A new Cinderella is in the works for Disney and it may have someone to fill it’s new glass slipper. Emma Watson is currently being pursued to play Cinderella while director Kenneth Branagh, who directed Thor, is also the main lead to direct.
This version of Cinderella is part of Disney’s new live-action fairytales and stories that also include Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland and the upcoming Oz: The Great and Powerful.
I’m actually kind of excited for this project as I’m a big fan of Branagh, who directed Thor magnificently, and I think will be able to bring a new, fresh take to Cinderella. Watson was also briilliant last year in the teen film, The Perks of Being A Wallflower. I also think the role fits Watson pretty well and she could do a great job with it, especially with a strong director like Branagh. These new Disney live-action movies are hit or miss, but this one seems good on paper.
The film is currently in pre-production, with an eye on a 2014 release.
In less than four months, the Zack Snyder-directed and Christopher Nolan-produced Man of Steel will be unleashed in theaters. And early reaction indicates this may be the Superman movie we’ve all been dreaming of.
In a recent report by JoBlo.com, a source close to the site (“whom we know and trust 100%”) saw the movie at early screenings happening at Warner Bros. and had some extremely positive things to say about it. Here are the bullet points of the screenings:
Imagine a Nolan story with Snyder action/effects.
It’s the best movie of the year.
There’s TONS of action with Superman kicking all kinds of ass in his suit.
The cape is CG’d most of the time so it can look awesome.
They have intentionally left out most of the Super action in trailers to save it.
It’s not nearly as dour and serious as the trailers suggest.
The movie is complete, minus the 3D post-conversion, which is currently taking place.
If all of this is true, or even some of it, count me super (pun intended!) excited to see Man of Steel. I love the combination of Snyder and Nolan, and while I actually did enjoy Superman Returns unlike most people, I understand that it wasn’t exactly a great Superman movie. I think Man of Steel could be that great Superman movie, but we’ll have to wait until June to find out.
On Episode 3, we have a special guest, review the Oscars and talk about movies in 2013. Check out our latest episode!
Oscars Review
– Review Seth MacFarlane’s performane as host
– Jennifer Lawrence wins Best Actress
– Daniel Day-Lewis first to win three Best Actor awards
– Review the performances of Adele and the Les Mis cast
– And more!
Movies we’re looking forward to in 2013
– Nate discusses Gravity, Oblivion and more
– Matt is looking forward to Upside Down and World War Z
– JD previews To the Wonder, The Great Gatsby and more
The latest news
– John Williams looks to score new Star Wars
– The Amazing Spider-Man 2 gets new casting…again
– New Oblivion trailer released
For those of you who love horror movies with no plot, bad acting, and no closure to a bad ending than you’re going to love this. Scott Derrickson and C. Robert Cargill have been called back to make a sequel to their hit(?) horror film, Sinister. The first one, staring Ethan Hawk, was one of the worst in 2012 in my opinion. But as I mentioned above, if you like bad horror films, you may love this. There aren’t much details yet, but I’m hoping for a better sequel. I’m not holding my breath though. What you guys think?
Gary Oldman, one of our greatest living actors, has been cast in Dawn of the Planet of the Apes, the sequel to 2011’s surprisingly-good Rise of the Planet of the Apes.
According to ComingSoon.net, Oldman will play the “leader of a human colony.” The movie will take place 15 years after the events in Rise of the Planet of the Apes, in which most of humanity has been wiped out and apes rule the planet.
Oldman joins a cast that also includes Jason Clarke (seen recently in Zero Dark Thirty), Kodi Smit-McPhee and Andy Serkis, who will be returning to do some amazing motion capture work for Caesar, the lead ape. The movie, which opens next May, is directed by Matt Reeves.
The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has added another cast member.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Oscar-winning actor Chris Cooper has signed on to play Norman Osborn/Green Goblin in Marc Webb’s sequel next May. He will take over the role that Willem Dafoe played in Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man over a decade ago.
Cooper joins a cast that already includes Jamie Foxx (another Oscar winner), who will play Electro; Paul Giamatti (an Oscar nominee), who will play The Rhino; along with returnees Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Sally Field and Martin Freeman.
I don’t know about you guys, but The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is shaping up to be an amazing (no pun intended) sequel. I love the new casting and think Cooper will be a great Green Goblin – when his time comes. I think the only way the Green Goblin will be in this is briefly, possibly a short tease at the end to set up The Amazing Spider-Man 3 or whatever they’re going to call it.
What do you guys think? Are you excited to see all these amazing actors in the Spidey universe?
The director for Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues, Adam McKay, announced they are moving the action to New York City. In the first Anchorman, they made San Diego famous for something other than nice weather.
“San Diego is too close to Ron’s heart to go away, but we feel that New York City is the holy grail for all newsmen,” McKay revealed in an interview with Empire.
So far there hasn’t been tons of plot reveals yet and why they are moving to New York, but based on McKay’s statements, you can assume it’ll be based on New York’s (stereotyped) high crime/news rate. Either way, it should be fun as all the original crew is returning for the sequel. Also coming on board is James Marsden, who will be play Ron Burgundy’s new arch rival. You’ll remember Marsden from the early X-Men movies, where he played Cyclops.
What do you guys think about the move to New York?
The new Star Wars has been getting all kinds of buzz since it’s announcement, which included Harrison Ford coming back as Han Solo and J.J. Abrams getting the director nod. According to a new report, the iconic John Williams has voiced he’s interested in working the next trilogy as well. Williams’ did the original score for all the Star Wars movies which has become one of the most popular of all time. However, Michael Giacchino has done the scores for almost all of Abrams’ films, which could leave him out in the cold. This is a particularly interesting topic of conversation to me. The score is one of my favorite things about film and I really enjoy listening to a lot of them.
While it’s far from concluding, it’s hard not to consider Williams for this since he’s done all of them before. He’s also 81-years-old which could play a factor into the decision as well. That being said, Williams was nominated for an Oscar this year for his score for Lincoln, so he hasn’t lost too much of a step. Abrams’ does favor Giacchino though, so it’ll be fun to see where Abrams goes with this. We could end up seeing a collaborative effort like we did with Hans Zimmer and James Newton Howard for the first two Dark Knight movies. Personally, I think that’s what I’d love to see happen.
Quvenzhané Wallis, the youngest Best Actress Oscar nominee ever last night for Beasts of the Southern Wild, is teaming up with Will Smith and Jay-Z in the new musical adaptation of Annie. Wallis was cast as Annie in the version that will be produced by Smith alongside his wife, Jada Pinkett Smith. James Lassieter (I am Legend, The Pursuit of Happyness and the up coming After Earth) and the one in only Jay-Z will also produce.
Annie is set to be directed by Will Gluck. The script is written by Emma Thompson and Aline Brosh McKenna.
After the performance that Wallis gave in Beasts of the Southern Wild, I’m extremely excited for this project. I love Will smith and Jay-Z so it will be fun to see them work together on this project too.
Spider-Man is getting a new look for The Amazing Spider-Man 2. His new costume, which closely resembles what Tobey Maguire wore in the original trilogy, features much larger eyeholes, a different shade of red and a different spider insignia that has been changed from black to gray.
Check out the new costume below (courtesy of Coming Soon) along with a look at the old costume from last year’s reboot and tell us what you think.
The Oscars last night had some amazing moments and the winners seemed to be what was expected. The opening sequence by Seth MacFarlane was very entertaining and had some songs that were…well…different. Adele killed “Skyfall” and Life of Pi showed up big as I predicted it would. In our Oscars podcast, we went through all the nominees, changed some of our picks and we ended up doing pretty well. Here’s the breakdown of how we did (Remember, if you listen to our podcast, we changed some of our picks):
Best Picture:Argo
JD – Argo
Matthew – Argo
Nate – Argo
Best Actor: Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
JD – Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Matthew – Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Nate – Daniel Day-Lewis (Lincoln)
Best Actress: Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
JD – Jennifer Lawrence (Silver Linings Playbook)
Matthew – Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Nate – Jessica Chastain (Zero Dark Thirty)
Best Supporting Actor: Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
JD – Alan Arkin (Argo)
Matthew – Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Nate – Christoph Waltz (Django Unchained)
Best Supporting Actress: Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)
JD – Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)
Matthew – Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables)
Nate – Anne Hathaway (Les Misérables))
Best Director: Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
JD – Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Matthew – Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Nate – Ang Lee (Life of Pi)
Best Writing, Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen:Django Unchained
JD – Moonrise Kingdom
Matthew – Django Unchained
Nate – Django Unchained
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published:Argo
JD – Life of Pi
Matthew – Silver Linings Playbook
Nate – Life of Pi
Best Animated Feature Film:Brave
JD – Wreck-It Ralph
Matthew – Brave
Nate – Brave
Best Achievement in Cinematography:Life of Pi
JD – Life of Pi
Matthew – Life of Pi
Nate – Life of Pi
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Score:
JD – Mychael Danna (Life of Pi)
Matthew – Alexandre Desplat (Argo)
Nate – Mychael Danna (Life of Pi)
Best Achievement in Music Written for Motion Pictures, Original Song: Adele (“Skyfall” for Skyfall)
JD – Adele (“Skyfall” for Skyfall)
Matthew – Adele (“Skyfall” for Skyfall)
Nate – Adele (“Skyfall” for Skyfall)
Best Achievement in Visual Effects:Life of Pi
JD – Life of Pi
Matthew – Life of Pi
Nate – The Avengers
Total Results:
1) Nate & Matthew – 10 out of 13 correct
2) JD – 10 out of 13 correct
We’ll have more thoughts on The Oscars this week when we do our podcast. We’ll talk about our thoughts on the winners, any surprises and if Seth MacFarlane was actually funny. Be sure to stay tuned and catch that on this week’s show!
While out promoting his newest movie, Much Ado About Nothing, at the Jameson Dublin International Film Festival in Dublin, director Joss Whedon was asked about The Avengers 2, the sequel to last year’s massive hit. He had some interesting tidbits.
When asked for an update on the sequel, Whedon’s response was: “I can’t do any bigger, so I’m trying to do better.” And then when a follow-up question was asked about his philosophy, his response was: “Death, Death and more Death!”
I think The Avengers blew everyone away with just how awesome it actually was. I mean, with the way Marvel was setting it up over the years and then having every one of those superheroes come together for one movie, it’s incredible that The Avengers turned out the way it did. But now the pressure is on Whedon and Co. to make the next one even “better,” which will be extremely tough.
If you didn’t see this last night, you missed a pretty entertaining opening to the Oscars last night. This isn’t the best quality in the world, but it’s worth watching! Check it
The Oscars was on last night and there was plenty going around on social media as well. If you watched it, you know there was a lot of fun (and some not so much) things that were tweet worthy. Seth MacFarlane’s opening act was hysterical and jaw-dropping all at the same time. And you can bet it was trending quite a bit. I’m actually surprised that “We Saw Your Boobs” didn’t trend longer than it did. I, for one, didn’t expect to see that one. While MacFarlane did pretty well, there were a few jokes that didn’t go so well (i.e. his awful Lincoln joke, which led to ton of tweets such as the one below).
I did like how MacFarlane recovered from that one, however. Overall, he did well and there was plenty of buzz about his performance.
Anne Hathaway’s dress was also a social media craze last night. If you saw her dress then you know what I’m talking about and I’ll just leave it at that. Her award for Best Actress was well deserved and that seemed to take more center-stage than her wardrobe, which was the right thing.
After flashing through the most memorable 007 clips for the 50th anniversary of the franchise, Shirley Bassey gave an amazing performance, which sent Twitter into a nice roar. It was one of the better moments of the night and there was plenty of positive tweets going around. Loved seeing the nice Bond tribute.
One of my favorite trending things of the night was Quvenzhané Wallis. While she didn’t win for Best Actress, it was great to see her nominated and she was adorable last night. She was great and every time the camera panned to her, she threw up her arms and seemed to be having a great time.
One of the bigger moments of the night was when Jennifer Lawrence tripped on the way up to receive her award for Best Actress. While it may have been embarrassing, she played it off well and was very fun with it. Twitter had a heyday with it though. According to Twitter, there were 71,600 tweets about Lawrence and many were about her falling down. There were also several GIF’s being passed around as you could imagine. I personally thought she was cute and handled herself well.
Image credit: Kevin Winter/Getty Images
Believe it or not, Jaws had a bigger Oscars’ night last night than the year it came out. Every time a winner was being long winded in their speech, they would play the Jaws theme song to rush them off the stage. While it was kind of funny, it also seemed kind of rude. It led to many, many tweets though as it trended on Twitter most of the night. One of the more popular tweets was Piers Morgan:
@piersmorgan
The Jaws music cut-off for long-winded acceptance speeches is the greatest addition to awards ceremonies ever. I’d add real sharks.
Michelle Obama also made a nice surprise that sent Twitter in a spin as well. It was very unexpected and left people with a lot opinions. Regardless of your politics, I thought it was a nice touch. According to Twitter, there were 85,300 tweets about the First Lady.
The only real surprise at the Oscars … Michelle Obama.
The top social media moment of the night was Adele’s performance of Skyfall, which was abolutely amazing! I was discussing with my friends last night that it seemed that we like the live version better than we did the recording for the movie. She was incredible! And Twitter thought so as well. There were 82,300 tweets per minute during her performance, which takes the top Oscar moment.
There were plenty of other big moments. I personally loved the cast of Les Mis on stage peforming a piece from the film. What was your favorite moment of the night?
The 2013 Oscars are here! And we’re ready to talk all about it.
On our second episode, here’s what to expect:
We talk all about the Oscars. We give our predictions and talk all about the nominees. The show is a little bit longer than normal, but I promise you will love it. Click here to check out our blog post with all our predictions.
Director: Benh Zeitlin Writers: Lucy Alibar & Benh Zeitlin, Based on the stage play “Juicy and Delicious” by Lucy Alibar Stars: Quverzhané Wallis, Dwight Henry, & Gina Montana
Synopsis: In a semi-post-apocalyptic world, where parts of the world have been flooded, Hushpuppy and her daddy live in an flooded area called the Bathtub. With her father’s ailing health and the world literally falling apart around her, Hushpuppy must learn how to be courageous and loving in the face of fear and hatred.
[/info]
DIRECTION
Benh Zeitlin has proved out of the gate that he is a phenomenal director. Beasts is his first full-length feature and it already stands a film worthy of praise. Zeitlin tells his story so beautifully with soft camera work. The “beasts” in the film are magnificent and startling without being cheesy or overly terrifying. They appear as if maybe they could be real, similar to the feel of the film as a whole. The film leaves and impression on the the viewer. As I leave Beasts, I remember its last line, “Once there was a Hushpuppy, and she lived with her daddy in the Bathtub.” Yes, she did indeed.
Grade: A
[divider]
SCRIPT Beasts of the Southern Wild is not a script most studios would look at and give a green light to. Yet, Zeitlin & Alibar knew the gold in their hands. The story does not explicitly fall into one genre and yet ultimately it is a love story of a father and daughter. With its themes of love and courage, the story is highly accessible to audiences; however, it keeps a distinct feeling by creating its own world and never leaving it.
Grade: A
[divider]
PERFORMANCES
The performances in Beasts of the Southern Wild drive the film, and it is without argument that with different actors, Beasts would be a different and lesser film. The film stars unknowns actors who after Beasts will no longer remain on unknown. Quverzhané Wallis carries the film as Hushpuppy. She transcends the bounds of child acting and plays a role not too old for her (Jodi Foster in Taxi Driver) or a role that is merely a kid being a kid (Abigail Breslin in Little Miss Sunshine). Wallis exudes more emotion and life in this role than Meryl Streep, quite a triumph for a nine-year old. Dwight Henry plays Wink with should visceral anger and buried tenderness that it does not feel like a performance but an actual father trying to provide the best for his daughter. The supporting cast all portray real life characters struggling to survive. The feel has almost a documentary feel because of their true to life performances.
Grade: A+
[divider]
SCORE
Dan Romer and Benh Zeiltin’s score for Beasts is my favorite score of the year! The score has a New Orleans Jazz/Bluegrass feel to it. It’s full of mystery and sympathy and adventure; the same aspects that make the film itself so spectacular. It is ridiculous that this score failed to receive a nomination for best score. The film’s main theme sweeping yet it does not overpower the story and characters on the screen; it only enhances them, serving the exact function of the underscoring. Romer and Zeitlin’s score is also an excellent composition apart from the film. I’ve been listening to it for a few weeks now and it only gets more satisfying with every playback.
