Jay’s Brainfart

Some good news this morning from the folks over at Firstshowing.net - Guillermo Del Toro and Peter Jackson have said they will write the screenplay for The Hobbit & its follow-up themselves (with Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens).

Jackson had previously said that he would not be writing any of the Hobbit movies due to his prior commitments, but happily he’s had a change of heart.

This turnaround came due to three reasons:
1) The filmmakers saw their schedules open up.
2) During the general discussions about the films, they realized how much affection they had for the material.
3) They also realized that in order to make the release dates, the process required people intimate with Tolkien’s world of Middle Earth.

This is definitely great news, as the only fear I had with the Hobbit was a possible lapse in the attention to detail - with Jackson, Walsh and Boyens all writing with Del Toro, I can only see good things happening. :)

Now all we have to do is wait until 2011 for the movie to be released!

Title: WALL·E
Director: Andrew Stanton
Starring: Ben Burtt, Elissa Knight, Jeff Garlin, Sigourney Weaver
Release Date: 18 July 2008 (UK)

Synopsis: In the distant future, mankind has left the Earth due to a global garbage crisis, rendering the planet inhabitable. Waste disposal bots are left behind in order to clean up the mess, and WALL·E is the last remaining one. His 700 year isolation as rendered interesting results, with WALL·E developing a personality. WALL·E’s clean-up operation is brought to a halt when he meets Eve - a reconnaissance robot sent to Earth to look for signs of sustainable life.

From the off, WALL·E looks great and is exceedingly charming to both children and adults.

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Just saw this on /film and had to post it. :D

Title: Hellboy II: The Golden Army
Director: Guillermo Del Toro
Starring: Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones, John Hurt, Luke Goss
Release Date: UK - 20th August 2008 (Previewed on 5th August)

Synopsis: The mythical world, long forgotten has upheld a truce with the earthly realm - however all this will be destroyed when disgruntled Prince Nuada (Goss) returns to wage war and attempt to re-activate the indestructible Golden Army. Only Hellboy (Perlman) and the Bureau for Paranormal Research & Defense stand in his way.

Review: Ok let me first get one thing off my chest - when I saw the first Hellboy movie, I wasn’t really impressed. I knew nothing of the comicbooks, and I thought the movie was… well it was missing something, and seemed edited too much. Then I re-watched it on DVD (The Director’s Cut), and changed my mind. I have a newfound respect for Del Toro’s work after Pan’s Labyrinth too, so I was expecting some great stuff from Hellboy’s sequel.
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lol I had to share this with you guys - this is a vandelised real estate billboard on Route 9 in Saratoga Springs, NY.

Title: The Dark Knight
Director: Christopher Nolan
Starring: Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Morgan Freeman, Gary Oldman, Aaron Eckhart, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Release: 25th July 2008 [UK]

Synopsis: Batman (Bale) raises the stakes in his war on crime. With the help of Lieutenant Jim Gordon (Oldman) and District Attorney Harvey Dent (Eckhart), Batman sets out to dismantle the remaining criminal organizations that plague the city streets. The partnership proves to be effective, but they soon find themselves prey to a reign of chaos unleashed by a rising criminal mastermind known to the terrified citizens of Gotham as The Joker (Ledger).

Review: I’m not normally one to give in to the hype that surrounds a movie, mainly because I normally end up feeling let down when its not lived up to. With Chris Nolan’s Dark Knight, you can give in to the hype, and still think the movie was better than you expected. After my 3rd viewing, I still am!

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