Just watching the red carpet stuff and Sofia Coppola was being interviewed. GOOD GRIEF! That little girl needs to eat something! She looks like she weighs about 90 pounds. Someone hand her a mars bar or something!

Someone pointed this out to me earlier today. From Opuszine.Com’s “cool sites”:

The Movie Blog - Chris, who has contributed many a fine review to Opus over the years, turned me onto this site, where he also contributes many an opinion and pithy comment worth reading. If you like all of the scuttlebutt of AICN, but can’t quite stand Harry’s masturbatory fanboy-ism, than The Movie Blog might just be up your alley.

Awww, I blush. But little do they know that I can be as masturbatory as Harry any day! By the way… what does “masturbatory” mean?

I never imagined this. Yeah, I knew Meg Gibson’s new “The Passion of Christ” film would be #1 at the box office this weekend, but I could have NEVER predicted the success it had. It made $76 million on it’s opening weekend!?!?! That beats “Return of the King” for goodness sake! The folloing is from Yahoo News:

“The Passion of the Christ,” Director Mel Gibson’s controversial labor of love about the last 12 hours of Christ’s life, nailed the No. 1 spot at the box office with weekend ticket sales of $76.2 million, officials said on Sunday. Since opening Wednesday, and including sales from advance screenings the prior two days, the film has grossed $117.5 million, the second-best tally ever for a Wednesday release, behind only last year’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” with $124.1 million.

However, the Friday-to-Sunday sum for “Passion” beat the equivalent three-day haul for “The Return of the King” of $72.7 million.

Wow. Good on ya Mel. You rolled the dice, took a chance, put up your own money to make it, and now you get to reap the rewards. Good for you.

Just thought I’d remind everyone of my Oscar picks as I posted them a few weeks ago. Go here to see my original picks. Tomorrow I’ll tally up how I did. GO “RETURN OF THE KING” GO!!!!

CNN film reviewer Paul Clinton writes a well thought out review of Mel Gibson’s The Passion:

“The Passion” is ultimately a movie — and a masterful one at that, obviously the work of an extremely talented filmmaker. The pacing of the story is beautifully measured. The intercutting between Jesus’ early years, the Last Supper, the Sermon on the Mount, and the final hours of his life not only flesh out the story, but also offer relief from the unrelenting violence in scene after scene graphically displaying the torture leading up to Christ’s agonizingly slow death on the cross.

After seeing “The Passion,” it is my opinion that it is not anti-Semitic, nor do I believe Gibson promotes any such feelings in the film. But it is also very clear that anyone who is predisposed towards anti-Semitism could easily twist this film to fit his or her own agenda. This, however, is nothing new. People have been distorting the Bible to fit their own beliefs for centuries.

Read the whole article here

The Anti-Oscars were handed out today, and Gigli won more than half of the “awards”. Here’s a rundown:

Worst Movie: Gigli, Worst Actor: Ben Affleck (Gigli), Worst Actress: Jennifer Lopez (Gigli), Worst Director: Martin Brest (Gigli), Worst Screenwriter: Martin Brest (Gigli), Worst Screen Couple: Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez (Gigli), Worst Supporting Actor: Sylvester Stallone (Spy Kids 3D), Worst Supporting Actress: Demi Moore: (Charlie‚Äôs Angels: Full Throttle), Worst Excuse for an Actual Movie.”(All concept, no content): The Cat In The Hat.

There was some consolation for the artistic vandals responsible for Gigli. The record for most Razzies, now in their 24th year, still belongs to Showgirls and Battlefield Earth, which amassed seven each.

The new trailer for Guillermo Del Toro’s adaptation of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy comic is online now and shows you a bit (but just a bit) more of the key story arc … This is the first time Del Toro has really had the freedom to do his thing with a budget (Mimic and Blade 2 had fairly tight studio controls) and based on his early work and the clips I’m seeing of this so far I’m getting pretty excited. Click here to watch the trailer.

Thanks to BranDeen for pointing this one out … I’m not convinced that photo-realism is necessarily the best way to go with CGI animation, but the folks behind Final Fantasy certainly make a good case for it. Whatever the flaws of The Spirits Within the visuals certainly weren’t one of them. Well, Final Fantasy is hitting screens again, this time as a straight to video release due in the summer. Final Fantasy: Advent Children is meant as a sequel to the Final Fantasy VII video game which certainly doesn’t inspire a lot of hope as far as storyline, but what they’ve got up in the trailer certainly looks impressive enough …

According to Variety director Robert Rodriguez is set to direct an adaptation of Frank Miller’s classic Sin City graphic novels - books that Miller had sworn never to sell the rights to. Apparently Rodriguez convinced the man to change his mind by shooting a ten minute short based on the material and bringing him on as co-director … no word yet on casting …

Okay, I’m still looking for more information on this, but I just stumbled across something intriguing … Bandai Visual has just issued a limited edition DVD box of Mamoru Oshii’s classic Ghost in the Shell which was not only massively influential in the anime world but was also a prime source of inspiration for the Matrix films. On its own this is nothing surprising, right? Looks like a company positioning an old property to generate some new cash with the sequel due soon, which happens all the time. Here’s where things get interesting, though: director Mamoru Oshii has gone back to the original film and given it a thorough re-tweaking including additional scenes, some re-editing and the replacement of old animation and backgrounds with improved CGI to bring the film more in line with current animation standards. Now is Oshii going all Lucas on us and messing with something that wasn’t broken or is this going to be a significant upgrade to an already classic title? I’ll let you know when my copy arrives … between this and the Kill Bill box an awful lot of my spending money is on its way to Japan right now …

And for those who are wondering, yes the Ghost in the Shell sequel (Innocence) will be getting a theatrical release in North America through Go Fish Pictures, the anime arm of Dreamworks that also handled Millenium Actress.

Owen Wilson and Ben Stiller have a chemistry that I have never seen on the screen before. They are a perfect comedic compliment to each other. The last 3 films they did together (Zoolander, Meet the Parents, The Royal Tenenbaums) were all hilarious (In my humble, yet perfect, opinion). When I first heard that there was going to be a Starsky & Hutch film, I immediately thought to myself “man, that would be perfect for Wilson and Stiller to do together”. Imagine my surprise when I found out that’s exactly who was in it. Here’s a little synopsis of the film via RottenTomatoes:

Detective David Starsky (BEN STILLER) is the most dedicated undercover cop working the mean streets of Bay City, California. Maniacally devoted to his job, when he’s on duty no crime goes unpunished - and he’s always on duty. And that’s a good thing, because he has some metaphorically big shoes to fill: his mother was a legend on the force, one of the best cops in the history of Bay City. But while his mom stuck with the same partner throughout her entire career, due to his extremely zealous brand of police work, Starsky burns through partners faster than his beloved Gran Torino goes through spark plugs.

Detective Ken “Hutch” Hutchinson (OWEN WILSON) is having career issues of his own - he’s a good cop, but his hazardously laidback personality and desire for a quick buck don’t always get the job done. He has excellent instincts, he just needs a little bit of focus to keep him on the admittedly less profitable side of the law. Exasperated Bay City Police Captain Dobey (FRED WILLIAMSON) has found the perfect solution for two of his biggest problems: pair up Starsky and Hutch and put them out on the streets.

There’s more…
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Great article over at MSNBC about the three way race between Sean Penn, Bill Murray and Johnny Depp for the Best Actor award. Found through Counting Down:

The biggest chance of an upset is expected in the best actor category, which Tom O’Neil, the host of the online awards site GoldDerby.com, calls a “cliff-hanger in which three bad-boy actors — Sean Penn, Bill Murray and Johnny Depp — are racing neck-and-neck and in which one of them will probably win by a nose.”

Going into the home-stretch of the Oscars race, Penn was the favorite for his performance as an ex-con anguished by the murder of his teenage daughter in Clint Eastwood’s powerful crime thriller “Mystic River.” But O’Neil said Penn made a huge tactical error when he failed to attend the Golden Globe awards in January and gave Hollywood the impression that he wasn’t interested in competing for filmdom’s top prize, the Oscar.

Read the whole article here

I just loved Kill Bill Vol 1. And even though I still remain furious that they broke the movie into 2 parts (for those of you who don’t know, Kill Bill was originally filmed to be 1 long movie), I wait anxiously for the second installment. Every clip and picture I’ve seen so far has been just beautiful. Now, THIS new poster comes out. Fantastic! To see a much larger version of it, head over to Ain’t It Cool. Here’s a little except about the new Kill Bill 2:

After having killed the first two on her death list, O-Ren Ishii and Vernita Green, The Bride continues in her journey of vengeance to hunt down and kill the remaining victims, Elle Driver, Budd, and ultimately, Bill. However, matters become complicated when The Bride learns that her daughter, whom she presumed dead, is still alive.

Well, we did the Actresses yesterday, it’s time for the Actors. Here are the top 10 average box office money making actors. Once again, some of these will surprise you:

#10. Tom Cruise - $99.4 million per film
#9. Tom Hanks - $102.8 million per film
#8. Hugh Jackman - $103.2 million per film
#7. Mike Myers - $105.9 million per film
#6. Billy Dee Williams - $107.9 million per film
#5. Jim Carrey - $109.2 million per film
#4. Harrison Ford - $112.2 million per film
#3. Will Smith - $119.5 million per film
#2. Mark Hamill - $217.9 million per film

And the #1 per film box office mony maker is…

ORLANDO BLOOM at $287.8 million per film. And with Troy coming out, you know his value isn’t going down anytime soon

Other Notables:

Mel Gibson comes in at #21 with $71.9 million
Al Pacino at #65 with $41 million
Robert De Niro at #83 with $33 million

The first Underworld had a lot of promise, but unfortunately didn’t really live up to it. Don’t get me wrong, it was still a pretty decent flick, but you could just tell that it had the potential to be MUCH better. Well, they’re taking a shot at it. Word is that Underworld 2 will begin shooting in Fall and aim for an April release (that’s a pretty aggressive schedule). I’m looking forward to it. If they can just correct a couple of mistakes they made with the first one, Underworld could be a killer story arc. Here’s hoping they pull it off.

I found this little statistic to be EXTREMELY surprising. Really. When you look at all the great actresses in Hollywood, who do you think brings in the most money at the box office per film? Do you think Julia Roberts? You’d be wrong. Roberts brings in a respectable $76.9 million per film, but that’s only good enough for 7th place on our list. How about Nicole Kidman? Well, she only makes an average of $46.7 million per film which puts her at 26th. So here it is, the top 5 Box Office draws per film:

#5. Catherine Zeta-Jones - $78.5 million per film
#4. Téa Leoni - $80.4 million per film
#3. Shannon Elizabeth - $81.5 million per film
#2. Carrie Fisher - $84.1 million per film

And the #1 per film box office money making actress of all time is…

Natalie Portman - with a stunning $161 million per film (almost as much as #2 and #3 put together. Wow!)

Other notables on this interesting list are:

#10. Tia Carrere - $63.7 million per fillm
#15. Margot Kidder (Lois Lane) - $59.6 million per film
#72. Angelina Jolie - $29.4 million per film
#74. Winona Ryder - $28.7 million per film
#77. Susan Sarandon - $28.2 million per film

If you’ve read The Movie Blog for very long you know that I think the X-Men movies are the best comic films ever made. The first one totally resurrected the genre after Batman and Robin had killed it. Now the talk of the next couple of films is starting to roll (finally). The following is from CountingDown:

Cinescape has early word on what nuggets of information are to be released in tomorrow’s issue of Wizard Magazine: Among the facts dropped in the mag are: the idea by Singer to shoot X-MEN 3 and X-MEN 4 at the same time; how many primary characters are currently in the X3 treatment (which includes Beast); which actors are likely to reappear in the second sequel; other filmmakers that Singer has been meeting with regarding the latest breakthroughs in filmmaking technology; and spinoff movies using Wolverine and other X-Men characters.

I think this is great news. To read the whole article go here.

Good news for fans of Thai wonder-twin directors Danny and Oxide Pang. The duo first built their name with the international success of Bangkok Dangerous, the story of a deaf mute hit man that played out like the illicit love child of John Woo (before he inexplicably started to suck so badly) and Wong Kar Wai. But success really hit with their atmospheric horror flick The Eye, a deeply chilling story of a woman blind since childhood who has her sight restored via a cornea transplant only to gradually realize that her new corneas are giving her glimpses of the spirit world.

The Eye was such a major international success that it has picked up distribution worldwide - and can still be seen on some North American screens - and it is no exaggeration to say that the Pangs have completely revitalized the stagnating Thai film industry. Well, they’re back with more. There’s not an obvious entry point to a sequel to The Eye, but they’re doing one. Head here to check out the website and click here to check out the trailer.

Also sure to bring smiles to Pang fans’ faces is First Look Pictures plans to release Oxide Pang’s internationally produced The Tesseract - based on a novel by Alex Garland who was also responsible for 28 Days Later and The Beach - on DVD in North America in August. Yes, the site says April, but it’s actually August. Trust me.

A close perusal of First Look’s website also turns up the completely unrelated and totally mind boggling news that they are planning a sequel to Dungeons and Dragons. Evidently they are gluttons for punishment.

At this point, it looks like EVERYTHING is going right for the new Batman film. The cast is already fantastic: Christian Bale, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Katie Holmes, Cillian Murphy, Liam Neeson (one of my favorite actors in the world) and Guy Pearce. Now the crowning jewl. It’s being reported that Ken Watanabe (the guy who completely stole the show from Tom Cruise in The Last Samurai) has signed on to play the villain Ra’s Al Ghul. I can not think of a better fit. Watanabe has an extremely powerful screen presence and can say more with just an expression of his face than most actors can with pages of dialogue. Can you tell I’m thrilled about this?

Ken Watanabe will follow his Oscar-nominated performance in “The Last Samurai” by squaring off against Christian Bale in Warner Bros. Pictures’ upcoming untitled Batman movie. Watanabe will play the villainous Ra’s Al Ghul, an immortal strategic mastermind who wants to bring his own brand of order to the world.

I’m a sucker for comic book movies! Here a synopsis I found at upcominghorrormovies.com about the new blade flick. It looks like it’ll be dumb with a lot of kicking and hurting. I love it.

Blade joins forces with two vampire hunters part of a group called the Nightstalkers as they tackle the powerful and ruthless villain Danica Talos. After harvesting the superior blood of the ancestor of all modern vampires, Talos has resurrected the man now known as “Drake” from a century-long sleep in the hopes of finally getting world control for all vampires. Blade, along with the band known as the Nightstalkers must stop them from unleash a virus that will kill all the vampires— but only are given one chance to make it work.

The vampire hunters must fight a vampiress named Danica—played in an unlikely bit of casting by indie darling Parker Posey—and her gang, which includes pro-wrestler-turned-actor Triple H, otherwise known as Paul Michael Levesque. And there’s a dangerous new villain, played by former John Doe star Dominic Purcell, called Drake, which is short for Dracula. “The vampires … [have] been looking for the sort of progenitor of the vampire race, who’s Dracula, but he’s seven, eight thousand years old,” Goyer said. “The whole idea is that Drake, Dracula, was also like the genesis of the Dagon, the Sumerian god, stuff like that. … He’s sort of like the patient zero of evil. … The vampires are looking for him, because he’s dormant and he’s a daywalker” and the potential source of something that will allow all bloodsuckers to bear the light of day.
There’s more…
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Right now, the ranks of The Movie Blog consist of 4 or 5 guys (depending on the day). What I’d really like to have is AT LEAST one woman join us to give a female perspective on the latest movies and movie news. So, if you’re a woman and would be interested in joining us here at The Movie Blog, drop us a note. Email me at [email protected]

For a long time it’s been pretty much a given that the flashy science fiction film was pretty much the sole province of Hollywood - after all, who else had the immense amounts of cash available that you needed to make one of these monster spectacles? Sure, some were filmed in other countries, but all the money and the bulk of the talent originated in the good ol’ U S of A. Not any more. Check out the trailers for these two upcoming films:

Casshern is a Japanese live action adaptation of an old anime and it looks staggering in a classic Alex Proyas sort of way. The production design on this stands with some of the very best stuff I’ve EVER seen on screen and between the mechas in this and the giant robots in Sky Captain I’m starting to get very excited about just how good the live action adaptation of Neon Genesis Evangelion (arguably the greatest anime series ever produced) could be. All the links on the film’s main page are clearly labelled in English, so the trailer isn’t at all hard to find.

The French film Immortel’s fusion of science fiction with Egyptian gods brings Stargate to mind but this one looks to put Emmerich et al to shame with it’s incredible visual style. Sure, the dialog is a bit stilted in the way it pretty much always is when non-English speakers direct in English, but there are an awful lot of pretty pictures to look at … links to two different trailers are at the bottom of the main page in in both ‘Standard’ and ‘Fullscreen’ modes.

Ok, this is a total shock. At the Screen Actors Guild awards last night, Johnny Depp beat out Sean Penn to take the Best Actor award. I’m not saying this is undeserved, but I’m stunned. I can’t believe the Guild gave the award to an actor who played in a light adventure/comedy. Congtrats to Depp! Does this mean we should take him more seriously as a possible winner next Sunday at the Oscars?

Other winners were Charlize Theron (best actress) for Monster, Tim Robbins (supporting actor) for Mystic River, and Renee Zellweger (supporting actress) for Cold Mountain.

The SAG’s equivalent to “Best Picture” is the award to best ensemble cast. That award (surprise surprise) went to Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.

Wham! Welcome to Moosepart has become the latest film in a long and glorious history of terrible movies staring television stars. Ray Romano is money in the bank right? Wrong. The critics (and the box office) are chewing up Mooseport and spitting it out. But Romano isn’t the first tv actor to suck on the big screen:

Every “Friends” star has been awful in any film they’ve appeared in (Matthew Perry was good in The Whole 9 Yards, but don’t forget he was also in Serving Sara, Three to Tango, and Fools Rush In. I’m sure he’d like to forget those

Sarah Michelle Gellar of “Buffy” has been stuck in movie obscurity. NOTE: It’s a bad sign when your biggest film success is Scooby-Doo

Remember Bill Cosby? Is there a funnier comedian alive? No, there isn’t. But WOW does he make horrible movies (remember Leonard Part 6?).

Tom Selleck, arguably the biggest TV star of the 80’s was never able to make it work on the big screen.

I’m sure I’m missing some. Tom Hanks in an obvious exception to this rule having moved from Bosom Buddies (Who remembers that show?) to film. So who are other TV stars who could never make it on the big screen? OR, who are some who DID succeed in film?

Ouch! 4 movies premiered this weekend, and not one of them made over $10 million dollars. Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen - $9.2 million, Welcome to Mooseport - $7 million, Eurotrip – $6.6 million, and Against the Ropes - $3 million.

The failure of Against the Ropes to make any money while up against weak competition makes a sad reality official: Meg Ryan has fallen out of grace with the North American movie going audience. The once ‘A’ list actress now has her fifth flop in a row on her hands. Her last 4 films; In the Cut (2003), Kate & Leopold (which was actually pretty good - 2001), Proof of Life (2000), and Hanging Up (2000), have all quietly come and gone from the theaters making little to no money. People just don’t want to see her anymore. Want to know why?…
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Wow, I was looking up some information on the new movie Alexander that opens in November. I knew that Colin Farrel was in it, but I has NO IDEA the rest of the cast was so strong. Look at this list:

Colin Farrell …. Alexander
Jared Leto …. Hephaestion
Anthony Hopkins …. Ptolemy
Rosario Dawson …. Roxanne
Angelina Jolie …. Olympias
Val Kilmer …. Philip

What can I say? Sign me up.

At first I was really excited to hear that a DC comic character was coming to the big screen again. I got more excited when I found out Halle Berry was playing Catwoman. But the more I hear about this film the further my expectation drop. They’ve changed the character completely (it’s not even the same character anymore) and the costume (while VERY sexy) look like a tacky gag. The movie just finished shooting in Vancouver a few days ago and is now in post production. Here’s a synopsis of the film from The Hollywood North Report:

Catwoman is the story of shy, sensitive artist Patience Philips (Halle Berry). She works as a graphic designer for Hedare Beauty, a mammoth cosmetics company on the verge of releasing a revolutionary anti-aging product. When Patience inadvertently happens upon a dark secret her employer is hiding, she finds herself in the middle of a corporate conspiracy. In a mystical twist of fate, she is transformed into a woman with the strength, speed, agility and ultra-keen senses of a cat. With her newfound prowess and feline intuition, Patience becomes Catwoman, a sleek and stealthy creature balancing on the thin line between good and bad. Like any wildcat, she’s dangerous, elusive and untamed. Her adventures are complicated by a burgeoning relationship with Tom Lone (Benjamin Bratt), a cop who has fallen for Patience but cannot shake his fascination with the mysterious Catwoman, who appears to be responsible for a string of crime sprees plaguing the city.

I’ve always been a sucker for “epic” kind of movies. I’m also known for having a soft spot for fantasy films of almost any kind. It’s a rare occasion when you get the two together, so when I heard about the upcoming King Arthur movie I was instantly intrigued.

Another interesting thing about this flick is the lack of any major star power. Keira Knightley has been starting to form a solid name for herself over the last year, but isn’t quite ‘A’ list just yet. It’s also taking a less traditional road than previous versions:

King Arthur “is not about the romantic triangle we’ve all read about” but rather “it focuses on seven guys given this mission from hell to capture a young boy who the pope has deemed to be next in line for the throne. It’s a real portrayal of this sixth-century time period ‚Äì definitely not a glamorized Hollywood version of it.

King Arthur is currently scheduled for a July 7th, 2004 release

One thing you’ve got to say about the Japnese (and the Koreans, for that matter): They love their films and they’re not afraid to drop top dollar for ridiculously extravagent box sets loaded up with very, very cool extras. Enter Kill Bill. While the spring DVD release of Volume 1 here in North America is going to be a purely bare bones affair the Japanese have gone all out with their deluxe box set. Here’s the run down on the box according to YesAsia.com:

Revenge has never been sweeter!
And it certainly has never been portrayed bloodier than in the first episode of the 2003 silver screen blockbuster “Kill Bill”! Uma Thurman slips into the probably most violent role of her life to portray the protagonist of cult director Quentin Tarantino (” Pulp Fiction”). She plays ‘The Bride’ that is beaten and tortured beyond oblivion by the Deadly Viper Assasination Squad on the day of her marriage, while the unfeeling mastermind behind this bloody scheme called Bill (David Carradine) takes care of the final killing blow in person. But to the disbelief of all those involved in this despicable act of violence, the woman that was left as dead for good miraculously survives with a very clear memory about the visages of all her would-be killers and goes on a deadly an-eye-for-an-eye killing journey! Dazzling with bloody martial arts magic mixed with lots of black humor this hyper action movie promises to tie you to your seats from start to finish! Comes with making of featurettes, TV spots, movie trailers and more. In addition, this version also offers a special “Okinawa” T-shirt , an unique “Hattori Hanzo” sword 1/10 scaled figure , a luxurious 24-page all-color booklet plus more! As the supply of this item is very limited, shop it right away to avoid future regrets!

What they fail to mention is that in addition to the cool swag, you’re also getting the unaltered Japanese print. See, the MPAA in their wisdom have linked violence ratings directly to the amount of red blood in the film, and yes, they are quite specific that the blood must be red to count. This is why alien blood (and the blood in the Evil Dead films) is pretty well always black or green - it’s an attempt to do an end run around the censors. Kill Bill is such a bloody film that it wouldn’t have qualified for an R rating unless Tarantino did something about all that red, so rather than cut, he decolourized certain scenes. No such problem in Japan, so if you want to see it the way it was filmed, this is the way to go.

And yes, I’ve already ordered mine.

I just don’t get why Miramax honchos aren’t singing the praises of Zhang Yimou’s Hero from the roof tops, but once again rather than actually releasing the film they’ve delayed it. This time they’re saying summer 2004, which most people seem to think means sometime in August. Yet another delay on this became pretty much inevitable when they pushed the release of Tarantino’s Kill Bill Vol. 2 back to Hero’s April release date, but it’s still dead irritating.

In happier Yimou related news, Monkey Peaches has posted a series of production stills from his newest film, the title of which is being variously reported as Ambush From Ten Directions, House of 1000 Daggers and Lovers. The images mostly revolve around the very difficult to look at Zhang Ziyi and Takeshi Kaneshiro. This one looks as though it will be a worthy follow up to the brilliance of Hero. Check them out:

Like Rodney, I loved ‘The Whole 9 Yards’. Unlike Rodney, I’m very pleased that they’ve made another one. It was originally supposed to be released last October and I haven’t really heard why it was delayed for so long, but now it’s scheduled for release on April 9th, 2004. If it’s half as good as the first one it’ll be well worth the price of a ticket. Go see the trailer here

Ok, many people know that I am one of the few individuals who really enjoyed DareDevil. Now the Spin off “Elektra” is set to begin filming in Vancouver on May third. I’m shocked. I haven’t heard much about the movie in a few months, but I guess they’re pretty much ready to roll. The following is from FilmJerk:

Taking a page from the storylines found in both the “The Elektra Assassin” and “The Elektra Saga” graphic novels, the film finds Elektra (Jennifer Garner) again working for the Order of the Hand, the group that trained ‚Äì and then abandoned ‚Äì her. At the request of Kirigi, the film‚Äôs villain, she is told to target Harbor Island man named Mark Miller because, she is told, of an act his grandfather performed. A widower, Miller is a likeable man introduced to Elektra by his 13-year-old daughter Abby. After falling for him, Elektra becomes his protector and has to fend off four ninja assassins dispatched by Kirigi.

You can read the whole article here

Ok, we’ve got the basics put together. It’ll be another couple of days until the site looks right, but at least for now the content and comments are back up and running! Keep coming back to check our progress. Oh, did you notice on the right that we finally have a search function on the site! Whheeeeee…

Some sad news for TV. Some good news for films:

“Angel,” staring DAVID BOREANAZ as a vigilante vampire, has been axed. This season, the show’s fifth, will be the last for the WB series. “Angel” got its start in 1999 as a spin-off of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.”

Ok, some of you may be wondering why I’m posting about a TV show here on The Movie Blog. Here’s why. Although I really enjoy Angel, and will miss the show very much, this could be a fantastic thing for David Boreanaz. Boreanaz is a solid actor who also has the physical attributes to be a legitimate Hollywood leading man. As a matter of fact, the rumor mill early last year was buzzing about him being the next Batman√¢‚Ǩ¬¶ that would have been cool to see. So, while I’m sad to see Angel leave the air, I think this will push Boreanaz out the door of television and force him to really pursue a big screen career. And I think he’ll succeed. Keep your eyes open for him next fall.

A while ago John posted an article about Julia Ormond and how she disappeared off the radar. This very talented and attractive actress seemed destined for superstardom and she just vanished.

Well the new film Iron Jawed Angels stars Julia alongside Academy Award Winner Hillary Swank. Defiant young activists take the women’s suffrage movement by storm, putting their lives at risk to help American women win the right to vote.

This is an HBO Tv Movie, but with all the hype around it, you would think it was a big screen movie. It definately has the story and actors to justify taking it to the big screen. I am not sure why this isn’t there.

Julia was last seen predominately in the movie world in 1995 in Sabrina opposite Harrison Ford. From the looks of her filmography, she has been doing a few foreign films. With 7 titles in the last 9 years, Julia has not proven to be as busy as her buzz seemed to have been leading up to.

It’s good to have you back Julia!

Batman may become British with a more “suave” fare rather than the flashy, kiddy flare we’ve been getting.

At first glance I thought this might be silly, but the more I think about it, the more I like it. and Why?

Well, because frankly folks, there’s no way someone can release another Batman movie into North America and also convince the average joe-schmoe movie fan to sit in its attendance - Simply because the last chapter (or arguably “chapters”) were so horridly bad, that director Christopher Nolan is practically REQUIRED to re-work this new movie and make it very very VERY Unlike all of the others in my humble opinion.

Here’s the article at Superherohype.com

The cast list remains very impressive so far with Nolan currently bringing on seasoned costume designers for Bond films and special effects people.

Since this movie deals with various events and paths Bruce chooses in becoming Batman, I think we’ll be seeing a lot more “Bruce/Multi-billionaire” oriented stuff. Or simply: More high class. More Suave suits. More liquid cash being spent on really cool latex outfits. I think this could actually be quite a good move. Especially since it won’t simply be inflamed villian after villian after villian broken up with the occasional gang member that likes rubbing themselves in black light paint. UGh.. the memories.

Nothing is definite yet, but it’s being widely reported that Martin Scorsese is lobbying to direct the North American remake of Hong Kong blockbuster Infernal Affairs. The original was a masterpiece of crime film starring Tony Leung as a deep cover police officer infiltrating the mob and Andy Lau as a mob member living as a mole within the police department. The duo become aware of each other through the course of one operation and a cat-and-mouse game of who can out the other first results. The only definite piece of cast information thus far is that Brad Pitt (who lobbied hard to bring the film to North America) will be on board both as a producer and in either the Lau or Leung role.

See the news links here:

Coming Soon
Ananova
Empire Online
Zap2It

For those who want to see at least a partial version of the original, Miramax will be doing their normal hack and slash job and putting it into theaters in late summer. If they cut any of Tony Leung’s incredible performance or mess with the Pang’s edit job I will be most displeased …

I’m looking forward to seeing this one. The other Blade movies were just good old fashioned “guy” brainless action flicks. This one should be no different. It will be interesting to see how Triple H does as and “actor”. The guy has all the physical attributes to be an action star… let’s see if he can grunt out a few lines. Here’s a snippet from FilmForce:

David Goyer, writer of the first two Blade films, got to try his hand at directing for the third vampire-hunter installment. Now that shooting on the Vancouver set has wrapped up, Goyer was happy to share his thoughts on Blade: Trinity with the Vancouver Province.

Dealing with the attitudes and foibles of actors on a day-to-day basis was a challenge for the first-time feature film director (Goyer made his directorial debut on the indie 2002 flick Zig-Zag). Wesley Snipes in particular is known for being difficult, and Blade: Trinity proved to be no exception. “I am going to try and be as diplomatic as possible,” Goyer says. “There has always been drama on the Blade films and this one was no different. We prepared for drama … and there it was.”

Working with WWE wrestler Triple H (Paul Michael Levesque), however, was surprisingly enjoyable. “[Triple H] turned out to be completely professional, dedicated and humble, and very funny with great comedic timing. We ended up writing more scenes for him.“

Read the whole article here.

I used to be a big Adam Sandler fan√¢‚Ǩ¬¶ but after a while all his films (exactly the same) started getting tired. Then along came Punch Drunk Love, a brilliant piece that I was sure would propel Sandler to a new level in his acting and the films he does. No such luck. Now we have 50 First Dates√¢‚Ǩ¬¶ what looks like the some old Adam Sandler movie with probably the same old Sandler jokes. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to get myself to the theater to see this one.

To be fair, the reviews are mixed (although most of them are negative). Here are some of them:

“That 50 First Dates is awful is no surprise-that it appears to have had the potential to be great is just heartbreaking.”
- Walter Chaw, FILM FREAK CENTRAL

“The memory-loss device dimly recalls Groundhog Day, though the film’s low laugh rate, occasional lachrymosity and flaccid pacing assuredly do not.”
- John Patterson, L.A. WEEKLY

“The stars have a goo-goo chemistry that’s hard to resist.”
- Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“The chemistry between Sandler and Barrymore…is undeniable, a match that goes a long way towards making the film far more compelling than it should be.”
- David Nusair, REEL FILM REVIEWS

To see a larger list of reviews click here.

From Variety.Com via Yahoo:

There’s exxx-cellent news for fans of “The Simpsons”: Homer and the gang may finally be coming to the bigscreen. After years of rumors and wishful thinking, “Simpsons” gurus Matt Groening and James L. Brooks (news) are leading a team of writers in actively developing an animated bigscreen feature based on the long-running Fox hit. Active work on a concept for the pic began a few months ago, after 20th Century Fox’s film division hammered out deals with key writers.

Good grief. Can you say “Box Office”? I will be the first in line to see this. Can you imagine what the writers of The Simpsons can do when they have 6 or 9 months to work on just one LONG episode? You can read the whole Simpsons article here.