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Pan: First Look at Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard!

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We’ve known that Hugh Jackman is Blackbeard in Pan. And now we have our first true look at Jackman as the evil pirate Blackbeard in Joe Wright’s Pan.

The origins story of one of our favorite tales, Peter Pan, comes to us from one of our favorite directors -- Joe Wright (Hanna).

The photos debuted in Entertainment Weekly and the director promises a slightly different scene that one would expect from a yarn that sets the stage for the legendary Peter Pan tale we all know and love.

“This isn’t exactly the Neverland story you know,” Wright told the magazine.

Jackman is Blackbeard and not the evil Captain Hook. It is Jackman’s Blackbeard who abducts orphans like Pan and takes them out on his own version of an adventure.

There is a Captain Hook, though. He is played by Garrett Hedlund and Wright describes him as a “dashing Indiana Jones-like figure.”

Interesting...

We look forward to seeing Wright’s vision of J.M. Barrie’s classic story and meeting Pan (Levi Miller) when the film lands July 17, 2015.

Warner Bros. has also released the film’s first poster – which features Miller’s Pan front and center.

Hugh Jackman is Blackbeard
Captain Hook is not the villain in our origins story, it is Hugh Jackman's Blackbeard.

Goosebumps: Meet The Monsters of R.L. Stine's World

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You’ve seen the few Goosebumps stills we have from the highly anticipated movie that imagines R.L. Stine’s world on the big screen. Now, it’s time to meet the legions of monsters that are set to scare audiences when the film premieres.

The film features Jack Black as a fictionalized version of the author, who finds himself to be a prisoner in the world he has created in his blockbuster book series.

Goosebumps centers on a teenager named Zach (Dylan Minnette) who is none too happy about moving from the city to rural America. That is, until he meets the girl who lives next door. Hannnah (Odeya Rush) seems perfect, except for one little thing: Her father is Stine and his haunting world is kind of a side effect of life in this family!

Amongst those who terrify on a daily basis are a crazy clown, a devilish dummy and a monstrous mummy -- and that is just the beginning. We’ve got pictures of all the monsters from Goosebumps in the slideshow below!

They all live on the pages of Stine’s books, but they are very much real. And it is through Stine that they stay in the fictional world and never make it out into the real world.

That’s all well and good and working fine, but Zach does something and boom! They’re unleashed on the world!

Goosebumps was set to land in theaters August 17, 2015 -- but we noticed that the film’s official website now says 2016.

Crazy Clown
Honestly, we think all clowns are scary -- so this one is nothing new.

15 Electric Mockingjay Part 1 Quotes: The Mockingjay Lives!

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Much as Katniss electrified Panem, Mockingjay Part 1 has mobilized audiences and the third The Hunger Games film scored the highest grossing opening weekend of 2014.

Jennifer Lawrence’s Katniss not only went on quite an action-packed emotional journey, but she and her Mockingjay Part 1 cohorts gave us some incredible lines that we’ll never forget.

We found 15 Mockingjay Part 1 quotes that give us the chills, and they come from Katniss, but also President Snow, Peeta, Gale, Haymitch and more.

Those The Hunger Games quotes have stood the test of time and we have a feeling the ones from Mockingjay Part 1 will as well.

Watch Catching Fire online and re-discover the magic of that film and check out Mockingjay Part 1 in theaters now.  

Click through and discover our 15 most electric Mockingjay Part 1 quotes!

I never wanted any of this, I never wanted to be in the Games, I just wanted to save my...

I never wanted any of this, I never wanted to be in the Games, I just wanted to save my sister and keep Peeta alive.

Katniss Everdeen
Katniss didn't seek to become the face of revolution. She just wanted to save her sister... oh, and Peeta.

X-Men Apocalypse: Oscar Isaac Is Our Villain!

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We know that X-Men: Apocalypse will take place in the '80s, that the story will focus on the X-Men: First Class cast (and Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine) and that the titular villain will be one of the fiercest foes that the X-Men have ever faced. But, the mystery has been, who could they possibly get to channel such evil?

Oscar Isaac Photo

Star Wars: The Force Awakens star Oscar Isaac could not have been a better choice and Variety is reporting that the star who first blew us away in Inside Llewyn Davis will be the baddie in Bryan Singer’s next foray into the X-Men world.

Isaac will be En Sabbah Nur, and we first truly met him at the end of X-Men: Days of Future Past in that Egyptian-set post-credits scene.

En Sabbah Nur was born in Egypt and has been around since about 3,000 BC and recently has used modern technology to take over the world.

We also know that James McAvoy will be back as Professor X, Michael Fassbender returns as Magneto, Jennifer Lawrence rages on as Mystique and Nicholas Hoult’s Beast will also center the story. We hear that early drafts of the script will also pump up a romance between Magneto and Mystique.

X-Men: Apocalypse starts production in Montreal in April and will hit theaters May 27, 2016. Watch X-Men: Days of Future Past online now to see where we last left off.

Beast and Mystique Get Beastly
Who knew that Mystique and Beast hook up? Considering the pair who play them in real life are together, that ought to work.

Horrible Bosses 2: Jennifer Aniston Returns to Her Sexed Up Ways

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Jennifer Aniston was more than thrilled to return to the hyper-sexual character she originated in 2011’s Horrible Bosses. Aniston admitted that she couldn't get Dr. Julia Harris, D.D.S. out of her head.

Horrible Bosses 2 Charlie Day Jennifer Aniston

“I did think about her, throughout all the films I’ve done since,” Aniston told Movie Fanatic. “She’s a hard one to let go of -- I didn’t get enough of her.”

Aniston truly appreciated how her character can just be as direct as can be. “I find it extremely entertaining the way she speaks, because I don’t really think to her she’s saying anything inappropriate,” she said.

“For her, it’s describing the ingredients to a wonderful soufflé, or ‘What are we going to be doing this weekend?’”

As you can see in this Horrible Bosses 2 clip, we meet Harris as she leads a sex addiction group that Jason Bateman’s Nick stumbles into. The scene is utterly hilarious and Aniston promised that the DVD ought to have a slew of extras alone from this scene. She and Bateman had a blast just seeing how far they could push it.

“When we saw this cut, it’s sort of a fun surprise to see, 'Oh, they chose that line.' There were endless lines,” Aniston reported. “The structure of it was there and then we would throw in a little [ad lib] -- as we were doing the volley back and forth.”

Clearly from what you see when you watch Horrible Bosses online, Aniston’s Julia needs a little sex addiction help. But what we learn from Horrible Bosses 2 is that the group she’s formed, and hosts in her dental office, may just be a means for picking up future partners.

“I think the intention was to maybe seek help, but I think what she ultimately found out was that this is just like chum for her. What a wonderful way to just get about! [I] figured she probably lost all of her patients. She’d done all of them! So, maybe this was just another wonderful innocent way to find more prey.”

As the Horrible Bosses 2 red band trailer shows, Charlie Day, Bateman and Jason Sudeikis are at it again and one would think that as they are their own bosses now, they would be on easy street and free of those superiors who gave us such great Horrible Bosses quotes.

Wrong!

Horrible Bosses 2 Jennifer Aniston Charlie Day Jason Bateman Jason Sudeikis

They meet Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine’s father and son who take their invention, steal the idea and leave them with a half a million dollar production cost bill. What’s a group of guys to do? Well, when you’ve attempted murder, what’s a little kidnapping and ransom?!

Aniston’s character factors into the story in a myriad of ways (you’ll have to see it to find out how!), but the actress was eager to work with the writers and director Seth Gordon to push the envelope.

“I think the writers called just to say, ‘How far can we go with Dr. Julia?’ I basically said, ‘Go as far as you can go as long as it’s in the realm of not insulting or offending too many people!’” Aniston said.

“I think it rose itself to the occasion. The dialogue was great, and the situation where you meet her in the SA group, it just lent itself to great humor and situations. I was just psyched.”

For Aniston, variety is the key. She is getting Oscar buzz for her work on the upcoming Cake. But whether comedy (like her blockbuster We’re the Millers) or drama (like her work in the recent Life of Crime) -- she just wants to be challenged.

“I love doing both,” she reported. “I think one accesses one part of my brain and the other accesses another. But any time I approach any character, comedy or drama, it’s grounded in reality, coming from the truth. There’s comedy in drama. There’s drama in comedy. I don’t find the two sort of exclusive of one another.”

The Boys Bring Gifts
But little do they know that things are about to go very, very south for them.

Exodus Gods and Kings Clip: Moses Finds Love

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If you liked that Exodus: Gods and Kings clip that featured Joel Edgerton’s Ramses clashing with Christian Bale’s Moses, do we have a treat for you.

Fox has given us a fresh clip of Moses, as he falls for Maria Valverde’s Zipporah -- the woman who will be his wife and an important support system as he takes on the entire Egyptian empire.

We’ve also got a featurette that has director Ridley Scott talking about his biblical epic and describing it as his most daunting task ever.

As you can tell from the final Exodus: Gods and Kings trailer, he may be right.

Although, we think when you watch Blade Runner online, that’s pretty epic!

Exodus: Gods and Kings hits theaters December 12. 

You Can't Out-Heston Charlton Heston
We met Christian Bale after screening the 20 minutes of footage and when asked about The Ten Commandments and that iconic performance of Charlton Heston, he simply said you don’t even try. "You can't out-Heston Charlton Heston," Bale admitted. "There's no point in trying!"

Home: Rihanna Talks Getting Animated & What Is Home to Her

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Pop superstar Rihanna made a big splash in Battleship, and now she is getting all sorts of animated for the latest from DreamWorks Animation, Home. We headed to the studio’s campus (where they've made everything from Shrek to Kung Fu Panda) in Glendale, California and were treated to almost 20 minutes of footage from the film and a chance to chat with the film’s stars, including Ri-Ri!

Rihanna Photo

More on our chats with Jim Parsons and Steve Martin later in the week -- but, first we wanted to know what it was about Home that compelled Rihanna to take time out of her busy music career to record her voice for an animated film. It turns out, Rihanna deeply identified with her character Tip.

“That’s what even got me to agree to do this. I felt like I identified with her, like the way she thought, a lot of her flaws, a lot of her ambitions -- there’s so much about her -- her sass, her attitude,” Rihanna said. The Grammy winner was amazed at what animators captured from her studio sessions. “You can see them take my facial expressions and put it on her. It’s like, ‘Oh God, they saw me do that!’ When you watch it back it’s very strange!”

The story also spoke to her and she found so many parallels in her own life. “[Tip’s] essentially like a role model and for me it was very strange to read a character that you can look up to. I was very excited. I’ve never done animated film. I did Battleship before, but this was different,” Rihanna said.

Home also allowed her to work on her American accent… but which one?!

“Being from Barbados, I have an accent. So, learning to speak American and just learning there are like 20 different types of American [dialects]. All these different accents I didn’t know,” she said and laughed. “I was learning all over again. Not just the accent, but how to act just with my words.”

As the Home trailer teases, the film is about what happens when an alien civilization, the Boov, come to earth to take it over. Upon their arrival, they send every human to a “collection” site, otherwise known as Australia. Rihanna’s Tip is left behind and is the only human left for thousands of miles.

Home Rihanna Jim Parsons

She then meets Jim Parson’s alien, who himself is on the run from his fellow aliens for a little error he made that may have threatened their entire existence. The two must work together, and over the course of the film, they become unlikely allies. It was that theme that spoke to the singer. Well, that and the chance to get made up like a cartoon character.

A veteran of hundreds of recording sessions as a platinum recording artist, Rihanna admitted that doing voice-over work for an animated movie was quite the different animal.

“Even though there is a mic, the mic became the camera in a way. We had a lot of emotional moments in this film that I didn’t really expect because it’s an animated film. It’s so real and you connect to the characters,” she said.

She was also impressed with the evolution of an animated film and how it becomes truly art. And even in its most primal of forms, the Home story really “wrecked her” emotionally.

“When I was watching it for the first time it was just stick figures. It didn’t even get to the point on animation all the way yet. So I was balling my eyes out in this meeting and I was like, ‘Oh my God, I’m so embarrassed right now! I’m crying at literally stick figures.' But it’s really emotional and that’s the thing I enjoyed the most.”

You don’t put Rihanna in an animated movie and not have her record a song or two! But, the singer was keenly aware of what the song had to sound like and, more importantly, say.

“The music is such an important and crucial part to an animated film. You don’t think about it, but you could watch Tom & Jerry and there’s no words. You can watch that for hours, but music dictates the emotion and it dictates where the story is going or how you’re supposed to feel the suspense. Everything is in the music,” Rihanna said.

“I worked really closely with Tim [Johnson, director] and Jeffery Katzenberg. I could bring them songs, but if it didn’t move them or if they didn’t feel like it made sense in a certain part we couldn’t use it. It was very important.”

Home Jim Parsons Rihanna

So, what is Home to an international icon like Rihanna? “Anything that feels familiar or comfortable. Most of the time that’s just Barbados. It’s warm. It’s beautiful. It’s the beach. It’s my family. It’s the food. It’s the music,” she admitted. “Everything feels familiar. It feels right. It feels safe. And so Barbados is home for me.”

And when it comes to the messages she wants kids to take away from Home, Rihanna hopes it is the same themes that resonated for her in the first place.

“Personally, when I watched the film I felt like the message became clearer and clearer as it went on. You see these two individuals from completely different worlds. They have this completely different idea about who each other is based off the worlds they come from and different environments they grew up in,” Rihanna said.

“By the end of it, slowly and slowly you start to see all of these similarities being revealed and that’s really the basis of their friendship when they start to know more about each other. It’s this thing we have as humans where we judge each other without even knowing it or having a conversation really. By the end of it you see they’re so similar, and when you think back to the beginning of the movie it really is like a 180-degree change.”

Check out DreamWorks animation's latest movie magic and watch How to Train Your Dragon 2 online

Wonder Woman: Michelle MacLaren to Direct, Makes History!

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It’s a history making month for women in the comic book movie world as Marvel announced its slate through 2019, one that included the first female solo superhero movie with Captain Marvel. Now we have news that that solo Wonder Woman movie will be directed by Michelle MacLaren. She’s the first female helmer to head up a super hero movie in history.

Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice Gal Gadot

MacLaren has helmed many episodes from The Walking Dead to Breaking Bad and she’ll also be charged with adapting the film as well, under the leadership of producers Zack and Deborah Snyder.

Gal Gadot will make her Wonder Woman debut in Batman v. Superman: Dawn of Justice and will also be in Justice League Part One (November 10, 2017) and Justice League Part Two. But before she joins Justice League, she’ll appear in Wonder Woman when it hits June 23, 2017.

MacLaren is also known for her work directing episodes of Game of Thrones, The Leftovers and she’ll be helming the Breaking Bad spin-off Better Call Saul.

Batmobile Close-Up
Check out the first "true" look at Ben Affleck's Batmobile!

The Interview Final Trailer: James Franco Meets Kim Jong-Un!

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Turns out Kim Jong-Un may be more difficult to kill for James Franco and Seth Rogen in The Interview than they expected.

It has nothing to do with his security force… but has everything to do with the fact that he likes to have a good time and enjoys Katy Perry songs as much as Franco’s interviewer!

We learn that as the final trailer for The Interview has hit and what was first teased in The Interview red band trailer is teased on a much more massive scale in this save the best for last teaser.

Seth Rogen and Franco’s superstar TV journalist score the opportunity of a lifetime. They are invited to go to North Korea to interview Kim Jong-Un.

There’s one issue, the CIA can’t resist the opportunity to arm them to the “T” as they will get closer to the dictator than anyone has prior. So, why not take him out… and we’re not talking to dinner.

The Interview lands Christmas Day and for us, that is a fantastic holiday present! 

The film is from the people who brought us last summer’s comedy hit that you can check out when you watch Neighbors online!

Franco & Rogen Together Again
Franco and Rogen team up for their latest movie together in The Interview.

Into the Woods: Meryl Streep Sings Stay With Me, Breaks Hearts

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Meryl Streep wowed us when she showed off her pipes in Mamma Mia and she is set to do it again in Into the Woods. The Stephen Sondheim written musical lands in theaters December 25 and features Streep ripping our hearts to shreds (in the best of ways) as she sings Stay with Me.

The scene involves Streep’s Witch, who has kept her “daughter,” Rapunzel, locked in a tower. As she learns that Rapunzel has been visited by a prince and is thinking of leaving her sheltered life behind, Streep pleads to her in song… and promptly shows why she is one of the best in the world at dominating screen presence.

The above clip also features behind-the-scenes chats with Streep, as well as Sondheim and adds some light as to what makes our national treasure that is the Oscar winner so special.

Into the Woods follows an intertwining of some of our favorite fairy tales in one blockbuster musical. Cinderella, Red Riding Hood, Rapunzel, Jack and the Beanstalk and the Baker and his Wife all appear in a story that finds them going Into the Woods and coming out much differently.

The film stars not only Streep, but Anna Kendrick, Chris Pine, Emily Blunt, Johnny Depp, Lilla Crawford, Daniel Huttlestone, Tracey Ulman, Christine Baranski, Lucy Punch and James Corden.  

Johnny Depp is a Big Bad Wolf
Johnny Depp is the Big Bad Wolf in Into the Woods. To say we're excited for him in this role is a gross understatement.

Jurassic World Trailer: If Something Chases You, Run!

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The Jurassic World teaser trailer said that the first film’s trailer would land on Thanksgiving Day. Surprise! It’s here now!

We have to say, we’re supremely impressed with what we see from director Colin Trevorrow’s picture.

Bryce Dallas Howard and Chris Pratt are perfect additions to the Jurassic Park world as a scientist who creates a new dinosaur and as a hunter sent to the park to ensure it stays away from the hundreds of thousands of guests that frequent the successful park each year.

Steven Spielberg returns as executive producer from the series he started when you watch Jurassic Park online

Jurassic World also stars Ty Simpkins, Nick Robinson, Vincent D’Onofrio, Jake Johnson, Omar Sy, Judy Greer (who gave us the best quote of the trailer, “If something chases you, run!”) and BD Wong, who returns from the first film.

Oh, and we would be remiss not to mention that we adore the use of the first Jurassic Park theme song in the above trailer. And it so works as a slower, more haunting theme than we’ve heard previously.

First Official Jurassic World Poster
The first "official" Jurasic World poster is here and its says it all, "The park is open." Better watch out!

Pan Trailer: Peter Pan Reimagined!

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Hot on the heels of those Pan photos that gave us our first look at Hugh Jackman as Blackbeard, the Pan trailer has premiered!

This is not the Peter Pan story you think you know as we head back to the beginning, like the very beginning where Peter’s mother leaves him at an orphanage. And through her letter to him (which we hear), we learn why he is so truly special.

Then, Jackman’s Blackbeard appears and he starts stealing orphans. 

We meet Tiger Lilly (Rooney Mara) and even Hook (Garrett Hedlund), before he becomes a pirate that is Peter’s number one foe.

Pan lands July 17, 2015 and is from director Joe Wright (Hanna) and also stars Amanda Seyfried and introduces Levi Miller as Peter.

Hugh Jackman is Blackbeard
Captain Hook is not the villain in our origins story, it is Hugh Jackman's Blackbeard.

Independent Spirit Awards Nominations Announced: Birdman & Whiplash Score Big

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The 30th annual Independent Spirit Awards nominations have been announced. The award show that is on the eve of the Oscars, in many ways, sets up our first real look at the Oscar race.

Birdman Michael Keaton Emma Stone

One of the things that is immediately striking is that Whiplash and Birdman are early locks to receive a Best Picture nod from the Academy as they received that nomination from the Independent Spirit Awards.

And if there was any question whether Richard Linklater’s Boyhood is still in the running, that question was answered with its nods for Best Feature, as well as Best Supporting Male for Ethan Hawke, Best Supporting Female for Patricia Arquette and Best Director for Linklater.  

Here are the 2015 Film Independent Spirit Award Nominations. The awards will be handed out February 21, 2015.

Best Feature

  • Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Boyhood
  • Love is Strange
  • Selma
  • Whiplash

Best Director

  • Damien Chazelle, Whiplash
  • Ava DuVernay, Selma
  • Alejandro G. Iñárritu, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Richard Linklater, Boyhood
  • David Zellner, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter

Best Screenplay

  • Scott Alexander & Larry Karaszewski, Big Eyes
  • J.C. Chandor, A Most Violent Year
  • Dan Gilroy, Nightcrawler
  • Jim Jarmusch, Only Lovers Left Alive
  • Ira Sachs & Mauricio Zacharias, Love is Strange

Best First Feature

  • A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
  • Dear White People
  • Nightcrawler
  • Obvious Child
  • She's Lost Control

Best First Screenplay

  • Desiree Akhavan, Appropriate Behavior
  • Sara Colangelo, Little Accidents
  • Justin Lader, The One I Love
  • Anja Marquardt, She's Lost Control
  • Justin Simien, Dear White People

John Cassavetes Award

  • Blue Ruin
  • It Felt Like Love
  • Land Ho!
  • Man From Reno
  • Test

Best Female Lead

  • Marion Cotillard, The Immigrant
  • Rinko Kikuchi, Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter
  • Julianne Moore, Still Alice
  • Jenny Slate, Obvious Child
  • Tilda Swinton, Only Lovers Left Alive                   

Best Male Lead

  • André Benjamin, Jimi: All Is By My Side
  • Jake Gyllenhaal, Nightcrawler
  • Michael Keaton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • John Lithgow, Love is Strange
  • David Oyelowo, Selma
Jake Gyllenhaal Nightcrawler Photo

Best Supporting Female

  • Patricia Arquette, Boyhood
  • Jessica Chastain, A Most Violent Year
  • Carmen Ejogo, Selma
  • Andrea Suarez Paz, Stand Clear of the Closing Doors
  • Emma Stone, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)

Best Supporting Male

  • Riz Ahmed, Nightcrawler
  • Ethan Hawke, Boyhood
  • Alfred Molina, Love is Strange
  • Edward Norton, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • J.K. Simmons, Whiplash

Best Cinematography

  • Darius Khondji, The Immigrant
  • Emmanuel Lubezki, Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance)
  • Sean Porter, It Felt Like Love
  • Lyle Vincent, A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night
  • Bradford Young, Selma

Best Editing

  • Sandra Adair, Boyhood
  • Tom Cross, Whiplash
  • John Gilroy, Nightcrawler
  • Ron Patane, A Most Violent Year
  • Adam Wingard, The Guest

Best Documentary

  • 20,000 Days on Earth
  • CITIZENFOUR
  • Stray Dog
  • The Salt of the Earth
  • Virunga

Best International Film

  • Force Majeure (Sweden)
  • Ida (Poland)
  • Leviathan (Russia)
  • Mommy (Canada)
  • Norte, the End of History (Philippines)
  • Under the Skin (United Kingdom)

Robert Altman Award
Inherent Vice

Special Distinction Award
Foxcatcher

Many of these titles made our list of 2014 fabulous films you haven't seen! 

Birdman
Birdman, let's just say this: Michael Keaton will win his first Oscar for his role as a former superhero movie star who is staging a comeback on Broadway. The fact that the film has only made $12 million at the box office tells us that not enough people have seen it. Run, don't walk, and go see Birdman.

11 Jurassic World Trailer Reveals: Much More Dangerous!

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The Jurassic World trailer has premiered and it is jaw-dropping and supremely awesome.

What was first previewed in that Jurassic World teaser trailer has been fully realized in two-and-a-half-minutes of fantastic footage.

It has us not only putting the film’s June 12, 2015 release date in pen on our calendar, but we’re carving it into the wall… much like that new dino’s nail prints did to the cage that star Chris Pratt marvels over with fear!

So, what was most striking? Well, where to begin? 

We found 11 moments from the Jurassic World trailer that have us getting answers to some questions, and raising some new ones. We even chime in with a few theories as to what some of the scenes mean in the larger Jurassic Park scope.

Watch Jurassic Park online to see how this whole adventure got started and click through our 11 striking moments from the Jurassic World trailer below!

Judy Greer is a Naïve Parent
As the trailer commences, we meet Judy Greer, whose mother character is sending her son (Ty Simpkins) on a fantastic trip to a park where dinosaurs run around and people have never perished, like ever. Wait, that’s not at all true!

Horrible Bosses 2: Cast Chats Chris Pine as “Comedy Barometer”

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There was something that was immediately apparent with those Horrible Bosses quotes when the first film appeared -- the priceless comic chemistry of its stars Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day and Jason Bateman. You can imagine then the concern that it might be altered with the addition of Chris Pine.

Jason Bateman Charlie Day Jason Sudeikis Horrible Bosses 2

See, as teased in the Horrible Bosses 2 trailer, Day, Sudeikis and Bateman have started their own company and made a product called The Shower Buddy. Christoph Waltz and Pine’s father-son team decide to buy tens of thousands of units and our boys take it into production. Then, Waltz and Pine steal the idea, and leave the trio over a half a million in debt for manufacturing costs. So, they hatch a plan to kidnap Pine and make his father pay.

Thus, the three would spend many a scene with Pine. How would that change things that worked so well the first time? We asked the big three at the movie’s press day at the Beverly Hilton.

“I think there was a concern bringing anyone into it, since we had a chemistry that we knew we could rely on. So you hope that you didn’t get someone who was either unfunny, or trying to be funny too much,” Day said.

“But I always thought Chris was extremely funny as Captain Kirk in those movies. He delivers the action, but he also has great comedic timing. So I really wasn’t worried about it. And then, he’s such a great actor. Working with Christoph (Waltz) or Jennifer Aniston (back for the sequel) or any character that comes into the scene, if they’re a great actor, they’re only making the scene better.”

Sudeikis had always been impressed with Pine’s dramatic work and felt that the part of a son who was kidnapped with a father that didn’t care was custom made for Pine. “What you would feel if your dad did this, he wasn’t trying to hit the joke. He was just trying to hit the reality of it because the funny’s already in there,” Sudeikis added. 

“Or we hope by us doing our thing and reacting to him and being in over our heads... Yeah, he stayed on a thing and didn’t try to do what we did. He did his own thing, which was both charming to the characters and also really effective as far as the scenes were concerned.”

Bateman knew Pine could do comedy and drama, but simply hoped that Pine would be a good soul. “You just hope he’s a good guy. Because having a nice vibe on the set when it’s a comedy is so important,” Bateman said. “You hope there’s not any dickheads. He’s a really good guy."

Day added that Pine was, in hindsight, a great measure as to how well the funny was going. “Because he's a peer, when we were able to really make him break, it was satisfying because you know that’s sort of our target audience,” Day reported. “He’s sort of our comedy barometer.”

Charlie Day Jason Bateman Jason Sudeikis Horrible Bosses 2

The guys weren’t so nervous about having Waltz join the cast, as the man is so good at being bad. He needn’t bring the comedy… although he tried.

“[He] would come to the set with that rubber chicken and those chattering teeth and we would say, ‘No, Christoph, that’s not the type of comedy we’re trying to do,’” Day recalled.

The Horrible Bosses 2 red band trailer shows how the guys first appear on a morning talk show hawking their shower buddy. For Sudeikis, it was like watching those infomercials late at night, and he’s even got a new passion now -- late-night QVC!

“I love them. I was susceptible to them. Harry Lorayne’s memory chorus, got that -- made my dad buy me that. I memorized the Bill of Rights in a night,” Sudeikis admitted.

“My favorite thing to do now is to watch a home shopping network or QVC late at night, and when they’re trying to sell you a pair of earrings and they have the little timer on there, and to hear a dude have to riff about it for seven minutes. It’s fun to watch at 3 am because that’s not their "A" team. You really get to see a guy struggling. ‘And it’s onyx... and women love onyx.’ You have no idea what he’s talking about!”

After two movies now, the guys know a thing or two about bad bosses. Sudeikis had a realization making these movies about the horrible bosses he’s had in his life.

“That Lorne Michaels can sure wreck a life. I'm just trying to have a nice existence in Kansas City doing improv comedy, and then this. Comedian son of a gun says, ‘Come here and do this TV show,’” Sudeikis said and laughed, clearly kidding.

“No. I haven't really had too many. Any bad boss I had probably was because I was a bad employee.”

Watch Horrible Bosses online and get ready for the big sequel!

The Boys Bring Gifts
But little do they know that things are about to go very, very south for them.

Blade Runner 2 To Shoot in 2015: Harrison Ford Will Appear

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Ridley Scott is currently chatting up his Exodus: Gods and Kings. But, given that he has a few projects on the horizon that have high interest, questions will surely come his way. He is planning to get to work on Prometheus 2 soon, and for fans of his work a sequel to Blade Runner has to be high on the anticipation meter.

Blade Runner Poster

But, in an interview with Variety, the 76-year-old director admitted that he is heavily involved in Blade Runner 2, but will not be directing it. But the first film’s star -- Harrison Ford – will appear.

“Harrison is very much part of this one, but really it’s about finding him; he comes in in the third act,” Scott said.

“[Screenwriter Hampton Fancher and I] talked at length about what it could be, and came up with a pretty strong three-act storyline, and it all makes sense in terms of how it relates to the first one.”

Blade Runner 2 will start shooting at some point in the next 12 months, but Scott would not elaborate on that point. Until we learn more, watch Blade Runner online, one of our favorite sci-fi films of all time!

Penguins of Madagascar Review: The Elitist of the Elite

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For us, the best part and the most treasured and brilliant aspect of the Madagascar movies are those perky penguins. That’s why it is with utter delight that we recommend wholeheartedly that audiences dive into the madcap world of Penguins of Madagascar.

Penguins of Madagascar Still Photo

Skipper, Rico, Kowalski and Private are back and as the film begins, we meet them in Antarctica as little chicks. Immediately they strike us as independent and adventurous in nature. They don’t fit in with the rest of the "March of the Penguins" crowd. Through a series of mishaps (one involves how they meet Private), they discover that a life of being an “elite team” is for them... far from their kind.

We fast forward to one of the closing scenes (that can be seen when you watch Madagascar 3 online) of the last film we saw them in. They are busting out of that circus and heading to break into Fort Knox for a little birthday treat for Private. It is there that they run into Classified (Benedict Cumberbatch) and his North Wind team of animal super agents who will give Skipper and his crew a run for their high adventure money.

They both have the same mission, apprehending our bad guy -- a disgruntled octopus named Dave (John Malkovich). But the drama and the comedy arise from watching these two groups try to work together and simultaneously get in the way of each other’s efforts to find and stop Dave.

The voices of the four penguins remain the same from the Madagascar movies, with Tom McGrath’s Skipper still ringing in my head with its brilliance of idiocracy meets intelligence and sass meets subversiveness. Christopher Knights’ Private gets a little more to work with this time out as he just wants to be a “valuable member of the team” and do a little more than look cute.

The Penguins of Madagascar Opening Scene

The greatest joy of the film can even be seen in the Penguins of Madagascar trailer. It is how both Malkovich and Cumberbatch just utterly lose themselves in these characters and appear to be having the time of their lives. That old adage is so true -- if the actors are having fun, so too will audiences. And there is plenty of enjoyment to go around with Penguins of Madagascar.

The film is so smart, our Penguins of Madagascar review has to highlight. It leaves the door open for future escapades (with or without the North Wind!) and all the while it's a self-contained film that works on so many levels.

It looks fantastic and has tons of hilarious and heartwarming moments for the youngest of audience members. But, it also paints itself successfully as a spy spoof that has us thinking Austin Powers met The Pink Panther and got animated by way of Antarctica in the form of some brazen penguins.

That is the thing that we have been so supremely impressed by with DreamWorks Animation of late. They make movies for everyone. There is something that each soul out there, regardless of age or place in life, will find amusing, cute, thrilling and top-to-bottom terrific. 

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

Horrible Bosses 2 Review: Kidnapping Hilarity

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Horrible Bosses 2 kind of has the cards stacked against it. But, considering that, it is still quite the funny and entertaining picture.

Charlie Day Jason Bateman Jason Sudeikis Horrible Bosses 2 Photo

Following up a comedy that surprises audiences and critics alike and becomes a blockbuster hit, as the 2011 smash hit Horrible Bosses did, is extremely difficult. The novelty of how much you liked this cast doing that thing is a tall mountain to climb and that’s why, most likely, there are so few comedy sequels that live up to or surpass the original. Horrible Bosses 2, for me, comes close.

The only thing that is missing is the surprise factor. Heading in to see the Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis and Charlie Day film, we knew these three would have impeccable comic chemistry and that we would probably enjoy them reading a history book of ancient Egypt. But, that is clearly not what is teased in that Horrible Bosses 2 red band trailer that put audiences on notice that they were going to push the envelope.

Day, Bateman and Sudeikis are determined to put their working for jerks days behind them. They have come up with a product (called the Shower Buddy) that has enormous QVC orders written all over it. The only problem is they sell it to the wrong guys -- the father and son scheming team of Christoph Waltz and Chris Pine. Out a half a million dollars in production costs, what will the guys do?

Why not kidnap Pine and make Waltz pay the half million and they’re even Steven?

Only thing, Waltz does not care much for his son and that makes his little boy angry and suddenly the guys get drawn into a comedic plot that is much more dangerous than the first time around (yes, even with Horrible Bosses’ murder-our-superiors storyline).

See, that is what sequels (comedy or otherwise) have to do. They have to up the ante. And since most comedies cannot possibly find the funny at the levels of the first film, the plot itself needs to be much more heightened. And believe it or not, Horrible Bosses 2 does just that.

The big three are absolutely sublime together and that has not changed. The material they have to work with is slightly less funny, but more because the opportunity for situational comedy is less so with this second story. We’re not saying it doesn't have hysterical moments. Oh, it has many laugh-out-loud moments and a slew of quotes that will join those Horrible Bosses quotes in being recited for years to come.

Jamie Foxx Jason Bateman Jason Sudeikis Charlie Day Horrible Bosses 2

Returning cast members Jamie Foxx, Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey come back in smaller roles and each drives many of those situational comedy moments we were speaking of earlier. Yes, Spacey is still in jail, but as this Horrible Bosses 2 clip shows, no one can dress down our three leads quite like the Oscar winner.

Aniston, meanwhile, is kind of a sideshow… simply added because her sexually driven character could provide some crude laughs throughout. She’s game and Aniston delivers, but honestly her character did not necessarily need to return. Oh, and Foxx, well, let’s just say his character’s ultimate dream in life is a fantastic joke that pays off handsomely by the end of the film.

The gold star here goes to the new additions, Pine and Waltz. Pine steals every scene he is in and shows he has some serious comedic chops in addition to those dramatic ones we’ve seen prior. He’s manic. He’s lonely and sad. He’s just bat (expletive) crazy and that adds up to some fantastic moments in Horrible Bosses 2. And Waltz is his usual bad self.

Our Horrible Bosses 2 review reports that although the gang does not have the surprise factor of the first, it is still a fun ride and we honestly hope that Day, Sudeikis and Bateman find another excuse for a third set of Horrible Bosses.

Watch Horrible Bosses online and see how it all got started.

The Boys Bring Gifts
But little do they know that things are about to go very, very south for them.

The Peanuts Movie Poster: Snoopy Dreams Big!

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Fox and Blue Sky Studios have released a true treat for audiences with the reveal of a new The Peanuts Movie teaser poster.

The fact that it has our favorite Peanuts characters front and center, well, that has us giving thanks this day before Thanksgiving. Yup, that’s Snoopy and Woodstock taking a snooze on top of Snoopy’s dog house, perhaps dreaming of battling the Red Baron, like we see in that The Peanuts Movie trailer?!

The Peanuts Movie is a 3D animated flick that promises to bring Charles Schulz’s beloved characters to life, and we’re guessing Linus will have to play his piano and that iconic tune at some point!

Check out the poster below in our slideshow of all our The Peanuts Movie photos and posters, and get ready for the film to land next year at this time on November 6, 2015.

The Peanuts Movie Teaser Poster
Yup, time for Snoopy and Woodstock to take a nap.

The Hobbit Legacy Trailer: Look Back Before Final Film

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Peter Jackson has put together one incredible look back and forward at the world of Middle Earth in The Hobbit: Legacy trailer for his upcoming film The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies.

The also-called The Defining Chapter completes the world of J.R.R. Tolkien and ties together Jackson’s The Hobbit trilogy and The Lord of the Rings trilogy nicely.

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies features an impressive cast, including Ian McKellen, Martin Freeman, Richard Armitage, Evangeline Lilly, Luke Evans, Hugo Weaving, Lee Pace, Orlando Bloom, Billy Connolly and Christopher Lee.

Look for Jackson’s final Middle Earth film (or is it?) on December 17. Watch The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey online and watch The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug online to get ready! 

The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies International Poster
The international poster for The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies has to be the best... it has everybody!
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