Fri, January 20, 2012
In the February 14th release, the world's deadliest CIA operatives (Chris Pine and Tom Hardy) are inseparable partners and best friends until they fall for the same woman (Reese Witherspoon). Having once helped bring down entire enemy nations, they are now employing their incomparable skills and an endless array of high-tech gadgetry against their greatest nemesis ever - each other.
Thu, January 19, 2012 
Bleeding Cool gave us all a peek at this logo last week, but it was an official reveal from DC Comics. I was quite disappointed with it because I felt like that star swoosh with the letters was an iconic look for the company. My mind has changed a bit today with the release of the colored logos and templates shown for how it will look on the finished products. I think over time it will find its place among fans. Check out the press release below, and view more logo designs from DC's official blog, The Source.
New identity designed to showcase DC Entertainment’s rich portfolio of brands, stories and characters across all media platforms.
BURBANK, CA, January 19, 2012 – DC Entertainment, a Warner Bros. Entertainment company and home to iconic brands DC Comics, Vertigo and MAD, revealed today a new brand identity. The new identity is reflective of the company’s mission to fully realize the value of a rich portfolio of brands, stories and characters, distinguished by incredible breadth and depth across publishing, media and merchandise. A new logo for DC Comics was also introduced, closely aligning with DC Entertainment’s new mark.
“It’s a new era at DC Entertainment and the new look reflects a dynamic, bold approach while at the same time celebrates the company’s rich heritage and robust portfolio of characters,” stated John Rood, EVP of Sales, Marketing and Business Development for DC Entertainment. “It was just a few months ago that Superman, Batman and many of our other Super Heroes were updated when we launched DC Comics – The New 52 and now it’s time to do the same for the company’s identity while remaining true to the power of storytelling which is still at the heart of DC Entertainment.”
DC Entertainment worked with Landor Associates, one of the world’s leading brand consulting and design firms, to develop an identity that creates a visual connection among the company, its three brands DC Comics, Vertigo and MAD and its vast array of properties as well as celebrates the power of the company’s stories and characters. The design of the new DC Entertainment identity uses a “peel” effect – the D is strategically placed over the C with the upper right-hand portion of the D peeling back to unveil the hidden C – symbolizing the duality of the iconic characters that are present within DC Entertainment’s portfolio.
“It was our goal to capture DC Entertainment in a dynamic and provocative identity. Our solution is a living expression which changes and adapts to the characters, story lines and the ways fans are consuming content,” explains Nicolas Aparicio, Executive Creative Director at Landor’s San Francisco office. “The new identity is built for the digital age, and can easily be animated and customized to take full advantage of the interactivity offered across all media platforms.”
The new brand identity will come to life across all consumer touch points in order to create a clear and consistent message in support of DC Entertainment. The new identity will begin to appear on comic books and graphic novels as well as new websites in March. Consumers will also see the new identity rolled out over time on other DC Entertainment products from Warner Bros. including film, television, interactive games and merchandise.
“We believe our new brand identity will strongly resonate with our loyal fans who will want to proudly express their affinity for DC Entertainment and their passion for their favorite stories and characters, this new look allows them to easily do this. In addition we were excited to update our identity, it’s not often a company gets to revisit something as important as its brand and we took the opportunity to make sure it represented the multi-media business we set out to build with the formation of DC Entertainment,” said Amit Desai, SVP of Franchise Management for DC Entertainment.
Thu, January 19, 2012 Not that we're talking about a series I hold to my heart or anything, but I wasn't the only one to notice there were approximately zero zombies over the course of that minute and eighteen seconds, right?
The trailer for Resident Evil: Retribution, from Yahoo! Movies, figures everyone associates Milla Jovovich with the video game-cum-film franchise instead of the undead. I suppose that logic isn't entirely unjustified. But are they selling a movie with Jovovich and monsters, of which hypothetical zombies may appear or Sony products?
Thu, January 19, 2012 
Repeating the same studio-sanctioned stories over and over again about how the director and co-stars are wonderful, the script was so amazing that it was the dealmaker and how fun it was to make the movie. Michael Shannon is still new to this process.
If you've been following his comments to the press since joining The Man of Steel, then hopefully you found them as refreshing as I have. Shannon isn't being a snob or ungrateful for the opportunity playing Zod. He just doesn't sugar-coat everything and present it in a fashion to please the lowest common denominator of our nerd culture: the fanboys.
A culture that he tells Hero Complex baffles him:
"There are legions of fans salivating, who will literally spend the next year and a half looking at the clock, waiting for this movie. That's just the way it is. I don't know why. Me, personally, I'm not a huge fan. I can't even read comic books. I don't know which panel to look at next. I hardly ever know what any of the characters are talking about. So, no, I am not one of them. But there are a lot of them. They're out there. And they really want to talk to me about this movie!"
As you can guess, these honest answers can (and have) gotten feedback from his bosses to shut up:
"I got signaled that less is more. It’s kind of curious. It is Superman. So I think everybody kind of knows what happens, you know? Nothing’s going to be a huge shock."
He doesn't have the same pressure as new Superman Henry Cavill, who will tell everyone how much he loves the character and read the comic-books for research even if he didn't (Bombshell: people in showbiz do lie although I believe Cavill, in this case, is being sincere). Shannon's in a different position. One movie and he's out.
Come on, you really think Zod won't eat it at the end?
Thu, January 19, 2012 
The CW has ordered three new pilots, The Carrie Diaries, Arrow, and Beauty & The Beast.
Tt's been rumored time and time again but now I guess it is official, the prequel to Sex and the City is moving forward at CW. The Carrie Diaries will follow a young Carrie Bradshaw as she parties down in the 80's version of Manhattan. I'm sure if this series does well and is picked up, you can expect a movie or two to come out of it as well. Fits in as a accompaniment to Gossip Girl, or it's replacement.
Marc Guggenheim and Greg Berlanti are everywhere? Those dudes might be taking over Hollywood. Their names seem to be all over every tentpole and tv show lately. Their manning the bow on Arrow which will follow the heroic deeds of DC's Green Arrow. Andrew Kreisberg will be producing along with Marc & Greg. You wonder if some of Smallville's fan base will help build a foundation for this show.
Last but not least, an adaptation of Beauty & The Beast. Looks like the re-release of the animated picture in 3D is just an appetizer to this show. Following loosely in the footsteps of shows like Once Upon A Time and Grimm, this adaptation will rewrite the story with a little help from the 1987 television series.
Thu, January 19, 2012 
You know that flying craft we've seen via The Dark Knight Rises set photos and we've been calling "BatWing". We've been wrong. According to Wireless Goodness & FCC via some Hot Wheels toy specs, the name of the vehicle is "The Bat". Granted this could just be the name of the toy and the it's called something totally different in the flick, but we're going with "The Bat". Breaking news over.
I have to admit the set photos I've seen that feature what were previously calling "The Batwing" present the flying craft as being "pretty damn cool". I have been wondering if Team Nolan might be "jumping the shark" a bit by having Batman fly around in a plane. Usually Nolan has a tendency to make such things fit in the world he has created, but there is that little part of me that wonders if it could put a chink in Christopher's armor.
Thu, January 19, 2012 The important part of the cast and producers for The Amazing Spider-Man were in full force at a press conference in Japan talking plot points and characterization in the upcoming Marc Webb film. You can watch the rather long video below or read some of the important quotes from Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Avi Arad, below. Courtesy of your friendly neighborhood website, Coming Soon.
Avi Arad:
"In our movie, [Peter] finds his true love. Gwen Stacy was always the true love of Peter Parker. We found a very, very good story about what makes a human being. About what sets their destiny.""We introduce our villain, Dr. Connors and in the great tradition of Marvel, Dr. Connors is going to be connected to Peter Parker and, in our case even more interesting, to Gwen Stacy.
Right there, the challenge of having to deal with a villain who is a mentor and the only one who you can look at and say, 'So what really happened to my dad?' That's a very hard person to fight."
Special footage was screened for the Japanese press which, according to Garfield, emphasized the physical nature of the film's effects.
Andrew Garfield:
"As you can see, a lot of the stunts are practical and grounded in reality.That was something that Marc, the director, really wanted to make sure happened in this movie to set it apart from previous ones... I would exhaust myself every day and get into near-death experiences every hour on the hour... I collaborated with [the stunt team] not only on the big stunt set-pieces but also on what happens to Peter’s body when he gets bitten. What happens to his DNA and how that effects the way he moves and the way he interacts with objects. The idea that he has spider DNA running in his system. What that will do to his sense of space. What that will do to the sensitivity of his skin. To have an opportunity to play in that forum with creative and talented people was a real opportunity and gift."
Stone reiterated that her take on Stacy will be a complete departure from the version played by Bryce Dallas Howard in Spider-Man 3.
Emma Stone:
"We haven't even met Mary Jane at this point.
"You don't want to know! You want to watch the movie and find out. Plus, it would be weird if we were like, 'There's something iconic coming up!' You've got to decide if it's iconic or not. But there is a nice first kiss and it's different than the upside down one. And we liked it."
Wed, January 18, 2012 It's time to play the music, it's time to light the lights. Disney has officially anounnced that The Muppets, the wonderfully amazing reboot that you really had to be soulless not to enjoy, will arrive on DVD/Blu-Ray on March 20th.
According to the specs reported on TheHDRoom, there will two versions of the movie available: one is will be the regular Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack, but the Wocka Wocka Value Pack will include the DVD, blu-ray, a digital copy, and a downloadable edition of The Muppets soundtrack.
Both versions will include some excellent-sounding extra features:
BD Exclusive: The Longest Blooper Reel Ever Made (In Muppet History) -- Includes Muppets! Stars! And One Ridiculously Long Chicken Joke! What More Do You Need?
Scratching The Surface: A Hasty Examination Of The Making Of THE MUPPETS -- A Surprisingly Shallow But Profoundly Absurd Look At Muppets And Humans Working Together To Make Cinematic History
Deleted Scenes
A Little Screen Test On The Way To The Read-Through -- The Muppets Bring The Wocka Wocka Wocka To A Routine Camera Test
Explaining Evil: The Full Tex Richman Song
Unreleased Theatrical Spoof Trailers -- And More!
Audio Commentary -- With Jason Segel, James Bobin, And Nicholas Stoller
Disney Intermission -- Pause The Movie And See What Happens!
There were more theatrical spoof trailers? What was left to spoof?
So this one will definitely be a keeper. Disney has also released a trailer for the upcoming release, which is just the same thing as the regular trailer with a different tag at the end.
But it's The Muppets, so watch it anyway:
By the way...hey, Disney? As awesome as this release looks, please don't forget that we're still waiting for Seasons 4 and 5 of The Muppet Show to be released on DVD. Also, some blu-ray editions of the original Muppet films would be great to have too. Just sayin'.
Wed, January 18, 2012 Well, this was inevitable. According to a report in Britain's The Telegraph, several moviegoers in Liverpool have demanded refunds after realizing that critical darling and likely Oscar frontrunner The Artist is, in fact, a silent film.
To be fair, the Telegraph article does note that these requests were made by just a small number of audience members at a single theater (and before anyone tries to poke fun because this happened in the UK, keep in mind that we are still the home of the Drive lawsuit). But with this film going into wider release in the next few weeks as the Oscar nominations are announced, this probably won't be the last time people cry foul that they were given no warning that this movie is in black and white and almost entirely without sound or dialogue.
Because obviously, the black and white, dialogue-free trailer didn't let that on at all:
By the way, if anyone is still on the fence about whether or not to see this movie at all...just go see it. Of course it's Oscar bait. But it's probably the most unpretentious, un-stuffy, and most enjoyable Oscar bait in theaters this year. And it's got a cute dog. Who can ask for a refund on that?