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SIFF 2014: The Ingredients Of A Good Sports Film, And Why ‘Air Bud 4’ Makes No Sense By David Chen/June 8, 2014 9:00 am EST Like many sports movie fans, I find the conventions of the sports movie both stultifyingly familiar yet oddly comforting. So when I saw the trailer for Andrew Disney’s Intramural recently, I knew I’d have check it out at the 2014 Seattle International Film Festival. While /Film readers didn’t really warm to the film’s trailer when it debuted, I found the Intramural to be quite charming and hilarious — a lovingly made Dodgeball-esque lampooning of a genre that has become all-too-familiar....

Superhero Bits: X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Iron Man 3, Amazing Spider-Man 2, Man Of Steel, Justice League By Germain Lussier/March 1, 2013 2:00 pm EST Want to see the trailer for a low-budget Justice League fan film? How is Jennifer Lawrence going to transform in X-Men: Days of Future Past? What word has Bryan Singer invoked to describe the new film? Where can you see a bunch of Man of Steel merchandise?...

The Villainous Baron Wolfgang Von Strucker Is Cast In ‘Avengers: Age Of Ultron’ By Germain Lussier/Jan. 15, 2014 9:38 am EST Obviously, Ultron will be the main bad guy in 2015’s Avengers: Age Of Ultron. However back in December we’d heard rumblings that a second villain will also be part of the film. That second antagonist has now been confirmed. Thomas Kretschmann (TV’s Dracula) has been cast as HYDRA leader Baron Wolfgang von Strucker in the Joss Whedon Marvel super-film....

Trivia: ‘The Avengers’ Almost Got An R Rating By Angie Han/March 14, 2014 8:00 am EST To date, every single Marvel Cinematic Universe has been rated PG-13. That’s the sweet spot for big-budget four-quadrant tentpoles like these; a PG-13 lets a movie be edgy enough to attract the grown-ups but not so hardcore it keeps out kids. But as Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige recently revealed, getting that rating has been a trickier task for some films than others....

TV Trailer: Jeremy Irons In Neil Jordan’s Showtime Series ‘The Borgias’ By Russ Fischer/Dec. 7, 2010 12:30 pm EST Power! Sex! Decadence! That’s the promise of Showtime’s new series The Borgias. The show seems to act as a spiritual successor to The Tudors, but ups the ante by casting Jeremy Irons as the infamous Cardinal Borgia, who became Pope Alexander IV in 1492. And Neil Jordan acts as exec producer and directs the first two episodes....

Two More ‘Star Wars’ Spin-Offs Revealed: Young Han Solo And Boba Fett By Germain Lussier/Feb. 6, 2013 10:12 am EST When Disney officially announced they would be making Star Wars spin-off movies between the new, official episodes, some fans intensified the process of fantasizing about two characters: Han Solo and Boba Fett. According to Entertainment Weekly, films spotlighting those fan-favorites are in the works. While the development is still in its earliest stages, films are being discussed which would be based on the adventures of a young Han Solo, set between Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and Episode IV: A New Hope, and the actions of Boba Fett, set either between Episode IV: A New Hope and Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back or between Empire and Return of the Jedi....

Watch Extensive ‘A Field In England’ Making-Of Footage By Russ Fischer/Feb. 14, 2014 7:00 am EST Last summer Ben Wheatley’s film A Field in England started to see release, with a simultaneous drop in theaters, on disc, and on cable and VOD in the UK. It went on to play festivals and finally opened in the US last week. Along with the film’s UK release last year was a “digital masterclass” on the making of the movie — a thirty-minute behind the scenes doc that is really terrifically detailed....

Which Hollywood Classics Inspired Wes Anderson’s ‘Grand Budapest Hotel’? By Angie Han/Oct. 31, 2012 3:30 pm EST Wes Anderson isn’t as intensely secretive as some of his Hollywood colleagues, but he hasn’t exactly been forthcoming about his next film, The Grand Budapest Hotel. At this point, all we have to go on are a handful of casting notices — Ralph Fiennes, Angela Lansbury, Jude Law, Bill Murray, Owen Wilson, and Jason Schwartzmann are all on the list — and some vague statements about it being a family-unfriendly piece set in Europe....

‘Dredd’ Set Photos Give Another Glimpse At Olivia Thirlby By Russ Fischer/June 18, 2012 2:00 pm EST The first trailer for Dredd, the new film based around long-running 2000 AD comic character Judge Dredd, is going to hit on Thursday. So those eager to see whether this film can erase the stain of the 1995 Sylvester Stallone version of the character will get some idea of its potential very soon....

‘How To Train Your Dragon 2’ Video Review: A Worthy Sequel To A Beautiful Film By David Chen/June 12, 2014 10:09 pm EST I saw How to Train Your Dragon seven times in theaters when it was released in 2010. For me, few other films have taken better advantage of the IMAX format, and few have done a better job at conveying the exhilaration of flight. But beyond being a technical marvel, it also had a lot of heart and introduced us to one of the most adorable, heart-melting animated characters ever conceived, Toothless....

‘In Secret’ Trailer: Elizabeth Olsen Marries Her Cousin And Hooks Up With A Family Friend By Russ Fischer/Dec. 3, 2013 4:00 pm EST In her onscreen appearances this year, Elizabeth Olsen is sleeping with all the wrong people. Look no further than Oldboy for concrete proof, but if you want more, there’s the period drama In Secret, based on Émile Zola’s novel Thérèse Raquin. Olsen plays Thérèse, trapped in an arranged marriage to her dunderheaded and frail cousin (Tom Felton), and who finds herself burning a candle — maybe a bonfire, really — for the dashing and worldy artist friend (Oscar Isaac) who enters her family orbit....

‘Interstellar’ Teaser Poster; Plus New Trailer Description By Germain Lussier/May 6, 2014 10:14 am EST A second trailer for Christopher Nolan’s Interstellar hits theaters next week, and now the first official poster has been released. Check out the Interstellar teaser poster below, and read a brief description of the new trailer. Here’s the first poster for Interstellar. Click to see it in high res. You’ve gotta love the color scheme here as well as the simple, eye-catching design....

‘Mr. Turner’ Trailer: Timothy Spall Leads Mike Leigh’s Cannes Hit By Angie Han/May 15, 2014 7:39 am EST This year’s Cannes Film Festival is just getting started, but it already seems to have one notable success story Mr. Turner. The Mike Leigh-directed biopic, which stars Timothy Spall as British painter J.M.W. Turner, has been attracting smashing reviews and even some early awards buzz following its world premiere this morning. When the film will get a general U....

‘Snow White And The Huntsman 2’ Coming In 2015, ‘Bourne 5’ In Development By Angie Han/April 16, 2013 4:00 pm EST Universal does have some original releases coming up over the next few years, but their big announcements out of CinemaCon have been all about the sequels. Earlier today, we learned that Fast & Furious 7 would hit next year, followed by Pitch Perfect 2 the year after that. But that’s not all....

‘The Babadook’ Trailer: A Monster Looms As A Family Starts To Crack Apart By Russ Fischer/Jan. 21, 2014 11:52 am EST One of the most popular films at Sundance this year has been the Australian horror picture The Babadook. Not necessarily in the sense that everyone here has seen it, but I haven’t spoken to anyone who didn’t like the film, and most people seem to be as big a fan of it as I was....

‘The Mule’ Trailer: A Great Look At A Blackly Comic Thriller By Russ Fischer/Oct. 2, 2014 12:30 pm EST In other words, this is a film about a guy trying to avoid going to the bathroom for seven days. Why? Because there are cops who want what might come out, and gangsters who really want what’s in there. With Hugo Weaving as a particularly mean-spirited cop and a cast that also includes Leigh Whannell (Saw), Ewen Leslie, Geoff Morrell, Georgina Haig, Noni Hazlehurst and John Noble, this looks like a weird and funny film....

‘The Omen’ TV Series Coming From Former ‘Walking Dead’ Showrunner By Angie Han/May 19, 2014 4:00 pm EST Following NBC’s Hannibal and Rosemary’s Baby and A&E’s Bates Motel, The Omen will become the latest horror classic to get adapted for the small screen. Titled Damien, the new drama will be a sequel of sorts to the 1976 film, picking up with the titular character as an adult. The good news about the Omen TV series is that it’ll be steered by the capable hands of former Walking Dead showrunner Glen Mazzara....

Benedict Cumberbatch Dominates Ruined London In New ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Poster By Russ Fischer/April 8, 2013 8:35 am EST In just over a month, J.J. Abrams’ second Star Trek film, Star Trek Into Darkness, opens its regular run. (The film will actually premiere in April, with galas set for different countries beginning with an Australian event on April 23.) As we hit the last stretch until the film opens up to a general audience, we’ve got a new international poster promising the end of the Earth, along with high-res versions of photos that have appeared in magazines and online over the past week....

Cate Blanchett In Talks For Mark Romanek’s Live-Action ‘Cinderella’ By Angie Han/Nov. 28, 2012 6:00 am EST With Snow White and the Huntsman and Mirror, Mirror behind us and Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters, Jack the Giant Slayer, and Maleficent all due out within the next couple of years, it’s clear the live-action fairy tale trend isn’t going away anytime soon. One of the more promising projects coming down the pipeline is Disney’s untitled Cinderella adaptation, which has Mark Romanek attached to direct from a script by Chris Weitz....

David Cronenberg Draws In Julianne Moore And John Cusack For ‘Maps To The Stars’ By Russ Fischer/April 18, 2013 1:38 pm EST David Cronenberg’s next film is Maps to the Stars, based on a script which has been said to eviscerate the celebrity culture of Los Angeles. The director has described it as an extreme piece of work that centers on “two child actors ruined by Hollywood’s depravity.” Cronenberg announced at Cannes last year that he planned to work again with Cosmopolis actors Robert Pattinson and Sarah Gadon....