You’re either going to love him or you’re going to hate him, but you can’t ignore him. M. Night Shyamalan is back! The man who brought us Sixth Sense, Unbreakable, Signs, and The Village is back, but with a different approach this time. With The Happening and Lady in the Water (which I actually liked by the way) behind him, Shyamalan is making another epic action-adventure, only this time, he’s adapting a kids show on Nickelodeon called “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and when I say epic I mean big.
If you’re like me and know absolutely nothing about “The Last Airbender” let me give you a little story synopsis:
In a world where the four elements can be controlled by people known as “Benders”, the Fire Nation is waging a ruthless, oppressive war to control the other great nations. The only hope for stopping the brutal war led by the Firebenders rests on the shoulders of a reluctant young boy named Aang (Noah Ringer, who is the only one we see in the trailer). The last known survivor of the peaceful Air Nomads, also known as Airbenders, Aang is also the world’s “Avatar”. The “Avatar” is the physical re-incarnation of the world itself, with the power to manipulate all four elements. Aided by a protective teenage Waterbender named Katara (Nicola Peltz) and her bull-headed brother Sokka (Jackson Rathbone, “Jasper” on Twilight), Aang begins a perilous journey to restore balance to their war-torn world. Standing in their way are Fire Nation Admiral Zhao (Aasif Mandvi) and Prince Zuko (Dev Patel, of Slumdog Millionaire fame), the banished prince of the Fire Nation who seeks to capture the young Avatar to regain his honor.
Alright, well that wasn’t from me, that was copied from the film’s Wikipedia page, but you get the idea.
As a long time fan of M. Night, I am really hoping that this will be his “turn around” movie. As a director and a writer, I love him, and although I haven’t loved or liked his last few movies, aside from The Lady in the Water, I am going to give this one a chance. I think that with him having been out of the limelight for a while and with The Happening behind us, more fans will return to their first love and re-discover the greatness and mystery that is M. Night Shyamalan.
Discussion: What is your favorite M. Night Shyamalan film? Do you think this one will find its audience outside of the hardcore fans of the TV show?
For those of you that really know me and those that know me a little, you should all know that I am sucker for big budget disaster movies. I keep it no secret that Independence Day, Twister, The Core, The Day After Tomorrow, Armageddon, and War of the Worlds, rank up there as some of my most favorite movies. I just love disaster films, or films that involve modern day architecture being destroyed by CGI. Watching a tornado plow through downtown L.A., or watching the Golden Gate Bridge melt, or seeing comets destroy buildings, gets me pumped up for movies.
Speaking of Independence Day and The Day After Tomorrow, Roland Emmerich, who directed both of those films, has another disaster/end of the world flick coming out called “2012.” A teaser debuted back in November giving us a taste of the destruction Emmerich has planned for the world this time around, and today we have the second full-length trailer and let me tell you, WOW! (thanks Troy) I am trying to hold back my enthusiasm, but I just can’t. It’s a big budget disaster film starring John Cusack! That’s amazing! It’s nice to see John get out there and do one of these big popcorn flicks every once in a while.
Emmerich knows how to deliver big movies and take us on a thrill ride that we all hope and pray never happens in real life.
What do you think? Are you a fan of disaster movies? What are some of your favorites?
Last week TV Guide had a small blurb about Tom Cruise possibly coming back to reprise his role as Special Agent Ethan Hunt in another Mission: Impossible film, and although that’s not huge news and probably a major rumor, what sparked the most attention was that J.J. Abrams was asked by Cruise to co-produce it with him.
According to Abrams, “Tom and I have come up with a really cool idea we are pursuing.”
There hasn’t been a screenwriter attached nor is there a director. Abrams says that he’s “incredibly honored” that Tom invited him back, and he has not yet committed to return as director.
Today, however, Hollywood trades report that it has been confirmed that there will be a Mission: Impossible 4 in 2011. As far as a story goes, The Hollywood Reporter says that there are a couple options being considered right now: 1) they “could re-conceive it in a way that is closer to the ensemble approach of the TV series”, or 2) they “could reconfigure Cruise as Ethan Hunt in a less front-and-center role, as some kind of mentor to the new M:I crew.”
Discussion: Do you want to see another M:I movie? Does this franchise have any legs yet?
Ever since we heard about Mickey Rourke joining the cast of Iron Man 2, it’s been hotly debated on what villain he would be portraying. Early rumors had him as The Crimson Dynamo, but then it was finally confirmed that he would be playing the villain Whiplash, and today we have the first image of him as Whiplash.
He doesn’t look all that exciting in his equipment and reports have verified that this image is of Rourke as Whiplash in his early armor. Probably something like Downey’s first Iron Man armor when he came out of the caves. I am sure with CGI and other special effects, it’ll be as dynamic and intense and as glossy as Downey’s final Iron Man armor was.
When Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson announced that they were indeed going to produce and create two more Hobbit films, wild speculation began circling about which cast members from the original LOTR series would return.
We don’t know yet who all of the cast members are going to be and who will play the main character, Bilbo, but we do know who some of the returning characters will be. In a radio interview that Guillermo did with Simon Mayo of the BBC yesterday, he revealed that Sir Ian McKellen will return as Gandalf, Hugo Weaving will be back as Elrond, and Andy Serkis will reprise his most famous role as Gollum.
This is great news for those fans, like myself, who thrive on the continuity of characters across a series. I am sure I would have still gone to see the films even if they were recast, but there’s something magical and fitting that the original cast come back. Especially characters as important as Gandalf, Elrond, and Gollum.
In the same interview, he also talked a little about maybe including a subplot in the Hobbit film:
“There is a whole other chapter, so to speak, which is the comings and going of Gandalf which are dealt with — people that know the lore know that Gandalf was delayed with a crisis… with a character that is very shady called the Necromancer that proves to be Sauron.”
Before I get started, I should note that I spent the last two months re-reading the book, so the bulk of my review will deal with this.
Angels and Demons was written before The DaVinci Code. Like most people, however, I read them in reverse order. It was my feeling from the very beginning that A&D was far superior to TDC and many of the reviews that you will read of this movie (compared to its predecessor) will say the same. And I agree that both as a book and movie it was better.
On its own, though, Angels & Demons (the movie) was pretty weak. A number of key characters were omitted, re-imagined, or combined. This, alone, made for a less dynamic and engaging film. Several key plot points were left out. Some key relationships were altered. And we can argue up and down for changes being necessary to keep the story within a normal time limit. But how can you argue for altering a character from a 250lb 6’2″ black assasin in the book to a 5’10″ scrawny, nerdy white guy in the movie?!? Also notable was the complete redaction of the BBC journalist and his camera-person. Even with all the reporter characters shown in the film, not one of them worked for the BBC.
The acting was fine. The action was ok (though a lot less gory than I had imagined in the book). As a film, I’m sure it was somewhat entertaining. It just wasn’t the book.
If you haven’t read it and are too busy to do so, I would suggest that you see it. Otherwise read the book. If you’ve already read it, I suggest that the only theatre you visit should be the theater of your mind. Don’t let Hollywood ruin this one for you, take your $8 over to Whataburger instead.
Following the MTV Movie Awards last week where Twilight took home almost every award available, Summit Entertainment debuted the first trailer The Twilight Saga: New Moon. Thanks to our friends over at FirstShowing, we have it for you now in all of its tweeny glory. I have to say that from what little I know about the second book, this trailer sparks a little more interest in me than what I would have thought. It’s nice to see Jacob actually look like a menacing and charming presence, a worthy adversary to Edward, instead of the pip-squeak kid we saw in Twilight.
What did you think of the trailer? Are you any more excited about this film than you were about the first?
Today we bring you the first true teaser trailer for Disney’s Toy Story 3. There’s not much to see, just the title logo and all of the characters, but it’s good to be back in the world of Andy’s toys. As far as story goes, not much is known except for that the toys are dropped off at a day care center after their owner, Andy, leaves for college.
I wanted to announce that Truth On Cinema has added a new member to our already amazing and wonderful family: Ladies and Gentlemen, meet my new son, Judah Daniel DeHart!
Judah already loves movies and thinks that all of my Daddy’s opinions are the best and the absolute authority, so we’ve got that going for us, which is nice. With a new baby comes a lot of added responsibility and time not sleeping or writing, so I wanted to encourage everyone to:
a) remain patient as I begin a new schedule of life and strive to keep Truth On Cinema as updated as I can
b) if you would like to take up some of the slack of reporting and commenting on the latest in Movie News and what’s happening in Hollywood and would like to be a contributor to Truth On Cinema, pleaseemail me and let me know.
c) if you have seen a movie this summer and have very strong feelings about it and want to share what you think to the world of Truth On Cinema, email me.
Thank you to everyone for your support and active participation in our little community here at Truth On Cinema. Feel free to email me anytime with words of encouragement, advice, compliments on how cute my baby is, etc. Also, if you have some fatherly advice, feel free to leave me a comment…or two.
Last week 
When Guillermo del Toro and Peter Jackson announced that they were indeed going to produce and create two more 
