Yesterday, the first picture of Henry Cavill as Superman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel was released, and it looks pretty impressive.
He definitely looks a lot darker than Brandon Routh in Superman Returns, plus he looks a lot more jacked. The outfit looks fairly traditional, with a couple of updates to make it appear more modern. While I am hesitant to get my hopes up for this film, I gotta say that I at least like the look so far.
Another photo popped up yesterday as well, this one from another major superhero release next year, The Dark Knight Rises. This is probably one of the most buzzed about movies that I can recall, and Christopher Nolan seems to be taking delight in teasing his fans with mysterious looks at the final installment of his Batman franchise. The photo is a first look at Anne Hathaway playing Selina Kyle:
While the fan boys were all excited about Superman in Man of Steel, the buzz about this photo is very confused. The Dark Knight Rises website did not mention whether this was Selina Kyle in the final Catwoman outfit, and if it is there was a lot of disappointment about it. If it is, I don’t mind it so much. While it is less traditional, I trust that Nolan will make her compelling character, so the outfit is easily overlooked. If it isn’t, it makes me curious what they are going to add and how it will turn out.
What are your thoughts about these photos? Is that a good look for Superman? What about Selina Kyle? Let me know in the comments!
Synopsis from IMDB: A sleazy defense attorney has a crisis of conscience when he represents a wealthy client who has a foolproof plan to beat the system.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: Typically I’ll dismiss any movie where Matthew McConaughey recieves top billing, but the critical success of this film has peaked my interests enough to warrant it a rental (not to mention the ageless beauty that is Marisa Tomei).
Synopsis from IMDB: A family looks to prevent evil spirits from trapping their comatose child in a realm called The Further.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: I’m a sucker for a good horror movie, and I hear despite Insidious’s PG-13 rating, it is so far the years best and scariest. My growing interest in Patrick Wilson also gives this film a boost, and despite The Lincoln Lawyer being the most acclaimed of this week’s releases, I vote Insidious as this week’s rental recommendation.
Synopsis from IMDB: Rango is an ordinary chameleon who accidentally winds up in the town of Dirt, a lawless outpost in the Wild West in desperate need of a new sheriff.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: I have to be in the right mood for an animated film, but I’ve heard nothing but good things about Rango. That being said, I’ll probably add this to my Netflix queue, though I’m sure it will be there for a while.
Synopsis from IMDB: A drunken playboy stands to lose a wealthy inheritance when he falls for a woman his family doesn’t like.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: I’m just not sure about this film. While the original was a great comedy, I find this to be an unecessary remake with a few actors I don’t particularly care for. Still, the marketing did a good job making this film appear to be genuine and well-scripted. Helen Mirren is also a plus. I’ll probably give this one a try in the near future.
Synopsis from IMDB: A writer discovers a top-secret drug which bestows him with super human abilities.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: I seem to recall being interested in this movie when it was released in theaters but can’t recall what prevented me from seeing it. Still, now that it is on home video I’ll definitely give it a look.
Synopsis from IMDB: Follow an aimless college grad who pursues his dream girl at a wild Labor Day weekend party. He, his twin sister and their best friend struggle with their burgeoning adulthood over the course of the night.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: A cast full of names that haven’t fully lived up to their potential, Take Me Home Tonight seems to be yet another disappointment for Topher Grace, Anna Farris, and Dan Fogler. While the reception seems to echo that sentiment, I’ve seen enough glimpses of goodness from each of these actors to at least give this movie a shot.
Synopsis from IMDB: An action thriller centered on a soldier who wakes up in the body of an unknown man and discovers he’s part of a mission to find the bomber of a Chicago commuter train.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: I’ve heard nothing but good things about this film and am disappointed I wasn’t able to catch it during its theatrical run. Still, my reward is saving a few bucks and enjoying it in the comfort of my own home. This will be near the top of my Netflix queue.
Synopsis from IMDB: A teenage girl is targeted by an online sexual predator.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: I remember seeing this trailer when Chris posted it for an opening this week. I really like the cast for this film and look forward to watching it. As and aside, I was pretty shocked to write David Schwimmer in as the film’s director.
The adventures of supernatural private eye, Dylan Dog, who seeks out the monsters of the Louisiana bayou in his signature red shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans.
Trailer:
Pac’s Take: I passed on Dylan Dog in theaters solely because of its poor critical reception. I’ve really been rooting for Brandon Routh after his disappointing departure following Superman Returns and look forward to seeing this on DVD/Blu Ray. Hopefully I enjoy the film more than others clearly have.
There are definitely some candidates this week threatening to oust Rio from its two week run atop the box office, with another childish idea for a movie (Fast Five) and also an actual kids movie (Hoodwinked Too! Hood vs. Evil). Let’s run ’em down:
Starring: Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Jordana Brewster
Director: Justin Lin
Synopsis from IMDB: Dominic and his crew find themselves on the wrong side of the law once again as they try to switch lanes between a ruthless drug lord and a relentless federal agent.
Trailer:
Chris’ Take: I have seen every single one of these films and despised them more with each viewing. While the reviews for this film are by far the best out of the franchise, the previous four have taken out of me any desire to see this installment. To add more meatheaded madness to Fast Five, the cast has added Dwayne “Forever Known as The Rock” Johnson. Maybe this will finally be his first overall positively reviewed film ever.
Starring: Hayden Panettiere, Patrick Warburton, Glenn Close, David Ogden Stiers
Director: Mike Disa
Synopsis from IMDB: Red Riding Hood is training in the group of Sister Hoods, when she and the Wolf are called to examine the sudden mysterious disappearance of Hansel and Gretel.
Trailer:
Chris’ Take: The first Hoodwinked film was “OK” at best. There were moments of humor, but were offset for me when I discovered it was a musical. So, suffice to say, it was not my cup of tea, but I know that there were a lot of people, mainly kids, that thoroughly enjoyed it. After watching the trailer for the second one, and reading some of the early reviews (18% on RT), it sounds like the sequel will be more of the same, except with less humor.
Starring: Thomas McDonnell, Aimee Teegarden, Siu Yin Chang, De’Vaughn Nixon
Director: Joe Nussbaum
Synopsis from IMDB: A group of teenagers get ready for their high school prom.
Trailer:
Chris’ Take: This Prom seems about as exciting and creative as the synopsis posted above. I suppose every generation needs multiple movies about the big event to call their own, but I doubt this one will go down in memory as one of the best. It is receiving mixed reviews (54% on RT), which is better than I would expect, but not enough for me to recommend seeing this one.
Starring: Brandon Routh, Taye Diggs, Sam Huntington, Anita Briem
Director: Kevin Munroe
Synopsis from IMDB: The adventures of supernatural private eye, Dylan Dog, who seeks out the monsters of the Louisiana bayou in his signature red shirt, black jacket, and blue jeans.
Trailer:
Chris’ Take: Brandon Routh proved that he can pull of dead pan humor, as seen in his character in Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, so this film certainly has something going for it right there. It looks like it is trying to be the next Shaun of the Dead, which will be very hard to pull off and from the early reviews, it does not look like it does. I’m willing to give it a chance though and hope to find it entertaining at least.
Starring: Arata Furuta, Hiroki Matsukata, Kazuki Namioka, Koji Yakusho
Director: Takashi Miike
Synopsis from IMDB: A group of assassins come together for a suicide mission to kill an evil lord.
Trailer:
Chris’ Take: The premise seems simple, but the trailer looks to make it much more spectacular. The cinematography especially looks far above average, and it looks like it could be a more sophisticated version of 300. The early reviews have been outstanding (87% on RT), so this looks like it would definitely be worth checking out.
For all the fanboys, including Pac, the first full length trailer for the new Captain America film, coming out this summer, is finally here. It features either the greatest crash diet since Christian Bale in The Machinist or the same technology that made the Winkelvoss twins in The Social Network. Without further ado here it is:
While I have said this about several superhero films and later regretted it, this film looks pretty awesome for a summer popcorn film and could give Bryan Singer‘s X-Men: First Class a run for its money. Chris Evans, in my humble opinion, is an underrated actor and hopefully this will break him out of his “strictly comedic sidekick” funk.
Hollywood continues to delve deeper into the comic book genre, hoping to suck as much money it can out of it before people start losing interest. The newest endeavour in that regard is Dylan Dog, a horror-comedy featuring Brandon Routh as a mediator and investigator for all things supernatural. He keeps the balance between zombies, werewolves, vampires, you name it so that they can live in peace and ensures that they don’t cross over into the realm of the living.
This either has the potential to be the next Shaun of the Dead or flounder around for two hours trying to figure out what kind of movie it is. While the tone is a lot like Hellboy, that at least boasted Guillermo Del Toro at the helm, while director Kevin Munroe is relatively new with only 2007’s TMNT under his belt. I would like to see this film succeed since I do love the horror-comedy genre, but I am very cautious to get my expectations up.
What do you all think? Is Captain America going to live up to the hype? Will Dylan Dog be decent?
Unless you are a hermit living out in the mountains of Montana without access to television or any sort of media, you have heard of the show “Mad Men“. The main appeal of that show is the character Don Draper, played by Jon Hamm (GQ’s Man of the Year). If you have watched the show, at some point it is bound to cross your mind that he looks like he could be Superman.
Recently it has been rumored by un-named, but supposedly reliable, sources that Jon Hamm is being considered to play the role of Superman in the upcoming “trendy, gritty reboot” of the series, which is being written by David S. Goyer and produced by Christopher Nolan. But, apparently one of the setbacks to him being cast is the issue of his age. He is 39 now, which is more than 10 years older than both Christopher Reeves and Brandon Routh were when they took on the role and producers are worried that Superman would lose some zest with age and that it would be hard to franchise with an aging star.
I think that is a load of crap because Superman doesn’t really need to have a specific age. Jon Hamm has not only the look for the role, but the ability to bring some depth to the character and the series. Plus, he has shown that he can play both the powerful man and the naive man (which the Clark Kent alter ego would require) as witnessed in his performance as Dr. Drew Baird on 30 Rock.
He even wears glasses on occasion.
The other setback in his casting is that he may not be interested. In an interview with MTV back in February he said this about possibly playing Superman:
“It’s a tricky road to go down with some of those heroes, because they’re not flawed. Superman is Superman — he’s invincible, so where’s the drama?”
This is how I pictured him during the interview, and you know you did too.
While he did not outright say he wouldn’t do it, he hints that he would want the role to be fleshed out more. I think that with Goyer writing and Nolan producing, they could present him with the type of Superman role he might be interested in playing.
What are your thoughts? Is Hamm too old for the role? Do you even think this reboot is a good idea in the first place?
Brian Pac Sostak
Chris Petersen
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Chris and Pac Take on Hollywood 
