New Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 2 Trailer

The dough they spent to secure Kristin Stewart, Robert Pattinson and Taylor Lautner, couldn't Lionsgate/Summit afforded better visual effects?

Bella Swan flying like she's from Krypton and taking down a mountain lion is asking for ridicule. Guess it's like the snotty assholes reacting to the RNC then creaming themselves during the DNC. Their minds were long made-up. Why bother pretending there's objectivity in play? You're fooling no one and come off like an asshole.

Eh, here's the new The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2 premiering last night during the MTV Video Music Awards, and yes MTV's embeds suck:

Bruce Willis To Star In 'American Assassin'

Bruce Willis has entered negotiations to star in CBS Films' adaptation of the Vince Flynn novel, American Assassin.  The picture is set to be produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers) and directed by Jeffrey Nachmanoff (Traitor).

Edward Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz (The Last Samurai) wrote the script.

In the film, Willis would play a CIA operative and mentor to the film's central hero, Mitch Rapp.  Rapp is a former Syracuse grad student and current CIA agent who joins the military after his girlfriend is killed in a terrorist attack.

Filming is expected to begin next Fall with an eye now on casting the title role of the young protagonist.

The novel is officially described as follows:

'American Assassin' tells the story of legendary CIA agent Mitch Rapp. Long before he began hunting terrorists, Rapp was a gifted college scholar/athlete. Then, tragedy struck and Rapp was recruited into the nation’s most elite covert operations program. After completing training designed to teach the kind of lethal skills necessary to target our most dangerous enemies, here and abroad, he is a man reborn with a mission of retribution.

Source: Variety, ComingSoon

There Goes Tobey's Piece of Pi

If Tobey Maguire was deemed "too famous" for Life of Pi, why bother casting him in the first place?

His days hanging on a wire-harness in front of a blue-screen for hours on end, and Sam Raimi torturing him, are over. He's amassed a fortune from the web-slinger to return to his character-actor days. What was intended to be one of those roles, a supporting turn as author Yann Martel in Ang Lee's 3D awards-contender, got the editorial axe. The part remains intact, reshot with Rafe Spall (one of the early victims in Prometheus).

Fear not for Tobey. The Great Gatsby is on the horizons, whenever Warner Brothers releases it, at least.

Source: THR

Skyfall Isn't the End of Daniel Craig's 007

It usually takes a year or two before a new decade finds its identity. Three years in, the remnants of what we remember the 2000s have indeed become a thing of yester-decade. The Batman we've come to know and love just ended. A new Spider-Man reared his head to indifference. A guy pretending to be Jason Bourne minus the name or humanity (Mm, mm, Chems!), three Hulks in nine years and a new Superman whose fate remains to-be-determined following his predecessor seven years prior.

Thankfully, the king of all franchises will stay the same in the foreseeable future. MI6 reports Daniel Craig is staying put as James Bond for two more films.

If all the kinks are worked out (Sony wants another ASAP, Eon wants to take their sweet-time), the next installment, following the upcoming Skyfall, should reach cinemas late 2014. Long as Craig keeps his A-game going, everyone should be happy. Great as it holds up, Casino Royale wouldn't have been the same without him. Thank God, the Broccolis and Martin Campbell took a chance.

New Cloud Atlas Trailer

Warner Brothers has released a new trailer for Cloud Atlas, the directorial collaboration between Tom Tykwer and Andy & Lana Wachowski based on the David Mitchell novel.

It's nothing more than a condensed (i.e. more assessable) version of the wonderful 6-minute trailer from July. This is fine and still offers glorious visuals.

Miami News Station Thinks Bullying Star Wars Fans Is Fun

If you thought snarky, obnoxious comments about sci-fi fans were limited to message boards, comments sections, and schoolyard bullies, then Miami ABC affiliate WPLG Local 10 went out of its way to blow that theory out of the water when they posted an unbelievably nasty slideshow mocking cosplayers at the recent Star Wars Celebration VI, which has held in Orlando a few weeks ago. 

They ultimately did take the slideshow down (although re-edited versions have reappeared throughout the day), but not before various screencaps appeared around the blogosphere, and what Local 10 did was really damn vicious - you can see the whole collection towards the bottom of this page, although beware of the comments there.  Using photos of costumed fans at the convention, Local 10 added comments like:

"Dateless men as far as the eye can see."

"Being a Star Wars geek pretty much means you'll get no lovin'...being a Star Wars geek in those pajamas guarantees that."

"A reproduction of their prom picture...no girls."

"It's sad when the most "normal" person in this picture is still wearing a lightsaber on her belt."

"Here's a shocker...it's dudes taking pics of fake Princess Leias.  Like they've never seen a woman before.  Well, hmmm..."

"Poor kids...they were never given a chance.  Geekdom is in their genes."

"OMG, my Dungeons & Dragons meeting is scheduled at the same time as tonight's Love Your Lightsaber dance!"

There were also jabs at overweight fans, women, and some unnecessary swipes at Celebration guests Mark Hamill and Jake Lloyd.  Really obnoxious stuff. 

To be clear, and speaking as Star Wars fan who attended the very first Star Wars Celebration (the one in Denver where it rained all weekend), we are not devoid of a sense of humor.  We love poking fun at our geekdom.  Hell, when Triumph the Insult Comic Dog does it, it's practically an honor.  But for a news organization to create a slideshow for the purpose of mocking someone's children, or their weight, or to presume that they're some kind of nerd loser isn't funny. 

On top of that, a few of the people in those photos were members of the 501st Legion.  These are the costumed characters who last year helped raise $12 million for charities worldwide. 

By the way, those costumes are damn cool.  I haven't bothered with a Star Wars costume since Halloween 1979 (when I was 5), but I've seen the 501st in action, as well as other Star Wars cosplayers, and I'm amazed at the detail that goes into those costumes.

I'm actually sorry that I missed Celebration VI this year.  Not only could I have gone to a Star Wars convention and seen Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher (Luke and Leia!!), but since it was in Orlando, it was right near Disney World and Universal Studios.  And Local 10 is stunned that so many families attended this thing?

What also made this incident infuriating was Local 10's response.  After complaints poured in (which included the mom of "Star Wars Katie", the little girl bullied by her classmates for being a Star Wars fan, and Ashley Eckstein, who voices Ahsoka Tano on Clone Wars), the station finally took down the slideshow, but then offered a rather pitiful 'apology' on their Facebook page:

“GOOD NEWS (or BAD NEWS… depending on where you sided). The infamous STAR WARS slideshow has been taken down.

For those offended (and let us know), sorry.

For those who enjoyed it (and let us know), sorry.

Remember… the force will be with you… always.”

That apology has since been taken down (although you can see a screenshot of it here) when fans called it out for the half-assed apology it was.  While it was up, the station was actually deleting comments from fans who complained.  Now their Facebook page is getting bombarded by angry Star Wars fans, as well as their Twitter page.  They've also tried to justify it by saying the author of the slideshow was a big Star Wars fan who attended Celebration VI, but sorry...if he was really a fan, he should sure as hell know what this was all about in one of the photos he mocked, because it was actually quite hilarious.

Local 10...is it that hard to show some professionalism and just say you're sorry?  To acknowledge that it was a really crappy thing to do?  I've been a Star Wars geek for most of my life and as much as I love it, I know what it's like to be made fun of for it, and it hurts.  I don't know any of these people in these pictures you mocked, but as proud geeks we certainly get the fandom, and it's like you insulted all of us, and nobody deserved that. 

If Local 10 is really unclear as to what cyberbullying is, they might want to read this article about it.  After all, it's on their own website.

Jim Carrey Joins 'Kick-Ass 2'

So is this considered a career jumpstart or setback?

Yes, Kick-Ass 2 is an anticipated film, but it's not a highly-anticipated film.  Even though it's set to be released the middle of next June - the heart of the summer movie season - it's a follow-up to a modestly successful comic-book adaptation where not even the original film's director, Matthew Vaughn, is returning (he's moved onto bigger and better things with the X-Men franchise).

Anyway, Deadline reports Jim Carrey (you know, once one of the biggest box office draws on the planet) has officially joined the cast of Kick-Ass 2 in the role of Colonel Stars.

The film is set to start filming in just a few days but the sequel's new director, Jeff Wadlow (Never Back Down), has confirmed the casting on his Twitter page:

“6 days till we start shooting… and we officially have our Colonel. Alrighty f’n then!”

For those unfamilar with the comic-book, Colonel Stars - or The Colonel - is a founding member of Justice Forever, a crime fighting group that recruits the main heroes from the first film.

Here's hoping Carrey turns in an inspired performance.  It would be a great lead up to Dumber & Dumber 2.

Kick-Ass 2 hit theaters June 28th, 2013 with returning cast members Aaron Johnson, Chloe Grace Moretz, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, and Nicolas Cage as well new additions Lindy Booth, Donald Faison, and John Leguizamo.

Source: Deadline, Twitter

Holiday Weekend Box Office: August 31 - September 3

Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:

1.  The Possession - $21.3 million

2.  Lawless - $13 million

3.  The Expendables 2 - $11.2 million

4.  The Bourne Legacy - $9.3 million

5.  ParaNorman - $8.8 million

6.  The Odd Life of Timothy Green - $8.5 million

7.  The Dark Knight Rises - $7.9 million

8.  2016 Obama's America - $7.08 million

9.  The Campaign - $7.02 million

10.  Hope Springs - $6 million

While it may have been a fairly quiet weekend at the box office during this last weekend of the summer, it didn't go without a few records being broken.  After kicking off the summer back in May with a staggering $207 million opening weekend, Marvel's The Avengers returned to theaters this weekend, and although it didn't manage to crack the top ten, the $2.4 million it earned this weekend was enough to push it past $1.5 billion worldwide.  That's a nice way to wrap things up in theaters before the DVD arrives in stores later this month.

Another reason for superhero fans to smile:  The Dark Knight Rises officially made it past the $1 billion mark worldwide this weekend.  Its domestic total currently stands at $433 million.  That's damn good, especially considering that it doesn't have the benefit of a 3D boost, and the awful events that unfolded in Aurora that it's had to carry since opening night.  Not to mention it's also a damn good film.

The final record broken this weekend might go down as a notorious one:  The Oogieloves in the Big Balloon Adventure, an utterly bizarre kids' film intended to be a sort of 'get-up-and-dance' interactive experience starring some terrifying giant puppets, totally bombed this weekend, earning just $601,000 over the four-day weekend, putting it in 22nd place on the box office list, and officially the worst opening weekend of all time.  The movie was averaging about $278 per theater over the entire weekend, which means that any brave souls who did check this thing out certainly had plenty of empty seats to choose from.  Likely to be hitting home video by next weekend, this thing will either find a second life as entertainment for toddlers, or entertainment for stoners.  Probably both.

New releases that fared better this weekend (watching paint dry fared better than Oogieloves, it would seem) was horror film The Possession, which took the top spot with a respectable $21.3 million.  The crime-thriller Lawless did just all right with $13 million.  Expendables 2 is still playing well, earning $11.2 million, and Bourne Legacy looks likely to crack the $100 million mark, earning $9.3 million and bring its domestic total to $98.3 million.

Audiences liked their politics in documentary and comedy form this weekend, as 2016 Obama's America ran neck-and-neck with The Campaign, earning $7.08 and $7.02 million respectively.

Next weekend is looking somewhat quiet, with The Cold Light of Day, The Words, and The Inbetweeners opening in theaters.  Oh, and there's this little film called Raiders of the Lost Ark starting a limited IMAX run on Friday.  That one sounds like a keeper.

Kevin Costner Strutting His Stuff In "Jack Ryan"

Yesterday our very own Jamie Williams wasn't all that thrilled with the first picture from the upcoming Jack Ryan featuring Chris Pine as Ryan. The character, created by Tom Clancy, has been played previousy by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford , and Ben Affleck.

Now Collider has the first look at Kevin Costner whose definitely keeping busy in the movie world and by the looks of it bringng the swagger. Costner joins Pine as well as Kera Knightley in the Christmas Day 2013 reboot.

I know Jamie is really looking forward to this flick but I'm struggling to care to be honest. I'm hoping the first trailer allows for that.

Trailer for 'Love and Honor'

It seems as if every year another run-of-the-mill romantic drama comes out where a soldier falls in love with a girl only for their passion to be tested by the world around them.

Fortunately, this film, Love and Honor, looks rather refreshing for that 'genre' as it's set in the 1960s during the Vietnam War.

Starring Liam Hemsworth (The Hunger Games, The Expendables 2), Love and Honor tells the story of a young soldier who helps his best friend re-capture the heart of his girlfriend on a clandestine trip home from the warfront only to find true love himself in the process during a time of protest and social revolution.

You can view the trailer below, however, take note of how - in hindsight - people of our country who would actually wanted to harm the men and women who fought for our freedom while they lived it easy back home.

Pretty screwed up.