Tue, August 6, 2013 
If Harrison Ford doesn't even have the courtesy of staying awake for the voice-over work in this final Ender's Game trailer, why does Lionsgate expect the rest of us to care? If the Gavin Hood-directed film turns out to be good, then the joke is on us.
Tue, August 6, 2013 
The teaser trailer for The Muppets Most Wanted is pretty much everything you would expect from a Muppets movie. That is a good thing as long as you have the right actors bullshitting next to Kermit, Miss Piggy and the gang. And it looks like they struck gold with Ty Burrell who is clearly having a blast.
Tue, August 6, 2013 
The impression I got was critics were mixed on Jobs from its Sundance premiere. Both the picture as a whole and Ashton Kutcher as the late Apple Founder didn't exactly shut the naysayers up. Analysis on Rotten Tomatoes (Flawed as their rating system is) and Metacritic back me up. The new trailer, on the other hand, says otherwise.
Kutcher still doesn't seem convincing in the presentation here. But I have to confess. That shot of him in full-on Steve Jobs mode unveiling the iPhone? That I have to see.
Tue, August 6, 2013 
Sure to be an awards magnet for Naomi Watts, the one-sheet, tagline and initial teaser trailer for Diana presented a straight-forward biopic on Princess Diana in the latter years of her life. Not entirely untrue from the theatrical trailer presented below.
The focus on the film from Oliver Hirschbiegel (Downfall) is on the relationship between Lady Diana and Dr. Hasanat Khan (Naveen Andrews from Lost). It looks perfectly alright. Opening September 20th in the UK with no US release date in play for now (In all probability December), Diana doesn't feel like a movie meant for theatrical release.
Mon, August 5, 2013 
Paramount must not have liked what Ashley Edward Miller and Zack Stentz submitted during their brief tenure. They're instead going back to Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci to write Star Trek 3. Damon Lindelof won't be back. Like that makes the taste in your mouth less bitter.
Despite the hopes of Karl Urban, it would be stunning to not see those Neanderthals go back to the well for 3. What are the over/under odds the Borg are the villains?
Source: The Hollywood Reporter
Mon, August 5, 2013 
"Mission: Accepted"
That single tweet, and press release shortly there after, confirms Christopher McQuarrie will direct Mission: Impossible 5 for Tom Cruise.
That is kind of it for now. A title, release date, who (if anyone) returns alongside Cruise and the newbies will be determined at a later date.
Mission: Impossible has turned into the franchise you bring in young-and-hungry fellas wet behind the ears with something to prove. More I think about McQuarrie, the less I want him on this job. One viewing of the awesome Jack Reacher shows how much he brought it. I'd rather see him off doing Christopher McQuarrie movies instead of Mission: Impossible movies, if that makes any sense.
Mon, August 5, 2013 
"I want you to remember, Clark...in all the years to come...in your most private moments…I want you to remember...my hand...at your throat...I want you to remember...the one man who beat you."
While Zack Snyder swears they're not making The Dark Knight Returns, that line, as read by Harry Lennix at Comic-Con, says it all about the conflict for When Clark Met Bruce..., the title I'm bestowing on what will likely be called Batman Versus Superman until Warner Brothers confirms.
In the comics, it's the ultimate Good Cop/Bad Cop routine. That would present a problem since the Bruce Wayne as interpreted by Christian Bale and Christopher Nolan, would accept a guy like Henry Cavill's Clark Kent with open arms as long as it meant he stayed in retirement. I say that. If Bale were to give the OK (and God has WB tried), they would work around it.
THR says the shortlist for Bats contenders includes Josh Brolin, Ryan Gosling, Joe Manganiello and a few others who won't get it anyway. The dickhead, dwarf leader in The Hobbit trilogy (Richard Armitage), the cool dad to the asshole Australian from Pacific Rim (Max Martini) and Matthew Goode. The plan is for a mean, rugged and experienced Batman; age is expendable. Hence the rubber-band range from the 32 year-old Gosling to the pushing-50 Brolin.
Brolin is cool but he ain't box-office having headlined a couple of pricey stinkers for WB. Labeled to frontrunner status, according to the trades, some have suggested an offer is already on Brolin's table. Without a script in hand (let alone in existence) and screen-testing in the suit, I wouldn't pay much attention to that. The Gosling appeal I'll never understand. What, because he played a quiet, skull-thumping do-gooder in Drive, that makes him perfect for Batman? Sorry, but I don't see it. Manganiello, I'm not surprised to hear. He was the Runner-Up for Superman a few years ago and someone who Snyder liked quite a bit.
Alas none of these guys are the kind of choices to excite the general masses to want to see this over The Avengers: Age of Ultron. Unless their name is Christian Bale (or Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
Fri, August 2, 2013 
Audiences weren't as stupid as Universal was hoping last summer. The Diet Jason Bourne entry The Bourne Legacy didn't perform. You can't call it a Jason Bourne movie if Matt Damon isn't in it or at least recast the role and the general movie-going public, to their credit, called them out. Nobody cared about the Flowers for Algernon-inspired Aaron Cross, played by latest studio-pimped "Next Big Thing" Jeremy Renner who, to be fair, is a very good actor. He's just not an action star.
Whether it is arrogance or stupidity at play (Struggling to pick between the two), the studio is moving forward on a fifth installment. Once again with Renner. One again using the Bourne brand-name with the amnesia-stricken ass-kicker nowhere in sight.
Anthony Peckham (Invictus) has first crack at the script. Then a bunch of others will write over them, Son of Bourne 2 gets made and then audiences will once again reject it leaving a dumbfounded Universal to wonder, "What happened?"
Yes, kids, that studio is run by morons.
Fri, August 2, 2013 
Being a generally cool human being with a good sense of humor and enjoyable talk show was enough to entice the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences to gamble on Ellen DeGeneres to host a few years back. It was one of the worst hosting duties in recent memory.
So the Academy in their infinite wisdom is taking a second bite at that apple, announcing DeGeneres as the host for the 86th annual ceremony next year.
Hosting the Oscars is not a "Second Chance" kinda gig. You bring everything you have at that moment. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity after all, and God love her... she was awful (Remember the bit where she "directs" Steven Spielberg as to taking a picture?) But yeah Academy, that makes sense.
Source: Variety
Thu, August 1, 2013 Ah, the classic Every Character Crammed Into Frame poster.
The new poster for Thor: The Dark World has a distinct Drew Struzan vibe, or maybe that's just me. It looks good. Now let's get a better trailer.
