I was born in the 80’s and grew up watching cartoons into the early nineties. One of my staples on Saturday morning was the X-Men animated series.

Despite being a DC Comics fan and not a Marvel one as much, there was something about the show that had me waiting with bated breath for every episode. Compared to some of the other cartoons going on those days – such as the Batman animated series – the artistry was more in tune with the comic book art, the stories grittier and more realistic. In reality, the Batman series – which I also watched – was all-around better, but the X-Men series was the one to watch. (more…)

Disheartening news… first Harry Potter was pushed back from fall of 2008 to the summer of 2009, and now the highly anticipated sequel to the hit blockbuster Cats and Dogs has been bumped to the summer of 2010. What is the world coming to when a film like Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore sees a year delay?

I don’t know if I can go on living in this world, people. That movie was going to be awesome. It was going to be the best. It was going to be like Star Trek and Terminator and Wolverine and Up and Schindler’s List all rolled into one.

The original Death at a Funeral was pretty good. Not great, but good. It was also made in 2007, with English-speaking actors, many of whom are recognizable. It was directed by Frank Oz. And they’re remaking it. Remaking a two-year old movie that already received a U.S. release. What the hell?

This remake, of all remakes that have come before it, crosses the line of artistic integrity. Sure, there have been perfectly good films that were remade only a few years later in the form of Vanilla Sky and The Ring and several others. Those remakes are annoying enough, because if you watch the originals they are just as good or better, and not at all dated. They just don’t star as marketable actors as Hollywood can bring to the table. And they’re in a different language, made in another country, and there are a lot of people who don’t like subtitles for some sad, misguided reason (you’re exempt if you are visually impaired, of course). (more…)

There’s not much to say here: MTV Movie Blogs held an interview with actor Terry Crews who confirmed that the Governator Arnold Schwarzenegger will indeed have a cameo in the upcoming action flick Terminator Salvation. Rumors had all but confirmed this already, but this is the surest sign so far.

Arnold will also cameo in The Expendables, the Sylvestor Stallone-directed movie that also involves Crews.

I don’t care about that movie as much, but let me say this: Terminator Salvation looks badass. Absolutely badass. From the previews, it makes Transformers look like a walk in the park. I just watched the latest preview again during my viewing of the Rescue Me season premiere… I could watch it a dozen more times. The music is pitch perfect. The movie itself looks depressing: just the way I like ‘em.

Cary Grant and Grace Kelly star in the French Riviera thriller To Catch a Thief, an Alfred Hitchcock classic. The movie is being released by Paramount in an all-new DVD Centennial Collection on March 24, 2009.

To Catch a Thief is about a retired jewel thief named John Robie who was once known as “The Cat.” When a new rash of gem thefts occur at some nearby luxury hotels, however, the police immediately suspect Robie, forcing him to go undercover and determine the truth himself. He soon hooks up with the beautiful heiress Frances Stevens and as their relationship develops, loyalties and honesty are questioned. Is Robie truly innocent, or is he just using Frances to get to her mother’s riches? (more…)

As expected, Watchmen took a nosedive in its second weekend – taking in an estimated $18 million, 67% than last week. After ten days, it has made $85 million against a budget of $130-150 million, which means that it isn’t going to make back its production budget in theaters. Considering all the money that went into marketing and its so-so worldwide grosses thus far – and the profit-sharing deal Warner Brothers was forced to work out with 20th Century Fox – Watchmen is not going to be a box office success.

2009 has been a strong year at the box office thus far, with lots of films that weren’t expected to do much raking in major dough (Paul Blart, Taken and the expansion of Slumdog Millionaire to name a few). This weekend sort of brought things done to earth, as the first big blockbuster of the year crashed and burned in its second weekend and the potential Disney franchise-starter Race to Witch Mountain, starring The Rock, only took in $25 million. While this isn’t a horrible amount, Disney, who has been struggling throughout the year, had to have been expecting more. It might have strong legs, but the upcoming Monsters vs. Aliens will demolish it in a couple weeks.

Miss March failed to perform with a tenth place finish.

A horror “movie” that really does deserve to be remade is in fact being remade, says The Hollywood Reporter. Stephen King’s “It,” which was originally adapted as a television mini-series, is getting an upgrade thanks to Warner Brothers.

While the mini-series feels a bit dated now, I was pretty young when I first saw it… and it gave me nightmares. Clowns are frightening enough, but evil clowns can scare the shit out of anyone. As long as the director, who has yet to be announced, doesn’t turn this movie into a montage of cheap scares, the remake of It could be quite effective. (more…)

Keira Knightley continues to impress me. Not only does she continue to challenge herself as an actress, but she has said “no” to the planned Pirates of the Caribbean 4, which will bring back Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. The original Pirates put Keira on the map as the sexy love interest in a corsette, and resulted in major success for the actress. (more…)

Summit Entertainment is going the Harry Potter route by selecting a different director for every sequel to their hit movie Twilight. This is a risky but necessary move considering that Summit is taking an oddly aggressive approach to distributing these films: New Moon comes out only a year after the original, and Eclipse only eight months after that.

Eclipse, by far the best book of the four-part series, will be directed by Spanish director Juan Antonio Bayona. Who the f**k is Bayona, you ask? Well, he directed the shockingly scary horror picture The Orphanage and is set to helm Hater for Universal Pictures. Bayona is, apparently, a protege of Guillermo Del Toro, who as everyone knows is directing the upcoming Hobbit films. (more…)

Marvel Comics has updated the release dates for their upcoming superhero movies, pushing all of their most anticipated movies back by nearly five years.

Actually, the news isn’t nearly so dire. While 2010 only offers one major Marvel movie release – Iron Man 2, the one film on the list that wasn’t shifted in the schedule – 2011 will see not one, not two, but three major releases from May to July.  Talk about packing a punch. The only downside is that The Avengers is now coming out in 2012. (more…)