New “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter” Gets Its Release.

Posted on February 13, 2012 by jlmicek

So what if our nation’s 16th president did more than just keep the Union together? What if, and let’s say for the sake of argument, he was also history’s greatest hunter of the undead?

Thus, “Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter,” was born. And its new trailer is on the Web:

Here’s a synopsis for what could end up being a deeply silly … or deeply entertaining … movie:

“Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter explores the secret life of our greatest President, and the untold story that shaped our nation. Visionary filmmakers Tim Burton and Timur Bekmambetov (director of Wanted) bring a fresh and visceral voice to the blood-thirsty lore of the vampire, imagining Lincoln as history’s greatest hunter of the undead.

(via HeyUGuys)

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New Still Of Eva Green and Johnny Depp In “Dark Shadows” Reboot.

Posted on February 13, 2012 by jlmicek

Frankly, I’m not sure who’s the more pale: Eva Green or Johnny Depp.

The promo still below comes from Tim Burton’s reboot of the 1960s supernatural soap “Dark Shadows.” HeyUGuys reports:

“Here’s a new image of Johnny Depp and co-star and former Bond Girl, Eva Green from their new movie Dark Shadows with Eva sporting a lovely blonde barnet. Dark Shadows is the latest from Tim Burton which probably goes without saying when you look at the styling of the image below and those we’ve seen so far from the movie. I’m about to wriote the rest of the cast down. Can you guess who it might be?! OK, let me put you out of your misery.”

And here’s a synopsis:

“In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas has the world at his feet-or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Brouchard. A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive. Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman, to help with her family troubles.”

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Skyfall Behind the Scenes Video

Posted on February 13, 2012 by jlmicek

Here’s a new behind-the-scenes video for the 23rd installment of the James Bond franchise and some on-set pix showing star Daniel Craig a little worse for wear.

First up, the video:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

And now the pix:

(h/t TotalFilm)

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Weekend Box Office And Your Monday Must-Read.

Posted on February 13, 2012 by jlmicek

Scottish comedian and "Hobbit" co-star Billy Connolly

Good Monday Morning, Everyone.

Theatergoers decided they liked “The Vow” and hung out in the “Safe House” during a blustery winter weekend here in the Northeast. Courtesy of Box Office Mojo, here’s the weekend by the numbers:

TW LW Title (click to view) Studio Weekend Gross % Change Theater Count /Change Average Total Gross Budget* Week #
1 N The Vow SGem $41,700,000 – 2,958 – $14,097 $41,700,000 $30 1
2 N Safe House Uni. $39,300,000 – 3,119 – $12,600 $39,300,000 $85 1
3 N Journey 2: The Mysterious Island WB $27,550,000 – 3,470 – $7,939 $27,550,000 $79 1
4 N Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace (in 3D) Fox $23,000,000 – 2,655 – $8,663 $23,000,000 – 1
5 1 Chronicle (2012) Fox $12,300,000 -44.1% 2,908 +1 $4,230 $40,167,000 $12 2
6 2 The Woman in Black CBS $10,300,000 -50.7% 2,856 +1 $3,606 $35,456,000 – 2
7 3 The Grey ORF $5,080,000 -45.4% 2,801 -407 $1,814 $42,822,000 $25 3
8 4 Big Miracle Uni. $3,900,000 -49.7% 2,133 +4 $1,828 $13,200,000 $40 2
9 8 The Descendants FoxS $3,500,000 -23.1% 1,581 -457 $2,214 $70,729,000 – 13
10 5 Underworld Awakening SGem $2,500,000 -54.6% 1,657 -979 $1,509 $58,900,000 $70 4

The Guardian’s Film Blog considers director Peter Jackson’s return to Middle Earth with “The Hobbit,” and wonders whether a profusion of famous faces might do more harm than good to the much-loved prequel to “The Lord of the Rings.”

Here’s the nut graf:

“‘The Hobbit’, by contrast, has already given us a lineup of dwarves and halflings that might have come straight from the little black book of a BBC TV casting director. Martin Freeman and Benedict Cumberbatch (Sherlock), Richard Armitage (Spooks, Robin Hood), Aidan Turner (Being Human), James Nesbitt (everything): Jackson could not have given us more familiar small screen faces had he decided to replace Cate Blanchett as Galadriel with the woman who played Ace in Doctor Who and parachuted in Keith Chegwin to portray Gandalf.

I must admit that the decision to cast Barry Humphries as The Goblin King struck me as genius when it was announced last year. But is it really so necessary for the Master of Lake-town to appear in the smug yet cuddly form of dear old Stephen Fry and wizard Radagast the Brown to arrive in the shape of ex-timelord Sylvester McCoy? I suspect these appearances will make it rather harder for us Brits to lose oneself in the story, a bit like if Luke Skywalker had been played by a young Phillip Schofield in the first Star Wars movie, with Roland Rat as Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back.

Connolly’s appointment, in particular, seems likely to add an air of pantomime to the proceedings.

Read the full story here.

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Review: 3D Adds Nothing To “Phantom Menace” Re-Release.

Posted on February 12, 2012 by jlmicek

You kind of saw this one coming, didn’t you? You can slap a new coat of paint on it, but it’s impossible to escape the fact that “Star Wars: The Phantom Menace” is not a very good movie at all.


Here’s a snippet of the review from Brit film site HeyUGuys:

“Years later, and the trilogy complete, The Phantom Menace takes the stage once again, this time in 3D, and while the extra dimension was never going to change the film in any epiphanic way, it’s a shame that the 3D adds nothing to the film. For those who took issue with the film in 1999 you’ll find that time has not been kind and a dull curiosity may tempt you back into the cinema but the numerous problems of the film will always weigh this film down.

The final light sabre duel still looks great, though riddled with narrative oddities, and there’s no doubting that Darth Maul is an excellent addition to the Sithsphere, but the bloodless Jedi characters and feckless narrative drive are still like cinematic molasses. Dave commented during the early part of the film, ‘zzzzzzzzz’.

The 3D post conversion varies wildly in quality, adding nothing save for one soaring shot of a floating platform high above the surface of Coruscant which induces a moment of stomach-churning vertigo. The pod race has its moments when the vast engines of the racers loom large over the manically paced background but these are sparse exceptions to the rule.”

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Amanda Seyfried In Poster For “Lovelace.”

Posted on February 12, 2012 by jlmicek

It’s kind of a big weekend for  Seyfried, the young actress who hails from Pennsylvania’s Lehigh Valley.  For starters, she’s profiled in The New York Times today.

Now, courtesy of the folks at ComingSoon, here’s a new poster for “Lovelace,” the biopic of 1970s porn star Linda Lovelace, with Seyfried in the title role. And there’s some new images from the film as well.

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First Clip of “Twilight: Breaking Dawn” Part 2

Posted on February 12, 2012 by jlmicek

This comes via SpoilerTV. As you can see from the clip, looks like someone shot this on their phone at their local Target outlet:

Vodpod videos no longer available.

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Universal’s “Dracula: Year Zero” Rises From The Grave.

Posted on February 12, 2012 by jlmicek

With another Russell Crowe-starring vampire vehicle looming, the suits at Universal have signed Michael DeLuca to produce and Gary Shore to direct a new iteration of the Transylvanian baddie who brought the studio fame and riches in the 1930s.

Universal had earlier been developing a version of the movie starring Sam Worthington, but that was scrapped because budget concerns, /film reports.

Apparently it took word that Warners had inked Crowe (Gladiator) to star in a Dracula reboot called “Harker” to convince Universal that it was time to resurrect The Count.

There’s no word on cast yet. But Worthington is said to not be involved, /film reports.

As an aside, I don’t care what anyone says, this is still my favorite Dracula movie:

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DreamWorks Plans Remake Of Hitchcock’s “Rebecca.”

Posted on February 10, 2012 by jlmicek

ComingSoon reports that DreamWorks has plans to bring author Daphne du Maurier’s 1938 classic back to theaters. Steven Knight has signed to adapt the book, which first came to theaters via Alfred Hitchcock in 1940.

According to ComingSoon:

“The book tells the story of an unnamed American woman who marries a rich Englishman, Maximilian de Winter. Moving into his estate, though, she finds herself confronted by the echoes of her new husband’s first wife, Rebecca and beings to unravel a mystery that lives on even after Rebecca’s death.

The film version starred Joan Fontaine as the central heroine and Laurence Olivier as de Winter.”

Read more: DreamWorks Plans Rebecca Remake – ComingSoon.net http://www.comingsoon.net/news/movienews.php?id=86881#ixzz1lzETNH2z

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“Amazing Spiderman” Director Talks New Trailer.

Posted on February 10, 2012 by jlmicek

In an interview with MTV’s Splash Page, “Spidey” director Marc Webb talks about expectations of the reboot of Marvel’s original teen-angst hero an how the filmmakers tried to address that in the film’s new trailer:

“People don’t know what to expect, and I think it’s really important for us to establish exactly why we believe it’s an important thing to do,” he said. “We felt it was really important to give the audience a more specific idea of what the film would look like.”

Webb also addresses the specific challenges of bringing one of the comic’s great villains, The Lizard, to life on the big screen:

“We spent a lot of time thinking about the biology of a lizard, and how his muscles work, and there’s an entire staff of people dedicated to making him look lifelike,” Webb said. “It is an extraordinary task, and very, very difficult. It takes a lot of time, which a lot of people in this room can attest to.”

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