Zemeckis is Back! Trailer for "Flight"

Isn't it nice to see Robert Zemeckis back making movies with actual live people instead of those creepy motion-captured people?  We now have our first look his new film, Flight, which stars Denzel Washington as an airline pilot hailed as a hero after saving a commercial flight from a disaster, only to have his personal demons exposed as the possible cause of the plane's malfunction:

Was that an upside-down plane?  Damn.

Flight, which also stars Don Cheadle, John Goodman, and Melissa Leo, opens in theaters on November 2nd.

Django Unchained Trailer

The first trailer to Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained is online, and ready for you, the ever-hungry movie-goer to consume (Thanks to Fandango):

Welcome to a Year Ago: Michael Bay Says He's Done with Transformers After Next One

Michael Bay said he was finished with Transformers on the press circuit for Dark of the Moon last summer. Then money talked and Bay upped for a fourth. Reports indicated that was due, mostly, to Paramount dangling Pain & Gain over his head. What's a piddling crime-thriller about bodybuilders after Bay made you billions? Dick move, if I've ever seen one.

Well, he's repeating the "I'm done! I swear!" narrative to Hero Complex in a piece covering the Transformers: The Ride-3D (which admittedly I'd love to try):

"The director, by the way, says that the fourth film will include some redesign of the robots and an entirely new cast. He also said it will be his last and set the franchise up 'for the next guy.'"

If he means it this time, fine. But we've heard this before.

See Spider-Man in Cell-Phone Talking Action In Amazing Spider-Man Clip!

If you don't mind Emma Stone being cutesy, and I don't mean in that in a disparaging way, with Jay Leno, assuming you aren't a Team Coco ass-wipe and can tolerate him, here's a new clip from The Amazing Spider-Man:

Spider-Man on a cell-phone. What an odd visual.

Wreck-It Ralph Trailer Promises Awesome, Retro-Gaming Fun

While it doesn't have the benefit of instant attention like Pixar's filmography (To be fair, they earned that reputation on goodwill). Wreck-It, Ralph has the kind of hook to grab the 70s/80s born retro-gamers in us who still rock our 8-bit NES and long for the days of arcade gaming.

A video game villain (voiced by John C. Reilly) is tired of being the bad guy and decides to try at playing on the other side. Here's the trailer, courtesy of MSN:

Ray Bradbury RIP

Ray Bradbury, a legend in science fiction literature, is gone. The renowned author passed away last night his family revealed this morning. No other details are available at this time.

We could talk about Fahrenheit 451, The Martian Chronicles, The Illustrated Man and countless others. Many will. That's the best to do. Get Bradbury's life-time of great work back into the conversation. Maybe some kid, with a keen interest in science fiction, will notice and take a liking. That's what happened to me. And who knows? Perhaps his work might plant the seeds in his head and lead him to become a great, new voice in the genre.

I'd like to think that's what Bradbury would want.

For me, I'll always remember him dating back to his analogy series The Ray Bradbury Theater, on the USA Network (It wasn't until years later I found out it originated on HBO). A tall old man with thick rims walking into his office, filled to capacity with toys, maps, books, pictures from his youth. And a typewriter at the center:

"People ask, 'Where do you get your ideas?' Right here! All this is mine! Martian landscape. Somewhere in this room is an African belt. Just beyond perhaps is a small Illinois town where I grew up. And I'm surrounded in every side by my Magician’s toy shop. I'll never starve here. I just look around, find what I need and begin."

That's who Bradbury will always be to me. We've lost a visionary. One who's talent and influence few will ever match.

New Poster For "The Campaign"

When long-term congressman Cam Brady (Will Ferrell) commits a major public gaffe before an upcoming election, a pair of ultra-wealthy CEOs plot to put up a rival candidate and gain influence over their North Carolina district. Their man: naïve Marty Huggins (Zach Galifianakis), director of the local Tourism Center. At first, Marty appears to be the unlikeliest possible choice but, with the help of his new benefactors’ support, a cutthroat campaign manager and his family’s political connections, he soon becomes a contender who gives the charismatic Cam plenty to worry about. As Election Day closes in, the two are locked in a dead heat, with insults quickly escalating to injury until all they care about is burying each other, in this mud-slinging, back-stabbing, home-wrecking comedy from “Meet the Parents” director Jay Roach that takes today’s political circus to its logical next level. Because even when you think campaign ethics have hit rock bottom, there’s room to dig a whole lot deeper.

Black Panther Up Next For The Marvel Machine

Marvel is like that giant rolling boulder in Raiders Of The Last Ark if there was no way to stop it and it just kept rolling forever crushing everything in it's path. That is what Marvel has been doing, at least until The Dark Knight Rises comes out in a month and a lot of change.

The story gumshoes over at Latino Review have unearthed another gem. Marvel's next hero to get the super treatment on the big screen is Black Panther. I have to say I have no idea who the hell this character is or what he does but if Marvel is making it happen then I am going to see it.

I am not sure how you can't trust Latino Review at breaking stories at this point, that is what they do. It's their thing. Off the top of my head they broke Routh as Superman, Bale as Batman, Ledger as Joker, Goyer writing Man Of Steel, Loki in The Avengers, and Renner in Bourne Legacy. That is what they call track record.

Here is a description of Black Panther, it's sounds very strange and he kind of looks like Batman?

The title “Black Panther” is a rank of office, chieftain of the Wakandan Panther Clan. As chieftain, the Panther is entitled to eat a special heart-shaped herb, as well as his mystical connection with the Wakandan Panther god, that grants him superhumanly acute senses and increases his strength, speed, stamina, and agility to the peak of human development. He has since lost this connection and forged a new one with another unknown Panther deity, granting him augmented physical attributes as well as a resistance to magic.

His senses are so powerful that he can pick up a prey’s scent and memorize tens of thousands of individual ones. T’Challa is a rigorously trained gymnast and acrobat, showing mastery in various African martial arts as well as contemporary ones and fighting styles that belong to no known disciplines.

Will Beall To Pen Justice League For Warner Bros

Would it mean I was completely full of myself if I was to believe that The Brothers Warner actually cared about what I said? Absolutely it would, but it's going to happen anyway. I was complaining on Twitter today that Marvel was already working on getting Black Panther up and running, a 3rd tier character, and WB/DC couldn't even do anything with Wonder Woman or Flash. I guess they wanted to shut me up?

A TMT favorite, Jeff Sneider over at Variety, has broken that Warner Bros has selected Will Beall to be their hero and swoop in to take pen to paper on Justice League.  According to Sneider Beall hasn't turned in a draft as of yet but is a big wig favorite over at the studio due to his work on Gangster Squad, Lethal Weapon, and Logan's Run.

We all remember the failed attempt at Justice League by Warner Bros only several years ago. George Miller directing the likes of Adam Brody and Megan Gale. I'm very glad that never took off. Although I heard the original draft of Justice League Mortal by Kieran and Michele Mulroney was pretty damn good before it got hacked apart by some other writing lightweights.

Some interesting tidbits at the end of Sneider's article. He confirms that Greg Berlanti was in line to direct The Flash, which Jamie and I broke when writing for the now defunct and defamed IESB.Net, along with touching upon other DC properties:

...while another "Green Lantern" scribe, Michael Goldenberg, was hired to write "Wonder Woman." Additionally, Brad Peyton is working on a new draft of "Lobo," while John Kamps and David Koepp are developing "Spy vs. Spy" as a potential directing vehicle for Ron Howard. WB also developed the "Aquaman" property several years ago.

Jon Favreau Up for Jersey Boys

Going for a theatrical version of a Broadway smash is hit and miss. For every Mama Mia! (My seven-year old niece's favorite) or Hairspray (Her other favorite!), there's your fair share of Rent, Phantom of the Opera or, worst of all, Nine. Graham King is hoping for the former as he gears up a film adaptation for Jersey Boys, the hit focused on Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons.

As the top of the directorial short-list, Variety reports, is Jon Favreau.

Don't think there's anything in his background as a director or actor (People forget he had a good career in supporting roles before Elf and Iron Man). But that's a plus. I like Favreau trying something new, and what could be a bigger challenge than doing a musical.

Guess this means The Magic Kingdom, the excellent wish fulfillment adventure at Disney, is dead?