Korner 19

Welcome to another edition of Kevin's Korner, your one stop for all that is geeky. We've got the usual this week, movie news, trailers and a ton more. I want to take a moment to thank everyone reading. I really appreciate all the support and comments from this incredible 411mania online community. This column, besides being a ton of fun is a great way to share my love and excitement with movies with like-minded others.

For those who read me weekly, you may know that I'm getting ready to get married. We're down to 46 days, and I can't wait. I thank my fiancee everyday for all she is and all she does for me.

I'm in the news business, and business is a boomin...

Last Exorcism 2 gets a sequel? Wha? - So, I'm confused by how or why this would happen. I mean, I know why it would happen; money, the movie only cost a bit over a million to make, but made over $60 million, but how could the story work? If you aren't familiar with the original, it's a documentary style film about an exorcist who lost faith, and when he goes to prove exorcisms are fake, he is confronted with a true test of faith. I really enjoyed the film, and the performances by both Patrick Fabian and Ashley Bell were fantastic. I hope they don't ruin it by making the second a Blair Witch 2.

Wendell Pierce calls ‘The Help’ Racist – The actor from The Wire and Treme has tweeted up a storm regarding the Emma Stone hit The Help, saying the movie waters down the misery of black people in the ‘60s, and that he took his mother to see the film and said she was insulted by what she saw. Pierce says the film is just another example of a “great white person saving they day,” and that the ending was very naïve. Now, at first, I considered this a non-news item, but as I sat and thought about it, I got more and more annoyed. First off, you are allowed your opinion on a movie, no matter what, and I would never say you aren’t allowed yours. That being said, I really hate it when people watch a movie that is supposed to be a feel good film and find something bad in it. In this case, he saw racisim in a movie that talks about racism, but instead of seeing the film for what it is, he claims racism by the film, not the topic. I personally hate it when anyone cries racism, I find the idea ridiculous and disgusting, and for someone to say this film is racist just seems filly to me.

Doctor Who will have a full season – Steven “The Moff” Moffat, head writer for Doctor Who has said that rumors of a shortened season in 2012 were incorrect. He said that BBC wouldn’t allow it, and the fans wouldn’t allow it, especially since the ratings were very good both in the U.K. and in the U.S. The show just came back from a mid-season break with the episode “Lets Kill Hitler.” The rumor was that the show would back off to save money for an explosive season in 2013, it’s 50th anniversary year. Matt Smith and Karen Gillian are confirmed back next year.

OK Go does amazing Muppet themed video – If you haven’t seen OK Go’s video for the Muppet Show introduction, then you are about to be pleasantly surprised. The band is known for their fantastic videos, and this one is my favorite. Check it out!


Sequels, sequels everywhere…

Tron 3 is a go per … Tron – Apparently, Tron himself, Bruce Boxleitner had said that Tron 3 would be the talk of the town come 2013. Disney had been fairly tight-lipped about the film after the second movie, especially after they rejected the directors plans for a different movie, but if anyone knows, it’s Tron. It seems to me, he may have let the cat out of the bag a bit early. Check out the video HERE.

Romancing the Stone – Fox is searching for a director to bring an exciting new take to the classic Robert Zemeckis film Romancing the Stone. Sequel plans have been rumored for awhile, but with the studio looking for a director, it looks like the studio could finally be getting serious. I really liked the first film, and if done right, the remake could be good.

Troll remake gets curious title - John Carl Buechler is getting ready to remake the classic film “Troll,” but with an interesting title: “Troll: The Rise of Harry Potter.” The film had a character in the first with the name of Harry Potter, several years before J.K. Rowling wrote the books (I doubt she drew inspiration from the film) so I don’t know if Rowling or Warner Bros. has any legal grounds here, but it seems like the title is just a way to get people who don’t pay attention to come see the film. I’m calling it cheap, what’s your take?

Worst movie ever – Speaking of the Troll series, you may remember the horrible sequel, called Troll 2, which really had nothing to do with the first, or anything else for that matter. The film is one of the worst movies ever, and I would agree, and that’s saying something. That being said, there is another film that looks to claim that spot; “The Worst Movie Ever.” I think it’s cheating when you put your goal in the title, but whatever. The film has the lowest box office totals ever, with $11. That’s right, I got the number correct, $11. It’s hard to believe, until you see the trailer:

Star Wars gets ‘fixed’ again – For the release of the Star Wars saga on Blu-Ray, it was announced certain changes would be made to the film. Once that happened, most Star Wars geeks were like me, and wondered if this change would have Jar Jar Binks be the one shooting first. In a pleasant surprise, it looks like most of the changes were fixing some of the technical aspects, like bad sound, or special effects hiccups with light sabers, and removing the puppeteers arm from one shot, things like that. They also added a digital Yoda for the first film, A Phantom Menace, so the prequels would all be consistent with a digital Yoda, as opposed to having a weird puppet in the first, which looks quite different from any of the other films. There are rumors that George Lucas has said there are “a few more surprises in there,” which makes me nervous, but fixing the technical aspects is understandable, I guess. I would love the original, theatrical editions, though. No digital Jabba, no Greedo shooting first, no goofy CGI Tattooine shots, just the classic stuff, but that’s just me.

A new Star Trek TV Show? – My inner geek gets excited every time I hear the rumor, and apparently David Foster’s does, too. The pitch, which looks to be well thought-out will be separate from the J.J. Abrams films, and will be post-Voyager, setting up the Ferengi to be a new adversary to a Federation dealing with issues from the Klingons. Foster is hoping to get back to Gene Roddenberry’s vision, which is good news, and sites inspiration from Joss Whedon, which is also good. I do love Star Trek, but I think the execution has to be solid for any hope. But, right now, there aren’t too many solid Sci-fi shows on TV with Battlestar Galactica gone, no Star Trek for a few years now, and pretty much nothing coming up, I think this is a good time. What do you think, would you watch a new Star Trek show?

Portal: No Escape – If you haven’t played Portal yet, I would recommend you do. It’s a very inventive puzzle game like no other. After the sequel came out, we get this fan video which puts most other fan videos to shame. Check it out, it’s worth your time.


Avengers roundup – Another week of leaked Avengers info. The more we see, the more it points to aliens attacking, which means Skrulls. 411mania had pictures of what looks like it could be an alien craft HERE. It shows some promise, especially since those are raw props, without any camera trickery or CGI. Also, today, there is some leaked footage of Captain America and Loki dueling it out (see the video HERE). With all these videos and photos leaking, it seems to me that we are in for one heck of a big battle that should be pretty amazing. I get more and more excited with everything I see.

Finally, we have a new poster for the film. I’m not super excited, but I guess it’ll do the trick. Thoughts?




Dark Knight Rises fan poster – Check out this incredibly well made fan poster for the third Batman film. I would think it would raise the standards on what the studio will make now.



How it Should’ve Ended – Harry Potter – Howitshouldveended came up with another video, showing what should have happened at the end of the 8th film. As usual, I laughed really hard, and it made me think the guys who wrote this stuff are pretty good! Make sure to stay through the credits.



Movies hitting the shelves today …

90210: Season 3
Cougar Town: Season 2
Death of a Cheerleader
Desperate Housewives: Season 7
Madea’s Big Happy Family
Nikita: Season 1
Parenthood: Season 2

Box Office Breakdown – The Help wins again!

The Emma Stone film remains number one, beating out newcomers Colombiana, which got $10 million, and the Benecio Del Toro produced horror film Don’t be Afraid of the Dark, which got $8.7 million. Conan took a hard drop, down to $3 million, and Rise of the Planet of the Apes did pretty good with $8 million. Overall, it looks like a light weekend for movies.

1. The Help - $14.3 million ($96.6 million total)
2. Colombiana - $10.3 million ($10.3 million total)
3. Don't Be Afraid of the Dark - $8.7 million ($8.7 million total)
4. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $8.7 million ($148.5 million total)
5. Our Idiot Brother - $6.6 million ($6.6 million total)
6. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World - $5.7 million ($21.7 million total)
7. The Smurfs - $4.8 million ($126.0 million total)
8. Conan the Barbarian - $3.1 million ($16.6 million total)
9. Fright Night - $3.0 million ($14.2 million total)
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love. - $2.9 million ($69.5 million total)

Trailer of the Week –
I was hoping to get a good trailer for the Hunger Games, which was promised during the VMA’s, but sadly, all we got was this:

Get More: 2011 VMA, Music

Pretty much nothing, right? A waste of 30 seconds, isn’t it? I may want to see it, simply to see the Battle Royal adaptation (don’t correct me and say it was based on a book).
So, let me make it up to you. I present the trailer for Tucker and Dale vs. Evil. Yeah, you’re welcome.

Korner 18

Hello Guys and Ghouls, and welcome to another Kevin’s Korner, your one stop for all that is geeky, right here on 411mania’s movie zone.
Alright, I admit it; that was the worst intro ever. I figured that “sup bitches,” “hidey ho,” and “ladies and gentleman of the jury” were all right up there with “go eff yourself, San Diego,” so, what can I say? Ready to get to some news? So am I.

I’m in the news business, and business is a boomin’ …

Avengers assemble – Now that Batman footage has stopped leaking to the web, temporarily, at least, we are getting the same treatment for The Avengers. We got our first pictures and even some video of Captain America fighting some motion capture crew (the video is HERE). We also get some video of Thor and Captain America fighting what will be some CG characters, and eventually some motion capture people. This all points to the skrulls theory, but all this footage cleverly leaves out the villain, or what it will look like. This is way better than all the video of Bane walking around Gotham, although, I’m sure some are just trying to avoid spoiling the biggest movie event I can think of since Star Wars Episode 1.





Batman vs. Superman? – A juicy rumor being whispered around the world wide water cooler is that WB is quietly working on a Batman and Superman team up movie. The rumor states that the studio is hoping to get Christian Bale and Henry Cavill to reprise their roles for the crossover movie. Would you want to see this? It seems to me that Bale’s Batman is in a different world from the previous Superman movies; that’s to say if the newest Superman will change that. It seems to me like WB is a bit jealous of Marvels work towards the Avengers movie. If you can get this to work (and the rumor should be taken with a barrel of salt), it would be extremely big, but given WB’s past attempts at the Justice League, I don’t know that I would hold my breath. Would you even want to see these two together in a film? I think it would be more than a bit challenging to see these two characters share a film without one looking like a chump.

Story vs. Spectacle, which is more important? - /Film had an article last week about Walt Disney Animation Studios chief technical officer Andy Hendrickson saying that people come to see a visual spectacle, not a great story, and that visual spectacle movies are at the top of the highest grossing films chart because people don’t care about the story, they want the eye-popping special effects. Before you threaten to murder a mouse, his side of the story isn’t completely unfounded. If you look at the top grossing films of all time, movies like Avatar, Titanic, Dark Knight, Star Wars, Shrek 2, and others seems to back Hendrickson’s point of view. All the films were truly a spectacle. I just don’t understand how someone in the business of making movies can infer that story doesn’t matter. In all of the films in the top 25, nearly all of them do have amazing special effects, but what almost all of them share (the only exception I see is Transformers 3) is a fantastic story. I don’t think movies like Star Wars or Lord of the Rings would’ve made near the money they did without the story being able to stand up to multiple viewings. I understand being passionate about special effects, and they do play a part in films, but any good director will tell you it all starts with story.

Lone Ranger may be off, werewolves blamed – Disney’s Lone Ranger movie, starring Johnny Depp looks to possibly be scrapped. The reason is that the studio didn’t want to spend the purposed $250 million on what Gore Verbinski wanted to pay. Apparently, the huge budget is due to the fact that there would be werewolves in the film. Now, Disney is saying that they will consider moving forward with the film, but at a reduced cost, which Verbinski isn’t too happy with. The film is supposed to have Depp’s Tonto be the hero of the film, but with budget concerns, this film may not get off the ground at all now.

Man of Steele gets synopsis – Thanks to a casting call, we get a sort-of synopsis of the film: “In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twenty something journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here? Shaped by the values of his adoptive parents Martha (Lane) and Jonathan Kent (Costner), Clark soon discovers that having super abilities means making very difficult decisions. But when the world needs stability the most, it comes under attack. Will his abilities be used to maintain peace or ultimately used to divide and conquer? Clark must become the hero known as “Superman,” not only to shine as the world’s last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.”
While I was excited with the image we saw a few weeks ago, I feel let down by this. This just feels like such a cookie-cutter synopsis, it doesn’t get me excited at all. I’ve not been a fan of the origin story for this film, as everyone knows Superman’s origins, and it’s been done to death, but I figured that would be a small part of the film. Now, I’m not so sure. Thoughts?

Watching TV will KILL you, more at 11… - Over on Blastr.com, they talk about a scientist from Australia who released a study that “for people over 25, every hour of television watched takes 22 minutes off their life.” So, that means, we’re all dead. Except for the fact that the study assumes people who watch TV don’t go out and exercise. So, I would assume if you exercise, then maybe it’s every hour and a half. All I know is, with that formula, Doctor Who should’ve killed me by now, and USA will receive a bill for my funeral arrangements.

Sequels, sequels everywhere and not a drop to drink…

G.I. Joe 2 – This sequel has trouble all over it. Previously, I had reported that Bruce Willis was approached to play the original G.I. Joe in the sequel, and now, we have Walton Goggins (Justified, The Shield) joining the cast. While both are great actors, and I think Goggins was robbed of an Emmy win, I just don’t know how the director of Step Up 3D should make a sequel from a pretty awful first movie.

Resident Evil 5 has a name, and we still don’t care – The newest film with Milla Jovovich reprising her role will be called Resident Evil: Retribution 3D with a September, 2012 release. There are rumors now, that Sienna Guillory will reprise her role as Jill Valentine. Paul W.S. Anderson will return as director. While I thought the first two films weren’t bad, despite being quite unfaithful to the video games, I think the series has just turned stupid, and silly, and I’m kind of done with it. I shouldn’t judge a movie before I at least see a trailer, but I don’t think I could be too much more disinterested.

Blade Runner-er – It was announced this week that Ridley Scott would return to the Blade Runner universe as director of another movie in the universe. More than likely, the film will be a sequel, although it hasn’t been confirmed yet. The rights to the film negate the premise of a remake, so at least we don’t have to worry about that. At the moment, Harrison Ford is not being considered for the film.

'The Chin' gives blessing to Evil Dead Remake – Bruce Campbell has assured fans of the original Evil Dead, that the remake would be worth their time, and he even gave it his blessing. He jokingly called it a gift to the investors, and said ‘bottom line, the original was made by first time directors on a shoe string budget. The fact it stood the test of time is a testament to the film, but maybe more can be done with it.’ The remake is being penned by Juno scribe Diablo Cody. I personally loved the cheese factor, and look at that as one of my favorite parts of the film. I think a serious attempt could miss the point of the film.

Underworld: Awakening gets a trailer – I would love to tell you what it’s about, but I stopped paying attention when a naked Kate Beckinsale did a Terminator impression and got all naked. Other than that, it looks to be a pretty good, if not standard action flick, but with a leather clad vampire. What do you think?


Wolverine 2 starts principle photography in November – The sequel to X-Men Origins: Wolverine looks to start shooting in November in Vancouver, at the Canadian Motion Picture Park. It’s a big difference from last year’s reports of Darren Ornofsky filming in Japan. Apparently, 20th Century Fox cited family concerns of filming in Japan after the earthquake and tsunami crippled areas of the country.

Something I thought was cool - /Film had this image up the other day with the caption “where’s Wall-E?” It’s a picture of nearly every robot on film. It has some pretty obscure ones, my favorite being Evolver. Check it out, and let me know which one was your favorite:



25 greatest unscripted scenes in film – I thought this video was really entertaining. It shows some of the more famous unscripted scenes in movies, and describes what was on the script. Most of you movie geeks won’t see many surprises on there, but whether you’ve seen it all before or not, it’s still entertaining.


That’s how Marty and Doc got together? – Bob Gale, who helped create the Back to the Future franchise, one of my favorites of all time, was talking about how Doc and Marty got together. While I never really thought about it, I guess I would’ve imagined that Marty came to Doc about fixing an amp, and Marty would continue to blow these bigger and bigger amps, and as Doc kept rebuilding them, they formed a friendship, which would lead to the events of the intro, with Doc building what he thought would be the ultimate amp that even Marty couldn’t blow up, and spoilers, he would be wrong. Sadly, I was way off. Check it out:
“We never explained it in the movie. But the history of the characters that Bob Zemeckis and I created is this... For years, Marty was told that Doc Brown was dangerous, a crackpot, a lunatic. So, being a red-blooded American teenage boy, age 13 or 14, he decided to find out just why this guy was so dangerous. Marty snuck into Doc's lab, and was fascinated by all the cool stuff that was there. when Doc found him there, he was delighted to find that Marty thought he was cool and accepted him for what he was. Both of them were the black sheep in their respective environments. Doc gave Marty a part-time job to help with experiments, tend to the lab, tend to the dog, etc. And that's the origin of their relationship. -- Bob Gale"

Box Office Breakdown – The Help takes number 1
It’s not often you see a film rise from second place to first in its second week, but The Help, starring Emma Stone did just that, beating out Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Final Destination, and decimating the new Conan movie. Sadly, Fright Night did even worse. It wasn’t a good week for new films.

1. The Help - $20.5 million ($71.8 million total)
2. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $16.3 million ($133.8 million total)
3. Spy Kids: All the Time in the World - $12.0 million ($12.0 million total)
4. Conan the Barbarian - $10.0 million ($10.0 million total)
5. The Smurfs - $8.0 million ($117.7 million total)
6. Fright Night - $7.9 million ($7.9 million total)
7. Final Destination 5 - $7.7 million ($32.3 million total)
8. 30 Minutes or Less - $6.3 million ($25.8 million total)
9. One Day - $5.1 million ($5.1 million total)
10. Crazy, Stupid, Love. - $5.0 million ($64.4 million total)

DVD’s on Store shelves today

The Beaver
Gossip Girl: Season 4
The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
NCIS: Season 8
NCIS LA: Season 2
Phineas and Ferb: The movie

Trailer of the Week – Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance
This week’s trailer of the week is pretty interesting. In one minute and 47 seconds, I’ve had more joy than the entire hour and half of the first film. This trailer shows very little of the plot, but it shows the action got stepped up… a lot. What do you think, movie geeks?

Korner 17

Welcome to this weeks Kevin's Korner, your one stop for all that is geeky, right here on 411mania. This week has more sequel info, even more Batman scoop and a whole bunch more. So, enough screwing around, let's get to the good stuff.

I'm in the news business, and business is a boomin' ...

Spoilers are good - The first story of the week is about spoilers. In a new study from USCD, they tested to see if spoiling a story had an impact on the enjoyment of the study. The results were slightly surprising. The study finds that knowing the end ahead of time, actually made the story more enjoyable. The story says that it's because knowing the end allows you to focus on the writing more, meaning your less worried about the end game. I suppose it makes sense, in any movie where it's "based on a true story" and you know the person makes it out, since they helped write it, it allows you to enjoy the journey that much more. The biggest example I just recently experienced is 127 Hours. In the film, you knew before the story ever started that the guy was about to go all Luke Skywalker and lose a hand, but the journey was the rewarding part.

So, do you agree? Do spoilers make it better? Sound off below.

Haven't we done this before? It's sequel time...

Smurfs 2 - Yes, you heard it right, it's planned already, after the success of the first Smurfs movie. The sequel is set for Aug. 2nd, 2013. It's really not much of a surprise, considering the first film made more than it's budget back, by a significant amount, and it's still in theaters. No word on whether Neil Patrick Harris will return for the sequel, which I hope will be entitled "Smurfs 2: Secret of the Ooze."

Austin Powers 4 - The rumor persisting for awhile was made official, Mike Myers has signed on for a fourth Austin Powers film. There's no word on the plot yet, but there were plenty of rumors. All we know right now is that a script has a draft, and that Myers will reprise his roles as both Austin Powers, and Dr. Evil. While I liked the first film, it's one of those movies that quickly dropped out of favor with me. The other two films seemed to be just more of the same, which probably just added to my eventual distaste for the film. Maybe a new, fresh movie will reinvigorate me.

Resident Evil 5 - The latest Resident Evil movie confirmed writer Paul W.S. Anderson will return, along with star Milla Jovovich. While Jill Valentine will be back, the actress who played her two previous times, Sienna Guillory has not been signed to play her. Ali Larter has also been reported to return for the fifth film scheduled out next year.

Riddick 3 - While the film was already confirmed, after actor Vin Diesel made a big deal about the film, the plot details have finally been leaked. It seems the film will go 'full circle,' coming back to the events of Pitch Black as the basis for the film. Apparently, the person hunting Riddick will be a relative of one of the characters from the first film, but the film will not pretend the sequel didn't exist, making at least a mention of Riddick's events after the second film.

Harold and Kumar 3 - This Christmas themed third film has been talked about for awhile, but we finally got a trailer this week, for better or worse. I personally liked the series so far, but it's hard to tell if this will be good, or be another Scary Movie 23. The film seems to break the fourth wall a bit, which I find entertaining, and it mocks the fact it's in 3D, which could result in some good 3D usage, or some really bad usage, depending on your sense of humor. Either way, at least this won't be your traditional Christmas movie. Besides, NPH is back, that has to provide for a few laughs.

Harry Potter makes some dough - The final Harry Potter film passed the billion dollar mark, currently at $1.14 billion to pass Lord of the Rings as the third highest grossing film of all time, behind Titanic and Avatar. The film also moved past Transformers: Dark of the Moon to be the biggest grossing film of 2011. It's a worthy mark for the finale of such a big franchise.

Prepare to roll your eyes in 3...2...1...

In some slightly odd news bits this week, Keanu Reeves is directing a film called the Man of Tai Chi, in which he will play the villain. Finally, he can show he really does known Kung Fu.

The Situation wants to get into movies, apparently. He said he would like to make great movies like Leonardo DiCaprio and idolizes Robert DeNiro, but sees himself more like the Rock. Yep, I can see him making movies as soon as Jersey Shore is over, can't you?

Hong Kong Phooey gets the big screen treatment, and a voice. The voice is that of Eddie Murphy. I loved the original cartoon, but Eddie Murphy? I'm assuming they thought that the character of Donkey from Shrek was a success, so naturally Murphy is a good choice here. If that's the kind of decisions we are dealing with, than this movie could be rough. Get the beer.

Snakes, why does it have to be Snakes? - Blastr has a story about Elstree Studios, which originally was used to film Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, and apparently, some of the snakes used from that movie escaped and are still around. Is this true? Maybe, but I thought it was cool to share.

Del Toro praises studio for not being cowards and staying R - Director Benecio Del Toro was a big fan of the original Don't Be Afraid of the Dark and has been trying to get a remake for over ten years. Finally, he got his wish, and produced the remake with first time director Troy Nixey. When the film was rated R, not for gore or nudity, but simply because it was too intense, Del Toro considered it a praise, and was happy the studio stuck by the original material instead of watering it down for a possibly more profitable PG-13 rating.
"I actually like that. Thankfully we have Bob Berney at FilmDistrict saying 'Let's do it as an R.' Most other distributors would say 'Let's cut it, let's go back to the PG-13' but [they didn't.] Everybody praises always how brave filmmakers are but what's great is when distributors are brave...I think this movie mutilated into a PG-13 would be a shame. It's not overt, it's not gory, it has every right to be scary. And I think we need to make like, the scary pride parade and say 'We want to be super scary and we don't have to be ashamed of it.' PG-13 is the refuge of many cowards."

I really agree with Del Toro here. I think the guy has some serious talent, and it seems like so often, his or other talent is watered down for a better rating. I get that it's all about business, but there's a fine line between someone trying to make a great movie and someone trying to make money. You can have both, and ideally, if the movie is good, it will make money. I'm not one of those that say a horror movie has to be R to be good, but if the story requires it, make it R.

Doctor Who goodies - We got a new teaser trailer this week for the Doctors return in two weeks. On BBC America this week, we also got a special with the best of the Doctor, just basically summing up some of the better parts of the season. We also had rumor that Amy and Rory would be leaving the TARDIS by the end of the season. While they are supposed to make appearances throughout the next season, they won't be full time companions. I am not sure if I believe the rumors, and I don't know if I like it, but I can understand, with next season being the big, epic, anniversary season, that a standard companion format could be tricky.

Man of Steele starts filming! - That's really the extent of the news on this one. They are finally starting the filming of Man of Steele. Last week, we got a pretty dramatic photo, and I hope more are to come.

Batman news of the week-

Anne Hathaway defends the costume - After the photos of the Catwoman costume came out last week, a lot of people were apparently not impressed. I actually liked it for it's real-world features, meeting the sexy, leathery, Michelle Pfeifer-ey look of the previous comics and movies. Hathaway said that we haven't seen a tenth of what it can do, so we should reserve judgement. She also talks in a video about how much work she did to look like a sexy cat burglar for the film. You can check out the video HERE.

Over at Screenrant.com, they had some speculation about a bit of misdirection regarding Joseph Gordon-Levitt's character. They are just geekily wondering at this point if maybe his character, thought to be a cop could actually be Edward Nigma, AKA The Riddler. I say it's a possibility, but I hope it's not true. I think, with that many villains, the third Batman film would look too much like the third Spiderman film, but it's fun to speculate, and Gordon-Levitt could make an amazing Riddler.

We also get a nice close shot of Bane, played by Tom Hardy. This costume seems to be going for more of a real-world thug look. While this is before any camera or CGI trickery, I can say, I'm a little bit disappointed so far. I have no doubt that Nolan has a few tricks up his sleeves, though.

Finally, the big news regarding what is now, the worst kept secret ever is an appearance by the Batwing. You can see the videos HERE, that show them filming a scene with what is rumored to be the Batwing flying through the streets. It makes sense, considering the appearance of multiple tumblers throughout the city, that Batman upgrade his gear from the Batpod seen in the previous film. Besides, we see Catwoman riding it, which means Batman probably left the keys in it by mistake.


Box Office Breakdown - Monkeys are still winning.

Rise of the Planet of the Apes was once again on top this week, with an average drop of around 50%, pulling in $27 million, with The Help bringing in pretty good numbers to finish second, and Final Destination 5 coming in a dismal third.

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $27.5 million ($104.9 million total)
2. The Help - $25.5 million ($35.4 million total)
3. Final Destination 5 - $18.4 million ($18.4 million total)
4. The Smurfs - $13.5 million ($101.5 million total)
5. 30 Minutes or Less - $13.0 million ($13.0 million total)
6. Cowboys and Aliens - $7.6 million ($81.5 million total)
7. Captain America: The First Avenger - $7.1 million ($156.9 million total)
8. Crazy, Stupid, Love. - $6.9 million ($55.4 million total)
9. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - $6.9 million ($357.0 million total)
10. The Change-Up - $6.2 million ($25.8 million total)

DVD's hitting the shelves this week -

Amy Winehouse in Concert 2007

Dexter: Season 5

The Conspirator

Paranormal State: Season 5

Jane Eyre

Trailer of the Week - Footloose - The Remake

Anytime a studio decides to remake a movie, there are devoted fans of the original that cry fowl. This trailer, however, has me crying fowl, too, and I am no fan of the original. So, if you want, check out the all new, teen-angst filled remake of Footloose, with all the moping teens, and none of the Bacon.

Kevin's Korner 8.09.2011

Welcome to another edition of Kevin’s Korner, your weekly source for all that is geeky. This week’s column is brought to you by the letter “H” as in Holy leaking photos, Batman. On top of Batman stuff, we have some casting news, some rumors, a great trailer, the box office info an so much more.

Before we get into the news, I want you to ponder this question: After this week’s impressive showing of Rise of the Planet of the Apes, are you more worried about the uprising of monkeys, the rise of machines, or the zombie apocalypse? Answer in the comments section…Now, off to the news…

I’m in the news business, and business is a boomin’ …

First off, some casting news -
Expendables 2 gets things started with its director, Simon West (Con Air, Lara Croft: Tomb Raider), along with some rumors of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris and John Travolta joining Bruce Willis and Jean-Claude VanDamme. I can understand everyone except for Travolta. While I like Travolta when he plays a bad guy, it’s one of those ‘which one is not like the others’ moments. If you liked the first man-tastic film, this one is shaping up to have even more testosterone. Bring a towel.

Superman gets his boss – It was announced Perry White, editor-in-chief of the Daily Planet would be played by Morpheus himself, Lawrence Fishburne. It’s an interesting change, and I can’t wait to see Fishburne in the role.

Speaking of Superman – Here’s the first look at Superman. Clearly they are aiming for a bit darker than Brandon Routh’s turn in the role. I don’t know what those sparks did to him, but he won’t be taking it anymore. I’m a little stoked about this photo, despite the scales on his costume. What do you think?




John McClane is back – Die Hard 5 is getting going, despite the director bailing out. 20th Century Fox is looking at Attack the Block director Joe Cornish, Fast Five director Justin Lin, Drive director Nicolas Winding Refn and Max Payne director John Moore as their short list for a movie that apparently takes Bruce Willis’s New York cop to Russia. Now, do we need another Die Hard movie? Well, not really, but do we want one? Hell yeah! I love those Die Hard movies. So, bring on some more of McClane. I figure, eventually we'll see Hans return as a zombie.

Green Lantern 2 to be more edgy – Warner Bros. admits the first Green Lantern, still in theaters, by the way, was a bit of a failure, and that the second film will be a success because they look to have a better balance of outer world and Earthly scenes. They also plan to make the film darker and ‘edgier,’ and they think that will make the film a success.

*steps on to the soap box* I hate the idea that making a film ‘darker and edgier’ means the film will be a success. Yes, it worked with Batman Begins. Christopher Nolan did a great job of going from George Clooney bat nipples to a dark knight very well. Was it because he went darker and grittier? Not really. He set the proper tone of the film, as a dark and gritty film, which is what the character needed. He then cast some great actors and Katie Holmes in the film and gave them a heck of a script to go off of, giving us a real-world Batman. It worked incredibly well, but it wasn’t because of the dark and gritty, it was because it was well executed and directed. If you had put Clooney in a dark and gritty Batman with the same script as Batman and Robin, it would have bombed horribly. Just because a film is dark and gritty doesn’t make it a success. Look at Iron Man, Favreau intentionally kept it lighter, and I think the film is better for it. Look at Spiderman, and Spiderman 2, they were intentionally lighter, and they rank among the best superhero films out there. So, just saying “we’re going to make it darker and grittier” doesn’t mean anything, other than they really have no idea what they’re talking about. Get some good actors, a good script and a good director and keep it light, and you’ll have a smash hit. It’s the coming together of these pieces, not the dark and gritty.
*gets off the soap box*

Marvel making short films to bridge Avengers gap – To fill in all the little gaps between Thor, Iron Man one and two, Captain America and the Incredible Hulk, Marvel is making short, two-ish minute films to help bridge the gap between all those post-credit cut scenes and 2012’s blockbuster film. The first is “the consultant” you can see over at Screenrant. It’s pretty short, but I think it’s a cool idea. It’s not necessary viewing, but it adds to the universe, which is never a bad thing.

Red Tails looks pretty – The latest project from Lucasfilm has a trailer, and it’s called Red Tails. It’s the story of the Tuskegee Airmen, and their important part of World War II. It’s hard to say whether the film will focus on being historically accurate or a popcorn flick based on the original members, my guess would be the second, but the incredibly talented cast and the really well done special effects definitely got my attention.

Hitchcock films rediscovered – In true Hitchcock fashion, a film believed to be the earliest he has credit in has been discovered in New Zealand. The film is entitled "The White Shadow," and Hitchcock was credited as writer, assistant director, editor and production designer in a movie about a good twin and bad twin, and starred Betty Compson. The film will re-premiere September 22, at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences theater. After, the film will be added to their Hitchcock collection. It’s pretty amazing to discover film that was believed lost after all this time.

A possible Boba Fett film? – There is talk of making a full length Boba Fett film, and currently, the project is seeking funding. What are we supposed to think of this? I say ‘rediculous.’ I am not a fan of the Fett. The alleged bad ass was killed by a blind Han Solo, and screamed like a girl at the end of Jedi. The only reason he was made such an integral part of the prequels, was that Lucas was trying to suck up to the fanboys. Now, we’re trying to pretend that he didn’t turn into a mild case of heartburn for the Sarlac pit? I call shenanigans. I say, let the lame bounty hunter remain dead. There are plenty of cool characters that don’t have to be pulled out of the bottom of a pit in the Star Wars universe, use one of them.

Planet of the Apes Timeline – With Rise of the Planet of the Apes out, someone took the time to give us a timeline of the Apes taking over for your viewing pleasure.


Doctor Who is back soon – Doctor Who will make its return on Aug. 13th, in the U.S. and most likely in the U.K. as well. The news comes with a new, slightly shorter trailer that has a few new scenes that get me all kinds of excited. BBC America has marathons running before the return, one focusing on the best of the Monsters, and the other focusing on the best of the companions. Both will have some celebrity commentary on the show. Bring on Aug. 13th! And, to wet your appetites, here’s the trailer:


Anime Conventions to check sex offender list? – Blastr had an article about how Katsucon was responding to news that a sex offender had sex with an underage girl at the convention by saying they are trying to check every guest’s name against the sex offender list. The article talked about the impracticality of it, and whether conventions are really as bad as that news pieces makes them sound.

So, do you think it’s a good idea? Do you think young girls running around in sparsely dressed cosplay costumes attracts a high rate of perverts and sexual deviants, or is it like anything else? For me, I see no reason why they couldn’t try to run the names and compare them through the database, but I don’t think it’s exactly a hot spot of sexual crime. While I may sound old in saying that some young girls wear way too little, I don’t think it breeds any great issue. But, what’s the harm in checking names?

Batman news EVERYWHERE – The Dark Knight Rises started off as the most rumored movie in recent memory with people firing off casting rumors like crazy, talking Angelina Jolie, and Eddie Murphy at one point. Now, the best kept secret seems to be turning into the worst. There is photos and video everywhere from filming of the film. Some of it is spoilery, and some, not. If you get upset by me posting this stuff, please tell me in the comments. Maybe I’ll stop. I don’t see too much spoilers, it’s more newsy, but some people…

First up, we have Catwoman. Up until now, we haven’t seen anything, and then over the weekend, we have three photos, two of which show Catwoman on the Batpod, and the third shows the full view of her suit. I think it looks pretty hot. Thoughts?




The next bit of info comes from several videos. The first shows three tumblers, all in brown camo driving down the street, prepping for a scene. It makes me wonder if there is a scene with at least three tumbler’s or are they assuming they are going to wreck two or three of them. The youtube video is HERE.

The second is a scene being filmed on a football field. It looks like Bane and his forces attack during a game. The players that were used for the football game are actual Pittsburgh Steelers football players. This scene is a bit spoilery. The video is HERE.

Finally, the last video shows Batman (Christian Bale) and Bane (Tom Hardy) fighting through a crowd of people. It’s pretty cool stuff, and I love seeing some behind the scenes work. The video is HERE.


DVD’s hitting shelves this week –
Evil Things
Camp Hell
Frat House Massacre
Mars Needs Moms
Your Highness

Box Office Breakdown – Apes kick some blue butt
Rise of the Planet of the Apes did way better than expected, bringing in $54 million. Cowboys and Aliens dropped around 50% to come in third, with $15.7 million. The big surprise is The Smurfs. The movie looks all kinds of rough, but it surprisingly dropped very little from last weeks premiere to bring in $21 million.

1. Rise of the Planet of the Apes - $54 million ($54 million total)
2. The Smurfs - $21 million ($76.2 million total)
3. Cowboys and Aliens - $15.7 million ($67.4 million total)
4. The Change-Up - $13.5 million ($13.5 million total)
5. Captain America: The First Avenger - $13.0 million ($143.2 million total)
6. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 - $12.2 million ($342.8 million total)
7. Crazy, Stupid, Love. - $12.1 million ($42.2 million total)
8. Friends With Benefits - $4.7 million ($48.5 million total)
9. Horrible Bosses - $4.6 million ($96.2 million total)
10. Transformers: Dark of the Moon - $3.0 million ($337.9 million total)

Trailer of the Week – In Time
This week’s trailer looks like a cross between Repo Man and The Island, starring Justin Timberlake, Amanda Seyfriend and Cilian Murphy. The cast is enough to peak interest. While the story is pretty interesting, I just hope they can overcome the sort of generic action thriller this film could easily fall into.