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Review: World War Z

I didn’t think that World War Z would turn out to be an enjoyable movie. The signs of a troubled film production were there: substantial changes in the screen story from the source material; extensive reshoots of the movie’s ending; big budgetary overruns; and rumors of the director and the star clashing to the point that they had stopped speaking to each other.

But the final product works. World War Z is a decent movie.

Opinion: Why Star Trek Into Darkness fails

Spoiler warning: Now that Star Trek Into Darkness has arrived in theaters, it’s fair game for the discussion of spoilers. I plan on revealing several key secrets that take place during Into Darkness, so if you don’t want to be spoiled in advance, look away.

There, that’s settled.

Review: Iron Man 3

Iron Man 3 proves that Hollywood can make a better second sequel than the first one. In the case of this franchise, Iron Man 2 wasn’t a bad movie, but it also didn’t escape the confines of what was safe and predictable. Mickey Rourke’s Whiplash villain was fun to watch on-screen but the road to that film’s resolution surprised no one, and that cockatoo of his just weirded me out.

Trailer #3: Star Trek Into Darkness

An all-new trailer for the next Star Trek flick was released this morning. People who have been trying to figure out who Benedict Cumberbatch's villain is, and how he factors into the story, will be gifted a little bit more of info...but not enough to call off the thoughts that there is a lot more about the antagonist that we haven't been told.

More action. More angst. More women wearing Victoria Secret's push-up bras in the 23rd century. Ladies and gentlemen, it's the new trailer for Star Trek Into Darkness:

Trailer #2: Iron Man 3

The new movie trailer for Iron Man 3 is out and it's filled with new special effects the way that some Krispy Kreme donuts are stuffed with calories when judged against other superhero trailer, the new Iron Man 3 preview hits all the marks except for showing us one big wow moment. That's not to say that it doesn't give me good feeling when I watch it. In fact, the dialog promises that hiring Lethal Weapon screenwriter Shane Black to direct the three-quel was a good movie indeed.

Let's watch it together and then talk about spoilers and specifics:

Christopher Nolan, Batman and Superman in Warner's Justice League movie?

Once again, the big news story of the day comes courtesy of Latino Review. This time the hombres at the movie website are reporting the impossible: that Christopher Nolan, the director of the Batman Begins / Dark Knight movie trilogy, will produce and be involved in a creative story capacity with Warner Bros. proposed Justice League movie.

New Incredible Shrinking Man movie being written

The general public might have a distinct memory about The Incredible Shrinking Man but I don't think many people know the significance of the story's creator, Richard Matheson. Turning 87 this month, Matheson created an impressive body of speculative fiction work, crafting memorable episodes of the original Twilight Zone TV series as well as the novels I Am Legend and What Dreams May Come, both of which were turned into Hollywood movies. His short story "Steel" about robot boxers was also made into a recent movie, Real Steel, which starred Hugh Jackman.

Talk about the two spinoff Star Wars movies

Last week Lucasfilm was forced to release an official press release that expanded on the additional Star Wars films that Disney is developing and that are unrelated to the three new Episodes that supposedly will continue on the saga of the Skywalker family. In their company announcement Disney said that writers Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg were working on two stand-alone Star Wars movies, but that the storylines and characters weren't discussed.

Chris Pratt leads Marvel's Guardians of the Galaxy

The leading man has been found for Marvel Studios' big budget, live action Guardians of the Galaxy movie, and it's Chris Pratt. He can currently be seen on-screen as one of the Navy SEALs that took down Osama bin Laden in Kathryn Bigelow's Zero Dark Thirty.

Fast and Furious 6 gets two hype previews

How much gas is left in the Fast and Furious movie franchise? I've never been the kind of guy to be excited about seeing Vin Diesel and Paul Walker shift gears in 70 mm, but judging from the action sequences in the fourth and fifth FF movies, and the stuff we get to see in the two previews I'm about to show you, there's still plenty of road left down the action highway for these flicks.

Hulk's future revealed for Avengers 2 & Avengers 3 movies?

Today is the day that Superbowl Sunday happened, and it gave the online movie news community a chance to grab and post all those new movie commercials for 2013 shows. Me, I figure if you want to watch the marketing for movies, you either saw it during the game or you know about this site called YouTube (which has all the commercials up about 15 seconds after they're broadcast.)

Hansel and Gretel hunts witches and collects box office

Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters is the new #1 movie in the land. This weird fantasy-action movie starring Jeremy Renner from The Avengers and The Bourne Legacy and Gemma Arterton from Quantum of Solace, grossed an estimated $19 million dollars this weekend.

With a new number one, last week's champ, the horror flick Mama, drops to #2 with $12.8m in new ticket sales. Two weeks into its theatrical run Mama has a total gross of $48.6m.

Buoyed by its four Oscar nominations for its actors, Silver Linings Playbook remains solid at #3 ($10m new, $69.4m total.)

Zero Dark Thirty drops two spots to #4 this week ($9.8m new, $69.9m total.)

Is J.J. Abrams directing Star Wars Episode VII?

The internet went all giggly this afternoon when The Wrap broke a story that Star Trek reboot director J.J. Abrams is locked and loaded to direct Hollywood's hottest next job, Star Wars Episode VII. But is it true?

The Wrap reached out to Lucasfilm but a comment wasn't forthcoming in time for their story. That's interesting. I've written before about Lucasfilm outright lying when accurate scoops are broken online, but even so, a no answer isn't a confirmation.

No new Batman movie until 2017?

With Christopher Nolan's trilogy of Batman movies now complete, what's Warner Bros. doing about passing on the Gotham City torch to the next filmmaker? Officially no one is speaking for the movie studio. While The Dark Knight Rises earned a commanding $448 million dollars domestically at the box office, WB is opting to not discuss what plans (if any) it has for the next Batman movie.

Mama horror movie opens at #1, Schwarzenegger's screen comeback bombs big

Judging from the box office returns from this weekend, we may have witnessed the end of Arnold Schwarzenegger's reign at the box office.

The new number one movie in the country is Mama, a horror-thriller executive produced by Hellboy director Guillermo del Toro. Mama stars Jessica Chastain in the top billing, and who incidentally also is the leading actor in this week's number two movie at the box office, Zero Dark Thirty.

Made for a modest low budget of just $15 million, Mama grossed an estimated $28.1 million dollars in its inaugural weekend.