Prepare for the latest chapter of the groundbreaking saga that began with 2000’s hit sci-fi film Pitch Black and 2004’s The Chronicles of Riddick.

The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he’s encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty.

The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won’t leave the planet without Riddick’s head as their trophy.

Riddick, the latest chapter of the groundbreaking saga that began with 2000’s hit sci-fi film Pitch Black and 2004’s The Chronicles of Riddick reunites writer/director David Twohy (A Perfect Getaway, The Fugitive) and star Vin Diesel (the Fast and Furious franchise, xXx). Diesel reprises his role as the antihero Riddick, a dangerous, escaped convict wanted by every bounty hunter in the known galaxy.

Director: David Twohy
Release: 9/6/2013
Studio: Universal Pictures
Website: http://www.RiddickTheMovie.com
Starring: Vin Diesel, Karl Urban, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Bokeem Woodbine, Dave Bautista, Conrad Pla, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Funk, Keri Hilson

I’m going to come right out and say it, I suck at predicting (what I do is nothing more than guessing) how well movies will do at the box office. I do think it’s fun to speculate though about the summer releases and how they will stack up with their competition.

Numbers aren’t really my game so I just wanted to come on and rank what I think will be the top 10 movies at the box office this summer, then sit back and watch how it all turns out. It’s fun in some way to do something like this and then when you see the movie and love it, it gives you something to root for if you’re not into the summer sports or anything like that.

Without further ado, here are my picks for the winners and losers of the box office for summer 2013.

Winners:

1. Iron Man 3 – Given how much this movie has made already this might be a cheat, but honestly I’m not fully convinced something else on the list won’t come from out of nowhere to make me regret this choice.

2. Man of Steel – Two picks in and I’m already regretting making this list. I want MAN OF STEEL to be good, but Zack Snyder has let me down before. However, having Nolan attached gives me hope as does the trailers- somehow though I’m just not confident this will be a box office juggernaut, but I’m hoping it is based on its placement on the list.

3. Fast & Furious 6 – Another pick I will probably regret placing so high, but due to the success of the series and the off the wall ridiculousness of the trailer I think this thing could potentially break bank at the box office. I have no other reasons for why else I would place this here.

4. Despicable Me 2 – I still have never seen the first film, so I was not part of its success when it was released, but animated movies have the tendency to maybe not open well, but stick around to make a respectable amount of money. This and one other choice I’ll get to I think have the potential to both open big and stick around to put up big numbers.

5. Monsters University – I could easily just flip flop this choice with the previous one as I feel like everything I already typed about DESPICABLE ME 2 also applies here.

6. Star Trek Into Darkness – Some might argue that this is low for this film and the anticipation for it and I would agree. However, while I think this will have a great opening and following week or two, I also think that the numbers won’t be nearly as big to compete in the top 5 especially with IRON MAN 3 still lingering in theaters once this opens and a fan base that I don’t have faith will churn out the big bucks Tony Stark is putting up.

7. The Hangover Part III – The second film didn’t deliver the same magic at the box office as the first, granted it still made a decent chunk of change. I can sort of feel the same thing happening here, but maybe if it improves on what everyone seemed to hate about the second film it could shatter what I I’m thinking will be an example of the law of diminishing returns.

8. Pacific Rim – Let me clarify that my excitement for this is astronomical- to the point that I want to include it in the top 3 for box office success. Yet, I just don’t believe that this has a cast that will draw big numbers and I don’t think del Toro’s name is enough to bring in the big bucks. I’m still looking forward for it to do those big numbers and shame me for having it so low on the list.

9. The Wolverine – I have no knowledge of how much anyone is looking forward to this. However, the success of the X-MEN franchise I think will be enough to give it a decent opening weekend and from there word of mouth will determine if its placement on the list is justified.

10. World War Z – Possibly the one choice I think no one believes will be even slightly successful. I really like the trailer so haters be damned, but I think much like THE WOLVERINE the opening week will be respectable and with Brad Pitt attached maybe it will be enough for it to get in and out with enough money to crack the top 10 of box office winners this summer.

Sleeper Picks:

This is the End – I think this looks and sounds hilarious and if it is as funny as it looks then in could be this year’s breakout R rated comedy hit and I really hope it is.

Elysium – Matt Damon has the potential to put butts in seats, but the real test will be to see how much people really care about this type of science fiction. Blomkamp isn’t quite a household name despite the fantastic DISTRICT 9, which is why I’m considering this as a hit in the making, but am prepared to see it underperformed should that be the case.

Losers:

After Earth – Looks like nothing more than an AVATAR rip-off and I don’t care about the real life father son pair up. Shamalyan lost my faith long ago and the performances from the Smith duo really look terrible to me. It may very well be a box office smash, but in my eyes it doesn’t look to deserve it.

Epic – I actually really want to see this, but considering it opens right alongside FAST & FURIOUS 6 and THE HANGOVER PART III I don’t see how this won’t be buried at the box office. The only thing that may save it is that it appeals to a much different audience than the other two movies and could be a sleeper hit.

The Lone Ranger: Depp alone doesn’t really make a blockbuster, I think DARK SHADOWS helped solidify that and the trailer does not sell to me that this will be entirely clever or exciting. Still, trailers alone are never that great of an example to hedge bets on so maybe this will again leave me with egg on my face.

There it is- I think I left plenty of opportunities to end up embarrassed about my picks once the summer is all over. I’m still really excited to see how it all turns out.

The post 2013 Summer Box Office Predictions appeared first on MoviesOnline.

Aaron Eckhart stars in director Philipp Stolzl’s suspenseful action thriller, “Erased,” playing former CIA agent Ben Logan who moves to Belgium with his estranged 15-year-old daughter, Amy (Liana Liberato), to start a new life working as a high-tech security consultant for a multinational corporation in Brussels. Suddenly Logan and Amy are propelled into an all-out, frenzied run for their lives after they discover they are targets of a wide-ranging international conspiracy. Thrust into the most inconceivable danger, Logan must account for a lifetime of secrets and lies as he battles to regain his daughter’s broken trust.

At the film’s recent press day, Eckhart talked about the extensive training he did in jujitsu and MMA to prepare for the intensely physical role, why the father-daughter relationship was important to him, how he tapped into the emotions of playing a father, what it was like working with Olga Kurylenko and shooting on location in Montreal and Brussels, and why he approaches every role, no matter how big or small, with the same level of commitment. He also discussed his upcoming movie, “I, Frankenstein,” in which he plays another physically demanding role as Mary Shelley’s monster and draws on his proficiency in the Filipino art of Kali stick fighting.

Question: It’s interesting to compare this film to “Olympus Has Fallen.” In “Olympus,” you’re the guy they’re trying to save and protect, and in “Erased,” you’re very proactive and out there kicking ass.

Aaron Eckhart: “Olympus” was a lot of fun to play, but to sit on your butt tied to a railing for an entire movie while somebody else is saving you [doesn’t give you a lot to do], so it’s good to get out. I trained real hard for this movie and to fight. I just saw Liana for the first time since we did the film. She’s grown up so much into a young lady. The reason why I wanted to do the movie was that father-daughter relationship because I don’t have kids. I thought it was a fun premise to be in close quarters in a strange country having to deal with all the problems of a teenage girl liking boys, trying to get her to school, the grades, and then to have to go out and do what we do.

Q: Can you talk about how you trained for the action sequences?

Eckhart: I trained real hard. I did jujitsu and MMA. I had a French Special Forces crazy man named Olivier train me who inflicted great pain on me and taught me everything I know about jujitsu and all the fighting. It’s very important that I do all the fighting in the movie, and that it be real, and that I know what I’m doing because this is a smaller movie. When I got there, we had to get into it real quick. We didn’t have the time to choreograph these fights like you usually do with a huge film. I had to know the language coming in, the submissions, the hand holds, all of that, which was fun but very dangerous. I peeled my thumb all the way back and ripped all the ligaments in my hand two days before we started filming. Can you believe it? I just heard it rip, and I had to do the whole thing with my thumb like that. The training was a big part of it. After playing the president and doing other movies that don’t have action, you’ve got to sell right off the bat that you can do this and you’re capable of it, and that it comes naturally to you. That was important to me.

Q: One thing that I loved with “Erased” is how Ben is constantly thinking. He’s a very intelligently written character.

Eckhart: And also, he has more to do. In “Olympus,” it’s tough because you’re number two in the movie and you’re a subplot. They don’t really have the time for you to think. They don’t want you to think. (laughs) You’re trying to do as much as you can, but the movie doesn’t live and die on you having thoughts. In this movie, it’s important, which I liked about doing this. Plus, there’s the fact that this movie doesn’t rely on green screen and computer generated images. This is us out there in the streets of Europe in the cars. I’m doing the driving. I’m doing the fighting. I’m running with Liana, and Liana is there. I think the only thing I didn’t do was go through the glass. That was the only thing I didn’t do in the movie. And so, that’s rewarding for me. Hopefully, I’ll do more of these kinds of movies because I like action. I also like it because it’s not just a meathead movie. It’s a movie with my daughter, and we have to deal with our feelings towards each other and misunderstandings.

Q: You have a great chemistry with Olga Kurylenko and the relationship between your characters is very duplicitous. How did you two work together?

Eckhart: She came in late to the movie, so there wasn’t a lot of time there. I tried to make that character as sexy as I could. My impression was this girl and I were in Beirut together under very difficult situations in a shack with a candle and a can of tuna for three months. That’s how I saw us. We fell in love and basically had a mad love affair under insane conditions. That’s what I wanted in this movie. I thought that was pure Hollywood romance, but it wasn’t written in the script. And so, how do you take Olga’s character with this pretty cut and dry dialogue and try and make it sexy? I wanted it to be sexy. So, we tried that. We didn’t have a lot to work with in this case. They didn’t develop it that much. I liked Olga a lot. She came in and is a total pro. She’s very beautiful and a very good actor, and so, it was very natural.

Q: How did you find it shooting on location in Montreal and Brussels?

Eckhart: I loved it. Montreal was tough because it was winter going into spring, but very cold and very beautiful. I lived in France for two years, so my French is a little bit sketchy. I tried to speak French the entire time, plus I speak French in this movie, so I wanted it to be passable. The main worry was the crews. How do you split a movie up and then work with European crews in an American action movie with a German director? Everybody was all over the place, but it was absolutely seamless. When you’re working in those big, huge train stations and out on the street and having all the different languages and the cafes, it just works for the movie. On that train, we had three hours to shoot the movie. That means to get on, not three hours to act. It’s three hours to get our stuff on, to set up, and shoot it. It was interesting working in that way, but it only enhanced it. Plus, it’s important to play the place for the place. We were playing Europe and Montreal, but that was all interiors. But in Europe, we were playing Europe for Europe.

Q: When you were in Brussels, did you see a lot of diversity within the population with people from all parts of the world?

Eckhart: Oh yes. In fact, there’s a huge Arab population there, and I was living right in the middle of it when we were there. I don’t know where they’re from, if they were Tunisian or Algerian. I don’t know the specifics, but North African. And then, there were a lot of Southern Africans there as well. So they had all that population, all those restaurants, all those shops and that flavor. We filmed in it, which was really nice. And then, you had the traditional Belgium. And then, you had all the tourists on top of it, and they were in the movie, too. And then, on top of that, Brussels has the whole international U.N. community. You had everybody that was from there, and then you had the fact that Belgium doesn’t even have a government. It’s a fractured government. And then, you have two people living in the same country that really don’t like each other. You have the Flemish and the French. And so, it had a lot going on there. And then, the fact that I was American and everybody was speaking French. That kind of stuff keeps you on your toes. The thing that I liked the most was that I had an Italian driver living in Brussels. He wouldn’t let me drink expresso unless he made it, because he thought that they were inferior expresso makers, and that since he was Italian and only Italians know how to make expresso, that he would go to great lengths to give me my expressos whenever I needed them. I very much appreciated that, and I couldn’t tell a difference.

Q: Has that now ruined you for life?

Eckhart: No. I like diner coffee. (laughs) I’m a man of the people.

Q: Did they let you smoke a cigar inside the car?

Eckhart: No. I never would, but I do smoke cigars constantly, unfortunately.

Q: I can think of a few movies you’ve been in where you’ve had a supporting role and the movie doesn’t work arguably except for that supporting role. Isn’t it like, to use a sports analogy, you doing the assist and you get a different level of satisfaction?

Eckhart: The movie that you might be talking about is an exceptional movie by an exceptional filmmaker, like “The Dark Knight,” for example, or something like that. Antoine Fuqua is an exceptional filmmaker. Everybody is important and every role is. I approach every role I do, no matter how big or small, as if the movie rests on me, my character. So, I become the individual. It’s not an ego thing. It’s so that I’m a well-rounded character. Everybody should play that, even the day players. They should believe that the movie could be made on them. It’s very important. The level of commitment hopefully is always the same, but when it comes to making a decision about who’s in the movie and how much and who stays on the cutting room floor, number 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are going to get the hit every time. Your arc or your journey through that movie invariably is a bumpier one because they’ve cut you up. You’re taking ten seconds from the beginning of the scene and then ten seconds at the end of the scene, and you’re putting them together, and then you as an audience member are supposed to believe that this scene was written that way. Well, it’s not. All the meat of that scene was taken out of the movie, so now you’re getting the beginning and the end. How can you then judge performance when the performance isn’t there? This is behind-the-scenes stuff, and nobody cares about this kind of stuff. But, for an actor, you’re looking at that movie going, “Wait a second. That’s not my performance.” I can remember a movie right now that they took out my best stuff. And then, I’m supposed to go and support that movie and say, “It’s a great movie.” Well, you killed my work in it. And now, the audience and the critics who write about it are going to say, “Aaron was so-so in the movie,” or “I didn’t see the importance,” or “He didn’t do everything with the movie,” or “He had nothing to do.” Well, I did, but it’s just that it’s not in the film. That’s the tough part about moviemaking, and you have to accept it and move on. I guess what I’m saying is you have to protect yourself, and the way you protect yourself is by being number one or working with the best filmmakers you possibly can.

Q: With “Erased,” it sounds like they kept it pretty much intact.

Eckhart: Oh yeah, definitely. When you’re looking for something like that, you’re looking for a story that is linear and everything depends on what just happened. You can’t deviate from that too much. It’s like the John Ford way of moviemaking. He shoots only what he wants in the movie.

Q: Assassins who have a conscience are rare, but you played the ultimate assassin who developed a very strong conscience. Can you talk about that?

Eckhart: The movie only works if the audience believes that my daughter and I are developing and sharing a bond that is worth dying for and worth living for, and that’s the thing. All the killer aspects of it, the martial arts, the CIA is nothing, unless the audience sees that after fifteen years of living away from my daughter, I finally get her back. I’m finally getting to know who she is, and she me, and I’m not going to give her up for anything.

Q: What makes the character work so well is that he grew this conscience and he had to stop what he was doing, but now here’s something that’s pushed him back over the edge and he’s going to do whatever he’s got to do.

Eckhart: Absolutely one hundred percent. Easily. It makes me into an animal. It makes me ferocious. And the fact that she’s not helpless, but she’s my daughter. Having to protect her is a great quality for an assassin. That’s not something you get every day. And then, too, it’s not my girlfriend. It’s not my wife. It’s my daughter. You look at her now, she’s a woman almost. I don’t know how old she is, but when we were making the movie, she was a 15-year-old girl. I think the movie makes it clear that before it was all about corporations and spy stuff, and now you’re dealing with flesh and blood, and that makes it all too real. That’s the reason why I wanted to do the movie.

Q: You said that you didn’t have any children. What did you tap into in order to get that emotion and develop that connection?

Eckhart: I thought I would have children by now. I did. It’s not planned that I don’t have children. Family has always been very important to me — the role of a father, my dad to me, how I would teach my children, developing their minds, and their formative years. And, these are Liana’s formative years when we made this movie. I’m always fascinated with how a person becomes a good quality person, a productive person, and how it happened to me, because I was a terror.

Q: A good terror?

Eckhart: No, not always. I come from very good parents, very smart, dedicated parents, who just had their fiftieth wedding anniversary, and they’re good people. I think it’s the rudder there, that rudder in those turbulent waters, because they picked up and took us to England when I was thirteen. I’d lived Liana’s character in this movie. I used to hate my parents for that, hate them vehemently, and I told them. It was very difficult to do. And then, I came to love them for doing it. I’ve always been fascinated with that, and how you deal with issues today if you’re a parent, and this whole drug issue, rebellion, cell phones, texting, the music and the fashions. And so, I like that. That is the most important thing in this movie. I don’t know what people like in this movie, but to me, that’s the most important thing.

Q: Has the desire for parenthood changed as you’ve gotten older? Is it stronger? Is it different?

Eckhart: I was talking to somebody about this last night – a girl who would also like to have children. You know when people say to you, “I just always have known I want to have kids,” well I’ve never thought about it. I still feel like I’m dealing with issues myself and my job. I’m so ambitious in my job. There’s nothing in me that’s pushing me to have kids, I have to say. It’s weird. It’s not how I thought I was going to live my life, but I would love to have kids, because now I have a ranch in Montana. The last time I was in Montana at my ranch, I was with my mom, and we were walking around. It was sunset and there’s the crick and all that sort of stuff. I turned to her and I said, “I have to have kids now.” So that’s the closest I’ve come. I just have to find the right person.

Q: What do you have coming up next?

Eckhart: I have a movie coming out called “I, Frankenstein.” I play the monster Frankenstein. It’s a different look at him. It’s a movie about good and evil, and I am proficient at the Filipino martial art of Kali stick fighting. (laughs) I know, I know. Mary Shelley was ahead of her time. And then, I’m producing movies.

The post Aaron Eckhart ERASED Interview appeared first on MoviesOnline.

Just when I thought Elijah Wood was at his peak of portraying crazy by talking to a man in a dog suit as seen on FX’s Wilfred he emerges from the shadows- figuratively and literally- with his role in the remake of William Lustig’s MANIAC. Frodo has come a long way since the Shire and I assure you that his character here does at one point make use of a ring, but he also may have a scalp in his back pocket.

At first glance Frank (Wood) might seem like a normal decent looking nice guy, but underneath lies a seriously disturbed and damaged individual. Frank restores mannequins for a living and in his spare time he makes a habit of stalking women who catch his eye. He is in a constant battle in his own head as he wants to be able to make a connection with someone, but eventually his dark half takes hold and he murders the women he is infatuated with, scalps them and then takes the scalp home to staple to one of his many mannequins. Any psychologist brave enough to take Frank’s case might make a killing with the amount of psychological problems he suffers from as he consistently has migraines that lead to visions, mostly of his promiscuous mother. Eventually Frank develops a dangerous obsession with an artist that takes a liking to his mannequins.

I was super excited to check this out based on a select amount of high praise I had read in advance. To some extent I can vouch for the praise, but to be perfectly honest I didn’t really find this to be amazingly inventive nor do I think it as a film that will revitalize horror as a genre. The only praise I agree whole heartedly with is the performance by Elijah Wood and the brutality of the horror- praise for the latter is maybe a stretch. The supporting cast is at best only a smidge better than mediocre with Wood shining above and beyond everyone else he encounters. Granted there’s something to be said that the style is shooting more for realism than true performance, in which case the film definitely works on that level which I why I’m trying to not judge it entirely on the work of the supporting cast- given 90% of them are just there to die horribly.

Wood is the anchor of the film and his performance really is fantastic. I was a bit leery about rather or not I could buy him as a creepy psycho, but the opening six minutes put those thoughts to a permanent rest. The fact that the majority of this film is shot in first person perspective (not found footage) also gives something a little extra than just being yet another hack and slash- which it still kind of is. There is something very haunting about all the scenes where Frank is looking in a mirror either staring blankly before an eventual freak out and it gives us, the audience, a chance to see Wood go through a variety of emotions from blank emptiness, rage and even a confused fear of his own mind. There are layers to Wood’s character that the first person perspective doesn’t always catch visually, but you can still hear it in his voice and when you can see it, it’s pretty great.

The score also elevates the film quite a bit as well as it evokes the old school 80?s tone with a brilliant mix of synth and eerie notes. The opening scene perfectly encapsulates what you’re in for and compliments each scene in all the right ways. It never quite hid the fact that while MANIAC tends to move at a pretty brisk pace that I did feel the film dragging from time to time or becoming a bit too tedious in the excessively graphic violence. As a horror fan I don’t have an issue with violence and given that this film approaches the story from a realistic POV the violence is at time extremely unsettling in how realistic it appears to be.

MANIAC is not looking to make you enjoy revel in the horrific violence or present a character you are endeared to and want to connect with so in that sense the film is masterful in its depiction of a mentally disturbed individual and the horrible acts he commits. In the same sense the performance by Elijah Wood is haunting and infinitely memorable as so. The problem for me lies in the fact that MANIAC for all intents and purposes is joyless and at times sadistic. I am not opposed to pitch black horror and more often than not I appreciated the craft in the filmmaking and the effects work to put this together along with the performances and elements of the story. I believe MANIAC has glimpses of truly brilliant horror filmmaking, but that it also at times has the stain of a filmmaker that wants nothing more than an endurance test and it’s that perceived transparency that drags the film down for me.

Rating: 7/10

Written By: Luke (@CrummyLuke on Twitter)

The post Maniac Movie Review appeared first on MoviesOnline.

Searching for a missing student, two private investigators break into his house and find collection of VHS tapes. Viewing the horrific contents of each cassette, they realize there may be dark motives behind the student’s disappearance.

Let me start this off by saying I actually still really love the first V/H/S in spite of the weaker segments within it. I was more than thrilled to see there would be a sequel because I believe this to be a brilliant concept that marries found footage in a horror anthology. The first film while disjointed and uneven has some really great elements to it, but also didn’t really have a connecting thread as far as I can tell.

It remains to be seen if V/H/S/2 will indeed fix all those issues even though the critical opinion seems to be leaning that way so far. What I can say for a fact is that the newly released red band trailer completely blew me away and I cannot stop watching it.

I cannot even really explain what in the Hell is going on in the trailer except to say that it obviously features some really rad looking aliens, crazy cult people, some massive unexplained creature that rams a moving car and any number of really crazy and ridiculous intense footage that has me chomping at the bit to feast my eyes on the finished product- the last scene of the trailer is dripping in epicness all on its own. The anthology hits VOD June 6th so the wait is winding down and select audiences will be able to catch it on the big screen July 12th.

V/H/S/2 features shorts directed by Simon Barrett, Adam Wingard, Eduardo Sanchez, Gareth Evans, Jason Eisner, Gregg Hale and Timo Tjahjanto. Check out the insane red band trailer below and feel free to leave your thoughts!

Directors: Simon Barrett, Jason Eisener

Writers: Simon Barrett, John Davies

Stars: Kelsy Abbott, Hannah Al Rashid, Fachry Albar

Academy Award® winners Sandra Bullock (‘The Blind Side’, ‘The Proposal’) and George Clooney (‘Up in the Air’, ‘Syriana’) star in Gravity, a heart-pounding thriller that pulls you into the infinite and unforgiving realm of deep space.

Bullock plays Dr. Ryan Stone, a brilliant medical engineer on her first shuttle mission, with veteran astronaut Matt Kowalsky (Clooney) in command of his last flight before retiring. But on a seemingly routine spacewalk, disaster strikes. The shuttle is destroyed, leaving Stone and Kowalsky completely alone—tethered to nothing but each other and spiraling out into the blackness.

The deafening silence tells them they have lost any link to Earth…and any chance for rescue. As fear turns to panic, every gulp of air eats away at what little oxygen is left. But the only way home may be to go further out into the terrifying expanse of space.

“Gravity” was written by Alfonso Cuarón & Jonás Cuarón. Alfonso Cuarón and David Heyman (the “Harry Potter” films) are the film’s producers. Stephen Jones (“Knowing”) served as executive producer with Nikki Penny (“Clash of the Titans”) co-producing.

The behind-the-scenes team includes multiple Oscar®-nominated cinematographer Emmanuel Lubezki (“Children of Men,” “The New World”), production designer Andy Nicholson (supervising art director “Alice in Wonderland”), editor Mark Sanger (VFX editor “Alice in Wonderland”), and costume designer Jany Temime (the “Harry Potter” films).

The effects were handled by Oscar®-nominated visual effects supervisor Timothy Webber (“The Dark Knight”) and Oscar®-winning special effects supervisor Neil Corbould (“Gladiator”).

Director: Oscar® nominee Alfonso Cuarón (“Children of Men”).
Writers: Alfonso Cuarón, Jonás Cuarón
Stars: Sandra Bullock, George Clooney, Basher Savage

The World’s End follows a group of childhood friends who reunite 20 years later to repeat an “epic pub crawl” from their youth. However, as their drinking marathon progresses, events take an apocalyptic twist and the group unwittingly becomes humankind’s only hope for survival.

Alongside Pegg and Frost, the film’s ensemble cast includes Sherlock star Martin Freeman, Happy-Go-Lucky’s Eddie Marsan and former Bond girl Rosamund Pike. Meanwhile, Rafe Spall and Paddy Considine are both back from Hot Fuzz.

The sumptuous cast for The World’s End really is a who’s who of offbeat British comedy. Pegg’s fellow boozers include the wonderful Nick Frost, alongside Paddy Considine, Martin Freeman and Eddie Marsan. Fans of Pegg and Wright’s iconic sitcom Spaced will be pleased to note that the brilliant Mark Heap appears to have escaped from Lark Rise to Candleford hell to play a pub barman (Michael Smiley’s Tyres also apparently plays a local vicar), while The League of Gentlemen’s Reece Shearsmith turns up as a sinister local.

Rosamund Pike seems to be the only lady in this admittedly rather blokey affair, though we’re told Sightseers’s Alice Lowe will also make an appearance. Whatever happened to the fabulous Jessica Hynes (nee Stevenson), whose intelligent presence kept Spaced from slipping into similar sausage-fest territory? Is that a fleeting glimpse of her running towards the camera at 1.11, or just my wishful thinking?

The film is the final instalment in the so-called ‘Three Flavours Cornetto Trilogy’ from writer-star Pegg and writer-director Edgar Wright. The loose movie trilogy began in 2004 with zombie comedy Shaun Of The Dead and continued with 2007’s Hot Fuzz, a spoof of so-called “buddy cop” action flicks.

The World’s End was originally scheduled to open in August, but has recently had its release date brought forward and will now arrive in UK cinemas on July 19.

Director: Edgar Wright
Music: Steven Price
Screenplay: Simon Pegg, Edgar Wright
Producers: Nira Park, Tim Bevan, Eric Fellner
Stars: Rosamund Pike, Martin Freeman, Simon Pegg

When legions of monstrous creatures, known as Kaiju, started rising from the sea, a war began that would take millions of lives and consume humanity’s resources for years on end.

To combat the giant Kaiju, a special type of weapon was devised: massive robots, called Jaegers, which are controlled simultaneously by two pilots whose minds are locked in a neural bridge.

But even the Jaegers are proving nearly defenseless in the face of the relentless Kaiju. On the verge of defeat, the forces defending mankind have no choice but to turn to two unlikely heroes–a washed up former pilot (Charlie Hunnam) and an untested trainee (Rinko Kikuchi)–who are teamed to drive a legendary but seemingly obsolete Jaeger from the past.

Together, they stand as mankind’s last hope against the mounting apocalypse.

Genres: Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

Director: Guillermo del Toro

Writers: Travis Beacham (screenplay), Guillermo del Toro (screenplay)

Stars: Idris Elba, Charlie Hunnam and Rinko Kikuchi

Marvel’s Thor: The Dark World continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel’s Thor and Marvel’s Avengers Assemble.

Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all.

Starring Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Stellan Skarsgård, Idris Elba, Christopher Eccleston, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Kat Dennings, Ray Stevenson, Zachary Levi, Tadanobu Asano and Jaimie Alexander with Rene Russo and Anthony Hopkins as Odin.

Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World” is directed by Alan Taylor, produced by Kevin Feige, from a story by Don Payne and screenplay by Christopher Yost and Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely and is based on Marvel’s classic Super Hero Thor, who first appeared in the comic book “Journey into Mystery ” #83 in August, 1962.

FBI agents track a team of illusionists who pull off bank heists during their performances and reward their audiences with the money. The Four Horsemen, a magic super-group led by the charismatic Atlas (Jesse Eisenberg), perform a pair of high-tech magic shows, first astonishing audiences by robbing a bank on another continent, and then exposing a white-collar criminal and funneling his millions into the audience members’ bank accounts.

FBI Special Agent Dylan (Mark Ruffalo) is determined to make the magicians pay for their crimes-and to stop them before they pull off what promises to be an even more audacious heist. But he’s forced to partner with Alma (Melanie Laurent), an Interpol detective about whom he is instantly suspicious.

Out of desperation he turns to Thaddeus (Morgan Freeman), a famed magic debunker, who claims the bank heist was accomplished using disguises and video trickery. One thing Dylan and Alma agree on is that the Horsemen must have an outside point person, and that finding him (or her) is key to ending the magicians’ crime spree. Could it be Thaddeus? Or Alma? Or could it really be…magic?

As pressure mounts and the world awaits the Horsemen’s spectacular final trick, Dylan and Alma race to find an answer. But it soon becomes painfully clear that staying one step ahead of these masters of illusion is beyond the skills of any one man-or woman.

We all know the story, but here it is again, just in case…An alien infant is raised on Earth, and grows up with superhuman abilities. He sets out to use these abilities to guard his adopted world.

Full Synopsis:
“In the pantheon of superheroes, Superman is the most recognized and revered character of all time. Clark Kent/Kal-El (Cavill) is a young twentysomething journalist who feels alienated by powers beyond anyone’s imagination. Transported to Earth years ago from Krypton, an advanced alien planet, Clark struggles with the ultimate question – Why am I here?

Clark must become the hero known as “Superman,” not only to shine as the world’s last beacon of hope but to protect the ones he loves.”

Director: Zack Snyder

Writers: David S. Goyer (screenplay), David S. Goyer (story)

Stars: Henry Cavill, Russell Crowe and Amy Adams

TRAILER #2:
Finally! Since the first teaser dropped this past July, this is what comic book fans and move buffs have been waiting for. The first full-length trailer for Zach Snyder’s reimagining of Superman, Man of Steel, just went live and it looks pretty good.

Plot points aside, the visuals look stunning, which is Snyder’s go-to. But there’s a lot left to be said. Superman does look like a genuine badass, however. Snyder just might pull this off. What do you think?

Update:

Official Trailer #3