OMG! It looks like James McAvoy might join Benedict Cumberbatch in the new Julian Assange movie! *crosses both fingers and toes* Deadline.com reported that James was "in deep negotiations" to play Daniel Domscheit-Berg, Assange's right-hand man!

Over the summer we learned that DreamWorks was looking at Jeremy Renner to lead their untitled drama about WikiLeaks and Julian Assange, the founder of the headline-making website which came under fire for exposing secret government information through leaked, classified documents, e-mails, cables and more. However, Sherlock star and Star Trek Into Darkness villain Benedict Cumberbatch has taken the lead role instead. In addition, Variety reports James McAvoy is now in talks to play Assange's former right-hand man Daniel Domscheit-Berg, who wrote one of the books on which the feature film is based.

Domscheit-Berg started working with Assange back in 2007, but ended up leaving the site years later after seeing that Assange failed to uphold any respect for journalistic integrity. It's believed that his departure from WikiLeaks resulted in Assange's release of over 250,000 classified diplomatic cables from the United States. In his book, there's plenty of criticism about Assange's handling of the Afghan War Diaries and more. The film will also take this angle as it portrays Assange first as a noble crusader and then a man becomes "drunk with power as he grows increasingly paranoid and obsessed with winning the war of information."

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Please, let it be so! PLEEEEEEAAAAAASE! I want to see James and Benedict in another movie together so much. Personally, I'm not a fan of what Assange's doing, not at all, IMHO, some things need to stay secret for the protection of innocents. But with these two as leads, I would really love to see the movie!

Den of Geek posted a list of 25 movies they're looking forward to in 2013: link. Awesome list! It looks like my geeky heart will learn what gluttony means next year :P

My list (alphabetically): A Good Day to Die Hard, Bullet to the Head, Elysium, Ender's Game, Fast Six, Gravity, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, Iron Man 3, Jack Ryan, Jack the Giant Slayer, Man of Steel, Oblivion, Pacific Rim, Star Trek Into Darkness, The Hobbit, The Wolverine, Thor: The Dark World. And that's just those that I know of right now, who knows what might pop up yet. Wow, so many! And I thought 2012 was a busy year.

A new LQ Hansel & Gretel poster!



The poster and this...


Found on Tumblr!

... So HOT! I mean, seriously. Just a few more months to go, Jan. 25th is the premiere, IIRC. I think it's given it will flop in the cinemas, it's too quirky for the general public, R-rated and it'll air outside the "blockbuster season", but I don't care. I just need to see it - I hope our cinemas will actually show it, not like Dredd and Premium Rush *grumbles* Who would've thought that I would one day consider Hansel and Gretel smoking hot?

Also, I need The Bourne Legacy out on DVD ASAP. Hopefully, it'll come out before Xmas!

AfterElton.com and their slash column made Inception's Arthur&Eames the pairing of the week: link. I loved what they wrote about it:

Inception fandom exemplifies what makes fandom unique. Here Christopher Nolan thinks he made this epic portrait of an alpha-male dealing with emo man-pain from the death of his wife, and then Inception fandom comes along and decides that, no thanks, that guy's kind of a major douchebag and we'd rather focus on the two hot dudes flirting in the background.

Inception fandom illustrates that how fans interpret content is never fully in the creator's control. And Arthur/Eames illustrates that you don't need more than 3 minutes of actual interaction in order to generate two years' worth of fantastic fanon. All you need are two incredibly attractive men playing suave, debonair criminals with a shared history... and a few brief moments of hardcore flirting.

Eames, who clearly enjoys becoming a woman and flirting with other men, is partially inspired by queer vintage heartthrob Farley Granger. Arthur, who may know Eames from their shared military background, is apparently inspired by GQ.

Normally a stand-alone film like Inception would never have a large fandom, but Inception fandom has thrived for two years, mainly because of the onscreen chemistry of Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Tom Hardy.

Exactly why I love this pairing. At first, I didn't see it. It took me 2 whole years to fall for them but when I finally did, I fell hard. I wonder if Chris Nolan's aware of how popular these two are. I bet that, if he does know, he pretty much went "O.o;; That's kinda, sorta not what I was aiming for?" when he learned about it. LOL! In any case, I need to thank Mr. Nolan for introducing me to JGL and Tom Hardy and their absolute awesomeness!

A comment exchange with sharona1x2 reminded me of this wonderful interview with Rian Johnson where he talks about his next project, in very vague terms:

The stuff I'm chewing on right now for my next thing - the couple things I'm juggling, they both have scifi hooks to them. I think it's something I might stick around in for awhile.

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Vague, but so exciting! I hope he casts Joe in it again - well, Joe has been in all Rian's movies so far, so that fact would support it, having the main part in Brick and Looper and a cameo in The Brothers Bloom. So, I really hope we get to see Joe in a sci-fi directed by Rian again and soon!

So, not only won't they air Dredd here in the cinemas, they now dropped Premium Rush too, even though they aired trailers for it and hung up posters in the cinema. Well that's just great. That's the perfect way how to battle internet piracy - not show the movie at all and fuck the viewers. I'm so angry right now.

This time around, Jack's even busier than usual, having not just one or two bad guys after him but two bad guys and half the military! Once more, the story is way over the top - but the ending draws you back in again, it's crazy!

As characters go, Jack is really sweet but I don't like Nadia, all she can do is complain and yell at Jack. There were scenes where I simply wanted to shake her and tell her to stop being such a dumb-ass. Though Littmann is still kicking ass. Yeah, yeah, he's the bad guy but come on! And the slash is strong between Littmann and Jack! I mean, when Lena kissed him, Littmann looked directly at Jack, smirked and told him, "There are still people who find me appealing." LOL! That was awesome. So, yeah, I know that I'm basically told to ship Jack and Nadia by the writers but I find Jack and Littmann so much more appealing. And SIZZLING HOT!

Next? Jack Hunter and the Star of Heaven!

Pros:

* An animated trailer for Looper! Awesome!

* An interview with Rian Johnson, the director of Looper: link. My favorite part?

What does it feel like to hug JGL?

Johnson: It’s like hugging a rainbow made out of sincere kittens.

LOL!

* James McAvoy's Welcome to the Punch finally got a release date, March 2013: link. I don't even hope to see it in the cinema here, I mean, as if, but I want to at least get my hands on the DVD!

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Cons:

* The reboot/remake of The Mummy? Will be "darker and scarier" and directed by Len Wiseman: link. Len Wiseman, you know, the guy who directed the Total Recall movie, which was good but could've been so much better with, you know, a BETTER DIRECTOR? And darker and scarier? The Mummy worked because it was cheesy and campy and so much fun! *sigh*

* It looks like Tom Hardy will play the main character in Everest: link. Shucks. Another movie where his character bites it. I mean, I get that it's a great acting challenge and more power to him but... Yet another movie of his that won't be for me *sigh*

This movie feels very personal to me. 11 years ago, my father died of cancer and looking back now, I would have done so many things differently. Back then, I was 22 and finishing my BA when he died. My mom just lost her job and she was taking care of my father at home, almost till his last day. And it was killing her, both physically and emotionally. He was very demanding and... well, there were other issues besides his sickness, stuff that had been brewing for years. And because she was taking care of him, I was trying to take care of her, to help her and support her emotionally. But I was spending so much time at school and studying... And because of that, I was terser with my father than I should've been. Hindsight is always 20-20.

But back to the movie. It's wonderful, based on a real story of the writer who is also one of the closest friends of Seth Rogen who plays JGL's Adam's best friend in this movie. So, the writer and Seth Rogen - who also produced this film - and the other exec who went through this ordeal together based the story on their own experiences, on how they had felt and reacted, and because of that, the movie feels real.

JGL was simply amazing. Funny and sweet and beautiful and you wanted to hug him and tell him everything would be okay.





A fantastic performance. Though I'm a bit torn. You see, James McAvoy - my other favorite actor! - was set to play this part first, they even went through the whole pre-production with him but then he had to drop out because of a family emergency. The execs offered the part to JGL and he said yes - on Saturday and on Monday they started filming! So yeah, I love JGL in this but James McAvoy would've been so perfect in it too! It breaks my heart :((

And I really liked Seth Rogen in this movie...



Yeah, Kyle was a bit of an oaf but he was also determined to see his friend through this, to help him. He and Adam had known each other since high school and the depth of their friendship was undeniable. He was a bit insensitive from time to time that's why one of my favorite scenes was when Adam found the self-help book for family and friends of cancer patients in Kyle's flat and realized that despite all his goofiness, Kyle was really worried about him and that he had read the book in secret so that he could help Adam better. That was fantastic.

And then there was romance and Rachel and Katherine - Anna Kendrick was amazing as the wet behind the ears therapist, simply lovely! - but I especially loved Anjelica Huston as Adam's mother.



The scene before Adam's surgery - see above - and the one after the whole thing, when he was high on morphine and called her "Mommy!" was sweet. Though the former made me tear up, it was so sad.

To sum it up, it's a wonderful, funny movie about a serious topic that's mostly about how two best friends handle a sickness that threatens the life of one of them. Excellent.

Other known actors? Matt Frewer as the cancer patient Mitch.

You know, the more trailers and featurettes I see, the more I feel like I know absolutely nothing about the movie, LOL! The plot sounds so simple, you get to kill your future self, but then they add a hint here, a small comment there... And suddenly, it's like you got it totally wrong and the movie is about something else entirely. I LOVE IT!