Sorry Hansel and Gretel: Witch Hunters fans, the sequel is no more. To be fair, it was a bit surprising that the 2013 film, which didn't do too well in the American box office, got a sequel order at all from Paramount

Read More

Do not get any ideas, Warner Bros.

Read More

If the summer’s glut of sequels and reboots has got you down, then interest, if not a feel-good time, may be found in the art house. Byzantium, a return to the vampire genre well-trod by director Neil Jordan in High Spirits and his more famous Interview with a Vampire, is a curious piece, at times slow and ponderous, bookended by violent, swift action. It brings Jordan back to a theme he explored in Vampire; the consequences, and perpetual loneliness, of the cursed immortal. The difference here is that the subjects of Jordan’s very modern supernatural tale are not statuesque vampires in sharp suits and gleaming jewels, but a mother-daughter pair, sleeping rough and on the run. Having defied a patriarchal Brotherhood whose rules state that women cannot create succients (the film’s preferred term for its vampiric denizens), Clara Webb (Gemma Arterton) and her daughter Eleanor (Saoirse Ronan) are forever one step ahead of their pursuers, though Eleanor appears largely in the dark about their impending danger, or, at least, the reason for their being on the move. This reason, the reason for Eleanor’s creation, and the sorry tale of her mother’s history, is relayed in pieces throughout the film, as a frustrated Eleanor whispers to the wind and the sea, and finally, a young companion, the story she must never tell. Mild spoilers, and discussion of trope-typical violence awaits readers under this non-sanguine cut.

Read More

I had the chance to see Byzantium last month, and I quited liked it. It's nice to see a vampire movie that's more a gothic adult fairy tale than an actioner or a paranormal romance (though Byzantium has elements of both). It comes out in theatrical limited release on June 28th, and I quite recommend it! (via: Deadline) Are you following The Mary Sue on Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Pinterest, & Google +?

Read More

Considering the secrecy usually surrounding our most anticipated blockbusters, we were happily surprised when director Joss Whedon flat-out admitted Marvel characters Quicksilver and Scarlet Witch would be appearing in the sequel to The Avengers. But there followed a rumor about Irish actress Saoirse Ronan being Whedon's "prototype" for Scarlet Witch so when we had the opportunity to speak with the actress recently, we just had to ask - would she do it? 

Read More

If you are wondering how you didn't know until now that Marjane Satrapi was working on another live action film, and that it wasn't based on one of her graphic novels, and that it was a psychological thriller starring Ryan Reynolds, then join the club.

Read More

I know what you're thinking. "Oh, dear God, why." That is an excellent place to start from. Unfortunately, that's just the start. H&G is, quite obvious to anyone who has so much as seen a billboard for it, DOA. This is not the part that is interesting; plenty of dead cinematic bodies show up in theaters every year, increasingly so in the empty, hollow months just following award-season cutoff. What is interesting is why such an obviously cold cadaver is showing up at all, even metaphorically. Such a crime of film is as apparent as any corporeal evidence; we cluster around the edges of the taped-off scene muttering amongst ourselves, 'why, why did this happen?' So, in the spirit of continued analogy, I am here to perform an autopsy on the long-dead corpse of Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. This procedure is not due to a genetic lack of the “fun” gland in this anatomist’s body. On the contrary, “fun” is what Hansel & Gretel could have used a good deal more of, and what it so agonizingly lacks. (Contained therein are a few spoilers. How much one might care about them we leave entirely to the reader’s discretion.)

Read More

I'm going to be honest here: I'm not tremendously excited about Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters. It just doesn't look good to me. But some comments made by co-star Gemma Arterton about her character in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times' Hero Complex blog has left me with good feelings towards the actress, if not the movie. Because, look. Even if Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters looks like a stinker, I can always appreciate some kick-butt ladies, whether fictional (Gretel) and/or real-life (Arterton).

Read More

Benedict Cumberbatch has signed on to play the lead role in Absolutely Anything, about a school teacher who develops magical powers after being visited by aliens voiced by four of the members of Monty Python. I… am not sure what to make of this.

Read More

Ha ha ha oh Superman. (Kerry Callen via Comic Book Resources.)

Read More

Gemma Arterton (Clash of the Titans) and Saoirse Ronan (Hanna) will be playing vampires who are mother and daughter, respectively, in the film adaptation of Moira Buffini's play Byzantium. Their characters pose as sisters while roaming Britain for human blood. The director will be Oscar-winner Neil Jordan, who has some familiarity with the vampire genre after directing the 1990s Brad Pitt-Tom Cruise vampire hunk extravaganza Interview With the Vampire. (Geek cred: He is also set to direct the adaptation of Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book.)

Read More