As usual, I arrived a bit early for Super 8 (thoughts coming tomorrow!) this past weekend, and took some time to walk around the lobby to check out all of the new posters. I saw a few of my old friends, and also stumbled across one of the busiest posters I’ve seen in a while. Let’s take a look, but be warned: you may want to scroll slowly. If you try to take this in all at once, there is a slight chance of blowing your mind all over the keyboard.
Where to start? It appears that the studio had well over four hundred production photos and they wanted to use every fucking one of them. Besides the goofy hair, the only thing of even remote interest on this poster is a sword fight with fire on the bottom right. Heck, they could have at least given Milla a bust line or something.
The whole Girl with the Dragon Tattoo phenomenon was one of those things that kind of came and went without me caring. I heard good buzz about the book and even better buzz about the Swedish films, but I still didn’t really care that much. Not that I have anything against it, it’s just that I already have a huge stack of both books and movies sitting around my apartment that I need to get to first.
That being said, this trailer really blew me away:
Watching it on a computer monitor really doesn’t do it justice. In a dark theater with booming speakers, it comes across as a full on assault on the senses. Yes, I understand that it’s nothing more than a glorified music video of sorts, but I love it when studios realize that the trailer to a film can be so much more than just clips of Adam Sandler getting smacked in the crotch set to bad voice-over. The upcoming Muppets film did it a few weeks back with their first teaser, and now this. Keep it up, Hollywood.
Now that director Joe Johnston has started making the press rounds for Captain America, it was only a matter of time before some reporter (Logan in a disguise, perhaps?) inquired about Jurassic Park 4. Always a sport, Johnston had the following to say:
“…it likely won’t be another storyline about a group of people struggling to survive a dinosaur attack…why would anybody go back to that island? It was hard enough to figure out the second and third reason for them to go, but it would take it off in a whole other trilogy basically, but when it gets to that level it’s sort of about studios and Steven [Spielberg’s] thing and who knows. I think we are at that point where we are due for another one if we are going to do it.”
Obviously, they already have my money. I’d be interested to see what new direction they would take the series. As for my other Jurassic Park BFF, Sam Neill? Not so much.
“I think we’ve told the story. I think it’s done.”
“I’ll tell you what. If Michael Crichton time travels, [and] writes the book…then absolutely.”
Fair enough, Sam, although knowing Michael Crichton, there is a chance he may have found a way to do that before his death. Whatever the case, I’ll miss you. I kind of figured you needed the work.
Chevy Chase shares his thoughts on "Happy Town" with old pal Sam Neill.
I’ve read the 1938 children’s novel Mr. Popper’s Penguins several times, and let me just say that I’m glad they managed to work the wonderful scene when Mr. Popper teaches the penguins to hip hop dance into the upcoming film.
In all seriousness, I was thinking nice things about this film until the final scene of the trailer. It’s a great kids book and the updates seem to work, but why oh why must every film with CG animals feature them hip hop dancing?! If this is what CGI was meant for, I no longer want it. Please take it back.
One of Logan and my favorite books is Max Barry’s Syrup, a darkish comedy about the world of advertising. It’s gotten close to becoming a movie several times in the past, but according to Barry, this time’s for real. Quoth his blog:
I’ll be honest: I never expected this to get made. In fact, I’m still skeptical. I’m that cynical. […] This was supposed to be announced tomorrow, but word leaked out early and Variety reported it, so: they’re making Syrup. It’s what comingsoon.net kindly calls a “smaller production,” starring Shiloh Fernandez and Amber Heard. It’s based on a script I wrote, is to be directed by Aram Rappaport, and will shoot in June in New York City. This would be (will be, will be) the first of my novels to be filmed.
I can’t tell you how excited I am about this. If you haven’t read the book, now’s the time to catch up before the Hollywood version comes out. A large part of the plot involves a soda called “Fukk”, if that gets you interested. It’s been a few years since my last re-read, so I think I’ll do the same.
Yes, this is the least gayest picture I could find of Lee Pace.
Despite two cult shows, Lee Pace has managed to stay under the radar for quite a while now. It’s not hard to see why. Sure, I loved him in Wonderfalls and Pushing Daisies, but his film career has been lackluster and completely void of the charm he brought to those shows. I’m looking at you, Possession, Marmaduke, and The Resident.
But 2011 looked to be a big year for our old pal Lee. He managed to score a role in (ugh) the final two Twilight films. And Sunday came the news that Peter Jackson has cast him in the long delayed upcoming Hobbit films. This works, as not only does Lee already look somewhat like an elf (and indeed as he was cast an elf king or something equally nerdy), but maybe this will lead to more lucrative roles for him besides “Lead female’s boyfriend who dies in the third act”.
No podcast today, folks, but check back next Wednesday for our extensive look at the Scream series, including Scream 4. Until then, let’s have a look at some Britishy trailers, starting with Dan Radcliffe in ghost story The Woman in Black.
Obviously it’s a teaser, so there’s not much to see. But I hear great things about the book so my hopes are high. Just like they are for the new season (or “series”) of Doctor Who.
I’m a big fan of The Venture Bros. on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim lineup of programming. Other than Robot Chicken, it’s the only Adult Swim cartoon I still watch. The fourth season blu-ray just came out, and having already secured it and quickly wolfed down every morsel of its content, let me assure you that it is a worthy purchase indeed. And the blu-ray really is the way to go. The animation is gorgeous in high def.
But that’s not why I’m writing today. Series co-creator Jackson Publick announced on his blog that not only has the show been renewed for two more pulse-pounding seasons, but a 90 minute TV movie is on the way as well. That’s huge news, and frankly, a load off my mind, since every show I like gets cancelled after a few seasons, especially quirky niche shows like Venture Bros.
The finale of season four opened up a lot of interesting possibilities, and it’s great that they’ll have at least two more seasons to explore them. One of my favorite things about the show is that the creators don’t just reset the status quo every episode. Characters grow and change, taking full advantage of the serial nature of television. A welcome surprise from a comedy cartoon that first appeared to be a straight forward parody of Johnny Quest, but has grown into an amazingly well-written show that tackles love, failure, growing up, and even death while still remaining funny and packed full of 60s throwback action.
So kudos to you, Team Venture. Here’s to many more seasons of hilarity, heartbreak, and of course, adventure.
This episode is 87 steps ahead of you…if you haven’t listened to the first 86 episodes. REVIEWED: Limitless. PLUS: More fun with hypothetical scenarios!
…at least that’s what I assume he decided to do halfway through developing Wonder Woman for television. And I think he’s really got something here. Adrianne Palicki only MOSTLY looks like some nerd took a nude photo of her from Playboy and photoshopped his fantasy on top of it.
Here’s a sneak peak of the sense-shattering first episode!
This episode is gonna keep its sheep suit on / Until it’s sure that you’ve been shown / That it can be trusted walking with you alone. / Owoooooooo! REVIEWED: Red Riding Hood. PLUS: Vagina blood.
There’s been talk/threats of a reboot of my absolute favorite childhood cartoon, Thundercats, for quite some time. If you’re not familiar, this is what the original badass Thundercats were all about:
Recently, there’s been some buzz around a new animated series that’ll look like this:
So anime it hurts!
Ugh right? They took that neat hand-drawn style and replaced it with boring ol’ anime. What a disappointment.
But then there’s this little relic. Test footage from a scrapped Thundercats CG movie:
Wow. Suddenly I’m psyched for the new cartoon. It couldn’t possibly be worse than that.
