Kevin Costner Drops Out of Django Unchained

Way to go, Kevin Costner.  I may have been wary of your villain-playing ability at first, but I was starting to actually look forward to seeing you as a sadistic slave trainer in Django Unchained.  I thought you could pull it off.  I believed in you.  And what do you do?  You drop out of the movie.  I’m ashamed.

Django Unchained Casting News

  

In case you’ve been meditating in the Himalayas or something and haven’t heard, Quentin Tarantino is working on a film, a spaghetti Western by the name of Django Unchained.  If you haven’t heard of the original Django, it’s a 1966 spaghetti Western about a badass cowboy named Django who drags a coffin around everywhere.  It’s awesome.  Watch the trailer. Actually, watch the whole goddamn thing.  Anyway, there are only two official Django movies, but there have been tons of unofficial sequels. Now, from what we know so far, Django Unchained doesn’t seem like it will be a sequel to the original so much as it will an homage.  Shadow and Act has reported that the Django in Tarantino’s film will be a freed slave in the Deep South who receives training in the subtle art of ass-kicking from a German bounty hunter, and then decides to use this training to save his wife from an evil plantation owner. Basically, this movie is going to be to slavery-era America what Inglourious Basterds was to World War II.

At this point, Tarantino has already completed the script (which is sure to be awesome), and casting has begun.  So who’s been cast?

The Dark Knight Rises: Marion Cotillard Isn't Playing Talia al Ghul?

Ever since her casting was announced, it’s been thought that Marion Cotillard will be playing Talia al Ghul in The Dark Knight Rises.  After all, it makes sense.  Ra’s al Ghul played a large role in Batman Begins, and to have his daughter show up in the final film of the Batman trilogy would be a nice way of wrapping things up.  Of course, Cotillard’s character was officially described as “a Wayne Enterprises board member eager to help a still-grieving Bruce Wayne resume his father’s philanthropic endeavors for Gotham” by the name of Miranda Tate, but everyone just kind of assumed that this was just a cover for Talia.  Cotillard also referred to her role as “a secret”, which we all took to mean “I’m playing Talia al Ghul, bitches!”  It also didn’t help that Cotillard was photographed on set wearing this vaguely exotic ensemble.  Now, in a recent interview, Cotillard has spoken out about her role.  Sort of.

The Dark Knight Rises: Juno Temple Talks About Her Role

When Juno Temple was cast in The Dark Knight Rises some time ago, the word was that she would be playing “a street-smart Gotham girl”.  Not all that much to go on, but it was enough to start up some fan theories.  All kinds of ideas were tossed around – Batgirl, a female Robin, Harley Quinn – but the most popular (and plausible) theory by far was that Temple would be playing Holly Robinson, Catwoman’s teenage prostitute gal-pal. Now, a new interview with Miss Temple has been released, and it seems to point towards the Holly Robinson theory being correct.  

3DS Ambassador Games Impressions - Super Balloon Wrecking Bros.

Mario, Zelda, Metroid and more on your 3DS. Now you're playing with power!

Only July 28th, Nintendo made a pretty bold move. In hopes of spiking 3DS sales, Nintendo announced a $80 price cut for the 3DS, a huge amount for so soon in its lifespan. To stop fans who bought the 3DS at full price from raging, Nintendo offered what they called "3DS Ambassadors" (people who bought a 3DS before the price drop), 20 free games to download. Ten would be GBA titles, and ten NES titles. The first batch of titles released a few days ago, the 10 NES games. And there are some pretty cool games, both famous and under-the-radar for 3DS Ambassadors to check out...

The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra Updates - 2013 Release?!?! Read these old Korra posts to pass the time

Well, shit.

Korra 2012: Now coming 2013

When The Last Airbender: The Legend of Korra series was first announced, the 2012 release date seemed like it would never come. Now that we're finally near 2012, the cruel folks at Nickelodeon have now pushed Korra back... to 2013. Obviously, a lot of fans (including me) were really disappointed at this. Could this just be a typo? While it is still not officially confirmed, it seems more and more likely that the new release date is 2013, as two sources have now reported on it.

So let's take this as a rumor right now. Hopefully, it will turn out to be false.

KorraNation

But no matter when The Legend of Korra will come out, ForkThisLlama will be covering it. Before the fine days of ForkThisLlama, I had made my own blog dedicated only to Korra related news. There's a fair number of articles still there that may be worth reading, depending on how caught up you are to Korra. The URL for the old blog is:

http://korranation.blogspot.com/

Some articles you might consider reading to pass the time until more news gets released are:

First Teaser Trailer for The Hunger Games Movie via VMAs - How is it? (Plus Director Commentary!)

 EDIT: Oh. Spoiler alert. If you haven't read The Hunger Games already, what are you waiting for! READ!!!

The first official trailer for the new Hunger Games movie adaption was released during the VMAs yesterday. While it doesn't show too much (it is a teaser trailer), it's the first time we've seen footage of the movie. So, how was it?

Ace Attorney Movie News: Cast, Set Photos, and More

It’s official – a live-action Gyakuten Saiban (that is, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney) movie is in the works.  Really.

Rumors about an Ace Attorney movie started about a week ago, when director Takashi Miike spoke of his next film in an interview for The Huffington Post, saying:

"It is a very light comedy that I am filming now, a court drama, based on a video game, the Nintendo game DS."

Aaand of course the fans (myself included) went wild, because, you know, there are only so many Nintendo DS games involving court cases.  Shortly after Takashi Miike’s interview, the film was officially announced, much to my excitement.

So… who’s gonna be in it?  Where are they filming?  What’s the story?  We’ve got answers.  Sort of.

Ace Attorney Updates: Gyakuten Kenji 2, Professor Layton vs Phoenix Wright, and Gyakuten Saiban 5

The Ace Attorney series of DS games is one of my absolute favorites.  Great storylines, gameplay that actually requires you to think (shocking!), memorable characters, healthy doses of humor – they’ve got it all.  Needless to say, I’m more than a little displeased with the current situation of the latest game (i.e., its lack of a US release – more on that in a bit).  After all, the most recent game in the series to receive a US release was Ace Attorney Investigations: Miles Edgeworth, and that was over a year ago.  I’m growing quite impatient. 

Anyway, after doing a bit of research, I found that there actually quite a few Ace Attorney-related projects in various stages of development.  Here’s the rundown:

Candy Land Movie = Lord of the Rings + Candy?

Awhile back, it was brought to my attention that a Candy Land movie is being made.  Now, I was already aware of the Battleship movie currently in the works (which I am not at all happy about), but this was still pretty shocking news for me.  I mean, what could possibly be done to make Candy Land into a movie?  It’s a board game.  About candy.  Enough said.  Still, after giving the idea some time to sink in, I calmed down.  After all, I thought, it’ll just be a harmless little movie aimed at small children.  Sure, it’ll probably suck, but who cares?  It’s not like they expect us to take it seriously or anything, right? 

Wrong. 

A few days ago, EW released a statement from Candy Land screenwriters Jonathan Aibel and Glenn Berger which read:

“We envision it as Lord of the Rings, but set in a world of candy.”

Lord of the Rings.  With candy.  Damn these people.  Damn them all to hell.

Anyway, I couldn’t really visualize what Lord of the Rings in a world of candy would look like, so I decided use my incredible Photoshop skills to create some pictures to help me out.  The results are not at all encouraging.

The Dark Knight Rises Cast Gains a Judge and a Priest

More casting news (again) for The Dark Knight Rises!  Two new actors have been cast, one playing a judge and the other a priest. 

The Dark Knight Rises Gets Three New Cast Members

More news on The Dark Knight Rises – the updates just won’t stop!  As it turns out, casting is not yet complete, despite the fact that filming has already begun.  Specifically, news of three new cast members has just surfaced, though their roles haven’t yet been revealed, once again leaving us fans to speculation.

The Dark Knight Rises: First Official Image of Tom Hardy as Bane

A quick update, but an exciting one: the first official image of Tom Hardy as Bane has been released!  So, what exactly will Bane look like in The Dark Knight Rises? 

Bane as seen in DC Comics.  In case you hadn't noticed, he likes breaking peoples' backs.

The Dark Knight Rises: New Set Photos, Plot Rumors, and Cast Member

More The Dark Knight Rises news, everyone – and this time it’s a bit more substantial.  First, we’ve got some more bright and shiny new photos that have been leaked from the shooting in India, and a supposed eyewitness report of the actual shooting to go with them.  Even more interesting, however, is the news of an unexpected new cast member. 

The Dark Knight Rises: Marion Cotillard Interview and Set Photos

Two new snippets of news about The Dark Knight Rises just came out, and I must say, things are really starting to point towards the Talia al Ghul rumors being true.  What we’ve got here is an interview with Marion Cotillard and some leaked set photos, both of which are actually quite revealing (especially when coupled with the news of the India shoot, and Josh Pence playing a young version of Ra’s al Ghul).

Talia al Ghul will fuck your shit up.

Lady Gaga Premieres New Song "Americano"

This was a pleasant surprise. The day before her "Judas" music video premieres and only 19 days until her full album drops, Lady Gaga premiered the song "Americano" from her album Born This Way at the Monster Ball Tour in Mexico. "Americano" is "a love story between Gaga and a girl from L.A." but it doesn't take long to realize this song is about a lot more. From immigration laws to gay marriage, this is pretty easily the most lyrically abstract of Lady Gaga's Born This Way songs so far.

The Dark Knight Rises to Shoot in... India?

As I’ve previously mentioned, The Dark Knight Rises is filming in Pittsburgh.  Now, however, some new information has come to light: according to The Daily Bhaskar, filming will also take place in Jodhpur, India.  So… what exactly does that mean for the movie?

Hopefully this will happen at some point.  I'm sure they could work it in.

X-Men First Class: New Official Poster Sucks; Fan-Made Ones Still Better

By now, you've no doubt witnessed the atrocities that are the X-Men: First Class posters.  There’s been quite a few of them, the best of which are slightly less than mediocre.  The worst, on the other hand, are mind-blowingly awful – specifically the ones where Magneto and Professor X have their faces photoshopped onto their respective crotches for some reason.  You can see those little treasures here, though for your sake I suggest you don’t look at them for too long, in order to avoid any negative side effects.  Like projectile vomiting or spontaneous combustion.  Seriously, my grandmother could have done better.  And she’s dead.  Anyway, a new poster was released the other day, and while it’s not as bad as the crotch-face ones, it still sucks.  So, in order to heal your now-scalded retinas, I’ve rounded up some of the best fan-made posters from around the web.  

Here's the new official poster.  It's pretty shitty.

Catherine Updates: Adventuring, with a Side of Boobs

If you’re like me, then you’re a huge fan of Atlus’ Persona series, and are eagerly awaiting Persona 5.  Unfortunately, the wait for Persona 5 is going to be a long one, seeing as it was only confirmed a month ago.  Luckily, Atlus is releasing another game this summer, and it looks like it’s at least somewhat similar to the Persona series.  The game, Catherine appears to be a kind of trippy, sexed-up, mindfuck of a survival-horror game, with some puzzle and adventure elements tossed in for good measure.  In other words, it’s gonna be some weird shit.  

The Dark Knight Rises: Hugo Strange Rumors Revived

Just quick update on a recent rumor that’s been making the rounds:

For some time, one of the more popular ideas about The Dark Knight Rises was that Robin Williams would be playing Dr. Hugo Strange, a creepy-looking bald scientist dude. Then I think the story switched to Tom Hardy playing him or something weird like that. Anyway, these rumors have long since been dismissed as complete bullshit, but now it seems they're back for another round.

Told you he was creepy.