The past seven days

Tuesday, April 30, 2013

Natalie Portman to star in Macbeth

This is a fairly good acquisition for them, imo.

Oscar winner Natalie Portman (Black Swan) has been tapped to play Lady Macbeth in the upcoming reboot starring Michael Fassbender. He was announced this past weekend
Justin Kurzel (The Snowtown Murders) is set to direct and Todd Louiso and Jacob Koskoff arr writing the new adaptation.



This marks the second collaboration between Portman and Fassbender within the past year. The two also starred in an upcoming Terrance Mallick film about the music scene in Austin, TX. They were supposed to co-star in Jane Got a Gun but Fassbender dropped out.

Monday, April 29, 2013

Gabourey Sidibe joins American Horror Story: Coven

Gabourey Sidibe, most recognized for her Oscar nominated performance in Precious, has joined the cast of American Horror Story: Coven. She currently is on The Big C with Laura Linney. Coven is set to begin filming in New Orleans before too long.


Jamie Foxx in talks for Annie

Jamie Foxx (Django Unchained) is reportedly in talks to join Quevenzhane Wallis in the upcoming reboot of the classic musical Annie. Foxx's character, if he secures the role, will be Benjamin Stacks. Stacks is a "variation" of Daddy Warbucks and is a hint to a stack of $100 bills.

The name is stupid to me along with Jamie Foxx being considered. Then again that could just be because I'm not really a fan of his to begin with. He annoys the hell out of me.

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Zack Snyder will direct Justice League

Well... not exactly.

Zack Snyder (Man of Steel, Watchmen) has apparently been given the director's chair for Justice League. That is, if Man of Steel is a complete success. We previously learned that Warner Bros. was basing Justice League's fate on Man of Steel anyway. They basically said if people hate Man of Steel there will be no Justice League.

Just saying that if this happens I might not see Justice League. I'm already wavering on Man of Steel. Snyder's overuse of CGI and lack of basic direction bugs the hell out of me.

Tuesday, April 23, 2013

First trailer for Thor: The Dark World


This is the UK trailer, but it is the same as the US trailer.

I am a bit confused by this, to be honest. It looks really... CGI filled. Like, unnecessarily. I am excited and it's not like I'm going to skip it, but it is a lot different looking than I expected. I also am keeping in mind that it is a teaser, though. I'm sure the full trailer will be a bit different.

Monday, April 22, 2013

X-Men: Days of Future Past image feat. Halle Berry

Another image from Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past has surfaced. This time it is of Halle Berry showing off her costume and look for Storm. A little different but not bad.


New images for Carrie feat. Julianne Moore and Chloe Moretz



Carrie is set to open on October 18, 2013. It was originally supposed to open in March, but it fell victim to the many schedule changes of the year so far.
I will see it but I think the full trailer was a pretty big disappointment. Judge for yourself, but I expected it to look a lot better. I think Chloe Moretz is too pretty for the character of Carrie. I don't doubt her acting ability, but physically she doesn't quite match.


New images from Thor: The Dark World

We have yet another image of the Asgard version of Jane Foster along with a couple more of Thor. I am still very excited for this.



Friday, April 19, 2013

Tom Hiddleston in talks for The Crow

After previous rumors that James McAvoy (X-Men: First Class) was up for the role of Eric Draven, we now have reports that Tom Hiddleston (The Avengers) is in very early talks for the role.

You probably know Hiddleston from Thor and The Avengers where he played the Asgardian bad guy, Loki. He also has appeared in War Horse, The Deep Blue Sea, and Midnight in Paris. Reports are suggesting they have tapped Hiddleston for his great ability to bring humanity to his characters and to evenly represent light and dark aspects. He will undergo an official screen test for The Crow, after doing a makeup test on his own in London, soon where he will fully be evaluated.

I still am not for this at all, but I can appreciate Tom Hiddleston. I think he would be a good fit both mentally and physically for Eric Draven. No one will ever be able to beat Brandon Lee, but Hiddleston would be a lot better than McAvoy. 



The Crow is being pushed on by Relativity Media and will be helmed by F. Javier Gutierrez.

Trailer announcements for Catching Fire and Ender's Game

We received word for some big trailer debuts this week.

The teaser trailer for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire is set to be shown before screenings of Iron Man 3 in May. The teaser is already available online as it debuted during the MTV Movie Awards this past weekend, but it's always fun to see trailers on the big screen.

The first trailer for Ender's Game, the adaptation of Orson Scott Card's novel, is set to debut ahead of Star Trek Into Darkness which is also released in May. The film stars Asa Butterfield (Hugo) and Harrison Ford. It is set to open on November 1, 2013.


We also are set to get the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World sometime next week just in time for CinemaCon.

First poster for Thor: The Dark World

It was also announced that the first trailer for Thor: The Dark World is supposed to surface sometime next week just in time for CinemaCon.






Pretty generic poster but still exciting enough.

Tuesday, April 16, 2013

First look at Jamie Foxx as Electro

I don't love this. Not really.






In case you are clueless, this is the first image of Jamie Foxx as Electro in the upcoming sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. The film also stars Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Shailene Woodley, and Dane DeHaan. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is set for release on May 2, 2014.

Michael Rooker joins Guardians of the Galaxy

Michael Rooker (The Walking Dead) has joined the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy. Rooker has a pretty good history of working with director James Gunn previously appearing in Slither and Super, so this is kind of a given. Rooker will be playing Yondu.

Rooker joins the cast of previously announced actor for Guardians of the Galaxy including Chris Pratt (Star-Lord), Dave Bautista (Drax the Destroyer), and Zoe Saldana (Gamora). Thanos is a confirmed villain with The Controller also being rumored.


If you don't know anything about Yondu:

He is a member of the Zatoan tribe and serves as a founding member of the Guardians. Yondu possesses no superhuman abilities, but it a natural mystic which allows him to develop empathetic bonds and relationships with other lifeforms. He is also a natural hunter and his home planet was the first outside Earth to be colonized by humans.




Thursday, April 11, 2013

New images for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

I squealed a bit.



MTV cancels Buckwild after cast death

I don't know why, but I find this interesting.

MTV has decided to pull the plug on their West Virginia reality show Buckwild. This move comes after cast member Shain Gandee was killed last week during an off-roading trip. Gandee and two others were killed by carbon monoxide poisoning after they got stuck in the mud.
The network already completed four episodes for the second season and had recently increased the cast member pay from $1000 to $4000 per episode. The cast also received some pretty hefty bonuses. MTV stated that Gandee carried the show and that continuing without him would be a shame. Instead there will be a Buckwild special in honor of Gandee's memory.


I find this interesting because when has MTV ever not taken the opportunity to document the drama on a reality show? People on the Real World have had parents die while on the show and filming wasn't suspended. The cast members had more cameras shoved in their faces. You have episodes of True Life where people are put in situations that are dangerous and nothing is suspended. The cameras keep rolling. What makes Buckwild any different?

Man of Steel gets seven images released

I guess I should see it. Michael Shannon looks badass.








Wednesday, April 10, 2013

James Wan to direct Fast and Furious 7

Oh, I haven't laughed like this in a while.


James Wan (Saw, Insidious) has reportedly been selected to direct Fast and Furious 7 and is in talks to secure the spot due to the fact that Justin Lin is not returning to direct. If this happens he will have beaten out Jeff Wadlow, Harold Zwart, and Baltazar Kormakur for the director's chair.
Universal is planning for a release pretty soon (rumored for summer 2014) so this production needs to pick up the pace. So far we have Vin Diesel and Paul Walker returning. If Wan secures the role, which he probably will, the only thing he has going on right now is post-production for Insidious: Chapter 2 which is slated for a September 13, 2013 release. He also will have upcoming press for The Conjuring which is released on July 19, 2013.

I find it a bit odd that they are choosing a horror director for this movie, but I might actually see it. i haven't seen a Fast and Furious since Tokyo Drift... that shit.

Tuesday, April 9, 2013

Elysium - Official Trailer

I will be seeing this even if Matt Damon is in it.


Insidious 2 release date changes

Once again, another release date has been shuffled. A couple have been, actually.

Indisious 2 has been moved up a week and will now be released on September 13th. It now will compete with Machete Kills and Battle of the Year.

I, Frankenstein starring Aaron Eckhart has also been moved from September 2013 to January 2014. It will now compete with the Arnold Schwartzenegger thriller Ten.


Meh. At least we're getting Insidious earlier.

Saturday, April 6, 2013

Evil Dead - Review

Evil Dead is a revision of the 1981 cult classic telling the story of five young people who head off for retreat at an isolated cabin. The group discovers the "Book of the Dead" and unleashes evil in the woods.

Warning: This review contains spoilers. Also keep in mind that about 90% of the footage in the trailers was not in the movie.

I was not initially excited for Evil Dead as I am a huge fan of the original and its sequels. When I heard it was being remade I wanted nothing to do with it. I didn't start warming up to this remake until I saw the redband trailer and some promo pictures. I also read some reviews from SXSW and from some early screenings and they were all pretty positive including those from fans of the original. With that said, I went into the theater last night fairly comfortable with the idea. 
Now... I want to emphasize that as a horror film, and as a horror fan watching, it was not a bad movie. It was actually quite good. However, I would not call this a remake. I would classify it as a revision and interpretation of the original source material. There were nods to the original that I appreciated, but as a whole it really wasn't that close to the original movie. The dialogue was different, the characters were different, the book was different, and the chain of events was all different.
I also need to say this before going too far into this review: please do not bring your children to the theater with you. My theater had a very decent amount of young children 8-years old and younger and there was a lot of crying, screaming, and whining throughout the whole movie. I noticed at least five groups with young kids leave after the opening scene and didn't come back. More people kept getting up with their kids and walking in and out of the theater. It disgusted me and was very distracting. Personally, I think you deserve to lose money on tickets and food and deserve to deal with your kid whining about being scared if you are idiotic enough to bring them to a movie like this. Don't do it. This isn't a kids movie in any way, shape, or form. 

I want to give massive props to Fede Alvarez and the whole team for the use of practical effects and for leaving the CGI bullshit out of the picture. I enjoyed every second of the visuals and absolutely loved the use of makeup, fake blood (and tons of it), and the basic grittiness of the movie as a whole. People need to look at the effects in this movie and take notes.
I also appreciated that it wasn't totally modernized in the sense of them having cell phones and whatever else, but you could tell that it took place in the modern era. The clothing and styling of the characters is fairly timeless, so if this movie is watched 10 years down the road it's not like the audience can say "oh you can totally tell this took place in the 70's." I also liked the way they didn't use any commercial music in the movie to give away potential time period, either. The only music was the score.
Like I said, there were nods to the original like the necklace, the Michigan State clothing, and some of the injuries. And yes, Ash's car was present. However, the references didn't go too far into the plot and some of them weren't even acknowledged by the characters. I think the only real reference that played any important part, like in the original, was the necklace. Examples like these are what make me say this wasn't really a remake. I guess the term "reboot" fits better.
The plot was, admittedly, a little more interesting than the plot of the original because it had more characterization and substance. They had an actual reason for being at the cabin and it wasn't just because they wanted to go on a group retreat for a weekend. Because of this there was reason for the characters to stay there and not take off just because things get weird. I did like that.
I also want to say the acting wasn't too shabby. Jane Levy stole the show and did a great job, but there wasn't a cast member that didn't pull their weight. The dialogue was alright. It had it's own elements of humor with lines like, "I don't want to be the Devil's bitch."

But, of course, there were things I didn't like. The main thing was the fact that Eric, (played by Lou Taylor Pucci) basically knew the outcome of what was going on. They gave him a little too much sarcasm and information. The thing I loved about the other characters and about the original Evil Dead was the fact that they had no idea what was coming next. With him looking through the book and basically knowing what was about to happen took a lot away from me and from the suspense of the plot. I also didn't really like the whole unleashed creature twist at the end.
This is a weird complaint seeing that profanity doesn't really bother me, but I found the use of foul language a bit unnecessary. I feel like they went with the current trend of the possessed being obscene rather than using visuals and actual possession like the original did. Having the evil Mia say she was going to suck her brother's cock and stuff like that was a bit unnecessary. It took away from the movie for me. Movies don't need to have bad language to be good or to fit in with the current horror genre.


Apart from that, I did enjoy Evil Dead. As a stand alone horror film it was good, but as a classified remake it was... so-so. Comparing it to the original it loses big time.

Friday, April 5, 2013

Kellan Lutz to play Hercules

Kellan Lutz (The Twilight Saga) has nabbed the title role for the upcoming Hercules 3D movie. It is aiming for a March 2014 release and will begin filming in Bulgaria later this spring. It also is costing them $70 million.

This version of Hercules focuses on his love affair with a mortal princess of Crete. The princess was promised to Hercules' older brother, so it will be a basic love triangle.

Thursday, April 4, 2013

[Updated with trailer] Carrie trailer to screen before Evil Dead

Keep your eyes open!

The Carrie trailer is also supposed to debut online sometime today so when I get a chance I will update this post with a link.


[Update] - Here is the first trailer for Carrie. It debuted today on Yahoo! Movies



It doesn't look as good as I was hoping for, but it doesn't look like a total loss. They obviously modernized the shit out of it, as well. Eh... what can you do. I'll still see it. 

Arrested Development to air via Netflix May 26th

They can sink an arrow into my buttocks anytime.

Not only did Netflix increase the episode order to 15, but the full season of Arrested Development will return on May 26th. Originally Netflix ordered 10 new episodes and didn't release a premiere date. The cast also is expressing interest that hopefully this batch of episodes is what will lead into an Arrested Development movie.
In addition to the original cast it has been confirmed that there will be cameos from Kristen Wiig, Seth Rogen, Conan O'Brien, Andy Richter, Terry Crews, Isla Fisher, and John Slattery.



And just to get even more into the spirit...


Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Zoe Saldana joins Guardians of the Galaxy

Looks like Zoe is returning for some more Disney magic.

It was announced today that Zoe Saldana is in talks to join the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy as Gamora. This adds to Saldana's fairly busy schedule which includes the release of Star Trek Into Darkness along with filming two Avatar sequels.

Here is some background on Gamora if you are unaware:

The last of the species Zen Whoberi, Gamora was found and trained by Thanos as a young child. She became a skilled martial arts assassin (nicknamed the deadliest woman in the galaxy) loyal to Thanos as be promised her the chance to avenge her parents' death. As a teenager she was raped and nearly killed by thugs that Thanos later killed. He restored her health and gave her superhuman qualities.
Gamora later joins Drax the Destroyer and The Avengers in a battle against Thanos after seeing what a threat he truly is. She even attempted to slay Thanos herself.


Now... with that all said, I can see why they cast Saldana. She is fairly tough and has done a lot of green screen/motion capture work with Avatar. I accept.
Previously cast was Chris Pratt as Star-Lord and Dave Bautista as Drax the Destroyer. James Gunn (Slither, PG Porn) is directing and moving quickly to make the August 1, 2014 release date.

The most overlooked movie performances

The topic pretty much says it all. I have been thinking about doing something like this for a while and I finally thought of a couple performances to talk about. If you have any performances you think are way "underrated" or overlooked, share them with me! These are all I could think of at the moment.
These aren't in any particular order, just fyi.


Hayden Christensen - Life as a House

If you have never seen Life as a House I strongly suggest renting it right now and watching. It is a fantastic movie overall and I have loved it for years. I consider Hayden Christensen's performance overlooked primarily because it got overshadowed with his mediocre and below par performances in the Star Wars prequels. This is by far the best role I have seen him in and I wish he would have gotten more recognition for it. His character Sam is tragic on his own, but the way Hayden brought it out was fantastic. He always got a thumbs up from me.


Kristen Stewart - Welcome to the Rileys

This is another movie that I recommend in general and not just because it was very good. I tell people to watch it to prove that in some capacity, Kristen Stewart can actually act. I watched this movie out of sheer curiosity and I wound up really liking it and a lot of it had to do with Stewart's performance. She was really a pleasure to watch and I wish that she would do this more often. It is a rare performance from her that was severely overshadowed by her work in Twilight which is a shame because she sucks absolute balls in Twilight. It brings you back to what she did as a kid in Panic Room. People were screaming that she didn't get recognition for On the Road this past year, but I still think if she was going to get seriously recognized for anything it should have been Welcome to the Rileys.


Chloe Moretz - Let Me In

I say this pretty lightly because Chloe did get a lot of props for her performance, but from a standpoint of award status and serious recognition... she got stiffed big time. Her performance as Abby was so incredible. I was blown away. A lot of it was her great chemistry with Kodi Smit-McPhee, who also did a great job. I think people overlooked it because it was a horror film and probably because the kids were so young at the time. However, with Quevenzhane Wallis earning an Oscar nomination at the age of 9 that might have changed the way the high-up Hollywood types look at kids in film. For Chloe's sake I sure hope so. She was overlooked for Hugo as well.


Freddie Highmore - Finding Neverland

Don't get me wrong, there were people who gave Freddie the praise he deserved for this movie. I don't think it was enough, though. His performance brought me to tears. Enough said. He was better than Johnny Depp in this movie.


Tobin Bell - the Saw franchise

This guy got severely overlooked due to the fact that he was in Saw movies. Tobin's performances in Saw II and Saw III were very good. The odd humanity he brought to this killer he was playing was very well done and it is a true shame that more people outside of the horror genre didn't recognize it. I can't say enough about this guy's acting chops. They really lucked out that Tobin was the man on the floor in the first Saw.


Logan Lerman - The Perks of Being a Wallflower

This boy has come a long way from being the kid in The Butterfly Effect. Yes, he is also Percy Jackson but his performance as Charlie in The Perks of Being a Wallflower was fantastic and I just fell in love with him. The movie itself got shafted, but if it were up to me I would have given Lerman a Golden Globe nomination or something. He really did his part.


Natalie Portman - Garden State

Natalie Portman has received tons of recognition and praise throughout her career so far. She finally won an Oscar for Black Swan and had been previously nominated. She has also been criticized for her involvement in such films as the Star Wars prequels, but so be it. However... Garden State is a role not many people think of that that is really unfortunate. It is one of her best performances and characters that I have seen. This should have been a Golden Globe or Oscar nomination, in my opinion. She deserved it.


Sandra Bullock - 28 Days

I have always liked this movie in general, but not many people think of it when the topic of Sandra Bullock comes up. Most think of The Blind Side, Speed, or Miss Congeniality. I have always thought of 28 Days. For what it is worth I thought she was great in this movie and it showed that she did have some good chops. It is a severely overlooked performance.


Michael Shannon - Take Shelter

I want to start by saying Michael Shannon is a great actor. His performance in Take Shelter took me places that I wasn't expecting and I loved every second of it. The fact that he wasn't nominated for an Oscar is absurd. He'll get there someday, I hope.


Enrico Colantoni - Galaxy Quest

I feel like Galaxy Quest is kind of a cult classic at this point and all the actors were great, but the role of Mathesar was so overlooked. He was great at creating a believable "alien" leader and set a good precedent for the other Thermian race. He was just fantastic.  


Brittany Murphy - Girl, Interrupted

So many performances were overshadowed by Angelina Jolie but specifically Brittany Murphy. Her character not only was crazy as hell, but Murphy made her so believable. It was like you imagined that is how this girl was and what she would be like. To this day I watch Girl, Interrupted and love Daisy. That is all because of Brittany Murphy.


Kirsten Dunst - Drop Dead Gorgeous

Talk about an underrated... everything! Not only is the movie great, but this was one of Dunst's most remembered performances for me. She had everything nailed. The Fargo accent was even perfect. She made her character completely believable, too. Yet another movie that I would recommend seeing if you have never seen it. It's absolutely hilarious and Kirsten Dunst is great. I wish more people knew about it.


The rest of these I don't really want to explain because you wind up saying the same things about each performance, so I will list some more without any explanation.

Kevin Zegers - Transamerica

Siobhan Fallon - Greedy

Denzel Washington - The Bone Collector

Jake Gyllenhaal - End of Watch

Michael Pena - End of Watch

Jared Gilman - Moonrise Kingdom

Joel Courtney - Super 8

Isabelle Fuhrman - Orphan

Lauren Ambrose - Can't Hardly Wait

Catching Fire teaser to premiere at MTV Movie Awards

I guess we should watch the MTV Movie Awards on the 14th so we can see a teaser for The Hunger Games: Catching Fire.


I am unsure if this is a teaser of the teaser or the actual teaser, though. The ad is a bit misleading. http://www.mtv.com/videos/misc/895458/2013-movie-awards-the-hunger-games-catching-fire-teaser.jhtml#id=1703220

First images from Thor: The Dark World

Kind of.

More screencaps from the Marvel Cinematic Universe box-set are surfacing and it includes some concept art for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy along with some first images from Thor: The Dark World.

It looks like Thor is busy battling even more bad guys and also shows Jane Foster (Natalie Portman) looking pretty Asgardian.



Tuesday, April 2, 2013

The Avengers 2 to begin filming in 2014

The Avengers 2 will be filmed in the UK at Pinewood-Shepperton Studios in early 2014 putting pre-production at the end of this year. Thor: The Dark World previously filmed at the same location late last year and are prepping to film Guardians of the Galaxy as well.

We also have a sneak peek at Phase Two which was included in the Marvel Cinematic Universe box set which finally got released.


Finding Dory to be released in 2015

The upcoming sequel to Finding Nemo has an official title and time frame. Disney/Pixar announced the sequel will be called Finding Dory and will take place one year after Finding Nemo. They also added the film will be released November 25, 2015. I also have no doubt this will be a 3D release.

This is one of Pixar's many sequels after Cars 2, Toy Story 2, Toy Story 3, and Monsters University. However, this will be after The Good Dinosaur so there will be some originality still to be had.

Monday, April 1, 2013

The Walking Dead - Season 3 Finale Review

I don't really want to get too into this (and this does contain spoilers), but I honestly wasn't a huge fan of the finale last night. "Welcome to the Tombs" wasn't necessarily a bad episode by itself and I want to emphasize that. However, I don't feel like it was finale material. It was the worst finale yet for me. Even the past mid-season finales were better.

As far as the deaths went, I was happy that no one in the prison group bit the dust in the battle... oh wait. WHAT BATTLE?
The Walking Dead gave us the Breaking Dawn treatment last night. They led us into this huge battle setup and nothing happened. Rick's group set some boobie traps for The Governor and when they ran scared The Governor just kind of disappeared for the rest of the episode. Rick went back to Woodbury and took in some fairly elderly refugees, pissed off Carl in the process, and then called it a day. To say the finale was a disappointment still doesn't do it justice.
As far as character deaths go, the only relevant deaths were Milton and Andrea. The Governor went crazy and killed his entire army but we didn't really know those characters so it didn't have much impact. I also want to take this opportunity to say that I cheered when Andrea died. I have been waiting for this moment ever since the end of Season 1. I was a bit sad about Milton, but I expected him to die anyway. The Governor had a huge target on his back.

It basically just set us up for Rick taking over Woodbury at the prison next season and trying to restart humanity. The Governor and his two henchmen disappeared so I assume they will come back in some capacity next season and mess with the prison group once again, but you never know with this show. I just expected more of a battle that they teased us with.