News: movies

George Lucas Answers Fan Questions, Talks Blu-ray, and Reveals Lost ROTJ Opening Scene

The Jon Stewart/George Lucas interview was the big event at Star Wars Celebration V. With the doors opening at 6:00 a.m. and practically every non-celebration-stage room being devoted to a simulcast of the event, the line was already over a thousand-long at 3:00 a.m. (the first person in line, I am told, arrived at 5:00 p.m. the evening before). And while perhaps nothing is truly worth the combination of three hours of sleep and eight hours sitting, standing, and napping in Florida humidity, the interview did not disappoint. There were no Earth-shattering announcements, but there was one big one, and we got to listen to the very George we know from all the interviews he's given in the past. Occasionally humorous and always insightful, the man behind the greatest modern day mythology of them all answered questions ranging from story and continuity concerns to his personal feelings about the movies themselves, and he ended things in style -- with the announcement of Star Wars on Blu-ray and, along with it, the release of a particularly stunning deleted scene from Return of the Jedi.

What Do Bathtub Raccoons and John Wayne Have in Common? They’re Both in Star Wars, Says Ben Burtt

Ben Burtt, the sound designer of the Star Wars saga (and plenty of other great films), has not been reclusive or secretive about his work, but he hasn’t had the chance to fully open up about his complete experience creating the sounds for the franchise’s universe. With the upcoming Burtt-focused book by Star Wars historian J.W. Rinzler coming out soon, this year’s Star Wars Celebration was the perfect chance for him to talk about some of the more fun and surprising aspects of the franchise’s sound effects. Burtt revealed himself to be willing to delve into the bizarre but also of being confident enough to use sounds from more mundane sources in order to achieve the perfect effect.

'Y: The Last Man' Film Still Alive, *Might* Be a Trilogy

It's been a while since we've heard anything about the film adaptation of Y: The Last Man, the Brian K. Vaughan comic about a mysterious global catastrophe that leaves but one man alive among all the Earth's women (trust me, his situation sounds a lot cooler than it actually is). A lot of people, including myself, seem to have either forgotten about the adaptation or considered it dead. Producer/director D.J. Caruso, however, is here to tell us that it's still being tended to.

It's Not Much, but It's Still Exciting: 'Avengers' Teaser Trailer Released

You know how Marvel surprised us at Comic Con with an assembly of the main character actors from The Avengers? Yeah, that was awesome. There was also a brief Avengers teaser trailer to accompany the moment, and while it consists only of a logo and a voiceover by Samuel L., it's still pretty sweet. Now ComicBookMovie has discovered that the trailer is available online for all to view.

Stephen Sommers to Return for 'G.I. Joe' Sequel?

I was one of the few film critics who thought G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra was good. It was pure mindless action, yes, but it delivered that action superbly. Director Stephen Sommers may not have a good track record, but he, like Michael Bay did with Transformers, demonstrated that he is able to do things right when a certain type of script comes his way. Now it seems like he'll be getting a chance to try his luck again. Let's hope the G.I. Joe sequel ends up better than Revenge of the Fallen.

Look at This: Inception Characters Don't Understand Inception

Inception was awesome, but there's not denying that certain aspects of it were difficult to follow (and it may in fact have had a continuity flaw or two). College Humor has taken advantage of this situation and created an Inception spoof that has the very characters bring to light some of these questions in a scene from the film. My personal favorite line from the spoof is, "Look, you can do it. You made a maze in two minutes that took one minute to solve."

First 'Battle: Los Angeles' Posters Revealed

Battle: Los Angeles was one of the more surprisingly good looking films at Comic Con. Building on its presence at the convention, Columbia has now released five posters (via Empire Online) teasing the historical UFO background of the story.

J.J. Abrams Set to Produce early-1900s Robot Movie 'Boilerplate'

This steampunk thing seems to be slowly growing on the geek crowd. It's not exactly popular, but the genre has gained a lot of ... steam (sorry) over the past decade. However, while we have had some steampunk and steampunk-ish movies come out over the past five or six years -- Steamboy and 9 are the first to come to mind -- they seem to have all remained niche-y. Now Paramount is looking to make a steampunk-ish movie with a broad appeal, and if you need someone to make something popular, why not turn to the guy who made Star Trek cool? That's right: J.J. Abrams.

Grant Morrison's Instant Classic 'All-Star Superman' to Become an Animated Feature

It wasn't even written that long ago, but Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely's All-Star Superman is generally acknowledged as one of the best Superman stories ever. Told in a bright, optimistic style and fully exploring not only our love for Superman but Superman's love for us, it captures the essence of who that iconic superhero is and of what makes him special like few other comics have come close to accomplishing. It is the kind of comic that anyone can appreciate. Now it seems that All-Star Superman will no longer be only a comic. It is joining the ranks of DC's line of animated feature films.

New 'Green Lantern' Posters Revealed, along with the Villains

The Green Lantern panel at Comic Con was pretty cool, but it didn't show us much from the movie. A teaser real offered some glimpses, but only two or three quick shots actually involved special effects or makeup of some type. Heat Vision has now gotten a look at the first posters for the movie, and they reveal a little more, namely the look of Sinestro and Hector Hammond.