5 Short Films to Watch... if you've never watched short films before!

Short films often evade me for a variety of reasons - I'm too lazy to sit and watch something for 15 whole minutes, my gods damn work computer is so slow that it can't actually process video (trufax! I've actually only seen every 8th frame of the Deathly Hallows trailer!), I don't have headphones and my flatmates are watching tv... the excuses pile up!

My newfound addiction to io9 and an empty living room this evening prompted me to sit down and make my way through some of the short films I had bookmarked - and woah was it worth it.

Whether you've never watched a short film in your life or you are a veritable connoisseur (in which case I suspect you will have seen all of these anyway), at least one of these films should definitely be for you. Give them a shot; I urge you.

1. Sintel tells the heartbreaking story of a lone warrior and her dragon. Originally born as a proof-of-concept for an open source 3D creation suite called Blender, Sintel was funded by internet donations and premièred at the Netherlands Film Festival in September. It has since, justifiably, become an online sensation.

2. Fallen - aka the brief story of the cutest meteorite that ever was - catalogues the brief life of a burning lump of space rock that realises its own existence shortly before coming to an abrupt halt. Yes, yes, we all know the sperm whale got there first - and more amusingly - but this is an adorable little short and coming in at 3:50, it's not too taxing.

Fallen from Sascha Geddert on Vimeo.

3. The Anachronism is simply gorgeous. Part steampunk, part children's adventure story, part love letter to British Columbia, this one is well worth 15 minutes of your time. Two would-be explorers document the flora and fauna in the woodland surrounding their home - until they stumble on an occupant that they couldn't possibly have expected. The worthy winner of 6 Leo awards.

The Anachronism (Full Film) from Anachronism Pictures on Vimeo.

4. Just about as different in tone as you can get from the previous offerings, When It Will Be Silent is the beautiful, stylised sophomore project of film student Dan Sachar. A post-apocalyptic vignette that will take your breath away.

When it Will Be Silent (כשיהיה דומם) from Dan Sachar on Vimeo.

5. I'm cheating this one a bit, as it's actually about two films and there are only trailers available. These two short films from Polish filmmaker Grzegorz Jonkajtys look truly remarkable. The Ark has won multiple awards and even won Best of Show at Cannes in 2007. The only remaining survivors of an unknown virus that has claimed most of mankind take to the sea in order to survive. Stunning and unusual animation.

The 3rd Letter shows a remarkable vision of a dystopian future in which mankind utterly depends on bio-mechanical alteration to withstand the declining climate. The only place worse than America to lose your health insurance - as Jeffrey Brief learns.

Please suggest any other short films you may have come across that you think are particularly remarkable - and please give some of these a chance; they are incredible stories, each in their own way.

Why I'm excited about... Sucker Punch!

Sucker Punch (March 2011) is the latest offering from Zack Snyder - and the only feathers in sight this time are those on the fans of the burlesque dancers.

Opening in the 1950's, the movie has Babydoll (Emily Browning) imprisoned in a mental institution by her stepfather and due to be lobotomised in five days. Retreating into her own mind to escape, Babydoll finds herself in an alternate world in which she must plan her escape by stealing five objects. From what I can make out; Sucker Punch has several layers of 'reality' - the real world, Babydoll's alternate reality, and another dream world within that reality. Reminding you of anything?

What's so special?

Bordello, World War I, samurai, dieselpunk, machine guns, katanas - Sucker Punch goes in every direction at once. It's highly stylised, high action that will most likely kick you five ways to Sunday.

With an almost exclusively female cast, Snyder himself has joked about about doing the opposite of 300 with this movie. To be honest, I think they're not all that dissimilar; Sucker Punch looks like every man's wet dream - bestockinged women wielding machine guns. Robots. Dragons. Swordfights. It ticks practically every box except zombies. Oh wait - they're in there too! Not that I'm complaining about any of this, mind...

It could easily go the way of The Spirit - but Sucker Punch has been generating a lot of excitement online and I think that that alone will earn it a strong opening weekend. What it may eventually lack in coherent plot, it will potentially make up for in style and (yes, I am going to say it) scantily clad women.

Pretty, pretty, pretty tiems...

On a basic level - this movie is GORGEOUS. I've seen a lot of artwork and stills from the production and it looks stunning. The costumes and set pieces are absolutely first rate - I was genuinely surprised that Weta weren't involved! All credit to Quantum Creation FX - even though I had never heard of them before!

If you like...

Well, I am reliably informed that this move even has a kitchen sink in it, so my advice would be that if you can handle style over story (although this may not end up being the case) in any way, then this is worth a view. Even at his very worst, Snyder delivers stunning visuals and I have no reason to believe that Sucker Punch won't be worth the price of a theater ticket.

Trailer with more frak me visuals here.

The six character posters (which some of you will have seen at SDCC) are available here.

Popcorn Bowl 10/2

The Hobbit Union Debacle:

7 unions instructed their members not to work on The Hobbit, claiming that the production refused to negotiate with actors on union contracts. Peter Jackson, being justifiably both hurt and frustrated, responded with remarkable clarity. Both the studios (obviously) and the New Zealand government backed Jackson's stance. Actors seem to be in support of the unions, but it's difficult to tell how much of this whole thing is political. I agree that NZ actors should have working conditions equal to those in the UK and US, but I also believe that if this issue chases The Hobbit production out of NZ, it will spell doom for the country's ability to attract big budget productions. Peter Jackson has done so much for the NZ film industry - I don't think he is out to actively disenfranchise the country or its actors.

Things in 3D:

So, if you haven't heard about this then welcome back - how was your holiday under a rock on Mars?

Star Wars is coming to theatres in 3D! Starting with The Phantom Menace in 2012... I am, at best, meh about the 3D bandwagon... but if they're properly rendered then I'm not going to say no to getting to see the saga on the silver screen!

In worse news - The Hobbit is going to be in 3D. I am 85 different kinds of pissed off. The Hobbit is an intimate little story and I did not want this.

The teaser trailer for I Am Number Four went online this week. This was released as a book a few weeks ago, but I read an early proof in June. I'm less than confident about the casting, but everything that made this a rubbish book makes it a strong script, so I will be interested to see this movie when it comes out. If you like kids that are aliens, being a teenager and buildings occasionally and unexpectedly being demolished; this is the movie for you!

I know how much you love casting rumours - the list for the female lead in the Spider-Man reboot is growing impressively.

Sherlock Holmes 2 has added Stephen Fry as Mycroft Holmes (Sherlock's brother) and Mad Men's Jared Harris as Moriarty.

Darren Aronofsky is reportedly in the running to direct the Superman reboot. I'm not sure I can visualise that, but colour me intrigued!

Tony Curtis passed away this week at the age of 85.

Comic-Con to stay in San Diego for at least the next 5 years! I intend to be at it for at least one of them!

New Deathly Hallows posters!

Now if you haven't booked a ticket to go and see one of the 25th anniversary screenings of Back to the Future, then why the hell are you still reading this? Go!

Popcorn Bowl

Here's a hit and run sum up of this weeks movie news, so you don't have to trawl dozens of news feeds all reporting the same thing!

Zack Snyder made a kids movie about owls

I know what you're thinking, and yes this is the guy that made 300 and Watchmen... Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole opened this week in American theatres and has been met with mixed reviews. A definite change of pace for Snyder, Legend of the Guardians is based on a series of children's books and has been criticised by some as being too scary for many children. Screenrant gives it an average review, but does highlight the beautiful visual style of the film - no surprise coming from Snyder, whose latest project Sucker Punch looks to be another highly stylised production. comingsoon.net discuss the 3D aspect of the film with him.

Superman reboot searches for a director

Several sources this week have reported that Christopher Nolan is talks with a shortlist of 5 directors for the reboot of the Superman franchise that was announced earlier this year. Making the hotlist are Duncan Jones (Moon), Tony Scott (Top Gun, True Romance), Zack Snyder (keeping himself in the news!), Jonathan Liebesman (Clash of the Titans 2, just announced) and Matt Reeves (Cloverfield, Let Me In).

Images from the Captain America set in Manchester

Photos have emerged of Chris Evans and Hayley Atwell on the Captain America set in Manchester. There is also a short clip of a car explosion. Captain America: The First Avenger is scheduled for release on July 22nd 2011. Oh, and hai Natalie Dormer! Where have you been since The Tudors??

Last two years of Joaquin Phoenix's life a hoax

Casey Affleck has spent the past year documenting Joaquin Phoenix's spiralling breakdown after his decision to quit acting and pursue a rap career. Except... he hasn't. Affleck and Phoenix are going to have a lot of trouble digging themselves out of this one. They've also shot their profits in the foot by admitting it right before the movie released in theatres.

New Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 Trailer

A new trailer came out on Wednesday - which you already know unless you've been living under a rock!

Chloe Moretz (aka HitGirl) cast as Emily the Strange

Not much in the way of detail yet, but the movie has apparently been confirmed.

Pixar announces first female director

Brenda Chapman will be at the helm for Brave - the story of a princess determined to become an archer. Sounds like a bit of a departure to the ordinary for Pixar, but at this stage in story development it's hardly fair to pass judgement. Chapman has a massively impressive Disney resume - Beauty and the Beast and The Lion King to name but a few. Brave is slated for a June 2012 release.

Hobbit Casting Call Spotted

Despite no official word that the MGM fiasco has been resolved, there have been rumblings from Middle Earth of late - first Sir McKellen claimed that shooting would get underway in January, then this preliminary casting call was spotted in a Wellington newspaper. I'm erring on the side of scepticism at the moment, but be warned, there will be SERIOUS squee in this corner of the interwebs once production gets underway.

Why I'm excited about... Super 8!

Since it's now officially part of my job to know what the frak is going on in the movie world, I spend a pleasant slice of my work day reading movie blogs. I've always been pretty good at keeping up with them in my spare time, but being so immersed in the current news has reminded me how completely stoked I am about several movie projects in production right now! This week's squee; Super 8!

But you HATE J.J Abrams!!!?

Rumours of my rage have been greatly exaggerated!! However, I've never quite seen eye to eye with J.J Abrams... BUT - I have never dismissed any of his films out of hand. I really wanted to see Cloverfield... I was genuinely looking forward to Star Trek... Anyhow; I digress. While we've had our differences in the past, I appreciate that the man has some fantastic ideas, and when I saw the other names attached to this project, well, I was pretty much sold in 2 words; Steven frakking Spielberg!!!

It's all down to the math...

There are a lot of equations that are vital to making a movie successful and enjoyable - a high percentage of them involve stressed accountants peering at spreadsheets - but the one that is guaranteed to = win no matter what else you throw in the mix is Steven Spielberg + aliens. I don't need to rattle on about E.T and Close Encounters... this guy knows his extraterrestrial shizzle and that's that. Spielberg's name gets slapped next to Executive Producer so much these days that one has to wonder exactly how involved he gets in the project - but I like to think that he won't be able to resist lending his awesomely spooky air to this one.

Aliens, you say?

So, what do we know about Super 8? Not a lot, is the short answer! Principal photography began earlier this week in West Virginia and Hitflix have a handy list of 10 things we currently know about Super 8. There is an official website, but it's typically cryptic at the moment.

However, there is a helpful and informative completely bitchin trailer!

The gist; Area 51, aliens, trains, AWESOME.