Sir Ian McKellen back as Gandalf

Sir Ian McKellen has confirmed he will reprise his role as Gandalf in the film remake of JRR Tolkien's The Hobbit.

"Yes, it's true," he told Empire magazine. "It's not a part that you turn down. I loved playing Gandalf."

Two Hobbit films are planned for release in 2010 and 2011. They will be prequels to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, directed by Peter Jackson.

Guillermo del Toro has been named as the director of the movies, to be made back-to-back in New Zealand.

"I spoke to Guillermo in the very room that Peter Jackson offered me the part and he confirmed that I would be reprising the role," Sir Ian said.

He also said del Toro would be starting the script in about six weeks after he has finished filming current project, Hellboy 2.

According to studio New Line, the first film will be an adaptation of The Hobbit and the second will be an original story focusing on the 60 years between the book and the beginning of the Rings trilogy.

"As to how it's going to work over two films and what going to happen on screen, well Guillermo has not got down to working out the major details yet - I can tell you it's going to be amazing though," Sir Ian said.

* Pinched from BBC Entertainment News, 30/04/2008

Snipes Sentenced to Three Years

Hollywood star Wesley Snipes has been sentenced to serve three years in jail for tax evasion.

In February the Blade actor was convicted of failing to file his taxes for five years. The star was acquitted of tax fraud and filing a false claim, as well as three misdemeanor counts of willful failure to file a tax return. But on Thursday in Florida, U.S. District Judge William Terrell Hodges sentenced Snipes to three years imprisonment.

Earlier this week, Snipes' famous friends, like actors Woody Harrelson and Denzel Washington, sent letters to the judge as character references. The actor's attorneys argued that Snipes' crimes did not warrant a prison sentence, and that the star should be given probation. Details of when Snipes will have to surrender to prison, and where he will serve his sentence have not been released.

* Pinched from IMDb, 25/04/2008

Punisher: War Zone (2008)

Its nice to see Marvel haven't given up on previous comic-to-movie failures. As well as the new Incredible Hulk film a second Punisher film will also be released later this year.

Tom Jane has stepped down from the lead to be replaced by the relatively unknown Ray Stevenson in Punisher: War Zone.

Lets wait and see if this'll be a 'hit' or a 'miss'.

Resident Evil: Degeneration (2008)

'Resident Evil: Degeneration' (aka. Biohazard: Degeneration) is a new film based on the popular survival horror video games, created in glorious CGI. Judging from the above trailer this looks set to be the first movie adaption in the history of Resident Evil to actually be... good!

As its made by the Japanese company Capcom (creators of the series) this will be totally authentic to the games and a huge step away from the crap (sorry Ned!) live action versions starring Milla Jovovich.


Its going straight to DVD in the states soon so warm up your internet connection as I'm sure the amazing NinjaVideo.net will have it afterwards to view/download.

Zombie Strippers (2008)

Jumping on the Grindhouse band wagon heres the latest budget horror 'Zombie Strippers'.

Robert Englund and Jenna Jameson star. Could this be as "great" as last years 'Flight of the Living Dead'? There's only one way to find out...

"...to the DVD bargain bin!"

Hot Stuff!

Gladiators is coming back to the UK and here's a great excuse to watch it!


Giggidy!

24 year old Jemma Palmer, stage name 'Inferno' and has been compared to Angelina Jolie's portrayal of Lara Croft (from Tomb Raider films) for at least a couple of good reasons (catch my drift?).

The show will be shown exclusively on Sky One, dang it!

Son of Rambow (2007)

'Son of Rambow' is a lovely British comedy, set in the early eighties that pays homage to the original Sylvester Stallone Rambo film, First Blood.

*** SPOILERS ***

The basis of the film is built around the friendship between two very different characters. Will, a member of a very strange religious cult and Carter, the generic schoolboy misfit who causes trouble wherever he goes and has a thing for video piracy.

Will lives a very sheltered life due to his family's religious beliefs, having spent all his young life not seeing a single film or watching TV. He spends most of his time escaping through his sketch book. Carter manages to persuade the innocent and naive Will into bunking off school and takes him back to his strange house (which is on the same site as an old peoples home). Whilst there Will is left on his own when hiding from Carter's older brother, all alone with a dodgy copy of 'First Blood' playing in the background.

First Blood being the only film he's ever watched has a huge impact that totally changes his perception of the world. Will adopts the Rambo persona after having a crazy yet brilliant semi animated dream sequence, spawning new and exiting ideas to be scribbled in his sketch book.



The two friends start making their own film called 'Son of Rambow' using Will's excellent drawings for the storyboard and Carters video camera with brilliant and hilarious results.

*** SPOILER END ***

Its a really lovely story and the cast of kids are superb. I highly recommend it.

P.S; Look out for veteran actor/comedian Eric Sykes cameo.

Max Payne (2008)

Remember the Max Payne video game from Rockstar Games studio? Well, its going to become a movie at last.

Its probably a bit too late if you ask me, while the games are really good they've kinda been left behind now with endless other video game series out there emulating a similar formula.

The last game Max Payne game; The Fall of Max Payne came out five years ago. There are rumors bouncing around the internet of a third game currently in development. That would certainly warrant a movie title if successful.



Anyway, IMDb have a page for the Max Payne movie with (Marky) Mark Wahlberg down for playing the lead so thats a good sign things are moving forward.

Thanks to my good friend Hempknight for telling me about this.

Indiana Jones 'opening in Cannes'

New Indiana Jones movie The Kingdom of the Crystal Skull will premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, one of its stars John Hurt has said.

But the actor, who plays Abner Ravenwood in the picture, told BBC One's Jonathan Ross show he was sworn to secrecy about the film's details.

There has been speculation the film will debut at the French event days before a worldwide release on 22 May.

Click here to read the full story as featured on the BBC Entertainment News site.

Clarkson driving the Peel

Here's a really funny clip taken from last nights (repeated) episode of Top Gear. It features the very tall Jeremy Clarkson driving around in the worlds smallest car. Its absolutely brilliant!

Grand Theft Auto IV

Only 23 days left until the long awaited Grand Theft Auto IV finally gets released on the next generation games consoles. This is sure to get the 'Game of the Year' award.

Charlton Heston Dies at 84

Charlton Heston, the square-jawed movie star who won an Oscar for his portrayal of Ben-Hur and was famed for a number of other epic films, died Saturday night at the age of 84.

Though an official cause of death was not initially released, the actor had announced in 2002 that he was battling Alzheimer's disease, and had withdrawn from professional appearances after the diagnosis.

An actor at first well-known for his portrayal of historical figures -- in addition to his role as Ben-Hur, he also played Michelangelo, El Cid, Moses, and John the Baptist.

Heston's fame later in life was highlighted by his polarizing views on gun control, as the actor was elected president of the National Rifle Association in 1998 and vigorously defended the rights of gun owners throughout the country. That role, which he left in 2003, almost overshadowed the length of his impressive acting career, which started in theater and television before graduating to the silver screen.

* Pinched from IMDb, 06/04/2008

Battlestar Galactica - Season 4

I can't believe I forgot that the 4th season was going to start this week!!! Anyway, the excellent Battlestar Galactica is back for its fourth and final season and started last night in the US.

I'm really looking forward to watching it ("broadband connection, don't let me down!") but at the same time I'm kinda sad its drawing to a close. Hopefully it will have a decent conclusion. I wonder who the last Cylon will be?

And here's a link to some hi-res photos of the gorgeous Grace Park in case you've forgotten what she looks like, shame on you!

Coincidentally, Battlestar Galactica came in at number 13 on Empire's 50 Greatest TV Shows recent readers poll.

50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time

Empire's online magazine has published the results from the '50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time' readers poll.

I'm not sure if would I agree with all the entries but its great to see Curb Your Enthusiasm & Arrested Development getting the recognition they both deserve (although 'Curb' in my opinion should be in the top 5).

Theres no real surprise for the No.1 show, its been in the same place for several years. For those that don't want to know what it is, look away now....

...

To everyone else its 'The Simpsons'.