Marvel planning Planet Hulk movie and World War Hulk for Avengers 3?

February 4, 2013, 11:08 am

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There's little doubt that Mark Ruffalo's Hulk was one of the highlights of Joss Whedon's blockbuster superhero ensemble The Avengers, but with the Green Goliath absent from Marvel's Phase Two line-up of Iron Man 3, Thor: The Dark World, Captain America: The Winter Soldier and Guardians of the Galaxy, it seemed that the cinematic future of Bruce Banner and his raging alter-ego remained uncertain, at least until The Avengers 2 in 2015.

Well, it still is - but El Mayimbe of Latino Review claims to have uncovered some juicy details about Marvel's plans for The Incredible Hulk in Phase Three of the MCU; now this could just be speculation, but if you want to avoid any potential spoilers for The Avengers 2, Phase Three and The Avengers 3, you might want to stop reading...

So, according to the site's sources The Avengers 2 will set up The Hulk's next solo movie, with a third act or post-credits sequence that sees the Hulk blasted into space by the Marvel Cinematic Universe's version of the Illuminati, presumably after some kind of enormous rampage. Then, as as Phase Three gets underway, we'll see an adaptation of the comic book story Planet Hulk for The Incredible Hulk 2, which would see the Hulk conquering the planet Sakaar Gladiator-style, and lead to a World War Hulk adaptation for The Avengers 3 as Earth's Mightiest Heroes find themselves squaring off against an super-angry Hulk and his army of alien warriors.

While we're still waiting for that Black Panther movie Latino Review promised us, there could be some truth to the reports about Marvel's plans for The Hulk, with Kevin Feige previously having stated that: "Planet Hulk is a cool story. World War Hulk is a cool story... Do I think Hulk can carry a movie and be as entertaining as he was in Avengers? I do believe that. I do believe he absolutely could. We certainly are not even going to attempt that until Avengers 2, so there is a lot of time to think about it."

Phase Three of the Marvel Cinematic Universe will get underway with the release of Edgar Wright's Ant-Man on November 6th, 2015, with a Doctor Strange movie expected to follow sometime in 2016.

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Movie Review - Stand Up Guys (2012)

February 4, 2013, 11:47 am

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Stand Up Guys, 2012.

Directed by Fisher Stevens.
Starring Al Pacino, Alan Arkin, Christopher Walkin, Mark Margolis, Julianna Marguilies and Lucy Punch.

SYNOPSIS:

A pair of aging con men try to get the old gang back together for one last hurrah before one of the guys takes his last assignment - to kill his comrade.

To borrow a clichéd phrase, Al Pacino, Christopher Walken, and Alan Arkin are not ‘getting any younger’ and the roles just aren’t there for them anymore as leading men. They will turn up in supporting roles (notably Arkin has been nominated at this year’s Oscars for Argo) and they will always be watchable, even if some of the material is dross they wouldn’t have dreamed of making 30 or 40 years ago. Jack and Jill, The Change Up, and Seven Psychopaths all spring to mind as recent misdemeanours each actor is guilty of.

With an Academy Award each to their name, the reality is these three guys are living legends and although they deserve a better script than Stand Up Guys to unite them, they could have signed on to make a lot worse and the end result is an enjoyable if forgettable crime comedy. The concept is actually very interesting for characters of their age; Walken is tasked with killing his lifelong friend and partner in crime (Pacino) on the day he is released from a 28 year stretch in prison. The nice touch to the story is that the men openly discuss the predicament they face, but neither run away from their past; in their lives, what’s done is done and what’s to come isn’t worth worrying about at this stage in life.

The script isn’t particularly cinematic and plays out more like a made-for TV film than one destined for the cinema. Perhaps it would have been if it weren’t for the three leads. It never quite strikes the right balance of comedic and dramatic to make it seem much more than a series of scenes strung together to reach 90 minutes, although they are fun to watch and do deliver some genuine laughs. Moreover, the film was shot on the Red Camera, and the quality also adds to the made-for-TV quality, highlighting the shortcomings of digital without the budget.

Stand Up Guys won’t make an impact at the cinema but makes for perfect DVD viewing and is a nice reminder that the three leads still have what it takes when they put their talents to good use.

Flickering Myth Rating - Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ 

Rohan Morbey - follow me on Twitter.

Comic Book Review - Batman, Incorporated #7

February 4, 2013, 1:16 pm

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Oliver Davis reviews Batman, Incorporated #7...

[Cont. from previous issue's review]

...and falls. And falls. Until Batman is snatched from his descent, and out of the panel, by some winged beast. Only one wing is visible, but that feathered skin, those tattered jeans - it can only be one of Talia's Man-Bats.

Batman works best when in the shadows, out-of-sight, playing with an overactive imagination. His power is in his concealment, like the half-light of an old John Alton noir. The mind fills the darkness for you...yet in issue seven, Batman's absence is a weakness. After Talia's henchman steals Bruce from the sky, he isn't seen until the book's very end, and does not speak for its entirety.

To fill in those that haven't been listening: Talia al Ghul is the mother of Bruce's son, Damien. She's taken over Gotham with mind-control. Not all of Gotham. Just a person here and there. Enough to topple the city with a command. And they all obey Leviathan. They all obey Talia.

As does her most recent creation, a beast of a man wrapped in a desert-cloak like some al-Qaeda insurgent. His mindlessness, his force-of-nature stamina recall the monsters in Garth Ennis' gore-fest, Stitched. A mask covers his head entire, a deep red visor its only portal to the world. Even Bane was allowed eyes. The contrast of technology and feudal-desert attire is unsettling; the ease with which he lifts a safe containing Bruce inside, even more so.

Reading the issue again, as Grant Morrison almost commands with his confusing narratives, these non-subtleties become increasingly menacing, making more sense with each glance. Morrison has a tendency to only passingly mention fascinating back-stories which could be issues, or even arcs, in themselves. If this were Geoff Johns, they certainly would be. In issue seven, the briefly mentioned backstory concerns the origins of this monster - the rotting carcass of a whale left to fester in a dried out bio-factory tank in Yemen (yet another al-Qaeda nod); "the birthplace of the beast. The mother of the fatherless." Morrison's words and Chris Burnham's imagery are almost Lovecraftian in their horror.

Belly of the Whale. The pile of flesh and bones lends the book its title.

And also from it, Leviathan rises. And Batman falls. And drowns.

Oliver Davis (@olidavis)

Thunderbirds Are Go! as ITV orders a new CG-animated reboot

February 4, 2013, 3:04 pm

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The classic British TV series Thunderbirds is set to return fifty years after it first graced television screens, with ITV announcing that it has placed an order for 26 half-hour episodes of Thunderbirds Are Go! to air in 2015. The new series will be co-produced by New Zealand's Pukeko Pictures and Weta Workshop, the visual effects company whose credits include The Lord of the Rings, Avatar, The Adventures of Tintin and The Hobbit.

Created by Gerry Anderson and Sylvia Anderson, Thunderbirds first aired in the UK between 1965 and 1966 and centred on the adventures of International Rescue, an emergency response team led by former astronaut Jeff Tracy and consisting of his five sons. While Thunderbirds was famous for its marionette puppetry, the new show will jettison the 'Supermarionation' style in favour of a unique blend of live-action model sets and CGI characters.

"Thunderbirds is a highly respected brand that continues to hold recognition around the world," said ITV Studios UK managing director Denise O'Donoghue. "This cult series is often credited as changing the history of animation and action-adventure, and we look forward to taking the show to another level while retaining the much-loved heritage that has endured over the past fifty years."

Thunderbirds Are Go! won't be the first of Anderson's Supermarionation shows to receive a CG update from ITV, with Anderson himself producing a 'Hypermarionation' CG-animated reboot of Captain Scarlett and the Mysterons, Gerry Anderson's New Captain Scarlett, which ran for 26 episodes in 2005.

Comic Book Review - The Crow: Skinning the Wolves #3

February 4, 2013, 11:43 pm

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Anghus Houvouras reviews the third and final issue of The Crow: Skinning the Wolves...

The Crow is one of those endearing concepts capable of creating some truly memorable stories - a supernatural revenge scenario that has yielded some really good comics over the years (and even a couple of good movies).  There are, however, times when the whole affair has felt incredibly redundant and overplayed.  Fortunately, the mini-series The Crow: Skinning the Wolves has served as an example of how gratifying it can be when all cylinders are firing.

James O'Barr has crafted a dark and brutal story set during the Holocaust.  The final chapter sees our reanimated hero leaping forth from the carnage and chaos of the Nazi death camp to exact swift and painful revenge on his captors.  Like many of the previous Crow stories, it's a by-the-numbers affair that benefits greatly from the art by O'Barr and James Terry.  Given the setting, one would expect a very grim and terrible setting.  And even though we've seen this landscape portrayed in comics many times before, it feels particularly ugly here.  I found myself reminded of those great old Joe Kubert was comics of the 1970s and 1980s.  Stories set in horribly familar settings that jumped off the page.  Skinning the Wolves has that kind of creepy vibe.

While you may know the drill, there's still something gratifying about watching someone brutally carve up Nazis.  Part of me wished it got a little more pulpy.  I find it difficult to wish a story set in the holocaust would take itself a little less seriously, but i did find myself thinking the whole story may have been better served by a more Tarantino-esque slant.  Sometimes The Crow concept seems to take itself so seriously and some Inglourious Basterds style energy would have done a lot to make this a world worth returning to.

As I said, the entire proposition of The Crow is difficult because the audience pretty much knows what to expect.  The concept is well established over several mediums. Going forward, I'd like to see The Crow go to some unexpected places: expand the universe, play with the concept a little bit.  Right now it feels saddled by the core ideas and rarely deviates from the formula.

In spite of some minor criticisms, I really enjoyed the third issue of The Crow: Skinning the Wolves.  It's an effective and well told revenge tale.  O'Barr always does a great job of crafting haunting little tales of suffering that stay with the reader long after conclusion.

Anghus Houvouras

The Terry Gilliam Retrospective Part 1: Ironic Origins

February 4, 2013, 11:51 pm

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Paul Risker begins a retrospective on the films of Terry Gilliam...

Before we begin I’d like to take the opportunity to briefly talk a little about the history of this ‘Retrospective’ feature series.

I originally started out intending only to re-evaluate the career of ‘Master of Horror’ John Carpenter, an idea that was first implanted into my mind by a close friend who exclaimed in our local watering hole one summer night, “John Carpenter’s career deserves a re-evaluation.”

So many years later with the support of EatSleepLiveFilm’s editor-in-chief and managing editor, I was afforded the opportunity to rant across seven weeks, composing what was my love letter to the cinema of John Carpenter. Sadly, ESLF closed its doors in November, though the site remains live, functioning as an archive for the expansive work of the ESLF editorial staff and contributors.

Approaching the end of the Carpenter feature series, I decided that this was something I’d like to continue, and so I moved onto celebrate the career of Terry Gilliam. Only four parts were completed before ESLF ceased posting, and thankfully Gary Collinson editor-in-chief of Flickering Myth offered the ‘Retrospective’ feature series and its film obsessed tea drinking author a new home. Merci Gary!

But one thing is different moving forward. We want your help to decide the next filmmaker in the series, transforming it into an interactive feature series. Stay tuned for more information.

Over the next four weeks parts 1 – 4 will be re-posted, before resuming with The Fisher King.

Terry Gilliam Retrospective Part 1: Ironic Origins


I doubt many of you would consider it an exaggeration if I were to express the opinion that Terry Gilliam is one of modern cinemas most creative and inventive directors, combining narrative and visual filmmaking practices. Starting with his contribution to classic British comedy (the name I need not mention), the broad strokes of his cinema have spanned time travel and visions of hell, gone on psychedelic trips and delved into the imaginations of any number of protagonists. Oh, and there was the time he tilted at windmills.

Gilliam’s dramas with the studios and producers have ensured his escapades behind the camera have been just as colourful as those projected onto the silver screen. These narrative and visual strokes have defined Terence Vance Gilliam as not just an important American director, an original and interesting filmmaker, but the highest accolade that can be bestowed on a director - that of auteur. To explore his work is to discover a story whose beginnings are marked by irony, as well as a foreboding warning of the difficult road that lay ahead for the maverick director; never content as animator; nor one-sixth of a comedy group.

Underwhelmed by the history of his native America, and with an interest in the European history, in 1967 he set off backpacking around Europe. He returned to the U.S., before finally moving with his English then girlfriend to her native homeland. Gilliam had always been an admirer of the British humour, notably the Ealing comedies and BBC Radio’s The Goon Show, starring Spike Milligan, Harry Secombe and Peter Sellers.

The journey towards his directorial debut Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) was laden with irony. His view of London was derived from the culture of cinema, notably the images of Antonioni’s Blow Up, and Julie Christie whizzing around London in that car. For a director whose cinema has always been fixated on the power of imagination and fantasy, it is ironic that the very thing that attracted him to London, and set in motion events that would lead to a career in directing, was cinema’s own imaginative representation of the city.

Not long after his arrival, Gilliam quickly fell in with a crowd of comedians, becoming the sixth member of one of the great British - or for that matter international - comedy teams, Monty Python. It was ironic that in such a short space of time Gilliam found himself contributing to the English comedy heritage he had once admired from afar.

Despite this initial success, Python was a double-edged blade for Gilliam, preventing him from reaching his goal: to direct. From early on Gilliam knew how important it would be for his directorial aspirations to get himself that all important directing credit. Prior to Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Gilliam had sole creative control of Python’s animation set pieces. Gilliam has remarked that animation was something that he just fell into. As surreal and baffling as those sequences are, even now, they are intrinsic to the identity of Python - a testament to Gilliam’s creative vision.

He was the objective judge who would hear the sketches pitched, free to laugh without restraint; the lonely and unprejudiced animator who was absolved of the group’s politics; of the competition of Python’s writing teams.

Whilst Monty Python and the Holy Grail would be a step forward for Gilliam, it was in truth only half a step. Gilliam, the master tactician tricked the group into agreeing that anyone named Terry would direct the film. So came about Gilliam’s directorial debut, though of course that meant co-directing the movie with Terry Jones. The different working methods of the two aspiring directors only led to conflict, something Gilliam’s career would be defined by (the war for Brazil and the Munchausen disaster). The introverted nature of the animator, not used to having to direct actors, combined with the Pythons’ preference of actor’s director Terry Jones, meant Holy Grail was a baptism of fire for the sixth Python. Eventually he would focus on the technical set-ups whilst Jones worked with the cast.

Working in a genre that had one requisite: to make people laugh, Gilliam’s obsession with the visual aesthetic, his grand ambition, led to those colourful adventures behind the camera; sneaking into the editing room late at night to make changes behind his co-director’s back. Holy Grail was almost certainly an abrupt introduction to directing, and he would not co-direct the other Python films, relinquishing the duty to Jones. His stubbornness, will power, and his capacity to dare to dream would define his future cinematic vision, whilst having the adverse effect of bringing conflict to his door.

It would in fact be six years following Holy Grail before he made the transition from 'I am the sixth Python' to 'I am Terry Gilliam', across two films: Jabberwocky and Time Bandits. These two films are a defining moment in the director’s career, his struggles to find his own auteurial presence, looking forward and looking back from the adventure that was Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

You can read the full seven part John Carpenter Retrospective feature series at EatSleepLiveFilm:

Part 1: The Six Year Stretch (1976-1982)
Part 2: Halloween and The Fog
Part 3: Escape from New York
Part 4: Star Man and Big Trouble in Little China
Part 5: Prince of Darkness and They Live
Part 6: Body Bags and In the Mouth of Madness
Part 7: Cigarette Burns and Pro-Life

Paul Risker is co-editor in chief of Wages of Film, freelance writer and contributor to Flickering Myth and Scream The Horror Magazine.

NBC green lights Ironside reboot starring Blair Underwood

February 5, 2013, 2:29 am

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NBC is planning to bring back Detective Ironside with a reboot of the iconic 1967 TV drama Ironside. According to Deadline, the green light has been given for NBC to produce a pilot starring Blair Underwood (The Art of Getting By).

The new series will center on a tough, sexy police detective (Underwood) relegated to a wheelchair after a shooting who is hardly limited by his disability as he pushes and prods his hand-picked team to solve the most difficult cases in the city. Mike Caleo (Rescue Me) will write and executive produce the new drama.

The original Ironside series proved very popular, running on NBC from 1967 to 1975, and starred Raymond Burr (Perry Mason) as the iconic wheelchair bound detective, taking down the bad guys in the streets of San Francisco. The orginal show was also well known for its catchy opening sequence theme music by legendary music producer Quincy Jones.

Blair Underwood, who rose to fame in legal drama L.A. Law, recently starred in A Streetcar Named Desire on Broadway, along with the goverment conspiracy drama The Event.

New image of Letty from Fast & Furious 6

February 5, 2013, 4:21 am

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A new image from the much anticipated sixth installment of the Fast & Furious franchise is now online. Courtesy of Michelle Rodriguez’s Facebook page, the actress has treated fans to a new image featuring herself as the character Letty. Rogriguez has also promised a new extended three minute trailer will be released this week.

Since Dom (Vin Diesel) and Brian's (Paul Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin's empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Luke Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Michelle Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again.

This will mark the fourth time director Justin Lin has helmed the franchise and we are certainly guaranteed entertainment with an all action cast that includes Vin Diesel (xXx), Paul Walker (Takers), Dwayne Johnson (Snitch), Tyrese Gibson (Transformers) and Gina Carano (Haywire).

Fast & Furious 6 is scheduled for release on May 24th.

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Movie Review - Wreck-It Ralph (2012)

February 5, 2013, 4:44 am

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Wreck-It Ralph, 2012.

Directed by Rich Moore.
Featuring the voice talents of John C. Reilly, Sarah Silverman, Jane Lynch, Alan Tudyk, Jack McBrayer, Mindy Kaling, Joe Lo Truglio, Ed O'Neill and Dennis Haysbert.

SYNOPSIS:

A video game villain wants to be a hero and sets out to fulfill his dream, but his quest brings havoc to the whole arcade where he lives.

When the trailer was released for Wreck-It Ralph, I immediately knew I was going to love it. As someone who grew up going down to the local bowling alley to play the arcades rather than tackle the pins, this was a movie that was right up my street as an homage to all the things I love about video games. But with a lot of personal hype, could Wreck-It Ralph live up to its expectations?

First off, it should be noted that the trailer for the movie caught a lot of traction and Internet buzz because it featured a lot of established video game characters like Bowser from Super Mario Bros., Zangief and M. Bison from Street Fighter II and Clyde from Pac-Man. As someone who loves this era of video games, I was hoping to see a lot more references but did worry that the majority of them would go over a large portion of the audience. I can report however that 85% of the references made about established video games are in the trailer and the rest of the movie is left to its own devices and jokes. Sure there are a couple of other nods to Metal Gear Solid, Walter Day and the Konami Code, but the movie is more about their own characters rather than the ones we already know and love - and this is a good thing. While I did state that I wanted to see more of them, to do so would have hurt the movie. The film survives without the need of these in-jokes to please fanboys and does so just fine.

One of the reasons this is a good thing is, as I mentioned briefly before, there were a lot of jokes that went over the heads of the younger members of the audience. While I found a lot of humour in cameos from Root Beer Tapper and Q*Bert, a large portion of the audience didn’t laugh due to the fact that these games came out in the 20 years before the new Disney audience was even born. They instead laughed at the main characters of the movie – which is entirely the point.

The other reason this is a good thing is because Wreck-It Ralph is a brilliantly written, well told story with wonderfully likeable characters. Ralph is the bad guy in a Donkey Kong-esque game called Fix-It Felix Jr. but after being shunned from the game's 30th anniversary party, Ralph decides that he no longer wants to be a bad guy anymore and wants a medal to show the people of Niceland that he can be a hero. To do this, he goes to a Gears of War type first person shooter called Hero’s Duty and then onto a Mario Kart style game called Sugar Rush where he meets glitch Vanellope who also wants to be one of life’s winners. Some viewers may be disappointed that he doesn’t visit any other games and I can sort of see why as a rather slow second act leaves a lot to be desired.

Aside from just being well written characters, the voice cast of Wreck-It Ralph do a phenomenal job of bringing them to life rather than just being celebrity voice actors. John C. Reilly (Carnage, The Dictator) is great as Ralph and Sarah Silverman (School of Rock, Take this Waltz) does a wonderfully sweet and sickly voice for Venellope. Jane Lynch (Rio, Paul) is absolutely brilliant as the Samus Aran style Calhoun (who was programmed with the saddest back story ever) while Alan Tudyk (Ice Age, I-Robot) appears to be channelling Ed Wynn in his performance of Sugar Rush’s King Candy. It was also nice to see they brought in Roger Craig Smith to perform Sonic’s voice – even if it is a voice that angers most “old skool” gamers.

Wreck-It Ralph, like Toy Story, also does a great job of setting up how their world works. Rather than just having the audience accept that game characters can interact with each other, they have a detailed and well thought out set-up in which game characters go into their games from Game Central Station where they enter via the cable from the plug socket. It seems simple written down, but on the big screen and in motion, it’s absolutely genius. Even how the human players see their games is explained very cleverly with the exception of Sugar Rush whose world is never truly defined. We see how humans play Fix-It Felix Jr. and Hero’s Duty but we aren’t given a clear indication of just how they interact with Sugar Rush. This is a minor complaint, but it was one that stuck out like a sore thumb for me seeing as though every other aspect had been thought through so well.

Aside from some minor niggles in plot, a fairly weak second act and some ham-fisted soundtrack choices, Wreck-It Ralph is a really well-written, beautifully animated and well performed movie. The relationship between Ralph and Vanellope is really sweet and there are a few tender moments between the two that tugged at my heart strings. Retro gamers will enjoy the in-jokes (even if most of them are in the trailer) but they will also enjoy just how good the movie is. Anyone who doesn’t understand these references need not fear, there is more than enough in this movie to latch on to in what is Disney’s best non-Pixar movie since The Princess and the Frog.  

Wreck-It Ralph is released in the UK this Friday, February 8th. 

Flickering Myth Rating - Film: ★ ★ ★  / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★ ★

Luke Owen is a freelance copywriter working for Europe’s biggest golf holiday provider as their web content executive.

Marvel marches toward Free Comic Book Day with Infinity and Thanos

February 5, 2013, 7:27 am

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Marvel is gearing up for an annual tradition for comic book fans as announced by a press release issued by the company.

This May for Free Comic Book Day, prepare yourselves for the greatest battle for survival ever waged in the Marvel Universe as Marvel marches towards Infinity! In this all-new story by the blockbuster creative team of Jonathan Hickman and Jim Cheung, witness the opening shots of the war that will be heard around the galaxy. Plus, get a sneak peek behind a major Marvel release that hasn’t been announced yet and relive Thanos’ first solo story.

Infinity goes on sale May 4, 2013.

Watch Robert De Niro break down in tears discussing Silver Linings Playbook

February 5, 2013, 11:28 am

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Robert De Niro, Bradley Cooper and director David O. Russell all appeared on Katie, an American television chat show, to discuss their most recent film, Silver Linings Playbook.

During the interview, Russell recalls his son acting in the film. "He had to audition for it, and he had to earn it," he tells the audience to laughter and applause. Cooper smiles, but De Niro's face seems to puff up with pride as though he's the child's father himself.

Russell's son has a real-life mood disorder similar to the one Bradley Cooper's character possesses in Silver Linings, and Katie asks De Niro if this gave him a greater responsibility than in his recent work.

De Niro, visibly moved at 5 minutes in, stutters in his speech and begins to cry. O. Russell then reveals this was De Niro's same reaction when he first showed him the screenplay.

Touching stuff.



Russell is up for Best Director, Cooper for Best Actor and De Niro for Best Supporting Actor at the Oscars. The film itself has been nominated for Best Picture.

New extended online trailer for Fast & Furious 6

February 5, 2013, 11:40 am

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Following a 30-second TV spot during Sunday's Super Bowl, Universal Pictures has released a brand new extended online trailer for the upcoming action sequel Fast & Furious 6, which sees Vin Diesel (Riddick), Paul Walker (Takers) and Dwayne Johnson (G.I. Joe: Retaliation) leading the returning cast for the latest instalment in the blockbuster franchise.

Fast & Furious 6 is once again directed by Justin Lin (who has helmed the last three outings, including the smash hit Fast Five), while franchise veterans Jordana Brewster, Michelle Rodriguez, Tyrese Gibson, Sung Kang, Gal Gadot, Chris “Ludacris” Bridges and Elsa Pataky are joined by series newcomers Luke Evans (The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug) and Gina Carano (Haywire).

Check out the official synopsis, followed by the new trailer below...

"Since Dom (Diesel) and Brian’s (Walker) Rio heist toppled a kingpin’s empire and left their crew with $100 million, our heroes have scattered across the globe. But their inability to return home and living forever on the lam have left their lives incomplete. Meanwhile, Hobbs (Johnson) has been tracking an organization of lethally skilled mercenary drivers across 12 countries, whose mastermind (Evans) is aided by a ruthless second-in-command revealed to be the love Dom thought was dead, Letty (Rodriguez). The only way to stop the criminal outfit is to outmatch them at street level, so Hobbs asks Dom to assemble his elite team in London. Payment? Full pardons for all of them so they can return home and make their families whole again."


Fast & Furious 6 is set for release on  May 24th, 2013.

Les Misérables makes it four weeks in a row at the top of the UK box office

February 5, 2013, 12:13 pm

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UK box office top ten and analysis for the weekend of Friday 1st to Sunday 3rd February 2013...

Tom Hooper's acclaimed adaptation of the celebrated musical Les Misérables has topped the UK box office chart for the fourth consecutive week, banking another £2.79M to retain first place and push its cumulative gross beyond the £30M mark - the first release of 2013 to do so. Meanwhile Quentin Tarantino's Django Unchained made it three in a row in second place, fending off competition from Robert Zemeckis' live-action return Flight, with the Denzel Washington-headlined drama banking £1,401,214 to take third and knock Steven Spielberg's Lincoln and Ang Lee's Life of Pi down into fourth and fifth respectively.

In the bottom half of the chart, Tsunami drama The Impossible held onto sixth place, having pulled in just over £12M after four weekends on screens, while Zero Dark Thirty slipped two spots to seventh and Disney-Pixar's Monsters, Inc 3D held firm in eighth. Sylvester Stallone's latest Bullet to the Head opened in ninth place with £429,317, hammering another nail into the coffin of the old-school actioner following last week's disappointing debut for Arnold Schwarzenegger's The Last Stand (although Arnie's comeback vehicle did manage to outperform Bullet to the Head, pulling in £539k in its first weekend), leaving anthology comedy Movie 43 to prop up the chart in tenth.

Number one this time last year: Chronicle

1. Les Misérables - £2,785,143 weekend; £30,137,493 total (4 weeks)
2. Django Unchained - £1,696,391 weekend; £10,308,028 total (3 weeks)
3. Flight - £1,401,214 weekend (New)
4. Lincoln - £1,377,588 weekend; £4,239,010 total (2 weeks)
5. Life of Pi - £848,579 weekend; £27,308,038 total (7 weeks)
6. The Impossible - £758,024 weekend; £12,052,177 total (4 weeks)
7. Zero Dark Thirty - £655,689 weekend; £2,355,578 total (2 weeks)
8. Monsters, Inc 3D - £485,160 weekend; £2,197,372 total (3 weeks)
9. Bullet to the Head - £429,317 weekend (New)
10. Movie 43 - £396,833 weekend; £1,581,864 total (2 weeks)

Incoming...

After arriving in North America way back in November, Disney's Wreck-It Ralph (cert. PG) [read our review here] and British filmmaker Sacha Gervasi's Hitchcock (cert. 12A) [read our review here] finally arrive on this side of the pond on Friday, while other new releases include the zombie romantic comedy Warm Bodies (cert. 12A) [read our review here] and comedy I Give It A Year (cert. 15).

A conversation with Yale Stewart, creator of the JL8 webcomic

February 5, 2013, 12:40 pm

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Chris Cooper chats with Yale Stewart, creator of the JL8 webcomic...

The Internet is a wonderful thing. No not just for that (get your mind out of the gutter you're better than that!). It's wonderful due to its ability to bring us all closer and give us opportunities we never would have had even 10 years ago.

For creators, it's given them a new way to create and share content.

The rest of us are not only treated to that content, but are able to interact with the creators and get to find out what makes them tick.

In what will hopefully not be the only opportunity, I've had the chance to talk to the creator of my favourite web comic. The comic is JL8, which revolves around the trials and tribulations of the Justice League (Batman, Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Flash, Power Girl and Martian Manhunter) at the age of 8. It's creator is Yale Stewart. Enjoy!

Chris Cooper: Firstly Yale, thank you for your time. To kick-off, when did your interest in comics begin? Did anything in particular spark it?

Yale Stewart: My interest in comics took a somewhat unconventional path. Growing up in the early '90s, I was exposed to a lot of comic characters via cartoons before I ever actually read any comics. Watching the Ninja Turtles, Transformers, and most importantly, Batman cartoons had huge impacts on me as a kid, and really planted the seeds for my interest in comics, but it wasn't until I reached the first grade that I really started reading comics regularly.

CC: For anyone reading this who doesn't know, how did JL8 come about?

YS: Unfortunately, the origin story of JL8 is not that terribly interesting. I was simply at work one day, letting my mind sort of wander, and the idea struck me of the Justice League as a bunch of kids. I took it and ran with it, and here we are.

CC: After recently reading through all of the strips again, it was clear how much your artistic skills have grown. It's as though you've settled into your style. How do you feel about it? I know you've been critical of your own abilities in comparison to others before.

YS: Well, I've settled into how I draw JL8, yeah. I'm certainly happy with it; it looks an awful lot more polished now than it did from the get-go, but there's always room for improvement, and I'm still constantly looking for ways to make the art more interesting. I've begun reading One Piece (a Japanese manga series by Eichiiro Oda) and have already started implementing some of his design theories into the strip, and that's been fun.

CC: One of my favourite strips so far has been the introduction of Robin. How did that come about?

YS: Well, growing up, I was really attached to my teddy bear, as I think most people were. In fact, I still have him by my bedside (Pro-tip: girls actually seem to really dig that, so there's that). I've always thought keeping him around and passing him down to my own children was a really appealing concept. But having him around also kept the idea of stuffed toys and comforting things in my mind. The concept of Robin, to me, has always been one of comfort and security for Bruce. A friend, a partner, a kindred spirit. Someone to talk to and help him through the problems that he alone couldn't conquer. I feel like all of those things parallel what a stuffed toy represents to a child, and thought I could combine the two for something really special. Fortunately, people seem to feel the same. I think that strip is still the most reblogged/talked about, on Tumblr at least.

CC: Is there an overall arc for JL8? How far in advance do you plan?

YS: I suppose there is, sure. Or at least, there's definitely going to be an end to it. How long it takes to get there is anyone's guess, but I do have the last two stories plotted out. I know how it all ends up.

CC: Have there been any strips where you've hit a brick wall and aren't sure what to do? What got you through it?

YS. There have, yeah. Fortunately, being a web comic artist, if I REALLY feel like I've hit a wall, I'll just delay the strip, because I don't want to put anything out that I consider sub-par. The times that I've been blocked but it hasn't been so close to the deadline, a lot of things have helped. Generally stepping away from anything I can write/draw on. Going for a walk, taking a shower, phoning a friend. These things all seem to help quite a bit.

CC: JL8 is becoming increasingly popular and garnering a lot of attention. You've mentioned that it will have a definite end. Are you hoping it will provide you a springboard to bigger things? Is there a company or title you'd like to get involved with?

YS: Honestly, being a springboard was really the reason I started JL8 to begin with, but now, it would be fun to see how large I could grow it before I finish it. Really the only thing I'm interested in after JL8 is a return to Gifted, my creator-owned project. I don't really have a huge desire to work for anyone or on any other titles.

[Note - I've since read Gifted and it was good fun. You can find it here].

CC: You've worked on the backups for Luther Strode. Is there anything else in the pipe line? Was there anything to learn from it?

YS: There are a few things in the pipeline, yeah, but nothing really worth talking about just yet. Still very early stages, so you never know what might happen. As far as learning anything from Luther Strode, I'm not sure. It was actually sort of a return to form for me. It was nice to get back to traditional comic book pages, as opposed to the strip format.

CC: Which comic should we all go right now and purchase?

YS: In terms of a monthly? Thor: God of Thunder. Hands down. That book is blowing me away.

CC: Batman fans all have their own ideas of what is 'their Batman'. Personally I  feel like the Nolan trilogy has given me mine. What makes up your Batman?

YS: Batman: The Animated Series. Period.

I'd like to give huge thanks Yale for giving me some of his time. I really enjoyed getting to talk to the creator of something dear to me.

Here's a little treat from the JL8Facebook page that always amuses me. Please go and check it out at http://jl8comic.tumblr.com/.

Chris Cooper

Skyfall overtakes The Dark Knight Rises to become the seventh biggest film of all time

February 5, 2013, 1:11 pm

≫ Next: Vertigo prepares for The Wake in May 2013 with a new cover

≪ Previous: A conversation with Yale Stewart, creator of the JL8 webcomic

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The James Bond movie franchise celebrated its 50th anniversary in style last year as director Sam Mendes and star Daniel Craig delivered the series' most financially successful instalment with 007's 23rd official adventure, Skyfall.

Having shattered UK box office records with over £100 million in receipts on home soil, the film has now overtaken Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight Rises to become the seventh-highest grossing movie of all time with global takings of $1.094 billion.

Skyfall is now the second-biggest earner of 2012 behind Joss Whedon's The Avengers (with Earth's Mightiest Heroes having amassed a mighty haul of $1.512 billion), although its unlikely that the film will be able to climb any higher in the all time chart, with Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King currently sitting in sixth place on $1.119 billion and looking just out of Bond's reach.

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Vertigo prepares for The Wake in May 2013 with a new cover

February 5, 2013, 1:26 pm

≫ Next: First trailer for HBO's Phil Spector biopic starring Al Pacino

≪ Previous: Skyfall overtakes The Dark Knight Rises to become the seventh biggest film of all time

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A new 10-part limited series is being published by Vertigo from the creative team of writer Scott Snyder (American Vampire) and artist Sean Murphy (Punk Rock Jesus).  To mark the occasion a cover has been released drawn by Murphy for The Wake which features the following synopsis:

When Marine Biologist Lee Archer is approached by the Department of Homeland Security for help with a new threat, she declines, but quickly realizes they won't take no for an answer. Soon she is plunging to the depths of the Arctic Circle to a secret, underwater oil rig where they've discovered something miraculous and terrifying…

To learn more about The Wake which commences in May 2013 visit the Graphic Content section of the DC Entertainment website.

First trailer for HBO's Phil Spector biopic starring Al Pacino

February 5, 2013, 1:38 pm

≫ Next: Disney developing two standalone Star Wars movies

≪ Previous: Vertigo prepares for The Wake in May 2013 with a new cover

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The Al Pacino-headlined Phil Spector biopic seems to have been in the works for an eternity, but with the TV movie now less than two months away from its premiere, HBO Films has finally released a trailer, giving us our first real look at the Oscar-winning actor as the legendary music producer-turned murderer, who is currently serving 19 years to life in a California prison for the 2003 murder of actress Lana Clarkson.

Written and directed by David Mamet - the Oscar-nominated screenwriter behind The Verdict, Wag the Dog, along with the likes of Glengarry Glen Ross and The Untouchables - the film centres on the relationship between Pacino's Spector and his defense attorney Linda Kenney Baden, who is portrayed by Helen Mirren (Hitchcock). Also featuring in the cast is Jeffrey Tambor (Arrested Development), who plays another of Spector's defense lawyers, Bruce Cutler.

Take a look at the Phil Spector trailer here:


Phil Spector will receive its TV premiere on HBO in the States on March 24th at 9pm.

Disney developing two standalone Star Wars movies

February 5, 2013, 2:20 pm

≫ Next: Chris Pratt cast as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy

≪ Previous: First trailer for HBO's Phil Spector biopic starring Al Pacino

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When Disney completed its shock purchase of Lucasfilm back in October, the studio announced that it would relaunch the Star Wars saga with a new sequel trilogy, as well as expanding the franchise with standalone features based upon the various inhabitants of the galaxy far, far away.

Of course, with Star Trek Into Darkness director J.J. Abrams confirmed as helming Star Wars: Episode VII, Disney is moving full-steam ahead on the latest chapter of the epic space opera, but CEO Bob Iger has now revealed that Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back) and Simon Kinberg (X-Men: Days of Future Past) are both working on standalone Star Wars projects: "We working on films derived from great Star Wars characters that are not part of the overall saga, so we still plan to make Star Wars VII, VIII and IX roughly over a six year period of time starting in 2015. But there are going to be a few other films released in that period of time, too."

If Harry Knowles of Aint It Cool News is to be believed, the first of these films will centre on the Jedi Master Yoda, while Harry also goes on to claim that George Lucas has apparently been tossing around an idea for a Jabba the Hutt movie. Now, this could be little more than speculation, but considering Yoda's popularity - not to mention the fact that that he has 900 years of backstory to mine - it would seem inevitable that we'll see a Yoda movie at some point in time. In fact, you can bet your life that a Yoda movie has already been discussed (and a Han Solo movie, and a Boba Fett movie, and about fifty other movies), and it wouldn't surprise me if this does turn out to be one of the two additional Star Wars films that Disney has in the pipeline. I just hope the other one doesn't have any Jedi...

So, who would you like to see taking centre stage in a standalone Star Wars movie? Personally, I'm going with Biggs Darklighter...

Chris Pratt cast as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy

February 5, 2013, 3:46 pm

≫ Next: New stills from Iron Man: Rise of Technovore

≪ Previous: Disney developing two standalone Star Wars movies

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Marvel Studios has finally ended its search for the lead in the forthcoming Phase Two space epic Guardians of the Galaxy, with Deadline revealing that Chris Pratt has secured the role of Peter Quill, a.k.a. Star-Lord, the half-human / half-alien leader of the futuristic team of superheroes.

Pratt, whose credits include Everwood, Parks and Recreation, Moneyball and Zero Dark Thirty, becomes the first name to join the cast of Guardians of the Galaxy, which is to be directed by James Gunn (Super). Other names said to have been on the not-so-shortlist for the role include Pratt's Zero Dark Thirty co-star Joel Edgerton, along with the likes of Joseph Gordon-Levitt (The Dark Knight Rises), Garrett Hedlund (Tron: Legacy), Jack Huston (Boardwalk Empire), John Krasinski (The Office), Zachary Levi (Thor: The Dark World), Lee Pace (The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey), Eddie Redmayne (Les Miserables), Jim Sturgess (Cloud Atlas), Michael Rosenbaum (Smallville), Wes Bentley (The Hunger Games), Chris Lowell (The Help) and Cam Gigandet (Priest).

Now that Pratt has been cast as Star-Lord, we can probably expect the rest of the team to fall into place soon. Isaiah Mustafa (the Old Spice guy), Brian Patrick Wade (The Big Bang Theory) and Dave Bautista (The Man with the Iron Fists) have all been linked to the role of Drax the Destroyer, and there's been rumours that Jim Carrey (Kick-Ass 2) and Adam Sandler (That's My Boy) could be on Marvel's radar as possible candidates to voice either Groot or Rocket Raccoon.

Meanwhile, it's also been speculated that Gina Carano (Haywire), Olivia Wilde (Cowboys & Aliens), Kristanna Loken (Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines), Rachel Nichols (G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra), Adrianne Palicki (G.I. Joe Retaliation) and Rosario Dawson (Sin City: A Dame to Kill For) could be in the frame for the Guardians' sole female member Gamora. Considering all the names bandied about for Star-Lord, I'd suggest taking all these rumours with a huge pinch of salt...

Guardians of the Galaxy is scheduled for release on August 1st, 2014.

New stills from Iron Man: Rise of Technovore

February 5, 2013, 11:00 pm

≫ Next: Thoughtful Words: A Glimpse Inside the Mind of Roman Coppola

≪ Previous: Chris Pratt cast as Star-Lord in Guardians of the Galaxy

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Iron Man fans will be able to warm themselves up for the return of Robert Downey Jr.'s Armored Avenger in Iron Man 3 this spring with the release of the direct-to-video animated movie Iron Man: Rise of Technovore. The anime-inspired feature is set to arrive on Blu-ray and DVD this coming April, and to whet our appetites a new batch of images have been released, which includes shots of Iron Man (voiced by Matthew Mercer; Resident Evil Damnation), The Punisher (Norman Reedus; The Walking Dead), Hawkeye, Black Widow, Nick Fury and War Machine; check them out here:

"Billionaire Tony Stark, in his Iron Man armor, prevents an attack from a mysterious new foe, but innocent bystanders are killed, including his best friend War Machine, Lt. Colonel James Rhodes. Detained for questioning by S.H.I.E.L.D., Iron Man escapes, determined to find the mastermind behind the attack. Pursued by Black Widow and Hawkeye, Iron Man enlists the help of the ruthless vigilante The Punisher. But can the Armored Avenger handle what he finds when he catches the person responsible and is forced to face his deadliest weapon, a biotechnology called Technovore that could wipe out all life on the planet?"

Iron Man: Rise of Technovore is set for a North American release on April 16th, with a UK date yet to be announced.