Is Steven Spielberg's Lincoln Project Still Next After Tintin?

by Alex Billington

Everyone knows that in Hollywood, nothing is officially "in production" until the cameras start rolling. So despite the report in May that Steven Spielberg would move on to shoot his Lincoln movie after finishing Tintin, we're still skeptical about whether or not that might actually happen. The only updates Spielberg gave to press yesterday, after receiving the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes, were that the project is still "coming together really quickly." I guess that means it's still on track. Although its star, Liam Neeson, told ComingSoon today that he hasn't seen or a script and doesn't know the plans yet.

Neeson has been attached to play our 16th President, Abraham Lincoln, for a few years now. "He asked me four years ago would I play this part and I most certainly said I would. He'll do it whenever he's ready to do it, but it's in the works," Neeson said. "I don't know (anything) other than what you know." In reality, we really don't know much about this project or even what the story will really be about. Of course it's a cinematic retelling of the life of Abraham Lincoln, who died in 1865, but at what age will it focus on him and will it lead right up to his assassination or otherwise - those are all questions that still remain unanswered.

Given this update on Lincoln doesn't provide much for us to mull over, I'm going to take this opportunity to mention how depressing it is that Spielberg's two upcoming projects are films that I don't really care about. Normally when Spielberg gets attached to something, it becomes the next big thing that we follow all the way to its release. But for whatever reason, both Tintin and Lincoln have no buzz at all. I think the lack of interest in Tintin comes from our disconnect with the material; and I think the lack of interest in Lincoln comes from not really wanting to see a period piece from Spielberg anymore. What do you think?

source : www.firstshowing.net

2009 Golden Globe Winners - Slumdog Millionaire Triumphs!

by Alex Billington

The winners of the 66th Annual Golden Globe Awards, the precursor to the Oscars, were announced tonight at an extravagant ceremony held at The Beverly Hilton hotel in Beverly Hills. Thankfully the results this year weren't as big of an upset as last year, with Slumdog Millionaire taking the top prize as Best Drama as well as winning awards for Best Director, Best Screenplay, and Best Original Score as well. As for the ceremony itself, it was a definite improvement over the 30-minute press conference from last year, but was still a vast step down from the Oscars. Try again next year, HFPA! Read on for the full list.

Personally, I'm thrilled to see Slumdog Millionaire triumph at the Globes. It's such a wonderful film and this means it now might have a really good chance at winning Best Picture at the Oscars in February. The full list of nominees and winners can be found below. Winners are highlighted in BOLD.

BEST DRAMA
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Frost/Nixon
Revolutionary Road
The Reader
Slumdog Millionaire

ACTOR (DRAMA)
Leonardo DiCaprio - Revolutionary Road
Frank Langella - Frost/Nixon
Sean Penn - Milk
Brad Pitt - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Mickey Rourke - The Wrestler

ACTRESS (DRAMA)
Angelina Jolie - Changeling
Anne Hathaway - Rachel Getting Married
Meryl Streep - Doubt
Kristin Scott Thomas - I've Loved You So Long
Kate Winslet - Revolutionary Road

BEST MUSICAL OR COMEDY
Mamma Mia!
Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Burn After Reading
Happy-Go-Lucky
In Bruges

ACTOR (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Javier Bardem - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Colin Farrell - In Bruges
James Franco - Pineapple Express
Dustin Hoffman - Last Chance Harvey
Brendan Gleeson - In Bruges

ACTRESS (MUSICAL OR COMEDY)
Sally Hawkins - Happy-Go-Lucky
Frances McDormand - Burn After Reading
Meryl Streep - Mamma Mia!
Emma Thompson - Last Chance Harvey
Rebecca Hall - Vicky Cristina Barcelona

FOREIGN-LANGUAGE FILM
Gomorrah
I've Loved You So Long
Waltz with Bashir
The Baader Meinhof Complex
Everlasting Moments

ANIMATED FILM
Wall-E
Bolt
Kung Fu Panda

SUPPORTING ACTOR
Tom Cruise - Tropic Thunder
Robert Downey Jr. - Tropic Thunder
Philip Seymour Hoffman - Doubt
Heath Ledger - The Dark Knight
Ralph Fiennes - The Duchess

SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams - Doubt
Penelope Cruz - Vicky Cristina Barcelona
Viola Davis - Doubt
Marisa Tomei - The Wrestler
Kate Winslet - The Reader

DIRECTOR
David Fincher - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
Danny Boyle - Slumdog Millionaire
Stephen Daldry - The Reader
Ron Howard - Frost/Nixon
Sam Mendes - Revolutionary Road

SCREENPLAY
Simon Beaufoy - Slumdog Millionaire
David Hare - The Reader
Peter Morgan - Frost/Nixon
Eric Roth - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
John Patrick Shanley - Doubt

ORIGINAL SCORE
James Newton Howard - Defiance
Alexandre Desplat - The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
A.R. Rahman - Slumdog Millionaire
Hans Zimmer - Frost/Nixon
Clint Eastwood - Changeling

ORIGINAL SONG
"Down to Earth" by Peter Gabriel / Thomas Newman - Wall-E
"Gran Torino" by Clint Eastwood / Kyle Eastwood - Gran Torino
"I Thought I'd Lost You" by Miley Cyrus - Bolt
"Once in a Lifetime" by Beyoncé Knowles - Cadillac Records
"The Wrestler" by Bruce Springsteen - The Wrestler

Are these results an indication of what's going to happen at the Oscars in February? Last year they really had no impact on the Academy's choices, so I doubt it'll be any different this year. Stay tuned for the Oscar nominations on Thursday, January 22nd. And let us know your thoughts on this year's winners!

Source : www.firstshowing.net

Rumor: Sam Raimi Wants Morbius for a Spider-Man 4 Villain

by Alex Billington

It looks like the Hollywood vampire craze has hit Sam Raimi, too. Apparently the most recent issue of Empire (via SlashFilm) includes a quote from Raimi where he says: "I like it in the Marvel comics when Spider-Man fights Morbius. He's really cool. A vampire! I like that combination of superhero plus supernatural." While this is obviously not confirmation that Morbius will be in Spider-Man 4, it's our first hint at a villain we might see in the upcoming sequel. I'm sure most people would claim that the excess of villains was what hurt Spider-Man 3 the most. So is using Morbius next time an improvement?

In the comics, Morbius is a living man who is given vampiric abilities via scientific means. He first appeared in Amazing Spider-Man #101 in 1971. As we all know, The Lizard is another villain that fans are hoping to one day see, which would make Morbius a bit more of a possibility. Both characters "use the same technology but have different animals involved in their research… one having blended with a lizard the other a vampire bat." The next question is whether Morbius and The Lizard alone would be good enough villains for one movie. I guess I just can't see two "animals" being the villains for a big movie like this.

Now that we pretty much know who the villains will be in Iron Man 2, it's time to turn our attention to Spider-Man. What villains do you want to see? Can both Morbius and The Lizard be equal enemies?

Source : www.firstshowing.net

First Look: New Michael Myers Mask from Rob Zombie's H2

by Alex Billington

Now that we know Rob Zombie is directing the sequel to his own Halloween from 2007, progress is finally being made on the project. The first reveal is a maquette of the new mask that Michael Myers will be wearing in H2: Halloween 2. The photo comes from Zombie's own MySpace blog, where he mentions that make-up artist Wayne Toth is "back on the case working the greatest Michael ever." The photo at the top is from Zombie's original Halloween to reference any changes. It doesn't look like that much of a modification, but then again, I'm not a big Halloween fan so I'm not able to pick out all the minor differences.

Note: While it doesn't officially say that this is only a maquette, I'm guessing that this is just an early sculpt of the mask and that it obviously won't be orange and it will have hair in the end. Thoughts?

Between this and the Friday the 13th remake, I'm actually a lot more excited for the new Friday the 13th. I'm not a big horror fan as is, but when I saw Rob Zombie's Halloween, I really wasn't able to get into it at all. On the flip side, though, I've seen a lot of the new Friday the 13th and already think it looks a lot better. Rob Zombie is both writing and directing H2: Halloween 2 which is already slated for release on August 28th later this year. Are there enough fans of Rob Zombie's reboot to keep this franchise going? And those of you that are hardcore Halloween fans — what do you think of this new mask? Good or bad?

Source : www.firstshowing.net

New Astro Boy Concept Art Photos from Imagi

by Alex Billington


I'm really conflicted here. While I hated that teaser trailer for Astro Boy that hit in November, new images have popped up and I'm starting to wonder whether my opinion was wrong that first time. That teaser looked ridiculously cheesy and just plain bad, yet these images remind me of Hayao Miyazaki or even something from Pixar. Stop messing with my mind Imagi! The animation house has released a batch of new concept art photos for Astro Boy on their official website this week. This isn't the first time we've seen some cool concept art for this movie, which is why I'm still really conflicted. Trust me, I really want this to turn out awesome in the end, so as long as it turns out as good as all of these images look, I'll be satisfied
.

Set in futuristic Metro City, AstroBoy is about a young robot with incredible powers created by a brilliant scientist to replace the son he has lost. Unable to fulfill the grieving father's expectations, our hero embarks on a journey in search of acceptance, experiencing betrayal and a netherworld of robot gladiators, before he returns to save Metro City and reconcile with the man who had rejected him.

Astro Boy is directed by ex-Disney animator David Bowers, of Flushed Away previously, with a screenplay written by Timothy Harris, of Brewster's Millions, Kindergarten Cop, and Space Jam previously. Imagi Animation, the studio behind TMNT last year, is developing this animated film which is based on Osamu Tezuka's manga series. Astro Boy will arrive in theaters everywhere on October 23rd, 2009.

Source : www.firstshowing.net

John Travolta's 16-year-old son dies in Bahamas

By Assosiated Press

NASSAU, Bahamas - John Travolta's teenage son, Jett, died in the Bahamas after falling ill and hitting his head at his family's vacation home, police said Friday. A house caretaker found Jett, 16, unconscious in a bathroom late Friday morning. He was taken by ambulance to a Freeport hospital, where he was pronounced dead, according to a statement from chief police superintendent Basil Rahming.

The teenager had last been seen going into the bathroom on Thursday and had a history of seizures, according to the statement. Police said they are planning an autopsy to determine the cause of death.

Another police spokeswoman, Loretta Mackey, said Jett apparently hit his head on the bathtub.

A spokeswoman for Rand Memorial Hospital in Freeport said she could not release any information because of privacy concerns.

Jett was the oldest child of Travolta and his wife, actress Kelly Preston, who also have an 8-year-old daughter. The family arrived on a private plane Tuesday and had been vacationing at their home in the Old Bahama Bay resort community.

"The Travolta family has become like family to us at Old Bahama Bay and we extend our deepest sympathies to them," said Robert Gidel, president of Ginn Resorts, the property's owner.

Source : www.yahoo.com

EW's Huge First Look at 11 Big Movies of 2009

January 1, 2009
Source: Entertainment Weekly
by Alex Billington

From Harry Potter to Terminator, Wolverine to Watchmen, Entertainment Weekly has a huge first look at the biggest movies of this upcoming year. On this exciting first day of 2009, they've debuted a batch of never-before-seen photos from at least 11 different movies, including Public Enemies, Year One, Where the Wild Things Are, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, and Land of the Lost. With the addition of the Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen photos from earlier this week, it undoubtedly looks like 2009 is already shaping up to be one hell of an exciting year! Definitely take a look at this batch of new photos below if only to get you in the mood for the great year of big blockbuster movies ahead (or soothe that hangover).

From the top to the bottom, left to right: Where the Wild Things Are, Public Enemies, Year One, Public Enemies, Terminator Salvation, Pixar's Up, The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3, Julia & Julia, Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, Angels & Demons, Land of the Lost, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine.

What are you looking forward to? There's quite a bit to choose from, so what is at the very top of your list right now? Obviously Watchmen is at the top of mine, especially after that new featurette we ran yesterday. It's closely followed by Transformers 2 and Terminator Salvation. How about Public Enemies? Or Year One? I'm very interested in Land of the Lost and of course and Harry Potter. The more I see of Angels & Demons, the more I'm getting excited for that, too, because I think Ron Howard and Tom Hanks pulled it off this time. Anyway, thanks to EW for these great photos and for kicking off 2009 in style.

Source : www.firstshowing.net