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

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 review

Director: Marc Webb

Starring: Andrew Garfield, Dane DeHaan, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Colm Feore, Sally Field, Campbell Scott, BJ Novak, Felicity Jones, Denis Leary, Paul Giamatti, Chris Cooper

It’s fair to say that 2012’s The Amazing Spider-Man so that Sony could keep the rights to the character. Although it wasn’t terrible, it was genuinely below the quality we expected, seemed wildly unnecessary and under-grossed Sam Raimi’s superior trilogy. It was still successful enough to confirm numerous sequels however and The Amazing Spider-Man 2 comes with the promise that they’d learned from their previous errors.

In New York, Peter Parker (Garfield) is living a double life: one as the crime fighting vigilante Spider-Man and the other as a graduating student. Both lives are haunted by the death of Captain Stacy (Leary) and are turned upside down by the arrival of angered young billionaire Harry Osborn (DeHaan), who’s set to take over his sick father’s (Cooper) genetics empire. Meanwhile, lonely Oscorp, the Osborn’s company, employee Max Dillon (Foxx) suffers a severe accident at work, giving him the power to manipulate electricty. All of these events cause a rift in his relationship with the Captain’s daughter Gwen (Stone) and his Aunt May (Field), who may just hold the answer to his parent’s disappearance.

It’s a shame to say that this sequel doesn’t seem to have learnt from its predecessor. Its attempted to be much lighter but that’s ended up with some poor dialogue, particularly Spidey’s sluggish quips. We don’t exactly get a balance of this and the more horrifying sequences. There’s a constant lack of terror without and becomes hard to take the ludicrous action seriously. The reinvented Green Goblin and Electro were well designed but lacked the terror of Evil Dead’s horror maestro Sam Raimi’s trilogy and its villains.

We can accept the bonkers action in The Avengers and its likes because we better understand the bridge between the heroes and their alter-egos. In this, Spider-Man is a completely different person to Parker and I don’t think there’s one transformation scene. The deactivation of Spidey’s web shooters ends up with an uninteresting physical comedy sequence and some remarkably poor exposition.

There are few technical issues too. There’s an attempt to introduce a new heroic main theme that doesn’t quite mix with Electro’s numbing dubstep, despite boasting The Dark Knight’s Hans Zimmer. The CG in Spider-Man’s breathtaking swinging endeavourers is of great quality but the numerous slo-mo scenes, rather than increasing both detail and awe, take the life out of the action.

There are numerous highlights amongst the messy plot however. Emma Stone is greatly entertaining as Gwen as she continues to bemuse Peter. With their excellent and believable dynamic, he and the charismatic Garfield form the most convincing couple there’s been in a superhero movie but the 25 year old Stone and 30 year old Garfield still aren’t convincing as newly graduated students, and that is a huge issue with the film’s credibility.

Jamie Foxx meanwhile fantastically judges his performance as (not literally) invisible tech nerd and Spider-Man fanatic Max. His horrific accident is well handled and Electro is initially frightening in the Times Square set piece but after that he lost his sense of presence in the film.

Without trying to give much away, the film’s other villain is Dane DeHaan’s Osborn who’s desperate for the cure for his fatal disease and that desperation leads to a horrifying step into villainy. While DeHaan is both engaging and believable, he seems to have been typecast in the same neglected angst-filled role he did in Chronicle. With all of these villains, the film struggles to find a defining closing action sequence and in the end settles for three, dragging out the thin, scattershot plot even further.

Annoyingly, the film’s two most esteemed actors, Paul Giamatti and Chris Cooper, are reduced to cameo-like small roles. Giamatti plays Russian mobster Aleksei, a character with a tonne of cheap lines in the cartoonish opening sequence and likely less than three minutes’ screen time. Cooper meanwhile seems as if he’d appeared in multiple deleted scenes; his sinister motives are never fully explained and the mystery of his and Richard Parker’s work has been given a dissatisfying end to focus on Sony’s developing superhero world.

That could be a step in right direction however. Spider-Man’s read a page of Captain America: The Winter Soldier’s book; it certainly knows how to get the Marvel super-fans incredibly excited and so to reel them in for future instalments. Sadly a little too much of these in-movie teasers are in the actual trailers but that’s no reason to not let the endless hidden references, chiefly the brewings of The Gentleman and The Sinister Six, get you in the mood for more Marvel.

6/10

“Everyone has a part of themselves they hide, even from the people they love most. And you don’t have forever, none of us ever do.”

The Super-Bowl 2014 Trailers special: Transformers 4, Noah and more!

We’re not venturing into sports just yet but the American Football extravaganza known as Superbowl is a huge event for advertising. With well over 100 million Americans watching, companies have to pay the whopping sum of $8 million dollars just for a one minute advertising slot. Only the biggest of big budget, big star blockbusters can afford to make the cut so you may be quite surprised when I tell you that among the nine titanic efforts trailered last night is the new project from Darren Aronofsky!

But before we get to that, we have the matter of a movie I recently predicted to make over a billion dollars. I speak of the fourquel of a monster series – Transformers: Age of Extinction.

Director Michael Bay (Armaggedon, Pearl Harbour, Bad Boys) returns to the series after a quick, and unsuccessful, break to make Pain and Gain. The franchise hopes to continue it success with an new human cast with Mark Wahlberg, Nicola Peltz and Jack Reynor, replacing the old guard of Shia LaBeaouf, Rosie Huntington-Whitley and Megan Fox. This time, the Autobots are at battle with the villainous Dinobots and the technology tycoon Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer), the former is revealed in the very first trailer. The film also stars Stanley Tucci and Peter Cullen. July 10th.

The second instalment in this nine-part epic is Marvel’s very own Captain America: The Winter Soldier. We’ve seen footage from this before but Superbowl unveiled the second trailer, which offers more in depth look at new antagonist The Winter Soldier (Sebastian Stan). The plot pitches Captain America (Chris Evans) still adjusting to life in the 21st Century as well as working with SHIELD Agents such as Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), Crossbones (Frank Grillo) and Falcon (Anthony Mackie) to bring down a new menace who’s terrorising Washington. Cap 2 also stars Emily VanCamp, Samuel L Jackson, Robert Redford, Cobie Smulders, Dominic Cooper, Hayley Attwell and Toby Jones and is directed by Anthony and Joe Russo. March 28th.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is next. Marc Webb returns to direct the sequel which increases the stakes for Peter Parker (Andrew Garfield) who has to balance life between his superhero alter ego Spider-Man, who’s battling Electro (Jamie Foxx), Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and the sinister father/son double act of Oscorp (Dane DeHaan as Harry and Chris Cooper as Norman), and normal life with the grieving Gwen (Emma Stone) and lonely Aunt May (Sally Field). The new trailer can be found here. To be honest, I’m not that impressed. April 18th.

Following on from their “Across the Internet” campaign, Muppets Most Wanted has launched a new ad in which the new doppelganging villain Clementine literally reaches out to us Across the Internet. Tina Fey, Ty Burrell, Stanley Tucci, Ricky Gervais, Lady Gaga, Tom Hiddleston, Salma Hayek, Christoph Waltz and Danny Trejo make up the human cast alongside the classic Muppets such as Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Sam the Eagle, Beaker, Dr Honeydrew, Walter and Animal. Flight of the Conchords/The Muppets’ James Bobin directs. March 28th.

With a premise of no CG, just expensive cars going ridiculously fast, video game adaptation Need for Speed is actually in good shape. It sees newly released ex-con Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul – Breaking Bad’s Jesse Pinkman) getting back into the dragraces that got him locked up for a year. Upon hearing the news, Marshall’s ex racing partner Dino (Dominic Cooper – Marvel’s Howard Stark) puts a bounty on his head. Scott Waugh (Act of Valour) directs a huge cast including Michael Keeton, Dakota Johnson, Scott Mescudi and Imogen Poots. The superbowl spot can be found here. March 12th.

We return to the aforementioned Darren Aronofsky who, after impressing with the likes of Black Swan, The Wrestler, Pi, Requiem for a Dream, The Fountain, makes his comeback with a huge budget and cast list for his new epic picture Noah. The new trailer is available but I’m shocked that a director as prestigious as Aronofsky would fall to the depths of a Twitter hashtag; this time it’s “#TheFloodIsComing”!. The film stars Russell Crowe, Anthony Hopkins, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Ray Winstone, Kevin Durand, Douglas Booth, Nick Nolte and Frank Langella. April 4th.

Pompeii seems to me like one of the potential box office clunkers of the year with a decent cast list which doesn’t match its huge budget but director Paul WS Anderson (Event Horizon, Resident Evil) may prove me wrong. The new trailer unveils a fair bit of spectacle so the film won’t rely on the cast of Kit Harrington, Carrie Anne Moss, Emily Browning, Jessica Lucas, Kiefer Sutherland, Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje, Jared Harris and Jessica Lucas alone. May 2nd.

3 Days to Kill launched a new trailer too. McG (This Means War, Terminator: Salvation, We Are Marshall, Charlie’s Angles) directs this new action thriller starring Kevin Costner as an dying agent who teams up with his daughter for one last assignment which get him the life saving drug he needs. Also starring Amber Heard, Connie Nielson and Hailee Steinfeld. February 21st.

Lastly, we have another Kevin Costner project. Draft Day sees the manger of American Football’s Cleveland Browns who’s struggling to find the number one draft pick for his team. Costner will star alongside Terry Crews, Jennifer Garner and Ellen Burstyn while director Ivan Reitman (Ghost Busters, No Strings Attached). April 11th

12 Years triumphs at People’s Choice Awards and new Amazing Spider-Man 2 posters

After director Steve McQueen and star Michael Fassbender were snubbed for both Hunger and Shame, they’re finally getting award recognition for 12 Years a Slave, which won Best Film at the Golden Globes and People’s Choice and shone out at the Academy Award nominations. Here’s the full list

Best Picture

12 Years a Slave

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Dallas Buyers Club

Gravity

Her

Inside Llewyn Davis

Nebraska

Saving Mr Banks

Best Actor

Matthew MacConaughey – Dallas Buyers Club

Christian Bale – American Hustle

Bruce Dern – Nebraska

Chiwetel Ejiofor – 12 Years a Slave

Tom Hanks – Captain Phillips

Robert Redford – All is Lost

Best Actress

Cate Blanchett – Blue Jasmine

Sandra Bullock – Gravity

Judi Dench – Philomena

Brie Larson – Short Term 12

Meryl Streep – August: Osage County

Emma Thompson – Saving Mr Banks

Best Supporting Actor

Jared Leto – Dallas Buyers Club

Barkhad Abdi – Captain Philllips

Daniel Bruhl – Rush

Bradley Cooper – American Hustle

Michael Fassbender – 12 Years a Slave

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Best Supporting Actress

Lupita Nyong’o – 12 Years a Slave

Scarlett Johansson – Her

Jennifer Lawrence – American Hustle

Julia Roberts – August: Osage County

June Squibb – Blue Jasmine

Oprah Winfrey – The Butler

Best Young Actor/Actress

Adele Exarchopoulos – Blue is the Warmest Colour

Asa Butterfield – Ender’s Game

Liam James – The Way Way Back

Sophie Nelisse – The Book Thief

Tye Sheridan – Mud

Best Acting Ensemble

American Hustle

August: Osage County

The Butler

Nebraska

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Director

Alfonso Cuaron – Gravity

Paul Greengrass – Captain Phillips

Spike Jonze – Her

Steve McQueen – 12 Years a Slave

David O’Russell – American Hustle

Martin Scorsese – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Original Screenplay

Spike Jonze – Her

Eric Warren Singer, David O’Russell – American Hustle

Woody Allen – Blue Jasmine

Joel and Ethan Coen – Inside Llewyn Davis

Bob Nelson – Nebraska

Best Adapted Screenplay

John Ridley – 12 Years a Slave

Tracy Letts – August: Osage County

Richard Linklater, Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke – Before Midnight

Billy Ray – Captain Phillips

Steve Coogan, Jeff Pope – Philomena

Terence Winter – The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Cinematography

Emmannuel Lubezki – Gravity

Bruno Delbonnel – Inside Llewyn Davis

Phedon Papamichael – Nebraska

Roger Deakins – Prisoners

Sean Bobbit – 12 Years a Slave

Best Art Direction

The Great Gatsby

Gravity

Her

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

12 Years a Slave

Best Editing

Gravity

American Hustle

Captain Phillips

Rush

12 Years a Slave

The Wolf of Wall Street

Best Costume Design

The Great Gatsby

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Saving Mr Banks

12 Years a Slave

Best Hair and Make-up

American Hustle

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The Butler

Rush

12 Years a Slave

Best Visual Effects

Gravity

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

Iron Man 3

Pacific Rim

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Animated Feature

Frozen

The Croods

Despicable Me 2

Monsters University

The Wind Rises

Best Action Movie

Lone Survivor

The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Iron Man 3

Rush

Star Trek Into Darkness

Best Actor in an Action Movie

Mark Wahlberg – Lone Survivor

Henry Cavill – Man of Steel

Robert Downey Jr – Iron Man 3

Brad Pitt – World War Z

Best Comedy

American Hustle

Enough Said

The Heat

This is the End

The Way Way Back

The World’s End

Best Actor in a Comedy

Leonardo Di Caprio – The Wolf of Wall Street

Christian Bale – American Hustle

James Gandolfini – Enough Said

Simon Pegg – The World’s End

Sam Rockwell – The Way Way Back

Best Actress in a Comedy

Amy Adams – American Hustle

Sandra Bullock – The Heat

Greta Gerwig – Frances Ha

Julia Louis Dreyfus – Enough Said

Melissa McCarthy – The Heat

Best Sci-fi Horror Movie

Gravity

The Conjuring

Star Trek Into Darkness

Iron Man 3

Best Foreign Language Film

Blue is the Warmest Colour

The Great Beauty

The Hunt

The Past

Best Documentary Feature

20 Feet From Stardom

The Act of Killing

Blackfish

Stories We Tell

Tim’s Vermeer

Best Song

Let it Go – Frozen

Atlas – The Hunger Games: Catching Fire

Happy – Despicable Me 2

Ordinary Love – Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Please Mr Kennedy – Inside Llewyn Davis

Young and Beautiful – The Great Gatsby

Best Score

Stephen Price – Gravity

William Butler, Owen Pallett – Her

Thomas Newman – Saving Mr Banks

Hans Zimmer – 12 Years a Slave

Gravity has won the most awards with an impressive six wins but it’s 12 Years a Slave’s day as it picked up Best Picture, Best Supporting Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay. American Hustle gained four wins while Frozen, The Great Gatsby, Blue is the Warmest Colour and Lone Survivor got two. I’m not going to do in depth analysis but I’m stilled surprised Her is being praised as an “original” and “fresh” premise as it has exactly the same plot as a Big Bang Theory episode where a lonely Raj (Kunal Nayyar) falls in love with his I-Phone’s Siri. I’m probably not the first to say it but I haven’t heard anyone else pick up on it.

The only other major piece of news is the stunning new poster for Marvel and Sony’s superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Marc Webb directs and Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Dane DeHaan and Chris Cooper star but today’s focus is the hopefully terrifying new villain Electro, played by Ray, Collateral and Django Unchained’s Jamie Foxx.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes trailer lands and amazing new Amazing Spider-Man 2 poster

The first trailer for the new Planet of the Apes film dawned onto the internet about seven or eight hours ago and it’s pretty epic. It’s not as extensive as we’d hoped but it confirms some of the key tones and styles of the film that we didn’t expect. The following contains some major spoilers for Rise of the Planet of the Apes so beware.

So, there’s been eight years of violence on the earth since ALZ 113 spread around the globe, likely killing several billion. It’s not yet post apocalyptic, according to the production team, and we can assume that both the humans area still overpowering the intelligently advanced apes (Caeser, Andy Serkis, and co are still using tribal weapons) but we can tell the tides are to turn. Caeser’s growing nation certainly have set their sights on one of the large groups of human survivors who are defiantly threatening their territory.

Serkis, Gary Oldman and Jason Clarke are the only key actors from the prequel to feature in the new teaser however Judy Greer, Keri Russell, Toby Kebbell and Kodi Smit McPhee also make up the impressive cast. The talent goes beyond the cast however. Let Me In and Cloverfield’s Matt Reeves directs and the film also has the brilliant duo of Rick Jaffa and Amanda Silver writing. It’s still hugely unlikely that DOTPOTA (Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) will feature stars of ROTPOTA (Rise of the Planet of the Apes) such as James Franco, Freida Pinto, Tom Felton, Brian Cox, David Oyelowo and John Lithgow. Charlton Heston’s George Taylor from the ’68 original popping up in this spin franchise would be an interesting concept but nothings been said about it.

The only other bit of news is the new poster from Marc Webb’s superhero sequel The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Andrew Garfield, Jamie Foxx, Emma Stone, Sally Field, Paul Giamatti, Dane DeHaan, Chris Cooper and Felicity Jones all star Enjoy!

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes – July 17th 2014

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Don Cheadle joins Avengers 2 and Sony confirms Spider-Man spin offs

In the last two Iron Man films, Jim Rhodes/War Machine and, later on, Iron Patriot has impressed us as Iron Man’s sidekick but his second portrayer (Don Cheadle) wasn’t considered into the plot by director and writer Joss Whedon. Whedon returns for the biggest sequel of 2015, The Avengers: Age of Ultron, and we thought he’d completed his main cast with Robert Downey Jr, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Chris Evans, Cobie Smulders, Samuel L Jackson, Mark Ruffallo, Jeremy Renner, Elizabeth Olsen, Aaron Taylor Johnson, James Spader and Anthony Mackie but Don Cheadle has been added to the cast so we might expect other character traditionally starring in the Iron Man films such as J.A.R.V.I.S., (Paul Bettany), Happy Hogun (Jon Favreau) and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow), none of whom have been confirmed yet.

The next  Marvel news comes from Sony’s expanding The Amazing Spider-Man universe. We reported about a month ago that Sony were to develop a new Spider-Man spin off, possibly more centred around the villains. Later, we told you that The Amazing Spider-Man producer Avi Arad and comic-book legend Stan Lee were working together on a new project, which we presumed to be Venom.

We can now announce that Avi Arad and another team of writers and producers are developing both Venom and The Sinister Six. They’ve got three of JJ Abrams’ team, namely Star Trek’s Alex Kurtzman and Roberto Orci plus Alias’ Jeff Pinker, on to make Venom with Kurtzman directing as well as writing. Meanwhile, The Sinister Six will be written by The Cabin in the Woods director and World War Z scribe Drew Goddard and Now You See Me’s Ed Solomon but we wouldn’t be surprised if the five were to crossover and work with eachother on both projects. Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach will produce with Stan Lee being an integral part of the production.

In terms of casting, Vemon appeared once before in 2007’s Spider-Man 3 where he was played by Topher Grace but that was part of Sam Raimi’s trilogy which was updated by last year’s Amazing Spider-Man. The Sinister Six are likely to be made up of Electro (Jamie Foxx), Green Goblin (Dane DeHaan or Chris Cooper), Rhino (Paul Giamatti), Doctor Octopus (played by Alfred Molina in 2004’s Spiderman 2, we know Doc Oc will be rebooted with a new star thanks to The Amazing Spider-Man 2’s trailer), Vulture (hasn’t been seen on screen yet but we know he’s going to arrive thanks to the new trailer again) and then either Mysterio or Sandman (previously played  by Thomas Haden Church).

The next Spidey related adventure is The Amazing Spider-Man 2, directed by Marc Webb and starring Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone, Jamie Foxx, Dane DeHaan, Paul Giamatti, Sally Field, Martin Sheen, Chris Cooper and Felicity Jones.

The Avengers: Age of Ultron – May 1st 2015

Venom – 2016

The Sinister Six – 2017

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 – April 18th 2014

Amazing Spider-Man 2 trailer, four more join Warcraft and David Magee writing a new Narnia

Sadly, Duncan Jones’ video game adaptation of World of Warcraft has been postponed into 2016. Colin Farrel, Paula Patton, Anton Yelchin, Anson Mount and Paul Dano are the key stars who are at least in negotiation. Others are now being drafted in as possibly new characters or replacements for those above who are no longer in the project and they are some truly major names. Dominic Cooper is best known for Captain America:The First Avenger and The Devil’s Double and he could be joining X-Men: The Last Stand, 3:10 to Yuma and The Mechanic’s Ben Foster as well as Eastenders and then Pacific Rim’s Robert Kazinsky and Rock ‘n’ Rolla’s Toby Kebbell. Vancouver filming starts next month.

A couple of months ago, we reported that a new instalment could be on the way from the CS Lewis created world of Narnia. Producer Mark Gordon is still the man responsible for adapting The Silver Chair but now David Magee, writer of Life of Pi and Finding Neverland, is working on a screenplay. The Silver Chair’s plot sees Voyage of the Dawn Trader’s Eustace assigned by Aslan to find for an elderly Prince Caspian his long lost son but Eustace’s unsuspecting school friend Jill complicates things a little. Will Poulter, Liam Neeson and Ben Barnes have played some of the above roles in the past but it’s unknown if any of them are returning. Neeson’s voice role as Aslan has often defined the series and Will Poulter and Ben Barnes’ careers have/are set to take off over the next couple of years with their roles in We’re the Millers, The Maze Runner and The Seventh Son.

Finally, the very first trailer for The Amazing Spider-Man 2 has swung into action. Check it out here. It’s quite a spectacle and we only have to wait till April. The only villains we new of so far for this Marvel instalment were Electro (Jamie Foxx), Rhino (Paul Giamatti) and the Osbornes (Dane DeHaan and Chris Cooper replacing James Franco and Willem Dafoe from Sam Raimi’s franchise) with hints at building up the Sinister Six but we didn’t realise it’d happen so quick. It’s safe to say that Harry Osborne will be the Green Goblin and we’ve got surprising cameos, ish, from Vulture and Dr Octopus, one of whom hasn’t been seen since 2004 and the other hasn’t been on our screens once, do correct me if I’m wrong as I don’t care for some of the poor, cheesy and failed adaptations of Spider-Man from the 20th century. Andrew Garfield, Emma Stone and Sally Field also star while Marc Webb directs.

The Amazing Spider-Man – April 18th 2014

Warcraft – March 11th 2016

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Silver Chair – 2016

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?