redbox to start offering Blu-Ray discs for $1.50 a night, AWESOME!

There are a lot of movies that stir up controversy, same goes for actors/actress.  But rarely does the industry itself stir up controversy, until recently, with redbox.  What is redbox?  They are the popular DVD rental kiosks you see at your local department stores.  They only charge $1 (a max of $25) a night to rent movies.  Granted they don't have a wide a selection of films, or copies of each film, but a buck is a buck.

The controversy is this; is redbox diminishing DVD sales for the studios?

Some say yes.  Blockbuster is about to go bankrupt because of digital downloads and, in part, redbox.  The studios are suing redbox, and losing by the way.

Some say no.  The other argument is that the studios charge too much to purchase DVD's and Blockbuster with their late fees priced themselves out of the rental market.

My argument is the latter, the studios don't lose money, they just want to make MORE money.  I am an avid purchaser of DVD's and Blu-Ray's, literally thousands.  I don't download movies illegally and rarely do I rent from my cable provider or though my Playstation 3.  If anything redbox has encouraged me to buy MORE movies after I've rented them.

This is my logic... if I rent a movie from redbox for a dollar, and like it... I'm going to buy the movie.  This way it only cost me a dollar more than it would have, and I'm sure I like the film.  If I rent a movie from redbox for a dollar and don't like it... I just saved 15-20 dollars on buying a movie I've never seen and was not going to like.

Back to the story at hand.  redbox is now offering Blu-Ray discs for $1.50 a night, effective immediately.  I love this!  There have been movies I rented at redbox that I wish were in Blu-Ray, i.e. The Book of Eli.  That movie is visually stunning and would have been amazing in Blu-Ray's HD format.  That movie is another example of how renting the film first, encouraged me to purchase it later.

What's your opinion?  Do you have one?  Are the studios being greedy?  Or am I contributing to the devaluing of an entire industry?  Let us know.

Disney's "Tangled" Poster

I don't know why I'm so interested in this 3D animation movie, but I am. Tangled is a NON Pixar, Disney animation film due out later this year. Check out the trailer here if you missed it. It's the story of Rapunzel and her prince charming. The animation looks awesome with Rapunzel's hair being a character in and of itself.

"Thor" Trailer... Enjoy!

This is the trailer that premiered at Comic-Con, it's about five minutes. It's a bit choppy in that it's unorganized, but still worth seeing Thor in action for the first time! Enjoy.

"Yogi Bear" Trailer... I'm a little less smart after watching it

I hope it flops and no money is made from it. Yeah I said it.

"Avengers" Assemble... at Comic-Con

Left to Right: Robert Downey Jr. as Iron Man, Clark Gregg as Agent Phil Coulson, Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow, Liam Hemsworth as Thor, Chris Evans as Captain America, Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, Jeremy Renner as Hawk Eye, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk, Director Joss Whedon, Marvel Studios President Kevin Feige

Movie stars filled the panels, rumors were laid to rest, and every nerd on the planet was waiting for this moment. The Avengers cast, in one place, at one time. That's the power of Comic-Con. I've talked about it a lot on the blog: everything from Chris Evans casting as the Captain, to Edward Norton's ugly exit, all things Avengers. At Comic-Con in San Diego this year, the entire cast went up on stage, settling three, very talked-about rumors.

First, Joss Whedon WILL direct the film. That's an obvious one, but Marvel never announced it officially before Comic-Con.

Second, Jeremy Renner WILL play Hawk Eye! I love this move by the way.

Third, and I guess most talked about... Mark Ruffalo WILL replace Edward Norton as Bruce Banner/Hulk. This movie can't get any more epic, can it? We'll have to wait and see. There's still those rumors of Nathan Fillion and Eva Longoria joining the cast as Ant-Man and Wasp. We'll let you know what happens. You satisfied with the cast?

Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the Riddler in Third Batman?

Inception has now been released, and is the number one movie in the country. So what's next for director/genius Christopher Nolan? Let the games begin... Batman 3 rumors. This one is actually a few days old, but Comic-Con kicked my butt and I'm just now recovered enough to actually post on the blog again.

The rumor is that Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play the Riddler in Batman 3, the sequel to The Dark Knight. This is a great rumor for multiple reasons.

First, Christopher Nolan has always stated, 'he wont talk about the next film until the one he's working on is complete'. Well, after about a hundred million dollars in two weeks, I'd say Inception has categorically finished as far as production. So the rumor that Gordon-Levitt has shown up on casting sheets could be true.

Second, Nolan loves to work with actors on multiple projects. Christian Bale: Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight. Michael Caine: Batman Begins, The Prestige, The Dark Knight, Inception. So it's not too far of a stretch to believe he would want to work with Gordon-Levitt after Inception.

Third, Gordon-Levitt could pull it off. The Riddler was never a physical challenge to Batman, just a mind game type of villain. JG-L has the physique to play the Riddler, as well as the acting chops. He's one of the few child actors that has transitioned nicely into adult roles. I would be supportive of JGL as the Riddler, even thought the masses are hoping for Johnny Depp.

That's all I have for now, just some food for thought. Would you like to see JGL as the Riddler in Batman 3? Or would you even want the Riddler as the main villain in Batman 3? Your thoughts.

Latest "Resident Evil: Afterlife" Poster and Comic-Con Coverage

I am really looking forward to Resident Evil: Afterlife in 3D. But I'm not sure why no one else is? I can't say no one, but it was weird at Comic-Con. I didn't wait in line for the panel but asked people as they left the panel what their thoughts were, it wasn't what I expected.

They say Comic-Con can make or break a film. So the studios are usually prepared to offer up their best: their best footage, their biggest stars, etc. So why did Sony insist on showing lousy footage? I'm not sure, I don't have the answer to that. But the reaction was not good. Most fans said it was choppy, looked as though it wasn't finished and just generally bad.

Now I don't like to formulate an opinion based on anything someone else says, that's why I watch movies before I consider them "bad". So I'm going to wait it out and hope I just talked to the wrong people walking out of the panel.

First Pic of "Cowboys & Aliens"

I was at Comic-Con and heard the buzz about this picture premiering when Jon Favreau was on the panel. This picture gives us just a tiny peak into the tone and art design of the film. I like it so far, but WAYYY too early to tell what the movie will be like overall. Also at the panel were stars Daniel Craig and the legendary Harrison Ford.

"Yogi Bear" First Look

I would have never posted about this, but Matt did once and I feel as though I should update now. This is the first look at the Yogi Bear 3D animation film. I don't really care for it, but its visually appealing. Dan Aykroyd is Yogi and Justin "I'm an actor" Timberlake is Boo Boo.

"Saw 3D" Poster In... 3D

Check out the new poster for Saw 3D on BloodyD. It's actually pretty awesome looking, wish I could say the same for the franchise. I stopped watching after Saw III and from what I've read/heard, that's where it began to go downhill. The franchise will not die, much like Friday the 13th and Halloween and Nightmare on Elm Street.

Now you may be thinking, "Tony, you watch the first few Saw movies? I thought you don't watch scary movies." Well you would be correct in your assessment, my young Padawan. But what was great about the Saw films was they were less about horror, and more about the puzzle. How does each character relate to the next? What is their common denominator? That's what made the first few films so great. Now? Not so much.
Click this link to check out the 3D version of the poster above.

"The Company Men" Trailer

The Company Men stars Academy Award Winners: Ben Affleck, Tommy Lee Jones, Chris Cooper and Kevin Costner. The film is about our jobs, and how much we dedicate to them here in the United States. It deals with unemployment and its affects on us and our families. This trailer especially touched my heart, as I am dealing with unemployment like so many Americans. Enjoy the trailer.

New "Buried" Trailer Looks Amazing!

Holy moly! This movie is keeps getting more and more interesting with every picture, every synopsis and now with every trailer. This is the latest trailer for Buried, a Phone Booth style thriller. The movie almost entirely takes place in a coffin, with Ryan Reynolds starring. Check out the trailer; it gives us a great idea of how they're going to fill 90 minutes of thrills without much of a setting at all. WOW!

First Picture of Thor and His Hammer

This comes to us via USAToday.com. The movie is Thor, starring the ridiculously ripped Chris Hemsworth, directed by Kenneth Branagh. Read the story if you'd like, but it's really more about Comic-Con which begins this Thursday in San Diego. I will be there making frequent updates at Twitter. So "follow" me on Twitter for all the up-to-the-minute news.

Thor, Captain America Concept Art

Enjoy

Very Cool "Infograph" to Explain "Inception"

If you haven't seen the movie, DO NOT click on the "Read more" below. It is a graph that explains the movie in more detail. It's not exactly a spoiler, but it will ruin the overall experience of the film if you have not seen the film. If you have seen the movie, it will give you a clearer picture of what happened. Thank you GFR for the graph.

Click on the graph below to view it in its full size.

Maybe There's No "Anchorman 2," But There May Be a "Step Brothers 2!?"

If you have hung out with me or my friends in the last 2 years, chances are you've heard us quote Step Brothers time and time again. It is BY FAR my most watched DVD of the last two years. In fact, I was watching it as I read the story in which I'm posting about haha. For those of you living under a rock, Step Brothers is a 2008 comedy starring Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly as... you guessed it, step brothers. They played 40 year olds, still living with their parents, played by Oscar nominee Richard Jenkins and the ageless Mary Steenburgen.

In an interview with Cinemablend, director Adam Mckay explains how a sequel is a real possibility. Paramount turned down the option for an Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy sequel, so Mckay and company are shifting their attention to the Step Brothers sequel. This is awesome news! To read more of the interview click the Cinemablend link above.

"Inception" Review

It's one of the most anticipated films in years. It is directed by one of the most innovative and intelligent directors in the industry (Christopher Nolan). It has an all-star cast. Before watching the movie, did we know what it was about? Not exactly. All I knew about Inception was that it involved dreams. And the party began.

What I liked about the film:
Originality
We are in a new age of cinema. The studios are after preexisting properties that will offer up huge profits because of their built-in audience and merchandising possibilities. So when an original idea comes around, it's very very refreshing. Original and refreshing say it all when it comes to Inception. The movie cant be tied down to any one particular genre of film. It is science fiction, action, thriller, heist film, and above all else, it's intelligent.

Nolan creates a modern world where people insert themselves into our dreams to steal our deepest secrets. The primary arc of the film is attempting a new concept in dreams: inception. The concept that someone could plant an idea into our deepest subconscious so that it because a part of our thinking in reality... brilliant!


The Cast
Cillian Murphy is the target of the primary heist. He is the son of a very wealthy, self-made man. Murphy is set to take over his father's empire and the group want to attempt inception on him so he breaks up his empire in an attempt to "be his own man".


Ken Watanabe is Saito, Murphy's competition. He hires the group of dream thieves in hopes of financially benefiting from the inception of Murphy.

Leonardo DiCaprio is the leader of the group. He is a hired gun to corporations who need him to steal information from their competitor's subconscious.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt is DiCaprio's right hand man. He is very skilled in the dream world and knows all the rules of it.

Ellen Page is an architecture student brought in to build the elaborate world necessary to pull off the inception in Murphy's character.

Tom Hardy is one of the coolest characters in the film. He has the ability to manipulate the way he looks in the dream world, which is necessary to the success of the team.

Dileep Rao plays a chemist in charge of keeping the team sedated long enough to pull off the heist. He is a vital part of the team.

Then there is the amazing Marion Cotillard, DiCaprio's wife in the film. She, in the most creative of ways, plays the antagonist of the film. You see, because the entire team is in the dream world together, every character's subconscious is part of the world. DiCaprio's troubled past with his wife has made her the villain to the entire crew.

It must be easy for Christopher Nolan to assemble such an amazing cast; every actor/actress in Hollywood wants to work with him. And why wouldn't they? He gives life and meaning to his characters like very few writer/directors can. What I loved, and what I've sort of mentioned above, is how vital each character is to the story. That's something I've always praised Nolan for. Nothing is put in his films simply for the sake of putting it in; it all has a meaning and a purpose.


The Writing
Nolan just does NOT get the credit he deserves for his writing; that also goes for the co-writer of Inception, Christopher's brother, Jonathan. I am going to be careful in this part of the review not to give anything away. If I say minor spoiler, I'm not giving anything away that will ruin your experience, major spoiler will, you get the picture.

[MINOR SPOILER]
I will give you just one example of the writing. To achieve the inception into Murphy's character, one level of the dream world will not be enough. The team has tried, and succeeded by attempting a dream within a dream, that's two levels of the dream world. For Murphy's character, the team will attempt a third level of dreaming, how awesome is that!? Three, simultaneous dream worlds, as well as reality to keep track of, without losing the audience. This is where you see the Nolan brothers greatness in writing. They progress the story without losing us along the way.
[END MINOR SPOILER]

The Action/Special Effects

I did not expect the action that was Inception. In every level of the dream world there are "projections" that come after the crew. These projections are essentially the same as the Agents in The Matrix. But there are guns and explosions galore in this film, and the special effects are spectacular. In one particular scene, we see Ellen Page's character toy with the physics of the dream world. Some of the tricks she plays are in the trailer, but there is obviously more in the movie. Well done in this department.


The Editing
[MAJOR SPOILER]
During the third level of the dream world, the level in which the team was to attempt the inception, Murphy's character dies. Well the team quickly explains that a FOURTH level of dream world is not only possible but necessary to achieve the inception. DiCaprio and Page's character go to the fourth level to resurrect Murphy's character back into the third level. Why am I telling you this spoiler? Read on.
[END MAJOR SPOILER]

The editing is the best I have ever seen. Let me say this again, the BEST I HAVE EVER SEEN. Lee Smith and Christopher Nolan had an unimaginable task at hand. The climax of the movie takes place at multiple levels of the dream world, AT THE SAME TIME. The editing was crucial to the audience's experience.

Earlier in the film, it's explained that five minutes of sleep in the real world is an hour in the first level of the dream world, 12 hours in the second level, etc. So the climaxes at different levels in the dream world have to coincide at differing speeds before all of the characters wake up from their sleep. The characters at the higher levels of dream have more time than the characters at lower levels of the dream world to achieve their tasks. All of this is done BRILLIANTLY!

What I didn't like about the movie:
The Subplot
The movie's plot is some of the best material ever written for the big screen. Too bad the same can't be said about the subplot of the film. Without giving anything away, the subplot of the movie has to do with DiCaprio's troubled past with his wife, as I mentioned earlier. I see where it was necessary to explain certain plot points, but I have to criticize Nolan's choice to bring this subplot to the forefront. I did, however, enjoy Cotillard playing the antagonist as a "projection" due to DiCaprio's subconscious; very creative work.

Ellen Page's Character
I really like Page. I think she's a great young actress who doesn't necessarily fit any one particular Hollywood mold. Her character is vital to the mission at hand. She has to build the entire dream world the crew is in, at multiple levels. Her character is used as a vehicle to explain the rules of the dream world to the audience. Forgiven Mr. Nolan, the movie is too good to be upset by this.

FattMatt introduced me to Mr. Nolan back in 2000 with his amazing Memento. It was creative, innovative, emotional and awe inspiring film making. The film made headlines, not only for its mind trip of a plot, but for its logistical approach to storytelling. Wait, the movie is told backwards? What? How? Trust me, it works, and it's brilliant.

Insomnia was another film I enjoyed where Nolan took us on a trip of the mind. We know he is what saved Batman with his new take on the character. The Batman films have shown us he can handle a blockbuster. Inception is the culmination of all of Nolan's work. It is the blockbuster that Hollywood needs to save face in the God-awful summer of movies. It is the mind trip that made movies like The Matrix legendary. The movie will require a second viewing, that's for sure; but not because I feel like I missed something. But rather because I enjoyed the movie so much, it was so detailed, there was so much dialogue, I want to experience it again.

Thank you, Mr. Nolan, thank you, Mr. DiCaprio, for restoring my faith in movies and originality. You have no idea what this movie has meant to me. Thank you.

Now It's John Malkovich's Turn... Final RED Poster

This movie is going to be AWE-some!

Now It's Morgan Freeman's Turn... "RED" Poster Looks as Good as the First Two

First a Bruce Willis poster, then Helen Mirren and now Morgan Freeman. I can't wait to see this movie! Check out the trailer here.

Ben Affleck's "The Town" Looks Incredble!

Holy Moly! Ben Affleck in a movie I REALLY want to see? I never thought I'd use those words all in the same sentence in my life. The movie is called The Town, and Affleck is writer/director/star. The screenplay is based on a novel the Chuck Hogan. The movie co-stars Jon Hamm, Blake Lively, Jeremy Renner, Chris Cooper and Rebecca Hall.

Watch the trailer and look below for my thoughts.

I love this trailer. The story looks so compelling and so enticing. I have to admit when it comes to the acting roles, Ben Affleck's best buddy Matt Damon gets all the good ones. But on the directing side, Affleck's got his number. I really liked Gone Baby Gone, Affleck's directorial debut. And in this film, I think Affleck has captured Boston, the characters and the overall tone necessary to make this movie successful. I am really looking forward to this one, folks.

More "Green Lantern" Pictures from Entertainment Weekly

/Slashfilm has all six new photos, these are the only two I was really interested in. All the photos come courtesy of the next issue of Entertainment Weekly. The picture above shows our main character, Hal Jordan with his Green Lantern Corp. ring. The picture below show's Hal Jordan again, played by Ryan Reynolds along with the character of Carol Ferris, played by the lovely Blake Lively. I STILL don't think she's a good actress by the way. Just had to throw that in for good measure.

The other pics show some of the co-stars of the film (Tim Robbins, Angela Bassett, etc.). It's exciting to see these characters come to life. But like I said this morning, I'm so disappointed in the costume. It looks off for some reason, and the mask doesn't compliment the rest at of the costume at all. I know it was necessary to make the suit CGI because of the shape-shifting, but I don't like it so far. I hope I'm proven wrong!

Jennifer Lawrence Cast as Mystique, Kevin Bacon Confirmed for "X-Men: First Class"

Thank GOD the news of Amanda Heard playing Mystique was false! I can't stand her acting, period! Instead we get an actress with a ton of Television experience, Jennifer Lawrence. She is set to play the blue skinned character in Matthew Vaughn's X-Men: First Class. I don't know her work first-hand, but to be honest, I was so biased AGAINST Heard, this will do just fine for me.

And as rumored, Kevin Bacon is confirmed as the villain in the movie. Still no word on what character he'll be playing, but I still think it's Sinestro. Love it!

First Picture of Ryan Reynolds as the Green Lantern Released

I've literally been looking forward to the image above for months, only to be let down. Now I know this is just ONE picture of the future superhero film, but still. Ryan Reynolds in Green Lantern, in his CGI suit. I still look forward to footage and eventually watching the movie next year. I just didn't expect the suit to look like this.

"Despicable Me" Review

I thought Pixar had no competition whatsoever in the animated genre. I was wrong. Toy Story 3 was amazing, and will remain one of the best animated films of all time, but damn Despicable Me was good! I want to tell you what I liked and didn't like about the movie.

What I liked about the movie:
The Actors/Characters
I don't want to list every actor and what character they played, but this is an amazing cast. Steve Carell plays Gru, a local villain past his prime as far as great heists are concerned. He tries to out-villain the competition. His competition is an up-and-coming villain named Vector, voiced by Jason Segel. Gru adopts three girls to help in his plan, but ends up adoring the girls to death and changing his ways.

Then there's the minions! So cute and funny, but they did remind me of the pigeons in Finding Nemo. Still fantastic! The minions are the Worker Bees to Gru and are hilarious. They don't talk, at least not in a language the audience is supposed to understand. But the way they fight each other, and argue with one another is really great. The animators found a million ways to make the same back creators look different.

The Story

Truly original in every sense of the word. My wife and I walked out trying to find a movie with a story even close to this, and we couldn't think of any. A villain past his prime, adopts three little girls to help him with his heist, falls in love with them, and changes his ways? Come on! Priceless. The minions helping Gru every step of the way is so original.

The Visuals
This is something that we've almost come to expect perfection from in these kind of movies. But let me tell you, not many computer generated animated films look as good as this one does. Despicable is gorgeous to look at. There are rich environments full of color. Environments such as the carnival Gru takes the girls to is so detailed it's going to take multiple viewings to catch it all. Great job!


What I didn't like:
The Orphan's Story
I really liked the three orphan girls in the movie. I just wish the movie would have better developed their story. Why are they orphans? If it was mentioned, I missed it. Are they going to get revenge on the evil women running the orphanage? The relationship building between Gru and the girls is satisfactory, but should have been developed a bit more. Maybe a scene or two more of Gru getting closer to the girls would have been in order rather than a montage involving pancakes and the girls.

The Real Villain

Vector is such a weak antagonist. There is some really creative stuff surrounding the character, like all the booby-traps protecting his house; classic! But Vector himself is not that great of a character. And his "weapons" are stupid: a "piranha gun," "squid gun," come on. Hopefully they'll come up with something better in the future.


The movie is not at Pixar's level, but is still great! Such an original story, you can't predict what's going to happen because it hasn't been done before. I would totally recommend the movie to anyone, young and old. Thumbs up to the news of a sequel, I'm more than OK with that!

Robert Downey Jr. & Zach Galifianakis' "Due Date" Trailer

We've been hearing about Due Date for a while now. Director Todd Phillips follows up The Hangover with this gem of a comedy. Robert Downey Jr., Zach Galifianakis, road trip, 'nuff said. Check out the trailer... I don't like it at all, but have hope the movie will be funny.

Mark Ruffalo to Play Hulk? Please Let It Be True!

/Slashfilm is reporting via Deadline that Mark 'freakin' awesome' Ruffalo may be the next Hulk! I would love my pick of Cillian Murphy, but this will surely do! Mark Ruffalo is an underrated actor in Hollywood and I hope this news is true. Apparently he's in "late stages of negotiations" to play Bruce Banner in The Avengers! There's no other details, so here are a few roles I really enjoyed Ruffalo in:

Shutter Island: Without spoiling the ending, Ruffalo's job was not an easy one. He was to make the audience think two different things at once until the very last scene of the movie. Great job!

The Brothers Bloom: An otherwise forgettable movie, Ruffalo's con-man character was anything but. Ruffalo played the character with sincerity and made us love to hate his character.

Reservation Road: Playing a character that kills a little boy in a hit-and-run accident, Ruffalo was amazing. He and the previously rumored choice for Bruce Banner, Joaquin Phoenix, were terrific in this character piece.

The Last Castle: Playing a disgraced military man, Ruffalo played a traitor who wanted to desperately redeem himself. Ruffalo stood toe to toe with acting greats, Robert Redford and James Gandolfini.

I'll keep ya posted!

UPDATE: MGM Granted Extension of Its Debts. "Bond 23" No Longer Delayed, It's Canceled?

UPDATE: There is a great article at The Hollywood Reporter about MGM's continuous debt issues. THR is saying MGM was granted an extension on its debt until September 15th, that's an extension of a $250 MILLION dollar payment by the way. In addition to the $250 million, there is another $200 million in interest.

All this is going to do is give the executives time to restructure the studio or sell it; that's all. I'm a business major and I've seen a lot of company's go through what MGM is going through, GM most recently. GM closed down or sold off most of it's line/assets to become a more slimmed down version of its former self. So what now for MGM?

Apparently Warner Brothers offered a buy out last year to the tune of 1.5 BILLION (with a B) dollars, and the offer was considered "too low". Wow, hindsight is 20/20 and MGM should have probably accepted the deal. But it's too late for that. Does MGM sell off its assets, a la the 'James Bond' and 'Hobbit' franchises to recover from this mess? I'm going to say no. If they could just get some additional funding, which is a lot harder than it sounds, they could get these projects off the ground. And unless they do so, there's no winning this battle. So I figure MGM has until September to reorganize and sell the studio or file bankruptcy and hope for a sympathetic decision. It's too bad, another 'Bond' movie would have really been nice in this abismal summer of crap films.

This is really sad news. The 23rd movie in the Bond franchise has not only been delayed, it's been canceled. AICN via /slashfilm is reporting from a source that the studios future is to blame.

Here's the quote from the source: "Due to the continuing uncertainty surrounding the future of MGM and the failure to close a sale of the studio, we have suspended development on ‘Bond 23? indefinitely. We do not know when development will resume and do not have a date for the release of ‘Bond 23'."

I've been reading for months about how MGM was going under, then it was going to be sold, now this. So for all of us Bond fans, this is devastating news. What now? Well, the only case I can remember off the top of my head that compares to this is what happened with The Terminator franchise. That franchise went up for sale just like MGM.

Best case scenario is MGM is bought up by one of the majors and the franchise lives on. Let's hope that happens. But for now, the picture above of Daniel Craig (ridiculously ripped) will be all we get. Then we get to see him in Jon Favreau's Cowboys and Aliens. Keep hope alive!

"Devil" Trailer

Here's the latest trailer of Devil.
The film is advertised as being "From the mind of M. Night Shyamalan" as it was written by him.
The concept is pretty simple: There is a group of people trapped in an elevator, and one of them is the devil. I find it quite interesting.

What do you think?

Jonathan Nolan May Direct Superman Film?

Time to come out from his brother's shadow? Jonathan Nolan, 'Dark Knight' director Christopher Nolan's brother, may direct the next 'Superman' film. Jonathan is a hell of a writer, he co-wrote The Dark Knight, The Prestige, and Memento with brother Christopher; but he has never directed a film.

This actually makes a lot more sense than you think. We knew Chris was brought in by Warner Brothers to Godfather the project and play producer as well. Well he may have been brought in to help his brother direct the movie as well. I don't think it's necessarily a co-director scenario, as much as it is an overlooking the process arraignment.

I didn't want to post this yesterday because it sounded like a far fetched rumor, but now it's becoming more news than rumor. I really don't have much of a personal opinion about this. I wish Chris Nolan had a clone and he was making 'Superman', but that's not possible. So for now, I'll take his brother. If it's confirmed, I'll let you know. But for now, I'm OK with it.

"Thor" Official Photo of Anthony Hopkins as Odin!

Is it me, or is it getting more and more exciting with every released photo of this film!? Anthony Hopkins as Odin in the Marvel Comics Thor! Sick!! Courtesy of the LA Times.

Got so excited about the photo I forgot to mention that both Thor and Captain America: The First Avenger will be in 3D. Marvel is cashing in! I don't really care about announcements like this, I expect it for every future tent-pole movie. I actually could see 3D working for these superhero films more so than other movies that have been presented in 3D.

We know Thor wasn't shot in 3D, so it's up to the Captain film and then The Avengers to be shot in 3D. When will this stupid gimmick go away!?

Now It's Helen Mirren's Turn... "RED" Poster Looks Awesome

A few days go Bruce Willis, now Helen Mirren. Where you at Mr. Freeman?

"Wicked" Film Coming Soon! Who Should Direct?

You really had to have seen the musical to appreciate this post. My wife and I saw Wicked last year in Los Angeles and fell in love. Wicked is "the untold story of the witches of Oz". The musical is so good, so clever, such a spectacle, I walked out thinking to myself, "this is going to make an amazing movie". And here we are a little over a year later, and the news has been announced of such a film.

Deadline broke the story, reporting that Universal will be distributing the film and that the studio has met with various directors. The list includes: J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), James Mangold (Knight and Day), Ryan Murphy (Eat Pray Love), and Rob Marshall (Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, Chicago).

Check out the Deadline article for details of how the movie came to be. I'm going to instead look at what each of these rumored directors brings to the table:

J.J. Abrams

The man can direct an event film. I have never seen a single episode in the 60+ years of Star Trek. One trailer later, I was hooked. I loved Abram's take on the series. The movie was a major success and that's entire because of Abrams.








James Mangold

Mangold has a hell of a resume. His movies are highlighted with inspired performances by numerous actors/actresses. 3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Girl Interrupted, and Copland are all great stories involving human emotion. This will be necessary as Wicked is not all about song and dance. The characters have real problems, and how those problems and emotions are portrayed on film is vital to the movie's success.





Ryan Murphy

I feel like I've been living under a rock or something because I've never seen an episode of "Glee" before. The musical comedy sitcom was just nominated for 19 EMMYS! Holy wow. Murphy is one of the creators/writers/directors of the show. So this makes sense. His writing talents could help with the movie. But to be honest with you, I wouldn't change a darn thing, the writing of the play is too good to toy with. But Murphy will obviously know how to use a camera to capture the choreography involved in a musical, interesting choice.



Rob Marshall

Rob Marshall is right now directing Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth entry in the 'Pirates' franchise. That shows the man can handle a massive production, which Wicked will be. There's sets, costumers, locations, special effects, etc. All of which will need Marshall's expertise. The man was nominated for an Oscar, for a MUSICAL (Chicago) for God's sake. Chicago went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture, but Marshall lost in the Best Director category.



OK this post has gone on long enough. Who should direct the amazing musical turned film, Wicked?