VOTD: ‘Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs’ As A 60-Second, Live-Action Short Phil LordandChris Miller’sCloudy With a Chance of Meatballscontains so many crazy, fantastical elements that I never figured the story could’ve worked as anything but an animated film. I mean, c’mon. Live-action hobbits or dragons or space battles are one thing, but live-action hamburger storms would just be ridiculous, right? But perhaps that’s just my own lack of imagination talking, because appropriately named YouTube userMegasteakmanhas reimagined the foodie tale as a 60-second live-action short, and the results are actually quite charming....

Watch The ‘Iron Giant: Signature Edition’ Trailer Brad Bird’s first featureThe Iron Giantdidn’t make a big splash upon its release in 1999. Warner Bros. didn’t seem to know how to market the film, and with the internet publicity machine only in its first formative stage, some of the tools that can help raise awareness of a film in 2015 were not yet in place.The Iron Giantresonated with nearly everyone whodidsee the film, at least, and over the years it has been celebrated as a new classic in hand-drawn animation and science fiction....

Watch Two Lengthy Interviews With The ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ VFX Geniuses It’s been a pretty decent month for visual effects maestrosRoger Guyett,Patrick Tubach,Neal ScanlanandChris Corbould. You know, theyonlypulled off some seriously impressive practical and digital effects forStar Wars: The Force Awakens, which isonlyone the most spectacular successes in box office history. And just a few days ago, their work was nominated for an Academy Award. You know, just ordinary stuff....

WB/MGM Still Trying To Talk Peter Jackson Into Directing The Hobbit Yesterday wereported a rumorthatDavid Yates, best known as the director of the last fewHarry Potterfilms:Order of the Phoenix, Half-Blood Prince, and Part I and II of theDeathly Hallows, was the studios top choice to directThe Hobbit. As you know,Guillermo del Tororecently stepped down from directing the big screen adaptation. It turns out the story is partly true.David Yates, David Dobkin(Wedding Crashers, Fred Claus), andBrett Ratnerhave all been considered for the directing gig, butDeadlineis reporting that no offer has yet been made....

Well, That’s Expected: Warwick Davis Returns For Han Solo There areStar Warsactors and there areStar Warsmainstays, the performers who seem perfectly happy to be linked to the massively successful film series.Warwick Davismade his film debut in 1983’sReturn of the Jedi, playing Wicket the Ewok, and he’s been attached at the hip to the saga ever since. In addition to playing roles in the various films, he’s also become one of the franchise’s figureheads, hosting events atStar WarsCelebration and generally appearing whenever an affable face is needed....

Why Bucky Didn’t Get Captain America’s Shield, According To Sebastian Stan One of the many resounding questions after the era-endingAvengers: Endgamewas: Who would become the next Captain America? Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) had hung up the mantle and passed on the iconic shield to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie), his friend and ally whose rise from Air Force PTSD counselor to a full-fledged member of Avengers was something to behold. But many fans wondered why Steve didn’t pass on the mantle to his longtime friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), whose kidnapping and brainwashing by HYDRA formed a major part of Steve’s arc in the Marvel Cinematic Universe....

Why Star Trek’s Creator Didn’t Want Patrick Stewart To Play Picard When you look at the titans of pop culture, it’s very difficult to imagine certain characters played by anyone else. For example, Michael J. Fox is Marty Mcfly. And Reese Witherspoon is Elle Woods. Steve Carell is Michael Scott. Audrey Hepburn is Holly Golightly. Matthew Broderick is Ferris Bueller. And Harrison Ford is both Han Solo and Indiana Jones (although, no matter what some people say,Alden Ehrenreich wasn’t that bad)....

Why Test Screenings For Disney’s The Black Cauldron Had Parents Fleeing From Theaters For years after its theatrical release in 1985, Disney essentially shunned “The Black Cauldron” and pretended it didn’t exist. In this case, though, it wasn’t because the Mouse House saw it as an embarrassing mistakelike “Song of the South.“It was just that the studio has spent nearly 15 years and $44 million making it (a then-record amount for one of Disney’s animated films), only for the adaptation of Lloyd Alexander’s beloved “Chronicles of Prydain” novels to earn a tepid critical reception and flop at the box office....

Winter Soldier Could Resurface In ‘Black Panther’, Hints Sebastian Stan So far,Sebastian Stan’s Bucky Barnes (a.k.a. Winter Soldier) has functioned mostly as a supporting character toChris Evans' Captain America: part sidekick, part nemesis, part damsel in distress. ButCaptain America: Civil Wargave Bucky the opportunity to mingle with some of Marvel’s other big names, with spectacularly entertaining results. Now he could reunite with one of his new acquaintances in the not-too-distant future....

‘A Classic Horror Story’ Trailer: Netflix’s Italian Horror Movie Looks Like A Blend Of ‘Cabin In The Woods’, ‘Scream’, And ‘Midsommar’ Are you in the mood for a movie that blends togetherCabin In the Woods,Scream, andMidsommar? What if I told you that movie was also Italian? Well, even if you’renotin the mood for all of that, you’re getting it anyway. The upcoming Netflix movieA Classic Horror Storyreleased an enticingteaserlast month, and now we have a full trailer that gives us a better look at what’s in store....

‘Batman V Superman’ Art Reveals That Robin Was Also A Murderous Psychopath Zack Snyder’sBatmanv Superman: Dawn of Justiceoffered a smorgasbord of reasons to get riled up and annoyed and angry, from the inane and nonsensical plot to the cinematic Doomsday who looked like a third rate cave troll to a Superman who was an all-powerful stick-in-the-mud. But now, nearly a month after its release,one aspect irritates me like no other: the portrayal of Batman as a remorseless killer who dispatches his enemies with machine guns and explosives....

‘Best Worst Movie’ Filmmakers Need Your Homemade Haunted Houses Most communities have a creepy house that scares the neighborhood kids. What those communities usually don’t have is a normal house which, on Halloween, is transformed into an equally exciting haunted house. Homemade haunted houses are true labors of love and the filmmakers behindBest Worst Movieare looking for the biggest and best to feature in anUntitled Homemade Haunted HouseFeature Documentary. The film is being produced by NBC Universal and will feature adults who go to incredible lengths to make their own haunted houses....

‘Coming 2 America’ Trailer: Eddie Murphy Is Back As King Akeem Eddie Murphyreturns to one of his most memorable roles withComing 2 America, the long-awaited sequel to his 1988 hit. The sequel finds Murphy’s King Akeem once again setting out on a journey to America, and brings back familiar faces from the first film likeArsenio Hall,James Earl Jones,John Amos,Louie Anderson, and more.Craig Brewer, who directed Murphy in the excellentDolemite Is My Name, helms the sequel....