This past week John Williams had his 80th birthday. One of the first thing he will do during his 80th year will be attending the Oscars later this month where the Maestro is nominated for 2 best score awards. Even at this age Williams is at the top of his game.

In honor of the most prolific film composer alive today I wanted to use my weekly film score soap box to celebrate the man who has provided the soundtrack to the imaginations of several generations.

Everyone knows about his contributions to Star Wars, Superman, Indiana Jones and Harry Potter, but how many people are aware that he wrote not one, but two classic themes for Lost in Space?

It was John Williams music that made me fall in love with film music. I can pinpoint it all the way back to a single moment in Jurassic Park when the helicopter approached Isla Nublar, the cue still gives me chills to this day, and nearly two decades later I still look to Mr. Williams as the inspiration for a life long passion.

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This extraordinary documentary Pina by German filmmaker Wim Wenders (justly nominated for an Academy Award) on the choreographer Pina Bausch, his countryman, near-contemporary and fellow visionary, was a long time in coming. An artistic collaboration had been planned for some time but in an instance of epic bad timing, Bausch died just two days before filming was to have begun, having been diagnosed with cancer only five days previously.

The movie is thus haunted by the specter of death and of aging, compounded by the fact that many company members had been with Bausch for twenty-plus years. This theme is stated in the opening piece (returned to periodically in the duration of the movie), in which a long line of dancers chants Fruhling…Sommer…Herbst…Winter as they snake along a train platform, behind and onto a stage and later, on a wind-blown hilltop.

The Tanztheater German expressionist influence is clear in their affects, which ride the line between ecstasy and despair. Are they smiling in the face of death, or ruefully acknowledging that life and death march on regardless?

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Given that the Mayans had a portion of the population convinced that this is the last year on the planet, it makes sense that Hollywood would be willing to exploit the apocalypse by taking it to the world of Romantic Comedies. That’s exactly the plan from with Seeking a Friend for the End of the World.

From writer/director Lorene Scafaria, who last brought us Michael Cera and Kat Dennings running around New York City in Nick and Nora’s Infinite Playlist comes yet another lengthy-titled film. This time, the twist is a bit more enticing. Here’s the rundown.

Steve Carell and Keira Knightley star in the comedy Seeking a Friend for the End of the World, which marks the feature directorial debut of screenwriter Lorene Scafaria. Set in a too-near future, the movie explores what people will do when humanity’s last days are at hand. As the respective journeys of Dodge (Carell) and Penny (Knightley) converge, the two spark to each other and their outlooks – if not the world’s – brighten.

A full cast of funny, with folks like TJ Miller, Patton Oswalt, and Rob Huebel making the end of the world a bit funnier. Take a look at the trailer after the jump, and catch the flick on June 22nd.

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If there is one thing George Lucas has mastered over the past few decades, it’s reminding us that the first three Star Wars films were a fluke. Between pre-teen Darth Vader, Jar Jar, and a ridiculous dance sequence in Jedi, we have all come to the realization that the phenomena of Episodes 4-6 should be untouched and never tainted by the hands of its creator.

With that in mind, Lucas is (kind of) backpedaling from a drastic change to A New Hope that had fans up in arms when the Remastered version was released. In it, the famous scene where Han Solo kills Greedo was brought into question. The original had Han shoot first, killing Greedo before he gets a chance to fire. In the new version, Lucas changed history (Long Time Ago, etc etc) by having Greedo shoot first and miss, allowing Solo to shoot to kill.

Turns out, Lucas never changed anything, he just pulled the camera out a bit. Yeah.

The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn’t.

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The second stretch of filming for the two-part Hobbit adaptation is set to begin later this month. Even though there has already been over one hundred days of shooting, the final roles are still being cast for parts in the later portions of movie two.

Deadline is reporting that the great Billy Connolly has been cast as Dain Ironfoot, the leader of a fierce band of Dwarf warriors and cousin to Thorin Oakenshield:

We could not think of a more fitting actor to play Dain Ironfoot, the staunchest and toughest of Dwarves, than Billy Connolly, the Big Yin himself. With Billy stepping into this role, the cast of The Hobbit is now complete. We can’t wait to see him on the Battlefield!

It is hard to call this perfect casting before we see Connolly in action, but if it is possible we here at The Flickcast are somehow now even more excited for the final Hobbit film. The next two years are going to be very big for Billy Connolly who has yet to really break out here in the states.

Aside from his role in 2013′s Hobbit finale he will also be providing a pivotal voice in the next Pixar film, Brave.

It’s been almost a year since we first brought you news of Jeremy Renner starring in the fourth film in the ‘Bourne’ franchise. All that time we’ve wondered how he would do as the new Bourne and if he would be able to make us forget about Matt Damon who, let’s face it, did a pretty good job.

Well, pretty much all of our questions have been answered now with the first trailer for The Bourne Legacy being released today. In it we see Renner in action as the new ‘Bourne’ (actually, as a character names Aaron Cross, but who’s counting?) and also get a better idea of where his character comes from.

We also get more of an idea who will be accompanying him on his journey. Fortunately, many of our favorite supporting players also make an appearance. All of it serves to make this trailer, and the upcoming film, look pretty darn good.

As to the question of Renner helping us to forget about Matt Damon, the answer to that is “Matt Damon who?” Plus, the movie has Rachel Weisz in it so we’re going no matter what.

Look for The Bourne Legacy, directed by Tony Gilroy and featuring Renner, Rachel Weisz, Edward Norton, Joan Alley and Albert Finney, to hit theaters on August 8. Check out the trailer after the break.

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At last, the film adaptation for Anne Rice’s fourth installment of  The Vampire Chronicles is currently under development as a feature film. Ron Howard and Brian Grazer’s production company, Image Entertainment, has taken an interest in the project.

The company has optioned the rights to the book in which popular anti-hero Lestat de Lioncourt has chosen to temporarily trade bodies with a human psychic for another chance at feeling human. Unfortunately, the deal goes South when the human doesn’t want to trade back and Lestat must track down his former body in order to regain his immortality.

The production is working in partnership Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci (Star Trek, Eagle Eye) and Lee Patterson,
an upcomming writer who will be writing the screenplay. The film will be treated as though main character Lestat has not been previously been introduced to audiences. The producers hope to present the script to studios within a month.

Lestat was first introduced to film audiences in 1994′s Interview with the Vampire starring Tom Cruise, Brad Pitt, and Kirsten Dunst. The film was distributed by Warner Bros.

The second installment, Queen of the Damned, featured Stuart Townsend in the role of Lestat and deceased R&B songstress Aaliyah as Akasha (the mother of all vampires).

Ever since the beginning of the motion gaming movement we have been waiting for a game that lets us slice and dice with a lightsaber. Finally that dream is becoming a reality with the brand new game Star Wars Kinect, a motion based game that puts you in the Jedi army during the thick of the clone wars.

This game was originally meant to be released last year, but a release date has finally been confirmed for the long awaited project, April 3rd. And to celebrate the release a special edition Kinect bundle pack is being released with a 320GB R2-D2 themed 360, a C3-PO gold controller, a white Kinect and of course the game as well.

Additionally more details about what we can expect in the game have been released, including the new Duels of the Fate mode which pits you one-on-one against Sith baddies, cool. Also a Galactic Dance-Off where you can take on Darth Vader Dance Central style, much less cool.

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If you weren’t able to get out to a theater yesterday or don’t live in one of the cities where this new footage of The Amazing Spider-Man had a sneak peek, don’t worry. We’ve got the footage, in the form of a new trailer, for you right here.

In it we get a lot more of the story of the film including what appears to be the main plot of Spider-Man fighting the lizard. We also get appearances by pretty much all the major characters including Gwen Stacy, Dr. Curt Connors, The Lizard, Uncle Ben, Aunt May and, of course, Peter Parker/Spider-Man himself.

Check out the trailer after the break. The Amazing Spider-Man, directed by Marc Webb and featuring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Martin Sheen, Sally Field, Denis Leary and Rhys Ifans arrives on July 3.

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There are very few things Pixar could do that would get me more excited to see one of their films. Between the overall popularity of Toy Story, Up, The Incredibles and tons more, there is very little the animation studio can do that would be considered a bad move (Owen Wilson vehicles not included).

With that said, it’s hard to believe they’ve found a way to speak to their audience even more with their upcoming video game parody film, Wreck-It Ralph, but it looks like they just might. Here’s the official synopsis of the film. Consider it Donkey Kong from the gorilla’s perspective.

Wreck-It Ralph (voice of John C. Reilly) longs to be as beloved as his game’s perfect Good Guy, Fix-It Felix (voice of 30 Rock’s Jack McBrayer). Problem is, nobody loves a Bad Guy. But they do love heroes… so when a modern, first-person shooter game arrives featuring tough-as-nails Sergeant Calhoun (voice of Jane Lynch), Ralph sees it as his ticket to heroism and happiness. He sneaks into the game with a simple plan—win a medal—but soon wrecks everything, and accidentally unleashes a deadly enemy that threatens every game in the arcade.

Ralph’s only hope? Vanellope von Schweetz (voice of Sarah Silverman), a young troublemaking “glitch” from a candy-coated cart racing game who might just be the one to teach Ralph what it means to be a Good Guy. But will he realize he is good enough to become a hero before it’s “Game Over” for the entire arcade?

As if the concept of several video and board games being parodied in a Pixar film isn’t enough to guarantee your $10, the studio has recently released some images that will give us an idea of how this video game-based world will look. Take a look after the jump, and catch Wreck-It Ralph in theaters this November.

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Even though Robert Rodriguez has long been touting 2009′s Machete was the beginning of a trilogy of films, it was thought to be dead in the water due to the lackluster performance of the original. Now, Deadline is reporting that Rodriguez has producer Alexander Rodnyansky on board and is ready to move forward with the sequel Machete.

The sequel, as was hinted during the first film, will be titled Machete Kills, already has a script and will start production as soon as April. The new film finds Machete recruited by the U.S. Government to take on a mission that would be too much for any normal man.

Machete must battle his way through Mexico single-handed to “take down a madman cartel leader and an eccentric billionaire arms dealer who has hatched a plan to spread war across the planet with a weapon in space.”

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Renting DVDs is fast becoming an antiquated concept, soon to join music stores and MySpace as nostalgic reminders of days gone by. With the prevalence of digital downloads and high quality streaming, brick and mortar rental stores are fast becoming an endangered species.

Redbox has been able to carve out a niche for themselves in the failing industry by bringing the maximum amount of affordability and convince with 1 dollar rental units in stores nationwide. Not just content with staying alive for a few more years Redbox has recently partnered with Verizon to bring a new streaming service to compete with Netflix, Hulu, Amazon Prime and all the rest.

Verizon and Coinstar, Inc. today announced the formation of a joint venture that will create a new choice for quality- and value-conscious  consumers seeking a simple and affordable way to access the video entertainment they crave. The venture’s services will offer all of the convenience, simplicity and value of Redbox® new release DVD and Blu-ray Disc® rentals combined with a new content-rich video on-demand streaming and download service from  Verizon.

The service is expected to roll out in the second half of 2012, and with the infrastructure of Redbox already in place this new service stands a real chance at biting into Netflix’s failing grip on the market place it basically invented.