The Movie Blog

It looks like Sony plans to make the most out of the digital theatre upgrades coming down the pipe. We get wind of their 4K plans from our friends at the movieweb:

Sony Pictures Entertainment will use 4K digital technology in the making of most of its filmed productions, it was announced by Sony Electronics.

“With the industry moving rapidly to embrace the improvement in quality that digital cinema can offer, we believe that 4K resolution gives audiences the best seat in the house,” said Gary Martin, president of Production Administration and Studio Operations for Sony Pictures Entertainment. “That’s why we will be making more of our filmed productions at full 4K resolution, scanning at 4K, using a 4K workflow process, and releasing a 4K DCP to theaters. The crisp and vibrant images provided by 4K are the only way to ensure that audiences both today and in the future will really be able to see the full range of what we can capture on film.”

With a huge push in the home television market for greater sound and resolution, it makes sense that the theaters will have to follow suit. If the theatre experience ever becomes better at home - they will certainly have a problem on their hands.

Higher resolution makes no difference to me with some projects, but has drastically changed the way some images are able to be shown. Nature shows in particular benefit greatly from a better resolution. You can see extreme, disturbing close-ups of the alien insect world and their barbarous means of hunting prey. Landscapes become clear, crisp and awe inspiring instead of being dull and muted.

With higher resolution the details jump out at you, and if you use details to create atmosphere and enrich your characters, then this is a great asset. Wes Anderson is a man who pays very close attention to all the details in his films; and I enjoy his meticulous efforts. What the characters wear is carefully thought out; down to the amount of buttons they have on their suits, or the types of animal pictures that decorate the luggage they carry. These details are reasoned, and the more we see of them the better.

I look forward to greater resolution in the theaters; for films that are able to take advantage of this greater clarity - they (and we) will be better for it.

Hurry up and watch this - it looks like it’s getting pulled.

The Panda strikes again! Dreamworks will once again channel the successful Chi if the Panda and wreak vengeance upon evil! We get wind of this animated follow up from the Ma On Shan caves of Yahoo:

DreamWorks Animation has officially confirmed that a sequel to its animated hit “Kung Fu Panda” is in the works and has set a release date of June 3, 2011.

The film, which will reunite Jack Black, as kung fu fan Po, Angelina Jolie and other members of the original voice cast, will be released in 3-D — the new standard for all DreamWorks Animation movies starting next year — on regular and Imax screens worldwide.

The Panda made over 600 million worldwide, so it’s no surprise that a sequel has been announced. I’ve heard nothing but good things about this film. Friends of mine from back home were particularly impressed with the animation. With luck, the same attention to detail will be in the second film, and the quality of the animation will grow from the experience of the last film.

Just as kung fu stretches the physical potential of its practitioners, so too does it stretch the ability of the animators that wish to bring life to this art. Kung Fu continues to makes us better, in every way.

Buddha be praised.

James Earl Jones is up for a lifetime achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild. We get the following scoop from the serpent caves of Yahoo:

James Earl Jones, whose booming voice gave the world the villainous Darth Vader in “Star Wars”, will receive the 2008 life achievement award from the Screen Actors Guild.

The award, given annually to the actor who fosters the finest ideals of the acting profession, will be presented to Jones in January when the guild honors the year’s top acting achievements on television and film, SAG said on Thursday.

This man deserves a wheelbarrow full of awards on an annual basis. What would Darth Vader be without his voice? Who would Thulsa doom be without his ability to transform into a snake? This is a man who has helped craft two of the greatest villains in all of cinema; it is good that he is being honored by a jury of his peers.

When he accepts the award I hope he calls someone to jump from the balcony and divulges to the crowd the riddle of steel.

Mr. Jones we join the resounding chorus of the SAG army and salute thee.

It appears a Daredevil reboot is currently being considered. We get the news from an interview IESB had with Tom Rothman. Below is the interview snippet that reveals this news.

IESB: One of the brands that has made Fox a lot of money is Marvel. Recently, there was a reboot of the Hulk, which was alright, but I think it was mainly to get it ready for the Avengers film coming up. But there are two Marvel properties you control amongst others, Daredevil and Elektra. Both films didn’t do too well but…reboot maybe?

Tom Rothman: A Daredevil, to use your words, reboot, is something we are thinking very seriously about.

For those of you that would like to read the entire interview between Rothman and Sanchez please follow this link.

I still haven’t seen the Daredevil film. With such a poor public reception, it has never been high on my “must watch” list.

We have mulled about the rebooting of this franchise on the live show, and although I’m not surprised that it will happen; but I am taken aback that news of the reboot has already begun to swirl about. From the interview we don’t have any sort of timeline, in fact Robert asks Rothman flat out if it will be “soon” and he replies that “nothing in Hollywood is soon”. So although we know that it will happen, we have no bearing yet as to when it will.

The corporate gears are slowly beginning to turn for a Daredevil reboot. For those of you that are fans of Daredevil - who would you like to see land the role?

We have an Angels And Demons teaser poster for you to check out today thanks to out good friends over at the movieweb:

This looks like the Vatican if I’m not mistaken. I am going to guess that this angel overlooking the establishment like a gargoyle is lucifer: lord of metal.

This is a packed weekend for features. For this reason, it’s wise for those involved with Blindness to release these first five minutes to catch your attention. If you are still wondering what film to see tonight - check this out.

We may have been down out out for the past 48 hours - but I am glad to bring you the news of the day. It appears Steven Segal is in talks to do an Under Siege 3. We get this glorious scoop from our friends at the movieweb:

“There are offers and we’re looking at them,” Seagal said. Apparently, he has some ideas about where the film should go as well.

“I personally want it to be something more modern,” said Seagal. “In other words, I wouldn’t mind if it was about something more mystical or…maybe extraterrestrial in nature. Some real government top secrets instead of just the typical.”

Something more mystical or extraterrestrial …In a sub! I sincerely hope we get to see Steven Segal save the earth from an alien crisis using his fists alone. This will be intergalactic diplomacy in the spirit of James T Kirk. With luck he will fight an alien with multiple arms or 8 foot long appendages. I want to see him fold an 8 foot alien arm up like laundry!

As far as the mystical enemy, I have no idea where he is going with this. I just hope in preparation for battle we see another scene of him meditating with accupuncture incense rods sticking out of his body. Segal is a focused and spiritual man. He is a warrior shaman, an old soul; if anyone could battle the mystical with his fists I’m certain it would be him.

We will be sure to follow this news. It’s always cause for celebration when fabled action heroes come back for another. Sly Stallone recently reminded us that age has jack shit to do with the quality of your action. The latest Rambo was the craziest war carnage I have have seen in ages.

I hope this happens and am excited at the prospect. International Friends; would you prefer mystical or extraterrestrial foes for Steven in his next picture, and why?

Last week’s correct answer was Steve Reeves!

And now the game continues with the fifteenth installment of NAME THAT TORSO!

The answer will be revealed next Week. The winner will have bragging rights and garner international respect!

****RULE #1 **** If you find the picture online, please don’t post the link and ruin the game for others

****RULE #2 **** NAME THAT TORSO!

With the future of Smallville looming (fan speculation and hints from the stars say this is the last season) The CW is looking for its next superhero primetime fix. Batman you say? Unfortunately the TV rights to that are tied up. Won’t happen. But you wouldn’t be far off. CW has its sights set on a Smallville style take on Robin, The Boy Wonder.

SciFi Wire picks up the press release:

Smallville executive producers Kelly Souders and Brian Peterson, as well as Supernatural executive producer McG, are behind The Graysons, which has landed a put pilot commitment at the network.

Just as Smallville focused on Clark Kent in the years before he became Superman, The Graysons will follow the world of Dick “DJ” Grayson before he takes on the iconic Robin identity and aligns himself with Batman.

It’s the latest DC Comics franchise to be mined for the small screen by Warner Brothers TV. McG’s Wonderland Sound and Vision label is also attached.

The Graysons is seen as a potential replacement for Smallville should that show end its run this season, which has been speculated.

Now it is no secret here that Robin has always been my hands down favourite DC Hero character. Most people have negative things to say about Robin, but I figure they have the fairy boot wearing sidekick to Batman, wearing bright colours to attract attention while Bruce lurked in the shadows.

The Robin I like is the more modern version, trained in martial arts, a natural gift for detective work and a personality and story to hold his own title. He has to struggle with regular teen problems and the heavy burden or responsibility he faces as Batman’s partner. I would imagine a series revolving around a Robin yet to be would be like this one.

With the success of the Dark Knight a prequel treatment like Smallville featuring a young Bruce Wayne would be an interesting show. It was already considered and I think they already did it in secret. In season 3 of Smallville a orphaned teenager very capable in martial arts, chemistry, computers and investigation appears under the name of Adam Knight. Over a 7 episode arch he is revealed to have some history that parallels Wayne’s story, but is a little different. Not unexpected in the Smallville canon.

The last TV Batman was played by Adam West, and we all know Batman is also called the Dark Knight. Adam Knight. He also claims to have a dependency to a substance known as the Lazarus serum (nod to Ra’s Al Ghul - a predominate Batman foe). Last the character was seen, he was dying. Considered dead he hasn’t been seen again in the show.

So with no Batman spinoff for the CW, they are considering Robin and even without my favourtism towards the character I think it is a great idea.

CW is littered with dramas aimed at the late teen to young adult demographic, but the balance tends to dominate towards the girly shows like the next generation 90210, Gossip Girl, Top Model, and One Tree Hill. With only Smallville and Supernatural to balance that out, CW is looking for a teen drama to replicate the success of Smallville.

Besides it gives the Justice League somewhere else to make cameo appearances until CW decides to give them their own series.

Last night at the Arclight theatre - they had a hell of an event. They showcased 12 films that were introduced by the actors who starred in them. I tried my best to get into The Jerk with Steve Martin; but tickets were sold out before they were available. I was however able to get a ticket for The Man Who Would Be King with Sir Sean Conery.

Sir Connery said “making films is either like utopia, or it’s like shoveling shit uphill. This film was utopia.” He thanked everyone for coming, spoke of his love for the film and discussed how John Huston poured over the screenplay for 30 years in order to whittle it down to perfection. Mr Connery kept it short and classy, said “enjoy the movie” and we were off to the races.

This was a film that I needed to see on a bigger screen. With so many sweeping landscape shots, you really need to be confronted with a massive screen for full effect. For those of you that haven’t seen this film - you should. It is an amazing story and one I couldn’t recommend enough.

AFI I salute you for such a cool event.

We are back up International Friends After almost 2 full days of being down, we are back up and running. In order to soothe your anger - enjoy this recent picture of 2 of my cats. Above you will see Xena: Daughter of Bella, and Budwinsky the neck biter.

Sacha Baron Cohen got busted last week during a runway stunt for his upcoming Bruno project. The incident was caught on camera and has been thrown up on You Tube. Check it.

It appears McG was fibbing about receiving blessing from Cameron for Terminator 4. The mantle was not passed, the anointing was not poured; delusion is all that remains! We get the alternate history and clarification from Cameron himself though an interview with the National Post via the movieweb:

In an interesting Q&A posted by The National Post, James Cameron spoke out on the upcoming fourth installment of The Terminator franchise, Terminator Salvation. In recent interviews, McG has been quoted as saying that he went to Cameron, original creator of The Terminator mythos, to get his blessing on the film. But apparently that isn’t true.

Cameron recanted McG’s claim that his film had been blessed by the seminal sci-fi filmmaker, stating: “It could be a big steaming pile or it could be brilliant. Sam Worthington is in the Avatar and the new Terminator and he likes the script, but I never saw it. There was no blessing involved.”

This doesn’t mean that the film will suck; it really has no play on the film whatsoever. It does make McG look like an ass however. If you say you have the blessing of someone, you better have gotten that blessing; and they better know what the hell you are talking about. It’s proper for Cameron to call McG out on his shit. No one has the right to put word’s in someone else’s mouth, period. It’s extremely offensive and I’m glad Cameron didn’t let this slide.

Hopefully McG will learn from this experience and mind his manners.

Not having the blessing of Cameron changes my anticipation of the film a bit, I cannot lie to you. Perhaps this is why McG lied in the first place, to raise everyones expectations. Regardless of his intent, I’m glad Cameron called foul and gave this man a public education. McG was clearly wrong to pull this shit and should be ashamed of himself.

We have glorious news of a Trailer Park Boys sequel today thanks to our friends over at the movieweb:

Great news for all of you Trailer Park Boys fans out there. Mike Smith, who plays the iconic shed dwelling Bubbles, told Toronto’s Now magazine that they are currently shooting a sequel to Trailer Park Boys: The Movie, an off-shoot of the popular Canadian TV series, and it will be hitting the U.S. and Canada in October of 2009.

The gang is currently in Halifax shooting the comedy, which will wrap on October 10th. The entire gang is returning for another go around with Ricky, Julian, Bubbles, Mr. Lahey, and Randy all involved in another greasy cheeseburger scheme. The plot finds our trio of trailer park misfits being released from jail only to find that their beloved home, the Sunnyvale Trailer Park, has been taken over by a meaner, leaner park supervisor. This new Jim Lahey has some big changes in mind for the park, changes that don’t exactly go over well with the Boys, who will now face their biggest test since Grade 10.

These dudes are Canadian heroes that kept it real, stayed true to formula and are now enjoying international attention an acclaim. As a Canadian sellout currently living in LA I envy them and am proud that they were able to make a go of it in the northern gulag.

Sadly, I still have to get around to seeing the first film. I don’t follow the show but will watch it if I happen to be “flipping” and find it to be quite funny. The episodes that I have seen I have enjoyed; they have made a great show with next to no money.

As their following continues to grow, I think it’s appropriate that they release a second film. A Blues Brothers beginning (out of prison) is as good a way as any to start the sequel, and having a new park manager as the nemesis is just fantastic.

We will be sure to keep you up to speed on the progress of this project and with luck we will be able to score an interview with Bubbles.

Iron Man comes out on DVD today (I already got my copy) and I’m sure it’s going to be a big hit… all 8+ versions of it that you can grab. This is getting a little out of hand.

It seems that the studio cuts special deals with a ton of retail stores to give them each “EXCLUSIVE” versions of the DVDs to sell to their customers. My friend Brad over at RopeofSilicon put together just a short summary for you:

1. Circuit City - Access to exclusive Marvel Digital Comics featuring the artwork of Adi Granov.

2. Best Buy - Custom Lithograph created by Marvel artist Gerald Parel.

3. Target - Target Deluxe Edition includes exclusive Mark III mask packaging. Available on both the Ultimate 2-Disc Edition and 2-Disc Blu-ray.

4. Costco - Giftset includes the Ultimate 2 Disc Edition DVD and 3 Iron Man Bobbleheads, with all 3 Iron Man suits from the film. Giftset includes the “Battle Damaged Mark II”, available exclusively in this giftset at Costco.

5. Walmart - Two exclusive SKUs. Ultimate 2 Disc Edition packed with an exclusive comic book chronicling the Nick Fury story. The single disc giftset is packed with the 1st episode of the new Iron Man animated series.

6. Kmart & Sears - Save $5 on the Ultimate 2 Disc edition with any $25 Craftsman purchase.

7. Trans World - FYE and Suncoast Exclusive Steelbook Package available on the Ultimate 2- disc Edition. (pictured above, left)

8. Borders - On pack collectible book featuring original sketches by Bob Layton and the top 24 comic cover of Iron Man.

So if you’re a HUGE Iron Man Fan and want to collect all the various editions of the DVD… I hope you’ve got $300 in your pocket you weren’t planning on using on strippers later. Oh who are we kidding… we both know you were planning on using it on strippers. Have fun.

You know what, this is such a good and simple idea I’m shocked it wasn’t already being done for years. It was announced that Dell computers, as of today, is offering customers the option to buy their computer with a digital copy of Iron Man pre-loaded on their machine. It’s a $20 option.

So you order the computer, and when you crack it open Iron Man is already there. This is a GREAT idea.

Our friends over at IESB give us this:

Movies like Iron Man are now immediately accessible from a Dell computer desktop or laptop — no DVDs or downloads required. Dell plans to expand future entertainment selections and will continually refresh its offerings to include the most exciting Hollywood blockbuster and perennial classic movies. More information about the Dell Movies is available at www.dell.com/movies.

Now, I’m not thrilled with the price of the option (to me $20 for a digital copy is far too steep, especially when you consider that the copany doesn’t have to ship it, print a disc or the packaging and it has no weight). I’m also not thrilled that there is only one movie to choose in your order. However, the principle here it solid. I’m sure at some point (at least I hope) they’ll increase their movie selection and hopefully bring down the price to something like $9.99.

Will this have a serious impact on film distribution? No, probably not, but it’s a nice little addition to the distribution model for the studios to investigate. And all other things being equal, if I was going to buy a PC (I’m a Mac guy personally) and I was trying to decide between a Dell machine and a Gateway machine… I’d go for the one that had Iron Man pre-installed on it… all other things being equal.

The good, right and honorable Kris Tapley of In Contention has put up a list of his Top 10 Paul Newman performances. It’s a good read and a worthy way to remember a dude with chops. Check it out.

This morning, the PR people over at Warner Brothers sent us this video message to their fans who have expressed concern and some outrage regarding the delaying of the Harry Potter release. Once again, WB shows that they care and listen to their fans. See the video message below:

Mr. Gervais isn’t out of the running for the Oscars; he just doesn’t have it in the bag. We get this news of clarification from the Oscar lords themselves thanks to the thespian caves of Yahoo:

No doubt the Extras funnyman knows how to crack us up, but reports of him already being a leading contender for hosting duties have been greatly—well, hugely—exaggerated.

“We haven’t made one single phone call,” Larry Mark, who was announced yesterday as a coproducer of the 81st Annual Academy Awards show with writer-director Bill Condon (above, left with Jennifer Hudson and Mark), told me earlier today. “There has been no reaching out.” “We haven’t gotten that far yet,” said Sid Ganis, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. “We’re just not there yet.”

I wouldn’t mind Gervais as an Oscars host. I think he’s certainly talented enough to pull it off; I’m just not sure he’s the correct choice this year. Following up a very poor ratings year, I think it may be time to tap Mr. Clooney for the job. He has widespread appeal and the necessary wit to be a successful host.

Eventually, I would like them to give Steve Martin another shot. I enjoyed his hosting and thought his jokes were the best oscar zingers of my lifetime.

International friends - would you like to see Gervais get the gig? If not him, then who?