 Once a certain Bat-related film opens in a little under two weeks, a big change in focus is going to be coming for Warner Brothers. Yes, they have another superhero they’ve got to concentrate on, and it’s the man of steel himself…Superman. With Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ about a year away, it’s fair to assume a lot is going to begin coming out soon, most notably at Comic-Con and likely in the form of a teaser trailer attached to ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. The official IMAX website was in on the action earlier too, posting a small plot synopsis for the film (which pretty much also confirms a 3D retrofitting of the flick). It’s since been taken down, but after the jump you can see it right here at The Awards Circuit. I’m hoping for good things from this caped hero, but time will tell…
Read more on First Plot Synopsis for ‘Man of Steel’!…
 It seems that hardly a month goes by without some new casting news for Darren Aronofsky’s long gestating passion project ‘Noah’. It’s been a little quieter of late, but now we have a big new bit of casting to share with you. Darren Aronofsky himself took to Twitter (here) to confirm the casting of Anthony Hopkins in the film. He’ll be playing Methuselah, and I think it’s a fine choice. After the jump you can see Aronofsky’s tweet about Sir Anthony, but for now, just enjoy the fact that this film now has Hopkins joining Russell Crowe, Jennifer Connelly, Emma Watson, Logan Lerman, Ray Winstone, and more. This could very well wind up being something special…
Read more on Anthony Hopkins joins the cast of ‘Noah’ as Methuselah!…
 I freely admit that I don’t expect ‘Catching Fire’ to be nearly as good as ‘The Hunger Games’ (which pleasantly surprised me), but the recent casting news announced here by The Playlist has done a bit to move me in the right direction of not expecting a letdown. I’m still not a fan of Francis Lawrence in the director’s chair, but the additions of Philip Seymour Hoffman (which suggests there’s an interesting part to be played) and Jena Malone (who I adore and consider incredibly underrated as an actress) are ones I can easily applaud. Of course Jennifer Lawrence is still starring, and after the jump you can see who PSH and Malone are going to be playing as well. Take a look below…
Read more on Philip Seymour Hoffman and Jena Malone will be ‘Catching Fire’ next year!…
 One of the cooler things about going to press screenings is that you get your hands on Production Notes. Sometimes it’s only a dozen pages or so, but sometimes it’s a big packet of information and goodies about the flick you’re about to see. Lucky for you guys, Warner Brothers is taking a more democratic approach to their notes for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ and making them available for anyone who wants them. You can download them at the website for the film here. I won’t spoil anything for you guys, but after the jump I’ll hint a bit at what the notes contain. I’ll keep it spoiler-free, I promise. Take a look below:
Read more on Want to see the Production Notes for ‘The Dark Knight Rises’?…
 Since bursting on the scene with Hunger, Michael Fassbender has been increasing his profile, moving between independent movies and big budget films and indie movies. Now he’ll try his hand at video game adaptations. The Hollywood Reporter is reporting that Fassbender has signed on to star in, and produce, Ubisoft’s adaptation of popular video game Assassin’s Creed. He would play Desmond Miles, a bartender who is a descendant of several lines of prominent assassins. The story is said to weave between the present and past as Miles squares off with the Knights Templar. There currently is not a director or distributor for the film, though the project was loosely set up at Sony.
Read more on Michael Fassbender to Answer ‘Assassin’s Creed’ in Video Game Adaptation…
30 Days of Batman
As the anticipation for The Dark Knight Rises reaches fever pitch around the world, I ask you to look beyond Nolan’s imminent masterclass in blockbuster brilliance, and consider the future of the Batman franchise; where exactly does the Caped Crusader go from here?
Read more on Batman Rebooted…Again?…
The Semi-entertaining Amazing Spider-Man had a very successful six-day opening, hauling in over $140 million in its first week in release ($65 million for the weekend). Marc Webb’s reboot has now raked in $341.2 million internationally, after two weekends in theatres overseas. While the box office has started off slower than the original three Spider-Man films, the returns are undoubtedly exceptional and almost assuredly will lead to a sequel or two (and then perhaps another reboot??) following the Andrew Garfield/Emma Stone storyline. Have a look at Joey’s 3 1/2-star review here, where he calls the film “ridiculously satisfying” and holds the film to the same level as Batman Begins by saying that it “could be the best reboot of any franchise to date.” Michael, on the other hand, assigns the film a 2 1/2-star review, and calls it “contentedly mediocre,” with a villain that “espouses dialogue and actions that are in all ways too familiar and convenient.” While I fell more on the side of Michael on this one, both critics make excellent points and are well worth your time to read.
Read more on Box Office Review: ‘Amazing’ Amount of Dollars Tangled in Spidey’s Web…
Here we are readers, the last year of the new millennium for our readers to highlight their favorite film achievements of the year. It’s always interesting to see how the community uses this power to rewrite – or not – the Academy results of the past. The year 2000 reveals some significant overlap between Oscar and ACCA darlings but also some serious love towards films ignored at that time.
The big time favorite that emerged from this round of voting is almost without question Ang Lee’s wuxia epic Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. With a whopping fourteen nods it is the most nominated film in ACCA history! Best Picture winner Gladiator trailed just behind with thirteen nominations while Darren Aronofsky’s bleak addiction drama Requiem for a Dream managed the third-highest tally with eleven nominations. Cameron Crowe’s nostalgic rock odyssey Almost Famous and Steven Soderbergh’s polemic and multi-layered drama Traffic rounded out the most popular ACCA nominees. The Best Lead Actress longlist was apparently such a dearth of great work that our community chose not to choose and ended up with a tie of six nominees, and there was even a surprise write-in nominee in a category. Full list of ACCA nominees after the jump:
Read more on ACCA 2000 results are in!…
 Another acting legend has passed, and this time it’s Ernest Borgnine at the age of 95 from renal failure. Perhaps not amazingly well known to the younger film fan, Borgnine is an Oscar winner and gave one of the great performances in 1955′s ‘Marty’ (which won him the award, along with Best Picture for the film), but that’s just the tip of the iceberg for Borgnine. He will definitely be missed, and after the jump you can see some of the kind words that were written about him over at Deadline (here). Take a gander below, and feel free to honor the man in any way that you see fit…
Read more on R.I.P. Ernest Borgnine (1917-2012)…
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Once a certain Bat-related film opens in a little under two weeks, a big change in focus is going to be coming for Warner Brothers. Yes, they have another superhero they’ve got to concentrate on, and it’s the man of steel himself…Superman. With Zack Snyder’s ‘Man of Steel’ about a year away, it’s fair to assume a lot is going to begin coming out soon, most notably at Comic-Con and likely in the form of a teaser trailer attached to ‘The Dark Knight Rises’. The official IMAX website was in on the action earlier too, posting a small plot synopsis for the film (which pretty much also confirms a 3D retrofitting of the flick). It’s since been taken down, but after the jump you can see it right here at The Awards Circuit. I’m hoping for good things from this caped hero, but time will tell…
