This looks pretty fun. Look for the movie to arrive on June 21. Meantime, enjoy the trailer below.

This weekend had the distinct feel of a throwback celebration with a Reboot-make, a re-release and a sequel to an 80′s iconic franchise inhabiting three of the top four positions.

Coming in at number one, with $26 Million, was the incredibly well advertised Evil Dead which played very strongly for an extreme horror film aimed squarely at a specific niche. Due, in part, to that specific audience target, the film’s reviews have been mixed and the word of mouth has been less than stellar on the whole. Still, the film plays very well to its target audience and with a big weekend under its belt will go into the books as a big win for all involved.

The next two spots ended up being an estimated tie between last weekend’s top two films. G.I. Joe: Retaliation and The Croods. Both brought in an estimated $21.1 Million, with the tie break going to last weeks number 1 because the Rock is in that one and the main event at Wrestlemania this weekend.

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As with many things these days, this movie is either going to be the greatest thing ever, or an unmitigated disaster. I don’t believe there’s going to be any middle ground this time.

To what movie am I referring? Baz Luhrmann’s The Great Gatsby. As a director, he’s been kinda hit or miss. However, he’s really stacked the deck this time with Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan, Tobey Maguire and many other major players. Plus, the movie is chock full of contemporary music, much as Baz likes to do, which may appeal to many.

However, Gatsby is as much a movie about its times as it is a tale of forbidden love, jealousy, class struggles music and murder. So you have to wonder if the contempory music and 3D will hurt what Fitzgerald inteneded as his message in the novel.

Or maybe that doesn’t matter ’cause it sure does look pretty. Check out the new trailer after the break.

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For your viewing pleasure here’s the new trailer for Baz Luhrmann’s big screen adaption of the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic The Great Gatsby. As you probably know, Leonardo DiCaprio plays the title character, Carey Mulligan plays Daisy and they are opposite other cast members such as Tobey Maguire, Isla Fisher, Joel Edgerton and Jason Clarke.

The film opens May 10th. Sadly, it’s also in 3D for some reason. We’ll probably just see the 2D version. YMMV.

Sure, I like to make a buck or two as much as the next guy (or girl). But this, much like The Hobbit being split into three movies, smacks as nothing more than a cheap stunt and a grab for cash. Sorry Universal, I love you, but really?

Yes, I’m talking about the re-release of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park in 3D. And yes, I don’t think much of this tactic. An yes, it’s kinda lame.

Still, it will be cool to see Jurassic Park on the big sheen again. And nobody does crazy, surprised googly eyes better than Sam Neill and Jeff Goldblum almost manages to make me love math (almost), so there’s that. However, if there’s a non-3D screening, look for me at that one.

Look for this version of Jurassic Park to arrive in theaters on April 5, 2013. Check out the trailer (which you will just have to imagine is in 3D) after the break.

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I’d seen Finding Nemo only once before, when it was originally released, in the spring of 2003. Children were just a gleam in my eye, as they say, and at the time I enjoyed the film simply as a highly entertaining romp, with stunning visuals and a thoroughly engaging storyline. The film went on to win the Oscar for Best Animated Feature and was second in grosses only to The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. According to Wikipedia it’s also the best-selling DVD of all time and was the highest grossing G-rated film ever, until it was eclipsed by Toy Story 3, another Pixar triumph.

That’s a good place to start this review, because like Finding Nemo, the Toy Story films were also conceived, written and directed by Andrew Stanton, and like Toy Story 3, Finding Nemo is a story kids immediately adore, while being completely unaware of the incredibly poignancy and emotional power it has for the parents sitting next to them. But of course I didn’t understand that back then, being callow and young.

I enjoyed Marlin, Nemo’s father, as a fine comedic character, but my appreciation went only fin deep. I didn’t understand how amazingly inspired Albert Brooks is in the role, how his comedy—being from the very beginning of his career always driven by pathos and humiliation and self-awareness and self-delusion and conflicting impulses—encapsulates the complexity and fallibility in every moment of parenting.

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Before I go any further I need to disclose that I’m not a fan of Sony or its products. However, I do currently own a PS3, which I use primarily to watch Blu-ray movies. For gaming, I’m pretty much on the XBox 360 or the iPad 3.

My distaste for Sony has been a long time coming through a series of sub-par products and culminating in a very expensive XBR TV that failed just after the warranty expired and would have cost almost as much to fix as to repair. My love for Sony died that day.

This new development, highlighted over at BGR, seems destined to do little, if anything to change my opinion. According to the site, Sony plans on releasing televisions with 4K resolution.

They also plan on having the PS 4 support 4K resolution. My reaction? Who cares? I can’t even get my local cable or satellite provider to send full 1080P content to my exceptionally awesome Panasonic plasma TV let alone have worry about 4K resolution programming. Good luck seeing that in the next few years.

There’s also very few games that take advantage of 1080P on the PS3 so again, I ask, why do we need 4K? I feel the same way about 3D. Nobody really needs that at home either. I expect 4K to go the way of other failed Sony products like Betamax, UMD and the MiniDisc.

Pass.

Ang Lee has never really been known for visual flair. His films are always beautiful, but his best works always seemed to have a quite beauty to them. The major exception of course being Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, but it seemed for a while that we might not get another visual stunner from the master filmmaker.

Thankfully that is not the case, it looks as if he knocked another feast for the eyes out of the park, and knowing the story of Life of Pi it will know doubt be a feast for the soul as well. For those in the dark on this film, here is its synopsis:

Director Ang Lee (Brokeback Mountain, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon) creates a groundbreaking movie event about a young man who survives a tragic disaster at sea and is hurtled into an epic journey of adventure and discovery. While marooned on a lifeboat, he forms an amazing and unexpected connection with the ship’s only other survivor — a fearsome Bengal tiger.

It is really starting to feel like 2012 is going to end up as one of those great cinematic years, and if this trailer is any indication Life of Pi might be one of those marquee titles that headline a long list of quality films.

Check out the gorgeous trailer after the jump.

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Sigourney Weaver is about to star in a new USA channel politics themed show, Political Animals. Which as put her on the press circuit that looks to gain some knowledge on her future endeavors. Which may or may not include a sequel to the most successful film of all time.

While talking to the fine folks over at Showbiz 411, Mrs. Weaver let slip what might be the future plans for Cameron’s blue-tinted billion dollar franchise:

Then she films “Avatar” 2, 3, and 4 with James Cameron. That’s right: they’re making three sequels to the blue 3D phenom all at the same time. Weaver says she has no idea how long it will take, or how it’s going to work. “I just show up,” she said. If “Political Animals” is renewed, USA will have to wait until all that’s over.

The rumor mill suggested that there would be two Avatar sequels in the works for a simultaneous shoot, but this is the first we have heard of a full trilogy shooting back-to-back-to-back. This news also begs the question of exactly how does Sigourney Weaver’s character return, she didn’t seem to make it in the first film.

Keep tuned to The Flickcast for any updates on this franchise as they break, it is kinda popular so I guess we are honor bound to cover it.

For those of you who follow animation, you know the name Genndy Tartakovsky. For those of you who simply like cartoons, you know the work of Genndy Tartakovsky, and everyone knows who Popeye the Sailor Man is. So in the mathematical equations of Hollywood, this is an odds on favorite to be a winner.

Tartakovsky has created some of the most renowned cartoons of his generation. From Dexter’s Laboratory, to Powerpuff Girls and Samurai Jack, his distinct style and flair for storytelling have made him a hit with fans. His first attempt at feature animation arrives later this year with Hotel Transylvania, which looks like it might have been saved by his magic talents.

Animation is a long process, so naturally he would get his next project lined up ahead of time, and that project has finally been announced. Variety is reporting that Tartokovsky will next be working on a big screen, animated Popeye:

Genndy Tartakovsky is attached to develop and direct “Popeye,” Sony Pictures Animation’s 3D take on the familiar sailor man… Avi and Ari Arad will produce under their Arad Productions banner with Sony Pictures Animation. As of November, scribes David Ronn and Jay Scherick were attached to pen the script.

The Variety report also reminds us that Tartakovsky is technically still attached to direct a feature Samurai Jack film. Hopefully that project doesn’t get lost under the impending successes he is about to enjoy.

Stay tuned to The Flickcast for any further updates.

When we heard that GI Joe Retaliation was pushed back to May 2013 we were bummed. The trailers did a great job of getting everyone excited about a new GI Joe film, which is a minor miracle in and of itself. The original word was to do a ‘proper’ 3D post convert, which kinda sounded like BS, and it turns out it was.

Deadline is reporting that mediocre to poor test screening results and cold feet from killing off the first film’s star Channing Tatum in the first act are the principal reasons for the delay. Which is funny, because one of the aspects that fans were rallying behind with the new film was the balls to kill of the characters that didn’t work in the first film.

Now we are in an odd place. On the surface, this can be seen as a good move, allowing the filmmakers time to make better a film that many of us were looking forward to. On the other hand, if this is all the work of the studio who wants nothing more than to shoe horn a rising star into a franchise that he already proved ill-equipped to lead, we may have lost something fun.

No one will know for sure until next May, but at the very least this film will go down as an interesting what if moment in film.

This past weekend we saw the release of Beauty and the Beast in 3D, the most recent in a string of classic films getting a 3D face lift.  The next big re-release is only a few weeks away with the first of the Star Wars 3D updates. Lucas is starting with Episode One, and is moving on through the franchise with a new re-release every year.

Even though the prequel trilogy lives in infamy among most film fans, the impending arrival of a Star Wars film on the big screen still holds some weight. In advance of the February launch a new set of five posters has hit the web, each with a wildy different design and most of them actually pretty cool.

It is gratifying that the posters excise the existence of Jar Jar Binks completely, although it would have been nice had Jake Lloyd received the same treatment. The upcoming 3D versions of these films represents the greatest perk of the 3D post conversion era we live in.

To have an opportunity to watch classic films on the big screen again in new and exciting ways is an exciting proposition. Hopefully lesser films like the prequel trilogy don’t ruin it before we get back to the original trilogy.

You can see the whole set of new posters after the jump.

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The first holiday weekend of the year has come and the big winner was the tender stare of an underwear model. The new Mark Wahlberg actioner, Contraband, came in at number one this weekend with an estimated Twenty-Four million. The impressive total marks one of the highest openings ever for a Mark Wahlberg starring film, and ranks comparably with other January films of this genre.

Coming in at number two was the 3D re-release of the Disney classic Beauty and the Beast. The 3D version raked in eighteen and a half million, which is less than the recent re-release of The Lion King in 3D. Even though the dollars weren’t as good, the sum is still nice considering how long this has been sitting on the shelf. Disney is staying in the 3D reissue business with releases scheduled twice a year for the next few years.

In a number three is the recent box office champ Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, which continues to hold remarkably well. It brought in just over eleven million dollars and became the second highest grossing film in the Impossible franchise. This is a big win all around and looks to be a strong start Jeremy Renner’s assault on big budget franchise films.

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Welcome to the future, a world where it is news that a feature film is being shot on 35mm film instead of digital or in 3D. We now know that the new Star Trek film will be one of those such films, although that doesn’t mean we will be spared the 3-D post conversion.

MTV recently talked with J.J. Abrams about the 2013 film:

“I’m sure, like many people, you see what you do and you go, ‘I really could have done that one better, I should have done that, that was a mistake, more of this, less of that.’ You always do that… I’m hoping that as we do the next one, all the mistakes that I’ve made that I’ve hopefully learned from, I can bring to this one and hope make it better.

We’re shooting on film, 2-D, and then we’ll do a good high-end conversion like the ‘Harry Potter’ movie and all that. Luckily, with our release date now we have the months needed to do it right because if you rush it, it never looks good.

We were talking about [shooting in IMAX] and I would love to do it. IMAX is my favorite format; I’m a huge fan,”

While it is nice that J.J. is looking to get into the IMAX business, post conversion 3D has a rocky history. He sited the most recent Harry Potter film as the standard he expects, but even then shooting for 2D and converting it after the fact never looks as good.

I tend to think of Scorsese as a master of genre films—he’s done gangster films (Goodfellas, Casino), comedy (After Hours, The King of Comedy), police drama (The Departed), psychological thriller (Shutter Island), boxing (Raging Bull), biopic (Kundun, The Aviator, No Direction Home), concert (Shine a Light), historical (Gangs of New York), literary classic (The Age of Innocence), even a remake Cape Fear) and a sequel (The Color of Money)—but he tends to bring such a distinct touch to the films, they don’t quite feel like genre films.

So when I heard he was taking a stab at a kiddie flick, Hugo immediately shot to my most anticipated Scorsese film to date (outside, of course, of the fictional film he was making with Larry David as the money-hurling mob boss in Curb Your Enthusiasm)—added to that who wouldn’t be interested in Scorsese’s take on 3D?

And Hugo doesn’t disappoint. It’s not the most compelling story, but for all its two-hour-seven-minute running time, I wasn’t bored once. There’s a lot more going on, and I’ll get to that in a moment, but first the rundown.

Hugo Cabret (Asa Butterfield) is an urchin who haunts a Paris railway station in the early 1930s, repairing its clocks and stealing various cogs and sprockets to rebuild the homunculus he and his father (Jude Law) were working on right up to his death. While Hugo tends to remain out of the sight and mind of the station Inspector (Sacha Baron Cohen), he’s less successful evading the eye of the toymaker he robs (Ben Kingsley). Caught trying to thieve a wind-up mouse, he’s forced to give up his father’s notebook, which includes all the instructions on repairing the mechanical man and provokes a strange reaction from the toymaker.

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