TheMovieCheese.net

Just thought I’d clue everyone up on some of the best news that’s been happening in the movie world recently…

1. “Ra.One” – Big BOLLYWOOD superhero blockbuster!

To anybody who knows anything about the Indian film industry Bollywood, the name Sharukh Khan will be no stranger. He is the undoubted superstar of Bollywood, their equivalent to, say, Tom Cruise or Christian Bale.

His latest film, however, is something different not just for him but for the whole of Bollywood. It is a huge blockbusting superhero sensation titled Ra.One…check out the teaser trailer…

Looks…interesting. The effects are certainly impressive and Khan definitely has that hero complex. But…that costume? Hmmmm.

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2. Silent Hill: Revelations 3D has its full cast

The sequel to Christophe Gans’ video game adaption Silent Hill is finally underway. Filming has started and the film finally has a full cast. It’s director is the writer/director of last year’s surprise guilty pleasure Solomon Kane. Returning from the first film are Sean Bean and Radha Mitchell. Added to them are Carrie-Ann Moss (you may remember her as Trinity in The Matrix) and Malcolm “cast me in everything” McDowell.

That’s a brilliant cast, but what confuses me is the storyline: imdb.com says “Heather Mason and her father have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn’t fully understand, Now on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by horrific nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she’s not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her forever. ”

–  Now in the cast list, Sean Bean is credited as playing both Harry Mason and Chris De Silva…erm, okay. You’ll have to excuse me because I’ve only ever played the first two games and it’s a LONG time since I did. And by the sound of it, this film looks to be loosely following the story of the 3rd game. Also it’s going to be in 3D.

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3. Keanu Reeves is directing a kung fu movie

Oh, Keanu Reeves, what a bizarre acting career you have. Most of his roles have been wooden fluff, but he has made the odd awesomeness. Even roles like his infamous Neo are suitably wooden. But have we all forgotten the days of the Bill & Ted movies? Recently his films have been seriously lacking though. He made a crime thriller called Street Kings that probably about four people saw. He’s also been attached to a live-action Cowboy Bebop movie since, like, forever. Well, with that aside, he has decided to give directing a shot. And his directorial debut is to be a kung fu action movie entitled Man of Tai Chi.

Reeves has said in an interview with MTV, “There’s 18 fights. We’ve timed it out. It’s about 40 minutes of fighting, I want to make a good, solid kung fu movie. Good story, good plot – but let’s get some good kung fu going!”

You have to admire his enthusiasm. What is the film’s plot? Well, that we don’t yet know; but we do know that it is to be set in present times but with subtle nods to the classic kung fu of old. Not only that, but Reeves also plans on playing the film’s villain, and wants the film to be very bilingual, choosing to film it with equal amounts of English and Chinese dialogue.

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4. Production is well underway for The Hobbit

With Peter Jackson finally agreeing to direct, principal photography has finally started on Lord of the Rings prequel, The Hobbit. As we already knew, the film will be released in two parts, alá Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. It stars Martin Freeman as a younger Bilbo Baggins who has to journey to the Lonely Mountains accompanied by a group of dwarves to reclaim a treasure stolen from them by the dragon Smaug.

Returning to the film are Sir Ian McKellen as Gandalf, Christopher Lee as Saruman, Cate Blanchet as Galadriel, Andy Serkis as Gollum, Elijah Wood as Frodo, and Orlando Bloom as Legolas. Quite where both Legolas and Frodo fit into this story is anyone’s guess, but it’s still inticing to think that almost the whole cast of the original movies are coming back. Also, joining them is the awesome James Nesbitt as a dwarf named Bofur and Dr Who himself David Tennant as Thranduil.

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5. The Crow remake lands a director

The proposed remake of the Alex Proyas/Brandon Lee cult classic The Crow has finally landed a director. Juan Carlos Fresnadillo (director of horror sequel 28 Weeks Later) has officially landed the gig. This just seriously pains me. The Crow is the kind of film that has such a strong fan base and such a strong staple within the confines of the cult movie world, that it’s the kind of film that you just don’t ever imagine to be remade. This is a fucking travesty. Not only that, but (in my opinion) 28 Weeks Later was fucking awful. It was absolutely no where NEAR the atmosphere of the original 28 Days Later. The characters where terribly written and the whole thing was just downright boring. No doubt they’ll get some fucking Emo heartthrob to play the lead and market it to the teenage Twilight generation instead of making it the R-Rated movie that the original was. Brandon Lee, I feel for you as I am sure you are spinning in your grave.

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6. Did you enjoy Johnny English (aka one of the worst films ever made)? Well, they’ve made a sequel…

Here’s an amazing idea, let’s make a sequel to one of the worst British films ever made. Rowan Atkinson…I just don’t find him funny any more. The medium of comedy has gone beyond physical slapstick humour now to the point where it looks like kid’s stuff. Johnny English was fucking awful. I’m still a fan of Blackadder and the original Mr Bean of course, but even the latter I can only take in small doses. Anywho, some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to make a sequel to English, and here’s the (ball-achingly bad) trailer:

Did you laugh at all? If you did, I genuinely feel sorry for you. And I also feel sorry for this nation for breeding such stupidity.

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7. Rha’s Al Ghul WILL be in The Dark Knight Rises!!

In a huge revelation (and possible spoiler for the plot), it has now been revealed that Rha’s Al Ghul (Liam Neeson’s villain from Batman Begins) will actually feature in the concluding chapter of Christopher Nolan’s Batman saga The Dark Knight Rises. However, Liam Neeson won’t be returning, as this will be a younger version of Ghul played by The Social Network’s Josh Pence, likely in some sort of flashback. This info gives credit to Gary Oldman earlier statement when he said the film would “go back to its Batman Begins roots”. And as most of you know, I favor Begins over The Dark Knight, so for me this is great news. Also, just take a look at him! Dead ringer for Neeson if you ask me:-

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8. Rolland Emmerich’s Anonymous gets a trailer

No, it’s not based on the infamous Internet group of so-called hackers and low life basement dwellers; it’s actually based off a theory that famous playwright William Shakespeare didn’t actually write any of his plays. Apparently, according to the film, they were actually written by one Edward de Vere.

The film is to be directed by Rolland Emmerich. Now, as most of you know Emmerich is one of my most hated directors. The guy has made a career out of making very stupid, CGI-overblown disaster movies such as Armageddon, Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and 2012. All these movies are horribly written pieces of incomprehensible trash. However, this latest movie seems to be one hell of a departure for the director who’s movies usually contain lots of things blowing up in favour of any kind of character development. Anywho, check out the trailer…

So yeah, it’s definitely a departure from his usual fluff. Apart from those big CGI establishing shots of course. And with Rhys Ifans in the main role, this could actually be the first decent Emmerich film the world has seen.

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9. Teaser trailer for new Hammer Horror film The Woman in Black, starring Daniel Radcliffe

A teaser trailer has been released for the latest film from the rediscovered British horror studio Hammer, entitled The Woman In Black. The film is actually a remake of an old Hammer movie from the 1980s. It also stars Daniel Radcliffe, fresh from the completion of his Harry Potter saga.

It seems a suitably grown up film for Radcliffe, as he now desperately needs to shake off the effect the Potter movies have had on him. Time will tell if it’s as creepy as the original, but it sure seems to have a specific atmosphere to it. Here’s hoping it’s as good as it looks. Either way, here’s the teaser trailer…

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10. “Kneel before Zodd!!!” Michael Shannon finally cast as General Zodd in Superman reboot The Man of Steel!

Fucking. Awesome. I’ve always praised Michael Shannon as being in incredibly underrated actor. After The Dark Knight I always said he would be the ONLY actor who could possibly replace the late Heath Ledger as the Joker, and then when news hit that he was being offered a role in the Zack Snyder/Christopher Nolan reboot of Superman, I was fucking ecstatic. Well now he has finally secured the role of General Zodd (you may remember him as the main villain from Superman II).

Yes, I realise that I first complained at the notion of General Zodd being added to the movie. Afterall, its a villain that we’ve already had, and there are LOADS of Superman villains that we are yet to see in the live action movie (such as Brainiac, Darkseid, Bizarro to mention but a few). But I’ve been thinking about it a bit more, and since this is a complete overhaul movie, General Zodd does actually make a lot more sense. For those of you who don’t know, General Zodd is also a Kryptonian who was banished from Krypton for his murderous ways. He has the exact same powers as Superman and is a very formidable opponent. So I’m guessing we can look forward to a BIG fight scene this time, the likes of which Superman deserves.

Plus, FUCKING MICHAEL SHANNON. If you don’t know who he is, you may remember him from the Leonardo DiCaprio film Revolutionary Road, a performance for which he was nominated for an Oscar. He also starred in Eminem’s 8 Mile, and…erm…Bad Boys II. But the film that I always think of him from is a little movie called Grand Theft Parsons, where he played stoner Larry. If you haven’t seen Grand Theft Parsons, then I strongly recommend it.

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11. Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) could be directing The Wolverine

This is interesting. After the departure of Darren Arronofsky from Hugh Jackman’s The Wolverine, the directing chair could be filled by Duncan Jones, the director of the phenomenal sci-fi movie Moon and this years Source Code.

The Wolverine is set to be a departure from the other films in the X-Men saga and follows Wolverine’s journey to Japan to take on a group of Samurai warriors. The movie has been in development hell for quite some time now and was announced after the total lashing (both critically and box office wise) of X-Men Origins: Wolverine. Arronofsky’s involvement was an awesome thought, but unfortunately he has had to drop out due to the film’s slowing development pace. Jones would make an epic replacement. You all know how I feel about Moon, it is simply one of the greatest science fiction movies of the past 20 years. And I recently saw his new film Source Code, and while it is has no where near the impact of Moon, it is still fantastic film, and shows just what Jones can do with a budget. Like Inception, Source Code is a thinking man’s action movie, a movie that doesn’t feed you its plot on a silver platter, but rather one that you are forced to work out for yourself.

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And that’s all for now. Any thoughts on any of these movies? Any of them sending you into fits of excitement? Or any of them making you want to go outside and chin someone? Post in the comments below! 😀