Days after naming Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” as the festival’s curtain-raiser, the Venice Film Festival’s have picked another not-entirely-expected title to close the fest on September 11: Julie Taymor’s long-delayed Shakespeare adaptation, “The Tempest.” The decision to bookend proceedings with highly anticipated U.S. productions suggests the Venice brass are aiming for higher star wattage on […]

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Last year, I dedicated a couple of posts to the mysterious case of “Margaret,” Kenneth Lonergan’s seemingly terminally delayed follow-up to his 2000 directorial debut “You Can Count on Me.” The film, a character drama starring Anna Paquin as a traumatised witness to a bus accident, with Mark Ruffalo and Matt Damon in support, was […]

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My Comic-Con experience ended a bit sooner than I expected this morning when I woke up and decided whatever was on the Sunday docket wasn’t as fetching as a three-hour ride in traffic back to LA. That’s how exhausting the convention was this year. Here’s the thing. We all know Comic-Con and its 125,000-plus attendees […]

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*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Despite the collective nerd consciousness being zeroed in on the events happening in San Diego, there were enough nerds elsewhere to propel “Inception” to a second week at the top of the box office. Actually that’s unfair, it’s not just nerds who are seeing the movie […]

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Perhaps the most ubiquitous presence at Comic-Con this year has been Universal’s “Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” The film held a traditional panel Thursday evening, was screened three times to audiences including the public, was fully visible with a massive ad on the north side of the Hilton Bayfront and took over the Hilton Gaslamp […]

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I’m back from San Diego and will wrap things up throughout the afternoon, but this trailer for “Let Me In” hit during the convention and it goes a long way toward explaining my new-found excitement over the remake.  Head on over to MTV by clicking the image below or check out the embed (and yet […]

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Hall H was humming by the time Marvel Entertainment honcho Kevin Feige took the stage for the highly anticipated “Captain America” and “Thor” panels this afternoon.  And for the comic book masses waiting with bated breath for any sliver of info, it was ecstasy.  For me…not so much. Director Joe Johnston and stars Chris Evans […]

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With its “Scott Pilgrim” presence already dominating the scene here at Comic-Con, Universal publicity didn’t need to do much else to be top of the nerd mountain this weekend. Then they went and blew the roof off. The studio first offered up a sizzle reel for Greg Mottola’s sci-fi comedy “Paul,” which went over well […]

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I’ll get to today’s Marvel’s “Avengers” presentation later tonight, but the news worth conveying is that Mark Ruffalo and Jeremy Renner were on hand to be confirmed as Bruce Banner/The Incredible Hulk and Hawkeye, respectively.  The announcement was made by Robert Downey Jr., who was here with Scarlett Johansson, Samuel L. Jackson and director Joss […]

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In all the back and forth and panel coverage, I’ve been trying to find time to post tid-bits like this.  With a few minutes’ rest before Marvel comes into Hall H and owns the joint, I figured I’d finally get to the recently released red band “Machete” trailer, courtesy of IGN.  Robert Rodriguez was here […]

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As far as Matt Reeves’s “Let Me In” is concerned, I’ll freely admit a sense of hesitation. Based on one of the best films of 2008, it has had an air of arbitrary remake-itis around it. But much of that started to disappear as marketing materials were unveiled throughout the last few weeks, and following […]

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One of the most anticipated events at this year’s convention was Warner Bros. Pictures’ presentation of footage from Martin Campbell’s upcoming “Green Lantern” adaptation.  Starring Ryan Reynolds as test-pilot-turned-intergalactic-enforcer Hal Jordan, the film is the first big screen adaptation of the superhero to date. Comics writer and head of DC Entertainment Geoff Johns said during […]

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*All historical figures cited are adjusted to today’s dollars. Laziest headline ever? It’s that kind of Friday folks. Hey boys! Anything you can do, Angelina Jolie can make look sexier and she’s here to prove it with “Salt.” Originally a vehicle for Tom Cruise, Jolie stepped in and is literally the only woman in Hollywood […]

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Of the so-called “tech” categories, Best Cinematography is one of the most popular, certainly for me. The invention of the camera took us beyond radio and literature and set modern art on a path aimed toward the moving picture, and this field recognizes those behind the lens. Cinematography obviously has a massive impact on a […]

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We’re only a day in, but the star of Comic-Con so far, if it isn’t Scott Pilgrim, has to be Sylvester Stallone.  The muscle-bound action star hit Hall H yesterday with a few scenes from his new film “The Expendables” in tow and couldn’t have had more swagger and charisma. Ain’t It Cool News poobah […]

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The debut feature of director John Wells (best known for his TV work on such series as “ER” and “The West Wing”) garnered fairly reserved reviews at Sundance in January. The trailer, which hit yesterday via Yahoo! Movies, does play a little on the beige side, but the story is topical, the cast excellent (always […]

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In the rush of Comic-Con I haven’t gotten around to posting the new poster for “Let Me In,” which debuted to coincide with the convention.  You might remember the teaser poster, which was released a few weeks ago, and this one is still teaser-ish, but certainly better.  Check out the full poster after the jump.

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“It proves to me some things, good things, take a really long time to happen,” “TRON” creator Steve Lisberger said to a packed Hall H, looking strikingly like Bad Blake next to a clean-shaven Jeff Bridges. And that was the vibe you got from the euphoric crowd this afternoon as Disney revealed eight minutes of […]

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