After screening several minutes of Olympus Has Fallen before it hit theaters, Movie Fanatic described it to the film’s publicist as Die Hard in the White House and she could not have been more thrilled. See, there have been lots of attempts to replicate the action and explosive personality that that Bruce Willis actioner achieved in the late 1980s, but few have succeeded. All you have to do is witness the Olympus Has Fallen trailer and you can see how true to the Die Hard mold Olympus Has Fallen is... and in the best of ways.

As our theatrical Olympus Has Fallen review stated, Gerard Butler has a field day in the movie and the audience is the beneficiary of the great fun that Butler’s joy emits.

Olympus Has Fallen has debuted on DVD and Blu-Ray and for those that missed it in theaters or those who simply want to see it again -- it is an utter delight on home video. The all-star cast brings its A-game including Aaron Eckhart as the President, Morgan Freeman as the Speaker of the House, Angela Bassett as the head of the Secret Service, Ashley Judd as the First Lady, Melissa Leo as the Secretary of Defense and Dylan McDermott as a Secret Service Agent.

But, Olympus Has Fallen is the Butler show, from beginning to end. Butler is a Secret Service Agent who loses his way when a terrible accident claims someone in the First Family. He leaves the Oval Office detail and heads over to the Treasury Department where he feels he cannot hurt anyone anymore. Then… the White House is attacked and our movie hits high gear.

Butler announced himself as a star in 300, and honestly we’ve been waiting for him to match that mettle since. In Olympus Has Fallen, he is in his element on so many levels. Watching him work his way through the White House, like John McClane did in the Nakatomi Towers in Die Hard, is what makes this film so electric.

And when it comes to extras on the DVD and Blu-Ray, there are a quite a few that shine. Given the movie is pedal to the metal action, you know there had to be light moments to relieve the tension of filming and they are all captured brilliantly in the blooper reel. Many home video releases toss in actors flubbing their lines and pass them off as “hilarious” bloopers. But, on the Olympus Has Fallen Blu-Ray and DVD, these bloopers are pure comedy gold.

The all-star cast we mentioned before gets its close-up on the featurette The Epic Ensemble, and the title could not be more perfect. Behind-the-scenes featurettes Under Siege: The Making of Olympus Has Fallen, Creating the Action: VFX & Design and Ground Combat: Fighting the Terrorists all take a different angle on bringing the magic of Hollywood into people’s homes. Each has its merit and after witnessing the movie as a whole, provides priceless insight into the making of the action fest.

For action movie fans, the documentary Deconstructing the Black Hawk Experience is not to be missed. After seeing the Black Hawk scene in the movie, Movie Fanatic guarantees you will be wondering, “How did they do that?” Well, now you know!

It seems like a week can’t go by without some sort of news when it comes to the Man of Steel sequel. Since Zack Snyder hit the Comic-Con stage to announce that the Man of Steel sequel would include Batman, fans have been abuzz as to who would play the Caped Crusader.

Since Christian Bale stressed he’s done with Batman, many names have popped to the forefront, not the least of which are Josh Brolin and Ryan Gosling.

A new name came through the world yesterday, and he’s a star of not one, but two franchises already: Lord of the Rings and Pirates of the Caribbean. We’re not sure what kind of Batman Orlando Bloom would make, but he is seriously in the running. According to studio insiders, his reps have met with Snyder, and Bloom is in the mix.

Also, according to sources inside Warner Bros… Bale is considering coming back. Some have him being offered as much as $50 million to don the batsuit once again.

This is getting seriously complicated. Not to go legalese on you, but technically Bale said he was done with The Dark Knight world. He said nothing in terms of playing Batman in someone else’s sandbox!

We’ve added another name to our poll that allows you to vote for who should be Batman in Superman versus Batman, and ultimately The Justice League movie… Bloom.

Vote now! And while you're at it... Who should play Lex Luthor? 

In Paranoia, Harrison Ford portrays an executive at a tech company and upon researching for the role, the legendary actor found something a little disturbing.

“One of the things that the film talks about which to me is the most interesting, because I’d always presumed there was no such thing as privacy, is that if you offer people something or create a perceived need or value in a service that you offer, people will forget about it,” Ford said.

“They will want that newest wrinkle in technology and will give up freedoms and personal privacy in order to have it. And that’s the nature of marketing for these kinds of devices.”

Previewed in the Paranoia trailer, the film follows Liam Hemsworth, who is trying to get a full time job at Gary Oldman’s tech company. He impresses Oldman so much, that the executive orchestrates it so Hemsworth will work for rival Ford’s organization and spy on them for Oldman. Before long, Hemsworth can't decode which side of the coin he is on, and which side of the ethic's line he has crossed.

It is a fiercely competitive world that operates in Paranoia, and Ford found it about as different from his thespian world as one could be. One of the best movie quotes in the entire movie is when Ford’s character says, “Competition breeds innovation.” The actor adored the line, but admitted he could not bring that mentality into his line of work.

“The character’s perceptions about competition creating innovation are appropriate to the story that we’re telling and the world that he lives in. But you asked me something about acting, and that phrase doesn’t apply,” Ford said. “Acting is not about competing. Acting is about cooperating. Acting is about collaboration. It’s about your utility, your usefulness, your capacity to add to the work that has already been done and will be done. You’re just part of a team. I never feel competitive about acting.”

Proof of that camaraderie spirit of acting, is how overjoyed Ford was to reteam with Oldman, who he worked with on Air Force One, featuring Ford as one of our Top 10 Movie Presidents.

“When I knew that he was attached to this film, it was a big part of the draw. I had enjoyed very much working with him in Air Force One and I was looking forward to the opportunity to work with him again,” Ford said. “He’s fun. You never know what he’s going to do and what he’s going to look like or who he’s going to be. I enjoyed it.”

Ford’s character makes his appearance midway through the first act of Paranoia. Before he graces the screen, the audience already has an opinion on the character from the way Oldman and Hemsworth have talked about him. Ford relished the opportunity to buck expectations when he first waltzes into the action.

“For me, a character is made up out of those things that help tell a story and my own experience which helps me string it all together. This is a character that’s preceded in his appearance onscreen by a body of opinion about him -- who he is, what he is, how he’s behaved in the past. I wanted my first appearance onscreen to complicate that,” Ford said.

Ford, soon to be seen in Ender’s Game, found his Paranoia director game for whatever he brought to the table. “Robert (Luketic) was wonderfully collaborative about things like that. When I showed up with a shaved head, he was okay with that. When I said I wanted to wear blue jeans and a T-shirt to my fancy house backyard party, he was OK with that,” Ford reported.

“Those are the kind of things which I use to help describe a complicated character. The guy’s bad to the bone, but there’s no fun in seeing that presented that way. I thought there were interesting opportunities in the construction of the script and the sophistication of the filmmakers that would allow me to create a character different to what I’ve played before.”

Since the world of Paranoia centers heavily in the highly competitive world of the tech set, we wondered where on the scale from ignorant to obsessed he sits when it comes to technology.

“That’s a wonder in which I have developed some capacity because that’s something I want to do. But, I don’t want to be a slave to electronic devices. I don’t want to be connected to my friends. I don’t want to send snapshots of my dog and cute pictures of my family life to my friends and family,” Ford said.

He then “poked” fun at Facebook. “I don’t want to be liked, by pushing a button [laughs]. I don’t really use it for very much. I like books. I don’t like to read things on the internet. I don’t have much of a connection to it.”

The X-Men Twitter feed has given us a look inside the “mind” of the evil machines at the heart of X-Men: Days of Future Past. Movie Fanatic has gotten our hands on a blueprint for a Sentinel from the film’s Trask Industries.

Trask Industries is the make-believe company at the heart of the sequel to X-Men: First Class. The establishment has been making the robots that are charged with one thing: Hunting down mutants. Of course our favorite X-Men heroes find that a little threatening. The old phrase “know thine enemy” certainly appears to be coming into play here. The gang, including old and new X-Men characters that will cross through time to fight this evil together, need anything they can get to aid in their fight.

Having this blueprint is clearly a start!

When Movie Fanatic saw the entireX-Men: Days of Future Past cast at Comic-Con it only increased our excitement for this Bryan Singer film. And his tweets from the set have been coming at fans with rapid fire. His Jennifer Lawrence in full makeup photo even became an internet sensation.

Want to know more about Trask Industries… we just happen to have their mission statement:

In 1973, Trask Industries introduced the first Sentinel production model, the Mark I. Bolivar Trask’s groundbreaking research in AI, robotics and autonomous ballistic systems laid the foundation for the world's most capable anti-mutant defense system. Since the program's inception, we’ve continued to advance our founder's cause through eight additional generational upgrades and enhancements.

As we celebrate five decades of achievement, we also bid farewell to regular production of the Mark I and shift our efforts to full-time manufacturing of the Mark X -- our first complete overhaul of the Sentinel line. These highly anticipated units will combine next-generation nanotechnology and bio-weapon breakthroughs, promising an even brighter future for the human race.

X-Men: Days of Future Past hits theaters May 23, 2014, and time cannot move fast enough. 

As seen in the Austenland trailer, Keri Russell portrays Jane… and Jane wants nothing more than to live in the world of her favorite author. Jane Austen, in fact, is much more than a writer to Russell’s character. She crafted a world that she would love to live in and has actually built her life around it.

So, we asked Russell, in our exclusive video interview, what time period would she most want to visit?

“I’ve always been drawn to the era of cowboys and big space, although I do like the comforts of hot water and a lavender oil bath,” she said and laughed.

Keri Russell Exclusive Interview

Russell has a front row seat to the world of Austen in Austenland and can give us an expert opinion into why, after hundreds of years, the British author is still so wildly popular.

“The thing that I gather is those books and stories, they have a man that could see you as a woman or a partner for your mind -- outside of class and clothes, someone who is watching the inner workings of how you tick and how your mind works. There’s this slow burn of courting, and I think people still like that.” 

Vin Diesel announced he is Groot in Guardians of the Galaxy and although we were surprised he wasn’t in The Avengers 2, in hindsight it makes perfect sense. When Diesel met with Marvel over a month ago, he posed next to a classic Avengers comic book and that led the world to believe he was joining the superhero conglomerate. That turned out to be partially true -- he was joining a superhero group, it was just Guardians of the Galaxy.

Diesel spoke to the Los Angeles Times recently and told them how he made his decision. "I’m an actor. Not everything has to be the most obvious choice. And sometimes, the best thing you can do -- as far as Steven Spielberg and his advice -- is to defy expectations,” Diesel said.

The actor, who will be seen in Riddick next month, enjoyed the process of surprising everyone. “So if everybody thinks you’re going to go for this one thing and you flip it entirely and go for the strangest Marvel character, it’s interesting. And when something is interesting, it’s inspiring.”

He then went on to admit that it was extremely difficult to go to Comic-Con last month and not tell everyone, given that the audience there would have been the most obvious to welcome the news.

“I have been secretive about this. I went to Comic-Con and I got blasted while I was on the Hall H panel for Riddick,” Diesel said. “Someone asked a Marvel question. I couldn’t say anything because of that secrecy."

That must have taken a whole lot of control to bite his tongue, given that Diesel is more than open about everything he does... he who put those pics of Riddick on his Facebook page while he was shooting!

Guardians of the Galaxy is currently shooting with Benicio del Toro, Zoe Saldana and Chris Pratt as the group’s leader. It lands in theaters August 1, 2014.

The first official image from Grudge Match has been released and it features the most unlikely of pairings. Sylvester Stallone and Robert De Niro star in the film about two former boxers who… well, to say they don’t get along is an understatement.

De Niro and Stallone play Billy “The Kid” McDonnen and Henry “Razor” Sharp. They are Pittsburgh fighters that were rivals of the most serious kind. In 1983, the two were about to embark in a battle for the ages when Razor quit boxing, completely out of the blue. Each had won a previous fight against the other and fans were left wondering who would have won the third and come out on top of the rivalry.

The movie picks up 30 years later when a boxing promoter gets an idea to reunite these two in the ring to decide once and for all who is the better battler. The two don’t get to the ring before they come to fisticuffs in a street fight that is captured on video and goes viral. Now, the world is truly interested in this rematch, and the two fighters and that promoter are seeing nothing but dollar signs.

Grudge Match also stars Kevin Hart, Alan Arkin and Kim Basinger. The film lands on Christmas Day. Merry Christmas indeed, as that is one crowded holiday for movies. Saving Mr. Banks, Jack Ryan, Keanu Reeves' 47 Ronin, American Hustle and The Secret Life of Walter Mitty all arrive that day... with Anchorman 2 landing in theaters five days earlier. 

Hot on the heels of yesterday’s Iron Man 3 Mandarin deleted scene, we now have a gag reel from Marvel from the blockbuster from early summer. It features (mostly) Robert Downey Jr. cracking himself up. Given that the actor sends us into fits of hilarity, it only seems right that he would make himself laugh as well!

Iron Man 3 Gag Reel

The Iron Man 3 DVD and Blu-Ray release is still a month away -- it’s due on September 24 -- but it appears Marvel is pulling out all the stops to get fans excited for the release. Let’s say… it’s working!

As the Iron Man 3 DVD and Blu-Ray release inches ever closer, Marvel has been pulling out all the stops promoting its September 24 arrival. We’ve seen the Iron Man 3 gag reel that will be one of the home video’s extras and now we get another hilarious look at the Hollywood A-listers having a ball making the superhero film.

This time out, we get Ben Kingsley as The Mandarin. Warning: If you haven’t seen the movie yet, the following video is a spoiler.

Iron Man 3 Deleted Scene: Mandarin's Accents

It features Kingsley, the Oscar winner, wielding his international accent arsenal with ease… all at the request of Don Cheadle. The below clip is a nice addition to the Mandarin deleted scene we posted earlier this week.

Stay tuned as we’re sure this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to bonus features we’ll be able to check out before Iron Man 3 comes home in early fall.

The Denis Villeneuve-helmed missing child thriller Prisoners has released its latest trailer and it is intense. With the title of “Every Second Counts,” the spot truly sets the stage for our exciting thriller. Hugh Jackman and Terrence Howard’s daughters were out playing together when they were taken. As the trailer says, the cops have 168 hours to find them. The clock starts now…

Prisoners Extended Trailer

Jake Gyllenhaal portrays the detective in charge of the case and Paul Dano is a mysterious man who may or may not know where those little girls can be found. If the first Prisoners trailer was electric, this latest one is explosive.

Prisoners lands September 20 and features a stellar cast beyond the aforementioned actors including Maria Bello, Viola Davis and Oscar winner Melissa Leo. After watching this trailer, we cannot think of a better tagline for the Prisoners poster than: What would you do?

Ashton Kutcher as Steve Jobs… when we first heard that news it just did not seem right. Well, let’s just say the film Jobs is a lesson in don’t judge a book by its cover. Kutcher is astounding as the Apple Computers founder. He captures his mannerisms (such as how much he delicately talked with his hands). Kutcher has his shuffled walk down pat. It is uncanny, but is a performance alone enough to buoy a film to greatness?

Jobs begins its biopic journey as Jobs is introducing what he promises will “change an industry.” He is debuting the iPod. Then, the film quickly flashes back to the early 1970s when the innovator was a recent dropout at Reed College. One can see how in our Ashton Kutcher interview he took away a unique perspective on Jobs’ attitude towards school. Some of the best minds of our times did not complete college, including Jobs’ rival, Bill Gates.

Jobs has a vision of bringing the bulky and inconvenient machine that is the “modern” computer into people’s homes. He has a comrade in that effort in a tech-savvy friend named Steve Wozniak (played impeccably by Josh Gad). As seen in this Jobs American Legend trailer, the duo start small, but are always thinking big.

The film does a solid job of showing the speed bumps that Jobs and Wozniak had to go through in order to achieve their dream. It’s hard to imagine now given the proliferation of computers in our homes and businesses, but the duo had to explain to potential buyers that what they were building was like a combination of “your television with a typewriter.” People just didn’t get it.

We all think we know the story of Jobs' rise, fall and rise again at Apple Computers. But, did you know, as this Jobs clip shows, how they even came up with the company’s name? It’s moments like that that make Jobs a fascinating movie. It’s also a compelling study in human nature as honestly, the man does not necessarily come off like the nicest guy in the world. He ruled his business with not necessarily an iron fist, but with a firm handle on what he felt the future should be, oftentimes clashing with his board of directors.

Our Jobs review finds it an interesting biopic to say the least. It unfortunately does not have a whole lot of innovation shown, when they are portraying the life of one of history’s great innovators. We are to take at face value what happened to the man over his esteemed life and career, without truly delving into the nitty gritty of what makes him tick.

Kutcher does an incredible job as Jobs, and Gad does even more in the supporting role. Jobs is a must-see film, simply because the man is our times’ Thomas Edison. We just wish, and this is my pet peeve with biopics, that it went deeper. We rarely get remakes of biopics, so there is only one chance to get it right. Jobs does a solid job, it just fails to hit a home run. 

The rumors had been flying that many Hollywood A-list actors were dying to play disgraced sports hero Lance Armstrong in the upcoming biopic. One of those whose name had been mentioned repeatedly has actually taken the part -- Bradley Cooper.

And we finally have a name for the film that chronicles how one man went from inspiration to humiliation and that is Red Blooded American. Not sure I like that, but that’s neither here nor there.

Director Jay Roach is helming the project, and although the director of such comedies as the Meet the Parents films and Austin Powers movies may seem like an odd choice, it actually is spot-on. Roach helmed the Emmy-winning HBO dramas Recount (about the 2000 presidential election) and Game Change (following Sarah Palin’s rise and fall). 

In Austenland, Keri Russell has had her life essentially ruled by the world of Jane Austen. Since high school, shown in a hilarious flashback, Russell’s Jane (ironic name, no?) has adored and treasured every word in the iconic British author’s books. As seen in the Austenland trailer, she even has a life size cardboard cutout of Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy from Pride and Prejudice.

Although her best friend since high school is supportive, she finds Jane’s bedroom -- which is decked out in all things Austen -- a bit much. She honestly believes her BFF needs to lose a bit of the Austen love and try to live in the now. When Jane hears of an establishment in England that allows tourists to live as a Jane Austen heroine for a week, she leaps at the chance. Her friend actually doesn’t try to talk her out of it, thinking the week living as one would in the 1800's could finally break the spell the UK literary icon has over her.

Russell’s Jane heads to the UK, yes, in full garb of the era. Waiting for their “carriage” at the London airport, she meets Jennifer Coolidge’s Miss Elizabeth Charming (that’s her Austenland name). Coolidge immediately establishes that she will be the scene stealer in this film, as she honestly is every time out. Watching her trying to speak with a British accent using colloquialisms of the day is utter hilarity.

Austenland is meant to be a comedy and uses Coolidge wisely. But, it also has a stellar star in Russell. She is game to lose herself in the role of a woman longing for another time, who simply is -- if she’s being honest with herself -- just lost in her own skin and it has nothing to do with era.

Once at Austenland, there are all sorts of characters that entertain. Jane Seymour has a ball portraying the woman who runs the facility who has a passion for Austen, but is more likely a capitalist at heart more than an Austen-ite. And then there’s the man who is supposed to be the Mr. Darcy of “Camp Austen.” J.J. Feild is Mr. Henry Nobley. He’s an actor who would rather be anywhere but in Austenland. But, he nails the Darcy characteristics impeccably.

But the star of Austenland has to be Flight of the Concords veteran and Oscar-winning songwriter for The Muppets, Bret McKenzie. His stable boy is the one who Jane finds herself drawn to. Wait! She’s supposed to be there to find her Mr. Darcy… after all, Seymour’s character has guaranteed her guests will find love by the time of the huge ball that closes out their week of Austen enchantment.

Our Austenland review finds that the film is funny, charming, but mostly geared towards fans who themselves would like to visit an Austenland should it exist. There are a lot of inside jokes geared towards the pages of the famed author and fans most likely are the only ones who will get them.

It’s a fun journey through time and the pages of a great writer, but in the end, only those who treasure the famed author’s prose will treasure it. Then again, that is exactly what director Jerusha Hess most likely had in mind. 

Ever the funnyman, Seth MacFarlane has taken to Twitter to announce he has a release date for his follow-up to the insanely funny Ted.

“RT @JohnnyMctardo: @SethMacFarlane when is Ted 2? // We're aiming for a 2015 Passover release date,” MacFarlane said to the delight of the millions who adored Mark Wahlberg and that cute, but foul-mouthed, little teddy bear.

Who releases a movie for "Passover"... MacFarlane, that's who!

Movie Fanatic could not be more thrilled. Ted was one of our Top 10 Comedies of 2012 and we feel this is one of those rare comedies that actually warrants a sequel.

MacFarlane is a busy guy. He’s got Family Guy and American Dad coming back in the fall, and he is currently filming the Western A Million Ways to Die in the West which features the former Oscar host with Charlize Theron, Amanda Seyfried, Liam Neeson and Giovanni Ribisi. We could say that everyone loves Ted and that’s why we’re getting a sequel, but in all honesty, everyone loves MacFarlane, judging by that cast and all the good fortune that has come the funnyman’s way of late. 

This is the busiest weekend of the summer so far, and that is saying something. There are five, yes five, new films hitting screens this mid-August weekend. We've got Ashton Kutcher playing Jobs, the sequel Kick-Ass 2, Lee Daniels' The Butler making history, Harrison Ford experiencing Paranoia, and Keri Russell visiting Austenland. This is one crowded scene at the Cinemaplex!

Kick-Ass 2: When the first Kick-Ass hit theaters, it was a modest success. But it became a true sensation with its home video release and thus... we have a second film. The sequel finds Kick-Ass hanging up his hero costume while Hit Girl is still hitting the streets fighting crime. They end up switching places when Kick-Ass returns, inspired by Colonel Stars and Stripes (Jim Carrey) and others who have picked up the vigilante mantle. Meanwhile, Hit Girl "retires" at her stepfather's request. The problem with the film, our Kick-Ass 2 review stated, is that it is just not as much fun as the first. It's still a good time, just not a great time.

Kick-Ass 2 Red Band Trailer

Paranoia: Ford reteams with Gary Oldman (after Air Force One), but this film is truly Liam Hemsworth's. The young actor portrays an up-and-coming businessman with a vision for the future. When he is asked to spy on Ford by Oldman, things get complicated. The film is based on a wildly thrilling book, but much of those thrills fail to make it to the big screen. As our Paranoia review reported, the power of Ford and Oldman is not quite enough. 

Paranoia Trailer

The Butler: Forest Whitaker stars as the titular character, based on the real-life man who served as the butler for seven presidents. Whitaker astounds, as does Oprah Winfrey as his wife. And frankly, the cast as a whole delivers in this tale of the modern civil rights effort and the change that followed. There should be plenty of Oscar nominations to go around for this instant classic. How director Lee Daniels weaves a half century of progress in two hours is a marvel. For more, check out our The Butler review.

The Butler Faith Trailer

Jobs: Apple Computer founder Steve Jobs gets the biopic treatment with Ashton Kutcher playing the visionary. Surprisingly, Kutcher astounds and manages to capture all of the man's nuances and brilliance. Josh Gad is equally as good as Jobs' partner, Steve Wozniak. The film is fascinating in that you feel that you are watching a modern Thomas Edison do his thing. The only problem, our Jobs review stated, is that it fails to show a whole lot of innovation for a man who was such an innovator. 

Jobs Trailer

Austenland: Keri Russell stars as a woman obsessed with the world found on the pages of Jane Austen's books. When she discovers there's a place in England where she can spend a week living as the Austen heroines did, she leaps at the chance. Jennifer Coolidge provides the humor and Jane Seymour provides the mettle in this comedy that should more than please fans of the iconic author's work. Our Austenland review believes though, that only Austen fans will enjoy it.

Austenland Trailer

Dwayne Johnson has shown us his Hercules set and costume via Twitter, and his Hercules helmet, also via the social networking site, and now he’s taken to sharing video. Johnson stars as the titular character in Brett Ratner’s epic tale and Johnson now has gone to Instagram to share a video of him filming a scene… and then playing a joke on the prop supervisor.

Dwayne Johnson Hercules Set Video

At this rate, Johnson may be the one releasing the film’s first official stills and trailer for the movie that is due July 25, 2014. 

Paranoia star Lucas Till’s character, in many ways, holds the key to the entire thriller not coming off the rails and completely ruining the life of Liam Hemsworth’s character. He portrays the computer whiz kid who knows the technology of the phone business, inside and out. The film, check out our Paranoia review, is out now and Till phoned Movie Fanatic for an exclusive chat.

We talked about the finer points of lead Hemsworth, who he says could be a movie star by just standing there and “looking good.” Till also lets us in on how appearing in Paranoia will make his mom and aunt happy, and where he is in the shooting process of X-Men: Days of Future Past.

Movie Fanatic: You and Liam Hemsworth had such a great chemistry, we need a spin-off movie with you two...

Lucas Till: That would be awesome!

Movie Fanatic: What was so great about him as a volley partner?

Lucas Till: He's such a super nice, super chill guy. All Australians are [laughs]. He’s not like some D-bag who doesn’t want to be there or work through a scene. He’s there and open to whatever it is that you’re doing. I talk a lot when I’m nervous [laughs], which helped me playing Kevin. And he likes to be chill and quiet. He’s just a big stud who stands there and looks good.

Movie Fanatic: This movie, it's scary how timely it is with the NSA cell phone tapping news. When you first read the script, what spoke to you the most?

Lucas Till: I could find a relatable nature in a cockroach. But, with Paranoia -- first and foremost -- it was the cast. I looked at the cast and was like, “Whoa, I get to be a part of this.” I had just seen Limitless, and I wanted to be part of a movie like that -- ones that have a sense of impending doom. That’s one of the best parts of Paranoia. It’s so relevant with what is going on with technology in our time. I can’t go anywhere without everyone knowing where I am. If you have your phone set to notify Facebook about your location, people can follow you everywhere. What does that say about people who want to know where you are? That seems like it’s easy as breathing to get access to that. It’s dangerous. There is no privacy anymore. At what point does our privacy outweigh our security and vice versa? 

Movie Fanatic: Robert, your director, has such a firm command of the material that was evident from the very first Paranoia trailer. He was thrilled to get away from romantic comedies to the genre that you’re talking about -- thriller. Could you tell that he had this joy of working in a subject matter that was so different than the romantic comedies he had done before?

Lucas Till: I didn’t have to audition, so I automatically liked him a lot [laughs]. He also was open to improvising, doing whatever I wanted. Overall, he just makes it look easy. I had just seen 21, so I knew what he could do with this type of story. But also, I have a mom and an aunt who have seen Legally Blonde like a thousand times. So, I knew that would make them happy.

Movie Fanatic: What do you look for in a role and a part… how do you say, “yes?”

Lucas Till: Sometimes it’s as simple as, “You’re shooting in Ireland? I’m in! It’s a prison rape movie… whatever!” [Laughs] Timing is important and if I get a feeling about something, I’m game.

Movie Fanatic: Can you tell us much about X-Men: Days of Future Past?

Lucas Till: No, I think Bryan Singer would kill me [laughs].

Movie Fanatic: How’d you get time off to talk about Paranoia?

Lucas Till: I’ve been in and out shooting X-Men. I’m pretty sure I’m done shooting. 

Pixar has announced plans for Monsters University DVD and Blu-Ray and its release date could not be more perfect. Just before Halloween, Monsters University will debut on October 29, packed with the usual bounty of brilliance from the studio that brought us so much home video excellence.

As we lauded in our Monsters University review, John Goodman and Billy Crystal are back and better than ever as Sulley and Mike. This time out though, we go back in time before they were the toast of the world of Monsters, Inc.

We meet Goodman and Crystal as college freshman at the titular school and things don’t go quite as easy as you would expect. Sulley has dreamed of attending the university since he was a little monster and Mike enters the school with an air of inheritance, since his father -- we learn -- was an all-star scarer.

In this Monsters University clip, we see where Mike first meet Sulley. See, the two weren’t always BFFs. In fact, they had more differences than similarities and that is part of the joy of the film. How do these two go from strangers to some of the best scarers in the biz.

Disney Pixar will release the film in Digital HD and Digital HD 3D a littler earlier, October 8, with the regular DVD and Blu-Ray landing on the aforementioned date.

A preliminary list of the extras is below and it, from the outset, looks like Pixar has done it again by making the home video release of one of their esteemed titles a must-own.

Monster’s University Blu-ray and Digital Bonus Features:

• Campus Life
• Story School
• Scare Games
• Scare Tactics
• Color and Light
• Paths to Pixar -- MU Edition
• Furry Monsters: A Technical Retrospective
• Deleted Scenes
• Audio Commentary
• Promo Picks
• College Campaign
• Theatrical Campaign
• Set Flythroughs
• Art Gallery

…and we’ve been told by Pixar there will be “much more” to come as the release date gets closer.

Oh, and we cannot report on this Blu-Ray and DVD release without mentioning that the stellar short film Blue Umbrella, that played before the theatrical release of Monsters University, will also be featured on the home video release. 

Lee Daniels’ The Butler, starring Forest Whitaker and Oprah Winfrey, scored a huge victory in one of the last weekends of the busy summer movie season. The true story, that in our The Butler review we called a must-see movie, was up against some stiff competition this weekend as more movies opened this past Friday than in any other weekend this summer.

Not faring so well was another new release, Kick-Ass 2. The sequel to Kick-Ass didn’t really kick too much butt and landed in fourth place with $13.57 million… just barely finishing behind the third place film, Elysium.

Coming in second and pulling in strong numbers for its second week in release was the Jennifer Aniston-starring We’re the Millers. That film banked $17.8 million, bringing its total to $69.5 million. Closing out the top five was the Disney hit Planes. Despite never topping the box office and barely making it into the top five two weeks in a row, the Cars spin-off has earned a total of $45 million in two weeks.

Another new film to debut, the Steve Jobs biopic Jobs landed in seventh place with $6.7 million. And nowhere on this list and totally disappointing is Paranoia. The Harrison Ford-starring thriller made a paltry $3 million. 

Weekend box office:
1. The Butler, $25 million
2. We’re the Millers, $17.8 million
3. Elysium, $13.6 million
4. Kick-Ass 2, $13.57 million
5. Planes, $13.1 million
6. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, $8.4 million
7. Jobs, $6.7 million
8. 2 Guns, $5.6 million
9. The Smurfs 2, $4.6 million
10. The Wolverine, $4.4 million

A new The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug poster and photo has landed, courtesy of the all-things Lord of the Rings website, theonering.net. The photo below should be familiar to anyone who adores the books. The moment I saw it, mentally I went right there… speaking volumes about J.R.R. Tolkien’s prose. It’s the chapter entitled Barrels out of Bond!

Also released was a brand new poster for The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. One look and this photo should be easy to place as well. That image of Bilbo is seen via a reflection from the titular dragon's eye. Want to see a tad more of that evil dragon… check out the latest The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug trailer and wait until the ending!

With his last Peter Jackson video blog, the filmmaker also has given us some insight as to what to expect from the film landing December 13 and all we have to say from what we’ve seen so far is… wow!