No matter how you choose to occupy your time in Skyrim‘s massive province, at one point or another you’ll inevitably find yourself in one of its many shops. The buy/sell menu eventually becomes a familiar thing even for the most battle-hardened Tamrielites, and while stopping in at your local store is a handy way to earn some coin and free up your inventory, it’s not the game’s most memorable feature.
Nonetheless, Grosjean Brothers Productions has made a 4-minute video celebrating the highs and lows of a Nord’s everyday shopping trip. It’s full of flashy effects and packed with references to the critically acclaimed game, right down to the infuriatingly repetitive dialogue from the shopkeep. Take a look:
Ah, makes me want to dive back in to my old save file. And I was finally free of its grasp, too.
As a fan of this series of horror flicks, I am thrilled to reveal that the fourth installment to the Paranormal Activity franchise will be ready by this Halloween! The first movie was made on a $15,000 budget and grossed $194.4 million. I would suffer through that all day long!
For obvious reasons, they continued on with 2, then 3. I went to the midnight showing for Paranormal Activity 3, and I have to say that I was shocked by the amount of people at the theater. Despite the gross of the first movie, I was under the impression that this series was much more underground and unrecognized. I was corrected when I had to stand in a mile-long line for the theater. My first thought was “Oh God, no! It must be another stupid Twilight movie”. I asked the lady behind the counter what the massive crowd was for and she laughed and said “uh… Paranormal Activity.” Yes, she was a twat about it. Although the theater was full of super-douches and loud bitches, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.
I will be going to the midnight showing for Paranormal Activity 4 on October 19. You better believe that I will be back here to either rave about it or rant until I am blue in the face!
If you haven’t seen these, you can rent out the first 3 Paranormal Activitys at LOVEFiLM today. If you are not already a member, sign up at LOVEFiLM now to get a 2 week free trial…
2011 marked the announcement of a film that literally sealed the deal for the death of Hollywood. Granted, it’s based off of a marginally successful, tongue-in-cheek novel of the same name, but it’s true when they say that some things are just not meant to be movies. Regardless, this Spielberg produced “historical” action flick has been garnering quite a bit of buzz over the last few months for being as outlandish as it can be.
Of course, every mindless action pic has its low-budget imitators, but there are some movies that are rehashed so poorly, they make history. The Asylum, which is the production company known for taking movies we love and turning them into remakes/sequels we detest. A couple of names that may sound familiar are: Almighty Thor (originally just Thor), I Am Omega (instead of I Am Legend), 2010: Moby Dick, Battle of Los Angeles (not be confused with Battle: Los Angeles; the colon makes all the difference in the world), 3 Musketeers, and sadly, Titanic II.
Now, The Asylum is deciding to bastardize Hollywood even further by redoing Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, as Abraham Lincoln Versus Zombies. Again, world of difference, got to give credit where credit is due. I mean, just look at the originality that is seeping from the loins of The Asylum, here! It really is quite astounding. I mean, if hearing the title Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter doesn’t already make you do a double take, then taking on zombies definitely will.
Of all the ideas that The Asylum has had, this one might be the most absurd, which in turn makes it the most watchable of the bunch. John Wilkes Booth has been turned into a member of the “New Secret Service”. I mean, who can resist historical accuracy this rich with flavor? One thing is for sure, if I had the choice between vampires and zombies, I’m almost positive I’d take the walkers.
Bioware recently released some info on the bonuses you’ll receive if you pre-order Mass Effect 3. It’s pretty mild in terms of content but I’m going to write this article as an opportunity to release some of the pent up anticipation I have for the game’s upcoming release in March.
So here we go. The ME3 pre-order offers several in-game items that you won’t be able to get anywhere else (At least until they’re inevitably sold as DLC later in the year). Almost anywhere you reserve your copy you’ll receive the M55 Argus Assault Rifle. You can see it in action in this clip below:
As usual however, there is additional bonus content available depending on where you put down your reservation; buying your copy from Game Stop will also net you the ‘N7 Warfare Gear’, which includes the N7 Valkyrie Rifle and Defender Armor. Here is a preview of what they can do:
Meanwhile, EA Origin users can pre-order their copy of the game and receive the AT-12 Raider Shotgun. No video of that, unfortunately. It does kind of feel like an unbalanced offer, with Game Stop customers getting an extra item for their purchase as well as not being tethered to EA’s less-than-stellar digital service, but I suppose it’s not a game-changing loss.
The fall of our economy has been hard on everyone, including Hollywood, California, that magical place where even the litter is diamond-encrusted. It’s hard to believe, but big-budget studios have taken a pretty noticeable hit in recent years, and revenue continues to fall each year. It always helps to look for the good in bad situations and that’s just what this story is all about.
It looks like Warner Bros. has hit the brakes on Jaume Collet-Serra‘s upcoming adaptation of Akira while they make one last negotiation to work out the on-going budgetary and casting issues that have been plaguing production from the start. The Hollywood Reporter says that a call has been made requesting that the entire crew and production crew drop everything they’re working on until further notice. As one insider put it, “everyone has been sent home.”
This would be great news for Akira fans like myself. I’ve made it pretty clear that I’m not a fan of the way the remake was going. Besides some questionable casting decisions and storyline changes, Akira just doesn’t seem like it’s doable in live-action; anime, as you probably know, can go to some pretty wild places from time to time and Akira‘s subject matter requires an extensively realized cyber-punk world. I imagine lowering the budget would make this challenge even more difficult.
If it’s one thing Hollywood craves more than cocaine and prostitutes, it is sequels. Personally, I can’t think of a better way to bask in the glory of a successful and profitable film than to make it all over again. It’s the law of probability. It was successful once, it’ll be successful again. Any decent scientist will tell you that.
Earlier today, The Hollywood Reporter wrote that the science team over at New Line is pretty much green-lighting Horrible Bosses 2.John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein, the screenwriters who penned the original, are on board; and it is expected that director Seth Gordon will return for the new project, as well as most of the cast, which included Jason Bateman, Jason Sudeikis, Charlie Day, Jennifer Aniston, and Kevin Spacey. If you haven’t seen Horrible Bosses yet, it must be because you can’t get Netflix under the rock where you live. While not “the funniest movie in years”, it was funny; and Kevin Spacey is always a good reason to see a film.
The big question is: was it good enough to support a sequel? Probably not. Look at The Hangover. That movie legitimately made pop come out of my nose. (Sidenote: POP is a super sweet term that came from Detroit and is used around here as opposed to SODA. Look it up.) When they announced that there was going a Hangover 2, everyone was shrieking like 13-year-old girls. But when we all sat in those seats the movie fell flat, and the only good thing about that evening was that I found $5 in my pocket which still didn’t pay me back for the crappy movie I had just watched.
Shifting gears for a moment, on the other end of the spectrum we have Bridesmaids, another surprise hit. This film didn’t have a lot of buzz surrounding it like Horrible Bosses did, but it delivered with a smart story and hilarious content. Universal is just itching for the cash cow sequel, but Kristen Wiig won’t bite. In fact, Wiig told The Hollywood Reporter that she and Annie Mumolo, who co-wrote Bridesmaids with Wiig, “aren’t planning a sequel [and are] writing something else.”
I’ve heard a bunch of garbage about discord between the actors and the studio because they only got $100,000 bonuses contributing to her lack of participation. Apparently in Hollywood terms that’s like tipping your waitress ten cents. I mean, whenever I do movies, I expect at least half a mil. Anything else is insulting.
I think Kristen Wiig is the type of person who appreciates film and comedy as art forms. She wants to create something good, work really hard at it, and move onto the next thing. That’s refreshing these days when everything has to be a franchise with merchandise for preteens to spend too much of their parents’ money on at Hot Topic. If this at all went into her decision, I support her organic approach to film. And maybe a salute is in order.
What blows my mind, though, is that Universal is willing to go on with this project without any of the original cast; though I don’t see Judd Apatow being dumb enough to make it without Kristen. I wasn’t aware that Bridesmaids franchise had that much material to support it without its original creator and main character. It’s like Saved by the Bell: The New Class, where only Mr. Belding and Screech are left, and everyone’s looking around wondering where Zack Morris is.
If I’m being honest here, I don’t think either sequel, if they end up being made, will be any good. Horrible Bosses was a good movie on its own, but I don’t know how they can take the story much further. Bridesmaids doesn’t stand a chance without Kristen Wiig. Sequels are tricky, and you have to have more than decent source material because the expectations are high. But they’ll keep making the movies as long as people keep going to see them. You know, the people who keep going to see Scary Movie and Final Destination.
Grizzly Bomb 