My fellow bloggers over at Durnmoose Movie Musings beat me to the punch (Damn having to work at work!) with the latest “Pacific Rim” trailer.
And while I know that it’s just a trailer, it already has more plot that all the Transformers films combined (I am only half joking).
I have been waiting for Alfonso Cuarón‘s “Gravity” for awhile, and it’s getting closer. In my mind Cuarón is in the same class as Guillermo Del Toro, which is another way of saying that if either of them comes out with a film, go see it.
Besides, his last film, “Children Of Men” was not only brilliant, but also significantly better than the book – in terms of impact and sense of gravity (pardon the pun) – in my opinion.
I don’t particularly care for Sandra Bullock or George Clooney – I don’t feel ill will toward either of them, though they don’t move me either.
But put Alfonso Cuarón at the helm, then I am there.
I assume that this footage for Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” is from the last Comic-con. It shows the most detail of the robots yet, as well as a bit of character development.
And I can’t see why Michael Bay would ever be worried by ‘Rim,’ after all, if the trailers are to be believed, it looks much better than any of his Transformers films.
Though you never know;)
Now this, I like. The earlier posters from Guillermo Del Toro’s “Pacific Rim” were OK, but they didn’t to me quite capture all the giant robot goodness that the film appears to be chock full of.
So, what better place to start that with than the American and Australian Jaegers, Gipsy Danger and Striker Eureka, two of the robots of “Pacific Rim.”
Then again, why stop with just the American and Australian Jaegers? Here are links to HD versions of the Russian, Japanese and Chinese Jaegers, who’s call signs are Cherno Alpha, Coyote Tango and Crimson Typhoon.
Thanks to Comicbookmovie.com for the heads up.
It appears that Nicholas Cage has finally come to his senses, and is putting the Ghost Rider behind him. 2007’s original, directed by Mark Steven Johnson, wasn’t terrible, but it made a sophomore mistake, namely that it was pretty tame for a movie about a character that’s possessed by a demon.
The original film should have been in the vein of 1998’s “Blade,” which was an action film that didn’t skimp on the horror. Guillermo del Toro’s “Blade II” upped the horror/action ante.
“Ghost Rider” took another route, and treated the character like a typical superhero (he’s been portrayed in both ways in the comics). The first film, based upon a screenplay by David Goyer (who also wrote “Blade”) was supposedly gorier than Johnson’s final film though despite such shortcomings, it earned over $228 million worldwide.
The answer to my question is probably still prison, but finding a link to this film got my hopes up, albeit momentarily. It’s a western, and sounds essentially like “Blade,” but with zombies instead of vampires.
Unfortunately, it had been sitting on the shelf since 2007, so Snipes had to have made it prior to going to prison for tax evasion.
I hope that Marvel sticks with Snipes for Blade’s return, since they regained the rights to the character a few years ago because, as far as I am concerned, as long as Wesley Snipes is physically able to play the role, it should be his.
Always a better actor that I think he is generally given credit for, he brought a level of pathos to the character that is unusual for the superhero genre. And if he does return, I hope Guillermo del Toro at least plays an executive producer role (despite seemingly having millions of projects on his plate) because his “Blade II” was definitely the best of the three films that featured the character.
Thanks to comicbookmovie.com for the heads up.
““Mama” is an auspicious debut from Andrés (Andy) Muschietti that gets much more right than wrong.”
Andy Muschietti’s “Mama” is a bit of a throwback to an era when horror films aimed not to disgust, but to scare and frighten. It was a time when most of the violence was implied, yet somehow was more effective than actually seeing it, because there’s no place scarier than our imaginations.
“Mama” isn’t a film that reveals its secrets easily, or quickly (it could have used a bit of tightening in the editing department). Speaking of ’secrets,’ I thought that I should mention that there were some critics that complained that the creature was revealed too early. I don’t know what cut of the film that they saw, but I don’t recall seeing it in its entirety till about an hour or so in.
In fact, I think that the restraint Muschietti showed was not only unusual, but admirable, especially when it served to heighten tension.
Another film of hauntings and the undead, Peter Medak’s “The Changling,” momentarily came to mind when I was watching this, though he’s a far superior film maker (which is understandable, considering that he has probably done sixty or seventy projects at this point).
Another thing that Medak’s does better is to generate a tangible sense of menace, and more effectively use sound and light.
This is something that Andy Muschietti will learn, though in his defense, there are some remarkably interesting and innovative shots in this film, some of which manage to turn a simple composition into something amazing.
In summary, “Mama” isn’t a great film, nor is it the scariest film you’ll ever see, though it does try to bring something new to the table–while evoking the past, which makes it worth seeing for that reason alone.
It seems that I am not the only one with mother issues because the Guillermo Del Toro produced horror film, “Mama,” has already earned $10 million Friday, and is on track to add another $20 million by the end of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.
Unfortunately, Arnold Schwarzenegger’s, “The Last Stand” seems to be paying the price for “Mama’s” success, earning $2 million (which is a bittersweet victory because, while I will see most anything with Del Toro’s name associated with it, I like the work of Jee woon-Kim, whose film “I Saw The Devil” is well worth catching).
And while I am never particularly fond of PG-13 horror films, they tend to work better than hard-R’s in the at it opens up the film to a larger audience.
What I also find interesting is that it has a 65% ‘fresh’ rating at Rottentomatoes, which is good for a horror film, though that rating could fall as more reviews come in.
I’ll have a review coming soon.
“The Journey May Be Unexpected, But Beautiful Vistas, Interesting Challenges, And Humor In The Oddest Of Places Make The Journey More Than Worthwhile.”
A few hours ago I got back from seeing Peter Jackson’s “The Hobbit” An Unexpected Journey” at 48 fps (frames per second) and 3D, and I have to say that the faster frame rate–literally–had no effect on my enjoyment of the film (nor anyone else’s, that I could tell).
In fact, I couldn’t notice any difference from a movie made at a more traditional 24 fps, though I don’t know if that was because my eye was not discerning enough to pick up the difference.
I enjoyed “The Hobbit” quite a bit more than Jackson’s earlier ‘Rings’ films, because this time around our intrepid adventurers didn’t leave their sense of humor behind. I don’t know if the changes came from the involvement of Guillermo Del Toro (such humor that pops up here is quite common in his films, while I have not seen it in any of Peter Jackson’s; till now, that is), who was originally going to direct before MGM flirted with bankruptcy and he moved on, but they were welcome.
‘Why Guillermo Del Toro Is Awesome’ Or ‘There There Will Probably Be An ‘At The Mountains Of Madness’ Feature
image courtesy of IMDb
Guillermo Del Toro rocks. Why, you ask? Sure, it has more than a little to do with him being the director of “Hellboy,” “Hellboy 2,” “Blade 2,” The Devil’s Backbone,” Pan’s Labyrinth, among others.
It also has to do with tenaciousness, and following your dreams, no matter how bleak things may seem (it also never hurts to do the right sacrifices, at the right time.
Ph’nglui mglw’nafh Cthulhu R’lyeh wgah’nagl fhtagn!).
As I posted a few months ago, Universal abandoned Del Toro’s passion project, a movie based upon H.P. Lovecraft’s “At The Mountains Of Madness,” a part of Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos (an interconnected series of stories that revolve around a common thematic element: horrific alien beings intent upon reclaiming the earth and oftentimes subverting everything that makes us human).
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