Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” will leave a myriad of lasting impressions on different people for different reasons, but universally, the film will prove to the masses that ballet is most definitely not boring. Beautiful, thrilling, breathtaking — yes, I’m referring to both the art form and the film. “Black Swan” echoes everything there is to […]

It’s Johnny Depp Appreciation Day here at Movie Muse, but very very unofficially. Turns out that the two most interesting new trailers both feature the international superstar: “Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides” and the animated desert Western, “Rango.”

This year I’ve amped up my pre-awards coverage, so this isn’t the first time you’ve read about this on (if you’ve been reading) Movie Muse. But without a doubt, things don’t really get cooking until now, when the 2011 Golden Globe nominations come out. As the most extravagant/popular pre-Oscars ceremony, the Globes receive a lot […]

After this weekend, Walt Disney can breathe a sigh of relief and say “I told you so.” The company dropped the “Chronicles of Narnia” films after “Prince Caspian,” the second film, didn’t come nearly as close to the first, “The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe.” Picked up by 20th Century Fox and made with […]

***Updated Monday at 3:20 CT to reflect New York Critics Circle Awards. The friends keep pouring in for “The Social Network” as the Los Angeles Film Critics, Boston Society of Film Critics, New York Film Critics Online and New York Film Critics Circle have named David Fincher’s film the best of 2010. The American Film […]

As December kicks into gear, expect a lot of first trailers for this summer’s major releases. “Thor” will kick off the summer season in that coveted first weekend of May and here’s our first look at footage (if you didn’t catch the stuff that got leaked after Comic Con).

No matter which way you shake it, “Shrek Forever After” amounts to nothing more than a way to capitalize on a profitable franchise for a fourth time. Many fans will see this as proper closure to the franchise, but that’s the closure *they* need, not that the films needed. “Forever After” feels much more like […]

Things start to pick up for the winter this week with another family adventure film sequel and a seductive-looking thriller starring Johnny Depp and Angelina Jolie. Although no film has been hyped more than usual, it should be enough to kickstart the box office heading into the bigger releases of the next couple weeks.

Last time we saw a first trailer for a “Tranformers” movie, there was a distinctly different buzz in the air. The 2007 film was a major hit and we all eagerly awaited how Michael Bay and co. would top it. Several scathing reviews, racial stereotype accusations, a “feud” between Bay and star Megan Fox, and […]

Although it’s uncertain to what extent, Irrfan Khan, who played the investigator in “Slumdog Millionaire,” will play a second villain, Nels Van Adder, in 2012’s reboot of the “Spider-Man” franchise directed by Mark Webb. The barely known character becomes “Proto-Goblin” in the comics.

Today marks the release of “Shrek: The Whole Story.” No, no, this is not a new “Shrek” film, thank goodness — the last film came out in May, it’s over (unless you count the upcoming “Puss in Boots” spinoff). Anyway, today you can buy all four chapters together in a box set — just in […]

On the slowest movie weekend of the year, “Tangled” jumped over “Harry Potter” to be first at the box office with about $21 million. Business was cut in half from last week thanks to no notable new releases.

Like most movie franchises begun in the 20th Century — with a few notable exceptions thanks to James Cameron — the “Predator” series was never better than its 1987 original. The most recent efforts pitting the Predators against their “enemies” the Xenomorphs, the “Alien vs. Predator” films, had reduced a once imaginative and fearsome beast […]

Our first non-indie-specific awards have been given by the National Board of Review. Announced Thursday, the board has shown favor to David Fincher’s “The Social Network.” The film received four awards: Best Film, Best Director (Fincher), Best Actor (Jesse Eisenberg) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Aaron Sorkin). As if we didn’t have an inkling before, this […]

This week, we gear up for the stretch run of 2010 and kick off the smaller movies being most associated with the word “Oscar” these days. Darren Aronofsky’s “Black Swan” takes the honors for the latter while the only mainstream release — likely due to fear of a Thanksgiving hangover — is the martial arts […]