As we all know, it was recently revealed that the incredibly awesome Patrick Swayze was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Many people were concerned but also voiced their opinion that cancer could NOT, in fact, hold it's death grip on Mr. Swayze, and that he would in fact Point Break cancers neck. Well, we now have an update on his condition.

He sent a statement over to People, which says: "Thought I'd give you guys a little update. Lisa and I have been back and forth from New Mexico enjoying the arrival of spring and new baby calves. This past weekend, we spent a fun time with friends in Reno for Lisa's birthday, where I took her jewelry shopping at Kenny G & Company and (we) were able to find her something really special and much deserved! In the meantime, I am continuing treatment at Stanford and the great news is I continue to respond well."

Take that cancer! He'll show you that you need to pick on people who are weaker than you in order to win.

A really funny new Red Band trailer for Joel and Ethan Coen's dark spy-comedy Burn After Reading has hit iTunes in both High Definition QuickTime and standard QuickTime sizes.

Opening September 12, the Focus Features release stars George Clooney, Frances McDormand, John Malkovich, Tilda Swinton and Brad Pitt.

In Burn After Reading, an ousted CIA official's (Malkovich) memoir accidentally falls into the hands of two unwise gym employees intent on exploiting their find.

Brad Pitt is hilarious in this and I'm excited to see him doing roles like this and The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

Coen Brothers Unite!

We have 2 new Hellboy posters, the first courtesy of The Movie Blog AND FEATURES BIG BABY!! (it may be an old poster, but it's the first time I've seen it). The second comes as an Empire Online Exclusive. I must say, they are both awesome. Del Toro and his crew really know how to rock some awesome posters. This film (along with Dark Knight) have had some of the best posters I have seen for films in a long time. Keep up the good work!

We have the first trailer for the upcoming Kevin Smith comedy Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Over on his site, Smith says, "Don't call it a trailer, 'cause it's not a trailer; it's a teaser. There ain't a frame of footage in this puppy that's in the actual flick, so feel free to watch it without fear of "spoilers". This is just a little something to give you a bit of a feel for the flick."

The film, due out in theaters on October 31, follows two platonic friends (Seth Rogen and Elizabeth Banks) who, hard up for cash, decide to make a porno together.

I wonder if he is serious about that? Interesting. Either way, I'm sure this film will be so loaded with the usual Kevin Smith humor and hijinks that it can't possibly fail. And having Seth Rogen when he is at the top of his game can't be a poor choice either. Here ya go! Enjoy!

(If the player doesn't work - it has been touchy - probably due to so many nerds watching it - you can watch it here)

Willem Dafoe is once again set to play a vampire, this time he has been cast in Universal Pictures' Cirque du Freak. The horror-fantasy, directed by Paul Weitz, also stars John C. Reilly, Ken Watanabe, Chris Massoglia, Josh Hutcherson, Patrick Fugit, Ray Stevenson, Michael Cerveris, Frankie Faison, Jane Krakowski, Orlando Jones, Kristen Schaal and Salma Hayek.

The film revolves around a young Darren Shan, who, after attending an illegal freak show with his best friend, decides to become a vampire's assistant in order to save his best friend's life. Forced to leave his home and family forever, Darren joins the freak show where he meets a host of bizarre creatures and finds himself at the center of a war between the vampires and a rival clan.

Dafoe has played a vampire a total of 2 other times, once as Nosferatu in the film Shadow of the Vampire, and his performance scored him an Oscar nomination. The second time in an upcoming film called Daybreakers. Dafoe certainly loves to exercise his right to suck blood.

Zack Snyder director of the upcoming film The Watchmen recently gave up some interesting news to the New York Times about his film and its potential DVD surprises. He first told NYT about the current editing of the film saying,

“The main picture is nearing three hours long and I know I have a fight on my hands just with that.”

In addition to this, because the story is so large, they are planning,

"a dozen 22- to 26-minute Webisodes to help make the complex story easier for the uninitiated to digest. Called “The Watchmen Motion Comic,” it will be a panel-by-panel slide show of the graphic novel narrated by an actor."

Then the story gets even more interesting,

"The twist is that Mr. Snyder, known for turning the Spartan comic book series “300” into a global hit movie, is also directing a separate-but-related picture that Warner plans to distribute exclusively on DVD.

The second film, tentatively called “Tales of the Black Freighter,” follows a side “Watchmen” storyline about a shipwreck and will arrive in stores five days after the main movie rolls out in theaters. The DVD will also include a documentary-style film called “Under the Hood” that will delve into the characters’ backstories...The “Watchmen” film, Mr. Synder said, will probably generate at least three DVDs: “Tales of the Black Freighter,” followed about four months later by release of “Watchmen” itself, and then an “ultimate” edition in which the two are edited together into one megamovie."

Does this sound like another case of DVD studios coming up with ways to "double dip" into your wallet to get you to purchase more? Or is Snyder being genuine about wanting to provide fans with as much as possible but being restricted by the film length to tell the story? What do you think?

I recently reported that the news floating around was that Sony was looking for a new Spiderman and had their eyes set on Patrick Fugit.

These rumors have just been smashed. According to IESB.net, who got news from inside sources,


According to our sources, that include reps from CAA, Endeavour, ICM, Marvel Studios and Sony, no actor including Fugit has been approached or even considered for the Peter Parker/Spider-Man role or any other character for that matter.

To take it a step further, head of Media Relations for Sony/Columbia Pictures Steve Elzer told the IESB today that the Fugit story is 100% false and added, "No one is being considered for the role but Tobey. Period."

There you have it folks. Although, from what I understand of this it simply means that they would like to approach Tobey first as he has the rights to continue the saga if he wishes. If he says no, then that list that was formerly mentioned may be back in the spotlight again.

[ADD]
Derek 8-Track here. Thank Goodness! I don't think we need another 90's Batman style rotating cast franchise. It's always best to stick with the actors you have, and if you can't get them, don't make the movie, unless its a for sure continuing series like the Harry Potter films. (Sx0t, prepare for an inside joke) Even though he has blue eyes, when we all know Peter Parker has brown, Tobey is doing a fine job with the material he is presented with.

Omelete has posted two new banners for The Dark Knight. I feel like marketing for this movie gets better and better. I just hope they aren't over hyping the movie for me.

There is a new red band trailer for Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly's upcoming comedy Step Brothers.



Watch the Red Band Trailer in High Definition on Apple.com. Step Brothers hits theaters on July 25th 2008.

This film looks like it could be a good one. I am kind of getting sick of the whole Will Ferrell thing as his last few haven't been as awesome as I had hoped (Blades of Glory, Semi Pro). This looks like it may be worth a trip though. Plus John C. Reilly is the stuff legends are made of (HE DOES DRAMA AND COMEDY AND ROCKS AT BOTH!!! - Aviator, Chicago, Gangs of New York, Magnolia, Talledega Nights, Walk Hard)

Dark Knight has taken over this month's issue of Empire Magazine. The magazine features 2 different covers (Joker and Batman) as well as some interesting things inside. You can view some more shots here courtesy of IESB.net, or you can view the digital magazine version over at Empire. (The Joker version is all Jokerized and awesome, you should definitely check it out).

Here is a bit of Transformers 2 news for ya (remember the disclaimer that comes with all Transformers 2 posts). In his typical half serious fashion, he said,

“I play a college professor,” he told MTV before jokingly adding, “that turns into a robot, and turns into a car.”

Knowing that the role that Jonah Hill turned down was of Sam Witwicky's (Shia LaBeouf college roommate, it would be believable for Rainn Wilson to be playing a college professor. If nothing else, it confirms that there will be ample humor in this film, just as there was in the first.

We have been aware of Quentin Tarantino's WWII film Inglorious Bastards for a couple of years now, but recent word from Cannes, in an interview posted on joblo.com, Tarantino says it will be ready by the 2009 Cannes. He said,

“Oh, yeah, no. The next movie I’m doing is my WWII movie Inglorious Bastards. I actually just finished the first draft of the script and when I go home I’ll be finishing it up…and if all goes well [pregnant pause] I will be here 2009 at Cannes with my war film INGLORIOUS BASTARDS!!! [applause].”

Most people are calling out B.S and liar on this one as most people do not believe it is possible to go from script to screen in a year for Tarantino, especially when tackling a WWII epic.

Inglorious Bastards will be about a group of Allied soldiers who volunteer for a suicide mission as a reprieve from execution for various misdeeds. Tarantino took the title from this 1978 Enzo Castellari film, though he doesn't intend it as a remake. (You may also reference The Dirty Dozen).

IF this does happen, it will be awesome, but don't get your hopes up.

There is word floating around that since Sony has re-purchased the rights to the Spiderman films, they have been thinking about who should carry on the Spiderman legacy (as it is unlikely that Tobey will be back). Latino Review reports on who the studio might be looking at to replace Tobey Maguire as Spidey ... and it's definitely NOT who everyone thought it could've been (does that sentence make sense?).

They're saying Patrick Fugit, who first broke out as little William Miller in Almost Famous (and recently starred in the indie hit Wristcutters), is at the top of the "potential Spidey list," alongside Michael Angarano (who just starred in The Forbidden Kingdom). Coincidentally (or not), Angarano played the younger version of William Miller in Almost Famous before they leaped ahead a few years and Fugit took over.



I'm not sure what I agree with (although Patrick Fugit looks strangely similar to Tobey Macquire and delivered a great performance in Almost Famous). But one thing is for sure, if this list exists - things are not looking good for the former Spidey cast.

Here is my review of the the new Indiana Jones film. Not too exciting as I agree with most of what Derek 8-Track had to say. Be sure to check out his review here.


The Awesome

It's great to have Indiana Jones back. He exudes a certain badass-ness that not many people do (probably just because he is Harrison Ford). Indiana Jones has always rocked the house and always been the ultimate idea of what to hold your film up to when making an action adventure film (Mummy, National Treasure, Tomb Raider, Sahara etc.). And this fact remains true: Indy will almost always have the edge just because of who he is. With that said - the movie surely fell short of being near the other Indiana Jones films in existence.

Another few things that I like about this film have to do mainly with the artistic elements of the film. The music rocked (of course, as always, John Williams wins), the jokes were decent, the action scenes were pretty great. The film also had this weird overall color scheme and style to it that was really neat. First, it really felt like I was watching a film that was meant to match (at least stylistically) the old films. The film grain, the lighting, the colors - they all worked great. Also, I constantly underestimate Shia LeBeouf. Every time I hear he will be in a new film it just makes me cringe, but he usually delivers. Some day maybe I will have to start giving this dude some credit. His character was awkward, but he played it well.

The Not So Awesome

Unfortunately for this film, the not so awesome's detract from parts of the film that would have otherwise been great. They also tend to ruin the atmosphere typically associated with Indiana Jones. It begins with the CGI, specifically the creatures. The plants and the cliffside were just fine and worked well, but every time CGI animals showed up, WOOF. It really disappoints me that George Lucas wants to put his oversized greasy sausage fingers all over everything he touches. If he would have just let Speilberg to his job, it probably would have been just fine. Lucas, unfortunately has a hard time steering clear of computers and bad ideas - and everything that he did to this film stands out like a sore thumb. Second, the first 25-30 minutes of this film were almost unbearable. Until Shia shows up on the screen, the film is loaded with poor dialogue, stale acting, and the lackluster re-introduction of one of the sweetest dudes alive. Lastly - Aliens and Spaceships? (notice it's Lucas again). I don't really have a problem with the fact there was alien mythology in the film, but did the crystal aliens REALLY need to turn into real aliens and fly away at the end?? I'm sure there was a better solution. And the last thing that bothered me was SPOILER BEGIN Indiana Jones in a refrigerator SPOILER END. It was just a dumb idea. The bomb was sweet, the fake town was sweet, but the flying through the air during an atomic blast in a refrigerator was lame.

OVERALL

I know it sounds like I'm being harsh on this film, but in reality I think it is because it owns the Indiana Jones name. It should be held up to higher standards that what typically is associated with action adventure flicks. The film has great style, a great vintage look to it, Indy and Shia rock for the most part, and it was fun. In defense of the alien plot - Indiana Jones was created as a throwback to the pulp comics and serial films

of Lucas' and Spielberg's day that surely featured plots similar to this film - so when you take that into consideration, it's not so bad. And lastly - thank goodness Shia didn't put on that hat. Remember what I always say about films like this, just because something negative was said, doesn't make it a bad film. It's still better that 80% of the crap that comes out. (X-Men III, Spiderman III, Star Wars Prequels etc. - all examples of films that are worse that others, but still good and better than many). Overall I give this film a 6 out of 10. I hear it gets better the second time around.

MTV has revealed the trailer for Fox Searchlight Pictures' Choke, written/directed by Clark Gregg and starring Sam Rockwell and Anjelica Huston. The movie opens September 26 and is adapted from the novel by Chuck Palahniuk ("Fight Club"). I think I'm going to have to let this trailer speak for itself. It's pretty funny. Make sure to pay special attention to the review blurbs they show throughout the trailer. They make me want to see this all the more. The trailer can be viewed here.

Ain't It Cool News has posted a photo of 1940's Minutemen in the Watchman movie, coming to theaters on March 6, 2009. The classic Silk Spectre, Nite Owl, Captain Metropolis, Mothman, Silhouette, The Comedian, Dollar Bill and Hooded Justice are all featured in the photo. Does The Tick come to any ones mind?

ComingSoon.net has posted an amazing Q&A from an online chat between fans and Peter Jackson and Guillermo Del Toro concerning their work on The Hobbit and its sequel. The two of them address a number of interesting points about what their film making process will be and answer such questions as what returning actors can we expect to find in the movies, filming locations, and how the two of them will balance their involvement with the pictures.

Here is an excerpt from the Q&A,

wetahost: 17 - Dear Peter Jackson, I enjoyed your cameos in the LOTR movies, Will you have a cameo in this Hobbit, and what character would you like to play?

Peter_Jackson: I actually haven't thought about it. My convention is to do cameos in films I direct. I don't know if that extends to films I produce. I guess we'll find out. I love Hobbits! I am a Hobbit, in very many respects, as were my parents. Tolkien wrote about a type of people he knew, in pre-war England, and somewhere along the line, he must have bumped into my relatives!

Guillermo_del_Toro: Unlike Peter, I'm a Dwarf ( a coarse creature I am)- but I studiously avoid cameos…

This is a great Q&A and you can find the rest of it here.
Plus today is Ian McKellen's Birthday! A very young 69 years old.

ComingSoon.net has received a hi-res version of the new photo of Kristin Kruek ("Smallville") as Chun Li in 20th Century Fox's Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li.
Anyone who knows me knows that in my youth, If I was ever to play video games, there were only 2 types of video games that I play. I would play "verses" and "side-scrolls." Today, if I play, I only play Guitar Hero or Rock Band. While I was growing up, I spent all my time watching movies rather than wasting my brain away on video games. Movies are a much better way to waste the brain away. So you can imagine the excitement I have in seeing one of the few video games I actually played being turned into a movie again. Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun Li comes to theaters on February 27, 2009. Directed by Andrzej Bartkowiak, the Street Fighter video game adaptation also stars Michael Clarke Duncan, Neal McDonough, Taboo, Chris Klein, Moon Bloodgood, Edmund Chen, Cheng Pei Pei, Josie Ho and Robin Shou.

A restricted (Red Band) Russian trailer has hit the web for the upcoming film Wanted directed by Timur Bekmambetov and based on the graphic novel. I'm sorry that I have been posting these foreign trailers as of late, but lemme tell you, I wouldn't be posting them without good reason. And here is another good reason. If you weren't excited about this film before, you WILL be now. EXCITING, plus you can really tell from this that it was directed by Timur Bekmambetov, and if you don't know his other films - you should.




As a side note, the full website for Wanted is up and running and can be found here.

There is a Spanish version of the trailer for David Fincher's upcoming film - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button floating around the net. I've heard that it is playing in front of many prints of Indiana Jones this week, but won't show up on the actual website for another week or so. In any case - the Spanish version for the trailer is here.




This trailer is NUTS! This film will receive Oscar nominations - possibly multiple ones. Plus, I know the girl who is playing the one of the young incarnations of Cate Blanchett. How awesome is that.

This is a list that comes courtesy of IESB.net - highlights from a press conference organized just for you!

…Iron Man shows that we can take our lesser known characters, reach into the storyline of our comic books and make them into valuable, really, "brands" for us. Each of these characters becomes a brand that we can market. We can do them in movies, we can do them in merchandising, we can do them in animation, we can exploit them in licensing …

…View digital distribution of our comics as an area of great growth potential…and also soon in mobile distribution…so they can read our new comic books on their mobile device…

…Hulk is coming in three weeks as well…we are very excited and think it's a major improvement over the first film which was out about 5 years ago…

…I think it leaked that Tony Stark will make an appearance in our Hulk movie that's coming…

…Marvel has created the "May 1st" release date, last year with Spider-man 3 and now with Iron Man….the motion picture industry really didn't believe that would be a viable date for our types of films….so we're very pleased with that as well.

…We could have, theoretically, Iron Man 2 in late 2009 but we want Iron Man 2 to be the highest quality film that we possibly can make so we've moved back 4 or 5 months to that May 1st timeframe in 2010 and we think that will have little impact overall on Marvel's financials by doing that…

Plus check out the IESB articles below for more information regarding Spider-man 4, Spider-man The Musical and their PG-13 and under policy…

No R-rated Films for Marvel Studios

Spider-man Broadway Show is a GO!

Spider-Man 4 Coming 2010?!

There is some real interesting news in here most notably those links at the end that lead to larger articles. Spiderman musical?? As long as there is no emo Spiderman songs it will work out. No R rated films? Could be sucky, but seems to have worked out so far. and Spiderman 4?????? We have absolutely NO info about director or cast! It could end up sucking! Hopefully everything turns out all great just like Iron Man. Then I will be smiling.

MTV has posted a short clip from upcoming The Incredible Hulk movie which comes out June 13, 2008. For some reason the CG Hulk doesn't look as realistic in this clip as he does in past scenes we've seen. I notice it mostly with his hair wisping in the wind. You can check out the clip here.

[EDIT]

As an edit to Derek's post, Yahoo! has posted a clip titled Street Fight which totally rocks. HE USES A CAR AS PUNCHING GLOVES!!! HOW RAD IS THAT?!?! Check it out here. And lastly, IGN has also posted a small clip called Blonsky Battles Hulk.

I wasn't able to see the midnight showing of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, I instead had to settle for 10:00pm opening day. Not going to midnight showings is becoming a regular activity for me. I think I will start off by saying this review is my opinion and will most likely be SPOILER CITY.

THE ROCKIN'

I have to start off with, Indiana Jones is back! He is just as awesome as ever too. Sure he may be a little older but that doesn't stop him from taking names. Harrison Ford is in great shape for his age and can still work wonders with this character we all love. The addition of Shia LeBeouf, who plays Mutt Williams, was a great move for this franchise. His acting is superb and if there is any ad libbing at all, which he is famous for doing, it's barely noticeable. When Shia is first introduced in the movie, he is a dead ringer for Marlon Brando from The Wild One. It's actually 100% obvious that's where the inspiration came from. I'm OK with it though. Barely anyone (including myself) who is going to see Indy 4 has even seen The Wild One (I've only seen stills). Borrowing like that is a good way to show you know your history and a good way to get historical visuals like that out to new audiences. Shia and Harrison have a great on screen chemistry. There is a great scene between the two of them, right after Indy finds out Mutt Williams is his son, involving a snake. The comedy really delivers in that scene. It's great to see Karen Allen playing Marion again, even though it seemed her sole purpose in the film was to be the driver. The action in this movie is great, nonstop, and slightly more over the top than usual. Not once during the whole movie did I get bored and look at my cell to see how much time was left. The story kept me engaged all the way through. John Williams recognizable score was ever so pleasing to the ears and will get you pumped. However, the greatest part of the entire film was when Indiana says, with all the greatness that is Han Solo, "I've got a bad feeling about this." I cheered when I heard that, and two guys sitting next to me broke out into air guitar solos.

THE NOT SO ROCKIN'

My complaints are few. Cate Blanchett, who plays commie Irina Spalko, has dumb accent. Not dumb, its just with her popularity and knowing who she is, it just takes a little while to get use to. Sometimes, the special effects are terrible. I really wish we didn't feel like have to use CGI for EVERYTHING. Let movies like Speed Racer take care of that. There a these terrible looking CGI groundhog/prairie dog things that show up unnecessarily. I don't know if that was also used to reference another movie or not, but it was a bad idea. I really don't need any Spielberg movies referencing Caddyshack in my life. There were also CG scorpions, ants, and monkeys which all looked fake. Why do we have CG scorpions in this movie, we had real bugs in the others. I think sometimes we need to stick to the real thing. Even though its one of the best action sequences in the movie, the backgrounds of the jungle car chase scene didn't look very realistic with the actors in front of them. They didn't seem to blend. And last, The crystal skull looked like a hallow clear plastic alien skull filled with crumpled up ceran wrap inside.

OVERALL

This movie was great I highly recommend it. It was a very exciting and fun watch. It just has that something that the National Treasure, and Mummy movies can't offer. This is by no means a complaint but, I do wish that we could have had an added extra 15-20 minutes of the movie dedicated solely to Indy and Mutt getting to know each other as Father and Son. They are thrown into action so quick that we are never really given a chance to see them learn about each other and bond. Even though the bad guys are great, non of them really stand out above and beyond. Cate is great, I just wish her character was a little more dangerous. And backstabber McHale was just kind of annoying and was never given an epic way to redeem himself. I guess that's kind of how these movies go though, Indy is who we are following so that's who we will follow. We really don't need a larger than life villain. Indy is a Swashbuckling hero with a whip, what more could you ask for. Actually, I know exactly what I would ask for. Considering that the aliens in the movie looked like exact replicas of the Close Encounters of the Third Kind aliens (only taller), a few more Indy movies down the road I would like to see Spielberg and Lucas slap on the Indian Jones name to Close Encounters and re release it. I can imagine the marquee now, in big bold letters - Indiana Jones and the Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I'm sure George Lucas could find a way to digitally add Indy in as a really really old man. That way the Indiana Jones portion of the title would make a little more sense. Heck, I hope Spielberg and Lucas become the greatest collaborative artists of all time and include E.T., Star Wars, Jurassic Park, Willow, Jaws, War of the Worlds, and Amistad into the mix. It would be the greatest and most epic Tie-in film ever created!!! Imagine Han Solo and Indiana Jones in a movie together! I think I'm getting a little to fan-fiction nerdy with this review so I had better quit.
I loved it, go see it.

IESB's Robert Sanchez recently had a chance to talk to Marvel's "important dude" Kevin Feige who provided them with a little bit of info about the upcoming Captain America and Thor movies. He had this to say,

when asked if the Captain America film would be a period piece. He confirmed yes, the story will take place during World War II, just like the comic book origin story. He says they plan to remain very faithful to the source material and completely traditional.

Feige also confirmed that it was definitely the Captain America shield that was seen in IRON MAN on Tony Stark's work-station as he's removing his suit for the first time. It's just an Easter Egg and probably won't have anything to do with the Capt. America story.

What about that casting rumor making its way around the web that Matthew McConaughey would be taking on the role? Nope, Feige says that's absolutely false.

Some interesting bits of news in there, especially that Matthew McConaughey won't be Captain and that it will be a period piece.

He then had this to say about Thor,

The final script written by Mark Protosevich is expected to be turned in within the next couple of weeks

They don't have a director yet but expect to announce one this summer

The story will take place in Asgard, Thor's home. It will not be a contemporary story

They haven't even thought about casting yet and have no idea who they plan to cast for the lead role (Brad Pitt was rumored)



Nothing too new here other than the fact that it will take place in Asgard and the script is due soon. My Marvel radar is on full alert waiting for some more info about both of these films. Exciting!

According to The Hollywood Reporter,

George A. Romero's "Dawn of the Dead" will be "dimensionalized" to stereoscopic 3-D for a planned theatrical release.

New Amsterdam Entertainment has tapped 3-D company In-Three, which will use its proprietary "dimensionalization" process to turn the 1978 indie horror flick movie into 3-D. The project is expected to be completed within the year.

So far the only legacy 2-D film that has been converted and re-released in digital 3-D is "Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas," which Disney released in October 2006.

In-Three are the ones responsible for the "dimensionalized" "Star Wars" 3-D demo clip that first screened at ShoWest in 2005.

I don't know how to feel about this. On one hand, 3-D zombies is probably going to be unbelievably awesome, but on the other hand, I hope this 3-D business doesn't get too far out of hand. So far, I haven't seen anything that has seriously amazed me. What I have seen (Nightmare Before Christmas and Beowulf) was good, but not so good that I want every film in 3-D. I just hope it doesn't become a gimmick.

Another film based on a book by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) is in the works, and we have the first photo courtesy of cinematical. In The Road,

Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee play a father and son who attempt to head south across a post-apocalyptic United States, toward the coast. Along the way, they'll hide from cannibals, search for more food, clothing -- anything to keep them alive, really. The film, which is due out November 26, is based on the book by Cormac McCarthy (No Country for Old Men) and also stars Guy Pearce and Charlize Theron.

The film is being directed by John Hillcoat, whose last film Proposition was quite an interestingly good film. I personally can see him doing a great job with a film with that description to it.

The trailer for Eagle Eye has hit the web. Eagle Eye is,

the new thriller that reteams Disturbia director D.J. Caruso and star Shia LaBeouf. Opening September 26, the film co-stars Michelle Monaghan, Rosario Dawson, Billy Bob Thornton, Michael Chiklis, Anthony Azizi, Anthony Mackie and Lynn Cohen.

In Eagle Eye, LaBeouf plays a young slacker whose overachieving twin brother has died mysteriously. When the young man returns home, both he and a single mother find they have been framed as terrorists. Forced to become members of a cell that has plans to carry out a political assassination, they must work together to extricate themselves.

Watch the trailer here.

There is a zombie short that has been floating around the internet and getting lots of great reviews. The plot is,

A different kind of Zombie Film. A short film selection of the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. Jimbo is 13. All he can think about is one girl, Sarah Jane. And no matter what stands in his way - bullies, violence, chaos, zombies - nothing is going to stop him from finding a way into her world.

It was made by these guys over at Blue-Tongue Films. It looks like they have lots of shorts and whatnot that they have worked on. Check out some of the trailers - they are all pretty awesome. I Love Sarah Jane is an Official Selection at The Sundance Film Festival 2008.

I managed to find it on YouTube, but a higher quality version can be purchased through Itunes for a couple bucks if that's what you want.

Titanic director James Cameron has made some interesting statements about his achievements with his new film Avatar recently. He recently revealed at Microsoft Advance '08 that Avatar will be the first feature film to have realistic CGI characters,

“Avatar will make people truly experience something. One more layer of the suspension of disbelief will be removed. All the syn-thespians are photo-realistic. Now that we’ve achieved it, we discovered CG characters in 3D look more real than in 2D. Your brain is cued it’s a real thing not a picture and discounting part of image that makes it look fake,” said Cameron. “Avatar is the single most complex piece of filmmaking ever made. We have 1,600 shots for a 2.5 hour movie. It’s not with a single CGI character, like King Kong or Gollum. We have hundreds of photo-realistic CG characters.”

This has some people wondering if Cameron has achieved the seemingly impossible in overcoming the "Uncanny Valley". /film has a great little section about the "Uncanny Valley describing it as,

Uncanny Valley is basically a theory that “when robots and other facsimiles of humans look and act almost, but not entirely, like actual humans, it causes a response of revulsion among human observers.” Imagine a graph showing the progression of realism in computer generated characters. The “valley” in question is a dip in that proposed graph of the positivity of human reaction as a function of a robot’s lifelikeness. The theory is that “if a entity is sufficiently non-humanlike, then the humanlike characteristics will tend to stand out and be noticed easily, generating empathy. On the other hand, if the entity is ‘almost human’, then the non-human characteristics will be the ones that stand out, leading to a feeling of strangeness’ in the human viewer.”



James Cameron also revealed at the event that Ubisoft will be releasing a 3D version of a game based on the movie, which will run on a standard XBox 360 - complete with 3D glasses! First-person shooters will become true first-person experiences, he said.

According to Hollywood Reporter, "After 'Avatar,' I want to do something a lot smaller," James Cameron told The Hollywood Reporter on Thursday.

A possible next project is The Dive, a true story about the romance between controversial Cuban free diver Francisco "Pipin" Ferreras and Frenchwoman Audrey Mestre. Under his guidance, Mestre became a free diver who broke several world records but died in 2002 while competing.

"It's a drama, a love story," Cameron said. "This will require underwater photography, which will look gorgeous in 3-D."

Read more of Cameron's quotes and his thoughts about drama and 3-D here!

Previous rumors of Orlando Bloom being cast for the lead in Prince of Persia: Sands of Time have been crushed with the news that Jake Gyllenhaal has just been cast for the lead for director Mike Newell's newest film in collaboration with Walt Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer. In the film, Gyllenhaal will play Dastan, a young Prince who teams with an exotic princess named Tamina (Gemma Arterton) on a mission to stop "a villainous nobleman from possessing the Sands of Time, a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world." For those of you that don't know, this is based off of a fairly popular video game. I have never played the numerous installments of the video game, but have heard absolutely great things about it, which begs the question - Will Disney be able to make a successful video game into a successful movie franchise? The only video game that has been turned into a "somewhat" successful film franchise is that of Resident Evil. But can Disney make this as popular as its Pirates franchise? My guess is that it surely is a possibility.

Word on the interweb is that Ben Barnes (Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian) is set to play Dorian Gray in a screen adaptation of Oscar Wilde's brilliant novel "The Picture of Dorian Gray" in which, a young man named Dorian Gray, the subject of a painting by artist Basil Hallward. Basil is greatly impressed by Dorian's physical beauty and becomes strongly infatuated with him, believing that his beauty is responsible for a new mode in his art. Talking in Basil's garden, Dorian meets Lord Henry Wotton, a friend of Basil's, and becomes enthralled by Lord Henry's world view. Espousing a new kind of hedonism, Lord Henry suggests that the only thing worth pursuing in life is beauty, and the fulfilment of the senses. Realising that one day his beauty will fade, Dorian cries out, wishing that the portrait Basil has painted of him would age rather than himself. Dorian's wish is fulfilled, subsequently plunging him into a series of debauched acts. The portrait serves as a reminder of the effect each act has upon his soul, with each sin being displayed as a disfigurement of his form, or through a sign of aging.. Producer Barnaby Thompson and director Oliver Parker, who previously teamed to make An Ideal Husband and The Importance of Being Earnest and most recently co-directed St. Trinian's will make "Dorian Gray" at the end of July this year.

I must say, the story of Dorian Gray is a great one and I'm happy to see Barnes get another great role fresh of the heels of Prince Caspian. Dorian Gray is also one of my favorite things about "The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen". Let's hope this turns out to be a good gothic storytelling masterpiece

Christian Bale is set to play the lead role of a 30-something-year-old John Conner in 3 upcoming Terminator films. McG will direct and the release date is set for May 22, 2009. This is what BBC News had to say,

The Welsh-born star, who is soon to be seen in Batman Begins sequel The Dark Knight, has already started shooting the first of those films, Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins.

"He's really an actor's actor, so we're very proud," said Victor Kubicek of film company Halcyon.

"Christian was our first choice and he's a big fan of The Terminator, so we're very lucky," Kubicek told the BBC at the Cannes Film Festival.

"But with Batman he's already done the whole franchise thing, so we weren't sure he'd respond."

Luckily, said Kubicek's business partner Derek Anderson, "he read the script and he loved it, so he's signed on for all three."

I find it interesting that Christian Bale is willing to attach himself to a franchise that I thought died back in 2003 with Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. I guess he thinks he can revitalize the franchise. I sure hope so. The first two Terminator films were fantastic and the third one was a little below standard. I think that if Christian Bale is confident enough to sign on for 3 films he must have read something good. Here's hoping. Click here for the rest of the BBC News article.

From variety, we have word that Dreamworks is preparing a pirate film based on the life of the famous (or infamous as some would have it) pirate Blackbeard. The film will have an interesting team behind the scenes, too: David Franzoni, the writer behind Amistad and Gladiator, will pen the screenplay, and Barry Josephson is producing alongside former prexy/co-owner of the Philadelphia 76ers, Pat Croce. Croce has a real devotion to piracy -- he wrote Pirate Soul, a book chronicling the Golden Age of piracy, and owns a pirate museum in Key West, Florida. He's working with Franzoni on the screenplay.

It's about time we see some of the aftershock of the juggernaut that was Pirates of the Caribbean. I was sure we would see wave after wave of pirate films until the point where we ended up with a remake of Cutthroat Island. In any case, this is awesome news for me as I am a huge pirate fan (have been since I was 4 or younger, so no, I didn't jump on no pirate bandwagon, I have been a buccaneer for a long time). I hope this turns out as good as it sounds on paper - but with someone who wrote 2 good films, and another guy who owns a pirate museum and wrote a book about pirates - hopes look good.

We have the first trailer for Baz Luhrmann's (Romeo + Juliet, Moulin Rouge, Strictly Ballroom)epic outback project Australia posted over at apple. You can check it out in regular or HD quality here.

This trailer is a great little trailer for what is sure to be a great little film. What is interesting however is that it doesn't feature the usual dazzle that Luhrmann is known for. Is it possible he has finally made a calm (yet still strikingly beautiful - look at those colors - so vivid) film that doesn't seem like a 4th grader with ADD who had 8 cups of coffee for breakfast directed? Now, let it be known that I'm a huge fan of the hyperactive visual stimulus of his other films and I'll be there in my seat when this one drops November 14th. But I can't help to wonder how this will stand up against his other films with a recognizable style.

Courtesy of empire, we have 5 new character driven posters for Hellboy II. Interestingly enough, we get to see some characters we haven't seen yet on posters for this film. Check all 5 here.

We have 2 new posters for 2 more of this summers biggest upcoming films - The Dark Knight and Hellboy II: The Golden Army.




I really love the Hellboy II poster. It is classic and awesome. I can't really find much wrong with it. As for the Dark Knight poster, it is nothing we haven't seen already (where's the Two-Face poster?!?!). Also - I expect we will see much more Heath Ledger geared marketing for this film the closer it comes to release date.

A restricted "Red-Band" Tropic Thunder trailer has been released. I think that this film looks much more promising now than it did after the first trailer. This movie is OFFENSIVE to the extreme, but it looks to be pretty funny as well. I'm looking forward to the awesome cast and the fact that this is Ben Stiller writing and directing, something he hasn't done since the amazing Zoolander.

Fox News' Roger Friedman had a chance to talk with George Lucas concerning the Indian Jones Franchise. It sounds like Lucas has some gears turning in his head about a possible fifth installment.

"I haven’t even told Steven or Harrison this," he said. "But I have an idea to make Shia [LeBeouf] the lead character next time and have Harrison [Ford] come back like Sean Connery did in the last movie. I can see it working out."

It sounds a little risky if you ask me. Shia is great and all but Harrison Ford IS the franchise. Plus I'm not sure I would like to see an entire Indiana Jones movie with constant Shia LeBouf ad libbing. I guess I should see The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull before I can say too much about my feelings on Shia cracking the whip in a fifth movie. Who knows Shia could could be the man to fill the shoes. I have to hand it to him, The guy has made some great stuff. The Greatest Game Ever Played shows a great side of his acting that we don't get to see in a lot of his roles. Maybe Indy 5 wouldn't be movie full of ad libs. I'm just saying it's risky and I'm glad that it's just an idea and nothing concrete. Would they call it 'Mutt Williams'?
Read more of the Interview here.

Superherohype recently caught up with triple threat Tyrese Gibson to talk about upcoming projects including The A-Team, Transformers 2, Fast and the Furious 4, and Luke Cage.
He says he with don the mohawk for The A-Team, here's hoping we get the gold chains too.
Find the interview with Tyrese and other Transformers 2 news concerning Soundwave and Jonah Hill here.

I believe it was my good friend Jim Hysell who called Disney's adaptation of The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, "Diet Lord of the Rings." To this day I have used his words to describe that movie. After viewing The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, I can't say that it is another movie that can be best described as "Diet Lord of the Rings," instead I would call Prince Caspian "Caffeine Free Lord of the Rings." I say this because, like pop, Prince Caspian provides the same great flavor as Lord of the Rings but doesn't pack the same punch. I realize that comparing the Narnia movies to the LOTR movies is like giving Narnia a death sentence, considering, in my opinion, LOTR is one of the greatest things ever done for film. What I praise Prince Caspian for is not staying in the middle when it comes to seriousness and humor. The first installment seemed kind of neutral in both areas. This movie hits both extremes. You get great laughs all throughout the movie all while moving through a serious narrative. I found the tone of the movie to be somewhere between LOTR and the Harry Potter franchise with very small doses of early British history bio-pics like Elizabeth. Looking back at The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe, I remember that my biggest problem with the movie was how child friendly the movie was. I remember walking into the theater with extreme joy to finally view a book I loved as a kid put on the big screen. The movie read childish to me, and on top of that Santa Claus shows up with a bag of weapons. Sure its cool that he brings them weapons instead of toys, but I was still like "oh yeah, I liked this book when I was in 3rd grade. No wonder its not as enjoyable for me now." While watching Prince Caspian, this feeling of an overly child friendly movie never came over me. I attribute most of my feelings about Prince Caspian being a more adult toned movie due to a head decapitation conducted by King Peter. The kids were just so young in the first movie that I couldn't take them serious at all. They are a little more grown up now and seeing them in a battle sequence is more believable. You can tell that there was a lot more time spent on sword play and combat training.
This movie has great Landscape shots, faceless Ents, Biblical references, a mentally handicapped bear, an awesome mouse named Reepicheep voiced by the great cross dressing Eddie Izzard, and to my surprise a song titled "The Call" by Regina Spektor. Hearing Regina's voice at the beginning of the end credits got me even more hyped than I already was about the movie. I love her, her voice, and this new song for the movie.
The overall experience was a great one. Not once did I feel bored. Even though the movie answers a lot of questions as it progresses, I feel that it is necessary to watch the first installment before seeing Prince Caspian. I actually went with a friend who hadn't seen the first installment and he had a very good time watching the movie, but I'm sure it would have been a more smooth and less confusing ride for him had he seen The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe first. The only time I felt lost was when Aslan started sending people off to some island through a tree. I think he said pirates were there. I was really hoping Johnny Depp would show up as one of the pirates. didn't happen. I feel that Prince Caspian was a great follow up to The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe. I can't wait to see what Disney has to offer for the next installment of The Chronicles of Narnia.

I think It's safe to say that the marketing campaign for The Rocker is using Dwight Schrute rather than Rainn Wilson to promote the movie. Before I even realized this was a poster for The Rocker, I thought it was something NBC had cooked up to promote The Office. I guess what I'm saying is, this poster doesn't say much about the upcoming movie. They have to expect that when we see a very young Rainn Wilson with glasses, our minds will automatically think of Dwight Schrute. Still very funny though.
The Rocker hits theaters August 1, 2008.

According to variety,


Daniel Day-Lewis is in talks to star in Nine, the musical Rob Marshall is directing for the Weinstein Company, reports Variety.

If he does come on board, Day-Lewis would play the role of Guido Contini, replacing Javier Bardem, who dropped out of a planned fall start. The role is a famous film director who experiences personal and creative crisis while trying to balance all the women in his life.

Penelope Cruz, Marion Cotillard, Sophia Loren, Nicole Kidman and Judi Dench will play the women.

The original stage musical was inspired by the Fellini film 8½; Michael Tolkin adapted the screenplay, and Anthony Minghella turned in a rewrite before he passed away.

While I enjoy DDL's roles as Bill the Butcher, Daniel Plainview, and John Proctor a little more than some of his others (all of which are BEYOND awesome). I am excited every time I hear his name connected to a film. The man is a powerhouse of an actor and has yet to disappoint me. This is good news for the likes of this film to have such a talented man eyeing the lead role.

M. Night has released an extended clip for his upcoming film The Happening over on Yahoo! Movies. It has a brief introduction from the man himself. It can be found here.

I must say, I am totally not feeling this film. I'll still see it as I love Shyamalan and think he is one of the only true "genuine" story tellers making films right now. His films also for the most part demand a theater experience, but I'm just not all that interested. It doesn't make me tense, and it doesn't scare me at all. Now hopefully I'll be wrong as I would love to be tense and scared the entire film. We'll just have to wait and see. What's your opinion?

[EDIT]

Immediately on the heels of the extended clip (literally RIGHT after I posted it) I got wind that JoBlo.com had a restricted Red Band clip for the film. I must say, there is some disturbing imagery happening here and this bumps the tension up a notch in my book. Check it out.

According to cinematical's inside sources,

"in the last few weeks, James Vanderbilt (Zodiac) has turned in a working draft of Spider-Man 4 to the studio. However, according to our source, "his story arc has encompassed two films, making Spider-Man 5 shootable at the same time. The studio saw dollar signs and is in the process of reworking his deal to snatch up the story arc." Don't expect anything immediately, though, since we've been told both sides are still trying to negotiate the deal."

Now don't get too excited, this doesn't mean anything yet. All it means is that there is definitely a script floating around - a script for 2 films, and a script the studios seem to like. It will be interesting to see how this develops and who jumps on board. I agree with Cinematicals comment about it being hard to see Sam Raimi, Tobey and Kirsten jump on board for a 2 film shoot that would easily take up a couple years of their time. Who knows though, maybe we will get lucky and the saga will continue.

The first teaser trailer for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor was released and here it is.



Looks like a pretty fun movie to me. I don't LOVE the first two Mummy installments, but I don't hate them either. They are good, fun action flicks, nothing more, nothing less. My biggest concern for this film however is I think most people might just buy another Indiana Jones ticket - especially if it turns out as good as it looks.

The first trailer for the film Ember which I mentioned a while ago has been released online. You can view it here or in full quality at the Ember website.



I really enjoy the look of this film. It looks like it may be a bit "children's bookish" but I think that it looks like it could be a great film. I will definitely keep it on my radar.

The first bit of this 2-part story of crazy happenings is that, according to The Hollywood Reporter, Werner Herzog is gearing up to remake Abel Ferrara's gritty, NC-17-rated cult classic,Bad Lieutenant, and none other than Nicolas Cage is going to star. Production begins in July, with exec producer Avi Lerner promising it will deliver as much filth as the original. Apparently, Herzog’s wants his remake to update the time period and cop to a post-9/11 NYC. The original stars Harvey Keitel, and according to IMDB's description is about

"A police Lieutenant goes about his daily tasks of investigating homicides, but is more interested in pursuing his vices. He has accumulated a massive debt betting on baseball, and he keeps doubling to try to recover. His bookies are beginning to get agitated. The Lieutenant does copious amounts of drugs, cavorts with prostitutes, and uses his status to take advantage of teenage girls. While investigating a nun's rape, he begins to reflect on his lifestyle."


I have never seen the original Bad Lieutenant, although it is now on my list of 'must sees" I am interested in this film. I am a fan of Herzog (although this does seem like a random choice compared to his art film/serious/documentary type nature) and I am also a fan of Nic Cage who generally makes pretty enjoyable action flicks. I think they they could be on to something with this here although it seems to be upsetting quite a few fans of the original.

The second part of this crazy news fiasco is that Jan De Bont (Speed, Speed 2: Cruise Control, Twister, Tomb Raider: Cradle of Life,) is helming a new film: Point Break 2. That's right, you heard me. A sequel to the 1991 AWESOME film starring Keanu Reeves, Patrick Swayze, and Gary Busey. It is apparently being written by W. Peter Iliff, scripter of the original film and will take place in Indonesia and according to IESB.net will feature a plot like this:

When Billy Dalton, military special ops and star surfer, is disqualified from the pro-surfing tour, he takes off for the coast of Bali looking for the perfect wave. While there he’s recruited by a private security force who are trying to find a gang known as The Bush Administration, surfing outlaws and modern day pirates who work like “The Ex-Presidents,” a bank robbing crew from Malibu twenty years ago.

Wow. I am a huge fan of the original, but this is looking like it could be a HUGE disaster. If they manage to get Keanu and Swayze (SPOILER: Busey can't come back, he kicks it in the first one) back on board, I will be there, but I'm not keeping my hopes up. This film has failure written all over it and all of the questions running through my head right now have an answer that is not a picture of me smiling.

Hot on the tails of his cameo as Nick Fury in Iron Man, ComicCon magazine has featured Samuel L. Jackson on the cover as The Spirit's arch enemy The Octopus, and I must say - He is looking pretty awesome (even down to the octopus detail on his coat). The Spirit - Adapted from the legendary comic book series created by Will Eisner and written/directed by Frank Miller, opens Christmas 2008.

According to Variety,

Jonah Hill is in negotiations to develop a modern-day adaptation of "21 Jump Street" for Columbia Pictures.

The smallscreen property, which aired from 1987-91 on Fox and starred Johnny Depp, revolved around a group of young cops who worked undercover in high schools and colleges.

The "Superbad" thesp would develop the screenplay as a potential starring vehicle and serve as executive producer.

I have to say this is completely out of left field. First, I'm not sure the world is ready for a 21 Jump Street film. Second, what the heck is Jonah Hill doing helming the films efforts? It seems like an odd combination and an odd choice in the first place. I'm actually not very interested in this idea. Not that I hate 21 Jump Street, it's actually pretty awesome and helped to further launch the career of Johnny Depp. I just think that this film may not work out in actuality like the idea does on paper. Who knows though? Maybe this is Hills dream project and he will treat it with so much loving care that it can't possibly fail.

George Roush over at Latino Review broke out with some extremely exclusive news yesterday. While touring the creature effects shop for Hellboy II: The Golden Army he spotted a photo of a familiar X-Men character. Beast. He says he saw the photo lying on a table and it was a photo of a younger looking beast jumping through the air. He mentions that it was not a drawing, but a photo (although sidenotes that it is possible it was a CG image). He has some updates currently on the page saying that the image of Beast had a tail which lead many people to believe it may have been Nightcrawler. Roush says he has confirmed with the people he spoke to that it was Beast, so unless they are confused...we may have some new info on our hands.

"What's this?"

"This is young Beast from the prequel they're gonna be doing. Magneto."

That is the exact exchange of dialog that happened with Roush during his visit. We can only presume that they knew what they were talking about. Exciting!

[EDIT]
Derek 8-Track here, when I first read this on Superherohype I about had to change my shorts! I'm still a little skeptical on this one due to the guy saying Beast had a tail. Of alllll the Beast action figures I have not one of them has him with a tail, nor is this ever seen in the comics. I'm hoping the both of them weren't mistaken, because I'd LOVE to see Beast on the big screen again (so long as he doesn't have a tail). not that I wouldn't love to see Nightcrawler again( if that's who they were mistaking Beast for). It's just that my love for beast is Uncanny.

Badtaste has a new Indiana Jones outdoors banner up on their website. They also have a compilation of all of the other previously released posters/banners which can be seen here. Enjoy!

As a side note, Stephanie Sanchez over at IESB.net has posted some photos taken at her local theater that feautre a really interesting take on the traditional one sheet banners. Take a look :




IESB.net has also posted a whopping 15 minutes of behind the scenes footage. All the more to get you excited for what is surely to be one of the largest movies this summer! BEHIND THE SCENES ACTION!