Cinema 411

Movies Opening This Week February 1

Bullet to the Head

Stand Up Guys

Warm Bodies

The Gatekeepers (Limited)

Girls Against Boys (Limited)

Haunting in Connecticut 2: Ghosts of Georgia (Limited)

Sound City (Limited)

New Trailers  
Upsidedown 

Mud
Phantom

I love this scene from Legally Blonde

More Details on What to Expect from Marvel's 'Thor: The Dark World'

As the buzz from The Avengers finally dies down, comic book movie fans are looking ahead to Marvel's Phase Two. We'll see Iron Man 3 this summer, but Thor: The Dark World is right on its heels, and that project is a lot more mysterious right now. We know that Dark Elves are involved with Christopher Eccleston leading the charge as Malekith, a second villain named Algrim the Strong plays a major part, and Tom Hiddleston is back as Loki. In a recent interview with Empire Magazine (via Yahoo!), Marvel Studios executive producer Craig Kyle revealed more details about what's coming in the comic sequel. Read more here.

Paul Giamatti is Rhino in 'Amazing Spider-Man 2' & Felicity Jones Joins

Taking cues from some of the other comic book sequels out there, The Amazing Spider-Man 2 seems to have a couple of villains on the docket. We already know that Jamie Foxx is slated to play Electro, but now Heat Vision has word that Paul Giamatti is in talks to enter the mix as The Rhino. Considering Giamatti isn't exactly the most fit of actors and he's certainly not anywhere near as buff as the comic book villain usually appears, this seems like strange, but wholly interesting casting for the comic book sequel. This isn't Giamatti's first comic book film as he led American Splendor, but it'll be his first superhero film. Read more here.

Paquin, Page & Ashmore Are Returning for 'X-Men: Days of Future Past'

After Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellen were announced to reprise their roles as Professor X and Magneto respectively (with James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender still playing the younger versions of those same characters) in X-Men: Days of Future Past, we knew something interesting was going on with the sequel to X-Men: First Class. Then Hugh Jackman was confirmed to return as Wolverine, and now the story is getting even more interesting as more X-Men characters from the original trilogy are back. Anna Paquin, Ellen Page and Shawn Ashmore will reprise their roles as Rogue, Shadowcat and Iceman respectively. Read more here.

Disney Announces J.J. Abrams as Director of 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

It's official. Hot on the heels of yesterday's surprise scoop that J.J. Abrams had changed his tune from a flat out denial and was going to direct Star Wars: Episode VII, Disney has officially announced in a press release that the Star Trek reboot director will officially be at the helm of the sequel. In addition, the press release confirms that Michael Arndt is writing the screenplay, and that Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are consulting on the project as well. Lucasfilm's new fearless leader Kathleen Kennedy says, "It’s very exciting to have J.J. aboard leading the charge as we set off to make a new Star Wars movie." Jumphere to read more.

Kate Winslet Goes Young Adult in 'Divergent' Starring Shailene Woodley

Hot on the heels of Smashed and The Spectacular Now director James Ponsoldt taking on an adaptation of the young adult novels The Pure Trilogy, a more familiar name is heading into tween territory as well. Shailene Woodley is already confirmed to lead Summit Entertainment's adaptation of Veronica Roth's book Divergent, the first in a hopeful trilogy of movies, and now Variety reports Kate Winslet is currently in talks to take an unknown role. Directed by Neil Burger (Limitless) the story is set in a dystopian future Chicago with the city separated into five factions, so it has shades of The Hunger Games, hence the appeal. Read more.

Sunday Social Week 34

1.  What is your ideal way to relax?

In my sweats, cuddled up with a blanket as I watch a movie or read a book.

2.  Where is your favorite place to be?

I love being at home with my family, but if I had to choose a place I would pick Barnes and Noble. The Café, Books, and Games. What more could you want?

3.  Who do you consider your biggest role model?

My oldest sister. She is smart, ambitious, and funny. She’s a mother of 5 started her own business last year. She’s awesome.

4.  What does your life look like in 3 years?

In 3 years I will be graduated so I will be getting my first teaching job. Within 3 years I hope to find a guy as well. I’ve learned that none of the plan I make ever work out the way I think they should so we’ll see what happens.

5.  If you could go back and change one decision, what would it be?

I wish I had continued with my violin lessons after high school. I wish I had continued with singing lessons as well.

6.  What is your biggest accomplishment in life so far?   

     

Off of the top of my head my biggest accomplishment would be graduating from college. I also getting close to receiving my second Bachelor's Degree. 

BB on the Way

Michael Bublé and his wife are having a baby Bublé!

Luisana Lopilato, the wife of the Canada-born crooner, is pregnant, and what better way to announce to the world that they're expecting? With a YouTube video of course.

Movie News

Movie Opening This Weekend (January 25^th)

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters

Movie 43

Parker

John Dies at the End (Limited)

New Trailers

Emperor

Spring Breakers

Red 2

Olympus Has Fallen

At Any Price

Video: The Best Scene from Monster in Law

You might have to turn the volume up a tiny bit.

David Fincher in Talks to Direct Adaptation of Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl'

Though The Social Network director David Fincher has been working on getting 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea off the ground, not to mention being talked about for Star Wars: Episode VII and supposedly game for The Girl Who Played with Fire, we haven't head what his next project will really be. NowVariety has word that Fincher is currently in talks with Fox to direct Gone Girl, an adaptation of Gillian Flynn's novel of the same name. An official offer isn't on the table yet, but the story follows a woman who disappears on her fifth wedding anniversary and sparks suspicion and strange behavior from her husband. Read more here.

Relativity Media Picks Up Joseph Gordon-Levitt's 'Don Jon's Addiction'

Another day, another big sale at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. Hot on the heels of The Spectacular Now getting picked up by A24, news has come from multiple sources saying that Don Jon's Addiction, the directorial debut from The Dark Knight Rises and Looper star Joseph Gordon-Levitt, has been picked up for distribution by Relativity Media, the company who brought Let Me In andHaywire to theaters. The film was purchased for $4 million and will get a wide release with $25 million going towards the marketing. Of course, a movie with Gordon-Levitt and Scarlett Johansson should sell itself, right? Continue Reading Here.

Jim Carrey and Adam Sandler Courted for 'Guardians of the Galaxy'?

Casting is underway for Marvel's cosmic superhero ensemble Guardians of the Galaxy from director James Gunn. We've heard more than a few names for the shortlist trying to lock down Peter Quill (aka Starlord), and now two more big names have come out of left field, but not for that role. Latino Review(who has always been reliable with comic book scoops) has heard that Jim Carrey and Adam Sandlerare among the names being considered as Marvel has inquired about their availability for this film. This would be the third comic book movie for Carrey, but the first for Sandler. So what role would they have? Read Here.

Rosario Dawson Joining Ryan Reynolds In Queen Of The Night

Queen of the Night sounds like a vampire movie, and given Hollywood’s penchant for bloodsuckers it’s easy to see why one might be swayed into thinking that was its intent. Instead, it’s a missing-child thriller from acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Atom Egoyan, and it just added a stellar leading lady to its growing ensemble.  Read more about the movie here. 

Sunday Social 33, All about 3s

1.  Top 3 favorite kinds of food

Breakfast Food (Eggs, Waffles)

Mexican (Enchiladas, Rice, Fajitas)

Italian (Salad, calzones, and Pasta) Yum!

2.  First 3 things you do in the morning

Shower and Wash My Face

Eat Breakfast

Usually Check My Email or Facebook

3.  Last 3 things you do at night

Change into Pajamas

Brush My Teeth

Watch Hulu and catch up on one of my shows

4.  3 TV shows you NEVER miss

(I can't choose just 3)

5. 3 places you want to visit

New York City

France

Hawaii

6. 3 people you can always count on

My Mom, My Dad, and My Brother Jordan

Looking Forward To....

I’ve decided to make a list of books and albums that I am looking forward to in 2013

First: Books

I know I am behind I hoping to read the whole Divergent Trilogy (Veronica Wroth) this year. The Third book in the series is supposed to be released this year. To read more about the series, here's a link to the Good Reads page. 

Painted Girls (Cathy Buchanan): Like children at the dinner table, muses are usually relegated to being seen and not heard.The Painted Girls, based on real 19th-century Parisian sisters, gives a vivid voice to two of them: Marie van Goethem, famously bronzed in Degas' Little Dancer Aged Fourteen, and her sister Antoinette, a player in the staging of Émile Zola's working-class masterpieceL'Assommoir. For them there's no glamour in dancing, modeling, and acting; it's merely a way to stay (barely) afloat in the slums of Montmartre. If it were Les Miz, they'd break into song. Instead, we get something much richer. 

Best-selling author Malcolm Gladwell has made an art form — and not to mention a lucrative career — of making the counter-intuitive intuitive in books like Outliers, The Tipping Point and Blink. Little, Brown has announced that his next book, scheduled for 2013, will be called David and Goliath. It is partially inspired by a New Yorker article called “How David Beats Goliath” that Gladwell wrote in 2009. The article followed a girls basketball team that defied considerable odds to reach the California state championship by reinventing, in a sense, the way defense is played. The book  Here’s more information from an official press release:

David and Goliath is an exploration of what happens when underdogs confront the powerful. Why are we so often surprised when underdogs win? Do Goliaths make mistakes in spite of their strength—or because of it? David and Goliath looks at revolutionaries and dictators, the privileged and the poor, and misfits and straight arrows in an effort to figure out who really has the advantage in any kind of contest — and why.

Now on to Albums

Beyonce has a new album coming out.

As Does Lady Gaga

I am really excited about the Band Perry and their new album

Rumor Has it that this man is releasing a new album this year too.

What are you looking forward to?

Carrot, Egg, or Coffee

A young woman went to her mother and told her how hard things were in her life.  She did not know how she was going to make it and wanted to give up.  She was tired of struggling.  It seemed as one problem was solved, a new one arose.

Her mother took her to the kitchen. She filled three pots with water and placed each on a high fire. Soon the pots came to boil. In the first she placed carrots, in the second she placed eggs, and in the last she placed ground coffee beans. She let them sit and boil, without saying a word.

In about thirty minutes she turned off the burners.

She fished the carrots out and placed them in a bowl. She pulled the eggs out and placed them in a bowl. Then she ladled the coffee out and placed it in a bowl.

Turning to her daughter, she asked, “Tell me, what you see?”

“Carrots, eggs, and coffee,” she replied. Her mother brought her closer and asked her to feel the carrots.

She did and noted that they were soft. The mother then asked the daughter to take an egg and break it.

After pulling off the shell, she observed the hard-boiled egg. Finally, the mother asked the daughter to sip the coffee. The daughter smiled as she tasted its richness. The daughter then asked, “What does it mean, mother?”

Her mother explained that each of these objects had faced the same adversity … boiling water. Each reacted differently. The carrot went in strong, hard, and unrelenting. However, after being subjected to the boiling water, it softened and became weak. The egg had been fragile. Its thin outer shell had protected its liquid interior, but after sitting through the boiling water, its inside became hardened.

The ground coffee beans were unique, however. After they were in the boiling water, they had changed the water.

“Which are you?” she asked her daughter. “When adversity knocks on your door, how do you respond?  Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean?”

How about you?  Does the boiling water of pain change you?  Have you gone into hardship fragile like an egg, but come out hardened and bitter?  Or strong like a carrot, only to be softened and defeated?   Or, like the coffee beans, have you allowed the situation to be an opportunity for growth and change?

How do you handle adversity? Are you a carrot, an egg or a coffee bean? You may have started as a carrot or egg, but the beauty of life is you can consciously choose who to be.

Here's hoping you choose to be coffee.

The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything; they just make the best of everything that comes their way.

Movie Movies and Movie News

Movies Opening This Week (January 18^th)

Last Stand

Mama

Broken City

Luv

New Previews

The Call

The Last Exorcism

42

To the Wonder

First, It’s award season. Here’s the good news.

Check out all of the Oscar Nominations here. 

Today it’s been 5 years since Heath Ledger’s death. Can you believe it? This is my favorite scene from 10 Things I Hate About You.

Alfonso Cuarón's 'Gravity' Finally Set for an October 2013 Release

If you've seen Alfonso Cuarón's excellent Children of Men - and really, all of you should - you should be just as excited as we are about his follow-up project, Gravity. The sci-fi movie stars Sandra Bullockand George Clooney as two astronauts who experience a catastrophe in space. The film relies heavily on visual effects, and early rumors suggested that the movie will even open with a 20 minute long take. So yes, we're pretty damn stoked about it. After delaying it from its original November 2012 calendar spot, The Playlist has noticed that Warner Bros has officially set an October 4th, 2013 release date for the anticipated film. Click to read more.

Anne Hathaway to Star in New 'Taming of the Shrew' Film Adaptation

William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew is one of the playwright's most famous works, having been adapted for film as far back as 1908 when the first movie version was directed by D.W. Griffith. Those who never read Shakespeare in school might recognize the story from the 1967 Elizabeth Taylor & Richard Burton film, or the modern update in 99's 10 Things I Hate About You, which starred a few of Hollywood's biggest future stars. Now The Wrap reports that another young Hollywood A-lister, Anne Hathaway, is in talks to play a lead role in a new modern adaptation of the play from screenwriter Abi Morgan (Shame). Clickto read more.

Warner Bros. is Taking Homer's Classic 

Tale 'The Odyssey' to Space

The classic Greek epic The Odyssey, Homer's follow-up writing to the equally famous tale of The Illiad(which was already turned into the Brad Pitt led film Troy), is getting a Hollywood makeover at Warner Bros. Deadline reports James DiLapo, a fresh graduate from NYU, has been hired to write this adaptation of the tale that will take the action to space. DiLapo might be a newcomer, but his first script, Devils at Play, won the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences' Nicholl Fellowship for screenwriters. In addition, that same script made the Black List at the end of last year, so this guy knows what he's doing. Read more here.

Universal Confirms June 2014 Release Date for 'Jurassic Park IV' 3D!

 2014 just got a lot more prehistoric. Out of nowhere this Friday evening, Universal has confirmed a release date, and nothing else, for the long-rumored, long-delayed sequel Jurassic Park IV. We've been hearing about this one for nearly as long this site has been in existence, and most recently we expected that it was completely dead. But now official Jurassic Park pages on Facebook and Twitter are confirming the news, stating: "Just announced! Jurassic Park 4 is coming to theaters on June 13, 2014!" It looks like it's real and happening - but Steven Spielberg will only be producing it, not directing. At least according to reports. Readthe story here. 

A Capella

Recently I’ve discovered how cool a capella music can be. It’s something that I wish I was able to do, but it doesn’t stop me from enjoying it.

Not only is this a capella but it’s a mash up too. I love it. If you haven’t seen this movie, Pitch Perfect, you should!

This is from that competition called the Sing Off. These boys are from Utah. Even if you are not a fan of the song you have to give them credit. Wait until you get to the key change.

I have always liked this song. Book of Love.

Both Sides

Snowfall

The time of year, the air turns cold, rain becomes snow.
Small snowflakes, large snowflakes.
White specks fill the sky, gently falling to the ground.
Day or night, disappear to reappear.
Snowfall, light or heavy, layer upon layer.
Snow covered tree branches.
Everything covered under a blanket of snow.
The wind begins to blow, wind driven snow; swirling, blowing, drifting snow.
Snowdrifts sculpted by the wind, what's hidden underneath.
The snow subsides, the forest still, so cold, so bright.
Outside at night at times so bright under a moonlight sky until the mornings' dawn.

The mornings' frost upon the ground, among the branches of the trees.
Like stars that sparkle in the sky.
Soon to disappear, to reappear on yet another day.

During the day, sun cast shadows across the surface of the snow.
To disappear, reappear as the sun travels across the sky.
In time the snow becomes dry, soiled, weathered; until covered by new fallen snow.

The snow being silent witness to that which passes through.
Freezing, thawing until the air turns warm, when the snow becomes rain.
The snow will disappear, for it is the time of year. 

Alvin Schaut

This is a really nice poem but I have a confession to make. I am deathly afraid of driving in the snow. I grew up in Utah, I learned to drive in Utah, and I still live in Utah. You would think I would feel more comfortable driving my car during the winter months. Not even close. I am terrified I am going to take out a stop sign. I am afraid of sliding and hitting another car.  Yes I am the type of driver that usually makes other people on the road very angry because I drive so slowly. I drive like an old lady and I am not ashamed. Now, for your enjoyment: