Monthly Archives: October 2013

MOVIES

Avalanche Sharks: Does Sharknado Have Competition?

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Just when you thought it was safe to come out from under the covers the sharks rise up yet again. After the huge success Sharknado was for the SyFy channel they have done it again with their next shark feature, Avalanche Sharks. As you can see they have not strayed far from the source material, exchanging tornadoes for avalanches. Below is the Avalanche Shark official synopsis.

Spring break in the mountains: snowboarding, beer, drunken co-eds in bikinis. As the yearly Bikini Ski Day party descends on a small mountain town, something lurks beneath the snow. When an unwitting rider causes an avalanche, it awakens a huge, menacing, prehistoric Snow Shark! With a newfound taste for human flesh, the Snow Shark picks off the snow bunnies mercilessly. Cut off from help by mountainous terrain and blinding snow, the local sheriff must make an unlikely alliance with a motley crew of snowboarders to take down the Snow Shark before the white hills run red with blood!

Now if you have all finished laughing at the notion of a “motley crew of snowboarders” then you may need to sit yourself down for the trailer.

http://youtu.be/6CXRBjc8O0w

Glad to see all the things this reviewer expects from a shark movie are in there. Stupid teens, bikinis, a shark that pops up in truly strange places (yeah I am talking about the hot tub scene) and people with guns shooting aimlessly at stuff. They even find time to add the crazy man who used to pop up in all the 80s Slasher movies (especially Friday the 13th 1 and 2). What made Sharknado so much fun was the nudge and a wink approach and a generally funny concept of having sharks leap out of a tornado. However, with this film it fits directly into pretty much every other shark related movie’s pattern (Sand Shark, Shark in Venice, etc), it has a shark popping up and eating people. There is also is the small problem that a shark in snow is already a concept that has appeared in film in the 2011 movie Snow Shark.

Avalanche Shark

Not that any of this is a bad thing (horror is well known for returning to the same themes and shark fans know what these films are like), it’s just going to get cluttered up with the rest of the shark movies which pretty much all cover this kind of thing. It looks fun, but I am surprised that some kind of Sharknado team up (giant octopus would have been welcome) was not introduced, seems like a waste especially after the huge success it found. It looks good enough, but from viewing the trailer it is not going to be up there with Shark Attack 3 and Sharknado. Maybe the shoes are just too big to fill. Still it is early days and I really, really hope I am wrong, as this reviewer loves this kind of cheesy nonsense. Not sure on a release date yet, but we will have our fingers crossed that Avalanche Sharks will rock the shark fans’ world.

TV

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. first impressions

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When it comes to movies based on comic book heroes, things have been hit and miss the past few years. However, Marvel seems to be getting it together as they have had some success with all their recent licenses. The Avengers was the crowning achievement bringing all these heroes together the first time on the big screen. Following the box office smash, ABC announced that they were going to make a TV show based off the movies called Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. The agents that make up this team are an eclectic bunch that seem to play off one another. You have the lone wolf black ops member (Grant Ward), the two techies (Leo Fitz & Jenna Simmons) , the pilot /weapons expert (Melinda May) and the suspicious hacker (Skye).

agents-of-shield-poster

In the first episode the team is sent out to investigate a superhuman who saved a woman from a burning building. Skye is part of an anti-government group called Rising Tide. After tracking down this particular super human and pacifying him peacefully, Skye is offered a job with S.H.I.E.L.D., which she accepts.

Episode two starts aboard the team plane as a giant hole is blown in the hull. The episode works its way backwards telling the story as the team is sent to Peru tracking a Code 0-8-4. This code stands for an object of unknown origin, and it turns out to be a Hydra weapon powered by tesseract technology. As they are about to unearth this artifact the local military shows up and swarms the team. Without giving too much away all I can say is watch this episode all the way through.

We’re two episodes in for this great show from Joss Whedon, and I am firmly hooked. With ABC (and therefore Disney) backing it, the chances we might see some cameos from the Avengers, or maybe some other heroes/villains is huge!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. is on every Tuesday night on ABC check your local listings.

TV

Pixar Makes Their Small-Screen Debut with ‘Toy Story of Terror’

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Although the masterminds at Pixar handled the ending of their Toy Story trilogy in a perfect way (and in a manner that could make even Ron Swanson choke back tears), I still want to see more of the toys that I first fell in love with back in 1995. After following their lives over the course of 15 years, I would love to get a glimpse at how Woody and Buzz are handling their change in ownership. This Halloween, Pixar makes that happen with a 22-minute TV special: Toy Story of Terror.

This is Pixar’s first special made for the small-screen. With its light-hearted humor and witty use of toys for gags (did you see the PEZ dispenser scene?), Toy Story of Terror feels like a return to the original Toy Story films despite the change in screen size. Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Don Rickles, Wallace Shawn, John Ratzenberger, and Joan Cusack have all returned to voice their iconic characters. A new toy, Combat Carl, joins the gang and is fittingly voiced by Carl Weathers (of Rocky and Predator fame).

The short starts out with the toys embarking on a road trip with their new family. As they take a detour and stop at a creepy roadside motel for the night, the terror implied in the title begins. Toys start disappearing one-by-one throughout the night and unless they can solve the mystery, Woody, Buzz, and our other favorite toys will suffer the same fate. I can’t wait to see how Rex reacts to this situation.

Pixar Makes Their Small-Screen Debut with Toy Story of Terror - Rex

Grab some candy corn and get ready for Halloween with Pixar. Toy Story of Terror airs October 16 on ABC.

Pixar Makes Their Small-Screen Debut with Toy Story of Terror - Still 2

Movie Trailers

Jack Ryan Trailer Looks Better Than Expected

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Diving back into the franchise started by the incredible author Tom Clancy, who sadly passed away last week, Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit hopes to restart his franchise on the big screen. Directing is Kenneth Branagh (Henry V, Thor) whom also stars as the main antagonist opposite Chris Pine (Star Trek), who takes the titular role in this one, stepping into shoes previously filled by Alec Baldwin, Harrison Ford, and even Batman himself, Ben Affleck.

Joining him is Kevin Costner, who interestingly has signed a two-picture deal to reprise the same role in another Tom Clancy Series that Paramount is trying to kickstart, Without Remorse. Other notable faces are Keira Knightley (Pirates of the Caribbean) and David Paymer (Mr. Saturday Night).

Initially written by newcomer Adam Cozad, David Koepp (Spiderman) was called in to do rewrites, and the film is only based on Clancy’s characters, not a specific book.

The plot for this one centers around a CIA analyst, Jack Ryan, who discovers a Russian plot to destroy the US economy. It sounds somewhat generic, but nobodies pegging this to be a complex character study, instead just deliver on its promise as an action spy flick that entertains. By the looks of the well-cut trailer, it seems to succeed:

Going in I had zero expectations for this because it seemed like another throw away action movie, kind of what the Die Hard series has become, but damn is this trailer put together nicely. Between the music, and the practical action scenes, this looks to be one hell of a good time at the theater.

As I said, this one isn’t going for Oscar’s, but likely be more in the vein of Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol ,  it looks to simply be a fun movie with some cool action set-pieces. Also, the playback between Pine and Costner is a nice touch, and Branagh as the stoic russian villain could surely add to the entertainment.

The first official poster was also released:

Jack Ryan Shadow Recruit Poster

The film is due out Christmas Day against a packed line-up of new releases including Keanu Reeve’s 47 Ronin, Ben Stiller’s The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, the expansion to wide release of the new David O’ Russle film, American Hustle, and the De Niro vs. Stallone boxing movie, Grudge Match. 

GAMING

City of Titans: Kickstarter Goes Live!

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When most people think of MMO’s they think of either the dark reaches of space or some fantasy inspired landscape. NCSoft had a different vision back in 2004 when they released a game called City of Heroes. With this MMO you could create the hero you wanted and go out and battle the forces of crime. To the fans dismay however the game was shut down in 2012 as they looked elsewhere to fight evil. Missing Worlds Media have heard the cries of the fans and have launched a new project on Kickstarter entitled City of Titans.

This ambitious new MMO will allow players to create a hero or villain to step out onto the streets. As with other MMO’s there is going to be a deep customization system when it comes to choosing powers and appearance. However, you can also customize your powers as well (example: you can arc lightning from a wand, your hands or even a fantastic looking gun.) But that’s not all as there are going to be tools available for the players to make their own stories. Then you can take these stories and share them with other players in the game. When you purchase City of Titans you will be buying the game and be given 3 months of a VIP subscription. After those 3 months are done you can still play for free and there will be a cash shop in-game as well.

So how has the response been to this project? As of the writing of this article this Kickstarter has 29 days still to go…and has raised over $260,000.

They want to raise $320,000 to cover the costs of the project and right now they may reach their goal in just a few days. And some of the rewards you can get for pledging range from a simple thank you to a digital copy of the game to designing a costume to your specs and joining Missing Worlds at the debut party during  ‘a major convention’.

City of Titans

Movie News & Opinions

Godzilla Teaser Leaked! UPDATED

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A teaser for the upcoming Godzilla remake from Legendary Pictures, potentially set for release in 2014, has just leaked to the internet. As of the time this is being written it’s still visible, however it’ll most certainly be taken down within the next 24 hours. Make sure you get a look at the footage now, you might actually not want to let this pass you by.

http://www.movieweb.com/v/VIpyxA0lqZq7sw/embed_video

It actually looks very good. I did not think I’d be interested in a Godzilla movie anymore with so many other action movies taking up the mantle of large-scale destruction. Creature movies like Pacific Rim and obviously Cloverfield have done a much better job of recreating the thrill of a Godzilla film than the last few Godzillas, so when the admittedly awesome-looking poster went public months ago I didn’t bite. This though? This has my attention. Most exciting for me is the brief look at what appears to be another monster that’s already come out on the losing end of a battle. If the upcoming movie brings back Godzilla fighting other monsters, this could be something truly awesome.

Unfortunately, in keeping with the teaser principle, we don’t actually see much of Godzilla himself or get a clear look at the CGI work, but we can guess that there is a very hard focus on realism for the film. The destruction looks more on par with a terrorist bombing than it does a dragon-monster on a cartoonish rampage, and based on the number of bodies strewn about the derailed train in the establishing shot, this movie is not shying away from the very real threat Godzilla presents to the city. I want nothing more than a mature Godzilla film, showing real casualties, that captures the actual shock and horror that would come from such an enormous monster attacking a cityspace. I also wonder if this Godzilla will behave  more like a wild animal or have more of a conscious awareness of his destruction.

This leak has me pretty floored, frankly. I’m extremely excited to see more about this in the future.