It’s a good day in geekdom. ‘Ain’t It Cool News’ has posted an early review of ‘Transformers’ from a test screening in Arizona. The review is very positive for the not-yet-ready Michael Bay production. Mr. Bay was present in the packed theater during the test screening. Despite some areas with unfinished CGI and a temp soundtrack, the reviewer praises the action sequences as “non-stop robot destruction- I honestly couldn’t tell you everything that happened because it was just so damn awesome I had a hard time even keeping up”. Click here to read the review. WARNING: The bulk of the review contains a synopsis of the movie’s plot. If you would rather be completely surprised when Transformer’s is released, don’t click the link.

I’ve written an article about the reason’s behind the box office failure of Grindhouse. The article’s been published on the site associatedcontent.com . You guy’s may want to check it out. Thanks!

You can read the article here.

The Hollywood Reporter announced that Brad Pitt is joining George Clooney and Francis McDormand for the Coen brother’s film Burn After Reading. The black comedy focuses on a CIA agent who loses the disc of a book that he is writing. All other information about the film is being kept hush-hush including the rest of the storyline and what role Pitt will play. As usual with the Coen brothers’ films, both Joel and Ethan Coen wrote the screenplay with Joel directing and Ethan producing. I’m hoping the Coens’ get their film groove back after the disappointing Intolerable Cruelty and The Ladykillers. Check out the article here.

Collider.com recently spoke producer Avi Arad about the upcoming movie The Incredible Hulk. Arad revealed that this Hulk movie will move in a completely different direction from Ang Lee’s Hulk. Arad said this will be “a new Hulk, new direction, new size, new color, new attitude. Anything that was done before is not in this movie.” This is creating speculation that the Hulk may be grey in the film which he has been several times in the comic book series. My guess is that he will be blend of the traditional green and the popular grey. Many people were not happy with Ang Lee’s 2003 film, so this attempt to recreate the characters and storyline has fans excited. The Incredible Hulk’s producers are making some good choices with Edward Norton being announced as Bruce Banner and Abomination chosen for the villain. Of course, there are a lot of other factors (mainly the script) that will decide whether this movie will live up to its potential, but I’m keeping my fingers crossed.
Check out the article here.

Everyone knows that Hollywood’s first goal is to make as much money as possible. The second goal is to make a really good film. Well, sometimes that second goal is to help popularize some product, trend, or potential future star. This all ties into Goal #1 of making money. Then, hopefully, the goal is to a make really good film. Franchise films can be good for both studios and audiences. The studios make a ton of money off of them while audiences find characters and storylines they fall in love with and want to see more of. However, there often comes a point when the studios make one too many sequels, tainting the franchise, and causing many movie-goers to wish they had stopped a long time ago. Here is my answer to this predicament of making one last sequel for money while appeasing the audiences’ love of the characters. Kill the main character. You can’t do this with franchises like Spider-Man because those are characters/storylines created outside of movies and exist in their own realm. However, you can do this with movies like Lethal Weapon, Rocky, Rambo, and even Indiana Jones. Lethal Weapon definitely should have ended after #3, but the fourth sequel could have been quite good had Martin Riggs (Mel Gibson) been killed. This is one of my all-time favorite film characters, but I really wanted to watch him go down and instead they gave him a baby at the end. Rocky is the same. Rocky Balboa wasn’t bad, but would have been better had Rocky finally taken his last blow in the ring. Rambo 4 is now in production, and I would actually go see it in the theater if I knew John Rambo was going to throw his last Bowie knife into an enemy’s chest. John McClain definitely needs to “Die Hard” this summer in the franchise’s fourth sequel. Some may call for my head on this one, but I’m really hoping Indiana Jones will seek his last archeological treasure next summer. Again, I love this character, but I want the franchise to end on a great cinematic note. This is one of the few ways I see this happening. Star Wars may even be redeemed after the dismal prequels with an aging Luke Skywalker taking a lightsaber to the head. Well, it may be redeemed if George Lucas doesn’t write and direct it. We’ll have to wait until next summer to see if Rambo and Indy bite it. I’m hoping it happens, but I’m also not holding my breath on it.

Question: How many times can Jennifer Aniston play the exact same character but with a different name? Answer: How ever many times she keeps getting cast for any movie or TV show. Look, I have nothing against her as a person. I’m just sick of watching her play Rachel, her Friends character, in everything she does and getting paid millions of dollars to do so. Hey Hollywood, why don’t you try to save $10 million of a film’s budget and give a talented, just as beautiful, no-name actress a shot at bringing more to the role than Ms. Aniston? To be fair, I heard she tried playing a different character in Derailed with Clive Owen (great actor). Nothing about the trailer appealed to me, so I skipped it. And don’t try to tell me she played a different character in The Good Girl. It was the same character as always, just a tad more sad and subdued. Hollywood has always given roles to beautiful people with limited talent. I don’t expect it to change, but I can dream.

Harvey Weinstein is furious with the anemic $12 million Grindhouse took in this weekend. Weinstein blames the three-hour plus running time of the double feature for poor turn out according to Deadline Hollywood Daily. “Our research showed the length kept people away. It was the single biggest deterrent” Weinstein said while revealing that they originally hoped to come in around two hours and 30 minutes. In the end, though, both Tarantino and Rodriguez ran long pushing the film over the three hour mark. With a $67 million production budget and $38 million advertising budget, the Weinstein Co. is looking at a long drought before seeing any profit on this film. Harvey Weinstein is so concerned that he’s reportedly considering re-editing the double feature into two separate full-length films and re-releasing them as separate Tarantino and Rodriguez branded products. Weinstein said he could do this in as little as two weeks at which point he would release the Tarantino portion. Several month’s afterward he would release Rodriguez’s re-edited half. Weinstein has already planned to promote the two film’s separately for the European release, but a final decision for the states hasn’t been made yet.

Deadline Hollywood Daily is reporting that the Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez double-feature Grindhouse has disappointment written all over it’s first weekend numbers. The movie’s opening is on track to come in far below the $25 million touted just a few days ago. Currently Grindhouse is looking at a take of around $13 million. This isn’t just bad news for fans of Tarantino/Rodriguez, but it’s also bad news for movie fans who want to support movies made without studio pressure and test audience reaction. Harvey and Bob Weinstein left Disney to form a company that trusts it’s directors and writers. I’m planning on seeing Grindhouse next weekend and I’ll post my impressions here. If other reviews I’ve read are correct, Grindhouse is a good film that stands up to the best both Tarantino and Rodriguez have produced in the past. Do we want to continue getting this glut of high budget crap that studios churn out, or do we want more oringial and innovative filmmaking? For god’s sake, folks, stop seeing crap like Wild Hogs, Ghost Rider, and Norbit.