Manolete (Movie Watch)

"Manolete" is a film on legendary matador Manuel Rodriguez Sanchez & his love affair with actress Lupe Sino. The film is set in 1940s Spain & tells the story of matador Sanchez's infatuation with Sino, which continued until his death in the bullring in 1947 at 30.

Trailer HERE

Madman (What to Know)

Dimension Films has apparantly struck a deal to turn Michael Allred's comic character Madman into a live-action film. George Huang (Swimming With Sharks) will direct a script he'll write with Allred. Robert Rodriguez & Elizabeth Avellan will produce via their Troublemaker Studios.

Madman is a post-modernist reimagining of the Frankenstein tale, with a superhero twist.The title character, killed in a car accident, is reanimated by an eccentric doc who names him Frank Einstein & instills in him enhanced senses, psychic power & exceptional physical skills. The doc can't fix his creature's face, so Madman wears a costume to hide his scars.

The project, spearheaded by Dimension will follow a template similar to Sin City, which Troublemaker produced & Rodriguez directed with its creator Frank Miller for Dimension. As with that film, the creative behind the comic book is made an active part of the creative process to have a greater possibility avoiding the Alan Moore/Corporate syndrome. And like Sin City, Madman will be shot entirely at Rodriguez's Troublemaker Studios in Texas.

Die Hard 4: Live Free or Die Hard (Graded)

In the 4th installment to the ‘Die Hard' series, "Live Free or Die Hard" follows a criminal plot to take down the entire computer & technological structure that supports the economy of the United States (and the world). Obviously it's up to "old school" cop, John McClane, to take down the conspiracy aided by a young hacker.

Grade: C +
Teaser HERE
Trailer HERE

Underdog (Movie Watch)

Based on NBC's long-running cartoon, Underdog, this live-action film is about a diminutive hound named Shoeshine, who accidentally acquires superpowers during a lab mishap. A lonely twelve-year-old boy adopts Shoeshine, all the while knowing that his little friend is actually the superhero Underdog. To save Capitol City, Underdog must defeat his nemesis, the mad scientist, Simon Barsinister. Underdog will be played by a real dog, with a few CGI enhancements.

Trailer Here

Shrek The Third (Movie Watch)

When we last saw him, King Harold had turned into a frog. Now that he has fallen ill, his daughter, Princess Fiona, & her husband Shrek are the next in line to rule as the Queen and King of Far, Far Away. Since he finds difficulty in the new position and longs to return to his swamp, Shrek is delighted to hear that he may have a way out of this predicament. There is one other person who could rightfully claim King Harold’s throne – Fiona’s troublesome cousin Artie. With his friends Donkey & Puss in Boots beside him, Shrek sets out to find the rebellious teen. Suddenly, the jilted Prince Charming, who was thrown out of Far, Far Away last time, makes his way back to the kingdom, looking for revenge. Together with a group of fairy tale villains, he hopes to seize back the castle and the throne. Fiona assembles a band of princesses to help her stop the Prince’s assault, but with Shrek away on his mission, the kingdom is in grave danger.

Grade: B +

Teaser HERE

Happily Never After (Movie Watch)

Once upon a time in Fairy Tale Land, the age-old balance between good & evil has been thrown out of whack. Frieda, Cinderella's power-mad stepmother, has formed an unholy alliance of evil to take on the good guys. With her own fairy tale spinning wildly out of control, Cinderella (a/k/a Ella) is forced to shed her damsel-in-distress trappings in order to seize control of her own destiny & lead the resistance without her Prince Charming.

Trailer HERE

Reign Over Me (Movie Watch)

Charlie Fineman has completely shut himself off emotionally from the outside world. During the attacks that occurred on September 11th, he lost his wife & daughters and has been barely able to cope with the daily intricacies of life since. An unlikely reunion with Alan Johnson, Charlie’s old college roommate, changes things. The two rekindle their friendship & suddenly there seems to be hope that Charlie may recover from his grief after all. Since college Alan has become a doctor, after meeting up with Charlie he quickly becomes determined to help him find a way out of his depression, but can he?

Trailer HERE

Martin Nodell (Nov 15, 1915 – Dec 9, 2006)

Martin Nodell, the creator of Green Lantern, the comic book superhero who uses his magical ring to help him fight crime, passes away at 91 yrs old.

Nodell passed away at a nursing home in Muskego, Wis., on Saturday of natural causes, his son Spencer Nodell told The Associated Press on Tuesday. He previously lived in West Palm Beach.

Nodell was looking for a new idea for a comic book in 1940 when he was waiting for a New York subway and saw a train operator waving a lantern displaying a green light, said Maggie Thompson, senior editor of Comics Buyer's Guide.

Nodell imagined a young engineer, Alan Scott, a train crash survivor who discovers in the debris an ancient lantern forged from a green meteor. Scott constructs a ring from the lamp that gives him super powers, and becomes a crime fighter.

He brought his drawings and story lines to All-American Publications, which later became a part of National Periodical Publications, the company that was to become DC Comics, Thompson said.
The first Green Lantern appearance came in July 1940, an eight-page story in a comic book also featuring other characters. The character then got his own series, and Nodell drew it until 1947 under the name Mart Dellon. After its cancellation in 1949, the series was reborn in 1959 with a revised story line, and it has been revived several times.

Meanwhile, Nodell left the comics field for an advertising career. In the 1960s, he was on a design team that helped develop the Pillsbury Doughboy.

In later years, Nodell traveled the comic book convention circuit with his wife, Caroline, who died in 2004.

"There were myriad of fans who would come up to my dad and would say `Green Lantern got me to read' or `Green Lantern got me to do something in my life,'" Spencer Nodell said.

Nodell was born in Philadelphia and studied at art schools in Chicago and New York. Besides Spencer Nodell, survivors include another son, six grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

TMNT (Official Trailer Release)

"TMNT", the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle movie will be the first all CG animated movie in the history of the franchise. The PG-rated movie will derive its tone from the original comic-book series and will be grittier than the previous live action pictures, we can hope.

Grade: B -
Teaser HERE
Trailer HERE

300 (Graded)

Based on the graphic novel by Frank Miller, 300 is a ferocious retelling of the ancient Battle of Thermopylae in which King Leonidas (Gerard Butler) and 300 Spartans fought to the death against Xerxes and his massive Persian army. Facing insurmountable odds, their valor and sacrifice inspire all of Greece to unite.

Grade: A -
Trailers HERE

The Secret Life of Words (Movie Watch)

Hannah, who wears a hearing aid, is forced to go on holiday. On holiday she manages to find a job: caring for Josef, a burn victim on an oil rig who temporarily lost his sight, until he's stable enough to be transferred. There is almost no one on the rig, except a cook, an oceanographer and a few others out at sea. Hannah tends to Josef and he slowly breaks her shell of silence.

Trailer HERE

Fido (Movie Watch)

Timmy Robinson's best friend in the whole wide world is a six-foot tall rotting zombie named FIDO. But when Fido eats the next-door neighbor, Mom & Dad hit the roof, and Timmy has to go to the ends of the earth to keep Fido a part of the family. A boy-and-his-dog movie for grown ups, "FIDO" will rip your heart out.

Grade: B

Trailer HERE