Focus Features and Laika released yesterday the second trailer for stop-motion animation ParaNorman. Frankly, it looks awesome giving us a lot more insight into the story courtesy of new scenes, voice-overs, and dialog, the last two being absent from the first trailer.

You know what they say, better short and sweet than long and boring. Running at just 1 minute and 9 seconds, that’s exactly what this trailer is.

As you can see, Norman (Kodi Smit-McPhee) can see the dead and speak to them. But unlike Shyamalan’s The Sixth Sense this is a comedy and animated to boot, so expect more than a few funny scenes. Besides that, he will have to face ghosts, zombies and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

Did I mention it comes from Laika? Only the guys that brought us the amazing Coraline back in 2009. Also it’s stop-motion in 3D, so what more could you want?

Directed by Chris Butler and Sam Fell, ParaNorman features the voices of Anna Kendrick, Leslie Mann, Christopher Mintz-Plass, John Goodman, Casey Affleck and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the titular character.

So again, ghosts, zombies, stop-motion, Coraline, John Goodman, Leslie Mann and McLovin. If you’re not sold yet then I don’t know what else to say. Oh yeah, ParaNorman comes out August 17th (same day as The Expendables 2) so mark your calendar, NOW!

What’s that you say, you don’t have a 2012 calendar yet? Then buy one you cheap bastard.

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In time for Halloween, Laika and Focus Features released a first look at the stop-motion animated flick ParaNorman. Directed by Sam Fell (Flushed Away, The Tale of Despereaux) and Chris Butler, ParaNorman is the story of a boy that can talk to the dead.

Norman Babcock is an outcast kid with the ability to communicate with the dead in this comedy-thriller. When his town comes under siege by zombies, Norman has to face, in addition to zombies, ghosts, witches and moronic adults. All this to save his town for a centuries-old curse.

For stop-motion animation studio Laika, this is only their second feature film after the successful and very well received Coraline back in 2009. As you can see from the trailer, it’s looking just as great visually and the premise could make for a fun movie. Casey Affleck, John Goodman, Anna Kendrick and Christopher Mintz-Plasse lend their voices to various characters in the film. ParaNorman is scheduled to open August 17th, 2012 even though it looks more like a Halloween release then a late summer one.

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It took over twenty-years, but this generation of horror fans finally have a cult product that they can call their own. Even though it comes in the form of a respectful remake.

Fright Night, the 105 minute remake of the 1985 classic, is pitch-perfect in so many ways. And that’s coming from someone who has seen his childhood violated twice this summer (Transformers: Dark of the Moon & The Smurfs). Thankfully, things didn’t come in threes as they say, for this is one of those rare times where a film from yester-year can actually benefit from movie-magic upgrades as long as the filmmakers are honorable to the theme of the original.

Set in a developing Las Vegas suburb – which is to say, a handful of homes in the desert – Charley Brewster (Anton Yelchin) is a high school senior who lives with his milf-of-a-mother Jane (Toni Collette). Just like the original, daddy is not in the picture. Charley was once a dweeb with no shame until he started dating Amy (Imogen Poots – rough name) leading him to become neglectful of his fellow geek brethren. Specifically, his long-time best friend Evil (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

Evil attempts to reach out to Charley when several of his classmates have gone missing. Charley is showing very little interest though, until Evil spastically tells him that a vampire is the source of the problem. A vampire, who just happens to be Charley’s next door neighbor, Jerry Dandrige (Colin Farrell). Charley eventually dismisses his former best friend’s theories and ends up meeting Jerry while the guy is flirting with his mom. He doesn’t make any assumptions, until he starts to pick-up on some quirks Jerry begins to show around him at night, based on what he knows from vampire lore.

Sensing that Charley may be on to him, Jerry decides to have a bit of fun with his prey and begins to torment Charley, and his friends, in order to keep his deadly secret. Without anyone to turn to, the only chance he has to is to seek out a famous magician in Peter Vincent (David Tennant looking like Criss Angel and Russell Brand had a baby), who apparently is the go-to guy on the legend of vampires.

If you’ve seen the original, the remake is mindful of the storytelling pattern and tone set forth. Now remember, this is a movie review and not a movie compare; so of course the special effects are wielded a bit more and the story does place the characters in a few different scenarios. These liberties taken are all vast improvements though (well, some of the CGI blood looks silly); especially the car chase sequence out on a desert highway that ushers in a killer cameo.

Now if this is one’s first introduction to Fright Night, this is a horror picture that is both campy & serious at the same time (not as dumb as Jennifer‘s Body though). For once, this tends to stay on the more serious side but it does institute a nodding homage to the original’s cheesiness. Naturally, there are the horror movie telegraphs and convenient storytelling moments (ex. Peter Vincent’s sudden change-of-heart) to make this sucker (no pun) hum along. That said, the only real complaint is how terrible the shots at night came across in 3D. The action of the camera is just fine, yet the gray coloring blends everything together. One would have to assume they were going for a realistic version of what night would look like in the desert. Nice thought…but it looked like crap in a few sequences. All things considered though, the 3D wasn’t too bad when blood splattered and vampires smoldered.

Standing ovation for Colin Farrell by the way! He is one of the coolest vampires to grace the screen in this atmosphere since Stephen Dorff in Blade. And speaking of vampire flicks, Fright Night 2011 should be this generations’ Lost Boys. It’s fun, tense and the cast plays it straight while the script timely injects comedic lines when appropriate, as it never digs into the established tone. In other words, the thrilling elements coexist nicely with the playful ones.

Overall, Fright Night is a killer vampire flick and an all-around loyal horror movie. Based on the theme of the original – along with the current filmmakers and performers knowing what kind of product they’re creating – it doesn’t try to outdo the source material, but it does sharpen the original’s fangs.

RATING: 4 out of 5

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The first trailer for the remake of the 1985 cult classic Fright Night has appeared online, and it looks pretty good. This movie stars Anton Yelchin, Colin Farrell, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, David Tennant, Imogen Poots and Toni Collett, and is directed by Craig Gillespie who will soon be taking on Pride and Prejudice and Zombies for Lionsgate.

Watch the trailer below:

Senior Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) finally has it all—he’s running with the popular crowd and dating the hottest girl in high school. In fact, he’s so cool he’s even dissing his best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse). But trouble arrives when an intriguing stranger Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a great guy at first, but there’s something not quite right—and everyone, including Charlie’s mom (Toni Collette), doesn’t notice. After witnessing some very unusual activity, Charlie comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire preying on his neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone that he’s telling the truth, Charlie has to find a way to get rid of the monster himself in this Craig Gillespie-helmed revamp of the comedy-horror classic.

Fright Night hits August 13th, 2011.

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According to Variety Jay Baruchel, Craig Ferguson, America Ferrera, Jonah Hill, Christopher Mintz-Plasse, T.J. Miller and Kristen Wiig will reprise their speaking roles in How to Train Your Dragon 2, which is currently in pre-production at DreamWorks.

As well as overwhelmingly positive reviews (98% on Rotten Tomatoes) How to Train Your Dragon became a surprise hit by taking nearly $500 million at the worldwide box office. With that kind of response a sequel was guaranteed.

After sharing writing and directing duties with Chris Sanders on the original, Dean DeBlois will take over both tasks on the sequel, with Sanders remaining as an executive producer. The current aim is to release the sequel in 2013, and as Cressida Cowell’s book series contains 8 books in total there will be a wealth of material to draw from.

How to Train Your Dragon will be released on DVD and Blu-ray October 15th, and you can pre-order it from Amazon via these links:

- Single Disc DVD
- Two-Disc Edition DVD
- Blu-ray

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Mark Millar isn’t one to keep tight lipped about anything, so when asked what he had planned for the Kick-Ass sequel (currently titled Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall) he let the details flow. The current plan is for him to finish writing the new comic by Christmas, and then production can start around April next year after director Matthew Vaughn has completed work on X-Men: First Class.

From MovieWeb:

Mark Millar: The film and the comic book are very closely tied together. There are only a few minor changes towards the end. It does led directly into a sequel, and I am writing the sequel as I always planned it to be. The actors may be a little bit older, or bigger. They can address that in the movie. But I am not changing anything for the comic book. We left things off with her being adopted by this extremely nice man. He is a cop. And she has to stop killing people, you know? That seems like an interesting starting point in the next one in regards to her character. She is going to be like Clint Eastwood in Unforgiven, where she hasn’t picked up a gun in years. It’s that type of thing. I like the idea of doing that with an eleven year old girl. She was part of this massive cacophony of violence. But she’s not allowed to kill people anymore. She is consumed with anger, and forced to watch TV shows instead. Halfway through the movie, or the comic, we will follow her as she picks up a gun again. It is going to be awesome.

And what about Red Mist?

Mark Millar: This is a guy who has had his entire family killed by Hit Girl. He heads off and develops his martial arts skills. He learns how to become a better villain. That type of thing. He is going to come back and wreck unholy vengeance on our team. But in reality, he just comes back and gets stoned, and he spends a lot of money. He can’t do anything, so he hires this bad ass girl from Russia, she comes into the story, and her plan is to kill Hit Girl. Red Mist becomes like Charles Manson. He goes on-line and influences a bunch of young villains to go against Kick-Ass and Hit Girl. The whole thing ends up as a big gang fight like you’d see in The Warriors. There is going to be a big gang fight in the middle of Times Square between all of these costumed heroes. And at the head will be the Red Mist and Hit Girl.

Kick-Ass is one of my favorite movies of 2010 (alongside Inception of course), so I am up for a sequel, but only if they keep the spirit of the first film and only if Vaughn gets 100% creative control like he had before. Lionsgate will probably be funding and distributing his time so they can at least go into the second film knowing people are looking forward to it and it will be seen.

Kick-Ass will be released on DVD/Blu-ray next week, and you can pre-order it via these links:

DVD | Blu-ray

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The Kick-Ass DVD and Blu-ray release date has been set for August 3rd, and the discs will contain quite a few behind the scenes clips and features.

Amazon has made Kick-Ass available to pre-order. Click here for the DVD, and here to pre-order the Blu-ray.

Check out the DVD art, a feature on Hit-Girl, and DVD/Blu-ray specs below:

BLU-RAY DISC SPECIAL FEATURES
DISC ONE
• Ass-Kicking Bonus View Mode (Blu-ray Disc Exclusive) – Synchronous with the feature film, this innovative multi-media presentation incorporates video and audio commentary, behind-the-scenes clips and illustrative graphics with Co-Writer/Producer/Director Matthew Vaughn, plus cast and crew providing an all-access perspective on Kick-Ass
• “A New Kind of Superhero: The Making of Kick-Ass “ documentary (Blu-ray Disc Exclusive)
• “It’s On! The Comic Book Origin of Kick-Ass” featurette
• Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Matthew Vaughn
• “The Art of Kick-Ass” gallery
• Marketing Archive
• BD Touch and Metamenu Remote
• Lionsgate Live™ enabled, featuring extra content for Internet-connected players
• Enhanced for D-Box™ Motion Control Systems

DISC TWO
• Standard Definition DVD Copy of the feature film

DISC THREE
• Standard Definition Digital Copy of the feature film

DVD SPECIAL FEATURES
• Audio Commentary with Writer-Director Matthew Vaughn
• “It’s On! The Comic Book Origin of Kick-Ass” featurette
• “The Art of Kick-Ass” gallery
• Marketing Archive

Kick-Ass, which was made for $28 million, took just over $90 million during its box office run. An extra $15 – $30 million from DVD and Blu-ray sales should make Lionsgate and Vaughn happy, and Kick-Ass can be considered a ‘success’.

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[Here's a link to Jack's review for Kick-Ass, which opened in the UK two weeks ago. The United States release date was yesterday, so here are my thoughts on the film.]

I’m not going to claim this is the best movie of the year, or the best comic book movie of all time. But I will say that I had an absolute blast in the theater, and I think at year’s end I’ll be debating whether I had more fun in Tron Legacy, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, The Expendables, or Kick-Ass.

Brief backstory for the uninitiated: Mark Millar and John Romita, Jr. created a comic book version of Kick-Ass back in 2008. Director Matthew Vaughn secured the rights to the film before the comic was even published, and began working on the movie at the same time that Millar continued work on his comic series. Vaughn shopped the script around to various studios, but due to the graphic violence (mostly involving children), the studios suggested Vaughn change the film to a PG-13 movie and cut the character of Hit-Girl completely. Luckily for us, Vaughn decided to independently finance the film outside of the studio system so he didn’t have to compromise his vision; after the film was finished, he screened some of the movie at 2009′s Comic-Con to rave reviews. Vaughn returned to the studios to secure distribution rights, and eventually Lionsgate decided to pick up the movie for release. The lesson here? Matthew Vaughn is the man – having the balls to finance something yourself and not compromise your vision will almost always equal a superior product.

Now that the history lesson is over, let’s get to the plot. Dave Lizewski is a teenager living in New York who, “like most kids [his] age, just exist.” He’s kind of a geek, reads comics, is bad with the ladies, and fantasizes about his English teacher. Dave, played admirably by up-and-comer Aaron Johnson, wonders aloud to his friends why no one has ever tried to become a superhero. Eventually, he buys a scuba suit, sets up a MySpace page taking crime fighting requests, and dubbing himself “Kick-Ass” in the process.

Here’s where it gets interesting – up until this point, the movie has taken itself pretty seriously. It presents a realistic world with real consequences and treats the brief high school segments with a nice authenticity. But – MINOR SPOILER – when Kick-Ass is violently hit by a car in his disastrous first outing, the movie becomes a meta-narrative on the very nature of comic book films. Thanks to his injuries, Dave is imbued with a borderline superhero ability to withstand pain: his broken bones have been fixed with metal rods and some of his nerve endings are shot, causing Dave to compare himself to Wolverine when he glances at his X-rays.

Near this point, we’re also introduced to Big Daddy (a rare post-Y2K solid performance from Nicolas Cage) and the already-infamous-in-the-media Hit Girl (played wonderfully by Chloe Moretz), a father/daughter team of what could only be described as actual superheroes. With the introduction of these characters, Kick-Ass abandons its realistic aspirations and embraces what the movie truly is: a hyper-violent self-aware comic book film. Big Daddy and the 11-year-old Hit Girl are an updated version of Jean Reno and Natalie Portman from The Professional; Daddy trains daughter to be an efficient killing machine. One particularly cool sequence details their family’s backstory in a quasi-3D that didn’t require glasses (it’s a more advanced version of this effect, in which the camera rotates around and shows the individual elements as fully-realized shapes instead of just a 2D layer).

Enter the villainous Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong), a cartoonish seedy crime boss, and his son Chris (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), who eventually becomes a fake superhero named Red Mist. Strong has secured his place on my “actors to watch” list thanks to performances in Body of Lies and RockNRolla, and he is perfectly cast here. Mintz-Plasse is convincing as the aspiring bad guy desperate for his father’s approval, and does some good work in this flick. The former McLovin’ is finally stepping out of his Superbad shadow with good turns in Role Models and How to Train Your Dragon, so I think he’s making a transition out of the “one-hit wonder” category.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Kick-Ass was made by someone who began watching films in 1990 but has only ever seen action flicks, comic book blockbusters, and the occasional comedy. It relies heavily on The Matrix in terms of style and even lifts settings outright from the Wachowskis’ classic (a lobby fight, Kick-Ass and Red Mist’s final fight scene, the jet pack “shooting through the window” scene, etc). That being said, I think Kick-Ass is going to be very well-received right now, but might not hold up as well over time (and certainly not as well as The Matrix).

I had some problems with this film, most notably the romance between Dave and Katie. Due to a series of circumstances too ridiculous to list, everyone at Dave’s school believes him to be gay – even Katie. She wants Dave as her gay best friend, and he plays along so he can spend time with her. Eventually (as I’m sure you can guess), they become more than friends, but that relationship always felt like the weakest aspect to this movie.

SPOILER ALERT FOR THE REST OF THIS REVIEW

My favorite scene in the film was the hallway fight near the end. Hit Girl makes her way into the lair of Frank D’Amico and corners herself into an almost inescapable situation where she has her back to multiple men with guns. While I thought the more reasonable outcome would be Kick-Ass returning at that exact moment to save her, apparently Vaughn and company had a different idea. In a scene that would make Tony Jaa raise his eyebrows, Hit Girl completely eviscerates every single guy in that hallway, stimulating my audience into loud bouts of cheering. For those still on the fence about seeing this movie, imagine the “gunkata” fight scenes from Equilibrium and you’ll have a decent idea of what to expect.

Also of note: Hit Girl’s introduction (getting shot in the chest by Big Daddy), her fighting introduction (in the apartment), and the first-person sequence in which she saves Kick-Ass using night vision goggles (executed better than some video games I’ve seen). Actually, I’ll go ahead and say that every scene Hit Girl is in can be counted among the best parts of the movie. I also liked the True Lies callback at the end with the bazooka, and Nic Cage’s Adam West-inspired delivery when he embodies the character of Big Daddy.

This is an interesting movie; it has the potential to deliver some insightful commentary (and it does, to a small extent), but instead decides to take a hard right into ridiculous territory and chooses to just cut loose and give the audience what they want instead of providing brief glimpses of what we want between message-heavy moments. Even taking my problems with the film into account, I’m definitely glad I paid money to see this in a theater. Until next time…

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Kick-Ass has been receiving rave reviews all over the place, ever since its screening at the Butt-Numb-a-Thon festival last year, and now with its release in the UK. IGN even asks if it could be “the best superhero movie ever made.” Well, is it? Does Kick-Ass kick ass?

Well…yes. It doesn’t kick all the ass, but it kicks quite a lot.

This is one of those films that’s gaining popularity across the internet at a rapid pace – you probably already know what it’s about. Dave Lizewski (Aaron Johnson), a teenager, decides to don a costume and become a superhero. Basically just to try it out. After trying to stop crime for the first time, he is severely injured – resulting in damaged nerve endings that prevent him from feeling much pain. Perfect. Things escalate from there, and he ends up meeting other costumed fellows Hit Girl (Chloe Moretz), Big Daddy (Nicolas Cage) and Red Mist (Christopher Mintz-Plasse), and gets caught up with crime lord Frank D’Amico (Mark Strong).

The first noticeable thing about Kick-Ass that separates it from other superhero movies is its general presentation – despite all the bad language and all the violence, it’s a much “lighter” affair than most. The film is mostly told from Lizewski’s perspective, and the character provides narration throughout, humorous anecdotes or comments about himself being offered frequently. Johnson plays the occasionally-awkward teenager well, giving us a character that kind of reminds me of the guys in Superbad, or Jesse Eisenberg in Adventureland. I guess some could say it’s easier to empathise with him than with other superheroes, as he’s just a kid like “anyone else.” His buddies that he hangs out at the comic book store with have a similar manner, and allow for a few laughs as well.

The comedy works in favour of the film, being a breath of fresh air from more recent, serious comic book movies like The Dark Knight or Watchmen. Kick-Ass doesn’t take itself too seriously; it’s incredibly self-referential (numerous other comic books are mentioned: Batman, Spider-Man, X-Men, Scott Pilgrim…), and makes use of things like MySpace and YouTube in a semi-satirical-sort-of-way. It kids around with the genre, and it really is a much more “fun” superhero film as a result. You can have a good time with it by simply enjoying the ride. You don’t have to pay attention to any existential ruminations from a glowing blue man on Mars at least.

The supporting cast are mostly great – Mark Strong is a fun, albeit not entirely original villain, and Christopher Mintz-Plasse (a.k.a. McLovin) was a good choice to portray Red Mist, a teenager who simply wants to please his dad, and who becomes kind of pretentious when he puts on his costume and tries to be a hero. For me however, the show was absolutely stolen by Chloe Moretz and Nic Cage as Hit Girl and Big Daddy. It’s a twisted take on a sweet father-daughter relationship, with Big Daddy training his daughter to use weapons, and buying her combat knives for her birthday. It’s pretty hilarious to watch. Nic Cage is perfect as the mellow, mustachioed dad in warm jumpers, making hot chocolate, and it’s probably the most interesting or “different” role I’ve seen him in, especially recently. Hit Girl is the star though; she is the most exciting character in the film. She uses outrageous language and is the most incredibly violent out of all the cast. Most of the larger action scenes revolve around her, and they’re a real blast to watch. She’s such an over-the-top character, and goes perfectly with the overblown gore and fighting, which will probably bring to mind Kill Bill or Sin City.

I really liked how much more upbeat the film is; it’s funny, and has very cool characters. The main obstacle preventing me from loving this film as much as others seem to though, is the lack of the co-stars. While yes, I know that the film is called Kick-Ass, and it’s “his” story, I would have liked to see a lot more of Big Daddy and Hit Girl. While it was fun to see the effects of being a hero on Lizewski’s social life, I sometimes felt that I’d rather be watching the exploits of the father and daughter (because they’re amazing). The film featured a surprisingly little amount of action, compared to others in the genre, and would’ve benefitted from a few more awesome fight sequences. The ones that are there are fantastic, but I wished there had been more. Don’t get me wrong: the film is never slow; it’s always lively. It just seemed that Kick-Ass himself was less “spectacular” as a hero from time to time, and that Big Daddy and Hit Girl were more interesting to watch. Could I simply summarise that by saying “I want more fight scenes”? Possibly. I’d love to see more action in a sequel, for sure, and I’d hope that other characters would get to see more screen-time. I must impress though, that this doesn’t mean I found the film boring at all.

Something I must at least briefly mention, is the soundtrack. While the score was general superhero fare, Kick-Ass was full of great tunes that really added to its energy and light-heartedness. “Stand Up” by The Prodigy bookends the film, and it works brilliantly; it really gets you “pumped” at the beginning, for the fun that’s yet to come. It did with me anyway. Other highlights were the use of the theme from For a Few Dollars More by Ennio Morricone, and Joan Jett’s “Bad Reputation” (which both played in and around one of the best scenes). And I adored the use of “Banana Splits” by The Dickies, which just managed to make Hit Girl’s first wild fight scene even better. Again – if only there had been more.

On the whole though, Kick-Ass is a highly enjoyable film. I’m looking forward to seeing it again as soon as possible, which is always a good sign. And it’s one of those movies where, when the credits roll, one is not enough. One where you want a sequel. I hope the film continues to accumulate a fanbase large enough to warrant a second one, which should be more action-packed, now that the characters have been established. It’s a very good start to a rather eclectic series of comic book films coming out this year, with Iron Man 2, Scott Pilgrim, and The Green Hornet to follow. It’ll be interesting to see how they all fare together.

8 / 10

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A fourth and probably final trailer for Matthew Vaughn’s Kick-Ass has been released online. Unlike some others we’ve seen this one can be viewed by all. We don’t see any 12 year old girls shooting people in the forehead or chopping off grown men’s legs, but it’s still cool nonetheless.

Aaron Johnston plays Dave Lizewski, a lonely teen who decides to become a real-life superhero after being inspired by the heroes of comic-books. He soon encounters a mysterious vigilante called Big-Daddy (Nicolas Cage), and his daughter Hit Girl (Chloë Moretz), who are working to bring down the drug baron, Frank D’Amico.

Kick-Ass will be released on April 16th in the US and March 26th in the UK. The film was recently screened at the South by Southwest Film Festival and the reviews have been overwhelmingly positive. Lionsgate may have a hit on their hands, and a new franchise to boot.

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