Jeremy Renner reprises his role as Hawkeye in Saturday Night Lives' skit mocking The Avengers. In it the team realizes Hawkeye doesn't really do much once he's run out of arrows. 

Tarantino XX arrived on Blu-ray and it is the premiere must-own collection of his work. The set includes Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, Kill Bill Vol. 1, Kill Bill Vol. 2, Death Proof and Inglourious Basterds. In addition to these films, the set includes two discs with five hours of all-new bonus material, highlighted by a critics’ retrospective on Quentin Tarantino’s groundbreaking catalog of films and “20 Years of Filmmaking"  that contains interviews with critics, stars and other masters of cinema. Tarantino XX is my favorite Blu-ray set, and is the most comprehensive look into a director's career that I own.

This disc is so wonderfully packaged with beautiful artwork from Mondo artist Ken Taylor. I liked the art so much that I used it for my Twitter background and header image. The set comes in a nice sleeve with great art on all sides. Inside is one of the coolest packaging I could ever hope for. The panels show off the various art that Taylor did for each film. It captures the various characters from the films, and is beautiful with vibrant colors. The art is also used for the animated chapters of each disc.

Quentin Tarantino has shaped my film going life since I was a senior in high school. Pulp Fiction was the first film directed by Tarantino that I saw. I remember what theater I saw it at, who I saw it with and what we talked about afterwards. I think that Tarantino films either bring people together or force people apart because you love them or hate them. His films are an acquired taste, much like a pint of beer.

I have seen each movie multiple times, and love every single one. If I had to list my favorites in order it would be as follows: Inglorious Basterds, Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs, True Romance, Kill Bill 1, Kill Bill 2, Jackie Brown, and finally Death Proof. Do not get me wrong, each of these films is truly awesome. Each of the films above have moved me immensely. Watching the films is like going on a journey into one of the coolest universes you can imagine. You can relate to the characters, even though you may not want to admit it. 

Read my reviews for:

Pulp Fiction Blu-ray Review

Jackie Brown Blu-ray Review

The bonus discs are pretty epic, and worth the price to buy this set on their own. On disc one, we are treated to a group of veteran film critics talking about how the films impacted their lives and film making as a whole. It is so refreshing to see someone like Stephanie Zacharek sharing her dislike of a movie like Pulp Fiction. 

Disc 2 includes The 20 Years of Quentin Tarantino. This feature is wonderful, and takes fans through Tarantino's career as an aspiring director to a mentor to Eli Roth and RZA. It features interviews with the various casts and crews that have been involved in his film career. The coolest part is the way that the interviews are edited together. It starts off with Laurence Bender, longtime Tarantino producer, talking about the creation of Reservoir Dogs. Greg Nicotero, Stacey Sher and Mike Simpson are also included in this interview that takes an in-depth look at the creation of Reservoir Dogs.

The stories are so real and humorous that you will find yourself laughing out loud. This is one of the realest looks inside the making of a movie that I have ever seen. One of the best parts is hearing about Quentin becoming involved with Harvey Weinstein and them taking the film to the Cannes film festival. This disc is a must watch for any Tarantino fan or film fan for that matter!

The mentor sequence shows how wonderful and caring Tarantino is. I love hearing how RZA and Roth just kind of stuck to Quentin like magnets and soaked up as much knowledge from him as they could. This sequence was so inspirational.

Disc 2 also includes a great Q&A after a reunion screening of Jackie Brown. It was cool to hear Robert Forster and Pam Grier sharing their experiences working on the film with Tarantino. There are so many wonderful and personal stories, that I loved watching this piece. The best parts were some of the audience questions. It was cool to hear Quentin talking about what parts he would have done differently.

Finally, this disc also includes an awesome look into Tarantino's next opus, Django Unchained, which I am looking forward to seeing this Christmas.

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One of the more interesting and unexpected names to pop up on the potential Star Wars: Episode VII director list has been Safety Not Guaranteed director Colin Trevorrow. Every fanboy and fangirl has a wish list of who they would like to see direct the movie, and Trevorrow doesn't seem to be on any of them, but it seems like he's the most likely to get the gig. 

An interview with the director was recently found and brought to my attention by Film School Rejects. In the interview the director talks about a new project he's been brought on to work on, the funny thing is the interview happened back in June, which is a couple months before George Lucas had his little meeting with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. It's cool to see the the wheels have been in motion on this film for a long time. There's still no official confirmation that Trevorrow is directing the highly anticipated film, but this is what he said...

I can’t speak with any specificity as to what the next thing will be. There are amazing opportunities that have arisen as a result of this. One of them, I will say, will probably create a good deal of ire against me on the Internet when people find out what it is. So, I just want to say in advance that I promise you, for all those who love the mythology that I will be tackling, trust that I love it as much as you do. And I will respect it, and hopefully make it not suck.

He doesn't come out and say Star Wars, but now we all know what he's talking about. It also seems like he confirms his involvement as he says, "I will be tackling." He could have used the word 'might' but he didn't, he said "I will," like it was already set in stone for him. He seemed a little less sure about it in a recent interview with Moviezine though saying,

It is not something that I can comment too much on. But I can definitely say, I am as much of a fan of Star Wars as everyone else for whom Star Wars was the most important thing in their life, when they were a kid. I'm deeply aware of how profoundly important it is, to billions of people. It really is a mythology and possibly even a belief system for a lot of people. I certainly can't comment on what my involvement may ever be, I can definitely say that I would absolutely love to direct a "Star Wars" film at some point in my life. That would be incredible, I'm not daunted by it. Even if I understand that any thinking director who cares about it as I do, as much as a lot of directors do, would be afraid of screwing it up. But I also think that it's a risk that a lot of directors would be willing to take, because they care about it so much.

The fact is, the studio isn't going to let him confirm his involvement yet if he is directing. That goes for anyone else who is in the running. But it is interesting to find out that he was going to be doing it back in June. To read more about what he had to say about Star Wars Click Here. You can also watch the video interview below. He starts to talk about his involvement with the film at the 21:45 mark.

He definitely seems like the strongest contender of anyone else that's been mentioned. Especially since most of the big names including J.J. Abrams, Brad Bird and Steven Spielberg say they aren't going to be doing it. Trevorrow may not be on the top of our wish lists, but he very well might end up directing the movie, and if that's the case, I won't complain. I loved Safety Not Guaranteed and he's not George Lucas.

After writing up this article Trevorrow sent out the following Tweet. Any idea what the other film he's talking about could be? Or is he just covering his tracks? 

To clarify, there is another film we all love that I'm currently trying not to mess up. Odds I will direct Episode VII: 3720 to 1.

— Colin Trevorrow (@colintrevorrow) November 19, 2012

Source: Via: MacGuffin Podcast (http://www.macguffinpodcast.com/)

Here's a cool new photo from Neill Blomkamp's highly anticipated sci-fi film Elysium featuring Matt Damon all decked out in his futuristic military gear. We got to see some footage from the film at this year's Comic-Con, and it looked so freakin' awesome! You can read our panel coverage for that here, which includes all kinds of details. This is Blomkamp's follow-up film to District 9, and it looks like it could be even better.

In the year 2159, two classes of people exist: the very wealthy who live on a pristine man-made space station called Elysium, and the rest, who live on an overpopulated, ruined Earth. Secretary Rhodes (Jodie Foster), a hard line government official, will stop at nothing to enforce anti-immigration laws and preserve the luxurious lifestyle of the citizens of Elysium. That doesn’t stop the people of Earth from trying to get in, by any means they can. When unlucky Max (Matt Damon) is backed into a corner, he agrees to take on a daunting mission that if successful will not only save his life, but could bring equality to these polarized worlds.

The movie will be released in theaters on August 9th, 2013. I have a feeling this movie is just going to blow audiences away. I wonder when they'll end up getting out the first trailer for the movie.

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We go off the rails with Cori Smith (@Corib3ar), from ZapToid.me and CodingHax.com, as we discuss maturity in games in the most immature way possible.

It's previously been reported that the IMAX screenings of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will include a 9-minute preview of Star Trek Into Darkness as well as a trailer. It's now been confirmed by the site Emileeid that we will also see trailers for Zack Snyder's Man of Steel and James Mangold's The Wolverine with The Hobbit as well! There's a chance that we could also see a trailer for Guillermo del Toro's Pacific Rim as well because it's a Warner Bros. film, but at Comic-Con earlier this year the director said we wouldn't see any more footage from the film until next year. So we'll just have to wait and see about that one. 

The site also says that we will see new theatrical trailers for Bryan Singer's Jack The Giant Slayer next Tuesday, and a trailer for The Hangover 3 in the last week of December.

I'm looking forward to seeing all of the movies mentioned, and I'm extremely excited to see what Star Trek, Man of Steel and The Wolverine are going to look like. I have no doubt that these trailers are going to end up blowing us away! 

It's been awhile since we've seen any Ender's Game news. We haven't seen anything since shooting ended, and the production blog stopped giving us updates. But today we bring you a full synopsis for the film that was recently released by Summit Entertainment, check it out below!

In the near future, a hostile alien race (called the Formics) have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander, Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young children to find the future Mazer. Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy, but strategically brilliant boy is pulled out of his school to join the elite. 

Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult war games, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military's next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he's trained by Mazer Rackham, himself, to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.

I grew up on these Ender's Game stories, and I've been waiting for this film to get made for a long ass time. I'm happy that it's happening, and I just hope director Gavin Hood has the talent to bring this story to life in the right way. It's been a long road getting it to the big screen, but we're almost there. The movie is currently in post-production, and it will be released in theaters on November 1st, 2013. I hope this is only the beginning of an awesome movie franchise!

If you haven't read it yet, there's a great article written by Orson Scott Card detailing his visit to the set of the highly anticipated film.

Here's a full rundown of the cast and who everyone plays:

Asa Butterfield, the star of director Martin Scorsese's widely praised 3D film Hugo will be playing the lead role of Ender Wiggin. Harrison Ford (Cowboys & Aliens) will be Colonel Hyrum Graff, the adult lead in the film and commander of training for the International Fleet military academy in located in space. Hailee Steinfeld (True Grit) will play Petra Arkanian, one of Ender's Battle School trainers and eventual confidant. Sir Ben Kingsley, who recently starred with Butterfield in Hugo will play a character who is crucial to Ender's battle training, former Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham. Canadian actor Brendan Meyer will play one of Ender's early antagonists Stilson who he encounters before being shipped off to Battle School. Academy Award nominee Abigail Breslin will play Valentine Wiggin, sister to Butterfield's Ender. Aramis Knight (Rendition) will play Ender's youngest recruit Bean, Moises Arias will play Salamander Army Commander Bonzo Madrid, Jimmy "Jax" Pinchak (Let Me In) will be Peter Wiggin, Suraj Parthasarathy will be Alai, Conor Carroll will be Ender's first Battle School nemesis Bernard, Khylin Rhambo will play Dink Meeker. Viola Davis (the Help) will play a yet to be named military psychologist who oversees the emotional welfare of young trainees. Nonso Anozie (The Grey) will play Sergeant Dap, Stevie Ray Dallimore (Joyful Noise) has been cast as Ender’s father John and Andrea Powell (The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2) will play Ender’s mother Theresa.

Here's a really cool collection of cartoon style Star Wars art created by Des Taylor. We've featured a lot of great stuff from Taylor in the past. He's got a great retro style to his stuff that I really enjoy. Check out some of his 1940's style superhero art here, and his Star Trek pin-up art here. What do you think of his Star Wars stuff? 

Riddick director David Twohy has released a couple of photos from the film on his blog. One features a shot that shows us the title logo for the film, the other gives us a good look at Karl Urban reprising his role as Vaako. They came along with a production update from the director saying,

Been pulling 14-hour days trying to finish RIDDICK. My typical day starts at 9am with intensive visual effects meetings, sweating out the details of our 900 VFX shots. Then I jet across town to the mix stage, Soundelux, where I supervise the sound, balancing out the often-competing elements of music, sound fx, sound design, and dialog. At night I hit the lab, Technicolor in Hollywood, staying until midnight to do “DI work” — color-correction of the movie. This is where David Eggby and I have one last chance to get the images right, dropping in grads and power windows to finesse what we shot on set. It’s a great tool, the Digital Intermediate. Kind of like Photoshop for movies. Gotta love it. Gotta love the challenge of bringing it all home.

Sounds like fun! Seriously, I would love to be doing this kind of stuff. I've always loved the process of filmmaking, there's an energy that I love feeling. The movie stars Vin Diesel, Jordi Molla, Matt Nable, Katee Sackhoff, Bokeem Woodbine, Dave Bautista, Conrad Pla, Raoul Trujillo, Nolan Funk and Keri Hilson. As of right now the film does not have a release date, but I'm a fan of the franchise and I can't wait to see how it turns out! 

Here's the Synopsis:

The infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he's encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty. 

The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won't leave the planet without Riddick's head as their trophy.

The acting and directing team that brought us Drive, Ryan Gosling and Nicolas Winding Refn, have teamed back up for a brutal sounding new film called Only God Forgives. Today we have a promo photo to share with you from this movie featuring Gosling who has been beat to a bloody pulp. I imagine he would say something like, "you should see the other guy." I think every image we've seen from this movie features Gosling beaten and bloody. 

In the story "Gosling plays the son of a Florida-based crime syndicate boss (Kristen Scott Thomas), who is plying the drug trade in Thailand with his brother. When his addicted sibling gets involved in a murder and gets tangled up with a cop who calls himself the Angel of Vengeance, Gosling’s character, who is proficient in mixed martial arts, is compelled to seek revenge on behalf of his mother. There is swordplay, and a lot of slicing and dicing."

I'm looking forward to seeing this story play out on the big screen. It sounds sound incredibly badass! Here's a more detailed description of the story:

Bangkok. Ten years ago Julian killed a cop and went on the run. Now he manages a Thai boxing club as a front for a drugs operation. Respected in the criminal underworld, deep inside, he feels empty.

When Julian’s brother murders a prostitute the police call on retired cop Chang – the Angel of Vengeance. Chang allows the father to kill his daughter’s murderer, then ‘restores order’ by chopping off the man’s right hand.

Julian’s mother Jenna – the head of a powerful criminal organization – arrives in Bangkok to collect her son’s body. She dispatches Julian to find his killers and ‘raise hell’.

Increasingly obsessed with the Angel of Vengeance, Julian challenges him to a boxing match, hoping that by defeating him he might find spiritual release… but Chang triumphs. A furious Jenna plots revenge and the stage is set for a bloody journey through betrayal and vengeance towards a final confrontation and the possibility of redemption.

Did anyone see The Twilgiht Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 this last weekend? Yeah, me neither, but here's a hilarious honest trailer that kind of represents all of the Twilight movies up until this point created by the Screen Junkies gang! This is the only thing that came from the Twilight franchise that I think is worth watching. They basically point out every ridiculous aspect of the films that we all love to hate.

With Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto: V coming out next year, everyone has been on the edge of their seat awaiting any new trailers or screenshots of the game. What we have seen so far has been nothing short of great! 

But one has to also think, "What if they made a GTA movie?" 

Well, Gevorg Karensky has given us a taste of his take on a GTA movie, and it actually looks damn good. Who do you think they could possibly get to star in a real GTA movie?

Grand Theft Auto: Rise

A rise of an underground protagonist hero. He has a long path down a tunnel with no light at the end. Live action short film based on the Grand Theft Auto video game series created by Rockstar Games

I enjoy the films that Judd Apatow has made in his career, and I'm looking forward to his latest project This is 40. Today we've got a new red-band featurette to share with you. The video features interviews with the director and the cast talking about the movie, the characters, and how it came about. It also obviously includes some funny new vulgar footage from the movie as well. 

The story follows the lives of the two characters Pete (Paul Rudd) and Debbie (Leslie Mann), and it takes place a few years after the events of Knocked Up and basically shows us what married life is at 40 (giving me something to look forward to.) The movie also stars Jason Segel, Melissa McCarthy and Albert Brooks playing Rudd's dad.

This is 40 will hit theaters on December 21st. You can Click Here to check out the trailer.

Vin Diesel has released two new photos from Justin Lin's Fast Six. One features the actor in a muscle car, the other one includes Paul Walker and Jordana Brewster having a nice little get together. The photos came along with the the following note:

1999, is when the three of us first worked together in our respective roles... How fortunate we are, to be allowed to evolve our characters over a decade.

P.s. Last month of filming... blessed.

The movie is set to be released on May 24th, 2013, and the film also stars Michelle Rodriguez, Luke Evans, Joe Taslim and Gina Carano. Lets hope it turns out being just as entertaining as the the last movie!

Here's a great eerie paranormal short film called Negative Image directed by Karl Holt. The movie has an awesome atmosphere and vibe to it. It was shot well and its a fun creepy movie with solid acting. Needless to say, I really enjoyed this film.

The film tells the story of a paranormal journalist who is determined to capture an entity on film in order to regain the front page of his magazine. 

Watch the short for yourself, and let us know what you thought of it!

Negative Image from darkline on Vimeo.

Artist Joel Watson created this awesome Star Wars and Firefly mashup art called "Rival Smugglers" featuring a face-off between Han Solo and Malcolm 'Mal' Reynolds. How amazing would it be to see some kind of story featuring these two characters working with or even against each other? I know this is a hard question, but out of these two characters who's your favorite?

For those of you who would like to own this piece of art on a t-shirt click here!

Last month, a giant scupture of Gollum was set up in the New Zealand Airport to promote The Hobbit, then Air New Zealand released a really awesome Hobbit themed safety video. Now The Embassy Theater in downtown Wellington has erected a giant statue of Gandalf standing in front of Bilbo's home. The reason for the statue is that the theater will be hosting the world premiere of Peter Jackson's The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey on November 28th! Damn, I wish I could be there for it! The movie opens up for the rest of us on December 14th, 2012. 

Check out more of the photos below from The Embassy Theater's Facebook page:

FilmDistrict has set the release date of James Wan's Insidious Chapter 2 for August 30th, 2013. It was also announced that Wan is returning to direct the film, as are actors Patrick Wilson, Rose Byrne, Lin Shaye, and Ty Simpkins. I wasn't sure if Wan would be back to direct the film, he said he was going to be more involved with this sequel than he was with the Saw sequels, and directing it gets him as involved as involved can be. I thought the first film was a great horror movie, and it's pretty cool that a sequel is going to get made! Here's what Wan had to say about Insidious 2 at NYCC,

I think the sequel to Insidious is kind of my reaction to Saw where for my own reason I wasn’t as involved in the sequels, and so I felt with Insidious, think it would be good to shepherd it and keep it more in track to the version I had when I made the first film so that it doesn’t detour too far. So yeah, I’m kind of working with Leigh on the story and the script.

I never set out to make sequels to any of my films I direct. If they happen, that’s great because that means people out there love it and they want more of it, but I always felt with Insidious we created this really interesting world that we can explore more, and so even though we didn’t set out to make a sequel, I felt that there are stories still out there that could be told.

There's no story details on the sequel yet, but if it involves the same actors, it's safe to assume that it will pick up where the last film left off -- with Wilson being taken over by an evil spirit that's been trying to get a hold of him his whole life. As a fan of the first film, I'm excited to see a sequel, especially with the original talent coming back bring it to life!

The film is set to start production in Los Angeles on January 15th. Wan recently completed the film The Conjuring, which looks amazing! He's also set to direct a MacGyver movie for Warner Bros.

A few new images have been released for the upcoming Blue Sky CG animated film Epic. A trailer was released for the film a few months ago and although it had a couple of fun moments I don't think the movie looks very interesting. When I showed my kids the trailer for the film they didn't really seem interested either so that's not a good sign. 

The film is based on William Joyce's 1996 book The Leaf Men and the Brave Good Bugs. It was directed by Chris Wedge (Ice Age) and has a solid cast of voice actors that includes Beyonce Knowles, Colin Farrell, Josh Hutcherson, Amanda Seyfried, Johnny Knoxville, Aziz Ansari, Pitbull, Jason Sudeikis, Steven Tyler, Blake Anderson and Judah Friedlander.

Wedge talked about the movie saying, the movie is based on a world "we may not know exists but it surrounds us. There is a battle going between the forces of life and the forces of decay."

This film is an evolution for us. In the technology, in what we put on screen and in the storytelling. It has the fun character comedy and depth of emotion that are found in the Ice Age films. But while Bill wrote a wonderful book, it is a quaint story. We wanted to make a gigantic action-adventure movie.

Check out the photos below, and I've included a little character description with each one.

Typical of any teenager, Mary Katherine (voice of Amanda Seyfried) questions her dad, Prof. Bomba (Jason Sudeikis), about whether a hidden world of leaf-armored warriors really exists in the woods. "Bomba is one of my favorite characters, " says director Wedge. "He is an ersatz scientist who wears kooky head gear." Says Wedge of Amanda Seyfried, the 'Mamma Mia!' star who speaks for MK, "She has tremendous acting range. I never picture Amanda anymore when I hear her voice." 

Queen Tara (Beyonce Knowles) is Epic's answer to Mother Nature. "She is the one sworn to protect the forest and is the source of its magic," Wedge says.  

Josh Hutcherson brings some of his Peeta-esque personality from 'The Hunger Games' to his reluctant Leafman warrior, Nod. "He is very talented and has what it takes as a fighter," Wedge says, "but he hasn't come to terms with it yet. " 

Who better to speak for the villainous Mandrake than Christoph Waltz, who won an Oscar for his charmingly evil SS officer in 'Inglourious Basterds.' He leads the Boggans, the source of decay and destruction in the forest. "He is smarter than the average Boggan, dry and sardonic," Wedge says. "And much uglier than he was in 'Inglourious Basterds.'"

If Nod is shy about his warrior skills, then his opposite in Leaf-manliness would be the stoic Ronin, whose Irish lilt comes courtesy of Colin Farrell. 

Mub (Aziz Ansari), a slug who considers himself a ladies' man but mainly hangs out with his snail buddy Grub (Chris O'Dowd), welcomes MK to the forest. 

Here's the Synopsis:

"Epic" is a 3D CG action-adventure comedy that reveals a hidden world unlike any other. From the creators of "Ice Age" and "Rio," "Epic" tells the story of an ongoing battle deep in the forest between the forces of good and the forces of evil. When a teen age girl finds herself magically transported into this secret universe, she must band together with a rag-tag team of fun and whimsical characters in order to save their world...and ours. 

The film will be released on May 24th, 2013.

One of the most interesting aspects of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey for me is the fact that it was shot at the higher frame rate of 48 frames per second. That's the format I am choosing to watch the film in. It's time we start to accept change because the technology behind the way movies are being made and the way we watch them is changing. The fact they are filming in higher frame rates is bigger news and a bigger change than movies being shot in 3D. I hope it works, I hope audiences will embrace it. Hell, I hope I can embrace it! I'm excited about it but I still have yet to see it for myself.

Director Peter Jackson took to his Facebook page to answer questions from fans about shooting at the higher frame rate and explains why he did it.

We live in a rapidly advancing digital age. Technology is being continually developed that can enhance and enrich the cinema-going experience. High Frame Rate shooting for a mainstream feature film has only become viable in the last year or two, and yet we live in an age of increasing home entertainment. I started shooting The Hobbit films in HFR because I wanted film audiences to experience just how remarkably immersive the theatrical cinema experience can be.

He then goes on to talk about shooting in the format saying,

I think HFR is terrific. As a filmmaker, I try to make my movies immersive. I want to draw the audience out of their seats, and pull them into the adventure. That is the experience I hope to offer moviegoers no matter which format they choose at the theater. While I personally prefer watching The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey in HFR 3D, I can assure you that every format will provide you with an incredible and immersive experience.

HFR 3D is “different” — it won’t feel like the movies you’re used to seeing, in much the same way as the first CDs didn’t sound like vinyl records. We live in an age when cinemas are competing with iPads and home entertainment systems. I think it’s critical that filmmakers employ current technology to increase the immersive, spectacular experience that cinema should provide. It’s an exciting time to be going to the movies.

Jackson was also asked about the history of frame rates to which he replied,

Silent movies were shot at somewhere between 16 and 18 frames per second (fps) with hand-cranked cameras. In 1927, when sound came along, the industry needed to agree on a motor-driven, constant camera speed. 35mm film stock is very expensive, so it needs to be as slow as possible. However, the early optical soundtrack required a minimum speed to achieve fidelity of the sound. 24 fps was decided on, and became the industry standard for over 80 years, with cinemas all around the world installing mechanical projectors only capable of projecting at 24 fps. 24 fps was a commercial decision — the cheapest speed to provide basic quality — but it produces movement artifacts, like strobing, flicker and motion blur.   

Now, in the digital age, there’s no reason whatsoever to stick to 24 fps. We didn’t get it perfect in 1927. Science tells us that the human eye stops seeing individual pictures at about 55 fps. Therefore, shooting at 48 fps gives you much more of an illusion of real life. The reduced motion blur on each frame increases sharpness and gives the movie the look of having been shot in 65mm or IMAX. One of the biggest advantages is the fact that your eye is seeing twice the number of images each second, giving the movie a wonderful immersive quality. It makes the 3D experience much more gentle and hugely reduces eyestrain. Much of what makes 3D viewing uncomfortable for some people is the fact that each eye is processing a lot of strobing, blur and flicker. This all but disappears in HFR 3D.   

I'm excited to see what this movie looks like in 48fps, and I'm interested to see the reaction of everyone that sees it. Jackson is putting all his chips on the table for what he hopes becomes a new standard in filmmaking. With the immersive qualities he believes it provides and the enhanced experience it gives to 3D, I think it's a gamble worth taking. Are you more open to HFR after reading the extra info Jackson gave on this new format?