The Latest Spider-Man Trailer Released

Now this is more like it! Like many, I was unsure about how this new version of the Spider-Man franchise would play out after the Toby Maguire/Sam Raimi films but I can say I like this new look to Peter Parker/Spider-Man which will be released June 3, 2012.

That is a very nicely down trailer and it looks like Maguire's replacement, Andrew Garfield does pretty good but of course we'll have to wait to see if the final results live up to the promises of a great action flick given in a trailer. Garfield seems fitted to the Peter Parker role as the teenaged web slinger as well as the bright, nerdy kid. He was most recently seen in 2009's The Social Network, where he played Eduardo Saverin and he will have another movie this year besides The Amazing Spider-Man called Back Roads, which should give Garfield a chance to flex some acting muscles as the eldest son whose mother is placed in jail for having killed his abusive, drunken father.

But back to the matter at hand. Rather than have Kirsten Dunst return once more as Mary Jane Watson, those behind the film have cast the lovely Emma Stone as Parker's love interest, Gwen Stacy with Denis Leary as her cop father. I always love seeing Leary in these roles where he plays the tough guy. Stone was just in the Oscar-nominated The Help last year and played Wichita in Zombieland the year before that.

In The Amazing Spider-Man, which is going to be in 3D, seems a little closer to what his origins are in this movie. He doesn't get to shoot webs out of his wrists as a result of his "evolution" but has to make a little device that spins webs which is what he had to do back in the original comic books. Dr. Curt Connors, played by Rhys Ifans, aka The Lizard, looks pretty good too and should provide a great villan for this movie. Ifans was also in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 1 where he played Xenophilius Lovegood. It looks like Dr. Connors worked with Parker's father at Oscorp and Parker's character solves whatever problem prevents Connors from morphing into the Lizard. The movie looks like it packs a ton of story into about a 2 hour film while still offering up a fair share of kickass action scenes. Now we just have to wait for June to roll around so we can see the finished movie. I'm guessing that this will be (obviously) one of the biggest movies this summer and will probably easily hit at least $200 million in box office sales.

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island Trailer

Here we go with another not very interesting take on the Jules Verne book called The Mysterious Island which was published way back in 1874 and usually one of the novels you read during elementary school or high school. This story has been told over and over and this latest version is just the most recent incarnation to hit the big screen (fleetingly is my prediction), but hey, it's got The Rock! So it's gotta be good right?! Journey 2: The Mysterious Island stars Dwayne Johnson (aka The Rock from wrestling fame), Michael Caine (younger readers will know him as Alfred from the Batman movies), Josh Hutcherson, who was previously in Bridge To Terabithia as well as Polar Express, Vanessa Hudgens, recently in Super Punch (avoid at all costs except for the fight scenes) and the High School Musical movies (eek!). Hudgens plays "Kailani" and her helicopter flyin' father is played by a familiar face, Luis Guzman. Let's take a look at the trailer shall we?

Oh, this looks like it might not be all that good. Tons of big scaries calling around and popping up that want to eat the group and some probably won't make it back. First a little back story: Hutcherson plays "Alexander", a young bright kid whose grandfather, played by Michael Caine, goes missing while searching for some "lost island" so Alexander decides to go looking for him. Johnson plays the boyfriend of Alexander's mother, so he provides a little muscle for the adventure. They need a copter to scout out the territory where they think Alexander's grandfather disappeared and the lovely Kailani catches Alexander's eye and as luck would have it, Kailani's dad has a helicopter... and away we go.

The problem is that the island is going to sink back into the ocean and since the copter is busted, the survivors will have to, what? Swim for it? No doubt after many creatures trying to make a quick lunch out of them, they'll all get to the beach with giant spiders, humongous reptiles in hot pursuit and there will be dear old granddad or someone else to scoop them up in an ending happy for all.

Don't worry though, all will have (hopefully) better movies later this year although this one will be good for some mindless fun and giggles (have to admit I laughed at The Rock's pec hustle dance). A lot younger girls will be there to drool over Hutcherson and a like number of guys will be oogling the charms of Ms Hudgens. I'm guessing Journey 2: The Mysterious Island will make about $10-15,000,000 it's first week and might rake in around $40 million or so before being swept aside by the more interesting films on the schedule.

The Avengers Newest Video Airs During Super Bowl 46

For all you Avengers fans, Marvel Studios has released another Avengers video which should whet the appetite of those anxiously awaiting the May 4, 2012 release date for the movie which is directed by Joss Whedon. So, enough of my blathering, here's the latest look at the forthcoming superhero movie.

Not too much as far as "character development" but that's not why we flock to these flicks right? We want to see the superheroes kick some butt and take down names. Of course there are some of the expected movie stars shown, such as Robert Downey, Jr. as Sherlock Hol... er, I mean, Iron Man, Chris Hemsworth reprising his recent role of Thor, the scrumptious Scarlett Johansson as Black Widow and Chris Evans fresh from his Captain America film. Also, a little of Mark Ruffalo (how tall is this guy? He makes Downey Jr look tall) but thankfully we see a little more of the Hulk in this one. Plus Mr Samuel L. Jackson shows up for the fight too as Nick Fury

The evil dude is of course Loki played by Tom Hiddleston. Gotta love the dialog between Tony Stark (Downey Jr) & Loki (Hiddleston), "I've got an army", and "Well, we've got a Hulk." Does Loki and others from the norse legends periodically stop by for drinks with billionaires? At least we see some of Hulk bouncing around and taking out a couple of the bad guys on their space scooters. Expect more and more trailer releases and movie stills the closer we get to May 4th - that's what? Only three months away?