Michael Bay to Return for Transformers 4 and 5?

Click This Link for Newly Updated Article Regarding Transformers 4

After the disgraceful, garbage juice-bloated monstrosity that was Revenge of the FallenMichael Bay returned to his roots with a “Less talk and more blow shit up” philosophy that roped me right in. Transformers: Dark of the Moon should have been the most enjoyable of the franchise for a lot of Transformers fan. I love, love, LOVED the first movie and the introduction into the Michael Bay Transformersverse, but with Dark of the Moon we were able to dispense with the pleasantries and have an all out Autobot-Decepticon brawl that essentially leveled Chicago and left the Lincoln memorial busted up like so much rubble. The movie had everything I loved about the first one, with less of what we were subjected to in Revenge of the Fallen. Not to mention my favorite addition of all with ‘Sentinel Prime’, voiced by the man, the myth, the Vulcan: Leonard Nimoy.

Now, I was under the impression that the 3rd Transformers movie was the end of the road for Michael Bay and company because that’s what was said, but there was no effin’ way that Paramount was dropping the exploding money generator that is the Transformers franchise, so a part 4 was inevitable. The only question was who will star in it and who will direct it.

With Shia supposedly not coming back for a fourth hurrah, we were fed the rumor that has not been heard from again about Jason Statham starring. Personally I don’t think there should be any humans. I’m ready for a Transformers movie with only Transformers starring in it. You know it’ll never happen but a guy can dream, right?

The next big question was who could possibly replace a genius like Michael Bay? Well pretty much anyone who can make stuff blowing up on-screen look impressive is my answer. Give me McG, give me Roland Emmerich. The list could go on for a little bit. But with Dark of the Moon I was completely used to Bay’s popcorn movie, action directing style so you won’t hear me complaining if he returns, which it certainly sounds like is happening. Worst Previews:

Rumors started flying that a fourth film will soon happen, since Paramount Pictures will never give up such a lucrative franchise. And now comes word from Hasbro CEO Brian Goldner that the company has been in active discussions with Paramount, Steven Spielberg and director Michael Bay to develop “Transformers 4.”

The goal is to make an announcement before the end of the year, so a decision will be made soon. And not only that, but now IGN is reporting that there may be a Transformers 4 and 5 being shot back to back if it all comes to fruition. Color me super happy-excited!

Variety is now reporting that not only is another film being planned, but the studio is considering shooting a fourth and fifth installment back-to-back.“Nothing is set in stone, but screenwriter Ehren Kruger is said to have an idea for the next installments that the studio is high on, and has only begun engaging with writers,”

Shia LaBeouf will not be back, but those rumors about Jason Statham taking over the franchise? The action star is being considered. And according to Variety, Bay very well might be directing these films as well (and not just exec-producing), despite all his past talk about being done after three.

Can Bay truly pass on a franchise whose last movie grossed over a billion dollars? Hell naw man! If Shia is smart he’ll do a couple of passion projects before gearing up for another ride with the robots in disguise.

Dexter: Season 6, Episode 3 – “Smokey and the Bandit” Review

In “Smokey and the Bandit”, Dexter sees himself in the Tooth Fairy… a serial killer who keeps teeth as his trophies. Instead of teeth, Dexter has blood slides, and he fears what he will leave behind for Harrison once he is older.

The episode shows Deb’s struggle with her new promotion. She is her ex-boyfriend Quinn’s boss, she has LaGuerta up her ass every second, and on top of all that, she has to decide who to promote to detective to fill her spot. With the new murders to solve, Miami Metro cannot afford to be down a detective. She chooses someone from Chicago as a transfer against Maria’s better judgment, and has to set him straight right away. It is hilarious, as she does in that famous sassy Deb way.

After Dexter picks his car up from the repair shop, Brother Sam invites him to join the shop in Nick’s, a fellow employee’s, baptism. Dexter, however, is spend a lot of time throughout the episode finding out if a member of a senior citizen home, Walter Kenney, who has alienated everyone around him. Dexter poses as “Dan”, a man who is looking to place his father in the facility, and gets close to Kenney. He takes him to a storage facility, where Kenney says he will take the bus from there. Dexter goes into his storage locker when he leaves, and finds a box of teeth: his trophies. Dexter suffocates him.

Continue reading Dexter: Season 6, Episode 3 – “Smokey and the Bandit” Review

#16 – Countdown to Halloween: THE RING

The American version of The Ring, released in 2002 and starred Naomi Watts in the role of an inattentive mother/journalist. Let me begin this by saying that although I love this movie, there are bits and pieces that I do not like.

The Ring is a movie about a video tape. This video tape was made by a little girl named Samara. The tape is said to be cursed. If you watch it, you will shortly after receive a phone call saying that you are going to die in 7 days. Seven days later, the curse never fails. The deaths are all different and many look like accidents.

Continue reading #16 – Countdown to Halloween: THE RING

#17 – Countdown to Halloween: WES CRAVEN’S NEW NIGHTMARE

As a Freddy Krueger fan, New Nightmare is one of my favorite films. The story behind this movie is absolutely unique and creepy.

The Plot: New Nightmare revolves around Heather Langenkamp, who plays herself in this movie. She has a family: A husband, Chase, who works in special effects (played by David Newsom) and a son, Dylan, (played by Miko Hughes) who is absolutely adorable. Heather tries to keep Dylan from seeing her movies (her involvement in the Nightmare on Elm Street series was major), but throughout the movie, it becomes an impossibility.

Continue reading #17 – Countdown to Halloween: WES CRAVEN’S NEW NIGHTMARE

Darth Maul Officially Returns to Star Wars in The Clone Wars

It looks like after much speculation and geek debate, Darth Maul will be returning to the Galaxy Far Far Away via the Clone Wars this season. After hinting towards his return at the end of the Savage Oppress story arc in Clone Wars Season 3, supervising director Dave Filoni confirmed recently over at Entertainment Weekly that Maul would be back in force with the full blessing of plaid clad billionaire George Lucas:

Filoni was as surprised as anyone during a Clone Wars story meeting when Star Wars creator George Lucas asked Filoni to figure out a way to bring Darth Maul back. He had introduced a similar warrior, the powerhouse Savage Oppress, in the third season of Clone Wars because of the lack of a Maul-type antagonist.

Oppress plays a major role in the return of his “long-lost brother,” Filoni says, and fans can expect Darth Maul to reignite his rivalry with Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi Knight who cut him in half.

Filoni expects a strong reaction from fans, but he promises he didn’t bring back Darth Maul for a short-lived stunt.

“There’s a lot of ground that has not been covered as far as Darth Maul is concerned, so there’s a lot of room to grow with him,” Filoni says. “It’s all balanced with, ‘Boy, we’ve gotta make this really good because this is a really big deal.'”

And of course the official teaser for the return of the soft spoken horned Sith:

So what the hell, I guess if they can make this work then I’ll try my best to enjoy it. I was very skeptical and thought it verged on sacrilege when they announced Darth Maul’s brother would be showing up on the Clone Wars but I ended up enjoying the living crap out of that. The best episode of that season featured the best three way lightsaber fight I’ve seen. And with three dark side users no less….

Maul is just in time for the big 3D re-release of Episode 1: The Phantom Menace in 2012 and I’m sure that’s just around the time we’ll be getting the episodes he’ll be showing up in. The only questions I have are simple, the first one being the most irrelevant. Which planet is he supposedly exiled on? It’s somewhere in the Outer Rim according to Mother Talzin, and I’ll be a little let down if its effin’ Tatooine because there couldn’t be a more overused, boring planet. My second question is how in the bloody hell is this dude still breathing? I’m sure force-users (Dark Side especially) can withstand some brutal hits, but homeboy was sliced in two by my buddy Obi-Wan. So will he be rocking the robot leg look that he made look so fashionable in the non-continuity story from Star Wars: Visionaries? Maybe some sweet type of hover chair? That would be God awful but it wouldn’t be the first time us Star Wars fans were completely put out.

My last question is who will be voicing him? More specifically will it be Sam Witwer? For those of you non-hardcore Star Wars geeks, Sam Witwer is the guy who played Vader’s secret apprentice, Starkiller (Galen Marek) in the awesome Force Unleashed video game and it’s less than satisfying follow up the Force Unleashed 2.

He’s already had a stint in the Clone Wars in Season 3’s Mortis trilogy as the uber dark side using Anchorite The Son, which he completely owned. The guy also does an excellent Emperor Palpatine voice as evidenced in the Force Unleashed video games. It’s already been confirmed that Witwer will be returning to voice a character for this season 4 of the Clone Wars but it’s just a question of whom. Check out this little snippet from Witwer via Theforce.net that reveals absolutely nothing about whom he will play:

“Sam Witwer: I’ve already returned to The Clone Wars to do voiceover.

Riley: Oh really?

Sam Witwer: I am currently, as we speak, working on episodes, many episodes for a character that I have not played… well… it’s… what can I say without getting fired?

Riley: We don’t want you to get in trouble or anything.

Sam Witwer: I’m told the announcement is gonna happen in a couple months.

Riley: Nice tease!

Sam Witwer: It’s an amazing character. It is an amazing, amazing character. I’ll put it to you this way. I was driving over to a buddy’s house and Dave Filoni calls me up, gets me on the phone, and he says, “Listen, so we want you to come back to work and we need you to play…” and he tells me the character’s name. And I almost had a car accident. And he says, “Can you do it?” And I’m like yes. And then I worried about later whether I could do it or not. But I was like yes, yes, I will do that. So it is a tremendous opportunity and I can’t wait for you guys to find out about it.”

Now I wouldn’t call Darth Maul an amazing character or anything. Amazingly bad ass maybe, but character wise there wasn’t much to him. Even if you read any expanded universe material based on him it’s nothing to blow any skirts up. But Witwer did almost had a car accident, so that’s promising. He better not have risked his life on the account of finding out he was playing Wicket of the Ewoks or Uncle Owen…

The Walking Dead: Season 2 Premiere “What Lies Ahead”

RECAP: In the beginning of this premiere episode “What Lies Ahead”, the clan begins heading towards Fort Bennett. Since we already know that most of Season two will take place in Atlanta, Georgia, I assume that is where Fort Bennett is. The group has split up and are taking separate vehicles.

On their way, they come across a vast area of abandoned vehicles, a “graveyard” if you will, and the RV breaks down. The group goes through the vehicles, all the while trying to keep a lookout for the walking dead. Once a zombie is spotted, Rick notices that there are dozens of them coming towards the area where they broke down. The group quickly runs underneath nearby vehicles for protection. May I just take this time to say that the makeup/effects team has clearly reached their very highest potential. I cannot believe how realistic and terrifying these things look.

During this, Andrea gets attacked in the bathroom of the RV, but manages to not only refrain from getting bitten, but manages to kill a walker with a screwdriver… to his eye. T-Dog cut himself on one of the cars, dripping blood everywhere. Although zombies were obviously attracted by this, Daryl throws a dead body on top of himself and T-Dog, and this keeps them from attacking. Sadly, little Sophia is chased by walkers into the woods. Rick tells her exactly where to head for, and he kills the two walkers.

I am sure you remember Shane’s mishap with Lori in Season 1. When Shane and Lori are alone, Shane tells her that he is going to be veering from the group. He is fixing himself up a new ride, and he is leaving the pack.

When Rick and Daryl are in the woods looking for Sophia, they find a walker with skin caught in his teeth. Daryl opens his stomach with a knife and they dive in. They gut him. I have to say that this part made me slightly nauseous. It was the most disgusting thing I think I have ever seen… and I have seen some pretty gnarly stuff. As it turns out, it was a Woodchuck.

Against her wishes, Andrea’s gun was taken by Dale. He said he was not comfortable with her having it, and frankly, I understand why. When I first saw her working on her gun in the RV, I figured she was going to kill herself, since that was what she was going to do at the CDC last season.

Continue reading The Walking Dead: Season 2 Premiere “What Lies Ahead”