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Colin Farrell, Elton John, Michael Caine Pay Touching Tribute to Elizabeth Taylor

And who better to memorialize a Hollywood icon than a few of the same? Colin Farrell, surprisingly revealed to be a close friend of the actress after her death, hosted the roughly 75-minute service, which was also attended by Sirs Michael Caine and Elton John, the latter of whom closed out the night by singing an emotional rendition of "Blue Eyes."

The private celebration, which took place at the Steven J. Ross Theater, paid tribute to Taylor's remarkable life, both personally and professionally.

In addition to Elton's crooning, among the night's standout tributes were a touching video message sent by Mike Nichols, who directed Liz in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, memories shared by stepdaughter Kate Burton, grandson Rhys Tivey playing "Amazing Grace" on his trumpet, a song beloved by the late icon, and a retrospective montage of everything Taylor has advocated on behalf of people living with HIV and AIDS.

"My mother was an extraordinary woman whose life touched so many, most of whom we will never know," said Taylor's son Michael Wilding. "Our whole family is extremely proud of her accomplishments, and know what a unique and special experience it was to have her in our lives.

"Today it was especially meaningful for us to be with so many good friends to celebrate her spirit, which will be with us forever."

Taylor passed away March 23 at the age of 79.

'Fright' remake uneven in tone

In 1985 when the original Fright Night opened, Dracula's progeny had been all but shunted aside for a new breed of movie monster: the masked slasher of nubile teens. Worse than defanged, they'd been rendered obsolete. Fright Night, rather memorably, broke from the pack with horror, humour and a charismatic turn from Chris Sarandon as a vampire who moves to suburbia for dinner.

Twenty-six years later, the remake arrives at a point when, post-Twilight, there probably isn't a teenage girl -- or soccer mom -- who wouldn't want a vampire as a neighbour. Consider how they sparkle in the sunlight (as opposed to implode into flames and ash) or how achingly sensitive they are (thirsty as much for love as blood). And if you're lucky enough, one who's old enough to be your great-great-grandfather might even impregnate you with his half-breed demon seed. Dreamy.

A new Fright Night, then, would seem perfectly positioned to restore the newly romanticized vampire to his former glory as a creature of the night who maims and massacres as he pleases.

So it's a disappointment to report that -- despite well-executed action, some clever character tweaks and a ferociously magnetic performance from Colin Farrell -- this new incarnation registers as oddly anemic. It entertains, granted, but never surprises, emerging as more familiar than freshly fearsome.

When we first meet high school senior Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin), life is good. Living with his single mother (Toni Collette) in Las Vegas' suburbs, he has landed a gorgeous girlfriend named Amy (Imogen Poots) and finally shed his childhood rep as a nerd -- even if that's meant abandoning his best friend, Evil Ed (Superbad's Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Ed, however, won't leave Charley alone, convinced Charley's new next-door neighbour Jerry Dandridge (Farrell) is a vampire preying on their unsuspecting community. Eventually Charley begins to believe Ed might be right. And most disturbing? Jerry has set his sights on both of the women in Charley's life.

As in the original, with no one else to turn to, Charley seeks out Peter Vincent, a cynical celebrity famed for his insight into the paranormal. In 1985, Vincent was an aging TV horror-show host played by Roddy McDowall. This time out he's been transformed into a preening, womanizing, partying Vegas magician. Imagine Russell Brand starring in a Criss Angel biopic and you get an inkling of David Tennant's work here. The conceptual upgrade is amusing, but Tennant never makes the impression the great McDowall did.

The same will likely be said of the film itself.

Combining horror and comedy is always a challenge -- one tone usually undercuts the other -- and director Craig Gillespie (Lars and the Real Girl) struggles to answer the existential question: is the movie supposed to be terrifying or hilarious? It winds up as sort of both and kind of neither.

And it's telling that the remake's most effective scenes are also its most coy -- as when Farrell's Jerry (more savage than Sarandon's elegant immortal) asks a suspicious Charley for a beer, scheming to be invited in. Hell breaking loose is never as compelling as what unfolds just before it.

Colin Farrell makes 'Fright Night' fun

He keeps trash in his driveway, blacks out his windows and flirts with every woman on the block. He feasts on teens, too.

Give him this: He won't come in uninvited. That's a vampire no-no of Fright Night, a clever remake of the 1985 horror-comedy about a kid who can't convince anyone his neighbor is a vampire.

Like the Roddy McDowall original, Fright crackles by offsetting horror with humor. Like The Lost Boys and An American Werewolf in London, there are chills (and gross-outs), to be sure. You won't want pasta after the movie.

But director Craig Gillespie (who did the outstanding Lars and the Real Girl) has a formidable cast in Toni Collette, Anton Yelchin and Colin Farrell, who plays a surprisingly droll bloodsucker.

Yelchin (Chekov in Star Trek) is Charley Brewster, a teen maturing in a hurry — to the notice of his high school classmates. Yelchin nails senior student posturing, made all the more difficult by Charley's neighbor, the smoldering Jerry (Farrell), a guy who has his eyes — and fangs — trained on Charley's mom, Jane (Collette).

Fright has matured nicely over the quarter-century. While remaining sharp-tongued, the film knows its place on the teen landscape. Vampires are hot property, and references to Twilight abound.

This, though, isn't Twilight mom stuff. Jerry's closet dungeon, where he keeps victims to bleed, is a starkly lit pen that could have come from Silence of the Lambs. And the 3-D — which has proven itself most effective in horror — makes the bone breaks and arterial geysers all the more graphic.

Still, Fright is clearly Hollywood summer fare. Slick and driven by a bass-heavy score, the film embraces clichés by the cape-ful. Actresses are fashion-model pretty. Cops don't notice teens turning into veal. A stake to the heart still does the trick (though a real estate sign will do in a pinch).

But Fright is way too quick on its feet to be slowed by clichés. David Tennant seizes McDowall's role as Peter Vincent, now a Criss Angel-style clown vampire slayer. Christopher Mintz-Plasse was born to play a high school nerd.

The real treat, though, is Farrell. How do you not like a vampire addicted to The Real Housewives of New Jersey? Between this and his cameo in Horrible Bosses, he's summer's hottest comic. Fright's foul-mouthed, beer-swilling bat boy may not be cut from the Twilight cloth, but if he isn't careful, he may find legions of fans on Team Jerry.

* * * out of four
Stars: Colin Farrell, Toni Collette, Anton Yelchin
Director: Craig Gillespie
Distributor:Walt Disney Pictures
Rating: R for bloody horror violence and language, including some sexual references
Running time: 1 hour, 41 minutes
Opens Friday nationwide

"Fright Night" forgettable but not regrettable

That's Nina Garcia eviscerating another would-be designer on "Project Runway" a few weeks ago. But I'm quoting Ms. G because she completely nailed my feelings about "Fright Night," a remake of the goofy and entertaining 1985 horror-comedy about a teen boy whom no one believes when he claims a vampire moves in next door.

In fact, the new "Fright Night" is actually an improvement in many ways -- it's good enough, and entertaining enough, and scary enough. It's just that by Labor Day, you'll probably forget you even saw it.

The original was shot in a quiet neighborhood that was very obviously a studio backlot, but this update features a very specific setting: a sun-baked suburb of Las Vegas where former nerd Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) lives with his mom Jane (Toni Collette). Since Sin City is known for its nightlife and its transient population, what better place for a vampire who wants his crimes to escape notice?

Except in this case, they don't: Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), Charley's onetime best friend -- back when they used to go to "Farscape" conventions together -- worries that lots of families in the neighborhood have been disappearing since the charismatic Jerry (Colin Farrell) moved next door to the Brewsters. So of course Ed is convinced that Jerry has been sinking his teeth into the locals.

Charley dismisses Ed's fears until Ed himself disappears, and Charley finds enough evidence to prove that something creepy is going on at Jerry's place. With the help of his girlfriend Amy (Imogen Poots) and flamboyant magician Peter Vincent (David Tennant) -- a Criss Angel/Russell Brand hybrid who's both more and less than he seems in the fearless-vampire-killer department - Charley sets out to stake the bloodsucker down the street.

Screenwriter Marti Noxon, a key member of TV's "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" brain trust, shows a sure hand in updating the material and in making the characters more interesting than they might have been in the hands of another writer. Charley, Amy, and Ed feel like fleshed-out, interesting teenagers, and the notion that Charley would leave his geek roots behind to have a chance with pretty, popular Amy makes for an interesting subplot.

And while the whole 3D craze just gets more and more annoying, director Craig Gillespie ("Lars and the Real Girl") at least decides to have fun with it, hurling crucifixes, bricks, and gobs of viscera right at the audience. If a movie has to be in 3D, let it indulge in shameless paddle-ball-at-the-camera-lens action every so often, or what's the point?

Gillespie's lucky to have such a talented ensemble working with him - Farrell projects equal parts seduction and menace as the sinister Jerry, and Yelchin keeps Charley from ever turning into too much of a chirpy boy scout.

Mintz-Plasse and Tennant both get roles that give them license to ham it up, but they wisely go big without making it too broad. As the plucky Amy, Poots is anything but a helpless victim, and even Collette finds some fun in the thankless mom role. (Gillespie directed six episodes of Collette's Showtime series "The United States of Tara.")

So with this much going for it, why is "Fright Night" simply good and not great? The pacing has a lot to do with it, and strangely enough, it's one of the problems from the original movie (written and directed by Tom Holland) that Noxon can't seem to fix. In both versions, there's the confirmation that Jerry is a vampire, and there's the final confrontation - and in between, a big chunk of get-on-with-it-already. It's the first movie's biggest flaw, and it's surprising that no one involved with the remake took a whack at it.

Still, if nothing else, "Fright Night" confirms what critics have always said - if Hollywood insists on creating so many remakes, leave the classics untouched and take another crack at the just-OK ones instead.

This movie may fall into the just-OK category itself, but that's still lots better than most horror movies that come slinking into theaters in late August bearing a familiar title and little else of interest.

Christopher Mintz-Plasse to Colin Farrell: Bite me

That's according to Christopher Mintz-Plasse, who plays one of Farrell's victims in the remake of Fright Night, opening Friday.

Mintz-Plasse, along with cast members Dave Franco and Anton Yelchin, swung by Austin's Alamo Drafthouse theater to host a screening of their big-screen bloodbath Tuesday night. And afterwards, they took part in an audience Q&A.

What was it like getting sucked on by Farrell's Jerry, asked one fan.

"You want something dirty?" retorted Mintz-Plasse.

So did he like it? "Hell yeah. It's (expletive) Colin Farrell."

Did the guys dig scary flicks? "I like horror movies," said Yelchin. "I like old (ones). Nosferatu. Creepy, dark and uncomfortable."

Mintz-Plasse proved to be the cut-up among the trio. Someone asked if the actors had seen or heard of the original Fright Night. "I had not heard of it before. I was born four years after it was made," said Mintz-Plasse.

The best part of his short swing through Austin? The venue, said Yelchin. "I hope they expand and bring one to L.A. I think its vital to support theaters like the Alamo because they preserve a very special kind of movie-going experience," he said.

We don't think he's referring to the beer, which flowed freely during the screening. Afterwards, the guys did what any self-respecting Austin visitors do: they went out.

Review: 'Fright Night' a cheeky comic remake

But at least this new version stays true to its origins by having a bit of cheeky fun, and the way it contemporizes the story is really rather clever.

Once again, a vaguely nerdy teenager named Charlie (Anton Yelchin) thinks his mysterious and seductive new next-door neighbor, Jerry (Colin Farrell), is a vampire. No one else believes him except for his even nerdier childhood pal, Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). Come on, the guy's name is Jerry — how dangerous can he be?

But the setting makes this premise make sense. Director Craig Gillespie's film, based on Marti Noxon's script, takes place in the overly developed suburban sprawl outside Las Vegas, where people come and go and those who do live there often sleep all day and work all night. The barren wasteland of abandoned houses — if they were ever inhabited in the first place — is the perfect place for a bloodsucker to lay low.

And so as the bodies continue to pile up and Charlie continues to investigate, Jerry continues to charm everyone around him. That includes the beautiful Amy (Imogen Poots), the girlfriend Charlie always thought was out of his league. (And that's another way in which this "Fright Night" has been updated: The actors got conspicuously better looking.)

Farrell is clearly thriving doing showy comic parts lately, between this and "Horrible Bosses." But Gillespie, whose "Lars and the Real Girl" featured a more subtle and surreal kind of comedy, also shows a deft hand at creating tension with Farrell. A scene in which Jerry is standing outside Charlie's house, teetering at the kitchen door but not entering — because he hasn't been invited in — offers a masterful little slice of suspense.

The strong supporting cast includes Toni Collette as Yelchin's skeptical single mom and David Tennant in a scene-stealing turn as a supposed master of the supernatural. Roddy McDowell played the Peter Vincent role in the original; it's expanded here and provides the film's biggest laughs, with Tennant playing the character as a flamboyant but self-loathing fraud who peddles his illusions to the masses on the Strip. You wouldn't mind seeing an entire movie about him.

It all works well enough that it makes you wish it weren't in 3-D. Gillespie recognizes the benefit of the gimmickry in this sort of genre, sending arrows, crosses and spurts of blood in our direction. But the 3-D also adds a suffocating layer of dimness, as it is wont to do. That doesn't exactly help engage us given that so much of the film takes place in the dark, at night. Because, you know, it's about a vampire.

In 2-D, though, "Fright Night" could have been a great, late-summer surprise.

"Fright Night," a DreamWorks release, is rated R for bloody horror violence and language, including some sexual references. Running time: 101 minutes. Two and a half stars out of four.

A Minute With: Colin Farrell on his "Fright Night"

In his new movie "Fright Night," a 3D update of the 1985 comedy cult favorite, Farrell stars as Jerry, a sinister vampire who moves in next door to a naive high school student played by Anton Yelchin and his mother, played by Toni Collette.

The Dublin-born actor spoke to Reuters about making the film, playing a vampire and why audiences love to be scared.

Q: You just played a horrible boss and now a vampire that must be fun for an actor to do such varied parts back-to-back?

A: "Yeah, but it's a shorter road between the two than you might imagine -- two fun characters. I felt like I'd had four or five years where I'd done more dramatic pieces and played characters that weren't really having a good time in their lives for a variety of reasons, and I'd wanted to do something lighter. Then these two films came along and it was happy days -- time to go and play."

Q: But didn't they have to persuade you to do this?

A: "I was dubious at first. I loved the original and you like to think of yourself as mixing things up and being a bit original -- and this is a remake of a vampire film in 3D. That's kind of three for three in unoriginality.

"But I felt I was in good hands with (director) Craig Gillespie who did "Lars and the Real Girl." I was a big fan of that, and I just loved the script. I didn't want to like it, but it was a blast of a read. And playing the villain was great, although I think my character's more on the periphery than he was in the original, and there's more attention paid to Anton's journey from boyhood to manhood."

Q: What about the vampire teeth?

A: "Easy! They do the mold, then file them down, and you don't even notice them wearing them. And it's great fun. You put them in, and instantly, because of all the films you saw as a kid, you start acting a certain way."

Q: Sexy. Vampires have always been sexy.

A: "Always, and that's the appeal. Human beings are always trying to bend and manipulate time to be in their favor and trying to defeat the ravages of age. And vampires are eternally young, although it'd probably be very annoying to be turned into one at 97, or 6. And then how they attack and feed off their prey seems very sensual and erotic -- biting the neck. You don't have to be a vampire to partake in such activity, but it takes it to an extreme. Blood is the liquid of life."

Q: Was it tricky finding the right tone and balance between the horror and the comedy?

A: "That was always going to be what this film worked or failed on, striking the right tone. That's why having Craig direct, as much as it seemed a delightfully left or right of center choice, was perfect because he found such a beautiful and harmonious chord between the absurdity in "Lars" and the emotional sensitivity. So even though this is a totally different genre and structure, I knew he could apply the same ability and level of finesse."

Q: "Were you a big horror fan?"

A: "Huge! Growing up I loved 'Nightmare on Elm Street,' 'Halloween' and 'Friday the 13th,' and there was nothing like being scared. And still to this day, just sitting in the cinema and being frightened and sharing laughter -- there's nothing like it."

Q: Why do people love to be scared so much?

A: "I think it's just anything that allows us to feel in life. A lot of the time, we go through the day trying to control things and we spend a lot of time in our heads and concerned and worried about how we're doing and how those we care about are getting along, and although that may feel like an emotional thing, a lot of time it's mental. So to have some visceral reaction in life to get that adrenaline going is a good thing. It makes you feel alive.

Colin Farrell doesn't sweat the small stuff

"I actually like the gym. I find peace in it. Which is (expletive) weird," Farrell says, grinning as he Skypes from the Four Seasons in Los Angeles. "I never thought that would be me. I see these quotes, 'Working out for me is lifting a Carlsberg.' It was true at the time. Things have changed."

And how. Since going through rehab in 2005 and ending years of partying, a re-energized Farrell, 35, has streamlined his life. He quit smoking. He works out. His focus now? His sons, James, 7, and Henry, almost 2, and his reinvigorated film career, which includes July hit Horrible Bosses, the big-ticket remake of Fright Night, opening Friday, and a reimagined Total Recall, now shooting in Toronto. And the good-natured, candid Irish actor has figured out how to live his life with a modicum of privacy. After all, if the crushing burden of fame ever gets too overwhelming, he has a simple solution.

"Walk the (expletive) away from it. You don't want to be photographed by the paparazzi? Say no to the $120 million film. Eventually they'll stay away from you. But you won't have the other things the $120 million film brings into your life: the good seats at the sports event, the backstage pass to the concert, the nice reclining chair on the airplane.

"Do I enjoy the paparazzi or like their presence? No. I went through years of getting in their faces. It was such a disaster. It made my life so much more complicated."

Farrell 2.0 keeps things simple and understated. How did the rakishly disheveled actor spend the previous evening in Los Angeles?

Farrell 1.0 would have scoffed.

"You're talking to someone who checks into the Four Seasons, grabs the (expletive) room service menu, and gets so giddy at what is on the menu and looks at the on-demand on TV and gets so giddy that I can have films that are still in theaters," he says. "I get joy out of kind of everything. I went for a drive at 1 a.m. last night in my car. I played the music loud on the 405 freeway, and it was like the first time I ever arrived here. I just get so much joy out of the simple things."

In that, he diverges from Jerry, the vampire he plays in Fright Night. Jerry is scheming. Diabolical. Remorseless. And teeming with disdain for the humans whose blood he gulps to survive.

An 'alpha-male quality'

Playing a construction worker by day/demon by night "was fun, man. It was just tasty. It was fun to be unleashed and allowed to be cruel and malevolent. Jerry is in on the joke," says Farrell. "I was a fan of the original Fright Night, so I was suspicious as to the notion of remaking it. I didn't want to like it. I wanted to slag Hollywood for ruining a film that was an important part of my youth experience in films. But I read it and loved it."

For director Craig Gillespie, Farrell made Jerry enticingly bloodthirsty without bordering on cartoonish.

"Colin has such a strong, sexy alpha-male quality to him, but also a sense of humor. He's a sexy male villain with a sense of humor," says Fright Night director Craig Gillespie. "He's incredibly accessible as an actor, just to watch. He can convey a lot without dialogue."

The horror film opens a month after Farrell's pudgy, balding kung-fu master and ladykiller Bobby Pellitt terrorized Jason Sudeikis in the R-rated comedy hit Horrible Bosses. That's Farrell commanding Sudeikis to trim the fat by firing the more corpulent employees. He's only on-screen for minutes, but he went the comedic distance by burying his tousled, tattooed good looks under a fat suit and bald cap.

"He was a huge fan of looking as far from his usual self as possible. We made that belly for him. He was really excited to play such a purely evil guy," says Bosses director Seth Gordon. "He's amazing in this part and shows a whole new side of what he can do."

The lighter fare was a welcome working vacation for Farrell, after more serious work playing a conflicted, muddled hit man in 2008's In Bruges, which netted him a Golden Globe Award, and an alcoholic fisherman in Neil Jordan's 2009 romantic fable, Ondine.

"I'd just come off of playing men going through difficulty in their lives. So I told my agent I wanted to have some fun and do something that might have more comedy. In a fortnight, both of those scripts came."

Now, Farrell is spending his summer in Toronto, shooting Len Wiseman's remake of Total Recall. The new film, Farrell assures, is vastly different from the 1990 original that starred Arnold Schwarzenegger, and so to is Farrell's version of construction worker/freedom fighter Douglas Quaid. To embody him, Farrell amped up the workouts.

"I got in really good shape before we started filming. I worked out really hard and was watching my diet. It's been a long time since I'd done an action film. I bruise easier. I get a little bit weak, a little more fatigued, as the gig goes on."

To his friends and colleagues, Farrell is just as droll, as off-the-cuff, as he was as a carouser.

"It doesn't matter if he's having a beer or not. He's still fun to hang out with, whether it's at the gym or the dinner table," Gillespie says. "He's still really enjoying himself, but without (the alcohol). Some people may lose the sense of themselves when they stop that, but he shines."

In fact, says Irish playwright Martin McDonagh, who directed Farrell in the well-received In Bruges, the actor isn't quite as raucous as you'd think. "He's really sweet. He's got a little shyness to him that doesn't come across. I never saw much of his wild side. … Everything I know about him is the sensitive workaholic."

And he's one who's relaxed and puts those around him at ease, says Farrell's Fright Night co-star Imogen Poots.

"What surprised me is just how bright a person he is," Poots says. "He's so well-read. Intelligent. His personality is vibrant. He's great fun to be around, but also just super-chill."

Now, family comes first

In the fall, Farrell starts shooting the dialogue-heavy black comedy Seven Psychopaths for McDonagh, the talk of which gets the actor visibly excited. "It's smaller in scope. More immediate. More character-driven," he says.

McDonagh is reuniting with Farrell for a very simple reason: He likes him.

"He's one of the nicest guys I've met in this business. He has depth and honesty, and he's able to play the dark side, yet you still love him," the writer says.

Psychopaths is a passion project for Farrell, who first broke out as an unruly grunt in 2000's Tigerland. His career has been a mixed bag: For a hit like 2002's Minority Report, there's also Oliver Stone's epic 2004 flameout, Alexander. Sometimes Farrell does films strictly for the love. Other times, cash vies with artistic integrity — and that's OK.

"A big paycheck, absolutely. To be able to provide for my family, I'm not going to bitch about it," he says. "At times you feel like you have to apologize for being in big films. You have this notion of selling out. At this stage, I would love to do big films that are seen by a lot of people and do smaller films that probably emotionally mean more to me."

How driven is Farrell, who once dashed from movie to movie?

"I'm pretty clear on why I go to work now. Before Fright Night, I thought the last few years of work had been gratifying, and I loved it. Now I wanted to do something lighter," he says. "I understand and have a respect for being away that I didn't have for the first five, six, seven years. With two boys as well, I have a respect for missing people that are in my life, a respect for being away from my kids."

Farrell's sons, from separate relationships, both live in Los Angeles, as does he. His older son, James, has Angelman syndrome, a neuro-developmental disorder; James began walking before he turned 4 but cannot speak. If it's possible for a human to sparkle, Farrell does so when asked about his firstborn.

"Less and less and less do I see his condition. I'm just keenly aware of his personality. He's really cool," Farrell says. "He's so much fun to be around. I just am crazy about him. His health is good. We have the seizures under control. He's got an amazing team of people in his life."

Being with his boys is a priority for Farrell. "I went for seven years (working) back to back to back to back. That became my life. That's not the way it is now. I have more balance in regards to choosing things."

That's Farrell 2.0 speaking.

Colin Farrell: Doting dad to two sons

"James doesn't really care. We tried this once, years ago. He didn't care for it," says Farrell. "Actually, Henry is kind of bored with it already."

Farrell is a doting dad to his sons; Henry just visited him on the Toronto set of Total Recall, which Farrell is currently shooting with Jessica Biel. And Farrell brightens when asked about James, who has Angelman's Syndrome, a neuro-developmental disorder. The little boy started walking just before he turned 4, but does not have verbal speech.

"He's doing phenomenal. Less and less and less do I see his condition. I'm just keenly aware of his personality. He's really cool. He's got an amazing team of people in his life. We have the seizures under control. He helps us in a way to be better people. He's so much fun to be around. I just am crazy about him. His health is good," says Farrell. (http://www.cureangelman.org)

Colin Farrell a fan favorite with 'Fright Night, 'Total Recall'

Marti Noxon, the former Buffy the Vampire Slayer scribe who penned the Fright Night remake, said the Jerry from the original (played by Chris Sarandon, who narrated the panel) "missed a viciousness and sexuality that Colin Farrell has."

And later in the Total Recall panel, where Farrell talked about playing who realizes new truths about the world around him, he said he loved the Arnold Schwarzenegger original - the same thing he said about the first Fright Night earlier in the day.

"You can love two things, can't you?" Farrell asked. "I thought it was different enough and did not tread the same ground. I loved the idea of a man journeying from a deep, deep slumber to consciousness."

For fans, though, he was open and friendly. One girl asked Farrell for his Fright Night panel place card, and he got up from his chair to sign and give it to her, bending down to say hi. A camera guy went to capture the moment for the crowd, and ended up getting a shot of Farrell's slightly exposed backside.

Others asked about other projects and all things Farrell. Here's what he had to say:

Bad habits die hard: Farrell cracked jokes about his own past penchant for partying and alcohol. Talking about playing the next-door neighbor vampire Jerry, "he had to borrow a six-pack. Some reputations you just can't shake." And answering a question about putting on the fangs compared to having mojitos in Miami Vice: "I can certainly remember taking up fangs more than taking up mojitos. Miami Vice was a six-month blackout."

Reprising his supervillain Bullseye in another Daredevil movie: "Careful. I could kill you now with this Hershey's Kiss," he joked to a fan asking a question.

Tackling comedy in Horrible Bosses: "It was a case of, give me a bald cap and a belly. It was prop central," Farrell said before quipping, "It was just the first time I took my wig off."

Finding the right roles: "When I connect with the right script, my lips start moving to what I'm reading. It's kind of out of your control."

Accents: Farrell asked one fan to do her best Irish accent, and she complied. "It was like an America anccent but higher," he told her. "I grew up watching American television: A-Team, T.J. Hooker, Little House on the Prairie. I had the Amerian accent in my ear, and I think (an Irish accent is) harder for Americans: 'Get off of my Lucky Charms!' "

Doing a superhero movie: "I thought I was playing a superhero when I did Alexander. That didn't pan out. No more swords-and-sandals epics for me." (He agreed to do Bullseye again if Fright Night co-star Christopher Mintz-Plasse played Daredevil.)

'Fright Night's' Colin Farrell: 'I only play savage killers now'

"If they were fighting for a lump of meat, Jerry," said Farrell at a Friday (July 22) Comic-Con panel promoting the upcoming movie. "If they were fighting for the love of a woman, I'm afraid Cullen would have me."

Farrell plays a very different kind of vampire, though, than Pattinson's passionate and conscience-driven Edward. And different from the star of the original 1985 "Fright Night" -- Chris Sarandon -- who also appears in the 3-D redux and was on hand for the press conference.

"I felt more like a social parasite," said Farrell. "Someone who really did enjoy the threat he exposed to those around him. My guy would be nothing without fear he could instill in people. He treats humans like a cat treats a ball of wool -- as playthings, not just a source of sustenance."

Does having two young sons at home affect the kinds of roles Farrell chooses, asked one reporter.

"Yeah, I only like playing savage killers now."

"Fright Night" opens nationwide on Aug. 19.

Colin Farrell opens up during 'Fright Night' panel

The 35-year-old opened up during a panel featuring the update of "Fright Night" Friday at San Diego Comic-Con.

When a fan asked whether he preferred his earlier starring roles or his more recent character parts, Farrell said that in the last six years, he "reconnected with the mystery of the whole thing and the imagination of the whole thing and how much fun it is to be an actor."

He plays the vampire-next-door Jerry Dandrige in "Fright Night," a reimagining of the 1985 horror classic that's set for release Aug. 19.

Farrell, Aniston revel in being revolting bosses

Farrell's epic comb-over and outrageous orders ("I want you to fire the fat people") in the film opening today will have staying power long after its run in theaters. And Aniston's predatory behavior, not to mention a few well-chosen outfits, should pump life into a career that needed a jolt.

Her turn as supremely frisky Julia Harris, DDS, proves one rule of comedy: A small, quirky role can make moviegoers forget a DVD collection of past miscues. (The Switch, anyone?)

"This was such a departure," says director Seth Gordon of both Aniston's and Farrell's parts. "It's a great example of great actors using cameos to show an entirely different side of themselves."

People can see a whole lotta Aniston's new side as she slinks around in a barely there lab coat, eats food in an X-rated manner and speaks in a way that would have had her blackballed permanently from Central Perk.

"She took to it like she was meant to do this," Gordon says.

In fact, when Gordon saw her first rehearsal take, even he was shocked as the scripted words came out of Aniston's mouth.

"You know that kind of stunned laughter you cannot fully commit to because you cannot believe what just happened?" he asks. "It was so much better than even I could have imagined."

Inside the Actors Studio host James Lipton was floored when Aniston showed a saucy clip during a recent taping . "The first time she opened her mouth, my jaw dropped," he says. "The language is extraordinary. We'll have to bleep some of that. She does it with such relish."

Farrell added his own brand of nasty enthusiasm to his horrible boss, insisting on the disgusting physical appearance from the first brainstorming meeting.

"It was all Colin's idea," Gordon says. "He was like, 'How about a comb-over?' and 'Wouldn't it be great to have a belly?'"

Farrell suffered hours in the makeup chair as a result. But he succeeds, Gordon says, in letting the audience know "he just doesn't take himself too seriously."

Farrell inspired by Kong champ

Horrible Bosses director Seth Gordon sent the Irishman a copy of his hit documentary King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters, which chronicles the lives of die-hard gamers who compete for world records, to get into character as obnoxious Bobby Pellitt.

Gordon admits he wanted the character to look like Donkey Kong champion Billy Mitchell.

He tells WENN, “I think not only the wardrobe, the posture and the confidence, and being stuck in the ’80s were influenced in some way by Billy. It was wonderful that Colin was open to the role and really breathed life into it.

“At the first meeting, we talked about giving him a belly and a clubbing enthusiasm - and Colin wanted a comb-over. As soon as we saw the first attempt at that I knew it was right. You should have seen all the takes that Colin did. It was like channelling a demon.”

COLIN FARRELL REVEALS ORIGINS OF FRIENDSHIP WITH THE LATE ELIZABETH TAYLOR

“How did we become friends? You know, the old story of boy meets girl, and boy pesters girl with too many phone calls at inappropriate hours of the night,” Colin told Access Hollywood at CinemaCon 2011 in Las Vegas on Tuesday, recalling his memories of meeting the two-time Oscar winner, who died last week at the age of 79 of congestive heart failure.

Elizabeth first revealed the pair’s friendship earlier this year in an interview for the March issue of Harper’s Bazaar magazine, conducted by Kim Kardashian. At the time Dame Elizabeth told the young celebutante, “I love Johnny Depp, and I love Colin Farrell – both brilliant, nuanced actors with great range.”

On Tuesday, Colin told Access he was honored to have known the “Cleopatra” star.

“I was just lucky enough to become her friend in the last year and a half,” he said. “I adore her… still.”

As previously reported on AccessHollywood.com, Colin recited Gerard Manley Hopkins’ poem, “The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo” at her funeral and he revealed it was the actress herself who picked out the material.

The poem, about beauty fading with time, was reportedly a favorite of Elizabeth’s ex-husband Richard Burton, who recited it in his 1978 movie “Absolution” in a scene that was improvised.

“Elizabeth chose it. It was a tricky poem as well,” Colin laughed. “Even in passing she had me under the thumb, sweating bricks.”

Colin said someone else passed along the “A Place in the Sun” actress’ funeral reading request, and it was an offer he couldn’t refuse.

“She asked someone else to ask me [to read it],” Colin explained, adding he felt, “sad and honored” when he got the call.

“I just miss her; I just miss her; I just miss her,” he added.

Elizabeth was interred at the Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn Memorial Parks and Mortuaries in Glendale, Calif., the same location her longtime friend Michael Jackson was laid to rest in 2009.

To see the complete interview with Colin Farrell, tune in to “Access Hollywood” and “Access Hollywood Live” tomorrow, Wednesday, Marcy 30 (syndicated, check local listings or www.accesshollywood.com for times).

What Was Colin Farrell Doing at Elizabeth Taylor's Funeral?

New details about Elizabeth Taylor's private, multi-denominational memorial service were released today, among them word that the iconic screen legend had requested that the service begin at least 15 minutes later than publicly scheduled.

"She even wanted to be late for her own funeral," went the announcement. How's that for consummate style?

But that wasn't the only surprising revelation made this morning. Though it wasn't made immediately clear after yesterday's service who, if any, high profile mourners were in attendance, this morning it was confirmed that there was at least one star in attendance for the funeral, and it at least appears to be a bit of a head-scratcher: Colin Farrell.

And yes, the Irishman's rep confirms to E! News that it is the Colin Farrell.

And the actor wasn't just an attendee, but rather part of the one-hour service, as the star, described as a "close friend" of Taylor's, recited a poem by Gerard Manley Hopkins, "The Leaden Echo and the Golden Echo."

"How to keep—is there any any, is there none such, nowhere known some, bow or brooch or braid or brace, lace, latch or catch or key to keep back beauty, keep it, beauty, beauty, beauty…from vanishing away?" goes the poem.

"No there's none, there's none, o no there's none, nor can you long be, what you now are, called fair, do what you may do, what, do what you may."

It's unclear how the duo met, though it wasn't long ago that Taylor was publicly praising him, telling Kim Kardashian in her Harper's Bazaar interview earlier this year that he was one of the few current actors she would love to work with.

"I love Johnny Depp, and I love Colin Farrell—both brilliant, nuanced actors with great range," Liz said at the time.

Meanwhile, in addition to Colin, Taylor's son, Michael Wilding, her grandson, Tarquin Wilding, and daughter, Liza Burton Tivey, also read out selections during the service at The Great Mausoleum at Forest Lawn cemetery, while her grandson, Rhys Tivey, performed "Amazing Grace" on the trumpet.

Her casket was closed and covered in gardenias, violets and lily of the valley.

Meanwhile, the tributes still aren't done pouring in for the 79-year-old legend, as late last night, Demi Moore added to the still-flowing remembrances.

"It's taken me a day 2really grasp the loss of such a beautiful soul who touched the hearts saved lives &inspired the world Goodbye 2a true queen," she tweeted.

Rihanna Is Not Dating Colin Farrell

Reports circulated that the singer, 23, and actor, 34, were dating after they were both spotted at an L.A. restaurant on Wednesday night – and a source says they weren't there together.

"They are not dating," the source tells PEOPLE. "It was absolute coincidence they were at Giorgio Baldi at the same time. Colin was there at a business dinner and Rihanna was across the room."

And this isn't the first time rumors have swirled about the two celebrities getting cozy.

In February, reports circulated that they were "sexting" back and forth after meeting for the first time on the U.K.'s Graham Norton Show.

Those claims, the source says, are also false, and Farrell's rep has no comment.

Says the source: "There's no truth whatsoever to the reports and rumors that they're dating."

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'The Way Back' gets a little lost on the trip

So it got the setting right, but not necessarily the substance. Even when not being compared with those classics, it falls short in character development.

Locations in Bulgaria, India and Morocco lend an authenticity to the tale of escaped Soviet prisoners and their struggle to survive. There are exhilarating moments, and there are some undeniably tense scenes. Mixed in, however, is possibly more trudging than you're going to see in any other film.

Peter Weir is a masterful director. His first film, 1981's Gallipoli, was a stunning war epic. Even more commercial fare like The Truman Show (1998) and his last film, 2003's Master and Commander, have a singular artistry.

Loosely based on the true story of prisoners who escape a Siberian gulag, the story follows several men and a young girl across a treacherous 4,000 miles, including forbidding Siberian landscape and Mongolia's vast Gobi Desert.

The era is circa World War II, and the characters include Polish prisoner Janusz (Jim Sturgess), Russian thug Valka (Colin Farrell), American loner Mr. Smith (Ed Harris), and young Irena (Atonement's Saoirse Ronan). One in their group goes blind in the woods as they brave freezing temperatures and limited food and water. Others fight off hungry wolves and contemplate cannibalism.

Inspired by the 1956 book The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom, the movie ricochets between inspirational and tedious. No doubt the actual journey had a similar duality.

But the film, at more than two hours, feels overly long. Except for moments of aching despair, individual characters are not given distinct traits. They exhibit varying degrees of resourcefulness, but their personalities are drab, lost in the blizzards and grinding sandstorms, which make much more vivid impressions.

Irish actor Farrell's dialogue feels particularly forced. In a thick Russian accent, he says things like, "We've been going in circles like chicken without head." Screenwriter Keith Clarke's script is filled with similarly awkward clichés and hackneyed pep talks.

Still, it's an ambitious project. Weir meticulously researched the first-person accounts of those who made the journey.

This hike from hell lasted a year, no doubt drawing on reserves of endurance. Moviegoers may have to dip into their own reserves to see them through this film.

The Way Back
* * 1/2 (out of four)
Stars: Jim Sturgess, Ed Harris, Colin Farrell, Saoirse Ronan
Director: Peter Weir
Distributor: Newmarket Films
Rating: PG-13 for violent content, depiction of physical hardships, a nude image and brief, strong language
Running time: 2 hours, 13 minutes
Opens Friday in select cities

Review: 'The Way Back' vivid but drama-free

Veteran Australian director Peter Weir, a six-time Oscar nominee ("Witness," "The Truman Show"), has crafted an old-fashioned historical epic, inspired by the true story of a group of prisoners who escaped a 1940 Soviet labor camp and trudged thousands of miles across unforgiving terrain to their freedom. Not all of them made it, which we might have guessed on our own, but Weir — who co-wrote the screenplay with Keith Clarke, based on Slavomir Rawicz's book "The Long Walk" — informs us with a title card at the start that three men would walk out of the Himalayas at the end of this arduous journey.

The result: Despite the seriousness of the subject matter, the film loses some of its tension because we pretty much know the outcome, leaving us only to wonder who will live and who will die, as if we're watching an episode of "Survivor: Siberian Gulag."

And it is serious — or at least, it should be. Weir alternates between vivid, convincing images of the harsh surroundings — sweepingly shot on location in Bulgaria, Morocco and India — and detailed close-ups of the toll this trip has taken on the characters' faces, their bodies, and most especially their feet.

But except for Ed Harris as a mysterious American, Jim Sturgess as an idealistic Polish officer and Colin Farrell as an over-the-top Russian thug, the remaining characters are essentially interchangeable. Even though the film feels overlong, insufficient time was spent fleshing out these people to make them, and the threats to their lives, seem pressing and real.

That only emphasizes the film's episodic, almost video game-like structure: Now they're in a blizzard, now they're in the forest, now they're trekking through rocky terrain, now they're slogging across sand. Survive one level and then it's onto the next, and the next. The tension should be unbearable; instead, "The Way Back" feels like exactly what it is: a long, slow march toward death.

Saoirse Ronan livens things up as a young Polish woman traveling alone who hooks up with the group about halfway through — even though they're divided over whether to allow her to join them. Not only is she spirited and friendly, which helps draw out some of their back stories, but she also has handy-dandy items like soap, which they desperately need. Ronan's scenes with Harris, in which they develop a sort of father-daughter relationship, are some of the most satisfying; despite the seemingly insurmountable conditions, she maintains an almost ethereal quality, in stark contrast to his pragmatism.

The moments in which they bond make you wish there were more like them, and they come too late.

"The Way Back," a Newmarket Films release, is rated PG-13 for violent content, depiction of physical hardships, a nude image and brief strong language. Running time: 133 minutes. Two stars out of four.

Farrell fell apart after 'Alexander'

The Irish actor starred as Alexander the Great in Oliver Stone's 2004 epic, and was crushed by the negative reviews his performance generated.

Farrell subsequently fell into a slump and admits he felt the need to apologize to everyone who might have seen the movie.

He recalls, "That was tough. I say tough relative to a charmed life, but I'm not going to apologize for how much it affected me emotionally and psychologically. I was going to walk away from acting. I couldn't even buy a packet of cigarettes without feeling like I needed to say sorry to the guy behind the counter just in case he happened to see the thing."

The star became even more withdrawn following the box office failure of Miami Vice in 2006.

He adds, "I just completely fell to s--- on that one. It was literally the first time I couldn't say to anyone around me, 'Have I been late for work, have I missed any days, have I been hitting my marks?' Because the answers would have been yes, yes, and no... I lost the ability to be confident that I could make a change myself."

When the film wrapped, Farrell managed to turn his life around after a stint in rehab.

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Farrell eyed for 'Total Recall'

Rising stars Tom Hardy ("Inception") and Michael Fassbender ("Inglourious Basterds") are also in the mix for the Columbia Pictures film, which is looking at a late March start with Len Wiseman ("Underworld") behind the camera. No offers have been made to anyone yet.

The project is based on the Philip K. Dick story "We Can Remember It for You Wholesale." It follows a man haunted by a recurring dream of journeying to Mars who buys a literal dream vacation from a company called Rekall Inc., which sells implanted memories. The man comes to believe he is a secret agent and ends up on a Martian colony, where he fights to overthrow a despotic ruler controlling the production of air.

One big question is how the remake, with a script by Kurt Wimmer ("Salt"), will tackle one of Dick's favorite topics, reality vs. delusion, with audiences never knowing whether the movie was a dream. Christopher Nolan just reinvigorated the concept with the detailed dreamscapes he built into "Inception."

But a bigger question is whether the actors the studio is keen on are available.

Farrell just might be, although the Irish actor will likely star alongside Eric Bana in "Up in the Air" co-writer Sheldon Turner's crime drama "By Virtue Fall," which will shoot in January. He would be finished in time to jump right into "Recall."

If Farrell does head to Mars, it will be his second shot at a high-profile Hollywood career. Since appearing in studio movies such as "Daredevil," "S.W.A.T.," "Miami Vice" and "Alexander," the actor has lately been sticking to lower-budgeted homegrown fare, such as an uncredited role in the Oscar-winner "Crazy Heart."

But he recently wrapped DreamWorks' 3D remake of "Fright Night," in which he plays the villainous vampire, as well as New Line's "Horrible Bosses," in which he plays one of the jefes in question.

Hardy, meanwhile, has found his dance card filling up ever since appearing in Nolan's "Inception." The English actor is currently in Vancouver shooting "This Means War," the McG-directed movie which stars Chris Pine and Reese Witherspoon. In addition, his 2011 is already packed. He is said to be reteaming with Nolan for the filmmaker's third Batman movie, which shoots in the spring and summer. In the fall, Hardy will star in the Mad Max sequel "Fury Road."

Fassbender, another rising star thanks to his turn in "Inglourious Basterds," is in pre-production on "Shame," an indie being directed by Steve McQueen, and is also shooting "X-Men: First Class" in England.

Colin Farrell Quietly Splits from His Girlfriend

The two are parents to a son Henry Tadeusz Farrel, who was born last year. Farrell is also dad to 7-year-old son, James, with model Kim Bordenave.

Bachleda, 27 and Farrell, 34, met on the set of last year's Ondine, which they costarred in. At the premiere, Bachelda told PEOPLE of their romance: "We were very professional and focused on our part and our jobs. The story itself is so beautiful … we really didn't have time to get our true emotions [on screen]."

Farrell's camp had no comment on the split. The actor has been busy filming back-to-back movies recently.

Farrell will not play Ozzy

The former Black Sabbath frontman and his music manager wife Sharon are keen to transform the rocker's colourful past into a movie, and the rock matriarch has spoken of her desire to cast Johnny Depp in the lead role.

Osbourne recently admitted he would prefer an unknown actor from his native Birmingham, England to land the part - but online reports suggested fellow reformed wildman Farrell had signed up to play the Prince of Darkness.

However, the Phone Booth hunk's spokesperson has quickly denied the speculation, telling GossipCop.com the rumour is "not true".

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