I expected to hate this film. And to be fair, I had every reason to believe I would — not at all the least of which is Michael Bay’s involvement as producer. Then there’s the fact that this is a movie reboot of a franchise that has never been successful in live-action film format and has pretty much been run into the ground. It’s seen several incarnations as a cartoon and is currently being run on Nickelodeon as a terrible 3D hack job.

Now for the weird part: I did not hate this film. I actually thought this film was “just fine”. I looked for reasons to hate it, but there just aren’t any.…

Never say never. After four films in the world of “Harry Potter,” David Yates seemed to have moved on. He’s now directing “Tarzan,” and was involved in the early stages of the FX series “Tyrant.” But it appears J.K. Rowling has worked her magic on him once again, as Yates is going back to the world of wizards.

THR reports that Yates will direct Potter-world film “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” The new trilogy-spawning series focuses on Newt Scamander, with the story taking place seventy years before Harry even comes into the picture.

I seem to recall David Yates saying he was…

In the course of his career, Luc Besson has produced the following: two “Taken” films (with a third on the way); three “Transporter” movies, along with a TV show based on the movie, plus a feature length reboot “The Transporter Legacy” coming next year; “Nikita”; the Hollywood remake “Point Of No Return” in addition to a TV series; four “Taxi” movies; three “Arthur” movies….you see where we’re going. So when he says that there’s no possibility of a followup to this summer’s surprise hit “Lucy,” you can see why we’re taking his claim with a grain of salt.

The writer/director/producer says…

We’ve decided to take a break from new films on this week’s episode of The MovieByte Podcast because JOE AND CHAD HAVE NEVER SEEN GALAXY QUEST! In what universe am I the one who has seen more films than someone else? It’s been long established that I have a lot of catching up to do.

This gave me the chance to watch the film again, and it still manages to surprise me for how good it is. Sure it’s not serious at all, but it is an almost perfect parody. From the moment the film begins with the cheesy scenes from an old TV show, you’re promised a lot of “not taking ourselves too seriously,” and…

As if videos from the set of J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars movie featuring live-action alien costumes and full-scale X-Wing Fighters haven’t been enough of a clue, Rian Johnson, who will pick up the franchise after Abrams, says Star Wars: Episode VII will feature more practical, traditional effects.

“They’re doing so much practical building for this one. It’s awesome,” Johnson said on the latest Girls in Hoodies podcast. “I think people are coming back around to [practical effects]. It feels like there is sort of that gravity pulling us back toward it.

It’s Christmas in Star Wars land. I try not…

Comicbook.com is reporting that Disney plans to release the original Star Wars trilogy in their original, untouched form, on Blu-ray. The report claims that Disney has been hampered by getting the orginal negatives into good shape. There’s one problem with this report:

Disney doesn’t own Star Wars, The Empire Strikes Back or Return of the Jedi. Fox does. They also own the distribution rights to the Prequels.

The rights to Empire and Jedi and the Prequels will revert to Lucasfilm (and thus Disney) in 2020, but Fox will retain the rights to Star Wars forever. In perpetuity. And they’ll never…

Zelda Williams abandoned her Twitter and Instagram accounts Tuesday after saying at least two people were sending her Photoshopped images of her father’s dead body and other disturbing messages—some blaming her for father’s death.

“I’m sorry. I should’ve risen above,” she wrote in her final tweet. “Deleting this from my devices for a good long time, maybe forever. Time will tell. Goodbye.”

The episode proves that, with the anonymity of the Internet, some people will be horrible no matter the situation.

Ahh the depravity of humans. She’s grieving the loss of her father, good grief. There…

Scarlett Johansson is arguably the most popular woman alive. Morgan Freeman is one of the most popular men, thanks to his mature masculine voice. These two performers gave Lucy the promise of offering a compelling sci-fi action flick that had nothing to do with super-heroes, a reboot, or a franchise continuation. That’s why TJ and I at MovieByte wanted to see Lucy: a movie that dreams big but crashes even bigger.

The woman in over her head

Lucy (played by Scarlett Johansson) is your average American living and studying in downtown Taipei, Taiwan. One not-so average day, she’s tricked into…

That awkward moment when a character who said only three (well okay, five, technically) words throughout the entirety of the film had way more character development than any character in Man of Steel. This is the power of the Marvel creative team at this particular juncture in history.

Guardians of the Galaxy is ostentatious, outrageous, silly, irreverent, and altogether self aware. Where the previous Marvel film this year was a very serious affair with a few funny moments, this film is the polar opposite — a very funny affair with a few serious moments.

The Galaxy?

I’m not sure this film…