Humor District

The first teaser trailer for the J. J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg movie Super 8 did not reveal much. Sure, it was awesome to see a truck get hit by a train and explode, and then something forcing its way out of the train, but it didn’t reveal much about the actual plot. Now we have finally gotten a longer glimpse into what Super 8 is really about. Check out the trailer below for the longest look yet of Super 8.

Alright, let’s get this summed up nice and tidy. We have a small town sheriff, a group of precocious children, an escaped something, and a military presence trying to cover everything up. Super 8 looks like it has all the components needed to be a very good movie. Just the fact that both J. J. Abrams and Steven Spielberg are both involved in this project is a promising sign. This trailer still leaves a lot of questions unanswered, which is perfect from a marketing standpoint. It is obvious that the kids will be playing a big part in this movie, but it is unclear what kind of mischief they will get into. It will also be interesting to see the interaction between the small town cop and the military, especially since the cop’s son is one of the aforementioned precocious children. Perhaps the biggest mystery of all is what this thing that escaped from the train and is causing such an uproar is. The fact that it is never seen during the trailer is reminiscent of the hidden nature of the monster in Cloverfield, another movie J. J. Abrams worked on. Super 8 seems a lot less likely than Cloverfield to cause motion sickness, though.

Popularity: 2% [?]

James Gunn might not be a name you are familiar with, but he has done some good work in the film industry. He wrote screenplays for Scooby Doo movies and Dawn of the Dead, and he also directed the hilarious, but under appreciated, Slither. You might also know him from his amusing internet shorts, PG Porn. His next project is the upcoming movie Super. Super is definitely an indie film, but it has some big names attached, such as Rainn Wilson, Ellen Page, Live Tyler, and Kevin Bacon. Basically all you need to know about this movie before watching this trailer is Dwight from The Office dresses like a superhero and fights Kevin Bacon and Nathan Fillion is some sort of long hair Jesus superhero. Best. Movie. Ever.

After watching the trailer, this movie seems to have a lot of similarities to another semi superhero indie movie, namely Defendor with Woody Harrelson. Both movies have a guy of seemingly below average intelligence and a lack of social skills putting on poorly made costumes and fighting crime with questionable weapons. They also both feature quirky young female sidekicks, Ellen Page in Super and Kat Dennings in Defendor. The good part about these similarities is that Defendor was actually a very entertaining and well done movie. Hopefully Super will take this oddball wanting to be a superhero thing in a different direction than Defendor did though. Judging by the trailer, and the all star cast, Super will be one hell of a fun movie to watch in between the blockbuster superhero movies with their Ryan Reynolds, and big budgets, and fancy schmancy special effects.

Popularity: 4% [?]

Some new photos have been released of Marcus Nispel’s upcoming Conan remake. The main thing to keep in mind about these photos is that Arnold Schwarzenegger is not in them. Jason Momoa is Conan now. The sooner you come to accept that, the easier these pictures will be to appreciate. Jason Momoa may not have the ridiculous musculature that Arnold did, but he is still a fairly intimidating fellow. He definitely looks ready to kick some serious amounts of ass in these pictures.

Of course we know that Conan is only as awesome as the enemies he has crushed and seen driven before him, so while he looks pretty bad ass posing with a sword and a knife, we won’t know how great he really is until we see if his villain is as awesome as James Earl Jones. Luckily we have also received the first picture of a villain from the upcoming Conan movie. I think you will agree that he looks sufficiently menacing.

Yes, a battle between Conan and this behemoth will be entertaining to see. If you aren’t satisfied with this glimpse at Conan, check out the Conan Movie Blog for more updates. Of particular interest are their on set pictures of Conan partying the night away with wenches. Topless wenches. It is inevitable that many will compare this movie unfavorably with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s version, but Marcus Nispel seems to be doing everything he can to create a movie that will be fun to watch.

Popularity: 2% [?]

It seems like it has been quite some time since we last heard anything about a Deadpool movie starring Ryan Reynolds. The script for the movie was released on the internet a while back, and many of those who read it said that it would a career defining role for Reynolds. The only problem with that description is Ryan Reynolds has already cemented himself as one of Hollywood’s most coveted leading men. As a side note, he was also voted the sexiest man alive. He is currently busy promoting his movie Green Lantern, he will be in The Change-Up this summer, and he is slated to be in R.I.P.D. after that. With the success of comic book movies recently, I would also assume that he will be busy working on a Green Lantern sequel at some point in the future as well. While it will definitely be great to see Ryan Reynolds in so many movies, it doesn’t leave him with a lot of time to be involved in a Deadpool movie.

I know a lot of people who love Ryan Reynolds and love Deadpool just read that and became depressed that their two favorite things wouldn’t be able to come together. Well those people need to stop jumping to conclusions. In a recent interview with Empire, Ryan Reynolds confirmed that a Deadpool movie is still in the works, and he would still very much like to be a part of it. Don’t  start celebrating yet, readers who are prone to overreaction. Reynolds also admitted that he is not sure how the timing of a Deadpool movie would work since he is so busy with other projects. Basically we have received a confirmation that Reynolds is ready and willing to play the merc with a mouth, but he is just too damn popular to be anything less than an A-List superhero in movies at the moment. Now we go back to waiting on more news and looking at shirtless pictures of Ryan Reynolds on the internet.

Popularity: 3% [?]

We have already seen the trailer for Captain America: The First Avenger, and in it we got our first glimpse of Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull. Unfortunately it was not the clearest glimpse, as most of the trailer focused on Chris Evans and his transformation from skinny Steve Rogers to the living embodiment of our great nation, Captain America. While it was entertaining to see Captain America beat up some lackeys, we all know what we really want to see is him face to face with the main villain, the Red Skull. Entertainment Weekly gave us at least half of that wish by showing the first full costume picture of Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull.

I have to say I am extremely impressed by the look of the Red Skull. Just hearing the description of a Nazi guy with a red skeleton face, it would be easy to picture a somewhat ridiculous looking villain. That is definitely not the case here, the Red Skull looks menacing as hell. Perhaps the best part of the Red Skull costume is that he is clearly recognizable as Hugo Weaving. Sure, there is definitely a lot of makeup obscuring his features, but that is clearly his expression, perhaps looking disdainfully upon a henchman who left his fly open. There are still quite a few questions about Captain America: The First Avenger, which hasn’t impressed quite as much as Thor, but it really seems like they hit a home run with the Red Skull.

Popularity: 2% [?]

As you might have guessed from the title of this article, a new red band trailer has been released for the upcoming alien comedy Paul. You may also have deduced that this trailer is fairly tame, at least compared to most red band trailers that are released. The point of a red band trailer is to show the raunchy hijinks and foul language that may make up a movie that you couldn’t otherwise show. A lot of red band trailers, such as the one for Your Highness, feature F-Bombs flying frequently, masturbation jokes, and Natalie Portman’s ass. It is easy to understand why that kind of movie would need a red band trailer. I’m not saying Paul doesn’t need a red band trailer, I’m just saying they could have come up with a better one than they did.

The thing is, it feels like this red band trailer was made just to include one joke about a government agent grabbing an alien’s balls. Don’t get me wrong, that scene is quite amusing and the language involved couldn’t be shown on a regular trailer, but that’s about the only part of the trailer that merits red band status. The only other borderline part is showing Kristen Wiig smoking a joint with the alien. It feels like the few other F-Bombs dropped in the trailer were dropped in simply because it was a red band trailer, the jokes really aren’t comprised of cursing. It is still a very entertaining trailer, and I will definitely be seeing Paul when it comes out. Simon Pegg, Seth Rogen, Kristen Wiig, and Nick Frost are all hilarious, I was just surprised how tame the red band trailer was. Don’t worry though, the actual movie will probably contain far more alien genitals and swears than your grandpa can shake his cane at.

Popularity: 1% [?]

DJ Caruso, the director of upcoming movie I Am Number Four, has officially been chosen to direct the movie adaptation of Garth Ennis’ comic book series, Preacher. Caruso was earlier rumored to be the director of a movie adaptation for another comic book series, Y: The Last Man, but nothing moved forward with that project. Hopefully that will not be the case for the wildly popular Preacher series.

Garth Ennis’ Preacher is a fairly deep comic book series that followed the titular preacher, Jesse Custer, who is on a mission to track down God. Jesse Custer also happens to be bonded with a creature called Genesis, the offspring of an angel and a demon, which makes him possibly the most powerful being in existence. During his travels, Custer meets good guys, bad guys, mediocre guys, and has to do a lot of killing to get where he is going. The series has been both praised and criticized for its handling of religious beliefs, but it cannot be denied that it is one hell of an entertaining and thought provoking story.

DJ Caruso seems like a good choice to handle the directing duties for Preacher. He is a self proclaimed lover of Westerns, and there is definitely a Wild West feel around the whole Preacher story. He also knows how to handle suspense and action, making Disturbia a good suspense movie despite starring Shia LaBeouf. What will be interesting to see is whether Preacher ends up being a movie series, or if the studio tries to cram the whole series into one movie. Chances are Caruso will do whatever he can to include as much of the story as possible, as he is a director who respects the source material. That is probably the one thing about DJ Caruso that should make fanboys of the Preacher series the happiest.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Take Me Home Tonight looks like it will be a fairly amusing 80′s throwback movie, what with the wacky hijinks, humorous misunderstandings, and teenagers played by actors in their thirties. This isn’t a parody movie, so we don’t have to worry about seeing any Molly Ringwald lookalikes, at least I hope not, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few tributes to famous 80′s movies. In fact, the cast has already been involved in an ode to just about every notable movie you can think of that was made in the 80′s. If you ever wondered what Topher Grace would look like as Marty McFly, watch the following music video and wonder no more.

This cover of “Don’t You Want Me” by Atomic Tom might not be the greatest song to listen to, but it was one of the best music videos I have seen. There are references to many of my favorite movies, such as Terminator, Back to the Future, Ghostbusters, Teen Wolf, and so many more. My favorite was definitely the Back to the Future gag. If Take Me Home Tonight is anywhere near as entertaining as this music video was, I don’t think it will have any problems in the box office. Which movie references were your favorite? Leave your answers in the comment section below.

Popularity: 1% [?]

Snakes on a Plane was a decent movie about a bunch of snakes that found their way onto an airplane. It also had Samuel L. Jackson, who lost his patience with those snakes very quickly. You might be surprised to learn that Snakes on a Plane actually had a director, David R. Ellis was the man behind the scenes making sure this epic tale of slithering serpents awed audiences. After successfully proving that some people will go to a movie called Snakes on a Plane, even if it was just because Samuel L. Jackson was involved, Ellis has decided to up the ante on stupid movie titles. He wants to call his next movie Untitled 3D Shark Thriller. I’ll give you three guesses as to what that movie will be about.

Look, I enjoy these terrible animal rampage movies, especially ones about sharks and dinosaurs, as much as anybody. Hell, I’ve sat through SyFy channel movies like Supercroc and enjoyed them. The point of these movies is to be stupid and entertaining, but they have their limits. Snakes on a Plane was a straightforward title that was so blunt it garnered quite a bit of interest. Naming a movie Untitled 3D Shark Thriller just takes that bluntness and turns it up to eleven. I hate it. It makes the whole project seem thoughtless, and I like some effort to be displayed, even when I’m watching terrible movies. That title makes me want to roll my eyes and forget I ever heard anything about this movie. If that title sticks, there is no way I will be watching that movie. Unless of course they bring in Samuel L. Jackson. That man can make me watch any movie.

Popularity: 1% [?]

There hasn’t been much news about Zack Snyder’s Superman movie, especially because he is busy promoting Sucker Punch at the moment. We have finally gotten word on what is perhaps the most important decision to be made about the latest Superman movie, who will be playing the iconic Man of Steel. Following in the footsteps of Brandon Routh and Christopher Reeve, Henry Cavill of The Tudors fame will be the next man to wear the big “S” on his chest.

Henry Cavill certainly has the chiseled good looks to play Superman, and he has shown that he has pretty good acting chops on The Tudors. The problem here is that Superman is such an iconic feature, and Christopher Reeve did such a good job portraying him. It will take a stellar performance for the legions of fanboys to accept Cavill as the new Superman. I believe Brandon Routh proved in Superman Returns that it is actually more the movie itself than the actor that will make or break Henry Cavill as Superman. A lame story that has Superman acting like a child abandoning wuss will not make people grow to like that character, even if the actor playing Superman was pretty darn good. Luckily Zack Snyder has been known to create some fairly entertaining movies, and one thing he is never short on is action. We can expect a more exciting Superman movie with Snyder at the helm, which will definitely help Henry Cavill in winning over fans.

Popularity: 4% [?]