New Trailer: Batman v. Superman Comic Con 2015 Edition!!

Probably the biggest film trailer to debut at this past weekend's Comic Con was Warner Bros' Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. This second much longer look at the DC Universe film gives us additional info on the conflict brewing brewing between two brooding superheroes, leading to an eventual fight on the yard (or a Batmobile). They'll take whatever is available at the moment.

We see Superman aka Clark Kent (Henry Cavill) feel more and more marginalised as an outsider. We  see an older, bulkier Bruce Wayne (Ben Affleck, who takes over the role from Christian Bale) who's suppressed his feelings for a long time. Somebody's also goading Bruce with notes about his past and you can literally feel the waves of anger rolling of him against Superman. Cue the return of the vigilante Batman.

The trailer also shows us glimpses of other iconic characters of the universe, Jeremy Irons as Alfred, Laurence Fishburne as Perry White, Amy Adams as Lois Lane, Diane Lane as Martha Kent, Jesse Eisenberg as a very youngish Lex Luthor with hair and of course Gal Gadot debuting as Wonder Woman. Director Zack Synder sure has his hands full with all-star cast that I hope get the opportunity to do justice to their characters.

My only problem is (and I felt this with The Amazing Spider-Man reboot too and look what's happened there, it's being rebooted yet again) we just said an emotional goodbye to Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. To say that Nolan's films changed the way we look at comic book/superhero films is an understatement. It's too soon. Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice is also setting up the road for the rest of the DC characters to go off and have their own adventures. More surprising news coming out of Comic Con was that Affleck himself would be directing a standalone Batman film after the Justice League film in 2019! Wow, that's a whole lot of Batman down the line.

Gotham's bringing the fight down to Metropolis. I sure hope Superman's ready. Will Earth survive the fighting between two ultimate superheroes? Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice releases March 25, 2016 ahead of the crowded summer season.

New trailer: Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice

"Tell me, do you bleed? You will... " A very grim Batman informs Superman as the first trailer of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice ends. Director Zack Synder's follow up to 2013's Man of Steel brings together two frenemies, Batman (Ben Affleck) and Superman (Henry Cavill) going up against each other for the first time. This film has huge expectations for Warner Bros., not just because they are pitting two iconic characters in a battle on the big screen, but also since the film will lay the groundwork for upcoming DC Universe films featuring Wonder Woman, Aquaman, The Flash and more.

Going up against rival studios Marvel and Disney who have already shown immense success with their superhero and franchise films, Warner Bros. needs this film to work badly. It's already been delayed from this year's summer release schedule. But one hopes this will be for the betterment of the film. This current trailer released early by a few days since the trailer leaked online. Competing with the other big trailer release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the studio had no choice but to make it official.

There aren't too much shots in the trailer of the friendly foes fighting each other but instead a lot of discontent piling up against the outsider Superman in the form of voice overs of cast members Holly Hunter and Jeremy Iron . A statue of Superman has the words 'False God' graffitied onto the famous logo. We finally get a glimpse of the very beefed up Batman (Affleck) who I'm assuming is coming out of retirement to face Superman. He does not look happy. There's a lot of anger and resentment under the surface here. We have to assume this is not the same Batman from Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Whatever happened to Bruce Wayne? I guess we'll find out more when Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice releases on March 25, 2016. The cast also features Amy Adams, Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa, Jesse Einsenberg and Laurence Fishburne.

Gone Girl Trailer: Have you seen Amy?

"I did not kill my wife. I am not a murderer." Those chilling words at the end of the first trailer released today for David Fincher's upcoming adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel, Gone Girl sum up the feel of the movie. Starring Ben Affleck as Nick and Rosamund Pike as Amy, the trailer is set to the track of 'She' sung by Charles Aznavour underlying the major cracks in their relationship leading up to Amy's disappearance and the emergence of Nick as the likely and only suspect.  Dark, chilly with hints of the menace yet to come, this is what we expected of Fincher and this film.  Gone Girl also stars Neil Patrick Harris, Tyler Perry and Scoot McNairy and will release in theatres on October 3, 2014.

News Update: Gone Girl's Release Date, Woody Allen's Next and a Live Action Kiki's Delivery Service

(Photo: Los Angeles Times)

• A new still out from the next film from the hardest working man in show business, Woody Allen, starring Emma Stone, Colin Firth and Marcia Gay Harden.  The film titled Magic in the Midnight is set in the South of France possibly the 1930s and should be out in 2014.  Allen's previous film Blue Jasmine has been a critical and box office success and he won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Midnight in Paris. All eyes will definitely be on Magic in the Midnight to see if they follow in those films' footsteps.
• Their last film together made me cry.  The wonderfully acted and written The Perks of Being a Wallflower was well appreciated last year and now writer-director Stephen Chbosky and actress Emma Watson are coming back together for film adaptation of Adena Halpern's 29.  The project will be named While We're Young and deals with a grandmother wishing she was 29 again to spend the day with her same aged granddaughter.  The screenwriters of (500) Days of Summer Michael H. Weber and Scott Neustader will write the screenplay. 

(Photo: Twitch)

• I had no idea that a live action version of Kiki's Delivery Service is in the works and will be released next year.  How intriguing! Directed by Takashi Shimizu (The Grudge series) and based on the novels by Eiko Kadono, Kiki's Delivery Service is most well-known for it's animated adaptation by Studio Ghibli and Hayao Miyazaki.  The story follows a young witch, Kiki who must live a year on her own with her cat Jiji to prove herself.  I will be on the lookout for this next year.
• And finally mark your calendars for October 3, 2014, that's the release date for the film adaptation of Gillian Flynn's book Gone Girl.  David Fincher.  Ben Affleck.  Rosamund Pike.  It will be amazing.  Trust me!

Ben Affleck is the new Batman!

"Ben Affleck, you've just won your second Oscar. What are you going to do now?"

"I'm Batman."

Folks, Ben Affleck is your new Batman. This is no joke.  Affleck is the new caped crusader of Gotham city for the Man of Steel sequel in which Batman faces off against Superman. Coming his huge Best Picture win with Argo this year, no one could predict that they saw this startling announcement coming. Looks like he was serious when he announced at the DGAs (when he won the night's big prize for best director) and in front of the roomful of some of the top directors that he was still available for roles.

Affleck is not forsaking his acting career for directing as yet. He still on board to direct and star (like Argo) in the film adaptation of Dennis Lehane's novel Live by Night and act in another book adaptation, Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl to be directed by David Fincher which will also release in 2015.

2015 is going to be huge year for Hollywood.  Disney alone has The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Star Wars: Episode VII, two Pixar features Inside Out and Finding Dory, the fifth Pirates of the Caribbean, Cinderella and the bonus Marvel film Ant-Man.  Whew! Meanwhile, Universal Pictures has Jurassic Park 4 and Paramount Pictures has Terminator 5.  Warner Bros. needs a lot of muscle to go up against these films and who better than the biggest superheroes in the world, Batman and Superman in the same film?  I'm guessing this will be launching pad for the long rumored Justice League franchise as well. 

I don't doubt that Affleck is bad actor.  I have held my actor stock in Affleck throughout the years from Forces of Nature to Pearl Harbor to Surviving Christmas to Hollywoodland and beyond.  Remember, he has tackled a superhero film before with Daredevil who's popularity lead to spin-off film for his wife, Jennifer Garner, who played Elektra instead.  My worry is that it's too soon to be launching and rebooting the Batman universe (and to include Superman) right after Christopher Nolan's masterful The Dark Knight trilogy.  Those films will stand the test of time. And Christian Bale's Batman lead other actors to believe that they too could merge critical success with the box-office in a superhero film.

Director Zack Snyder insists that this older and wiser Batman will bring an "interesting counter-balance" to the younger Superman.  Summer 2015 is still two years away.  We will have time to process and the scheme of the films lined up for 2015, this matchup of Batman vs. Superman won't seem as surprising as it does now.  What were your thoughts when you first heard the news?

News Update: Gone Girl, James Bond and Dustin Hoffman on Tootsie

•  If anyone asks me for any book recommendations, my first question to them is, "Have you read Gone Girl?" I am practically obsessed with it. And I'm eagerly awaiting the movie adaptation as well.  The talent that's lining up for the film is looking up, like way up. Actress Reese Witherspoon is in the producer's chair, David Fincher is behind the camera and today, comes word that Ben Affleck is in talks to play Nick, whose wife Amy is the titular Gone Girl.  This is shaping up to be quite awesome, folks. I am officially excited.  Have you read Gone Girl yet?

• Never fear, all is right in the James Bond universe as directer Sam Mendes is back to direct the next Bond film after the success of Skyfall. I have moaned about this before and Mendes' return is absolutely the best decision for the franchise. I thought Skyfall was a spectacular film, a great tribute to all things Bond at 50. 
• This AFI video interview of Dustin Hoffman has been making the social media rounds but I have to share it again because it is so refreshing and moving and has become a must watch. How many actors would say this? Thank you, sir.

And the Oscar goes to...

Wow, that was some Oscar ceremony, not the greatest ever but then again how do you follow up the return of Billy Crystal? Next year, guys, listen to Captain Kirk and get Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, you know they're going to kill it.  

Seth MacFarlane tried his darnedest but it just didn't cut it for me.  Movie musicals were the theme of the night and unfortunately the show ended up being too much like the Tonys and not enough like a celebration of the greatest movie awards in the world.  And what was up with only celebrating the musicals released in the last decade? It makes sense knowing the producers.  But what about Sound of Music, My Fair Lady, West Side Story, Funny Girl or for that matter musicals like Newsies, Hairspray or even the current Pitch Perfect? Time to expand your horizons folks.

(Photo: The Hollywood Reporter)

 That said, the stage was spectacular and never looked better.  The opening monologue featured great dancing from Channing Tatum, Charlize Theron, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Daniel Radcliffe all of whom were extremely sporting.  The first award of the night was a shocker with Christoph Waltz of Django Unchained winning Best Supporting Actor.  All the other men in the category had won previously so it wasn't like anyone was robbed but it would have been nice to see Tommy Lee Jones (who was smiling so frequently! Who called him Grumpy?) win one for Lincoln.  Waltz's role is actually that of a co-lead not supporting.  

(Courtesy ABC)

From thereon in, it was on the technical awards which I did pretty well predicting with wins for Life of Pi, Les Miserables and Anna Karenina.  Brave won Best Animated Feature Film over Wreck-It Ralph which I felt was a big surprise. In the end, it was lovely to see Brenda Chapman become the first female director to win for animated feature. She had a long journey with the film which ended up with her being replaced with Mark Andrews but she got to have her moment and dedicate the Oscar to her inspiration, her daughter. Hard not to get emotional there. Ralph, you have my permission to go wreck out your frustrations. 

(Photo: Zap2it)

Life of Pi also won three great technical awards with Cinematography (Claudio Miranda), Original Score (Mychael Danna) and of course, Visual Effects.  When the guys from Rhythm & Hues were accepting their award and trying to talk about their difficult situation and honor the artists, the orchestra (which wasn't even  in the same room!) played them off with the Jaws theme and cut off their mic.  Not cool, guys, not cool.  You've got a whole legion of vfx artists online, who take their jobs very seriously, very pissed off at that. Not helping the cause they're fighting for.

Also what was up with John Williams score being used throughout the ceremony? I also heard the scores from E.T. and Jurassic Park.  A nice way to honor Spielberg and his longtime collaborator even though neither of them won yesterday. The Academy did a great new initiative this year by having film students onstage to assist with the awards instead of models.  For the first time, I did quite well in the documentary short, documentary feature and most importantly, the sound categories. I would have been two for two if it wasn't for that unexpected tie, the last time that happened was 1994.

(Photo: The Telegraph)

The two musical performance of the night were for me, the amazing Adele and the even more amazing Barbara Streisand.  I can't believe Adele is only 24 years old.  She's already halfway on her way to EGOT now.  

(Photo: Associated Press)

The rest of the acting awards predictably went to Anne Hathaway for Les Miserables, Jennifer Lawrence for Silver Linings Playbook and Daniel Day-Lewis for Lincoln. I surprised that the light emanating from Meryl Streep and Day-Lewis onstage didn't blind us completely.  His speech was both funny and moving.  

(Photo: The Hollywood Reporter)

When the editing award went to William Goldenberg for Argo, the writing was already on the wall for Argo. All that needed to be decided was best director which eventually went to Ang Lee.  I was extremely pleased to see the hard efforts behind the film recognized and how adorable was Lee in his happiness over the win. The crowd in the Dolby Theater was extremely vocal in their support for Life of Pi.  Though I did feel terrible for Spielberg after all what he has put in on Lincoln but it was either him or Lee and I'm happy if either of had won. 

(Photo: IBN Live)

And so there is it, another year gone by with Argo winning Best Picture and adding another Oscar to producers George Clooney and Ben Affleck.  What a career trajectory he's had and what a year it's been!  Here's to another great year of movies and we'll see you all again next year. 

Things I loved: 

• Ted pronouncing 'Argo' and 'Zero Dark Thirty' in his very Boston accent. Nailed it! Ted was also surprisingly well behaved. And Mark Wahlberg not getting freaked out by the surprising tie in the sound editing category. "No B.S."
• The Von Trapp family bit, that worked, we should have seen more of that.  But it didn't look like Christopher Plummer was amused.
• Hugh Jackman, the only one to assist Jennifer Lawrence when she fell on the stairs.  Can he win just for being the coolest guy ever?
• Stephen Spielberg getting choked up whenever anyone won for Lincoln (which sadly only occurred twice). It's okay, you'll get them with Robopocalypse next.  That'll show 'em.
• Suraj Sharma getting all teary eyed when Ang Lee won. All that was missing was Richard Parker to round out the trio.
• Edited to add: I can't believe I forgot to add Quvenzhane Wallis' mean muscle look. Even Denzel Washington is amused. 

(Photo: Vulture)

Here is the full list of winners:

Best motion picture of the year
"Argo" Grant Heslov, Ben Affleck and George Clooney, Producers

Performance by an actor in a leading role
Daniel Day-Lewis in "Lincoln"

Performance by an actor in a supporting role
Christoph Waltz in "Django Unchained"

Performance by an actress in a leading role
Jennifer Lawrence in "Silver Linings Playbook"

Performance by an actress in a supporting role
Anne Hathaway in "Les Misérables"


Best animated feature film of the year
"Brave" Mark Andrews and Brenda Chapman

Achievement in cinematography
"Life of Pi" Claudio Miranda

Achievement in costume design
"Anna Karenina" Jacqueline Durran

Achievement in directing
"Life of Pi" Ang Lee

Best documentary feature
"Searching for Sugar Man"
Malik Bendjelloul and Simon Chinn

Best documentary short subject
"Inocente"
Sean Fine and Andrea Nix Fine

Achievement in film editing
"Argo" William Goldenberg

Best foreign language film of the year

"Amour" Austria

Achievement in makeup and hairstyling
"Les Misérables"
Lisa Westcott and Julie Dartnell

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score)
"Life of Pi" Mychael Danna

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song)
"Skyfall" from "Skyfall"
Music and Lyric by Adele Adkins and Paul Epworth

Achievement in production design
"Lincoln"
Production Design: Rick Carter; Set Decoration: Jim Erickson

Best animated short film
"Paperman" John Kahrs

Best live action short film
"Curfew" Shawn Christensen


Achievement in sound editing

TIE"Skyfall" Per Hallberg and Karen Baker Landers
"Zero Dark Thirty" Paul N.J. Ottosson


Achievement in sound mixing
"Les Misérables"
Andy Nelson, Mark Paterson and Simon Hayes

Achievement in visual effects
"Life of Pi"
Bill Westenhofer, Guillaume Rocheron, Erik-Jan De Boer and Donald R. Elliott


Adapted screenplay
"Argo" Screenplay by Chris Terrio

Original screenplay

"Django Unchained" Written by Quentin Tarantino

Ben Affleck wins the DGA!

 The only thing that can derail the Ben Affleck-Argo express is the Oscars because he's not winning Best Director there, he's not even nominated.  However, it was a different story at the Directors Guild of America where Affleck, a first time nominee, beat out previous winners Steven Spielberg, Ang Lee, Tom Hooper and Kathryn Bigelow for the night's top honors.  Good on ya, Ben.  He genuinely looked shocked to be there.  What does this mean for the Oscars though? Does Spielberg or Lee have a better shot or do the newbies Michael Haneke and Benh Zeitlin walk away with it?  February 24th can't come fast enough.  The anticipation is killing me. 

SAG Award winners

What do you know? Argo does it yet again and is going full speed ahead with Oscars clearing in its sight.  We also got some insight into the frontrunners for the categories not named Best Actor (Daniel Day-Lewis has gotten that tied up with a bow) with Jennifer Lawrence, Anne Hathaway and Tommy Lee Jones looking like they might repeat on February 24th as well.  But I don't know why but something tells me if any acting category is going to yield a surprise, it's going to be Best Actress.  But yesterday night's biggest surprise was definitely Argo winning best ensemble which looked to be Silver Linings Playbook second big win of the night.  But no, it was Lincoln who won two awards with Argo, Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook joining in on the spoils.  This year's Oscar race has brought the expected with momentum changing all over the place. Who will prevail in the end?

And the winners are:

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Daniel Day-Lewis (“Abraham Lincoln”) – Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jennifer Lawrence (“Tiffany”) – Silver Linings Playbook (The Weinstein Company)

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Tommy Lee Jones (“Thaddeus Stevens”) - Lincoln (Touchstone Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Anne Hathaway (“Fantine”) – Les Misérables (Universal Pictures)

Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture
Argo (Warner Bros. Pictures)
BEN AFFLECK / Tony Mendez
ALAN ARKIN / Lester Siegel
KERRY BISHÉ / Kathy Stafford
KYLE CHANDLER / Hamilton Jordan
RORY COCHRANE / Lee Schatz
BRYAN CRANSTON / Jack O’Donnell
CHRISTOPHER DENHAM / Mark Lijek
TATE DONOVAN / Bob Anders
CLEA DuVALL / Cora Lijek
VICTOR GARBER / Ken Taylor
JOHN GOODMAN / John Chambers
SCOOT McNAIRY / Joe Stafford
CHRIS MESSINA / Malinov

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Skyfall (Columbia Pictures)

Directors Guild Nominations!

The Directors Guild of America announced their five top directors on Tuesday for their 65th annual awards.  I'm surprised to see Tom Hooper on the list, I thought either David O. Russell or Michael Haneke would be take the fifth spot.  The winners will be announced on February 2, 2013.  The rest of the nominee are listed below.

Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film

BEN AFFLECK

Argo
(Warner Bros. Pictures) 

This is Mr. Affleck’s first DGA Feature Film Award nomination.

 KATHRYN BIGELOW

Zero Dark Thirty
(Columbia Pictures)

This is Ms. Bigelow’s second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. She won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The Hurt Locker in 2009.





TOM HOOPER

Les Misérables
(Universal Pictures)

This is Mr. Hooper's second DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for The King's Speech (2010) and was previously nominated for the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Movies for Television/Mini-Series for John Adams in 2008.




ANG LEE

Life of Pi
(Twentieth Century Fox)

This is Mr. Lee’s fourth DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film for Brokeback Mountain (2005) and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (2000) and was nominated for Sense and Sensibility in 1995.

STEVEN SPIELBERG

Lincoln
(Dreamworks Pictures/Twentieth Century Fox)

This is Mr. Spielberg’s eleventh DGA Feature Film Award nomination. He won the DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement in Feature Film three times for Saving Private Ryan (1998), Schindler’s List (1993) and The Color Purple (1985). He was also nominated in this category for Munich (2005), Amistad (1997), Empire of the Sun (1987), E.T.: The Extra Terrestrial (1982), Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977) and Jaws (1975). Mr. Spielberg was honored with the DGA’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000.

Movie Review: Argo

In 1979, the US Embassy in Iran was taken under siege and 52 Americans were taken hostage.  What most people don't know is that six other embassy workers managed to escape and hide out at the house of Canadian ambassador Ken Taylor's (Victor Garber) house.  While the negotiations for the 52 hostages were held on a very public and global scale, the rescue of the six Americans was a very clandestine and dangerous affair, the details of which were only declassified by President Clinton in 1997.

What follows is a tale that could be told only by Hollywood with gripping suspense, plenty of thrills and humor that makes Argo one of the best films I've seen this year.  How often does the entire theater clap in appreciation at the end of the film?  Ben Affleck, with his third directorial venture, has become a triple threat.  No, he doesn't sing, dance and act.  He now holds many hats for director, actor and writer (for which he memorably won the Best Original Screenplay Oscar for Good Will Hunting with his best pal Matt Damon).

However after that it was Damon who enjoyed success from that film first while Affleck made some questionable film choices.  But eventually he bounced back and in 2007, he directed his first film, Gone Baby Gone and I think he's never looked back since.  He's followed it up with The Town and now Argo in which he plays Tony Mendez, a CIA expert in exfiltration who is the six "houseguests" only hope, to quote a popular Star Wars line.

When several tense and behind closed door meetings yield no results, Mendez has a sudden brainwave while on a phone call with his son watching a Planet of the Apes film.  He, along with the six embassy workers, will pose as a film crew on a location scout to Iran for a sci-film.  John Chambers (John Goodman), the Oscar-winning makeup artist of the actual Planet of the Apes, will aid them to make their cover story strong.  The team also gains producer Lester Siegel (Alan Arkin), whose lines had the whole theater in guffaws, to give this project more credibility.

With a production office in Los Angeles, a bound script, detailed storyboards and posters and an article in Variety, they have their back story and Mendez heads to Iran to bring them back.  The long captivity has made them jittery and nervous about this bold and audacious plan to leave Iran.  Mendez has to convince them otherwise and does he ever.

The last half an hour I watched with a knot in my stomach.  I knew what was going to happen and yet I felt unsure and got caught up in this very well told story of their escape.  The editing is tight and clever, managing to reel us in at the right places.  I loved the look and feel of Argo, right down to the old opening Warner Bros. logo and fonts.  The opening sequence is one of the best of the year.  The cast (most of them veteran TV actors) all don't miss a beat and totally sell the period look with some truly unfortunate hair.  Affleck backs them all with understated and quiet performance that even though you see the worry in his eyes, you know he's not going to back down now.

Ben Affleck has directed an impressive, lasting film that I urge you not to miss.  Watch in a theater only and stay until the very end of the credits for the mini-history lesson as well.  I have a feeling in the upcoming months, we will be seeing a lot of this cast and crew (including producer George Clooney) on some podiums for their exceptional work.

Directed by Ben Affleck; Written by Chris Terrio; Cinematography by Rodrigo Prieto; Editing by William Goldenberg; Music by Alexandre Desplat

Additional cast: Bryan Cranston, Tate Donovan, Kyle Chandler, Rory Cochrane, Kerry Bishe, Clea DuVall, Christopher Denham, Zeljko Ivanek, Scoot McNairy and Chris Messina.

Rating: 

Trailer Time: Gangster Squad, Skyfall, and Argo

Last year was the year of Ryan Gosling with three big name films and some occasional heroism on the side.  This year, he's back with an all-star cast featuring Sean Penn, Josh Brolin, Nick Nolte, Emma Stone, and Anthony Mackie in Gangster Squad, a look at the 1940s LAPD and their fight against the East Coast Mafia.  It looks explosive with the lines of good vs. bad quite blurred.  The cast alone is reason enough to tune in but the premise too looks intriguing.  Directed by Ruben Fleischer, the film releases on September 7, 2012 in the US.

Bond is back!  The first teaser for the film due to release this November came out today.  The 23rd Bond film, Skyfall, has MI6 Agent Bond facing yet another threat as he helps out as M is in trouble.  Hey, if this means more screen time for Judi Dench, I'm in.  The cast includes Daniel Craig in his third outing as Bond, Judi Dench, Ralph Fiennes, Naomie Harris, Berenice Marlohe and Javier Bardem.  I watched the trailer again to see if we are ever shown Bardem's face but I think that's him at the very end.  Keeping the villain under wraps until a later date, methinks.  Oscar winner Sam Mendes is handling the directorial duties for this latest Bond film.  

Also back for third time in the director's chair is Ben Affleck after two successful well made films, Gone Baby Gone and The Town.  This latest film, Argo, has Affleck doing double duty again as director and actor playing a CIA agent who has to extract 6 Americans working at the Embassy during the 1979 Iran hostage crisis.   For me, the trailer switched to a weird comedy angle midway when Affleck's character goes to Hollywood posing as a producer of sci-fi film Argo and decides the hostages will pose as his crew.  But as the trailer assures me, this is based on a true story so it must work out somehow.  I didn't like the trailer for The Town when it came out, it gave away too much of the story but it seemed fine during the film.  Here's hoping Argo goes the same way when it releases this October.  

News Update: The Hobbit, Green Lantern and Hangover 2

• The Internet is determined to make me eat my words.  Here I am mentioning The Hobbit again, less than two after I said I wouldn't.  Why because Martin Freeman is officially cast as Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit ending all speculation about the role.  What does officially mean these days anyway? Subject to change? Well, here's the list of other actors cast as dwarfs and other roles in the film.
• Mel Gibson is no longer doing the Hangover 2 cameo and Liam Neeson will now be replacing him.  No one is protesting.  Moving along!
• HitFlix visits the Green Lantern set and shows us some new concept art and an interview with Ryan Reynolds himself.
• Don't know how far this is true but the Daily Mail is reporting that next year a film will be released on the life of Princess Diana as it is the 50th anniversary of her birth.  Keira Knightley is being considered as Diana with Helen Mirren to play her mother.  Just sounds as wishful thinking at this point.
• M. Night Shyamalan still has some clout in Hollywood.  After the disaster that was The Last Airbender, he is now developing One Thousand A. E. with Will Smith's production company.  This could be Jaden Smith's next movie.  Shyamalan is a good director, I don't know how he's lost his way.  I hope he finds his form soon enough, maybe this could be it.
• Could we be seeing Johnny Depp as Nick Charles in The Thin Man?  He is said to be interested in the role after he's done with the next Pirates sequel.   If Depp is Nick, who will be Nora?
• Ben Affleck still has his director's hat on and is considering his next project which could be Replay, which sounds a little bit of Groundhog Day with time-travel thrown in or could it be something else entirely.  Sounds intriguing!