X-Men: Apocalypse coming in 2016

They aren't wasting any time with the X-Men franchise, that's for sure. Director Bryan Singer tweeted today that the follow up to X-Men: Days of Future Past, to be released in 2014, will be titled X-Men: Apocalypse and will hit theaters on May 27, 2016. Well, it's the assumed sequel to Days of Future Past.

If you aren't aware, Apocalypse is the name of an immortal mutant with ancient Egyptian roots. Apocalypse possesses superhuman strength, the ability to teleport, a genius intellect, and the ability to control energy. The fact that Bishop is being introduced in Days of Future Past could possibly lead to Apocalypse because of the alternate universe. Only time will tell.

Lance Reddick joins American Horror Story

American Horror Story: Coven finally has its "Voodoo Satan" and his name is Lance Reddick. The veteran from Fringe and The Wire has joined the cast as Papa Legba, the so-called Voodoo Satan who is more powerful than Angela Bassett's character, Marie Laveau. Not much else is known about the character or when he will show up.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 - First Trailer

We finally have the first, CGI-filled trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. I have watched it twice now and I still just can't wrap my head around it. And that is in a bad way.

I didn't like the first Amazing Spider-Man and I think this one looks even worse. The CGI alone is just gross. It doesn't even look like a movie. It looks like a video game. Not to mention the fact that I feel like this trailer basically just gave the entire movie away.
I don't understand why they are making the same mistake Spider-Man 3 did and including so many damn villains. From what it seems we have Electro, The Rhino, Harry Osbourne/Oscorp, and potentially the Green Goblin. It's too much, even if they are saving some of them for future films. I also want to include how it appears they are skipping all possible backstory on Harry because in this trailer he looks like a creeper out to get Peter from the get go. Way to go, Marc Webb. I will be passing on this one like I did the first one. Maybe I'll watch it when it's on DVD.





#TheAmazingSpiderman2 #AmazingSpiderMan

Fast and Furious might start from scratch

In addition to the grief around Paul Walker's unexpected death, there is a problem due to the fact that he was in the middle of filming a movie. Previously it was announced that Fast and Furious 7 had been put on an indefinite hold, but there is now some talk that the film may be scrapped and started from scratch with a new script that excludes Walker's character.

Fast and Furious 7 was already halfway finished filming, but most of the key scenes involving Paul Walker were not completed yet. The big concern by Universal and director James Wan is how to move forward without tarnishing Paul Walker's memory and disrespecting the fans. In addition to the production indefinitely stopping, another option being explored is to restart and basically cut out Walker's character altogether. Personally, I find that the most disrespectful option.
The other option is to do rewrites and try and work around the scenes that were not filmed yet. There is a big possibility of body doubles, like what they did when Brandon Lee died during filming of The Crow, so fans can kind of feel like they are saying goodbye to Walker while seeing him on-screen one more time. One minor detail with this thought is the potential for CGI to be introduced and have Walker's face digitally placed onto a double.

The bottom line is there is no getting around that Walker starred in a franchise about street racing and died in a fiery car crash. It is very sad, don't get me wrong, but it is just a fact. I think the best thing they could do would be to just move forward. It isn't disrespectful to, for lack of a better way, kill off Walker's character. If they still want to make the July 11th release date they are going to have to make some decisions fast.

Right now, all of us at Universal are dedicated to providing support to Paul’s immediate family and our extended Fast & Furious family of cast, crew and filmmakers.   At this time we feel it is our responsibility to shut down production on Fast & Furious 7 for a period of time so we can assess all options available to move forward with the franchise.  We are committed to keeping Fast & Furious fans informed, and we will provide further information to them when we have it.  Until then, we know they join us in mourning the passing of our dear friend Paul Walker.
Read more at http://collider.com/fast-furious-7-decisions-paul-walker/#8c7leVfTeSXGbsP8.99

Frozen and Monsters U lead Annie Award nominations

Hard to believe it's that time once again, but the nominations for the Annie Awards have been announced. The leaders, to no surprise, are both Disney films and one of them is Pixar.

The nominees are...

Best Animated Feature:

A Letter to Momo
Despicable Me 2
Ernest & Celestine
Frozen
Monsters University
The Croods
The Wind Rises

Best Animated Special Feature:

Chipotle Scarecrow
Listening Is an Act of Love
Room on the Broom
Toy Story of TERROR

Best Animated Short:

Despicable Me 2 - Puppy
Get a Horse!
Gloria Victoria
My Mom is an Airplane
The Numberlys

Best Animated TV/Broadcast Commercial:

Despicable Me 2 - Cinemark
Sound of the Woods
The Polar Bears Movie

Best General Audience TV/Broadcast Production for Preschool:

Bubble Guppies
Disney Sofia the First
Doc McStuffins
Justin Time
Peter Rabbit

Best Animated TV/Broadcast Production for Children:

Adventure Time
Beware the Batman
Disney Gravity Falls
Kung Fu Panda - Legends of Awesomeness
Regular Show
Scaredy Squirrel
Teen Titans Go!
The Legend of Korra

Best General Audience Animated TV/Broadcast Production:

Archer
Bob's Burgers
Disney Tron Uprising
Futurama
Motorcity

Marcia Gay Harden joins Fifty Shades of Grey

Marcia Gay Harden is the latest addition to Fifty Shades of Grey in a pretty decent wave of casting news. She will play Christian Grey's adoptive mother, Dr. Grace Trevelyan Grey. She is also the adoptive mother to Elliot Grey (Luke Grimes) and Mia Grey (Rita Ora). Grace is a pediatrician described to have sandy blonde hair and hazel eyes. Christian's father, Carrick Grey, has yet to be cast.

Marcia Gay Harden recently finished filming the latest from Woody Allen, Magic in the Moonlight, and has appeared on HBO's The Newsroom. Fifty Shades of Grey began filming this week and will hit theaters on February 13, 2015.

Eloise Mumford joins Fifty Shades of Grey

Eloise Mumford has been cast as Kate Kavanagh, the best friend and roommate of Anastasia Steele. Kate is described as a 22-year old vivacious woman with strawberry blonde hair, green eyes, and a curvaceous body. Ana describes Kate in the books as breathtakingly beautiful.

Mumford's most recognizable role (probably) is Lena Landry on the television series, The River. She also starred in So Undercover alongside Miley Cyrus. I personally have never seen her before, so I'm just whatever about this one. Fifty Shades of Grey opens in theaters on February 13, 2015.

Rita Ora joins Fifty Shades of Grey

British singer Rita Ora has joined the cast of Fifty Shades of Grey. Ora will be playing Mia Grey, the adoptive sister of Christian and Elliot Grey. Mia is described as a tall, curvaceous, bubbly 22-year old woman who plays the cello and is fluent in French.

Ora only has four film credits to her name and is currently signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation record label. Filming for Fifty Shades of Grey began this past Monday and is set to hit theaters on February 13, 2015.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 may get a new title

We are expecting the first full trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 later on this week, but some other countries have already received some trailer teasers. Along with seeing Spidey flying around New York, we got a possible subtitle for the film as the trailers have the title The Amazing Spider-Man 2: Rise of Electro.
Now, this doesn't mean the US will get this title. Movies will have different titles depending on the country of release quite often, so it is possible that certain international releases will have the Rise of Electro title attached while some won't. However, I wouldn't be surprised if the official title winds up having the subtitle. It seems to be the current trend to have a subtitle for comic book sequels. I think the only recent exception is Iron Man as that character kept the sequential Iron Man 2 and Iron Man 3 titles.

CBM has the teaser trailers that are absolutely nothing to get excited about. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 hits theaters in 3D on May 2, 2014.

Oldboy has the weakest Thanksgiving opening ever

Spike Lee's remake of Oldboy has opened to some (not surprising) bad press and the weakest holiday opening ever. The film grossed only $850,000 over five days.

Now... this isn't very surprising. Even though it starred relatively high name actors such as Josh Brolin, Elizabeth Olsen, Samuel L. Jackson, and Sharlto Copley it was a highly unnecessary remake. Not to mention Spike Lee has been on a lot of people's shit list lately. Add into the fact that Oldboy suffered a schedule change and should have been released on October 25th, I think people just lost interest. It's actually a bit funny that the reason for the delay was the lack of genre competition over the Thanksgiving holiday. Whoever thought a remake of Oldboy would beat Catching Fire and a new Disney movie probably just lost their job.

Fast and Furious 7 delayed indefinitely

This isn't a surprise.

Due to the sudden death of Paul Walker which occurred yesterday, production of Fast and Furious 7 has been delayed indefinitely. Shooting was set to resume tomorrow in Atlanta, but Universal and the production crew have canceled the shoot and have not set a resume date at this time. The production wants to allow enough time for the cast and crew to grieve the loss of Walker as well as allowing time to complete inevitable re-writes to the script. Walker's character, Brian O'Conner, was a main character so obviously his role will need to be put in a different direction. The only Fast and Furious film Walker did not appear in was The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift.

However, director James Wan and Universal have not determined if the July 11, 2014 release date will need to be changed. Wan stated that more than half of the actual filming has already been completed and they were set to go to Abu Dhabi after filming in Atlanta wrapped. I personally won't be surprised if this movie is delayed by a couple months.

Paul Walker dead at 40

Paul Walker, most known for his role in the Fast and Furious franchise, as reportedly died in a car accident at the age of 40. He leaves a 15-year old daughter behind.
Walker was in Santa Clarita, CA when his Porche GT spun out of control and crashed into a tree. TMZ is reporting the vehicle caught fire and burst into flames. They also included that Walker was in the vehicle with an unidentified passenger and it is unclear on which person was driving at the time. Walker's rep confirmed he had been at a car show and was taking individuals on test drives of the vehicle to raise money and awareness for the recent typhoon that hit the Philippines. Walker was leaving said charity event at the time of the crash.

This is a surprise and rather sad. It's always unfortunate to see someone pass at a young age like 40. In case you never saw a Fast and Furious movie, Walker had also starred in Pleasantville, She's All That, Varsity Blues, and The Skulls. Walker was currently filming Fast and Furious 7 where he was reprising his role as Brian O'Conner, so I would expect some sort of delay on that one due to this. Universal has not yet commented regarding the status of Fast and Furious 7 or the tragedy.

[Update] Universal released the following statement:

"All of us at Universal are heartbroken. Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the Fast and Furious films, and to countless fans. We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul's family."

It was also released via Walker's official Facebook that he was a passenger in the vehicle and was attending an event for his charity, Reach Out Worldwide, when the vehicle lost control and struck a light post.  Police included that high speed was a factor in the crash.

“All of us at Universal are heartbroken.  Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the FAST AND FURIOUS films, and to countless fans.  We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul’s family.”
Read more at http://collider.com/paul-walker-dead/#OjCFwXejzeZEA7AG.99

“All of us at Universal are heartbroken.  Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the FAST AND FURIOUS films, and to countless fans.  We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul’s family.”
Read more at http://collider.com/paul-walker-dead/#OjCFwXejzeZEA7AG.99

“All of us at Universal are heartbroken.  Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the FAST AND FURIOUS films, and to countless fans.  We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul’s family.”
Read more at http://collider.com/paul-walker-dead/#OjCFwXejzeZEA7AG.99

“All of us at Universal are heartbroken.  Paul was truly one of the most beloved and respected members of our studio family for 14 years, and this loss is devastating to us, to everyone involved with the FAST AND FURIOUS films, and to countless fans.  We send our deepest and most sincere condolences to Paul’s family.”
Read more at http://collider.com/paul-walker-dead/#OjCFwXejzeZEA7AG.99

Frozen - Review

Anna, a young princess, finds herself in a race against the seasons as she ventures out from her kingdom to find her newly crowned Queen sister, Elsa, after her ice powers unintentionally freeze the kingdom in an eternal winter in Frozen.


I went into Frozen with an open mind because I generally like animated movies. Despite being 25-years old, I do enjoy a children's movies for the most part. I thought the previews looked fun and the hype over it gave me a lot of hope. However, I walked out of the theater with a pretty "meh" attitude and few laughs under my belt.
I don't know if it was just me, but I didn't find Frozen to be anything too spectacular. It wasn't nearly as good as previous Walt Disney Animation films such as Tangled and Wreck-It Ralph. It didn't even come close to Wreck-It Ralph and the previews are trying to put it on the same level as The Lion King. The animation itself was gorgeous, but the story was lacking for me. I thought the beginning was very rushed and rather confusing at first. They don't really explain what Elsa's "frozen" powers are and the events with Anna were pretty unrealistic. I feel like after having a closed kingdom for 10 years you wouldn't let your princess run freely around the kingdom without people even asking where she was or what she was doing while the soon to be crowned Queen remains locked in her bedroom. It was very weird. The story itself wasn't even emotionally moving. It was one of the only Disney movies that has not moved me to feel something. Hell, I cried during Wreck-It Ralph.
Like I said, the animation was great. The ice effects and the snow were very beautifully rendered and I would put the animation on the level of the previous films from Disney. I think the events of the movie took away from it, though. There was too much music and break into song moments. They didn't flow too well together and seemed to pop up out of nowhere at times with no real lead in.
As far as characters go, I thought a majority of the characters were enjoyable. Elsa was extremely underdeveloped, though. Anna was more of a main character with Elsa as a supporting character and I felt it should be the other way around due to the fact that Elsa was the one with the powers. The funniest character was the reindeer, Sven. Hands down the most annoying character was Olaf, the snowman. He had his funny moments but as a whole he was rather annoying and had jokes that I think were a bit ahead of the intended audience. There was a joke about being impaled and the only people chuckling were the adults. That seems to be typical of kids movies these days.
I also found the blatant similarities between Frozen and Tangled to be a bit distracting. The reindeer was very similar to the horse in Tangled, Anna and Elsa both looked a lot like Rapunzel, and Prince Hans was similar in looks and personality to Flynn Rider. Also the princess being the hero was like, yeah it's been done. I kept thinking of Tangled the whole time. 

Basically, Frozen was just alright for me. I probably could have, and should have, waited for DVD so I could just rent it. I enjoyed the last half a lot more than the first and it had too much singing. It's unfortunate this movie wasn't just a little bit longer. I think an extra 10-15min could have made a big difference. It wasn't a total loss but it wasn't as good as I was expecting it to be.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you. For some of you it's even Thanksgivukkah!


Either way, enjoy it.

Friday the 13th to be rebooted in 2015

I just can't.

Since the property rights switch between Paramount and Warner Bros. went through, we now have news that yet another reboot (not sequel) of Friday the 13th will be released on March 13, 2015. Conveniently so, on a Friday the 13th in a very crowded release year. 
This news is full of fun little 13-related tidbits. Not only will it be released on a Friday the 13th, but it will also be the 13th film in the franchise. It's a bummer than it didn't come out this year because it's 2013. /sarcasm 

And yes, the last reboot was just released in 2009.

However, this unfortunately isn't very surprising. Like mentioned above, Paramount obtained the Friday the 13th rights after a swap with Warner Bros. which was in exchange for Paramount giving up Interstellar, the new Christopher Nolan film. The current micro-budget horror film trend will most likely apply with this new reboot as it has proven successful with R-rated horror films such as Paranormal Activity, The Conjuring, and the previous 2009 version of Friday the 13th. There are also rumors already that this new reboot will utilize the found footage element, but there is no telling for sure. All we have right now is a release date and assurance that this is actually happening.