He's In!!!!!!! Plus a Whole Bunch of News

It's a lock! Joseph Gordon Levitt will be in the new Chris Nolan Batman film, The Dark Knight Rises. I am truly stoked, because no one will know what role he will play!! Nolan plans to keep this under wrap as long as possible, which will work for us, because as I'm sometimes willing to admit, surprises are good!

NO!!!! Darren Aronofsky, whose twisted and sick-awesome mind brought us the Academy lauded Black Swan, has pulled out of the film, The Wolverine due to scheduling conflicts. That makes me SO SAD!!!! Whomever they pick now to replace him will only be second best.

Meh....they're doing a sequel to Bad Santa, which really doesn't excite me because I always though Billy Bob Thornton was a little weird. The only film I do like him in is one of my favorite films, Love Actually, where he plays the President of the United States, and of course his character's a jerk. Befitting. He actually gets a verbal bum-kicking from one of the heroes of the film, Hugh Grant, in his successful attempt to regain the hearts of women all over the world with this film...as he did mine. But Thornton's stint as Angelina's husband didn't really help his cause on the weirdness chart.....it actually went through the roof, to be honest. But nothing comes as close to him penning a song for her that goes, "Oh Angelina, what's come between us?" It was this song.




You know, to be honest, I'm not that really excited for Thor. Sure, it's going to be a great summer blockbuster, but I'm really going to go see it for Natalie Portman. And Sir Anthony Hopkins. But that's really it. I'm not even that interested in seeing Chris Hemsworth.....I think something may be wrong with me.

If you're not a man excited for this movie just by seeing this movie poster, I think something may be psychologically wrong with you.

So previously I had stated that Diane Lane will be playing Henry Cavill's mother Martha Kent in the upcoming Zack Snyder-directed Superman. Well, I bring you Jonathan Kent, ladies and gentlemen: Kevin Costner. Me like.

So Matthew Fox is going to be in a film. WHO CARES WHICH ONE???????? DR. JACK SHEPARD IS BACK, LADIES!!!!!!! But seriously. He's going to be assassin Alex Cross in a film based on the James Patterson books. Again, WHO CARES WHICH ONE????? I WILL STAND IN LINE TO SEE DR. SHEPARD!!!!

Liam Neeson is just awesome. Taken's getting a sequel!!! Filming's probably going to begin later this year or very early next year. I wonder who's going to be taken next, since his daughter Maggie Grace can't be stupid enough to fall for the same line twice. But hey, I never really put anything past Maggie Grace. There's just something about her I really REALLY don't like. Maybe it's because she sold out Boone. Who knows.

American Pie's main cast are a lock for a reunion, aptly entitled American Reunion. How much more can they beat a dead horse with this stick??????

And last but not least (well, it's last for this post anyway) my sources tell me that they're rebooting Daredevil. Which is exciting for me because I love Ben Affleck. What gets my undies in a knot is that they're thinking of not even bringing him back. Can I just say that the person making that decision is directing one of the Twilight Saga films? David Slade, as soon as you took the position of directing one of the films, 30 Days of Night just went down a few numbers on the awesomeness chart. I mean, come on! You brought us the mind-messing thriller Hard Candy!!!!!!! Give us a break and do good with this film! Offer Affleck the role. If he says no, then by all means, do what you want with it!!

And that's that, folks!

Happy Birthday, Honey Rider!

I'd just like to make an honorable mention to Ms. Ursula Andress whose birthday is today. She gave us that iconic rise from the water wearing a white bikini in Dr. No, as Honey Ryder, in Sir Sean Connery's first Bond film. This one scene became so iconic, it was copied 40 years later by Jinx Johnson in Die Another Day, played by Halle Berry. You tell me which one was better.

I Have Not Laughed So Hard at a Movie Trailer in a Long Time!

Although, it could be that the creators of this trailer only picked the best scenes from the movie to create the trailer and the rest of the movie sucks. It has happened. I choose to be optimistic, however.

FIRST LOOK AT HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS PART 2!!!

THE BEGINNING OF THE END!!!

Ewan McGregor, Where Have You Been??

No, I'm not saying that he's stopped making movies. He's been making them. But since The Man Who Stare at Goats where he was Bob Wilton and the Narrator, he's been kind of eh, lately. I mean, I know he was in I Love You, Philip Morris with Jim Carrey, and it was an interesting movie. And he was in Nanny McPhee Returns--my point is, these movies haven't been really substantial to an actor of his high caliber. Until now.

Beginners unites McGregor, Christopher Plummer (Who will ALWAYS be Cpt. Von Trapp to me), Goran Visnjic of ER fame, and Mélanie Laurent of the AWESOMEST Inglorious Basterds. I have to say. It promises, and it promises well.




Perfect Sense brings together the two Ewan's. Ewen Bremner and McGregor first partnered in the film Trainspotting, which was highly successful for McGregor, putting him in the light of Hollywood. It also introduced us to a Scottish fanbase which includes director Danny Boyle, Kelly McDonald, Kevin McKidd, Peter Mullen, and though he's British, Johnny Lee Miller. Now, Perfect Sense has Eva Green, a scientist, and McGregor as a chef. In this ficticious world, an epidemic starts affecting the people's sensory perceptions. And again, it promises.

So Long, Alfred.....

Actor Michael Gough has passed today. Born in Kuala Lumpur, the Brit thespian appeared in Hollywood films such as The Boys From Brazil, Out of Africa, The Fourth Protocol, The Serpent and the Rainbow, and The Age of Innocence. His most noted character is of Alfred Pennyworth, the loyal manservant/valet/butler of Mr. Bruce Wayne in Tim Burton's Batman films, as well as the two movies that followed. His final big-screen role came in 1999's Sleepy Hollow, which reunited him with Burton, but he also lent his voice to 2005's Corpse Bride, which the filmmaker produced, as well as the voice of the Dodo bird in Burton's Alice in Wonderland.

Successful Remakes

Let's face it. Disappointment is in our faces when we leave the theater after watching a remake of our favorite classic film. The fact that they have ruined it forever by making a sub-par remake just makes it hard to swallow the original anymore. It's shameful to take a classic film--a film that didn't need to be remade and remake it and ruin it for everyone who enjoyed it.

However, there are the exceptions. The films that, when remade, happens to be better than the original. Those occurrences are VERY rare indeed, but they do happen once in a blue moon. I've comprised a list of those blue moon films.

1. The Departed. (2006) Let's face it. There really isn't that much originality in Hollywood anymore. So when Martin Scorcese decided to make this film, I'm guessing he just looked to the Chinese hit, Internal Affairs. Granted, The Departed did win Scorcese an Oscar for best director and best film, as well as Mark Wahlberg's first Oscar nod. Leo and Matt didn't do so bad themselves, as also this is actually the second pairing for Wahlberg and DiCaprio--Basketball Diaries, anyone? Matt, coming from the success of Jason Bourne and Linus Caldwell, goes on to earn his Actor Oscar nod (his first Oscar was for screenwriting Good Will Hunting) in the inspirational Invictus with Morgan Freeman, who costarred with Jack Nicholson in The Bucket List. I much rather have Nicholson starring in movies like The Departed than The Bucket List. He doesn't do sweet very well, but he does thrive in action thrillers.

2. The Fly. (1986) Sci-Fi thriller remade from the 1958 classic directed by Kurt Neumann. But director David Cronenberg had something else in mind for Jeff Goldblum when he directed this version, and to date, happens to be one of the best makeup designs and prosthesis in its time. To be honest, in 2011, too. It did win Oscar for best makeup. With movies like this, if the makeup isn't top notch, then the movie in itself will suck.

3. Heat (1995) In The Godfather series, they worked together, but in different settings of the film, so you never saw them on screen at the same time. This director, Michael Mann, thought, "Hey. Two incredible screen legends. What would it be like to have them working together?". And bam. Heat was created and it just is a piece of art. Re-created from the TV show, LA Takedown, this film focuses on a cop, Al Pacino, and a thief, Robert DeNiro. Brief mention--recent Oscar winner Natalie Portman is in this film.

4. The Magnificent Seven (1960) Akiro Kurosawa's The Seven Samurai is legend. Kurosawa's legend. This whole genre created by Kurosawa's freaking legend. Now the remake in and of itself is legend. Yul Brynner is just brilliant, Steve McQueen is awesome and Eli Wallach is just fist-pumping good. My God, CHARLES BRONSON. The sheer magnitude of this movie's just electrifying.

5. Ocean's Eleven (2001) Clooney. Pitt. Damon. Roberts. Garcia. Really? I mean, do I need to say more? It's like, Sinatra. Martin. Davis, Jr. Lawford. That's it. There's nothing more I need to say about this movie.

6. The Manchurian Candidate (2004) How machiavellic is Meryl Streep?!?! I LOVE her. She's hateful in this movie, and she doesn't really do hateful movies because we all want to love her. But I just want to beat the crap out of her character for brainwashing!!!! But it's Meryl Streep so of course we love to hate her!!! Plus, not to mention the original role of Eleanor Shaw played by Meryl was Angela Lansbury, but her character's name was Mrs. Iselin. Can you believe it? Brilliant.

7. The Thomas Crown Affair (1999) Now this is a controversial one--this really kind of has you asking, which version really is better? Because if you've seen one, you're not going to like the other, but they're equally as good. That's how confusing it gets. Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen will always be the it couple for me. Dunaway looked exquisite in every single one of her outfits, and McQueen is just silky smooth. But I watched the remake, and it's a really big toss-up. Renee Russo's fiery temper matched her luscious red hair, and this is Pierce Brosnan here. There's no describing the level of smooth this man can bring. So that's why it's up in the air with this one.

8. Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) Ok. The Invasion was a weak remake of the remake. We all can agree to that. But seriously, this movie still gives me the willies just remembering it. I mean, I watched the first version because it's iconic, but the second one just creeped the heck out of me. I mean, the credits have no music, no score. It's just silence, and that is just scary creepy. I mean, Leonard Nemoy is the spokesperson for the alien invaders. That's just brilliant to do that. Special effects in this version completely rocked, and so did Donald Sutherland rocking out a curly haired 'fro.

9. Casino Royale (2006) I respect all the original films, except this one. I hated this original film, playing light on Sir Ian Fleming's creation of 007. I couldn't possibly believe what I was watching. And then, just then, Martin Campbell rescued this film and introduced to us an incredibly sexy blonde James Bond in Mr. Daniel Craig. His voice is dark velvet, his body is rock hard, and his drinks are always shaken, not stirred. He's a lady's man, a man's man, a man about town, and he just rescued this movie from the abyss of movie-dom and gifted us with the joy of Bond again after the way the studio fired poor Pierce Brosnan. Rawr, Mr. Craig. Rawr....



10. Scarface (1983). Brian DePalma, the FREAKY GENIUS that he is, graced us with this gem of a movie, this icon of an actor in Pacino, and this brilliant writer in Oliver Stone. We can NEVER have a combination of this trio of incandescent masterminds ever again. It's too much for the human brain to even comprehend the astounding idea of creating an Al Capone gangster movie into modern day Cuban gangster. There are no words for me to describe the role this movie plays in modern society. It's brilliant. There's really no way around it. No words to pretty it up. Brilliant pretty much sums it all.