Trailer: THE AVENGERS kick butt!

OMG guys, this looks so good! I've been amped for this for who knows how long and just watch it already because it's awesome!

SDCC: My interview with Jason Momoa and Rachel Nichols from CONAN THE BARBARIAN

This epic definitely isn't for everyone, but if you're in to sword fights, mythological creatures, and lots of action then CONAN THE BARBARIAN is for you. Watch the trailer here:



Then go read my roundtable interview with stars Jason Momoa and Rachel Nichols on Gordon and the Whale.

FIRST TRAILER: The Amazing Spider-Man

Now, I love the first SPIDER-MAN and was a little miffed that they're "rebooting" it so soon, but this trailer looks pretty sweet to me!



Are you excited for this reboot?

Linkulous: AOL Hell, I fall in love with Chris Evans again, Spoilers, and more

AOL Hell: An AOL Content Slave Speaks Out

Are Spoilers Flipping the Script?
Would THE SIXTH SENSE ever get made in this internet age?

American Marvel: A weekend with Chris Evans
My favorite part:

Chris is “kind of a big dork,” his mother told me. “At 30 he still knows all the words to songs from The Little Mermaid.”

Yep, swooon.


My writing elsewhere on the net:

Best and Worst Celebrity Makeup and Fashion of the MTV Movie Awards

21 Best Hair Treatments

First look at Tom Cruise rocking out in ROCK OF AGES

Ben Stiller Could Team with SNL Veteran for Sci-fi Comedy

Elodie Yung in Talks to Join GI JOE sequel

Have a great weekend! Be sure to check back as I'll be posting the blog's FIRST GIVEAWAY EVER before Monday. So keep your eyes peeled.

The Old Spice Guy Wants to be Luke Cage

If there's one thing Isaiah Mustafa knows, it's viral marketing. After hitting it big with the Old Spice campaign, he's launched his own in an attempt to be cast as the Marvel Comics hero, Luke Cage.

From Blastr:

In the ultimate fan-made video, a strange clip has emerged online disguised as a teaser for the promised Luke Cage/Power Man project to be directed by John Singleton. Tyrese Gibson has reportedly been attached to the film for the past year, but there have been no official announcements on final casting yet, so the lead prize is technically still up for grabs.

It's been no secret that the hunky Old Spice commercial actor has been campaigning hard for the movie, dressing up like Luke Cage for a photo shoot, and strutting around comic conventions in his best Luke Cage muscle t-shirt, studded belt and sly grimace. Now he's created a short promo video that mimics a polished trailer. Give that man an "A" for ambition.

Check out the trailer after the break.

My Top 5 Most Anticipated Summer 2011 Blockbusters

This summer is packed with so many tentpole films, there won't be a dull movie weekend starting next week all the way through to August. Summer movie starts earlier and earlier every year, and this year FAST FIVE has declared in their marketing that "Summer Begins April 29." I don't know if they've noticed, but there's still snow on the ground in some parts of America! Oh well, they consider it good for business since "summer" is when more people go to the movies, more often.

With a new big-budget blockbuster every week, I've decided to narrow the list down to my top 5, most anticipated flicks.


5. BRIDESMAIDS


I hope this movie makes some serious money so female comedies are no longer synonymous with romantic comedies! With an all-star comedy cast, and Kristen Wiig finally taking  a leading role, this movie should be a laugh riot for both guys and girls. Aiming to be THE HANGOVER for the ladies, it's definitely got the talent behind the screen to deliver on that promise.

Check out the official plot synopsis from IMDB:

Annie (Kristen Wiig), is a maid of honor whose life unravels as she leads her best friend, Lillian (Maya Rudolph), and a group of colorful bridesmaids (Rose Byrne, Melissa McCarthy, Wendi McLendon-Covey and Ellie Kemper) on a wild ride down the road to matrimony. Annie's life is a mess. But when she finds out her lifetime best friend is engaged, she simply must serve as Lillian's maid of honor. Though lovelorn and broke, Annie bluffs her way through the expensive and bizarre rituals. With one chance to get it perfect, she'll show Lillian and her bridesmaids just how far you'll go for someone you love.

BRIDESMAIDS is out in theaters on May 13.

The Ultimate Summer Movie Trailer

This summer is the most blockbuster packed that I can ever remember! Every weekend a new action/superhero/family-friendly-animation/big-name-connected movie is coming out. Apparently, summer begins  on April 29 now (according to FAST FIVE marketing anyway), so this is looking to be the longest "summer" ever. Don't have time to catch up on all the trailers and marketing materials for each flick? Watch the Ultimate Summer Movie Trailer from ScreenRant after the break. 

Awesome Fan-Made Retro X-MEN: FIRST CLASS Credits Sequence

The 60's set X-MEN: FIRST CLASS has not focused on the fact that it's technically a period piece. Looking at the posters and trailers, they've followed closely along what has been set forth in the previous, contemporary-set X-MEN films. Some fans have taken it upon themselves to create materials that reflect the look of the 1960's and this fan-made trailer is my favorite of the bunch.

Watch the slick credits and find out more about the creator after the break.

Sweet Minimalist Movie Posters by Viktor Hertz

Thrillist featured these minimalist posters yesterday, and they're pretty neat. I wanted to post my favorites, but it was so hard to choose, so you should really go check them all out. As soon as I'm financially able to, I'm going to start invest in some wall art for my place.

[Thrillist]

My ABC's of Cinema

There's a meme going around the movie blogosphere, posting your ABCs of Cinema. You can check out other movie blogger's lists on CitizenRobot, I Are Movies, and Rupert Pupkin Speaks. One favorite movie for every letter of the alphabet. I'm not saying it's the best for that letter, it's just my personal choice either for entertainment value, lasting impression, rewatchability, etc. Don't agree with my movie choices? Make your own list and put the link in the comments! I really want to know!

A is for ATONEMENT

B is for BACK TO THE FUTURE

C is for CLERKS

D is for THE DARK KNIGHT

E is for ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND

F is for FIGHT CLUB

G is for THE GOONIES

H is for HEATHERS

Find out the rest of my alphabet after the break.

Wolverine 2: Fan-Made Trailer

Watch this amazing fan-made trailer for a X-Men: Origins Wolverine sequel.


Wolverine Vs The Hand from Gary Shore on Vimeo.


From Blastr:

Gary Shore, who happens to be a commercial and music video director (but hey, he's still a fan) filmed some storyboards showing Wolverine taking on those evil ninjas known as the Hand and laid an evocative soundtrack on top of it.

Great video and a beautiful take on Wolverine. While this is definitely on the high-end of "fan-made" videos, you can still tell this guy is a huge fan. Maybe Daran Aronofsky could take a note from this when working on his Wolverine sequel.

X-Men: First Class Trailer Debuts

There are a lot of comic book movies coming out, but this just jumped to the top of my list! X2 is still my favorite in the genre, and it looks like this is more keeping in tone with that the disappointing X3.

For more on the film, visit Gordon and the Whale.

Scott Pilgrim Q&A at the New Beverly

A few weeks ago, I got the chance to see Scott Pilgrim vs. The World again, this time at a midnight screening at the New Beverly complete with a Q&A with Edgar Wright and several of the cast members. Scott Pilgrim was one of my favorite movies from this year, and it stands as the only film I’ve seen twice in theaters in 2010. It really needed it the most after all, with a paltry box office of $31.5 million.

Enough has been said on the film already, so I’ll just dive right in to the question & answer portion.

How do you [Brian Lee O’Malley, creator of the graphic novels] feel about the differences between the books and the movies?
I did the books all solo while Edgar worked on his own thing. There wasn’t much collaboration between us two to get the movies to be exact adapations, we wanted there to be differences to make sure it fit for their own mediums. Plus, it's a long production process and I understand that the movie can't include everything.

What’s everyone’s favorite video game?
Edgar Wright: Rampage
Michael Cera: Contra
Mae:  Mist
Anna Kendrick: Shenobi
Satya Bhabha & Mark Webber: Mega man

This role was very physical, how did you feel preparing for it?
Cera: I trained for 2 months, in fighting and bass. It was great because I got to know everyone before we even started shooting. Because of the exercise, I’ve never felt more confident. I was pretty much a stud by the end of it.

What was your most entertaining movie going experience?
Edgar Wright: My most entertaining movie experience was when I saw Hostel 2. It was a midday, midweek showing so there were maybe only 5 people in the theater. Then, during the cannibal scene, some guy came in just then and sat next to him. During one of the goriest moments, he just leaned over to me and said “beautiful.”

The soundtrack was fantastic and one of the many highlights of the film, how did you go about putting that together?
Edgar Wright: The soundtrack came together really came together because of my friend Nigel. He put together the score, and he’s been produced by Paul McCartney and some other big names. The idea was to have a different artist do their song as if they were a different artist, like Heck channeled their garage band roots, and Metric did a parody of themselves. We currently have three soundtracks out – one for the game, the score, and then the traditional soundtrack. We have enough songs to fill a fourth, and we want to distribute it, but it’ll depend on money down the road.

How familiar were you with the material before landing your roles in the film?
Mae: I was the only one who had read the books. I loved it before auditioning for the role.

When you were casting for this role, how did it all shake out? Did you have people in mind from the beginning, or did you leave it open depending on auditions?
Edgar Wright: I had a lot of people in mind from the start. Michael Cera was at the top of my list from near the beginning. I was lucky and got most of my first choices. Casting spanned at least a year; it was a long process. One of the many special features on the Blu-Ray is the casting tapes. That’s a fun little feature.


This movie obviously draws a lot from video games, were there any specifically that you pulled from when writing the story/filming the movie?
Brian: I never had N64, so I don’t know the games well enough to have based anything off them specifically.
Edgar Wright: The fights were inspired and referenced a lot of great video games. I looked to Fuly coolly, Beck, Akira, Naruto video games, and especially Marvel vs. Capcom. For the twins battle specifically, the creatures were double dragons because there are two of them. That bit was an homage to Scott Wolf and his fabulous work in Double Dragons. [The Double Dragons trailer played before the movie, along with a few video game commercials.]


Are there any character notes that didn’t get explored in the movie, but that still influence who they are?
Edgar Wright: Julie's secret fact is that she had a crush on Scott during college, that’s why she treats him the way she does. Roxy is half ninja, but insecure and angry about not being a whole ninja


What did Scott order off amazon?
Edgar: I don’t actually know. Maybe it was a Wang Chung CD? Hott Fuzz DVD?


What is everyone currently working on now?
Brian: I’m glad to be going back to Toronto and being a hermit again. I’m not sure what I’ll do next.
Stephan stills is directing.
Envy is in The United States of Tara and a film called Rampart.
Mae is focusing on her music and is also starring in the NBC show Parenthood.


Other odds and ends mentioned throughout the night:

• Roxy’s whip wasn’t in the graphic novel. It was designed specifically for the movie.
• Edgar Write would want to make The Action Doctor. The first thing Chris Evans did for the project was all the posters.
• Check out the plot keywords on IMDB.com. It makes it sound like an NC-17 flick with one of them being "Death by Orgasm." 
• Brian enjoyed the movie and was himself surprised by the ending. The last book was done after the movie was already nearly complete so there wasn’t much discussion between the two about where things would end up.
• Another special feature that will be on the Blu-Ray is a compilation of all the TV-safe voice over edits they recorded. They had to change any instance of them saying “god” or “ass” or anything like that. The montage was hilarious, with constant references to people being such “bad owls.”

Scott Pilgrim vs. The World Blu-Ray is out now and would make a PERFECT holiday gift for your friends or family. More people need to see this film.

New Trailer: Thor

This is mostly what was screened at Comic-Con this year, but there's enough new footage to make it worth the watch. I'm still not completely sold on this film, but I'm sure I'll end up seeing it given the awesomeness that is Marvel films so far and the beauty that is Chris Helmsworth.

Cowboys & Aliens Blasts Off!

OMG. So awesome. I went into Comic-Con not expecting much from this, thinking it would be a rip off of my dearly beloved and departed Firefly, but this looks all shades of awesome! I love Jon Favreau's use of practical effects. Too many films are just CGI showcases, so it's always nice when a director chooses to kick it old school. What do you think? Are you looking forward to this flick? 

Linkulous: Blockbuster, Film Nudity, Facebook Secrets, and more

How Blockbuster Failed at Failing


The Top 10 Biggest Secrets of The Facebook News Feed


Jennifer Alba's Nudity in "Machete" was Computer Generated. Is Film Nudity Dead? 


Bruce Willis Wants To Make Two More ‘Die Hard’ Films, Then Step Away


5 Questions with No Ordinary Family's Michael Chiklis


Paramount To End Relationship With Marvel In 2012: Disney Will Distribute 'Iron Man 3' and 'The Avengers'


The Theory of 3 Glees


Glee's Gayest Moments

Advance Review: RED

I was lucky enough to catch a free screening of this flick earlier this week. Filled with action, laughs, and some romance thrown in, I really think everyone would enjoy this comic book adaptation.

DC Comics does not have the film track record that marvel does. They have some shining examples like the Batman series, but when it comes to bringing lesser known characters to life they just haven't had much success. Just look at Jonah Hex for a perfect example of this.

The story revolves around Frank (Bruce Willis) after he's been tagged RED: Retired Extremely Dangerous. While he's out of the business, someone deemed him too dangerous and knowledgable of US secrets to stick around. His crush, played hilariously by Mary Louis Parker, gets swept into the madness as she soon becomes a target too. Frank then uncovers a conspiracy that puts all his old cohorts in danger. He reunites the old team, consisting of Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren, to keep them alive and take out whoever it was that tagged them all RED.

I loved the humor they were able to infuse throughout the film. Helen Mirren got some good laughs, but the biggest were for Mary Louis Parker and John Malkovich. Mary Louis was the fish out of water, the civilian swept into the spy madness, and she handled the shock and awe supremely well. And no one does crazy as well as John Malkovich! He had the most gags but also had some of the best gun action.

The action was huge and oftentimes hilarious. Given the age of the cast, you may think they couldn't pull of fight scenes, but you'd be mistaken. There's a rough and violent fist fight between Bruce Willis and Karl Urban that elicited applause from the audience. There were a few scenes, like the fist fight and the bazooka gun fight seen in the commercials, that had the audience clapping for the awesome action and exploding people.

It was a nice change of pace to see senior citizens kicking butt. While I don't know how many people in that age bracket will see this movie, I think it's got a nice unintentional anti-agist message within it.

If you're going to the movies this weekend, skip Jackass 3D with it's juvenile, gross-out humor and check out RED instead.

Related Article:
Helen Mirren on RED, guns, and Harvey Pikar

Priest: First Trailer

After a strong showing at Comic-Con this year, the official trailer has finally be released online. No bootlegs here!



Screen Gems' official description:

PRIEST, a post-apocalyptic sci-fi thriller, is set in an alternate world -- one ravaged by centuries of war between man and vampires. The story revolves around a legendary Warrior Priest from the last Vampire War who now lives in obscurity among the other downtrodden human inhabitants in walled-in dystopian cities ruled by the Church. When his niece is abducted by a murderous pack of vampires, Priest breaks his sacred vows to venture out on a quest to find her before they turn her into one of them. He is joined on his crusade by his niece's boyfriend, a trigger-fingered young wasteland sheriff, and a former Warrior Priestess who possesses otherworldly fighting skills.

Starring Paul Bettany, Karl Urban, and Maggie Q, at the very least it'll have eye candy in every flavor. But seriously, I'm very intrigued to enter this world. At Comic-Con we got an except of the origin story comic and I was immediately hooked in. It's a unique world and a new take on the vampire story, bringing in difficult aspects of religion, which makes sense considering vampires have always been described as demons, their souls doomed to hell.

Priest opens in March 2011.

RED: "Restless" Clip

One of the highlights of Comic-Con  for me was the Red panel by Summit. I hadn't heard anything about the film or the comic book series it's based on, so everything was news to me. With a stellar cast of Helen Mirren, Bruce Willis, and Morgan Freeman, I'm surprised this isn't getting more of a marketing push.

Summit's official synopsis:

Frank (Bruce Willis), Joe (Morgan Freeman), Marvin (John Malkovich) and Victoria (Helen Mirren) used to be the CIAs top agents but the secrets they know just made them the Agencys top targets. Now framed for assassination, they must use all of their collective cunning, experience and teamwork to stay one step ahead of their deadly pursuers and stay alive. To stop the operation, the team embarks on an impossible, cross-country mission to break into the top-secret CIA headquarters, where they will uncover one of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups in government history.

Summit released this clip of Helen Mirrin discussing how the retired life can make her a little restless:

Hi, I'm a DC...and I'm a Marvel: The Musical

I think this sums up the comic book movie war quite nicely.