Two New Images From The Raven

I'm not sure what to make of this one but I like Cusak and I liked what James McTeigue did with 'V For Vendetta', so I am looking forward to seeing the trailer tomorrow.

Shocktillyoudrop.com got the scoop.

Two brand new photos from The Raven have been released in anticipation of a trailer debut. Relativity plans on releasing the first preview tomorrow, October 7, Edgar Allan Poe's "death day."

James McTeigue directed the film which stars John Cusack and Luke Evans. The Raven is a fictionalized account of the last days of Edgar Allan Poe's life, in which the poet is in pursuit of a serial killer whose murders mirror those in the writer's stories.

A Second Clip From Batman Year One

This looks like it's going to be another winner from DC's animation arm, and if it follows the book as closely as it appears to, then that should be no surprise as it is a classic. Harry Knowles has seen it and has been doing his usual hyped up lovefest thing he does when he likes something, on Twitter.

The new clip shows the scene where Batman takes on the corrupt SWAT team as Gordon desperately tries to call them off, the quality of the animation work here is just pure class.

Final Puss In Boots 3D Poster

Rejoice! the final poster for the absolutely necessary and not at all a cash grab 'Puss in Boots 3D' is here!

MSN got the scoop and you can revel in it's splendor below.

International Tintin Trailer

To be honest I was never hugely excited by Spielberg doing a mo cap movie and I've never had any interest in Tintin, however this trailer just sold me a ticket!

All the classic Spielberg magic looks to be in there, with excitement and adventure for all the family and a little nod to Indy with the bike and sidecar chase.

Real Steel Featurette

Real Steel opens this Friday and has so far been getting pretty good reviews for the most part. I've basically been a supporter of the movie from the first trailer because it takes me back to the kind of movies Spielberg made when I was a kid.

Comingsoon.net has this interesting set of interviews with Hugh Jackman, Shawn Levy and Sugar Ray Leonard, which you can check out below.

Warner Brothers To Adapt Satori; DiCaprio To Star!

Well this sounds particularly awesome, an espionage thriller set in the Korean War, centered around the CIA using a an elite assassin trained by a Japanese master. DiCaprio is a great actor but this certainly sounds more like a high concept action thriller than an attempt to win an Oscar, which his how some see his role picking. Since it's at Warner Brothers I am crossing my fingers that Christopher Nolan may well end up directing.

Comingsoon.net via Toldya have the details.

Warner Bros. has plans to develop Don Winslow's Satori into a feature film, Deadline reports. What's more, Leonardo DiCaprio is attached to star as Nicholaï Hel, a master assassin first introduced in the novel, Shibumi by Trevanian. The plot of Satori is officially described as follows:

It is the fall of 1951, and the Korean War is raging. Twenty-six-year-old Nicholai Hel has spent the last three years in solitary confinement at the hands of the Americans. Hel is a master of hoda korosu, or “naked kill,” is fluent in seven languages, and has honed extraordinary “proximity sense” - an extra-awareness of the presence of danger. He has the skills to be the world’s most fearsome assassin and now the CIA needs him.

The Americans offer Hel freedom, money, and a neutral passport in exchange for one small service: to go to Beijing and kill the Soviet Union’s commissioner to China. It’s almost certainly a suicide mission, but Hel accepts. Now he must survive chaos, violence, suspicion, and betrayal while trying to achieve his ultimate goal of satori - the possibility of true understanding and harmony with the world.

Trevanian, a pen name for the late Rodney Whitaker, created the character of Hel for his 1979 novel, which has become heralded as one of the classics of the literary spy genre. Released in 2011 (six years after Whitaker's death), Satori is designed to serve as a prequel to Shibumi, a book whose title refers a Japanese word that reflects the aesthetics of simple beauty.

DiCaprio has plans to tackle project sometime after the now-in-production literary adaptation The Great Gatsby and Quentin Tarantino's soon-to-shoot Django Unchained.

The Future Now!.........Well Kind of

I love Star Wars, I really liked the Star Trek reboot and I dug Avatar but my favourite type of Sci Fi is the type set in the near future, you know? the kind Blade Runner inspired.

This got me thinking of what modern vehicles currently in use in the world today have inspired the vehicles seen in this kind of sci fi, and vice versa.

Cars are a good place to start.

The Bugatti Veyron is still the worlds most powerful and fastest road legal production car to my knowledge, however when unveiled many motoring journalists noticed an inspiration in the design taken from the Lexus concept shown in Minority Report.

Another example is the Audi RSQ concept driven by Detective Del Spooner in I, Robot, despite the reverse opening doors and enclosed wheels, there's little doubt it is derived from the Audi TT and furthermore the inpiration for the very successful Audi R8 Supercar.

Now lets take to the air with the Osprey:

If you are familiar with the Transformers movies you'll know this troop transporter as Michael Bay shoots it like it's a Victoria's Secret Model. The mix of plane with Helicopter gives it a unique look and versatility. It is a very effective means of moving soldiers into and from battle location, and you can see it's inspiration in the Hovership in Minority Report.

Now interestingly the Hovership looks more like a chopper than the Osprey but has no propellers on top, however it serves the same versatile function of transporting the Pre-Crime officers to and from locations and has the same sort of design DNA.

The first Jet fighter to be capable of vertical take-off was the Harrier, it's upwards thrusters making it completely unique and a huge advantage over other jets fighters when it came to being launched from an Aircraft Carrier. Now you may think looking at a Terminator movie as an example of anything real is crazy, however I'd argue with it's jet fighter looks but vertical take-off and hovering capabilities, the inspiration for the Hunter-Killer is none other than the Harrier.

At the moment there really isn't a sci fi underwater vehicle that I could link to modern day or vice versa, Sci Fi films just don't tend to go underwater much but maybe that will change with the Jim Cameron's forthcoming Avatar sequel.

Of course the big thing from these near future films that still hasn't come to pass are hover vehicles, these are a staple of the sub genre and while some attempts have been made they are still nowhere to be seen as a regular mode of transport, in car or bike form, but who knows, maybe ten years from now we'll have a chance to ride around on one of these (Scarlett Johansson does not come with the bike).

Images From The Avengers

After the underwhelming cover the images from within EW seem to be a lot more exciting, even if they are non SFX related shots from the movie. I particularly like the pic of Black Widow and you know Sam Jackson is gonna love being in on the action at last! Anyway you can check them out below.

Credit to Kane52630 from the SHH boards for the scans.

Contraband Trailer

This is a remake of an Icelandic film and it looks badass. A no holds barred crime thriller with a bit of flair and plenty of grit. It's tried and tested stuff but when done well that can be enough, and with Mark Wahlberg and Kate Beckinsale in the leads I think this will work.

Yahoo! Movies got the trailer scoop.

Chris Farraday long ago abandoned his life of crime, but after his brother-in-law, Andy, botches a drug deal for his ruthless boss, Tim Briggs, Chris is forced back into doing what he does best -- running contraband -- to settle Andy's debt. Chris is a legendary smuggler and quickly assembles a crew with the help of his best friend, Sebastian, to head to Panama and return with millions in counterfeit bills.

Things quickly fall apart and with only hours to reach the cash, Chris must use his rusty skills to successfully navigate a treacherous criminal network of brutal drug lords, cops and hit men before his wife, Kate, and sons become their target.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close Poster And Trailer

This is a Christmas Day release with two big Hollywood stars in Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock (With a hairstyle from the 40's) in it, however the trailer pretty much indicates that the lead of the movie is the young boy, played by Thomas Horn.

The story is a real tearjerker as the boys father (Hanks) dies in the 9/11 tragedy and leaves both wife and son distraught, however the son sets out on a journey to find whatever it is a key his father left him opens.

It's hard to tell is this will be very corny or uplifting, though it also looks perhaps too sad to be suited to a Christmas Day release.

Comingsoon.net got the trailer and poster via apple