Dustin Hoffman and Susan George starred in the original Straw Dogs, which was directed by Sam Peckinpah (The Wild Bunch). That was in 1971 when movies like Straw Dogs was unheard of, but today, I will use the old cliche, they are a dime a dozen. Honestly, I don’t feel anything special about this remake.  If you read the logline, it’s practically word for word except for the locations of where each movie takes place. The original took place in rural England while the remake takes place in the deep South.

The remake stars James Marsden, Kate Bosworth and Alexander Skarsgard, which is directed by Rod Lurie. The trailer looks great, and I am sure the movie is just as good as the first one. It’s just that I am not a fan of remakes. Let’s have originality!

I hope we are not too late on getting the prize to Stacey Tinsley, who won the SundanceNOW’s exclusive online debut of IFC Film’s new movie The Ledge. By winning the online giveaway, Stacey, you have the opportunity to watch the film for free movie on SundanceNOW. You will see it before it hits pre-theatrical video-on-demand and the movie theaters!

You can see the movie now because it is available on SundanceNOW prior to its pre-theatrical video-on-demand launch on May 25, 2011. The film’s theatrical release is on Friday, July 8, 2011.

Once the winner is picked the code will be emailed directly to the winner, so no time will be wasted, instant satisfaction.  Since the film will only be available until May 25, 2011, this will be a quick giveaway.  You will see the movie right away!

So, I hope you can participate in the giveaway. The details to enter are below.

The Ledge concerns one step that can change a life forever, in the sexy and suspenseful thriller, starring Charlie Hunnam, Liv Tyler, Patrick Wilson and Terrence Howard.

After embarking on a passionate affair with his evangelical neighbor’s wife (Tyler), Gavin (Hunnam) soon finds himself in a battle of wills that will have life or death consequences. As a non-believing atheist, Gavin is lured by her lover’s husband (Wilson) to the ledge of a high rise and told he has one hour to make a choice between his life and the one he loves. Without faith in an afterlife, will he be able to make a decision? It’s up to police officer Hollis (Howard) to save both their lives, but the clock is ticking in this edge-of-your-seat film that will leave you gasping until the final frame.

Screenhead is working with Sony Pictures Home Entertainment to help promote The Mechanic as a DVD release. We are holding a giveaway for (1) The Mechanic DVD, which is now available wherever DVDs are sold.

Jason Statham is Arthur Bishop also known as ‘mechanic’ – an elite assassin with a strict code and unique talent for cleanly eliminating targets. It’s a job that requires professional perfection and total detachment, and Bishop is the best in the business.

Directed by Simon West, The Mechanic also stars Ben Foster and Donald Sutherland.

When his mentor and close friend Harry is murdered, Bishop is anything but detached. His next assignment is self-imposed – he wants those responsible dead. Sounds like an awesome movie to watch with popcorn and a couple of beers.

So if you want to win the DVD, enter your name and we will pick the winner June 3, 2011.

Producer and director Adam McKay spoke with EW.com about his newest project, an ensemble sports comedy reuniting The Other Guys stars Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg. McKay and Ferrell are developing the project together, which was originally called Turkey Bowl.

Now, the project is tentatively titled Three Mississippi. “It’s about these two rival families from — we’re thinking Philadelphia but we need to check in with Wahlberg and Ferrell and see what kind of accents they want to do,” McKay laughs.

“Alec Baldwin is the patriarch of one of the families, and Wahlberg is his son. His family starts playing the other family that lives across the park from them. Over the years, Baldwin’s family hasn’t done too well — they own a crappy little bar in town — while the other family, which Will’s character eventually becomes the patriarch of, becomes really successful.

“The game gets nastier and nastier as the years go on, and Ferrell’s family starts just destroying the other family. After a massive heart attack, Baldwin’s character’s dying wish is that his estranged son, Mark, takes over the game and finally wins one. So Wahlberg has to put this ramshackle, convict, gambling-addict family back together again and beat the ‘richies.’ The whole spirit of it is that it’s just a giant, fun ensemble comedy. We want to populate it with people we love.”

Photo Credit: Collider.com

Directed by Steven Spielberg from producer Peter Jackson The Adventures of Tintin: Secret of the Unicorn trailer finally arrives. The movie stars Jamie Bell, Andy Serkis, Daniel Craig, Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Gad Elmaleh, Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook.

Written by Edgar Wright, Steven Moffat and Joe Cornish the movie is in 3D Motion Capture Film. Jamie Bell as Tintin is the intrepid young reporter whose relentless pursuit of a good story thrusts him into a world of high adventure with Daniel Craig as the nefarious Red Rackham.

The movie opens in theaters on December 23, 2011

You are looking at the trailer of Craig Gillespie-helmed revamp comedy-horror classic. Senior Charlie Brewster (Anton Yelchin) finally has it all—he’s running with the popular crowd and dating the hottest girl in high school. In fact, he’s so cool he’s even dissing his best friend Ed (Christopher Mintz-Plasse).

But trouble arrives when an intriguing stranger Jerry (Colin Farrell) moves in next door. He seems like a great guy at first, but there’s something not quite right—and everyone, including Charlie’s mom (Toni Collette), doesn’t notice. After witnessing some very unusual activity, Charlie comes to an unmistakable conclusion: Jerry is a vampire preying on his neighborhood. Unable to convince anyone that he’s telling the truth, Charlie has to find a way to get rid of the monster himself.

Colin Farrell looks ripped in this trailer. I can hardly recognize Toni Collette. All in all, it should be a fun movie to watch with your friends.

The movie opens in theaters August 19, 2011 and it’s not rated yet.

Real Steel is directed by Shawn Levy. Levy directed two movies that I adore, Night at the Museum franchise and Date Night. Real Steel is an action drama about a former boxer (Hugh Jackman) who, against all odds, gets one last shot at a comeback when he teams up with his estranged son (Dakota Goyo) to build and train the perfect contender for the new high-tech sport of robot boxing.

No offense, but It appears that the story is The Champ gone robot. The Champ was produced twice. The first one was directed by King Vidor, starring Wallace Berry and Jackie Cooper. Decades later, Jon Voight and Rick Schroder starred in Franco Zeffirelli’s movie.

Screenplay by John Gatins, Reel Steel is a gritty, white-knuckle, action ride set in the near-future where the sport of boxing has gone high-tech, Real Steel follows Charlie Kenton, a washed-up fighter who lost his chance at a title when 2000-pound, 8-foot-tall steel robots took over the ring. Now a small-time promoter, Charlie earns just enough money piecing together low-end bots from scrap metal to get from one underground boxing venue to the next. When Charlie hits rock bottom, he reluctantly teams up with his estranged son Max to build and train a championship contender. As the stakes in the brutal, no-holds-barred arena are raised, Charlie and Max, against all odds, get one last shot at a comeback. Evangeline Lilly, Anthony Mackie and Kevin Durand also star in Reel Steel.

The movie opens in theaters October 7, 2011.

DreamWorks sent me an update on Steven Spielberg’s War Horse. I am very excited about this movie, which is based on the book by Michael Morpurgo and a recent stage play by Nick Stafford. The movie script was co-written by Lee Hall and Richard Curtis. The cast includes Emily Watson, David Thewlis, Peter Mullan, Niels Arestrup, Tom Hiddleston, Jeremy Irvine, Benedict Cumberbatch and Toby Kebbell.

War Horse is set against a sweeping canvas of rural England and Europe during the First World War. The movie begins with the remarkable friendship between a horse named Joey and a young man called Albert, who tames and trains him. The story is an epic adventure for audiences of all ages. My daughter will love it.

When they are forcefully separated, the film follows the extraordinary journey of the horse as he moves through the war, changing and inspiring the lives of those he meets—British cavalry, German soldiers, and a French farmer and his granddaughter—before the story reaches its emotional climax in the heart of No Man’s Land.

I look forward to more images from the movie like the poster and trailer, which I will post here.

The movie opens December 28, 2011.

Screenhead is hosting a giveaway for the DVD and Blu-Ray release of The Illusionist. We have (1) copy of the DVD/Blu Ray Combo pack to give away to (1) of our readers.

From the Director of the Oscar-nominated classic The Triplets of Belleville, a down-on-his-luck magician meets a young girl who is convinced his magic is real in this 2010 Academy Award nominated film.

The Illusionist will be available on DVD and Blu-Ray on Tuesday, May 10, 2011.

The movie is a heartwarming story of a magician while touring concert halls, theaters and pubs encounters a young girl at the start of her life’s journey. Alice is a teenage girl with all her capacity for childish wonder still intact. She plays at being a woman without realizing the day to stop pretending is fast approaching. She doesn’t know yet that she loves The Illusionist like she would a father; he already knows that he loves her as he would a daughter. Their destinies will collide, but nothing – not even magic or the power of illusion– can stop the voyage of discovery.

The animation is realistic and characterized perfectly for the film, pure artistic splendor.

To enter the giveaway, post your name and we will pick the winner May 21, 2011.

An epic true story set against the backdrop of one of the wildest places on Earth, “African Cats” captures the real-life love, humor and determination of the majestic kings of the Savanna.  Narrated by Oscar-nominated actor Samuel L. Jackson, the story features Mara, an endearing lion cub who strives to grow up with her mother’s strength, spirit and wisdom; Sita, a fearless cheetah and single mother of five mischievous newborns; and Fang, a proud leader of the pride who must defend his family from a rival lion and his sons.

I spoke with the co-director of African Cats, Keith Scholey about the movie before it was release. Scholey and I talked about how the movie was filmed, which still resonates in my mind. He told me that the movie took two years to produce. The crew had no idea where the story was going to go. They just followed the cats all day. If you have seen the movie, you know that how fantastic the experience is watching the story of the two cat families.

With that said, we did pick a winner for the giveaway! Our winner is Dave L. He says, “We love nature films and have been looking forward to this one. Thank you for the fun giveaway.”

You are welcome and congratulations! I hope you and your family enjoy the two African cats books – Sita the Cheetah and A Lion’s Pride.

One more thing, which I think is awesome, Disneynature announced that its “See ‘African Cats,’ Save the Savanna” campaign will help protect more than 50,000 acres of land in Kenya’s Amboseli Wildlife Corridor on behalf of the moviegoers who came out to see Disneynature’s motion picture “African Cats” during its opening week (April 22-28, 2011). A portion of the proceeds from the opening-week ticket sales will be donated to the African Wildlife Foundation (AWF) through the Disney Worldwide Conservation Fund to ensure the future of lions, cheetahs, elephants, zebras, giraffes and a host of other animals in the vibrant African savanna.

The area to be protected equates to 100 Disney’s Animal Kingdom Theme Parks or more than twice the size of Manhattan. The AWF will be working to establish the Amboseli Wildlife Corridor, a passage between the Amboseli, Tsavo West and Chyulu Hills National Parks that is frequently used by a variety of wildlife.