“Tales From Earthsea,” the first film directed by Hayao Miyazaki’s son, may not get U.S. distribution until 2009. The reason for this is that animated film is based off the Earthsea novels and Sci-Fi channel owns the rights to those books in the U.S. There’s more here.
I’m watching “Click,” Adam Sandler’s movie that just came out on DVD. It’s not a “bad” movie per say but I’m having a major problem with the plot. You see his whole character arch is about him not having enough time for his family and always putting work first.
The trailer for “300” has been posted here. The movie is based on Frank Miller’s graphic novel and tells the story of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae, where King Leonidas and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army.
The “Ghost Rider” trailer has been posted online here. I know nothing about Ghost Rider so I can’t give a frame-by-frame break down in an attempt to guess the plot, but I can say that this is a movie I don’t mind waiting for DVD to see.
One quick post as I run out the door...
Variety announces that Hayao Miyazaki has begun working on a new film. The animated feature from Studio Ghibli will be released in 2008. No details about the film, including title, have been anounced.
Miyazaki is known for movies such as "Howl's Moving Castle" "Spirited Away" "Princess Mononoke" "Castle in the Sky" "and other classic animated films. He's also holds the record for highest box office gross in Japan. Last summer's "Howl's" only did $170 million, but in 2001 "Spirited Away" raked up $258 million.
I got “X-men 3: The Last Stand” from Blockbuster so I could check out the three Alternate Endings. I was so disappointed in the decisions they made in the film that I was hoping a major alternate ending would make me feel better.
Sarah and I saw “The Last Kiss” last night. We were really excited because the two of us LOVED “Garden State” and “Scrubs.” The movie was ok, but doesn’t hold up to either of the above titles. I think part of the problem is that Sarah and I misunderstood what it was going to be about.
We thought the story was a love triangle between he incredibly hot Rachel Bilson, Zach Braff and Real World’s Jacinda. …It was, but the supporting cast had huge rolls to the point that the movie was more of an assemble piece than anything else. So we just weren’t expecting the love triangle storyline to be so small compared to the storylines of the rest of the actors.
When I asked Sarah what she thought of the movie she said, “It was ok. It’s one of those movies that you enjoy
the drama while your watching it but afterwards it doesn’t really linger or stick with you.”
The thing Sarah disliked the most was Rachel Bilson’s character. Of course I was so distracted by her hotness I sort of didn’t really pay attention to the character at all. Though it did seem to be TOO much like Summer from “The O.C.”
What really saves the film is the quirky humorous moments that are spread throughout it and… god I can’t believe I’m going to say this… Jacinda’s acting ability. I was honestly surprised to see that the girl can act. I had no idea. I was just like “yeah she’s done a few movies but she’s really just a Real-World-er.” Boy was I wrong. She’s does a killer job in “The Last Kiss.”
Apple is expected to announce today the opening of the iTunes Movie Store. I first mentioned this here, so its not too much of a surprise.
The surprise is that Apple thinks they can make a bundle of money by charging $14.99 for each movie downloaded to an Ipod. It’s one thing to watch a short TV show that you paid $2 for on a small screen, but the mass community does not want to watch a full feature on something so small. Look at the horrible sales of the PSP movies.
Supposedly, Disney and Lionsgate Films are the first two companies that signed a movie deal with Apple and others are going to be announced at a press conference today at 10 a.m. PT.
Rumors are also swirling that Steve Jobs will display a new wide-screen video Ipod, but even with it, people aren’t going to want to pay $14.99 for a movie they can’t also watch on their TVs.
That’s all crap. The motivation was that they wanted to link the comics to the movie. The change of costume isn’t story driven.
Look at the other announcement that came yesterday involving Spider-Man: “Spider-Man Family” which will feature a 22 page main story set somewhere in Spider-Man’s past with a short back up story.
In an interview with Newsarma, the writer, Sean McKeever says that upcoming story lines involve the black suit, sandman, and venom. Since I’m a fan of McKeever’s and a regular at his site I asked if the higher-ups told him to incorporate those story points or if they were solely his idea. He said they he was given him.
It’s not that I don’t understand why Marvel is trying to link up the comics with the new movie. It makes sense to draw in new readers. But Alonso & Joe Q. should just be honest about it instead of trying to play it off as “Ohhhh nooooo we wanted to do this all along. It’s just dumb luck that it works out this way."
MGM greenlit “The Hobbit” for a full feature, according to Variety. The trade magazine is saying that the movie will be budgeted at $150 to $200 and will possibly be broken into two parts. The studio also wants Peter.“He did say that he woke up this morning to see that MGM says he's making THE HOBBIT with them, which was strange. He said that as unbelievable as it may be, he's never once talked to any studio, be it New Line or MGM, about doing THE HOBBIT. So, as of today Jackson has not talked to anybody about doing the movie, but he did say he'd like to do it, even though his schedule gets more crowded every passing week. So, if MGM wants to do this thing it might be a good idea to see if Jackson is up for it, no?"
Well the official “Spider-Man 3” blog says that’s not the reason:
"As you may know, a story surfaced on Monday saying that there was an audience test screening of “Spider-Man 3.” There have been a lot of questions circulating due to this piece and I just wanted to take a moment and clarify that there has not been a test screening of this picture. The article that IMDB.com referenced from an Irish Times story was simply not true. We wrapped less than two months ago and we have eight months of work ahead of us. We still have a long way to go and a lot of VFX shots to complete before this movie is fit to screen for anybody."
The internet is buzzing. The photo above is supposedly what Megatron will look like in next summer’s “Transformers” movie. It looks like some insect bug thing. It’s hideous. It looks nothing like the “real” Megatron, which you can see below.
Kevin Smith said in an interview with “Moviehole” in Australia that he would like his next project to be a horror movie.
(Phoenix) - A prank at an Arizona theater was anything but a laughing matter. Someone released two poisonous snakes in a theater that was showing the new movie, "Snakes on a Plane."
Authorities said pranksters released the young venomous rattlesnakes in a dark theater at the AMC Desert Ridge near Tatum and Loop 101 in Phoenix.
Snake wrangler Tom Whiting was called to one theater twice in one day to collect the diamondback rattlesnakes. He says all a moviegoer would have to do is startle a snake in the dark and it will attack.
"It was in the theater, and that to me that's very scary," says Whiting. "I'd hate to be in a movie about snakes and have a rattlesnake bite me."
No one was bit during the incident.
This thing is under someone's chair and they go to sit and they just push your foot in the air and startle it -- obviously all they got to do is startle this thing," Phoenix Herpetological Society spokesman Daniel Marchand said. "It's dark. They can't see you, you know that well. If it's scared, boom it strikes."
The snakes were released into the desert.
Sarah was VERY appreciative for me fixing her computer (see previous post). As a result she made me dinner and took me out to a movie! For dinner we had steamed cabbage, roasted red peppers stuffed with black and mahogany rice, and this really good tofu-loaf(meatless meatloaf). We then went to go see “Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby.” 
I am a dork, but we all know that. I’ve spent my morning sending phone calls from Samuel L. Jackson to people. I’m serious. As promotion for “Snakes on a Plane” you can go to their website, fill out some info and then a pre-recorded phone call will be made to whomever you want from Jackson.
The first one I sent was to Samantha. It was cool because Jackson says her name and I made it so that the message applies to her. He told her she needs to stop sucking up to her boss at her new job, stop going out drinking, and go see his new movie.
Hahahaha isn’t that great?
There will be a live webcast today at 2 p.m. and the full roster of robots for next summer’s “Transfomers” will be revealed. The webcast will be held with film writers Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci who will also participate in an online chat. The address for the webcast will be announced at www.transformersmovie.com after 1p.m. today.
The movie is being directed, god help us, by Michael Bay, and cast members include Shia LaBeouf (“Holes”) highlights the cast that includes Josh Duhamel (TV’s “Las Vegas”), Jon Voight (“Glory Road”), Megan Fox (TV’s “Hope and Faith”), Bernie Mac (“Ocean’s Thirteen”) and Tyrese Gibson (“Annapolis”). Steven Spielberg will executive produce the Transformers’ first appearance on the big screen since 1986.
UPDATED @ 3:53 p.m. I watched the webcast and joined in on the chat. Here is a list of the Transformers that will be in the movie:
| Autobots | Decepticons | |
A child star isn’t truly a child star until they have a run in with the law. It seems Haley Joel Osment has finally become a true child star now that he is facing up to six months in jail on charges of driving drunk and possessing marijuana. Osment was in a car crash on July 20th and broke his rib. A blood alcohol test revealed his levels were .16 which is twice the legal limit. Oh yeah... he's only 18.
I wonder if Dakota Fanning will be the next true child star. Anyway, here’s the full story from the AP wire:
To try and capitalize on the terroist plot that was foiled yesterday, 20th Century Fox has announced the sequal to Samuel Jackson's "Snakes on a Plane," which will be titled "Liquids on a Plane." Filming starts this fall with a release for next summer. ...(Yes, its a bad joke. I saw posted on E! Online... Or at least I hope it's a joke).
I'm unhooking my computer and finishing up packing. So the blog will be quiet till Sunday or Monday. Man I'm so excited to be living in D.C.
Universal and 20th Century Fox have recruited a first-time feature director to oversee the sure-to-be-expensive big screen version of "Halo."
The studios have selected 26-year-old advertising and f/x savant Neill Blomkamp to direct "Halo," setting off a frenzy of online activity as fans of the bestselling Microsoft videogame rushed to sites like Google Video and YouTube.com to track down Blomkamp's collected works.
I’ll be honest. I’ve never heard of the guy. I’m also surprised that the movie studios would back such an unknown with such an expensive and fanboy project.
After doing a little research I figured out that I am familiar with a commercial that Blomkamp filmed. Does anyone remember the semi-recent commercial of a car driving on a frozen lake and it transforms into a giant robot? It was a Citroen ad and he directed it.
I guess this is promising in the sense that he is familiar with using fancy-looking special affects. But that doesn’t mean he can handle developing Master Chief’s character as a bad ass or handling the dramatic aspects of the movie.
A good sign is that Alex Garland, writer and director of “28 days later,” wrote the screenplay that Blomkamp will be filming. Though a part of me wonders why the studios didn’t have Garland direct. At least he has more credibility.
Principal photography for “Halo” will happen sometime next year with a release date of Summer 2008.
I’m normally open minded with movies. Even when I watch a really bad I can normally learn something from it for find some sort of entertainment from it. BUT MY GOD “Larry The Cable Guy: Heath Inspector” is one of the worse movies I have ever seen in my life. And I don’t mean it’s such a bad movie that it actually becomes funny because of how bad it is. I simply mean it is BAD. I wanted to gouge my eyes out. It’s horrible. Stay away from it at all cost.
So I finished watching “Ultimate Avengers 2” and it was 100 times better than the first one. But what I really enjoyed were the “spoofs” on the DVD special features. Basically they took clips from the first two movies and added in new dialogue spoken by the actors.
I just got "Ultimate Avengers 2" from Netflix. I popped it into my computer to watch and a Marvel-Personality-test popped onto the screen. I took it and it told me I'm some guy called Starfox. The only Starfox I know about is the one from Nintendo games. So I'm not sure who this dude is.
Marvel released a second quarter report yesterday. I keep seeing all these post and articles about revenue and percentages and boring junk. I finally decided to look at the report myself and I found buried in it are upcoming movies and shows!
Sarah and I get to rent “V is for Vendetta” for free! We stopped by blockbuster last night and were looking for something else entirely. We passed an empty rack and Sarah pointed to a sign. It said “if this movie is not in stock we will give you a free coupon.” Since Sarah is Sarah and never passes up anything for free she made sure we got a coupon. 
Variety just has all the news lately. They just reported that Universal Pictures has greenlit "Hellboy 2." Revolution Studios produced the first "Hellboy" but went out of buisness and "Hellboy 2" has been without a home, ever since. It wasn't Hellboy's fault. The movie cost $66 million and grossed $100. It also ranked in a lot on DVD sales.
The main cast is already signed for the second so expect to see everyone back. Guillermo del Toro wrote the script and is going ot direct. Filming will start next april with a release date of Summer 2008. This time around, the movie will focus more on fantasy-style magic and myth as opposed to hell and demons.
I really don't do Hollywood gossip unless it is spoiler related so I've stayed away from the whole drunk-Mel-Gibson calling a cop a, "fucking jew"-thing. UNTIL NOW!
Rob Schneider took out a full page in Variety saying, "I, Rob Schneider, a 1/2 Jew, pledge from this day forward to never work with Mel Gibson, actor-director-producer and anti-Semite. Even if Mr. Gibson offered me the lead role in Passion of the Christ 2, I, like Bernie Brillstein, would have to say 'NO!'."
The ad was in letter form and signed by Schneider. The joke behind the letter is that there was no chance Schneider was ever going to work with Mel Gibson... EVER. And he knew that. He was just trying to be funny, and he was.
Too bad his movies still suck.
It was announced that next summer we will see the release of “Die Hard 4” which is going to be called “Live Free or Die Hard.” Now I’ll be honest. I’m not a huge Bruce Willis fan, but the male in me is kinda excited to see John McClane back in action.
What I think is a bad marketing move is that 20th Centruy Fox gave it a release date of June 29, 2007. Yep. That’s the same day “Transformers” come out. So I think it’s save to assume McClane is going to get his ass handed to him by Optimus Prime and Megatron.
It is official: Heath Ledger has in fact been signed on to play the Joker in the next Batman movie. Rumors have been circulating for weeks that this was the case. Personally, I feel he can pull it of. Over the past few years Ledger has proven his acting abilities. I also trust Christopher Nolan. I mean this is the guy who did "Memento." If he says Ledger is right for the part then I believe him.
Official Press Release
BURBANK, CA, 31 July 2006 - As a follow up to last year's blockbuster Batman Begins, Christopher Nolan is set to direct Warner Bros. Pictures' The Dark Knight, written by Jonathan Nolan, based on a story by Christopher Nolan and David Goyer. The film will be produced by Emma Thomas, Charles Roven and Christopher Nolan. Additionally, Christian Bale will resume his role as Bruce Wayne and Academy Award nominee Heath Ledger has been cast as The Joker. The announcements were made today by Jeff Robinov, President of Production, Warner Bros. Pictures.
A real “Aquaman” movie? It was reported in Variety that “Entourage” may have inspired Hollywood to make an actual “Aquaman” movie. On the show, Vincent’ Chase recently stared in the movie which fictionally broke records that “Pirates of the Caribbean 2” did in real life. In the past Aquaman (the character) has always been seen as a joke in Hollywood but buzz around “Entourage” has made it a hot property.
Even odder is the force behind a real “Aquaman” movie is Ari Emmanuel, which the character Ari Gold (played by Jermey Piven) is bassed on. According to Variety, “The talent agent at the center of the informal Aquaman talks is the real life Ari Gold which could very well result in a real Aquaman movie.”
I got asked the other day how I’m able to watch so much television and so many movies. There is one main way I’m able to do it. I fast forward a whole lot!
With TV shows I fast-forward through commercials and that alone turns an hour program into only 44 minutes. Then I fast-forward through action scenes or slow montages where they just play music in the background. So normally an hour show takes me 30 to 40 minutes to watch at most.
Movies are different. My lap top lets me control how fast I’m fast-forwarding when I watch a DVD. So I can watch it two times as fast, 16 times, or even 32 times the regular speed.
The odd thing is that when I watch it at “2x” it still places sounds so I can hear them. They are just realllllllyyyyyy fast. For some reason I have no problem understanding people talk when they talk twice as fast.
So lately what I’ve been doing is watching “Deadwood,” which I’m getting from Netflix, and watching the whole thing at “2x” speed. This means I’m finishing a whole show or whole movie in half the time.
So THAT’S how I can watch so many movies and so many TV shows!