Gavin Hood’s (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) has not been without its media attention, and not always for the best reasons, but following on from the promotion we saw at SDCC, there has been a new set of poster released ahead of the November 1st opening. These new promotional posters use the tried and tested propaganda style that the likes of X-MEN: Days of Future Pasthave also adopted.
There have also been some new stills released from the movie detailing what looks to be some great visual effects. The posters and the stills do not reveal much that we don’t already know about the movie, which has been adapted from the award winning novel by Orson Scott Card.
Ender’s Game, starring Asa Butterfield, Hailee Steinfeld, Ben Kingsley, Viola Davis, with Abigail Breslin and Harrison Ford, is set in the near future when a hostile alien race called the Formics have attacked Earth. If not for the legendary heroics of International Fleet Commander Mazer Rackham (Ben Kingsley), all would have been lost. In preparation for the next attack, the highly esteemed Colonel Hyrum Graff (Harrison Ford) and the International Military are training only the best young minds to find the future Mazer.
With the central characters of the movie being young heroes, distributors Lionsgate will be hoping to build another successful tween franchise to rival the likes of Twilight and Harry Potter, much like they did with the successfulHunger Games. Hopefully Hood will keep some of the tone and focus of the novel to keep adults on board and get them buying tickets too. The novel has also become suggested reading for many military organizations, including the United States Marine Corps.
[box_dark]Ender Wiggin (Asa Butterfield), a shy but strategically brilliant boy, is recruited to join the elite. Arriving at Battle School, Ender quickly and easily masters increasingly difficult challenges and simulations, distinguishing himself and winning respect amongst his peers. Ender is soon ordained by Graff as the military’s next great hope, resulting in his promotion to Command School. Once there, he’s trained by Mazer Rackham himself to lead his fellow soldiers into an epic battle that will determine the future of Earth and save the human race.[/box_dark]
I think we can all agree that in a certain light Disney can seem like a dark universe to immerse yourself into. If it’s not Buzz Lightyear losing his arm in a botched flight, then it’s Bambi’s mum getting blown away by hunters. Disney mixes a bit of the mildly macabre into their movies for the obvious dramatic effects. So it is interesting to see this new film trailer come out that focuses on this very aspect. Escape From Tomorrow is directed by Randy Moore, who filmed inside Disney theme parks secretly, without Disney’s knowledge or approval. It got some much deserved attention at Sundance, as well as some noted buzz for the unusual filming method, which is never a bad thing.
Before you watch here is a brief synopsis of the movie from Slash Film
[box_dark]In a world of fake castles and anthropomorphic rodents, an epic battle begins when an unemployed fathers sanity is challenged by a chance encounter with two underage girls on holiday.[/box_dark]
Well, that sounds freaky enough for this reviewer as it is, but here is the trailer if you have the bottle to watch it. [Ed. Note: Apparently ‘having the bottle’ is British slang for ‘having guts’, or ‘cojones’. We think. Knowledge is Power.]
Now it is really difficult from the random images that assault our senses to know what the hell is going on but what you do get is a very unnerving feeling of unease. The black and white photography gives it a stark and disturbing look and gives the place a very disconnecting feel. Also certain creepy images stand out that all combine to make quite the powerful piece of entertainment. The setting is a key factor as well, taking this recognized area where we assume children are meant to be safe and twisting it on its head. this alone puts the viewer off kilter, which continues throughout the trailer.
Much like Eraserhead (the classic David Lynch movie) it seems to be able to plunge us into this fathers mind and makes you think about whether what you are watching is real or the ramblings of a mad man. Looks like a very small cast to so it should be easier for the audience to get emotionally connected to the characters. It is always great to see surrealist concepts put onto screen and it looks like this film will be full of them.
So far Disney has not taken any legal action against the film, which does seem a bit of a shock as they are very protective of their faimly freindly name. It has been touring the festivals and has a release date in October, so it won’ be long before we see just what the heck is going on with this movie. Check out this interview with the cast and crew, which goes into more detail on their reasons for making the movie and the problems they had while making it.
Comic books have appeared in most people’s lives at some time, whether it be the cheeky antics of comedy comic characters like Dennis the Menace, superhero exploits with titles like Superman or even the funny pages in your local newspaper. Somewhere, somehow, you will have come across this medium. With comic book movies becoming a huge draw at the box office as of late, interest in comic books has never been higher. But there was a time before this when the comic book moviegoer was starved for attention when it came to movies about their favorite superhero teams. So what did these fans do? They just made the movies themselves.
With the introduction of YouTube, it became even easier to make your own superhero movie and be able share it with the world. Now, I am a huge fan of these fan films and have seen quite a few. While browsing through the internet, I decided to do a series of articles highlighting some of these movies. So for your viewing pleasure, here is part one of this series and today we focus on a DC character who never seems to get a fair deal, the lord of the DC Universe oceans, Aquaman.
Aquaman is a hero that has gone through various character changes to try to make him more relatable to an audience but for the most part, he always seems to get slammed by fans who for some reason see him as a kind of joke. The recent DC Comics New 52 version of Aquaman has helped to change perception of this hero, even making jokes about how people see him as a fishy loser. Gone is the messed up 90s hero with a trident for a hand and a crazy beard and long gone is the campy hero who used to ride a sea-horse to work.
But in 1984, the campy version of the hero was definitely still alive and kicking and made his heroic entrance to the world of entertainment via this film The Cast of the Angler. This has to be one of the greatest attempts so far to put Aquaman onto the small screen (yes, even better than Smallville). Shot for $10,000 by students Thomas Farr and Jeff Klein, with very little crew to help, they were able to create something which when viewed, came off as unique if nothing else. They were also able to secure DC Comics permission to film, something which they may not have been able to pull together in this day and age. It is certainly an amazing achievement to make something like this under the restrictions the team had. Look below to see a quote from Thomas Farr’s YouTube page just to see what they were up against.
Jeff Klein and I (Thomas Farr) produced Aquaman while attending film school at CSUN. Permission was granted by DC COMICS to make the film after we send our script to Jenette Kahn President of DC COMICS at that time. The film won several awards.
While I was attending a comic book convention in the 90’s, I came across our film inside the Super Hero video bins. It had been pirated and turned into a double feature with a WB pilot of Justice League of America. It was touted as a WB Pilot that was not picked up for series (which I found funny). Most of the crew have gone on to careers in the industry.
The Adam West Batman influence shows and is the driving force behind this show. Much like Batman, the reason The Cast of the Angler works so well is because Aquaman plays it so straight. Showing its influences even more, it goes so far as to have its own animated intro. You thought Batman was a campy classic? Well, Aquaman managed to fill a whole 20 minutes with camptastic events. The acting is either over-the-top or not there at all with Aquaman being quite a dullard throughout, but still managing to be strangely entertaining. Here we have an Aquaman who uses his fishy friends for more sinister purposes, the main sufferer being the starfish that Aquaman uses as a flying death star. You heard it right, this Aquaman does not take prisoners.
If this was not enough to keep you going the main villain of the piece is The Angler, a guy with a fishing hat and mask on his face (similar to The Weather Man in the awful yet amazing JLA TV movie) and needs a daily dose of potassium to keep him going. You read correctly, he is addicted to bananas and they pop up all over this little short. Why they did not attempt to use a more established baddie for this, like say Black Manta, I do not know. For this however, this new villain works perfectly. There is not much more plot than Aquaman going out find The Angler and he gets to kick his goons’ backsides before taking on the big guy himself. To say too much would spoil the fun of watching the events unravel but I will say that it is hilarious. Whether it was meant to be or hardly matters at all. It is a must see for fans of over-the-top superhero action.
Like buses, announcements in Hollywood tend to come in at least twos. Only last week, it was confirmed that AMC are prepping a prequel spin-off series of Breaking Bad focusing on Saul Goodman. Now AMC have announced what they are calling a ‘companion’ show to their ever popular and critically acclaimed series TheWalking Dead.
Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman will serve as executive producer on the new series alongside Gale Anne Hurd and David Alpert. Kirkman is clearly still in love with the project and stated, “After 10 years of writing the comic book series and being so close to the debut of our fourth, I couldn’t be more thrilled about getting the chance to create a new corner of The Walking Deaduniverse.”
Walking Dead creator Robert Kirkman
AMC President and General Manager Charlie Collier added, “Building on the success of the most popular show on television is literally a no-brainer. We look forward to working with Robert [Kirkman], Gale [Anne Hurd] and Dave [Alpert] again as we develop an entirely new story and cast of characters. It’s a big world and we can’t wait to give fans another unforgettable view of the zombie apocalypse.”
There have been no further plot details as of yet, but it looks likely that the series will focus on new characters not yet in the original show. Kirkman has already stated that, “The opportunity to make a show that isn’t tethered by the events of the comic book, and is truly a blank page, has set my creativity racing.”
While it is exciting to see that AMC are looking to expand the Walking Dead universe (set in in the UK perhaps? …Anyone?), is there any need? Do Kirkman and company have plans for the likes of Rick, Darryl, Michonne and the rest of the survivors, that leads to them to need look ahead to another story? At any rate, it looks as if we won’t be finding out anytime soon as the series is currently aiming for a 2015 release date.
In case you don’t remember, The Walking Dead returns with season 4 in the United States on the 13th of October and will be followed in the UK on the 18th of October but for now, you can check out this The Walking Dead season four teaser.
Unless you have been living under a rock, you will be aware that Phantoms star Ben Affleck has been cast as Batman in Zack Snyder’s Man of Steel follow-up, currently titled Batman Vs. Superman. The internet has been up in arms about the casting, and so far the man himself has remained relatively tight-lipped. However, Ben Affleck appeared last night on Late Night With Jimmy Fallon to promote his upcoming movie Runner Runner, co-starring Justin Timberlake, and the subject of Affleck playing Batman inevitably came up:
Affleck talks about how he was warned about the internet backlash following previous casting choices. “They said, ‘Just don’t use the Internet for a couple of days,'” the actor told Fallon. “And I said … ‘I handle shit!'” Ben fAffleck’s curiosity couldn’t prevent him from having a little peek when the news was made official. “I saw the announcement, I look down the thing. The first comment? … ‘Nooooooooooooo. And I was done! We’re going to be Luddites for a while.'”
Affleck still seems very pleased with his casting and told Fallon:
[quote]It’s so awesome, man. I’m so excited. They called me up and asked me if I wanted to do this. And I said, ‘I’m not 25, man, are you sure about this?’ And they said, ‘Come down, we wanna show you what we’re doing.’ Zack Snyder’s directing it and he has this amazing take on it. Obviously you can’t do what Christian [Bale] did, those movies were amazing. But Zack wants to something different but still in keeping with that.[/quote]
There is mixed feeling over here at Grizzly Bomb over Affleck’s casting, I for one am on team Affleck. He is a solid actor and in recent years has proved his salt both in front of and behind the camera. At least the rumor that pop star Justin Bieber being in the running to play Robin in the movie has now been quashed. The Wrap reported on Sunday that the whole thing was potentially set up for an upcoming Funny or Die sketch.
Affleck will next be seen on the big screen alongside of Justin Timberlake in gambling thriller Runner Runner on September 27. Batman Vs. Superman is aiming for a July 15, 2015 release.
Grizzly Bomb knows its audience: Fans want to know as much as humanly possible about upcoming titles without having the whole thing spoiled for them and plot details, twists, and an overload of content run rampant on the internet when a game like Grand Theft Auto V hits store shelves. Which is why we’ve put together this quick piece to give you our opinion on the early moments of the game, without getting too deep into the details.
Here are our SPOILER-FREE impressions from the first hour of GTA V:
1. A visual step up from GTA IV, but not quite next-gen graphics: GTA V is a gorgeous game, don’t even dare get me wrong, but you will notice some muddy details and texture hiccups in the opening sequences. There are some janky animations in the establishing shots of Los Santos that might be distracting, but rather than get bogged down by the blemishes, consider that this is a wide open sandbox world (A massive one, too) that looks just below the quality of Max Payne 3. Los Santos is far more beautiful than Liberty City, both in physical attributes and raw graphical power, and it’s far and away the best GTA has ever looked.
2. A story that embraces play: We haven’t seen much of Los Santos yet, and the majority of mission types, activities and emergent scenarios within the game haven’t even been introduced, but it’s already evident that GTA V has learned from fan feedback on GTA IV. Niko had plenty of mini activities to do in Liberty City, but many of them felt restrictive, hands-off, or just plain boring. The story and pacing pushed the player more toward the next mission than, say, stealing an ambulance and playing pedestrian shot-put. GTA V feels a lot more generous in letting you handle the play style. The characters in V aren’t as mopey and goal-focused as poor ol’ Niko, which makes hauling off and painting the sidewalks red feel less like a no-no.
3. Mechanics, mechanics, mechanics: Grand Theft Auto has always suffered from the Jack of All Trades issue, in that there are so many gameplay elements that few of them, if any, feel particularly honed. This time around the shooting and driving have been completely reworked and they feel a lot more responsive. Driving takes a while to get used to, as there’s much less a sense of hover-gliding over the asphalt, but that’s a change for the better, and those of us who have played Max Payne 3 will recognize the gun mechanics, which have essentially been cut and pasted into GTA V. Even the menus and the mini-map have been refined to make cycling through information that much more efficient.
4. That Rockstar shine: It just feels good to be playing a Rockstar game again. The satire seems a little more on the playful side than it did in GTA IV, with the first few digs at the California lifestyle made quite early. The character writing is exactly on par with the developer’s pedigree, introducing characters that you’ll immediately feel like you already know. Finally, the game is just fun. Where we left off, we’d just completed a mission that already felt like an exhilarating, Indiana Jones-style action sequence and our save state shows only 6% game completion. Whoa.
Grizzly Bomb 