New "Nightmare On Elm Street" Poster

If you don't know by the newest horror movie to be remade is Nightmare On Elm Street. This time starring Jackie Earle Haley ( Watchmen, Little Children) as the four bladed glove wearing serial killer Freddy Krueger. I honestly think this movie has a lot of excellent potential, considering Haley is an absolutely perfect choice for Krueger. They took a guy who is naturally creepy on his own, threw some sick make up on him, gave him a bladed glove , and somehow made him even creepier. Hopefully the writers and director of it don't screw up this remake like the past ones ( Friday The 13th, Halloween, Texas Chainsaw Massacre).

Marlon Wayans Role Of A Lifetime?

Marlon Wayans begins shooting a film this fall that may propel him from Scary Movie/White Chicks type reputation to a real actor people take seriously. The famous person he is portraying is Richard Pryor in the bio pic about him. I was take back by the idea at first but the L.A. Times published a big piece on him and how he has prepared for the role and it has convinced me. Initially it was Eddie Murphy who was suppose to portray Prior, and from his spot on impressions of him it made sense. After a lot of deliberation and researching it was decided he did not fit the role. This may be the role of a lifetime for Wayans, consider the other actors as of late who have played famous people in bio pics. Jamie Foxx as Ray Charles....Oscar win..... Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash....Oscar Nomination.....Will Smith as Ali....Oscar Nomination...these 3 were not considered serious actors until these roles came up (Phoenix being exception with Gladiator, but wasn't lead role until Walk the Line). I hope the best for Wayans, if this proves to be a success it will be great for him and us movie goers. We no longer will have to watch crap like White Chicks, Little Man, or Scary Movie 200.

Bootlegger gets jail time!!!

Slow weekend in terms of movie news...however one interesting tid bit has popped up. Back when The Dark Knight first came out someone got busted video tapping it in the theater. It was discovered they had done it before and planned on doing it with this film. His punishment?????? 2 YEARS IN JAIL!!! The he also gets the gift of paying $24,378 in fines!!! What the hell?!!! 2 years for bootlegging a movie?!!!! Pedophiles get less than that and then they get put in therapy....doesn't seem to fair.

Wall Street 2 Trailer

In the mid 80's and unfortunately most likely in today's world almost every money hungry person tries to think and act like Gordon Gekko and I am sure use his saying "Greed, for lack of a better word, is good" on a daily basis. Who is Gordon Gekko you may ask? Well actually....HE is a fictional character, a fictional character brought to life by Oliver Stone and played by Michael Douglas in the 80's hit Wall Street. The role nabbed Douglas an Oscar for Best Actor and to this day is considered one of if not his best role. The original Wall Street is about Gekko taking a young up and coming stockbroker Bud Fox ( Charlie Sheen) under his wing and teaching him that "GREED IS GOOD". Long story short....greed turns out to be bad and Gekko ends up in jail. That's where Wall Street 2 picks up...well sort of. It picks up 25 years after the original ends....Gekko is leaving prison and is back in the real world. The plot is still relatively unknown completely, but it involves the recent stock market crash the United States had and I'm sure Gekko gets involved with it somehow. Oh yeah, and there is Shia LaBeouf, seemingly taking Charlie Sheen's role. Watch the trailer and decide for yourself.

Esquire's Piece on Roger Ebert

Anyone over the age of 10 knows who Roger Ebert is and has most likely read one of his movie reviews. Starting off as a sportswriter at the age of 15 he has become one of the world's most respected film critics. Unfortunately he has had to overcome bouts with cancer and as a result lost his lower jaw....his ability to eat...and his ability to talk. However that has not stopped him from writing reviews weekly and critiquing movies despite it all. Not enough can be said about Roger Ebert....and if you don't know much about him or what he is going through you should truly read the piece Esquire did on him. It is a very well written piece and makes you appreciate him even more, movie fan or not.

http://www.esquire.com/features/roger-ebert-0310

Defendor

Above is a trailer for the movie Defendor, a new movie starring Woody Harrelson. He plays Arthur Poppington, a man who thinks he is a super hero and wants to clean up the streets and take down "Captain Industry". The fact of the matter is he is NOT a super hero and he may not actually be sane....who knows. I have watched this trailer numerous times and I'm still not quite sure how I feel about it yet. Given the second wind that Woody Harrelson's career has had as of late, I wouldn't count this movie out. His performance alone can carry this movie. Will this win Oscars? No....will it be a huge box office hit? Most likely not...but it has potential to develop a cult following. With that being said watch and leave your comments below.

In Theatres This Week ( Feb. 19th)

Opening this week are two really exciting movies, much better than the past month or more of releases. The first one up is the most recent film by Martin Scorsese, followed by the latest from former free man Roman Polanski. These two directors have collected a combined seven Oscar nods for their iconic films. Their film's coming out this week hope to carry on their glory and maybe add to their trophy cases.

The first film coming out is Martin Scorsese's newest shot at horror titled " Shutter Island". This isn't the first time he has dabbled in the horror category, in 1991 he released "Cape Fear" starring Robert Deniro. The film was a huge success and was nominated for 2 Oscars, "Shutter Island" hope to achieve that same success. The films stars Leonardo Dicaprio as U.S. Marshal Teddy Daniels, this marks the 4th time Scorsese has called upon Dicaprio to be a star in his film (Gangs Of New York, Aviator, The Departed). Teddy Daniels is investigating the disappearance of a murderess who escaped from a hospital for the criminally insane and is presumed to be hiding on the remote Shutter Island. After discovering a lead but not getting any help from the hospital a hurricane hits the island and forces Daniels to stay much longer than he would like. That's just a rough rough outline of the story......If Scorsese's name nor Dicaprio's name being attached to this isn't enough for you then the awesome trailers should do the trick. This movie WILL be awesome. Both Scorsese and Dicaprio do not make bad films anymore....they just don't. The last crappy movie for Dicaprio came wayyyy back in 2000 with The Beach....and Scorsese's last "flop" well shit you have to go all the way back to 1972 when he directed to "Boxcar Bertha" to find it. That really says something, they both have proven that they put in the time and effort to make a truly great film every single time. That is something rare and something that is missing in Hollywood these days......my vote, yes absolutely go see this movie at all costs, you will not be disappointed.

The other big movie coming out this week is Roman Polanski's "Ghost Writer", no it is not a big screen version of the shitty 90's childrens television series. It is a real movie, with real actors, with real upside to it. It stars Ewan McGregor and Pierce Brosnan, essentially it is about a ghostwriter ( McGregor) hired to complete the memoirs of a former British prime minister (Brosnan)uncovers secrets that put his own life in jeopardy. Now, all child molestation/rape charges aside Polanski is an awesome director. Remember, he did give us one of the best movies ever made in "Chinatown", so we have to at least give this movie the benefit of the doubt. But I think I will go one step further and say this will be a good if not great movie. Polanski was working on this film when the shit hit the fan for him. So he may have realized how fucked he truly is and put everything he had into this as his legacy. So don't be a bit surpirsed if this movie is amazing. Given who is in the film and who is behind it, it has a ton of potential....my vote, go see it.

Special Effects Suck

I am thoroughly convinced special effects have ruined movies completely. Think about it, the last 20 years or so movies have focused wayyyyy more on special effects in movies than they have casting or the script. Studios are way more concerned about blowing shit up and making thinkgs look cool than they are about the story. Look at the AFI Top 100 movies list....there are maybe 10 movies on the list that use serious special effects....and that's pushing it, hell there are none in the top 10 that use any! Doesn't that say something? Have special effects killed the movie industry in terms of making overall excellent movies? I think so....I think they should implement a rule in the movie industry...kind of like they do in college sports. You must work on a film for a certain number of years in order for it to be released and if you want to use a ton of special effects the length of time you must work on it is extended. Maybe Transformers 2 would have been a lot better if they worked on it for more than 10 months?

You can find the AFI List here if you'd like to check it out http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/news/2007-06-20-AFI-movie-list_N.htm

Out this week

There are a lot of movies coming to theater week, some bad ones, some good ones, and some that are on the bubble. Opening in theater this week is, Valentine's Day , Percy Jackson and the long movie title , and The Wolfman .

The first film up on the chopping block is the romantic comedy Valentine's Day, a film that stars basically every single actor or actress that is popular and good looking right now. The plot is basically a bunch of people are intertwined together, break up and I'm sure eventually make up. This is going to be a terrible movie.....it is He's Just Not That Into You, set on Valentine's Day. I am tired of these movies where the scripts are just like fucking mad libs. "Blank falls in love with blank until blank pisses off blank and they break up for blank months. Just when things couldn't look worse blank realizes how much they love and need blank. Happy ever after" Dog shit. This movie is clearly catered towards women, and I am sure it will do very well in the box office just as all of these films do. It is quite sad that this movie will make $100 million dollars but films like Up In The Air won't break that mark after 6 months in theaters. For whatever reason people flock to bull shit like this and Dear John. My opinion is do not see it! Do not take your date to see it for valentine's day. Avoid it at all costs!!! Please......

The second film coming out this week is Percy Jackson and The Olympians : The Lightning Thief. Percy Jackson is about a teenager who discovers he is the descendant of a Greek God (Poseidon), and he sets out on an adventure to find the true lightning theif in order stop an impending war between the Gods. This film has some potential here, my only problem is that it seems to be riding on Harry Potters coat tails. A young kid who lives in the real world and has a mediocre life gets thrust into greatest upon discover he is the child of a God. It sounds old and used, however the story itself may be interesting because it is not exactly Harry Potter. The outline is there but different characters and storyline can be fun, maybe just as much fun as the Harry Potter franchise. The timing of it is also quite smart, with only two Harry Potter films left and no books left to be published it may just be able to steal all the fans who are disappointed at the fact that there is no more Harry Potter. Who knows.....my opinion, if you enjoy Harry Potter go see this.

The third and final big film coming out this week is The Wolfman starring Benicio Del toro and Anthony Hopkins. This film holds a special place in my heart, because I love horror movies, especially old ones. The original Wolfman (played by Lon Chaney Jr.) is one of the older horror films to be put on the big screen with its debut in 1941. The film is about a man named Lawrence Talbot, as a young man he is bitten by a Werewolf and thereafter becomes cursed by the bite. Every time a full moon rises he turns into a werewolf and wreaks havoc on everyone and anything in his way. I truly wish I could say this is going to be a good movie.....unfortunately I cannot. What this will be is a fun movie....a movie that entertains you in the same way a Transformers movie (one not two) does. It will not win awards nor get critical praise. None the less it will be a good date movie and a good movie to have in your collection when it comes to DVD simply for nostalgic purposes. My opinion...nothing to do on Valentine's Day? Bored? In the mood for a movie? Go see the Wolfman.

More Christopher Nolan News

You know you are a kick ass writer/director when a film studio comes to you and asks you to just "Oversee" their film. Not direct it, not write it, just over see it, because they know you can influence a movie that easily. Well the Superman people have done just that. They feel that Nolan can save their franchise by overseeing and helping the goons that effed it up the 1st time around. This in my opinion is the smartest thing they can do, given his resume of Both Batmans, soon to be a third, memento, and the prestige. All of these movies are very well done and what he would bring to the film can give it a much needed push in the right direction.