Avatar done correctly

James Cameron are you watching?

Here is the original photo.

Source: Geekologie

Avatar 2 – A trailer already?

Wait what’s Darth Vader doing there?

That made me chuckle.

Independence Day – Two sequels in the works? Ah Hell No!

The Aliens are coming, the Aliens are coming. Looks like Will Smith is going to be back for a double dose of Independence Day. Turns out 20th Century Fox have lots of money after the success of Avatar so what will they do next? IESB have some info:

Recently, writer/producer Roland Emmerich [said] Fox just wasn’t willing to cut their teeth over the list price for one Will Smith. Being the only movie-star in the world (an actor who guarantees asses in seats), Smith gets $20 million up front plus first dollar gross. That alone has stopped the studio cold from moving forward. Until now it seems.

IESB.net have the news that Will Smith is now locked for not only Independence Day 2, but also a third installment. The plan would be to shoot both films back-to-back. According to our sources, if all goes according to plan, the sequel(s) could shoot as early as 2011.

However, Roland Emmerich is down to make William Shakespeare thriller, Anonymous and Will Smith is meant to be making either The City That Sailed or Men in Black 3.

Will Independence Day sequels trump those projects? Do you want a sequel?

Honest Movie Posters – Oscars 2010

I love these. Great honest titles for some of the winners and losers from this years Oscars.

Source: College Humor

Avatar heading to Blu-Ray in April

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment today announced that the Blu-ray Disc and DVD of Director James Cameron’s history-making motion picture AVATAR will be released in the UK on April 26th.

The must-own AVATAR Blu-ray release provides the ultimate high definition experience for home viewing audiences. Recognized for its optimum picture and sound, the film’s masterful cinematography, art direction and visual effects lends itself to awe-inspiring clarity when viewed on Blu-ray Disc. The UK is exclusively releasing a Limited Edition Blu-ray available for pre-order only by online retailers containing 4 lenticular art cards and a ‘Survival Guide’ book.

Since its global theatrical release last December, AVATAR continues to make motion picture history. The Golden Globe® and Oscarâ winning epic is the highest grossing film of all time, taking in over $2.6 billion in worldwide box office, with £89.4 million from the UK box office to date. Director James Cameron takes audiences to a spectacular world beyond imagination, where a reluctant hero embarks on a journey of redemption and discovery as he leads a heroic battle to save a civilization.

Written by Cameron and produced with his long-time collaborator Jon Landau, AVATAR stars Sam Worthington, Zoë Saldana, and Sigourney Weaver; as well as Stephen Lang, Michelle Rodriguez, Giovanni Ribisi and Joel David Moore.

Heavy Metal – Who is writing and directing the sci-fi anthology?

Been a while since there has been any movement on the new Heavy Metal sci-fi anthology animated movie. Now author Neal Asher (check out my interview with him) has some more info on who will be directing and writing the various sections for the film – some top directors involved. I wonder if Cameron’s would have any ties to the Avatar universe?

Pre-release Information – A $50 million budget 3D CG animated movie based on the magazine. This probably won’t have any stories from the first 1981 movie, however like the first one, it will feature around seven or eight different stories. Each segment will be directed by a different person. The title to this movie hasn’t been chosen yet. This current title is just a placeholder.

Main Crew:
Executive Producer – David Fincher and James Cameron
Producer – Kevin Eastman and Tim Miller
Director – David Fincher (1 segment)
Director – James Cameron (1 segment)
Director – Zack Snyder (1 segment, a story that Kevin Eastman wrote)
Director – Gore Verbinski (1 segment)
Director – Mark Osborne (1 segment, a comedy with Jack Black)
Director – Tim Miller (1 segment)
Director – Jeff Fowler (1 segment)
Director – Kevin Eastman (tentatively 1 segment)
Director – Guillermo del Toro (tentatively 1 segment)
Director – Rob Zombie (tentatively 1 segment)

Writer – Marc Laidlaw (1 segment)
Writer – Steve Niles (1 segment)
Writer – Joe Haldeman (1 segment)
Writer – Neal Asher (1 segment)
Writer – Kevin Eastman (1 segment, a story that Zack Snyder will direct)
? – Jack Black (a comedy segment that Mark Osborne will direct. No details on how he’s involved, but most likely will be an actor)
? – Jhonen Vasquez (no details on how he’s involved, but most likely will be a writer)

Which of the writers and directors excites you the most?

Source: Heavy Metal

Horation Caine of CSI: Miami what did you think of the Oscars

Michael Moore’s Top 20 Films of 2009

Here’s a letter Michael Moore wrote just before last nights Oscars:

Friends,

The best movie I saw this year won’t be winning any awards tonight at the Oscars. It wasn’t even nominated for anything. In fact, it wasn’t even shown in the United States. Yet, I’m confident that, if you had had a chance to see it, you would likely agree with me that this is a brilliant film, a rare gem.

It’s called “Troubled Water” (not to be confused with last year’s superb Katrina doc, “Trouble the Water”). “Troubled Water” is from Norway and it is a work of art and great storytelling from the opening frame to its final fade to black. It tells the story of a young man who is paroled after spending time in prison and gets a job as a church organist. He claims to be innocent in the drowning of a child, but the boy’s mother won’t let it go.
When the film was over, I sat there amazed and wondering, “Why can’t I see movies like this all the time?” What is wrong with filmmaking, with Hollywood? Why are most films just the same old tired assembly line stuff — sequels, remakes, old TV shows turned into movies, predictable plots and storylines… “If you’ve seen the trailer, you’ve seen the movie.”
But “Troubled Water” was not like that — and therefore its distribution to the theaters of America was, in essence, doomed.

That’s not to say we don’t make great movies anymore. I loved “Avatar,” “District 9,” “Inglourious Basterds,” “Up in the Air,” and “Up” among many others.

Some critics have hailed “The Hurt Locker” because the film “doesn’t take sides” in the Iraq War — like that’s an admirable thing! I wonder if there were critics during the Civil War that hailed plays or books for being “balanced” about slavery, or if there were those who praised films during World War II for “not taking sides?” I keep reading that the reason Iraq War films haven’t done well at the box office is because they’ve been partisan (meaning anti-war).
The truth is “The Hurt Locker” is very political. It says the war is stupid and senseless and insane. It makes us consider why we have an army where people actually volunteer to do this. That’s why the right wing has attacked the movie. They’re not stupid — they know what Kathryn Bigelow is up to. No one leaves this movie thinking, “Whoopee! Let’s keep these wars going another 7 years!”

James Cameron has been targeted by the crazy right, too. Because — and Fox and Rush have this one correct, too — “Avatar” is, in fact, an allegory for America — a land stolen from an indigenous people who were slaughtered, a nation that not only allows corporations to call the shots but let’s them privatize our wars (wars in distant places with the objective of controlling a dwindling energy resource), and a people who seem hell-bent on destroying the environment.

Cameron is a brave and bold filmmaker, a college drop-out who became a truck driver and then one day just decided he was going to make movies. “Avatar” is an idea he’s had in his head since he was a teenager — and somewhere, somehow, his dreams and creativity weren’t snuffed out by the machine. Thank God.

There is so much more I want to say about the state of movies these days, but you’ve got better things to do on this beautiful Sunday. I love this art form, and tonight is the night to celebrate it!

In fact, the Oscars are about to start. I’ll try to “tweet” along with you during the show.
Finally, let me leave you with a list of 20 great movies I saw in 2009 that received little or no recognition or distribution in the U.S. They deserve to be acknowledged on this important night, and I hope you can find them somewhere, someday (a number are already on DVD). They represent the hope I have for the movies being the inspiring force I’ve always believed in.

Be well. And — no extra salt or butter on the popcorn!

Yours,

Michael Moore

MichaelMoore.com
Twitter.com/MMFlint

P.S. Here’s my list of 20 “best pictures” I saw in 2009:

1. “Troubled Water” (see above)
2. “Everlasting Moments” – A wife in the early 20th century wins a camera and it changes her life (from Sweden).
3. “Captain Abu Raed” – This first feature from Jordan tells the story of an airport janitor who the neighborhood kids believe is a pilot.
4. “Che” – A brilliant, unexpected mega-film about Che Guevara by Steven Soderbergh.
5. “Dead Snow” – The scariest film I’ve seen in a while about zombie Nazis abandoned after World War II in desolate Norway.
6. “The Great Buck Howard” – A tender look at the life of an illusionist, based on the life of The Amazing Kreskin starring John Malkovich.
7. “In the Loop” – A rare hilarious satire, this one about the collusion between the Brits and the Americans and their illegal war pursuits.
8. “My One and Only” – Who woulda thought that a biopic based on one year in the life of George Hamilton when he was a teenager would turn out to be one of the year’s most engaging films.
9. “Whatever Works” – This was a VERY good Woody Allen film starring the great Larry David and it was completely overlooked.
10. “Big Fan” – A funny, dark film about an obsessive fan of the New York Giants with a great performance by the comedian Patton Oswalt.
11. “Eden Is West” – The legendary Costa-Gavras’ latest gem, ignored like his last brilliant film 4 years ago, “The Axe”.
12. “Entre Nos” – An mother and child are left to fend for themselves in New York City in this powerful drama.
13. “The Girlfriend Experience” – Steven Soderbergh’s second genius film of the year, this one set in the the post-Wall Street Crash era, a call girl services the men who brought the country down.
14. “Humpday” – Two straight guys dare each other to enter a gay porn contest — but will they go through with it?
15. “Lemon Tree” – A Palestinian woman has her lemon trees cut down by the Israeli army, but she decides that’s the final straw.
16. “Mary and Max” – An Australian girl and and elderly Jewish man in New York become pen pals in this very moving animated film.
17. “O’Horten” – Another Norwegian winner, this one about the final trip made by a retiring train conductor.
18. “Salt of This Sea” – A Palestinian-American returns to her family’s home in the West Bank, only to find herself caught up in the struggles between the two cultures.
19. “Sugar” – A Dominican baseball player gets his one chance to come to America and make it in the big leagues.
20. “Fantastic Mr. Fox” – A smart, adult animated film from Wes Anderson that at least got two nominations from the Academy.

A good list of movies at the end. How many have you seen and what other films of 2009 should we have seen but didn’t?

2010 Oscar Results – Avatar will be Hurting

The results are out and Kathryn Bigelow’s The Hurt Locker was the big winner. She is now the first female director to win best Director at the Academy Awards. Ben Stiller dressed up as a Na’Vi. Sandra Bullock is the best and worst actress and The Dude won best actor. Neil Patrick Harris opened the proceedings with a song while Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin hosted the show.

Best Supporting Actor:

* Matt Damon – Invictus
* Woody Harrelson – The Messenger
* Christopher Plummer – The Last Station
* Stanley Tucci – The Lovely Bones
* Christoph Waltz – Inglourious Basterds

Best Animated Feature Film:

* Coraline
* Fantastic Mr. Fox
* The Princess and the Frog
* The Secret of the Kells
* Up

Best Original Song:

* “Almost There” from The Princess and the Frog
* “Down in New Orleans” from The Princess and the Frog
* “Loin de Paname” from Paris 36
* “Take It All” from Nine
* “The Weary Kind” from Crazy Heart

Best Original Screenplay:

* Mark Boal – The Hurt Locker
* Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds
* Oren Moverman and – The Messenger
* Joel and Ethan Coen – A Serious Man
* Pete Docter and Bob Peterson – Up

Best Animated Short:

* French Roast
* Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty
* The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)
* Logorama
* A Matter of Loaf and Death

Best Documentary Short:

* China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province
* The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner
* The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant
* Music by Prudence
* Rabbit à la Berlin

Best Live-Action Short:

* The Door
* Instead of Abracadabra
* Kavi
* Miracle Fish
* The New Tenants

Best Make-up:

* Il Divo
* Star Trek
* The Young Victoria

Best Adapted Screenplay:

* Neill Blomkamp and – District 9
* Nick Hornby – An Education
* Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci and Tony Roche – In the Loop
* Geoffrey Fletcher – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
* Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner – Up in the Air

Best Supporting Actress:

* Penelope Cruz – Nine
* Vera Farmiga – Up in the Air
* Maggie Gyllenhaal – Crazy Heart
* Anna Kendrick – Up in the Air
* Mo’Nique – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire

Best Art Direction

* Avatar
* The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
* Nine
* Sherlock Holmes
* The Young Victoria

Best Costume Design:

* Bright Star
* Coco Before Chanel
* The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus
* Nine
* The Young Victoria

Best Sound Editing:

* Avatar
* The Hurt Locker
* Inglourious Basterds
* Star Trek
* Pixar’s Up

Best Sound Mixing:

* Avatar
* The Hurt Locker
* Inglourious Basterds
* Star Trek
* Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen

Best Cinematography:

* Maurio Fiore – Avatar
* Bruno Delbonnel – Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince
* Barry Ackroyd – The Hurt Locker
* Robert Richardson – Inglourious Basterds
* Christian Berger – The White Ribbon

Best Original Score:

* James Horner – Avatar
* Alexandre Desplat – Fantastic Mr. Fox
* Marco Beltrami & Buck Sanders – The Hurt Locker
* Hans Zimmer – Sherlock Holmes
* Michael Giacchino – Pixar’s Up

Best Visual Effects:

* Avatar
* District 9
* Star Trek

Best Documentary Feature:

* Burma VJ
* The Cove
* Food, Inc.
* The Most Dangerous Man in America
* Which Way Home

Best Film Editing:

* Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron – Avatar
* Julian Clarke – District 9
* Bob Murawski and Chris Innis – The Hurt Locker
* Sally Menke – Inglourious Basterds
* Joe Klotz – Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire

Best Foreign Language Film:

* Ajami – Israel
* El Secreto de sus Ojos – Argentina
* The Milk of Sorrow – Peru
* Un Prophéte – France
* The White Ribbon – Germany

Best Actor:

* Jeff Bridges – Crazy Heart
* George Clooney – Up in the Air
* Colin Firth – A Single Man
* Morgan Freeman – Invictus
* Jeremy Renner – The Hurt Locker

Best Actress:

* Sandra Bullock – The Blind Side
* Helen Mirren – The Last Station
* Carey Mulligan – An Education
* Gabourey Sidibe – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
* Meryl Streep – Julie & Julia

Best Director:

* Kathryn Bigelow – The Hurt Locker
* James Cameron – Avatar
* Lee Daniels – Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
* Jason Reitman – Up in the Air
* Quentin Tarantino – Inglourious Basterds

Best Picture:

* Avatar
* The Blind Side
* District 9
* An Education
* The Hurt Locker
* Inglourious Basterds
* Precious: Based on the Novel “Push” by Sapphire
* A Serious Man
* Up
* Up in the Air

There you have it. Did they make the right choice. Should The Hurt Locker have won best picture? In 10 years time which will you remember the most – The Hurt Locker or Avatar?

Conan – Stephen Lang may be the bad guy

He was great in Public Enemies, hilarious in The Men Who Stare at Goats and excellent in Avatar, now it looks as Stephen Lang will be playing the big bad in the new Conan film by Marcus Nispel. He is currently in negotiations to play Khalar Singh according to Latino Review.

This is the casting breakdown for the character:

Khalar Singh is in his 40s to 50s, Asian or Middle Eastern, Central Asian, Mongol, Turkish, or Persian, open to all ethnicities; commanding in size and manner, a warlord and formidable warrior, brilliant, cruel, weathered and tanned by the many campaigns he has waged and won. He is driven in his quest to find the Queen of Acheron and has been building an empire to do so.

His goal is to find the Queen whose blood will bring life to the demonic minions of Acheron while making himself king of this hellish power. With this power, Khalar will protect his legacy against the onslaught of master sorcerer, Thoth-Amon so that his weak son, Fariq may rule after his death. While riding into a Cimmerian village to recruit his old comrade, Corin, his large collection of mercenaries slaughters them to the last soul when Corin refuses to join them. The village’s only survivor was young Conan. When Khalar’s search has finally narrowed to the likely discovery of the queen at a monastery of female monks, he also learns Conan is older and hungry for revenge…

I could easily see Lang playing that. He is a great actor and I hope he takes the role.