 When it was announced that the character of Q would be returning to the James Bond franchise, I don’t think anyone especially minded (certainly not myself). Things were a bit more split though when Ben Wishaw was cast as the character. Personally, I never had an issue, but making the character so young didn’t sit well with some. Well, today you can see your first glance of Wishaw as Q, with the full image after the jump. I think he looks just fine, but time will tell I suppose. Check him out (with 007 in the background) below…
Read more on Here’s our first look at the new Q in ‘Skyfall’!…
 AMC’s The Walking Dead has proved to be a rating juggernaut and fans came in droves to see the cast and executive producers talking about this show. Moderated by Chris Hardwick, who hosts The Talking Dead, the panel started off with executive producers Robert Kirkman, David Alpert, Greg Nicotero (also Makeup Supervisor), Gale Anne Heard, Glen Mazzara. They addressed some of the naysayers who said the show was moving too slow and mentioned that the fever pace that was developed in the back half of season 2 would only get faster as the characters get sent to the iconic Prison. The Prison is one of the most well known setting in the comic books and Hardwick remarked how great the set looked when he visited. Heard raved about how great it was to bring some of the fan favorite characters like katana wielding Michone and the Governor. Before bringing out the rest of cast, they announced that the show will premiere Sunday October 14 9pm and previewed an exclusive clip from the upcoming season.
Read more on Comic-Con Panel: AMC’s The Walking Dead…
In an interesting bit of synergy, the ParaNorman panel was held on Friday the 13th to a packed Hall H. After playing the trailer moderator, Dave Karger from Entertainment Weekly introduced the panelists including Anna Kendrick, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, directors Sam Fell and Chris Butler (who also wrote the movie) and Executive Producer Travis Knight. Karger opened up with a few questions to the cast and crew about the creation of the film and the process of voice acting. The filmmakers spoke about how they aimed to make a John Hughes/80s adventure/George A. Romero zombie film genre mash up. Anna Kendrick quipped that voice acting is very pure because you cannot worry about how you look and a grown up Kodi Smit-Mcphee remarked that halfway through filming his voice started to drop, providing him no way of proving that he voiced the character. Fell then introduced a behind the scenes feature that showed off the process of animation (in super speed) with preview clips of some of the big set pieces. More preview video analysis and Q&A hilarity after the jump!
Read more on Comic-Con Panel: ParaNorman…
 There have been quite a few battles between cable networks and the cable providers in the past few weeks. Luckily, the folks at AMC aren’t letting their lawsuit with DISH networks ruin the nights of their Breaking Bad fans. The cable network has decided to offer a special live stream of the season five premiere to all Dish subscribers. Beginning at 3 PM ET on Friday, July 13 (today), DISH subscribers can register for access to the live stream atwww.amctv.com/breakingbad4dish. You can view the whole press release after the jump.
Read more on AMC to stream Breaking Bad for Dish Customers this Sunday at 10pm!…
Walt Disney Studios is having another busy year at Comic-con. Here are some photos from their events which include The Art of Frankenweenie Exhibit, a Tim Burton Signing, Hall-H Panel Presentation (Frankenweenie / Oz The Great and Powerful – pictured above / Wreck-It Ralph), a Press Conference, and their Press Line. See more pictures after the jump…
Read more on Photos from Walt Disney Studios 2012 Comic-con…
 Today was a day of firsts for me at the Con: first panel attended in Hall H, first interviews, and first (and probably only day) of being done with the convention at about 5:30 pm. I was all over the place today and definitely enjoyed the extra winding down time. The first thing I did was stop by the Comic-Con Film School 101 seminar. In addition to the regular convention, Comic-Con runs a much smaller film festival and as a part of that they do a four part series on making films for cheap. For anyone interested in making their own movies, you can find the entire syllabus here: Film School 2012 Syllabus. After that I got a call from my friend who was standing in line for the Twilight panel that the line was moving, I booked it over to her and proceeded to wait another 2 hours before being let into Hall H in time for the start of the Trailer Park segment. Even though I had seen most of the trailers online, it was nice seeing them on a big screen. The Dredd 3D trailer played predictably well to the crowd and the Despicable Me 2 trailer is really great.
Read more on Comic-Con Diary: Day 2…
 Realizing that music is such an integral part of the movie or tv watching experience, Comic-Con brought together some of the people whose jobs it is to create the music that serve as backbones for popular television shows and movies. On hand to talk to press members were: Nathan and Rian Johnson (Looper), Chris Lennertz and Todd Aronauer (Supernatural), Charlie Bean and Joseph Trapanese (Tron: Uprising), Blake Neely (Arrow). Each of the composers was great to talk to in their own right but it was fascinating to hear Nathan Johnson talk about what he did for Looper. I’ve included the sneak peak he recently debuted on AICN; he has plans for 2 more videos so be on the look out for that. Check out audio of the interviews after the jump but be warned the audio can be a smudge rough at times as these were round table discussions. Read more on Comic-Con Interview: Composers of Film and Tv…
 30 Days of Batman
Tom Hardy
Born: September 15th, 1977
Place: Hammersmith, London, England, UK
Major Awards and Citations: BAFTA Awards (2011): Won the Rising Star Award
British Independent Film Awards (2011): Nominated for Best Supporting Actor for ‘Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy’
British Independent Film Awards (2009): Nominated for Best Actor for ‘Bronson’
Satellite Awards (2011): Nominated for Best Actor for ‘Warrior’
Oscar Snub(s): ‘Bronson’ (2008), and ‘Warrior’ (2011) Read more on Under the Circuit: Tom Hardy…
 While Disney held its annual Comic-Con panel today, they gave press members the option of attending a more intimate press conference where we could talk to the talent on hand from the movies they were promoting. Which mean that for about 30 mins a piece we’d have the opportunity to ask the likes of Tim Burton, Atticus Shaffer, Sam Raimi, Mila Kunis and Michelle Williams about the projects they worked on. Having not seen either film or the Oz teaser trailer beforehand, it was a bit difficult to ask about the films, but the press on hand proved more than adept at not making that a big issue. Overall, everyone was very lovely, answering questions about previous films, stop motion animation, green screen acting, and even a Dawson’s Creek reunion. Full audio available after the jump!
Read more on Disney Comic-Con Press Conference: Frankenweenie and Oz: The Great and Powerful…
Alas, another one has bitten the dust on American Idol. After signing on for only two seasons of the hit show, Steven Tyler — rock god extraordinaire of “Aerosmith” — calls it quits on his “mistress American Idol before she boils [his] rabbit.” Oh trust me Steven, your rabbit has long been boiled before Idol came a’ knockin. All jokes aside, I’m going to miss our free-spirited rocker. I know — shocking! Look, although I may be an ardent proponent of articulate and helpful judging — that isn’t limited to the words “beautiful” and “over-the-top” — you can’t deny that Tyler was the perfect remedy after Simon Cowell left behind a stench of bitterness and detachment. We needed a judge who’d bring a smile to everyone’s face, lighten up the somber mood that was beginning to plague the show, and most importantly show a genuine fondness for each contestant. That was Steven Tyler, and from the second he uttered the phrase, ““F–k a duck and see what hatches” during one of the show’s audition rounds, we all knew that FOX had struck television gold. Look, judging on American Idol has pretty much been a farce since Season Seven (America seems to only want white guys with guitars to win), so really…why not make the road to the inevitable a barrel of fun? Thank you Steven Tyler for bringing an exuberance to a show that was in dire need of it, and — at least from this Idol blogger’s end — you will be missed. So now the question is this: who will fill Steven Tyler’s shoes now that he’s decided to hang them up for good? Find out the five names I’ve got swirling in my head as replacements for Tyler…after the jump! Read more on It’s Official: Steven Tyler Quits Idol Gig…But Who Should Replace Him?…
Even as commonplace as it has become in today’s moviegoing climate, I am still amazed from time to time at just how far some studios will go to milk a potential franchise for all its worth. When I saw the first Ice Age ten years ago, I would have never guessed that this charming but hardly noteworthy animated film would spawn three sequels, but lo and behold…
The mammoth Manny, Sid the sloth, and sabre-toothed tiger Diego once again are on an adventure together in Ice Age: Continental Drift after that lovable squirrel Scrat accidentally sets the continents adrift. Most critics are dismissing the film as a leaden affair that borrows most of its jokes from the previous installments, which shouldn’t deter its box office prospects any more than the other films in the series. I would not be surprised if, once again, Scrat’s wonderfully inspired cartoon slapstick will be the highlight of the movie and has probably been a major selling point for families both stateside and abroad. Once again the movie has made a killing overseas, already generating $200 million internationally, and with the distance between it and Brave should prove a solid moneymaker domestically as well for a good $50-55 million haul. As the only new wide release of the weekend, Ice Age: Continental Drift’s only competition will be from The Amazing Spider-Man. The reboot has admittedly done much better that even I predicted, so Sony shouldn’t have to sweat whatever last chance their film has to make a significant amount of money before The Dark Knight Rises obliterates everything next week. Read more on Weekend Openings (July 13-15)…
Categories: Weekend Openings Tags: Alps, Animation, based on a true story, Best Foreign Language Film, Giorgos Lanthimos, Ice Age: Continental Drift, movies allegedly for children, Oscar hopeful, Red Lights, Rodrigo Cortés, sequel, The Imposter, Weekend Openings
 A fascinating documentary that suffers from an overload of recreated footage, ‘The Imposter’ is a good documentary that had the potential to be great. The subject itself is a remarkable one, and oftentimes the documentary is enthralling, but for me…I just kept getting pulled out of the tale by the recreations. At times I felt like I was watching an Oscar nominee, but other times I frankly felt like I was watching something on the A&E channel. Don’t let me misconstrue this as a negative review, since I recommend this documentary with a good amount of enthusiasm…I just simply want to make it a strong point of the one thing that I didn’t like in the flick. Director Bart Layton obviously wanted to heighten the drama already inherent in the story, and while I don’t especially mind that, I just wish he had done a better job of it in the end. I still think you all should see it when it comes out on Friday (or today, depending on when you’re reading this/when my embargo on this review is lifted, as I saw it back at the beginning of May), but keep this in the back of your mind so you’re not jarred when you sit down to watch it. Still, it’s the best documentary I’ve seen so far this year, all things considered. Take that for what you will…
Read more on The Imposter (***)…
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When it was announced that the character of Q would be returning to the James Bond franchise, I don’t think anyone especially minded (certainly not myself). Things were a bit more split though when Ben Wishaw was cast as the character. Personally, I never had an issue, but making the character so young didn’t sit well with some. Well, today you can see your first glance of Wishaw as Q, with the full image after the jump. I think he looks just fine, but time will tell I suppose. Check him out (with 007 in the background) below…
