Sherlock Holmes Pictures

Sherlock Holmes is back to tackle his most daunting case yet, in Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. The brilliant detective (played brilliantly by Robert Downey Jr.) will be forced to put all of his considerable wits to use, if he hopes to thwart the evil machinations of criminal mastermind Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris).

Along for the ride this time are Holmes’ dutiful associate Dr. Watson (Jude Law), love interest/master thief Irene Adler (Rachel McAdams), gypsy fortuneteller Sim (Noomi Rapace), and Holmes’ brilliant (but lazy) older brother, Mycroft Holmes (Stephen Fry) – who we get our first official look at, thanks to today’s gallery of official Sherlock Holmes: A Game Shadows images.

Here is the official plot for Game of Shadows thus far: 

Sherlock Holmes has always been the smartest man in the room…until now. There is a new criminal mastermind at large—Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris)—and not only is he Holmes’ intellectual equal, but his capacity for evil, coupled with a complete lack of conscience, may give him an advantage over the renowned detective.

Around the globe, headlines break the news: a scandal takes down an Indian cotton tycoon; a Chinese opium trader dies of an apparent overdose; bombings in Strasbourg and Vienna; the death of an American steel magnate… No one sees the connective thread between these seemingly random events—no one, that is, except the great Sherlock Holmes, who has discerned a deliberate web of death and destruction. At its center sits a singularly sinister spider: Moriarty.

Holmes’ investigation into Moriarty’s plot becomes more dangerous as it leads him and Watson out of London to France, Germany and finally Switzerland. But the cunning Moriarty is always one step ahead, and moving perilously close to completing his ominous plan. If he succeeds, it will not only bring him immense wealth and power but alter the course of history. 

Now spend some time sifting through nearly 50 images from the film - BUT BE WARNED!!!By the time you’re done looking at them all, you’ll probably feel as though you’ve seen the whole movie. While there aren’t any actual spoilers, it may be a bit too much insight for those hoping to come to Game of Shadows with a clean mental slate.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows will be in theaters on December 16, 2011.

The Raven Trailer

October 7th marked the “death day” of famed 19th century author Edgar Allan Poe. So what better way to celebrate the life of the man often credited for inventing the detective fiction genre – and penning famous (creepy) short stories like “The Pit and the Pendulum” – than by watching the trailer for the Poe-based thriller, The Raven?

An official trailer has been released for The Raven, a film which is not based on Poe’s iconic poem of the same name. Instead, it’s a Gothic mystery-thriller that sees the American author join forces with the police (Castle-style), in order to track down and stop a serial killer who’s clearly read one too many Poe stories.

The Raven was directed by James McTeigue, the helmer of action-packed titles like the V for Vendetta movie and Ninja Assassin – not to mention, his uncredited work as director on the 207 adaptation of “The Body Snatchers” (titled The Invasion). Suffice to say, bloody violence and thrills are McTeigue’s forte – andThe Raven looks to boast plenty of both, based on this early footage.
Here is the official synopsis for The Raven:

When a mother and daughter are found brutally murdered in 19th century Baltimore, Detective Emmett Fields (Luke Evans) makes a startling discovery: the crime resembles a fictional murder described in gory detail in the local newspaper—part of a collection of stories penned by struggling writer and social pariah Edgar Allan Poe (John Cusack). But even as Poe is questioned by police, another grisly murder occurs, also inspired by a popular Poe story. Realizing a serial killer is on the loose using Poe’s writings as the backdrop for his bloody rampage, Fields enlists the author’s help in stopping the attacks. But when it appears someone close to Poe may become the murderer’s next victim, the stakes become even higher and the inventor of the detective story calls on his own powers of deduction to try to solve the case before it’s too late.

Now check out the Raven trailer link: http://www.imdb.com/video/imdb/vi3682770457/

Visually and thematically, The Raven looks like a cross between Guy Ritchie’s Sherlock Holmes and the Hughes Brothers’ From Hell adaptation. Its 1800s setting appears to be a Gothic variation on the slick, yet gritty, period aesthetic of Holmes – though, so far, McTeigue’s Raven doesn’t look to include the explosive action set pieces that people seem to either love or hate in Ritchie’s literature “update.” The Poe thriller also looks to (appropriately) feature more graphic violence and stylishly gloomy atmosphere.

The big wild card here is Cusack playing Poe. It’s certainly possible  that he could disappear into the role of the morose, dark-haired author – but, in this early footage, Cusack arguably comes off as just someone who’s simply dressed up as Poe for a Halloween party. Considering that he’s meant to be the main focus of the film, there’s reason to be concerned that Cusack isn’t up to the task of making Poe a believable (enough) and engaging lead to rally around. On the other hand – Evans looks to pull off his part as a dignified detective pretty well, so that should help.

All quibbles aside, The Raven seems like it has the potential to be a fun murder-mystery thriller – or, at the least, a less ridiculous period adventure than Evans’ next starring vehicle,The Three Musketeers (for better or for worse).

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The Raven stars Luke Evans, John Cusack, Alice Eve, Brendan Gleeson, Kevin McNally, Brendan Coyle, and Oliver Jackson-Cohen. It swoops into U.S. theaters on March 9th, 2012.

Hawkeye and Black Widow seen in costume on The Avengers set

With Marvel Studios delivering relatively faithful adaptations of their key characters, villains, stories and more, evenWi down to the colorful costumes from the comics, we’ve always had a rough idea of what The Avengers would look like together on the silver screen. We were even treated to some beautiful character posters during Comic-Con that provided fans with their first look at the roster of heroes and their new, updated costumes.


Just last week, new artwork for The Avengers movie surfaced online, depicting Captain America, Iron Man, Thor and Hulk, fighting alongside SHIELD agents Nick Fury, Black Widow and Hawkeye, adding to that tease, but still now showing the heroes together in live-action, not since Cap (Chris Evans) and Thor (Chris Hemsworth) fought together during a scene shot in Cleveland a few weeks ago. Now, with The Avengers finishing up principal photography, we have our first look at the entire cast together on set, including a few glimpses of Jeremy Renner and Scarlett Johansson’s costumes and weaponry. 


When Jeremy Renner spilled the beans a few years ago that when he went into chat with friend and screenwriter Zak Penn about the role of Captain America, he instead got chatting seriously about the character of Clint Barton, aka Hawkeye, it was more of a fanboy desire cool idea than a reality. Little did we know at the time, that everything he said about his character would be coming true, from his introductory cameo appearance in Thor (which didn’t even have a director or cast yet) to the details of Hawkeye’s onscreen costume.


He described the modern Hawkeye SHIELD outfit as being more representative of the Ultimates version of the character, with cool shades to go along with his bow and quiver. Gone are the purple outlandish tights and in is the leather, sleeveless combat vest. After officially nabbing the role and making a surprise appearance at Comic-Con, Renner’s words in interviews further confirmed what we suspected he’d look like and now you can see for yourself. Joining Hawkeye, is partner Black Widow who also supports an upgraded costume from her first appearance in Iron Man 2, this time with a pair of sidearms. 

Much better than the Avengers promotional art which gave us our first look at Renner in costume, right? For those concerned with actors looking like their hand drawn, on-the-page counterparts, you couldn’t find a better match then Renner for Mr. Barton. If he, alongside Johansson’s Black Widow character make a big impression on fans, they along with Nick Fury (Samuel L. Jackson) and Agent Coulson (Clark Gregg) could very well get their own spin-off movie about the S.H.I.E.L.D. organization.


The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgard. It is of course written and directed by Joss Whedon, opening in theaters on May 4, 2012.

The Avengers Roster shown in new artwork and video

Outside of Tom Hiddleston’s villainous Loki returning in The Avengers after his introduction in Thor as the primary villain, Marvel Studios has kept a sealed lid on any official information regarding the other baddies that Earth’s Mightiest Heroes will have to battle against. In fact, we haven’t really seen too much of the principal cast leaked online either.

Along with the button at the end of Captain America: The First Avenger, eager fans were given their first real look at The Avengers roster during Comic-Con when Marvel released character posters for the team, that could fit together, forming a larger image. Today, we have a few more pieces of artwork, depicting the team posing together, fighting together and a little more.


The recent onslaught of set photos and videos of the final weeks of shooting The Avengers in Cleveland may at first, appear to offer plenty, but in reality we only got a good look at two heroes we already knew about with some potential spoilers regarding Loki’s “army” and the vehicles they use. All of the months of production before it gave rise to no spoilers at all so there’s still plenty of surprises left to come… that is, if the leaked images from the cancelled Avengers movie tie-in game didn’t spoil it already. Then again, anyone who’s been paying attention knows who the other villains of Joss Whedon’s film will be anyway.

Today, check out this new video highlighting The Avengers roster and the cast of actors playing them – then follow that with a look at some promo artwork of the Avengers standing together. 
http://www.twitvid.com/8TVHR


The four new images come from Spider Media and all take the form of conceptual and promotional art, but they do provide another detailed look at The Avengers team together in full costume. 

 

When you step back and really think about these images, these actors and the characters they’re playing on the silver screen, it’s hard to fathom that it’s really happening. Marvel has successfully brought to life Iron Man, Captain America and Thor and they’re actually going to join forces to fight the biggest threat we’ve seen in the movies to date. Enjoy it, fans. It’s been a long time coming.


The Avengers stars Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Mark Ruffalo, Scarlett Johansson, Jeremy Renner, Samuel L. Jackson, Cobie Smulders, Clark Gregg, Tom Hiddleston and Stellan Skarsgard. It is of course written and directed by Joss Whedon, opening in theaters on May 4, 2012.