SCOTT BACK TO DIRECT ALIEN PREQUEL

Finally, some news from FOX that I can actually get behind. When I heard the studio was doing prequel to Alien I thought to myself, why? Why do we need another crappy alien movie after these horrible Alien vs. Predator films we've seen? But today there is news that Ridley Scott, the director of the original Alien is coming back for the prequel. Now that's good news. Maybe if they would have gone after an established director for the Alien vs. Predator films, we could get excited about more news like this. This is definitely a step in the right direction.

HEADLINES

CASTING NEWS FOR BATTLE: LOS ANGELES
Aaron Eckhart, Michelle Rodriguez, Michael Pena and Bridget Moynahan have signed to star in Battle: Los Angelas. The film is about a Marine (Eckhart) and his platoon, who battle an alien invasion in Los Angeles. Hopefully this movie will be decent. I love alien movies, but in most cases they fall short.



PS3'S INFAMOUS HEADED TO THE BIG SCREEN
Sony is finalizing a deal with Sucker Punch Productions (the company behind the Infamous game) to bring it to the big screen. The writer for the film is going to be Sheldon Turner, who's only other films have been The Longest Yard and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning. I don't see a lot of potential in this film . The game is about a guy who gets super powers and goes and unleashes it on the city. At least Sony is doing this film and not FOX. If you have seen a film by FOX in the last 5 years, then you know everthing they make is crap.



BRYCE DALLAS HOWARD JOINS ELCLIPSE
Rachelle Lefevre has played the role of Victoria, the bad vampire, in the first two films, but now all of a sudden Lefevre has been dumped from the third film and replaced by Bryce Dallas Howard. Initially, the rumor was that Lefevre had scheduling conflicts with other projects and she could no longer commit to the films. Yesterday, however she said that she has turned down several roles to stay on the films and has chosen projects with only ten day shoots and that the studio wanted her replaced. Either way Howard is a much better actress and apparently the character of Victoria has a huge role in Eclipse. How exciting.










REVIEWS FOR DISTRICT 9 GREAT SO FAR
Peter Jackson screened District 9 for an audience at Comic-Con last weekend. Reports are saying that it in every way beats out Transformers, Wolverine and Terminator: Salvation. The only info from the film is that its very gory, it starts off documentary style and then kinda switches to more of a regular movie feel in the second act. I'm hoping this film turns out to be as good as everyone is saying.

KATHRINE HEIGL IS AN UNGRATEFUL SNOB

I remember first seeing Heigl on a show called Roswell that ran for three years. I thought to myself "she is pretty hot, and I like her on the show. I hope she gets big". Well here comes Grey's Anatomy in 2005 and she is one of the stars of the show. Up until then, no one really had heard of Heigl and to make it big is hard to do in Hollywood. Well, once she became a big star is when I stopped liking her and started hating her. In every interview she did she came off rude. In every article she gave she would kick someone down from the show for not getting her enough screen time, not liking where they took her character for the season.


So she ends up winning an Emmy for this, as she describes, horrible show she's on and what does she do? Instead of thanking people from the show and people who helped her out, she gets up their and talks about how she deserves it and that she has worked her ass off since she was little to get here. Oh, and she thanked her mom. How nice. Then there was that thing where T.R. Knight came out and said he was gay and Isaiah Washington called him a fag. Well she was behind that whole thing blowing up too. So finally her new movie, The Ugly Truth, is out and she goes on Letterman to promote it. Instead of talking about the film, she bashes the staff of Grey's Anatomy for making her work a 17 hour day and that she is going to keep talking about it because she hopes it embarrasses them. Then she talks about how she is still unhappy about where they have taken her character. Well Ken Levin, one of the show's producers wrote on his blog why exactly they had to make poor Mrs. Heigl shoot a 17 hour day. Here is what he said:

"Poor Katherine Heigl. What she neglected to add was this: This "cruel" shooting schedule was only to accommodate HER and her needs. The producers graciously shuffled things around so she could go off and do promotion for her new film. Also, with union rules, the producers had to pay a ton of overtime and penalties to make this happen. The thanks they get is Katherine Heigl going on national television hoping to embarrass them.
This is an extreme case of chutzpah, but it's not uncommon that when shows become big hits cast members become much in demand. They're offered movie parts, plays, free cruises, you name it. All of a sudden, the show that launched their success is now sort of an imposition. [...] So producers are put in the sticky position of either denying them these outside projects or moving heaven and earth to accommodate them -- as if it's easy to complete principal photography on a normal schedule. (This is of course irrelevant to Katherine the Ingrate who only thinks of herself)."

So there you have the true side of Kathrine Heigl. I hope all of her movies fail and that she is killed a horrible and unexpected death on Grey's Anatomy and her career takes a nose dive.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE HURT LOCKER

The Hurt Locker takes place in 2004 during the Iraqi war and centers around an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) squad. When the team leader is killed during an attempt to defuse a bomb, the two remaining members, Sergeant J.T. Sanborn (Anthony Mackie) and Specialist Owen Eldridge (Brian Geraghty) are teamed up with their new leader Staff Sergeant William James (Jeremy Renner).

On their first mission as a new team Sanborn and Eldridge quickly discover that their new Staff Sergeant is not one for rules or protocol as he dangerously and carelessly takes a "different" approach at defusing and IED (Improvised Explosive Device). Instead of rules and guidelines, Sgt. James looks death in the face, smiles, and doesn't hesitate to hop down on the "problems" with his cowboy, hot head attitude and unwillingness to work with his teammates. With only 40 days left on their tour, this isn't the kind of behavior Sanborn and Eldridge were looking to find themselves around, because with each new situation, holds an even bigger threat than the previous.

The Hurt Locker takes you directly inside the Iraqi war from how the locals interact with the U.S. Soldiers, to unexpected standoffs in the dessert. You actually can feel the stress and pressure that our men and women face when they walk up these car bombs, IED's, and even body bombs. What is even more incredible is that it has a female director, Kathryn Bigelow. After watching this film, it has re awoken the respect and gratitude I have for our soldiers that I think our country has forgotten some about the further 9/11 gets from our minds. It was a tad long with a few scenes that were a little drawn out, so I give this 4.5 out of 5.

WHAT'S GOING ON WITH DC?

With all the big Marvel Comics movies that have come out in the past nine years and all the plans for future films, it has me wondering, where is DC at?
They have the Batman franchise which is an incredible franchise and they finally brought back Superman only for it to fall short at the box office. Now finally we have news that the Green Lantern will finally be moving forward.

So first let me say something about the Superman franchise. What is going on here? There have been five total Superman movies, and none of them were any good in my opinion. I believe that a comic book movie is only as good as its villain. Now I know Lex Luthor is his main rival, and Kevin Spacey is my favorite actor and did a fine job, but what can he do? And Superman IV: The Quest For Peace? Give me a break. The dude is the strongest guy in the world, he can take bullets to the chest, fly, super speed, etc. I want to see Brainiac or even better, Doomsday. Also, I'm sick of the whole "oh here comes the kryptonite but amazingly he gets away from it" bit. Give him a villain worth fighting, PLEASE put some action in it and lets get this franchise rebooted for real this time.

Now what about Aquaman, Green Arrow, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter and Flash? These are all good characters who could easily be brought to the big screen. An underwater superhereo movie could be awesome with todays technology.
I love the fact that Marvel is working together to bring all the superheroes we like to the big screen and then interweaving their stories and making The Avengers movie. This is the movie I'm most excited about. How can you not be? And how can DC see what Marvel is doing and sit back and do nothing? The problem with DC is that their villains suck. Get some writers together put them in a room and have them brainstorm about some ideas on getting some cooler villains in the comics or at least up on screen. Do I want to see a Wonder Woman and Flash movie? Of course, but not if there after some boring villain. Ghost Rider's villain sucked therefore the movie sucked, same with Elektra, Daredevil, both Punishers....get my point. A Justice movie could be awesome, you could put The Joker and Lex Luthor in a movie together and boom, total chaos. Marvel is killing DC right now by leaps and bounds. Hopefully Warner Bros. will just make all the DC movies that way we can see a Justice League movie and not have to worry about who owns the right to what characters like Marvel.

IT'S TUESDAY WHAT DVD SHOULD I BUY

There are a lot more options to choose from this week depending on your taste in movies or tv shows.




BATTLESTAR GALACTICA SEASON 4.5
This series is probably the most underrated and best show most people have never seen. Every person I have let watch this show has ended up loving it, even females. I think what turns people away is the name of the show. It does sound nerdy, but this show is full of action, the writing is one of the best, and you connect with the characters, who by the way are all awesome. If you have never watched Battlestar Galactica I highly, highly recommend this.



FAST&FURIOUS
I think they really blew it with this film. It was too unrealistic, with a very weak story. I actually enjoyed the first and third films, but Paul Walker is just about unbareable to watch in my opinion and racing sequences have gotten dull and boring. I know this film is for some people, so go for it.



DOLLHOUSE SEASON ONE
I'm very suprised that this series actually lasted it's first season, since FOX is horrible about pulling the plug on shows before they even get off the ground. I never got a chance to check this show out mainly because it is on Friday nights but I hear that it is very good so check it out, it should be pretty cheap because there wasn't many episodes in the first season.




DRAGONBALL EVOLUTION
Well, here we have another example of how FOX is horrible and ruins everything they touch. This could have been a decent film if they would have gone after better writers, a better director, and I would have picked a different cast. Instead they make this cheesy film with horrible writting, acting, and effects and ruined any chance of a good franchise for these films. I do not recommend wasting your money for this one.



MISS MARCH
What do you know, two horrible films made by the same horrible company (FOX) in the same week. If your between the ages of twelve and fifteen, then your probably going to want to get your hands on this one. But, if your an adult you hopefully can see that a movie about a playboy model and a bunch of not funny crude jokes is a stupid premise for a movie. Once again, stay clear of this one.



BAD LIEUTENANT
Our final dvd pick of the week, is a direct to dvd film starring Nicolas Cage. I remember seeing the trailer for this and thinking "Wow, this movie looks really horrible", and apparently Lions Gate did too, because they skipped the theatres and sent it straight to dvd. Basically, Cage plays a bad cop with drug, attitude, sex, and moral problems. If the studio passed on it, I would too.

COMIC-CON DAY 2

NEXT BATMAN TO BEGIN PRODUCTION NEXT YEAR
Gary Oldman told the audience while doing a Q&A session for The Book Of Eli, that the next Batman movie will begin production next year and to expect it in theatres in two years. He did not mention if Nolan was returning or who the villains might be. Any Batman news is good news though.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE DEBUTS
A teaser was released for Hot Tub Time Machine starring John Cusack, Rob Cordry, and Craig Robinson. As you guessed, it's a comedy about a group of friends who go on a getaway and get sent back in time through.....a hot tub. I wasn't really impressed with the teaser, but I will make a final judgement on it once the trailer has been released. You can watch the red band trailer here:http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=57457






CABIN IN THE WOODS POSTERS
There isn't much information on this movie yet, but the posters for it are very humorous. It is described as a different take on your typical "Cabin In The Woods" type films. This might be worth checking out. Joss Wheadon helped write the film, so its already looking up. Click posters to enlarge.

MOVIE REVIEW: THE UGLY TRUTH

So I went into this film with low expectations, and for about the first forty-five minutes my expectations were correct. The movie centers around a news producer Abby (Heigel) who when rating begin to fall, is forced to bring on a local cable host, Mike, known for his racist and vulgar remarks (Butler). After meeting the man of her dreams, Mike begins teaching her how to keep him and all the secrets that goes on in men's minds. I'm betting you know where this leads, yep, while teaching her the ways of men, he himself begins to fall for her and I'm sure you can guess the rest. There is nothing special going on here with this movie. It did have some funny parts here and there, but this is the same chick flick movie we've seen time and time again. Now it wasn't horrible to watch or anything, so don't get upset if you get dragged to it. You'll be fine. I guess it's just hard to make a chick flick that isn't predictable. I give it a 3 out of 5.

COMIC-CON IS HERE

AVATAR FOOTAGE SCREENED AND AUGUST 21 DECLARED AVATAR DAY
This is probably one of the most anticipated movies coming out. The effects are supposed to be groundbreaking, the movie has said to be visually stunning. James Cameron showed 24 minutes of the movie today and did a Q&A afterwards. No one was allowed to take pictures, film, or even have their laptop open during the screening. He did say that August 21 will be Avatar day meaning that the trailer for the movie and video game will debut, and that you will be able to go to any IMAX and watch 15 minutes of the film for free. Cameron has been working on this film for ten years, so I hope that the hype will be justified. The descriptions of the segment shown were all positive and said that it was amazing, so that is a good step.

WANTED 2 BEGINS IN 8 WEEKS
It was announced today that the script for Wanted 2 was complete and that filming will being in eight weeks. James Mcavoy will return, no other cast was mentioned. I personally enjoyed the first one. It was based off a graphic novel, which some people failed to realize when criticizing it calling it unrealistic. Need we remember that people can't force claws out of their hands either. Anyway, I hope in the next one they introduce some new awesome characters because I felt that a lot of characters were wasted in the first film.








THE BOOK OF ELI TRAILER DEBUTS
The first look at Denzel Washington's new film The Book Of Eli is now online. The film is a post apocalyptic tale of a man who has to fight to bring the world the knowledge that could be the key to its redmption. This looks very good to me. Kind of a mix between Mad Max and I am legend. The film also stars Gary Oldman (The Dark Knight) and Mila Kunis (Forgetting Sarah Marshall, That 70's Show) who I also like. The trailer can be seen here: http://www.apple.com/trailers/wb/thebookofeli/.



New Pirates Trilogy To Start filming Next Spring
Disney's head of production announced today that they plan on starting production on a new Pirates of the Caribbean next April or May with intent of it being released in 2011. He also said that the studio plans on scaling this one down. This is good news, because I think that the second and third one was to big and the storylines just got to complicated. He also mentioned that they might explore Jack Sparrows origins in this film.





Jonnah Hex Poster Revealed
The poster for the DC Comics adaptation of Jonnah Hex, starring Josh Brolin and Megan Fox.





























Google Gets In On Comic-Con
Today Google is going with a super hero themed logo which I thought was pretty cool.













Seth Rogen Unveils Black Beauty
Today Seth Rogen made a suprise appearance at Comic-Con to promote his upcoming movie The Green Hornet by showing off The Black Beauty, the Green Hornet's car. I am really unsure about the movie because A. Seth Rogen is playing a superhero although The Green Hornet doesn't even have powers, and B. The Green Hornet was always a very boring character to me. Also a downer for me is that Nicolas Cage is in talks to be a villain, and he sucks in everything he's in these days.

SAW VI and A Nightmare On Elm Street
Here are early looks at the Saw VI poster and the Nightmare On Elm Street Banner. I'll replace these with better quality ones as they arrive.








Alice In Wonderland Trailer Debuts
The teaser trailer was shown early today for Alice In Wonderland. Overall, it looks like your typically Tim Burton movie nothing really jumped out and impressed me about it. The trailer can be found at joblo.com using this link: http://www.joblo.com/index.php?id=27580

I'll be updating a ton tomorrow hopefully about a lot cooler stuff.

FIRST PIC OF JACKIE EARL HALEY AS THE NEW FREDDY KRUGER

Comingsoon.net has released the first pic of Freedy Kruger played by Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen)in the remake set to release in theatres April 16, 2010. Robert Englund previously has played the character in all the previous instalments. With Comic Con starting in a few days, there should be a full reveal of his face coming soon.

YOU CAST THE NEXT BATMAN

I was talking to a friend about what actors would make good villains for the next Batman movie and I thought, hey that would make a good blog topic. So here's who I think should be lined up to play what villains.









PHILLIP SEYMOUR HOFFMAN as THE PENGUIN
The guy is kind of a below the radar actor, but is great and like Johnny Depp does a wide range of movies. He won an Oscar for Capote, and was an awesome villain in Mission Impossible 3, so I think he has enough credentials for the part.



DANIEL DAY-LEWIS as THE RIDDLER
Now this guy is another person who can play any role. He has been nominated for four Oscars and won two of them. After watching There Will Be Blood, I thought, man this guy has a real creepy/funny side which would be great for The Riddler.


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RACHEL MCADAMS as POISON IVY
I pick Adams simply because I love her in anything she is in, and would make a beautiful Poison Ivy. My only concern, would be that these are dark films and the villains have to be able to get into a dark mindset. So for back up I would pick Tilda Swinton who is the exact opposite of McAdams. She could get into the dark mindset with no problem and has recently won an Oscar. I would much rather look at McAdams for two hours though.



JOHN MALCOVICH as MR. FREEZE
He is a little old, but Mr. Freeze always looked a little old as well. Once again, Malcovich has been nominated for two Oscars, he already has the bald head going for him and has already played several creepy villains before.



ANNE HATHAWAY as CATWOMAN
We could throw around names all day for this role, Angelina Jolie, Scarlett Johansson, Kate Beckinsale, Halle Berry etc. Just kidding on that last one. Anyway, I think Hathaway would be a good choice. She is beautiful, but not in the flashy kind like Jolie and Johansson. She wouldn't just be in a Catwoman suit, but she would be Selena Kyle in the movie which is a big storyline with Bruce Wayne and I don't think these films need the whole "sexy actress" like Iron Man and other comic franchises can pull off. Oh and once again, she too has been nominated for an Oscar.



JOHNNY DEPP as THE JOKER
It is tragic that Heath Ledger passed away, but you can't leave Batman's biggest nemesis out of the movies because the guy who played him (and did it amazingly) passed away. A lot of people want to see him as The Riddler, and I would be fine with that too, but why not just give him the part of The Joker. They could easily have him change up his appearance a little in Arkham or just recast him and not tie it in to the story and hope that viewers realize that it had to be done and accept it. We all know Depp is capable of playing the dark villian roles and or course has been nominated for three Oscars.

A few more villains I wouldn't mind seeing would be Killer Croc and Clayface. Christopher Nolan has said that he doesn't want to do villains like these and Mr. Freeze because they are too cartoonish. Eventually you have to give these characters another shot. People want to see Batman movies, and they aren't going to want to see the same old villains and/or mob boss stories over and over. Just because Joel Shumacher ruined his movies doesn't mean someone else will also. Plus, it's going around that Nolan may not be back so hopefully the next director will be a little more brave. But it has to be the right guy.


So who do you think could fit the parts?

Headlines

SAM RAIMI TO DIRECT WORLD OF WARCRAFT
I like video games and will admit to being a nerd to some extent, but I have never been nerd enough to try and play World of Warcraft. If I did I probably would get sucked in and never leave the house. But it's good to hear that Sam Raimi will be directing this. Fanboys wouldn't want just anyone taking there beloved game and/or life to the big screen. Raimi will begin on Warcraft once Spider-Man 4 is complete.


SAM WORTHINGTON IN THE CANDIDATE
I really think that Sam Worthington will end up being a huge star within two years. He did very well in Terminator Salvation, he stars in James Cameron's Avatar this winter which sounds like it's going to be the biggest movie ever made from everything I'm hearing about it, and he is currently filming a remake to Clash of the Titans which has released some pretty cool set photos recently. Worthington's next project however will not be a blockbuster, but a mystery/thriller. The Candidate is about an aspiring lawyer (Worthington) who wakes up in a hotel with little memory of the woman he met the night before and finds out that.........you guessed it, she's dead in the bathroom. Try and guess the rest. You got it, he's blackmailed and runs around trying to clear his name and uncovers a conspiracy that leads back to his fathers own death. This would sound interesting to me, IF I HADN'T SEEN THIS SAME MOVIE 5 OTHER TIMES IN THE LAST TEN YEARS!


THE STRANGERS 2 IN THE WORKS
There isn't a lot of info about the movie yet, or if Liv Tyler will be back in the sequel, I'm guessing not. The only news on it, is that it starts filming in September, Bryan Bertino, who directed the first one, is not returning. Instead, a guy named Laurent Briet who is a music video director is taking over, which means this will probably be crap now. The plot is rumored to take place in a trailer park, so there will probably be multiple victims in this one. I liked the first movie, but I really don't see why we need a second, I mean there could be ten Strangers movies, just a different family and a different house for each one. We have all seen what happens when they take the same plot and use it over and over again......Saw franchise anyone????

IT'S TUESDAY, WHAT DVD SHOULD I BUY?

The summers suck for dvd releases because you get all the crap from the spring. The only thing to look forward to is August when all the television series begin getting released. So what is worth checking out this Tuesday?


Watchmen
Now while I wasn't a huge fan of the movie, I never read the comic and I heard that helps a ton and I respect that. It's definitely is worth buying if your a fan, and even if you just kinda enjoyed it like I did it would be amazing to watch on blu-ray. Extra features for this include the director's cut version and four different documentaries that together are over two hours long.



Coraline
I did not see Coraline in theatres because frankly it did not appeal to me, but it also comes out tomorrow and I'm sure it would be a great buy for kids. I'll pass however.







Pushing Daisies Season 2
I haven't watched this show but hear nothing but great things and how it was cancelled to soon. So if your a fan of the show this will be your last chance to see it.