"Oz The Great and Powerful" Gets Wicked With New Poster

When Oscar Diggs (Franco), a small-time circus magician with dubious ethics, is hurled away from dusty Kansas to the vibrant Land of Oz, he thinks he's hit the jackpot--fame and fortune are his for the taking--that is until he meets three witches, Theodora (Kunis), Evanora (Weisz) and Glinda (Williams), who are not convinced he is the great wizard everyone's been expecting. Reluctantly drawn into the epic problems facing the Land of Oz and its inhabitants, Oscar must find out who is good and who is evil before it is too late. Putting his magical arts to use through illusion, ingenuity--and even a bit of wizardry--Oscar transforms himself not only into the great and powerful Wizard of Oz but into a better man as well.

"John Dies at the End" Red Band Trailer

It's a drug that promises an out-of-body experience with each hit. On the street they call it Soy Sauce, and users drift across time and dimensions. But some who come back are no longer human. Suddenly a silent otherworldly invasion is underway, and mankind needs a hero. What it gets instead is John and David, a pair of college dropouts who can barely hold down jobs. Can these two stop the oncoming horror in time to save humanity? No. No, they can't.

IGN

"The Great Gatsby" Character Posters Featuring Nick Carraway & Jordan Baker

The film follows Fitzgerald-like, would-be writer Carraway as he leaves the Midwest and comes to New York City in the spring of 1922, an era of loosening morals, glittering jazz and bootleg kings. Chasing his own American Dream, Nick lands next door to a mysterious, party-giving millionaire, Jay Gatsby, and across the bay from his cousin, Daisy, and her philandering, blue-blooded husband, Tom Buchanan. It is thus that Nick is drawn into the captivating world of the super rich, their illusions, loves and deceits. As Nick bears witness, within and without the world he inhabits, he pens a tale of impossible love, incorruptible dreams and high-octane tragedy, and holds a mirror to our own modern times and struggles.

First Two Official Images from Steve Carell & Jim Carrey Starring 'Burt Wonderstone'

This is one of those movies where it looks like shit, sounds like shit, yet somehow will end up being pretty damn good only because of the talent involved (ala Alex Cross...nah I only kid, that film was God-awful). 

Can't go wrong with Carell and Carrey (and Buscemi, back to doing comedy for once).

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, starring Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini and Jim Carrey hits theaters on March 15, 2013.

The film follows superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Buscemi) who have ruled the Las Vegas strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt's growing ego. But lately the duo's greatest deception is their public friendship, while secretly they've grown to loathe each other. Facing cutthroat competition from guerrilla street magician Steve Gray (Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, even their show looks stale. But there's still a chance Burt and Anton can save the act—both onstage and off—if Burt can get back in touch with what made him love magic in the first place.

'Riddick' to be Released September 6th, 2013 in IMAX

Universal Pictures has officially set Riddick for a September 6th, 2013 release in both conventional and IMAX theaters (Wow, not 3D?).

To commemorate the announcement, the star himself, Vin Diesel, posted a picture of himself and director David Twohy on his official Facebook page:

Honestly, can you say 'bitch tits'?

In the film, written and directed by David Twohy, the infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he's encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty. The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won't leave the planet without Riddick's head as their trophy.

Star Trek Into Darkness Teaser Trailer

J.J. Abrams likes to feed in morsels. Just a tiny bit here and a little nip there. Enough to taste the salts and spices in his recipe; the right amount to water our mouths in anticipation of the full dish, yet he holds back and leaves us to starve. For a bit, at least. Were we his children and this really about food, Child Protective Services would be notified.

But this is about his "feeding" snip-its of Star Trek Into Darkness, leading up to its May 17, 2013 release.

The announcement teaser, while only a minute in length, handily won the (unofficial) annual Christmas Trailer Wars. The opening nine minutes got a rise from those attending 3D IMAX screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. When that footage cut to black, you could hear the "AWWWWWW!" across the globe. This is precisely where Abrams and Paramount wants us to be.

For many who attended regular 2D and 3D Hobbit showings this weekend are familiar with this full teaser trailer (unless, like yours truly, you didn't get it). But it's officially here to over-analyze, screen grab select shots and continue asking who Benedict Cumberbatch is playing. Head over to Apple Trailers or check it out below:

Fan Made "Man Of Steel" Motion Poster

I'm not a huge motion poster guy but The Hunger Games franchise has some of the best ones I've seen. I was trolling the interwebs tonight after stuffing my face with Chinese food and beer and noticed a well done Man Of Steel motion poster. It's more of an animated GIF but check it out below. Great tag line as well, "We Will Join Him In The Sun".

Poster courtesy of batman11 of the SHH Forums.

"The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey" Review

Every journey into the past is complicated by delusions, false memories, false namings of real events.

~Adrienne Rich~

In the case of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey,  his journey into the past  is complicated by awkward pacing, hard to endure speeches riddled with mediocre comedic touches, and haphazard action. Barely able to peek out of the epic shadow that is The Lord Of The Rings trilogy, An Unexpected Journey struggles to spread out 1/3 of a rather small novel into almost three hours of 48 FPS 3D. Get comfortable in The Shire, because there are two more films being squeezed from this book.

Nostalgia draws you into film right away with a hypnotizing combination of familiar music and the presence of Frodo (Elijah Wood) and the elder Bilbo Baggins (Ian Holm) engaged in family oriented banter in The Shire. However, once there, it takes Peter Jackson 45 minutes to convince Bilbo Baggins (Martin Freeman) the young to shout out "I'm going on an adventure!" and run out of the safety of his Hobbit villiage. During this time there is singing, eating, and the cleaning of plates; as Fili, Kili; Oin, Gloin; Dwalin, Balin; Bifur, Bofur, Bombur; Dori, Nori, Ori; Thorin Oakenshield, and Gandalf attempt to convince Bilbo to man up and hit the open road with them.

Martin Freeman is fantastic as Bilbo. He's charming and sincere, but plays the character with a twinkle in his eye as he attempts to prove himself worthy of the journey to this group of battle tested dwarves. Jackson allows you plenty of time to get to know the characters due to an extensive amount of dialogue which seems to act as "rest areas" for all the strolling, wandering, and roaming. When there is action, and there is quite a lot, it seems to drag on a little to long as if you're replaying your favorite video game after you've already beaten it.

Ian Mckellen is his usual stalwart self as Gandalf. He's imposing and endearing with a little bit of that elderly crankiness that we've come to know and love. Although it did occur in a couple of instances during the LOTR Trilogy, Gandalf seems to conveniently disappear via stage left only reappear to save the rest of the crew from the most dire of situations. This occurs an annoying four times within the film. Reminds me of ancient Greek plays where one of the Gods would appear in a cloud and solve the human's problems while wrapping the story up in the neatest way possible.

The special effects are mind blowing, some of the best I have seen this movie going season, and the groundbreaking frame rate was not a problem. The best way to describe it is an LED television on steroids with an adrenaline shot. Although the high gloss experience does somehow transform even the on location shots into something that looks like a Los Angeles sound stage. The picturesque valley of Rivendell will unhinge your jaw and the Goblin Mountain Lair is dark and never-ending. Speaking of special effects, am I the only one growing tired of Gollum? A riddle off between Gollum and Bilbo was especially drawn out and tiresome.

It's hard to not wish for the grandeur and spectacle of the LOTR Trilogy when persevering through The Hobbit. The slow motion close ups of Theroin with wind blowing through his hair against a sunset almost seems humorous when compared to the importance of one of Aargon's speeches.  "I do not know what strength is in my blood, but I swear to you I will not let the White City fall, nor our people fail." Therein lies the difference, Peter Jackson presented the world of The Lord Of The Rings as important and worth protecting, while The Hobbit seems like a parody of the world he meticulously created and cared for.

Peter Jackson Doesn't Know How to Quit Tintin

The Adventures of Tintin recaptured a spirit within Steven Spielberg long lost. The adventure-seeking, get your bang for your buck gee whiz entertainment not felt since his '80s blockbuster days. It also didn't do that awesome at the box-office, and mo-cap still freaks Joe the Plumber out.

The "You do one, I do one" plan between Spielberg and Peter Jackson is a lost cause. Not if you listen to PJ. He told the Belgian press during that leg of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey tour the Tintin sequel is still happening. Repeat the process as last time; grab the cast, film their performance-capture work, which takes about two-weeks, and turn it over to WETA.

That's the plan, for next year for 2015 release. So he says. Sounds more like wishful thinking.

He's up to his beard on all things Hobbit until July 2014. Before Warner Brothers stops fooling everyone and moves There & Back Again to Christmas '14. But that's another matter.

Source: Bleeding Cool

How "Real" Can Justice League Get?

Dick Donner famously followed "verisimilitude" as the key to make Superman I and II work. Everything had to make sense within the logic implemented into their story. Even with that, Donner and his team still understood they were translating funny-papers to cinemas. It was okay to have fun and, here and there, say, "Fellas, it's a comic-book!" Superman turning back time, anyone?

The modern-day answer is making comic tentpoles "real world." Christopher Nolan gets all the credit because his Dark Knight trilogy was the most successful and everyone, including Warner Brothers who financed it followed suit. Humor is acceptable (Nobody wants two hours of seriousness) but can't allow for jokiness or anything perceived as "out there." Not acceptable to embrace how fantastical comics are, by their nature. That ideology continues judging by The Man of Steel trailer. No coincidence produced and co-authored by Nolan.

So it’s interesting to see Latino Review's Justice League update. They scooped Darkseid was the villain and now they're here revealing the source-material screenwriter Will Beale is working from and what the threat is:

"Released back in 1980, issues 183-185 were the annual team-up for the Justice League of America and the Justice Society of America.

In a nutshell, plotwise, the three issue arc involves Darkseid planning the destruction of Earth by blasting it with a ray that’ll move Apokolips into the Earth's place."

Nothing "real" there and that's without mentioning Earth 2 and the can of worms also known as DC's Pre-Crisis continuity. Don't ask. Yeah... it's "out there."

Why the change of heart, WB/DC Entertainment? Were you that impressed by The Avengers box-office or do you not have Nolan around anymore laying down his rules? Or a bit of both?