Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass

Now that you’ve seen it, what did you think? Its been exactly 2 years, 27 days since we first learned that Matthew Vaughn would be adapting John Romita Jr and Mark Millar’s ultra-violent comic book series Kick-Ass. The finished movie arrives in theaters this weekend and it’s time to hear your thoughts about it. How does it compare to the comics? Is it better or worse? Is the movie as awesome as everyone is saying it is? Is Hit Girl the best character in the movie? Was Roger Ebert wrong to give it 1 star in his review? Or is it not that good? If you’ve seen it, then leave a comment below and let us know what you thought of Kick-Ass!

To fuel the fire, Kick-Ass is currently my favorite movie of the year so far. I’ve seen it twice and I completely and thoroughly love it. It packs a punch from start to finish, transcends the family friendly nature of most comic book movies in the wildest of ways, and is just the perfect bit of cinematic entertainment. My favorite scene was the strobe light fighting scene, which blew me away for being both beautifully shot and incredibly intense at the same time. I loved all of the characters, even Red Mist and especially Hit Girl and Kick-Ass, and I can’t wait to see the sequel. Kick-Ass really was one of the best recent comic book movies I have seen!

What did you think of Kick-Ass? One of the best comic book movies ever or one of the worst?

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Chinese Earthquake Movie ‘Aftershocks’

I’m pretty damn sure no one has heard of this film before today, but you won’t forget about it after watching this trailer. Twitch first discovered this extraordinary teaser trailer for a disaster film called Aftershocks coming out of China about the devastating 1976 Tangshan Earthquake that killed over 240,000 people. This trailer reminds me of Schindler’s List with the little girl and the way it uses the red to accent the terror and chaos of the situation. I would say this is China’s big disaster film in response to 2012, but since this is about an event that already happened, it’s very different and much more emotional. Check out the teaser below. 

Watch the teaser trailer for Xiaogang Feng’s Aftershocks:

When a mother is informed by a rescue team that, since her 7-year old twins are buried under the debris close to each other, digging one out would result in the collapse of the wreckage on the other, she is forced to make the most difficult decision of her life. Based around the devastating Tangshan Earthquake of 1976.

Aftershocks, originally titled Tangshan Dadizheng in Chinese, is being directed by Beijing-born filmmaker Xiaogang Feng, of other Chinese films like The Dream Factory, Happy Funeral, A World Without Thieves and The Banquet previously. The film will be released in China in July of this year, but it does not have a US release date. In fact, it doesn’t even have a US distributor yet. We’ll let you know if we hear more about it!

The Hobbit Still Waiting for the Greenlight

I feel like every few weeks we write another story about The Hobbit being either delayed, or still on track for 2011, or something like that. It’s always either ready to go sometime this year or suddenly delayed, but apparently none of this is true, at all. Peter Jackson spoke recently with Moviefone in what has become the story of this weekend because he gives them the definitive update on The Hobbit and its current status. Basically, they still haven’t been given the greenlight because they’re still waiting for MGM and finishing budgeting. Who knows how long that will take, so although they’ve turned in a script, they’re still waiting.

Here’s where Jackson says that pretty much everything we’ve heard about delays is pretty much BS so far.

“Well, it’s not really been delayed, because we’ve never announced the date. I mean it’s sort of interesting because the studio [MGM] has never greenlit The Hobbit, so therefore The Hobbit has never been officially announced as a ‘go’ project, nor have we ever announced a date. But there’s so much interest that people — newspapers and magazines, of their own account, say, ah, it’s likely to film in May, it’s likely to film in June, it’s likely to film in September. People make this stuff up. And then if it’s not filming in June, you get a story saying, ‘The Hobbit’s been delayed.’ But it’s never actually been announced.”

So there’s not much he can tell us about the production, but what can he actually confirm? Well, the script is done. “We’ve just delivered the script. Literally last week, we delivered the second of the two screenplays — the first draft. So the studio’s got both scripts now, which is a milestone; and if anything was holding it up, it was us doing the screenplays, because we’d just been writing as fast as we can, but it took us this long to get them finished.” They’re currently trying to work on budgeting and if they agree to the budget, they’ll get a greenlight and announce shooting dates and so on. But here’s the good news: “I’d be pretty optimistic that we’ll be shooting before the end of the year. I would imagine October, November, we’d be shooting by.”

Of course, that’s not official, but if everything goes as planned, they’ll be shooting by the end of the year. The question is, if they’re supposed to shoot for more than a year, how will they finish the first movie by the end of 2011? Just doesn’t seem possible, but you never know, they could pull off that kind of schedule. Anyway, head over to Moviefone to read a few more of Jackson’s answers about casting, mainly that no actors have been “confirmed,” although we just know Sir Ian McKellen will be back as Gandalf. We’ll be sure to keep you updated on everything we hear about The Hobbit. I just hope there won’t be more fake rumors that pop up.

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Viral Teaser Trailer for Space Paranoids Online!

This looks awesome! If you read up about the Tron Legacy viral event at WonderCon a few weeks ago, you may have heard that Alan Bradley announced that the original Space Paranoids game would soon become an online playable game. If you thought that was just part of the stunt, guess again, as FlynnLives.com has just been updated with an awesome new teaser trailer (you can watch it below) for the actual online playable Space Paranoids game. Yes, once this is released online it’s going to consume endless hours of your life until this December when Tron Legacy finally lands in theaters. You’ve been warned… but check this out anyway!

Watch the official teaser trailer for Encom’s Space Paranoids Online:

If you remember back to Comic-Con last year, Flynn’s Arcade had about 10 or so arcade units running this exact game with an old school joystick. So they’ve had the game for a while, and now Encom has created an online version of it. You can bet there will be some new viral events that will come with this, as Bradley said in San Francisco that there’ll be “15 new levels in Space Paranoids designed by Kevin Flynn himself,” which means that Flynn is probably going to “contact” us through the game (part of the ARG concept). The only bad news is that they don’t list a release date. I’ve got to imagine it’ll be up and running soon, right?

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Impressive Official Poster for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice

I’d been wondering when we’d see a poster for this movie, but I was definitely not expecting something like this! ComingSoon has debuted the first teaser poster for Disney’s The Sorcerer’s Apprentice and it’s a gorgeous bit of artwork. It’s basically just got a sneering Nicolas Cage as Balthazar showing off his magical dragon ring that identifies Jay Baruchel as the “chosen one,” or whatever it is. If you haven’t seen the trailer yet, watch it here. This kind of reminds me of Drew Struzan’s paintings but it’s actually just a dark and sleek photo with some nice color touch-up work. However, I really am very impressed by this. Check it out below!

A sorcerer (Nicolas Cage) leaves his workshop in the hands of his apprentice (Jay Baruchel), who gets into trouble when the broomstick he put a spell on to do chores for him somehow develops a mind of its own.

The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is directed by veteran filmmaker Jon Turteltaub, who also directed 3 Ninjas, Cool Runnings, The Kid, and both National Treasure films previously. The screenplay was co-written by Carlo Bernard (The Uninvited) and Matt Lopez (Bedtime Stories). This is based on the story that first appeared in Disney’s Fantasia. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice will arrive in theaters everywhere on July 16th this summer.

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Full 63rd Cannes Film Festival Official Selection Announced

The 63nd Cannes Film Festival official selection was just announced this morning. A total of 46 films this year are featured in four categories: Competition, Un Certain Regard, Out of Competition and Special Screenings (including those Midnight Screenings). The festival kicks off on May 12th next month and last for 11 days until May 23rd. I will be attending for my second year in a row. It was previously announced that Ridley Scott’s Robin Hood would be opening the festival. Highlights from this year’s selection include Mike Leigh’s Another Year and Jean-Luc Godard’s Socialisme among many others. Read on for a full list!

Lists below are alphabetized by title and include the director’s name and a quick and easy reference link.

OPENING NIGHT FILM:
Robin Hood – Dir: Ridley Scott

COMPETITION:
A Screaming Man – Dir: Mahamat-Saleh Haroun
Another Year – Dir: Mike Leigh
Biutiful – Dir: Alejandro González Iñárritu
Burnt by the Sun 2 – Dir: Nikita Mikhalkov
Certified Copy – Dir: Abbas Kiarostami
Fair Game – Dir: Doug Liman
Housemaid – Dir: Im Sang-soo
La Nostra Vita – Dir: Daniele Luchetti
Of Gods and Men – Dir: Xavier Beauvois
Outrage – Dir: Takeshi Kitano
Outside the Law – Dir: Rachid Bouchareb
Poetry – Dir: Lee Chang-dong
The Princess of Montpensier – Dir: Bertrand Tavernier
Tournée – Dir: Mathieu Amalric
Uncle Boonmee – Dir: Apichatpong Weerasethakul
You, My Joy – Dir: Sergei Loznitsa

UN CERTAIN REGARD:
Adrienn Pál – Dir: Ágnes Kocsis
Angelica – Dir: Manoel de Oliveira
Aurora – Dir: Cristi Puiu
Blue Valentine – Dir: Derek Cianfrance
Chatroom – Dir: Hideo Nakata
Chongqing Blues – Dir: Xiaoshuai Wang
The City Below – Dir: Christoph Hochhäusler
Hahaha – Dir: Hong Sang-soo
Heartbeats – Dir: Xavier Dolan
Life Above All – Dir: Oliver Schmitz
The Lips – Dir: Iván Fund & Santiago Loza
Octubre – Dir: Daniel Vega
R U There – Dir: David Verbeek
Rebecca H. (Return to the Dogs) – Dir: Lodge Kerrigan
Simon Werner Disappeared… – Dir: Fabrice Gobert
Socialisme – Dir: Jean-Luc Godard
Tuesday, After Christmas – Dir: Radu Muntean
Udaan – Dir: Vikramaditya Motwane

OUT OF COMPETITION:
Tamara Drewe – Dir: Stephen Frears
Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps – Dir: Oliver Stone
You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger – Dir: Woody Allen

SPECIAL SCREENINGS:
Abel – Dir: Diego Luna
Chantrapas – Dir: Otar Iosseliani
Draquila: L’Italia Che Trema – Dir: Sabina Guzzanti
Inside Job – Dir: Charles Ferguson
Nostalgia For The Light – Dir: Patricio Guzmán
Over Your Cities Grass Will Grow – Dir: Sophie Fiennes

MIDNIGHT SCREENINGS:
Blackhole – Dir: Gilles Marchand
Kaboom – Dir: Gregg Araki

Cannes president Thierry Fremaux did say that the “official selection is not complete yet” and currently six films are missing, so expect to see a few more added to the line-up before the start of the fest in May.

This looks like a fascinating line-up this year, with a few films I’m excited to see, and a whole bunch that I’ve never heard of before. Last year had as strong of a selection, including Inglourious Basterds, Fish Tank, Un Prophete, The White Ribbon, Thirst, and the controversial Antichrist (and I was there when it all began). I’m really looking forward to heading out to France in May and I will be joined by first-timer Peter Sciretta from SlashFilm as well as Cannes veteran and my very good friend Eric Lavallee from IONCinema. We’ll do our best to bring you the finest coverage we can straight from Cannes 2010! Anything catch your eye?

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French Actress Astrid Bergès-Frisbey Joins the Cast of Pirates 4

Surely there is someone who is disappointed by the fact that Orlando Bloom and Keira Knightley will not be returning for Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, but there are also still plenty that don’t mind, especially with people like Ian McShane coming on-board. Well since there’s been recent development on finding a suitable young actor to fill Bloom’s shoes as the young heartthrob in the flick, surely there must be a comparable young beauty to fill Knightley’s shoes and it looks like Disney found her, as they announced that the young French actress Astrid Berges-Frisbey will be making her US feature debut in the sequel.

Astrid has landed the key role of Syrena, a beautiful and alluring young mermaid. A full press release for an actress almost entirely unknown to American audiences is totally unheard of, so she’s either such a treasure of France that her working stateside is quite the catch, or Disney really believes she’ll be the next big thing. Bergès-Frisbey’s credits include the following French films: La Fille du Puisatier, Bruc, Extase, La Premiere Etoile and Un Barrage Contre le Pacifique. This casting of a character who is a mermaid in the movie goes hand in hand with a recent casting call that was looking for professional dancers who are also swimmers.

Disney is certainly pulling out all the stops with trying to cast naturally beautiful women, with the previous casting of Penelope Cruz, and that other casting call that stated they were looking for “fit” female models who have real breasts (no floaters on these high seas). Anyone familiar with Astrid Berges-Frisbey?

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Second Featurette for Nimrod Antal’s Predators

Our very first introduction to Robert Rodriguez & Nimrod Antal’s Predators was through a sneak peek featurette, so it’s only fitting we follow up the trailer with yet another new featurette. The video comes from Germany (via YouTube) but isn’t dubbed, so it is watchable and in high def, too. It mainly contains some interview segments with Rodriguez and Antal as well as some new footage, including dialogue from Danny Trejo. I totally love the Japanese guy too, I can’t wait to see him fight with his samurai sword, that will be badass to watch. The more I see from this, the more excited I get, I think it looks like it could be awesome.

Watch the second featurette for Nimród Antal’s Predators:

Predators is being directed by Nimród Antal, of Kontroll, Vacancy, and Armored previously. The screenplay was co-written by newcomers Michael Finch and Alex Litvak and is based on early draft written years ago by producer Robert Rodriguez, who also worked with them on the script. This is a reboot of the Predator series created by Jim & John Thomas and directed by John McTiernan in 1987. We’re not sure what the actual plot is, but all we need to know is that it’s about a bunch of badass elite warriors who fight a bunch of predators out in the jungle. 20th Century Fox is bringing Predators to theaters worldwide on July 7th this summer.

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James Mangold My Direct Gyllenhaal’s Joe Namath Biopic

Back in 2007, it was announced that Jake Gyllenhaal would play football quarterback Joe Namath in a feature film about his life that was being put together. Jump to today and, well, no progress has been made. However, Pajiba says they’ve heard that James Mangold (of Kate & Leopold, Walk the Line, 3:10 to Yuma, Knight & Day) may have just landed this directing gig, which makes them (and us) wonder if Universal may actually be trying to get this into production as Gyllenhaal’s next big film following Duncan Jones’ Source Code (which he is already shooting). It all makes sense, and I won’t be surprised if this actually happens.

The project was originally setup with David Hollander (“Heartland”, “The Cleaner”) attached to write the screenplay. Namath himself approved of the movie after a “strong pitch” from Hollander and a belief that the “athletic” Gyllenhaal was the right actor to play him. This is an approval that the studio doesn’t want to let go of, which is probably why they’re keeping Gyllenhaal out in front while moving forward. Universal does want to take another pass at David Hollander’s script before it moves into production, though, and knowing them this means it could probably get shelved just as quickly, especially if the budget is too high.

Joe Namath was one of the first football players to achieve a “rock star” status in the NFL. This biopic will tell the story of how the golden-armed kid from Beaver Falls, PA became “Broadway Joe,” the New York Jets quarterback who became a ’60s cultural figure. “Most of the stuff you saw in Forest Gump, Joe lived through all of it,” producer and friend Jimmy Walsh said about Namath and his life. Namath played for 11 years with the New York Jets, from 1965 to 1976, and was the first to pass more than 4,000 yards one season. You can read up on all of his stats on his biography at Pro Football Hall of Fame. We’ll let you know what happens.

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