Star Wars in 3D!

Years and years of rumors have now been confirmed! Both USA Today and the official Star Wars site have confirmed that the entire Star Wars saga, beginning with The Phantom Menace will be converted to 3D and re-released in theaters. The prospected release date is 2012. The release dates for the following five movies has yet to be revealed.

With the earlier news of the Star Wars saga being converted to Blue Ray, and considering that the Blue Rays will feature formerly deleted scenes, as seen here, the question rises; will the 3D release feature the deleted scenes?

Which scene or scenes are you looking forward to seeing in 3D the most? Mine would have to be the Battle of Endor, The Battle of Geonosis and the three-way-duel between Obi-Wan, Qui Gon and Darth Maul.

Roundup: Blackwidow movie, Pick of the Week, The Hobbit, Rock Band 3

Highlighted Song: I'm really looking forward to Rock Band 3, so to share my anticipation, as a part of the Highlighted Song mini-segment, I'll be sharing some of my favorite songs that are slated to appear on the upcoming threequel's track list. Let's start with one of my favorites, good 'ol Lowrider.







Quote: From Gangs of New York:

Boss Tweed: The appearance of the law must be upheld, especially as it's being broken.

Fanboy Pick of the Week: If there's one thing that I've learned when it comes to children's movies it's this, Pixar never disappoints. With each new film, Pixar outdoes itself, creating both visual and storytelling masterpieces that captivate both young and old. One of my favorite movies that Pixar has dished out is The Incredibles.

Taking a humorous slant on the life of retired super heroes, The Incredibles managed to perfectly parody the lives of a retired (super) couple, all the while feeling like a 50's comic book. The movie also promoted the importance of family, something we see so rarely in today's media and culture.

News Flash: The much anticipated prequel to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Hobbit, has once again been delayed, this time due to a change in the movie's shooting location. According to IGN, a writer's strike originally taking place in the Australia/New Zealand area has now spread to encompass both Europe and the United States. Members of SAG, (the Screen Actor's Guild) were told not to participate in the creation of the movie due to the fact that it was not a union run project. The movement may force Peter Jackson and Warner Brothers to change the location of the movie to Eastern Europe.

On the other hand, here's some hopefully positive news regarding The Hobbit. It is rumored that Martin Freeman of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame will be playing Bilbo. Personally, I think there is no one more perfect for the role than Martin. Now that his name has come up, I don't think that I can envision anyone else in the role. Hopefully we'll be able to see him on the big screen sometime in the next, oh I don't know, decade or two.

Some of you may be aware that the recent Marvel movies, i.e. Iron Man 1 and 2, The Incredible Hulk and both the upcoming Thor and Captain America, are all predecessors to an Avengers movie. But what you may not know is that Black Widow, a character first seen in Iron Man 2 and played by Scarlett Johanson will be appearing in her own Marvel movie as a follow-up to The Avengers. I'm not sure how well this will be. But I really don't know enough about the character to go into any more detail. All I know, is that she kicked some serious buttocks in Iron Man 2 and that she works for Samuel Jackson.

Stay tuned as I look back (and forward) on Harry Potter, the novels and movies of a generation!

Countdown: Top 7 Best Movie Opening Scenes

Top seven? Why not a nice round number like 5 or 10? Well, here's why. I truthfully couldn't find any more than seven opening sequences that I thoroughly enjoyed and thought should garner a position on this list. That's it.

So without further adieu...

7. Gladiator: A battle of titanic proportions, a victory won, and a great life lost. The opening scenes of Gladiator, with it's depiction of a battle between the Holy Roman Empire and a horde of Germanic barbarians sets the stage for what would be one heck of an action packed ride.

6. Up: I'm not one known to cry while watching a movie, but I'm not sure if I've scene a more tragic scene in a film. Up's opening sequence, with it's tale of love found, love lived and love lost, brought me pretty darn close to tears!

5. Star Trek: The opening sequence for Star Trek's latest incarnation can be summed up as pure cinematic gold. From the breathtaking visual effects to the utilization of the classic Star Trek sound scheme from the original series, Star Trek's opening sequence sets the pace for the rest of the film. Not to mention, it pulls your heart strings!

4. The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring: After seeing the introduction with it's massive battles, elves clad in gold, Sauron wielding a mace to the terror of his enemies, and a story that held true to the books, fans of the novels instantly knew that they're childhood memories were in good hands on the big screen.

3. Indiana Jones: Raiders of the Lost Ark:

The first scene from the very first Indiana Jones film is pefect. It instantly sets up Indy as an extremely interesting character to follow. Indy has to avoid poison darts, spear pits, and gigantic boulders. And in the end, his efforts were in vain anyway. I don't think he'd be considered your typical archaeologist! For anyone who's seen the film, I don't believe any more needs to be said.

2. Saving Private Ryan: The opening sequence for Saving Private Ryan has already gone down in the history of cinema as one of the most realistic interpretations of modern warfare to date. From the first scene where we see Private Ryan, aged and tormented by the ghosts of his past, to the D-Day assault on Omaha Beach, Saving Private Ryan has one of the most notable opening sequences in cinema, period.

1. Star Wars: A New Hope: Every viewer, upon seeing the might of the Empire's gargantuan Star Destroyer eclipse Princess Leia's smaller Corellian Corvette, knew that they were in for something completely different than anything they'd ever seen. This in turn heralded the introduction of one of the greatest movie villains of all time, Darth Vader, Dark Lord of the Sith.

Your thoughts? Did I leave any movies out? Did I add any that you didn't think should be on the list? Feel free to comment below.

Quick Movie Review: Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Repo Men, Red Baron & From Paris With Love

I've now realized that I should not pay attention to Rotten Tomatoes when choosing to watch a movie. After watching three movies that I thoroughly enjoyed, Red Baron, Diary of a Wimpy Kid and From Paris With Love, and seeing that Rotten Tomatoes had them on the rotten side of the scale, I realized one very important thing; reading reviews about a movie, or seeing how other people rate it, prejudices you towards the movie before you've even seen it, when the only thing that should be affecting your enjoyment of a movie is simply you. Whether you like it or not shouldn't be interpreted by what another person liked or disliked.

With all three of these movies on the lower end of the scale and one of my favorite films, The Book of Eli, also having been given a poor rating, I came to the conclusion that you alone should interpret your level of enjoyment of a movie, not someone else.

So with that said, who wants to hear my reviews of the following movies and become prejudiced about them?

Here goes...

Diary of a Wimpy Kid: I thoroughly enjoyed this movie. It perfectly captured the minds of thousands of children who suffered through that awkward stage of adolescence. Its plot was clear, crisp and straight to the point. It's characters, especially the main character's best friend, Rowley, really seemed to connect with me. My childhood was similar to both the title character and his chubby companion.

And I think that that's where Diary of a Wimpy Kid is at it's best. Connecting with older audiences who've already been through the experiences depicted in the movie and who can now look back on it and laugh at the absurdity of it all.

Rating: 8 (Close to excellent)



Repo Men: If there's one word that would describe this move, it would be this, screwy.

Repo Men had it's moments, but it was simply a hollow movie filled with far too many twisting plot lines and unnecessary gore. Once you feel like it's finally acquiring it's pace, once Jude Law's character receives the artificial heart, it drops off into an entirely new premise. Romance. Why? Truthfully I have no idea.

In addition to the unnecessary plot line, Repo Men's ending was abhorred. [Spoiler Warning] Basically, it returned to a scene from a remarkably forgettable moment about two thirds of the way into the movie, and revealed that the character's mind alone had fueled everything from that point onward, and that the movie had in fact ended there. I never have, and never plan on swearing on this blog, but I think a certain 3 letter abbreviation comes to mind when watching the final 10 minutes or so.

Rating: 4.5 (Below average)


Red Baron: A fantastic war drama that sports breathtaking visuals, fantastic fight scenes and a deeply intriguing story of one the world's last known war heroes who struggles with the humanity of war and love itself.

Red Baron, though dry at times, follows the exploits of Manfred von Richthofen, none other than the Red Baron, from his time as an inexperienced fighter pilot to the ace of World War I Germany that he is remembered as today.

Quite a few critics bashed The Red Baron for it's historical inaccuracies, and I usually get frustrated myself when a so called 'historical film' varies from it's source material, but for once, I didn't care. Besides, there's so much obscurity revolving around The Red Baron, his life and untimely death, that the movie can almost get away with it.

The movie's fight scenes, almost exclusive to the skies, were absolutely gorgeous! I don't think that I've ever seen a better looking fighter pilot movie. Ever.

If you're a fan of war movies, you've got to see this film!

Rating: 8.5 (Close to excellent)


You can catch some of the exceptional action scenes in the trailer for the movie bellow.

http://www.firstshowing.net/2010/01/15/awesome-aerial-dogfights-in-the-red-baron-official-trailer/


From Paris With Love: Action packed and humorous, my affection for From Paris With Love is accredited to one single thing. The hilarious, over the top acting of John Travolta. From start to finish, Travolta's character of Charlie Wax was a shoo-in for funniest assassin in a 2010 film. What? You've never heard of that category in the Oscars?

The plot follows as this. A diplomat's assistant working in the US embassy in Paris is in the process of becoming a spy for the United States. He's eventually assigned a partner, (Travolta), who's particular way of getting the job done is incomparable.

Wax is an incredibly funny character to watch. He's downright lethal, but at the same time, you can hardly take him seriously as he admits that his one true weakness, one that will eventually be the only thing in the world that can kill him, is a Parisian hamburger.

One particular scene, involving his partner's SUV, had me laughing for quite some time. My recommendation? Rent it, watch it and then come back here and leave a comment about how funny you thought the above mentioned scene was.

Rating: 7 (Above average)


Thanks for reading, following and commenting!

The Clone Wars Returns Tomorrow!

Am I the only one who is excitement for this knows no bounds? The Clone Wars returns with season 3 tomorrow at 9:00 PM on Cartoon Network. The series premiere will feature an hour long two-parter with the episodes 'Clone Cadets' and 'ARC Troopers'.

I can't wait for the new season to kick off! There's so much to look forward to.

1. The introduction of not only ARC troopers [image at top], but also clone commandos from the popular Republic Commando video game and novels.

2. The introduction of Dathomir and the Nightsisters, two very prominent figures in the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

3. The extended Asajj Ventress plot line.

4. The improved CGI. With each season the show seems to progress greatly with it's use of CGI. From what can be seen in the trailers and TV spots, this trend seems to have extended into season 3.

There's so much more, such as that awesome lightsaber fight involving Dooku and a group of cloaked Jedi assassins, the introduction of Darth Maul's brother Savage Oppress and the addition of prominent Jedi characters such as Saesee Tiin.

Don't forget to tune in tomorrow! I might just have to start writing reviews of each episode. Don't hold me to that though... :)

Roundup: Lots of new stuff!

Okay, so I've decided to make the Roundup segments a little more conformal. In each Roundup, I'll be posting a series of new and old features.

1. Highlighted Song: The highlighted song segment will now be a part of Roundup. You must listen to the song as you read through the Roundup. It's there for a reason; to set the mood for the blog. :P

2. Quote: It's exactly what it sounds like. I'll be posting a quote from one of my favorite movies, TV shows, video games, or books.

3. Fanboy Pick of the Week: I'm really excited about this new mini-segment. In Pick of the Week, I'll be posting my thoughts about a movie, TV show or book and tell you why I enjoyed it, and why you should too. Does that make me narcissistic? Yes, it probably does...

4. News: How else am I going to get my geek on if I don't have new things to freak out over?


Since Chuck is starting its fourth season on the 20th, I figured that I'd celebrate with the extended version of the Chuck theme song; enjoy.




Quote: From Napoleon Dynamite.

Trisha: I wanted to thank you for the beautiful drawing you did of me.
[through gritted teeth]
Trisha: It's hanging in my *bedroom*.
Napoleon Dynamite: Really? It took me like three hours to finish the shading on your upper lip. It's probably the best drawing I've ever done.
Trisha: Yeah... it's really... neat.




Fanboy Pick of the Week: The year was 2007. Among big name movies like Transformers, 300 and I Am Legend was one small movie focused on none other than an oil prospector who would soon became rich during the turn of the century.

Feeling as if it was a Clint Eastwood blockbuster, There Will Be Blood is literally a masterpiece. It's focus was on Daniel Plainview, the aforementioned oil prospector, played by Daniel Day-Lewis. Plainview is tipped off to a large oil deposit and hence travels with his son to claim the prize. Upon arriving, Plainview is introduced to Paul Sunday, a young ego maniacal priest who's views of right and wrong brink on the extreme.


Plainview's own moral standing conflict with the young priest's and thus plays perfectly into Paul's hands. I don't wish to spoil any more of the film, and will end with this. YOU'VE GOT TO SEE THIS MOVIE! If you haven't already seen it, it should be the first thing on your bucket list. If you have seen it, watch it again!


Another interesting snippet is that There Will Be Blood was actually loosely based off of Upton Sinclair's classic novel, Oil! Who knew?

News Flash: A series of Q&A videos regarding the past two seasons of The Clone Wars are now appearing on Star Wars' main site. You can watch them here.

Also, the first pics from the upcoming Captain America movie have made it to the web. Sure, the actual picture is of a stunt double, portraying the good Captain, but at least we get to see his costume. And might I say, how awesome is it?!?

Stay tuned for my DVD reviews of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and Repo Men!

Jeffster!

A series of Chuck-based webisodes are appearing on The WB. The webisodes follow Jeff and Lester, the two ignoramus Buy More employees who were falsely accused of burning down the Burbank Buy More.

The webisodes, (I just love saying that), are to lead up to the Chuck premiere on Monday, September 20th. Starting September 7th, a new episode will appear each day on The WB website, leading to the final episode which will be released on the 13th.

I've seen the first webisode and while it clearly has been payed for my Microsoft, it delivers Jeffster's brand of funny, quite well.

Check them out here.

Green Lantern Guest Post!

Everyone give a warm welcome to Gina from Fantasy Casting as she provides Memoirs with its very first guest post. Be sure to stop by Fantasy Casting after you read her post. Don't forget to follow her while you're there. ;)


As you probably already know, The Green Lantern has been greenlighted (pun intended, ha.) for a film release in June 2011.


For those who don't know, unlike many other comic characters, Green Lantern has multiple alter-egos over the years. Hal Jordan is the incarnation of the Green Lantern from DC's Silver Age of comics, during the late 1950's revival and is the version that will be portrayed in this film. He is a pilot who was given the ring of power by Abin Sur.


First of all, let's start with the man of the hour; the Green Lantern himself, also known as Hal Jordan, played by none other than Mr. Ryan Reynolds.

I don't know how I feel about this. First of all, I am a female. So... there's that side of it. And in that regard, I am happy to see Ryan Reynolds do just about anything. However, he's already Deadpool, which worked out well, but let's be real: This is also Van Wilder. Can he support a whole superhero film all by his onesie? We shall see...


Before we get too far into this, I want to put out there in blogland that I think this would have been an excellent opportunity to cast a black superhero. The Green Lantern was John Stewart, a black architect for most of the 70s, and that character still makes an appearance in the books today. There are so few mainstream, headlining black heroes, why not take advantage of the opportunity, you know?
Anyway, moving on. The love interest, Carol Ferris, is being played by Blake Lively, of Gossip Girl fame. I'm skeptical. Real skeptical. According to DC legend, Ferris is a powerful female. She's Hal Jordan's boss, and is hailed as being one of the first strong female characters, emerging long before the second wave of feminism broke in the United States. This girl:
Is supposed to embody intelligent female power? OK... maybe she's a better actress than I think. I would hate to judge too unfairly; just because she's overly pretty, famous for her fashion choices, stars as a spoiled socialite on one of the most sexually-charged teen shows of all time, ranks #4 on Maxim's Hot 100 list and lists "Long Blond Hair" as her trademark on IMDb... maybe she's deeper than that. Who knows. Or, more likely, DC rewrote the character to be just a pretty face. If it's door #2, then we're set.


Hector Hammond is one of the villains for this film, and Peter Sarsgaard has been brilliantly cast for this part. Seriously, this guy always looks a liiiittle bit like he's gonna crack, any minute. I think the uber-nuts Hammond is a perfect fit.

Our second villain (because, you know, one just isn't tough enough these days) for this film is Sinestro. For you comic-book geeks out there, you'll know that Sinestro is considered one of the greatest super-villains of all time. In fact, my sources (wikipedia) tell me that he was ranked at the 15th greatest super villain ever by the people who determine the validity and awesomeness of super villains. (side note: who doesn't want that job?!?!?!) Hold your breath. They have cast Mark Strong.
Feel free to geek out. I am.


Who's excited? Other than for Blake Lively, that is. And honestly, when you look at this:

how can you not be?


Agree? Disagree? Post your thoughts in the comments.


Gina blogs over at Fantasy Casting, where she spouts her opinion about who should be cast in the film versions of books, comic books and anything else that strikes her fancy. You can contact her here.

Images: Google Images