Chris Hemsworth is Thor (photographic proof of said statement below).

Obviously this is just a single image, staged and lit for maximum dramatic effect, but it looks pretty solid to me. I couldn't care less about the character of Thor, as my education on the character primarily comes from a viewing of Hulk Vs. Thor. But, as I've said before, I genuinely excited about the movie for one reason - it's insanely large cast. I'm excited for any movie that gathers Natalie Portman, Kat Dennings, Idris Elba, Ray Stevenson, Stellan Skarsgard, Anthony Hopkins, and Rene Russo in one place. As for Kenneth Branagh, I'm the guy who will fight tooth and nail to defend Mary Shelly's Frankenstein any day of the week.

Scott Mendelson

Jonah Hex gets a perfectly decent trailer.

I wrote at length about this picture's troubled history and my thoughts on the comparably truncated marketing campaign elsewhere, so I won't rehash that here. So, now that we have a real trailer, how does it look? Well, unless there was real doubt about the June 18th release date, or most of this footage came from re-shoots, there is no reason why Warner couldn't have had this trailer in theaters months ago. For better or worse, it looks and sounds exactly like a Jonah Hex movie. It's absurdly violent and with just enough sci-fi/supernatural goofiness to suggest an R-rated Wild Wild West. Josh Brolin fits to a tee and it's always a hoot to see John Malkovich in this kind of big-studio villain role. For what it's worth, Megan Fox actually appears to be a full-on participant in at least a few action beats. The seemingly meaty supporting appearance of Lance Reddick (Fringe) is a welcome surprise as well. The whole project gives a vibe of over-the-top, trashy pulp fiction, which is exactly what this film should feel like. Again, I'm not really sure why anyone at Warner is so worried about this. Even if it is terrible, the marketing department is doing its job just fine at the moment, and that's all that will matter come opening weekend.

Scott Mendelson

Guest Review - A Nightmare On Elm Street (2010)

Once again, I'm poaching (with permission) friend and colleague RL Shaffer's review of a movie that he has seen before myself. In this case, it's the remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street. The film finally screened last night, but since my wife wants to see it too, it was too much of a hassle (re - babysitter and weeknight traffic) just to see it two days early. I will likely check it out Friday night or, if work runs over, Saturday night. Anyway, here is RL Shaffer of DVD Future giving us his take on A Nightmare On Elm Street:

A Nightmare On Elm Street
2010
95 minutes
Rated R

by RL Shaffer

Caution: Some Spoilers Ahead

Whenever a remake arrives, critics are faced with a problem: judge the film against its predecessors, or judge it as a standalone work. It's a catch-22. Judge a film as it's own thing and you miss points that might make it an unworthy companion to the original feature. Compare it to the original, though, and you'll look like a nostalgia snob who only likes films from the 1970s and 1980s. And this is what makes judging this remake of A Nightmare on Elm Street so hard, particularly since I'm not against the idea of any remake as long as there's a fresh, exciting story to tell. But, in a way, this latest Nightmare is suffering from the same problem critics often have. The film seems to be attempting, with some effort, to be it's own new vehicle for Freddy Krueger, but it feels completely trapped within the confines and rules of the original film's best gags.

Inception viral game reveals new poster...

It's a pretty low-resolution image, so I'm sure a bigger, prettier version will be online in the next forty-eight hours or so. In the meantime, enjoy...

Scott Mendelson

Jonah Hex gets a new poster. A case for not fixing broken films and shorter marketing campaigns.

After near complete silence and less than two months to go, Warner Bros finally is to start the official marketing campaign for Jonah Hex. Envisioned first as a vehicle for Mark Neveldine and Brian Taylor (Crank, Crank: Full Voltage, Gamer), the DC Comics adaptation eventually fell into the lap of Jimmy Hayward (the animated Horton Hears A Who). However, reshoots and various sorts of behind-scenes-drama seems to have caused Francis Lawrence (Constantine, I Am Legend) to come aboard as a 'consultant'. Whether or not he completely took over the film is a question I cannot answer, but the result is a much-feared final product that has been curiously absent from the springtime summer movie ad parade. On paper, this project looked pretty smart: a violent, supernatural (?) western based on a cult DC Comics character, with an interesting cast (Josh Brolin, John Malkovich, Megan Fox, Will Arnett, Michael Shannon, and Aiden Quinn as President William McKinley) and a $50 million budget that allowed the film to not have to set any records in order to be successful.

Bill Condon officially signed to direct Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn.

After months of speculation, Summit Entertainment has finally landed Oscar-nominee Bill Condon (nominated for writing Gods and Monsters and Dreamgirls respectively) to helm the final book of the Twilight series, the much-debated Breaking Dawn. There is still no word as to whether the book will be split up into two films ala Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. The principal cast members would likely have much negotiating power if such a move were to take place, so Summit would have to weigh the cost of paying Kristen Stewart, Robert Pattinson, and Taylor Lautner giant raises versus the likely cash cow that would be one more Twilight picture. I can only presume that Bill Condon will be directing all of Breaking Dawn whether the book is adapted into one or two pictures. This likely puts Condon's theoretical next picture, Richard Pryor: Is it Something I Said? with Marlon Wayans as the groundbreaking stand-up comic, on the back-burner for at least the next year.

Piranha 3D gets a trailer.

Dimension is releasing this campy cheese-fest on August 27th, and I might see it just for the nutso cast. It's beyond wonderful to see Christopher Lloyd in a seemingly sizable role again. Believe it or not, the man who was Judge Doom and Doc Brown has not been seen in theaters since My Favorite Martian, Baby Geniuses, and Man on the Moon (where he basically played himself on the set of Taxi) all back in 1999 (he did voice over work in Hey Arnold!: The Movie and Fly Me to the Moon in 2002 and 2008 respectively). Joining him for this Alexandre Aja (High Tension, The Hills Have Eyes, Mirrors) vehicle is Elizabeth Shue, Ving Rhames, Dina Meyer, Jerry O'Connell, and one Richard Dreyfuss. Mr. Dreyfuss is also an infrequent visitor to our silver screens, so any project he chooses (like the 2006 Poseidon remake) automatically makes it a mini-event. The movie itself looks relatively stupid, and there's just no way it can possibly measure up with the astounding awesomeness that is Mega Piranha.

Scott Mendelson

Review: The Human Centipede (2010)

The Human Centipede
2010
92 minutes
not rated
Available on IFC On Demand on April 28th, in theaters April 30th.

by Scott Mendelson

The Human Centipede is a textbook example of a film peaking too soon. At its core, it's a standard horror film about pretty young people who get lost in a foreign land and fall prey to unspeakable evil. The film works, up to a point, due to the matter of fact presentation of said deviousness. Alas, after a stunningly strong first half, the film has nowhere to go and nothing of interest to say, leaving the remaining running time to simply observe unimaginable suffering and seemingly pointless cruelty.

How to Train Your Dragon retakes top spot in fifth weekend, while Back Up Plan and Losers open softly. Weekend box office review (04/25/10)

Apologies for the delay for this weekend's box office write-up. Real life got in the way.

If at first you don't succeed... After narrowly missing a return to first place last weekend, Dreamworks' How to Train Your Dragon easily took the top spot in its fifth frame. This is the first movie to return to number 01 since The Passion of the Christ over Easter weekend 2004 (its seventh weekend). How to Train Your Dragon joins such rare company as Forrest Gump, Jerry Maguire, and Signs. Dropping 21%, the critically-acclaimed and just-plain awesome cartoon earned another $15.3 million (the eighth-biggest fifth weekend of all-time). The picture has amassed $178 million stateside and $372 million worldwide. Domestically, it's running ahead of every single non-Shrek Deamworks cartoon outside of Kung Fu Panda. On a weekend-by-weekend scale, it's nearly doubled the fifth weekend of every other such Dreamworks film (Kung Fu Panda made $7.3 million in its fifth weekend and Monsters Vs. Aliens made $8.5 million in the same period respectively). Even Shrek and Shrek 2 could only muster $13 million on their respective fifth weekends, while Shrek the Third grossed $9 million in weekend five. Ironically, the dragon fable is showing such strong legs that Dreamworks may end up shooting itself in the foot when it steals away the 3D screens on May 21st for the likely quick-kill theatrical blitz of Shrek Forever After. Shrek 4 surely will open huge, but theaters prefer leggier hits as opposed to massively front-loaded blockbusters. Don't be surprised if Dreamworks keeps How to Train Your Dragon in at least a token number of 3D screens after the fourth Shrek picture debuts. Come what may, this is a remarkable run for a surprisingly good movie.

Review: Harry Brown (2010)

Harry Brown
2010
103 minutes
rated R

by Scott Mendelson

Harry Brown is, on the surface, a vigilante picture in the mold of Outlaws, Death Wish or The Brave One. It concerns an ordinary man fed up with rampant crime and unable or unwilling to trust the local authorities to stem the tide. But the film is really about social disconnect, and the trauma that can occur when no one feels connected to their peers. When no one feels any connection to those around them, it is only that much easier to victimize or ignore the plight of our neighbors. There is also a token nod to the futility of the 'war on drugs', and how much collateral damage it has created. But, for those who don't care about the 'deeper meanings', it also works as a violent action drama about Michael Caine taking the law into his own hands. Whichever suits your pleasure.