New AGENTS OF S.H.I.E.L.D. Promo Teases Upcoming Season One Action

ABC's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. got off to a pretty solid start last night. The enjoyable pilot episode directed by Joss Whedon and anchored on-screen by Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson, also boasted a Whedon-penned script that provided plenty of his signature humor, ensemble cast interaction, and fun fanboy references fit for new and old Marvel fans alike. The show's groundwork was firmly set, and even with a weekly TV budget that falls far below the open checkbook big screen Marvel adventures are allotted, the show looked great and pulled off a good run out of the starting gate.

Here is an additional new promo that shows us what else is in store for fans later in the season.

Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. airs Tuesdays on ABC at 8PM.

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Film Review: METALLICA THROUGH THE NEVER ★★½☆☆☆

Thrash metal pioneers Metallica don't do anything small. So it's only fitting that their big screen concert film, Metallica Through The Never, goes big, as in IMAX 3D big. The band takes the stage, plays, plays, and without question rocks the beejesus out of the arena. The film is firmly targeted to the loyal fans who need no band introductions, on-stage banter between the boys, or song title announcements. If you have not put in your time on the Metallica tour bus over the years however, Through The Never may bleed into one extended distorted heavy metal guitar riff

Metallica Through The Never, an immersive IMAX 3D extravaganza, combines stunning concert performance footage with a dystopian narrative story line that adds more confusion than satisfaction to the overall experience. The closest I have seen the band live was in 1992 (during my high school years) in the floor section at Giants Stadium during their double headlining tour with Guns N' Roses. There is something to be said about the electricity of a live stadium experience, even standing on your tippy toes beyond the 50 yard line from the main stage. All these years later Metallica still knows how to rock out a concert. The performance parts of Through The Never go beyond putting you in the best seats in the house, but I also found the monstrous and intimidating IMAX sound mix to be equally impressive. It doesn't hurt that the band has retained their well honed Rock God chops decades into their career, and deliver a satisfying nearly ninety minutes of heavy metal glory.

Where the feature stumbles is its all too narrow trajectory straight to their loyal core fan base. Quite simply, Metallica takes right to their impressive in-the-round stage and plays. Play they do, but a straightforward performance is pretty much what you get. Do not expect any stage filler from frontman/vocalist/rhythm guitarist James Hetfield or anything particularly playful from drummer Lars Ulrich, guitarist Kirk Hammett and bassist Robert Trujillo. No introductions, no song title announcements, or acknowledgements the cameras, which are to an extent sorely missed with this being a concert movie. Beyond a few shout outs and select interactions with the crowd, the boys are out to rock, not win you over with personality or get to know them moments. It's obviously the band and award-winning director Nimrod Antal's conscious decision to present the show this way, sans showy shtick, which robs it of basic old school  rock show fun.

To be fair, the band revealed more than enough of themselves during their last big screen outing, 2004's Metallica: Some Kind of Monster. I still consider myself lucky to have had the opportunity to interview the band at the press junket for their fascinating in-depth feature documentary (to be the only Metallica fan in the office at the time had its perks). Monster allowed the audience to really get into their inner demons and dirty laundry while they auditioned and subsequently hired bassist Robert Trujillo, and recorded their album St. Anger. It would appear that they felt absolutely no need to open up any further and let the music do the talking this time around. You get no more from them than strict by-the-book Rock God stage etiquette here.

The supernatural narrative elements with Dane DeHaan are a strange inclusion that make less sense as they go along. DeHann plays a young roadie sent on a mission and must persevere through a nightmarish series of encounters and apocalypse worthy riots all the while the band plays on in the local arena. The footage doesn't play off as a straight side story or add enough to make the movie feel like an old school concept music video. Parts where the concert elements synced to and enhanced the narrative were too far and in between. I got excited as the beginnings of a riot scene (with police batons hitting riot shields) that were in time to the opening drums of Wherever I May Roam, but then not only was the song cut off, but the music as a whole was rarely an integral part of the story. I felt it was a big overall missed opportunity within the film.

The 3D aspects were strongest when there were grand stage theatrics to work off of (laser bullets during One, roadies assembling a Lady Justice statue during ...And Justice For All, and the given spectacle of Tesla coils and the go-to concert crowd pleaser that is on-stage pyrotechnics). Trust me, somewhere Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley are now off planning their inevitable ultimate KISS IMAX 3D Experience. The pyro is effective, as is the elaborate stage whose floor is comprised of LED screens. The over the top theatrics do make for a better 3D experience given how little the band plays it up for an in-your-face experience to the numerous weighty Steadi-Cams that share the stage with them.

The big numbers were just that: BIG. Show staples like One, Enter Sandman, For Whom The Bell Tolls and Master of Puppets are worth the price of admission alone and during those songs I really wished a press screening was a place I could have yelled, head banged, air drumed along, or whoot whistled and applauded at the conclusion of a song. In retrospect I may have been better off a few rows down and in the mix with the audience members decked out in their well worn concert tees.

I definitely enjoyed Metallica Through The Never as an old school Metallica fan, and was blown away by how great the band looked and sounded in the IMAX 3D format. But I was also a bit taken aback by its approach (or lack thereof) to be an accessible film to anyone outside of the fan base, and some missed opportunities to really shine beyond the actual (albeit incredible) stage performance by dabbling with the use of unnecessary narrative elements. Through The Never is not out to strictly please their MTV-era fans by sticking to Black Album staples, but rather celebrate their hard rocking history with a welcome gift to the headbangers who have been at their side for the long run.

Metallica Through The Never opens on select IMAX 3D screens on September 27th.

REVIEW RATING: ★★½☆☆☆
METALLICA FAN RATING:  ★★★½☆☆
Director: Nimrod Antal
Starring: James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo, Dane DeHaan
Screenwriters: Nimrod Antal, James Hetfield, Lars Ulrich, Kirk Hammett, Robert Trujillo.
Studio: Picturehouse Entertainment
Rated: R
Running Time: 93 minutes

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Film Review: PRISONERS ★★★½☆☆

Prisoners is that rare nail biter thriller that wastes no time in firmly grabbing you by the throat and doesn't let go until its done with you nearly two and half hours later.

With a unforgiving plot that is sure to wreck havoc with any and every parent in its movie goer audience, when two six-year olds are kidnapped, to what lengths would you go to find them when the police's efforts do not turn up enough evidence to charge a likely prime suspect?

Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard star as the fathers of the pair of abducted girls, and are taken on a gripping emotional roller coaster ride over the course of the nine days in which the film is set. Jake Gyllenhaal as the dedicated but too straightforward cop on the case adds a lot to the complicated emotional fire that will leave you drained.

Jackman is extraordinary as the antagonized and distressed Keller Dover. He embodies a complex man put through the wringer and the horrendous toll resorting to the desperate measures will have on someone. He plays a full range of emotions from frantic panic to pained utter rage, to be-all end-all desperation. 

When he's not Wolverine, Jackman has enjoyed a varied career with his choice in roles. I've always felt his performance in the little seen meta sci-fi downer The Fountain was vastly underrated. That film may not have been everyone's cup of tea, Les Mis wasn't mine either, but it showcased the incredible acting chops Jackman keeps in his holster. In Prisoners he easily exceeds the whirlwind of gut wrenching emotions displayed in The Fountain. With his heavy sullen eyes, you feel like you are right there clinging to the anything and everything he needs to do in his obsessive mission to find his child.

Paul Dano easily slips into his role of Alex Jones, a mentally and emotionally challenged local who finds himself the first and easiest suspect in the abduction. No stranger to off kilter performance, Dano (There Will Be Blood, Looper) balances the creepy and the sympathetic all the while the plot thickens and morals are clearly left behind in the search for truth.

As the window to the audience's eyes, Gyllenhaal's Detective Loki, an oddball tattooed local lawman, shows little emotion towards the grieving parents' plights. While far from skimping on his detective duties, his cold public demeanor does little to ease the growing anxieties of anyone he comes in contact with during the twists and turns of the investigation.

While Jackman represents the part of you that reacts and does whatever is necessary, Maria Bello as Grace Dover puts in a great turn as the emotionally shattered mother left increasingly numbed every day her daughter is remains missing.

You could say the film greatly echoes the emotions wrought from 1996's Ransom starring Mel Gibson, but Prisoners is far darker than that film ever dared to go. In addition to the emotional performances, director of photography Roger Deakins plays a huge role in maintaining the film's relentless cloud of gloom. Deakins' consistent excellent work always speaks for itself and in this case is almost its own character in the film. The underlying mood set by the overcast days, rainy nights and dark unexplored locations give that much more weigh to the constant state of uneasiness.

Director Denis Villeneuve brings a lot to the table here. In addition to letting scenes to adequately and effectively breathe and his cast to deliver lines without cutting away to reverse reaction shots, he also makes great use of your fears of what is not revealed on screen. At moments where you are ready to look away, you are then not given a reason to. What you don't see is far more dreadful when left to your own imagination. I have no doubt what was in my head at crucial points was worse than any visual reveal that could have been made. At the other side of Ransom, Prisoners has a lot more in common with the sinister themes of a Seven-era David Fincher film, but rather plays its hand without the literal gruesome reveals and relies more on scant sound design and raw human reactive emotion.

Prisoners will keep you firmly on the edge of your seat from the start and leave you emotionally drained by its finish. The entire cast makes this thriller work, but it's Jackman's show giving a standout emotionally gripping performance that will be hard to ignore during awards season. It's a unforgettable pulse pounding ride to the end, even at two and half hours. I can't say I can comfortably recommend this to parents of young children given its effective execution of a Godawful nightmare scenario, but is without question the most riveting film I've seen all year.

Prisoners opens in theaters on September 20th.

REVIEW RATING: ★★★½☆☆
Director: Denis Villeneuve
Starring: Hugh Jackman, Jake Gyllenhaal, Maria Bello, Melissa Leo, Terrence Howard, Paul Dano, Viola Davis
Screenwriter: Aaron Guzikowski
Studio: Warner Bros. Pictures
Rated: R
Running Time: 153 minutes

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Film Review: THE WIZARD OF OZ - AN IMAX 3D EXPERIENCE ★★★★☆

For me, and like most fans, The Wizard of Oz is has been a movie that lived on through televised broadcasts and the numerous home video versions that have graced my collection shelves over the years. So the opportunity to experience it on the big screen is without question a big rare treat.

As one of the most iconic films of all time, Oz has been given the royal treatment to celebrate its milestone 75th anniversary. You can't help but be skeptical when you think about blowing up a classic film to IMAX proportions in addition to converting it to 3D. But the meticulous work put into the task boasts glorious results that truly makes following the Yellow Brick Road well worth the journey. This despite the countless times you may have seen Judy Garland's adventure as Dorothy Gale over the years.

Few find themselves strangers to the 1939 adaptation of L. Frank Baum's 1900 novel that chronicles the adventure of the Kansas girl and her little dog who are transported over the rainbow to the magical Land of Oz. With the help of some new found friends, she follows the Yellow Brick Road to seek the help of a legendary wizard in order to get home. All the while breaking into song and eluding a green skinned wicked witch who has flying monkeys as minions. The story needs no scholarly film review here, a classic is a classic, so let's dig into the tech specifics of this anniversary edition.

The folks at Warner Bros. have put the 75-year old negative through several stages of restoration over the years for video releases, with each successive pass benefiting greatly from improved digital technology to remove dirt, scratches and enhance long dormant details. To take a print three quarters of a century in age and see it converted for a theatrical IMAX 3D run is a true test of the tireless work put into this latest restoration. Granted we have big TVs nowadays that are HD, but for me growing up I saw the film only through televised broadcasts or VHS copies on a 4:3 25" Magnavox TV set. The grandeur of the movie going experience all these years later, I'm happy to report, was an eye opening revelation.

The picture is simply stunning. Try and find a scratch or a speck of dirt on the "print" that was scanned frame by fame at an 8K resolution. The colors are vibrant and well within the color pallet you'd expect from the time and the Technicolor film process. You can imagine the color correction artists would have eagerly jumped at the opportunity to crank the knobs all the way to the right and over saturate the film. Thankfully there is a pleasant restraint to their efforts. Oz looks as colorful as you remember it, and still retains its vintage aesthetic. The greens particularly pop on Margaret Hamilton's Wicked Witch of the West's face as do the jewels that line Emerald City. The skin tones look fantastic, Dorthy's Ruby Slippers shimmer in its iconic red and the warm earth-tone hues of the Kansas scenes look great.

What the big screen particularly allows is a better appreciation of details lost on TV sets, notably the burlap layers in Ray Bolger's Scarecrow make-up and the constant wagging of the Cowardly Lion's tail. As a dog owner, I paid particular attention this time out to Terry, the canine who played Toto. On the IMAX screen you can appreciate how consistently on-point the dog was in wide shots, constantly following the cast, reacting at all the right times, and for God's sake maintaining correct eye-lines. It's these little things that come up big.

The 3D conversion here is also a welcome victory. Granted there is only so much layering you can do with a film negative that old, but the 3D was always present and never distracting. It fell in with the path the best new movies have taken with the technology, allowing it add only subtle layers to the overall experience and not have anything and everything shoot out at you. The second issue I typically have with 3D is the darker projection and too often resulting muddy picture. Oz passed the 3D test well. Was it necessary? Absolutely not given only the overall slight enhancement to the presentation, but it is by no means a reason to skip it. There were a few soft close-up shots, but I think its bound to happen with any IMAX conversion, and Oz has a lot of inherent accepted leeway on its side on the tech side of this.

I have been enjoying the trend of pre-Blu-ray theatrical runs in IMAX and / or 3D for the most part, some more than others. The return of Raiders of the Lost Ark and Jurassic Park on the big screen were victories, whereas Top Gun fell flat and short on all levels except for its rocking '80s re-mastered soundtrack. If certain modern movies do not hold up well in IMAX, its a testament to the artists and filmmakers involved here to have pulled off such a cinematic feat with Oz.

The main thing is I felt like a kid again sharing a big screen journey with old childhood friends. Lavish CGI-heavy prequels can't take away from the original's charm and rightful place in movie history (that means you Oz the Great and Powerful). There is no way around it, The Wizard of Oz is a movie that's impossible leave not in a good mood. This welcome 75th Anniversary edition of the timeless classic is a fantastic cinematic experience fit for the whole family, and the trip down the Yellow Brick Road has never looked so stunning.

The Wizard of Oz - An IMAX 3D Experience opens in IMAX 3D on September 20th.

The Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary Collector's Edition hits shelves in Blu-ray, Blu-ray 3D, DVD and UltraViolet verisons on October 1st.

REVIEW RATING: ★★★★☆
Director: Victor Fleming
Starring: Judy Garland, Ray Bolger, Bert Lahr, Jack Haley, Frank Morgan, Margaret Hamilton, Terry
Screenwriters: Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf
Rated: PG
Studio: Warner Bros.
Running Time: 111 minutes

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A MUST See! THE WIZARD OF OZ Is Returning To The Big Screen, As In IMAX 3D Big!

I have found re-visiting timeless classics on the big screen to be a real treat. It goes without saying few are deserving of the royal treatment more than The Wizard of Oz, which celebrates its 75th Anniversary this year (it seems like only yesterday I bought the 70th Anniversary Edition on DVD).

I caught the amazing IMAX 3D re-release this morning in NYC and honestly it was a nothing less than a stunning experience to see it on the big BIG screen, digitally re-mastered and looking so good (this from a stickler of shoddy 3D conversion, muddy 3D projection and grainy IMAX blow-ups).

As the oldest film ever to be put to the test of IMAX 3D proportions, I went into it full of tech snob skepticism and came out feeling like a kid again. It is really a triumph and testament to the over 1000 artists and filmmakers involved in the 16 month long conversion process. Not that you're looking for film grain, but there is no film grain to look for (from a 75 year old negative!) much less scratches or dirt. The colors are vibrant, and the presentation showcased welcome restraint by not over saturating the film. The 3D was not overdone, just adding a minute extra layer that falls in line with the best of the modern 3D experience.

And lest we forget, it's THE WIZARD OF OZ!

You really owe it to yourself to take another walk down the Yellow Brick Road starting this Friday during its one week run in one of the 318 IMAX theaters set to showcase the timeless film. Most of us have only seen it on broadcast TV or on home video, so don't miss out on this big screen opportunity.

I will have a full review here in the next day or two, but for now enjoy IMAX's Behind The Frame featurette below which follows the production process involved in Oz's return to theaters, as well as the new trailer for its 75th Anniversary IMAX release.

SOURCE: IMAX

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Will Peter Davison Appear In The DOCTOR WHO 50th ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL?

While there has been nothing but a thick shroud of Deny Deny Deny on whether any of the actors who portrayed Classic Doctors would appear in the highly anticipated Who 50th Anniversary Special, The Day of the Doctor,  some interesting news has emerged from the Fifth Doctor, Peter Davison.

Following an alleged staged protest earlier this week outside of the BBC by Davison, Sixth Doctor Colin Baker and Seventh Doctor Sylvester McCoy, presumably captured for some sort of 50th Anniversary tie-in, he had some rather interesting snippets in store for a interview on Daybreak regarding the landmark 75-minute episode.

“I’ve heard lots of rumors, none of which I’m allowed to tell you anything about. I’m privy to them, actually,” Davison said.

“I have got a copy of the script which has got my name embossed across it. So it’s top secret, but there’s other stuff, lots of other things that are going on that people should keep their eye open for around the 50th-anniversary special!”

So Davison has a personal copy of The Day of the Doctor's script with his name on it in addition to being in the know all about the production? That does seem a bit odd for someone who is supposedly not involved with the half century in the making episode. Granted he has been involved with the Modern Doctors, appearing in the Time Crash short alongside David Tennant (and his son-in-law), so the script may just be a gift from the production as well.

I sat down with Davison for an interview last year at New York Comic Con, and at the time he told me he would be a happy participant, but had not heard from Who show runner Steven Moffat.

"Honestly I have not heard anything at all, so I don't know. I'd be very happy to take part in whatever they want me to take part in. I'm just worried that it might be a little difficult to do it and make it work as a proper story. Unless it was a special, almost a bit like David and I did. He's very resourceful Steven [Moffat], so he might come up with the way of doing it, who knows." 

Of course that was nearly a year ago and a lot has changed. The surviving Doctors will be heard on The Light At The End, a radio drama that will team all the Classic Time Lords together for one adventure, there are rumors Paul McGann has filmed a regeneration scene to bridge into John Hurt's dark Doctor introduction, and if the BBC can get Davison, Baker, and McCoy for a faux protest, the odds towards some exciting previously denied surprises may be on deck for November 23rd. But you can be certain Davison and many others will be involved in the overall celebration of the show's anniversary in some manner.

While much involved with the rich history of Doctor Who is being underplayed to the press in regards to The Day of the Doctor, I'm sure there are a few major tricks waiting to be sprung upon us on November 23rd. Though the biggest surprise would be any participation by Christopher Eccleston, who unfortunately for fans has shunned association with the episode, and anything to do with Doctor Who for that matter.

You can read my full two-part 2012 NYCC interview with Peter Davison HERE and HERE.

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The ROBOCOP Remake Gets An Official Poster

The RoboCop remake got its first (underwhelming) trailer last week, and now an official poster is upon us. While the re-design of Detroit's best robot crime fighter does ultimately look better than the first unofficial pics that emerged from the set that caused an uproar last year (but still looking like Batman's body armor with a Cylon visor), overall I am not in the least bit excited for this totally unnecessary remake that has The Killing's Joel Kinnaman stepping in for Peter Weller as Alex Murphy / RoboCop.

Check out the new generic character poster in addition to the film's first trailer below, which is of course chock full of homages to the original. Would you buy this for a dollar?

Directed by José Padilha, the cast also includes Samuel L. Jackson, Gary Oldman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jackie Earle Haley, and Jay Baruchel.

The film is set for release on February 7th, 2014.

We can keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best, but there is sometimes simply no replacing a dark twisted pop culture classic like the 1987 Paul Verhoeven original. Notice that the score from The Terminator is used in this early preview.

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Chris Cooper Teases Norman Osborn In THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 & 3

I'm settling back in New York following my latest amazing tour of duty at the Toronto Film Festival and posting another snippet of fan boy news from TIFF that I shot for Access Hollywood (shameless self promotion) during the red carpet premiere for August: Osage County. Chris Cooper dishes on his role as the sinister Norman Osborn in The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to Access Hollywood's Scott Mantz.

While Cooper was tight lipped overall as expected, he certainly provided as suitable tease for Osborn's role in the next two sequels.

 "Well, um this is uh, this is a um, this is an introduction to Norman Osborne. And apparently this leads to better things in Spider-Man 3. Um, but he's um, I think it's fair to say um he's on his last legs. And um, I don't know if I can say anything more."

The Amazing Spider-Man 2, set for theaters in 3D on May 2, 2014, reunites director Marc Webb with Andrew Garfield (Spider-Man / Peter Parker), Emma Stone (Gwen Stacy) and Sally Field (Aunt May Parker). Joining the sequel's cast are Dane DeHann (Harry Osborn), Jamie Foxx (Electro), Paul Giamatti (Rhino) and Felicity Jones.

SOURCE: AccessHollywood.com 

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DOCTOR WHO 50th Anniversary Special Title & Poster Revealed!

The highly anticipated Doctor Who 50th Anniversary Special now has an official title: THE DAY OF THE DOCTOR.

“The Day of the Doctor is nearly here!" Matt Smith said in BBC's press release. "Hope you all enjoy. There’s lots more coming your way, as the countdown to the 50th begins now.”

In addition to celebrating the landmark half century of space and time traveling for the Doctor on the actual date the first episode aired in 1963, the 75-minute special will see the teaming of the Matt Smith's current Eleventh Doctor along with David Tennant's Tenth Doctor. John Hurt, as revealed in Who's season finale, will appear as another version of the Time Lord yet to be revealed (though speculation mainly points to the sinister Valeyard from 1986's Sixth Doctor Colin Baker-era The Trial of a Timelord).

Though looking at the poster, you can't help but wish to see Doctors Nine, Ten and Eleven together. It's all the more extremely disappointing that Christopher Eccleston couldn't put his personal pretenses aside and done Whovians a solid by agreeing to appear in the special. If it proves true that the Classic Doctors will not factor in the story substantially, it would have been great to at least have the three Modern Doctors share the small screen for one adventure.

The Day of the Doctor, shot in 3D and set to air on BBC simultaneously all over the world on November 23rd, also brings back Billie Piper as Rose Tyler as well as current Who companion Jenna Coleman (who has dropped the Louise from her billings). The anniversary show will also be the penultimate adventure for Smith's Eleventh Doctor, who will meet his demise at year's end in the Who Christmas Special and regenerate into number Twelve, or will it be Thirteen (set to be played by Peter Capaldi)?

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Ben Affleck As The Dark Knight In GOOD WILL BATMAN

Comedian Pete Holmes shows us what happens when Ben Affleck takes his Batman persona into a re-cut & remastered version of the film that won him an Academy Award for screenwriting, Good Will Hunting. Holmes has been doing hilarious Batman riffs parodying Christian Bale's gravel voiced version of the Dark Knight for some time with the folks at College Humor, and this one is another classic.

I highly recommend checking out Holmes' other Batman videos HERE.

Enjoy.

SOURCE: Pete Holmes You Tube Channel

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Hugh Jackman Praises 'X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST' As Three Movies In One

Access Hollywood has been on full Toronto Film Festival coverage since its kick off last Thursday. Hugh Jackman is in town for his powerful new drama Prisoners, and talked up the post-credits scene in The Wolverine, Bryan Singer's lasting contribution to the big screen superhero genre, and Christopher Nolan's first reaction to 2000's X-Men with AH's Scott Mantz (for full disclosure: I am also on the AH Toronto team taking on camera duties shooting press junkets and red carpet premieres).

While discussing The Wolverine's crowd pleasing extra scene (*SPOILERS* ahead), Jackman revealed his thoughts on the scope of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

"I was in at a screening, when the little easter egg as we call them, came up during the credits of Wolverine. I just kept hearing people yelling an cheering. To see Patrick Stewart come back out you know in the wheelchair, to see Ian McKellen with the fedora on. I know having sat at Comic Con at that panel with that extraordinary cast, this is I keep saying, this is two movies in one, but the size of it is like three in one. And he's really gonna blow people away with the story. I think Bryan Singer is going to be the first director to make increasing better movies in a franchise. I'm not sure if anyone else has done it."

He also went on to further praise Bryan Singer for (thankfully) turning the tide to making darker character driven superhero films, and what Christopher Nolan's reaction was when he saw X-Men in 2000.

"Few people credit Bryan for what he deserves credit for: which is really inventing that genre. There really wasn't a superhero genre before X-Men came out. And funny enough I remember catching a plane while we were promoting The Prestige with Chris Nolan and he said to me he's always had the Batman in his mind, even way back. Even before 2000. He had the version of Batman he ended up making in his head. And he said when I went into the cinema and I saw X-Men he was like 'Damn that's my idea,' the idea that you can really delve into the emotional life to the vulnerabilities of these characters and that that as well as being fantastical and amazing and action is what's gonna hook people and make them care. And that's what Bryan did, he had a lot of courage to do that."

Hugh also laughed off that picture he tweeted of himself lifting an astounding 460 pounds, "just showing off," the embarrassed 45-year old actor said. 460 pounds. Seriously. You need any more inspiration to get your lazy ass to the gym?

It's no exaggeration when people say Hugh Jackman is one of the nicest folks in Hollywood, or anywhere else for that matter. I have been fortunate to be a part of NYC press interviews with him since 2000's X-Men and continuing to Van Helsing, X-Men: The Last Stand, Les Miserables, and The Wolverine. Jackman is a consummate cordial class act, so I will without shame include the picture we took after the Prisoners junket interview.

SOURCE: AccessHollywood.com

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Film Review - RIDDICK ★★☆☆☆

Riddick finds Vin Diesel reprising his role as the galaxy's favorite bad ass Furyan in round three of the series. The latest film falls far more in line with the trilogy's first installment, the sleeper sci-fi hit Pitch Black, than the bloated and extremely over ambitious follow-up The Chronicles of Riddick, and strips the character down into a back to the basics slow burn action thriller that will appeal mainly to series' in-house fans.

When we last saw Riddick, he had violently assumed the throne of the Necromongers, an evil race of inter dimensional soul predators. It's a complicated scenario from Chronicles and actually has little to do with the latest chapter, so lets move on. We open with our title character buried alive, wounded and stranded on a desolate desert planet teeming with threats from vicious creatures. Even for Riddick, that’s a really bad day.

In the first half hour we learn he's has been betrayed by the Necromongers, taken off world and left for dead. It’s a sci-fi version of Castaway, with very little dialogue from Diesel as he fights to survive in the savage conditions, tends to his wounds, battles terrifying creatures in the wastelands and even manages to find a companion for himself in the form of an alien canine (we know what to ultimately expect when we get attached to a dog in this sort of film).

Act two introduces two mercenary groups landing on the planet who are hell bent on cashing in on the rich bounty for delivering Riddick's head in a box. A ragtag team led by Santana (Jordi Malla) gets settled first and boasts some necessary brawn from Diaz, played Dave Batista. The WWE star is playing Drax the Destroyer in Marvel’s upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy, and his supporting turn here should give fans a lot to look forward to. The second more organized merc unit led by Boss Johns (Matt Nable) has BSG fan favorite Katee Sackhoff in tow as Dahl, a no-nonsense eagle eyed sharp shooter. Both groups do their damnedest to track down Riddick and his four legged best friend. In curious move, we find Riddick noticeably absent for a good portion of the film.

Despite his best survival efforts and taking out a few of a pursuant or three, Riddick’s game of cat and mouse goes only so far, and that’s when the film gets its groove on. The third act heavily echoes the formula that made Pitch Black a winner, and easily that is when the film is the most effective. There is a heavy plot throwback to the first film (to bring it all full circle as they say), but I feel the more Riddick keeps to itself as a standalone installment, the better off it is. Plot points from Black just add to the off kilter nature that is prevalent throughout the film. 

The last half hour is when the film delivers all the bad assness that you expect from the character, but it's mostly nothing we haven’t seen before. Riddick the anti-hero is ultimately brutally tested and fights to survive in the darkness, up against seeming impossible odds (how’s about thousands of carnal aliens out to shred you to death with their claws and teeth?) in a solid sci-fi final act.

I was not as taken aback by the Chronicles of Riddick as many other were, by its exponential budget and high concept ascension from Pitch Black. Honestly I found the expansion of the storyline’s scope fascinating, and applauded the necessary balls to take it from A to B. But it was certainly was a complete 360 from the gritty spookiness of the original and managed to leave Riddick lording over an entire race of ancient warrior vampires. Riddick places the Furian back at square one, where only his brutal survival skills can see him through a "bad day," but acknowledges his fall from grace with the Necromongers via a flashback with Karl Urban as Vaako. To further bury the box office dud that was Chronicles, its storyline is briefly addressed and pushed aside swiftly, only to find the call back to Pitch Black intruding more on the new story in both screen time and implied plot importance.

What does it have going for it you ask? Riddick is a bad ass anti-hero to follow and overall director / screenwriter David Twohy takes Riddick a step back into the perceived right direction, despite its uneven storytelling and absence of its star for a healthy portion of the film. Also as a fan of a tight 90 over a crawling 120 minutes, the film could due with excising some of the running time fat. Fans will enjoy Katee Sackhoff on the bog screen, proving her years on the Galactica as Kara Thrace have served her well playing tough a warrior. 

Had Chronicles clicked with audiences, the series would have easily moved forward with the epic Dune-esque scale direction and that would have been that. But that was not the case. Riddick does impress visually given its scaled back budget and makes the most of the extensive CGI backdrops. But Riddick is for Riddick fans, it isn't going to break in a massive new fan following. Although the series is back on track, unfortunately an uber expensive and imaginative middle chapter has been discarded never to be heard from again.

There are more stories to tell, and fans will welcome them. I would be very surprised if the series could not thrive onwards for years on this smaller scale, but hopefully without such an uneven experience in pacing, plot and tone.

Riddick opens in theaters and IMAX on September 6th.

REVIEW RATING: ★★☆☆☆
Director: David Twohy
Starring: Vid Diesel, Karl Urban, Katee Sackhoff, Dave Batista, Jordi Malla, Matt Nable
Screenwriter: David Twohy
Studio: Universal Pictures
Rated: R
Running Time: 119 minutes

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The Official Full Trailer For GRAVITY Is Here!

Warner Bros. has released the full trailer to Alfonso Cuaron's Gravity, starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney, just ahead of its red carpet premiere at the Toronto Film Festival on Sunday.

The film is already scoring Oscar buzz by the boatload.  In an interview with Variety, here are the praises James Cameron had for the film:

“I was stunned, absolutely floored,” he said. “I think it’s the best space photography ever done, I think it’s the best space film ever done, and it’s the movie I’ve been hungry to see for an awful long time.”

“What is interesting is the human dimension,” Cameron observed. “Alfonso and Sandra working together to create an absolutely seamless portrayal of a woman fighting for her life in zero gravity.”

Here is the official synopsis:

"Sandra Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (George Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone–tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness. The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth…and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space."

Gravity is set for an October 19th release in 2D, 3D and 3D IMAX

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'Transformers 4' Now Has a Title AND a Teaser Poster!

Transformers 4 can now be called Age of Exctinction. With the rumors of the Dinobots making an appearance, short of a image of Grimlock, ain't that new title is a not so subtle throw to dinosaurs?

You can also check out images director Michael Bay has released of the G1 Autobot favorites set to appear in the next stage of the series, Optimus Prime, a '67 version of Bumblebee, Hound and another yet to be named vehicle via his website.

Set for June 27th, 2014, Bay returns to direct his fourth big screen round of Transformers, whose events takes place five years following the destruction of Chicago in 2011's Dark of the Moon. The film promises to jump start the series in a new direction with revamped versions of the familiar robotic alien heroes and villains. Mark Wahlberg stars with Kelsey Grammar, Stanley Tucci, T.J. Miller, Nicola Peltz, Sophia Myles, Bingbing Li and of course Peter Cullen (returning to provide the iconic voice of Optimus Prime).

SOURCE: Michael Bay Dot Com

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Has Benedict Cumberbatch Been Cast In 'STAR WARS: EPISODE VII?'

It's Monday and Labor Day, so it's only natural a hot Star Wars story is cast out for us to obsess over. So how does this latest rumor sit with you folks? Benedict Cumberbatch has been cast in Star Wars: Episode VII.

That's the latest word around town, according to a report from Film Chronicles. The popular Sherlock star is set to re-team with his Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams in a role yet to be revealed. His casting announcement is reportedly imminent. It should be noted that Cumberbatch recently and unexpectedly dropped out of Guillermo del Toro's Crimson Peak with no official reason given. Peak and Episode VII are slated to film at the same time, which would mean picking one or the other.

NOTHING has been confirmed for any of the cast yet. We are all still assuming that Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher are on board (though there has been more than enough smoke for that fire to say it's a foregone conclusion they will return to their iconic roles). Scant info has been leaked about Abrams' Star Wars, except for the unconfirmed search for seven leads, some of whom are presumably the offspring of Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Leia Organa. Rachel Hurd-Wood (Solomon Kane) and Alex Pettyfer (I Am Number Four) have been thrown into that rumor mill.

Cumberbatch may be out of that age range to play the next generation of Solos or Skywalkers with the film set 30 years after Return of the Jedi, but he could easily knock it out of the ball park as the latest red lightsaber wielding Sith Lord. Whether he's up for another villain role after Into Darkness remains to be seen, but I have little doubt he could bring the same perfect chilling face and voice of evil to Star Wars. Cumberbatch is also a fan favorite across the board, so I wouldn't anticipate any backlash of Affleck proportions if this were to prove true.

In May while chatting up Star Trek Into Darkness, he had this to say regarding conversations with Abrams about a potential Star Wars role with Total Film:

“I’ve already asked him if I can be a lightsaber and we’re in talks - about whirring sounds and the rates for the lights and everything [laughs]." 

“I thought, ‘Yeah, I grew up with them,’ and I just looked recently at when they were released and now I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t grow up with them, I was born with them.’ They were a huge part of my background, and my upbringing." 

“I was much more connected to [Star Wars] as a kid, in the way that a lot of kids are because it’s immediate storytelling, very simple - a beautifully, outrageously simple narrative in a way - and a wonderful three-act melodrama, opera. And I loved them. I really, really loved those films and I always wanted to be Han Solo. Everything Harrison Ford did I just thought was the coolest thing ever - Raiders Of The Lost Ark was very much my upbringing as well."

“What I realized with the reboot of Star Trek in 2009 is that I had a residual love and empathy for these characters because I felt really, giddily sentimental about them getting back together, and this origin story. So Star Trek seeds a little deeper for most people, it’s a little bit more mature - it doesn’t take itself too seriously though, it’s very humorous and fast-paced and imaginative and fun." 

“But I think the serious things that really kind of get you… that comes from good characters, really well drawn characters that have fantastically rich relationships and really interesting meat in the stories.

“They may be set in space but they dealt with every kind of discussion or morality play, or debate about race or purpose and place and identity, and what it is to belong, and the human condition, and that’s its enduring appeal. I’m backtracking a bit but what I’m saying is my fervour for Trek was there, I just didn’t realize it. I was an out-and-out kid running around with a lightsaber wanting to fly the Millennium Falcon but I think I’m growing into being a Trekkie, if that makes sense.”

As with just about everything to do with this film, only official news is official news. Does this story have enough merit to pan out? Or do we throw in on the pile to keep company with that silly Ryan Gosling rumor? We can speculate till the twin suns set. But so far the people involved on the record are the director, producers, screenwriter, and composer.

More to come soon...

SOURCES: Film Chronicles, Total Film, Bleeding Cool

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THE INTERNET IS AWESOME: Captain Kirk Watches Miley Cyrus' VMA Performance

"What is... that?" Kirk asks about the strange high intensity reading intercepted by the USS Enterprise...

SOURCE: Aries Head Films

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Bryan Cranston Addresses Those Lex Luthor Casting Rumors... Again

There has been no shortage of online buzz when it comes to the 2015 sequel to Man of Steel, announced with great fanfare at Comic Con in July, which will showcase Superman and Batman together on the big screen and facing off for the first time. The web exploded with a tidal wave of outrage when Ben Affleck was cast as Batman opposite Henry Cavill's Man of Steel in a screenplay set to take a cue from the 1986 graphic novel The Dark Knight Returns.

Bryan Cranston's name has been bandied about (along with Mark Strong) as a candidate for the role of Lex Luthor (personally, after his bravado-laden performance in Pacific Rim, I would love to see Idris Elba get a crack at it). While Cranston has been receiving the most heat as of late, absolutely nothing beyond pure fan speculation has surfaced.

A rather ridiculous recent report from Cosmic Book News has received an awful lot of reposts, even from Rolling Stone. CBN is on the record that Cranston has already sealed the deal with WB. While that bit of news alone by no means requires a huge leap of faith, their subsequent claims lie on the far fetched side of the fence. They report Cranston has signed on for six pictures, Ben Affleck is inked for 13 (a 13 picture deal? Seriously? Chris Evans talked Marvel down from 9 to 6 before committing to play Captain America), and finally Matt Damon is in WB's sights for Aquaman or Martian Manhunter in Justice League.

Now back to Cranston. The Boston Globe caught up with the Breaking Bad star and thankfully asked if he was aware of the rampant online rumors of his alleged Lex Luthor multi-picture deal.

“I’ve heard that too,” he told the Globe. “Six? This is all news to me. I think that maybe my name is bandied about because I’m known to be bald. ‘What bald guy can we get?’ The reality is they can take any actor and shave his head or put a bald cap on him.”

When asked how a conversation might go between him and Gene Hackman, who played Lex Luthor opposite Christopher Reeve's big screen Superman from 1978-1987, Cranston laughed off the scenario. “I can just see how that phone call would go,” he said. “‘Gene? Hi, this is Bryan Cranston.’ ‘Who? Bryan Cranston? What do you want? How did you get this number?’ ”

We'll have to wait and see what comes of any of this. I'm always on board with the "Where's there's smoke there's fire" line of thinking with some online rumors, but following Affleck sealing the deal to play the next big screen Dark Knight, I think its safe to assume just anyone may be in talks to join the cast of the Man of Steel follow-up.

Cranston told the Globe if one thing's for certain, he will be pacing himself for the remainder of 2103, but nonetheless alludes that something big may be cooking. “I think I’ll relax the rest of the year. There’s some irons in the fire, things that people are talking about, but nothing is set.”

Stay tuned for more firm casting announcements soon. The untitled Man of Steel sequel is already set to shoot in Detroit in early 2104, whose gritty Motor City streets will double as both Metropolis and Gotham City.

SOURCES: BOSTON GLOBE, BOSTON.COM

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