Cinema Science is no more. New website and blog over here.

Yahoo has the new trailer for Bryan Singer's Valkyrie, starring Tom Cruise and a whole boatload of fantastic British actors. Despite this getting it's release date moved around multiple time I think this looks really good. They face the same problem something like Apollo 13 did, making a suspenseful film while everyone already knows the ending. Who knows if they have accomplished that. Bryan Singer is a director I can never really figure out. His best film in my mind is the second X-Men film. I have never been a fan of his The Usual Suspects and after multiple viewings Superman Returns is really boring.

The trailer for Danny Boyle's Slumdog Millionaire, a film most people are saying is a shoe in for a best picture nomination.

Samuel L. Jackson continues his pursuit to become the most overexposed actor in Hollywood and the one with the most questionable taste.

He is set to star as the bad guy in the remake of Berry Gordy's 1985 cult classic The Last Dragon. Jackson will play Sho'nuff, the Shogun of Harlem, a role played in the original by the late Julius Carry.

The updated plot will be along the same lines of the original, centering on young martial arts student Leroy Green in his quest through the streets of New York to achieve the highest level of martial arts accomplishment, known as the Last Dragon. Those who achieve the high ranking possess the Glow, making them the greatest fighter alive.

Seriously, what was the last great movie that Sam Jackson starred in? You can't count Iron Man because that was a one scene cameo hidden after the end credits. Okay, I just checked IMDb and you don't actually have to go back that far. He was in the great 2006 film Black Snake Moan, which I love. Before that you have Revenge of the Sith and only Unbreakable in 2000 as his quality film. Three films this decade that I would rate as good.

Sam Mendes will direct a bigscreen adaptation of the supernatural graphic novel "Preacher".

Created by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon, the graphic novel focuses on the preacher of a Texas town, who is struggling to get by and is driven only by his strong moral sense. When the city is decimated by an otherworldly force, he embarks on a journey across the country to take on the evil.

While this may seem like an odd fit, this isn't Mendes' first foray into graphic novels. His second film, Road to Perdition, was also adapted from one.

W.

I've been meaning to write this review for a couple of days now but for some reason keep putting it off. The first hour of the film is really good. I was completely absorbed in the story and never once taken out of the film by the actors portraying such well known figures. Then it just keeps going, and gets repetitive. The same points are hammered down again and again. By the end it started to feel like a greatest hits of Bush's biggest blunders. We get the search for WMD's, the mission accomplished on the aircraft carrier, everything you have ever seen. The first hour is so great because it is more of a behind closed doors story. Showing us the man before he was the man.

It was about this time that the acting made a turn for the worse too. Not Josh Brolin, he is tremendous through out, never a false not. It was Thandie Newton as Condoleezza Rice that really started to taint my view. It is the single worst performance I have seen this year. I'm not sure if its an accurate portrayal or not but it was grating and over done. Anytime she opened her mouth I was a little further removed.

I write five minutes ago about not posting so much over here and now I'm already back talking about new trailers.

First up is Clint Eastwood's Gran Tarino. I would follow this man to the end of the earth. He is nearing 80 and more productive than 95% of all of Hollywood and he makes damn fine movies. This looks to return him to his bad ass days and I can not wait. See it over at apple.

The other is for the Notorious B.I.G biopic, Notorious. It looks ridiculous and made my computer freeze twice while trying to watch, so it already has that going against it.
Also over at apple.

I guess as you can tell things have been slowing down over here. I haven't decided if I am going to keep posting here or if I will focus all of my efforts over at the new You and Yours site. To be honest, I don't even know what I will be posting over there. If I do keep this blog up and running it will probably be less intensive with everyday movie news and will just be stuff I'm actually interested in.

This is bizarre. For his next directing effort, Steven Soderbergh is planning a 3-D live-action rock ’n’ roll musical about Cleopatra.

He wants Catherine Zeta-Jones to play the Egyptian queen and Hugh Jackman to play her lover, Marc Antony.

The music has been written by Guided by Voices, and the script is by James Greer, a former bass player for the band and an author.

Probably my favorite poster I have seen this year.

Man, Kelly Reichardt cuts good trailers for her films. I still remember seeing the Old Joy trailer before practically every film I saw at this small theater (the Laemmle Sunset 5) while I was in L.A. and wanting desperately to see the movie. Now, here is her follow up with Michelle Williams, Wendy and Lucy and this gets me just as excited for this film. It will probably never play in this area but here's hoping.

David Gordon Green will direct the horror thriller Freaks of the Heartland, written by Peter Sattler and Geoff Davey, which is an adaptation of a graphic novel written by Steve Niles.

Illustrated by Greg Ruth, Niles' six-part 2004 series about the horrible secret of a rural Middle American town involves Trevor Owen's attempts to protect his "monster" of a 6-year-old younger brother and Gristlewood Valley's other "freaks" from their parents' worst instincts.

Well, I guess I have another reality show I need to watch, for no other reason than the involvement of the host. From EW:

Survivor’s Jeff Probst has created — and will host — a new reality pilot for CBS, EW.com has learned exclusively. The show, Live Like You’re Dying, will feature a person who has been given a terminal diagnosis with a finite amount of time to live and “take them on the last adventure of their life,” according to Probst. That adventure will include reunions with lost friends or formerly feuding family members, a “legacy moment” that will ensure their name carries on forever, and living out a personal dream. “It could be playing guitar with Eric Clapton or jumping out of a plane into a volcano,” Probst explained to EW.com. “Whatever it is that you’re still desiring to do in your life — we want to make it happen.”

Ok, on reading that again, it really doesn't sound that great. I'll tune if for the first episode, just for the Probst factor but I can't really see myself watching dying people jump out of airplanes each week.

Probably the greatest line in the history of The Office was uttered last night, by Creed no less.

"It must have been like the tide at Omaha Beach"

I literally had to pause the t.v. and the rewind to see what I had missed. It happens around the 13:30 mark below and must really be heard in the context of the scene for the line to make sense.

I am currently sitting at work watching JFK (I know, tough workload today) and am once again reminded how freaking great this movie is. Somebody really needs to write a book about the making and editing of this film. The fact that Oliver Stone and editors were able to take all of this footage (and trust me, there is tons) and somehow make something not only comprehensible but also entirely captivating is beyond me. There is some sort of mad genius going on here. The closest book I can find is this but that is only a debate about the theories in the film and the screenplay.

eter Weir is set to direct The Way Back, the fact-based story of the escape of soldiers from a Siberian gulag in 1940.

Weir wrote the script and based it on several sources, most notably the Slavomir Rawicz book "The Long Walk: The True Story of a Trek to Freedom." The book is Rawicz's account of being captured by the Red Army in 1939 and his journey to freedom with other inmates. The group crossed the Siberian arctic, the Gobi desert and the Himalayas, finally settling in Tibet and India.

This is good news for two reasons, anytime Weir makes a film (The Truman Show, Witness, Master and Commander) it should be cause for celebration. The guy makes damn good movies. The second is that I am a huge fan of the source material. I read it about a year ago (I love stories about traveling over long distances, especially walking and fighting for survival) and it is a fantastic story. The lengths these men go to to escape to freedom is really fascinating and it should make for an incredible film.

NOTE: Just in case you are curious, here are some other books I can recommend about people walking and surviving and stuff:

Primo Levi's "If Not Now, When?"
Bill Bryson's "A Walk in the Woods"
John Steinbeck's "Travels With Charley" (not fighting for survival, I know, but its a great book)
Alfred Lansing's "Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage"

Ok, there are more I could think of but I'm drawing a blank. I will need to go home and look at my bookshelf to get some more ideas but we all know that I will never do that.

Universal is moving ahead with its fourth installment of "The Bourne Identity" franchise, setting George Nolfi to write the script.

Nolfi was co-writer of the third film, which was based on a story by Tony Gilroy.

Though the series is based on the Robert Ludlum novels, the new film won't be based on a Ludlum title, but rather an original story.

Director Paul Greengrass and star Matt Damon are attached to the new film.

After turning Homer's epic poem "The Iliad" into the horrible 2004 film Troy, Brad Pitt are teaming with George Miller to adapt the Greek poet's other masterwork, "The Odyssey."

Their intention is to transfer the tale to a futuristic setting in outer space.

Both Homer poems dealt with the Trojan War; "The Odyssey" focused on the exploits of Odysseus, who hatched the idea to build the Trojan Horse. "The Odyssey" deals with his long journey home after he declines to become a god.

Steven Soderbergh has cast porn star Sasha Grey as the lead in his upcoming feature, The Girlfriend Experience.

The low-budget drama, currently shooting in New York, chronicles the life of a high-price call girl and is part of Soderbergh's six-film deal with Mavericks owner Mark Cuban.

The Jim Henson Co. has launched development of the feature Happytime Murders, a puppet comedy in the film noir detective genre.

The film will be populated by a mix of human characters and puppets in the Henson style of irreverence and parody. The story centers on a puppet detective forced to solve a string of murders around the Happytime Gang, the cast of a popular children's show.

To me the whole thing sounds like a puppet version of Who Framed Roger Rabbit? If they can make it half as creepy as their last somewhat venture into adult material, The Dark Crystal, then, well, it will be really freaking creepy.

The trailer for Seven Pounds went up a while back but was taken down from the web almost immediately. Now it's back up. Director Gabriele Muccino reteams with Will Smith (The Pursuit of Happyness) who stars as a suicidal IRS agent in the story of a man who "seeks redemption by changing the lives of seven strangers," though the trailer barely makes that clear.

One of the best parts of Iron Man was when Terrence Howard looked over at one of the Iron Man suits and gleefully announced "Next time." Apparently Howard was to become War Machine, an ally to Tony Stark and his alter ego. I am sure many fanboys were excited by the prospect of seeing this character, I was just excited to see Howard in a big budget comic book movie playing a major role. Now that will never happen, Don Cheadle is stepping in to replace Howard in Iron Man 2.

Sources tell The Hollywood Reporter that agents and studio execs disagreed with regard to Terrence Howard's fee for reprising War Machine's alter ego, Jim Rhodes, in the sequel.

Ridley Scott is returning to science fiction for the first since he delivered back-to-back classics with Blade Runner and Alien.

Scott will film and adaptation of The Forever War, which revolves around a soldier who battles an enemy in deep space for only a few months, only to return home to a planet he doesn't recognize some 20 years later.

Just found out that Buffalo Bill and the Indians, or Sitting Bull's History Lesson has shown up on Hulu. Not only does this feature the just departed Paul Newman in a bit of a left field turn but it also was directed by the great Robert Altman. This isn't for everyone though, basically devoid of any real plot but the characters and the performances are enough to carry you through the running time.

Here's a hell of a Nike commercial directed by David Fincher and shot by Emmanuel Lubezki. I was thrown for a loop when I saw TCU jerseys in a major ad directed by a Hollywood A-list director. That is, until I realized the story focused on LaDainian Tomlinson (and Troy Polamalu in a parallel story).

The international Revolutionary Road can be found here. Can’t embed it for some reason, though.

Mandate Pictures has picked up I'm With Cancer, a comedic autobiographical script written by Will Reiser that Seth Rogen will produce with his writing-producing partner Evan Goldberg and Ben Karlin ("The Daily Show With Jon Stewart").

Rogen also will have a supporting role in the film.

"Cancer" is Reiser's account of his struggle to beat cancer, with the story centering on a 25-year-old who finds out he has the disease

The trailer or Defiance, which appears to be a sort of World War II version of Red Dawn.

Vice Magazine has a new interview up with Charlie Kaufman. They go into detail about the meaning and inspiration behind his new movie, Synecdoche, New York, but the best part are these four portraits by various forensic artists, done because Kaufman didn't want to have his photo taken.

Last year I was a big fan of Joe Wright's Atonement due to an amazing 5 and-a-half-minutes minute tracking shot along France’s Dunkirk beach. While this is not the only reason I liked the movie it did go a long way in forming my opinion. Now there is a movie that is going to try and one up that film. Steve McQueen's (not that one) Hunger features a single, unbroken shot that lasts 17 and-a-half-minutes, which is reportedly a world record. While it doesn't sound to have the same level of choreography that the Atonement shot did I am still fascinated by it. The Times has the story of the scene in question as well as some behind the scene details for how the actors prepared for such a long take.

NOTE: I tried to post the shot from Atonement here but couldn't find a video anywhere on the internet. Instead, here is a sock puppet retelling of the entire film.

Here is a clip of Kevin Smith discussing his long gestating horror film Red State. I'm not really posting this video because of that and to be honest didn't watch the entire clip. I'm posting it because it looks like Kevin Smith ate Orson Welles.

Some good footage and really dumb questions with Michelle Williams, from and about her new movie Wendy and Lucy. This is the next film from Kelly Reichardt, who made the pretty terrific and completely minimalist Old Joy.

Miracle at St. Anna

In every Spike Lee film there are moments or scenes of such brilliance that you are reminded how great a director he really is. Even his bad films (and there are quite a few) feature something to take out of it. This is no different with Miracle at St. Anna, there is brilliance here, unfortunately it never really adds up to anything.

It is obvious that Lee was swinging for the fences with this war film. He seems to throw everything he has at the screen and this turns what could have been a very focused story of four black G.I.s stuck behind enemy lines into a meandering mess, covering multiple plot lines and crossing back and forth between genres. Scenes last too long and other scenes seem better fit for the cutting room floor. There is good in here it, you just have to muddle through a lot to get to it.

But here is my dilemma: Lee is obviously one of the great working American directors, having made many, many a great film. He also has such a distinct style that you know the moment you turn it on that you are watching a Spike Lee joint. Should he really be blamed for giving everything he has for this story? Sure it's not everything it could be but at least he was attempting to make a great film. Better to reach for greatness and fail than to settle yourself down into making the same picture over and over again.

I guess what I am saying is that I can't fault Lee for making this and I can't really recommend it. There are scenes here and there (the opening and final war scene, a flashback to training, beautiful shots of the soldiers walking through the mountains of Italy) that make you lean forward, thinking the film is making a turn for the good. Only to find yourself settling back into your chair when all this is followed by something downright implausible or worse yet, boring.

Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist

A middle of the road film, I was never completely bored or really drawn to any of the characters. It seems like it wants to be a mix or the Judd Apatow style comedy and a Before Sunset type romance but never works completely in either sense.

The film is filled with way too many cliches of the teen romance genre, you can sense where the story is going from a mile away. Exes are way worse than the new guy/girl and friends are mainly there for comedic relief. There are a couple of nice cameos though, the best being Kevin Corrigan in a silent role holding a turkey sandwich.

Two things about the movie really took me out of the picture. The first: apparently there is no traffic anywhere in New York. These characters are able to zip around from New Jersey, to Manhattan, to Brooklyn and then back again in a matter of minutes. The other is a shot of a legendary underground indie rock bands shoes when walking onto stage. The first band member is wearing baggy jeans and what appear to be Steve Madden shoes, the next was donning green Doc Martins. This isn't 1992 and I can't think of any indie rock band that would be wearing anything remotely close to this, not even ironically.