Explosive Star Wars News – Hamill and Ford in Talks for the New Movies

February 23, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston Leave a comment

After the recent news about the possible Star Wars spin offs in the works from Disney (see here for more details ), we now have even more news on the subject. Total Film shared some incredible news for Star Wars fans world-wide. The first was a piece of news from scooper El Mayimbe (writer for Latino Review) who announced on Fox News that Harrison Ford was returning as Han Solo and that it was a “done deal”.

This is shocking news, especially as Harrison was famously quoted as wanting to kill of his character in Empire Strikes Back. Maybe Fords return to the Sci-Fi genre with Cowboys and Aliens got him excited about the Star Wars universe once more, or maybe he was of a mind-set “If you want something doing right, you have to do it yourself”. He could also just be in it for the money. Before too much speculation could take place however, more news was released (again from Total Film), with an Entertainment Tonight interview with Mark Hamill. Hamill had a slightly different story to tell. Though George Lucas had been in talks with him about role reprises, nothing had been signed at this time.

Hamill said in his interview…

[quote]“They’re talking to us. George [Lucas] wanted to know whether we’d be interested. He did say that if we didn’t want to do it, they wouldn’t cast another actor in our parts – they would write us out. … I can tell you right away that we haven’t signed any contracts. We’re in the stage where they want us to go in and meet with Michael Arndt, who is the writer, and Kathleen Kennedy, who is going to run Lucasfilm. Both have had meetings set that were postponed – on their end, not mine. They’re more busy than I am.”[/quote]

This shows a certain level of respect for the original actors. The fact George Lucas has spoken to Mark Hamill about what could happen in the new franchise would indicate that he really wants the original cast back to play their parts. The fact that they would write the characters out of the timeline, if no one was interested in reprising their roles again also shows a certain level of respect, but this time for the fans (as well as the actors) who are going to have trouble seeing these beloved characters played by different actors, especially when all the original cast are still alive.

[quote] “And another thing I’d want to make sure of is are we going to have the whole gang back? Is Carrie [Fisher] and Harrison [Ford] and Billy Dee [Williams] and Tony Daniels, everybody that’s around from the original [returning]? I want to make sure that everybody’s on board here, rather than just one.”[/quote]

This is also great news, with Hamill wanting all the crew on board we would have continuity throughout the series of movies. This is exactly what the fans want to see, the old chemistry of our favorite Jedi’s and smugglers all in the same movie. It is great news that Hamill knows what the fans want, and the fact he to only wants to work with his fellow Star Wars cast members. Hamill pleased the fans even more by saying he favored practical effects over CGI, something that worked against Episode 1-3.

[quote] “I’m assuming, because I haven’t talked to the writers, that these movies would be about our offspring – like my character would be sort of in the Obi-Wan range [as] an influential character.”[/quote]

A lot of the stories told after Episode 6 do focus on Luke Skywalker taking a more Obi-Wan role in the universe and a lot of the other stories focus on Leia and Hans children who are also gifted with the force. This would open up a great wealth of story possibilities as well as the fun fact we would be seeing how these characters have evolved since Episode 6. Though it is not clear if Harrison has signed or not, it is looking incredibly likely that we may see a return of the old cast, possibly with a married Han and Leia fighting over who is going to take the kids to Jedi training, while a white-haired Chewbacca plays chess with C3P0.

Keep checking Grizzly Bomb for more updates.

Arrow 1:15 – “Dodger”

February 23, 2013 Amanda Broyles Leave a comment

Probably due in part to last week’s episode being so great, this week seemed a little blah. It certainly had great moments but the overall feel was just a bit of a let down. Not to mention sort of irritating that the writers finally gave in to the CW “norm” and we had an episode all about romantic relationships. It’s not really necessary given that the main point of the show is a guy hunting down people with a bow and arrow who’ve done wrong in the city. If he happens to find love in his off-time, well that’s great, but we don’t need an entire story arc dedicated to it (I’m looking at you Huntress).

However, I really liked this week’s bad guy – the Dodger. I chose to just go ahead and forget everything I know about the actual comic book character Dodger because it would only irritate me as it’s hard to have Dodger be involved in trying to kill Connor (Oliver Queen’s son) when there is no Connor. Also no

Black Canary (I am hoping that with Laurel’s mom appearing soon they’ll address this finally) so yea, best to just let Starling City’s Dodger be his own man. Of course he did have his “electronic mace” which was cool. I could think of a few times in my life I’d like to have had one of those on hand.

Like I said, the real story of the episode was the love lives of both Diggle and Oliver. I do believe I called the Diggle/sister-in-law thing from the very beginning so it was nice to see I was right. How awkward was it though when he started comparing their first date to her first date with his brother? Yikes. I don’t do well with awkward, even if it’s on the TV. I felt like I was standing there trying to scream “SHUT UP DIGGLE!!” but my mouth wouldn’t open. Clearly, I have issues.

Who else has issues? Oliver. Of course he has a reason behind them, what with the whole “everyone thinks I was alone on that island but really I was getting my ass kicked on the regular never mind the constant mind-games I had to wade through” thing. I don’t know what to think about the McKenna situation. After last week I had a feeling she might be the mole in the police station but now she’s being bugged by Oliver so maybe that rules her out? I don’t know. What I do know is it’s not going to take her long (at least I hope so, she is a detective) to find that bug and the shit is going to hit the fan. That will be fun.

Oh oh oh! Another obnoxious point about this episode! The “nerdy girl takes off her glasses and puts on a dress and is all of a sudden hot” trope. I can just imagine how it played out in the writers room.

[quote] Writer A: So we’ve got this gala thing that Felicity is going to go to.

Writer B: We should totally have her take her glasses off and let her hair down.

Every other writer who hates this move: groans loudly

Writer B: But really, it will work. Then the guys will realize how pretty she is! Yay! [/quote]

Ugh, unnecessary. What purpose does it serve? Absolutely none. I love their little trio and how she’s been able to work her way into their lives already and as much as I think I would like to see her and Oliver

together, I’d rather it just be the three of them. ArrowTeam4Lyfe! Now that I got that ridiculousness out of my system, I think the three of them will end up doing quite well together. Already we’ve seen the good influence that Diggle has made on Oliver. Throw in Felicity and her desire to go after bad guys that aren’t on the list as well and how he could go about “talking” to people differently and it seems like Oliver is becoming more well-rounded. One could say he’s going through the vigilante version of a liberal arts education.

The island parts this week were a major letdown. Basically they were only there to drive home the point that Oliver has changed and the island played a major part in it. One has to wonder if the writers think we haven’t seen the previous fourteen episodes.

Back to ArrowTeam- this week we got to finally meet someone who should be making his way into the ArrowCave any moment, Roy Harper!

Let’s just get one thing out of the way – Colton Haynes is 24 years old. I know this will cause many people to breath a sigh of relief that they aren’t dirty pervs. Not saying I was one of them, but there was a Google search done almost immediately.

I can not wait to see how Roy Harper becomes an Arrow sidekick. I imagine it will sadly have something to do with Thea as it looked like they were setting it up as a love connection between the two of them. Much like Diggle and Oliver, I don’t really care who Thea dates. I actually don’t really care if Thea just disappeared one day and never returned but if that can’t happen at least she can get her bratty paws off Speedy. Doesn’t seem too much to ask, does it?

As great as Roy Harper’s appearance was, perhaps the biggest plot movement of the night came from Moira Queen. I think she only had three scenes but there was a lot involved in those three scenes. Some guy named Frank Chan shows up. He is part of this group that is doing, gods only know what, but Moira wants him to help her stop “the undertaking”. Then the final scene of the show we see exactly how she plans to do that – by hiring China White to KILL MALCOLM MERLYN!!!!

I’ve watched enough television in my 34 years to know that this is not a good idea. Not a good idea at all, Moira. This will end badly for you. Very very badly. On the whole, not a great episode. Roy Harper being introduced and that last scene was great (awful idea, but great scene) but the rest of it was blah. Going to have to go with just a 3 out of 5 this week.

However there is much to look forward to as this picture clearly shows… Until next time Arrow fans!

Movie News & Opinions

GB’s Top 12 Movies of 2012…

February 23, 2013 DrKronner Leave a comment

So, 2012 is long over and as a whole it wasn’t the strongest year for movies in memory (though certainly better than 2011 was). With the 85th Oscars coming up this Sunday, we thought we’d share with you our favorite movies of the year. What follows is a list of 12 movies from last year that Scott Fraser, Chris Tansuche, and I came up with after much debate and slap fighting. These are the films we feel most deserve your viewing time. Now these aren’t the ones we expect to dominate the awards season, but rather the stuff we found to be most enjoyable. As well made as Zero Dark Thirty and Lincoln were, repeat viewings in the near future aren’t likely. This is a list of the films that we deem are worth consideration of your hard-earned DVD/BluRay purchasing dollar…

Continue reading GB’s Top 12 Movies of 2012… →

Uncategorized

New Project Portrays Some of Histories Most Infamous as Comic Book Villains…

February 22, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston 2 Comments

What follows is some fantastic pieces of art by Butcher Billy. His Legion of Supervillains has historical figures ranging from the likes of George W. Bush and Mark Zuckerberg to maniacs like Charles Manson and Adolf Hitler being portrayed as some of DC Comics most well known fiends. When asked about the project Butcher Billy had this to say.

[quote] Some might say all art is a reflection of the times we live in. If back in the day comics and movies were pretty naive and faced only as pure escapism, today’s fiction has to evoke reality to create something truly meaningful… and frightening.

This series is an experiment where a dictator, a psycho, a murderer (sometimes they are the whole package) or even a suspicious figure from real life is mashed with a comics bad guy – strangely related some way or the other with his counterpart.

The depressing thing? Realising that if the comic book super villains were actually the ones threatening real life, the world wouldn’t be such a bad place. [/quote]

Some incredible thought has gone into the creation of these characters. Not only is the artwork stunning and very representative of the counter parts he is copying, but also the characters fit perfectly. For example George Bush as Two Face shows his flimsy approach to politics, while Bin Laden as the bomb throwing terrorist Green Goblin who cares little about who he hurts as long as his agenda is met follows the path he lead in real life and Hitler as the greatest threat to mankind Galactus shows even now his evil has never been matched. The most inspired choice is Charles Manson as The Joker who in real life followed his own crazy and manic plans to their tragic end. Each one is superbly crafted and it is very interesting to look at how each character links with his comic book version.

In my life time I have seen quite a few of these tyrants come and go, so the history of their deeds is still fresh in my mind, but for some they will never have heard of these horrific figure heads or chosen to ignore it. In that sense this is a great way to educate people about history through the medium of comic books which have now taken over the pop culture psyche. Though Mark Zuckerberg clearly isn’t a sociopathic serial killer like some of the other choices by Butcher Bill, it is still fascinating to learn about their histories through his art. It would be great to see more of these pieces, but for now look up the gallery of some of these people by clicking on the link here or visit his Facebook page and finally look at his portfolio here which showcases some of his other art that cleverly mixes and mashes up pop culture icons.

As a little taster of his work, here is his version of the classic 70’s movie A Clockwork Orange.

NBC’s ‘Hannibal’ Adds Talent to Cast!

February 22, 2013 Adam Popovich Leave a comment

Now I know I already bashed the entire show and concept of NBC’s Hannibal pretty badly last time, but it’d seem that things about it keep looking better and better the more I hear about it. The brilliant casting of ~~Macklemore~~ Mads Mikkelson as Dr. Lecter is great as I previously mentioned, but now the big news is about Gillian Anderson returning to TV after several years of being off the small screen. Gillian Anderson as you’ll no doubt remember, played FBI skeptic Agent Dana Scully on The X-Files. Now she’ll be coming back to TV for multiple episodes in the show, playing Dr. Lecter’s own therapist.

[quote] In a multi-episode arc on the upcoming NBC drama, Anderson is going to play Dr. Bedelia Du Maurier — murderous psychiatrist Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s (Mads Mikkelsen) own therapist.

“Every therapist needs their own head examined and we are ecstatic that Gillian Anderson has chosen Hannibal to mark her return to American television after 10 years to portray Dr. Lecter’s personal psychiatrist,” Fuller said in a statement. “Her intelligence and sophistication, not to mention her pedigree of ground-breaking TV, make her the perfect actress to match wits and psychological manipulations with one of the greatest villains of pop culture. I couldn’t be more excited.” [/quote]

Whoa whoa whoa, HOLD UP. That’s all find and dandy, yay X-Files whatever. The REAL news in that quote is the statement made by “Fuller” about the show. Which Fuller could that be? Well it’s Bryan Fuller, a name you may not recognize, but whose work you definitely will. He’s only the guy who made Dead Like Me, Pushing Daisies, the underrated Wonderfalls, and helped write the best parts of the first season of Heroes, aka the only good season actually worth watching.

Here he is pictured with a fox for some reason.

His pedigree alone has me interested in the show, even though it’s so drastically different from all of this other work in tone. Needless to say, the cast and creative team behind this show are certainly looking to be a home run, so maybe it’ll actually be really good? All I can say is that it’ll probably get canceled. Just like all of Bryan Fuller’s other shows.

In other casting news, Canadian comedy fans might recognize another name – The Kids in the Hall star Scott Thompson. Thompson will play Jimmy Price, the third member of the FBI crime scene investigation team headed by Laurence Fishburne’s Jack Crawford, the head of the FBI’s behavioral science unit.

Movie News & Opinions

Guardians of the Galaxy: Does Marvel Have ‘Drax the Destroyer’ Cast?

February 21, 2013 Adam Parker-Edmondston Leave a comment

The excitement behind the casting of the Guardians of the Galaxy film just keeps escalating. With the recent news that Chris Pratt is joining the movie as the leader of the Guardians, we have been given even more exciting news with the release on Nerd Reactor that the new Conan and Game of Thrones actor Jason Momoa has screen tested for the role of ‘Drax the Destroyer’. This is a role that has some stiff competition with the likes of Isaiah Mustafa (Old Spice adverts) and Dave Bautista (former wrestler and villain in The Man with the Iron Fists) are also gunning for the role.

For people unfamiliar with the character here is a brief recap: Arthur Douglas started life as a human and family man, until Thanos killed his family. His spirit was then taken and placed into a new and more powerful body with only one goal in mind, to kill the creature that destroyed his life (for a more detailed description click here).

Recent news from Borys Kit of The Hollywood Reporter via tweets has indicated that although he has screen tested, he has not been offered the role. Borys comment:

Then even more news was revealed again via twitter, but this time from El Mayimbe saying.

So where does that leave us? Well no further forward I am afraid. We still do not know who is going to be cast in this role, but we do know that no one has the role so far. Views seem mixed on Momoa wanting the role and the amount he wants for it. My personal view (which is based only on his appearances in Conan and Game of Thrones) is that, although he looks the part physically, I am not sure if he has enough acting experience to be asking for this amount of money. I have not seen his role in Bullet in the Head, but I know it did not perform as well at the Box Office as expected (a fate that Conan also suffered from).

With pretty much every Marvel produced product having had a successful Box Office run, we can assume that this movie should be no different, and could be the next step in Momoa’s film career. I would hate to think that he was shooting himself in the foot over this.

What do you Grizzly Bomb readers think? Please comment below or on Facebook about how you feel about this situation.

Grizzly Bomb

Monthly Archives: February 2013