The Penguins of Madagascar are back in their first solo big screen adventure, landing November 26.

Fresh from showing off that first Penguins of Madagascar clip at Comic-Con, DreamWorks Animation has revealed the film’s second full length trailer.

In the latest Penguins of Madagascar trailer, we are even introduced to our favorite spy penguins as little ones and follow them as they grow up to become four of the world’s most “special” spies.

Penguins of Madagascar Trailer

The film features the voices of Chris Miller, Christopher Knight, Benedict Cumberbatch, Ken Jeong, Peter Stormare, John Malkovich and Tom McGrath. 

Skipper, Kowalski, Rico and Private are back in action. So stay tuned for more from one of our most anticipated movies of fall!

The Penguins of Madagascar Photos

1. The Penguins of Madagascar Poster

The poster for the highly anticipated Madagascar spin-off, Penguins of Madagascar. We got our own poster, boys!

Clearly Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn is overjoyed at the success of his Marvel movie. “It's just an amazing moment for us,” Gunn told Movie Fanatic. Guardians of the Galaxy won the box office with an astonishing $94 million in its first weekend and Gunn is quick to spread the credit around when it comes to the film’s success.

Bringing these Marvel characters to the screen was freeing for Gunn. “It was, frankly, liberating. I think I would have had a harder time trying to fit into the regular Marvel scheme of things,” Gunn admitted.

“This gave me a chance to take what I loved about Marvel movies and Marvel comics and create a whole new universe.”

When Gunn was a child, he was obsessed with the different planets in the solar system. “I used to create, for every single planet, a different alien race with a certain kind of pet and a certain kind of house,” Gunn said.

For the Guardians of the Galaxy director, making this movie was like coming full circle. “I would draw these pictures and I had hundreds of these pictures and had them in a box, and really to me this was like going back to that childhood box and creating this fun universe.”

There are many elements that made this a fantastic film. But, we have to start with the casting of Chris Pratt as Peter Quill, aka Star Lord.

“We had screen tests of at least 20 people, big stars and no names, looking for the right person because I really wanted somebody who could take it beyond what was on the page in the same way Robert Downey, Jr. did for Iron Man. And nobody blew me away,” Gunn said.

Gunn is quick to credit his casting director who kept putting Pratt in front of him. “Plenty of people were really good. Sarah Finn, our casting director, really deserves the credit for Chris because she kept putting his picture in front of me. I was like, ‘The chubby guy from Parks & Rec?’ Gunn said and laughed.

“I don't remember ever agreeing to see Chris. I just remember her saying Chris Pratt's here. I was a little mad! Then Chris came in and he started to read, and within 20 seconds I was like, ‘Holy (expletive), that's the guy.’ That's who we've been looking for.”

Emotions run high throughout the film, seen all over this Guardians of the Galaxy extended trailer. That was an integral part of whether the film would resonate, the director reported.

“The movie is about a couple of things. Number one, the movie's about a son's relationship to his mother and how it manifests itself throughout the rest of his life. That to me is an emotional thing. It's a film about family,” Gunn said.

“The second thing is we live in a world where everybody's supposed to be cool and act tough and put up fronts and everybody's so cynical and there's a cool contest on the internet who can be the most, you know, snarky and whatever. And this movie is about actually allowing yourself to care. That's a naturally emotional thing for me."

Then, there’s the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack which is technically a mix tape left to Quill by his dying mother. Gunn effortlessly intertwined the music into the action and emotion. And all the while the soundtrack was not simply an excuse to put songs in, they each played an integral role in each scene that they were featured in.

“When I started writing the script the very first thing that I thought of was this idea of the Walkman and the cassette tape was really this character's connection to his home planet of Earth. And that was the emotional center of the film,” Gunn said.

“The McGuffin of the film is this orb that everyone's chasing after -- the emotional center is this Walkman. And so it was just a natural part of the screenwriting process. All those songs that you see in the movie were all written into the film. They're all part of the screenplay.  So they were there from the ground floor up.”

And lastly, although he only says three words in the entire movie – “I am Groot” -- Gunn saluted Vin Diesel and his power adding countless layers of emotion to three simple words.

“No one will ever, ever understand from the bottom of my heart how much Vin Diesel brings to that role because I sat and watched the movie a billion times with my voice in there, my brother Sean's voice in there, and when he came in and said, ‘I am Groot,’ it really filled out that whole character and it's really quite incredible,” Gunn admitted.

“I think a lot of people have felt it through seeing the movie that Groot is this emotional character. I'm really eternally grateful for that performance and a little freaked out by it!”

17 Best Guardians of the Galaxy Quotes

I have lived most of my life surrounded by my enemies. I would be grateful to die surrounded by my friends.

Gamora

• Permalink: I have lived most of my life surrounded by my enemies. I would be grateful to die surrounded...
• Added: August 04, 2014

1. Gamora Gets Real

We love this quote -- Gamora gets mushy.

Everyone was wondering who would blink when you had two superhero movies going head-to-head on a fateful weekend on May 6, 2016. Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice moved from its original 2015 summer release date to the aforementioned 2016 date that put it on a collision course with Captain America 3.

And given the success of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, pundits were frankly surprised that DC Comics would put its Batman and Superman, pre-Justice League movie up against a Marvel movie with a proven track record. Someone had to blink.

DC Comics and Warner Bros. announced today that it was moving up Zack Snyder’s Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice movie to March 25, 2016 where it will have a little less competition in the form of Beverly Hills Cop 4.

And on a related note, Warner Bros. has announced dates for a series of yet-unnamed DC Comics movies – taking the lead on claiming these dates for their future comic book movies.

• August 5, 2016
• June 23, 2017
• November 11, 2017
• March 23, 2018
• July 27, 2018
• April 5, 2019
• June 14, 2019
• April 3, 2020
• June 19, 2020

Check out the first film in the Snyder Superman series and watch Man of Steel online. 

Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice Photos

1. Gal Gadot is Wonder Woman

Gal Gadot strikes a pose as Wonder Woman. What do you think of the look?

When it comes to memories of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, the star of the reboot -- Will Arnett -- has a few that land at the different stages of his life. “I had a younger brother who was really into the Turtles, years ago,” Arnett told Movie Fanatic.

Then, his current boys began to get into the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as toys and comics. “Right before I met for this film, my young sons organically started really getting into the Turtles.   I sensed that there was something going on. They were talking about the Turtles, and I realized they were watching the new animated Turtles on Nickelodeon.”

His boys weren’t alone. The Turtles were making a comeback that will clearly culminate in the film teased with this awesome Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer.

“And then, I started seeing their friends wear Turtles t-shirts to school.   It was pretty remarkable to see an entire new generation respond organically, and not be pushed into it,” Arnett said.

“They entirely discovered them on their own and fell in love with those characters, in the same way. I thought that was pretty remarkable. So, by the time I did meet [on the film], I was really familiar with the whole mythology.”

In Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Arnett stars as Vern, the camera man for the April O’Neill’s (Megan Fox) journalist. He clearly has a crush on her. But as she discovers the Turtles and aides in their fight to stop Shredder from killing millions in New York City, it is becomes clear that she is more interested in progressing her career. Then, of course, Michelangelo makes it clear he kind of likes her.

“It’s pretty early on in the movie that Vern makes his lame attempt at romancing April, and he gives up on it quite quickly,” Arnett said. “Then, Mikey moves in there. It’s hard to compete with a Turtle!”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is Arnett’s first true action movie, if you don’t count his animated turn as Batman that can be seen when you watch The LEGO Movie online.  

“I really enjoyed it on every level. It was certainly a departure for me,” Arnett said.

He was thankful to star with Fox, as a veteran of those Transformers movies, as she seemed pretty adept at not only the action scenes, but the green screen CG work.

“I learned a lot from Megan in the process of making this movie. Megan has done these big blockbuster movies. There’s almost a different language that you speak in these kinds of movies,” Arnett admitted.

“I remember being on set and watching one of the monitors and the camera moved in on Megan. When you see Megan in certain frames and there’s a lot going on and a lot of action, she makes you think of big summertime action blockbuster movies.  I’m just used to being a jack-ass.”

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles hits screens August 8, and in the meantime, check out the original and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles online. 

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Photos

1. Leonardo Character Poster

Leonardo is living large in his own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles poster!

We are still reeling from the awesomeness that was that Mockingjay Part 1 teaser trailer and now Lionsgate has gone and raised our heart rate. We’ve got the District 13 logo from Mockingjay Part 1 that puts a spotlight on the district that was thought to have been destroyed by The Capitol many years ago in The Hunger Games world.

We’ve also received news that President Coin has welcomed Katniss into District 13 as the headquarters for the rebellion and unveiled a new website that can be visited by heading over to District13.co.

Mockingjay Part 1 stars Jennifer Lawrence, Liam Hemsworth, Josh Hutcherson, Elizabeth Banks, Woody Harrelson, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Jeffrey Wright (who interrupted President Snow’s recent address!), Stanley Tucci, Julianne Moore and Donald Sutherland.

Look for Mockingjay Part 1 in theaters November 21 and Mockingjay Part 2 on November 20, 2015. And in the meantime, get caught up and watch Catching Fire online.

Mockingjay Photos

1. District 13 Logo

The District 13 logo is here!

Into the Storm star Sarah Wayne Callies learned a valuable lesson during her time on The Walking Dead. Callies phoned us for an exclusive chat about her disaster movie that hits theaters August 8 and shared insight she learned on the hit zombie show, as well as why her character truly resonated with her in a case of art imitating life.

Movie Fanatic: As we could even tell from the Into the Storm trailer, there has to be numerous levels of challenges that would come your way from the special effects to all various types of cameras capturing the action. What was the biggest challenge if you can even pick one?

Sarah Wayne Callies: The way we shot with all the multiple cameras working at once -- the cameras mounted on the vehicles, the cameras that the actors were holding and the professional camera crew, that was actually one of the best things about making this movie. It meant that you could do the movie almost like doing a play in the round. You just did your thing without worrying about the angles or coverage. You trust that someone would pick it up. I found it freeing.

Movie Fanatic: Then what was the biggest challenge?

Sarah Wayne Callies: Coming from television, as I do, it was very careful to track minute by minute the story that takes place in 12 hours over 10 shooting weeks. We shoot an episode of television in eight days and you work intuitively and work on the fly. That ten to twelve weeks with Into the Storm, I had to be really meticulous with that.

Movie Fanatic: One of the things that is the most striking about your character is the emotional connection to your daughter and how you have to do what you do because that is your work. One, when you read that in the script, was that a nice layer to add to your part and two, having never sharing a scene with your daughter was that difficult to tap into that emotional connection with someone you never physically meet?

Sarah Wayne Callies: You’re absolutely right, that was one of the things that I found most interesting about this character is that she’s a working mom, like I’m a working mom. Just like I experience, she feels constantly torn between achieving excellence in her career and her desire to be with her children day in and day out. The reality is I’m a breadwinner for a family of four and sometimes I have to shoot on location and I’m not there. Every working mother I know, I don’t know that there is never a moment without some level of guilt that I’m (expletive) up my career or (expletive) up my kids. It felt so honest to me. For all the different roles for women that you can find in action movies, I thought it was so worth exploring. When we shot the movie initially, my daughter never appeared onscreen. We only knew her through two phone calls. When we tested the movie, we found that the audience wanted to see this little girl. So, we went back and did some reshoots and my own daughter found out about it. She said, “I want to do it.” Well, sweetheart, I told her, there’s a way that actors get jobs in Hollywood and that’s auditioning [laughs]. So I put her on tape and we have different last names, so it was submitted anonymously and she got the part all by herself. That little girl you see on screen is mine [laughs]! It was very cool. I saw the movie for the first time last night and I was so proud of her. I’d rather she not be an actor for a living, but she did great!

Movie Fanatic: There seems like with a film like this, there would be so many balls in the air for your director, Steven Quale. I was so impressed with him. What was your take away from going Into the Storm with Steven?

Sarah Wayne Callies: Working with Steve Quale is like playing chess with Bobby Fischer. At a certain point, you just acknowledge that he’s seeing 20 moves ahead of you. The best thing you can do is take care of your part of the story. Steve’s great strength is that he understands special effects and understands organically how movies are put together from a technical perspective. One thing he understands about special effects is that they are absolutely meaningless if the audience doesn’t care about the characters that are being specially effected. That was a big lesson for me on The Walking Dead. Nobody cares about zombies unless the people that the zombies are chasing matter to them. If I anchor my character to something real, something unglamorous -- than Steve can do his magic with special effects.

Movie Fanatic: The film touches a nerve because we’re experiencing storms like never before. What do you think it is about a movie like this that people love so much, when the reality of the situation is so scary and present?

Sarah Wayne Callies: I think it’s exactly that. It’s scary to look at things head on. When we see the state of the climate and the damage that that has been causing in the last few years and the pace with things are escalating, it’s terrifying. Especially as a parent, I think really hard about where we live, and what we have in terms of preparedness. My children will be growing up in a world that is very different than the one I grew up in and might be very threatening. The great gift of entertainment is that it can be a proxy. Two things are true: One, nobody was hurt making this movie and it’s a piece of fiction. Two, this could be very, very real for a lot of people. It’s an interesting thing. We can explore our anxieties through entertainment that feels safer and yet, from an entertainment perspective, the bad guy in this movie is one of the worst bad guys out there. It’s because it’s real. You can’t kill it and you can’t fight it and win. Humans v. nature, is not a battle -- nature wins every time. 

Into the Storm Photos

1. Into the Storm Star Richard Armitage

Richard Armitage is trying to help out, but what can you do when your town is hit by tornado after tornado?!

It is no easy task to take a wildly popular video game and bring it to the big screen as Scott Waugh has done with Need for Speed.

The racing game becomes a race to the finish movie with a director whose experience as a stunt man has more than prepared him to give audiences something they’ve never seen before. And now with Need for Speed out on DVD, Blu-Ray and digital download, prepare to fulfill that need -- that Need for Speed!

As teased in the Need for Speed trailer, it is easy to see that this is a car racing film unlike any other in terms of its use of practical stunts for the action-packed scenes. That is the big draw, and it is not necessarily the storyline itself -- although that is not so bad.

Aaron Paul stars as a former NASCAR driver who now toils as the owner of his family auto mechanic shop and is also a part-time illegal street racer. He’s got quite a team around him (including Scott Mescudi, aka Kid Cudi!) and things are going well. Then, an old rival (Dominic Cooper) shows up and makes him an offer he can’t refuse: help rebuild a car and bank $250,000.

When challenged to a race by Cooper, Paul and another buddy hop in three cars and take off like bats out of hell. When the buddy dies, Cooper takes off and Paul is charged with manslaughter and spends several years in jail. When he gets out, he has revenge on the brain. He must drive across the country to race Cooper once again without getting caught along the way for violating his parole.

As our theatrical Need for Speed review stated, the plot is a bit convoluted, but that is not the draw here. The racing scenes are unbelievable. And Paul truly announces himself as a movie star after his star-making turn on TV in Breaking Bad. And Cooper makes one deliciously devilish bad guy!

Given the focus of the film is the action and the car racing sequences orchestrated by Waugh and his team of fellow stunt people, the bonus features that focus on that aspect are the highlight of the Need for Speed DVD and Blu-Ray.

Capturing Speed: Making An Authentic Car Movie might be more compelling than the movie itself. How Waugh and his team achieved the Need for Speed experience is nothing short of an effort that should be saluted to the ends of the earth.

What is clear in this bonus feature is how passionate the entire crew is to make something truly special and not just have this be a pedantic video game turned movie experience for the audience. They saw this as an opportunity to push the envelope of the car racing movie and did that and then some.

Also, the audio commentary from Waugh and Paul is not to be missed as it’s fascinating to witness the final product with insight from the director and his star -- who had to go to car racing school so he could be behind the wheel for much of those action sequences!

A great car racing movie is known as much for its speed scenes as it is for those explosive car crashes. And with B-Camera, viewers get a crash compilation video from the film that is supremely awesome. Toss in the audio commentary on B-Camera from Waugh and this bonus feature is an utter delight.

Given that this is a film based on a wildly popular video game, lastly, don’t miss the Need for Speed Rivals trailer for a preview of what’s to come!

Watch Need for Speed online and prepare to witness car racing like never before.

Need for Speed Character Posters

1. Aaron Paul is Tobey Marshall

Aaron Paul plays Tobey Marshall, a small town guy who could be one of the greatest drivers of all time. But, he likes to keep it simple and race the streets. Things change when he's framed for manslaughter.

The gang from The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel is back! In The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel, Judi Dench, Maggie Smith and Bill Nighy return for another chapter in the charming story of older Brits finding a new life in India, directed by John Madden.

The trailer for The Second Best Marigold Hotel has arrived and it shows off a new cast member in Richard Gere!

The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel Trailer

The first film was a surprising hit in 2012, banking $136.8 million on a $10 million budget.

The Second Best Marigold Hotel lands March 6, 2015 and also brings back Dev Patel as the hotel manager and will introduce a new group of residents for the hotel that proves that life isn’t over just because we hit a certain age.

Watch The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel online and see how this all got started!  

Robert Rodriguez and Frank Miller are back together, as teased in the Sin City: A Dame to Kill For trailer.

Dimension Films has released a behind-the-scenes featurette that is utterly fascinating. The visual style is what made Sin City such a marvel and judging by what we’ve seen so far of the second film, it is even more mesmerizing on the eyes.

Watching this behind-the-scenes featurette, viewers get a fantastic look at how Rodriguez and Miller achieved this stunning look, as well as insight from the stars such as Joseph Gordon Levitt, Eva Green, Jessica Alba and Rosario Dawson.

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Behind-The-Scenes

You’ve seen the Sin City: A Dame to Kill For character posters, and now watch the above featurette to see how they come to life.

Watch Sin City online to see how it all got started and get ready for Sin City: A Dame to Kill For in theaters August 22.  

Sin City: A Dame to Kill For Stills

1. Rosario Dawson is Smoking

Rosario Dawson is back in the sequel to Sin City.

With Let's Be Cops hitting theaters, it got us thinking about how often cop comedies have come at us over the years from Hollywood... and not many of them have been good! 

Upon looking back over the last several decades, we actually found 19 cop comedies that have stood the test of time and still arrest us with laughter every time. 

Watch Super Troopers online and there's one that is so hilarious, we're still awaiting the sequel -- no matter how long it takes!

And check out these 21 Jump Street quotes and there's another cop comedy that truly surprised us with how bloody funny and incredible the movie was starring Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum. 

And then there's a cop comedy that arrived earlier this year that we've been watching on repeat! Watch Ride Along online and there's Kevin Hart and Ice Cube as a cop comedy dream team! 

So, who else makes our list?

Click through and enjoy our 19 top cop comedies that arrest us with laughter, no matter how many times we see them.

19 Top Cop Comedies

1. 21 Jump Street

Who knew that a movie based on a dramatic TV show would become such a great cop comedy? 21 Jump Street did just that!

Although it might be easy to compare director Lasse Hallstrom’s work on Chocolat and his latest, The Hundred-Foot Journey, the director admits that they only share one trait -- and it’s not food or the French locale.

“What they have in common is the interest of character, and where character can take a story,” Hallstrom told Movie Fanatic recently.

“I think they have that in common. I’m interested in relations and characters, so that’s really the driving force in all my choices. The fact that they were so similar -- they’re almost siblings, these films -- it’s more coincidence I would say.”

He did take pause though before accepting the gig of directing The Hundred-Foot Journey. “I thought, 'Hmmm, this is too close to Chocolat.' I certainly felt that I knew how to do this, but it also gave opportunity to improvise and play around and have fun with it, so it’s all about the details for me. And both these scripts had that ability for the actors to play around with small observations of human behavior,” he admitted.

Hallstrom avoided pitfalls that would force comparisons in how he shot it. “Stylistically, I didn’t want to do the montage-y feeling of Chocolat. So we did it in longer takes. The montage when they move in (in The Hundred-Foot Journey) felt very similar to the montage in Chocolat. So I felt I had to do this in one take,” Hallstrom said. “I tried to be different.”

There is also something done in his latest film, teased in The Hundred-Foot Journey trailer that will make you crave all kinds of fine foods!

“I don’t think it’s about the close-ups of the food, I think it’s about the sensuality of the performances. It’s not about the shots of food because they’re pretty ordinary to me,” he said and laughed. “We made a rule of not showing people enjoying eating the food and all that stuff.”

The story of The Hundred-Foot Journey follows a woman (Helen Mirren) who runs an award-winning French restaurant in the south of France who feels threatened when an Indian family moves across the street and opens a restaurant serving their home country’s most popular dishes. These mixes of cultures are also what drew Hallstrom to the project.

“Trying to merge cultures and make them unite, without losing the culture or individual culture quality, I think it’s important. And going into it, it felt like a great message that we should all hold hands and know that we have so much in common, even if we have cultural differences,” Hallstrom said.

“There’s so much more we have in common than we realize. And knowing that going in, it was a life-affirming message.”

And it wasn’t just the food that mixed cultures in The Hundred-Foot Journey, but the score as well. There’s French music, Indian music and an orchestral score that integrates the two. It’s a smorgasbord for the ears.

“Another attraction with this story was that I could play around with merging the sounds, the languages. There’s a lot of different languages that are not translated, so it’s another spice, another color of the film that I appreciated,” Hallstrom said.

“Music could underscore the differences in the culture and the similarities, so we played around a lot with that. I sat with A.R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire) in Los Angeles and worked out the score together. I got an opportunity to sit in his laboratory there and see him come up with ideas. That was a fantastic part of making this film, that he invited me to the creative process.”

Check out Hallstrom's recent work, talked about above, and watch Chocolat online.

The Hundred Foot Journey Photos

1. Helen Mirren's Happy?

Kind of weird to see Helen Mirren smile in a movie, no?

The official The Boxtrolls poster has arrived online and it shows off its eccentric stop motion animated cast! Fresh from our Comic-Con exclusive chat with directors Anthony Stacchi and Graham Annable, we’ve now got the film’s first official poster!

As you can tell from The Boxtrolls trailer, the visual style of the animation house that is producing the film has remained ever artistically growing from their first, Coraline, through their most recent -- ParaNorman.

The Boxtrolls shows off a new kind of family to audiences when it lands in theaters from LAIKA on September 26.

What are the Boxtrolls, you ask?

Well, they are a community of creatures who have adopted a human boy that they name Eggs (Isaac Hempstead-Wright) in the incredible and vast world they’ve built below the surface of the town of Cheesebridge. Their blissful world is threatened when the town’s evil leader Archibald Snatcher (Ben Kingsley) decrees that the Boxtrolls must be wiped out for the safety of their community.

Eggs, fearing for his family, heads to the surface and befriends a unique young girl named Winnifred (Elle Fanning) and together they set off to save the Boxtrolls from the evil Archibald.

Click through our slideshow of The Boxtrolls posters below, including a slew of fantastic character posters. And to get an idea for the visual wizardry you’re in for with the film, check out LAIKA’s first full-length feature and watch Coraline online. 

The Boxtrolls Posters

1. The Boxtrolls Official Movie Poster

The official movie poster for The Boxtrolls shows off its eccentric cast!

The Turtles are back on the big screen and we talked to the team who is bringing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles to life anew in their latest movie adventure for an exclusive chat.

Director Jonathan Liebesman is joined by producers Brad Fuller and Andrew Form as the trio lets us in on why they think that the Turtles are still so popular decades after their debut.

They also chime in as to the surprising joy it was to have an Oscar-winning actress in Whoopi Goldberg so eager to be in a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie! And how Goldberg’s presence took star Megan Fox to new heights.

Movie Fanatic: What do you think it is about these four turtles that still after all these decades people are so intrigued by, entertained by and excited by?

Brad Fuller: You have an interesting dynamic. First of all, it’s about family. And everyone has a family of some kind. Secondarily, each of the turtles embodies some personality trait that we either have in ourselves or we know from someone else in our family. It’s immediately relatable. In any incarnation, people see something that they relate to in their own life in the turtles.

Jonathan Liebesman: Eastman (creator of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) told us once that the Turtles were a parody of superheroes because there were so many superheroes at that time. And I think what makes them awesome is literally they are the most absurd combination of things possible -- Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is so insane, that’s what gets you in and what Brad said, keeps you there. The fact that they are so absurd, yet they are exactly like you and me, is really funny. The hero, the charm, the fun comes that they are a family, but they're (expletive) turtles and their dad is a rat! That normalcy from absurdity is what is so fun to watch.

Movie Fanatic: As you each were bringing the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles back to the big screen, what would you say was the biggest hurdle to actually realizing your dreams?

Brad Fuller: For us, Viacom (Paramount parent company) bought the rights and there was no producer attached, so Drew and I did a tap dance and a dog and pony show just to get the job. It was a challenge from the first day.

Andrew Form: We called them. We have an overall deal at Paramount and Michael (Bay) does all the Transformers movies there and we went to Bay and said that Viacom bought the Turtles rights -- we got to make that movie. We got to bring the Turtles back.

Brad Fuller: And it didn’t happen the next day where they called us back and said, “You guys got it!”

Andrew Form: We fought for that job. We got it and then we luckily got him (points to Liebesman) and then it was all about story.

Brad Fuller: Storytelling and technology.

Andrew Form: We had all the characters. We had what Eastman had created and we knew what we were drawing from, but we needed to tell our version of it. We weren’t remaking the 1990 movie, so we picked the characters that we wanted to put into this version and it was all about figuring out what that story was going to be.

Jonathan Liebesman: Finding the tone was the hardest thing.

Andrew Form: And maintaining that they’re teenagers. You really don’t think about that when you’re talking about the action, but you can’t forget that. They sneak out at night and they do things that teenagers do.

Movie Fanatic: I love in the movie, heck, it’s even in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer, how they’re always sneaking out and striking out on their own, trying to be adults. Yet, they always worry what dad thinks.

Jonathan Liebesman: Always! That’s the relatable part why they’ll always be so popular. In this movie, they’re large, or small like in the 1990s movies, the fact that they are teenagers and worry about what dad thinks, even when they’re trying to save the world is what keeps you engaged and watching the next scene.

Andrew Form: There’s an off camera line that was inspired by Brad Fuller from Michelangelo that he couldn’t believe that he talked to a girl. That comes from your youth, right?

Brad Fuller: [All laugh] Yes it does, but we don’t need to get that much more into that!

Movie Fanatic: Throughout the filmmaking process from beginning to end on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, decades from now, what day will you remember the most?

Jonathan Liebesman: There was a lot of hard days and a lot of good days, but one of my favorite days was the day I was directing Whoopi Goldberg and Megan Fox in the office scene. All the actors were in top form. Megan was amazing because Whoopi was there and she was just phenomenal, a living legend. It was so cool. They were both on fire. Everything came together that day. Even the ice cream was fantastic.

Andrew Form: There was the best ice cream that day!

Movie Fanatic: You brought her up, and I was going to ask. What does it mean to you guys that a legend like Whoopi is in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

Jonathan Liebesman: When I spoke to her I phoned her at her home and she told me she is a huge fan of the Ninja Turtles. She was thanking me so much for putting her in my movie and it was so surreal.

Andrew Form: When Whoopi showed up on set, I had not met her before. I called Brad and said, “Oda Mae Brown” is on the set right now. I love Ghost so much and she was on our set. It was just so cool.

Brad Fuller: And she is so cool.

Check out the first screen version of this “family” and watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles online and head to theaters to see this explosive new version August 8.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Photos

1. Leonardo Character Poster

Leonardo is living large in his own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles poster!

After its August 1 debut and Guardians of the Galaxy’s record breaking box office debut, the James Gunn-directed film is not done.

The Marvel movie has now made $219 million globally since it premiered less than a week ago. It has now set a record for a non-holiday Monday with its $11.7 million haul, Tuesday ($11.9 million) and now Wednesday ($8.8 million).

So far, Guardians of the Galaxy has banked $126.8 million in the U.S. and its daily records actually date back to last week with Friday, Saturday and Sunday top earnings as well.

The movie also gave Marvel Studios its tenth number one movie in a row and it's taken its parent company, Disney, into second place for domestic gross for movie studios.

Even with five movies opening this weekend, including Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, we suspect that Monday morning will find Guardians of the Galaxy still the nation’s top movie. And it’s also not done overseas as it has yet to debut all over.

17 Best Guardians of the Galaxy Quotes

I have lived most of my life surrounded by my enemies. I would be grateful to die surrounded by my friends.

Gamora

• Permalink: I have lived most of my life surrounded by my enemies. I would be grateful to die surrounded...
• Added: August 04, 2014

1. Gamora Gets Real

We love this quote -- Gamora gets mushy.

Warner Bros. has released a new still from the upcoming prequel to James Wan's horror hit, The Conjuring.

Remember that demonic doll from The Conjuring that essentially started all that horror that would terrify Ron Livingstone and Lili Taylor?

Well, now she’s getting her own movie and we get to see her origins and the hell she created before The Conjuring.

Intrigued? Don't miss the first Annabelle trailer!

Annabelle is set to haunt theaters October 3 and features actors Annabelle Wallis and Ward Horton and is from director John Leonetti. Meanwhile, James Wan is busy putting the final touches on Fast and Furious 7.

Click through and check out our Annabelle photos, and then see the Wan movie and watch The Conjuring online.

Annabelle Photos

1. One Horror-able Doll!

Why would you have this doll in your house? Just, why?!

The excitement emitted by the director of The Book of Life was contagious when we caught up with Jorge Gutierrez for an exclusive video interview at Comic-Con. And judging by that first vibrant The Book of Life trailer, it’s easy to see why.

And now that a full length The Book of Life trailer is here, the October 17 premiering movie has shot onto our list of the fall’s most anticipated movies.

The Book of Life Movie Trailer

The film follows three childhood friends who are all grown up, Joaquin (Channing Tatum), Maria (Zoe Saldana) and Manolo (Diego Luna), and are now in a love triangle that shows no signs of resolving itself. When Manolo makes a deal that sends him into the Land of the Living, the Land of the Remembered and the Land of the Forgotten, he will do anything he can to win Maria’s heart. But, perhaps, he has done too much.

The voice cast is impressive beyond the big three, with Danny Trejo, Ice Cube and Placido Domingo all contributing! And with Guillermo del Toro producing, you can count on it being mind-blowing.  

The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles are back in a Michael Bay produced, Jonathan Liebesman (Battle: Los Angeles, Wrath of the Titans) directed action flick that is heavy on the CG and still quite loyal to the mythology.

Kevin Eastman and Peter Laird created the Turtles in the '80s as a parody of sorts to all the superheroes permeating in comics. What happened next had to surprise even them. Audiences embraced them wholeheartedly and the craziest of ideas, that mutated turtles who are teenage ninjas, became a sensation.

There were the 1990s movies, but they lacked and were hurting in the special effects department.

That is far from the problem for a filmmaker like Liebesman today. CG has come so far and what you see onscreen with his Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is a visual marvel. But, without character development, all the special effects may be able to save the day onscreen, but not a movie as a whole.

As teased in the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailer, the film clearly establishes the origins of this quartet.

They were genetically altered turtles as babies and when a lab fire almost killed them, they were saved and let go into New York City’s sewers where a fellow lab resident lives -- a rat, who would raise them. Their mutations would eventually take effect, giving them super physical abilities. And as our movie begins, they are teenagers, and as kids that age do, they are starting to head out into the world to strike out on their own.

This also happens to be right about the time that a villain called the Shredder (Tohoru Masamune) and his gang of thugs are causing trouble in the city. Guess who will fight to save the day? But first, they run into a journalist named April O’Neill (Megan Fox), who along with her cameraman (Will Arnett), hope to get the scoop on this most unlikely group of vigilantes.

The thing that works well in this flick is the camaraderie of the four lead turtles, who are -- as most people know -- named for renaissance artists. We truly believe that they are teenagers, and we also keenly are aware by their interpersonal connections that they have been raised like brothers.

But the plot is heavy-handed and honestly doesn’t quite add up as one would hope by the end. And although Arnett solidly stretches his wings in an action movie, Transformers veteran Fox is still not the greatest of movie acting talents. In fact, there are several cringe-worthy moments courtesy of her performance. Not even an Oscar winner in Whoopi Goldberg can elevate Ms. Fox.

Our Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles review can say that for little boys, it is a fantastic time at the movies. But, for everyone else, there has to be something else.

Fan of the Turtles? Check out the first film and compare it to the new one when you watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles online.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Photos

1. Leonardo Character Poster

Leonardo is living large in his own Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles poster!

The Step Up movies themselves have become formulaic within their own formula. But, when you love what they do -- as we do -- it doesn’t really matter. Step Up: All In hits theaters and although it isn’t the best of the series, it is right near the top and an utter blast from beginning to end.

What makes this one so special, as you can tell from the Step Up: All In trailer, is that it brings back a slew of uber-talented dancers from previous installments for one Las Vegas-set explosion of dance deliciousness.

Ryan Guzman returns as Sean and he and his crew are not having the best of luck in Los Angeles. There’s a great opening segment with them attending audition after audition after audition. Perhaps it’s so funny because it’s right out of reality! tWitch also returns as Jason -- part of Sean's dancing group -- and he and the crew feel that they have done as well as they are going to do in LA and it’s time to leave town and head back home. Sean disagrees, yet the crew still leaves.

Soon after, Sean hears about a dance competition in Las Vegas that will award the winner a three-year contract for a show at a big Strip casino. He forms a new crew, including returning favorite Moose (Adam Sevani), and they head to Sin City.

The competition sequences, as you would expect from a Step Up movie, are jaw-dropping. And by this point the filmmakers behind this franchise are beyond astute at using 3D cameras that literally put the audience into the routine. And don’t get us started on the power of the soundtrack that gets these dancers moving in sequences unlike any you’ve seen before.

What makes this a truly special Step Up movie is when Sean’s former crew runs into him and his new crew during the Las Vegas competition. A vicious rivalry could ensue, but they become one happy family. And we have to say that when they join forces to perform, it is the best number ever performed in a Step Up movie.

In fact, it’s worth the price of admission for the entire film Step Up: All In just to witness this envelope-pushing sequence.

Yes, one does not go to a Step Up movie for the acting. But, there is something truly special about the chemistry of the two leads, Guzman and Briana Evigan as Andie. Their beautiful dance duet to Bobby Brown’s Every Little Step I Take recalls something out of an old Hollywood dance movie -- right down to the abandoned amusement park-set landscape.

See, that’s just it about these Step Up movies, our Step Up: All In review can report. Although they utilize modern technology with 3D cameras and athleticism that goes beyond what anyone could ever have imagined years ago, these films never forget the song and dance classics of old that are the very reason there even is a Step Up at all. 

Check out the last Step Up movie and watch Step Up: Revolution online!

Step Up All In Photos

1. Step Up: All In Poster

The poster for the highly anticipated Step Up: All In, which lands in theaters July 25.

For fans of the book The Hundred-Foot Journey, know that the film version from director Lasse Hallstrom is a little different -- but not by too much. There is a darker element in the book that is quite absent from Hallstrom’s film starring Helen Mirren, Manish Dayal, Charlotte Le Bon and Om Puri.

We don’t miss that aspect actually, because given the tone that Hallstrom brings to his film, it would be out of left field.

Let’s back up a bit.

Mirren stars as Madame Mallory, the owner and manager of a Michelin star-winning French restaurant in the south of France. When Puri and his family (including his chef son extraordinaire, played by Dayal) land across the street -- thus the Hundred-Foot of the title -- to open an Indian restaurant, Mallory is none too pleased. She goes to all sorts of trouble to ensure that they fail.

From buying all the produce and products of any kind at the market to persuading local politicians that this family is a blight on their upstanding town, she will stop at nothing to see them gone.

But, as teased in The Hundred-Foot Journey trailer, food brings everyone together -- as it often does. But, that is honestly just the beginning of our tale.

Dayal’s character Hassan is a gifted chef and, with Mallory’s help, will find himself going all the way to Paris with his talents. There’s also a romance with Le Bon who, as a fellow chef under Mallory’s tutelage, creates some friction. Then, there’s the banter and beauty of the relationship between Puri’s patriarch and Mirren’s Mallory. It is quite stunning to see two actors at the level these two are at going toe-to-toe in conflict and also in collaboration.

Unlike some of the heavy French food featured in the film, The Hundred-Foot Journey is rather light fare. Hallstrom has a touch with the work that is perfect and right in his wheelhouse. It is leagues away from his Chocolat, so don’t go in expecting a similar feel and story. This is a movie about redemption, the importance of family, loving thy neighbor and above all else following one’s dreams and having the courage to realize when those dreams were wrong and finding new ones.

Our The Hundred-Foot Journey review is impressed that this film is coming in the normally blockbuster heavy weekends of summer. There is clearly an audience who will cherish this story and here’s hoping they turn out in droves so that we get more movies with heart during the warmer months and less remakes, sequels and the sort.

And we would be remiss not to mention how impressive the character arc is that Mirren executes. This woman is truly one of the most gifted thespians of our time and seeing her work her magic in The Hundred-Foot Journey is about as delicious as any of the fine food served in the film. 

In the mood for another Hallstrom foodie film? Watch Chocolat online!

The Hundred Foot Journey Photos

1. Helen Mirren's Happy?

Kind of weird to see Helen Mirren smile in a movie, no?

For Josh Brolin to be Thanos, to get ready to play the biggest bad guy in the Marvel universe, Brolin reported that the Marvel Studio gave him more information than was humanly possible to digest so quickly, but he loved it. In fact, his next film faded into the background!

“They sent me so much frickin’ research -- I was in the middle of doing Everest, and I was focusing more on Thanos than I was on Everest,” Brolin told IGN. "But it’s an exciting prospect, truly.”

We saw a grimace from Thanos at the end of The Avengers, and he’s in Guardians of the Galaxy for a bit more of a stretch (oh Ronan, what were you thinking?!). Brolin promises much, much more of Thanos in future films. “I know what one appearance is going to be for sure,” Brolin said of The Avengers 3, we’re betting. “There’s one or two that I don’t know.”

What most fascinated Brolin with his character is that he is much deeper than most iconic villains. There is more than one layer to this guy. “His relationship with Death, who is actually the woman, I love that. You can take Sin City and pump it full of steroids, and then you have Thanos,” Brolin admitted.

“I like that he’s motivated by that -- not just motivated by destruction or death or this or that. He’s motivated by a very identifiable, human trait.”

As we reported in our Avengers: Age of Ultron Comic-Con recap, Brolin surprised the audience and appeared onstage, complete with Thanos' fist on his right hand! When Robert Downey Jr. gave him a rose, he promptly ate it. Brolin said that in that moment, he got what the dynamic was more than any other time between him and those pesky Avengers.

“Not that I’m ever 100-percent sure, but we had constructed this small thing, Kevin Feige and I and Robert, and going on-stage at Comic-Con. Then it became something else. Once I got on-stage, it sort of became its own improv,” Brolin admitted.

“I knew at that point, because I saw the rivalry between Robert and I, and I thought, ‘I get this. I suddenly really get it.’ So I feel like I’m more inside it than I was. It was more a display to me before that. It was more cosmetic. Now I think I’m starting to get who the guy is a little bit.”

Check out that Thanos moment we mentioned earlier and watch The Avengers online. 

Avengers: Age of Ultron Photos

1. Thor & Cap Reunited (And It Feels So Good)

Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans are back as Cap and Thor each for their fourth time!