Ok, now take this with a grain of salt folks… but several readers have emailed me saying that they saw a Simpsons Movie trailer (teaser) play in front of “Ice Age 2″ at a midnight showing last night. This could be a joke… but if it is… I’m not the only one getting reports of it. Other sites are reporting this too.

Apparently there are 2 different versions of the trailer being shown. Both of them state a July 27th 2007 release date. it’s not clear if the trailers are attached to EVERY coy of Ice Age 2 or not, so don’t go running out and buying tickets just yet.

If any of you find it online, please send me the link! Thanks to Marc, Tanya, and Miki for giving me the heads up. And curses on you if you’re lying to me. :P

Antonio Banderas was recently interviewed where he talked about Shrek 3, Shrek 4 and the upcoming spinoff flick Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer. I like the Shrek films… they actually both made me howl with laughter the first times I saw them. Neither were fantastic films overall… but they do make me laugh.

So there is going to be a Shrek 4, Puss is going to be in it… and according to the good folks over at Counting Down, Banderas will have second character to voice for:

“We will have the ['Puss in Boots' spinoff] movie it is interesting to do a movie only with the character called ‘Puss in Boots: The Story of an Ogre Killer.’ It would be between the third and the fourth ‘Shrek.’ And in the fourth ‘Shrek,’ I think, I’m going to play two characters: I’m going to play Puss in Boots and his badass brother. So I will have to invent another voice for him.”

A badass brother? Ummm… ok… I’ll buy that for now. Banderas actually started recording his lines for Shrek 3 this week.

I very much enjoyed the first Sin City film… and I’m looking forward to the second. Personally (and I know many disagree with me on this one) I LOVE the fact that they got Angelina Jolie for the sequel. I think she’ll fit in with the style of this movie perfectly!

Anyway, Frank Miller has been talking recently about the upcoming Sin City 2 and has been giving away from secrets. Including the fact that he’s writing a new original segment for the sequel that wasn’t in one of the comics. The following paragraph from our good friends over at Cinemablend has some MINOR spoilers… so read on if you dare:

Miller hinted that one of the stories would be the assassin origin tale Blue Eyes which involves Josh Harnett’s suave killer from the first film taking on an apprentice. The other more exciting news is that Miller is apparently writing an original story for the film. The story will involve Nancy’s life when the fallout from the killing of the Yellow Bastard hits. Look for blood.

That all sounds good to me! Bring it on! In the first film I really want to understand Harnett’s character more. What was behind him… who was he really? Magnificent character even though he was only on screen for about 3 minutes.

It’s still my most anticipated movie for this year… and as the release date for Superman Returns draws closer and closer, Bryan Singer has been talking about another release for the film. IMAX 3D Superman!

Here’s what the good folks over at Empire had to say:

Taking the next natural step in releasing its films in Imax, Warners is planning convert 20 minutes of Superman Returns to 3D. Bryan Singer seems convinced, telling Variety that the 3D footage will “look, sound and feel absolutely amazing” and that the experience will “envelope audiences in this story, enabling them to feel the emotion, drama and suspense in a completely new and unique way.”

Maybe I’m just dead inside… but 3D really doesn’t do anything for me at all. It’s neat… but the novelty wears off pretty fast. I don’t see myself bothering to see this incarnation of the film. Just gimme the movie baby.

This one is a bit of a throw back. This is a short 30 second video done for a car commercial where a car transforms into a dancing robot. If any of you out there have any doubts about just how good a Transformers movie could visually look, then this little video should put your minds at ease.

The most amazing thing about this video is that it’s about 3 years old. I remember the very first time I saw it… I was FLOORED. I just came across it again this morning and my sense of amazement hasn’t decreased at all. Imagine what they could do with the newer technology that exists today!

You can head on over and check out the video here. Enjoy!

Here are some of the other movie news items floating around the web today:

- Narnia officially becomes Disney’s all time #1 hit in the UK Yikes, it even beat out Toy Story 2

- Naomi Campbell charged with assault Holy Russell Crowe Batman! She hit her maid in the head with a phone!

- Robert Englund is set to direct KILLER PAD Its a horror/comedy

- Stunt Man sues Mission Impossible III The guy took third-degree burns over more than 60 percent of his body when a Chevrolet Suburban that was “rigged with pyrotechnical material” accidentally exploded and engulfed him in a fireball

- Freddie Prinze Jr new Romantic Comedy Oh jeezz guy just give it up

- INXS bio movie I used to LOVE INXS, I’m interested in seeing this

- Pirates of the Caribbean 2 pictures of Davey Jones’ Ship This thing looks amazing!

Yes, the cartoon superhero from the 60’s, Underdog, if flying into theaters near you soon. Sigh….

Look, I’m all for trying to bring back classic characters and everything… but Underdog??? I don’t think Underdog has enough “classic” character association. People don’t think of Underdog when you ask them about their favorite cartoon characters of the 60’s or 70’s. He’s pretty much a 2nd level memory to most people. Not to mention… he was around way before I was even born.

Freezdried Movies gives us this synopsis of the old show:

“Underdog” followed the adventures of a humble dog named Shoeshine Boy who became the superheroic Underdog who spoke in rhymes. Simon Bar Sinister was one of the show’s recurring villains and, unbeknown to the tykes watching the show, his last name slyly translated to “Evil Bastard.”

So do any of you have any enthusiasm for this project? Any at all? Or am I the only one feeling total indifference towards it?

Hey there folks, John here. It’s a slow news day around here, so I thought I’d hit you guys up for a little help with something.

On Tuesday I’ve been invited to speak at Niagara College on the topic of movies. Now, I know what you’re thinking… Movies is a pretty broad topic. So I’ve narrowed it down to Why we love the movies and The significance of Movies.

I’ve already got most of my stuff together… and then it dawned on me… I’m not that bright. Upon this realization, I though to myself Why just limit the talk to my tiny bit of knowledge and insight when I can draw upon the mighty brain banks of The Movie Blog horde!!!

So heres your chance to add to my little presentation to the students at Niagara. In the comments section below, answer one or both of the following questions.

1) Why do you love the movies?

2) Why are movies important?

Be as specific or general as you’d like to be. I’ll email you and let you know if I used your thoughts in the presentation. Whheeeee!

The popularity of Poker in North America over the last 2 years has been insane!!! An absolutely no disrespect intended to poker fans out there (I like to watch it myself from time to time) but WHY THE HELL are Sports networks showing Poker tournaments?!?!?! What’s nexts? ESPN Presents the world Monopoly Championships”?

Anyway, even though the popularity of the game is shrinking a little, you just KNEW another Poker film would be on its way to capitalize on the trend. And you also just knew in your soul of souls that such a movie would have to star Burt Reynolds. Well folks, your instincts were correct, because here comes “Deal“.

The good folks over at Cinematical give us this:

In the movie, Reynold’s character - an ex-gambler - “teaches a hot-shot college student how to ‘play the player,’ vs. just the cards.” You’ll be stunned, I’m sure, to learn that the two have a falling out which eventually finds them “competing against each other in the World Poker Tour championships.” Shocking.

Hmmmm… sounds WAY too much like “The Color Of Money” to me… except with poker instead of pool. Still, a film with Burt Reynolds as an old time gambler, picking up women half his age and spanking ass seems like a draw to me. I’ll be there.

The early Slither reviews are out, and they’re even better then I expected them to be. To me, this film just looks like a LOT of fun… and not to mention its got Elizabeth Banks (Campea) in it too… which is enough to get me to just about any theater on the planet.

Here’s what some of the critics are saying in their early Slither reviews:

“A gleefully nasty and ingeniously twisted horror-comedy.”
Joe Leydon, VARIETY

“So sue me, sometimes after a day of enjoying Belgian film-festival prizewinners, I like to relax with copious servings of horror-flick slime and a good visual joke involving squids, girls in bathtubs, and overhead cameras.”
Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“A groovy gross-out with snorts, scares and sentiment, SLiTHER is thus far the must-see frightfully funny movie of the year.”
Staci Layne Wilson, HORROR.COM

“It may not be sickly brilliant or twistedly clever, but it’s just plain fun. Slither is a good old fashioned gooey, slimy monster movie with a sense of humor.”
Fred Topel, ABOUT.COM

As of this moment, Slither is carrying an impressive 83% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. I expect that number to get larger as more reviews come out. This one is the #1 priority for me on Friday. Look for my review on the weekend.

While not in the same league as any of the Pixar films, I thought the first Ice Age was enjoyable, and not surprisingly when a sequel was announced I found myself mildly looking forward to it. So now here come the early Ice Age 2 reviews.

The Ice Age 2 reviews don’t look AMAZING… but they are however mostly positive. Here is what some of the critics are saying in their Ice Age 2 reviews:

“Ice Age: The Meltdown blithely looks on the bright side of life, amassing a screen full of vultures to sing and dance ‘Food Glorious Food’ and daring us not to get happy.”
Lisa Schwarzbaum, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“Whenever Scrat is on the screen, the movie consistently delights young and old.”
Steve Rhodes, INTERNET REVIEWS

“Like its predecessor, it’s a moderately engaging family movie, but in the Pixar Age that’s not quite enough.”
Frank Swietek, ONE GUY’S OPINION

“A bit spotty in the early goings, almost stalls in the middle, but from there takes off toward climax and never looks back. A lot of fun. John Leguizamo rocks. ”
Ross Anthony, HOLLYWOOD REPORT CARD

I’ll be seeing this one on Friday for sure right after I take in Slither. The last two years has seen some questionable 3D animated projects… and there are even more on the way… but it’s nice to see that Pixar isn’t the ONLY game in town.

As of this moment, Ice Age 2 is carrying a respectable (but not fantastic) 63% on Rotten Tomatoes. I expect it will win the opening weekend box office by a mile.

The early Basic Instinct 2 reviews are rolling in… and it’s not really coming as any surprise that the long overdue sequel is getting hammered. And hammered HARD. I have no doubt this thing will make some money at the box office because of its promise of hot sex and nudity (I never understand why people go to the movies to see that stuff when rumour has it you can get it for free on the internet).

Anyway, here is what some of the critics are saying in their Basic Instinct 2 reviews:

“Going to go down in history as not only one of the worst sequels of all time, but also one of the worst films of all time. Come video, it may just have an ‘Alan Smithee’ credit festooned to its title sequence.”
Clint Morris, MOVIEHOLE

“If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen ALL the sex; actually, you’ve even seen more than is actually in the film. A threesome in the trailer is non-existent in the final cut.”
Susan Michals, FILMSTEW.COM

“Those hoping for either a sizzling — or an unintentionally hilarious — good time will be disappointed by this inexplicably dull sequel.”
Dennis Harvey, VARIETY

The threesome isn’t in it?!?!?! What the hell kind of rip off is that?!?! Dirty buggers.

As of this moment, Basic Instinct 2 is carrying a sad, yet better than I though, 21% at Rotten Tomatoes. But even the critics who are giving it positive ratings are saying the film is disappointing. This probably marks the end of Sharon Stone in leading roles. She’s still serviceable as a character actor though in my opinion.

Elizabeth Banks (Bookstore girl from 40 Year Old Virgin) is a hot as a Nuclear fire. I can’t wait to see her new one Slither this week. However, Elizabeth is also in Spider-Man 3 reprising her role as the secretary of J. Johan Jameson… and according to her… perhaps another love interest for Peter Parker?

Our friends over at Cinescape give us the following:

Banks told MTV, “I do definitely sort of explore a little bit more of my relationship with Peter Parker.” She noted the groundwork is being laid for a Peter-Betty relationship much like the office romance they shared in the comics. “Peter Parker — he actually is Hugh Hefner,” she jokingly added.

Banks also noted, “They’re really exploring the dark side of power, the power a superhero has. Do you use it all for good? That’s the question. That’s the main theme of the movie.”

You know… a few Audio Edition episodes ago we talked about the possibility of them killing off Mary Jane. This is looking more and more like a possibility to me for the following reasons (although I admit these “reasons” are shaky… just play along with me):

1) The supposed plot outline for Spider-Man 3 floating around (see it here) mentions that someone close to Peter dies in the film

2) The above quote by Elizabeth Banks

3) The fact that they’re bringing in Gwen Stacy

Add all that up and to me… it looks like they could be setting the stage for a Mary Jane funeral. I don’t REALLY think that’s what is going to happen… but there is a chance. Your thoughts?

Gaaahhh!!!! My day was going so well too. As we already mentioned here on The Movie Blog, they’ve given the green light for the Ocean’s 13 movie to go ahead. All the major players are coming back… except no Julia Roberts or Catharine Zeta Jones Campea. Oh well… no romantic interests in the film is good news as far as I’m concerned anyway.

But wait! Now there are rumblings of the most overrated, boxoffice failure after failure, talentless actress Jennifer Lopez may be up for a role in the film. In the words of Darth Vader at the end of Revenge of the Sith: “NOOOOOOOOO!!!!”

It would be a reunion of sorts with George Clooney from their old “Out of Sight” days… however J.Lo had very little to do with that movie working so well. This is a bad bad bad idea. Yes, it would follow the trend of putting big names in the Ocean’s films… but just don’t do it with an actress who refers to herself in abbreviated form.

If there were a temple dedicated to Christopher Walken, then I would probably worship there every Sunday. This guy is a Hall of Famer. The man is just deadly in hard drama… but as of late he’s been using his hard edge persona to do comedy… and doing it well. In that spirit, he’s signed up to be in the new Ping Pong comedy “Balls of Fury” (Oh man I like the title!

The good folks over at Cinemablend give us the following:

Walken has signed on to star in Balls of Fury, a film about the national sport of China: Ping Pong. Typecast forever as the singing, dancing, cooking face of pure evil, Chris Walken will of course play the villain.

Chris’s character is named Fang, and I’m going to go out on a limb here and predict that he has a brother named Scar. It’s only natural. Opposite Walken is a guy named Dan Fogler as a disgraced ex-player recruited by the CIA to play a table tennis tournament in the evil Fang’s lair.

He’s playing a villain named FANG!!!! I’m in love with this movie already. It looks like the Ping Pong version of Dodgeball.

The only concern I have about this is that Walken seems to be doing a LOT of comedy of late. I think he needs to get back to his harder dramatic roles for a while before the novelty of seeing him in comedy wears off.

I’m a fan of Lucy Liu. Not just because I find her “she makes me walk funny” attractive… but also because I think she’s sharp as an actress. her character roles (I LOVED her in Payback). Now she’s got a new project in the works called Beautiful Asian Bride.

The good folks over at Digital Spy give us this:

With Steven Gary Banks and Claudia Grazioso (Are We There Yet?) writing the script, the film will tell the story of a man who is wrongly accused of murder and therefore makes the logical decision of going undercover as a mail order bride to prove his innocence.

Ummm… oookkayyyyy. Not sure how that sounds to me. kinda odd… but hey at least it’s original. If its got Lucy in it them I’m there… I think.

Ouch. The new Flicka trailer has hit the web… and I’ll try to sugar coat this as much as I can.. but this film looks HORRIBLE. I don’t know how else to say it. It seems to be based on the idea that if you throw every emotional cliche in there… then somehow it’ll turn out ok. it doesn’t work.

Not to mention, the producers take a sickingly obvious marketing move and put Tim McGraw (yes… the SINGER) in the lead male role in a horse and cowboy movie. McGraw didn’t do a bad job in his tiny role in Friday Night Lights… but I think he needs like 3 or 4 more of those types of roles to jump to a lead… and the Flicka trailer proves that point rather obviously.

To see the Flicka trailer you can jump over here.

I’m a big fan of Nicole Kidman. Almost without exception I have loved every performance she has ever turned in. I still think her performance in Moulin Rouge is one of the best I’ve ever seen by an actress… but I digress.

The good folks over at Cinema Confidential are reporting on a new project Kidman is going to be developing for herself:

Nicole Kidman and writer Simon Kinberg are teaming on an untitled spy thriller for Rengency Enterprises and 20th Century Fox. Kinberg will write the screenplay while Kidman will star and produce. The trade says that story details are being kept under wraps, but the film is described as being in the vein of “The Bourne Identity” but with a female protagonist.

Nicole Kidman in an action role? Hmmm… it’s hard for me to picture this one. Yeah, she was in The Peacemaker with Clooney… but she really wasn’t involved in the action that much. Can she pull this off? Well… if she can, it’ll make her one of the most well rounded actresses of all time in my opinion, cause this lady has already shown she can pull off just about everything else.

I am one of the few humans alive today that actually enjoyed Punisher. I’ve also been looking forward to seeing where they take things with Punisher 2. However, it would appear that while Punisher 2 is still going to get made… it’s getting delayed for a while. Our friends at Cinematical give us this:

Tom Jane recently gave another Q and A session over at his message boards, and in the very first question Tom back-tracked on his earlier suggestion about the movie filming this summer. According to Tom, P2 is “still looking for a good script,” which the team hopes to have in place by sometime this fall.

Hmmm… that actually flies contrary to the word I heard a while ago that said the script was finished. oh well… guess that was either incorrect or they trashed the script and decided to start again. I’m not DYING to see Punisher 2… but I’ll still be happy when it finally comes out… IF it ever comes out.

Non-Actress Jessica Simpson just doesn’t want to take the hint. Totally confused why some studio won’t hand her a serious role, Jessica has taken matters into her own hands (Many of you are wishing your penis was named “matters”), and bought the movie rights to the Jackie Collins novel “Lovers and Players“. Gosh, I wonder who she’s planning on putting in the lead female role?

The good folks over at Cinematical give us this little tid bit onthe project:

Lovers and Players tells the story of a billionaire who summons his three sons to Las Vegas in order to make an announcement about their inheritance. Somewhere mixed in is a 19-year-old waitress named Liberty who aspires to be the next Mariah Carey.

Oh surprise surprise! A music celeb who is going to make a movie about a character who wants to become a music celeb. Gee Whizz… never seen that before have we.
Look, I’m sorry to come off so harsh, but it has to be said: Someone needs to tell her to wear her tight little outfits, smile with those beautiful teeth and shake her titties for 3 minutes at a time in her music videos and stay the hell out of movies. She’ll make more money than I ever could in 8 lifetimes. Do all of us film fans a favour and leave the art of acting to real actresses.

Here is some of the other movie news floating around the web today:

- Richard Dean Anderson Returns To Stargate Yeah it’s a TV show… but it’s based on a movie so worth commenting on. The reruns are one of my guilty pleasures from time to time.

- Brett Ratner talks a little Juggernaut Him busting through those walls are my favorite parts of the X3 trailer.

- Gnomeo & Juliet Canceled A 3D animated film about garden Gnomes in a rendition of the Shaekpser play gets the axe at Disney. Looks like that Pixar merger is paying off with some decent decisions.

- The Equalizer movie talk All I can say is that my mom used to love this show

- Rebecca Romijn jumps to TV

- Arquette Family to Receive Film Award Holy crap… I never realized how deeply acting went into that family. You should read this one.

- Ray Romano talks Ice Age 2

- Justin Timberlake in Rambo Style Movie Oh good grief, I’m just not going to say anything to this.

Take this one with a grain of salt folks. A film site I like to visit once in a while (Movie Tab) has put up what they claim is the “Official Plot Summary” for Spider-Man 3. How do they have their hands on this an no one else? Your guess (or suscpision) is as good as mine. But, I thought I would be remiss if I didn’t at least share this with you and let you decide for yourselves.

With his secret now revealed to both Mary Jane and Harry, Peter must face the consequences of his actions and his new life together with Mary Jane as they finally form a relationship. Yet their newfound open display of love has yielded some unfortunate results, not the least of which is Peter’s upset boss determined to make his life hell for causing his son emotional distress. Not helping is a young investigative reporter named Eddie Brock who Jameson has hired to find out why Mary Jane dumped his son for Peter - what’s Parker’s secrets?

At the same time an escaped prisoner hiding out on a remote beach is caught in a dreadful accident and finds himself turned into a shape-shifting sand creature. Peter’s investigations into the past of this ‘Sandman’ brings him in contact with two very different things that will inevitably alter his life. The first a young woman named Gwen Stacy, daughter of the city’s new police chief who is developing a soft spot for Peter. The other, a black substance from an accident scene which ‘merges’ with Peter’s costume and gives him new found abilities.

Things come to a head however when Harry Osborn, determined to take revenge against Peter for his father’s death and now equipped with what he needs to pull it off, teams with The Sandman in a new variation of his father’s Green Goblin guise and causes mayhem. In the ensuing chaos lives are lost, including people very close to Peter, whilst the black substance covering his suit separates from him and merges with a distraught Brock to form something else entirely - a creature unlike anything he’s ever faced. A ‘Venom’ that he may not be able to stop.

So what do you think? Real? Bunk? Leave your thoughts below. Thanks to Devon for brining this to my attention.

I really enjoyed Ocean’s 11. I even liked Ocean’s 12… just not as much. Well now here comes the word that Ocean’s 13 is on its way:

George Clooney’s an Academy Award winner, he and his crew are returning to their thieving ways. Clooney, Brad Pitt and Matt Damon will star in “Ocean’s 13,” the third flick in their franchise about a gang of lovable crooks, distributor Warner Bros. announced Monday.

Word is that most of the supporting cast are coming back as well… except this time there doesn’t seem to be any mention of Julia Roberts or Catharine Zeta Jones Douglas Campea (last part is just wishful thinking). Does that mean there will be a new love interest? Or none at all (that would be my vote).

I like this news… mostly because as an actor, I really like George Clooney, and I still think Brad Pitt is one of the 10 best in the business today. The two of them had (in my opinion) fantastic on screen chemistry as partners in crime. I just hope this one is better than the second one. (via MSNBC)

Just the other day my friend Dave Blondel from Pocket Sized Films was over here and asking me if I’ve ever watched Arrested Development… to which I replied “no” (I don’t watch a lot of TV besides Battlestar Galactica, news and sports). He then went on about how amazing the show is (I’ve read a lot of people say that too).

Well perhaps the TV gods heard that conversation and decided that John needed to see the show in his own native language of film… so now here comes rumbling that there may indeed be an Arrested Development movie on its way. The good folks over at Cinema Confidential give us this:

“Arrested Development” TV series creator Mitch Hurwitz has quit the show, leaving little hope for the series to continue on another network for a fourth season. But could it follow in the footsteps of “Firefly” and be resurrected as a feature film? The trade hints as such. Hurwitz hints to the trade that while “Arrested Development” has run its course as a TV series, a feature film is a possibilty for the future.

So what do you think? I’m not really in a position to comment on if this is a good idea or not since I haven’t seen the show… so the floor is yours.

Ever since the trailer for the new film United 93 came out, a lot of people have been bashing the project saying it’s someone trying to cash in on the tragedy of the events of 9/11. I never bought that. I still don’t buy that (well… at least until I see the movie). Perhaps that bashing is what’s behind the release of this behind the scenes video of United 93, which talks about how director Paul Greengrass went and talked to the families of the victims of Flight 93 before going ahead with the movie.

This short little video is pretty moving. Several family members of victims talking about how they wanted this film to get made, and to tell the stories of their loved ones.

Is the studio hoping to make money on this? Obviously they are… it’s still a business. But in doing this film, I don’t think they crossed any lines, and appear to have gone about it the right way. Final judgement will have to wait until we see the film to decide is they succeeded or not. (via AICN)

FHM magazine has come out with their annual “100 Sexiest Women in the World” issue, and drop dead gorgeous movie star Scarlett Johansson hit #1 replacing Angelina Jolie in the top spot (Jolie dropped all the way down to #2).

The top 10 of the list looks something like this:

1) Scarlett Johansson
2) Angelina Jolie
3) Jessica Alba
4) Jesica Simpson
5) Keira Knightley
6) Halle Berry
7) Jenny McCarthy
8) Maria Sharapova
9) Carmen Electra
10) Teri Hatcher

Do I agree 100% with that list? Not really. However, let’s just say that if that particular list was my April Date card… then I would be a very happy man.

I guess it was only a matter of time. Here comes “Fuck” the movie. Hot on the heel of “The Aristocrats” (which is just hilarious by the way), a movie which traces the life of a single joke as told by 100 comedians, ThinkFilm is following up with a movie that traces the history and origins of the dirtiest of words.

The good folks over at M&C give us this:

Think decided to pick up the Steve Anderson helmed ‘Fuck’ after it played at the South by Southwest film festival earlier this year. Theatrical release is planned for late 2006.

Good grief. This may be the first time in history that a movie gets an “R” rating just for it’s title. All joking aside, I think this could actually be a little interesting. I’m always facinated by the origins of popular sayings or words… I guess I never really thought about this one. But really… when you think about it… who came up with the word “Fuck” in the first place and why?!?!

Here are some of the other movie news items floating around the web today:

- Jackie Chan gets injured by stuntman The word for today boys and girls is “irony”

- Peter Jackson talks King Kong DVD

- Tom Hanks to make “How Starbucks Saved My Life” “Hanks starring as a hot shot business guy who loses his job and family and must take a job at the titular caffeine joint. He learns important lessons, by the way, possibly including that your value as a person isn’t dictated by your job or paycheck. Hanks will be acting this epiphany out in between visits to the bank to cash his 20 million dollar fee.”

- Jet Li getting Sued over his new movie Apparently the grandson of a character Li portrays isn’t rich and wants some of Li’s pie.

- Daryl Hannah and Michael Madsen in Vice The former Deadly Viper Assassination Squad teammates hook up again as cops.

- The Media in Hong Kong REALLY HATE Zhang Ziyi Hey Zhang… if you’re reading this and need someone to console you… drop me a line. I’m here for you anytime.

- “Dark Honeymoon” to star Daryl Hannah, Roy Sheider and Eric Roberts Man, Hannah is getting busy again. Nice to see. And I was wondering where the hell Eric Roberts had been too.

- Sneak Peek The Fast and The Furious 3 Who cares? It’s like saying “Get a sneak peek at your grandfather’s anus”.

- New Poseidon Production Stills

I can’t decide if this one sounds like a pile of stupid brain dead nonsense… or fantastic fun. The new project called “Razorwire” is about ready to go into production… and here’s what Dark Horizons tell us about it:

The script centers on a group of small-time drug dealers who discover that vampires, who also happen to be cops, have been feeding on the disadvantaged people in the ghetto. When the vampire cops start framing them for the murders, the dealers go to war with their new immortal enemies.

Oh… My… Goodness. Drug dealers going to war against Vampire cops?!?!?! Are they serious?!?!?! This idea is moronic. No wait… it’s hilarious. No… no I’m going back to stupid. Wait a second, I want to line up for tickets right now. Gaaaa… I can feel my intelligence slipping away every second that I even think about this… and yet it could be the greatest thing EVER!!!

Forget it, I can’t make up my mind. What do you guys think?

File this one under “Good heavens please don’t ever let this happen“. But according to the UK newspaper The Sun, it appears Lindsay Lohan is interested in playing Wonder Woman. I’m going to have trouble sleeping tonight.

“Wonder Woman would be cool. I’m trying to find roles right now that are different to anything I’ve done to show my abilities, to show that I have some sort of stretch in me. Because most of the things that I’ve done so far are aimed at younger girls and are light-hearted.”

Now remember, this is Lindsay Lohan saying this… not Joss Whedon or some studio exec. I have to believe that Whedon wouldn’t EVER allow this kind of casting to happen (at least I hope he wouldn’t). If this were to ever happen, the Wonder Woman project would instantly become a “stelth” project and magically vanish from everyone’s collective interest radar screen. At least it would disappear from mine. (via)

Watchmen has been “on again/off again” almost as much as the new Indiana Jones project of the last couple of years. Now it looks like there could finally be some real tangible movement on the film. According to AICN, Watchmen may finally have itself a director. Here’s what they had to say:

I’ve been able to confirm now that (Zack) Snyder has entered negotiations with Warner Bros. to helm the project, which is fantastic news. I know that all you guys have seen so far is DAWN OF THE DEAD, so that’s all you can judge him on, but trust me… 300 is a whole different ball game. When you get a load of what this guy is capable of… when you see how far he pushes things with bringing Frank Miller’s world to life… you’ll be just as excited as I am.

WIth the success of Sin City, you just knew the studio would find a way to take advantage of the graphic novel at some point. Maybe this is actually it.

A few months ago I posted a story about the upcoming film “The Mutant Chronicles“. The movie will star Thomas Jane (Punisher) and apparently they’ve also just got one of my favorite actors on the planet, Mr. John Malkovich! Yee Hawww, this thing is shaping up to be fun!

So what is “The Mutant Chronicles” all about? Here’s a quick synopsis from the good folks over at Killer Movies:

Malkovich will play Constantine, who heads a United Nations-style council of four corporation-run countries that have pillaged Earth’s natural resources. When a marauding army of “NecroMutants” wages a battle against humans for the little that remains, Constantine is tempted to destroy the planet and evacuate some of its people rather than allow it to be overtaken, all with the corporations’ best interests in mind.

Oh my sweet goodness this sounds like earth shattering cheesy goodness. The Sci-Fi geek in me just can’t wait! Yeah, it’ll probably suck hard… but I choose to be optimistic! :)

As most of you know, Ben Affleck is getting ready to make his directorial debut with his film “Gone Baby Gone“. He’s already pulled off the next to impossible task of getting his younger brother to appear in the film, as well as Kiss Kiss Bang Bang hottie Michelle Monaghan. But come one, what serious actor wants to hook up with a film that Ben Affleck is directing right?

Well, it appears maybe a couple of big names. Reports are now saying that multi Oscar nominee Ed Harris has joined up for the project, and that Morgan Freeman could be on lhis way as well. That’s adding some serious talent fire power. Do these guys know something about Affleck that we don’t? Here’s a quick synopsis of Gone Baby Gone from the good folks over at CHUD:

The thriller follows Affleck and Monaghan’s Beantown private detective duo who, while on a child-abduction case, get enmeshed in a web of drug dealers and police corruption. Harris, last seen menacing The Vig in A History of Violence, will be on the other side of the badge to play Remy Broussard, a special crimes unit cop who assists the dicks on their case.

Sounds SLIGHTLY interesting. I’ll reserve all judgements till be get closer to an actual release. But as for the issue at hand… is anyone else surprised that Harris would sign up for this?

I’m man enough to admit this publicly. I FRICKIN LOVED MARCH OF THE PENGUINS!!!! I seriously did. I’m also man enough to admit that I actually had a couple of tears well up when that mother Penguin was wailing over the frozen body of her dead baby. But I was sitting with another guy at the time… so I fought back the tears in a very manly way.

Anyway, in the funniest idea for a spoof comedy I think I’ve ever heard, Samuel L Jackson is going to narrate the Penguins take off “Farce of the Penguins” (if you’ll recall Morgan Freeman did the voice work for March of the Penguins). The story will be about a bunch of penguins who march for 70+ miles in a quest to get laid. Hilarious!!!!!

Oh oh oh… and guess who’s directing? BOB SAGET!!!! This thing is gold before it even starts shooting! And get this amazing list of actors lending their voices for the film (from the good folks over at Cinema Blend):

Saget will voice the lead penguin, and he is joined by a huge array of talent: Lewis Black, Mo’Nique, Tracy Morgan, Jason Alexander, James Belushi, Jason Biggs, Dane Cook, Harvey Fierstein, Whoopi Goldberg, Gilbert Gottfried, Norm Macdonald, Carlos Mencia, Alyson Hannigan, Jamie Kennedy, Jon Lovitz, Adam Duritz, John Stamos, Dave Coulier, and more.

Holy crap! With Saget, Stamos and Coulier all involved it’ll be a Full house reunion special! Where are the Olsen twins? Sign me up, I think this sounds hilarious!

I’m a big fan of Randy Quaid. The man just brings so much pure character to every role he plays. Sometimes outrageously silly, sometimes deadly serious, the man seemingly always delivers. The same is true of his performance in Brokeback Mountain.

However, all is not smiles and giggles in Brokeback land. Randy Quaid is suing the producers of the film alleging that they engaged in “intentional and negligent misrepresentation”. What’s the problem? The good folks over at the USA Today give us this:

Quaid filed a lawsuit Thursday in Los Angeles County Superior Court alleging the producers got him to work cheap by falsely claiming the movie was “a low-budget, art house film, with no prospect of making any money.”

“Yet from day one, defendants fully intended that the film would not be made on a low budget, would be given a worldwide release, and would be supported as the studio picture it always was secretly intended to be,” the lawsuit says. Quaid agreed to waive his usual seven-figure fee and share of gross profits in favor of a much smaller payment, the suit claims, although it doesn’t say how much he was paid.

The story goes on to say that Quaid is seeking… are you ready for this… $10 million in damages. Yikes!

I’m of two minds on this issue. On the one hand, Randy suffered no damage from this. It’s not as if he had to work harder because the film did well and got a wide release. Randy agreed (under whatever circumstances) to do a job for a certain amount of money. He did the job, got paid what was agreed, and that should be the end of it. HOWEVER…

On the other hand I can sort of see where Quaid is coming from. If he took a huge paycut as a favour to the producers under the impression that the film was going to cost much less to make and not get big studio backing or release… and THEN he finds out it cost more to make and got the big studio treatment… then maybe I’d be ticked off too.

I’m not sure what the answer is to this one… the only thing that is certain is that this is going to get messy and it’s not going away anytime soon. What do you think? Should Quaid get more cash?

The Movie Blog Alumnist Richard Brunton has launched his new film site “Filmstalker“. For those of you who may not know, Richard was one of the contributors here on The Movie Blog for over a year. Richard’s writing is superb, his insight is sharp and his editorials thought provoking.

The new filmstalker sites looks just amazing with a slick design and easy lay out. With Richard’s writing you can bet it will be around for some time. So if you like good movie pundintry, head on over to Filmstalker and give the site a look. Make sure to drop Rich a note to say “job well done”.