All three Godfather movies are coming to Blu-ray Disc on September 23, 2008, two years after the format launched.

Both The Godfather and The Godfather Part II underwent extensive frame-by-frame digital restoration that took more than a year to complete and was personally overseen by director Francis Ford Coppola. In addition to those two films, The Godfather.  The Coppola Restoration Collection includes a newly remastered version of The Godfather Part III.

The four-disc Blu-ray Disc collection includes an array of new special features, from five documentaries (also presented in high-definition) to a Godfather family tree, crime organization chart and four short films on the The Godfather. The new extras will be on the fourth disc, along with all the special features included on the trilogy’s initial 2001 DVD release.

If Blu-ray doesn’t excite you, the Godfather films also will be available on standard DVD as The Godfather: The Coppola Restoration DVD Collection, with five discs — including one of the old special features and another of the new.

Taking a fresh look at the cast of The Godfather movie is quite impressive, includes Marlon Brando, Al Pacino, James Caan, Robert Duval, Diane Keaton, Stephen Hayden and Taila Shire.

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Samsung NT-Q70F Notebook
Rock Band 2 Announced, Compatible with Original’s DLC
Acer P5260i WiFi projector

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I viewed the first episode for the A&E Television premiere “The Cleaner” starring Benjamin Bratt as William Banks. “The Cleaner” is based on the life of William Banks who, with unconventional means, runs an invention team of misfits and former drug addicts.  Bratt is pure in this series; he brings his character to life.  

The camera shots and angles remind me of the CSI series.  

It’s an interesting take on heroism. I’d like to see the series take hold because it sheds light on a topic that is hard for society to confront - addiction and it’s relation to crime - how it effects all facets of life.

Take a look at the The Cleaner Giveaway sponsored by Screenhead and A&E Television, includes:

”Bratt Pack” Prize Package Includes:

-A&E T-shirt

-$10 A&E Store Gift Certificate

-Benjamin Bratt DVD package featuring:  The Andromeda Strain, Miss Congeniality, Pinero and Love in the Time of Cholera.

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Hancock opens July 2nd, and I have a hunch that it’ll rock at the box office because of the reviews I’ve read this past week are totally jumping.

One awesome review by David Denby in The New Yorker was sent to me this morning. Wow! Hancock sounds like a whole new superhero movie that we’ve been needing to see. Peter Berg directs this film and takes a whole new approach to the superhero strut, pounce and win the sexy girl.

Denby’sreview sees the movie as more than a superhero movie but a lesson to be learned. Berg brings an emotional connection with the audience; let our juices boil, steam and overflow.

Illustration is by Thomas Fuchs

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Punisher: War Zone teaser posters seem to be showing up at strategic websites to promote Gale Anne Hurd’s film starring Ray Stevenson. 

Frankly, I like the current posters compared to the early one of darken skull figure; it seemed more like a horror movie than a marvel comic character story.

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Dark Horizons reports that Warner Bros. Pictures has acquired the film rights to B. Clay Moore’s upcoming comic book series Billy Smoke, hoping to turn it into a vehicle for “Lost” star Matthew Fox.

The comic’s story focuses on an elite hitman who is nearly killed during a botched job. Quite interestingly, he realizes that his only way to redemption is to rid the world of all assassins.

The project is being produced by Thunder Road; Oni Press is publishing the comic series.

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IESB caught up with Iron Man director Jon Favreau on the red carpet at the Hellboy 2: Golden Army premiere in Westwood at the Los Angeles Film Festival over the weekend. They talked about a lot of things, but most importantly, Iron Man 2 was discussed about: he is working with marvel to make the sequel “worthy of the franchise”. Also, Thor – disappointingly - won’t be making a cameo in the film.

Favreau also talked about the upcoming Captain America film, mentioning how even the early artwork of the film looks “amazing already.” It is a video interview, so install Flash and check it out for more, including The Dark Knight and the coming Avengers film.

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Coming off fresh from Sweeney Todd, Helena Bonham Carter is suiting up for Terminator Salvation, the upcoming sequel which stars Christian Bale as the mankind’s savior. The film is currently shooting in New Mexico, and looks at the origins of the battle between Skynet and the humans.

Details of Carter’s role are being kept under wraps. It is, however, described as being “small but pivotal.”

The film is expected next year.

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The Guardian carries confirmation that Oscar-winning actor Anthony Hopkins is set to play King Lear in an upcoming big-screen adaptation of the classic Shakespeare tragedy. The film will also star Gwyneth Paltrow, Naomi Watts and Keira Knightley as Lear’s three daughters; more big names are attached to the film – they are to be announced soon.

"The one thing that I’m staying away from is stunt casting," said director Joshua Michael Stern, "so there won’t be the American comedian, but there will be some really great actors playing smaller roles that will make a lot of sense."

Stern’s previous works have been comedy shorts; he has also scripted episodes of Law & Order and Chicago Hope. However, he insists that he won’t be meddling with the original text.

"I’m not very fond of the modern adaptations," he said. "It’s pre-Roman, Celtic, very raw. It’s a period in British history, from which Tolkien took a lot of his inspiration, where there were thatched-roof roundhouses and fortresses."

The film will begin shooting in Britain or Ireland early next year.

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Movie artwork fans may have had their orgasm at last weekend’s Cinema Expo in Amsterdam which played host to many one-sheets, standees and posters from major upcoming films. There was artwork to be had from The Dark Knight, Madagascar 2, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and many other films, but the most interesting were two character sheets from G.I. Joe, offering us a look at the forthcoming live-action film.

The one-sheets show Baroness and Snake Eyes. I must admit, the Baroness is looking better than her cartoon counterpart; can’t say the same for Snake Eyes, though.

You can view both character sheets, as well as artwork from other films on Film 1 Blog, which was on hand at the event.

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Following up on our previous report, Legendary Pictures has confirmed that it is developing a follow-up to 300 for Warner Bros. It also confirmed that Frank Miller is writing and Zack Snyder is intending to direct.

The first bit of info on the project came from an interview on Collider with director Snyder. Apparently Frank Miller is working on a new graphic novel that may either be a prequel or sequel to the original. They intend to see if the story is adaptable, though the studio hopes that Frank’s work is “as compelling as the first.”

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The box office in general this weekend brought in loads of money to Hollywood.  WALL-E topped it off with Wanted behind by $9 million.  I am sure some “experts” are going to try to theorize why Hollywood is doing so well in 2007 when it can easily be summed up to great movie entertainment.

Below is an estimate this weekend in the millions - awesome numbers!

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Diablo 3 Announced
Rumored: Sprint to Launch Instinct Software Update
One Systems 112IM Direct Weather loudspeakers
HP Color LaserJet CP6015dn Printer

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One of my most favorite animators is Miyazaki. He creates beautiful stories and characters with vivid colors. His messages bring awareness to the spirit of life and the importance of the environment.  I picked up his trailer to his next film, Ponyo on the Cliff,  from AICN, who received the trailer from Chris Brown.  It’s in Japanese but Miyazaki’s signature comes across very clear with details and character expressions.

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Sometimes its feels as if the world of cinema has gone crazy with biopics. It’s probably the one connecting factor throughout the various nations- that a film about a famous person is seen to be a seller, yet it’s usually an incredibly dull affair that boasts one or two noteworthy performances, from Night and Day to La Mome. Another film to add to the list of mediocre biopics is The Edge of Love, a story that centres around the debauchery of Welsh poet Dylan Thomas.

The film follows the viewpoint of Vera Phillips, Dylan Thomas’s childhood friend and supposedly first love. Working as a singer in London during The Blitz, she comes across Thomas in a bar, who is of course drunk and attempting to wrangle booze money out of friends and family. Their potential romance is marred by the arrival of Thomas’s wife, the borderline nutcase Caitlin, Thomas’s match in promiscuity and alcohol consumption. Vera ends up living with the couple, befriending the normally catty Caitlin. Soon, Vera gets involved with the possessive Killock, who gets shipped off to the War, only to return to a pregnant Vera, and suspicions of her infidelity.

If there’s one surprise in this film, its Keira Knightley’s performance. Many are still dubious about her acting performances. While many saw her role in Atonement as a pouting object, she was probably the best part of the film. And while her “Lizzie” in Pride and Prejudice was slightly off the mark, she deserved her Oscar nomination. In this film, not only is her Welsh accent convincing, but she carries a kind of rural sultriness that makes her character more watchable than it could have been. Read on »

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Post #192, Jeanette Maian, is the winner! Congratulations!!

This is what you won!

The Superhero Movie DVD. The DVD comes available in an extended version or the original theatrical version and will feature an alternate ending, deleted scenes and more.

This movie is full of belly laughs with such notables as Drake Bell (”Drake & Josh”), Tracy Morgan (”30 Rock”), Leslie Nielsen (The Naked Gun), Jeffrey Tambor (”Arrested Development”), Christopher MacDonald (Happy Gilmore), Keith David (There’s Something About Mary), Pamela Anderson (”Baywatch”), Brent Spiner (”Star Trek: The Next Generation”) and Marion Ross (”Happy Days”).

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While watching previews before the feature showing of WALL-E last night, I was caught by surprise with a preview about a French mouse. Not Ratatouille sequel but The Tale of Despereaux, which is based on the award winning book with the same title.

A modern fairy tale, The Tale of Despereaux tells the story of four unlikely heroes: Despereaux (Matthew Broderick), a brave mouse banished to the dungeon for speaking with a human; Roscuro (Dustin Hoffman), a good-hearted rat who loves light and soup, but is exiled to darkness; Pea (Emma Watson), a Princess in a gloomy castle who is prisoner to her father’s grief; and Mig (Tracey Ullman), a servant girl who longs to be a Princess, but is forced to serve the jailer.

Despereaux was born tiny but with huge ears.  Refusing to live his life cowering, he befriends Princess Pea and learns to read (rather than eat) books—of stories about knights, dragons and fair maidens. 

Pea is kidnapped and Despereaux decides he is the only one who can rescue her…and that even the tiniest mouse can find the courage of a knight in shining armor. 

The Tale of Despereaux is scheduled to hit theaters on December 19th 2008.

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I read in the news today that Hancock’s star Will Smith plans on spending three hours on the red carpet in France to beat his buddy, Tom Cruise, who spent two and a half hours on the red carpet promoting Mission: Impossible in France.  That’s a long time to be with your fans.

Reportedly Will Smith said he’d like to out do his buddy, but Tom Cruise has a drive that’s practically unbeatable.

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Disney/Pixar’s WALL-E sparked at $23.2 million — best opening day ever for them – and Wanted fair pretty well too with $19 million. The Friday’s total box office scored a whopping $42 million between these two openers.

With WALL-E being G-rated and Wanted being R-rated the whole specturm of targeted audience members goes to the movies.

Last weeks Get Smartlost 50% of the gross but still faired well on Friday with $6.6 million.

Speculatively and conservatively we can expect WALL-Eto bring in about $60 million or more this weekend.  If he wants to beat his Disney/Pixar cousins, The Incredibles ($70.4 million) and Finding Nemo ($70.2 million), he’ll need to bet on the critic-driven adult audience and kiddies’ matinees.

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Coming fresh off The Incredible Hulk, director Louis Leterrier is set to direct upcoming remake of the ‘80s classic Clash of the Titans, according to a report by Variety.

The movie tells the tale of Perseus from Greek mythology, with Lawrence Kasdan penning the script. The movie has apparently been in development for quite some time now, though the hiring of Leterrier essentially greenlights the project which one can hope will move forward quickly.

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From the Hollywood Reporter comes word that Mark Canton and Gianni Nunnari of 300 fame will produce War of the Gods for Relativity Media. The movie will deal with the battles waged by Greek mythological hero Theseus, the legendary king of Athens. It is unsure which of his tales the movie will show, but it will most likely be him defeating the Minotaur and escaping Daedalus’ labyrinth.

The movie is being penned by Charley and Vlas Parlapanides, with acclaimed music video and commercial director Tarsem Singh directing. While no date was provided, production is expected to begin sometime next year.

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2009 is shaping up to be quite a year for horror fans, as three major releases are on the way. One of them is Final Destination 4, the upcoming fourth entry in the death-precognition franchise, which will hit theaters on August 14, 2009.

The film will see the introduction of a new cast of teens who have to face new forms of death in the 3D sequel. It is being directed by David Ellis and features unknowns in the lead roles, including Nick Zano, Krista Allen and Andy Fiscella.

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Even if you hate the Saw franchise, you simply cannot look away from the grim sequences of death, as well as the brilliant twists and turns. Keeping that in mind, the fifth film is set to open in theaters October 24, and to anticipate the film’s release, Lionsgate has sent out the first teaser poster.

It is not known if the man depicted in the picture is a returning character or not. The film will see Hoffman tie up loose ends as his secret (as Jigsaw’s apprentice) is threatened. Tobin Bell, Julie Benz, Costas Mandylor, Scott Patterson and Mark Rolston are set to star.

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Variety reports that Chungeorahm and Stone Man Films will co-produce a Chinese sequel to the Korean hit The Host. The film is concerned with a calamity caused when people ignore a monster due to their desire for money.

The film’s budget stands at $12 million, with China, Korea and Hong Kong all having contributed to the budget. Shooting is set to begin with Ning Hao at the helm early next year for release at the end of 2009.

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While the ending of the third Bourne film left it open for another entry, many thought that would be the last of the series. However, the first confirmation for a fourth film in the franchise was given producer Frank Marshall at this past Tuesday’s Saturn Awards, where he told IESB that he hopes to be shooting the film next summer for release in 2010.

He notes that there are no plans to follow any of the storyline from the fourth book in the series (“The Bourne Legacy”), and that they have plans to set a lot of the action in South America this time though.

Further information on the movie is expected as it develops.

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