MOVIES TO WATCH IN 2014

With ‘The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,’ ‘‘Frozen‘ and ‘Her,’ the past year closed out with some pretty stupendous cinema. But it’s 2014 now! So out with the old and in with the new: Here are 14 movies to watch out for in 2014.

To toast the New Year, we’re looking ahead to the coming weeks and months in search of the most enticing upcoming titles. And what we found are some outrageous comedies, heart-racing romances, captivating coming-of-age stories and plenty of star-studded spectacle! By our count, there’s already 14 reasons to be pumped over 2014 in cinema.

'Gimme Shelter'

In Theaters: Jan. 24, 2014

Vanessa Hudgens digs into some serious drama (not to mention a major make-under) with this independent feature. Salacious turns in movies like 'Sucker Punch,' 'Spring Breakers' and 'Machete Kills' proved the 'High School Musical' star is not a child actor anymore. Now it's time for her to show what an accomplished actress she has become with this remarkable true story -- and we can't wait.

Written and directed by Ron Krauss, 'Gimme Shelter' has Hudgens playing Apple, a young woman who flees her abusive mother to find the father she never knew. But when his big home isn't as welcoming as she'd dreamed, Apple has to set out to form a family of her own. Rosario Dawson, Brendan Fraser and James Earl Jones co-star. 

'That Awkward Moment'

In Theaters: Jan. 31, 2014

Funny enough, our next pick also features a 'High School Musical' alum! Zac Efron fronts this R-rated sex comedy about three best friends who swear off serious relationships after one has his heart broken into a million pieces. But their bro pact is threatened when these boys meet girls that understand the important things in life, like sex, scotch and Xbox.

Adding to our enthusiasm for this delectably raunchy comedy are Efron's co-stars, rising English ingénue Imogen Poots, Michael B. Jordan, who recently won critical acclaim with 'Fruitvale Station,' and Miles Teller, who stole our hearts with the stupendous coming-of-age drama 'The Spectacular Now.'

'Vampire Academy'

In Theaters: Feb. 14, 2014

Craving something with a bit of bite? Then mark your calendar for this sassy action-comedy inspired by the bestselling YA novels of Richelle Mead. Zoey Deutch stars as Rose Hathaway, a half-human/half-vampire in training to be a bodyguard for her best friend and vampire glamor girl Lissa (Lucy Fry) from the evil undead who'd do her harm. But when they aren't battling the powers of darkness, they are just dealing with the high drama inherent in high school.

Giving this YA adaptation added intrigue are its behind-the-scenes players, brothers Daniel and Mark Waters. The former is the screenwriter behind the devilish dark comedy 'Heathers,' while the latter directed the one and only 'Mean Girls.' We can't imagine a better team to tackle this sharp teen comedy.

'The Pretty One'

In Theaters: Feb. 7, 2014

'New Girl' star Jake Johnson works his curmudgeonly charms in this unconventional romantic comedy from writer-director Jenee LaMarque that has Zoe Kazan playing a pair of identical twins who are very different. Audrey is outgoing, fashionable and reckless. Laurel is timid, stuck in a time warp fashion-wise and frightened of new experiences. But after a fateful accident, Laurel makes a daring move by following in her sister's footsteps and assuming her identity. With a new lease on life, she finds herself falling for an eccentric but sweet guy next door (Johnson).

We had the chance to catch this quirky indie last spring at the Tribeca Film Festival, and have been eagerly awaiting its theatrical release ever since. While its plotline is decidedly dark, LaMarque's screenplay is wonderfully warm and funny. Best of all, the chemistry between Johnson and Kazan -- who deftly creates not one, but two compelling characters here -- is exhilarating. This is the kind of movie that'd be great for a date or a girls night out.

'The Grand Budapest Hotel'

In Theaters: March 7, 2014

Is there a filmmaker alive who makes prettier movies than Wes Anderson? The inventive writer-director behind such dazzling and delightful comedies as 'Rushmore,' 'The Royal Tenenbaums,' 'Fantastic Mr. Fox' and 'Moonrise Kingdom' is back with a murder mystery unlike any we've seen before. Over the years Andersen has shown a great gift for crafting clever characters and sensational stories. But on top of all that, his films are so flush with color they are never anything less than a feast for the eyes!

His latest ensemble piece centers on Gustave H, a concierge of the titular hotel who is suspected of foul play when one of his guests/lovers turns up dead. Hijinks and lots of fantastic banter are sure to ensue. Filling out his star-stacked ensemble are Ralph Fiennes, Saoirse Ronan, Jude Law, Lea Seydoux, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Edward Norton, Owen Wilson, Jason Schwartzman, Adrien Brody, Willem Dafoe, Jeff Goldblum, Tom Wilkinson, Harvey Keitel and F. Murray Abraham.

'Veronica Mars'

In Theaters: March 14, 2014

From 2004 to 2007, teen detective Veronica Mars was relentless in her pursuit of truth and justice as she tore through the shadiness and secrets of the affluent community of Neptune, Calif. But the show's grievous cancellation didn't kill fan devotion. And after an appeal on Kickstarter, the series' creator, Rob Thomas, paid off on his promise for a spin-off movie!

Set nine years after the final episode, the Veronica Mars movie picks up with our plucky heroine living in New York City and trying desperately to distance herself from her past and all things Neptune. But her resolve vanishes when her long lost ex-boyfriend Logan is accused of murder. In no time, Veronica returns to Neptune and shakes things up at a high school reunion we suspect no one will ever forget. She's back in action and as badass as ever!

'Divergent'

In Theaters: March 21, 2014

In 2012, 'The Secret Life of the American Teenager's' Shailene Woodley broke through in film with a Golden Globe-nominated performance in the dramedy 'The Descendants.' Now she's showing us what an action heroine she can be with this adventure story set in a dystopian world where different equals dangerous.

Adapted from Veronica Roth's YA novel, 'Divergent' stars Woodley as Beatrice Prior, a teen girl on the brink of learning which classification she qualifies for: Abnegation, Amity, Candor, Dauntless or Erudite. But when she takes the aptitude test (think Harry Potter's sorting hat), she is frightened to learn she is "Divergent," a classification that makes her very existence a threat to her society's grim government. Theo James, Kate Winslet, Jai Courtney, Ansel Elgort, Zoe Kravitz and Miles Teller co-star.

'The Other Woman'

In Theaters: April 25, 2014

You know that thing where you meet a guy who seems positively perfect, then find out he's married? The anti-heroine at the center of 'The Other Woman' does. Played by Cameron Diaz, this spunky singleton is stunned to discover her boyfriend's been hiding a wife from her. When she and his Mrs. (Leslie Mann) hit it off, they decide not to get mad, but get even.

This unconventional buddy comedy is being called 'The First Wives Club' for a younger generation. Not only does it boast a buzzed about script from rising screenwriter Melissa Stacks, but 'The Other Woman' also features appearances from 'Game of Thrones' hunk Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, fashionista/rap artist Nicki Minaj and Sports Illustrated covergirl Kate Upton. And did we mention it's directed by Nick Cassavetes, helmer of 'The Notebook'?

'Neighbors'

In Theaters: May 9, 2014

How about a double dose of R-rated comedies starring Zac Efron? As follow-up to his rocky rom-com 'The Five-Year Engagement,' director Nicholas Stoller offers 'Neighbors,' which focuses on that age-old battle between suburbanites and frat boys.

Seth Rogen and Rose Byrne play a married couple with a newborn baby and a growing fear they are getting old. But this concern takes a backseat when a rowdy fraternity moves in next door. Wild parties leave their nights sleepless and their yard caked in trash and used condoms. But fighting back incites a full on prank war with the frat's oft-shirtless leader (Efron!) Dave Franco, Christopher Mintz-Plasse and Craig Roberts co-star.

'Maleficent'

In Theaters: May 30, 2014

Think you know the story of 'Sleeping Beauty'? Guess again. Angelina Jolie brings to life the iconic Maleficent. You might know her as the cruel and shape-shifting sorceress who cursed the lovely Princess Aurora. But Disney's upcoming live-action adventure will at long last unveil this villainess' backstory, which led her to a road of wickedness and revenge. As it's helmed by two-time Academy Award-winning art designer, Robert Stromberg, we're expecting something pretty spectacular here.

Elle Fanning fills the role of the adored Aurora, while Juno Temple, Sharlto Copley, Brentn Thwaites and Imelda Staunton co-star.

'The Fault in Our Stars'

In Theaters: June 6, 2014

'Divergent' star Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort reunite for another YA adaptation, this one based on the heralded John Green novel about two teenagers who find first love while battling with terminal cancer. Woodley stars as 16-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster, who has been fighting stage four cancer since she was 13. Her parents worry that despite her excelling in her studies, she's depressed. So they push her to go to a support group for kids living with cancer. There she meet Gus (Ansel), a former basketball player who has lost his leg, but not his spirit. Sharing a similar sense of humor, their connection is instant, beautiful and rare… but bound to be short-lived.

There was an outcry among fans when the film's poster hit with the tag line "One Sick Love Story." While the twisted humor in there didn't play to all, we're eagerly awaiting the film's first trailer and its upcoming summer release.

'Tammy'

In Theaters: July 2, 2014

After proving to be the breakout star of the 2011 smash hit 'Bridesmaids,' comedienne Melissa McCarthy could basically write her own ticket in Hollywood. And as a follow-up to her hilarious and wildly successful summer movie 'The Heat,' she's offering another sure-to-please comedy with 'Tammy.'

Penned by herself and husband Ben Falcone -- who also directs- -t his funny feature follows the titular Tammy, a woman whose life is thrown into spin when she loses her job and learns her husband has been cheating on her. How to cope? How about a road trip with her hard-drinking grandmother who swears like a sailor and is played by Susan Sarandon? Works for us!

'Gone Girl'

In Theaters: Oct. 3, 2014

Not only was Gillian Flynn's best-selling crime novel 'Gone Girl' at the top of the New York Times bestseller list for eight weeks straight, but it also was the must-see read for book clubs and bookworms nationwide thanks to its addictive prose and tantalizing twists and turns. It's fitting then that David Fincher, who has helmed such enthralling adaptations as 'Fight Club,' 'Zodiac' and 'The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo,' has directed this chilling thriller.

Ben Affleck stars as Nick Dunne, a down-on-his-luck writer who becomes the number one suspect when his wife Amy (Rosamund Pike) goes missing on their wedding anniversary. One major joy of the novel was not knowing what might happen next. And with Flynn confessing she's written a completely new third act as the adaptation's screenwriter, the same could well hold true for this tantalizing title. Neil Patrick Harris, Missi Pyle, Casey Wilson and Tyler Perry co-star.

'The Hunger Games: Mockingjay - Part 1'

In Theaters: Nov. 21, 2014

Headlined by Jennifer Lawrence, this franchise inspired by Suzanne Collins' wildly popular YA novels has been shattering box office records and proving audiences will turn out in force for a female-fronted action movie. The series second installment, 'The Hunger Games: Catching Fire,' has just passed 'Iron Man 3' as the highest grossing release of 2013, so we can rightly count its follow-up, 'Mockingjay - Part 1,' as one of the most anticipated movies of 2014, if not the most.

Katniss Everdeen (Lawrence) has now twice survived the cruel mechanizations of the corrupt Capitol's Hunger Games. But at the end of the Quarter Quell, she was saved by rebel force while her friend and love interest Peeta (Josh Hutcherson) was left behind. On the first half of this series finale, she'll not only have to confront her feelings for him, but also face her destiny as a leader of the growing rebellion against the Capitol and the vicious President Snow. Liam Hemsworth, Sam Claflin and Julianne Moore co-star.

Adopted from Sources

Read More

X-Men Days of Future Past With Exclusive Trailer

While Steve Rogers is making most of the headlines right now after releasing the first trailer for Captain America: The Winter Soldier, another Marvel movie property is preparing to make headlines next week by releasing its first trailer.

That other Marvel movie is Fox's X-Men Days of Future Past. 

Releasing its new trailer on Tuesday October 29, the next X-Men ensemble film also released new movie images to both Entertainment Weekly and Empire Magazine. Check out those new images below, along with a look at the seconds of footage teasing the new trailer at the very end of this post. 

X-Men: Days Of Future Past  features the return of director Bryan Singer to the film franchise he helped launch 13 years ago with the release of the first X-Men movie. Based on the popular and influential “Days Of Future Past” story by Chris Claremont, John Byrne and Terry Austin — originally published in Uncanny X-Men #141-142 — the film tells a time traveling story in which the X-Men send Wolverine to the past to stop a historical event that would have a devastating impact on the futures of both man and mutant alike.

Starring Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Hugh Jackman, Ian McKellan, Patrick Stewart, John McAvoy Ellen Page, Peter Dinklage, Halle Berry, Anna Paquin and more, X-Men: Days Of Future Pastarrives in theaters May 23, 2014.

And here's the quick sneak peek video...

And here goes the trailer that you all have been waiting for

Sources :Agency

Read More

'Angry Birds' Movie Flying Our Way

Did you ever played the game "Angry Birds". How many of you had thought that the fun of your most favorite game will be on the big screen and you could actually see the adventure and action of the game in the movie screen. Those who had thought about add those who didn't even dreamed of thing is going to be happened in the near future.

Duck for cover, little piggies, because "Angry Birds" are coming for you.

The ridiculously popular mobile phone game from Finland is getting the big screen treatment it so richly deserves. Actually, the project has been in the works for a couple of years -- back before everyone was Candy Crushing -- but it's only just now getting directors and a tentative release date. Jon Vitti was hired to write the script earlier this spring, and now Fergal Reilly and Clay Kaytis have been tapped to direct.

Reilly has extensive credentials as a storyboard artist on films like "Hotel Transylvania," "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs," and "Spider-Man 2," but this will be his first directing gig. Kaytis has worked as an animator on the upcoming Disney film "Frozen" and "Wreck-It Ralph" and as animation supervisor on "Tangled." This will also be his first foray into directing.

For those who can't get enough of those cranky birds and the pigs who taunt them, there's plenty of stuff to fill your time with until the movie comes out on July 1, 2016. You can watch the animated series, play "Bad Piggies" and a multitude of other "Angry Birds" offshoots, or squeeze your lovable little stuffed "Angry Birds" toys. There are also tons of things on Etsy to quell your hunger for all things angry and bird-like, or if you're feeling super fly, you can rock an "Angry Birds" gown like the wife of one Rovio exec did for an event at the Finnish Presidential Palace. You go,Teija Vesterbacka! Don't let anyone clip your fashion wings.

Adopted from sources

Read More

Movies Based on Real Life

When it comes to film, relating to a character is something that viewers really enjoy, and it is generally something that makes the film that much better for the viewer. So, when a viewer can relate to a film, that is based on real life events and stories, it brings them even closer to the cast of characters, as the story is related to real life events that occurred, in the writer’s (producers, developers, etc) life. These are 9 famous movies based on real story, that you may want to check out, for inspiration, for a laugh, or just to watch someone else, who has gone through similar situations you have in life.

1. Into the Wild -

This film follows the life of Christopher McCandless, an Emory graduate, who was a top athlete, and top student, at this top rated university. Upon graduating, he takes the $24,000 he has in savings, and donates it to charity, and hitchhikes to Alaska. Along the way he ends up meeting many characters, which not only give him support, but shape his future life.

2. The Pianist -

The film is based in the Warsaw Ghetto, during WW2. It is based on the life of a Polish – Jewish musician, trying to survive during the destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto. After witnessing persecution of the Polish workforce, at the hands of the Nazis, Oskar Schindler fears what will become of the workforce, and life in the area he lives in. By escaping deportation, and living in the Ghetto, living in a restricted area during this troublesome period.

3. Schindler’s List -

Oskar Schindler, becomes concerned for the life he, and the Jewish workforce will live, during the WW2 period. He saves 1200 Jews during the holocaust, and works with his people to try to escape persecution, defeat by Nazi forces, and a troubling life in the ghetto communities. The story chronicles Schindler’s desire to help nearly 1200 Jews escape Auschwitz concentration camp.

4. Born on the 4th of July -

Based on the story of Ron Kovic, a paralyzed Vietnam vet, the story details how he becomes an anti-war proponent, and fights to teach people pro-rights activist beliefs. This turn is made due to the fact that Kovic feels he was betrayed by the country he fought and served for, upon his return home from war.

5. A Beautiful Mind -

The story is about John Nash, who is the most famous schizophrenic mathematician of all time, and is a Nobel Prize winner, suffering from this condition. Upon accepting a secret job in cryptography, his life and all the events that seem to occur afterwards, seem to take a turn in the wrong direction, and a turn for the worse over time.

6. The Insider -

Jeffrey Wigand, who is a famous and professional research chemist, decides to do a show for “60 Minutes,” about the realities of the big tobacco industry, and exposes the dirty secrets that take place in the industry. After standing up for and detailing what is wrong with the industry, he is attacked by industry and professional colleagues at his level.

7. October Sky -

Homer Hickman, who is a coal miner’s son, became inspired by the launch of the original Sputnik. Although he went against his father’s wishes, he took up a career and studies in rocketry. With a background in writing, having been a Vietnam vet, and a former NASA engineer, the story discusses the path he took, and where he ended up.

8. Goodfellas -

This story details the mob mentality, and focuses on Henry Hill (based on the story of Nicholas Pillegi), and his group of friends, that work their way up the hierarchy rankings in the mob, to become top mob bosses. Struggling with the success of his two friends, Henry has to decide whether he will take them out, to find his way to the top as a mob leader.

9. Catch Me if You Can -

Frank Abagnale Jr., was a con-artist, who prior to his 19th birthday, conned millions of dollars from the US government (over $2.5 million, in 26 countries). Posing as a pilot for Pan American, posing as a doctor, and as a lawyer, he becomes the most wanted fugitive by the FBI. Upon finally being caught, he later works with the FBI, to help prevent fraud and similar check fraud.

Adopted from oddtale

Read More

Porn stars in Hollywood movies

The adult film industry is back under the spotlight right now thanks to the release of Amanda Seyfried's Lovelace.

The world of porn and Hollywood have frequently intertwined over the last few decades - Deep Throat became a genuine crossover success, Boogie Nights took inspiration from the '70s' 'Golden Age of Porn' and adult stars have frequently crossed over into mainstream movies.

Digital Spy takes a look at 9 porn stars who went "legit"...

James Deen

The Los Angeles-born actor gained porn prominence for his boy next door looks and prolific output. Before long he'd shot to the attention of American Psycho's Bret Easton Ellis, who championed him for the role of Fifty Shades of Grey's Christian Grey before casting him opposite Lindsay Lohan in his own movie The Canyons.

Traci Lords

Lords knocked out a handful of adult movie appearances before walking away from the industry after making 1987's Traci, I Love You. Lords kept her stage name, and has been working consistently in Hollywood ever since. Notable roles include Blade, early Johnny Depp film Cry-Baby and the recent Excision.

Ashlynn Brooke

The pint-sized blonde notched up nearly 100 porn movie appearances before nabbing a role in grisly horror remake Piranha 3D. Brooke has also directed half-a-dozen adult films, but has stepped back from the industry after becoming a mother in 2010.

Riley Steele

A contract player at Digital Playground, Steele, like Ashlynn Brooke, was among the cast for Piranha 3D. As Crystal, she notably danced with Kelly Brook and shared an underwater smooch with the Brit TV star.

Ginger Lynn

The Illinois-born adult star was prolific in porn during the '80s and gained notoriety when she began dating Charlie Sheen during the making of Young Guns II. Other mainstream roles include American Pie's Band Camp spinoff and The Devil's Rejects.

Jenna Jameson

A name synonymous with porn and perhaps the industry's biggest star of the '90s, Jameson has appeared in everything from movies to TV, video games and comic books. She made her mainstream bow in Howard Stern's Private Parts and more recently led the cast of horror Zombie Strippers with Robert Englund.

Ron Jeremy

Often hailed as the hardest working man in showbiz, Jeremy has been juggling adult and mainstream roles since the '80s. If you don't recognise him from the day job, you surely will from his appearances in Detroit Rock City, Ronin and Crank: High Voltage.

Sasha Grey

Steve Soderbergh plucked Grey from the adult industry and put her front-and-centre of his 2009 art house offering The Girlfriend Experience. Since then she's moved away from porn and appeared in a recurring role in Entourage. Next up, look out for her in the other Linda Lovelace movie Inferno.

Chasey Lain

The subject of the Bloodhound Gang's 1999 song 'The Ballad of Chasey Lain', the Florida-born actress has made notable mainstream appearances in Orgazmo, Spike Lee's He Got Game and a Tales from the Crypt movie.

Sources:digitalspy

Read More

Upcoming Marvel Movies: A Guide

With Iron Man 3 hitting $1 billion worldwide and ‘Phase 2′ of Marvel’s movie universe under-way, I thought it would be a good opportunity to run through all of the upcoming Marvel movies set for release in 2013, 2014, and beyond. This is purely Marvel Studios, so future X-Men, Spider-Man, and Fantastic Four films aren’t included (even though they are happening at Fox and Sony).

Upcoming Marvel Movies

Thor: The Dark World – November 2013

Thor director Kenneth Branagh decided against returning for the sequel so Patty Jenkins (Monster) was put in charge, however the first big budget superhero movie with a female director wasn’t to be as she left/was fired and Game of Thrones director Alan Taylor came on-board.

Chris Hemsworth, Natalie Portman, Tom Hiddleston, Anthony Hopkins, Stellan Skarsgård, and Idris Elba will all reprise their roles. The story will follow Thor as he fights to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy. Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos…but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness. Faced with an enemy that even Odin and Asgard cannot withstand, Thor must embark on his most perilous and personal journey yet, one that will reunite him with Jane Foster and force him to sacrifice everything to save us all. 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier – April 2014 

Anthony and Joe Russo, two brothers who have direct episodes of Community and Arrested Development, will direct the sequel as original director Joe Johnston won’t be returning. The title reveal at ComicCon gave fans a big clue as to what to expect in the next film, which will be set in modern day following on from the events in The Avengers.

The Winter Solider storyline in the comics involves Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), who fell to his apparent death in Captain America: The First Avenger. Bucky’s cold-preserved body, minus one arm, is found by the Russians, who take him to Moscow and give him a bionic arm. Bucky has no memory of his identity so they reprogram him as a Soviet assassin, and is kept in a cryogenic stasis when not on missions (and hardly ages as a result). 

Captain America: The Winter Soldier will follow Steve Rogers, aided by The Falcon (Anthony Mackie) and Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson), as he tracks down the Winter Solider. Samuel L. Jackson and Cobie Smulders will be back from S.H.I.E.L.D, and Emily VanCamp will play the new love interest. 

Guardians of the Galaxy – August 2014 

The Guardians of the Galaxy are “a team of superhuman and extra-terrestrial adventurers dedicated to the safeguarding of the Milky Way Galaxy from any force that threatens the security or liberty of its various people”. The team includes Star-Lord (a human interplanetary policeman), Drax the Destroyer (a resurrected superhuman warrior and nemesis of Thanos), Groot (a plant monster who can control trees), Gamora (a dangerous female assassin who has a preference for knives and swords) and Rocket Racoon (a genetically altered racoon who can fly a plane and carries a laser pistol).

The movie is a big risk for Marvel, but if it works for them like The Avengers did it has the potential to be huge. It obviously doesn’t have the build-up Joss Whedon’s movie did, but audiences will no doubt turn out for the first real superhero movie set in space. Plus there’s the kick-ass raccoon. 

James Gunn (Super) will direct, and a summer 2014 release date has been set. Chris Pratt, Dave Bautista, and Zoe Saldana round out the cast as Star-Lord, Drax, and Gamora. 

The Avengers 2 – May 2015 

The sequel to The Avengers is already in development and a script is in the works. Joss Whedon will return to direct and The Avengers 2 villain is thought to be the Mad Titan known as Thanos. Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch will be new additions to the roster, and Whedon says he has “a greater opportunity to dig into the relationships in the second one” 

Ant-Man – November 2015

Edgar Wright (Hot Fuzz) has been attached to direct Ant-Man, which follows a brilliant scientist who invents a substance that allowed him to change his size, since 2006. Wright has written various drafts of the script over the years with Attack the Block director Joe Cornish, and at ComicCon Marvel revealed some unfinished test footage of Ant-Man shrinking and enlarging whilst fighting a group of guards in a hallway.

The reason it has taken so long to get moving is because Ant-Man isn’t a tent pole film for Marvel, but they still want to make it and have taken time to get the script right. Plus Wright has been busy with other movies such as Scott Pilgrim, and will next shoot The World’s End with Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, completing their ‘Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy’. Ant-Man is currently set to be released in late 2015, and the script is currently being re-worked so that the character can fit within the Marvel movie universe. Could we see Ant-Man pop up in upcoming Marvel movies? 

Adopted from flimonic

Read More

Transformers in Chicago again

Did you hear the sounds of choppers Sunday morning?

It was probably the sounds of Transformers 4 filming in Chicago.

The filming, which began Friday, took flight around 7 a.m. Sunday, closing pedestrian and vehicle traffic on Upper Illinois Street, Cityfront Plaza Drive and East North Water Street.

Low flying helicopters charged through the area for 15-20-minute increments of filming between 7 a.m. and 9 a.m. Sunday.

Don't be surprised to see burning buildings and explosions in the downtown area over the next few weeks also.

The Michael Bay-directed film began shooting Friday at McCormick Place and continued through the weekend.

On Saturday, Mark Wahlberg, who took over for Shia LaBeouf in the film, visited the set, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Residents were warned to not be alarmed if they see the use of pyrotechnics and live stunts, although Chicago Film Office director Rich Moskal says the first weekend won't be the most visual.

"There's expectations of the Transformers shoots being all pyrotechnic and spectacular, but they'll be easing into things at first. If you're looking to get a glimpse of the big stunts, this weekend may not provide all of that," Moskal said.

As of last week, filmmakers were still accepting applications from those interested in being extras. Anyone in the Chicago area with an interest in being an extra should send an email to trans4casting@gmail.com with a current photo and the following information: name, cell phone number, height, age range, clothes sizes, and scheduling restrictions.

Shooting for the movie is expected to wrap by Oct. 2, but additional days may be added. Scenes for the movie are also being shot in Detroit, Austin, Texas, and Hong Kong.

The previous Transformers movie was also shot in Chicago.

The "Transformers 4" shoot is the latest in what's turning out to be a boon for TV and film productions.

"It's the busiest I think we've ever been, aside from major films such as Transformers and Jupiter Ascending this year, we've also had six full-time TV shows in production," Moskal says. "We've never had that much television here shooting an entire season of episodes."

Moskal says the productions generated $128 million to the local economy last year, a number that will be eclipsed this year. And he only sees it getting better

.

"Our growing success is because Chicago not always looks great on film, it's a city whose identity resonates around the world. It's a place where things happen, and success breeds success," Moskal says.

Source:nbcchicago.com

Read More

The 25 All-Time Greatest Movie Love Stories

Whether judged by hankies used, sighs heaved, or pulses quickened, a truly fine romantic movie can burn its way into generations of hearts. From the star-crossed (Casablanca, Roman Holiday,Brokeback Mountain) to the triumphant (It Happened One Night, Say Anything . . . , Working Girl), Laura Jacobs falls for the 25 greatest love stories the movies ever told. 

Any list of the most romantic movies-this one narrowed to movies in the English language-is going to draw sighs and harrumphs over beloved films left off. Quite a few unforgettable love stories are in movies that don't comfortably fit the category (Gone with the Wind, for instance), and the contemporary rom-com, while classifiably romantic, can seem as slight as the dandelion-a sunny flowering, a puffball dispersed on a breeze.

Movies that reach the romantic pantheon often have more at stake than a trip to the altar and don't always end up happily. Some invoke the archetypes of myth and fairy tale, diving into the deeper imaginative realms of high Romanticism, a movement enamored of mystery and nature untamed. Others are modeled on the literary "romance," a centuries-old genre of narrative fiction that combines adventure, idealism, and courtly love, as exemplified by King Arthur and his Round Table. These tales frequently take place on a journey where desire is set against duty, and where love alters destiny. The mortal dislocations of World War II-our "Good War"-are formidably represented in the realm of the romantic. Casablanca, for example, sees patriotism prevailing over the love of one person. The English Patient sees the reverse.

At the same time, high-flying ideals can become straitjackets or self-sabotage. Alfred Hitchcock's Notorious keys into a dark vein of lyricism, a place where self-sacrifice becomes voluptuous and ill. One thinks of William Blake's iconic line, which sounds the bass note of Romantic poetry, "O Rose thou art sick." That said, it is lyricism in all its textures-dark, light, aural, visual-that lifts these films to higher ground. Rodgers and Hart, in their song "Isn't It Romantic?," describe the feeling as "music in the night, a dream that can be heard … moving shadows write the oldest magic word." Those moving shadows are movies.

THE AGE OF INNOCENCE (1993)

Beautiful and grave from the first strains of Gounod's Faust to the last ray of sun bouncing off a window, Martin Scorsese's film version of Edith Wharton's greatest novel gets richer with every viewing. This period drama was a departure for Scorsese, until then known primarily for street, gang, and Mafia movies. But were the fabled 400 of New York's Gilded Age any less controlling than the Cosa Nostra? Newland Archer, played by Daniel Day-Lewis, hasn't sold his soul to the devil but to a gilded ideal. His marriage to the angelic debutante May Welland (Winona Ryder) will fulfill every conventional wish. But in May's unconventional, unhappily married cousin, the Countess Olenska(Michelle Pfeiffer), he awakens to another ideal-the romance of deep affinity. This new love is blocked at every turn. But by whom or what? New York society closing ranks? Newland's own pride of place? Or a moral code that wills out? It's unbearably poignant, this life suspended between ideals.

THE AMERICANIZATION OF EMILY (1964)

This movie works hard not to be on this list. It questions all the romantic clichés: self-sacrifice, heroism on the battlefield, loyalty in the bedroom. Directed by Arthur Hiller from a script by Paddy Chayefsky, The Americanization of Emily stars Julie Andrews, in her most crystalline period, andJames Garner, everyone's favorite good guy. Emily, having lost her father, brother, and husband to W.W. II, is sick of the cultural complicity that pushes men to be heroes. She believes a living coward is better than a wounded (or dead) warrior with a medal. Garner thinks similarly but opportunistically, without the moral dimension. Events twist and turn. Somehow he ends up as the "first man on Omaha Beach." The movie is beguilingly intelligent, funny, and, in the last reel, romantic. Andrews and Garner have both said it's their favorite of their films.

BEFORE SUNRISE / BEFORE SUNSET / BEFORE MIDNIGHT (1995, 2004, 2013)

Eros on location. The first movie in this trilogy is about two students who meet on a train, get off in Vienna, and pass the hours before a flight walking, talking, and falling in love. As Celine, Julie Delpy, of the honey-colored hair and full mouth, could be a pre-Raphaelite nymph, and Ethan Hawke's Jesse, with his glittering eyes and cool-dude goatee, is Mallarmé's Faun ("Did I love a dream?"). The following two movies, at nine-year intervals, catch up with the pair in Paris and then in Greece. Action consists of dialogue interwoven with desire: Vienna is reminiscent of late-night dorm discussions about life; Paris is more psychologically revealing and tinged with confusion; in Greece resentments flare and shadows lengthen. Directed by Richard Linklater, the trilogy dispenses with the usual climb toward happy endings, a story tied up with a bow, and instead finds romance in immediacy-the blue dart in the eternal flame.

BRIEF ENCOUNTER (1945)

Celia Johnson and Trevor Howard play "ordinary people" Laura Jesson and Dr. Alec Harvey, and Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2-practically another character-plays the crashing, roiling wave of love that takes them both by surprise. "Noel Coward's Brief Encounter," as the movie is formally billed, was based on Coward's one-act play Still Life. It explores the deepening relationship between two married people of high morals who meet by chance in a train station. David Lean directed, pulling performances of understated passion from Johnson and Howard. Robert Krasker's black-and-white cinematography, justly admired for its shadows and fog, wears a darkness both sooty and soft. Renunciation can be beautiful, but it can also be bleak. The ending-Johnson's luminous eyes, Howard's Arthurian brow-is wrenching.

Brokeback Mountain.BROKEBACK MOUNTAIN (2005) 

It's testament to our increasing enlightenment that this movie about the secret love affair between two cowboys ranks 12th among the highest-grossing romantic dramas of all time. It's a heartbreaker. The late Heath Ledger, in the role of Ennis Del Mar, underplays stoicism-which takes some doing. No one can know him because he hardly knows himself, except for one thing: he knows that he loves Jack Twist. Jake Gyllenhaal as Jack is less frightened by their love. He wears his heart, well, not on his sleeve but close at hand. (Ennis won't wear his heart anywhere.) And he has a vision of the life they could have together. But Ennis can't go there. So close, so far. Their two shirts in the closet-one over the other on a single hanger-embody everything, profoundly.

CARMEN JONES (1954)

"You go for me and I'm taboo. But if you're hard to get I go for you." That's the motto of Carmen Jones, a red rose inside a red flame. One of the most successful updates of an opera, this artful film, conceived and directed by Otto Preminger, is not a conventional musical but more a drama with music. The melodies are from Georges Bizet's Carmen of 1875, the words are by Oscar Hammerstein II, the time and place is North Carolina during W.W. II, and the cast is black, with a bewitching Dorothy Dandridge as Jones and Harry Belafonte as the love-obsessed Joe. This is romance as danger, as doom, a fate writ large in Carmen's delicious wardrobe (designed by Mary Ann Nyberg). That sinuous coral dress with the slashes over the heart says it all. Dandridge was nominated for the Academy Award for best actress, a first for an African-American woman.

CASABLANCA (1942)

Where to begin? There's the great cast: Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, Paul Henreid, Claude Rains, Sydney Greenstreet, Peter Lorre. And the great moment: nervous, nervy locals silencing Nazi officers with a passionate rendition of "La Marseillaise." And the great song: Dooley Wilson singing Herman Hupfeld's "As Time Goes By." There are the immortal lines: "Here's looking at you, kid," and "Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world she walks into mine," and "We'll always have Paris." And the swift, punch-the-studio-time-clock transcendence of director Michael Curtiz. And the shocks of North African sun, of searchlights and moonlight in the night, courtesy of cinematographerArthur Edeson. And there's the last scene, blanketed in gray-velvet fog, in which a skein of glances looms the most powerful triangle in cinematic history. Bogart-Bergman-Henreid. But more than that: love-war-duty.

THE ENGLISH PATIENT (1996)

World War II again. Zinc bars, cartography in Cairo, the glorious English, and love blossoming like a succulent in strange, dry places. The desert, the plane, the scarf, the cave, Ralph Fiennes in profile, and Kristin Scott Thomas stepping out of her bath-afternoon tea and the Wagnerian "Liebestod" of it all. Anthony Minghella's movie, based on Michael Ondaatje's stunningly voluptuous novel, works on the scale of grand opera. Little lives, historic upheaval, gargantuan passions. Tears, more tears, and we all die alone.

GHOST (1990)

Commerce between the living and the dead is the stuff of ghost stories, but when that commerce is love we move into the realm of Orpheus. This genre-the supernatural romantic fantasy-contains masterpieces: 1947's dashing and dansant The Ghost and Mrs. Muir and the 1956 screen adaptation of Rodgers and Hammerstein's Carousel. Jerry Zucker's Ghost is not a masterpiece, but it has an aching lyricism unique in contemporary film. Demi Moore, tremulous in a pixie cut, is at her loveliest. And the late Patrick Swayze is a concentrated presence, one of those actors the audience just feels for. He was perfectly cast in the kinetic coming-of-age romance Dirty Dancing, and he's perfectly cast here, as the ardent ghost with unfinished business.

HOLIDAY (1938)

While The Philadelphia Story (1940) enjoys most-favored status, its slightly older cousin,Holiday, which also stars Katharine Hepburn and Cary Grant, is a deeper, more poignant study of human nature. Derived from a play by Philip Barry (again like The Philadelphia Story ), Holiday isThe Age of Innocence in reverse. Grant is freethinking Johnny Case, a self-made success who wrestles with whether or not he should marry into stiff, snooty society. Doris Nolan's Julia Seton is a strong temptation. But her older sister, Linda, more insecure and vulnerable-played with fire by Hepburn-is the soul match. She'd follow Johnny anywhere (as would we), but will he see that she's the one? 

Adobted from yahoo By Vanity Fair

Read More