Finally they’ve got this beast on the interpipes!

Sit back, try to relax, kick off your size 10’s, slip into your sheepskin nerd-boots and prepare to be transported through time and space… the time: 1982, the space: Disney’s vision of the internet in… 1982…

Watch the official trailer here! (thanks to movie-list for putting it in a handy place for us) Or if you’re feeling adventurous- go to the official site and sift through all the flash for it: Alright, now that you’ve indulged in this eclair like visual feast let me give you a run down of my thoughts…

I was sitting in the dimly lit, pre-pubescent filled movie theater waiting for Alice in Wonderland: 3D to start, thinking to myself “How in the world did so many parents let their kids out on a school night for a midnight showing of this film? Where have we come? In my day…” because I’m so old, you see, “…my parents would have laughed in my face at the mere mention of going to a movie at the witching hour…” come to think of it, they’d laugh in my face now, even though I’m a big boy and make grown up decisions.

Anyway, I was sitting there thinking all of this to myself when the lights went out, the crowd audibly buzzed, then cheered! Then- …a 3D Friskies commercial played… the night’s movie going experience was off to an amazing start- as I watched a bunch of playful kittens romping through a cartoon world of leaves and other fantastical things, I felt my voice begin to crack- was I already transforming back into a child like innocence? was I going through the inglorious “backwards puberty” due to a 3D Friskies commercial!? The answer? No. But the mood in the room and that certain special atmosphere created by the excitement of ANYthing 3D, definitely got the ball rolling.

Now, I could bore you with the details of all the thoughts that flashed through my brain during all the trailers I watched that night, but I’m not going to. You see- I’m here to write about one trailer… and frankly you’re probably here to read about one trailer and are utterly confused as to why I haven’t written about it yet… me too.

As the trailer for Tron: Legacy began I didn’t know what I was watching, all I did know is that the music  and the cinematography and the editing of the trailer put flashbacks of The Dark Knight into my head… I was hooked. I mean- knowing nothing about the film, I was almost certain that it was shot by Wally Pfister- (but upon looking it up, I was wrong)… At about the point I was really intrigued- The shot of his motorcycle approaching the arcade popped up and I noticed the dilapidated “Tron” video game sign, just for a split second… I’m not sure anyone else noticed at first- but that was the point that I was no longer a baritone, I was 10 year old me, eagerly anticipating the arrival of what seemed like Christmas…

It was a downward progression of excited yelps and enthusiastic clapping from then on- I vividly remember two shots from the trailer that just lept out and punched me in the throat as “deal clenchers”: the first- “Brunette on a Couch”; I was at the movie with three of my friends, one girl, my room mate and a friend who’d never even heard of Tron before (no worries, I chastised him thoroughly)– but, as this shot laid itself across the silver of the screen and the actress gave that seducing look over her shoulder, all four of us, yes, including the girl, gave an audible “OH EM GEE” gasp… apparently, we were all running on instinct by that point of the trailer, and I mean- you’d have to be made of stone to not think that that girl was FLY!

The next shot was the: “Blond guy from every 80’s movie about the future strumming an air guitar” shot; This shot basically summed up my thoughts about EVERY. SINGLE. 80’s Fantasy film- first I thought “BOWIE!”; then I thought- “RUNNING MAN!”; then I thought- “BLAde Runner…?”; then I thought- “Hey- those are Jeff Bridges eyes they’re showing! its about time!” …you see, by that point the trailer was ending…

It was also by this point that I was looking at my friends who knew what they were watching and they were all all looking at me and the kid who didn’t know was shouting “What the hell is Tron!?” yet we were all giddy as to the coolness of what we’d just witnessed… Needless to say- it put me into the exact mood I needed to be in to watch Alice… and I didn’t even like the original Tron as much as this is making it sound!

Anyway- to sum this film up and to give a prediction or two on story- Obviously its about Bridge’s character’s son joining the world of Tron… but as for why? My guess- an even worse virus than before… and only his son’s understanding of modern day programming can help save… Tron…

Either way- it is going to be epic. I think that Tron is one of those underground, cult phenoms with so much nostalgic potential that no matter what, people are going to watch it. Even those who don’t know what it is. I know I will be there- Right along side Iron Man 2…

I know, I know… its been quite some time since I’ve posted- its been a busy time in my life… But what truly matters is that I’m posting now, and more importantly- what I’m posting about!

Two trailers I’ve seen in the past three days have brought tears to my eyes from the sheer, unadulterated, childhood glee with which they did instill me with. The first being Tron: Legacy… the only problem is this trailer is not yet available online, but rest assured that once it is, I’ll be all over it!

The second trailer was of course the newly released visual barrage from Iron Man 2. Go ahead and read/watch Swank’s post so you can understand what I’m about to lay upon you!

If the originally released trailer didn’t get your blood pumping, your pores sweating and your nerdgasms gasming- then you are most probably a hippie zombie: no pulse and still waiting for the “Dawn of the Age of Aquarius” to hit theaters…  but EVEN IF you are a soulless, flesh eating believer in free love and intolerant to comic books- this new trailer should have you running to the local home depot and have you fashioning next year’s Halloween costume out of rain gutters, duct tape and plumbing supplies!

Three reasons this movie is going to be better than most movies:

1. Sam Rockwell. Remember how I don’t ever read up on a movie before I see it, because I don’t want to know if my deductions from watching a trailer are correct until I see said movie? Ya, well it wasn’t until just this very second that I found out that my favorite actor is in this movie as none other than Justin Hammer. I can’t personally think of a better Yin to Downey’s Yang (not what she said) I honestly became school girl giddy and got a little choked up at the thought when I saw his face…

2. The Wrestler vs. Paul Rusesabagina vs. (insert the REST of the seemingly perfectly cast movie here) I think everyone can, except for a few Scarlett naysayers, agree that this flick’s cast looks somewhat… pardon my redundancy… perfect.

3. Suitcase Armor and Warmachine. Ya. Rock out with your geek out. I don’t care that these were more than 3 reasons… I’m seeing this movie- and I’m probably seeing it more than once.

• Best Picture: The Hurt Locker
• Animated Feature Film: Up
• Actor in a Leading Role: Jeff Bridges in Crazy Heart
• Actor in a Supporting Role: Christopher Walz in Inglourious Basterds
• Actress in a Leading Role: Sandra Bullock in The Blindside
• Actress in a Supporting Role: Mo’nique in Precious
• Art Direction: Avatar
• Cinematography: Avatar
• Costume Design: The Young Victoria
• Directing: Kathryn Bigelow for The Hurt Locker
• Documentary Feature: The Cove
• Documentary Short: Music by Prudence
• Film Editing: The Hurt Locker
• Foreign Language Film: The Secret in Their Eyes (Argentina)
• Make-up: Star Trek
• Musical Score: Up
• Original Song: Crazy Heart
• Animated Short Film: Logorama
• Live-Action Short Film: The New Tenants
• Sound Editing: The Hurt Locker
• Sound Mixing: The Hurt Locker
• Visual Effects: Avatar
• Original Screenplay: The Hurt Locker
• Adapted Screenplay: Precious

All in all this wasn’t a terribly surprising year in just about any category.  Though I know Dr. Cyborg is livid by the awarding of Best Director to a woman.  (He remarked, “I don’t know whether I should send hate mail or my dirty laundry.)  I thought Tarantino would have been able to take it, but I think the Academy is going to continue their long history of snubbing him.

And I knew I needed to see the Hurt Locker before, but now I REALLY need to see it.

You can watch all of the acceptance speeches by going over to the Oscars website.

The BBC is reporting that Harrison Ford has said the he, George Lucas, and Steven Spielberg have agreed on a “germ of an idea” for the fifth installment of the Indiana Jones saga.

“The process works like this,” he said. “We come to some basic agreement and then George goes away for a long time and works on it.

“Then Steven and I get it in some form, some embryonic form.

“Then if we like it we start working with George on it and at some point down the line it’s ready and we do it.”

For those of us who thoroughly enjoyed the fourth film, The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this is extremely good news. Ford will be pushing 70 soon and I would love to see everyone’s favorite archeologist back in action.

Since Indiana Jones films haven’t always been released in the order in which they occur (Temple of Doom happens before Raiders of the Lost Ark), I’d like to see them try to get Sean Connery out of retirement and reprise his role as Henry Jones, Sr. again.

And I want to see Sallah one more time.

In any case, I’m excited. Excited for more details. You know…personally…

First and foremost, I’ll say this review will have “spoilers”. If you’ve read the comic, you have some surprises in store for you. But, for the most part it is a very loyal rendition of the comic.

I’m going to assume those of you reading this review, are familiar with Kick-Ass. Average teenage kid decided he’d rather not be so average, dawns a wet suit and tries to fight crime. Doesn’t work out so well, but he inspired a few others to rock their own super hero alter egos. Because of this he gets thrown in the middle of a mafia shit-storm.

Enough recap. You’re all here to see how it holds up to the book, some side by side comparison, right? First, I think it’s worth noting how perfect the casting for this movie was. And yes, Nick Cage is awesome and Big Daddy. Similar to Christian Bale growling when he’s Batman, Cage makes a transformation of his own when he’s Big Daddy. Although its a little more Adam West than growly Bale. McLovin’ was an awesome choice for Red Mist. And the rest being no-names worked out in the movies favor.

Kick-Ass the movie had a lot more back story on the Red Mist and his mafia father, as well as Big Daddy and Hit Girl. John Romita Jr. even helped create an animated comic book origin for Big Daddy and Hit Girl. Which, in my opinion, was a great addition. I feel like this will help the general audience not familiar with the comic to really enjoy the film. As a matter of fact, I think all of the changes will help this movie be enjoyed by a wider audience.

Most of the changes from the comic to the film are in the last act of the movie. The confrontation between Big Daddy, Kick-Ass and the mafia. How Big Daddy bites the big one. As well as the climax with mafia boss Frank D’Amico. Certain additions to the final fight I will leave as a surprise for you. They had me literally laughing out loud at the awesomeness on screen.

Some of the other movie patrons scoffed at the “unrealistic” new ending. Because they felt the comic was completely based in reality. I would call bull shit on this criticism. As much as I love the comic, no eleven-year-old girl could be turned into a mercenary like Hit Girl (Who gets an laugh out loud first person shooter sequence. No joke, and it’s totally awesome.).

To wrap this all up, hands down this is one of my favorite super hero movies. It would make the top five with no problem. I also feel that the movie rendition was better than the comic. It had better pacing and I think that my concerns about a wider audience enjoying the film were put to rest. Word of mouth will hopefully make this a box office hit.

Also stay tuned for some exclusive interviews with Mark Millar and John Romita Jr!

I am an unadulterated Tim Burton fan.  I’ve enjoyed most of his movies with a few glaring exceptions (Planet of the Apes, Willy Wonka, etc.) and when I heard he was tackling Alice in Wonderland, I was incredibly excited.  I’ve always loved the Alice mythos.  I loved the books as a kid, I loved reading the books to my kids, and the animated Disney version is like crack to me.  I can’t begin to impress upon you how much I still love the animated Alice in Wonderland, I still quote it often, particularly every time someone mentions mustard.  “Mustard?!  Let’s not be silly, but lemon, that’s something else…”

And by the way, this will have a couple of potential spoilers in it.  You’ve been warned.

And marrying one of my favorite mythos with one of my favorite filmmakers was a no-brainer.  The movie began and I was transfixed.  Sure, I thought the overt use of symbolism from Wonderland was a bit overt, but I swallowed it down wanting to love the movie and it worked.  And when Alice fell down the rabbit hole, I had the chills.

I was incredibly concerned about what would happen once we got into Tim Burton’s Wonderland.  Wonderland has always been an incredibly silly place and I was worried that when it was married to Tim Burton’s style it would be a little too much, but it never was.  He restrained as much of himself as was necessary and provided an excellent live action take on Wonderland.  But from the get go, we can tell that something is different in this Wonderland.  Since Alice’ last visit (which she has no recollection of) the Red Queen (played to hilarious effect by Helena Bonham Carter) has taken over Wonderland by force of the Jabberwocky and her awkardly animated knave Stayne (played by Crispin Glover.)  The land is covered in darkness and ash and a secret brotherhood of Wonderland denizens want to do something about it and their scroll foretold that they needed Alice to come back to slay the Jabberwocky with the Vorpal Blade.

Now, here is a minor complaint about the film…  They tell you right then and there what’s going to happen.  Alice is going to slay the Jabberwocky with the Vorpal blade.  And when it happens it isn’t exactly a surprise.  It’s tremendous to watch, but pretty expected.  But this wasn’t a concern I had while watching the movie.  I was through the looking glass as I watched, it wasn’t until afterwards that this point jumped out at me as a bit sloppy.

As the film built toward that end, with Alice going through echoes of her paces from her first adventure in Wonderland, but this time on the run from the Red Queen, I was buying more and more into the drama and the world to the point where I was getting the chills every so often.  When the Mad Hatter (played with a ridiculous and overbearing smattering of different accents by Johnny Depp) recited the poem about the Jabberwocky, I about lost it in a good way.

The first two thirds of the film worked magic for me.

And then Alice performs her deed and then something so unconscionable happened.  A film I was ready to pronounce a 10 out of 10 suddenly turned into a 6.  I was dragged kicking and screaming out of the film by a ridiculous dance number with a bit of hip-hop music and Johnny Depp’s head spinning that looked even more fake than when Beetlejuice pulled that kind of stuff.  It betrayed the tone of the film and I felt like I was exiled out into the cold.  I had bought so completely into this epic story that was very much like Alice in Wonderland meets Lord of the Rings and during the denouement I was kicked in the gut with something killed all momentum in the film.  It brought it to a terrifying and screeching halt.  And it couldn’t get me back.

Suddenly what came after didn’t seem to matter.

So, I’m all for the first two thirds of the film, I thought they were tremendous and I enjoyed them immensly, but when you get to the dance number, you may as well leave since it throws you out of the movie anyway.

Maybe you won’t feel that way now that you’ve had some forewarning.  If I can do that little bit to help you enjoy the movie more, then I will have done my job.

So, Tim Burton, congratulations in making your best movie in a long time.  And I’m sorry you had to stain it with that moment.

From the The Hollywood Insider, we get news on the Tron Legacy viral event. This should be coming to Salt Lake soon, so keep an eye out. For now, here’s what they say about it:

The new “Tron Legacy” trailer doesn’t come until March 5, when it will be seen prior to Disney’s “Alice in Wonderland,” but some lucky people were given an advance look Saturday in select cities around the world.

Diehard fans of the movie (Tronheads? Trononites?) had to look for clues and go an scavenger hunt in cities like Sydney, Berlin, New York, Chicago, and Los Angeles, then work together via the Internet to piece together what would eventually tell them where the sneak peek would occur.

And they did not leave disappointed.

The trailer starts off on the slow side, building a mystery. Bruce Boxleitner, reprising his role of Alan Gartner, is telling Sam Flynn (Garrett Hedlund) about his missing dad, Kevin Flynn (Jeff Bridges). He had discovered something that was going to change the world two days before he went missing. Now Boxleitner gets a phone call from a phone from Flynn’s Arcade…a line that should be dead! Soon enough, Hedlund, with an appropriate chip on his shoulder from not having a dad in his life, is at the arcade (he gets there by motorbike, speeding down late night streets and jumping his motorbike from the highway to an off-ramp) and…

…before long, he’s in the computer world. Here the trailer’s pace jumps up a notch, giving us a series of quick and very teasing images of the world fans have been waiting to come to since 1982: a massive city, a blocky transportation machine, Olivia Wilde lounging sexily in a glowing suit, gladiator games, more gladiator games with sexy sirens, Bridges with a retinue of underlings, a blink-and-you-missed-him Michael Sheen, maybe a meeting of father and son, and the kicker ending, a lightcycle race with an explosion (the last image eliciting whoops and hollers).

The trailer still feels more on the teaser side than a full blown trailer (but what do you expect from a movie that doesn’t come out until December 17?) but the packed theater in Los Angeles was definitely into it. This was not a surprise since these were the diehard geeks who came dressed in “Tron” or Daft Punk (the band is scoring the music and made music especially for the trailer) T-shirts.

The Los Angeles crowd was treated to a Q & A with director Joseph Kosinksi and original producer Steven Lisberger. The fans were literally jumping out of their seats to ask questions, some putting not one but both hands in the air in their efforts to ask questions.

One asked if actress Cindy Morgan from the first movie was going to be in the movie. Kosinksi said she is not in this movie but it does not mean she is not in the world of “Tron.” (“Ahh,” went the crowd.) How long was the shoot? (70 days.) How did Daft Punk become involved? (Kosinski had an in with the band.) Is there going to be a Tron ride at Disneyland? (“Many things are coming,” said Kosinski.)

Kosinski got in a question of his own, asking if there were any girls in the room. He got huge laughs and a response from over a dozen geek girls.

But just because there was “Tron” love in the room doesn’t mean Kosinski got away scot-free. One fan asked, “Why you? Why now?” worried that the film will turn out to be just another Hollywood retread. Lisberger stepped in, saying, “We should all be glad that this happened, ’cause that was a miracle.”

Saturday’s event builds on Disney’s “Tron” event at last year’s Comic Con, where it held a scavenger hunt leading to a small warehouse where the movie’s Light Cycles were unveiled. It’s interesting to see how the studio, not known for handling genre and geek properties like some of the other studios, is slowly building the awareness for a movie that will be courting those who fondly remember the original and still attract an entire new generation of filmgoers.

So from this we learn some pretty exciting bits of what to expect from the film. Things are shaping up for this to be amazing, and topping that off with a soundtrack composed by Daft Punk places Tron Legacy solidly on my movie radar. Keep reading for more updates on the local viral campaign.

According to Latino Review, David Goyer, the co-scribe of The Dark Knight and Dark City, has been hired to write the next live-action installment of the Superman franchise.

You can read the full report here, but here are the highlights:

Thomas Tull, the head of Legendary, got tired of all the discussion and decided chingate, let’s do it.  So he went to Goyer and Goyer had an idea that actually takes the movies back to the John Byrne incarnation.  Modern.  Believable.  FUN!  So Tull got Goyer hired.

The film will not be called Superman and will be called THE MAN OF STEEL.

Other bits of news include the fact that Brandon Routh and Bryan Singer are not expected to return.

Perhaps to me the most interesting bit of news in the original report is that Mark Millar was never in consideration to write Superman because apparently Paul Levitz hated him.

This could be the Superman movie we’ve all been waiting for, the villain is reported to be Brainiac and it’s not an origin story.

So, take that for what it’s worth.  It makes a lot of sense that Christopher Nolan would go back to David Goyer after he turned in good work for his last two super-hero properties, but Goyer isn’t exactly the name I would think of for something as light and Boy Scout-y as Superman needs to be.  But Christopher Nolan seems to know what he’s doing in the DCU, so we’ll all wait and see.

The Heatvision Blog over at The Hollwood Reporter turned us on to this Behind the Scenes video from Iron Man 2.

You can watch it here.

It looks cool and it’s a nice look at the introduction of whiplash, but the Heatvision guys are right, it would have been nice to get more substance instead of Robert Downey, Jr and Scarlett Johannson saying really bland and generic things.

Maybe Pre-Super Soldier Steve Rogers. Maybe. Well heres the newest Cap casting news from Deadlinehollywood

ve learned that Marvel Studios and director Joe Johnston are testing candidates for The First Avenger: Captain America which Paramount will distribute on July 22, 2011. I’ve scooped their wish list: most but by no means all of the contenders are young hunks who come from both movies and television — Chace Crawford (CW’sGossip Girl), John Krasinski (NBC’sThe Office), Scott Porter (NBC’sFriday Night Lights), Mike Vogel (Cloverfield), Michael Cassidy (CW’sPrivileged), Patrick Flueger (Brothers). They also wanted Garrett Hedlund (Tron Legacy), but he so far hasn’t made a test deal. The studio yesterday tested several candidates from this list.

I honestly don’t know who any of these people are outside of Krasinski, so anyone who’s got a better idea of which of these may work let me know in the comments.