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Toronto 2009 Review: The Coen Brothers' A Serious Man

Can the Coen Brothers ever do wrong? Okay, they can, but this really isn't one of those times. A Serious Man is a seriously great film, with some brilliantly dark humor and a simple story that turns out to mean quite a bit by the end. It's probably the most Jewish comedy you'll see all year, about a Jewish family in a small Jewish town. The performances are all great and everything about it is pretty much spot on, but at this point I don't think anyone expects any less from the Coens. And in terms of their comedy, I laughed more during this than I did during Burn After Reading, and I even really enjoyed that film (at Toronto last year).

The Weekly Moviegoer - Does This Popcorn Make Me Look Fat?

I go to the movies a lot, and every time I buy concessions. There are a few reasons for this. I like supporting cinemas in the place they make their primary income. I consider it part of my job as a commentator on the movie industry and moviegoing trends to be familiar with each cinema's options as well as the quality of those options. And, of course, I am a fiend for popcorn.

The more movies I attend, the more popcorn I consume, and presumably this is making me fatter. Not that popcorn is an especially unhealthy snack, but any food is bad for you in excess. I must confess, however

Gavin Hood Not Attached to Direct Wolverine 2, For Now

Even though X-Men Origins: Wolverine had a less than stellar reception from both critics and fans alike (36% fresh on Rotten Tomatoes), the movie still made a lot of money and resulted in the greenlighting of another installment following the adamantium-clad mutant. The guys over at Latino Review had some time to catch up with director Gavin Hood at a special event on the Fox lot promoting the Blu-Ray/DVD release of Wolverine, which hits stores on September 15th, and Hood provided them with some new information regarding his potential return to the director's chair for another round with Hugh Jackman and Wolverine.

First Look: Shia LaBeouf in Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps

This is what happens when you make it big on Wall Street. You buy some rad loafers and chill in the park with a yacht-owning Frank Langella. That's what these new paparazzi photos from the set of Oliver Stone's Wall Street 2: Money Never Sleeps look like at first glance. Just Jared has posted the first small batch of photos showing Oliver Stone, Frank Langella, and Shia LaBeouf in Central Park shooting scenes from the upcoming sequel. We've heard plenty about this project recently (including this article), but these are the first photos we've seen, so far. These actually look pretty good, so check 'em out and click any to see more.

Big Disney Updates: Muppets, Pirates, & Guillermo, Oh My!

More and more news just keeps flooding from the D23 Expo and thankfully they sent us press releases, so we don't have to physically be there to hear about a few big announcements.  I'll be honest and say that I'm not absolutely enthralled with all three of the following announcements, but two out of three isn't bad. So first let's jump right into the one that I'm not entirely psyched about, but I'm sure that plenty of other people are. Johnny Depp was on hand as Captain Jack to tell everyone about the title of Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the fourth installment of the series to be released summer 2011.

Another Beautiful Official Poster for John Woo's Red Cliff

Although we still haven't seen an official US trailer or much else for this yet, Magnet has just debuted the official poster for John Woo's Red Cliff, his two-part ancient Chinese epic, which will finally hit theaters in the US this November. We actually ran another great poster for Red Cliff earlier this year (see it right here), but this one looks great, too. Thought I'd feature it as well, to build some last-minute more buzz. Thanks to our friends at NY Mag for debuting this today. If you're interested in more details on this, I suggest you head over to the official website for the film, located at: redclifffilm.com. And also check out the poster below!

Eva Green and Ewan McGregor in an Apocalyptic Romance

French actress Eva Green was given quite the shove into stardom when the landed the role as Bond girl Vesper Lynd alongside Daniel Craig's James Bond in 2006's Casino Royale. ScreenDaily reports now Green is starring alongside another top notch British actor in David Mackenzie's tentatively titled new film Last Word, also starring Ewan McGregor.  Danish screenwriter Kim Fupz Aakeson wrote the script which tells the story of two people who fall in love as the world around them crumbles.  Shooting is currently under way in England already and features a whole slew of other acclaimed international actors rounding out the cast.

First Full Trailer for Solomon Kane with James Purefoy

An official full-length trailer for Michael Bassett's Solomon Kane that stars James Purefoy has finally debuted online today. A Russian dubbed version of this same trailer hit a few days earlier this week, but we decided to wait, and this US version finally showed up just before the weekend. While this is showing here at the Toronto Film Festival (where I hope to catch it), it probably won't hit theaters in the US sometime until 2010. I think this looks great, it just looks like a darker, more refined version of Van Helsing, with some Lord of the Rings-like fantastical elements, great action, and that's about it. I'm looking forward to it!

Toronto 2009 Review: Karyn Kusama's Jennifer's Body

I caught the premiere of Karyn Kusama's new horror feature Jennifer's Body, written by Oscar winner Diablo Cody and starring the luscious Megan Fox, up in Toronto tonight (where it played extremely well). I actually dug it quite a bit, I had a good time, and despite plenty of Cody's always-fresh pop-culture dialogue, I had a good time. The story is actually much more about Amanda Seyfried's character, who kicked Fox's ass, in terms of acting at least (in the movie, though, I won't say). It's not a perfect movie, but it is one of those fun kind of 80's horror throwbacks that is good to just pop in on Saturday nights with a bunch of friends.

Coen Brothers & Jeff Bridges Reunite for True Grit Remake

It was back in March when the official word of a Coen Brothers remake of the western True Grit.  Since then we haven't heard much about the project since the Coen's were busy with their forthcoming release A Serious Man (watch the trailer). But now Variety tells us that there will be a reunion of sorts with Jeff Bridges in discussions to take on the lead role that won cinema icon John Wayne an Oscar back in 1969. The last time Bridges worked with the Coen Brothers, he turned in a highly praised performance as "The Dude" in the 1998 cult classic The Big Lebowski, so this announcement has definitely piqued my interest.

James Gunn Bringing the 'Rainn' to the Superhero Genre

Though it took some time for the social networking site Twitter to go mainstream, its always been a great source for overlooked tidbits of info that might be breadcrumbs that lead to something bigger.  One of these instances has just come to fruition as Variety now reports that Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, and Liv Tyler will star in the James Gunn (seen above right) written and directed flick Super. Our friends at SlashFilm picked up on this pitch back in March when Wilson wrote about it on his Twitter page. At the time, Wilson described the movie as an "f'ed up low rent Watchmen," but there's a bit more to the whole story now.

Bob Iger Talks Disney's Purchase of Marvel at D23 Expo

It's been almost two weeks since the industry was abuzz with talk about Disney's $4 billion acquisition of Marvel Entertainment. There's been speculation of Pixar adapting Marvel properties, to Disney dulling down some of the edginess that Marvel contains in is extensive catalog of stories and characters. Needless to say, in a purchase of this size, there's bound to be plenty of loose ends to tie up and concerns to address. Disney President and CEO Bob Iger tried to quell some of those concerns in a surprise appearance at the D23 Expo, but he just might have raised a whole new set of concerns for Disney and Marvel fans.