As reported at Deadline, Joseph Gordon-Levitt has thrown in his lot with Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and will not be playing any role in the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy which will serve to link the current group of movies to the upcoming films in Phase 2 of the Marvel universe, starting with Iron Man 3 and Thor 2 releasing later this year.

JGL will be playing the role of Johnny, a part turned down by Johnny Depp, which will be crossing over between the story arcs in Dame To Kill For and will be starring opposite Bruce Willis (with whom he worked together recently on Looper), Mickey Rourke, Clive Owen and Rosario Dawson.

Dame To Kill For is set to be released in October of this year, with Guardians due in fall of 2014.   While there has been much speculation as to who will be cast in the Guardians of the Galaxy movie, no actors are officially attached to the film yet.

Thanks to Club Jade for pointing this out for those of us a little slower on the uptake, but Guillermo Del Toro had been approached about taking on Star Wars, but ultimately opted against it.

In an interview with Playlist:

“We got one phone call to my agent saying, ‘Is Guillermo interested?’ And basically I have so much stuff already of my own, and I’m pursuing stuff that I’m generating already…” he said, explaining that he ultimately turned it down.

With numerous directing, producing and writing projects in the works, Del Toro made it clear that his own slate is full enough to keep him occupied, but he was still pleased to be approached. “It was very flattering,” he said, adding: “It was just a phone call, it didn’t go past that, it was very nice to be asked, but believe it or not, I’m busy enough.”

To me, Del Toro was one of my top dream choices for a Star Wars film. He’d have brought a sensibility to it that would have been welcome. I think his films if they’ve been influenced by Star Wars at all, they have a very Empire Strikes Back quality to them. His best movies all seem to end bitter-sweet (like Pan’s Labyrinth), and have that dark coldness to them you’d only find on Hoth and Bespin. There’s no saying he might not be interested in future installments, but he’s definitely not in the running now.

Which is a shame.

I think Guillermo Del Toro is one of the finest filmmakers working today and has a sensibility that would have brought something fresh to the Star Wars universe.

In the meantime, we all await anxiously an announcement that must be coming soon about who IS directing Episode VII, instead who’s been approached and turned down the assignment. I can imagine there’s some trepidation on the part of filmmakers, but I’m sure one of them has been selected and is already hard at work on it. With any luck, it could still be Matthew Vaughn. But we don’t know now, and might not know for a while.

If you’re reading this, chances are I don’t need to give you a background on The Evil Dead (1981). You know, one of the biggest horror cult classics of all time, which also launched the careers of Sam Raimi (Spiderman) and Bruce Campbell (…if you need me to list a movie here because you don’t know who Bruce Campbell is, go watch The Evil Dead, Evil Dead II, and Army of Darkness for a start. Seriously, go. Now.).

Well the old producers-including Raimi, Campbell, and Robert Tapert–are heading back into the woods to reimagine it. If those three names weren’t attached to this film, I’d probably be upset by this news. But they are. Between that, and this horrific trailer, I’m cautiously optimistic. The director, Fede Alvarez, on the other hand, is a bit of a wildcard with only a quartet of shorts on his imdb page.

It looks like Raimi is going back to it because he can finally make the film he wanted to make in 1981: the one that will fill the theaters with the foul stench of fear-poop which will be occupying the audience’s fear-pissed pants. It seems they’re also redrawing some of the plot lines this time around. There are a ton of throwbacks to the original, as you’ll see in the trailer, but this won’t be a shot for shot and line for line remake. Also, if you’re only a fan of Evil Dead II and Army of Darkness, you may want to give this one a pass. If you’re looking for chuckles aplenty: a campy romp, this is not.

Huge warning: This trailer is, seriously, not for the weak of stomach of under of age. Evil Dead looks like it’s shaping up to be legitimately horrifying, and very, very gross. And yes, that scene makes an appearance in the trailer. You know the one I mean. Consider yourself warned.

Then, after you consider yourself warned, and double-check that you’re very much of legal age to see R-rated content, prepare for a goddamn splatterfest and a few moments that will definitely have you squirming in your seat. But please, save the fear-poop for the theatrical release.

Nothing like a little social media miracle to restore your faith in humanity.

It’s true. Director J.J. Abrams granted Daniel, a 41-year-old Manhattan resident stricken with two forms of cancer, an awesome late holiday wish. He was able to see “Into Darkness” early after his story was posted on Reddit.

Daniel went to see “The Hobbit” to catch the 10-minute preview of the movie, but the theater ended up not showing it. He was worried his declining health would prevent him from seeing the movie, scheduled to be released in May.

His friend posted on behalf of his wife:

“We, his friends and family, the love of my life – WOULD LOVE him to be able to see the Star Trek movie but even the 10 minutes of the trailer would be AMAZING. If there is anything any one of you or anyone you know could do to make this happen that would be an amazing, kind and generous thing. Please help. Thanks.”

Like the strong community of fans they are, other Trekkies got wind of this and eventually one of them Tweeted to Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot and actor Simon Pegg, among others:

“Star Trek fan ravaged by cancer, grant his last wish, please, so sad.”

And it happened. He saw the flick and, of course, his wife was delighted and later relayed the message, later posted on the same Reditt thread:

“… it was truely (sp) amazing that a film-maker so secretive as JJ Abrams was kind enough to show this to us. It is also so wonderful for his friends & his family to finally hear some good news from us, they know how important film is to Daniel & could not think of a better way to please him. So this gesture really has brought a lot of smiles all around. it was a wonderful thing to see with Daniel and a wonderful thing to see Daniel enjoy – Making someone as ill as he is smile for any length of time really makes a difference.”

Something like this should give every geek a bit of a smile today.

I quite liked Part 1 of the Dark Knight Returns adaptation, and I don’t see why Part 2 would be any less great. I can’t wait to see Batman take Superman down on film. And Ollie. Damn, I really can’t wait to see Ollie… This is going to be great.

This might be the high point of Frank Miller’s career. And it’ll help me forget that The Spirit film adaptation even exists.

This is a trailer for an Argentinian Robotech Fan Film.

As a certified Robotech Nerd, I can’t begin to explain how good this looks. It makes me wish Hollywood had picked this up and ran with it, especially when they had Lawrence Kasdan working on the script.

Aside from the video, you can like these guys on Facebook and keep up with their film. I hope they add English subtitles.

Here’s the plot outline on their facebook page, as run through Google translate:

In 1999 an alien spacecraft fell on a South Pacific island and humanity was struck by the sign of a truly advanced technology, with an unimaginable firepower

The whole planet arms collaborated with a project based on what they had discovered. When they called “Technology Robotech”, should understand, manipulate and develop what was found on that ship.

In a remote town in South America, a group of scientists working against collaborating with the construction of the first multipurpose variable fighter plane called: Veritech VF1X.

In 2005, they are about to discover something very powerful … Human ambition to reach beyond any price would bring catastrophic consequences.

An event that would forever change the reality, a secret that would remain in the strictest of silence for years and only now released.

Here’s the link to their facebook page.

Not long after receiving news that Tom Hiddleston will most likely not return for the Avengers sequel (if kmc1138 had a heart, she would be mopping a single, oily tear), Marvel creator and rights holder Jim Starlin confirms that Thanos will appear in both of Marvel’s cinematic team franchises. The safe money is on Thanos as the Big Bad in the Guardians film, especially since Drax and Gamora are entwined with Thanos, but more questions than answers stem from this announcement.

Will we get to see more of the Eternals and get a bit of an origin story for Thanos? Will that easter-eggy glimpse of the Infinity Gauntlet come in to play? Would Marvel really bank on Thanos to provide the sinister for two major team releases when they have such an amazing roster of villains? I’m not much of a fan of multiple featured baddies per movie, so I hope this announcement does not lead to the Avengers facing two nemeses. But – I’m also madly in love with the way every single movie so far has been tied together, some even by the thinnest of threads, so here’s hoping that Thanos leads into something bigger and badder for The Avengers in 2015.

It’s a movie every geek should add to their collection, and you get some extra content to boot!

It’s no surprise that Looper topped our lists for one of the best films this year. It made my Top 10, Dagobot’s Top picks, and our collective year in review. Sithbot also did a full review of it when it hit theaters earlier this year, which you should really go read.

For those of us who saw Looper in the theaters and just wanted to see it over and over and delve more deeply into it, that time is now. A feature-length commentary track with director/writer Rian Johnson helps provide some extra context on both his creative process and any lingering questions you might have about time travel, plot holes, etc.Oh, and Joey Gordon Leavitt and Emily Blunt are also along for the ride.

You also get a really beautiful transfer in terms of picture and sound. Then, depending on your version you get different features: the DVD gives you 5 deleted scenes, the Blu ray an astounding 17. The Blu ray also includes a featurette on the science of time travel, but both versions contain a digital copy via Ultraviolet download. You also get a featurette on scoring Looper, which, frankly, I never got around to. But the rest of the content is great.

If I had a nickel for every friend who mentioned on Facebook they were watching Looper for New Year’s, I’d be able to buy another copy for myself. Don’t miss the bus on this one. My suggestion? Spring for the Blu ray and the extra content.

I would like to thank Brett over at Graphic Policy for bringing this to our attention. It’s so bizarre and you can’t help but keep watching to see how they do it.

Gollum looks bizarre as hell.

It reminds me of the BBC versions of The Chronicles of Narnia from that era, especially compared to what it looks like now. But they tried, bless their little Soviet hearts, they tried.

109 times.

According to Variety magazine, that’s the number of times the N-word is spoken in Tarantino’s “Django Unchained,” starring Jamie Foxx. The title is a wink to the the 1966 violent, spaghetti Western “Django.”

Not exactly a typical Christmas movie to share with your white husband, brother-in-law and black family in Alabama, but boy, oh boy, was it worth it. Given my very recent and not so favorable viewing of “Pulp Fiction,” I dare say this is Tarantino’s masterpiece of this decade.

Why You Should (And Maybe Shouldn’t) Watch This Flick

The writing and acting that created the unlikely friendship between Django and Dr. Schultz and Django’s undying devotion to rescuing his wife is the underlying theme and what makes this movie so memorable and great. Of course it has the typical Tarantino elements of odd camera shots, grandiose music and gratuitous violence. So much so, it even made me queasy and a few folks, including my Mom, walked out.

In case you’re like me and have been avoiding any trailers or previews, be forewarned: while it’s one thing to see a lot of folks get crazily shot up repeatedly in great, gory cowboy shoot-outs, it’s another thing to watch what happens to the slaves depicted in this movie. The violent realities of U.S. slavery that Tarantino infuses in to the movie is truly, truly horrifying and stomach-churning.

Thankfully, Mom came back and the gory elements of the story were overshadowed by the awesomeness of pretty much everything else. Here are a few spoiler-free reasons why you should stop what you’re doing and go watch this right now:

Acting

Above everything else, the acting in this movie is strangely stellar. I say that because most of the characters tended to be very complicated, yet still very cartoonish people. What makes this movie stand out is that despite the unusual setting, you really begin to develop a deep and meaningful relationship as the viewer with Django and Dr. Schultz in particular. You have a vested interest in their well-being, even though you know their job as bounty hunters is less than pleasant. You want them to succeed even more so than you want the evildoers to get their bloodied comeuppance.

Top acting nods in my book go to Christoph Waltz as Dr. Schultz and Leonardo DiCaprio as Calvin Candie. They get top honors, because a mere change in facial expressions or a body tic emanated their characters. Watching DiCaprio play a vitriolic racist is completely unusual given his previous roles as the reluctant hero. But you believed every scary word coming out of his mouth. Their Golden Globe nominations are incredibly deserved.

Plot

It really is about time we saw some original stuff coming out of Hollywood. I know this year we had a lot of really super epic sequels, but to see something so completely different and new was really what is making this one of the top movies of 2012. A slave turned gun-slinging hero is simply genius. What is even more brilliant is how layered all of the characters were. The movie forces repeat viewings because there is something a little different that you more than likely missed because you were either laughing hysterically, in awe or completely horrified.

It was also relatively simple to understand and follow, which was important, because the movie’s other elements are extremely overpowering at times. However, this is intentional and done very well. Hence, the overuse of the N-word and the over-the-top battles.

My only issue other than the violent scenes is that (yes, as a chick) I wished there was more opportunities to see Django and Broomhilda as a couple. Kerry Washington’s acting talents are only hinted at in this movie.

Writing

This is another element of the movie that shines. Any failings this movie has are completely overshadowed by the quality of the writing. The screenplay makes it clear that these are extremely complex characters, even when done in a caricature-like way. For instance, Leonardo DiCaprio’s character is clever, evil and naive at the same time. Sometimes his lines make it very clear he isn’t really that bright either. The same goes for Django. While he has difficulty reading a wanted poster early on, his more evolved character is conniving and brilliant.

The comedic elements of the writing are key to this movie. There’s dialogue that is so blunt and so witty, it was difficult to keep a straight face, even when the movie has moved on to something much more serious. There is one particular scene involving hooded bandits that was so funny, I was in tears and nearly had to leave the theater to compose myself.

This movie is about slavery. Every gruesome detail. Whether or not you agree with the number of times the N-word is spoken or not, the overall gratification of watching, in my opinion, completely outweighs its minor faults.

What are your thoughts on the movie? Did you think it was too violent or racist? Sound off in the comments below!