Category Archives: Movies

Oscars: ‘The Hurt Locker’ trumps ‘Avatar’

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This year’s Academy Awards was actually quite entertaining.  Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin proved to be great hosts; the Neil Patrick Harris surprse opening number was a hit (the Paranormal Activity spoof was spot on); the horror film montage was long overdue; Ben Stiller dressed as a Nav’i blue humanoid with fishline-controlled tail was great; the Best Picture featurettes worked well; the dance routines performed for each song in the Best Original Score category was fun; the Best Actor/Actress introductions were touching; and there was even a “imma let you finish but…” moment by some strange woman.  AND the Best Director award went to a woman for the first time!  So those were the highlights; now let’s discuss the notable winners.

Let’s start with the king (or should I say queen) of the night Kathryn Bigelow and her brilliant film The Hurt Locker.  The critically acclaimed film nabbed six Oscar wins in the following categories: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Original Screenplay, Best Editing, Best Sound Mixing, and Best Sound Editing.  Avatar, directed by Biglow’s ex-husband James Cameron, walked away with many technical awards including: Best Visual Effects, Best Cinematography, and Best Art Direction.  (Side note: District 9 totally would have won all these awards if Avatar had not been competition!)  Best Actor went to Jeff Bridges (Crazy Heart), no surprise there; and Best Actress went to Sandra Bullock (The Blind Side).  Best Supporting Actor deservedly went to Christoph Waltz (Inglourious Basterds); and Best Supporting Actress went to Mo’Nique (Precious), again no surprise there.  Precious also picked up Best Adapted Screenplay.

Other notable winners include: Pixar’s UP nabbed Best Animated Film and Best Score (well done, Michael Giacchino); and Star Trek won Best Makeup.  Look after the break for the full breakdown of the night’s winner and losers.  Overall, the 82nd Academy Awards show was entertaining, fun, and full of deserved wins.  Congratuations to Kathryn Bigelow & crew for The Hurt Locker.  James Cameron, go wallow in your boatloads of cash.

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Gilligan’s Island is being remade for the big screen

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Warner Bros. and Atlas Entertainment are bringing back the seven castaways of Gilligan’s Island, the highly popular and successfully syndicated show that originally aired on CBS for three seasons between 1964 and 1967.  For you younglings, Variety does a fine job at summizing the premise of the show: “[It] centered on the wacky misadventures of seven castaways — two crew members, a millionaire couple, a professor, a movie star and a girl-next-door type — on an uncharted and uninhabited island in the Pacific.”  Details about the movie’s plot are undisclosed since it has yet to be written.  Sherwood Schwartz (original show producer and composer for “The Ballad of Gilligan’s Isle,” the iconic theme song) and son Lloyd Schwartz are the executive producers with Charles Roven (The Dark Knight, Scooby Doo, The International) and Richard Suckle (Scooby Doo, The International) as producers.  Brad Copeland (Wild Hogs) will pen the script.  Production could start as early as next year, but that all depends on when they find a director and when the script is finalized.  Roven on the remake: “The characters are so good.  We think it’s going to be a great story to transport these cultural icons to the modern day.”

Sherwood Schwartz said he envisions Michael Cera cast as the iconic lead character Gilligan.  Do you think that’s a good choice?  What about the others…

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle, with Gilligan, The Skipper too, the millionaire and his wife, the movie star, the professor and Mary Ann, Here on Gilligans Isle.

[Via Variety]

Trailer: The Karate Kid

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Here’s the trailer for the remake of the original Karate Kid (1984).  It stars Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan as his martial arts trainer.  Harald Zwart is directing, Jaden’s dad Will Smith is producing with wife Jada Pinkett, James Lassiter, Ken Stovitz, and Jerry Weintraub (he launched the original franchise).

According to Variety, “While the new film will be set in that exotic locale, it will borrow elements of the original plot, wherein a bullied youth learns to stand up for himself with the help of an eccentric mentor.”  The Karate Kid opens in theaters June 11.  The trailer looks fun, but will it live up to the original or Parts II, III, and The Next Karate Kid?

[Via TrailerAddict; Variety]

Trailer: Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

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GORDON GEKKO IS BACK.

Wall Street 2 takes place 26 years after the conclusion of the 1987 Academy Award-winning Wall Street; both are directed by Oliver Stone.  It stars Michael Douglas, Shia LaBeouf, Josh Brolin, and Carey Mulligan.  SPOILER: Charlie Sheen is rumored to make a cameo.  The sequel hits theatres April 21.  Watch the trailer below.  Do it.

[Via TrailerAddict]

Joss Whedon & Eliza Dushku aren’t done yet

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Sure, due to low ratings FOX’s Dollhouse didn’t last long for creator Joss Whedon and star Eliza Dushku.  But that doesn’t mean they are parting ways so quickly.  From Dushku’s mouth to our ears, she and Whedon will be working together again, this time on a feature film:  “I would say that we would [be working on something new very soon]! I think we’re going to work on a kickass feature together that we’ve been thinking about for a few years.”

The dudes over at Slashfilm have geniusly tied this comment to a future Whedon project, a horror movie called Goners that features a female lead.  In 2005 Whedon described it:

It is a fantasy thriller, it is pretty dark and it’s all me. So people will pretty much know what that means if they look at my body of work. But it’s a new universe set in the present day with a new concept for me and a new bunch of characters. It’s been a long time since I got to do that, so that’s really fun.

It’s the story of a young woman’s journey that involves a great deal of horror and some heroics.

Though we can’t be certain that such a connection exists, news that Whedon and Dushku have something in the works is more than exciting.  You can be sure I’ll be keeping my ear to the ground on this one and will report back with new details as they surface.

[Via Geektyrant; Slashfilm; HollywoodLife; Wiki]

Joss Whedon & Morgan Spurlock may film a Comic Con documentary

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According to E! News, creator/director/producer/writer/genius Joss Whedon is teaming up with director Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me) to develop a documentary following a group of uber-nerds attending this year’s Comic Con.  According to the source, “They want to follow people for about three months leading up to this year’s Comic-Con.  And then they want to film them there.  They’re looking at all types of people.”

As much as I would love to be featured in this doc, I don’t know if I have the chops to make the cut.  I’m not really into the whole costume thing.  But they did say they are searching for all types of people.  WHEDON & SPURLOCK, listen here: If you’re looking for a blogger who goes to Comic Con to walk the convention floor and attend as many TV/movie/web series panels as humanly possible, I’m the one you want!  Hey, it’s worth a try.

[Via E!]

Batman 3 rumors: Arkham Asylum, The Riddler, & more

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According to “unverified sources” the next Batman flick is well underway, with a David S. Goyer/Jonah Nolan first draft script already penned.  Sources add the the plot will introduce Arkham Asylum and the prominent villain will be…THE RIDDLER!  Also mentioned is that other classic Batman villains will make cameos and they include The Penguin and Mr. Freeze (as Dr. Fries).  And if that’s not enough for you, sources also say that  Barbara Gordon (daughter of Commissioner Gordon) will have a bigger role in the film and Dick Grayson will make an appearence, though likely not as Robin.  Oh, and one more thing.  The Superman universe may get mentioned in the film with nods to Lex Luther and Metropolis.  Director Chistopher Nolan was recently hired by Warner Bros. to helm the Superman reboot franchise; an exciting connection as such makes sense.  With all these juicy Batman rumors flying around the ‘Net I can’t wait to see the trailer!

[Via IGN]