THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF FAN FICTION

The titular dragon in THE HOBBIT: THE DESOLATION OF SMAUG has been one of the great movie monsters waiting to happen for more than 70 years. The creature is pretty much the great dragon of modern literature and manages to define and nearly overshadow the book he was created for, even though he only  actually appears for two chapters of it.

And the dragon is absolutely one of the best things about the film. That's the good news.

The bad news? Smaug really deserved a better movie.

X-MEN: APOCALYPSE coming 2016...with THE FANTASTIC FOUR?

Not-so-wild Theory Time!

Just today, doubtlessly hoping to steal some of the thunder from Sony's trailer for THE AMAZING SPIDER-MAN 2 (yes, they actually just stuck a number on the title of the rancid first film), Bryan Singer announced on Twitter (that's a thing that's been happening a lot lately) that the follow-up to 2014's time-travelling all-star line-up X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST would be an adaptation of the APOCALYPSE story.

And here's where things get interesting.

FROZEN - The New Hotness

Disney Animation has had quite the streak lately. It hasn't gotten the sort of notice that the Disney Renaissance did back in the 90's (understandable, since that saved the animation wing of the studio from being shut down), and hasn't received the same level of critical acclaim and Oscar accolade that Pixar's 2007-2010 run garnered, but they've been quietly recapturing much of the House of Mouse's former glory. Since 2008's BOLT, Disney Animation has had five straight home-runs, including 2010's TANGLED and last year's WRECK-IT RALPH.

And now FROZEN makes six. At some point we may need to dub this a Second Disney Renaissance. Because yes, they've definitely still got it.

THOR: THE DARK WORLD - Brothers in Arms

MARVEL studios is smack-dab in the middle of Phase 2, the "aftermath" of sequels following the now-legendary team-up that was THE AVENGERS. That movie that was almost an end in and of itself considering the amount of legwork that went into getting there, establishing (in some cases RE-establishing) four high-profile comic characters in their own film worlds before bringing them together, along with an ever-growing shared supporting cast.

But now what? How do you go back to the farm after having seen Paris?

Easy - you don't, you go to space. MAGIC space.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE WINTER SOLDIER Trailer

MARVEL just keeps throwing out gold, especially with this particular AVENGERS feeder franchise. I still think that CAPTAIN AMERICA: THE FIRST AVENGER was the best stand-alone film of the bunch (though IRON MAN THREE comes really close), and now the marketing for the sequel has kicked into gear, with trailers and everything.

Heck, even the somewhat formulaic teaser poster has some great design elements (all 'dem subliminal A's).

But the new trailer looks so. VERY. GOOD.

GRAVITY - Falling in Love with Cinema

This is going to be one of those times that I feel utterly unequal to task of intelligently articulating just how good a movie is, and why it deserves both the near-unanimous critical reception it's recieved AND as much attention from a wide audience as it can possibly get.

But what the hell, I'll give it a shot.

Because to be brief, the movie's REALLY F***ING GREAT.

HARRY POTTER AND THE MOVIE MARATHON - Part 4

The job of tackling the final story of the Boy Who Lived was a big one, and many people had expressed interest in it. Alfonso Cuaron, director of PRISONER OF AZKABAN, had said he'd consider coming back for the finale, as did Guillermo Del Toro (who had been offered PRISONER but declined) before his workload on THE HOBBIT made that an impossibility. Lots of big names wanted in on the action.

But David Yates, who began his term at Hogwarts in Part 3 with ORDER OF THE PHOENIX and HALF-BLOOD PRINCE agreed to finish the journey, bringing a close to what Chris Columbus began in Part 1, what Alfonso Cuaron and Mike Newell helped shepherd and continue in Part 2.

And now...