Sony Takes a Tour of New York's Secret Subway Tunnels

I haven't had a chance to talk about The Taking of Pelham 123 yet, which I've seen and thoroughly enjoyed, so I thought this would be the perfect opportunity. Sony recently coordinated a tour of the secret tunnels that are a part of the New York City subway system as a promotion for Pelham. Why? Well, the last third of the film involves some of these secret tunnels, and I guess it was a sly way of proving that it all actually exists (and wasn't just made up for the sake of storytelling). Alas, I'm in Los Angeles and not New York, but a few other sites did attend and have published great write-ups, like UGO and ComingSoon.

Check This Out: All the Hidden Easter Eggs in Pixar's Up

If you're a Pixar fanatic (like me) then you already know all about this. Or you probably found a few of these yourself. But if not, our friends over at SlashFilm have put together a fantastic feature looking at all the Easter eggs hidden in Pixar's Up. As is always the case, they hide many references and other goodies in their movies, and I wanted to point out a few of them today (although you can see the rest of them on their site). Pixar always hides characters from upcoming movies in their current releases. Believe it or not, Dug the Dog was actually seen in Ratatouille, and a new character from Toy Story 3 is apparently hidden in Up.

Confused by Charlie Kaufman? Then Ask Charlie Kaufman!

Our good friends at Empire over in the UK published a really great feature a few weeks ago that we only recently had the chance to take a look at this weekend. It's called simply Charlie Kaufman On Charlie Kaufman and in it, they ask Kaufman himself to talk about his own movies (see, simple, eh?). He's notoriously tough to talk to - both because he doesn't do that many interviews and because he doesn't like to talk about the themes in his movies. Which is why this is such a great feature and why I'm excited to go through it. From Being John Malkovich to Adaptation to Synecdoche New York, Kaufman covers them all.

Nathan Johnson Talks About Scoring The Brothers Bloom

Those of you who have seen Rian Johnson's The Brothers Bloom (which is playing in theaters now) probably know how awesome the score in it is. It was composed by Nathan Johnson, Rian's cousin, and is one of my very favorite scores of the last few years. The moment I stepped out of Brothers Bloom in Toronto last year, I was dying to listen to it again over and over. The soundtrack was only recently released on iTunes but is more than worth the $9.99 price tag. Not only is it worth featuring today, but this is primarily about the fantastic interview that Dave Chen of the /FilmCast conducted with Nathan recently about the score.

Alamo Drafthouse's Cinemapocalypse Invades LA This Week!

If you live in Los Angeles, there's an event you don't want to miss this week! Austin's original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema is taking their popular classic exploitation movie series on the road. And this Thursday and Friday night, the Cinemapocalypse tour will stop by the New Beverly Cinema for two special presentations. Alamo Weird Wednesday programmer Lars Nilsen and Terror Tuesday curator Zack Carlson are bringing rare and unseen treasures from their 35mm bunker, which you won't want to miss! This week's line-up: Julie Darling, Poor Pretty Eddie, Psycho From Texas, Surf II, and Carnival Magic.

Check This Out: Peter Nelson's James Bond Museum!

Everyone knows I'm a huge James Bond fan (we had a whole week dedicated to the spy last year) and more often than not I'll feature Bond-related stories just because they have to do with my favorite on-screen hero. A few days ago Wired ran an article on the newly opened James Bond Museum in Keswick, England. I instantly knew I needed to feature this and after some further research, I've determined that this place truly is spectacular. Peter Nelson, a life-long Bond fan, has been collecting Bond memorabilia for 20 years. He has 28 cars, the golden gun and hundreds of other props, and 42-ton Russian tank from GoldenEye.

Our Third Annual Thanksgiving Movie Guide is Here!

Every year, Hollywood releases a handful of movies on Thanksgiving week. Whether they're movies to take the whole family to or just pure entertainment, there's always a wide variety to choose from. To help tackle this year's line-up, our writer Marco Cerritos has put together a Thanksgiving Movie Guide. He made sure to see every last movie playing in theaters this week, even the bad ones, in order to provide you with a cinematic compass of sorts. If you're struggling to figure out what to see this weekend, then look no further! From Australia to Twilight, and from Bolt to Transporter 3, Marco will tell you which ones to skip and which ones to take the whole family to. Without further ado, let's dive head first into this year's guide.

Exclusive: On Acting With Mark Strong - England's Secret Weapon

There's an English actor named Mark Strong who has been stealing the show right out from under big name actors like Leonardo DiCaprio, Russell Crowe and Tom Wilkinson. If you've seen either Body of Lies or RocknRolla then you'll probably recognize him - or maybe not, considering he plays two characters that couldn't be more unlike each other. On one hand, he plays the stern second-hand-man to the British high class gangster Lenny Cole and is famous for his "Archie slap"; on the other, he plays the levelheaded Chief of Jordanian Intelligence who walks a fine line between being a good guy and a bad guy. Speaking with Mark Strong out of character is as exhilarating as it is to watch him on screen - he's as fascinated at the art of acting and giving a great performance, different each time, as we are at watching those performances.

Pete Segal's Top 8 Spy Movie Inspirations for Get Smart

In honor of the upcoming release of Get Smart this weekend, director Pete Segal and I put together a short list of spy movie inspirations to get you in the mood for Agent 86's shenanigans. In my second interview with Segal a few weeks back, I decided to focus on his inspirations for the film and we were able to come up with a great list of films that inspired what you'll see in theaters. If you're looking forward to Get Smart, you might want to start here with this list. We all know that the original TV series was the basis for the film, but what other great spy movies had an influence on the action, the comedy, and the style in Get Smart? Here are Pete Segal's top 8 spy movie inspirations for Get Smart.

Official Summer 2008 IMAX Line-Up - Speed Racer Included!

I was talking with my local theater manager earlier today about this year's exciting summer line-up. He mentioned that Speed Racer would be one of the big movies showing in IMAX. At first I was taken aback, but then I realized, of course, all of the Wachowski's movies have played in IMAX, including V for Vendetta! So on top of confirmation that Speed Racer is coming to IMAX, I decided to run a wrap-up looking at three big IMAX features this summer: Speed Racer, Kung Fu Panda, and The Dark Knight. If you're a fan of the IMAX experience, you won't want to miss this.

Iron Man's Director Jon Favreau Talks Flying and Action Scenes

One of the biggest concerns I've heard recently regarding the upcoming Iron Man movie is whether director Jon Favreau will be able to take on an action movie as well as a comedy or drama. Everyone seems to feel confident in Favreau as a director, but they're really unsure whether he's truly capable of pulling off the action that a comic book movie like Iron Man requires in order to be amazing. During press interviews after the presentation at WonderCon in San Francisco, Favreau specifically addressed that question. His answer not only settled any of my own concerns, but actually turned all of my hesitation around into pure excitement. I've said it before and I'll keep saying it - Favreau really knows what he's doing and really was born to direct Iron Man.

Top 15 Films To Look Out For: Pre-Summer 2008 Hype List

Although we're already well into 2008 with only three months left until we finally arrive at the beginning of the summer movie season in May, that doesn't mean there aren't an abundance of good films to look forward to before we get there. Last year we offered our readers a similar pre-summer 2007 list with 15 films that ended up being very worthwhile, and now it's time to look at what we have in store for 2008. Today we look at the 15 movies that should not be overlooked in the next three months in what we call the Pre-Summer 2008 Hype List. If you're ready to dive in, then take a look for yourself and make sure to jot down the names of these must-see pre-summer movies.

The 6 Glorious Heist Movies of 2008

In the immortal words of Dane Cook, "Where's the van?! The van was supposed to be here!" Or as he better put it, "Any guy here would rather be part of a heist." That couldn't be more true. What self-righteous movie-fanatic male doesn't want to be part of a heist? But unfortunately if none of your friends are skilled criminals, you'll have to resort to watching heist movies like the rest of us. There is no Ocean's Thirteen this year, but there is a line-up of six glorious heist movies that will each provide their own amazing experience. If you're ready to get in on the plan, then let's take a look at 2008's heist movies.

Second Annual Sundance Awards and Complete Review List

I tried to leave Park City today, but the powers that be wouldn't let me go! The snow was falling too hard and before long the only place I could go was my brother's condo in Salt Lake City. However, now I have the time I need to put together my comprehensive best of the fest awards and complete list of reviews from the Sundance Film Festival 2008. Although almost every straight drama was quite mediocre this year, there were some surprisingly impressive comedies. I know the five I've chosen below I will NOT forget and they'll all probably end up making it somewhere on my year end favorites list, too. Keep your eye on this list of films, they're guaranteed to be big hits sometime this year.

Official Guide to the Summer of 2008

As of this moment, this upcoming summer (kicking off on May 2nd with Iron Man) looks quite promising. There aren't as many sequels as 2007, which is good (and also bad), but there are quite a few movies that look absolutely incredible - The Dark Knight, Indiana Jones 4, and Wall-E, to name a few. To kick off the new year and start some early buzz for the summer, we're publishing the Official Guide to the Summer of 2008 - in trailers. Below you will find a chronological listing of the best upcoming summer of 2008 movies and links to their respective trailers. It's a list you need to check out and save for reference when we start nearing the end of April, to help you decide what to see this summer.

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.

Why 2008 Will Be An Awesome Year For Movies

In August of last year we ran a controversial look at 43 reasons why 2007 would be a great year for movies. Now that 2007 has nearly come and gone and almost all of those 43 movies have been released, it's time to look ahead at 2008. The last 12 months have played a major part in building the hype for most of the movies mentioned and I can now say that 2008 looks way more appealing at this moment than 2007 did at the same time last year. This could be the year that we see revolutionary new changes in Hollywood, not only as the Writers Strike ends but as we encounter films like Cloverfield, Speed Racer, and The Dark Knight. Let's take look at 54 reasons why 2008 will be an awesome year for movies and an even better year than 2007.

This is a comprehensive list of what will make 2008 a truly memorable year for movies.

The State of Cinema: Poor Projection Quality is Here to Stay - Unless You Make a Difference

It's been mentioned as one of the major problems with movie theaters these days, but usually gets pushed to the bottom of the list below rowdy teenagers and over-priced concessions and tickets - poor projection quality. In theaters all around the world, movies play out-of-focus, framed incorrectly, with low volume or bad sound, and no one says anything or even cares. Back in April I even wrote an article when a screening of Disturbia turned out terrible at a local Landmark theater and it aggravated me enough to say something about it. Thanks to a recent post at Jeffrey Wells' Hollywood Elsewhere, we get one of the best explanations as to why this issue persists.

Official FS.net Thanksgiving Break Movie Guide

As is tradition, Thanksgiving Break has arrived and its time to relax, catch up on all the movies currently out in theaters, and enjoy some great food. We have put together the Official FirstShowing.net Thanksgiving Break Movie Guide to help everyone learn what the best films to watch are and how to pick through the selection at your local theater. Find out what you may be interested in and what the top suggestions are so when you head out to the theaters this upcoming weekend you won't be disappointed. Read onwards for our guide!

From Motion Capture to 3D: The Technology of Beowulf

The action you watch on screen in Beowulf certainly looks great, sounds great, and is truly enthralling, but it's a vastly different filmmaking experience that took years to develop into the version you see on screen. The film has some of the most talented actors and most visionary filmmakers on the planet involved, but their process is quite different from any typical film. Angelina Jolie, who is undoubtedly the most memorable character in the film, only shot for two and a half days back in 2005. Actor Ray Winstone, who plays Beowulf, admits about the filming process, "All these geniuses are standing around you smiling. You become a little bit scared, then you have to find something deep down inside you and say f*ck it. And once you get over that barrier, you really start to enjoy it. I really didn't know what to expect!" So what exactly goes into the technical process of creating Beowulf?