Film editor Kees van Dijkhuizen Jr. has released a new video in his "Insight" series, which include video essays using audio from directors' commentaries of filmmakers speaking about the work they do, and marrying that audio with visuals from their movies. In this entry, the editor looks at the work of director Brad Bird (The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, Ratatouille), who makes a case for slowing things down, allowing characters to experience darker emotions to feel more grounded and realistic, and who argues (rightfully so) that animation is a medium, not a genre.

Here's the first trailer for Gifted, a new drama from The Amazing Spider-Man director Marc Webb that stars Chris Evans, Jenny Slate, Octavia Spencer, Lindsay Duncan, and Mckenna Grace. This kind of small-scale drama looks like it's much more up Webb's alley than the movie-by-committee approach that seemed to weigh down his two Spider-Man films. I think he's really solid at depicting relationships on screen (see: 500 Days of Summer, and even the Andrew Garfield/Emma Stone scenes in his Spidey movies), so this one has potential to be a nice crowd-pleaser.

Gifted hits theaters on April 12, 2017.

Frank Adler (Chris Evans) is a single man raising a child prodigy - his spirited young niece Mary (Mckenna Grace) - in a coastal town in Florida. Frank's plans for a normal school life for Mary are foiled when the seven-year-old’s mathematical abilities come to the attention of Frank’s formidable mother Evelyn (Lindsay Duncan) whose plans for her granddaughter threaten to separate Frank and Mary. Octavia Spencer plays Roberta, Frank and Mary’s landlady and best friend. Jenny Slate is Mary’s teacher, Bonnie, a young woman whose concern for her student develops into a connection with her uncle as well.

As the director of Night of the Living Dead, the film that paved the way for the zombie genre's rise to prominence, George A. Romero knows a thing or two about the walking dead. (He's also the man behind the original Dawn of the Dead, Land of the Dead, Diary of the Dead, and Survival of the Dead.) The Hollywood Reporter caught up with him as he prepares to release a Blu-ray of the original Night of the Living Dead this weekend, and he pointed a finger at a very popular AMC show and one particular A-list star as the reason for its downfall:

I've sort of dropped out of it. The Dead are everywhere these days. I think really Brad Pitt killed it. The Walking Dead and Brad Pitt just sort of killed it all. The remake of Dawn of the Dead made money. I think pretty big money. Then Zombieland made money, and then all of a sudden, along comes Brad Pitt and he spends $400 million or whatever the hell to do World War Z. [World War Z author] Max Brooks is a friend of mine, and I thought the film was not at all representative what the book was and the zombies were, I don't know, ants crawling over the wall in Israel. Army ants. You might as well make The Naked Jungle. As far as I'm concerned, I'm content to wait until sort of zombies die off. My films, I've tried to put a message into them. It's not about the gore, it's not about the horror element that are in them. It's more about the message, for me. That's what it is, and I'm using this platform to be able to show my feelings of what I think.

I didn't mind World War Z as a movie (I thought it was pretty solid summer entertainment, especially considering all of its behind-the-scenes troubles), but I think what Romero seems to really be railing against here is the idea of pumping so much money into these zombie movies. He started the whole genre with a film that cost just over 100 grand, so it's gotta be strange for him to watch so much cash being thrown at a mainstream zombie film. He does have a point about the zombies in that movie, though..."army ants" is a pretty accurate description.

I think a lot of modern zombie properties also tend to forget about including a message or a larger point to them, so I can see how that might be a little frustrating, too — to see this thing you created being co-opted, stripped of its meaning, and churned out just for cheap thrills has to be a little disheartening. What do you think? Is this a case of the old guard shouting in the face of change, or does Romero have a legitimate point?

Why, God? Why?

Deadline reports that Jai Courtney — yes, the bland, forgettable actor of A Good Day to Die Hard, Terminator Genisys, and Suicide Squad fame — has been cast in Netflix's upcoming Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later. How can an actor so terrible fit in with a franchise I love so much?

Courtney plays Garth MacArthur, a suave, indie movie darling who is about to become a household name. Garth is recognized wherever he goes, but his eyes aren’t on the fans. He’s mad about Susie (Amy Poehler) and wishes she would agree to take their relationship beyond “friends with benefits.” He joins her on the trip back to Camp Firewood.

I don't buy that Courtney is going to be able to hold a candle to the stellar comedians in this cast, but maybe this will be the property that slowly starts to turn him around for me, like 21 Jump Street was for Channing Tatum.

This all started with David Wain's brilliant indie film Wet Hot American Summer back in 2001, and last year, Wain reunited with his cast for Netflix in a TV series prequel called First Day of Camp. That show is the best example of prequel storytelling I've ever seen, and six months ago, Netflix announced that Wain and the gang are returning for Ten Years Later, which picks up ten years after the events of the movie. (In the film, the characters talk about reuniting ten years in the future, and a quick post-credits scene briefly explores what this would look like, but the series will delve into that in a much deeper way.)

Deadline also reports that Samm Levine, who voiced the Camp Radio host Arty in the film and prequel series, will actually physically appear as the character in this show, and Marlo Thomas will play a character named Vivian, described as "a woman with a mysterious connection to the past history of the camp."

They'll join the previously announced cast of Poehler, Bradley Cooper, Paul Rudd, Elizabeth Banks, Marguerite Moreau, Zak Orth, Michael Ian Black, Janeane Garofalo, Molly Shannon, Lake Bell, Michael Showalter, Christopher Meloni, A.D Milles, Chris Pine, Kristen Wiig, Joe Lo Truglio, Ken Marino, and Josh Charles. The eight-episode season will premiere sometime in 2017.

This month, the NJNM crew talk the Pierce Brosnan action-thriller The November Man! Listen on PodTyrant

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Ever since Taken became a surprise smash hit back in 2008, Liam Neeson has leaned heavily on action thrillers as his career experienced a nice late game bump. He's been in The A-Team, Unknown, The Grey, Battleship, Non-Stop, A Walk Among the Tombstones, Run All Night...the list goes on. But now the Oscar nominee is returning to a more subdued drama for the first time in a little while, and reuniting with a previous collaborator in the process.

Deadline reports Neeson is leading the cast of The Trainer, a horse training drama that will reunite him with his Michael Collins director Neil Jordan (who also helmed The Crying Game and Interview with a Vampire). David Donohue, James Villemaire, and Sully writer Todd Komarnicki are tackling the screenplay.

Neeson will star as John Moore, a premier horse trainer in the west of Ireland who, beset by tragedy, loses everything he cherishes and almost forgets to live. Into his life comes a teenage refugee, Nadya, who has fled her own horrors and now finds herself in a confounding new world. Their only connection to themselves, and ultimately to their own hearts, is a horse called Allabelle, who is about to prove that they may all have one race left inside of them.

Production begins in Ireland next summer, and it'll be nice to see Neeson return to his homeland for a quiet drama that presumably doesn't involve him gunning anyone down or snapping anyone's neck. 

Phil Spencer isn't ready to say for sure whether or not VR will be coming to Microsoft's new console Project Scorpio. The Microsoft boss talked with Stevivor and said he wants the technology to be more than just "demos and experiments"...read more on Gametyrant

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ScreenJunkies are back with a new Honest Trailer, and this time they're turning their attention to the long-running BBC series Sherlock. This is one of my favorite shows on TV (despite incredibly long wait times between seasons), but it's consistently excellent all around, from the intricate plotting to the amazing acting and the gorgeous cinematography and beyond.

This is my favorite kind of Honest Trailer, because it's the kind that doubles as a series of short supercuts of behaviors or lines repeated often in the show. Essentially, it puts much more focus on the property itself instead of on the dumb jokes that the ScreenJunkies team thinks up, and any time those are minimized, I'm happy.

Inferno was in theaters this past weekend, so we went back and reviewed Denial instead. Listen on PodTyrant

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I know this will come as a shock to some of you, but I'm personally still not convinced that Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is going to be good. Yes, it'll be nice to be back in the wizarding world, and it'll be cool to see a different time period and learn more about the mythology behind the Harry Potter film series. But remember, just because it ticks boxes of nostalgia doesn't mean it stands on its own as a good movie. It's also the first screenplay J.K. Rowling has ever written, so yeah, I'm slightly concerned and considering what's been going on with Warner Bros.' franchises lately, I think I have reason to be.

Still, it's impossible to deny the charm of seeing one of the film's stars nerd out in a major way in a new video promoting the film. Ezra Miller, who is also starring in WB's The Flash (if it can lock down a director long enough to make the movie), gives us a quick magical history lesson and teases a possible (OK, probable) connection between Fantastic Beasts and a huge event referred to in the Potter mythology. Take a look.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them arrives on November 18, 2016.

"Kick some ass, get the girl, and try to look dope doing it."

We've got a new full trailer to share with you for Vin Diesel's upcoming action film xXx: Return of Xander Cage, and this thing looks absolutely ridiculous! There's no doubt that this will have some of the craziest action sequences that you'll see this year, some of which defy the laws of physics. 

One of the things I like most about the trailer is that we get our first real look at Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa in action! I like that Cage is recruited by the government again because they need somonee who can move like them and fight like them, but I'm sorry... there's no way Diesel has got the moves or the skills that Yen and Jaa have!

Regardless of all the unbelievable stuff this movie has to offer, it sure does look like it's going to be a ton of fun to watch!

Extreme athlete turned government operative Xander Cage (Vin Diesel) comes out of self-imposed exile, thought to be long dead, and is set on a collision course with deadly alpha warrior Xiang (Donnie Yen) and his team in a race to recover a sinister and seemingly unstoppable weapon known as Pandora's Box. Recruiting an all-new group of thrill-seeking cohorts, Xander finds himself enmeshed in a deadly conspiracy that points to collusion at the highest levels of world governments.

xXx: Return of Xander Cage is set to be released on January 20, 2017. Enjoy the new trailer!

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them looks like it's going to be an incredibly entertaining film. I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter franchise, and it's so cool that we are going to explore the story of Newt Scamander in 1920s America. That's exciting! 

Warner Bros. has released two new clips for the film, an IMAX poster, and in case you missed the little history lesson featuring Ezra Miller that was released yesterday, make sure to check it out here. The first clip features Newt shaking the gold out of a strange magical creature that has been hoarding it, and the second one invites us to a magical little dinner party.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is an all-new adventure returning us to the wizarding world created by J.K. Rowling. Oscar winner Eddie Redmayne (The Theory of Everything) stars in the central role of wizarding world Magizoologist Newt Scamander, under the direction of David Yates.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them opens in 1926 as Newt Scamander has just completed a global excursion to find and document an extraordinary array of magical creatures. Arriving in New York for a brief stopover, he might have come and gone without incident…were it not for a No-Maj (American for Muggle) named Jacob, a misplaced magical case, and the escape of some of Newt’s fantastic beasts, which could spell trouble for both the wizarding and No-Maj worlds.

The movie also stars Katherine Waterston, Alison Sudol, Ezra Miller, Dan Fogler, Colin Farrell, Jenn Murray, Jon Voight, Carmen Ejogo, Gemma Chan, and newcomer Faith Wood-Blagrove. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is set to be released on November 18, 2016.

Here’s the exclusive clip from the second Emoji Magic spell. A new spell will be posted tomorrow to unlock another #FantasticBeasts scene! pic.twitter.com/qcI2aBneuq

— Fantastic Beasts (@FantasticBeasts) November 1, 2016

@halfwblood You've casted the correct spell! Enjoy this exclusive clip from #FantasticBeasts: pic.twitter.com/YU9OoYakoo

— Fantastic Beasts (@FantasticBeasts) October 28, 2016

"Escape" is a fun horror short that plays with the untapped world of virtual reality. The story follows a guy named Felix who receives "a pair of VR sunglasses from a crowdfunding campaign, and immerses himself in a game full of mystery."

The short film is very simply made, and there's not much to it, but the story takes an interesting turn at the end offers a unique twist and concept that could be interesting to play with further in a feature-length film or series. 

With Joe Carnahan (The A-Team) writing the script and Shawn Levy (Stranger Things) set to direct the feature film adaptation of Uncharted, it looks like Sony Pictures is ready to finally move this film forward and into production!

Directors David O. Russell, Neil Burger, and Seth Gordon have all been attached to direct the film at various stages of production, but it seems like Levy is the one that's going to make it happen. During a recent interview with Collider, Carnahan talked about the film, and it sounds like he really wants to get this movie right for the fans. 

"I can tell you that Shawn Levy and I sat down last weekend, he has fantastic knowledge. Here’s the thing, Shawn is an incredibly bright, incredibly skilled, talented guy, and you sit with him for five minutes and you know and understand why he has the level of success he’s had. I think he understands, we both have tremendous fondness for Raiders, and he wants to, I think Shawn’s capable of doing a lot of things. I can tell you this: what I’ve written is very anti-Indy in the sense of the guy that loves museums and wants to preserve these artifacts. He’s not! He’s a thief and he’s a grifter, and he’s a scourge. He and Sully are not good guys but they’re better than the bad guys. It’s a game, you know, they’re certainly rogues, and certainly don’t have a problem, even in the first game he just kind of dump Elena and it’s interesting. I think it’s gonna be, I honestly think this one’s got a real shot. And I was really glad when Shawn came on because I’m too deep into Bad Boys and I really wanna see that through. Too much sweat equity in that one; years of trying to do Uncharted. I’m flattered that these guys wanted me to write it. It’s a hell of a responsibility and hell of an opportunity and I don’t want to squander it now."

Carnahan went on to talk about diving into the mythology of Nathan Drake and the video game source material to help make sure that the movie stays true to the game and makes fans happy. 

"Certainly the signet ring. The harvest magnet, the whole Francis Drake legend, and his parentage, his lineage. I thought that was important. You’re dealing with a guy who’s an orphan, and I came at it that way—what’s some of the things that are important to someone who’s an orphan? In the fourth game they dispelled all that, but I thought it’s still kind of an interesting. What excuses would you make about your character if you held to this notion that you were the heir to this great explorer? Your ancestor’s this great dubious, nefarious explorer? If you believed somehow that was your birthright. Were you conning yourself? There’s some interesting character stuff you can do there. That and the insane, the big action stuff. I kept some characters I like and kind of reset them within that world so there’ll be names and familiar faces and so on, but they won’t necessarily be what they were in the game, which I think is important, you have to do that, create amalgams. I can’t imagine fans of Uncharted will be unhappy, at least with the screenplay. And I do think there’s some interesting, again, anti-Indiana Jones stuff going on, looting and pillaging these UNESCO sites and world heritage sites and also these uncharted realms. There’s 3 million shipwrecks all over the world that have never been seen. That to me is fascinating. So there’s a lot of that stuff, and a lot of that’s kinda new and improved, for lack of a better phrase. I think people will dig it, but I can’t imagine. But I’m sure someone’ll hate my guts, but that’s okay, a lot of people hate my guts."

One thing we know about the fans is that you can't please everyone. You know what would please all the fans, though? If they cast Nolan North in the role of Nathan Drake. Carnahan says that's who'd he like to see star in the film, but I doubt the studio will do it. For those of you who don't know who North is, he is the actor who voices the character in the game franchise.  

"Shawn and I have talked about a couple of guys, but it’s pointless to mention them now because we don’t know where everybody’s gonna be. In a perfect world it’d be Nolan North! [laughing] That’s who I’d like to see play Nathan Drake, that’d be the perfect casting, but I don’t know. I think that’s gonna be, again man, sheer economics. Who’s worth what, when, where, how. What gets us this, what gets us that. What’s the foreign side of things, international things. Mark’s great, Wahlberg’s great, but it just depends how young we wanna make Nate and then ultimately how young we wanna make Sully. Is Sully in his 50s and Nate in his late 30s? Is Nate in his late 20s and Sully’s in his early 40s? Who knows. It really is gonna depend on that process because if X gets excited and says “Oh, I want to play that,” then it means Sully’s gonna have to be this age, and that changes things. And if you’re talking about making three, four films, what’s ideal for that."

It will be interesting to see who they actually end up casting as Drake. I hope that they get it right, though. As much as I like Mark Wahlberg, I don't want to see him in the role. He just doesn't fit the character. He was attached to the film at one point, and I'm kinda glad that version of the movie didn't work out. 

It sounds like Carnahan has a solid handle on things, and it's good to see that he has confidence in Levy because I'm not completely sold on him as the director yet. I'll just have to wait and see what he does with it!

Who would you like to see in the role of Nathan Drake?

I know a lot of us see Star Wars fan films being made all the time, but there are a handful of great ones out there that I have to share. This latest Star Wars fan film that was shared with us is called "Hoshino," and it tells the tale of a young blind Jedi master and her journey to become one with the force. 

The short was directed by Stephen Vitale, and I thought he did a wonderful job telling this story. It's a great character study that's beautifully shot and also features some pretty cool scenes and visuals. This is seriously an impressive short film, so make sure to watch it when you get a chance! If you're a Star Wars fan, I'm confident that you're going to love this. 

Johnny Depp is joining the Harry Potter universe, and he has been set to star in the sequel to Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them. There's currently no information on who he'll be playing, but the character will make a brief appearance in the first film, which is set to be released on November 18th, so we won't have to wait long to find out.

Depp will make a perfect addition to this wizarding world, and I have no doubt he'll give a fun performance. As you know, the guy is great at completely transforming himself into the characters he plays, and it will be interesting to see what he does with this new mysterious character.

David Yates is set to direct the sequel, which will see the return Eddie Redmayne in the role of Newt Scamander. I'm sure many of the other characters from the first film will be included in the sequel as well. Creator J.K. Rowling revealed last month that there will be a total of five films in the Fantastic Beasts franchise.

The first film is set in New York City in 1926, and the second film is said to take place in another global capital city.  There's no word on where the other films will take place, but I imagine they will take us to places all over the world.

Depp will next be seen in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, and he's also set to star in the remake of Murder on the Orient Express. What do you think about the actor joining the Fantastic Beasts franchise? 

Source: Variety

Ant-Man was a surprisingly awesome movie. After all of the drama when it lost Edgar Wright and Peyton Reed replaced him, I didn’t think it would end up being as entertainingly good as it was. 

Reed will be back in the director's chair for the sequel Ant-Man and The Wasp, and in a recent interview with Moviefone he talked about the film a little bit and the character’s place in the MCU. During the interview, he revealed that the project is still in the writing phase, and they will officially start prepping to shoot it later this month. A lot of that prep deals with the visual development of the film

The director then discussed the Ant-Man’s place in the MCU:

“I think we like our little Ant-Man corner of the universe. Because it's a whole different vibe tonally, but also just in terms of who Scott Lang, who Ant-Man is: he is a guy who is maybe not so sure he wants to be like this Avenger-style, full-on superhero.

“He's got a kid, and this is the inner conflict with him, and he's very much just like a normal guy who has come into contact with some incredible power. So, we like that aspect of kind of like it being its own little corner of the universe.”

I do like that Ant-Man is its own thing in the MCU. Of course, he plays a much bigger role in it as he recently appeared in Captain America: Civil War, which is something that Reed was a little bummed out about initially. When The Wasp was brought up as being a part of The Avengers 4, Reed said: 

“Again, that is one of the sort of things where it's a mixed bag. When I first found out -- gosh, I don't know, two years ago, a year-and-a-half ago -- that "Civil War" was going to get the Giant-Man premiere, I was like "No!" But, now, I've since recovered, and we have a lot more in store for Scott Lang in this movie.

“We get to see the Wasp debut -- we're all about the Wasp and Ant-Man. So I like it, because we spend a lot of time with our different writers and directors, and there's a lot of crosstalk, and I love that.”

I’m excited for the debut of The Wasp! Evangeline Lilly is freakin’ perfect for the part, and I have no doubt she’s going to kill it in the sequel as The Wasp. When asked what he would want to do with the character now that comic book films are entering a big era of female superhero movie characters, he explained:

“Well, I'm just personally excited to get to introduce yet another character into the Marvel Universe. After Ant-Man, now we get to see Wasp, so really designing her look, the way she moves, the power set, and figuring out, sort of, who Hope van Dyne is as a hero -- because we know her in a certain context in the first movie, but now she's going to have her coming out party -- that's exciting!”

It is exciting, and I can’t wait to see what Reed and Marvel have planned for her! Ant-Man and The Wasp isn’t coming out until July 2018, and I’m sure we’ll get a lot of information on the film between now and then. 

I saw Doctor Strange last night, and I was completely blown away by its awesomeness! This movie will seriously melt your brain with its insane visuals and epic action sequences. I've never ever seen anything like this before, and Marvel has released a new two-minute clip that teases one of the mind-bending action sequences. 

Of course, if you don't want to spoil part of an action scene for yourself, then I suggest you don't watch it. If you do decide to watch, just imagine what this will look like in IMAX 3D! This is a movie you have to watch in 3D if you can. The movie was made for 3D, and when you watch this clip you'll understand why. Some aspects of the movie will confuse and confound you with their wonder and sorcery. 

I can't wait to watch Doctor Strange again! This is a Marvel film I'll be watching multiple times in the theater because it's a movie that begs to be seen on the big screen! I'm so excited for all of you to finally get to watch this movie. As a longtime Doctor Strange fan who has been waiting for this movie to get made for years, it completely surpassed my expectations. Director Scott Derrickson has given us something completely unique, and it takes the MCU to a whole new multiverse level! 

First of all, if you haven’t watched the first season of Thunderbirds Are Go on Amazon Prime yet, you’re missing out on a fun series. I was very apprehensive about watching it myself and wasn’t really expecting much from it, but once I started watching I was sold. I really enjoy what this series offers, and Amazon has released the first trailer for season two. 

In season two, the everyday heroes at International Rescue continue to work together to perform harrowing rescue missions across the globe. The Tracy brothers and covert ops specialist Kayo pilot their state-of-the-art Thunderbird vehicles to every corner of the world and beyond to defend people in need and fend off their arch nemesis, The Hood.

It looks like we have an exciting new season ahead of us full of action, adventure, and cheesy humor. Thunderbirds Are Go is set to be released on Amazon on November 4th!

Hideo Kojima says he identifies with Anthony Hopkins character after watching HBO's Westworld. Dr. Robert Ford, who is played by Hopkins, is the creator of the land of Westworld...read more on Gametyrant

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