I had a lengthy discussion with another friend about how sweet/sexy/intense that scene between Charles, Erik and the satellite was. Charles penetrating Erik’s mind and sharing those hidden emotions was incredibly intimiate. So sad those guys couldn’t make their relationship work.

CHANCE

I don’t know about anybody else but Catwoman has long been my favorite of Batman’s villainesses, from Julie Newmar to Eartha Kitt to Michelle Pfeiffer (as far as I’m concerned Halle Berry’s doesn’t exist as it was total crap).

Add the vivacious sultry and dark anti-hero Selina to Anne’s ‘east coast cardigan wasp’-ness and you got fireworks. I love Anne plus she has major gay cred what with playing beard to Jake G’s DL cowboy in Brokeback Mountin’

Aside from that awful girl gang movie Brokeback showed us Anne can pull out the stops and be crazy… so I can’t WAIT for this movie moreso now than ever!

Here’s a link to the cinema blend article with quotes from Nolan and the WB press release.

http://www.cinemablend.com/new/Anne-Hathaway-Confirmed-As-Catwoman-And-Tom-Hardy-As-Bane-In-The-Dark-Knight-Rises-22706.html

For Tetsuo, the main candidates are James McAvoy, Robert Pattinson, and Andrew Garfield.  For Kaneda, we have Garrett Hedlund, Michael Fassbender, Chris Pine, Justin Timberlake, or Joaquin Phoenix.  Yes, someone actually thinks it’s a good idea to put Justin Timberlake in Akira as a biker punk living in a post-apocalyptic dystopia. 

You may have noticed something about all of those names: every one of them belongs to a white man.  Apparently, there are no Asian actors working today who could POSSIBLY fill either of those roles, but a movie set in Tokyo doesn’t need Asians, right?  As much as I’m a proponent of color-blind casting, this strikes me as a bit misguided.  It’s bad enough that a couple of Americans are trying to remake a property that is so inherently Japanese.  If the world really thought a live-action update of Akira was necessary, don’t you think the Japanese would have already done it?

A good friend of mine likes to call The Last Airbender film “Race Fail: The Movie.”  It looks like it might have some competition, assuming the film ever gets off the ground.  To do it properly, the Hughes brothers will need to spend metric crap tons of money, and considering there’s already a significant backlash against the film from anime fans (and that several people originally cast in supporting roles have dropped out), there’s a good chance it will never get made.

Not that I already have my mind made up about the film, says the man who’s loved anime since his first exposure in 1993.

Given my near fet—screw it, given my fetish for all things Superman it seems I’m going to be the one constantly updating the FBOTU community on the new movie.

With that I give you GENERAL ZOD! And also the new movie’s name which apparently is ,Superman: Man of Steel!

I don’t know who Michael Shannon is, despite having watched several of his movies, but to his credit he does have some geek cred… ok he was in Jonah Hex.  I actually thought he was the uber sexy tech geek Marshall Flinkman, aka Kevin Weisman, from Alias but turns out it wasn’t. Either way it looks like the movie is shaping up to be a real power hitter. Apparently Kevin Costner is gonna Pa Kent I guess missed that casting update.

So what does everyone think? Thoughts? Opinions? Criticisms?

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/04/10/man-of-steel-superman-movie_n_847259.html

.... I did want to say one thing though—I DID NOT WATCH JONAH HEX like the rest of the country I saw the trailer and Megan Fox’s poorly affected accent and said no thanks… just like a sexual proposition from Snooki after she roofie’d you.

Alas, it is not to be, as Aronofsky has removed himself from the project.  Aronofsky cited family concerns as his reasons, saying he did not want to spend a year away from his son (especially in the middle of custody talks with now ex-partner Rachel Weisz).  That’s probably not a cover, but you never know.  Matthew Vaughn—director of First Class—cited personal reasons when he dropped out of directing X-Men: The Last Stand, only later to admit that he dropped out because he did not think he could do the film he wanted to make in the rushed production schedule the studio gave him.  In that case, Brett Ratner took over and gave us the most boring, soulless X-Men film in the series…until Wolverine came along.

So hopes for more Wolverine nude scenes seem to have been temporarily dashed.  If 20th Century Fox wants to make another Wolverine film, they need to do it soon.  Wolverine may not age, but Hugh Jackman will, and without Hugh Jackman there’s no film.

“I’ve said it before that I see the guy like a cross between Han Solo and Chuck Yeager. He’s that kind of archetype. There’s something classic about that, something I don’t think we’ve really seen in the modern superhero film. It’s that kind of ability to walk the line between drama, adventure, and a bit of humor. He’s not like a funny guy, but he’s a witty guy—if that makes any sense at all.”

“What I liked about it was that it’s a story about a character who’s got an issue with hubris and a character fault of arrogance, I think, and he’s bestowed this extraordinary gift, this extraordinary ability, and it’s actually humbling for him.”

He also reminds everyone that all the things he’s said to be attached to lately—films based on Deadpool and R. I. P. D. primarily—are all in-development and a long ways off from him actually singing any papers to star in them.

Amy Adam’s has been cast in Zack Snyders—uh, reboot? Remake?—Screw it in Zack Snyder’s Superman! I love me some Superman especially Ms Lois Lane (Kent?) , always have, always will, and I love Amy Adams she’s an actress that’s often too underrated for not being as obnoxious as some of her contemporaries.

Originally I was going to say I had mixed feelings, because I think you should always have reservations, however that/s not the case here. Like Anne Hathaway she’s an amazing actress with great versatility and I have no doubt she’ll rock this.

Especially given the most recent Lois’ out there I mean Kate Bosworth was good but too soft and really just all about being a girl in love with two guys, one super and one hot.
While Erica Durance is much more like the comic version of Lois and her take no prisoners-independent woman-ace reporter persona she comes off more as caricature. Though that probably is more the writing’s fault than hers as they pretty much make her into a goofy somewhat clumsy contrast to Tom Welling’s Superman and his near perfection.

So what’s everybody else’s thoughts on this casting?

Here’s the link to the Huffingtonposts article:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/03/27/amy-adams-lois-lane-in-superman_n_841169.html

It seems the Warner Bros. is taking the Marvel Studios approach in reverse.  In preparation for The Avengers, we’re getting movies of each of the individual characters first—Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor, Captain America.  Warner Bros. is preparing a Justice League film for 2013, and the Superman and Batman films (not directed by Snyder and Nolan) will come after.  New Warner Bros. president Jeff Robinov claims that the Sups and Bats films will “reinvent” the franchises only a few years after they were already reinvented.  There are apparently also separate films being planned for the Flash and Wonder Woman, which comes as David E. Kelly prepares his Wonder Woman McBeal TV series and after Joss Whedon famously threw his hands up and said “I quit” on the Wonder Woman movie, leaving its future in limbo.

Clearly, Mr. Robinov has never heard of the term “over-saturation.” 

How Warner Bros. thinks they’ll have a full, completed JL movie by 2013 astounds me, seeing as how the script hasn’t been finalized yet, nobody’s been cast, and no director has been hired.  Never mind that it would come out almost exactly the same time as the next Superman and Batman films which, according to Robinov, apparently have no connection to JL or to the superhero films after it.  At least Marvel is spacing out its films: 2009 was the Hulk, 2010 was Iron Man, 2011 is Thor and Captain America, 2012 is the Avengers.  (X-Men: First Class is technically a 20th Century Fox film and not part of the Marvel Studios continuity)

Honestly, I think the public is getting a little sick of superhero films.  I know I deserve 20 lashes as a fanboy saying that, but I think it’s true.  Fanboys know these characters, so of course we don’t think it’s overkill, but how many people know Green Lantern, and how many people will be curious even if he’s played by Ryan Reynolds and his amazing underwear?  Superman, Batman, Captain America are all fairly iconic and long-lived heroes.  But even then, the public’s appetite will eventually get oversated, and by the time the JL film comes out, who knows how many people may care to see it? 

Then again, there are plenty of heroes and comics who will never get a film, no matter how many properties are mined.  I know I’ll never, ever see an adaptation of my favorite comic, Excalibur (the X-Men spin-off starring Kitty Pryde and Nightcrawler) and as intriguing as a Doctor Strange film might be, it’s prospects of getting made anytime soon are almost nil.  I’m glad to see superhero films getting the attention they deserve, but I think in an effort to get as much out there as possible, people are biting off way more than they can chew, and it’s certain to backfire.

Any thoughts?

—Emily Browning (Baby Doll) on her and Jon Hamm in Sucker Punch

* * * * *

So, America, these are the people keeping your children “safe” from adult material.  They think it’s OK for a woman to be taken advantage of, but it’s not OK for a woman to be in control of her sexuality.  And if you think this just about thinking of the children, think again.  The excellent documentary This Film Is Not Yet Rated shows how much major studios influence the MPAA, and the threat of an “R” rating is often used as a weapon to ensure profitability…and future employment for the filmmakers.  The MPAA also rates anything GLBT-related as instantly more adult than its heterosexual counterpart.