As I was watching the new Eclipse trailer, out of sheer boredom and a hint of curiosity, I found myself wondering why in the world two super-powered boys would fight it out over a girl clad in American Apparel who’s a hell of a downer.

How is there an entire film series devoted to one girl’s delusional obsessions of a fairy tale ending with a born-again killer? Sparkely vampires want to kill you, strapping werewolf shape-shifters want to keep you safe.

Do these Edward fans have a death wish and a yearning for abandonment? Is Bella Swan so heavily marketed as mesmerizing that it erases the history of the brazen blonde that came before her?

A long time ago, otherwise known as the 90’s, there was a series called Buffy the Vampire Slayer where a feisty girl from the southland slayed Urban Outfitted demons. This legendary show paved the way for multi-tasking girls who cheer by day, slay by night, and every once in a while hook-up with a tormented blood sucker.

Continue Reading →

Though Avatar didn’t pick up the best picture award at the Oscars on Sunday, the filmmakers can console themselves by sobbing into the ridiculous pile of money the film is still making and a few technical awards. Even without a big Oscar win, the 3D juggernaut in Hollywood keeps rolling along, as word is now coming in that Warner Bros. is planning on rebooting the holiest of classics: The Wizard of Oz.

And yes, it will be in 3D. From The LA Times:

The studio is examining two existing “Wizard of Oz” projects, with an eye toward giving one of them a modern gloss and moving it toward the screen.

One project, called “Oz,” currently lives at Warner’s New Line label. It’s being produced by Temple Hill, which is behind a little franchise called “Twilight,” and has a script written by Darren Lemke, a writer on the upcoming “Shrek Forever After.”

Continue Reading →

There’s a lot of interesting stuff on the radar this week. An Avatar alumni could face off against Conan, Modern Warfare developers bring a fight to Activision, and director Guy Ritchie may be breathing new life into the heroes of Camelot.

Fox finds its shadow for $1 million and David Slade may be the man

Fans of the comic book series The Shadow rejoice as it seems the reboot continues to move forward.  While it was thought Sony and director Sam Raimi (Spider-Man, Army of Darkness) would bring a new version of the character to the big screen things have changed somewhat.

After Raimi began shopping the property around Fox decided to purchase the rights. Sadly, it sounds like Raimi may no longer direct, possibly replaced by David Slade.  Slade directed the vampire film Thirty Days of Night which, unfortunately, felt just that long in the theater. Here’s hoping he can put a little more adrenaline into The Shadow.

How I Met your…Smurf?

Neil Patrick Harris will be venturing to the land of blue, three apples tall creatures in Smurfs: The Movie.  The How I Met Your Mother star won’t be playing a Smurf though.  As this film will be a mix of live action and animation, Harris will be playing the lead live action character.  Too bad, I would have liked to know just which Smurf he’d play.  ”Awesome” Smurf maybe?  Let us know your picks in the comments.

‘Wolverine 2′ starts shooting next January

X-Men Origins: Wolverine was pretty good, but it was missing one thing: ninjas!  Hopefully that will be rectified in the sequel which is set to begin shooting next January.  Delving into Wolvie’s Japanese mythos the script follows stories penned by two pretty big names:

“Based on a story cycle by Frank Miller and Chris Claremont, Wolverine’s adventures in martial arts will be a love story featuring a Japanese actress, I am told. ‘It’s a beautiful story,’ says a source, ‘and will be very different than the first film.’”

Okay, I’m not really sold on the “love story” angle but considering the number of women that went to see Wolverine (pretty much for mutant hunk, Hugh Jackman) at least this will be one you can take your girlfriends to.

Continue Reading →

Originally titled Guardians of the Ga’Hoole, Zack Snyder’s next directorial work, Legend of The Guardians has been picking up quite a lot of steam lately. This is the first thing that Snyder has worked on since he’s finally settled down after the epic task of adapting Alan Moore’s Watchmen last year.

Originally based on the young adult series by Kathryn Lasky, it’s basically an epic adventure of heroism and wonder, but with owls. The book series ended in November of 2008, topping it off at 15 books, and now Snyder and Warner Bros. are planning on taking that success to the world of film.

The film has a pretty huge cast list, as most big-budget CGI films do these days. Sam Neill, Hugo Weaving, Emilie de Ravin, Ryan Kwanten, Jim Sturgess, Geoffrey Rush, and Helen Mirren round out a pretty well known list of players.

USA Today recently got their hands on the first images from the upcoming film, which is currently set for a September 24th release date. Check out the pics along with the very first trailer after the jump, and be sure to keep it here for any new info as we get closer to the release date of Legend of The Guardians.

Continue Reading →

In an era where things like Monopoly, Battleship, and Stretch Armstrong are all getting turned into big-time movie properties, it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that Warner Bros. is planning a movie adaptation of the 60’s sitcom Gilligan’s Island.

The show, which surrounded the crash of the S.S. Minnow, leaving 7 strangers deserted on an island, went on for 98 episodes, including some big specials with guest stars like The Harlem Globetrotters. According to Variety, the film is set to be a major reboot, with some of the original creative team helping out.

Charles Roven and Richard Suckle are onboard to produce for Atlas, with Brad Copeland penning the screenplay. Original show producer Sherwood Schwartz is aboard to exec produce along with son Lloyd Schwartz.

Plans are for a contempo take on the well-known premise and characters, with the studio and the Schwartzes’ blessing Copeland’s initial idea for the screenplay. Roven told Daily Variety that he’s hoping to start production as early as next year but won’t move forward on seeking a director or cast until Copeland’s script is completed.

“The characters are so good,” Roven added. “We think it’s going to be a great story to transport these cultural icons to the modern day.”

The film is currently in the stages of being written, with Wild Hogs writer Copeland typing away. No word yet on who they are looking to for casting, but you can imagine that they’d want to amp up a film like this with some of the bigger names in Hollywood.

Might we suggest Dan Aykroyd and Jay Baruchel as The Skipper and Gilligan? Who would you cast as the 7 castaways? Let us know!

For just about all of 2008, Danny McBride ended up being the most ubiquitous screen comedian out there based on his cameos in Fanboys, Drillbit Taylor, Pineapple Express, Tropic Thunder and more. Things got a little more quiet in 2009, as he had a starring role in Land of the Lost and the original HBO series Eastbound and Down. Now it looks like things may be picking back up for the foul-mouthed actor.

According to Pajiba.com, the story of his latest comedy is basically set up to be “What if Kenny Powers was in Wedding Crashers?”:

The project is The Chadster, which at one time had The Hangover’s Todd Phillips attached to both produce and direct. Phillips has fallen off as director, but he’s still producing the comedy, which is moving ahead with Eastbound co-writer Shawn Harwell as scribe.

The studio wedding comedy, set up at Warner Brothers and produced by Phillips’ Green Hat Films, is about a best man who has his position threatened when an eccentric, long-lost childhood friend shows up at the wedding and causes trouble.

With this news coming in, a second season of Eastbound & Down on the way, McBride starring in an adaptation of the comic book Hench, and the actor popping up in another 5 films over the next year, it seems 2010 will be a repeat of 2008 for Danny McBride.

“A woman cannot subsist on quality films alone”–Shannon Hood

Let me explain with a food analogy, if I may. For the most part, I am a food Nazi. I try to eat really well, eat lots of fruits and vegetables, watch my fat and sugar intake, and every once in a while I find myself in the McDonald’s drive through That quarter-pounder with cheese is damn delicious when I eat it.

Afterward, I usually feel guilty. I know that it is not good for me.  I know it lacks nutritional value, and really is not a quality offering, but I have to admit that I had a good time consuming it.

Such is the case with Cop Out, the first feature film that has been directed, but not written, by Kevin Smith. There is no way I can possibly sit here and tell you this is a good movie.  It is not, by any stretch of the imagination. It is really, really stupid. But I laughed.  A lot.  *hangs head in shame*

Let’s face facts. If you happened upon the trailer for this a few months ago, and after viewing it, you circled February 26 on your calendar and thought to yourself  ”I cannot WAIT to see that,”  then you will not be disappointed. What you see is what you get. You don’t need my advice here. This is pure cinematic junk food, which may or may not be what you are craving.

Continue Reading →

Warner Bros. has released the second trailer over at MySpace for the upcoming horror remake A Nightmare on Elm Street, which stars Jackie Earle Haley as the iconic Freddie Krueger. And folks, it’s a pretty damn good one.

Not only does this trailer give us a bit more insight into the look and feel of the film, it also provides more than enough horror and terror for three trailer. In short, it makes me even more interested in seeing this movie when it comes out.

The remake, directed by Samuel Bayer, in addition to Haley features Rooney Mara, Kyle Gallner, Katie Cassidy, and Thomas Dekker as a group of suburban teens being haunted and killed in their sleep. See, this is why I try never to sleep.

Check out the full trailer after the break. A Nightmare on Elm Street opens April 30, 2010.

Continue Reading →

With Kevin Smith causing all kinds of controversy both on land and (almost) in the air, many people feel this could all have something to do with the fact that his film Cop Out hits theaters all over the country this Friday. While that may be the case, we got our hands on some new clips that may speak for themselves.

The film, starring Bruce Willis and Tracy Morgan, was originally titled A Couple of Dicks, and revolves around two New York City cops trying to take down an international drug lord. The premise and comedy solely depend on the “buddy cop” formula, with their dynamic running the entire film.

After the jump, check out three brand new clips from the film. In the first, Paul Hodges (Morgan) questions the fidelity of his wife (Rashida Jones). In the second, the partners observe while a victim explains her crime to a translator. Finally, Paul shows off his acting skills in the interrogation room.

Cop Out hits theaters everywhere this Friday.

Continue Reading →

This week on the radar we’ve got news on Steven Spielberg’s potential return to dinosaurs, the status of the third Mortal Kombat film, NBC gets a Gold in the ratings competition, and what comic book legend may show up on one of our favorite shows, The Big Bang Theory.

Let’s see what blips are on the radar this week.

Boba Fett, finally the deadliest action figure in a galaxy far, far away

If you’re like me, you grew up on the first generation of Star Wars toys and action figures. You know the ones, they had a massive (sarcasm) five points of articulation. Well, one figure that was sort of an urban legend was the missile-firing Boba Fett.  We all heard of it, but rarely saw it.  Well, now it can be yours with the purchase of five other figures!  Offer expires 3/31/2011, while supplies last, only valid in US and Canada…and a whole lot of other legal fine print I’m sure.

Tron: Legacy viral campaign starts to gear up

Disney teased everyone at last year’s Comic Con about a Tron viral campaign. With the highly anticipated film set to open this December online viral goodness have started to trickle out.  The first is a new site with a somewhat enigmatic theme to it.  Can you figure out what it is?  I don’t want to ruin it, but if you must know check this link out.

Continue Reading →