Sigourney Weaver gives update on Alien 5

Speaking with Variety Alien 5 (not the official title, Sigourney 
Weaver has high hopes for what the project could deliver to loyal fans while still offering something entirely new.

“I can’t think of a better director. He’s a real fan. I think he’ll be true to the world and take it in unexpected directions. It’s got a lot of sinew in it. It will certainly stand up to the others and probably break a lot of new ground as well.”

“It is set in the future, but it’s almost like an alternate present. It’s not happening in a far away world or an unrecognizable planet. I love how he uses this genre not for fantasy, but for human stories, even with robots.”

source Variety

Blade sequel coming soon…?

Speaking with Deadline at San Diego Comic-Con, Wesley Snipes confirmed that he has met with Marvel about Blade. While there are no details of that meeting, Snipes mentions that the ball is firmly in Marvel’s court.

“The project is controlled by Marvel and we did have a really productive and a wonderful meeting and we discussed a number of things. I don’t know where it’s on their schedule at this point, that hasn’t been decided. I guess it’s still up in the air.”

“I’ve always been a fan of these pieces (of the new cenimatic universe) and(Marvel) adaptations and it’d be nice to be a part of the family again. But if we don’t do a Blade 4 or something else with Marvel, we’ll do something else. We have some other characters and some other concepts that are going to be just as exciting and hopefully just as successful.”

Tilda Swinton confirmed as the Ancient One in Dr Strange movie

Speaking with Screen Crush, Tilda Swinton confirmed that she and Marvel are past the talking stage and that the deal is finally done for her to play  The Ancient One next year in Dr Strange .

“… I just really liked the premise of this and the idea of playing this character. I’m a Marvel fan and I think this particular world that ‘Doctor Strange’ goes into is really, really, really exciting. I’m really interested as both an actor and a fan to see what’s done in this particular world. It’s all about creativity. It’s not about everything exploding at the end. It’s about something very different.”

Swinton wasn’t be phased by the multi-picture deal.

“It’s like a family thing. Who knows where one might pop up. I don’t know where they’ll use me and I don’t know that they know, necessarily, even though they seem to know what they’re doing for the next decade. I think it’s like holding onto the tail of a galloping horse at this point.”

The Ancient One in the comics is a Tibetan mystic who teaches Dr. Stephen Strange the mystic arts with the goal of training him to become the Sorcerer Supreme. The character is traditionally depicted as an old man, but Kevin Feige has already confirmed that they’re changing the origin story.

Star Wars spinoff ‘Han Solo’ set for May 2018

THR is reporting that Christopher Miller and Phil Lord will be directing a Star Wars Anthology film  focused on a young Han Solo and will be written by Star Wars screenwriting veteran Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jon Kasdan.

The story focuses on how young Han Solo became the smuggler, thief, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina at Mos Eisley.

The Kasdans on Miller and Lord:

“We’re so excited to be working with Chris and Phil, who will bring a fresh new dimension to the Star Wars Universe. They’re two of the smartest, funniest and most original filmmakers around, and the ideal choice to tell the story of Han Solo, one of the coolest characters in the galaxy.”

“This is the first film we’ve worked on that seems like a good idea to begin with. We promise to take risks, to give the audience a fresh experience, and we pledge ourselves to be faithful stewards of these characters who mean so much to us. This is a dream come true for us. And not the kind of dream where you’re late for work and all your clothes are made of pudding, but the kind of dream where you get to make a film with some of the greatest characters ever, in a film franchise you’ve loved since before you can remember having dreams at all.”

Darth Vader Will Be In ‘Star Wars Rogue One

Evidence has surfaced that Darth Vader will be in Rogue One, the first “anthology” Star Wars film.   Devin Faraci of Birth. Death. Movies. has it from a “good source” that Vader will appear – onscreen – in Star Wars: Rogue One. It isn’t expected to be a large role, he may appear via viewscreen or hologram, and is likely not the primary antagonist of the film. (Though it’ll be implied he’s the one pulling the strings behind the scenes, and of course we know who’s pulling his strings, and anyway…)

Obviously, it’s too early to know whether Lucasfilm will seek out James Earl Jones to reprise that iconic voice, as he did recently for Star Wars Rebels.

London Has Fallen teaser trailer now online

X-Men: Apocalypse Teaser Trailer Description

Here is a description of the footage of the X-Men: Apocalypse teaser trailer from SDCC

The footage begins with young Jean Grey (Sophie Turner) having nightmares, visions of an apocalyptic future as Charles Xavier (James McAvoy) calms her down, reminding her that it’s just a dream. But it’s not.
We hear Apocalypse speak for the first time, reflecting on his long and storied, god-like history: “I’ve been called any things over many lifetimes, Ra, Krishna, Yahweh…”
Then we see Moira Mactaggart (Rose Byrne) who returns from X-Men: First Class speaking to Xavier: “Ever since the world found out about mutants there have been secret societies, cults, who see them as some kind of second coming or sign of god.” She’s been “tracking” the first of them (Apocalypse) and says “They believe that tens of thousands of years ago an ancient being was born. The world’s first…” Xavier interrupts and completes the sentence: “Mutant.”
Sizzle-reel style shots throughout the teaser of familiar characters including blue and non-blue Beast (Nicholas Hoult), Havok (Lucas Till) in the X-base, new Cyclops (Tye Sheridan) in costume, and young Nightcrawler (Kodi Smit-McPhee) featuring the same lines and design as the X-Men 2 version played by Alan Cumming.
Apocalypse voiceover continues throughout the teaser, and the rest of it goes like this:

“I was there to spark and fan the flame of man’s awakening. To spin the wheel of civilization…”

We see Magneto with old soldiers in the forest.

“You are all my children and you are lost, because you follow blind leaders…”

We see Apocalypse and Mohawk-rocking Storm enter what looks to be the underground lair of the Morlocks where a ragged Magneto (Michael Fassbender) stands with other mutants. Magneto turns and looks at Apocalypse and retorts “Who the f**k are you?” Apocalypse is there to recruit Magneto as one of his four horsemen and says “Come and see.”
More sizzle reel shots: Cyclops blasting at a roof, Quicksilver (Evan Peters) running super-speed through the halls of the X-base, Psylocke (Olivia Munn) in her actual comics costume.

We see Apocalypse and the four horsemen (Magneto, Storm, Angel, and Psylocke) in the X-base and Magneto lifts Professor X and his chair in the air and pulls it towards them with his powers. We see Mystique early in the footage, with a rocker leather jacket and later again, seemingly reuniting with Charles and saying “Mutants are being hunted,” but that she’s there to help, there to fight since there’s a storm approaching.

“What do you see?”

Professor X is using Cerebro, speaking about Apocalypse by saying “He can’t control all of us.” We see him potentially horrified and later when we’re back to this shot we see a tear roll down his face. The next shot of him with the Cerebro helmet sees his eyes turn black and he says “I’ve never felt power like this before.”

The final shot sees an X-base door open and James McAvoy finally has bald Xavier in the chair and wearing a nice suit. It then shows a close-up of him as he looks at the camera and fade to black.

Deadpool Comic-Con Trailer Description

Here’s a rundown of what was featured in the Deadpool Comic-Con trailer:

Wade Wilson (Reynolds) being told by his girlfriend Vanessa Carlysle (Morena Baccarin) that he can overcome his illness – to which Wade quipped, “You’re right. The cancer’s only in my liver, lungs, prostate, and brain. All things I can live without.”

To defeat his cancer, Wade enters something comparable to the Weapon X program (sans any government sponsorship), asking them to do right by him – and, in an obvious cheeky reference to the Reynolds-starring Green Lantern, to not make his new superhero outfit “Green… Or animated.”

Footage from the live-action version of the ‘leaked’ Deadpool test footage sequence (see: Wade killing mercenary types on the highway).

Colossus (massive and all CGI) knocking out Deadpool, who then calls his opponent a “big chrome ck-gobbler.”

Deadpool killing several armed thugs atop a highway overpass, before he meets Negasonic Teenage Warhead (Brianna Hildebrand) for the first time. His response upon learning her name: “What the st?! That’s the coolest name ever!”

In a bit of fourth-wall knocking, Deadpool says “Cue the music,” as a montage of ‘our hero’ acting badly (dancing in a strip club, having wild sex with Vanessa) follows.

Weasel (T.J. Miller) comments on Wade’s new appearance, with lines like “You look like an avocado that had sex with an older avocado.”

Deadpool, upon slaughtering more people, sniffs his guns and turns to the camera to declare: “I’m touching myself tonight.”

Source: Twentieth Century Fox

X-Men Fantastic Four Crossover coming in 2017?

At this years SDCC one of the panel rooms got very crowded, including both the stars of the x-men films and fantastic four reboot along with director Bryan Singer who is slated to direct the Fantastic Four sequel which already has a release date of June 9th 2017.

Singer who has already directed the first X-men movie and is directing the nest upcoming adventure of the Mutant family in the upcoming X-men Apocalypse.  So rumors have been spreading about the very real possibility of a cross over of the two cenimatic properties.When asked at the SDCC panel the responses where a little vague but positive:

When asked about the potential for a Fantastic Four/X-Men crossover,Miles Teller, who plays Mr. Fantastic, said,

I think Bryan is a great director and I love the X-Men films. I don’t know how that would work. If someone can come up with a world where that works and it’s not just trying to combine a bunch of franchises to make money, then I think that’s great.

Jamie Bell, who plays The Thing,said:
To be honest with you, I think the X-Men franchise is a good template for how to keep something feeling new, fresh and good.
Neither the actors nor Singer would confirm or deny the validity of the rumor, it will probably depend on the outcome box office wise of the upcoming FF reboot which releases on August 7th.  More as it develops.

Spiderman, Venom and Sinister Six together in one film!

Due to a studio leak, The Daily Beast has revealed very strong evidence that an X-Men/Fantastic Four crossover is in the works – courtesy of an email written by Michael De Luca, co-president of production for Columbia Pictures, to Sony Pictures Entertainment Co-Chairman Amy Pascal this past October. In the conversation, De Luca writes that he has learned directly from Simon Kinberg that Fox is working on an X-Men and Fantastic Four team-up movie, and suggests that Sony plan something similar with their SpiderMan property – namely linking together a new SpiderMan movie, the female-led SpiderMan movie, Venom, and Sinister Six for a “eventual mega movie.”

Sony’s official announcement reads: “In a move to forge a new legacy in the story of Peter Parker on screen, Sony Pictures Entertainment, in association with Marvel Entertainment, is developing several new projects in the Spider-Man franchise, with Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, Jeff Pinkner, Ed Solomon, and Drew Goddard to collaborate on overseeing the developing story over several films that will be produced by Avi Arad and Matt Tolmach, it was announced today by Doug Belgrad, president of Columbia Pictures, and Hannah Minghella, president of production for the studio.

Guillermo Del Toro to direct a Star Wars anthology film?

Yahoo news met with Guillermo Del Toro during SDCC where the famed fantasy scifi director pitched an anthology story that fleshed out the story of Jabba The Hutt’s rise throughout the criminal underworld of the Star Wars saga.  Said the director,

I would do the sort of Godfather saga that Jabba the Hutt had to go through to gain control. One, because it’s the character that looks the most like me, and I like him. I love the idea of a Hutt type of mafia, a very complex coup. I just love the character.

While he stressed that the ideal was unofficial we can certianly hope and wait.

Ben Affleck directing and starring in Solo Batman movie

Deadline reports that Ben Affleck is now poses to write, star and direct in a solo Batman film sometime in the undetermined future.  While the news is confirmed don;t get all excited just yet, considering Affleck’s other non superhero directing duties on the Horizon specifically an adaption of the Novel “Live by Night” and a rumored sequel or prequel to his directorial and starring film “The Town” not to mention the long list of other DC comic properties already slated for release and development, this project may be years away.

DC Comics Chief Creative Officer Geoff Johns, who is well known for his work on The WB/CW’s Smallville, Arrow and The Flash will co author the script.

There are no confirmed details yet as to the story or even if the solo Batman film will follow the continuity from Dawn of Justice or the upcoming Man of Steel sequel. More info as it develops.

Kindergarten Cop remake?? A tv series????

Showbiz 411 reports the Kindergarten Cop remake will come from Universal’s 1440 division, which specializes in direct-to-video sequels and remakes of old movies. Their works include Jarhead 3: The Siege, The Scorpion King 4: Quest for Power, and Beethoven’s Treasure Tail. The remake is definitely happening, but the site notes that this could also be a maneuver to help get a Kindergarten Cop TV series off the ground

Don Michael Paul (Jarhead 2: Field of Fire) will direct the Kindergarten Cop remake from a script by David H. Steinberg (American Pie 2). Schwarzenegger is not involved. He has better things to do, like try to get a Twins sequel together.

News update on Marvel’s plans for Spiderman

While promoting Ant-Man, Marvel Studios head hancho Kevin Feige addressed this issue, explaining to Zap2it just how the new Spider-Man movie will stand out from its predecessors and fit into the overarching MCU.

The biggest thing … is that it takes place in this universe. It’s the first time that you’ll be able to see Spider-Man like he was in the comics, as a very different type of hero when compared to the other heroes in the universe. Up until this point in the other Spidey films – some of which are some of the best superhero movies ever made – he was the only hero, and now he’s not. Now he’s a kid in Queens with these powers and has other [superheroes] to look to.

Does he want to be like these other characters? Does he want nothing to do with these other characters? How does that impact his experience, being this grounded but super powerful hero? Those are all the things that Stan Lee and Steve Ditko played with in the first 10 years of his comics, and that now we can play with for the first time in a movie.

Ant-Man opens in theaters July 17, 2015; Captain America: Civil War – May 6, 2016; Doctor Strange– November 4, 2016; Guardians of the Galaxy 2 – May 5, 2017; Spider-Man reboot – July 28, 2017; Thor: Ragnarok – November 3, 2017; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 – May 4, 2018; Black Panther – July 6, 2018; Captain Marvel – November 2, 2018; The Avengers: Infinity War Part 2 – May 3, 2019; Inhumans – July 12, 2019.

Voltron live action movie news

Voltron has gone through a number of animated and computer generated variations since its original appearance on television back in the mid 1980’s.  The first script was completed back in 2006, written by screenwriter Enzo Marra and planned to be produced by Mark Gordan (Grey’s Anatomy, The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen)  and described as “”a post-apocalyptic tale set in New York City… [in which] five ragtag survivors of an alien attack band together and end up piloting the five lion-shaped robots that combine and form the massive sword-wielding Voltron that helps battle Earth’s invaders.” Despite a battle over the rights for the film between World Events Production Company,  Toei Company Ltd.  and more recently a bidding war between Relativity Media and World Events some concept art was released  leaked. No other concrete news has surfaced, more as it develops but check out this unofficial yet enticing teaser trailer then hit the jump for ThunderCats movie news……

The Crow reboot – new details from James O’barr

After three years in development, multiple directors attached and then disassembled, Corin Hardy (The Hallow)  taking the spot from F. Javier Gutierrez  a pool of movies stars attached and then lost, including James McAvoy (X-Men: Days of Future Past) and Tom Hiddleston (Crimson Peak) and Luke Evans (Dracula Untold)  (I personally wanted to see James Mcavoy in the lead, as Eric Draven, I think he would have been magnificent) Now there is finally some “confirmed” news to report, and that coming from the creator of the original source material graphic novel to boot.

James O’Barr, while on a panel for a recent comic and toy convention “confirmed” his involvement with the reboot as a creative consultant using the term “re-imagining”  to describe the film reboot and “confirm” that actor Jack Huston has been called upon to take the leading role.

He (O’barr) was also quoted as saying his first choice for Shelly – one Jessica Brown Findlay, while not officially signed, was in serious talks for the role and that the film itself was to be a “page-per-page adaptation, with all the visual metaphors.  But will have less of a feel of the original 1994 film and more of a tone and feel of “Taxi Driver.”  Most interesting was O’barr’s claim that the titular Crow will speak to Eric Draven’s character in this version as in the graphic novel and may be created utilizing stop motion, stressing the need and desire for practical effects.He finally stated regarding the ongoing development that: “This is the first time in 3 years where I feel like this is actually going to happen and it’s really, really going to be good.”

which is a mouthful of optimism from a man who has generally had an “Alan Moore” quality relationship towards hollywood and its rendering of his creation(s).

the Crow reboot will be “brutal” says director

The Crow is one of my all time favorite movies.  Not only was it the first real comic book adaptions that stayed true to its source material, it was also the first and only testament to the raw and until then unvetted acting ability of the late, Brandon Lee.  However the remainder of the built-upon franchise, while (barely) watchable, all of the  sequels, in spite of keeping with the basic concept, if only in a remedial sense, were disappointing. Except for the tv series Stairway to Heaven it showed potential but was cancelled to early

So when rumor started flowing about a reboot, I was not only shocked but also very unhappy and nervous as to what the next attempt would be, and how true it would be in regards to James O’barr’s graphic novel masterpiece.I am excited to say that the director Corin Hardy, when interviewed by Fangoria during the sundance film festival, basically took the words right out from my mouth, in expressing his sincerest desire to remain as true to form….“I was obsessed with ‘The Crow’ when I was growing up….. And now that I have gotten the chance to do it, I’m very much going back to the graphic novel, particularly looking into the illustrations themselves as much as the story, and picking out all those beautiful ideas and details that haven’t really been used yet.  I intend it to be incredibly emotional and brutal,  I want to make a movie that I would have wanted to see, as a huge fan of ‘The Crow.’ “

The crane technique, complete Bullshit or effective attack?

The 1984 cult classic martial arts film “The Karate Kid” displayed a fictional “secret” technique called the crane technique to which, according to the master portrayed by Pat Morita who admitted in spite of starring in karate kid 1-3, plus the “next karate kid”) that he himself knew nothing about martial arts.  was an “unstoppable move, and while it has since been proven that the action was “made-up” by the stuntman for Mr. Morita, Darryl Vida, whom did the fight scenes for Morita in the group fight scene after the costume party scene and was the person on the pole at the beach performing the crane technique and is a legitimate karate black belt who was the (karate kid) tournament participant who made all the flashy jumping kicks as a semi finalist near the n.  filmsconclusioAnd even though he admits that the move was completely “made up” basically just a flashy version of a double switch front kick, the question has always  been asked… is that move,  effective against an opponent? beside the use of actually doing it like in the karate kid, waiting for you opponents to laugh at you and then hitting them in the balls and running 

Surprising enough, it is a legitimate attack that can win a fight and at the same time can be easily defended and can lose a fight.  How is this possible?  How can a “made-up”  fighting move be both effective against an opponant and easily cause defeat at the same time? Sound like a paradox?  check out the clips below for an explanation.  The first clip though choreographed from the insanely awesome film andKeanu Reeves directorial debut “Man of Tai Chi” and then watch MMA fighter Lyoto Machida currently ranked in the top ten fighter in the MMA world use the “crane technique” to finish a fight against hall of fame fighter Randy “the natural” Couture a five time UFC MAA champion and listen carefully to the commentary…

Ducktales, Inspector Gaget and Danger Mouse all get rebooted

Apparently Nextflix is about to rape more of my childhood memories, and Disney too.

Why?  WHY? sigh

Inspector Gaget, the bumbling cyborg-esque detective, his too-smart-for-her-own-good niece Penny and his loveable but can-never-seem-to-catch-a-break pet dog Brian will once again be fighting against the global crime syndicate MAD led by the nefarious Dr. Claw in eye poping  CGI adventures this March on Nextflix.

Speaking of Netflix, Danger Mouse, the classic British cartoon series about a one-eyed superspy mouse and his lovable hamster sidekick Penfold, will return in new 52-episode series that promises “all the classic characters, catchphrases and comedy that made it an 80’s cult favorite.”

And finally Disney is resurrecting The 1990’s classic cartoon Ducktales,that headlined the 90’s “Disney Afternoon”  which also included Rescue Rangers which is be developed into a live action/CGI movie made a trip to the big screen in Ducktales: Treasure of the Lost Lamp and was nominated four times for a daytime emmy and actually won twice.

The official statement from Disney XD’s Senior Vice President, Programming and General Manager, Marc Buhaj:

“DuckTales’ has a special place in Disney’s TV animation history, it drew its inspiration from Disney Legend Carl Barks’ comic books and through its storytelling and artistic showmanship, set an enduring standard for animated entertainment that connects with both kids and adults. Our new series will bring that same energy and adventurous spirit to a new generation.”



source: Netflix, Disney XD

Rocky spinoff Creed official synopsis released

From Warner Bros. Pictures and Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures comes award-winning filmmaker Ryan Coogler’s “Creed.” The film explores a new chapter in the “Rocky” story and stars Academy Award nominee Sylvester Stallone in his iconic role. The film also reunites Coogler with his “Fruitvale Station” star Michael B. Jordan as the son of Apollo Creed.

Adonis Johnson (Jordan) never knew his famous father, world heavyweight champion Apollo Creed, who died before he was born. Still, there’s no denying that boxing is in his blood, so Adonis heads to Philadelphia, the site of Apollo Creed’s legendary match with a tough upstart named Rocky Balboa.

Once in the City of Brotherly Love, Adonis tracks Rocky (Stallone) down and asks him to be his trainer. Despite his insistence that he is out of the fight game for good, Rocky sees in Adonis the strength and determination he had known in Apollo—the fierce rival who became his closest friend. Agreeing to take him on, Rocky trains the young fighter, even as the former champ is battling an opponent more deadly than any he faced in the ring.

With Rocky in his corner, it isn’t long before Adonis gets his own shot at the title…but can he develop not only the drive but also the heart of a true fighter, in time to get into the ring?

Creed will be in theaters November 25, 2015.

Source: WB/MGM

How to get Away With Murder is simply the best television series I have seen since “Hannibal”

crime, lies, sex, murder, false accusations, court room drama, miscarriage of justice, double crossing, concealment of sexual assault, deceit, entrapment, false confessions, mountain of suspicion, reasonable doubt, defamation of character, sexual harassment, same sex lovers, hidden evidence, expectant guilt, action of necessity, mistaken prosecution, drama, unacceptable loss, exaggerated proof.

If you think that any of the subjects listed above would make for a good suspense court room murder mystery drama, then you absolutely must watch the (surprise) ABC drama “How to Get Away With Murder. I cannot stress enough how intriguing, exciting and suspenseful this series is, I also cannot explain it any sort of conventional sense, there is simply too much enticing surprises and intricately woven plot devices and subjects to even try to adequately describe this series. The best I can do is to say that there are multiple storylines and plots all interconnected, and many of them are non linear switching from one mystery to another. catch up on previous episodes with ABC on demand or watch new episodes on ABC Thursday nights at 10pm EST check out the trailer

American Horror Story season 5 will star Lady Gaga, officially titled “Hotel”

There had been recent rumors about season five of AHS that it would possibly be a science fiction themed reinvention of the series, and while that is/was just the rumor mill running wild, according to FX Networks CEO John Landgraf the next season will be “radically different”

“One of the things I love so much about that is that it can be radically, radically reinvented in terms of tone, setting, period, characters, cast… I think there’s going to be an unusually large reinvention in between season 4 and season  5 relative to, say, between (seasons) 3 and 4.”

Now officially (sub) titled “Hotel”  news has surfaced that Lady Gaga will be staring in the next season scheduled to debut on FX this fall.  I am not sure what the new title “Hotel” implies but as John Cusack said in the 2007 film “1408”

“Hotels are a naturally creepy place…  ….how many people slept in that bed before you?  How many of them were sick?  How many of them died…?

more details as they develop.

Review: American Horror Story: Freak Show

The last season of American Horror Story “Freak Show”  sounded good in theory but once all was said and done, it was tepid on any of the actual “horror” aspect we have all come to know and expect from the series  except for the intro scene  at least in comparison to the previous seasons.  I personally felt that the problem with “Freak Show” was the concept itself by definition there were no “relatable characters”  only “Freaks”  viewers were unable to identify with any of the characters or the timeframe in which they lived, while the actors must be again praised for their abilities to reinvent themselves each season with distinctly new characters and completely alternative storylines and settings, and Freak Show was definitely a decisive change from its predecessors “Freak Show” just seemed too much like it’s namesake, and surprisingly was, well, kind of boring. With each new, and completely different season, the series has been like a multi-course meal at an expensive restaurant serving you course after course of exotic food, after you get use to one dish (season) you have a lingering taste of it while trying to enjoy the following course (season) and as for “Freak Show”  I never seemed able to identify much less enjoy the flavor.  With the little exception of “Ma Pitite”  (no pun intended)  she was just too cute not to like, and ironically got the most “Horror-ific”  death scene of the season.

Editor’s Rant – why did I HATE Underworld:Awakening, let me count the ways…

To start let me first admit the fact that I severely love the Underworld film franchise concept.  The mythology was well crafted and created a fun and exciting world of vampires and werewolves rivaling the 1990’s White Wolf role-playing universe. SO much in fact that White Wolf publishing sue the film director and producers for copyright infringement which after losing the case let White Wolf to end their gaming franchise.
The first film was a innovative masterpiece in non-CGI special visual effects, the behind the scenes featurette that accompanied the 2 disc special extended edition of the first film DVD was almost as exciting and fun as the first film itself.  It (Underworld 2003) one of a select few film which had a large portion of it’s scenes which consisted specifically of practical effects and NOT CGI. The two others include Inception and Francis Ford Coppela’s Dracula 1992,

So three films later into the Underworld franchise why do I HATE “Awakening” let me count the flaws.  First let me say it felt like the producers had given the writing job of the script to four individual persons, lock each one in a room alone and them paste and cut together the wildly different plot ideals that came out.  Now for the specifics:

you had a child vampire who was suppose to be a ultra powerful hybrid, but when it came time for her to actually fight, she was too small to be affective against anyone.
You had a lycan “the biggest lycan I’ve ever seen”  according to Selene, which was in fact too big.  Every time it tried to fight, it kept getting stuck, all anyone had to do was find a small space to hide in.
the film basically has four completely unconnected storyline happening independently of each other which seemed like the editing of the film was just moving alternate scene of different plot elements blindly and with no thought of any coherent reasoning
The “psychic link” between Selene and her daughter was sooo stolen from Species 2 which I like better than this film
The whole plot of the daughter being the ultimate prize and necessary to both the protagonists and the antagonists please dont make me specify it makes my head hurt is made a rhetorical and completely unnecessary plot device at the end of the film when it is learned that the antagonists had Michael all along, which begs the question why go through all the trouble of getting back the girl when you have the patient zero hybrid in the next room?

The simple fact that the movie was completely, grossly, stupidly, unnecessary mainly because thanks to Len Wiseman there was already a great story plot already ready and waiting, that is to say the storyline of the missing episode between Rise of the Lycans and Underworld One.  Right there was a gap that needed filling, a storyline resolution that needed to be bought to final closure. All they had to do was…

Rambo 5 “Last Blood” news update

I distinctly remember seeing the trailer for Rambo (4) in theatres and remember the laughter from the audience at the sight of a 63 year old Sly Stallone ripping some guys throat out in a almost supernatural feat that seemed more in line with Michael Myers, rather than Rambo.

However I must willingly admit… I really like Rambo (4) overall, it was better than Rambo 3 both in storyline and body count action sequences.

Now Rambo 5 which was actually green lit by Millennium Films less than a year after Rambo (4)  the plot of which has changed constantly, from rescuing a girl from human traffickers and drug lords in Mexico, to Rambo hunting and killing a genetically alter beast to be loosely based on the 1999 novel Hunter

Stallone said in an interview with Vulture:

“I’m getting ready for [‘Rambo 5′]. I’m starting to work out. I’m going to be appropriately vicious and all that stuff…Rambo hopefully will be back. We’ve just got to give you guys a story that’s worthwhile…

At one point there was a rumor that Rambo was to show up as a tv series, but that has been refuted by Millenium Films and Stallone himself.  At one point Stallone mentioned Rambo 5 could be a prequel film yet more recent reports now says that Rambo 5 will, according to Stallone, be his version of “No County for Old Men”  whatever that is suppose to mean. apparently Rambo 5 sub-titled “Last Blood” is currently filming in Bulgaria, which is suppose to be doubling for John Rambo’s hometown in Arizona(?) Again according to Stallone the script is completed as of December of last year, but no confirmed details regarding the plot or release date have yet to surface.



sources: Hollywood Reporter Empire magazine comingsoon.net Vulture

Terminator Genysis sequels have release dates

I have mixed feelings about the upcoming Terminator Genysis.   I like the concept of the “aged” T-800 Arnold S. character, it is an interesting idea,. reminds me of the only thing I liked about Underworld:Awakening, the older, worn out lycans. And while the recent script reviews have been positive, still the trailers have caused mix feelings, it seems all too familiar and yet promises to be different.

But as I lamented regarding the basic concept of science fiction,  time travel movies in general in my review of Project Almanac and even though this installment is out right stating that changing the future/past is not the mcguffin but the plot device itself, kinda like 2009 Star Trek reboot did and despite the fact that I love the franchise in regard to its mythology, I am still uneasy about the film.

the two following sequels in the new  “stand alone” trilogy have already been given release dates May 19th 2017 and June 29th 2018 and will be apparently shooting back to back.

There has also been announced a “direct tie-in” television series which hopefully will be as better than the all too short-lived 2008 Sarah Connor Chronicles which as much as I thought the series was daring, in its tie in mythology elements, I honestly only watched it to see Summer Glau as  and hopefully will not suffer the fate of “Agents of Shield” which has a bad habit of only connecting to its shared universe of Marvel films only in minor and not-so interesting ways.

Nothing has yet to be confirmed by the series producers, Skydance Productions and Annapurna Pictures regarding which characters the TV element will focus on or how it might connect to the movie reboot trilogy, more news as it develops.

Terminator Genisys is written by Laeta Kalogridis (Avatar, Shutter Island) and writer/director Patrick Lussier (My Bloody Valentine, Drive Angry), and being directed by  Alan Taylor (Thor: The Dark World) the film will star Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) Jason Clarke (Zero Dark Thirty, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes) with Jai Courtney (Divergent) and  Lee Byung-hun (G.I. Joe:Rise of Cobra, RED2)

sources: Deadline,/Film Paramount Pictures

teaser trailer for Fox’s upcoming anthology “Scream Queens”

I love horror anthology.  From the more recent television series such as Fear Itself (2008) Masters of Horror (2005 -07) to the older classics such as Night Visions(2001) and Monsters (1988-91) to the films such as Creepshow 2 (1987) Tales from the Darkside (1990) Body Bags (1993) and Trilogy of Terror 2 (1996) NIghtmares and Dreamscapes (2006) and V/H/S/2.  And now fresh off the season close of the latest American Horror Story anthology chapter, show creator Ryan Murphy is again teasing the horror afficinado culture dwellers with a new horror anthology entitled “Scream Queens”  which has already cast a number of stars including Lea Michele, (Glee) Jamie Lee Curtis, (no introduction needed) Emma Roberts, (AHS:coven, Scream 4, WSe’re the Millers) Joe Manganiello, (True Blood)and even Abigail Breslin,(pictured below in Little Miss Sunshine 2006) as series regulars.

Friday the 13th reboot updates – budget, plot details, more

Originally the rumor was that the upcoming installment of Slasher Jason Voorhees was to be a shaky camera “Found Footage”  style film, Paramount apparently hoping to out do New Line in terms of investment vs returns by keeping the budget small as they have done with a few of their recent films like The Purge and Project Almanac and hoping to ride the long ago crested wave that was the sub-genre.  Personally I thought that it done correctly it might have been something interesting, or at the least something different in contrast to the rest of the franchise.  But now it has been officially announced that both earlier rumors are not true.  The film will not be found footage and will not have a micro budget, like The Purge (less than four million) but probably not more than Platinum Dune’s general budget maximum of around twenty million.

 

In story plot news  according to horror movie reboot master producer Bradley Fuller  the next film version may delve into the how and whys of Jason’s immortality which seems like it would immediately, if true would kill what I thought made the 2009 film which ironically Fuller also produced such a decent fresh film.  I find it rather surprising that David Bruckner, a director with such a small career (he has only directed single segments “Crazy in Love” in The Signal 2007 and “Amature Night” in V/H/S 2012) as able to convince Fuller to immediately jump into the concept of Jason’s supernatural enigma.

For more information check out the article in Esquire (source)

Friday the 13th is scheduled for release on May 13th 2016.

Produced by Bradley Fuller (Texas Chainsaw Massacre 2003, Amnityville Horror 2005, The Hitcher 2007, The Purge, Purge:Anarchy, Ouija, Project Almanac)