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Yes, we heard the news. The 28 years old actor was currently finishing post production of his Joker part in new Batman movie, Dark Knights. We noticed him for the first time in 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You (as Patrick Verona).

Then he obtained leading role as Sir William Thatcher (a.k.a Sir Ulrich von Lichtenstein of Gelderland) in 2001’s A Knight’s Tale. Not really a good movie though, but luckily he got several better role in 2001’s Monster’s Ball (as Sonny Grotowski) and 2005’s The Brothers Grimm (as Jacob Grimm).

The most noted play of his was in Ang Lee’s Brokeback Mountain. He played Ennis Del Mar who had forbidden love with guy pair, Jack Twist (played by Jack Gyllenhaal). He was nominated in Academy Awards because of the role.

May he rest in peace.

Image by índio via Flickr

Well, let see the combination of the cast. The sexy Scarlett Johansson (Lost in Translation, Girl with a Pearl Earring), the handsome Eric Bana (Hulk, Troy, Munich) and the gorgeous Natalie Portman (Star Wars, V for Vendetta). It’s a killer cast for another drama based on history.

The Other Boleyn Girl is a story of intrigue, romance, and betrayal set against the backdrop of a defining moment in history. Two sisters, Anne (Natalie Portman) and Mary (Scarlett Johansson) Boleyn, are driven by their ambitious father and uncle to advance the family power and status by courting the affections of Henry VIII the King of England (Eric Bana).

The movie was filmed in the UK in late 2006, and will be released at February, 2008. This movies is based on Phillipa Gregory’s novel of the same title. Justin Chadwick is directed the movie and Peter Morgan is the script writer. Costumes design is by Sandy Powell who also worked on Shakespeare in Love, and filming locations include Penshurst Place, Knole Park and Dover Castle in Kent, and Bude in Cornwall.

Do u miss romance comedy ? Well.. I do miss it. After The Devil Wears Prada, I haven’t seen any romance comedy hit the theater. But in this January 2008, you will see another romance comedy. The title is 27 Dresses. Katherine Heigl (Knocked Up), James Marsden (Enchanted, X-Men Trilogy), and Ed Burns (The Holiday) are among the casts.

The story is about a girl name Jane who is idealistic, romantic and completely selfless. She always be a bridesmaid, and a very good 27 times bridesmaid. Always taking care of her friends but never really taking care of her own relationship. When her sister captured her boss (whom she secretly in love with), she begins to examine her always-to-be-bridesmaid lifestyle.

Another sappy romance I guess, but the girls will enjoy it since they have “dresses” in the title. Definitely not men’s movie. 27 Dresses is directed by Anne Fletcher, the director of Step Up, and choreographer on Catch Me If You Can and The 40 Year Old Virgin.

Source: First Showing

After Disney dazzled us with the Enchanted in 2007 they will back with a traditional full animated movie in 2009. The movie’s title is The Princess and The Frog. Actually, I hardly remember, when was the last time Disney produce 2D animated movie. After I googled it, the last full animated movie was Home on The Range on 2004.

The Princess and The Frog is a story about Princess Tiana, a young African-American girl living amid the charming elegance and grandeur of the fabled French Quarter. This movie’s set is in the legendary birthplace of jazz - New Orleans. You will expect some musical experience in this movie, especially jazz musical.

Ron Clements and John Musker is co-directed this movie. They previously worked together in Aladdin, Hercules and Treasure Planet.

Source: First Showing

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It is 2008 now, there are lot of movies to watch this year, but why don’t we headed back and look at the list of best movies in 2007, my version of course. The 2007 was hilarious with several sequels. To name a few, they are Spider-man 3, Pirates of Caribbean 3, Fantastic Four 2, Die Hard 4, Ocean Thirteen (the second sequels of Ocean Eleven), and not to forget Bourne Ultimatum (the finale of Bourne series).

Most of them are great, compared to their previous, except for Spider-man 3, which I found flaws and boring than the second one. But I have to admit that the movie I crowned as the best movie in 2007 is Pixar’s Ratatouille. The story is about a rat, named Remy who is able to flavor and combine good taste of ingredients to create great food.

The name ratatouille itself came from “touiller,” which means to toss food. It was originally a poor farmer’s dish, prepared in the summer with fresh summer vegetables. The plot is clean, unpredicted, and smooth. The acting, well since it is a 3D cartoon, is stunning. Great job for Pixar crews. Hopefully, the next Wall*e won’t be the a blooper since it is directed by the person who was created Oscar winner, Finding Nemo.

The next movie, besides those sequels I mentioned above are 300, Transformers, and I am Legend (based on novel by Richard Matheson). All of them are great, also scored lot of money in blockbusters. So what’s your picks in 2007?

Haven’t watched this fantastic mouse adventure movie? Don’t worry, you can buy it via Amazon.

Alvin and the Chipmunks are having a grand remake. I saw the trailer and felt okay with it. But that really doesn’t remind me of why I fell for the original one. Let’s forget about the cool 3D high budget animation and see the original 1987 version of it:

That video was a part of The Chipmunks Adventure and I bet that old movie beat a hell of a more beat than the new one. Alvin and the Chipmunks is a five-time Grammy Award-winning animated music group, created by Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. in 1958.

Wikipedia said, the group consists of three singing animated chipmunks: Alvin, the mischievous troublemaker, who quickly became the star of the group; Simon, the tall, bespectacled intellectual; and Theodore, the chubby, impressionable sweetheart. The trio is “managed” by their human “father” and confidant, David Seville.

In reality, David Seville was Bagdasarian’s stage name, and the Chipmunks themselves are named after the executives of their original record label, Liberty Records: Alvin Bennett (the president), Simon Waronker (the founder and owner), and Theodore Keep (the chief engineer).

I just love classics

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Epic-genre version of Scary Movie now has a sequel. First entitled Epic Movie, the sequel, due to the poor review of the previous series, changed the franchise title into Meet the Spartans. Parodying many movies, this movie still take focus on muscle men of Spartan’s 300.

Other than that, Meet the Spartans makes joke to dozen of movies, TV series, and bunch of celebrities. On the list, even not yet released movie, Cloverfield. Of course, when you look again to the title, it resembles Ben Stiller’s Meet the Parents. Also you may want to see the parody version of American Idol last season controversy, Sanjaya Malakar.

Among the starring, we can see the “performance” of Baywatch babe, Carmen Electra. Don’t forget that she once appeared in first series of Scary Movie as cameo. Hopefully, she does not show up just as an eye candy, as we expect this movie not as corny as we usually predicted.

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Happy new year everyone! Well it’s 2008 and lots of movies will be coming to the cinema near you. This is the year of wild imagination and sequels. Starting with Rambo on January (guess they just call this Rambo and not Rambo 4!, following the trend of Rocky) and then NYTimes best-selling adaptation, The Spiderwick Chronicles on February 14.

Continue on we got The Iron Man (comic based movie, which is one of my personal favorite), Speed Racer (yup! THE SPEED RACER, directed by the The Wachowski Brothers), the next book based Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian, and many more! Yes, I’m not forgetting about Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, Wall-E, Hellboy 2, The Dark Knight, Dragon Ball (yes, Akira Toriyama’s Dragon ball), and of course Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince.

Still unconfirmed (or at least no trailers) is the Bond 22 (more Daniel Craig I presume) and Toy Story 3 (I doubt this one, Pixar are not really into sequels). What can I say! It’s a lovely year for movie-addict and fans of fantasies. Hope they won’t screw up Dragon Ball again. We will list upcoming 2008 movies in separate page.