I came across this little story that is so hard to believe and shocking, I just had to share it here. There are accusations going around that Heath Ledger wasn’t really brilliant playing The Joker in The Dark Knight… but rather he was trying to be so over the top and ridiculous that he’d get fired.

Basically, Ledger had a contract that would pay him the huge salary he got for The Dark Knight even if he got fired. Listen to this:

According to Ledger’s agent Steven Alexander and cinematographer/friend Nicola Pecorini, the actor had a pay-or-play deal on “Knight,” which means that he would be compensated no matter how terrible he ends up being. This gave Ledger the freedom to do what he wanted with The Joker.

But the real decision to take the role was because of the film’s unusually long shoot, which would give Ledger an excuse to turn down other offers. And since he was guaranteed to collect a paycheck, Ledger was hoping that his performance would be so “far-out” that he would end up being fired and become the beneficiary of a lengthy, paid vacation.

His agent added that while Ledger wanted to get paid, he didn’t want to be part of the massive blockbuster that “The Dark Knight” turned out to be. “[Ledger] was always hesitant to be in a summer blockbuster, with the dolls and action figures and everything else that comes with one of those movies,” Alexander explained. “He was afraid it would define him and limit his choices.”

WHAT!?!?! Seriously?!?!?!

I honestly don’t know what to think about this. Worst Previews is citing Vanity Fair as the source, which is no rag.

So let’s wait for more to come out about this odd situation… but let me ask you this… if this is true… would it change how you saw his performance in the movie?

And let me ALSO ask you this… if you don’t believe the story… are you thinking Vanity Fair is lying… or is Ledger’s agent lying?

Academy Award nominated actress Amy Adams (she was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role for the 2008 film “Doubt”) has just signed on to play Mark Wahlberg’s character, “Irish” Mickey Ward’s love interest in the upcoming film “The Fighter“.

The Fighter has gone through a lot of turmoil in it’s development as several big named actors and directors have come and gone from the project. Darren Aronofsky (Requiem for a Dream, The Wrestler) was set to direct the film and has since been replaced by David Russell (who has previously directed I Heart Huckabees and Three Kings), and both Matt Damon and Brad Pitt have been attached and left.

Christian Bale is also set for the film as Wahlberg’s brother.

Wahlberg will play Ward, a fighter who was losing bouts and was ready to hang up the gloves when his brother came back into his life. Bale will play Eklund, whose drugs and robbery spree drew him a 10- to 15-year sentence in state prison. There, he kicked drugs, became a model prisoner and emerged as a changed man who helped his brother reach the glory that eluded him.

There are some people in the movies that I may not think are the most hyper talented in the world, but I love them nonetheless. People like Jon Favreau, Vince Vaughn, Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Jean Reno and Ken Joeong (the naken guy in the trunk from “The Hangover”). Put all of them in a film together, and I’m instantly pumped to see it.

The new Couples Retreat trailer is out and I laughed myself silly watching it. This movie is on my must see list for sure. Check it out:

You know, amongst all the crap that is in Transformers 2 (and there’s a lot of it), I think it’s important to also highlight the positive stuff about the movie. I’ve already taken some time on the site to talk about the amazing visual effects and remarkable action sequences… but earlier today I was reading and a tune jumped into my head and I started humming it… not even realizing what it was I was humming.

Anyway, after a few bars it occurred to me that I was humming the Autobots arrival theme music. That made the think about how no one (including me) has actually talked about or mentioned the score of Transformers 2. The music in the film is FANTASTIC. Yes, much of it is also from part 1, but that doesn’t diminish how truly fantastic it is.

So close your door, turn up your speakers and just enjoy this:

Without question and hands down my favorite horror film of all time is EASILY “An American Werewolf in London“. I mean holy hell… I still can’t watch that movie by myself in the dark. The “sequel” (and I use that term loosely) was just pathetic, but it in no way detracts from my love of the original. And no matter how bad the remake is… the original is still there and still in tact.

Yes you read that right. Dimensions has purchased the rights from John Landis to do a remake of “An American Werewolf In London”. The good folks over at Bloody Disgusting give us this:

John Landis has sold the remake rights for An American Werewolf In London to Dimension Films. As Halloween II makes its way into theaters, the Weinstein brothers are hard at work at getting the Hellraiser remake off the ground and now will be retelling the story of two American tourists in England who are attacked by a werewolf that none of the locals will admit exists.

I’m all for remakes in general… and even though I think this one has little to no chance of being anywhere near as good as the original, I hope that people will be moved to check out the John Landis classic when they hear about this incarnation. Here’s the trailer for the original:

There is a lot to hate about Transformers 2. There is also much to love about it. If you read or watched my review of Transformers 2 you know all the problems I had with the movie and why I didn’t think it was anywhere near as good as the first one. Still, the action was grand, the visual effects were jaw dropping and it certainly had its moments.

But in reflecting on Transformers 2 and the future of the franchise in the hands of Michael Bay, I was hit by a thought that gives me a lot of hope for the next installment. The main reason is this:

Michael Bay appears to listen to the fans.

Follow me here. Some of the biggest complaints about the first Transformers film (legitimate complains) seemed to most revolve around:

- The lack of screen time for the Transformers themselves
- Too much shaky cam in the action
- No decepticon interaction

There were certainly others, but most of them seem to revolve around these issues. And to his credit, Michael Bay seemed to listen… because in Transformers 2 we got:

- MUCH more screen times for the Transformers
- Much less shaky cam in the action (still too much, but it was an improvement)
- More decepticon interaction, including a highly demanded one between Starscream and Megatron

Yes, there were a lot of NEW problems in Transformers 2 and several weaknesses that were not addressed… but in retrospect it does seem to me like Bay and company were listening to the gripes most of us had about the first one and addressed them. Kudos to them for doing that.

If Bay and his Bayonittes continue to do that, then perhaps Transformers 3 could be a lot better (get rid of the Jar Jar Twins, the leg humping mini robot, anyone that Megatron bows to… because we all know Megatron bows to NO ONE, the useless and annoying side human characters like Sam’s pathetic roommate, Transformers that turn into human college girls and other various items of sheer stupidity that were in Transformers 2).

I’m not saying that Transformers 3 WILL be better than 2… I’m just suggesting that Bay does seem to listen… and if he is listening… there could be improvements. Let’s hope so.

Transformers Revenge of the Fallen raked in an impressive $201.2 Million over 5 days to just narrowly fall short of the record of $203.8 Million currently held by The Dark Knight.

io9 shares:

Box office estimates late Sunday gave Transformers $201.2 million for the five day opening weekend, which isn’t enough to beat The Dark Knight’s $203.8 million, but enough to make it the second highest 5-day opening in US box office history, and the second film ever to break the $200 million mark in such a short amount of time. Already the third most successful film of the year, it’s likely to take the top spot in a matter of days.

Both are setting trends of a more successful sequel, which we honestly don’t see enough of.

There seems to be a lot of love it or leave it mentality with Transformers that we didn’t see with Dark Knight. I saw it on Friday and I liked it a lot more than I thought I would.

I have similar issues like with the Twins, and I felt as cool as Devastator was, he was mostly wasted. But the action and effects were SO good that I had a great time at the theater.

Were you surprised by the draw? Did you think it was going to be higher, or is this more than you guessed?

Over the last little while teaser posters for 9 have been surfacing around the net.

io9 has gathered up all 9 of the posters to introduce you to the sockpuppet saviours of a post apocalyptic clockwork Earth.

Everything about this movie makes me want to see it even more. I really hope they have collectable figures of these guys. They look awesome.

io9 has enbiggenated versions of these posters.

Today I came across the Last Airbender Teaser poster and realized I hadn’t posted the Teaser Trailer yet, so today you get both.

The poster is unimpressive, but its a teaser. I wonder if this means the Last Airbender went to Hogwarts? Anyways, much more impressive is the teaser trailer below.

Now THAT made me want to see this.

Via

Ok, the title of the article I found over at Horror Yearbook used a title that implies that Jacob Black and Mike Newton go on a date in Twilight Saga’s New Moon.

But that just isn’t the case, but its still funny to see the title and the confusion it might cause.

Anyways, in the article they are quoting Michael Welch (who plays Mike Newton, a co-worker and friend of Bella’s who has a crush on her - who doesn’t in these books?) where he talks about a scene were his character and Jacob inadvertently ends up going on a “date” with Bella after a group outing to the theater turns into Bella’s two biggest fans accompanying her. He talks about the fictional movie within the movie:

The film is called ‘Face Punch. It’s an action film. We started out with a few other comical names, but it turned out those were actual films so we couldn’t use those titles. I forget the first few titles, but it was like ‘Crazy Explosion’ — and it turns out, there actually was a ‘Crazy Explosion.’ Chris came up with the title. And apparently there is no ‘Face Punch’ that we know of.

Welsh speculates that a fake trailer for the movie they see which in the book is called “Crosshairs” and is the second film that Bella sees in the book, the first being a Zombie flick called “Dead End”.

Maybe Weitz will come up with some trailers for them and we might get a peek at what is going on “on screen” in these movies. Would just be fun to see.

More fun than watching Jacob and Mike on a date.

Remember when it was announced that R2-D2 made a cameo appearance in Star Trek and they even made a contest around it. People speculated that R2 was in a pillar design in the launch bay, or that he was in the machinery in the engineering deck. It wasn’t him. Well now the cat is out of the bag, and we have found R2.

Ok, we didn’t find him, but we found an article that definitively answers the question.

Gizmodo reports:

During the Drill Machine sequence as the Enterprise comes out of its barrel role amidst destruction of the other Federation ships above Vulcan, we cut to an interior Enterprise bridge over the shoulder of Kirk that is looking out through the front viewscreen. In space, R2-D2 is floating in the debris from about the top middle of the screen to the bottom right.

And now, we are starting to hear rumours that R2-D2 also has a cameo appearance in Transformers Revenge of the Fallen too!

Has anyone found out if this is true? Have you seen him?

I know I haven’t written very much about the development of the movie, but I’ve actually really been looking forward to “Amelia” (the new biopic about Amelia Earhart. It’s just so nice to see a biopic coming about someone other than a musician… about someone who actually had real significance.

Anyway, the new Amelia trailer has just come out and I think it looks amazing. A very talented cast (Hilary Swank and Richard Gere) and the look of the film is just breathtaking. Check it out:

Holy crap. I knew I liked the sound of the upcoming Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Isabel Lucas film “Daybreakers”. The sysnopsis for the film looks like this: “In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.”

Now a Daybreakers movie has hit the web and I personally think it kicks all sorts of ass! Check it out:

Dear heavens how cool does Sam Neil look? So what do you think?

It appears that The King of Pop, Michael Jackson has died today as the result of a cardiac arrest. He was 50.

MSNBC is reporting:

The Los Angeles Times reports that Michael Jackson has died at age 50 after being rushed to UCLA Medical Center.

Los Angeles Fire Department Capt. Steve Ruda told the newspaper that Jackson was not breathing when paramedics arrived at his home and CPR was performed.

The very strange and unique life of Michael Jackson defies description. A child star, a musical talent and innovative dancer, Jackson has always been on both sides of the critics favour.

His lifestyle and personal choices in life often made him the subject of ridicule, but his musical talent is rarely challenged.

Michael Jackson even had a limited movie career appearing in The Wiz (1978), a hip adaptation of the Wizard of Oz where he played the Scarecrow. More recently Michael even did self mocking humour posing as himself in Men in Black 2 as the hopeful Agent M.

Shocking news. As odd as he was, 50 is too early for anyone to leave this world. He was just about to embark on his “comeback tour”.

I give to you the possibly inappropriate Zombie Jackson in Thriller:

Rest in peace Michael, your life was rarely peaceful.

Just a little FYI post. As most of you know I’ve been pretty up in arms about the fact that the last 2 years in a row, the #1 critically rated films of the year (Ratatouille and Wall-E) never got nominated for best picture at the Oscars. This brought up a question that a lot of people either asked or suggested they knew the answer to.

With a Best Animated category, are animated films even eligible for the top prize at the Oscars? Many people argued that they weren’t eligible, and many argued that they were. So instead of guessing, I just decided to call the Academy of Motion Picture and Sciences and ask. The answer:

YES. Animated films are perfectly eligible for the Best Picture awards at the Oscars even with the Best Animated category there.

That doesn’t mean they WILL be nominated… just saying they are eligible.

When it was announced yesterday that the Academy Awards were going to extend their Best Picture nominees list from 5 to 10 films, In Contention Senior Editor Kris Tapley and I got into a debate (you’ve got to understand, Kris and I were roommates once, have a really great friendship… but man, when it comes to movieswe argue all the time… I’m always right obviously… but that doesn’t stop him from arguing with me) about if the move was a good or bad one. I think it is a great move… Kris disagrees. Anyway….

Kris made an interesting comment in that debate that I actually got to thinking about today. He asked “You ready for “The Hangover,” Best Picture nominee?”

At first I just tossed his statement aside as being just silly… but hold the phone… COULD “The Hangover” get a best picture nomination with the field being expanded to 10?

The answer is “probably not” considering we’re still very very very early in the movie year (remember, most awards type movies don’t get released until closer to the end of the year and even though its done VERY well both financially and critically… it hasn’t done THAT well critically. The Hangover holds a 78% over at Rotten Tomatoes. But who knows… “The Reader” was rated lower than that and got an nomination.

Regardless if The Hangover gets a nomination, the reality is that with the expanded field there is a much larger possibility that a COMEDY could actually get a nod this year… Hangover or another.

So what do you think? Could a movie like “The Hangover” actually get some Academy love this year or is it simply not good enough?

Cameron Diaz and James Marsden are starring in the psychological thriller called The Box.

Trailer Addict describes it as:

Norma and Arthur Lewis are a suburban couple with a young child who receive an anonymous gift bearing fatal and irrevocable consequences. A simple wooden box, it promises to deliver its owner $1 million with the press of a button. However, pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world…someone they don’t know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the crosshairs of a startling moral dilemma and face the true nature of their humanity.

This looks like it has something far deeper than the simple dillema of “would you?” to it. Looks promising.

Zack Snyder has been attached to a proposed 300 sequel, and while speculation was all the news we had, he has finally broken the silence and chatted about it.

FirstShowing quotes Snyder:

“I think we would use the same technology… I don’t want it to look too Star Wars-ian… Just from what [Miller] told me, it would be bigger as far as landscape and terrain. We’re going to see Athens and the Aegean and other places. There would be an opportunity for bigger visions, though I’d hope for the same aesthetic. The tech we used for 300 was not a revolution. It’s basically what the weatherman has. Look, instead of Accuweather it’s Sparta… It’s going to be the same way, but on crazier steroids.”

I like Frank Miller doing comics far better than him pretending he can direct. He is an amazing storyteller and artist, but I don’t think that the director’s chair is a comfortable perch for him.

This is a promising look at 300 as a sequel. Clearly there is little else to say AFTER the movie, and there isn’t much of a premise for BEFORE the movie. SO why not make it IN the movie.

Then maybe one day we will get an edited 4.5 hour version of 300 that seamlessly stitches both stories together!

Watchmen may not have been the success that comic fans hoped for, but it seems to be a hot or cold result. Either people loved it to death for its accuracy to the comic that redefined the type of stories told in comics or they hated it.

Sadly it didn’t redefine stories that can be told in comic book movies.

Well the die hard fans will get their chance to see a directors cut with additional footage not seen in the theatrical cut.

Live for Film shares:

“I can verify that you will get to see the brutal murder of Hollis Mason by a bunch of top-knotted thugs. As with most of the violent scenes in WATCHMEN, Snyder has taken a dozen or so panels from the graphic novel and transformed them into breathtaking cinema. He’s also turned the sequence into a half-clever, half-heartbreaking homage to Raging Bull, with Hollis flashing back to his crime-fighting heyday as the “Intermezzo” from CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA briefly dominates the soundtrack. The music - and his punch-drunk reverie - ends abruptly when the gang’s ringleader busts open Hollis’s skull with his Nite Owl trophy. This is a brilliantly shot-and-edited sequence.”

So this limited release will only be shown for one weekend (a week before San Diego Comic Con) in one theater in each of the following cities; LA, Dallas, Minneapolis, and New York City.

The Director’s Cut of Watchmen will be the same version available on Blu-Ray and DVD on July 21st.

Farrah Fawcett who will always be known as one of Charlies Angels has passed away at the age of 62 after a three year battle with cancer.

CNN reports:

Fawcett, who checked into a hospital in early April, had been battling anal cancer on and off for three years.

Bloch told CNN that Ryan O’Neal, Fawcett’s romantic partner since the mid-1980s, and her friend Alana Stewart were with Fawcett at Saint John’s Hospital in Santa Monica, California, when she died.

Fawcett has been a 70s sex symbol and the poster girl for and ambassador of feathered hair.

She is best known for her role on the original Charlies Angels TV series despite only being a full time cast member for one of its 5 seasons. She did make some reoccuring appearances on the show to fulfill some contract obligations, but is easily the most recognizable personality from the program.

In the category of “Because No One Asked for it” it seems Fox is moving ahead on the sequel to Hitman and they have found their writer Kyle Ward.

Collider shares:

Fox is trying again and have brought screenwriter Kyle Ward (who also wrote the script based on “Kane & Lynch”, another videogame adaptation which mercifully hasn’t hit screens yet) on board for a new script based on the upcoming “Hitman” videogame due out in 2010, because if you need a great story, you can always look to videogames. The story would focus on 47 “building himself back up psychologically and physically to reclaim his mantle as the world’s most feared assassin.”

I don’t mind that they keep making movies based on video games. Perhaps it is my sadistic side that keeps hoping against hope that one day we will have a video game adaptation that doesn’t suck. Hitman wasn’t it.

Not that the premise wasn’t bad, but I just couldn’t buy Timothy Olyphant as a badass. Also strange since I just love his badass slightly unhinged porn producer in Girl Next Door. I was looking forward to seeing him do the cold calculating killer in Hitman and I just couldn’t get there.

So it only makes sense to have a movie about a professional killer who aspires to be well known.

Uh, is it just me or does that seem counter productive to a professional killer??

This is not off to a good start.

The San Diego Comic Con has slowly become less about comics, and frankly no one cares. Its the COMIC CON!!!

Well Fox has a press release announcing their schedule for the event to let us know what they are pimping this year.

MovieWeb delivers:

FRIDAY, JULY 24:

2:15-3:00 P.M. Coming off its most critically acclaimed season in years, 24 stars Kiefer Sutherland, Mary Lynn Rajskub and new cast members Anil Kapoor, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Katee Sackhoff join showrunnner Howard Gordon and the producers of the Emmy-winning series for a special sneak peek at the heart-stopping premiere episode of Season 8. Ballroom 20.

3-3:45 P.M. Bones showrunner Hart Hanson and stars David Boreanaz and Emily Deschanel are on hand for a discussion of what’s on deck for Booth and Brennan, hot on the heels of this year’s much talked-about season finale in which the pair finally wound up between the sheets. Ballroom 20.

4 P.M-6 P.M. Join Dollhouse creator Joss Whedon and star/producer Eliza Dushku for a no-holds-barred Q & A about what they have planned for season 2, after they unveil a special screening of the NEVER BEFORE SEEN “Epitaph One” episode of the Fox hit which releases on DVD just four days later. Ballroom 20.

SATURDAY, JULY 25:

11:15 A.M.-12 P.M Join Seth MacFarlane, Mila Kunis, Seth Green and the brilliant creative minds behind Family Guy for a raucous discussion of what goes on behind the scenes of tv’s most subversive animated hit. They’ll also be offering a not-to-be-missed sneak peek at Something, Something, Something, Dark Side the Empire Strikes Back parody follow-up to Family Guy: Blue Harvest. Giggity! Ballroom 20.

12-12:45 P.M. Con fans will get the FIRST LOOK at The Cleveland Show, the wickedly funny new spin-off of Family Guy starring America’s favorite beleaguered animated African American, Cleveland Brown. Co-creators Seth MacFarlane, Mike Henry and Rich Appel and voice cast Sana’a Lathan and Kevin Michael Richardson will all be on hand to discuss this new series premiering on Fox in the fall. Ballroom 20.

1-1:45 P.M. Futurama: Life or Death?! BE A PART OF SCI-FI HISTORY! Join Executive Producers Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, and stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio and Maurice LaMarche for high-stakes thrills as a top-ranking Fox executive decides live, on stage, whether Futurama will make yet another triumphant return, or whether it is gone forever! The very fate of Futurama hangs in the balance! Paramedics will be standing by in case the intense excitement causes any panelists to collapse. Raucous celebration or abject despair to follow the news. Ballroom 20.

1:45-2:30 P.M. Now entering its record-breaking 21st season on the air, The Simpsons is the longest-running series in the history of American television, and a household name around the world. Get a behind-the-scenes look at what’s coming up in the Simpsonverse, including never-before-seen highlights from the upcoming “Treehouse of Horror XX”, with a panel including Simpsons Creator Matt Groening, Showrunner Al Jean, Executive Producer Matt Selman and Supervising Director Mike Anderson. Ballroom 20.

1:30-3 P.M. When Fox aired a special preview of its subversive new comedy musical series Glee after the American Idol finale, the response was through the roof and fans have hungered for another episode ever since. The wait is over! Join stars Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele and Cory Monteith and the producers of the Fox hit for a sneak preview screening of a never-before-broadcast episode with panel discussion to follow. Don’t Stop Believin’, Con fans! Glee is here! Indigo Room.

SUNDAY, JULY 26:

11:15 A.M.-12:15 P.M. American Dad showrunners Mike Barker and Matt Weitzman and stars Seth MacFarlane, Wendy Schall and Dee Bradley Baker are back to regale the fans with an insider’s look at how an episode of the hilarious Fox animated comedy is made, from table read to animatic to color. Don’t miss this one-of-a-kind Comic-con event. Ballroom 20.

I know its popular for the kiddies to hate on Fox. Most complaints people have about that studio are the very same thing that every other studio does too. Its kind of amusing to watch all that hate get channeled because they manipulate their news and promote stuff like they are doing US a favour when we already know what they are up to.

They are like that distant crazy aunt who does something nice for you for ulterior motives and you just smile and nod and remember the $12 cheque she gave you for your birthday while you are helping her move.

Fox execs will be hiding behind the cardboard standies of the Simpsons, that show that is a lot like the Simpspons, and the spinoff of that show that is a lot like the Simpspons. Oh, lets not forget that sci fi animated comedy by the guy who created the Simpsons getting un-cancelled.

Now I know this is a press release publicity spin, but after Ausiello confirmed that 26 episodes of Futurama have already been ordered so the premise that a panel at SDCC would be the deciding factor for the return of Futurama (which of course I can’t wait for) is kind of poor spin.

The news that the forbidden 13th episode of the now saved Dollhouse will be shown at SSDC is dampened knowing I can just BUY it days after! Thank Zod!

And the softy in me is just gushing over Glee. Damn I am a sucker for inspiring melodies.

Gran Torino was a real treat of a movie last year with a few big holes that sadly prevented it from being seriously considered one of the top films of the year. Still, it certainly found its audience and it CONTINUES to find an audience on DVD as it stayed in the #1 spot for sales and rental for a second consecutive week ahead of a couple of major new releases (“Madea Goes to Jail” and the new Friday The Thirteenth”).

As a matte of fact, the new Jason movie failed to even crack the top 3 as movie goers weren’t in any rush to see it either again or for the first time. So much for word of mouth. (source: THR)

I’m a huge Daniel Craig fan. To be he is the best James Bond to date (in my mind, he’s the first Bond who legitimately looks like he could kick your ass, and then steal your woman from you in the same heartbeat. THAT’S James Bond.

But he has proven he’s a lot more than just Bond (he was wonderful in Defiance last year) and continues to look to stretch his acting wings to fight the ever present danger of typecasting. Next up is a little horror movie called “Dream House”. Craig is in negotiations to lead the film now.

Basically the film goes like this… a man moves his family to a picture perfect little down and into a picture perfect little house… where OBVIOUSLY the ghosts of the murdered previous tenants dwell. Obviously right?

Why is it always a house haunted by murdered former tenants? Why not… I don’t know… the ghosts of happy former tenants? Just thinking out loud here. (source: filmophilia)

Look, we all know John Travolta is a dreadful actor… and I know it as well as anyone… but for some reason I seem to have a bit of a soft spot for the guy when he’s either playing a villain (Face Off, Broken Arrow) or a crazy guy. So it is with much shame that I tell you I’m actually sort of looking forward to seeing his new flick “From Paris With Love” in which he co-stars with Jonathan Rhys Meyers.

The sysnopsis for the film looks something like this: “Director Pierre Morel (who just gave us the Liam Neeson film “Taken” earlier this year) is brining us his newest action flick “From Paris With Love” which focuses on a US agent being played by John Travolta, who is sent to Paris and is partnered up with a low ranking agent (Jonathan Rhys Meyers) at the embassy in order to stop an international terrorist attack.”

The movie is set to come out in 2010. Check out the trailer (which I like) and poster bellow. (source: Ramascreen)

One of the best benefits of Marvel taking control of their own properties (well… most of them anyway) is that they’re able to start connecting all the worlds into one that all the heroes inhabit together, much like the actual comics. The grand chapter of this convergence will be the merging of Iron Man, Captain America, Hulk and Thor into “The Avengers” movie they’ve already announced.

Recently at the LA Film Festival, “The Avengers” writer, Zack Penn (X2, Elektra, X-Men: The Last Stand, The Incredible Hulk) gave a run down on how the development of The Avengers movie is progressing:

“They’re doing Captain American and Thor first, and then Avengers is coming out,” Penn said. “They want to see that they’re all connected. I’m taking a meeting next week with the Thor and Captain America people, and we are all going to get together, and I will see what is going to happen. I’ll see where they are leaving the characters; it’s pretty complicated.”

He continued: “There’s a board that is tracking what is happening. [We'll see] how this movie overlaps in that movie. Marvel is autonomous now. It is night and day: Everyone has read every comic. They know how to make a cool movie.”

I very much like how they’re not getting ahead of themselves or handcuffing the writers of the other movies. They seem to be letting those other writers make their stories, and THEN figure out how to properly bring them all together. Very nice call. (source: WorstPreviews)

Well look at this… the Academy actually did something really smart. As it says in the title, this coming year the Best Picture category at the Oscars will have TEN nominees competing for the top prize instead of the traditional 5 films.

In the official press release the Academy said their reason for making the movie was to “get back to their roots” since 70 years ago the Oscars did indeed used to have 10 nominees. But let’s call a spade a spade. We all know this isn’t the REAL reason they’re making the change.

The real reasons they’re making this change can be broken down like this:

1) Increasing the number of films nominated will create a wider group of people who are interested in the outcome and hopefully increase the audience for the awards show. Think about it… how many Batman fans out there would have been more interested in the Oscars last year if The Dark Knight had actually been nominated? A LOT.

2) It’s a response to the hammering the Academy took from the main stream film going audience who were outraged that films like “The Dark Knight” and the #1 critically rated film of the year, “Wall-E” were not even nominated. This opens the door for them to include many of those “bubble” films.

3) It makes sense numbers wise. It’s all fine and well to have 5 nominees back in the 80’s when there were about 3000 movies produced each year… but now we have close to 10,000 $1 million+ budget movies made each year. It seems to make sense to broaden the nominee list just in response to the pure numbers.

I’d like to see how the Academy can DARE not nominate “UP” this year.

So what do you think of this move? Good or bad?

There has been a lot of discussion going on about the upcoming reboot/remake/sequel of Predators (notice they added the “s” on the end… so we know it’s quality). A proverbial revolving door has been going on with the “who might direct it”, and a new name has emerged… Nimrod Antal.

For those of you who may not know (and that’s just about all of us), Nimrod Antal is the same man who directed Vacancy last year and directed the upcoming Matt Dillon flick Armored (which I actually think looks pretty solid).

The guys over at Latino Reviews give us this:

Robert Rodriguez is the producer on the PREDATORS movie so if negotiations just started, keep in mind like it has time after time this past year, “THAT PRODUCERS LIE”. My information comes from a super trusted source and Nimrod isn’t some name I pulled out of my ass.

Regardless of who ends up directing this flick, I’m still very apprehensive about it. I see it becoming nothing more than another AVP movie… just without the A. That’s a scary thought.

But who knows? Robert Rodriguez’s “Planet Terror” was the vastly superior half of “Gridhouse”, so maybe he’s got something cool in mind. I’ve got to wonder though…. why doesn’t Rodriguez just direct this himself?

This is so plain that I’m not even sure why I’m posting about this. My friend Rama put this up today though and thought you might be interested in it. It’s a possible teaser poster for Iron Man 2. Rama says this:

film1.nl spotted what may seem to be a teaser poster for IRON MAN 2 that was on display at the Cinema Expo in Amsterdam. But does the font style look the same to you as the one from first movie’s poster? Is this official or fan-made?

I’ll say this… if it’s real, it’s the most dull teaser poster I’ve ever seen. If it’s fan made, it’s the most dull fan made poster I’ve ever seen. Either way it’s dull.

Still, it’s just a poster and don’t actually say anything about the quality of the movie itself.

Most of you have heard the news by now that late night god Ed McMahon has passed away. For years Ed McMahon helped make “The Tonight Show” what it was. Yes we all remember and think about Johnny Carson when we think of the pioneers of late night talk shows (and well we should) but Ed McMahon is often far too overlooked. He served as the ultimate straight man to Carson. Never looking for the spotlight, never looking to steal the thunder… he served to do nothing but set up Johnny and he did it extremely well. He was awesome.

My friend Kris over at InContention found this BRILLIANT and hilarious video of Johnny and Ed that I just had to share with you. Check it out:

The Three Stooges movie project has recently suffered a major set back with the departure of Sean Penn from the cast. The potential dream cast for the movie saw Sean Penn, Jim Carrey and Benicio del Toro. So much for that.

There is some speculation going on around the web today that Paul Giamatti may be replacing Penn, but that is totally false. Someone just suggested Giamatti for the role, but the Farelly have already confirmed that isn’t happening and that they’ve offered the role to someone else already, but aren’t mentioning who it is (I guess they haven’t accepted yet).

But what I found interesting is the FORMAT the Farelly brothers are going to use for the movie. We’ve known for a long time that this film isn’t going to be a biopic about the Stooges, but rather an actual modern telling of the Stooges (which I actually think is kinda cool now). And instead of doing just one long movie, they’re going to do 3 “episodes” put together. I LOVE that idea. The 3 episodes will be connected together in some way.

So who could you see replacing Penn?

I get a real kick out of getting my hands on actual props and items used in movies. I remember the first time I visited Skywalker Ranch, I walked into this cottage style building and the very first thing I saw in the foyer was a glass case with the little Idol that Indiana Jones was taking at the very beginning of “Raiders of the Lost Ark”, Indy’s original whip and Luke’s lightsaber. I nearly pissed myself and very seriously started to consider a life of crime with visions of busting that glass case open. Calmer heads prevailed that day and I avoided jail time.

Anyway, I found this pretty interesting. This huge ass house (the real name if the place is Ennis House) that’s been used in movies like Blade Runner, Rush Hour 3, The House On Haunted Hill as well as on TV serving as the place where Spike and Angel lived on Buffy is going up for sale for a cool $15million if you wanna buy it. Sadly it’s not under some small glass case that I can bust open and walk away with tucked under my shirt. Anyone wanna go in on it and split it with me?

(source: JoBlo)

Daybreakers is a film that I’m very excited to see… but at the same time sounds an awful lot like I Am Legend, with the big exception being the cast of Ethan Hawke, Willem Dafoe and Isabel Lucas (the new little hottie from Transformers 2). Listen to how the film is described and tell me if it’s not very familiar:

In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works
with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.

Now granted, what makes this kinda cool to me is that it seems to be taking on the “already done” story and telling it from the perspective of the vampires. I like that a lot and has some potential. Anyway, a new Daybreakers teaser poster has hit the web and I though I’d share it with you:

(source: JoBlo)

Hey there guys. This is actually a few days late, but I wanted to follow up my video blog where we talked about sequels last week. Sometimes when a sequel is announced some people will say “they’re just doing it for the money”. My response is usually “well what else do you think they’re doing it for”?

In this Video Blog (by the way, I have no idea if you guys like these or if they’re just a total waste of time… let me know what you think) I talk about why money is not only a major motivational factor for ALL MOVIES AND EVERYONE INVOLVED WITH THEM, but also why we shouldn’t look down on people (business people and artists alike) look down our noses at them for it.

Please note, I’m NOT saying money is the only reason people do what they do… but as I’ll explain, it is a big factor in the motivation.

It’s hard for us to imagine now, but George Lucas was once considered one of the brightest stars amongst filmmakers, and it was long before Star Wars. He was one of the original rebels against the Hollywood system and was quite a visionary. Anyway, the good folks over at Cinematical came across this great little interview with Lucas from 1971 talking about the industry, the art and the process of filmmaking. It’s really worth watching. Check it out:

George Lucas: Maker of Films (1971) from Michael Heilemann on Vimeo.

Aside from Samuel L Jackson (who seems to have a minimum quota of 78 movies per year) Guillermo del Toro is probably the hardest working man in Hollywood right now. The dude is attached to about a billion movies at the moment including the highly anticipated “The Hobbit” movies which will take us back to middle earth to explore the pre-story to Lord of the Rings.

However, one of the other project del Toro has on the go that I’m personally VERY interested in is Frankenstein. Seriously, how long has it been since we’ve had a decent Frankenstein movie? And please don’t say Van Helsing or I’ll have to shoot you and then piss in your corpses mouth.

Obviously, any monster movie that del Toro does is going to include Doug Jones in one form or another. Jones was del Toro’s Fauna n Pan’s Labyrinth, Abe Sapian in the Hellboy movies and was recently the Silver Surfer (for which they stupidly replaced his voice with Morpheous’). Recently Doug talked a bit about the upcoming Frankenstein project:

“[Guillermo's] got a four-picture deal with Universal, so once he’s done with The Hobbit, I think the first thing that’s up on the docket will be Frankenstein. And reinvention is going to be the name of it, because he’s going back to the Mary Shelley book and starting fresh with it.” So this new Frankenstein isn’t something we’ll see until at least 2012 once the second Hobbit movie hits? Then why start work so early? “We are going to do some tests just to see, because he has five years to play with this. He’s taking that luxury of time to make this absolutely perfect.”

“This is his dream. [Del Toro] was inspired by Frankenstein when he was a kid. It was the monster that made him want to make monsters. So because of that it’s been [a] lifelong [dream], and he wants to be perfect with him.”

Sounds great to me! (source: Firstshowing)