ThunderCats concept art

Remember ThunderCats!?!? Man the 80's gave us some really great TV shows; for us prepubescent boys anyway. "Transformers", "Voltron" (as we reported last week), and now "ThunderCats" will all be adapted for the big screen. ThunderCats will be a cgi, animated movie brought to you by Warner Brothers. Movieline.com has revealed the never-before-seen pictures. The first being the main character, Lion-O. Enjoy!

The Lorax, a Dr. Seuss classic coming to theaters

Variety reported yesterday that Universal Pictures purchased the rights to a Dr. Seuss classic, "The Lorax". The book was originally published in 1971 and it tells the story of a little creature who is environmentally friendly. Sounds like a good idea with all this talk of Global Warming. It will be done in much the same style as Horton Hears a Who, 3D animation.

This news is fine with me, as long as we don't get another The Cat in the Hat. My god, that movie was awful, even children should be offended at how dumb that movie is. How the Grinch Stole Christmas though, now that's another story. I loved Jim Carrey in that.

Either way, Dr. Seuss classics are coming to life as the years go by. Good thing? Or should they stay a creative part of a child's imagination? You be the judge.

Quickie: Toy Story 1 and 2 3D teaser trailer

Maybe you knew this, maybe you didn't, but Toy Story and Toy Story 2 are both being re-released in 3D. This will come just before the released of the highly anticipated sequel, Toy Story 3. Here's the trailer to tease you all until the release date.

'Toy Story 1 and 2' 3D Teaser Trailer @ Yahoo! Video

Jonah Hex becoming more and more real

Jonah Hex is a western comic book series that is published by DC Comics. The character made his first appearance in 1972 and quickly became a fan favorite. Now, of course he's not as popular as the other DC properties like Superman and Batman, but I think that's because he's a little different. He's an anti-hero of sorts, kind of like Wolverine is to the Marvel Comics universe.

Nonetheless, the movie will be out shortly. Here's a couple of tid bits about the movie:

It will be directed by Jimmy Hayward, who comes from an animation background with Pixar. He's animated on movies like Toy Story, A Bug's Life, Toy Story 2, Monster's Inc., Finding Nemo, Robots and Horton Hears a Who. Wow, good list of movies.

The movie stars Josh Brolin from No Country For Old Men (a personal favorite of Matt and I).

Also stars the always terrific John Malkovich, you all know him from Con Air and maybe even Rounders.

Eye candy: Megan Fox... a freakin' terrible across who built a career solely based on her looks. Oh well, she wont have to do much in this movie OTHER than look good.


We just discussed in the posting prior to this one, how the comic book genre is in full swing, and we don't see any signs of it slowing down! Warner Bros. is taking on the film, and they know a thing or two about superhero movies.

Castlevania video game adaptation a reality

Dave McNary at Variety reported today that Castlevania, the popular video game would be adapted to the big screen. The game is about Vampires battling Belmonts every hundred or so years. Steven Paul is producing (Ghost Rider). Saw director, James Wan, has signed on to direct the film. The video game first came onto the scene in 1986 in Japan. Crystal Sky Entertainment bought the rights to a picture in 2005, but nothing ever took off because of the Writer's strike.

My only worry with this news is that a new trend will begin, the video game adaptation trend. I don't think I have much to worry about though. In order for a trend like this to occur: A. The movies have to be good, and B. They need to make a lot of money. That's what lead to the Comic Book movie trend we're seeing a lot of these days. A. The movies are good, i.e. Iron Man and The Dark Knight. And B. They're making a lot of money, i.e. Wanted and Ghost Rider!

Does anyone else see this trend coming? Before you answer, remember that Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time and Tekken are coming soon.

Quickie: Nearly 4 minutes of G.I. Joe

Browsing around vimeo.com, and I came across this video of Director Stephen Sommers explaining the Paris chase scene in G.I. Joe. I have to be honest, this movie looks terrible. I could tell which shots were legit versus the CGI (computer generated images) ones. Darn man, why does Hollywood keep finding ways to ruin recycled material?! J-K. Well I'm not kidding, but this movie had so much potential, I'm already writing this one off. See the entire video, and let us know what you think.


G.I. JOE - Stephen Sommers in Paris from PPC Interactive on Vimeo.

Quickie: X-Men Origins: Wolverine hits DVD on Sept. 15th

It was inevitable, X-Men Origins: Wolverine had to come to DVD sooner or later, and the date has been set. September 15th will be the official release date for the DVD. I will probably buy the DVD only because my collection must go on, even if I didn't like the movie. As a comic book fan and a fan of this film genre, I really think it could have been so much better. If you're curious, here's my original review of the film. Here are the specs, provided by Comingsoon.net.

Two-Disc Special Edition Specs:

The X-Men Origins: Wolverine 2-Disc Special Edition DVD is presented in widescreen (FOX TO PROVIDE ASPECT RATIO) with English 5.1 Dolby Surround and French / Spanish Dolby Surround along with English / French / Spanish subtitles. Special features include:

Disc One:

Commentary by Director Gavin Hood

Commentary by Producers Lauren Shuler Donner and Ralph Winter

The Roots of Wolverine: A Conversation with X-Men creators Stan Lee and Len Wein

“Wolverine Unleashed: The Complete Origins” featurette

Deleted and Alternate Scenes

Alternate Tag Scene: Japan

Anti-Smoking PSA: Bubbles


Disc Two:

Digital Copy

Voltron is a go, producers hired

Does anyone remember Voltron? The 1980's cartoon about five pilots who command machines, which combine into one huge robot! The news that Voltron is becoming a movie came out months ago. We're still young at AtD so we're just now reporting this. The Hollywood Reporter states that producers have been hired for the project. Charles Roven, Richard Suckle and Steve Alexander have been brought on board. The trio has produced movies like Get Smart, The International and The Dark Knight. A decent list if I'd say so!

Sony Pictures owns the rights to the movie, and I doubt they'll let it go. The challenge now is, how to make a movie different from Transformers and The Power Rangers? I seriously don't have the answer. Does anyone have any suggestions? Please voice your opinion in the comment section.

Picture from Deviant art, artist: JPRart

King Kong prequel coming soon

Variety is reporting that Spirit Pictures has picked up the rights to the book: "Kong: King of Skull Island". Both a prequel and a sequel to "King Kong". A tv writer, Andy Briggs, is writing the script. I don't think the studio will get Peter Jackson to direct, his price tag is way too high for a smaller studio. It would be nice if the studio shelled out enough money for decent special effects, as seen in 2005's King Kong.

Buuut, the studio is going in another direction; it has opted for motion capture technology like The Polar Express used, as well as the upcoming Disney's: A Christmas Carol. The 2005 movie had a "budget [that] climbed from an initial US$150 million to a record-breaking $207 million", states Wikipedia. HOLY WOW. That's a lot of money. We'll see that happens as time goes on. I was thinking to myself the other day that a King Kong sequel is overdue, even if I wasn't a fan of the Peter Jackson film.

Why do video game movies suck?

Will Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time break the curse of bad video game movies? I seriously hope so. I read a great article today by Jenni Miller at cinematical about why video game movies are not that great. Click the link to check it out.

It's good question to ponder. Books, plays and short stories make for great movies, but video games do not? Why? Maybe the right people haven't been placed in a position to do so. Maybe there isn't enough detail in a video game to create a world on film. Whatever it may be, we need better video game movies! Comment after the jump. The two pictures are courtesy of Geek Tyrant. Looks simply amazing! Wow... I can't wait for this movie.

G-Force tops Harry Potter at this week's box office

Wow... Matt and I made a conscious decision not to post information unless it was something we're passionate about, I'm sorry we're going against that right now. G-Force, the Disney 3D animation picture has taken this week's box office from Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince. The movie opened to 32+ million dollars. Harry Potter followed suit with 30 million dollars. The other movies opening this week were The Ugly Truth which took in a respectable 27 million dollars, and Orphan, taking in 12.8 million dollars.

Yes G-Force made a lot of money, but that was to be expected with the hype, and it being a family friendly pic. The surprise of the week was The Ugly Truth starring Katherine Heigl and Gerard Butler. Their chemistry was obviously playing well to audiences because Rotten Tomatoes gave the picture a horrible 15% approval rating from critics. But the crowds have spoken and Heigl and Butler are the new Queen and King of the Rom-Com genre. Here are the rest of the top ten:

1. "G-Force," $32.2 million.

2. "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," $30 million.

3. "The Ugly Truth," $27 million.

4. "Orphan," $12.8 million.

5. "Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs," $8.2 million.

6. "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen," $8 million.

7. "The Hangover," $6.5 million.

8. "The Proposal," $6.4 million.

9. "Public Enemies," $4.2 million.

10. "Bruno," $2.7 million.

Quickie: Heath Ledger's final role

Good morning on this fabulous Sunday in July, in Southern California where it's 95 degrees and it's not even noon yet. Anyway... this clip has been online for about a month now and we're kind of ashamed of ourselves for not discussing it earlier. It's Heath Ledger's final role in Terry Gilliam's The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus. We're not hearing an awful lot of news about it, but it did play well at a few film festivals. But it's important to note Ledger's amazing talent. He sucks you into this scene. A scene within a movie you know nothing about. But his brilliance will live on an his legacy cemented as one of the greatest actors gone too soon. Enjoy.

'The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnussus' Can You Put a Price on Dream @ Yahoo! Video

Quickie: Pirates of the Caribbean 4 starts shooting next spring

We at AtD are fans of the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, but even bigger fans of Johnny Depp. Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is reported to start filming next spring reports comingsoon.net. Disney's head of production, Oren Aviv, had this to say:

We're going to shoot 'Pirates 4' in April or May of next year. We are going to release it hopefully in 2011 is the plan... hopefully be the first of another trilogy.

Sounds like we've got 4, 5 and 6 ahead of us!? Stay tuned for more!

Quickie: TRON Legacy teaser trailer!

Holy wow... I remember seeing TRON as a kid and wondering, 'how the heck did they do that'. Here we are some 27 years later, I'm watching the trailer to TRON Legacy and wondering... HOW THE HELL DID THEY DO THAT!?!?! The movie will be 3D and obviously released by Disney. The story will follow Jeff Bridges son, as he tries to find his lost father. Enjoy this one folks!

Quickie: The Book of Eli trailer

Denzel Washinton in The Book of Eli! This is set for release January 15th, 2010. This is a movie set in post-apocalyptic America with some great action sequences and cinematography. See what you think and let us know with your comments. Enjoy!

Quickie: Hot Tub Time Machine red band trailer

This comedy looks promising, I love all of the leads and their previous work. Check it out and leave us a comment on what you think!

Quickie: Warner Brothers looking for an Aquaman script

Anyone love Entourage like Matt and I do? Well, a dream is going to be soon realized... an Aquaman movie! The Hollywood Reporter states that Leonardo DiCaprio's production company, Appian Way, is in charge of getting the movie on its feet. In Entourage, an HBO fictional show, the main character plays Aquaman in a big budget film directed by James Cameron. Rumors have been flying for years about this movie getting a scribe and director. The CW had success with the character as a guest on Smallville and eventually had a pilot for an Aquaman show; which they decided not to pick up. The pilot was number one on iTunes for over a year. Now? Now we wait and see.

Quickie: Iron Man 2 is a wrap

Production wrapped on Iron Man 2 this week and so the film moves to post-production where we get all those killer special effects added. Above are some new pictures to coincide with the pictures my colleague Matt posted earlier. Enjoy and let's all hope this is a better sequel than Revenge of the Suck. You know what I'm talking about!

Quickie: Sam Raimi to Direct World of Warcraft

AICN and Variety are both reporting that Sam Raimi has signed on to direct a World of Warcraft movie adaptation. The director of the Spider-Man franchise is to begin developing and directing AFTER Spider-Man 4 has wrapped. Legendary Pictures has been trying to get the movie up and running for a few years now; so I wouldn't be totally surprised if this gets pushed back until after Spider-Man 5. So keep it here for updates all you World of Warcraft fans.

Quickie: Alice in Wonderland Teaser Trailer!

'Alice in Wonderland' Teaser Trailer

Just enjoy!

Quickie: "Prince of Persia" posters!

The official posters of "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time" have been released by Empire, and they look great.

I remember Tony being excited for this movie ever since the first pictures were released of Jake Gyllenhaal in costume. I myself rushed out and got my hands on a copy of the best-selling PS2 game to play before the movie comes out.

The film is being directed by Mike Newell ("Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire"), so there should be a decent amount of story. It's being produced by action movie producer guru Jerry Bruckheimer, so I'm guessing that this movie will most likely feature cool looking acrobatic moves over the story. The movie, after all, is based on the Ubisoft video game series, which itself is based on a classic side-scrolling game. I hope these posters will prove me a bit wrong...

The movie will co-star Sir Ben Kingsley Alfred Molina, and Gemma Arterton as the Princess.

Let's hope the film's look and feel match the artsy feeling of these posters.
Awesome work from Disney here.

Quickie: Casting News for "RED"

Summit Entertainment recently hired on Bruce Willis for their adaptation of the comic book "Red" by Warren Ellis.

Now Slashfilm is reporting that Morgan Freeman is in talks to star alongside Willis in this real-life telling of the 3-issue mini-series first published in 2003.

The film is being produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura ("Transformers").

Here is the official comic description from Wildstorm:

"As a C.I.A. operative, Paul Moses’s unique talent for killing took him around the world, from one hotspot to another, carrying out the deadly orders of his superiors. And when he retired, he wanted to put his bloody past behind him. But when a new administration takes over the White House, the powers that be decide that Moses knows too much, forcing him back into the game against the agency that trained him."

We're curious to know if they will try to adapt the comic's unique style. Can't wait to see the trailer for this one!

Quickie: Van Damme Is Back

It looks like Jean Claude Van Damme is back to making 80s-style action movies.

This new promo video for "The Eagle Path" looks just like the good old days for Van Damme, before turning into a serious actor for his film "JCVD," featuring bad guys' heads being slammed into pipes that release steam on impact, a wheelchair-ridden shotgunning bad guy, and a hottie in despair who likes showing a lot of skin.

Oh well. At least he gained much respect as an actor for "JCVD" and showed us that he has a sense of humor.

And now he's back doing what he does best.

Check out the teaser below.

Quickie: Leo's "Twilight Zone"

According to Variety, Leonardo DiCaprio's production company Appian Way is planning a new "Twilight Zone" film, and they've already hired writer/director Rand Ravich ("The Astronaut's Wife") to get crackin' at the script.

The original series ran from 1959 to 1964 and has already had one movie released in 1983. The newer incarnations of the show featured mostly remakes of original stories and concept from the tv show, which was created and hosted by Rod Sterling (who also wrote the show). It will be no surprise if Ravich plans on borrowing old concepts for this new film. It's a little like tradition.

Quickie: Resident Evil 4

The most awesome Milla Jovovich will be coming back for a 4th time as "Alice" in "Resident Evil: Afterlife" reports ShockTillYouDrop.

There is no director attached just yet, but the film already has an expected release date of September 17, 2010.

The action movie will loosely follow the basic elements of the video game franchise, much like the first 3 installments.

I personally loved the first two. I thought they had just the right amount of pointless zombie killing action fun. Plus Milla. You can't go wrong with a gorgeous woman who can kick ass and just happens to be a fine actress.

I haven't seen the third one, but I'm sure it was on par with the other two. After all, they made a combined $378 million in worldwide box offices.

Quickie: "Machete" Casting News

2007's "Grindhouse," which had two separate features films directed by Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino respectively, had faux movie trailers in between the real two features. One of the trailers was for an action picture called "Machete," starring Danny Trejo (Con Air) as a machete-wielding Mexican ex-Federale bent on revenge after being double-crossed by a corrupt state senator named McLaughlin.

Well Robert Rodriguez is now bringing this entertaining little trailer to life in the form of a full-length feature.

Bloody Disgusting has posted some very interesting casting news recently.
Aside from the obvious Danny Trejo being cast as "Machete," they are reporting that Michelle Rodriguez (Fast & Furious) is set to play the character "Luz," Jonah Hill (Superbad) will play "Julio," and the Robert DeNiro will play "Senator McLaughlin."

Hmmm... I can see Michelle Rodriguez cast in this movie. That makes sense.
And Robert DeNiro being cast, while totally awesome, isn't much of a shocker either. Tarantino and DeNiro have strong ties leading back to "Jackie Brown," and seeing how Tarantino and Rodriguez are very close friends, this one is very possible.

The surprise here is Jonah Hill. This news, if true, leads me to believe that the film will probably have the same underlying comedy cheesiness of the original trailer.

Any thoughts?

Quickie: Aussie Casted in "Twilight" Sequel

The Hollywood Reporter announced the news that Australian actor Xavier Samuel will play the character Riley in the "Twilight" Saga sequel "Eclipse," the third installment of the popular book series by Stephanie Meyer.

If you're a fan of Aussie cinema, you may have seen him in the films "Newcastle" or "September." This will be his first U.S. role.

This is the first major casting news for "Eclipse." The film is expected to start shooting next month in Vancouver with Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart and Troy Lautner.

Quickie: Scarlett as Black Widow in IM2

The latest Entertainment Weekly issue was kind enough to publish these exclusive photos of Scarlett Johansson as the Russian Natasha Romanoff, aka "Iron Man's" Black Widow.

Friday's issue includes a full Comic Con preview and features the "Iron Man" cast on the cover.

We here at AtD are glad she isn't looking quite like her usual self and notice that the suit looks a lot more like it's from the real world then taken out of a comic book. While it's a cool idea, I hope it looks a little more cartoony than that, just to match the feels of Downey Jr. and Rourke's costumes.

Although I'm diggin' the red hair.

Can't wait for IM2!

Quickie: Thor casting news

/film has reported Natalie Portman has signed on to co-star in the Comic book movie, Thor. This is very exciting news for me personally because I'm a huge fan of the Marvel Comic movie genre and know they would not allow anything less than stellar performances. She will play Jane Foster, opposite Thor's human alter ego. I loved Iron Man and The Incredible Hulk, and those were both produced and released by Marvel. Portman has seriously managed a great career so far. The Professional was ground break and controversial, and an instant classic! We'll give you the news as soon as we get it.

Quickie: Scream 4 casting news

Hey everyone... I'm in the Middle East STILL keeping you up to date about the latest movie news. Looks like Scream 4 is a total go and we have some casting news. David Arquette and Courtney Cox have signed on to do the damn thing. Let's be honest though, it's not like either of them reallllllly have anything else going on. I mean Arquette is a B-list actor and Cox's tv show "Dirt" was canceled a little over a year ago. So I'm not totally surprised at the news. But Wes Craven, director of the original trilogy has not signed on yet. We'll keep you updated as the news comes in. Miss all our readers!

Guest Review: Tanya M: "Public Enemies"

“Public Enemies” is one of the greatest ‘criminal’ movies I have ever seen.
Yes. That’s huge.
I loved so many things about this movie I don’t even know where to start.

Let's start with the story. The movie is about one of the greatest gangsters from the Depression era, John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). Based on a book about Dillinger, this movie is said to be the most accurate retelling of his life. Dillinger is a bank robber whose charisma and Robin Hood-like character make him the people’s hero, but his success and ability to jump prisons make him the law enforcement’s number one ‘public enemy.’ The FBI creates a special division to bring down Dillinger and his counterparts. The man they ask to head the division is Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale). That, without giving away anything, is the story.

The beauty of this movie is not so much the story but the way in which the director brings it to life. Michael Mann takes an epic movie and adds the artiness of an indie. He seamlessly weaves different forms of storytelling, with random shots that should seem out of place but instead just create a beautiful, eclectic piece of art. And that is what this film really is – ART. So, while I can understand how some people might find parts of the story a bit slow, or things a little too mismatched, I find that those elements made the story that much better.

Then there’s Johnny.
I was trying to explain this to someone but couldn’t but I’m going to try again. Ok. So, there’s a scene in the beginning of the movie and Johnny has to make this decision in the back of a getaway car (that’s all I’ll say) and after he makes the hard, but right, call he turns and just frowns… but I swear I’ve never seen this man’s face frown this way before. Like I’ve never seen his mouth bend down on the sides that way before. I have this innate ability to catch on to mannerisms in different actors but this man does what an actor is supposed to do and creates new mannerisms for each new character he portrays. I’m telling you, and I know how crazy this sounds, I saw this scene and my mouth dropped. I could go on about his accent, his walk, the way he jumps over the bank counter… but I’ll just say that Johnny Depp does not disappoint in this one. The same goes for Christian Bale, again, another amazing performance. Also, for the people who care, the scenes they share are fun to watch – but there aren’t nearly enough. The star-studded cast also includes the amazing Marion Cotillard. No one disappoints. Oh and for the fans of Channing Tatum – he’s in the movie! It’s short, because let’s face it the man has the looks but that’s about it at this point.

Something that really made the movie amazing for me is the way they played with the music and sound effects. Some scenes were eerily quite, reminiscent of “No Country for Old Men,” they rely exclusively on the power of the actor’s voice. Other scenes not only use music to explain things, the music becomes a part of the storyline. I can’t explain it better than that.

After the movie was over I learned some interesting things like the fact that the whole movie only covers a 13-month period – which doesn’t mean much until you see the film. Also, a number of scenes were filmed in the actual locations in which they occurred.

I went to see "Public Enemies" with two other girls who have very different tastes in movies, and all three of us loved the movie. I’ve read the reviews, I understand what the critics haven’t liked and I understand that this story has been told before, but I disagree with the argument that this movie is unneeded.

“Public Enemies” is a thoroughly enjoyable, well-made movie that serves as a much-needed break from this summer’s line of cheap commercial hits.

Quickie: Funny People red band trailer

Enough said, simply enjoy.

Quickie: Cameron Diaz in talks for The Green Hornet

Cameron Diaz blew up in Hollywood with a superhero movie of sorts, The Mask, starring Jim Carrey. So it's not too far fetched that she would be in talks to star alongside Seth Rogen in The Green Hornet. This is just talk, but we'll hopefully have confirmation by next week. Picture courtesy of backseatcuddler.com.

Quickie: Michael Moore calls his movie, Capitalism: A Love Story

I have to say, I enjoy Michael Moore's documentaries. His mix of comedy and information has always been fun, despite very sensitive issues discussed in his films. Last month a teaser of sorts was released to promote his upcoming film about the country's recession and the government's choices of bailouts. Today its official title was announced... Capitalism: A Love Story. Check out the trailer below.

Quickie: Live-action Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie a go

Mirage Studios is taking on the turtles, figuratively of course. All we know is the movie will have a "hybrid" look of cgi and live-action. Plus it is a complete reboot, not a sequel to the 1990's movies. It will look at the origin story of the turtles and also include Shredder and the Foot Clan. Can't wait for this one, hope they don't screw it up, I grew up on these characters and will be personally offended if it fails! Ha!

Tony: Push DVD Review, it's so bad, it's a top ten worst movie pick

Push came out on DVD and Blu-Ray yesterday. I saw the previews, knew a little bit about what the story was, but didn't read any reviews of it. I didn't get a chance to go to the movies to see it, so I waited for it come out on DVD. I watched it last night... aaaaaaaaand HATED IT! You've read my rant about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen? This movie is worse! The movie stars Chris Evans, Dakota Fanning and Djimon Hounsou. The movie has a pretty cool premise actually, it's basically about military test humans, who become X-Men. Yeah, I said X-Men, as in comic book superheros. There are sniffers, screamers, watchers, yada, yaddddas, and yada yadas.

These experiments include creating people with special powers. But the script is so bad, so filled with plot holes, bounces around between the future, the past and the present, you don't know what is going on. So? If you're going to have a movie that is not about story or script, there's a ton of action to substitute correct? Wrong. There is only one "action" sequence at the end of the movie which does NOT make up for the first two hours. The special powers are so silly, you're not impressed by them. By the end of the movie, you should WANT the special powers the characters have, not hate them.

The acting is sub par considering the stars of the movie. Dakota Fanning does well in a full cast of adults, she really holds her own. Chris Evans just has a lost look on his face the whole movie. And as far as Djimon Hounsou, I've already seen him in this movie... oh wait, it was called The Island! In that movie he was an agent trying to recover the people who got away. Come on man... seriously?

The director did nothing, NOTHING to help this horrible script. His choice of wardrobe, set design, score, nothing helps. The telekinetic powers look great, and that's it. I want someone, anyone to go rent this movie, DON'T BUY IT, please don't waste that much money. Rent it, and write a short review, I'll post it, I want confirmation about how bad this movie is.

Quickie: Mortal Kombat 3 coming soon?

/slashfilm is reporting that a Mortal Kombat 3 movie could start filming as early as September of this year. Warner Bros. studios just acquired Midway Games which owns the Mortal Kombat properties. Its not that far fetched to think they would make another sequel. I personally was a fan of the first two, I know I'm probably alone on this. But I grew up playing the game and knew the characters, so it was very cool for me to be able to see them on the big screen. When the first film was released, special effects weren't that outstanding. Now, 15 years later, the special effects for a movie of this type should be pretty spectacular. Let's just hope it's nothing like Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li, yikes!

Quckie: Da Vinci Code sequel released today

Hey everyone, remember that small, independent film called The Da Vinci Code? Well that movie made a boat load of money and so did it's sequel Angels and Demons. Today Random, a publishing company, released the third book in the series from Dan Brown today, called "The Lost Symbol". All three books feature the symbolist Robert Langdon, played by Tom Hanks in the first two films. This novel takes place in the U.S. and Columbia pictures has already secured the rights to the film version of the book. That will probably start filming next year. No word yet if Tom Hanks will return or if Ron Howard will direct. I'm betting they will, these have become very successful movies and they'll want to stay on success train. Anyone care?

Blade spin-off starring... Stephen Dorff?

I hope this is the ultimate in bs hype. In my opinion, the Blade franchise brought back the cool of superhero movies. It combined story and special effects that few movies could before it. In 1998, I doubt Marvel Comics expected the first film to become a three film trilogy, but it did. Despite what everyone thinks, Blade: Trinity is bad ass! The first film obviously starred Wesley Snipes and Stephen Dorff. Stephen Dorff, you don't know Stephen Dorff? Don't worry, no one else does either.

Dorff played the villain in the first movie and there are rumors a new movie is in development surrounding his character. It is more a prequel than a sequel; a way to see how Dorff's character, Deacon Frost, came to be. Normally we ignore rumor and hearsay when it comes to this kind of news. In this case however, the director of Blade, Stephen Norrington, also confirmed the rumor. Here's what Dorff had to say about it to The Sunday Mail:

It will be a prequel to the Blade movies, Deacon's story. It's a new trilogy the director has created. It will cool. We hope to shoot the first film next year. Frost is a character I have never been able to shake.

Are you serious? No one knows you for anything else BUT Deacon Frost. Dorff is actually not even that bad of an actor, but who the heck is this guy's agent? Anyway. I doubt this all will happen. Marvel is holding their properties so close to the chest that I really don't see them letting go of a viable, commercially successful Blade franchise to just anyone. So we'll have to wait and see. Would you go watch a Deacon Frost focused movie?

Guest Review: Albert D: "The Proposal"

After seeing the previews to this chick flick, and Friday night rolling around, I had to choose between either this movie or “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen,” and girlfriend demanded we had to watch “The Proposal.”
I’ve always liked Sandra Bullock and Ryan Reynolds, and when I got the hint that they would be paired up in a comedy chick flick I gave in pretty quickly to the girlfriend’s demands.

The movie’s plot is basic. Sandra Bullock plays Margaret Tate and Ryan Reynolds plays Andrew Paxton. They both work for a book publishing company. Margaret is the head editor. She’s the typical in-your-face, “I-will-fire-you-for-breathing-too-hard” kind of boss, and demands perfection from all of her employees at all times. This includes her personal assistant Andrew, who spends every waking moment on call to his boss’ needs to make sure every single one of her demands are met on time and without fuss. Margaret gets notice that she’s about to be deported back to Canada for an expired visa, and blackmails her assistant Andrew into marrying her so she can stay in the country for good. Andrew uses this opportunity to make a few demands himself, which forces their relationship to flip around, giving Andrew the upper hand, and he begins to take control of things.

To make their marriage seem more legitimate to authorities, they decide to take a trip to see Andrew’s family in the great state of Alaska, in which they have to spend the weekend together to learn everything about each other. Let the games begin! From here on out the real movie begins and it is pure, non-stop comedy.

The casting in this movie couldn’t have been any better. I really didn’t have a doubt in my mind that Ryan Reynolds was going to own the comedic part of this movie, but I was dead wrong. It was all Sandra Bullock. Her performance reminds me of the movie she did a while back called “Two Weeks Notice” with Hugh Grant. This is the same kind of witty comedy you’d expect from her. The movie also stars Betty White. Yep, that’s right; the Golden Girl is back in the house, who I heard “steals the movie,” and I’ll back that statement up a hundred percent. And if you’re fan of “The Office” on NBC, be sure to check out Oscar Nuñez. He doesn’t have many lines in the movie, but you’re going to laugh your butt off at the madness of his role.

This movie is going to go down as an instant classic in my book, the kind of movie that you could see over and over, I personally want to see it again just to hear all the lines I missed from everyone laughing so loud. All and all, good stuff, go see it.

Guest Review: Albert D.: "Up"

Pixar doesn’t know how to stop making great movies. This isn’t one of their greatest, but it still kicks everyone else’s butt in animation.
I didn’t know much about the movie until I actually saw it. Their trailers didn’t really explain the plot other then there was a house, and it was going up! But that didn’t stop me from continuing to support Pixar. I can’t stand it when a movie has such little content that the trailer needs to show every single thing about a movie in order to draw some freaking appeal. It' pathetic. But I guess you can’t blame trailers, because so many movies come out now a days, it’s hard to choose what to watch and what not to watch.

"Up" was a different movie then Pixar usually makes. It drew tears of sadness, and tears for joy. Pixar really took animation to a new level to touch a person’s emotions. Carl Fredrickson, “the old man”, recently lost his wife and begins a new chapter of his life to pursue a dream they both had on his own, and finds a little help on the way. Mr. Fredrickson was living in a world beyond his own, and was soon being forced into a retirement home. He decides there’s nothing left for him now but to finally get away to a place he and his late wife had dreamed of their whole lives. All he needed was a compass, supplies, thousands of balloons, and the little piece of paradise in South America. His sidekick is an 8 year old boy named Russell, who is trying to help Mr. Fredrickson in order to receive his wilderness explorer "assisting the elderly" badge. Along the way he finds help from a curious pet bird, and a brave talking dog. They battle to help the bird, who Russell named Kevin, get back to her babies against a man named Charles Muntz that Mr. Fredrickson used to idolize as a child. Charles Muntz wanted to prove to the rest world that he was the ultimate explorer and the rare bird named Kevin was the missing link to prove it. He’s protected and cared for by a crew of talking dogs.

Like I said this movie was extremely entertaining, just not one of Pixar’s best. It’s hard to top movies like "The Incredibles," or "Ratatouille," but it's still amazing in its own right. It had very little dialog, like "Wall-E," but way more of a human element.
The other thing I like about Pixar movies is that they appeal to all ages. Most movies can’t do that. Most movies really focus their attention on a specific genre of people, whether it's a chick flick, comedy, action, or drama. Pixar, on the other hand, really packs a punch and includes a little bit of everything. Movies like this one really show that animated movies are going to stay in high demand, and more and more companies are going to follow in Pixar’s footsteps.

I guarantee you're going to leave the movie theater saying one word, “Squirrel!”

Deadpool movie WILL break the fourth wall, heck yeah!

Fans of Broadway will appreciate this posting. The new Deadpool movie will indeed break the fourth wall, just as the comic book does. Ryan Reynolds confirmed it to Empire this week. What is breaking the fourth wall? Simply really; the characters talk directly to the audience. Imagine all the characters in a box, well they "break the fourth wall" that is facing the audience. There were, and still are, plays on Broadway that incorporate this into their plays.

The comic book was the first of its kind to do so. Deadpool actually goes further than that. He acknowledges that he is a comic book character and sometimes he even references being a Marvel Comic book character specifically. To fans of the comic like myself, this is very exciting news. This means the Fox studio is taking the source material very seriously and hopefully doing a better job in pre-production than Wolverine did. Here are a few snippets from the interview with Reynolds:

The studio's working on a script and trying to find a director. The main goal is to make sure it stays close to the source material. I’ve always been a fan, at least for the last eight or nine years. I feel a bit of validation because I knew going into Wolverine that there’s a huge fan base for this and I don’t think anyone else did.

Nimrod Antal (Vacancy) tapped to direct Predators

You probably don't know who Nimrod Antal is. But he is a very up and coming director in the states. He directed the movie Vacancy in 2007 starring Luke Wilson and Kate Beckinsale. And he directed Armored, an action heist movie set for release later this year. Robert Rodriguez confirmed to AICN that Nimrod Antal will in fact take over the director's chair, here's what he had to say:

I know he'll be able to get the most out of what we want to be an outstanding cast. We really want to go with a character driven action movie, because that's what we all remember about the original Predator, and we want to take it even further with this.

I loved the first Predator. I really hope they follow through with their promise to go back to the original's look and feel.

The Game (rapper) in talks to play B.A. Baracus in The A-Team? Seriously?!

Blackfilm is reporting that rapper, The Game, is in talks to play B.A. Baracus in the A-Team movie coming up. B.A. Baracus was played by Mr. T in the 1970's TV show. When John Singleton was in control almost two years ago, he was looking at Ice Cube. But now the movie has changed hands to Joe Carnahan, director of Narc and Smokin' Aces. Why do I have a problem with this? Because Baracus and the A-Team are such an important part of Pop Culture. This isn't a newly created story with actors playing unknown characters.

And my opinion isn't even based on rappers switching over to acting. Tupac was an amazing actor, Ice Cube has become a comedic staple in movies, and Snoop Dogg as well. The Game had a small part in a terrible movie (Waist Deep) and a cameo in another (Street Kings). There's nothing on his resume to play such an important character.

The movie already has Liam Neeson as John Smith (Hannibal) and Bradley Cooper as Lt. Templeton Pack (Faceman). We'll have to wait for confirmation on this one.

Avatar: The Last Airbender trilogy will not be filmed back-to-back

Peter Jackson revolutionized the way movies are made; kinda. He shot the Lord of the Rings trilogy back-to-back-to-back. Keeping that many characters, sets, special effects, all in your head for that long a period of time is pretty amazing. The 'Pirates' trilogy followed the same technique with parts 2 and 3; but the Avatar trilogy will not. Why? Here's what producer Frank Marshall has to say, via Starlog:

We’re shooting them one at a time, because they’re being written one at a time. [M. Night Shyamalan] is now working on the script for the second movie, but he hasn’t had time to write the second or third ones. He’s looking at the arc of all three. One of the things we’ll be doing is using the sets, ships and elements for each different nation in this film and incorporating them into movies two and three. We’re not waiting. There just isn’t enough time. Night will finish this movie, then the script and then we’ll prepare for the next one. I think it’ll probably happen over six years.

My personal opinion is that they don't trust M. Night Shyamalan. His movies, one after the other, flopped like pancakes. Disney is distributing Avatar and they're not in the business of flops. They like to be hands on during the filming and post-production process. They're not going to let Shyamalan ruin an obvious franchise, so they'll take it one movie at a time. What do you think? Am I being too harsh on Mr. Shyamalan? Just remember, Unbreakable is one of my all time favorite movies.

Matt: "Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" Review

"Transformers" came out two years ago and was one of the coolest movies I had seen in a long time. It had everything you could ask for in a summer blockbuster. It was filled with crazy special effects work, a simple yet strong story to keep it driving forward, an up-and-coming talented young star, and a beautiful love interest to keep the target demographics’ eyes on the screen when the action slowed down. Throw in that it was directed by action-movie wizard Michael Bay, and in the end you have yourself a respectable movie which made a lot of money.

"Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen" is the film that basically takes that same formula and just tweaks each item around a little bit - just not correctly. Some of the special effects in this movie are just badass, plain and simple. There is one scene when Optimus Prime is fighting a gang of Decepticons on his own in a forest (and winning) which was just sooo freakin' cool to watch. It reminded me of the scene in Peter Jackson's "King Kong" when Kong takes on the Tyrannosaurus Rexes. Yes, it's that cool, if not cooler (because it's freakin' robots with freakin' laser beams!).

The only problem was that there weren’t enough cool, important fight scenes like this particular one (If you've seen it already, then you understand what I mean by important). And considering it comes pretty early in the movie, it makes all the other action sequences seem sub-par. I found myself not caring about why they were happening. There were just too many insignificant ones that had no value. Too much action does not equal too much cool. Too much action equals too much mundane insignificance.

The story starts out pretty good, if mildly confusing, at the beginning. It then starts developing some plot holes here and there (unexplained teleportation?) and becomes too over done.
About halfway through is when it starts getting to the point of "get on with it already." Mr. Bay can direct the hell out of an action sequence, but Lord knows he isn't a Scorsese when it comes to story telling (ahem... "Pearl Harbor").

[SPOILER ALERT]
The story was also meant to have a kind of "a-ha!" moment toward the end, but after a visit from robot deities and pyramid conspiracies and other ridiculous happenings, it instead had me saying “I don't care."
[END SPOILER ALERT]

Mr. LaBeouf does a fine job this time around. The kid's greatly talented, and that's that. Megan Fox is in this film purely to be exploited eye candy. She's given a crappy line here and there which is usually just cheesy enough to keep female audiences from rioting at how she's depicted visually. There is something wrong when I tell other guys my opinion about the film - how I mostly disliked it - and all I hear back from them is "Yeah, but Megan Fox is hot, right?" That irks me. It should irk you, too.

Another thing this movie has working against it is the length. Holy crap. It's almost 3 hours long, and I blame it on all the slo-mo. If all the slow motion in "Revenge of the Fallen" had been normal speed, the movie would have probably been 45 minutes shorter. I mean seriously, do we need a slow motion shot of a Megan Fox facial reaction? It's ridiculous. Remember when Dave Chappelle had the "everything's cooler in slo-mo" skit? Yeah, well, it was supposed to be a joke, Mr. Bay. Dave Chappelle is a comedian who was making fun of exactly what's done in your films. I'm sure you love Dave as much as anyone else, but you don't have to be the one providing his energon; fueling his fire.

To wrap up, this movie had over done special effects, a stupid story, and ok acting. Worst of all, it just wouldn't end. I also thought it was racist, but I’m not getting into that one. And aside from ogling the pretty girls and slurping up the eye candy of some of the fights, the only other thing I enjoyed was Julie White as Sam's (Shia) mother. She was hilarious. Oh, and the always awesome John Turturro, of course.

Tony, I totally agree with you on this one.

Overall, this is a disappointing follow up to a great original. My movie-buff cousin Jen said it best: "It lacks soul," (and she isn't as harsh when grading movies like I am). People who think that you can’t have good acting, story, character, etc. in an action movie need only to watch “Iron Man.” It is far, far, far superior than this film. Unless you're a big Transformers fan, skip this movie. Otherwise, if you just want to see pure action for 2.5 hours, see it, but make sure to check your brain - and your heart - at the door.

Quickie: New "Inglourious Basterds" Theatrical Trailer

WOW I'm excited.
Enjoy.



Thanks to traileraddict.com

New Planet 51 trailer!

Planet 51 looks like an interesting take on aliens and humans. What if WE, the humans, were the unwanted visitors? Ever thought of it that way? Well Planet 51 attempts to do just that. When I saw the teaser trailer a few months ago, I instantly fell in love. Here now is the full trailer, brought to you by Yahoo Videos. Enjoy!

Planet 51. Chuck Baker Trailer. @ Yahoo! Video

Couple's Retreat trailer

Hey guys, this movie looks like it has potential, but I'm not quite sure about it yet. It stars Vince Vaughn (Wedding Crasher), Jon Favreau (Iron Man Director), Jason Bateman (Hancock), Kristen Bell (Forgetting Sarah Marshall), Kristin Davis (Sex and the City), Jean Reno (The Pink Panther), Malin Akerman (Watchmen), Faizon Love (Friday) and Ken Jeong (Knocked Up). That's an ensemble cast if I've ever seen one! The story is about four couples who retreat to a vacation spot to work on all of their relationships, and craziness ensues. Check out it, here's the link to the trailer.