With “The Avengers” right around the corner, EPIX is having their Marvel Weekend! The event will include all of your favorite Marvel Studios films as well as the documentary “With Great Power: The Stan Lee Story,” which premieres tonight at 8 p.m. ET. According to the release, the weekend will include movies like “Iron Man 2,” “Thor,” the world premiere of “Captain America: The First Avenger” as well as “EPIX Extra: Mighty Super Movie Superheroes,” which examines the origins and fans of The Avengers. “With Great Power” will show in-depth the life of Lee, the co-creator of so many memorable characters: The EPIX Original Documentary With Great Power: The Stan  [ Read More ]

Talk about an up and coming actress; Jaimie Alexander had a nice run on ABC Family’s Kyle XY then hit the big screen, big time as Sif in Thor and now, amongst a number of other projects, she’s got Peter Facinelli’s Loosies. Alexander plays Lucy, one of Bobby’s (Facinelli) former flings. The two hit it off one night, but the next day he split turning what could have been the start of something special into a one-night stand. Making matters worse, Lucy’s pregnant and, three months later, bumps into Bobby and tells him the big news. Naturally, things are awkward and even a bit hostel, but it turns out there  [ Read More ]

A lot of movie theaters are citing the economy as the reason for their drop-off in sales. But one of the cinemas not following that trend is the Alamo Drafthouse. While the national industry experienced a 3.4% drop in domestic box office, Alamo Drafthouse Cinemas announced Thursday that their domestic box office sales increased for 2011, up 2.6% over 2010 sales. The amazing figure includes all locations in the circuit that have been open since January 2010. Total net sales, including figures from the cinema eatery’s food & beverage sales, were up 4.8% since 2010. The top 10 grossing titles for Alamo Drafthouse Cinema locations for 2011 were: 1) “The  [ Read More ]

With award season quickly approaching and film critics releasing their top 10 movies of 2011, Dark Horizon has also released the top 10 most pirated movies of the year. ‘Fast Five’ takes the lead of being the most pirated film, having being illegally downloaded 9.26 million times. However, it’s far below the most pirated movie of 2010, ‘Avatar,’ which was viewed more than 16 million times. The overall top 10 list was down from 2010 as well, in part because of the increase in legal alternatives. However, the total number of active BitTorrent users isn’t on the decline, as the number of views is believed to be spread out over  [ Read More ]

Emmy-winning television director Alan Taylor is now set to take the reins for ‘Thor 2,’ Collider is reporting. The news that the helmer, who is remembered for directing episodes of such series as ‘Game of Thrones,’ ‘Mad Men’ and ‘The Sopranos,’ has been hired comes after previous director Patty Jenkins stepped down from the sequel. Jenkins decided to leave the follow-up to last spring’s hit superhero film over creative differences. After Jenkins left ‘Thor 2,’ Marvel was deciding between Taylor and fellow television director Daniel Minahan to take her place. Now that a replacement director has been hired, the studio is looking to continue with its planned schedule, and release  [ Read More ]

Apologies for the Movie News Cheat Sheet‘s tardiness, but it was for the sake of Steven Spielberg and Giancarlo Esposito! Totally worth it, right? I’d like to think so, but this Cheat Sheet is packed with some pretty exciting material. Well, the idea of Scott Disick playing Patrick Bateman might not be the most thrilling tidbit in there, but we do have a new director for The Man From U.N.C.L.E. and a slew of posters from what should be some of the biggest movies of summer 2012. The trailer department is lacking courtesy of the one for What To Expect When You’re Expecting dropping just after the massive New Year’s  [ Read More ]

Read our exclusive interview with screenwriter and producer Todd Klick, whose new book, ‘Something Starling Happens: The 120 Story Beats Every Writer Needs To Know,’ is now available in paperback from Michael Weiss Productions. The book offers a minute-by-minute breakdown of classic and contemporary films, and is the first source that reveals the techniques that drive successful movies. Klick also describes how he first realized that all acclaimed films utilize these techniques at the exact same minute, regardless of what’s happening in the plot; for example, at minute 8, in such movies as ‘The Matrix,’ ‘Jaws,’ ‘The Godfather’ and ‘The Sixth Sense,’ something starling happens. The writer discusses with us,  [ Read More ]

Halloween is fun for the candy, the scares, the movies and the Halloween parties. But if you’re invited to a Halloween party and you’re having trouble figuring out what you’re going to go as, try out this list of the top 10 Halloween costume ideas inspired by movies and television. #1 “Twilight” vampires costumes: “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ starring Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson will certainly raise the amount of “Twilight” vampires you’ll see this year. You can either dress as Bella, or go the supernatural route and dress as Edward, one of the Cullens, Jacob, or a member of Jacob’s Quileute tribe. CLICK HERE FOR  [ Read More ]

“Thor,” an almost $450 million worldwide box office hit earlier this year, introduced audiences to one of the players in Marvel Studios’ grand, forthcoming ”Avengers” saga. And that’s part of the problem, honestly. However admirably ambitious the creation of a unified superhero universe spanning multiple movies, certain entries, like this one, play like little more than origin story pattycake – wan set-up for something of later, actual consequence. On the verge of ascending to the throne of Asgard, headstrong Norse God Thor (Chris Hemsworth) flips out over some nasty ice giant interlopers who are vanquished in fairly short order, and decides to seek revenge, against the counsel of his father Odin (Anthony Hopkins),  [ Read More ]

It looks like “Thor 2″ might be in good hands. After Kenneth Branagh’s decision to step away from filming the sequel to the Marvel summer blockbuster, Marvel has been searching for someone to fill the role of director, and they have landed on Patty Jenkins, the director of 2003′s Oscar darling, “Monster.” According to Entertainment Weekly, there hasn’t been a formal confirmation from Marvel about hiring Jenkins, but sources close to the film are saying that talks are happening between the director and the studio. EW learned from Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige that “Thor 2″ would “take Thor literally to other worlds.” He said the film will show more  [ Read More ]

Sure, it’s fun getting early peeks at upcoming productions, but it’s a different story if those first looks are coming from anywhere else, but the studio in charge. Hearing that John Travolta, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme may be in The Expendables 2 from the Nu Boyana Studios CEO? Good. Seeing official images of Anne Hathaway, Henry Cavill and Rihanna in full costume for The Dark Knight Rises, Man of Steel and Battleship respectively? Awesome. A parody video by Miles Fisher starring the entire cast of Final Destination 5? Bloody fantastic! Amateur photos and video of folks hanging around the set of Christopher Nolan’s The Dark Knight Rises? Now  [ Read More ]

ShockYa is doing our own “Best Of” list for mid-2011, but also taking inventory is MSN’s “FilmFan.” This week, Sami Jarroush had his pal Glenn Kenny, movie critic for MSN Movies, on with him to discuss the big films of the first half of the year. One film Kenny did not like at all was “Thor,” which he felt was too gimmicky, what with Thor (played by Chris Hemsworth) winking at his mom Frigga, played by Rene Russo. The comic book superhero movie he did like, though, was “X-Men: First Class.” He did admit that there are a lot of bad moments in the film in which one has to  [ Read More ]

Happy holiday, Shockya.com readers! As you’ve still got a few hours until the fireworks and BBQs begin, why not catch up on your week of movie news? This week’s Movie News Cheat Sheet is absolutely brimming with sequels. Not only is the Toy Story franchise likely to continue, but Thor and Red are poised for seconds, too. As for the sequels already in production, we’ve got a roundup of the latest out of the The Dark Knight Rises set as well as an update on Paramount’s casting effort for G.I. Joe 2: Cobra Strikes. Justifying all of this sequel buzz, Transformers: Dark of the Moon proves that franchises do pack  [ Read More ]

Title: Marvel The Avengers: Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, Vol. 1 & 2 Producer: Walt Disney Studios Starring: Phil LaMarr, Dawn Olivieri, Lance Henriksen, Kari Wuhrer, Clancy Brown, Mark Hamill, Wally Wingert, and Frank Welker Rated G, Vol 1: 161 minutes; Vol 2: 137 minutes; Standard DVD format only S.H.I.E.L.D. and its director Nick Fury has collected a band of heroes consisting of Iron Man, Thor, Hulk, Captain America, Hawkeye, Black Panther, Black Widow, Ant-Man, Wasp, Ms Marvel, The Vision and Mockingbird in order to take down the villainous organization known as HYDRA as well as the established supervillains like Loki, Red Skull, Kang and the Frost Giants, including some new villains.  [ Read More ]

More “Thor 2″ news report: CinemaBlend via Deadline has reported that “My Super Ex-Girlfriend” scriptwriter Don Payne has been hired to write the script for the sequel to the successful Marvel film. Payne is one of the writers credited for “Thor” and has also written the script for “Fantastic 4: Rise of the Silver Surfer.” Payne has also rewritten “Lobo” and acted as the executive producer of “The Simpsons.” Just this week, it was announced that a “Thor” sequel was underway and is slated for release on July 26, 2013. Chris Hemsworth is set to reprise his role as the Norse god of thunder, but it is unknown whether the  [ Read More ]