Summer Blockbusters – We Are Movie Geeks

AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON Soundtrack Digital Album Set For Release April 28 Physical CD Available May 19

Marvel Music and Hollywood Records will release the original motion picture digital soundtrack for Marvel’s AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON on April 28, 2015.

The physical CD will be available on May 19, 2015. The score features music by Brian Tyler (Marvel’s “Iron Man 3,” “Furious 7”) and Danny Elfman.

The Avengers return in Marvel’s AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON in theaters on May 1, 2015.

APRIL 13: "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" cast and producers pose onstage during the world premiere of Marvel's "Avengers: Age Of Ultron" at the Dolby Theatre on April 13, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney) — APRIL 13: “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” cast and producers pose onstage during the world premiere of Marvel’s “Avengers: Age Of Ultron” at the Dolby Theatre on April 13, 2015 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Jesse Grant/Getty Images for Disney)

Brian Tyler has scored over 70 films and recently won Film Composer of the Year at the 2014 Cue Awards. He has composed and conducted the scores for the Marvel hits Marvel’s “Iron Man 3” and Marvel’s “Thor: The Dark World,” “Now You See Me,” “The Expendables,” “Furious 7,” “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles,” “Rambo,” and “Eagle Eye” produced by Steven Spielberg. A three-time Emmy nominee, for television he scores the series “Scorpion,” “Hawaii Five-O” and “Sleepy Hollow.” Tyler created the new theme music for ESPN’s NFL studio shows. He was nominated for a 2014 BAFTA Games Award. He is currently scoring the film “Truth” starring Cate Blanchett as Mary Mapes and Robert Redford as Dan Rather.

Danny Elfman has received Oscar nominations for his scores for Gus Van Sant’s “Good Will Hunting” and “Milk,” Tim Burton’s “Big Fish,” and Barry Sonnenfeld’s “Men in Black.” Movie audiences worldwide have also heard Danny Elfman’s unique sound and style in over 80 film scores, including David O. Russell’s “Silver Linings Playbook” and “American Hustle” and Rob Marshall’s Academy Award-winning “Chicago.” For more than 25 years, Tim Burton and Elfman have collaborated on some of the cinema’s most beloved and recognizable films and soundtracks, including “Beetlejuice,” “Batman,” “Edward Scissorhands,” and more recently “Alice in Wonderland” and “Big Eyes.” Elfman also collaborated with director Sam Raimi for “Oz The Great and Powerful” after composing original scores for the filmmaker’s blockbuster hits including “Spider-Man” and “Spider-Man 2.” Due later this year, Elfman also scored the independent Sundance film “The End of the Tour.”

Avengers: Age of Ultron track list:

1. “Avengers: Age of Ultron Title”	Brian Tyler
2. “Heroes” *	Danny Elfman
3. “Rise Together”	Brian Tyler
4. “Breaking and Entering”	Brian Tyler
5. “It Begins”	Danny Elfman
6. “Birth of Ultron”	Brian Tyler
7. “Ultron-Twins”	Danny Elfman
8. “Hulkbuster”	Brian Tyler
9. “Can You Stop This Thing?”	Danny Elfman
10. “Sacrifice”	Brian Tyler
11. “Farmhouse”	Danny Elfman
12. “The Vault”	Brian Tyler
13. “The Mission”	Brian Tyler
14. “Seoul Searching”	Brian Tyler
15. “Inevitability-One Good Eye” *	Danny Elfman
16. “Ultron Wakes”	Danny Elfman
17. “Vision”	Brian Tyler
18. “The Battle”	Brian Tyler
19. “Wish You Were Here”	Brian Tyler
20. “The Farm”	Danny Elfman
21. “Darkest of Intentions”	Brian Tyler
22. “Fighting Back”	Brian Tyler
23. “Avengers Unite”	Danny Elfman
24. “Keys to the Past”	Brian Tyler
25. “Uprising”	Brian Tyler
26. “Outlook”	Brian Tyler
27. “The Last One”	Brian Tyler
28. “Nothing Lasts Forever”	Danny Elfman
29. “New Avengers-Avengers: Age of Ultron”	Danny Elfman

*Not featured in Film

Marvel Studios presents AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON, the epic follow-up to the biggest Super Hero movie of all time. When Tony Starktries to jumpstart a dormant peacekeeping program, things go awry and Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, including Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Black Widow and Hawkeye, are put to the ultimate test as the fate of the planet hangs in the balance. As the villainous Ultron emerges, it is up to The Avengers to stop him from enacting his terrible plans, and soon uneasy alliances and unexpected action pave the way for an epic and unique global adventure.

Marvel’s AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON stars Robert Downey Jr., who returns as Iron Man, along with Chris Hemsworth as Thor, Mark Ruffalo as Hulk and Chris Evans as Captain America. Together with Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Jeremy Renner as Hawkeye, and with the additional support of Don Cheadle as James Rhodes/War Machine, Cobie Smulders as Agent Maria Hill, Stellan Skarsgård as Erik Selvig and Samuel L. Jackson as Nick Fury, the team must reassemble to defeat James Spader as Ultron, a terrifying technological villain hell-bent on human extinction. Along the way, they confront two mysterious and powerful newcomers,Pietro Maximoff, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, and Wanda Maximoff, played by Elizabeth Olsen and meet an old friend in a new form when Paul Bettany becomes Vision.

Written and directed by Joss Whedon and produced by Kevin Feige, p.g.a., Marvel’s “Avengers: Age of Ultron” is based on the ever-popular Marvel comic book series “The Avengers,” first published in 1963. Louis D’Esposito, Alan Fine, Victoria Alonso, Jeremy Latcham, Patricia Whitcher, Stan Lee and Jon Favreau serve as executive producers.

Marvel’s AVENGERS: AGE OF ULTRON original motion picture digital soundtrack will be available on April 28, 2015. The physical album will be available wherever music is sold on May 19, 2015.

DARK SHADOWS First Cast Photo

Hey horror hounds! Courtesy of our friends at Entertainment Weekly here’s our first look at the cast of Tim Burton’s big screen version of the small screen classic, DARK SHADOWS. Now this is not the first time the Collins clan have made it to the movies. In 1970 MGM released HOUSE OF DARK SHADOWS based on the daytime drama and starring most of the TV cast. NIGHT OF DARK SHADOWS followed.

Here’s a bit of background on the cult favorite. Dan Curtis (BURNT OFFERINGS) created the “soap opera ” which debuted on ABC-TV in 1966. The main focus of the first episodes was the arrival of Victoria Winters in Collinsport, ME and her interactions with the secretive Collins family. The program languished at the bottom of the ratings until Curtis, in order to save the show from cancellation,decided to take a gamble and introduce a vampire into the Gothic series. Barnabas Collins as played by veteran stage actor Jonathan Frid caused a sensation on the daytime TV landscape. Youngsters flocked to the show, turning the mature Frid into a teen idol (featured many times on the cover of Tiger Beat and other magazines) and giving the producer a merchandising bonanza. Board games, model kits, comic books, paperback novels, and posters flooded the stores. There was even a comic strip in daily newspapers! A record album of the show’s eerie score by Robert Colbert was a huge hit and spawned a top 40 single, “Quentin’s Theme”. Unfortunately not even the additon of witches, werewolves, and other ghoulies could keep the mania going and the final episode aired in 1971.

Ah, but like any good vampire Barnabas did return. The show was soon syndicated to local stations. Devoted fans staged conventions featuring reunions of the cast members. Innovation produced new comic books in 1991. NBC revived the show as a prime time hour long drama in early 1991 while Warner Brothers TV produced a new two hour pilot film that never aired.

And now,long time fan Tim Burton is taking this Gothic epic to the big screen. Lets’ take a look at the residents of Collinwood. Starting from the far left is Helena Bonham Carter (THE KING”S SPEECH) as Dr. Julia Hoffman, psychiatrist, friend of the Collins family and (in the TV show) an aide of Barnabas. Next is Chloe Maretz (LET ME IN) as Carolyn Stoddard followed by Eva Green (CASINO ROYALE) as Angelique Bouchard, the witch who cursed Barnabas. The young lad is the disturbed David Collins played by Gulliver McGrath with his governess Victoria Winters played by Bella Heathcote (she’s also the spitting image of Barnabas’s long lost love Josette). Speaking of Barnabas, in the center is Johnny Depp (THE TOURIST) as the centuries old vampire. Seated is the family housekeeper Mrs. Johnson played by Ray Shirley. Next is Collinwood groundskeeper Willie (yup, Groundskeeper Willie!) Loomis played by Jackie Earle Haley (WATCHMEN) who releases Barnabas and soon becomes his ‘ familiar’. He’s followed by Roger Collins played by Jonny Lee Miller (TRAINSPOTTING) and family matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard played by Michelle Pfieffer (BATMAN RETURNS).

Synopsis:

In the year 1752, Joshua and Naomi Collins, with young son Barnabas, set sail from Liverpool, England to start a new life in America. But even an ocean was not enough to escape the mysterious curse that has plagued their family. Two decades pass and Barnabas (Johnny Depp) has the world at his feet—or at least the town of Collinsport, Maine. The master of Collinwood Manor, Barnabas is rich, powerful and an inveterate playboy…until he makes the grave mistake of breaking the heart of Angelique Bouchard (Eva Green). A witch, in every sense of the word, Angelique dooms him to a fate worse than death: turning him into a vampire, and then burying him alive.

Two centuries later, Barnabas is inadvertently freed from his tomb and emerges into the very changed world of 1972. He returns to Collinwood Manor to find that his once-grand estate has fallen into ruin. The dysfunctional remnants of the Collins family have fared little better, each harboring their own dark secrets. Matriarch Elizabeth Collins Stoddard (Michelle Pfeiffer) has called upon live-in psychiatrist, Dr. Julia Hoffman (Helena Bonham Carter), to help with her family troubles.

Also residing in the manor is Elizabeth’s ne’er-do-well brother, Roger Collins, (Jonny Lee Miller); her rebellious teenage daughter Carolyn Stoddard (Chloe Moretz); and Roger’s precocious 10-year-old son, David Collins (Gulliver McGrath). The mystery extends beyond the family, to caretaker Willie Loomis, played by Jackie Earle Haley, and David’s new nanny, Victoria Winters, played by Bella Heathcote.

This group (along with horror film icon Christopher Lee and several original TV cast members) will welcome moviegoers back to Collinwood (cue the cascading waves and Colbert theme) when Warner Brothers releases the film on May 11, 2012

THOR – The Review

Face front, True Believers! According to our calenders, officially the first day of Summer is June 21, but movie Summer really starts with the first weekend in May ( sorry FAST FIVE ) especially with the release of a big comic book superhero movie. For the last few years this has featured a hero from the fabled House of Ideas-Marvel. With 2008’s IRON MAN the comic company has been producing their film properties through Marvel Studios ( along with Paramount ). After two Iron Man movie adventures the studio is now tackling another Marvel hero. While Tony Stark was thought of as a second tier character, this big guy has been one of their comic superstars since his introduction in 1962’s Journey Into Mystery number 83-the mighty Thor. The Norse god had primarily been adapted in animation. First in the ( very ) limited animation TV series The Marvel Superheroes by Gantry Lawrence in 1966. He later made appearances on Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends and most recently on the Superhero Squad and Marvel Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes. The only live action attempt was in the 1988 made-for TV movie The Incredible Hulk Returns. In that a former student of David Banner, Donald Blake, was able to channel and materialize an ancient warrior through a battle hammer. This Thor was a viking party animal interested in carousing with very little in common with the comic book character. Growing up, reading of his exploits I didn’t think this updated Norse mythology could be translated to a big live action big screen epic. Like Jon Favreau with Iron Man, an actor has stepped behind the camera to guide him to the muti-plexes : Kenneth Branagh. Would he be able to go from Shakespeare to Stan”the man’ Lee and Jack ‘king’ Kirby. After viewing the end result, THOR, I can only say, “Excelsior!”

This Norse mythology saga starts, oddly enough, in the deserts of New Mexico, USA. A van containing researchers Jane Foster ( Natalie Portman ), Darcy Lewis ( Kat Dennings ), and Dr. Erik Selvig (Stellan Skarsgard ) races through the night in order to take readings of the strange atmospheric disturbances. Suddenly the dark skies open and a weird light shines on the desert floor. Driving to the spot, they bump against something-a man. The film then goes back many hundreds of years to a primitive Norwegian village suddenly under attack by the fearsome Frost Giants. Soon a bursting bright light sets forth hundreds of viking warriors to the rescue. They are Asgardians lead by their king, Odin ( Anthony Hopkins ). After a brutal battle ( Odin loses his right eye ), Asgard prevails and Odin takes the Frost Giants’ power source the Casket of Ancient Winters. The years pass. Odin and his beautiful wife Frigga ( Rene Russo ) raise two sons: Thor and Loki. Reaching adulthood, Thor ( Chris Hemsworth ) is chosen by Odin to secede him as king/ ruler of Asgard. The ceremony is interrupted by Frost Giants who attempt to retrieve the casket, until they are thwarted by an enchanted walking armored weapon, the Destroyer. Going against his father’s wishes, Thor along with his brother Loki ( Tom Hiddleston ) and friends the Lady Sif ( Jamie Alexander ) and the Warriors Three: Hogun ( Tadanobu Asano ), Fandral ( Joshua Dallas ), and Volstagg ( Ray Stevenson ) get the Rainbow Bridge’s guardian Heimdall ( Idris Elba ) to open the portal/ wormhole to the Front Giants’ world of Jotunheim. The fight is stopped when Odin and his guards arrive to take the Asgardians back home. After a heated argument Odin strips Thor of his powers and send him to Earth. Casting a spell on his hammer, Odin sends it to Earth as well. And so we’re caught up as Thor is taken to a hospital by the research team. After he’s released the scientists take him in, although Selvig believes him to be delusional. Meanwhile the hammer’s arrival has attracted many locals who attempt to free it from a rock that where it is embedded. But it can only be retrieved and used by someone worthy of the power of Thor. The hammer has also attracted Agent Phil Coulson ( Clark Gregg reprising his role from the Iron Man films ) and the forces of S.H.IE.L.D., who set up operations around it. Back in Asgard, Odin collapses after an altercation with Loki. The aged ruler is taken to the healing room where he enters the Odin-sleep ( an almost comatose state). Loki assumes the throne. Can he make Thor’s banishment permanent? Will Thor be able to retrieve his hammer and regain his powers? And what will happen to his friends back in Asgard? And what of his new friends on Earth- especially the lovely Ms. Foster?

This all makes for a whole lot of fun at the movies. It turns out that Branagh’s an excellent match for this material. The royal family intrigue is very similar to much of Shakespeare’s work. He also handles the many action scenes with skill as we see this magical hammer in action. Bo Welch does an admirable job of emulating Jack Kirby’s spiralling, shining castles and towers in Asgard. While Krypton has been portrayed in the recent Superman films as jutting, icy stalagmite towers, Thor’s home has a warm golden glow. Relative newcomer Hemsworth does a great job of anchoring the film. He makes Thor’s journey from arrogant brawler to humble, compassionate hero very compelling. If Lawrence Oliver could be the Greek god Zeus in the original CLASH OF THE TITANS, then who better to play his Norse counterpart Odin than Hopkins ( now that Sean Connery’s retired ). And a big welcome back to Ms. Russo in her first movie in over five years.You’ve been missed . I look forward to seeing you fighting side by side with Hopkins in future adventures. Hiddleston’s a great conniving plotter as the duplicitous Loki. Kudos to the rest of Thor’s Asgardian friends particularly Alexander and Dallas who look like they stepped right out of the comics along with Stevenson ( PUNISHER: WAR ZONE ) as ( the not so-voluminous ) Vostagg and Elba as the imposing Heimdall. On Earth, Denning provides great comic relief as Darcy while Skarsgard brings scholarly gravitas and humor to Dr. Selvig. Portman’s believable as the compassionate scientist, but stumbles a bit while almost swooning over the hunky heroin several scenes. As in previous films, Gregg is a treat as the all-business ( but very funny ) government agent. As mentioned on this sight, another Marvel character makes an appearance here. And of course like the Iron Man films, be sure to stick around through the end credits for a bonus scene that sets the wheels in place for a future film. I’ve only a couple problems with the film. The switch between Earth and Asgard can be abrupt. The scenes of Loki’s treachery sometimes stop the momentum of Thor’s New Mexico saga. Also the ending does evoke the conclusions of THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK and the first Spider-Man film. And of course there’s the old 3D situation. Thor was not shot in 3D ( there’s not even a shot of the hammer zooming toward the camera ), so the scene set on the Frost Giant world is very dark and murky. I hope to catch it again in good ole 2D. So, how does this stack up against the other Marvel movies? Well, with SPIDER-MAN 2 being the sublime and ELEKTRA on the other end of the spectrum , I’d place this in the top third, right between the first Iron Man and the Ed Norton Incredible Hulk. Just think only a few weeks till we re-visit those X-Men and a few weeks after that we’ll cheer on that shield slingin’ first Avenger. This bodes well for a great movie Summer. For Asgard!

Overall Rating: Four and a Half Out of Five Stars

CARS 2: @ChromeLeaks Twitter Handle Leads To Brand New Top Secret CARS 2 Clip!

At WonderCon over this weekend, Walt Disney Studios had a car featuring the Twitter handle @ChromeLeaks parked outside the Moscone Center that sent fans to the URL cars-n-deals.com. The spot is a faux advertisement for “Cars N’ Deals of Emeryville” directed by Chris Cantwell (the same guy who directed the Lots-o-Huggin’ Bear faux ad last year for Toy Story 3).

The spot features subtle hints about the upcoming CARS 2 and even has a working phone number. Also, hidden within the ad (the 57-second mark) is a URL for an exclusive clip of CARS 2 as seen below.

Here’s the original “faux ad” that appeared on Mashable.

Hey, that’s pretty clever. Leave it to Disney-Pixar to hatch another brilliant marketing plan!

Synopsis:

Star racecar Lightning McQueen (voice of Owen Wilson) and the incomparable tow truck Mater (voice of Larry the Cable Guy) take their friendship to exciting new places in “Cars 2” when they head overseas to compete in the first-ever World Grand Prix to determine the world’s fastest car. But the road to the championship is filled with plenty of potholes, detours and hilarious surprises when Mater gets caught up in an intriguing adventure of his own: international espionage. Mater finds himself torn between assisting Lightning McQueen in the high-profile race and towing the line in a top-secret mission orchestrated by master British super spy Finn McMissile (voice of Michael Caine) and the stunning rookie field spy Holley Shiftwell (voice of Emily Mortimer). Mater’s action-packed journey leads him on an explosive chase through the streets of Japan and Europe, trailed by his friends and watched by the whole world. The fast-paced fun includes a colorful new all-car cast, complete with menacing villains and international racing competitors.

CARS 2 features the voice talents of Owen Wilson, Larry the Cable Guy, Michael Caine, Emily Mortimer, Bonnie Hunt, Tony Shalhoub, Cheech Marin, Jason Isaacs, Joe Mantegna, Peter Jacobson, Thomas Kretschmann, Guido Quaroni, Lloyd Sherr, Paul Dooley, John Ratzenberger, Jenifer Lewis, Michael Wallis, Katherine Helmond, John Turturro, Franco Nero, Vanessa Redgrave, Eddie Izzard, Bruce Campbell, Michel Michelis, Jeff Gordon, Darrell Waltrip, Lewis Hamilton, David Hobbs.

John Lasseter returns to the driver’s seat to direct this follow-up to his 2006 Golden Globe®-winning “Cars.” “Cars 2” is co-directed by Brad Lewis, producer of the Oscar®-winning film “Ratatouille,” and produced by visual effects industry veteran Denise Ream (associate producer, “Up”; visual effects executive producer, “Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith”). The film hits the track on June 24, 2011, and will be presented in Disney Digital 3D™ and IMAX® 3D in select theaters.

Visit the film’s official site here, like it on Facebook here and follow it on Twitter here.

GREEN LANTERN WonderCon Video

Check out the GREEN LANTERN footage from WonderCon 2011 below. Fans attending on the first day of WonderCon (Friday, April 1st), were treated to a special GREEN LANTERN talent signing and panel that featured the stars of the upcoming Warner Bros. Pictures feature film: Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively.

Here’s four minutes from the film.

Just last week The Hero Complex/LA Times broke the news that Geoffrey Rush was joining The Green Lantern Corps as Tomar-Re.

The highly anticipated GREEN LANTERN movie, in theatres on June 17, 2011, will be the first live-action feature film to star the popular DC Comics character. The film relates the origin story of alter ego Hal Jordan (Reynolds), a test pilot and the first human chosen to wear the ring that provides him his superpowers.

About the feature film “Green Lantern”

GREEN LANTERN stars Ryan Reynolds, Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard, Mark Strong, Jay O. Sanders, Temuera Morrison, Taika Waititi, Jon Tenney, Angela Bassett and Tim Robbins. Martin Campbell directs the film from a screenplay by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim and Michael Goldenberg, story by Greg Berlanti & Michael Green & Marc Guggenheim, based upon characters appearing in magazines published by DC Comics. The film is being produced by Donald De Line and Greg Berlanti. Herbert W. Gains and Andrew Haas serve as executive producers.

The film will open in 3D and 2D on June 17, 2011. GREEN LANTERN will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.

Visit the film’s official site here and on Facebook here.

Shyamalan’s THE LAST AIRBENDER Receives A PG Rating

According to producer Frank Marshall over on Twitter:

LAST AIRBENDER will be rated PG…

It was only just yesterday that Paramount (via Marshall on Twitter) moved the film’s release date ahead by one day to Thursday July 1st. The new rating by the MPAA will help M. Night Shyamalan’s film substantially at the box office on the July 4th holiday weekend.

Attention Firebenders! Visit the film’s Official Site and explore the new featured section for the Fire Nation, loaded with clips and a preview of composer James Newton Howard’s stirring score from the movie. I love the Komodo Rhinos the best! The Fire Nation also has its legion of fans over on Facebook. Check it out.

From Paramount Pictures and Nickelodeon Movies, THE LAST AIRBENDER will be in theaters TWO weeks from today on July 1st, 2010!

A New Behind-The-Scenes Look At THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE!

From Yahoo! Movies comes this featurette of Disney’s upcoming fantasy THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE. The film reunites Nicolas Cage, Jerry Bruckheimer and Jon Turteltaub, respectively the star, producer and director of the blockbusters NATIONAL TREASURE and NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS.

Balthazar Blake (Nicolas Cage) is a master sorcerer in modern-day Manhattan trying to defend the city from his arch-nemesis, Maxim Horvath (Alfred Molina). Balthazar can’t do it alone, so he recruits Dave Stutler (Jay Baruchel), a seemingly average guy who demonstrates hidden potential, as his reluctant protege. The sorcerer gives his unwilling accomplice a crash course in the art and science of magic, and together, these unlikely partners work to stop the forces of darkness. It’ll take all the courage Dave can muster to survive his training, save the city and get the girl as he becomes THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE.

The screenplay is by Matt Lopez and Doug Miro & Carlo Bernard from a screen story by Matt Lopez and Larry Konner & Mark Rosenthal. THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE marks Nicolas Cage’s seventh collaboration with Jerry Bruckheimer, following THE ROCK, CON AIR, GONE IN 60 SECONDS, NATIONAL TREASURE, NATIONAL TREASURE: BOOK OF SECRETS and G-FORCE.

Rated PG, THE SORCERER’S APPRENTICE will be in theaters (and go up against Christopher Nolan’s INCEPTION – yikes!) on July 16th. For more on the film, become a fan on Facebook and follow Disney Pictures on Twitter.

THE LAST AIRBENDER: New Featurette, Soundtrack, and Game!

Paramount Pictures has put plans into full gear to get the word out for M. Night Shyamalan’s THE LAST AIRBENDER. As you can see below, producer Frank Marshall recently tweeted about a “massive AIRBENDER domestic and international marketing meeting,” along with a picture.

Hat-tip to LastAirbenderFans for this new, behind-the-scenes featurette featuring a guided tour of the film’s sets from the director himself. It’s an interesting sneak peek at the massive undertaking to build these sets on the East Coast of the U.S. As usual, I love to hear from M. Night. He’s always so enthusiastic for every one of his films.

Become the Avatar over at THE LAST AIRBENDER Facebook game! It’s very much like MafiaWars and Farmville. Have a go at it and learn how to bend the four elements. Invite your friends, engage in battles, and restore balance to the world.

After you’ve mastered the game, head over to rejoice in your new power and download NEW wallpapers from the official site of THE LAST AIRBENDER! While there have a look around at the rest of the site and discover your element.

Finally, on June 29th, Lakeshore Records will be releasing the soundtrack to THE LAST AIRBENDER. For now, you can hear 30 second clips from Shyamalan’s long time collaborator James Newton Howard’s score over at MySpace. Once again Howard has composed another beautiful score. You can preorder the cd at Amazon.

Air, Water, Earth, Fire. Aang (Noah Ringer) discovers he is the lone Avatar with the power to manipulate all four elements. Based on the hugely successful Nickelodeon animated TV series, the live-action feature film THE LAST AIRBENDER is the opening chapter in Aang’s struggle to survive.

From Paramount Pictures, THE LAST AIRBENDER will be in theaters in 3-D July 2.

Review: ‘GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra’

GI Joe: The Rise of Cobra is the story of a devious young explosion who yearns for nothing more than to blow up everything in sight. This young explosion teams up with fellow explosions, all with the same goal, and together they explode so much that they feel UNSTOPPABLE!!! Unfortunately, this group of evil explosions has forgotten that the good guys have their own army of explosions, which they unleash, setting off a chain reaction of good VS evil, explosion VS explosion to see who can rack up the most damage. After two hours of consecutive explosions [SPOILER ALERT] the good explosions win. Yeah, director Stephen Sommers likes his explosions, even more than Michael Bay (gasp!)

There’s really not a whole lot more to explain than that. Sure, there is a little bit of a “story” underneath all those explosions, like how a hotshot military man, Duke (Channing Tatum), joins GI JOE (where knowing is half the battle) and becomes way more awesome than anyone else in about three seconds of training, and also how another strangely young man (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) [SPOILER ALERT x2] rises to power as Cobra Commander, and more importantly goes from having a high pitched voice to a low-pitched gravelly voice full of EVIL. Oh yeah, and we can’t forget the futuristic nano-machines, little green robots that eat everything in their path, even entire cities! It makes no sense, but it does make a lot of EXPLOSIONS! However, all these “story” elements serve one purpose and one purpose only: to make things blow up!!!

OK, OK, OK, enough about EXPLOSIONS. If you’re not into loud, fast, stupid ACTION is there anything here to like? Nope. Not one bit. Fortunately, if you can turn your brain off, there is a fairly enjoyable movie in there. We get to see things such as: a military convoy VS an army of Cobra airships (that look much more like alien UFOs), an asian ninja VS a white ninja, machine guns VS energy beam blasting guns (again, very alien), two guys running around Paris in Halo-style battle armor destroying everything in their path, and even a Superman style race against the clock to blow up some missiles. Many of these events are loosely explained with a crazy amount of flashbacks.

The flashbacks in JOE range from pretty cool to laughably awful, with most falling somewhere in between. This is also where almost all of the “character development” takes place. How come the asian ninja hates the white ninja? FLASHBACK. Did Duke used to be friends with Cobra Commander? FLASHBACK. Did Duke used to date the evil Baroness? FLASHBACK. The most ridiculous flashback comes right at the start of the movie, which begins in Paris… in the 1600s. Yeah. GI JOE starts off hundreds of years ago, in a Paris where everyone speaks English. This opening really set up the tone of the movie. As soon as the scene started, everyone in the audience erupted in laughter and the thought came to mind, “is this GI JOE or Van Helsing 2?” Luckily that scene only lasted for a few minutes, before we headed into the “not too distant future”.

It seems like I’ve really been trashing the movie, but like I said it actually was pretty fun. The Paris scene where Duke and Ripcord (Marlon Wayans) smash their way through Paris in their Halo suits was pretty great and was probably the most accurate reproduction of how you would play with a GI JOE toy. Even though the suits looked pretty lame (OK, incredibly lame) I couldn’t help but think how cool it would be to be running around like that.

Unfortunately, the weakest aspect of GI JOE are the special effects, which is strange considering that the movie is nothing but special effects. If you’ve seen Van Helsing or Mummy 2, you probably know that director Stephen Sommers is no stranger to bad CG, but here it seems like he’s gotten even that much worse. Every time a CG helicopter passes through the frame, it looks like something out of a mid-nineties video game, and the first time that the big GI JOE plane flies over their base in the desert, the CG was so terrible I almost thought it was a joke. These effects shots, which should be relatively easy to do in this day and age, looked mind-blowingly awful, and no I’m not exaggerating. They are THAT BAD. They also break the very basic laws of physics at the end of the movie when [SPOILER ALERT x3] they make ice sink. That’s right, a giant underwater base is destroyed when they blow up a big chunk of ice, which then proceeds to sink down in the ocean. Uhh, what?

I haven’t mentioned the acting since it’s really not worth mentioning. None of the actors really bring anything special to the movie (not that it’s necessarily their fault) except for Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is quite hilarious as the scene stealing “The Doctor” and eventually Cobra Commander. Also, is that Gordon-Levitt doing the low-pitched gravelly voice work? If so, kudos, because it was hilarious.

If you like seeing stuff blow up, by all means go and see this immediately and bring your kids. Out of the two hour run time, there’s maybe about twenty minutes where stuff isn’t blowing up, and the movie certainly never gets boring. Plus, if the kids want to see the movie again, just give ’em a few GI JOE toys and some firecrackers and they can recreate the movie in the backyard!

Stellar Scores Sail in for ‘Star Trek’

I have my inner Star Trek female geek at full phasers this week. After WAMG’s were treated to the early screening of Paramount’s continuing cash cow Ã¢â‚¬ËœStar Trek,’ I had a delightful feeling of dÃƒ ©jÃƒ -vu. I was aÃ‚ sophomore in high school, back in 1982, when Ã¢â‚¬ËœStar Trek: Wrath of Khan’ was released into theatres. Ã¢â‚¬ËœKhan’ encompassed everything that made me a die-hard “Trekker” and is, without a doubt, the best of all the Trek films. From its beautiful, haunting James Horner score, the Enterprise filled with naval sounds and her crew all dressed as midshipmen, a smart script filled with well-placed classic, literary lines like Spock’s one of sacrifice “It was the best of times….It was the worst of times” and Khan’s vengeful “From Hell’s Heart I stab at Thee,” and finally the Spock death scene played out to its “logical solution.” Sigh! Ã‚ After coming out of this weekend’s screening, I had that same exact euphoric rush and it made me fall in love with Ã¢â‚¬ËœStar Trek’ all over again. Thanks J.J. Abrams for the brilliant casting and warping us back to classic Trek!

Our Oscar friend, Sasha Stone, over at “Awards Daily” has posted the first trade reviews and they’re all stellar…The two biggest industry trade papers have given it, “two perfect scores of 100.” Virtually unheard of in the early days of the summer blockbuster season.

The Hollywood Reporter:

Paced at warp speed with spectacular action sequences rendered brilliantly and with a cast so expert that all the familiar characters are instantly identifiable, the film gives Paramount Pictures a new lease of life on its franchise.

Variety:

Blasting onto the screen at warp speed and remaining there for two hours, the new and improved Star Trek will transport fans to sci-fi nirvana. Faithful enough to the spirit and key particulars of Gene RoddenberryÃ¢â‚¬â„¢s original conception to keep its torchbearers happy but, more crucially, exciting on its own terms in a way that makes familiarity with the franchise irrelevant, J.J. AbramsÃ¢â‚¬â„¢ smart and breathless space adventure feels like a summer blockbuster that just couldnÃ¢â‚¬â„¢t stay in the box another month.

‘Star Trek’ is receiving a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes thus far and I dont see that changing drastically in the upcoming week before the film’s release on Thursday evening. EW hasÃ‚ graced the the coverÃ‚ with a ‘Star Trek’ article in this week’s Summer Entertainment Guide. Do yourself a favor and see it on the big screen opening weekend with what will undoubtedly be a cheering crowd!

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LAST AIRBENDER will be rated PG…

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