Welcome to your source for movie news. Giving you up to date information on what's on the horizon from Hollywood. Here's how the sight works. Newest articles are at the top, but scroll all the way down in case you might've missed something. Also, be sure to check out my Rotten Tomatoes Review Page for each week's new release reviews from a collection of critics.  Comments are welcome.  Thank you for visiting. 

I've been waiting for two weeks for this trailer to be available online somewhere. Still not the best quality, but best one I've seen out there recently. The story looks good, and look forward to next June. Check it out!

After being changed to January, the film is now getting pushed back for a year until the beginning on 2011.  MGM has delayed opening the new Joss Whedon film with the desire to convert it to 3-D.  Not much is known about this film, with no trailer, poster or storyline currently floating around.  Usually a few months before a film's release, there is an attempt at creating excitement or buzz.  Maybe that's part of the decision to push it back.  Only time will tell. 

I saw this and haven't yet seen it anywhere online.  I thought this was one of the best posters they've had so far.  I've enjoyed the references to the alien dog (who looks like the beast from Aliens) and the "rover" which is called the alien's dog.  It's also interesting the concept of aliens as the astronaut is the alien on this planet. 

Sometimes it can take years to get from a concept to something even resembling a production of a major motion picture. For example, a series of board games are on the horizon for us as Battleship, Candyland and Ouija are all in the developmental phase along with a slew of comics turning to the big screen. I've highlighted a few ideas that are somewhere in the development phase.

• Austin Powers 4

  Austin Powers 4 is the next installment in the adventures of the International Man of Mystery. The third entry, Austin Powers in Goldmember, was the most successful chapter in the franchise.

• Beverly Hills Cop IV

  Michael Myers returns with Jay Roach in the director's chair. Beverly Hills Cop IV Eddie Murphy is expected to return for the fourth installment of Beverly Hills Cop. Released in 1984, the blockbuster action/comedy follows the adventures of rogue Detroit police officer Axel Foley (Murphy) who takes his police work to Beverly Hills. The sequel Beverly Hills Cop II (1987) enjoyed similar success, though Beverly Hills Cop III (1994) was a lackluster follow-up.

• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang

  Ian Fleming's classic children book Chitty Chitty Bang Bang is getting a modern remake. A professor invents a flying car that becomes sought after by a foreign power. A 1968 film was adapted by Roald Dahl and starred Dick Van Dyke.

• Elf 2

  Will Ferrell fans get an extra dose of holiday cheer with the news of a sequel to the wacky comedy Elf. Elf 2 focuses on the further trials and tribulations of Buddy, the human who was raised by elves at the North Pole. It is not clear whether original director Jon Favreau will return, but Scott Armstrong is expected to script.

• Fraggle Rock

  The hit 80s television show Fraggle Rock gets the big screen treatment. Created by Jim Henson, the puppets are inhabitants of an underground civilization. In the film, the isolated puppets come out from the Rock they live under and make contact with the real world. Ahmet Zappa is adapting the screenplay.

• Grown Ups

  Adam Sandler brings his Happy Madison buddies together for the Columbia comedy formerly titled Mad Families. Kevin James, Chris Rock, Rob Schneider, David Spade and Sandler star as five best friends from high school who reunite in a camping trip over the Fourth of July. Dennis Dugan directs with a script from Sandler and Spade.

• Mysterious Travels

  Mysterious Travels will be the sequel to the New Line film Journey to the Center of the Earth. Brendan Fraser's Professor Trevor Anderson travels to an unknown island that is the basis for Treasure Island, Gulliver's Travels and Jule Verne's Mysterious Island. The story is script by Richard Outten.

• Neighborhood Watch

  A man moves to the suburbs and becomes a part of the Neighborhood Watch. Unfortunately, he gets more than he bargained for in the form of aliens. The Fox comedy is written by Jared Stern. Will Ferrell was previously attached.

• Terminator 5

  Producers are gearing up for another Terminator with Christian Bale. The sci-fi film will continue the story of John Connor as he leads the human resistance fighting the machines of Skynet. McG (Terminator Salvation) will return to direct the fifth installment.

• Thor May 20, 2011

  Comic superhero Thor gets a big screen rendition through Paramount. Chris Hemsworth will star as the Nordic warrior-god Thor who is banished to live as a mortal human. Kenneth Branagh directs from a script by David S. Goyer and Mark Protosevich.

  More to come soon!

The rapper, turned television actor and eventual movie star. Is there anything Will Smith can't do? You've probably already heard that they are working on Hancock 2 and a third installment to the Men in Black series, but let's take a look at what else is coming up for Mr. Smith.

• Old Boy (Steven Spielberg)

  The Story centers on a middle-aged man who was kidnapped and imprisoned for 15-years for some unknown reason. Upon release, he proceeds to hunt down and seek revenge on the people who conspired against him.

• Monster Hunter

  Will Smith will produce and possibly star in the family comedy Monster Hunter as a psychologist who can actually see the monsters that scare children in their dreams. He sets about to find them in their closets and battles a particularly nasty one. David Dobkin directs with a script written by Robert L. Baird and Daniel Gerson.

• The City That Sailed

  Will Smith stars in the fantasy drama The City That Sailed. A little girl who lives in NYC with her dad makes a wish to reunite her parents. Lo and behold, the island of Manhattan breaks away and travels across the Atlantic Ocean towards Spain where her mom is about to remarry. Francis Lawrence (I Am Legend) will direct the film scripted by Andrew Niccol.

• The Mark

  When the corpse of a Confederate soldier transfers a permanent mark to his hand, a man becomes endowed with superhuman capabilities. He tries to comprehend the new powers he has obtained, and the source from which they came. The Mark finds himself in the middle of a grand struggle in between good and evil with New York as the battlefield. Will Smith's Overbrook Entertainment produces with Nickelodeon Movies.

I saw the trailer tonight for the new Toy Story 3 which is on the 3-D Toy Story 1 & 2 Double Feature. Unfortunately, I can't find it anywhere online yet, only the teaser. When I can scrounge it up somewhere, I will pass it along to all of you.

(Kristen Bell, Josh Duhamel, Anjelica Huston, Danny DeVito, Jon Heder)

Beth Harper (Bell) is a young, successful real estate agent ... but she's completely unlucky in love. However, when the New Yorker travels to Rome to see her newlywed sister, she impulsively steals some coins from a reputed fountain of love, and is then aggressively pursued by a band of wannabe lovers.

Scheduled Release: January 29, 2010

(Gerard Butler, Jamie Fox)

Are you in need of yet another, family murder revenge movie? Well, you are in luck, since this movie will be out before you know it. It does have a twist on the normal story and is it just me or does the father not look like Gerard Butler for half the trailer. I know it's him, it sounds like him, but it doesn't look like him in several places. Oh well, Law Abiding Citizen is a thriller about a brilliant sociopath who orchestrates a series of high-profile murders that grip the city of Philadelphia - all from inside his jail cell - and the prosecutor assigned to his case who realizes he is the only one who can end the reign of terror.

Scheduled Release: October 16, 2009

Here's a look at a few ideas they are working on in the field of animation. Many of these ideas are in the beginning stages or several years away, so just some things to think about.

Cars 2 June 24, 2011

Disney and Pixar are ready to rev up for the sequel Cars 2. Lightning and Mater will take their adventure overseas.

Arthur Christmas - November 11, 2011

The animated tale Arthur Christmas comes from Aardman, the production company behind Wallace & Gromit. The holiday film looks at how Santa delivers all those presents in just one night. Peter Baynham and Sarah Smith wrote the script. Smith and Barry Cook direct the film.

Newt - Summer 2012

The Pixar animated newt centers on the last remaining male and female of an amphibian spieces. Forced together by science to reproduce, Newt and Brooke however hate each other. They must find a way to love when it's the only way to save their kind. Gary Rydstrom makes his feature directorial debut with a script he wrote with Leslie Caveny.

The Lorax – May 12 2012

The Lorax is the next Dr. Seuss adaptation from Fox Animation after Horton Hears a Who. An entrepreneur strips a forest full of trees, but is warned by a tiny creature named The Lora.. Cinco Paul and Ken Daurio direct the film with their own script.

Yellow Submarine

Robert Zemeckis and Disney are teaming for a digital 3D remake of The Beatles' Yellow Submarine. The 1968 cult hit was an animated story about the Fab Four saving an underwater paradise called Pepperland. The film features several Beatles tracks including the title song, 'Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds', 'Eleanor Rigby', 'When I’m Sixty-Four' and 'With a Little Help From My Friends.'

Family Guy Movie

The Fox TV show The Family Guy will get the big screen treatment. Created by Seth MacFarlane, the animated series focuses on a dysfunctional family with a well-meaning father, a cute mother, two teenagers and a diabolical toddler who wants to destroy everyone. There is also the family dog who seems to have most of the brains.

Airman

Gil Kenan and Robert Zemeckis are teaming up for the CG animated film Airman, adapted from the book by Eoin Colfer. Conor Broekhart is a young man who flies hot air balloons. The king who is inspired by the skies makes Broekhart a close friend. When the king is murdered, Broekhart gets blamed. The film will utilize performance-capture technology from the team behind Monster House.

Bunyon and Babe

The MGM animated adventure Bunyan and Babe chronicles how Paul Bunyan and his sidekick the Blue Ox help a pair of kids to ward off the evil plans of a property developer. The voice cast include John Goodman, Kelsey Grammar, Eddie Griffin and Bridger Zadina. Tony Bancroft and Jim Rygiel direct the film.

(Hilarious Article by Etan Anderson of Firstshowing.net)

Hollywood is becoming so formulaic that I think it's time FirstShowing created a sort of MadLibs, so you, the readers, can put news stories together yourself.  Sound fun? Of course it does. Today (Variety/The Hollywood Reporter) announced that (Studio/Company) is (remaking/rebooting/revisiting/adapting) the (established Book/Comic Book/Toyline/Film/TV Show) for release next year in (3-D/IMAX/both). We'll even start you off with one. Variety  announced that Dimension will be revisiting the Scream franchise, remaking Short Circuit, and revisiting Scanners in 3-D. But stick with me, my story gets better!

Dimension will also revisit the Spy Kids franchise for a fourth installment written by Robert Rodriguez (he'll most likely direct too), make a 3-D sequel to Hellraiser, and continue with the already confirmed remake of An American Werewolf in London. Looks like Christmas came early, and then someone decided that it was the right time for an atomic disappointment bomb! To be fair, there is one project in this batch of announcements that gives me a bit of hope, but I'm holding on by a very thin thread.

Going back to another installment of the Scream franchise, the fourth film in the series will indeed bring back Courtney Cox, David Arquette, and Neve Campbell, with negotiations on-going to bring back Wes Craven to direct the ghost face killer flick. This is the one I'm most interested to see, because the Scream films were great slasher flicks with enough tongue-in-cheek humor to force latter horror movies to rid themselves of the predictable cliches ("I'll be right back!"). But its been so long, that I just don't know.

Onto to the new 3-D films heading our way, aside from the announcement of Halloween 3-D, the Weinsteins and Dimension decided that if they were going to unnecessarily make sequels to Scanners and Hellraiser, then they might as well be in 3-D. Ten bucks says that another head will explode in the Scanners sequel, but since it's in 3-D, it'll be way better! I mean if you're going to beat a dead horse you might as well stuff it with dynamite right?

And if that wasn't enough already, they're just going to go ahead and ruin one of my childhood favorites by remaking Short Circuit. Remember when Johnny-5 used to say "No disassemble." Well, Johnny-5, I will disassemble, if only to save your dignity.

(George Clooney, Jason Bateman)

Here's one of the movies that has everyone buzzing following its success at the Toronto Film Festival.  George Clooney is poised for yet another Oscar Nomination.  Ryan Bingham is a corporate downsizing expert whose cherished life on the road is threatened just as he is on the cusp of reaching ten million frequent flyer miles and just after he's met the frequent-traveler woman of his dreams. Not a lot is revealed in the teaser trailer, but it does give you an idea for the style of the film. 

Scheduled Release: November 25, 2009

Our love of vampire lore continues with a twist, this time humans are the minority.  In the year 2019, a plague has transformed most every human into vampires. Faced with a dwindling blood supply, the fractured dominant race plots their survival; meanwhile, a researcher works with a covert band of vamps on a way to save humankind.  I've seen how much trouble it is to kill a pack of vampires, so what hope is there when nearly everyone is a vampire?  I like the line in the trailer, "We're the ones with the crossbows."  The song in the trailer reminds me of Depeche Mode.

(Robert Downey Jr, Rachel McAdams, Jude Law)

This update on the classic character looks like it could be really good.  Robert Downey Jr looks like he's going to be a good fit to play the famous detective.  With a blend of action and comedy, it should be a good time at the movies.  Detective Sherlock Holmes and his stalwart partner Watson engage in a battle of wits and brawn with a nemesis whose plot is a threat to all of England.

Scheduled Release: December 25, 2009

Surrogates comes out this weekend, so let's take a look at what else we have to look forward to from Mr. Willis.  He's one of my favorite actors and I generally enjoy his movies.

• A Couple of Dicks (February 25, 2010) A comedy about two cops whose adventures include locating a stolen baseball card, rescuing a woman, and dealing with gangsters and their laundered money.  (Seann William Scott, Michelle Trachtenberg, Jason Lee, Kevin Pollack)
  
• The Expendables (August 20, 2010) There's some other big name action starts in this film about a team of mercenaries who head to South America on a mission to overthrow a dictator.  (Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Mickey Rourke and Arnold Schwarzenegger)
  
• Red (2010) A former black-ops agent returns to action to take on a high-tech killer. (Morgan Freeman)
  
• Pinkville (2011) Army general William R. Peers (Willis) investigates the My Lai Massacre, an event in which several hundred Vietnamese civilians were killed by U.S. soldiers.
  
• The Last Full Measure (2010) An ambitious government bureaucrat is given an unwelcome assignment that could harm his carefully orchestrated career, to complete a long-unfinished report on whether the nation's highest award for bravery should, after 40 years, be given to a fallen hero. His investigation leads him down a path he could not have imagined and changes his life and the lives of others in the process. (Morgan Freeman, Andy Garcia, Robert Duvall, Lawrence Fishbourne)
  

Saw continues its new tradition of having a scary movie around the Halloween season. No doubt wherever the story may go, as long as the customers keep coming, they will keep making them.  Special Agent Strahm is dead, and Detective Hoffman has emerged as the unchallenged successor to Jigsaw's legacy. However, when the FBI draws closer to Hoffman, he is forced to set a game into motion, and Jigsaw's grand scheme is finally understood.

Scheduled Release: October 23, 2009

(Viggio Mortensen, Charlize Theron, Guy Pearce, Robert Duvall)

Already being mentioned in the conversation for award time following the Toronto Film Festival.  A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind and water. It is cold enough to crack stones, and, when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the warmer south, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing: just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless cannibalistic bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a rusting shopping cart of scavenged food--and each other.

Scheduled Release: November 25, 2009

(Bradley Cooper, Natalie Portman, Shia Lebouf, Robin Wright Penn, Orlando Bloom, Hayden Christensen, Christina Ricci, Ethan Hawke, Andy Garcia)

In the city that never sleeps, love is always on the mind. Those passions come to life in NEW YORK, I LOVE YOU - a collaboration of storytelling from some of today's most imaginative filmmakers and featuring an all-star cast. Together they create a kaleidoscope of the spontaneous, surprising, electrifying human connections that pump the city's heartbeat. Sexy, funny, haunting and revealing encounters unfold beneath the Manhattan skyline. From Tribeca to Central Park to Brooklyn, the story weaves a tale of love as diverse as the very fabric of New York itself.

Scheduled Release: October 16, 2009

Already featuring Mark Wahlberg, Will Ferrell, Michael Keaton and Damon Wayans, Samuel L. Jackson, and Dwayne "The Rock' Johnson have added to the cast.  "The Other Guys" focuses on a New York City police precinct where Jackson and Johnson play an elite cop duo -- two officers who regularly bust the bad guys, drive fast cars and get the girls -- while Ferrell and Wahlberg's considerably less accomplished cops watch from the sidelines. As you might have gathered from the title, the story is all about giving the shlubs a chance to shine. Coogan is set to play the film's villain.

Scheduled Release: August 6, 2010

(Phillip Seymour Hoffman, Bill Nighy, Kenneth Branagh

Not sure what the actual name is as I've heard it referred to both ways. "The Boat That Rocked" is an ensemble comedy in which the romance takes place between the young people of the '60s and pop music. It's about a band of rogue DJs that captivated Britain, playing the music that defined a generation and standing up to a government that, incomprehensibly, preferred jazz. The Count, a big, brash, American god of the airwaves; Quentin, the boss of Radio Rock -- a pirate radio station in the middle of the North Sea that's populated by an eclectic crew of rock and roll DJs; Gavin, the greatest DJ in Britain who has just returned from his drug tour of America to reclaim his rightful position; Dave, an ironic, intelligent and cruelly funny co-broadcaster; and a fearsome British government official out for blood against the drug takers and lawbreakers of a once-great nation 

Scheduled Release: November 13, 2009

Last year, we saw the emergence of both Slumdog Millionaire and The Wrestler from Toronto and Venice and this year we have the underlining of Precious as a serious awards contender and the introduction of Up in the Air as a major player as well. Lee Daniels’s film, Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire won the Audience Choice Award at Toronto, becoming the first film in history to win that award at both Sundance and Toronto. A successful trip to Cannes sandwiched between the two has all but cemented Precious as THE festival phenomenon of 2009. Lionsgate already has an impressive marketing campaign going and a Best Picture nomination is theirs to lose at this point. Oprah Winfrey and Tyler Perry were both in attendance, flexing their executive producer muscles and promoting the film but rapturous reviews wherever it plays are going to do the bulk of the selling. Speaking of selling, that’s the one disappointing bit of news coming from up North.

Also coming out strong from the festival is George Clooney’s new film. Undeniably moving and heartfelt, “Up in the Air” is one of the year's best and a surefire awards contender for Clooney, Reitman, and perhaps Vera Farmiga. The film has been scorching through Toronto, leaving virtually everyone who's seen it gushing about it as the best thing since Billy Wilder helmed "The Apartment." Okay, maybe not THAT much gushing but close.

"The Apartment" comparison is actually a pretty apt one. There's a confidence and yes even grace to the filmmaking here that's altogether shocking to see in a big studio release. That being said, I'm here to temper your enthusiasm just a tad. Calm down, "Up in the Air" is a lot of things great. It's smart. It's wise about the world we're living in today. It's impeccably cast from the always engaging Vera Farmiga right down to JK Simmons in a fleeting but spot-on scene.

It's also not "Titanic" or "There Will be Blood." It might rock your world but it won't change the way movies are made. I only mention this because the hype is building so quickly for this one that you should know what you're getting into.

At the center of "Up in the Air" is a humdinger of a role for Clooney. In a bizarre way this feels a bit like Clooney's "The Wrestler." Ryan Bingham is an alterna-universe George. Smooth as silk. Funny, confident and seemingly content with his unique place in the universe. He's also, much like Clooney to this point in his life, foregone marriage and kids, and made no apologies for it. There's certainly a resonance to the performance knowing what we know of Clooney, the man. It's as fine a performance as he's given. Right alongside Michael Clayton.

Robert de Niro's had some unforgettable roles over the years.  He's getting up there in years and not cranking them out as quickly as he used to, but he's got a few in the works and several in development. 

• Everybody's Fine (December 4, 2009) A widower who realized his only connection to his family was through his wife sets off on an impromptu road trip to reunite with each of his grown children.
• Stone (2010) A convicted arsonist looks to manipulate a parole officer into a plan to secure his parole by placing his beautiful wife in the lawman's path.
• Machete (2010) The highly skilled Federale Machete is hired by some unsavory types to assassinate a senator. But just as he's about to take the shot, he notices someone aiming at him and realizes he's been set up. He barely survives the sniper's bullet, and is soon out for revenge on his former employers, with the reluctant assistance of his old friend Cheech Marin, who has become a priest and taken a vow of nonviolence. If you hire him to take out the bad guys, make sure the bad guys aren't you!
• Little Focker (July 30, 2010) The Focker and the Byrnes families brace themselves for the arrival of a baby.

(Heath Ledger, Jude Law, Christopher Plummer, Colin Farrell, Johnny Depp)

Director Terry Gilliam, best known for his work with Monty Python, returns to the big screen with his latest film.  Heath Ledger's last film (and ironically the first new one promoted using the term "Academy Award Winner" which gave me the chills), The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus is a fantastical morality tale, set in the present day. It tells the story of Dr Parnassus and his extraordinary 'Imaginarium', a travelling show where members of the audience get an irresistible opportunity to choose between light and joy or darkness and gloom. Blessed with the extraordinary gift of guiding the imaginations of others, Dr Parnassus is cursed with a dark secret. Long ago he made a bet with the devil, Mr Nick, in which he won immortality. Many centuries later, on meeting his one true love, Dr Parnassus made another deal with the devil, trading his immortality for youth, on condition that when his first-born reached its 16th birthday he or she would become the property of Mr Nick. Valentina is now rapidly approaching this 'coming of age' milestone and Dr Parnassus is desperate to protect her from her impending fate. Mr Nick arrives to collect but, always keen to make a bet, renegotiates the wager. Now the winner of Valentina will be determined by whoever seduces the first five souls. Enlisting a series of wild, comical and compelling characters in his journey, Dr Parnassus promises his daughter's hand in marriage to the man that helps him win. In this captivating, explosive and wonderfully imaginative race against time, Dr Parnassus must fight to save his daughter in a never-ending landscape of surreal obstacles - and undo the mistakes of his past once and for all..

Dick Cook abruptly left his job as head of Disney over the weekend.  It's always sad to see people lose their jobs especially after such a long time, but why is this newsworthy?  Apparently Johnny Depp felt very highly of Cook.  Speaking to the LA Times Depp says of Cook, “He's instantly trustworthy. And you generally don't meet people at the studios you trust.” With or without Cook, Johnny technically already has a done deal to star in a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie but now he says of his involvement in it “There's a fissure, a crack in my enthusiasm at the moment.” Whether he does the fourth movie now seems to depend not on whether he has a deal, but whether he has a script and whether he feels “enthusiastic” about doing it.  Disney execs need to find a way to make the star of the Pirates franchise happy or he could be moving on to bigger and better things.  

I came across these and thought they were pretty cool.  I love the movies, especially the ones that are iconic.  I don't think Scarface was as good as everyone else thinks, but it was memorable.  And you can't think of this movie without seeing Al Pacino pinned down under massive gunfire, holding a freakishly large gun. 

(Julia Roberts, Bradley Cooper, Jessica Alba, Anne Hathaway, Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Gardner, Patrick Dempsey)

The stars just keep on coming. It's like they took every side character and cast someone you've heard of and put them in a movie together. Continuing in the trend of Love Actually and The Holiday, this romantic comedy is trying to bury you with star power. The trailer actually looks pretty good and it's been awhile since Hollywood has released a quality romantic comedy. Valentine's Day surprisingly exams intertwining couples relationships on the exciting (or dreaded, depending on the case) holiday of love, romance and breakups.

Scheduled Release: February 12, 2010

(John Travolta, Johnathon Rhys Meyers)

John Travolta sporting the bald look as FBI agent Charlie Wax.  In Paris, a young employee in the office of the US Ambassador hooks up with an American spy looking to stop a terrorist attack in the city.  We get to watch Travolta try to single-handedly blow up Paris one block at a time.  The trailer looks like it's loaded with action and definitely worth a view.  Enjoy!

(Jason Bateman, Kristen Bell, Vince Vaughn)

A comedy centered around four couples who settle into a tropical-island resort for a vacation. While one of the couples is there to work on the marriage, the others fail to realize that participation in the resort's therapy sessions is not optional.

Scheduled Release: October 9, 2009

Don't hold your breath, we still are quite a ways away, but Spiderman 4 is going to be released for the summer of 2011, May 5th to be exact. Tobey McGuire has of coursed returned to the role of the masked superhero (or in the case of Spiderman 2, sometimes masked) with Kirsten Dunst by his side as the ever present love interest. Villains and storyline are not being released yet, but at least we have something to look forward to. Especially if they put in a better effort than they did for Spiderman 3. You can only put so many villains into one 2 hour movie if you plan on getting rid of all of them by the end.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4 is also rumored at having a Summer 2011 release.  It could be a strong summer season if these two films are both released. 

The Karate Kid remake, known as the Kung Fu Kid has been shooting and will star Jackie Chan as the teacher and Jayden Smith as his student.  The storyline is similar with different names and setting.  This time economic troubles bring the young student to China.  Smith plays Dre, a young (some people say, way too young) kid who moves to a new city and begins getting bullied by the Fighting Dragon Kung Fu students.  The part of Mr. Miyagi will now be called Han and be played by Chan who's sporting a mustache from what I hear.  A lot of people have been giving Jaden a lot of hassle about his role in this movie.  I've personally liked the kid in the movies that I've seen.  He might've gotten his start because of his famous father, but he does have talent.  And as for remaking Karate Kid, well, they're remaking everything else so why not.  Besides, this isn't the Karate Kid, it's the Kung Fu Kid.  Can't you read?  =)

It is officially OFFICIAL! Warner Bros. has teamed up with Universal Studios in order to create a Harry Potter “Theme Park within a Theme Park”. It is scheduled to open in 2010. The Harry Potter theme park will open around the same time as the Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows movie. This 20 acre theme park located in Orlando, Florida will enable visitors to experience scenes from the books and movies.  And on that note, fans will definitely be glad to hear that construction for the Harry Potter theme park has begun!  Complete with the Hogwarts Castle, the village of Hogsmeade, and probably many other attractions, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter which will be built in the Islands of Adventure, will not be a disappointment to most fans.

Coming off the successful Quentin Tarrantino release, Inglorious Basterds, what is coming up in the future for that good ole' boy Brad Pitt. I must say that I loved the accent almost as much as the mustache. But here's what's coming up:

• Tree of Life - December 25, 2009: We trace the evolution of an eleven-year-old boy in the Midwest, Jack, one of three brothers. At first all seems marvelous to the child. He sees as his mother does, with the eyes of his soul. She represents the way of love and mercy, where the father tries to teach his son the world's way, of putting oneself first. Each parent contends for his allegiance, and Jack must reconcile their claims. The picture darkens as he has his first glimpses of sickness, suffering and death. The world, once a thing of glory, becomes a labyrinth.
• Oobermind -November 5, 2010: From the studio that brought you "Shrek," "Madagascar" and "Kung Fu Panda." The brilliant and diabolical super-villain Oobermind has been attempting to conquer Earth for over 20 years but, each time, he's been thwarted by his arch nemesis, the caped superhero Metro Man. But all that changes one day when Oobermind accidentally kills Metro Man in the throes of one of his evil plans. Suddenly finding himself without a foe to overcome, the despondent evil genius decides that the only way out of his rut is to create a new super rival. He's a bigger, better and stronger opponent than Metro Man ever was. But when the former good guy begins to wage his own war aimed at destroying the world, Oobermind must decide: Can he defeat his own (now) diabolical creation? Can the worlds smartest man make the smart decision for once? Can the Evil Genius switch sides and become the Hero of his own story?
• The Lost City of Z - 2010: Explorers search for a British Colonel who disappeared trying to find a legendary City of Z during the 1920s.
• The Sparrow - 2010: A Jesuit priest accompanies a space crew to a distant planet after Earth receives its first contact from aliens.
• Moneyball - 2011: The story of Oakland A's general manager Billy Beane successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget, by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players. It's listed as having former big leaguers to play the role of baseball players, shouldn't be too difficult a task.
  
• The Odyssey - 2012: After a first experience with the adataption of The Iliad with the film Troy, released in 2004, it has been reported that Warner Bros. is developing The Odyssey, the second half of Greek Poet Homer's masterwork. For this second movie, Variety says Warner Bros. is hoping to sign Brad Pitt (already present in Troy) and George Miller to direct the movie.

(Cameron Diaz, James Marsden)

The 'Saw' inspired storyline keeps spilling over. In this thriller, a family in financial troubles receives a mysterious box from a disfigured stranger. Inside the box is a red button that if pressed will automatically give them a million dollars, but somewhere a person they don't know will die. They have 24 hours to decide or else there are consequences. Strange concept which brings up a whole world of moral issues. People who are desperate enough will do desperate things.

Scheduled Release: November 6, 2009

The Boondock Saints 2: All Saints Day continues writer and director Troy Duffy's saga of fraternal twins, the MacManus brothers. The two have been in deep hiding in the quiet valleys of Ireland, far removed from their former lives or modern technologies. When word comes that a priest has been killed by sinister forces in the tough underworld of Boston (the Yakavetta Crime Family), they return to mount a violent and bloody crusade to bring justice to those who must now suffer the consequences, with a new partner in crime aiding them and FBI Agent Paul Smecker's Protege in pursuit of them.

Scheduled Release: October 30, 2009

In anticipation for the upcoming Thundercats movie that they've been working on, someone made their own trailer for what it could look like.  The quality is not very good, but the concept is sound.  Though they've reused scenes from other movies, the makeup is done exceptionally well.  Take a look and see what you think. 

Coming off the success of the small budget sci-fi thriller, District 9, the part of 'Howling Mad' Murdoch has been cast.  Sharlto Copley who played the lead Wikus Van Der Merwe, will play the part of the loose cannon according to Hollywood sources.  He joins Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper and Rampage Jackson to round out the quartet.  Also, Jessica Biel is slated to be a former love interest to further increase the star power in this remake.  I never thought they'd really make this movie, but now it's getting more and more apparent that I will continue to have a second childhood at the movies. 

(Dwayne Johnson, Jessica Biel, Gary Oldman, Sean William Scott, John Cleese)

I've seen the interviews with "The Rock,"  I'm sorry, Dwayne and it looks cute.  I enjoy hearing him say, "The humans are going to eat my brains!"  American astronaut Captain Charles "Chuck" Baker lands on Planet 51 thinking he's the first person to step foot on it. To his surprise, he finds that this planet is inhabited by little green people who are happily living in a white picket fence world, and whose only fear is that it will be overrun by alien invaders...like Chuck!

Scheduled Release: November 20, 2009

(John Cusack, Woody Harrelson, Oliver Platt, Amanda Peet & Danny Glover)

Who doesn't love a good disaster movie? Judging by the audiences that turn out to these things, I'm not alone. The latest disaster movie focuses on the Mayans predictions that the end of the world will come on December 21, 2012. 2012 is an epic adventure about a global cataclysm that brings an end to the world and tells of the heroic struggle of the survivors.

Scheduled Release: November 19, 2009

The Michael Jackson circus continues with a major motion picture coming October 28th of this year to the big screen. The film will contain behind the scenes footage of Jackson backstage, on stage and directing his team as he created his fifty shows. It will also contain interviews with friends of Jackson and 3-D sequences originally filmed as part of the concert performance. Candid and private scenes involving Jackson and his crew have been confirmed. I don't have a problem with the public surprise at the death of someone who was so influential in the music industry for our generation. The problem I have is, why do people wait until someone dies to shower them with praise and talk about how great they were. I haven't heard much of anything from Michael in the last ten years and when we did it was because he was doing something crazy like holding his child, Blanket, out of a window. Now that he is gone we are just supposed to forget all of the allegations and extremely bizarre behavior and just bow down to the former King of Pop? I'll have to take a pass at this time, thanks!

A young boy named Darren Shan meets a mysterious man at a freak show who turns out to be a Vampire. After a series of events Darren must leave his normal life and go on the road with the Cirque Du Freak and become a Vampire.  This is the first book in the Cirque du Freak series, so if it's successful, we can be sure to see several more films on the horizon. 

Yet another big picture adaptation of a children's book series. The stop motion animation feature will host the voices of George Clooney, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson and Merryl Streep. The story is about a fox named Mr Fox. At night, he steals chickens, ducks, and turkeys from three mean, stinky and wealthy farmers — Boggis, Bunce and Bean — in order to feed his family.

Scheduled Release: November 25, 2009

Will Smith and Charlize Theron have signed on to do the sequel to this offbeat superhero film.  It's also rumored that Jason Bateman will be returning for the film but no official confirmation as of yet.  The original cast will be joined by a well-known powerful entity.  Who it is, is not being released nor if they will play Friend of Foe.  I for one enjoyed the first Hancock film.  It was not what I expected, but after seeing it for a second time and accepting it for what it was, it was a refreshing take on the superhero genre.  Here was a superhero that everyone knew who he was and instead of the endless gratitude that you usually get, everyone hates him because he doesn't care about anyone or anything.  If you don't know about the twist in the storyline, I'm not going to be the one to ruin it for you.  It really was an interesting premise that people didn't really seem to connect with.  Here's hoping the second film keeps it up. 

It's still two months away and the fans are already growing restless for the latest Twilight installment. The question before seeing this was, can Dakota Fanning pull off dark? And I think she's going to be fine. Such a great actress for being so young. This trailer looks like it's going to be better than the first movie. For those of you who don't know what Twilight is (you must've been living in a cave or have been a time traveller correcting the mistakes of the past to not know), New Moon follows the second book in the twilight series. Bella Swan is still very much in love with vampire, Edward Cullen. The rest of the vampire coven who call themselves the Cullens, especially Alice, decide to throw Bella a private party for her eighteenth birthday. Things go wrong when Bella slices her finger and thirst overcomes the vampires. As a result of the danger Bella was put through, the Cullen family decide to leave Forks, Washington. At first Bella exempts herself from all social activities, until she realizes she can coexist with childhood friend, Jacob Black. As usual for Bella, things aren't what they seem. Something is happening to Jacob that he can't explain to Bella, and their friendship starts to deteriorate. But when someone from Bella's past comes back to haunt her, everything will change again.

Scheduled Release: November 20, 2009

Paul Walker, Hayden Christensen and some singers/rappers are making a heist movie. I for one love a good heist movie but it takes the right scenario to set up for a good heist. And I don't understand why everyone who can pick up a microphone thinks that they should be in a movie. Only time will tell I guess. Takers is about a group of bank robbers who find their $20 million plan interrupted by a hard-boiled detective.

Scheduled Release: February 19, 2010

So the fourth film, going into production soon, will be called Pirates of the Caribbean 4: On Stranger Tides. What on earth that means, we probably won't find out until more production details come to life. But Pirates fans can chew on that for now, and decide for themselves if it fits in with the Pirates 4 plot details scoop we got over two years ago.

Some will kill to have it. He will kill to protect it. Apparently they've decided to turn Denzel Washington into an action star. I'm not saying it's a bad movie, it could be done really well. The trailer actually looks pretty good, but why does Denzel have to learn to fight? He's one of the best actors of our generation. Book of Eli is about a post-apocalyptic tale, in which a lone man fights his way across America in order to protect a sacred book that holds the secrets to saving humankind.

Scheduled Release: January 15, 2010

Here's a couple of movies that might've passed you by in recent times starring our man Denzel. If you haven't seen them, I thought they were pretty good.  Out of Time and Deja Vu. 

Denzel plays Chief Whitlock a Florida police chief who is having an affair with a woman who turns up dead. As all of the evidence keeps pointing in his direction, Chief Whitlock must hide the evidence long enough to discover what's really going on. The police chief is involved in missing evidence money as well as a murder investigation that he's in the middle of all at the same time. It's an exciting suspense-filled movie where the whole story is stacked like a house of cards and you wonder how long he can keep it up before the whole thing's going to come crashing down. Worth a watch.

Strange concept, but it really does draw you in.  Worth your time if you're into this sort of thing.  After an explosion on a ferry kills over 500 people including a large group of party-going sailors, an ATF agent investigates the crime. AN FBI agent also joins the investigation. Impressed with the ATF agent's skills, the FBI agent invites him to join a new team that has a new program that uses satellite technology to look backwards in time for 4-1/2 days to try to capture the terrorist. Meanwhile a young woman who was burned washes up on shore. Meant to look like part of of the explosion, the body arrives at its location too soon, which leads the agents to believe her death is related to the explosion. As they use the new technology to study the woman, the ATF agent determines that this is not satellite imagery but somehow is using a time warp. From this point in the film, the movie moves from a crime film to a sci-fi time paradox film. Nonetheless, the action is non-stop and always captivating. The end of the film may be confusing to some people, but it is all laid out if one cares to look carefully. Contains some extreme violence that some may find disturbing, particularly during the explosion when many people are shown jumping off the boat in flames

You gotta love a good ninja movie if it's done the right way. From the trailer, the fight scenes look visually stunning and well done. I especially like where one of the ninjas gets hit by a car. Ninja Assassin follows Raizo, one of the deadliest assassins in the world. Taken from the streets as a child, he was transformed into a trained killer by the Ozunu Clan, a secret society whose very existence is considered a myth. But haunted by the merciless execution of his friend by the Clan, Raizo breaks free from them and vanishes. Now he waits, preparing to exact his revenge.

Scheduled Release: December 25, 2009

One of the strangest names for a movie in recent years, I needed to finally look into and see what it was all about. A reporter in Iraq might just have the story of a lifetime when he meets Lyn Cassady, a guy who claims to be a former member of the U.S. Army's First Earth Battalion, a unit that employs paranormal powers in their missions. It's got a great cast with George Clooney, Ewan McGregor, Kevin Spacey & Jeff Bridges. It looks funny and maybe as strange as its title. Check out the trailer and tell me what you think.

Scheduled Release: November 6, 2009

What is it about the power of popcorn?  Even if you've just eaten, you can still go to the movie theater and order a large bag of popcorn devouring it with no problem.  Does the smell of popcorn have some subconscious element that we are not aware of?  I know that there isn't a whole lot to it, but still the concept of always being hungry for popcorn is still a mystery to me.  I worked at a movie theater for several years and people kept telling me that eventually you get tired of it.  But I never got there.  For a change of pace, a lot of theater chains started popcorn seasonings.  You get the great taste of popcorn with a hint of nacho cheese, carmel or parmesan & garlic.  The link to the right is for Kernel Seasonings who has one of the best names for a website ever.  Nomorenakedpopcorn.com.  They are pretty good, so try them out sometime. 

Scheduled for a release December 17, 2010. It looks pretty good in my humble opinion. I haven't seen the original all the way through, but now I feel I must. It seems to have improved the graphics from the original while keeping the style. Could be a winter hit next year. Scheduled to be going up against the Smurfs and the Green Hornet. We pray the original ideas will return to the cinema someday, but until then just hope they do the remakes as good as possible.

Scheduled Release: December 17, 2010

B.A. Barracus has been cast. UFC's Rampage Jackson has supposedly been cast in the famous role to somehow try and fill Mr. T's shoes. This is one of those roles in the history of Hollywood that I don't see how you can replace. I know that Mr. T is way too old to do a movie now, but how can someone else play Mr. T? Also, supposedly cast though noone wants to confirm anything is Bradley Cooper who will play Lt. Templeton "Face" and Liam Neeson as Col. John 'Hannibal' Smith. I love it when a plan comes together, but how are they going to make this odd cast work? And who's going to end up playing the loose cannon 'Howling Mad' Murdock? I've heard Johnny Knoxville's name mentioned and he'd probably be a great choice.

Scheduled Release: June 11, 2010

• Some of these are listed as being in production or developmental stage.  For instance, they've been working on a new Ferris Bueller for the past decade and will hopefully not ruin that classic.

• 21 Jump Street
• Fame
• Footloose
• Happy Feet 2
• Hangover 2
• Indiana Jones 5
• Kung Fu Panda 2
• Men in Black 3
• Star Trek 2
• Terminator 5
• The A-Team
• The Hobbit
• The Smurfs
• Tom & Jerry
  

There's only 3 words spoken in this trailer.  Relying on the action and the special effects I guess.  Looks interesting. 

Paramount has caused a few tremors by announcing that the Martin Scorsese thriller Shutter Island is getting pushed back to February 19, 2010. The release date was only six weeks away and an advertising blitz had already begun. Paramount’s Brad Grey had this to say about the move- "Our 2009 slate was greenlit in a very different economic climate and as a result we must remain flexible and willing to recalibrate and adapt to a changing environment. This is a situation facing every single studio as we all work through the financial pressures associated
with the broader downturn. Like every business, we must make difficult choices to maximize our overall success and to best manage Paramount’s business in a way that serves Viacom and its shareholders, while providing the film with every possible chance to succeed both creatively and financially. Following a highly successful 2009, we have every confidence that Shutter Island is a great anchor to lead off our 2010 slate and the shift in date is the best decision for the film, the studio and ultimately Viacom." Rumors swirled that the move was caused by a lack of funds to invest in an awards campaign that was already going to have The Lovely Bones
and Up in the Air to deal with and Leonardo DiCaprio’s availability to promote the film was also cited.

Two Down, One to Go Maybe the 50-lb. weight gain was too much for Jim Carrey, since he’s just done the Curly Shuffle right out of the Farrelly brothers project. This follows Sean Penn’s stage-left exit a few months ago (citing “personal reasons” -- as in “personally I think the script sucks”?). How long before Benicio del Toro comes to his senses?

If you haven't seen this it looks quite funny.  Just hope the funniest parts aren't all in the previews as they so often are.  I can't watch the end with Seth Green without laughing.  You'll see what I mean. 

Courtesy of CinemaBlend.com

I haven't seen Halloween 2, and I don't really know anyone who has, but apparently it's not an unmitigated disaster. If it were, I assume its director Rob Zombie wouldn't already be signing on to reboot another horror classic, this time going all the way back to 1958 to take on The Blob.

And if you thought the changes he made to Halloween were crazy, just wait til you hear what he wants to do to the title character of The Blob. He told Variety, "My intention is not to have a big red blobby thing -- that's the first thing I want to change. That gigantic Jello-looking thing might have been scary to audiences in the 1950s, but people would laugh now."

Yes, I see your point... but why exactly are you remaking The Blob if you're not going to have, uh, a blob? I realize Zombie has his own way of making movies, and people will probably come out for this one regardless, but I'm not sure where this idea falls on the line between genius and just ridiculous.

In visiting the toy store yesterday, it's become increasingly obvious that they don't have any more ideas. There was an entire section on the Smurfs. From the Village, to the cars to a musical band, to the little figurines they used to sell at Hardees (which they now want $4 a piece for those tiny figures). It reminded me that the CGI Smurfs is on the way to the theaters some day. The remaking of Transformers didn't bother me too much until the 2nd one came out in all of its glorious stench. The Halloween series recently revamped with the help of the twisted mind of Rob Zombie and next year we have the remake to Nightmare on Elm Street to look forward to. The GI Joe movie was good for yet another toy based movie. But on the horizon we have The A-Team to look forward to as well as He Man (Masters of the Universe, actually) remake of Robocop in the works, The Greatest American Hero, The Jetsons, The Munsters and Thundercats movies are all in the developmental stage. Is it more disturbing to see they waited a decade or two for a movie I would've drooled over in my childhood, or is it worse that today's generation is only vaugely familiar with the original if at all. With the redone American Gladiators series that came out, I expressed my love for the original show. One of the sixteen year olds I work with replied, "Oh, was that a tv show or something before?" That sures makes you feel old.

The graphics in the poster actually look better than I thought. My biggest fear is that if you go and rewatch things from your childhood, they often aren't as good as you remember them. I tried to rewatch the smurfs once and I almost lost my smurfin mind. I just hope they don't ruin a childhood classic by smurfing it up.

Scheduled Release: December 17, 2010

20th Century Fox is working to give the Fantastic Four franchise a makeover. After just two movies they want to redo the franchise? The second movie was not the best, in fact I pretty much hated it the first time I watched it. It seemed to be like a really long trailer for a much better movie.  But there isn't anything they can do to improve it besides starting over? Sure it worked for Batman, but that was after four films (and after you put out garbage like Batman & Robin you have no credibility to continue a franchise). Whatever happened to taking the time to make a good script before you just throw something out there in the first place? They didn't exactly paint themselves into a corner in this franchise. I enjoyed the first film, but was disappointed to discover that Incredibles was a much better done movie about super heroes. I mean, what's next on the horizon? Will someone reboot Catwoman? If there's ever a failed super hero movie that needs to be redone it's that stink bomb.