Rassilotron contributed to this report:

On September 21^st, geek tyrant reported Natalie Portman will be playing an edgier, more authentic Snow White. This movie is being set up by Bret Ratner, and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (Amelie, The City of Lost Children) is considering directing this more hardcore version of the fairy tale. News like this makes me wish I was a more capable type of bot, as I’m sure most of you meat will enjoy seeing a rougher, sexier Snow White than Disney’s animated version. According to geek tyrant, Ratner is quoted as saying:

This is not your grandfather’s Snow White. Melisa went back to the 500 year old folk tale and put in some of the things that were missing from Walt Disney’s film. His dwarves were miners, and here they are robbers. There is also a dragon that was in the original folk tale. Walt made one of the great movies of all time, but ours is edgy and there is more comedy. The original, made for its time, was soft compared to what we’re going to do.

It seems to be a trend lately to take previously done movies and make them more “authentic”, as in Russell Crowe’s Robin Hood. I am not against this so called reimagining if done right. I have nothing against the seven dwarves being thieves instead of miners, even a dragon addition is pretty cool. I even may enjoy a more, adult directed Snow White story, but as of right now only time will tell. If anything, Natalie Portman dressed as this character will not just be pleasing to the optic circuits, but may even spark some transistors in this robot.

Thoughts?

Who doesn’t love the Muppets ? Well, it looks like the old gang will be reunited in an all-new adventure due in theaters December 2011.  The last Muppet movie to receive a theatrical release was 1999’s Muppets from Space.

Geek Tyrant shares some photos from Entertainment Weekly, and they warm my ice-cold heart. Visit the site to see the two-page spread, but I’ve included just a glimpse below.  Beaker, Dr. Bunson Honeydew, Sweetums, Swedish Chef, and of course lovable Kermit the Frog are all there.  Though Miss Piggy is noticeably absent, she is mentioned in the article, so rest assured the porcine diva will also make an appearance.  (Though Frank Oz stopped voicing her long ago, and she’s never sounded the same to me.)

I hope Pepe the Prawn will also appear; he’s my favorite from the post-Muppet Show years, okay?

Some of the humans appearing in the film include Jason Segel (“How I Met Your Mother”), Amy Adams (“Enchanted”) and Chris Cooper (“Remember Me”), and a new Muppet named Walter (seen below).  Walter is a huge fan of Kermit and the gang, and he and his friend Gary (played by Segel) help the Muppets put on a show to save the Muppet Theater.

This movie could turn out to be one of the greatest movies ever or an insult to Jim Henson’s name.  Only time will tell, but I am glad that these iconic characters are hitting the big screen again.  Their zany antics have entertained kids and adults for decades, and so long as Muppets exist, I know all is right with the world.

Heat Vision Blog is reporting on the heels of the announcement that Martin Sheen is in final negotiations to portray Uncle Ben in the upcoming Spider-Man reboot, that Sally Field is in “early talks” to play Aunt May.

I know Swank-mo-tron and some of the other bots here are concerned this is going to be yet another origin story rehash and that we are going to have to once again “learn” how Peter Parker became Spider-Man. I’m hoping that the origin story will perhaps be shown in bits and pieces throughout the movie in the form of flash-backs, instead of just a straight retelling of the well-known story – but, who knows what Marc Webb has up his sleeves. I like the idea of a little bit “younger” Aunt May, and there’s little argument that Sally Field is a fine actress, so if this comes through I don’t expect to hear too much disappointment. Though, for some reason I have thought for a while now that Helen Mirren would make a good Aunt May . . .

Marc Webb’s Spider-Man film is set to start filming next month.

A new robot, Rassilatron, got a chance to see the Green Lantern trailer early and wanted to share his opinion of it with you. The tea leaves I’ve read seem to indicate that this trailer will be debuting on the new Harry Potter film.

So, I’ve always been the reluctant one to take surveys, especially those who promise virtual money. Imagine my surprise though, as I’m taking a movie survey and they ask me to watch this movie preview and give my opinions on it, and the first thing I see is the Green Lantern symbol! Being a huge GL fan, I nearly flew out of my seat as I began laughing excitedly. Well, more like Nelson from Simpsons “Ha Ha,” as I know no one has seen this publically yet mean I know, but I could not resist and it was quite unexpected. After watching this preview, my impatience for summer of 2011 just increased a hundred fold.

I have been waiting for a Green Lantern movie ever since special effects started using CG. I mean come on; GL is the perfect superhero movie for something like this. From what I can tell, it is not going to disappoint. There is one scene in the preview where Hal Jordan (Ryan Reynolds) makes a giant fist and gives a mob of bad guys a giant right hook. Always a favorite construct, I do hope though we see more complex ones, like a giant f-16 surrounding Hal, always thought it was cool when he did it.

There have been rumors of this movie being like training day with Sinestro (Mark Strong) showing Hal the ropes. Strictly from this preview, I can not say if they are going to do this as I didn’t see one scene with Sinestro in it. I know he is cast and is in the posters, but strictly from the preview, they do not seem to be focusing on him to greatly. I can say the villain in this first one seems to Hector Hammond (Peter Sarsgaard). Not a favorite villain of mine personally, he always creeped me out as the obsessed stalker, but he may work with the direction it looks like they are taking for a genesis story.

This is the one part which has me worried; they look like they are going to portray “The Man Without Fear” as a man who has to overcome fear. Now, I know they of late

have been pointing to the fact Hal does have fear he just has the ability to overcome it in the comics, but the one thing about Hal is he never really showed it. There is a conversation he has where he mentions what the ring said about being without fear, and the guy he’s talking to gives him a look and Hal says unsurely, “I know right?” All in all though, I can see how they can use Hector Hammond to have him overcome fear, I mean the guy gets into your head. I just really hope they do not focus too much on him overcoming fear, they need to stay true to Hal’s strong, confident persona.

This said, the chemistry between Hal and Carol Ferris (Blake Lively) seems really good, and the banter seems right on. One thing I have to say about Ryan Reynolds is he plays the cocky, playful romantic well, and seriously, who does not like Blake Lively? One reason I think they casted him in this role in the first place. When it comes to Hal’s love life, he has always seemed to have an air of “I’m Hal, I rock, you know it, let’s have some fun”. To quote Robin from “The Batman” cartoon after he found out his day job, “Even your secret identity is cool!” This is Hal Jordan in a nutshell. This of course translates into other aspects of how Hal deals with his new powers as well. There is one scene where he shows his friend how he changes costume and the conversation goes like this, “That’s cool!” “I know!” “So what do we do now” “Go fight some bad guys?” It is like what would happen if a ten year old, or a frat boy got powers.

All in all, I have to say , this is going to be a must see movie next summer. I know as for me I will be first in line to see it.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Martin Sheen is in final negotiations to play Uncle Ben in the new Marc Webb Spider-Man picture.

Sheen will join a cast that includes Andrew Garfield as Parker, Emma Stone as love interest Gwen Stacy and Rhys Ifans as the movie’s unnamed villain.

The movie, under the direction of Marc Webb, is heading for a December start.

Half of this is terribly exciting for me, the other half is incredibly boring.

On the one hand: Martin Sheen is a tremendous actor and will add a gravitas to this film that would rival the weight Cliff Robertson brought in the Sam Raimi films.  His work has been consistently good and roles like Captain Queenan in The Departed make me completely sure he can pull this off.  Remember that scene in The Departed where he brings Leonardo DiCaprio into his kitchen and was all like, “Let’s get you supper.”?  There was a paternal warmth in that scene that was fantastic and will be great for Uncle Ben.

On the other hand: apparently we’re effing idiots and need another Spider-Man origin story, as though anyone in the galaxy doesn’t know how Peter got his powers and came to learn that with great power comes great responsibility.

Really?  Another one?

The Spider-Man movies were some of the highest grossing films of all time.  Why the hell do we need to see his origin again?  There’s nothing Marc Webb can add to it that would make me care anymore about the character.

On the third hand: Perhaps Webb will use Uncle Ben much the same way Raimi used him in Spider-Man 2.

We won’t know until we see it.

What do you guys think.  You think we need another origin story?  If you do, what do you think of Sheen in the role?

The Hollywood Reporter has broken the news that Johnny Depp’s next film (presumably after finishing the next installment of Pirates of the Caribbean) will be the Tim Burton re-imagining of the classic vampire soap opera “Dark Shadows”.

The reteaming of Burton and Depp has been more than three years in the making — Depp was obsessed with the series as a child — but the studio has now set an April start.

Depp will portray Barnabas Collins, a vampire living in a Maine manor who is searching for his lost love.

I watched some of this show as a kid and was never impressed.  My mom loved it, but that never held much water for me.  It was slow and dry.  I’m interested to see what Burton and Depp can bring to the table with it, though, to be honest.  This is like Twilight for grownups and (hopefully) smart people.  Even the bad soap opera version had a depth to it Twilight lacks.

On the other hand, I’m sort of yawning at the idea of more vampire fare.

What do you guys think?  Are we done with vampires?  Or is this exciting to you?

It’s time once again for another installment of The Big Movie Mouth Off, starring Jeff Vice from MSN and Jimmy Martin from SLUG Magazine (and both are regular panelists on The Geek Show Podcast)

You can friend the show on Facebook here.

These are available exclusively on Comcast in Utah.  Soon they’ll be available On Demand.  For now, they’re available nightly on Comcast Channel 6 at 11pm.  After their exclusive run there, they will be appearing on Big Shiny Robot! and across the Internet. (iTunes/podcast versions coming soon by popular demand.) They are produced and directed by Bryan Young (myself) and Elias Pate both from Big Shiny Robot! and ShineBox Media Productions.

Without further delay, let’s get to the reviews:

First up is “Never Let Me Go”

Bruce Willis’ graphic novel based shoot ’em up “RED”:

“The Tillman Story”:

Another documentary, “Waiting for Superman”

Finally, we have the latest Woody Allen film “You Will Meet a Tall Dark Stranger”

Could this be the new Batman Villain? Should it be?

Chris Nolan’s series of gritty Batman movies have been kept in a surprising shroud of secrecy- nobody knowing who the next villain will be until the film is basically released… and with the more recent confirmation that it will NOT be The Riddler- everyone is speculating on who it will and who is SHOULD be.

We were emailed this picture today and it had everyone here at the Big Shiny Robot! scrambling to find out if it were real or fan made… 20 seconds later we discovered it was fan made. BUT- this IS the guy who I’ve said the next villain should be Black Mask since before the The Dark Knight was out of theaters.

Black Mask is one of the least known Batman villains in all the “common knowledge” of Batman villains- which I am sure is something that could endear him to Nolan’s direction of the series… but, not only that- he is one of the most powerful villains Batman has had to deal with in the comics… no super strength, no super gadgets, but brains. Black Mask is the antithesis of Batman in the sense that Roman Sionis is a Billionaire’s son, who’s parents died in a horrible “accident”… except… Sionis, not a random act of criminal violence, killed his parents…. blah blah blah and a few more incidents that drive him mad and Sionis winds up carving a death mask out of his father’s ebony coffin and then uses his new found aptitude for crime, he builds a powerful gang and decides (because of a grudge Sionis had with Bruce Wayne) to target Bruce personally and begins taking down Wayne Tech, one executive at a time.

Batman ends up saving this guy’s life- but, in the course of it (of course) Black mask becomes permanently disfigured and permanently becomes Black Mask.

There is really only one other appearance of note for Black Mask in Batman’s world… the one that I can see making the movie The Dark Knight Rises: Black Mask becomes the king of Gotham’s underbelly by being the first and only villain to unite all the crime lords and super villains in a war against the Bat, this plunges the city into chaos and darkness as Black Mask uses the media to wage a psychological war against the city and its mysterious protector.

The set up is there: The Joker has taken out most of the crime bosses, Two-Face/Harvey Dent is dead and Gotham City hates Batman… somebody needs to step in and organize the underworld and use this to their advantage, right? Setting it up so Batman can “rise” and save the city from its own implosion.

I’ve always seen Black Mask as the Yin to Batman’s Yang, more than the Joker. The Joker is an embodiment of Bruce’s fears- and a device used to push the Dark Knight to the very limits of his choices… The Joker isn’t his opposite, or his equal- the Joker is his cancer- an evil that will be with him forever- an “incurable” blight and a constant threat. All by Batman’s own choosing (he could have ‘let him die’ like Ra’s Al Ghul on many occasions but for some reason its not okay for the Joker but is for a ninja with a noble goal)

While- (and this is just my opinion) I see Black Mask as what Bruce could have become if he had made a different choice after his parent’s murder… to me- Black Mask (Batman) is an infinitely more scary prospect. Someone with the Bat’s power and drive, but focused on making crime happen. Black Mask is sadistic to boot (another perfect reason he’d fit into Nolan’s vision) He uses fear and brute force to control the criminals, the same way Batman uses it to defeat them… Incidentally- this is what made Jason Todd a scary Red Hood. (although, if the bat would have just let him kill the Joker, that blight would have been “cured” and opened the door for a new wave of original villains… sorry- but the Joker is a crutch.)

What do you guy’s think? I know we’ve asked this question before- but the Riddler is out so we won’t be seeing Hush. Who is gonna be the next villain? WHY are they going to be the next villain?

Though the Indiana Jones films and television series Young Indiana Jones involved action and adventure, they also were about archaeology and history.  Indy constantly chased the past in his pursuit of fortune and glory, and now museum guests around the world will be able to follow in his footsteps thanks to Lucasfilm Ltd., the National Geographic Society, and X3 Productions.

A unique touring exhibition will feature artifacts from the National Geographic Society and Penn Museum, as well as Indiana Jones items from the Lucasfilm Archives.  I have always imagined that the Archives resemble the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark, though in reality I’m sure everything from Yoda’s lightsaber to the Ark of the Covenant is nicely displayed and well preserved and documented.

The press release includes the following:

Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology transforms the museum experience into a multimedia and interactive adventure. Visitors will be immersed in the world of Indiana Jones, an environment created by state-of-the-art technology and spanning over 1,000 square metres. Equipped with a video companion, visitors will embark on a quest to uncover the true origins of archaeological mysteries. Charged with comprehensive educational content, photos and videos, the interactive hand-held devices will guide visitors on the “Indy Trail” and through the various archaeological zones. Visitors will also have the ability to create their own adventure with an interactive quest.

The release also says that the exhibition will appear in twelve world-class institutions in Canada, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific regions.  The United States is notably absent, but I can’t help but think that it will eventually make its way here.  And a journey through history with Indiana Jones and the National Geographic Society will undoubtedly result in an educational and adventure-filled experience. 

If you happen to travel to Montreal for the first leg of the tour, be sure to avoid booby traps.  And snakes.  And if you must choose, choose wisely. 

 

Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology: The Exhibition will launch its world premiere at the Montreal Science Centre from April 28 through September 18, 2011. Tickets are on sale now! For complete schedule and ticket information, visit the Montreal Science Centre Box Office or contact them at (514) 496-4724 or (877) 496-4724 or visit indianajonestheexhibition.com. Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology is the first production of X3 Productions, for more information visit x3productions.ca.

 

 The Adventures of Tintin: The Secret of the Unicorn won’t be seen in theaters for another year, but Empire magazine has released the first glimpses of the Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg collaboration:

Andy Serkis portrays Captain Haddock

The Adventures of Tintin is a comic strip series by Belgian artist Hergé and follows the adventures of a young reporter and his dog Snowy.  The movie based on the comic strip will involve a sunken ship and a treasure hunt, and the cast includes Daniel Craig, Andy Serkis, Cary Elwes, and Jamie Bell as the voice of Tintin.