Trailer Trifecta

It's Friday and new trailers have came online, I know that is what everyone wants for their Friday entertainment!

First up is the trailer for the remake of George Romero's "The Crazies" which surprisngly looks pretty decent.

Next we have the absolutely dreadful looking "The Tooth Fairy" that sees Dwayne Johnson sink further away from his "New Arnie" tag and Ashley Judd slumming it.

And last but best is the full theatrical trailer for "Up In The Air" which looks fantastic, and wored is Clooney gives a golden statue caliber performance.

Christopher Nolan Goes IMAX Again

Christopher Nolan, better known as "God" to fans of Batman, is set to engulf himself in the IMAX experience yet again with Warner Bros' "Inception". "Inception", will be the director's 3rd journey into the world of IMAX, and this sci-fi actioner will enjoy the full IMAX treatment with IMAX DMR Technology and The Imax Experience. The film is set for a July 16th, 2010 release and features a stellar cast that includes; Leonardo DiCaprio, Ellen Page, Cillian Murphy and Michael Caine,

"Chris Nolan and IMAX have proven to be ideally suited to each other, and we're very excited to bring them back together again for 'Inception,'" said Dan Fellman, Warner Bros. Picture's president of domestic distribution. "With the rapidly growing IMAX network, our IMAX audience base for this release will be significantly larger than it was for 'The Dark Knight,' which will add to the film's event status."

The Brothers Warner have given Nolan the key to the city, ie 200 Million plus, to bring his vision to the big screen. Helming one of the biggest grossers of all time in "The Dark Knight" certainly gives a director a little wiggle room. As we wait for more information on "Inception" that will give us a better clue of what to expect from Nolan our minds can't help but wander. It's almost as if "Inception" is just the appetizer to the gourmet feast we are all licking our chops over. Batman III.

New Avatar Photos: Smurfs On Steroids

Our friends over at Coming Soon have treated the intergeek community with some new blue tinted photos from James Cameron's "Avatar". The characters still don't look any more real and I am still not intrigued by this over-hyped version of "The Smurfs". I know James Cameron is trying to rise from the depths like a Jack Dawson captained Titanic, but none of the marketing so far has hit me where it counts. If it has peaked your interest then enjoy the pictures below and head over to Coming Soon for the rest.

James McTeigue Yearns For Superman

The studio is insisting that Superman on film is cooling off at the Fortress of Solitude but that hasn't stopped James McTeigue from talking some "Man of Steel". In an interview with Alex Billington over at First Showing, McTeigue gave a rather vague depiction of what his film version of Superman might look like:

"I think I would be interested in doing it if they let me do it the way I wanted to do it. I would say that, if you take the Richard Donner Supermans and the last Superman [from Bryan Singer], I think that Superman is probably ripe for a bit of a change up. I think society has changed around the core idea of what Superman was."

"And I'm not saying you do the ubiquitous dark Superman, I'm not saying that… I'm just saying that I think there are some things that you could excise from the Superman mythology that people would get into it, if you took the world that he was in and changed that a bit, and maybe even project that into the future a bit. I think you don't really have to play into the origin story anymore. I think there's a whole bunch of things you could do to make that film more alive and exciting again."

Although McTeigue's quotes don't really delve deep into his take on a would be Superman film, it all sounds a lot like what we just recently were graced with during Bryan Singer's "Superman Returns". Seems to me that McTeigue meeting with Warner Bros about Superman is past tense and had to do with both of their involvement in "Ninja Assassin", which has started off with some lukewarm reviews.

It is a possibility that "Ninja Assassin" was looked at as a test by the executives at Warners to see if McTeigue was ready for a property such as Superman. It wouldn't be the first time. Tim Burton went through a similar test when he went forward with "Beetle Juice" before he took the helm on "Batman" for the studio. I'm not even close to anointing McTeigue the next Burton, I'm not even sure he wants me to.

At this point it looks like Superman has hung up his cape for the forseeable future, it's been a fun ride, but it certainly might be over for now. As one of my sources at the studio mentioned to me in a past email, it could be a situation where we receive a story they like and before you know it Superman is in production. On the other hand it could be a scenario where the next time any of us see Superman he won't even be the character we know and love anymore.

News, Rumors & 100% Grade-A Internet Bullshit - October 1, 2009

- Looking forward to next summer’s A-Team movie? Me too! Now Coming Soon has a first look at our heroes. In case you didn’t know (or don’t remember), that’s “Rampage” Jackson as B.A. Baracus, Liam Neeson as Hannibal Smith, Sharlto Copley as “Howling Mad” Murdock and Bradley Cooper as Face. Jesus. Is it me or is it weird seeing Neeson with his hair that way?

- I love Quentin Tarantino and he just delivered his honest to Christ masterpiece with Inglorious Basterds. But how many times has he announced doing a film, spent months talking up a storm and then ultimately losing interest and abandoning it? Plenty. That’s why I can’t take him seriously when he says (via Italian website Bad Taste) that Kill Bill Volume III is coming.

- In more "First Look" news, Splash News has a nice juicy look at Seth Rogen as Green Hornet. So now we have an idea of what his ever-so-shrinking waistline was supposed to look like in costume. Looks good. They also have some video of an explosion being filmed for the production to wet your appetite until its release next Christmas...err...whatever date Sony decides to move it away from Tron Legacy.

Bay Confirms Transformers 3 for July 2011

Despite previously saying that it would be coming 2012, Michael Bay has now confirmed (via his official website) that Transformers 3 will hit cinemas on July 1, 2011. That was the date originally set by Paramount months before the second installment Revenge of the Fallen was released.

In fact, Bay’s already started work on it as he explains:

Today is Day One. This morning started with an ILM meeting for five hours in San Francisco. Currently I'm flying with writer Ehren Kruger to Rhode Island to talk to Hasbro about new characters.

I’m sure we’ll get more stereotypes like the flaming homosexual and neurotic Jewish transformers to go along with Skids and Mudflap. Can’t wait!

Should I bring up that Bay directly addressed working with Megan Fox again? No? Thought so. She made one of the more retard career-moves by biting the hand that fed her (i.e. Bay) and now she’s returning with her tail between her legs after Jennifer’s Body was a complete box-office bust. That and people are officially sick of her. Good for them.

Thank God It's Friday?

The Friday Night Death Slot looks to claim some more victims. Fox’s sitcom Brothers and Dollhouse’s second season premiered Friday night to shockingly low numbers. While maybe not that shockingly, but under 3 million viewers is a new low for Fox. Worse, Brothers had more viewers than Dollhouse. ‘Til Death premieres next week as the lead in for Dollhouse, highly unlikely Brad Garrett will be Eliza Dushku’s saviour.

Dollhouse was slotted to be on Fridays all year but that seems very unlikely now. House reruns and “family reality game shows” are likely to fill in briefly. That will stop the bleeding.

So while Friday will be demolished and rebuilt with new victims, Fox also has trouble with Fringe on Thursdays. The show didn’t have the audience size to survive a move to Thursdays like Grey’s Anatomy had. Bones can survive, but Fringe looks shaky.

Does Fox move Human Target to Fridays where it will die?
Shift Fringe back to Tuesdays and get a moderate bump from American Idol?

Past Life sounds something like the CBS crowd would watch. Could Fox get them away from Ghost Whisperer and Medium on Fridays?

What does work on Fridays are 20/20 and Dateline. They don’t get the high ratings they once did but they’re still doing better than Fox’s shows. Perhaps Fox should be more like the other networks and have their news division produce shows/specials. Dramas, soap operas and sitcoms won’t and don’t work on Fox Fridays. There have been great shows and bad shows to call Friday home but nothing can survive there. At this point a Fox News program is something they should consider.

Have Shepard Smith involved to make it more appealing. Keep the opinion people away, make it as serious as you can get on Fox News. It may not mesh with Fox’s brand as a young network but at this point what do they have to lose? 60 Minutes has done well with Obama interviews and stories over the past couple of years, get Shep to ask very nicely to see if he would do “a fair and balanced interview.” Try it out and in a few years a loyal audience could be there and be quite profitable. It fills time and Fox wouldn’t have to move shows to Friday where they would die. If they had a news program there, Dollhouse could’ve been slotted elsewhere.

'Paranormal Activity' The Next 'Blair Witch'

Reader Submitted Article

'Paramormal Activity' The Next 'Blair Witch'

By Dan Gilleo

We all know the story of the “little” indie film called “The Blair Witch Project”. It came out way back in the Summer of 1999. It was made for the paltry amount of $60,000 and proceeded to rake in over $140 million domestic. Not too shabby for a bunch of kids running around in the woods getting lost.  Now a new movie  is looking to take that formula to the next level. Paramount’s “Paranormal Activity”, made for the miniscule amount of $11,000 (About the price of a decent used car.) is already garnering a ton of buzz online and in select college towns where it has opened.

“Paranormal Activity” is pulling some pages out of the Blair Witch play book by staying small with their marketing campaign and trying to work up hype via the online community. Both films have also been portrayed as true paranormal events captured via video camera. Blair Witch was given a limited release and “Paranormal Activity” is opening in limited release in 10 smaller markets. If one wants the film to un-spool in their area then they have to demand it at the below link.

Demand It!

I, for one, was a really big fan of “The Blair Witch Project”. At the time I was in college and it was a cinematic experience like no other.  I had to go to some out of the way art house movie theater to go see it. I might have enjoyed movie a little bit more because of the effort I had to make to see it. Will people like “Paranormal Activity’ just a bit more because they have to work to get it to their city? I think they might.

I believe that “The Blair Witch Project” paved the way for a lot of the “true” TV that are now strewn all over our televisions. Shows such as “Destination Truth” and “Ghost Hunters” fit into that category. If it wasn’t for Blair Witch a movie like “Paranormal Activity” would have never been made, much less released by a major player like Paramount. It remains to be seen if “Paranormal Activity” can follow suit and become the next low budget horror movie to blow up, but if I was a betting man, I might double down. 

Jessica Alba Officially a Focker

Yes, Jessica Alba is a terrible actress. I don’t see there being much debate on that. But you’d swear people hated on her from the start with the way they talk about her sometimes. That is what I’d call revisionist history at its finest.

Back when she was James Cameron’s golden girl for his ill-fated television series Dark Angel, people couldn’t get enough of her. Oh how loyal the average nerd is. Make a mental note, Sam Worthington. This could be in your future.

Only adding further fuel to that fire comes news (via Risky Biz Blog) she will a part of Little Fockers. Yes as in the third film in the popular series that started with 2000s Meet the Parents (which was actually damn funny) and 2004s Meet the Fockers (which…never mind). You people have blood on your hands. If you'd stop paying hard-earned money to watch Ben Stiller comedies, studios would stop making them.

With the Fantastic Four franchise hitting the “reboot” button, she’s now out of a gravy train and in need of work. So who can blame her for taking this role? And playing an "attractive pharmaceutical rep" should be about as believable as her playing Sue Storm. Then again, when did audiences expect realism from those films?

Halloween 3-D Put On Hold

I know some folks out are overjoyed by the prospects of seeing a hobo Michael Myers and his white-horse returning…in 3-D! But it appears all 15 of them are going to have to wait awhile.

Deadline Hollywood reports that the Weinstein Company has indefinitely stalled Halloween 3-D (still don’t know if it’s a sequel/continuation of Rob Zombie’s two films or yet another reboot). It was intended to begin production this November for a Summer 2010 release. That ain’t happening. The blame has been placed on the lack of time to pull it off as the reason. Would-be director Patrick Lussier is set to start up another film by January. And as you know, no company would ever churn out a film just to make a release-date regardless of its quality or lack thereof.

Of course, there have been those constant rumblings that TWC is strapped for cash after a long string of flops since its formation. This comes ironically enough as they experience the biggest hit for their company with Quentin Tarantino’s Inglorious Basterds.

Will we get another Halloween film? Of course. Just as Finke’s source correctly states, “We make those pics for very little money and tight marketing dollars so anything north of $25M is a huge success for us." It’s merely a question of whether it’s made under the Weinsteins or another company.

But rest assured, Michael Myers will return…again…eventually.