I love a good gambling film, and it looks like we are going to have a great one coming from screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (The Social Network, Steve Jobs). The movie will be based on the Molly Bloom memoir, Molly’s Game, and it’s an intriguing true story that is going to make for a great movie. Here’s a little background on Bloom thanks to Deadline:

“A world-class skier since she could walk, she is equal parts talented, brilliant and headstrong. By the time she was 21 she was ranked No. 3 in North America in moguls while maintaining a 3.9 GPA as a political science major in college. Stung after failing to make the Olympic team, she decided to take a year off before law school, get a waitressing job in Los Angeles and enjoy warm weather for a while. Through a bizarre set of circumstances as well as untapped entrepreneurial skills, she ended up making millions by running, for eight years, the most exclusive high-stakes poker game in the world. Her life came crashing down when 17 FBI agents armed with automatic weapons rang her doorbell.”

This sounds like it could be up there with the great gambling films that have been made over the years like Rounders, which is a favorite of mine. I also enjoy Sorkin’s style of writing, and it should work perfectly for this kind of movie, which is why he was obviously hired to work on it. 

Here’s a description of the book:

Molly Bloom reveals how she built one of the most exclusive, high-stakes underground poker games in the world—an insider’s story of excess and danger, glamour and greed.

In the late 2000s, Molly Bloom, a twentysomething petite brunette from Loveland Colorado, ran the highest stakes, most exclusive poker game Hollywood had ever seen—she was its mistress, its lion tamer, its agent, and its oxygen. Everyone wanted in, few were invited to play.

Hundreds of millions of dollars were won and lost at her table. Molly’s game became the game for those in the know—celebrities, business moguls, and millionaires. Molly staged her games in palatial suites with beautiful views and exquisite amenities. She flew privately, dined at exclusive restaurants, hobnobbed with the heads of Hollywood studios, was courted by handsome leading men, and was privy to the world’s most delicious gossip, until it all came crashing down around her.

Molly’s Game is a behind the scenes look at Molly’s game, the life she created, the life she lost, and what she learned in the process.

It was announced last year that the popular video game Ratchet & Clank would be getting a 3D feature film adaptation. Today we have a poster for that movie for you to check out. 

James A. Taylor and David Kaye, who provide the voices for the characters in the game, will be reprising their roles in the film. Here’s a little breakdown of the characters and some story info.

Ratchet is the last of his kind – a foolhardy 'lombax' who has grown up alone on a backwater planet with no family of his own. Clank is a pint-sized robot with more brains than brawn. When the two stumble upon a dangerous weapon capable of destroying entire planets, they must join forces with a team of colorful heroes called The Galactic Rangers in order to save the galaxy. Along the way they’ll learn about heroism, friendship, and the importance of discovering one’s own identity.

The movie will be released sometime in 2015. 

We've already seen a few really cool high tech Batman character designs that you can check out here, here and here. Today we have another one by artist Nuttavut Baiphowongse, and it features a design that seems to have more of a robotic cyborg look to it. The details included in this design are pretty insane.

Disney Animation Studios has announced release dates for two of their upcoming animated film projects, Zootopia and Moana.

Zootopia is set to be released on November 3rd, 2016. The movie is being directed by Byron Howard (Tangled), and it follows a fast-talking fox who dreams of making it big. The two main characters in the film are Nick Wilde, who is a fox, and Lt. Judy Hopps, a rabbit. They begin as natural enemies, but eventually become friends, and possibly more by the end of the story. You can read more about the film here.

Moana will be released on November 23rd, 2016. This movie is being directed by Ron Clements and John Musker. The story for this one is set in the ancient South Pacific world of Oceania, and this is the plot summary:

“Moana, a born navigator, sets sail in search of a fabled island. During her incredible journey, she teams up with her hero, the legendary demi-god Maui, to traverse the open ocean on an action-packed voyage, encountering enormous sea creatures, breathtaking underworlds and ancient folklore.”

This is the first CG-animated movie from Clements and Musker, the team behind such Disney films as The Little Mermaid and Aladdin.

It seems like this movie should have already come out. Warner Bros. has been marketing The Wachowskis sci-fi film for so long. But it’s not coming out until February of next year, so we still have a long way to go. The movie looks visually amazing, but the story doesn’t interest me at all, and I haven’t really liked anything that I’ve seen from the previously released trailers. This might be one of those movies that was just poorly marketed, though, and it will actually be better than it looks. Channing Tatum and Mila Kunis star, and this is the synopsis:

Jupiter Jones (Kunis) was born under a night sky, with signs predicting that she was destined for great things. Now grown, Jupiter dreams of the stars but wakes up to the cold reality of a job cleaning other people's houses and an endless run of bad breaks. Only when Caine (Tatum), a genetically engineered ex-military hunter, arrives on Earth to track her down does Jupiter begin to glimpse the fate that has been waiting for her all along—her genetic signature marks her as next in line for an extraordinary inheritance that could alter the balance of the cosmos. From the streets of Chicago to far flung galaxies whirling through space. 

The movie is set to be released in theaters on February 6th, 2015. Are any of you excited about seeing this one? 

An intriguing live-action sci-fi short film was sent into us by director Carlos Orozco. It's called "Singular," and it's set in an America where everyone has superpowers, except for Andy. This is a cool and interesting concept. Most superhero stories revolve around a few people with superpowers in a world where almost everyone doesn't have them. This is the complete opposite, and it makes for a really good short. Here's the synopsis:

In an America where everyone has superpowers, Andy, the only kid who doesn't have one, struggles to escape a group of bullies led by Sofia, who just wants to make Andy's life more miserable than it already is. But what begins as an ordinary 'everyday' beating ends up spiraling out of control, putting our hero in a life-or-death situation where courage, leadership and sacrifice will guide Andy -- and Sofia -- to discover the true meaning of 'being special.'"

I really enjoyed this short, and I think some of you will like too, so check it out!

Jack O'Connell, who is the star of Angelina Jolie's upcoming World War II survival movie Unbroken, is set to star in Terry Gilliam's long awaited passion project, Don Quixote. I've been following this movie for years, and it's really good to see that this movie is actually moving forward and that Gilliam has found an actor to star in the film.

Even though it's not mentioned in the report on Variety, John Hurt is expected to play Miguel de Cervantes, the hero of the story. Last month in an interview with the Daily Mail, Hurt talked about O'Connell's potential casting, saying, "Jack's Derbyshire born and bred, so it will be fun to work with him." Hurt is also from Derbyshire.

Gilliam's new vision of this story is a modern and satirical twist on the classic Cervantes tale. O'Connell will play Toby, "a jaded commercials director who travels to Spain for a shoot and comes across a gypsy who gives a copy of his student film - a lyrical re-working of the Don Quixote story set in a quaint old Spanish village. Moved by the discovery, Toby sets off on a bizarre road trip to find the little village where the student student film was shot and gets caught up in a series of catastrophies."

This is Gilliam's seventh attempt to make this film, and in a statement he says, "Seven is my lucky number so let’s break the curse and make it!" Executive producer Gregoire Melin added,

"We believe this film will capture the essence of everything audiences loved in Gilliam’s unforgettable masterpieces such as Brazil, Time Bandits and The Adventures of Baron Munchausen."

The original 2000 version's screenwriter Tony Grisoni, who wrote Fear & Loathing in Las Vegas, Tideland, and (uncredited) The Brothers Grimm with Gilliam, is still credited with the Quixote script. 

The movie is set to start shooting in the spring for an expected May 2016 release.

Here's a creepy-looking poster design for Hammer's upcoming horror film The Woman In Black 2: Angel of Death. That shadowy ghostly figure standing over the kid is kind of terrifying. This looks like it will be a very fun and nightmarish horror flick. You you haven't seen the trailer for the movie yet, click here to check it out. 

During the London bombings of World War II, school teachers Eve Parkins (Phoebe Fox) and Jean Hogg (Helen McCrory) lead a group of children in evacuation to Crythin Gifford, a remote village outside of the city.

When the group takes up residence at the Eel Marsh House, 40 years after Arthur Kipps (Daniel Radcliffe) investigated the first haunting, Eve soon realizes they are not alone. The longer they stay in the house, the more the awful past of the residence unravels itself and the evil spirit that lurks around them threatens the well-being of the children.

With the help of a pilot (Jeremy Irvine), Eve does all that she can to protect the children and discover the truth behind the Woman in Black.

The movie hits theaters on January 2nd, 2015.

The mysterious and dark character known as “The Necromancer” has been kind of a haunting character in the first two Hobbit movies. He’s just preparing to strike when the time is right. As I’m sure you already know, this is actually the Dark Lord Sauron from The Lord of the Rings. The character will be voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch in The Hobbit: The Battle Of The Five Armies, and today we have an image that gives us a good look at the character. We got a half a second glimpse of him in The Desolation of Smaug. I happened so fast I'm sure a lot of people missed it. In case you missed the last trailer for The Battle of Five Armies, you can watch it here.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies” brings to an epic conclusion the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, Thorin Oakenshield and the Company of Dwarves. Having reclaimed their homeland from the Dragon Smaug, the Company has unwittingly unleashed a deadly force into the world. Enraged, Smaug rains his fiery wrath down upon the defenseless men, women and children of Lake-town. Obsessed above all else with his reclaimed treasure, Thorin sacrifices friendship and honor to hoard it as Bilbo’s frantic attempts to make him see reason drive the Hobbit towards a desperate and dangerous choice. But there are even greater dangers ahead. Unseen by any but the Wizard Gandalf, the great enemy Sauron has sent forth legions of Orcs in a stealth attack upon the Lonely Mountain. As darkness converges on their escalating conflict, the races of Dwarves, Elves and Men must decide – unite or be destroyed. Bilbo finds himself fighting for his life and the lives of his friends in the epic Battle of the Five Armies, as the future of Middle-earth hangs in the balance.

The final chapter in the trilogy will be released on December 17th. Thanks to The One Ring, who posted a scanned image from a book that led me to this.

The release date for writer and director Leigh Whannell’s Insidious: Chapter 3 has been moved back one week to June 5th, 2015. I think is one of the great horror film franchises of our generation, and this sequel looks like it's going to be pretty frightening. 

Insidious: Chapter 3 is set “before the haunting of the Lambert family, [and] reveals how gifted psychic Elise Rainier (Lin Shaye) reluctantly agrees to use her ability to contact the dead in order to help a teenage girl (Stefanie Scott) who has been targeted by a dangerous supernatural entity.”

To watch the trailer for the film, click here. 

Here's an interesting and unique infographic that focuses on the skin of certain superheroes. It breaks down the strengths and weaknesses of the skin of a number of heroes and villains, and it shows us who has the most unique and toughest skinin the comic book universe. It offers up some intriguing information for some people who might not be well-versed in comic book characters. 

Thanks to Beauty Flash for sending this in.

Jason Statham returns to reprise his role as the master assassin, Arthur Bishop, in Mechanic: Resurrection, which Linosgate has set for release on January 22nd, 2016.

Bishop faked his death in the story in an attempt to escape his former profession, so that he could lead a peaceful and quiet retirement. Of course that doesn’t work out too well for him. People like Bishop never get to retire, they always tend to get sucked back in.

The sequel is being directed by Dennis Gansel, and it also stars Jessica Alba and Tommy Lee Jones. I liked the first movie, and I’ll watch just about anything that Statham stars in, so count me in for the sequel! 

Source: Variety

Artist Michael David Mitchell created this wicked cool piece of Venom and Spider-Man art. Venom looks freakin' insane in it, and I love that the villain is drooling all over Spider-Man. These two characters really need to have a great movie together. I watched Spider-Man 3 recently, and it was actually a lot better than I remember. The first half is great, but things definitely take a turn for the worse when Peter Parker goes emo. Regardless of that, the movie did have some great moments. I'm glad that I revisited it. 

Remember the character GizmoDuck from Darkwing Duck?! Of course you do, and here's an amazingly cool piece of fan art that was created by artist Mitch Mueller. The illustration came along with the following caption:

"Flickin yous hard in the nostalgic testicles."

It really does! This little piece brought back some great memories. 

One of the biggest complaints about Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar is about the sound mix. There were moments in the film that were so loud that you couldn’t hear what the characters were saying. It was kind of distracting for me the first time I saw the movie, but the second time I saw it, the sound wasn’t distracting at all. This is something that Nolan did on purpose, and in an interview with THR, he opens up about his sound mixing decisions and explains why he went in that direction.

“I’ve always loved films that approach sound in an impressionistic way and that is an unusual approach for a mainstream blockbuster, but I feel it's the right approach for this experiential film.”

This is the first time that the director has discussed the sound of the film since the movie was released. He went on to describe his vision of the sound for the film as “adventurous and creative.” The director goes on to say,

“Many of the filmmakers I’ve admired over the years have used sound in bold and adventurous ways. I don’t agree with the idea that you can only achieve clarity through dialogue. Clarity of story, clarity of emotions—I try to achieve that in a very layered way using all the different things at my disposal—picture and sound.”

Nolan told the site that the sound in the film is exactly the way he intended and he praised movie theaters for presenting it correctly. He’s a strong believer that “sound is as important as picture,” and he likes to hear how his movies sound in actual theaters.

“Usually [I visit] six or seven. I like to hear it out where people are going to see it, not just in the cocoon of the dub stage. That is something I have done for years, because everything we are doing is intended to communicate something to the audience.

“The theaters I have been at have been doing a terrific job in terms of presenting the film in the way I intended. Broadly, speaking there is no question when you mix a film in an unconventional way as this, you’re bound to catch some people off guard, but hopefully people can appreciate the experience for what it’s intended to be.”

He also explains some of the decisions he made in terms of dialogue. 

“We made carefully considered creative decisions. There are particular moments in this film where I decided to use dialogue as a sound effect, so sometimes it’s mixed slightly underneath the other sound effects or in the other sound effects to emphasize how loud the surrounding noise is. It’s not that nobody has ever done these things before, but it's a little unconventional for a Hollywood movie.”

He offers up an example of the the scene where Matthew McConaughey is driving through a cornfield. Nolan was riding in the back of a car while filming the point of view shots, and he says, 

“It’s incredibly loud … exhilarating and slightly frightening. I was very keen to try and give the audience the experience and the chaotic feeling with the sound.

“The idea is to experience the journey the character is going on. [For instance] the experience of being in the cockpit is you hear the creaking [of the spacecraft], it’s a very scary sound. We wanted to be true to the experience of space travel. We wanted to emphasize those intimate elements.”

Nolan and his post-production team spent over six months mixing the sound for the movie. Every decision that was made was discussed, and he’s obviously extremely happy with the outcome.

I understand what he was trying to accomplish, and I can see why people didn’t like it, because I didn’t care for it the first time around. The second time I saw the movie, though, I got what Nolan was trying to do, and I embraced it and enjoyed the ride. 

I enjoy Key & Peele’s brand of comedy, which spans a ton of different interests, worlds, and pop culture that now includes Marvel Comics.

The latest Key & Peele sketch features Stan Lee pitching a series of new superheroes to a room full of Marvel executives. What’s so funny about it is that most of them are ridiculous older characters that are seemingly inspired by his own life.  

Unfortunately, Lee hasn't had a decent superhero character idea that has caught on in years. Every new idea he comes up with these days seems worse than the last, and this sketch pokes fun at that. 

One of the major things that has been teased for Colin Trevorrow’s upcoming Jurassic World is a terrifying new dinosaur that will be introduced to audiences. Before I go on I’m going to throw out a SPOILER warning because we get into some details on this beast as well as some leaked photos from LEGO that give us our first look. 

There’s a report that this dino is a crossbreed of a T-Rex, raptor, snake, and cuttlefish. The director has confirmed that this is true. The result is a red-eyed dino with translucent skin. One of the dinosaur consultants on the film, Jack Horner, teased the beast in an interview, saying that we'll want to "keep the lights on" after seeing it.

This new dinosaur is called a D-Rex, and it really does look like it could be one hell of a badass beast. You can get an idea of what it will look like in the film from the LEGO photos below.

The highly anticipated movie stars Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard, Ty Simpkins, Jake Johnson, Nick Robinson, Irrfan Khan, Vincent D'Onofrio, BD Wong, Omar Sy, Judy Greer, Katie McGrath, Lauren Lapkus, and Andy Buckley. 

This latest adventure in the franchise is set 22 years after the terrifying events of the original Jurassic Park. It's set to be released on June 12th, 2015.

Via: CBM

Cameron Arrigioni was inspired to cut together a trailer for The Empire Strikes Back in the style of the trailers that studios are releasing today. It turned out surprisingly spectacular. It was definitely an interesting choice to cut it together with a song from Two Steps From Hell called "Freedom Fighters," and not John Williams' classic Star Wars score, but it works. It definitely succeeds in trying to convince you that this is one of the greatest movies ever. As much as I enjoyed this and how big it made the film seem, I still prefer the original, which I also included below.

Last week we posted a little preview of Billy Boyd’s song for Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies. It’s called “The Last Goodbye,” and it is absolutely beautiful. As I said before, this is the perfect song to close out this epic fantasy franchise. Boyd had this to say in a statement to THR:

“We focused on not just the final installment, but moreso on this 10-year epic adventure. A song to sum up the six movies. We recorded in Wellington, New Zealand, at one point traveling to Auckland to Neil Finn’s studio — where we recorded some of the guitar. It was surreal to be in his studio, as he did the song for [2012's] The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.”

It’s sad to think that this will be the last Middle Earth film that we’ll possibly ever see. I seriously doubt anyone will ever try to remake or reboot this Middle Earth franchise. So this is it. This is the end. It’s been an amazing journey, and I can’t wait to see how it all ends with The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

Check out this badass piece of Batman fan art by Jason Kang. It reimagines The Dark Knight in a medieval fantasy world in which he apparently rides around on a giant bat creature. The concept alone is insanely cool, but the design work is stunning. The armor that Batman is wearing is so freakin’ cool! I’d love to see a whole series of designs like this for the characters that reside in the Batman universe.