Dallas 2012

You're not dreaming: The cast of TNT's "Dallas" 2012 reboot is naked. Together.
In an homage to the famous shower scene during the original series' eighth season -- in which Bobby Ewing (Patrick Duffy), lathered up and greeted Pam, revealing all of Season 8 was a dream -- TNT had its stars, both new and old, strip down to towels to promote the show's revival.
TNT's "Dallas" picks up years after the original series ended. Original series stars Duffy, Larry Hagman and Linda Gray are joined by a new crop of young Hollywood actors including Jordana Brewster, Jesse Metcalfe and Josh Henderson. Metcalfe plays Christopher Ewing, the adopted son of Bobby and Pam. Henderson plays John Ross Ewing III, the son of J.R. (Hagman) and Sue Ellen (Gray) Ewing. Expect the younger Ewing boys to clash just as much as J.R. and Bobby did, and not just when it comes to oil.
Check out the full version of the photo below.

Cast

Series cast summary:
	Larry Hagman	...	J.R. Ewing (4 episodes, 2012)
	Patrick Duffy	...	Bobby Ewing (4 episodes, 2012)
	Josh Henderson	...	John Ross Ewing (4 episodes, 2012)
	Jesse Metcalfe	...	Christopher Ewing (4 episodes, 2012)
	Jordana Brewster	...	Elena Ramos (4 episodes, 2012)
	Steven Jeffers	...	Head Doctor (4 episodes, 2012)
	Jennifer Besser	...	Bar Patron (3 episodes, 2012)
	Kimberly Lynn Campbell	...	Prison Nurse (2 episodes, 2012)
	A.C. Hensley	...	Chef (2 episodes, 2012)
	Kevin Page	...	Bum (2 episodes, 2012)
	Dianne Sullivan	...	Detective Johanna Johnson (2 episodes, 2012)

Dallas.2012.S01E01.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION  
Dallas.2012.S01E02.720p.HDTV.X264-DIMENSION 

Pilot: Changing of the Guard
Two decades since viewers last saw them, the Ewings are back. Television's first family of drama, sabotage, secrets and betrayal are gathering at Southfork Ranch for the upcoming wedding of Bobby's adopted son, Christopher, to Rebecca Sutter. Although the occasion is joyous, an old family rivalry crosses generations after secret oil drilling on Southfork results in a major gusher. Everyone has his or her own agenda when the fight over oil and land threatens to tear the Ewings apart once again. 
Hedging Your Bets

The plot to take control of Southfork gets complicated when two-timing affairs and blackmail arise, and J.R. starts to ask one too many questions. Meanwhile, Christopher and Elena bury their feelings in order work together on a business deal. But Christopher's new bride may be hiding her own secrets.

 

Guess Who's Back for Iron Man 3?

Rejoice! It looks like Jon Favreau will be returning to the Iron Man franchise after all. After stepping down from the director's chair, many fans were worried that the former Iron Man 1 & 2 helmer wouldn't be reprising his role as Happy Hogan -- Tony Stark's driver/bodyguard/right-hand man -- in Marvel's Iron Man 3. But according to Favreau's Twitter, we needn't worry any longer.
Earlier today, Favreau tweeted a brief statement, "BTW," along with the following image:

While this is by no means official, it's probably safe to say that Happy will at least be making an appearance in the film. (Thanks to Twitter follower Michael Baginski for the heads-up.)
In other casting news, Variety reports that Ashley Hamilton is in negotiations to play one of the movie's villains, Firepower (aka Jack Taggart). In the comics, the character is described as the pilot of an experimental armored suit under the secret mission dubbed Project: Firepower. Hamilton is a personal friend of Robert Downey Jr., though they've never actually worked together.

Shane Black will be directing Tony Stark's latest adventure from a script he co-wrote with Drew Pearce. Disney has slated the film for release on May 3, 2013.

Win Big from Dark Shadows!

Dark Shadows is coming to theaters May 11th, and we're so excited about this latest collaboration between director Tim Burton and actor Johnny Depp, that we've lined up an awesome contest for our readers. That's right, all you Tim Burton fanatics, now you can take home a piece of this creepy, cool vampire comedy with all kinds of awesome branded swag. To celebrate the life of vampire Barnabas Collins, we're offering up a Type B blood bag flask for all you crimson sippers constantly on the go. If drinking bodily fluids isn't quite your thing, we also have a Barnabas T-shirt for the guys and an Angelbay Seafood girlie T for all you hot and bothered women out there. We've also got a 'have-to-have-it' Blue Whale trucker hat, a scary sleep mask, a 70s era mood ring, and a flight bag. But that's not all, this gift package also includes an NYX make-up kit, an ORLY nail polish collection, and a whole lot more. To find out how to enter, and to get a look at this must-have collection of needful things, keep reading.

Enter for a chance to win one of the following prizes:

• Collapsible Blood Bag Flask
• Sleeping Mask
• "Barnabas" T-shirt
• Ladies "Angelbay" T-shirt
• Neon Note Cubes
• Trucker hat with Patch
• Mood Ring in Box
• Custom Molded Wine Stopper in Velvet Pouch
• Letter Opener in Box
• 1970's Flight Bag
• NYX "Crimson Amulet" Make Up Kit
• ORLY "Dark Shadows" Color Collection Nail Polish

Men in Black 3 Building a Better Alien Featurette

Men in Black 3 is set to hit theaters on May 25th, just in time for Memorial Day Weekend, and one of the coolest aspects of the movie is Rick Baker's army of retro aliens that greet Agent J (Will Smith) upon his arrival in 1969 to save Agent K (Josh Brolin/ Tommy Lee Jones) from being assassinated. Sony Pictures has released a new featurette that focuses on Rick Baker's amazingly detailed work in Men in Black 3. Watch as a bevy of Drive-In inspired extraterrestrials come to life at the hands of a true master.

Men in Black 3 comes to theaters May 25th, 2012 and stars Will Smith, Tim Burton, Alice Eve, Josh Brolin, Justin Bieber, Tommy Lee Jones, Emma Thompson, Bill Hader. 

A first look at Hathaway's Selina Kyle

Just hours after we got to see what the new Superman looks like, Warner Bros. has released a photo of Anne Hathaway dressed as Selina Kyle for the new batman film, Dark Knight Rises.

A few websites which have also posted this photo are referring to it as an image of Catwoman, but it's clearly just Selina Kyle. She may be in all black rubber-leather stuff - and she surely looks smoking, but this costume is more likely being used in a pre-Catwoman scene.

Selina Kyle was a 'cat burgalar' long before she was Catwoman, and the film will likely depict at least one such heist before her transformation into the iconic personality.

Now, it's also likely that the Catwoman costume will incorporate elements of this costume, but she's not Catwoman without the ears and claws.

It looks like they were serious when they announced a while back that Anne Hathaway's costume would not be as revealing as past Catwomans (Catwomen?).

We can't see the whole costume here due to the awesome motorbike-thing, but it looks like what she's got is more of a rubber jumpsuit, and while it's not loose, it's not exactly form-fitting.

I mean: compared to Michelle Phifer, who looked like she had to be painted into her shiny faux-leather costume, or Halle Berry who had a lot of exposed skin between the tattered pieces of her cat suit, well, this one looks downright puritan.

Frankly, the costume is more attractive for its slight conservation. I certainly don't think that they will get any complaints from fans over this image.

For those unfamiliar, Catwoman is the planned secondary villain for the upcoming Batman film, Dark Knight Rises, the final in the trilogy by Christopher Nolan.

Selina Kyle/Catwoman has always been an enigmatic figure in Batman's story, all the way back to the 'Golden Age' comics. Her goals have never been too far from the bat's, and occasionally they have even worked together for short times, but while both figures work outside the law to achieve their goals, Batman has never been happy with Catwoman's methods, and so they always come back to odds eventually.

Of course, the main difference is that Catwoman must steal to support her causes, while Batman is self-funded.

Dark Knight Rises is slated for a Summer 2012 release.

Underworld: Awakening

Status: Post-production

The Nine Lives of Chloe King

Are expectations lowering for Super 8?

Just as the coming attractions for Super 8 felt like they were ramping the American public up for something pretty big, all of the sudden Paramount has been downplaying their expectations for the film, as well as reports that tracking for the film is "soft."





Hollywood Reporter also ran a story about "what's at stake" with Abrams's career if Super 8 doesn't take off, it could affect other "nonfranchise" projects he has planned for the future.

Super 8 has reportedly cost $50 million dollars, which shouldn't be hard to recoup, but you also get the sense there may be a slight panic that the mystery behind the film isn't working to its advantage.

Abrams joked to Vanity Fair that, "After doing a series of films based on TV shows from the 60s that Leonard Nimoy starred in, I felt like it was important that I do something Leonard Nimoy had nothing to do with." (Yet in one scene, the show In Search Of is on in the background, which Nimoy hosted.)

The fact that Super 8 is not a remake, sequel or reboot could be making Paramount nervous. In a recent article in GQ, "The Day the Movies Died," Mark Harris reported with considerable disgust that Christopher Nolan's Inception, an original film that obviously did quite well, got made because Warner Brothers needed him back for the next Batman.

And it is indeed tough to get an original idea sold because it's harder to market something new from scratch, or so current Hollywood "logic" would have it. 

About five years ago I met with a well known producer who said if I had any good ideas for a remake, not any good ideas for an original movie of course, to let him know.

I also once wrote a story about a friend, Paul Fusco, who got a screenplay he'd written, Soldiers of the Dead, adapted into a graphic novel, because if it did well, it would be easier to sell the movie out of a previously successful comic, instead of trying to pitch an original idea from scratch.

If Super 8 doesn't take off, Abrams still have enough success under his belt that he should be able to survive the hit just fine, and if takes a little time for Super 8 to build, thankfully with today's social networks word of mouth will grow a lot faster, hence Paramount announcing a preview on the eve of Super 8's release via Twitter.

The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1

Watch the exclusive online trailer debut for The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn - Part 1, starring Robert Pattinson, Kristen Stewart, and Taylor Lautner, coming to theaters November 18, 2011!

The helmets and missiles of X-Men: First Class

The film starts out a little disjointed, but once it picks up steam it’s a powerhouse.

First, this point: X-Men: First Class was not offered in 3D, which is refreshing. I guess that’s all there is to say about that.

Many of the nicest scenes of the film were well and truly spoiled. I found myself disappointed several times at scenes with major neat-factor or twists, as I’d already seen them in the plethora of pre-release clips. Of course, I already knew that was going to happen, and it’s my own fault for watching the stupid things, but it was still a tangible disappointment. I can’t fault the film itself for that, however, that’s a studio marketing decision.

The beginning of the film has a bit of a jerky start, but this was something else that, it seems, could not be helped.

The story is all about Erik and Charles, and how they got together, and ultimately, the differences that drove them apart.

This means that the beginning of the tale goes through the characters live up until the point they meet, and this section flashes between the two starkly different tales (one of loss and remorse for Erik, and of learning and compassion for Charles.

Once they come together however, the parts slip together more wholly, and the film becomes seamless and full, more so than it could have been without that earlier bit of disjointedness.

The themes of the story seem to have changed a bit. While the X-Men stories always focus on the ideas of acceptance, this film is less about exploring the idea of finding a place in society, as it deals with the idea of the need to find a place at all.

It’s a fine distinction, but an interesting shift, none-the-less. Of course, there is the obligatory comparison of mutantness to homosexuality. If you haven’t noticed, each oif the films in the trilogy has at least one line which draws a tongue-in-cheek comparison between the fictional issue, and the real one. In the first film, it even serves as one of the major themes.

The film does a great job of giving everything the beginning it needs. Lots of details about the X-Men canon are established here, and, despite seeing that it doesn’t quite fit with the original film trilogy, it’s made me want to get those films back out and watch them again.

The climax of X-Men: First Class was emotional and touching. It is easily the most powerful scene in a new film so far this year. When the dichotomy between Erik and Charles reaches its ultimate point of resolution, there is truly no turning back for anyone, and all of the characters are so fully sympathetic and dimensional that one might find themselves in tears (not that I did... ahem...).

Then again, as a comics reader, these characters are already so close to me, and knowing all the hurt that they will cause each other after this moment, I just wanted to help them stop this whole thing from starting, though I knew how inevitable it all was.

The film’s overture was familiar. It was the same scene we see in the first X-Men movie relating to Magneto’s origin. Not everything fits in with that canon, however. T

here are several details in this film which do not quite mesh with the existing trilogy. This suggests that they may be planning to branch it off into a new X-men franchise. I would have no problem with that. Now that they’ve given it a new beginning, I want to see where it goes next.

Lord of the Rings: The Beatles Musical?!

I'm often fascinated hearing about movies that never got made, or earlier versions of films that didn't get the green light back in the day because we didn't have the technology to do it.

Of course Lord of the Rings took a long time to get made, the technology finally came along that it could be made convincingly, and New Line was willing to bet the entire company on making three movies, knowing it would be too hard to cram into one film.

Back in the '70's, one of my favorite directors, John Boorman (Point Blank, Deliverance, Excalibur) was going to make Lord of the Rings for United Artists, and he dedicated several pages of his autobiography, Adventures of a Suburban Boy, to when he was going to helm the project.

Yes, Boorman was working on a treatment about Merlin and the grail he showed to United Artists, who weren't interested, but they asked if he would consider Lord of the Rings. "To compress the three volumes into a three-hour movie was a hugely ambitious undertaking," Boorman recalled, "but I was grateful to have the chance to try."

Boorman worked on the script with Rospo Pallenberg, who also co-wrote Excalibur, for six months, even drawing up a map of Middle Earth. Yet as often happens in Hollywood, the executive who wanted Boorman to make the movie in the first place left the company, and no one else at the studio had read the book. "They had neither the money nor the conviction to make it." 



So Boorman took it to Disney and other studios, but no one was interested. He even tried to revive it at Tri-Star years later, but the deal fell apart when producer Saul Zaentz insisted on keeping the merchandising rights.

But here's one story Boorman doesn't have in his book, it's in Final Cut, which was written by former head of United Artists Steven Bach, who recalled that there were plans "for a multimedia musical extravaganza" that was going to star, and have a score by The Beatles! 

It fell apart when the band broke up in 1970, and Bach wrote, "The idea of Ringo Starr, say, as Frodo, has an irresistible appeal."

Bach also pointed out that The Beatles made all their movies, A Hard Day's Night, Help!, Yellow Submarine, and Let It Be, at United Artists, and the idea of making Lord of the Rings a musical with their music was former studio president David Picker's idea. 

Bach thought this was "ahead of its time and might have been inspired showmanship."

Then again, slapping thirty Beatles songs together performed by The Bee Gees and Peter Frampton in Sgt. Peppers the movie was considered a can't lose deal as well, so who knows?

The swords and mermaids of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides

The fourth film in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise had high expectations set for it, and it met most of them.

This film was classic Jack Sparrow, as developed through the first three movies by the expert Dep, in a story which was not written for him, and it shows.

On Stranger Tides is a novel about pirates of the Caribbean searching for the Fountain of Youth, surely, but Jack Sparrow was not a character in that novel.

Disney wanted to do another supernatural pirates film, and so inserted their own supernatural pirate into the existing story.

Most of the time it works, but occasionally you can tell that this tale was not really meant for our Jack. I guess when you base a franchise of films on an amusement park ride, things like this are bound to happen.

Even ignoring the historical inaccuracies - which is easy, as we’ve been doing it since we met Jack years ago, the mythology of this entry is a bit strained and over-exposed.

Usually the advantage to sequels is that the characters don’t really need to explain anything. The audience already understands how the world and plot work through the developments of the story so far.

Here however, the characters have to take the time to explain because the tale is so far divergent from the preceding trilogy. It’s not all bad, however, as they often managed to artfully mix the exposition in with fight scenes and chases, so it’s almost like a Police Squad gag in which it’s entirely possible to completely ignore the dialog because it feels almost extraneous to the scene.

The only really deep characters, ironically, are a pair of secondary characters, a cleric and a mermaid, who fall for one another, and finish the tale somewhat mysteriously. I can only guess - since I didn’t read it - that their touching story played a larger role in the novel.

Of course, we don’t go to see a Pirates film for the deep back-story, we go for the swashbuckling. The action scenes are well crafted. We even get to see some exciting day-light swashbuckling, as Jack escapes from the king’s palace, and moves through the streets leaping onto the tops of coaches.

The sword-fighting is well choreographed and clearly understood, relying on humor as much as action to entertain. Especially good is the melee between Dep and Cruz’s characters. They match strike for strike, and without the fog of most of the rest of the film the action is pointed.

The visuals, scenery and CGI are matching in style with the previous three films. As I mentioned, there is lots of fog. Particularly impressive was the ruined lighthouse the characters found when they left the ships behind and headed inland to locate the fountain. The fantastic elements were a bit muted compared to the third film, which was nearly incomprehensible, actually reminding me more of the first Pirates film in that way.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides is just as fun as you’d expect it to be, and about as deep.

The film is in theaters starting this weekend.

Go for It!

Carmen is a good student with a bad attitude who lives for dancing in the underground clubs of Chicago. She yearns to be 'somebody' but is afraid to believe in herself. Her immigrant Mexican, working-class parents want her to stay in school and get an education, so she attends junior college while working at a grocery store. Carmen's professor catches her performing one day in the neighborhood and challenges her to audition to a formal dance school in California. She gets into a fight with her chaotic family and runs away to her best friend Gina's place only to find out Gina's been getting beat up by her boyfriend. Meanwhile, Carmen's boyfriend, Jared wants her to commit and move in with him. Pulled apart in every direction, her dream of dancing fades. Can Carmen overcome her fears and take the biggest chance of her life, or will she succumb to her self-doubt?


A talented but tough young woman growing up in Chicago is encouraged to pursue her dreams by enrolling at a formal dance school.

The tattoos and black hats of Priest

Priest is a fun action film, but it’s not as dimensional as it thinks it is.

The film is based loosely on the comicbook by the same name, and also serves as an adaptation of an old John Wayne film.

It covers the tale of a dream-haunted, obsolete soldier from a long-over war with vampires, who finds his skills suddenly in need again, when his neice is kidnapped.

The alternate world is an interesting one. In the world of Priest, mankind has been at war with vampires since the days of the crusades, at least, and this has tainted all of history.

The main governmental force for the entire world became the Catholic Church, as they were the only ones willing to fight the vampires.

The church’s "Priests" are a Shaolin-style order of martial combatants, who train specifically to fight and kill the stronger, faster vampires - depicted here as bestial humanoids with sunken eyeless faces.

The characters are a bit flat, but I didn't expect all that much more. It's a vampire movie after all. I was intrigued by the decision to keep the primary protagonist and antagonist unnamed throughout (even in the credits), giving a sort-of flair to their stand-off.

While most of the acting came off a bit one-dimensional, one actor did pull off his part well. Karl Urban (known for pulling out an excellent Dr McCoy in the new Star Trek film) showed his diversity in mastering the role of the film’s villain. I hope we get to see a lot more from him in the coming years.

In the same Vein, the resolution of the conflict is stoutly predictable. The story is fun, yes, but none of the outcomes are truly revealing, and none of the characters are truly dynamic.

Many scenes were melodramatic, and eye-rolling. Characters would say half-profound things and then turn away meaningfully, or protagonists would threaten each other’s lives so lightly, it’s a wonder they can ever work together at all.

That kind-of stuff. The fun of the film doesn’t suffer for it, but it does stand-out at times.

The fight scenes and effects were good, and the scenery is epic. There were lots of neat cross-themes toys for the protagonist to fight with, and seeing these rendered well during the slow-motion fight sequences was a large part of the visual appeal.

The world was a beautifully dystopian wasteland, with a dark and unfeeling city surrounded by a bright and uncaring desert. Occasionally, old, ruined skyscrapers can be seen in the distance, a clue to the world’s past - not that we need any clues after the animated exposition during the film’s overture.

The 3D in Priest is post-production, and you can tell. I usually don’t spring for 3D movies which weren’t filmed with a 3D camera, because it never seems to add much to the film, and sometimes even gives me a headache, but the marketing material for Priest assured us all that it wouldn’t feel like a tacked on 3D experience; that Priest would be different from all those crappy post-production 3D films.

With that, I felt a duty to give it a shot, and I was wrong to do so. The 3D felt exactly like it had been tacked on as an afterthought.

Overall, I would say that any fan of vampire hunting films and well-crafted fight scenes (Did you like Blade when it came out?) should head over to the theatre for Priest, but skip the 3D for this one.

Conan the Barbarian

A Cimmerian warrior (Jason Momoa) on a quest to avenge the murder of his father and the slaughter of his village encounters a supernatural threat to the nations of Hyboira.

Skateland

In the early 1980s, in small-town Texas, dramatic events force a 19-year-old skating rink manager to look at his life in a very new way.

Jumping the Broom

Two very different African American families converge on Martha's Vineyard one weekend for a wedding.

Kung Fu Panda 2

Po is now living his dream as The Dragon Warrior, protecting the Valley of Peace alongside his friends and fellow kung fu masters, The Furious Five. But Po’s new life of awesomeness is threatened by the emergence of a formidable villain, who plans to use a secret, unstoppable weapon to conquer China and destroy kung fu.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2

The end begins as Harry, Ron, and Hermione go back to Hogwarts to find and destroy Voldemort's final horcruxes, but when Voldemort finds out about their mission, the biggest battle begins and life as they know it will never be the same again.

Transformers: Dark of the Moon unleashes a new trailer on the unsuspecting masses

Trailer: Director Michael Bay and Producer Stephen Spielberg have released a new trailer for Transformers: Dark of the Moon, the third, and most explosion friendly movie of Bay’s trilogy.

In the third film in the Transformers trilogy, a Cybertonian spacecraft is discovered on the moon, and it begins a desperate race between the Autobots and Decepticons to see who can learn its secrets first. Meanwhile down on Earth there are lots of things happening! Important, impressive things…

Ok, look: there are robots, they blow the heck out of stuff, and pretty much everything they touch inevitably explodes in one way or another. You know what to expect with the Transformers series, and if you are hoping for something else, you are watching the wrong movies.

It is a popcorn flick with lots of action, tons of destruction and beautriful women, none of whom are Megan Fox. The newly released trailer below shows off some of the expensive effects you would hope to see in a Michael Bay flick. In fact, the effects highlighted in the trailer alone are probably more expensive than the budgets of half the movies released this year.

Check out the awesome destruction and pretty robots, then look for Transformers: Dark of the Moon in 2D, 3D and IMAX on July 1.