Every year my family sits around the Thanksgiving table and tells each other what we’re thankful for, which winds up being the same thing four times over – family. Sure, that’s very much true and will remain so my entire life, but as the movie industry is such an essential part of my life, there’s no denying that the business’ highlights genuinely have an impact on my year. Following in the footsteps of my colleagues Karen, Joe, Melissa and Monique, I bring you five film industry achievements I’m most thankful for in 2011. 1. Lionsgate Seems to be Doing The Hunger Games Right: I wouldn’t call the casting process a…

Hillbillies have a bad rap, largely due to the film industry. How many times have we seen a group of unsuspecting college students drive out to the middle of nowhere, have their car break down and ask a local for help, only to meet their demise? Well, writer-director Eli Craig is here to shake that stereotype up a bit with his new film Tucker & Dale vs Evil. Alan Tudyk and Tyler Labine star as Tucker and Dale, respectively. The duo opts to head out into the woods to spend some time at their new vacation cabin and fix the place up a bit. One thing leads to another, and…

According to The Hollywood Reporter, Frank Darabont, the showrunner for the AMC series “The Walking Dead” is stepping down from his post. At this point, it is not clear whether Darabont, who is also the creator, executive producer and director of the show based on the comics by Robert Kirkman, will stay on the show in any capacity. According to the article, Darabont gave no indication that he was going to be stepping down during his panel at this year’s Comic-Con and instead, talked about the three new roles that were cast for the second season. He also talked about how the second season will be of even higher writing…

I can’t believe it, but this is officially it; my coverage of San Diego Comic Con 2011 has come to a close. For five incredibly long days, the experience went by in a flash. The action was non-stop from the moment I touched down in San Diego and while it was extremely exhausting and probably one of the most trying working experiences I’ve ever gone through, it was beyond worth it. So, what’d you think? Did you like my coverage choices? Were the formats I chose to report in effective? Do let me know because I’m thrilled to say, it looks as though I’ll be returning to Comic Con next…

Who doesn’t love a MIMOBOT? They’re these little USB drives in the shape of all sorts of characters like Batman, Hello Kitty, Darth Vader and more. Sure, they’re small and simple, but it really does make backing up your work that much more enjoyable. In fact, one of the few things I bought while at San Diego Comic Con was their Stormtrooper model. MIMOBOT’s Comic Con booth came packed with many of their beloved designs like their Star Wars line-up, Green Lantern drives, and Batman designs, but the team was also there to introduce a few SDCC 2011 exclusives. Not only were the Harley Quinn and Emily the Strange MIMOBOTs…

Apologies for the late arrival of your Movie News Cheat Sheet, but as I arrived back in New York late last night, I figured it might be smart (and ultimately more legible) to get some rest and digest all of the info that came out of San Diego Comic Con as this week, the Cheat Sheet is here to celebrate just that, SDCC 2011. With a massive amount of some of the hottest Hollywood has to offer flying in for the event, the convention was absolutely brimming with movie news. We’ve got everything from new trailers and posters, to updates on new productions like the handful Robert Rodriguez has planned…

A zombie story can be autobiographic, right? Okay, not exactly, but real life inspiration did help author Isaac Marion develop his book Warm Zombies to an extent. Marion joined Summit Entertainment at San Diego Comic Con, as the studio has snatched up his pieces to bring it to the big screen. In fact, the lead roles have already been cast. Nicholas Hoult will star as R, a zombie who’s a little more alert than his moaning and mindless counterparts. Teresa Palmer will step in as Julie, a living and breathing human who winds up crossing paths with R, becoming his friend rather than his next meal. Warm Bodies features a…

There is nothing like enjoying two of our favorite pastimes at once. Movies with “good music” allow us to accomplish this dual enjoyment. Just this past weekend, the Australian band, Kids At Risk, played their first-ever show in the United States at Comic-Con in San Diego. The band performed at The Pacific Theater on Friday, July 22nd, immediately after the advance screening of “Griff the Invisible”. The band’s upcoming album is the soundtrack for this film, which stars True Blood’s Ryan Kwanten. Unfortunately, we were not able to catch this concert, but we’ll have another shot when the film is released in theaters. Kids At Risk will continue to tour,…

He brought us The Cell and The Fall and now director Tarsem Singh is back, but in, well, a more commercial way. His latest film, Immortals, is a big-budget, effect heavy, action adventure featuring Theseus (Henry Cavill), a man hell bent on taking down the individual responsible for killing his mother, Hyperion (Mickey Rourke). Hyperion’s on a mission to find the invincible Bow of Epirus and will do whatever it takes and kill anyone necessary in order to get his hands on it. And that’s where the gods come in, as they’re left with no choice, but to intervene for the sake of humanity. The Immortals showing at San Diego…

Spider-Man is back at San Diego Comic Con. Of course, he never really left, as there are a slew of Spidey fans whether or not there’s a huge big screen production in the works, but this year the pressure is on because not only is a new movie on the way, but The Amazing Spider-Man will have to outdo or at least live up to the standards set by the former Spider-Man trilogy as well as decades of other material. Director Marc Webb and star Andrew Garfield had a busy day, as not only did they hit Hall H in true SDCC fashion, but they participated in a press conference,…