January Releases, Disney animation, Marvel

Producers Guild!

   The Screen Actors Guild. The Hollywood Foreign Press. The Broadcast Film Critics Association. The Producers Guild of America. The Academy...Yes I know there are a lot of different organizations out there in the world of movies that keep track of various things, but for this lets focus on the PGA(Producers Guild of America/The Producers Guild). This year, according to The Hollywood Reporter, 10 feature films are contending to the PGA’s top prize. They are, in alphabetical order:

American Hustle (Columbia Pictures) 
Producers: Megan Ellison, Jon Gordon, Charles Roven, Richard Suckle

Blue Jasmine (Sony Pictures Classics)
Producers: Letty Aronson, Stephen Tenenbaum

Captain Phillips (Columbia Pictures) 
Producers: Dana Brunetti, Michael De Luca, Scott Rudin

Dallas Buyers Club (Focus Features) 
Producers: Robbie Brenner, Rachel Winter

Gravity (Warner Bros. Pictures) 
Producers: Alfonso Cuarón, David Heyman

Her (Warner Bros. Pictures) 
Producers: Megan Ellison, Spike Jonze, Vincent Landay

Nebraska (Paramount Pictures) 
Producers: Albert Berger, Ron Yerxa

Saving Mr. Banks (Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures) 
Producers: Ian Collie, Alison Owen, Philip Steuer

12 Years a Slave (Fox Searchlight Pictures) 
Producers: Anthony Katagas, Jeremy Kleiner, Steve McQueen, Brad Pitt & Dede Gardner

Wolf of Wall Street (Paramount Pictures) 
Producers: Riza Aziz, Emma Koskoff, Joey McFarland

   

   The PGA nominees serve a multipule purposes, as Oscar trackers view them as a guildline of which films have momentum heading into the Academy Award nominations. With this in mind, it’s worth noting that other Oscar ranking movies like Lee Daniels’ The Butler, August: Osage County, Ron Howard’s Rush and Inside Llewyn Davis which did not make the PGA list...that doesn't mean anything in my opinion though. The Academy can go as high as 10 when filling out its Best Picture category(which in some years doesn't seem long enough). Or they can compress the group of contenders down to five… which seems impossible given this year's numerous movies that were just inspiring, heart warming, and master pieces.

Marvel One-Shot

   For those that don't know, the Marvel one-shot is a short film that has been attached to DVD/Blu-ray releases to help fill in holes that the movie may have left. With that said the next Marvel one-shot has been announced/confirmed. The short will involve Sir Ben Kingsley that reportedly may involve The Mandarin. And not the quack actor who portrayed the Mandarin in Shane Black’s Iron Man 3, but the real Mandarin from the comics. And he is pissed that his identity was used as a ruse to deceive Tony Stark. Now this was only rumor and speculation until recently, now we know for a fact that the One-Shot has a title...  All Hail the King. The British Board of Film Classification today revealed the full specs for the DVD release of Thor: The Dark World(which I can not wait to own).

Big Hero 6

   For those, like me, who have no idea who or what this is...lets do a run down on some basic information courtesy of Marvel Wiki. 

"When the Japanese government wanted a team of state-sanctioned superheroes at their disposal, a top-secret consortium of politicians and business entities known as the Giri was formed to recruit and train potential superhuman operatives for "Big Hero 6". Despite reservations by some members of the Giri, Silver Samurai, a freelance ronin and former bodyguard of the terrorist Viper, was appointed as field commander. Secret agent Honey Lemon, inventor of the nanotechnology-based Power Purse from which she could access any object, also agreed to join the team. The tough-talking Gogo Tomago, able to transubstantiate her body into a fiery force blast by uttering her code-name, was released from prison on the condition that she serve on the team. The Machiavellian bureaucrat known only as Mr. Oshima was appointed as the Giri's spokesperson and coordinated Big Hero 6's activities.

Government scientists next identified 13-year-old boy genius Hiro Takachiho as a potential operative. Unimpressed with the Silver Samurai, Hiro declined joining the team until his mother was kidnapped by the Everwraith, the astral embodiment of all those killed in the 1945 nuclear attacks on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Joined by Baymax, a synthetic bodyguard capable of synth-forming into a dragon which was created by Hiro using the brain engrams of his dead father, Hiro reluctantly joined forces with Big Hero 6 to prevent Everwraith from slaughtering millions in downtown Tokyo. During the battle, Big Hero 6 was joined by Sunfire, Japan's premiere super hero and a mutant with the ability to super-heat matter into plasma, who was instrumental in the Everwraith's defeat.

Soon after, Big Hero 6 moved their headquarters from the Giri Office Building to Japan's Cool World Amusement Park, where they were attacked by X the Unknowable, a monster born from a child's drawings that could transform its atomic structure into any form and shape. With the help of Alpha Flight, Big Hero 6 destroyed X the Unknowable in the fires of Mount Fuji. Afterwards, Big Hero 6 continued to protect Japan from all threats, such as when the team rescued Tokyo residents from a freak blizzard caused by the Crimson Cowl (Justine Hammer) and her Masters of Evil.

Eventually, Sunfire left Big Hero 6 so that he could work at Charles Xavier's X-Corporation office in Mumbai, India. His spot on the team was filled by Sunpyre, a young woman with similar solar-based powers who was pulled into this reality through the Power Purse and came to worship Honey Lemon as her own personal god. Similarly, after Silver Samurai was seemingly slain in an altercation with the assassin Elektra in Iraq, his spot on the team was filled by the enigmatic Ebon Samurai. With the two most experienced members of Big Hero 6 gone, Hiro became the team's new leader.

The members of Big Hero 6 fell victim to a mind-control device implanted within Baymax. Traveling to Canada, the mind-controlled super heroes attacked a new incarnation of Alpha Flight at a national park. After a brief battle, the mind-control device was short-circuited and the two teams parted as friends. Big Hero 6 returned to Japan to seek out the parties responsible for their mind-control." 

Ok that is way more information than is probably needed, but this gives you an idea of what they are. Why is this important? Because Disney, since acquiring Marvel, has been making plans for an animated adaption of the universe and it seems that the Big Hero 6 is what we are getting. Just from what I could find and read up on, I like this idea, they sound interesting, but as with most people Marvel/Disney has earned my trust when it comes to their properties so I have high hopes for this.

January Releases!

• The Legend of Hercules, "In the origin story of Hercules, the heroic son of Zeus embraces his incredible destiny by fighting to reclaim his kingdom from his villainous stepfather in this sweeping mythological adventure from director Renny Harlin (Cliffhanger, Die Hard 2). Born half-man/half-god and imbued with awe-inspiring superhuman strength, Hercules (Kellan Lutz) falls into a forbidden romance that quickly incurs the wrath of his calculating stepfather, the King. Subsequently exiled and forced into slavery, the heroic Hercules fights for his life as a gladiator, and vows to free his people from the tyranny of the evil monarch."
• Lone Survivor, "Based on a true story, director Peter Berg's Lone Survivor stars Mark Wahlberg, Taylor Kitsch, Ben Foster, and Emile Hirsch as four Navy SEALs whose sensitive mission into the Afghan mountains is unexpectedly compromised, leading to a fierce skirmish with a small army of Taliban soldiers. The year is 2005. In the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks, the War in Afghanistan is well under way when military intelligence learns that a senior Taliban member is hiding out in a remote village deep in the Hindu Kush mountains of the Kunar Province. Convinced that his capture or killing could turn the tide of the difficult war in favor of the United States, the Navy SEALs hatch Operation Red Wings. The goal is simple -- send a select team of soldiers to stake out the village from the surrounding mountains, and move on their target when the time is right. Under the leadership of Lieutenant Michael Murphy (Kitsch), Marcus Luttrell (Wahlberg), Matt Axelson (Foster), and Danny Dietz (Hirsch) reach their checkpoint, and quickly realize that another nearby hill will provide a better vantage spot. Shortly after arriving at that new location and getting a positive ID on their target, however, the soldiers are caught off guard by three wandering shepherds, including a young boy. Ultimately, a heated vote over what to do with the captured shepherds leads Lt. Murphy to decide that the best course of action is to abide by the rules of engagement, meaning that the soldiers will abort the mission, release the captives, and retreat to their extraction point. Shortly after the shepherds are set free, however, the four SEALs find themselves surrounded by dozens of Taliban soldiers, and engaged in a fierce gunfight that -- with the aid of some truly brave villagers -- only one of them will make it out of."
• Jack Ryan:Shadow Recruit, "Based on the character created by bestselling author Tom Clancy, "Jack Ryan" is a global action thriller set in the present day. This original story follow a young Jack (Chris Pine) as he uncovers a financial terrorist plot. The story follows him from 9/11, through his tour of duty in Afghanistan, which scarred him forever, and into his early days in the Financial Intelligence Unit of the modern CIA where he becomes an analyst, under the guardianship of his handler, Harper (Kevin Costner). When Ryan believes he's uncovered a Russian plot to collapse the United States economy, he goes from being an analyst to becoming a spy and must fight to save his own life andthose of countless others, while also trying to protect the thing that's more important to him than anything, his relationship with his fiancée Cathy (Keira Knightley)."
• I, Frankenstein, "Set in a dystopic present where vigilant gargoyles and ferocious demons rage in a battle for ultimate power, Victor Frankenstein's creation Adam (Aaron Eckhart) finds himself caught in the middle as both sides race to discover the secret to his immortality. From the creators of the hit supernatural saga, UNDERWORLD, comes the action thriller I, FRANKENSTEIN, written for the screen and directed by Stuart Beattie based on the graphic novel "I, Frankenstein" by Kevin Grevioux, and brought to life by a cast that includes Aaron Eckhart, Bill Nighy, Yvonne Strahovski, Miranda Otto, Jai Courtney, Socratis Otto, Mahesh Jadu, Caitlin Stasey and Aden Young as Victor Frankenstein."
• Reasonable Doubt, "When up-and-coming District Attorney Mitch Brockden (Cooper) commits a fatal hit-and-run, he feels compelled to manipulate the case to acquit the accused criminal who was found with the body and blamed for the crime. Following the trial, Mitch's worst fears come true when he realizes that his actions freed a guilty man, and he soon finds himself on the hunt for the killer before more victims pile up."

Those are the one I see doing the best at the box office and with us the fans, these also hit the theater this month but I do not see them holding up as well; Ride Along, Devil's Due, Labor Day and That Awkward Moment. Ride Along does look enjoyable and out of this list it could be the best but compared to others listed above...I don't see it comparing. Which movie or movies are you going to see this month, let me know below!