Movies

PIXELS, from Columbia/Sony Pictures, is one of those movies I shouldn’t like -- but because I have so much in common with the main characters in this movie, I can’t help myself.

The seed to the plot of this movie takes place in a flashback to 1982 and the National Video Game Championships. The games are videotaped and sent into space, where they are discovered by an alien race who take them as a challenge to take over there world. In doing so, they bring to life many of the original characters of the video game world of 1982 and set them upon the Earth to destroy it -- but not immediately. You see, in true videogame fashion, they give the Earth three “lives,” and if they lose them, then world is destroyed.

Enter in our heroes, who oddly enough were the ones who competed at the games in 1982. Through varying twists of fate, they become Earth’s only hope in beating these otherworldly real videogame characters.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment has announced that MAD MAX: FURY ROAD on Blu-Ray is on it's way!

It will be available as a BLU-RAY 3D COMBO PACK, BLU-RAY, DVD and DIGITAL HD with over 90 minutes of additional high-octane special features! The 3D combo pack will retail for $44.95.

The official press release states:

Disney has released the first official trailer for it’s latest Pixar Animation Studios film titled: THE GOOD DINOSAUR.

The movie asks the question: “What if the asteroid that forever changed life on Earth missed the planet completely and giant dinosaurs never became extinct?” The story centers around a young Apatosaurus named Arlo who befriends the most unlikely of creatures...

A human.

Respected director Bill Condon and beloved actor Sir Ian McKellan have a history of success, having worked together previously on GODS AND MONSTERS. So when Condon reached out to his friend about playing  Sherlock Holmes late in life, struggling to put the pieces of his unsolved final case to rest before his faculties leave him unable to do so, McKellan jumped at the chance. After all, who wouldn’t want to play Sherlock Holmes? After all, so many other English luminaries have done it: Basil Rathbone, Peter Cushing, Christopher Lee, Michael Caine, Christopher Plummer, and, currently on BBC television, Benedict Cumberbatch.

I’ve decided to quit doubting Marvel. They clearly have a plan. At this point they could do films for comics like Power Pack or The Adventures of Young Aunt May—I just made that up—and they’d gross a quarter of a billion dollars. Disney paid $4 billion dollars for Marvel and has nearly made their money back at this point strictly on box office, never mind the merchandise. Their latest entry in the mighty Marvel movie mythos is ANT-MAN.

Deadline is reporting that Disney has begun moving toward a sequel to MALEFICENT. Due to its success, it's no surprise that the studio has reached out to Linda Woolverton to come back and write the planned sequel. Producer Joe Roth is also on-board, however the status of director Robert Stromberg is uncertain.

Given the $180 million budget and $760 million at the box office, it makes sense that Disney would want to keep the same ingredients to the spell it cast on movie-goers.

The biggest question will be if Disney can get Angelina Jolie to reprise her role, as she seldom does. She has expressed her love for the character in the past, so perhaps that provides a little enchantment for the hope of her return:

The mighty creative costume makers over at MorphCostumes, have conjured a clever cameo collage of the one and only Stan Lee.

Having been instrumental in the creation and success of so many of Marvel's mightiest heroes, he has been invited time and again to appear in the movies. Even though movies such as SPIDER-MAN and X-MEN were produced by rival studios, his notoriety transcends the angers over who has rights to what.

His cameos have become so 'meta' that some conspiracy theorists claim that he has a larger role to play in all of these movies as...

The Watcher!

Regardless of why he's there, it's something we've all grown to love about these movies, in a 'Where's Waldo' sort of way. So feast your eyes on this awesome array of appearances!

Our parents delighted in the zany, musical, beach party adventures of Annette Funicello and Frankie Avalon. Started in 1963, with BEACH PARTY, there were a total of 7 movies made in the series. One year and 3 movies later, BIKINI BEACH was released and became the biggest moneymaker of the series and of any beach party genre film, at the time. Eventually Hollywood went on to make over 30 films in the inspired genre known as 'beach party movies'.

In 2013, Disney launched a bodacious new franchise of beach party movies with TEEN BEACH MOVIE. It tells a tale of two kids from high school, who find themselves magically teleported into the (also beach party) film-within-a-film: 'Wet Side Story'. TEEN BEACH 2 is the sequel that reunites main characters Mack (Maia Mitchell) and Brady (Ross Lynch), when Lela (Grace Phipps) and Tanner (Garrett Clayton) drop in from the fictional movie.

Batman is going after Superman because he's a threat to the world.

Superman is going after Batman because he's a reckless vigilante.

The fight is real. The reasons are valid. We don't know why Wonder Woman is there yet but she's there and she's kicking ass!

What is pop superstar Taylor Swift doing on the set of X-Men Apocalypse? Writer/producer Simon Kinberg shared a photo of Taylor, himself, Sophie Turner and a bald James McAvoy on his Twitter account.

Haters gonna hate. @taylorswift13 #jamesmcavoy @SophieT pic.twitter.com/f8nwXPETSH

— Simon Kinberg (@Kinberg) July 8, 2015

So let's fill this blank space, starting with the most boring reason and working our way up to the juciest rumor:

Shake it Off - She's simply a fan and happened to be in the area. Her popularity is sure to get her access wherever she goes.

John Connor had it all wrong. Instead of sending his best friend back in time to save his mother, he should've sent someone to round up the dinosaurs.

JURASSIC WORLD, having been in theaters, for several weeks, is still rampaging through the box office. Unfortunately, for the latest rise of the machines, Terminator was crushed under the weight of a movie with an indominus spirit. In an attempt to re-invigorate a once popular franchise, TERMINATOR: GENISYS was unable to meet opening weekend expectations as it failed to exceed $30 million.

Kyle Wincott (THE FLASH's Robbie Amell) is a U.S. Marine. He serves with another U.S. Marine, Max -- who just happens to be a very highly trained dog.

When Kyle is killed in an attack trying to save Max, the PTSD-stricken dog is taken out of service, and will be put down unless Max's family takes him. The Wincott family -- hard-as-nails former Marine and father Ray (Thomas Haden Church, HEAVEN IS FOR REAL), mother Pamela (Lauren Graham, GILMORE GIRLS), and cynical teenage Justin (Josh Wiggins, HELLION) -- are willing to take Max in because they see him as a family member.

But Max has a secret. One of Kyle's hometown buddies and fellow Marine was running guns, and is to blame for the attack that got Kyle killed. When he comes home to work his deals stateside, he blames Max for Kyle's death, putting the dog in a whole new light to the family, particularly to Ray.

I have a hard time reviewing movies like TED 2, the new comedy from writer/producer/director/star Seth MacFarlane. Most reviews delve into the plot a little, give a rundown of the principle cast and maybe touch on a couple of points such as the score or special effects that really interested or disgusted the reviewer. Some might talk about the nuanced performance of a scene-stealing supporting actress or offer up a particularly lousy turn as a nominee for next year’s Razzie Awards. If that’s what you expect, the next paragraph is just for you.

Being born in 1973 means icons like Bruce Lee, Jackie Robinson, Steve McQueen, Muhammad Ali, and Evel Knievel permeated my life basically from the womb until today. These men had all accomplished many of their greatest feats before I was born, or, if nothing else, at a time when I was still sucking my thumb. Yet through reruns, playground antics, highlights, and toys they became some of my greatest celebrity influences. On Spike! I have seen "I Am..." films for McQueen and Lee, but I somehow missed their recent special devoted to the daredevil some dubbed The Last Gladiator.

Remember HERMAN'S HEAD? It was a rather short-lived cult hit in the early days of the Fox Network. The show was about a fellow named Herman who had a Greek chorus of sorts who represented emotions arguing over the daily matters of Herman’s life.  While the show is probably best remembered for being an early vehicle for Hank Azaria and Yeardley Smith who would go on to become Fox mainstays on THE SIMPSONS, HERMAN'S HEAD was probably a show before its time. It went for the laughs, with guest appearances by Bobcat Goldthwait and Leslie Nielsen, but it never garnered high ratings and was cancelled after three seasons.

He's always been a good man -- even though he's still just a kid all these decades later.

I'm talking about good old Charlie Brown, of course, the underdog front man of Charles Schulz classic PEANUTS cartoon strip.

This fall, a whole new generation will be introduced to the PEANUTS gang -- Charlie Brown, Lucy and Linus, Freida, Franklin, Schroeder, Pig Pen, Peppermint Patty and Marcy -- and naturally the irrepressible Snoopy and his best buddy Woodstock.

When I saw that there was going to be a fourth JURASSIC PARK movie, my 90’s heart fluttered with excitement. After all, I’d grown up with these movies. I was even more excited when I saw that Steven Spielberg would be directing it, after his hiatus from the series after directing LOST WORLD (JURASSIC PARK II).

The movie takes place twenty-two years after the events of the original JURASSIC PARK, when a bunch of scientists supposedly worked out the kinks (you know, all those dino related deaths) enough to open a Disney-esque theme park called Jurassic World to the public, on the original island off the coast of Costa Rica.

Characters

You're sitting at home watching TV, when a preview for a movie comes on. It seems interesting enough but you aren't rushing out to buy tickets or calling your friends to find out who wants to go. You may even tell yourself you'll wait until it's available to rent or maybe when it drops on Netflix you'll watch it. Time passes by and you soon forget that it was a movie you wanted to see. Then one day you notice it on the channel guide, but you have other things to do so, maybe another time.

A MILLION WAYS TO DIE IN THE WEST is one of those movies.

As ridiculous a movie title as it sounds, it's relevant in more ways than one. Which is a reminder that the movie is not only silly and juvenile, but it's also smart.

Dracula. Fu Manchu. Saruman. Count Dooku.

Christopher Lee portrayed these and countless other notable characters in his decades spanning career, sending chills up our spines with creepfests like THE CURSE OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE MAN WHO COULD CHEAT DEATH. Those who've been around a while will always see him as Dracula, a role he portrayed in several of the classic Hammer horror films, or as the evil Chinese crime lord, Fu Manchu.  Millennials will more likely remember him for his role as Saruman in Peter Jackson's LORD OF THE RINGS films, or as Count Dooku in the later STAR WARS films.

The actor passed away last Sunday, according to The Guardian, of "respiratory problems and heart failure." He celebrated his 93rd birthday two months ago.

Okay, this is one of those things you admit when you're drunk with your friends and it's that point in the drinking where you admit embarrassing stuff you would never tell anyone else, but you're pretty sure that now is the right time to bare your soul. For me, it's this: I watched IN THE NAME OF THE KING and didn't hate it. It had a great cast, including Jason Statham, Leelee Sobieski, John Rhys-Davies, Ron Perlman, Matthew Lillard... and maybe because of that, it surpassed low expectations set by seeing that it was directed by Uwe Boll, whose claim to fame is making really bad movies out of moderately popular videogames.