I don’t know what to say about this remake of a very good, very influential movie, other than to say you could see it coming with blinders on and it looks like utter crap.

Okay, okay. The movie itself doesn’t look bad, but that trailer. My god. I’m no rocket scientist but what is up with the Limp Bizkit score and the movie’s tagline: “Titans Will Clash”? The movie is called Clash of the Titans and the best the marketing department could come up with as a slogan/tagline is titans will clash. Jesus H. Christ someone should be fed to the guillotine.

Also? Is Sam Worthington the real deal or is he just the latest in a string of Hollywood male leads they are really trying to jam down my throat. It was hard to tell with the latest Terminator, but we’ll get a really good look with Avatar and now this. Still, if anyone has seen Somersault then you know the guy is capable of delivering a nuanced and subtle acting performance.

Amy Adams is, without reservation, poised to inherit the romantic comedy crown Julia Roberts was more than willing to walk away from.  And after sitting through the dreck of Night at the Museum 2 where Adams’s plucky Amelia Earhart was the only redeeming thing, it’s evident she could act her way out of a Chinese prison camp (do those even exist?!?) with both hands tied behind her back.

Adams is a revelation and there is nothing wrong with the plucky heroines she portrays time and time again.  It’s a rare quality that few actresses can believably pull off and do so without being annoying.  I would watch her in just about anything, even if we already can tell how the movie will end.

“We were delighted, then baffled, then again delighted when the new Blu-Ray version of Fight Club arrived in the mail the other day. Popping it into the A.V. Club Blu-Ray player we watched in dismay as the menu screen appeared, and with it images and music from 1999 Drew Barrymore comedy Never Been Kissed. As much as we adore that movie—with its documentary-like depiction of the Chicago journalism scene—it was Fight Club we wanted to watch. Then the image gave way to Fight Club’s familiar living IKEA catalog and we realized we’d been duped.”

Turns out the practical joke was from director David Fincher himself.  The original two-disc DVD is one of my favorites, in fact it was the reason I bought a DVD player in the first place back in 2000.  Fight Club bombed at the box-office in 1999 (the best year in recent memory for movies), while the Drew Barrymore rom-com did not.  The gag was approved by Barrymore at the behest of pal and Fight Club-star Ed Norton.

I don’t think this will make me buy a Blu-Ray player, but it will certainly make me polish off the movie and watch it again for the umpteenth time.

The title aptly sums up my feelings for this movie.  Normally, I’d say no thank you to a movie like this (think any of those recent Diane Keaton flicks where she falls in love with Jack Nicholson, Steve Martin or Keanu Reeves, or whomever), but it’s hard to resist the charms of Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin.

I have a feeling this is a rental I’ll end up watching when I visit my parents in Boston, either on the airplane or when there is nothing else to do.

If any of the companies  can’t, at the very least, break even with James Cameron’s upcoming sci-fi extravaganza Avatar then they shouldn’t be in the business of financially backing movies. 

This winter, Avatar is the only motion picture event.  There is no Harry Potter, no Lord of the Rings, no obvious competition for this type of film.

Especially when you look at all the numbers involved between a $300 million production budget, $150 million marketing/publicity budget, 14 years spend developing the necessary camera technology.  Yeah, sure there are no bankable stars, but it’s directed by James “freaking” Cameron?!? I get worried reading between the lines that Fox is already making excuses for the movies perceived failure.

I’m still not sold on this flick, but the voice talent alone might make it worth it.

Normally, a premise as hackneyed as this one — two brothers go off to war and when one is suspected of being dead his widow falls for the living brother — has about as much chance of being a decent flick as it does a Lifetime Original.

But the talent behind this picture is too huge to ignore. Director Jim Sheridan is back to challenging, emotionally human interest drama (we’ll forgive him his paycheck cashing 50 Cent gangster flick) with the talents of Natalie Portman, Jake Gyllenhaal and Tobie Maguire in front on the camera.

An awesome replica of the Fight Club soap featured in the Fight Club movie poster is now on sale at Etsy for just $8 and yes you really can use it as soap — though there is no indication it is made from the human lard of fat ladies.  If that particular link sells out, check the Dirty Ass Soaps shop for possible duplicates. [via]

Danny Boyle will follow last year’s Oscar-winning Slumdog Millionaire with a movie about Aron Ralston, the mountain climber who amputated his own arm with a dull knife in 2003 after it became pinned under a boulder for five days.

The film will reunite Boyle with Slumdog’s creative team (Simon Beaufoy is in talks to write the script, Christian Colson will produce) and may star Ryan Gosling, though nothing’s been made official.

I hope this project happens, not only because Ralston’s story deserves the big screen treatment, but also because Boyle’s at the top of his game and I’m sure has something interesting to offer this story of survival and determination. [via]

What’s better than one Slave Leia?  How about two catching some rays.  Kottke came across this photo of Carrie Fisher and her stunt double napping during the Tatooine shoot in Return of the Jedi. Enjoy!  But just know that I’m going to need a moment or two to catch my breath.  [via]

In Columbia Pictures’ Salt, Angelina Jolie stars as Evelyn Salt, a CIA officer who swore an oath to duty, honor, and country. When she is accused by a defector of being a Russian sleeper spy, Salt goes on the run to clear her name and ultimately prove she is a patriot. Using all her skills and years of experience as a covert operative, she must elude capture and protect her husband or the world’s most powerful forces will erase any trace of her existence.

This movie was originally written with Tom Cruise starring as Evan Salt (or something like that) but when he dropped out it was rewritten for Jolie.

Salt hits theaters on July 23, 2010.

Steve Martin and Alec Baldwin will host the Oscars. Sure, why not?  I really don’t have strong feelings about this one way or the other.  Generally, as a rule, I prefer one person to host an event like this.  Actually, with the revolving cast of hosts over the past few years, I can’t believe I’m about to say this, but I sort of miss Billy Crystal.

Well, shit.  If you thought his selection of movies roles was dubious before, you should probably prepare yourself for things like The Rock 2: Escape Back into Alcatraz, Con Air 3: Even Connier, Leaving Las Vegas: The Rehab Years, ad infinitum. 

Which is to say, the dude is broke.

“In a lawsuit filed Oct. 16 in Los Angeles, the National Treasure star, 45, claims that his longtime business manager, Samuel J. Levin, ‘lined his [own] pockets with several million dollars in business management fees while sending Cage down a path toward financial ruin.’”

Hold onto your seats because I have a feeling we’re going to experience a Nic Cage shit show the likes the world has never seen before.