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Showing posts from February, 2016

And the Academy Award Goes To...

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Last night was the 88th Academy Awards, and it was a big night. It celebrated another great year for film, and it was a heavy night. There was so much competition and so many big questions going in. Would Leonardo DiCaprio finally win his Oscar? Would Alejandro GonzálezIñárritu win Best Director and Best Picture again this year? Would Sylvester Stallone win his first Oscar for Creed? How would host Chris Rock address the Oscars So White protest movement? Like I said, it was a big night, and now that it is over we can look and see who won. You can read our other writer Rob and I's reactions to the nominations here, and we'll probably do a similar thing in response to who won and who should've won. But here are the official list of winners for the 2016 Academy Awards: 
BEST MOTION PICTURE: The Big Short Bridge of Spies Brooklyn Mad Max: Fury Road The Martian The Revenant Room Spotlight
BEST DIRECTOR  Adam McKay, The Big Short Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu, The Revenant Lenny Abrahamson, R…
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Will Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Have an R-Rated Director's Cut?

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With Deadpool's undeniable success at the box office (read our review here), many comic book properties have announced their plans to shoot for R-ratings. Fox has said that they are aiming to make next year's Wolverine 3 rated R (read about that here).When thinking of the DC Cinematic Universe, the character of Batman (Ben Affleck) lends himself most to an R-rated film, considering how brutal and gritty the character is. And after Deadpool, the chances of an R-rated Batman becomes all the more likely. But now it doesn't seem that fans have to wait for the Caped Crusader's solo film to see him R-rated. 
According to recent rumors, the home video release for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice will contain an R-rated version of the film. This goes alongside the previous rumor that an extended version would be released that would far surpass the three hour line (the theatrical cut stands at two and a half hours). This R-rated director's cut sounds interesting. I was …
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Could Deadpool Become a Billion Dollar Movie?

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In its opening weekend, Deadpool (read our review here) destroyed expectations by making $135 million on just a $50 million dollar budget. It was projected to make around $80 million, and shot way past the $100 million dollar mark. In fact, it beat X-Men: Days of Future Past's opening weekend of $90 million dollars. And now, in its second weekend, Deadpool has made over $50 million. Worldwide, it sits at almost $500 million dollars in just two weeks. That is insane to think about. Everyone is raving about this film, and it is hot on social media right now. Its fantastic marketing campaign has done numbers for its revenue, which I personally think gave it the extra boost. So with these numbers, it's a reasonable question to ask: could Deadpool crack $1 billion dollars at the worldwide box office? 
Not all comic book films break a billion, but many come close. Unlike most of the PG-13 comic book films, Deadpool was rated R and had that inhibiting its box office success going fo…
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Kurt Russell Has Been Confirmed for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

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With all of the great comic book movies coming out this year, it's easy to forget all the ones coming out next year. We'll have films such as Spider-Man, Thor: Ragnarok, Wonder Woman, as well as Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. The sequel to the 2014 blockbuster smash hit will see all the main cast return, and a new threat arise. We already know that the film won't focus on the impending Infinity War, but instead will branch out its own cosmic universe, and will explore where the first film left off. The big question leaving Guardians of the Galaxy was who Star-Lord's (Chris Pratt) father was, and now we may just have the actor who will be playing him.
Director James Gunn has confirmed that Kurt Russell will be in the film, as was previously rumored. However, it's not known whether Russell will actually play Star-Lord's father. If I had to bet money, that seems like the most likely option and makes the most sense. He could also be playing the villain, but I thi…
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Shane Black's Predator Movie Now Has a Title

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A little while ago, we heard that Iron Man 3 and this year's The Nice Guys director Shane Black would be directing a new Predator film, initially reported as a reboot. But since then, Black has said that it wouldn't be a reboot, but would rather "continue the mythology" of the series. I was honestly more excited for a reboot of the series, and taking us back to the monster in the jungle. Maybe starring Dwayne Johnson? But that's beside the point, as that is not the film we're getting. I'm just not exactly sure what mythology they would be building on, as we know virtually nothing about the Predators themselves. But while we don't know much about the project other than the small tidbits Black has dropped, we now know the title of the film. 
The Shane Black film will be going by the very original title The Predator, and a teaser image was released to coincide with this annoucenment:

The tagline is immediately reminiscent of Ben Kingsley's line in I…
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Wolverine 3- Fox is Aiming for an R Rating

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With the massive success of the R-rated Deadpool (read our review here), it wasn't surprising that other comic book properties are looking to go for R ratings. The stigma around an R-rated comic book film was that it wouldn't make money, and Deadpool blew that out of the water with its massive $135 million dollar opening weekend (on as low of a budget as it had). Now it seems that Fox itself will be the ones to continue the trend, as they have already said that the impending X-Force film may be rated R. But now another, slightly bigger, film may be aiming for mature audiences.
It is being reported that Fox is aiming for an R rating with 2017's Wolverine 3, which will be Hugh Jackman's final outing as the beloved mutant. This is exciting news because, back in 2013 when The Wolverine was being released, people were clamoring for it to be rated R. The closest we got to that was an unrated cut of the film attached to the Blu-Ray release, which admittedly enhanced the film…
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Deadpool SPOILER-FREE Review

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Deadpool has been my most anticipated film of 2016 for a while now. I know it's pretty early in the year, but how could you not be excited by this movie? It's the first mainstream R-rated superhero movie, and it finally brings the fan favorite character back to the big screen, after he was horribly f*cked up in X-Men Origins: Wolverine. And this time, he is done justice. The marketing for this film has been incredible, with different clips, posters and featurettes dropping online that perfectly fit with the character. But it also aroused a lot of outside interest in this movie. A lot of people who had never even heard of the character became interested in this movie. It wasn't just the die hard nerds. So going into the movie, I was nervous that the film may not live up to my expectations. And after two viewings of the film at this point, I can tell you that it doesn't necessarily live up to it, but my expectations were through the roof. This is one hell of a movie, and…
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The Movie Paradise Nerd Round-Up: February 13th

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In this editorial series, I will be doing a weekly collection of all things nerdy. Some of the article will be a wrap-up of some movie news, perhaps casting rumors or images; stuff that doesn't necessarily warrant an entire article but are still important. Then the rest will be different geek culture items, such as memes or videos. I will try my best to post these every Saturday. So let's get our hands nerdy (okay, that was terrible) and check out the geek picks of this week.
The News

It is being reported that comedian Danny McBride will be in Ridley Scott's upcoming Prometheus sequel(?) Alien: Covenant. It's not known whether McBride would play a comedic role, or if he's be serious in the movie. But Scott's films aren't usually thought of as comedic, unless you're the Golden Globes. Regardless, I haven't seen McBride in much. I think he could be a good addition to the film, if used in the right way. I guess we'll have to wait to learn more abou…
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Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice- Final Trailer

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The last trailer for Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice left a sour taste in a lot of people's mouths. There was so much outcry that I wrote an editorial on whether the anger was even warranted, which you can read here. I have to believe that DC had no intentions on releasing another trailer. They already put out three, anyways. But with so much backlash, I think they realized they needed something different playing in theaters leading up to the movie's release next month. So BAM! We got a new trailer! 
I really like this trailer. It's definitely better than the previous one, but not as good as the San Diego Comic Con one. It starts off excellently, showing Batman (Ben Affleck) in action. This might be the best fight choreography we've seen for the Dark Knight, as he's portrayed truly as he is in the comics as using a synthesis of hand-to-hand combat and gadgetry. And the violence is brutal. We heard reports earlier that this Batman may kill, and it looks like fr…
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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies SPOILER-FREE Review

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Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is a movie that I really had no expectations for. I don't think I even saw a trailer. I was disinterested in the film, and I only went because I was invited to go see it. The idea itself is very interesting: take the novel Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen and chuck some zombies in there and boom. The idea has potential, if done the right way. With a 50/50 ratio of the Pride and Prejudice and of the zombies, and an almost spoof-type tone and over-the-top stylized violence, then you could make a very engaging and entertaining film. Unfortunately Pride and Prejudice and Zombies just doesn't have what it takes to be the kind of film that it should have been.
The film focuses on the Bennetts, a family of five girls looking to marry rich. At the same time, they have trained to be warriors, to fight off the zombie invasion that plagues the Victorian era England. Elizabeth Bennett (Lily James) has a complicated relationship with the mysterious Mr. Dar…
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