You know, I've seen a lot of 'behind the scenes' photographs over the years, but these latest from Crank 2: High Voltage win the "what the heck is going on here?" award, hands down. The LA Times is now hosting 19 new images from the set of the follow-up to the 2006 action film. In fact, I have to be honest with you: I can't for the life of me figure out why directors Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor would need a giant foam head of Jason Statham -- but now that it has my interest piqued, it had better be good.

This time around, our favorite hit man Chev Chelios (Statham) has to chase down a Chinese mobster who has stolen his nearly indestructible heart and replaced it with a bum ticker. But that's not all: on top of everything else, Chev has to keep his heart running on jolts of electricity (where's James Bond's dashboard defibrillator when you need it?). Joining in on the fun are Amy Smart (who we saw on set a few months ago in a 'questionable' costume), Dwight Yoakum, Bai Ling, and a cameo from '80s cautionary tale, Corey Haim (and for his sake I hope things went better on the set here than they did on Lost Boys 2).

Crank 2: High Voltage is expected arrive in theaters in 2009 -- maybe by then we'll know what all those big foam heads were about.

Here's something random: has anyone ever seen the movie Deadlock (a.k.a. Wedlock), with Rutger Hauer and Mimi Rogers? It was about a futuristic prison where the inmates don electronic collars that are wired to explode when they cross the prison's boundary. Eventually it turns out that, for some reason, a prisoner can escape without being decapitated if he escapes together with a certain other inmate to whom he's electronically connected. I first saw this when I was 9 or 10 and thought it was the neatest thing ever, but something tells me it wouldn't hold up if I watched it again.

Anyway, the point is, I thought of Deadlock when I saw this French teaser for Transporter 3, where Jason Statham's Frank Martin is outfitted with a bracelet that's wired to explode if... well, it's not clear what will make it explode, but something sure will. The movie looks as completely nuts as its predecessors; I was sold on the franchise when, in Transporter 2, Frank Martin drove a car off a roof, flipped it in the air to scrape an explosive device off the bottom, and landed on a middle floor of a parking garage. Not quite as cool as my memory of Deadlock, but pretty darn cool. Transporter 3, directed by a guy named (I kid you not) Olivier Megaton and written by franchise stalwarts Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, will be released here in November by Lionsgate.

Now that we know the storyline for Crank 2: High Voltage is going to be a little wacky, it might give these latest behind-the-scenes photos some context. The Bad and the Ugly scored some pictures of the returning Amy Smart in all her topless glory (the pics are a little NSFW, so consider yourself warned), along with Jason Statham, and Corey Haim (rocking one heck of a mullet) hard at work on the action thriller.

Picking up where the last film left off, Statham returns as Chev Chelios, the hitman with a need for adrenaline. This time, though, he's got a busted artificial heart that requires jolts of electricity to keep it pumping. There is also something about a 100-year-old gangster named Hu Dong, but it all gets a little confusing after that.

Earlier in the week JFX Online paparazzi had taken some photos on set (mainly of Smart), but had been asked to remove them (the photos are still all over the web, so JFX has since put them back online). Their reporter even took a few cheap shots at the production, but has since retracted those comments. Writer-directors Brian Taylor and Mark Neveldine have already taken their fare share of criticism for the first film, but I know for a fact there are plenty of people who couldn't care less about the critics, and they can't wait until Crank 2 hits theaters in 2009.

In an age ruled by wussy PG-13 horror and sterilized action, the world cried out for a hero. And behold, for it has found one; actually, it has found two. Their names are Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor -- usually credited as just "Neveldine/Taylor" -- and they have come to rescue us from the gutless, joyless, cynical genre films that seem to top the box-office more and more often with each passing year.

So far, Neveldine/Taylor have but two credits to their name: the deranged Jason Statham actioner Crank, and the screenplay for last weekend's twisted, frightening "medical" thriller Pathology. (Here I must respectfully dissent from my co-blogger Jeffrey M. Anderson's thoughtful negative review of the latter.) They've developed a clear m.o. -- gruesome, over-the-top violence, unhinged sexuality, frenetic plotting, a conscious disregard for plausibility -- and a certain contingent of filmgoers are eating it up with a spoon. I don't blame them: movies that don't pull their punches are pretty rare, and it's easy to love these two simply for having the fortitude to go balls-to-the-wall.

With a title like Into Hell, there are lots of plot possibilities, many of which revolve around actually going to hell. But that's not quite the case this time around. Would you have ever linked hell and "English soccer hooligans"? The Hollywood Reporter posts that Bold films is taking on this link with Into Hell, an action thriller that will be written by Dominic Morgan and Matthew Harvey.

The story focuses on this group of "English soccer hooligans" who head to Istanbul for a soccer match. "The gang soon finds themselves in over their heads, however, when they get framed for a political assassination." Now that's a crappy piece of luck, and a lesson to us all about the dangers of being a hooligan.

It seems that producer Ian Carrington has helped to develop this with an old friend in mind -- Jason Statham, who currently manages and plays for the United Hollywood soccer team. The plan is to show the action star the script once a draft is done, but there is no word about what sort of role he would play if the script interests him. Will it have a soccer star who is also some covert ops dude that sets out to help these poor fans? We'll have to wait and see.

Well, for those of you out there who are fans of Jason Statham's Transporter franchise, I've got some good news for you: Variety reports that Statham has signed to star in a third installment! He will reprise his role as the butt-whooping mercenary driver/delivery man Frank. The film will be produced by EuropaCorp, who were behind the first two flicks. However, there have been some personnel changes for the film; the previous director for the last two films, Louis Leterrier, has been replaced by Hitman's 2nd Unit director, Olivier Megaton -- which might not exactly be a step up if you consider the reviews for that particular cinematic gem. Joining Statham in the cast is Prison Break's Robert Knepper, who judging by some of his creepy performances will probably star as the bad guy in this scenario.

The first two films in the franchise were written by Luc Besson and Robert Mark Kamen, but the two have not been confirmed to pen the new script. Just like for the first two films, Besson will not be pulling any directing duties, but will be involved as a 'hands-on' producer. There is no word yet on the story, but I'm sure that Besson is keeping in mind that the franchise has a running box-office total of $130 million, so it shouldn't take long to put one together. Transporter 3 will shoot for 16 weeks on location in Russia and France starting sometime in March or April. There is no release date so far, but let's be honest, we aren't dealing with Citizen Kane here so it shouldn't take long before Transporter 3 hits theaters.

Question: Do we really need a third one?

I'll admit that for some silly reason seeing the poster for The Bank Job made me think that this flick might be a step above the usual Lock, Stock rip-off. Unfortunately, a new TV spot over at Coming Soon has me rethinking that position. CS is now hosting the new commercial for the crime caper and by the looks of things, this film is just going to be another paint-by-numbers British crime caper -- the legacy of Guy Ritchie lives on.

The Bank Job is based on the true story of the famous Baker Street Robbery. In 1971, over $900,000 was stolen from Lloyds Bank in London. The thieves were never caught and even stranger was the fact that a gag order was placed on the investigation. Well, 27 years later and director Roger Donaldson is claiming that finally the real story can be told. According to the film's writers and their "Deep Throat" source, the real reason for the heist was to cover up a scandal involving the Royal Family. The conspiracy theory also manages to incriminate high-ranking police officers, the secret service, politicians and a prominent member of the royal family.

So you can maybe understand why I'm a little disappointed that a fascinating story like this might be reduced to nothing but choppy editing and glib dialog. Screenwriters Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais (Flushed Away) have been trying to get the story of the Baker Street Robbery to the screen for years, so hopefully they wanted to do it right. I guess I will have to wait and see when The Bank Job hits theaters later this month.

Check out the theatrical trailer for The Bank Job after the jump ...

Because of Heath Ledger's premature death and the uncertainty of what will now happen to the actor's unfinished final film, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus, I've been thinking a lot about The Crow this week. Aside from the Joker/Crow connection from last April, I'm sure you recall that Brandon Lee died while filming that comic book adaptation, and some clever special effects had to be employed in order for the picture to be finished. Anyway, I really loved the film when it came out back in 1994, but I eventually let go of being its fan, partly because of the kids who were too obsessed with the title character (if you ever hung out at goth clubs, you know what I'm talking about) and ruined it for me, and partly because of the crappy film franchise that it spawned. But I've been thinking about revisiting the first installment, at least for nostalgic purposes.

I'm apparently not the only one thinking of revisiting The Crow, though others seem to have different reasons for looking back. According to actor Jason Statham, who talked about available comic book roles with IESB.net, there's talk in Hollywood of a remake. The action star seemed to say that if he was offered the part of Eric Draven (aka The Crow), then he would be quick to grab it (the actual quote: "So if that one comes my way, bang!"). He also mentioned taking a meeting to play Namor (aka Sub-Mariner), but wasn't so keen on wearing the green Speedo and ankle wings. He also expressed a desire to play the Hulk, though he points out that he's glad Edward Norton, his Italian Job co-star, is doing that one (The Incredible Hulk is being helmed by Louis Leterrier, Statham's director on the first two Transporter movies, by the way). But despite continuing on with three franchises with Crank 2: High Voltage, Transporter 3 and The Brazilian Job, the actor hopes he'll be able to one day snag a comic book part. Should it be The Crow? Or should there be a remake of The Crow (or new adaptation of James O'Barr's comics) at all?

I suppose that reviewing an Uwe Boll film is a lot like having a fancy restaurant critic do a write-up on McDonald's new McGristle sandwich -- but I'm not "fancy" by any definition of the word, and I've grown madly in love with Uwe Boll's enthusiastically slipshod filmmaking techniques. So to those who thought miracles were actually possible, I have some disappointing news: Boll's latest, In the Name of the King: A Dungeon Siege Tale, is every bit as consistently awful as the director's earlier offerings -- only it's 126 minutes long. And that's just not fair.

Also unfair is the stunningly blatant way in which Mr. Boll tries to rip off the Lord of the Rings trilogy in this chintzy little epic. Every other sequence has a musical cue, a costume, a bit of dialog, or a background character that just fell off the Hobbit truck. If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, then Uwe Boll just spent 126 minutes telling Peter Jackson how thin, talented and gorgeous he is. To be completely fair, I did notice a few components (mainly the action scene editing and a few moments of strangely effective cinematography) that manage to improve upon films like Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead and BloodRayne -- but really, you could probably improve upon those three movies using only a cell phone camera and a powerful flashlight.

For a flick that runs two hours, the plot is distressingly skimpy: Villains are ransacking the countryside, so a farmer called Farmer takes up arms, grabs a few sidekicks, and heads out to destroy the evil and perpetually cackling Boss Villain. That's it, really. But we're not going to see an Uwe Boll video game adaptation for the plot, are we? No. We're usually watching his flicks for the sheer unintentional hilarity of it all, but King is even better because it's an ensemble piece! We've got...

In the midst of all the casting speculation for the big-budget version of Hasbro's G.I. Joe, I don't quite think fans expected to hear this name pop up first. Variety reports that Sienna Miller has officially become first actor to sign for the Stephen Sommers (The Mummy) film. Nothing has been simple with this film; starting back in June when it was reported that Paramount had ordered two different scripts for the film, only to do away with one entirely and then hire a brand new script writer. According to Variety, the story will center on, "Brussels-based GI OE, an acronym for the Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, and revolves around an international co-ed force of operatives who use high-tech equipment to battle Cobra, an evil org headed by a Scottish arms dealer".

So how might Miller fit into the story, you may ask? According to Variety, she will play "raven-haired baroness and sexy femme fatale skilled in espionage" -- which is probably a compendium of some of Joe's more famous leading ladies. But considering Miller's history as a model, you think they would have made her Cover Girl.

Most of the casting is still up in the air for the film, despite some of the goofy rumors floating around; at one time or another Mark Wahlberg, George Clooney, and Jason Statham were all attached to the project. But, Miller gets the distinction of being the first actor to officially sign on to a big-screen version of a toy commercial. Paramount hopes to begin shooting this February. G.I. Joe is set for release on August 7th, 2009.