Seems the barrels of those guns are still aimed at Twilight as it takes the #1 spot two weeks in a row, just edging out $2million ahead of Sandra Bullock’s $40m opening of The Blind Side. Over the last week since the film’s release there have been a number of movie mistakes discovered about the film. A staggering 22 of them in fact. (that’s sarcasm right there)

io9.com has shared some of them:

here are a few of the problems the fans have identified:

When Jacob first shows off his tattoo, it is up at the top of his shoulder. Then when he is in the forest at the end with Bella and Edward, his tattoo is about 2 inches further down his arm.

When Bella is flying to Italy they show a Virgin America airplane. Virgin America only flies within certain cities in the US. Virgin Atlantic flies from the US to Europe.

Just as Jacob enters Bella’s room through the window, a stunt prop - white band on his right wrist - is briefly visible.

In the montage scenes where we see Bella’s depression, when the camera is circling her, the camera man is shown in the mirror (twice) behind her.

The rims of the vampires contacts can be spotted occasionally during the film, especially the Volturi’s during the ending scenes — e.g., Jane’s in the elevator.

In the main title when the giant new moon appears on the screen the shadow fades over the moon from right to left when it should actually fade from left to right. The moon travels around the earth clockwise. The waning moon should turn to a new moon, not the waxing which is shown.

Interestingly enough in the original article, the writer speculates on a number of flaws that just reveal she has never read the books or knows anything about Twilight. She ponders on how its possible that Jacob could transform into a wolf 4 times his size (uh… magic has to follow the laws of physics now?) and where they keep getting clothes after they shred their outfits(the book spells out how they deal with this too)

But still I am sure that the twhaters will be trying to use this as Ammo for proving how flawed Twilight is, keep in mind that according to Movie Mistakes, Star Wars has 139 recorded mistakes (259 reported - 120 corrections). Who knows if they will find as many in New Moon.

I am sure more will be found and nit picked over. But spotting these little slip ups in any film is always fun.

Micheal Jackson’s This is It was speculated to get a late Chirstmas season realease to make the perfect last minute gift. But it seems that a full month after Christmas is the real truth of it all. Jan 26 will see the BluRay and DVD releases on the shelves.

Both the DVD and high-def versions of “This Is It” will include several mini-docs and other special features. Blu-ray Discs also will include two versions each of the Jackson music videos “Smooth Criminal” and “Thriller.”

The DVD of “This Is It” will carry a suggested retail price of $28.96 and the Blu-ray version an SRP of $39.95. A PlayStation Portable disc is also planned, at an SRP of $24.94. /blockquote>I have yet to catch this, and I look forward to the Blu release.

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In a round about way we found a quote online from Peter Jackson talking about The Hobbit and what is going on with it. Filming has been delayed from spring 2010, and is now nudged into summer.
It started at a German website and was translated over at OneRing.net then finally, First Showing shares it with us:

“We’re currently working on the second script which we hope to have completed by the end of this year or beginning of next. When the scripts are completed, we can begin with the exact calculation of the necessary budget. We hope to start filming in the middle of next year. However, we’ve received no green light from the studio yet.”

So all seems to be moving forward all without an official greenlight at the studio?

You know, with all the financial difficulty facing MGM, we were assured that existing deals would move forward as planned but now we find there isn’t one?

Maybe Jackson is just that confident that if things do go south with its current resting place that every studio out there will be fighting for the chance to get behind this guaranteed money train.

Robert Rodriguez is producing the next Predator film and will be named Predators.

His director Nimrod Antal was in an interview and talks about casting Adrien Brody and confirms the R rating. Geek Tyrant quotes Nimrod Antal:

So far, it’s been great, and I think that the fans who may have been underwhelmed by the last two AVP films, I think they’re in for a very pleasant surprise.

I think we recognize that the original film was as good as it was because of the practical, because it was a guy in a suit, because it was the jungle, so we stay true to that. We were in Hawaii for a month in the jungle, so there’s going to be some pretty impressive locations.

Let me tell you, I was so much of a fan that I stood in line when I was 14 and I had the poster on my wall. I was a huge fan. Again, it was a challenge in finding a balance. I think when we cast Adrian, there were a lot of people going, ‘What?’ but at the same time, if we cast a Vin Diesel in that role or if we cast anyone who is Arnold-esque, we would have been attacked for doing that. So we decided early on to go in a very different direction as far as the casting process, but it turned out fantastic. He plays a mercenaryin the film and if you look at the guys in Iraq and Afghanistan today, they’re not ‘yolked-out’ Schwarzenegger-looking guys. They’re all very wiry and thin guys, and I think it’s going to play well.

Its bold talk and builds some confidence in the franchise that has delievered less than stellar conflicts before.

But this film has no Aliens, so I am trying not to associate this with those films, and Antal says he is working with the feel and tone of the original Predator films, so I have hope.

He also addresses the wild speculation that Schwarzenegger would reprise his Dutch role, even in cameo or mention. As of right now its not hapening, but he didn’t rule it out either.

Once again we get a sneak peek at an anticipated character in a film by looking for its toy!

Previews, the advance listings catalogue for comic book retailers has an ad for the action figure of Cheadle in the
War Machine armour and gives us a little better look. Cleverly, they found a way to advertise this collectable in the catalogue without actually showing it, as the full image of the character is blocked out in sihloette.

Iron Man 2 is shaping up to be as good as the first, and I can’t wait to see it. I like that they are keeping War Machine under relative wraps for now.

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Thomas Dekker, known mostly for playing John Connor in Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles will join Jeremy Piven, Lynn Collins and Kate Walsh in an indie drama titled Waska.

THR shares:

Based on a novel by Leslie Schwartz, the story follows a young father (Dekker) whose 3-year-old son freezes to death during a fishing trip. As a local prosecutor (Piven) goes after him, townspeople like his ex-wife (Collins) rage at him and others support him as he attempts to makes sense of what happened.

Catherine Trieschmann wrote the adaptation, which is being directed by Gaby Dellal.

Ever since meeting Dekker I have a greater appreciation for his acting. While I haven’t seen him in much, his onscreen personae are completely different than his energetic flamboyant presence.

Waska will also strike a nerve for the recent tragic news of the woman who accidentally dropped her toddler over the rail of a second story walk way in an airport. I think it would make for some serious dramatic perspective to have Dekker face the tragedy of losing a child amidst accusations of neglect.

This will be high on my radar.

A new Feature Film is coming that will be a modern retelling of the Beauty and the Beast. Beastly is the story of a rich good looking socialite who crosses the wrong goth chick and she curses him with a ghastly appearance of body peircings and tatoos.

Check out the teaser:

The Belle to this beast (named Lindy) will be played by Vanessa Hudgens of High School Musical fame. With any luck she might step away from that stereotype and be given a chance like her co-star Zac Efron.

The movie will be based upon a book of the same name that is a quiet hit in that popular teen drama demographic. I imagine if the feature film is a success, it could easily spawn into a series.

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Smallville has been a geek dream for me. Seeing this “not Superman” story with all the characters I expect to exist in the DC Universe has been a great ride. And now a pair of highly anticipated Smallville episodes scheduled for after the Holiday Hiatus will be conjoined to form a TV Movie Special Event that will introduce Clark and his gang to a bigger world of Heroes at large called Absolute Justice.

We get a first look at some of the characters from the Justice Society in all their setting clashing glory!

The Nerdy Bird shares:

Usually on Smallville they go with an alternate/updated look for their superheroes, which can sometimes go horribly wrong, so I’m thrilled beyond belief that they’ve kept things classic for the JSA’s appearance. The three guest-stars are no strangers to sci-fi/geek television: Brent Stait is playing Doctor Fate, Britt Irvin is Stargirl and Michael Shanks is Hawkman. The Sandman is also making an appearance, played by Ken Lawson, catch a quick glimpse of him in the promo for the special now airing February 5, 2010.

I am a little distracted by the change in direction with Smallville regarding these guys.

I long since gave up on the pointless battle that is trying to fit Smallville into Superman’s history. It doesn’t work like that and it wont. Got past that 8 and a half seasons ago and now I love the show. But part of what I love is the lack of spandex. All of the characters that have opted for the costume route are updated and more realistic than a super running around in his pajamas. I liked that about the show.

But this TV Movie event for Smallville is taking a step outside that dynamic having costumes that look great on the printed page and looking hokey on actual people. The Justice Society is a Silver Age group of heroes, and I don’t know if they are going to play on that, but the promo seems to show Clark tripping over a bit of their history as if to say “its time for another Justice Society” like superheroes are already something the world has seen.

I know after 9 seasons you would think the world in which Smallville takes place would be used to the abnormal, but it removes me somewhat to see such blazenly campy representations and then try to balance that with 9 seasons of people reacting in complete disbelief that some one could have powers etc. when this episode is to reveal that they have been doing this for longer than this new version of Watchtower Justice League heroes.

I am looking forward to seeing how they play it out. There is a LOT of fanwank in the promo that promises to introduce characters we wondered if we would ever see, like Green Lantern.

Check out the promo:

Thanks for checking out our Forgotten Fridays feature. This is a feature to review some older films that maybe you have forgotten about or maybe never got around to seeing that we just want to share. They may not be old, maybe not forgotten, but they are not new. Just fun to share.

Today’s review is Red Sonja

Genre: Action/Adventure/Fantasy
Directed by: Richard Fleischer
Staring: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Brigitte Nielsen, Ernie Reyes Jr., Paul L. Smith
Released: July 3, 1985

THE GENERAL IDEA

After her family is murdered a young woman named Red Sonja becomes a master of the sword and seeks revenge on the evil queen responsible for the mayhem that has befallen her. Also, it seems the queen has stolen a powerful, carefully guarded, glowing orb right before it was meant to be destroyed, one that has powers of its’ own, allowing for the possessor to control elemental forces and call down storms and earthquakes, if they so wish. Kalidor, one of the individuals in place to oversee the destruction of the orb, joins forces with Red Sonja, as their paths may differ, but they ultimately lead to the same place. An impudent, young prince named Tarn and his guard/manservant Falkon, whose kingdom was unceremoniously wiped out by Gerden as a test for her newfound powers, soon joins them.

THE GOOD

This is 80s action just like it was meant to be seen. Simple plot, poor acting, exaggerated characters and a whole lot of kickassery. Red Sonja was a character originally introduced in Conan the Barbarian #23 for Marvel Comics. The inclusion of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Conan like Lord Kalidor is an intentional tribute casting. The Evil Queen is played by Sandahl Bergman (who was originally offered the role of Sonja) who played the theif Valeria, a love interest to Conan in those films.

Arnie is great in this, and Red Sonja herself is creepy attractive as the very scary Brigitte Nielsen (who was married to Sylvester Stallone after appearing in this and Rocky 4) but the comedy relief comes from the young cocky Prince Tarn who at the tender age of 8 is exterting his authority and finds himself continually ignored by our heroes. Ernie Reyes Jr plays the young Prince who later had a number of roles in martial arts action films like the Ninja Turtles 2 and more recently as a stuntman on Burton’s Alice in Wonderland. Paul L. Smith who plays Tarn’s guardian appears again as the Arch Duke in Maverick.

Its a great fun film with action, campy charm and adventure.

THE BAD

This is hokey as hell. If you have to take every film too serious this will eat you alive. The action is great, but the characters themselves are hokey. The over acting is part of the charm of the film but it can grate on you if you let those things bother you. Its not a “great” film, but it sure is fun.

OVERALL

Red Sonja is a WARRIOR woman, and can actually pick up the sword she is carrying. With the proposed remake staring Rose McGowan, my biggest problem is that the star might weigh about twice as much as that sword. Rose will make a tasty pinup in the traditional scale mail bikini, but I just can’t buy her as a barbaric sword weilding warrior.

If you want to catch this film, Spike TV is offering it this weekend.

I am going to introduce a new rating system for my Forgotten Fridays picks.

TV – If you are at least a little curious, catch it if it comes on TV.
Rent – If it is something you have heard of and forgotten, or just remember enjoying this as much as I did once upon a time, go rent it.
Buy – But if you are like me, and you agree with my review you should go buy it. If its featured here, I already have.

Some new images have surfaced in the next chapter of the Chronicles of Narnia. Voyage of the Dawn Treader was considered too much of a financial risk for Disney to continue the franchise and thankfully for Narnia fans, 20th Century Fox picked up sole production and distribution.

Check out the images from the film showcasing the Dawn Treader herself.

These look great. I expect a mini doc on the DVD release will showcase creating this impessive vessel, and word has it that the 200+ craftsmen involved in its creation have their names engraved on the main mast.

It seems that Fox is keeping the shiny Disney look of the franchise which I do like. I didn’t care for Prince Caspian as much as the first film, but I was looking forward to seeing Dawn Treader.

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Finally after so many teaser shots of what Megan Fox will look like in the film we are going to get a better look at Jonah Hex.

I have never been a Jonah Hex fan, nor have I read the books (I will likely pick up the collected trades closer to the film) but I have seen the images in the comics and wondered just how they were going to do his scarred up face.
I am glad they did it subtle this way instead of the more dramatic zombie like scars illustrated in the books.

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With Benicio Del Toro’s The Wolfman still about a year away, we get a fresh look at two more posters to promote the film.

I like these new posters. We finally get a better look at the Wolfman himself and I am a little disappointed that he looks so traditional. But its not a bad thing, I was just hoping to see something a little different.

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There seems to be a lot of Thor news that supports the idea that the better part of the movie will take place in Marvel’s version of the Mythical Asgard. The first of which is the casting which appears to be almost entirely Asgardians, Gods and mythical beings. Secondly, there appears to be no casting for the role of Donald Blake, the human form that hosts Thor in the mortal realm.

But we are getting news that Hawkeye, a future Avenger teammate and mortal on terra firma, may be getting cast by Hurt Locker’s Jeremy Renner!

First Showing says:

Jeremy Renner (last seen in The Hurt Locker) says he has been talking with Marvel about playing the character of Hawkeye in Kenneth Branagh’s Thor. He simply says: “Hawkeye could be interesting. They’re going to send me some stuff on it, see what it is. But I think they’re pretty awesome, trying to make superhero movies almost plausible and not just some fantasy thing.”

Now I imagine that this might be a small role, and we likely wont see Hawkeye in his purple digs flinging trick arrows around. But keep a sharp eye out for a Clinton Francis Barton, who may cross paths with Thor at some point in the movie.

Jeremy Renner is a solid choice. There is a lot of Best Actor buzz surrounding him right now and getting this relative newcomer to be a solid lead for Hawkeye. Yeah Renner has been around, but mostly in minor supporting roles. It wasn’t until Hurt Locker that he really captured the public eye.

There was a rumour that Hawkeye and Black Widow would cameo in Ironman 2 and then Black Widow got bumped up to co-star while Hawkeye disappeared from rumour entirely. But it seems they are going to continue name dropping until Avengers takes full form.

This also gives us a hint at the potential Avengers lineup. So far we have Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Hawkeye and Black Widow. All currently planned for tie in films and appearances. I am sure we will see Antman, Wasp, Scarlet Witch and Vision eventually too.

Peter Jackson was at the London Premier of The Lovely Bones and decided to remind us he was working on a Tintin movie. To my surprise he said the movie was done… kinda.

Movie Moron says:

“Tintin is great. It’s made,” he said while in London for the premiere of The Lovely Bones. “The movie is cut together and now [we] are turning it into a fully-rendered film. So the movie, to some degree, exists in a very rough state.” You’ll have to wait a long time to see it though (if you actually care) because it’s going to take 2 years to do all the CGI.

Again, I only have a very light and very basic awareness that Tintin even existed, so I have no guage of nostalgia or anticipation for this.

Let alone two years worth. Maybe something will come along and make me want to see this. But right now its just mild curiosity.

A new trailer for the not so distant future vampire tale of Daybreakers is online. The story revolves around a world where a virus has turned most people to vampire like creatures that herd the remaining uninfected population for food. How will the vampires survive?

Check it out:

Vampires might be all the craze right now, so we know why it got made. And I love that they are not a traditional vampire, but rather a virally infected human that is a lot like a vampire. Its different and deviates from the fallback lore. It gives a less supernatural edge, and allows for something unreal to exist alongside the real without standing out.

Looks good to me.

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With such mixed reviews over Superman Returns and where that might leave the franchise for a continuing film, the only thing certain in the Superman Camp is that anything after this would be a Reboot.

I think they painted themselves into a corner with Returns, and while I envision a valid way out of it WB is uncommited to any direction with the franchise just yet.

Obsessed with Film quotes Anne Thompson at WB

The studio is still seeking the right direction. No writers are working on a Superman script. “We’re working on a strategy for DC,” says one Warners exec. “Superman is the trickiest one to figure out.” In fact WB consumer products guru Diane Nelson, who liased with JK Rowling on the Harry Potter series, has been charged with putting the integrated DC/WB house in order.

So it would seem that WB/DC is putting all their ducks in a row before attempting to move forward with anything. The first step of that Was DC Entertainement getting their own film production separate from WB. Probably a wise move considering their competition Marvel Films seems to have the inability to do wrong with their current projected path.

DC has a wealth of stories and characters that deserve to come to the big screen, and yet only Superman and Batman seem to have any real success in that market. Well with Green Lantern getting a lot of buzz and attention, they might be fleshing out that roster which could inevitably lend to a JLA film.

Curious though that WB seem to be unfettered by the threat that the legal shadow of Superman hangs over their heads, as the rights to Supes on Film are at risk if they do not make a Superman film soon.

For the most part a movie title can give you a brief peek at what the movie is about. I was never in doubt that there would be a war among the stars or even a trek in those aptly named films. But then we get a title like 44inch Chest and someone just has to let you in on it.

Empire lays it out for us:

Winstone plays Colin Diamond, a cuckolded husband who hatches a plot with his mates to get revenge on his wife’s lover. As we all know, revenge is a dish best served cold, which might go some way to explaining why everyone on this poster looks like they’ve been shoved in a freezer for four hours.

Maybe its my inner graphic designer, or perhaps its the outer one, but I really wish that when they made these ensemble cast posters that they used the same lighting on each of the characters. If one guy has the light on the left side of his face, its distracting to me when the guy right next to him has light on the other side.

Oh sure, the point is to showcase the cast, but would it have really been that hard to make it look like they were all in the same room??

Sounds like a fun revenge flick guaranteed to have at least one person defenestrated.

Because there has been a sore lack of Back to the Future news here (Mostly because there isn’t any) I thought it was only fitting to share this video I tripped over today.

The oddly named Futuristic Sex Robotz have created a rap ballad to parlay the plot of my favourite time travel franchise.

A certain TMB Alum Wormwood used to put on a one man show of Back to the Future for us on car rides that exceeded 20 minutes, and while this video is but a pale reminder of the classic foreshadowing of his current career, the song itself is at least amusing.

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Somehow this Sony Screen Gems film Legion escaped my notice but it has my attention now.

Bloody Disgusting describes:

“In the supernatural action thriller Legion, an out-of-the-way diner becomes the unlikely battleground for the survival of the human race. When God loses faith in Mankind, he sends his legion of angels to bring on the Apocalypse. Humanity’s only hope lies in a group of strangers trapped in a desert diner and the Archangel Michael (Paul Bettany).”

The premise seems simple enough, but I am having difficulty wrapping my head around an omniscient being becoming disillusioned with the creation he loves. What happens that makes God decide that humanity isn’t worth it anymore. And for that matter, why would God (the being who created everything by his will alone) have to send a legion angels to kill one baby in a desert.

The answer is so we can have a kickass action flick. The film has some great visuals at the sacrifice of a sensible blot.

I am on the fence about the story, but the visuals and action look pretty amazing. Its like Maximum Overdrive.. with pissed off angels.

For those of you not in the loop, Roman Polanski (the filmmaker who brought us Rosemary’s Baby and The Pianist) plead guilty of drugging and raping a 13 year old girl in 1977 and then fled the country. He has enjoyed the freedom and success in his field ever since.

Well recently, Polanski was lured to Zurich to recieve an award at a film festival and instead was faced with arrest. Finally it appeared like he may face justice for his admitted criminal acts over 30 years ago.

But now we are getting reports that the Swiss courts have granted him bail under the condition that half his wealth be put up for collateral.

Rama Screen shares:

Swiss Justice Ministry has REJECTED an appeal by Roman Polanski to be immediately released from prison, it didn’t even grant Polanski any bail even after he offered his Gstaad chalet as collateral, which was estimated to be more than half of his personal wealth but Variety and THR said that Swiss has granted Polanski $4.5 bail…

The report says that apparently the court was aiming for cash but to make sure he stays put, on top of the bail, the court has accepted Polanski’s offer of a bank guarantee and the threat of sacrificing his family’s home if he fled justice.

But why give this man ANY leverage at all? Why are they letting him counter offer with this glamourous stay of execution?

He is not escaping custody, but in a way he is. He will be forced to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet that will alert authorities if he attempts to leave, but in the mean time he gets to live in the lap of luxury in his fancy Swiss Chalet at a resort.

A RESORT????

Why is ANY of this a consideration at all. The man had NO qualms about pleading guilty then hopping a plane to skip the country before sentencing. Do we really think that an electonic bracelet is going to be enough to keep him local?

This is someone who has proven to have no respect for law, and is more than happy to live with the limitations he inflicted on himself by fleeing the United States.

Just extradite this guy, let him serve his time and pay whatever fines they impose and then he can move on. After over 30 years of dodging his admitted crimes, I don’t understand why this is taking so long to just bring him to justice.

Instead, lets just make sure he has room service.

Disney has not let its elves rest this year, and now as Christmas draws near, (or half way through if you are in a Walmart) we get a look at Disney’s exclusive animated CG special for ABC called Prep and Landing.

I know its not a movie, but its a special TV event - so lets think of it like a mini TV movie! Just watch the Trailer…

I am just in love with Disney’s latest TV Christmas special offering. Mostly because it seems to have a lot of clever humour in it, but also because aside from being a Disney animated Christmas special made only for TV, it captures a lot of the feel of those old stop motion styling.

Christmas of my youth was always warmed by the onslaught of TV specials that we would scour the TV listings and plot out our evenings to watch. Now collected mostly on DVD the ones I never missed were the Classic How the Grinch Stole Christmas, A Charlie Brown Christmas and the 1964 Rankin/Bass stop motion Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer!

This may not make instant classic status, but it looks like a hell of a lot of fun!

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A new trailer has hit the net for Ben Stiller’s Greenberg. The film deals with Greenburg, who is literally fresh out of the nuthouse. He tries to put his life together and find some meaning but is completely lost on where to start so decides to do nothing about it, until he meets his brother’s nanny and forms a friendship/romance with her.

Quite often Stiller plays the underdog guy who tries to hard to fit in, and this is like the opposite of that, but still the same underdog guy. If there is one thing Stiller can portray in spades it is vulnerability.

This still has a quirky dark comedy feel to it, but I don’t think its aimed to be a comedy at all. Which suits me fine as I would like to see Stiller branch out into more than just the standard comedies he typically does. Not that I don’t like him in those, but he is often the same character in them and I want to see more.

With Little Fockers coming out soon as well, I don’t think we have seen the end of Comedy Stiller, but this is a soft step in a new direction.

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It seems that James Cameron never settles for the easy way out. He could have made Avatar 10 years ago with the existing technology, and had The Phantom Menace level animations. But he developed a new animation technology instead.

He also created a new language. Or rather, he had USC Prof Paul Frommer do it for him.

Worst Previews quotes:

“The constraint, of course, is that the language I created had to be spoken by humans,” Frommer told LA Times. “I could have let my imagination run wild and come up with all sorts of weird sounds, but I was limited by what a human actor could actually do.”

But even though the language was created with humans in mind, “Avatar” actors still struggled to get the words out correctly. “It was so hard and I was really concerned about it,” said Zoe Saldana. “I didn’t think I could get through it. I’m not good with languages. All the actors, we worked together. It was the only way.”

It is impressive enough to think that an entire language was constructed for the characters to speak instead of just paying attention to detail to make sure their babbling sounded a little more structured.

Not since Klingon earned itself a dictionary has a language been laid out so specifically in film. Even the very convincing sounding “Divine Language” that Milla Jovovich spills in Fifth Element didn’t make sense grammatically, but it was there.

This attention to detail fascinates me and scares me at the same time. Does Cameron really think it would be worth it to create a fictional language just to add a level of credbility to the movie?

Wouldn’t semi structured babbling do just as well?

Mike Mitchell was talking about the upcoming Shrek Forever After (Previously rumoured to be Shrek Goes Fourth) and decidedly stated this would be the last film of the franchise.

He also gave us a little insight into what this last chapter would be about.

Worst Previews says:

After rescuing a princess, getting hitched and fathering triplets, Shrek is feeling over-domesticated. “He has lost his roar,” said Mitchell. “It used to send villagers running away in terror. Now they run to him and ask him to sign their pitchforks and torches.”

To regain his ogre mojo, he strikes a deal with Rumpelstiltskin, the wee troublemaker who popped up briefly in the last two installments. Of course, the pact goes awry and Shrek must confront what life would be like in Far Far Away if he had never existed. That translates into Donkey being forced into cart-pulling duty, fat and lazy Puss in Boots trading his sword for a pink bow and the underhanded Rumpelstiltskin ruling the kingdom.

So basically its Shrek in Its a Wonderful Life.

I wonder if there will be an angel attempting to earn its wings who helps him set everything right again?

I loved Shrek, and the second one was a step down for me, and now with the Third film leaving a sour taste in my mouth, I have lost excitement about seeing Shrek on film, but perhaps this will redeem the Scottish Ogre, and Shrek can go out on a high note.

There will be a trailer shown before Avatar on its December 18th release.

Hobbit fans can get a tiny bit more excited as we now hear tales that the first of the two proposed Hobbit movies has finished its writing stage and is headed into preproduction. And we find this out while they are already half way done the second part!

Latino Review says:

Peter Jackson revealed that the script for the first of the two Hobbit films had been finished and handed off to the studio.

But that’s not all. “We’re now halfway through the second script and Philippa, Fran, Guillermo and myself are doing the scripts and having great fun,” added Jackson.

Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh previously co-wrote the screenplays for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy with Jackson. Now, all three are joining forces once again to produce and write both Hobbit films, though this time around it’s Guillermo del Toro, not Jackson, in the director’s chair.

I am really curious to see how this prequel turns out. I always liked the Hobbit storyline more because its so different from Lord of the Rings yet it still had the same feel. Now with a different director, we might just see how different they see it.

The very cleverly named Blue Harvest Family Guy Star Wars special spoofed and paid tribute to the first Star Wars film (that’s Episode 4 for you young’uns) and did it with class. Now it looks like another chapter in the Family Guy Star Wars saga will continue with Family Guy: Something SOmething Darkside and will be out on BluRay and DVD on December 22nd.

Cinematical lays it out:

Holy ship! The Family Guy empire strikes back with another hilarious parody of your favorite sci-fi saga! May the laughs be with you as (Chris) Skywalker joins forces with (Peter) Solo and Princess (Lois) Leia to battle (Stewie) Vader and his Imperial minions. A host of new characters comes along for the wild ride, including Mort Goldman as Lando Calrissian, Chris’s boss Carl as Yoda, and the Giant Chicken as the nefarious Boba Fett. It’s an outrageous, out-of-this-world experience you’ll “saber” for light-years to come!”

Now while that trailer pretty much lays it out and shows us lots of the gags, I suspect that they will have more up their sleves than just these gems.

In “stunning 2-D” and the Giant Chicken as Fett (I love that running gag), so how can you lose?

A Return of the Jedi spoof is already in the works titled We Had A Bad Feeling About This. I wonder if they will stop with the Original Trilogy or carry on with the new Trilogy as well?

We get our first peek at the Iron Man armour on the cover of Empire Magazine’s January 2010 issue.

The posing is perfect. It could be an intimidating look from the Man of Iron, or it could be just the armour standing on its own, granted with its eyes a glow and its power core never far from the chest of Tony Stark I have to assume it is the bold stare of Iron Man that is breaching the page just daring you to Jaywalk.

I don’t know that my anticipation could be higher for the sequel, though they are doing a good job keeping my interest maintained!

Via

While at a special reading of King’s new book Under the Dome, during a Q&A session Stephen King let it be known that he is planning a sequel to The Shining and will be calling it Doctor Sleep.

Bloody Disgusting shares:

“Then King dropped a fan bombshell on the crowd by casually describing a novel idea he began working on last summer,” writes Toronto IST. “Seems King was wondering whatever happened to Danny Torrance of The Shining, who when readers last saw him was recovering from his ordeal at the Overlook Hotel at a resort in Maine with fellow survivors Wendy Torrance and chef Dick Halloran (who dies in the Kubrick film version). King remarked that though he ended his 1977 novel on a positive note, the Overlook was bound to have left young Danny with a lifetime’s worth of emotional scars. What Danny made of those traumatic experiences, and with the psychic powers that saved him from his father at the Overlook, is a question that King believes might make a damn fine sequel.

Stephen King has probably had the most success as a writer turned to film as far as the diversity of his products. I’d wager Rowling’s Potter adaptations have made more cash than all of King’s adpatations, but Rowling has one franchise, while King has had a wide range of books brought to the big screen. Most of the adaptations based on his books have been successful and well received.

While any movie adaptation of this sequel is an assumed inevitability, this could easily be a great unexpected sequel. I felt that King wrapped up the story very well in the first part and it doesn’t need a sequel, but done right any sequel would be welcome.

However I would be happier if King just forced the issue of making a Dark Tower movie (or my preferred format - HBO Tv series) instead.

Spike TV has a epileptic enducing rapidfire sneak peak of the Tron Video game that will be released to promote the film. During their Video Game Awards show, they will have a longer trailer for the game that will likely give us some insight into the film.

It makese sense that they would release games alongside the film. Tron was about a game designer sucked into his own computer that creates the games and fights against the Master Control Program. Power Discs, and of course Light Cycles.

Its just right that they release games for us to geek out over too!

Via

Something I have been itching for lately is a new Muppet Movie, and while one is some Muppet fun is on its way and now this tribute to Queen is out and its made of awesome.

Queen is releasing a new album and this tribute video was made to celebrate its release. And I am excited about a new Queen release, but this just makes me want to see more Muppets.

Via

Because with the cult success of the wee film gone wild, Parnormal Activity will be available on DVD and BluRay just in time for you not to buy it for Christmas!

Cinematical

Paramount will release Paranormal Activity to home video on December 29, just in time to give you something to purchase with the gift card you got over the holidays. Both the DVD and Blu-ray come with the theatrical version of the film as well as an unrated cut that includes an alternate ending (presumably the original one). And the Blu-ray includes a digital copy of the theatrical version, so you can play the movie on your iPod and watch it while hiding underneath your covers.

It seems silly for them NOT to put this out in time for Christmas, but at the same with everyone else making sure their big releases are going to be out in time for Christmas shoppers it might not be a bad idea to have it released while you still have that $5 cheque from your Gramma burning a hole in your pocket the day after Christmas.

Will you be buying Paranormal Activity?

Asylum films is responsible for those blatant ripoffs that are just this side of valid that have earned them the made up title of Mockbusters as each one is shamelessly attemping to monopolize on a popular franchise being produced by a big studio.

Among their shameless titles are Transmorphers, Snakes on a Train and The Terminators. And their latest attempt will bank on the anticipated John Carter of Mars called Princess of Mars. Staring Traci Lords.

io9 shares:

Can’t wait another couple years for the Andrew Stanton-Michael Chabon John Carter Of Mars movie? You don’t have to. Asylum, maker of so many bargain-basement epics, is putting out Princess Of Mars now. The trailer reveals Traci Lords’ Deja Thoris.

And just in case you were wondering, here is the trailer for this guaranteed masterpiece.

The Asylum has found a great deal of success with this formula and while they have the finances to become a “real” studio making films of their own there is no reason for them to. They ride that copyright line close enough to not get sued. And it works.

And they are providing enough intentional B movies to make sure the genre doesnt fade to obscurity.

As a part of my new “movie news” gig over at AMC Entertainment, I had a chance last week to go and talk with director Richard Linklater (Before Sunrise, Before Sunset, School of Rock, Scanner Darkly) and actor Zac Efron about their new film “Me and Orson Welles” that opens in select cities this Wednesday.

It was a nice little conversation that I wanted to share with my favorite international friends here on The Movie Blog.

Don’t let any anti-Efron bias keep you from seeing this… it’s actually a really solid flick.

I am not a Twihard, but I have to tip my hat to the makers of Twlight Saga’s New Moon as it shattered records all weekend long. I do like the series as a whole despite its glaring flaws, but it has grown to be something more than just Stephanie Meyers medochre writing and emo girls.

Latino Review says:

New Moon broke a ton of records and almost beat Spider-Man 3 and The Dark Knight becoming 3rd in all time opening weekends with $140.7 million estimated dollars. So far it has earned $258 million total when you include the international numbers.

Here’s some #1’s for New Moon:

Werewolf film (LOL!) #1
Yearly Opening Weekends 2009 #1
Opening Day Gross #1
Single Day Gross #1
Single Friday Day Gross #1
Opening Weekends - Nov. #1
Opening Holiday Weekends #1
Widest Independent Release #1
Widest Opening Indy Release #1
Fastest To $100 Million #1

While the “Werewolf film” title is a little specific, the other titles are a level playing field.

This is like Legos. (Stay with me a moment) Legos are insanely popular. It is by far my favourite toy growing up and my own kids still swim in the piles of it I have collected and now passed on to them. But like big boxoffice smash hits, the toy was dominated by a male demographic. Now out of no where they have lego sets for girls, and its about time that a soft squishy romance story would land in the big house with the rest of the boy toys.

Its an impressive goal nonetheless, and even all those haters out there ready with their “This is surely a sign of the end of the world!” trolling there has to at least be some respect for what they have accomplished.

Is the writing in the books great? No. Not at all.
Is it a great action flick? No. It has its moments, but this is a romance.

But it is a franchise that has managed to connect with people outside of its targetted tween girls demographic and people are clearly enjoying this franchise. I quite expect anything popular to be met with that knee jerk “I have to make fun of it” stuff, but honestly it just proves how popular it is when people do that.

That all being said, do you HAVE to like this franchise now that a lot of people went to see it? Not at all.

I myself am more looking forward to the third film as it was my favourite book of the series, but I almost hope they don’t make the last book into a movie. It was terrible. And I say that knowing the first three were not that great, but still had SOMETHING to them. I look for the good in them regardless. The fourth book had so much potential to wind up the franchise with a whimper.

That they are even making an American Gladiators film is just about as silly as the spandex clad personalities that make up the adventurous TV show, but now a new level of ludacricy is being added to the proposed feature film.

The Gladiators become superheroes!

Geeks of Doom offers:

Peter Iliff has been brought in to pen a brand new feature film in which the world famous American Gladiators become superheroes. The movie is said to be based on the TV show we’re all familiar with that began in 1988 and recently came back for a short two-season run.

I guess it makes sense. What does a bunch of physically intimidating TV personalities going to do now that the show is cancelled? That’s right! They will take to the streets and fight crime! After all they still have those fancy costumes, so why not??

Back in the day I used to watch a cartoon that had the Harlem Globtrotters in it, and each of them had a superpower that reflected their flashy on-the-court personalities, and I assume that is what they are going to do here. With flashy names like Lazer and Nitro, they could have laser powers or run super fast. Its an easy stretch.

The movie will be written by Peter Iliff, who you may not recognize, but he did write Point Break, Patriot Games, Varsity Blues and Under Suspicion. He is also listed as producing Superman Returns, 300 and Where the Wild Things Are. So he has a nice little resume.

Will he impress with Gladiators? Or will this be so silly it isn’t worth the time?

I love hearing stories about how people managed to get the parts in films. Like how Megan Fox got the gig in Transformers by washing Michael Bay’s car like a pornstar, or how TJ Miller was hired to play Ranger Smith in the Yogi and Booboo film by auditioning with a real bear…

Wait… what?

Worst Previews shares:

It was recently announced that Warner Bros was moving forward with a “Yogi Bear” movie, which will be a mix of animation and live-action. The part of Yogi went to Dan Aykroyd, while his sidekick Boo-Boo will be voiced by Justin Timberlake.

In the recent weeks, the studio has been auditioning people for the part of Ranger [Smith] (live-action), eventually deciding on TJ Miller (Cloverfield, Extract) after seeing his audition reel in which Miller reads his lines with a real bear.

His performance with the bear is nothing special, and he just riffs and improves with a bear in front of him. But its fun and clearly got their attention, and subsequently the job.

I have no idea how they are going to do a live action/CG mixed film with Yogi, but I will be curious to see what they come up with on this. And the voice casting for Yogi and Booboo just raises a puzzling eyebrow. I can see Akroyd nailing Yogi’s smooth charm, but Timberlake is doing Booboo? Wow.

There is only so much Pic-a-nic basket theft gags they can do in 90 minutes.

There is a new poster out for Alvin and the Chipmunks 2: The Squeakquel and I can’t help but be completely distracted by nostalgia and the power of the cute.

This time the poster is intended for the French market overseas… or Canada.

Maybe its just me being a dad, but I love that my kids get to be exposed to the Chipmunks just as I did at their age. The movie was adorable, and had moments of pure charm, which make me look forward to a sequel.

However I am a little bit disturbed when they try to make the girly chipmunks “sexy”. That just doesn’t sit right with me at all.

Via

I really liked the Underworld series, but I wasn’t all that impressed with the third one. Maybe it was the lack of Beckensale. I don’t know. I just wasn’t sucked in as much as I was with the first two. I didn’t hate it, but it wasn’t as good.

Well they are moving along with Underworld 4, and even hired a writer. John Hlavin wont spill what its about, but it won’t be a prequel.

Screening Log shares:

John Hlavin, whose credits include “The Shield” and “Trust Me,” is on board to write “Underworld 4,” the latest installment in the popular series that began with Len Wiseman’s “Underworld” in 2003.

Hlavin told Heat Vision that plot details will remain secret for a while. However, he said “Underworld 4″ won’t be a prequel. “It will satisfy old fans and excite new audiences…,” he said.

No word of Beckensale, but like the Pirates’ Elizabeth and Will thing, it is possible that they would continue on with a new story with new characters.

I like the franchise and I look forward to seeing what they do with this.

The subtle presence of the Ten Rings terrorist group and the leader Raza wearing a decorative symbol of his position made me think that Mandarin might make an appearance in the sequel but we know that isn’t happening just yet.

The actor who played Raza has a little insight into the potential of Mandarin in the Iron Man films.

Latino Review quotes Faran Tahir:

“At some point, they want to introduce Mandarin into the storyline and my character, like Mandarin, was the leader of the Ten Rings. We’re leaving it open because, partly, it makes good business sense for us to leave a little bit of uncertainty for people to speculate on.”

“He [Favreau] has known for a long time where he wants to take it and I don’t want to speak for him, but my feeling is that the second movie didn’t want to just follow a singular storyline. They wanted to expand the characters to show that it’s not a linear saga like Lord of the Rings. There’s a linkage somewhere in there, but the big idea is to do at least one more Iron Man movie and then go into The Avengers.”

Now sometimes when we hear about a cast member promoting his character we just assume its just talk, but the talk here pretty much sets up the potential that Faran himself may not be the man who becomes the Mandarin.

The Mandarin’s true name has never been revealed, though it has been suggested that he has been called a few variations of Khan among other completely different names.

Perhaps it was the ring itself that becomes the cameo of the first film. Even Tahir admits that his character may not step into the shoes and just shares a little of the inside track he knows about Favreau’s plans.

I’d like to see Mandarin as the villain. He brings something a little different from the current trend of the “Turn Stark Technology against Iron Man” stories. Fav seems to be pacing out the storylines.

I also wonder when we might see the Bottle.