'Twas a slow news day today, so I'll share with you my big find, a Chinese toy company, Hot Toys. They were behind the awesome Joker figure from The Dark Knight that surfaced last year, but I didn't notice the company behind it then. They are currently releasing new additions to the Iron Man and 300 series that are definitely worth your time.
Yesterday, I mentioned that Jason Reitman's upcoming Up in the Air was named by the National Board of Review the film of the year, creating a significant amount of Oscar buzz. I don't know if I have already said it or not, but usually after something with George Clooney is released, I automatically assume it will be overrated due to an insane amount of political power the former People's sexiest man has on the movie industry and award ceremonies. That may be bad, as Good Night, and Good Luck was an outstanding film and generally his acting is pretty solid. Maybe it was my feeling that Michael Clayton got way too much attention, I don't know. Anyhow, I watched the trailer and did some digging for Up in the Air and it has quickly gained a top spot in my must see list. The trailer down below looks quite great, and the supporting cast, all of whom had their roles written especially for them from Reitman, includes Vera Farmiga, Anna Kendrick, Jason Bateman, Danny McBride, Melanie Lynskey, Sam Elliott, J.K. Simmons and the wonderful Zach Galifianakis. That is truly a cast anybody can get behind. Anyhow, enjoy the trailer.
It seems that every time I notice The Hobbit in the news, it is always something disappointing. This time, in a German interview transcribed by TheOneRing with Peter Jackson, to promote his upcoming, critically appraised film The Lovely Bones, announced that filming would be pushed back to July-ish 2010. The producer of J.R.R. Tolkien's predecessor to the epic The Lord of the Rings did not elaborate on if it would affect the projected release dates of December 2011 and 2012, but we have to assume it will. This just adds to the turmoil that is MGM's financial troubles swirling just over the head of the films' pre-production. For something to perk you up after reading that, here is a link that I've been stuck on since reading the article on TheOneRing... New Zealand's Red Carpet Tours, taking us to the filming locations around the beautiful country. The 12 night tour is actually only $180 U.S. dollars, while the one night tour from Auckland to Hobbiton is $140. After blogging, I will probably spend the rest of the night, wishingly searching Orbitz for cheap flights.
I was going to make a joke about the economy to segue into this Variety article on how the box office this year will probably break the record for raking in some $10 billion, topping last year by 8%, but I find most of the economy talk rather insipid. Anyhow, those estimates come before the releases of Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakuel, which despite the horrendousness that will surely be contained within the hour and a half run time, will bring in the bucks from the kiddies out there, as well as potential blockbusters Sherlock Holmes and James Cameron's Avatar, not to mention a box office sleeper, the Oscar hopeful Invictus.
Invictus' Oscar dreams is another decent segue as the National Board of Review named their film of the year today, via Cinematical. The winner of the honor is Jason Reitman's latest, Up in the Air, starring George Clooney, whom also took home the NBR honor of Best Actor, tied with Morgan Freeman's Invictus performance. Taking home honors in the NBR's Ten Best Films were also good movie nerd fare such as (500) Days of Summer, Inglourious Basterds, A Serious Man, Up, Star Trek and Where the Wild Things Are.
Pajiba reported today that a rumored remake of Alfred Hitchcock's classic The Birds is back up and running with a new director attached, Dennis Iliades, the man behind the remake of Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left. I think somewhere in there I saw Michael Bay's name as producer, which almost assures that this already bad idea of trying to recreate the genius of Hitchcock by "modernizing" it, will be a total disaster.
Check out the new site MovieClips.com. The site boasts some 12,000 movie clips, with some good categorizations (I appreciate that at least) and even a bit of trivia. Anyhow, I'm not really sure why I chose the "Snap Out of It!" scene of Moonstruck as a demonstration, but I hope you enjoy nonetheless.
'Twas a slow news day today, so I'll share with you my big find, a Chinese toy company, Hot Toys. They were behind the awesome Joker figure from The Dark Knight that surfaced last year, but I didn't notice the company behind it then. They are currently releasing new additions to the Iron Man and 300 series that are definitely worth your time.
