Lookin' Ahead to THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU!

Earlier today, Lucasfilm released the teaser poster and teaser trailer for next year's Star Wars film, The Mandalorian and Grogu...with Pedro Pascal reprising his role as Mandalorian bounty hunter Din Djarin. Grogu, the young Force user who was rescued from the Jedi Temple during the Order 66 massacre in Revenge of the Sith, is off to partake in a new adventure with the Mandalorian that sees them working with Colonel Ward, a New Republic officer played by Sigourney Weaver...and running into the likes of Rotta the Hutt, the son of Jabba who'll be voiced by Jeremy Allen White (of the FX TV series The Bear).

The Mandalorian and Grogu will be released in theaters nationwide on May 22, 2026. Its teaser trailer should supposedly be shown in front of next month's Tron: Ares, but definitely in front of December's Avatar: Fire and Ash. This is the way!

Get Ready for SPACEBALLS 2!

Earlier today, legendary filmmaker Mel Brooks released the funny trailer below announcing that Spaceballs 2—the long-awaited(?) sequel to the 1987 Star Wars spoof Spaceballs—is now in development!

According to Deadline, Spaceballs 2 will bring back Brooks himself as President Skroob and Yogurt, while Bill Pullman and Rick Moranis (who interestingly didn't come out of retirement from acting for 2021's Ghostbusters: Afterlife or 2024's Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire) will reprise their roles as Lone Starr and Dark Helmet, respectively. Keke Palmer (of 2022's Nope and this year's One of Them Days) and Pullman's son Lewis Pullman (of 2022's Top Gun: Maverick and this year's Thunderbolts*) will appear in Spaceballs 2 as well.

No specific release date has been set yet, but the Schwartz awakens in 2027. Can't wait!

A New Trailer and Posters for GLADIATOR II Have Been Revealed...

With less than two months to go before it's unleashed in theaters nationwide, check out these two new posters and the latest theatrical trailer for Gladiator II!

I really do hope that Gladiator II will be as good as the original Gladiator film that was released over 24 years ago, seeing as how director Ridley Scott mentioned that he already has an idea for Gladiator III if this upcoming sequel is a financial hit.

Scott compared the ending of Gladiator II to that of The Godfather, while the third film would be similar to The Godfather Part II. The first two Francis Ford Coppola-helmed mafia epics are the best ones in that trilogy (like Gladiator in 2001, they both won Oscars for Best Picture in 1973 and '75, respectively), so Scott's comparisons make me even more excited for this Thanksgiving holiday and hopeful that the sequel—starring Paul Mescal, Denzel Washington, Connie Nielsen, Pedro Pascal and Joseph Quinn—will be successful at the box office.

Gladiator II comes out in cinemas throughout the United States on November 22.

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The GLADIATOR II Teaser Poster and Trailer Are Here!

After the teaser poster for Gladiator II was released online yesterday, Paramount and Universal Pictures unveiled the trailer for Ridley Scott's upcoming sequel to 2000's Oscar-winning epic Gladiator this morning!

Here are some screenshots from the sneak preview...showing Paul Mescal's Lucius taking on a rhinoceros-riding gladiator inside the Roman Colosseum, Denzel Washington's Macrinus being a schemer, a fierce Roman battle taking place at sea, Joseph Quinn's Emperor Geta following in the footsteps of Commodus (portrayed by Joaquin Phoenix in the first film) and his predecessors, Pedro Pascal's Marcus Acacius ready to take on a horde of gladiators inside the Colosseum as well, and Connie Nielsen's Lucilla handing Lucius a memento from the late and great Maximus (the Oscar-winning role played by Russell Crowe in the previous movie).

Sadly, there are no snippets of the music that will be composed by Harry Gregson-Williams for Gladiator II in this trailer. I guess we're just gonna have to wait till November to find out if the sequel has a riveting score like Gladiator does (thanks to Hans Zimmer) when it was unveiled to the masses 24 years ago!

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"I'M BATMAN." And My Most-Anticipated Movie of This Summer Is...

So Super Bowl LVII has come and gone, with the Kansas City Chiefs winning their second NFL championship in four years, and all I can say is— Bring on The Flash!

The TV spot for the upcoming DC Comics movie was aired during the Big Game today...alongside the commercials for other highly-anticipated summer flicks like Transformers: Rise of the Beasts and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

Let's party like it's 1989! Considering the fact that 34 years later, Michael Keaton is donning the Batcowl and Harrison Ford is sporting a fedora and whip once more...

Oh, and I'm also stoked to see Ezra Miller return as the Scarlet Speedster despite Miller's real-world legal issues (Google it), Ben Affleck as the DC Extended Universe's version of Batman (one final time, supposedly) and Sasha Calle as Supergirl in The Flash.

Check out the trailer and Super Bowl spots for The Flash, Rise of the Beasts and The Dial of Destiny below!

On This Day in 1997: Remembering STARSHIP TROOPERS...

It was 25 years ago today that I watched Paul Verhoeven's sci-fi cult classic Starship Troopers on the big screen.

It was also on this day that I received my actual driver's license in the mail (after passing my driving test almost three weeks before that) prior to heading to the theater.

The fact that I celebrated my newfound independence by immediately watching a movie at the multiplex set the tone for the next 25 years! I was a senior in high school when Starship Troopers was theatrically released nationwide.

One of the best aspects of Starship Troopers (apart from the amazing visual effects that made me excited for what was in store with the Star Wars prequels years later) was the awesome music score by the late Basil Poledouris! Here's the adrenaline-pumping piece Klendathu Drop from the soundtrack:

Movie Review: THE INVITATION...

Earlier today, I watched the horror flick The Invitation at AMC theaters.

I fell asleep a couple of times during the movie's first act, but I stayed wide awake once I realized that this film was about vampires!

I don't know if I was completely oblivious to the clues when I saw it on the big screen, but the trailer (posted below) for The Invitation did a great job in not letting us know that the relatives of Evie (Nathalie Emmanuel) were members of the undead.

I now realize that the shot where Viktoria (played by Stephanie Corneliussen) licks the blood off of one of Evie's fingers was one hint in the preview... My bad!

I originally had no interest in seeing The Invitation (there were no new releases this weekend that I wanted to watch at the multiplex instead), as it reminded me of the 2019 film Ready or Not—where Samara Weaving also played a bride who needs to fight for her life against murderous, supernatural-crazed in-laws at some eerie mansion.

On the plus side, if there's ever a sequel to The Invitation (it currently made $26.5 million worldwide off a $10-million budget), the ending to this movie made it look like Evie somewhat became the female equivalent of Blade! I can't wait till Marvel Studios' version of the daywalker (this time played by Mahershala Ali) arrives in theaters nationwide late next year.

That is all!

On This Day in 1997: Remembering AIR FORCE ONE...

It was 25 years ago today that the movie where President Han Solo told Commissioner James Gordon to get off his plane was released in theaters nationwide!

In all seriousness, Air Force One was one of my favorite movies of 1997. Harrison Ford was awesome as U.S. President James Marshall, Glenn Close was great as U.S. Vice President Kathryn Bennett and Gary Oldman was so intense as Russian terrorist Ivan Korshunov that it was weird to see him as the heroic Commissioner Gordon in The Dark Knight trilogy almost a decade later.

The only gripe that I have with Wolfgang Petersen's film was Air Force One's demise at the end of the movie. In case you don't recall, the presidential aircraft—with the traitorous Secret Service agent played by Xander Berkeley the only living person still onboard—slams into the ocean after Marshall and his family are safely rescued by U.S. Special Forces soldiers aboard the Liberty 24 aircraft (clips below). Needless to say, the CGI version of Air Force One breaking apart after it impacted the water wasn't exactly Best Visual FX material for the Oscars!

However, the most memorable aspect of Air Force One for me was the music score by Jerry Goldsmith. I love jingoistic tunes in summer blockbusters...which is also why David Arnold's patriotic work in 1996's Independence Day is one of my favorite film scores of all time! Goldsmith's main theme from Air Force One is also featured below.

Happy Monday!

The Teaser Poster and Trailer for AVATAR: THE WAY OF WATER Are Here!

Almost 13 years after the first Avatar movie landed in theaters nationwide and broke box office records, the first of four sequels—Avatar: The Way of Water—will soon be upon us!

The teaser trailer for the December 16 flick premiered online today...after being shown exclusively in front of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness on the big screen last weekend.

Just like the 2009 film, director James Cameron intends to release The Way of Water in both the 2D and 3D formats. I'll definitely view this movie in 3rd dimension...but we'll see if this plan holds since the coronavirus pandemic is still raging around the world. And COVID-19 cases will no doubt surge come Christmas time.

Health issues aside, I'm excited to see what amazing visuals Cameron has in store for us with The Way of Water! The story in the first Avatar film wasn't exactly mind-blowing, but Pandora is absolutely one of the most beautiful worlds to ever be created for cinema. We'll see if that's still the case about seven months from now.

Judging from the new trailer, it will be.

Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Giovanni Ribisi, Sigourney Weaver and Stephen Lang are reprising their roles from the first Avatar movie, while joining them in The Way of Water are Michelle Yeoh, Kate Winslet, Oona Chaplin, Jemaine Clement and Edie Falco, respectively. Happy Monday!

Quick Review: THE UNBEARABLE WEIGHT OF MASSIVE TALENT...

I saw The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent at AMC theaters earlier today. It's about Nicolas Cage playing Nick Cage—with all of his actual financial problems—as he gets caught up in a kidnapping plot by a crime syndicate run by none other than The Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal, whose name in this flick is Javi Gutierrez)...who wants nothing more than to write a screenplay in this "movie within a movie" action drama. I dig that. Unsurprisingly, it's the legendary actor from The Rock, Con Air, Face/Off, Gone in Sixty Seconds and Kick-Ass that Javi wants to star in his film.

The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent is an interesting flick. I had to go on Google to see if Cage does have an ex-wife named Olivia and a daughter named Addy. He does not.

One thing I like about The Unbearable Weight Of Massive Talent that isn't actually in the movie itself is the use of the song Kill This Love by female K-pop band Blackpink. Check out its music video and the film's trailer below!

The Final TOP GUN: MAVERICK Poster and Trailer Are Here...

Just thought I'd share the final theatrical poster and trailer for Top Gun: Maverick...which were officially released today.

Nothing is revealed in the trailer in terms of the foreign adversary that Maverick (Tom Cruise) and his fellow F/A-18 pilots will confront in combat, but it does show the camaraderie between U.S. naval aviators Phoenix (Monica Barbaro), Hangman (Glen Powell) and Payback (Jay Ellis), among others.

The new trailer also focuses on the conflict that will ensue between Maverick and Bradley 'Rooster' Bradshaw (Miles Teller), whose father Nick 'Goose' Bradshaw (Anthony Edwards)—the radar intercept officer aboard Maverick's F-14 Tomcat over 35 years earlier—lost his life in the first Top Gun movie.

Top Gun: Maverick employed IMAX cameras for its aerial sequences, so I definitely can't wait to watch this film in that format when it is released in theaters nationwide on May 27!

On This Day in 2002: Remembering BLACK HAWK DOWN...

20 years ago today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch Black Hawk Down...director Ridley Scott's intense movie about the 1993 raid that U.S. special forces conducted in Mogadishu, Somalia, to apprehend a group of Somali warlords.

Known as the Battle of Mogadishu, this military operation resulted in the deaths of 19 American soldiers, the capture of a U.S. serviceman and the downing of two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters by enemy-launched rocket-propelled grenades. It was this operation—despite it being a technical victory since the targeted warlords were successfully captured—that led to the United States withdrawing from Somalia less than one year after starting what was supposed to be a humanitarian and peacekeeping mission in that wartorn and famine-ridden country.

Black Hawk Down was an intense movie from start to finish—with Ridley Scott conveying riveting action sequences using the narrow camera shutter-angle technique that he employed so well in the Oscar-winning epic Gladiator less than two years earlier.

Not only was Black Hawk Down such a well-crafted war film, but it unsurprisingly employed an amazing music score by composer Hans Zimmer as well. The most-memorable track from that score is Leave No Man Behind...which is featured in the YouTube video embedded below. That track is so engrossing that I used it for the Cinematography Project which I shot during film school at Cal State Long Beach in 2002!

Ridley Scott can do no wrong...even though I never watched his recent flick, House of Gucci. Happy Tuesday.

T-Minus ONE WEEK Till One of My Favorite Anime Flicks of All Time Hits the Big Screen Here in the U.S.!

Just thought I'd point out that I'm officially watching Macross Plus—one of my favorite Japanese-animated movies ever made—at AMC theater a week from today! Macross Plus is one of many spin-offs of the Macross series that formed the core of the Robotech cartoon that aired on U.S. television back in the 1980s.

I originally watched Macross Plus in 1995 (when I was a sophomore in high school)...first as a 4-part American-dub miniseries that premiered in 1994 (even though I didn't see the fourth and final episode, whose dialogue wasn't voiced by U.S. actors yet, till late 1999), and then the feature film—which will be shown on the big screen next week courtesy of Fathom Events.

I can't wait to relive the awesome aerial battle between the YF-19 (piloted by Isamu Dyson, who was voiced by none other than Breaking Bad's Bryan Cranston in the miniseries) and YF-21 (flown by Guld Goa Bowman) on planet Eden and above Earth's Macross City—as well as awesome beats by the computer-generated diva Sharon Apple; one of these beats being the song Information High...featured in the video below.

I can go on and on about my geekiness over Macross Plus, especially about how it inspired me to draw storyboards in 10th grade depicting what I envisioned the yet-to-be-released Episode 4 would be like (and subsequently fueling my desire to study filmmaking in college), but I'll end it here.

It would be awesome to have a live-action version of Macross Plus, but we've yet to see a live-action version of Robotech itself (which was supposed to have been produced by Spider-Man's Tobey Maguire over a decade ago) make it to cinemas! Oh well.

The Final SPIDER-MAN: NO WAY HOME Trailer Is Here!

Welcome back, Green Goblin and Doc Ock! The two villains made famous by Willem Dafoe and Alfred Molina in Sam Raimi's 2002 and '04 Spider-Man films, respectively, will return to the big screen in next month's Spider-Man: No Way Home.

Joining these evildoers will be Sandman (from 2007's Spider-Man 3), the Lizard (from 2012's The Amazing Spider-Man) and Electro (once again portrayed by Jamie Foxx from 2014's The Amazing Spider-Man 2).

Also returning in Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios' third co-produced Spidey flick will be none other than Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield reprising their own versions of Peter Parker...though their highly-anticipated appearances have understandably been excluded from the new preview (or were they?).

I can't wait till No Way Home gets unleashed nationwide in theaters on December 17! Hopefully, this Marvel Studios flick will be as enjoyable as Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings—and not close to being dull like Eternals.

I was so underwhelmed by Eternals that I didn't even care to post its own "quick review" like I did with Dune and The Last Duel. Carry on.

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Video of the Day: The Newest Trailer for THE BATMAN...

"It’s not just a call... It’s a warning."

So says Bruce Wayne (Robert Pattinson) of the Bat-Signal that beckons him to be the hero that Gotham deserves in next year's The Batman.

Check out the newest preview for the Matt Reeves-directed film—which is about the Dark Knight Detective's quest to uncover a nefarious plot being hatched by Edward Nygma (Paul Dano) in Gotham City.

The Batman also brings in other classic foes such as Oswald Cobblepot (Colin Farrell) and Carmine Falcone (John Turturro), as well as allies like Selina Kyle (Zoë Kravitz), James Gordon (Jeffrey Wright) and trusty sidekick Alfred Pennyworth (Andy Serkis).

Just like with every other Batman film (well, except 1997's Batman & Robin), I'm absolutely stoked for The Batman! Not just because of the amazing cast and the gritty look of this movie, but also because of the cool music score that Michael Giacchino composed for the upcoming Bat flick!

I definitely plan to get The Batman's music score on compact disc next year...and yes, I still buy CDs.

The Batman arrives in theaters nationwide on March 4, 2022.

Video of the Day: THE MATRIX RESURRECTIONS Trailer...

Neo and Trinity are back!

Even though Laurence Fishburne isn't returning as the red and blue pill-offering Morpheus in The Matrix Resurrections (that role now belongs to newcomer Yahya Abdul-Mateen II), it's great to see Keanu Reeves and Carrie-Anne Moss once again play the characters that brought them to stardom in 1999's The Matrix.

The Matrix Resurrections begins where 2003's The Matrix Revolutions left off: Neo becoming one with the Matrix after he helped defeat Agent Smith in an epic rain-soaked battle, Trinity mysteriously showing up even though she supposedly died in Revolutions, Sati now "grown up" (and portrayed by Priyanka Chopra Jonas), Niobe (reprised by Jade Pinkett Smith from Revolutions) continuing to fight for the Resistance, and the Merovingian (Lambert Wilson) still up to no good in the virtual world created by the Machines as well.

Other talented cast members in The Matrix 4 include Neil Patrick Harris, Daniel Bernhardt (as Agent Johnson), Jessica Henwick, Ellen Hollman and Christina Ricci.

Directed by Lana Wachowski, The Matrix Resurrections will premiere on HBO Max and in theaters nationwide on December 22. I definitely plan on watching it on the big screen! Happy Thursday.

Carnage Creates Chaos in the Latest Trailer for VENOM: LET THERE BE CARNAGE...

The newest and presumably final trailer for Venom: Let There Be Carnage was released today...showing that Eddie Brock's (Tom Hardy) titular symbiote will have its hands full battling the crimson-colored alien beast residing in serial killer-turned death row inmate, Cletus Kasady (Woody Harrelson).

Here are some screenshots of Carnage in action—which reveals that this murderous creature will live up to its Marvel comic book origin and wreak havoc on Brock and everyone around him, even though this flick will be rated PG-13, just like its 2018 predecessor.

Venom: Let There Be Carnage is still scheduled for release in theaters nationwide on September 24...though that may change as COVID-19 cases continue to increase around the United States due to the coronavirus' Delta variant and lots of Americans remaining unvaccinated. Get vaccinated.

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Video of the Day - The GHOSTBUSTERS: AFTERLIFE Trailer...

Just thought I'd share the newest preview for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which arrives in theaters nationwide on November 11, 2021.

While I enjoyed the 2016 reboot of Ghostbusters that was directed by Paul Feig and starred Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Wiig, Kate McKinnon, Leslie Jones and Chris Hemsworth (with a cameo by Bill Murray), I'm very excited for the Jason Reitman film since it's clearly the official sequel to Ghostbusters and Ghostbusters 2.

Not only is Afterlife produced by Ivan Reitman—Jason's father and the director of the 1984 and '89 installments—but Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Ernie Hudson, Sigourney Weaver and Annie Potts will reprise their classic roles of Dr. Peter Venkman, Dr. Raymond Stantz, Dr. Winston Zeddmore, Dana Barrett and Janine Melnitz, respectively. (Rick Moranis won't be returning as Louis Tully, unfortunately.) Harold Ramis, who played Dr. Egon Spengler in the original films, sadly passed away in February of 2014.

Not to be outdone by their legacy co-stars are Paul Rudd, Carrie Coon, McKenna Grace, Finn Wolfhard (who appeared in other supernatural projects such as Netflix's Stranger Things and both IT films) and Celeste O'Connor.

Just like with Star Wars: The Force Awakens—where Luke Skywalker's brief cameo was kept under wraps till the movie came out—it appears that the appearances of Peter Venkman (that last shot in the new preview notwithstanding) and company will either be shown in the final trailer, or saved for the film itself. Either way, I can't wait to see this flick less than four months from now! Check out the preview below.



That four-wheeled ghost trap is awesome!

On This Day in 2011: Remembering TRANSFORMERS: DARK OF THE MOON...

10 years ago today, I watched Transformers: Dark of the Moon—the third installment in Michael Bay's action-packed film franchise based on the classic Hasbro toys—at the local AMC 20 theater. Dark of the Moon is my favorite movie of 2011...even though I'm still bummed that Megan Fox got herself fired from the film due to poorly-worded comments about Bay in a 2009 interview (it was Executive Producer Steven Spielberg who demanded her removal after she compared Bay to Hitler), and the fact that Shockwave didn't live up to his intimidating appearance that was the centerpiece of Dark of the Moon's pre-release marketing campaign. There isn't one Autobot that Shockwave killed in this Transformers movie, which makes him as poor a villain as The Fallen—the title character of 2009's Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. (I'll also point out that the two of them went out like chumps to Optimus Prime...who decimated both of their faces before they were defeated at the hands of the Autobot leader.) At least Bay and his writers corrected this flaw with the badass antagonist Lockdown, from 2014's Transformers: Age of Extinction.



In terms of the good things about Dark of the Moon, Steve Jablonsky's music score for this flick was absolutely top-notch (Listen to "It's Our Fight" on YouTube below), the CGI was amazing as usual, and the portrayal of Sentinel Prime—through Leonard Nimoy's voice work for the character and his design—was awesome. Rosie Huntington-Whiteley was commendable as Carly, though as I said in the previous paragraph, I wanted to see closure between Megan Fox's Mikaela and Shia LaBeouf's Sam Witwicky in this movie. I liked how the Apollo 11 Moon landing played an important role in this film, and that NASA's Kennedy Space Center itself was featured in Dark of the Moon. Regarding the future, Transformers: Rise of the Beasts—a direct sequel to the 2018 spinoff flick Bumblebee—hits theaters nationwide in 2022. Carry on!

On This Day in 1996: Remembering THE ROCK...

25 years ago today, I watched the Michael Bay-directed/Jerry Bruckheimer-produced action flick The Rock at the theater. Seeing as how I only viewed this film once (even though a lot of folks I know consider it to be Bay's best movie, along with 1995's Bad Boys), my recollection of moments from this flick will probably be inaccurate. (I went to the movie's IMDb page to get their character names correct, at least.) I remember the scene where John Patrick Mason (Sean Connery), a former Alcatraz inmate, effortlessly uses one hand to hold a rope that an FBI agent is grabbing onto for dear life as he hangs over the balcony ledge of a tall building. I recall a car chase scene that either took place before or after that...most likely after. I remember the scene where General Francis X. Hummel (Ed Harris) yells "Cease fire" as his mercenaries gun down the Navy SEALs who infiltrated Alcatraz to neutralize chemical weapons that Hummel placed on the island. (This was a very emotional scene.) And I remember the climactic moment when Stanley Goodspeed (Nicolas Cage)—after injecting himself with the antidote following exposure to one of the chemical weapons—ignites two flares to signal incoming F/A-18 Hornets to abort their airstrike since Mason and Goodspeed managed to secure the deadly nerve agents. And of course, I remember Mason uttering the memorable line (in Connery's British accent), "Welcome to the Rock."



The main reason why I'm reminiscing about The Rock—apart from it being an entertaining, high-octane Bay flick—is because it was released in theaters only a few days before 10th grade (my favorite year in high school) came to an end. This is also the reason why I posted a recent blog entry about Broken Arrow, which is still a fun, action-packed movie without the nostalgia. And next month, I plan on typing about my most favorite film of 1996. I'll give you a hint about what it is: It's a mega summer blockbuster that had the White House getting blown up by a 15 mile-wide alien spaceship...prompting Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum to go and save the world. Happy Monday!