Joseph Gordon-Levitt has been comparing ‘The Dark Knight Rises’ to his previous independent films that helped launch his career. In an interview with Comic Book Movie, the actor also pointed out that the superhero movie’s director, producer and co-writer, Christopher Nolan, started his career with such films as ‘Momento’ and ‘Following,’ and his second Batman sequel “has that same independent spirit.” Gordon-Levitt added “that’s what people love about it; he’s able to take that sensibility and that care and love for his work, and do it on a really large scale.” The two first worked together in the critically acclaimed 2010 sci-fi action movie ‘Inception,’ after Gordon-Levitt replaced James Franco…

We’re going into high-profile overdrive this week. We’ve got some major casting news regarding a number of highly anticipated productions including Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained, Spike Lee’s Oldboy, Stephenie Meyer’s next book-to-film adaptation The Host and more. In non-casting news, of course, we’ve got the details on the Academy Awards producer/host shuffle and an update on the upcoming Justice League movie from Warner Bros. as well as a little sneak peek at the xnew Toy Story short film set to play ahead of the November 23rd release, The Muppets. So, want the goods? They’re all right here in your weekly Movie News Cheat Sheet. 1. Sacha Baron Cohen May Join…

The blending of the arts is beautiful. Yes, this statement is a bit cheesy, but when the art divisions are grouped together, the individual qualities they each possess are magnified. Take a look at the relationship between music and film. Both artistic styles heighten each other’s overall storyline. Imagine a movie without its score. It might not seem like such a big loss, but a soundtrack strengthens characters’ emotions and keeps the movie flowing from scene to scene. In other words, you should not take a film’s score for granted. Spindrift does not let a soundtrack go unnoticed. The psychedelic rock band, which currently consists of vocalist and guitarist, Kirpatrick…

Title: Pulp Fiction Director: Quentin Tarantino Starring: John Travolta, Samuel L. Jackson, Uma Thurman, Bruce Willis, Ving Rhames, Harvey Keitel, Amanda Plummer, Eric Stoltz, Rosanna Arquette, Tim Roth, Maria de Medeiros and Christopher Walken. Running time: 154 minutes, Rated R, available on standard DVD Miramax and Lionsgate has released Quentin Tarantino’s 1994 Palme d’Or Award winning (also Oscar winner for best Screenplay and seven Oscar nominated) masterpiece Pulp Fiction on Blu-ray. A shuffled story line intertwining two hit men, a mob boss, the mob boss’s wife, a boxer, two diner robbers, a gold watch and a mysterious glowing briefcase – along with some other memorable side characters set to a…

Think about how many new movies hit the big screen a weekend. Must be a lot of films in the works at once, right? Most certainly and this edition of the Movie News Cheat Sheet is a testament to that. We’ve got a handful of casting updates including the possibility of Joseph Gordon-Levitt joining Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained as well as news that Steven Soderbergh might have finally found his Man from U.N.C.L.E., Bradley Cooper. Word also arrived that MGM might pick up Eminem’s Southpaw after the production was dropped by DreamWorks while Universal moves forward with its Battlestar Galactica feature by hiring a writer. But, of course, we’ve also…

Title: Jackie Brown Directed by: Quentin Tarantino Starring: Pam Grier, Samuel L. Jackson, Robert Forster, Bridget Fonda, Michael Keaton and Robert De Niro Running time: 154 minutes, Rated R Jackie Brown is a small-time airline flight attendant who gets caught smuggling cash and coke for Ordell, a gun runner. The feds tell her to make a deal, but Jackie doesn’t want to risk going back to jail and having to start her life over, so she enlists the help of bail bondsman Max Cherry to do one final run in order to score half a million dollars. I feel a personal connection when I watch a Tarantino film. One reason…

Paul Reubens has been tapped to receive this year’s Visionary Award at Spike TV’s Scream Awards. Reubens will be receiving the award for his iconic character, Pee-wee Herman. Reubens’ character was created in 1978 and was the main character of the 22-time Emmy winning show “Pee-wee’s Playhouse.” Reubens went on to make the film “Pee-wee’s Big Adventure” with director Tim Burton and go on Broadway with “The Pee-wee Herman Show.” “If Pee-wee were giving this quote, I think he’d scream out ‘I’m a visionary! I’m a visionary!’ and then run to the dictionary to look up what visionary means,” said Reubens about the award. “But I know what it means,…

Can you feel the chill in the air? Winter’s coming! Okay, so many of you likely don’t live in the northeast and this is the Movie News Cheat Sheet, so there’s little room for TV references here, but fall is right around the corner! Even with Oscar season approaching, our Academy Awards potentials aren’t getting much love at the box office. After a weak start, Warrior took a tough fall and this weekend newcomer Drive lacked the zest to earn it the #1 spot, or even the #2 one for that matter. In other dark news, Nicolas Cage is apparently a vampire and Tim Burton’s take on Dark Shadows looks…

David Carradine is much on my mind recently, having just finished up his rather excellent “Kill Bill Diary” — a thorough, intellectually rangy and assuredly entertaining read of his time spent on Quentin Tarantino’s two-part revenge epic. A workaholic without necessarily the most discerning taste, Carradine’s sudden death at the age of 72 (in June, 2009, he was found nude in the closet of a Thai hotel room, the result of accidental autoerotic asphyxiation) nonetheless put the brakes on what just might have been one of the more interesting sunset career reinventions of modern Hollywood. After all, here was a worldly, well-read guy with a reawakened fire in his belly…

Sure May sort of marks the start of the summer movie season, but now that we’re past the summer solstice, June 21st, things are really starting to heat up. Not only are trailers and posters pouring in, but major updates on upcoming projects, too. Academy Award nominated director David O. Russell is loading up his next cast with famous faces as is Woody Allen and the director of Snow White and the Huntsman, Rupert Sanders. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Joel Courtney is seizing opportunities that came his way, likely courtesy of Super 8, and looks to lock in two upcoming projects. Sure, there’s an abundance of casting news this week, but as…