THE FINAL POST OF 2011... Just thought I’d end this year by posting a couple of cool random movie stills (that I found on the Teletraan I: The Transformers Wiki website) from the second highest-grossing film of 2011, Transformers: Dark of the Moon. (Did I really need to mention the title since you could've obviously guessed it from these pics?) Dark of the Moon earned $352.4 million domestically (collecting a total worldwide gross of $1.1 billion), while Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 took in $381 million in the North American box office (with a worldwide gross of $1.3 billion). In terms of DVD sales, Dark of the Moon ranked No. 10 for 2011 (as of December 18)...selling 2.6 million units for a total gross of $44 million.



Despite being a Transformers fan, I think that Harry Potter deserved to go out on top since Deathly Hallows, Part 2 was the final movie in the Hogwarts series. Presumably. One thing’s for sure, the Transformers film franchise will continue—with or without Michael Bay and Shia LaBeouf (movie critics be damned). Though bring back Megan Fox (Not bloody likely. I still think you're hot, Rosie) and Steve Jablonsky to compose Transformers 4's music score.

Have a great 2012, everyone!

Photo by Kerry Brown – © 2011 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation

PROMETHEUS... Check out the new teaser trailer for next summer's Alien prequel, which is directed by Ridley Scott and being shot in 3-D. Prometheus stars Charlize Theron, Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce and Idris Elba...and will be released in theaters nationwide on June 8, 2012.

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE - GHOST PROTOCOL... I saw the latest installment in the 15-year-old spy movie franchise last Saturday, and needless to say, it was pretty good. Directed by Brad Bird, who helmed the Pixar animated hit The Incredibles in 2004, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol conveyed a nice blend of humor, action and drama in its storyline...which was about four renegade IMF (Impossible Missions Force) agents trying to stop a terrorist from launching nukes after he blew up the Kremlin in Russia. Simon Pegg, best known for Shaun of the Dead and being a source of comedy relief in 2009’s Star Trek, also provided a sense of humor as the computer analyst named Benji Dunn. Paula Patton, as the lovely IMF agent named Jane Carter, had a score to settle with a sexy assassin (played by Léa Seydoux, who was also in Ridley Scott's 2010 version of Robin Hood) who killed a fellow IMF agent that was also Carter’s love interest. Jeremy Renner, as the IMF chief analyst named William Brandt, kicked as much ass as Tom Cruise’s Ethan Hunt did...though Brandt carried a painful secret that involved Hunt and the events that transpired after 2006’s Mission: Impossible III.



As shown in its theatrical trailer and TV ads, Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol did not disappoint with the action sequence that took place at the Burj Khalifa skyscraper (the tallest building in the world) in Dubai. It’s amazing to hear that Tom Cruise was actually hanging along the side of Burj Khalifa and doing his own stunts...though it’s safe to say that substantial harnessing attached to Cruise during this scene had to be removed during post-production. I won’t spoil the ending for y’all, but I must also wonder how there could be so many nice and exotic sports cars in the Indian city of Mumbai. (Pardon my ignorance since the farthest country I’ve traveled to was the Philippines—more than 20 years ago). If you’ve already seen M:I:4, then you’d know which scene I was talking about.



Brad Bird gave Ghost Protocol's story and characters as much depth, energy and excitement as he did with The Incredibles. It would be awesome if he directed a Mission: Impossible 5 in the future. And as the rumors suggest, it would also be awesome to see Jeremy Renner take the reigns from Tom Cruise if he’s done with this franchise. But if the final scene of Ghost Protocol is any indication, we may see Dunn, Carter, Brandt and Hunt working together again in M:I:5. That would be cool.

HAPPY HOLIDAYS, EVERYONE! This is kind of film-related...

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES... Check out the newest theatrical trailer for next July’s mega-blockbuster (it’s safe to presume that the movie will become one next summer). The trailer was officially released online yesterday, though you can also see it on the big screen in front of Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows at the cinemas right now.



As per tradition whenever I post an entry about a film I am totally excited about, check out screenshots of the trailer that I posted below.

"When Gotham is...ashes, you’ll have my permission to die." – Bane in The Dark Knight Rises

MEN IN BLACK 3... Check out the new trailer for next May's third installment in the sci-fi comedy film franchise. Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones return in Men in Black 3 as Agents J and K, respectively, while Rip Torn reprises his role as MIB boss Zed. New to the cast is Alice Eve (Entourage), Emma Thompson (of the Harry Potter films, The Prisoner of Azkaban, Order of the Phoenix and Deathly Hallows, Part 2), Bill Hader (Superbad) and Nicole Scherzinger (of TV's The X Factor). Oscar nominee Josh Brolin (of Milk, W and True Grit) also shows up in MIB 3, as a young Agent K.

Men in Black 3 gets released in theaters nationwide on May 25, 2012.

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES... The teaser poster for next July’s highly-anticipated final chapter to Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy was released this weekend. Don’t forget to check out Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows (which will feature the next theatrical trailer for The Dark Knight Rises) and select IMAX screenings of Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol (which the 6-minute prologue that opens the next Batman film will play in front of) at the cinemas this Friday. Can’t wait.

A STARSHIP TROOPERS REMAKE...REALLY? I found out last week that one of my favorite movies of 1997 will be given the reboot. The screenwriters of X-Men: First Class as well as the sci-fi TV shows Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles and Fringe will pen the script for the new version. While the last X-Men movie and Fringe are awesome, I need to re-ask this question: Really? Couldn’t the studio just make a decent sequel to Starship Troopers that didn’t head straight to DVD? Oh well. It’s already been 14 years since Paul Verhoeven’s movie debut in theaters... The Amazing Spider-Man, another reboot, will be released in cinemas in 2012—only 5 years after Sam Raimi’s Spider-Man 3 played on the big screen.

Another question needs to be asked... Will any of the cast members from the original film make a cameo in Starship Troopers Redux? Preferably, it would be Dina Meyer or Denise Richards...though Neil Patrick Harris seems the most likely. His character, Colonel Carl Jenkins, seemed destined to become an evil Federation dictator by the end of the original film. Let’s see what happens.