This Year's Oscars Will Feature a Tribute to James Bond

I've always wondered why there has never been some type of 'assemblance' of all the actors who have played James Bond.  I mean they've all had a hand in building what has become the longest-running franchise is cinematic history.  Why not do something both cool and interesting for the fans?

Looks like the team behind this year's Academy Awards might be up to the task.

Producers of the 85th Oscars (Craig Zadan and Neil Meron) have announced there will be a special sequence during the show celebrating the franchise's 50th year in Hollywood.  Who's to say they won't have all six actors come out on stage to a standing ovation (though I've read Connery - for whatever reason - would have no interest in doing it).

Hopefully they can figure something out because I can all but guarantee ratings will go up on what has become an all but painful-to-watch show in recent years.

85TH OSCARS^® TO FEATURE SPECIAL CELEBRATION OF JAMES BOND

The 85th Academy Awards^® will include a tribute to the James Bond movie franchise which is celebrating its 50th Anniversary this year, the telecast’s producers announced today.

“We are very happy to include a special sequence on our show saluting the Bond films on their 50th birthday,” said producers Craig Zadan and Neil Meron. “Starting with ‘Dr. No’ back in 1962, the 007 movies have become the longest-running motion picture franchise in history and a beloved global phenomenon.”

The 85th Academy Awards nominations will be announced live on Thursday, January 10, 2013, at 5:30 a.m., PT in the Academy’s Samuel Goldwyn Theater.

Academy Awards for outstanding film achievements of 2012 will be presented on Oscar^® Sunday, February 24, 2013, at the Dolby Theatre^™ at Hollywood & Highland Center^®, and televised live on the ABC Television Network. The Oscar presentation also will be televised live in more than 225 countries worldwide.

Final 'Live Free or Die Hard' Trailer

Honestly, I can't tell if this will  be a venture back to the old Die Hard films (R-rating, Bruce Willis actually acting like John McClane) or if they're making it seem like it will be (using 'Ode to Joy' is a nice touch).

Whatever the case may be, I plan on seeing this sucker in theaters opening weekend (releasing it in IMAX is a nice touch too) and can only hope it'll be at least more Die Hard-ish than the last one, in which you could have taken any Bruce Willis character on film in the past decade, stuck him in that movie, and it would have been exactly the same.

Here's the final trailer:

First Trailer for 'Dead Man Down'

Wasn't Colin Farrell finally done with the 'action-hero' roles after the bomb that was Total Recall?  I haven't seen the film but I've read enough that if it wasn't the final nail in the coffin on him being a bankable movie star, I don't know what is.

Dead Man Down - a crime thriller directed by the original The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo helmer, Niels Arden Oplev - sees a professional killer (Farrell) blackmailed by a woman (Noomi Rapace) who witnesses him murder another, only to convince him to get revenge on the man (Terrence Howard) that maimed her in a violent crime.

The film looks decent enough, but most action films that come out in March end up being just that, decent.

See for yourself:

Dead Man Down hits theaters March 8th.

First Two TV Spots for 'A Good Day To Die Hard'

The jury's still out on this one: will it be a generic action film that has 'Die Hard' in the title, or will it be a Die Hard action film?

We'll find out.

Since the first Die Hard in 1988, John McClane has found himself in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the skills and attitude to always be the last man standing, making him enemy #1 for terrorists the world over. Now, McClane faces his greatest challenge ever, this time on an international stage, when his estranged son Jack is caught up in the daring prison escape of a rogue Russian leader, and father and son McClane must work together to keep each other alive and keep the world safe for democracy.

'The Place Beyond the Pines' Trailer

A tremendous amount of positive buzz came out about this film back in August during the Toronto Film Festival. 

Words ranging from "Amazing", to "Riveting", to "Powerful" were thrown around. 

Makes me wonder then why this film is getting a Spring 2013 release and not a Winter 2012 one.  It was shot about a year ago and obviously is complete.  If it's that good, shouldn't it be opening now to capitalize on awards season?  Or maybe they feel it has a better chance during next year's awards circuit by giving it a year to build momentum?  We shall see. 

Here's the trailer with the synopsis below:

Luke (Ryan Gosling) is a professional motorcycle rider who turns to bank robberies to support his newborn son. But when he crosses paths with a rookie police officer (Bradley Cooper), their violent confrontation spirals into a tense generational feud. The Place Beyond the Pines is a rich dramatic thriller, tracing the intersecting lives of fathers and sons, cops and robbers, heroes and villains.

David Ayer's 'Ten' Starring Arnold Schwarzenegger Set for January 24th, 2014

If this film is anything like David Ayer's End of Watch, not only are we in-store for a great film, but a complete re-invention of Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Open Road Films has announced Ten - based loosely on the Agatha Christie novel Ten Little Indians - is set for a January 24th, 2014 release date.  Though many might be disappointed at the over year long wait, it's important to remember this film just finished filming (if not close to) and likely hasn't even hit the editing room yet.  No to mention, director David Ayer seems to take his time putting his films together as I believe End of Watch had a similar time span between post-production and release date.

For those unfamiliar with the plot, Ten focuses on a elite DEA task force who heists a drug cartel safe house, only to start getting picked off one-by-one by an unknown assassin.  Schwarzenegger, of course, will play the leader of that DEA team.

Hopefully we'll get a trailer soon enough.

Open Road Films will release TEN, an action thriller starring Arnold Schwarzenegger, directed by David Ayer (End Of Watch) and financed by QED International, nationwide on January 24, 2014.

In TEN Arnold Schwarzengger leads an elite DEA task force that takes on the world’s deadliest drug cartels. When the team successfully executes a high-stakes raid on a cartel safe house, they think their work is done – until, one-by-one, the ten members mysteriously start to be eliminated.

TEN stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Joe Manganiello (HBO’s True Blood, Magic Mike), Sam Worthington (Avatar, Terminator Salvation), Harold Perrineau (Zero Dark Thirty, FX’s Sons Of Anarchy), Terrence Howard (Red Tails, On The Road), Max Martini, (ABC’s Revenge), Josh Holloway (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol), Olivia Williams (Anna Karenina), Mireille Enos (Gangster Squad).  The original screenplay for TEN is by Skip Woods (X-Men Origins: Wolverine, A Good Day To Die Hard).  Producers are Bill Block, Paul Hanson, Joe Roth, Palak Patel and Al Ruddy.

First Two Official Images from Steve Carell & Jim Carrey Starring 'Burt Wonderstone'

This is one of those movies where it looks like shit, sounds like shit, yet somehow will end up being pretty damn good only because of the talent involved (ala Alex Cross...nah I only kid, that film was God-awful). 

Can't go wrong with Carell and Carrey (and Buscemi, back to doing comedy for once).

The Incredible Burt Wonderstone, starring Steve Carell, Steve Buscemi, Olivia Wilde, Alan Arkin, James Gandolfini and Jim Carrey hits theaters on March 15, 2013.

The film follows superstar magicians Burt Wonderstone (Carell) and Anton Marvelton (Buscemi) who have ruled the Las Vegas strip for years, raking in millions with illusions as big as Burt's growing ego. But lately the duo's greatest deception is their public friendship, while secretly they've grown to loathe each other. Facing cutthroat competition from guerrilla street magician Steve Gray (Carrey), whose cult following surges with each outrageous stunt, even their show looks stale. But there's still a chance Burt and Anton can save the act—both onstage and off—if Burt can get back in touch with what made him love magic in the first place.

'Riddick' to be Released September 6th, 2013 in IMAX

Universal Pictures has officially set Riddick for a September 6th, 2013 release in both conventional and IMAX theaters (Wow, not 3D?).

To commemorate the announcement, the star himself, Vin Diesel, posted a picture of himself and director David Twohy on his official Facebook page:

Honestly, can you say 'bitch tits'?

In the film, written and directed by David Twohy, the infamous Riddick has been left for dead on a sun-scorched planet that appears to be lifeless. Soon, however, he finds himself fighting for survival against alien predators more lethal than any human he's encountered. The only way off is for Riddick to activate an emergency beacon and alert mercenaries who rapidly descend to the planet in search of their bounty. The first ship to arrive carries a new breed of merc, more lethal and violent, while the second is captained by a man whose pursuit of Riddick is more personal. With time running out and a storm on the horizon that no one could survive, his hunters won't leave the planet without Riddick's head as their trophy.

Nicolas Winding Refn to Direct 'The Equalizer' With Denzel Washington

Well didn't this just become an interesting project.

Sony's long in-development, big screen remake of the 1980s TV series, The Equalizer, has finally nabbed a director: Drive's Nicolas Winding Refn.

That's not all.  The film is set to star Hollywood's own black version of Tom Cruise (doesn't age, no end in sight to his A-list career), Denzel Washington.

For those who are most unfamilar with the project, The Equalizer centers on the character of Robert McCall (Washington), a veteran covert operative who - wanting to make good on his dark past - quits his CIA-like job and puts an add in a paper, simply reading: "Got a problem? Odds against you? Call the Equalizer."

The film is set to go before cameras in the Spring with a set release date of April 11th, 2014.

Refn has become a hot commodity in Hollywood with last year's 'masterpeice' Drive, starring Ryan Gosling and his follow-up film, Only God Forgives, also starring Gosling, set to be released May 23rd.

Richard Wenk (The Expendables 2) penned the screenplay for The Equalizer.

Source: Heat Vision

First Clip from 'Jack Reacher' Kicks Some Serious Ass

For anyone still doubting Tom Cruise in this role, maybe this will begin to change your mind:

And really, would that honestly have been as good and intriguing a scene if the guy opposing those five men had been a hulking 6'5'' man as described in the books?

No, I didn't think so either.  Too easy and no excitement or sense of danger in that sense.

Jack Reacher opens December 21st.

Six shots. Five dead. One heartland city thrown into a state of terror. But within hours the cops have it solved: a slam-dunk case. Except for one thing. The accused man says: You got the wrong guy. Then he says: Get Reacher for me.

And sure enough, ex–military investigator Jack Reacher is coming. He knows this shooter—a trained military sniper who never should have missed a shot. Reacher is certain something is not right—and soon the slam-dunk case explodes.

Now Reacher is teamed with a beautiful young defense lawyer, moving closer to the unseen enemy who is pulling the strings. Reacher knows that no two opponents are created equal. This one has come to the heartland from his own kind of hell. And Reacher knows that the only way to take him down is to match his ruthlessness and cunning—and then beat him shot for shot.

Source: IGN