Taxi Driver (35th Anniversary Edition)
	I could have sworn I requested a copy of this one, but it would seem I did not. Too bad, because I hear it is an excellent transfer, which tells me it's meaty and chewy with every texture of film you would want and expect from a high definition transfer of this classic. This is a film I didn't immediately like when I first saw it, but I discussed all this before when I reviewed the 2007 edition of this flick. I'm not sure if it's a film I necessarily need to own on Blu-ray, but at $12.99 at Amazon I am seriously considering buying this one right now and suggest if you are thinking the same thing you hit the Buy Now button before the price goes up.

I Love You Phillip Morris
	This is a decent movie with a pair of great performances by Jim Carrey and Ewan McGregor, but as I said in my theatrical review, it's "half of a good movie told twice." You can read my review right here for my thoughts, but a quick suggestion would be rent it.

The Chronicles Of Narnia: The Voyage Of The Dawn Treader Releases Friday, April 8
	This one doesn't hit shelves until Friday, but I'm not going to do a special edition of this column so you get my thoughts on it now. Those thoughts... it's probably the best of the three, but is that really saying all that much? I didn't mind the first two films when I first saw them, but can't stand to sit through them now. One big benefit to Dawn Treader is the fact it's under two hours long, while the other two were over-stuffed with what felt like an attempt to be epic, rather than actually being epic. I'm not sure I'll ever watch this film again, but I would say seeing it once is a satisfying experience.

TRON: Legacy
	This thing is available in about a 100 different formats. You can buy it on DVD, on Blu-ray, on 3D Blu-ray, with the original Tron on Blu-ray or in a massive special edition pack with toy packaging and what not. My suggestion, ignore it outright. It's not a very good movie and the only way to see it was in theaters. That time has passed. If you want the best of TRON: Legacy just wait until someone uploads the light cycle sequence to YouTube and buy the Daft Punk score and you'll be set.

Little Fockers
	You will never get me to watch this. If it's up your alley, have at it. I'm not interested.

Casino Jack
	I want to watch this, but I just haven't yet. I'm not expecting much, but it looks like it could be mildly entertaining.

• Friday Night Lights: The Fifth Season
• Fiddler on the Roof (Single-Disc Blu-ray/DVD Combo)
• A.I.: Artificial Intelligence [Blu-ray]
• Arthur / Arthur 2: On the Rocks (2-Movie Collection) [Blu-ray]
• Babe [Blu-ray]
• Eclipse Series 26: Silent Naruse (Flunky, Work Hard / No Blood Relation / Apart from You / Every-Night Dreams / Street Without End) (Criterion Collection)
• ...And Justice for All [Blu-ray]
• Gregory Peck's Mirage, Captain Newman MD and Arabesque
• The Cove [Blu-ray]
• Benny and Joon [Blu-ray]

• I Am Number Four (buy now)
  Releasing on May 24, 2011
• The Eagle (buy now)
  Releasing on June 21, 2011
• Another Year
  Releasing on June 7, 2011
• Gnomeo and Juliet (buy now)
  Releasing on May 24, 2011
• Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (buy now)
  Releasing on May 13, 2011
• Sanctum (buy now)
  Releasing on June 7, 2011

• I Am Number Four (buy now)
  Releasing on May 24, 2011
• The Eagle
  Releasing on June 21, 2011
• Another Year (buy now)
  Releasing on June 7, 2011
• Gnomeo and Juliet (buy now)
  Releasing on May 24, 2011
• Justin Bieber: Never Say Never (buy now)
  Releasing on May 13, 2011
• Sanctum (buy now)
  Releasing on June 7, 2011
• Brazil
  Releasing on July 12, 2011
• Das Boot (Director's Cut) (buy now)
  Releasing on June 7, 2011

It seemed my friend believed a decade long love affair between audiences and fantasy flicks was perhaps coming to an end. That conversation sent me on a quest to find out where the next crop of fantasy films will come from and when will they arrive?

Before I get into that discussion I think it's important to define the genre. Because we've entered a world where fantasy and comic book films are starting to come together. And I think that will happen more often in the future with the continued rise of manga and anime around the world and the solidification of graphic novels as a mainstream form of storytelling.

In this sense, genre mash-ups may be considered a genre unto itself, but that's for you to decide.

In my opinion, there are a couple of classic fantasy film franchises being hatched in Hollywood, such as Disney's John Carter of Mars. This film could also be considered a hybrid of sorts. It's based on an Edgar Rice Burroughs pulp serial first published in 1912 when people still thought there might be actual critters crawling around on the red planet. Now that we know such a concept is straight up nuttiness this film has to be considered just as much a fantasy film, if not more so, than as a piece of science fiction.

John Carter of Mars is set for a March 2012 release and Disney is definitely thinking tentpole franchise with this one. Andrew Stanton (WALL-E, Finding Nemo) is directing and Taylor Kitsch of Friday Night Lights fame stars as John Carter. Some people are already proclaiming this one to be the "next Avatar" but I am going to withhold judgment regarding the story of a Civil War vet taking on critters on the planet of Mars to save a Princess. I anticipate the visuals will no doubt be amazing but we've seen a lot of Civil War vets in wacky scenarios recently and few have clicked with an audience. I mean, do kids these days still play with Civil War soldiers like the Baby Boomers and some Gen-Xers did?

I do question the idea of going with a combination of films and television however. NBC-Universal's track record with fantasy programming is piss poor and if the TV series bombs how are they going to make the film versions a must see event? Then there's the involvement of Ron Howard and Akiva Goldsmith. Neither A-lister is exactly a hot commodity these days and they've never been favorites among hardcore fantasy film fans anyway. To many, Goldsmith is the man who penned Batman Forever and Batman and Robin. He's like the anti-Chris Nolan. Goldsmith tried to kill Batman and Nolan brought him back to life.

Mix those two film franchises together with not one but two Hobbit films that are finally going into production (March 21 to be exact) along with the Avatar sequel that will begin production whenever James Cameron gosh darned feels like it, At The Mountains of Madness and The Avengers and I believe fantasy film fans will have a lot to talk about at this year's Comic Con and that isn't all. Films such as Wrath of the Titans, Immortals, Rise of the Guardians, Snow White and the Hunstman keep the genre alive and that's just through 2012. It's just a question of how successful will they be?

The problem, as I see it, is that there just aren't that many great fantasy writers out there. So at what point is Hollywood beginning to scrape the bottom of the barrel in terms of source material. In the case of Avatar, Cameron proved you can write your own fantasy film but most of the suits in the development suites wouldn't have green-lit Avatar if anyone but Cameron had brought it to them. And it still took him almost twenty years to bring it to the screen.

So here's my question for the audience. First off, what do you consider a fantasy film? Where do you drawn the line? What fantasy films are you looking forward to and what fantasy films would you like to see come to multiplexes in the future? And where will it come from? Books, graphic novels, manga? An obscure Bulgarian TV show from the 60s? Let me know.

I wouldn't mind seeing a western Version of Luis Cha's Condor Trilogy. Portions of these novels were incorporated into the Tsui Hark's Swordsman films from the early 90's but the text is so rich and full that a new version in the right hands could be incredible.]]> http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/alice-in-wonderland-inception-and-true-grit-among-art-directors-guild-2011-nominees

The guild breaks out their noms distinguishing films as Period, Fantasy or Contemporary.

Of the nominees all five of my current Oscar predictions for the Art Direction category found their way into the mix, which includes the work done on Alice in Wonderland, Inception, True Grit, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 and The King's Speech. However, a couple of my bubble predictions didn't make the ADG's cut, including The Wolfman and Secretariat, but then again, only five films can be nominated in the period category and I had four of those five in my predictions.

You can check out the complete film nominees directly below and I'll have the winners for you once they are announced on Saturday, February 5, 2010. You can also check out my Oscar predictions for this and all other categories right here.

Period Film

• True Grit
  Production Designer: Jess Gonchor
• The King's Speech
  Production Designer: Eve Stewart
• Shutter Island
  Production Designer: Dante Ferretti
• Robin Hood
  Production Designer: Arthur Max
• Get Low
  Production Designer: Geoffrey Kirkland

• Alice in Wonderland
  Production Designer: Robert Stromberg
• Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1
  Production Designer: Stuart Craig
• Inception
  Production Designer: Guy Hendrix Dyas
• TRON: Legacy
  Production Designer: Darren Gilford
• The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
  Production Designer: Barry Robison

• Black Swan
  Production Designer: Therese DePrez
• The Social Network
  Production Designer: Donald Graham Burt
• The Fighter
  Production Designer: Judy Becker
• The Town
  Production Desinger: Sharon Seymour
• 127 Hours
  Production Designer: Suttirat Larlarb

As for the nomination process, on Thursday, January 6, the Academy will screen clips featuring each song, in random order, for voting members of the Music Branch in Los Angeles. Following the screenings, members will determine the nominees by an averaged point system vote. If no song receives an average score of 8.25 or more, there will be no nominees in the category. If only one song achieves that score, it and the song receiving the next highest score shall be the two nominees. If two or more songs (up to five) achieve that score, they shall be the nominees. A DVD copy of the song clips will be made available to those branch members who are unable to attend the screening and who request it for home viewing. A mail-in ballot will be provided.

Under Academy rules, a maximum of two songs may be nominated from any one film. If more than two songs from a film are in contention, the two songs with the most votes will be the nominees.

To be eligible, a song must consist of words and music, both of which are original and written specifically for the film. A clearly audible, intelligible, substantive rendition of both lyric and melody must be used in the body of the film or as the first music cue in the end credits.

The idea the members will "screen clips featuring each song" is a bit odd to me and makes me wonder just exactly how the determine one song to be the "best" if it isn't seen in the entire context of the film. Is this just about the quality of the song or a combination of quality as well as how it best suits the film?

The original songs, along with the motion picture in which each song is featured, are listed below in alphabetical order by film and song title. I've placed an * next to the titles that received a Golden Globe nomination and an * next to the titles that already received a nomination from the Broadcast Film Critics Association.

• "Alice" from Alice in Wonderland
• "Forever One Love" from Black Tulip
• "Freedom Song" from Black Tulip
• "Bound to You" from Burlesque *
• "Welcome to Burlesque" from Burlesque
• "You Haven't Seen the Last of Me" from Burlesque **
• "There's a Place for Us" from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader *
• "Coming Home" from Country Strong *
• "Me and Tennessee" from Country Strong
• "Despicable Me" from Despicable Me
• "Prettiest Girls" from Despicable Me
• "Dear Laughing Doubters" from Dinner for Schmucks
• "Better Days" from Eat Pray Love
• "If You Run" from Going the Distance
• "Darkness before the Dawn" from Holy Rollers
• "Sticks and Stones" from How to Train Your Dragon
• "Le Gris" from Idiots and Angels
• "Chanson Illusionist" from The Illusionist
• "Never Say Never" from The Karate Kid
• "To the Sky" from Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole
• "What If" from Letters to Juliet
• "Life during Wartime" from Life during Wartime
• "Made in Dagenham" from Made in Dagenham
• "Little One" from Mother and Child
• "Be the One" from The Next Three Days
• "If I Rise" from 127 Hours *
• "When You See Forever" from The Perfect Game
• "I Remain" from Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time
• "Dream Big" from Pure Country 2: The Gift
• "How I Love You" from Ramona and Beezus
• "Darling I Do" from Shrek Forever After
• "Noka Oi" from Six Days in Paradise
• "This Is a Low" from Tamara Drewe
• "I See the Light" from Tangled **
• "Rise" from 3 Billion and Counting
• "We Belong Together" from Toy Story 3 *
• "Eclipse: All Yours" from The Twilight Saga: Eclipse
• "Nothing" from Tyler Perry's Why Did I Get Married Too
• "A Better Life" from Unbeaten
• "Shine" from Waiting for 'Superman' *
• "The Reasons Why" from Wretches and Jabberers

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

	I think I can safely say this is likely to be the last trip to Narnia. Fox spent a reported $155 million on this third installment after taking the franchise over from Disney and a $24.5 million return is not going to be enough to satisfy. This is a tremendously disappointing result as it wasn't even able to live up to my prediction of $30 million after the $8.2m it earned on Friday and Laremy's $35m was obviously out of reach. The closest prediction from readers came from "therapycase1279" with $30 million. Most people were nearly double what the number ended up being... can't blame 'em for being optimistic. Result: $24.5 million Laremy's rank: Laremy picked it to finish #1 and his prediction of $35.42 million was $10.92m off for a percentage error of 44.57%.

Speaking of 127 Hours, it made $985,000 from 416 theaters, which was actually 17 less than last weekend if you can believe that. Another limited release, The King's Speech had another huge weekend, making $31,158 per theater with a total of $592,000 from 19 theaters.

However, the weekend's big per theater winner was the excellent newcomer, The Fighter which made $320,000 from four theaters for an $80,000 per theater average. How you like dem apples?

Finally, Julie Taymor's The Tempest was released in five theaters and scored a paltry $45,000. Wah wah.

Hopefully next weekend gives us more to talk about at the top with the upcoming release of TRON: Legacy and How Do You Know. I wonder, though, how many of you will inflict punishment on yourselves and go see or take someone to see Yogi Bear? Anticipated theater counts on Yogi have it at 3,400+ theaters, that's more than TRON. Will it be the big winner?

Laremy wrote on Thursday, "The first one opened at $18k per theater while Prince Caspian debuted at $14k. The trend there suggests $10k per theater is in order." The trend suggests that, but the returns don't exactly feel the same way.

Next is the Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie starrer The Tourist, which I mentioned yesterday was budgeted at $100 million. On Friday it brought in $6.1 million, which will likely result in $16-17 million for the weekend. Not pretty, and not a good sign for high actor salaries. This one Laremy was spot on with a $17.91 million prediction. It'll be interesting to see how close he ends up.

The bigger, more interesting stories lie in the little guys. The Fighter opened in only four theaters in New York, Boston and Los Angeles and on Friday brought in an estimated $99,000. This could result in upwards of $350,000 if these numbers hold and slightly improve over the weekend for an $87,500 per theater average.

As for Danny Boyle's 127 Hours, which Laremy went out on a limb and predicted would make the top ten, it brought in $315,000 from 36 theaters and will be missing that top ten. The King's Speech ended up making $156,000 from 15 theaters, gaining only nine new locations after last week.

Friday's estimated top ten is listed directly below. I will be back on Sunday morning with a complete weekend wrap-up.

1. The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader - $8.2 million
2. The Tourist - $6.1 million
3. Tangled - $3.4 million
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 - $2.4 million
5. Unstoppable - $1.2 million
6. Burlesque - $1.05 million
7. Love and Other Drugs - $1.03 million
8. Black Swan - $987,000
9. Due Date - $856,000
10. Megamind - $558,000

For the moment, I was entertained by The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Fox has taken over the Narnian reigns of the one-time Disney franchise and this third installment shaves over 30 minutes off the running time of its predecessors, yet tells just as much story if not more. This trimming of the narrative ensures things move along at a much faster clip rather than acting as if these films are on the epic scale of say Lord of the Rings or the Harry Potter series. Especially considering the success of those two franchises were no doubt the primary motivation in getting the stories of C.S. Lewis on the big screen.

This time around we are only following the story of two of the Pevensie children from the first two films -- Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy (Georgie Henley) -- as they find themselves thrown back into Narnia and rescued at sea by Caspian played by Ben Barnes reprising his role as the now King of Narnia. However, while Susan (Anna Popplewell) and Peter Pevensie (William Moseley) are limited to only cameo appearances, a new face joins Edmund and Lucy on their journey in the form of their loud mouthed and obnoxious cousin Eustace, played with a welcome bit of energy by Will Poulter.

The story of Dawn Treader finds our heroes enjoying what is assumed to be peace in Narnia for the first time, but it isn't long before word of an evil mist originating from a dark island captures their attention. In order to defeat the evil they must gather the seven lost swords of the seven lords previously banished by Caspian's evil uncle. It's a fairly out-of-the-blue narrative that doesn't really make much sense in the way it all comes together, but it gives good excuse for sending our cast of characters from fantastical island to fantastical island where they deal with all sorts of magic and mysterious creatures. And considering they have seven items to collect it gives them more than enough to do in the 112 minutes of running time, limiting the number of garrulous ramblings prone to infect a film that wants to be more epic than it really is.

From dragons to sea monsters, the effects here are quite impressive and like Disney's Alice in Wonderland, this is another post-converted 3D feature that, at times, loses any depth the 3D may otherwise offer, but at other times does a fair job in its conversion. It's certainly better than the efforts made with Clash of the Titans and The Last Airbender, though I would never say this is a film worth shelling out the extra dollars for the visual gimmick.

Where I found most interest in Dawn Treader and where I suspect families will find the most enjoyment is in the relative understanding of growing up. The Pevensie children have reached an age where they need to move beyond Narnia in contrast to their younger cousin Eustace. The difference in age and experience with these three characters is well represented. There are plenty of morals to be found and while they stick out like a sore thumb for older viewers they may have just enough subtlety for younger audiences, and it seems Fox hasn't tried one bit to shy away from this fact.

Throughout the film Lucy's self-esteem is lacking, Edmund's looking to prove something and Eustace has his own set of issues to deal with. Tack onto that the film's religious aspects that have been existent since the cracking of the stone slab in The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and you have a film that may polarize audiences disinterested in being taught morals in their late year blockbuster fare.

Beyond the morals of the story and the action sequences I can honestly say I didn't mind the near two hours I spent watching The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. I'll admit I wouldn't rush out to see it again and don't have much interest in catching it at home on Blu-ray, but it's a perfectly fine story that finally seems to have learned the lesson the first two films struggled with; the fact you can't force a film into being epic just by making it a half hour longer.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader

	Another easy call at the top, the only intrigue left is to see if the third Narnia can crack $40m. I think not, given the progression of the series. The first one opened at $18k per theater while Prince Caspian debuted at $14k. The trend there suggests $10k per theater is in order. Unless you think that the December release will mirror the original's December release, and not Prince Caspian's May opening. This is a perfectly logical take on the situation, it's just not my call. Why? I think the erosion of the franchise has come too far to get back to good with just one title. The film might very well be the best of the series, but it's difficult to market that off a second title that declined on RottenTomatoes and IMDB audience scores. As such, I expect Narnia to face a slight penalty this weekend, but the holdover might save them. Prediction: $35.42 million

How say you? Do you have an egg of knowledge to drop on our head? Get your predictions in, Brad will be back on Sunday to recap what went wrong, what went to form, and who he likes to win the AFC North. Boom!

It seems Fox is ramping up publicity for the third film in the franchise as it moves from Disney to Fox as I added a few new pictures recently and now we get a 60-second preview of Carrie Underwood's song from the film, "There's a Place for Us," in something of a trailer format (via Yahoo). Check it out below.

The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader hits theaters on December 10, for more info on the film click here.

I actually had a chance to see about 25 minutes or so of Dawn Treader about two weeks ago at a special sneak preview and it's pretty hard to get a very good idea of just how good a film is when they decide to show you virtually the entire film with something like seven, three-minute scenes with a narrator filling in the blanks in-between. I will say the visual effects look very good, particularly a scene with some kind of a sea monster battling a dragon. But as far as the gauging the story, it appears to be an island-hopping feature that takes Edmund (Skandar Keynes) and Lucy Pevensie (Georgie Henley) all across Narnia with their cousin, Eustace Scrubb (played with a mild annoyance by Will Poulter) looking for the seven swords of a group of lost lords necessary to lift some magic spell.

Pretty standard stuff it seems, but I have never read the book and a look online leads me to believe the book has them looking for the actual lords and not the swords.

Back again are Ben Barnes as Prince Caspian, Simon Pegg voices the swashbuckling mouse Reepicheep, Liam Neeson voices Aslan and Tilda Swinton is back as the White Witch, although I didn't get to see any scenes with her in them.

Photo: 20th Century Fox

It was all fine and dandy, but honestly I'm trying to push it out of my mind so I can go into the film as fresh as possible.

Along with the trailer, which I have featured directly below, I've also added three international posters to this post, all courtesy of IMPAwards, which is where you can see a larger version of the one that leads off this article. The other two posters are directly below the new trailer. Give it a watch and see what you think.

Are you still anticipating the new Narnia or is this a franchise you've pretty much written off?

Photo: 20th Century Fox

Photo: 20th Century Fox

Dawn Treader marks a shift for the Narnia franchise, which started at Walt Disney and after two films Disney decided not to make the third, which caused it to end up at 20th Century Fox where it will be released on December 10th.

The film once again follows Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, joined by their cousin Eustace Scrubb as they find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world. Joining forces once again with Prince Caspian and the warrior mouse Reepicheep, they are whisked away on a mysterious mission to the Lone Islands, and beyond. On this bewitching voyage that will test their hearts and spirits, the trio will face magical Dufflepuds, sinister slave traders, roaring dragons and enchanted merfolk. Only an entirely uncharted journey to Aslan's Country � a voyage of destiny and transformation for each of those aboard the Dawn Treader � can save Narnia, and all the astonishing creatures in it, from an unfathomable fate.

Check out the teaser below and let your thoughts be known in the comments.

Michael Apted is directing and all the stars of the original film are back including Georgie Henley, Skandar Keynes, Ben Barnes, Will Poulter, Gary Sweet, Bruce Spence, Arthur Angel, Shane Rangi and Liam Neeson as the voice of Aslan.

The new synopsis reads as follows:

Edmund and Lucy Pevensie, along with their pesky cousin Eustace Scrubb � find themselves swallowed into a painting and on to a fantastic Narnian ship headed for the very edges of the world.

Joining forces once again with their royal friend Prince Caspian and the warrior mouse Reepicheep, they are whisked away on a mysterious mission to the Lone Islands, and beyond. On this bewitching voyage that will test their hearts and spirits, the trio will face magical Dufflepuds, sinister slave traders, roaring dragons and enchanted merfolk. Only an entirely uncharted journey to Aslan's Country � a voyage of destiny and transformation for each of those aboard the Dawn Treader � can save Narnia, and all the astonishing creatures in it, from an unfathomable fate.

Photo: 20th Century Fox

However, I'm here, and here with the RopeofSilicon Box-Office Oracle Laremy Legel, who is covering the 63rd Cannes Film Festival for Film.com. Today was all about picking up press credentials and getting situated. Part of that meant getting myself vaguely familiar with my surroundings and on the way decided to take several snapshots of the movie marketing presence here on the Boulevard de la Croisette.

Films on display obviously include Cannes opening night feature Robin Hood, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps (director Oliver Stone was also on my flight to Nice), Rachid Bouchareb's Outside the Law, La Princesse de Montpensier and Olivier Assayas's Carlos, but some of the other films may surprise you.

I've got a first look bit of art from Overture's videogame adaptation Kane and Lynch starring Bruce Willis and Jamie Foxx, artwork for The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, The A-Team, The Last Airbender, Salt and Eat, Pray, Love along with a couple others.

So, check out one of the favorite pics I snapped just below and hit "Next Page" to check out the rest over the next few pages and stay tuned as actual film coverage will begin tomorrow as I hope to fit Robin Hood and Mathieu Amalric's Tournee under my belt. Fingers crossed, seeing how I am green to this festival I have no idea what kind of priorities are in place and how screenings are run. I have been told my blue badge will get me into everything I want to see and have heard others around the internet getting better badges and some... not so much. Here's to hoping.

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

Photo: Brad Brevet / RopeofSilicon.com

First off, above you will see one of three official images from the new Narnia film The Chronicles of Narnia: Voyage of the Dawn Treader from its new home at 20th Century Fox. You can check out all three in the gallery right here.

Next we have two images from Warner Bros. new film The Losers, an adaptation of the Vertigo/DC Comics book following a Special Forces team betrayed by its handler and left for dead. The "losers" regroup in the interest of revenge, the opportunity to remove their names from a secret CIA death list and to conduct covert operations against the CIA and its interests.

The images below can be clicked on for larger versions.

Next is a new image of Josh Brolin in Jonah Hex where he plays the title character, a rough-and-tumble gunslinger and part-time bounty hunter whose adventures always ended in blood. One incarnation of his comic book series saw the Western genre combined with supernatural elements.

Photo: Warner Bros.

For a slightly larger look at the image as well as four other photos from the film click here.

Photo: Warner Bros.

John Patterson at the Guardian posted a new story headlined "Quentin Tarantino: champion of trash cinema" which is something of a complimentary backhand... I guess. [The Guardian]

Slash Film has posted a wallpaper for Tron Legacy. [Slash Film]

Bruce Willis told MTV that he's still "waiting for a call from [Sylvester Stallone] about when [he's] going to try" and film his cameo appearance in The Expendables sharing the screen with Arnold Schwarzenegger and Stallone. [MTV]

Speaking of The Expendables, here's the first look at some footage from the film that just hit the net:

Cinema Blend found a casting announcement at Backstage for The Smurfs Movie that alludes to the plot for the film as it calls for humans, and not an ugly old man to play the evil wizard Gargamel. Check it out below:

Sophie: ages 8-10, a girl of great imagination and originality, though always appealing, she is often socially awkward and doesn't fit in with the other kids, she's smart and open, though she can be physically clumsy, when she discovers that the "doll" her father brought home from Belgium is actually a living, breathing Smurf, she takes "Clumsy" in as a member of the family and tries to get the household to embrace him and the rest of the Smurfs.

Sam: 13-16 (to play 14-15), Sophie's brother, a good kid, but he's going through that phase where he can be difficult and withdrawn and retreat to his room to play video games, through his involvement in the Smurfs' quest to get home, he reconnects with his parents and sister.

Meanwhile, some folks are starting to think of District 9 as a potential Oscar consideration based on Academy applause. Clap, clap, clap... OSCAR! [In Contention]

For those checking out Inglourious Basterds this weekend, if you are also a fan of Tarantino's script for True Romance you may be interested in the following scoop via The Playlist:

Remember Lee Donowitz (the awesome Saul Rubinek) in True Romance? The slimy Hollywood film producer of the fictional Vietnam war film, "Coming Home In A Body Bag"?

According to a Qand#038;A last night with Quentin Tarantino in Austin, Texas, post-Inglorious Basterds, screening, Eli Roths�s character Sgt. Donny Donowitz is his father.

Two Terminator Salvation producers have sued the Pacificor hedge fund and one of its former employees alleging financial wrongdoing in a pair of suits. [Variety / Deadline Hollywood]

Another batch of images of the Dawn Treader ship from The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader are now online. [Coming Soon]

You may be interested to read an alleged reason why Summit's Bandslam failed miserably at the box-office this past weekend. I haven't seen it so I can't speak on any of what Nikki Finke's article says, but it is certainly interesting. [Deadline Hollywood]

Featured just below is what many are speculating is the Mark II costume for Whiplash (Mickey Rourke) in Iron Man 2. The image originated at Marvel.com and I included a look at Rourke from Iron Man 2 for you to compare. Thoughts?

Photo: Marvel.com / Paramount Pictures

Finally, here is video of Werner Herzog talking about his new film The Bad Lieutenant, which I just added a group of 7 new pictures to the database right here. Thanks to In Contention for the heads up.

We begin with work by artist R. M. Guera and coloring by Giulia Brusco for Playboy's graphic novel treatment of the bloody introduction of Eli Roth as "The Bear Jew" in Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, a film I haven't fully rendered an opinion on yet, and wish I could see one more time before I have to review it next week, but if you would like one man's negative opinion on said scene, read Jeff Wells' take on it right here. Suffice to say, it's really negative. Check out the graphic novel presentation right here.

Next, Narnia Fans twittered me with word they had production photos of the Dawn Treader ship from the upcoming The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. That's a small teaser image to the right, but you can get the full meal deal right here.

The official "South Park" website is showcasing the unaired 1997 pilot for the long-running series on an ad-supported basis for the next 30 days. Watch it right here. There is even an option to watch it with crew commentary.

TCM has debuted a brand new media room where you can watch several trailers, clips and commentaries for the classic films in their massive archives with an emphasis on their daily schedule. Waste no time and click here for that.

The Leaky Cauldron features something Harry Potter fans may be interested in previewing, an extraordinarily boring "behind-the-scenes" video of "a new scene added to Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, which takes place as Harry and Hermione are camping while on the run, and arrive at a spot with trailers only to see the Death Eaters have attacked." You can watch the 1:47 video here, but seriously, it's not that interesting.

Splash News got their hands on a first look at Lindsay Lohan on the set of Robert Rodriguez's Machete, which is previewed to the right and a better look can be found here. Meanwhile, Latino Review read the script and gave it a review saying it "plays out exactly like you'd expect the 90 minute extended cut of the two minute trailer to play out." [Latino Review / Splash News]

Speaking of Robert Rodriguez, Production Weekly twittered saying the franchise reboot Predators will begin filming on September 28 at Robert Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios in Austin, Texas. Nimrod Antal is directing for a July 7, 2010 release. [Production Weekly]

Apparently all the earlier speculation of George Clooney taking on the role as a new Jack Ryan were, as typical with Internet rumors, garbage. "[The script]'s for a young Jack Ryan," producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura said. "I love George, but it's not written for a man of his age. It's written for a guy in his early 30s." [MTV]

Brett Ratner is making something called Youngblood based on some comic book and has his sights set on a particular actor saying, "[Robert Pattinson] could do anything. He just has that look. I picture him on Youngblood, for sure." [MTV]

Photo: Screen Gems

Val Kilmer is set to have a role in MacGruber based on the awful "Saturday Night Live" sketch, which is currently filming in New Mexico for an April 16, 2010 release. This also comes on the heels of Bill Hader's comments to New York Magazine saying:

It's like a hard-R comedy, and it totally works. It's hilarious. It's kind of in the vein of, like, eighties action movies, like there's a very definitive bad guy. I don't know if I can talk about the plot too much, but it's hilarious. The thing that kind of blew my mind about it is that it's like a HARD-R movie. I was like, "What is this? This is f*cking ugly. You guys are really going to do this?" And they're like, "Yup." And I was like, "That is awesome. That is f*cking hilarious."

Next, if you read my review of The Time Traveler's Wife (and if you haven't, how dare you, click here and read it now you dog!) one commenter has already pointed out how star Rachel McAdams went on "The Daily Show" and spoiled the entire plot. Here's the video if you are interested. I should also note it comes from Hulu, which I believe is U.S. only... Sorry international friends.

Director Rod Lurie updated his Facebook page with news James Woods and Dominic Purcell have joined the cast of his upcoming remake of Straw Dogs.

MGM has set a November 24, 2010 release date for their remake of Poltergeist. [Shock Till You Drop]

Photo: Pathe via Bloody-Disgusting

Michael Apted is currently set to direct with all the regulars expected to return as Lucy and Edmund Pevensie return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.

Only a few days ago it was announced Michael Petroni had been brought aboard to write a new draft of the screenplay as it appeared the Richard LaGravanese draft had been scrapped.]]> http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/next-narnia-film-finds-a-re-writer Narnia franchise as it just seems interest will only get less and less the farther away we get from The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, the most recognizable and I am sure for most the only recognizable story from the C.S. Lewis novels. However, after Disney dropped the franchise it looks like 20th Century Fox and Walden Media are keeping hope alive as Variety announces Michael Petroni has been brought aboard to write a new draft of the screenplay as it appears the Richard LaGravanese draft has been scrapped.

The third film will be The Voyage of the Dawn Treader should things work out and focus on Lucy and Edmund Pevensie as they return to Narnia with their cousin Eustace where they meet up with Prince Caspian for a trip across the sea aboard the royal ship The Dawn Treader. Along the way they encounter dragons, dwarves, merfolk, and a band of lost warriors before reaching the edge of the world.

Walden is eyeing a summer start date for a holiday 2010 release through the Fox Walden label.

Michael Petroni's writing career isn't exactly filled with hits with the 2002 adaptation Queen of the Damned as his only recognizable screenplay, but apparently the reason he was brought aboard was based on work he has done on three films for Fox including Kevin Lima's Afterlife, an adaptation of Markus Zusak's novel "The Book Thief" and a rewrite of the Julia Roberts starrer Daniel Isn't Talking. They must be looking good because Queen of the Damned sure wasn't.

Hopefully the franchise will abandon the attempt to be Lord of the Rings for kids and focus on storytelling and things may improve.

As far as I know Michael Apted is still aboard to direct and I expect we will see familiar faces in the lead role should shooting get underway this summer.]]> http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/fox-ready-to-snatch-up-narnia-sequel The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe made $291.7 million and the sequel, Prince Caspian, only made $141.6 million is enough for me to say Disney was justified in bailing on the Narnia franchise before it became a major loser. To top it off Lion/Witch/Wardrobe was made on a budget of $180 million, which ballooned to $215 million for Caspian.

So, even though the proposed budget on the third film in the franchise, The Voyage of the Dawn Treader, is said to be $140 million I still don't see it as a risk worth taking considering the farther down the Narnia line you get the more obscure the titles become when it comes to the general public. However, it appears Fox is ready to split costs with Walden Media and move forward with the third flick reports Variety.

Walden and Fox are still working on the budget as well as the script and aim for a 2010 holiday release. Variety uses a comparison with Fox's 2006 release Eragon and it does seem a good comparison considering the awareness of the later books in the "Narnia" stories when compared to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.

There is a theory Prince Caspian is the least commercial of the Narnia stories, which makes me wonder how they were able to turn an uncommercial story into a two hour and 20 minute movie. Word is Voyage of the Dawn Treader gets "back to the magical aspects present in the first Narnia pic but mostly absent from Prince Caspian." I have no idea what this means considering the White Witch was in both films, talking animals were in both films as were plenty of other magical characters. Both seem pretty damn magical to me.

Good idea or bad idea it looks like it will probably happen. Michael Apted is still aboard to direct and Ben Barnes, Skandar Keynes and Georgie Henley are reprising their roles as Caspian, Edmund and Lucy, respectively. Also joining the cast is Will Poulter (Son of Rambo), who will portray Eustace Clarence Scrubb.

Filming is expected to move from the Fox studios in Mexico to Australia because of concerns for the drug violence and kidnappings that are taking place near Baja.]]> http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/iron-man-leads-the-way-in-the-visual-effects-society-nominations right here.

Iron Man led the way with five nominations and is competing with The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, Hellboy II: The Golden Army and Cloverfield in the Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture category, the category probably deemed the highest profile of the bunch and it went to Transformers last year only to see The Golden Compass pull out a surprise win at the Oscars.

With Iron Man in the lead, The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull and Bolt didn't do too poorly either scoring four nominations each.

Strangely enough, of the seven films that make up the Oscar short list for Visual Effects, The Mummy only scored one nom while films such as Australia and Journey to the Center of the Earth received none. Who's right? Who knows. All I know is you can check out the film noms below.

Outstanding Visual Effects in a Visual Effects Driven Motion Picture

• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army
• Cloverfield
• Iron Man

• Changeling
• Eagle Eye
• Valkyrie
• Nim's Island
• Synecdoche, New York

• Bolt - The Chase
• Kung Fu Panda - Everybody was Kung Fu Fighting
• A Matter of Loaf and Death - Piella's Mansion
• WALL-E

• Cloverfield - Statue of Liberty Crash and Woolworth Tower Collapse
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Benjamin's Secret
• The Day the Earth Stood Still - Newborn Klaatu
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Valley Destruction
• Iron Man

• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Benjamin Button
  Steve Preeg, Matthias Wittmann, Tom St. Amand, David McLean
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army - Elemental Sequence
  Colin McEvoy, Christoph Ammann
• Iron Man
  Hal Hickel, Bruce Holcomb, James Tooley, John Walker
• The Spiderwick Chronicles - Hogsqueal
  Todd Labonte, Michael Brunet, Nathan Fredenburg, Aharon Bourland

• Bolt - Various Sequences - Bolt
  Becky Bresee, Bob Davies, Renato Dos Anjos, Wayne Unten Jr.
• Bolt - Various Sequences - Rhino
  Adam Dykstra, Dave Gottlieb, Clay Kaytis, Hyrum Osmond
• Kung Fu Panda - This Kung Fu Stuff is Hard Work - The Animation of Po
  Jack Black, Dan Wagner, Nico Marlet, Peter Farson
• WALL-E � WALL-E and Eve Truck Sequence
  Ben Burtt, Victor Navone, Austin Lee, Jay Shuster

• Bolt - Various Sequences
  John Murrah, Michael Kaschalk, Dale Mayeda, Adolph Lusinsky
• Kung Fu Panda - The Secret Ingredient - Visual Effects of Kung Fu Panda
  Markus Manninen, Alex Parkinson, Amaury Aubel, Lawrence Lee
• Madagascar: Escape 2 Africa - Effects in Africa
  Scott Peterson, Laurent Kermel, Andrew Wheeler, Greg Gladstone
• WALL-E - Effects in WALL-E
  Jason Johnston, Keith Daniel Klohn, Enrique Vila, Bill Watral

• Changeling - 1928 Downtown L.A.
  Romain Bayle, Abel Milanes, Allan Lee, Debor Dunphy
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
  Richard Bluff, Barry Williams, Yanick Dusseault, Yusei Uesugi
• Synecdoche, New York - Matte Paintings
  Brett Miller, Garrett Eaton, Matthew Conner
• Speed Racer - Overall Matte Painting Presentation
  Lubo Hristov, Dennis Martin, Ron Crabb

• The Dark Knight - Garbage Truck Crash Models and Miniatures
  Ian Hunter, Forest Fischer, Branden Seifert, Adam Gelbart
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
  David Fogler, Craig Hammack, Brian Gernand, Geoff Heron
• Iron Man - Suit Up Machine
  Aaron McBride, Russell Paul, Gerald Gutschmidt, Keiji Yamaguchi
• My Darling of the Mountains - Hot Springs
  Taro Kiba, Kenji Nagatani, Yuki Minagawa, Hideo Udo

• Cloverfield - Brooklyn Bridge Sequence
  David Vickery, Phil Johnson, Victor Wade, Sean Stranks
• The Dark Knight - IMAX Gotham City Scapes
  Peter Bebb, David Vickery, Philippe Leprince, Andrew Lockley
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull - Temple Heart
  Michael Halsted, David Fogler, Steve Walton, David Weitzberg
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor - Avalanche Sequence
  Mike Meaker, Rich Mahon, Jason Iverson, Sho Hasegawa
• Synecdoche, New York - Created Environment
  Brett Miller, Garrett Eaton, Matthew Conner

• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
  Stuart Lashley, Arundi Asregadoo, Mark Curtis, Richard Baker
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button - Benjamin Comes Together Janelle Croshaw, Paul Lambert, Sonja Burchard, Sarahjane Javelo
• Iron Man � Head Under Display - HUD Compositing
  Jonathan Rothbart, Dav Rauch, Kyle McCulloch, Kent Seki
• Quantum of Solace - Sienna Chase and Fight Sequence
  Anthony Smith, Christian Kaestner, Adrian Metzelaar, Jon Thum

• The Dark Knight
  Chris Corbould, Peter Notley, Ian Lowe
• The Dark Knight - Garbage Truck Crash Mechanical Effects
  Scott Beverly, Robert Spurlock, Jon Warren, Brian Kelly Hahn
• Defiance - Special Effects
  Neil Corbould, Steve Warner, Anne Maria Walters, Alan Young

The rumor first started back on March 18 and I quickly received a rude email from Disney publicists telling me the rumor was "entirely false" and told me I had no integrity in reporting it. In April the rumor showed up again. No nasty email that time. Now, we have confirmation the film originally slated for a May 7, 2010 is in for a bumpy ride.

Apparently the Disney departure puts the cast and director in doubt. Michael Apted was set to take over for Andrew Adamson and production was supposed to begin in Spring, but everything is now up for grabs. The THR article points out Walden's relationship with Fox, but also mentions how Prince Caspian cost $200 million to produce, a hefty price tag for an incoming studio knowing the second film did less than half of the business of the first.

Will another studio step in? Does anyone care?]]> http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/oscar-visual-effects-short-list-revealed The Curious Case of Benjamin Button to get a nod, if not for its great visual effects for the snubbing of Zodiac in the same category last year that say The Golden Compass beat out Transformers and Pirates of the Caribbean 3.

I would also expect Hellboy II to get a nomination. Even though I don't like the film, the effects are phenomenal. And I will guess the third spot will go to The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor for no other reason than because the Academy loves to throw a mediocre film in the mix. Last year it was Golden Compass, before that it was Click and before that it was The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. It's just the natural order of things. On top of that Roger Ebert called it "the best in the series." That has to count for something doesn't it?

• Australia
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
• Cloverfield
• The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
• The Dark Knight
• The Day the Earth Stood Still
• Hancock
• Hellboy II: The Golden Army
• The Incredible Hulk
• Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull
• Iron Man
• Journey to the Center of the Earth
• The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor
• Quantum of Solace
• The Spiderwick Chronicles

The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
	Deciding which film to start this edition of ON DVD TODAY with was not an easy one so I just took a look at the top seller at Amazon and Prince Caspian came out on top. For those that read my recent Blu-ray review you know I am not too keen on this flick the second time around and Sara really seems to loathe it in her DVD review. So, should you buy it? If you like long films that render themselves boring by the time you see it a second time then by all means step up to the plate.

Wanted
	This is a title I can understand more people picking up, but as I said in my Blu-ray review, I still recommend you rent before you buy. This is a fun film for action enthusiasts and it is one that could grow on some folks, but that's going to be a case-by-case basis as I can see some people thinking the absurd nature of it all is too much to bear. The one thing I find to be odd is that the single disc edition is the highest selling edition at Amazon with the Blu-ray right behind it with the two-disc DVD not even in the top 12 for this week. Then again, it isn't too surprising considering the primary audience for this flick are going to be 18-year-old male gamers who all own a PS3 and are therefore picking up the Blu-ray version instead of teh two-disc DVD, which is currently sitting at #16 on Amazon's sales chart for this week.

The X-Files: I Want To Believe
	I was supposed to receive a Blu-ray review copy of this flick, but it never arrived. Reviews weren't good but it seemed die-hard fans tended to enjoy it (at least the ones that run the fansites). I enjoyed the first film, but unfortunately can't give you an opinion on the sequel.

Casablanca (Ultimate Collector's Edition)
	Now here is a film to own if you don't already. By clicking on the Buy Now link you can decide between the Blu-ray and the DVD edition. I was (and still am) expecting a review copy of the Blu-ray version and currently own the originally released HD DVD and think everyone should own some kind of copy of this film, it is truly one of the greats.

The Shawshank Redemption
	Speaking of the greats, here is a title that seems to have been one of the "upcoming" Blu-ray titles for a long, long time and it finally arrives. I already own the special edition DVD and can't imagine what owning it high-definition would do for the viewing process, but if you don't own it I can't imagine a better time to pick up a copy. Either that or just turn on TNT where it plays almost on a continuous loop.

The Day the Earth Stood Still (Special Edition)
	About six months ago or so I caught this flick for the first time on the NetFlix Instant Play feature and while I mildly enjoyed it I see no reason to own it, especially in a bloated special edition that will offer up a bunch of features I don't want to watch.

Step Brothers
	I hated this film to the tune of a D- review. David just reviewed the Blu-ray version and seems to enjoy the hell out of it. Okay, I'm cool with that - I don't get it, but whatever floats your boat. Personally, when Will Ferrell started rubbing his balls on a set of drums I officially checked out. I didn't know that is how 40-year-olds behave and the comedy blew right by me.

Austin Powers Collection: Shagadelic Edition, Loaded with Extra Mojo
	Apparently this set is shagadelic and has some extra mojo, but does anyone really care enough about Austin Powers to actually want to own the trilogy of films in high definition?

The Longshots
	It was either include this in the main list or toss it into the "Even More" section. For some reason I thought it would be less work to hammer out a couple of sentences so here is the new Ice Cube film directed by Limp Bizkit front man Fred Durst. It's all about the nookie.

• Frost/Nixon: The Original Watergate Interviews
• Saturday Night Live - The Complete Fourth Season
• Law and Order: The Sixth Year
• Home Alone [Blu-ray]
• La Femme Nikita [Blu-ray]
• The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc [Blu-ray]
• Fly Me to the Moon
• A Colbert Christmas: The Greatest Gift of All
• Stranger Than Fiction (Special Edition + BD Live) [Blu-ray]

• Beverly Hills Chihuahua (buy now)
  Releasing on March 3, 2009
• Repo! The Genetic Opera
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• Max Payne (Special Edition)
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• Max Payne
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• Saw V (Unrated Collector's Edition)
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• Saw V (Unrated Director's Cut)
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• Saw V
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• W. (buy now)
  Releasing on February 10, 2009
• Eagle Eye (2-Disc Special Edition) (buy now)
  Releasing on December 28, 2008
• Eagle Eye (buy now)
  Releasing on December 28, 2008
• Frozen River (buy now)
  Releasing on February 10, 2009
• Midnight Meat Train (Director's Cut) (buy now)
  Releasing on February 17, 2009

• Beverly Hills Chihuahua (buy now)
  Releasing on March 3, 2009
• Repo! The Genetic Opera
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• Max Payne (Special Edition)
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• Saw V (Unrated Director's Cut)
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• W. (buy now)
  Releasing on February 10, 2009
• A Time to Kill (buy now)
  Releasing on February 10, 2009
• The Pelican Brief (buy now)
  Releasing on February 10, 2009
• Eagle Eye (buy now)
  Releasing on December 28, 2008
• Midnight Meat Train (Director's Cut) (buy now)
  Releasing on February 17, 2009
• The Rundown (buy now)
  Releasing on February 10, 2009
• Doom (Unrated) (buy now)
  Releasing on February 10, 2009
• Drumline (Special Edition) (buy now)
  Releasing on January 27, 2009
• Antwone Fisher (buy now)
  Releasing on January 20, 2009
• Unfaithful (buy now)
  Releasing on January 20, 2009

First for the film, a feature I was rather kind to upon its theatrical release and gave it a "B", which seems to fall in line with the majority view of the film. It was certainly an improvement on the first film, which I cannot even get through from start to finish, and I think I became overly wowed by the fact Prince Caspian had throat-slitting mice and actual beheadings in a supposedly PG-rated film. I would have loved to be there when parents had to explain why the cute little mouse was killing everyone to their five-year-old, but I guess when it's Disney the MPAA comes down a little kinder. However, the second time around it is impossible to maintain interest in this film as I constantly found myself wandering my apartment and checking my email as the film played on. And coming in at just under 2 hours and 30 minutes it is just too long to ever return to.

On Blu-ray the film does, however, look and sound phenomenal. Even with Lion, Witch and the Wardrobe, the one thing that stood out above all others was the impressive set and production design. Narnia looks like a place you would love to escape to, even if the snowy lamp post in the first film is far more inviting than the forest in Prince Caspian. Both are extremely beautiful and the Blu-ray picture certainly does it justice.

On top of the feature film, the first disc includes an audio commentary with director Andrew Adamson (and the little kiddies) and an interactive feature they refer to as "Circle-Vision" taking a look at the Castle Raid scene. The "Circle-Vision" feature is where this release begins to get ahead of itself as it is just too annoying for the value it offers. What you get is a pretty cool 360-degree recreation of the castle set and as you navigate around it you can get factoids and behind-the-scenes featurettes discussing the making of the scene. You will learn nothing that seems remotely new, especially if you have explored the vast amount of behind-the-scenes goodies available on the Lord of the Rings extended editions, or if you ever watched the bonus features on the first Narnia release and this trend continues onto the second disc.

The best way to describe the majority of the disc two features is to say they are "too long" and they all feel as if you have seen them before and can predict what everyone is going to say. "Inside Narnia", a typical making-of feature runs 34 minutes and offers nothing new to folks that watch special features on a regular basis. "Sets of Narnia" runs 23 minutes and acts as if a castle set is something new. The problem is that while the castle in Prince Caspian is technically new, it isn't new to the point that folks go, "Wow, now that is a cool castle." Instead they see a castle, as they should, and the film becomes about what happens in the castle. In the case of Caspian none of it is interesting enough to enjoy more than once. The locations, on the other hand, are quite impressive, but they are all in the movie and hearing about how they found a beach is hardly interesting.

The "Big Movie Comes to a Small Town" feature is mildly interesting as they take the search for a river and approach it from the point of view of the small town neighboring it, which turns out to be the Soca river in Bovec, Slovenia. This means bringing in crews of nearly 1,200 people into a small picturesque town where nature is preserved. It's interesting for about two minutes, but at 23 minutes I really don't know what they were thinking. Do the people that watch these have nothing else to do? It's my job, what's your excuse?

Then the features get trimmed down a bit with a 10-minute look at the pre-vis, a mind-numbing 5 minutes where the cast and crew talk about their favorite talking creature, ten deleted scenes with introductions from Adamson, a three minute blooper reel in which lines are flubbed and Minotaurs trip and three other generic featurettes looking at "the duel" and a pair of makeup features. It's your typical bag of making-of features when it comes to fantasy film releases, if you have seen one you've pretty much seen them all and this one is no different.

Overall I am sure Narnia fans will scoop this up and enjoy every minute of it, but I can't imagine them getting too excited about anything more than the film itself since not enough is offered outside of the film to make this release all that special. Prince Caspian certainly isn't special and The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe has become a blip on the radar following its triumphant $291 million theatrical run, a run that garnered Prince Caspian a measley $141 million in comparison.

Several sites recently updated their pages and as you can see from the image above the WALL�E push is full steam ahead. My favorite bit of news is the addition of the script to Vicky Cristina Barcelona to the Weinstein Co.'s Highlights site.

Below you will get links to the award sites, links to each film here on RopeofSilicon and where it applies a link to each of the scripts currently available.

• Vicky Cristina Barcelona
  • Download the Script
• Where in the World is Osama bin Laden?

• The Secret Life of Bees
• Slumdog Millionaire
• The Wrestler

• Bolt
• High School Musical 3: Senior Year
• Miracle at St. Anna
• The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian
• WALL�E

• Changeling
  • Download the Script
• Frost/Nixon
  • Download the Script
• Mamma Mia!
• Tale of Despereux

• The Duchess
  • Download the Script
• Defiance
  • Download the Script
• Revolutionary Road

• The Dark Knight
• Gran Torino

• Nothing But The Truth
• What Doesn't Kill You

• The Visitor
• Last Chance Harvey

• Doubt
• Happy-Go-Lucky

He points out Peter Gabriel's "Down to Earth" from WALL�E, Jennifer Hudson's "All Dressed Up in Love" from Sex and the City, "The Call" by Regina Spektor from The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian and the dark horse chance that Hamlet 2's "Sexy Jesus" would get a nod after a hard push by Focus.

Tapley comes to the obvious conclusion based on the fact that no one is humming any of those songs at the moment leaving the field wide open.

I left while the credits were rolling on The House Bunny last night, but I believe Katherine McPhee's "I Know What Boys Like" is an original track made for the film as it carries the film's original title. I also believe Fergie's "Labels or Love" from Sex and the City was original. Seemed to me that song got more love than Hudson's.

I can't imagine High School Musical 3 will get any love even though one of Tapley's commentors believes it can't be ignored. But Guy Lodge, one of Tapley's contributors does bring up a title that deserves our attention.

How about Jack White and Alicia Keys teaming up for the theme song to Quantum of Solace? I mean, these two are a couple of fantastic musicians and isn't it about time another Bond theme was nominated for an Oscar? Correct me if I am wrong, but wasn't the last time in 1981 with Bill Conti's "For Your Eyes Only"?

Is there anything I have missed? Do you think Danny Elfman's decision to go vocal on the soundtrack for Wanted has a chance?]]> http://www.ropeofsilicon.com/article/box_office_wrap_up_jun_13_jun_15_2008

Steve Mason at Fantasy Moguls is reporting Friday box-office estimates showing that Hulk will make an estimated $21 million this Friday and The Happening took in an estimated $12.8 million.

Tracking had The Happening performing extremely poorly and bad reviews and what appears to be critical hatred for M. Night Shyamalan weren't going to help. However, it appears tracking and critics don't determine what interests the public as Night's film may end up raking in $31.2 million this weekend, considerably more than most believed it would bring in. Mason himself declared in a headline on Thursday, "Happening Doomed to $18M-$23M!" Good to see the audiences are willing to give a film a chance even if most critics didn't.

It actually appeared even Fox wasn't giving the film a chance as I have been informed of at least two midnight screenings of The Happening were canceled (one in L.A. and another in Florida). Not sure if the theaters were closing them to provide more screenings of Hulk, but word out of Florida was that it was Fox's call. Doesn't make sense to me.

In other news it still looks like we won't have a $300 million film for 2008 once the weekend ends. Iron Man is likely to finish around $298 million with Indiana Jones finishing around $275 million, and I am beginning to think Indy doesn't have a chance of making it, but Iron Man obviously will.

Sex and the City will crack the $125 million mark and Kung Fu Panda continues to perform well and will come close to hitting the $120 million mark in only its second weekend.

Below are Mason's complete early Friday estimates, and Laremy will be here on Sunday to give you the full recap and snarky remarks.

1. The Incredible Hulk (Universal) - $21 million
2. The Happening (Fox) - $12.8 million
3. Kung Fu Panda (Dreamworks) - $10.25 million
4. You Don't Mess with the Zohan (Sony) - $6.1 million
5. Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull (Paramount) - $3.65 million
6. Sex and the City (Warner Bros.) - $3.6 million
7. Iron Man (Paramount) - $1.55 million
8. The Strangers (Rogue Releasing) - $1.48 million
9. The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian (Disney) - $1.07 million
10. What Happens in Vegas (20th Century Fox) - $783,455