A little over a week ago we posted about 50 Titles of Dark Movies in a Painting

The idea to this game is to scour the painting and find a Darkly Themed movie titles. Be careful, there are 50 of them in the painting. Click on each part that you think is a movie and a dialogue box will appear, and you can enter your guess. If you get it right, it will grey out the image.

And many of you rose to the challenge to find them all, and we had a LOT of comments about people sharing their finds.

John and I decided that we have left you in the dark long enough, and instead of waiting in dire curiosity for the answers we would give them to you here in the continued post.

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Batman on Film posted a transcript in their forums of a part an interview with Heath Ledger that talks about Batman: Dark Knight.

In the transcript, aside from its lack of punctuation, Ledger makes some really bold statements that just build a LOT of anticipation for this movie. His take on Joker sounds like it will be fresh and new, but still true to the character, even holding a lot to the look of the Joker (pale skin, green hair) and he even addresses the people who doubt him as the pick for the Joker and he does it with class.

Thanks to Tciv for pointing out this transcript below!
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I have always liked the Die Hard Series, and the news of a fourth has got me all excited. Even if it is a dumb subtitle (Live Free or Die Hard ~ cringe). Now thanks to an email from Nick, we find that AICN has posted a first look at Bruce Willis in the John McClane role again.

I have always loved this character. And Willis looks damn cool in this rough and tough look. I especially like the attitude that just drips off him as he walks calmly over the top of the cars.

Awesome!

Arron Williams is a brilliant webcomic artist who brought Gamers the “Nodwick” strips first made famous in Dragon Magazine. However, my favourite effort of his is a weekly strip he does called

I add these to my list of things like perfectly clean airducts, people who dont eat their food in restaurants, and the lack of bathrooms in Science Fiction (Demolition Man excluded.. three seashells indeed)

In a sea of animation, digital gore and think films a western starring Russell Crowe, Gretchen Mol and Peter Fonda; may be just the right dig for box office gold. And a great pick me up for Crowe’s career. The people over at movieweb.com give us this:

Peter Fonda, Gretchen Mol, and Dallas Roberts have signed on to the remake western, 3:10 to Yuma for Lionsgate. They’re joining Russell Crowe and Christian Bale in the film, being directed by James Mangold. Variety says the film revolves around a desperado who is caught by a sheriff determined to bring the outlaw in. Sheriff’s plans go awry when the desperado’s accomplices stage an ambush.

Moody jerk or not I am a fan of Russell Crowe and this is a very good movie to be attach to. He’s kept a pretty low profile for a while now, he wasn’t in any movies in 2004, Cinderella Man was all he did in 2005 and A Good Year is the only thing scheduled to come out in 2006. It was smart of him to quiet it down a bit since his lippy comments and brash behavior turned most casting directors and audiences off.

Taking on this role now is another good choice. Crowe was first noticed by North American audiences in the western The Quick and the Dead (he was noticed in Romper Stomper by movie coinsures before that but not the general public). For him to pick a western with a lot of good actors working along side of him as his renewal role is wise.

I’m ready to take a look at him again, haven’t heard much of him in the news in quite a while and he is an academy award winning actor after all.

What does everyone out there think? Has Russell Crowe given you enough time to lose that bad taste in your mouth from his naughty behavior? Or should he stay in Australia and make more babies?

Sook-Yin Lee, former Much Music Vee-Jay and CBC radio host of Definitely Not the Opera is taking a step on the wilder side with her new role in Shortbus. Shortbus is a story about a group of New Yorkers caught up in their romantic-sexual milieu converge at an underground salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality. Lee plays a sex therapist who has never had an orgasm. You can see the uncensored video here but be warned there is nudity and sexual content in the trailer.

This movie looks like a good taste of something different, like a piece of mango tossed into an apple pie, and yeah some people might pucker their mouth at the thought but will probably be delighted by the actual flavor.

I used to work at a movie theater and it was my secret pleasure to recommend movies like this one to little old ladies or couples in their mid-forties (my favorite was getting a minister and his wife to see Transamerica,”it’s a disfunctional family road trip movie with a twist”).

I am really looking forward to Shortbus. I love Sook-Yin Lee as a radio personality and besides the trailer looking great there is also the factor of the director: John Cameron Mitchell, who you may remember directed, wrote and starred in the cult classic musical Hedwig and the Angry Inch, a spectacular alternative indi film.

I just love getting a peek into unusual (but real) worlds that I am have no access to in my everyday life. Films like Hedvig and Transamerica, or documentaries like Rize or Vernon, Florida are great for that sort of thing. This movie looks like another step away from the ordinary and into the extraordinary.

I admit it, I am a Harry Potter fan. I attend meetings, but everytime a book comes out, or the next movie gets talked about I fall off the wagon. I am hopeless. If you are not a fan, you wont care about this post.

So imagine my distress when I read this news at SlashFilm:

The actress who plays Hermione Granger in the series thus far has yet to sign the contract for the last two installments. The worst part is, she doesn’t seem eager to do so.

“I don’t know yet,” Watson told Newsweek. “Every film is such a huge production, and it’s a long time.”

The 16-year-old actress says she isn’t even sure she wants to keep acting.

This is troubling news for Potter fans indeed. Like them or hate them, the Potter movies have at least had some consistency and magic because of its actors. (yes I know there were 2 Dumbledores already) People didnt just fall in love with the characters and personalities of the Harry Potter movies, they were consumed by the actors that portrayed them. If Emma Watson was to leave the movie series before it was completed its run, this could really change the feel of the characters.

I am not saying Watson is a fine actress or attempting to say she does this so well that no one could play the part. Quite the opposite. I think Watson would have a hard time moving on to something different (and I think they will all have a difficult time outliving these roles) so for her to consider quitting acting altogether wouldnt be the end of the world for Watson. She is young, and now has a heaping pile of money and a taste for Mexican beer. Im sure she will do fine.

My concern is consistency. It worked for James Bond or Batman because the CHARACTER of Batman or Bond was far bigger than the actor anyways. The actor aspired to embody that persona. In this situation, the Harry Potter fans have grown to love the character of Hermoine BECAUSE of Watson. Imagine if they replaced Harrison Ford as Indiana in the second movie, or as Han Solo. Could you even imagine someone else playing his part? (Im not comparing the acting ability of Harrison Ford to Emma - relax) This is another example of how the character is defined by its actor.

It would be weird to see someone else playing Hermoine in the movies. I dont know how well that would work. Maybe JK Rowling will write it into the next book that Hermoine dies so they just dont have to cast her for book 7.

As the SlashFilm poster says, this could also be a ploy to get more cash for her role, so who knows. Also note that IMDB has her listed as “attached” for the sixth film and that Rupert Gint (Ron Weasley) has yet to be reported as signed.

The instant you post news about a movie based on a fantasy novel everyone says “Oh look, another movie hoping to cash in on the Lord of the Rings genre” I couldnt disagree more.

SUre, Lord of the Rings made it chic to be into fantasy genres again, but I dont think the genre truly died. Its just making you notice them again. It wasnt long ago that if you went to a movie about Magic or Medieval Fantasy you had to justify yourself and convince your peers that you didnt play Dungeons and Dragons. Now its just “in”. (The movies are “in” I mean, us roleplayers are still geeks)

Cinema Blend says:

Warner Brothers has just picked up the rights to a soon to be released children’s novel by James A. Owen called “Here, There Be Dragons”. Are there actual dragons in it? Maybe. The book tells the story of three strangers in London during World War I, entrusted with an atlas detailing the locations of all of literature’s great mythical lands. The three men, Jack, John, and Charles set out to find them, and end up fighting strange and dark forces threatening the real and mythical worlds.

So this has a bit of a “magical world hidden in our own world” mysticism like the Harry Potter books, but people are still stuck on calling anything with a Dragon a Lord of the Rings knockoff. There will be obvious comparisons since the main characters in the book are portrayed as real life buddies of J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis.

The idea sounds rather interesting, and the WB is holding on to it so that David Heyman (Harry Potter producer) and David Goyer (Batman Begins screenwriter) can do it.

Lets just enjoy Medieval Fantasy movies without disregarding them because of the genre masterpeice that is the Lord of the Rings Trilogy.

In a recent post John reported about Revenge of the Nerds remake getting the beautiful Katie Cassidy on board. Now it looks like two more Nerds have RSVP’d

MovieWeb posts:

Chris Marquette and Dan Byrd have locked in the lead roles in Kyle Newman’s upcoming film, Revenge of the Nerds.

Marquette will play the lead nerd role of Max Foster. Byrd will portray the second male lead, Owen DiMarco, the “horn dog” best friend, whose college major is women’s studies.

So the cast grows, and the main characters are being put in place, but still missing are the iconic “Ogre” and “Booger”

Now I do agree with John that as much fun as this movie will be, the “nerd” stigma isnt going to be the same. Nerds and Geeks are definitely in different camps (its a fine line) and I doubt this writer will make that distinction. But I do disagree that the original holds up even to this day. Even those 80s nerds just are not as funny now when you look back on it. I remember nearly laughing until my pop came out my nose whenever Booger belched, but now its just not so funny. Then again, I was 12.

I just hope they do something to make this plot more relevant to current times.

A raucous re-imagining of the comedy classic. Adams College is turned upside down by a group of freshmen misfits who redefine the term “nerd.” As they try to form their own frat, the nerds incur the wrath of the ultimate alpha males, the infamous Alpha Beta fraternity. The nerds refuse to go down without a fight, waging an all-out battle against the notorious jocks during Greek Week.

Now if only Weird Al Yankovic can make an appearance with the nerds using computers and electronics to back him up in a musical number of “White and Nerdy” of “Its all about the Pentiums” it would be perfect.

Well, it looks like it’s all official. Robert Downey Jr. is going to be Iron Man. The folks at Yahoo News reported the following:

Robert Downey, Jr. is suiting up to star in “Iron Man,” a superhero movie based on the Marvel Comics character. Jon Favreau is directing the Paramount Pictures release. Filming is slated to begin in February in Los Angeles.

Downey will portray Tony Stark, a billionaire industrialist and genius inventor who is kidnapped and forced to build a devastating weapon. Using his intelligence and ingenuity, Stark instead builds a high-tech suit of armor and escapes captivity. Upon his return to the U.S., he uncovers a plot with global implications and must don his armor and protect the world.

Sounds like they’re departing a bit from the comic book, but you all already know I have no problems with comic book adaptation movies doing that.

Here’s the interesting thing. I was under the impression that Favreau was going to go with an unknown actor for the role… and I said publicly that I thought getting an unknown was the best thing for this project… I still think that’s the case. HOWEVER…

If you’re going to put a well known actor in this roll… then DAMN!!! Robert Downey Jr. is the PERFECT guy for this particular role. As soon as I read his name, it all just clicked. I don’t know how many of you have seen Kiss Kiss Bang Bang that Downey did with Val Kilmer, but he was just amazing in it (the whole movie was freaking fantastic). Not to mention it’s just never a bad idea to add an Oscar nominated actor to your film… well… I guess there are some exceptions to that rule.

So Robert Downey Jr. is Iron Man. What do you guys think?

For about a month now I’ve been telling you guys about the upcoming film festival in Toronto called “Toronto After Dark“. It’s basically styled after the Toronto International FIlm Festival’s Midnight Madness stuff. To see me talking to the Festival Director Adam you can check out the video here.

Anyway, last night at the Bovine Sex Club in Toronto they held the special launch party for the festival (even though the festival doesn’t actually start until October 20th. A good time was had by all as you can see from some of the shots below. Todd Brown (The head honcho over at Twitch, who actually got his movie blogging start right here on The Movie Blog) hung out and chatted about the films. It’s going to be a fantastic time. 13 films of the Sci-Fi, Horror and Fantasy genre are going to be on parade. And get this… passes FOR THE WHOLE FESTIVAL are only $99!!! But I think they might be on sale right now for a limited time for $89.

So go check out the Toronto After Dark Film Festival’s website. The full list of films showing are being publicly announced today!

Todd and me. Damn this boy is tall.

I first wrote about the new Rowan Atkinson comedy “Keeping Mum” over a year and a half ago. Before I get into it too much, here’s the synopsis:

Atkinson will play a pastor so obsessed with writing the perfect sermon that he doesn’t notice his wife’s infidelity or the adolescent escapades of his kids. Kristin Scott-Thomas plays the spouse, and Patrick Swayze the brash golf instructor with whom she dallies. Maggie Smith plays the discreet housekeeper who decides to take the situation in hand and rid the town of its dirty secrets.

Patrick Swayze as a womanizing golf instructor gigolo??? Good grief sign me up! That sounds freaking hilarious. Doug and I then went crazy for it on The Audio Edition after we saw the trailer… and then we never heard anything more about it. Now, finally it looks like it’s getting a limited release in North America this month. Really folks, you have to check out the trailer. The best part:

PATRICK SWAYZE STANDING IN NOTHING BUT A THONG: “What? You don’t think this is hot?”

I’m going to have to keep my eyes open for any screening around my area. Have any of you guys seen this flick yet? If so, what were your thoughts?

You’ve got to hand it to Michael Bay. Love him or hate him, at least he’s not affraid to taking a risk. Behold the new stealth Decepticon spy… Slippertron. Thanks to Lee for the heads up.

From what I have read about Guillermo del Toro’s movie Pan’s Labyrinth it is no surprise that Mexico has entered it as their foreign-language submission for the Academy awards this year. Our friends over at joblo.com give us this:

Talk about great news for genre fans … and Guillermo del Toro. Mexico has selected PAN’S LABYRINTH as its foreign-language submission for the 79th Annual Academy Awards.

Here is the description of the film: Pan’s Labyrinth” is the story of a young girl that travels with her mother and adoptive father to a rural area up North in Spain, 1944. After Franco´s victory. The girl lives in an imaginary world of her own creation and faces the real world with much chagrin. Post-war Fascist repression is at its height in rural Spain and the girl must come to terms with that through a fable of her own.

Man I hope this wins. I haven’t even seen it and I’m routing for it. It sounds a little like a dark version of Alice and Wonderland. From what I have been hearing Pan’s Labyrinth has been getting nothing but glowing reviews and standing ovations (Toronto Filmfest audiences clapped and yelled “Viva Del Toro”).

I came across a quote from him attached to his imdb.com profile and it to me speaks volumes of who he is as an artist and a person, hopefully it translates well for this movie that I am dying to see, here it is:

“When you have the intuition that there is something which is there, but out of the reach of your physical world, art and religion are the only means to get to it.”

I love that! I saw Hellboy on a whim, wasn’t that interested in it but the movie was a gem, one of the most entertaining comic book movies I seen. This movie looks like a true piece of art. If you want to see the trailer to Pan’s Labyrinth click here:www.panslabyrinth.com

Tell me it doesn’t just chase anticipation into your spine.

The topic of legal paid movie downloading has been a hot one around The Movie Blog for a long time now. I think it’s fair to say that the vast majority of us generally like the CONCEPT of downloading movies for a quick fee instead of having to go out to the local Blockbuster to get it. However, 3 major sticking points have prevented many (including myself) from getting very excited about what we’re seeing offered:

1) Still too Expensive - Most places want upwards of $20 per movie. But even iTunes $14.99 is still a tad too much

2) No extra features - For the most part, when you get these online movies most of the time you get them sans features. I like my special features.

3) You can’t burn the movie to DVD - This is a HUGE one. If I pay $15 for a bloody movie I want to be able to pop the stupid thing in my DVD player and watch it on my Plasma TV damit!

Well now it looks like CinemaNow is going to break new frontiers and offer a solution to items #1, #2 and #3:

Online movie service CinemaNow on Tuesday said it will offer a version of Universal Picture’s “The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift” that customers can download onto a blank DVD the same day it is available in stores.

CinemaNow said the download of the “Fast and Furious” DVD will be available at CinemaNow for $9.99 and will include all the bonus features of the DVD sold in stores, CinemaNow said. In July, the company became the first online service to offer movies that could be downloaded, burned and played on standard DVD players. But the service was only for old titles in the studios’ libraries and not for new DVDs.

So a brand new release, at $9.99 with all the extra features that you can burn to DVD??? Ummm… I don’t know what to say. This is EXACTLY what we’ve been looking for. I do hope this experiment of theirs works out… but WHY ON EARTH DID THEY SELECT SUCH A JUNK MOVIE LIKE TOKYO DRIFT to test this strategy on?!?!?! I’d LOVE to try this service, but no way in hell am I paying $10 for Fast and the Furious Tokyo Farting Drift.

Wes Craven, director of Red Eye, A nightmare on Elm Street and other films has signed on to do horror focused movies with Rouge Pictures. The folks over at cinemablend.com give us this:

Slasher master Wes Craven will try to redeem himself for ruining Red Eye with that godawful finale by writing and directing a new horror pic for Rogue Pictures. He’s signed a deal with them that gives him his own production company (Midnight Pictures) and a mandate for making horror films with below $15 million budgets.Variety says the first new Craven movie made under that deal (though not from Midnight Pics) will be a supernatural thriller with a 16-year-old protagonist. As he did with Red Eye, Wes promises to continue moving away from his slasher roots and move instead in the direction of films like The Sixth Sense.

There seems to be quite a trend happening in Hollywood these days, low budget is in. Yesterday Martin Scorsese announced he is going independent, now Craven is following suit.

And I think it’s great, when you have to watch your spending you get a lot more creative. Suddenly horror is about tension again not special effects gore, the stories become more interesting and unique.

I like a good horror movie as well as thrillers, when I saw A Nightmare on Elm Street I was shaken to the core, true I was only ten but I still love the movie today because it played on the uncontrollable imagination of our dreams. Will his new supernatural thriller be more interesting that his later movies like Red Eye or The Music of Our Hearts? Well he’s written and directed it but there is hardly any info so far.

Here’s hoping that Wes Craven has let his imagination go wild.

We all know the Teen Choice awards are a total joke. But I at least thought it was an HONEST joke. You know, voted on by the fans and so forth. Well Nord just left this comment in the Hollywood Movie Awards Post and I thought it was worth posting up here. Take a look:

I was watching the Teen Choice awards a few weeks back (Im a Dane Cook fan and he was hosting, stop laughing) And thankfully I have a PVR and I was able to pause the quick disclaimer tossed on the screen in the final moments and it read as follows (paraphrased)

“All winners were voted on by the public and FOX executives picked the winner from the top 4 vote getters.”

What the hell?!?! Did I read that right? Did Nord read that right? If anyone has the actual official disclaimer and the wording of it from the Teen Choice Awards show please copy and paste it into the comments section. I’d love to know if this is REALLY true.

Holy crap, we all know Fox is a twisted bunch, but I didn’t realize they were also corrupt. Yikes!

Ok, now if you’ve been a reader of The Movie Blog for any period of time, you already know that I’m a self proclaimed Star Wars geek and fanatic. No, I don’t dress up in costumes when I go see the movies… but I’ll kick your ass at Star Wars Trivial Pursuit! “30 Rebel ships attacked the Death Star”. Why no, I haven’t been laid in years… why do you ask?

Ok anyway, as much of a fan of Star Wars that I am… I have my limits to what I will do. I will not ask my girl friend to dress up as Princess Leia before intimate times, I don’t tell people how fast my car can go in “parsecs”, I will never say “May the Force Be With You” in place of “Good Luck” and most of all, I will NEVER EVER EVER EVER dress up a pet of mine in a Star Wars costume.

The company BuyCostumes is marketing a line of Star Wars based pet costumes.

Does your pet have a bit of the dark side in him?

This fun officially licensed STAR WARS™ pet costume includes a Darth Vader- character headpiece/helmet and a jumpsuit with attached arms, cape with belt.

Oh good grief. It’s bad enough to have people REALLY REALLY obsessed with a movie… it’s bad enough when you have people who are REALLY REALLY obsessed with their pets. It’s a damn horror movie in the making when you combine the two of them together into some unstoppable annoying monster who would dress their dog like a Dark Lord of the Sith. Oh well… to each their own I guess.

I shoudlnt be surprised about hearing Stallone being rumoured to be involved in an action flick. Personally, I think in his aging days he should push for comedy (Oscar was brilliant) but news is spreading that Stalone might be in the much hoped for Predator 3.

Filmforce says:

The sequel would reportedly happen after the now-filming Alien vs. Predator 2. Citing a scooper, IESB.net quotes the source as claiming: “Stallone might be being coaxed to do battle with the new Predator

The Aliens vs Predator movie is still considered a smudge on the Predator and Aliens franchise. And with news of the sequel leaning towards a grittier James Cameron style found in the Aliens franchise, it will be good to see an installment of Predator.

It may also be a final testament to Stallone’s viability as an action star. Don’t get me wrong, if I am in HALF the shape he is at his age, I would be bragging (Im not even half that NOW) but he is getting older and less appealing as the action hero. But everyone loves the underdog!

Stalone also has the upcoming Rocky Balboa to show he still has it, as well as the fourth chapter of Rambo. So maybe he will get back in the saddle and blow some stuff up for the action fans in us all. That combined with Predator could really put him back on top of the action list, but he has a lot of catching up to do with a handful of really charismatic and appealing younger action stars going for a piece of that market that Sly and Arnie once dominated.

Let me first get something off my chest. Meg Ryan is one of the best aging women in Hollywood. She is still stunning and as beautiful as some hot actresses half her age. Some say part of her success is her chemistry with other actors, and no one can forget how well she plays off of Tom Hanks in the THREE movies they starred in together.

Now, in an upcoming movie Meg will once again share billing with Hanks. No, not Tom, his son Colin.

Cinematical says:

Hanks will play a young FBI agent (can you believe this kid is old enough to play an FBI agent?) who is forced to spy on his mother (Ryan) after her new man (Antonio Banderas) is linked to an international art theft ring. While Ryan was rumored to be taking over for Annette Benning (who suddenly dropped out of the role recently), it appears the move is now official. Also starring is Selma Blair, who will play Hanks’ (sexy? seductive? innocent-looking?) girlfriend.

Colin Hanks was in King Kong, and you probably didnt notice him or at least notice WHO he was. I think this is a smart move for Colin. Clearly he has a leg up in the industry being Tom Hanks son, but instead of getting daddy to push his 20 year old son into superstardom, he is earning his stripes with a number of supporting roles, and TV roles. I first saw him in “Get Over it” as the brother of Kirsten Dunst’s character.

But the involvement of Colin aside, I have a concern about this movie. Its not the actors (I think its a fine list indeed) and its not the director (who hasnt done much that got my attention). Its the title.

This movie SCREAMS to be noticed in the world where “the War on Terror” is such a household phrase. This is a movie about an International Art Theft ring. This doesn’t appear to have any links to dealing with National Security at all. I hope more comes out soon that ties this movie in more with its title, or else it might just be a desperate plea to stand out. I would have thought this cast would be enough to spark some attention!

In my limited experience with the Borat character, he has managed to be completely poliltically incorrect and get away with it in the guise of cultural ignorance. Apparently that Kazakh leaders feel some damage control is needed to protect their image.

FilmJunk reports:

This week it was also announced that Kazakhstan will be funding a movie of their own in order to help overcome the stereotypes. If they were smart, they would have made a comedy about a dumb American going around Kazakhstan and pissing people off with his ignorance. But instead they have decided to make a movie called Nomads, “about the struggle of Kazakh tribes to expel Mongol invaders”.

Now I find this funny that a Brit (Sacha Baron Cohen) playing a Kazakh has managed to create a stereotype that they feel needs to get confronted… with a story about nomadic tribes? I agree with FilmJunk when they suggest having an ignorant American (not syaing they are ignorant, get your fingers off that email button) doing the same as Borat, and see how they react, but I dont know that it would be as funny. Maybe to the Kazakhs.

I would however, like to see a movie where people from Kazakhstan are not presented in reference to some terrorist movie like in Peacemaker, and Borat kind of does that. It takes a light hearted poke at things you cannot say to people. It happens to use a foriegn culture to deliver that, so be it.

I dont see this as a poor commentary on Kazakhstan, but clearly their government feels different. They are willing to put 40million dollars into the production of this movie to illustrate their historical struggle against the Mongolians.

I wonder if the Mongol Leadership will take offense to their people being presented as the badguys, and produce their own $40million project to deal with that?

The director of the fantastic American History X, Tony Kaye, is apparently getting ready to unleash a documentary about abortion that hes been working on for 12 years. This interests me for 2 reasons. First of all I’m interested in seeing what Kaye can do with a documentary, and second, the abortion issue is one that has been talked about to death… without anyone actually communicating.

Ok, here’s the deal. Both sides of the Abortion issue, Pro-Life and Pro-Choice (names which suggests the other side is Anti-Life or Anti-choice) have usually acted like children when dealing with the other side. I’ve never once in my life met a pro-life person who wants to oppress women. I’ve also never met a pro-choice person who just wants to kill babies for the sake of convenience. And yet that’s how each side paints the other. How on earth can there be any REAL dialog on an issue this large when neither side wants to act like… you know… adults? So like I said, lots has been said about abortion… but communication has been non-existent.

Will Kaye bring any more intelligence to the issue in Lake of Fire? I don’t know. I hope he does. If he just keeps repeating the same rhetoric that the two sides have been shouting, then I’ll have to agree with my Friend Jay over at The Documentary Blog when he asks:

Is this beating a dead horse? Is there really enough new information to sustain a two and a half hour film on this topic?

Let’s hope he brings something new… and intelligent to the table.

Well this is the sign that we’re approaching the awards season. There are obviously too many of them, but like all subjective things they can be fun to at least talk about. First up to bat is the Hollywood Movie Awards which is a part of the Hollywood Film Festival running from October 18th to the 23rd. I should see if I can get Sharon in there.

Don’t expect to see the same nominees at the Hollywood Movie Awards that you see at the Oscars. Like the MTV Movie Awards, these awards are geared more towards fan favorites, and even though a panel comes up with the nominees list, the winner is voted on my the public. And lest we forget, last year the top award for “Movie of the Year” went to Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith. Yay!!!!

Alright, you can stop rolling your eyes at me now. Anyway, this year the nominees list looks just as questionable. The good folks over at Cinematical give us this:

nominees for best film of the year include: Cars, Mission: Impossible III, Superman Returns, and X-Men: The Last Stand. World film nominees include Pedro Almodovar’s highly anticipated Volver and the fantastical Pan’s Labyrinth from Guillermo del Toro. The Hollywood Film Festval is, predictably, in Hollywood and runs from October 18th through the 23rd, culminating in the Hollywood Awards which will be held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel, a standard for non-Oscar awards events in town.

Well, it’s nice to see that other people with taste (cough cough) enjoyed Superman Returns (ducking and diving). To further the credibility of the event, Lindsay Lohan is receiving the “Breakthrough” award… you know… as long as she actually shows up and isn’t too hung over to make her appearance.

I am a big Jack Chan fan. Yeah, I know he isnt the greatest actor but he is super entertaining. Recently we talked about Jackie’s desire to expand into new (non action) roles, and this might be good, but we will have to see. This however, struck me as odd.

Cinema Blend says:

IESB has dug up a story in the Xin Kuai Bao newspaper which says that Jackie’s latest project, Rob-B-Hood, was toned down in order to get Chinese censors off their backs. Not for sexual content, or because there was too much violence, but because they thought Chan’s villainous character was too evil.

Apparently, the Chinese government just doesn’t like Jackie playing a baddie. He told the paper that the first drafts of the script portrayed him as a full fledged villain, but that the character he was to play was watered down in order to get the government’s essential seal of approval.

Now this is what I see as odd. Now I know the Chinese governmenthas their fingers in the Censor game and things work a little differently over there. This is already in consideration. But I found it very interesting and strange that they have tried to make Jackie less evil.

I think it would be interesting to see Jackie as evil, and to my memory I don’t recall him playing the badguy. But for the Chinese government to make the badguy less evil seems a bit extreme. It appears that it is specifically Chan that is the problem.

I have two things that bring up big concerns here.

The first thing is that I think this will hurt Jackie. To take on a badguy role in an action film is a baby step for Jackie to move towards taking roles outside of action. This movie will come out and he will not be believable as a villian and people will attack his “acting ability” or his efforts to grow outside of action.

Secondly, this censorship is taking too much of an artistic liberty. Clearly the Chinese Censors feel that Jackie Chan as the good guy is an image that cannot be tainted. I dont think this should be their JOB. Sure, they have a job to keep certain elements out of film, but they don’t get to pick and choose who gets to play what part. Other badguys get to be super evil, and Jackie gets to beat them up. His squeaky clean role seems to be what these censors are protecting.

They dont want him to be TOO bad.

This movie will not be good simply because the badguy will not be believable. I do applaud Chan for taking this chance, but with the Censors getting involved, this is not going to help his goals.

James Marsters is one of those TV character actors that just screams “Movie Star”. Sadly, most TV actors have a very difficult time transitioning to the big screen (Look at just about every cast member from Friends), but once in a while it actually works out (George Clooney for example). James Marsters could very well be that next guy.

As “Spike”, Marsters was one of the only things I liked about the “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” TV show. As that same character he was terrific in “Angel” (a far superior show in my opinion), his short role as Braniac on “Smallville” was great, and his one single guest appearance on “Andromeda” as the Nietchian Lord Charlemagne Bolivar is one of the few memorable episodes of that show. I like the guy, and up till now I’ve been stumped as to why he hasn’t received a bigger break. Well, according to Reuters, it looks like that break may be here.

James Marsters is set to appear in a film along side multiple Oscar winner Hilary Swank in “P.S. I Love You”

Based on the best-selling Cecelia Ahern, the Warner Bros. release centers on a grieving young widow who discovers her late husband has left her a list of tasks revealed in 10 monthly messages that are intended to ease her out of grief and transition her to a new life. Marsters will play the late husband’s best friend.

The movie is being called a “Romantic Drama”, which in my opinion is the perfect project for Marsters to take right now to broaden his repituare and avoid getting type cast in nothing by Sci-Fi projects. It’s good the see the dude catch a break… now lets see is he’s actually able to do anything with it. I think he will.

There already isn’t much difference between Jesus and aliens and thanks to Jim Caviezel the powerful men up in the sky will have even more in common. The good folks over at news.yahoo.com give us this:

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - Jim Caviezel, who played Jesus in “The Passion of the Christ,” has signed on to star in the science fiction adventure movie “Outlander.”

The Weinstein Co. project centers on a man from another galaxy who crash-lands on Earth during the time of the Vikings. By accident, he brings with him an alien predator that he must destroy with the help of a Viking tribe. The film’s director, Howard McCain, wrote the screenplay with Dirk Blackman.

Vikings, predators and Caviezel oh my! Seriously this could be a cool movie, I love a good sci-fi and I haven’t seen Vikings in movies since Eric the Viking.

But there are some questionable circumstances surrounding the film. I looked up the director Howard McCain and his co-writer Dirk Blackman and neither of them have had much of a career so far, look at their imdb profile and you’ll see what I mean. Also the budget on the flick is only 32 million, if it’s was a movie about women knitting sweaters for their men overseas I could understand it. But a space alien Viking movie for 32 million seems a little cheap. So are they friends with Caviezel? Or do they have a killer script? If it’s a good script than this movie has hope and it makes sense that Caviezel is involved.

If Outlander is a lemon I wonder how easy it will be for Caviezel to resurrect his career.

Director Martin Scorsese feels that he has no choice but to go back to being an independent filmmaker. The good people over at slashfilm.com give us this:

“The question is how close to a personal film can I make in the Hollywood system today - and this [The Departed] is as close as I can get,” admits Scorsese in a EW interview. “I don’t know if there’s room for me and the kind of picture I’d like to make anymore.”

Scorsese’s solution may be to return to independent low budget filmmaking, where he got his start.

“I may have to do them independently because I like to take risks, and how can you do that when a picture costs $200 million?” asks Scorsese. “There’s a lot of money involved and you have a responsibility to the studio.”

I like reading this, it’s nice to see artists today saying there are more important things than money, like doing the art the way it was intended. True as an established and well respected director Scorsese can afford to do this without a lot of pain, and I’m sure his “independent” films won’t be as cheap as say…a low budget zombie movie. But it’s still a bold move to go back to lower budget.

For some reason I can’t seem to get M. Night Shyamalan out of my brain with this post, he also has complained that studios hold the reigns too firmly with his pictures (you may remember earlier on in the year he fought heavily with Disney for his artistic rights in the movie The lady of the Water). What Shyamalan ended up doing was going to a different production company and blaring to the media about his woes.

It takes a classy guy like Martin Scorsese to move back into less expensive territory with filmmaking rather than fight with studios every time he makes a movie.

Quizzes are always fun, especially when they’re about something you love… like say…. movies! Especially movies you like. What makes them even better is when they’re not too hard, but not easy either. They’ve got to challenge you!

Well Nick from over at Empire Online sent me an email this morning about a feature i didn’t know they had. It’s a FANTASTIC movie quiz section that will test your knowledge of geek film culture, time you and score you at the same time. It’s fantastic!

I just got back from doing the Lord of the Rings: Fellowship of the Ring quiz… and man it’s a TOUGH one! I did ok on it, but certainly not great. No matter how much you think you know… a couple of the questions on there will stump you for sure.

You can go take some of the quizzes (there are a bunch of them over there), but be warned, you have to register to take the quizzes first… but that only took like 20 seconds. The quiz is a lot of fun. Enjoy!

Coming out next July right behind the release of Transformers, is Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. This book was by far the most enjoyable storyline yet in the Harry Potter series. I became a fan of the books after taking my 4 year old to see the movie. I promptly picked up the books in a valiant effort to be the supportive dad, and then became a fanboy like so many other parents and children alike.

The Scotsman got wind of these:

HARRY Potter fans have been given a sneak preview of the latest movie with the release of the first stills from Order of the Phoenix, the fifth film in the series based on JK Rowling’s books.

In one image, Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who plays the young wizard, is seen crouching in an grimy alleyway as he attempts to defend himself from an attack by the Dementors.

These are the first official releases by the studio aside from a home video someone caught of a fight scene that hit the net.

Radcliffe is going to be having a hell of a time keeping up with the Potter role considering he is supposed to be 15 in this book, only 16 in the next (due out in 2008) and he is growing up really fast. He hardly looks a thing like the innocent little boy from 5 movies ago. This is largely the reason behind the accelerated release schedule for the movies. Interesting thing to note, J.K. Rowling has written into the books that Harry and Ron have grown considerably in a “growth spurt” over the summer.

In another [picture], Imelda Staunton, who plays Dolorees Umbridge, the latest teacher of the dark arts, stands in Hogwarts school wearing a pink tweed poncho. Maggie Smith, as Minerva McGonagall, clasps her arms round Emma Thompson, looking uncharacteristically frumpy as Sybil Trelawny.

The Character of Delorees Umbridge is a wonderful example of the evil person you love to hate. She embodies that one mean teacher no one ever liked who dished out particularily nasty punishments.

Other notable things from the Scotsman’s report:

- David Bradley is also back as Argus Filch
- Town of Hogsmeade created at Leavesden Studios
- Scotland filming locations include Glenfinnan, Glencoe, and Glen Etive
- Radcliffe films Harry’s first kiss with Cho Chang (Katie Leung) and says “We probably got it on the 30th take. My God, it was fun,”
- Helena Bonham-Carter to play DeathEater Bellatrix Lestrange
- Emma Watson gets straight As just as her character Hermione would
- Other notables returning include Robbie Coltrane(Hagrid), Michael Gambon (Dumbledore), Ralph Fiennes(Voldemort), Gary Oldman(Sirius Black), Alan Rickman(Snape) and Julie Walters (Mrs Weasley)
- George Harris will premier as Kingsley Shacklebolt, a shifty member of the Order

And one supporting cast member who will be getting the most attention will be Evanna Lynch, 14, who was picked from among 15,000 candidates in a contest to play Harry’s ally Luna Lovegood.

I can hardly wait for this to come out.

Not backing down from any stereotypes our favourite British Butler Alfred Pennyworth will be played once again by Michael Caine. But first he has to play a battle of the wits with Jude Law in Sleuth.

Superhero Hype reports:

In January I start shooting a remake of “Sleuth” with Jude Law directed by Kenneth Branagh with a very different screen play from the original by Harold Pinter. After that in March I reprise my Butler roll in the second “Batman” again directed by Christopher Noland starring Christian Bale. This one is “The Joker” and the Joker is Heath Ledger. Great casting.

Two things I would like to note about this. First has to deal with Sleuth. In 1972, Michael Caine stared as the younger antagonist who steals the main character’s wife. And now 34 years later, he stars in a remake of the same movie but this time he is the man to lose his wife. More on that in Sharon’s post Here I can’t wait to see this movie. Caine has the wit and charm to just make this movie roll. Again.

Secondly was the Batman Dark Knight News. We all knew he was going to be in it and that he would soon have to report to the set to reprise his role. I think Caine did a wonderful Pennyworth, and better than any previous TV or movie Alfred yet. Good to see him back.

But did you catch what he said about Heath Ledger? “Great Casting”. So is this part of the publicity train where all actors are obligated to say good things about their movie? Or does Caine actually believe that Ledger will be a great pick for the Joker?

I happen to agree, and I look forward to seeing Ledger take on the role. I cast a benefit of the doubt to Caine, and tend to believe that he genuinely meant it when he said “Great Casting”.

The debates have waged near wars as far back as the playground. Aliens Vs Predator, who will win in a fight. There are too many “what if”s that make the debate go on for ever, but aside from a Dark Horse comic series, the two shall never meet, so speculations grew. The insane amount of publicity about the Aliens VS Predator movie was to put an end to the debate and be the official canon as to who might win! Now they are doing a sequel. A rematch.

Cinematical reports:

Variety reports that Alien vs. Predator 2, which begins filming next week in Vancouver, British Columbia finally has its lead actors. Reiko Aylesworth (who played Michelle Dessler on the Fox series 24) and Steven Pasquale (star of FX’s Rescue Me) will be squaring off against the acid-blooded facehuggers and the lobster-faced hunters from the stars. Brothers Greg and Colin Strause, who share an impressive resume as special effects artists, will direct from a script by Shane Salerno. John Davis and Robbie Brenner are producing through Davis Entertainment.

So in a movie called Aliens Vs Predator, or its sequel, how is it even important to announce its “stars”

Lets be clear about this. The stars will be the Aliens and the Predator. Im sure Aylesworth and Pasquale will offer some human connection to the film, like the one girl from the first movie who rose above her peers. But really, this movie is about a pile of Aliens throwing it down with a Predator. I dont even know WHY there are people in this movie.

So will this be a sequel to the events of AvP, or will this be another encounter in another time? Now that the two are in the same Universe it makes sense that this was not the only time the two races crossed paths.

The sequel is being penned by Armageddon writer Shane Salerno, and I did enjoy that a fair bit. Not everyone agrees with that, but it was a fun movie with a decent fluffy story and a lot of action and great characters. If AvP2 is like that, I will watch it again and again.

When I dared suggest that the Hobbit could be done without Peter Jackson, the only other protest was that Weta Digital just had to be on to do the effects. They are a fine special effects studio, and I have no doubt they will do a good job. Looks like those dying for a taste of Weta’s magic will get to see it on another big franchise.

Coming Soon says:

20th Century Fox has picked Academy Award-winning visual effects house Weta Digital to oversee the upcoming film Fantastic Four: Rise of The Silver Surfer. The studio tapped Weta to create a state-of-the-art version of the Marvel Comics character Silver Surfer.

I think this is a great choice. Other special effects companies might do a good job too, but Weta really mastered using a CGi character that looks REAL and NATURAL. One of the most convincing digital characters ever was Golem. It looks like the same motion capture technology that made Golem look so real will be used to make the Surfer look natural too.

I just wonder who will be the voice of Norrin Radd will be?

Ever wonder why Darth Vader is more machine than man now?

Oh yeah, everyone THINKS it had something to do with the whole swimming in lava courtesy of your “brother” but I tripped over this peice of evidence that suggests there may be a different point of view.

Wonderfully done, though I thought it could have ended better. What are you going to do, there are only so many Vader clips to choose from, and NOoooooooo! was already made fun of enough.