Freshly Popped Movie Blog Archives - June 2009

As Movieline points out, the two biggest water-cooler topics this week are Michael Jackson's death and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. So naturally folks were looking for ways to combine the two, and thanks to Jackson's love for all things science fiction, the search didn't last long. Released in 1988, Moonwalker was a feature-length film starring Michael Jackson that was cut up...

Yes, in case you're not already aware (and you so totally should be!), The Smurfs will be the next piece of your childhood to get the big-screen treatment in a film set to hit theaters on December 17, 2010. While plot and casting details are currently under wraps (John Lithgow is rumored to have a role), Coming Soon has learned that the part-live-action, part-CG film will arrive in 3D. The...

As you've probably noticed, it's not just whether you're going to see the movie nowadays, but also - are you going to see it in IMAX? 3D? IMAX 3D? Digital 3D? Real D 3D? So many formats, so little time...This week, joining the fray is Ice Age: Dawn of the Dinosaurs, available in 2D digital animation and super spectacular 3D animation. How will you choose?Well, before you decide which...

While it's still early, I'd bet any amount of money that right now producers are tucked away in some Hollywood corner secretly discussing ways to bring Michael Jackson's life story to the big screen. After all, if thousands of Michael Jackson impersonators exist, surely there must be some well-known actor that could convincingly play the King of Pop -- but who?In one post that's...

Though only 21% of reviews were positive on Rotten Tomatoes, that still didn't stop people from packing theaters this past weekend in anticipation of what can now be called "Summer's Biggest Sequel", Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. We anticipated a big opening here on Fandango (especially after theaters across the country were reporting multiple sold out shows), but would...

Yup, it's that time again – time to look back over the hectic week that was and choose which story you all think was the biggest, grandest, hottest and most important. So much happened this week, both good and bad, and so let's take a look at the stories that have captivated us within the past seven days and try to decide which one belongs on top. 1. Michael Jackson Dies – The world...

Though it may not seem movie related, Michael Jackson's music videos were always a cinematic event. Growing up in the 1980s and '90s, I'll always remember huddling around the television for the MTV premiere of another one of Jackson's event-style music videos/mini-movies – all of which took the art form to an entirely different (and historic) level. Throughout his career,...

No one can argue that Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen isn't explosive. It's bigger, louder, and Michael Bay is officially going down in the Guinness Book of Records for the biggest explosion on film with actors present. Popular Mechanics put together a Top 10 Movie Explosions of All Time list; it certainly pays tribute to directors who have a knack for fiery flamboyance. Although...

Not only were news crews scrambling to cover pop legend Michael Jackson's unexpected death yesterday afternoon, Universal studio execs hustled to figure out what to do with Sacha Baron Cohen's new movie Bruno, set for release in two weeks. Variety reports Cohen got a call about what to do with a brief scene in which Bruno asks LaToya Jackson for Michael's phone number, and he agreed...

Entertainer Michael Jackson has died at age 50. According to earlier reports from The Los Angeles Times, the pop singer had suffered cardiac arrest at his Los Angeles home. A 911 call from a member of Jackson's staff was reportedly made at 12:26 p.m. PST Thursday. When paramedics arrived at the scene, Jackson was not breathing, said the Times.Gossip site TMZ reported that paramedics attempted...

If you're anything like me, you're not interested in some boring movie blogger shoving hundreds of movie recommendations down your throat each week, and, instead, would like a brilliant (and handsome) movie blogger (ahem, ahem) to make things much easier by giving you only one movie recommendation for you to either accept or ignore. And that's where I come in: welcome to my new weekly...

In anticipation of the upcoming Watchmen DVD (due out July 21st), director Zack Snyder met with press to discuss the hotly-anticipated DVD and Blu-ray release, as well as talk up some of his future projects. Good news and bad news for you fans hoping to watch Snyder's director's cut in theaters. The good news is the cut will hit theaters the weekend before San Diego Comic Con (July 17),...

Yesterday we told you how David Fincher (Fight Club, Se7en) was in advanced talks to direct a movie based on Facebook – or, for that matter, how Facebook came to be. Not even 24 hours later and already a couple names have cropped up with regards to playing Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, who, back in 2004, launched the social networking site from his college dorm room. CNET News now says...

While not likely to get the same attention as this week's big openers, The Stoning of Soraya M. is an indie drama that should be relevant to a lot of moviegoers due to its timely story about an Iranian woman named Zahra (Academy Award nominee Shohreh Aghdashloo) who works with an outside reporter to bring the truth of her circumstances to light to the rest of the world. If you want to know...

I know we usually blog on casting news and the latest happenings in movies, but it's sad to hear that Farrah Fawcett, who's been battling cancer for the last three years, died this morning at a Santa Monica hospital at age 62.Although the golden-haired beauty who came to fame in the '70s as the star of "Charlie's Angels" was never able to quite break through on the big...