David Fincher to Direct THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO

A couple of weeks ago I got a chance to catch up with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, and found it to be somewhat conventional mystery, but featuring the most compelling character I've seen all year. I knew even then that an American remake was in the works and that David Fincher(Zodiac, Fight Club) was rumored to be attached. Well it looks like he's finally signed his name on the dotted line, and that it will be his next project.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a worldwide best selling novel by Swedish author Stieg Larsson. The story involves a 40 year old cold case about missing girl of a wealthy family. Her uncle hires a disgraced magazine publisher, Mikael Blomkvist to solve the mystery, but it's not until he's joined by the rebellious Lisbeth Salander that the pieces start to fall into place.

According to The Playlist, Carey Mulligan(An Education) is on the studio's want list for the role of the dynamic Lisbeth, but there's been no movement in that regard as of yet. It's possible that Fincher would prefer an unknown in the role, and it's likely he'll get what he wants, since it'd be far more efffective to have a recognizable male actor in the role of Mikael.

I'm a huge fan of Carey Mulligan, but I don't see her in the role, which requires a lot of action and frankly...quite a bit of violent sexual abuse. It's too bad they can't get Noomi Rapace, who played Lisbeth in the Swedish version, to reprise the role.

Grab a Wave! BLUE CRUSH Sequel in the Works

Universal Studios is pushing ahead with plans to produce a sequel to their hit surfer chick film, Blue Crush, according to Production Weekly's Twitter feed.  Early plans are for shooting to begin in May in South Africa.

The original 2002 film was a breakout for star Kate Bosworth, featuring her and a couple of female pals(Michelle Rodriguez, Sanoe Lake) who run into obstacles while trying to achieve their dream of surfing at the famous Banzai Pipeline in Hawaii. The film was a surprise hit, earning nearly $52M worldwide.

I'm not gonna lie, I like Blue Crush a lot, and it still holds the record for most times I watched any movie in a single day. Once when I was laid up in the house sick I watched it 3 1/2 times on PPV. Of course I was too sick to reach the remote control which was across the room, but still. To this day it features some of the best surf photography of any non-documentary film I've seen. It was simply gorgeous to look at. I have a funny feeling this one will be straight to DVD, as it's highly unlikely the principle cast will return, but we'll see when more information is released.

New 'The Expendables' Trailer!! Two words, Bad ASS!

Just what I needed today to wash the disapointing taste out of my mouth left by 'Clash of the Titans'. WOW, this flick has literally surpassed my expectations with the trailers alone! What a year for action this is going to be with 'The Losers', 'The A Team', and 'The Expendables' all shaping up to be classic action goodness. This newest trailer even gives us a look at the cameo's by the governator and Bruce Willis as well as more of the larger action sets and a rundown of all the headliners sitting under one tent for this one. Not much more needs be said other than this new trailer gives us a more polished look at the film which quells my one worry about the movie being underproduced from the last trailer. Enough of my ramblings check out the trailer below and let us know what you think!

The EXPENDABLES Theatrical Trailer is Here!

At ShoWest a couple of weeks ago, a new trailer for Sylvester Stallone's balls out action flick, The Expendables was shown to extremely lucky masses. Unfortuanately we couldn't get our hands on it, even with offerings of our first born sons and certain unnecessary limbs. So we had to wait a couple of weeks, but now here it is, courtesy of Yahoo Movies. And yeah, it looks as badass as we always thought it would. Check it out for yourself, followed by a couple of quick comments....



Ok, is this going to be the greatest movie ever, or what? Excluding for a second that all of the action sequences look simply awesome, it's the dialogue scenes where you have these icons just riffing off one another. It's just crazy the collection of stars that are in this. How could you not crack a smile at that clip of Stallone, Willis, and the Governator all together in one room? Could you imagine what would happen if a nuke were to hit that set? We'd lose about a 100 years worth of action flick greatness right there. It'd be tragic.

After a quick examination of all of our posts over the last two years, no other film has been written about more than The Expendables, with roughly 20 articles so far. So to say we're more excited than a dog in heat is to do an injustice to all horny bitches everywhere. Hm, that's gonna come out all wrong, I know it.  Who cares?  I'm hyped! 

My only question now is how is this going to play with audiences? With The Losers and The A-Team squabbling with eachother to see which one can get released first, I think The Expendables has the obvious leg up in terms of star power, but there's no denying these are three very similar looking movies. Will there be action burnout? Only time will tell.

Lebron James' Basketball Comedy Finds a Director

Way back in September, I lamented the idea that someday I would be forced to watch NBA star and self annointed "Global Icon" Lebron James star as himself in a movie. A comedy no less. The film, titled Fantasy Basketball Camp would be about five old buddies who attend a Lebron James fantasy camp, then proceed to entangle the athlete in their own personal lives....to hilarious results.  The film was being produced by Brian Grazer, and is being housed at Universal.

The only thing missing was a director, but apparently that has changed as Malcom D. Lee has signed to helm the comedy. Lee is best known for his 2002 Eddie Griffin comedy, Undercover Brother. That film is still hilarious to this day and features the hottest Denise Richards evah! However, Lee drew my ire with the flat out awful Welcome Home, Roscoe Jenkins. He also directed the final film of the late great Bernic Mac, Soul Men, which was actually pretty darn funny.

Fantasy Basketball Camp's script apparently needing some punching up, as Peter Stenfield has also been brought aboard to draft a new one. 

Private Benjamin Remake! You Knew it was Coming

I JUST finished joking with somebody that now that Goldie Hawn film remakes were all the rage, the logical step was to do Private Benjamin with Hawn's daughter Kate Hudson in the lead role. So I was a bit off, but another hot blonde will be tackling the role instead. THR is reporting that New Line is set to remake the 1980 comedy with Anna Faris(Scary Movie) in the lead role.

Private Benjamin is the starring role that established Goldie Hawn in the film world, earning her a Best Actress nomination at the Oscars, as well as noms for Best Supporting and Best Screenplay. It currently ranks #82 on AFI's 100 Funniest Movies poll.  The story revolves a spoiled rich woman who's husband dies during sex on their honeymoon. She is then duped into joining the military, thinking it to be somehow glamorous.

Well, if anybody can pull it off, it's Faris. She's charming and lovable in pretty much anything she does(except Observe & Report), even making a fairly pedestrian comedy like The House Bunny far more enjoyable than it has any right to be.

Greenberg

I guess it means something that while watching this film, the latest by hyper intelligent director Noah Baumbach(The Squid and the Whale), that I wanted to leap through the movie screen and rescue poor Florence(Greta Gerwig) from the unstable clutches of Roger Greenberg(Ben Stiller).  Greenberg is the sort of guy who hates everything, whether it affects his life in any conceivable way of not. The worst part is that he's also the sort who doesn't recognize this fact about himself. He fancies himself the funniest, smartest guy everybody else knows. It takes a special brand of conceit to think things like that.

He's 40 years old. An unemployed carpenter who's just been released from a mental hospital, although clearly he's not "crazy". Maybe he's just fatigued. That's the excuse nowadays, right? With little direction in his life, Greenberg goes to LA to house sit for his brother, who's away on business. Somebody's gotta take care of the dogs.

Unfortunately, Greenberg ain't that guy. That's where Florence comes in. She's an assistant to Greenberg's brother, running errands and walking the dogs. She has the type of beauty that sneaks up on you. I didn't think much of her at first, but by the end...like I said, I was ready to leap through the screen. She's also experiencing a loss of dirction in her life, having been out of college for a few years but never gaining a foothold in the job market. She's smart, but not too smart, and far too trusting and easy going.

Her relationship with Greenberg....let's just say it starts rather suddenly, after he asks her out on a date on a whim. It goes further than it should. She's clearly more confident in herself with someone in her life. He doesn't know how to exist as part of a couple, and at his age that isn't likely to change. Always angry at something and unable to channel it, he lashes out at the people closest to him. His old friends(including the always entertaining Rhys Ifans) look at him with suspicion now, bordering on hatred.

Greenberg is one of those movies that is both funny and a little bit sad. There are some brilliantly insightful moments, particularly in one scene between Greenberg and a former flame(played by Jennifer Jason Leigh, who co-wrote the script as well). She's separated from her husband, and out of what seems to be pity, agrees to meet Greenberg for a drink, which turns out to be a disaster. The problem is, he doesn't seem to notice it, so wrapped up in himself that he can't see the uninterested look in her eyes. The look that says "Oh God get me outta here!" I know that look well. 

Stiller, who has a knack for always taking a mildly amusing joke one notch too far, is very good. He more than succeeded in making me dislike Greenberg with a passion. Whether or not that was his goal is another story. It's Greta Gerwig who is the revelation here. A veteran of the "mumblecore" indie film movement, she brings a realness, a natural quality that is so endearing. Her character has flaws, some internal and some external, and it's so refreshing.

Noah Baumbach is so good at presenting whip smart, brilliant people who are too wrapped up in their own intelligence to care about actual feelings. That's Greenberg in a nutshell. However what Baumbach doesn't do is create a rational reason why these two people would ever be together in the first place. I'm all for unusual relationships overcoming the odds to live happily ever after, but it has to make sense. Greenberg is such an unlikable person(think Harvey Pikar minus the charm), and he never really reaches any sort of epiphany that would change him for the better.

She desperately just needs someone to rescue her. I think I know the guy for the job....

Paranormal Activity vs. Saw: Round 2! Fight!

Remember what happened last year when Paranormal Activity and Saw faced off? The upstart film kicked the Jigsaw's ass pretty handily. Activity scared up nearly $200M worldwide, becoming something of a phenomenon here in the US. Saw VI on the other hand creaked to the lowest gross of the entire franchise, bringing in roughly $62M worldwide. Pretty lousy.  Now it looks like the two will be squaring off for a second time, but will the results be the same?

Variety is reporting that Paramount Pictures is keen to hit a release date of October 22nd, which puts it on a head-on collision with Saw VII 3-D. All this was pushed into fast forward after the hiring of Kip Williams(The Door in the Floor) to helm the project. Kevin Greutart was previously selected to direct Paranormal Activity 2, but an option in his contract exercised by Lionsgate prevented that. Ironically, Greutart is now the man directing Saw VII, so these two franchises have been playing petty games against eachother for quite awhile. 

There's only room for one horror franchise to stand tall at a time, especially during the Halloween season. Last year it was Paranormal Activity's turn to be the top dawg, but I'm guessing Saw reclaims it's rightful position this time around. PA2 isn't going to have the same grassroots momentum of the first, when people were lined up at midnight screenings like they were being let in to some secretive nightclub nobody knows about. This one is a pure studio effort, which puts it in more direct competition with Saw, which has the benefit of familiarity(and a recognizable central character) on it's side.

The Exploding Girl

The Exploding Girl. It's a title that simply pops right out at you. It leads you to believe that something momentous is about to occur, an emotional detonation with a lit fuse we've been trailing. But writer/director Bradley Gray Rust's film is actually very quiet and contemplative. Almost to a fault. The film's strength lies in the star Zoe Kazan(granddaughter of director Elia Kazan), who's maturity and quiet fortitude smooth over the all too dry patches in the story.

Kazan shines as Ivy, a first year college student returned home to her modest home in Ithaca, NY for summer vacation. Ivy is an epileptic, as we are told early on as if to set us up for the inevitable. Her boyfriend, Cary, might as well not exist. They speak in short, tension filled phone conversations that usually end with her looking worried and confused. The film's sole sole spark comes with the arrival of Al, Ivy's best friend since childhood. The two are close, but it's clear something else is going on. Their conversations are awkward, every silence full of words that clearly they are both too scared to say. Nobody wants to eff up a perfectly good friendship with a silly thing like love, do they?

Rust squeezes little actual adversity for anybody involved, and I'll be honest that for the first 30 minutes I wasn't sure what in the sam hill I was watching. Ivy doesn't seem to do much wait around for the people around her to show some attention. Al has his own life with various other friends, but Ivy seems motivated by very little. She goes to the occasional party, but fits in like a square peg in a triangle slot. She drinks and smokes despite her doctor's warnings, but pushes it to the limit when feeling especially lonely.

I've been of two minds on this film since I saw it. On the one hand, Zoe Kazan is a revelation, even though he's given very little to do she makes the most out of every single scene. Nominated for Best Actress at the Tribeca film festival, it's her quietest moments where she's on the screen alone with her thoughts that are the most resonant. There's something to be said for Rusts's naturalist style of shooting that will either endear you or irritate you. For me, it mostly works in giving the film a real, almost voyueristic quality.  It's like we're following her along as we shoot a documentary of her life. Although some will get annoyed after about the fifth time city traffic blocks you from seeing the actors.

On the other hand, there's almost nothing that happens here. The story is completely banking on the idea that you care whether or not something is going to happen between Ivy and Al. If you don't get invested in that story then there isn't much to latch on to.

For me, though, I like the way Rust builds up the anticipation in an unconventional way. These are two characters who aren't looking for love in eachother's arms, they're scared to death of the idea of it. So they avoid eachother when convenient, stay silent when necessary, and generally try to be the same people they've been all of their lives when they want desperately to be more. The clumsy moments between these two friends are the film's real winners.

The final scene, which I won't give away, is beautiful and perfect. Simple, but moving, and shows how much of a big softie I am in my old age that it pretty much won me over. If you can get past the meandering parts, chance are it'll win you over too.

Godzilla Returning to the Big Screen!

I should've posted about this yesterday, but honestly after Roland Emmerich's(there's that blasted name again!) disastrous 1998 Godzilla film, everytime I hear the giant lizard's name my brain slips into a protective coma. Looks like I'll either have to get that checked out or get used to taking plenty of naps, because Legendary Pictures and Warner Brothers are looking to bring the famous creature back to the big screen. Toho Co., the studio responsible for creating Godzilla, signed over the rights to produce the feature in hopes of a 2012 release date. The film will also be distributed throughout Japan courtesy of Toho.

Do you want to know just how bad Emmerich's Godzilla film was? As bad as his other films are, and you all know by now that I count a number of his disgraces on my bottom 10 of all-time, none of them were so distasteful that another studio had to go out of their way to destroy Emmerich's version in an entirely separate film, but that's exactly what happened.

Emmerich's film featured a creature who bore about as much resemblance to Godzilla as Pikachu does. It was a friggin' mutated iguana, for chrissakes. Toho Co., in a bid to distance themselves from the blight on their hallowed franchise, renamed it Zilla. Then, in their next film titled Godzilla: Final Wars, Toho had the REAL Godzilla show up and stomp the living crap out of Emmerich's pale imitation in less than 30 seconds. That wasn't just a shot across the bow at Roland Emmerich's putrid film, it was a full on barrage.

No word yet on a possible director to helm the project.

You can read more of Heatvision's coverage of this story here.

Punch Drunk DVDs: 3/30/10

Sherlock Holmes
Guy Ritchie might seem like an oddball choice to helm a project about the classic Victorian sleuth, Sherlock Holmes, but it's a combination that works. Ritchie(Snatch, Rocknrolla) is quick to ramp up the action, and along with the quirky performance by Robert Downey Jr., they turn the detective into a sleek, toned, fighting machine who uses his fists just as much as his keen analytical skills.








Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel
I openly weeped for Jason Lee before the previous Alvin & the Chipmunks film, which I'm sure weighed heavily on his mind as it rang up nearly $300M at the box office. The sequel fared just as well, this time doubling down on the rodent quotient by adding the dreaded Chipettes, who I'm surprised to learn are actually from Australia...and have been known to date human boys as well as chipmunks. Those sluts.








Alice in Wonderland
With Tim Burton's recent remake such a huge hit, now's the perfect time to re-release the wonderfully surreal Disney classic. Features deleted scenes that have been in the mysterious Disney vault for years, as well as a new animated short featuring Mickey Mouse himself.









An Education
I think I  had this pre-ordered over a month ago. That's how good Carey Mulligan's Oscar nominated performance is that I literally couldn't wait to own it and watch it again and again. Based on a memoir by Lynn Barber and written by the normally guy-centric Nick Hornby(High Fidelity), An Education is the story of a brilliant young woman who falls into a relationship with a slick and mysterious older man(Peter Saarsgard). One of the best films of 2009.







Baader Meinhof Complex
An often brilliant, exciting German film about the rise and flame out of the Red Army Faction, a radicalized group of terrorists who ran roughshod over Germany throughout the 1970s. The first half of the story plays like some of the best American action movies of the last couple years, although at times you'll beg for just a bit more characterization of some of the group's members. Stars my favorite foreign actress of the moment, Joanna Wokalek, who is on a serious roll after starring in my favorite film of 2010, North Face.

Will Smith Signs on for Two INDEPENDENCE DAY Sequels!

It's been 14 years(!!!!!!!) since Will Smith broke out in Roland Emmerich's alien attack film, Independence Day. In that time he's become arguably Hollywood's biggest star. Roland Emmerich, on the other hand, has produced a string of craptastic disaster(2012, The Day After Tomorrow, 10000 BC) films that have raked in a metric ton of loot. It's no secret that Fox has been wanting a sequel to Independence Day for a long time, but now that they've got all that sweet Avatar loot, now it's looking like things might be rounding into shape.

IESB is reporting that the Fresh Prince himself has signed on for two ID4 sequels, which would be filmed after Emmerich's next project(a William Shakespeare film, of all things) and after whichever movie Smith decides to do next(Men in Black 3?)

Both films would be shot back-to-back, possibly to begin shooting sometime in 2011.

Well, I'll try to put a positive spin on this. I knew this would eventually happen, so I'm not surprised. Will Smith is a much more discerning actor now(except for Seven Pounds!) than he was back in 1996, and his influence is far greater. If Emmerich throws out a horrendous 10,000 BC level script I'm convinced Smith will pull some magic mojo and force a rewrite or somthing. So I'll remain cautiously optimistic about this.

New Trailer for Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz's KNIGHT & DAY!

I was somewhat impressed by the first trailer for James Mangold's(3:10 to Yuma) upcoming action-comedy, Knight & Day. The action sequences seemed fast pace and explosive, something star Tom Cruise excels at. It's good to see him really flexing his action muscles again lately. The only thing that kept me from really getting hyped for it was some of the lame-o comedy scenes between he and Cameron Diaz, who I've never really liked in anything.

Now the second trailer is out, and it's pretty much the same, just more of it. It's still looking like it'll be a lot of fun, a mix of Mr. & Mrs. Smith and The Bourne Identity. Check out the latest trailer and let us know what you think!

Rachel Weisz: Bond Villain?

I'm not a religious man, but I pray this is true, although it's certainly in rated G for gossip at this point. Cinema Blend is sorta reporting, sorta hinting at the possibility of Rachel Weisz(The Constant Gardener, The Fountain) playing the chief villain the next James Bond film. Who's car do I have to wash to make this happen?

Blend goes on to state that this is coming from a "reliable source" with inside info, yet they seem to be going out of their way to not confirm anything. Weisz has openly expressed interest in being in a Bond film in the past, and has a close working relationship with Daniel Craig. What's more, she used to have a thang goin' on with director Sam Mendes, who last we heard was in talks to helm the film. Weisz would be up to play the mysterious head of the globe spanning Quantum Organization, the nefarious syndicate causing Bond so much grief for the last two films.

Obviously, Weisz's presence would be a major coup for the franchise. Having an actress of her caliber, going toe-to-toe with Daniel Craig could setoff some major fireworks, since we're so used to seeing women used primarily as playthings in the series. Um, except for Judi Dench.

Rumor Mill: Matthew Vaughn's Next Film will be...Bloodshot?? Seriously?

Of all the things I would've wanted to see director Matthew Vaughn tackle after the spectacular Kick-Ass, a big screen version of Bloodshot ranks maybe a notch above The Get Along Gang Returns. Bloodshot was a popular 1990's comics character under the Valiant  banner(then Acclaim). A mafia hitman betrayed by the mob, the FBI uses nanites to rebuild his brain and body, turning him into a ruthless killing machine. For the record, that description describes about 90% of the comic book characters during that time period.

Latino Review reports that Vaughn will be directing the film, along with co-scripting duties alongside Jane Goldman. Goldman has  worked with Vaughn in the past on both Kick-Ass and Stardust.

For the record, Mark Miller, Kick-Ass creator and close friend to Vaughn, says that the story is outdated and that the project was passed up on months ago.

Let's hope so. Bloodshot was a terrible character, revived during a bad period in the comic industry. Any story that can be done with Bloodshot we've already seen twice in both Punisher movies. Vaughn is too good of a director for some crap like this(Hello, he directed Layer Cake!). I'm still holding out hope that he'll tackle one of the upcoming X-men films instead, or at the very least something more interesting than Bloodshot.

Snap Judgements: Mother; Chloe

Mother
Nobody loves a good mystery as much as me, but unfortunately Hollywood seems reluctant to appease me. Mother, the latest film from director Bong Joon-Ho, is a swirling mystery of uncommon intelligence. It's premise is deceptively simple, but about halfway through you realize that there is a lot more going on than you were prepared for. Kim Hye-Ja puts on a fearless performance as Hye-Ja, an aging mother who has spent nearly all of her adult life taking care of her slow-witted son, Do-Joon. Do-Joon isn't a bad kid, but easily manipulated, particularly by his best friend, Jin-Tae.  Do-Joon is a few doughnuts short of a dozen, occasionally prone to bursts of violence, especially when a certain unflattering word is hurled in his direction.

A murder takes place late one night. The victim was a young schoolgirl, known by the gossipy town as being...loose, morally.  Ok, she's a bit of a slut. Do-Joon was in town that night drinking. Evidence of his presence was found near her body. The cops have no trouble railroading the poor guy into admitting his guilt, but Hye-Ja isn't standing for it. She knows her son is innocent and being setup. The cops won't listen to a poor woman like her. She throws herself into discovering the truth behind the vicious crime and her son's place in it.

The twists in Mother are subtle. You don't realize just how important they are until it's almost too late. The central question, whether Do-Joon is guilty becomes secondary to the far more intriguing question of how far Hye-Ja will go to prove her son's innocence. It's fascinating to watch this fiery, determined woman risk everything in the face of public scorn and scrutiny. In her way, she's as terrifying as any hard-nosed detective, if not moreso due to her personal stake in the outcome.

Chloe

Amanda Seyfried(Dear John, Alpha Dog) as a mysterious, sultry seductress? No longer just in my wildest dreams. In Chloe, the actress sheds her perfectly honed good girl persona(and her clothes) in an erotic thriller that's basically high class trash. It's a classier, more erotic cousin to last year's Obsessed, minus all the racial tension thank goodness. No, the tension here is purely sexual, emotional. The still strikingly beautiful Julianne Moore and Liam Neeson play Catherine and David, a successful couple with a troubled son. The two have been married for a long time. Their love is different than it used to be, more friendly than romantic. She meets, possibly by chance, a gorgeous young woman named Chloe. Chloe has a way of getting what she wants.  She is an emotional chameleon, able to be any and all things whenever she pleases in order to gain her heart's desire. Chloe is hired to seduce David, just enough to test him but not so far as to find out what color boxers he's wearing, if you catch my drift.

Things don't quite go as planned. Do they ever? Chloe reports back to Catherine on their multiple trysts, but it's clear something isn't quite right. Chloe is a powerfully sensual woman, and her interest in the family goes way beyond the terms of the original arrangement. The question is whether or not she's going to get what she wants this time, and how far will she go to get it? 

Chloe is a smarter, sexier film of this sort than we've seen in years, thanks mostly to the direction of Atom Egoyan(The Sweet Hereafter), who knows just how to play the obvious sexual energies between Chloe and Catherine. Yes, Chloe and Catherine. The tension between these two almost brought back fond memories of Naomi Watts and Laura Herring in Mulholland Drive. Whether or not we get any sweet girl on girl action I will leave for you to find out on your own. Never does the plot devolve into lame bursts of violence(no rabbits in the cooking pot!), instead the torment is purely emotional and unabating. Unfortunately the film is done in by a softball conclusion that is done purely for shock value, but ends up just fizzling out.

Nobody cares about all that. The real question for us meat heads is this:

Anne Hathaway's cans in Havoc? Or Amanda Seyfried's cannons in Chloe?  Simple.

Seyfried > Hathaway

Bryan Singer to Produce X-men: First Class, 2011 Release Date Possible?

It's been a wild couple of weeks when it comes to Bryan Singer and X-men: First Class, the proposed next film in the X-men series and a prequel to the 2000 original. For months, it was assumed that Singer would be directing the project despite his disgustingly brutal workload. Then in an interview with the LA Times, it seemed to be confirmed although the director warned about a possible monkeywrench in the works(that monkeywrench being his prior commitments to another film). Just a couple weeks later, it was all but rumored that Singer would not be able to direct the project, and that Fox was actively seeking a replacement. Well, consider it confirmed.

Deadline is reporting that Singer has officially passed on the directing duties to the film, which will feature the early adventures of the original X-men and the forging of the contentious relationship between Professor X and Magneto. Singer is still on board to produce, but that'll be small comfort to a host of fans who have seen how great he is when combined with Marvel's mutants. 

There is, however, a silver lining. The reason for the move is that Fox was so happy with the script produced by Jamie Moss(based on Singer's story treatment) that they want to fasttrack this for a possible 2011 release, with the hope that it will be the first part of a trilogy.

At this point, no director has been named, but we've been assured that the names being considered will make comic book fans very happy. That means either Zack Snyder or Matthew Vaughn, in my opinion. As long as it's not Brett Ratner or Frank Miller...

How to Train Your Dragon

Dreamworks has always been Pixar's whipping boy. It doesn't matter how much money their films make, and they've had some bonafide smash hits, Monsters vs. Aliens and Madagascar to name just a couple. Yet they have never achieved a Pixar level of respect from either audiences or critics. To me, Dreamworks movies always seem to be more about the talent they can get to do voice work, while the story comes a distant second. The only thing I remember about Shark Tale? Will Smith was in it. How to Train Your Dragon is the first time I can honestly say that Dreamworks has equaled if not surpassed some of Pixar's best, with a rollicking, imaginative tale that's full of heart.

If there's one thing you don't wanna be, it's a skinny ass Viking. Jay Baruchel voices the diminutive Viking, Hiccup, son to the clan's dragon slaying ruler, Stoick(Gerard Butler, still Scottish). Hiccup is a toothpick of a runt, barely the size of the thighs of most of the clan's female warriors. They live in Berk, a rocky mountainside village with little vegetation and even less esthetic appeal. What does a warrior need with such things, anyway? As long as it's defensible from the fierce hordes of dragons that plague them everyday. The Vikings don't really seem to regard the dragons as nearly as much of a problem as they should, rather as a daily opportunity to prove their mettle as combatants. The warrior mindset is a problem for Hiccup, who is relegated to the armory where he is the finest blacksmith in the village, but he years for a chance to prove his worth as a true Viking. Being a blacksmith is sortof like being the "coach's assistant" on the high school wrestling team.

Hiccup, in an effort to prove himself, defies his orders to stay indoors and blasts away at the dragons with a grappling cannon, somehow managing to down one of the creatures. After cautiously approaching where the beast fell, he finds he doesn't want to kill the helpless creature. Instead, he frees it, and after a disgusting bonding ritual involving a hald chewed carp, the two become like pet and master. Hiccup names the dragon Toothless(although it clearly isn't), and he learns that maybe all the stuff he had been taught about the "foul bloodthirsty dragons has been wrong.

Based on the 2003 children's book by Cressida Cowell, Dragon features the most likable animated hero since 2008's Wall-E.  The characters are this story's strength, particularly the Timmy and Lassie relationship forged between Hiccup and Tootless. But also I see some Avatar-esque elements in there as well, as Hiccup becomes ingratiated into the culture of the supposedly dangerous dragons, and discovers that they have far more in common than they ever could've imagined. All of that stuff works beautifully, delightfully simple yet instantly engaging.

Of course there's the requisite hot chick, Astrid(America Ferrara), a Nordic warrior vixen with long flowing blonde hair and a belt made of skulls. All the Vikings in training have a thing for her, but she finds Hiccup particularly intriguing. While not all of the character development with the rest of the clan works, there is one amazing flying sequence involving Astrid and Hiccup that is absolutely breath taking.

There are a number of flying scenes here, especially in the final battle that feel like they were ripped out of Star Wars. Since I'm in the midst of a soft boycott against 3-D, I saw HTTYD in plain ol' 2-D, and these scenes are so gorgeous and effective that I doubt the added dimension would've mattered. With ticket prices skyrocketing yet again, these are the choices that must be made now. Do yourself a favor and save a few bucks, run to your nearest theater and see How to Train Your Dragon in 2-D, and be treated to a spectacular animated experience.

Tops at the Box Office

1. How to Train Your Dragon- $43.3M
Dreamworks' animated adventure torched the competition this week, besting the nearest debut film by more than $30M. Of course Dragon had the benefit of higher ticket prices for it's 3D screens, in particular since the prices for these tickets went up by as much as $3 on opening day. Roughly 70% of the film's gross was hauled in at 3D sites. But that shouldn' take away from the accomplishment, considering Dragon is the best reviewed Dreamworks film yet and arguably the best reviewed film of the year so far.

2. Alice in Wonderland- $17.3M/$293M
Losing a good portion of it's 3D screens to HTTYD brought Alice it's biggest drop yet, down 49% but still closing in on $300M.

3. Hot Tub Time Machine- $13.7M
Am I surprised that Hot Tub Time Machine received only a lukewarm response from audiences? No. The film, which is a comedy basically about four friends sent back into the 80s, never really had a hook that anybody could latch on to, other than trying to make this out to be this year's The Hangover. Which it ain't.

4. The Bounty Hunter- $12.4M/$38.8M

5. Diary of a Wimpy Kid- $10M/$35.8M
The arrival of another kid-centric flick like How to Train Your Dragon clearly had an adverse effect, taking a pretty hefty 50% hit this week.

6. She's Out of My League- $3.53M/$25.6M
Still hanging around and performing better than it's opening weekend would've suggested, thanks mostly to relatively strong word of mouth from audiences, not necessarily critics.

7. Green Zone- $3.35M/$30.4M
So far the search for Green Zone's missing audience has turned up absolutely nothing. I think the Pentagon is stonewalling them.

8. Shutter Island- $3.17M/$121M
It seems like only a couple of weeks ago this flick was at the tip of everyone's tongue and was dominating the box office, and now I look at it and it's only at $121M? It deserves better.

9. Repo Men- $3.05M/$11.3M

10. Our Family Wedding- $2.2M/$16.8M
Strangely enough, Forest Whittaker is DOMINATING the last two spots on the Top 10! That should be cause for celebration, right? Um, no. The combined gross for both these films after two weeks doesn't get within' sniffing distance of the first weekend of either of the Top 2 movies this week.

Other new releases....

Amanda Seyfried's coming out party in the erotic thriller, Chloe, debuted at only 350 locations and pulled in about $1M.