The original film Taken is the story of a retired CIA agent traveling across Europe. He relies on his old skills to save his estranged daughter, who was kidnapped on a trip to Paris to be sold into prostitution.

Human trafficking is a real concern that many people have yet to come to grips with. I know when I saw the original Taken film it was an eye-opener for me and many of my friends. We are far removed from the grim realities. Taken is the first film that made a big hit with general audiences that includes the subject.

It’s always gratifying to see a man’s man in action. Bryan…

Maybe you’ve been noticing this lately. Most of America’s favorite superhero roles were taken no less than by gorgeous men from across the Atlantic, England in particular, who dropped their accents to land on these meaty roles.

The Avengers introduced some exceptions to this, but for the most part American actors have not played superheroes in the movies for the last decade. Why is that? Because manly men are not among the Hollywood crowd, so acting scouts are looking offshore for talented masculine men to play the lead roles.

Superman played by Henry Cavill in next year’s The Man…

“I’ll… free… your… slaves! I’LL FREE THEM ALL!” Okay, we probably shouldn’t expect the eccentric genius of Daniel Day-Lewis’ Oscar winning role in There Will Be Blood, but the acclaimed actor is certain to light to screen this Christmas in Steven Spielberg’s biopic Lincoln. Below is the first official still from the film, and no it doesn’t show him slaying vampires. On a side note, it was also reported today that Day-Lewis never once stepped out of character while on the film’s set. Whether he spent most of that time bemused by the modern technology has not yet been confirmed.

First of…

There were no red carpets, no paparazzi, no celebrities and definitely no God at the recent annual Atheist Film Festival.

Instead, there were more than a dozen films, long and short, about separation of church and state, freedom of religion (and no religion), the conflict between science and religion in public schools and a couple hundred people eager to see them.

“If we don’t do this, who will? said festival organizer Dave Fitzgerald, as people picked up atheist-themed books and T-shirts at the Aug. 10–11 festival. “Atheists are not well-represented by Hollywood, and a lot of people…

It seemed as though he had all but retired after Gran Torino back in 2008, but Clint Eastwood is back on the big screen once more in baseball drama Trouble With The Curve, the first trailer for which has just arrived online.

Eastwood plays a grizzled old baseball scout whose body is beginning to fail him in his old age. When his daughter (Amy Adams) offers to lend a hand on one last scouting trip, Clint grudgingly agrees, only for the two to explore some home truths on their way around the country.

Justin Timberlake drops in for the ride as Adams’ ball-playing love interest while John…

For all the high expectations we place on feature films it is easy to overlook shorts films stand to impress as well. Independents everywhere are responsible for various production values for TV shows, advertising, and often times are snatched up for new talent at the bigger studios. It’s no wonder that professional independents have a creative itch with simple and clever narratives to tell.

If you love film shorts and what they may inspire for the future of greater filmmaking, you will want to watch this highly creative and fun piece from the developers of the Red Giant film crew.

The Master, Paul Thomas Anderson’s long-awaited return to the director’s chair, has released a brand new poster featuring a recurring image of the film’s three leads, Joaquin Phoenix, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Amy Adams.

Whereas the first poster took the form of a chilled wine bottle, this new sheet employs a kind of kaleidoscope design. If that original image alluded to Phoenix’s character’s alcohol problems, perhaps this new one is a reflection of his fragmented state of mind?

Set in the ’50s, the film will focus upon Phoenix’s heavy-drinking drifter, a former military man with a…

The Bourne Legacy will come and go without a lot of fanfare, but it’s worth noting there is something almost historic about this additition to the Bourne film series. It may very well be the first time a franchise continues on without its lead character, yet somehow it works the way Bourne Legacy is told. Perhaps it’s because everything else about Bourne Legacy will be relatable for audiences familiar with the Bourne conventions. It’s a serious kind of action thriller that simply works for large audiences.

But a lot of moviegoers are detracted by The Bourne Legacy. It looks like the…

I love the behind-the-scenes of an interesting behind-the-scenes sort of film. Wreck-It Ralph is one of these cases.

For a terrific behind-the-scenes scoop, here’s Germain Lussier:

Wreck-It Ralph is the title of the movie and also the main character (Reilly) who for 30 years has been a bad guy inside of an 8-bit video game, Fix It Felix Jr. One day he decides he doesn’t want to be the bad guy anymore and escapes his game into other ones in the arcade, trying to prove he can be a hero. Along the way, he’ll encounter multiple different games, characters and more, which are detailed…