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The Lone Ranger Gets a New Trailer: We Ride for Justice

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There's a new trailer for The Lone Ranger, which features much more of the actual Lone Ranger than the first trailer. Take a look:

Based on the popular radio serial and TV show, The Lone Ranger follows the adventures of an ex-Texas Ranger named John Reid who turns to a life of vigilante justice with his Native American companion Tonto. Armie Hammer stars as Reid, with Johnny Depp (Dark Shadows) as Tonto.

The cast also includes William Fichtner, Tom Wilkinson, Barry Pepper, Helena Bonham Carter (Les Miserables), Ruth Wilson, and James Badge Dale (Iron Man 3).

Jerry Bruckheimer produces the film, which is directed by Gore Verbinski. The Lone Ranger will hit theaters July 3, 2013.


Star Trek Into Darkness: Alice Eve's Character Name and More Villain Clues?

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With Benedict Cumberbatch's (The Hobbit) character being kept under wraps, there has been a lot of speculation whether or not he'll be playing Khan. Yesterday we released a new still from Star Trek Into Darkness featuring Cumberbatch, Chris Pine, and Zachary Quinto, with the official caption naming Cumberbatch "John Harrison."

Most likely that is a decoy name being used by the studio to identify the character, since they can't use his real name, because they're keeping it a secret. A bit more evidence that Khan will be the villain in the Star Trek sequel came to light yesterday.

Alice Eve Picture

At a press event, it was revealed that Alice Eve will play the character Carol Marcus in Star Trek Into Darkness. For those unfamiliar, Marcus invented the Genesis Device in...you guessed it, The Wrath of Khan.

What do you think? Does the new character info suggest that Cumberbatch will indeed be playing Khan? Tell us your thoughts in the comments section, then check out the Star Trek Into Darkness trailer.

Man of Steel Second Trailer: Is the World Ready?

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The second trailer for Man of Steel is here! This features a lot of footage of Clark Kent's childhood, with Kevin Costner and Diane Lane as Kents's adoptive parents. Check it out:

Henry Cavill stars as Superman in this reboot of the franchise. The film serves as an origin story, showing how Kent first dons the cape to save the world against evil.

Amy Adams stars as Lois Lane, with Michael Shannon as General Zod, and Russell Crowe (Les Miserables) as Jor-El. Ayelet Zurer, Laurence Fishburne, and Christopher Meloni also star.

Zack SNider directs, with The Dark Knight Rises director Christopher Nolan producing. Man of Steel will open June 14, 2013.

Top Gun to be Re-Released in IMAX 3D: High Def to the Danger Zone

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Top Gun is back! The film that helped to launch the careers of Tom Cruise, Jerry Bruckheimer (okay, he'd been producing films for about 10 years prior), and the late great Tony Scott is getting the full high-def blu-ray 3D treatment early next year.

In honor of the remastered DVD, Top Gun will also hit 3D IMAX theaters for a special six-day event. Fans of the classic Naval pilot action movie can relive the magic beginning February 8, 2013.

Tom Cruise and Kelly McGillis in Top Gun

Since the original release of Top Gun, Cruise has of course become one of the biggest movie stars of all time. The Oblivion trailer for his new futuristic sci-fi thriller just dropped yesterday. A new Lone Ranger trailer, which Bruckheimer is producing, meanwhile released earlier today. So many Top Gun-related trailers!

Top Gun can be yours to own on blu-ray 3D on February 19, 2013. Until then, catch up on some Top Gun quotes.

DVD/Blu-Ray Preview: Ted, Bourne Legacy & Ice Age 4

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One of the best comedies in some time (Ted) arrives on Blu-Ray and DVD this week, as well as a surprise hit thriller (The Bourne Legacy), a fine family film (Ice Age: Continental Drift) and a cult classic (Miami Connection).

Ted:The Seth MacFarlane-created comedy blockbuster comes home with a bevy of extras that is probably expected for a comic disc, but filmmakers have gone the extra mile on this one. The Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack has the original theatrical version as well as the uber-naughty unrated cut. There are a slew of deleted scenes and alternative takes that one can easily see could have been included but were cut for time and content.

Gag reels are a standard on home video releases, but with the zany hilarity that comes from MacFarlane, the Ted gag reel is astoundingly hilarious. Also, not to be missed is the commentary by the cast, but especially the genius behind the film, MacFarlane.

Of the featurettes that are noteworthy, the most is the Teddy Bear Shuffle spot. It is a fascinating look at how they choreographed the teddy bear and Mark Wahlberg fight scene. Check out our Ted review for more on the film itself.

The Bourne Legacy: Bourne is back… well kind of. Jeremy Renner steps in for Matt Damon and doesn’t miss a beat. As stated in our The Bourne Legacy review, the film is a white-knuckle thriller with smarts. Renner is Aaron Cross and the bonus feature Enter Aaron Cross shows how the star got in action-ready shape to prepare for the role.

The Bourne series is known for its globe-trotting ways, and Legacy is no different. The featurette Crossing Continents: Legacy on Location shows how filmmakers took Renner and co-star Rachel Weisz across the world from the frozen tundra of Canada to the busy streets of Manila. Some animal lovers may have cringed at the wolf fight scene with Renner, but in the feature Man vs. Wolf, filmmakers show how movie magic was achieved without a single cute hair on the wolves being harmed.

The Bourne Legacy Blu-Ray/DVD continues the series’ outstanding work bringing their film to home video and giving fans hours of extra footage to continue the thrills.

Ice Age Continental Drift: The gang is back for a fourth go-around in the Ice Age series. As first reported in our Ice Age Continental Drift review, the film satisfies kids of all ages. The movie brings back Ray Romano, Denis Leary, John Leguizamo and Queen Latifah. Joining the cast is newbie Seann William Scott and one of Movie Fanatic’s faves, Simon Pegg.

Of the standout extras is one that kids will adore: The Sing Along Mode. The film’s many songs are presented in such a way that fans can literally sing along with their favorite characters. There are also brilliant bonus featurettes, highlighted by the Through a Pirate’s Spyglass: Voices Ahoy and Capturing the Crew that looks at the new to the series pirates, Granny and the Stink of the Sloths, the We Are extended music video and The Sid Shuffle Dance Along.

Miami Connection: The 1980’s cult film Miami Connection had a short theatrical run in November and now comes home on DVD and digital download for the first time. The film tells an outlandish, but truly satisfying, story about a man (Y.K. Kim, who also wrote and produced the film) who seeks to bring peace to the world through his Ninja ways. It’s highly effective and easy to see why the film has caught fire anew.

Critic's Choice Awards Announces 2012 Nominations: Lincoln, Les Mis, and Silver Linings Score Big

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It seems that for the last month of the year, the award nominations never stop rolling in. Today, the 2012 Critic's Choice Awards announced their full list of nominees, which includes many similar categories to the Academy Awards, as well as some genre-specific categories.

It seems like almost every film released this year is represented somewhere in the large field, but Lincoln emerged as the big hero, garnering a whopping 13 nominations, including Best Picture. Les Miserables and Silver Linings Playbook followed with 11. Zero Dark Thirty, meanwhile, continues its run of Best Picture consideration. The ceremony will be broadcast live on January 11, 2013 at 8:00 pm ET/PT on the CW Network.

Take a look at the full list of nominations below:

Lincoln Stars Daniel Day Lewis

BEST PICTURE
Argo
Beasts of the Southern Wild
Django Unchained
Les Miserables
Life of Pi
Lincoln
The Master
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook
Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ACTOR
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis – Lincoln
John Hawkes – The Sessions
Hugh Jackman – Les Miserables
Joaquin Phoenix – The Master
Denzel Washington – Flight

BEST ACTRESS
Jessica Chastain – Zero Dark Thirty
Marion Cotillard – Rust and Bone
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Emmanuelle Riva – Amour
Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild
Naomi Watts – The Impossible

BEST SUPPORTING ACTOR
Alan Arkin – Argo
Javier Bardem – Skyfall
Robert De Niro – Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman – The Master
Tommy Lee Jones – Lincoln
Matthew McConaughey – Magic Mike

BEST SUPPORTING ACTRESS
Amy Adams – The Master
Judi Dench – Skyfall
Ann Dowd – Compliance
Sally Field – Lincoln
Anne Hathaway – Les Miserables
Helen Hunt – The Sessions

BEST YOUNG ACTOR/ACTRESS
Elle Fanning – Ginger & Rosa
Kara Hayward – Moonrise Kingdom
Tom Holland – The Impossible
Logan Lerman – The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Suraj Sharma – Life of Pi
Quvenzhane Wallis – Beasts of the Southern Wild

BEST ACTING ENSEMBLE
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Miserables
Lincoln
Moonrise Kingdom
Silver Linings Playbook

BEST DIRECTOR
Ben Affleck – Argo
Kathryn Bigelow – Zero Dark Thirty
Tom Hooper – Les Miserables
Ang Lee – Life of Pi
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
Steven Spielberg – Lincoln

BEST ORIGINAL SCREENPLAY
Quentin Tarantino – Django Unchained
John Gatins – Flight
Rian Johnson – Looper
Paul Thomas Anderson – The Master
Wes Anderson & Roman Coppola – Moonrise Kingdom
Mark Boal – Zero Dark Thirty

BEST ADAPTED SCREENPLAY
Chris Terrio – Argo
Tony Kushner – Lincoln
David O. Russell – Silver Linings Playbook
David Magee – Life of Pi
Stephen Chbosky – The Perks of Being a Wallflower

BEST CINEMATOGRAPHY
Life of Pi– Claudio Miranda
Lincoln– Janusz Kaminski
Les Miserables– Danny Cohen
The Master– Mihai Malaimare Jr.
Skyfall– Roger Deakins

BEST ART DIRECTION
Anna Karenina– Sarah Greenwood/Production Designer, Katie Spencer/Set Decorator
The Hobbit– Dan Hennah/Production Designer, Ra Vincent & Simon Bright/Set Decorators
Les Miserables– Eve Stewart/Production Designer, Anna Lynch-Robinson/Set Decorator
Life of Pi– David Gropman/Production Designer, Anna Pinnock/Set Decorator
Lincoln– Rick Carter/Production Designer, Jim Erickson/Set Decorator

BEST EDITING
Argo– William Goldenberg
Les Miserables– Melanie Ann Oliver, Chris Dickens
Life of Pi– Tim Squyres
Lincoln– Michael Kahn
Zero Dark Thirty– William Goldenberg, Dylan Tichenor

BEST COSTUME DESIGN
Anna Karenina– Jacqueline Durran
Cloud Atlas– Kym Barrett, Pierre-Yves Gayraud
The Hobbit– Bob Buck, Ann Maskrey, Richard Taylor
Les Miserables– Paco Delgado
Lincoln– Joanna Johnston

BEST MAKEUP
Cloud Atlas
The Hobbit
Les Miserables
Lincoln

BEST VISUAL EFFECTS
The Avengers
Cloud Atlas
The Dark Knight Rises
The Hobbit
Life of Pi

BEST ANIMATED FEATURE
Brave
Frankenweenie
Madagascar 3
ParaNorman
Rise of the Guardians
Wreck-It Ralph

BEST ACTION MOVIE
The Avengers
The Dark Knight Rises
Looper
Skyfall

BEST ACTOR IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Christian Bale – The Dark Knight Rises
Daniel Craig – Skyfall
Robert Downey Jr. – The Avengers
Joseph Gordon-Levitt – Looper
Jake Gyllenhaal – End of Watch

BEST ACTRESS IN AN ACTION MOVIE
Emily Blunt – Looper
Gina Carano – Haywire
Judi Dench – Skyfall
Anne Hathaway – The Dark Knight Rises
Jennifer Lawrence – The Hunger Games

BEST COMEDY
Bernie
Silver Linings Playbook
Ted
This Is 40
21 Jump Street

BEST ACTOR IN A COMEDY
Jack Black – Bernie
Bradley Cooper – Silver Linings Playbook
Paul Rudd – This Is 40
Channing Tatum – 21 Jump Street
Mark Wahlberg – Ted

BEST ACTRESS IN A COMEDY
Mila Kunis – Ted
Jennifer Lawrence – Silver Linings Playbook
Shirley MacLaine – Bernie
Leslie Mann – This Is 40
Rebel Wilson – Pitch Perfect

BEST SCI-FI/HORROR MOVIE
Cabin in the Woods
Looper
Prometheus

BEST FOREIGN LANGUAGE FILM
Amour
The Intouchables
A Royal Affair
Rust and Bone

BEST DOCUMENTARY FEATURE
Bully
The Imposter
Queen of Versailles
Searching for Sugar Man
The Central Park Five
West of Memphis

BEST SONG
“For You” – performed by Keith Urban/written by Monty Powell & Keith Urban – Actor of Valor
“Skyfall” – performed by Adele/written by Adele Adkins & Paul Epworth – Skyfall
“Still Alive” – performed by Paul Williams/written by Paul Williams – Paul Williams Still Alive
“Suddenly” – performed by Hugh Jackman/written by Claude-Michel Schonberg & Alain Boublil & Herbert Kretzmer – Les Miserables
“Learn Me Right” – performed by Birdy with Mumford & Sons/written by Mumford & Sons – Brave

BEST SCORE
Argo– Alexandre Desplat
Life of Pi– Mychael Danna
Lincoln– John Williams
The Master– Jonny Greenwood
Moonrise Kingdom– Alexandre Desplat

Jack Reacher Releases a New Batch of Stills

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A bunch of new stills have been released for Jack Reacher. Brace yourselves, there's a lot of 'em. Take a look (click thumbnails to enlarge):

Tom Cruise is Jack Reacher

Tom Cruise and Rosamund Pike Jack ReacherJack Reacher Tom Cruise StillJai Courtney Jack ReacherWerner Herzog Jack ReacherJai Courtney and Tom Cruise Jack ReacherJack Reacher Tom CruiseTom Cruise in Jack ReacherTom Cruise as Jack ReacherRosamund Pike and Tom Cruise Jack ReacherRosamund Pike and Richard Jenkins Jack ReacherTom Cruise, Richard Jenkins, and David Oyelowo Jack ReacherTom Cruise Jack Reacher StillJai Courtney in Jack ReacherDavid Oyelowo in Jack ReacherChristopher McQuarrie and Tom Cruise Jack ReacherDavid Oyelowo Jack Reacher

Tom Cruise (whose early film Top Gun will be re-released in IMAX 3D next year) stars as ex-Military cop Jack Reacher in this adaptation of the novel One Shot by Lee Child. After a man is accused of murder, he requests Reacher to help prove his innocence.

Rosamund Pike, Jai Courtney (A Good Day to Die Hard), Robert Duvall, Werner Herzog, Richard Jenkins, and David Oyelowo (Lincoln) also star. Jack Reacher is directed by Christopher McQuarrie and will hit theaters December 21.

The Hobbit Gets a New Clip: The Dwarves Sing Misty Mountains

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A new clip has dropped for The Hobbit: An Unexpected, courtesy ofTheOneRing.net, featuring the dwarves solemnly crooning "Misty Mountain." Take a look:

If you're not holding up a lighter right now, you have no heart.

Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit recruited by Gandalf the Grey (Ian McKellen) to help a band of 13 dwarves in their quest to reclaim their home from the dragon Smaug, played by Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness).

Richard Armitage, Ian Holm, Andy Serkis, Graham McTavish, and Hugo Weaving (Cloud Atlas) also star. Peter Jackson directs the film, which will hit theaters December 14 (wait...today's December 11! If I learned my maths correct, that's only 3 more days! Rejoice!!!!!!!).


Lincoln, Les Miserables, and Silver Linings Score 4 SAG Awards Nominations

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Yesterday the Critic's Choice Awards announced its nominations for a ton of eclectic categories including Best Makeup, Best Effects, and Best Sci-Fi/Horror movie. Today, the field is vastly narrowed to just acting, with the announcement of the Screen Actors Guild Award nominations.

Lincoln, Les Miserables, and Silver Linings Playbook scored big, receiving five nominations each, out of just six categories. Take a look at the full list of nominations below, then keep an eye out for the winners on January 27, 2013.

Lincoln Star Daniel Day Lewis

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role
Bradley Cooper, Silver Linings Playbook
Daniel Day-Lewis, Lincoln
John Hawkes, The Sessions
Denzel Washington, Flight
Hugh Jackman, Les Miserables

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role
Jessica Chastain, Zero Dark Thirty
Jennifer Lawrence, Silver Linings Playbook
Helen Mirren, Hitchcock
Naomi Watts, The Impossible
Marion Cotillard, Rust and Bone

Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role
Alan Arkin, Argo
Robert De Niro, Silver Linings Playbook
Philip Seymour Hoffman, The Master
Tommy Lee Jones, Lincoln
Javier Bardem, Skyfall

Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Supporting Role
Sally Field, Lincoln
Anne Hathaway, Les Misérables
Helen Hunt, The Sessions
Nicole Kidman, The Paperboy
Maggie Smith, Best Exotic Marigold Hotel

Best Ensemble in a Motion Picture
Argo
The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Les Misérables
Lincoln
Silver Linings Playbook

Outstanding Action Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Motion Picture
The Amazing Spider-Man
The Bourne Legacy
The Dark Knight Rises
Les Miserables
Skyfall

The Hobbit Drops a New Clip: I Wasn't Talking to You!

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Bilbo meets Gollum in this clip from The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. Take a look:

Martin Freeman stars as Bilbo Baggins in this prequel to The Lord of the Rings, based on the book by J.R.R. Tolkien. Despite the relatively short book it's based on, the film will be released in three parts, drawing from extra material Tolkien wrote about The Hobbit characters.

Ian McKellen, Benedict Cumberbatch (Star Trek Into Darkness), Richard Armitage, Ian Holm, Hugo Weaving (Cloud Atlas) and Andy Serkis also star.

An Unexpected Journey will hit theaters December 14, with the next two parts being released December 13, 2013 and July 18, 2014, respectively. Check out some stills from The Hobbit for more.

Top 10 Horror Movies of 2012: Best Scares

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Hollywood certainly brought the scary in 2012. Movie Fanatic kicks off our best of the year series that continues through New Year’s and features everything from the Top 10 movies of 2012 to Top 10 Villains, Top 10 Trailers, Top 10 Comedies and more! First, we dissect the fear on film and start with the Top 10 Horror Movies of 2012.

10. The Possession
A realm of horror that has always compelled us is the exorcism story. With The Possession, that format took a unique turn in 2012. A Jewish religion-based demon possesses a little girl (thus, the title) when she comes across an old box at a yard sale. But, this is no ordinary box. What the daughter of Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Kyra Sedgwick in fact has, is a Dybukk box, one that contains the ancient spirit of a demon. We adore The Possession for Matisyahu and allowing us to marvel at the rapper in his first turn as a rabbi who knows a thing or two about defeating that boxed demon.

Matisyahu and Natasha Calis in The Possession

9. The Collection
When Movie Fanatic headed into the theater recently to screen The Collection, never in a million years would we have expected that it would land on our Top 10 Horror Movies list. But there is something about it that is incredibly horrific and truly original. A serial killer commits mass murder and takes one survivor to his lair to torture within an inch of their lives. When he takes the daughter of a rich man with means to hire a private commando squad to hunt the killer down... our evildoer gets more than he bargained for. As seen in The Collection trailer, the film gets points for sheer originality in terms of how to off its characters. 

8. Chernobyl Diaries
Found footage films have always been a friend to the horror genre. With the Chernobyl Diaries, audiences were treated to a birds-eye view of a horror that was man made. A group of American tourists solicit the help of an "extreme tourism" company to take them to the supposedly abandoned site of the infamous Russian nuclear disaster that decimated a town. When their car breaks down as the sun goes down... yup, you guessed it: That town isn't really deserted!

7. The Devil Inside
As shown off in the The Devil Insidetrailer, the movie kicked off the new year by shocking audiences back in January. Another found footage movie, but this time out, it is a documentary crew chronicling a daughter searching for answers about her mother. It seems that good old mama went a little nuts during an exorcism in the 1970s and proceeded to kill everyone in the room. Sent to a top secret facility at the Vatican, she is getting help, or so it seems. Perhaps she is just sitting dormant until she can unleash hell when her daughter and the filmmaking crew arrive in Rome in modern day to document the reunion that goes horribly wrong.

6. Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter
As Movie Fanatic is quoted on the Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Blu-Ray cover, the film is unlike anything you've ever seen. Director Timur Bekmambetov brings his action landscape from Wanted to author (and the film's screenwriter) Seth Grahame-Smith's novel that comes to life onscreen in the most original of ways. Sure, it's historical reinvention, but that is what is so devilishly delightful about it. Benjamin Walker does Lincoln as a man who lost his beloved mother to the bite of a vampire and has spent the rest of his life vowing to eradicate the world of the vermin -- right up to becoming president.

Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter Movie Poster
5. Silent House

We may have said in our Silent House review that Elizabeth Olsen commands in Silent House. But, that is only one aspect that has resonated since Movie Fanatic first saw the horror fest. The psychological thriller gets into the mind of Olsen's Sarah as she is trapped inside her family's rustic lakeside home. And that is because the script taps into our most primal of emotions... survival. 

4. The Innkeepers
The most simple of films on this list, The Innkeepers captured our imagination in terms of one of the oldest scare tactics in the book: We're not alone. There are merely a few actors in the film -- Sara Paxton, Pat Healy and Kelly McGillis -- and filmmaker Ti West lets the audience's imagination go wild. A classic small New England town has an inn that may or may not possess deep secrets. Paxton and Healy's characters are amateur ghost hunters and believe they are on to something. Only they get much more than they bargained for -- to our delight.

3. The Woman in Black
Daniel Radcliffe leaped from the world of J.K. Rowling's to the supernatural with his first post-Harry Potter role. We knew from the first The Woman in Black trailer that this was the role of a lifetime for Radcliffe, and yes, that is saying something. When his young lawyer is sent out to a client's estate to get his affairs in order after his passing, it doesn't take long for Radcliffe to notice that there is something not quite right about this situation. A history is felt in this house, and it is not of the rosy kind.

2. Sinister
Ethan Hawke made his horror movie debut with Sinister and brought a sense of desperation, urgency and parental power that made for an explosive combination of thrills. The Sinister movie trailer may tease the tense and deeply emotional horror portrayed onscreen, but it only is the tip of the iceberg of mental messes that this film brings at its audience. There's a deep "is this real?" sense of horror that bleeds through every inch of film.

1. Cabin in the Woods
Joss Whedon not only scored in 2012 with The Avengers, but he proved his magic touch by co-writing the Chris Hemsworth-starring scare-fest that is The Cabin in the Woods. When a group of friends head out in an RV to a desolate cabin... yes in the woods, the most unique of horrors ensues. Movie Fanatic will not say anything about the plot for fear of ruining the insane originality produced onscreen. But, beyond great The Cabin in the Woods quotes that show signs of a terrific script, the terror seen onscreen is the absolute best of 2012. Hands down.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation Trailer Drops: Let's Get to Work

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The first trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation since they postponed release to convert it to 3D has hit the net! Take a look:

The sequel to 2009's G.I. Joe: The Rise of the Cobra stars Bruce Willis and Dwayne Johnson (Fast Six). In it, the G.I. Joe team is cast out as political traitors by Zartan, who is impersonating the president. They must find out who they can trust in order to fight Cobra and save the world.

Channing Tatum (Magic Mike), D.J. Cotrona, Lee Byung-hun, Adrianne Palicki, Ray Park, Ray Stevenson, Jonathan Pryce, Arnold Vosloo, and RZA (Man With the Iron Fists) also star.

Jon M. Chu directs the film, with a script by Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. It opens March 29, 2013.

The Hobbit: Ian McKellen on Gandalf Going Grey

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For Ian McKellen, he doesn’t like anyone using the “f” word to describe J.R.R. Tolkien’s work as it heads to the big screen. “It’s not a franchise, they’re films. This isn’t X- Men,” he said.

Ian McKellen The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey
As The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey takes place 60 years before The Lord of the Rings trilogy, it required Ian McKellen as Gandalf to be younger. Clearly, he did not mind as the legendary actor appears to prefer Gandalf the Grey.

“Gandalf the White, who is in the second of the Lord of the Rings movies, is on a mission and he has to save the world, or help to save the world. And so he’s cut his beard and gone White in the process and doesn’t have time for jokes. But that’s the story of where the hero doesn’t make it back home,” McKellen said.

“Bilbo gets back home because he’s on an adventure and it’s different. He doesn’t need Gandalf the White to look after him. He needs the Grey who he can have a smoke with and a drink with. They gradually learn to trust each other and like each other’s company. It’s on a much more human level that befits the quality of the adventure they’re going on. There’s more range for the actor in Gandalf the Grey which is why I selfishly prefer doing him.”

McKellen believes that Tolkien is spot-on with his portrayal of the world, minus a few items. “I think there are limitations in Tolkien’s view of the world. I mean, where is sex? Where are women? But in other aspects he is absolutely bang up to date,” he said and laughed.

For one, he appreciates his view of those individuals with years of experience under their belt.

“He takes old people very seriously and gives them their full weight and due and young people he’s very keen on. And I think the message that has resonated with everyone who has read the books or seen the films, is that, yes, the world is organized by people who are extremely powerful and have an overview, and are concerned for the preservation of Middle Earth. But they are entirely dependent on the little guy. And for someone who had been through two world wars to accept that, that it’s not the great people we build statues that change the world, it is the foot soldiers who measure up to the moment and we can understand that.”

And for those who are quick to state that Jackson has gone for the money when it comes to making The Hobbit a trilogy, McKellen believes they are way off.

“Anybody who thinks that Peter Jackson would fall for marketing forces rather than the artistic imperative doesn’t know the guy and his body of work,” McKellen said. As told to us in our Peter Jackson interview, the helmer clearly agrees.

The man who is Gandalf knows who these films are truly for, and they would be missing much if it were just one. Plus, better for young film fans to watch something brilliant a million times, versus some of the garbage out there.

“If we’d just made one movie of The Hobbit, then all of the fans, and I’m thinking of the eight, nine and ten-year-old boys and girls, would watch it a thousand times but they’ve now got three films they can watch a thousand times. It isn’t enough. Talk to any nine-year-old, they haven’t just seen Lord of the Rings once, they’ve seen it twice, maybe three times in a day! How much better they should be seeing a great film with huge artistic achievement than other things they could be watching?”

Cate Blacnchett Ian McKellen The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey

The actor’s favorite scene in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, amongst all the grandeur of Jackson’s epic, is a quiet scene between him and Cate Blanchett where they extol the virtues of the smaller things.

“We had appeared in the same scene at the end of the Lord of the Rings movie but we hadn’t met. They photographed us separately. For two weeks, there she was in person. We had such a congenial relationship. We had so much to talk about. And we got extremely close and affectionate with each other. Her husband wasn’t around,” McKellen said and laughed.

“There was a moment when she just adjusted my hair, but I think it was Cate rather than Galadriel, and I think it’s made it into the movie and I’m still rather shaking.”

It wasn’t just the chance to be in a scene physically with someone he admired, what the two characters discussed, McKellen feels, is deeply powerful.

“We’re talking about something that Gandalf feels very strongly. It’s about the little guy that we need who may be expendable, who may not come back. And it’s one of the things I remember most about us working together. When Martin (Bilbo) said, ‘Am I going to come back? Can you promise that?’ and I say, ‘No,’ not many commanders would say that to their soldiers. It’s a chilling, but heartwarming moment.”

Side Effects Poster Debuts: Some People Want to Get Better in the Worst Way

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The answer is yes. Channing Tatumis in all the movies now. Here's another one: Side Effects. Check out the new poster for the film:

Side Effects Poster

Rooney Mara stars as Emily Hawkins, a woman facing the anxiety of her husband's (played by Tatum) impending release from prison. As a coping mechanism, Emily turns to prescription medication.

Jude Law (Rise of the Guardians), Catherine Zeta-Jones, and Vinessa Shaw also star. Stephen Soderbergh, who directed Tatum in Magic Mike, directs.

Side Effects opens February 8, 2013. Watch the Side Effects trailer for more.

Monsters University Gets Two New Stills

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Two new stills have dropped for Monsters Universitycourtesy ofEW. Check them out:

Mike and Sulley Monsters University

Mike Monsters University

John Goodman (ParaNorman) and Billy Crystal return to voice Sulley and Mike in the prequel to 2001's Monsters, Inc. The film follows the monsters as they enter college to learn to become scarers.

Steve Buscemi, Jennifer Tilly, Kelsey Grammer, Frank Oz, Dave Foley, Julia Sweeney, Joel Murray, Ken Jeong (The Hangover), Rob Riggle (21 Jump Street), and J.B. Smoove round out the star-studded voice cast.

Dan Scanlon directs the film, with the script by Andrew Stanton and Peter Docter. Monsters University opens June 21, 2013.


A Haunted House Red Band Trailer: I'm a Scary Ghost!

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Check out the new NSFW red band trailer for A Haunted House, the new horror spoof from Marlon Wayans, featuring a forward by Wayans himself:

The film, which pokes fun at the found-footage style of horror films used by such recent films as Paranormal Activity 4and The Bay, follows a married couple who move into a new house only to discover it's haunted.

Wayans and Essence Atkins star as the couple. David Koechner (Anchorman), Nick Swardson, and Cedric the Entertainer also star.

A Haunted House will hit theaters January 11, 2013. Check out the A Haunted House poster for more.

42 Gets New Stills: The Jackie Robinson Story

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It's been a while since we've heard anything about the Jackie Robinson biopic 42. Now we've got three new stills! Click the thumbnails to enlarge.

Chadwick Boseman as Jackie Robinson in 42

Harrison Ford Chadwick Boseman 42Chadwick Boseman Harrison Ford 42

Chadwick Boseman (Lincoln Heights) stars as Robinson, the first African American to play in Major League Baseball. Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers, donning the now Nationally retired number 42 (hence the title). Harrison Ford also stars as Branch Rickey, the General Manager who signed Robinson.

Christopher Meloni (Man of Steel), Alan Tudyk, T.R. Knight, Lucas Black, Nicole Beharie, Brett Cullen, and John C. McGinley also star. Brian Helgeland directs the film, which he also wrote.

42 will hit theaters April 12, 2013. Watch the 42 trailer for a preview.

Pacific Rim Trailer Is Here!

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The trailer for Pacific Rim is here! Watch below:

Guillermo Del Toro directs the Japanese monster movie homage, which finds Earth under attack from giant sea creatures. When a man-piloted army of giant robots fails to defeat them, two pilots must un-retire a legendary machine and save the planet from destruction.

Charlie Hunnam, Rinko Kikuchi, Idris Elba (Thor: The Dark World), Charlie Day, and Ron Pearlman (Drive) star. Pacific Rim will arrive July 12, 2013.

The Wolverine Poster: Hugh Jackman in the Rain

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The Wolverine does sometimes wear a shirt, but you wouldn't know it from the promotional materials for the upcoming movie The Wolverine. Take a look at the new poster, featuring a shirtless Wolverine in the rain:

The Wolverine Rain Poster

Hugh Jackman returns to portray the character in the sixth installment of the X-Men series. The film finds Logan traveling to Japan to take on a mysterious figure from his past. Hiroyuki Sanada, Tao Okamoto, Rila Fukushima, Will Yun Lee, Brian Tee, and Svetlana Khodchenkova also star.

Jackman is set to star this Christmas as Jean Valjean in Les Miserables, and voiced the character of the Easter Bunny in Rise of the Guardians last month. The Wolverine is directed by James Mangold and will hit theaters July 26, 2013.

Star Trek Into Darkness Character News: Benedict Cumberbatch Insists He's Not Khan

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By now, we're all pretty wary about believing comments about secret plot lines or character names in upcoming movies. Especially when those comments come from actors. Actors lie for a living, whereas for most of us it's just a hobby.

So take the following with not just a grain of salt, but a whole silo of it. With speculation running wild that Benedict Cumberbatch's mystery villain in Star Trek Into Darkness is Khan, the English actor told Access Hollywood that the rumors aren't true.

“I play a character called John and not that other name," he said, referring to the name given on the official caption of this recent Star Trek Into Darkness still. "It’s interesting. Speculation is speculation and that’s all fun.”

Benedict Cumberbatch

Despite the coy denial ("that other name?" Come on. That'd be like if Oasis denied that they were heavily influenced by "those other guys," what were they called? The Beatles?), there is still plenty of reason to believe Cumberbatch is indeed Khan, including the recent announcement that Alice Eve will be playing a character from...ready for it?...The Wrath of Khan.

Regardless of who Cumberbatch is indeed playing, we know this much: he'll be a villain. And that seems to be his thing lately, as he'll be playing the evil dragon Smaug in The Hobbit, which opens tonight at midnight. Trek fans will have to wait until May 17, 2013, however, to find out for certain if Cumberbatch is Khan. Let us know who you think he's playing in the comments section below!

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