Directing Star Wars VII is apparently a terrifying proposition, but one that is overcome by just what an amazing opportunity it is to direct such a film. There’s not much here — J.J. is tight lipped as always — but, it’s Star Wars, you know? And therefore we have to scrutinize every little nugget.
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Faith-based-film fever is sweeping some very specific parts of the nation. Recent years have seen a noticeable spike in films espousing old-school Christian dogma, and the public response has been undeniable. First, zombie-deity Christian horror film God’s Not Dead returned a $62 million box-office gross on a $2 million budget. (That was a joke; there are no zombies in God’s Not Dead, but a woman does develop cancerous tumors as a direct-ish consequence of writing anti-Duck Dynasty blog posts.)
Two things here:
Edward James Olmos has snagged a guest-starring role on the ABC drama, Marvel.comannounced Thursday. The actor will portray Robert Gonzales, whose debut will have massive repercussions for Director Coulson (Clark Gregg) and his team. Other details on the role, including how long he’ll be sticking around, are being kept under wraps.
“Edward James Olmos brings an amazing gravitas to any role he inhabits, something we knew we needed for Robert Gonzales,” executive producer Jeph Loeb says. “When Olmos first appears on our series, everyone will have to take notice–including our favorite… Read The Rest
Man I love this stuff. I wish we did more practical effects work in today’s films. Can you imagine how good stuff would work with real models and today’s digial compositing technology? Call me a softie for some of the old technologies, but I really think sometimes the old model work looks better.
On the other hand, hearing them talk about how long and how much work some of these shots took is pretty amazing too and you can’t blame filmmakers to some extent for embracing the digital revolution.
I freely admit — and you might remember reading from me a few months ago — that I was not all that interested and even just a little bit opposed to the idea of a live-action remake of Cinderella. I didn’t see the point. But as I discussed on the most recent episode of The MovieByte Podcast, I have to grudgingly admit that this trailer has a certain appeal and I’m not nearly as opposed to this idea as I was. I still have questions, and I wonder whether this remake was warranted. But for what it’s worth, here’s the latest trailer.
The film comes to theaters on March 13 and stars Lily James,…
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It was obvious to me in the theater that love and attention to detail went into every single frame of The LEGO Movie. As if to prove that point, Warner Bros. has just released this 4 minute promo/interview with the pair (and some others) talking about how they made The LEGO Movie look real. I really love that they did all the CGI based on all real LEGO bricks. They put every brick into their virtual inventory and so every single thing you ever see on screen is from “real” LEGO bricks. That is pretty amazing to me. It was a bold stylistic choice and one that paid off so well. And the level of…
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Read The RestConsider the gauntlet thrown. Matthew Vaughn has spent a good portion of his press run for “Kingsman: The Secret Service” declaring that his spy movie action/comedy/parody is a brazen return to fun at the movies that has been missing. He’s already described the first billion-dollar-earning Bond movie “Skyfall” as “pretty exhausting,” and now he’s taking aim at fanboy fave Christopher Nolan.
“People want fun and escapism at the moment,” Vaughn told SFX (via THR). “Look at the success of ‘Guardians of the Galaxy.’ I think Nolan kick-started a very dark, bleak style of superhero escapism, and…
I don’t know what’s going on with Evangeline Lilly’s hair, but this rest of this trailer looks intriguing. Leave it to Marvel to bring up yet another franchise I know absolutely nothing about, but which looks totally cool. I know there was a lot of controversy over the director change and Edgar Wright being fired, but I still have some faith in Marvel to do this right.
The thing I find the most interesting about this trailer is the fact that this doesn’t feel like your average flash/bang super-hero trailer. Their really positioning the film as a character exploration — and that’s welcome as…
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TJ and Joe discuss the amazing craft, the historical accuracies and inaccuracies, the agenda, and everything else about ‘The Imitation Game’ staring Benedict Cumberbatch as Alan Turing. What a fantastic film. TJ wishes he had seen it before he made his top films of 2014 list. They also discuss the newest ‘Peanuts’ trailer and the state of animation, CGI, and nostalgic filmmaking, the new trailer for the live action remake of ‘Cinderella’, some of the actors we lost in 2014, and the films TJ is looking forward to in 2015 (by no means a comprehensive list).
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I wonder what the process of casting for the part of the irascible “father of modern computing” looked like? I have to say I have no idea, but whatever process lead them to casting Benedict Cumberbatch was the right one! This film rises or falls on this one performance — even though there were several good performances in the film — and as always and ever, Cumberbatch elevates this film to a level I do not think would have been possible with any other actor.
There are many uncomfortable details about the work and life of Alan Turing’s life that the film does not shy away from.