Get Smart Trailer, Batman: Gotham Knight, Terminator Release Date, New Photos

Images and Release Date for Batman: Gotham Knight


We have good news for the legions of worldwide Batman fans; 2008 might very well go down as the best ever year of Batman on film. The latest Bat goodness to spring from the Warner Home Video cave are three new images and a release date (finally) for Batman: Gotham Knight, which will undoubtedly kick-start the hype machine into high gear for Christopher Nolan's upcoming live-actioner The Dark Knight.

thedeadbolt.com

Brand New Get Smart Trailer. Must Watch

A brand new trailer for Get Smart has finally debuted. I talked extensively about how awesome this was in my WonderCon coverage, and now it's finally here!

firstshowing.net

Terminator 4 Gets Release Date

So much for Judgment Day. The Terminator has been assigned a new target: May 22, 2009.

That's the date Warner Bros. has scheduled to unspool its heavily anticipated Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins, per the trades.

eonline.com

New Photos: X-Men Origins: Wolverine and The Incredible Hulk



The new issue of Empire Magazine (the one with Robert Downey Jr. on the cover) offers some interesting new photos from Universal’s The Incredible Hulk sequel/reboot, and 20th Century Fox’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine. The first from The Incredible Hulk shows Edward Norton as Bruce Banner, oabout to hulk out. The second photo gives us a first look at William Hurt as General Ross. Both photos from Wolverine, as expected. feature Hugh Jackman as Wolverine.

slashfilm.com

New Starship Troopers Movie Trailer, Doomsday images, Digital Indiana Jones

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder Movie Trailer

When I think of Starship Troopers, I think of Casper Van Dien. When I think of Starship Troopers 2, the only thing that comes to mind is silence, confusion and bewilderment. That’s probably because no one was really aware of the existence of a Starship Troopers 2 (which was actually directed by visual effects wizard Phil Tippett and went straight-to-DVD) until the recent announcement that there would be a third film, titled Starship Troopers: Marauder. But unlike the second film, which starred Billy Brown (whose most prolific role at that point was as the voice of Rhino in The Wild Thornberrys Movie), Marauder will bring back Johnny Rico, otherwise known as Casper Van-fuckin’ Dien. http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/

Doomsday images are like a virus in the internet

Now that the 2008 movie slate is in full swing, Universal Pictures has released a series of new images for the upcoming Neil Marshall helmed DOOMSDAY, which hits theatres on March 14. Although a number of images have already hit the internet, the latest round of stills give us hope that the film will be a cooler than average estrogen fuelled urban actionfest within a world threatened by the deadly Reaper virus. Although we highly doubt the tone of the film will be as serious in nature as Children of Men, the burned out and flaming transport vehicle reminds of the rampant chaos within last year's critical Clive Owen hit. http://www.thedeadbolt.com






Spielberg Decline Digital Indiana Jones

Have you seen a film projected digitally? Are you lucky enough to have a local theater specializing in this new projection format? Well, if you are and you happen to be anxiously awaiting the arrival of Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (and honestly, who isn’t?), you will not be able to see Indy’s latest adventure in said format as reported over at JoBlo. It’s OK to sob a little, I know how you feel. http://www.filmschoolrejects.com/

10 Facts you didnt know about Tom Cruise

1. At age 14, he enrolled in a seminary to become a priest. He dropped out after one year.
2. Is right handed when writing, but does most things left handed.
3. Cruise earned roughly $75 million for Mission: Impossible II (2000). He did this by turning down any upfront salary, for instead taking a back-end deal that landed him 30% of the film’s gross for both his producing and acting duties.
4. Suffers from dyslexia.
5. Will not allow his likeness to be used in video games or for action figures.
6. When attending a Franciscan seminary in Cincinatti, he aspired to become a priest.
7. Was introduced to Scientology by his ex-wife Mimi Rogers.
8. Is reportedly a huge fan of The Simpsons. However, he has twice turned down guest roles; once for the part of “Tom,” which was written specifically for him, in the episode “Brother From The Same Planet” (eventually voiced by regular Phil Hartman) and the other alongside his then-wife Nicole Kidman in the episode “When You Dish Upon A Star” (eventually voiced by then-couple Alec Baldwin and Kim Bassinger).
9. Is talked about in the song “Though the Wire” by Kanye West.
10. Is a vegetarian.

Terminator Returns In Theaters May 2009

Warner Bros. will open McG’s Christian Bale starrer “Terminator Salvation: The Future Begins” on May 22, 2009, the start of Memorial Day weekend.

That puts two tentpoles on the same date, even though the release calendar for summer 2009 is still relatively open.

Twentieth Century Fox had already staked out May 22 for the bow of the Ben Stiller sequel “Night at the Museum II: Escape From the Smithsonian.” The first film grossed $250.9 million domestically.

Warner will distribute the movie in North America through a deal with Halcyon Co., which owns all franchise rights to the “Terminator” series.

The last film in the franchise, “Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines,” bowed in 2003 and grossed $150.4 million domestically.

“T4″ begins lensing in New Mexico for two months on May 5. The state has become a favorite locale for producers because of its production tax incentives.

Although the storyline is being kept under tight wraps, the plot is part of a planned three-picture arc that begins after Skynet has destroyed much of humanity in a nuclear holocaust. A group of survivors led by John Connor (Christian Bale, pictured) struggles to stop the machines. Sam Worthington (”Avatar”) is in talks to star as well.

2008 Academy Awards Winners

Best Picture

No Country for Old Men
Atonement
Juno
Michael Clayton
There Will Be Blood

Best Director

Joel Coen and Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men
Julian Schnabel for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jason Reitman for Juno
Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton
Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood

Best Actor

Daniel Day-Lewis in There Will Be Blood
George Clooney in Michael Clayton
Johnny Depp in Sweeney Todd
Tommy Lee Jones in In the Valley of Elah
Viggo Mortensen in Eastern Promises

Best Supporting Actor

Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men
Casey Affleck in The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Hal Holbrook in Into the Wild
Philip Seymour Hoffman in Charlie Wilson’s War
Tom Wilkinson in Michael Clayton

Best Actress

Marion Cotillard in La Vie en Rose
Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Julie Christie in Away From Her
Laura Linney in The Savages
Ellen Page in Juno

Best Supporting Actress

Tilda Swinton in Michael Clayton
Cate Blanchett in I’m Not There
Ruby Dee in American Gangster
Saoirse Ronan in Atonement
Amy Ryan in Gone, Baby, Gone

Best Original Screenplay

Diablo Cody for Juno
Nancy Oliver for Lars and the Real Girl
Tony Gilroy for Michael Clayton
Jan Pinkava, Jim Capobianco, Brad Bird for Ratatouille
Tamara Jenkins for The Savages

Best Adapted Screenplay

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen for No Country for Old Men
Christopher Hampton for Atonement
Sarah Polley for Away From Her
Ronald Harwood for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Paul Thomas Anderson for There Will Be Blood

Best Animated Feature

Ratatouille
Persepolis
Surf’s Up


Best Documentary Feature

Taxi to the Dark Side
No End in Sight
Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience
Sicko
War/Dance

Best Art Direction

Dante Ferretii and Francesa Lo Schiavo for Sweeney Todd
Arthur Max (Art Direction); Beth A. Rubino (Set Decoration) for American Gangster
Sarah Greenwood (Art Direction); Katie Spencer (Set Decoration) for Atonement
Dennis Gassner (Art Direction); Anna Pinnock (Set Decoration) for The Golden Compass
Jack Fisk (Art Direction); Jim Erickson (Set Decoration) for There Will Be Blood

Best Cinematography

Robert Elswit for There Will Be Blood
Roger Deakins for The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford
Seamus McGarvey for Atonement
Roger Deakins for No Country for Old Men
Janusz Kaminski for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly

Best Costume Design

Alexandra Byrne for Elizabeth: The Golden Age
Albert Wolsky for Across The Universe
Jacqueline Durran for Atonement
Marit Allen for La Vie En Rose
Colleen Atwood for Sweeney Todd

Best Film Editing

Christopher Rouse for The Bourne Ultimatum
Juliette Welfling for The Diving Bell and the Butterfly
Jay Cassidy for Into the Wild
Roderick Jaynes for No Country for Old Men
Dylan Tichenor for There Will Be Blood

Best Foreign Language Film

The Counterfeiters
Beaufort
Katyn
Mongol
12

Best Makeup Oscar Nominees 2008

Didier Lavergne, Jan Archibald for La Vie en Rose
Rick Baker, Kazuhiro Tsuji for Norbit
Ve Neill and Martin Samuel Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End

Best Original Song

Once for “Falling Slowly” Music and Lyrics by Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova
Enchanted for “So Close” Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
Enchanted for “That’s How You Know” Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
Enchanted for “Happy Working Song” Music by Alan Menken; Lyric by Stephen Schwartz
August Rush for “Raise It Up” by Jamal Joseph, Charles Mack and Tevin Thomas

Best Original Score

Dario Marianelli for Atonement
Alberto Iglesias for The Kite Runner
James Newton Howard for Michael Clayton
Michael Giacchino for Ratatouille
Marco Beltrami for 3:10 To Yuma

Best Sound Mixing

Scott Millan, David Parker and Kirk Francis for The Bourne Ultimatum
Skip Lievsay, Craig Berkey, Greg Orloff and Peter Kurland for No Country for Old Men
Randy Thom, Michael Semanick and Doc Kane Ratatouille
Paul Massey, David Giammarco and Jim Stuebe for 3:10 To Yuma
Kevin O’Connell, Greg P. Russell and Peter J. Devlin for Transformers

Best Sound Editing

Karen Baker Landers, Per Hallberg for The Bourne Ultimatum
Skip Lievsay for No Country for Old Men
Randy Thom, Michael Silvers for Ratatouille
Matthew Wood for There Will Be Blood
Ethan Van der Ryn, Mike Hopkins for Transformers

Best Visual Effects

Michael Fink, Bill Westenhofer, Ben Morris and Trevor Wood for The Golden Compass
John Knoll, Hal Hickel, Charles Gibson and John Frazier for Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End
Scott Farrar, Scott Benza, Russell Earl and John Frazier for Transformers

2008 Honorary Academy Award

Robert F. Boyle (For career in Art Direction)

Best Animated Short Film

Peter & the Wolf
I Met the Walrus
Madame Tutli-Putli
Même les Pigeons vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go To Heaven)
My Love (Moya Lyubov)

Best Live Action Short

Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets)
At Night
Il Supplente (The Substitute)
Tanghi Argentini
The Tonto Woman

Best Documentary Short

Freeheld
La Corona (The Crown)
Salim Baba
Sari’s Mother

Good Quotes from Host host Jon Stewert:

“No Country For Old Men, Sweeney Todd, There Will Be Blood. All I can say is: thank God for teen pregnancy.”

“Even Norbit got a nomination, which is great. Too often, the Academy ignores movies that aren’t good.”

“Diablo Cody wrote Juno, such a great movie. Cody used to be an exotic dancer and now she’s an Oscar-nominated writer. I hope you’re enjoying the pay cut.”

“Film Editing, alright. Someone just took the lead in their office pool based on a guess!”

Trailer - Controversial Intelligent Design Movie, 'Expelled'

Even if you dismiss Intelligent Design as a slick new spin on science-free Creationism, there's no disputing the theory has become very popular over the past few years. As the debate between Evolution and ID heats up, there's a new movie, 'Expelled,' which explores why Intelligent Design isn't being taught side-by-side with Evolution.

read more | digg story

Who Will Direct New "Harry Potter"?

Is the “Harry Potter” film franchise done passing the wand? After the first two films, Chris Columbus stepped aside as Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Newell and then David Yates expanded the Potter-verse. But could it be that Yates, who shot “Order of the Phoenix” and is in the middle of “Half-Blood Prince,” will be the last one to leave his mark?

Children’s writer Lois Lowry thinks so, as she wrote on her blog Tuesday, telling her fans that Yates had pulled out of shooting an adaptation of her book “The Giver” so that he can do “Deathly Hallows” instead. “He has just decided he wants to do the final ‘Harry Potter’ first,” she wrote, “thereby postponing ‘The Giver’ for several years.”

Now, just last week, producer David Heyman told the Daily Telegraph that a few directors were still under consideration, and the studio hasn’t announced whether Yates or someone else will helm “Hallows” — as rumors circulate that everyone from Steven Spielberg to Guillermo del Toro is in the running. When asked by MTV News, a rep for Warner Bros. said that there’s “nothing official yet” but an announcement is expected “within the next week or two.”

Until then, we’re left to speculate — is Yates the last director to take on Voldemort? What could have “Hallows” looked like if someone else came aboard? Will having the same director for the last three book adapations provide continuity? And will “Hallows” actually be one or two films, as has also been rumored?

Producers Heyman and David Barron did little to dispell the possibility that “Hallows” would be split in two when talking to the Daily Telegraph. Their worry was that if they did, “people could possibly perceive it as being one last chance of cashing in,” Barron said. ” But the real positive, if we were to do that, would be that we wouldn’t have quite the battle we always have of ‘How do you compress all that book into just over hours of screen time?’ It would be brilliant not to have to cut anything. But at the same time, we have to think it through properly. We’d have to be very certain that there were two proper, stand-alone films that could be generated from the source material.”

Either way, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows” isn’t slated to start filming until February 2009. Until then, might we make a few suggestions as far as directors and casting are concerned?

Source

New Trailers: Redbelt, Love Songs, The Visitor

Redbelt.

Set in the west-side of Los Angeles fight world, a world inhabited by bouncers, cage-fighters, cops and special forces types, Redbelt, is the story of Mike Terry (Chiwetel Ejiofor), a Jiu-Jitsu teacher who has avoided the prize fighting circuit, choosing instead to pursue an honorable life by operating a self-defense studio with a samurai’s code.

Seems like we are dealing with a good odlschool action.
Trailer

Love Songs

In the hope of sparking their stalled relationship, Ismael (Louis Garrel of DANS PARIS, THE DREAMERS) and Julie (Ludivine Sagnier of SWIMMING POOL) enter a playful yet emotionally laced threesome with Alice (Clotilde Hesme of REGULAR LOVERS). When tragedy strikes, these young Parisians are forced to deal with the fragility of life and love.

Trailer

The Visitor

In a world of six billion people, it only takes one to change your life. In actor and filmmaker Tom McCarthy’s follow-up to his award winning directorial debut The Station Agent, Richard Jenkins (Six Feet Under) stars as Walter Vale, a disillusioned Connecticut economics professor whose life is transformed by a chance encounter in New York City. Through new found connections with virtual strangers, Walter is awakened to a new world and a new life.

Trailer

New Madonna's Movie Will Release Straight to the Internet

Madonna is to release her directorial debut Filth and Wisdom straight onto the Internet--because she doesn't want to rely on her pop superstardom to make her filmmaking career a success.

The "Material Girl" hitmaker believes her low-budget movie, about a Ukranian immigrant in London, will be a bigger hit as an Internet download, and has already started negotiations with iTunes service providers to bring her plans to fruition.

She says, "I'm a beginner so I think I should start off in an understated way. Just because I'm established in one field doesn't mean that's how I should approach anything else I do.

"I've been speaking to iTunes about releasing it through them. I want the most amount of people to see the film as possible. I don't do anything conventionally."

The news comes just days after Filth and Wisdom premiered at the Berlin Film Festival last Wednesday to mixed reviews.

hollywood.com

Hottest Movie Stories From Digg

Is Will Ferrell Bringing Ron Burgundy Back?

"Will Ferrell mentioned the fact that he had been performing skits as Ron Burgundy during his Funny or Die Comedy Tour. He went on to explain that bringing the character back for these limited engagements has got him thinking of ways to possibly bring him back to the big screen, as in, we are talking Anchorman sequel here."

read more | digg story

Depp, Law and Farrell to take over Heath Ledgers latest role

It has been confirmed that Johnny Depp, Jude Law and Colin Farell will fill in for Heath Ledger in his final role in the unfinished fantasy flick, The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus

read more | digg story

The Best Films That Never Won a Best Picture Oscar

Sure, there have been many great Best Picture winners. But what about all the great losers in Oscar history?

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Nim's Island Trailer with Jodie Foster and Gerard Butler

Personally, I think raising a daughter on a deserted island probably doesn't prepare her for the 21st century. However, in 'Nim's Island,' little Abigail Breslin has a computer. So she should at least have some MySpace friends. This one has kind of a cheesy concept and Jodie Foster playing comedy, which is great because she's such a ball of fun...

read more | digg story

15 Reasons FOR remaking A Nightmare On Elm Street

With all the negativity towards remaking classic films, here are some good reasons why we should actually look forward to the remake of Freddy Krueger's story.

read more | digg story

Ryan Reynolds to Play Deadpool in Wolverine

Oh God, what would women do with themselves if Hugh Jackman and Ryan Reynolds got into a posedown at the end of 'X-Men Origins: Wolverine'? Word is the 'Definitely, Maybe' star will throw on the spandex in next year's Marvel comic book franchise spinoff.

read more | digg story

The Return of the Cliffhanger, Smurf’s Movie, Iranian Jesus, Indiana Jones 4

Stallone to Pull Yet Another Old Character Out of Mothballs?



Having cashed in on long-in-the-tooth 'Rocky' and 'Rambo' sequels, Sylvester Stallone is being pushed to bring back that guy he played in 'Cliffhanger' for a new movie called 'The Dam.' It's probably because people really fell in love with that Gabe Walker character all those years ago. Either that, or movie studios are simply too lazy.

Cinematical, evidently trolling for odd stories this weekend, hit on a tiny post on the public relations website, PR Inside.

"The action man is planning to revisit rock climber Gabe Walker from 1993 film Cliffhanger, according to reports. Sony studio executives are in negotiations with Stallone to revive the character for The Dam."

read more | digg story

First Look: The Smurf’s Movie

With Hollywood running short on ideas, Paramount greenlit a computer animated movie based on the classic trippy 80’s cartoon series The Smurfs (Truth is that the Smurfs are actually 50 years old, having first appeared in comic strips).

read more | digg story

ABC News: Story of Jesus Through Iranian Eyes



"The Messiah," which some consider as Iran's answer to Mel Gibson's "Passion of the Christ," won an award at Rome's Religion Today Film Festival, for generating interfaith dialogue. The movie will be adapted into a television series, shown on Iranian TV later this year.

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Best Of - Indiana Jones 4 - In Depth Look Back at the Series

Classic article by Mystery Man on Film in which he regurgitates all the ridiculous Indy 4 rumors chronicled over the years. "I had wanted to start a filthy, dirty rumor to call my own and had mentioned in some of my earlier Indy articles that the Ark was going to return. As the rumors trickled out about Crystal Skulls, I couldn't think of a way...

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Cloverfield Toy, Star Wars Trailer, Oscar Snubs, MPA sues China, Funny Crime Movie to Download

Cloverfield Monster Toy Revealed

The Cloverfield monster is available exclusively through HasbroToyShop.com for $99.99 Reserve your Cloverfield monster today to have the opportunity to receive it when it ships later this year. Limited quantities are available. Includes 3 “AAA” Batteries


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New Trailer for Star Wars: The Clone Wars Emerges

Oh, that tricky George Lucas. He's got the animated 'Clone Wars' series coming to two cable networks this fall and to help push that series - and let's face it, bring home a little more coin - Lucas is combining some of those episodes into a feature length film that will hit theaters in August.

Trailer is here | digg story

The 10 Biggest Oscar Snubs of 2007

It happens every year. Although most Oscar nominees are deserving of their nods, a lot of great films, actors, and directors fall by the wayside. Here's a look at the ten biggest Oscar snubs of the past year in film across several different categories.

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MPA sues Google-backed Chinese firm for online movie piracy

The Motion Picture Association is taking the Google-backed Xunlei Networking Technology Co. to court in China for the promotion of film piracy. The MPA has also seized 676,000 pirated discs in the last three months.

read more | digg story

Top 30 Funny Crime Movies for Download

Top 30 Funny Crime legally downloadable movies sorted by IMDB score,

read more | digg story

Hottest Digg Movie News

First Look: X-Men Origins: Wolverine Looks Bad Ass

First things first, we all know what Hugh Jackman looks like as Wolverine - we've seen him in three X-Men movies - so this isn't about a first look at Wolverine, but rather a first look at the new movie, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, and some interesting quotes from USA Today.



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Top 15 Films To Look Out For: Pre-Summer 2008 Hype List

The reason why there's some popcorn above is because this list features 15 movies that could be considered popcorn flicks. Or at the very least, you could enjoy with a big bucket of popcorn at your local movie theater while you wait for May to arrive.

read more | digg story

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull trailer

Trailer. It is shitty but better than nothing

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Rumor: Al Pacino as head villain in next James Bond film?



You read that right. Apparently there is a new rumor that was floated to the guys over at AICN that Al Scent of a Woman Pacino would play the head honcho of the new, evil terrorist organization in the upcoming Bond film Quantum of Solace.

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Blockbusters vs. Mockbusters.

Take a look at some of The Asylum’s notable mockbusters below — nestled beside the blockbuster they’re attempting to piggyback off of. And if you think you’ve got what it takes to write one of these suckers, rumor has it they take unsolicited material.

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Best Fridge So Far

Star Wars Rejected Promotional Crap
These amazing examples of human genius go from a mini-fridge with a door made from Han Solo frozen in carbonite to a Death Star BBQ, actual Leia's hair headphones and even an AT-AT chair caddy to hold your magazines, snacks and Pepsi—the marketing masterminds proposed all these gadgets—next to your favorite sofa.



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Some Hot Movie Trailers

New Jason Statham movie trailer The Bank Job. That should be a great action film.

Movie Plot
In September 1971, thieves tunneled into the vault of a bank in London's Baker Street and looted safe deposit boxes of cash and jewelry worth over three million pounds. None of it was recovered. Nobody was ever arrested. The robbery made headlines for a few days and then disappeared - the result of a 'D' Notice, gagging the press. This film reveals what was hidden for the first time. The story involves murder, corruption and a sex scandal with links to the Royal Family - a story in which the thieves were the most innocent people involved.

Another new movie trailer. The movie name is Summer Palace. We dont really trust in this film, but trailer is still ok.

Movie Plot
China, 1989. Two young lovers play out their complex, erotic, love/hate relationship against a volatile backdrop of political unrest. Beautiful country girl Yu Hong (Hao Lei) leaves her village, family and lover to study at Beijing University, where she discovers a world of sexual freedom. When she falls in love with fellow student Zhou Wei (Guo Xiaodong), their relationship, driven by passions neither one can understand nor control, becomes one of dangerous games - betrayals, recriminations, provocations - as all around them, students begin to demonstrate, demanding freedom and democracy.

And the last one for today is trailer for the movie The Spiderwick Chronicles. Here you go. Trailer is just fine.

Movie Plot

From the beloved best-selling series of books comes “The Spiderwick Chronicles,” a fantasy adventure for the child in all of us. Peculiar things start to happen the moment the Grace family (Jared, his twin brother Simon, sister Mallory and their mom) leave New York and move into the secluded old house owned by their great, great uncle Arthur Spiderwick. Unable to explain the strange disappearances and accidents that seem to be happening on a daily basis, the family blames Jared. When he, Simon and Mallory investigate what’s really going on, they uncover the fantastic truth of the Spiderwick estate and of the creatures that inhabit it.

Something Hot From Digg!

'Piranha' Remake Coming in 2009...In 3-D!The campy horror classic, 'Piranha,' will be the latest old bloodfest headed back to the big screen. Director Alexandre Aja ('High Tension') will release the remake in the summer of 2009, and upping the ante, it'll be in 3-D.

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Today's Hottest Movie News

MGM to Produce Stigmata 2
in the category of “Movies no one asked to be made” we find out that there may be a sequel to a movie 9 years after the modest success of the first - Stigmata.

Cinematical Says:
According to Shock, the sequel will be written by one Sean Hood, the art director turned screenwriter that horror freaks will no doubt remember from flicks like Cube 2, Crow 4, and Halloween 8.
Read more...

Bay Finished Writing Transformers 2

Just because the writers strike was on doesn’t mean people were not writing movies. It just means they couldn’t TELL YOU they were writing movies. And nothing can be done with their work until the strike was officially done. Michael Bay wrote Transformers 2. Kinda.

Rope of Silicon quotes Michael Bay:
“I’ve been writing Transformers 2. We’ve got our characters all designed. I always write all my scripts, my movies anyway so at least I’ve got something to give the writers. It’s like a template. We have a really good outline so I worked on that.”

Read more...

Tolkien Estate sues New Line over Lord of the Rings Profits

So who is the Lord of the Lord of the Rings. According to copyright law, the estate of JRR Tolkien is the rightful owner to those works and therefore they had to make a deal to let New Line make these movies. And they claim New Line didn’t pay their share, so they are suing them.

M&C report:
The estate Lord of the Rings creator JRR Tolkien sued New Line Cinema on Monday for 150 million dollars, claiming the Hollywood studio cheated it out of a share of the profits from the movie trilogy that earned billions of dollars.

The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles also sought to strip New Line of the right to make any more movies based on Tolkien’s work - endangering New Line’s plans to produce two Hobbit movies over the next two years.

I find it convenient that they sat quietly swimming in the unearned money Grandpa Tolkien got them until the dust settled on the Hobbit prequels. Then the ball gets rolling in earnest on the Hobbit and suddenly the vacation is over and they make a pitstop at the lawyer’s place before laying down before the bulldozer.

Read more...

8 Movie Metaphors Worth Puzzling Over

We’ve all seen lists of great screen kisses, great car chases, great fight scenes. They’re easy to appreciate, and perhaps that’s why they get all the attention.

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Celluloid films may last longer than digital

Fewer than half of all movies made prior to 1950 are around today due to film degradation issues. But, according to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, the lifespan for digitally-recorded films could be even worse as storage for it costs $12,510 per year, compared with $1,059 for celluloid. Storing outtakes costs 429 times more.

The report's authors state the data explosion could turn into digital movie extinction, unless the studios push the development of storage standards and data management practices that will guarantee long-term access of their content.

As the report points out, even if a 100-year black box were invented that "read data reliably without introducing any errors, required no maintenance and offered sufficient bit density at an affordable price," there would be nobody alive capable of repairing it if that box were to fail at 99 years. In the real world of data management, digital assets are stored on media with longevities much less than 100 years, vulnerable to temperature changes, humidity and static electricity. It can be misidentified, inadequately indexed and difficult to track.

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Paris Hilton's "The Hottie and the Nottie": Worst Movie Ever

The Hottie and the Nottie, a romantic comedy starring Hilton, Joel David Moore, and Christine Lakin, opened Friday to $9,000 on 111 screens, or $81 per screen, according to Box Office Mojo.

Hilton's Hottie disappointed, despite a whirlwind three weeks of film promotion for Hilton. She premiered the film in Hollywood and Dallas, appeared in Philadelphia, at Harvard University, and the Sundance Film Festival, and on talk shows Late Show with David Letterman and MTV's TRL.

According to IMDB rating new Paris Hilton movie is the worst movie of all time.

Indiana Jones 4: The Scripts That Weren't (Spoiler-Theories)

Several people have taken a crack at reviving Indy over the years with some unused stories and fakes even finding their way online. As the buzz surrounding the upcoming movie heats up, here's a look at a few defunct scripts, the credible, and the not-so-credible information surrounding the early and alleged Indy 4 attempts.

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Martin Scorcese to Direct Bob Marley Documentary

Having documented Bob Dylan and The Rolling Stones, Martin Scorsese is now turning his attentions to Bob Marley. It even already has a release date of February 6, 2010, which would have been Marley's 65th birthday.

read more | digg story

Zucker says: It's a spoof of the whole superhero genre

Peter Parker's spider sense may be tingling: There's a spoof headed his way.

Producer David Zucker is taking aim at the spandex-action-genre with Superhero Movie, starring Drake Bell (Nickelodeon's Drake & Josh) as Dragonfly, who got his powers when he was bitten by a genetically engineered … guess what?

"It's predominantly Spider-Man, but we satirize Batman Begins, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Superman, everything," Zucker says. "It's a spoof of the whole superhero genre, like we did with the Scary Movies, but this one probably has more of a unified plot, like the Naked Guns had."

Regina Hall and Tracy Morgan spoof Halle Berry's white-haired Storm and Patrick Stewart's psychic Dr. Xavier from X-Men. Meanwhile, Leslie Nielsen plays Bell's uncle, à la Spider-Man's Uncle Ben.

Christopher McDonald co-stars as the villainous Hourglass. "He's dying of some rare disease, and he invents a machine where he can continue to live, as long as he kills a lot of people," Zucker says. "The only one who can stop him is Dragonfly."

Eminem will never star in GTA: Movie

A rumored Grand Theft Auto movie starring Eminem never got past the drawing board. Are you disappointed? What would it take to make a good GTA movie? Post your comments below.


Earlier this week, Variety reported that Rockstar Games had been tantalizingly close to making a deal on a Grand Theft Auto movie starring Michigan's favorite son, Eminem.

But now, an exec tells MTV that Rockstar was never interested in a GTA movie. So the movie that almost happened never actually nearly was. Huh?

Whatever the film's status was, we're probably all better off without it. It violates everything we know about video games and rappers, namely:

1) Movies based on video games tend to suck.

2) Video games and rappers don't mix.

For evidence of the first maxim, look no further than director Uwe Boll's cinematic abortions "Alone in the Dark" or "Bloodrayne." I still cling to my belief that Paul W.S. Anderson's "Mortal Kombat" was a good movie, but that belief is colored by the fact that I saw it at 13, in the height of Mortal Kombat's arcade popularity. And Sonya Blade (Bridgette Wilson) and Kitana (Talisa Soto) were ridiculous megababes.

Just admitting that I like "Mortal Kombat" probably would get me laughed off the MLive movies podcast.

If you don't believe me about video games and rappers, pick up 50 Cent: Bulletproof sometime.

Don't get me wrong, Eminem is an immensely talented rapper, and Grand Theft Auto 3 revolutionized open-world gameplay. The name recognition alone would merit a director way the heck better than Boll. I just don't buy the idea that Eminem could stop being Eminem long enough to portray a GTA protagonist.

The main characters in Grand Theft Auto games tend to be the straight men, usually content to take orders and help out the more colorful characters around them. They don't have big, emotional story arcs. They don't have crazy moms or turbid relationships with their ex-wives. And they sure as heck don't freestyle.

They're all just guys with questionable morals and a simple dream: to get more money, better cars, a bigger house and bigger guns.

The main guy in GTA 3 never speaks. If anybody were bold enough to put Slim Shady in a movie role where he reacts and emotes without talking, then I'd be intrigued. Otherwise, I'd rather see Ray Liotta in a GTA Vice City movie.

Todays Movie News

Brittany Murphy is beginning work on the indie feature "Across the Hall," is eyeing a role in the dark comedy "Poor Things," on which she would replace Lindsay Lohan.

In "Hall," Murphy stars opposite Mike Vogel ("Cloverfield") and Danny Pino ("The Burning Plain") in a thriller about a brutal standoff between a young man (Vogel), his fiancee and his best friend (Pino).

The cast also includes Dov Davidoff ("Invincible"), Brad Greenquist ("Shiloh Falls") and Guillermo Diaz ("Weeds").

Directed by Alex Merkin from a screenplay by Jesse Mittelstadt and Julien Schwab, "Hall" is based on Merkin's award-winning 2005 short film that starred Adrian Grenier ("Entourage").

Meanwhile, Murphy -- who also has been cast in "Sin City 2" -- is under consideration as a replacement for Lohan in "Poor," though negotiations have not yet begun.

Lohan fell out of the project in May when she admitted herself to a rehabilitation facility.

Murphy would join a cast that includes Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Rosario Dawson and Channing Tatum.

"Poor" revolves around two female con artists who befriend and then murder homeless men in order to collect on their insurance policies. Trent Haaga penned the script.

Scott Marshall, whose directorial credits include "Blonde Ambition" and "Keeping Up With the Steins," has come aboard to direct the film. He replaces Ash Baron Cohen, who departed over what was described as "creative differences."