We’ve talked much over the last couple years here at the site and on The Flickcast podcast about how much we really don’t care for the first trilogy of films in the Star Wars saga. For those of us who thought of the original Star Wars (before it was known as Episode IV) as an inspiration for what we do, the second trilogy of prequel films, beginning with The Phantom Menace, were better left alone and unspoken of as if they didn’t even exist.

Sadly, one man in particular seems determined to keep reminding everyone that the prequel trilogy does exist and also seems determined to squeeze every penny he can from it. That man is, of course, George Lucas. His latest transgression? The Phantom Menace in 3D, coming to a theater near you on February 10, 2012.

Yes, you read that right. We can now look forward to the exploits of Jar-Jar Binks, the “acting” of young Jake Lloyd and the excitement of discovering that a once gifted storyteller has clearly lost his way, all in the marvelousness of 3D. This information comes to us via a press release from Lucasfilm.

My favorite part of the press release? This gem: “Supervised by Industrial Light & Magic, the meticulous conversion is being done with utmost respect for the source material, and with a keen eye for both technological considerations and artistic intentions.” Excuse me while I throw up a little in my mouth.

Mr. Lucas, in the name of human decency, let it go.

Unknown, directed by Jaume Collet-Serra, has some interesting elements going for it. Set in Berlin and armed with an attractive and sturdy cast, Unknown is swimming in themes of mistaken identity, murder and espionage – arguably very exciting and entertaining things. Unfortunately those elements are combined with implausibly pat coincidences, clunky dialogue and a few too many plot-lines.

Dr. Martin Harris (Liam Neeson) and his wife Liz (January Jones) arrive in Berlin to attend A Very Important Science Conference, at which Martin is a noted guest of some sort. While checking into the hotel,  Martin realizes that he has left his briefcase (which contains, among other things, his passport) at the airport - so without so much as a word to his wife, he  jumps into a cab to retrieve it. The cab gets into an accident culminating with it running off of a bridge and into a river, rendering Martin comatose.

When Martin wakes from his coma he has no (or at least very little) memory of his own identity. During his stay in the hospital, he gradually begins to recollect certain things – his marriage to Liz and his purpose for being in Berlin. When he remembers where the conference is being held, Martin leaves the hospital to find his wife – who, when he does locate her, fails recognize him. Intrigue ensues.*

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This week on The Flickcast brings more insight, innovation and innuendo from your favorite co-hosts. That’s right, Chris and Matt are back and discussing all sorts of new and returning topics.

Some of those topics include the Oscars, Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, Call of Duty: Black Ops Map Packs, the Verizon iPhone, Fantastic Four developments, Smallville’s final season and potential spin-offs, the Dead Space 2 ads and much more.

Chris and Matt also made new picks this week including Matt’s pick of the Sam Raimi film Darkman the and Chris’ pick of the new Starz series Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.

As always, if you have comments, questions, critiques, offers of sponsorship or whatever, feel free to hit us up in the comments, on Twitter, at Facebook and MySpace or via email.

Literary adaptations are always a tricky thing, especially for those of us who love the source material. Beloved books can be ruined forever by a film version gone wrong. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy wasn’t even all that bad of a movie in and of itself, but it was obviously nothing as good as the book, and ever since, my warm memories of the book (which I read several times as a teen and listened to in the BBC radio version many times more) have been discolored by the movie.

And that’s hardly the worst literary adaptation there has been. When things look especially unpromising, I make it a point not to see even the trailer.

But when everything goes perfectly, from casting to art direction to all the important details of story and theme—very rarely, in other words—a film version can equal and even in some ways exceed the book. Such is the case with this third in the Chronicles of Narnia series, a breathtakingly beautiful and thrilling envisioning of The Voyage of the Dawn Treader.

Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley return as Edmund and Lucy, and Keynes in particular has grown into his own as the courageous and clear-eyed warrior king. Ben Barnes is even hunkier than before, as Prince-turned-King Caspian should be. He makes a puffy shirt look desirable, and that isn’t easy.

Liam Neeson voices an Aslan whose CGI being is incredibly convincing and impressive, down to the mane rustling in the wind and the mysterious, majestic eyes. Tilda Swinton must have put in all of four hours on set, as she appears for a total of 45 seconds, and that only as a misty green vision in the green mist. Simon Pegg takes over from Eddie Izzard as the voice of Reepicheep, the valiant little mouse who will be a clear favorite for the under-13 crowd.

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Todd Philips’ Hangover 2 had better be the funniest movie in decades. In the midst of all the drama on the set between Galifiniakis, Gibson, and now Liam Neeson, this film is coming across as more dramatic than comedic.

About a month ago, it was announced that after putting his foot down, the film’s star Zach Galifiniakis won the battle to have Mel Gibson written out of the film. He was initially supposed to have a cameo in the film, much like the controversial Mike Tyson did in the first film. Zach wanted none of that, so Gibson had to go.

Later, he was replaced by the ubiquitous Liam Neeson, who filled Gibson’s shoes with his particular set of skills. Things seemed to quiet down, but now it looks like Giamatti is joining in all the fun with a cameo, according to Deadline.

It’s very difficult for this film to remain a secret, given it’s public shooting locations in Thailand. Some very spoiler-happy images have already gone up online, which may just ruin the film for you, so don’t click if you can’t handle it.

Hangover 2 is set to hit theaters May 26th, 2011.

Liam Neeson has joined the cast of Battleship today. Neeson was added to the cast of the Universal Pictures science fiction action adventure just as filming began today.

Battleship is based on the popular board game by the same name. The writers are obviously taking some liberties with the game in order to create the film. In the movie, a naval fleet at sea must protect the earth from alien invaders.

Neeson will be playing Admiral Shane, a Naval officer whose daughter is engaged to the film’s main protagonist, Alex Hopper, who is played by Taylor Kitsch (X-men Origins:Wolverine).

Neeson’s daughter will be played by relative unknown Brooklyn Decker, who had guest appearances on television shows including  Chuck and Ugly Betty. Alexander Skarsgaard (True Blood) plays Kitsch’s older brother, and R&B songstress Rihanna is making her acting debut as she plays Kitsch’s crew mate and a weapons specialist. Tom Arnold will also be part of the cast, but no news on what his role will entail.

Set for release on May 18th of 2012, Battleship comes from producers Scott Stuber, Peter Berg, Duncan Henderson and Sarah Aubrey, as well as Hasbro’s Brian Goldner and Bennett Schneir. The flick will shoot on location in Hawaii and Baton Rouge.

In absentia of our diligent box office reporter Shannon Hood I’m stepping in to bring you up to speed this week. The top three spots were taken by two remakes and one sequel, the former making me feel like I’d gone through a time warp back to the ’80′s.  It was exciting and a little disconcerting all at the same time.

Taking the top spot was the remake of the 1984 classic The Karate Kid.  For the purists out there you can rest easy knowing the producers did not use the same characters from the original.  While the premise is basically the same Daniel Larusso (Ralph Macchio) and Mr. Miyagi (Pat Morita) have been replaced by Dre Parker (Jaden Smith) and Mr. Han (Jackie Chan). Personally, I thought Jaden Smith was too young to portray the character properly but the audience seemed to disagree with me.

The Karate Kidwent onto make $56 million in its opening weekend.  Given that the budget was $40 million this is certainly decent returns and I have no doubt will lead to a sequel, if not a trilogy.  Way to go Jaden!  Your superstar dad, Will Smith, must be very proud.

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I’ve got three words for you. Big. Dumb. Fun. Isn’t that the way we like our summer fare here in the states? Apparently a cohesive plot was sacrificed  in The A-Team so that explosions, fist-fights and implausible technology could abound. Yet somehow, as mindless entertainment, it kind of works. I won’t lie. I had fun.

I never watched the 80′s television show that served as the source material for this movie, but being a child of the 80′s, I was aware of it. The theme song, Mr. T, and that infamous opening line (If you have a problem, and you can find them, maybe you can hire The A-Team!) were ubiquitous on the pop culture landscape back in the day.

The movie begins with an extended flashback showing how the four A-Team members (all former Army Rangers) became a team. Now, eight years later, the men are serving in Iraq and are recruited for a secret mission. They are to circumvent an armored convoy that will be transporting currency printing plates, and approximately one billion dollars in printed currency.

The Department of Defense gets wind of the operation and bristles, believing that the A-Team has overstepped their authority. Additionally, some mercenaries for hire unimaginatively named “Black Forest” want a piece of the action.

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If like me, you have survived the onslaught of witty repartee between Iron Man and War Machine, time standing still in Robin Hood, and the hot mess of CGI and Jake Gyllenhaal in Prince of Persia then you are ready for what awaits you in June. Make no mistake, you may not have the monster in Manolo’s, otherwise known as Carrie Bradshaw, to suffer through but you do have a mêlée of 80’s rehashes that studios happily throw money at.

So, suit up, grab your popcorn, and prepare yourself for the next adventure that await you.

JUNE

June 4th

Ondine

Were you expecting a description of The A Team perhaps? At this point, anyone who is seeing The A Team on Friday already has their tickets, and even my words of wisdom will be unable to stop them. Instead I’ll spotlight a film that deserves attention.

Ondine is an independent film starring Colin Farrell as a fisherman who pulls up a beautiful woman in his nets. His sick, precocious daughter believes she is a Selkie, a Scottish seal who becomes a human wife on land. Time will tell if she is really as she seems.

Geekiness Factor: As a fairytale set in the modern era, it combines Splash and Heroes with a dose of romanticism and second chances. This movie works because it doesn’t use CGI, in fact the only special effects it uses comes from your very own imagination in overdrive. Its sense of wonder on faith, entrances you back to a time when you still believed in Santa Claus.

Screen Steamer: Colin Farrell has served me a heap of B movie bad boy charm in past films like The Recruit, S.W.A.T., not to mention a harmonious turn in Crazy Heart. Here he takes off his shirt only once, but seems well cast as a fisherman down on his luck and striving to be sober. Alicja Bachleda keeps you guessing as Ondine, which means “from the water.” She is alluring with a subtle sensuality in ocean soaked dresses, only coming up for air to coyly flirt with a scruffy Colin.

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The original Clash of the Titans (1981) was cheesy and offered substandard special effects, but it had a certain inherent charm, making it almost irresistible on cable television. I can’t recall a time when I stumbled across the movie and changed the channel. It’s an iconic fantasy film, and embraced for its intentions, despite the fact it failed at many of those intensions. At least it meant well.

Clash of the Titans (2010) is going to become the whipping boy for the anti-3D conversion crowd, with good reason. This is the second major release (after Alice in Wonderland) that has been converted to 3D post production, and the 3D is truly awful. There was absolutely no reason for this movie to be 3D, aside from trying to squeeze some extra money out of gullible ticket purchasers.

I can’t believe people are actually going to shell out an extra 5 bucks for an “enhancement” that is distracting, annoying and intolerable. Characters are out of focus,with tracers dancing about them. The 3D would detract from even the best of films, but this movie doesn’t even merit a “mediocre.” It’s crap, with a cherry on top, only that cherry is rotten and renders the whole mess unpalatable. What a disappointment.

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Chloe has a spectacular pedigree. Directed by Atom Egoyan (The Sweet Hereafter), the film boasts Julianne Moore, Liam Neeson, and Amanda Seyfried as a trio of characters whose lives become deliberately intertwined. Too bad, because after a promising set up, the film devolves into a cliché psychological thriller.

It ultimately culminates in a tacky ending that is better suited to a cheap slasher flick. I suppose if I had to summarize my thoughts on the movie in one word, I would say it is misguided.

Julianne Moore plays Catherine, a successful gynecologist with a teen aged son about to leave for college and a college professor husband. Faced with increasing emotional distance from her son, and suspecting her husband of having an affair, Catherine appears to be experiencing a mid-life cycle of sorts.

She befriends a high class escort named Chloe (Amanda Seyfried) and hires her to find out if her husband will cheat on her. It is evident that there is a sexual undercurrent between the two women.

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In most films, the arduous journey is usually the film’s pre-production, getting a project greenlit and cast or even the lengthy process of shooting in exotic location. Strangely, for Louis Leterrier’s Clash of the Titans, the ever-changing release date and conversion to 3D in post-production seemed to be the truly difficult one.

Once Warner Bros. decided on a release date (after they had to recall millions of posters), and forced another dimension out of an originally 2D film, we are finally coming upon the April 2nd release date, and with it, come some pretty cool clips.

In the clips we have for you, you can check out some great moments from the film such as Liam releasing The Kraken, Worthington’s battle with Calibos, the epic Madusa fight, and the first attack of the gigantic Scorpioch.

Check them all out after the jump. Be sure to catch Clash of the Titans, in both 2D and 3D, on April 2nd.

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