Don LaFontaine, the man who provided the sonorous voice for more than 5,000 movie trailers, died Monday at age 68.

LaFontaine died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles of complications from a collapsed lung. He had been taken to the hospital Aug. 22 with a blood clot in the lung.

LaFontaine was known as the “king of the movie trailers,” having done the trailer voiceovers for films such as Terminator, Fatal Attraction, Cheaper by the Dozen, Batman Returns and his personal favourite, The Elephant Man.

His baritone voice and melodramatic delivery are famously associated with the oft-repeated movie trailer phrase, “In a world…”

Our thoughts go out to his family. The world of cinema wouldn’t quite be the same without this man’s sonorous baritone voice, and it (and he) will be missed.

(via CBC)

Video games make great video games. Video games, historically speaking, make lousy cinematic adaptations, except for Super Mario Bros. You’d think that people would start to realize this and give up the whole idea of trying to adapt one media into another. And yet Hollywood keeps on trying. You gotta give them points for dedication.

The latest video game adaptation to make it to the silver screen is Max Payne, a visceral shoot-em-up in the film noir style that screamed for adaptation from day one. The game itself was practically a screenplay waiting to happen.

Irritatingly, this newly released trailer looks… good. It’s like somebody mashed up The Crow and the lobby sequence of the first Matrix movie and stuck Marky Mark in the mix. The cynical voice in my head knows with certainty that the film (like all video game adaptions) will inherently suck, but the nerdy part of me can’t help but be just the tiniest bit impressed.

Embedded video below after the jump.

(via AICN)

First impression: not too shabby. It fits the tone of the book well, and gives just the right amount of teasing and foreshadowing. Considering how well the general public knows the subject matter of these films, it is an impressive bit of editing to put together a teaser that actually excites.

Check out the video embedded below the jump. Be sure and sound off in the comments below, and let us know what you think!

Not too bad, if you ask me. I like me some gravitas!

(via Trailer Addict)

To make matters more deliciously rumor-tastic, word has it that director Lexi Alexander has been unceremoniously removed from her own film, and that this reflects the dramatic shift in trailer direction (compare it to the first trailer, which lacked blood, crappy metal music and that faux-film age thing). The director was also notably absent from ComiCon, which many are reading into something fierce, and her website, which was full of intricate postings from behind the scenes of the shoot previously, has been stripped down and replaced by an ominous trio of monkeys. Uh oh.

What do you guys think? Is this trailer a sign that the new film is on sound footing, or hath something gone foul in the land of Castle? To me, that trailer looks like a piece of crap, but both Ray Stevenson (Rome) and Lexi Alexander (Green Street Hooligans) have some nice work under their belt. And Jimmy McNulty as freakin’ Jigsaw? That’s got to count for something.

(via FirstShowing.net)

Video is up at Empire, and embedded below the jump.

I’m just impressed because it looks a lot less crappy than I expected it to. I never thought I’d see the day where I was looking forward to a Watchmen movie adaptation.

Update: Empire pulled the clip after getting their knuckles rapped, but Gizmodo came to the rescue. Check it out in all its glory here, in much better quality than the Youtube version.

(via AICN)

Yep, looks like it’s going to be a hit. Quantum Of Solace hits theaters in November. What do you guys think?

(via /film)

Based on the novel by Jonathan Trigell and directed by John Crowley (Intermission), Boy A tells the story of Jack (Andrew Garfield) who committed a terrible crime when he was a child. Recently released from juvenile prison, he enters a world he has never been a part of. He is haunted by his grim past, and is more a boy than a man at age 24.

However, spending 14 years in prison has done nothing to persuade the public that he has paid his dues. Accompanying his release is a widespread media frenzy which re-ignites public indignation. As Jack forms adult relationships for the first time, finds a girlfriend and a job and gets his life started, it becomes increasingly clear that the past may be impossible to escape.

Boy A is in theaters July 23rd, distributed in North America by the Weinstein Company. The trailer is posted below the jump.

One downside? The trailer is awfully comprehensive. I’m pretty sure I saw the entire movie just now. Fortunately for the filmmakers, I’d be willing to sit through the “extended cut”, if you know what I mean.

(via Apple Trailers)

Honestly? I’m not sure I want to see a “return to form” for Guy Ritchie. Listen: the man has only directed four feature films. Two of these movies were good. Two of these movies were bad. Very very bad, incalculably bad, jaw-dropping bad, stunningly bad, in fact. One of them had Madonna in it; the other one had no such excuse to hide behind.

A return to form could mean a good thing… but it also could mean a very very bad thing indeed. In Vegas, 50/50 would be good odds, but less so when it comes to spending my hard-earned theatrical dollars.

Thoughts? Comments? Let us know by leaving a message below! Come on, you know you want to.

(via /film and Empire)

Executive produced by Stephen Spielberg and directed by D.J. Caruso (The Salton Sea, Disturbia) starring Shia LaBeouf, Eagle Eye hits theaters in late September.

Follow the link to check out the trailer. What do you all think? Leave your comments below!

(via Firstshowing.net)

For a comic book adaptation, Hellboy was a bit of an oddity. Though not a perfect film, it did not suck, which is extremely rare within its sub-genre of cinema. It had style to spare, never took itself too seriously, and was the perfect application of Guillermo del Toro’s rapidly developing talents as a director and as a visionary of the viscerally weird.

The trailer for Hellboy II: The Golden Army is even more of an oddity. Right out of the gate, it looks awesome. Jaw-droppingly awesome. Fantastically awesome. Dare I hope to dream of a day when a comic book adaptation might actually result in a satisfactory cinematic experience with no reservations? Hope does spring eternal.

Check out the trailer for Hellboy II here and let us know what you think!

(link via Apple)