G.I. JOE 3 Enlists DJ Caruso As Latest Director Attached

January 13, 2015, 6:00 am

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Written by Christopher M.

Deadline briefly mentions that where-are-they-now director DJ Caruso is in early discussions with Paramount to direct G.I. Joe 3. Caruso is best known for giving Shia LaBeouf most of his non-Transformers roles in his films Disturbia and Eagle Eye. I'm sort of shocked he's even being suggested for the gig.

Variety mentions that a meeting with Dwayne Johnson which is essential to his hiring hasn't even gone down.

Let's just remember he isn't the first director to be linked for the sequel and likely won't be the last.

This isn't the first time an outlet jumped-the-gun on a director being involved with G.I. Joe 3.

Schmoes Know were hot to report Green Lantern's Martin Campbell as a lock to direct. A couple of days later Campbell ended-up choosing an adaptation of a French comic book instead.  We never heard from other sources if that original story was legit or not.

It's starting to look like Paramount is scraping the bottom of the barrel for their director search and it's a bit shocking.

Then again, these are the same people that gave us Transformers: Age of Extinction and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

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He Took His Skin Off For Me - A Short Film By Ben Aston

January 13, 2015, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Does The New AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON Trailer Set Up The BLACK PANTHER?

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By Elizabeth Weitz

Film adaptations of books or short stories often fall short of achieving the power of their source material simply because very few things can compete with the movie-version you construct in your mind while reading it, but in the case of Ben Aston's incredibly beautiful film of Maria Hummer's story, He Took His Skin Off For Me, we have the rarity of witnessing the product outshining the muse.

For those of you who are fans of cerebral horror/love stories (Think Hellraiser-meets-Amélie, only with less wackiness and Cenobites) then turn down the lights and get ready for one of the most original short films (and festival-circuit winner) I have ever seen.

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Does The New AVENGERS AGE OF ULTRON Trailer Set Up The BLACK PANTHER?

January 13, 2015, 9:29 am

≫ Next: An Ode to the AOL Internet CD

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Written by Christopher M.

Marvel Studios has posted a second teaser trailer for Avengers Age of Ultron and it's looking like it's already attempting to setup Phase Three films. There are at least two possible scenes in the trailer that hinting to two characters that could have links to both upcoming film Captain America: Civil War and Black Panther. We had confirmation a while back that Wakanda would make an appearance in the film.

Check out the impressive, but short new teaser trailer below.




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An Ode to the AOL Internet CD

January 13, 2015, 11:36 am

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By Elizabeth Weitz

It's sometimes hard to remember the days before the internet came into existence, and when you try (at least for those of us old enough to remember such a time) our memories are sepia-toned, as if we are looking at an old-timey photo printed on tintype that seem less a part of our own past and more of the kind found in The Old West series of Time Life Books.

And yet, it wasn't so long ago that if we wanted to, say, watch porn, we had to physically leave our home and drive to a store (in which we had to walk into IN FULL VIEW OF THE PUBLIC mind you) and either rent or buy a videotape from another human being who was silently judging us.

It was horrible.

But then something happened. A new wind swept through the nation and landed in our mailbox, carrying with it a CD. Not the kind that had Boyz II Men's latest single I'll Make Love To You on it (although I did witness several family members pop it into their car's CD player thinking that it was free giveaway from a new band called 100 FREE HOURS) but a CD that would provide you with the aforementioned 100 hours of free access to something called "AOL".

We were a curious lot and so, we tentatively slid the CD into our computer and waded into uncharted territory.

But 100 hours? Could we really stay interested in 100 hours of being on the computer interwebthingy?

Um, Yeah, I Think We Could

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Stephen King's MR. MERCEDES Comes To Television

January 13, 2015, 11:00 am

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≪ Previous: An Ode to the AOL Internet CD

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David E. Kelley Signed To Pen Script; Jack Bender to Direct

Sonar Entertainment will develop Stephen King’s bestselling and critically acclaimed novel Mr. Mercedes as a limited series for television. The announcement was made today by Gene Stein, CEO, Sonar Entertainment.

Sonar has signed David E. Kelley (Boston Legal, Ally McBeal, The Practice) to write the script. Jack Bender (Lost, Under the Dome) will direct. Both will also serve as Executive Producers, as will Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill Entertainment and Gene Stein.

“The incredible talent we’ve been able to assemble is truly a creative dream team,” said Stein. “That, combined with a story that, in classic Stephen King style, grabs you from the first page and never lets go for a moment, ensures that this will make thrilling television. I’m so excited to be working with Stephen, David, Jack, Marty and Wyck.”

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MARVEL’S AGENT CARTER S1E1 "Now is Not the End" & S1E2 "Bridge and Tunnel” (review)

January 13, 2015, 12:00 pm

≫ Next: Breaking Apart the HOUSE OF M Part I of II — The New Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Magneto Dynamic

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As a long time comic lover, and female, I am very pleased to see that Agent Carter has found a home on ABC.

This show is the perfect balance of action, wit, explosions, social commentary, and touch of humor.   

Personally, I think Agent Carter was an unexpected choice of characters to carry a series from Marvel, with all of The Avengers movies I would have bet money that a Black Widow and/or Hawkeye would have been the next side project (which I would definitely support, for the record)  but I can safety say that this show has far exceeded my expectations.

As a sucker for anything that takes place during the ‘40s, this show had a few major points right from the get-go. The costumes, setting, cars, and hairstyles are all an added bonus to a brilliant premise, fitting neatly into the Marvel Cinematic Universe shortly after the events in Captain America: The First Avenger.


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Breaking Apart the HOUSE OF M Part I of II — The New Quicksilver, Scarlet Witch, and Magneto Dynamic

January 13, 2015, 1:00 pm

≫ Next: The Cinematic Class of 1990: Twenty-Five Years Later

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For years, the X-Men have featured their share of dysfunctional families.

I mean, just take a look at the train wreck over in the Summers’ family tree.  Scott (aka Cyclops) dated Jean Grey, then she died so he shacked up with a girl who looked exactly like her because why not.

Of course, Maddy Pryor looked like Jean because she was a clone created by Mr. Sinister and since Scott didn’t know that and is probably a bit kinky, he married her and got her pregnant. 

Yay, love conquers all!

Except then the real Jean Grey came back, having not actually died at all, and Scott dropped Maddy and their infant son like they had ebola rabies, prompting Maddy to go straight up batshit, become the Goblin Queen (who was hooking up with Scott’s brother, Alex, the mutant called Havok), and try to sacrifice baby Nathan and plunge the world into hell.

Still, as far as mothers go, at least she wasn’t like this asshat…

But it ends there, right?  The madness of the Summers’ tree?

I wish I could say it did.

The Goblin Queen died, Jean and Scott got together, and Nathan was kidnapped by Apocalypse and infected with a horrific virus that could only be cured in the future.  So, Scott sent him on his merry way on only the words of the mysterious Mother Askani. 

But don’t cry too hard.

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The Cinematic Class of 1990: Twenty-Five Years Later

January 13, 2015, 2:00 pm

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The start of another new year marks another series of movies celebrating their silver anniversary.

There are some doozies in this bunch from 1990 and, as always, the compiling of the list offered a dizzying trip down memory lane.

This was the year when audiences were introduced to Jack Ryan in the first Tom Clancy movie adaptation; when we caught our first glimpse of live-action post-pubescent ninja amphibians; and when Whoopi Goldberg saw dead people (and earned a Best Supporting Actress Oscar) in Ghost. It was also the year the MPAA introduced the NC-17 rating (for the erotic Henry Miller biopic Henry & June) in an admirable but ultimately futile marketing attempt to distinguish artistic adult fare from pornography.

It was also the odd and uncharacteristic year of the Reagan/Bush era without a Freddy Kruger or Jason Voorhees flick, and it marked the dawn of computer-generated animation (briefly seen in Disney’s non-musical The Rescuers Down Under).

Without further ado, let’s review the year that was 1990.


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PATTON OSWALT Discusses WATCHMEN (The Movie) With PATRICK (Nite Owl) WILSON

January 13, 2015, 3:00 pm

≫ Next: Win HALF BAD By Sally Green Prize Pack!

≪ Previous: The Cinematic Class of 1990: Twenty-Five Years Later

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By Stefan Blitz

While promoting his new book, Silver Screen Fiend, Patton Oswalt visited the WORD Bookstore Cafe in Jersey City on January 8th, 2015.  During the event, he revealed his thoughts of the filmed adaptation of Alan Moore and Dave Gibbon's Watchmen,  while in discussion with Patrick Wilson, former co-star (Young Adult) and part owner of the bookstore.

Wilson also played Dan Dreiberg aka Nite Owl, in the 2009 Zack Snyder film.


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Win HALF BAD By Sally Green Prize Pack!

January 13, 2015, 4:00 pm

≫ Next: Live-Action GHOST IN THE SHELL Movie Lands Spring 2017 Release Date

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He has a powerful Gift. It’s how he uses it that will show if he’s good or bad.

In modern-day England, witches live alongside humans: White witches, who are good; Black witches, who are evil; and sixteen-year-old Nathan, who is both. Nathan’s father is the world’s most powerful and cruel Black witch, and his mother is dead. He is hunted from all sides. Trapped in a cage, beaten and handcuffed, Nathan must escape before his seventeenth birthday, at which point he will receive three gifts from his father and come into his own as a witch—or else he will die. But how can Nathan find his father when his every action is tracked, when there is no one safe to trust—not even family, not even the girl he loves?

In the tradition of Patrick Ness and Markus Zusak, Half Bad is a gripping tale of alienation and the indomitable will to survive, a story that will grab hold of you and not let go until the very last page.

The Half Bad trilogy has been translated into 47 languages. TIME Magazine calls it “highly entertaining and dangerously addictive.” Kate Atkinson says it’s ”brilliant and utterly compelling.” London’s Daily Telegraph has named author Sally Green “the new J.K. Rowling.” Discover the story that readers all over the world are raving about. 

With the story continuing with the sequel, Half Wild (in stores March 24th), now is as good as time as any to catch up!  And we've got a prize pack that makes it easy!

GOOD OR BAD?  YOU CHOOSEprize pack  

He has a powerful gift. It’s how he uses it that will show if he’s good or bad.

One (1) winner receives:

•  a copy of Half Bad 
•  Plus a white OR black backpack (winner’s choice).    


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Live-Action GHOST IN THE SHELL Movie Lands Spring 2017 Release Date

January 13, 2015, 5:15 pm

≫ Next: The VENTURE BROS. SPECIAL Premieres January 19th on Adult Swim

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Written by Christopher M.

Disney has lined-up a bunch of new release dates which includes their adaptation of the manga turned anime film/series Ghost In The Shell. The film directed by Snow White And The Huntsman's Rupert Sanders is now set for an April 14th, 2017.

It will be coming out a week after Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim 2.

The manga, anime and series focuses on a covert Japanese police force Section 9, who is mostly made-up of cyborg cops that tackle cyber crime and terrorists in the year 2029.


We actually haven't learned what Disney's plans for their film version of the movie. It's extremely possible that the film could indeed still be set in Japan and take many cues from it's source material.

Scarlett Johansson (Her, Lost In Translation, Under The Skin) has been previously been cast as the film's lead as The Major.  This is after a reported $10M offer from the studio to take the role after they passed on Margot Robbie (Wolf of Wall Street, Tarzan, Suicide Squad).

Other sources claim the studio were also looking at Angelina Jolie and Jennifer Lawrence for the role.

This is seemingly a role in Scarlett's wheelhouse with action roles in films such as Avengers, Captain America: The Winter Solider, The Island and last summer's huge success story with Luc Besson's Lucy.

A French film set in Taiwan and France with a mostly foreign supporting cast with a budget of $40M but earning $459M worldwide at the box office.

The film went head-to-head with Dwayne Johnson's Hercules it's opening weekend in the U.S. and managed to squash it. Proving Scarlett is ready to evolve to action heroine, even if Marvel isn't about to give her a Black Widow film.

Her addition to the cast is considered somewhat to controversial to some.

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The VENTURE BROS. SPECIAL Premieres January 19th on Adult Swim

January 13, 2015, 6:00 pm

≫ Next: Fox Nabs Rights To Remake ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

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The Venture Bros. is Adult Swim's fan-favorite parody of the great action/adventure cartoons of yesteryear. Tune in to watch Dr. "Rusty" Venture and his twin boys, Hank and Dean, as they clash against arch-enemies, killer mutants, invading aliens and more. Joining them is a massive pantheon of incredible characters like Brock Samson, Dr. Orpheus, The Monarch, Sgt. Hatred, Henchman 21, and so many more that it would be unwise to attempt a full list. Kick danger right in the sweet meats by watching The Venture Bros. at AdultSwim.com.

And next week, Monday, January 19th at Midnight (ET/PT) on Adult Swim watch the premiere of The Venture Bros. hour-long animated special, All This And Gargantua-2 where the Ventures and their stellar crew head out into the final frontier of deep, deep space on an epic adventure to the Gargantua-2 space station that is destined to change everything the world knows about the Ventureverse.

Check out the trailer after the jump!

GO TEAM VENTURE!!!

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Fox Nabs Rights To Remake ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK

January 13, 2015, 7:00 pm

≫ Next: Movies That Have Marked History

≪ Previous: The VENTURE BROS. SPECIAL Premieres January 19th on Adult Swim

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Deadline reports that 20th Century Fox has landed the rights to remake John Carpenter's cult-classic Escape From New York. This new rights deal would mean the previous reboot project which had been in development for ages will be completely scrapped. Fox will be starting from scratch and likely ditching all previous scripts or outlines hiring their own writers.

The previous incarnation was looking for directors with little experience and was said to be a prequel of sorts as we would learn the origins of the franchise hero Snake Plissken, going from a national military hero to serial criminal and professional escape artist.

In the original film Snake is put on a forced suicide mission to retrieve the President who get's lost in Manhattan which is now city-sized prison colony which is led by murderous gang leader named The Duke.

The less said about it's horrible sequel Escape From LA, the better.

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Movies That Have Marked History

January 14, 2015, 6:00 am

≫ Next: David Fincher Remaking Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN With Ben Affleck And Gillian Flynn

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Also referred to as motion picture or film, a movie is described as a sequence of still images which are shown on screen creating the impression of movie images due to phi phenomenon. It all began with experimentation carried out by photographers and others who would reproduce human motion that arrived in the 1890s.

Motion pictures of back in the days and now are very dissimilar as in the previous movies, there was no sound, no plot or story. There was only movement! To become what it is now, motion pictures have gone through different phases.

The first of which consisted of emphasis on the reproduction of human motion followed by telling a story, emerging around 1900. Birth of a Nation, released in 1915 was the first successful full-length feature film that only cost $100,000 but brought $18 million in revenues. Despite being a movie that dates back to yonks’ ago, Birth of a Nation was popular as it was of high quality, with close ups, cross cutting, fadeouts and dramatic lightning. In all, the movie was a powerful story that has been told with thrilling techniques.

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David Fincher Remaking Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN With Ben Affleck And Gillian Flynn

January 14, 2015, 7:00 am

≫ Next: TCM REMEMBERS: A Gorgeous Look Back At Those We Lost in 2014

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Written by Christopher M.

Deadline reports that director David Fincher has chosen his next project which is a remake of Alfred Hitchcock's iconic thriller Strangers On A Train. Gone Girl's Gillian Flynn is in talks to write the remake's script.

Originally, the Hitchcock film was based on the novel by Patricia Highsmith but this new film will be updated to be more contemporary. Deadline seemingly has some details of the film which could see it likely retitled to Strangers On A Plane or the more simplistic Strangers.

A movie star–in the middle of a campaign for an Oscar during awards season–whose private plane breaks down and is given a ride to LA on another plane by a wealthy stranger.

Check out the original film's trailer below, I can already imagine Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross scoring this. I'm sure the pair of composers will again sign-on to create the score.


This news comes only a day after the Gone Girl author and screenwriter Gillian Flynn talked about a developing a sequel.

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TCM REMEMBERS: A Gorgeous Look Back At Those We Lost in 2014

January 14, 2015, 8:00 am

≫ Next: Brad Pitt, Christian Bale And Ryan Gosling Join Financial Drama THE BIG SHORT For Director Adam McKay

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By Elizabeth Weitz

I'm not a fan of the "Those We Lost" segments at awards shows, it seems, I don't know, less than the dead deserve somehow (not to mention a callous throwaway bit to look as if the producers gave a damn) but this gorgeously done video tribute from TCM erases that "Hey, Everyone, Here's Some Dead People" montage and gives the talented, and sorely missed, dearly departed the respect they truly deserve.

Thanks TCM for making it easier to say good-bye.

Video after the break.

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Brad Pitt, Christian Bale And Ryan Gosling Join Financial Drama THE BIG SHORT For Director Adam McKay

January 14, 2015, 9:00 am

≫ Next: How California Inspired Jack Black

≪ Previous: TCM REMEMBERS: A Gorgeous Look Back At Those We Lost in 2014

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Written by Christopher M.

The Wrap reports that comedic writer-director Adam McKay (Anchorman, Step Brothers) will direct his first dramatic film with Big Short. A-list actors such as Brad Pitt, Christian Bale and Ryan Gosling are attached for lead roles in the film.

The project will be handled by Paramount and Pitt's production company Plan B.

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How California Inspired Jack Black

January 14, 2015, 10:00 am

≫ Next: THE WIRE in High Definition

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By Elizabeth Weitz

Commissioned by The California Sunday Magazine and Google Play for the California Inspires Me project, designer and animator, Nicolas Ménard weaves a simple and completely fun animated style to illustrate the connections that California artists have with their state.

In this particular short, actor/musician/comedian Jack Black reminisces on his days of growing up in Hermosa Beach, his early crush on Farrah Fawcett and learning to follow the beat of his own drum.

Video after the break.

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THE WIRE in High Definition

January 14, 2015, 11:00 am

≫ Next: MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER S1E3 “Time and Tide” (review)

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It once seemed like The Wire—  a TV show that many regard as one of the greatest, if not the greatest — would never be released in high definition (HD) because of David Simon’s preference for its original broadcast 4:3 aspect ratio.

Other HBO shows that originally aired in standard definition (SD), such as The Sopranos, have longed been available in HD on demand, at HBO Go, and subsequently released on Blu-ray.

But then last year HBO moved ahead with converting the show to HD, initially without Simon’s involvement, and now the entire series is available in 1080p awesomeness.

Does this new high definition transfer really make a difference to a show that’s already so highly lauded?

Does it enhance the stories being told?

The simple answer is: yes, most definitely.

Much as been discussed about The Wire’s new widescreen framing — and I’ll talk about that later — but the real difference is the upgrade from SD to HD.

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MARVEL'S AGENT CARTER S1E3 “Time and Tide” (review)

January 14, 2015, 12:00 pm

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Hayley Atwell continues to shine as Agent Carter as she pursues the mysterious "Leviathan" and this episode reveals some interesting history about Jarvis's military past. As Carter tries to clear Howard Stark's name, she is reminded of the consequences of dangerous field work.

Throughout the episode, Peggy is struggling to balance what is supposed to be the normal lady life of the 40's with being a secret agent. Her new digs, a woman’s only apartment building, are referred by the house mistress Miriam Fry (Meagen Fay) — as being “not unlike Alcatraz, or Fort Knox”. This was intended to instill fear, promote cooperation, and keep the building from getting lousy with men.

That prison-like attitude gives Carter an idea to pay Jarvis (James D’Arcy) a visit at the Stark home by sneaking into it!

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