We’ve seen trailers and posters for The Wolverine but now it’s time to get a better look at Hugh Jackman’s character in this newest film in the X-Men series. Released today was a new featurette titled ‘A Ronin Story’.
So Wolverine saves Yashida from the atomic bomb? Sounds good to me. However, doesn’t it look like Yashida is now in the hands of Abstergo Industries and their Animus from Assassin’s Creed?
Not only that but surely I’m not the only World of Warcraft player who saw Wolverine walking through the forest next to a bear and thought ‘if I slowly angle away, maybe I won’t pull aggro on that plague bear.” right?
It is hard to believe that not even two years ago, Netflix looked like it was heading towards a certain death. The Qwikster debacle and subsequent hemorrhage of subscribers was predicted to be the end of Netflix, and yet here they are today with multiple successful original series, a deal to revive the cult classic Arrested Development, a widely expanded library through various partnerships with big studios – including Disney – and now a deal to bring Fox’s New Girl to the streaming service.
With KickStarter really coming into its own in the last few years, it seems any creative talent now has the chance to show the fans what they want to see. But with so many projects out there it can be tricky to actually pick one to worth fund, hell you cannot funding. So what makes this new hopefully ongoing series called The Vigilante Diaries different from any other project out there? Well it has Jason Mewes in it for a start! The lovable, cartoon faced simpleton we love from the View Askewniverse is back, and this time he is running the show playing Mike Hanover, a film maker who ends up meeting and videotaping the vigilante of the title while he does what he does best. This mostly consists of killing lots of bad guys. Below is the synopsis from the official funding page.
[box_light]“Welcome—Just being here, you are a part of something new, something never before done on the internet (as far as we can tell.) We had a vision to create a series that breaks rules and pushes the limits of where an online series can go. Vigilante Diaries was born out of our combined frustration with the model of compromising creative due to the restrictions of third parties—advertisers and networks—instead of what matters, the audience.
This is a chance to prove that an audience can actually sustain a series without worrying about whether it was brand-safe or appealed to a specific advertising demographic. It’s about taking control of what entertainment you want to see made, not just accepting what studios think you want.
Vigilante Diaries is a high energy, fast-paced ride into the dark world of vigilante justice, following a pair of vigilantes who take justice into their own hands. Mike Hanover (Jason Mewes) is our storyteller bringing us right into the action through his documentary cameras mounted right in the middle of the carnage that ensues. It’s in many ways like a live-action first-person shooter game but with a gripping story that is just beginning to unfold.” [/box_light]
Now plans are one thing, but does this series actually deliver in the goods department? I am happy to inform you that it does. The first episode has been kindly uploaded onto YouTube (which you can watch below) thanks to Jason and the entire team behind the project. At 10 minutes long we really only get a taste of what this show could offer, and it’s certainly not dull. The story line itself plays out like a modern-day A-Team in a way. The end credits list the team as ‘current whereabouts unknown’ and the story jumps from one drug bust to another at a fast pace. The Vigilante himself, and his partner are great fun. Anti heroes from the Clint Eastwood school of acting, only speaking when they have to, instead letting their actions do the talking.
As far as influences, to say there is a hint of ‘The Punisher’ in all of this would not be untrue. Jason Mewes ‘Mike’ plays a more hyperactive version of Frank Castle’s ex associate Microchip (only with more swearing and comedic gestures). It seems that if The Vigilante ever met Castle they would probably get along, you know, as much as Frank can get along with anyone.
While the font seems to have been inspired by Sin City, this is nothing like that movie. Style-wise it reminded me of the Gerald Butler movie Gamer as the episode is mixed between first person POV, over the shoulder shaky cam shots and static camera shots. It gives the episode a very kinetic and fast paced feel, but be warned – anyone that suffers from motion sickness may need to watch this in small bursts as it is not kind on your senses! The main driving force behind this is Jason himself who manages to juggle his unique brand of humor, and progresses the plot lines at the same time. He is a lot of fun to watch with his hyper active nature only calming down slightly when he thinks he is going to die. The idea of the Vigilante really not liking Mike either makes for fun viewing, and if this ever does get off the ground as a series, that relationship will be fun to watch.
So this is where you folks at home come in. If you watched the first episode and liked what you saw then hop over to Chill.com and help sponsor this series so they can get more episodes produced. If you donate you get the first 2 episodes as downloadable content, so that’s 20 minutes of Jason Mewes in action. Here is hoping that we get to see more of this gruesome threesome and their extended family very soon.
Before watching this, as I always do, I watched several old episodes of Dexter to try to get in the mood. To be honest, I enjoyed the first couple of episodes of season 7 and the season finale was great, but the rest was pretty much garbage. It is hard to see a show with such a unique premise and strong story crumble like this has. Part of me wishes that the show would have ended after Trinity in season 4. Because of this, it has been difficult to get excited about Dexter. What made me even care to watch the premiere of season 8 the night it aired was that this is how the show will all end and I plan to follow it there.
The season premiere begins 6 months after the season 7 finale. Dexter has gotten his life together, obviously unaffected by the shooting of Maria LaGuerta. Dexter has never been one to dwell on the deaths he causes. In fact, if he is affected by anything, it is when he cannot kill, like in season 2 when Doakes was tailing him.
Deb is MIA at the memorial service for LaGuerta and nobody has heard from her in a while. The first time we see her she is snorting coke and screwing a jewelry thief, Andrew Briggs. Clearly, she is having more difficulty coping than her brother. Basically, she’s a hot mess.
After finding out that Deb is on a cocktail of prescription drugs and that she hasn’t checked into her job in 2 weeks, Dex tracks her down at a convenience store. Deb tells him that she shot the wrong person in that trailer. OH SNAP.
I have no clue how super-douche Joey Quinn pulls the tail he does, but we get to see him in action with Jamie Batista. This part isn’t super relevant, I just wanted to give everyone reading the opportunity to take a moment and imagine Aimee Garcia naked…
Matthews brings in a special guest, Evelyn Vogel (Charlotte Rampling), to Miami Metro. She is there to help with a new case. She is a neuropsychiatrist. The victim has part of his head and brain separated before being laid out. She profiles serial killers, so of course Dexter is extra nervous. She seems like she may be a bit of s psychopath herself. She starts grilling Dexter about how the Bay Harbor Butcher was, stating that it’s strange that Doakes had a short fuse. She said that it seemed like the Bay Harbor Butcher operated under some sort of moral guidelines. I really love what she seemed to be doing as I watched it.
Here is Charlotte Rampling back in 1976. (Via Getty Image}
Dexter, with his son in tow, tracks Deb down to a seedy motel so he can warn her the the fence she is waiting is in fact a hitman. Harrison is with him because Jamie took the night off. Father of the year, ladies and gentlemen. He leaves Harrison in the car and escalation of the events result in an altercation with Deb’s target, Mr. Briggs. In a move that goes against all of his M.O. and history of preparation, Dexter stabs Briggs in one of his least impactful killings ever. Upon his return to the car he finds Harrison no longer asleep in the vehicle, and after a frantic 10 second search, finds the boy wandering through the parking light. Dexter picks his son up with bloody hands and a sullen look. After Deb calls the death in to the police, she is spotted by the hit man that Dexter was trying to save her from, “El Sapo”.
At the end of the episode, Vogel brings Dexter some of his childhood drawings. He chases her down and she tells him that she knows he cannot kill her because she doesn’t fit Harry’s code. And my thoughts are…. why did they wait until the end of the episode to make me excited?
In a sneak peek at the next episode, Vogel says that Serial Killers are a gift and that she needs a favor from Dexter. I love that there will be someone new who knows what Dexter is, but after LaGuerta’s theories before her death, his sister being MIA, and the fact that he told Angel “she died because she wouldn’t leave things alone” about Maria, there are already a lot of fingers pointing at Dexter right now. Too many people know or at least suspect him to be much darker a person than they originally thought.
I would give this episode a 2.5 out of 5. It was pretty dull for a season premiere, but it did excite me for episodes to come.
So a lot has happened since the Veronica Mars Kickstarter became the Kickstarter poster child. If you aren’t a backer (who isn’t a backer?) and you haven’t been paying attention to Veronica Mars movie updates then you have missed a lot because things are moving along at a rapid pace for our crime solving friend.
So many people are coming back. So, so many. This is probably the most exciting part about a project like this because of course the fans want to see everyone in the show involved in the movie and so far it seems like we are getting our wish.
Ryan Hansen, Martin Starr, and Ken Marino
One of these things is not like the other… we’ve got Ryan Hansen who was Dick Casablancas and Ken Marino of course as no one’s favorite PI, Vinnie Van Lowe. But what of Martin Starr? Was he one of the many actors who had small parts on the original run only to go on to bigger careers? Nope. Actually he’s coming on as a new character, Lou ‘Cobb’ Cobbler, a classmate of Veronica and Co’s. As a huge fan of Party Down this little reunion of Kyle, Roman, and Ron makes me downright giddy.
One of the fun parts of being a backer of this particular Kickstarter has been the ‘reactions’ posted of various actors as part of their casting announcement. I think we can all agree that the Vinnie Van Lowe Blow movie would be something worth watching, hopefully he’s able to get a hold of that Kickstarter guy to give him some money. As for Ryan Hansen? Well I’ve watched the video four times today and I’m not the least bit ashamed about it.
Krysten Ritter and Tina Majorino
AAAHHHH!!!! It’s Gia and Mac! Tina Majorino had to be in this, it wasn’t even up for debate in my head, but I was a bit surprised to see Krysten Ritter back as Gia Goodman. Pleasantly surprised, for sure, just surprised. Given that Cindy ‘Mac’ Mackenzie was one of my favorite characters of the series, I am so excited to see Majorino making an appearance.
Gia and Mac are in pretty good company when it comes to those returning to Neptune. Jonathan Chesner will be back as everyone’s favorite pot-head, Corny. Kevin Sheridan will be seeing what trouble petty thief and drug dealer, Sean Freidrich can get into. Remember Dick’s bitchy ex-girlfriend Madison Sinclair? Well Amanda Noret will be bringing her back to life. The sheriff’s department is very well represented already with not only Brandon Hillock back as Deputy Sacks, but Max Greenfield (The New Girl) has confirmed that he will be returning as the lovable Deputy Leo!
Percy Daggs III, Francis Capra, and Chris Lowell
It would be impossible to have a Veronica Mars movie without these three actors. Francis Capra as the biker gang/jailbird/friend of Veronica, Eli ‘Weevil’ Navarro. Percy Daggs III as Veronica’s best friend Wallace Fennell and of course his Hearst College roommate, Chris Lowell as Stosh ‘Piz’ Piznarski. You have to give Ms. Mars credit because she sure knew how to get just adorable guys to hang around her, even if they were the leader of a biker gang.
Speaking of Piz… what is this?!? Surely, surely, surely Veronica and Piz don’t end up together. I mean come on. Where’s the pictures of Veronica and Logan walking around holding hands? The people behind the Veronica Mars movie twitter account have tried to put people’s minds at ease by saying we shouldn’t judge until we see the movie but it’s just so damn difficult when you see things like this.
As a LoVe shipper from way back, I can’t even deal with this possibility. So I’m choosing to ignore it for now. Trying to keep an open mind here. I know what will put my mind at ease…
Oh Keith Mars, you might be the best TV dad ever and Enrico Colantoni is just perfect.
That’s a lot of people confirmed so far! Apparently there are more cast announcements to be made but I can’t imagine who else they could fit in one movie. Even Justin Long has been announced as having a role in the film. I’m imagining everyone in Hollywood just showing up to this huge high school reunion party scene and they’ll all have one line. Filming is underway so once we see that all the big names are flocking to one Los Angeles location, then we’ll know my theory is correct. For now, we’ll just have to enjoy the first “official” photograph from the set.
Remember when Grizzly Bomb recently covered an interesting piece of news about how Arnie maybe being the lead role in the new Terminator 5 movie? If you will recal,l I thought that they had tried pretty much everything they could to revamp this franchise and it may be a struggle to give us something new and fresh even after Salvation did not do so well at the box office. Well Bleeding Cool just posted up some news which certainly took this reviewer by surprise. Here is a quote from the Bleeding Cool article originally published on WWE Examiner website.
[quote] “We’re told the script is now being developed and with one fellow action movie star in mind for the role of T5′s most sinister machine. A source close to Annapurna Films exclusively tells WWE Examiner Friday morning that one version of the script is being produced specifically for The Rock himself”[/quote]
Okay I am a sucker for action movies and no matter what you say about Dwayne Johnson he knows his stuff in this particular style of film. The mention of “sinister machine” can really only mean one thing. The Rock is going to play the iconic tin man, The Terminator. To say this is a good idea would be an understatement as he would make a great killing machine. The intensity is practically stamped on his face in every movie he is in……….okay, maybe not The Tooth Fairy but you get the idea. So if Arnie is not in the Skynet driving seat then who is? Well Bleeding Cool has some news on that to.
[quote]
“T5 may be a prequel set in the days of Sarah Connor’s parents, marking the first time terminators have been sent back in time to kill a character that existed before both John and Sarah Connor.
Incredibly, Schwarzenegger may not play the role of a machine in the next film, but a potentially heroic human figure in or close to the Connor family. One theory is that Schwarzenegger’s remarkable ability to protect the Connor family in the 1940s or 1950s with antiquated weaponry by today’s standards ultimately inspired the machines to develop a terminator in his likeness that was eventually sent to 1984 when Sarah Connor was first targeted for termination.”
[/quote]
What do you do with a franchise when you have gone as far back with it as you can? Well, you go further back! This actually seems like a cool idea. We would get a new set of characters to follow who are still linked with the original movies (so not changing continuity) and it would get some much-needed new blood in the franchise and hopefully, the cinema seats. Even if Arnie is not as hot as he once was, seeing him in a different role from the Terminator will certainly be enough to pique a lot of people’s interest. The 40s and 50s setting adds a new element to with maybe Arnie as the Connor family protector role using a Tommy gun on Terminator Dwayne is something I would pay money to see. It also gets around the awkwardness of Arnie some how being de-aged to play The Terminator. Though I have to say the notion of using Arnie as a template for The Terminators because he is such an ass kicker seems a tad strange. Maybe it’s The Terminators way of showing respect, similar to when a Predator rips out your spine for his wall collection because you were a brave warrior.
This is only a slight wrinkle and this recent news makes this reviewer a heck of a lot more excited than they were a few weeks back when the concept of Terminator5 was announced. Still in its early days, but the more I learn about this concept the more I like it. Maybe taking an Untouchables and Lawless approach to the Terminator franchise could work, maybe they could even inject a bit of humor (that worked so well in Terminator 2) that could come back into play after the depressing and full on feel of Salvation. I am taking a guess right now that Arnie dies a tragic death and if he does you heard it here first at Grizzly Bomb.
Keep checking with us for more details as this develops.
Grizzly Bomb 