Wed, May 2, 2012 Back in January when I reviewed the tremendous disappointment that was 'The Iron Lady', I described a moment that my Movie Moan podcast colleagues could barely believe. Now I finally get to show you that moment.
Watch in amazement as the IRA assassinate Dennis Thatcher's shoes.
Tue, May 1, 2012 
Tom Cruise was attached a reimagining of Van Helsing, not related to the Stephen Sommers piece of popcorn garbage from eight years ago. Guillermo del Toro was involved in a story/producing capacity and I'd bet his time working with Cruise on At the Mountains of Madness is what got him involved. But like many efforts, del Toro bolted.
Here to pick up the pieces two years on are Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman who just inked a two-year, first-look deal with Universal. That new Mummy film is also on their slate first up.
It's not all bad though. Cruise remains onboard. Long past the take-the-paycheck phase (He still gets paid top-dollar), he is so focused on making good products and pushing himself with different material and directors calling the shots this must be something interesting.
Mon, April 30, 2012 I love Viral Marketing but few studios really know how to utilize it. The exception to the rule being The Brothers Warner with The Dark Knight and now The Dark Knight Rises. Fans from all over the world participated in the latest viral campaign by joining forces to reveal snippets of virtual film which were then woven together piece by piece before finally unleashing the 3rd trailer which you can view below.
Mon, April 30, 2012 That didn't take long.
TheDarkKnightRises.com has an "Anonymous Vigilante Investigation" report including the Arrest Warrant for "John Doe, aka 'THE BATMAN.'" On the last page of "Police Evidence," a simple click leads you to the opening frames of the trailer to be released in front of The Avengers this weekend.
Coming Soon (from Super Hero Hype! forums) has already cracked it and have frames from said trailer.
Warner Brothers has been smart downplaying The Dark Knight Rises. Let The Avengers bask in all the glory. Marvel deserves their day in the sun and they'll have it, especially if indications are right and Joss Whedon's epic team-up breaks the 3-day record.
But once the dust has settled, it's all about Christopher Nolan and his Batman finale, baby. Chief among complaints is their lack of a viral marketing campaign. This morning, they heard your cries.
Sun, April 29, 2012 A new international trailer for Prometheus has made its way online for your viewing pleasure. Be warned, fellas, this is the most straight-forward one cut together so far. AKA plot points are laid out and we even get a glimpse of character's fates. I, myself, jumped up at the 2:32 mark.
Watch at your own discretion:
Sun, April 29, 2012 
Right before I started writing this article I realized something: It has been nearly 10 years since Ben Affleck suited up for the original Daredevil back in 2003. Wow how time flies.
Anyway, Deadline is reporting that David James Kelly (not too familiar with his work) has been hired to rewrite Twentieth Century Fox's Daredevil reboot for director David Slade (30 Days of Night, The Twilight Saga: Eclipse).
Slade has been attached to the project since last year which will adapt Frank Miller and David Mazzucchelli's Born Again storyline, which ran in the comics in the mid-1980s. The Born Again story involves Wilson Fisk (the Kingpin) turning Matt Murdock's life upside down - attacking his friends and family - after learning his true identity of Daredevil.
No release date or shooting schedule is set yet but expect the cameras to start rolling sometime next year.
Sun, April 29, 2012 
Courtesy of Box Office Mojo:
1. Think Like a Man - $18 million
2. The Pirates! Band of Misfits - $11.4 million
3. The Lucky One - $11.3 million
4. The Hunger Games - $11.2 million
5. The Five-Year Engagement - $11.1 million
6. Safe - $7.7 million
7. The Raven - $7.2 million
8. Chimpanzee - $5.46 million
9. The Three Stooges - $5.4 million
10. The Cabin in the Woods - $4.5 million
It was a quiet weekend at the box office this weekend as Think Like A Man repeated for the top spot with $18 million, just a 46.5% drop from last weekend. The comedy, based on the self-help book by Steve Harvey, has earned an impressive $60.8 million in less than 10 days. Since the film cost about $12 million to produce, it's a big hit.
The rest of the top five finished the weekend so close it's a pretty safe bet that they'll all be switching places on the list when the final counts are tallied tomorrow. So let's start with the bad news: The Five-Year Engagement disappointed with just $11.1 million, and the OK news: families took advantage of the latest animated Aardman adventure as Pirates! The Band of Misfits did respectably well with $11.4 million, and Zac Efron can still draw a reasonable crowd with The Lucky One earning a decent $11.3 million in its second weekend. And The Hunger Games' $11.2 million has officially pushed it past last year's final Harry Potter film (which was only the highest grossing film of 2011).
The weekend's other new releases didn't do much, as Jason Statham's Safe and John Cusak's The Raven both underwhelmed with $7.7 million and $7.2 million, respectively.
Overseas, it's all about The Avengers, which in its international release has already grossed superhero-sized $178 million - setting box office records in a dozen of the foreign markets it opened in this weekend.
By the way, it's also worth pointing out that Battleship, which was released overseas earlier this month, has already grossed $170 million. Go figure.
So will The Avengers be just as big when it opens here in the US next weekend? Do you even have to ask? Hell yes it will. We'll see just how big this time next week.
Fri, April 27, 2012 Like any good filmmaker, Judd Apatow has a specific voice and in three films under his belt has focused on one subject, in varying degrees; maturing.
Putting away childish things (The 40 Year Old Virgin), becoming a parent (Knocked Up) and facing one's mortality (Funny People). Here is the latest, the "sort-of-sequel" to Knocked Up, This is 40 with Paul Rudd and Leslie Mann reprising their Pete and Debbie characters.
The title, and accompanying trailer, says it all. It's about getting older. Something we can all relate to. Looks promising (Nice to see returning alums Jason Segel, also returning from Knocked Up, and Melissa McCarthy), just hope Apatow has matured enough as a filmmaker and learn to cut the fat. Good as his films have been, we don't see more comedies clocking in at over two and a half hours.
Thu, April 26, 2012 
Fans who have been following the production of the big-screen version of Les Miserables have been treated to some hilarious updates recently courtesy of Inspector Javert himself, Russell Crowe, who has been posting Twitter updates about the possible whereabouts of Jean Valjean - the escaped convict (aka: prisoner# 24601) that his character pursues throughout 19th century France - sometimes by quoting song lyrics and at one point tweeting a veiled threat to his co-star.
Here are few of the Twitter updates - you may also notice that being an Oscar winner does not protect one from the consequences of auto-correct.
Russell Crowe @russellcrowe:
5am-12.30am,door 2 door,long day. Had a bit of a sing,released a prisonner on payrole after 19 years...24601...enjoy your hours of freedom
I won't be in Winchester until all Winchesterians are in bed and the town becomes Paris in the still of night. I will be waiting, 24601.
Ou est l'enfant Coisette? @realhughjackman I told you I would not be swayed...24601
citizens of Winchester are Wintonians...who knew?Patrolling your streets tonight,do not harbour fugitives,the law will not be mocked
Wrapped at 5.08 am, home now at 6.41am. The night was still and damp in Winchester, icy flagstone for Gymont,no sign of 24601, maybe tonight
A few people saying they stayed up all night in Winchester mmm, there was nobody about when I was patrolling the streets
Winchester has it's beauty for sure. Winchester school is amazing. Couldn't find 24601, slippery bastard.
Got a tip off on Valjean, will take him down tonight for sure #lesmis
In his own words, it was a loaf of bread...that is not my concern, he broke his parole #lesmis
The prefet de police de Paris was wrong...merde...you know when you just know something? tomorrow, I'll check the hospital #lesmis
I know it's him, he knows I know...when I confront him tonight, I'll be all... "Valjean...at last..we see each other plain." #lesmis
Alright,look,slight set back tonight...not that Valjean got away or anything... just misplaced (cough),waiting for dawn,hunt resumes #lesmis
just finished a vocal warm up at half past midnight, back into the fray...wherever you may hide away JVJ #lesmis
So it sounds like, going by the hospital reference, and just because I know the score to Les Miz backwards, that they were filming the scene just after the death of a certain character, when Javert confronts Valjean and attempts to arrest him as he pleads for time to help the orphaned daughter of the character who had just died.
This is the song they were filming. It's from the Les Miserables 25th Anniversary Concert, although it looks much cooler in the actual production when the two of them are circling each other and Valjean is threatening him with a chair, which he ultimately smashes into pieces:
I got to see Norm Lewis, who played Javert in that concert version, in the Broadway production of Les Miserables in 2006. He was amazing.
As far as the aforementioned Twitter updates: "Misplaced"? Yeah, right. That scene ended with Valjean throwing down the broken chair leg he was about to attack Javert with, and then he just knocked him out with one punch. Javert didn't find him again for 10 years. Suck it, Inspector!
Les Miserables, which really can't get here soon enough, opens in theaters on December 14.
Thu, April 26, 2012 Fair to say were I to encounter Admiral General Aladeen, he wouldn't take too kindly to my criticism of his "documentary," or however Sacha Baron Cohen and Larry Charles are presenting this, The Dictator. He'd have no problem ridiculing me like he has others, in character, like Ryan Seacrest or Roger Ebert. Maybe even take me down like the oft-replayed scene of his Olympics.
The first scene from the forthcoming comedy is online, and for the life of me, it isn't working. When it opens next month, there's always the chance it's hysterical and you see me do a 180 (Not the first time), but for now, dead silence while I watched the back-story that opens the film: