We join The Doctor, Amy and Rory in the Wild West (they missed their intended target, the Day of the Dead festival by a sizable margin). Turns out that the town they have entered is stuck in a force field that will let no food or weapons in but will let people cross over. The reason for this is because on the horizon there is a teleporting cyborg called The Gunslinger that is out for revenge against the Doctor. No, not our Doctor, but a Doctor called Kahler Jex, who seems like a nice guy. He supplies the town with medical supplies and electricity by using his advanced alien ways and the power from his crashed spaceship.
Yearly Archives: 2012
New Fringe Season 5 Promo!
Here comes another noteworthy Fringe promo. They’re going full bore into preparing us for this whole flash forward thing they showed us last season, this time with a more viral video approach rather than a straight up preview. As we know, the Observers turned from an interesting story element of the mythology of the show, to the forefront of the threat to humanity as we know it. They have become the one, big bad, unifying thing that ties all of the “Fringe” events of Fringe all together in its entirety. The promo itself is fairly simple, with an Observer describing “Residency protocol”, which is just code for the installed curfews on us. He also frequently references “A scan”, which as we saw last season, is tantamount to a horrific psychically induced death, a la Scanners. In fact, assuming it’s intentional, I’m fairly positive it’s a reference to that film.
But of course they can’t show this on TV, but we all know that’s what they mean.
Here’s the promo:
I’m really antsy for this season to come already, as Fringe is a show that is truly unique. Never has a show gone from being truly awful, like it was in Season 1, to one of the best examples of Science Fiction in recent memory, and by far the best Sci-Fi show on television today. If you had asked me that the fifth season of this show would be as good as it is, and be where it is, in relation to the first season, I would have slapped you for trying to trick me into continuing to watch a terrible show. It took the coaxing of several friends repeatedly telling me “it gets better, it gets better, just watch it!”, to trudge all the way though the full first season. When I did, I got to that admittedly pretty clever and enticing last episode, which opened up the show in such a beautiful and revelatory way. It’s climb in quality since then has been exponential, and created some of the best hours of TV I’ve ever seen. Season 3’s “White Tulip“, featuring Peter Weller, also known as goddamned RoboCop, is an incredibly moving and brilliant time travel story that never manages to lose its emotional center, or get bogged down with technical minutiae. That episode alone puts Fringe up in the echelon of brilliant modern TV shows, alongside Battlestar Galactica, Lost, the first season of Heroes, Doctor Who, Carnivale, and even The X-Files.
The flash forward in this season isn’t exactly a new idea itself, as Joss Whedon’s Dollhouse employed the same tactic for its season finales, for both its seasons. Unfortunately, Dollhouse was a muddled, plodding, slow paced show that never found its footing, and meandered about for the whole first season until that decent finale. It’s a bummer that the finale, which might as well have been an entirely different show, was a much better show than Dollhouse ever was. Then Season 2 rolled around, and went back to the same boring, plodding pace, and that was enough for me. Fringe has taken the sudden flash forward concept and ran with it. What will happen to our Fringe team? What happened to Olivia in between now and then? And will the Observers be stopped? Will timelines be changed? Can they be changed? Is there truly no fate but what we make?
There’s even a few noticeable Easter eggs in the promo, that compelled me to grab screenshots for you to analyze and speculate further. Enjoy!
Goddamn, I wish it was September 28th already.
iPhone 5: Luxury or Necessity?
On September 12, 2012, the worst secret in the field of technology was released into the wild. Yes, the iPhone 5 was coming out and yes, millions of people want to love it and have millions of its babies. It also exposed an interesting fact about our society. With estimates of up to 10 million iPhone 5s sold by the end of September – NINE DAYS mind you – this is obviously going to be one of the most anticipated products launches in recent memory. But the question is this: do we actually need an iPhone 5?
Let’s start off with the facts. The iPhone 5 is going to carry a larger screen, have access to the LTE network, and be more powerful than previous iterations of the phone that revolutionized the industry. It will still have a retina display and with the new A6 chipset, the phone will run faster, smoother, and more efficient so that your battery life will be extended (or so we’re promised). The price points are the same as the previous versions with the 16gig going for $199, the 32gig going for $299, and the 64gig running for $399. The preorders began on September 14th with phones being available in retail stores and shipping on September 21st.
Admittedly, the reaction has ranged from excited to apathetic. The excited usually revolves around the bigger screen and the added functionality of LTE. The unimpressed concentrate on it being just another smart phone with a longer screen and the fact that it doesn’t make breakfast for you. “Yay, we have an extra row for apps! *fart sound*” Legitimate and sarcastic concerns indeed, but the more glaring concern I get from this is our expectations of our “phones”. I’m not a fan of excessive air quotes but I feel it is deserved in this case because how much do we actually use our phone for calls? I have an exorbitant amount of rollover minutes because quite frankly, I don’t like talking on the phone and if I can deliver a text to get my point across, boom, problem solved. And all without the awkward silences. It’s really an organizer, toy, time waster, camera, however you want to define it. It’s the do-it-all to end all do-it-alls. It’s the symbol of our generation that relies on convenience to be an arm’s reach away.
Before I got an iPhone, I had a Motorola Q which was complete and utter garbage. The reason I got the iPhone was because I needed a new phone that didn’t make me want to reenact Office Space and take a bat to it. I didn’t realize that I would get sucked into the world of “there’s an app for that.” All of a sudden, I had instant access to the internet, my music from my iPod synced into my phone, my calendars and contacts at my fingertips… it was pretty much the perfect phone to keep me organized. Then came the iPhone 4. Now I had Facebook, Facetime, Final Fantasy Tactics (alliteration much?), Angry Birds, Words with Friends, Instagram…these apps that I never would’ve used in 2006 that now dominate my life in 2012. It was ironic to have an device that can keep me on an organized path and then ruin it with distractions at the same time. The fact that I can go to the airport and check my work e-mails, check my gate with my scan-able boarding pass on my phone, with my headphones on listening to Spotify, and then walk to Starbucks and have them scan my Starbucks gift card off my screen…it’s not only a testament on how far we’ve come with technology, but also how absolutely screwed I am if I ever lose my phone.
As much as I am a fan of technology, I’m curious as to the turning point when I became a slave to it. Obviously it’s not just myself as many people suffer the same dilemma. Of course, there is a segment of the population that looks to the iPhone as a status symbol. Which is understandable because it is probably the trendiest technology out there, which Apple smartly marketed its products to be since the release of the first iPods a decade ago. However, while I try to take advantage of all the features on my phone, there are others that just want to purely show it off, not unlike a new outfit or accessory. It also doesn’t help that some people can’t even tell the difference between the iPhone 5 and 4s as evidenced in the video below.
I get it, it’s the new big trendy thing so not everyone is going to get on board with it. Especially when it should not be such an essential part of living and breathing that some people make it out to be. Unfortunately, in this day and age, for those handcuffed by technology, it might as well be the second coming of Jesus. I did get up at 3am in the morning to pre-order the iPhone 5 just like all the other ‘crazies’ on the east coast. It’s a valued piece of technology for me and while I can most definitely live without, I just choose not too because it simply makes my life easier to organize and also, from an ego standpoint, I like to have the new big thing to show off. That and my old iPhone looks like to got into a fight with the Expendables.
It really just depends on the perspective on the user. While I wish I can say this will be the end all be all of all phones, but it won’t. There will be an iPhone 6 or 7 that I’m sure will boot this phone and its features back into the stone age. The iPhone 5 is very evolutionary and will provide souped up features that will enhance your experience as a smart phone. That being said, this is not the game changer people are making it out to be. I think hardcore Apple users will champion its cause out of loyalty. The general public will probably identify this as an unnecessary device that only adds features that promote gimmicks as opposed to functionality. This phone is far from a necessity to the regular person but if you need to upgrade from an iPhone 4, or heaven forbid, a 3 or 3s, it may be worth a shot. We will find out on Friday and hopefully I’ll get a review up to see if the iPhone 5 will match the hype. Spoiler alert: It never does.
First Look At The New RoboCop… And It’s Not Good
Yeah, the banner isn’t what RoboCop will look like, sorry. I actually rather like the banner one.
But we do know what Robocop will look like now and yeah, it’s pretty bad. The original film had a great deal of originality to its look, from the Robocop suit to the ED-209. Granted these needed to be updated for a remake of the film but I still think that what we have seen so far has been done before. ED-209 looks like a small Transformer and the RoboCop suit, well… I will go over what I think of the new suit and do some comparisons after you look at the images below for yourselves.
Via [Comingsoon]
First off let’s have a quick look at the suit from a non-comparison stand point. The suit looks a little clunky in the second picture which should really be better in 21st century film robots. Then there is the fact that it doesn’t look like he is a cyborg. Granted there is just a man in a suit in filming but I was expecting a half man half machine look at least. The only evidence that might suggest this would be the right hand not being covered by the suit (really! Is that it?).
Now is the comparison part. This suit looks like a combination of at least 5 different suits from film and games in the last 10 years. Why is this a problem? Well, apart from the complete lack of originality this proves it also makes the film start to blend into the fabric of those films rather than stand out as its own. Remember all of those comparisons made between the look of the alien ships in Battleship and the robot aliens of Transformers? People kept saying it’s a total rip off of Transformers, and that’s how it starts. People have seen it before which makes them think they are watching the same film over and over rather than a new film, and can seriously piss ’em off.
Here is a collection of the Grizzly Staff’s reactions to first seeing the new RoboCop suit:
Tim The Film Guy: “haha oh no that’s not right, thought I just saw Batman’s motor bike suit”
Dr. Kronner: “This looks turrible.”
Supascoot: “Motocross mixed with Tron and aspects of the Bat suit do not make a good Robocop.”
CTan: “Did they dig out the GI Joe suit?”
Brucewalken: “I actually laughed when I saw it. It’s hilarious. That film I reviewed, Robowar. The costume the cyborg has in that flick is better than the RoboCop costume! Maybe they have played too much Halo as it looks to me like a biker helmet stuck on a Halo costume painted black. Unimpressed.“
Cheesebadger: “I’m…. Just really gonna keep hope that it’ll work in the movie.”
So basically it’s a collection of all black armored suits in films and games. We’ll have to wait to see more before I, or any of the staff apparently, will be convinced that this is a good look for RoboCop.
For more on the Motor City Tin Man, CLICK HERE
Resident Evil: Retribution 3D Review
After reading all of those Resident Evil: Retribution 3D articles I have written over the last few months, you should have a good idea of my stance on the movie. I was never a big fan of the franchise, but I would watch it for the lack of a better alternative when it comes to entertainment.
Yep, that’s what I did. Initially, I was pondering about the possibility of watching the movie in 2D. I elected against that option and opted for the 3D version instead. I felt it’s only right for me to review this movie the way it was intended to be watched despite of my general disdain towards the overused gimmick. Rest assured, I did not review the movie in filtered lenses. (You can call it a pun if you’re stretching those lenses all the way to include the Real D ™ glasses.) Just because a movie is in 3D does not mean it’s poorly made. But in the end of the day, I did shell out an extra $4.50 for you gals and guys. (Yes, I did say “gal” first. I’m defying against the patriarchal system. Sue me.)
It wasn’t as long of a stretch as I thought as the glasses are sort of tinted. Call it an intended pun. It’s still a bad one but whatever.
Anyways, here’s a brief summary of Retribution. Basically, Alice (Milla Jovovich), our protagonist, is captured by Umbrella. Now, the once pharmaceutical-company-turned-evil-corporation-which-exists-solely-to-perform-eeeeviiiiilllllllllll-deeds has the technology to clone people and run simulations of the zombie virus spread in a huge ass facility. Yea, it’s revealed pretty early on in the movie so it’s not really a spoiler. In a nutshell, the movie is about Alice getting out of the facility with some help from her pals, new and returning ones alike.
Plot-wise, the movie makes sense because the series no longer makes any sense. By that, I mean if you adopt the RE movies’ insane, illogical thinking, everything makes sense. Two wrongs do make a right. That does not mean the story is by any means good though – not even in a “so bad it’s good” manner. There are major inconsistencies here and there, and some things magically happen without explanation. There is one huge plot twist early on in the movie, but it is presented in a manner that doesn’t feel like a surprise. To be honest here, I have forgotten a good chunk of the movie, partially because of the countless action sequences, and the hotness of Milla Jovovich, Bing Bing Li and Sienna Guillory. Michelle Rodriguez is not bad herself.
[Insert your own sarcastic comment here. I don’t have any.]
When it comes to the characters, they all exist to make Alice look bad ass. None of them, literally, is likable. Ever felt Alice was one-dimensional? That’s not going to change. The story writers tried introducing elements that make her seem multi-layered, but they just failed to work out. It might be Jovovich’s acting; it might be the writing. Either case, I did not walk out of the cinema liking her more. New characters were insanely overhyped. Leon S. Kennedy (Johann Urb) and Barry Burton (Kevin Durand) are extremely far off their game counterparts character-wise. As for Ada Wong (Bingbing Li), she is a slightly more faithful re-imagining of the femme fatale, though not by any means a good one. Neither of their origins was elaborated upon, nor was there any form of character development. They are, in short, replaceable.
Boy was he terrible. Anderson actually made Leon hateable. I know “hateable” is not a legit word. Once again, sue my broke ass. I have noting to lose.
Returning characters generally feel unnecessary. Other than Jill Valentine (Sienna Guillory), they all exist to make Paul W.S. Anderson’s wet dream come true. Some of these returning characters were dead, but managed to spring back to life because of Umbrella’s cloning tech. Rain Ocampo (Michelle Rodriguez) and Carlos Olivera (Oded Fehr) showed up multiple times throughout the movie. Multiple clones of them exist and each duplicate contains a different personality. Yea, any traces of whom they were are nowhere to be found. The movie simply does not need them. Their return doesn’t add anything to the story or characters for that matter, and it doesn’t really make any statements. As for Jill Valentine, she is an antagonist in the movie, under direct control of Umbrella. I have already gone on and on about that ridiculous mind-control device strapped to her chest so I won’t talk about it again here. Anyways, she is one of the more “established” (and I’m using the word lightly) characters here, so at the very least, she adds something to the movie. She makes you sort of care. Well, not really. It was more of a “relatively speaking” statement there.
They don’t have personalities in the first place. Just replace them with generic evil soldier clones.
The visual aspect of Retribution is done well, and I am talking about both the 3D portion of the movie and the female cast. There are scenes which show off the gimmick for the sake of doing so (eg. Firing at the audience), but most of them feel right. Fight scenes are still corny, but you should have known what you’re signing up for at this point. There is a car chase, which is average. Gun fights could be better if the good guys brought the right weapons. Most importantly, as mentioned, the women in the movie are insanely hot. There is one scene which features Milla Jovovich covered by two pieces of cloth, with one on the front and another on the back, leaving the audience with quite a view. Does the costume make sense under those circumstances? No. Is more Milla Jovovich hotness awesome sauce? Yes. Am I complaining? Hell no. Bingbing Li looks good in that Chinese dress as well. Those heels are ridiculous, and I am nitpicking somewhat here, but she’s hot so whatever. (All that talk about defying against the patriarchal system? Wow, I’m a big time hypocrite. Perhaps we should start sexualizing the hell out of men as well.)
Hot damn.
With that said, Paul W.S. Anderson has yet to answer to my biggest complaint for the franchise. The movies have always felt too serious for me to like them. This is no different. It’s trying too hard to be art. It’s trying to be Christopher Nolan’s Batman trilogy when the original material doesn’t have enough substance for him to pull it off. The movie ends up feeling like a giant Milla Jovovich billboard. Not that there’s anything bad about focusing entirely on one character, it’s just that the movie has too large of a cast for an intimate experience to be possible.
Better luck next time.
Bottom line: If you have watched Resident Evil: Afterlife and actually liked it, Retribution is a souped up, more awesome version of that movie. If you are looking for a decent action flick which includes hot women kicking asses and requires no critical thinking whatsoever, this is also a movie for you. If you are looking for a decent story, avoid at all costs.
Requiem for a Tuesday, literally, has a better storyline than Resident Evil: Retribution. (See what I did there?)
6.3/10
4 of those points went to the ladies in the movie. The rest for 3D being done well enough. [Ed. Note – somehow this equals 3/5 Grizzly’s]
Texas Chainsaw 3D: New Trailer Lands with a Thud
Recently Screen Junkies showed off the new Texas Chainsaw 3D trailer, which works as a direct sequel to the 1974 original, ignoring the previous 6 films.
Continue reading Texas Chainsaw 3D: New Trailer Lands with a Thud
Grizzly Bomb 
