Ok, some news from the Batman-On-FIlm site which usually seems to get acurate and up to date Batman news. So here it goes:

1) Heath Ledger was indeed offered The Joker role… but as of yet hasn’t signed on. He will

2) Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been offered the role of The Penguin, although it doesn’t look like he’s going to accept the role. I don’t blame him.

3) The Penguin will be “a British arms dealer/mob boss with designs on Gotham”

4) Ryan Phillippe name is being banged around as a potential Harvy Dent.

Ok, wow… where to start? First of all I really do think Ledger will sign. This is a no brainer. To be offered the role of The Joker is huge, and all that’s stopping him right now is a little bit of ego since he got his Oscar Nomination. When the deadline comes that the studio gave him to decide… he’ll sign.

Next, I’d LOVE to see Phillip Seymour Hoffman as The Penguin. But no way do I see him accepting it. It’s no where near as juicy a role as The Joker, and why would this Oscar winner want to play 3rd fiddle in a movie now? He’ll pass on it. I have no idea who should be offered the role next.

3rd, The Penguin as an arms dealer? Yeah… sign me up I like it.

Lastly, I really don’t mind the idea of Ryan Phillippe as Harvy Dent. The man is an underrated actor and has some great chops. HOWEVER… I’d have a hard time buying him (being as young as he is) as a District Attorney. I think I’d rather see some guy in his 40’s in the role. But I wouldn’t HATE the casting of Phillippe.

Your thoughts?

Ever since it was announced that there was going to be a North American remake of the AMAZING Asian film “Infernal Affairs” a lot of people have speculated if it was going to be any good or not. Well, I think “The Departed” is going to be FANTASTIC! There are 4 reasons I think this film will rock:

1) Amazing cast - Jack Nicholson, Leonardo DiCaprio, Matt Damon, Mark Wahlberg, Martin Sheen, Alec Baldwin… HOLY CRAP!

2) Fantastic source material - Infernal Affairs my be my favorite cop movie of all time.

3) Most importantly… The Director - Martin Scorsese totally rules

4) The new trailer!

Yeah, The Departed trailer is finally here… and it does NOT disappoint in any way! This thing look frigging amazing! And someone tell me when the hell did DiCaprio get so frigging ripped?!?!

You can see The Departed trailer here.

It was a day of great joy and celebration when it was announced Pixar was picking back up the Toy Story Franchise out of the hands of the Disney animation group (yes yes I know… they’re all one big happy family now… but still). A non-Pixar Toy Story would have been nothing short of sacrilege!!

But all is right with the world again… and it looks like the main voice cast actors are returning to their parts for Toy Story 3. The good folks over at JoBlo give us this:

Says (Tim) Allen: “We have John Lasseter, the original director, and I believe Tom (Hanks) is on board” with a “stronger” story than the one Disney was originally planning. And all is right in the world.

This is great news. It wouldn’t have been the end of the world if they had to get new voices for the characters… but I think we’ll all agree that getting Allen and Hanks back is nothing but a good thing. To Infinity! And Beyond! Wait… I thought there was nothing BEYOND infinity?

When I first heard that Sylvester Stallone was going to be doing another Rocky film and Rambo film… I thought they were both just stupid ideas. I’ll admit that my mind has been changed on the Rock film. The story I’ve read and the trailer have me actually excited about seeing it. But I STILL think another Rambo film is just nuts.

So the good folks over at Dark Horizons have the Rambo 4 plot available for all to see. Here’s what they give us:

After ruling out the Mideast, Africa, and Korea, the actor finally hit on a solution “I called Soldier of Fortune magazine and said, ‘What is the most critical man-doing-inhumanity-to-man situation right now in the world? Where is it?” says Stallone. They came back with Burma (aka. Myanmar), the largest country geographically in mainland Southeast Asia.

Art Monterastelli (“The Hunted”) co-wrote the script with Stallone which finds Rambo living a monastic lifestyle in Bangkok and salvaging old PT boats and tanks for scrap metal. When a group of volunteers bringing supplies into Burma disappears, a relative of one of the missing missionaries begs Rambo to find them. He heads off with a team of young guns to find them.

The movie starts shooting on October 1st.

The whole question of “who will be the bad guys” is a touchy one… and this idea isn’t a bad idea. The humanitarian disaster in Burma is insane. But they have no oil… so Tony Blair and Bush don’t talk about it (ok, enough with the political commentary).

The concept for the film above isn’t half bad… but I STILL say another Rambo film is a bad idea. But like most studios, they aren’t listening to me and production is about to start. I hope I end up being wrong about this one.

This news is actually a couple of days old, but I thought I’d throw my 2 cents worth in there anyway.

As many of you know, Roger Ebert is recovering from some serious health problems and surgery. That leaves Ebert and Ropper one film critic short. So who is stepping in to fill the shoes? Kevin Smith (Yes, the director of Clerks). I think this is AMAZING news for several reasons:

1) I have always said Smtih is a master communicator. He doesn’t seem to pull any punches or spare any praise. He’s never afraid to look like a fan boy, or like an asshole.

2) He has a filmmakers perspective. Seeing a major director giving reviews for film is going to be novel at worst… hilarious at best.

3) Tons of attention to the show and to Smith. I don’t think a lot of your average Kevin Smith fans regularly watch Ebert’s show. But guess what… his episodes will have a bunch of new viewers for sure… and some people who don’t normally take in Smith’s films will probably be exposed to him really for the first time.

Some other film commentators out there have been bashing this move. Some say it’s hypocritical for Smih to do reviews… and I can see where they’re coming from… but I also disagree totally. I think this is a great thing. As long as it’s just a guest spot and he doesn’t start his own review show or anything like that.

HEY!!!! Come to think of it… I’m now looking for a regular Audio Edition Co-Host. I should give Smith a call. Think he’d do it? :P

I first really took notice of Justin Long back in Galaxy Quest. The next film I saw him in was the highly underrated Jeepers Creepers… and after seeing him in that I remember thinking “Wow… this kid can actually act!” I’ve been a moderate fan of his ever since.

Now it’s being reported that Justin has been signed up to be in Die Hard 4. The good folks over at IESB give us the following:

While the official announcement is expected within the next few days, the IESB can confirm that he is in the final stages of his negotiations. He will either play the son of John McClane, of course, reprised by Bruce Willis or a computer hacker that he teams up with.

I think this is good news on 2 levels. First of all I think Long will fit in quite well with this kind of project. Second… it’s more signs of life from the Die Hard 4 project which some people have started to doubt will ever happen. Looks like it must be a “go”.

Personally, I’d rather not see him as the son. But hey… I haven’t seen the script, so maybe that actually works as the best story point. We’ll see. Yippee Ki Yay.

Here is some of the other movie news floating around the web today that John isn’t interested enough in to write about… but thought you may be interested in anyway:

- The TMNT (Teenage Mutant Nija Turtles) character posters They look as stupid as I feared. Just look at the Michaelangelo one. Ug.

- A Mr. Show Movie Looks like the popular show “Mr. Show” may be getting a big screen treatment

- The Wicker Man gets a release date It’s September 1st for anyone who cares

- The Golden Compass Villain is Nicole Kidman Wow… good one.

- Roman Polanski in Rush Hour 3

- “Fun with Rape” with Dakota Fanning She pulls a child rape scene and does nudity. Is this even legal?

- Freddie Prinze Jr. is back He and Chris Klein are doing a comedy called New York City Serenade

- Santa Clause 3 poster You know what… I actually really really like it (just as a poster)

- Jessica Biel joins “I Now Pronounce You Chuch and Larry” Some day I’d love to announce on here that “Jessica Biel joins John Campea in a hot tub”

- Ratatouille Cast Officially Revealed

It looks like the folks at Warner Bros are taking a page from the Disney playbook. It’s been announced that as of December, you won’t be able to buy copies of Sorcerer’s Stone, Chamber of Secrets and Prisoner of Azkaban. On February of 2007, Harry Potter and The Goblet of Fire disappears too.

Our friends over at Cinematical give us this:

Why are they doing this? I imagine they want little Harry all to themselves, kept under lock and key, only to be brought out for super-special occasions. Actually, it’s a fairly common move (Disney does it all the time), and seeing as this is a non-Potter holiday season, Warners wants to beef up sales and, potentially, start building hype for what’s sure to be a plethora of special edition, HD or Blue-Ray DVDs to follow.

You know… I just don’t like this. Yes, it seems to make sense from a business point of view… but there just seems to be something inheritantly wrong with making it difficult for your fans to get your stuff.

The Harry Potter fans (of which I’m not one) have made JK Rowling and WB a LOT of money. More than the net worth of some countries. And how are they saying “thank you” to those devoted Potter fans? By saying “Screw you… you can only have these when we say you can have them”. I find something very disrespectful and wrong with that.

Your thoughts?

This is really good news (at least I think it is). Disney is getting ready to head back to the medium that made them famous. 2-D animation! They’re obviously not getting rid of 3-D animation, but adding the traditional animation back into its fold!

Our friends over at Cinemablend give us this:

Variety says they’re returning to 2-D animation for the first time since 2004’s Home on the Range. They’ll do it with a movie called The Frog Princess, being developed by John Musker and Robert Clements. They’re the guys responsible for Disney 2-D classics like Aladdin and The Little Mermaid. The interesting thing here is that both Musker and Clements abandoned Disney several years ago, and only recently returned after the very public merger of Disney and Pixar, which put people like John Lasseter in charge of Disney’s animation division. With the help of Pixar’s team, it looks like Disney is regaining its reputation as a haven for great animation talent.

I’m a 3-D animation junkie, but 2-D animation is a wonderful medium for story telling. There’s just something magical about it when done right.

At the end of the day, all that really matters is the story… but different mediums can give a story a different flavor… and it’s nice to see Disney shaking up the spice rack again.

Babel has been one of those movies in production that gets your attention when you hear about it… but you quickly forget it. Even though the film has Brad Pitt and Cate Blanchett star in it, I never really paid attention to its development. But now the Babel trailer is here… and it 100% has my attention now. WOW.

Here’s the synopsis for the film:

In the remote sands of the Moroccan desert, a rifle shot rings out - detonating a chain of events that will link an American tourist couple’s frantic struggle to survive, two Moroccan boys involved in an accidental crime, a nanny illegally crossing into Mexico with two American children and a Japanese teen rebel whose father is sought by the police in Tokyo.

It doesn’t make much sense does it? That’s probably the reason I never really paid attention to it. But now, after reading that, you REALLY MUST go watch the Babel trailer. I’m suddenly beside myself wanting to see it.

You can watch the Babel trailer here.

Oh my sweet goodness… they didn’t REALLY make this movie did they? I mean… they couldn’t right? This is a fake right? Nope… it’s real. A comedy movie about the LA riots sparked by the Rodney King beating. Yes you read that right… a COMEDY. Wow… someone has some HUGE balls.

My two favorite parts of the trailer are the boxing announcer in the streets after the innocent verdict from the trial yelling out “Let’s get ready to RRIIIOOTTTTTT!” And people shooting Rodney King after he says “Can’t we all just get along?”

I’m totally stunned they made this film. I heard about it but always thought it was a joke. Well… here it is.

If you’d like to see the LA Riots Spectacular trailer you can just go here. (Thanks to Brian for the heads up)

If you haven’t seen Tony Jaa in Ong Bak, then you’re really missing out if you’re an action fan. Ong Bak could be one of the stupidest films ever made in terms of plot and dialog… BUT WHO THE HELL CARES!?!?! It’s the film that introduced us to the new king of action, Tony Jaa! This guy just isn’t human. Fast as hell and does all his own stunts with no special effects or wire work. No seriously… what you see is what you get… and what you get is un-F’ing -believable!

Tony’s new film “The Protector” is coming… and I don’t care one bit what the synopsis is, the story, the chareacters… NOTHING. All I care about is seeing Tony Jaa kicking some serious ass and putting his own life in really unecessary danger and peril for my 90 minutes of entertainment. JOY!

You can swing over here to catch some stills from The Protector.

Up until The Da Vinci Code, Tom Hanks has pretty much been 100% money in the bank as far as the kind of performance he’ll turn in. Anything that has his name attached to it will instantly catch my attention. Add on top of that the fact that I’m a sucker for political thrillers and a fan of real life stories… and you’ve got me foaming at the mouth for Charlie Wilson’s War.

Directed by Mike Nichols, the film will focus the CIA’s arming of the Mujahedeen rebels in Afghanistan in their struggle against the Soviet Union, as organised by Texan congressman Wilson (Hanks) who joined forces with a rogue CIA agent.

Wow… this thing has “powder keg” written all over it. I can’t help but wonder if the film will actually look at how many of the men armed by the CIA went on to become the Taliban’s enforcers and Osama bin Laden’s protectors. Or will the film go the other route and try to avoid political commentary and just stick to the main character and time period? Either way I’m looking forward to this one.

Post apocalyptic “save the human race” flicks are almost as numerous as Zombie flicks. I think 3 or 4 more of them in the next couple of years will be enough to turn me off the genre… but for now they still have my interest. Take for example this project that was just announced from Neil Marshall, the director of my film of the year so far (The Descent) called… Doomsday.

The good folks over at Cinescape give us this:

“Doomsday is a futuristic action thriller,” Marshall said. “It’s about a group of people [who] team together to try to prevent the extinction of the human race. It will be a dark, brutal action adventure. It’s kind of an Escape From L.A., except set in the U.K.,” he said. “It will be a post-apocalyptic future and will include futuristic knights and involve car chases. There is a disease that threatens the remainder of humanity.”

The story takes place in northern England and Scotland and has political overtones. It is set in the near future, when the world has become a very intense place to live. A disaster threatens the future of mankind, and a team of people have to stop it.

Futuristic Knights and car chases? Ok, you’ve got my attention.

Nothing really revolutionary in there, but the genre hasn’t worn itself out yet, and the fact that Neil Marshall is going to direct it has me hooked for sure. Did I mention you really should see The Descent this weekend?

Here are some of the other bits of movie news floating around the web today that John wasn’t interested enough in to write about, but thought you might be:

- Hilary Swank enters “Labyrinth” No, not a remake of the David Bowie film… a remake of a 2003 French thriller

- Brad Pitt reteaming with David Fincher in ”Benjamin Button” Hell, the team worked pretty damn well for Se7en and Fight Club.

- Simon Pegg in David Schwimmer’s Run, Fat Boy, Run Well, ex-Friends stars can’t seem to make it big in acting outside of the show… so why not direct

- Scarlett Johansson Denies Divalike Demands Claims she’s no Chris Tucker

- Eragon character posters Man these actually look really cool!

- Trailer for Brian De Palma’s The Black Dahlia

- A Sea-Monkeys Movie No, I’m not kidding

The news is now out that Nicolas Cage is going to be playing the lead role in a Bio-Pic about Liberace (yes, the flamboyantly gay piano player).

Funny thing, at first I giggled when I read about it. But after thinking about it a little bit, I think this is a fantastic idea. No, seriously. The life of Liberace was a totally fascinating one. I remember watching “Good Night, and Good Luck” when they played the footage of his on air interview when the news caster asked Liberace when he was going to settle down and have a family. Can you imagine the pressure this man lived with? Having so much freaking attention on him… and yet trying to hide a huge part of himself from those same adoring eyes?

I think this story has a lot of depth and a chance to be something really special. Nicolas Cage as the lead? I’m not so sure about that. I give Cage a lot more credit as an actor than most people do. I think the man is a very gifted actor who works in same bad films. Him playing Liberace is going to be a HUGE stretch for him. Man, if he could pull off Liberace, there are going to be Oscar whispers… this is not going to be an easy role for him to play. We’ll see.

This is a preview of the upcoming Simpsons Movie that was screened at Comic-Con. I watched this thing 10 times and laughed harder each time! :Why does everything I whip leave me?”

When there is a hit film… there’s a sequel. I remember all the buzz about 28 days later when it first came out. A lot of people thought it was an instant classic. I was more reserved in my praise for the flick. Don’t get me wrong, I did enjoy it… but I didn’t think it warranted as much pop as it got. But still… a solid little flick. And hell… when a movie costs only $8 million to make, and takes in over $80 world wide… it doesn’t take a scientist to figure out there is going to be another one.

Well that other one is on it’s way, and it’s called “28 Weeks Later“. The good folks over at Digital Spy give us this:

Fox Atomic, an offshoot of 20th Century Fox, have revealed information about the sequel to hit film 28 Days Later. Their press release states: “The film picks up six months after the Rage virus has decimated the city of London. The U.S. Army has restored order and is repopulating the quarantined city, when a carrier of the Rage virus enters London and unknowingly re-ignites the spread of the deadly infection, wreaking havoc on the entire population.”

Looks like Cillian Murphy won’t be back (since his paycheque now would be bigger than the whole budget of the original film), but the writers are back.

Ok, here’s the deal… this does look and sound interesting, I’ll give it that. But come on. ANOTHER zombie movie?!?! Look, I like them about as much as the next guy… BUT THEY’RE ALL THE FREAKING SAME MOVIE!!! Dawn, Day, Night, Afternoon, and F’ING Tea Time Of The Dead. Enough! Give us a little bit of a break… PLEASE.

I feel like one of the “Have nots”. I must confess that I haven’t been to an IMAX screening (Aside for a couple of documentaries that were specifically made for the format). But everyone I ever talk to who has, always raves about the experience. Well that experience is about to get a major shot in the arm as Spider-Man 3 will swing onto it next year.

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

Warner Bros. has a stranglehold on IMAX the record book, with movies such as ‘Batman Begins,’ ‘Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire’ and ‘Superman Returns’ opening on IMAX screens on the same day as their wide theatrical release. ‘The simultaneous IMAX release of `Spider-Man 3` allows us to celebrate one of the most anticipated motion picture events of the year in an exciting event format,’ said Rory Bruer, Sony`s president of domestic distribution.

I think this is going to be the film I go to see at the IMAX on opening day. With all the swinging, jumping and leaping going on, it’s going to be a spectacle to see on that massive screen. Spider-Man 3 may end up being a totally crap film (I doubt that), but even if it sucks, you know there still going to be a lot of action in it. Perfect for the IMAX. I’m there.

Oh wow. My Audio Edition co-host Doug Nagy is a big Paul Reubens fan (AKA Pee Wee Herman). Not so much the actor… but more as Pee-Wee Herman. Me personally, I think the guy is pretty funny, but I don’t hold the same emotional connection that some other people do (although I thought he was HILARIOUS in The Mystery Men).

There have been rumblings for some time that Reubens would make a return as Pee-Wee, but nothing has ever really come of it. Well now apparently Time Magazine is reporting that a return other than the Jedi or the King is upon us. Here’s what Reubens had to say about a Pee-Wee’s Playhouse movie:

“In the TV series Pee-wee almost never left the Playhouse. The movie script is just the opposite. This is a road picture, an epic adventure story where all of the characters leave the Playhouse when one of them disappears.”

I don’t know if I should be interested or very very scared. Is this really a good idea? Does it have any hope of being watchable at all other than for a quick novelty shot or nostalgia points? I know Doug will be in line for this, but will anyone else?

Seriously… could a project like this one really have any serious chances of making money at the box office? At this point… I really don’t think so. What do you think?

The early reviews for Little Miss Sunshine are coming in… and WOW THEY LOOK GOOD! I’ve been really intruiged in this flick since I first saw the trailer. It has one of the most interetsting castrs I’ve seen in a film in a long time too. I’m in line for this one.

Here is what some of the critics are saying in their Little Miss Sunshine reviews:

“A quietly antic dysfunctional family road trip comedy that shoots down the all-American culture of the winner and offers sweet redemption for losers — or at least the ordinary folks often branded as such.”
David Rooney, VARIETY

“There is nothing inherently sunny about Little Miss Sunshine, and that’s part of the fresh and clever lunacy of this deliciously dark comedy.”
Claudia Puig, USA TODAY

“Little Miss Sunshine is a dysfunctional-family comedy with a crucial difference — the function progresses, hilariously, from dys to full and loving.”
Joe Morgenstern, WALL STREET JOURNAL

“A smart, dark road comedy about a dysfunctional family that had them rolling in the aisles at this year’s Sundance Film Festival.”
Lou Lumenick, NEW YORK POST

This is the film I’ve most been looking forward to this week for certain. Greg Kinnear, Steve Carell, Toni Collette and Alan Arkin. What a cast! Right now Little Miss Sunshine is holding an insane 93%. I’ll let you know what I personally thought of it this weekend.

The Miami Vice Reviews are coming in… and they’re right about where I would figure. My take… Miami Vice is a solid film… but nothing exceptional. Totally captures the feel of the original show, well cast, decent plot, but just missing something that prevents it from being a major players.

Here is what some of the critics had to say in their Miami Vice reviews:

“Miami Vice delivers the thrills, atmosphere and romance it promises, but it doesn’t resonate like major Mann.”
David Ansen, NEWSWEEK

“Miami Vice, as entertaining as some of it is, is so cool that it’s almost too cool. It takes the sin, and much of the juice, out of vice.”
Owen Gleiberman, ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY

“Vice revels in the creative latitude that an R-rated feature provides without departing from the show’s rudimentary structure.”
Brian Lowry, VARIETY

“The visuals are arresting, but Michael Mann’s update on the quintessentially ’80s series is an otherwise glum and glummer proposition.”
Michael Rechtshaffen, HOLLYWOOD REPORTER

“Filled with gorgeous images, expertly assembled and perfectly set to music. But for the most part, it’s all completely superfluous”
Jon Popick, PLANET SICK-BOY

As of this moment Miami Vice is holding a 64% on Rotten Tomatoes. This is pretty close to the 7 out of 10 that I give the film. Like I said, it’s a solid flick… but nothing exceptional at all. You can see more Moami Vice reviews here.

The Descent reviews are now coming in… and to be honest they are simply not high enough. As I mentioned yesterday on The Audio Edition in my Descent review, the film is my movie of the year so far and easily the scriest film I”ve watched in at least the last 5 years. It really is that good.

But to each their own, and as I always say, the most beautiful thing about movies are the pure subjectivity of them. So here is what some of the critics are saying in their The Descent reviews:

“The Descent pulls you down into a dark nightmare and doesn’t let you come up for air until the end-credits roll.”
Staci Layne Wilson, ABOUT.COM

“Packed with slick surprises, jarring jolts, gruesome gore, and unbearable tension, The Descent is one of the best horror films of the past several years.”
Scott Weinberg, EFILMCRITIC.COM

“Bring a change of pants, because this one’s a soiler.”
Eric D. Snider, ERICDSNIDER.COM

“Brutal, bloody, terrifying, astonishing.”
Dan Jolin, EMPIRE MAGAZINE [UK]

“The Descent is very simply the scariest film I’ve seen in years.”
Jeffrey M. Anderson, COMBUSTIBLE CELLULOID

As of this moment, The Descent is holding a strong 87%. But as I said, this thing deserves even better. I ended up giving The Decent a 9.5 out of 10, which is the highest score I’ve given a film in almost 2 years. But that’s just me. To see more The Descent reviews you can go here.

It looks like the MPAA has picked the wrong guy to sue… and it could REALLY hurt them in the long run. Here’s the skinny from the good folks over at FilmFodder:

Shawn Hogan is taking the download battle to the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Wired says Hogan, CEO of Digital Point Solutions, is challenging a lawsuit filed by the MPAA. The suit says Hogan illegally downloaded the film “Meet the Fockers” through the BitTorrent peer-to-peer system. Hogan denies the claim and is vowing to take the case to court.

So why is this a big deal? In most cases the downloading lawsuits filed by the MPAA and the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) never reach the courtroom. According to Wired, many of these lawsuits go unchallenged because defendants feel the legal defense costs are too high. Defendents usually settle before the lawsuits can be formally addressed in court.

Hogan, who is well funded thanks to his success with Digital Point, is adamant about seeing the case through. “I would spend well into the millions on this,” Hogan tells Wired.

Ok… so here’s why this is so important…

Some people may think, “Big deal… if the MPAA loses this one, it’s just one. They can continue going on fighting and sueing everyone else”. Well… that’s not really true.

You see, the vast vast vast majority of the lawsuits brought by the MPAA never see the court room because most people would rather settle with them than fight it in court… because it’s cheaper that way. Here’s the rub…

In North America (except for in Quebec) we have a legal system that heavily relies on Precident. Everytime a Judge makes a decision in a case… his decision basically becomes law. Any future case that revolves around the same issues, have to take the previous Judge’s decisions into account, just as much as the law itself. So basically, everytime a Judge makes a decision… new law is made that all other judges must follow. That’s the short explanation.

So here’s the thing… now the MPAA is sueing a guy who has more than enough money to fight them in court… which means a Judge COULD find in his favor and against the MPAA. If that happens… then the Judges decision becomes material to any other MPAA lawsuits in the future. Long story short… the MPAA should really drop this and fast… but I hope they don’t drop it! I hope this guy kicks their asses in court and put a stop to this insanity of bully tactics and “he with the most money wins” culture.

Edward James Olmos, the man who is now known as Admiral Adama in the greatest television show in history, the new Battlestar Galactica, actually got his name established for his supporting role in the Miami Vice TV show as the rugged and battle scared Lt. Martin Castillo. Man he was amazing in that show.

Well now the new Miami Vice movie is about to be released, and while at Comic-Con someone asked him if he was ever asked to be involved in the new film. His answer is really interesting:

“I have not seen it and I have not been involved in it all. [Mann] asked me to be in it. They asked me to do but I couldn’t. I’m inside of Battlestar so I opted not to juggle them. If I hadn’t been working and they offered it to me and I read the script and I enjoyed it, I’d be in there in a second. For sure”.

Wow! So they did in fact ask him to be in it? That would have been cool to see. For these TV-to-Movie projects, I much prefer to see new lead actors… otherwise it’s not a movie… it’s just a TV show reunion. But to have one or two of the side characters in their former roles is a nice way to add authentic feel while not distracting from the “newness” of the incarnation. (VIA)

The movie based on the Sacha Baron Cohen character “Borat” is one I’ve been fascinated about ever since I heard they were going to produce it. The trailer is on of the funnier ones I’ve seen in a long time too. “She is my sister”. Oh man… too funny.

Now it looks like the film with have its premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival this year at the Midnight Madness. Yay! Oh man I can’t wait to see this one. The full title of the movie is hilarious too. The title is “”Borat: Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” Whatever they paid the guy who came up with that title… they didn’t pay him enough. Glorious!

I like Eva Longoria. Besides the fact that she’s stunningly beautiful, she also has some decent talent (too bad The Sentinel so badly misused her). It looks like she may have signed up for the wrong project yet again, How I Met My Boyfriend’s Dead Fiance.

The good folks over at Digital Spy give us this:

The Desperate Housewives actress will co-star alongside Paul Rudd and Lake Bell, according to Variety. She will play the ghost of Rudd’s dead fiance, who attempts to keep him away from a female psychic who falls in love with him, despite the fact that he is a skeptic.

This isn’t meant as any sort of knock on Longoria at all… but I think she’s more positioned to do dramatic roles. I just don’t see her really working in a comedy per se. And is it just me… or does this project feel a little too much like “The Corpse Bride”? Yuck.

I think Longoria can have a really solid film career in her future… but if she doesn’t pick the right roles and right projects for herself… she’ll just end up being the next David Duchovney or David Caruso… a TV star who COULD have had a major big screen career… but lost it because of poor project choices. We’ll see.

Sigh… I had about 12 emails waiting for me all asking me why I hadn’t posted about the new Tom Cruise as Iron Man rumours. Well… the answer is simple… because it’s not true… and everyone knows it’s not true.

Director Jon Favreau has already come out and announced that Tom Cruise IS NOT going to be Iron Man. What part of that statement do people not understand? It’s clear as day right?

Well… apparently someone at Comic-Con thought they might have over heard someone sitting in some Paramount seats saying to the person next to them that “Tom Cruise has it in the bag (the role of Iron Man). So here’s what we’re left with…

The director himself said “No Tom Cruise”. Period. But because some unnamed source said he thinks he over heard a conversation between a couple of people sitting in front of him… the internet goes all a-buzz that Tom C ruise may still be Iron Man. Good grief.

So no folks… don’t believe it… don’t listen to it… don’t pay any attention to it. Tom Cruise is not Iron Man… and until Jon Favreau himself says otherwise, don’t listen to anyone saying different.

Hellboy was a fantastic little comic flick. I loved the characters in it… not the least of which was the character of Abe Sapien. Well… the man in the suit, Doug Jones, was at Comic-Con and did some Hellboy 2 chatting. The good folks over at Cinescape give us this:

“The role of Abe Sapien will be beefed up quite a bit for part two,” Jones said. “The relationship with Hellboy is going to be more fleshed out. … The buddy thing … and conflicts that arise with him are going to be more explored, which I’m very excited about. Abe gets more interaction with bad guys … [and] has another little sub-storyline that I think is going to be delicious. I don’t want to give anything way, but it’s going to be a very, very exciting movie to make.”

I think this is great news, and something that has been whispered about before. More Abe I thinks makes for a more rounded out story with Hellboy still obviously being the lead character.

Now, the snag is that Del Toro still needs to find a studio to finance this thing. He should give me a call… I’ll front him the cash. It only take s $400 bucks to make a movie right?

Below are the original Saw 3 Poster and the new one. Personally I like the old one more.

Original Poster:

New Poster (via the good folks at Filmrot):

Which one do you prefer?

Remember last year when all that drama was going on around the new Fletch project? Kevin Smith was set to write and direct it. The word was that he wanted “My Name Is Earl” star Jason Lee, while some studio suites wanted Zach Braff. Well that fight is over.

It’s now been reported that Kevin Smith, who departed the project some time ago, has been replaced by former Scrubs pilot Bill Lawrence. Gee… who do you think Lawrence is going to want in the lead role of the film? Oh right… the guy who stared in Scrubs… Braff.

You’ve got to have your head stuck in a seriously huge pile of sand to not see what happened here. The studio wanted Braff… Braff was hesitant… studio hires Braff’s old buddy and co-worker to write and direct. Hmmm… any connections? Obviously.

I like Zach Braff. I really honestly do. But taking him over Jason Lee in the new Fletch is stupid. It’s not that Lee is better than Braff… but Lee is certainly better for Fletch than Braff. I’m sure there are other with differing opinions… but to me this is a mistake. Oh well… let’s hope they can make this puppy work.

Oh my goodness… this is so wrong… so very very wrong… and yet I can’t help but laugh at it.

Something has struck me as a little odd over the last couple of days. And that’s the total inconsistency that film fans often exhibit (myself included). Sometime filmmakers are in a no win situation with us. Damned if they do… damned if they don’t.

Take Superman Returns for example. I totally understand some people not liking the film because they thought it was boring, or not enough action… or that stupid kid (I loved the movie myself). I may not agree with them… but I can understand where they’re coming from.

But before the film came out a lot of people shouted "Singer better stay true to the original films". A LOT of people repeated that… and fair enough… so they should. But then what happens? Singer stays totally true to the original films, and people complain that Superman Returns it TOO MUCH like the originals. What?!?!

But that’s just an example… the REAL issue that has been on my mind is the disparity between the opinions on The Joker in the next Batman film… and my suggestion of wanting to see General Zod return for the next Superman film.

I was TOTALLY SHOCKED to hear how many people didn’t like the idea of Zod coming back. And 9 times out of 10 their reasons were because he had already appeared in Superman 2. I thought he was the very best of any character in any of the Superman films.

But here’s the rub… as I looked over my emails and comments left in the post… i discovered that many of the people who said having Zod return in the next Superman film that we all might be blessed enough to kneel before him… were also the same people who were "excited" about the Joker in the next Batman film. What?!?!

So here’s the question… why would some people hate the idea of General Zod returning in the next Superman because he’s been done once before… and yet love the idea of the Joker returning in the next Batman film at the same time?

But make the question more personal too. We all do this… we’re all hypocritical sometime in our movie tastes. So share your movie hypocrisy. When have you caught yourself saying you want one thing… and then complaining about that very same thing?

Here’s one of my hypocrisy moments. Just afer they announced that they were going to make new Star Wars movies (LONG TIME AGO) I remember telling everyone that they BETTER focus a lot on Anakin Skywalker as a child. Show us where he came from and how he grew up. Well… they did just that… and it’s been one of the things I’ve complained about more than anything else.

So what is one of yours?

Everyone seems to be buzzing about the new Darren Aronofsky film The Fountain. Why not Buzz? Requiem For a Dream was bloody brilliant, and PI was solid too. So here comes The Fountain trailer.

Look, I’ve never been afraid to say things that will be unpopular. Even when I know I’ll take tons of heat for it… so here I go. I don’t like The Fountain trailer (ducking to avoid the flying tomatoes).

The concept sounds pretty good… and if nothing else original. But the trailer just feels so trippy. I know I know… it’s Darren Aronosky so it’s SUPPOSED to be trippy. But there is a line that gets crossed from trippy to almost a visual existential mess.

Do I want to see The Fountain? Hell yes, Aronofsky hasn’t disappointed yet. But I must confess to being one of the few human beings on the planet who doesn’t like the trailer. Feel free to disagree and share why you think it’s great in the comments section… but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE don’t suggest that I don’t "get it", because I do… and for hell’s sake please don’t say I don’t like the trailer just because I don’t like Aronofsky. I’ve got enough people doing that because of my negative Lady In The Water review. Thanks.

You can see The Fountain trailer here.

Jeff Daniels is one of those guys you see in a TON of movies… and yet never seems to get top billing or the props he so richly deserves.

One of the best example is the amazing job he did in Dumb and Dumber with Jim Carrey.