So…Ben Affleck is Batman

ben-affleck-as-batmanHot on the heels that Warner are following up *Man Of Steel* with *Batman vs. Superman*, and that they were taking their story cues from the excellent *The Dark Knight Returns* graphic novel by Frank Miller, and that they were rumoured to be auditioning older actors to play a Dark Knight who would convey the deep hatred of Supes’ red, white and blue sensibilities, they announced today that they’ve decided to go with…Ben Affleck.

Yep.

He of *Daredevil* and *Gigli* fame, who by all accounts is a very nice man, will be donning the cowl and gravelly voice to follow in Christian Bale’s booted footsteps.

I’m kind of hoping it’s a ridiculously convoluted hoax at this point. There’s no denying that Affleck can shine with the right material, but I think casting him as Batman is a terrible decision. At least we know that Warner aren’t going to try and replicate the deep relationships between the two that was the whole backbone of *TDKR* – this is going to be an effects-heavy cashgrab with some kind of last-minute voodoo magic ensuring that Batman isn’t flicked into the sun within the first 8 milliseconds of their fight.

Come on, Warner. Prove me wrong. *Please*.

I’d even take Clooney back at this point.

Gah.

 

Review: Kick Ass 2

Kick-Ass 2

2010’s Kick-ass was a movie not without problems, but what problems it had were easy to forget because it was actually fun. It melded over the top violence and profanity with an upbeat and optimistic “holy shit we’re superheroes” tone which gave the movie a unique energy, and a couple of brilliant casting moves made the whole endeavor…. well _fun_ really is the operative word here.

It’s 3 years later both in our world and theirs and Kick-Ass 2 is here and you know what? It holds up pretty well!

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Review: Jobs

Jobs

Love him or hate him, Steve Jobs seems like he’d be an interesting guy. A college drop out that rose to the top of the tech world seemingly by uncompromising vision and sheer force of will. He was a perfectionist and quick to temper but by all accounts an inspiring leader and in his lifetime changed a great many things about the way we now think of computers.

There’s a lot of potential for a great movie there. This movie is not that movie though.

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The Monuments Men Trailer: George Clooney Saves History

Monuments Men

During World War II Europe was devastated and much of its history was in danger of being lost, destroyed at the hands of the Nazis. The Monuments, Fine Arts and Archives Program was an allied effort to save culturally important items before the Nazis could do that. George Clooney has directed a movie about that effort which looks pretty good. Let’s watch the trailer!

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American Hustle Trailer has Bigger Balls Than You

American Hustle

David O Russell has made some great films and it looks like he’s basically asked everyone who’s been nominated for an Oscar in his last few to come back and be in his new one, American Hustle. The film is a fictionalization of the ABSCAM FBI sting of the 1970s starring Christian Bale, Amy Adams, Jennifer Lawrence, Bradley Cooper and Jeremy Renner. That cast alone is enough to get my butt in a seat, but there’s a trailer now too so let’s check that out.

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Review: Elysium

Elysium

Neill Blompkamp burst on the scene a few years back with District 9, a movie fresh new SciFi action film concerning a group of displaced aliens living in a massive ghetto in Johannesburg South Africa. The film was born out of Blompkamp and Peter Jackson’s attempts to put together a _Halo_ movie and when that fell apart those resources when to expanding Blompkamp’s short film _Alive in Joburg_ into a full fledged movie. The result was a fantastic film with an original approach, story, characters and clear allegory to social and political issues facing us today. I’m not going to spoil it, just go watch it.

I mention this because the follow up, _Elysium_, is another SciFi action film with an interesting and unique approach and some clear allegories to social and political issues of our time. So how does it stack up? Not bad, actually.

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Awesome: Bruce Willis Out Of Expendables 3 But Harrison Ford Is In!

ford1

Yippie-ki-yay, mother lover. Sylvester Stallone confirmed today ([via Twitter](https://twitter.com/TheSlyStallone/status/364831174075486208), of course) that Bruce Willis is being exchanged wholesale for Harrison Ford in the upcoming *Expendables 3*. According to further tweets, there’s quite a spat forming between Stallone and Willis, with the former calling the latter “greedy and lazy”. Fighting talk indeed.

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