Lonely This Valentine’s Day? Sign Up for SuperHarmony (VIDEO)

Posted on February 25th, 2011

Are you having a hard time finding your pefect match? Are regular online dating sites just not giving you the results you need? Sounds like you need SuperHarmony.com, the world’s first dating site that pairs up normal people with their corresponding superhero soulmate (or villain, if you’re so inclined).

And look, they even have a commercial! Thanks to ‘Frozen’ director Adam Green for bringing this to our attenting this fine V-Day.

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Check Out ‘Exist,’ a Cool Sci-Fi Short About Making It Big in L.A.

Posted on February 25th, 2011

Breaking into the industry is hard to do. That’s not groundbreaking news, of course, but it’s good to occasionally remind ourselves that not everyone in the industry can make films with million-dollar budgets and a fleet of special effects animators at their disposal. That’s precisely why we like to highlight the little guy when we can, and today’s little guy is aspiring filmmaker Tyson Johnston and his short film, ‘Exist.’

We’d prefer you just hit play on the seven-minute short below with no background, as that’s how it’ll be most effective, but if you do require a bit more we’ll simply leave you with the YouTube synopsis:

“Two men accidentally find themselves in the middle of the world’s first encounter with extraterrestrial life.”

Oh, and some of the language is NSFW, so keep that in mind.

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Sci-Fi Bites: Abandoned ‘Thundercats’ Footage, ‘ID4′ Sequel Plans, ‘Melancholia’ Picked Up

Posted on February 25th, 2011

• Give your loved one a special ‘Battlestar Galactica’ valentine this fine day.

• January Jones confirmed in a recent interview what fans have been fearing for months: ‘X-Men: First Class’ was not only rushed into production, but it’s now being rushed to completion.

• According to star Michael Fassbender, Ridley Scott’s ‘Prometheus’ is definitely connected to ‘Alien,’ though the actor gets visibly nervous about how much he can say beyond that.

• Gore Verbinski tells ComingSoon that the reason he left ‘BioShock’ is because no one would approve him for an R rating with the kind of budget he was after.

• Magnolia Pictures has snapped up Lars Von Trier’s latest, ‘Melancholia,’ an apocalyptic film starring Charlotte Gainsbourg, Kiefer Sutherland, John Hurt, Alexander Skarsgard and Kristen Dunst.

• Back in 2007, Warner Bros. abandoned a plan to bring a CGI ‘Thundercats’ to the big screen. Flixist has test footage of what that movie would have been like:

• Roland Emmerich tells Empire that ‘Independence Day 2′ will get made someday, but that right now nothing is happening with it. As for his Isaac Asmiov adaptation, ‘Foundation,’ he has a script and a production designer; now it’s just a matter of finding a sweet spot for the budget.

• Cracked has a fun article up breaking down the “6 Giant Blind Spots in Every Movie Alien’s Invasion Strategy.”

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Top Film Events of the Week: Spielberg, Scorsese, Peckinpah, Scott

Posted on February 25th, 2011

Because Monday is Valentine’s Day, one might expect that this week’s film listings are a little top-heavy with screenings and events celebrating, involving or about great love stories shown border=”1″ hspace=”4″ id=”vimage_3881606″ src=”http://www.blogcdn.com/www.aolevergreen.com/media/2011/02/eatdrink1.jpg” vspace=”4″ />
Chicago

On February 16, check out a screening at Ida Noyes Hall of Martin Scorsese’s remake of ‘Cape Fear,’ one of director’s more inspired studio films and one of actor Robert De Niro’s last memorable instances of shocking, complete physical transformation. Screenings begin at the Max Palevsky Cinema at 7:00 and 9:30, but make sure you check out the Eventful website for ticket information and additional screening details.

Dallas

On February 15, head over to the Angelika Film Center for a screening of Ridley Scott’s frequently-revised but always-undeniable masterpiece, ‘Blade Runner.’ The listing border=”1″ hspace=”4″ id=”vimage_3881620″ src=”http://www.blogcdn.com/www.aolevergreen.com/media/2011/02/mccabe1.jpg” vspace=”4″ />
At San Francisco’s iconic Castro Theatre, make sure you queue up on February 17 for a double-feature screening of films by two icons of 1970s filmmaking, Robert Altman and Sam Peckinpah. Specifically, the Castro will be showing ‘McCabe & Mrs. Miller‘ and ‘Pat Garrett & Billy The Kid,’ two oddball but brilliant deconstructionist westerns. Make sure you check out the Castro Theatre website for showtimes, ticket information and additional screening details.

Seattle

For a terrific update of both Shakespeare and the teen comedies of the 1980s, head over to the Egyptian Theatre on February 18 and 19 for midnight screenings of ‘10 Things I Hate About You.’ Check out the Egyptian Theatre website for ticket information and additional screening details.

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‘Battle: Los Angeles’ Based on a Real-Life UFO Attack (Maybe)

Posted on February 25th, 2011

Even if you remove the superheroes from the equation, there are plenty of high-concept, big-spectacle movies on the horizon dealing with everything from aliens (‘Cowboys & Aliens,’ ‘Apollo 18′) to robots (‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon,’ ‘Real Steel’) to wizards (‘Harry Potter’). But did you know that one of Hollywood’s effects-heavy blockbuster hopefuls has something of a basis in reality? No, sadly, we are not here to confirm that Hogwarts is a real school of witchcraft and wizardry, but we would like to shed some light on the Battle of Los Angeles.

Yes, ‘Battle: Los Angeles,’ Sony’s Aaron Eckhart–starring action flick about a full-force alien invasion does have a precedent in history. And yes, we were as surprised as you are to learn of it. (Unless you happen to be a UFO enthusiast, in which case this discovery is probably old hat for you.)

The above clip is obviously a bit of amusing viral video on the part of Sony, but it does contain a few accuracies. For starters, the gentlemen giving the talking-head testimonials are all real authors, doctors and physicists, but that’s not the interesting part. The interesting part is that on Feb. 24, 1942, there really was an unexplained aerial event over L.A., an event that history has come to know as the Battle of Los Angeles.

An unidentified aircraft appeared in the sky over L.A. late on the night of the 24th. Sirens were set off, and the city — taking a cue from London’s response to WWII bombings by the Nazis — immediately went into blackout mode in anticipation of an imminent attack. Anti-aircraft artillery was fired at the aircraft for nearly an hour (1,400 shells in all, according to Wikipedia) to no apparent effect. No bombing ever did come, though six people did die as a result of the incident — three from the anti-aircraft fire and three from heart attacks. The city lifted its state of emergency later that morning.

The incident has since been officially attributed to a simple case of the nation having an itchy trigger finger in the months following Pearl Harbor (it certainly doesn’t help that Santa Barbara, Calif., had actually been attacked by a Japanese submarine fewer than 24 hours prior) and that the 37th Coast Artillery Brigade had mistaken a weather balloon for an unidentified enemy aircraft. But the official stance still doesn’t explain how 1,400 shells (each weighing nearly 13 pounds) failed to knock an ordinary weather balloon from the sky.

Is it world-shattering proof of UFOs? No, not even close. Is it an interesting tidbit of history that most people probably don’t know about? Definitely.

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‘Men in Black 3′ and ‘Superman’ Facing Script Issues, Delays?

Posted on February 25th, 2011

Two of Hollywood’s higher-profile films are reportedly on hold due to the fact that the movies aren’t good enough to make. These are unofficial reports, of course, since no studio is going to admit openly that their big-budget tentpole film doesn’t have what it takes to go in front of the cameras just yet, but word has it that both ‘Men in Black III’ and ‘The Man of Steel’ (as Zack Snyder’s Superman movie is tentatively called) have scripting problems that absolutely must be worked out before anyone goes in front of a camera (or, in the case of MIB3, back in front of the cameras).

As for ‘MIB3,’ the first phase of filming began last November, but that was only after a rumored creative disagreement between star Will Smith and the producers had already delayed the film about a month. However, during the film’s planned production break, original screenwriter Etan Cohen (‘Tropic Thunder’) was replaced by Jeff Nathanson (‘Catch Me If You Can’) in order to punch up the film’s second half involving time travel to 1969. Filming had been scheduled to resume around mid-February, but now it’s been pushed back again in order to accommodate a new draft of the script.

Despite the delays, however, Sony still feels they’ve got plenty of time to complete the 3D extravaganza, as they’re not backing down from a May 2012 release date. ‘The Man of Steel”s delays, on the other hand, could have a huge impact on the film seeing the light of day.

According to Vulture, there are huge problems with the third act in David Goyer’s screenplay. What those problems are is unknown at this time, but they’re trouble enough that Warner Bros. is reportedly growing concerned because 2013 is when the studio’s license on the superhero runs out, which would mean having to re-negotiate with the estates of original Superman creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster. And if it comes down to that, it’s a safe bet that the WB will be paying a high price to keep a hold of the Kryptonian.

Again, these are rumors at this point, and they’re certainly not ironclad guarantees that the final films are going to be any worse for wear because of pre-production (in Superman’s case, at least) scripting problems. But if you were hoping to see either ‘Men in Black 3′ or ‘The Man of Steel’ sooner rather than later, don’t count on that happening.

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‘Iron Man 3′ Nabs ‘Lethal Weapon’ Writer Shane Black to Direct

Posted on February 25th, 2011

Not long ago Shane Black was rumored to be one of many being looked at to write and direct ‘Iron Man 3‘ (since Jon Favreau had moved on to direct Disney’s ‘Magic Kingdom’), and once that news was out there fanboys went nuts. Black, who’s known for writing ‘Lethal Weapon,’ The Last Boy Scout,’ and ‘The Monster Squad’ among others, already comes with strong ties to Robert Downey Jr. since the two worked together on ‘Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang,’ which also marked Black’s directorial debut. Now they look to be reuniting again, as Deadline says Black is in final negotiations to direct (and maybe write) the next ‘Iron Man’ sequel.

It’s not worked out yet whether he’ll also write the script, though we imagine that’ll be a given. Naturally Marvel will have several ongoing storylines and plotpoints that Black will need to work off of since Tony Stark/Iron Man (Downey Jr.) will find his story continuing in ‘The Avengers,’ but once those are made known (perhaps through a draft by a more superhero-friendly writer), chances are Black will get his hands on it as Joss Whedon has done with ‘The Avengers.’

What you get with Black is a fantastic sense of character and dialogue. He knows how to write “buddy” stuff, so the relationships between Stark and Pepper Potts and Stark and Rhodey should be kicked up a notch automatically with Black in charge. Definitely will be interesting to watch to see how such an original squeezes himself into the Marvel fold (same goes for Whedon), which makes the next couple of years kinda fun for us Marvel movie fans.

‘Iron Man 3′ is scheduled to hit theaters on May 3, 2013.

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‘I Am Number Four’ Review: Teen Aliens Unite!

Posted on February 25th, 2011

The few surviving members of a species of good-looking aliens have taken refuge hspace=”4″ id=”vimage_3898604″ src=”http://www.blogcdn.com/blog.moviefone.com/media/2011/02/timothy-olyphant-number-four.jpg” vspace=”4″ />

Familiar though the dynamics may be, they at least work well enough. For every two things that are run of the mill, there’s at least one element that sparks all its own. For example, it’s not hard to buy John’s interest in Sarah (Dianna Agron) or his fraternal relationship to the seasoned veteran Henri, but it’s his newfound friendship with fellow outcast Sam (Callum McAuliffe) that keeps things lively. His special alien powers may not be highly original or even all that well thought-out, but there is an evolution to their sparse use that does pay off.

What either alien race is capable of is never firmly defined, which results in an obvious “comic book origins” vibe as John discovers his new life. And while that probably works great in the series of novels that ‘I Am Number Four’ is adapted from, unfortunately the sizable gaps in established rules and back-story make the movie feel more like an extended TV pilot than a complete experience. A fun, high-end TV pilot that may leave one intrigued enough to see the continued adventures of handsome aliens versus ugly aliens, yes, but a trial episode all the same. No surprise there, either, considering ‘Smallville’s’ Alfred Gough and Miles Millar and ‘Buffy’s’ Marti Noxon wrote the screenplay.

‘I Am Number Four’ is a movie, not a television show, and so it must suffer the burden of standing on its own until the box office actually justifies a sequel. And while the flick certainly doesn’t fall over while you’re watching it, that’s only because there’s not a whole lot of weight to support in the first place. The villains float in and out of the picture instead of making their presence felt and feared, which is a particular shame since the lead baddie is the always reliable Kevin Durand. Any substantial scenes involving his character must have been excised prior to shooting or left on the cutting room floor to save time, because as generic as the story often is, it’s hard to believe that its villain was originally realized this poorly.

Of course the movie isn’t called ‘I Am Number Four’s Villain,’ so Durand’s sidelining isn’t a total disaster, but the old axiom does hold true: A story is only as good as its villain and ‘I Am Number Four’s’ villain it is yet another of the film’s many glazed-over elements. Everything is at least satisfactory, but the script’s lack of ambition is not only noticeable, but infectious. Once acclimated to the movie’s lazy ways, it’s easy to be impressed by a few moments of inspiration. If you’re a teenager, a few good moments is all it might take to blind you from the tired template being used here. But if you’re an adult, a good cast and a slick final battle just aren’t enough to overcome an overwhelming sense of cinematic deja vu.

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‘Apollo 18′ Trailer: ‘Paranormal Activity’ on the Moon

Posted on February 25th, 2011

The first full-length trailer for the Timur Bekmambetov-produced sci-fi thriller ‘Apollo 18′ has arrived online, and at least it looks to be taking the popular-right-now “found footage” trend in a direction that’s different from what we’ve seen before. Directed by Gonzalo López-Gallego (making his English-language debut), ‘Apollo 18′ tells of an 18th Apollo mission to the moon that was always kept secret because it involved what appears to be a deadly encounter with aliens.

It’s a smart idea, and one they can totally play around with by trying to convince moviegoers that the canceled trip to the moon may have really happened and our government covered it up. Teenagers these days barely remember the names of any of the folks who traveled to the moon anyway, and so it shouldn’t be hard to use some good old fashioned viral trickery to sell a few extra tickets.

The one problem the film may have is that it looks ridiculously claustrophobic, and there’s not a whole lot you can do based width=”500″>

Or watch it in HD over at Apple

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Teresa Palmer on Romance, Blockbusters and Playing a Female Bad Ass

Posted on February 25th, 2011

There are countless young actresses in Hollywood who are hovering hspace=”4″ id=”vimage_3901213″ src=”http://www.blogcdn.com/blog.moviefone.com/media/2011/02/ianf4.jpg” vspace=”4″ />
What were stunts that you were certain you wanted to do yourself, and what did you decide early height=”270″ id=”AOLVP_us_704976245001″ width=”500″>