I loved the fact that Thor was directed by accomplished actor/director Kenneth Branagh, who is actually a personal idol of mine. He engaged me with his tactic to inject a little Shakespearean tragedy to the Thor movie, which other directors would have ignored. Unfortunately, he won’t be back for the sequel. The new director chosen for the Thor 2 is Alan Taylor, who has recently gained acclaim for directing the smash fantasy series A Game of Thrones. With preproduction for Thor 2 underway, the attention of Marvel Studios has shifted quite understandably to the script. Original Thor screenwriter Don Payne has submitted a draft of the script but it has been reported that Marvel Studios wants to have the first draft rewritten and is bringing in Robert Rodat to rewrite the draft. Rodat is an accomplished written. He wrote the script for Saving Private Ryan and has earned an Oscar nomination for his work. His most recent work is creating and producing the hit Scifi TV series Falling Skies.

Rewriting scripts is nothing new. It’s a practice that is often done in Hollywood. Rodat should work fast though, the Thor sequel is already scheduled for a November 15, 2013 release.

But Solomon Kane is neither of these fictional characters. Based on the character created by pulp writer Robert E. Howard, Solomon Kane is a wandering puritan who lived in the 17th century and whose goal is to vanquish evil wherever he encounters it. The character appeared in many stories in Weird Tales, the seminal title that brought many high quality pulp horror stories.

I am not thoroughly familiar with Solomon Kane as a character so I’ll base this review solely on what I have seen in the movie and based on what I have just seen, Solomon Kane is a character that should really be given as much focus as the other comic book characters enjoying the adoration of the public.

Solomon Kane revisits the same familiar tropes of faith and repentance but given a deliberate Hollywood polish of expansive cinematography and special effects. Michael J. Bassett, who both wrote and directed the movie, tried to do his best to cram as much of Solomon Kane’s origins in order to give the audience a heftier idea of why he seeks redemption. As “origin” movies go, Bassett also had to contend with trying to cram in as much background story as he could without eating up too much of his available screen time. It’s a worthwhile effort and I feel that even though he has not fully achieved his goal, it was still a passable effort that gave us a good glimpse of Solomon Kane before he repented and began his quest for the deliverance of his soul.

Luckily, Bassett had a very capable actor in James Purefoy who injected just enough pathos in his performance that by the middle of the movie, the audience really roots for him. It is quite easy to ham it up in a movie like this but Purefoy managed to evade this easy trap. His Kane is fractured, conflicted and tortured but there is a nobility that shines through and a goodness that emerges naturally in his performance. Speaking of actors, I was quite happy to see the great Pete Postlethwaite as the well-meaning William Crowthorn. Actors like him always give any movie a worthwhile sheen and as always he delivers here. I feel that Jason Flemyng is thoroughly underused as the villain Malachai. His screen time is just not enough.

The cinematography was a bit hit and miss. I don’t know if it was the copy that I was viewing but there were some scenes that were a bit too poorly lighted. But it’s undeniable that Bassett has a great eye. There were some gorgeous scenes that would put to shame most of the hacks in Hollywood — which makes me wonder why Bassett is not being given more high profile projects. Solomon Kane is loads better than the very poorly made Van Helsing. To compare him to Stephen Sommers is an insult to Bassett.

I am also a bit underwhelmed by the movie’s ending. You get this feeling of wanting more but from the looks of it, it seems that the people behind the movie are hoping to make a franchise out of it. Hopefully, the movie has performed well enough to actually merit a sequel.

All in all, Solomon Kane is one of those action/fantasy movies that are not being noticed because it doesn’t have the pull of an A-list actor. But I think the beauty of this movie is precisely the fact that it is not totally consumed by Hollywood’s touch. Fantasy/action fans would be well advised to check this movie out.

Rating: B+

It’s a good thing that Whedon is not lacking in offers. Word is that he has been chosen as the director for The Avengers. He was initially rumored to be in the short list for directors but it looks like he’s got it in the bag. The movie is expected to be released on May 4, 2012.

I’m pretty sure Whedon is going to have a lot of fun directing this movie and he’s going to bring all he’s got in order to make the fans happy.

Director Joe Johnston chimed in about the casting choice, especially since Evans also played The Human Torch. Johnston said that with the way the movie is written, Steve Rogers (Captain America) will be shown before and after he is given the super soldier serum. Rogers is originally a mere 98 pounds and very lanky. But the transformation turns him into the perfect human being. But instead of hiring two people, Johnston said that Evans will play both roles but he was mum on how exactly they will do it.

I’m guessing that they will probably use the same technology employed in making The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.

According to people who have seen the shoot, Reynolds has been wearing a gray motion capture suit, which bolsters the suspicion about the CG costume.

There is already an explanation about this very interesting turn of events. The reasoning is that since the costume is not really a costume but a manifestation of the ring’s power, the suit should look otherworldly and unreal. It does jive with the comicbook lore so I think the guys behind Green Lantern are actually taking the right direction for the movie.

I can’t wait to see how the “power” suit will look on the big screen.

According to various tracking surveys, there is a strong chance that Iron Man 2 could go past the $158.4 million opening record set by the Dark Knight.

The growing buzz from viewers is being largely attributed to star Robert Downey Jr. A lot of women, especially those with ages from their 20s to 30s are very interested in seeing Downey in the big screen once again. Also, males are expected to troop to the theaters in order to watch Iron Man and the various action sequences promised by the movie. Even the demographic that is least interested in the movie, the teen girls, are showing some rumblings of interest, too.

If Iron Man’s record is any indication then the sequel is going to explode in a big way. The original movie had a $98.6 million opening and eventually grossed $318.4 million. With an international gross of $266.7 million, the movie’s worldwide take was $585.1 million.

As for me, I am definitely going to watch this. This is the movie that will finally make me go to a theater again this year.

And since a successful reboot is very important at this stage, it was mentioned that Christopher Nolan, who helmed and reinvigorated the Batman franchise with Batman Begins and The Dark Knight, will be spearheading the Supes reboot because of his experience.

Nolan, in an interview, said that his involvement in the Superman reboot came about because of an “impasse” that has happened while talking about the third Batman film. Writer David Goyer brought out an idea (which he didn’t mention) for Superman that Nolan immediately loved.

There is speculation that the new Superman movie, will be like that of the new Batman movie, in that Superman will be the only superhero in his world, so any speculations about a crossover between the two is already out of the question.

Speaking of Batman, Nolan also said that the impasse he mentioned has already been fixed. He and Goyer are now moving forward with the third film, though he is still mum about who the next villain will be. He did say that they want to finish their story as opposed to blowing it up infinitely and expanding the story they’ve created.

I’m betting on Catwoman.

Now he is reportedly rumored to be near bagging a role that could catapult him to official movie stardom.

According to reports, he is getting closer to landing the role of Captain America in Marvel Studios’ The First Avenger: Captain America.

Krasinski has reportedly been meeting with the producers since the start of 2010 and  has read for the role and even done some screen tests. He allegedly read for the role four times and has done two screen tests.

He is reportedly also reading with different actresses who are up for the female leads. The final decision for the casting might be announced in a just a few weeks.

Newly appointed Chief Creative Officer of DC Entertainment Geoff Johns, gave some relatively cool news about the new superhero movie. First, he confirmed that actor Mark Strong is going to play GL’s nemesis Sinestro. Strong was last seen in Sherlock Holmes and is also a part of the cast of another comicbook adaptation, Kick Ass.

AMong the other Green Lantern staples that you can also expect in the movie, based on Johns’ information are the Guardians, Oa, and fan favorite Kilowog.

Green Lantern will be directed by Martin Campbell and will star Ryan Reynolds in the titular role. Also starring in the movie are Blake Lively, Peter Sarsgaard and Tim Robbins. The movie will be released on June 17, 2011.

Now, more than a decade later, the Sgt. Rock movie has been revived. According to producer Joel Silver, the project has been given new life at Warner Bros. Pictures. Silver revealed that for this planned adaptation, the setting won’t be during World War II. The new plan is for Sgt. Rock to perform his call of duty in a war in the “not too distant future.” Silver further revealed that they want it to be a movie where the direction for the character is “where it’s going” and not “where it’s been.” The whole vision for the movie is for a futuristic war where Sgt. Rock will figure prominently. The scrtip is already finished and director Francis Lawrence is helping in the development of the movie. There is still no go signal from Warner that would officially mean the project is officially in production but hopefully 2010 is the magic year when we will finally see Sgt. Rock being made into a movie.

Despite that I supported him when his Spawn movie came out. It wasn’t a good movie mainly because the story was just too weak. Even though it made $87.8 million worldwide I didn’t want them to make a sequel anymore.

But apparently Hollywood still has faith in the Spawn character. Todd McFarlane has started writing the screenplay for a new Spawn movie. The new movie will reportedly not be a recap or a continuation but a completely stand-alone story. McFarlane said that the new movie will cater to an older audience, “just like The Departed.”

Good to see that McFarlane still hasn’t lost his arrogance.

Despite his misgivings Terrence Howards assures Marvel that he won’t leak any details of the upcoming movie even though he is indeed in a position to give a massive spoiler since he has read the script. Furthermore he harbors no ill-will towards his replacement and even roots for Don Cheadle, wanting Cheadle to do a better job with the character than him since, according to him, he has lots of love for Cheadle who helped Howard get his gig in “Crash”.

As for his payback? He plans on doing nothing (aside from obviously complaining) because as he said, “I believe in karma. When someone does something wrong, you don’t have to get them back. Everything right will return the favor for you.”

Though people will undoubtedly still flock to see the movie Jackman is very busy making sure that they will have a good turn out by going on a world tour to promote the movie. The tour started with his chopper appearance in Cockatoo Island in Sydney, Australia and a 20-minute footage of the film shown there. This makes me wonder how much more they’ll get to see since the movie’s suppose to run for only around 90 plus minutes?

For those who haven’t seen the pirated copy yet you’ll get to see the official release on its premier on April 30 in Australia and UK and May 1 in the US.

So box office has given its nod but what about the critics? Quite frankly I can’t give a review yet since I have yet to see the movie but believe I’m going to remedy that problem this week. So far here’s what other reviewers had to say.

Long story short, if you’re not a fan of the book and can tolerate unintentional camp, give it a try. It’s not terrible. If you are a fan, try not to get your hopes up too much; just enjoy it for what it is. Zachary Lee of StudentPrintz.com

The film had outsized ambition, an obvious passion for the source material and some truly great moments…but long chunks where it feels somewhat hollow. I found myself wondering how anyone who hadn’t read the book could hang in for the loooong haul of the movie. Geoff Boucher of LATimes

Snyder does an overall good job with this depressing world… A problem that Snyder does have, though, is in elongating scenes. The first half of the movie is plagued by an overabundance of dialogue. It may be necessary in order to set the stage for a complex plotline, but it seems like Snyder simply refused to cut certain parts; perhaps blinded by his devotion to the novel. Antonio Hernandez of the RoundupNews

Still a gorgeous film in most senses, ‘Watchmen’ is best praised for knowing how to express itself. If you don’t agree with the viewpoint one character espouses there’s an eloquence that makes you listen. More weaknesses could be dredged up, but the strength of purpose and fascination of the players in ‘Watchmen’ makes me forgetful of criticism. Rewriting things as stable as facts, it arrives at a rarely expressed vision. Star Community

There you go. Yet again reading other people’s reviews won’t tell you how you’ll really like it because it all depends on your preference…Faithful or not? The eternal question for films anything adapted from books and comic books. At least they all said that the movie was enjoyable and had good scenes now its up to you to see just how much enjoyable it is.

The troublesome Justice League movie is finally ready to shoot next year. Director George Miller has been quoted that the superhero movie, which was supposed to be shot in Australia, has been moved to another location and that filming will resume next year, 2009.

Miller has also praised the screen test of actress Megan Gale, who’s eyeing the role of Wonder Woman.

Although the exact plot details have not yet been fleshed out Donner says the script that they are already studying deals with not only with Magneto but also Charles Xavier. She says that it will be about the two friends during their early years.

The studio has launched a “for your consideration” website for the smash hit and the content of the site includes the full script of the movie itself.

But in related but amusing news, a city in Turkey named Batman is suing the studio and director Christopher Nolan for royalties from the movie. Batman’s mayor is definitely bonkers if he thinks his lawsuit would even be considered seriously.

Huseyin Kalkan, the pro-Kurdish Democratic Society Party mayor of Batman, has accused the film’s producers of using the city’s name without permission.

“There is only one Batman in the world,” Kalkan said. “The American producers used the name of our city without informing us.”

We wish him the best of luck. More details here.

Also, The Dark Knight has reached a worldwide total of $997.6 million ($528.6 million domestically, $469 million internationally) and should be able to cross the $1 billion mark with the re-release in January.

Johnston is popular for having directed Jurassic Park III, Jumanji and he won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects for Raiders of The Lost Ark.

The surprise change, according to Howard, surprised him as well. He claimed that he found out about the change like many of the fans — through the news. He also denied that negotiations with him bogged down because of money.

Below is a quote from the interview conducted by NPR:

“It was the surprise of a lifetime,” he said. “There was no explanation. [The contract] just…up and vanished. I read something in the trades implicating that it was about money or something, but apparently the contracts that we write and sign aren’t worth the paper that they’re printed on, sometimes. Promises aren’t kept, and good faith negotiations aren’t always held up.”

I still think that the decision to replace Howard is a big mistake.

Don Cheadle will be replacing Terrence Howard in Iron Man 2.

Howard played Col. James Rhodes, Tony Stark’s friend and future hero as well as he is bequeathed War Machine.

According to reports, negotiations over salary was the main culprit in talks bogging down between Howard and Marvel Studios.

Much as I think Cheadle is a great actor I just don’t see him as donning the War Machine suit. I guess a War Machine movie may not happen after all.

Zack Snyder recently revealed that there is a proposed sequel to his hit movie 300. Yes, you read it right guys, a sequel to a historical event that was just given fantastical elements to make it ubercool.

Snyder said that he is talking with Frank Miller, who created the 300 graphic novel, about writing and drawing the graphic novel that will be the basis for the second film. Snyder said that until Miller finishes the novel scriptwriting will not commence.

He further revealed that the sequel will take place between the Battle of Thermopylae and the Battle of Plataea. Snyder said that he will definitely return for the sequel.

Distinguished actor and arthouse director Kenneth Branagh is reportedly interested in directing the Thor live action movie being developed by Marvel Studios. The movie is expected to be released on June 4, 2010.

The success of both Jon Favreau and Christopher Nolan in directing a mainstream movie even though they have more arthouse roots could be one of the reasons why Branagh has put his hat in the very lucrative superhero movie genre. Another arthouse director Gavin Hood is currently working on the Wolverine solo movie.

I am supporting Branagh’s campaign. He could bring something really quirky to the Thor movie that will please both fans and critics alike.

The writer said that he is currently working on the movie script and that it will be a “faithful rendition” of the beloved comicbook superhero.

However, Guggenheim didn’t specify which Green Lantern he is working on. Will it be Hal Jordan, John Stewart, Kyle Rayner or (gasp!) Guy Gardner? We’ll definitely know in the coming months.

There are no news about Kirsten Dunst but Dunst’s Mary Jane Watson character will be featured in the movies. There are no reports though of recasting for the role.

Principal photography for the movies will reportedly begin fall of 2009 and only by then will the villain be determined. The early buzz though is that it will be The Lizard, which is Dylan Baker’s character Dr. Curt Connors.

TMNT co-creater Kevin Eastman has confirmed that Warner Bros. is pursuing making a live action movie on the characters. The CGI movie that was released a couple of years ago did well in the box office but the current belief is that a live action movie is a better candidate for re-inventing the Turtles to a newer audience. The idea is to reintroduce the characters and re-tell even their origin stories.

We’ll keep you posted as this story develops.