Potter Disappointment - [8:26 AM]

Cinematical: "This is the cover of the new Entertainment Weekly, which hit newsstands today, approximately 24 hours after its top story became outdated. As you've heard by now, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is no longer the most-anticipated movie of the fall; it's now the most-anticipated movie of July 17, 2009. Whoops." - Entertainment Weekly and WB are both owned by Time Warner, so you know this was a quick decision. What was the true motivation? We may never know, but I don't think it had to do with the summer blockbuster season. This is Potter, not some chick flick, it would've done just fine in the dead season for movies, January through March. The trailers were late in coming, that tells me they couldn't get it together.

Labels: Movies, Potter

Warner Brothers, you losers! - [8:28 AM]

MuggleNet: "BURBANK, CA, August 14, 2008 – Warner Bros. Pictures today announced that it has moved back the release date of “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” to Summer 2009. The sixth installment of the blockbuster Harry Potter franchise will now open day-and-date domestically and in the major international markets on July 17, 2009. The announcement was made by Alan Horn, President and Chief Operating Officer, Warner Bros." - It would seem to me WB just blew it, period. I don't know what the true dates are for blockbuster season but July 17th seems kind of late to me. And another thing, do you think more people are going to go see it because you're showing it in the summer? Please. Did you hear of a little trilogy called The Lord of the Rings? It managed to do quite well in the late fall, thank you very much.

So, either they did a bad job with their schedule, or they looked at their books and said "Gee, our movie lineup sucks for next year, we need something big or we're going to be in trouble."

I guess the story points to the latter.

Ya know, I prefer to see Potter films in the fall. It gives us something during an otherwise bad time for movie releases, although it's gotten much better over time. So does this also mean we're not going to see the first installment of Deathly Hallows for two years past the release of Half-Blood Prince, with another two after that for part two? That would suck guys. Hopefully it's all filmed together and released within ONE YEAR of Half-Blood Prince since they're delaying this release so long.

Thanks for the pointer Nick.

Labels: Movies, Potter

Punisher, War Zone trailer - [10:32 AM]

I just checked out the new Punisher trailer, I'll go see it for sure, but it's just not going to be the same without Tom Jane.

Labels: Movies

Half-Blood Prince Trailer - [6:11 PM]

If, like me, you prefer to watch trailers on Apple's trailer site, here's a link to Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Enjoy.

Labels: Movies, Potter

There be Pirates here, arrrrr... - [1:09 PM]

Apple Gazette: "Disney is doing pretty well when it comes to movie sales in iTunes. During a conference call for the company’s Q3 results, Disney president Bob Iger announced that since agreeing to sell movies through iTunes, the company has sold over five million titles." - Apparently this whole selling music and movies online isn't such a bad idea after all. I thought the internet was full of pirates hell bent on giving everything away, for free.

Yeah, the other movie studios, and record companies, will eventually get a clue.

Labels: Movies, Music

Yes - [8:08 AM]

Trailer for the new Jim Carrey movie, Yes Man.

I'll be there.

Labels: Movies

Oh me, oh my - [11:47 PM]

The Watchmen trailer is up at Apple, add to the must see list.

Official Watchmen Movie Site.

Labels: Movies

That 'bout sums it up - [9:46 PM]

Cinematical: "Imagine one of the Star Trek crews transported to Tolkien's Middle Earth, or Buffy and her Scooby gang whisked away into the heart of Narnia. That's how Hellboy II: The Golden Army can feel, as you watch a cartoonish-looking, cigar-smoking demon fight gorgeous creatures right out of ancient folklore (and one Miyazaki-esque nature deity)." - Yeah, like he said.

Labels: Movies

The Hobbit. There's hope. - [8:48 PM]

Wired: "With Hellboy II: The Golden Army now in theaters, attention will turn to how its director, Guillermo del Toro, will handle the adaptation of his next project, Lord of the Rings prequel The Hobbit." - Kim and I went with my brother and sister-in-law to Hellboy last night, and I must say I loved the film. I think it was del Toro's dress rehearsal for his approach to The Hobbit. If you see the film you may, or may not, pick up on what I'm talking about. Mr. del Toro likes to use puppets rather than relying on tons of CG. Hellboy was visually stunning and, I believe, bested the original. If you get a chance to see it I'd highly recommend it.

Labels: Movies

DVD and Books Collection - [10:55 AM]

I was looking for a particular title in our pile of DVD's last night, they're in a few places, and couldn't find what I was looking for. Then I though "Hey, maybe we don't actually have this film?" I can't be sure, but I'm pretty sure we don't. Bummer, I really wanted to watch it again.

Anywho, I thought to myself "Wouldn't it be nice to have a piece of software to organize this stuff? One with barcode support and automagic lookup."

There is such a beast, it's called Librarian Pro. Time to buy some software, and a barcode scanner.

Labels: Applications, Mac, Movies

I liked Indy - [8:38 PM]

While we were on vacation we managed to slip out and catch Indiana Jones and The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. I liked it, it'll be a part of our DVD collection when it releases.

So, a big thumbs up, highly recommended.

Something else, we saw a trailer for The Curious Case of Benjamin Button. This is another must see, it releases around Christmas this year.

Labels: Fun, Movies

Indy does well - [9:09 AM]

Rotten Tomatoes: "79%, Certified Fresh"

CNN: "LOS ANGELES, California (AP) -- "Indiana Jones" unearthed box office gold at domestic theaters with a performance that puts it on track to become the second biggest Memorial Day movie opening ever, according to studio estimates Sunday."

We haven't seen Indy yet, but we will, oh yes, we will.

Labels: Movies

Potter Actor Killed - [3:08 PM]

The Telegraph [via HPANA]: "Friends said the murder victim, who they named as 18-year-old Robert Knox, worked as a film extra and was due to appear in the new Harry Potter film coming out in November."

Labels: Movies, Potter

Pixar's Film Callenges - [10:12 AM]

Ned Batchelder: "Most Pixar movies have a signature challenge: Monster's Inc had fur, Finding Nemo had water, The Incredibles had clothing and hair. Ratatouille has food. In each case, the goal is to model a familiar component of the real world well enough that it can add to the story telling rather than detract from it. Meeting those challenges is a huge technical achievement, and going behind the scenes to see the effort is eye-opening." - I'm looking forward to Wall*E.

Labels: Movies, Pixar

Let a dragon be a dragon - [6:38 PM]

The Deadbolt [via James Robertson]: "The gist of the problem is that, thanks to poor special effects, overuse, and horrible movies like Dragonheart and Eragon, dragons have (to quote theonering.net) 'taken a place just behind unicorns and rainbows as the most hackneyed subjects of fantasy art.'" - Let's hope they don't goof up The Hobit with pure digital effects. They have their place but the best movie dragon EVER, hands down, goes to the dragon from Dragonslayer. That is a classic dragon. We don't really get to see the beast until mid-way through the film and then we only catch parts of it, but it's absolutely terrifying. And in the end, when we get the big reveal, it's worth the wait. It was flawless in my humble opinion. If you're really young and love fantasy please go rent Dragonslayer if you can find it, it's a great film.

Labels: Movies

New Mummy Teaser - [8:36 AM]

Yahoo! Movies has the teaser for The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor. It looks like it's going to be good, good for what it is, but no Rachel Weisz? That's just not right!

Labels: Movies

I am Iron Man - [9:20 AM]

Kim, my brother, and our sister-in-law caught Iron Man last night and I must say it's a great start to the blockbuster season.

Recommended.

Labels: Movies

CNN Iron Man Review - [9:30 AM]

CNN.com: "A scene in which Tony invites his assistant, Pepper Potts (an appealingly valiant Gwyneth Paltrow), to reach into the hole in his chest and fix his battery is a cheeky cocktail of trust, disgust, love, sex, fear and courage (it's also a key plant for subsequent developments), but above all it plays funny. When a movie is firing on all those cylinders, you know it's a winner." - We're going tonight with my brother and sister-in-law, can't wait. The blockbuster season has begun!

Labels: Movies

Half-Blood Prince - [9:30 AM]

First Showing: "Warner Brothers has released the first official photo from Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Overall, the image is rather nondescript and doesn't tell us much, save for that the three leads - Harry (Daniel Radcliffe), Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) - are returning for the sixth time. You can faintly make out the headline in the newspaper Hermione is holding as possibly 'More Disappearances at Ministry of Magic' or something like that."

Labels: Movies, Potter

Another must see film - [8:33 AM]

Cinematical: "Cinematical has just received this creepy (but oddly adorable) exclusive teaser poster for Igor (click on the image to enlarge), an animated film coming to us via The Weinstein Co. this September." - Add that one to the list...

Labels: Movies

Blockbuster Summer, 2008 - [1:10 AM]

My 2008 must see movie list.

I did this back in 2003. Notice The Hulk appears on that list as well, strange.

Labels: Movies

Ender's Game - [11:16 PM]

Cinematical: "I could kvetch for hours about how unfilmable Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game is, and how ill-fated any potential adaptation would be." - Enders Game is best left alone. It's one of those books I couldn't put down and I can't imagine anyone doing it justice on the big screen.

Labels: Books, Movies

Pixar linkage - [8:19 AM]

I've been sitting on some interesting Pixar links for a while, it's time to clear them out of the cache. So, for your reading pleasure...

Susan Bradley - Susan does film design.
LA Times, Secrets of Pixar's inner circle - Talks about how competitive it is at Pixar, I'd expect nothing less.
Found Read, Pixar's Brad Bird on Fostering Innovation - Another inside look at Pixar.

Yes, I am fascinated with the place, but who isn't? I cannot tell a lie, if I had the opportunity to work for Pixar I'd do it in a heartbeat, no doubt about it.

Labels: Movies, Pixar

Big Potter News - [12:09 AM]

Harry Potter Prognostications: "t is official, the LA Times has reported that WB will be making the announcement tomorrow that Deathly Hallows will be split into two movies with David Yates directing them" - This is huge news. The big question for the Potter faithful, where do you draw the line between part one and part two? I do believe this is a wonderful idea because I'd like to see the series finish with a bang! Splitting Deathly Hallows will give Warner Brothers the opportunity to do things the right way, and by right way I mean epic battle scenes reminiscent of The Lord of the Rings. I can't wait to see The Battle of Hogwarts. Maybe they'll split the book at Shell Cottage? Seems a reasonable place to leave us hanging. I guess we'll find out later.

Update: Another cool thing I missed the first time I read the announcement. The first of the two parts will be released in November of 2010, I LOVE November release dates. We typically see a movie the day after Thanksgiving and Potter would be perfect. We'll get to see The Half-Blood Prince this November, then Deathly Hallows, Part One, two years later. I love it when a plan comes together.

Labels: Movies, Potter

We meet again Dr. Jones! - [10:50 AM]

Enjoy the trailer, I'll see you in the theatre May 22.

Labels: Movies

Another must see film... - [1:03 PM]

Where in the World Is Osama bin Laden? Mr. Spurlock seems to have had as much luck as our government, zero.

Labels: Movies

Must see movie - [9:18 AM]

Labels: Movies

I'm there dude - [10:53 AM]

IndianaJones.com - Is anyone else excited to see this film? I've just watched all the little video clips on the site and I can't wait to see it. Poor Kim...

Labels: Movies

Cloverfield: WARNING! - [10:28 PM]

Kim and I decided to go catch Cloverfield tonight, I've been excited since the first teaser's hit the net. I will say it's a great film, but, it has some issues. It's filmed in the first person, much like the Blair Witch, which results in very few shots that aren't wiggling and giggling. It made Kim sick so she had to walk out about 3/4 of the way through the movie. When she exited the theatre she met a nice lady that had to leave for the same reason. That poor woman actually lost her dinner. While they were comparing notes the lady's young son came out and promptly lost his stomach. We passed our experience on to the Manager and he said he and his District Manager were already thinking about posting a sign warning folks the film may make them nauseous. Besides that, it was a great film, I loved the monster, and the long shots gave away just enough to keep you asking for more. Oh yeah, I almost forgot, we also got to see the teaser for Star Trek XI! For hard core Trekkies that may be worth the price of admission.

UPDATE: There are a whole lot of interesting comments up on SlashFilm, and it looks like Kim and the poor lady she met outside the theatre are not alone.

Labels: Movies

Oh my... - [11:59 AM]

Apple TV is now something on my gotta get me one of these list.

Blu-ray or HD DVD? Who cares. I'll purchase an Apple TV box and watch what I want when I want and I won't have to return the movie.

Labels: Apple, Movies

First must see of 2008 - [9:49 AM]

Cloverfield, a.k.a. 01/18/08. I'd guess this is our first must see film of 2008.

Enjoy the trailer.

Labels: Movies

Potter News, Half-Blood Prince - [2:25 PM]

Veritaserum: " Oscar-winning actor Jim Broadbent told DarkHorizons that he has been cast as Horace Slughorn in the film adaptation of Half-Blood Prince." - This is an excellent choice for Horace Slughorn IMHO!

Now, if we could get them to get a new Dumbledore I'd be very happy.

Labels: Movies, Potter

What is 1.18.08, and who is Ethan Haas? - [5:33 PM]

Ok, I couldn't resist asking that question. I noticed 1.18.08 in my Apple Trailers feed and had to go watch it, now I have more questions than answers.

Googling for "11808, movie" I indirectly found a site called Ethan Haas Was Right. I found this text in the page...

...war came, no longer from the elemental nor from the star's rain of fire. The world was again remade, and the glow was as the coming of the sun upon the Earth. The children of the gods were again too few, scattered and divided and among them walked the ancients and those whose thoughts were not as to the towers and the marvels, but to the End and the destruction of the Earth and to the fires from which nothing could escape.

Labels: Movies