Steven Spielberg, in securing the screen rights to the book known as Wikileaks: Inside Julian Assange’s War on Secrecy written by two prominent Guardian journalists is all set to have his studio oversee the productions of the movie.

The book has been written as an investigative thriller along the lines of “All the President’s Men” carefully documenting the life of Julian Assange right from his childhood all the way to the creation of the infamous Wikileaks website in 2006.

It also meticulously documents the close and secretive relationship between The Guardian and Wikileaks, and their collaboration which is considered by many to be one of the greatest journalistic scoops for a long time to come. Along with this, there is detailed coverage of the leak of almost 250000 secret cables that were released in December 2010.

While this project in no doubt undertaken by DreamWorks, Spielberg’s company, there are other projects that are also underway to cover this story in the form of a documentary by Alex Gibney and a biopic that is based on a New York article by Raffi Khatchadourian and that will be co-produced by HBO and the BBC.

In comparison to these projects, DreamWorks version seems to be in the initial stages since it requires a screenwriter, a cast and a director. And while Julian Assange fighting with an extradition order to Sweden where he has to deal with sexual abuse allegations, there is little doubt that this movie will raise a lot of eyebrows and get attention from moviegoers everywhere.

If one has had any doubts as to whether the movie industry has fared well over the last year or so, thanks to the economic recession, file sharing, BitTorrent and so on and so forth, the recent results that have come from the Motion Pictures Association of America (MPAA) suggest a different tale altogether by indicating an 8 % improvement over 2009. Yet one wonders how this is possible due to the fact that all these factors can be a dampener in the revenues that the box office generates.

However, one can take into consideration two factors that have led to a stellar performance by the movie industry this year, and that is because of the recent success of 3D movies and the growth of the Asian market.

And while the naysayers were all but predicting the end of profitability as we know it in the movie industry, thanks to the headway that Kazaa and FastTrack were making in those days, nothing can be further from the truth as movie industry officials now think of this phenomenon as having an adverse impact on moviegoers who would enjoy getting their movies for free instead of going out to watch a movie.

But with the latest advancements, one can only surmise that despite the onslaught of the digital age into almost every area of our lives, the movie industry will continue to thrive, thanks to its latest innovations and the recent MPAA results say just that.

What better way to escape reality than to dive into the realm of movies? When you first step foot into the theatre and the lights are down, the ability to forget about the world outside the doors becomes effortless. Time is lost and the mind is freed from the pressures of reality. The characters plights become more important than your own, and the movie takes hold of you. For a few hours, buttery popcorn and bubbly soda help you slide away from any worries you may left at the ticket counter.

People have enjoyed going to the movies for over a century. The first movies were a series of photographs shown in rapid progression to create movement. Once motion picture cameras were invented, more life like movement shaped an entrancing experience for the first audiences. Eventually sound and color were added to bring the entire event to life. With today’s advancements in computer generated imaging, movies take on a whole life of their own. 

The general public has long been entertained by the motion pictures they delight in, as well as the actors and actresses who play their favorite roles. Magazines, tabloids, and television shows are always out to capture the artists in any given situation. From marriage to child birth, and especially throughout the process of bad decision making, the public loves to read and hear about the lives of Hollywood Stars.

The entertainment value of motion pictures and those who create them will always be on the rise.

With all the superhero-themed movies hitting the big screen in recent months and years, it is becoming hard to come up with new material. “Megamind,” the new animated superhero dreamed up by Dreamworks, gets around the “new material” need by following the formula set forth by so many movies before it. 

Directed by Tom McGrath, the movie follows the life of Megamind, voiced by Will Farrell, from his time as a baby. He he is shipped to Earth, lands inside the walls of a prison and is raised as a criminal. His rival is Metro Man, who was also sent away from Megamind’s home planet. He, however, llanded with a perfect family and grew up to be a superhero. To get even with Metro Man, Megamind kidnaps his girlfriend, Roxanne Ritchi, voiced by Tina Fey.

While the story follows the same redundant formula, the characters stand out. Farrell gives a good feeling on Megamind with a performance that reveals the insecurities of the “evil” main character. David Cross is strong in a supporting role as Minion, Megamind’s fish/robot friend. Fey, as Roxanne, lends a voice and attitude that works well with the odd love story that unfolds between her character and Megamind.

So although the movie is as much a formula superhero flick as they come, it has plenty of redeeming qualities, including a 3D release, that make it worthwhile for a moviegoer to see. The movie should do well with audiences who are not opposed to see the same old thing, done a slightly different way.

“Holy smokes Batfans, Nolan’s talking!” Yep, that’s right Director Christopher Nolan has finally named the next Batman movie. For the last few weeks he’s been dropping various ambiguous hints about the upcoming movie and has been notoriously vague about giving anything concrete out. But finally in an interview with Geoff Boucher, the director said that the next movie will be titled “The Dark Knight Rises“.

It may not be a very witty or creatively conceived title, but it does deliver the message and promises a proper continuation from where it left off in the first movie. The movie is scheduled to shoot in the summer and is to feature Tom Hardy (Inception, RocknRolla) as a baddie. The director also made two other revelations in his interview. The first, contrary to popular belief The Riddler will not be the featured villain in the movie. This has left fans wondering and grabbing at straws as to who would fill in the slot of Batman’s enemy. Mr. Freeze is not the villain either as Nolan confirmed that fact some time ago, which puts up Catwoman or The Penguin as next most likeliest candidates.

The last revelation was, thankfully, that the movie will not be in 3D. Bucking the trend of making almost every blockbuster into a 3D movie (resulting in a fiasco most of the time), Nolan has stated that the new Batman movie will shot on IMAX and High Definition cameras. This is a good sign and promises that it will be a lot more about a story and acting rather than gimmicky effects.

There were howls at midnight on Wednesday and none of them came from any canine maws. Instead they were howls of anguish as boyfriends and husbands alike took their partners to watch the newest installment of the “Twilight” saga.

“The Twilight Saga: Eclipse” opened midweek and in a true show of strength raked in at least $30 million. Impressive as that maybe for a midweek opening, the success is highlighted further when you consider that it broke the record for an opening night haul in the series. The second movie in the series, “The Twilight Saga: New Moon”, gathered over $26 million last year; but it opened on a Friday which obviously guaranteed it more traffic. Summit Entertainment, the movie’s distributor, could not give a final accurate figure as the total tally would only be arrived at on Thursday morning. However, they were quite confident that that it would be well past the $30 million mark by then.

The movie can only expect to go from strength to strength, as it is poised to run rampant over a massive five day run helped by the 4th of July weekend. The current record for the five day weekend is held by the sci-fi thriller “Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” and stands at $200 million. “Eclipse” looks set to sail past that figure with ease.

Success in that league will only ensure rapid processing of the next two movies in the saga; “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 1″ and “The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn – Part 2″ are set to be released in 2011 and 2012 respectively.

You might be the one who avidly watches movies, and is known as the film critic amongst your circle of friends. To make their life easier, and even yours, maybe a movie list compilation might come in handy with your friends.

When you watch movies, you might look out for certain qualities and rate it yourself. The storyline, actors, director – your rating scale for movies could be any of these factors or more. Regardless of your rating scale, a movie list must indicate your screening process. Use a movie database software for this purpose. This makes compiling a list for your friends that must easier. It might end up being a lengthy list, but at least you are giving your friends plenty of choices and your likes and dislikes as well.

Rating the movies on your list would be useful, especially for your friends. You might make notes, make your own rating system. If you have a movie database software in place, then this task is made that much easier. You can add notes to the database, and even print out the movie list along with the notes for your friends. The list explains it all.

Once you’ve got this list of movies across your friends, you actually have more time to head out to a theatre with your friends or even by yourself to watch the latest movies. If taking friends along, you can perhaps even encourage some discussion on the film watched and create an informal group of sorts.

District 9 is a movie about an alien spaceship that comes to rest over Johannesburg, South Africa. The government first waits for something to happen, and when it does not, they drill into the spaceship to make ‘first contact’. When they drill through, they come across malnourished aliens unable to make their way back home. District 9 is then set up, a camp for the aliens to recover, until a better course of action is decided upon.

This feature debut of South African writer-director Neil Blomkamp and produced by Peter Jackson was called ‘smart and vicious and filled with moments that make you smile at the wonders of contemporary film craft, a bravura calling card from an exciting new talent.”

District 9 brings up a number of moral dilemmas. One of them bringing into focus human rights organizations and their role in such a situation – claims of human rights violations are brought up with regards to the aliens’ living conditions. The other is how far one would go to stand up for his/her ethical rights and beliefs.

Reviewers praised District 9 for creating characters viewers got emotionally attached to. When the moral issues surface during the movie, viewers are compelled to ask themselves the same questions. The movie also used a different filming technique. The first 45 minutes of the plot is told via interviews as well as video footage. This provides a clearer picture of the characters and the events about to take place.

With unique filming techniques, District 9 does have its own set of flaws. However, with a good movie, flaws are overlooked in the grander scheme of things. It is not just a good sci-fi flick, but action packed and has a solid story to its name.

Trying to figure out which costumes will be hot for Halloween ’09? Here are seven costumes that most certainly be the hottest movie costumes for men and boys.

Wolverine – The wolverine costume from the new X-Men Wolverine movie is much hotter than the costume from the X-Men comic book. However, it may not be the most popular costume this season due to its early summer release.

Star Trek Costumes – Star Trek movie released this year has ignited the “Star-Trek-Fan” in almost everyone. Although the costumes in this year’s film are based on the original characters and pretty much the same the do look slightly sleeker. You can find plenty of these costumes at online costumes stores.

Inglourious Basterds Costumes – The combination of Brad Pitt and Quentin Tarantino has sent this film in to box office record books. So why not don a 1940s G.I uniform this Halloween?

G.I. Joe Costumes – The new G.I. Joe in the 2009 film is a black leather clad jumpsuit wearing soldier with unbelievable skills. Although no official costume has been released yet, they might be available closer to Halloween. If not, you can always wear all-black motorcycle leather jumpsuits.

Transformers Costumes – Which boy or man does not want to be an auto-bot? The second installment of the Transformers franchise was also immensely popular and equally breathtaking. Transformers costumes are available in most costume shops.

Public Enemies – This was another hit film of 2009 and Johnny Depp’s character John Dillon will be a popular choice for this year’s Halloween. Most costume shops have 1930′s gangster outfits with toy Tommy guns, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding one.

Harry Potter Costumes – Harry Potter Costumes have been a popular during Halloween for many years and this year is no different. Almost every costume shop will have costumes for Harry, Ron Weasley, Draco, Hagrid and the crew.

Inglourious Basterds is the latest Quentin Tarantino film to hit the big screens. The movie is based on a World War II film made by Enzo Castellari in 1978. However Tarantino merely borrows the title from the old film and re-does almost everything else.

In this film, Brad Pitt’s character, Aldo Raine organizes a group of Jewish-American soldiers to perform organized acts of retribution against the Nazi’s in occupied France. This group called the “Basterds” by their enemy performs shocking and brutal acts of violence and mutilation of corpses. They meet Shosanna Drefus (Melanie Laurent) who witnessed the execution of her family and narrowly escaped to France. Then Shosanna together with the Basterds mount their biggest struggle – to take down the leaders of Third Reich.

Many critics claim that this film is very unlike Quentin Tarantino. The film does not build on a series of sequences upping the stakes and ending in a climax, as with his previous films. Those expecting to witness long and brutal gunfights maybe disappointed as they suddenly appear and disappear quickly. There is plenty of humor and long drawn dialogue as with any Tarantino film. However, it must be said that this film is by no means a failure. Although it may not be a modern day Pulp Fiction, it certainly reeks of Tarantino inventiveness and originality, which yet again provides his audiences with a brilliant film and a terrific good time.