New 'Brave' trailer

If you're as excited as I am for Brave, then you'll be all over the new trailer, released mere hours ago. It showcases some new characters - such as the rascally triplets - and reveals some more plot details.

The film is looking more and more cinematic. Initially, I was afraid that Brave would be too one-noted. But now I have laid my fears to rest.

This will be a movie worth seeing.

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'Mission: Impossible 4' trailer debuts

Above you'll find the first trailer for Mission: Impossible Ghost Protocol. It's being directed by someone you're most likely familiar with, Brad Bird, the Oscar-winning guy who brought you Iron Giant, Ratatouille, and The Incredibles. M:I4 marks his foray into the world of live-action filmmaking.

The movie is being produced by J.J. Abrams, the awesome dude behind LOST (speaking of which, did you see Sawyer in the trailer? Jump to 1:03 and watch closely...awesome!), Mission: Impossible 3, Super 8, Fringe . . . a lot of stuff. It stars Tom Cruise, Jeremy Renner, Simon Pegg, and, as I said before, Josh Holloway.

I cannot wait!! It looks spectacular.

Unfortunately, though, I'm gonna have to wait until December 16 later this year, when it's released into theaters (and IMAX!).

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'Brave' teaser

Below you'll find the long-awaited teaser trailer for Pixar's Brave, attached to all digital copies of Cars 2. The animation is spectacular, and the narration/title tie-in is very clever. Enjoy.



Brave will be released in just under a year, on June 22, 2012.

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Full 'Muppets' Trailer

Above you'll find the full trailer for The Muppets, released earlier today.

Finally!! I'm so sick of seeing Kermit and The Gang be dragged into shameless Hangover and Green Lantern parodies. I am very glad to, at long last, see some actual plot from the upcoming film!

Now I'm finally getting more excited for The Muppets...

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'Muppets' Teaser: The Fuzzy Pack

Above you'll find the most recent Muppets teaser, "cleverly" titled The Fuzzy Pack.

If you couldn't tell, it's trying to be a witty spin-off of The Hangover franchise, playing on the film's recent hype.

However, I think this teaser falls completely flat. It's boring. I mean, "fuzzy pack" doesn't even sound like "wolf pack"--it has got a different number of syllables, for pete's sake. I am a bit irked that something as amazingly creative and funny as The Muppets would parody something as unoriginal as The Hangover 2. That's what's wrong with Hollywood, ladies and gentleman; they look at box office numbers and mimic whoever's on top without once considering their target audience, the art form that is film, the integrity of their project, etc.

I am excited for The Muppets and I have faith in it, I just wish their marketing strategy was a bit more . . . tasteful.

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'Super 8' trailer and poster

J.J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg seem to have created something really special with Super 8. It is very, very Spielbergian--it basically looks like E.T. with a bunch of action. Or The Goonies with aliens. Both mash-ups I'd be very, very happy with. No gimmicks and no celebrities just to have celebrities; Super 8 seems to be an incredibly welcome and refreshing return to classic, wonderful storytelling at its finest.

Above you'll find the awesome, simple poster, and below is the just-released trailer.



Is it June yet?!?

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New 'Cars 2' Trailer, Retro Posters, and Hi-res Stills!

Above you will find a full, extended, super awesome trailer for Pixar's upcoming film Cars 2. Below, you will find a collection of just-released stills. Click to massively embiggen. . .

And here is the pièce de résistance, a collection of retro Cars 2 posters (courtesy of Empire), straight from Emeryville, California. Click these to embiggen, too. . . Boy oh boy, would I want a print of that London poster for my wall.

I'm still questioning Cars 2. As I've been saying all along, it looks like it has great characters, spectacular animation, and even a cohesive plot, but I just don't see any room for the coveted "Pixar heart" that they've had in every film since Luxo, Jr. But I'm not going to pass judgment on the film just yet. If anyone's earned my trust and respect, it's Pixar. I'm gonna give them the benefit of the doubt until I see the film later this year.

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Two Super Bowl Spots: 'Rango' and 'Kung Fu Panda 2'

Briefly: Above and below you will find Super Bowl spots for two animated films that I am very much looking forward to: Rango and Kung Fu Panda 2, respectively. Expect to see epic trailers for Pirates and Cars 2 during the big game on Sunday, too.

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New 'Pirates' Trailer

Above you will find a brand new trailer for the fourth installment of Bruckheimer's Pirates franchise.

First, let's discuss the trailer itself. More specifically, the elephant in this post--that little intro to the trailer. It was odd. Really odd. But I'll excuse it just because I love the character of Jack Sparrow. In fact, I'm sure that the only reason the peculiar intro was there was to showcase Depp's character even more. But, as I said, I'll ignore its strangeness just because I love the character so much...

Now, the film in general. I am not entirely sure what to make of On Stranger Tides just yet. Being a piratical history enthusiast as well as a lover of Disney and cinema, I am very excited that this new Pirates film will have the historical aspect of Blackbeard in it. I have studied the biography of Blackbeard, as well as other pirates, and am very excited to see how they will treat him as both a brand new character and a historical entity--Ian McShane seems to make a great Blackbeard, and I can't wait to further see how he portrays him.

However, the plot doesn't seem incredibly strong. Similar to my issues with Cars 2, this film seems rather gimmicky and void of true, deep emotion. Granted the only Pirates film with any "heart" was Curse of the Black Pearl, I still wanted to see the screenwriters try a little harder to make the audience fall back in love with Sparrow and new supporting characters. It doesn't seem like there will be much room for this in such an adventure-heavy, emotionless film. However, the lack of emotion will leave much more room for crazy adventures and stunts and hilarity from Jack Sparrow.

Having said that, I'm excited to see Blackbeard, excited for Jack Sparrow, and I'm a complete sucker for pirate adventures. It isn't fair for me to judge the movie before I've seen it, and I'll still be first in line for the midnight showing come May 20, 2011.

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Two Trailers: 'Pooh' and 'Cars 2'

Briefly: Below, you will find two new Disney trailers, Winnie the Pooh and Cars 2.



I am so excited for Winnie the Pooh. The 51st animated film from Walt Disney Animation Studios is looking great--I am very glad that they kept with the original style of animation. I've got nothing negative to say...



Cars 2. Oh, Cars 2. What will we do with you? Your animation looks exquisite, I am very excited that Michael Caine will be voicing one of your characters (Finn McMissle), and John Lasseter is even directing you. Still, this movie seems to be missing that certain Pixar "edge." It seems too predictable and generic. Sure, it'll be really funny and entertaining, but I don't see how they can possibly fit any heart into the plot. Every Pixar movie thus far has had heart. I don't see any potential for it in Cars 2, but I'm willing to give Pixar and Lasseter the benefit of the doubt.

I think they've earned that at the very least.

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Comic-Con Day #2: More Del Toro, Tron, and Ruffalo as 'The Hulk'

Day 2 from Comic-Con didn't bring many surprises. Nothing like Del Toro's announcement regarding The Haunted Mansion, or the sad news about The Hobbit. Still, there were some interesting things you might want to know coming out of San Diego today...

First, I'll keep you up to date on Del Toro--both on his Haunted Mansion project, and everything he's working on. Above you will find the official, just-released logo for the film. To read the full press release that accompanied the very cool and stylized logo, head over to /Film here.

Supposedly, the visionary filmmaker will only be writing and producing the theme park-inspired film, and not directing. Instead, he has a horror film and a stop-action Pinocchio in the works. I am excited for those. To read more about Del Toro's announcements of the day, click here.

Tron, Tron, Tron. You began as such a simple idea but have exploded into a cult phenomenon. Comic-Con loves you, I love you, and we all love hearing news about you. Oh, Tron, why must we wait longer to see you in your brilliant, computer-generated wonderfulness? Well, since we can't see you until December 17, we thank you for the above brand new still taken from the movie.

If that doesn't get you excited to see Tron: Legacy, I don't think anything will.

There was big news regarding The Avengers announced yesterday, and some new news today. Several weeks ago, I was very sad to discover that Edward Norton would not be reprising his role as The Hulk for Marvel's Avenger's film. He is my favorite actor, and I thought he made a great Bruce Banner. But, instead, Marvel has all but made it official that the new Hulk will be *sigh* Mark Ruffalo. Sure, he's an OK actor. Maybe even good occasionally (like in Shutter Island), but as the Hulk? Pa-lease. Don't make me laugh. They definitely should have stayed with Norton. Oh well, at least Ruffalo will be led by superstar Mr. Joss Whedon.

Above you will find a trailer for the recently announced DC Comics spinoff flick Red. Does it look a lot like the A-Team movie? Yes. That one Losers movie released a few months ago? Definitely. But, unlike those two films, this one actually looks good. And more action-y. Plus, it's starring Bruce Willis, John Malkovich and Morgan Freeman.

Sign me up for two of those, please.

Remember yesterday how I said I'd have loved to be at that panel with J.J. Abrams and Joss Whedon? Well, I couldn't be there. The next best thing to being there would have been a video of it. Well, we don't have that either, but we do have the next best thing after that: a transcription. Click over to /Film here to read through it. They talk about all kinds of different great stuff. It is definitely worth the read.

That's all there is to post for now, but as Comic-Con wraps up, I'm sure the studios will throw some more curve balls at us. Stay tuned here for all the latest Comic-Con, Disney, Pixar, and Movie news.

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Some Un-Disney Links

Although my passions lie with Disney and Pixar, you may have noticed that I love all movies. And since the Disney news has been quiet lately, I thought I'd give you some links to update you about the part of Hollywood without Mouse ears:

Sony's animation division has announced that they are planning a 3D, CG version of the classic, spinach-lovin' Popeye. Producer Avi Arad is heading the project, after turning the Spider-Man franchise into a "powerhouse" for the studio.


The long and complicated casting search for the title role of The First Avenger: Captain America is finally over. After all of the possible stars, including The Office's John Krasinski, Speed Racer's Scott Porter, and Channing Tatum, they have finally settled on Chris Evans (Fantastic 4, Push). It is rumored that his contract if for a staggering 9 picture option and a quite un-staggering $300,000. Stay tuned for more details on all of the upcoming Marvel films.


While we're on the subject of casting action movies, the cast of Transformers 3 is starting to take shape. The huge Michael Bay production will, surprisingly, feature John Malkovich and Frances McDormand.



Finally watch the above trailer. I don't have much more to say about that; Sylvain Chomet's The Illusionist looks great.

That's all the news there is now. Keep checking back for more movie, Disney, and Pixar news.

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'Megamind' Teaser

Below you will find the teaser trailer that has just been released for DreamWorks' upcoming 3D, CG film Megamind. Here's the brief synopsis:

When super villain MegaMind (Ferrell) defeats his archrival Metro Man (Brad Pitt), the world should be his oyster. But instead, MegaMind falls into total despair. It turns out that life without a rival is life without a point for him. So, he creates a new superhero rival, Titan (Jonah Hill). Unfortunately, the new hero wants to be a super villain, too. Caught in the middle, star reporter Roxanne Ritchi (Tina Fey) asks the tough questions: Who can we turn to? Who has what it takes to stand up to this menace? Who will defend the innocent? MegaMind! That’s who.

Here's the trailer:



Well, this looks terrible. The characters don't fit in their environments, the jokes are very contrived and not funny, and Katzenberg appears to be relying heavily upon the films' "star power," which is never a good sign. It may seem like I have something against DreamWorks, but I don't. I just have something against bad movies. And it seems like DreamWorks' three movies per year plan is resulting in awful movie after awful movie.

Plus, doesn't this seem an awful lot like Despicable Me?

This is only a teaser, and I'm not going to judge it completely just yet, but we'll see come November...

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'Tron Legacy' Trailer

There's not much else to say. Enjoy.

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'Tangled' Teaser Leaked

After having it's name recently changed from Rapunzel to Tangled, Disney's next animated picture has just had its teaser trailer leaked online for your viewing pleasure. Not much is revealed yet, except that her hair has magical powers. The animation looks stunning, almost a cross between CG and hand-drawn animation. Another interesting thing I noticed is that the teaser says "In Theaters this Fall," when the film is set to come out on Christmas. Do they know something we don't know?

The film is being directed by Bolt's Byron Howard and Nathan Greno, and will star Mandy Moore and Zachary Levi. Also, it features the gorgeous artwork of directing animator Glen Keane (Tarzan, Pocahontas, Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, etc.) who is also listed as the film's executive producer along with someone by the name of John Lasseter.

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New 'Despicable Me' Trailer

Above you will find the new trailer for Despicable Me. It will be, obviously, an animated feature, have an all-star cast featuring Steve Carell, and be released later this year.

I am still not quite sure what to make of this movie. So far, it appears that all they have is a premise. And an unoriginal one at that: a supervillain is the story's main character. The presence of the usual crutches that replace a weak story are also all in place: an all-star cast that is being flaunted more than the actual film, one-liner jokes, and, of course, the all-too-familiarly embarrassing pop culture references. This film screams Monsters vs. Aliens--no story, just decent animation, 3D, and jokes.

But I could be wrong. It could be that the one creating the trailers happened to like Monsters vs. Aliens (I know, I know, it is hard to believe that somebody liked it). After all, trailers can be deceiving. The animation in the trailer was, actually, pretty great. And it was funny, I'll give it that. However, you know me; I want story. Story is what's important, and story is what I haven't seen anything of yet.

Let's hope we start seeing a strong story when the next trailer comes out...

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The 'Toy Story 3' Trailer's Easter Eggs

Pixar is the world's greatest animation studio. They focus on story while maintaining excellent and cutting-edge animation, and they're humble about it the whole time. Another great thing about Pixar is that they interact with their fans. They do this, mainly, through placing Easter Eggs throughout their films. Below you will find, courtesy of /Film, the Easter Eggs found in the recently released Toy Story 3 trailer. There are plenty of familiar ones, and some quite surprising ones, as well. Enjoy:


Lee Unkrich, director of Toy Story 3 has one line in the whole film. As the Jack-in-the-Box, he shouts "New Toys!"


In the initial daycare scene, you can see Mr. Ray from Finding Nemo as a toy sitting on the shelf.


When Woody is on the computer chatting with a dinosaur, you can see Totoro sitting next to the computer. Totoro is the main character from Miyazaki's 1988 masterpiece, My Neighbor Totoro. Hayao Miyazaki, the "Walt Disney of Japan," is a truly great animator and director, and is good friends with John Lasseter. I wonder how much more of Totoro we will see in Toy Story 3...



In the same computer scene, you will notice that the username of the dinosaur contains "237," which is an homage to Unkrich's favorite film, The Shining.


While watching the trailer, you may also notice numerous Macs. This is due to Steve Jobs' huge contribution to the animation studio (and, by huge contribution, I am referring to its creation). So, Toy Story 3 is full of Apple Computers.


In another scene at the daycare, you can see a very basic, yet obvious, homage to Cars' Lightning McQueen.


The "95" painted on the side of Woody's getaway train refers to 1995, the year that the first Toy Story was released.


And, finally, the classic A113 shows his face on the license plate of Andy's Mom's car. This is, of course, a reference to the classroom number of the animation class at CalArts. This Easter Egg is not only seen in every Pixar film, but also Disney movies, Family Guy, The Iron Giant, American Dad, The Simpsons, Powerpuff Girls, among other animated things. Very cool.

So, there you have it. Now you can have a whole new appreciation for the new Toy Story 3 trailer, as well as Pixar history as a whole. Good ol' Pixar...

Source: /Film

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Final 'Toy Story 3' Trailer Released

Here it is! The final Toy Story 3 preview! This trailer makes me even more excited to see the movie, which I didn't think was possible. It looks like Toy Story 3 will have even more excitement, humor, stunning visuals, and fantastic animation than previously expected. The train chase scene looks especially great, turning the movie into an epic, almost. Watch the trailer right now. Then watch it again. And then one more time.

June 18 cannot come soon enough...

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Blu-ray Previews for 'Toy Story' and 'Fantasia'

Briefly: Below you will find two previews pitching the upcoming releases of Toy Story, Toy Story 2, Fantasia, and Fantasia 2000 on Blu-ray. Toy Story and its sequel will be released in the Blu-ray platform on March 23, but the release date is currently unknown for the release of Fantasia and Fantasia 2000 on the high-definition platform. Watch the previews below:

Toy Story and Toy Story 2:



Fantasia and Fantasia 2000:

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New 'Alice' Preview

Above you will find the just-released preview for Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland. This one reveals much more about the plot and also shows more visuals than the first teaser. This film is looking weirder and weirder, if you ask me. Very Burton-esque. Still, I'd like to see it.

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