I still feel stupid about it, but the first Charlie’s Angels movie actually caught me by surprise. I enjoyed it, I thought it was fun, lighthearted and Crispin Glover rocked in it. Now, everyone knows that the sequel completely sucked, so it’s for the best that Bill Murray wasn’t there to reprise his role as Bosley. I’ve heard several explanations gives for why he wasn’t there… but while surfing around the web this evening I came across this:

Bill Murray and Lucy Liu didn’t get along on the set of the first Charlie’s Angels. Bill was always uncomfortable around her and nobody knew why until one day a huge fight erupted between the two while they were filming a scene. People Magazine reported the Bill ‘loudly complained about her technique.’ People was being gentle.

What actually transpired was much more intense. Bill Murray stopped a scene in progress and pointed to Drew Barrymore, Cameron Diaz, and Lucy Liu saying in order, “I get why you’re here, and you’ve got talent….but what in the hell are you doing here. You can’t act!” At that, Liu blew her lid and attacked Murray, wildly throwing punches. The actors had to be separated to opposite corners of the room while they lobbed verbal hand grenades at each other.

With a Columbia Pictures gun to their heads, both actors would publicly downplay in incident but insiders know better. Bill Murray would not do any sequel with Liu attached and was subsequently replaced by Bernie Mac.

HAHA! Ok, I love Bill Murray to the point of man crush… but that really was a son-of-a-bitch thing to say to a person you’re there working with. And you gotta admire the balls Lucy Lui has to not take shit from anyone… including the immortal Bill Murray… and will take swings at any mother fucker bitching her in front of her co-workers.

Still… Murray is hilarious. (source: Derober)

Of all the major hits that are coming out this summer, Hellboy doesn’t seem to be on the top of the lists for anyone. Its not on the top of mine, but it is in my top 5. Hellboy was an awesome movie and even the animated features released to hold us over were great. Now we have Hellboy 2:The Golden Army on its way very soon and I couldn’t be more excited!

ShockTillYouDrop gives us SEVEN clips to whet your appetite.

Go to ShockTillYouDrop to see the rest!

Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen seems to have accidentally leaked out a poster for the upcoming film. Its not official, but the image isnt being pulled, so this might just be the first of many posters to come out. Out less than a year from now, we should start seeing promotional material tidal wave very soon.

It doesn’t rock my socks, but its ok. So the speculation begins. Is this Megatron/Galvatron? Or is this the fabled “The Fallen” character? Who do you think it is?

Via FilmSchoolRejects

We have a look into the production of Hell Ride today thanks to a video on You Tube that was introduced to us from our friends at Film Junk:

I like the look of this project, and am anxious to see these surly dudes in a biker film. Hell Ride is set for a limited release August 8th.

We have word today that Tim Burton’s muse may be saddling up next to a terminator sometime shortly. We get the following scoop from the Yahoo Caves Of Resistance:

The British actress is in talks to board “Terminator Salvation,” the fourth installment in the franchise kicked off by James Cameron in 1984. Roles in the new film have been kept under wraps, but insiders described the Bonham Carter role as small but pivotal.

Principal photography on the movie, which looks at the origins of the battle between humans and Skynet, started last month in New Mexico, with the idea that most exteriors would be shot before a potential actors strike. Warner Bros. is scheduled to release the action film in May. It comes from “Charlie’s Angels” director Joseph “McG” Nichol.

Well I certainly didn’t expect to see Carter join the cast. Mind you Christian Bale was a complete surprise as well. Helena is an actress that I enjoy in many of Tim Burton’s films. She is perfect for macabre roles, and those involving witchery.

She is currently in the negotiation phase - so she still may bail on the project. With luck we will have more news about this casting shortly, and obtain further information about the role she’s being courted for.

The FCC is looking to beef up the rules for product placement, we get the skinny on the tightening leash from the movie lords at IMDB:

Saying that digital TV recorders like TiVo, which allow viewers to skip commercials, are encouraging advertisers to integrate their messages into the content of shows, FCC Chairman Kevin Martin announced Thursday that the commission plans to launch a rule-making proceeding on product placements. Among measures that Martin said the agency is considering is a new rule that would increase the length of advertising disclosures that appear at the end of programs and another to show such disclosures at the same time a product is advertised. Martin said that the FCC also wants to look into the question of whether special rules concerning product placements should be imposed on children’s programming. In addition, the agency intends to look into the question of whether disclosures should also be presented on screen when product placements that appear in movies are later broadcast on TV. In his statement on Thursday, Martin said that the purpose of any new product-placement regulations is “to ensure that the public is able to identify both the commercial nature of programming as well as its source.”

I have a strong dislike for product placement in programming. We have to be subjected to commercials when we decide to watch television, and adding product placement to the shows gets to be a little much. I do understand that with more people watching the programming commercial free - the desire to fit product into the shows is stronger than ever.

I would favor a few corporations sponsoring a show, and have the ad worked into the opening title sequence ala PBS. If the program is awesome and it was brought to me by Ford Motors for example, I would be far more receptive than if the auto maker decided to bomb the show with countless new cars and take up time blatantly showcasing product.

I am way of advertising, because it works. I understand that much of the world’s business revolves around advertising, but I think those that use this hypnotic medium have a responsibility to be ethical like everyone else. I welcome the FCC’s investigation into product placement and think that policing is a necessary evil in this situation.

Bret just gave me the heads up on the new James Bond “Quantum of Solace” trailer going online (will we ever get used to that title?). It’s not bad… nothing mind blowing, but not bad at all.

We have pictures of Hero Fiennes-Tiffin, nephew of Ralph Fiennes to show you today. This youngster will be playing the young Voldemort in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. We get the following pictures from snitchseeker via cinematical:

I agree with sentiments made by cinematical that it’s awesome that the nephew of Fiennes was brought on board to play the younger Voldemort. Ralph will be able to give his nephew hell, and help him mimic himself in a way that wouldn’t be possible with another child actor. I have become more and more interested in the Harry Potter franchise with every new release. I expect my enthusiasm to be at its zenith for the finale, and it pleases me that this is the case.

I have grown to enjoy the tales of the young wizards and although I look forward to the final installment - we will have a fantasy void after it’ s wrapped.

We have news today about Drew Barrymore’ s roller derby comedy Whip It! We get the saucy scoop from our friends at comingsoon:

Marcia Gay Harden, Kristen Wiig, Juliette Lewis and Zoe Bell are joining Ellen Page and Drew Barrymore in Whip It!, the Mandate Pictures’ roller derby comedy that marks the feature directorial debut by Barrymore.

The Hollywood Reporter says Harden plays an overbearing ex-beauty queen who would rather see her daughter, Bliss (Page), in pageants than skates. Wiig (“Saturday Night Live”) plays Bliss’ rowdy mentor, Malice in Wonderland. Lewis is Dinah Might, the star of Austin’s top team. Bell plays a medical technician moonlighting as derby star Bloody Holly.

When I first heard about this picture, I thought it was a great fit for Drew’s directorial debut. A film about a gaggle of roller girls has “good times” written all over it.

My favorite part of roller derby is the nicknames, I love hearing people called Malice In Wonderland and Bloody Holly. I think every girl on the planet should discover their inner roller girl and give themselves a nickname. It’ s an exercise in self respect and empowerment.

We will be sure to keep you up to speed on the progress of this picture and with luck we will have pictures of the outfits shortly! Go GO!

It looks like the rumors last week of a 300 sequel/prequel/followup were true. We get confirmation that Frank Miller is working on a followup to the film from our friends at comingsoon:

Variety says that Legendary Pictures has confirmed last week’s reports that it is developing a 300 follow-up for Warner Bros. that Frank Miller is writing and Zack Snyder is intended to direct. Miller is writing the graphic novel the project will be based upon, although at this point it’s not clear whether it will be a prequel or spin-off.

Snyder won’t officially commit until after he sees Miller’s take, but he’s definitely interested, says the trade. “The vision of Frank Miller’s universe that Zack Snyder brought to the screen in ‘300′ is unlike anything ever seen before,” said Legendary’s Thomas Tull. “We want to be certain that the story originates with Frank and be as compelling as the first.”

As I have said before, I would prefer to have 300 as a stand alone film. This crew could work on dozens of other sword and sandal films, but this one should be left alone. If they fight in hell however - then I will bit my lip and gladly watch the 299 fight the demon hordes of hades!

We will be sure to keep you up to date on the status of Frank Miller’s script and be sure to let you know if this is a sequel or a prequel, as soon as the news bubbles forth.

We have the trailer for REPO! The Genetic Opera to show you guys today. We get the following video from the lords of You Tube:

This movie looks outlandish, and has certainly piqued my interest. I am not big on most musicals, but sometimes they are a surprising treat and I am always willing to give one a chance if they look interesting.

I love the premise for this film. People going into debt for organ replacement and then having their guts harvested when they cannot make payment. It’s not only an effective way to make money, but you can stock your selves with the extra guts you get from your repo victims.

We have a new poster to show you for the upcoming Saw 5. We get the hookup thanks to our friends at cinematical:

I have not seen the Saw franchise so I cannot comment on it, but this poster seems perfect for this film. After the death of Jigsaw, someone will no doubt continue his work. Having that person wear jigsaw’s face as a mask is a great visual way to convey this (and a cool tip of the hat to Halloween).

I am curious to hear what you guys think of the poster, especially those of you that are fans of the series.

Forget the Freddy vs Jason vs Ash. This is Batman vs Batman vs Batman.

Everyone has their favourite Batman from the franchise (Mine’s Bale, sorry Mike) but now they have the chance to prove it!

Really well done. So much so, that I would dare to say I would go see this movie.

We have more news about Son Of Mourning for you to check out today thanks to our good friends over at the movieweb:

Jesse Bradford, Steven Weber, Bob Odenkirk and Edward Herrmann have boarded the satirical comedy Son of Morning. According to The Hollywood Reporter, producer-star Joseph Cross plays an ad copywriter who returns home to mediate his parents’ divorce and after a series of environmental disasters is mistaken for Jesus Christ.

He becomes surrounded by people trying to capitalize on his fame, including a Hollywood agent (Bradford) and a lieutenant governor (Weber). Odenkirk plays his co-worker, and Herrmann plays his father figure and mentor. Heather Graham, Lorraine Bracco, Jamie-Lynn Sigler and Stephen Root also star.

We first dished about this film when Heather Graham was brought on board. Today the premise gets fleshed out just a bit more and I must say that it’ s shaping up very nicely. This picture looks like it will be rediculous to the nth degree and I’m anxious to see what dark direction they take this comedy.

The addition of Bob Odenkirk has raised my expectations for this film even higher and I will certainly be keeping my ears to the tracks for further news.

Here is a clip of Odenkirk interviewing Dana Snyder that makes me piss my pants. Enjoy!

It looks like the Canadian tale The Stone Angel has picked up some sweet backing from Vivendi! We get this saucy scoop from the professionals at Variety:

Vivendi Entertainment has picked up domestic rights to “The Stone Angel,” starring Ellen Burstyn. Helmed, written and produced by Kari Skogland, pic also stars Ellen Page and tyro thesp Christine Horne. Plot hews to Margaret Laurence’s novel, which follows a rebellious woman who’s at odds with her family and friends but trying to reconcile the choices she made as she looks back on her life and faces the prospect of entering a nursing home.

“Stone” opened in Canada in May to an $8,675 per screen average and is set for domestic release on July 11 in select markets including Gotham and Los Angeles; it will expand on July 25.

I like movies where people at the end of the road look back on the path that they have travelled. In a time where aging is seen as an affliction, it’s nice to see films about our most seasoned and experienced. As the character faces the threat of a nursing home, questions of her life’s value and contribution will no doubt come into play; these are themes that we can all relate to regardless of age.

I look forward to getting old, I want to live to 100 and on that birthday sign up to become a cyborg. I enjoy life more every year that I am alive and I don’t expect this trend to change (health permitting). Because I do not fear aging I am very interested in learning from those older than myself (so I may avoid the mistakes that they have made in their life’s journey). As much as we all want to be different; we are very much the same. As we go through different stages in life we end up doing things we thought we would never do, and we adapt to the different life stages like everyone else. To mine parables and proverbs from those that have gone on before you is one of the greatest tricks to a joyous life. Wisdom and joy go hand in hand like rock and roll. Soak up the wisdom of the elders, desire the knowledge of the ancients!

This sombre film of reflection takes place in the rural Canadian gulag, I missed the limited showings in my native land but look forward to catching it when it hits theaters July 11.

If (like me) you’re a fan of the films of Hayao Miyizake (Totoro, Spirited Away), this might interest you. It’s a glimpse of the first trailer for his new film, Ponyo on a Cliff, which will be released in Japan next month.

The clip is clearly not in english and takes a few moments for the talk show guys to get to the clip, but it looks absolutely delightful and has all the charm we have come to expect from Studio Ghibli.

IMDB calls it: An animated adventure centered on a 5-year-old boy and his relationship with a goldfish princess who longs to become human

Looks good to me. I can’t wait for this to float over to this side.

We have another animated mouse movie that will be upon us just in time for the upcoming christmas season! We have discovered this trailer thanks to the WEBMASTER over at Film Junk. Check out The Tale of Despereaux!

A mouse that knows not fear and lives life like nothing will harm him is an interesting idea for a children’s film. I am not familiar with the book that this movie is based on, but if any of you have had the privilege of reading it - I would appreciate your input very much.

The Tale of Despereaux will be in theaters December 19th just in time for magic family holiday time.

Matt Reeves gave the following Cloverfield update to to the good people over at Collider, and the word is wait.

While talk of a sequel has been all over cyberspace since the movie first came out, based on what he said last night…I think it’s safe to assume it isn’t happening. Of course, he did say if they came up with a great idea he’d do it, but he’s moving forward with his next project “The Invisible Woman,” so I think “Cloverfield 2″ will be left alone. And I think it’s for the best.

You can see the interview footage at Collider, and I recommend checking it out.

I wasn’t a huge fan of Cloverfield and I certainly don’t think it warrants a sequel, so I consider this to be very good news. In an age of sequel overload, I welcome a one shot with open arms. Matt Reeves seems to be a total dude, with the sense to know when to quit. He only seems interested in doing another Cloverfield project if the story is up to snuff, and I respect him for that.

Cloverfield 2 isn’t dead, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it never gets made after seeing the interview video.

We have news of a promising sword and sandal film called WAR OF THE GODS thanks to the professionals at Variety!

“War of Gods” is a mythological tale set in war-torn ancient Greece, as the young warrior prince Theseus leads his men in a battle against evil that will see the gods fighting with soldiers against demons and titans. “Titans” has been in development at the studio for some time, with Basil Iwanyk producing through his Thunder Road banner.

Nunnari said his film has the goods: “Gods, titans, warriors and a fantastic script. An incredibly visionary filmmaker like Tarsem and a partner like Relativity who fought and won already in a battle in getting the package that everybody wanted.”

My favorite film genre has always been a toss up between post-apocalyptic and sword and sandal films. I love when ancient warriors test their mettle against the elements, beasts, monsters and the gods themselves. Joining the Gods in battle against demons and titans is pretty fucking awesome, and if they can pull this off - I will be birthing joy in the theatre aisles.

Now in a previous post we learned of a 300 sequel; the same production crew is also responsible for this picture. I am not certain if this is the follow up film they were talking about, but from what I understand this picture will be in addition to a 300 sequel. This picture is written by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides and will be directed by Tarsem Singh, whereas the 300 project still looks to be Miller centric.

One thing is certain - these guys are pumped about the sword and sandal genre - and I welcome as many original films as they can throw our way.

I will follow this one with great interest and be sure to keep you all up to speed!

For those of you interested in seeing the fresh, new and exclusive Bolt trailer please feel free to check it out over at Empire.

My favorite part of the trailer is when Bolt is talking to the pigeons. Their jerky head movements were done well (so far as my untrained can see) and they reminded me of all the important pigeons in my own life.

Pigeons are friendly birds that enjoy our urban areas alongside us. Sometimes when I am down I go to the park and feed pigeons; they perch on my shoulder and drink my delicious man tears. Then we eat hot dogs and play checkers.

Well, I suppose we should have seen this coming. 300 we be the next film to enter the sequel factory, we get wind of this peculiar news from our friends at comics2film:

Reporting from the 34th Annual Saturn Awards, Collider.com talked to Mark Canton, Gianni Nunnari and Bernie Goldmann, the producers of ‘300′.

“We’re looking for another ‘300′ and we’re looking for Frank Miller and Zack [Snyder] to do thier thing. We’ve had obviously, around the world, such an amazing journey,” Canton said. “It keeps on going.”

I loved 300 and am disappointed by this news. The story was a one off and should be left as such. I am all for the same crew making more Spartan films and/or sword and sandal pictures, but there is no need to have the film associated with 300 in any way shape or form. Few things in life bother me more than sequels that should not be.

The only way this sequel will interest me is if the 300 Spartans end up fighting their way out of hell. If they beat the devil in combat, I could stomach the follow up.

International friends - what are your thoughts? Would you care to see a 300 sequel?

There is another show biz legend that makes its presence known in more films than any other. Even more so than the Whilhelm Scream is the use of the 555 prefix in movies when referring to a phone number.

I am sure you noticed a long time ago that whenever someone in film or tv gives out a phone number, more often than not that number starts with 555. So I thought I would poke around to find out which cataclysmic event herded the behaviour of many showbiz writers to use this generic transit.

Wikipedia says:

In fact, only 555-0100 through 555-0199 are now specifically reserved for fictional use, with the other numbers having been released for actual assignment. How exactly this will intersect with the many uses of 555-2368 (one of the more commonly used fake numbers)[1] by AT&T and other telephone companies, remains unknown.

I thought I might take a look into this to try and find out why 555? I figured as with every other rule in existance that some obscure law was created to regulate its use, but I didn’t see anything like it. It seems it is purely an act of etiquette to avoid inadvertently giving out someone’s phone number.

Some of the more famous numbers that are not 555 like Tommy Tutone’s hit 1982 song “867-5309/Jenny” which is a valid number in many area codes. Prank phone calls asking for Jenny are apparently rampant. Also, in Bruce Almighty God gives out his number in the film and many users got calls asking for God. The White House phone number is in the phone book, so they are often not shy about using that in movies where appropriate.

Here in Canada (and I believe also in the US) if you dial long distance and use (area code)555-1212 you will get connected to the directory assistance of that area code.

And the most commonly used 555 number? 555-2368. Back when phone numbers included letters, the Exchange Central (which was common for commercial phone numbers) was identified alphanumerically with CENT spelling out 2368. This carried over to a real phone number when the letters were dropped and is given fair tribute as a 555 number in many films.

So using 555 is just another Hollywood tradition with its own little story, and now you know.

If you are curious, or just want to add to this guy’s workload, there is a website that compiles the use of 555 in movies and tv. A directory assistance of sorts if you will. You can take a peek here.

Rose McGowan is the stuff wet dreams are made of, but I am near certain she wouldn’t have much of a career if it wasn’t for her director boytoy Robert Rodriguez lining her up in all his gigs. The Barbarella remake is set to star Rose, and now he wants her to take on Red Sonja.

Comingsoon says:

According to USA Today, real-life couple director Robert Rodriguez and Rose McGowan are teaming up to bring Red Sonja back to the big screen.Neither of them were officially announced before. The only thing that was revealed previously was that Millennium Films had committed to reviving the Robert E. Howard-created property. David N. White was announced as the screenwriter.

Rose is seriously hot, so she fills the fantasy medieval plate-mail bikini quotient, but can she even lift something bigger than an iPod?

If they go with this, I would love to see the posters, but considering the considerably fit she warrior Brigitte Nielsen was brought in to play the unconquerable woman I doubt Rose could really BE Red Sonja.

So why is she even being considered? Oh right. I’d give her the part if I was Robert. Hell. I’d give her anything.

There is a REAL reason this role has never been duplicated. No woman has had the balls to do it.

Joss Whedon always manages to impress me. His latest little pet project is a musical that will be shown in three parts online.

WhedonAlums Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day star opposite Neil Patrick Harris in this silly story about a low rent villain (NPH) trying to impress a girl (Felicia Day).

Until today I didn’t even know what this “movie” was supposed to be about. I had heard the title Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog and that didn’t exactly help much. But it looks oddly fun. Must be the NPH.

Check out the trailer here:

The true evil in this film is that it was written by Joss and his brothers DURING the writers strike. I hear they also like to run with scissors.

This is just a tasty slice of silly that I can’t wait to see.

I fear for the movie industry as we are on the verge of another strike in Hollywood. This time it would be Screen Actor’s Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists.

ScreenRant writes:

Here are the details: SAG and AFTRA’s contracts with the studios and producers (AMPTP, Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers) expire June 30, 2008 (yes, you read that right - 4 days from today), and there has been zero progress. The issues at hand are contract negotiations including key issues new media and DVD royalties.

There is another big issue which has kept the two unions from sitting back down with the AMPTP: fighting between the two. AFTRA has a potential deal they want to solidify by July, but SAG isn’t happy with their terms, and so there is a major battle happening between leadership and members, and there doesn’t appear to be much in the way of progress in the past few weeks.

Two observations:

First, They are attempting to negotiate royalties on new media and DVDs. Sound familiar? I wonder if the AMPTP has any feelings on this topic?

Second. THE UNIONS HAVE ALL THE POWER. They don’t have to negotiate. They can sit it out and say “bring me a better offer and I will let you know”

Hollywood cannot afford another strike. Unlike the writers strike, which stopped new films from being made because they hadn’t been written, this strike is the ACTORS. They have already been paid for what they are supposed to be filming. What happens when they walk off the set?

They cannot be sued for breach of contract because this is protected by their unions. So the studios, the crew, the support staff and countless other people who support these movies are going to be without work. AGAIN!

The actors don’t care because they wont lose one red cent over this. And they can just divert blame to their own unions saying they wanted to continue working but their unions wouldn’t allow it. And eventually they will return to their contracted work no worse for the wear with a fat contract.

I guess everyone else suffers while they all try to figure out who needs more money.

So you want to go see a movie this weekend but you are not sure what to see. The guys around the watercooler are talking about this Wall-E film that is supposed to be pretty good, so maybe I will see that. Its a Pixar movie so you know it will be good for the kids. They get amused watching skittles thrown in the air.

But you are a websavvy fella of the new millenium, so you are going to see what other people think before you let them railroad you into another family film. The Intarnets never lie!!!

/Film says:

What movie should you see this weekend? Wanted is surprisingly good, and will likely beat your expectations. I can honestly recommend it… but the clear winner is WALL-E.

So far the little robot that could has a 98% tomatoemeter rating on Rotten Tomatoes with over 40 reviews. Actually, only one reviewer gave a negative critique.

Looks like you are going to see Wall-E.

But you better get their early so you can get yourself a good seat.

Or go to the really late showing so you don’t have to listen to that kid whine that his bladder is the size of an acorn and he cried til you gave him a pop that weights half as much as he does.

**UPDATE** A PARAMOUNT REP HAS CONFIRMED THAT PARAMOUNT WILL HAVE A PRESENCE AT COMIC CON THIS YEAR, BUT WAS UNABLE TO CONFIRM WHICH FILMS WOULD BE REPRESENTED OR HOW BIG OF A PRESENCE THEY WILL HAVE **END OF UPDATE** ComicCon is right around the corner, and John is already gearing up for his big party. And this isnt just for comics. It hasn’t been for a long time. This is the mecca for geeks and all the studios are in attendance to pawn off their wares and make you want to see their films.

Wait? A studio is backing out of ComicCon? Are they insane???? Paramount isn’t going to be at ComicCon??

FirstShowing says:

Paramount has decide to ditch Comic-Con entirely, citing “timing” and immense expenses without payoff. Variety’s Anne Thompson has confirmed that the rumors are true and the studio will only possibly do some viral marketing, but nothing more. This means that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, Star Trek, G.I. Joe, and The Last Airbender will all be missing from the convention this year.

Now I do think this is a HUGE bonehead move, because Paramount once again showing it cares only about paperwork and not the fanbase.

Paramount has some of the biggest franchises in film and a number of guaranteed money machines coming out. And yet they decide not to show up at the premier event to pimp them? Well they figure they will still make the money WITHOUT being there, but this just might backfire.

And by backfire I mean about the size of a ladyfinger firecracker. You will still go to their movies. You will just trash talk the studio on your blog first.

They will be missed at ComicCon, and there will still be plenty else to drool over but imagine the ripples in the fandom that might come of Paramount getting badmouthed for ignoring the fans of their films.

But the bottom line is the same. Paramount buys into these films BECAUSE they are a good financial investment. They know that very little effort is needed to promote things like Transformers, Star Trek or G.I.Joe. All of these have fan bases already and they are going to monopolize on the existing momentum. Yeah it sucks that they wont be there, but I rarely expect feeling out of a Studio that has no heart.

And despite the massive DROVES of fans that will attend the ComicCon… really, they are a small percentage of their target audience. And if they are fanatical enough to go to ComicCon, they are likely going to see these movies with or without Con promotion.

Now if they announced that lingerie wearing cosplayers were not in attendance…. that would hurt business.

Ladies and Gentlemen; it’s my great pleasure to present our review of Thor And The Amazon Women!

To Listen To The Podcast Click Here

Over the next 50 weeks, we will be discussing Macho Movies. We are currently digging through the Warriors Movie Pack made available through Mill Creek Entertainment. You can find the set for about 20-30 USD. We encourage all interested to buy the pack, and/or download the films that are public domain.

On todays show we review Thor And The Amazon Women. Highlights Include: Yugoslavian Grottoes, huMan Shields and Mighty Torsos! After our review of the film we discuss the norse deity Thor, and what he means to us!

For those of you following along with us in the series, please share your thoughts in the comments section!

Wintle, Plante & Nagy deem this film to be 5 Hydra heads out of 9.

We have the new Death Race poster for you guys today thanks to our friends at ShockTillYouDrop:

I like this poster, but would have loved it if they left out the floating phantom heads. The auto action in the lower portion of the poster is fantastic and I wish that we had the open road behind it. International Friends - what do you think?

We have an update for the U.S. distribution of Elite Squad, it appears that it will be launched in theaters and VOD simultaneously for your convenience! We get wind of this news thanks to THR:

“Elite Squad,” the first feature to be produced by the Weinstein Co. and Costantini Films’ Latin Film Fund, won’t be released theatrically in the U.S. by the Weinsteins. Instead, Jose Padilha’s Brazillian drug drama, which won the Golden Bear at this year’s Berlin International Film Festival, will be released simultaneously in theaters and on VOD through IFC Films, one of several day-and-date releases IFC is planning from other indie distributors.

The move is quite unusual given that “Squad” is one of the most acclaimed films of the year, the Weinsteins have shepherded many successful foreign film releases since their Miramax days and “Squad” was promoted by the Weinstein Co. when it made its North American premiere two months ago at the Tribeca Film Festival. The company launched Third Rail Releasing in February to handle its lower-budget specialty films, through which it will distribute Julian Schnabel’s docu “Lou Reed’s Berlin” next month.

I have heard cool things about this film and I am anxious to check it out. It’ s odd that the Weinstein Co. dropped this picture, but I’ m excited for the release on Video On Demand. VOD release means that it will be much more convenient for those of us that don’t live in a “limited release” city.
I would like to see more simultaneous launching of films on the VOD format. That way those who hate the theatre are able to join in on water cooler discussion monday morning like everyone else - because they saw the film at home.

Sometimes it’s really good to be in Los Angeles. I had a chance to hang out for a few days on the set of the upcoming “Crank 2″ (Which might be called “Crank: High Voltage”) with Jason Statham. I’ll give more details in the coming weeks about some stuff you can expect from the film… but I just wanted to share this picture with you guys…

While on set in Malibu one day, I had the chance to lounge around with Bai Ling (who obviously is in the movie)… and my goodness, she’s one of those rare hollywood types who is actually much more attractive in person than on screen or in her pictures (I never really thought she was that hot before).

We have 2 new posters for Punisher Warzone to show you today thanks to the good people over at comingsoon:

I would have liked to have seen a wake of destruction behind the Punisher in these images. A black background is fine, but a devastated city block is better. I don’t hate these images, the guns do look pretty awesome in black and white, but I do not love these posters either. I am lukewarm in my emotional response to these images.

International friends - what are your thoughts on the posters?

It looks like the animated treat known as Kung Fu Panda will be getting a remake. We get wind of this picture from our friends at slashfilm:

Kung Fu Panda was the first non-Pixar computer animated film that I really enjoyed. When I saw the film a few months back, I said to one of my friends “This is gonna be huge, lets hope they don’t f**k it up by making a sequel.” Well guess what… A story crew has already begun early work on a Sequel, according to a posting on the TAG Blog. The original film has garnered great reviews across the board and made over $229.7 million worldwide in its first 19 days of release.

Many people are telling me to get out and catch this before it leaves the theaters. Apparently the animation is second to none and the physical humor is fantastique! For a cartoon to be able to make you laugh without words is quite an accomplishment and a testament to the talent of the animators.

It sucks that every film that’ s successful these days seems to be getting a sequel. That being said, Kung Fu films lend themselves to sequles very well. A student may avenge his master, or a mook may return to even the score. Whatever the reason, there are enough to find when you are looking for an excuse to execute violence on the screen!

International Friends - would you welcome a sequel to this film or should they leave it be?

We have news of a new Sarah Jessica Parker film in the works titled The Ivy Chronicles. We get wind of this picture from the hallowed halls of The Hollywood Reporter:

The actress is in talks with Warner Bros. to star in “The Ivy Chronicles,” a story of class and the single woman in contemporary New York. It centers on Ivy Ames, an Upper East Side woman who, after losing her high-powered job and getting divorced, starts over again in a less ritzy downtown apartment. After pulling her children from private school, Ames starts a business to help upper-middle-class women get their children into elite kindergartens.

The project, based on Karen Quinn’s eponymous novel, is described as following in the vein of “The Devil Wears Prada” and “The Nanny Diaries” as well as Gigi Levangie Grazer’s “The Starter Wife,” which became a successful limited series on USA. Jerry Weintraub is set to produce.

A story about a wealthy woman who must suffer the plight of being upper middle class is a tragic tale indeed. Just think about how tough life would be when you can’t afford to buy more needless shit. Such a dilemma would certainly cause you to find the best daycare money can buy and share that news with others!

I think this film would be a lot better if it happened within the realm of Sex And The City. Sarah’s character goes broke and everyone tries to find reasons not to have her around. At the film’ s climax she confronts the group in a track suit covered in Dorito fragments and squat pisses in the corner of the restaurant that the other 3 are dining at. That is a riches to rags story that I can get behind.

This information about Transformers 2 comes to me from a trusted source that reveals what could be a very significant plot detail for the upcoming Transformers movie including some info on Rainn Wilson’s role, and why Sam goes nuts. Check it out… this information comes from the set of the film:

It happens that they were in the classroom scene that was being shot yesterday with Rainn Wilson. The shoot was to cover two separate days within the movie, the first day of classes for Sam, and the second day of class.

On the first day of class, Sam goes crazy just before getting to class for some reason. It seems there is some object that he was exposed to that affected him, our guess is the splinter from the cube. Anyways, Rainn Wilson asks the class to turn to the first page of the text book (which, apparently, Rainn Wilson’s character is the professor of the class AND the writer of the Astronomy text book that they are using in class). Wilson’s character’s name is Professor Colon (pronounced: koh - lawn). Everyone except Sam turns to the first page. Sam, instead, read the entire book in 5 seconds by just flipping through it, then starts telling Wilson’s character about what parts of his book are wrong. He also starts talking about how Einstein was wrong. Sam gets up from his seat and goes up to the chalk board and starts writing a lot of weird symbols on the chalk board (probably Cryptonian). Then he starts asking why nobody understands and then he leaves class. On the second day of class, he apparently returns, but acts less crazy.

The reason we suspect that it is an object he touches that makes him crazy is because there was a scene shot earlier where he was on the phone Fox’s character Mikaela, and he was asking her if she had “it” and then told her to make sure she doesn’t touch “it”. Our guess is the “splinter” (left over piece of the Allspark Cube), but it could be something else, of course.

Oh, and the last scene that was filmed on Wednesday evening was of Sam arriving to class while riding the red motorcycle that people have seen in pictures. I don’t think that proves whether or not it is a Transformer or just a motorcycle, but it could be worthwhile information in the future.

My guess is that it would be a piece of the All Spark that Sam kept after thrusting it into Megatron. That would explain why Optimus Prime thought there was nothing left of the All Spark at the end of the flick.

The film lords of China and Korea are joining forces to bring us a sequel to The Host. We get wind of this follow up from our friends at movieweb:

Korean production shingle Chungeorahm and China’s Stone Man Films have signed on to co-produce a Chinese sequel to Korean hit The Host, a monster movie with political undertones. China’s Ning Hao will direct and write the script.

The sequel will have to tread carefully to avoid criticizing the Chinese government. The story will concern a calamity caused when people ignore a monster due to their desire for money. Shooting is expected to start early next year for a release at the end of 2009.

A monster is as good a threat as any for a film that seeks to teach of the dangers of greed. We will be entertained with the monster attack and educated with the prophetic undertones; this is how you preach a message my friends!

I am not certain if the monster will be analogous to the threat of global warming, pollution, poverty or all of the above; but I like that we will be able to draw our own conclusions out of the symbolism, and actions of the beast itself. I like when I have to hunt for meaning in film, the experience is much more rewarding and makes for fantastic discussion.

We will be sure to keep you up to speed on the development of this picture!