Nostalgia is in full bloom this weekend with the release of J.J. Abrams' Super 8 -- the retro Steven Spielberg-tinged blockbuster that will have many moviegoers recalling E.T., Close Encounters of the Third Kind and Jaws. Not Raiders of the Lost Ark, though -- which is a shame if only because it prevents the possible furthering of the Abrams-Spielberg mythology; the first chapter in the Indiana Jones saga was released on June 12, 1981 -- nearly 30 years to the day of Super 8 -- alongside fellow future classics History of the World Part I and Clash of the Titans. Not bad, history! Click ahead to remember one of the greatest summer movie weekends ever.
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· Courtesy of Moviefone comes a first look at the poster for the ensemble comedy Our Idiot Brother, which you may remember as the Sundance hit My Idiot Brother. (Oh, last minute title changes!) The film stars Paul Rudd as the titular dullard, and Emily Mortimer, Zooey Deschanel and Elizabeth Banks as his sisters, and is scheduled to hit theaters at the end of August, when your need for indie comedy is on high. Click through for a first look, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
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In the race to see which upcoming crime drama has a better cast, it looks like Ruben Fleischer's Gangster Squad has just nudged ahead of Oliver Stone's Savages. The 30 Minutes or Less director has hired Anthony Mackie for his adaptation of the Los Angeles Times' seven-part series "Tales From the Gangster Squad," which already features Ryan Gosling, Sean Penn, Josh Brolin and Michael Pena. [Variety]
After a long, breathless wait, filmgoers nationwide will gather July 15 for the bittersweet end of an extraordinary story that changed our culture forever. Tears will be shed, hands will be held, and debates will no doubt rage for years to come about the tale's final chapter -- and how, if at all, its central character may carry on in our consciousness. Oh, and the last Harry Potter movie opens that day, too.
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That was fast. Norwegian found footage thriller Trollhunter (which debuts today in theaters and on VOD) will get the remake treatment for U.S. audiences courtesy of Chris Columbus and his 1492 Pictures banner. "Trollhunter was a visceral, thrilling cinematic rock and roller coaster ride of a movie," said Columbus in a statement. "Visually, there are scenes in this film that American audiences have never seen. We want to introduce an International audience to this amazing moviegoing experience!" Here's one way to do that: suggest they watch the original. [Deadline]
Perhaps this makes me one of the "lazy journalists" to whom Russell Crowe has partially attributed his latest cultural scrape, but you be the judge: Does an Oscar-winning actor and A-list leading man tweeting his respect for Jews' "funny hats" along with the request that they "stop cutting [their] babies" sound... well, weird to you? [UPDATE: Oh, wait, says Eli Roth -- that was a joke! Ha?]
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The Summer of Ugh rolls on at the movies, with the popular kid-lit entry Judy Moody and the NOT Bummer Summer receiving the first of what Relativity Media no doubt hopes is a long, fruitful string of Moody screen adaptations. So far, not so good -- at least on the critical front, anyway, where detractors nationwide are actively urging parents to avoid exposing their kids to the film's hyperactive, kaleidoscopic rubbish. (It currently rocks a 17 percent fresh rating at Rotten Tomatoes.) How bad is it? Let Movieline count the ways:
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Also in this Friday edition of The Broadsheet: Warren Beatty talks Dick Tracy 2... Diego Luna might head to Elysium... Savages adds another great actor... and more ahead.
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Friday already?! Kidding. This week couldn't end soon enough, if only to get all our questions answered about Super 8's opening-weekend promise and get all our second-guessing and Monday-morning quarterbacking games in order. I have my predictions, though, and I'm standing by them; let's hear yours after the latest installment of Weekend Forecast.
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Big news arrives today for Lost fans: series screenwriter and executive producer Damon Lindelof has signed a seven-figure deal with Disney to write and produce an "original large-scale science fiction feature film." So far, the only thing known about the film (other than the fact that the studio plans on building it around several platform for maximum profit) is its working ttle. Instead of waiting for plot details to emerge, why don't you jump ahead to make your own guesses about the Lindelof's feature storyline.
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"My thought on [Anthony] Weiner is that he is a very busy man. Like most, although not all, politicians, he probably spends a great deal of time going to meetings, raising campaign funds and seizing upon every opportunity to remind people of how great he is as a public servant and a human being. It's exhausting. He exists under a constant pressure cooker of self-analysis and public appraisal. Like other politicians, he needs something to take the edge off." Alec Baldwin's campaign for New York City Mayor starts now? [Huffington Post]
· The marketing push for Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II has been Oprah Winfrey-like in its need to please. You get a character poster! YOU get a character poster! With that in mind, that the latest "character banner" for the film highlights Fred and George Weasley should come as no surprise. Click ahead to check out it, then stick around for more Buzz Break.
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One of the most surprising parts of The Hangover Part II? That the finger-losing Teddy was played by Mason Lee -- the son of Academy Award winning director Ang Lee. So, what did pops think? "My son's performance was quite good," Lee apparently told reporters in Taipei. Not that Lee was surprised. "He is quite a serious actor, but this is just a comedy." Tell that to these people. [THR]
A new article posted at the website Think Progress draws up the queer/coming-out parallels in X-Men: First Class, and if you haven't seen the movie, you'll find much of the evidence undeniable: Hank McCoy (Nicholas Hoult) even utters to his CIA boss, "You didn't ask, so I didn't tell" after he's outed as a mutant by Professor Xavier. But one dissenting commenter on the article provoked an actual X-Men: First Class screenwriter to jump in and clarify that all the LGBT metaphors (among other civil rights implications) were very intentional.
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