Movies Update

Adventure games in general tend to be more linear than CRPG’s, and Journey to the Center of the Earth is no exception. It’s impossible to miss the vast majority of this game– if you don’t complete a conversation, finish a quest, or notice a meaningful detail, you generally aren’t allowed to leave the area until you rectify this.

Journey to the Center of the Earth is inspired by Jules Verne′s classic novel of the same name, but if you haven’t read it, don’t worry: The game′s story stands on its own (even if it’s very wobbly on its narrative feet). Taking part in a popular adventure game trend, Journey puts you in the shoes of a young female character, in this case a photojournalist named Ariane. Ariane is poorly fleshed out, though, and certainly won’t make you forget better-written adventure game heroines like Nico Collard, April Ryan, or Kate Walker.

An exciting adventure based on the classic Jules Verne novel “Journey to the Center of the Earth,” “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D” stars Brendan Fraser (”Crash,” “The Mummy”) as a science professor whose untraditional hypotheses have made him the laughing stock of the academic community. But on an expedition in Iceland, he and his nephew stumble upon a major discovery that launches them on a thrilling journey deep beneath the Earth’s surface, where they travel through never-before-seen worlds and encounter a variety of unusual creatures. “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D” is directed by Academy Award-winning visual effects veteran Eric Brevig (”Total Recall,” “Pearl Harbor”) from a screenplay by Michael Weiss and Jennifer Flackett & Mark Levin. The film is a co-venture between New Line Cinema and Walden Media. “Journey to the Center of the Earth 3D” is scheduled for a July 11, 2008 release.

Release Date : July 11, 2008

Studio : Warner Bros. Pictures

Director : Eric Brevig

Screenwriter : D.V. DeVincentis

Starring : Brendan Fraser, Josh Hutcherson, Anita Briem

Genre : Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi

Rating : Coming soon…

Official Website : Journey3Dmovie.com

Movie Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/journey_to_the_center_of_the_earth-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

Based upon Mark Millar’s explosive graphic novel series and helmed by stunning visualist director Timur Bekmambetov — creator of the most successful Russian film franchise in history, the ‘Night Watch’ series — ‘Wanted’ tells the tale of one apathetic nobody’s transformation into an unparalleled enforcer of justice. In 2008, the world will be introduced to a hero for a new generation: Wesley Gibson.

25-year-old Wes (James McAvoy) was the most disaffected, cube-dwelling drone the planet had ever known. His boss chewed him out hourly, his girlfriend ignored him routinely and his life plodded on interminably. Everyone was certain this disengaged slacker would amount to nothing. There was little else for Wes to do but wile away the days and die in his slow, clock-punching rut.

Until he met a woman named Fox (Angelina Jolie).

After his estranged father is murdered, the deadly sexy Fox recruits Wes into the Fraternity, a secret society that trains Wes to avenge his dad’s death by unlocking his dormant powers. As she teaches him how to develop lightning-quick reflexes and phenomenal agility, Wes discovers this team lives by an ancient, unbreakable code: carry out the death orders given by fate itself.

With wickedly brilliant tutors — including the Fraternity’s enigmatic leader, Sloan (Morgan Freeman) — Wes grows to enjoy all the strength he ever wanted. But, slowly, he begins to realize there is more to his dangerous associates than meets the eye. And as he wavers between newfound heroism and vengeance, Wes will come to learn what no one could ever teach him: he alone controls his destiny.

Star(s) to watch : Angelina Jolie (”Mr. &amp Mrs. Smith”, “Lara Croft: Tomb Raider”, “The Bone Collector”, “Taking Lives”, “Original Sin”) as Fox, &amp Morgan Freeman (”Lucky Number Slevin”, “Bruce Almighty”, “Seven”, “Deep Impact”) as Sloan.

Genre : Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Thriller, Adaptation.

Release date : June 27, 2008

Rating : Coming soon…

Official website : http://www.wantedmovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/wanted-194×300.jpg

Wanted Movies Trailer :

One year has passed in Peter, Susan, Edmund, and Lucy Pevensie’s world, but unknown to them about 1,300 years has passed in Narnia, where they had their last adventure in it’s hills. Now, by the means of Susan’s magical horn, they travel back to Narnia, to find that Narnia is not what it was like last, with the ruthless King Miraz planning to kill Prince Caspian, who is the rightful heir to Narnia’s throne. Now, with the help of mythical creatures named Old Narnians and Aslan, Peter, Susan, Edmund, Lucy, and Caspian fight against Miraz and his army to give the throne of Narnia to it’s true successor.

In “The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian,” the four Pevensie children – Peter (William Moseley), Susan (Anna Popplewell), Edward (Skandar Keynes), and Lucy (Georgie Henley) - are summoned back to the magical land of talking animals and mythical creatures, where they discover that more than a thousand Narnian years have passed since their last adventure and much has changed. The White Witch may be dead, but Narnia is under the sway of a tyrannical new ruler, King Miraz (Sergio Castellitto), and the Pevensies must unite with the young Prince Caspian (played by British actor Ben Barnes) in an attempt to restore peace and harmony to the once happy land.

The four children will soon meet an intriguing new character: Narnia’s rightful heir to the throne, the young Prince Caspian, who has been forced into hiding as his uncle Miraz plots to kill him in order to place his own newborn son on the throne. With the help of the kindly dwarf, a courageous talking mouse named Reepicheep, a badger named Trufflehunter and a Black Dwarf, Nikabrik, the Narnians, led by the mighty knights Peter and Caspian, embark on a remarkable journey to find Aslan, rescue Narnia from Miraz’s tyrannical hold, and restore magic and glory to the land.

Star(s) to watch : Ben Barnes (”Stardust”) as Prince Caspian.

Genre : Adventure, Fantasy, Adaptation.

Release date : May 16, 2008.

Rating : Coming soon …

Official website : http://disney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/the_chronicles_of_narnia_prince_caspian1-203×300.jpg

Trailer :

In today’s episode of Boing Boing tv, Xeni visits with John Gaeta, the Academy Award-winning Visual Effects supervisor of the Matrix trilogy, to learn more about his digital craft in the new film Speed Racer. This latest Wachowski brothers project reinterprets the classic 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name, and opens in theaters nationwide on May 9.

According to HR, the big screen adventures of Speed, Racer X, Trixie and the gang have been ?tracking unimpressively in prerelease surveys. People, apparently, aren′t saying they are super excited about seeing this movie and that may result in a box office of ‘only’ $25 million to $35 million during the opening weekend. Since Iron Man made almost $100 million last weekend, it has a good chance of finishing first this weekend and keeping Speed Racer in, gasp, second place. It?s all downhill from there.

Still, it might not be as dire for the Racer family as it seems. Family films are tough to track before opening, so moms, dads, and their kids might give Hollywood the old middle finger and go see this anyway. Even a paltry $35 million dollar opening will put the film on track to be profitable, so that will make the studio happy and allow them to make more movies without coming up with any new or fresh ideas. Warner Brothers executives sound very optimistic. President Dan Fellman said, ?this is the first real family movie of the summer, and we?re going to give it out best.? Actually, that doesn?t sound very optimistic at all.

Star(s) to watch : Emile Hirsch (”The Girl Next Door”) as Speed X, & Matthew Fox (”Vantage Point”, “Smokin’ Aces”) as Racer X.

Genre : Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adaptation.

Release date : May 9, 2008

Official website : http://speedracerthemovie.warnerbros.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/speed_racer1-200×300.jpg

Trailer :

The Seeker, titled The Dark Is Rising in the United Kingdom and The Seeker: The Dark is Rising in Canada, is a 2007 film adaptation of the second book in the five-book children’s fantasy series The Dark Is Rising by Susan Cooper. The Seeker is the first film to be produced by Walden Media and 20th Century Fox as part of their Fox-Walden partnership.

Based on the book series by by Susan Cooper, Eleven-year-old Will Stanton (Alexander Ludwig) discovers he’s one of the last Old Ones - a group of immortals. And he has to save the world from the dark forces.

To scroll through an entire section, just hit “Check All Names”. You will see 25 messages at a time. It is best to do that AFTER you have scrolled through section by section. For your first visit, it is best to scroll through the entire section. Some people do not put in accurate dates, or simply do not remember.

Star(s) to watch : Amelia Warner (”Aeon Flux”) as Maggie Barnes.

Genre : Adventure, Fantasy, Adaptation.

Release date : October 5, 2007

Rating : 6/10

Official website : http://www.seekthesigns.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/the_seeker-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

In the sleepy English countryside of decades past, there is a town that has stood on a jut of granite for six hundred years. And immediately to the east stands a high stone wall, for which the village is named. Here in the town of Wall, Tristran Thorn has lost his heart to the hauntingly beautiful Victoria Forester. One crisp October night, as they watch, a star falls from the sky, and Victoria promises to marry Tristran if he’ll retrieve that star and bring it back for her. It is this promise that sends Tristran through the only gap in the wall, across the meadow, and into the most unforgettable adventure of his life.

“Stardust″ is set principally in a world known as Stormhold, an alternate reality of magic and marvels that lies across a stone wall from a small English village. A son of that village, Dunstan Thorne, once traveled illegally across the wall and sired a son, Tristran, who was left on his doorstep and raised in ignorance of the true story of his birth. Now Tristran is 18 and in love with a haughty local beauty. One night, courting her in a field, he vows to fetch for her the star that has fallen beyond the wall. And by so doing he braves harms he can’t imagine.

The star means different things to different people. It is a token sent into the world by the dying king of Stormhold as a challenge to the sons who wish to inherit his crown. It is a potential source of life to a trio of witches who hope to gain immortality by devouring it. And it is, most anomalously, in earthly form, a beautiful, saucy girl at whose side Tristran suddenly appears and whom he is intent on dragging back to his village. And so a chase begins: Tristran drags the unwilling star back home, the king’s sons race to fetch the jewel around the star’s neck, and the cruelest of the witches wants to capture the star and rip out the star’s heart for her vain purposes.

Star(s) to watch : Robert De Niro (”The Score”, “Heat”) as Captain Shakespeare, Sienna Miller as Victoria, & Ben Barnes as Young Dunstan Thorne.

Genre : Adventure, Fantasy, Sci-Fi.

Release date : August 10, 2007

Rating : 8/10

Official website : http://www.stardustmovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/stardust-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

Spider-Man 3 is the third film in the Spider-Man film series and is scheduled to be released on May 4, 2007. The movie is directed by Sam Raimi. Tobey Maguire, Kirsten Dunst, James Franco, Dylan Baker, and J. K. Simmons are the confirmed returning cast members from the previous two Spider-Man movies.

So Spider-Man 3’s action is superb and its theme fairly weighty. Then why does it feel a letdown from its predecessor? Nearly all the blame rests with director Sam Raimi, who’s taken the success of some light slapstick moments in Spider-Man 2 as a cue to get even sillier.

This is another word you don?t want to see in a review. Bigger isn?t always better, this is Spider-Man, not porn. The movie feels like the producers were actually trying to make it as difficult as possible for there to be a sequel made (A big possibility, When production started on this, the license was supposed revert to Marvel & they were supposed to make Spidey 4, 5, & 6. Is this true?

Star(s) to watch : Tobey Maguire (”Cats & Dogs”) as Peter Parker/Spider-Man, Topher Grace (”Ocean’s Eleven”) as Venom/Eddie Brock, James Franco (”The Wicker Man”) as New Goblin/Harry Osborn, & J. K. Simmons (”The Jackal”, “The Ladykillers”) as J Jonah Jameson.

Genre : Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adaptation, Sequel.

Release date : May 4, 2007

Rating : 9/10

Official website : http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/spiderman3/site/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/spiderman_3-201×300.jpg

Trailer :

An orphan who dreams of someday finding a family to call his own finds his fate taking an unexpected turn when a mysterious stranger named Wilbur Robinson transports him into the future. Based on the book A Day With Wilbur Robinson by William Joyce, Meet the Robinsons tells the story of a boy with a lifelong wish to belong, and shows what happens when he meets an incredible collection of characters who just might have the power to make his wildest fantasies come true. The film’s all-star cast of vocal contributors — including Angela Bassett, Kelly Ripa, Tom Selleck, Adam West, Steve Zahn, and Laurie Metcalf — brings the world of the future to life as never before seen on the silver screen.

In the United Kingdom, the 3D version was released on March 23, 2007. It was released in standard and Disney Digital 3-D versions in the United States and in its standard version in the UK on March 30, 2007. It is based on the book A Day with Wilbur Robinson, by William Joyce. The film originally had the same title as the book. The film was rated G by the MPAA. It was released on DVD-Video and Blu-ray on October 23, 2007.

Lewis, a 12-year-old genius is a boy who has no luck in being adopted because of his constant ‘quest’ to find his birth mother. When he is struck by an idea after being turned down by a family (for the 126th-literally-time), he invents a memory scanner, a device which scans your cerebral cortex to project your memories onto a screen. Whe this project goes awry at a science fair (really the work of the evil “Bowler Hat Guy” and his robotic hat, “Doris”), Lewis is discouraged.

Genre : Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Animation, Adaptation.

Release date : March 30, 2007

Rating : 8/10

Official website : http://www.meettherobinsons.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/meet_the_robinsons-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

Director Tim Story′s original Fantastic Four movie received a critical crapping, and the second one is fairing no better. That’s not an indictment of his movies, it’s just the way things turn out. The Fantastic Four gets no respect for the same reason comedies don′t win Oscars and Michael Bay gets treated like the anti-christ. In their rush to justify their profession by setting film up as a penultimate art form, most critics have no room for movies as entertainment. Art they may be, but the ability to deliver pure, light-hearted fun is an underrated talent. It’s not as easy as it seems, and so many movies get it completely wrong. Say what you want about the Fantastic Four, but Tim Story′s movies get fun right.

Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer is as energetic and full of pep as the original, and if you liked that one then you’re going to love this. These are men in tights after all, there′s nothing wrong with ditching the tears once in awhile for a simple romp through the clouds with a guy who can light himself on fire. That’s what Fantastic Four is all about and Rise of the Silver Surfer delivers in precisely the same way as the original by refusing to take itself too seriously.

Rise of the Silver Surfer isn′t a huge improvement, and it doesn′t even try to reinvent the wheel, but its minor upgrades here and there make a cumulative difference. For starters, there are much-improved special effects. The effects in the first one looked kind of cheap, probably because the studio was trying to keep the budget down. Since it ended up making crazy money at the box office and on DVD, FOX clearly had no problem springing for some better CGI this time around. The Silver Surfer is particularly cool, as is the new Fantastic Four plane that figures prominently in one action scene.

Star(s) to watch : Chris Evans (”Cellular”, “Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles”) as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch, Jessica Alba (”Sin City”, “Into the Blue”) as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Julian McMahon (”Premonition”) as Victor Von Doom/Dr. Doom, & Vanessa Minnillo as Johnny’s Wedding Date.

Genre : Action, Adventure, Comedy, Sci-Fi, Fantasy, Adaptation, Sequel.

Release date : June 15, 2007

Rating : 9/10

Official website : http://www.fantasticfourmovie.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/fantastic_four-202×300.jpg

Trailer :

D-War released in North America as D-War: Dragon Wars, also referred to colloquially and in some marketing materials as Dragon Wars, is a 2007 South Korean film written and directed by Shim Hyung-rae. It is a fantasy-action film that was its nation’s largest-budgeted as of 2007.

Dragon Wars, or D-War as it was originally titled, is a Korean film set in Los Angeles, financed with Korean money and helmed by a Korean director (former comedian Hyung-rae Shim), starring a largely American cast. Its plot revolves around TV reporter Ethan (Jason Behr) who discovers that L.A.’s recent earthquakes aren’t just natural plate tectonics but the awakenings of a giant ancient serpent — a Korean serpent — that he is fated to battle because, well, the 500-year-old spirit of a warrior lives within him. He’s charged with finding the reincarnated version of that warrior’s soulmate, now a hot girl named Sarah (Amanda Brooks), and defeating the serpent before it becomes a dragon, destroys L.A., wreaks havoc on the world, etc.

Originally titled Dragon Wars (and still referred to by this title in publicity material), D-War has a long production history in South Korea. The film was announced in 2002 by director Shim Hyung-rae as his follow-up project to Yonggary.

Star(s) to watch : Jason Behr (”Skinwalkers”, “Freddy vs. Jason”, “The Grudge”) as Ethan Kendrick, &amp Amanda Brooks (”Flightplan”) as Sarah.

Genre : Action, Adventure, Drama, Sci-Fi, Fantasy.

Release date : September 14, 2007

Rating : 9/10

Official website : http://www.d-war.com/

Poster : http://movies-update.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/dragon_wars-202×300.jpg

Trailer :