This is what Awesome looks like

I never thought an album cover would get me to buy a CD, but then I saw soundtrack for Guardians of the Galaxy. Available now for pre-order at Amazon, it features Hooked on a Feeling, Spirit in the Sky, plus some Bowie, Jackson 5, and a lot more. Track listing at The Playlist.

Ranking the Marvel Universe

It's been a while since I posted, and since I've missed out on reviewing the last couple of entries into the Marvel Universe, I figured I'd do what everyone else is doing and rank the films in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, based on the incredibly objective scale that is my own personal preferences.

Star Wars VII cast announced

Good morning and here's your cast for Star Wars Episode VII a few days earlier than rumored, via press release from starwars.com.

The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film. 

Director J.J. Abrams says, “We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.” 

Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.

So this is exciting, and probably means Andy Serkis wins some sort of prize. No information on who the new characters are, but this can be your excuse to see the excellent Attack the Block. 

The Guardians are here

Can we just take a moment to talk about how awesome the Guardians of the Galaxy trailer looks? Rocket Racoon's rap-sheet: 13 counts of theft, 14 counts of escape from incarceration, 7 counts of mercenary activity, 15 counts of arson. Star-lord has a walkman. Chris Pratt (star of The LEGO Movie, the best thing I've seen this year) looks perfectly cast. Zoe Saldana is green (which is hotter than blue) and wielding a huge sword (which is always hot). Basically, Marvel's riskiest gamble to date looks like it's going to pay off.

2014 Film List

Ready for the 2014 movie list? Here it is:

20 Movies I'm looking forward to in 2014

Here are the 20 movies I'm looking forward to in 2014.

Cap Trailer, Thor "review" etc.

There are trailers out for Captain America: The Winter Soldier and X-Men: Days of Future Past. They both look awesome, and I saw both on the big screen today in front of Thor: The Dark World, which was also awesome, though I think it missed few opportunities. I still call Iron Man 3 a better film. I'm not sure how to fault a story for being character-focused (Thor's major problem). Anyway, Thor: The Dark World is my #2 for the year. It's problem is possibly that it doesn't have any action that's as badass as what you'll see in the 5-minute Winter Soldier trailer that plays in front of the 3D shows... or maybe it did but I've been desensitized by seeing that scene in every trailer.

Has Age of Ultron found its new Avengers?

It's been a few months since Joss Whedon suggested he was adding Quicksilver and the Scarlet Witch to Avengers: Age of Ultron, and now it looks like he's found the actors to play the Maximoff twins.
According to a source no less than Samuel L. Jackson himself, Elizabeth Olsen has been cast as Wanda Maximoff, the reality-bending Scarlet Witch. Deadline says the deal is all but done, and that means that the Olsen twins' little sister will be joining--and probably fighting--the Avengers and Ultron in 2015.
Meanwhile, reports say that Aaron Taylor-Johnson has signed up to play her twin brother Quicksilver. Taylor-Johnson is best known for playing Kick-Ass, so he's no stranger to super hero roles. Quicksilver (effectively) has the same super-speed powers as DC's Flash and The Incredibles' Dash. Plus Bryan Singer's X-Men: Days of Future Past is going to be bringing another version of Quicksilver (played by Kick-Ass co-star Evan Peters) to the big screen next year, while Glee's Grant Gustin will be playing the Flash on the CW's Arrow. Taylor-Johnson is going to have his work cut out for him. Meanwhile, Marvel announced that James Spader has signed up to play the villainous AI, Ultron.

Finally, Zachary Levi as Fandral

Edit: Now with U.S. version from Marvel.com. German version here. Original: Chuck was one of my favorite shows, so I was pretty excited when Marvel added Zachary Levi to Thor: The Dark World. Now, just a month ahead of release we finally get a chance to see the new and improved Fandral on this German version of the poster (note the alternate title), and he looks awesome. You can check out the trailer over on YouTube, plus there's other posters of Thor and Sif, and others floating around the interwebs. Thor: The Dark World opens on November 8.

Rumor: Bale offered $60 million to play Batman again

As you may have heard by now, the sequel to Man of Steel will feature Batman vs Superman. The big question has been who will play Batman. A few names have been tossed around, including Orlando Bloom and Josh Brolin. However, a new rumor suggests that Warner Bros. is willing to pull out all the stops to bring back Christian Bale as the Caped Crusader. It's good news for fans of the Nolan films, and the arrival of Superman on Earth could be a good reason to bring Bruce Wayne out of retirement.