News Update: Marvel's Ant-Man, Harry Potter, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and You've Got Mail at 15!

• I'm a big fan of Marvel superhero franchises and I even enjoy the TV series Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.  But I have to say I have no interest in its upcoming Ant-Man which is joining the overcrowded field of blockbusters releasing in 2015 (Star Wars! Avengers! Batman!) even though they've cast the very likable Paul Rudd (I Love You Man, This is 40) in the lead.  The film will be directed by Edgar Wright, who has been attached to the project for many years now and is due to release on July 31, 2015!

• Speaking of July 31st, it's the birthday of a very famous literary bespectacled wizard who had a great run at the press and the big screen and now Harry's heading to the stage.  J.K. Rowling isn't done surprising us as yet.  She's co-producing and bringing forth a new play based on Harry Potter's life before he became a wizard and lived with the Dursleys.  The play will debut on the West End in 2015.  Please keep surprising us like this forever Ms Rowling!

(Photo: Joseph Gordon-Levitt Facebook)

• What can't Joseph Gordon-Levitt do? The actor-writer-director is also turning producer for the big screen yet again (He also produced Looper last year) with author Neil Gaiman's Sandman.  He'll also be voicing the character of Jiro Horikoshi in the English language release of Hayao Miyazaki's last feature as director, The Wind Rises.  (PS- The resemblance is uncanny!)
• And finally, just for fun, let's revisit the trailer of You've Got Mail which celebrated its 15th anniversary two weeks ago.  Remember dial-up? Or typewriters! Or *sob* bookstores!  Contrasted with 2013's Her in which a character now falls in love with the OS on his phone, the story of two people falling in love over e-mails sounds so old-fashioned, doesn't it?

Blast from the Past: Sleepless in Seattle (1993)

Let's just call June 'Tom Hanks' month' because we've hit yet another anniversary celebration of his film with the eternal rom-com, Sleepless in Seattle.  Co-written and directed by the late Nora Ephron, the film cleverly refers to another romantic class, An Affair to Remember (1957), starring Cary Grant and  Deborah Kerr and features the Empire State building in a supporting role. The film became one of the best romances of the 90s.

On Christmas Eve, young Jonah Baldwin (Ross Malinger) calls up a radio call-in show to ask for a new wife for his widower dad Sam (Tom Hanks) unbeknownst to him.  Annie Reed (Meg Ryan) who lives on the other side of the country in Baltimore, happens to listen in and finds herself intrigued.

Impulsively and inspired by An Affair to Remember, she writes to Sam and Jonah telling them to meet her on top of the Empire State building on Valentine's Day.  Amongst the hundreds who write to the Baldwins, Jonah feels a kinship towards Annie and feels this is the one for his dad.  Sam, of course, doesn't know it yet and from thereon the film is delightful journey to the two lovers meeting atop, yes, the Empire State building.

The film is perennial favorite of mine and I usually watch it once a year at Christmas. The supporting cast is stellar and features director Rob Reiner, Victor Garber, Bill Pullman, Rosie O'Donnell and Hanks's real life wife,Rita Wilson.  And even though Hanks and Ryan are only in the film for about two minutes, those two minutes are absolute magic and crackling with their chemistry.  They only did three movies together (the hilarious Joe Versus the Volcano and the Sleepless in Seattle follow up by Ephron, Hanks, and Ryan in You've Got Mail) but it seems like much more because when they were together onscreen, you knew their characters were meant for each other.  Even after 20 years, you can fall in love again with the characters and unforgettable dialogues.  I know I will.