Geek godhead JJ Abrams directing STAR WARS EPISODE VII

It's official. JJ Abrams has been chosen to direct Star Wars Episode VII for Disney; the first in a new trilogy schedules for release in summer 2016. This news come despite the fact Abrams appeared to rule himself out of the running recently, saying that he wouldn't want to be involved because of his "loyalty to Star Trek" and fact he's "rather be in the audience not knowing what was coming, rather than being involved in the minutiae of making them." I guess something changed; most likely the money on offer.

Quentin Tarantino chats to Krishnan Guru-Murphy about DJANGO UNCHAINED

Writer-director Quentin Tarantino's in London to promote his new Western movie Django Unchained, starring Jamie Foxx as the eponymous freed slave who comes under the tutelage of Christoph Waltz's bounty hunter, and got quite upset about the line of questioning from Krishnan Guru-Murphy of Channel 4 News. A question about screen violence and its alleged links to real violence proved to be the catalyst. Watch the eight-minute interview for yourself (embedded above), which starts to grow heated about halfway through.

Oh well, it's all good publicity at the end of the day. Do you think Tarantino was right to object to the question, on the grounds that he's answered it before elsewhere? Was Guru-Murphy's question out of order, or too overstated to be of an value? Discuss below! The movie itself is released in UK cinemas on 18 January.

Trailer: STAR TREK INTO DARKNESS (2013)

Why can't I get excited about Star Trek Into Darkness? It's all looks gorgeous and I can't wait to see this universe back on our screens, with this brilliant cast involved, and Benedict Cumberbatch as a sci-fi villain is an amazing choice. And yet... I just don't feel it yet. This theatrical trailer is much better than the "announcement trailer" that was released earlier, but we still don't have a proper sense of the storyline, or even WHO the villain is. It was recently revealed that Cumberbatch is playing a terrorist called John Harrison (so NOT Khan) and Alice Eve's playing Dr Carol Marcus (a character seen in Wrath of Khan, who was the mother of Kirk's son). I wish the trailers were a little more forthcoming about all of this, really. But yeah, it looks expensive and there are some nice shots, together with Cumberbatch's impression of an evil Jean-Luc Picard in the voice-over. What do you think?

Trailer: MAN OF STEEL (2013)

While Marvel are having uproarious fun with their multi-character, cross-pollinating franchises, you have to remember rivals DC still own unarguably the two greatest comic-book characters ever: Batman and Superman. There's still talk of them doing a Justice League ensemble movie in direct response to The Avengers' $1bn global box-office, but I personally think that's a huge mistake. They should be taking a different approach and offering audience's an alternative to Marvel's bright eye-candy. Christopher Nolan's The Dark Knight trilogy is a great example of an alternate approach (although the ball was set in motion three years before Iron Man, so it's Marvel who are responding to Batman's realism), and now DC's looking to "Nolanize" the granddaddy of superheroes: Superman.

Teaser: STAR TREK – INTO DARKNESS (2013)

The long-awaited teaser trailer for JJ Abrams' new Star Trek Into Darkness movie has finally been released, and I'm disappointed by it. The marketing of this rebooted franchise really frustrates me, because they're still so reticent to trumpet the STAR TREK-ness of the whole endeavour! And why is that, considering mass audiences responded so positively to the first movie? I found 2009's Star Trek invigorating, lively and great fun. It serviced the Trekkies, while drawing in a fresh audience thanks to its more aggressive Star Wars-y visuals and scale. I don't think there's any reason to be concerned about marketing this sequel as a Star Trek movie now, so why is the Into Darkness trailer wary about showing us the franchise's iconic imagery and sounds?

Trailer: EVIL DEAD (2013)

I respect Sam Raimi's '80s cult classic EVIL DEAD, but much prefer the jokier sequel-cum-remake Evil Dead II. Fans have been waiting for a fourth movie from Raimi and star Bruce Campbell for around 20 years, but it never seems to happen. A remake was also mooted many years ago, but that's actually come to pass—with Raimi and Campbell as producers. Uruguayan director Fede Álvarez (who came to many people's attention with his short film Panic Attack!) is behind the remake, and Sony Pictures have finally released a full trailer for fans to nitpick. You can take a look for yourself above, but please be warned that it's NSFW and certainly not for the squeamish. NFTS?

Sponsored Video: VIRGIN MEDIA SHORTS 2012

It's the return of the UK's biggest short film competition from Virgin Media, which is offering £30,000 of film funding and mentoring from the British Film Institute to this year's winner. 13 finalists will compete at the Southbank Centre in London this November, with a panel of judges (including actress Juliet Walters and film critic James King) selecting the winner. All of the finalists will receive a fantastic consolation prize, too, as the 12 shorts will then be shown in nationwide cinema for a whole year.

Sponsored Video: JAWS Blu-ray

The original summer blockbuster is swimming its way to Blu-ray after 27 years. Jaws scared audiences senseless back in 1975 and it's now been remastered as part of Universal Studios' centenary, bringing 1080p visuals and 7.1 surround sound to home viewers.

Sponsored Video: THE BOURNE LEGACY

I'm surprised the fourth installment in the Bourne saga, The Bourne Legacy, has attracted so many talented people, considering it's on shaky ground without Matt Damon and the first two sequel's director Paul Greengrass. But the famous names involved helps give Legacy legitimacy.

Now, franchise screenwriter Tony Gilroy steps behind the camera instead of Greengrass, and Jeremy Renner (The Hurt Locker) is playing a new super-spy in the Jason Bourne mold who goes on the run when the CIA send assassins to erase agents of the controversial "Operation Outcome" (a success or Bourne's "Operation Treadstone"). Fresh blood is provided in the alluring form of Rachel Weisz (as a love-interest doctor) and Edward Norton's on hand as the villainous Agent Byer. Bourne veterans Joan Allen, David Strathairn, Albert Finney, and Scott Glenn all reprise their roles from the Damon-led trilogy, too. There's even some fine character actors in supporting roles, from Stacy Keach (Prison Break) to Zeljko Ivanek (Damages).

The trailer itself looks pretty good, if slightly unremarkable. I just hope it brings something new to the table, because in many ways it still feels like they've just found an acceptable way to keep Bourne going—without the star and director who made those movies into global hits. But I really like Renner (who's already having a great year with Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol and The Avengers) and more readily accept him as an unstoppable, high-skilled operative. Plus it's nice to see from the trailer that the previous movies aren't being brushed aside in any way, so perhaps Matt Damon could still be tempted back for a team-up with Jeremy Renner for Bourne 5. The Bourne Duplicity?

THE BOURNE LEGACY is released on 13 August in the UK.

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Trailer: G.I JOE – RETALIATION [sponsored video]

It's the latest trailer for G.I Joe: Retaliation, the sequel to 2009's G.I Joe: The Rise Of Cobra, this time directed by Jon M. Chu (Step Up 2 The Streets) and written by Zombieland scribes Rhett Reese and Paul Wernick. Not that (G.I) Joe Public will care about any of that, as this summer movie will instead be sold on the cast: Dwayne "Don't Call Me The Rock Now" Johnson, Bruce Willis (inexplicably), Channing Tatum, alternate universe Wonder Woman Adrianne Palicki, Rome's Ray Stevenson, Robert Fitzgerald Diggs (okay, RZA), and Jonathan Pryce. Oh yes, the kids love themselves some Jonathan Pryce.

The Paper? The Scissors? No, it's The Rock.

The Stig refused to test drive a Skoda

G.I Joe 2 will probably involve a lot of retina-popping explosions, cool gadgets and macho vehicles, too. Strike that, there will be all of the above. The Rock has a pair of chain-link fence melting gloves! The President has an "advanced weapons system" capable of destroying entire countries many times over. Okay, forget the wimpy gloves. There's also mass suburban destruction being teased, with London razed to the ground because Cobra already destroyed Paris last time. (I hope this movie's set post-Olympics.) There are also masked men with swords, a hot woman in a bright red dress, abseiling ninjas, an almighty avalanche, and someone's put X Factor loser's Marcus Collins' "Seven Nation Army" through the "instrumental rock" filter. (Okay, okay, the White Stripes wrote that song, I don't want your hate-mail.)

What do you make of the embedded trailer? Are you a fan of these gigantic summer blockbusters that seem to cater for 14-year-old boys? Is society wrong to sneer at them? Based on the number of action figures they'll sell on the back of this, maybe a better title would be G.I Joe: Retail-iation? Is that a word?

Released: 29 June (US), 2 August (AUS) & 3 August (UK)

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HARRY POTTER's David Yates to direct DOCTOR WHO movie

Variety are reporting that plans are afoot to make a Doctor Who feature-film, to be directed by David Yates (Harry Potter 5-7) and executive-produced by BBC Worldwide's Jane Tranter.

David Yates, director:

"We're looking at writers now. We're going to spend two to three years to get it right. It needs quite a radical transformation to take it into the bigger arena. The notion of the time-travelling Time Lord is such a strong one, because you can express story and drama in any dimension or time."

"Russell T. Davies and then Steven Moffat have done their own transformations, which were fantastic, but we have to put that aside and start from scratch. We want a British sensibility, but having said that, Steve Kloves wrote the Potter films and captured that British sensibility perfectly, so we are looking at American writers too."

I have mixed feelings about this, but that's to be expected. It's very early days. However, it seems like this movie (and possibly a whole series of movies) won't compliment the TV show. It sounds like a nightmare to avoid the show's existing history, without simply offering fans a clear-cut reboot. So I'm wondering if Yates' proposed movies will be similar to JJ Abrams' rebooted Star Trek; a different take on the same idea, so fans can choose to follow the new adventures of The Doctor on the big-screen, stick with the rich 50-year history of the show on the small-screen, or enjoy both in their own way.

I just wonder if fans will embrace this kind of split, if it happens. Back in 2005, Russell T. Davies could likewise have started the show from scratch, but he chose to honour Who's legacy and offer a continuation of the show that ended in 1989. That didn't seem to hurt the show, as newcomers weren't put off by the fact they were effectively coming to it decades late. And, to be fair, Doctor Who's greatest strength has been how its concept is so simple and easy to jump aboard with.

My guess is that it's just too much of a logistical nightmare to make movies that run alongside a TV show simultaneously. This is one reason why even the Star Trek movies never got started until the show's finished production. I don't imagine the BBC will cancel Doctor Who anytime soon, even to facilitate an evolution into movies, so the only other option is to have two separate iterations of the same idea.

We'll undoubtedly learn more over the next few months about David Yates' specific plans, but I'm a little worried we'll end up with a modern version of those Peter Cushing movies from the '60s—perfectly fun and enjoyable, but not "proper" Doctor Who in the eyes of its fans. Then again, maybe a Doctor Who movie will be far grander and more exciting than the BBC series could ever hope to be, with the right people involved?

Netflix coming to UK & Ireland in 2012?

US video rental and online streaming giant Netflix are preparing to launch European branches in early-2012, starting with the UK & Ireland and Spain, according to Variety.

25 million people across the US, Canada and Latin America use Netflix, which has become the dominant rental service in North America since launching in 1999. Here in the UK, Netflix will be competing with European market leader LoveFilm (owned by Amazon), Blockbuster, YouTube and iTunes. The US firm already has brand recognition, given how often Netflix is referenced in pop-culture, but how many Europeans will switch to this US-based service? Given the fact LoveFilm still have a long-running dispute with Universal over licensing costs—meaning that post-2009 Universal titles are still unavailable, or on DVD but not Blu-ray—I can certainly see an opportunity for Netflix to swoop in offering a more comprehensive catalogue. (I've still to see Public Enemies and The Invention Of Lying for this very reason.)

It may also help if Netflix streaming is made available in the UK on Playstation 3, Xbox, Nintendo DS, Android and iOS (which it the case in the US). Here in the UK, Amazon's LoveFilm is currently only available through PS3 and iOS, although an Xbox launch is due soon.

Of course, Netflix aren't in terrific shape just now. $7bn was wiped off the company's market capitalization since April 2011, reducing it to $5.7bn. This is because Netflix recently chose to start competing with US broadcasters, by buying first-run rights to shows like the remake of British drama House Of Cards. In response to this unforeseen rival, US broadcasters upped the price of their licensing deals with Netflix, forcing the likes of The Social Network to be dropped from the site's catalogue. And then there was the ill-advised decision for Netflix to split into two separate companies (Netflix for postal rentals, Qwikster for online streaming) because the former is becoming too expensive to run. This was met with such a tidal wave of disapproval from customers the plan was hastily scrapped, but it was something of a PR disaster.

What do you think? Will you sign up for Netflix UK when it arrives, simply because of its reputation? Will you join Netflix from a different rental company you're happy with? Or will you stay as you are, unless Netflix are noticeably cheaper, offer more titles, and/or have a more wide-ranging streaming lineup? Do you hate the idea of a big American company coming over and perhaps squashing the UK-based LoveFilm?

Movie Trailers: DRIVE and TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY

Here are two trailers of movies I'm very much anticipating this year, which I thought I'd share with you. I know, I know, it's like a common-or-garden blog today, isn't it?

Interestingly, both films are from Scandinavian directors. In the wake of TV shows like Wallander and The Killing, there's a lot of great filmmaking coming from that part of the world just now. In fact, it feels like world cinema's numero uno status has swung back to Europe now the Asian horror/thriller boom has died down.

DRIVE

This is an action drama from Danish director Nicholas Winding Refn (best-known for the '90s Pusher trilogy and Bronson), about a Hollywood stunt-driver who moonlights as a getaway driver for bank robbers. Ryan Gosling plays the lead character, known by the mononym "Driver", and he's supported by a dazzling array of famous faces: Carey Mulligan (Wall Street 2), Ron Perlman (Hellboy), Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad), Albert Brooks (Broadcast News), Christina Hendricks (Mad Men) and Michael Chiklis (The Shield). Anyway, it looks fantastic. There's real personality and verve to this trailer, and I'm not sure how anyone can refuse that incredible cast.

Release dates: 23 September 2011 (UK) / 16 September 2011 (US).

TINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY

A movie based on the classic 1974 spy novel written by John le Carré, previously made into a respected 1979 BBC TV series starring Alex Guinness as middle-aged spook George Smiley. This adaptation replaces Guinness with Gary Oldman, who must uncover a Soviet mole who has infiltrated the highest levels of British intelligence. There were some understandable doubts that Tinker, Tailor, Soldier, Spy could live up to the TV series, but I think this story deserved to be retold for modern audiences. I'm so glad they've kept the period setting, without tortuously altering the plot to reflect modern times. Like the aforementioned Drive, the cast is incredible, but perhaps even classier: Colin Firth, Tom Hardy, Mark Strong, Ciarán Hinds, Benedict Cumberbatch, Stephen Graham, Toby Jones, John Hurt, Kathy Burke... superb.

Given the mixed fortunes of British production company Working Title Films (who have even resorted to a Johnny English sequel to try and make some cash), this is exactly the kind of high-quality, quintessentially British movie they should be making. I'm really excited for this one. It comes from Swedish filmmaker Tomas Alfredson, who directed the incredible horror movie Let The Right One In, too. If it's a box-office hit, which I can't see it failing to be, it's also nice to know there are two le Carré sequels to adapt; The Honourable Schoolboy and Smiley's People.

Release dates: 16 September 2011 (UK) / 18 November 2011 (US).

Trailer: THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN

"We all have secrets: the one we keep... and the ones that are kept from us."

I don't often review movie trailers, but thought I'd say a few words about the first footage from director Marc Webb's The Amazing Spider-Man. It's such a bizarre thing when Hollywood reboots film franchises, but this is probably the strangest instance ever. I could just about get my head around them remaking The Incredible Hulk so soon after the failure of Ang Lee's art-house version Hulk, but the Spider-Man franchise wasn't a flop that needed reviving quickly. It was a very successful trilogy of popular blockbusters that only finished in 2007. When Amazing Spider-Man comes out next summer, only five years will have passed. Is that long enough for audiences to accept someone other than Toby Maguire as the geeky webslinger? I have my doubts. Then again, five years is half a decade, and for anyone under 15 that's a sizable chunk of time in your lifespan. Your perception of times changes the older you get, but for me five years is too soon for a do-over.

Onto the trailer itself. What's most noticeable is how much darker and moodier this version looks and feels, compared to the vibrant and energetic Sam Raimi trilogy. Is Webb going after the Twilight crowd with this? Or is this just what Spider-Man looks like if you treat things semi-seriously? Raimi's vision was always bright, kinetic and comic-book, but this trailer appears to be more subtle. Then again, maybe it just has to be because they've cut the budget to around $90m, it's believed. To put that into perspective, Spider-Man 3 cost three times as much at $258m. Even the first movie was given $140m to play with. So this new movie will almost certainly feel low-key and restrained, meaning it'll have to focus more on story and character instead of action set-pieces and villains. And that's not a bad thing, provided the action we do get is creative and worth the build-ups.

The most promising thing about The Amazing Spider-Man is the very intriguing cast. I was never a fan of Toby Maguire's take on Peter Parker, who just came across as a wet blanket to me. Andrew Garfield is slipping on the spandex this time, and he's a far more interesting performer to me, and it helps that the public have seen him in The Social Network and are anxious to see what else he can do. We also have the scrummy Emma Stone as Gwen Stacy (with her natural blonde hair), who's just about ready to become a huge movie-star post-Easy A, and the unexpected choice of Rhys Ifans to play villain The Lizard. He's not a villain I'm interested in, and it's a shame Dylan Baker never got the chance to become the Lizard in Raimi's hypothetical Spider-Man 4, but the rogue's gallery is another issue this reboot has to grapple with. As a reboot, it could recycle villains like Green Goblin, Dr Octopus and Sandman, but has perhaps wisely chosen not to.

The supporting cast also includes movie legends Martin Sheen and Sally Field as Peter's uncle and aunt, which is just brilliant, although they've failed to find anyone to play news editor J. Jonah Jameson because J.K Simmons was so perfect in that role it would be nigh impossible to better him. I'm surprised Jameson wasn't asked back as some kind of weird continuity, rather like how Judi Dench has played M in James Bond movies that starred both Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig.

So there are pro's and con's to this project, that much is clear. But I still have a tough time accepting a reboot so soon after Spider-Man 3, when there was nothing wrong with the previous saga. Spider-Man 3 may have been critically derided, but it was no Batman & Robin-style debacle that made a reboot necessary. I'm very interested to see what reaction this movie gets next summer. I suspect it'll be a huge hit (brand and name recognition will do that), but will we leave the cinema amped to see more from Andrew Garfield as Spidey?

There's nothing in this trailer that provoked a wildly positive reaction from me (although I get a feeling the quality of acting is going to be appreciably higher, and I like the serious tone), but then again I didn't particularly love the revered Spider-Man 2. This superhero doesn't really speak to me, for whatever reason, but I'm not sure a darker take is going to change that. Perhaps the biggest problem with this trailer is that there's absolutely nothing new to explore here with the characters and story. It's just another origin story that doesn't offer any big changes to what Maguire's character went through a decade ago...

What do you think? Did this trailer get you pumped for more Spidey action, or are you  puzzled by this movie's existence? Will it be the Batman Begins of the Marvel universe, or another Incredible Hulk?

The Amazing Spider-Man opens across the US on 3 July 2012.

Trailer: THE INBETWEENERS MOVIE

The first full-length trailer of The Inbetweeners Movie has been released, and it looks promising. I don't get the feeling this totally justifies being a feature-film, as it visually resembles an episode of the TV series that's managed to shoot overseas, but provided it's funny that shouldn't be an insurmountable problem. And there are admittedly some amusing moments in this trailer (like Neil's naff dance moves), which is what you need from any comedy trailer. Unlike similarly-themed movies, it helps that we're acquainted with these characters after three years watching their exploits, so the story should hopefully get down to business with minimal exposition and introductions.

This movie's audience are primarily going to be fans of the sitcom, although it may have wider appeal because the concept's so ripe for comedy (four sex-mad school friends go on a lad's holiday abroad). For British youngsters, it's very rare to have a teen movie that's been tailored specifically for them. We're so used to adjusting our perceptions to "American" for teen movies (pool parties and road trips aren't part of any Briton's experience growing up!), so The Inbetweeners already feels like it'll work simply because it's tapping into the British psyche. That's part of the reason the TV series worked so well, too.

The Inbetweeners Movie is released nationwide in the UK on 19 August.

Karen Gillan & Robert Sheehan are star-crossed lovers

Actress Karen Gillan (Doctor Who) has signed to star in Romeo And Brittney, the follow-up movie from comedian David Baddiel (The Infidel). The current Doctor Who companion will play Brittney, a high school student from New Jersey who finds herself in the 13th-century, stuck in the plot of William Shakespeare's Romeo & Juliet as the female lead.

Gillian Anderson (The X Files) will be playing both Gillan's mother and a nurse in 13th-century Verona, while Robert Sheehan (Misfits) has been cast as a nerdy student and Romeo.

The $7 million movie, summarized as "Shakespeare In Love meets Clueless", starts shooting next May.

Arvind Ethan, producer:

"[David Baddiel and I] love literate teen comedies and we wanted to do our own version. After all, 10 Things I Hate About You was based on The Taming Of The Shrew just as Clueless was based on Jane Austen's Emma and Easy A is inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. And what is Twilight if it's not Romeo & Juliet with vampires and werewolves?"

This is certainly exciting news, particularly if you love Karen Gillan and Robert Sheehan -- who's particularly charismatic as Nathan in Misfits. The premise doesn't sound like a simple case of time-travel (as a few actors are playing dual roles), more like a reality-bending fantasy similar to Lost In Austen (the ITV miniseries where a modern woman was transported into the novel Pride & Prejudice). Agree?

My only reservation is the involvement of David Baddiel; a decent comedian back in the early-'90s and a talented writer, but his recent movie The Infidel was toothless and a tedious disappointment, with limp direction. Will he fare better with a more imaginative concept and a bigger budget?

Back To The Future: Scream Awards

To promote the 2010 Scream Awards and 25th Anniversary of Back To The Future, Michael J. Fox has reprised his iconic role of Marty McFly for the above Spike TV teaser. A real treat for BTTF fans, as Fox's health issues with Parkinson's Disease means he's understandably not as prevalent with reunions/conventions these days. But Fox will apparently be joining his fellow BTTF cast members at the Scream Awards on 19 October to celebrate the movie's quarter-century anniversary. Excellent news for all BTTF fans!

The Last Exorcism: best viral ever?

This is the best viral advertising idea I've ever seen. If you've visited Chat Roulette, you'll know that it's a free site where strangers with webcams are randomly connected to each other. Usually this means a lot of nudity and masturbation from single men, and nothing much else of interest. But to advertise their movie The Last Exorcism, Lionsgate had the superb idea of playing a pre-recorded video of a sexy teenage girl, who looks like she's about to expose her breasts, but who ends up being possessed by a demon! And now Lionsgate have uploaded some of the best reactions their little viral has elicited from unsuspecting Chat Rouletters. I hope there's more to come, before the viral itself becomes too well-known. Enjoy!

Superhamm?

There are unconfirmed reports that Mad Men star Jon Hamm is being seriously considered for the Christopher Nolan-produced Superman reboot. I just wondered what everybody thinks about this. Personally, I think Hamm is a fantastic choice, if slightly too old (in an ideal world). But maybe Nolan's reboot is factoring in the idea of a middle-aged Superman, or it will be an interesting new wrinkle.

At the very least, we know Hamm's a wonderful actor, he'd look great in a suit as Clark Kent, and he reminds me of the Max Fleischer-style Superman in physicality. I think he'd be a very interesting choice and I'd love to see him get the job. The only way this could get better would be setting the film in the 1940s.

And why not add some other Mad Men cast members into the mix? January Jones as Lois Lane? Vincent Karthesier as Jimmy Olsen? John Slattery as Perry White? C'mon, you know that sounds brilliant!

FilmFour HD launches 8 July

Film Four's HD channel will launch exclusively with Virgin Media on 8 July, located on channel 429, at no additional cost.

Incidentally, there's still no word on when Virgin customers can expect Sky 1 HD, Sky Arts HD, Sky News HD, Sky Sports HD and Sky Movies HD to arrive on the platform, but there are murmurings that "XL" subscribers will also receive those channels at no extra cost.

BBC1 HD is expected to arrive in the autumn, while rumours persist that Five, ESPN America, History, Food Network, Bio and Bravo will all launch HD channels on Virgin Media before the year's out.