Movie News: Remakes Edition

Tis the season for remakes in Hollywood! It seems as if all the producers got together and decided that every old movie needs a remake with a younger, fresher cast. These impending remakes have the public a-buzz with excitement, and I'm sure people from older generations are interested to see how some of their favorite movies will be remade with the Hollywood of 2010. Two remakes that are coming out soon are Tron: Legacy and True Grit, both of which star Jeff Bridges.
Tron: Legacy

This might actually only qualify as a sequel since it's a continuation of the movie Tron from 1982, in which Jeff Bridges also starred. But it has a completely revamped storyline from the original, so it seems to be more of a remake. Tron: Legacy centers on the the original character Kevin Flynn's (Bridges) son Sam and his quest to find his father who has mysteriously disappeared. What Sam comes to find is that his father has been trapped in the very virtual world he has created, and must battle all sorts of evil to save him from it. Even though I haven't seen the original, after seeing several trailers for TL, I am very inclined to see this movie. Awesome visual effects and a soundtrack from Daft Punk have put this on my to-see list. I think I'll pass on the 3D though, 2010 has been a 3D overload and it's not even over yet! Disney seems to aiming this movie at a younger, hip audience, so you don't have to be a fan of the original movie to understand what is going on. The plot seems interesting to hold people's attention, hopefully it flows well. The film is directed by first-timer Joseph Kosinski. Tron: Legacy hits theaters on December 17th, 2010.
True Grit

Also starring Jeff Bridges, this is a remake of the 1969 movie that starred John Wayne. John Wayne's performance as hardened U.S Marshall Rooster Cogburn earned him an Oscar. Judging from the recently released trailer, I have no doubt that Jeff Bridges will be able to meet, even top Wayne's performance. The Coen Brothers, who delivered the 2007 success No Country For Old Men are once again in the director's chair for this film. Like the original, True Grit is about a no-nonsense U.S. Marshall that is hired by a young girl to find the man who killed her father. Josh Brolin is will be playing the villain and Matt Damon also stars as the Texas Ranger who accompanies Cogburn and the young girl, Mattie. Once again, I have not seen the original, but the Coen brothers have yet to disappoint me, so I think this film is in capable hands. True Grit will be in theaters on Christmas day of 2010.
Arthur

Arthur isn't just a show about an adventurous aardvark and his school friends. This Arthur, is about the misadventures of a drunken British playboy that was made iconic by the late Dudley Moore. This film has also been branded a remake in which British comedian and actor Russell Brand stars as Arthur. In a gender role switch up, Helen Mirren will be starring as the witty butler/maid, a role that John Gielgud has made famous. Given Russell Brand's nature, I'd say he's the perfect choice to play a drunken playboy. I think this version of Arthur will bring a new, younger audience because of Russell Brand. Brand recent hit Get Him To The Greek really launched his career into the spotlight. But he has some big shoes to fill, people hold the original Arthur in high regard, so Brand will have to use all his comedic might in order to do Arthur justice. The film will also star Jennifer Garner and Nick Nolte and will be released in 2011. 

These are just a few of many (and I mean many) remakes Hollywood has set its sights on. I think after 2011, Hollywood needs to give remakes a rest and come up with some original material...which is pretty hard to come by these days. On a side note, Tyler Perry's adaptation For Colored Girls seems to be getting pretty dismal reviews. This makes me sad, I had such high hopes for this movie, because I had read the original play and loved it. Despite the reviews, I still want to see this movie to decide for myself whether the movie was good or not. So far IMDb has given it a 3.8 out of 10, yikes!! That's a pretty low score, which makes me wonder what must have gone wrong with this production. I guess I shall have to see for myself.

Captain America Pictures and More Batman 3 News!

Potential New Love Interest For Batman in "The Dark Knight Rises"

According to ScreenRant.com, rumor has it that Bruce Wayne aka Batman, will have a new love interest in the third installment of the Batman series. No word yet on who exactly the character will be, but actress possibilities include Vera Farmiga and Kacie Thomas. I find it interesting that they would give Bruce Wayne a new love interest so soon after ***Spoiler*** Rachel Dawes (played by Maggie Gyllenhaal) died in "The Dark Knight". Details about the villains are still vague, but one thing for sure is that it won't be The Riddler (darn!) or Catwoman. I'm interested to see who director Chris Nolan will pick for the female lead role. 

First Pictures of Captain America Movie Revealed!

The first pictures from the set of "Captain America" have come out, courtesy of Entertainment Weekly. The comic book hero will be played by Chris Evans, who is probably most known for being Johnny Storm in the Fantastic Four series. From looking at the pictures, it seems that the plot will take place during World War II and will detail the origins of the superhero. The villain, Red Skull, will be played by Hugo Weaving. The  rest of the main cast includes Dominic Cooper and Hayley Atwell. The movie is set for release on July 22nd, 2011 and is already stirring up a lot of buzz. Hopefully this comic book adaptation can live up to the hype, and hopefully Chris Evans does the First Avenger justice. Check out the pictures here!

Men In Black 3?

So, this is a sequel rumor I'm completely unaware of. When I first saw the headline, I was like "What?!" It seems that franchise reboots continue to be the thing to do in Hollywood. This is one I am definitely worried about. If Tommy Lee Jones doesn't return as Agent Kay, then it could be a complete disaster. Sure, Will Smith is awesome, but to me, Men In Black isn't Men In Black without Tommy Lee Jones. ScreenRant got a sneak peek at the script for the movie, and it sounds like a action packed adventure with some awesome special effects. Even if the storyline seems decent, my main worry is still about casting. I'm hoping and praying TMJ comes back as Kay. If not, I will definitely be heartbroken over one of my favorite childhood movies.

There seems to be so many sequels and remakes coming out that I can hardly keep up! Of course there is the heavily anticipated Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, which I am hoping lives up to the hype and follows the book well. The third Batman movie seems to be the other sequel that has fans waiting anxiously thanks to the epic success of "The Dark Knight". I am definitely anxious to know more about this movie that's for sure, so I will be updating you with more information as I get it!

25th Anniversary of Back to The Future, Thriller Movie Buzz, and the Batman 3 title!

UPDATE: Mel Gibson will no longer be making a cameo appearance in The Hangover 2! According to E! Online, Gibson's scene was cut due to lack of support by the rest of the cast and crew. I guess Mel won't be making his comeback anytime soon.

In other news, the 1985 movie Back To The Future celebrated its 25th anniversary this past week! This is a movie I consider to be a must-see. If you haven't seen this movie, then you've been living under a rock for about 20 years! Sure, it came out way before my time, but I still love this movie for all the pop-culture references and quotable lines. When I first saw it, some of the '80's pop culture references flew over my head, so I was constantly bothering my parents with questions about what the '80's were like. In celebration of the movie's 25th anniversary, the complete trilogy has been re-released on DVD and Blu-Ray.

A Thriller movie? Say what?

According to EmpireOnline, several studios are already competing to turn Michael Jackson's memorable music video into a full-length feature film. I consider myself to be a big Michael Jackson, but I'm not really sure what to make of this. I don't know whether to be excited to dread it. I really hate it when people mess up MJ tributes (Chris Brown). What will this movie even be like? Will it be a musical? Will it actually be a scary movie? And most importantly, what will the plot be? It seems like it would be hard making a storyline from a music video. I just hope that whoever directs it (rumor says Kenny Ortega, which I pray does not come true), does the original MJ masterpiece justice.

The Dark Knight Sequel has a title!!
The L.A. Times broke the big news that the long awaited sequel to The Dark Knight now has a title: The Dark Knight Rises. The plot and the new villain still remain shrouded in secrecy. The revelation of a title is progress enough for me, because it kind of sets the tone of what the movie will be like.


So, as you can probably tell, there is a lot happening (or not happening in Mel Gibson's case) in Hollywood. There are a lot of movies and projects to look forward to, such as the final Harry Potter movie and The Dark Knight Rises. I would have to rank these two movies as the ones I anticipate seeing the most! I'm still iffy on the Thriller project, but Hollywood is constantly changing, so we shall just have to wait and see. 

Mel Gibson: Should we forgive him?

   News leaked today that Mel Gibson will be making a cameo appearance in "The Hangover 2". Now, why they would make a sequel to this movie and potentially taint the entire franchise is beyond me. But the real issue here figuring out what Mel's motives are for taking this cameo. My guess is that he is doing this cameo on a comedy movie with the hope that this will make people forget/forgive him for his racist and misogynistic rants that were caught on tape.

Mel Gibson has had a very rough year, and it didn't help that a year or so ago, he was also caught saying some anti-Semitic things. When the tapes of conversations between Gibson and his girlfriend Oksana Grigorieva leaked, things got even worse. I think it's safe to say many people ran out of patience with Mel after that. "Misogynist" was synonymous with Mel Gibson for a while.
   In an interview on Extra, actress Jodie Foster called Gibson the "most loved man" in Hollywood. Really, Jodie? She might be alone on that one.
   So, what do you think? Should we forget about all the bad things Mel Gibson has said/done in the past year? Share your thoughts! :)
-Liz

My First Post!

Hello world! This will be my first official post as a blogger! I'm new to this whole blogger thing, but I will try my best to be a good entertainment news blogger :)
  So, as stated by the subtitle, this is a blog about anything pertaining to entertainment news or film in general. Film has always been at the center of my interests, so I like finding interesting stories in that field.
  Before I get to an actual entertainment story, I think it's only appropriate that I share with y'all a little bit of information on my favorite movie (I have many but I narrowed it down to the best one), Pulp Fiction!

Oh, what more is there to say? I've seen this movie so many times, I know practically all the lines! I credit my father for introducing me to this movie. I was only 11 years old when I first saw Pulp Fiction, which is very young for the Tarantino audience. Once I saw it, I immediately loved it, much to my mother's dismay. The main thing I love about this movie is the dialogue! It's so witty and quirky, it kind of makes me wish people talked like that in real life...
   Now, on to the entertainment news! Coming from screenrant.com: According to the director for the new Jason Bourne movie, Tony Gillory, Matt Damon will not be returning as super awesome spy Jason Bourne for "The Bourne Legacy". Well, now I know for sure I won't be seeing this movie! What's a Bourne movie without Matt Damon in it? I'll tell you what it is, bad! Apparently Damon dropped out when Paul Greengrass, the director for the other Bourne movies, dropped out of the project due to lack of interest.
   I'm interested to see how this movie will work with a completely new actor playing the title role. A lot of times, that doesn't work out so well at the box office.
  That's all for now! I hope you all enjoyed my first post! :)