Author Archives: Sasha McBrayer

About Sasha McBrayer

Sasha McBrayer is a fan of Marvel Comics, science fiction films and bright nail polish. A list of her published, short, speculative fiction stories can be discovered over at her blog: nikanors-inn.livejournal.com. To see her weekly movie review visit coastalcourier.com and click on "Showtime with Sasha". http://www.gravatar.com/avatar/b6c8a69f9da49400b44cfcaa28774e90.png

The Walking Dead

More ‘The Walking Dead: Cold Storage’ from AMC

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The Walking Dead

Guess what, zombie fans! October is finally here. You know what that means. AMC’s killer series, The Walking Dead, Season Three, is almost here. This thrilling new season is cut in half, which is what happens if you shoot a Walker with a shot-gun at close range. I’m just sayin’. But the first half begins on October 14th. That’s still many moons from now, but the makers of the hit show won’t leave you hanging. Their gift to you comes in the form of action-packed new webisodes from their web series called The Walking Dead: Cold Storage.

We reported right here that Cold Storage would be coming to a computer screen near you starting October 1st. The side project is helmed by special-effects guru and director Mr. Greg Nicotero. To watch Cold Storage, get yourself over to the AMC-TV website. Episode one is titled “Hide and Seek”. That’s a darkly humorous title.

You see, Cold Storage is set at the start of the zombie apocalypse, which comes chronologically before the events of the show’s third season. The webisodes are each five-minutes long, but the format is really close to the comic book series upon which the series is based. Comic books are basically really nice storyboards anyway, so they make excellent material for adaptations.

The Cold Storage storyline follows Chase, acted by Josh Stewart. He’s trying desperately to find his missing sister and winds up hiding for a while inside a storage facility run a character acted by Daniel Roebuck, or Lost‘s Dr. Leslie Arzt.

The character of Chris is a side-kick, at least for a bit. We all know how short lives can last during the zombiepocalypse. What’s funny is, the actor who portraying Chris has another really, really short part. He was Uma Thurman’s groom in Kill Bill Vol. 1.

Cold Storage is written by John Esposito and Nicotero. These fellas won the inaugural Writers Guild of America award this year for outstanding achievement in writing derivative new media. Looks like they are in the right profession!

Hard core fans will remember a similar offering which accompanied Season Two. That batch of six webisodes was aptly titled, Torn Apart and delved into the origins of the unforgettable Season One zombie lovingly referred to as “bicycle girl.” Not a bad idea for a spin-off web series at all.

Episode one of The Walking Dead, Season Three has the title of “Seed”. It is written by Glen Mazzara. Lori, Carl, Daryl, Carol, T-Dog, Beth, Hershel, Rick, Maggie, and Glenn are all back. Actor David Morrissey will play “The Governor”. I think it’s safe to say he’ll be a bit of a villain. In fact, he once won a place on IGN’s list of the Greatest Comic Book Villains of All Time. Okay, he came in 86’s, but its an honor just to be mentioned.

The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets

Ken Kwapis Options ‘The Care And Feeding Of Exotic Pets’

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The Care and Feeding of Exotic Pets

The Care And Feeding Of Exotic Pets is an upcoming novel by Diana Wagman. IG Publishing releases the thriller on November 13th, but it must be especially exciting, because there is already a film adaptation in the works.

Ken Kwapis and Alexandra Beattie run the production company called In Cahoots. Cute name, yes? In Cahoots has won the rights to adapt The Care And Feeding Of Exotic Pets. Kwapis will direct the motion picture and it appears he is also working on the adapted screenplay.

The Care And Feeding Of Exotic Pets follows main character Winnie Parker, the mother of a teenage daughter who is quite the handful, and the ex-wife of a popular and well-known game show host who has left her for a hot, young contestant, whom he met on air. Winnie’s life feels pretty mundane and probably a bit unlucky, until she kicks off a brand new day by leaving her car with a mechanic. She accepts a ride to the rental car place, but she isn’t actually getting a ride at all. It dawns on her that she’s been kidnapped. Talk about things going from bad to worse.

Next, Winnie ends up inside the kidnappers house, which is most unusual. You see, the home is tropically heated. The kidnapper keeps it this way for the betterment of his house pet, Cookie, a seven-foot long Iguana with attitude. Now that’s a sinister setting for what has been described as a riveting psychological game of cat and mouse. Apart from having a penchant for exotic pets, the kidnapper gets more and more crazy as Winnie tries both to free herself and figure out why she’s been taken in the first place.

According to Amazon, the novel is, “An engrossing, darkly humorous, edge-of-your-seat story, [that] explores the dynamic between kidnapper and kidnapped, bizarre reptile lore, and the absurdity of the celebrity lifestyle.”

I’m ready to watch this one. They ought to cast Michael Shannon as the kidnapper.

Ken Kwapis’ bread and butter thus far seems to be in chick lit adaptations. Some people think of chick lit as a four-letter word, but I think He’s Just Not That into You, which he directed, is a bit of a new classic. We don’t get too many When Harry Met Sally type films these days. Although ensemble romantic comedies can be terrible, I thought He’s Just Not That into You was entertaining and fun. He also directed The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, which also had it’s charm and appeal. Casting for both those women-centric dramadies was excellent.

It will; however, be interesting to see Kawpis direct something with bite. There’s a dark edge to The Care And Feeding Of Exotic Pets.

If you want to read the story before the film debuts, it is available for pre-order at Amazon and through Barnes & Noble. Wagman’s previous novels are called Bump, Spontaneous and Skin Deep. Spontaneous won an award for literary fiction in 2001.

Kwapis and Beattie also work in television. They shopped two half-hour comedies to NBC and have two Showtime pilots in development. We all know the quality for which the Showtime network is usually known, so those will be shows to track. They are also working on a film called Alive And Well, written by David Hubbard.

The Amazing Spider-Man

Andrew Garfield and Marc Webb Re-Team for ‘The Amazing Spider-Man 2’

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The Amazing Spider-Man

Do you think The Amazing Spider-Man was buried beneath The Dark Knight Rises and The Avengers? Well, if you’re a fan of Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of America’s favorite wall crawler on screen, then you’ll be delighted to learn he’ll be putting on the tights at least one more time. That’s right. There will be an Amazing Spider-Man sequel, and part two has Garfield right back in Marc Webb’s…web.

The appropriately named director, Marc Webb, may just have been born to make these movies. He was behind (500) Days of Summer and the first Amazing Spider-Man film, which introduced Andrew Garfield to playing a super hero. It was released June 30th of 2012 and raked in a worldwide total of $748,974,838. It was the fourth highest-grossing movie of 2012.

President of Columbia Pictures, Doug Belgrad, made the announcement that Garfield and Webb would re-team for The Amazing Spider-Man 2.

We could not be more confident in the direction we are taking this new Spider-Man storyline and we are tremendously excited to be ramping up production again with Marc at the helm and Andrew continuing on as Peter Parker,” said Belgrad. “We can’t wait to share what we have in store for Peter and Spider-Man with audiences worldwide.”

The new screenplay will be tackled by dynamic duo Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci with some help from Jeff Pinkner. Work on the script for The Amazing Spider-Mnn 2 will begin with a previous draft, written by James Vanderbilt. If the names Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci seem familiar to you, then you get a gold star. They co-wrote The Island, starring Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson; as well as Cowboys & Aliens, and worked together on TV’s Alias and Fringe and much more.

Spider-Man 2 will be produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach. That’s not surprising. In fact, you want to see Avi Arad’s name associated with a comic book movie. He produced the previous Tobey Maguire Spider flicks, as well as the Ghost Rider films and more. If there was a Marvel hero in it, Arad was probably involved. The sequel is already scheduled for a release date of May 2, 2014 and will be in 3D format.

The beautiful actress Emma Stone is in discussions to return as Gwen Stacy. Production begins next year.

No comic book movie fan should be surprised by this headline. Comic book story lines make it easy to make sequels. Spider-Man is one hero to which just about anyone can relate. I thought this reboot was a little weird because it dealt quite a bit with Peter Parker’s parents. Critics agreed that Andrew Garfield’s Spider-Man was intimate and very human. He brought a lot of the “Aww” factor, as in, “Aww, isn’t he adorable?”

Claudia Puig of USA Today said in her review:

As a new chapter in the superpowered arachnid saga, it stands on its own quite nicely, focusing more on human emotions than on a panoply of special effects. …Where Tobey Maguire in the original Spider-Man trilogy was earnest, Garfield’s Spider-Man is whip-smart and likably cheeky, with an undercurrent of teenage angst. [The film is] as much a coming-of-age story as a crime-fighting action saga.”

Dark Knight Rises

‘The Dark Knight Rises’ on Blu-ray Dec. 4

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Dark Knight Rises

I know its barely even Halloween season yet, but if you’re making your Christmas list for that special someone, remember that The Dark Knight Rises will be released to Blu-ray and DVD on December 4th. That’s plenty of time to get it wrapped up nicely and stuck under the tree.

You especially need to get your copy if you missed the epic comic book movie in theaters. Bane is the villain in the third and final team up of director, Christopher Nolan and Bat-actor, Christian Bale. They don’t call him the man who broke the bat without just cause.

Some details regarding the hot, December release have risen to the surface by way of a new press release. Let’s comb through some of the facts, shall we? Oh, and yes, that’s the official Blu-ray packaging artwork you see up above.

In addition to your typical single film DVDs, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group also plans to release the “Dark Knight Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset” this coming December. Now that sounds like a really great gift, provided the giftee isn’t a Bat-nut like myself, who already has copies of the previous two films. Also, keep in mind that in 2013 another gift set will be released called the “Dark Knight Trilogy Ultimate Collector’s Edition”. Hmm. That one sounds even better. Warner Bros. is also developing an app for mobile devices. So, be on the look out.

When it comes to the stand-alone film, The Dark Knight Rises will be avialable in Blu-ray Combo Pack, DVD and Digital Download.

One Bat-flavored perk will be available free of charge. There’s The Dark Knight Rises app for IOS 5.0 or higher compatible devices such as iPhone and iPad, and Samsung Galaxy devices including S2, S3, Note, Nexus and Tab (operating system requirements vary by device). This free app builds on what’s already out there. So if you already have the “TDKR: Gotham City’s Most Wanted” app, The Dark Knight Rises app will serve as an update to that one in two phases.

The first update is coming late in October and will include several interactive activities. One item is a photo application that lets users pop a photo of themselves into a Tumbler, a.k.a. Nolan’s version of the Batmobile. In fact, if you are really serious about giving other the impression you can wield one of those military beasts, there will also be a video application that will allow users to insert a Tumbler into their personal videos. Because no day at the beach is complete without a Tumbler.

The second update will hit the same day as the Blu-Ray, which is December 4. It’s supposed to add a second screen functionality to the existing app. This way, you can sync compatible mobile devices with the Blu-ray disc via BD-Live enabled Blu-ray players. They must be connected to the same Local Area Network; however, but if they are, there’s more exclusive bonus content to drool over. You’ll get things like film location information, Gotham City maps, trivia, photo galleries and making-of featurettes. The second screen app is especially inventive. It gives you the freedom to control playback of the film on your TV via the Blu-ray player. You can get The Dark Knight Rises app from iTunes and Google Play.

As for the film itself, the Blu-ray Combo Pack will retail for $35.99, but the single disc DVD will sell for $28.98. You aren’t paying much more for that combo. Consider, too, what you are getting for the price. The Blu-ray Combo Pack has got the film in hi-definition on Blu-ray and in standard definition on DVD. This Blu-ray disc in particular should be stellar thanks to the IMAX technology utilized here. Filmmakers actually mixed it with the 35mm format. They call it a hybrid and it should provide for stunning clarity. Both the Blu-ray Combo Pack and the single disc DVD will also include UltraViolet, which allows the end user to download and instantly stream the film to just about any device, including compatible tablets and smartphones.

Keep an eye out for the “The Dark Knight Trilogy Limited Edition Giftset,” as I mentioned earlier. It comes with a nifty book that will be exclusive to the collection.

Once again, The Dark Knight Rises features a screenplay written by Jonathan Nolan and Christopher Nolan, with a story by Christopher Nolan and wonder kid David S. Goyer. The all-star cast includes Oscar winner Christian Bale; Anne Hathaway as Catwoman; Tom Hardy as Bane; Oscar winner Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate; and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as beat cop John Blake.

Dark Knight Rises

BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS

BLU-RAY COMBO PACK:

– “THE BATMOBILE” DOCUMENTARY: Witness all five Batmobiles together for the first time in history. Dive deep into every aspect of the most awe-inspiring weapon in Batman’s arsenal as you journey through the birth and evolution of this technological marvel and cultural icon. (01:00)

– ENDING THE KNIGHT: A comprehensive look into how Director Christopher Nolan and his production team made The Dark Knight Rises the epic conclusion to the Dark Knight legend.

– Production
The Prologue: High-Altitude Hijacking
Return to the Batcave
Beneath Gotham
The Bat
Batman vs Bane
Armory Accepted
Gameday Destruction
Demolishing a City Street
The Pit
The Chant
The War on Wall Street
Race to the Reactor

– Characters
The Journey of Bruce Wayne
Gotham’s Reckoning
A Girls Gotta Eat

– Reflections
Shadows & Light in Large Format
The End of A Legend

– Trailers

– Art Galleries

– UltraViolet: Instantly stream and download films to compatible devices

DVD:

– The Journey of Bruce Wayne

– UltraViolet: Instantly stream and download films to compatible devices

DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION ELEMENTS

On December 4, The Dark Knight Rises will be available for download from online digital retailers including iTunes, Xbox, PlayStation, Amazon, Vudu and CinemaNow.

The film is also available digitally starting December 4 in High Definition (HD) VOD and Standard Definition (SD) VOD from cable and satellite providers, and on select gaming consoles.

ULTRAVIOLET

*UltraViolet allows you to collect, watch and share movies and TV shows in a whole new way. Available with the purchase of specially marked Blu-ray discs, DVDs and Digital Downloads, UltraViolet lets you create a digital collection of movies and TV shows. Services such as Flixster and VUDU allow you to instantly stream and download UltraViolet content across a wide range of devices including computers and compatible tablets, smartphones, game consoles, Internet-connected TVs and Blu-ray players. Restrictions and limitations apply. Go to ultraviolet.flixster.com/info for details. For more information on compatible devices go to wb.com/ultravioletdevices.

BASICS

PRODUCT SRP

Blu-ray Combo Pack $35.99

Single disc Amaray $28.98

Bat Cowl package Blu-ray Combo Pack $39.99

The Dark Knight Trilogy Blu-ray $52.99

The Dark Knight Trilogy DVD $38.99

Street Date: December 4, 2012

DVD Languages: English, Latin Spanish, Canadian French

BD Languages: English, Latin Spanish, Canadian French, Brazilian Portuguese

DVD Subtitles: ESDH, Latin Spanish, Parisian French

BD Subtitles: ESDH, Latin Spanish, Parisian French, Brazilian Portuguese

Running Time: 165 minutes

Rating: PG-13 for intense sequences of violence and action, some sensuality and language

Blu-ray 5.1 DLBY/SURR DTS-HDMA 2.0 DLBY/DGTL

DVD 5.1 DLBY/SURR 2.0 DLBY/ DGTL

Dark Knight Rises

Mark Millar

Fox Hires Creative Consultant Mark Millar for Marvel Films

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Mark Millar

When you are Mark Millar, a down economy and general lack of jobs isn’t really a problem. 20th Century Fox has just officially hired the comic book writer behind such books as The Authority, Ultimate Fantastic Four, Civil War, Wanted, and Kick-Ass, as their new creative consultant for upcoming Marvel projects. That’s good news for comic book movie fans.

Millar’s first assignments will be to work with Fox on developing “new avenues” for The X-Men and The Fantastic Four.

Production President Emma Watts reported, “We are excited to be working with Mark. In addition to his groundbreaking Marvel work, he is simply one of the most original voices in comics today and will be an invaluable resource to us and to our filmmakers as we look for fresh opportunities to innovate within our shared Marvel universe.”

Current upcoming films for the studio are The Wolverine, X-Men: Days of the Future Past, and a new Fantastic Four reboot. If you thought comic book movies were losing steam, you may want to reconsider.

The Wolverine stalled for a while with bad weather in Japan, but it seems like things are now full steam ahead for the Hugh Jackman starrer, being directed by James Mangold.

As for X-Men: Days of the Future Past, this is the title of the uber exciting new sequel to X-Men: First Class. i can’t tell you how ground breaking this film may be, as the young Xavier and his team see what their dark futures may hold. Matthew Vaughn is still at the helm on that project.

Now, it has been some time since Fantastic Four made a cinematic peep, but when newcomer Josh Trank made waves with his film, Chronicle, Fox promised him a shot at a reboot and they are making good on that promise.

The following statement was a part of Millar’s response to his new post.

As someone who has spent his entire life obsessed with both comic-books and movies, this is essentially my dream gig as it’s a unique combination of both,” stated Millar. “I spent ten years working at Marvel and am really happy with the work I did on the comic side of things so the idea of working with these characters now in a brand new medium is enormously exciting for me. I really like the Fox team, love this bold new direction they have for their franchises and am proud to be working alongside some of modern cinema’s biggest talents. James Mangold is incredible, Matthew Vaughn’s one of my closest pals and Josh Trank gave us, in my opinion, one of the greatest superhero movies of the last decade with Chronicle. The invitation to join this crew was maybe the coolest phone-call I’ve ever had.”

Millar’s newest titles are The Secret Service, Superior, and Nemesis. Nemesis is already being looked at as a new adaptation for Fox. Kick-Ass 2 is currently shooting in London and Toronto, starring Jim Carrey and Chris Mintz-Plasse. Yes, you read that right. Jim Carrey is involved. Universal wants to develop the War Heroes series with Mike DeLuca as a producer. The Secret Service, which was co-created with Watchmen genius Dave Gibbons, and X-Men: First Class director Matthew Vaughn, is also in development. See, it is very good to be Mark Millar. 20th Century Fox Film is of course one of the world’s largest producers and distributors of motion pictures. They’ll make a fine pair.

City of Bones

‘The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones’ Graphic Novel Adaptation Available Now

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City of Bones

We did Twilight. We have all the DVDs (Well, except for Breaking Dawn, part two, coming to theaters later this year). We’ve done The Hunger Games, film one. We even have the T-shirt. One of the next young adult paranormal book series to get it’s big screen adaptation will be City of Bones, which is Cassandra Clare’s book one in her The Mortal Instruments series. Will it be just as hot? That remains to be seen. The film won’t hit until the summer of 2013. That isn’t too far off now, but there’s something even closer.

A Graphic Novel adaptation of the popular series is available now.

According to the official press release, as we speak, digital booksellers are stocking their cyber shelves with paranormal graphic novel goodness. Cassandra Clare is a New York Times bestselling author. Her other series includes The Infernal Devices Trilogy and The Dark Artifices Trilogy. Clare, along with the publisher Th3rd World Studios, has envisioned a series of graphic novels that re-deliver the well-loved urban fantasy trilogy known as The Mortal Instruments. Today marks an exclusive digital release ofor Issue #1 of The City of Bones, available on comiXology, in iPhone, iPad, Android, Kindle Fire, Windows 8, and Web formats. There will be nine issues also to be released digitally later on.

The Mortal Instruments is an incredibly successful and engaging series of books; we are very excited to bring this series to a new audience through this collaboration with Cassie and comiXology,” said Th3rd World Co-Publisher Michael DeVito.

Th3rd World Co-Publisher Jon Conkling added, “The Mortal Instruments series has a passionate fan base who care greatly about this wonderful series so we have been working hard to remain as faithful to the source material as possible.”

The writer doing the adapting of Clare’s material is veteran comics author Mike Raicht. His published works include Dark Shadows, GI Joe, and The Stuff of Legend series. The art for the series is coming from newcomer Nicole Virella. Her style is a little unique, I think you’ll find. Colors are handled by Jeremy Mohler and lettering by Steve Wands.

If you haven’t yet read the books, then you don’t know that City of Bones features the first meeting of Jace and Clary. Clary is a fifteen-year-old who has just become aware of the existence of Shadowhunters, a secret warriors keeping our world safe from demons out of our world. Valentine, one such the evil Shadowhunter, Clary is pretty sure may have killed her mother. Jace is an attractive Shadowhunter imbued with the blood of an angel.

Readers can instantly download the digital version of the City of Bones graphic novel starting on September 26th through comiXology. The rest of the series will continue digital releases every month.

The original Mortal Instruments series has already won numerous awards. It has sold millions worldwide in multiple languages and has inspired sequels and prequels. Screen Gems is in production for the film adaptation of City of Bones with a screenplay penned by Jessica Postigo.

Lily Collins will star as Clary Fray and Jamie Campbell Bower is Jace Wayland, with hottie Jonathan Rhys Meyers as Valentine.

Hilary Swank to Star in ‘You’re not You’

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Director George C. Wolfe just landed actress Hilary Swank to star his adaptation of the novel You’re Not You. The book was the very first novel by Michelle Wildgen. Wolfe also directed The Devil Wears Prada and Nights in Rodanthe.

Wildgen’s book follows her main character, “Bec”, who will be acted by Swank. Bec sleeping with her married professor during the summer of her junior year at college. She has lost focus, interest, and direction. Soon, Bec finds herself in a job as caretaker for Kate, a thirty-six-year-old woman with ALS.

In a way, the flavor of Devil Wears Prada is evident. You see, before Kate was assaulted by her disease, she was quite the high powered gal. She was an advertising executive and a world class chef. Kate begins to give some of her sass to the younger Bec.

This would sound wonderful, except Bec’s dedication and attention to Kate still has got her college classes suffering and has a domino effect upon Kate’s marriage. Bec will soon have to decide between her two lifestyles.

On of the difficulties for Bec is the way she seems to be taking on Kate’s husband’s usual roles in Kate’s life.

Swank is planning to add producing to her role as star for You’re not You, via her company, 2S Banner, along with partners Molly Smith, Denise Di Novi and Alison Greenspan. Filming begins in Los Angeles this November.

Swank films have dwindled to about one a year lately. she starred as Amelia in 2009 and was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role for Conviction, which was a great crime thriller drama pairing her with Sam Rockwell. The Resident was a creepy thriller from 2011, where her co-star Jeffrey Dean Morgan is both sexy and terrifying. Her last film was New Year’s Eve.

Noah's Ark

See the Inside of ‘Noah’s Ark’

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Noah's Ark

We’ve been hearing the buzz surrounding Noah’s Ark, the movie, for months now. If you were starting to believe the Bible-based motion picture was a myth, we have a little something to return your faith. Will a photo from the set do the trick?

I can’t blame a single soul for being skeptical. It wasn’t so long ago that Black Swan director Darren Aronofsky was playing a game of red light, green light with The Wolverine property. That game ended without Aronofsky’s attachment sticking with The Wolverine. In fact, directing duties have transferred over to James Mangold. I don’t mind the change either. Mangold is behind Cop Land, a great crime drama with a great script, cool characters, and plenty of action. He also worked with Jackman before on his most romantic film, Kate & Leopold. Mangold also directed Walk the Line and 3:10 to Yuma. Color me excited. There’s even a photo of The Wolverine already floating around. The movie lives! Just like Noah’s Ark.

Noah’s Ark will star Russell Crowe and Jennifer Connelly, who are being reunited from their co-starring roles on A Beautiful Mind. That ought to be fun. Saoirse Ronan of The Lovely Bones and The Host joins Douglas Booth, Logan Lerman, Emma Watson, Ray Winstone, Anthony Hopkins, Kevin Durand and Mark Margolis. Did I read that right? Emma Watson! Woo!

When Aronofsky first won Crowe as his lead, he said, “I’d like to thank Paramount and Regency for backing my team’s work to breathe new life into the biblical epic. I rejoice that Russell Crowe will be by my side on this adventure. It’s his immense talent that helps me to sleep at night. I look forward to being wowed by him every day.”

Filming for this Biblical epic has been going on in Iceland and in New York and the picture has a release date of March 28, 2014. Can you say “Snakes on a Ship?” The photo from the set looks a little spooky. It also looks like something from an Indiana Jones film. That’s because it’s an interior shot from within the Ark, where piles of snakes reside, hoping to avoid the world-changing flood about to assault the planet. There’s also a giant crocodile down there, chilling with the snakes. (Well, he looks to big to be an alligator to me.) Can you imagine having to live peacefully with all those creatures trapped inside a floating vessel?

The photo came from Darren Aronofsky’s cinematographer, Matthew Libatique, who wrote,

Pre lighting on the holiest day of the year.”

I believe Libatique is referring to Yom Kippur, which began in the evening of Tuesday, September 25, and ended in the evening of Wednesday, September 26.

I hear Ray Winstone is being billed as the story’s villain. That should be interesting. He’s a good choice to be facing off against Crowe. If you’re a fan of Crowe, then you may have caught his Tweets about the terrible weather and dangerous conditions in Iceland. Better he than me! He has even joked about singing a lullaby to his Bible-based brood, Tweeting, “Night Shem, night Ham, night Japheth.”

This December Crowe will have the chance to wow Les Mis fans in his role as Inspector Javert. Thank you, director Tom Hooper, for figuring out that the big guy could sing. Speaking again of The Wolverine, Jean Valjean is brought to life by Hugh Jackman. Now that’s an awesome hero/ villain pairing!

Crowe is also getting in on some comic book movie action by becoming Jor-El for the new Man of Steel.

Anne Hathaway in Talks for Spielberg’s ‘Robopocalypse’

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As if the novel, Robopocalypse, weren’t already fascinating enough on its own, things just got a little more interesting. That tends to happen when Anne Hathaway’s name gets dropped!

Robopocalypse is that novel with the stunning cover, the one depicting a close-up of shiny, white, feminine robot’s face with black eyelashes and devil red eyes. From author Daniel H. Wilson, it reveals a future for humanity under the reign of a childlike, yet extremely powerful A.I. called Archos. Think Skynet from the Terminator series. Archos is a the global network of machines that has turned against mankind. At the very brink of extinction, a few scattered survivors manage to team up and develop a strategy for taking back their world.

The book has plenty of acclaim. It has been likened to The Andromeda Strain and to works by sci-fi giant, Robert Heinlein. Stephen King sang it’s praises, too. It’s noteworthy that the author has a PhD in robotics.

None other than Steven Spielberg himself is adapting the action-packed book into film. Tom Rothman has signed on as producer and Dark Knight Rises actress, Anne Hathaway is in negotiations to act in Robopocalypse.

The picture will be co-produced between DreamWorks and Fox, with Disney in charge of domestic distribution. A release date of April 25, 2014 has already been chosen.

Fox and Spielberg also worked together on the futuristic film, Minority Report. DreamWorks scooped up the property way back in 2009, purchasing the rights before Wilson’s manuscript was ever published!

Steven Spielberg said in a statement, “When someone like Tom is a free agent, you snatch him up fast. He has proven himself to be a necessity of this industry. At Fox he had already been an enthusiastic partner on Robopocalypse, and it is to our advantage that he would come produce this film with me. Tom has been a wonderful friend and colleague over the years and DreamWorks is incredibly lucky to have him on board.”

Tom Rothman said, “If you are in politics, you dream of a call from the White House, in baseball, from the Yankees, in movies, fromSteven Spielberg. Robopocalypse is the kind of important epic entertainment, a big movie with big ideas, that Steven does better than any filmmaker on earth. I am honored beyond measure that he asked for my help on it and fired up to do whatever I can for him, Stacey, the outstanding DreamWorks team, and all of my friends at Fox. I enjoyed the idea of being unemployed for a week, but this will be way more fun.”

I think Anne Hathaway is an excellent choice for this property. She has more than proven she can hold her own as an action star thanks to her turn as Catwoman, a role I was surprised she pulled off so amazingly well. The adaptation of Les Mis is only going to further catapult the young actress into the public eye. We are already hearing reports that hunk Chris Hemsworth may also try for a role in Robopocalypse. Do you think those two would have adequate chemistry? I hear Ben Whishaw, who will be appearing in another sci-fi film, The Cloud Atlas, is also looking at a part.

Jena Malone

Jena Malone ‘Catching Fire’ Talks Intense Training

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Jena Malone

Last March The Hunger Games took cinemas by storm. The hot, action sequel, Catching Fire makes its debut November 22, 2013. Although the stars who survived The Hunger Games and live on to tell their tales will be returning, Catching Fire also brings with it some new faces. One of those fresh faces belongs to 27-year-old Jena Malone. She’s on fire in more ways than one.

The Hunger Games trilogy is bloody popular. I know several men who have read the popular young adult dystopian series penned by Suzanne Collins, and I just can’t say that about Stephenie Meyer’s Twilight, nor her stand alone work, The Host. The material is action-packed, easy to relate to, at times harrowing, and delivered via the perspective of Katniss Everdeen, a strong, capable, flawed character men and women both seem to love. I say all that to say this: Who doesn’t want to be a member of the cast for the film adaptations? That makes the actors actually chosen for films feel pretty lucky. Jena Malone is no exception.

I’m very excited as well, it’s going to be great,” Malone said. “I just love the books so much. I literally read all three in four days and just was crying at the end. I’m really, really excited to be a part of it.”

Many of us have similar stories about the way we first read The Hunger Games. There’s something shared, something universal about these books.

Malone gets the chance to bring to life District 7’s Johanna Mason. Most of Suzanne Collins’ characters are multi-layered and complex, but Johanna is also fearless, raucous and sexy. For that reason, Malone was an excellent choice to play her. She not only has a feisty side, but she has the acting chops to play real depth. If any actress is going to fit into the shoes of a lady who intimidates Katniss, it’s Malone. Malone also has some experience with physical work and that’s coming in handy right about now.

Oh yeah, I’m in the thick of [training] but excited,” she said. “I love that kind of stuff. Sucker Punch kind of got me into a regimen and now I kind of crave it.”

Johanna Mason is a former Hunger Games tribute and champion of the Games. This means she’s a bit older than Katniss and has become a mentor to new tributes. That mentor role, the role Haymich played for Katniss and Peeta, is also a role the District 12 sweethearts, the archer and the baker, get to play moving forward. Mind you, Johanna may have an axe to grind. Follow my logic. If she’s a mentor, and Katniss and Peeta won the last Games, they likely killed the Tributes Mason was mentoring. Oops.

Johanna also gets more and more involved as we go deeper into the story.

In Catching Fire audiences will become familiar with the Quarter Quell, a set of Games with especially treacherous circumstances. As if they weren’t terrible enough already? This year President Snow will decree that former winners get put back in the lottery to compete in the horror yet again. That means Haymitch’s name could be drawn…or Katniss or Peeta’s! And yes, Johanna will be back in contention to be drawn within her district, too.

The only sad bit of news is that Kristen Bell, who is obsessed with The Hunger Games, won’t be playing Johanna Mason. I think she also could have done a good job with the role.

Catching Fire will be directed by Francis Lawrence. Jennifer Lawrence, Josh Hutcherson and Liam Hemsworth reprise their roles. Phillip Seymour Hoffman has been cast as new Gamemaker Plutarch Heavensbee. Sam Claflin won the much coveted role of Finnick Odair.