Monthly Archives: November 2012

Movie Trailers

First Official World War Z Trailer

Leave a comment

Well, it happened.  It’s finally here.  Our beloved Max Brooks, author of best selling classics The Zombie Survival Guide and World War Z has been adapted to film. The first official trailer for World War Z starring Brad Pitt and Mireille Enos was released today, and it is nothing short of intense.  I have never seen so many bodies stacked on top of each other before.  The trailer gave us some truly stunning visuals of panic that I’ve never imagined. Due out next summer, will it be in time or will the zombie craze have starved itself by then?  My projection is that it will be a delicious treat.

I loved seeing the first trailer of a zombie inspired film without having truly received a great image of the antagonist.  I compare it to the build up of when Jaws finally pops out of the water.  Considering this is the first trailer and the film isn’t due out until next summer, this was a great reveal.  We have been enticed, but there is still much awaiting the audience.

There are two different types of zombies as I classify them.  There is the Romero, and the Boyle.  The Romero is slow moving with poor motor skills and possesses its greatest strength only when accompanied by numbers.  Then there is the Boyle, an energized take on the classic zombie that appears to be fueled by the crazed fires of hell.  We’ve seen this type represented as the newer generation in such modern classics as the 2004 Dawn of the Dead remake, and the 28 Days/Weeks Later series.

It appears World War Z is utilizing the latter to create a truly action packed, ride of suspense and excitement.  I feel it’s a good direction when all things considered, the zombie genre has been beat to death in the past ten years.  This trailer presents the sheer panic of numbers with the intense violence of the Boyle zombie.

When considering if the film is landing too late, I would have to say no.  For one, its got Brad Pitt.  Two, its got Brad Pitt.  And three, there are lunatic fanatics such as myself that would even sit through trash like Survival of the Dead because it has Romero’s name on it.  Zombie flicks are like the Field of Dreams.  “If you build it, they will come.”  So far, I can’t tell how closely the film adaptation will follow the literary excellence of Brooks, but that can only be concluded upon actually seeing it.  What I can guarantee is that Brooks is a great place to start when it comes to great zombie story telling.

Movie News & Opinions

Plans For ‘Casablanca’ Sequel

3 Comments

When reading about the possibility of a Casablanca sequel on Huffington Post, I could not stop shaking my head. I thought this must be some sort of joke, and there is no way this will happen. Well, my friends, it is true. A sequel to one of the greatest films of all time has already been written… the strange part is by whom. Howard Koch, one of the co-writers of the original Casablanca script, wrote Return to Casablanca in 1980, about 40 years after the original was released. Cass Warner, who is part of the WB family, discovered this script and intends to have it made into a film.

Another concern I have is who would play Rick and Ilsa? Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman both passed away quite some time ago and I cannot think of a single actor or actress who could bring these two characters to life again. While Cass Warner searches for a filmmaker for this sequel that was turned down by WB a year and a half ago, I deem it already doomed. Casablanca is one of the most beloved films of all time. Several other films, TV shows and music artists have paid homage to the classic, verifying its huge impact on the world. From time to time, you’ll notice your friends quoting Casablanca. I cannot imagine that the sequel will have nearly as much impact. Generally, sequels are not nearly as good as the original. And with such a classic as Casablanca, WB would need one hell of a script.

Movie News & Opinions

Stallone Confirms Nicolas Cage Is In ‘Expendables 3’

Leave a comment

I have a shameful confession to make. I have not seen The Expendables 1 or 2. It’s unforgivable, I know. As much as I love ’80s actions movies and the stars in them, I just haven’t gotten around to seeing either film. More accurately, I haven’t gotten around to seeing the first one, and my nerd-completion neuroses have kept me from seeing the second without seeing the first. Fortunately, I’m fairly positive they’re exactly the kind of movie that is made for me. I’m a big fan of all the greats of ’80s action cinema; Commando, Universal Soldier, Cobra, First Blood, Roadhouse. All classics.

What with The Expendables 2 making a buttload of money at the box office, they’ve essentially given the green light for Expendables 3, which leads to speculation of just who will be joining the cast for the third movie. Well, it looks like Sly himself is letting us know at least one. [CMP]

It looks like his abs are melting.

 

[box_light]

“We are preparing the film with the same passion and commitment as the previous two. We have confirmed Nicolas Cage, a master actor who gives a veneer intellectual group. Hopefully we can realize to Harrison Ford, Wesley Snipes and Mickey Rourke. That is the great mission of the producer. We will continue with the same narrative scheme, the agility and the frenzy, which are inherent to the saga. What will definitely be the last? I can not guarantee. In principle it would be two deliveries, but the affection of the people encouraged us to work on a third. I guess as long as we amused ourselves by offering fun and people, we can continue playing ‘The Expendables’. For now we are not as expendable as it should and as some critics want.”

[/box_light]

 

Sly’s weird grammar aside, that sounds pretty awesome, because I’m a huge fan of Nicolas Cage. I know most aren’t, (people liking what I hate, and vice versa, is a running theme in my life it seems), but I sure do love the guy.  I see a self-referential, hilarious, capable actor with range and no sense of pretension whatsoever, where most see a washed up overacting blowhard. To me he’s the kind of guy who is challenged by every kind of role imaginable, especially genre roles. Rather than settle into being typecast, he’s consistently defied everyone’s expectations with a range of movies unlike any other actor. He’s the kind of actor who also understands his audience, knows what they expect of him, and plays into those expectations by either subverting them, or parodying them. He’s the ultimate mega-actor, trolling all of us and having a damn fun time doing it.

Say what you will about Cage, but every single movie he’s in is at least entertaining, if still awful. Those National Treasure movies are terrible, but man do I find them watchable. The same can’t be said for other actors who may have lots of prestige, but consistently star in boring, pretentious snoozefests. Meryl Streep is a great example I can immediately think of.

I guess it’s about time I catch up and watch these movies soon, because I’ve yet to miss a single Nicolas Cage movie in theaters since Matchstick Men, and I don’t wanna break the streak just yet.

http://youtu.be/xP1-oquwoL8

Movie News & Opinions

Star Wars VII Directed by Matthew Vaughn, Starring Harrison Ford?

Leave a comment

Star Wars introduced me to geekdom.

I was about ten years old when I first sat in front of a massive CRT and VHS setup on vacation at my cousin’s cabin in the woods.  Except I wasn’t scared in the least bit.  I was mesmerized.  So started fifteen years of action figures, extended universe books, costumes, excitement and consequent disappointment at the prequels.

You can imagine then my surprise at the news last week of Lucas selling his empire to Disney for over $4 billion.  I posted my initial reactions to that corporate decision on that day on my Geek My Life blog, but since then I have realized that this sale was probably the best thing for Lucasfilm to re-energize it.  I’m assuming, of course, that Disney will re-energize faithfully to the Star Wars franchise, and with the latest rumors coming out of the Hollywood offices, I think they’re on the right track.

Several sites claim to have insider information that Matthew Vaughn dropped the sequel to the X-Men movie because he was offered directorship of Star Wars VII.  Vaughn has a solid and many would even say impressive resume that consists of Stardust, Kick-Ass, and X-Men: First Class.  All of these films were successful in their own ways, a hard accomplishment in the cut-throat, short-attention-span industry of movies.

Vaughn directing on the set of X-Men: First Class.

These films exemplified strong directing mixed with entertaining, consistent story lines and easy-to-follow pacing.  If Vaughn is able to do the same thing with Star Wars VII, I doubt few Star Wars fans will find anything substantial to complain about in regards to storytelling, especially since Vaughn is a writer.  “If [Vaughn] ends up directing Star Wars, we’d also be getting someone that could solve script issues on set” [Collider].  This is especially important considering that my digital media professor keeps emphasizing that the successful professionals in entertainment are the ones that know more than just one craft.

But what about the characters?  What will Disney do with them?  After all, people like Luke, Han, Leia, and even the non-humans like C-3PO are many of the reasons why fans are in love with Star Wars in the first place.  Though the film hasn’t officially been scripted yet, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher have already gone on record to say they are excited to see the future of Star Wars.  How ironic considering that when Hamill was younger he said that “[Return of the Jedi] has to be the last one, period” [Huffington Post].

Harrison Ford decided to join the ranks, kind of last-minute like when Han decided to join the Rebels.  But he took it a step further, saying that he is open to the idea of being in the new film, not just supporting it off-screen.  Considering that he thought Han Solo “should have died in the last one to give it some bottom” [EW], it appears that Ford’s attitude towards his character and the franchise is coming around.  Ford probably “won’t go to the next level of contract talks until there’s a script and director in place” [EW], but him coming back as Han Solo for Star Wars VII could very well be one of the turning points to returning the Lucasfilm franchise to the grand old way it was.

Don’t do it, Han! I mean, Harrison. I mean, yeah… just don’t do it.

There are a lot of “we’ll see” and “what ifs?” flying around right now in the Star Wars fandom, but it’s better for them to be flying around at lightspeed like the Falcon than to not be around at all.  That would mean Star Wars VII isn’t happening, which would be disastrous.  Besides, many of us are just starting to get used to saying Star Wars VII without questioning the reality of it.  We’re in a happy place now.