Fault in Our Stars wins at MTVs, Rebecca Hall joins BFG and Stallone in first still from Creed

BIrdman, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Birdman, Guardians of the Galaxy and Boyhood were among the most celebrated films of the previous awards season but the MTV Awards have a history of selecting mainstream flicks. Previous films to have been crowned include Terminator 2, A Few Good Men, Scream, There’s Something About Mary, The Matrix, The Lord of the Rings, Napoleon Dynamite, Wedding Crashers, Transformers, Twilight, The Avengers and The Hunger Games: Caching Fire. Last night’s results are in on the 2015 awards (novelty awards included).

Best Movie:

The Fault in Our Stars
American Sniper
Boyhood
Gone Girl
Guardians of the Galaxy
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Selma
Whiplash

Best Male Performance:

Bradley Cooper – American Sniper
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Channing Tatum – Foxcatcher
Miles Teller – Whiplash

Best Female Performance:

Shailene Woodley – The Fault in Our Stars
Scarlett Johansson – Lucy
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Emma Stone – Birdman
Reese Witherspoon – Wild

Best Breakthrough Performance:

Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
David Oyelowo – Selma
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl

Best Scared Performance:

Jennifer Lopez – The Boy Next Door
Zack Gildford – The Purge: Anarchy
Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Rosamund Pike – Gone Girl
Annabelle Wallis – Annabelle

Best On Screen Duo:

Zac Efron & Dave Franco – Bad Neighbours
Bradley Cooper & Vin Diesel – Guardians of the Galaxy
James Franco & Seth Rogen – The Interview
Channing Tatum & Jonah Hill – 22 Jump Street
Shailene Woodley & Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars

Best Shirtless Performance:

Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours
Ansel Elgort – The Fault in Our Stars
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Channing Tatum – Foxcatcher
Kate Upton – The Other Woman

Best Fight:

Dylan O’Brien vs Will Poulter – The Maze Runner
Chris Evans vs Sebastian Stan – Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Jonah Hill vs Jillian Bell – 22 Jump Street
Edward Norton vs Michael Keaton – Birdman
Seth Rogen vs Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours

Best Kiss:

Ansel Elgort & Shailene Woodley – The Fault in Our Stars
Rose Byrne & Halston Sage – Bad Neighbours
James Franco & Seth Rogen – The Interview
Andrew Garfield & Emma Stone – The Amazing Spider-Man 2
Scarlett Johansson & Chris Evans – Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Best WTF Moment:

Seth Rogen & Rose Byrne – Bad Neighbours
Rosario Dawson & Anders Holm – Top Five
Jonah Hill – 22 Jump Street
Jason Sudeikis & Charlie Day – Horrible Bosses 2
Miles Teller – Whpilash

Best Villain:

Meryl Streep – Into the Woods
Jillian Bell – 22 Jump Street
Peter Dinklage – X-Men: Days of Future Past
(Spoilers) – Gone Girl
JK Simmons – Whiplash

Best Musical Moment:

Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Bill Hader & Kristen Wiig – The Skeleton Twins
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Seth Rogen & Zac Efron – Bad Neighbours
Miles Teller – Whiplash

Best Comedic Performance:

Channing Tatum – 22 Jump Street
Rose Byrne – Bad Neighbours
Kevin Hart – The Wedding Ringer
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy
Chris Rock – Top Five

Best On Screen Transformation:

Elizabeth Banks – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Steve Carell – Foxcacher
Ellar Coltrane – Boyhood
Eddie Redmayne – The Theory of Everything
Zoe Saldana – Guardians of the Galaxy

Best Hero:

Dylan O’Brien – The Maze Runner
Shailene Woodley – Insurgent
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1
Martin Freeman – The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies
Chris Pratt – Guardians of the Galaxy

Trailblazer Award:

Shailene Woodley (The Descendants, Divergent, The Fault in Our Stars, The Spectacular Now)

Comedic Genius Award:

Kevin Hart (Get Hard, Ride Along, Think Like a Man, The Wedding Ringer)

Generation Award:

Robert Downey Jr (The Avengers, Kiss Kiss Bang Bang, Sherlock Holmes, Zodiac)

Here’s the winners’ leaderboard:

Bad Neighbours, The Fault in Our Stars, The Maze Runner – 3
The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – 2
22 Jump Street, American Sniper, The Boy Next Door, Into the Woods – 1

With various big names already attached to his fantasy adventure The BFG, famed director Steven Spielberg (Jaws, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Minority Report, Catch Me If You Can, Lincoln) has enlisted even more cast members for the project. Rebecca Hall, the Golden Globe and BAFTA nominated star of Iron Man 3, The Town, The Prestige and Vicky Cristina Barcelona, was the first major addition in an announcement that included Jemaine Clement (What We Do in the Shadows, Flight at the Conchords) and Penelope Wilton (Shaun of the Dead, The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). The cast already includes Mark Rylance (Wolf Hall, Bridge of Spies), Bill Hader (Superbad, The Skeleton Twins) and Martin Freeman (Fargo, Sherlock, The Hobbit trilogy).

It’s so far unclear if the new film Creed will be an Oscar favourite or a limp reboot of the lagging Rocky franchise (one that began with a Best Picture win in 1976 steadily declined through four sequels in the 1980s and returned with the minor hit of 2006’s Rocky Balboa). The new addition of the franchise has Michael B Jordan (Chronicle, The Fantastic Four) reteaming with his Fruitvale Station (an acclaimed urban drama) director Ryan Coogler to play Creed’s grandson who recruits Rocky Balboa (Sylvester Stallone – First Blood) as his new mentor to become a new boxing legend. The film’s first still has been revealed. Graham McTavish (The Hobbit, Outlander) and Tessa Thompson (Selma, Dear White People).

Creed – November 25th

The BFG – July 22nd 2016

Del Toro’s Crimson Peak releases trailer, SNL 40 lineup, Cotillard joins Assassin’s Creed and castings and images fro Deadpool

Until fairly recently, the gaming adaptation Assassin’s Creed was still set for a ridiculous August 2015 release date, before production and most of the casting, but there was then a eighteen month delay. Michael Fassbender (X-Men: First Class, Prometheus, 300, Shame, 12 Years a Slave) will star as a modern day man who’s forced to relive the memories of his ancestors, who are members of an ancient order while Justin Kurzel (Snowtown) directs.

A new addition is Marion Cotillard, the French-born Oscar winning star of Inception, The Dark Knight Rises, Big Fish, Two Days One Night, Rust and Bone, Contagion, La Vie en Rose, Midnight in Paris and Public Enemies. She teams with her future Macbeth co-star Fassbender in a undisclosed role.

Safe House star Ryan Reynolds and director Tim Miller have been lobbying for a greenlight for so long on mutant spinoff Deadpool and it’s finally on its way. On on set image reveals Wade Wilson’s iconic mask, pleasingly not tampered with from the comic book depiction, while some strides are being made in the casting department. Gina Carano (Fast and Furious 6, Haywire) has joined while three time X-Men star Daniel Cudmore will reprise his rule as Colossus.

It came close to topping our most anticipated list for 2015 and we can now reveal the very first look at Crimson Peak. Pan’s Labyrinth’s Guillermo Del Toro brings us this bold new horror entry which sees a young author lured into a reclusive house by her secretive new husband. It stars Mia Wasikowska (Stoker, Maps to the Stars), Tom Hiddleston (Thor, War Horse), Jessica Chastain (Interstellar, Zero Dark Thirty), Charlie Hunnam (Pacific Rim, Sons of Anarchy) and Doug Jones (Hellboy).

Many Americans will know that this weekend heralds the fortieth anniversary of the sketch show Saturday Night Live and we’ll give a special mention to the phenomenal ensemble of their new special including:

Adam Sandler (actor – Happy Gilmore)
Alec Baldwin (actor – 30 Rock, The Departed, Beetlejuice, The Hunt for Red October)
Amy Poehler (actress – Parks and Recreation)
Andy Samberg (actor – Brooklyn Nine Nine)
Bill Hader (actor – The Skeleton Twins)
Bill Murray (actor – Ghost Busters, Lost in Translation, Groundhog Day)
Billy Crystal (actor – Monsters Inc, When Harry Met Sally)
Bradley Cooper (actor – Guardians of the Galaxy, American Sniper, The Hangover)
Catherine Zeta Jones (actress – The Terminal, Chicago)
Charlie Day (actor – Horrible Bosses, The Lego Movie)
Chris Rock (actor – Madagascar, Top Five)
Christopher Walken (actor – Catch Me if You Can, Pulp Fiction)
Dan Aykroyd (actor – Ghostbusters, The Blues Brothers)
Eddie Murphy (actor – Shrek, Beverly Hills Cop)
Edward Norton (actor – Fight Club, The Bourne Legacy, Birdman)
Emma Stone (actress – Easy A, The Amazing Spider-Man)
George Lucas (director – Star Wars, American Graffiti)
Glenn Close (actress – Guardians of the Galaxy, Mars Attacks)
JK Simmons (actor – Whiplash, Spider-Man)
Jack Nicholson (actor – The Shining, The Departed, One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Batman)
James Franco (actor – 127 Hours, Spider-Man, The Interview)
Jim Carrey (actor – The Truman Show, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Dumb and Dumber)
John Goodman (actor – The Artist, Argo, Monsters Inc, The Big Lebowski)
Kristen Wiig (actress – Bridesmaids, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty)
Martin Short (actor – Innerspace, !Three Amigos!)
Maya Rudolph (actress – Bridesmaids, Away We Go)
Melissa McCarthy (actress – Bridesmaids, The Heat, St Vincent)
Michael Douglas (actor – The Game, Wall Street, Ant-Man)
Mike Myers (actor – Wayne’s World, Shrek, Austin Powers)
Paul Rudd (actor – Anchorman, Knocked Up)
Robert De Niro (actor – The Godfather Part II, Goodfellas, Heat, Casino)
Sarah Silverman (actress – School of Rock, Wreck It Ralph)
Sigourney Weaver (actress – Avatar, Aliens)
Steve Martin (actor – Cheaper by the Dozen)
Steven Spielberg (director – ET, Jurassic Park, Schindler’s List, Saving Private Ryan, Jaws, Raiders)
Tina Fey (actress/writer – 30 Rock, Mean Girls)
Tom Hanks (actor – Toy Story, Cast Away, Forrest Gump, Captain Phillips, Saving Private Ryan, Big)
Will Ferrell (actor – Anchorman, The Lego Movie, Elf, Step Brothers)
Zach Galifianakis (actor – The Hangover, The Campaign, Into the Wild, Birdman)

Crimson Peak – October

Deadpool – February 2016

Assassin’s Creed – December 2016

The Best Films of 2014 – the Half-Way Point

Looking at any annual film schedule, its evident that the first half of the year can never quite live up to the second and 2014 is no exception. This year really did get off to a rotten start with 47 Ronin, The Legend of Hercules and I Frankenstein dragging their heals at the box-office but this did pave a way for others; The Wolf of Wall Street and Ride Along both enjoyed three consecutive weeks at the top of the UK and US box-office respectively. Following that came some genuine surprises. Wes Anderson’s ensemble comedy The Grand Budapest Hotel reached 1st and 3rd in the UK and US against all odds and The Lego Movie, one of the most poorly marketed films in recent years, was an unexpected treat and certainly and future cult classic.

The biblical format seemed to increase in popularity around Easter with the low-key Christian dramas Heaven is For Real, Son of God and God’s Not Dead taking nearly thirty times their micro-budgets but these religious flicks aren’t proving successful outside of America, besides Aronofsky’s star-driven epic Noah. The “Katniss-effect” of The Hunger Games has evidently given studios the faith to put stronger female characters into the fray of action and adventure with Angelina Jolie’s Maleficent and Shailene Woodley’s Divergent winning out over Johnny Depp’s Transcendence or Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Sabotage financially. Edge of Tomorrow even managed it to the extent of Tom Cruise needing saving from Emily Blunt’s ultimate warrior.

In the last six months, certain individuals are lighting up the box-office left, right and centre. Former comedian Kevin Hart has lead a trio of success, Ride Along, About Last Night and Think Like a Man Too, while the Jump Street quartet (director Phil Lord and Chris Miller/stars Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill) have a cinematic Midas-touch. It’s evident that Lego’s Chris Pratt can do no wrong and, with Jurassic World and Guardians of the Galaxy coming soon, he’s well on his way to man-of-the-year status. The biggest winners of the year have to be Marvel. Even though their heroes are divided across Sony, Fox and Disney, Stan Lee’s creations of Spider-Man, Captain America (kind-of) and the X-Men are currently the three biggest films of the year so far and they’ll only continue to grow bigger.

Below you can find the international box-office top ten followed by our own personal picks of the year so far as well as the ten to look for in the rest of 2014:

International Box-office Top 10:

1. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Director: Anthony and Joe Russo – Starring: Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones – Box-office: $710.8 million
2. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper – $703.3 million
3. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till – $700 million
4. Maleficent – Robert Stromberg – Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Sharlto Copley, Sam Riley, Imelda Staunton, Juno Temple, Lesley Manville – $531.8 million
5. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche – $478.7 million
6. Rio 2 – Carlos Saldanha – Jesse Eisenberg, Anne Hathaway, Leslie Mann, Bruno Mars, Jemaine Clement, Jamie Foxx, will.i.am – $469.4 million
7. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders – $467.2 million
8. Noah – Darren Aronofsky – Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Ray Winstone, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Douglas Booth, Anthony Hopkins – $356.2 million
9. 300: Rise of an Empire – Noam Murro – Eva Green, Sullivan Stapleton, Lena Headey, Jack O’Connell, Rodrigo Santoro, Callan Mulvey, David Wenham – $331.1 million
10. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong – $298.8 million

Tuorhoth’s Top 10:

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past – Bryan Singer – Hugh Jackman, Patrick Stewart, James McAvoy, Jennifer Lawrence, Michael Fassbender, Nicholas Hoult, Peter Dinklage, Ellen Page, Evan Peters, Shawn Ashmore, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen, Josh Helman, Omar Sy, Fan Bingbing, Adan Canto, Booboo Stewart, Lucas Till
2. Godzilla – Gareth Edwards – Aaron Taylor Johnson, Elizabeth Olsen, Ken Watanabe, Bryan Cranston, Sally Hawkins, Juliette Binoche
3. The Lego Movie – Phil Lord, Chris Miller – Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie, Nick Offerman, Charlie Day, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders
4. Captain America: The Winter Soldier – Anthony and Joe Russo – Chris Evans, Scarlett Johansson, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Frank Grillo, Emily Van Camp, Samuel L Jackson, Hayley Attwell, Toby Jones
5. Edge of Tomorrow – Doug Liman – Tom Cruise, Emily Blunt, Bill Paxton, Brendan Gleeson, Jonas Armstrong
6. The Two Faces of January – Hossein Amini – Viggo Mortensen, Oscar Isaac, Kirsten Dunst
7. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom – Justin Chadwick – Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
8. Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit – Kenneth Branagh – Chris Pine, Keira Knightley, Kenneth Branagh, Kevin Costner, Nonso Anozie, Gemma Chan
9. RoboCop – Jose Padilha – Gary Oldman, Joel Kinnaman, Abbie Cornish, Michael Keaton, Jay Baruchel, Jennifer Ehle, Jackie Earle Haley, Aimee Garcia, Michael K Williams, Samuel L Jackson
10. The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – Marc Webb – Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Dane DeHaan, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Felicity Jones, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Chris Cooper

Top 10 Anticipated:

1. Interstellar – Christopher Nolan – Matthew MacConaughey, Anne Hathaway, Jessica Chastain, Michael Caine, Topher Grace, Casey Affleck, David Oyelowo, John Lithgow, Matt Damon
2. The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies – Peter Jackson – Martin Freeman, Ian McKellen, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Cate Blanchett, Orlando Bloom, Aidan Turner, James Nesbitt, Ken Stott, Sylvester McCoy, Lee Pace, Manu Bennett, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving, Christopher Lee
3. Gone Girl – David Fincher – Ben Affleck, Neil Patrick Harris, Rosamund Pike
4. Kingsman: The Secret Service – Matthew Vaughn – Taron Egerton, Colin Firth, Michael Caine, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Hamill, Mark Strong
5. Guardians of the Galaxy – James Gunn – Chris Pratt, Bradley Cooper, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Djimon Hounsou, Benicio Del Toro, Josh Brolin, John C Reilly
6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – Matt Reeves – Jason Clarke, Andy Serkis, James Franco, Judy Greer, Gary Oldman, Toby Kebbell, Kodi Smit McPhee
7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1 – Francis Lawrence – Jennifer Lawrence, Donald Sutherland, Woody Harrelson, Julianne Moore, Josh Hutcherson, Liam Hemsworth, Jena Malone, Sam Clafin, Elizabeth Banks, Stanley Tucci, Toby Jones, Natalie Dormer, Philip Seymour, Hoffman
8. Fury – David Ayer – Brad Pitt, Logan Lerman, Jason Isaacs, Michael Pena, Shia LeBeouf
9. Exodus: Gods and Kings – Ridley Scott – Christian Bale, Aaron Paul, Sigourney Weaver, Joel Edgerton, Ben Kingsley
10. The Judge – David Dobkin – Robert Downey Jr, Robert Duvall, Billy Bob Thornton, Vera Farmiga

Roberto Orci talks themes of Star Trek 3, Del Toro confirms Pacific Rim 2 and Age of Ultron cast confirmed for Comic-Con

Over the years, the San Diego Comic-Con has cemented its place as the biggest movie related event of the summer, roping in stars to promote the most hyped film and television of the next year. This year we’re hoping for exclusives on The Hobbit’s final chapter, a title for Captain America 3 and of coarse the latest on the sequel to the third highest grossing film of all time (and 16th greatest according to Empire) The Avengers. Its star Mark Ruffalo, who’ll likely play a larger role this time round, has now confirmed that the Age of Ultron cast will grace the convention with their presence, becoming the first guests to be announced to be attending Hall H this summer.

“Yeah, we’re gonna go out there,” the star of The Kids Are All Right and Zodiac explains, “We’re all flying, we’re flying from London. We’re working. We’re shooting. We’re gonna stop and get on a plane and go to Comic-Con together. It’s gonna be amazing.” We’re hoping for more Comic-Con announcements to come soon but there’s nothing the organisers will surely leave some of the lineups a mystery for the fans attending. Age of Ultron will star Mark Ruffalo, Robert Downey Jr, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Chris Evans, James Spader, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, Samuel L Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Thomas Kretschmann, Hayley Attwell, Don Cheadle, Josh Brolin and Paul Bettany and is directed by Joss Whedon (Firefly, Serenity, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel, Dr Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog, Much Ado About Nothing, Toy Story).

Even with JJ Abrams “gone leavin”, the fan pressure to make a third instalment to the widely successful rebooted Star Trek series is immense and so Into Darkness writer Roberto Orci is taking up the directing chair this time around and he’s taken some time out to fill us in on how Kirk and Co.’s story will evolve. “In they set out finally where the original series started,” says Orci. “The first two films – especially the 2009 film – was an origin story. It was about them coming together. So they weren’t the characters they were in the original series,” continues the director. “They were growing into them and that continues on in the second movie. So in this movie they are closer than they are to the original series characters that you have ever seen.

“They have set off on their five-year mission, so their adventure is going to be in deep space.” What many Trek fans are after is a story more focused on The Original Series’ theme of discovery, exploration, at least attempting negotiations and moving on but that kind of episodic narrative doesn’t work well with a two hour blockbuster. So long as the Klingon race play a major role (how about a Next Generation cameo or William Shatner finally turning up) and the rebooted cast of Chris Pine (Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit), Zachary Quinto (Margin Call), Zoe Saldana (Avatar), John Cho (American Beauty), Anton Yelchin (Terminator Salvation), Alice Eve (Men In Black 3), Leonard Nimoy (The Wrath of Khan), Karl Urban (Dredd) and Simon Pegg (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol).

Guillermo Del Toro’s epic sci-fi action Pacific Rim became a cult hit with many fans and while it doubled its budget with its international takings and gained an overall of $410 million but wasn’t quite the smash Warners were hoping for. That plus the worry of writer Travis Beacham departing set back a potential sequel by some way but today Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Devil’s Backbone, Blade II, Hellboy), who’s now working with The Avengers’ Zak Penn, at last confirmed the follow up and its set in for April 2017. The delay may confuse some but Del Toro is still at work on horror flick Crimson Peak. We hope that Rim 2 will star Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Charlie Day, Burn Gorman and Ron Perlman.

Pacific Rim 2 – April 7th 2017

Star Trek 3 – 2016

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1st 2015

Vin Diesel and Bradley Cooper in new Guardians poster Del Toro talks Pacific Rim 2 with Zak Penn

Guillermo Del Toro’s Pacific Rim was one of our favourite action films from last year, brilliantly combining spectacle and dumb fun. Del Toro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy, The Devil’s Backbone) has now spoken out about his work on the sequel. “We’ve been working for a few months now in secret. We found a way to twist it around.” We is referring to he and Zak Penn (X-Men 2, The Avengers), who’s replaced Travis Beacham. It’s believed to be that Beacham has taken off to pursue his various TV projects. We hope the sequel will star Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Burn Gorman, Charlie Day and Ron Perlman.

Also today we’ve got the first of a few character posters for Marvel’s new space adventure Guardians of the Galaxy, directed by James Gunn (Super, Slither). We’re unsure if the film will flop or thrive but either way it’ll massively influence the development of Ant-Man, Black Panther and Doctor Strange. Guardians will star Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, Zoe Saldana, John C Reilly, Lee Pace, Karen Gillan, Glenn Close, Benicio Del Toro, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper and Josh Brolin.

Guardians of the Galaxy – July 31st

Pacific Rim 2 – 2017

The Lego Movie review

Directors: Phil Lord, Chris Miller

Starring: Chris Pratt, Elizabeth Banks, Will Ferrell, Liam Neeson, Morgan Freeman, Will Arnett, Charlie Day, Alison Brie, Charlie Day, Nick Offerman, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill, Cobie Smulders

A dreadful error was made during the marketing campaign of The Lego Movie. Instead of teasing 100 minutes worth of hysteric, subtle satire, they’ve advertised a cheap animation complete with low brow jokes and character listing. Don’t let this put you off!

Lego City is a town of charming but narrow minded minifigure citizens who, unquestioning, follow the construction orders of their seemingly benevolent leader President Business (Ferrell). Emmet Brickowski (Pratt) is, unknowingly, perhaps the most gullible and uninteresting of them all. However, after he discovers the coveted Piece of Resistance, he is told by the determined rebel Wyldstyle (Banks) and soothsaying wizard Vitruvius (Freeman) that he is The Special, the one destined the end Business’ reign. Emmet journeys to other lands to meet his fellow Master-Builders but they all correctly doubt him to be their destined saviour.

The two generations attending this movie will know of two very different Legos. The elders recall a time of Danish bricks that called upon their owners to build whatever thy desired; the newcomers are part of a construction and gaming phenomenon that’s brilliantly tackled franchise after franchise with Star Wars, Indy, Pirates, Batman, Marvel, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and now The Hobbit and The Simpsons. This excellently caters to both audiences, perhaps the parents more so.

It may sound generic but the story, scribed by the film’s directors, is organically based around Lego. Despite numerous similarities to The Matrix, the real story is of the heroes’ endeavour to restore creativity to a world dictated by orders. The message, although at times it’s so blatant it feels as if it’s a candy coloured medicine injecting itself into our hearts, is one that’ll drastically hit hard at both kids and parents, maybe the latter more so.

Secondly, nearly all of the humour is spot on. It’s vastly silly but in a bizarre way rather than just plainly immature. The supporting roles of Freeman’s dotty wizard, Ferrell’s scheming mastermind, Neeson’s personality schismed Good Cop/Bad Cop, Arnett as Batman (perhaps the best Dark Knight parody to date: “Darkness! DUN! DUN! No parents!”) and Day as the hopelessly obsessed ’80 Something Guy are just hilarious and Pratt’s quietly adorable Emmet steals numerous scenes, the head-wheel sequence in particular.

The most admirable feature is the impeccable Lego animation. The hand crafted stop-motion is delightful as it is bold and brash, CG only being used in the most distant of images. There’s a huge amount going on; a DVD viewing maybe necessary in need to pick up every joke. Miller and Lord’s humour’s brilliantly judged, varying from pop culture references (which are so good I don’t want to spoil them by referencing) to parodying its own genre with the sickly pop tunes maximised to satirical brilliance.

9/10

“Everything is awesome!”

Wonder Woman confirmed for Batman/Superman, Amazing Spider-Man 2 publishes new pics and Louis Leterrier and Sacha Baron Cohen for Grimsby

Louis Leterrier’s career has been a little sticky. His directorial debut Unleashed, starring Morgan Freeman, Jet Li and Bob Hoskins, put him forward and he was soon some lovely big budgets but all Transporter 2, The Incredible Hulk and Clash of the Titans fell flat. However, this year’s Now You See Me was quite a brilliant magician themed thriller. Read our review here. Sequel talk has been floating around a bit but his project after that is today’s focus.

Grimsby is the unambitious title of the new spy comedy that Leterrier’s now attached to direct. The premise, written by Borat’s Baron Cohen and Wreck It-Ralph’s Phil Johnston, is of a couple of comedic spec ops brothers on a secret mission. I think it’s going for less of the James Bond/Jason Bourne parody road that’s been well covered by Johnny English and various other attempts so I think it’ll try and go for a satirical take on say Call of Duty. Variety says that Leterrier won the job of calling the shots over I am Number Four’s DJ Caruso.

Previous Spider-Man films have suffered from a key problem. As soon as Peter Parker gets costumed and swings around he turns into a often disappointing 3-D model. It looks as if Marc Webb’s The Amazing Spider-Man 2 it’s trying to capture a more physical Spidey (Andrew Garfield) and these new pics unveil that a bit of that as well as Jamie Foxx as the menacing Electro. Press next to cycle through. Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Dane DeHaan, Martin Sheen and Chris Cooper.

Finally we’ve come the big news of the day which is a bit of news about Wonder Woman. Joss Whedon performed an Amazonian dance around the project for a while before he became Marvel’s main man and names such as Cobie Smulders, Megan Fox and Jaimie Alexander thrown into the mix. However, Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) will be the one to bring Wonder Woman to the screen but I think we guessed that. The surprise is that we’ll get to see her in 2015’s superhero clash Batman vs. Superman, as it’s titled for now.

In addition, Fast and Furious’ Gisele, or her actual name Gal Gadot, is now set to play her. Batman vs. Superman isn’t the only time we’ll be able to see Bat, Supe and Wonder Woman share the screen. Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s The LEGO Movie comes before and features the aforementioned trio as well as Green Lantern for good measure. The Danish figures will be voiced by Will Arnett, Channing Tatum, Cobie Smulders and Jonah Hill as well as Elizabeth Banks, Chris Pratt, Liam Neeson, Will Ferrell, Morgan Freeman, Alison Brie and Charlie Day meanwhile Batman vs. Superman has Ben Affleck as Batman and Henry Cavill as Superman as well as Laurence Fishburne, Diane Lane and Amy Adams.

Batman vs. Superman – July 17th 2015

The LEGO Movie – February 14th 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Grimsby – 2015?

New Lego Movie posters and The Hobbit’s Lee Pace for role in Lance Armstrong movie

Anybody following the major sporting news of the last year or so will know the story of the former legendary, now infamous, cyclist Lance Armstrong. After recovering from cancer in 1997, he went on to seven consecutive Tour De France victories. When the truth of his use of drugs emerged, an accusation he denied throughout his career, he was stripped of those titles. January this year, he finally admitted in an open interview with Oprah Winfrey.

A biopic of Armstrong’s life may have found another key star now and Lee Pace is the man. He was the lead in fantasy adventure The Fall. He also starred in Lincoln and will have huge roles in the upcoming The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug and Guardians of the Galaxt. His role in the Armstrong biopic isn’t specified yet but we know Ben Foster (X-Men, 3:10 to Yuma) will have the lead role while Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids, The IT Crowd) plays sports journalist David Walsh. Stephen Frears, director of The Queen, Philomena and High Fidelity, is still attached while John Hodge (Trainspotting, Trance, The Beach) will be adapting David Walsh’s factual book Seven Deadly Sins.

We move on to the second and last of today’s news stories. We’ve got our hands on some great new character posters for the star studded stop motion animation The Lego Movie. Press next to cycle through them. Morgan Freeman, Charlie Day, Will Ferrell, Will Arnett, Elizabeth Banks and Chris Pratt’s characters are the focus of these teasers while Liam Neeson, Cobie Smulders, Channing Tatum, Jonah Hill and Alison Brie also star in the new feautre from Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs and 21 Jump Street directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

Untitled Lance Armstrong biopic – late 2014

The Lego Movie – February 14th 2014

Simpkins for Jurassic World, Pine joins Horrible Bosses 2 plus Marvel rumours for Ant-Man and Agent Carter

Chris Pine is part of the reason that the 2009 reboot of Star Trek (and it’s 2013 sequel: Into Darkness) was such a success. His charismatic revival of Captain Kirk brought the two films up a significant notch. He’s likely to bring that charisma into Jack Ryan reboot Shadow Recruit (December 31st, not 26th, now) and now Horrible Bosses 2. He’ll be the villainous boss for the characters of Charlie Day (Pacific Rim), Jason Bateman (Arrested Development) and Jason Sudeikis (We’re the Millers) who plot on murdering those who make their life hell, IE Colin Farrel (who they offed in the last film), Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey. He’s been confirmed to be portraying half a father-son duo who steel the lads’ idea for a new invention in the plot of director Sean Anders’ (That’s My Boy).

We move on to some new casting news on the front of Colin Trevorrow’s upcoming science fiction adventure sequel. Jurassic World, the fourth instalment of the Spielberg originating Jurassic Park series snapped up Bryce Dallas Howard (Spider-Man 3, The Help) fairly recently and a second cast member’s been brought in. The name Ty Simpkins may not immediately leap out to you as one of a Hollywood star but horror fans will know him as the possessed child from the Insidious films and those who watched Shane Black’s comic-book action Iron Man 3 will know him as Harley Keener, the young hero who helps Stark with his investigation into Extremis. He also had roles in Russell Crowe thriller The Next Three Days and Sam Mendes drama Revolutionary Road.

There’s also been some interesting news on the Marvel front. We’re approaching the finishing line of the pre-production of Ant-Man. Edgar Wright’s superhero epic is under two years from being released in cinemas and yet we don’t know any of the stars. Variety reported that favourites for the lead role of Hank Pym were Joseph Gordon Levitt (Looper, The Dark Knight Rises, Inception, 50/50) and Paul Rudd (Role Models, Knocked Up, This is 40, The 40 Year Old Virgin). I wouldn’t be particularly happy with either of these two (they’re good at what they do but I don’t see either as a potential superhero lead). I’m still sticking to Nathan Fillion (Firefly, Castle) or Joel Edgerton (Warrior, Star Wars, The Great Gatsby).

Also, Deadline has told us that Marvel are to commission another 4 series on top of Agents of SHIELD. We’ve been informed about an ambitious 60 episode plan to follow in the next couple of years. I think the truth behind this is that TV need some big Hollywood action exclusive to it’s screens to lure people off cable hits (Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones) and Netflix (who’ve House of Cards, Arrested Development and Orange is the New Black. I’m predicting that Louis D’Esposito and Hailee Attwell could be developing the story of Agent Carter.

Jurassic World – June 12th 2015

Horrible Bosses 2 – November 26th 2014

Ant-Man – July 31st 2015

Monsters University review

Director: Dan Scanlon

Starring: Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren, Nathan Fillion, Charlie Day, Steve Buscemi

Critics have attempted to rip into Pixar recently after Cars 2 in 2011. The half decent animation did slip the bar of the company that in the prior three years produced classics such as WALL E, Up and Toy Story 3 but it’s 39% score on Rotten Tomatoes is unjustified. The reviewers from around the globe then wanted to hate Pixar’s 2012 feature Brave purely because it would prove them right when they said Pixar was done after the last year. But Brave was a colourful, funny and, at times, terrifying in one romp of a package. The latest offering from the animation giants is Monsters University, a prequel to one of their most loved films: Monsters, Inc. While it is filled with excitement and laughs it isn’t quite the Monsters film we were hoping for.

Teenage nerd Monster Mike Wazowski (Billy Crystal) and his days at his college Monsters University are told in a new story. As a freshman, he moves into a room with Randall (Steve Buscemi), books his place on the university’s biggest competition, the Scare Games, and begins the Scaring Programme in a bid to join Monsters Incorporated, Monstropolis’ largest Scaring company. Just as he thinks he’s in for the first year of his life, the Scaring Programme head Dean Headscrabble (Helen Mirren) comes along to expell all students who fail the first exam from the programme while Mike’s fierce rival James Sullivan (John Goodman) ruins both of their chances. They reluctantly decide to form Oozma Kappa, an untrained and unscary group of monsters who must win the Scare Games to get a place back on the programme or be expelled from Monsters University.

The sudden influx of new characters does make several moments of Monster University a pain to watch. The funnier and quirkier additions of Oozma Kappa such as Art (Charlie Day – Pacific Rim) or Terri (Sean Hayes – Will & Grace) and Terry (Dave Foley – famed for previous Pixar work in A Bug’s Life) Perry are given great personalities and gag potential but they’re overshadowed by the uninteresting and generic Don Carlton (Joel Murray – The Artist) and Squishy (Peter Sohn who, like Dave Foley, has worked with Pixar before such as The Incredibles, Ratatouille as well as working as story artist in Brave and Finding Nemo). I would have enjoyed the film much more if my personal favourite from Inc, Randall, was given an extended role.

We have to think about six leads from Oozma Kappa, two teachers, two commentators as well as many characters from the other Frat groups, ROR, HSS, JOX, PNK. We don’t care about more than half of these characters and yet they still bloat up the cast list needlessly. Inc’s director Pete Docter’s absence didn’t do University any favours as Dan Scanlon fails to capture any of the best bits of the first film. First of all. Boo. She was completely irrelevant to this story I know but she did bring the heart to Inc. Also Sully and Mike’s relationship which is non-existent for almost the entirety of this film. Finally the hilarious minor characters of Inc, naming no names for spoiler reasons, are limited to, admittedly hilarious, small cameos. Also the jazzy music and style is ditched for a more colourful and kids aimed comedy.

I can’t only report bad things about this films though seeing as I laughed consistently through the 2nd half. As soon as Kappa is assembled and the Scare Games begin, the film picks up it’s pace and delivers a steady gag rate. The jokes are excellent but, like Man of Steel or The Wolverine, the best bits are in the trailer. Nathan Fillion’s, Firefly, ROR, Roar Omega Roar, president is a good addition to the list of Pixar villains but his intentions aren’t as perhaps as evil as say Syndrome, Lotso, Randall or Sid meaning that University lacks a sense of threat but a murderous criminal on a school campus would be a hugely controversial subject for a kids film given recent events.

This does break Pixar’s long running rule of story over characters but Mike and Sully’s individual quirkiness is enough to carry a lot of the film. Dame Mirren’s Headscrabble is short on laughs and could be a bit scarier but a entertaining secondary villain. Squishy’s mother is a unnecessary character and every time she was on screen I just wanted to remove all of her gags. Both Don and Squishy are boring and do fill up another all male heroes list from Pixar. Even with the Merida led Brave last year, Pixar are still making films with a tiny amount of female characters. Hopefully Pete Docter’s Inside Out will set the record straight for the animation company’s sexism issue but at least they never go down the route of throwing in romantic interests, which we know won’t last seeing as by the time of Inc Sully is single and Mike is dating Celia, and spoofing the campus comedy genre.

The younger British audiences may not get much of the campus setting. The American Pixar has forgotten that the international market doesn’t have any of the Frat groups and houses in it’s education but it’s hardly put kids off enjoying Diary of a Wimpy Kid or any other recent school based comedies.

One thing that you cannot take away from Monsters University is the quality of the animation. It’s colourful and vibrant while Dreamworks or Blue Sky are still at the same level of cinematography that Pixar reached six or seven years ago. Even if some of the gags fall short we can safely call University a visual achievement. The cunning references to it’s Pixar predecessor’s go beyond the cameos to some unbelievable attention to detail.

It’s not good enough that Pixar should be now rivalled by Dreamworks seeing as Despicable Me and Kung Fu Panda are finding themselves making successful sequels. Hopefully some fresh, original thinking for The Good Dinosaur and Inside Out will put Pixar back at the top of the animated food chain. Monsters University is witty and has bundles of charm, as soon as it finds it’s feet in the 2nd half, and is possibly the most visually striking animated film yet. It’s not up with the likes of Monsters, Inc, Toy Story, Up, WALL E or Finding Nemo but, with a a-list voice cast with the likes of Billy Crystal, John Goodman, Helen Mirren and Nathan Fillion, it pushes the boundaries of what a computer can achieve: striking scenery, a big-heart and some, not all of them, wonderful characters.

7/10

“I have an extra toe…not with me of coarse”