Sure, Evangeline Lilly as Tauriel is a character whose addition was added to J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit world for the film The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. But, from what we’ve seen so far, we can’t wait to see the Elven warrior in action when the latest Peter Jackson movie lands December 13.

Warner Bros. must know they are on to something with Lilly’s role as they have released a Tauriel centric trailer for the second chapter in The Hobbit trilogy.

The Hobbit The Desolation of Smaug Tauriel Trailer

Tauriel may not have been in the book, but she is a force to be reckoned with in the film series. Don’t you just love how, moments before she is ready to fight, she asks, “You like death? Then let me give it to you!”

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug brings back Martin Freeman as Bilbo, Ian McKellen as Gandalf and Orlando Bloom as Legolas. 

Saoirse Ronan stars as Daisy and in How I Live Now, she is anything but a wallflower. Daisy is an American girl who is heading to Great Britain to stay with relatives she has never met. We don’t know why she is heading there, but one thing that is obvious is she is not thrilled about it. She is a teenager with attitude to the extreme and upon her landing, her demeanor says it all.

Daisy heads to her cousins’ countryside home and it appears as if the house is run by the children. Mom is busy with something that appears to be quite important and we don’t even meet her until almost a half hour into the movie. Television screens hint at disruption that appears to be consuming the European continent and mom is key to keeping it at a distance. But when that fails. Mom heads off to the continent and the kids are left to run the farm.

Almost immediately the horrors of war invade. Yet in Kevin MacDonald’s film, the explosions and battles are always at a distance. It’s also hard to tell who the “good” guys are and who the “bad” guys are. In that way, the film is an absolute stunner. You feel the terror, but it is never in your face. The means with which it is so scary is told solely through our characters and Daisy is front and center.

She cannot understand what is happening, and frankly, neither can we. But what is clear is that even in the remote part of Great Britain where they live, they are not safe.

Meanwhile, Daisy finds love with a neighbor boy and it is through the strains of amore that the How I Live Now story is truly driven. Sure, it feels like a post apocalyptic film, but at its heart, MacDonald’s movie is a love story that speaks to the power of love when all else in the world has gone to utter hell.

Ronan continues her hot streak that truly began with her turn in Hanna. She may be rumored to be in Star Wars Episode VII and we cannot think of a better actress to anchor the next trilogy.

But, back to How I Live Now. In this film, the young Irish actress shows why she is in such high demand. What she emits, often times simply through her face alone, is pure power.

Our How I Live Now review finds that this film is a pure showcase for an actresses' talents that, almost scarily, are only in its infancy. 

As Fifty Shades of Grey production begins shooting December 2, some last minute casting news has emerged. The role of Anastasia Steele’s best friend Kate Kavanagh has gone to Eloise Mumford. Dakota Johnson is Anastasia and Kavanagh is also the character’s roommate.

Jamie Dornan is Christian Grey, who famously stepped in for Charlie Hunnam who quit.

Mumford is best known for her role in the short lived ABC series The River and will be seen in the upcoming Not Safe for Work.

The Fifty Shades of Grey release date is now February 14, 2015, bumped from its place in 2014.

The international trailer for Paranormal Activity: The Marked Ones has landed online and its subtitle says it all: This is not a gift!

Paranormal Activity The Marked Ones International Teaser

The fifth in the Paranormal Activity series has a Latino cast, and is paying tribute to the audience that has made the franchise a global blockbuster. The film lands January 3, 2014 and is one of two Paranormal Activity movies landing in 2014. The second will be Paranormal Activity 5. 

Vin Diesel has announced that he is headlining a movie version of the classic TV series Kojak. And in his dreams, the Fast and Furious 7 star wants Oscar-winning director Ang Lee (for Life of Pi) to helm.

Lee has talked about wanting to work with the action star, and given Lee’s penchant for keeping us guessing (The Hulk movie?), we think that this is all but a done deal. The answer to a fan’s question of Diesel on his Facebook page about what he would be doing next should tell us all we need to know.

“Kojak… New York… Ang Lee.” Well, there you have it.

There’s some good pedigree associated with the project as Skyfall writers Neal Purvis and Robert Wade are behind the script.

So, Kojak is making the leap to the big screen. Check out our Top 10 TV Shows That Should Be Movies! 

A viral video from the world of X-Men: Days of Future Past has emerged, via a website called The Bent Bullet, which claims it has solved the 50-year-old mystery surrounding the death of President John F. Kennedy.

Substituting the “bent bullet” theory for the magic bullet theory, the “uncovered” evidence suggests that none other than Magneto was present on that November day in 1963, and that it was him who changed the direction of Lee Harvey Oswald’s second shot, the one that murdered Kennedy.

Did Magneto Kill Kennedy?

The threat to mutants and their way of life was teased in X-Men: First Class, and it appears to be getting serious from the looks of the X-Men: Days of Future Past trailer. So, we must give it to the people behind the franchise who are incorporating some fascinating real-life elements into their story, a la the video above!

X-Men: Days of Future Past hits theaters May 23, 2014 and brings back pretty much everyone who was ever involved in an X-Men movie including Patrick Stewart, Ian McKellen, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Anna Paquin, Ellen Page and Halle Berry.

The second trailer for Hercules: The Legend Begins has arrived and it sure does give us much more of a feel in terms of what to expect than that first Hercules: The Legend Begins trailer.

Kellan Lutz is the title character, and the movie is clearly an origins story as the audience learns of how Hercules went from man of comfort to slave to man who would rise up and lead a rebellion.

Hercules: The Legend Begins Movie Trailer

Hercules: The Legend Begins is directed by Renny Harlin (Die Hard 2) and also stars Scott Adkins, Liam Garrigan, Johnathon Schaech and Liam McIntyre.

Lutz’s Hercules story hits theaters January 10, 2014.

The first two clips from Anchorman 2 have landed and they have done nothing but increase our excitement for the sequel to Anchorman. The first clip features the Action News Team getting a tour of their new Global News Network offices, and among the people Ron Burgundy meets first is James Marsden’s anchor. Clearly… these two are going to hit it off.

Anchorman 2 Clip: Is That What I Sound Like

The second clip features a Richard Branson-type mogul who is the owner of the Global News Network. We meet him as he is addressing the troops for a pep talk that has everyone in the room, and especially Ron Burgundy, a little lost when it comes to what he is actually saying.

Anchorman 2 Clip: Don't Speak Australian

Will Ferrell is back as Burgundy, and Steve Carell, David Koechner and Paul Rudd are also returning. Joining the comic fray are three people who got their own Anchorman 2 character posters yesterday: Marsden, Kristen Wiig and Meagan Good.

Look for the laughs when Anchorman 2 premieres December 20. 

The Independent Spirit Awards nominations were announced and two pictures rose above all others to the surprise of absolutely no one as they were both so deservedly honored. 12 Years a Slave scored seven nods while Nebraska cleaned up with six in the annual event that salutes filmmakers with an independent streak. Also getting major props is Dallas Buyers Club, with nods for Matthew McConaughey and Jared Leto.

The awards will be given away the night before the Oscars in one of the most laid back award ceremonies of the entire season. The event takes place on the beach in Santa Monica!

Here are the nominees:

Best Feature

12 Years a Slave
All Is Lost
Francis Ha
Inside Llewyn Davis
Nebraska

Best Director

Shane Carruth, Upstream Color
J.C. Chandor; All Is Lost
Steve McQueen, 12 Years a Slave
Jeff Nichols, Mud
Alexander Payne, Nebraska

Best Screenplay

Woody Allen, Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Ethan Hawke & Richard Linklater,  Before Midnight
Nicole Holofcener Enough Said
Scott Neustadter & Michael H. Weber, The Spectacular Now
John Ridley, 12 Years a Slave

Best First Feature

Blue Caprice
Concussion
Fruitvale Station
Wadjda, Director

Best First Screenplay

Lake Bell, In A World
Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Don Jon
Bob Nelson, Nebraska
Jill Soloway, Afternoon Delight
Michael Starrbury, The Inevitable Defeat of Mister and Pete

Best Female Lead

Cate Blanchett, Blue Jasmine
Julie Delpy, Before Midnight
Gaby Hoffmann, Crystal Fairy
Brie Larson, Short Term 12
Shailene Woodley, The Spectacular Now

Best Male Lead

Bruce Dern, Nebraska
Chiwetel Ejiofor, 12 Years a Slave
Oscar Isaac, Inside Llewyn Davis
Michael B. Jordan, Fruitvale Station
Matthew McConaughey, Dallas Buyers Club
Robert Redford, All Is Lost

Best Supporting Female

Melonie Diaz, Fruitvale Station
Sally Hawkins, Blue Jasmine
Lupita Nyong’o, 12 Years a Slave
Yolonda Ross, Go For Sisters
June Squibb, Nebraska

Best Supporting Male

Michael Fassbender, 12 Years a Slave
Will Forte, Nebraska
James Gandolfini, Enough Said
Jared Leto, Dallas Buyers Club
Keith Stanfield, Short Term 12

Best Cinematography

Sean Bobbitt, 12 Years a Slave
Benoit Debie, Spring Breakers
Bruno Delbonnel, Inside Llewyn Davis
Frank G. DeMarco, All Is Lost
Matthias Grunsky, Computer Chess

Best Documentary

20 Feet From Stardom
After Tiller
Gideon’s Army
The Act of Killing
The Square

Best International Film

A Touch of Sin, China
Blue is the Warmest Color, France
The Great Beauty, Italy
The Hunt, Denmark

Just a day after it was officially announced that Elizabeth Olsen and Aaron Taylor-Johnson had been cast as Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver in Avengers: Age of Ultron, Olsen is talking about her absolute excitement over tackling the role.

If you know anything about Olsen’s career, she has an affinity for characters who -- how can we say this? -- have a few issues of the mental sort. Her turn in Martha Marcy May Marlene sure shows that. It seems that once she dove into the world of Scarlet Witch, she found that that character isn’t exactly stable either!

"I just love Scarlet Witch. I love her. It's so funny because I'm often talking about all these psychologically damaged people, but when you talk about Scarlet Witch... she is a messed up lady,” Olsen said to Moviefone.

“She has got more (expletive) to deal with than anybody else I know. I'm excited to figure out what's appropriate to use for her, because there's so much material from all of these decades, and we're going to tell this one story. So to be able to choose what you're going to bring into it from all of this abundance, it's really fun."

Olsen visited with Joss Whedon and clearly the two hit it off. “I hung out with Mr. Whedon recently. I'm really excited about this movie,” Olsen admitted.

“I'm so excited about Scarlet Witch. I have had so much fun reading all about her and I am learning new words that I had to look up on Wikipedia. I'm really enjoying it.”

After the success of Red starring Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, Morgan Freeman and John Malkovich as retired former secret agents (and Mary-Louise Parker as a woman who gets sucked into their world and becomes a love interest of Willis), the fact that a sequel was green lit is hardly a surprise. Red 2 did well at the box office last summer and now storms its way home on DVD and Blu-Ray.

What makes this film tick so well, and in many ways a step up from the wild original, is the chemistry of the cast, but also the additions of Catherine Zeta-Jones and Anthony Hopkins. As we stated in our theatrical Red 2 review, the gang is back and better than ever.

TheRed 2 trailer hints at the story that would realistically bring these guys back together, and it is a serious one. Someone has gotten the inside scoop on something Malkovich and Willis did back in the 1970s and it is coming back to haunt them in a big way.

They enlist the help (or she gives it, whether or not they ask is questionable!) of Zeta-Jones’ Russian operative, and somehow Hopkins’ scientist is integral to the entire mystery being solved? Or… is he the reason for the mystery in the first place?!

The bonus features are actually quite limited, but they are effective and entertaining. The Red 2 Experience is a behind-the-scenes featurette that is all-encompassing. Some home video releases break down their making-of features into smaller pieces, but not so with Red 2, and it is actually quite nice to get it all in one shot without having to go back to the menu to select the next one!

The deleted scenes are a blast, and why wouldn’t you want to watch this superstar cast in scenes that did not make the cut of the theatrical version? The banter between Willis and Malkovich is pure gold, as is the electricity that emanates from Zeta-Jones. And to see them all in action (Hopkins too!) is pure bliss.

And given the cast’s penchant for having a funny bone, the gag reel is also a nice addition. Each performer has had great experience with comedy, so it is only natural that their blooper reel would feel as funny as if Red 2 were a comedy. 

Although Fifty Shades of Grey production is set to start next week, producers are still announcing casting. Just last week we learned that Eloise Mumford was cast as Kate Kavanagh, and today we can announce that Max Martini has been hired to play Christian Grey’s bodyguard, Jason Taylor.

In an odd mix of fate and history, we all know that Charlie Hunnam quit the production as Christian Grey, but with the casting of Martini, Fifty Shades of Grey can still report it has hired a Pacific Rim alum.

Jamie Dornan is Christian Grey, Dakota Johnson is Anastasia Steele, and Fifty Shades of Grey is looking to be the alternative romance movie when it hits theaters February 14, 2015. 

Getaway caps off what some could call the year of Ethan Hawke. The actor had a 2013 that found him in The Purge, Before Midnight and now as a former race car driver in Getaway in a race against time to try to save his kidnapped wife. Getaway lands on DVD and Blu-Ray with a bevy of bonus features that those who feel the need for speed, will thoroughly enjoy.

Although Getaway was not the best received movie in theaters (check out our Getaway review), it may also have had the misfortune of arriving at the tail end of a summer movie season where audiences were simply ready for the fine (read: Oscar bait) films that fall brings.

Hawke is joined in the adrenaline pumping film by Selena Gomez as a reluctant passenger (or is she?). See, as the Getaway trailer teases, the story follows what happens when Hawke’s character arrives home and gets a phone call that his wife has been kidnapped. He is instructed to steal a car from a nearby garage and then is forced to follow every bit of direction that comes his way. It all leads to some sort of bank heist, but we don’t want to ruin a thing for you.

For a film like this, what can improve the experience is the bonus features and Getaway does not disappoint. The cat stunt coordinators on this film have outdone themselves in every way and therefore, the Crash Cams featurette on the DVD and Blu-Ray are the most original of ideas in how to present what is going on in the actual stunt car during a filmed stunt sequence. It’s electric to say the least. And you may just get whiplash alone from simply viewing it.

In that vein, the Destroying a Custom Shelby bonus feature will show how painstaking it is to destroy a car, however nice it is, all while getting that perfect shot. See in filmmaking it is not just about the crash, it’s about the moments leading up to the crash and the actual trajectory of the car and what’s left of it and how that can be filmed. This bonus features is a fascinating look at that process.

Metal and Asphalt is also a car-centric feature that we won’t ruin at all, other than to say if you are a car movie person, it is a must see. (And so is our Top 10 Movie Car Chases!).

And for fans of Selena Gomez, the Selena Gomez: On Set feature is a fun addition. 

Idina Menzel could easily find herself on the Oscar stage next year singing what in our opinion is the best original song of the year, Let it Go. Menzel is no stranger to award-winning music as we first became familiar with her work on Broadway in the Tony Award-winning Wicked. She gained national attention with her turn on Glee, and now in Disney’s Frozen, watch out, world! Menzel is about to become a household name.

Menzel met us for an exclusive video interview in New York City, and the actress told us how she sees her character of Elsa. She is, for all intents and purposes, The Snow Queen, as the Disney film is loosely based on the classic fable. Elsa is not quite a villain in the classic Disney villain mode, but yet… she can still produce a scare or two, while still charming with that angelic singing voice! “I love how complicated she is and how she’s not stereotypical whatsoever,” Menzel said.

When her coronation is in full swing to become queen of her Nordic village, something goes wrong and her long-kept secret of being able to turn everything into snow and ice comes out. Immediately, she runs away to avoid having everything she touches get Frozen. “She’s so courageous that she is sacrificing so much of herself.”

Frozen Exclusive: Idina Menzel Talks Let it Go

Menzel also let us know when she knew that the Let it Go song would be so incredible. “I just felt so lucky. They (the songwriters) had my voice in their heads,” Menzel said. “My job was made so much easier. It’s such a song that is so anthemic and spoke so much to what I believe about embracing who we are.”  

Be sure to check our exclusive interviews with Menzel’s Frozen co-stars Josh Gad and Kristen Bell.

Quentin Tarantino went on The Tonight Show and finally let the world know what his next film will be, albeit a little coyly. “I can’t talk much about it, but I will say one thing...” Tarantino said.

“I haven’t told anyone about this publicly, but I will say the genre. It’s a Western. It’s not a Django sequel, but it’s another Western. And the thing is I had so much fun doing Django and I love Westerns so much, that after I taught myself how to make one, it’s like, 'Well OK, now let me make another one now that I know what I’m doing.'"

Given how uncannily he took to crafting the Western that was Django Unchained, we cannot imagine what he will come up with next in the genre that so badly needs a shot in the arm of creativity. And what better person to capture the essence that is the Western than a man who can wield dialogue as murderously as his characters wield their weapons?

Better get that Scotchy Scotch ready, Ron Burgundy and his Action News Team will be arriving in theaters two days earlier than expected, Paramount has announced. Instead of landing on December 20, the studio will now unveil Anchorman 2 on December 18.

The news arrives a day after we got those first Anchorman 2 clips, and perhaps it has to do with the triumphant response to them that the studio decided to alter the release date. Or maybe, just maybe, it is Hollywood giving audiences a Christmas gift a little early!

As previewed in the Anchorman 2 trailer, Ron and the gang (Paul Rudd, Steve Carell and David Koechner) are tackling the 24-hour cable news world as it is debuted to the universe. Along the way, they will have to deal with a few competitors, such as James Marsden… and Harrison Ford! 

Josh Brolin’s character has every reason to seek revenge in Oldboy. He was taken captive by a mystery man and held in a windowless room for 20 years. And he began that incarceration by learning on the small TV in his new home that he had been framed for his wife’s murder which left his daughter a virtual orphan.

The fact that Brolin’s Joe Doucett uses a hammer to extol his vengeance is incredibly apt and metaphorical for the entire feel of the Spike Lee remake of the Korean classic.

The Korean Oldboy, itself based on Japanese manga, arrived in 2003 and is largely considered a cult classic for its brute power and twist that will leave you gasping for air. Lee keeps the twist, and it is one that even had journalists at Movie Fanatic’s screening stating out loud, “Oh my God!”

But, Lee does his own thing with it and that’s absolutely for the best. Korean director Chan-wook Park is not one to try to replicate. His Oldboy is a reinterpretation… as it should be. It might not pack the same punch as the original, but it is still very much a powerful cinematic experience.

The film is a pure vehicle for Josh Brolin and he owns it. From his less than savory bloated beginnings to his metamorphosis where he emerges -- inexplicably -- from incarceration as a lean, mean fighting machine is a study in honing acting power. Once he gets out he finds himself befriended by Elizabeth Olsen’s Marie. She is intrigued by his story and does everything she can to help him.

Joe not only has revenge on the mind, trying to retrace his path from freedom to incarceration to find the people who kept him locked up all those years, but also he wants to find his daughter to let her know he is not the monster society thinks he is. All of it is a tricky endeavor, given the fact that for all intents and purposes, he is a fugitive from justice. Lee manages to weave his characters in and out of dramatic situations with a flair that only comes from a director with decades under his belt.

Olsen too is a fine addition to the ensemble as she exhibits a care and sensitivity that is almost the opposite of what Brolin exudes. And three supporting players are utterly fantastic, although we cannot say much about Samuel L. Jackson, Sharlto Copley and Michael Imperioli’s characters for fear of giving away even an inch of the power that will be the film’s twist.

What works about the film, our Oldboy review can report, is that Lee makes it his own. For fans of the original Korean film, they may be disappointed in the overall presentation. But, that’s to be expected. A cult classic is a unique fixture in the movie world. Audiences take an ownership to it and rarely do they welcome someone else’s vision of it. But for those who have not seen the Park film, Lee’s movie should be one riveting experience at the cinemas. And it’s nice to see Lee tackle something he’s never done before as he does it with the power of… a hammer!

The trailer for Constantin Films’ Tarzan has arrived and it is visually stunning, which is exactly what they were going for. The film features the performances of Kellan Lutz (recently seen in that Hercules: The Legend Begins trailer) as the title character and Spencer Locke as Jane. Each actor performed the roles in live action, wearing motion capture suits, and the result is simply gorgeous.

Tarzan Trailer

The studio does not have a release date yet for Tarzan here in the U.S. so it is listed for “sometime in 2014.” Stay tuned!

Black Nativity has certainly picked the right release date in that it arrives the day before Thanksgiving, and weeks before the Christmas holiday. It is a family movie that has it all, from soaring music to inspirational messages to a core story that is keenly about kin and how what tears us apart is pale in comparison to what can bring us all together.

Jacob Latimore is Langston, and yes, he is named after the writer who penned the play that shares the movie’s title. He lives in Baltimore with his mother (Jennifer Hudson) and things are not good. Despite working all she can, Hudson’s Naima cannot pay the rent and she is on the verge of being evicted. She decides to send her son to stay with his grandparents whom he has never met in Harlem -- Reverend Cornell Cobbs and Aretha Cobbs (Forest Whitaker and Angela Bassett).

Why has he never met them? As the film slowly lays out the reasons, the gist is that the reverend sent his teenage daughter packing when she came home pregnant, and through a series of misunderstandings and miscommunications, they have been estranged.

Langston is a study in contrasts as a character. On one hand, he is resentful towards his grandparents, and at the same time, he is drawn to them and curious as to their rich history (the reverend was mentored by Martin Luther King, Jr.). It is in Harlem that he also meets Tyson (Tyrese Gibson), a street smart pawn shop worker whom Langston too is drawn towards.

Through it all the various characters break into song, sometimes intertwining from different locales. The method, used by director Kasi Lemmons, is effective -- particularly any singing scene involving Hudson for obvious reasons. But in the middle of the film, the music simply seems to just go away and it’s as if the film cannot decide whether it wants to be a musical or a drama with music. But then in the final act, the music comes roaring back as our various dramatic storylines criss-cross towards their conclusion.

Whitaker is his usual awesome self (and is having quite a year with his work on The Butler​), and Bassett impeccably captures the power of a woman who is living with regret, all within the scope of keeping a world rich with hope. Latimore makes a solid effort, although we wish he had used the power of facial expressions more in his singing.

Our Black Nativity review also finds that the film is an impressive holiday film, but often feels like it could be a TV movie with a superstar cast and super-stellar singing. 

While Movie Fanatic reported on the bonus features that were announced for the Fast and Furious 6 DVD and Blu-Ray release of December 10, there is one we didn’t know about until we just got the hot little disc in our hands.

Those who pick up the Fast and Furious 6 home video will get the first scene from Fast and Furious 7. In case you want a clue as to what it is, check out this somber Fast and Furious 7 set photo posted by star Vin Diesel.  

Just so you know, this news is a spoiler if you haven’t seen Fast and Furious 6 yet as the post-credits scene reveals a little something that is pivotal to the first scene of Fast and Furious 7… so you are warned.

At the end of Fast and Furious 6, Jason Statham appears as the villain and promptly kills Han. That first Fast 7 scene is Han’s funeral.

Stay with Movie Fanatic for our full review of the Fast and Furious 6 DVD and Blu-Ray on December 10. Fast and Furious 7 arrives July 11, 2014 with Paul Walker returning and Kurt Russell joining the cast!