Empty and far from satisfactory adaptation of a cartoon of the seventies, “Jonah Hex” sabotages its promising main theme and its astonishing distribution in its propensity to want to impress the gallery.

America prepares to celebrate its 100e birthday. For the occasion, the malicious Quentin Turnbull (played by John Malkovich) swears himself to celebrate this quite special day by blowing Washington out of the map! Nobody can stop it, except Jonah Hex (played by Josh Brolin), his sworn enemy who ardently wishes to be avenged after the assassination of his family.

Is the public ready for a new transposition of cartoon? Isn’t the medium already saturated? Especially that lately, the very drinkable “Kick-Ass” was released in the srooms with an enviable success. However, Warner Brothers took the bet to distribute this new title the same day as “Toy Story 3” (which will be probably the most lucrative film of the summer) without taking care to invite the press. No, that does not feel good.

And due. “Jonah Hex” is nothing more than an interchangeable production, worthy of “Ghost Rider”, where an anti-hero without depth nor emotion wanders in a universe graphically neat on large heavy music. The only characteristic is that the whole proceeds at the 19th century. It is however about an awfully traditional western in its codes and its topics, with much of not very spectacular action, of humor (often sexist) which fall flat and an absolutely indigestible pinch of love putting in scene the pulpy Megan Fox.

Some will see there the apology for the mode of Bush. To fight a diabolic being which has weapons of massive destruction, a bounty hunter is recruited, using only disproportionate violence to arrive to his ends. In the pass, the scenario writers decided to sprinkle the intrigue of good universal values, introducing a disturbed prostitute, nice Amerindians and a comrade who fights against slavery. However these elements are only development with the intrigue where the cow-boy prefers being helped by his horse and a dog to be avenged, still and always.

The most clever characteristic of the account is quickly evacuated. The protagonist with faculty to awake the beings of beyond. What could have brought a relevant reflection on death forever place, quite to the contrary. All is treated on the surface, at the speed ofa flash (the feature-length film exceeds hardly 80 minutes) so that a new explosive sequence appears on the screen. Even the brought together actors, generally excellent, do not have anything to put themselves under the tooth. Josh Brolin spends his time to mumble, John Malkovich folds the face with authority, and it is a true shame to join together Michael Fassbender and Michael Shannon without anything to offer to them in return.

It does not matter that the realization of Jimmy Hayward (“Horton Hear a Who”) is qualified and that the whole can air the spirit in times of heat wave. Without scenario nor interesting characters, the simple entertainment has much difficulty of materializing. It is unfortunately what arrives at “Jonah Hex”. Go, to the following motion picture!

Contrary to “The Godfather” or “Scream”, the third episode of “Toy Story” does not come to scuttle a fully successful series. The return of Woody, of Buzz and all their friends is done in the joy within a simple and terribly effective story which points out the need for being together.

What happens with the toys of a child who is at the age of going to the university? It is what learn with their depends the cow-boy Woody, the cosmonaut Buzz and their many friends. Instead of taking the direction of the attic (what is always better than the dumb), they are sent in a nursery. Unfortunately for them, the young customers hardly pay attention to them, and somebody prevents them from turning over to the fold.

“Toy Story” was the first animation of Pixar and it literally upset the kind in 1995. Four years later, the director John Lasseter and two of his assistants (Lee Unkrich and Ash Brannon) were back to offer a continuation even more exciting and vibrating. An almost perfect diptych which we did not have to in no case to deteriorate. Instead of imitating “Shrek” and to kill the series, the team in place had the intelligence to await the best possible and unimaginable scenario. This one appeared at the end of a complete decade.

It is this passage of the time which allowed Unkrich, maintaining in solo, to explore a new facet of his characters. The latter always also rich and plentiful, are equipped with real personality. In spite of the presence of the heroes, it is in particular Mr. Potato Head, the green dinosaur, the robber pig and the too long dog which steal the popularity with their irresistible faces. They are accompanied in this new adventure by some malicious worrying, of winks amusing (of which one of the mythical Totoro!) and even the presence of Ken and Barbie which form a funny good couple.

These infinite possibilities (the introduction is a good example where all can practically arrive at these beings resulting from imaginary from large nostalgic children) always remain open with the service of a scenario clear and limpid, much less scattered than the recent “How to Train Your Dragon”. The toys are a family and they should not be separated. In the event of absolute required, it is paramount to find people to take care of them correctly. This seemingly naive and obsolete concept never wants to be too moralizer, and some poignant scenes arriving at the any end bring the emotion which was cruelly lacking with “Shrek Forever After”.

Animation evolved much in vain, the result is always a pleasure for the eyes, and the lapping machines control their characters completely, with some exceptions. However, this concept is not new any more, and if the effort will like small as much as large, it does not compete with the first two volumes – darker and inspired – which did not need as much action and strong feelings to rivet everyone on their seat. Especially that the traditional short film presented out of aperitif never manages to exploit its strong creative idea suitably.

It does not remain about it less than “Toy Story 3” is easily the best animation of 2010. Perhaps not a top like “Wall-E” or majority of the productions of the studio “Ghibli”, but a work to be cherished which can only improve with time.

The testosterone very high and a horde of improbabilities do not always do something very diverting. Speak in The A-Team, futile and interminable action film where four men imprisoned wrongly seek to be avenged.

It is ironic that two “traditional” muscular men of the eighties obtain a second life the same Friday of 2010. At the side of the new version of “The Karate Kid” which holds the road surprisingly well, places for “The A-Team”, the film adaptation of popular American series which were diffused during a few seasons on the waves of NBC. It’s a pity that the pleasure is not any more the same one.

The story seems unchanged. Four soldiers (Liam Neeson, Quinton Jackson, Bradley Cooper and Sharlto Copley) become mercenaries who try to find the identity of an individual who dishonoured them. With this intention, they are able to sink in the heap and, in the event of need, to wait at the any end to put the questions!

There is before and there is afterwards. On paper, many known actors were associated with this project, and there are even the brothers Scott (Ridley and Tony) who act as producers. In the facts, the unit was given to the director Joe Carnahan who, since his very good first effort “Narc”, does not finish any more to disappoint, accumulating the indigestible efforts (“Smokin’ Aces”) and wobbly (“Pride and Glory”).

The scenario writer continues to be inserted with this poor wretch damp squib written with six hands. Such an amount of time wasted for a production as routine as stripped heart, which takes into account that it is the summer to offer something of also indigestible which holds the road by no means. The account is punctuated by obvious anomalies where there is nothing better than a explosion scene in order to follow a continuation. For the spark of suspense, it will be necessary to pass by again.

All that is of course treated under the mode of the comedy and derision. No matter who would have liked to laugh at this joke. Except that if it is not funny, how to make differently than to look at our watch every ten minutes? Because what is put in scene resembles to a mistake there with what made the humorous matter of unequal though the more relevant “MacGruber”. It there has only travelling stereotypes and stereotypes, left confused crossing between “MASH” and “The Avengers”, but without never the least smile which does not appear at the horizon!

Even the talented actors can nothing make to avoid the shipwreck. Liam Neeson finds time long, Sharlto Copley seems to be bored of “District 9”, Quinton Jackson makes a quite pale substitute of Mr. T and Bradley Cooper has anything else to make only smile from the beginning to the end. Difficult to be disappointed by him, because he is the only one to play in company of the figure and decorative Jessica Biel. It is however one of the too rare places where it is possible to see Henry Czerny and this, even if it is only for a few minutes.

In its recent and excel “Sherlock Holmes”, Guy Ritchie did not haggle over the improbabilities while misusing the action. It did not only make it to dynamite its rhythm, but to raise the other assets (a good intrigue, interpreters with perfect chemistry, a memorable soundtrack, etc) which he already had in his play. On the contrary, Joe Carnahan is conscious of the weakness of his charts, and he put the whole while offering a length and repetitive object slap-with-the eye which forgets time to say “turnip”. In a similar kind, it is not surprising to prefer the recent “The Losers” which had at least the merit not to insult the intelligence too much.

Bringing back the eighties  without embarrassment nor remord, Hollywood first will be surprised by learning that one of its productions holds indeed the road. Taking again the original bases by raising them towards other skies, “The Karate Kid” recalls that this concept of maltreated child who fights to regain his honor still has beautiful days in front of it.

Sherries (Taraji P. Henson) and her 12 year old son Dre (Jaden Smith) seek to stabilize their lives while moving to Beijing. The young boy enormously has difficulty of being integrated, being beat by a gang of young imps after having spoken with a pretty girl about his age. In order to be reinforced and not to be made humiliate at the time of an important tournament, he decides to resort to the councils of the saving Mr Han (Jackie Chan).

Classic of the years 1980, “The Karate Kid” which starred Ralph Maccho never was a popular film. At most an ideal entertainment for young people the boy which seeks to impress their entourage. In front of the very great success gained with the counter, some continuations and derived without much interest appeared on the market, including one with Hilary Swank. Seeking a new project for her son wh worked on the means “The Pursuit of Happyness”, Will Smith saw the ideal vehicle there there in order to emphasize him.

Against all waitings, this remake avoids the worst, making even spend a good moment by its tone good child and its some hints of humor. The action was transposed to China, which gives the perfect excuse to offer the maximum of postcards by the square inch. The action scenes are great and for rare once in an summer blockbuster, there is not too much of it. On the contrary, it is necessary to wait at the end to be re-sifted. During this time, the rhythm alerts is tied around the lovesong between the young protagonists, and of the many human dramas: this father who lost his family, this son who seeks a paternal figure, and this sometimes problematic entourage where a young man is forced to react. By being with a vampire in the excellent “Let the Right One In”, or while going up in the arena like here and this, even if junior is far from imitating dad in the low esteem “Ali”.

Interpretation is also vibrating and vigorous, whereas Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan develop more than correctly well proportioned characters, with prominent psychology. Although the director Harald Zwart (“The Pink Panther 2”, “Agent Cody Banks”) had the heavy hand in his use of the music and that he preaches by excess (the whole stretches over 135 minutes!), his dialogs do not want to be too moralizers, and his work will certainly be rewarded for a continuation so much the end does not let imagine the opposite.

The irreducible of the version of John G. Avildsen will shout the scandal which the hero so quickly learns the rudiments from the combat and which he practices the kung fu, not karate as the title indicates it. Simple matter of time, will have it of “The Matrix” having marked a generation, just like the superiority of Japan over China on the global scales. They are however only details of shoddy goods. The true challenge, for the rebirth of the franchise, is to convince the public that this variation on known topics is worth the turning, whereas 99% of the efforts (like “Robin Hood”, “The Wolfman” or “The A-Team”) bite dust royally. A risky but gained bet, which even lets believe that titles like “Predators” and “Tron Legacy” could be interesting.

The Karate Kid makes a conspicuous entry in the North American Box Office this weekend with 56 million $US of receipts for its first three days in cinema rooms.

Jaden Smith, the son of the very popular actor Will Smith is the main character of the feature film at the side of Jackie Chan (who was seen recently in The Spy Next Door, The Forbidden Kingdom and the Rush Hour trilogy).

The motion picture is carried out by Harald Zwart and tells the story of Dre Parker, 12 years old, who arrives in China without any friends. He will turn to Mr Han, played by Jackie Chan, to learn a very popular martial art in the Chinese culture: the Kung Fu.

After three weeks in first place, Shrek Forever After is found in third position with 15.8 million $US.

In second position, The A-Team of Joe Carnahan arrives in the cinemas with 26 million $US of profits. This film takes as a starting point the popular televised series of the Eighties.

The A-Team tells the adventures of a team of former members of the US Special Forces who are pointed for  a crime that they did not make. They will become mercenaries.

The distribution is in particular made up of Liam Neeson, Bradley Cooper, Patrick Wilson and Jessica Biel.

Here is the Weekend Box Office Results for June 11-13, 2010:

1. The Karate Kid, 56 millions $US

2. The A-Team, 26 millions $US

3. Shrek Forever After, 15.8 millions $US

4. Get Him to the Greek, 10.1 millions $US

5. Killers, 8.2 millions $US

6. Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, 6.6 millions $US

7. Marmaduke, 6 millions $US

8. Sex and the City 2, 5.5 millions $US

9. Iron Man 2, 4.6 millions $US

10. Splice, 2.9 millions $US

Seven posters of the characters from the upcoming movie Inception can be seen on the Internet from now one. We can thus discover The Extractor, The Shade, The Architect, The Point Man, The Forger, The Tourist and The Mark.

Inception is a realization of Christopher Nolan (The director for Batman Begins, The Dark Knight).

Dom Cobb (played by DiCaprio) is the robber, best in the perilous art of the extraction. The extraction consists in adapting the invaluable secrecies of a person, hidden with deepest of unconscious while she dreams and that the spirit is most vulnerable. The medium of industrial espionage covets Cobb for his talents. Dom Cobb becomes fugitive chased then on the entire planet. Because of that, he loses his greater love. An ultimate mission could enable him to find his former life. Instead of subtilizing an idea, Cobb and his team will have to establish one in the spirit of a person. If they reach that point, that will be able to constitute the perfect crime. However no strategy could prepare the team with a dangerous enemy, who seems to have always a blow in advance. An enemy who only Cobb could have seen coming. This summer, your spirit is the scene of the crime.

The distribution is in particular made up of Leonardo DiCaprio, Cillian Murphy, Marion Cotillard, Ellen Page, Joseph Ken Watanabe, Gordon-Levitt, Michael Caine and Tom Hardy.

Inception must be released North-American screens on July 16th, 2010.

The first trailer for the comedy Morning Glory, starring Harrison Ford (recently seen in Extraordinary Measures, Crossing Over and Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull), Rachel McAdams (recently seen in Sherlock Holmes, The Time Traveler’s Wife and State of Play) and Diane Keaton (recently seen in Mad Money, Because I Said So and Something’s Gotta Give), can be seen on the Internet.

In this upcomgin motion picutre, Rachel McAdams is  a young woman aspiring to be at the top of an news show on TV. She is trying to save her morning show by controlling the opposition between the two TV presenters. Harrison Ford is incarnating one of the TV presenters whereas the role of the other TV host is interpreted by Keaton.

The distribution is also made up of Patrick Wilson (seen in The A-Team, Watchmen and Valkyrie and who is working on The Switch at the moment) and Jeff Goldblum (who is also working on The Switch).

Roger Michel is the director for this feature film (he was the director for Changing Lanes and Notting Hill) the script is written by Aline Brosh McKenna (who worked on the scenario for The Devil Wears Prada).

Morning Glory should be released on North-American screens on November 12th, 2010.

Legendary Pictures has just acquired the rights of film adaptation from the video game Mass Effect from Electronic Arts. The production company will co-produce and co-finance the project in partnership with Warner Bros.

The story line, creates by BioWare, a subsidiary company of Electronic Arts, takes seat in 2183 and follows a team on mission to demolish an old race of extraterrestrial beings which invades the galaxy at each 50.000 years period and which destroyed any organic life there.

Thomas Tull and Jon Jashni from Legendary Pictrures will produce the film with Avi and Ari Arad.

Warner Bros. will distribute film in the whole world. Mark Protosevich (from I Am Legend) is in talks to write the scenario.

Electronic Arts, which acquired BioWare in 2008, launched Mass Effect 2 last January.

Other films inspired of plays of Electronic Arts are under development: Spore with Chris Wedge (Ice Age) at the head of the realization and The Sims are developed at Fox; Army of Two is developed at Universal with Peter Berg at the head of the realization just like Dante’s Inferno that Strike Entertainment will produce. Finally, DJ Caruso will direct Dead Space with Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey at the head of the production team.

The New Zealand actor, actor and musician Jemaine Clement, known for his role in the duet Flight of the Conchords, is in final talks with Columbia Pictures to play the part of the bad character in Men in Black 3.

Will Smith recently concluded an agreement to take again his role of government official charged to track the extraterrestrial begins. The director Barry Sonnenfeld (who was the producer for Aliens in the Attic in 2009) is also back behind the camera.

Most of film will proceed in 1969 whereas the actor Josh Brolin plays a younger version of the character incarnated by Tommy Lee Jones in the two preceding films.

The major part of the distribution will be made up of villains whose identities, appearances and abilities will be kept secret for the moment

It is known however that Clement will play the part of a villain mentioned Boris who will be at the same time charming and alarming.

Jemaine Clement also appeared in the fantasy comedy Gentlemen Broncos in 2009 and we will be able to see him on North American cinema screens next July in the American remake Dinner for Schmucks.

After being herself assured of the return of Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, Dimension Films tries to join together the young distribution which will be starred in the fourth shutter of the Scream franchise.

The actress Lake Bell (seen in It’s Complicated and Pride and Glory) is in negotiations to join the distribution whereas offers were made to Ashley Greene (from The Twilight Saga), Hayden Panettiere (from the TV series Heroes) and Rory Culkin (seen in Mean Creek and Lymelife).

If the agreements are concluded, Greene will play the part of Jill, the cousin of Sydney (played by Campbell) and the heroin of this fourth shutter. Panettiere will incarnate the best friend of Jill. Culkin will lend his features to an applicant in love with Jill. Bell is in negotiations to play a police woman which knows Sydney from high school.

The filming must start next July.

Wes Craven, which directed the three preceding films, is back behind the camera. The scenario was written by Kevin Williamson. This last is besides already under contract for a fifth shutter.

The original film had generated receipts of more than 170 million US$ throughout the world in 1996 just like Scream 2, its continuation, in 1997. Scream 3 made also well with receipts of 160 million US$ in 2000.

Scream 4 should be released on North-American screens on April 15th, 2011.

In addition, Cathy Conrad, the producer of the original sues Dimension Films and The Weinstein Company because she was isolated from the fourth shutter. Craven, Williamson and Iya Labunka produce Scream 4.