John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood
Paperback|Kindle Edition
By Michael D. Sellers
Universal Media
370 pages
Release Date: November 28, 2012

Pity John Carter. The poor bastard never had a chance. Released several months before the summer movie deluge, Andrew Stanton‘s highly anticipated adaptation of the classic 1912 Edgar Rice Burroughs novel A Princess of Mars had the potential to kick start a new blockbuster sci-fi adventure franchise. Unfortunately a series of idiotic marketing decisions in the run-up to the film’s debut and mounds of negative press surrounding the troubled production and its massive $250 budget effectively sabotaged any chance John Carter had of connecting with audiences and grossing enough at the box office to ensure future sequels and additional ancillary revenue. Though it was very flawed I found the movie to be one of the most entertaining of last year – you can read my review here – yet it seems I was in the minority on that front.

John Carter‘s failure to even make back its budget and marketing costs turned out to be a major strike against the Walt Disney Company; the studio was pilloried for befouling what has been long considered one of the most important (if not THE most important) genre properties in existence by hiring a director inexperienced with live action – Stanton had previously directed several major hits for the company’s computer animation division Pixar – and allowing the costs to mount to the point where the movie’s box office prospects were saddled with unrealistic expectations, and then worsening its already ineffectual reputation even more with a confusing ad campaign that had no idea how to sell the film to the general moviegoing public. [...]

“Jesus….MacArthur….Jay-Z….the great ones….always return.”

The four dots are meant to represent dramatic pauses. Work with me here, people.

Paramount Pictures has unveiled the latest trailer for the highly anticipated comedy sequel Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues. You can check it out here below.

When I saw that a new trailer for Anchorman 2 had hit today I tracked it down with the hope that we would finally get a first look at scenes from the sequel that has been in the works in one form or another for nearly a decade. No go friends. Instead we once again get the Channel 4 News Team – lead anchorman Ron Burgundy (Will Ferrell), field reporter Brian Fantana (Paul Rudd), sports anchor Champ Kind (David Koechner), and weatherman Brick Tamland (Steve Carrell) – giving direct-to-camera quips, showing us that the team chemistry is still there despite having been mothballed since Bush II ran for reelection [...]

Vanilla Sky
Netflix | Amazon | Epix | Google Play | SEN | Vudu | YouTube
DVD
Directed by Cameron Crowe
Starring Tom Cruise, Penélope Cruz, Kurt Russell, Jason Lee, Cameron Diaz, Noah Taylor, Timothy Spall
Paramount Pictures
Originally Released: December 14, 2001

Vanilla Sky is one of those movies that, for one reason or another, I never got around to seeing – until now. And it also happens to be one of those movies that nobody ever says, "Meh, it was okay". Cameron Crowe’s surreal swirl of romance, sci-fi, thriller, and drama is a divisive piece of work, resulting in the vast majority of viewers either loving it or loathing it.

So that being said, there’s very little I can say within the circumstance of this review about this movie that will sway you one way or the other. Vanilla Sky is just one of those flicks you have to see for yourself, and make your own mind up about.

But whichever end your mind is made up about – one thing is certain: Vanilla Sky will fuck with your head [...]

The chances of Christopher Nolan directing the next James Bond film are pretty slim considering the fact that he is already directing Interstellar for Paramount and Warner Brothers. But what if the sci-fi film about traveling through wormholes starring Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Matthew McConaughey, and Michael Caine, were to be cast aside so that Nolan could direct the next Bond film? Hard to see that happen, but there is a rumor that is starting to surface that indicate that this could very well happen.

Considering that the report comes from The Daily Mail, this rumor could be nothing more than just a rumor. According to them, Barbara Broccoli and Michael G. Wilson have begun informal talks with The Dark Knight Rises director. But just because Nolan cannot direct Bond 24, doesn’t mean he cannot direct the one after it. As The Daily Mail said, “It does no harm for Broccoli and Wilson to talk with Nolan, even if nothing happens this time round.” [...]

Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams
Directed by Stevie Nicks & Dave Stewart
Starring Stevie Nicks, Dave Stewart, Glen Ballard, Lindsey Buckingham, Mick Fleetwood, Ann Marie Calhoun
Virgil Films
Release date: May 14, 2013 (VOD)

Stevie Nicks, the singer/songwriter who has thrilled and delighted legions of fans for over 40 years now by way of her stint in Fleetwood Mac and her also successful solo career, now has a documentary on the process of making her album, entitled Stevie Nicks: In Your Dreams, available now for instant digital download on iTunes and through On Demand.

The Grammy-winning and legendary artist, responsible for so many chart successes and radio hits with Fleetwood Mac like “Rhiannon,” “Go Your Own Way,” “Gypsy,” “Landslide,” and songs like “Stop Dragging My Heart Around” as a solo act, still tours and is still regarded as one of the top-shelf musicians of that genre of all time. Her fan base still boils over today with a passion and fervor for her, she gives off the kind of heat and adoration which many of her audience (especially women), still absorb. She’s kind of a hero, muse, and inspiration all at once to them, in her style, her slapdash, post-hippie, post-Janis Joplin kind of fashion sense, and her art [...]

From the demented minds that brought you last year’s V/H/S comes V/H/S/2, an all-new anthology of horrific found-footage vignettes. This installment features segments from the makers of Hobo with a Shotgun, You’re Next, The Raid: Redemption, and The Blair With Project.

You can check out the brand-new red band trailer below!

Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into this abandoned house and find a collection of mysterious VHS tapes. In viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be terrifying, unspeakable motives behind the student’s disappearance [...]

A new trailer for the upcoming animated feature Planes has been released by Disney. The movie is a spinoff of Pixar’s Cars movies, but instead of owning the streets this movie of course takes to the skies.

The trailer is a musical trailer, without any dialogue or story and set to some of the film’s score by composer Mark Mancina as visuals from the movie play.

You can check out the new Planes musical trailer below now. [...]

Brad Bird was among the first names to pop up on many people’s shortlist to direct Star Wars: Episode VII, when Disney acquired LucasFilm earlier this year. While the job eventually went to Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams, Bird did admit to The Hollywood Reporter that he was at one point asked to direct the highly anticipated sequel. The director also talks about the status of The Incredibles 2, another sequel everyone is waiting for to happen.

Hit the jump for some excerpts from the interview [...]

Star Trek Into Darkness
Director: J.J. Abrams
Screenwriter(s): Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, Damon Lindelof
Cast: Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, Benedict Cumberbatch, Karl Urban, Zoe Saldana, Simon Pegg, Alice Eve, John Cho
Paramount Pictures
Rated PG-13 | 133 Minutes
Release Date: May 16, 2013

“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”

With Star Trek Into Darkness, director J.J. Abrams stays true to the main themes of Gene Roddenberry‘s classic television series while meeting all the requisite components of an action-packed summer blockbuster.

Roddenberry’s 1966 series highlighted the camaraderie of the USS Enterprise crew and the bonds of friendship between Kirk, Spock, and Dr. McCoy, but Star Trek is remembered most for using science-fiction allegories to explore present-day dilemmas.

In Star Trek Into Darkness, Abrams and writers Roberto Orci, Alex Kurtzman, and Damon Lindelof introduce post-9/11 anxieties into a futuristic utopia, examining how a universe built on peaceful intergalactic diplomacy deals with acts of terrorism and, as a result, the increasing militarization of the United Federation of Planets.

Commander John Harrison (Sherlock‘s Benedict Cumberbatch) carries out a series of terrorist attacks, bombing a secret Starfleet installation in London before attacking Starfleet headquarters in San Francisco. When the saboteur escapes, Captain James T. Kirk (Chris Pine) leads a mission to the Klingon homeworld of Kronos to hunt down the most wanted man in the universe [...]

Another great Kickstarter project to take a peek at if you’re looking for something new to back, Harbinger Down is a horror movie that promises to have not one single CGI creature.

Most movie purists loathe the over-saturated world of CGI that we now live in, and crave the practical effects that are being used less and less every day as movie studios sacrifice quality to save a little coin. This makes a project like Harbinger Down all the more appealing.

The movie is being made by Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr. and their company Amalgamated Dynamics, a practical effects workshop that has worked on many movies, including Tremors, Alien 3, Starship Troopers, and the recent remake of The Thing. They’ve also got some industry friends who are going to help them make the movie who have worked on movies like Aliens, Terminator 2, and The Empire Strikes Back, just to name a few. Between them all, they have four Oscar wins and ten nominations.

Continue reading for more info and to see a video from the filmmakers on why you should pledge and help them make this movie. [...]

Recently we saw a very funny video of Harrison Ford on Jimmy Kimmel Live in which he answered a few Star Wars related questions while there to promote 42. Now J.J. Abrams has visited the talk show to promote his latest blockbuster, Star Trek Into Darkness.

Of course Kimmel couldn’t have Abrams on the show without bringing up the director’s next gig, Star Wars Episode VII. Abrams couldn’t say much as they’re still in the very early stages of that movie, so Kimmel turned it over to the fans—and perhaps a surprise visitor or two—for some of their suggestions on how to make Episode VII the best one yet. And again, the results are quite hilarious.

Be sure to click on over to the dark side to watch the video now! [...]

By Amy Vernon

Look, I’m no fan of the whole “Disney Princess” canon. I’m not even sure most of them are actually princesses, but that’s really splitting hairs.

I usually don’t give it much thought, though, except to betray my feminist leanings and be glad I have boys and don’t have to deal with shelves of pink when we go to the toy store (let’s face it, I’d still be shopping in the toy car and superhero section even if I had girls).

But when news broke the other week that Disney was adding Merida from Brave to its princess collection, I was a bit taken aback at the image I saw.

Gone was the frizzy hair. The dress they put her in was the shiny, princess-y one she hated in the movie, not her preferred garb. Her eyes were rounder and had a certain come-hither look to them. Suddenly, her waist was Barbie-sized and she had breasts.

Gosh, I guess she grew up fast [...]

Fans of Pixar’s Toy Story franchise have been somewhat spoiled not only by three wonderful movies, but by a collection of shorts that also feature the voices of all of the movies’ main stars.

Most of those shorts are only a few minutes long, but that will not be the case with Toy Story of Terror, and upcoming Halloween special once again featuring all of your favorite living toys.

The special will run 30 minutes in length, and will once again feature Woody (voiced by Tom Hanks), Buzz (Tim Allen), Jessie (Joan Cusack), Mr. Potato Head (Don Rickles), Rex (Wallace Shawn), Mr. Pricklepants (Timothy Dalton), and Trixie (Kristen Schaal). Also, a toy you might remember being blown up by Sid in the original movie, Combat Carl (to be voiced by Carl Weathers in the special)—also thought to be the first “death” in a Pixar film—will also make an appearance. [...]

Those robust drum sounds you hear should be enough to get you in the mood for a groove. Everyone’s favorite birds are back for Blue Sky Studio’s Rio 2. Anne Hathaway and Jesse Eisenberg return once more to reprise their respective roles as two rare blue birds who fly the friendly Brazilian skies.

The trailer will expand on viewers’ musical tastes as you get to see the animals from the preceeding Rio dance their way back into your memories. Also returning are will.i.am, Tracy Morgan, George Lopez, Leslie Mann, Rodrigo Santoro, and Jamie Foxx.

Check out the new trailer below [...]

The first trailer for Riddick was more concerned with announcing the return of the titular character than the actual story. From that one trailer alone, it looked like Riddick (Vin Disel) was banished to a desolate planet and thought to live his life on it in solitude. Little did he know that a band of bounty hunters was out for his head.

Now, a new trailer sheds light on that aspect. Watch the trailer here below.

The synopsis provides a little more in depth details as to how these bounty hunters come across the man who can see in the dark. Riddick, in a desperate act of survival, activates an emergency beacon that finds its way into the hands of nefarious bounty hunters. But this is Riddick we are talking about, and the man isn’t about to go down without a fight [...]