Star Wars: Episode VII” officially has a title.

Disney revealed the news this afternoon and the highly-anticipate movie, set for release on on December 18, 2015, will be called “Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

That’s fine, I guess. I don’t know, it isn’t quite what I was hoping for. Consider the strongest two titles in the franchise, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi. The Force Awakens feels a little lame next two those two titles. But hopefully the movie won’t be.

My other quibble is that the logo looks wrong somehow. Too clean. Have a look at the logo for The Empire Strikes…

But no matter how you feel about either stable of movies, this latest revelation will likely stoke the Marvel vs. DC arguments all over again.

As folks know, Nolan lent his name and some input as a producer on Warner Bros.’ Superman reboot “Man Of Steel.” Among Nolan’s instructions for director Zack Snyder, was a request that the filmmaker learn how objects move at high velocity. But he was also protective of Snyder and the movie too.

According to The Guardian, Warner Bros. — likely having been astounded by the haul of “The Avengers” the year before — asked Snyder to add a Marvel-style…

I was more excited for this film before I saw this trailer, unfortunately. I thought the previous trailers for this film had heart and were funny and charming. This trailer appears to have none of those elements. I’ll still probably see the film though and just hope whoever put this trailer together is just stupid or something.

Hey look, it’s a cash grab! Despicable Me did very well for itself, putting $543 Million in the bank from it’s worldwide gross. Despicable Me 2 blew the doors off the vault and overflowed the coffers something fierce at $970.7 million worldwide gross. It’s no surprise that the studios involved are very interested in continuing to bring in revenue from this particular stream.

A lot of people think the Minions are the best part of Despicable Me. I’m not quite in that camp. Sure they’re both funny and fun, but I don’t want an entire movie based just on them. But that’s what we are going to get.…

Chappie will mark Neill Blomkamp’s third outing to the big screen. Given what’s come before, I’m not so sure I can get too excited about this film. I know it’s sacrilegious, but I was just not that impressed with District 9, and Elysium was just a complete and utter train wreck. Again, I’m probably treading on thin ice here with many of you (hey Fizz), but I find very little to like about the man’s filmmaking style, his approach to story-telling, and his cinematographic instincts. It’s just not my style. But I know a lot of people love those things about Blomkamp. Our differences is what…

After The MovieByte Podcast 111

Join TJ, Joe, and Fizz to discuss what is possibly one of the most disturbing films of the year, but also almost certainly one of the most well crafted films of the year too. The guys dive in to the filmmaking craft, David Fincher’s other work, the fantastic acting, Ben Affleck’s career, and much more. Also, what is it that makes this film so disturbing? Well they tackle that too. Also up for discussion, Fizz’s thoughts on Marvel and the upcoming ‘Age of Ultron’ and Phase 3, the ‘Fast and Furious 7’ trailer, and Ridley Scott producing ‘3001: The Final Odyssey’ as a SyFy channel miniseries.

Well, it’s here. Paul Walker is actually featured quite prominently in the trailer. Given that, if memory serves, he still had a lot of filming left to do when he passed, I’m not sure how that’s going to work out, but he’s certainly in the trailer — a lot.

I don’t want to say too much disparaging about Walker’s last film, and I certainly didn’t hate the previous film as much as I thought I would, but I don’t expect this to be cinematic excellence any more than any of the other films in this franchise. It will be, I’m sure, all about over the top action, crazy premises, and family. The…

THR reports that Christian Bale has bailed on the movie, citing “conflicting feelings” and the ultimate realization that “he was not right for the part and decided to withdraw.” While the exact nature of Bale’s concerns aren’t yet known (maybe he felt bad doing the movie after David Fincher,who first courted him for the project, departed), the actor is due on the press circuit soon for “Exodus: Gods And Kings,” so he’ll surely be asked about this matter. It should be noted that the actor was never technically signed on.

Well, that’s kind of a bummer. While I have been sort of unsure about…