Your Mission Is To Watch This Trailer

Say what you want about Tom Cruise, as I often do, but he truly is an action star.  Cruise is among a dying breed of physical actors who do their own stuntwork, like Burt Lancaster, Steve McQueen, Burt Reynolds, Harrison Ford, Jet Li, Angelina Jolie, Tony Ja, Jason Stratham, and of course the insane, Jackie Chan.  Many actors who claim to do their own stunts, (or dancing *cough Natalie Portman*cough) actually perform a much smaller percentage then they think they do.  Of course we find out later that their stunt person did most of it, save a few scenes.

The Movie Everyone Is Talking About

Don't Be Afraid of the Dark is the new remake everyone is talking about.  Written by Guillermo del Toro and directed Troy Nixey there's already a lot of buzz surrounding the film.  Considering 'Pan's Labyrinth.' I think we're in for it-- in a good way.

11 Is The Magic Number

I'm not sure if I can take this movie seriously.  After all it's directed by Darren Lynn Bousman, director of three torture porn films in a row (Saw II, Saw III, and Saw IV).  Don't get me wrong, I like horror films, but not torture porn.  Good horror films don't need to rely on prolonged torture scenes to scare the heck out of you.  Many don't agree with me, but I believe that there is a (at times a subtle but) unique difference.  The first two Saw films were enough.  The release of five more Saw films was obscene.

Tell-Tale 'Raven'

John Cusack stars as none other than Edgar Allan Poe in The Raven, set to be released March 9, 2012.  Poe helps a young detective (Luke Evans, rising star of Immortals and The Hobbit) track down a serial killer, inspired by Poe's writings.  This sounds somewhat Sherlock Holmesy, but in the land of stale remakes, it's somewhat refreshing.  Side note: I still can't believe they're remaking Footloose.  I'm not sure if the first Footloose should have been made, let alone the second.  Moving on, set in Baltimore and directed by James McTeigue (best known for V for Vendetta and Ninja Assassin), this film is sure to create buzz.  The stars of the film will be at Comic Con promoting it in July.  I don't know when Comic Con became obligatory for movies (of every genre), but at some point I guess it did.  We will know more when the trailer comes out.

Free Fall - Part 1

The director of the new film the Immortals (to be released on 11/11/2011) also directed a film called The Fall and the freak fest that was The Cell.  Yes, the one with J-Lo.  I'm beginning to see a pattern--  "The Immortals," "The" Fall, "The" Cell?  He's not very creative with the titles, but seriously how have I never heard of The Fall?  Filmed in 2006, released in the U.S. in 2008, this film looks amazing.  I don't think I've ever seen a preview quite like it.  I've placed it in the Netflix queue so I hope to be viewing it soon.  The preview reminds me of a Terry Gilliam film.

If the Immortals is anything like this, then perhaps the preview for The Immortals doesn't do it justice.  The preview for the Immortals looks "just ok."  It looks like a costumy, beef-cake, sordid mess, but since Henry Cavill is in it, I'll see it.  As most of us know, Henry Cavill will be playing the new Superman in Man of Steel.  So I'm pretty sure I'll see this film regardless.  I just hope there aren't any "this is Sparta!" scenes.  That would be too much.

The Thing Prequel - I Can't Contain My Excitment

The Thing's preview was accidentally leaked at a film festival and of course some miscreant had their camera handy whilst in the movie theater.  I can't complain, since I get to see the preview a little early.  For those not familiar with John Carpenter's classic remake in 1982 and of course the original film, The Thing from Another World in 1955, the film franchise is about a team of scientists who discover an alien spacecraft while at an Antarctica research facility.  The first two films are science fiction at it's best.  The prequel has big shoes to fill.  Warning - the preview's quality is pretty bad.  Release date is October 14, 2011. 

Christopher Meloni Joins the Cast of the Man of Steel

If you haven't heard about the new Superman film you will.  IN recent months we heard that Amy Adams was joining the cast as the new Lois Lane and, of course, that Henry Cavill is the new Superman.  Now Christopher Meloni is the newest addition to the cast after the devastating revelation that he was leaving Law & Order: SVU.  Christopher will be playing a general.  Michael Shannon is already Zod, so who could it be?

Greenday

Sorry, but I won't be seeing Green Lantern.  The reviews are terrible.  DC or not (I love DC comics), I have standards after all and we're in a recession.  I have to be careful where I throw $20 these days.  There are exceptions.  Battle Los Angeles had a 35% rating and The Tourist had a 20% rating, however, both were decent films.  Still, I saw the latter at the $1.50 theater, which is where I will likely see the Green Lantern.

Che 'Ape'

Rise of the Planet of the Apes looks good.  I can't wait for this one.  I hope I'm not disappointed. Anything would be an improvement over Tim Burton's drab Planet of the Apes in 2001.  The idea of a monkey revolution is such a great concept.  I'm super excited to see Andy Serkis' motion capture work as Caesar. However, this is one of those films that can either go really good...or really bad.  The film has had several rewrites and release dates, which may not be a good sign.  With regard to the film's star, I don't know how James Franco finds the time. Somewhere in between going to school, doing soaps, television guest appearances, and hosting award shows, he finds the time for a film career.  Surely James Franco is a cylon. 

"Superb" 8

Directed by J.J. ABRAMS

Starring RILEY GRIFFITHS, ELLE FANNING, 

RON ELDARD, and KYLE CHANDLER

Super 8 is good, but it's not unique.  Super 8 is good because it takes the best parts of other great films and pieces them together.  They say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  If that's the case, then Steven Spielberg should be really flattered.  J.J. Abrams shamelessly emulates classic Spielberg films, such as The Goonies, ET, and Close Encounters of a Third Kind.  I've had my issues with Spielberg films, but if you're going to imitate someone, Spielberg is a good model to use.  Added to the mix are Rob Reiner's Stand By Me, Abrams' own Cloverfield and last year's The Crazies.  That said, J.J. Abrams melds the different influences perfectly in this harrowing (and family friendly) tale of alien invasion.  The premise is simple, but effective.

Souless Supernatural: Misha Collins Won't Be a Series Regular in Season 7

Reducing Misha Collin's role is a mistake on Sera Gamble's part.  She claims to get the fans, but I don't think she does.  Supernatural was a freak of the week show before the angel story arc in season 4, i.e. Castiel (played by Misha Collins).  The angel story line took a relatively good show into the stratosphere.  Now because the writers wrote one mildly amusing western-themed episode, they want to make the 7th season an homage to westerns (see article) without Castiel?  That's just crazy.  The angel storyline was the only thing that salvaged the 6th season.  Castiel's battles and dealings with Crowley were the most interesting part of the slow moving 6th season.  Souless Sam and mean grandpa were getting old...quick.  I'm very disappointed with this news particularly after such a spectacular season finale.  I'll still watch the 7th season, but it's not looking good.

School's Out.

Directed by MATTHEW VAUGHN

Starring JAMES MCAVOY, MICHAEL FASSBENDER, KEVIN BACON, 

ROSE BYRNE, JANUARY JONES, and JENNIFER LAWRENCE

X-Men First Class was better than I thought it would be, but not as good as I had hoped.  I'm not a big Marvel fan, but from what I do know of the X-Men comic-- this movie doesn't follow it.  However, this is still a decent movie, not a great one, but a decent one.  It was certainly more enjoyable to watch than Thor.