"BEARDED CRAIG IN HIS DARK MATERIALS"

Those who have already watched "Casino Royale" on DVD or Blu-ray may wonder, why on Earth does Bond actor Daniel Craig wear a beard in those behind-the-scenes documentaries? Well, the answer is to be found in the still above, from Chris Weitz' upcoming adaptation of bestselling author Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials: The Golden Compass". The first part of this fantasy series will open worldwide in December.

Many things in the alternate universe Pullman's novels depict are very strange indeed. Human souls appear in the form of small animals, talking bears wage war and there are mysterious disappearances of children. Daniel Craig portrays the charismatic adventurer, Lord Asriel. Nicole Kidman portrays the beautiful but lethal Mrs. Coulter. Looks like a must-see adventure.

"GLAMOROUS CATE TO BE INDY'S GAL IN INDY 4"

Indeed she IS glamorous, isn't she?

The renowned Hollywood Reporter has just revealed, that Oscar winner Cate Blanchett has just signed on the dotted line to appear as the female main character in the upcoming "Indiana Jones 4". The shooting will start in June in Los Angeles and undisclosed locations around the world. Let's all hope that the old slogan still holds true: "If an adventure has a name, it has to be Indiana Jones".

"BAY TO DIRECT THE END OF THE WORLD?"

As Michael Bay's "Transformers" is already receiving great preview reactions at ShoWest, it looks like he can finally put the memory of such past box-office disappointments as "Pearl Harbor" and "The Island" behind him.

TMZ.com reports of a possible Armageddon scenario to be directed by Bay, based on Whitley Strieber's upcoming novel, "2012: The War for Souls". No doubt Bay would be the right man for the job:

http://www.tmz.com/2007/03/15/2012-michael-bay-on-soul-patrol/

"ZACH'S NEXT BIG ADVENTURE"

So, Zach Snyder's "300" has proven to be an instant hit. Countless comic book fans look anxiously forward to his next (dream) project, based on Alan Moore's cult graphic novel, "Watchmen". Here's fresh new interview with Snyder by Comic Book Resources, done Tuesday evening this week:

http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=9982

Personally, I can't wait for "Watchmen".

"BOND CAR BRAND ASTON MARTIN FINALLY BACK IN BRITISH HANDS"

This must come as a great and relieving piece of news for all us hard-core fans of James Bond's car brand, Aston Martin. Looks like the sale is now finalized. This just in from BBC News, hooray :

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6442101.stm

THE NURMSTER'S REVIEW: "300"

Epic. Phantasmagoric. Cool. Sexy. And bloody violent.

These are some of the words which came to mind while watching Zach Snyder's "300". Suffice to say, "300" isn't a movie for those with weak tickers.

In some ways, "300" -- which like "Sin City" is based on a graphic novel by Frank Miller -- reminds quite a lot of the aforementioned comic book adaptation. Despite the fact that the legend of 300 Spartans of Thermopylae is a known historical incident (maybe the most famous of all historical battles?), director Zach Snyder isn't exactly striving for historical accuracy.

It's hardly the point here, either. Among others, "300" features larger-than-life Big Bad Wolves, huge chained Berserker freaks, a hunchback warrior and even an obese human abomination with swords for arms! However, you need to use a little of that famous phrase 'suspension of disbelief' here.

"300" is one of the ultimate movies for fanboys. And fangals too, for that matter. There's certainly plenty of tight and taut male flesh here for the women to feast their eyes upon. All the Spartan warriors (not just the charismatic Gerard Butler as Leonidas) look like they only spend time in the gym and chopping off heads in the battlefield, not making love to their women. Rippling sixpacks and flexing pecs rule here, and will surely send countless male viewers with flabby bellies home depressed, just dreaming to look like these bloodthirsty warriors.

Some of my North American colleagues have criticized "300" for being too much of an exercise of style over substance. It's very true in a sense. Despite a stilted narrative (by a snarling David Wenham) running throughout the storyline and some heavily stylized battle and landscape imagery (you could even call them theatrical, in a good way), this isn't an exercise in masterful storytelling.

However, it's a launch of a masterful directorial talent named Zach Snyder. He uses 'ultra slo-mo' combat sequences in such a savagely stylish fashion, that it will surely make Sam Peckinpah smile in his grave. After Snyder's lauded directorial debut, "Dawn of the Dead" (which was, admittedly, a very promising horror remake), I wouldn't be surprised if Warner Bros. is now 150 percent behind its young filmmaker.

"300" made over $70 million in the North American boxoffice this past weekend. The budget of "300" was only $60 million. Shooting the movie entirely in a Canadian green screen studio brought down the production costs considerably. Even better, this kind of financial success now enables Zach Snyder to go ahead with the ultimate fanboy comic book adaptation: Alan Moore's "Watchmen".

More of this dystopian masterpiece in a separate post.

Meanwhile, "300" earns a rating of FOUR STARS OUT OF FIVE in The Nurmster Blog Rating. For sheer dynamic momentum and visual orgasms.

"OH JAMES, YOU'RE SO MONEY..."

The WENN section of IMDb.com reports that the new James Bond alias Daniel Craig has had enough of millions of women lusting after him in swimming trunks:

"The actor is keen for the next Bond film to focus on his acting talent, rather than his appearance, according to a British newspaper. A source tells the Daily Express, 'Daniel was a little uncomfortable at the amount of nudity he had to do. He appreciated that a lot of it was to win over the female fans but it's not something he wants to make a habit of, no matter how good he looks in his trunks.'"

Well, who can blame him? You can't be both the ultimate sex symbol and a serious actor. That's why Sean Connery called it quits, and left the 007 series (at least temporarily) just after five Bond movies.

Another interesting piece of new concerns one possible candidate for the next James Bond villain in "Bond 22" (2008). Goran Visnjic, the lead male doctor in the "ER" television series might be a serious contender.

Before Daniel Craig was chosen, the Croatian born Visnjic screen-tested for the Bond producers, and was considered even a strong candidate for 007 himself, but deemed too young - and maybe too foreign. The fact that Mr. Visnjic's "ER" contract has reportedly also run out, he's looking for a new job... maybe as the lover of Vesper Lynd we heard of at the end of "Casino Royale", but whom we never saw.

"ALL THOSE MOMENTS WILL BE LOST IN TIME... LIKE TEARS IN RAIN..."

Who could ever forget those last and touching words of the villainous Nexus-6 replicant Roy Batty (Rutger Hauer in a career best performance) at the end of "Blade Runner"? Surely he wasn't a villain in the classic sense. I mean, how many villain characters have you seen rescue the hero at the end? I've seen zero. Until "Blade Runner", that is.

There's so much unique stuff about "Blade Runner". It was a flawed script, a flawed shoot, a flawed post-production. Harrison Ford disavowed the movie, as he deemed it "style over substance". Ford was reportedly very unhappy with Ridley Scott during the shoot. He said once in an interview, that Scott was more interested in his fanciful images than directing the actors. (Ford and Scott have since made up, although they've never done another movie together.)

Vangelis' evocative music, the main and acting performances, Futurist Syd Mead's unsurpassed designs, all those über-cool futuristic gadgets (the Voight-Kampff lie detector unit, the Vesper computer, the Spinner police vehicles). You could wax lyrical about all this cool stuff for hours, if not days.

Despite not being successful at the box-office in the summer of 1982 -- there was a little Steven Spielberg movie called "E.T." coming out that same summer -- "Blade Runner" quickly became a huge CULT. Countless people working in the visual arts owed Ridley Scott's flawed masterpiece their careers. (And countless people got into the visual arts because of it.)

All this ranting brings me to my ultimate point. There will be another Director's Cut version released later in 2007, incorporating all the previous cuts PLUS a brand new, never-before-seen Director's Cut by Sir Ridley Scott. What's even more fantastic, it'll be available internationally in the DVD, HD DVD and Blu-ray formats by the end of the year.

If you're more or less a "Blade Runner" fanatic like I am, I suggest that grab Paul M. Sammon's excellent book on the making of the film, called "Future Noir: The Making of Blade Runner". It really spills the beans on everything you need to know about this sci-fi cult classic.

And while waiting for the HD versions of the Ultimate B.R. Cut, I'd suggest that you check out this fascinating documentary ("On The Edge of Blade Runner") by British film journo Mark Kermode. It isn't HD quality, but it's perfectly watchable :

http://www.infectiousvideos.com/index.php?p=showvid&a=playvid&sid=2350&cr=hotplay

"OLD ACTION HEROES NEVER GO AWAY... THEY JUST DIE HARD"

Yup. The poster image beside is indeed Bruce Willis as John McClane in the upcoming "Die Hard 4.0". Or, rather its official title -- "Live Free or Die Hard". Brucey gives bald guys like me hope. He still looks darn charismatic, doesn't he?

The directorial style of Len Wiseman (this guy directed the two "Underworld" vampire flicks) has never been my kind of frappuchino.

But at least the trailer looks darn action-packed, doesn't it? Looks great in HD : http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/livefreeordiehard.html

2007-2008 will be exciting years for a movie freak for a variety of reasons. Many old action heroes are dusted off from the moth balls and put back onto the silver screen. I'm talking about some legendary names: John McClane. Indiana Jones. John J. Rambo. If you love classic action heroes like me, it'll be a fun and action-packed time at the movies!!!