Manny The Movie Guy

WATCH MY "HANCOCK" MOVIE REVIEW!!!

ALEC MAPA, AMERICA'S GAYSIAN SWEETHEART--WATCH MY INTERVIEW!!!

Alec Mapa has been making a huge splash in Hollywood with scene-stealing roles in "Ugly Betty," and "Desperate Housewives" to name a few.

Recently, he co-starred with Adam Sandler in "You Don't Mess with the Zohan."

Well, I finally met Mister Alec and what a great guy! He invited us to his home for a one-on-one interview, and I came out thinking, Alec is truly America's Gaysian Sweetheart!

I thought I was...until I met Mister Alec :wink

We talked about everything from his Filipino heritage, to his hilarious stand-up shows.

He's funny, sweet, and super-nice!

Have fun watching my interview with Alec Mapa!

COHEN, FERRELL TO STAR IN SHERLOCK FILM!!!

They played rival race car drivers in "Talladega Nights," now Sacha Baron Cohen and Will Ferrell are back together for a new "Sherlock Holmes" flick!

Cohen is set to star as Sherlock Holmes, and Ferrell will play his crime-solving partner, Watson.

"Tropic Thunder's" Etan Cohen is writing the script, and Judd Apatow is going to produce.

SOURCE: VARIETY

"QUANTUM OF SOLACE" NEW TEASER TRAILER

Take a look at the new teaser trailer for the upcoming James Bond flick, "The Quantum of Solace."

Daniel Craig returns as our favorite secret agent, this time he's seeking revenge for the death of his love. The film is directed by Marc Foster ("Monster's Ball," "Finding Neverland") from a script written by "Casino Royale" scribes Neal Purvis, Robert Wade, and Paul Haggis.

The film comes out November 7th.

Click here to see the "Quantum of Solace" teaser trailer.

"HANCOCK" MOVIE REVIEW! HOW MANY KISSES DOES WILL SMITH GET?

Look, up in the sky! It�s a bird! It�s a plane! It�s �Hancock!� It�s a superhero flick that�s one of the worst films of Will Smith�s career.

What went wrong? For starters, we have a movie that wants to appeal to everyone and it ends up satisfying no one. Its overreaching tone becomes �Hancock�s� Achilles heel.

The film�s first half is its greatest strength. Smith stars as John Hancock, a hard-living superhero who loves booze more than saving the world. When he decides to fight crime, he causes millions of dollars worth of damage.

The very people Hancock saves despise him. Our conflicted hero is due for an image makeover.

Enter Ray Embrey (Jason Bateman), a bleeding heart PR executive who Hancock rescued from being demolished by a speeding train. During a spaghetti and meatballs dinner with Ray, his wife Mary (Charlize Theron), and their son Aaron (Jae Head), Hancock agrees to change his image.

One of Ray�s solutions is to have Hancock serve time in jail to pay his increasing debt to society. As soon as our hero enters prison, the film starts falling apart. Do we really need to see the sight of Hancock shoving a man�s head inside another�s derriere? In a lowbrow comedy, it�s perfectly fine, but not in a superhero film with high-drama intentions.

The film�s journey from paper to screen was as spotty as the final product. Written by Vy Vincent Ngo in 1996, the movie�s original title was �Tonight, He Comes.� The early draft became one of Hollywood�s most sought after property.

The film did not get the green light until 2005 when Smith agreed to star. By then, the original script went through so many rewrites with different producers attached.

Indeed, �Hancock� is spoiled by too many cooks in the kitchen. Most of these producers are creative visionaries such as Michael Mann (�The Insider�), James Lassiter (�I Am Legend�), Jonathan Mostow (�Breakdown�) and Smith himself which makes it all the more painful to see the film�s failure.

Directed by actor-turned-director Peter Berg (�The Kingdom�), �Hancock� is bogged down by an overwrought script that couldn�t decide if it�s an action adventure, romance, comedy, or drama.

The film is not helped by Berg�s odd choice to use the kinetic camera style and overzealous close-ups he perfected in �The Kingdom.� For example, we don�t need to see hyper camera movement in a two-person dramatic shot.

The special effects are pedantic at best. I failed to see its reported $150-million budget on-screen. Sure, it�s fun to see Hancock flying under the influence in the beginning, but it quickly gets tiring.

For a superhero film to work, it needs a clear mythology so audiences can empathize with the characters. In �Hancock,� the mythos introduced in the second half of the film is so preposterous and ill-conceived that the viewers will be left scratching their heads. The best arc the filmmakers can offer is that Hancock is amnesiac and does not remember what happened to him.

The filmmakers also did not remember to give Hancock a nemesis worthy of his powers. They�re already unsuccessful in providing internal conflict with the hero, so they might as well have created a villain to make an exciting battle between good and evil.

The three main actors save the film, almost. Smith succeeds in making his character somewhat likeable even with the swearing and despicable actions. Theron adds allure and mystery to her role which provides the big twist in the end. I�m glad that Bateman is having career resurgence after �Arrested Development.� His character is the heart of the movie.

�Hancock� is blessed with a good premise but saddled with bad execution. Much like its hero, the film forgot its own identity. And for that, �Hancock� gets :2k not quite super superhero kisses

"WALL-E," "WANTED" THE $100 MILLION BOX-OFFICE DUO

"WALL-E" outgunned "Wanted" at the box-office this weekend, but the Angelina Jolie film also kicked major booty.

I love both films, and the Disney-Pixar collaboration raised $62.5 million in ticket sales, while "Wanted" made $51.1 million.

The two movies combined to keep Hollywood on a roll. The top 12 movies took in $179.2 million, up 22 percent from the same weekend last year.

So folks are trying to forget the sour economy, and high gas prices, by watching a movie!

Click Read More to see the complete list of the Top 10 Films at the Box-Office, for weekend of June 27th.

1. "WALL-E," $62.5 million.

2. "Wanted," $51.1 million.

3. "Get Smart," $20 million.

4. "Kung Fu Panda," $11.7 million.

5. "The Incredible Hulk," $9.2 million.

6. "The Love Guru," $5.4 million.

7. "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull," $5 million.

8. "The Happening," $3.9 million.

9. "Sex and the City," $3.8 million.

10. "You Don't Mess With the Zohan," $3.2 million.

WATCH MY "WALL E" AND "WANTED" MOVIE REVIEWS!!!

They're fun as always, of course :happy

VOTE FOR NORTON AVENUE FILMS, WIN A DELUXE DVD CASE!!!

My friends at Norton Avenue Films, shared with me this great news! But one quick note, you have to be a myspace member so they can notify you if you're the lucky winner!

VOTE PLEASE? NORTON FOLKS ARE A BUNCH OF CREATIVE PEOPLE WORKING INDEPENDENTLY. SO THEY NEED YOUR HELP!

I featured them on my Spotlight -- Emerging Talent section, because they truly deserved it!

So click read more to find out how you can win this Deluxe DVD Case. AND VOTE, OR ELSE!!! I already voted!!! :tongue

Here's their email:

Several of you could get the chance to Win a Deluxe DVD Case containing various episodes from some of today's great shows from T.V. and Cable networks such as HBO, Showtime, Bravo and PBS to name a few, when you Vote for our Films from your computer.

Sign up to Clipstar.com and Vote for our Films. After voting leave a comment with your Myspace address under any of the two films. If you leave a comment under both films your chance of winning increases. We will contact the winners through Myspace and ship you one of the Deluxe DVD Cases. All the appropriate links are below for your convenience. Thank you in advance for your support and good luck.

If you have voted thus far you can still login and leave a comment for your chance to win.

SIGN UP

Enjoy and Vote for the following two short films:

CRAZY

SINCERE

Take care,

Norton Avenue Films

"HELLBOY 3" ALREADY? GUILLERMO DEL TORO TALKS THREE-QUEL!!!

I heard from our friends at Collider, that director Guillermo del Toro is planning a three-quel of "Hellboy." But we have to wait until 2012 when del Toro finishes wrapping up "The Hobbit."

Well, I will ask him this planned third film question when I meet him this weekend for "Hellboy 2: The Golden Army."

For now, watch his red-carpet interview!

COULD IT BE? IS THIS POSSIBLE? "CLASH OF THE TITANS" REMAKE!!!

Now, I'm not all too happy with films being remade. I look at those as a sign that Hollywood, sometimes, is bankrupt creatively.

BUT, there are movies I would love to be remade, some because the story needs to be updated, and some because their special effects are outdated, and the look affects your viewing pleasure of the flick.

SO, I heard that Warner Bros. is trying to mount a remake of "Clash of the Titans" (I remember watching this film on the big screen when I was just a little boy and was visually raped by Harry Hamlin :happy).

Speaking of Hamlin, I wonder who will replace him. We just have to wait and see. For now, read this article about "Clash of the Titans" and the reinvention of the Greek mythology genre.