It was just announced that the first 6 minutes of the highly anticipated Dark Knight Rises will be attached to Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol on December 16th in IMAX only.  So far, my interest in Mission: Impossible has been minimal. The only thing that has me intrigued is to see director Brad Bird’s (The Incredibles, The Iron Giant) first live action effort. The addition of Jeremy Renner isn’t a bad thing, either. But now I’m sure that I’ll be there opening week. I’m the same guy that attended Avatar Day (16 minutes of footage). Don’t think that only 6 minutes of Dark Knight Rises will keep me away.

See ya soon, Tom.  But what’s up with this horrible poster? What disease does your character have? Yikes.

Share this:

I’m completely annoyed by this movie already. Already billed as the next Twilight/Harry Potter, The Hunger Games is not so quietly positioning itself as the next billion dollar poorly made movie. I’m not a teenage girl, but I read the book to see what the hype was about. While the premise is solid, the book is a predictable, poorly written mess.

A young girl joins a survival contest in order to save her community in a dystopian future. (Hint – The contest is to kill every other kid on the playing field – by any means necessary. Think The Running Man and Battle Royale.)

Very soon, this movie is going to be shoved down your throat. You might not know anything about it right now. You may have heard rumblings. But trust me, when October/November rolls around — you are going to know nothing BUT The Hunger Games.

As a first piece of marketing, the studios that be have rolled out the first motion poster I’ve ever seen. I guess you’ll have to see it to full understand. Check it out after the jump.  Gimmicky, eh?

The Hunger Games

Release Date: March 23rd, 2012

Starring: Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Woody Harrelson, Stanley Tucci, Lenny Kravitz, Donald Sutherland

Share this:

Things definitely have fallen apart.

A few months ago, you may have seen the pictures of 50 Cent and his shocking weight loss for a movie role as a cancer stricken athlete.

The man was virtually unrecognizable. It was later learned that he lost over 60 pounds for his upcoming film, Things Fall Apart.  Was 50 Cent going for Oscar Gold? Christian Bale just won an Oscar in a role where he lost a ton of weight…why not Fitty? I was intrigued right away by this guaranteed brilliant performance in an Oscar worthy film coming our way.

After the jump, you’ll find the first trailer for Things Fall Apart. I’ve cut trailers on iMovie. I’ve made movies of my baby boy with music and themes perfectly aligned. What you’ll find here is the worst trailer I’ve ever seen. I’m not joking. This must be seen to be believed. The music doesn’t match. The sound quality is horrible. The acting is laughable. It’s labeled as the “unofficial trailer”, but 50 Cent posted it on his website.

From the nauseating voiceover “Deion Barnes had it all…until life got in the way” to the embarrassing dreadlock wig — you’ll think this is a really bad Saturday Night Live spoof. This is real. Oh man. This is real.

“I thought he was sick, what’s he celebrating?” inappropriately asks the girl with the pink hair.

He’s celebrating life…his career is dead after this film gets released.

Oh yeah, Ray Liotta is in it.

Things have fallen apart for everyone involved here.

Share this:

Tom Hanks and Tim Allen will be starring in a live action-adventure film based off one of the slowest, most boring rides in the happiest place on Earth. The Toy Story alum will hopefully add some spice to a ride that features animatronic elephants, hippos, and other animals you can see in their real flesh and blood — at the zoo, an African safari, or Animal Planet.

There are zero details on what the plot will be, but the sky’s the limit. My guess – a booze filled river boat captain (Hanks) reluctantly allows a stranger (Allen) in peril to board his boat. The two are instant foes and can’t stand the sight of each other. After near death experiences with jungle people (I’m guessing PC jungle people, unlike the ride), crocodiles, and killer hippos, the two enemies learn that friendship is bonded by shared experience. The ending will be ambiguous enough for a sequel and more.

This is the state of Hollywood film. Instead of creating an original action-adventure film set on a riverboat through the treacherous jungle, they have to attach a ride for the brand recognition. There is zero trust in the public embracing a “new” idea.  A quick note to studio execs who are in no way reading this: The #17 most beloved movie on AFI’s Top 100 American Movies list was called The African Queen. It was almost entirely set on a riverboat down a treacherous river. Have some faith in your audience.

I’m going to have to leave the resident Disneyland expert, my mother-in-law, in charge of deciphering why this movie is a good idea.

Share this:

Oscar bait, The King’s Speech, leads the pack with 12 nominations. Ho-hum.

Check out the nominations and a few thoughts after the jump.

Best Picture
Black Swan, Mike Medavoy, Brian Oliver and Scott Franklin, Producers
The Fighter, David Hoberman, Todd Lieberman and Mark Wahlberg, Producers
Inception, Emma Thomas and Christopher Nolan, Producers
The Kids Are All Right, Gary Gilbert, Jeffrey Levy-Hinte and Celine Rattray, Producers
The King’s Speech, Iain Canning, Emile Sherman and Gareth Unwin, Producers
127 Hours, Christian Colson, Danny Boyle and John Smithson, Producers
The Social Network, Scott Rudin, Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca and Ceàn Chaffin, Producers
Toy Story 3, Darla K. Anderson, Producer
True Grit Scott Rudin, Ethan Coen and Joel Coen, Producers
Winter’s Bone, Anne Rosellini and Alix Madigan-Yorkin, Producers

*Should Win: Inception; Will Win: The Social Network; Wild Card: The King’s Speech. Everyone else is just there to fill seats.

Actor in a Leading Role
Javier Bardem in Biutiful
Jeff Bridges in True Grit
Jesse Eisenberg in The Social Network
Colin Firth in The King’s Speech
James Franco in 127 Hours

*Should Win: Colin Firth; Will Win: Colin Firth.

Actor in a Supporting Role
Christian Bale in The Fighter
John Hawkes in Winter’s Bone
Jeremy Renner in The Town
Mark Ruffalo in The Kids Are All Right
Geoffrey Rush in The King’s Speech

*Should Win: Christian Bale; Will Win: Christian Bale

Actress in a Leading Role
Annette Bening in The Kids Are All Right
Nicole Kidman in Rabbit Hole
Jennifer Lawrence in Winter’s Bone
Natalie Portman in Black Swan
Michelle Williams in Blue Valentine

*Should Win: Natalie Portman; Wild Card: Annette Bening, Michele Williams. This one is a toss-up.

Actress in a Supporting Role
Amy Adams in The Fighter
Helena Bonham Carter in The King’s Speech
Melissa Leo in The Fighter
Hailee Steinfeld in True Grit
Jacki Weaver in Animal Kingdom

*This one is wide open

Animated Feature Film
How to Train Your Dragon Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois
The Illusionist Sylvain Chomet
Toy Story 3 Lee Unkrich

*Toy Story 3 was one of the best movies of the year. No way this loses.

Art Direction
Alice in Wonderland
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1
Inception
The King’s Speech
True Grit

*I am a terrible artist. I shouldn’t comment on this.

Cinematography
Black Swan, Matthew Libatique
Inception, Wally Pfister
The King’s Speech, Danny Cohen
The Social Network, Jeff Cronenweth
True Grit, Roger Deakins

*Roger Deakins deserves the award for every film he works on.

Costume Design
Alice in Wonderland, Colleen Atwood
I Am Love, Antonella Cannarozzi
The King’s Speech, Jenny Beavan
The Tempest, Sandy Powell
True Grit, Mary Zophres

*Ugh

Directing
Black Swan, Darren Aronofsky
The Fighter, David O. Russell
The King’s Speech, Tom Hooper
The Social Network, David Fincher
True Grit, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen

*Should Win: I’m torn. I absolutely loved Aronofsky’s work in The Black Swan. But David Fincher created an understated master stroke.  Christopher Nolan was robbed here.

Documentary (Feature)
Exit through the Gift Shop, Banksy and Jaimie D’Cruz
Gasland, Josh Fox and Trish Adlesic
Inside Job, Charles Ferguson and Audrey Marrs
Restrepo, Tim Hetherington and Sebastian Junger
Waste Land, Lucy Walker and Angus Aynsley

*I just want to see if Banksy will actually show up. Or better yet, will Mr. Brainwash be there?

Documentary (Short Subject)
Killing in the Name
Poster Girl
Strangers No More
Sun Come Up
The Warriors of Qiugang

*Rage Against the Machine “Killing in the Name” is one of the greatest songs created. I’ll pick that one simply for the title.

Film Editing
Black Swan
The Fighter
The King’s Speech
127 Hours
The Social Network

*Remember that time when Zuckerberg said “If you invented the Facebook then you would have invented Facebook” and they cut away to someone looking like they smelled a fart?  Quality editing right there.

Foreign Language Film
Biutiful, Mexico
Dogtooth, Greece
In a Better World, Denmark
Incendies, Canada
Outside the Law (Hors-la-loi), Algeria

*My honeymoon was in Mexico and I love carne asada burritos – therefore I root for Biutiful.

Makeup
Barney’s Version, Adrien Morot
The Way Back, Edouard F. Henriques, Gregory Funk and Yolanda Toussieng
The Wolfman, Rick Baker and Dave Elsey

*Whatever

Music (Original Score)
How to Train Your Dragon, John Powell
Inception, Hans Zimmer
The King’s Speech, Alexandre Desplat
127 Hours, A.R. Rahman
The Social Network, Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross

*Why is Daft Punk not here for Tron: Legacy? I hope Hans Zimmer wins, but we all know that formerly dark/moody Nine Inch Nails frontman will win this.

Music (Original Song)
Coming Home from Country Strong, Music and Lyric by Tom Douglas, Troy Verges and Hillary Lindsey
I See the Light from Tangled, Music by Alan Menken Lyric by Glenn Slater
If I Rise from 127 Hours, Music by A.R. Rahman Lyric by Dido and Rollo Armstrong
We Belong Together from Toy Story 3, Music and Lyric by Randy Newman

*This is where I take my bathroom breaks. Nauseating.

Short Film (Animated)
Day & Night, Teddy Newton
The Gruffalo, Jakob Schuh and Max Lang
Let’s Pollute, Geefwee Boedoe
The Lost Thing, Shaun Tan and Andrew Ruhemann
Madagascar, carnet de voyage (Madagascar, a Journey Diary) Bastien Dubois

*Day & Night played before Toy Story 3. It was also the only one I saw.

Short Film (Live Action)
The Confession, Tanel Toom
The Crush, Michael Creagh
God of Love, Luke Matheny
Na Wewe, Ivan Goldschmidt
Wish 143, Ian Barnes and Samantha Waite

*Um, yeah. Dunno.

Sound Editing
Inception, Richard King
Toy Story 3, Tom Myers and Michael Silvers
Tron: Legacy, Gwendolyn Yates Whittle and Addison Teague
True Grit, Skip Lievsay and Craig Berkey
Unstoppable, Mark P. Stoeckinger

*Inception, because it’s Inception.

Sound Mixing
Inception, Lora Hirschberg, Gary A. Rizzo and Ed Novick
The King’s Speech, Paul Hamblin, Martin Jensen and John Midgley
Salt, Jeffrey J. Haboush, Greg P. Russell, Scott Millan and William Sarokin
The Social Network, Ren Klyce, David Parker, Michael Semanick and Mark Weingarten
True Grit, Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter F. Kurland

*Inception, because it’s Inception

Visual Effects
Alice in Wonderland, Ken Ralston, David Schaub, Carey Villegas and Sean Phillips
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, Tim Burke, John Richardson, Christian Manz and Nicolas Aithadi
Hereafter, Michael Owens, Bryan Grill, Stephan Trojanski and Joe Farrell
Inception, Paul Franklin, Chris Corbould, Andrew Lockley and Peter Bebb
Iron Man 2, Janek Sirrs, Ben Snow, Ged Wright and Daniel Sudick

*Inception, because it deserves it here. Iron Man 2? Hereafter? C’mon now. Was that the best we got in 2010?

Writing (Adapted Screenplay)
127 Hours, Screenplay by Danny Boyle & Simon Beaufoy
The Social Network, Screenplay by Aaron Sorkin
Toy Story 3, Screenplay by Michael Arndt; Story by John Lasseter, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich
True Grit, Written for the screen by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
Winter’s Bone, Adapted for the screen by Debra Granik & Anne Rosellini

*I would drain my entire bank account, borrow from my 401k, borrow from my parents and friends to make the largest bet possible: All in on Aaron Sorkin. He will not lose this. Don’t you remember? The Social Network “defined a generation” (real quote, stated with my own sarcasm).

Writing (Original Screenplay)
Another Year, Written by Mike Leigh
The Fighter, Screenplay by Scott Silver and Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson; Story by Keith Dorrington & Paul Tamasy & Eric Johnson
Inception, Written by Christopher Nolan
The Kids Are All Right, Written by Lisa Cholodenko & Stuart Blumberg
The King’s Speech, Screenplay by David Seidler

*Will Win: The Kids Are All Right; Should Win: The Kids Are All Right

Share this:

But that was all a warm up for what is about to come.

The RZA aka Bobby Digital, is going to direct a kung fu flick for Universal, The Man with the Iron Fist.  Oh yeah, and it stars Russell Crowe, which makes perfect sense with his natural affinity to punch and throw things.  Little is currently known about the film right now (it’s called The Man with the Iron Fist, do you really need to know more?), but it’s currently filming in China with RZA directing and taking a small role in the film. RZA was reluctant to speak on Crowe’s role except to call his character “the baddest man alive.”

OK, I’m there.  Russell Crowe’s fists = weapons of mass destruction.

Want a taste of what we might see? Check out RZA’s directing work for his “You Can’t Stop Me Now” video. Prepare to be mesmerized by the beats of the RZA.

Share this:

The Daily Blam (who discovered this), explains the character in detail: Growing up on the planet Xudar, Tomar-Re comes from a peaceful avian race that focuses their efforts on the arts and sciences instead of war. His nature to examine everything has led the Guardians of the Universe to appoint him the archivist and protector of the sacred Book of Oa. When not studying the nature of the Corps, Tomar-Re patrols the sector of 2813 where he developed a close friendship with neighboring sector 2814′s Green Lantern, Abin Sur. Tomar has taken an interest in Abin’s replacement, Hal Jordan. Though Hal is not one for details, Tomar hopes to teach Hal what it means to be a Green Lantern.

Are you still here? The more I read the worst this movie sounds. It’s difficult reading that description without banging my head against my keyboard. The Green Lantern is going to be a resounding dud.

Share this:

The only takeaway from these awards is a glimpse into what might happen at the Academy Awards (the only awards show I almost care about). As expected, Black Swan, The Social Network, The King’s Speech, The Fighter, and Inception were all nominated for Best Picture (Drama). True Grit was shut out (rumbles of Best Picture contender have been heard). The Fighter looks to have a fighting chance for Oscar. The Social Network is starting to gain more likes. Black Swan could dance its way into the hearts of voters. The Kings Speech might be heard by all. And Inception’s chances are all a dream.

Check out the full list of nominees after the jump.

Share this:

Whoa.

What does this mean? My brain just melted. But maybe it further layers the “dream within a dream.” As time slows down — so would the music. Right?

BAHHM. BAAAHMM BAHHMM phrrrt.

Oh yeah, have you ever heard of or seen the movie La Vie en Rose? You may have noticed Marion Cotillard won the Best Actress Academy Award for her portrayal of…wait for it…EDITH PIAF.

Whoa.

The below was confirmed by the man himself, Hans Zimmer.

Share this:

Instead of boring you with a ton of new footage that rolled out from Comic-Con, let’s just get it all out of the way in one swoop. And let’s do it quickly. Below are the three announcements/peeks that actually have me intrigued. Subtle nerdgasms below.

Sucker Punch

Directed by: Zack Snyder (Watchmen, 300)

Starring: Emily Browning, Jena Malone, Vanessa Hudgens, Jamie Chung, Abbie Cornish,  Carla Gugino, and Jon “Sergio” Hamm.

Synopsis: Sucker Punch is a movie about little girl who is trying to hide from the pain caused by her evil stepfather and lobotomy. She ends up in mental institution and while there she starts to imagine alternative reality. She plans to escape from that imaginary world but to do that she needs to steal five objects before she is caught by a vile man. Story is set in 1950’s.

Why it might be kinda amazing: Say what you will about 300 or Watchmen. They were both beautifully shot, totally ridiculous, and intriguing at once. Sucker Punch has been described as “Alice in Wonderland with machine guns.” Take that description and watch the trailer below. See if you can withstand the powers of Snyder. It looks like a ton of fun.

Drive Angry

Directed by: Patrick Lussier

Starring: Nicolas Cage, Amber Heard, William Fichtner, Katy Mixon, and David Morse

Synopsis: A vengeful father chases after the men who killed his daughter

Why it might be kinda amazing: It’s called Drive Angry. And crazy Nic Cage is in it. The only thing that would make this better is an appearance of Mel Gibson taking a leisurely drive through South Central. Now THAT would be some angry driving.

Battle: Los Angeles

Directed by: Jonathan Liebesman

Starring: Michelle Rodriguez, Aaron Eckhart, Michael Pena

Synopsis: A Marine platoon faces off against an alien invasion in Los Angeles (Get it? Battle: Los Angeles)

Why it might be kinda amazing: Described as Black Hawk Down meets Alien. And because 4 seconds of footage (below) has me hot and bothered.

Share this:

On Cinco De Mayo, we showed you the sneak peek of the Machete trailer from Robert Rodriguez. Now comes the most violent, ridiculous, and intestine grabbing trailer you’ll probably ever see.

After watching the trailer, check out the equally amazing character posters after the jump. Don Johnson + Robert De Niro + Steven Seagal = My money towards opening weekend box office. I’m not ashamed. This trailer will slap your girlfriend and make love to all 6 of your sisters.

Is this going to be good? Doubtful. Will this be so over the top that it must be seen to be believed? Of course. And the most important question: Did he really just pull the intestines out of a man to swing himself out the window and crash through another one? Really? It’s fairly obvious that this trailer is NSFW and not for the feint of heart. For everyone else….enjoy (and you’re welcome).

Share this:

That being said, Comic-Con 2010 is upon us which means big reveals. After the jump you’ll see really great concept art for two films I have minimal interest in seeing. If the live action can live up to this artwork, I’ll be there opening weekend. It looks that cool.  For now, I’m refusing to buy into the hype.

If anyone from Marvel is reading, I’ve got the perfect hero song for each character.

Captain America’s Theme Song: HERE

Thor’s Theme Song: HERE

Release Dates

Thor – May 6, 2011

Captain America – July 22, 2011

Share this: