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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The Way Way Back — Review

4.5 of 5 stars

This review is written specially for MovieByte. To read my original review of the film, view it over on my personal site, ChadLikesMovies.com.


Editor’s note: I’m not sure what’s up with the CMS not displaying the rating. It seems only to not display for Chad’s reviews in the CMS. I don’t have time to figure it out right now. Just know that the rating is 4.5 stars. — TJ

The Way Way Back

It is rare that I enjoy a comedy film that is intended as a comedy film. I typically find the humor pretty crass and distasteful, so it’s not a genre that I go see in theaters often. However, The Way Way Back presented itself to me in the form of a free screening a month early, and what critic wouldn’t jump on that opportunity? I did, and it has become probably my favorite film of the year so far - aside from maybe Oblivion.

I Think You’re a Three

The Way Way Back tells the story of Duncan (Liam James), a young teen who is being forced into a vacation with his mother (Toni Collette), her…

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Riddick — Review

1 of 5 stars
Riddick

I suppose I should preface this review with two things: 1) I did not watch the first two films in this series due to lack of time and interest; 2) I never had any interest in seeing this film. With those items in mind, here I go.

The Chronicles

Due to my lack of background on the character, I’ll leave it to IMDB to tell you what the film is about:

Left for dead on a sun-scorched planet, Riddick finds himself up against an alien race of predators. Activating an emergency beacon alerts two ships: one carrying a new breed of mercenary, the other captained by a man from Riddick’s past.

This… Read The Review

Chad’s Adventures on Barsoom

Chad’s Adventures on Barsoom
Chad Hopkins - ChadTalksMovies.com

As I mentioned on The MovieByte Podcast Ep. 54, I have been working on a post for one of my personal sites, ChadTalksMovies.com, for two weeks now, all centered around the character and world of John Carter. Here’s a short excerpt:

SupermanFlash GordonStar WarsAvatar. These characters/films share a common ancestry through Edgar Rice Burrough’s classic novel A Princess of Mars. The creators of these and so many others at some point in their lives picked up this story and were absorbed into the world of Barsoom, introduced to a man named John Carter, a man transported to a world apart…

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James Cameron Ups ‘Avatar’ Sequel Count to Three

James Cameron Ups ‘Avatar’ Sequel Count to Three
Mike Fleming, Jr. - Deadline Hollywood

The planned two sequels to James Cameron’s highly successful 2009 film Avatar have now become three sequels, announces Deadline Hollywood. The three sequels will be shot at the same time, with Avatar 2 set for release in December 2016.

Commented Cameron: “Building upon the world we created with Avatar has been a rare and incredibly rewarding experience. In writing the new films, I’ve come to realize that Avatar’s world, story and characters have become even richer than I anticipated, and it became apparent that two films would not be enough to capture everything I wanted to put on screen.…

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Disney Announces ‘Artemis Fowl’ Film Adaptation

Disney Announces ‘Artemis Fowl’ Film Adaptation
Karen Rought - Hypable

Disney announced yesterday that they had teamed up with producer Harvey Weinstein to bring Eoin Colfer’s Artemis Fowl book series to the big screen.

The live-action film will be based on the first two books of the series, titled Artemis Fowl and Artemis Fowl: The Arctic Incident. Screenwriter Michael Goldenberg, probably best known as the screenwriter for Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, will be penning the screenplay, and Jane Rosenthal and Robert DeNiro will be producers as well.

For those who don’t know, Artemis Fowl tells the story of a 12-year-old criminal mastermind who…

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John Williams Officially Returning to Score New ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy

John Williams Officially Returning to Score New ‘Star Wars’ Trilogy

Legendary film composer (and personal favorite) John Williams has officially confirmed his involvement in the new Star Wars trilogy, with the first entry being directed by JJ Abrams and premiering in 2015!

In a video posted on the official Star Wars YouTube channel, 81-year-old Williams talks about how he has always loved composing the scores for these films and how he still feels like he’s in the “galaxy far, far away.” I must admit that, while I knew that he would compose the score for Episode VII, I was willing to bet money that Abrams’ regular collaborator, Michael Giacchino, would take…

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