Iron Man 3 Release Date: May 3rd, 2013 News: Ben Kingsley joins the cast as the evil villain, The Mandarin and Tony Stark\Iron Man (played of course by Robert Downey Jr.) must head to China to battle him. Guy Pierce plays Aldrich Killian. Don Cheadle and Gwenyth Paltrow reprise their roles. Getting a new director (Shane Black) could shake things up pleasantly after the unoriginal Iron Man 2. The plot sounds exactly the same as the first two (Iron Man must fight a villain and terrorists) but as with the others hilarious lines and a bit of depth may transcend a generic storyline. The movie will open the summer movie season on the first week of May, the way Iron Man, Iron Man 2, Thor, and The Avengers have. The film will probably make more money than Iron Man and Iron Man 2 but not as much as The Avengers. I will definitely see this one. After Iron Man 2 was criticized for being stuffed with The Avengers references, Keven Feige  has said Iron Man 3 is to be very different than The Avengers. There will still probably be an end credits sequence and cameos.

Thor 2 Release Date: November 15th, 2013 Keneth Branagah who directed the first one is leaving the series and Alan Taylor (director of such TV shows as Game of Thrones and The Sopranos) is taking over the directing credits. Almost all the actors are returning so that means you’ll get to see Tom Hiddelston, Anthony Hopkins, Natalie Portman, Stellan Skarsgard, Idris Elba, and of course  Chris Hemsworth as Thor himself. The film starts filming in August this year. The film will probably make more money than Thor but being sandwiched in the middle of possible November blockbusters Ender’s Game and Catching Fire certainly won’t help. There will also be a new main villain (ie not Loki though he will still be in the movie). Tom Hiddelston and Chris Hemsworth have also stated that sometime in the Thor series that they would like Thor and Loki to be friends. If they can combine awesome, amazing action with an emotional storyline, then Thor 2 will be great.

Captain America 2 Release Date: April 4, 2014 The new Captain America film tells the story of the superhero in the present. His only friends are Nick Fury and SHIELD. Kevin Feige, the president of Marvel Studios, has said Captain America will learn about his World War II friends while he was frozen for about 70 years. I don’t think the movie will be unique because the story sounds similar to Thor where a super hero gets put into modern times. So far only Chris Evans and Samuel L. Jackson are signed on as actors. Vulture.com says, the three possible directors are F. Gary Gray, George Nolfi, and Anthony and Joseph Russo. I think they should get Steven Spielberg to do a WW 2 sequel to the first one that is set in the 1940′s but he probably wouldn’t want to do it because he’s so busy. Also it seems like Marvel is trying to make this film fail. They are releasing it in April, one of the worst months for movies (both critically and commercially). I am still nonetheless very excited to see how this film turns out.

Other Marvel Projects: Marvel has announced that they will be releasing a new movie on May 16th, 2014. Why not May 2nd, the first week of summer movies like they normally do? Because they want to give Captain America 2 some time to make some money and Sony is ridiculously planning to release The Amazing Spider Man 2 on May 2nd. The movie that will probably be released then is probably going to be The Avengers 2, because of The Avengers box office success (it’s already the 6th highest grossing movie of all time). Meanwhile Guardians Of The Galaxy, Inhumans, Dr. Strange, and Ant-Man directed by Edgar Wright are all non Avengers related movies that might be released sometime in the future. They might not do as great at the box office or maybe even with critics but they will still will likely be much, much more original because they are not leading up to a big crossover team up blockbuster movie like The Avengers. I would also not be surprised if there were movies solely about Nick Fury, Black Widow, and Hawkeye, which there probably will be. Also a new Hulk film starring Mark Ruffalo might happen because Ruffalo said that he wanted to and Marvel would love to make some more money.

I am looking forward to all these films. I’m least excited to see the original films and Captain America: The First Avenger 2 sounds bad. I can not wait, however to see Iron Man 3, Thor 2, and The Avengers 2.

Movies I’m Most Anticipating:

The Avengers This 2 hour 22 minute super hero epic movie looks very entertaining. Iron Man, Captain America, and Thor will assemble, along with Black Widow, the Hulk, Nick Fury, and newcomer Hawkeye to battle Loki, Thor’s brother. If Robert Downey Jr. has great chemistry with all the other actors, then this will be hilarious. I think it would have been a good idea to have John Favareau direct it, but Joss Whedon might be a good choice, but I haven’t seen his other movies. I don’t think the story will be excellent, because all of the super heroes together might be a bit too much. But it should be overall entertaining. Reel prediction: 4 stars Release Date: May 4th

Men in Black 3 I have not seen the first 2 MIB films, but I have heard that they are entertaining. Some people say the second one was not as good as the first, so the third might not be either. I think this could follow the path of Indiana Jones, can Josh Brolin be as great as Sean Connery? The trailer looks pretty funny, especially Will Smith’s description of Tommy Lee Jones’ smile. Reel prediction: 3 stars Release Date: May 25th

Brave Pixar’s latest film is a departure from their previous work, but after the mediocre Cars 2 we’re also hoping that it’s a return to form. The latest trailer looks promising but not they’re best. Rude humor and an annoying song are some of the detractors. Meanwhile the brilliant animation, big castle battle, and stunning archery tournament all look amazing. Of course with any trailer there are also some intriguingly mysterious elements. In this case 2 shots in which Merida, the heroine, is caught between two black bears. I don’t think this movie will be as bad as Cars 2, but not as good as the Toy Story trilogy, WALL-E, Finding Nemo, Ratatouille, Monsters Inc., or any of the other Pixar classics. Reel Prediction: 4 stars Release Date: June 22nd

The Amazing Spider-Man I am looking forward to this film a great deal. The actors all seem great, the trailer has loads of exciting action, and the director Marc Webb has been calling this more personal than most superhero movies. The only bad thing in it is the part in the first trailer when he’s flying and it looks too much like a video game. In the second trailer they didn’t put that part in: Could they secretly be hiding a huge mistake? Reel Prediction: 4 1/2 stars Release Date: July 3rd

Paranorman This looks like the must see August movie of the year. Last year August, a usually lackluster month for summer movies, (because they can’t play all summer long) brought us two surprise hits: The Oscar winning The Help and the massive blockbuster prequel Rise of the Planet of the Apes. Can this be the surprise hit of August? I am sure hoping so!!!!! Reel Prediction: 4 stars Release Date: August 17th

Family Films That Look Just Okay:

The Odd Life Of Timothy Green Peter Hedges, the Oscar winning writer/director of Dan In Real Life and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape presents a new Disney movie that (based on the short trailer, there will probably be another one soon) promises to be a sappy, formulaic, yet intriguing and fun, kids movie. Sounds way different than Academy Award winning indie pictures but no matter how this film turns out I am excited to see what it’s like. Go watch the trailer. Flick calls it “The Tree of Life for kids.” I’d call it “a realistic Peter Pan“. Reel Prediction: 3 stars Release Date: August 15

Madagascar 3: Europe’s Most Wanted I am not particularly excited to see this film but the trailer looks okay and it’s playing out of competition at Cannes. I haven’t seen any of the others in this series because the annoying theme song and rude humor seemed unappealing. Still, potty joke seeking kids will definitely enjoy this summer movie. Add in a catchy new circus song, it’s festival schedule, and a trailer with great 3-D and no rude humor parents and critics may enjoy the film as well. Reel Prediction: 2 stars Release Date: June 8th

Ice Age 4: Continental Drift I know many people around the world will see this film. The previous installment, Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs made $886 million worldwide (and the highest foreign box office ever for an animated movie:surprising but true). The rest of the series was not terrible but this is not top of my must see summer movie list. However, if you liked the other ones then you’ll probably like this one. Reel Prediction: 2 1/2 stars Release Date: July 13th

Other Movies That I Would Like To See, But Probably Can’t:

The Dark Knight Rises This is the most anticipated movie of the summer and quite possibly of the year. It’s a superhero threequel that continues the story line of The Dark Knight (4 years ago, in 2008) which followed the story of Batman Begins (7 years ago, from 2005). The newest trailer is awesome. After The Dark Knight became the highest grossing superhero movie ever made (a little over $1 billion worldwide) and won 2 Oscars (including Best Supporting Actor for the late Heath Ledger) a sequel became inevitable. Adding Anne Hathaway, Tom Hardy, Joseph Gordon Levvit, and Marion Cotillard has added to fan’s anticipation. Will this new film get good as good reviews as the first ones (85% and 94%, respectively)? Will there be superb special effects and awesome action, as well? Find out this summer when this last in the trilogy movie is released. In the trailer Catwoman says “You don’t owe these people anymore”. Batman responds “Not everything. Not Yet.” Empire Magazine said that Batman’s answer could be applied to Christopher Nolan. Reel Prediction: 4 stars Release Date: July 20th

Moonrise Kingdom A shot in R.I. Wes Anderson film with a star studded cast including Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Jason Schwartznam, Bruce Willis, Tilda Swinton, Edward Norton, and newcomers Jared Gilman and Kara Hayward: sounds like an Oscar hopeful and quite possibly an opening night Cannes summer smash hit. As for the plot, it’s a romantic comedy with a bit of adventure and drama, as it tells the story of two teenagers in love who run away from their families and then get looked for by their parents, the police, and a pack of cub scouts. Reel Prediction: 4 stars Release Date: May 25th

Dark Shadows Johnny Depp and Tim Burton team up to make an adaption of the TV soap opera series of the same name. Romance, fantastical humor, Burton weirdness, vampire violence, and a cast including previous Burton stars (Depp, Burton’s wife Helena Bonham Carter, Christopher Lee, and Michelle Pfeiffer) and newbies (Jackie Early Haley, Eva Green, and Chloe Grace Mortez). Many people disliked the first trailer but I thought it was very funny. Don’t forget to check out a special featurette on Apple Trailers about the film. It has new clips from the movie and behind the scenes insights from Burton and Depp. Reel Prediction: 4 stars Release Date: May 11th

And now last and least, the summer movies that seem to be all action, no story:

Battleship Transformers on water? Maybe. Robots, things blowing up, big battles, massive explosions, and possible aliens. Sounds a bit far from the board game. Reel Prediction: 2 stars Release Date: May 18th

G.I. Joe Retaliation Bringing in Dwaye Johnson and especially Bruce Willis will boost box office power but keeping Taylor Kitsch in the series was probably a bad move (after Battleship and John Carter but not Savages). The film looks like it has a smudge of fun action to it but not looking like a something that will become an all time classic at all ever. Reel Prediction: 2 1/2 Release Date: June 29th

Piranha 3DD Looks bad except for the title of course.Reel Prediction: 1 star Release Date: June 1st

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Lincoln will probably be a lot better. Reel prediction: 2 stars Release Date: June 22nd

Other summer movies being released that I will not do Reel Predictions for (they are not ones that I necessarily want to see a lot) include:

Dramas: Lawless (with an all star cast), The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel (with another all star cast), Savages (with a bigger all star cast than the two movies that I just mentioned), and To Rome With Love (with Woody Allen, Alec Baldwin, and more)

Fantasy: Snow White and the Huntsman (with Kirsten Stewart as Snow White)

Musical: Rock of Ages (starring Tom Cruise) and Sparkle (with Whitney Huston)

Action Movies: The Bourne Legacy (a prequel to the previous trilogy of Bourne movies) Preminum Rush (an N.Y.C. bicycle action movie), and The Expendables 2 (with Sylvester Stallone and other famous action heroes)

Comedies: The Campaign (a political comedy with Will Ferrell and Zach Galifianakas), The Dictator (a political spoof starring Sacha Baron Cohen), What To Expect When You’re Expecting (starring Cameron Diaz), That’s My Boy (starring Adam Sandler), Ted (with Mark Wahlberg and a teddy bear), Neighborhood Watch (with Jonah Hill and Ben Stiller and maybe some aliens), and Hope Springs (staring Meryl Streep, Tommy Lee Jones, and Steve Carrell)

Sci- Fi: Total Recall (a remake of the 1992 Arnold Schwarsenegger but now starring Colin Farrell) and Prometheus (a Ridely Scott sci-fi horror movie with a tough Noomi Rapace, a flat Charlize Theron, and a scared Idris Elba)

Documentaries: ReGENERATION (from the 2010 PCFF) and First Position (from TIFF kids)

Thank you for following me on my epic journey of a trilogy of summer movie madness!! Thank you as well to my family for helping me and movie websites for increasing my movie knowledge (IMDB, Rotten Tomatoes, Box Office Mojo, Lights Camera Jackson, EW, and The New York Times). Please don’t forget to COMMENT, COMMENT, COMMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also you should watch the trailers of the films I talked about about (on Apple Trailers) so you might have a little idea of what I have been talking about over the past three articles. During the summer movie season look for articles, reviews, news and maybe some videos and podcasts from Flick and I (in other words not a break from May 31st to August 21st like last summer, hopefully). And last try to go to the movies in the summer and COMMENT and COMMENT some more. You should make your own summer movie schedule of what you want to see for fun!!!!!!!! See you later!!!!!!

So far the box office is 24% higher at this than point last year.  But not quite as high as 2009 and 2010 at this point.  Coraline and Pink Panther 2 were released in early 2009 and Avatar was released in December 2009 and obviously carried over into early 2010.  This year 3 movies have already passed the 100 million dollar mark.  In order from least to greatest, they are:  the action movie, Safe House ($116 million), the romance, The Vow ($118 million), and the family film, The Lorax ($129 million).  Those movies also have the highest opening weekends, with $40 million, $41 million and $70 million.  Also twenty movies have passed the 30 million mark.  Still there have been a large number of commercial flops, such as, This Means War, The Woman in Black, The Grey, Red Tails, Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance, and so far John Carter.

Now let’s take a look at what other March blockbusters are coming up.

March 16, 2012: The Big Opening: 21 Jump Street.  Why it will be big?  Starring comedian and Oscar nominee, Jonah Hill.  And with a current Rotten Tomatoes score of 85%, it’s likely to become a semi-big commercial, crowd pleaser. Why it will not be big: It’s rated R, which means that younger audiences won’t go.  Also others might not be old enough to remember the TV show.  My box office predictions:  Opening Weekend: $35 million, Domestic Total: $155 million, and International Total: $255 million.  Other movies opening that week:  Seeking Justice staring Nicolas Cage, Jeff who Lives at Home staring Jason Segel, and the Spanish film Casa de mi Padre starring Will Ferrel.

March 23, 2012: The Big Opening: The Hunger Games. Why: This is the biggest non-summer, non-holiday movie of the year.  Comparisons to Twilight could give it a push…. or not.  The first Twilight opened to 69 million dollars in it’s opening weekend, but this is likely to do better.  It has a massive, massive, massive fan base and could get great reviews.  Why not: It’s possible because not everyone is familiar with it, it might not do well.  My box office predictions: Opening Weekend: $80 million, Domestic Total: $350 million, and International Total: $400 million. Other movies opening that week:  The Raid: The Redemption, and Brake.

March 30, 2012: The Big Openings:  Wrath of the Titans, and Mirror Mirror. Why? The first Titans movies was released to a $61 million weekend, suggesting this could very well possibly follow in its footsteps.  The first Titans movie was badly reviewed, and got a 28% splat on Rotten Tomatoes.  The 2 worst reviewed elements, however, are back: Sam Worthington and 3-D, but the first earned $300 million overseas, making this one a potential blockbuster. Also people now know that they didn’t like the first one so they might not return for a sequel.  Meanwhile Mirror Mirror is the more family-friendly of the two Snow White movies, opening in 2012.  It also stars Julia Roberts.  But it’s not a summer movie, an action movie, or a Kristen Stewart movie, or even a movie with Thor in it, which the other one is all of those. My box office predictions for Wrath of the Titans:  Opening Weekend: $40 million, Domestic Total: $200 million, International Total: $300 million.  My Mirror Mirror box office predictions: Opening Weekend: $25 million, Domestic Total: $115 million, International Total: $170 million.

One last note, I wanted to point out is that all top 1o movies at the box office right now have a SPLAT on Rotten Tomatoes, which means they are badly reviewed.  However I expect that to change for new movies coming out, particularly the first two ones I was just talking about  Many people are saying that all this good box office will lead people into the Summer, however I hope that some of the Summer movies get good reviews.  In December, I’m expecting The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey to be the big holiday movie and Lincoln (directed by Steven Spielberg and starring Daniel Day Lewis) to be the big Oscar movie and a potential blockbuster. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will probably be first or second place along with The Dark Knight Rises for the whole, entire year. The Amazing Spider-Man, Skyfall, and The Avengers will round out the top 5 for the year (not in order).  More Summer movies preview for 2012 are coming soon.

NOTE: The DC comics’ books are about comics not movies but we have decided to include the books because there have been many DC comics turned into movies.

Books:

Learn about the new book written by Paul Levitz, 75 Years of DC Comics: The Art of Modern Mythmaking: Wham! Wow!: DC Comics at 75 with Tom Ashbrook on NPR’s On Point Radio.

Book: DC Comics Year by Year: A Visual Chronicle

Book: The Sounds of Star Wars. Listen to an interview with Ben Burt about ‘The Sounds Of Star Wars,’ Now At Fans’ Fingertips on NPR’s Weekend Edition.

Awards:

American Film Institute (AFI) announces top 10 movies of 2010

Upcoming Films:

Tintin: The Tintin comic book series is being turned into a movie, directed by blockbuster directors Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson. Due out at the theaters 2011. Learn more about Tintin on Wikipedia and in Empire Magazine.

Tron Legacy: The sequel to TRON will be in theaters Friday. Visit the official website to look at games, videos, cast, characters, and everything else you can possibly imagine about the new movie, TRON Legacy. Read about it in Empire Magazine.

Pirates of the Caribbean: The fourth Pirates of the Caribbean movie, On Stranger Tides will be released. Watch the trailer here: http://www.empireonline.com/news/story.asp?NID=29718

Save the date:

Providence Children’s Film Festival will be in Providence February 18 – 22, 2011.

2010 Oscar Academy Awards will air on ABC on February 27, 2011. The hosts will be Anne Hathaway and James Franco.

Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief
Based on the book: The Lightning Thief by author Rick Riordan
Opens February 12, 2010

Tim Burton’s Alice in Wonderland
Based on the Lewis Carroll novels Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
Opens March 5, 2010

Dreamworks’ Shrek Forever After
Opens May 21, 2010

PIXAR’s Toy Story 3
Opens June 18, 2010

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, Part 1
Based on the J.K. Rowling’s novel Harry Potter and the Deadly Hollows
Opens November 19, 2010

Fanatastic Mr. Fox. Directed by Wes Anderson
website: http://www.fantasticmrfoxmovie.com/

Runner Up:
• Up. Directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
website: http://adisney.go.com/disneyvideos/animatedfilms/up/

BEST COMPUTER ANIMATION:

Up. Animation by PIXAR

Runner Up:
• Monsters vs Aliens. Animation by DreamWorks
website: http://www.apple.com/trailers/dreamworks/monstersvsaliens/

FUNNIEST FILM OF THE YEAR:

Battle of the Smithsonian. Directed by Shawn Levy
website: http://www.nightatthemuseumcomestolife.com/us/

Runners Up:
• Up. Directed by Pete Docter and Bob Peterson
• Fantastic Mr. Fox. Directed by Wes Anderson

MOST ACTION-PACKED FILM

Race to Witch Mountain. Directed by Andy Fickman
website: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1075417/

Runners Up:
• Monsters vs Aliens
• UP
• Battle of the Smithsonian
• Fantastic Mr. Fox

BEST MUSIC

UP. Soundtrack by composer Michael Giacchino
website: http://disneymusic.disney.go.com/albums/upsoundtrack.html

Runners Up:
• Fantastic Mr. Fox. Soundtrack includes music by various artists
website: http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Mr-Fox-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B002OULHPG
• Where the Wild Things Are. Music by Karen O And The Kids
wesbite: http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/#/Soundtrack

BEST CHARACTER

Mr. Fox (from Fantastic Mr. Fox)

Runners Up:
• Larry Dailey (from Battle of the Smithsonian)
• Russell (from UP)

BEST SONG

Davy Crockett (from Fantastic Mr. Fox)
website: http://www.amazon.com/Fantastic-Mr-Fox-Original-Soundtrack/dp/B002OULHPG

BEST CLAYMATION MOVIE

Fantastic Mr. Fox

Runners Up:
• Coraline. Directed by Henry Selick
website: http://coraline.com/

BEST SOUND / SPECIAL EFFECTS

Monsters vs Aliens

Runners Up:
• UP
• Where the Wild Things Are
• Battle of the Smithsonian

BEST SCREENPLAY

Where the Wild Things Are

Runners Up:
• UP

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY

Where the Wild Things Are. Cinematographer: Lance Acord
wesbsite: http://wherethewildthingsare.warnerbros.com/

The Polar Express

Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

How the Grinch Stole the Christmas

Santa Claus is Coming to Town

The Year without a Santa Claus

Frosty the Snowman

The Nutcracker featuring the New York City Ballet

The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats

]]> http://flickflackmovietalk.com/2009/12/flick-flacks-film-picks-for-christmas/feed/ 4 http://flickflackmovietalk.com/2009/11/flick-flack-film-picks-for-thanksgiving/ http://flickflackmovietalk.com/2009/11/flick-flack-film-picks-for-thanksgiving/#comments Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:25:10 +0000 flickflack http://flickflackmovietalk.com/?p=291 Our picks of shorts, shows and feature lengths will get you in the mood for food, Fall and Thanksgiving.

Winnie the Pooh and the Blustery Day (1968)
Genre: Animation | Short | Family
30 minutes
NR: Good for all ages

PIXAR’s Ratatouille
Genre: Animation | Family
111 minutes
Rated: G

Julia Child: French Chef
Cooking Episodes
website: http://www.pbs.org/juliachild/
NR: Good for 6 and up. Some kids may find this boring

Reading Rainbow
30 minute episode: Brush
NR: All ages
website: http://pbskids.org/readingrainbow/books/episode_detail_049.html

We have not seen these yet but they look good:

A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving (1973)
NR

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
Genre:Comedy | Drama | Family | Fantasy | Romance more
NR

Winnie the Pooh – Seasons of Giving (1999)
NR

Three Musketeers (1993)

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone

Toy Story 2

Toy Story 1

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azakaban

The Princess Bride

2001: A Space Odyssey

The Incredibles

* in no particular order

The Three Musketeers (1993 version)

Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Howl’s Moving Castle

Star Wars IV: A New Hope

* in no particular order