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Box Office: Who Will Win the Weekend? 'Alice' Again?
In terms of movie seasons, Alice in Wonderland kicked off what I like to call the Prelude to the Summer – that two-month span before May where the films are big, yes, but not monstrous. This is a time to prepare for summer; like spring training, but for movies. Alice blew the box office wide open last week with a whopping $116 million, but that was with no competition. This week sees four new wide releases, and each title has real potential to put a stop to Johnny Depp's Mad Hatter. She's Out of My League What's the Scoop: Your choice for funny this weekend, Jay Baruchel stars as a skinny nerd who does a favor for a girl way out of his league and somehow winds up wooing her, much to the dismay of his baffled friends. Why It Might Win the Weekend: Judd...
Hugo Weaving to Play Villain in 'Captain America'
Though we don't have our Captain America just yet, it looks like that's not stopping Marvel from casting the film's main villain. The Hollywood Reporter tells us that Hugo Weaving will play the Captain America villain Red Skull, who, in the comics, was the superhero's arch-nemesis and right-hand man to Hitler during World War II. The story goes that both remained in suspended animation following a battle and were revived in modern times to do battle once again. Weaving, of course, has already played one classic villain – that of Agent Smith in the Matrix trilogy. Though he turned good for the Lord of the Rings franchise (man, Weaving is a franchise machine!), he's always been great as a villain. This is definitely inspired casting, and I can't wait to see Weaving back in a...
The Five: Hottest Films Playing SXSW 2010
What’s that? Another film festival? No, actually, SXSW (or South By Southwest) is not just another film festival – it’s actually one of the hippest, liveliest festivals you can attend all year. Based in Austin, Texas, SXSW includes three festivals in one: an interactive festival, a film festival and a music festival -- and as far as the film festival goes, there’s always a slew of really hot new buzzed-about films that are either hitting theaters real soon, or haven’t even been discovered yet. Which titles should you be interested in keeping an eye out for? Here are five of my most anticipated … Kick-Ass What’s It About: The opening night film of the festival, Kick-Ass is based on the graphic novel about an ordinary...
Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning Rock Out This Music Video
Before you get to watch Kristen Stewart and Dakota Fanning star opposite one another in The Twilight Saga: Eclipse, you’ll get to see them rock out hardcore in The Runaways, a biopic about that legendary all-female band from the ‘70s who tore up the rock scene doing the kind of illegal things you wouldn’t exactly want to write home about. Kristen Stewart stars as iconic rocker Joan Jett, while Dakota Fanning plays Cherrie Currie, and according to early reviews, not only do these two share a pretty intimate on-screen kiss, but the film also promises lots of hard drugs, loud rock and enough obscenities to make you forget Stewart is the same girl who also plays the sweet, innocent Bella Swan in those Twilight movies. As part of the marketing for the film, MTV...
‘The Twilight Saga: Eclipse’ Trailer Has Arrived!
There is a god … and he’s a Twi-hard. The teaser trailer fans have been waiting months for has finally arrived online (it’ll also screen before prints of Remember Me this weekend), and, well, our hearts have officially stopped beating. Summit has released a minute and a half of pure, unfiltered, angsty teen relationship drama, with Bella (Kristen Stewart) trying to decide whether she wants to become a vampire in order to be with Edward (Robert Pattinson), while Jacob (Taylor Lautner) tries everything under the sun (including going topless in more than one scene) to get Bella to be with him instead. Not only do they tease a tasty confrontation between Jacob and Edward, but there seems to be an intensity that keeps building in this trailer, especially when...
Fanboy Fix: 'Superman' and 'Batman 3'
Christopher Nolan Talks New Superman Movie In an extensive editing bay interview with Christopher Nolan (The Dark Knight, Inception), The Los Angeles Times managed to squeeze the first comments on Superman out of the elusive writer-director, admitting that the idea for the new film came out of frustration while working on the script for Batman 3 with Batman co-writer David Goyer, who turned to Nolan during the process and pitched his idea for the Man of Steel. Says Nolan, "I immediately got it, loved it and thought: That is a way of approaching the story I've never seen before that makes it incredibly exciting. I wanted to get Emma and I involved in shepherding the project right away and getting it to the studio and getting it going in an exciting way." For now, Goyer...
This Week on DVD: 'Up in the Air' and More
Up in the Air George Clooney plays basically a fictional version of himself as a playboy-slash-corporate hatchet man who flies all over to fire people so their bosses don't have to. On his way to earning 10 million frequent-flyer miles, a chance encounter with his female alter ego rocks his world. Extras: Deleted scenes, director commentary, trailers; the BD has additional deleted scenes and a music video. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire One of the year's most critically acclaimed films and the one that won Mo'Nique a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, this is the story of Claireece "Precious" Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), a teenager in Harlem enduring insufferable abuse that leaves her twice pregnant by her own father, the mother of a...
'The Twilight Saga: Eclipse' Trailer…Almost!
In an effort to squeeze as much anticipation out of you until you quite literally burst in frustration, Summit Entertainment has released a 10-second preview of its upcoming full-length trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse. Sorry, but that wasn't a misprint – I really did say 10 seconds. Good news, though, is these 10 seconds are packed with enough romantic tension to have all Twi-hards obsessing for at least 24 hours, as that's how long you'll have to wait to see the full version. Yup, fear not all you anti-10 seconders, Summit will present the entire trailer for The Twilight Saga: Eclipse in glorious HD tomorrow morning online at 6am PST (9am EST), and you'll of course be able to see it on the big screen in front of prints of Robert Pattinson's Remember Me later this...
Corey Haim Dies of Apparent Drug Overdose
After struggling with drug addiction for years, child actor (and '80s icon) Corey Haim finally succumbed to a disease he was just never destined to beat. The LAPD have confirmed that Haim passed away due to an apparent accidental drug overdose (read: it wasn't a suicide) at approximately 2:15am Wednesday morning after being found unresponsive at his apartment complex where he was home with his mother. All that was found with him were four prescription bottles, none of which were related to the flu-like symptoms he had prior to his death. As a child of the '80s myself, I hold a lot of the films Haim starred in close to my heart. He was like the Robert Pattinson of my generation, joining forces (on more than one occasion) with his best pal Corey Feldman on a number of quintessential...
Is This 'Tron: Legacy' Trailer a Game Changer?
Move over Avatar, there's a film that's looking to shove your 10-foot blue aliens aside for some fun, '80s retro nostalgia. I mean, who doesn't love the '80s, right? Disney's hoping that a lot of people will be looking to reconnect with the early '80s when they release a sequel to their cult 1982 flick Tron in theaters this December 17th, the same weekend Avatar opened up back in 2009. While the original didn't do well at the box office, and has kind of survived on VHS and DVD thanks to the cultish following surrounding the film, Disney hopes to capitalize on the pretty cool story by updating it with the sort of special effects that this movie (or should I now say, franchise) always deserved. Yes, Tron: Legacy will arrive in 3D (and IMAX 3D), and based on this new trailer the...
Could a Jonas Brother Become Captain America?
Just when you thought the whole Captain America situation couldn't get any stranger comes word of some pretty interesting people who may have also auditioned for a spot to play Marvel's next big superhero. Consider this a bizarre rumor for the time being, but the celeb site Hollywire claims (through their sources) that Joe Jonas and Kevin Jonas have "read lines" and are "in contention for both Captain America and other characters in the film." Ahem…well, I'm sure there are people who think one of the Jonas brothers would be great in the role of Captain America, but hopefully neither of those people are reading this because I happen to think casting one of those guys in the lead role of a massive Marvel superhero movie would be like re-designing Spider-Man's...
This Week on DVD: 'Up in the Air' and More
Up in the Air George Clooney plays basically a fictional version of himself as a playboy-slash-corporate hatchet man who flies all over to fire people so their bosses don't have to. On his way to earning 10 million frequent-flyer miles, a chance encounter with his female alter ego rocks his world. Extras: Deleted scenes, director commentary, trailers; the BD has additional deleted scenes and a music video. Precious: Based on the Novel "Push" by Sapphire One of the year's most critically acclaimed films and the one that won Mo'Nique a Best Supporting Actress Oscar, this is the story of Claireece "Precious" Jones (Gabourey Sidibe), a teenager in Harlem enduring insufferable abuse that leaves her twice pregnant by her own father, the mother of a...
Casting Corner: Keanu Reeves, Anna Faris, Chris Evans and More
Wanna keep up to date on all the latest casting news? Look no further than our new feature, Casting Corner, where we'll bring you all of the latest casting news and drop it off in one, easy-to-spot location. -- Another Bill and Ted movie for Keanu Reeves? Believe it: On the red carpet at the Oscars, MTV asked Reeves whether there'd be another Bill and Ted. He replied, "I'm trying, I'm trying." When pressed on whether he was joking, he said, "I'm not." Could you imagine Reeves reprising his dude-like character? I can't … not in a million years. -- Anna Faris and Chris Evans have signed up to star opposite one another in What's Your Number, a comedy about a woman who revisits all of her ex-boyfriends alongside her womanizing next door neighbor in...
Which Film Most Deserved to Win an Oscar, but Didn't?
We can probably go back and forth for hours when it comes to who deserved that Best Picture Oscar more, Avatar or The Hurt Locker, but when you get past the obvious frontrunners from last night's Academy Awards ceremony, there were a lot of films that should've totally taken home an Oscar but didn't. I mean, did The Hurt Locker really deserve six awards? Couldn't we have thrown another film or two a bone instead? While I personally feel that one of the films most deserving of an Oscar was Inglourious Basterds, we can't include it here because, technically, its actor Christoph Waltz won Best Supporting Actor. So, in theory, the film took home at least one Oscar … even if you and I both know it deserved more. What I'm interested in discussing is which film most deserved to win an...
Watch Your Favorite Oscars Acceptance Speeches All Over Again
Let's face it: The best part of the Oscars usually has something to do with all those great, unexpected, emotional acceptance speeches – and while the Academy attempted to cut down the "thank yous" on stage by asking nominees to stick more to what the award meant to them, most ignored the new rule and, as always, used that time to thank the people who helped them get to that stage. And aside from that weird Kanye "Imma let you finish" West moment during the acceptance speech for the Best Short Form Documentary (watch that here, and read about the aftermath here), the acceptance speeches last night were pretty tame, though highly emotional (lots of tears were flowing…but they were happy tears!). In case you missed any of the best ones, we've collected...
New 'Iron Man 2' Trailer Arrives Online!
Those upset that they stayed up way too late for a mediocre Oscars ceremony were rewarded with the premiere of a brand new Iron Man 2 trailer on Jimmy Kimmel's show last night, which was preceded by a guest appearance from Iron Man himself, Robert Downey Jr. The trailer itself is definitely a solid one, and it does its job by teasing you just enough that you're literally dying for more once it ends. And that's a good thing, because we don't want to know every big "money" shot way ahead of the May 7th release date – so here's hoping Paramount saves a few surprises for the theater. What we do get, though, is more of that race track scene with Whiplash and a very cool Iron Man automatic suit reveal at the end, as well as the first scenes with Sam...
The Oscars Backstage: Notes from the Press Room
Just so you get a better picture of the surroundings...The press room is housed in a grand ballroom adjacent to the Kodak Theater. Eight plasma screens surround the room, each hanging from the ceiling or adorning the podium. Speaking of the podium, it’s considered the Holy Grail; no one is allowed near it. Spot lights give it a magical glow with two larger than life Oscar statues as the backdrop. As talent enters and reaches the podium, we journalists quickly raise our assigned numbers so the moderator can instruct us on when to ask questions—I’m happy to say all reporters behaved. Our first victim was a blushing Ryan Bingham...no T-Bone insight; apparently he was feeling a bit ill. But the soft-spoken, young artist was overshadowed by Mo’Nique. The minute...
The Oscars Are Over! What Did You Think?
That's it! The Oscars are over! Now that the 82nd Academy Awards are over, it's time to spend days (weeks? months?) analyzing each and every second until, say, about this time next year? Whaddya think? There were some pretty big changes heading into this years Oscars ceremony, but in the end things didn't really feel all that different. Longer, yes. But different? Eh. You know it's a tame year when the biggest Oscar snubs come from the screenplay categories. Obviously The Hurt Locker was the big winner of the night (taking home Best Picture and Best Director Oscars, among many others), and, unfortunately, I feel like Inglourious Basterds was the biggest loser of the night (it's the one film that really did deserve to win more awards). What about the rest? Did the double host set up...
The Full List - Oscar Winners!
In case you missed it, here is the full list of Oscar winners from the show...for the full scoop, red carpet pics and lots more good stuff, check out our Awards Watch! Best Motion Picture of the Year Avatar The Blind Side District 9 An Education The Hurt Locker (WINNER) Inglourious Basterds Precious A Serious Man Up Up in the Air Achievement in Directing James Cameron, Avatar Kathryn Bigelow, The Hurt Locker (WINNER) Quentin Tarantino, Inglourious Basterds Lee Daniels, Precious Jason Reitman, Up in the Air Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role Jeff Bridges, Crazy Heart (WINNER) George Clooney, Up in the Air Colin Firth, A Single Man Morgan Freeman...
Upcoming 3D Movies: 'Green Lantern', 'Alien' Sequel & 'Sucker Punch'
As I've said previously on this here blog, James Cameron's Avatar has officially changed the way studios handle their big films from here on out … and, honestly, I'm not sure yet if it's for the better. Regardless of what folks like Cameron say about the right and wrong ways to use 3D (ie: films should be shot in 3D and not converted to 3D after the fact), studios like Warner Bros. are still plowing ahead – becoming one of the first to really embrace 3D and make it a part of a whole bunch of their upcoming films. We already know that Clash of the Titans and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be converted to 3D, but now we're learning that The Green Lantern and Zack Snyder's (300, Watchmen) Sucker Punch will also be converted to 3D. (Note that Green Lantern has...
