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Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 18, 2015 in Cinema, Videogames 
It’s not like expectations were high for Pixels, a feature-length adaptation of a neat short. What sounded like a shaky concept for a film was soon torpedoed when it was announced to be an Adam Sandler vehicle. Even the presence of Peter Dinklage couldn’t boost interest that much. And so this trailer is pretty much a confirmation of that line of thinking. It gives you the plot justification you’re curious about and shows a bunch of gags, some of which are admittedly amusing, but which you could imagine would get very tiresome when stretched out over 90 minutes. Basically, the whole joke of this trailer boils down to “Man, isn’t it crazy that videogames, of all things, are killing us?” There, let’s all move on. Read more…
Tags: Donkey Kong, Pac-Man, Pixel Art, Space Invaders
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 17, 2015 in Cinema, Star Wars 
In what may sound like sacrilege, one of the upcoming Star Wars movies will be the first Star Wars movie to not be scored by John Williams. Gareth Edwards’s Rogue One will instead be scored by Alexandre Desplat, which may not be as familiar a name to some of you. But the score is left in capable hands, as Desplat is fresh off winning an Oscar for The Grand Budapest Hotel‘s soundtrack. Desplat recently worked with Edwards on Godzilla, and his past work is impressive: The Imitation Game, Moonrise Kingdom, Argo, The King’s Speech, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button, and Zero Dark Thirty, to name just a few. Since Rogue One is a spin-off and not part of the new trilogy, maybe this will help the movie stand out even further. Read more…
Tags: Gareth Edwards, Rogue One, Star Wars
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 12, 2015 in Cinema 
Tron and I have a complicated relationship. The first film is rather dull, but I still love the visual style and creativity. Tron: Legacy is everything you could want in a Tron sequel, but still doesn’t really connect, despite my appreciation for it. But I’m okay with that, and I’m enough of a nerd that I’ve been waiting for Tron 3 since 2011. Disney has finally given the green light to Tron 3, which begins filming in Vancouver on October 5, 2015. So far, only Garrett Hedlund (Sam Flynn) has been confirmed to return, but as long as Daft Punk comes back for another soundtrack, I think I’d be able to roll with anything. Read more…
Tags: Disney, Tron
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 10, 2015 in Cinema 
I think I’ve said it before, but I’m burned out by dystopian, real, or gritty sci-fi. There’s nothing wrong with it, but if I can accept a fantasy based on magic, I don’t see why I can’t accept a fantasy based on fake or alternate science; I don’t necessarily need to understand how it works, just what it means for the characters and plot. Disney’s Tomorrowland, inspired by the theme of the Disneyland area, looks like the kind of lighter, more optimistic sci-fi I’ve been craving. And while there’s obviously something wrong that will need to be resolved, Tomorrowland looks like the kind of place I’d love to see, a sort of “city upon a hill” that gives us an ideal to strive toward. Plus, The Incredibles‘ Brad Bird is directing it, so it seems likely the film will be a good watch. Read more…
Tags: Disney, Tomorrowland
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 9, 2015 in Cinema 
Tomorrowland is one of my most anticipated films this year, but it’s also shrouded in mystery. In this age of leaks and spy-photos, we’ve seen surprisingly little of the story. (I’m sure there are some legitimate leaks out there, yet they haven’t really gone mainstream. But I digress.) I think this is great, as it’ll let many people jump into the film fresh. Brad Bird’s talent as a director will hopefully be on full display here (the teaser trailer was fantastic). In this new poster George Clooney and a young boy stand in a field, waiting for something. Maybe they’re waiting for the new trailer that will premiere today? When the trailer is up, it’ll be here! Until then, check out the poster below. Read more…
Tags: Brad Bird, Tomorrowland
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 8, 2015 in Cinema 
I just wanted to write the phrase “car skydiving” a few more times before Furious 7 comes out. Yes, this is an extended clip of the scene from the trailer in which the entire crew drives their cars out the back of an airplane with parachutes attached. Why are they doing this? I have no idea. I don’t really care, either. It just looks silly and cool. My only concern is this: how will the Fast and Furious series continue to top itself with each following movie? Eventually they’ll have to attach rockets to the cars! Also check out the new poster as well, which also features skydiving cars. They’re leaning heavily on this scene! Read more…
Tags: Fast and Furious
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 5, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Admittedly, I’m not watching any more Avengers: Age of Ultron trailers, because I don’t want to see the same scenes over and over again and ruin their context within the film. I already know I’m going to see the movie. But that doesn’t mean readers shouldn’t watch this trailer, because from what I’m told, you finally get a good shot of the Vision’s face; the character has had minimal marketing so far, probably so people don’t ask too many questions about potential plot twists he’s involved in. Go ahead and watch, I won’t judge!
Read more…
Tags: Avengers: Age of Ultron, Marvel
Posted by Bob Muir on Mar 3, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
In what isn’t a huge surprise, it seems that Drew Goddard may be writing and directing the next Spider-Man. While Goddard’s rep walked back initial reports that it was a sure thing, he apparently has a meeting with Sony to discuss the possibility. Goddard first joined the Spider-Man franchise when he left Marvel’s Daredevil (coming soon to Netflix) in favor of Sony’s Sinister Six spin-off of The Amazing Spider-Man. With that series officially dead and Sinister Six put back into development — which seems like the precursor to a mercy killing. Honestly, this just makes sense, so don’t be surprised when this is announced soon. Read more…
Tags: Marvel, Sony, Spider-man
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 1, 2015 in Animation, Cinema 
Adventure Time is everywhere and it probably one of the biggest TV shows for kids these days. Creator Pendleton Ward and the crew at Cartoon Network have done an impressive job keeping the show interesting as the cast and story expands. Now, the series will be getting a feature-length animated film in theaters, courtesy of Warner Bros. Chris McKay and Roy Lee will be producing the picture, some of the folks behind The LEGO Movie. I’m actually surprised this hasn’t happened sooner, as an Adventure Time movie seems like a license to print money! I wonder what sort of story they’ll tell, or if they’ll end up with “just a longer episode on a bigger screen” syndrome? Read more…
Tags: Adventure Time
Posted by Ben Huber on Mar 1, 2015 in Cinema, Star Trek 
At this point, I don’t think I can say anything about Leonard Nimoy that hasn’t already been said by more eloquent people. He and his acting have left indelible memories with all of us and our pop culture. And not only was he a great actor, he was also a great person. Often that’s all too rare a combination these days. In this post I’m simply going to let some of Nimoy’s work speak for itself. Live love and prosper. Read more…
Tags: Leonard Nimoy, Spock
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 28, 2015 in Cinema 
There’s been news going around of the town Rincon de la Victoria in Spain announcing their intentions to build a “theme park” (although it sounds more like a plain old regular park with some minor themed elements) called La Comarca… aka, The Shire. It’s very clearly inspired by the Lord of the Rings, but lacks one key element: approval from the Tolkien Estate or Warner Bros. Whoops! Council representatives behind the park design claim “All the concepts will be original, they will not be able to be considered ‘copies’,” but yet “representatives from the council were accompanied during the presentation by an actor dressed up as Frodo.” Warner Bros. is currently investigating the project. I’m not so sure this park will happen in this form… Read more…
Tags: Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 28, 2015 in Cinema 
If you were wondering the most likely candidate would be to direct the Blade Runner sequel now that Ridley Scott had offered it up, wonder no longer! Denis Villeneuve, the director behind such films as Prisoners, Enemy, and Incendies, is in negotiations to direct the cyberpunk movie. The production company sent out a press release about it, which basically means it’s already official. Harrison Ford is also confirmed to return to his role as Rick Deckard, which I’m not entirely sold on yet. Still, one of the original co-writers of Blade Runner, Hampton Fancher, has written the script with Michael Green (Green Lantern, The River). The film will begin filming in summer of next year. Villeneuve is one of the best directors out there right now, so this suddenly set my hopes a tad bit higher. Read more…
Tags: Blade Runner, Denis Villeneuve, Harrison Ford
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 27, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
The Josh Trank Fantastic Four film grows closer, and stills seems to be a bit of a mystery. Even with a teaser trailer, the movie seems to be a bit obtuse from a marketing standpoint. It doesn’t help that there have been negative rumors floating around during filming (mainly that Trank has been incredibly unprofessional). Those rumors haven’t really solidified since, but the lack of marketing and Fox’s general disregard for the film has been puzzling. Still, they released four new photos with Empire, and well… they sure are photos of the cast. Nothing really special though, and definitely nothing big enough to start the hype train rolling. Check them out below! Read more…
Tags: Fantastic Four, Josh Trank
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 27, 2015 in Cinema 
In a recent interview with Sky Movies, Neill Blomkamp went into more detail about his next film, which will be a new Alien film. Like many folks, Blomkamp wasn’t a fan of Alien 3 and Alien: Resurrection, and is planning for his film to take place after Aliens, effectively ignoring half of the series. This is an interesting approach, and it has stirred up a lot of debate online. Many fans are upset that the canon is being disregarded so flippantly, others are happy to see an alternate take on where Ripley’s story could go. I’m not married to the idea of “canon,” and we live in a world where stories are rebooted all the time. While this movie could definitely turn out poorly, I don’t think we need to cling so preciously to the concept of “canon.” If it’s good, then great! If not, then oh well! We already have some wonderful Alien films we can always re-watch any time. Read more…
Tags: Alien, Aliens, neill blomkamp
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 25, 2015 in Cinema 
While I’m eternally disappointed that Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) doesn’t feature Harvey Birdman, Attorney at Law, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s an excellent film that won the Oscar for Best Picture just days ago. If you’re a really big fan, you might want a Birdman action figure of your own to add to your collection. But since they don’t exist, you’ll have to make believe with this fake ad featuring the action figure you wish you had. The figure isn’t sold in stores, since it was only given away in a contest, so why should those kids get that figure all to themselves? Read more…
Tags: Birdman
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 23, 2015 in Cinema 
This definitely wasn’t what I was expecting to see today: Sesame Street has put together a cute little video featuring Caroll Spinney, the Birdman. Well, the man inside the bird. Big Bird, that is. Yes, Sesame Street made a Birdman parody, and it’s quite clever, too, playing on all the elements of the film. I’m sure most kids won’t get this joke video, but that’s okay, this isn’t really for them anyway. It’s just a smart way for Sesame Street to stay in the spotlight during Oscars season. (By the time you’re reading this, maybe Birdman has won something?) Check out the video embedded below! Read more…
Tags: Birdman, Sesame Street
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 22, 2015 in Cinema 
When we heard that Disney wanted to reboot Indiana Jones, I don’t think many people were surprised. When Chris Pratt was being floated as the possible lead, I think most folks said, “Yeah, I could totally see that.” The real surprise is this: Steven Spielberg is expressing interest in directing the reboot and returning to the franchise again. It’s still very early in the process, but assuming the script is to his satisfaction, Spielberg does want to direct Pratt in a new adventure. Spielberg definitely still has talent so I suppose this isn’t a bad turn of events! There’s still a ways to go, but we could be looking at a new Jones film soon. Read more…
Tags: Indiana Jones, Steven Spielberg
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 22, 2015 in Cinema 
There’s been tons of speculation over who will play the new Spider-Man. We heard a few names being floated not long ago, but on Meet the Movie Press, TheWrap’s Jeff Sneider went on record saying that the new Spider-Man will not be white. He also believes that there is a high chance he won’t be Peter Parker as well. Sneider isn’t someone to make stuff up, as he’s also worked for Variety in the past and is very reliable. If he’s saying this, it’s because he’s hearing inside info that’s pointing him this way. Now, this could contradict the initial Marvel press release that mentioned “Peter Parker” specifically, but Sneider says that the Sony email leaks might have been a factor in changing the character. Could we get Mile Morales? I would love to see this happen. (And sorry guys, but it won’t be Donald Glover. It’ll be a younger actor.) Video below with the full conversation! Read more…
Tags: Marvel, Spider-man
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 21, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
Jason Momoa and Zack Snyder promised that Aquaman in the upcoming Batman v Superman film would be “badass,” a term that not many non-comic fans would associate with the character. However, given that they cast Jason Momoa as Aquaman, and going by this first image of his costume, I have to say: he does look pretty badass. When they announced Momoa as the actor to play him, I definitely pictured a more Khal Drogo-esque Aquaman, and this fits the bill. It remains to be seen how much of a part he’ll play in the film, but hopefully Aquaman will be handled well and become a fan favorite. Read more…
Tags: Aquaman, Batman v. Superman
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 20, 2015 in Cinema 
This new Japanese trailer for Mad Max: Fury Road runs only 1 minute in length, yet it somehow feels like a full-length trailer with an abundance of footage. It still remains to be seen if Fury Road will be a good film, but I think most people will agree that the trailers are top-notch. This is how you get people hyped for your movie! I’ve embedded the trailer below. It reuses a fair amount of footage from previous promos but also sneaks in quite a few new shots as well. When a new Mad Max film was announced, you’d be hard pressed to find any excitement on my end. Now? I’m planning on seeing this opening week! Read more…
Tags: mad max
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 19, 2015 in Cinema 
Remember that Alien pitch director Neil Blompkamp (District 9) came up with on his own, something Fox wasn’t even really aware of until he showed them? He said he wasn’t planning on making it, that it was just something he was working on for fun. But uh…it seems he changed his mind! In a post on Instagram, Blompkamp shared another xenomorph drawing, writing “Um… So I think it’s officially my next film. #alien” as well. Obviously that’s not much to go on, but it sounds like the Alien franchise will get a new installment of some sort from an imaginative director that would fit it well. Read more…
Tags: 20th Century Fox, Alien, neill blomkamp
Posted by Bob Muir on Feb 18, 2015 in Cinema 
Anyone can take a movie and toss it up on an IMAX screen. But to make a movie worth the surcharge, it usually requires that part of the movie was actually shot on IMAX cameras, something that director Christopher Nolan loves to do. While Interstellar might have gotten more mixed reviews, it can’t be denied that it’s even more visually stunning in IMAX. The movie has been out of theaters for a while, but you’ve got one more chance to see it in IMAX. AMC has announced that select IMAX theaters will show Interstellar — with twelve minutes of additional footage — this Saturday, February 21, at 3PM. You’ll have to buy the tickets at the box office, since it’s not available online, but as a trade-off, you’ll get two tickets for the price of one. The first 300 people will get a set of Interstellar prints. Check the list below and plan accordingly. Read more…
Tags: AMC, Christopher Nolan, IMAX, Interstellar
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 14, 2015 in Cinema 
Details on Guillermo Del Toro’s next film have been mostly broad-stroke PR blurbs about a haunted house and a woman torn between her childhood friend and a mysterious new suitor. It didn’t exactly jump out at you. However, never count out del Toro, as this first teaser for Crimson Peak shows off plenty of creepy style and exciting haunted house trappings. The… ghost… thing coming up through the floor is a great visual, too. Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston, Jessica Chastain, and Charlie Hunnam star. Crimson Peak is still a little ways off, and will open October 16th, just in time for Halloween. Read more…
Tags: Crimson Peak, guillermo del toro
Posted by Ben Huber on Feb 13, 2015 in Cinema, Comic Books 
The Deadpool movie is still a year away, but that won’t stop Ryan Reynolds from teasing the costume on Twitter! The actor posted a sepia-tone photograph with the mask hidden in shadow… but you can still see it pretty well. Basically: it’s Deadpool’s mask. They’re turning away from X-Men: Origins entirely (as stated by Rob Liefeld) and starting fresh. Reynolds does joke that the “sepia tone disguises the fact the mask is ballerina pink.” Thanks to that leaked test footage, we’re actually seeing this movie come to life. Now let’s just hope it’s actually good, because Deadpool’s wisecracking style will be tough to translate to the big screen! Read more…
Tags: Deadpool
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