The Huntsman receives April 2016 release

Just a day after Universal announced Alex Kurtzman would be directing the reboot of The Mummy they promptly turned around and delayed it to June 24, 2016. Taking its place will The Huntsman, the spin-off from the 2012 fairy tale Snow White and the Huntsman.


Universal recently made it known that they had basically fired Kristen Stewart from the franchise after her affair with director Rupert Sanders and were intending on continuing the story primarily with Chris Hemsworth's character, the Huntsman. It seems they weren't kidding as the spin-off now has a release date of April 22, 2016. The film already has Frank Darabont attached to direct and Chris Hemsworth will be returning to reprise the role and, oddly enough, Charlize Theron will also return.

Seeing how bad Snow White and the Huntsman was I don't have much interest in this one. Chris Hemsworth is nice to look at and all but even he couldn't save that movie. The only draw is Charlie Theron's return. She was the only good part about that movie.

Thor: The Dark World - Review

Thor struggles to defeat an enemy neither Asgard nor Odin can overcome while attempting to balance his reunion with Jane Foster and impending rise to the throne in Thor: The Dark World.


To go more in depth to the synopsis:
A long-standing war is brought to Asgard as Malekith, the leader of the "extinct" dark elves, seeks to try and reclaim the Aether, a powerful weapon kept in Asgard's weapons vault. Malekith attacks Asgard as Jane Foster wanders into an alternate dimension in the UK and obtains an unknown source of Aether. During this event, Heimdall notifies Thor that Jane has disappeared from his watch, so Thor returns to Earth and swoops her to Asgard with him. They soon learn that Malekith is after the Aether and will follow no matter where they attempt to keep or hide Jane. Thor winds up turning to his warrior friends and his untrustworthy brother, Loki, to defeat Malekith and the dark elves once and for all.


Now... I want to start by saying this movie was very, very well done. It has a very different theme than Thor did and was a lot more eventful. Thor fully embraces his birthright and is much more aware of his responsibilities as the future King of Asgard as well as the downsides to the throne. I also thought despite the darkness to the overall plot, it balanced humor very well. It was serious, it was funny, and it was very well balanced. And yes, there was a Stan Lee cameo.

As far as acting goes, I think a lot of the roles were switched in comparison to the first movie. Thor was far less arrogant and seemed to embrace his responsibilities more. Chris Hemsworth handled that very well and it shows how in control of the character he is. Tom Hiddleston was great, as always, and Natalie Portman also showed her control of Jane Foster as she had a bit of a different tone in this one as well. Instead of being awestruck over Thor she was a bit defensive but still longing. Her character was definitely left open for at least one more movie. I do have to say that I think the one who dominated this movie was Christopher Eccleston as Malekith. He was just fantastic to watch and very menacing. Definitely a great villain actor.
The shift in directors probably was for the better now that I have seen both movies. Initially when it was announced that Kenneth Branagh wasn't going to return for The Dark World a lot of people had mixed reactions. Some loved that and some hated it. I think Alan Taylor did a fantastic job and brought a new evolution to the characters that was very necessary. It is important to establish these characters outside of The Avengers, and Taylor was very successful.
One more thing to mention here before I get into spoilers is the visual effects. I think this one had some of the best visual effects in a Marvel movie thus far, obviously excluding The Avengers. Asgard is beautifully rendered and the attack for the Aether was handled well, too. I also didn't think the Aether was too cartoonish either. It maintained fantasy but was a pretty good reality borderline.

As the Marvel Cinematic Universe currently stands, here is my list:

1. The Avengers
2.  Iron Man
3. Thor
4. Thor: The Dark World
5. Captain America: The First Avenger
6. Iron Man 3
7. The Incredible Hulk
8. Iron Man 2


And now it is time for spoilers, boys and girls. If you haven't seen Thor: The Dark World I would encourage you to not spoil it for yourself and come back after you have seen it.

You were warned.



Last chance.



Seriously.

SDCC: Thor: The Dark World brings Loki back once more

We managed to get a new trailer for Thor: The Dark World at Comic-Con but that was about it. And that should be taken literally.

No panel. No Q&A session. Nothing except a trailer. Oh, and this but it kind of already came out.

However, the trailer did come in style. Kevin Feige brought in Tom Hiddleston as Loki for the last time to present the trailer. I found the Loki introduction on YouTube and it is real fun. Here is a description from Collider:

"It begins with a battle in a burning village with Sif and Warriors Three fighting masked warriors.  Thor beams in, makes some quips with Sif, and slays a rock monster.  We then see London attacked, Thor beams in, nd beams Jane Foster out to Asgard.  We see him recruiting Loki, and the Warriors Three and Sif threaten to kill Loki if he betrays them.  This is interspersed with loads of action.  It’s tough to go beat by beat, but it looks exciting and finally lets Thor be Thor in a world that fits him.  It’s the grand tone we only briefly saw in the beginning of the first movie.  While I can’t go through every moment, I will say that the trailer ends with Loki slicing off Thor’s hand, a moment that was greeted with a collective gasp from the audience."

[UPDATE] Here is video of the Loki introduction along with a picture.

I'm pretty shocked that Thor: The Dark World didn't get a panel. They must be pretty confident that people are excited enough which is a mistake, imo. Most people think Thor was the weakest movie in Phase One.

#SDCC #Marvel #ThorTheDarkWorld #Loki

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.

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.

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.

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.

Kristen Stewart to return for Snow White sequel

After months of speculation and after basically being fired by Universal earlier in the summer, it appears that Kristen Stewart is on board to reprise her role as Snow White in the upcoming sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman.
Earlier this year it was reported that Stewart was not being invited to return for the sequel after she was caught cheating on her boyfriend and Twilight co-star Robert Pattinson with Snow White director Rupert Sanders, a married man with two young children. Not a very classy move but everyone apologized and it seems that all parties have moved on. It also seems that Universal has forgiven her and realized she is their cash cow for this Snow White franchise they are trying to build and it would be difficult to continue it without her.

Stewart confirmed with IndieWire during a press junket for On the Road that she will be returning for the Snow White sequel.

Rupert Sanders will not direct Snow White sequel

I don't know how reliable this is just yet but I figured it was worthy of mentioning.

Rupert Sanders, the director of Snow White and the Huntsman, apparently will not be returning for the sequel according to Cinema Blend. Snow White served as Sanders' directorial debut and was a fairly big box office hit taking in over $400 million worldwide and subsequently had a sequel approved by Universal within a few weeks of the release.
However, Sanders' success was tampered after photos surfaced of him cheating on his wife, Liberty Ross, with his lead female star Kristen Stewart. Both parties apologized and it was a big mess all summer long. BUT... despite the cheating scandal it appeared that Sanders was still set to direct the sequel and Kristen Stewart was the one kicked to the curb. The source for Cinema Blend claims that Sanders has withdrawn from the project in a continued attempt to save his marriage. It also is plausible that he dropped the Snow White sequel due to other offers. It is rumored that Universal is considering him to helm the upcoming reboot of Van Helsing starring Tom Cruise. He also landed the director's chair for the upcoming film The Juliet by Sony Pictures. Seeing that he is being offered work by not only Universal is a sign that the scandal hasn't ruined his career or his chance at the Snow White sequel. I personally think he realizing he has better things to do. Not to mention if he returned for the sequel the press tour would no doubt be flooded with questions about the scandal.

Along with this is it also being reported that Kristen Stewart might, or is, returning for the Snow White sequel after all so this is all a big mess. I personally wouldn't etch anything in stone regarding the upcoming sequel until official press releases from Universal are made. I bet the Stewart rumors are surfacing just because Twilight is finally over and because Rupert Sanders is officially out of the picture.


Personally... I would like Stewart to return simply because I was looking forward to the storyline of her as the Queen, but who knows how it will play out. If the sequel is purely a Huntsman spinoff like Universal was saying after the cheating scandal broke out I probably won't be too interested in it. That is a cop out, imo.

First image of Thor from Thor: The Dark World

Thor is back in action!

Thor 2 official synopsis revealed

We now have an official synopsis for Thor: The Dark World which is set to be released next November.

"Thor: The Dark World continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s Thor and Marvel’s The Avengers, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos, but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all."

I cannot wait. I loved Thor.

UPDATE: Kristen Stewart dropped from Snow White sequel

This is honestly very surprising to me.

Universal has stated that Kristen Stewart will not be reprising her role as Snow White in the announced sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman. The way the studio put it was that she is not being invited back for the sequel and they are "exploring options to continue the franchise." So in other words, they are basically choosing to not exercise the sequel options in her contract and/or buying her out. Writer David Koepp has also been booted from the sequel despite being previously attached and already starting a script. The script Koepp was working on apparently was going to feature Snow White in 2 movies as a main character and then spin-off to The Huntsman for the third movie. However, kicking Stewart out of the franchise only after one movie pretty much blows that idea up which is why they kicked Koepp out as well. The new rumor is the second movie will be the spin-off for The Huntsman and it will just go from there. Either way I think they are going to have to re-cast Snow White. It's kind of hard to do a Snow White franchise without Snow White.

This comes only a couple weeks after Stewart was caught cheating with Snow White and the Huntsman's director Rupert Sanders. It is still unclear on whether Sanders is returning for the sequel but sources claim he is still attached to direct and one of his stipulations could have been to not have Stewart involved in any way, shape, or form. The rumor mill is stating that Universal is looking for a new writer and is looking to begin filming the sequel in July when Chris Hemsworth becomes available again. Again, that is a rumor for now. There is no official announcement from Universal that a sequel is even happening for sure. It was given the green light but that doesn't always mean a movie is actually going to happen.


Like I said this is shocking to me. Out of all the famous and not so famous cheaters in Hollywood I don't see why Kristen Stewart seems to be getting nothing but the short end of the stick. I don't think she was right in doing what she did but for it to have such a drastic effect on her career after only 2 weeks is pretty ridiculous. When Angelina Jolie stole Brad Pitt from Jennifer Aniston her career surged. Tiger Woods is still winning golf tournaments, David Letterman still has his late night show, Josh Duhamel still has Fergie, etc.. Kristen Stewart isn't my favorite actress out there, but she shouldn't have her career ruined by this shit. Hollywood is being incredibly hypocritical about this scandal.

UPDATE:
It is now being claimed that Stewart was not dropped from the Snow White sequels because she was never officially attached to begin with despite having a sequel clause in her contract. The new story is Universal is exercising an option to flip a 180 and focus solely on The Huntsman and not Snow White.

Snow White to get "evil and corrupt" in SWATH sequel

MTV News sat down and spoke with Snow White and the Huntsman director Rupert Sanders about the upcoming sequel to the film. As we learned this past week, Universal Pictures has officially given the green light to a sequel due to the overwhelming (and somewhat surprising) success of the film starring Kristen Stewart and Charlize Theron. Along with this news the studio is also in talks with Sanders to return to direct the sequel and although none of the actors are bound by contract to appear in a sequel, the clauses are in place and they can return if they choose to. Due to the success I doubt anyone would turn down the chance to return for a second film.

Sanders told MTV that he plans on including the theme of abusing power when it comes to Snow White's rise to the Queen. If you saw Snow White and the Huntsman you know that Snow White defeats the Evil Queen (in this case it was Queen Ravenna) and takes her rightful place on the throne. Sanders suggests that the film would focus on Snow White's struggle to maintain her power fairly and that it would center around her becoming corrupt and abusing the enormous amount of power she was suddenly given. To quote Rupert Sanders directly:

"I think the corruption of power would be the second one. I think we've created this very chaste girl who's got to this position and now she's in this position of supreme power. We wanted to be contemporary with the theme here and I think in the next film we'll do the same... People who get powerful sometimes lose their bearings and abuse that power and that's kind of an intoxicating theme."

However... this is not set in stone. Sanders hasn't even officially been attached to the sequel and none of the actors have signed onto another project so this is all speculation and hearsay for right now. I do think that sounds like an awesome storyline, though. I didn't fully dislike Snow White and the Huntsman so I am interested to see what they will do with it next. I just hope the sequel has a better script.

Universal moves forward with Snow White sequel

Seeing that Snow White and the Huntsman has passed $115 million internationally at the box office in less than two weeks I guess it is safe to say it was a hit. With that said, Universal has announced that it will be moving forward with a sequel to the film starring Charlize Theron, Kristen Stewart, and Chris Hemsworth. I had read before but Deadline's article also mentions the fact that the actors' contracts included sequel options for up to two more movies so this move doesn't surprise me at all, especially with the way Snow White and the Huntsman ended. SPOILER ALERT: The Huntsman's kiss worked when William's didn't and Snow White seemed to know that somehow, so that alone left it open for expansion.

http://www.deadline.com/2012/06/snow-white-and-the-huntsman-sequel-universal/

Whenever this sequel comes out, which I am predicting sometime in late 2013 or early to mid 2014, I will most likely see it. I did enjoy Snow White and the Huntsman (my review is here in case you missed it) although I thought it could have been much better. Hopefully the sequel has a much better script and a villain just as badass as Charlize Theron.
It has also been said that a sequel would focus more on The Huntsman. Whether it would be from his point of view with Snow White as his main interest or if he would just be the main focus with Snow White and William as a background is unknown, but I don't really see any other route they could take with that. All I can really say is leave it to Hollywood to put Kristen Stewart in yet another franchise love triangle. Wasn't 4 years of Twilight enough for that poor girl and for the world?

Thor 2 gets a new release date

Disney announced a couple release date switches including Thor 2 and The Lone Ranger.

Thor 2 was originally set for November 15, 2013 but has been pushed to November 8, 2013. The Lone Ranger was originally set for May 31, 2013 but has been pushed to July 3, 2013. I guess Disney wants to capitalize on the big 4th of July weekend box office for The Lone Ranger. The move for Thor 2 doesn't really make sense to me but I'm not complaining about getting it a week earlier than we originally thought.

http://www.geeksofdoom.com/2012/06/01/new-release-dates-for-the-lone-ranger-thor-2-announced/

Snow White and the Huntsman - Review

Snow White and the Huntsman is yet another take on the Snow White tale where an evil queen locks up Snow White and attempts to kill her to be the fairest in the land.


I was pretty excited for Snow White and the Huntsman primarily because it looked better than Mirror Mirror and it had Charlize Theron as Queen Ravenna. Overall I would say that it was good but that doesn't mean it was great. It wasn't bad but it was severely lacking in many ways. The main things...

1. Character development of William (aka, the Prince)
2. I wanted more of the dwarves and a little more development with them
3. The film's pacing was extremely awkward
4. The actors' accents going in and out as they pleased

I felt the most cheated with William. They show him as a child and then all of a sudden he pops up as an amazing archer and storm the castle wanting to kill the queen. I was like, um who is this again? They gave almost no background to him at all and it's a shame seeing that he is technically a main character. 
I also feel like this film was split into acts and that it might have been purposely done. The first act introducing Ravenna and showing how she rose to power was fantastic. The second where The Huntsman finds Snow White in the forest and eventually leads her to sanctuary was where it started to die. The third act, however, should have picked it up and it really didn't do it as much as I would have hoped. When Snow White and her army reaches Ravenna's castle the climax of the film was cut very short. It had a slow build, a very short climax, and an even faster finish... that's what she said.
But seriously, I was the most disappointed with the last chapter of the film.


However, there were things that were great...

1. Charlize Theron
2. Charlize Theron
3. Charlize Theron

Charlize Theron was the best actor and had the best character, by far. What she did with Queen Ravenna was fantastic and it's a shame that this movie isn't good enough to gain some kind of recognition other than MTV Award status. She deserves some recognition for this role. Her very presence on screen gave me goosebumps at times.
Aside from her I would say the visuals were stunning. I definitely didn't walk away thinking they skimped out on the effects. I also loved the dwarves, especially Gus. They were really fun to watch.

And of course, how could I get away with doing this review without mentioning the biggest question of all... the casting of Kristen Stewart as Snow White. I want to start of by saying I have actually grown to like Kristen as an actress and I don't think she is terrible like most people do. She is terrible in the Twilight movies but to be fair everyone else is, too. She was fantastic in Welcome to the Rileys, Speak, and The Runaways. She also was a pleasure in her very small role in Into the Wild. However, her as Snow White just didn't do it for me. It wasn't the typical "she is bland" excuse most people give, but I feel like this type of action/leader role just doesn't suit her. She is best playing emotionally damaged, hostile, and vulnerable. She isn't good at being a leader in body armor and swinging a sword around. I don't think she ruined the movie but she definitely wasn't the best part of it and I feel the title character should be the most captivating.




Anyway, overall I wouldn't say Snow White and the Huntsman was terrible but it wasn't great. It had the potential to be great but just missed it. If the script was better and had a little bit more character development, and maybe had a different actress as Snow White, I think it might have worked a bit more. An easy 5.5-6 out of 10. I didn't see Mirror Mirror but I'm sure this one was better,

Kevin Feige hints at news of Thor 2 villain

Will the villain in Thor 2 be Thanos?!




Unfortunately... not. Kevin Feige has revealed that Thanos was a hint to the future but that doesn't necessarily apply to Thor 2. So far all we know is Mads Mikkelsen has signed onto the project to play the main villain but we do not know which villain he will be. Rumors are circulating that it could be Executioner but who knows. There are people also talking about Executioner and The Enchantress (aka, Amora). Filming starts this fall so I am sure we'll know before too long.

http://collider.com/thor-2-sequel-kevin-feige/169494/

New posters for Snow White and the Huntsman

Just to say, this poster featuring Charlize Theron is one of the best I have seen in a long time.

There are also a couple new ones featuring Kristen Stewart and Chris Hemsworth.

Snow White and the Huntsman sequel in development

Universal is already developing a sequel to the upcoming film Snow White and the Huntsman starring Kristen Stewart as Snow White and Charlize Theron as the evil Queen Ravenna.The film opens in the US on June 1st.

Personally... I feel like they should have waited to make this announcement until the movie is released. It shows both extreme confidence and arrogance on Universal's part. It's all well and good to think your film is going to do well and have a strong opening, but I wouldn't put all my eggs in one basket when there is still more than a month until the first one is even released.
I guess they are also comfortable with the fact that their actors are willing to sign onto yet another possible franchise. Kristen Stewart has Twilight, Chris Hemsworth has the Marvel movies centered around Thor, and Sam Clafin is involved with Pirates of the Caribbean.  I don't mention Charlize Theron because I have a feeling she gets killed in Snow White and the Huntsman but I suppose you never know for sure.

With all that said, however, I am excited for this movie. The more TV spots and trailers I see the more excited I have gotten. I also think the Florence + The Machine song is great.


http://geektyrant.com/news/2012/4/27/universal-developing-a-sequel-to-snow-white-and-the-huntsman.html

The Cabin in the Woods - Review (non-spoiler)

If you have not seen The Cabin in the Woods all I have to say is, go see it! Do not let people spoil this movie for you. I repeat; DO NOT SPOIL THE MOVIE. Go see it for yourself.
If you want a basic non-spoiler plot, basically 5 friends go for a weekend retreat to an isolated cabin. When they get there they unleash something that is more than they could have ever imagined or guessed.

As cheesy as that sounds that is all I'm willing to give you for the moment. I want you to go see this movie whether you are a horror fan or not, but especially if you are a horror fan. It's a basic horror film, for the most part, up until the last half hour or so. Shit hits the fan and it hits it hard... and I loved every second of it. I still am processing what I saw.

Bradley Whitford and Richard Jenkins are great. Their characters are priceless. And the pothead friend. He is the best character in the whole movie. Not to mention the end credits plays "Last" by Nine Inch Nails. That made the end even more awesome.

This Friday the 13th has been great so far. I got good news at work, I got off work early, and I saw an amazing movie. I think you could make your 13th, or your whole weekend, better by seeing The Cabin in the Woods. It doesn't have a 93% standing on Rotten Tomatoes and a 7.7/10 on IMDB for nothing.