Big news from Paramount today, as the studio announced a shakeup of some upcoming release dates. Brad Pitt’s highly anticipated World War Z was once set for a release on December 21st, 2012, but it’s been pushed back to next summer – June 21, 2013, to be exact – while Tom Cruise’s One Shot is sliding from a February 2013 release into the newly-available December 21st, 2012 spot. Cruise performed well in that release slot last year with Mission Impossible – Ghost Protocol doing gangbusters at the box office. Looks like WWZ is getting the shaft in this situation, moving to the always-more-competitive summer for blockbusters.

Also, the studio has set Jonathan Leibesman’s Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles adaptation for release on December 25th, 2013. (Think they’re doing that solely to coincide with the onslaught of toys for Christmas?) Either way, that movie reportedly has a budget of $100 million and will be a mixture of CGI and live-action.

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Jonah Hill and Brad Pitt worked together on Moneyball, and though the movie didn’t win any Oscars last night, it forged a good working relationship for the two actors. Hill has just been set to star with James Franco in a film called True Story, which Pitt and his Plan B Productions will produce, about real-life journalist Michael Finkel. Read on for more about the plot, which is hard to believe actually happened.

Rupert Goold is making his feature directorial debut on the project, and no start date has been set yet. Deadline does a great job summing up the story:

Hill will play Finkel, who was a writer at The New York Times Magazine in 2002 when he learned that Christian Longo was captured in Mexico after a long stint on the FBI Ten Most Wanted List for killing his family. The strange part was that he had been living under the identity of Finkel. The very next day, the real Finkel was fired by the editors of The New York Times, right after they ran an editor’s note declaring that he had falsified parts of an investigative article. His career seemed over, until Longo (who’ll be played by Franco) declared that the real Finkel was the only journalist he would talk to. That led to a surreal relationship with the accused murderer who was trying to declare his innocence.

Sounds nuts, right? Seeing Franco as a potentially wild alleged killer and Hill as the straight man journalist could be a great combination, and I’m hoping this project comes to fruition sooner rather than later. How about you? Do you think True Story has potential?

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The Counselor has the potential to be one of the best movies of 2013. Director Ridley Scott is reteaming with his Prometheus star, the increasingly awesome Michael Fassbender, for the first spec script written by the legendary Cormac McCarthy. Deadline has a list of actors being considered for the villain role, so read on to find out who they are.

Action superstar Jeremy Renner (Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol, The Bourne Legacy), Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men), and Brad Pitt are all mentioned in the report, and though nothing is close to official, it’s still interesting to picture each of these guys taking on Fassbender in the drama. All of these actors are very busy, so it’ll be interesting to see which one can squeeze this one into his schedule; the film is set to start shooting this May.

The Counselor follows an admired lawyer (Fassbender) who is tempted by the drug business and ends up getting in over his head. No word yet on what the villainous role will be, but who would you like to see star opposite Fassbender here?

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As usual, December was quite a competitive month for movies with Mission: Impossible, Sherlock Homes, Tintin (in the US), War Horse, and The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo all competing for the Christmas audience.

Next year will be no different as we’re getting Tom Hooper’s Les Miserables, the first part of The Hobbit, Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, and Brad Pitt’s zombie epic World War Z. If Pitt’s movie manages to find an audience amongst all the competition it may provide the actor with his first proper franchise.

The story, based on the novel by Max Brooks, follows UN bureaucrat Gerard Lane (Pitt) who, in the aftermath of a world wide Zombie epidemic, is asked to compile a complete report on the incident. His interviews chart a decade-long war against zombies from the view point of many different people of various nationalities.

In a recent article by the The L.A Times it is suggested the studio is planning to make a series of films if World War Z is a success.

For Pitt, the big sci-fi thriller also represents his strongest bid to have a big film franchise of his own, which might be viewed as the missing piece of his career jigsaw puzzle. Forster and Paramount Pictures each view “World War Z” as a trilogy that would have the grounded, gun-metal realism of, say, Damon’s Jason Bourne series tethered to the unsettling end-times vibe of AMC’s “The Walking Dead.”

I’m sure many wouldn’t mind a Bourne/Waking Dead-style zombie franchise. Over recent years zombie movies have been fairly low budget (Zack Snyder’s Dawn of the Dead cost $30 million in 2004), so there’s the prospect of seeing something much larger in scale with Marc Forster’s movie as it’s been given $125 million to play with. As the story is global is shouldn’t have much trouble finding a global audience (in theory), so it should make its budget back and then some.

As well as Pitt, the movie stars Mireille Enos, Daniella Kertesz, James Badge Dale, Matthew Fox and David Morse, and will invade screens on December 21, 2012.

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The New York Film Critics Online, the Boston Society of Film Critics, and the L.A. Film Critics all released their annual awards on Sunday. The American Film Institute also released its top ten movies and television shows of the year.

Michel Hazanavicius’ tribute to the silent movie era, The Artist, was one of the biggest winners, receiving Best Picture honors from both the NYFCO and the BSFC. It was also given a special award from the AFI (for movies which do not fit into the AFI’s normal criteria). Hazanavicius also won Best Director from the NYFCO.

The Descendants won the Best Picture prize from the LAFC.

The NYFCO, BSFC, and LAFC all awarded different winners in both the Best Actor (Michael Shannon for Take Shelter, Brad Pitt for Moneyball, and Michael Fassbender for his whole year’s body of work, including Shame and A Dangerous Method, respectively) and Best Actress categories (Meryl Streep for The Iron Lady, Michelle Williams for My Week With Marilyn, and Yun Jung-hee for Poetry, respectively).

Albert Brooks (Drive) nabbed the Best Supporting Actor awards from both the NYFCO and the BSFC. Christopher Plummer (Beginners) received it from the LAFC.

One of the most interesting winners from yesterday was Melissa McCarthy (Bridesmaids), who was honored by the NYFCO and the BSFC in the Supporting Actress category. Strictly comedic performances are often overlooked during the awards season, but if Robert Downey Jr. can get an Oscar nomination for Tropic Thunder, then maybe McCarthy can grab one too.

There doesn’t seem to be a clear front runner in any category, but The Artist, War Horse, The Descendants, Tree of Life, and Hugo (among several others) are all looking good to garner some Best Picture nominations during the big awards in the New Year.

You can view the complete list for the New York Film Critics Online awards here; the Boston Society Film Critics’ awards here; the L.A. Film Critics’ awards here; and the AFI awards here.

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The National Board of Review has a long history of kicking off the awards season, setting trends and marking initial frontrunners. This year, Martin Scorsese’s 3D adventure Hugo has taken an early lead, much like The Social Network did last year, by being named Best Film by the NBR. Scorsese also won the Best Director award.

The Descendants was another notable winner, snagging Best Actor (George Clooney), Best Supporting Actress (Shailene Woodley) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Alexander Payne and Nat Faxon & Jim Rash), as well as landing a place in the list of the year’s 10 Top Films.

The New York Film Critics Circle got a jump on the NBR this year by releasing its annual awards on Tuesday, but none of the winners match. The NYFCC handed out Best Picture to The Artist, while Brad Pitt grabbed Best Actor for Moneyball and The Tree of Life.

The Help received the Best Ensemble award from the NBR, but was conspicuously absent from all other categories, including the 10 Top Films. The Iron Lady, for which Meryl Streep nabbed the NYFCC’s Best Actress honors, was notably absent from the NBR’s awards, which considered Tilda Swinton (We Need to Talk About Kevin) this year’s Best Actress.

You can see the complete list of the National Board of Review’s awards here, and the NYFCC’s awards here.

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Talk about a versatile director. George Miller, who years ago was at the helm for all the gritty and violent Mad Max films, dials up some of the most tender and heartfelt moments depicted on screen this year with Happy Feet Two.  As of today, the front-runner for Best Animated Film for 2011 has arrived.  And for someone (me) who historically pans the 3D gimmick, it’s actually put to good use in this 105 minute presentation.

We pick up with the dancing penguin, Mumble (voiced by Elijah Wood), who is trying to get his young son, Erik (cutely voiced by the young Ava Acres), to embrace their dancing culture that is now practiced all over their glacier territory.  Erik is flustered and believes that this environment just isn’t for him; so he ventures off with the always animated (no pun) Ramon (voiced by Robin Williams) – who knows a thing or two about being different – and they end up hanging with another set of penguins on the other side of the glacier.  This particular group worships, Sven (voiced by Hank Azaria), a presumed flying penguin.  Erik becomes instantly enamored with Sven and gets inspired to adopt his philosophy.

Meanwhile, Mumble is hastily tracking down Erik, but comes across problem that affects everyone who lives on the glacial ice as it threatens the lively hood of Mumble’s people; leading to an assortment of ice-dwelling animals to come to the rescue.

One of the cleverest elements about this story – aside from the underlying environmental stance – is that it feels like an adventure, yet only takes place in 2-3 places.  Besides the two penguin nations that reside on the ice caps, the story introduces a separate story line – ushering in the third location – featuring two Krill in Will (voiced by Brad Pitt) and Bill (voiced by Matt Damon).  Will is anxious to break away from the normal Krill life and become a predator.  His goal: shake-up the food chain and “eat something with a face.”  Bill, his loyal and nervous friend, constantly tries to talk him out of this new lifestyle as they roam around in the depths of the arctic sea.  But Will is determined and constantly puts his vulnerable self in harm’s way, as he attacks creatures a million times larger than him.

The Krill adventures brings in the perfect amount of comedy to balance out the cuteness and warming story going on with the penguins.  If you can recall the moment in The Lion King when Mufasa saved Simba by giving his own life, that emotional discharge you had (or should have had, unless your Satan)  is beautifully executed and projected in numerous sequences throughout this screenplay that encompasses a modest dramatic tone to it.  Not only is the direction of each scene crafted with care, the dialogue really brings in a substantial moments that is often missing with animations lately.  A lot of them are just show-and-go, with the goal of cheap entertainment.  And that’s fine for some.  However, when an animated flick can bring in every emotion and induce a wide-spectrum of reactions from the audience (there’s even a brief scare where you may jump a little), it’s a rarity to behold.

Plus, the 3D provides a nice scope for the fluid animated landscape.  It almost feels like you’re on a visual ride at a theme park, as you’ll have the urge to continually explore the surroundings.  And when factoring in the delivery method of the screenplay; which is filled with musical numbers, this feels like a major Broadway production in some respects that manages to keep every tone balanced and entertaining.

Overall, Happy Feet Two finds it rhythm early on and never misses a beat.  The splendid animation along with thoughtful dialogue will have all audiences fully engaged in all the emotions this flick is conjuring up.  Kids will learn something; adults will feel something; and everybody has a delightful movie going experience thanks to the flawless mechanics and intelligent storytelling.

RATING: 4.5 out of 5

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Amazon has now made Moneyball available to pre-order via these links: DVD | Blu-ray

Sony has set the Moneyball DVD and Blu-ray release date for January 10, 2012. The movie, starring Brad Pitt, Jonah Hill, Philip Seymour Hoffman and Robin Wright, was released back in September and follows the story of Oakland A’s general manager Billy Beane’s successful attempt to put together a baseball club on a budget by employing computer-generated analysis to draft his players.

Moneyball was directed by Bennett Miller and has made $71 million worldwide so far (it will be rolling out in the UK and other territories between now and February). The movie has an impressive 95% on Rotten Tomatoes, so an awards campaign and Best Actor push for Pitt may be on the horizon.

Blu-ray.com has the special features:

Four behind-the-scenes featurettes:
- Billy Beane: Re-Inventing the Game
- Drafting The Team
- Moneyball: Playing The Game
- Adapting Moneyball
Blooper: “Brad Loses It”

Amazon has now made Moneyball available to pre-order via these links: DVD | Blu-ray

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Warner Bros. Pictures has released a new full length trailer for Happy Feet 2. While the first trailer was just a tease, this one covers the story for the sequel and we are introduced to a pair of krill voiced by Brad Pitt and Matt Damon.

Watch below:

The sequel to the Academy Award(R) winning animated smash hit, “Happy Feet Two” returns audiences to the magnificent landscape of Antarctica in superb 3D. Mumble, The Master of Tap, has a problem because his tiny son Erik is choreo-phobic. Reluctant to dance, Erik runs away and encounters The Mighty Sven – a penguin who can fly!! Mumble has no hope of competing with this charismatic new role model. But things get worse when the world is shaken by powerful forces. Erik learns of his father’s ‘guts and grit’ as Mumble brings together the penguin nations and all manner of fabulous creatures – from tiny Krill to giant Elephant Seals – to put things right.

As well as Brad Pitt and Matt Damon, Elijah Wood, Robin Williams, Hank Azaria, Alecia Moore (Pink), and Sofia Vergara round out the voice cast, and Happy Feet 2 will be released November 18, 2011 in the US and December 2, 2011 in the UK.

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If the phrase “inside baseball” was ever used to describe a film, this would be the movie in question – and that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Moneyball (based on Michael Lewis’ 2003 book of the same name) chronicles the story of Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane (Brad Pitt) and his unorthodox attempts to create a championship team with far less money than his competitors. In a way, the film itself is just as unorthodox as Beane’s methods; we expect certain elements from this genre, but director Bennett Miller gives us a new angle to consider. Through good performances, a detailed script, and a fresh perspective, the movie tells an intriguing story of two men who went against the tides of baseball history and changed the game forever.

When teams with more money start poaching Billy Beane’s players for themselves, Beane literally can’t afford to compete on their level. During a potential trade meeting with the Cleveland Indians, Beane meets Peter Brand (Jonah Hill), a Yale graduate who studied economics and has a different approach to rebuilding than Beane’s over-the-hill scout staff. Beane adopts the youngster’s philosophy and hires him as the new Assistant General Manager of the Athletics, much to the chagrin of his older co-workers. Much of the movie is steeped in the age-old “technology vs. human instinct” theme, but while most films take the human approach in this argument, Moneyball champions facts over intuition.

Moneyball successfully turns the sports genre on its head by exposing audiences to the detailed inner workings of a Major League Baseball team. Beane’s acquisition of Peter is far more valuable than that of any one player, and for the purposes of this movie, the players on the field aren’t nearly as important as the key “players” off the field. It’s easy to hear co-writer Aaron Sorkin’s influence in the dialogue, especially evident in a labyrinthine trade deal that comes midway through the film. It’s smart and lightning quick at times, reminiscent of portions of Sorkin’s Oscar-winning Best Adapted Screenplay from last year, The Social Network. Throughout the movie, we’re shown flashbacks of Beane’s days as a player and we see the effects his past has on him in the present time. The editing was sharp and effective, only concerned with the interesting aspects of the story and wisely breezing over sections that didn’t need to be explored in depth on film.

This is clearly a Brad Pitt vehicle, and I’m already hearing some whispers of Oscar potential surrounding his performance. I think this is some of his best work in recent years, and though I don’t quite agree that he’s deserving of an Oscar for this particular performance, I thought he was…aggressively good. Not breathtaking, but still the kind of quality work that you expect from an A-lister. His supporting cast was impressive as well, with really solid work from Jonah Hill and small roles for Philip Seymour Hoffman as the embattled coach and Chris Pratt from “Parks and Recreation” as a catcher-turned-first-baseman. Beane’s daughter is played by Kerris Dorsey (a spitting image of a young Katey Rich, friend of The Not Just New Movies podcast), an actress with a bright future who provides the muse for Pitt’s character as he struggles through decisions late in the movie.

If you're a sports buff, you may know how this story ends before you see Moneyball’s opening credits. But I didn’t know how it would play out and it captivated me, so I won’t get into the specifics of the ending here. I wonder, though: because I grew up playing baseball, much of this movie was easy for me to comprehend, but would someone who’s never played or studied the game have the same appreciation that I do? Sound off in the comments and let me know what you think, regardless of your personal history with baseball. Until next time…

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