Universal City, U.S.A. —  When an imaginative boy meets a lost alien, it is the beginning of one of cinema’s most endearing friendships, as Elliot (Henry Thomas) helps the marvelous creature he calls E.T. find his way back home before government agents can capture him.

‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’, Academy Award-winning director Steven Spielberg’s magical adventure, celebrates its 30th Anniversary with it’s first-ever release on Blu-ray October 9, 2012. Featuring an all-new, digitally remastered picture that delivers six times the resolution of DVD, as well as all-new 7.1 surround sound, the E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Anniversary Edition Blu-ray Combo Pack includes the 1982 theatrical movie, an all-new interview with director Steven Spielberg, and “The E.T. Journals” featuring never-before-seen footage from the set of the film.

The Blu-ray Combo Pack also includes Ultraviolet, a DVD and a Digital Copy of the film, offering fans a chance to relive the mystery, laughter and wonder of the iconic movie anytime, anywhere on the platform of their choice.

In 1982, ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ became the biggest blockbuster of the year, ranking #1 over 16 different weekends. Even today, ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ remains the fourth most successful movie of all-time in the United States. Nominated for nine Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Cinematography, Best Writing and Best Screenplay, the film took home four statuettes for Best Visual Effects, Best Sound Effects Editing, Best Sound and Best Music for John Williams’ (‘Jaws’) memorable score.

The unforgettable cast includes the adorable Drew Barrymore (‘He’s Just Not That into You’, ‘Charlie’s Angels’), Henry Thomas (‘Dear John’, ‘Legends of the Fall’), Dee Wallace (‘10′, “Sons and Daughters”) and Peter Coyote (“Law & Order: LA,” Jagged Edge).

“When ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial’ premiered in 1982, it captured the imaginations of people young, old and everyone in between in a way that was unparalleled in modern movie history,” said Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment. “A global cultural phenomenon—and the biggest box-office blockbuster of its day—E.T. brought out the child in all of us. We thrilled audiences will now be able to experience the film in the astounding quality of Blu-ray.”

Bonus Features on the ‘E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial Anniversary:

• The E.T. Journals: In this all-new bonus feature, retrace the day-to-day experience of creating E.T from never-before-seen, behind-the-scenes footage shot by Academy Award-winning cinematographer John Toll. This piece will give viewers a unique feeling of being on the set and living the excitement of what it was like to make E.T.
• Steven Spielberg & E.T.: Watch an all-new interview with Steven Spielberg, as he reflects back on the film and discusses his experience working with the actors, as well as his overall and current perspective on E.T.
• Deleted Scenes: Two scenes from 2002 version of the film.
• A Look Back: A special insider’s look into the making of E.T. featuring interviews with Steven Spielberg, the cast, and others intimately involved with the film.
• The E.T. Reunion: The cast and filmmaker reunite to discuss their thoughts on the impact of the film.
• The Evolution and Creation of E.T.: From idea to screenplay, through casting and making the film.
• The Music of E.T.:  A Discussion with John Williams: Interviews and footage focused on the long-standing relationship between John Williams and Steven Spielberg.
• The 20th Anniversary Premiere: Composer John Williams played the score of E.T. live at the Shrine Auditorium for the re-release premiere of E.T. This feature gives us a behind the scenes look at this presentation.
• Original Theatrical Trailer
• Special Olympics TV spot
• Designs, Photographs and Marketing
  • E.T. Designs by Production Illustrator Ed Verreaux
  • E.T. Designs by Carlo Rambaldi
  • Spaceship Designs by Ralph McQuarrie
  • Designs by Production Illustrator Ed Verreaux
  • Production Photographs
  • Marketing E.T.
• Ultraviolet: The revolutionary new way for consumers to collect movies and TV shows, store them in the cloud, and instantly stream and download to computers, tablets and smartphones. Consumers can now truly enjoy their movies anytime, anywhere on the platform of their choice. Currently available in the United States only.
• Digital Copy: The Blu-ray Combo Pack includes a digital copy of the film compatible with iTunes, iPad, iPhone, iPod, iPod touch, Android or online retail partners.
• Pocket BLU App: The popular free pocket BLU app for smartphones is now even better with newly updated versions for iPad, Android tablets, PC and Macintosh computers, with features made especially to take advantage of the devices’ larger screens and high resolution displays.
  • Advanced Remote Control: A sleek, elegant new way to operate your Blu-ray player. Users can navigate through menus, playback and BD-Live functions with ease.
  • Video Timeline: Users can easily bring up the video timeline, allowing them to instantly access any point in the film.
  • Mobile-To-Go: Users can unlock a selection of bonus content with their Blu-ray discs to save to their device or to stream from anywhere there is a Wi-Fi network, enabling them to enjoy content on the go, anytime, anywhere.
  • Browse Titles: Users will have access to a complete list of pocket BLU-enabled titles available and coming to Blu-ray. They can view free previews and see what additional content is available to unlock on their device.
  • Keyboard: Entering data is fast and easy with your device’s intuitive keyboard.
• BD-Live: Access the BD-Live Center through your Internet-connected player to access the latest trailers, exclusive content and more.
• Steven Spielberg & E.T.
• Deleted Scenes
• A Look Back
• The E.T. Reunion

Universal is also partnering with leading independent games publisher Chillingo to publish E.T.: The Green Planet for the iTunes App Store. Inspired by a novel based on a story by Steven Spielberg, players travel with E.T. to his home planet, explore and build extraordinary intergalactic botanical gardens, and share their experiences with friends.

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Los Angeles, U.S.A. - Steven Spielberg, Founder of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, will present Robert A. Iger, Chairman and CEO of The Walt Disney Company, with the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s highest honor, the Ambassador for Humanity Award. Iger will be honored at the Institute’s Annual Gala on June 6, 2012 for his support of the Institute’s work, his longtime philanthropy, and his leadership role in corporate citizenship. Jimmy Kimmel is host for the evening with a special performance by Grammy Award-winning recording artist Mary J. Blige.

“Bob Iger is one of the good guys, who leads and inspires at the same time,” said Steven Spielberg, Founder of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. “Bob was one of the first visitors to the Shoah Foundation in 1995, shortly after it was established. He didn’t hesitate to support us as we raced against time to videotape the eyewitnesses before it was too late. Now, his ongoing commitment is helping us bring the messages of the Visual History Archive to young people worldwide.”

“Bob Iger is a corporate citizen of the highest order, and we are honored to recognize him as our Ambassador for Humanity,” said USC Shoah Foundation Institute Executive Director Stephen D. Smith. “His ongoing support, and that of The Walt Disney Company, is a great boost to our efforts as we engage students emotionally and cognitively with the testimonies. The good news is that we are finding a shift in attitudes and beliefs about how to treat others, which gives us hope that the testimonies, through this visual medium, can have a transformative effect on perceptions and actions.”

“At jcpenney, we believe that diversity inspires a better workplace and a better world,” said Michael Francis, president of jcpenney, presenting sponsor of the Ambassadors for Humanity Gala. “As a company founded on the Golden Rule philosophy, we could not be more proud to support the USC Shoah Foundation Institute and its promotion of tolerance, cultural understanding and mutual respect. It’s through the Institute’s preservation of personal life stories that we are able to use lessons from the past to create a better tomorrow.”

“It is truly an honor to recognize Robert A. Iger, a venerated member of USC’s Trojan Family,” said C. L. Max Nikias, president of the University of Southern California. “Mr. Iger is a distinguished executive in the entertainment industry, as well as a visionary leader who shares USC’s commitment to education and to young people. He remains an exemplary role model for all USC students.”

Since 1994, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute has collected and maintained an archive of nearly 52,000 video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses from 56 countries, and in 32 languages. The Institute will soon be announcing that their multi-year, multimillion dollar effort to digitize the original 234,979 Betacam SP tapes that hold the 52,000 testimonies has been fulfilled. This major milestone is just the first step in the ongoing effort to preserve the collection for generations to come, but it is an unprecedented achievement made possible by the support of people all over the world.

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Los Angeles, U.S.A. - Arnold Spielberg, father of USC Shoah Foundation Institute Founder Steven Spielberg, was honored Thursday, April 26 with the Institute’s inaugural Inspiration Award at a private luncheon in Los Angeles. Arnold was recognized for his many years of mentorship and support of the Institute’s work, especially in the area of humanity through technology.

A computer pioneer and former electrical engineer, Arnold was a volunteer and guiding light helping inspire the early team at the organization to overcome technical and logistical hurdles. Phil Rosenthal, creator of the highly acclaimed hit comedy series Everybody Loves Raymond, who is a longtime supporter of the Institute, served as the master of ceremonies for the event. He is also the son and grandson of Holocaust survivors. Olga Kern, internationally renowned concert pianist, was the special musical guest and gave a stellar performance.

The Inspiration Award, which will hereafter be known as the Arnold Spielberg Inspiration Award, was established to honor friends who have supported and inspired the Institute, including community leaders, Institute volunteers, teachers, scholars, survivors, and other unsung heroes, and to raise awareness of the Institute’s goals of promoting tolerance, cultural understanding, and mutual respect through the educational use of the testimonies in its Visual History Archive.

The USC Shoah Foundation Institute has collected and maintains an archive of nearly 52,000 video testimonies of Holocaust survivors and other witnesses, from 56 countries in 32 languages–the largest visual history archive of its kind in the world.

“Arnold’s contribution not only to the Institute, but also to the world, through his pioneering work in the field of technology has created a lasting legacy for current and future generations,” said Stephen D. Smith, executive director of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. “Arnold provided mentorship and support when it was greatly needed, and his astute council helped move the organization in the right direction and frame the groundwork upon which the Institute’s Visual History Archive is built.”

“I am so pleased and touched to be able to recognize my father’s vital contributions to the organization,” said Steven Spielberg, founder of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute. “With this Inspiration Award that will carry his name in perpetuity, my father will continue to be a beacon as we pursue our mission.”

Microsoft served as presenting sponsor of the event. “It is a great privilege to be a part of this special celebration to recognize Arnold Spielberg for his contribution to the Institute by building upon the promise of transforming and promoting humanity through technology,” said Don Mattrick, president of interactive entertainment business, Microsoft.

“We are proud to support the important educational work of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute and Steven Spielberg’s visionary purpose to transform people’s attitudes, beliefs and the way we learn through eyewitness testimony.”

During World War II, Arnold served with the 490th “Skull & Wings” Bomb Squadron, known as the “Burma Bridge Busters,” and became communications chief. Arnold helped design and build the first business computer. He also invented and patented the first electronic library system and designed the first electronic cash register, transforming the “point of sale” retail industry.

“I am very proud that my son Steven had the foresight to record the stories of the survivors so that future generations could learn lessons from the voices of those who were subjected to intolerance and hatred, and scholars could research the archive and use the content in whatever way they could to benefit humanity,” Arnold said.

“Eisenhower told his commanders to take many pictures, because in the future the Holocaust would be denied, as it is even now. I believe the power of the Institute’s Visual History Archive, like those photographs, remains a testament to the truth that no one can deny.”

The Award Luncheon highlighted some of the organization’s milestones and educational programs while allowing Arnold’s friends and colleagues to share personal anecdotes about working with him at the Institute. His son, filmmaker and Institute founder, Steven Spielberg, and his three daughters, Anne, Sue, and Nancy, presented their father with the award, with his extended family in attendance.

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DreamWorks Pictures’ “War Horse”, directed by Steven Spielberg, has earned American Humane Association’s highest certification rating: Monitored: Outstanding, No Animals Were Harmed. The production complied with American Humane Association’s ‘Guidelines for the Safe Use of Animals in Filmed Media’ to ensure the safety of the horses and fully cooperated with American Humane Association’s Film and TV Unit,  which logged 1,100 hours on ‘War Horse’ sets in England and California and safeguarded more than 100 horses.

Since 1940, American Humane Association has been safeguarding animals in film. On the ‘War Horse’ production sets, American Humane Association representative Barbara Carr was present to make sure that the many horses used in the making of the film were both safe and treated humanely. Says Director Spielberg, “I gave Barbara [Carr] the complete, final cut so to speak, to pull the plug if she felt any of the horses were not up to the challenge or any of the horses were in any way in harm’s way.”

Spielberg gave Carr input on set in the planning of the stunt or the action the horse had to perform and also gave her opportunities to watch rehearsals in slow motion, done one step at a time, so she could determine whether it would be safe for the horse.

The film, which opens in theatres in the U.S. on December 25th, is an epic tale of loyalty, hope and tenacity set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. Based on the best-selling book by Michael Morpurgo and the Tony Award-winning stage play by Nick Stafford, ‘War Horse’ is one of the great stories of bravery and friendship, brought to the screen by one of the greatest directors in film history.

‘War Horse’ begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. When they are forcefully parted, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of all those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land. The First World War is experienced through the journey of this horse—an odyssey of joy and sorrow, passionate friendship and high adventure.

Directed by Steven Spielberg, DreamWorks Pictures’ ‘War Horse’ stars Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irvine, Benedict Cumberbatch and Toby Kebbell. It is produced by Steven Spielberg and Kathleen Kennedy, and executive producers are Frank Marshall and Revel Guest. The screenplay was written by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis and is based on the book by Michael Morpurgo and the international hit stage play by Nick Stafford, originally produced by the National Theatre of Great Britain and directed by Tom Morris and Marianne Elliot.

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Paramount Pictures announced it ended 2011 in the No. 1 position among all studios, having achieved the highest total combined gross of any studio for the year, earning a record $5.17 billion worldwide. The studio, which released a total of 16 new releases domestically this year, placed first in the North American market share with $1.96 billion, while also amassing record grosses at the international box office with $3.21 billion.

“This achievement reflects the combined efforts of our entire team across the globe and the careful process by which we select the projects and partners we believe in,” said Paramount Pictures Chairman & CEO Brad Grey. “We produce pictures that aspire to entertain audiences around the world, while at the same time we have sought to find innovative ways to reach movie-goers in this changing entertainment environment.

“This year our studio reached some key milestones, including the release of three vibrant Paramount franchise pictures and our first original CGI animated film. Our studio had its first ever $1 billion worldwide grossing film in Michael Bay’s hit ‘Transformers: Dark of the Moon’; we successfully re-launched our ‘Mission Impossible’ franchise with Tom Cruise, JJ Abrams and Brad Bird; our latest installment in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise had another $100 million dollar success; our first original animated film ‘Rango,’ from director Gore Verbinski, earned rave reviews and more than $100 million at the domestic box office; and  we released global phenomenon ‘Super 8,’ directed by JJ Abrams, who will now direct the newest ‘Star Trek’ for 2013. We also benefited from our distribution partnerships with DreamWorks Animation and Marvel and I want to thank them both.”

“Film President Adam Goodman and his team in production and development, and Vice Chairman Rob Moore and his team in marketing and distribution, did outstanding work and truly delivered. As we prepare to celebrate Paramount’s 100th year in 2012, we are all grateful to be part of this wonderful institution as it continues to prosper,” added Grey.

In 2012, Paramount’s release slate highlights include ‘World War Z,’ a zombie thriller starring Brad Pitt and directed by Marc Forster, ‘G.I. Joe: Retaliation,’ the next installment in the global franchise starring Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Channing Tatum, a new chapter in the ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise, and ‘The Dictator,’ starring Sacha Baron Cohen and directed by Larry Charles, the team behind ‘Borat.’

The 2011 box office results seen from the studio were built on a wide reaching range of titles, including the following (with current domestic grosses): ‘True Grit’ ($85 mil this year, $171.2 million total), Ivan Reitman’s ‘No Strings Attached’ ($70.7 mil), Jon Chu’s ‘Justin Bieber: Never Say Never’ ($73 mil), Gore Verbinski’s ‘Rango’  ($123.5 mil), Marvel Studio’s ‘Thor’ ($181 mil), DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Kung Fu Panda 2’ ($165.2 mil), JJ Abrams ‘Super 8’  ($127 mil), Michael Bay’s ‘Transformers:  Dark of the Moon’ ($352.4 mil), Marvel Studio’s ‘Captain America: The First Avenger’  ($176.7 mil), Craig Brewer’s ‘Footloose’ ($51.7 mil), the third installment in the hit ‘Paranormal Activity’ franchise ($104 mil), DreamWorks Animation’s ‘Puss In Boots’ ($145.8 mil), Sundance prize-winner ‘Like Crazy’ ($3.4 mil), Martin Scorsese and GK Films’ ‘Hugo’ ($50.2 mil), Jason Reitman’s ‘Young Adult’ ($12.8 mil), Brad Bird’s ‘Mission: Impossible — Ghost Protocol’ ($142.8 mil) and Steven Spielberg’s ‘Tintin’ ($51.4 mil).

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The wait is finally over to experience one of the most anticipated motion-picture trilogies of all time like never before when Jurassic Park, The Lost World: Jurassic Park and Jurassic Park III debut as a trilogy set on Blu-ray on October 25, 2011 from Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

Acclaimed filmmaker Steven Spielberg’s award-winning cinematic franchise, based on the best-selling book by Michael Crichton, generated nearly $2 billion combined at the worldwide box office and featured groundbreaking visual effects that changed the art of movie-making forever.

Now, all three epic films have been digitally restored and remastered in flawless high definition for the ultimate viewing experience. Additionally, the films’ visceral sound effects and the unforgettable music from legendary composer John Williams can now be heard in pristine 7.1 surround sound.

“From the moment T-rex first towered over worldwide movie audiences, the Jurassic Park Trilogy has electrified fans with its heart-pounding action and awe-inspiring technological innovations,” says Craig Kornblau, President of Universal Studios Home Entertainment.

“With this newly remastered and digitally restored edition, we continue the franchise’s legacy by delivering to home viewers spectacular picture and sound that keeps the films as fresh and visceral now as they were when audiences first experienced them.” The Jurassic Park Ultimate Trilogy is one of the most successful film franchises in worldwide box-office history.

On a remote tropical island, an amazing living theme park becomes a game of survival for humans foolhardy enough to set foot on it. Meticulously recreated dinosaurs spring to astonishing life as the film’s breathtaking special effects and thrilling action sequences keep audiences on the edge of their seats.

Each chapter of the history-making saga delivers even more action and spectacular visual effects than its predecessor, as nature’s ultimate killing machines once again rule the earth. Almost 20 years after its inception, the Jurassic Park Trilogy remains an unmatched cinematic experience.

All-New bonus features on Blu-ray & DVD

• “Return to Jurassic Park” – this six-part documentary features all-new interviews with the many of the cast members from all three films, the filmmakers and Steven Spielberg.
• Dawn of a New Era
• Making Pre-history
• The Next Step in Evolution
• Finding The Lost World
• Something Survived
• The Third Adventure

• The Making of Jurassic Park
• The Making of The Lost World: Jurassic Park
• The Making of Jurassic Park III
• Steven Spielberg Directs Jurassic Park
• Early Pre-Production Meetings
• The World of Jurassic Park
• The Magic of Industrial Light & Magic
• Location Scouting
• Phil Tippett Animatics: Raptors In The Kitchen
• The Jurassic Park Phenomenon: A Discussion with Author Michael Crichton
• Industrial Light & Magic and Jurassic Park: Before and After The Visual Effects
• Industrial Light & Magic and The Lost World: Jurassic Park Before & After
• The Industrial Light & Magic Press Reel
• A Visit to Industrial Light & Magic
• Hurricane in Kauai Featurette
• Dinosaur Turntables
• The Dinosaurs of Jurassic Park III
• Montana: Finding New Dinosaurs
• Animatics: T-Rex Attack
• The Special Effects of Jurassic Park III
• The Sounds of Jurassic Park III
• The Art of Jurassic Park III
• Tour of Stan Winston Studio
• Feature Commentary with Special Effects Team
• Production Archives: Storyboards, Models, Photographs, Design Sketches and Conceptual Drawings
• Deleted Scenes
• Theatrical Trailers
• And more!

Barone Firenze / Shutterstock.com

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Transformers 3: Dark of the Moon is rolling out in theatres on June 29, 2011, but will it live up to the hype? The first Transformers movie was an enormous hit. Even people who do not like Michael Bay’s blow’em up action style had a pretty enjoyable time watching the first movie. It was clear and had a straightforward story that had nice, subtle comedic tones to it. The following movie did well in the box office, but did not have the story to back up the numbers. Recycling the plot with the Allspark and lacking depth in the characters led to many people feeling angry and unsatisfied when coming out of the theatre. With two Transformers movies finished, and with polarizing outcomes for both, the third and final film will be the wild card of the three.

Michael Bay has had his fair share of criticisms. Some say he is all explosions and no talk. Some say he cuts shots too quickly. No matter what the criticisms he receives, he sticks by his style. Complete with robot monstrosities, big explosions, and a beautiful damsel in distress, it feels like a Michael Bay flick. So, if you hated the last two Transformers, or any other Michael Bay movie, then this movie is not for you.

Speaking of damsels in distress the movie franchise has a new romantic interest replacing Megan Fox. Playing the new female lead is Rosie Huntington-Whiteley, a Victorian Secret’s model turned actor. This is her first movie she has acted in, and it seems like a gamble. Will she have the necessary expertise or feel for acting in movies? In an interview with Access Hollywood, Huntington-Whiteley said she did not know much about Transformers, but Shia LaBeouf had held her hand  through the whole process, answering her various acting and transformer questions.

With the rise of 3D movies, Paramount/DreamWorks wanted Transformers to jump on the bandwagon. Although, Bay believes that 3D movies are gimmicks, he reluctantly agreed. He shot the majority of the movie on James Cameron’s 3D camera (the PACE) on the set of Transformers 3. This is a marvelous thing for 3D fans. When shot on a 3D camera, the images have a better quality to them than when converted to 3D during post-production. This is mainly because when converting to 3D in post-production, it is harder to get a visual for the left eye. So there is a picture for your right eye, but not for your left. Doing this is difficult, so the image quality usually suffers. Shooting with the PACE is an excellent camera to capture 3D. In fact, it is the same camera that James Cameron used to shoot Avatar, so the 3D images will look phenomenal on the big screen.

With many people bashing Micheal Bay’s film style and the risk with having a rookie film actor, Transformers 3 raises a lot of questions. The movie seems to be walking a very fine line between landing flat on its face or its feet. The pros and the cons seem to balance each other out. Having a rookie film actor on set can be a challenge, but with a veteran on set like Shia LaBoeuf helping Huntington-Whiteley every step of the way it may turn out well. This goes for the visuals as well. Even with Bay’s over the top explosions and effects, the 3D will look extremely crisp if done right. What it comes down to is that the movie will have exciting energy and enticing effects, but will the story be powerful enough to pluck the audience’s heartstrings?

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February’s Super Bowl featured the first sneak-peak into director Jon Favreau’s upcoming fantasy embarkment Cowboys and Aliens – an eclectic mix of conventional western and uhm… extra terrestrials?

Admittedly, when I first read that Harrison Ford and Daniel Craig were strapping on their hats and boots to fight an alien invasion on horseback – even I shook my head in disbelief. Had Hollywood really hit rock-bottom of ideas this time? Were there no remakes left to soak their creative dry-spell?

Of course, that was before I learned that ‘Cowboys & Aliens’ was in fact a successful graphic novel from Platinum Studios, controllers of the largest independent license library of comic book characters, created by the Studio’s founder Scott Mitchell Rosenberg and published in 2006. The unconventional genre-clash gained so much attention that Universal Studios and DreamWorks soon got their hands on it and next month, movie audiences will get to explore the result. It is considered the dark horse this season – “the true wild card among the summer 2011 popcorn films – a gritty cowboy tale that just happens to be interrupted by an alien invasion flick,” writes herocomplex.latimes.com.

Blockbuster filmmaker Jon Favreau has purposely put together, along with producers Ron Howard and Brian Grazer and executive producer Steven Spielberg (there he is again!), this hybrid cowboy tale in such way to avoid the obvious entrapment of comedy or camp – all considering the ‘on-the-nose’ title. According to herocomplex.latimes.com, much effort was put into the screenplay so to make the story a western first, a sci-fi second. Speaking about the universe of the movie; “The audience knows what [the aliens] are after years of Spielberg movies but the guys on the horses in the movie have no words for what they’re seeing,” explains Roberto Orci, one of the writers and producers.

The cross-franchise action has Daniel Craig starring as the stranger who stumbles into the town of Absolution with no memory of his past but with a mysterious shackle on his wrist.  Little does he know that the city is held in an iron fist by Harrison Ford’s Colonel Dolarhyde who’s cruel reign leaves no room for strangers. However, the tale of dust and true grit is abruptly interrupted when scarcely comprehensible objects attack the desolate city from the sky and abduct the stunned and helpless. Soon the hard-eyed stranger is the small town’s only hope for salvation.

Also starring is Olivia Wilde, Paul Dano and the charismatic Sam Rockwell. But it’s Ford’s turn as Absolution’s menacing Colonel which is drawing most attention in the cast, and according to an interview with the icon himself: “Ford seemed as surprised as anyone by the fact that he hadn’t starred in a cowboy movie since Jimmy Carter was in the White House.”

“For years, I’ve thought the western – as a genre – needed this guy,” said Ron Howard. “Harrison has this persona that fits the western. In a way he was a cowboy in ‘[American] Grafitti’ and ‘Star Wars’ and when you see him on screen in this setting it just feels right.”

With expectations heightening each week for phenomenal visual effects and competent acting, the ultimate clash of universes is bound to keep cine-fanatics on their toes. And think about it – is the idea that far-fetched after all? Plenty of time to make up your mind before July 29.

Image provided by cowboysandaliensmovie.com

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A band of kids, a camera, and a mysterious creature in small-town Ohio. These are the ingredients of J.J. Abrams new movie Super 8 which is soon in theaters after intense anticipation – not least because of the promising involvement of Steven Spielberg and the Amblin logo.

The movie itself was shrouded in mystery a few months ago, even rumored to be the sequel to Abrams’ Cloverfield. However, the story is happening in the summer of 1979 where a young boy and his movie-loving friends witness a catastrophic train crash while making a super 8 movie. The inexplicable events that follow leads the kids and the local deputy to believe that something about the crash was far from normal – and as people start to disappear, fear spreads in the little community.

The previews have already raised expectations of a revisit to 70s and 80s flirtation with the “unknown” – movies such as Close Encounter of the Third Kind, E.T. and The Goonies, which all represent a variety of common family drama mixed with sci-fi and adventure, feel like the most likely points for comparison. No wonder either – considering the father of those classic movies is producing the coming feature.

In an interview to iamrogue.com, J.J. Abrams explains how the collaboration with Spielberg affected the direction of the movie. “If Spielberg had not been involved in the movie, it probably wouldn’t have happened and it certainly would have been different. I wouldn’t have felt as free to embrace that DNA, those qualities that I love, that I thought ‘well this movie should be an Amblin movie’, it should be a throwback to that time, to those kinds of films.”

When it comes to Steven Spielberg, the name seems to no longer refer to a person. The resonance of what the man has delivered to cinema throughout the decades will continue to make grown men quiver with excitement. J.J. Abrams on the other hand is not in that league just yet – depending on your taste, there has been hits and bloopers (the Star Trek re-boot turning out great while Mission: Impossible III… not so much) but generally, Abrams has spread his wings more as a producer than a director. With Super 8 though – best guess, it’s hard to turn down Spielberg when he asks for your seat.

Jokes aside, Abrams seems confident behind the camera and judging by the hype and the trailers – Super 8 may just be one of this summer’s biggest movie experiences. When a ten minute long clip of the movie was shown at this year’s Cannes Film Festival to a select audience, one Danish journalist from the newspaper Information was tripping over himself to express his excitement over the film. He even provided a frame-by-frame recap of the sequence which introduced the fragile relationship between Joe, our young protagonist, and his father, the local deputy, as they both struggle to communicate through the loss of their wife/mother 4 months earlier. The clip also included the fatal train collision and the first signs of the terror to come.

Safe to say, those handful of minutes sound promising. Super 8 is out this Friday June 10 in the US.

Image provided by thedepthsofthecriminalworld

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