Fri, March 12, 2010 With all the 'Tron: Legacy' stuff that's been happening this week it seems only appropriate (though entirely coincidental) that the subject of this week's film dissection by your regular MovieMoan crew is the wonderful documentary 'The King of Kong'.
Enjoy:
Thu, March 11, 2010 
I really don't believe viral marketing has any impact on a film's box office performance. All it provides is some pointless fun for the hardcore fans ready to invest in it............and there is nothing wrong with that.
In fact if a studio really puts the effort in to these things, they will be rewarded with a collective wave of positivity from the fanbase who will be at least partially reassured that this property which they love so much is in the hands of people who 'get' it and care enough about its fans to create hype content specifically designed for them.
'The Dark Knight' has come to define exactly that sort of passionate viral marketing but if you ask me, Disney's upcoming 200 million megaton bag of eye candy 'Tron: Legacy' may have trumped it by year's end. It started at last year's Comic-Con with an exact replica of Flynn's (Jeff Bridges) Arcade which not only let fans play old school retro games but gave them the chance to see one of the film's new lightcycles in person. We've had specially created websites related to the disappearance of Flynn himself. And now, just to show up that delicious looking trailer we got this week, we get this courtesy of First Showing.net.
By heading over to Arcade Aid.com, you'll be presented with a wonderful picture puzzle containing the names of 56 classic videogames. If you can guess the names of all of them then you have a chance of winning...............your own ENCOM (company that made the games in the first film) badge.
I don't even think the most ardent fan of Tron (and I'm kinda at that level) cares about winning a friggin badge but I just dig games like this which really play into our nostalgia. You don't even have to officially play to win a prize. Just play it for fun like I did. I've guessed about 10 right so far, which is pretty pathetic but I've got all night.
Or at least I would if I weren't putting together the latest 'Moaning 'Bout A Movie' video for you. Stay tuned for that tommorrow folks.
End of line..............
Thu, March 11, 2010 
If you had told me a year ago that I'd be salivating to see Oliver "I've always been mad but now it's affecting my work" Stone's latest film 'Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps' then I'd probably giggle. I love the original film but this definitely ranks high on the list of sequels we never asked for. Then the trailers hit and I was very impressed, both by the film's (apparent) good dialogue and humour. I was gearing myself up from an awesome April at the movies with this, 'Clash of the Titans' and 'Kick Ass'.
I don't know if those particular films had anything do with this but 20th Century Fox has decided the season is way too crowded for their little movie and pushed the release date of the film back to September (otherwise known as 'the dead zone'). I found out about the news from my movie bible 'Empire' right here.
Knowing him as I do, my partner in crime Jamie Williams probably has theories that the film is no good, the studio knows it, and is moving the film far away from any competition. I'd like to think that is not the case but with Oliver Stone, anything is possible. I guess I'll let you know if it was worth the extra wait.
Wed, March 10, 2010 
We’ve been trying to closely follow the news of Christopher Nolan mentoring the DC superhero films since it was first rumored last month. Just a few weeks ago, we reported that his brother Jonah and co-writer David Goyer had been given the nod from Warner Bros. to pen the script for The Man of Steel, which is based on a story pitched to the studio by Goyer.
Take what you will from the excerpt below, but it sounds to me that, instead of DC Entertainment and WB reaching out to Nolan for help with Superman, he first established the negotiations to move ahead with the film after hearing an impressive idea from Goyer.
“It’s very exciting, we have a fantastic story,” Christopher Nolan said while sipping tea in the sleek editing suite that fills the converted garage adjacent to his Hollywood home. “And we feel we can do it right. We know the milieu, if you will, we know the genre and how to get it done right.”
[...]
“[Goyer] basically told me, ‘I have this thought about how you would approach Superman,’” Nolan recalled. “I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I’ve never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get [partner] Emma [Thomas] and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way.”
In bittersweet news, the interview continues with updates on the highly anticipated sequel to The Dark Knight, which indicate that the third installment will indeed be the last.
“I’m very excited about the end of the film, the conclusion, and what we’ve done with the characters,” Nolan said.“My brother has come up with some pretty exciting stuff. Unlike the comics, these thing don’t go on forever in film and viewing it as a story with an end is useful. Viewing it as an ending, that sets you very much on the right track about the appropriate conclusion and the essence of what tale we’re telling. And it hearkens back to that priority of trying to find the reality in these fantastic stories. That’s what we do.”
Check out the entire article HERE.
Wed, March 10, 2010 
It seemed all but done that John Krasinski was going to be the lucky actor, who would finally be cast as The First Avenger in the upcoming Captain America movie. Now we’re hearing that that he didn’t make the new list of finalists.
According to Superherohype.com, both Heat Vision and Deadline New York received updates on Tuesday that Marvel has now tested or scheduled tests with Wilson Bethel (HBO’s Generation Kill), Mike Vogel (Cloverfield), Chris Evans (Fantastic Four) and Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy).
I’m all for dropping the ax on Krasinski. I never really thought he fit the bill. With that said, Chris Evans had his chance as Johnny Storm, aka The Human Torch in The Fantastic Four films. You know, the ones that are getting the reboot? Of course, he didn’t destroy that franchise single handedly, and its unfair to judge him solely on that performance, but I can’t see it happening. Two Marvel heroes in three years?
I won’t pick apart each of the other mentioned candidates, but I will pick a favorite. Based on looks alone, I say Mike Vogel. As with any of the hopefuls, he’s going to have to hit the gym, but, of the latest list, I think he has the best look for the character.
Names who have reportedly joined Krasinski in being dropped for consideration for the role are Michael Cassidy, Chace Crawford, Scott Porter and Patrick Flueger.
If this is true, I’m glad to see Scott Porter is off of the list, too. I have another blue suit in mind for him.
Tue, March 9, 2010 
It seems that Marvel has become increasingly aggressive with its slate of heroes going to the big screen. I’ll have to do a little more research into the purchasing deal with Disney, but I’m starting to wonder if a clause may exist that enables Marvel to prolong their movie rights to the characters if an extended deal, like that of a trilogy, is marked before the deadline.
With that said, it looks like New York City is going to house not one, not two, but three superhero reboots. At least NYC is where all the characters are based in their comic book pages. Fantastic Four, which, let’s just face it, needed to be redrawn from the beginning will be getting its fresh start as will your friendly neighborhood Spiderman. However, it’s the other man in red I want to talk about today. The man from the other side of the tracks. The man without Fear. Daredevil.
Most of you will remember that Ben Affleck donned the red leather costume just earlier this decade for 2003’s Daredevil. If you don’t remember it, just save yourself the time and trust me. Developed through 20th Century Fox, the film proved that Matt Murdock should fear at least one thing; The box office.
So, now only seven years later, Marvel has decided to add Daredevil to its list of reboots. It was reported in February that Fox/New Regency had already assigned the writing duties of the new script to David Scarpa (The Day the Earth Stood Still).
Unfortunately, and I hope I’m wrong here, with bigger character names like Spiderman getting the treatment at approximately the same time, I look for Daredevil to fall by the wayside. But just in case we get a nice, brutal story and a talented director that focuses a little more on telling that good story and a little less on the 
soundtrack and cut rate CGI, lets talk about casting.
The film has been labeled a reboot, so we’ll assume first that we’re either getting another spin on the origin story or a year one type arc, which will put our hero in his mid to late twenties. Now, I’m not one to beat a dead Bat. At least I try not to be. But one thing that I loved about the new Batman movies is the way the mask fits so organically well with Bale’s facial structure. By exaggerating certain features like the cheekbones and the brow on the mask, you get a very menacing, animalistic feel.
I think that’s exactly what would need to happen with Daredevil. With that said, I propose Chris Pine. Born in 1980, Pine is most recently noted for his phenomenal job at portraying the infamous James T. Kirk in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek, although he has done extensive work in television and had a break out performance in Smokin’ Aces. In my opinion, he’s already proven himself as not only a great actor, but also as a good action star. I think he fits the criteria and the mask pretty well. But I’d love to hear the thoughts of the readers. Who knows? You might change my mind.
Mon, March 8, 2010
Now even the few who didn't see "Alice In Wonderland" 3D this past weekend will be able to view the "Tron:Legacy" 3D trailer in all it's glory. See the trailer below and see "Tron: Legacy" in theaters on December 17, 2010.
Mon, March 8, 2010 If the new trailer wasn't enough for you, three new images from "Iron Man 2" have been released. The first image is courtesy of MySpace, the second image comes from Mike Markus. You can see them both below. Head over to Yahoo! Movies for the third.
Mon, March 8, 2010 
An explosive action tale of betrayal and revenge, "The Losers" centers around the members of an elite Special Forces unit sent to the Bolivian jungle on a search and destroy mission. But the team-Clay, Jensen, Roque, Pooch and Cougar-soon find that they have become the target of a deadly double cross, instigated from the inside by a powerful enemy known only as Max.
Making good use of the fact that they are now presumed dead, the group goes deeply undercover in a dangerous plot to clear their names and even the score with Max. They are joined by the mysterious Aisha, a beautiful operative with her own agenda, who is more than capable of scoring a few points of her own. Working together, when they're not arguing amongst themselves, they have to stay one step ahead of the globetrotting Max-a ruthless man bent on embroiling the world in a new high-tech global war for his own benefit. If they can take down Max and save the world at the same time, it'll be a win win for the team now known as The Losers.
"The Losers" stars Jeffery Dean Morgan ("Watchmen") as Clay; Zoe Saldana ("Avatar," "Star Trek") as Aisha; Chris Evans (the "Fantastic Four" films) as Jensen; Idris Elba ("Obsessed") as Roque; Columbus Short ("Quarantine") as Pooch; Oscar Jaeneda ("Che: Part Two") as Cougar; and Jason Patric (My Sister's Keeper) as Max.
Sylvain White (Stomp the Yard) directed the film from a screenplay by Peter Berg and James Vanderbilt, based upon characters appearing in magazines published by DC Comics / Vertigo Comics. "The Losers" is produced by Joel Silver, Akiva Goldsman and Kerry Foster, with Steve Richards, Andrew Rona, Sarah Aubrey and Stuart Besser serving as executive producers and Richard Mirisch co-producing.
The behind-the-scenes creative team was led by director of photography Scott Kevan ("Stomp the Yard"), production designer Aaron Osborne ("Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang"), editor David Checel ("Stomp the Yard"), visual effects supervisor Richard Yuricich ("Orphan"), and costume designer Magali Guidasci ("Zombieland"). The music is by John Ottman ("4: Rise of the Silver Surfer").
Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with Dark Castle Entertainment, a Weed Road Pictures production, "The Losers."
Opening nationwide on April 23, 2010, "The Losers" will be distributed by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.
