-
It's becoming customary for comic book movie trailers to receive a fan-made, "sweded" version after release — i.e. recreations that use household- props and costumes as originally seen in 2008's Be Kind Rewind. Last month, Iron Man 3 became the latest movie to receive a sweded trailer, but when the second trailer for Man of Steel was released earlier this month, we figured it was only a matter of time before a fan decided to give it the sweded treatment, recreating the trailer shot-for-shot using only an iPhone and whatever they had at their disposal.
watch the fan-made trailer >> Posted 12.26.12 by Ryan -
Which of this year's directors deserve the industry’s highest honor?
No one was too surprised when French director Michel Hazanavicius and his (mostly) silent film The Artist practically swept the Academy Awards last year or when British director Tom Hooper's The King's Speech did the same the year before. This year, however, there are no "sure thing" movies, with several being heralded as "brilliant," "masterful," and "the best movie of the year" by critics...until the next great movie comes along.
Several Oscar-winning directors — including two-time Best Director winner Steven Spielberg (Schindler's List, Saving Private Ryan) and Kathryn Bigelow, the first woman to win Best Director — are among this year's contenders, but they are up against stiff competition from upstart indie directors who helped to make this one of the best years for independent movies in recent memory and the genre movie directors who gave us superheroes, wizards and time travelers as compelling as the special effects that blew our minds. We won't know which directors the Academy will nominate until the middle of January, but we want to know who you, the moviegoers, think deserves the industry's highest honor.
Top 10 Most Oscar-Worthy Directors of 2012 >>
Posted 12.12.12 by BrentJS -
Which Director is Strongest With the Force?
Like many Star Wars fans, it took us a while to process the news that the creator and caretaker of the greatest sci-fi epic of all time, George Lucas, had sold Lucasfilm Ltd. to Disney. And, as if that news wasn't momentous enough, Disney concurrently announced that plans were already underway for an all-new Star Wars movie, a sequel to the original trilogy that would likely be the first movie in a new trilogy.
Minds thoroughly blown, we started to think about the future of the franchise. Jar Jar Binks and Hayden Christensen's horrible acting had really hurt the prequel trilogy and Lucas' constant meddling with the original trilogy tested our faith in ol' grey beard even further. With Lucas out of the picture, could the franchise regain its former glory?
In the days following the announcement, it was revealed that Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine) had been hired to write the screenplay for Star Wars: Episode VII, while rumors continue to swirl that Matthew Vaughn (X-Men: First Class) is in the running to direct. Do you think that Vaughn is the right man for the job or would you like to see J.J. Abrams (Star Trek), Jon Favreau (Cowboys & Aliens) or someone else direct? Who do you think has the vision to chart the course of the future of the Star Wars franchise?
Rate the Top 10 Best Directors To Helm Star Wars: Episode VII >>
Posted 11.13.12 by BrentJS -
Though the cameras stopped rolling on The Dark Knight Rises months ago, Christopher Nolan is still "working" on the movie to some extent, as he continues to travel the world to promote it. He recently said in an Empire podcast interview that he's "relieved" that the movie is done and in theaters, but he won't get the feeling that it's truly "finished" until it "has been out for a couple months" and moviegoers "have really had a chance to tell me what it is."
As far as saying his good-byes to Batman and the franchise he helped to revitalize for Warner Bros., Nolan has already done that. Nolan wrote the foreward to The Art and Making of the Dark Knight Trilogy book that serves as an eloquent, heartfelt and even somewhat humorous farewell letter to the characters that populated his trilogy and the actors who played them. Nolan writes, "I will miss the Batman. I like to think that he’ll miss me, but he’s never been particularly sentimental."
read Nolan's farewell letter >> Posted 07.27.12 by BrentJS -
Despite the overwhelming critical acclaim for The Dark Knight — a stunning 94% approval rating on aggregate review site RottenTomatoes — both the movie and director Christopher Nolan were snubbed by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences when it came time to hand out Oscars and the furor over the omissions contributed, at least in part, to the expansion of nominees from five to ten. Nolan's third and final Batman movie, The Dark Knight Rises, is also rating very highly with — an 86% approval rating from critics, but a 93% rating from fans — though it appears to be a more polarizing movie, with some calling it a "masterpiece" and others using far less generous words to describe it. Still, The Dark Knight Rises is generating considerable Oscar buzz already, based on the merits of the movie itself and, as Oscar pundit Tom O'Neil puts it, because "Batman is holding a giant Oscar I.O.U. and academy members are obliged to pay it off."
We won't know for some time whether The Dark Knight Rises will receive any sort of recognition from the Academy, but Nolan has already made it clear that the movie owes a great deal to the performances of two of his principal actors. In a recent podcast interview with Empire, Nolan called Christian Bale's performance as Bruce Wayne/Batman "a pretty amazing achievement" and praised Anne Hathaway for her "very convincing take" on Selina Kyle/Catwoman, calling her an "incredibly precise actress" who can "captivate a thousand people and fill a room with her energy."
what did nolan say about bale & hathaway? >> Posted 07.26.12 by BrentJS -
Academy Award-winning actor Christian Bale needed some time to collect himself after he took off the Bat-suit for the very last time. At a recent press conference to promote The Dark Knight Rises, Bale said that he "just went down and sat in a room and realized this is it." Though "real proud" of his contribution to director Christopher Nolan's revitalization of the Batman franchise following the disastrous fourth movie, Batman & Robin, Bale doesn't feel any ownership of the character. In fact, Bale told MTV that he is "immensely" interested in seeing what happens to the franchise after The Dark Knight Rises and "intrigued" to see how another actor will interpret the character of Bruce Wayne/Batman. He also gave props to one of the actors who preceeded him in playing the "Caped Crusader" and you'll probably be as surpised as we were by his selection.
what did Bale say? >> Posted 07.25.12 by BrentJS -
The impact of the tragic shooting incident in Aurora, Colo., was still being felt Monday as moviegoers and the country try to comprehend the horrible incident. The cast of The Dark Knight Rises expressed their condolences via released statements. Over the weekend director Christopher Nolan, Christian Bale, and Gary Oldman released statements about the shootings. Anne Hathaway is the latest Dark Knight Rises castmember to comment on the massacre.
My heart aches and breaks for the lives taken and altered by this unfathomably senseless act. I am at a loss for words how to express my sorrow. My thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.
Despite the incident, moviegoers packed theaters all over the country over the weekend. The Dark Knight Rises movie made an expected $161M over the weekend, the third-best opening weekend ever for a movie and the best opening for a 2-D only movie. Reelz talked to audiences if the incident affected their moviegoing experience and talked to analyst Paul Dergarabedian about the potential box office impact.
watch the latest news from Hollywood Dailies about the Colorado shooting>> Posted 07.23.12 by Chris -
In the realm of comic books, most regard Superman is the ultimate superhero. So it makes sense Man of Steel would get not just one but two teaser trailers.
Debuting before The Dark Knight Rises were a pair of teaser trailers for Zack Snyder's Superman reboot, starring Henry Cavill as the Son of Krypton. While both 1-minute-38-second trailers have the same footage, they both have different voice-overs, one from Superman's Earthly father, Jonathan Kent, played by Kevin Costner, and one from his Kryptonian father, Jor-El, played by Russell Crowe (fun fact: both Oscar-winning actors have played Robin Hood). Both voice-overs speak of Clark Kent/Superman's destiny as a hero.
Here's Crowe's dialogue:
You will give the people an ideal to strive towards. They'll race behind you. They will stumble. They will fall. But in time, they will join you in sun. In time, you will help them accomplish wonders.
And Costner's dialogue:
You're not just anyone. One day, you're going to have to make a choice. You have to decide what kind of man who want to grow up to be. Whoever that man is, good character or bad, is going to change the world.
watch the new teasers >> Posted 07.21.12 by Chris -
What should have been a joyous day for so many comic book and movie fans who have been eagerly awaiting the release of the third and final chapter in acclaimed director Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy, has instead been a day filled with confusion, fear and mourning following the tragic shooting rampage at a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, CO. The suspected shooter, identified as 24-year-old James Holmes, is now in police custody, but the senseless attack on movie revelers has left 12 people dead and nearly 60 injured.
Warner Bros. cancelled today's Paris premiere of the movie at a theater on the famed Champs-Elysees Avenue that would have included Nolan and stars like Christian Bale, Anne Hathaway, Morgan Freeman and Sir Michael Caine, but will not pull the movie from theaters in America. Warner Bros. issued a statement earlier today expressing how "deeply saddened" everyone at the studio is, and now Nolan himself has also issued a statement expressing how "devastating" the "unbearably savage" attack is to him and the rest of the cast and crew.
read Nolan's statement >> Posted 07.20.12 by BrentJS -
As director Christopher Nolan has had to say time and time again, the upcoming The Dark Knight Rises will be his final entry in the franchise, but as Nolan is also producing the upcoming Man of Steel, there may be some that believe Nolan might return for Warner Bros.' in-the-works adaptation of Justice League. However, when Nolan was asked if he had any plans for the superhero team-up movie by the Associated Press, the answer was (again) no.
morr about The Justice League project >> Posted 07.09.12 by Ryan