Merry Chrsitmas And A Happy New Year!

Only about half an hour to go until it's officially Christmas here so I thought I'd say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to you all! Have a great few days, eat lots, drink lots and be very merry. I hope Santa brings you everything you wished for.

If you don't see a post from me before the 1st of Jan HAPPY 2009!!!

Monsters vs Aliens - New Trailer

A new trailer for Monsters vs Aliens, I'm liking this movie more and more!

A Couple Of Silly Videos...

It's an hour away from Christmas and I thought I'd bring some silly cheer by posting two funny videos I came across this week. The first is a kind of 'what if there was a live action Thundercats movie with some pretty famous faces' and the second is an enjoyable vid featuring Link from the Zelda games singing to Queen's 'We are the champions'. They made me smile anyway.

Thundercats

Singing Link

LoZ: We are the Champions - watch more gamer videos

New Trailer - Night At The Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian

Here's the current trailer for Night At The Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian. I know there's a lot of people out there that couldn't give a crap about this movie but like I said before it's good family entertainment and although this sequel looks like a re-hash of the first, in a bigger museum and with a few more characters, it's still going to have a certain charm that my kids, missus and I enjoy.

Iron Man II - Casting Rumour

I should have posted this 5 days ago but I've been way too busy with X-mas and all!

Anyway ew.com seems to have some spies that have learned that: "John Cho has been cast as the Mandarin in Jon Favreau's follow-up to the gold-plated blockbuster. Cho, having appeared as both Harold and Sulu, will make the Asian geek trifecta with this role as the power-ring-wearing, power-mad villain. Other horribly placed sources tell us that Tommy Chong is being eyed to play the Mandarin's father, who claims to be the real genius responsible for the weaponeering success of Howard Stark, Tony's beloved dad".

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big Cho fan, I've liked him since his American Pie "MILF" chanting scenes and the first Harold and Kumar movie rocked but playing the Mandarin? I get that Marvel are booting these movies from scratch and every character will be younger and less well travelled than we know them from the comics, but to tell you the truth I'd much prefer to see someone older like James Hong as the Mandarin than the far younger Cho... Oh well, let's hope that rumour fades out quickly!

James Hong - A better choice for the Mandarin? Yeah he's getting old, but he's awesome and who could forget David Lo Pan from Big Trouble in Little China?!

Casting Rumour For Captain America? My choices included.

The web is currently ablaze with angry fans over an American radio show interview with American Gladiator Titan a.k.a Mike O'Hearn and his claims that he has not only had auditions for the role of Conan in the upcoming remake but also for Captain America... It's not unbelievable that they'd be looking for someone of O'Hearn's stature for Conan, although he's more He-Man looking than Conan to me, but to think Marvel Studios would even entertain the thought that he'd suit the role of Cap is beyond my understanding and really verges on being a big steaming pile of BS. Nothing against the guy, it's just that he's not a veteran actor like the other recent Marvel movie choices and he's way too big for Cap. We'll see how that rumour turns out. In the meantime I thought I'd post up some of my personal choices for the role of the First Avenger that my colleagues and I were discussing at work the other day. None of them are 100% perfect but they're good choices for one reason or another. First though you have to consider these casting rules that I think are worth noting:

1) He is not far off in age to Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr) so having an actor who is too young isn’t feasible.
2) He is tall, well built, blonde hair and blue eyes. Having someone who isn’t naturally this way will ruin the film.
3) He is a World War II hardened veteran and needs to be a natural leader of men who soldiers will follow into battle and we can believe completely on screen.
4) Captain America is not just a character/ hero he’s an American icon, he needs to exude natural charisma and strength and needs to fit his costume perfectly.
5) He needs to be a serious role with no jokes. This guy is a soldier through and through and has seen his friends and comrades die around him in horrific ways and has fought in the worst possible conditions imaginable. Iron Man could afford humour, Cap can’t.
6) You'll need to believe Cap could take on the Hulk by himself with no fear and the very good possibility of winning the fight with only his bare hands/ shield.

OK here goes... In no particular order.

Viggo Mortenson: He has the age, the hardened looks and the screen presence for a more refined Cap, a leader of men as in LOTR.

Ryan Reynolds: Almost perfect for any superhero role (and about to star as Deadpool in X-Men Origins: Wolverine) Reynolds would be great and has the physicality for the role but would Marvel cast him again? Unlikely. I'd rather see him as DC's The Flash!

Matthew McConaughey: My number one choice apart from his natural Texan accent. He’d need to lose his cockyness and bravado a little too. Sahara sold me on his action hero status.

Eric Bana: I’m not a big fan of his but he has the stature and the looks, just needs to improve his acting skills slightly and forget all about the first Hulk!

Channing Tatum: Almost perfect but too young (about to star as Duke in G.I. Joe).

Adam Baldwin: He has a huge sci-fi fan following and has the age, build and military aura that could suit Cap well.

Chris Evans: Too young but a good replacement for Ryan Reynolds as he has the body and the physical presence. Problem being that he's also Marvel's Human Torch from Fantastic Four.

Aaron Eckhart: I'm trying to think of a reason Aaron isn't perfect for the role of Cap and I can't think of one. OK so he's been Two-Face in Dark Knight, but he's a great actor and definitely looks the part...

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry Dies Aged 76

The very sad news came to me this morning that Majel Barrett-Roddenberry, widow of Gene and known to fans as Nurse Chapel, the original Number One, Lwaxana Troi, and of course the voice of just about every Federation computer in every show and movie, has passed away at age 76. She had been fighting leukemia for some years, evidently, and unfortunately died of complications from the disease early yesterday morning in California.

Majel will be fondly remembered by Star Trek fans forever for her work, which will—fittingly, one might say—end with the upcoming reboot of the franchise, in which she one last time performed the voice of the Enterprise computer. She had reportedly just completed her voiceover work on the movie when she passed away.

It's a huge blow to the sci-fi world, R.I.P Majel...

Visit Roddenberry.com for more info.

Tron 2.0, Tr2n, TRZ... Whatever It's Called, Gets First Confirmed Cast Members

The new Tron movie may not start filming until next year but the buzz created by the Comic Con 2008 Disney Panel preview footage has been HUGE!

It inevitably made it's way onto the Internet, albeit in the worst quality possible, but it's great nonetheless. You can actually hear the cheering as the first lightcyle appears and then when Jess Bridges pops up. Tron was a pioneering movie back in it's day an a sequel will be well received. I've posted the poor quality trailer here in case you haven't seen it.



The only 2 confirmed stars so far, apart from Jeff Bridges, are hotties Olivia Wilde and Beau Garrett. Both have recently been cast with the rumours flying about of both Karl Urban (who's about to be seen as Bones in Star Trek) and John Hurt (who recently appeared in Indy IV) appearing too. I'll post when more news is available, this is definitely a movie I can't wait to see.

Olivia Wilde

Beau Garrett

Small Update For the New Phantom Movie

The new Phantom movie that I blogged about recently has just been confirmed by the scriptwriter as a "reboot" that has "nothing to do with the 1996 movie". So no Billy Zane then...

Also of note is the fact that the movie will be called The Phantom: Legacy, in connection to the main character teaching his son (or daughter as it was in the cartoon 'Defenders of the Earth') the way of the 'Ghost Who Walks'.

Bring back The Rocketeer and I'll be even happier!

Maggie Q Cast In King Of Fighters Movie

Hopefully the bad luck that seems to haunt Video Game adaptations in Hollywood should change with the new Prince of Persia movie, but that's still two years away. Maggie Q has joined the currently in-production King of Fighters live-action film, based on the bestselling Japanese SNK Playmore video game that first hit shelves in 1994. Maggie will star alongside Sean Faris, Ray Park, Will Yun Lee and David Leitch, who doubles as the action choreographer. King of Fighters is being directed by Hong Kong's Gordon Chan, of The Medallion previously.

No details have been revealed about the story yet, however, the original game followed a character named Kyo Kusanagi, a young Japanese who enters The King of Fighters tournaments. Being the heir of the ancient Kusanagi clan, who wield pyrokinetic powers, Kyo manages to use its powerful techniques to become champion of the tournament. The film is in production in Vancouver with a $12 million budget at the moment. Production is slated to wrap in January and we should expect to see this by late 2009 courtesy of Sony.

I'm not holding my breath for this movie but Maggie Q is sickeningly hot in whatever role she does so it has that as it's only bonus so far!

Hawkeye And Black Widow For Iron Man II And Avengers Movies

It seems that the latest word on the old grapevine is that both Hawkeye and Black Widow will appear in the new Iron Man II movie, and not as cameos either. This should hopefully mean that they'll reappear in the 2011 Avengers movie as part of the full roster that recently had Wasp added to it in the heavenly form of Desperate Housewives actress Eva Longoria (still not 100% confirmed of course).

Tim Robbins has also supposedly been cast in the IM sequel in the role of Howard Stark, Tony's father, for a very important flashback scene that will setup the Avengers movie.

We're now waiting on the news that Ant Man/ Giant man and Vision will also appear and we'll have the best movie ever heading our way in 2 years time!

Also, thinking about it, how cool would it be for Toby Maguire to turn up in the Avengers movie as Spider-Man, even as a background cameo? A fanboy can dream of such awesome decisions coming to the minds of the Hollywood elite...

Funny Pepsi Max Ad With Kelly Brook

I came across this pretty funny Pepsi Max ad today with the stunningly hot super-babe Kelly Brook in it (albeit far too briefly for me). Click on the top right sound icon to hear it. Enjoy!

New Product @Forbiddenplanet.co.uk - Wonder Woman DVD Maquette

Another awesome Wonder Woman product from DC Direct (when are they going to do the 13" Deluxe Collectors doll?) this 9.25" tall x 3.75" wide x 4.25" deep (including the base) maquette represents Wonder Woman in her new animated DVD guise and looks great. Only £69.99 which is 13% the RRP. Another to add to my collection methinks!!!

Click this LINK to go to the FP page.

New Pics - Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian

One of the movies my family and I are looking forward to next summer is Night at the Museum 2: Battle of the Smithsonian, the sequel to Ben Stiller's holiday comedy from 2006. The original was a bit silly, yes, but it was a solid family movie and my kids love it. The sequel is set to bigger and better than the first with a larger range of characters and some nutty action. Here's a few new pics:

He-Man Movie Very Much Alive!

It would seem that my previous post about the new He-Man movie getting booted by Warner Bros has now been reversed. It has come to light that Kung Fu Panda co-director John Stevenson who has extensive background in storyboard art and animation previously, supposedly made an awesome presentation to WB and producer Joel Silver and the project still has life in it yet. It's going to be live action and still hopefully based on the amazing script by Justin Marks so we should get an 80's revival that keeps the quality up there with Transformers... One to watch out for!

Sundance 2009 - Two Funny Movie Trailers

Two movies looking for distributors at next years Sundance Festival are Mystery Team and Black Dynamite. Both look pretty damn funny in their own way and I have to admit that I'd really love to see Mystery Team sometime soon as that's the one that stands out for me, it looks hilarious. Check out the two trailers below and hope that both come to a cinema or dvd store sometime soon!

Mystery Team



Black Dynamite

Knowing - Trailer

A movie that is definitely down my alley is Nicholas Cage's 2009 release "Knowing". I've only just come across this but I love these types of movies and Cage has slowly grown on me the last few years so it's defiantly one to watch.

Synopsis:

A teacher (Cage) opens a time capsule that has been dug up at his son's elementary school; in it are some chilling predictions -- some that have already occurred and others that are about to -- that lead him to believe his family plays a role in the events that are about to unfold.

A different HD trailer can be found HERE

Random Movie News...

Will Smith's Son Jaden to star as main character in Karate Kid remake next year.

National Treasure III is greenlit.

Jurassic Park IV is not going to happen anytime soon says producer.

Hancock sequel will definitely happen says Will Smith.

Frank Miller says Sin City 2 is written and might shoot in April.

Stephen Sommers to direct new Tarzan movie.

More Hollywood remakes: Romancing the Stone, Arthur, They Live!

Will Smith says I Am Legend prequel will involve the fall of the last city - the last stand of Manhattan.

Daniel Craig wants Q and Moneypenny in the next Bond.

Terminator 5 already greenlit by studio for McG to direct.

Sigourney Weaver and Ridley Scott in talks for Alien 5.

Universal move new Fast and Furious movie to pre-summer date of April 09 instead of June and Wolfman back to November 09 instead of April.

Majel Barrett Roddenberry continues to voice the Enterprise computer in new JJ Abrams Star Trek movie.

David S. Goyer directing The Invisible Man before X-Men Origins: Magneto.

Stephen Norrington to write and direct remake of Alex Proyas' The Crow.

Tron sequel, initially titled Tr2n to now be titled TRZ. No one yet knows if it's a remake, a sequel or a prequel!

Guillermo del Toro's The Hobbit starts shooting in 2010. Part of a trilogy like LOTR?

New Planet of the Apes movie to show evolution of the apes and to be like nothing you'd expect from the franchise.

Serenity sequel cancelled but new Joss Whedon Buffy movie may be heading to cinemas.

Dragonball: Evolution - New Posters And Trailer

Dear God this movie looks terrible... I'm sorry Dan mate, I know what a big DB fan you are but this movie looks utter pants. I thought I'd post these new posters (courtesy of IGN.com) and a link to the new trailer nonetheles, so if the rest of you are die hard DB fans and don't care how this turns out, enjoy!!!

New trailer LINK

The Phantom To Get A Sequel?

Something I'm happy to have come across is the news that the 1996 movie "The Phantom" starring Billy Zane in the main role, may be set for a sequel very soon. IMDB quotes the title of the movie as "The Ghost Who Walks" stating a 2009 release, other sites claim Billy Zane will reprise his role based on the good sales of the VHS and DVD sales since the film came out,and comingsoon.net has the following news:

"An Australian production company on Monday announced it had secured the rights to The Phantom Legacy, a follow-up to the 1996 film, The Phantom, which starred Billy Zane as the masked hero who fights evil from his jungle headquarters.

According to The Associated Press, the adaptation is expected to cost $87 million and will focus on "the Father/Son relationship, and what it means to be The Phantom," scriptwriter Tim Boyle said in a statement. "The film will be set in the present day and will deal with the concept of destiny."

Producer Bruce Sherlock, who also served as executive producer of the first "Phantom" movie, said the new film will be a marked improvement over its predecessor.

"It has the makings of a blockbuster," Sherlock said. "There's some surprises that will thrill the 'Phantom' fans worldwide." Sherlock's Sydney-based Sherlock Symington Productions won the rights to the film.

The movie will likely be shot entirely in Australia, with production set to begin within six to nine months, Sherlock said. Producers are in talks with several "top talent" Australian and American actors, Sherlock said. He declined to provide names".

I loved the original, yes yes laugh all you want, and I was always a fan of films like The Shadow and The Rocketeer so although this could turn out completely pants I'm still looking forward to seeing how it turns out...

SLAM EVIL!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - HD Version Of The Bootleg Trailer

OK, as you can see below the bootleg trailer got taken down soon after posting it as I knew it would. And as I also said; a better version would be released. Here it is. Enjoy!

Try the link HERE to watch it on a different site if mine doesn't work.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

New Product @ Forbiddenplanet.co.uk - Umbrella Academy Figures

Just added to Forbiddenplanet.co.uk are the Darkhorse Umbrella Academy Action figures. If you haven't read Umbrella Academy (created and written by My Chemical Romance lead singer Gerard Way) you really should. It's a graphic novel that stands out amongst a lot of others with such individualistic characters and stories you have to wonder what Gerard was on when it came into his head. Thank you to Tim who introduce me to Umbrella, something I may have completely missed had it not been for his recommendation.

These figures range in size from 2" to 5" tall and are perfect little recreations of the Hargreeves siblings. Packaged in a unique umbrella-topped dome cylinder case this release is a great collectors set and one I'll definitely be purchasing!

Only £26.99 which is 23% off the RRP!

Find the set for sale through this LINK

It's also worth noting that Umbrella Academy has also been optioned by Universal Pictures to be turned into a motion picture. No details yet but it's sure to be one weird film...

The Spirit - Possibly The Worst Movie Ever?

Over at AICN someone calling themselves "Jondough" has seen the Spirit Movie and has deemed it the worst movie he's ever seen... No real surprise there. Read the full in-depth movie bashing by clicking this LINK

Robert Carlyle To Lead Stargate Universe?

Holy crap! In an unexpected bit of casting news, Robert Carlyle has signed up to take the lead in upcoming sci-fi spin-off series "Stargate Universe". Following in the footsteps of Stargate SG1, Stargate Atlantis and short-lived animated series Stargate Infinity, Stargate Universe will see Carlyle as Dr David Rush, one of a number of survivors who pile through the nearest Stargate when their secret base is attacked. Finding themselves on an ancient starship left adrift in space, they must unlock the ship’s mysteries to find a way home.

Carlyle is probably the last person on Earth I would have seen attached to a Stargate series and although I'm a huuuuuuuge Stargate fan (I'm getting the complete 10 seasons with two dvd movies for X-mas from the missus) I'm starting to get those bad vibes I get about Universe...

Tom Cruise - A Jedi He Is Not...

I had to laugh when I came across this video today. Some people have too much time on their hands, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Click and enjoy this silly bit of Star Wars/ The Colour Of Money splicing...

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - 2nd Bootleg Trailer

Recorded during the recent US release of The Day The Earth Stood Still, this second bootleg trailer for X-Men Origins: Wolverine looks a whole lot better than the first and has re-instilled a portion of the faith I'd failed to muster up for this movie. It's already been taken down from Youtube a couple of times but if it does disappear there'll be the official one to watch on the movie website (www.x-menorigins.com) in a day or two. As always be aware that this is pretty bad quality...

New Pic - Johnny Depp As The Mad Hatter?

I'd mentioned a while ago that Johnny Depp had been cast in the upcoming Tim Burton adaptation of Alice in Wonderland (not exactly original casting for Tim, there are other actors in the world Mr. Burton!) but we hadn't seen any images released yet. Although there are some non believers saying this is simply a photoshopped fake the image below could well be the first of Johnny in his Mad Hatter getup. Judge for yourself...


The 3D flick will use a mix of live action and performance capture CGI. Depp will appear alongside Anne Hathaway as The White Queen and Tim Burton’s wife, Helena Bonham Carter as The Red Queen. Also featured: Michael Sheen, Mia Wasikowska, Matt Lucas, Crispin Glover, Stephen Fry and Alan Rickman.

The Wolfman- New Pics

It's still almost a year away from being released (Nov 09 supposedly) but The Wolfman is a film I'm looking forward to. I don't like Benicio Del Toro at all, never have, but the movie has Anthony Hopkins, Hugo Weaving and Emily blunt too so it can't be all bad. I usually hate horror movies but I've always had a facination (and fear) or Werewolves and Vampires. I usually love any movie with them in so I'm hoping this should be worth seeing too. The makeup in these pictures of the Wolfman himself is amazing and frankly pretty damn scary. I think if my kids saw these pics they'd be having nightmares for a week!

X-Men Origins: Wolverine - New Pics

These images have been online for a while but it's still worth posting them up as they're pretty cool. Although I personally think this movie won't be as good as everyone is hoping it will be it still gives an old fanboy hope...

New Trailer - Terminator: Salvation

OK boys and girls, below is the latest trailer for the upcoming Terminator: Salvation movie. It features the motorbike Terminators I mentioned before, the mecha version at the end and a whole lot of goose bump inducing stuff in between.

Notice that director McG may well be playing around with the franchise's history as John Connor (Christian Bale) says "This is not the future my mother warned me about" and "Something's changed". Looks like all that meddling with history in the last 3 films may have changed the future somewhat, or maybe it is just McG wanting his own artistic interpretation in the movie. Regardless this will be a guaranteed blockbuster hit when it's released!