It’s awards season, and with the end of the year just weeks away, the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences are narrowing the nominations for the categorical prizes. This time the AMPAS has narrowed the race for its Achievement in Visual Effects to 15 films. Caution, there will be surprises.

Some notable movies that are being considered for nominations are Rise of the Planet of the Apes, Hugo, Transformers: Dark Side of the Moon and Harry Potter and the Death Hallows, Part 2.

The Academy has included some great titles but some can be questionable, both omissions and submissions. Take The Adventures of Tintin, Green Lantern, and The Immortals for instance, its name was not included in the final 15 and all are praised for its visual effects. X-Men: First Class, which had subpar visuals, got into the final 15. Some even doubted that The Tree of Life could make it in. I also have my doubts about Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows, but I am using TV spots as the basis for my reasoning.

Whatever you may think, these are the top 15 movies that are fighting for a nomination.

Captain America: The First Avenger
Cowboys & Aliens
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2
Hugo
Mission: Impossible – Ghost Protocol
Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides
Real Steel
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows
Sucker Punch
Super 8
Thor
Transformers: Dark of the Moon
The Tree of Life
X-Men: First Class

The list of movies will be reduced to 10 in early January.

Thanks to IndieWire for the heads up.

Captain America: the First Avenger 3D Blu-ray Pack

The best of the comic book movies this past summer has finally arrived on Blu-ray and it is every bit as super as the superhero it sells. Captain America: The First Avenger is the last high profile piece of the Marvel Avengers puzzle providing the first true big screen look into the red, white and blue hero, Steve Rogers before giving us the long awaited Avengers film. A “zero to hero” storyline this movie truly captures the essence of Steve Rogers, World War II and the boyhood fantasy of any weakling who wants to become super strong, super fast and super good looking. Good story, great characters, humor, action and adventure this arguably the best Marvel film since Iron Man.

My Quick Thoughts on the Movie

The film follows Steve Rogers (Chris Evans), a young wanna-be soldier from Brooklyn. After being 4-F multiple times he is about to give up his attempt to become a soldier and fight for the country he loves. When a defected German scientist is bowled over by Rogers’ passion to stand-up and fight for what is right, to push back from “bullies” he believes that Steve is the perfect candidate for a secret super soldier project. Rogers is admitted to the program where he meets Army Colonel Chester Phillips (Tommy Lee Jones) and British officer Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell). He is also introduced to the young budding inventor, weapons manufacturer, Howard Stark (Dominic Cooper). So to his grit, bravery and “guts”, Rogers is selected to be injected with the super soldier serum first. The experiment proves successful, turning “skinny Steve” into a whopping 6 foot 4 inch, muscle toned hunk that also has Olympic sprinters speed, super stamina, amazing strength and agility and amongst other things that same old determination, passion and small guy attitude. Unfortunately the experiment is destroyed leaving Rogers the only recipient of the serum and death of Dr. Abraham Erskine (Stanley Tucci).

Rogers along with Carter and Phillips determine it was the work of Hydra, a former Nazi occult and science division, now being controlled by the crazy, ruthless Johann Schmidt (Hugo Weaving). Schmidt has found the Cosmic Cube, “the crown jewel of Odin’s treasure room.” He begins to harness it’s energy to transform projectile weapons into phaser guns and builds a powerful force that proves to be unstoppable for the Allied forces. Meanwhile Captain America, is merely a marketing tool now to sell war bonds and be the public face of the WWII war machine. While on a USO tour, Rogers takes it upon himself to save a group of American forces caught behind enemy lines. This reunites him with his childhood friend Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Shaw). Captain America is born and becomes a force that begins to cripple Hydra, Schmidt and stop the forces of evil. Not bad for a kid from Brooklyn, right?

I loved this movie and found the surprise casting of Evans to be one the best performances for a comic book character in the Marvel universe since Hugh Jackman’s casting as Wolverine. Evans truly embodied the small guy attitude of Rogers but also the passion, golden boy mindset of him as well. The visual effects were the perfect blend of practical and CGI effects creating a great world that was part Rocketeer and part Saving Private Ryan. Captain America’s only flaws lie in the beginning part of the story and the middle act. The beginning of the movie begins in present day where Cap is found by some explorers in the Arctic. I felt this scene should have waited until the end that way people who didn’t know the comics wouldn’t be spoiled by the fact he lives at the end of the movie and joins the Avengers. I also felt the middle acts were rushed, after such a powerful beginning storyline about Rogers they spent a little too much time on the humorous USO stuff while coasting through some good character development time to rush to finale act of Captain America vs. Red Skull. All in all is still a way better movie than Thor and proved to be one the most fantastic and authentic portrayals of a comic book character in years.

Audio and Video Review 

Another high profile Marvel/Paramount Blu-ray release, this proves to be just another mediocre 3D presentation of converted 2D material. It wasn’t great in the theater  and wasn’t great at home (except one scene where Cap throws a shield and the editing was perfect to where it bounces off something to cut to another angle of it heading towards our faces. I admit I ducked in my seat). Much like Thor, Captain America struggles to impress in 3D, and again like Thor, Captain America‘s native 2D presentation proves to be vastly more superior and more enjoyable.

The audio on the Blu-ray is flawless. Boasting 7.1 DTS HD the action proves totally immersive. The gunfire rocks and erupts from every corner of your tricked out 7.1 listening area. Explosions are hefty and strong, but not overly excessive with too much bass that drowns out the foreground. The most important parts such as the dialogue remain grounded up the middle of every scene. This makes it clear, concise and never lost through any of the supporting elements, heavy or otherwise.

Special Features Review

Captain America arrives on Blu-ray with a good assortment of extras, including an audio commentary track and several informative featurettes. All supplements are included on the 2D-only Blu-ray disc, and there are no exclusive features, or any supplements in 3D, to be found.

• Audio Commentary: Director Joe Johnston, Director of Photography Shelly Johnson, and Editor Jeffrey Ford deliver a fairly light but informative track, it isn’t the best of the Marvel movie commentaries but interesting none the less. It is very technically oriented sharing tons of interesting secrets that go on the commentary. Fans will want to listen but it isn’t indicative at all.

• Marvel One-Shot: A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to Thor’s Hammer: A short film with a comic edge about a convenience store robbery that catches Agent Coulson off guard on his way to Thor’s Hammer. This a funny little short that bridges the events between Iron Man 2 and Thor. On the Thor Blu-ray you can watch Part 1, “The Consultant,” which bridges the Incredible Hulk with Iron Man 2.

• Outfitting a Hero: A an informative behind-the-scenes piece looking at the history of the character’s costumes and how Captain’s in-movie suit came to be. This was cool to watch because I remember the curiosity and fan chatter early on about how Cap’s suit would look.

• Howling Commandos: A brief piece that looks at the supporting players who come to Captain America’s aid throughout the movie. Dum Dum Doogan is all I gotta say.

• Heightened Technology : This brief supplement looks at the “secret arms race” that plays out in the film and the resultant future-inspired weapons and vehicles that appear in the movie. This is a nice alternate history look that combines the fantasy/comic book elements of Captain America into our real world history of WWII. Sure we didn’t have lazer weapons then but this is what would have happened if we did.

• The Transformation: A solid supplement that offers an in-depth look at the process of digitally shrinking Actor Chris Evans for the film’s first act. The Skinny Steve story was cool and an amazing process of how they approached it in the movie. I also liked hearing here how they decided to not glorify the actual transformation scene.

• Behind the Skull: A look back at the history of Red Skull, casting the role, and creating the character’s right look for the movie. I thought Red Skull looked awesome in the movie and this was fun to see how they did it.

• DVD Copy.

• Blu-ray 2D Copy: Includes all bonus features.

• Captain America’s Origin: Captain America Co-Creator Joe Simon looks back at the history of the character in comics, and the piece ends with red carpet interviews with Simon’s friends and family. This was neat to hear one of the original creators talk about the character.

• Digital Copy: Sampled on an iPhone 4 and the conversion is about what you would expect. 

• Trailers (1080p): Theatrical Trailer 1 (2:35), Theatrical Trailer 2 (2:35), Sega Game Trailer (2:18), and The Avengers Animated Trailer (1:19).

• Deleted Scenes (1080p, 5:32): Attack in Norway, The Battle at Azzano, Steve Rogers Gets his Medal, and Steve Rogers Meets Nick Fury. The Nick Fury scene is expanded a bit with Rogers and Fury discussing SHIELD’s reason for tricking him to believe he was still in the 40s. It was actually a little more heartfelt than the edited version that made the cut.

• The Assembly Begins (1080p, 1:46): A short look ahead towards The Avengers. This has been online but still cool to see in the HD presentation and can’t help but continue your excitement on the next movie.

My Final Thoughts on Captain America: The First Avenger 3D Blu-ray pack

Captain America certainly isn’t redefining the home entertainment experience but this is certainly a movie you want to add to your collection. It has a major re-watchability factor to it and it is just insanely fun to watch. What is great about this movie as well is that is in the same boat as movies like Raiders of the Lost Ark and the Rocketeer all of which director Joe Johnston worked on. Paramount’s Blu-ray 3D pack is a decent presentation of a converted 2D video, a potent 7.1-channel lossless soundtrack, and a fine assortment of extras. I recommend you just save the money and get the 2D Blu-ray pack as home entertainment 3D just isn’t great and has every bit as much distractions as the theater versions.

The Avengers Theatrical Trailer Is Finally Here!

“You were made to be ruled!” Loki blasts this in the opening moments of the long awaited trailer for The Avengers. The trailer does such an awesome balance showing just enough for fanboys to mess their pants. I love the Tony Stark moments, especially the end of the trailer where he complements Mark Ruffalo’s Bruce Banner, “your research is unparalleled and I am a huge fan of when you lose control and turn into enormous green rage monster,” cutting right to the first look at Ruffalo’s Hulk for a brief second. We get no first look at the rumored Skrulls or whatever attacks the Earth but we can see from the trailer that this first outing for the World’s Mightiest Heroes is going to be tough internally. There is even a great moment where Stark and Steve Rogers go at it, “I don’t play well with others,” says Stark. “Big man with a suit of armor, take that away and what are you?” Rogers responds and in classic Stark fashion, “a genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist.” Thor found it so amusing he laughed and so did I.

The trailer is great and is sure to have the web in an uproar but nevertheless we are finally nearing closer to this film’s reality and next summer couldn’t get here fast enough. I have to wonder what Joss Whedon doubters will say after seeing this theatrical trailer.

You can check it out in High Definition on Apple:

Captain America will raise his shield once again when Disney and Marvel release The Avengers next summer, but it will be quite a while before we see Chris Evans do it all by himself. In an interview with Indiewire, Chris Evans confirmed that we won’t be seeing Captain America 2 until 2014.

“They may wait until 2014 until they release the next ‘Cap’,” he said, “Marvel has a lot of balls in the air. They aren’t going to cannibalize their films.”

After seeing how long the entire process took to bring The Avengers to life, I am sure they want to play it safe well after the ensemble superhero film runs its theatrical course. I am not completely surprised that it is going to take this long to see a sequel to Captain America.

Evans suspects that there won’t be in any more cameos (for him at least), that’s because he is splitting his time between the six films he is contracted for between the Captain America films and the Avengers films. Part of the reason he is splitting between those two films is because even being a part of a cameo for a film outside Captain America and The Avengers counts for the six film contract.

“Out of those six films, if I pop up in one of those [other films], it counts as part of the deal,” he continued, “So if they needed me in a third ‘Cap’, and I say, ‘F–k you, give me $30 million,’ well, they want to avoid that.”

Guess Evans wants to milk this character for what its worth, and understandably so. He did such a wonderful job portraying Steve Rogers that he deserves it.

Get ready to mark up your film calendars, as Walt Disney Pictures and Marvel Studios have set dates for several upcoming projects.

On August 15, 2012, family film The Odd Life of Timothy Green, starring Jennifer Garner, arrives in theatres. So far, the only major film scheduled for that weekend is The Expendables 2, so Timothy Green should perform respectfully as counter-programming to that decidedly violent action flick.

Now let’s jump a year to 2013, as an Untitled Henry Selick Film will start playing on screens on October 4, 2013. This project will be released in the 3D format as well. No other films have been set for this weekend. I find it interesting that Frankenweenie, Tim Burton’s upcoming stop-motion project for Disney, will be released exactly one year earlier on October 5, 2013. The company must feel very comfortable with that first weekend in October, as both films will likely draw audiences leading to Halloween. Selick has collaborated with Burton on many previous films, but it is unknown at this point if Burton will play a role in this project.

Onto May 16, 2014 is an Untitled Marvel Film. June 27, 2014 will also bring another Untitled Marvel Film. Will one or both of these be original projects? It’s too early to say, although Disney is hoping to premiere their first new property with Marvel – outside of The Avengers – within the next few years. Maybe we will see Ant Man, Doctor Strange or a sequel to Captain America to fill those spots, as those are just some of a number of projects in early development. I think it would be highly likely that Marvel will officially announce the films to occupy those release dates at the D23 Expo late next week. No additional films have been announced for release on those aforementioned weekends.

Last, May 30, 2014 promises an Untitled Pixar Film. Weeks ago the company announced November 27, 2013 as the date for another yet-to-be-named Pixar project. As many Disney fans know, there are heavy rumors that both a dinosaur-themed film and even a “Toy Story 4″ are in development. Could these in fact be the Pixar films to be released following June 2013′s Monsters University? We shall find out soon enough, I would guess.

Interested in finding out the latest Disney news updates? Follow me on Twitter!

Just got out of the coolest screening I have been to in my short film writing career, and it has to be the film and the venue. Tons of soldiers from the US military were present, fans who were lucky enough to see the film they have been waiting for and of course a nice visit from Captain America himself, Chris Evans.

So at the screening we were given an awesome Mondo poster for the film as well as a neat T-shirt, which I tweeted - http://t.co/rYfQRAa. The 3D glasses were even Captain America tailored.

So below you will see video I took of Chris Evans coming by the screening and boosting morale for the film with the fans and he was pretty genuine. You get the sense he really loved playing the role of Captain America.

As for the film I loved it! It had so much old school filmmaking practicality to it from a direction and cinematography standpoint. It proves to me that Joe Johnston can direct a movie, given the right project. The story also started off really strong, exploring the wonderful traits that make Steve Rogers an ideal soldier. It has a lot of heart in the beginning of the film for sure. The middle act was a little saturated trying to get us to the groovy pay off in the end. The saturation reels the film’s overall sense of greatness to just good. Still, I think this is the best movie the studio has done since the first Iron Man film and should give everyone and awesome prequel to The Avengers, which will debut next summer.

As far as The Avengers trailer is concerned, for a movie that just started filming, they have a great look and feel to it. The scenes they showed were kick-ass, especially one concerning a Norse god and a particular character everyone loves.

Marvel is playing a little coy with The Avengers these days after ramping up for it every movie since Iron Man. Their last hype film is the upcoming Captain America movie, which hits theaters this upcoming weekend (we will screen it at SDCC on Thursday July 20).

Still Paramount has screened it for military personnel this past week and now buzz is coming out on twitter and sites that the post credits scene for Captain America is actually an Avengers trailer. This may even be the trailer we still hear might play at Comic-Con next week in the exhibit halls.

I think showing a preview for The Avengers after the credits roll for Captain America is an awesome idea! After all, it’s what all of these films have been leading up to… so cool! Here’s the the full spoilerish description of The Avengers footage shown after the credits rolled: (Source CBM)

A new scene opened with Cap awaking in the present day. I think we all know what happens here, Cap starts to get confused and runs out in NYC where he meets NIck Fury. Now on to the post-credits scene.

It starts out with Captain America punching a punching bag until it flies off into a wall, and then enters Nick Fury. They briefly talked about a mission and that they needed to get ready, but they never explained what the mission was. And then it happened. As the music kicked in, scenes of SHEILD, Iron Man, Thor, Black Widow, Hawkeye, Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo), & Loki were shown!! It showed a hell of a lot of action! Thor had a brief costume change, just no chainmail under armor and his hair was a bit longer. Iron Man was shown in what looked like the Mark VI or maybe a new Mark VII armor!! I don’t recall who was fighting who or what, but it was a lot of kick-assery!! And at the end of it all, Thor threw Mjolnir and then it flashed… The Avengers!

Well at first there was the Avengers themselves in what looked to be a meeting room, Thor was leaning against wall with arms crossed and Cap was sitting down, as Tony Stark and Nick Fury were most likely talking about the mission that was discussed earlier with Cap and Fury and also a shot of Bruce Banner. The action scenes were confusing but from what I remember, scenes with Iron Man flying in the air, and Hawkeye shooting an arrow, along with some explosions and Black Widow kicking ass. As for Captain America only his shield and part of his Costume was shown, so I wasn’t able to tell what suit he appeared in. The last part was in a forest, Iron Man and Thor fighting, but I couldn’t tell if it was against each other or someone or something else. And then, Thor threw his hammer, similar to the way he threw it at the Frost Giants, and then flashed “The Avengers, coming May 2012″

Wow, this would be so cool if this happens, athough George Lucas ever letting a film version spin-off of his Star Wars franchise go outside himself is highly unlikely. There has been talk for years about various ideas for Star Wars spin-offs as live-action films and of course they always get shut down. Still, Captain America director Joe Johnston, who knows Lucas from his days working as an art director on Star Wars (the original trilogy) and Indiana Jones, wants to do a Boba Fett solo film.

I’m trying to get George to make a feature based on Boba Fett.” When asked if he would direct the film Johnston said simply, “I would like to, it would be a lot of fun.”

Johnston revealed that wish in an interview with our pals at ScreenRant. All I can say is, can you imagine if this movie actually happened? I mean Boba Fett is perhaps one of the most interesting characters in the universe because even though his allegiances seem always nefarious, he is a bounty hunter and his sole purpose is to make money. His origin is already known through the prequels as he is a clone of Jango Fett, who was aged normally, to be a son to Jango. When Jango was killed by Obi-Wan Kenobi, Boba took it upon himself to take over his father’s legacy. In the later storylines from the original trilogy he was in high pursuit collecting a bounty for the gangsta, Jabba the Hutt, on Han Solo. Boba Fett dies in the Return of the Jedi after falling into the Sarlaac pit during a fight outside Jaba’s floating palace. There is a lot of time between the prequel trilogy and the original one that would make for an interesting bit of stories revolving around Fett.

We heard numerous stories of Marvel moving forward with a sequel for Captain America, but nothing official. Now in an interview with D23 (via IGN), Marvel President Kevin Feige has confirmed that there will be a sequel for Captain America and it would take place after World War II and that there will also be a sequel for Thor. Obviously the two heroes will reunite with Iron Man and The Hulk for the ensemble superhero film The Avengers, but Feige has also confirmed that the studio would also venture into other heroes like Dr. Strange, Hawkeye, and the Black Widow.

Here is what Feige had to say,

“Thor will go off into a new adventure, and Captain America will continue to explore the modern world in another film of his own. We hope that holds true for the characters appearing in that film — Black Widow, Hawkeye, and the spy organization, S.H.I.E.L.D. — all of whom are more than worthy and capable of carrying their own films. And, we’ve got a lot of other characters we’re prepping and getting ready for film debuts: the world of martial arts, these great cosmic space fantasies, Dr. Strange, and the magic side of the Marvel Universe. There are many, many stories to be mined.”

Although we have already heard stories of a Dr. Strange and Black Widow film adaptations in development, this is the first time we have heard anything about a single film for Hawkeye. And despite the vague details that were given in the interview, we finally have confirmation that a sequel for Thor will happen and that Captain America 2 will take place during the modern age. Of course, all of these projects will take some time to complete, but until then we have Thor and Captain America to look forward to this year and The Avengers next year.

So which Marvel film are you most excited for?

Marvel Studios and Paramount Pictures via ET have debuted the first full trailer for Captain America: the First Avenger. I have to say it looks kick ass, not only how they did the small Steve Rogers with Chris Evans, but also the action, the war aspects and all the geek pandering that goes with a movie like this. It has everything from Tommy Lee Jones epic and commanding voice, Howard Stark, the origins of the Super Soldier program, Red Skull, Hydra and some ass kicking Nazi hating words that we can all get behind.

“Captain America: The First Avenger” will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America.  As Captain America, Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) to wage war on the evil HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaving.)

One of a continuing slate of films being produced by Marvel Studios based on the Marvel characters, “Captain America: The First Avenger” joins “Thor” on May 6, 2011 and “The Avengers” on May 4, 2012.

In 1942, Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) is deemed physically unfit to enlist in the U.S. Army and fight the Nazis in World War II. Volunteering instead for Project: Rebirth, a secret military operation, he is physically transformed into a super-soldier dubbed Captain America. With sidekick Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), he fights the Red Skull (Hugo Weaving), Hitler’s treacherous head of advanced weaponry, whose own plan for world domination involves a seemingly magical object known as the Tesseract.

We at MovieViral cover viral news and marketing for films and television. The big campaigns we are currently following are Battle: Los Angeles, Apollo 18, and Super 8. Below are our top stories of the week, including the best viral videos we featured.

The Big Story

After the big premiere of the  Super 8 commercial during the Super Bowl, we found out that the online version is actually being updated regularly with new hidden images within the lens in the final shot. The images go together like a puzzle, but it is unclear whether they are shots from the film or just part of the viral campaign. Rocket Poppeteers also emailed out the certificates they sent out last month. For all the details on the Super 8 viral campaign, check out our Super 8 Viral Page.

Other Headlines

Funds Raised To Bring Robocop Statue To Detroit

New “Battle: Los Angeles” Viral Video and Facebook Game

“Apollo 18″ Trailer To Debut This Weekend In Front of I Am Number Four

Viral Videos of the Week

Captain America Meets Team America

Cast Of “Take Me Home Tonight” Reenact 80s Movies

SNL Viral Video: British Movie

Everything is coming up Captain America: The First Avenger this weekend, as director Joe Johnston prepares to debut the first footage from the movie with a 30-second spot that will run this Sunday during Super Bowl XLV. Marvel Studios is also releasing an 8-part prequel comic, of which the first issue will be free this Sunday only on captainamerica.com.

Captain America: The First Avenger will focus on the early days of the Marvel Universe when Steve Rogers (Chris Evans) volunteers to participate in an experimental program that turns him into the Super Soldier known as Captain America.  As Captain America, Rogers joins forces with Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan) and Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) to wage war on the evil HYDRA organization, led by the villainous Red Skull (Hugo Weaving.)

One of a continuing slate of films being produced by Marvel Studios based on the Marvel characters, “Captain America: The First Avenger” joins “Thor” on May 6, 2011 and “The Avengers” on May 4, 2012.