To get everyone ready for Grown Ups 2, which will surely be filled with Oscar-worthy performances, the guys at Screen Junkies have put together their Honest Trailer for the 2010 original starring guys that used to be funny on SNL and Kevin James.
Seriously, if Grown Ups 2 opens bigger than Pacific Rim this weekend then this world has no hope left in it.
Seriously, how many weeks are left in the 2015 summer movie season that do not have a huge ass movie opening??
Paramount has announced that the fifth film in the Terminator series will be released on June 26, 2015 and be the beginning of a new trilogy of films. Whether this will be a completely new story or try to link back to the Arnold films is not known. The script has been written by Patrick Lussier and Laeta Kalorgridis and Arnold Schwarzenegger has admitted to some involvement, but there are rumors that say that this will be a complete series reboot. We will just have to wait and see if Arnold will ask for someone’s clothes, boots and motorcycle.
Here is the first trailer from the Stallone and Schwarzenegger action flick Escape Plan. It looks like pretty standard fare when it comes to the two vets, but that’s not really a bad thing. Stallone plays a prison expert who is tasked with breaking out of incarceration to show weak points in security. When he is kidnapped and put away in a special prison called “The Tomb” he must find a way out and figure out who put him away. This is not to be confused with the wonderful Playstation Vita game of the same name.
The movie also stars our Lord and Savior Jim Caviezel, the giant cockroach from Law & Order, a guy that used to be a famous rapper and Michael Scott’s girlfriend.
Escape Plan releases on September 27th.
Vin Diesel, who is riding high off the success of Fast & Furious 6, surprised a lot with a message on his Facebook page yesterday which shows the star may be headed towards something even bigger than his Fast series.
“Marvel has requested a meeting … no idea what for … haha, you probably know better than me … “
Let the speculation begin!
Of course, the obvious thing that will be mentioned first is the role of Thanos that has yet to be cast for James Gunn’s Guardians of the Galaxy, but honestly there are so many Marvel movies in the pipeline that there are a dozen roles that could be discussed. Also, this could not be a meeting about a specific role, but seeing if Diesel would want to get involved with the Marvel Universe at some point. Only time will tell.
What do you think about this development? Is there any role you would like to see Diesel take on for Marvel or should he stick to fast cars and Riddick?
You know what? I like the name of this post. Puns be damned.
Guess who’s back for more gravely voiced, neck snapping fun?! Why it’s Liam Neeson who will reprise the role of Bryan Mills for a third Taken movie. His payday? A very hefty $20 million which puts him in the big daddy group of top earners in Hollywood.
This is almost a no-brainer for EuropaCorp when you consider that Taken 2 made over $375 million worldwide off of a $45 million budget. Now the only thing to decide is who gets to be on Neeson’s bad side in the trilogy capper? I would like to suggest some little known about group of Inuit tribesman mafia in Alaska that does human trafficking through an intricate set of ice tunnels beneath the Earth.
If you keep up with any kind of movie news on a regular basis then you have at least heard some horror stories about the filming of World War Z. Brad Pitt’s production company gained the rights to the Max Brooks book in 2007 and quickly hired J. Michael Straczynski to bring the zombie apocalypse to the big screen. To make a long story short, Straczynski’s script was re-written by Matthew Michael Carnahan and filming began in 2011. The budget blew up way beyond the $125 million the studio handed out and production even ceased at one point. Damon Lindelof was brought on to rewrite the last third of the script, but due to scheduling conflicts could not, so his Lost co-scribe Drew Goddard finished it up and Brad Pitt and company went back in the fall of 2012 for seven weeks of reshoots.
With the film’s budget creeping near $200 million and press for the zombie flick not exactly on the positive side, one would easily write this off as another big budget disaster that a star could not escape, but a weird thing has occurred.
World War Z is actually entertaining.
Now I have not read Max Brooks’ novel, but I am dating a certified zombie lover and fan of his work so I did not go into this movie blind. The way World War Z is written does not lend itself to a movie narrative well so we get a singular story starring Pitt as former U.N. worker Gerry Lane. He has been out of work for three years and is a stay at home dad with a working wife. One day as they are stuck in Philadelphia traffic on the way to school all hell breaks loose. They narrowly escape the city and, using Gerry’s connections in the U.N., secure themselves a spot on an aircraft carrier.
Gerry is recruited to go out with a SEAL team to try and track down the genesis of the disease and by “recruited” I mean the government tells him he has to go or his family gets a one-way ticket back to the mainland. A dick move, for sure, but when you think about it, not that far-fetched for a government fighting against the end of the world. Gerry then begins a jet-setting adventure all over the world trying to discover what was the cause of the outbreak.
During these sections to South Korea and Israel, World War Z moves along at a brisk pace. It will feel a little “by the numbers”, but it did not distract me from the overall scope of the movie. Pitt is believable as the reformed family man who is trying to do his best to get back to his wife and kids while having the weight of the world on his shoulders. It won’t win any Oscars, but it is good for the material presented.
When the around the world trip stops is when you can tell Drew Goddard came on to help with the rewrites. If you did not know about all the production problems going into this then you will not pay this a second thought, but knowing made me get a distinctly different feel from the movie and the weird part is that it actually kind of works. World War Z goes from a quick pace to a tense, slow moving corridor explorer like Resident Evil (the game, not the movie). That is just one of the many things that confounds about this flick. This should not work! To completely change directions and stick the main star in a zombie filled lab instead of using the $12 million big battle in Moscow that was thrown away? Let’s just call it one of Hollywood’s great mysteries like, “why do people complain about Bane’s voice not knowing what an idiot he would have sounded like Mexican?” or “why were all the characters in The Last Airbender the wrong race?”.
I do wish World War Z would have upped the jump scare quotient and been a bit more gory. I will admit to having a small jump to begin the movie, but there were none to speak of after. Maybe that was because of the giant scope of the movie where zombies are seen in such great numbers that they do not hold the same scare as a one on one (or two or three) encounter in a confined space, which does happen in the final act of the movie as I said. As for the gore, don’t get me wrong, I am not asking for Saw levels of blood spillage here, or hell, even The Walking Dead but even for a PG-13 movie this is an almost bloodless affair.
When all is said and done, World War Z is a tale of everything going wrong in every way and ending up with the best possible results. This was a passion project for Pitt and while it may not be on par with a lot of the zombie fare that is saturating the market, it does have a big movie feel and is the very definition of a “popcorn flick”. Just go and have some fun with it…even though the world is ending.
Kick-Ass 2 is only a few months away from release and now its biggest star is speaking out against the amount of violence in the movie.
Jim Carrey, who plays Col. Stars and Stripes, posted a tweet that shows that he has had a change of heart since filming the sequel to the 2010 film.
I did Kickass a month b4 Sandy Hook and now in all good conscience I cannot support that level of violence. My apologies to e
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) June 23, 2013
He followed it up with this:
I meant to say my apologies to others involve with the film. I am not ashamed of it but recent events have caused a change in my heart.
— Jim Carrey (@JimCarrey) June 23, 2013
Now no one can really blame Carrey if he feels this strongly, but there is always the thought that could be simply a PR move to distance himself from any possible backlash when the movie is released.
In response, Mark Millar, creator and writer of the Kick-Ass comics, took to his blog to write a response to Carrey’s back down.
“As you may know, Jim is a passionate advocate of gun-control and I respect both his politics and his opinion, but I’m baffled by this sudden announcement as nothing seen in this picture wasn’t in the screenplay eighteen months ago. Yes, the body-count is very high, but a movie called Kick-Ass 2 really has to do what it says on the tin. A sequel to the picture that gave us HIT-GIRL was always going to have some blood on the floor and this should have been no shock to a guy who enjoyed the first movie so much. My books are very hardcore, but the movies are adapted for a more mainstream audience and if you loved the tone of the first picture you’re going to eat this up with a big, giant spoon. Like Jim, I’m horrified by real-life violence (even though I’m Scottish), but Kick-Ass 2 isn’t a documentary. No actors were harmed in the making of this production! This is fiction and like Tarantino and Peckinpah, Scorcese and Eastwood, John Boorman, Oliver Stone and Chan-Wook Park, Kick-Ass avoids the usual bloodless body-count of most big summer pictures and focuses instead of the CONSEQUENCES of violence, whether it’s the ramifications for friends and family or, as we saw in the first movie, Kick-Ass spending six months in hospital after his first street altercation. Ironically, Jim’s character in Kick-Ass 2 is a Born-Again Christian and the big deal we made of the fact that he refuses to fire a gun is something he told us attracted him to the role in the first place. Ultimately, this is his decision, but I’ve never quite bought the notion that violence in fiction leads to violence in real-life any more than Harry Potter casting a spell creates more Boy Wizards in real-life. … Jim, I love ya and I hope you reconsider for all the above points. You’re amazing in this insanely fun picture and I’m very proud of what Jeff, Matthew and all the team have done here.”
What do you think? Does this feel like a heartfelt move or a bit of damage control?
After numerous years of rumors and promises it looks like Earth will be spending another 4th of July weekend fighting for our planet. 20th Century Fox has set that weekend in 2015 for the release of Independence Day 2.
Roland Emmerich will direct from a script he and Dean Devlin have written as the first of a two-part story. Bill Pullman is returning as the former President Thomas Whitmore as alien reinforcements arrive to have another go round with humanity 20 years after Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum welcomed them to Earth.
Smith will most likely not be coming back, but seeing as After Earth just took a Battlefield Eart sized dump at the box office and he has said no to Men in Black 4, he might want to rethink that decision. He needs a hit like a crack addict.
Now this is more like it. While this may be the third trailer for Anchorman: The Legend Continues, it is the first one with actual footage from the movie.
In it, Ron and the Channel 4 News Team have gone their separate ways and are only spoken in legend, but when they are offered to help start the first 24-hour news network in the 80’s you know what that means…a Journey montage!
Anchorman: The Legend Continues releases on December 20th.
If Batman is considered a comics legend then the only way to describe Superman is iconic. The Dark Knight is the most popular hero character going today, but for 75 years the Man of Steel has been the most recognizable superhero in the world, even if his movies have let him down more often than not.
Warner Bros. recognized this after Bryan Singer’s valiant, but boring, effort in the form of 2006’s Superman Returns. They called upon the master of Batman reboots Christopher Nolan to begin crafting Superman’s next cinematic adventure. He first got friend and Dark Knight Trilogy story head David S. Goyer to come on board as screenwriter and then to some people’s dismay (and my excitement), Nolan decided on Zack Snyder, who expertly brought Watchmen to life, to direct this new vision of the big, blue boyscout.
Would this gamble pay off? Could Warner entrust the return of Superman to the man that brought Batman back to the forefront of movie pop culture?
The answer is a resounding YES.
Like Richard Donner’s classic, Superman: The Movie, Man of Steel begins on Krypton and instead of a white-haired, scene-chewing Marlon Brando, we get a soft-voiced and poignant Russell Crowe portraying Jor-El. As Krypton’s foremost mind of science he is trying to warn others of the planets ultimate destruction. Yes, this is old hat, but new to the equation is General Zod (Michael Shannon) attempting a takeover of the Kryptonian government. As the planet erupts around them Jor-El and Lara send their child to Earth.
“This sounds like the beginning to Superman: The Movie!”
I hear you, I hear you, but where Snyder and Goyer have gone so completely right is how fully fleshed out Krypton is as a world. No one, outside of comic readers, have truly seen any type of Kryptonian environment represented on the big screen. Full of mountains and flying creatures, it was great getting to see a true eco-system that makes you feel more connected to this doomed world, and therefore, feel more of a connection when the inevitable happens.
*Minor Spoilers Ahead*
Going into Man of Steel I can sense some of you feeling some trepidation that you will have to sit through an entire origin story that you already, for the most part, know backwards and forwards. I am hear to tell you to have no fear because one of the best aspects of this movie is the way Goyer has interweaved Clark’s early years into the story of Man of Steel. You will not be sitting through 45 minutes of young Kent exposition to bring about the birth of Superman. Rather you will be getting adult Clark looking back on his life as moments remind him of his childhood years. Such a simple and completely satisfying way to watch an origin story, even one you already know all too well.
The wonderful thing that Man of Steel does is show Clark’s need to be more. His want to help, even in the face of people learning his secret. This is the essence of a hero and the biggest reason why Superman is who he is. He is learning the hero thing as we watch. The lessons that both of his fathers instill in him are the bedrock of the film. Will the world reject a savior? Even if they do, is it still his responsibility to use his gifts for the good of mankind?
As adult Clark drifts through life from job to job trying to figure out what his role is on this planet, he has reporter Lois Lane (Amy Adams) hot on his heels after meeting in an earlier encounter. Now she is trying to find out who this mysterious helper is. Yes, Lois finds out who Clark is before anyone else and even before he begins to work at The Daily Planet. Get over it. One of the wonderful things about Superman canon is that there is no real set canon. Pa Kent is alive in some universes, he is dead in others. Lois knows Clark’s secret in some, in others she is oblivious. I am glad that she finds out this early because I have always thought it was insulting to the character of Lois, who is supposed to be one of the world’s premier investigative journalists, that she could not determine that Clark was Superman. Man of Steel deals with this in a realistic manner and proves Lois to be worth her weight in smarts.
Zod comes to Earth after a thirty year search for the son of Jor-El that has sent him across the stars. He and his defectors were freed from their prison (you know what it is called) when Krypton went ka-boom and he needs Superman for more than just revenge. He has given the planet 24 hours to turn over the Man of Steel or suffer the consequences. From here on out it begins to be apparent that this is a tale of two minds. While Man of Steel has one screenwriter (Goyer), it very much feels like the first half was a Christopher Nolan exploration of the character of Superman. Who am I? Why am I here? What do I do to make things better? It is very introspective and thought provoking.
When Zod comes to town and Supes realizes it is time for fight AND flight, this is where Zack Snyder shines through. No matter what haters have to say about the director he knows his way around filming action scenes. Man of Steel has heard your cries of “we want to see Superman punch things!”. Get ready for the thunder because you have seen nothing like this outside of the comics. I love Superman 2 as much as the next guy (even though the foil “S” symbol was just…the worst), and when I was a kid, the fight between Zod, Ursa, Non and Superman wowed my undeveloped brain, but this is how Superman should throw down in every single movie from here on out. Punches thunder through the air, skyscrapers fall over and no IHOP is safe.
When all is said and done is Man of Steel the greatest comic book movie ever? No, but it is way up there. It is beyond a shadow of a doubt on par with Richard Donner’s Superman: The Movie for the best Superman movie. It is hard for me to put one ahead of the other for different reasons. Man of Steel is this generation’s definitive Superman flick the same way Donner’s was back in 1978.
The best connection between the 1978 original and this year’s reboot are the quality of the Supermen. Henry Cavill is built from the ground up to be Superman. Like seriously, the dude is jacked. When he simply walks in the costume it is not like watching a man playing dress up, but your imaginations of Superman brought out for all to see (a lot like Christopher Reeve in my childhood years). This is a very human tale about a not so human person and Cavill brings the force of will, and oddly enough, fragility to the most powerful being on Earth.
For seven years we were spoiled with The Dark Knight Trilogy as Superman waited in the wings for his return (and not in 2006). Now in 2013 it is the Man of Steel’s time to shine and Zack Snyder, Christopher Nolan and David S. Goyer have taken the proper care and taken the right steps to make sure that Man of Steel is more than just a single Superman story. This is just the beginning of something larger and the re-establishment of DC’s greatest hero has set things on the right course.