The Counselor International Trailer is the Opposite of the U.S. Trailer

The U.S. trailer for Ridley Scott's The Counselor was too coy for my tastes. Aren't we supposed to have some semblance of the plot in order to get interested in seeing the final product? All talk about a highly-prominent lawyer played by Michael Fassbender doing something that gets him in trouble with the wrong people. Don't ask what he did, because they ain't telling. Hence my frustration.

The new International trailer sheds not only some light on the questionable action, but a nice twist. The shady folks don't appear to be Javier Bardem and Brad Pitt, as heavily implied in the U.S. trailer. No, it's bad, big... Cameron Diaz? Yeah, it's a stretch and frankly she's trying way too hard here to be convincingly "evil." But I like the chance of pace and can now say that yes The Counselor has my curiosity. Even if it still appears to be a generic thriller.

New Trailer for Wong Kar Wai's The Grandmaster

"Directed by acclaimed filmmaker Wong Kar Wai, THE GRANDMASTER is an epic action feature inspired by the life and times of the legendary kung fu master, Ip Man. The story spans the tumultuous Republican era that followed the fall of China’s last dynasty, a time of chaos, division and war that was also the golden age of Chinese martial arts. Filmed in a range of stunning locations that include the snow-swept landscapes of Northeast China and the subtropical South, THE GRANDMASTER features virtuoso performances by some of the greatest stars of contemporary Asian cinema, including Tony Leung and Ziyi Zhang."

Via Yahoo! Movies

Man of Steel DVD/Blu-Ray Flies Into Stores This November

During the heyday of DVD during the 2000s, it was impossible to not be as excited about the special features as the movie they were about (Remember when a Kevin Smith commentary track was a big deal?) As I get older, I don't give a rat's ass about that stuff. Unless it's for an older film and the thought of uncovering long-lost deleted footage or screen-tests/auditions/test-footage has such an allure.

And it seems the age of the special features is a thing of the past, judging by the specs for the Man of Steel DVD/Blu-Ray. The only supplementary material I wanted was a Zack Snyder commentary and the Henry Cavill screen-tests for McG's Superman: Flyby and Man of Steel. None of that appears to be here. Sigh. Well at least, I still get the movie, which I quite liked as we discussed at great length on Movie Moan, and I'll finally be able to show this to be my nephew.

Oh and the art-work is God awful. The 3D Blu-Ray is the best of the worst, hence why it was the one I posted.

BLU-RAY AND DVD ELEMENTS

Man of Steel Blu-ray 3D Combo Pack, Blu-ray Combo Pack and 3D Limited Collector's Edition contain the following special features:

• Journey of Discovery: Creating Man of Steel – This immersive feature-length experience allows you to watch the movie with director Zack Snyder and stars Henry Cavill, Amy Adams, Diane Lane and others as they share the incredible journey to re-imagine Superman.
• Strong Characters, Legendary Roles – Explore the legendary characters of the Superman mythology and how they have evolved in this new iteration of the Superman story.
• All-Out Action – Go inside the intense training regimen that sculpted Henry Cavill into the Man of Steel and Michael Shannon and Antje Traue into his Kyptonian nemeses. Includes interviews with cast and crew.
• Krypton Decoded – Dylan Sprayberry (Clark Kent, age 13) gives the lowdown on all the amazing Krypton tech, weapons and spaceships featured in Man of Steel.
• Planet Krypton – The world's first exploration of Krypton and its lost society.

Man of Steel DVD 2-disc Special Edition contains the following special features:

• Strong Characters, Legendary Roles
• All-Out Action
• Krypton Decoded

The Fifth Estate Poster

"Triggering our age of high-stakes secrecy, explosive news leaks and the trafficking of classified information, WikiLeaks forever changed the game. Now, in a dramatic thriller based on real events, 'The Fifth Estate' reveals the quest to expose the deceptions and corruptions of power that turned an Internet upstart into the 21st century’s most fiercely debated organization. The story begins as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his colleague Daniel Domscheit-Berg (Daniel Brühl) team up to become underground watchdogs of the privileged and powerful. On a shoestring, they create a platform that allows whistleblowers to anonymously leak covert data, shining a light on the dark recesses of government secrets and corporate crimes. Soon, they are breaking more hard news than the world’s most legendary media organizations combined. But when Assange and Berg gain access to the biggest trove of confidential intelligence documents in U.S. history, they battle each other and a defining question of our time: what are the costs of keeping secrets in a free society—and what are the costs of exposing them?"

Via Coming Soon

Of Course Episode VII Isn't Hitting Summer 2015

Badass Digest put it out there this morning. Star Wars: Episode VII will most likely make the jump to light-speed from Summer to Christmas 2015. That rumor, however, has been out there for quite awhile, and the more we hear nothing from Disney, Lucasfilm and J.J. Abrams, the more traction it gains.

The wet fart heard round the galaxy at D23 didn't help (They swore they were going to have a major presence with Episode VII news, then they reneged), and folks like Alan Horn still insisting it would be out that summer are just making it harder on fans. Of course, it's not going to be ready by then. Their summer slate is too stuffed with The Avengers: Age of Ultron, Pixar's Inside Out and Pirates of the Caribbean 5. Nowhere to put Episode VII. I know everyone is up and arms about changing tradition taking it out of May. But that was a tradition started by George Lucas and 20th Century Fox; both parties are out of the Star Wars business.

Disney is, no doubt, thinking about what happened to Avatar. Originally slatted for a Memorial Day 2009 release, they moved it back to Christmas. In part because James Cameron needed more time to get the visual effects done and partially because that date worked wonders on Titanic. They wanted to a repeat performance... and that's exactly what they got. A Star Wars movie drops right before Christmas and it owns the rest of the month, January and February.

Stunner! Escape From Tomorrow Getting Released This October!

Had it never seen the light of day as most expected, Escape From Tomorrow would go into lore as one of the all-time great lost films. A independent film about a man's slow descent into madness during a family vacation at Disney World. Shot entirely at the Disney theme parks without the permission of officials. Someone had the balls to go against the Mouse guerrilla-style and lived to tell the tale, and garner much attention at Sundance this year. A clip even showed up online.

Then silence. Everyone assumed that was that. It would join ranks with The Day the Clown Cried as an unreleased feature we could only play in our minds and hope that, maybe, some high-positioned soul would have the courtesy to leak it. The LA Times says that will not be a problem.

Much to the surprise of, well, everyone, the film will be released October 11th theatrically and VOD (video-on-demand). How they were able to make this happen to beyond me, though this version will reportedly have 15 minutes trimmed. Assuming more questionable material to the Disney brand-name made it to the cutting room floor.

Timur Bekmambetov In Talks to Direct Ben-Hur Remake - No, Really

Just as test footage for a killer squirrels movie (You read right) he's producing showed up online comes a curveball for Timur Bekmambetov. He's in negotiations to direct a new version of Ben-Hur for MGM, reports The Wrap.

The director responsible for immature, but stylish, crap like Wanted and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter is up for The Tale of the Christ? It beats me too. I mean, I don't see why not (Everyone deserves a shot at proving themselves). Just surprised he's the guy the decision-makers deem best for the job.

The Expendables 3 Has a Plot

Lionsgate sent out a press release formally announcing the start of filming on The Expendables 3. They additionally confirm the full cast; everyone we've heard before and confirming Dr. Wesley Snipes. But it's not what I want to focus on. They also included the plot synopsis:

"In THE EXPENDABLES 3, Barney (Stallone), Christmas (Statham) and the rest of the team comes face-to-face with Conrad Stonebanks (Gibson), who years ago co-founded The Expendables with Barney. Stonebanks subsequently became a ruthless arms trader and someone who Barney was forced to kill... or so he thought. Stonebanks, who eluded death once before, now is making it his mission to end The Expendables -- but Barney has other plans. Barney decides that he has to fight old blood with new blood, and brings in a new era of Expendables team members, recruiting individuals who are younger, faster and more tech-savvy. The latest mission becomes a clash of classic old-school style versus high-tech expertise in the Expendables’ most personal battle yet."

Mel Gibson is playing Conrad Stonebanks. That name is so 80s badass I will name my first born that. Boy or girl.

The Mystery Box Fetish Continues...

He may not get to play in it for Star Wars: Episode VII (No way Disney or Kathleen Kennedy will allow that). But there is still plenty of other, lower-priority endeavors J.J. Abrams can continue to play in his beloved Mystery Box.

Such is the case with this teaser simply called Stranger.

New The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Images to Shrug Over

It’s about time we get another The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug trailer to shrug at. I don't mean to poo-poo over the shameless, money-whoring trilogy but that's what it is. And the thought of a dragon voiced by Benedict Cumberbatch doesn't stir my nerd loins. I saw that closing shot of the trailer and blankly reacted, "Oh so that's Smaug, huh? What's for dinner?"

Coming Soon noticed some just-released cover art for forthcoming Visual Companion books including Smaug's eyeball (Ohhh... ahhh?) and another look at Luke Evans as Bard the Bowman and Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel. Just one more year of this crap and we can all go back to addressing only The Lord of the Rings trilogy and how Return of the King had too many endings like most nerds.