Barry Levinson may seem like the most unlikely of directors to tackle a found footage horror movie with The Bay. The man behind Diner and Wag the Dog has tackled a uniquely timed mother-nature-as-bad-guy story that has its roots in facts. In 2009 birds suddenly fell from the sky, D.O.A. Meanwhile, scores of fish floated to the top of the Chesapeake Bay -- stomach up. Levinson and screenwriter Michael Wallach fictionally delve deeper into what might have happened that July 4.

Through the eyes of a college reporter, the story is recounted from its innocent beginnings of a community marking our nation’s independence and the horror that would envelop a small Maryland seaside town and kill most of those who reside there.

She has compiled footage from her coverage of the day’s festivities and her subsequent chasing of the truth. The audience gets their visuals mostly through that footage, but also security cameras, police car videos and portable gadgets left behind by the dead that the young reporter has gathered. It has been years since the event and its subsequent cover-up, and now she is on a Skype-type video interview with an unidentifiable person finally telling the terror tale.

Levinson goes deep into the water to unearth a mystery that has the viewer wondering what on earth is happening to these people. He incorporates the real life happenings mentioned above in a manner that bookends the entire film.

As is the case with most effective found footage films, the cast is completely comprised of unknowns to further add a realism to the shaky and often mouth-dropping footage. They all rise to the occasion, yet the real fear that is emitted from The Bay is how the audience knows the horrible end these people will meet and still has to witness the painstaking seconds and minutes as they move terrifyingly towards their fate.

In the end, our The Bay review has to point out that although it may seem a funny genre for Levinson to dive in to, far less of a filmmaker would have produced a piece of work that excelled in schlock and shock. Instead, the movie is rooted in a realism that much of the found footage genre has lacked lately. We know our waters can be polluted. What is fictionally drawn out from what really happened could happen.

That is by far, the scariest aspect of jumping into The Bay. The film may not be of the upper echelons of the horror movie world, but it is still one heck of a ride.

Everyone needs to shut up about black actors playing "white" characters.

Over the last few weeks, there have been a couple reports of black actors in consideration for roles that have been traditionally cast as white. We discussed how Idris Elba was considered for James Bond, and that Jamie Foxx is in talks to play Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. This opened up the usual string of comments about how "James Bond is white!" and "Why are they changing what I love?"

Here's why it doesn't matter a lick: James Bond is zero percent (ZERO! PERCENT!) defined by his whiteness. He is defined by his bad-assery. He is defined by his Britishness. In the same way that there can be blond and brunet versions of Bond, or brown-eyed and blue-eyed versions, or Scottish and English versions, there can also be black, or Asian, or Pakistani, or one-armed, or bald, or vegan versions. As long as those versions are British bad-asses.

The entertainment industry is finally beginning to embrace the idea that minorities (whether racial, or religious, or sexual, or any other type of minorities) need not be constantly defined by their "otherness." A black character on a TV show can just be a guy. He doesn't have to be a "black guy." A gay woman can just be a woman. Racial and sexual characteristics surely help to build the identity of the people who possess them, but in most cases people are just people. It frustrates me immeasurably to even have to write that phrase.

One of my favorite examples of this is Aziz Ansari playing a character named Tom Haverford ("white" name much?), on Parks and Recreation. Does anybody watch that show and think, "why isn't that Indian guy speaking with an Indian accent?" or "Why isn't his name "Patel?" No (if you do, you shouldn't be allowed to watch TV). Because "brown" is about 12,000th on the list of adjectives that describe the extremely well-defined and hilarious character of Tom Haverford. Aziz Ansari FTW.

When people hide behind the "comfort" of "Bond has always been white," or "Electro has always been white," they're just being flat out wrong, disrespectful, and shortsighted. These characters have never been white. They've never been any race. Sure, perhaps when an artist had to draw them for the first time they defaulted to "white." But "defaulting to white" is an old mentality in the entertainment industry that is finally beginning to erode. So shut up about black actors playing "white" characters.

Samuel L. Jackson makes a great Nick Fury. Elba made a great Heimdall in Thor. Donald Glover probably would have made a pretty awesome Spider-Man. There is such a thing as a character with race. And those characters are important. But chances are, the character you're defending as having "always been white" would be better if Idris Elba or Aziz Ansari played them. Because those guys are awesome.

Christopher Walken is a revelation in his latest film and our A Late Quartet review is going to start a Christopher Plummer in Beginners type campaign to get him nominated for Best Supporting Actor. The story of a string quartet marking their twenty-fifth anniversary is compelling on so many levels, but most of all due to the pitch perfect performance by the fictional quartet’s leader.

Walken is Peter Mitchell, the group’s cellist, who at the beginning of the film is returning to the group after a year sabbatical only to discover almost immediately that he has the early stages of Parkinson’s.

Philip Seymour Hoffman is Robert Gelbart and Catherine Keener is his wife Juliette. He is second violin and she plays viola while Mark Ivanir is lead violinist Daniel Lerner. The film, through an often seen documentary, gives us the history of the group and paints a landscape filled with enormous critical and commercial success. They are set to mark their twenty-fifth season with a new tour… until Mitchell's illness causes the group trouble.

That is not their only source of strain. The married couple are having problems and the lead violinist and his teaching of the Gelbarts' daughter (Imogen Poots) further complicates the quartet’s already being tested dynamic.

As a child brought up in the circles of performers such as those portrayed in A Late Quartet, Movie Fanatic finds it an impeccable job by director Yaron Zilberman and his co-screenwriter Seth Grossman in capturing that world.

It is masterfully established that Beethoven’s String Quartet No. 14, Op. 131 is held as the holy grail of quartet performance pieces. Whether in Mitchell’s quartet class or in Lerner’s lessons with the Gelbarts' daughter, we learn that the master composer -- nearing the end of his life -- composed a piece that is to have all its movements performed without breaks. No tuning, no pause for audience applause… it must be played from beginning to end.

Through the grasping of excellence that is Beethoven’s prime quartet piece, the audience is given the parameters of this journey. After Mitchell announces his condition to his quartet, he declares that as the opening night of their farewell tour, he wants the group to perform it. Not only does it give Mitchell something to strive for as he starts his Parkinson’s treatment, but it sets the stage for a film finale that will leave you weeping with the joy that is classical music, but also the human emotions that make it so resonant.

And finally, Movie Fanatic calls on the Academy to take the time to witness the utter magic that is Walken in A Late Quartet. His performance is nothing short of a masterpiece.

The movie houses across America should be hopping this weekend as five new films hit screens that could not be more varied. The latest Disney animated film arrives in the form of Wreck-It Ralph, Denzel Washington gives another Oscar-worthy performance in Flight, RZA turns from Wu-Tang Clan rapper to film director with The Man with the Iron Fists, Back to the Future's helmer returns to sci-fi with the found footage The Bay and Christopher Walken gives a turn in A Late Quartet that should earn him his second Academy Award.

Wreck-It Ralph: John C. Reilly voices the title character, an 8-bit video game bad guy. It’s his game’s -- Fix-It Felix, Jr. -- thirtieth anniversary. The game resides in an arcade where once the lights go out, the characters from all the varied video games intermingle. Tired of being taken for granted, Ralph leaves his game and enters two video game worlds that might lead him to believe that there is no place like home. As we state in our Wreck-It Ralph review, get in this game… it is nothing but fun and Sarah Silverman steals the show!

 

Wreck-It Ralph Retro Commercial

Flight: Washington delivers again, this time out as a flawed individual who saves dozens of lives, only to discover his heroism challenged because the plane crash he averted as pilot, may have been caused by the fact that he was drunk at the controls. Robert Zemeckis has a triumphant, although sometimes heavy handed, return to live action. Check out our Flight review for more.

 

Flight Trailer

The Man with the Iron Fists: RZA leaps from music to movies with his big screen debut as writer, director and star of this tribute to martial arts films that falls more flat that we had hoped. The rapper shows immense talent and we look forward to seeing what else he comes up with. But, as we write in our The Man with the Iron Fists review, there is but one real shining light: Russell Crowe utterly losing himself in a crazed and violent British soldier stuck in nineteenth century China after the opium wars.

 

The Man with the Iron Fists Red Band Trailer

The Bay: Levinson tackles the movie subgenre of found footage and manages to craft an eco-horror film that is more often scary than silly. In fact, because its fear is rooted in what lies beneath our polluted waters, the terror is all that more real. Toss in the fact that it is found footage that tells the story… and the fear factor shoots through the roof. Although not a perfect movie, as reported in our The Bay review, it is one wild ride.

 

The Bay Trailer

A Late Quartet: The story of a string quartet on the verge of their silver anniversary is moving, powerful and enlightening. Walken deserves an Oscar for his role as the group’s leader, a cellist who learns he has Parkinson’s. Philip Seymour Hoffman and Catherine Keener are incredible in supporting roles, but as our A Late Quartet review states: Give Walken the Oscar!

 

A Late Quartet Trailer

James Bond returns to action in Skyfall and marks his fiftieth year saving the world. Much is known about the spy series and its origins as a book series by Ian Fleming. But Movie Fanatic continues our 007 Days of Bond series after our Top 10 Bond Girls and your chance to vote for the Best Bond, as we present seven fun facts about our favorite hero that you might not have known.

7. Who Else Could Have Been Bond?
You know who almost became James Bond? The following actors have auditioned: Hugh Jackman, Clint Eastwood (yes, seriously) and Eric Bana.

6. Bond Must Have Hair!
Sean Connery wore a toupee in all his films! Yes, to James Bond, hair is very important. For his role as Indiana Jones’ father, it didn’t matter as much that Connery was balding.

5. Bond Universe Connected
Ian Fleming went to Fettes College in Edinburgh, Scotland. In Fleming’s novels, we know that Bond finished his studies at the same school. Guess who served as the establishment’s milkman as he was working his way up? None other than our first James Bond, Sean Connery.

4. Truth Stranger Than Fiction
Author Ian Fleming was a spy himself, perhaps adding the reality that allowed the spy series to permeate through history. Fleming was a Naval Intelligence Officer during World War II.

3. Does 007 Have Company?
How many “00s” are left? 007 lives large, but 001 has never been revealed; 002, 003, 004 and 009 have all died while we know 006 was GoldenEye’s Sean Bean. Guess we’ll need another 23 movies to determine how 005 and 008 are faring.

2. Fame & Name
Fleming wanted a boring name for his hero, and James Bond seemed to fit. He found it on a book at his country estate. The author’s name was Dr. James Bond. It’s ironic, because after 50 years the name is now synonymous with tense, non-boring action.

1. British Superspy is Actually Half Scottish
Oh, the horror! The hero that the English people embrace almost more than any other actually has one parent who is Scottish, traditionally a rival of the nation. In fact, we see in Skyfall that the title of the movie comes from Bond’s family estate in the gorgeous Highlands of Scotland.

Check out the trailer for Steven Soderbergh's latest film, Side Effects:

 

Side Effects Trailer

The thriller stars Rooney Mara (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) as Emily Hawkins, a woman who turns to prescription drugs after she learns that her husband, played by Channing Tatum, is going to be released from prison. Jude Law (Rise of the Guardians) and Catherine Zeta-Jones also star.

Soderbergh is one of the most accomplished directors in Hollywood today, helming such films as Sex, Lies, and Video Tape, Erin Brokovich, and The Girlfriend Experience. He directed Tatum earlier this year in Magic Mike.

Side Effects will premiere February 8, 2013.

Autumn/Winter is Oscar Season, and with lots of best picture buzz surrounding the likes of Argo and Skyfall, the submissions for best animated feature are in! 21 films submitted for consideration at the 85th Academy Awards.

Not all of the submissions have yet to meet their qualifying theatrical runs, though they have until the end of the calendar year to do so. According to Academy rules, if 16 or more qualifying films are submitted, the field of nominees will include five films. If less, then the field is reduced to three.

Scroll down for the full list of submissions below, and let us know which film you think should win the Best Animated Feature award in the comments section below!

Adventures in Zambezia
Brave
Delhi Safari
Dr. Seuss' The Lorax
Frankenweenie
From Up on Poppy Hill
Hey Krishna
Hotel Transylvania
Ice Age Continental Drift
A Liar's Autobiography: The Untrue Story of Monty Python's Graham Chapman
Madagascar 3: Europe's Most Wanted
The Mystical Laws
The Painting
ParaNorman
The Pirates! Band of Misfits
The Rabbi's Cat
Rise of the Guardians
Secret of the Wings
Walter & Tandoori's Christmas
Wreck-It Ralph
Zarafa

When Daniel Day Lewis was first approached to portray what many consider our greatest president in Lincoln, he said no. He told Movie Fanatic that he turned down the offer from director Steven Spielberg three times before saying yes.

Day Lewis reflected what was said in our Steven Spielberg interview about wanting to get beyond the caricature of the iconic leader and get to the heart of the man. That gets to the heart of why the Oscar-winning actor initially turned down the role that could easily see him nabbing his third Oscar. “How do you approach a man’s life that has been mythologized to that extent in such a way that you can get close enough to properly represent it? I just wasn’t sure that I would be able to do that,” Day Lewis said.

In fact, the more he delved into the man behind the myth, he discovered someone who almost begged him to be portrayed by the Irish actor. “The wonderful surprise with that man is you begin to discover him -- there are many different ways in which he kind of welcomes you in. He’s very accessible. That took me by surprise."

When first embarking on his Lincoln journey, Day Lewis was a blank slate. “It’s easy for me to start, because I knew nothing about him,” he said and chuckled. “I had everything to learn. Apart from a few images, a statue and a few lines from the first inaugural speech and a few from the Gettysburg Address, that would be my entire knowledge of that man’s life.”

As evidenced in Spielberg’s Lincoln, the man not only had a way with the public -- he was wildly popular -- he also possessed the ability to make people laugh. “The most delicious surprise for me was the humor. That was almost the most important aspect of his character.”

Being a father himself, Day Lewis identified with the serious role Lincoln took in being a father to his youngest Tad. Yet, he found it an interesting dichotomy between the lack of relationship he had with his oldest son, Robert, and his extremely close relationship with his young son -- shown throughout Lincoln.

Perhaps it had something to do with Lincoln’s own upbringing that was tough to say the least. “The relationship between him and his eldest son, Robert (Joseph Gordon Levitt), was the least resolved. There was a distance there I think largely because of the work that he’d been doing on the judicial circuit -- which had taken him away for six months of any given year. He also had the political campaigns and then he was in office and Robert was at University,” Day Lewis said.

Not many people know, but Lincoln and his wife Mary had already lost two sons by the time Spielberg’s movie starts the story. “He had an interesting attitude towards parenthood, which is surprisingly modern. He believed that there should be a total absence of any parental authority whatsoever. And that was a conscious decision,” Day Lewis added.

All one had to do is look to Lincoln’s upbringing to see where that emanated from. “His experience of childhood was a bleak, difficult one. When his father moved from Kentucky to Illinois, he and his sister had to exist in the wilderness and get on with it while his father went out to make a living. He had to grow up very quickly.”

So where Lincoln had let his relationship with Robert suffer due to his professional demands, once in the White House, Day Lewis became fascinated with how he treated his young boy Tad. “He enjoyed watching all the chaos that Tad created in the White House,” Day Lewis said and laughed. “It was just pure love.”

After talking about his fascination and admiration for the Great Emancipator, Day Lewis returns to his initial reluctance to tackle the role. He’s still not sure he nailed it. “I don’t think I ever did know it was the right choice, but I ran out of excuses,” Day Lewis said and laughed.

Given how incredible the man was, not to mention his place in our national lore, there were plenty of reasons to say no, but this writer can say that there was no one else more suitable to portray the man.

“It just seemed inconceivable to me that I could be the person to help [Spielberg]. Least of I did not want to be responsible for irrevocably staining the reputation of the greatest president this country’s ever known,” Day Lewis said. “It seemed to me a very difficult thing to try and tell that story. I just really felt I wasn’t the person to do that.”

Now that the experience is in the actor’s rearview, can Day Lewis articulate why he decided to become the centerpiece of Lincoln? It had everything to do with Spielberg’s vision, Doris Kearns Goodwin’s A Team of Rivals (the book the film is based on) and the script by Tony Kushner.

“Reading Tony’s script and Doris’ book, I think that became the platform for me. Through that, I could believe that there was a living being to be discovered. Doris makes that so beautifully clear,” he added.

“That had been a great problem for me, not just the responsibility of taking on that task, but because of the iconography surrounding his life.”

A new red band trailer for Movie 43, and it's just as filthy as the first. This one features Jason Sudeikis as Batman, attempting to feed lines to to Robin (Justin Long) on a date, but getting...a little distracted.

 

Movie 43 Red Band Video

The comedy film is comprised of multiple sketches, with rotating directors and a giant cast of talent. It's sort of like a funny Cloud Atlas (or, intentionally funny Cloud Atlas).

Let's run through some of the cast: Elizabeth Banks (The Hunger Games), Kristen Bell, Halle Berry, Kate Bosworth, Gerard Butler, Anna Faris, Richard Gere, Terrence Howard, Hugh Jackman, Johnny Knoxville, Aasif Mandvi, Jack McBrayer (Wreck-It Ralph), Stephen Merchant, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, Chloe Moretz, Seann William Scott, Tony Shalhoub, Emma Stone, Uma Thurman, Matt Walsh, Patrick Warburton, Naomi Watts, and Kate Winslet.

Movie 43 will hit theaters January 25, 2013.

Eight new still images have dropped for the upcoming biopic Hitchcock. Take a look:

Anthony Hopkins stars as the revered horror director Alfred Hitchcock in the movie, which goes behind the scenes of the making of Psycho. Scarlett Johnsson (The Avengers) stars as Janet Leigh, with Jessica Biel as Vera Miles, and James D'Arcy as Anthony Perkins.

Helen Mirren plays Hitchock's wife Alma Reville. Toni Collette, Michael Stuhlbarg, and Kurtwood Smith also star.

Hitchcock hits theaters November 23. Watch the Hitchcock trailer for another look.

Joseph Gordon-Levitt (Looper) and Tommy Lee Jones (No Country for Old Men) are the stars of two new clips from the upcoming biopic Lincoln:

 

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Lincoln Clip

 

Lincoln Created Equal Clip

Daniel Day-Lewis stars as Abraham Lincoln in Steven Spielberg's story of the last few months of the president's life. The film focuses on the passing of the 13th Amendment and the end of the Civil War.

Sally Field plays Mary Todd Lincoln, with Gordon-Levitt as their son Robert and Jones as Thaddeus Stevens. David Strathairn, James Spader, Hal Holbrook, Jackie Earle Haley, David Oyelowo, and Tim Blake Nelson also star.

Lincoln will hit theaters in limited release November 9, going wide November 16.

Seven new stills from White House Down have debuted. Check them out (click thumbnails to enlarge):

Channing Tatum (Magic Mike) stars as a Secret Service agent who must save the president, played by Jamie Foxx (who may play Electro in The Amazing Spider-Man 2), after a paramilitary group takes control of the White House. Maggie Gylenhaal (The Dark Knight) plays a fellow Secret Service agent.

Jason Clarke, Richard Jenkins, and Joey King also star.

Roland Emmerich directs the script by James Vanderbilt. White House Down will hit theaters June 28, 2013.

We've already seen a batch of Rise of the Guardians character posters, but here's another (click thumbnails to enlarge):

Chris Pine voices the character of Jack Frost, the spirit of winter. When the Boogeyman plunges the world into darkness, Jack must band together with the other Guardians to protect children everywhere.

Alec Baldwin voices Santa Claus, with Hugh Jackman (The Wolverine) as the Easter Bunny, and Isla Fisher as the Tooth Fairy. Jude Law (Sherlock Holmes) voices the Boogeyman, named Pitch.

Rise of the Guardians will hit theaters November 21.

Two new TV Spots--one British, one American-have hit the internet to alert fans that they can pre-purchase tickets online. Check them out:

 

The Hobbit Ticket Presale TV Spot

 

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey TV Spot

Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo Baggins, the hobbit who is recruited by Gandalf the Grey, played by Ian McKellen, to accompany a band of dwarves to reclaim the Lonely Mountain from the evil dragon Smaug.

Richard Armitage, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Benedict Cumberbatch, Hugo Weaving (Cloud Atlas), Luke Evans, Billy Connolly, Cate Blanchett, and Elijah Wood (Maniac) also star.

The Hobbit will be released as a three-part series. The first part, An Unexpected Journey, hits theaters December 14, with the next two parts premiering December 13, 2013 and July 8, 2014. Check out some images from The Hobbit for more.

Now into his third foray as James Bond in Skyfall, Daniel Craig told Movie Fanatic in our exclusive video interview what served as his most memorable exotic location, certainly one of the pluses of playing the British superspy. “Sailing a yacht down the Grand Canal in Venice is one that's up there,” Craig said. “Being shouted at by taxi drivers of gondolas who thought we were taking business away. I learned a lot of bad Italian words!"

 

Daniel Craig Exclusive Interview

Skyfall lands with Craig and his cinematic alter ego James Bond battling one of the series’ best villains in Javier Bardem’s Silva. Having a director in Oscar winner Sam Mendes, a lifelong Bond fan, surely helped them craft one of the best Bond movies ever, but in the end… Craig told us it came down to creating something truly unique.

“We wanted to make the best Bond movie we could,” Craig added. “You’re trying to give an originality to something that everyone clearly has a deep connection to.”

No easy task… and we can happily report: Job well done, Mr. Bond.
 

A new trailer has dropped for the upcoming action flick The Last Stand, starring Arnold Schwarzenegger. Check it out:

 

The Last Stand Movie Trailer

The film centers around an escaped drug lord who is headed for the American/Mexican border. It is up to a small-town sheriff, played by Schwarzenegger, to stop the criminal from crossing the border.

Johnny Knoxville, Luis Guzman (Boogie Nights), Rodrigo Santoro (What to Expect When You're Expecting), Forest Whitaker, Peter Stormare, Eduardo Noriega, and Jaimie Alexander (Thor: The Dark World) also star.

The Last Stand is directed by Kim Ji-Woon. It will hit theaters January 18, 2013.

As our 007 Days of Bond nears its end (tomorrow we have the Top 10 Bond Movies!), Movie Fanatic looks back at the 23 films and brings you our most memorable James Bond moments of all-time. For fifty years, from Dr. No to Skyfall, the British superspy has been enthralling audiences with his swagger, penchant for action, shaken not stirred martinis, killer villains and of course, the ladies (who are the Top 10 Bond Girls?).

We present our favorite Bond moments from the entire series in no particular order because that would be like choosing a favorite child!

The first time we heard that iconic theme song
Dr. No
In Dr. No, something was established that would be used in every single James Bond movie, the iconic theme. Using its surf rock tone guitar intro that builds into a full-on trumpet fanfare is easily considered one of the most indelible themes in movie history.

The first time we heard, “Bond, James Bond.”
Dr. No
Sean Connery would utter the above words in the first film, something that is congruent throughout the entire series. The first time is always the best. Connery milked every ounce of every syllable, thus setting the standard for all Bonds to come.

Bond runs across alligators
Live and Let Die
Roger Moore brought something completely different to the role and it could be defined as 1970’s panache. As Moore’s Bond hits the Bayou in Live and Let Die, an iconic moment is achieved: Bond steps across a series of alligators to safety. An interesting fact: When the stuntman performed the sequence, he came millimeters away from an alligator bite that could have left him without a leg. All for the art of Bond!

Bond leaping into the air as his Union Jack parachute opens
The Spy Who Loved Me
There are too many stellar moments over the years to call this exuberant showing of British pride the personification of a Bond moment. But it is one of the most stimulating and invigorating. In the end… the British flag parachute scene is all about flash and action… something Bond has embodied for five decades.


Pierce Brosnan is introduced
GoldenEye
Pierce Brosnan had wanted to play Bond years before, but because of his Remington Steele contract, he couldn’t. So producers needed something truly special when they could finally introduce their new Bond in 1995, and what better way than to have 007’s mantra of me against the world put to the test? Brosnan jumps off a mountain and catches up to a plane that is on the verge of crashing. Does it crash? What do you think! It's one of the most thrilling intro scenes to any Bond movie... ever. That's how you make an entrance.
 
The laser beam dangerously moving towards Bond’s crown jewels
Goldfinger
As Connery is tied to a table with a laser beam inching closer to cutting him in half, crotch first, Goldfinger and Bond share a two line classic exchange that is one of the most iconic James Bond quotes of all time. Bond says, “Do you expect me to talk?” To which Goldfinger replies, “No, Mr. Bond. I expect you to die.”

Bond addresses the audience
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
Australian George Lazenby’s one go around as James Bond found 007 addressing the camera for the first time in the most humorous and delightful ways. “This never happened to the other fella.”

Bond tries to defibrillate himself
Casino Royale
Daniel Craig introduced himself as Bond to the worldwide fan base in the glorious Casino Royale. When we knew he was our guy was during a rather tense casino game, where the superspy rushes to his car to fend off a poison attack by defibrillating himself. Simply… wow!

Bond drives one-third of a car in Paris
A View to a Kill
The series is filled with some of the most action packed and suspenseful chase scenes ever put on film. To keep it original must be difficult, but producers of A View to a Kill got one for the record books as Moore does what he can with one-third of a car, racing away from bad guys on the streets of Paris.

Ursula Andress coming out of the ocean in white bikini
Dr. No
The archetype that would also become standard to the Bond canon was introduced in the most memorable of ways as Ursula Andress emerged from the sea in that iconic white bikini. The scene is still a must on Bond highlight reels 50 years later.

Bond feeds Killifer to the Sharks
License to Kill
Timothy Dalton joined the franchise and his best moment has to be when he feeds the evil villain to his beloved sharks, leaving him quite shaken and stirred.

Bond kills Grant in his train car
From Russia With Love
Simply for the fact that this fight scene is not only one of the best Bond action sequences, but it is clearly one of the top fight scenes of all-time.

There are action sequences that begin a James Bond film and then there is what director Sam Mendes and screenwriters Neal Purvis, Robert Wade and John Logan have given us in Skyfall.

Daniel Craig appears for the first time in his third Bond film, blurrily walking towards the camera. He is in a hallway and something is very wrong. From those opening moments where his Obama-like ears give away who is coming closer in the shadows, until the power of Adele is unleashed with her theme in the opening credits, it is one breath-holding 20-minute introduction to the Skyfall story.

It has been four years since Quantum of Solace and six years since Craig rocked our world in Casino Royale. The actor is back with a vengeance in a story that not only gives the talented thespian something emotionally charged to work with, but also a series of action stunts that will surely go down in the Bond canon as some of its most tense, effectively original and bombastically brilliant.

Skyfall, much as The Dark Knight Rises did, utilizes the third movie in a series idea of simultaneously closing and rebooting a trilogy. In some ways, bringing back your hero from the brink gives our protagonist -- who is flawed, slower and even painted as a little old -- something to prove. He emerges better than ever.

The film still scores in setting up the Craig-based series for a longer haul. And that is why it is equally creative in its ability to further introduce us to a character we’ve known for 50 years, but specifically the actor with the steely blue eyes who now fully commands every inch of the explosive world that is Ian Fleming’s James Bond. And the Skyfall Bond girls are up for the task as well -- helping, seducing and sending our hero in and out of danger.

Mendes, as a lifelong Bond fan, brings something unique to the project. Don’t get me wrong, every single director who has crafted 23 legendary 007 movies over the years shares it. But, there's something about the Oscar winner for American Beauty and his realism meets fanaticism that is uncannily right for this story, this time in Bond history, the actor who is playing Bond and the socio-political world that we inhabit.

Much as the film does not introduce us physically to our villain until after almost an hour, our Skyfall review too saves him for our final push. Javier Bardem is Silva and it is uncanny what he does in furthering the archetype that is the Bond villain by taking it to levels of humanism and pure horror.

Bardem played a villain in No Country for Old Men and took home an Oscar. Why should he not be considered for one for his place in the Bond villain history books? And while Movie Fanatic is at it, there is no question that Skyfall deserves to be nominated for Best Picture. It is the type of film that the Academy had in mind when it expanded the category.

Besides, it is simply that good.

Jurassic Park is being re-released in 3D! Check out the poster and the trailer for the event below:

 

Jurassic Park 3D Trailer

Steven Spielberg's massively successful dinosaur film revolutionized CG in its 1993 release. Now, it's getting updated to conform to the latest film trend: 3D.

Billionaire John Hammond, played by Richard Attenborough, has discovered how to create living dinosaurs cloned from prehistoric DNA. When he invites three scientists, played by Sam Neill, Laura Dern, and Jeff Goldblum, to certify his creations as safe before opening a new theme park to the public, the dinosaurs get loose and cause terror on the island.

Bob Peck, Wayne Knight, and Samuel L. Jackson (The Avengers) also star.

Jurassic Park 3D will hit theaters April 5, 2013. Meanwhile, Spielberg's newest film Lincoln premieres November 16.

The Amazing Spider-Man hit theaters rebooting a franchise that many felt was too soon to be revisited. Audiences answered that they were ready, as the film banked $700 million in global box office. Not surprisingly, the sequel is moving forward with news of Jamie Foxx’s casting in The Amazing Spider-Man 2. Evidence of why the passionate fan base turned out in droves is available on Blu-Ray and DVD on November 9.

Movie Fanatic received the Blu-Ray/DVD/Ultraviolet combo pack and was immediately struck by even the attention to detail on the embossed box.

Marc Webb, a lifelong Spidey nerd, could not have been a better choice to take the mantle and his casting of Andrew Garfield as Peter Parker/Spider-Man and Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy is nothing short of brilliant. But, that alone does not make a solid film. There has to be a story there.

As stated in our theatrical The Amazing Spider-Man review, the film is a solid update of a franchise that had hardly gone grey. The story itself is not too far off Sam Raimi’s origins story, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. Peter Parker is a high school student, torn away from his parents at an early age. Through his passion for science, he winds up finding strength he never knew he had on the inside and outside -- thanks to a certain spider bite.

Upon a second viewing on Blu-Ray, especially with the added features, we are even more fascinated by this Webb-ed universe and where it goes from here.

The home video packages features over 90 minutes of behind-the-scenes features. The usual deleted scene feature that is so common, is actually compelling here. One can see why they were left out of the theatrical version, but are still a fascinating addition to this brave new Spider-Man world.

 

The Amazing Spider-Man Blu-Ray Trailer

As Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows Blu-Ray did and many more since then, The Amazing Spider-Man Blu-Ray/DVD set comes with a second screen app that allows the viewer to delve deeper into the film on a smart phone or tablet while not interrupting the movie watching experience. The Director’s Notebook is an invaluable addition that syncs with the movie while you discover 16 pre-visualization sequences that show how a scene was built. Also awesome from the app is the production timeline that illustrates a filmmaker who is performing a task he was born to tackle.

The third disc in the Blu-Ray/DVD combo package we found incredibly fascinating. It includes the feature film on DVD, but most outstandingly a feature on stunt rehearsals that shows what true courage it takes to bring the action to the screen.