set design is fantastic. I've only seen the sets that I've been on and they are really interesting and very '60s modern and super cool, and beautiful. I have one set that's kind of like an inner sanctum and then I also have a submarine; the inside of the sub has elements of my other set. I have my own set of style and wanted to translate it over to my board room and stuff. It's great. I love the way it looks.

Since descriptions of the movie's setting have mentioned JFK, Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, are there any cool bits of real history that are used in the story?

The backdrop is the Cuban Missile Crisis, so it's a little earlier than the Civil Rights era. I don't think JFK is a character in the movie, but the idea of the possibility of thermonuclear war in our own backyard is there.

But there is an element of the racial tension of the times (which inspired Stan Lee in the first place)?

Yes, definitely. And also the fallout from the Holocaust is still there, which you'll remember is in the first film.

What's the coolest part of the film?

That's hard for me to say, not having seen the movie. But I think the youth of the movie, that is really exciting. You've got Jennifer Lawrence (Mystique) and Zoë Kravitz (Angel) and James McAvoy (Professor Xavier) and all these young actors who are about to explode. When you see them become what we know of as the X-Men, to me, that's really cool. The visual stuff, I can't say, until I've seen the effects. But from a plot standpoint, watching the creation of that kind of elite squad and yet they're all in this college dorm room kind of atmosphere, where there's romances and drunken parties and people become friends and then they have a falling out. I think all that stuff is going to be really cool. All of these movies deliver something other than just another airplane blowing up because there's interesting stuff going on between the characters.

Why should X-Men fans who are worried about a Wolverine-less X-Men movie stop worrying?

I didn't know that X-Men fans were worrying about that.

So X-Men fans will be completely entertained, even without Wolverine?

Absolutely.

What was the most fun part of playing this character?

I have a really newfound appreciation for those actors, Heath Ledger, Johnny Depp, Robert Downey Jr., and Hugh Jackman, that are able to work within this kind of genre with all the green screen and create great, memorable performances. It's very difficult; for me the most fun is always connecting on a scene and working with another actor to try to make that scene work. There was a scene near the end of the film between me and Michael Fassbender (Magneto) and the scene was okay, but I don't think either one of us was figuring it out. So Matthew let us spend a weekend up at his house and really figured it out from an acting standpoint, what this moment really means between these two. And that's the fun stuff. Hanging from a crane is fun too, but not as fun as actually connecting with another actor.

What are your thoughts on the 'Footloose' remake? Will you be doing a cameo?

I know the director and I think he's a really good choice. I've read the script and they've got a really good take on it, so we'll see. I wish them the best. They did talk to me about doing a cameo, but I'm not going to.

Are you planning on seeing the movie?

Oh, hell yes. You know, they tracked down my original screen test, and they're thinking about putting it on as an DVD extra. It's a strange thing for me, much weirder than seeing the movie. I don't watch the movies I make, so I haven't seen 'Footloose' since it came out. You see this young, hungry actor, it's pretty fun. I was the only one they screen tested. It was an attempt by the director and producer to talk the head of the studio into hiring me because they didn't want me.

http://blog.moviefone.com/2011/01/19...n-first-class/

James McAvoy with Screen Rant

Spoiler: show

Images from X-Men: First Class were released earlier this week much to the delight of fans eager for clues about the Matthew Vaughn directed film, which had been, prior to this point, shrouded in a bit of an air of mystery.

Very little in the way of publicity or marketing materials had been released, however, the last several days have yielded ripe and juicy fruit in the way of character reveals from the actors; the aforementioned stills, and official banners, and posters from the production. To round out this fresh informational crop, earlier today we had the chance to sit down with one of the film’s stars, James McAvoy, aka Professor Charles Xavier, and gain some insight into how the leader of the X-Men will be portrayed in his younger years.

Stay tuned for the remainder of our interview with McAvoy regarding his role in the upcoming animated take on Shakespeare’s classic romantic tragedy Romeo and Juliet, now titled Gnomeo & Juliet; and of course, Screen Rant will be providing all available updates on X-Men: First Class.

Screen Rant: One thing people are wondering is how Professor X is going to be depicted in terms of combat, as he trained for it in the comics.

James McAvoy: He’s not too combat savvy in this film, it has to be said. He doesn’t do too much, he’s sort of a consultant with the combat guys. But he does get involved in a few little bits of fisticuffs, I wouldn’t say that he comes out well in any of them, but I wouldn’t say that he gets his ass kicked either. Yeah he’s not particularly combat ready.

SR: So it will be more about the mind control.

JM: Yes.

SR: Will he end up in the chair at the end and will he end up bald? Because that is the current rumor.

JM: You’ll have to wait and see, you’ll have to wait and see. It’s actually quite satisfying when you get to say that: ‘I’m not allowed to say.’ Because nobody’s actually told you that you’re not allowed to say, but it’s sort of implied.

[b]SR: Awww, c’mon you can tell me.[b]

At this point, McAvoy’s management team stuck their heads in the room as a gentle reminder for me to not get too sassy.

JM: Noooo, I can’t (Scottish lilt ever-present and almost charming enough to soften the lack-of-scoop blow). I haven’t even told my agent, they don’t even know I’m doing the film.

SR: Ooooookay. What if anything did you take from Patrick Stewart’s portrayal?

JM: I’ll tell you what I did take – I looked at all of the things that he did the hardest. I looked at all of the things that came out the strongest in his performance and we said we have to go the opposite way. Simply to validate why we were making this film, because if they were just the same there would be no reason to make it, we have to show how different he is. We have to show a journey – so he clearly has to start in a different place. So the main things that we looked into are the fact that he is ego-less, selfless, a very good person, he’s sexless – he’s sort of like a monk. We thought of what the opposite of all of those things would be – so now he drinks a lot, chases women quite a lot, and doesn’t mind sort of abusing his power to get ahead. He’s definitely got an ego, and he’s definitely a little bit selfish. So that’s where we start with him, and so he’s now got to grow towards –Sir Patrick.

SR: So it’s the experiences of this film that make him who he is as a character ultimately?

JM: Yes.

Two friends who become bitter nemeses, a flawed man, tempted by the material world, who is forced by circumstance to become something more, something bigger than he is – these are the classic comic-book and mythological tropes. However, when executed well, they never fail to engage the imagination. From what we have seen and heard thus far, this is one origin story that just may live up to, or perhaps even surpass, its potential.

http://screenrant.com/james-mcavoy-x...x-rothc-97608/

James McAvoy with Cinema Blend

Spoiler: show

This week has been jam packed with news about one of this summer's biggest blockbusters, the Matthew Vaughn-directed X-Men: First Class. Since Tuesday we've heard about the film undergoing re-shoots; Kevin Bacon's take on his character, Sebastian Shaw; seen the first stills arrive as well as a banner showing off the characters as well as two more stills directly from Vaughn; and the film's first teaser poster. Lucky for me, the timing couldn't have worked out better, as today I had the opportunity to sit down with Professor Xavier himself, James McAvoy. Speaking with the actor at the junket for his newest film, Gnomeo and Juliet (stay tuned in a few weeks for the entire interview), I took the opportunity to ask him a few questions about the superhero film and he was happy to oblige.

Asking about his approach to the character, particularly in the light of Patrick Stewart's performances in the previous X-Men films, McAvoy revealed that Xavier was initially going to be bald, but the studio vetoed the idea. Apparently this detail alone was enough to help him escape from under the weight of Stewart's performance and left him saying, "Well fuck it, I’m liberated then." This revelation seems to debunk the trailer details from last week that said we would see McAvoy losing his hair.

Discussing how the character is different than the one we've already seen on the screen, McAvoy expressed that he doesn't see the point of doing a prequel set years earlier that features static characters. As such, Xavier's principles are in tact in the new film, however, other elements are definitely different.

"You look at the kind of main, defining characteristics of Professor X, of Charlie Boy, and you go, 'Alright, he’s selfless. He’s a saint. He’s sexless, it seems. He’s egoless. He’s all about other people. He’s all about bettering the world and mutantkind and humankind.' And so you kind of try and flip that on its head. You don’t make him an evil person, or anything like that, but you make him ego-driven, women-chasing, he likes a good drink. He’s not the reluctant leader that you kind of want all heroes to be. He actually kind of wants to be in charge, you know what I mean? And all of those things, just to kind of show a journey. So by the end of the movie he’s some way towards becoming Patrick Stewart[‘s version of the character], rather than just having the same guy at the beginning."

Also significant is that he confirmed that Wolverine, played by Hugh Jackman in all previous films in the franchise, will not be making an appearance in the film.

Following that, I also decided to ask about the stuff that they were doing in re-shoots. In addition to "bits and bobs," three scenes being worked on are the ending and two scenes out on the water.

We doing a tiny little tweak on the very end, finale thing between me and Michael [Fassbender], who plays Magneto. And we’re doing, what else are we doing? It’s all little bits and bobs and things that we dropped or didn’t know we needed or trying to fix a little scene here or there or tighten up a scene here or there. We’re doing a little bit on a boat at one point, which is going to be fun; then a lot of underwater stuff last week, which I can’t really tell you what it’s about, but it’s quite exciting. Just bits and bobs really.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/James...ils-22771.html

[Souj]

Is there anything interesting in them there quotes?

[6souls]

Because I am sure everyone is interested...

http://www.vman.com/wp-content/uploads/lucas.jpg

For X-Men: First Class, my routine is a lot different. Portraying Alex Summers [aka Havoc], I want to look as athletic as his character is in the comics. My trainer, Ed Chow, is one of the nicest people on the face of the earth, which is deceiving, because he is damn good at what he does—possibly because he is so nice.

I warm up my shoulders with a couple of three-minute boxing rounds, either against the bag or with Ed holding the pads. Then we move on to various body parts without working the same muscle groups we worked the day before. These exercises usually consist of standard curls, triceps dips, normal and reverse flys, bench and shoulder presses, lunges, squats, and many other painful activities. Since I’m trying to get bigger, this is all three sets of each exercise at six to ten reps. I finish with abs, which consists of whoever is in the gym, usually four of us, sitting in a circle and suggesting the ab exercise, saying how many reps to do, for three or four rounds. Then a quick stretch and maybe a protein shake and I’m finished for the day. And I do this five days a week.

To keep working out for that period of time a lot of the cast and crew have set records in the gym and have made charts of who has lifted what and how many times. It keeps everyone constantly striving to beat everyone else, so there’s always a reason to get into the gym. My favorite challenge is a combination of a pull-up and a dip: you go from hanging fully down to being above the chin-up bar with your arms fully extended, like the top of a dip. [These are called ‘muscle-ups’ and they’re more or less impossible for anyone not in insane, peak physical condition.] I am currently ahead of Edi Gathegi [of Twilight evil vampire fame, and he plays Darwin in First Class] by one. Just thought everyone should know.

http://www.vman.com/blog/lucas-till-next-action-star/

[6souls]

Our man Chris visited the set of X-Men: First Class to keep an eye on what director Matthew Vaughn and his team are up to, and he's got a few tidbits from the visit in the latest issue of Empire. Not least his thoughts on casting his leads, and the promise that this still looks like being a franchise.

Vaughn himself talks about his reasons for taking the job.

"I've always wanted to do a movie set in the '60s. The difference is that now I have experience. On X3 [which he was at one point set to direct] it was cast and I just had to tell the story. Here we have to recast every role, recreate the '60s - which is not easy - and redesign everything. We've been playing catch-up, but it's working."

Ah, that recasting: Vaughn explains why he went for Michael Fassbender as Eric "Magneto" Lehnsherr and James McAvoy as Charles "Professor Xavier" Xavier.

"I wasn't trying to cast the young Patrick [Stewart] or Ian [McKellen]. I was trying to cast the young Professor X and Magneto; what those characters are in my mind. For me, I'm trying to make a movie that stands on its own two feet. Hopefully there'll be a lot more of this version of the franchise."

For much more on X-Men: First Class (out on June 2), and why James McAvoy calls Professor X "a sex pest."

http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=30058

[Guitarman]

the more i read about this movie, the more sure i am the class gets to school on the short bus.

[6souls]

When MTV News caught up with January Jones recently during the press day for her upcoming thriller, "Unknown," we brought up the much-discussed group photo that leaked online in order to ask her about Emma Frost's costumes, and how much time she may or may not spend in that little, white, two-piece number everyone's talking about.

"I’m in that a lot," Jones said of the "sparkly bikini-top thing" seen in the leaked cast photo. "I have a lot of very interesting costumes in that movie. So I’m in that one a lot."

"That one has a cape sometimes and sometimes it doesn’t. I have a lot of boots. I have a lot of leather. A lot of sparkly stuff. A lot of big hair," she explained, adding that her wardrobe will likely please Frost fans everywhere.

But which outfit is her favorite?

"I really like [the one in the leaked photo] because I really like the cape. It was really great," she said. "I didn’t get to wear the cape as much as I wanted to because the CGI when I turn into diamonds was difficult. But, there’s nothing like a cape that makes you feel really tough. There’s something [about having something] following behind you."

http://splashpage.mtv.com/2011/02/08...rost-costumes/

[6souls]

The official facebook page also launched yesterday

http://geektyrant.com/storage/169065..._3510271_n.jpg

X-Men First Class charts the epic beginning of the X-Men saga, and reveals a secret history of famous global events. Before mutants had revealed themselves to the world, and before Charles Xavier and Erik Lensherr took the names Professor X and Magneto, they were two young men discovering their powers for the first time.

Not archenemies, they were instead at first the closest of friends, working together with other Mutants (some familiar, some new), to stop Armageddon. In the process, a grave rift between them opened, which began the eternal war between Magneto's Brotherhood and Professor X's X-Men.

http://www.facebook.com/xmenmovies#!...app_4949752878

[tyven]

and here is the trailer

[Scythiroth]

That didn't look anywhere near as bad as I was expecting.

[Akiyama]

Nah it really didn't... though I still have just as much hope for this as any other shitty remake of a shitty movie franchise.

[Moss]

That didn't look anywhere near as bad as I was expecting.

Agreed. I'm definitely going to check it out.

[Delirium]

some of it is interesting. CGI for Mystique is the same. They reused the Nightcrawler bamf smoke, just made it red. The actress playing Angel Salvadore is attractive, but still a dumb character.

Who is the guy standing to the left of Kevin Bacon and January Jones? Sunspots dad mebbe? It's Riptide apparently

Also yay for the .01 second shot of Darwin.

[Sol-Blackguy]

Looks more promising than I initially thought. If this leads to Krakoa, Asteroid M and possibly Cable and Apocalypse in the future, I'm all in.

[ZarakiKujata]

CGI for Mystique is the same. They reused the Nightcrawler bamf smoke, just made it the same.

I mean is that a bad thing? If they are trying to recreate all these X-Men movies in the same universe, having Mystique/Nightcrawler be similar will only help make the continuity be more believable to the audience.

[quannum]

looks just as horrible as the images, just in motion.

[Delirium]

I mean is that a bad thing? If they are trying to recreate all these X-Men movies in the same universe, having Mystique/Nightcrawler be similar will only help make the continuity be more believable to the audience.

no, thats why I prefaced it with some of it looks interesting. At least they are trying to make their own canon in the movies.

[tyven]

the bamfing is nightcrawler's dad, azazel