ShockTillYouDrop has seven clips to show us from Hellboy II: The Golden Army. The majority of the clips are extensions of pieces we've seen in the different trailers that have come out. after watching the clips my only complaints are 1.) I'm not sure how I feel about the score yet and 2.) I already reeeeally miss David Hyde Pierce doing the voice for Abe Sapien. Doug Jones does a fine job mimicking Pierce, but that's just what it sounds like... mimicking. The clips don't give to much information on creature visuals, which is kind of sad considering that's pretty much the main reason I want to see the film. The creature effects are why I finally, after many viewings, fell in love with the first film. I guess holding back on that information will only make it more exciting when I finally get to see it on the big screen.

The clips can be found here.

[EDIT]

SX0T - The first review has showed up online, now because it is an early one, no need to worry about spoilers or anything - although if you are EXTRA careful about these things you might not want to read. Here's a quote though to give you a taste

I stumbled out of Hellboy II: The Golden Army feeling as if my imagination had eaten too much. In terms of sheer spectacle and visual invention, Hellboy II is an absolute knockout, frames stuffed with bizarre creatures and mystic runes and arcane weaponry and wondrous design.

Read the rest of the early review over at cinematical.

Well this kind of sucks, It looks like Paris Hilton may end up being in a good movie. From the wonderful people who brought us the never ending saga that is SAW comes REPO! The Genetic Opera. The movie is a rock opera about a bio tech company known as GeneCo who sends out a Repo Man, played by Anthony Head of Buffy The Vampire Slayer (TV) fame, to claim your organs if you can't maintain the payments for them. It looks like one of the most amazing big budget horror post mortem/apocalyptic grindhouse style films yet. It's very Escape from New York/LA if you ask me. Plus Bill Moseley is in it so you know it's gonna be good!

You can watch the trailer below.



[EDIT]

SX0T here. Looks good, I think my only complaint is that it almost seems that they are setting out to create a cult classic. Isn't that something that is supposed to happen without explanation?

[EDIT REPLY]

Agreed, lets hope that it doesn't suffer the same misfortunes Snakes on a Plane suffered.

As the title of this post states, Apple has some Hellboy II: The Golden Army exclusive videos. Apple Trailers features 3 Hellboy II trailers, which you can find almost anywhere, a featurette that provides some info on the main characters, and an animated comic that acts as a precursor to what we will see in the movie. Believe me, it will get you hyped. I'm just upset I wont be able to see this one opening night.

You can find all the videos here

Rob Zombie has offered us just another hint at his next film which I reported a while back as being titled Tyrannosaurus Rex. Well, now we have a poster for the film...but not much else.



Zombie himself has said that the movie has nothing to do with actual dinosaurs, though an image of one appears in the background. There had also been speculation that Tyrannosaurus Rex will be based on a comic book called Nailed, which was co-authored by Zombie, but the filmmaker has denied this.

I really loved Devils Rejects, but House of 1000 Corpses and his Halloween remake surely had their share of problems (still enjoyable, but definitely problems). I am interested in this film, but until he gives us a little more, I'm just going to believe that it will be another overhyped Grindhouse throwback that will probably suck. Please prove me wrong Zombie. Do it for the children.

A while back I made a post about Where the Wild Things are and the difficulties that the film has been encountering and the possible future of the film. It appears that the film is definitely moving forward and reports are now that it will be released as intended. MTV happened to grab a new photo that sheds a bit more light on the visual stylings the film will have to offer.



Pretty awesome if you ask me.

The first Quantum of Solace trailer has surfaced online.



I think it looks amazing. The color scheme as well as the locations and outfits have a very retro Bond feel to it which is completely awesome. I'm excited that Bond is getting away from the "almost too flashy" Brosnan Bond stlye (not that I didn't like Brosnan's Bond, I do). I like that they are embracing this sort of gritty realism that can come about from the Bond world (and certainly was at play with the last Bond film). I also think Daniel Craig is a great Bond. Different, yes. But great. I just hope that action stays up to par with this one, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Derek 8-Track here. Looks like I'm rockin' a pretty eclectic movie list this week. I came by most of the movies while staying at my parents place for part of the week and watching their movie channels. If I had movie channels they would become the downfall of my social life.

Flesh for Frankenstein
Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (some of the movie dragged the second time around)
The Emperors New Groove
Dudley Do-Right (Brendan Fraser is perfect for this role as he was for George of the Jungle)
Knocked Up (still funny)
Justice League: The New Frontier (Better than any animated movie Marvel has put out recently)
Spiderman 3 (I think I now like the Harry and Peter story of the movie best)
Clerks 2
Pans Labyrinth (this was a rough ride with no subtitles)
Jersey Girl (Not the complete and utter crap people were saying)
Comic Book: The movie (sucks)
Doctor Strange (The best animated movie Marvel has put out recently)
WALL-E (check out my review here)
Scoop (This was better than the previews made it out to be)

14 movies. looks like the downfall of my social life has begun.

[EDIT]

And here's my list, once again, you can see that due the 15 hrs I am taking this summer along with teaching, it is hurting my viewing of movies. It is kind of disappointing...almost makes me want to cry.

The Host
21 grams
Many Happy Returns to Lazarus
Wall E
Scrubs Season 5 (Disks 1 and 2)
Definitely, Maybe

Over at USA Today, they did a little feature on the Avengers movie, and while most of it is old news (Tony Stark at the end of The Incredible Hulk, Nick Fury at the end of Iron Man, who they are, what this means, etc.), there was one new item for fans to chew on. Jon Favreau revealed the Avengers line-up Marvel was currently toying with: "The ones Marvel is talking about now are Captain America, Hulk, Thor, Ant-Man and Iron Man. I would love to see that." (And no, he hasn't been confirmed as The Avengers director. The possibility isn't even brought up in this article.)

I hope Marvel's extremely fast paced schedule for all of these films doesn't ruin the great job that has been happening so far on the Marvel Studios end of things. They are doing great, but it is beginning to feel like maybe they are rushing these things a bit too much. I guess only time will tell.

Director Louis Leterrier swore up and down that Captain America made an appearance in The Incredible Hulk. In an interview with Collider, Leterrier declared that it was just an Easter Egg and refused to give any hints as to where it would appear in order to keep the fun. "It's an Easter egg. It's not like oh, it's Captain America and it changes everything. It's still a Hulk movie, but it's really Captain America and it's there, you'll see. It's the real deal. You have to look for it."

We all know that this wasn't the case, and this is the news we are now hearing:

But in an interview with SOS Hollywood, Leterrier revealed it was an actual scene that had landed on the cutting room floor. "There's a point when Bruce Banner gives up on his quest for the cure and decides to kill himself. So he travels far North and reaches the Arctic Circle. You might have seen bits of it in some of the promos. The result was a very dark and strong scene, which Marvel, me and everyone else considered to be too hard to young audiences to take, so we've cut it. Having that said, when Bruce arrives at his destination he meets up with Captain America! At some point this week, we will make it available on the internet – but I cannot tell you where or when – and the material will definitely be on the DVD."

Interesting. I wonder who plays Cap, or if we only see him from the back and he doesn't speak?

I have some updates on Guy Ritchie's upcoming film RocknRolla. The first is a poster, the second is the first trailer for the film.



I generally love Guy Ritchie films and this one seems to be up to par with some of his best.

I am soooo pumped for this film. 20th Century Fox has released new images from AUSTRALIA starring Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. They were all featured in the newest issue of Vogue, but can all be seen here.

How can you not love an image like that??!?

According to the British tabloids, "Christian Bale, soon to be seen as the caped crusader in The Dark Knight, is in talks about donning the jolly Lincoln Green outfit of Robin Hood, where he will be part of a menage a trois between Russell Crowe's Sheriff of Nottingham and Sienna Miller's Maid Marian.

Nothing is signed for Bale, but director Ridley Scott is exceedingly keen to cast him.
Costume fittings begin next week, so he'll be either in or out by then. Vanessa Redgrave and William Hurt are also in discussions about being in the film, which is called Nottingham."

This of course, is a rumor from a tabloid, so take it with a grain of salt, however, this does sound interesting. I really enjoyed the way Bale and Crowe worked together on 3:10 to Yuma and think that this movie would probably be a decent success if it happened.

Paramount Pictures' live-action G.I. JOE film has gotten a subtitle, RISE OF COBRA!

The title was revealed in a new poster featuring Channing Tatum as DUKE from the film that premiered at the Cinema Expo in Amsterdam.

Lame I say, let the lames begin.

As the release date for The Dark Knight draws closer, we are starting to get some stuff other than banners and viral marketing. Courtesy of IESB.net, we have a nice interview with Christian Bale as well as some other interviews with the rest of the cast members and Christopher Nolan. Check them out if you have some time to sit around and watch interviews. Good Stuff.



The rest of the interviews can be found here.

Well, here it is, my WALL·E review right after Derek 8-Track's. My opinions aren't much different than his, but here is what I have to offer. In general, I was stunned, but also have a few reserves.

The Awesome

This film is visually stunning. The entire length of the film I was captivated by how polished and gorgeous everything looked. The robots, the earth, the space ships, the garbage - EVERYTHING was down to the detail perfect. Throughout the journey of this film we really begin to fall in love with the love story between WALL·E and EVE. It seems odd at first, but by the end we really cheer for WALL·E in his somewhat desperate attempts. The slapstick and visual humor was great (and it had to be for a film that is about 90% dialogue free). I also really enjoy the fact that this movie had a great message but didn't seem overly preachy. Makes everything seem a bit more bearable. The music was also great. It was used in all the right places, and completely absent in others.

The Not So Awesome

As Derek said, not much here. I was a bit caught off guard by the live action elements that were thrown in there, but it wasn't necessarily a bad thing and at least they made a visual attempt to explain it. I also feel that the very beginning of the movie dragged just a little bit. Once again, not really a big complaint because it picked up nicely - just an observation. I also agree with what Derek said about the re-watchability of this film. Only time will tell, but I feel like I would find myself watching other Pixar films a bit more than this one. This film had a very "Fantasia" feel to me for some reason (once again, not a bad thing).

Overall

Overall, a great summer film and another great addition to the Pixar library. It wasn't my favorite Pixar film, but it is near the top - they just keep getting better! I would be kind of surprised if this film didn't receive some sort of nomination come Oscar time (it surely will in the animation department, but can it make it into Best Picture running? - I personally think Rattatoulie would have had a better chance at that - but it certainly has a shot). Overall I would give this film a 9 out of 10.

Be sure to check out Derek 8-Track's review for more info that I agree with.

I just got back from WALL·E and I have to say the most surprising thing about the movie was that I went to a 1:10pm showing where 3/4ths of the theater was made up of children 10 years old and younger and not one of them disrupted the film. It was quite surprising considering I can't go to a fan-boy film without some idiot in the crowd feeling as if they have to bestow every bit of their unending knowledge of that comic book character on the entire viewing audience. "That's not how it is in the comic!" It's amazing how well mannered these toddlers are compared to a fan-boy audience. With that being said here is my review of the actual movie and not the theater experience.

The Rockin'

As a movie almost completely void of dialogue, WALL·E has to rely on Chaplin and Keaton (Buster not Michael) like humor and stunning visuals to keep the viewer interested. The movie opens beautifully, in an almost operatic way, following the curious WALL·E as he cleans the trash on Earth the humans have left behind. While cleaning, he collects objects of the human world that are of interest of him. Much like Ariel does in The Little Mermaid (look for Flounder in his collection). The visuals are as crisp and amazing as ever. It is interesting that live action is used to portray the "healthy" humans of the past and 3D animation is used to depict the fat obese humans of the movies present time period.

Al Gore, Leonardo DiCaprio, and WALL·E lead the charge in today's attempt to create a better world for the future. Where happy feet failed, WALL·E succeeds in teaching children lessons of why it is important to love and care for the environment. Basically, the movie is an important cautionary tale about the negative effects on the environment if we don't take any moral responsibility... and on why we shouldn't let ourselves become obese. I can't wait to hear the fats complain about this as they did with Fat Bastard in the Austen Powers movies. These cautionary tales are told all while revolving around a well told love story between two curious robots. Like most robot movies these robots are unique compared to the others of their same models. It is their curiosity that makes them unique and it is their curiosity that keeps the viewer curious as to what is going to happen next.

The Not So Rockin'

Nothing...

Just kidding, but the only negative thing I have to say about this movie is very mild. Even with all of the wonder and magic it provides, due to the lack of dialogue, I'm not sure if this is a movie that will have a high watchability rate after you see it the first time. I may only see this movie 5 more times and not need to see it again. Its a great movie to show people, I just can't see myself slapping it in the ol' DVD player very often like I can with other Disney Pixar classics like Toy Story and Finding Nemo. But only the future, when I own it on DVD (or maybe blu-ray if I get a player), really holds the answer to whether or not it has a high watchability rate. so yeah, I was right with my first statement. Nothing.

The Overall

The only negative thing I have heard about this movie from others is "the lack of dialogue may cause children to get restless." In my experience this was not the case, the children were all very well behaved. I have to credit the seamless translation of WALL·E's curiosity over to the viewer as to why the children invest themselves completely into the movie. WALL·E is captivating to the eyes and heart and I totally suggest this movie.
With 9 feature films under their belt, I can't wait to see what number 10 brings us.

There is no end to the wonder that is Disney·Pixar.

I found this wicked awesome display for the Transformers sequel at Comingsoon.net
It's located at Hasbro Headquarters in Rhode Island.


It's not overly showy, just enough to start the "getting pumped for this movie" process.

Here is my weekly movie list for the week of 6/15 - 6/21. I started summer classes and I am teaching as well, so you can see it took a toll on my typical viewing situation.

Kinsey PBS Documentary
Saving Silverman
Without A Paddle
Avenue Montaigne
Revolver
The Host
Horton Hears a Who

Derek 8-Track here, with my movie list. You will see that I haven't started teaching and going to classes yet, therefore I have all the time in the world to watch movies. Thank the Lord for 3 months of free movie channels!!!

The Brady Bunch Movie
Knocked Up
The Blair Witch Project
Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired
Hear and Now
25th Hour (I forgot how awesome this movie was)
High Fidelity
Superman Returns
Doc Hollywood
The Deer Hunter
Shadow of a Vampire
Superman II
Superman III
Superman IV: The Quest for Peace
Tearms of Endearment
X-Men: The Last Stand
Volcano
Vegas Vacation

Comedic legend George Carlin has passed away at the age of 71 (Sunday June 22, 2008). Carlin, who had a history of heart problems, died at St. John's Health Center in Santa Monica about 6 p.m. PDT (9 p.m. EDT) after being admitted earlier in the afternoon for chest pains.

The legend known for his "dirty jokes" and crude sense of humor was set to receive the "Mark Twain prize for American Humor" award from the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts. It was to be presented to Carlin on November 10th.

He will be missed.

A new video has surfaced showing more than we have seen before (not much) of Two-Face for the upcoming Dark Knight film. It still doesn't show much, but what it does tell me is this is going to be one sick looking Two-Face and I am excited.

You can see the original video over at whysoserious.com

Or you can watch it below

As some of you may know, Iron Man 2 news has been somewhat of a battleground recently with comments here and there from Marvel and Jon Favreau. I am here to catch anyone lacking in this knowledge up to date. It all began immediately after Iron Man's huge success where Marvel said that Iron Man 2 filming was set to begin filming in March of 2009 with a release date set at April 30th, 2010.

It then came to our attention via Jon's myspace and blog that he wasn't too fond of the start date for Iron Man 2 with him saying this,

It's been five weeks since the one and only phone call my reps have gotten from Marvel. I know their hands are full with the Hulk and I’m sure they will get into it shortly, as they tell me they intend to. I ran into the Marvel guys at the Hulk premiere and everyone sounded eager to get to work on IM2.

I am concerned, however, about the announced release date of April 2010. Neither Robert nor I were consulted about this and we are both concerned about how realistic the date is in light of the fact that we have no script, story or even writers hired yet. This genre of movie is best when it is done thoughtfully and with plenty of preparation. It might be better to follow the BB/DK, X/X2 three year release pattern than to scramble for a date. It is difficult because there are no Marvel 09 releases and they need product, but I also think we owe it to the fans to have a great version of IM2 and, at this point, we would have less time to make it than the first one.

At this point, the ball was left in Marvel's hands. They apparently responded with some quite odd comments. According to news broke over at IESB.net and their sources,

So according to our source at Marvel, Jon was expecting a moderate bump in his fee for the sequel but apparently Marvel has other plans.

Our source continues that Maisel believes Iron Man 2 will be a success regardless of Favreau's involvement and feels the studio does not need to pay Jon a higher fee for his services.

This is the most disappointing news that I have heard coming out of Hollywood in years, is Marvel out of their Vulcan mind?

So bottom line, Jon Favreau has not been locked in to direct Iron Man 2 for the simple reason that Marvel is being cheap - this is 100% accurate folks, no bullshit.

So there ya, go, Marvel is too cheap to higher Favreau again and thinks Iron Man 2 will be a hit regardless of who is directing.

Ahhh, but the plot thickens. Almost immediately after that news broke, we got another word that went a little something like this,

IESB says that three hours after they posted the story, their Marvel sources reported in with the news that the studio was reaching out to Favreau. Nikki Finke chimed in with a confirmation. Marvel Studio insiders are now wagging their fingers at us, wondering how we could be so gullible, and believe them to be so stupid. Here's where you can collectively roll your eyes.

At any rate, the story is now that David Maisel has put out an offer for Favreau to direct the Iron Man sequel, and that it is "much richer" than what he was paid for the first film. Here begin the negotiations, and here we can breathe a sigh of relief that things seem to be going the right way. I will also venture to applaud the anger of the geeks, as I suspect our ill will may have been the spark to get things moving.

It seems to be a bit of a confusion between what Marvel says and what Jon says, but in the end, I hope things get settled and Jon gets his dues come time for Iron Man 2. I mean seriously, it is one of the best superhero films to date. Let's not screw this up Marvel.

While Speed Racer didn't seem to be the hit that it (could have/should have?) been (I enjoyed it). The Wachowskis' seem up for another shot - this time with something they are a little more familiar with. Ninjas and Kung-Fu. Although they are only producers on this film, many have hope that they may be able to revive their heyday of The Matrix. We have a little info about the upcoming film Ninja Assassin.
Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Ninja Assassin will center on, "Raizo (Rain), one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them...and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge." WB also confirmed that Naomie Harris (Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End) will play a Europol researcher named Mika Coretti, Ben Miles (V for Vendetta) plays her partner, martial arts performer Sho Kosugi stars as the leader of the assassins and Rick Yune will portray Raizo's rival, Takeshi.

It is going to be directed by Wachowski Bros. protege James McTeigue (V for Vendetta).

The film is currently expected to arrive in theaters in 2010.

If you choose to read a pretty spoiler filled piece about the film, head over to IESB.net for the news.

When I was at the local theater to see The Happening over the weekend, I saw a poster that caught my eye. This theater shows lots of big films but also some of the smaller release films (currently Mongol, The Fall, Mister Lonely). I saw a poster for a new documentary coming out called Gonzo: The Life and Works of Hunter S. Thompson. I really enjoyed Johnny Depp's performance in Fear and Loathing and really have an interest in the Gonzo style and how the mind of the great Hunter S. Thompson worked (hopefully the film will also feature some info on Ralph Steadman). I did a bit of research on this film I knew nothing about and found some great info.

This new documentary from the Oscar-winning director of Taxi to the Dark Side takes a look at the life and times of Hunter S. Thompson. Johnny Depp, who portrayed Thompson in the 1998 film Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas narrates the story which aims to show how Thompson's unconventional lifestyle and worldview led to the invention of gonzo journalism. The film addresses the major touchstones in Thompson's life — his intense and ill-fated relationship with the Hell's Angels, his near-successful bid for the office of sheriff in Aspen in 1970, the notorious story behind the landmark Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, his deep involvement in Senator George McGovern’s 1972 presidential campaign, and much more.

When you hear the real Hunter talk in the trailer, you really realize how fantastic of a job Johnny Depp did in portraying him.
It sounds extremely interesting and the trailer looks quite exciting. I think I may have to hit this one up.

These are the movies I watched for the week of 6/8 - 6/14. A couple more weird ones and some repeat viewings as usual.

Le Divorce
Superbad
Slings and Arrows Season 1 (3 Disks)
Gus Van Sant's Last Days
Notes on a Scandal
Slings and Arrows Season2 (3 Disks)
The Singing Detective
The Happening
Strange Wilderness
Anything Else
The Incredible Hulk
The Good German
Kung Fu Panda
The Legend of King Arthur BBC Documentary
China's Lost Girls

Derek 8-Track here with my weekly movie list. I got some great deals on Schwarzenegger DVDs at my local pawn shop!!!

Stay Tuned
Eraser
La Femme infidele
The Holiday
The Terminator
Persona
The Great Debaters
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
La Jetee
Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (I found myself moved by Arnold's acting in this film)
The Incredible Hulk
The Happening (lame, the only part that's cool is that the movie is about creating theories and then you too start to create theories of your own... as to why the movie sucked so much.)
The Bodyguard (What? I was in a hotel with limited movie channels)

I have been slacking on posting a bit and usually these would come as individual posts, but I decided to combine them into one Trailer-licious post. So here ya go, a few new trailers for you to feast your eyes upon.

New Alternate Trailer for Dark Knight


Gotham Tonight Special


Punisher: War Zone


English Version Curious Case of Benjamin Button


Valkyrie


The Wackness


Death Race


WOW that's alot of trailers. I can officially say that I am excited to see all of these films though. Dark Knight, of course. Punisher: War Zone, will probably suck but I need to compare it to the other Punisher. Curious Case, I HAVE BEEN psyched for this film and smell Oscars in its future. Valkyrie, wasn't interested in previously but am becoming more interested in seeing it. The Wackness, its 1994!!! It can't lose! Death Race, Jason Statham wins almost all the time, purely fun action guy.

As most people know, Jason is currently shooting it's reboot to the franchise. MTV has recently posted a sort of behind the scenes moment where we get a look at the famous mask that will be making its appearance in the film. Fans of the original film know that the mask doesn't actually show up until the 3rd film in the series. IESB.net recently did a set visit and was able to provide us with this information,

First, during our interview with producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form, Form said, "most people think Jason Voorhees was in the first one and, most of the people we talk to - the younger audience - they think he's in the first one, they think he's wearing a hockey mask and that's kind of how this franchise started. They don't realize that Pamela was basically the whole first one and he didn't show up until the very end of the movie...in the lake for the one shot...and then the second one, of course, he wore the sack. In the third one, finally, you have that great moment where he comes out in the hockey mask. I think we tried to take elements from all three of those movies to create one reboot of Friday the 13th and I think we take the elements where you will see Jason put the hockey mask on for the first time - how and why. And you'll see him actually do it not just come out with it."

According to the filmmakers, in this new film, we'll see both Sack Jason and Hockey Mask Jason.

The production is set to wrap on (coincidentally) Friday June 13th and are in the final throws of shooting. Friday the 13th 2009, get ready to be frightened all over again - old school style!

The Incredible Hulk is the newly created Marvel Studios "reboot" of the Hulk franchise starring Edward Norton as Hulk. This film focuses mainly on Banner's search for a cure to his gamma poisoning sickness and his battle with the villian The Abomination (a Hulkerized version of Emil Blonsky played by Tim Roth)

The Awesome

I should begin by saying that I am a fan of the Ang Lee Hulk that was released a couple of years ago. It is quite a different film than this film, but a good film none-the-less despite what many people seem to say. This film surely delivers when it comes to action. I would say that about 85% of this film is pure Hulk action delivered with great CGI (which is good, bu noticeably present) and awesome explosions. The sets are huge and well put together and make great stages for all of this action to take place on. Norton is surprisingly good as Banner (something I was at first skeptical about). The scenes where he is on the run as Banner and just on the edge all the time of losing it and becoming the Hulk are great scenes and keep this film rolling. Most of the acting is just fine in this movie, and the dialogue is not terrible (not Iron Man quality, but not terrible). Liv Tyler is a bit awkward as Betty Ross, but manages the job with the exception of a few cheesy moments between her and Norton. Two of my favorite things about the film weren't even about the Hulk, which does make me question the plot a little, but these teasers were just too awesome to ignore. First is the appearance of Tony Stark (who I still believe is being played PERFECTLY by the talented Robert Downey Jr.) and also a reference to Captain America. SPOILER BEGIN a vial of Gamma juice with the name of the inventor of the Super-Soldier serum, Dr. Reinstein, and reference to the WWII Super-Soldier program anyone? SPOILER END.

The Not So Awesome

The CGI in this film has its flaws and is for the most part extremely present and noticeable. There are a few cheesy moments of dialogue typical of most romances that happen in super hero films. Because of the heavy basis on action, the film does sacrifice character development a little bit, but still manages to receive a passing grade. Some of the action is definitely over the top, but that is to be expected and is directly in line with a film about The Hulk. Overall, not too many disappointing things, but I still feel like the film lacked some of the punch that Iron Man had (a film that is now the idea of what I hold other superhero films up to).

Overall

Overall, this film was a good popcorn film that delivers on action and fulfills some of the missing elements that Ang Lee's had while removing some of the character development that Ang Lee felt like keeping. While Marvel seems to disagree, I believe that this film works almost perfectly as a sequel to Lee's Hulk and not necessarily a reboot. It pretty much picks up where the last one left off and covers most of the back story in the opening sequence. It has some issues, but still succeeds in being another great film for the Marvel Studios line-up. Marvel Studios is officially 2 for 2. I give this film a 7.5 out of 10.

Kung Fu Panda is the new Dreamworks animated picture about a clumsy, overweight panda who through a series of unique events becomes name as the successor to the Dragon Scroll and must then convince those around him and himself that he is worthy of this position and worthy to take on the recently escaped threat Tai Lung.

The Awesome

This film is extremely pretty to look at. The opening animations, which were 2D, while the rest was in that now classic CGI style that has become a staple of children's films, is gorgeous and really sets the mood for the entire film. It is probably one of the best looking of these types of films that I have seen thus far. The voice acting is above standard with voices such as Jack Black, Dustin Hoffman, Angelina Jolie, Seth Rogen, Lucy Liu, David Cross, and Jackie Chan to name a few. When you look at that list, you know you are in for something. Jack Black was great as the title characters voice and he had the perfect sense of comedy and seriousness to make this film more than just the regular "Shrek" type film. The story is really good and kept me interested the whole time. The villian, Tai Lung was great, and the action/fighting sequences were really nice to look at (animated kung-fu that looks realistic? AWESOME!). The jokes were pretty on target, and for the most part on target for laughs.

The Not So Awesome

There really isn't much to complain about in regards to this film other than one kind of big thing. The great cast of character voices are extremely UNDERUSED. I think that most of the Furious 5 had about 1 or 2 lines each. With talent like that behind the reigns, it seems to be just a dumb idea not to use these people to their fullest extent. When they used then, it worked, and I just don't quite see why they weren't used more than they were.

Overall

Overall there isn't much to complain about in regards to this film, and the praise outweighs the small complaints. It is one of the best of these types of films I have seen in a while and I really enjoyed myself sitting and watching this movie. It wasn't perfect, but it was pretty good. As most people will say, it's no Pixar film, but it definitely fills that void until Wall E comes out. One word - Skadoosh. I give this film an 7.5 out of 10.

The Happening is M. Night Shayamalan's latest theatrical effort. The general plot is a film about an unseen something that is causing people to commit suicide. This threat is happening in many different locations in the Northeastern area of the United States and we follow the journey of specifically a small "family" consisting of Mark Wahlberg, Zooey Deschanel, and Ashlyn Sanchez as they try to "outrun" the events that are happening.

The Awesome

There isn't much, let me tell you that. I was extremely pumped to see this film as I have generally been quite a fan of M. Night's work and this was his first R rated film. The trailers at first did not seem that good, but got better over time making me really want to see this. The gore was decent and not overplayed, which was kind of nice, and there were a few moments that were slightly unexpected (we're not talking major plot twists here). The idea for the story was good. The plot generally fits under the category of Awesome...unfortunately not much else does. John Leguizamo's character was the best in my opinion, but like I said, we aren't offered much in the department of scares, jumps, good dialogue, plot twists, or anything else that makes a good film. I think what I enjoyed the most was following the story of a man who at most points seemed to already be a dead man.

The Not So Awesome

The script for this film was pretty bad resulting in poor dialogue and some really awkward and not explained moments of un-needed "false" tension. The acting was generally terrible (Mark Wahlberg and Zooey Deschanel, I'm looking at you). The characters were pretty weak and the scares and suspense do not deliver. Mark Wahlberg who is generally a decent performer seemed to play a weak and lifeless biology teacher (I understand that he had to be this way for the plot to make sense). Zooey's voice is lifeless and lacks any amount of enthusiasm or shock about the events that are happening around them. I also found it pretty difficult not to laugh at some of the things that I'm pretty sure were not supposed to be humorous. I really don't have too many good things to say about this film. The film aspires to be something of Hitchcock legend, but falls desperately short. The environmental warning tag on at the end made the film just seem desperate for justification.

Overall

I will generally defend M. Night's films as I have enjoyed or at least mostly enjoyed all of his other films and I truly think he is one of the most genuine film makers out there right now who is telling original stories. With that said, there isn't much left to defend about this film OTHER than it's premise and story. As I said before, if you are looking for the usual Shayamalan flick, don't look here, but if you are curious at all about what this guy is doing, I'm sure you won't mind at least watching it. I keep finding myself WISHING that this film was a little bit better so that I could tell people to go see it, but what I think I really NEED to wish for is that Shayamalan takes a break and thinks about his choices a little more carefully for his next stab at this type of film. Overall, I give this film a 4 out of 10.

I have some updates for you on upcoming Judd Apatow and Seth Rogen projets.

First, Judd Apatow's formerly untitled film that had Adam Sandler and Seth Rogen attached now has a title. Funny People, coming July 31, 2009. Eric Bana, Jason Schwartzman and Jonah Hill have also joined the ensemble of "Funny People," which will be co-financed by Universal Pictures and Columbia Pictures. It may come as a shock to see Eric Bana's name attached to this project, but according to Variety, Bana began his career as a comic on the standup circuit in Australia and starred in the sketch comedy series "Full Frontal" and "The Eric Bana Show" before remaking himself as a dramatic actor. Details on the film are minimal and the only plot points we know are that the movie takes place in the world of standup comedy and the focus is on a comedian who has a near-death experience.

Next, we have news about YET ANOTHER Seth Rogen film currently titled Jay and Seth vs. The Apocalypse starring Seth Rogen and Jay Baruchel (Undeclared and upcoming Tropic Thunder). Film is based on a comedy short from "Superbad" scribes Rogen and Evan Goldberg, which in turn was based on a story by Goldberg and Jason Stone. Rogen and Goldberg will write and produce the feature.Several production companies vied for the rights to the comedy, which revolves, as the title implies, around two guys dealing with the apocalypse. Last summer, the project caused a stir in the blogosphere when a trailer for the short appeared on YouTube and can be seen below.

I just found out this morning that Timur Bekmambetov, Russian director of the upcoming film Wanted has punked the entire United States. You may have seen this video floating around the internet of an office person going berserk and destroying the office. It appeared on YouTube and tons of other sites, surveillance video as well as a cell phone version of the antics took the web by storm (view below)

Office Worker Goes Absolutely Insane - Watch more free videos

Office Worker Meltdown Second Angle - Watch more free videos

These videos were even on FOX news THIS MORNING!!!! Well I just found out they are recent videos released by Timur as part of a viral marketing campaign for the film Wanted!

Timur's personal website where he revealed the news is located here.

I used BabelFish to get a loose translation, take a look at that here.

And finally, here is another website, translated as well, that loosely talks about what happened.

If you remember the trailers from earlier, you will remember a shot that takes place in an office in which James McAvoy's character flips out and hits someone with a keyboard.




One of the themes of this film seems to be about escaping your meaningless life and existence (office worker) for something greater (assassin). And I must say, Bekmambetove did a fine job of making us all aware of this.

Here is my new film list (films I watched over the course of last week - dates listed above). I've been watching alot of really weird films lately. Definitely not the stuff I usually watch.

The Lookout
Over Her Dead Body
In The Realms of the Unreal
Water Horse
Greece
Sea Monsters
Mean Creek
Flags of Our Fathers
Eurotrip
Gerry

Derek 8-Track here with my weekly movie list. sorry this is coming to you all so late. I apologize for the musicals, I was still in that film class during this week.

Rear Window
Paris, je t'aime
West Side Story
Day Watch (Night Watch is better)
Koyaanisqatsi
Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay
Moonstruck
The Graduate
Rumor Has It...
Epic Movie
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes
Willow
Dirty Work

There is a really great interview with Jon Favreau over on comingsoon.net. You should read it right now.

Here is a snippet,

CS/SHH!: Would you launch into another two year movie after this?
Favreau: Yeah, I would do it. Hopefully we'll figure out how to get "Iron Man 2" going and I'll be involved with that. You have got to out-do what you did before. So, if the last one took two years, we would need at least that to do what we are talking about, or at least thinking about. Nobody knew about "Iron Man," and that was a disadvantage in some ways, but nobody expected anything. I think people were pleased based on the fact that they had no preconceptions about the project. Now, we have a movie that people seem to like and you can't give them less. You have to give them more. There are challenges that come with that as well as the benefit of people already understanding who he is and the character. We told the origin story so where do you go from here? There are plenty of story lines to explore from the 40 years of history from that character.

CS/SHH!: Have you chosen anything?
Favreau: No, we haven't. I haven't been hired to do it yet. I know that Robert and I have talked a lot about what types of things we would like to do, and how to play into the strengths of what we discovered last time around. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves. Hopefully that won't be too long in coming.

Jon also discusses, Avengers, possible plotlines for Iron Man 2, the DVD release, Incredible Hulk, and what he is currently up to. All can be found here.

I'm just going to say this while I can. Seth Rogen will reign supreme. The man is a master of his craft (acting, writing, comedy) and is currently propelling himself to the number 1 position along with his good friend Judd Apatow. I have a handful of news items related to this comedic genius and his prowess.

First off, Entertainment Weekly has reported that Seth Rogen's Green Hornet movie has the go-ahead, even down to its release date: June 25th, 2010.

Rogen is still set to star as Britt Reid, the bored newspaper publisher by day, crimefighter by night. He is also still writing the script with his partner, Evan Goldberg. But no director has yet been named, nor has Kato been cast. (If you remember, Rogen favors Stephen Chow. Sounds like he still does.) The article over at EW is a really great article in which Rogen talks about many things that he is currently developing.

Another bit of news from the Rogen world is that him and his writing partner Evan Goldberg will be scribing and upcoming episode of The Simpsons. Rogen said,

"We called The Simpsons and asked if we could write an episode. Evan actually met James L Brooks at a party and James said he really liked Superbad so we thought there’s our in. Maybe we could ask to write a Simpsons,” Rogen revealed to Collider. “We went in and pitched them like 5 ideas and surprisingly they hadn’t done some of them. And…yeah…we all sort of settled on one during the meting and then we went out and wrote an outline and they gave us notes on it. Then we re-wrote the outline."

The last bit of news is that at the end of the summer, Rogen will begin filming an as of now Untitled Judd Apatow/Adam Sandler project in which he plays a young stand-up comedian who isn't the greatest at his trade. Eric Bana is also currently in talks to be added to this star-studded cast.. The film is scheduled for a release on July 31, 2009.

Keep in mind that all of this is news comes on top of the fact that he already has 2 movies filmed and ready to be released. Pineapple Express opens August 8, followed by Zack and Miri Make a Porno on October 31.

Seth Rogen is on his way to the top and as a fan of all of his and Judd's previous work, I can certain say that I'm ready to follow his journey.

Director Craig Gillespie and Ryan Gosling (Lars and the Real Girl) will re-team for a film called The Dallas Buyers Club.

Dallas Buyers Club is the true story of Ron Woodroof, a tough Texas electrician who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1986 and given six months to live. Frustrated with the lack of available medical options and unwilling to accept a death sentence, Woodroof found a lifeline using alternative drugs and created a lucrative smuggling business that made those drugs available to AIDS patients. Woodroof died in 1992.

I loved Lars and the Real Girl and I hope this film turns out just as good.

El Mayimbe over at Latino Review recently read the first draft of the upcoming He-Man script that most people thought would be an absolute failure (although if you were fortunate to see the teaser that people were showing to the studios in order to get them to gain interest, you may have thought otherwise). In any case, he says this is an A+ script. The film is currently titled Grayskull: Masters of the Universe.

/film has posted a nice summary of 5 key reasons why this film will RULE.

1. This is not He-Man for kiddies! It’s written as a hard and edgy PG-13 film tinkering on the edge of an R-Rating. And remember, PG-13 is the new R. You can get away with so much more now-a-days, especially when set in a fantasy environment like Eternia.

2. The story is described as “Lord of the Rings meets The Matrix meets Batman Begins.” An epic battle for Eternia which begins with the origins of He-Man, Skeletor, and the Power Sword. Prince Adam has to “overcome his selfish need for revenge and realize his destiny for the greater good of his people” and “find the Sword of Light” in the hidden Castle Grayskull and “unify his kingdom.”

3. Included are Fan favorite characters Zodack, Mekanek, Man-at-armsS, Teela, Evil-Lyn, Trap-Jaw, Tri-Klops, Beast Man, Battlecat and Panthor. And best yet, Orko is no where in sight!

4. All the corniness of the animated series is completely GONE. There isn’t even a ”single beat of comedic relief” in the entire script. Treat the property with realism, what a concept!

5. Grayskull is a geek’s wet dream, “the perfect marriage of Sorcery and Science fiction where in Eternia both Fantasy and Technology co-exist.” The script mixes “high tech, swords, and otherworldly creatures.” Imagine the possibilities!

The full script review provides many more details and is packed full of goodness. Check it out here!

Justin Marks, the writer is currently fan-boy gold when it comes to scripts. There have been rave reviews so far of his Voltron script as well as his Supermax script which was recently revealed to be the script for the upcoming Green Arrow film.

Here also is the NON OFFICIAL teaser that supposedly has been what people have been bringing along to the studios when shopping around the film

As if Marty Scorsese's Theodore Roosevelt and the possible Ian Flemming role weren't enough for Leo, he has recently taken on another biopic. This time Leonardo DiCaprio is set to play the inventor of Atari and PONG, Nolan Bushnell. Screenwriters Brian Hecker (Tribeca short film Bart Got a Room) and Craig Sherman (Pop Warner’s biopic) sold the pitch to Paramount on Friday, and DiCaprio’s production company Appian Way will produce.

I'm not so sure about this one as Leo doesn't strike me as the nerdy type. I am sure of his acting abilities however and I'm sure he could do this film justice...although a film about this guy might not be the best idea to begin with.

According to Variety,

Warren Zide ("American Pie") has decided to bring to life "The Harvard Zombie Massacre," snapping up the comedy-horror spec by tyro scribes Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit.

Story centers on a scenario in which Harvard is overrun by the undead and America's most brilliant minds fend off America's most brilliant zombies and is planned for early next year.

If this is anywhere as high quality in it's humor and effects as Shaun of the Dead, then this will be a truly great addition to the ZomCom genre.

Tim Burton has reportedly been confirmed as the director of Dark Shadows, the rights of which are held by Johnny Depp's Infinitum-Nihil shingle. No official confirmation has been made, but Depp has held the rights since last year, and a big-screen remake has been cooking over at Warner Bros.

For those of you that don't know - Dark Shadows was a supernatural television show in the 60's (over 1200 episodes!!) that had a fairly successful reboot in the early 90's. It is described as, "A gothic-horror tale centering on the life of vampire Barnabas Collins and his run-ins with various monsters, witches, werewolves and ghosts."

Word is that Depp is interested in the role of Barnabas Collins, but again, nothing has been confirmed.

Are you ready to see Burton and Depp tackle yet another pale, dark, gothic movie? They are always good, but to tell the truth, they might be getting kind of old. I'll still be there if this comes to truth.

Bruce Willis is negotiating to star in Kane & Lynch, Lionsgate's adaptation of the Eidos Entertainment video game "Kane & Lynch: Dead Men". Willis will play Adam 'Kane' Marcus, a mercenary who makes an unlikely alliance with a schizophrenic killer named James Lynch. The duo is forced on a mission to retrieve a stolen microchip. The vidgame has sold 2 million copies worldwide since its launch in November, 2007.

Kyle Ward (someone who hasn't done anything pretty much) wrote the script. Filmmakers are now looking to set an actor to play Lynch, and shooting will begin before year's end.

While this may be good news for the video game to have such an A-lister added to it's cast, it seems more likely that this film was chosen while Bruce Willis was drunk and only using half of his brain. I know, that's mean. It just doesn't seem like a good idea to make a movie of a video game that got pretty poor reviews (I haven't played it, but most people seem to think it sucked). I could be wrong, but I'm not that excited really.

There was a new Wanted trailer released recently. It isn't as good as the Russian one I posted a while back. This one makes it seem a little to Matrix-y. It's still worth a watch though.

We are getting more and more Spidey 4 news by the week. It is exciting to get this news every time because I'm such a fan of the Spiderman series thus far (3 was not as awesome, but still a fun flick with some good stuff in it). Anyway, we get 2 main bits of news as recently J.K. Simmons and Sam Raimi have spoke up about developing Spiderman 4 news. First, J.K. Simmons (J. Jonah Jameson) said to IESB.net on a recent visit,

IESB: So we know that James Vanderbilt just turned in a script for Spiderman 4 have they reached out to you yet or anything?

JK: We, sort of, check in once in a while, they say, y’know, we want JK to do it. We don’t know where. We don’t know when. We don’t know who. We don’t know anything, y’know? They signed all of us for the first three films. Sam, Tobey, all the way down the line to me and, we’ll see where it goes. I also, I mean, it's all conjecture and you guys probably know more than I do at this point. There was talk of doing four and five concurrently and I don’t know if they’re still considering that or not and, y’know, I spoke to Tobey in, I guess it was February…sort of awards season time and, y’know, he’s certainly amenable to doing some more and hopefully we’ll be able to get everybody back and make another good one.

IESB: Or a couple of them?

JK: Couple, three, four, five! Whatever, you know, I could buy a bigger house.

IESB: What if Sam decides not to come back as a director but stays as a producer, would you guys still be-
JK: Well-

IESB: Would you and the rest of the gang still come back.

JK: Well, I can only speak for myself, but, if Sam were not the director but was, still had a hand in it then I would certainly have a reasonable amount of faith in it. You know? Obviously if he’s the director I’m there a 100%. If he’s not involved at all, which I think is VERY unlikely, then it would be a situation that I would have to think about. But if he’s involved, hopefully directing or at least as a producer then I’m pretty confident that it would be something that I want to do. Plus they pay money.


Sam Raimi had this to say about Spiderman 4's future,

"James Vanderbilt is writing the script and I'm excited to read it. I think it's going to be done in a few months," Raimi told us, adding, "I'm hoping it's as great as our discussions were about it and I'm hoping it feels right for me because I love Spider-Man. I'm hoping I'm well rested enough to embrace it and I'm hoping Sony wants me to do it. If all of those things come together, I would love to do it. There are a lot of unknowns about the future."

And how does he feel about re-casting key players if needed? "I'd hate to re-cast anybody in the future, I can't imagine that."


Well, this is all pretty good news. It seems that as long as a great script is available and Sony wants Raimi, we may get the entire cast back together (I wonder if they can convince Kirsten Dunst as she originally said she would only do 3). My mind is racing with the possibilities, but I REALLY want to see The Lizard, and we know from previous interviews that this is Raimi's favorite character. I say it's time.

We have a couple new bits of Transformer news, although these ones seem a little more solid and a little less "rumor" stuff because of the sources and the fact that some of this news comes from the actual shoot.

First off, we have the news that the full title for the film will be Transformers 2: Revenge of the Fallen. While this doesn't provide much plot info, it does tell us that someone (most likely someone who died) from the first film will be back. Best guess? Megatron. Maybe he comes back as Galvatron? Although it seems a bit early for that.

We also have quite a bit of info about characters appearing and some plot events. Possible SPOILER ALERT, although remember, this could also be more fake news. This comes courtesy of /film,

The opening of Transformers 2 takes place at a Steel Factory in Shanghai, China (filmed in Bethlehem, PA), where the Autobots, the British SAS (Matthew Marsden as “Graham” and Andrew Howard) and Captain Lennox’s Military team (Josh Duhamel and Tyrese Gibson) are chasing after a Decepticon Audi RS8. Shia LaBeouf and Megan Fox are not featured in the opening chase sequence.

The TwinsThe autobots include a pair of robots called The Twins, which join together to form an Ice Cream Truck. An ice cream truck is a great disguise for a transformer as no one would suspect. I’m guessing that one of the twins is white and the other is pink (but this is just a guess). This appears the be the coolest new addition to the autobot line-up. There’s one sequence where the Twins are speeding down a Shanghai street and split apart around a group of chinese children in the street, which should be pretty cool looking. At another point the truck crashes and the Twins split in two and have a brotherly fight. Yes, it looks like the comic tone of the original film is back.

Also involved in the chase is a hot pink ninja style motorcycle with black highlights which turns into Arcee (toy pictured below), a go-cart named Wheels / Wheelbot and Stinger (possibly a Porsche). Lennox’s team meets up with Ironhide on a Shanghai Street. I’m not sure exactly what happens but it appears that the Deception R8 escapes. All in all it seems like a pretty bad ass chase sequence.

The production has now moved to the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum for a scene which takes place late into the film (I’m guessing about an hour into the film). Bumblebee and The Twins are left in the parking lot as Sam (Shia), Mikaela (Fox), Sam’s college roommate/friend Leo (a new supporting character played by The Wire’s Ramon Rodriguez), and Sector 7 Agent Simmons (John Turturro) distract the guards and sneak into the Smithsonian after hours. Simmons uses a radiation tracker (a call back to the first film) to find a SR-71 Blackbird in the museum.

Sam uses something called the “Splinter” (maybe a tiny piece of the alspark?) to activate the SR-71, which transforms into Jetfire. Jetfire as a Blackbird spy plane? Very Cool. For some reason he has a Decepticon logo, not sure why. Maybe he switched sides?

The involvement of a Constructicon Earth Mover pretty much confirms the rumor that the Constructicons and Devastator might appear in the film.

Courtesty of IESB.net,

Dark Horse will release HELLBOY II: THE ART OF THE MOVIE with pages full of concept art and more on June 18th!

The IESB has got an early sneak peek for you here!

The anticipation is ratcheting up for one of this summer's biggest action-adventure events, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Dark Horse is taking you behind the scenes!

As we delved into the original box-office hit, this 224-page tome likewise presents the most extensive look into the film's evolution, from early concept art and diary sketches to photos of the final props, sets, and filming. A unique look at filmmaking and the art of graphic novels.

Guillermo del Toro and Hellboy creator Mike Mignola once again bring their world-renowned talents to bear on a brand-new chapter in Hellboy's history--a visual feast only they could produce. Get your sneak peek well before the celluloid hits the screen!

* Guillermo del Toro's (Hellboy, Pan's Labyrinth) complete screenplay including a deleted scene--is featured in this book and is illustrated with the original storyboards.

* Interviews and commentary from creator Mike Mignola and filmmaker Guillermo del Toro!

Check out some more art over on IESB.net

Pre-order your copy now - CLICK HERE

Art books are totally awesome and really inspirational to people like me who would love to someday be working within the movie industry (not necessarily art, but somehow in the industry). I have always had great appreciation for the art that goes into films and video games and pick up books whenever I get the chance. I wish I was creative enough to do some of the work like this as I always find it very fun to look at and enjoy.

Apparently Guy Ritchie has come aboard to direct Warner Bros.' "Sherlock Holmes" for Lionel Wigram and Dan Lin. He is working on a rewrite of a script written by Tony Peckham. The studios are eyeing a 2010 release date. Execs at Warners are aiming to reinvent Holmes and sidekick Dr. John H. Watson. Wigram's noted that the new Holmes would be more adventuresome and take advantage of his skills as a boxer and swordsman.

I think Guy Ritchie is a great choice. A man who is known for his contemporary London undergroung drug/crime/caper films should make a great transition to an older setting. This is a fantastic idea and I see it working extremely well, especially after films like The Wolfman coming out which have that gothic classic horror feel to them. I also envision a kind of Van Helsing/From Hell/The Prestige vibe, although hopefully better than than Van Helsing. The question remains, who should play Sherlock Holmes? I think Hugh Jackman or DDL would be a fantastic choice for such a character, what do you say? DDL with a pipe and hat? I'm game.