The Expendables 2: New clip shows Stallone & Liam Hemsworth (re)doing that machine gun finger thing...

OK this has been done more than once, my most recent memory being Chris Evans in The Losers, but it’s still a cool move, in a cheesy, ridiculous kind of way. Everyone is hoping for a little bit more from this than we got in the previous film. Adding the younger Liam Hemsworth to the cast of, mostly 1980’s/19902’s action icons, as well as upping the Willis & Schwarzenegger content (not too hard) are steps in the right direction. There could still be a little more Oestrogen on show for me but hey.

Terry Crews IS Luke Cage: Power Man right? Right?

Synopsis...

“THE EXPENDABLES are back and this time it's personal...

Barney Ross (Sylvester Stallone), Lee Christmas (Jason Statham), Yin Yang (Jet Li), Gunnar Jensen (Dolph Lundgren),Toll Road (Randy Couture) and Hale Caesar (Terry Crews) -- with newest members Billy the Kid (Liam Hemsworth) and Maggie (Yu Nan) aboard -- are reunited when Mr. Church (Bruce Willis) enlists the Expendables to take on a seemingly simple job. The task looks like an easy paycheck for Barney and his band of old-school mercenaries. But when things go wrong and one of their own is viciously killed, the Expendables are compelled to seek revenge in hostile territory where the odds are stacked against them. Hell-bent on payback, the crew cuts a swath of destruction through opposing forces, wreaking havoc and shutting down an unexpected threat in the nick of time — six tons of weapons-grade plutonium; enough to change the balance of power in the world. But that's nothing compared to the justice they serve against the villainous adversary who savagely murdered their brother.

That is done the Expendables way....”

The PR nightmare that was the PG-13 debacle is well and truly behind them now and the R rated Expendables 2 is due out around the world in August. Directed by Simon West (Con Aiir, The General’s Daughter) and starring - Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, Chuck Norris, Terry Crews, Randy Couture, Liam Hemsworth, Jean Claude Van Damme, Bruce Willis & Arnold Schwarzenegger.

THE EXPENDABLES 2 - Ain't It Cool News Exclusive Clip Debut...

Fun Size: trailer for the latest Nickelodeon film, starring Victoria Justice...

To be honest this is mainly going on here because my daughters are fans of Ms Justice; although thankfully they are both very much convinced that she needs to eat at least one more meal a day as she is scarily thin. The film is being directed by Josh Schwartz, which is a good sign at least, he has written numerous episodes of Chuck, Gossip Girl and the O.C; this is his directorial debut though. The film will be out in October. 

Yes the chicken thing IS humping the car.

Fun Size...

Marvel Studios are set to unleash The Guardians of The Galaxy in 2014... (Probably)

We still haven’t had the official news from Marvel Studios as to what their two remaining mystery films, for Phase 2, are; but the hints at a ‘Guardians of The Galaxy’ movie have been coming. From Thanos at the end of The Avengers (and just appeared in the new Avengers Assemble comic, to deal with Thanos no less); to Studio head, Kevin Fiege, commenting on the difficulties of convincing people that a film with a talking, alien Racoon, a sentient, ambulatory, Tree and other ‘weirdos’ could work. 

Kenneth Branagh’s, pleasingly successful, Thor was the risky door opener for the MCU; to aliens and the infinite ‘Cosmic’ side of Marvel that they are so famous for in the comic book world, but prior to Thor and The Avengers, not necessarily so known for in the ‘wider world’. You cannot deny Marvel Studios are on a roll; even their only "failure", The Incredible Hulk" did what it needed to do and helped putting the Hulk in the Avengers a viable option. Almost everyone agrees Hulk was a big smash (sorry) in that film and calls persist for the character to get a new film.

Phase One...

(Update: This has since been run in both Variety & The Hollywood Reporter, so it seems to be correct.)
So because of the signs I’ve decided to run this even though t isn’t a confirmed story. Latino Review are convinced that this is the film to fill Marvel Studios' summer 2014 slot (Captain America 2 is due on the 4th of April 2014, so Guardians should be out on the 27th of June 2014. However I believe Marvel still hold the 16th of May as well.). So that’s Iron Man 3, Thor 2 in 2013; Captain America 2 & Guardians of The Galaxy in 2014 and what will end phase 2 (other than The Avengers 2). The Assumption has been that it is just going to be The Avengers 2 in 2015, but I think there may yet be 2 MCU films in 2015, with Black Panther, Ant Man and The Incredible Hulk all in with a shout. Edgar Wright, director of Hot Fuzz, Shaun of The Dead and Scott Pilgrim, has in  fact recently finished shooting a Test Reel for his Ant-Man film.

If you want to know more about the Guardians I  suggest you check out series 2, episode 6 of The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes; a trailer / clip of which is below...

Guardians & Avengers - "Sort of like, Space Avengers"...

The Avengers Blu-Ray...

Looper: Here’s the 2nd trailer for the, Levitt Vs Willis, Sci-Fi thriller the director thinks you may enjoy more if you don’t watch...

Here’s what he actually said in two messages. (via Twitter of course)

“If you're already set on seeing Looper, I'd avoid any trailers from here on out. They don't ruin the movie, but they tip a few little things that are fun to discover in the context of the movie...Just to clarify - I approved all the trailers, they're great an they won't ruin anything big. But the small things they tip are fun to discover in the movie.”

So ye be warned.
I like that he took the time to say this. Yes he has fulfilled his obligations to the people who paid to make his film, and make an exciting trailer that should bring in a few paying customers, but he's also acknowledged that the nature of the 21st century trailer is to give away a little more than many of us would like (We've all had that debate, here and elsewhere).

Synopsis...

“In the futuristic action thriller Looper, time travel will be invented - but it will be illegal and only available on the black market. When the mob wants to get rid of someone, they will send their target 30 years into the past, where a "looper" - a hired gun, like Joe (Joseph Gordon-Levitt) - is waiting to mop up. Joe is getting rich and life is good... until the day the mob decides to "close the loop," sending back Joe's future self (Bruce Willis) for assassination. The film is written and directed by Rian Johnson and also stars Emily Blunt, Paul Dano, and Jeff Daniels. Ram Bergman and James D. Stern produce.”

I’ve heard nothing but good things about this film and some decent Sc-Fi fun s always welcome.

(apologies if you cam here straight away, 08:16 GMT, as the trailer wasn't up for another 2 minutes.)

Looper trailer 2...

Total Recall: Latest trailer for the remake of that doesn’t get itself to Mars...

Mars has had a rough time at Hollywood recently. Turns out nobody cared if it needed ‘moms’; The media were all too eager to see that John Carter’s trip there had as rough a reception as possible (Disney didn’t help); and now this partial remake and partial new adaptation of the classic Philip K Dick tale ditches the planet altogether.

Synopsis...

“Total Recall is an action thriller about reality and memory, inspired anew by the famous short story "We Can Remember It For You Wholesale" by Philip K. Dick. Welcome to Rekall, the company that can turn your dreams into real memories. For a factory worker named Douglas Quaid (Colin Farrell), even though he's got a beautiful wife (Kate Beckinsale) who he loves, the mind-trip sounds like the perfect vacation from his frustrating life - real memories of life as a super-spy might be just what he needs. But when the procedure goes horribly wrong, Quaid becomes a hunted man. Finding himself on the run from the police - controlled by Chancellor Cohaagen (Bryan Cranston), the leader of the free world - Quaid teams up with a rebel fighter (Jessica Biel) to find the head of the underground resistance (Bill Nighy) and stop Cohaagen. The line between fantasy and reality gets blurred and the fate of his world hangs in the balance as Quaid discovers his true identity, his true love, and his true fate.”

It isn’t going to be easy for this film to find its feet either: If the Olympics aren’t a potential, if muted, distraction, then being just 2 weeks after the Dark Knight Rises and 1 week before The Bourne Legacy, certainly will be. Still as a nut for Philip K Dick stories, I am rooting for this one.

Full trailer...

Alex Cross: trailer for the new James Patterson adaptation...

Well I still can’t look at this without thinking about the film we may have gotten if they had kept Idris Elba as Alex Cross. Still we have this one, with Tyler Perry (Who a great any Americans know nothing about at all). This film is based on the very popular series of novels by James Patterson; first brought to the screen starring Morgan Freeman in Kiss The Girls (1997) & Along Came A Spider (2001). This film also stars Matthew Fox (Lost), and is directed by Rob Cohen (The Fast & The Furious, Dragonheart). Expect to see it in October.

Synopsis...

“ALEX CROSS follows the young homicide detective/psychologist (Tyler Perry), from the worldwide best-selling novels by James Patterson, as he meets his match in a serial killer (Matthew Fox). The two face off in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse, but when the mission gets personal, Cross is pushed to the edge of his moral and psychological limits in this taut and exciting action thriller.”

Alex Cross...

The Prototype: Trailer for the hotly anticipated Sci-Fi thriller...

I’m going to let this one speak for itself, other than to say it is due out next year and has the plus of Neil McDonough being in it.

Teaser...

Taken 2: Teaser for the return of Liam Neeson kicking numerous criminal arses...

I love Taken, with all of its over the top, but gritty foolishness. It really works exactly as it is meant to and is one of the better ‘action’ movies around. That’s in no small part down to the Fact that Liam Neeson is just pure class and very much looks like somebody you really wouldn’t want to mess with...at all. If you didn’t enjoy Taken, why are you reading this? life’s too short to waste on things you don’t like J

Synopsis

“Liam Neeson returns as Bryan Mills, the retired CIA agent with a "particular set of skills" who stopped at nothing to save his daughter Kim from kidnappers. When the father of one of the villains Bryan killed swears revenge, and takes Bryan and his wife hostage in Istanbul, Bryan enlists Kim to help them escape. Bryan then employs his unique tactics to get his family to safety and systematically take out the kidnappers, one by one.”

Taken 2...

Dredd: 1st trailer for the Judge Dredd film hoping to forever banish the memory of that ‘other’ film...

The less said about that 1995 attempt to destroy anything and everything that made Judge Dredd interesting in the first place (Hey as Stallone said, it was based on a comic book so it had to be funny right!). But I’m sure we will hear / read untold amounts about that film by the time this new one comes out. Most of it will doubtless be calling this a remake or a reboot, despite the fact that it is simply a wholly different attempt to adapt, faithfully this time, the source material into a film. The main thing to take from the first Dredd film, is that it was one of the significant steps on the path (alongside Batman forever - Batman & Robin, The Phantom et al) towards what many thought was the death of the Super Hero / comic book book movie. This prior to the 1-2 punch that was Blade & X-Men, that led to us getting 4 - 8 super hero films a year (It's just too much!)

 I won’t pretend that I was an avid reader of 2000AD and Judge Dredd, I was much more of a Marvel kid, but I did read them and found the strange goings on very interesting. I know enough to expect a very different experience this time around. Well an un-removed helmet and lack of painfully unfunny Rob Scheinder will do.

Dredd...

Monsters University: Monsters Inc prequel gets a teaser trailer...

Monsters Inc remains a firm favourite in our house. Several years down the line it is still a beauty and the groundbreaking work needed to create Sully’s fur has stood the test of time.

Synopsis...

“Mike Wazowski and James P. Sullivan are an inseparable pair, but that wasn't always the case. From the moment these two mismatched monsters met they couldn't stand each other. "Monsters University" unlocks the door to how Mike and Sulley overcame their differences and became the best of friends.

Screaming with laughter and fun, "Monsters University" is directed by Dan Scanlon ("Cars," "Mater and the Ghostlight," "Tracy") and produced by Kori Rae ("Up," "The Incredibles," "Monsters, Inc."). The film opens in U.S. theaters on June 21, 2013, and will be shown in Disney Digital 3D™ in select theaters.”

It remains to be seen whether this follow up will skew closer to the artistry of the Toy story sequels, or the commercial, but lacklustre (well for us adults at least) Cars 2.

Monsters University teaser...

The Dark Knight Rises: Latest trailer is the something special...

I’ll keep this on short and sweet. If you’re not convinced by this trailer, you’re probably not going anyway right? Perhaps designed, as final trailers often are, to showcase that which isn’t necessarily there in earlier trailers: That there is also going to be a very decent amount of the spectacular going on in this film, alongside the allegory and drama. It’s looking like Nolan’s Trilogy will be a 3 for 3 in terms of quality entertainment.

The Dark Knight Rises - Exclusive Nokia Trailer...

Flight: Denzel Washington stars in Robert Zemeckis’ return to ‘live action’ films...

Well I say return to ‘live action’,, but the Motion Capture films Zemeckis as confined himself to since Cast Away in 2000 are live action films, that just happen to look like animation / be animated. So has the man who brought us such treasures as Back To The Future, Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Forest Gump and What Lies Beneath retained his touch? (For the record his MO-Cap films were a bit of a mixed bag with ‘A Christmas Carol being terrible and Beowulf very entertaining, but his tech, especially with it being so expensive, just didn’t live up to his expectations and forever making films in that manner just didn’t come to pass.)

Synopsis...

“In this action-packed mystery thriller, Academy Award winner Denzel Washington stars as Whip Whitaker, a seasoned airline pilot who miraculously crash-lands his plane after a mid-air catastrophe, saving nearly every soul on board. After the crash, Whip is hailed as a hero, but as more is learned, more questions than answers arise as to who or what was really at fault, and what really happened on that plane?”

Let’s face it, it is always good to see a Denzel film on the horizon, the man never lets you down, even if the film he’s in isn’t worthy. Joinginng hm are the also excellent John Goodman (Who starred with Washington in the underrated ‘Fallen’.) and Don Cheadle.

Flight...