Of all the roles in Captain America: Civil War, the one that is still unknown to many belongs to Martin Freeman. We know that Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen, Anthony Mackie, Sebastian Stan, Jeremy Renner, and Frank Grillo will all reprise their respective Marvel Cinematic Universe roles, while William Hurt will return as General Thunderbolt Ross, his role from The Incredible Hulk. The film also marks the cinematic debut of Chadwick Boseman, who will play T’Challa aka Black Panther; and Daniel Brühl, who is also in the film, says he is playing Baron Zemo, although that has yet to be confirmed.

Though we will eventually find out about Freeman’s role, there were rumors that the Sherlock star could be playing a S.H.I.E.L.D. agent or some international diplomat. Now in a new interview, the actor teases his character in the highly anticipated film. More on this below.

Say what you will about Stephanie Meyer or her Twilight series, but the woman has a following.

And now, for the adaptation of her latest work, The Host, William Hurt has joined the upcoming Andrew Niccol-directed film, which will find him alongside Saoirse Ronan. Ronan stars as Melanie Stryder, with Hurt playing “Jeb, eccentric uncle” to Stryder, “whose brain is hijacked by the soul of an alien being known as Wanderer. Jeb is one of the grizzled leaders of the human survivalists fighting the alien invasion.”

Lost In Space
Blu-ray | DVD
Directed by Stephen Hopkins
Starring William Hurt, Mimi Rogers, Heather Graham, Lacey Chabert, Gary Oldman, Matt LeBlanc
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment
Release Date: September 7, 2010

Remember how good the J.J. Abrams reboot of Star Trek was? Remember how it took a 1960’s sci-fi show that lasted three seasons and updated it for a modern audience in a way that was both faithful to the original and exciting for newcomers? Good, because Lost In Space is here as a reminder of how easy it is to get all those things wrong.

As most box office buffs know, the movie is notable for being the film that finally ended Titanic‘s number one reign at the box office. That might be the best thing I can say about this movie.

Laughable dialog (not in a good way), a meandering plot involving time travel, a bloated running time, and dated CGI really sink what is essentially an interesting premise. It’s the Swiss Family Robinson but in space. That idea intrigues me, but they really squandered what could have been a fun sci-fi flick.

When I hear that Ridley Scott is making a new movie, I know I will have a movie I at least have to give a shot. I mean, Ridley Scott on a bad day is better than most directors on their good day. Tell me that he’s making a new Robin Hood movie and you’ve got my ten dollars, so yeah, I was looking forward to this movie.

Everyone pretty much knows the story of Robin Hood already. There is a reason that his story is such a long lasting and endurable myth. There have been more movies and TV shows made about his exploits than I care to count, so of course one of the questions surrounding this film was “Do we really need another one?” Well, yes, there’s always room for a new interpretation of the characters and situations, and there’s always room for a new creator to put his stamp on the myth.

Does this film succeed? Yes. Not only do you have one of the best directors of the modern era, you get one of the best casts ever assembled to tell this story. But one thing to keep in mind before seeing this is that this is not the same old story that you’ve seen before. The creators seem to have gone out of their way to change a number of the familiar elements of the myth, while keeping all of the usual characters. Some might be disappointed by those changes.

Let’s get into some of those changes. Beware, ye gentlefolk, spoilers abound!

Robin Hood– ***1/2
Directed by Ridley Scott
Starring Russell Crowe, Cate Blanchett, Max von Sydow, Mark Strong, William Hurt
Release date: May 14, 2010

Contemplate all you want. Debate and quarrel with director Ridley Scott‘s primitive vision of one of the world’s most celebrated and decadent of men: Robin Hood. Men of charismatic demeanor such as Errol Flynn (1938), Sean Connery (1976), and Kevin Costner (1991) all managed to make evident the unalterably essence of cool that Robin Hood conveyed. Director Scott disrupts that essence, disintegrating it completely and allowing his vision of Robin Hood to be a dynamic mixture of both barbarian and comforter. Some will see this barbarism as an incredulous act when tacked on to such a time-honored icon. But this is exactly Scott’s intention. He wants to depict Robin Hood before he actually earns the name Robin the Hood by responding not to the whimsicality and glorious luster previous manifestations of this character took participation in. This is Scott adapting a scheme from the superhero genre; the prologue enlightening us on how Robin became the man we all know him by now. When he is stripped from all the external charms he comes at you, thanks to Russell Crowe‘s wonderful performance, like an irresistible torrent that leaves you mute and silent, but also wild and boisterous.

Robin Hood instills what has been rudely banished from the action epic picture in the last decade, and that is the grandeur, size and, most importantly, the emphasis on humanity. Scott, who has intertwined humanity with the most radical of individuals (non-humans in Blade Runner and drug lords in American Gangster), has an acute eye for that which makes the heart ache and he promulgates this discovery in a robust fashion, slowly developing scenes that are frankly beautiful. He sees the emotional factor that most directors drown out with excessive action scenes.