Tag Archives: movie
Thor: The God Of Awesome
UPDATE: Marvel got to our source too. It took them longer, but they got there.
Below is the leaked footage from Comic Con of the upcoming Thor movie. I’m not a big fan of Thor but I was planning on seeing the film when it’s released next summer. After seeing the footage though, I don’t know that I can wait that long. Hurry and watch before it gets taken down.
Marvel got to all the uploads pretty fast. This is courtesy of io9.
Actual Breaking Geek News
According to the New York Times, Disney has made a bid to purchase Marvel Comics for $4 billion.
Walt Disney Company said Monday it has agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment, the storied comic book company that owns the rights to such popular characters as Spider-Man and and the Fantastic Four, in a cash and stock deal it valued at $4 billion. The deal comes more than 10 years after Marvel was at the center of a bruising and highly public takeover battle between two feisty financiers.
Shareholders at Marvel will need to approve the transaction, which boards of directors at both companies have already approved.
If this actually goes through, it will probably mean a few things for us as geeks: first, every superhero movie from here on out will feature a Miley Cyrus, a.k.a. Hannah Montana song. Second, every movie from here on out has the potential to be stuck in the same type of development hell that plagues the DC franchises. And finally, Selena Gomez as the Wasp in the upcoming Avengers flick. On the plus side though, Disney is amazing when it comes to marketing so it’s also possible that we’ll see a lot of great toys and possibly even some more cartoons on TV.
Wolverine, and other movies coming soon.
This past Friday I saw the movie that claims to start the summer, X-men Origins: Wolverine. For years the back story of Wolverine has been incredibly confusing. However this all changed a few years ago with a min-series entitled, “Origins”. This finally put the beginnings of one of the Marvel universes most celebrated characters. The movie holds close to this part of the story. However when it comes to other bits of Marvel history it is far less faithful. There will be a few “spoilers” but lets face it, no one who goes to see this movie was expecting The Usual Suspects.
Wolvie is treated fairly well, but the same cannot be said for his costars. So many different mutants are put on screen that it is sometimes hard to keep track of them. I think that the only reason I was able to track some of them was due to the years that I’ve spent reading comics. To summarize a few of my fanboy problems I’ll provide a small list. Someone who is not a comics fan would likely find no problem with any of these changes, and would merely enjoy all the fun explosions. However I wouldn’t be a true geek if I didn’t nit pick.
- What the hell did they do to Deadpool? He was the best part of the film’s first 20 minutes then they “kill” him offscreen. I’ve read some stuff online that points to possible spin-offs with his character, and I can only hope they come true.
- While Gambit’s character is introduced in the Big Easy he doesn’t sound like a Cajun. While it’s nice to not see an actor try to Costner their way through an accent I’m sure that they could have found someone to teach him. The accent was a huge part of the characters cool factor from the old cartoon, and was missed on screen.
- Emma Frost is NOT Silverfox’s sister. That was a silly plot point that added nothing to the story and was put in just to irk fanboys. Job well done.
- While I’m on Ms Frost, the diamond form was NOT her primary mutation. She was a telepath only eclipsed by Professor X, and Jean Grey, and a few others. It looked cool onscreen, so that one gets a bit of a pass.
- Liev Screiber is one of my favorite actor’s working today, and he did as much as he could with his role as Sabertooth, definitely more than Tyler Mane did in X-men. However there just wasn’t that much for him to work with. He kicks the hell out of Logan, then Wolvie gets cutlery for claws and is unstoppable? Yeah that didn’t make much sense to me either.
- He was called Logan by several characters, but they never explained why. It’s a small thing but an example of the lazy approach they took to the story.
- And most important of all, What the hell did they do with Deadpool.
As I said non comic fans will probably enjoy the generic summer actionness of the movie. Comic fans will find plenty of room to gripe, but its a slow comic summer so we’ll let that go.
7/10
Other movies coming up, and quick thoughts on them.
Star Trek: It’s gonna be great, we all can’t wait to enjoy the geekgasm that will erupt this Friday.
Angels and Demons: Dan Brown’s book is superior to the more lauded Da Vinci Code, my hope is that the movie will follow. Also Christians, and Catholics need to relax. Really all you’re doing is providing free advertisement.
Terminator Salvation: I’m not sure if the world was really crying out for another Terminator movie, but this one looks like it should deliver on the action front. Christian Bale hasn’t made many bad movies so I’ve got high hopes. It’ll probably be the only Terminator we get cause the TV show is on the chopping block.
Transformers 2: Should be good action. ‘Nuff said.
UP: It’s Pixar, it’s gonna be great.
Public Enemies: Johnny Depp stars as real life bank robber John Dillinger. It’s directed by Michael Mann, who I’m a huge fan of, so you know it’ll be good. If there was ever a better time to root for the guy who’s ripping off the banks I don’t know when.
Harry Potter 6: Will also be great, but really we’re just waiting for 7 at this point. All this one will be is filler.
Inglorious Basterds: Tarrintino’s look at WWII. It stars the man of both mine, and my wife’s list Brad Pitt. Should be fun and ultra violent
Julie & Julia: The bio-pic of famed chef, and professional alcoholic, Julia Child will be what my wife goes to while I’m reliving my childhood in G.I. Joe. Then I’m sure I’ll see it a few weeks later, cause lets face it I’m fan of both Meryl Streep and Amy Adams.
G.I. Joe: The one I’m most excited for after Star Trek, and also the one that no one is really talking about. I know it doesn’t come out till August, but I’m really looking forward to this one. Any chance to see Christopher “Doctor Who” Eccelston chew up the screen is a rare treat.
Did I miss anything?
A Geek And His Money Are Soon Parted
You knew this was going to happen. If you say that you didn’t, then you’re either a fool or a liar. I just found this on StarWars.com:
Returning to store shelves on November 4th are the six episodes of the Star Wars saga on DVD bundled in convenient trilogy sets. Perfect for gift-giving as the holidays approach, the Prequel Trilogy set includes Episodes I-III, while the Star Wars Trilogy includes Episodes IV-VI.
Fans who already own the prequel trilogy double-disc releases (released from 2001-2005) and the Star Wars trilogy double-disc releases (released in 2006) already have all the content that’s available in this set. There’s nothing new in this set you don’t already have. But for friends and family still looking to fill in these gaps in their DVD collections, these sets make it easy and affordable to complete the saga.
Own the saga on DVD November 4th.
Thankfully, there is no new content. I know that there’s no way that my wife would let me try to justify buying the saga again because of a new 45 minute documentary on how Jar Jar Binks is the best character in any movie throughout history or why I should be happy that we got Ewoks in Return of the Jedi instead of Wookiees.
The Clone Wars Reviewed
The Clone Wars
Thanks to TardisCaptain, this morning I was able to attend an advanced screening of Star Wars: The Clone Wars. For those who know me, you know that I’m a big Star Wars geek so being able to see the movie a whole week before it’s released was awesome. (I think that it should help my geek cred. Maybe +5?)
I’m too lazy to write a plot synopsis so here is one from allmovie.com.
George Lucas continues his most popular franchise’s legacy with Star Wars: The Clone Wars, a computer-animated 3-D film that takes place between Star Wars: Episode II and III. The first-ever animated feature from Lucasfilm Animation, this action-packed space adventure follows the heroic Jedi Knights as they attempt to maintain order and restore peace during a time of monumental galactic strife. The Clone Wars have engulfed the galaxy in chaos, and as the dreaded droid army of the Separatists wipes out everything in its path, the future of the Galactic Republic becomes increasingly uncertain. Meanwhile, Anakin Skywalker and his Padawan learner Ahsoka Tano embark on a pivotal mission that pits them directly against the dreaded Jabba the Hutt and his criminal minions while Count Dooku enlists the aid of Asajj Ventress and the rest of his sinister agents in ensuring that the young Jedi fails in his noble mission. Back on the front lines of the Clone Wars, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Master Yoda attempt to fend off the forces of the dark side with the assistance of a massive clone army.
Anakin has a padawan? What? Since when? Oh yeah. I almost forgot that George Lucas has gone insane.
The animation in this movie surprised me. I’ve watched all of the footage that Lucasfilm has released and to be honest, I wasn’t very excited to see it based solely on the fact that I thought it looked bad visually. Even once the movie started, I wasn’t digging it too much. Then I realized that I was starting to actually like the look of the movie. The buildings, scenery, and ships all worked really well with the animation style. I even started liking the look of the characters with the exception of the Hutts. (They looked horrible.) One thing noteworthy about the animation is that it actually looks like it was painted with a brush and paint. I liked that.
I enjoyed seeing Asajj Ventress on the big screen but she seems a bit like the angry goth girl from high school. I also liked the new characters that they introduced, the clone, Rex and Anakin’s padawan, Ahsoka. It was pretty obvious that Ahsoka was there mainly for kids but she was still fun to watch.
As for the movie itself, it was fun. It felt like Star Wars. There was a lot of action and the plot wasn’t as horrible as some would have you believe. They did mess with the Star Wars theme in the beginning but made up for it at the end. There were a lot of problems with continuity however.
As I was sitting in the theater, I couldn’t help but wonder where this fit into the Star Wars time line. Sure, they say it’s between Episode II and Episode III but what about The Clone Wars cartoon from Cartoon Network? I thought that that was supposedly canon. The second season of that show portrayed the events that led up to Episode III, including the kidnapping of Chancellor Palpatine. And let’s not forget all of the comic books. There’s nine volumes of The Clone Wars comic books in trade paperback form. What about all of that history? Oh right, the “Lucas is insane thing”. Honestly though, I’m sure that it will all be explained in the TV series.
If you’re a big Star Wars geek, you may have a tough time watching this movie because of the continuity issues. Even twelve hours after seeing it, I’m still perplexed beyond reason as to how what I saw fits into that special galaxy far, far away. Just try to enjoy it as a stand-alone story and you’ll probably be fine. If you’re just a causal Star Wars fan though, you should enjoy yourself while watching this movie.
Despite my complaints, Star Wars: The Clone Wars is still a good movie. Go see it.
Where Have All The Special Features Gone?
Next Tuesday, the biggest blockbuster of the year will make it’s triumphant DVD debut. This film also happens to be a geek-friendly movie based on one of the coolest super heroes in history. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m talking about The Dark Knight. This is one DVD that will be making it’s way into my collection.
I have a major gripe over the way that movie studios have been screwing people that buy DVDs over the past few years. When DVDs first started hitting the market, they were advertised as having super cool bonus features including deleted scenes, commentaries, trailers, bloopers, featuretes, etc. DVDs were a gold mine for the movie lover that enjoys useless information in documentary form. Those days are now gone, and I don’t even blame the introduction of Blu-Ray discs. I blame greedy movie stuidos that know that movie geeks will pay extra for this stuff.
The Dark Knight DVD release is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Warner Brothers decided that there will be single-DVD releases in both widescreen and full-screen. These will have the movie. Um… OK. It wasn’t that long ago that the single-disc version would be a veritable cornucopia of extras. If you want any of those, you’ll have to upgrade to the twice as expensive two-disc DVD. This will include:
That may seem like a lot but guess what? Regular DVD player owners are getting screwed. The Blu-Ray version comes with all of the above plus the following:
My question is this: what does everyone think of how movie studios enticed us into the DVD market by offering all manner of sweetness only to move said sweetness to multi-disc versions of the film? I can understand it but I hate it. And for those of us who hate Sony and refuse to buy their products, what about giving us über versions of regular DVDs a la The Lord of the Rings? Is that really too much to ask? We used to get these things for the price of a DVD and now we don’t and that just pisses me off.