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Sunday 30 November 2008

Free Humphrey Bogart films at the Bombed Out Church in Liverpool

Del pointed this out to me and it all sounds rather splendid.

The good folks over at Urban Strawberry Lunch have been running all sorts of things at St. Luke's Church in Liverpool (it's at the top of Bold Street). This week they start a run of movies leading up to Christmas and they are all free. The church was designed by John Foster, and construction of the building began on April 9, 1811, with consecration taking place on January 12, 1831.On Monday, May 5, 1941, St Luke's was hit and burned by an incendiary bomb. Today it still stands as a burnt out shell, commonly known locally as "the bombed-out church", and its churchyard is a public park.

This week is Humphrey Bogart week and they've got the following films on:

Tuesday 2nd December - 4pm
Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Wednesday 3rd December - 4pm
Key Largo

Thursday 4th December - 4pm & 6pm
To Have and Have Not

Friday 5th December - 4pm & 6pm
The Big Sleep

Saturday 5th December - 4pm & 6pm
Casablanca

Sunday 7th December - 4pm
The Maltese Falcon

If you get the chance go along to at least one of them and show your support by leaving a little donation, but as their flyer says don't forget to take your own chair, blanket and flask. For more info call 0151 709 7562 or check out their site.

Next week they are showing films made by Liverpool film makers and in the week before Christmas it will be Christmas movies such as It's A Wonderful Life and Miracle on 34th Street. Oh and they told me today that they may have Coffee Union going along so you may be able to get hot drinks there. Here's looking at you kid.
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The Rejection (ОТТОРЖЕНИЕ) - Trailer

The world is falling apart. An unknown metropolis sits under a Jade green sky. Abandoned in a hurry, belongings lay piled high and the roads are clogged with Cars and columns of Tanks sitting idle and empty. The few remaining inhabitants reel aimlessly through the streets behaving erratically, screaming - unable to control their own actions, whilst all around them a rapidly growing green mold is sucking the life out of every living thing.

Official web site.

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Christmas Shopping followed by Jesse Green + Skazzmatic


Afternoon all,

Yesterday was spent Christmas shopping with the Wife in Chester. It was all Christmassy and misty. A few drinks were drunk in the wonderful Old Harker's Arms and many gifts were bought.

Then the evening was rounded off meeting up with old friends at The Groves to see the legendary Jesse Green (he drummed with Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley don't you know) perform - my mates Neil and Lee played guitar and drums respectively (their pics are below) - in his new band Skazzmatic. It was a great night, and I don't like reggae but the band rocked and I boogied on down. Jesse Green is a great showman and I recommend you see the band if you get the chance.

Hello to everyone who was there including Jinja, Sara, Street Pete, Del, Andy D, Paul, Little Bitch, The Dude and Emma, Rich (who came all the way from Darlington to see the band), Will, Kev (who may be having his first visit to the site today) and all the people with dreadlocks.

Here is a video of Jesse Green back in the day.


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Friday 28 November 2008

Accuracy of Death (Sweet Rain) - Trailer


When a person's time has come, a death god is sent to earth to observe for seven days and assess the person's life. After a week has passed, he determines whether the person lives or dies. Music-loving death god Chiba's (Takeshi Kaneshiro) latest assignment in the mortal world is a meek 27-year-old office lady (Konishi Manami) who lives a life so quiet and uneventful that even she doesn't see the value of her existence. The judgment seems clear but over the course of the week, Chiba is slowly swayed by his observations and interactions. At the end of the week, he makes a decision, a different decision that causes lives to change and fates to link together in unexpected ways.


Actor Takeshi Kaneshiro returns to Japanese Cinema for his first Japanese film in six years -Sweet Rain (a.k.a. Accuracy of Death). Kaneshiro plays the God of Death, walking between the worlds of the bustling living and the ethereal dead. Based on Isaka Kotaro's best-selling novel, Sweet Rain may be the latest death god feature to appear, but this is no 'Death Note' clone. Co-starring Konishi Manami (Angel's Egg), Mitsuishi Ken (Megane), and Fuji Sumiko (Hula Girls), Accuracy of Death explores the value of life and inevitability of death through three seemingly separate lives, and the lonely death God who connects them together.

Source: 24framespersecond
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Børre - Trailer

Somewhere, someplace lives a loner called Børre, a man in his early thirties. He's got a boring good for nothing job that he hates, and a Swedish grease ball pig boss he’d love to see drop dead on the spot. To escape the reality of his sad boring life, he finds comfort in his bong. His only friend is a Pac-Man loving, dope dealing, Lowriding wannabe-gangster named Ludo. Børre knows a lot about old porn flicks, and his greatest hero of all time is the great, one and only Charles Bronson… Mr. Majestyk!

Every woman he ever cared for has disappeared from him, into the thin air. His self-esteem is not exactly high. Dr. Kronenberg is trying to help him solve his problems. Now, Børre has met Barbra, a sweet happy go lucky girl with an appetite for life, she is the love of his life. She loves him too. Børre is happy; his life is getting back on track…but something is lurking in the dark.


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252: Signal of Life - Trailer for Japanese disaster movie featuring no giant radioactive lizards

A few weeks after a gigantic earthquake strike Tokyo, the temperature of the Pacific Ocean suddenly increased and causes the largest typhoon ever seen in Japan to head towards Tokyo with devastating force. The tidal wave generated by the typhoon covers the coastal city area with water. The Tokyo Fire Department dispatches its elite rescue unit, Hyper Rescue, and their sonar picks up a signal from underwater. Beneath the ground, in one devastated subway station, there is someone sending out a code which is known to rescuers only: 252 252 "We have survivors!

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Mahoney says Police Academy Whatever is Good to Go! Children weep at the horror

Moviehole have some amazing news that everyone out there has been waiting for - a new Police Academy movie is in the works and Steve "Waiting for an Oscar" Guttenberg is going to direct it.

Though he originally planned on reprising his role as Mahoney for the film the actor said he probably won't wear the badge again.

Guttenberg later today The Sun that “We are doing a new movie and it is going to be great fun," adding. "A script is being written and so far it is really great, everyone from the original movies who is still around will return.”

The actor said he's hoping Kim Cattrall and Sharon Stone can be coaxed into reprising their roles from "Police Academy" and "Police Academy IV : Citizens on Patrol", respectively, too.

“I know Kim and Sharon have been asked but they haven’t said yes yet. It would be really great to have them onboard.”

In 2005, Producer Jerry Weintraub and Warner Bros confirmed plans for an eight "Police Academy" - one that would reunite the original cast. Weintraub had since announced that the film wouldn't be happening though.

Who wants to see a new Police Academy? Can it work without Mahoney? Can it work with Mahoney? Do you think he has any chance of getting Kim and Sharon to star in it?
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The Random

The huge succes of Twilight, might mean a reappearance for Buffy the Vampire Slayer according to the Herald-Sun Newspaper

Jean Claude Van Damme may have messed up big time. He has turned down a role in Sylvester Stallone's The Expendables.

Zach Braff told Haaretz.com that this season of Scrubs will be his last.

Hugh Jackman will walk from Wolverine if the new movie is not a success. Although he hopes it does succeed as he would love to do a Wolverine movie set in Japan.

If the X-Files movie does well on DVD and Blu-Ray sales there may be a third feature film according to Bloody Disgusting

Patrick Swayze’s cancer has reportedly spread to his liver and according to the National Enquirer, he’s started saying his goodbyes to his family.

According to Ghibli World, Matt Damon, Tina Fey, Cate Blanchett, Liam Neeson, Lily Tomlin, Betty White, Fankie Jonas, Noah Cyrys and Cloris Leachman have all signed on for the English-language dubbing of Ponyo on the Cliff By the Sea, the latest film from Japanese anime director Hayao Miyazaki.

The first photos from Woody Allen's new comedy Whatever Works starring Larry David and Evan Rachel Wood.

Check out this Complete and Official Map of the Verse, the first comprehensive guide to the worlds of Joss Whedon’s Firefly and Serenity.

Michael Cera and real-life girlfriend Charlyne Yi are starring in the unconventional comedy Paper Hearts. It has been described as part-documentary, part-scripted comedy about the real-life relationship between Cera and his girlfriend, Charlyne Yi, another member of the Apatow acting crew.

Eddie Izzard and Brian Dennehy will star opposite Liev Schreiber, Helen Hunt and Carla Gugino in Every Day, the Richard Levine-directed drama.According to Variety, Schreiber and Hunt star as a married couple in turmoil, and Gugino plays a co-worker who tempts him.

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Thursday 27 November 2008

Warwick Davis would love to be Dr Who

The excellent chap, Dave Bentley, over at The Coventry Telegraph Geek Files has news on another actor who would love to be considered for the next regeneration of the one true Time Lord. That's right Willow, Wicket, The Leprechaun, the one and only Warwick Davis. Here's what Dave has to say.

ACTOR Warwick Davis said he'd love to be the new Doctor Who and have his own special TARDIS.

The 38-year-old star, who plays Professor Filius Flitwick in the Harry Potter films, was among sci-fi celebrities at The Memorabilia Show at the NEC, Birmingham, this past weekend.

He said: "I want to be in Doctor Who. I would kill to replace David Tennant and become the next Time Lord.

"I had a great idea: Doctor Who is going to change, regenerate, but something goes a bit wrong. For just a couple of episodes it would be me as the Doctor, they go in the Tardis and inside it's not vast, it's tiny and they all bang their heads!"

Davis played the lead in Willow and in the Leprechaun film series, Reepicheep in the TV versions of the Narnia books and was the dwarf Nikabrik in this year's The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian.

I do like Warwick's idea of being the Doctor for an episode or two. He's a great actor and it would put a nice spin on things. Head on over to read the rest of the article and Warwick's memories of playing Wicket in Return of the Jedi.
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The Spirit v Punisher: War Zone v Transporter 3 Mashup


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Dragonball - New Trailer

Here is the new trailer for the Dragonball film that is directed by James Wong (Final Destination, The One, Final Destination 3).

The young warrior Goku (Justin Chatwin) sets out on a quest, racing against time and the vengeful Lord Piccolo (James Marsters), to collect a set of seven magical orbs that will grant their wielder unlimited power.

What happened to Chow Yun-Fat (Master Roshi)? He used to be in cool films with slow motion gun fights and doves flying all over the place. Plus James Marsters was Spike in Buffy and now he is a crappy looking Lord Piccolo. What happened to you Chow and James?


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The Ugly Truth - Katherine Heigl & Gerard Butler in incredibly original romantic comedy.

A romantically challenged morning show producer (Katherine Heigl) is reluctantly embroiled in a series of outrageous tests by her chauvinistic correspondent (Gerard Butler) to prove his theories on relationships and help her find love. His clever ploys, however, lead to an unexpected result.

The Ugly Truth - That just all sounds so incredibly original. I am at a total loss as to what the unexpected result could be. Glad to see the two leads have gone for something totally different from their previous films such as 27 Dresses, Knocked Up, P.S. I Love You, and 300. Hold on a minute...you don't think they'll end up getting on each others nerves, earning each others respect, Katherine going off with another schmuck after a misunderstanding over something he has done, then walking in the rain and realising they both have feelings for each other, then Gerard will interrupt a party, wedding, important meeting or (as they both work in TV) change a news story he is about to report on to say how much he loves her, before they both get together and random strangers stand around smiling and clapping? Apologies for the dreadful amount of commas in that last sentence. I'm probably totally wrong. Here's the trailer.

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What Doesn't Kill You - Trailer

Based on events from director Brian Goodman’s life, WHAT DOESN’T KILL YOU, stars Mark Ruffalo (Brian) and Ethan Hawke (Paulie), as friends who grew up like brothers on the gritty streets of south Boston. They do whatever it takes to survive, living by the code of their dog-eat-dog neighborhood. Petty crimes and misdemeanors grow into more serious offenses and eventually, they fall under sway to organized crime boss Pat Kelly (played by Brian Goodman, who also wrote and directed the film).

As Brian becomes increasingly lost in a haze of drugs and ‘jobs,’ even the love he has for his wife (Amanda Peet) and his children does not seem like it will be enough to redeem him. Meanwhile, Paulie plans “one last heist” but knows it will take both of them to pull it off. How can they escape the only life they know?

I was thinking they could escape by either becoming clowns for children's parties, putting on a musical show right here, right now or by entering the Big Brother house and winning the hearts of the nation. Either that or they shoot stuff up in slow motion before both dying in a horribly ironic way.

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Don't the news people keep telling us the ice is disappearing?

The excellent author, Neal Asher over on The Skinner posted this interesting article about the effects of global warming and the supposed loss of the ice caps...Quick, quick need to tie this into something to do with films...ah here is some of the concept art from the forthcoming film Wynter Dark (that's got nothing to do with Neal Asher and his books but it features ice and polar bears getting their own back).

Let me juxtapose a section each of two articles from the same website, The Daily Tech. The first one is here, dated June 30th 2008:

Now scientists are predicting that a major milestone will be reached this summer or next -- the disappearance of the North Pole's ice cover during the Arctic Summer.The prediction comes from the U.S.'s top climate researchers at the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) in Boulder, Colorado. They predict that in September, there is a good chance that the ice will be gone on the pole.



The next article is from September 3rd, yes, the September referred to above:

Data from the National Snow and Ice Data Center (NSIDC) has indicated a dramatic increase in sea ice extent in the Arctic regions. The growth over the past year covers an area of 700,000 square kilometers: an amount twice the size the nation of Germany.


Is there any point in belabouring this?

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Watchmen Legal Battle Update

Filmstalker have got the latest on what is happened in the courts with Zack Snyder's Watchmen movie.

Previously we heard that the worst case scenario was that 20th Century Fox would halt the production and distribution of Watchmen and perhaps even can it, returning to make their own version.

However, it could mean a huge delay with Watchmen and a huge financial blow to Warner Bros. who have invested all the money and talent into making Watchmen, and unlike Fox, have had the drive and the stomach to make the film that they couldn't and wouldn't.

While Warner Bros. have announced that Fox are merely trying to attach themselves to a film that looks like it will be a major hit, they are willing to accept a partial settlement. What that exactly means we don't know, but it will most likely mean a percentage of takings or a big one off payment.

Now that sounds like Warner Bros. are stepping back from the personal side of the issue and being rather pragmatic. Sure they could sit there and fight, but it would be quicker and easier for them to recoup the money they've invested in the film by getting it out there for the audiences, even at a lesser return for them. Remember, they are a business.

Business yes, but they seem more ethical too. Fox is still asking for the sole right to produce and distribute the film throughout the world.

Now does that mean that they'd start their own version up if they won? Or does it mean that they could take the film from Warner Bros., pay them all the money invested to date, and just walk away with it?

According to amlawdaily through Filmonic the judge will make his decision next month. Let's hope he sees sense and thinks about what this is all about, not just business but a film for the audience. Settle like adults and let the film free, don't bicker and have the audience turn away from it over a studio who couldn't make the film for years through fear and lack of creativity.


How do you feel about the news?
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Wanted: Weapons of Fate - Trailer for video game based on James McAvoy film based on Mark Millar's comic

Wanted: Weapons of Fate is an upcoming video game developed by GRIN and published by Universal Studios. It is set to be released for Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. The game is set in the continuity of the 2008 film and picks up where the movie left off with Wesley (James McAvoy) taking on the French chapter of “The Fraternity”.

The Wiki entry states, "Based on Universal Pictures’ action-thriller Wanted, starring James McAvoy, Morgan Freeman and Angelina Jolie, the Wanted videogame, Wanted: Weapons of Fate, promises to deliver the same fantastic visual style and edge-of-your-seat action as the blockbuster motion picture.

In Wanted: Weapons of Fate players continue the story of hero Wesley Gibson, picking up the action where the film left off to create an entirely new chapter exploring both Wesley’s journey to becoming an unmatched überassassin and the epic fiction of “The Fraternity" in the Wanted mythology. Players will take on the role of Wesley or his father Cross and confront all new enemies, including the French chapter of the Fraternity, a group that is fanatical about upholding the code of the Loom of Fate. The French chapter is headed by The Immortal, a severe Fraternity leader with a grudge against Wesley and his family, and also employs Araña, a beautiful but deadly Spanish assassin, and Brummel, the businessman assassin who is as street smart as he is sophisticated.

Featuring intense third-person action, Wanted: Weapons of Fate will take combat to the next level with iconic moves such as “Curving Bullets” and “Assassin Time” drawn directly from the film, as well as an innovative, multi-layered cover mechanic."

Now that states the game follows on from the film, but you can play as Wesley's father Cross, who apparantly died in the film. Not sure if this will be as a flashback in the game or just a wiki-error.

Here's the trailer.


What are your thoughts on this after seeing the trailer?
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The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawntreader Concept Art



Some concept art for the new Narnia film, The Voyage of The Dawntreader. What did you think of Prince Caspian and will you be looking forward to this new one?

Public Enemies - Johnny Depp as John Dillinger, Christian Bale as FBI Agent in new Michael Mann film

Empire has just released these two new images of Depp as the notorious John Dillinger and Bale as FBI agent Melvin Purvis in Michael Mann's drama Public Enemies, which is set for release on 1st July, 2009.
An adaptation of Brian Burrough's book "Public Enemies: America's Greatest Crime Wave and the Birth of the FBI, 1933-43," the film centers on the government's attempt to stop John Dillinger and his gang. Depp is playing Dillinger to Bale's famed FBI agent Melvin Purvis.

Wednesday 26 November 2008

Star Trek's George Takei sings Ollie Ollie Ollie Tits in a Trolley with Joe Swash on I'm a Celebrity...Get me Out of Here!

George Takei (Sulu) is in ITV's I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out of Here with Joe Swash, Dani Behr, Martina Navratilova, Robert Kilroy Silk, Simon Webbe, Timmy Mallet and a few others. Cockney Joe (Eastenders) hit it off with George and taught him some Cockney rhyming slang and a rude song that goes as follows:

Ollie, Ollie,Ollie,
Tits in a trolley,
Balls in a biscuit tin,
Sittin' in the grass,
With my finger up my a**e,
Playin' with my ding-a-ling-a-ling


George seemed to enjoy it. What do you think of the song?


Here is George back in his prime (how did we not realise he was gay back in the day?)



For those of you wanting to see what the new version of Star Trek looks like you can watch the trailer (with added Spock) here.

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Black Death - Sean Bean stars in Middle Ages Horror


British director Christopher Smith (Severance) is in pre-production on a post apocalyptic film based in the middle ages called Black Death. Sean Bean and Rupert Friend are confirmed to star.

Medieval England has fallen under the shadow of the Black Death. In this apocalyptic world, filled with fear and superstition, a young monk called Osmund is charged in leading a fearsome knight, Ulric and his group of mercenaries to a remote marsh. Their quest is to hunt down a necromancer - someone able to bring the dead back to life. Torn between his love of God and the love of a young woman, Osmund discovers the necromancer, a mysterious beauty called Langiva. After Langiva reveals her Satanic identity and offers Osmund his hearts desire, the horror of his real journey begins.

Source: Quiet Earth
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UPDATED: Wolverine on the cover of Empire. Trailer before The Day the Earth Stood Still

Empire has debuted the latest cover of the next issue of their magazine. On the cover this time is Hugh Jackman as Wolverine from the upcoming X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

The first trailer will be on before The Day the Earth Stood Still on December 12th (probably only in the States) which means we'll have a lot more to look at by then. In addition to that quote that Jackman gave above, actor Danny Huston had this to say about his role as the character William Stryker (who Brian Cox played in X2, X-Men 2).

"The thing about Stryker is that he feels like he's got this God-given right, that he's on a crusade. He both loves and hates mutants, because his son was a mutant and murdered his wife. So he understands what they're going through but despises their force, their potential danger."

Huston tells Empire. "In Logan and Creed, Stryker finds his children and hones their powers like racehorses. But as in the world of horseracing, when your horse breaks his leg and is suddenly useless, he has a very cold way of looking at them. And he's also a mad scientist excited by the possibilities of what he can do to mutants."

Hugh Jackman had this to say about the film, "There's a scene in the first X-Men movie where Wolverine's introduced in a bar, fighting in a cage, and you felt that he did this every night of his life. If this movie is successful, you should feel that this guy can walk straight off the end of this film and into that bar."
X-Men Origins: Wolverine is directed by South African filmmaker Gavin Hood,(Tsotsi, Rendition). The script was written by veteran screenwriter David Benioff (25th Hour, Troy, The Kite Runner). X-Men Origins: Wolverine will be out next Summer.

I had posted the trailer when shown at this years Comic Con, but they've since been taken down. However, I did post a description of the trailer a few months ago and that can be found here.

What do you think of the Empire cover? Are you looking forward to seeing Logan on the big screen?
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Wake the Dead - Concept art for Steve Niles Frankenstein type film

Writer Steve Niles (30 Days of Night, Epilogue) gave ShockTillYouDrop.com a look at one of the conceptual pieces from the upcoming feature film adaptation of his graphic novel Wake the Dead.

"The screenplay, written by Jay Russell and Jim V. Hart is complete," Niles tells us. Russell is also directing for producer Charlie Lyons. "We recently met with Richard Taylor of WETA and they are set to go, and have even supplied us with early concept art by Gino Acevedo (above)."

Wake the Dead, a modern-day Frankenstein story, was published as a mini-series by IDW. Russell and Hart came aboard the project in May (first details).

"I just read the screenplay, and I can say without a doubt that the screenwriters knocked it out of the park," Niles enthuses. "The script captures the comic and goes way beyond. Honestly, I couldn't be happier. It's everything I imagined and more. Jay and Jim expanded the story beautifully, adding to both the haunting romance and the straightforward horror. I think fans are in for something special."

Becoming Batman - Watch in awe as one man tries to become the Dark Knight.

Feeling a bit bored one day and reading about Cheltenham St Peter's request for Batman to protect them, one man finds his true destiny. He also learns that Frazzles are not the best snack to become a one man fighting machine.
The fight training round about 4 minutes in on the second episode is brilliant.
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Luster - Poster for Falling Down meets Scanner Darkly type movie

Thomas Luster is a troubled businessman who tries to make sense of a life being driven out-of-control by a force closer to home than he first realizes. When he discovers that the man working against him is another side of his own personality he is forced to fight back against his manipulative alter-ego as murder, madness and mayhem combine to take Thomas Luster on the most bizarre and terrifying ride of his life.

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Iron Man 2 Casting News - Black Widow and Crimson Dynamo may appear

From io9 - Iron Man 2 is ramping up, and the movie's put out a casting call for two important new characters. They're not named, but their most likely identities are sure to excite old-school fans of shellhead. Click through for spoilers.

According to the ODI, the Iron Man sequel is putting out a call for two lead characters in the new movie: a brilliant, gritty Eastern European man in his thirties, and a beautiful, athletic woman in her thirties who speaks several languages and is great at martial arts. They're not named, but we're guessing the man is Crimson Dynamo and the woman is Natalia Romanova or Natasha Romanoff, also known as the Black Widow.

It would make sense for those two to appear together, since they're both Soviet/Eastern European characters. And the long list of people to wear the Crimson Dynamo armor has included the Black Widow's ex-partner, and another ex-partner's son.

In any case, these casting calls — plus a call for a "Russian bruiser," a smaller role — suggest that Tony Stark will be spending some time in the former Soviet Union. Expect Russian gangsters, ex-Soviet nukes and other hardware, and maybe some angsty discussions of Stark International's role in arms proliferation in the region. [The ODI]


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Duplicity - Trailer - Clive Owen, Julia Roberts, Paul Giamatti, Tom Wilkinson

CIA officer Claire Stenwick (Roberts) and MI6 agent Ray Koval (Owen) have left the world of government intelligence to cash in on the highly profitable cold war raging between two rival multinational corporations. Their mission? Secure the formula for a product that will bring a fortune to the company that patents it first.

For their employers-industry titan Howard Tully (Tom Wilkinson) and buccaneer CEO Dick Garsik (Paul Giamatti)- nothing is out of bounds. But as the stakes rise, the mystery deepens and the tactics get dirtier, the trickiest secret for Claire and Ray is their growing attraction. And as they each try to stay one double-cross ahead, two career loners find their schemes endangered by the only thing they can’t cheat their way out of: love.

Written and directed by Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton).

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Tuesday 25 November 2008

Robert Downey Jr hopes the Avengers doesn't suck

MTV caught up with Robert Downey Jr and asked what he hoped for in the Avengers movie.

“If we don’t get it right it’s really, really going to suck,” said Downey. “It has to be the crowning blow of Marvel’s best and brightest because it’s the hardest thing to get right. It’s tough to spin all the plates for one of these characters.”

However, in taking on the role of a key member of the Avengers to such digital fanfare, Downey has in a sense become the face of the operation — at least until other Marvel films such as “Captain America” and “Thor” get made (and, likewise, until Marvel figures out how to handle the Hulk). To a lesser actor, this seems like an insurmountable amount of pressure, but Downey remains level-headed, and like any good soldier, knows he’s got a job to do, knows he’s already got a solid team at his side, and looks forward to seeing how the other films will play into the “Avengers.”

“I think its important that I do what I’m supposed to do which is keep my side of the street clean,” said Downey. “The danger you run with colliding all these worlds is [director] Jon [Favreau] was very certain that ‘Iron Man’ should be set in a very realistic world. Nothing that happened in ‘Iron Man’ is really outside the realm of possibility. Once you start talking about Valhalla and supersized super soldiers and jolly green giants it warrants much further discussion.”

How do you think they'll integrate Thor into the Avengers? Will they go the peace loving hippy Ultimates version or the "I say thee nay" version of the original Marvel Universe? Who should play Thor? Should they follow the original Ultimates storyline where they fight the Hulk in the opening scenes and then stash Banner in the vaults, before taking on the shape shifting Skrulls? Will Hawkeye be in it?
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Terminator Salvation Full Motion Poster - Click it and you will see



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Dolph Lundgren to be one of The Expendables with Statham, Li and Stallone

The good chaps over at Filmstalker have the news that Dolph Lundgren could be starring in Sylvester Stallone's upcoming film The Expendables, along with the already signed Jason Statham and Jet Li.

This could well bring Lundgren back in from the cold that is direct to DVD. It all sounds a bit like the old school action heroes getting back together for an Ocean's 11 get together in blowing stuff up. All it needs now is Bruce Willis, Kurt Russell and Carl "Action Jackson" Weathers to get signed up.

The Expendables will see a group of mercenaries pulled together for a mission in South America that involves overthrowing a dictator which has a first half of Predator type vibe.

We already heard that Jason Statham and Jet Li would be returning to their film partnership, and it seems fitting that the other casting brings back another strong action partnership, that of Stallone and Dolph Lundgren.

The news story comes from Dolph Ultimate through AITH.

What do you think of Rocky and Drago getting back together again? Are you looking forward to Stallone putting the band back together?
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Old Spock in Star Trek. Yes that is Leonard Nimoy

Ain't It Cool News has debuted an extra special internet-only version of the trailer with one scene added to the end. Yep, Leonard Nimoy as Spock which adds more to the time travel possible alternate time-line tale that seems to be developing. Keep watching right to the end.


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Battlestar Galactica Season 4.5 Teaser Trailer - Who is the fifth Cylon?


Apparantly it is none of the above. Here's the trailer. Let me know what you think of it?

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The International - New Trailer for Clive Owen and Naomi Watts latest

They control your money. They control your government. They control your life. And everybody pays. Not like R.E.M. who said Everybody Hurts.

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Waterworld The Musical


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Pascal Laugier to direct Details based on China Miéville short story.

Pascal Laugier who was due to direct the Weinstein Company's Hellraiser remake is now going to direct a horror thriller for Paramount Vantage Details. Laugier, of the highly praised French horror film Martyrs most recently, will write and direct the adaptation, which is based on a short story by China Miéville from his collection, Looking for Jake. The film centers on a daughter who disappears after awakening supernatural forces that inhabit the random patterns of everyday objects.

China Miéville is one of my favourite authors and writes "weird fiction". He wrote the excellent Perdido Street Station and The Scar amongst others. The latter has a dolphin in it called Bastard John which is just genius!

Details deals with the psychological phenomenon known as Pareidolia which involves a vague and random stimulus (often an image or sound) being perceived as significant. Common examples include seeing images of animals or faces in clouds (hence the photo on this article), the man in the moon, Jesus in a potato and hearing hidden messages on records played in reverse.

According to reports, Laugier is still attached to direct the Hellraiser remake. But with the Weinstein Company on the ropes, it's likely that Laugier will shoot Details before he gets back to Hellraiser. Martyrs won't be out on DVD until next year.

Any other China Miéville fans out there excited to see a film based on one of his stories? I've just reread The Scar and would love to see that on the big screen.

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Snoop Dogg makes mashed potato with Martha Stewart for shizzle!

I saw this on Boing Boing and had to share. It truly is a proper WTF moment!

Martha Stewart made mashed potatoes with Fatherhood star Snoop Dogg on her television show recently. About the very funny video clip above, she blogs:

[He] taught me some of his very own language called Snoop-guistics. He and his posse add ‘izzles’ onto the ends of words. It’s kind of a code, or a way of communicating so that others won’t know what they’re talking about. Example: fo shizzle is how they say, for sure. Snoop Dogg also shared –

* Crack-a-lackin – means get something poppin

* Chuuuch – means take God everywhere you go and everything will be all right

* All hood – means good

* Ball til ya fall – get as much money as you can before you die

What did you think of the Dogg's mashed potatoes?
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The Real Captain Kirk's response to trailer for New Star Trek and William Shatner's thoughts on the new Enterprise


That was Captain Kirk's take on the J J Abrams trailer for the new Star Trek movie and below is William Shatner's thoughts on the design for the new USS Enteprise.

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The Spirit - New Christmas TV Spot for Frank Miller's feature.

Here is a new TV spot for Lionsgate's adaptation of Will Eisner's comic book series, The Spirit, which is set to open on Christmas Day. Check out the new TV Spot below all ready for Christmas.

Whatd do you think now? Will you be going to see it? I'm still undecided.
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Gerard Way talks about The Umbrella Academy's next series and the film adaption


Umbrella Academy” writer (and My Chemical Romance frontman) Gerard Way and artist Gabriel Ba have been busy at work on the next mini-series of the excellent and weird comic book. Gerard has been talking to MTV about both. (The Wiki entry for it is here to bring you up to speed)
With the critical and commercial success of “The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite” under its belt, the Eisner-winning collaborators continue with “The Umbrella Academy: Dallas,” which hits stores this week through Dark Horse Comics. Bearing fan expectations in mind, the duo spoke confidently of their vision for the future of “The Umbrella Academy” — both in terms of the comic series as well as the fast-tracked “Umbrella Academy” feature film.
“We really truly hadn’t anticipated ['Apocalypse Suite'] to be so well-received and get so much attention,” said Way, “So that obviously kind of raised the stakes, [and] not in a negative way. If anything, it’s forced us to go even further to not pay attention to what people think about it or what they’re going to think about it.”
His collaborator, Ba, agreed, and thinks fans have been quick to realize that the platinum-selling artist is one of their own (not really a secret, considering before starting MCR, Way attended art school and interned at DC Comics). “I think that we have overcome the initial point of ‘Gerard is a musician writing a comic’ and all the attention that got us, both good and bad, and now we just have to focus on doing the best we can on the following series,” said Ba.

“Dallas” opens to a familiar sight. “Are we really fighting another monument?!” shouts a ten-year-old Kraken as he and his super-powered siblings engage a giant, fire-breathing Lincoln Monument. Once again Ba’s economic line balances form with function, adding stylish gravitas to Way’s quirky, cinematic dialogue. It’s like a Wes Anderson movie penned by a feverish Grant Morrison.
“Every single issue is taking some kind of very big risk, and that’s been amazing,” said Way.But “Dallas” isn’t the only project expanding the “UA” mythos. With the “Umbrella Academy” movie green-lit for production through Universal, Way’s been busy navigating Hollywood for the right talent to ensure a faithful-yet-fresh film.

“They want me really involved, which is flattering. So I’m going to be as involved as I can, while at the same time relinquishing control of the stuff,” said Way, “I’d like to be available to them but at the end of the day I’m not going to tell them how to do their job.”

As involved as Way is though, there is one thing he won’t be doing – writing the script, especially with writers like Diablo Cody (”Juno”) popping up as potential candidates.

“I’m definitely going to turn it over to a screenwriter. I even got Final Draft so I can figure out what they do,” said Way, “The craft of actually writing the screenplay as far as the pacing, that’s something that’s alien to me.”
Way says he wants an entertaining script with action, but most importantly it needs to feel like, “a quirky art-house film.”

Busy at the drawing board, Ba hasn’t involved himself with the movie just yet, but has high hopes for a future “Umbrella” onscreen adaptation as well as for comics themselves.

“I’d like [the film] to be a great experience for the public who doesn’t even know it was a comic book and I’d love to get everyone who sees the movie into the stores to buy comics.”

MTV also have a preview for issue 1 of The Umbrella Academy: Dallas so go on over and take a look.

Have you read the first Umbrella Academy mini series? What did you think of it? I loved it and thought it had a Grant Morrison Doom Patrol vibe running through it, plus the artwork was stupendous. If it does make it to the big screen who would you like to see playing the various members of The Umbrella Academy? I personally feel it should be a stop motion thing in the vein of The Nightmare Before Christmas, but that's just me.

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Monday 24 November 2008

Road Train - All aboard for Aussie horror in a Christine / Duel stylee maybe?

My folks and brother are currently over in Australia so this film is apt in its way (apart from the murder and horror!). I saw it mentioned on Quiet Earth.

"Four young friends on a camping adventure in outback Australia are run off the road by a mystery road train - a massive three-trailer truck. With their own 4x4 wrecked and the road train stopped, the friends march off to remonstrate with the driver. But there is no one to be found. Suddenly, the silence is broken by the sound of gunshots. A distant figure screams and runs towards them. Are they witnesses to a murder? There’s no time to discuss it. The friends commandeer the road train. The next town is only three hours away. But the next town is somewhere they will never reach. What they discover inside the vehicle’s trailers proves more terrifying than anything out there on that lonely road."

Does sound a bit like Christine, Duel and that old film with James Brolin as a Sheriff being terrorised by a demonic black car. The poster looks great and I am intrigued as to what they will find on the Road Train. Filming is due to start next year.
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Batman: Arkham Asylum video game teaser trailer


Here is a screen shot and trailer for the new Batman: Arkham Asylum computer game. It's based more on the comic books than the recent Batman Begins and The Dark Knight movies.

Coming out on Xbox 360, PS3, PC and PS2 at some point in 2009, apparently it will mix puzzle-solving and combat from the third-person perspective in what I've read may play something like BioShock style action. Gameplay takes places on an island, their will be several supporting characters and villains including Commissioner Gordon, the Joker and the Riddler, and in-game guidance will be provided by Barbara Gordon (Oracle). If it has half the suspense of Bioshock then it may well be a cool Batman game and that has been a long time coming.

The trailer doesn't actually show any gameplay, just lots of Arkham Asylum and as well as Bioshock it has a Silent Hill, Resident Evil kind of vibe. What do you game players think? It does look pretty cool.


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Batman: The Brave and the Bold - Diedrich Bader is Batman. Do you remember The Searcher?


Just been reading a bit about the new DC animated series, Batman: The Brave and the Bold. Basically a weekly team-up with Batman and another DC hero. Sounds pretty good and I do like me a bit of animated comic goodness. Here is the trailer for the animated show. It seems to be going for a more kid friendly comic book kind of vibe as opposed to the Christian Bale gravelly voiced Batman. I mean Batman and Plastic Man in the picture are going up against intelligent apes (which is always cool in my book) and Kamandi and the new Blue Beetle are down to star in the series of stand alone adventures.

This is the opening credits and theme song.

What struck me though was the fact Diedrich Bader is voicing the Dark Knight this time around and not Kevin Conroy (Batman: The Animated Series). If you don't know the name you will more than likely know Bader's voice as he has done a load of character acting for various animated things (Surf's Up, Ice Age, Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy, Gargoyles, and Batman Beyond to name but a few). For his live action stuff he is probably best known as Oswald in The Drew Carey Show. However, I first remember seeing him as The Searcher in Danger Theatre many moons ago (actually it was 1994). The Searcher was a great spoof on the action series such as Knight Rider and the other lone renegade helping the innocent against the bad guys. Below is the opening credits for The Searcher.

Here is one of his adventures as introduced by Robert Vaughn.

At first I was a bit sorry to hear that Kevin Conroy wouldn't be doing the voice of Batman in the new series. However, looking into it a bit more I think Bader's voice will be well suited for the Silver Age-esque Batman they seem to be going for in the show. How do you feel about Bader voicing Batman? Will you be watching The Brave and The Bold? More importantly does anyone else remember The Searcher?

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Oscars - What do you think will win Best Picture

I recently posted the ad that had been taken out to promote The Dark Knight for Best Picture at next years Oscars.

That got me thinking about what could possibly win The Best Picture. On my wanders around the World Wide Web there are a few films that seem to be in the running for Best Picture. They are as follows:

Australia - Nicole and Hugh get it on in the outback.

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Brad Pitt ages backwards.

The Dark Knight - Bale growls as The Batman, Ledger does a magic trick and there are two Aaron Eckharts but I didn't see any jousting.

Doubt - Meryl Streep and Amy Adams are nuns. Is it a porno? Philip Seymore Hoffman wishes.

Frost/Nixon - The head Lycan dude fron Underworld interviews Dracula.

Gran Torino - Clint Eastwood plays a rascist and has a nice car.

Milk - Sean Penn play a big gay bottle of semi-skimmed or a politician or something.

Nothing But the Truth - Kate Beckinsale outs a CIA agent with hilarious consequences.

Rachel Getting Married - Rachel is getting married and her sister does drugs

The Reader - Kate Winslet is a Nazi who likes to have bedtime stories read to her. Ahh isn't that sweet!

Revolutionary Road - Kate Winslett and Leonardo DiCaprio set sail on the Titanic while living in 1950's Connecticut and argue a lot or something. I could be wrong. Not sure how Kate got the part in the film directed by her husband? Is Billy Zane in it?

Slumdog Millionaire - Indian kid wins Who Wants to be A Millionaire. Danny Boyle still goes on about 28 Days Later wasn't a zombie film.

The Wrestler - Mickey Rourke is a washed up has-been. In this film he plays a wrestler.

WALL-E - CGI Pixar fest with a cute little robot.

Sadly I've only seen a couple of them (Dark Knight, WALL-E) although a fair few of them have yet to be released so it's not that bad a thing. I do want to see Benjamin Button, Frost/Nixon, Gran Torino, Milk and The Wrestler and the others I'm all a bit meh about. I personally think Benjamin Button will win the best picture Oscar purely from all the buzz and reviews I've been reading about it.

Which film do you see winning Best Picture? How many of the above list have you seen and what are you looking forward to seeing? Which ones will you avoid? What films should be on the list? Will Billy Zane win best actor?

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Ridley Scott talks about Cormac McCarthy's Western, Blood Meridian, and Tripoli

Ridley Scott has been interviewed by Empire magazine recently. He spoke about Body of Lies but also gave some news about his adaption of Cormac McCarthy's Western, Blood Meridian, and the difficulties of adapting a book that is steeped in violence and which deals with seriously un-PC topics.

"It's written. I think it's a really tricky one, and maybe it's something that should be left as a novel. If you're going to do Blood Meridian you've got to go the whole nine yards into the blood bath, and there's no answer to the blood bath, that's part of the story, just the way it is and the way it was. When you start to scalp Mexican wedding parties that'll draw the line. One scalp of coarse black hair is pretty well either Mexican or Indian, and there was no difference to the scalp hunters in Arizona at that time, who didn't draw the line."

Blood Meridian, or the Evening Redness in the West is a 1985 novel by Cormac McCarthy. Wiki states, "The novel tells the story of a teenage runaway named only as "the kid", who was born in Tennessee during the famously active Leonids meteor shower of 1833. He first meets the enormous and hairless Judge Holden at a religious revival in Nacogdoches, Texas: Holden falsely accuses the preacher, Reverend Green, of pedophilia and intercourse with a goat and incites a mob to chase him out of town.

After a violent encounter with a bartender establishes the kid as a formidable fighter, he joins a party of ill-armed U.S. Army irregulars on a filibustering mission led by a Captain White. Shortly after entering Mexico, they are attacked and massacred by a band of Comanche warriors. Few of them survive. Arrested as a filibuster in Chihuahua, the kid is set free when his acquaintance Toadvine tells the authorities they will make useful Indian hunters for the state's newly hired scalphunting operation. They join Glanton and his gang, and the bulk of the novel is devoted to detailing their activities and conversations. The gang encounters a traveling carnival, and, in untranslated Spanish, each of their fortunes is told with Tarot cards. The gang originally contract with various regional leaders to protect locals from marauding Apaches, and are given a bounty for each scalp they recover. Before long, however, they devolve into the outright murder of unthreatening Indians, unprotected Mexican villages, and eventually even the Mexican army and anyone else who crosses their path.

Throughout the novel Holden is presented as a profoundly mysterious and awe-inspiring figure; the others seem to regard him as not quite human. Like the historical Holden of Samuel Chamberlain's autobiography, he is a child-killer, though almost no one in the gang expresses much distress at his committing these acts. According to the kid's new companion Ben Tobin, an "ex-priest", the Glanton gang first met the judge while fleeing for their lives from a much larger Apache group. In the middle of a blasted desert, they found Holden sitting on an enormous boulder, where he seemed to be waiting for the gang. They agreed to follow his leadership, and he took them to an extinct volcano, where, astoundingly, he instructed the ragged, desperate gang on how to manufacture gunpowder, enough to give them the advantage against the Apaches. When the kid remembers seeing Holden in Nacogdoches, Tobin tells the kid that each man in the gang claims to have met the judge before he joined forces with Glanton."

Scott also passed on a few tidbits about the background and setting for another proposed film, Tripoli, a William "Kingdom of Heaven" Monaghan-scripted tale of high adventure in 19th century North Africa, as a US diplomat teamed up with the dispossessed heir to the throne of Tripoli to challenge the heir's usurper brother.

There is lots more to read in the interview over atEmpire.

Have any of you read Blood Meridian? No Country for Old Men was a brilliant movie and The Road was a great book, so I imagine Blood Meridian is a cracking read and seems to be another movie in the slow Hollywood build up of Westerns in recent years. I also like the sound of the mysterious Holden being viewed by some as not quite human (a bit like Anton Chigurh played by Javier Bardem in No Country for Old Men). Who could you see playing the monstrous and hairless Judge Holden?
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