After leaving the theaters on Tuesday and seeing what Spielberg and Abrams brought to he masses, all I had in my head was this cheesy quote. “Storytelling and Filmmaking together again!”.

Yes I am aware of the bold statement, but nothing since the likes of The Goonies, Stand By Me, E.T. have we seen a story and filmmaking collide like I did with Super 8.

Super 8 follows the story of a few small town film geeks. Middle school brace face’d kids through what seems to be just a train crash. A small town feel, a small town look, a small town group of kids, living in a larger than life situation. Did I tell you there is some sort of monster thing that has been unleashed also? Pay attention to it, it’s a great realization in the end!

We have something special on our hands here folks! Back to the glory days of when a storyline was what it was about. We could look past bad acting if the story was great. We could look past terrible special effects if the story was great.

Why can’t we have both? Get deep for us writers, directors, producers. I want to get to know these kids!

Well in Super 8 you do, you live life right alongside them, you feel their pain, their want for something bigger. They grow up a bit before our eyes on the screen. They fall in love on screen and you feel it. They almost get blown up on screen and you sure as heck feel and hear it.

The special effects are not over done, but done so well that it feels as if you are stuck in the late 70′s era. It is very well done.

Amazed at the clothing, the cars, the bikes, even down to the haircuts with big lamb-chops, they did this one right.

J.J. and Steven really brought us something special. Something that I feel has been missing from the theater for a while. A story-line that you want to see unfold from the beginning. From the opening scene to four months later you want to be involved in the story, their story.

Filming of The Case began on the tracks and the film ends on the tracks.

This is a must see movie in my eyes. A film that people of all ages will enjoy! Make sure to shell out your 11 bucks and sit with eyes wide open. I know I did!

Welcome back to AP’s Comic-Con coverage. Here’s the highlights from Day Two of the San Diego Comic-Con.

Nicholas Cage made an appearance for his new film Drive Angry 3D. Patrick Lussier directed the movie, which looks to be a classic, violent revenge tale. Cage is one of my favorite actors and always looks for slightly different roles and this looks no different. Check out this short trailer:

Firstshowing.net has a great write-up of the awesome Tron: Legacy viral that took place over the past couple days in San Diego.

Robert Rodriguez’s Machete has had a big presence at this year’s Comic-Con. A new red-band trailer debuted, but even better was the Taco Truck. Stars Danny Trejo and Michelle Rodriguez were on the streets of San Diego handing out taco’s from a branded trailer. Now that’s a good marketing ploy.

Jackass 3D premiered some footage that apparently was ridiculously disgusting. If you are a fan of the series, you should stay tuned for more information, but this doesn’t interest me at all.

Another interesting film also debuted a trailer yesterday. Goon, produced by David Fincher and starring Clancy Brown and Paul Giamatti, looks like a pretty awesome animated film. Based on a comic series by Eric Powell, the story follows The Goon and his sidekick Franky as they battle the supernatural. I had never heard of this before, but check out this great clip/trailer:

During the Burn Notice panel, USA Network head Jeff Watchel announced that they were moving forward with a prequel movie starring Bruce Campbell. The film will focus on Sam Axe’s last mission as a Navy SEAL and is a very interesting move for the series. I didn’t expect such great news from this panel. In response Campbell said, “USA finally got their shit together.”

Frank Darabont showed off a first glimpse at his television series The Walking Dead. Produced for AMC, the series reportedly has an extremely high production value and should look amazing. I don’t know about you, but I think a zombie TV show should be one of the coolest things on TV. Make sure you watch this coming fall when the series debuts in October.

In contrast to the great reaction to The Walking Dead, Steven Spielberg’s new TV series, Falling Skies, was not as well-received. The series follows Noah Wyle and Moon Bloodgood as everyday people who are affected by an alien invasion. There are always high expectations for any project Spielberg is involved with, but the reaction has been lukewarm. Devindra Hardawar from /Film was not impressed. The footage isn’t available online so I can’t judge that, but this show looks to me like same-old, same-old. There’s nothing really new about it and I’m not looking forward to it.

Guillermo Del Toro is a very busy man nowadays. After day one’s surprise announcement that he would be writing and producing Disney’s The Haunted Mansion, the filmmaker debuted footage from another one of his horror projects, Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark. Based on the 1973 TV movie, the film follows a young girl as she encounters various creatures after moving into a haunted house with her family. The footage screened at the panel got a great reaction, and we should be able to see the trailer in the next few weeks. And for those of you worried about the film being watered down, Del Toro had this to say, “We are not taking anything away from the original, and we are not fucking chickening out… we wrote and originally shot the movie for PG-13, and could do that without compromising the scares…But we were given a badge of honor. The MPAA came back and gave it a non-negotiable R for ‘pervasive scariness’.” So there you go, horror fans.

MTV Movies Blog was able to talk to Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman who are now writing the sequel to J.J. Abrams’ fantastic Star Trek reboot. While they were very quiet about plot details, they stated that each and every crewmember would get more screentime in the sequel, saying, “Now the whole family is there and you want to focus on them first. Before you worry too much about new characters, make sure you have them taken care of.”

Last but definitely not least is James Gunn’s Super. The movie stars Rainn Wilson as a man who dons a superhero costume in order to avenge his wife’s (Liv Tyler) murder. Ellen Page and Nathan Fillon co-star. I can’t wait to see this movie, which sounds like a low-budget, rawer version of Kick Ass with Dwight from The Office.

So that’s it for Day Two. The Marvel panel is starting in just a few minutes, so stay tuned for some big news.

Although the show floor was opened up last night, the San Diego Comic-Con officially opened today. I wasn’t expecting this much on the first day, but that just goes to show you how new I am to the con. Here we go!

First up, we have some photo galleries from the show floor. Check these out to get a glimpse of the many awesome booths from every comic, movie, and TV show you can think of:

• Firstshowing’s Photo Gallery
• Cinematical’s Preview Night Gallery

Joss Whedon is officially directing The Avengers. Yes, you probably already knew this, but now it’s official. During EW’s Visionaries panel, Whedon stated the Marvel lacked the finances for an official press release so he had to announce it himself. I think Whedon writing is definitely a good idea, but I’m sure about his directing skills. Still, he obviously loves the characters and knows what a geek audience is expecting from the film, so hopefully Whedon will escalate The Avengers from a simple coming-together of heroes into the most epic superhero film ever put on film, but without sacrificing its heart. Good luck, Mr. Whedon. By the way, Marvel’s big presentation is on Saturday, so be ready for some big announcements.

During the same panel, J.J. Abrams talked a little bit about Super 8, but refused to give anything away. The only surprising news is that the film isn’t actually shot yet. This kind-of makes sense, but I assumed the movie was already completed. He’s aiming for a September start date so hopefully the wait won’t be too long before we see what should be a great collaboration between Steven Spielberg and Abrams.

Will Ferrell came to the Megamind panel completely dressed as his character from the animated film. Brad Pitt also made an appearance… in cardboard cutout form. See the picture from Alex Billington’s Twitter feed on the right. Oh yeah, Jonah Hill also declared himself the new Hulk for The Avengers. Wouldn’t it be great if this was legitimate and no one realized it?

Disney had their presentation for Tron Legacy today, with all of the main cast as well as the director in attendance. If you’re interested you should read Firstshowing’s detailed write-up of the event. Apparently the footage they screened was amazing, but those of us at home can check out this awesome second trailer for the film:

The first images from Zack Snyder’s Sucker Punch also debuted today. See them over at Film School Rejects.

During Disney’s presentation, a new adaptation of The Haunted Mansion was announced, with Guillermo Del Toro writing and producing. This came as a complete surprise, but makes sense given his recent departure from The Hobbit and his penchant for monster visuals. In an interview with THR, Del Toro talked about the mix between scares and family appeal, “It’s going to be a thrill ride for the whole family but it’s definitely going to be scary,” he said. “(Walt) Disney is one of the creators of some of the scariest images in my childhood. People forget that he not only made sweet images but also images of nightmare. We need to honor that side of the legacy.” This is defnitely what Disney is going for with this remake as Disney production head Sean Bailey echoed the same sentiments. The director is huge fan of the ride and I can’t wait to see what he comes up with for the Disney classic.

The big news kept coming as MTV Movies Blog got the scoop that Brad Pitt has signed on for the film adaptation of Max Brooks’ World War Z. The book is a series of interviews with various people who were impacted by the worldwide zombie infestation, and I am looking to read it soon. The author said, “I can’t believe how cool Paramount has been to me and these projects, and how cool Plan B has been.” I hope the film doesn’t lose the great storytelling technique that the book used by focusing solely on Pitt’s character.

The Sundance hit Buried, starring Ryan Reynolds by himself in a coffin, also got a theatrical trailer. I can’t wait to see this film. How can a movie set underground in an enclosed space have fresh visuals. I really want to see how Rodrigo Cortes pulled this one off. That being said, this trailer was pretty lackluster:

The teaser poster for Let Me In, Matt Reeves’ American remake of the Swedish vampire movie, hit the net today thanks to MTV Movies Blog and here it is:

Speaking of American remakes, David Fincher’s The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo is moving along. A release date of December 21st, 2011 was just set by Sony, and filming should begin in October. Still, none of the leads have been solidified yet. Daniel Craig, who has been rumored for the role of journalist Mikael Blomkvist, will likely not be able to join the cast due to conflicts with Bond 23 and Jon Favreau’s Cowboys vs. Aliens. The main female role, computer hacker Lisabeth Salander, is still up in the air.

The Expendables panel was pretty uneventful. I guess it was a “you had to be there” kind-of thing. The amazing action cast assembled, but no big news, which wasn’t a surprise.

Although I hadn’t heard too much about this film before, I’m really starting to get excited for RED. The film, which stands for Retired, Extremely Dangerous, stars Bruce Willis, Helen Mirren, John Malkovich, and Morgan Freeman as four ex-CIA special agents who become targets and must outwit their pursuers in a cross-country race to uncover the conspiracy at the CIA’s headquarters at Langley. This movie looks like a ton of fun with a great cast. Check out the new trailer:

After it was rumored yesterday that Karl Urban was going to be the new Judge Dredd, FSR’s Jack Giroux confirmed the rumor today. The actor stated that he is in talks and wants to play the character in the upcoming adaptation.

Battle: Los Angeles is making a big splash at the convention this year. A viral site launched this morning that looks pretty interesting. The pitch is that Battle: LA is a more realistic telling of human military fighting off an alien invasion. Think Black Hawk Down meets Independence Day. I’m really intrigued as District 9 already showed a more thoughtful view of aliens, hopefully this film, lead by Aaron Eckhart can be an emotional war drama like Saving Private Ryan and also showcase some awesome alien destruction.

A new film called Skyline in the same vein is also being advertised around Comic-Con and no one had ever really heard of it before. All we know right now is what Drew at Hitfix could uncover: “Skyline is directed and produced by the Brothers Strause (Alien vs. Predator: Requiem), whose company Hydraulx has provided visual effects for Avatar, Iron Man 2, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button and 300.” Sounds promising, and from what I’ve heard, the Strause brothers, who previously helmed AVP: Requiem, are true geeks and set out to make an awesome alien invasion film. We get our first real look at this tomorrow so stay tuned.

And the most frustrating news of the night is that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World premiered tonight in a special preview screening. I’m really mad I missed this, but, hey, I get to see it next Thursday. Reaction was very positive, with many tweets like this one from Erik Davis: “I just poured a bucket of awesome over my head and it was called Scott Pilgrim vs. the World.” Personally I can’t wait to see this movie. The over-the-top action and self-referencing humor look awesome. A few early reviews are up now including ones from Cole Abaius,  Todd Gilchrist, and Jordan Hoffman but I am going to hold off until I see it for myself.

So that was day one of Comic-Con 2010. Some nice surprises and several good new images and trailers. Be wary, though. Don’t let all the hype get to you. It’s good seeing all these promos for franchises you love, but always remember to enjoy the films as they are, without all the hoopla.

Here’s our first look at Let Me In, the American adaptation of the Swedish novel Let the Right One In which was originally adapted into the Swedish feature film by the same name. I can’t go any further without strongly encouraging you to, that if you haven’t, see director Tomas Alfredson’s  English subtitled Let the Right One In as it is one of the best thrillers I’ve seen in a decade. Let Me In was directed by Matt Reeves, best known for directed the J.J. Abrams produced Cloverfield in 2008. Let Me In stars Chloe Moretz (Kick-Ass) Kodi Smit-McPhee (The Road) and Richard Jenkins (Burn After Reading). Let Me In is set to be released in theater on October 1, 2010 just in time for Halloween, why Halloween? If you don’t already know this is a vampire story but nothing like the vampires we’ve seen lately on the big screen. Let the Right One In, and I’m assuming Let Me In, takes vampires seriously and after you’ve seen (hopefully) either film I think you will too! What are your thoughts on this American adaption? Did you like the Swedish film?

I used to think that only Peter Falk told age-inappropriate stories to minors; leave it to Dr. Walter Bishop to drop “Brown Betty” on an 8-year-old. No, I’m not foolish enough to think that Olivia’s niece Ella wasn’t already in for a less-than-normal childhood but when you’ve got an “uncle” like Walter you’re destined for impossibilities. Here are just a few impossibilities that I imagined thanks to “Brown Betty:”

1st impossibility: iTunes’ Genius would definitely recommend an album containing the musical stylings of Bishop & Broyles, and I would buy said album.

2nd impossibility: Ella might prefer that Walter read Dr. Seuss next time she asks for a story but I’m okay with Walter’s Dark City-style noir sci-fi mashup.

3rd impossibility: Olivia can’t sing. I think this was always a possibility and I’m not truly sure what it means that I’m calling this fact an “impossibility” but this is Fringe and I’ll defer your questions to Walter.

4th impossibility: Who did Walter say invented hugs? The Candy Man? or was it Walter himself? Either way that’s news to me, I always figured the Care Bears were responsible for hugs, rainbows and cotton candy.

And now I leave you with some quotes from “Brown Betty.”

“I’ve decided that we need to get organized,” So I’ve got a new addition to my house cleaning soundtrack: “Roundabout” by Yes.

“It’s a hybrid of Chronic Supernova and Afghani Coosh — I call it Brown Betty.”

“I couldn’t possibly look after anyone else, I’m well into phase one.” Tears for Fears’ “Head Over Heels” reminded me of the greatness, Donnie Darko. What would Walter have had to say about Frank the rabbit?

“Gene — Gene, no licking!” Just because…

“What kind of doctor are you?” Good question.

What are some of your questions for Mr. Abrams and the Fringe universe?

Tom Cruise and producer J.J. Abrams (also the director of 2006′s Mission: Impossible 3) have been searching the film world to find the right person to helm the next chapter in the blockbuster spy series, but of all the possible names and contenders, I don’t think anyone would have expected Brad Bird!

Oscar-winner Bird has never made the foray into live-action filmmaking, but his animated features, The Iron Giant, The Incredibles, and Ratatouille are all widely considered to be masterpieces in their own right. Bird has also been hard at work on getting a live-action project into production, but plans for his proposed drama 1906 have stalled recently, meaning that he could conceivably take the gig with M:I 4.

In addition to Bird, some other names are being tossed around for the director’s chair, most notably Zombieland director Ruben Fleischer and Edgar Wright, the British wunderkind that gave us Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and the wildly anticipated Scott Pilgrim vs. the World. However, Wright would most likely be too busy with the press and promotion for Pilgrim to jump into production on M:I 4, as Paramount heads reportedly want the film underway by this summer to be ready for release by May of next year.

So, your mission, should you choose to accept it: tell us what you think of animation master Brad Bird taking the Impossible reigns.

When “Lost” ends in May, there is only one thing we know for certain: the show will definitely be over.

The series that launched creator J.J. Abrams into the limelight is known for its odd twists and turns, but the show’s producers are firmly committed to the series’ end.

Executive producer Carlton Cuse spoke at a news conference on Tuesday. He said that although the last episode has yet to be written, they have had the final scenes of the mythically complex show in mind since day one. They know how the series will end.

Cuse and fellow producer Damon Lindelof, gave away few secrets at  the conference. They mostly spoke in broad terms, saying the show’s final season will be reminiscent of its first season in 2004. The only specific tidbit offered up to fans was that Cynthia Watros, who played the character Libby before being killed off in the second season, will return this year.

So there will be no sequels or spin-offs. However “Lost” ends, its ending will close the door upon the island and all of its secrets sometime this May.

People who don’t know much about me probably wouldn’t guess that I’m a huge Star Trek fan. But the facade of being normal cracks at the seams, once you start noticing Trek-themed coasters sitting around my apartment.

Rest assured, J.J. Abrams’ reboot of Star Trek was, in my opinion, the bee’s knees, only outdone this year by a few films including the majestic Inglourious Basterds. It set the stage perfectly for a series that I hope maintains the quality of the first outing.

One thing that did manage to peak my curiousity, though, was word of a deleted scene featuring Eric Bana and Clifton Collins Jr.’s villains being interrogated on a Klingon ship. Well, for those of you like me who are much too impatient to wait a bit for the DVD/Bluray release, here’s the deleted scene in all its glory.

Notice how they keep the faces of the Klingons masked, in order to avoid constraining their future design for them by a brief scene in the first film. This is likely due to how much different the Klingons looked in the original series (i.e., shortly after this film takes place) and The Next Generation, in which they looked completely different.

It’s a cool scene, but ultimately unnecessary in the movie. A very good choice of editing on Abrams and Co.’s part.