I’m so psyched, a thought provoking film that will grab you by your eye balls. Inception is gearing up to be the foremost cinematic experience of 2010. Early reviews from the states have been glowing. Screendaily have reported, ‘the applause after the screening was very hearty and ScreenDaily overheard quite a few ‘brilliant’ comments’. The Rolling Stone’s review also gives Inception two big thumbs up.

“The mind-blowing movie event of the summer arrives just in time to hold back the flow of Hollywood sputum that’s been sliming the multiplex. ‘Inception’…will be called many things, starting with James Bond Meets ‘The Matrix.’ You can feel the vibe of Ridley Scott’s ‘Blade Runner’ in it, and Nolan’s own ‘Memento’ and ‘The Dark Knight.’ But ‘Inception’ glows with a blue-flame intensity all its own. Nolan creates a dream world that he wants us to fill with our own secrets.”

Those cheeky buggers over in the US already have Knight And Day showing in cinemas, internationally we have to wait a couple more weeks. To keep us ‘international’ folk engaged, 20th Century Fox have released these two posters and a teaser clip, which you can feast your eyes on below. For me this looks like it could be good popcorn fun. I’m not the biggest Tom Cruise or Cameron Diaz fan to be perfectly honest, I’m an admirer of director James Mangold though, he’s made some fantastic films over the last few years  (Walk The Line & 3:10 To Yuma), hopefully Knight And Day carries on that tradition.

Reuniting Hollywood superstars Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz, Twentieth Century Fox will release the high-octane summer blockbuster KNIGHT AND DAY on Wednesday August 6th, 2010. The all-star cast is rounded out with Peter Sarsgaard, Maggie Grace, Paul Dano, Marc Blucas, Viola Davis, Jordi Mollà and the film, which was shot in locations all over the world, is directed by James Mangold.

Tom Cruise and Cameron Diaz star in the action-comedy KNIGHT AND DAY. During their glamorous,
globetrotting and sometimes deadly adventure, nothing and no one – even the now fugitive couple – are what they seem. Amid shifting alliances and unexpected betrayals, they race across the world with their survival ultimately hinging on the battle of truth vs. trust. Directed by James Mangold (3:10 to Yuma, Walk the Line, Girl, Interrupted), KNIGHT AND DAY stars Tom Cruise (Mission Impossible franchise, Tropic Thunder, Jerry Maguire) and Cameron Diaz (Charlie’s Angels franchise, There’s Something About Mary,), alongside Peter Sarsgaard (An Education, Orphan), Maggie Grace (TV series ‘Lost’, Taken), Paul Dano (There Will Be Blood, Little Miss Sunshine), Marc Blucas (Meet Dave, First Daughter), Viola Davis (Law Abiding Citizen, State of Play) and Jordi Mollà (Che Part 2, Bad Boys

This has all the right ingredients to be hilarious. The Other Guys is a buddy-cop comedy from the Anchorman, Talladega Nights and Step Brothers creators Will Ferrell and Adam McKay. The supporting cast alone is fantabulous – Rob Riggle, Michael Keaton, Eva Mendez, Steve Coogan, Anne Heche, Damon Wayons Jr, Samuel L. Jackson and Dwayne Johnson.  Ferrell is unrivalled at playing the loud fool, from what I’ve seen so far this get’s two thumbs up. From the trailer it looks like this is what Cop Out set out to be, in reality that turned out to be a steaming turd of epic proportions. The Other Guys opens August 6th in the US and September 1st in the UK.

Set in New York City, The Other Guys follows Detective Allen Gamble (Will Ferrell), a forensic accountant who’s more interested in paperwork than hitting the streets, and Detective Terry Hoitz (Mark Wahlberg), a tough guy who has been stuck with Allen as his partner ever since an unfortunate run-in with Derek Jeter. Allen and Terry idolize the city’s top cops, Danson and Highsmith (Dwayne Johnson and Samuel L. Jackson), but when an opportunity arises for the Other Guys to step up, things don’t quite go as planned.

Cyrus is a film I’ve been keeping my eye on. It looks like it will give me a good chuckle and I really like the cast (John C Reilly, Marisa Tomei and Jonah Hill). It also helps that the film has received some glowing reviews from the country they call football ’soccer’. Also just to point out Marisa Tomei is the women of my when I become middle aged dreams. Check out the synopsis and trailer below. Cyrus will be hitting UK cinemas this Autumn.

With John’s social life at a standstill and his ex-wife about to get remarried, a down on his luck divorcee finally meets the woman of his dreams, only to discover she has another man in her life – her son. Written and directed by Jay and Mark Duplass, the iconoclastic filmmaking team behind Sundance Film Festival favorite THE PUFFY CHAIR, CYRUS takes an insightful, funny and sometimes heartbreaking look at love and family in contemporary Los Angeles. Still single seven years after the breakup of his marriage, John (John C. Reilly) has all but given up on romance. But at the urging of his ex-wife and best friend Jamie (Catherine Keener), John grudgingly agrees to join her and her fiancé Tim (Matt Walsh) at a party. To his and everyone else’s surprise, he actually manages to meet someone: the gorgeous and spirited Molly (Marisa Tomei).

Their chemistry is immediate. The relationship takes off quickly but Molly is oddly reluctant to take the relationship beyond John’s house. Perplexed, he follows her home & discovers the other man in Molly’s life: her son, Cyrus (Jonah Hill). A 21-year-old new age musician, Cyrus is his mom’s best friend & shares an unconventional relationship with her. Cyrus will go to any lengths to protect Molly & is definitely not ready to share her with anyone, especially John. Before long, the two are locked in a battle of wits for the woman they both love – & it appears only one man can be left standing when it’s over.

Using the innovative improvisational techniques that have earned them critical accolades & a devoted following Jay Duplass & Mark Duplass enter the mainstream with a touching, original story that blends humor & heartbreak, much like life itself. Cyrus stars John C. Reilly, Jonah Hill, Marisa Tomei, Catherine Keener, Matt Walsh and is directed by Jay and Mark Duplass

USA Today has got it’s hands on the first two production images from Shawn Levy’s Real Steel. They’ve also released the synopsis which you can read below. To be honest this film baffles me, a movie with Hugh Jackman training robots………I don’t get it, I would have loved to be in the meetings when they were pitching this film, I’m completely confuzzled! On the other hand I really like the cast and I also like the idea of using real robots instead of CGI. Director Shawn Levy’s CV isn’t exactly stellar either, it includes the likes of Night At The Museum, Date Night, Cheaper by the Dozen and The Pink Panther, not exactly light a fire in your belly type material!

A gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future, where the sport of boxing has gone hi-tech, “Real Steel” stars Hugh Jackman as Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now nothing but a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max (Dakota Goyo) to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback. Real Steel stars Hugh Jackman, Evangeline Lilly, Dakota Goyo, Kevin Durand, Anthony Mackie and is Directed by Shawn Levy. Steven Spielberg serves as executive producer for this action sci-fi, which is slated to hit U.S. cinemas on November 18, 2011.

Here is the new UK trailer and poster for The Girl Who Played With Fire, the sequel to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo – the adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s first book in his worldwide smash novel trilogy Millennium. To be totally honest I knew nothing about this book series, I had seen it around but I had paid no mind to it. I went into the screening of the first film completely blind, I just expected it to be your run of the mill thriller, but it FAR exceeded my expectations, it was a lot more exhilarating, absorbing and at times graphic film than I was expecting. I’m excited about this sequel , from the trailer it looks great!

Hot on the heels of THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO comes the sequel, THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE. The new film sees  Lisbeth Salander (NOOMI RAPACE) and crusading journalist Mikael Blomkvist (MICHAEL NYQVIST) once again caught up in a brutal murder investigation.  Having served his prison sentence, Blomkvist returns to Millennium intent on exposing a billion dollar sex trafficking ring.

When two of his researchers are murdered, Salander is framed for the murders and emerges as the police’s chief suspect.  Unconvinced, Blomkvist attempts to track her down and find out the truth.   But secretive hacker Salander goes on the run and soon stumbles upon secrets of her own past.

Matt Damon has a great knack of starring in films that I enjoy, I really can’t think of him being involved in a sh*tty film the last five years or so. From viewing the trailer it looks like he’s adding another great film to his CV, the film looks stunning. Also if you have a penchant for suits I think you’ve got a winner with this! The Adjustment Bureau is set for release 17th September.

Do we control our destiny, or do unseen forces manipulate us? Matt Damon stars in the thriller The Adjustment Bureau as a man who glimpses the future Fate has planned for him and realizes he wants something else. To get it, he must pursue the only woman he’s ever loved across, under and through the streets of modern-day New York. On the brink of winning a seat in the U.S. Senate, ambitious politician David Norris (Damon) meets beautiful contemporary ballet dancer Elise Sellas (Emily Blunt)–a woman like none he’s ever known. But just as he realizes he’s falling for her, mysterious men conspire to keep the two apart.

David learns he is up against the agents of Fate itself–the men of The Adjustment Bureau–who will do everything in their considerable power to prevent David and Elise from being together. In the face of overwhelming odds, he must either let her go and accept a predetermined path…or risk everything to defy Fate and be with her. The Adjustment Bureau is Written and Directed by George Nolfi (writer of Ocean’s Twelve, co-writer of The Bourne Ultimatum) and stars Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, Anthony Mackie, Terrence Stamp, Shoreh Agdashloo, John Slattery and Michael Kelly, it is based on the Philip K Dick short story The Adjustment Team.

Jerry Bruckheimer films generally aren’t my cup of tea, everything I’ve seen so far of this just reminds me of the National Treasure films, but with wands, pointy hat’s, dragon’s and magic. It didn’t surprise me in the slightest that it’s directed by the same guy who helmed those two films – Jon Turteltaub. On a more positive note, I’ve really enjoyed Nicolas Cage on screen lately, he was great in Kick Ass and if you haven’t seen Bad Lieutenant: Port Of Call New Orleans you need to do yourself a favour and check it out, it’s fantastic. I’m a big fan of Alfred Molina and Toby Kebbell as well, who both recently starred in Jerry Bruckheimer’s other film in 2010 – Prince Of Persia: Sand’s Of Time (which was pretty poor). You can check out the Good VS Evil featurette for The Sorcerer’s Apprentice below. The Sorcerer’s Apprentice is released 13th August.

In “Good vs. Evil,” we’re introduced to Dave [Jay Baruchel], Balthazar Blake’s [Nicolas Cage] apprentice, as he begins to master the art of sorcery through his teacher. We also discover the centuries old rivalry between Balthazar and his nemesis, Maxim Horvath [Alfred Molina].



By Zeus’ beard WTF has happened to Jack Black’s face!!! He looks like he’s been photo-shopped into botox heaven……To be honest I know very little about the Gulliver’s Travels stories, I never read the a novels as a kid or even watched the television series in the mid 90’s. I like Jack Black though, 90% of the time he cracks me up, 10% of the time he annoys the hell out of me – see Year One. This poster doesn’t exactly entice me, hopefully the poster is a bit better.

Lemuel Gulliver, a free-spirited travel writer, while on assignment in the Bermuda Triangle, finds himself washed ashore on the hidden island of Liliput. Jack Black stars as the titular character with a supporting cast of Emily Blunt, Jason Segel, Amanda Peet, and Chris O’Dowd.  Rob Letterman (Monsters vs. Aliens) directs from a script by Joe Stillman (Shrek 2) and Nicholas Stoller (Get Him to the Greek).  Gulliver’s Travels is slated to hit cinemas in 3D on December 22, 2010.

Today I was fortunate enough to attend a press screening for Jerusalema: Gangster’s Paradise, and I have to say it was brilliant, it was captivating throughout and by a stretch it was the most gritty and important film I’ve seen so far this year. Expect to see a full review from me in the next few weeks. The film has been doing the rounds on the film festival circuit and is now set to be released to the general public June 11th in the US and July 9th in the UK. South African cinema has released some of the best films of the last few years for me with this, Tsotsi and District 9

Inspired by a true story, Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema is an unflinching look into the crime, corruption and the transgressions of those looking to survive in the most crime-infested district of Johannesburg.

Starting off with simple smash and grabs, and petty crime, Lucky Kunene quickly graduates to more aggressive heists such as armed robbery and carjacking. Soon, Lucky realizes he needs a bigger score to fulfill his goals of making it big, and escaping from the slums, to a dream house by the sea. Kunene hatches an elaborate and violent plan to make his fortune – hijacking buildings from landlords of Johannesburg tenements by winning the favor of the tenants and then holding their rent hostage from the landowners. His high-profile real estate acquisitions attract the attention of the local police force who have no qualms about using unprovoked brutality to bring him down. His trouble with the law, coupled with an escalating war between a local drug lord, creates a tense standoff: both sides are closing in, and Kunene must stay one step ahead—or his empire, and his life, will come crashing down. Gangster’s Paradise: Jerusalema is written and directed by Ralph Ziman, and stars Rapaulana Seiphemo (Tsotsi), Robert Hobbs (District 9), Kenneth Nkosi (District 9), Eugene Khumbanyiwa (District 9), and Louise Saint-Claire (District 9).