(Alleged) Rise Of The Apes Set Pic

I don't see the big deal that led the studios to contact Just Jared & BleedingCool.com to pull down the images/links, personally. I'll keep it up until I receive a cease & desist request, so save it if you want to be able to see it tomorrow.

I don't know that I'm all that excited in this prequel/reboot, but the image doesn't make me any less interested. BC.com suggests they think the attempts to pull the image are over concerns that it makes the film just look silly. I don't see how that's anymore true here than with any other behind-the-scenes pic from a movie using motion capture. Which is to say: it's nearly impossible to believe this pic is damaging, but that the studios are just trying to control the release for the sake of control, to protect an exclusive promised to some other publication or to generate a tempest in a teapot over the whole thing that leads to free publicity.

So...That's Green Lantern?

If you haven't seen the image of Ryan Reynolds as Green Lantern before, there it is on the right.

I don't love it. I don't even like it, really. But I don't hate it, either.

From what can be seen in the image, it seems to be solid green (other than the symbol) with texturing that is supposed to constantly reinforce to the viewer that it is an energy construct threaded together from hard light.

One of the most basic points of honest-to-goodness iconic super-hero costume design, IMO, is keeping it to 2-3 colors. The best (read: easiest to get right) combinations are generally some balanced mixture of black, white and another color. Most of the costumes that are busier than that or select colors that aren't as natural together succeeded because they were introduced in different/simpler times and have been ingrained into pop culture.

So, this outfit that seems to be just green, aside from the white in the symbol? Not so iconic or dynamic. A bit of a dud. Here's hoping they decide to tweak it a bit, since it is all CGI anyway.

Great Scott, The Economy Is Fucked, Isn't It?

So, I'm watching cable news and the Lending Tree commercial with the Adam West voiceover comes on. The idea is that Lending Tree somehow makes the average person a financial super-hero.

So, after shaking my head, once again, at how cornball it is, I start thinking about how over-the-top this country's current love affair with comic book properties is. I mean...using it to advertise something as stiff-collared as financial products?

Then it dawned on me that the last time super-heroes and comic book properties were this popular came about during the Great Depression in the states.


More than being simply something new, they were popular because the population really needed to completely escape from the reality surrounding them. They needed to daydream of being super-human or otherworldly enough that such trivial things as room & board didn't even register on their list of things to be concerned by.

Technology has caught up to the ideas contained in super-hero fiction, so this renewed interest isn't translating into sales of comic books, just licensing of their product for other media.

In 1940, the price of a comic was 10 cents and a movie ticket 24 cents. Today, comic books cost $3-5 a pop. Movie tickets? Well, much like they did in the Great Depression, some chains are finding that they have to reduce prices on tickets to lure in customers and hope they buy items at the concession stand.

Locally, the stadium seating Cinemark has dropped their full price tickets to $6.50 and the outdated one has been locked in at $6 for years (with a matching drop quite possible in the future). Both Cinemark locations have $4 tickets for their matinée showings (start times before 6pm). The AMC theaters in the area (and, I believe, many non-metropolitan areas) have all of their Monday-Thursday tickets (except for Wednesday debuts and 11:59pm Thursday first showings) priced at $5, regardless of showtime.

Now, I'm not trying to renew that ages old "movies/videogames/etc offer more bang for the buck than comic books" argument. I'm just saying that other media can and do offer the same types of stories, making it possible that the public can quench their thirst for escapism without having to change their entertainment consumption habits.

But hey kids: depressions (or really drastic recessions) make the rest of the country appreciate some of the same characters you've loved for years.

Transformers: Revenge Of The Fallen

After hearing all the horrible reviews, I still wound up going to see it. Those reviews normally lead me to enjoy a movie more, due to setting expectations low. Since I was already not expecting much, those reviews dug out the basement to establish a new all-time low. That pretty much saved the movie for me.

For instance, I've heard the film dragged. For me, while I could see a lot that should have been left on the editing room floor, it never really made me want the film to pick up the pace. There have been complaints about not being able to differentiate between many of the Transformers, it was much improved over the last film and, where there would be confusion, there's really nothing that can be done to prevent the issues.

The one issue that there's no getting around, however, are the racially stereotyped "Twins". Two Autobots that could genuinely be considered the "Step & Fetchit" of modern day flicks. Gold teeth, slang and the whole nine yards. The problem, though, is the lack of an actually assigned race to machines. In many current movies, if you slap that particular set of characteristics on to a non-black character, you generally get a bunch of people laughing and no one crying foul. So we have "raceless" machines with these traits. That's where they obviously thought they'd be OK, but clearly where they cause their problems. Without an assigned race, interpretation will revert back to the race that the stereotype is about.

For what it's worth, though, the audience in this showing was of diverse ethnic backgrounds and the laughs at the antics of the Step & Fetchit twins were loudly coming from all over the theater. So whether actual mainstream America will make an issue of this or it will just stay with the critics and the talking heads remains to be seen.

The other noticeable bit was the generous helping of profane language. I'm not a prude, but you hear so many curse words coming from a flick that, from my understanding, is supposed to aiming for kids as well as adults, each time one pops up, it grabs your attention. Fuck, shit, asshole and pussy all wind up getting thrown around liberally.

One or both of those issues will be grabbed by a conservative values group to make hay over, I believe. I doubt that aspect will really have a negative effect on the film. I can respect the racial one being strongly objected to. But when it comes to the "I can't let my kid watch that" crowd, they generally need to realize that vetting stuff for their child's viewing is their job as a parent. On top of that, companies need to realize that those who protest on these sorts of things are often not the consumer it was made for to begin with, so they're not losing patronage of their product.

Iron Man 2: Mickey Rourke As Whiplash

Found on USA Today.

Summer Movies Thus Far

Lately, I haven't been able to get to preview screenings due to my schedule being filled at night these days. That doesn't mean I have failed to see the newest movies...just that I haven't felt the urge to blog about them right away since they'd only go up after they debut now. I have some time, so I thought I'd give my opinion on what I've seen.

X-Men: Origins: Wolverine

Stepping away from it as a comic fan, it wasn't a half-bad summer-popcorn-action flick. There are several things that have been changed from comic continuity, but you have to go in expecting that these days. Not because it NEEDS to be changed, but because Hollywood ALWAYS feels compelled to make changes. The movie has moments of comic relief and quite a bit of action. I was personally happy that they included Wolverine's being nearly immortal (as in he's been stuck in his 30s since at least WWI or WWII, from the looks of it). What we saw of Deadpool towards the end of the movie was a bastardization of the existing character, but 1) it's a summer-popcorn-action flick, not the latest issue of a Marvel comic and b) there are questions as to whether that's actually Deadpool. It's by no means a perfect movie, but it isn't the steaming pile that so many myopic comic readers have accused it of being.

Star Trek

Hands down, the best summer action movie at this point in the release schedule. The characters pull you right into the story and the action keeps you from breaking your attention away. I understand that there are a number of old school Trek fans that are livid about the reboot, despite the fact that it is treated as an alternate history. If you follow science regarding the possibilities of time travel, the most dominant theory is that any change in the past creates a fork in the river of time. The two branches go forward: one being history as we knew it and the other being the left turn we forced it to take. So the new can co-exist with the old.

Yikes, for wanting to really just address the quality of the movies, I sure am dealing with fanboy complaints too much.

UP

What a beautiful movie. I don't get the people that say this succeeds where WALL-E failed, because a) I saw no failure in that flick and 2) there's no reason to tear one down to praise the other. If you watch this movie and don't feel your eyes well up a time or two, you have no heart. It's a love story and not just of the romantic kind. See the movie and you'll get what I mean.

Land of the Lost

I wasn't some great fan of the TV show. I caught a few episodes as a kid and didn't find myself moved to change the channel away from it. So I went into this flick with far fewer expectations and demands than someone who spent many Saturdays glued to the set watching it. For what it's worth, I enjoyed the flick on a purely "Will Ferrell and Danny McBride riffing" level. It worked on East Bound & Down and it entertains here. While not being worthy of box office blockbuster numbers, it isn't a waste of the price of admission, either.

The Hangover

Hilarious. Deserving of the R rating and it's very successful weekend. Bradley "That Guy From Wedding Crashers" Cooper leads the cast, but Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis (I spelled that without looking it up) match him at every step. The cringe humor involving Zach's character really helped bring the funny. A few of the bigger laughs are actually in a credit sequence that the cast frames at the end of the flick. I'm going to give some thought to catching this a second time.

Angels & Demons

I wasn't a huge fan of DaVinci Code, but decided to give this a shot anyway. Less Audrey Tautou makes a film less good. In many ways, the plot was better and you felt more tension in their race to decode all of the clues, but it wound up being predictable at the same time. Ron Howard is a much better director than Dan Brown is a writer, it would appear...because it is clear his touches are what made either of the films enjoyable.

Terminator Salvation

While I felt the flick disappointed, dragging on in parts and found lacking in the tried & true chase formula of previous installments, I didn't feel any regret for spending my money on a ticket. It was enjoyable, despite not living up to expectations. I became a little more frustrated with it when I found that Christian Bale diva'd his way into screwing up the flick, though. But still...it's a good, not great, film that continues the Terminator mythos. It succeeds when the Terminator hybrid is on screen and flounders when he is not.

Night at the Museum II

I felt this suffered from being more of the same we encountered in the first flick. Whereas the original had the benefit of being a fresh idea, this one didn't really seem to get past being a retread. There's only so many big man jokes Owen Wilson can make about Ben Stiller before you hope he dies gasping for air under a mountain of sand. This is where it clearly embraces being a family film: kids can watch the same schtick over and over and over without necessarily getting bored.

Still hoping to get out to see Drag Me To Hell soon. I'll probably see the latest Potter, but there's nothing left this summer that I can really say I'm looking forward to.

How about you?

Terminator Salvation: Pretty Pedestrian

I had high hopes for this latest Terminator flick, due to the involvement of Christian Bale. He's normally a fairly good indicator of a quality film, my experience. But I guess he doesn't quite bat 1.000.

This film had such potential, but squandered it. While the effects are great, the script (or what of it saw the screen) was found lacking.

Bale wasn't given an opportunity to really act. Comparing this to the Batman movies, under Nolan he performs as an actor, but under McG he's simply a movie star. I'm sure he gave it his all, as he tries to lose himself in the character to the point of possibly being a personal mental health concern. It seems as though the script basically gave him scenes to yell in and then scenes to tell the audience what they should have been showing them.

Helena Bonham Carter and Bryce Dallas Howard are completely wasted in this movie. Carter is only in one scene that actually requires any acting, where she acquits herself nicely. Howard is just left to be pregnant and concerned. There's really nothing noteworthy about her character in the movie.

Sam Worthington (Marcus Wright) and Moon Bloodgood (Blair Williams) are probably given the most to work with (which still isn't a lot). While their dialogue and scenes are no better written than any others, they are afforded a better opportunity to demonstrate a wider range of emotions. Anton Yelchin does a really good job of evoking Michael Biehn's version of Kyle Reese, helping you believe that this is the man that grows up to save Sarah Connor.

What the movie lacks is the chase element seen in the first three movies. Instead of a Terminator stalking our protagonists. Instead, we get one protagonist plodding across the first half of the movie to get to the other. While some of the Skynet machines do briefly chase from time to time, there isn't one consistent character stalking anyone. Due to this, it felt like the movie lacked any real tension through most of the two hours. You didn't have a sense that a terminator or other Skynet machine could pop up to attack the protagonists at any given moment, despite their being scenes of just that happening.

Maybe appropriately, the movie felt mechanical. It was just a collection of standard parts put together. Nothing too special about the parts or how well they were connected. In fact, some of the parts seemed worse than the standard. Take note, for instance, how obvious they try to make things about Marcus Wright by how he is posed for his execution. I half expected Keenan Ivory Wayans to pop on screen and shout, "MESSAGE!"

Despite all of the negatives I can rattle off about it, I didn't feel regret for having spent my $6 on a ticket. It was entertaining enough that I didn't want my money and my time back at the end of it...but JUST enough. The T-800 used towards the end probably put it over the top.

I wouldn't suggest running out to see this urgently, but I, also, wouldn't try to dissuade anyone who had planned to see it from taking the trip to the theater. If you're interested in the Terminator franchise, you're going to want to see this film. Just temper your expectations.

SCHWAPP!!!@TheMovies: WALL-E

Just saw that Amazon has a great deal going on the Blu Ray version of the movie ($14.99 vs. $24.99 everywhere else) and thought I'd pass it along.

Update: Ugh...don't bother playing the review video above at the moment; just found out I have to clear a dispute over the audio track. Will update when resolved.

Update 2: Audio track restored!

Fantastic Four Movie Reboot?

From Rottentomatoes.com:

#1 FANTASTIC FOUR ALREADY GETTING A REMAKE

IESB.net broke the exclusive news this week that 20th Century Fox, which is developing reboots of Marvel's Daredevil and their Planet of the Apes franchise, now also has plans to reboot Fantastic Four completely from scratch. This means none of the same cast will return, and most importantly (I think) neither will director Tim Story, who arguably exaggerated the lighter aspects of the classic Marvel Comics title, so much that it became just plain goofy and basically a kids movie. Both recent movies were hits ($290 million and $330 million), but they were also critically reviled (26% and 35% on the Tomatometer), and are generally unpopular with comics fans. IESB.net says that Fox wants the new version to be "less bubble gum" and more like Iron Man.

Yeah...every studio wants their superhero movies to be like Iron Man or Dark Knight now. It's ridiculous that they tend to think that making the movies exactly like previous blockbusters will lead to them raking in the cash. Never mind that, if it were that easy, there'd be a billion dollar movie out every weekend.

By the way, Hollywood is running out of ideas when it makes a Donkey Punch movie. I'd expect a movie with that title to be made in the valley, not by the studios.

BEST. MOVIE. TIE-IN. EVER.

Courtesy of Topless Robot

Iron Man 2 Casting Chaos?

It was one thing when Terence Howard was jettisoned in favor of Don Cheadle.

But this crud is seeming to get ridiculous now.

According to Variety (as MTV's Splash Page already pointed to), Marvel Studios lowballed both Mickey Rourke and Samuel L. Jackson for their roles in Iron Man 2. Rumors have suggested that Rourke is (was?) set to play Whiplash, while Jackson is obviously meant to reprise his role as Nick Fury.

After an amazing first Iron Man movie that hit all the right notes, especially in casting, Marvel Studios might be risking the health of the franchise to save a few bucks during these rough economic times.

Sam Rockwell is rumored to be in the process of getting cast as Justin Hammer. Emily Blunt is said to be cast as Black Widow, as well. Rumor has it that Rockwell might be getting lowballed, as well. While it is possible that there might be a silver lining where the movie doesn't get bogged down with too many villains, you don't want to achieve that result by alienating actors and agents needlessly.

Who Clusterfucks The Watchmen?

Judge Gary Feess, that's who.

After saying that the issues surrounding rights to a Watchmen movie between 20th Century Fox & Warner Bros could only be resolved by trial, the judge changes his mind and delivers a decision on Christmas Eve of all times. The judge decided that Fox definitely has a copyright interest in the film.

While both sides were encouraged to begin negotiations to resolve this, it is still possible that Warner Bros will seek an appeal.

Here comes all the fanboy outrage, again, directed at 20th Century Fox for no particularly good reason. ;)

Thundercats Movie?

(ok, not really...but it's worth watching this fake trailer)

The "Fuck You Man" As Riddler?

There are reports that Eddie Murphy will be cast as the Riddler for Christopher Nolan's third Batman movie.

There's no way that turns out to be true, though. If this, of all the rumors, winds up being the true one...it's just sad.

New Watchmen Character Posters Online

The Internet Movie Posters Awards site has them all up.

(hat tip to Kevin Melrose)

Oscar Worthy Comic Book Movie Performances?

I think I originally saw this over on Heidi MacDonald's THE BEAT. One tiny little point of the Variety article stuck out like a sore thumb:

Oscar's biases are nothing new. Unfortunately, they're increasingly out of step with the reality that some of the finest acting in American movies -- and, for that matter, some of the most artful filmmaking -- can be found in the realms of what might be uncharitably described as "fanboy cinema." In a year that saw a surfeit of memorable performances in superhero pictures -- Heath Ledger, Aaron Eckhart and Gary Oldman in "The Dark Knight," Robert Downey Jr. and Gwyneth Paltrow in "Iron Man," Charlize Theron in "Hancock" -- it may be time for the Academy to start taking this work as seriously as the actors and filmmakers have.

Do they have a drug testing policy over at Variety? Because someone has to be on really heavy narcotics to have thought ANY performance in HANCOCK was Oscar worthy...

New WATCHMEN Trailer (In HD)

Movie Trailers - Movies Blog

SCHWAPP!!!@TheMovies: INCREDIBLE HULK (Theatrical Release)

DragonBall Z Trailer Reactions Pt. 5

As it pertains to vlogging, this guy needs a thesaurus.

DragonBall Z Trailer Reactions Pt. 3