Accidental ground-breaker: Batman & Robin (1997) catches the bad guy at the half-way point...

I've made several jokes about this over the last few months, but by now when that moment comes in Star Trek Into Darkness, we'll all be quietly snickering.  You know the moment: Benedict Cumberbatch  has been captured about halfway through the movie, and he stands isolated in his glass prison.  As he stands tall, full of arrogant confidence, he'll surely taunt our heroes with some kind of allegedly profound monologue about how A) He and Kirk/Spock aren't that different, B) Starfleet is not as wonderful an institution as they think it is, and/or C) Once Kirk and/or Spock have outlived their usefulness they will be tossed away or scape-goated for the good of the Federation.  And then, right on cue, Not-Kahn will totally bust his ass out of that glass prison, kill several random guards and possibly one major character (Pike?).  Because, holy shit, he totally planned on getting caught the whole time!  Yeah, the whole 'villain gets caught halfway through but escapes and escalates his evil' was old back when it started in... Batman and Robin?

When the words don't match the face: Beautiful Creatures banner poster brings to light a poster art pet peeve.

This is a perfectly satisfactory billboard poster for the upcoming Beautiful Creatures.  It has its title, its release date, a tagline, and a roll-call of the elder vets and younger newbies (plus young vet Emmy Rossum) that will play in the southern gothic supernatural sandbox.  Everybody looks snazzy and it's a solid sell.  There's just one annoying problem.  They are exactly 1 for 7 when it comes for accuracy of labeling.  I've known Jeremy Irons as an actor for thirty years and I know he doesn't look like some kid aiming to be the next Robert Pattinson.  And I've had a thing for Emmy Rossum since her Mystic River/Day After Tomorrow/Phantom of the Opera break-out led to a near-decade of relative obscurity before bouncing back on Showtime's Shameless.  She does not look like a younger variation on Michael Angarano.  And while I don't know offhand who Thomas Mann is, I know he probably doesn't look like a dead-ringer for Viola Davis, who in turn is not the young Caucasian girl at the center of the poster.  By random chance, Emma Thompson is actually correctly labeled.  But the rest are all very wrong.  Yes I get the poster design, which puts the young girl at the center and then slowly branches out with the various forces of good or evil that will try to influence her destiny (IE - evil Emmy Rossum versus good Emma Thompson or something like that).  But any number of posters that screw this up in any given year don't even have that excuse.

James Bond 007: Movie Deathmatch

This a very cool little video pitting Bond against Bond.  I completely admire its extremely unbiased approach (SPOILER: Connery doesn't always win).  Bravo to whoever put this together as it plays rather seamless.  Its short, but I could have enjoyed probably 20 minutes of this.  Skyfall opens Friday November 9th in the states and I'm rather excited for it.  Hopefully I'll be able to catch it in IMAX.  Scott's already seen it and you can find his thoughts here.  

If you've got any cool (well-made) Bond videos like this you'd like to share, feel free to throw them my way.  I'd enjoy seeing them.  Thanks to Ty for bringing this to my attention.

Brandon Peters

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The funniest moment in the entire DCAU Universe?

Nearly seven years later, this priceless moment still makes me laugh-out-loud.  A bit of context: The Flash and Lex Luthor have switched brains, which was a slight in-joke since Wally West vocalist Michael Rosenbaum of course played Lex Luthor on Smallville.  Anyway, Luther-inside-Flash is racing around the Justice League watchtower and takes a moment to attempt to gain an upper hand on one of his arch enemies.  I have no great insights to offer, I just wanted to share this.

Scott Mendelson

Actors Against Acting Athletes with Gary Oldman...

I'm not sure how big of a problem this is offhand (Space Jam was sixteen years ago and Michael Jordan wasn't half-bad playing himself, while Steel was fifteen years ago this summer) but this is utterly wonderful anyway.  At the very least, it's a fun thing to see Gary Oldman actually speaking in his own voice for a change.  And he doesn't even die at the end!  Now I want to see the Morgan Freeman version.

Scott Mendelson

Watch/Enjoy: Alan Rickman makes tea in slow-motion set to Zack Hemsey's Inception trailer music.

I have no idea what the point of this is, other than some kind of Andy Kaufman-esque gag, but it's well worth at least a scan-through.  Oh, and once again this shows that Zack Hemsey's Inception trailer music can make anything sound epic/powerful/profound.  So yeah, do enjoy and I'll have something more substantive later.  This first popped up over at Time.

Scott Mendelson

Watch/Enjoy: A pretty terrific Batman: The Animated Series/The Dark Knight Rises trailer mash-up.

By virtue of available technology, the best trailer mash-ups are done through animated films and TV shows.  Four years ago, we got a number of Dark Knight trailer-mash-ups using clips from Batman: The Animated Series, and thus it is so again with The Dark Knight Rises.  What's most impressive about this mash is the sheer variety of footage it uses, as this came from someone who owns a box set of the series and scoured through all 85 original Batman: TAS episodes (plus a few bits from the redesigned New Batman Adventures, mostly from the Batman/Superman vs. Joker/Luthor epic "World's Finest").  Sad to say, I could probably tell you where each and every moment in the above trailer comes from, down to the episode title and general plot outline of each episode in question.  If you want to see how it matches up with the actual trailer, check out a comparison after the jump.

Scott Mendelson

God I love these things...

I really should do a better job keeping up with these videos, and it's hard to believe it's been four years since I first posted the 'Iron Man vs. The Dark Knight' which pretty accurately summed up the DC/Marvel war of summer 2008.  Anyway, this clip, aside from being funny (because it actually pays attention to movie news), points out pretty succinctly why The Amazing Spider-Man is in a little bit of trouble.

Scott Mendelson  

Everytime I see a link to a Men In Black 3 behind-the-scenes story, I think I'm about to see this...

"We're leaving!"

Scott Mendelson

Worth Watching: Don Cheadle as Captain Planet...

Don Cheadle is Captain Planet from Don Cheadle      

This is a 'Funny or Die' sketch basically showing us an excerpt from what could be the best thing Don Cheadle has done since Hotel Rwanda, if not Devil With a Blue Dress.  Anyway, enjoy...

Scott Mendelson

Tron: Legacy + Spy Kids 3D = something much better than Tron: Legacy.

A close friend of mine put this up, so thank goodness I actually liked it...  It mashes a  Tron: Legacy trailer, fashioned off the first terrific teaser and uses Spy Kids 3: Game Over footage.  Aside from a bit of awkward George Clooney as Bruce Boxleitner dubbing, it's pretty successful.  More importantly, as someone who really hated Tron: Legacy, this made me laugh my ass off.  Considering that Rodriguez's 2003 sequel cost just $39 million, it's almost offensive how much more exciting, colorful and imaginative the film was than the $200 million would-be franchise reboot that was positioned as 'the next big thing'. Spy Kids 3D has some issues (too little of our adult stars for one), but it's a stunningly exciting bit of family-friendly action filmmaking and it's ahead-of-its-time 3D work still holds up, even if it is the last of the old-fashioned red-and-blue technique.  The trailer accomplishes two things.  It makes me hate Tron: Legacy even more while making me want to watch Spy Kids 3D again.  And, as a side benefit, it reminds me to look forward to this month's Spy Kids 4: All the Time In the World.

Scott Mendelson    

Separated at Birth?

Cheap but funny: Ben Churchill mashes up No Strings Attached, Friends With Benefits into a single trailer.

This may be cheap (I'm sure you can do this with any number of movies that happen to have a similar premise), but the result is a genuine hoot.  No Strings Attached was relatively okay, a C+ picture that merits a DVD rental and at least tried to have something worthwhile on its mind.  Here's hoping the seemingly bawdier Friends With Benefits at least reaches those heights.  The latter comes out July 22nd.

Scott Mendelson

WARNING! Tree of Life may be too didactically existential for YOU! NO REFUNDS!

I've never seen THIS.  I've seen warnings to moviegoers that the dogs in Snow Dogs do not actually talk.  I've seen warnings explain, in detail, that South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut is indeed an R-rated film despite the fact that it's a cartoon.  I've seen signs warning that anyone buying a ticket to Thirteen Days just to watch the attached teaser to Lord of the Rings would not receive a refund after said trailer.  But I've never seen a movie theater warning that a given movie may be too artsy-fartsy for them, and warning that unsuspecting ticket buyers would be out of luck.  As the film goes wider, I expect this kind of thing to happen more and more often.  Still, buyer beware.  In this day and age, anyone who walks into The Tree of Life just because "Hey, Brad Pitt is in it!" deserves to either have their mind blown or put to sleep.  And no, they don't deserve refunds either way.

Scott Mendelson  

Scott Mendelson: Quote Whore!

Joining the Dark Side of the Force at Disneyland.

I was kind of hoping Allison would pull this kind of stunt when she was old enough to partake in Disney's Jedi Academy Training show. But knowing Allison, she'd probably try to kill Darth Vader and become the newest Sith Lord. None-the-less, this is pretty amusing. Of course, if you buy the whole 'there can only be two' shtick involving Sith warriors, then Darth Maul is about to get whacked.

Scott Mendelson

Must-Watch: Aaron Sorkin on 30 Rock

I don't know what it is about fifth seasons, but getting to season five often seems to creatively recharge long-running shows (Homicide: Life on the Street, Gilmore Girls, Law and Order, 30 Rock, 24, etc). Point being, 30 Rock is having one of its strongest seasons yet.

Scott Mendelson

Free tip bad guys: Jason Statham is not the guy you kill, he's the guy you buy.

I saw The Mechanic earlier this week, and as you can surmise from the lack of review, it's not particularly worth commenting on. It's not a bad movie, per-se. It's relatively well-acted and the first two-thirds are more character-driven drama that action thriller. It's always nice to see Donald Sutherland, even if once again, he barely makes it past the first reel. And, in this day and age, it is always nice to see a violent R-rated action picture that isn't afraid to BE R-rated. That's actually one of my only real complaints, regarding the CGI blood. Yes, like a lot of action films of late, the blood is almost entirely CGI. Unlike some, I don't have a problem with that on principle. My theory is that if you know you can digitally remove the blood at a later date should the MPAA cry foul, then you can toss in that much more initially. Centurion uses the convenience of CGI blood to be a genuine gorefest. Alas, The Mechanic does not take advantage of this tool. Point being, it earns its R-rating, but it's not what you'd call blood drenched. A minor quibble, but worth noting none the less. But what we have here is another movie where the bad guys don't know when to walk away.

Bad Marketing 101: movie posters that tell me what to do.

You're a movie poster. Your job is to advertise a film and make that film look enticing to me, the ticket buyer. You are not a parent, teacher, advisor, or self-help guru. Therefore, it is not your job to tell me how to live my life. It is not your job to offer theoretically empowering suggestions about how I choose to lead my existence. A moment of scorn for obnoxious movie posters of the last decade or so that saw themselves fit to tell me (and you) what to do. You're a movie poster. You are not the boss of me and I don't need your advice. Your only advice/order should be 'buy a ticket for this movie' and/or 'buy some popcorn and a soda'. Period. Enjoy some examples after the jump.

True What? - Or why True Grit didn't make my best-of-2010 list.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

When the entire second act of your movie is basically Jeff Bridges and Matt Damon sitting around a campfire sharing law-enforcement war stories, it helps when one of those characters is not completely incomprehensible. I sat in the very front row, wearing my (recreational) hearing aids, and I still couldn't tell what Cogburn was saying half the darn time.

Scott Mendelson