NEWS ROUNDUP Ver. 15

NEWS ROUNDUP Ver. 15

PROMETHEUS

     In a no brainer by the studios, a sequel to Prometheus has been green lit officially. Director Ridley Scott hasn't said very much yet on his plans for it, but expect it to be out around 2014-2015 at the earliest.

THE SHINING

     For my friends in Britain, they are going to be getting a special treat for Halloween. The U.S. cut of Stanley Kubrick's The Shining will play in theaters over seas for the first time. A brand new trailer should be playing any day now for the film.

THE WALKING DEAD

     For it's upcoming season 3 premiere, AMC has released a new promo image that shows some new and some older characters. Also, while talking about The Walking Dead, creator Robert Kirkman let slip that Rick actually might keep both his hands after all unlike in the comic.

DOOMSDAY BOOK

     The South Korean film Doomsday Book has won the Cheval Noir Award at the Fantasia International Film Festival this year. Doomsday Book is an anthology movie, split into 3 different chapters. The first Chapter, entitled Heaven's Creation, is about a robot who comes alive and follows what happens afterward. The second Chapter, entitled The New Generation, is a story from the point of view of a boy who is now a zombie. The third Chapter, entitled Happy Birthday, re-interprets "The Christmas Gift" by O Henry.

AVENGERS 2

     It looks like Joss Whedon will be back in the director's chair for the sequel to the blockbuster film Avengers. On top of this, it seems as if Whedon will also participate in the development of ABC's live-action Marvel Universe series. It will be nice to see Whedon working back on TV again, now if only we can see something in the Firefly universe again.

NEWS ROUNDUP Ver 4

WARNING!! POSSIBLE SPOILER AT THE BOTTOM OF PAGE

RETURNING WRITER

     Hampton Fancher is in talks to return to write the sequel to Blade Runner, which he helped write the original as well. Now there has been talks about the sequel or reboot for the film for years it's nice to see that something might come from it finally. And that finally has been confirmed as being a sequel with Ridley Scott possibly returning to direct as well!

AVENGERS 2

     With work already starting on the Avengers' sequel, it turns out that the studios wouldn't mind having Joss Whedon back to direct again. I myself would love to see this happen, yet I also know if the studio doesn't like the asking price Whedon asks for they'll get a different director. I hope that doesn't happen as we won't have scenes like Hulk cold-cocking Thor out of blue because their earlier fight which added so much levity to a very serious situations in the film.

THE GREEN INFERNO

     Eli Roth it seems is getting back into directing this fall once his new film starts shooting in South America. The plot isn't out yet, but I'm sure it won't be long before we know the story.

SIN CITY: A DAME TO KILL FOR

     Even though production hasn't even started on the Sin City sequel, the studio has already given it a release date. So I guess we can say that all the principles are in place to start right away. Oh, the release date is October 4, 2013.

THE 4TH REICH

     What type of week would it be without mentioning a Nazi zombie film. This one has been in development hell for over years but it looks like it's finally going forward into production. As a side note since Sean Bean just joined the cast I think I can safely say that it seems like Bean will add to his impressive list of in movie deaths once again, but I don't care because it's Sean Bean. He got stabbed last year and instead of going to the hospital like most people would do, the man instead went to the pub for drinks.I just have to say that is the definition of a bad-ass.

WOOL

     The online book by Hugh Howey about a future where the remnants of humanity live in a silo underground but the criminals all volunteer to go clean the air filters on the outside even though it's a death sentence and the sheriff who wonders why they all  volunteer openly. Ridley Scott and Tony Scott bought the rights to make the movie based on Wool. I think I want to see it already just based on that.

PROMETHEUS

     For those that missed the more spoilerific thirty second promo, count your blessings as it without a doubt it spoils at least one bit in the film and I thank 20th Century Fox for pulling it almost right away. As you can see above the international poster for Prometheus has been released as well. Now I can't say if it really spoils anything but then again it seems the makers of the marketing campaigns for films just suck now as the usually spoil at least half the movies that come out or just don't get the films at all. The really interesting thing about the above poster though for those that didn't notice it is the date. It looks like America might get to see the film two days earlier maybe.
  

THE AVENGERS

THE AVENGERS (2012)
US
Directed by Joss Whedon

CAST:
Robert Downey Jr. - Tony Stark/ Iron Man
Chris Evans - Steve Rogers/ Captain America
Chris Hemsworth - Thor

PLOT:
     Nick Fury of S.H.I.E.L.D. brings together a team of super humans to form The Avengers to help save the Earth from Loki and his army.

REVIEW:
     So it's Summer, so that means that it's time for the studios to roll out their biggest films and movies. Even though there were other movies before this one already, Hunger Games if you were wondering, this is the beast that is going to make or break Marvel as a whole and set-up a whole slew of film if it did well. And from what it did over-seas last weekend, it's going to be a Juggernaut (sorry had to throw a character reference in there, me being a comic book reader). So going into this I actually tried to be even so where I won't be completely biased. But hell, who am I kidding..... here's why you should see this film!

 
1. The Hulk: Yes, the Hulk is the Hyde to Bruce Banner's Jeckyll and they are for all intents and purposes two separate entities in the movie. But when the Hulk shows up you know it.  At the end of the movie when every time the Hulk is on screen something cool happens and you find out why everyone is afraid of him and his power. Skip the seeing the recent Hulk movies and just watch this instead as they finally get the character right.

2. Joss Whedon: While yes, he wrote Cabin In The Woods that came out last month (review here) he finally can get the true exposure he truly deserves, not just as a writer but a director. While anyone that has seen Buffy, Angel, or Firefly know he's an amazing writer and director, now the studios and the world in general know it. And that is a good thing.

3. The script: While the film is a geek dream come true, it wouldn't have worked if it wasn't for the writing. From the small quips that everyone makes toward the other person to the more personal, smaller introspections that happen, the movie wouldn't have worked if it wasn't for this. Each character has their own voice that sticks out. Which in a film this big, is something amazing in and of itself.

4. The Characters: Actually that's a bad way to put it, as I should say icons. Everyone knows who they are or at least seen pictures of them before, yet in this they actually see why they are icons from the past and present. And now, the future. Captain America leads finally like he should. Thor is shown as a protector. Iron Man as the billionaire genius. The Hulk as the time bomb with the faulty timer that he truly is. Nick Fury as the man that does what needs to be done no matter what. Hawkeye as the ultimate marksman. And Black Widow as the spy that was only previously hinted at.

5. The last 45 minutes of the film: Holy hell that was pure awesome.

6. The movie itself: It shows that a film packed with so many stars and characters can work if the story is treated correctly and not dumbed down or become to preachy as some other superhero movies. Even with a small nag about the camera work during one scene causing the action to get lost, it didn't take anything away from the film at all. While most people who see this will only concentrate on the action aspect of the film, it's the characters themselves that drive the film through and through. This is about as close to a perfect film and what blockbusters are meant to be.

BEST DEATH:
     Hulk smash!

BEST LINE:
     Puny god.

FUN FACTS:
     Mark Ruffalo, who play Bruce Banner/ The Hulk describes Bruce Banner as "a guy struggling with two sides of himself, the dark and the light; everything he does in his life is filtered through issues of control." He furthermore describes Banner's alter ego the Hulk as "a loose cannon - he's the teammate none of them are sure they want, it's like throwing a grenade into the middle of the group and hoping it turns out well!"

     Has an unusually high number of Academy Award nominees in the cast and crew for a comic book movie - or most movies for that matter.

      According to Joss Whedon, The original cut of the movie was over 3 hours long. There will be about 30 minutes of the excised footage included in the DVD Release, most of which revolves around Steve Rogers (Captain America). Whedon revealed that one of these scenes involved Rogers struggling to adjust to the modern world in his Brooklyn apartment and another revealed Steve Rogers' reunion with Peggy Carter.

     The Chitauri appear in the first story arc of The Ultimates. Their leader claims that they go by many names, including Skrulls.So the early rumors were true. In a way......

     The mid-credit scene hints at what is to come, and his name is Thanos.

THE CABIN IN THE WOODS

CABIN IN THE WOODS (2011)
US
Directed by Drew Goddard

CAST:
Kristen Connolly - Dana
Chris Hemsworth - Curt
Anna Hutchison - Jules

PLOT:
     Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin in the woods, where they get more than they bargained for. Together, they must discover the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

REVIEW:
     It's was a packed weekend for movie watching for me. I got to see three films, two of which were festival standouts of which this is one of them. I should also note that there is three films I'm staying away from all spoilers from that are coming out this year with this being one of them. The only thing I've heard or read about this film ranges from it's a genre changer to don't let anyone spoil it for you. So I'm going to try to keep all the real surprises out of this review as much as possible while not making what you're reading completely boring. So if I have to say something I'll put a spoiler warning before said line or sentences when ever possible.

     Well how am I going to really review a film where I don't want to spoil anything on. I could just review the first two thirds of it as what we seen in the trailer all happens in that amount of time. Actually that sounds just the thing to do, as to go to much more past that part is to ruin the real surprise that is in store for those that watch it.

     We all know the set up for most horror films, classic creep fests, and torture porn types by now, well at least those that like horror do. You have the jock, the slut, the goody goody girl, the best friend, and usually a book worm type. In this one those types are in a way here as well, kinda in a way. The jock character is played by Chris Hemsworth who in the film is more than what he seems as he knows how to think and actually isn't dumb. The goody goody girl, played by Kristen Connolly, is really the good girl even though she says differently toward the end of the film. We also know this as when the movie starts she mentions that she knew sleeping with her college professor would end up like it did. Yet the one character that stuck out the most was the best friend character Marty, played by Fran Kranz. His character was also the most interesting of all due to even though he was stoned through most of the first half of the movie, his insight was spot on about almost everything that happened as well as trying to make his friends see reason in what they were doing. Kranz also adds a lot of perfectly timed humor to his role that adds a lot to it as well as lightens the tension as there are plenty of times that this comes in handy.

     I said that I wasn't going to try and spoil anything in the film, yet I should have probably put it that I wasn't going to spoil the last third of it. The film starts just like any other usual friends go to  alone cabin or get away in the woods. The characters are all introduced one by one and the stereotypes are seen right from the start which we find out are somewhat skewed as each one has an extra something that makes them more than the stereotype. Along with that we are introduced to three workers that are commenting on not screwing things up this weekend in a bunker complex played by Amy Acker, Richard Jenkins, and the ever very watchable Bradley Whitford. It's not long before the friends run into the the usual creepy redneck slash doom sayer that freak half of them out and piss off the other half. And as usual before the doomed ones leave the doomer warns them of what is to come. Now if all this sounds somewhat familiar, that's because it is. Most horror films start out this same way. And yes, the friends start dieing one by one. Yet it's what's happening behind everything that makes this so interesting and different from the rest of what is out there that makes this completely different. It also makes complete sense as well once everything is said and done.

     While all this might sound awfully run of the mill, it is. In a way. What Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard has managed to do is take the basic plot and add on something to it that is so simple yet at the same time so smart that it makes complete sense. I will say that this next sentence will give a hint to what is going on so those that don't want to know what happens skip ahead a little bit.  The film, story wise, gives us as viewers a look at why what happens in the movies we love happens in a very intelligent way. While the film is a horror film, those that are used to these movies won't really be scared, but I was thrilled by what was going on on the screen in front of me. What these two filmmakers have done is create a love letter to the genre while at the same time making a complaint of the state of the genre and what is wrong with it. This sound confusing now but once you have seen the film you will completely understand why I put it this way. We as viewers are so used to seeing the kill and wanting to see the kill that we forgot that story does matter in our favorite genre, and more and more that is being forgotten. Whendon and Goddard didn't forget this and makes sure we remember that. There's going to be reviews lambasting the film for not having this or that, for not being bloody enough (if you see a review that says that, stop reading it cause they haven't seen the film), or it's just a rip of every other horror film. This happens when a film comes along that has brains and is a commentary on the genre while trying to be entertaining.  I'm going to end there as I really want to talk more about it but to do so would have me going into the stuff I shouldn't talk about as half the fun is the surprise in this one. Just know that this film is worth seeing and is a complete joy ride.

BEST DEATH:
     Sorry, I'm not going to put anything down for this (though I really, REALLY want to, but I'm not as it will spoil the film.

BEST LINE:
     Puppeteers?

FUN FACTS:
     On the white board in the control room when the staff are taking bets on the victims potential killers, "Deadites" are listed which is a direct reference to the Evil Dead films.

     The film was shot in 2009 yet was shelved for over two years due to the financial trouble at MGM. It wasn't until Lionsgate bought the film that it saw the light of day.

     The film's release date was postponed because the studio wanted to convert it to 3D, despite objections from Producer Joss Whedon and director Drew Goddard.

     Whedon while giving a interview with Total Film magazine has said of the movie:
"On another level it's a serious critique of what we love and what we don't about horror movies. I love being scared. I love that mixture of thrill, of horror, that objectification/identification thing of wanting definitely for the people to be alright but at the same time hoping they’ll go somewhere dark and face something awful. The things that I don't like are kids acting like idiots, the devolution of the horror movie into torture porn and into a long series of sadistic comeuppances. Drew and I both felt that the pendulum had swung a little too far in that direction."