Bond's New Theme Goes White...

Bond theme songs are a big part of the 007 movies. The opening theme often reflects what the rest of the soundtrack will sound like and utilizes themes that often instrumental variations on the opening song. "Casino Royale" had, what I believe, was one of the very best opening themes to a Bond film. It reflected Bond's badassery, and it revealed what the movie's major (and non-musical) themes would be, without spoiling the movie.

That said, I can't tell you how unthrilled I am that The White Stripes' Jack White is part of "Quantum of Solace's" opening. The opening song, entitled "Another Way to Die," will be the first duet theme in the long running Bond series. I hope Alicia Keys can balance out Jack White, but I'm not necessarily a fan of her either. From Chris Cornell of Audioslave to Jack White of The White Stripes? That's not simply a dip in to mediocrity, that's just plain bad.

My apologies to you White Stripes and Alicia Keys fans... For you liking them.

Evil Dead...4?

Not too long ago an "Evil Dead" remake was rumored to be in the works with Raimi simply producing. Like many internet fanboys, nerds and guys who have nothing better to do but forum-stalk, I thought this was a horrible idea. The Evil Dead Trilogy is a fantastic farce made by very young filmmakers that simply love to make movies and given to those same people. It was fun, hysterical and everything a cult film should be.

"Why a remake? Just make a sequel!" I cried. It took a few years, but my desperate scream must have finally reached Sam Raimi oh-so-many miles away. "Evil Dead 4" is now in the rumor mill. At the 2008 Comic Con Raimi revealed the possibilities of a fourth Evil Dead:

I love working with Bruce Campbell and he’s like Allison [Lohman, star of Raimi’s Drag Me To Hell]. He’s super willing to do anything to make it right. He’s a very funny guy, but mostly he’s got this quality where he will physically do anything to get the shot done right, so I would love to work with Bruce again because I’d love to test those limits. I’d love to make another Evil Dead picture. And actually that’s in the wheelhouse. I’d like to work on it with my brother Ivan [Raimi] when he comes up next week.“

I think my preverbal, fanboy, love for chainsaw wielding zombie killers water just broke. More as this comes. But what would you rather have? Raimi doing Spidey 4/5 or Evil Dead 4?

Aronofsky's RoboCop Not in 3D, But it is a Reboot

For those of you who were thinking the new RoboCop's admission to the 3D world was a little gimmicky, like me, fear not! It has been confirmed that the movie is not only 2D, but an R-rated reboot of the franchise. (With Aronofsy behind it, this makes much more sense.)

Originally it was rumored that the movie would be a distant sequel of the franchise, but it seems like MGM and Aronofsky have every intention of going "Batman Begins" on this project and giving us a heavy hitting, dark film with plenty of substance. I eagerly await this movie. Aronofsky's hand on RoboCop's destiny can only do it some good. Yes. Yes I have expectations for this.

New Terminator Poster Revealed

Pretty good teaser poster I must say. I like how the design of the T-600 is not as spot on humanoid as the T-800 from the previous films. Fitting that it looks battle ravages. (Notice the bullet hole in its head.) And I wonder what those designs in its eyes could be? Just me overanalyzing? Maybe, but it is a curious design. Click to enlarge:



Not too shabby. Am I actually having *GASP* hope for this film? I'm good at the false hope thing, but I want to see another (a better) trailer before I get too carried away with Comic Con's influences.

Harry Potter and the Two Pictures

I've been behind on the Harry Potter stuff as of late. I've neglected to put a slew of pictures up that are now readily available anywhere, but I felt I should justify myself with a set of two new ones. The pictures below depict Dumbledore conjuring a blast of fire to battle some un-dead creatures. And the other is of a young Tom Riddle, obviously a flashback. Click to enlarge.



Notice Dumbledore behind Riddle-- It seems he would still maintain that spectacular beard at that point of time, but otherwise a good depiction of past times. I really like the shot Dumbledore conjuring fire. There's a taste of spectacle to that shot that seems to echo the final battle in the last movie.

This November.

"Cowboy Beebop" Goes Live Action

One of my favorite anime series, and what many consider to be one of the very best, is being brought to live action. I'm currently of two minds about this. Like most things that anime presents, the film could be beautiful. But as we know, live action adaptations don't always go as planned, and when it's 20th Century Fox behind things, it's either all or nothing.

Producer Erwin Stoff announced it recently:

“I’m developing 'Cowboy Beebop' for Fox, but doing it as a live-action film, so I’m working on that at the moment,” said Stoff.“I’m really excited to be working on it, and it’s in the really early stages. We just signed it the other day. I have such an enormous admiration for its creators, that our first and foremost concern is going to be a real degree of faithfulness to the tone of the movie, to the mix of genres, and so on and so forth. When I met with them in Japan, one of the first things that I brought up was the experience that we had on 'A Scanner Darkly', and how hard we worked to remain faithful to Philip K. Dick, and that was our big concern here.”

Well he sounds sincere... Stoff's track record isn't exactly respectable, but it's not horrible either. He did have a hand in "The Matrix," "The Devil's Advocate" and "Constantine." However it's going to take more than just remaining faithful to the source material to make a good "Cowboy Beebop" movie. I'll judge further when more comes along, but Stoff better fight for one of the finest writers in the business if he wants to keep fans happy.

"Cowboy Beebop." An amazing show. I'm not sure if they should risk tainting its great name. Well... There's no choice but to try now. Best of luck to you Stoff. Don't f$#^ this up.

"Stealing Time" On Screen

Columbia Pictures has green-lit a new film based on the theory of time travel. "Stealing Time" is said to be a sci-fi thriller that investigates the possibility of time travel.

The film will involve three different eras of people who look for a mysterious device that may answer the generation hopping question: Is time travel possible?

The film is to be directed by Walt Becker ("Van Wilder," "Wild Hogs") and is written by television writer Colin Trevorrow.

It's a shame such an interesting idea is being pinned by a wack job like Becker, but one can cross his fingers right? Maybe that's more of my false hope. No word on when production begins, but I imagine the film is far in to the 2010/2011 range.

"Elm Street" Gets Repaved

Oh no. First Jason, now Freddy returns. Apparently WB/New Line has hired Wesley Strick ("Cape Fear," "Doom") to write the latest adaptation of Freddy Krueger. The proposed project is said to be a straight up remake that will keep the high school setting and dive deeper in to the "psychology" of the Freddy character.

Another bad slasher franchise revitalized by a writer best left for Sci-Fi Original Motion Picture flicks? Pass. Freddy sucked then, I can't see him doing anything better now.

For those interested, the film is in its very early stages. I wouldn't expect this thing until 2010 at the very, very earliest.

Burton Takes Alice to "Wonderland"

Well it was only a matter of time. "Alice in Wonderland" is finally in the hands of director Tim Burton. Walt Disney is teaming up with the legendary director for a live action, and probably very bizarre, version of the classic tale.

Currently, rising Australian actress Mia Wasikowska is in talks for the role of Alice. (Currently she stars as a regular returnee on HBO's series "In Treatment.") The movie's script was written by Linda Woolverton. ("Beauty and the Beast," "The Lion King," "Homeward Bound") Shooting will begin this November and will be filmed in both live action and motion-capture.

"Alice in Wonderland" is rumored to arrive in theaters 2010 in Disney's Digital 3D.

Not too keen on the 3D crap, but everything else sounds pretty cool. "Alice in Wonderland" and Tim Burton? Must have been love at first sight.

Darren Aronofsky Takes On "RoboCop"

Well this blows my mind. After two movies about fighters...or wrestlers... (Take your pick) Aronofsky's next feature film will be "RoboCop." For the indie-film illiterate, Aronofsky is responsible for some of the most thought provoking and powerful films of the last 15 years. "Requiem for a Dream" is often considered his ultimate masterpiece and "Pi" is an amazing follow up. The man is also responsible for my all-time favorite film, "The Fountain;" an underrated work of art that transcends accepted filmmaking and moves into a spiritual and emotional world that no other movie would dare go.

Now that I'm done praising the man, I must say I am stoked for the next "RoboCop" installment. What I initially thought was a bad idea now seems like the second coming. Aronofsky could potentially do for "RoboCop" what Christopher Nolan did for Batman. The film is being written by David Self (Road to Perdition) and is said to take place 20 years after the RoboCop program has been dropped. Obviously someone wants to pick it back up.

So if the rumor is true, this new flick is a sequel to the original three films. (Yes, including the hideous third movie.) Part of me wishes they would just reboot the saga and start fresh. Regardless of my feelings on that, Aronofsky at the helm is nothing short of a great thing.

RoboCop returns, 2010.