Cinetopia

For more than 20 years the only Gecko in town was small green and single-track minded on selling car insurance. When Gordon Gecko was jailed in the 1987 classic Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas (as Gordon Gecko), Charlie Sheen and Daryl Hannah, we slowly forgot about how he wronged society, assuming we would never again see the Oliver Stone creation. Little did we know, Gecko would make a similar return to mainstream glory in 2010, similarly coordinated with jailed NFL quarterback Michael Vick, as the original movie was finally granted a sequel, with the release of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.Douglas reprises his role as Gecko, like Vick, supposedly a changed man after his incarceration. Stone once again sits in the director’s chair and even Charlie Sheen makes a cameo appearance playing an aged version of his original character Bud Fox. Up and coming star Shia LeBouf joins the cast as the movie’s central protagonist, Jake, a young go-getter dating Gecko’s estranged daughter. Read More…

If there’s one young actor of recent years who has made a career out of being typecast, it’s Michael Cera. His blend of indie rock earnestness and nave teenage awkwardness is honed to a fine edge, and yet he continues to make entertaining, thought-provoking movies. In his most recent film, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, he plays a young bass guitarist who meets his mysterious dream girl and learns that to be with her, he must defeat her seven evil exes. The film is scheduled for wide release on August 13.Cera seems to work best in casts with such large ensembles. He got his first big break in 2003 with Arrested Development after voice acting in shows like Rolie Polie Olie, The Berenstain Bears, and Braceface. Alongside Jason Bateman and Will Arnett, the quirky sitcom about a family patriarch sent to jail for embezzlement quickly evolved into one of the most critically acclaimed shows of the decade. Read More…