Bill Hader is stocking up on suntan lotion for his next role. The Wrap reports that the SNL star has joined the cast of Paramount's Baywatch movie and will play the character David Hasselhoff played in the hit TV show. The casting was announced by director Robert Ben Garant (co-creator of Reno 911!). He cautioned that Hader's contract has not been finalized, and Hader's spokesman, Matt Labov, denied his involvement.

The film will be an adaptation of Baywatch, much like Reno 911! is a hilarious take on Cops. Both Hasselhoff and Pamela Anderson will cameo in the movie. The plot follows lifeguards exploring an oil rig of the Malibu coast that turns out to be a meth lab. Jeremy Garelick and Peter Tolan penned drafts of the script, and Ben Garant has revisited. Filming is expected to begin in April.

Marvel's S.H.I.E.L.D. TV series has begun filming, according to Entertainment Weekly. Below we have the first photo of Joss Whedon in between takes. The image comes via tweet from Maurissa Tancharoen, wife of Jed Whedon and executive producer/writer on the show. 

Whedon shared the excitement at the Critic's Choice Awards, where he said:

The whole point of the show is that even with all these big things, the little things matter. It's about people who don't have super powers. There will be some people with powers, there will be FX, and there will be the spectacle of science-fiction storytelling — but all played on a very human, small level. That's the appeal of the thing.

Follow Jim on Twitter and Tumblr

A Bored to Death movie is in the works at HBO, according to THR. The feature film would "continue the quirky adventures of the Brooklyn-based writer/amateur private eye" played by Jason Schwartzman. Author-essayist Jonathan Ames created the show, which also starred Zach Galifianakis and Ted Danson.

Ames is writing and executive producing the film, and Sarah Condon and Stephanie Davis are also serving as exec producer. The cast would reprise their roles for the film, which has the following logline:

Jonathan, Ray, and George reunite to fight crime, commit crime, lose their minds and fail at love in a Bored to Death feature-length slapstick adventure.

I never regularly watched the show, but I laughed my ass off when I did. The series had some solid ratings during the first two seasons, but they dropped drastically during the third. It will be interesting to see if there is still interest in a movie. Let us know if you are excited in the rant back section.

Follow Jim on Twitter and Tumblr

Earlier this month it was announced that Frank Darabont (The Walking Dead, Shawshank Redemption, The Mist, The Green Mile) would be re-writing Legendary Pictures Godzilla re-make, and the fans went wild! The writer and director recently talked to io9 about his take on the legendary monster.

What I found very interesting about Godzilla is that he started off definitely as a metaphor for Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And some of the atom bomb testing we were doing in the South Pacific in the subsequent years. The giant terrifying force of nature that comes and stomps the shit out of your city, that was Godzilla. Filtered through the very fanciful imaginations of the Japanese perception. And then he became Clifford the Big Red Dog in the subsequent films. He became the mascot of Japan, he became the protector of Japan. Another big ugly monster would show up and he would fight that monster to protect Japan. Which I never really quite understood, the shift.

What we're trying to do with the new movie is not have it camp, not have it be campy. We're kind of taking a cool new look at it. But with a lot of tradition in the first film. We want this to be a terrifying force of nature. And what was really cool, for me, is there was a very compelling human drama that I got to weave into it. It's not that cliched, thinly disguised romance or bromance, or whatever. It's different, it's a different set of circumstances than you're used to seeing. And that's tremendously exciting as a writer when you're asked to do something else.

I've noticed a lot of Japanese movies are metaphors Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Darabont is then asked if his Godzilla will represent a different metaphor...

I think there is, but I do believe that there's a margin of interpretation, as Drew mentioned earlier. I love leaving a few crumbs on the table for the audience to determine what they think. Let them bring something to it as well. That's why a movie like The Green Mileis so satisfying or why The Mist is so satisfying to me. Because it stirs their participation and they have interpretation. I've heard metaphors that people apply to Shawshank Redemption, for example, that are fantastic that I never, ever would have thought of. And I say, you know what? You are absolutley right. That is exactly what it means to you. And how satisfying for me to have served you this meal and you identify flavors in it that I never even intended. That's one of the great rewards of what we do.

I never had any doubt that Darabont would give the film an incredible story and script. He and director Gareth Edwards are going to give us one hell of a badass Godzilla movie that I think fans are going to love. At least that's what I'm hoping for. I love what the filmmaker had to say in this interview, and I can't wait to see this movie start taking shape!

While I feel guilty for not actually watching Scott Pilgrim, I do happen to love the source material, and I also like Super Meat Boy. Evidentally Ben Geldenhuys felt the same way, because for a recent Legion Ink Sketch Challenge he produced the cool little mashup you see below. Recently he finally finished the full color version you see above, and its pretty rad (yep, channeling Charlie Sheen ladies and gents). Its quite well done in pretty much every way, but what i love about it most is how Ben nailed Meat Boy's personality. i love the colored version, but even in just black and white its pretty sweet. You can check out his other work in his Deviant Art gallery, and if you dig it make sure to let him know.

Ben Person and Free Reyes review Breath In, with Elijah Reyes as camera man.

Make sure to read Ben's written review.

Director: Drake Doremus

Screenwriters: Drake Doremus, Ben York Jones

Cast: Guy Pearce, Felicity Jones, Amy Ryan, Mackenzie Davis

Official Synopsis: As summer turns to fall, music teacher Keith Reynolds privately reminisces about his days as a starving artist in the city. While his wife, Megan, and daughter, Lauren, look forward to Lauren’s final year of high school, Keith clings to those evenings he’s asked to sub as a cellist with a prestigious Manhattan symphony. When Megan decides the family should host foreign exchange student Sophie, the British high school senior soon rekindles an impetuous aspect of Keith’s personality.

Check out this incredibly awesome Wolverine illustration created by Kelsey Shannon. I love the powerful energy that this piece conveys. It's Wolverine in true berserker rage... so badass!

I recently had the opportunity to watch Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, and as ridiculous as it is, I thought it was a fun and entertaining movie. You are either going to like it or hate it. We'll have a review up for you to check out soon. A new Red-Band trailer has been released for the film featuring some fun new bloody footage. 

The film was directed by Tommy Wirkola, and it stars Jeremy Renner, Gemma Arterton as the two witch killing heros, and Famke Jansen as the villain. It hits theaters on January 25th, will you be checking it out in theaters? 

Catching up with Hansel (Jeremy Renner) and Gretel (Gemma Arterton), fifteen years after the traumatic incident involving a gingerbread house, the siblings have grown into vengeful bounty hunters dedicated to exterminating witches. Over the years, the siblings became expert hunters, famous for their proficiency at tracking and taking down their prey. Although still recovering from their ordeal, their work is relatively easy as for an unknown reason harmful spells and curses do not work well against them. 

The Mayor of Augsburg recruits them to rid the town and nearby forests of an evil sorceress (Famke Janssen) who is planning to sacrifice many local children at the witches' gathering during the upcoming 'Blood Moon' night in two days time. To make things worse, the duo also has to deal with the brutal Sheriff Berringer (Peter Stormare) who has taken power in Augsburg and conducts a very indiscriminate witch-hunt of his own.

Here's a really fun horror short called Eaglewalk that was directed by Rob Himebaugh. The movie takes place in 1971 and features a classic campground massacre involving bigfoot.

Summer fun is on the run when a group of counselors return to open the long-abandoned Camp Eaglewalk, only to unleash the fury of a vengeful Sasquatch whose sacred totem pole was desecrated a decade before. What follows is a 24-hour nightmare of terror as one by one, the counselors are slaughtered by the rampaging beast. Now, the sole survivor must make a desperate last stand, or die running.

I think many of you will enjoy this one. Check it out when you get a chance and let us know what you think!

Eaglewalk from Tristan Borys on Vimeo.

The East

Director: Zal Batmanglij

Screenwriters: Zal Batmanglij, Brit Marling

Producers: Tony Scott and Ridley Scott

Cast: Brit Marling, Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, Toby Kebbell, Shiloh Fernandez, and Patricia Clarkson

Official Synopsis: Someone is attacking big corporate CEOs and forcing them to consume harmful products they manufacture. An elite private intelligence firm is called into action and contracts ex-FBI agent Sarah Moss to infiltrate a mysterious anarchist collective, The East, suspected to be responsible. Skilled, focused, and bent on success, Sarah goes undercover and dedicates herself to taking down the organization. She soon finds, however, that the closer she gets to the action, the more she sympathizes with the group’s charismatic leaders.

Story and Direction: 

I'm all for protecting the environment and trying to keep the world we live in a safe and beautiful place, but I would never do anything to hurt someone to do it, even though there are several people and corporations out there that couldn't care less about the people they hurt. The story centers on woman who infiltrates an eco terrorist organization called The East that lives by the motto, "An eye for an eye." The group sets up Fight Club type missions to hurt those people responsible for hurting others. The catch is they inflict the corporate assholes in the film with the same ailments that they've created that have hurt other people. It's really a great type of revenge story where bad people literally get a taste of their own medicine.

I thought the movie was great, and it was one of the few films I've seen at the festival that got an ovation at the end. I liked the intensity of the story, which was well crafted. The movie is kind of predictable though, I pretty much knew what was around every corner, but it was still executed extremely well, so it didn't really bother me that I knew what was coming. It was one of those things where I was just looking forward to seeing how those scenes would play out.

There's definitely an audience for this film, and I fit right in it. I watch a lot of interesting documentaries about some of the crazy pollutants, drugs and chemicals being dumped into our world, and it sucks to see that corporations will do whatever it takes to NOT fix the problems they are responsible for, but they will do everything they can to fight to keep screwing over the people they hurt. It's crazy and sad, but there's a right way and a wrong way for people to fight back, and this movie explores those options.

The movie comes from the same director that brought us 2011's cult film, Sound of My Voice. He did a great job not only directing the film, but the acors as well. 

Performances:

The performances in the film were fantastic. This is the second time that Brit Marling has teamed up with Batmanglij, as they both worked together in his first film Sound of My Voice. I do have to say I enjoyed her performance a lot more in this film, probably because the character was so much more interesting. Some of the other stand out performances in the film included Alexander Skarsgård, Ellen Page, Toby Kebbell, and Shiloh Fernandez, who all play characters in the terrorist group. Then there's Patricia Clarkson who plays Marling's boss. They were all great, and the characters they play are different from anything you've seen them in before. There are a lot of intense scenes in the film that couldn't have been pulled off with bad acting. Luckily, they were able to pull off the characters they played perfectly. 

Similar To:

I'd have to say the the movie is most similar to Fight Club, only there's someone undercover in the group looking to take them down. 

Chances You'll See It In Theaters:

The movie is being distributed by Fox Searchlight Pictures, so you can bet it's going to get a decent theatrical release. When it does come out, I suggest you check it out. I think you're going to like this one. 

Trailer:

Don Jon's Addiction

Writer/Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Brie Larson

Official Synopsis: Jon Martello objectifies everything in his life: his apartment, his car, his family, his church, and, of course, women. His buddies even call him Don Jon because of his ability to pull “10s” every weekend without fail. Yet even the finest flings don’t compare to the transcendent bliss he achieves alone in front of the computer watching pornography. Dissatisfied, he embarks on a journey to find a more gratifying sex life, but ends up learning larger lessons of life and love through relationships with two very different women.

Performances

In the post-film Q&A, Joseph Gordon-Levitt said that the main reason he wanted to play the character of Jon was because he thought it would be hilarious. Good thing he followed his instincts, because he does a great job as a muscle-bound Jersey tough guy archetype who can score nearly any girl he wants but is addicted to pornography. The character is funny and full of bravado and slick charm, but JGL also gives us a look beneath the macho exterior to a man who needs to understand the true meaning of love and connection.

Scarlett Johansson does her best work in years as a gorgeous Jersey "dime" with an attitude, falling for Jon but horrified to discover his secret. Julianne Moore is funny, vulnerable, and relatable as an older student at Jon's community college who teaches him some valuable life lessons (I'll leave it at that so I don't spoil anything). Brie Larson essentially plays a skinnier female Silent Bob, spending the entire movie silent and texting on her phone save for one scene in which she offers Jon some wise advice. But most surprising was Tony Danza, who spends most of the movie in a wife beater swearing at his family in that special way only someone from New Jersey can. He's been absent from the limelight for years, and this brash personality is a great choice of character for his comeback.

Story and Direction

Gordon-Levitt certainly isn't afraid to tackle a subject that's normally taboo in our culture, diving into the topic of porn addiction with a respectable mix of drama and humor. When characters watching porn in Hollywood movies, it's usually used as nothing more than a punchline, but the writer/director really delves into the mentality of being an addict and what consequences that has in his relationships. JGL also deftly draws comparisons between pornography and Hollywood romance films, with his ultimate message being that allowing media of any kind to set unreasonable expectations in our lives will never be fulfilling.

You can definitely feel JGL's background with his collaborative short film website hitRECord coming through in the editing of this movie as it intercuts real pornography into dinner conversations and splices crazy fast montages together. He's also worked with some of the best directors in the world over his career, and a few shots in particular from Don Jon's Addiction feel straight out of a Rian Johnson movie, but overall Gordon-Levitt has his own style and charm that he brings behind the camera as well as in front of it. The film is charming, very funny, sexy, smart, and entertaining, and is one of the most energetic and defined directorial debuts I've seen in quite some time.

Similar To

Elijah mentioned in our video review that it starts out with kind of an American Psycho vibe, and the narration and meticulous nature of the Jon character lend itself to that comparison. But this is a much more heartfelt story than that one, and Don Jon's Addiction is such a specific kind of love story that I don't think there are many contemporaries worthy of comparison.

Chances You'll See It In Theaters

They'll probably have to cut down a few of the real porn sequences that they used in the movie, but with a name as big as JGL's and Voltage Pictures already behind it, I think this one has a really good chance of coming to most theaters.

Your favorite new favorite Aussie joins us today! Welcome, Cory, theGamerUntamed to the show.  She was originally to bring a sweetness and class to our abomination of a show. That changed as soon as we started talking Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. After over a month, we return to streets of Black Ops 2, and it is no bueno. It has not got any better. Hopefully it cannot get worse. MattShotcha delivers his weekly rant and this time he is taking down Call of Duty... again.

Bioware... Oh, how the mighty have fallen. They thought it was a good idea to develop an all gay planet for SWTOR. We are here to correct them. We discuss just how bad this idea is. The anger and confusion continue as we try to understand who thought segregation was a good idea. More feet are held to the fire this week. Plus, just because we feel like it, we are giving away some Microsoft/PSN points.

Here's another funny animated short from the gang over at HISHE, giving us their hilarious version of how George Lucas' Star Wars Episde VI: The return of the Jedi should have ended. It gets a little awkward... enjoy! Do you have any thoughts on how you think the film should have ended? 

The Graveyard Book was a 2008 children's book written by legendary author Neil Gaiman. Not so long ago it was being adapted as a stop motion film, but the project ultimately fell through when Henry Selick and the studio had disputes over scheduling and development. But all is not lost. Ron Howard is currently in negotiations to direct a live-action version for Disney.

The book is about a boy named Nobody Owens who is raised by ghosts in a cemetery after his family is murdered. When he is a teen, he is pursued again by his family’s killer, a being called “the Man Jack.”

Graveyard won the Carnegie and Newbery medals for best children’s book -- the only time one work won both awards. Gaiman is just that good.

This will most likely be Howard's next directing job after he finishes up Rush with Chris Hemsworth.

Joey Paur, Free Reyes, and Elijah Reyes review Don Jon's Addiction.

Make sure to checkout Ben's written review.

After a screening of Don Jon's Addiction writer, director, and star Joseph Gordon-Levitt answers questions from the audience.

Writer/Director: Joseph Gordon-Levitt

Cast: Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Scarlett Johansson, Julianne Moore, Tony Danza, Brie Larson

Official Synopsis: Jon Martello objectifies everything in his life: his apartment, his car, his family, his church, and, of course, women. His buddies even call him Don Jon because of his ability to pull “10s” every weekend without fail. Yet even the finest flings don’t compare to the transcendent bliss he achieves alone in front of the computer watching pornography. Dissatisfied, he embarks on a journey to find a more gratifying sex life, but ends up learning larger lessons of life and love through relationships with two very different women.

As a big fan of Keanu Reeves, I'm very excited for 47 Ronin. Some leaked posters hit Topic Stock and got picked up by  Bleeding Cool. As you can see from the posters, they seem to be playing with a few different styles. But the one consistent thing on all of them is the logo which must have already been finalized.

If you're not familiar withe the legend of the 47 Ronin, check out this info via Wikipedia:

The story tells of a group of samurai who were left leaderless (becoming ronin) after their daimyo (feudal lord) Asano Naganori was compelled to commit seppuku (ritual suicide) for assaulting a court official named Kira Yoshinaka, whose title was Kōzuke no suke. The ronin avenged their master's honor by killing Kira, after waiting and planning for almost two years. In turn, the ronin were themselves forced to commit seppuku for committing the crime of murder. With much embellishment, this true story was popularized in Japanese culture as emblematic of the loyalty, sacrifice, persistence, and honor that people should preserve in their daily lives. The popularity of the almost mythical tale was enhanced by rapid modernization during the Meiji era of Japanese history, when it is suggested many people in Japan longed for a return to their cultural roots.

It's been said this movie version will add some supernatural elements which should be interesting to see, if the movie ever really gets finished. 

Joey Paur and Elijah Reyes review Stoker.

Make sure to read Joey's written review.

Director: Park Chan-Wook

Screenwriter: Wentworth Miller

Cast: Mia Wasikowska, Matthew Goode, Dermot Mulroney, Jacki Weaver, and Nicole Kidman

Official Synopsis: After India's father dies in an auto accident, her Uncle Charlie, whom she never knew existed, comes to live with her and her emotionally unstable mother, Evelyn. Soon after his arrival, India begins to suspect this mysterious, charming man has disturbing ulterior motives, but instead of feeling outrage or horror, the friendless girl becomes increasingly infatuated with him.

Here is the first US trailer for a cool British crime flick called The Sweeney that looks like a lot of badass fun!

This is a film adaptation of the British TV series "The Sweeney," and it stars Ray Winstone as Detective Inspector Jack Regan the leader of the "Flying Squad," a branch of the Metropolitan Police specializing in armed robbery and violent crime in London.

The film was released in the UK this past fall and will be hitting select US theaters and iTunes March 1st. This looks like a lot of fun!

Check out this insanely badass preview for Jon Chu's G.I. Joe: Retaliation, featuring an incredibly cool extended ninja fight sequence with Snake Eyes. If this doesn't sell you on seeing this movie I don't know what will. Even if the movie ends up being crap, at least we know it's going to have some incredibly cool classic action-packed G.I. Joe fight sequences. In a recent interview the producer, Lorenzo di Bonaventura, talked about the film, saying,

I really wanted to make the second film more grounded to get a greater sense of grit. The action pictures I've been involved in are ones where, when a guy gets punched, you really feel the punch and when somebody gets shot, you really feel the shot. When Jon came in, that was one of the things he said to me that made me go, 'Okay. We're really going to do this picture together.

The director added,

Obviously, ninjas are a really big part of the movie and we thought that that would make it unique from other franchises to have both the military and the ninja side. We wanted to make sure we were doing something really, really different with ninjas that we had never done before. Because they have masks on and they don't talk anyway, it was the perfect sort of place. You could tell a story with their fighting.

You'll get a taste of what they've done in the preview video below. They went on to talk about taking the franchise back to its roots for the G.I. Joe fans, and also gives some details on another action scene explaining,

We have a whole tank battle with HISS tanks and a little Ripsaw tank that the Rock drives around in. It's really cool in 3D… This is just a fun ride. You go and you get to experience this sort of mash-up of all these genres. In a way, 'G.I. Joe' was mash-up before mash-up ever existed.

Damn, I can't wait to see this! It can't be any worse than the first one. The movie stars Channing Tatum, D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Jonathan Pryce, Ray Stevenson, Bruce Willis, and Dwayne Johnson. It comes out in theaters in 3D on March 29th, and I'm a lot more excited about it after watching this new preview trailer, so check it out! 

A follow-up to the 2009 release of G.I. JOE: RISE OF THE COBRA, which grossed over $300M worldwide, Paramount Pictures, MGM and Skydance Productions, in association with HASBRO and di Bonaventura Pictures, commences production on G.I. JOE: RETALIATION. In this sequel, the G.I. Joes are not only fighting their mortal enemy Cobra; they are forced to contend with threats from within the government that jeopardize their very existence. The film stars D.J. Cotrona, Byung-hun Lee, Ray Park, Adrianne Palicki, Jonathan Pryce, RZA, Ray Stevenson, Channing Tatum with Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson. Directed by Jon M. Chu, and produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Brian Goldner, from a screenplay by Rhett Reese & Paul Wernick based on Hasbro's G.I. Joe(R) characters.

From Sherlock to cunning sci-fi villain to co-founder of Wikileaks.

DreamWorks has announced that principal photography has begun on its previously untitled feature film about the creation of WikiLeaks and the man behind it , Julian Assange. Now titled The Fifth Estate, the film traces the meteoric rise of the site through the eyes of Assange and colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg, played by Daniel Brühl, the German sniper from Inglourious Basterds, who’s pictured above with Benedict Cumberbatch as Assange in the first official image from the film.

The screenplay is based in part on Domscheit-Berg’s book Inside WikiLeaks: My Time with Julian Assange and the World’s Most Dangerous Website, as well as WikiLeaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy by British journalists David Leigh and Luke Harding.

Benedict Cumberbatch and Brühl are joined by co-stars Laura Linney, Anthony Mackie and many others.

This transformation is incredible, and talk about great casting! I cannot see anyone else pulling off the look quite as well.