‘Agents of SHIELD’ Ratings Down Again

‘Agents of SHIELD’ Ratings Down Again
TVLine.com

ABC’s cliffhanger-filled Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. this Tuesday slipped to a new series low, drawing 6.1 million total viewers and a 2.1 demo rating, per finals — down 12 percent opposite a fresh episode of NCIS.

Oh come on! Why must every show I like wind up getting canceled? I don’t think it’s something wrong with me, I think it’s something wrong with you guys! Now, I mean we’re still a ways from a cancelation, but this is not good news. If ratings keep trending down like this then us fans of the show are going to be in for some bitter medicine. And we can complain about the ratings system…

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Kitten Acupuncture

Kitten Acupuncture

With TJ reportedly on his death bed (or something like that), Joe and Chad hold down the fort this week. Join them to find out their thoughts on the ‘Indiana Jones’ franchise and what Disney’s recent acquisition of that property means and whether future films would be a good thing. And since TJ is not in the game to spoil their fun they can freely talk about the rebooted ‘Spider-Man’ film franchise and the upcoming ‘Spider-Man’ films, and so they do. And you always wanted to know if ‘The Hobbit’ extended edition is better than the bloated and over-long theatrical version, right? But of course. And before diving into the primary review this week of ‘Frozen’, Chad and Joe discuss the Disney Animation short film that accompanies the feature film. In summary they found it delightful. And in summary they also found ‘Frozen’ quite delightful and a great film to be the subject of conversation!

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‘World War Z’ Sequel Has a Director

‘World War Z’ Sequel Has a Director
Kevin Jagernauth — The Playlist

Juan Antonio Bayona, the man who put Naomi Watts through hell in “The Impossible,” has been tapped to direct “World War Z: Title To Be Determined.” But as you’ve probably already guessed, it’s still very early stages. In fact there are no writers on board—though Pitt has already said ideas have been percolating—but Bayona will apparently oversee that process as well. Undoubtedly, this will probably wait until there is a finished script that everyone likes before moving forward.

Hopefully he’ll be up to the task. World War Z was an unexpectedly good film. I say unexpected because it had…

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Honest Trailer for ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’

Honest Trailer for ‘The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey’

In yet another hilarious Honest Trailer video, the guys over at Screen Junkies on YouTube have done it again with their Honest Trailer for the first film in Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit film trilogy, An Unexpected Journey. This is in anticipation of the second film in the trilogy, The Desolation of Smaug, which is set to release in theaters later this week. (I’ll personally be seeing a double-feature showing of both films on Thursday night!)

Both TJ and I have made our opinions on this film quite clear in various episodes of The MovieByte Podcast, but in case you haven’t listened (shame on…

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New Trailer for ‘Godzilla’ Reboot

New Trailer for ‘Godzilla’ Reboot

Well, he’s coming back. And by “he,” of course, I mean GODZILLA!

In this new reboot starring Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Kick-AssAvengers: Age of Ultron), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad, Argo), Elizabeth Olsen (Martha Marcy May MarleneAvengers: Age of Ultron), Ken Watanabe (Batman BeginsInception), and David Strathairn (The Bourne UltimatumLincoln), we’ll see a return of the classic movie monster to the big screen - his first since the 2004 Toho production Godzilla: Final Wars and his first in American cinemas since Roland Emmerich’s 1998 film Godzilla.

Having never seen a Godzilla film…

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Disney Acquires Full Rights to Future ‘Indiana Jones’ Films

Disney Acquires Full Rights to Future ‘Indiana Jones’ Films
Dominic Patten - Deadline

This news came this past weekend from Dominic Patten over at Deadline.com. Though Disney purchased Lucasfilm last year, giving them the rights to future Star Wars films, the company did not have the marketing or distribution rights to make more Indiana Jones films - that right still belonged to Paramount, who was in charge of the first four films in the franchise.

The new deal gives Disney marketing and distribution rights to future films as well as retaining Lucasfilm’s ownership rights — which basically means they’ve got the whole shebang now. Paramount, on the other hand, isn’t left in…

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Chad’s Frozen Review

Chad’s Frozen Review
Chad Hopkins - ChadLikesMovies

I was born and grew up in the 1990s, which means that I was a child during the time period when Disney produced its most successful animated musicals, often referred to as the “Disney Renaissance” and featuring such renowned films as The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast (my review), Aladdin, and The Lion King. While Disney has released a few more animated musicals over the years, the quality has generally not been up to the same standards as those set in the 1990s (though I’m certainly partial to their 2010 offering, Tangled - my review), but with Frozen they finally hark back to those…

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‘Hobbit 2’ HFR is Being Kept Quiet This Time

‘Hobbit 2’ HFR is Being Kept Quiet This Time
Brent Lang and Lucas Shaw - TheWrap.com

“The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” arrives in theaters next week with a marketing blitz reserved for billion-dollar franchises, but a key aspect of the fantasy sequel is sneaking through unnoticed.

Director Peter Jackson shot the film at 48 frames per second, double the standard speed, in an attempt to make its 3D crisper and more realistic.  The first “Hobbit” film was shown at the higher frame rate — one of a half dozen different formats viewers could watch it in – and Jackson hailed it as the future of film.

Huh. I wonder why it’s being kept so quiet? Maybe it’s because some…

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Paramount Planning ‘Jack Reacher 2’

Paramount Planning ‘Jack Reacher 2’
Cain Rodriguez - The Playlist

Although the Christopher McQuarrie-directed “Jack Reacher” opened to a muted response stateside last Christmas—its opening haul was $15 million with the final domestic tally just over $80 million—international audiences were more kind, with the Lee Child adaptation making $138 million abroad. Naturally, Paramount is looking to get back into business with the anti-hero.

Deadline reports plans are being made to do a “Jack Reacher 2.” Instead of tackling any of the other seventeen novels, Paramount and Skydance Productions are looking at Child’s latest installment, this fall’s “Never Go Back,”…

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Joe Cornish Not Directing Next ‘Star Trek’ Film

Joe Cornish Not Directing Next ‘Star Trek’ Film
Kevin Jagernauth — The Playlist

And while just over a month ago, Cornish emerged as Paramount’s top choice to direct “Star Trek 3,”[sic] it looks like he won’t be going into the final frontier.

Among Variety’s recent news that J.D. Payne and Patrick McKay were joining the tentpole to write alongside franchise mainstay Roberto Orci (though, no sign of Alex Kurtzman) was the little nugget that Cornish is “is no longer involved” with the movie. No reason is given for why the talks may have broken down between the studio and filmmaker, and everything is pressing ahead to try and meet a 2016 release date.

A lot of people…

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