The Flickcast

Disney & Pixar’s ‘Brave’ Gets an Official Trailer

Posted on November 17, 2011

There are very little studios these days that you can bank on having a hit just about every time they release a film. Sure, there will always be Cars 2, but that’s only after nearly a dozen award-winning, amazing films. That’s why we have no doubt that the next project in the Disney/Pixar house, Brave, will be anything short of genius.

With a pretty stellar cast of Scottish actors and actresses, you can expect this film to bring new-found love to the kilt-wearing pure bloods proud to hail from Scotland. Here’s the premise for those not in the know.

In “Brave,” a new tale joins the lore when the courageous Merida (voice of Kelly Macdonald) confronts tradition, destiny and the fiercest of beasts. Merida is a skilled archer and impetuous daughter of King Fergus (voice of Billy Connolly) and Queen Elinor (voice of Emma Thompson).

Determined to carve her own path in life, Merida defies an age-old custom sacred to the uproarious lords of the land: massive Lord MacGuffin (voice of Kevin McKidd), surly Lord Macintosh (voice of Craig Ferguson) and cantankerous Lord Dingwall (voice of Robbie Coltrane). Merida’s actions inadvertently unleash chaos and fury in the kingdom, and when she turns to an eccentric old Wise Woman (voice of Julie Walters) for help, she is granted an ill-fated wish. The ensuing peril forces Merida to discover the meaning of true bravery in order to undo a beastly curse before it’s too late.

Strong female hero? Majestic setting? It’s a definite that Brave has the stuff Disney legends are made of, but what do you think? Take a look at the trailer after the jump and sound off! Brave hits theaters on June 22nd.

Blu-Ray Review: ‘A Little Help’

Posted on November 16, 2011

Never underestimate the power of experience. Fresh off directing a couple episodes of King of Queens, Michael J. Weithorn make his feature film debut with A Little Help. I’m all for new talented writer/directors (Mark Webb), but unfortunately, while I do see potential for some creative ideas in this film, he probably should have tried out a few shorts before diving head first into a feature.

It felt like highly produced sit-coms episodes strung together.

In the film, Jenna Fischer plays Pam…. sorry, Laura, a dental hygienist who must deal with the aftermath of the sudden death of her unfaithful husband. With her family almost forcing comfort and support down her throat, she soon discovers that her son has been lying about his father’s death to his friends at school to make him sound cooler. The film has all the elements in place, a solid story with good casting, but ultimately fails to come together as a cohesive unit that keeps the audience engaged the whole time.

Creator Matthew Weiner on Don Draper’s Fate and the End of ‘Mad Men’

Posted on November 16, 2011

In most areas of real life, endings can often be difficult. This can also be be true if you’ve created and produced a very successful television series that’s wrapping things up. In many of those cases, like withThe Sopranos and LOST, fans were very unhappy with the way those series ended.

Mad Men creator Matthew Weiner doesn’t want his show to end like those and doesn’t want fans to end up disappointed. In fact, he’s already thinking about and planning the ending to his show.

”It came to me in the middle of last season,” said Weiner. “I always felt like it would be the experience of human life. And human life has a destination. It doesn’t mean Don’s gonna die. What I’m looking for, and how I hope to end the show, is like … It’s 2011. Don Draper would be 84 right now. I want to leave the show in a place where you have an idea of what it meant and how it’s related to you. It’s a very tall order, but I always talk about Abbey Road.

What’s the song at the end of Abbey Road? It’s called ‘The End.’ There is a culmination of an experience of people working at their highest level. And all I want to do is not wear out the welcome. I was 35 when I wrote the Mad Men pilot, 42 when I got to make it, and I’ll be 50 when it goes off the air. So that’s what you’re gonna get. Do I know everything that’s gonna happen? No, I don’t. But I just want it to be entertaining, and I want people to remember it fondly and not think it ended in a fart.”

First Teaser Trailer for ‘The Hobbit’ to Debut This Christmas

Posted on November 16, 2011

There are few films upcoming as anticipated as The Hobbit. The predecessor of The Lord of the Rings represents a return to Middle Earth and everyones favorite race of furry feet halflings. Telling the tale of Frodo’s uncle Bilbo who… wait, does anyone really need a run down of what The Hobbit is? Didn’t think so.

So when co-star and 2nd unit director, Andy Serkis, lets loose that a teaser for this massive film is due out this Christmas, it is news. Serkis told IGN in a recent interview that we should be seeing our first glimpse of the new film this holiday season. Best speculation points to either Tintin or the new Sherlock Holmes film.

Tintin would make a lot of sense because Peter Jackson is that film’s producer and the previously mentioned Serkis is also in the film. That said, Sherlock Holmes: A Gane of Shadows is a Warner Bros. production, and it might behoove WB to keep the excitement of this teaser in the family.

Netflix Releases New UI for Android Tablets

Posted on November 16, 2011

Even though they seem to, at times, be mostly in the business of making their customers angry, Netflix is still one of the best places to get your movie and TV content from. In fact, their streaming service is one of the most popular available.

One of the ways Netflix is going to keep that service popular, and growing, is with updates to it and the applications that make it possible. That’s just what they’ve done this week with the user interface for their Android application.

The company explained that the revamped UI now displays twice as many movie and TV titles, with larger cover art, and that users can easily swipe through titles to find additional content.

“In the last 12 months we have seen a threefold increase in how long Netflix members are watching on their tablets,” Netflix chief product officer Neil Hunt said. The company also said they wanted to introduce the redesigned UI in time for the release of Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Barnes & Noble’s Nook Tablet.

Netflix said the update will be available for iPad users “in a few weeks.” The update is free and is available now in the Android Market.

Click through for the full press release from Netflix.

New ‘Mirror Mirror’ Trailer Debuts

Posted on November 16, 2011

The Snow White movie wars are heating up folks. Last week we got a look at Universal’s Snow White and The Huntsman directed by Rupert Sanders and starring Kristen Stewart.

Now, we’ve got the trailer for director Tarsem’s take on the story called Mirror Mirror. This one features a cast that includes Julia Roberts, Lily Collins, Armie Hammer and Sean Bean.

One thing you can say about Tarsem’s films is that they are stylish and his visuals are often stunning. Plus, he knows his way around an action sequence.

In truth, I was not a fan of his first film, The Cell. That said, his most recent project, Immortals, is quite good so I have a bit of hope for this one.

Plus, this is also the Snow White film that doesn’t feature Kristen Stewart, which is a big plus in my book. Look for Mirror Mirror to arrive in theaters on March 16.

Check out the trailer after the break.

‘Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’ Blows Away Sales Records

Posted on November 15, 2011

We like Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, you like it and so, it seems, do a whole bunch of other people. How can we be sure?

Well, Activision on Tuesday announced that week-one sales of Modern Warfare 3 were 12.3 Million units, making it the biggest launch of all time. That number of units sold also brought in about $738 Million in revenue. Not bad for the first week.

The Xbox 360 version of the game was in the lead with sales of more than 7 million units, a record for game sales on a single console that was previously held by Call of Duty: Black Ops and its 5.8 Million units sold. 4.8 Million copies were sold for the PlayStation 3.

But what of the Wii? It had about 500K copies sold for it along with the PC version of the game, which also had about the same. In addition, in case you hadn’t heard, Activision announced late last week that COD:MW3 sold 6.5 Million copies and made $400 Million during its launch weekend alone. That’s also a record, by the way.

I’m sure Hollywood must be salivating pretty hard right now wishing they could get these kinds of sales figures for some of their movies. Of course, that would mean they would have to make good movies first. And let’s face it, most of them aren’t.

Look for our review of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 very soon. We know John is working on it and it’s going to be great.

NBC Announces Midseason Schedule, Shelves ‘Community’

Posted on November 15, 2011

Sometimes news comes through that will just ruin your day. For fans of the NBC comedy Community, that day may just be today. On Tuesday, NBC announced their midseason schedule, and while a few shows got an extension, one fan favorite may be facing the chopping block at the end of the season.

In order to make room for shows they believe in such as Up All Night and 30 Rock, the network has decided to not order any new episodes of Dan Harmon’s Community for the midseason, leaving them on hiatus until further notice. Whether or not this means the show is getting cancelled has yet to be decided, but it does mean that we may not get any more Community until as early as the Summer.

Also going through some changes at the network: Whitney will be moved to Wednesday nights into a block with Chelsea Handler’s new sitcom. Prime Suspect has also been put on the bench until further notice, and the legal drama Murphey’s Law got a full season order.

With the network rocking last place in the ratings, it only makes sense that they would make some drastic changes to stir up the status quo. Fans are already crying out to make sure their favorite show doesn’t get the axe, but it may take a lot in order to convince NBC otherwise.

Take a look at the new midseason schedule after the jump.

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