Big Miracle is an upcoming romantic drama film starring Drew Barrymore and John Krasinski. The film, directed by Ken Kwapis, is based on the 1989 book Freeing the Whales by Tom Rose, which covers Operation Breakthrough, the 1988 international effort to rescue gray whales from being trapped in ice near Point Barrow, Alaska. The film is scheduled to be released on February 3, 2012.

The Matrix was a cinematic marvel, but thanks to the sequels it’s a huge mess and I’ll explain why. When a movie does well studios always push for a sequel. I can understand how much pressure the Wachowski’s were under. Their first movie, Bound, was critically acclaimed but not exactly a block-busters. Suddenly, men with suits are shoveling money at them and people were begging for more of this amazing film. So, the decided to go for it and make a trilogy. 

They expanded on ideas they had from the first film and came up with a storyline, plot and new characters. They brought back the actors and tried to recreate the magic. They failed. In the process they destroyed everything they worked for and have to spend the rest of their lives living down the success of the first film and the failure of their other films like Speed Racer and V for Vendetta.

Batman 3 is a rumored film project to have been directed by Tim Burton. Rumors suggest that when the third Batman film went into production, it was initially going to be directed by Burton with Michael Keaton. The film was to have Bruce Wayne enlisting the assistance of an orphan by the name of Robin, in bringing down the villainous Riddler, not expecting to meet with a new love interest to complicate matters. Rumors claimed Micky Dolenz was to play the Riddler and that Robin Williams was offered the role, but turned it down. The Riddler was to have his head shaved with a question mark.

The film was to include a possible return of Catwoman (who survived the events of Batman Returns). Renee Russo was cast as Keaton’s love interest. Marlon Wayans meanwhile, was actually signed on to portray Robin and even costume tested, for the film.

A bizarre story used to circulate back then suggests that on the original casting wishlist for The X-Files was Pamela Anderson. She, according to an interview given by Gillian Anderson, was the preferred choice of 20th Century Fox for the role of Dana Scully. And while it was Gillian Anderson who snagged the role, and was catapulted to international stardom as a result, she’s quoted as saying that at the time,

…they were looking for someone bustier, taller, leggier than me. They couldn’t fathom how David and me could equal success… At the beginning, nobody trusted that I could do anything.

Everyone is happy to go out on a limb here, and suggest that had Pamela Anderson snagged the role of Scully, the show would have had a much shorted lifespan. Unless they got the Hoff to play Mulder, of course. But that’s just common sense…

Eddie Powell was a British stuntman. He performed stuntwork in several films for Hammer Studios, serving as a regular stunt double for Christopher Lee. His credits during this time included portraying Dracula in Dracula: Prince of Darkness and the Mummy in The Mummy’s Shroud. He also appeared in several James Bond films and in Daleks - Invasion Earth 2150 AD. Powell portrayed the Aliens for stuntwork in Alien and Aliens. He also did stunts in Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Batman, and Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. He was married to Hammer wardrobe mistress Rosemary Burrows and is the brother of Joe Powell, also a film stuntman.

The Death Touch techniques appear in a number of kung fu films. In Bloodsport, Jean-Claude Van Damme’s character proves that he was trained by Master Tanaka by demonstrating the Dim Mak attack to the judges. Though the demonstration was conducted on a stack of bricks instead of a human opponent, the film does refer to the move as a Dim Mak and Death Touch. 

Jenette Elise Goldstein (born February 4, 1960) is an American actress. Goldstein was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised in Beverly Hills. Her first film role was in James Cameron’s Aliens, playing the Hispanic character PFC Jenette Vasquez. She initially thought the role was about immigration due to the title and showed up for her audition to play a tough-as-nails space marine in a short skirt and high heels. She also appeared as the vampire Diamondback in Near Dark, Officer Meagan Shapiro in Lethal Weapon 2, Janelle Voight in Terminator 2: Judgment Day, the Enterprise-B science officer in Star Trek Generations, and an Irish immigrant mother in Titanic. Goldstein is the proprietress of the store Jenette Bras, a large-size bra specialist known for its slogan “The alphabet starts at ‘D’”.

Jackie Chan (born Chan Kong-sang, 7 April 1954) was rigorously trained in music, dance, and traditional martial arts being apprenticed to the China Drama Academy by his parents at the age of 6. A visiting filmmaker offered Chan his first role as a stunt player. Chan took the part, and soon left the Opera to pursue the world of film. Fellow Opera students Biao Yuen and Sammo Hung Kam-Bo would also have careers in film, and the three would star in several films together in the following years. Chan’s talent and enthusiasm soon saw him taking larger and more important roles, graduating first to stunt coordinator, and then to director. Following the death of martial arts legend Bruce Lee, the search was on for an actor who could inspire audiences to the same degree; every young martial artist was given a chance. Chan decided that rather than emulating Lee (and thus living forever in his shadow), he would develop his own style of filmmaking. His directorial debut The Young Master (1980) was a milestone in martial arts films, being one of the first to effectively combine comedy with action. This set the tone for many of his future films, which combined slapstick humor with high-energy martial arts action. A self-confessed fan of Buster Keaton and Harold Lloyd, Chan performs all his own stunts, quite often at his own peril. His later films include outtakes of his on-set injuries run under the closing credits. He is understandably number one on the insurance blacklist.

Predator’s original title was Hunter, and they actually started shooting with a totally different alien design. The creature had longer legs, and the head of a fly/dog. That head was designed to be able to turn and flip to almost any angle so he could track his prey (cool idea). Wobbling around on its stilts, and using a harness, they just couldn’t get the walking to look convincing, or the head to look like it was properly attached. Hired to wear the suit, for his agility, was martial-arts-trained Jean-Claude Van Damme, who quit after two days, unhappy that he was to be an uncredited special effect. With the creature problems, the original design was scrapped, and Stan Winston was called in. It was James Cameron who suggested him. Winston created the design we’re all familiar with. Cameron also reportedly came up with the idea of the mandibles on the face.

Sarah Hyland (born November 24, 1990) is an American actress, currently starring as Haley Dunphy on the ABC comedy Modern Family. She was born in New York City, New York, the daughter of actor Edward James Hyland and sister of actor Ian Hyland.

Hayden Leslie Panettiere (born August 21, 1989) is an American actress and singer. She came to professional prominence at the age of 10 with her portrayal of Sheryl Yoast in Disney’s Remember the Titans, although for five years before that, Panettiere had held roles in two soap operas. She portrayed Sarah Roberts on One Life to Live from 1994–1997, and Lizzie Spaulding onGuiding Light from 1996-2000. Panettiere reached a wider audience with her starring role as cheerleader Claire Bennet on the NBC television series Heroes.