Posts

VOTD: Widescreen Vs. Pan & Scan By Peter Sciretta/Sept. 7, 2009 12:00 am EST C’mon, we all know the difference between “letterbox” (widescreen) and full screen pan & scan presentations. And thanks to the growing acceptance of 16x9 widescreen HDTV’s, we might not have to explain this difference to our unknowing friends and family much longer. After the jump is a video from a couple years ago explaining the differences, and features appearances from a bunch of famous directors such as Martin Scorsese and Michael Mann....

Why Steven Spielberg Won’t Contribute To Disney Theme Parks By Peter Sciretta/Feb. 10, 2009 12:34 am EST Just because DreamWorks has inked a distribution deal with Disney, doesn’t mean that Steven Spielberg will have any input or contribution to the Disney theme parks. Steven Spielberg has had a longstanding consulting deal with Universal theme parks, which pays the famous filmmaker 2% of all park receipts. Spielberg signed the deal 20 years ago when the parks opened....

Youth In Revolt Moves To January 2010 By Russ Fischer/Sept. 17, 2009 11:20 am EST But now, according to an email blast from PR firm Allied, The Weinstein Company is moving Youth from October 30 of this year to January 15, 2010. What’s the story? The Weinstein Company has been the object of great speculation over the last few weeks. While Inglourious Basterds did much better than expected, the party line is that the outfit doesn’t have much money to throw around....

10,000 BC Movie Poster By Peter Sciretta/Oct. 3, 2007 1:10 pm EST Warner Bros has released the official one-sheet for Roland Emmerich’s 10,000 BC. The poster touts Emmerich’s successful blockbuster films Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, but forgets to mention the American remake of Godzilla. I wonder why? And the tagline is “It takes a hero to change the world.” 10,000BC hits theaters on March 7th 2008 AD. Check out the full poster after the jump....

47-Minute Interview With John Hughes From 1985 By Peter Sciretta/Aug. 6, 2009 5:12 pm EST After the passing of John Hughes earlier today, /Film reader and AFI staffer Josh P was able to uncover an old interview with the screenwriter/director in the old American Film Institute archives, and put it online for all of us to hear. Hughes rarely did interviews, even before he retired from the movie business in 1994....

A Look At Kevin Smith’s Green Hornet Film-Turned-Comic By Brendon Connelly/Dec. 25, 2009 6:14 pm EST Below the break you can see four alternative covers for the first issue of Kevin Smith’s new Green Hornet comics. He has adapted his unproduced Green Hornet movie screenplay into a ten chapter miniseries, illustrated by Jonathan Lau. The series has reportedly been fully completed before even the first issue hits the shops, so we at least won’t get some caught in some sort of Cerebus/Big Numbers/Kick-Ass quicksand waiting for each installment....

Ben Foster And Donald Sutherland Take Up Shop With Jason Statham In The Mechanic Remake By Devindra Hardawar/Oct. 15, 2009 10:40 am EST I haven’t had much reason to look forward to the upcoming remake of Charles Bronson’s The Mechanic. Sure, having Jason Statham in the lead role as a weary hit man seems like an easy sell, but you have to temper that with the fact that Simon West (Con-Air, Tomb Raider) is directing....

Box Office: Transformers Takes In $8.5 Million On Opening Night By Peter Sciretta/July 3, 2007 11:05 am EST Transformers fanboys (and probably a few normal people too) showed out in full force last night for the big opening of Michael Bay’s Transformers. Our sources are claiming that the film took in around $8.5 million. Not bad for a film that only played for four hours. In perspective, it probably took Pixar’s Ratatouille the whole day to make the same amount....

Box Office: Twilight Goes For The Throat With $33M Friday; Possible $70.5M Weekend By Steve Mason/Nov. 21, 2008 11:24 pm EST Now the question is, how will Twilight perform the rest of the weekend and in its total domestic run. The smart money is on the 3-day following the Sex & the City formula with $22.1M Saturday, down about 33% Friday-to-Saturday, followed by a 30% Saturday-to-Sunday dip to a possible $15....

Chuck Returning Early In January, Takes Over Heroes Time Slot, Gets Six More Episodes By Devindra Hardawar/Nov. 19, 2009 7:51 pm EST Good news Chuck fans! Pretty much everything great that could be announced for the series prior to its season three return has happened today. The original plan was for the show to return in March, but we’ve learned that Chuck will be returning on Sunday, January 10, with two episodes back-to-back....

Cool Stuff: Ghostbusters Vs. Jesus By Peter Sciretta/March 9, 2009 1:20 am EST Jon Andrew Davis created “Ghostbusters vs. Jesus” for a 2009 gallery show at ArtWorks in Harrisonburg VA. It features the Ghostbusters pulling Jesus back to earth as he attempts to ascend into heaven. The title of the Show was Divine Comedy because it “uses humor to get people to think about religious authority and fundamentalism. " Based loosely on an internet meme that was created by an unknown artists a couple years back (there is actually an argument in the flickr comments about what constitutes copyright infingement on an internet meme)....

Cool Stuff: The Coolest New Movie Toys/Collectibles To Premiere At Toy Fair 2010 By Peter Sciretta/Feb. 15, 2010 1:13 am EST The annual Toy Fair takes place this week in New York City. Sadly, we are unable to attend. But thanks to the wonders of the internet… we’ve had a chance to browse most of the new toys and collectibles that premiered at the event. After the jump you will find a round up of some of the cooler or noteworthy items....

Cool Stuff: The League Of Cliche Evil Super-Villains T-Shirt By Peter Sciretta/Jan. 28, 2009 6:00 am EST Joshua Kemble’s The League of Cliche Evil Super-Villains T-Shirt is now available through Threadless. Kemble notes that he got the idea for the design “by looking at a bunch of old cheesy comic books, by none other than Jack Kirby, then busted out the trusty pencil and inking pens, and made the characters…” Printed on a Creme-colored tee (I wish it were available on a darker colored t-shirt)28, and available i sizes from Extra Small to XXXL for $18....

Cool Stuff: Wearable Terminator Salvation Toys By Peter Sciretta/Feb. 17, 2009 6:00 am EST Playmate Toys has announced a line of wearable Terminator Salvation toys that almost make up for the laughable Halloween costumes we mentioned earlier this month. I would have loved these things when I was a kid. I remember they had a cool Halloween prosthetic kit that would let you transform your face into a half machine half torn human, ala Arnold from T2....

Exclusive First Look: Freddy Vs. Jason Vs. Ash 2 By Peter Sciretta/March 17, 2009 1:15 pm EST DC Comics has provided us with an exclusive first look at the new Freddy vs. Jason vs. Ash comic book series from WildStorm. Click on the image above to enlarge to really high resolution. More details on the comic follow after the jump. FREDDY VS. JASON VS. ASH: THE NIGHTMARE WARRIORS #1 Written by Jeff Katz and James Kuhoric Art by Jason Craig Covers by Arthur Suydam Beneath the bloody waters of Crystal Lake, an immortal evil wakes and begins anew the cycle of grueling violence....

Final Transformers 2 Poster By Peter Sciretta/May 8, 2009 11:00 am EST I’ll make this one breif. Paramount Pictures has released the final poster for Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Yahoo. The poster features Optimus Prime, Bumblebee, a pyramid, and of course, Shia and Megan too. Final Transformers 2 Poster By Peter Sciretta/May 8, 2009 11:00 am EST I’ll make this one breif. Paramount Pictures has released the final poster for Michael Bay’s Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen on Yahoo....

Geek Deals: Angel DVD Set For $51; Force FX Lightsabers For $50 By Peter Sciretta/Dec. 12, 2008 1:20 am EST We may receive a commission on purchases made from links. Angel – Seasons 1-5 30-Disc DVD Set for Only $50.99, 64% off the retail price. But I’m sure a lot of you will jump at this opportunity. I still have the Complete series of The Write to catch up on....

Jonathan Demme Adapting Dave Eggers’ Zeitoun As Cartoon By Brendon Connelly/Oct. 28, 2009 5:00 pm EST This summer Dave Eggers published his non-fiction book Zeitoun, an account of a New Orleans family experiencing Hurricane Katrina and its aftermath. Abdulrahman Zeitoun stayed in the city after the floods, using his canoe to get about the city in order to help people and it is his testimony, gathered via interviews, that herein provides Eggers material and, to a large extent, voice....

Justin Theroux Scripts Space Invader By Peter Sciretta/Nov. 17, 2009 9:45 pm EST Here is some information on the plot from a scriptshadow review of that early draft: Doug, the space shuttle janitor, watches helplessly as his astronaut girlfriend heads off on a 3 month International Space Station mission with Stamp Majors, all-American astronaut superstar and philanthropist (think a cross between a real life version of Buzz Lightyear, and the character Owen Wilson plays in Meet The Parents)....

Leonardo Di Caprio Considering Prisoners; Commitment Depends On Who Directs By Brendon Connelly/Feb. 20, 2010 4:21 am EST Aaron Guzikawski’s hot-sale script Prisoners has certainly been around the block a few times, and in public too. The latest status report comes from Deadline Hollywood Daily who have Leonardo Di Caprio in the frame to take a lead role. They note that Leo is rather selective about which directors he works with, so his commitment hinges on who signs up to replace Antoine Fuqua in the canvas chair....