It's been four years since Tim Burton's visually spectacular Alice in Wonderland adaptation went down the rabbit hole to massive box-office success (with a $1.025 billion haul, it stands as the fifteenth highest-grossing film of all time) and awards attention (including two Oscars for Costume Design and Art Direction), and now Disney is finally getting close to beginning production on a sequel. Through the Looking Glass, as the project is now known, is set to hit screens in 2016, and the studio is currently firming up a cast of familiar and fresh faces.
The first season of Netflix's Orange Is The New Black was one of the best and most attention-grabbing debuts for any show in 2013, and to say I'm looking forward to reincarceration at Litchfield Penitentiary when the prison dramedy returns for its sophomore run in June would be a bit of an understatement.
Looks like all those whispers circulating last year about the possibility of Lionsgate developing an eighth film in their gruesome Saw franchise (despite the seventh being titled Saw: The Final Chapter) were just rumors, now that the series' actor/writer/producer Leigh Whannell has revealed that he hasn't been involved with any discussions over at the studio.
Funnyman Kevin Hart has been having a pretty stellar year so far. Both Ride Along, Hart's January action comedy with Ice Cube, and About Last Night, his modern romantic comedy, earned generally positive reviews and became runaway box-office successes (Ride Along had the highest opening gross ever in the month of January). With rom-com sequel Think Like A Man Too set to give Hart three for three in June, it doesn't look like he'll be fading away from the multiplex anytime soon.
After residing in development hell for more than a decade, a reboot of the Chevy Chase comedy Fletch, titled Fletch Won, is finally moving forward with news that We're the Millers star Jason Sudeikis is in talks for the lead role.
Most people don't seek out Jean Claude Van Damme movies for their dramatic depth. That's like judging an Adam Sandler comedy on how eloquent a critique it offers of modern society. So, should you sit down to watch Enemies Closer, temper your expectations appropriately. If you go in expecting cringeworthy dialogue, ridiculous plot twists, enjoyably campy acting and some decent action sequences, you certainly won't be disappointed. That said, if you feel the urge to ask Enemies Closer for anything more, then you're watching the wrong movie.
After AMC's Breaking Bad ended on such an incredibly high note, all eyes turned to creator Vince Gilligan, with many wondering if there was any hope of him ever masterminding a show that could match that drama (widely considered to be one of the finest TV shows of all time) in terms of critical acclaim and off-the-charts ratings. So, there's a lot of attention being paid to Gilligan's next project, CBS police drama Battle Creek, which is set to premiere this fall. Now, CBS has announced that the show has cast its second leading man: Josh Duhamel.
One of my favorite shows from last year, and certainly the newcomer I got most excited about, was BBC America's sci-fi drama Orphan Black, a sharply written and brilliantly acted show about a petty thief named Sarah Manning (Tatiana Maslany, possibly the most talented actress working on television right now) who witnesses a woman who looks exactly like her committing suicide. As she investigates, Sarah uncovers a network of clones and learns that the shadowy scientists responsible for their creation are also more than willing to get their hands dirty if it means continuing their experiments.
Video-game adaptations are a dime a dozen, but it's rare that any of them are worth even a cursory glance. The Resident Evil franchise, BloodRayne and Silent Hill are just a few of many that have fallen completely flat in their attempts to replicate the thrills of their source material on the big screen. However, based on casting alone, 20th Century Fox's upcoming Hitman remake Agent 47 may actually be worth checking out.
Wes Bentley rarely takes on leading roles, probably partially because his youthful, nondescript features lead audiences to identify with him most as a background player. Things People Do, a quiet drama directed by The Thin Red Line editor Saar Klein, finds Bentley taking on the main role of insurance adjuster Bill Scanlon, who turns to a life of crime when always playing the nice guy leaves him jobless and heavily in debt. Unfortunately, the film's plodding, ham-fisted narrative allows neither Bentley nor Things People Do as a whole any opportunity to leave even the slightest impression.
