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The Coen Brothers Directing a Western Next?!

The Coen Brothers have been receiving quite a bit of acclaim because No Country for Old Men has been sweeping the best of the year lists non-stop. Although No Country for Old Men is a phenomenal film itself and worth taking a moment to reflect upon, we're all excited to see what The Coen Brothers are cooking up next, and whether it will be as good. They've already finished filming a dramatic comedy titled Burn After Reading that stars George Clooney and John Malkovich and is already in post-production aiming for a 2008 release. But after that, how about a western? No, a spaghetti western? Joel and Ethan were recently quoted as saying they'd already written a script for a western and it could be their next.

First Look: Edward Norton as The Incredible Hulk!

On an otherwise quiet Holiday week, a few new photos from The Incredible Hulk have debuted courtesy of Universal Pictures. Featured is the first look at Edward Norton as Bruce Banner also known as the Hulk. These are the very first photos we've seen of Norton in the film besides concept art of the Hulk. We've also included another Hulk photo that has been floating around the internet over the past week as well. Take a look - although it's late in its introduction, The Incredible Hulk still may be a big hit next summer!

Keira Knightley's The Duchess Teaser Trailer

I was hesitant on running this, but there's nothing better this week, so why not? Keira Knightley stars as Georgiana, the Duchess of Devonshire and Ralph Fiennes stars as the Duke of Devonshire. The Duchess is similar to Marie Antoinette in that it's a period piece about the most fashionable person in all of Europe (at the time). My gripe is that I'm tired of these epic period pieces and especially tired of period pieces with Keira Knightley - Atonement wasn't as mind blowing as everyone is making it out to be. The only period movie I really want to see next year is The Other Boleyn Girl. Have a look for yourself, if you dare.

First Look: Disney's Bolt

Almost everyone is familiar with Pixar's Wall-E by now, but Disney also has another CGI animated film in the works. It's titled Bolt and is one of Disney's major 3D releases for 2008, similar to Meet the Robinsons from earlier this year. The movie is about a German Shepherd named Bolt, voiced by John Travolta, who ends up on a cross-country adventure. I'll admit I absolutely love anything with dogs, so I'm quite intrigued. Check out the first look photo at Disney's Bolt below.

Sneak Peek at Henry Selick's Stop Motion Coraline

Although I'm personally not a big fan of Tim Burton's The Nightmare Before Christmas, I do have immense appreciation for the extraordinary stop motion animation that filmmaker Henry Selick is a master at using. Coraline is Henry Selick's next stop animation feature film and it's an adaptation of a Neil Gaiman novel. There was a 3D teaser trailer in front of Beowulf for Coraline, if you happened to see it. If not, here's your first introduction and sneak peek look at Coraline, with the voice of Dakota Fanning as Coraline. I'm not impressed so far, but this is a short clip and I'm waiting for a real trailer to set my expectations.

Movie-Going Experiences: Who Makes Up the Audience and Where You See It

I have a Christmas tradition to always see a movie with a good friend of mine on Christmas Day. Last night it was Sweeney Todd, which I followed up with Aliens vs Predator: Requiem. Despite yesterday was a national holiday, the AVP:R showing I saw at 10:30 at night was completely sold out, as were the rest of the shows during the day. There's something I love about seeing movies on opening day with sold out crowds: it's who makes up the audience and where you're watching it. It's an unmatched experience that you can only find in theaters and only happens in specific areas, but it's something that always enhances the movie-going experience.

Ken's Review: P.S. I Love You - Warning: Single Guys Stay Away

It's definitely hard to write a review for a romantic film like P.S. I Love You. It's especially tough when your wife loved it and you thought it was only ok. The other rough part is when it is getting blasted by critics everywhere who thought it was horrible, while you actually thought it was a bit enjoyable. I would consider myself much more open and receptive to the romantic film genre then most of the guys I know. I have a weak spot for the romantic comedies like Notting Hill and You've Got Mail. Even a more serious romance like The Notebook is one of my favorite films. Hopefully I can shed some light on to why P.S. I Love You can still be an enjoyable film while at the same time have some major flaws.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from FirstShowing.net!

From all of us here at FirstShowing.net, we wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays! Whether it's snowing or whether the sun is shining wherever you may be, we hope you're enjoying this wonderful day with your family and friends with a smile on your face. If you happen to catch one of the movies that opens in theaters today, then certainly enjoy it. We'll be back again on Wednesday to finish off this fantastic year. See you again soon!

FightCast - Round 3: Holiday Spectacular - Five Movie Fight

In this week’s FightCast, we fight about five of this Holiday's biggest movies: I Am Legend, Walk Hard, National Treasure: Book of Secrets, Sweeney Todd, and Juno. We both had a lot of catching up to do and decided to talk about a bunch of the big films that are playing this week. I Am Legend is the Will Smith action flick that opened last week. Walk Hard is the Judd Apatow musical comedy starring John C. Reilly. National Treasure: Book of Secrets is the sequel to the first National Treasure and brings back Nic Cage yet again. Sweeney Todd stars Johnny Depp in a dark musical directed by Tim Burton. Juno is Jason Reitman's independent comedy hit. Definitely a great line-up for this weeks FightCast - so check it out!

Worth Watching - Dec 24: The Bank Job International Trailer

The Bank Job is a (very) British heist bank robbery movie that stars Jason Statham and Saffron Burrows. It looks like and feels like a Guy Ritchie heist movie, only it's not Guy Ritchie. It's about what happens when the government and the mob get involved in a simple bank robbery. A couple of weeks back we wrote up a great introduction to The Bank Job with a few photos, which you can read here. Now we have the trailer on Christmas Eve and it looks like this could be another brilliant British creation, whenever it arrives here in America. Of all things to think about on Christmas, let it be Jason Statham robbing banks! Enjoy and Happy Holidays!

Jaq's Review: Charlie Wilson's War - A Small Battle

Why? Why is it that because we get Tom Hanks and Julia Roberts, the proverbial Hollywood Prom King and Queen, in a true story written for the screen by Tinseltown's chess club president Aaron Sorkin, do we think it must be socially important and award worthy? Add in perennial literati favorites director Mike Nichols and Philip Seymour Hoffman and the pedigree for Charlie Wilson's War is impeccable. You might as well send the Oscars now.

Except not.

Jaq's Review: The Kite Runner - Epic Smallness

It's a mistake to think that The Kite Runner, based on the best-selling book of the same name, is yet another entry in the current trend of setting films in the middle-east in order to give then some sort of social importance. As directed by Marc Forster, The Kite Runner is instead a rumination on friendship, loyalty and redemption which uses the background of Afghanistan to illustrate rather than define those attributes.

The Best 19 Movies You Didn't See in 2007

No one really has enough time (or money) to see every movie released every year, but shamefully too many great films are left in the dust. Sure, maybe you'll see a couple of those indies that are making the rounds on the year-end top ten lists, but even those critics missed a few good ones. This is about those movies that were phenomenal yet hardly anyone saw, so now we're giving them one final moment in the spotlight. I want to encourage you to maybe stop and ponder the next time you come across one of these and wonder why you didn't catch one in theaters - because they were worth that ticket price, guaranteed. If anything, you'll at least discover something new and something great from this list.

SlashFilm's Definitive Top 25 Movies of 2007

As has been mentioned before, the awards season is in full swing and everyone's top ten lists are being published. However, figuring out what the real best of the best is isn't up the Academy or the critics alone, it's also up to the public. That's why Peter at SlashFilm published The Definitive Top 25 Movies of 2007, which calculates the best of the best by using both the IMDb ratings and the Rotten Tomatoes scores. Considering how his calculations were made, I'm going to have to agree with him and say that this truly is the definitive list. It includes consideration from every critic (on Rotten Tomatoes) as well as thousands of voting public on IMDb. So what are the definitive top 25 movies of 2007?