The Conjuring spin-off moving forward

We got news a couple months back that after the major success of The Conjuring, New Line Cinema announced their intent to move forward with three spin-offs. The main one mentioned was a spin-off about the Annabelle doll. We now have official confirmation that New Line is moving forward with the Annabelle spin-off and it's assumed it will focus on the origins of the doll's possession before the Warrens obtained the object.

Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton will lead the low-budget film and it will be directed by John Leonetti. Leonetti served as the main cinematographer for The Conjuring. James Wan, who directed The Conjuring, will serve as an executive producer.

Devil's Due viral video is a winner!

This is one of the better viral campaigns for a horror movie that we've received in recent years. I cracked up through this whole thing. "Why would they do this!?"

Devil's Due, presented by 20th Century Fox, comes out this Friday, January 17th.

2014 Razzie nominations

Ooh, 2013 was a fun year for sure. I'm a bit surprised to not see movies like Carrie and Jack the Giant Slayer on here, but you can't win them all. Here are the 2014 Razzie Award nominees:

Worst Picture:

The Lone Ranger
After Earth
Grown Ups 2
A Madea Christmas
Movie 43

Worst Actor:

Johnny Depp - The Lone Ranger
Ashton Kutcher - Jobs
Jaden Smith - After Earth
Sylvester Stallone - Bullet to the Head, Escape Plan, Grudge Match
Adam Sandler - Grown Ups 2

Worst Actress:

Lindsay Lohan - The Canyons
Naomi Watts - Movie 43
Selena Gomez - Getaway
Tyler Perry - A Madea Christmas
Halle Berry - Movie 43, The Call

Worst Supporting Actor:

Chris Brown - Battle of the Year
Larry the Cable Guy - A Madea Christmas
Taylor Lautner - Grown Ups 2
Will Smith - After Earth
Nick Swardson - A Haunted House, Grown Ups 2

Worst Supporting Actress:

Lady Gaga - Machete Kills
Salma Hayek - Grown Ups 2
Katherine Heigl - The Big Wedding
Kim Kardashian - Tyler Perry's Temptation
Lindsay Lohan - InAPPropriate Comedy, Scary Movie 5

Worst Screen Combo

Cast of Grown Ups 2
Cast of Movie 43
Lindsay Lohan & Charlie Sheen - Scary Movie 5
Tyler Perry & the worn out wig and dress - A Madea Christmas
Jaden Smith & Will Smith - After Earth

Worst Director:

The 13 people who directed Movie 43
Dennis Dugan - Grown Ups 2
Tyler Perry - A Madea Christmas, Temptation
M. Night Shyamalan - After Earth
Gore Verbinski - The Lone Ranger

Worst Screenplay:

After Earth
Grown Ups 2
The Lone Ranger
A Madea Christmas
Movie 43

Worse Remake or Sequel:

Grown Ups 2
The Hangover III
The Lone Ranger
Scary Movie 5
The Smurfs 2

My 2014 Oscar Predictions

We are now a little over a day and a half from learning the official Oscar nominations, so I figured I would share my personal predictions of what we might see this year. I'm not claiming to know everything, obviously, and I could be wrong but it's fun to guess.

Best Picture:

12 Years a Slave
American Hustle
Blue Jasmine
Captain Phillips
Dallas Buyers Club
Gravity
Her
Inside Llewyn Davis
Saving Mr. Banks
The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Actor:

Christian Bale - American Hustle
Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street
Chiwetel Ejiofor - 12 Years a Slave
Tom Hanks - Captain Phillips
Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Actress:

Amy Adams - American Hustle
Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine
Sandra Bullock - Gravity
Judi Dench - Philomena
Emma Thompson - Saving Mr. Banks

Best Supporting Actor:

Barkhad Abdi - Captain Phillips
Bradley Cooper - American Hustle
Michael Fassbender - 12 Years a Slave
James Gandolfini - Enough Said
Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Supporting Actress:

Sally Hawkins - Blue Jasmine
Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle
Lupita Nyong'o - 12 Years a Slave
Julia Roberts - August: Osage County
June Squibb - Nebraska

Best Director:

Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity
Spike Jonze - Her
Steve McQueen - 12 Years a Slave
David O. Russell - American Hustle
Martin Scorsese - The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay:

Woody Allen - Blue Jasmine
Craig Borten & Melisa Wallack - Dallas Buyers Club
Joel Coen & Ethan Coen - Inside Llewyn Davis
Alfonso Cuaron & Jonas Cuaron - Gravity
Spike Jonze - Her

Best Adapted Screenplay:

Steve Coogan & Jeff Pope - Philomena
Tracy Letts - August: Osage County
Billy Ray - Captain Phillips
John Ridley - 12 Years a Slave
Terence Winter - The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Animated Film:

Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
Monsters University

Best Original Score:

Alexander Ebert - All is Lost
Randy Newman - Monsters University
Steven Price - Gravity
John Williams - The Book Thief
Hans Zimmer - 12 Years a Slave

Best Original Song:

"I See Fire" - The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
"Let it Go" - Frozen
"Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Best Cinematography:

Barry Ackroyd - Captain Phillips 
Sean Bobbit - 12 Years a Slave
Bruno Delbonnel - Inside Llewyn Davis
Emmanuel Lubezki - Gravity
Hoyte Van Hoytema - Her

Best Visual Effects:

Gravity
The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug
Iron Man 3
Pacific Rim
Star Trek Into Darkness


Like I said, this is just a prediction list. I'm excited to see how many I got right and wrong. The Oscar nominations will be revealed on Wednesday, January 16th. 

Planet of the Apes receives 2016 date

Now for some release date news we got today.

• In addition to the announcement that Matt Reeves will direct a third installment of Planet of the Apes, we now have an official release date. The third installment is set to hit theaters on July 29, 2016.

• Next up, we have an official release date for the Poltergeist reboot. The horror rehash will hit theaters on February 13, 2015. Yes, that is the same weekend as Fifty Shades of Grey.

• To avoid too much competition for the Valentine's Day weekend, Fox has shifted the newest Nicholas Spark's adaptation, The Longest Ride, from February 13, 2015 to April 3, 2015. 

We also got minor, assumed, confirmation that Sam Worthington and Zoe Saldana will return for the Avatar sequels. Plot details for the sequel have yet to be released, but we do know that their characters will have children and will be filmed entirely in New Zealand. We won't see Avatar 2 until 2016 while Avatar 3 and Avatar 4 are set for 2017 and 2018. 

Michael Pena in talks for Ant-Man

Now that January is about half over we are starting to get more valuable news. Marvel isn't skimping on announcements right now as we have news that Michael Pena (End of Watch) is in early talks for Ant-Man. The role offered to Pena is unknown at this time, but reports suggest he is keen on accepting. Pena is a very versatile actor who has tackled, and succeeded, in both comedies and dramas. Edgar Wright has described Ant-Man to be a bit of both comedy and drama, so he might just be a perfect fit.

Kevin Feige and the rest of Marvel are now working on casting the female lead. Rumors are circulating around Bryce Dallas Howard and Rashida Jones, but there is no telling who might be cast next. Filming is supposed to start in April, so I figure we will have some more solid casting news before too long.

Man shot in Florida over texting in movie theater

I just thought this was ridiculous and had to share.

The basics of this story are a 71-year old retired police officer fatally shot a man because he wouldn't stop texting inside a Tampa, FL movie theater. The man claimed he felt imminent danger after the 43-year old texter threw a bag of popcorn at him after refusing to stop texting. After the bag was thrown the man pulled out a .380 calibur and shot the texter in the chest. The texter was taken to a nearby hospital where he later died of a single gunshot wound.
The movie being screened was Lone Survivor, an adaptation of a Navy SEAL team fighting in Afghanistan. The retired officer, Curtis Reeves, retired a Captain from the force and was instrumental in creating the area's first tactical response team. He recently participated in crime stoppers and worked at a local Busch Gardens theme park. He is scheduled to appear in court today.


I'm sorry, but if the texting is bothering you that much maybe you should just change seats and sit in front of the person. You don't confront them, cause a scene, and kill someone. Why this guy had a gun on him in the first place is beyond me. Yet another installment of, "Congratulations, you're an asshole."

[Rumor] Marvel seeking Johnny Depp for major role

Rumor alert!

This is minor but potentially big. According to the mighty internets, Marvel has someone in mind for Doctor Strange and that person might just be Johnny Depp. Previous rumors circling around this project included Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Viggo Mortensen potentially being cast in the lead role.

Sources are claiming that Depp accepted a meeting with Marvel to discuss the character and the role. Depp has been vocal in the past about his desire to jump on board with Marvel at some point if the opportunity presented itself. It is also notable to mention Depp's longstanding relationship with Disney. He is basically their poster child for the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise and has also starred in Disney films such as The Lone Ranger and Alice in Wonderland. He is also scheduled to reprise the role of the Mad Hatter in a second Alice in Wonderland installment as well as donning Captain Jack Sparrow at least once more.
Disney and Marvel are both probably thinking that Depp will draw viewers to a new, unknown character. It is also notable to mention the fact that he is a good 20-years older than the title character. Depp will be 51 this year and Doctor Strange is described to be about 30-years old. However, it has been said that if he signs the contract the script will be altered to fit him in pretty much any way possible.

Now... one important thing to remember is that we won't see a Doctor Strange movie until at least 2016. It is part of Phase Three which is kicking off with Ant-Man on July 31, 2015. The earliest we will see anything about Doctor Strange is probably a post-credits cameo after The Avengers: Age of Ultron or after Ant-Man. I wouldn't think they would hint at him earlier than that.


What do you think about all this? Would you like to see Depp enter the Marvel Cinematic Universe or do you think he should walk away?

Magic the Gathering movie in development

Not too long after Magic the Gathering celebrated its 20th anniversary, we have confirmation that the long standing game will get a movie. 20th Century Fox has picked up the rights while Simon Kinberg is set to produce and develop the story into a potential franchise.

Whether it should be or not, at least Magic the Gathering has franchise potential. Over the past 20 years there have been numerous expansion packs which give a lot of different characters potential. There isn't any information other than this so far, but I'm sure this will hit theaters by late-2015 or 2016. If they want competition with another fantasy storyline, they could try for 2015 and compete with Warcraft. 

Michael Douglas to play Ant-Man

This is coming totally out of left field. Marvel sure played this one out well.

We have new news about Edgar Wright's Ant-Man coming in 2015. Previously, we all believed the casting of Paul Rudd to mean we had our Hank Pym. We now have confirmation that Paul Rudd will be playing the role of Scott Lang and Hank Pym will be portrayed by none other than Michael Douglas.
If you are as unaware of Ant-Man as most people are, there are multiple people who have taken on the suit. It originated with Hank Pym and later moved onto a reformed thief named Scott Lang. Lang took on the role of Ant-Man after Pym retired his identity. Given the age of Michael Douglas I am wondering exactly how much of a presence Rudd is going to have in this one. Unless they show the slight origin on Lang while at the same time following Douglas on his road to retirement remains unknown. It also remains unknown whether Rudd or Douglas will appear in future Marvel films like The Avengers: Age of Ultron or The Avengers 3. Either way this is shaping up to be an interesting project.

Michael Douglas makes another rather impressive addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe. In addition to Douglas we have had other acclaimed actors such as Robert Redford, James Spader, Bradley Cooper, Jeff Bridges, and Tommy Lee Jones appear (or set to appear) in Marvel films.

The Purge 2 receives a new title

Let The Purge 2 now be known as The Next Chapter of The Purge.

Yes, Universal has picked an extremely stupid title for their fast-tracked sequel to The Purge. The sequel is currently in production as they aim for a June 20, 2014 release date. The film stars Frank Grillo, Michael K. Williams, Zach Gilford, and Carmen Ejogo.
Returning are writer/producer Jason Blum of Blumhouse Productions, James DeMonaco, and Platinum Dunes partner Michael Bay.

I personally hated The Purge, so I am not excited or looking forward to The Next Chapter of The Purge. I thought it was a great concept they flushed down the toilet with weak characters, a lacking plot, and a severe lack of detail.

2014 Golden Globes winners

It appears the hype around 12 Years a Slave didn't quite come to fruition, at least not the with the Golden Globes. The acclaimed and predicted Oscar favorite took home just one of the awards it was nominated for. Surprise winners include Her, The Wolf of Wall Street, and Dallas Buyers Club.

Here is the full list of winners:

Best Motion Picture - Drama

12 Years a Slave

Best Actress - Drama

Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine

Best Actor - Drama

Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical

American Hustle

Best Actress - Comedy or Musical

Amy Adams - American Hustle

Best Actor - Comedy or Musical

Leonardo DiCaprio - The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Supporting Actress

Jennifer Lawrence - American Hustle

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity

Best Original Score

Alex Ebert - All is Lost

Best Original Song

"Ordinary Love" - Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Best Screenplay

Spike Jonze - Her

Best Animated Feature

Frozen

Best Foreign Film

The Great Beauty



Best Supporting Actress - TV Movie, Series, or Mini-Series

Jacqueline Bisset - Dancing on the Edge

Best Actress - Mini-Series or TV Movie

Elisabeth Moss - Top of the Lake

Best Television Series - Drama

Breaking Bad

Best Supporting Actor - TV Movie, Series, or Mini-Series

Jon Voight - Ray Donovan

Best Actor - Mini-Series or TV Movie

Michael Douglas - Behind the Candelabra

Best Actor - Television Drama

Bryan Cranston - Breaking Bad

Best Actress - Television Drama

Robin Wright - House of Cards

Best Actor - Television Comedy or Musical

Andy Samberg - Brooklyn Nine-Nine

Best Actress - Television Comedy or Musical

Amy Poehler - Parks and Recreation

Best Television Series - Comedy or Musical

Brooklyn Nine-Nine



Are the Globes a tell-tale sign of what is to come with the Oscars? Sometimes. With this I think the Oscars might be full of dark horses. I would watch out for Her, Dallas Buyers Club, and The Wolf of Wall Street. If those get nominations they might just take them. A lot of people were certain 12 Years a Slave and/or Gravity were going to sweep and that didn't happen. The frontrunner so far seems to be American Hustle which is well deserved.
This also marks the first in many years where a Pixar film did not take home Best Animated Feature. The reason being they did not nominate Monsters University. I am pretty sure Pixar would have taken it over Frozen if it was nominated. I'm pretty certain the Oscars won't exclude Pixar, but we will see.

Shia LaBeouf tweets his retirement

And the saga continues...

In light of his recent plagiarism scandal and criticism of his dealings with the subject, Shia LaBeouf has resorted to his Twitter account to announce that he is leaving the public spotlight.

"In light of the recent attacks on my artistic integrity, I am retiring from all public life. My love goes out to those who have supported me."


This comes a few days after he tweeted a cease and desist letter from Daniel Clowes' lawyer requesting that he take control of the situation and make it right. LaBeouf openly admitted to plagiarizing Clowes' graphic novel, David Boring, and took the step to share storyboards for a future project that also was lifting more of Clowes' work.  In his attempt to apologize about the situation, he also plagiarized his apologies and the world has pretty much made the point directly to LaBeouf to get his shit together. His response seems to be to just leave the public eye which he has kind of done before, so I take this with a grain of salt. I'm sure he is just trying to focus the attention on himself as he always does. I say that after remembering the stink he made about vowing to never work with a major studio again after his bad experiences on the Transformers films. The only person to come to his defense is his Even Stevens co-star, Christy Carlson Romano. She stated, ""He’s always just honored his artistic instincts, even when he was 12 years old to about 15 or 16 as we worked together. This is not just some breakdown, like some other child actors. This isn't some emotional neediness. This is something that he's actively doing."

I'm not sorry to say I won't miss you, Shia. I haven't liked you since Disturbia.

[Rumor] Jesse Plemons sought for Episode VII

It's getting closer and closer to filming for Star Wars: Episode VII and with that we are bound to get some more casting and plot rumors. The latest is that Jesse Plemons, most recently known as Todd in Breaking Bad, is being eyed for a male lead as the offspring of Luke Skywalker.

I want to make it clear that he has not been cast yet. The reports are that he has been called back for another audition and/or screen test with J.J. Abrams. This does not mean he will be cast and it doesn't mean he won't be. This is all pretty much blowing smoke at this point, but I figured it was worth mentioning for the sheer fact that he would be a pretty believable as a Skywalker. Depending on the picture Plemons does resemble Mark Hamill a bit. However, I think if this role is supposed to be a teenage role and will potentially last three movies that he is a bit old. He will be 26 this year and I'm not trying to say he looks old for his age, but he definitely doesn't have a baby face. It won't be believable that he is a young teenager.

I bet we will get more info on Episode VII in the next couple of months regardless. They can't keep people waiting forever.


What do you think about Jesse Plemons potentially being cast in Star Wars? Is he a good fit or a bad fit? 

Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones - Review

After the mysterious and sudden death of his neighbor, Jesse begins experiencing odd paranormal disturbances. While investigating the bigger picture he discovers he has been specially marked for possession in Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones.


Let this be a disclaimer that this review will contain spoilers. If you haven't seen this movie and want to, I suggest you come back after you have seen it. You don't want the ending spoiled for you. Trust me.






Last chance.










I will be the first to say that I absolutely despise the Paranormal Activity movies. I think they are boring, full of cheap scares, and a bit over stretched. With that said, I was not excited to see The Marked Ones especially after I learned it was a spin-off. I saw the trailer and while I gave it credit for actually looking more eventful I still didn't put much stock in it. After seeing it I have to admit, despite how embarrassing this is for me, this was a pretty damn good horror movie and by far is the best of the Paranormal Activity franchise so far.
Why do I say this? Well, first off there is no footage of people sleeping. None. That made me extremely happy. Second, it was consistently eventful throughout the entire movie. There was none of this boring as hell for an hour and then eventful for the last 10-15min. I also thought the acting wasn't all that bad either. The kids were believable and they weren't as annoying as the previous teenagers we have had, especially in Paranormal Activity 4.
As far as the plot goes I thought this one probably had one of the most interesting storylines. The basics of it are Jesse's neighbor was a witch and tried possessing his classmate, Oscar, and then the demon marked and possessed Jesse. I think the setting was a nice change of pace because it dealt with completely different people in a different area of California.

The movie, obviously, was full of gimmicks but there was the good and the bad.

The best gimmicks:

The haunted Simon Says toy
The rehash of the bite mark as the symbol for "the marked ones"
The time travel reveal

The bad gimmicks:

Falling backwards and not hitting the ground
Super strength in beating up gangsters


A lot of the gimmicks and elements were easter eggs, to a point, referencing the previous movies. These are not limited to the Spanish newspapers in Katie's house (PA4), the reuse of the bite mark (PA), the word "meus" written on the wall (PA2), The box of stolen VHS tapes (PA2), grandma Lori's house being the witch coven (PA3), and young Kristi and Katie appearing in the neighbor's basement.

Now this all led up to something... I do have to say the ending was not only the best part of the movie, but it was definitely the best of the entire franchise.I recognized the grandma's house almost immediately because despite not liking the movie as a whole, I will say that my favorite part of Paranormal Activity 3 was when Dennis ran down the hallway and opened the door with the room full of witches just standing there. Hector, Marisol, and the gangsters raid the coven and these crazy, yelling witches come out of nowhere and get blown away shotgun style. They enter the house and encounter a demonic Jesse and more witches that seem to appear out of nowhere. Marisol and the gangsters bite the dust leaving poor Hector the cameraman running from Jesse.
Remember me saying one of the best gimmicks was time travel? Here is where this comes into play. It is explained to a point that the witches can travel from point to point in reference to demonic possession. Yes, this means they can travel through time to the event of a full possession. Hector is running from Jesse and he opens a door in grandma's house and finds himself in a familiar spot. I immediately recognized it as Katie and Micah's house from the very first Paranormal Activity. You see Katie walking down the stairs as she did at the end of PA, she grabs a knife, and when she turns around she looks at Hector and starts screaming for Micah, as in the first movie. This is what we didn't see in the movie because the camera stays stationary in the master bedroom. Micah sees Hector, pushes him, and then Katie starts stabbing him. Hector gets scared and when he turns around you are surprised by a full demonic Jesse popping up and killing Hector. There is speculation that the person who turns off the light on the camera downstairs is Alex from Paranormal Activity 4, but I think it looked like Katie.

Here is my theory about this ending... This all literally happened at the same time from the very beginning. We just didn't know it at the time. I think Katie could have had a brief relief from the trance to scream for Micah and lure him downstairs because she saw Hector in the kitchen. We didn't know it because as mentioned before, Micah's camera was stationary in the bedroom.

Director Christopher Landon has done a nice job wrapping this all together to this point. I'm not saying I am suddenly a big fan of Paranormal Activity franchise, but this was a nice surprise. No shit, I screamed when Jesse popped up at the end looking like the devil. It caught me 100% off guard. I think this was a good set up for Paranormal Activity 5 and it finally made a connection between the previous four movies that is more than Katie randomly popping up everywhere. It's nice to know this spreads beyond this singular family and this witch coven is worldwide. Bloody good show.